{"text": "Scene: On Stardate 43997, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise was kidnapped for six days by an invading force known as the Borg. Surgically altered, he was forced to lead an assault on Starfleet at Wolf 359.\nLocutus: Resistance is futile. You will disarm your weapons and escort us to sector zero zero one. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you.\nCaptain: Red alert. Load all torpedo bays. Ready phasers. Move us to position alpha, Ensign.\nOps Officer: They've locked on.\nSisko: Reroute auxiliary power.\nOps Officer: Our shields are being drained. Sixty four percent. Forty two.\nCaptain: Recalibrate shield nutation.\nTactical: Modulation is having no effect.\nOps Officer: Shields have failed.\nSisko: Full reverse.\nCaptain: Maintain all Argh!\nSisko: Damage report. Damage report!\nComputer: Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in five minutes.\nTactical: Direct hit decks one through four.\nSisko: Let's get the civilians to the escape pods, Lieutenant.\nTactical: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Leave everything. Get to your assigned evacuation area now.\nComputer: Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in four minutes.\nSisko: Doran.\nTactical: I'll take care of her. You go on.\nSisko: Have you seen Jennifer?\nSisko: Jennifer? Jake!\nComputer: Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in three minutes.\nSisko: I'm going to get your mom. You're going to be okay.\nSisko: Jennifer. Okay, Jake, we'll get your mom out and we'll get out of here.\nTactical: Commander!\nSisko: Help me. Jennifer, hold on.\nTactical: Sir.\nSisko: Just help me to get her free.\nTactical: She's gone. There's nothing we can do. We have to leave.\nComputer: Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in two minutes.\nTactical: Ensign, take the boy.\nEnsign: Aye, sir.\nTactical: We've got to go now, sir.\nSisko: Damn it, we just can't leave her here.\nSisko: Jake. Jake, you're okay.\nCrewman: Stand by to launch.\nCrewwoman: Ready. Stardate 46379.1. Three years later.\nSisko: Jake, there you are. How are they biting?\nJake: Small fries. Threw them back. Want to go for a swim?\nSisko: Don't have time. We have to get ready. It won't be so bad. I've heard that Bajor is a beautiful world.\nJake: So why can't we live on the planet instead of some old space station?\nSisko: The station is in orbit of Bajor. It'll be just like shore duty.\nJake: Will there be kids there?\nSisko: Absolutely. Lots of kids.\nCaptain: Bridge to Sisko.\nSisko: Yes, Captain.\nCaptain: We're approaching Deep Space Nine, Commander. We'll be docking in seven minutes.\nSisko: Acknowledged. Come on. What do you say? We'll take the pond with us. Computer, end program.\nJake: Is that it? Commence station log, Deep Space Nine, Commander Benjamin Sisko, Stardate 46388.2. At the request of the Bajoran provisional government, Starfleet has agreed to establish a Federation presence in this system following the withdrawal of Cardassian occupational forces. The first contingent of officers, including my Chief of Operations, Miles O'Brien, arrived two days ago on the Enterprise.\nO'Brien: I'm told the Cardassians decided to have some fun the day they left. Four Bajorans were killed trying to protect their shops.\nSisko: Why hasn't anybody cleaned this up?\nO'Brien: We've got all available personnel assigned to repairing primary systems, sir. The Cardassians took every component of value. We're virtually defenseless. I discussed this with Major Kira, the attaché assigned here by the Bajoran government and we decided\nSisko: Understood. What about the civilians who operated these shops?\nO'Brien: A lot of them lost everything they had. A few are trying to rebuild, but most are packing up to leave.\nMonk: Welcome, Commander. Please enter. The prophets await you.\nSisko: Another time, perhaps.\nMonk: Another time.\nO'Brien: When my wife Keiko saw our quarters, she started talking about visiting her mother in Kumamoto. Sir, I wouldn't allow the boy to go roaming. We're still having some security problems.\nJake: Dad, there is nothing to sleep on in there except a cushion on the floor.\nO'Brien: We can get you a real bunk off the Enterprise. I almost forgot. Captain Picard wants to see you as soon as possible.\nSisko: He does. Any word on our science and medical officers yet?\nO'Brien: They're expected tomorrow.\nSisko: Jake, I want you to stay here until I come back.\nJake: Is this the food replicator?\nO'Brien: I'm afraid they're all offline. There's plenty of emergency rations. I could send some down.\nJake: Dad?\nSisko: We're going have to rough it til we get things up and running, Jake, okay?\nJake: Okay.\nSisko: Okay.\nO'Brien: I'd like to ask the designer what he was thinking about when they built this place. I still haven't been able to find an ODN access. that's the Prefect's office up there.\nSisko: So all others have to look up with respect. Cardassian architecture.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. Major Kira's been using it.\nSisko: Is it my imagination or is it unusually warm?\nO'Brien: The environmental controls in Ops are stuck at thirty-two C. We're working on it.\nSisko: I guess it's time to meet Major Kira.\nO'Brien: Sir, have you ever served with any Bajoran women?\nSisko: No. Why?\nO'Brien: I was just wondering, sir.\nKira: They've become meaningless.\nBureaucrat: I just don't agree, Kira.\nKira: You are throwing it all away! All of you!\nBureaucrat: You're being a fool!\nKira: Well then, don't ask my opinion next time!\nKira: Yes?\nSisko: I'm Benjamin Sisko.\nKira: I suppose you want the office.\nSisko: Well, I thought I'd say hello first and then take the office, but we could do it in any order you'd like.\nKira: Hello.\nSisko: Is something bothering you, Major?\nKira: You don't want to ask me that, Commander.\nSisko: Why not?\nKira: Because I have the bad habit of telling the truth even when people don't want to hear it.\nSisko: Perhaps I want to hear it.\nKira: I don't believe the Federation has any business being here.\nSisko: The provisional government disagrees with you.\nKira: The provisional government and I don't agree on a lot of things which is probably why they've sent me to this god-forsaken place. I have been fighting for Bajoran independence since I was old enough to pick up a phaser. We finally drive the Cardassians out and what do our new leaders do? They call up the Federation and invite them right in.\nSisko: The Federation is only here to help\nKira: Help us. Yes, I know. The Cardassians said the same thing sixty years ago.\nSisko: Major, when I was ordered here, I requested a Bajoran national as my first officer. It made sense. It still does, at least to me. Now, you and I are going to have to\nOdo: Yes, Major?\nKira: Odo, are you reading something at A-fourteen?\nOdo: My security array has been down for two hours. I'll meet you there.\nKira: We've been having a lot of break-ins lately. No need for you to come along, Commander.\nNog: Hurry up! Now.\nNog: Now!\nOdo: All right, just stand where you are.\nKira: Hold it!\nSisko: That's enough!\nOdo: Who the hell are you?\nKira: Odo, this is our new Starfleet Commander.\nOdo: I don't allow weapons on the Promenade. That includes phasers.\nQuark: Nog? What's going on?\nOdo: The boy's in a lot of trouble.\nQuark: Commander, my name is Quark. I used to run the local gambling establishment. This is my brother's boy. Surely you can see that he only has a peripheral involvement in all this. We're scheduled to depart tomorrow. If we could be permitted to take him, I promise you he will be severely\nSisko: That won't be possible. Take him to the brig.\nKira: Quark probably sent the two of them here to steal the ore samples in the first place.\nSisko: Major, there's a Ferengi legal tradition. It's called plea bargaining. I might let the boy go, but I want something in exchange from Mister Quark. Something very important.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Commander Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: Sir, the Enterprise hailed us again. Captain Picard is waiting to see you.\nSisko: Acknowledged. This won't take long.\nPicard: Come.\nPicard: Commander. Yes, please, come in. Welcome to Bajor.\nSisko: It's been a long time, Captain.\nPicard: Have we met before?\nSisko: Yes, sir. We met in battle. I was on the Saratoga at Wolf 359.\nPicard: I assume that you have been briefed on the events leading to the Cardassian withdrawal?\nSisko: Yes, sir. I understand they've spent the last half century robbing the planet of every valuable resource before abandoning it.\nPicard: They've left the Bajorans without a means of being self-sustaining. The relief efforts we've been coordinating are barely adequate. I've come to know the Bajorans. I'm a strong proponents for their entry into the Federation.\nSisko: Is it going to happen?\nPicard: Not easily. The ruling parties are at each others throats. Factions that were united against the Cardassians have resumed old conflicts.\nSisko: Sounds like they're not ready.\nPicard: Your job is to do everything short of violating the Prime Directive to make sure that they are. I have been made aware by Starfleet of your objections to this assignment. I would have thought that after three years spent at the Utopia Planitia yards, that you would be ready for a change.\nSisko: I have a son that I'm raising alone, Captain. This is not the ideal environment.\nPicard: Unfortunately as Starfleet officers, we do not always have the luxury to serve in an ideal environment.\nSisko: I realize that, sir, and I'm investigating the possibility of returning to Earth for civilian service.\nPicard: Perhaps Starfleet Command should be considering a replacement for you.\nSisko: That's probably a good idea.\nPicard: I'll look into it. In the meantime however\nSisko: In the meantime, I will do the job I've been ordered to do to the best of my ability, sir.\nPicard: Dismissed.\nSisko: It's really quite simple, Quark. You're not going to leave.\nQuark: Not going to leave? But we're packed and ready to go.\nSisko: Unpack.\nQuark: I don't understand, Commander. Why would you want me to stay?\nOdo: I'm curious myself. The man is a gambler and a thief.\nQuark: I'm not a thief.\nOdo: You are a thief.\nQuark: If I am, you haven't been able to prove it for four years.\nSisko: Please. My officers, the Bajoran engineers, all their families depend on the shops and services of this Promenade. If people like you abandon it, this is going to become a ghost town. We need someone to step forward and say, I'm staying, I'm rebuilding. We need a community leader and it's going to be you, Quark.\nQuark: Community leader?\nOdo: Seems reasonable. You have all the character references of a politician.\nQuark: How could I possibly operate my establishment under Starfleet rules of conduct?\nSisko: This is still a Bajoran station. We're just here to administrate. You run honest games, you won't have any problems from me.\nQuark: Commander, I've made a career out of knowing when to leave, and this Bajoran provisional government is far too provisional for my taste. And when governments fall, people like me are lined up and shot.\nSisko: There is that risk but then, you are a gambler, Quark.\nOdo: And a thief.\nSisko: You know, Quark, that poor kid is about to spend the best years of his life in a Bajoran prison. I'm a father myself. I know what your brother must be going through. The boy should be with his family, not in some cold jail cell. Think about it. It's up to you.\nOdo: You know, at first, I didn't think I was going to like him.\nSisko: Major?\nKira: Everyone else is busy repairing the primary systems. I suppose Starfleet officers aren't used to getting their hands dirty.\nKira: In the refugee camps, we learned to do whatever needed to be done. Didn't matter who you were.\nSisko: I was just talking with our good neighbor, Quark. Te's laying odds that the government's going to fall.\nKira: Quark knows a good bet when he hears one. This government will be gone in a week and so will you.\nSisko: What happens to Bajor then?\nKira: Civil war.\nSisko: You think it's inevitable?\nKira: The only one who can prevent it is Opaka.\nSisko: Opaka?\nKira: Our spiritual leader. She's known as the Kai. Our religion is the only thing that holds my people together. If she would call for unity, they'd listen. Leaders of all the factions have tried to get to her, but she lives in seclusion, rarely sees anyone.\nMonk: Commander. It is time.\nOpaka: I apologize for the condition in which we greet you.\nSisko: The Cardassians?\nOpaka: Your arrival has been greatly anticipated.\nOpaka: Have you ever explored your pagh, Commander?\nSisko: Pagh?\nOpaka: A Bajoran draws courage from his spiritual life. Our life-force, our pagh, is replenished by the Prophets.\nOpaka: Breathe.\nSisko: Kai Opaka, if we could discuss\nOpaka: Breathe! Ironic. One who does not wish to be among us is to be the Emissary. Please, come with me.\nOpaka: You are correct that Bajor is in grave jeopardy, but it is the threat to our spiritual life that far outweighs any other.\nSisko: Perhaps, but I'm powerless until\nOpaka: Commander. I cannot give you what you deny yourself.\nSisko: I'm sorry?\nOpaka: Look for solutions from within, Commander. Come with me.\nSisko: What is it?\nOpaka: The Tear of the Prophet.\nSisko: What the hell? Opaka?\nJennifer: Hey!\nSisko: I'm sorry. it's just that this. Jen?\nJennifer: Yes?\nSisko: Jennifer?\nJennifer: I'm sorry did we meet last night at George's party?\nSisko: George? Jennifer. Wait a minute. This is impossible.\nJennifer: Are you okay?\nSisko: I know this place. This is Gilgo beach, where we met.\nJennifer: We met here before?\nSisko: I was carrying three lemonades. The sand was burning my feet, and I stopped here to. Ow! Do you realize how incredible this is? No, of course you don't. I. Jennifer, have a lemonade.\nJennifer: I'm afraid I don't accept drinks from strange men on the beach.\nJennifer: So tell me the truth. Have we really meet before?\nSisko: No.\nJennifer: Then how did you know my name?\nSisko: I, er, George told me, at the party.\nJennifer: Are you going to tell me your name?\nSisko: Oh. Ben Sisko. I just graduated from Starfleet Academy. I'm waiting for my first posting.\nJennifer: Ah, a junior officer.\nSisko: Yeah.\nJennifer: My mother warned me to watch out for junior officers.\nSisko: Your mother is going to adore me.\nJennifer: You're awfully sure of yourself.\nSisko: It's not every day you meet the girl you're going to marry.\nJennifer: Do you use this routine a lot with women?\nSisko: No. Never before and never again.\nJennifer: Sure.\nSisko: How about letting me cook dinner for you tonight. My father was a gourmet chef. I will make for you his famous aubergine stew.\nJennifer: I don't know.\nSisko: You're supposed to say, yes!\nJennifer: I'll probably be sorry.\nSisko: Jennifer!\nOpaka: Nine Orbs, like this one, have appeared in the skies over the past ten thousand years. The Cardassians took the others. You must find the Celestial Temple before they do.\nSisko: The Celestial Temple?\nOpaka: Tradition says the orbs were sent by the Prophets to teach us. What we have learned has shaped our theology. The Cardassians will do anything to decipher their powers. If they diskover the Celestial Temple, they could destroy it.\nSisko: What makes you think I can find your Temple?\nOpaka: This will help you.\nSisko: Kai Opaka.\nOpaka: I can't unite my people till I know the Prophets have been warned. You will find the Temple. Not for Bajor, not for the Federation, but for your own pagh. It is, quite simply, Commander, the journey you have always been destined to take.\nJake: What?\nSisko: I was just thinking how much you look like your mom.\nKira: Kira to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nKira: Sorry to disturb you, Commander, but there's something on the Promenade you might want to see.\nSisko: On my way.\nPit Boss: Step up, step up. Fortune's fates are with you today, friends.\nGirl: Dabo!\nAlien: That's fine. I'll be right back.\nGirl: Dabo!\nQuark: What'll you have, Commander?\nSisko: How's the local synthale?\nQuark: You won't like it. I love the Bajorans. Such a deeply spiritual culture, but they make a dreadful ale. Never trust ale from a god-fearing people, or a Starfleet Commander that has one of your relatives in jail.\nGirl: Dabo!\nSisko: Captain's log. Stardate 46390.1. The Enterprise has been ordered to the Lapolis system. They're scheduled to depart at zero-five hundred hours after offloading three runabout class vessels. Meanwhile, our medical and science officers are arriving, and I'm looking forward to a reunion with a very old friend.\nKira: Commander, if you'd like me to give them a tour of the station.\nSisko: You and Doctor Bashir go ahead. I'm afraid I have to put Lieutenant Dax to work right away.\nBashir: Jadzia, maybe we could get together later for dinner? Or a drink?\nDax: I'd be delighted.\nSisko: He's a little young for you, isn't he?\nDax: He's twenty-seven, I'm twenty-eight.\nSisko: Three hundred twenty-eight, maybe. Did you tell him about that slug inside of you?\nDax: Yes, but Benjamin, he knows I'm a Trill. He finds it fascinating. He's never met a joined species before.\nSisko: I wonder if he'd've been as fascinated if you still looked the way you did the last time I saw you.\nDax: Perhaps not.\nSisko: This is going to take some getting used to.\nDax: Don't be ridiculous. I'm still the same old Dax. More or less.\nKira: I'm afraid we've had some security problems. Looks like looters got in here.\nBashir: This'll be perfect. Real frontier medicine.\nKira: Frontier medicine?\nBashir: Major, I had my choice of any job in the fleet.\nKira: Did you?\nBashir: I didn't want some cushy job or a research grant. I wanted this. The farthest reaches of the galaxy. One of the most remote outposts available. This is where the adventure is. This is where heroes are made. Right here, in the wilderness.\nKira: This wilderness is my home.\nBashir: Well, I, I, I didn't mean.\nKira: The Cardassians left behind a lot of injured people, Doctor. You can make yourself useful by bringing your Federation medicine to the natives. Oh, you'll find them a friendly, simple folk.\nSisko: We do have one advantage. The monks have been studying these things for ten thousand years. I've had our computers set up to interface with their historical data banks.\nDax: That should give us something.\nSisko: Soon as possible, Dax. The eight other orbs are probably in some Cardassian laboratory, being turned upside down and inside out.\nDax: Benjamin, I was happy when I heard you accepted this assignment. I've been worried about you.\nSisko: It's good to see you too, old man.\nDax: Computer, create a data base for all historical references to the Orbs, including all reports of any unexplained phenomena in Bajoran space.\nComputer: Time parameters?\nDax: Ten millennia.\nComputer: Initializing data base. Requested function will require two hours to complete.\nDax: Curzon.\nLieutenant: The Captain's in the Ready room, Chief. Should I tell him you're here?\nO'Brien: That's okay. Thanks.\nO'Brien: Transport me to the Ops pad, Maggie.\nMaggie: Yes, sir.\nPicard: Mister O'Brien? I understand that I just missed you on the Bridge.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. I didn't want to disturb you, sir.\nPicard: Ensign.\nPicard: This is your favorite transporter room, isn't it?\nO'Brien: Number three. Yes, sir.\nPicard: You know, yesterday, I called down here and I asked for you without thinking. It won't be quite the same.\nO'Brien: It's just a transporter room, sir. Permission to disembark, Captain.\nPicard: Permission granted.\nO'Brien: Energize.\nO'Brien: Message coming in from their commander, Gul Dukat.\nKira: Dukat. He used to be the Cardassian Prefect of Bajor.\nO'Brien: He's requesting permission to come aboard to greet us. Surely a coincidence that the Enterprise just left.\nSisko: Mister O'Brien, tell Gul Dukat I look forward to meeting him.\nDukat: Good day, Commander.\nSisko: Gul Dukat.\nDukat: Excuse my presumption, but this was my office only two weeks ago. I'm not used to being on this side of the desk. I'll be honest with you, Commander. I miss this office. I was not happy to leave it.\nSisko: Drop by any time you're feeling homesick.\nDukat: You're very gracious. And allow me to assure you that we only want to be helpful in this difficult transition. You're far from the Federation fleet, alone in this remote outpost, with poor defense systems. Your Cardassian neighbors will be quick to respond to any problems you might have.\nSisko: We'll try to keep the dog off your lawn.\nDukat: So, tell me, what did you think of Kai Opaka? I know you went to the surface to see her. I understand you brought back an Orb. We thought we had all of them. Perhaps we could have an exchange of information, pool our resources?\nSisko: I don't know anything about an Orb.\nDukat: We will be in close proximity should you wish to reconsider my suggestion. In the meantime, I assume you have no objection to my men enjoying the hospitality of the Promenade. Commander.\nDax: What do you know about the Denorios Belt?\nSisko: Your basic charged-plasma field. Nobody gets anywhere near it unless they have to.\nDax: In the twenty-second century, a ship carrying Kai Taluno was disabled for several days in the Denorios Belt, where he claims he had a vision.\nSisko: Let me guess. He saw the Celestial Temple of the Prophets.\nDax: Not quite, but he did say that the heavens opened up and nearly swallowed his ship.\nSisko: Are we reduced to chasing metaphors to solve this?\nDax: That's not all. At least five of the orbs were found in the Denorios Belt. There were also been twenty three navigational reports over the years of unusually severe neutrino disturbances in the same area. I've correlated all these reports in one analysis grid. Our Celestial Temple?\nSisko: Worth a look, but we've got Cardassians on our back doorstep. We need to get by them undetected.\nKira: May we have your attention, please? This establishment is being closed.\nQuark: What do you mean? You can't do this.\nO'Brien: If you have a problem, sir, you'll have to take it up with Commander Sisko.\nQuark: I intend to. This is outrageous. Friends, my apologies. A minor misunderstanding that will be rectified shortly. Give them something to put their winnings into.\nCardassian: Because we were winning too much, of course.\nCardassian 2: Leave it to Starfleet to ruin a fine day.\nSisko: Rio Grande to Ops. Initializing pre-launch systems.\nKira: Confirmed, Rio Grande.\nO'Brien: Scanners are picking up fluctuations in the Cardassian's energy distribution net.\nKira: Their computers are crashing. Shields and sensors are down. Odo's done it. Ops to Rio Grande.\nKira: You're in business.\nSisko: Beginning launch sequence.\nKira: Odo's reached the transport site.\nO'Brien: Trying to lock on. I've never done this with a Cardassian transporter. Damn it, what's the problem.\nKira: Nice work, Constable.\nDax: Approaching grid perimeter.\nSisko: Slowing to one quarter impulse.\nDax: Computer, give me visual bearing two three mark two one seven. Range thirty one hundred kilometers.\nDax: Sensors are picking up unusually high proton counts.\nSisko: Setting a new course to those coordinates.\nDax: All external wave intensities are increasing rapidly, but checking. Confirmed. There is no corresponding increase inside the cabin. How is that possible?\nSisko: Sensors are not functioning.\nDax: We've lost all contact with the space station.\nO'Brien: Scanners are reading major subspace disruption at their last known coordinates.\nKira: What the hell is happening out there?\nO'Brien: I don't know. They're just gone.\nSisko: Are your navigational readings going crazy?\nDax: I'll recalibrate when I have a moment.\nSisko: Take your time.\nSisko: Can you get a fix on our coordinates?\nDax: There is a star just under five light years away. No M-class planets Computer, identify closest star system.\nComputer: Idran, a ternary system consisting of twin O-type companions.\nSisko: Idran? That can't be right.\nDax: Computer, basis of identification.\nComputer: Idran is based on the analysis conducted in the twenty-second century by the Quadros-One probe of the Gamma Quadrant.\nSisko: The Gamma Quadrant? Seventy thousand light years from Bajor? I'd say we just found our way into a wormhole.\nDax: It's not like any wormhole I've ever seen. There were none of the usual resonance waves.\nSisko: Could this be how the Orbs found their way into the Bajoran system?\nDax: Not an unreasonable hypothesis.\nSisko: If it's true, that would mean that this has been here for ten thousand years. Dax, we might have just diskovered the first stable wormhole known to exist. Bring us about, Lieutenant.\nDax: I'm modifying the flight program to compensate for the spatial diskontinuities. We should have a smoother ride this time.\nSisko: Did you reduce impulse power?\nDax: No. Why?\nSisko: We're losing velocity.\nDax: Forward velocity down to eighty kph.\nComputer: Warning. Impulse system overload. Auto shutdown in twelve seconds.\nSisko: Disengaging engines.\nDax: Velocity at twenty kph. I'm picking up atmosphere.\nSisko: Inside a wormhole?\nDax: Capable of supporting life. We've just landed.\nSisko: On what?\nDax: It's beautiful.\nSisko: You have a strange eye for beauty, Dax.\nDax: You don't think this is one of the most idyllic settings you've ever seen?\nSisko: We are standing on a rock face. Do you see the storm?\nDax: It's as clear as a summer's day.\nSisko: You see it, too?\nDax: Yes. Low level ionic pattern. It's probing us.\nSisko: Someone's idea of shaking hands, maybe. I am Commander Benjamin Sisko of the United Federation of Planets.\nSisko: Dax!\nO'Brien: Another neutrino disruption.\nKira: Scanners are picking up an object near their last known coordinates. It isn't a ship.\nO'Brien: Major, there's something inside it, some kind of lifeform.\nKira: Are the Cardassian sensors picking it up?\nO'Brien: They should be back online by now. We have to assume they know everything we know.\nKira: Yellow alert. Secure Ops. Beam it aboard, Mister O'Brien, but put it in a level one security field.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir. Locking on.\nSisko: Who are you? Jennifer and Sisko kissing. A newborn baby. Jake fishing. Doran on the Saratoga.\nSisko: Who are you?\nJennifer: It is corporeal. A physical entity.\nSisko: What? What did you say?\nPicard: It is responding to visual and auditory stimuli. Linguistic communication.\nSisko: Yes, linguistic communication. Are you capable of communicating with me?\nOpaka: What are you?\nSisko: My species is known as human. I come from a planet called Earth.\nJake: Earth?\nSisko: This is what my planet looks like. You and I are very different species. It will take time for us to understand one another.\nJake: What is this time? First Officer's log, stardate 46392.7. We're preparing to launch a rescue mission to find Commander Sisko, but first our navigational sensors must be recalibrated to work under the conditions reported by Lieutenant Dax.\nDax: It is no ordinary wormhole. My analysis suggests that it isn't even a natural phenomenon.\nBashir: Not natural? You mean it was constructed?\nDax: It's very possible whoever made the Orbs also created this wormhole.\nO'Brien: The Cardassians are leaving their position on a course toward the Denorios Belt.\nKira: Mister O'Brien, what would it take to move this station to the mouth of the wormhole?\nO'Brien: This isn't a starship, Major. We've got six working thrusters to power us and that's it. A hundred sixty million kilometer trip would take two months.\nKira: It has to be there tomorrow.\nO'Brien: That's not possible, sir.\nKira: That wormhole might just reshape the future of this entire quadrant. The Bajorans have to stake a claim to it. And I have to admit that claim will be a lot stronger if there's a Federation presence to back it up.\nDax: Couldn't you modify the subspace field output of the deflector generators just enough to create a low-level field around the station?\nO'Brien: So we could lower the inertial mass?\nDax: If you can make the station lighter, those six thrusters will be all the power we'd need.\nO'Brien: This whole station could break apart like an egg if it doesn't work.\nDax: Even if it does work, we're still going to need help from Starfleet once we get there.\nO'Brien: The Enterprise is still the nearest starship. They could reach us in two days.\nDax: We should advise Starfleet that we will require their assistance.\nKira: You have Ops, Mister O'Brien. Lieutenant, you're with me.\nDax: Aye, sir.\nKira: You too, Doc. Time to be a hero.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nKira: Constable.\nOdo: This is a security matter. I'm in charge of security.\nKira: Security here, on the station. I cannot justify taking you into this wormhole. We have no idea what we're dealing with in there. It could be hostile.\nOdo: Major, I was found in the Denorios Belt. I don't know where I came from, no idea if there are any others like me. All my life, I've been forced to pass myself off as one of you, always wondering who I really am. Well, the answers to a lot of my questions may be somewhere on the other side of that wormhole. You coming?\nPicard: The creature must be destroyed before it destroys us.\nLocutus: It is malevolent.\nBatsman: Aggressive. Adversarial.\nPicard: It must be destroyed.\nSisko: I am not your enemy. I was sent here by the people you contacted.\nPicard: Contacted?\nSisko: With your devices, your Orbs.\nPicard: We seek contact with other lifeforms, not corporeal creatures who annihilate us.\nSisko: I have not come to annihilate anyone.\nLocutus: Destroy it now.\nSisko: My species respects life above all else. Can you say the same? I do not understand the threat I bring to you, but I am not your enemy. Allow me to prove it.\nOpaka: Prove it?\nSisko: It can be argued that a human is ultimately the sum of his experiences.\nJake: Experiences? What is this?\nSisko: Memories. Events from my past, like this one.\nJake: Past?\nSisko: Things that happened before now. You have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about.\nJake: What comes before now is no different than what is now, or what is to come. It is one's existence.\nSisko: Then, for you, there is no linear time.\nJennifer: Linear time. what is this?\nSisko: My species lives in one point in time. And once we move beyond that point, it becomes the past. The future, all that is still to come, does not exist yet for us.\nJennifer: Does not exist yet?\nSisko: That is the nature of linear existence. And if you examine it more closely, you will see that you do not need to fear me.\nComputer: Partial field established. Instability at twelve percent.\nO'Brien: Partial field? Is station's inertial mass low enough to break orbit?\nComputer: Procedure is not recommended.\nO'Brien: Damn it, I didn't ask for an opinion. Just tell me whether or not we can get enough thrust with only a partial field established.\nComputer: Affirmative.\nO'Brien: All right. Thank you. Initiate transit mode, three-axis stabilization.\nCrewman: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: Engage thrusters.\nComputer: Warning. Field integrity declining. Instability at twenty one percent.\nO'Brien: We've got to close that gap in the field or we'll tear ourselves into a million pieces.\nComputer: Warning. Subspace field collapse in sixty seconds.\nO'Brien: Computer, transfer energy from the inertial dampers to reinforce the subspace field.\nComputer: Procedure is not recommended.\nO'Brien: Damn it, transfer the energy!\nComputer: Unable to comply. Level one safety protocols have canceled request.\nO'Brien: Canceled?\nComputer: Warning. Subspace field collapse in thirty seconds.\nO'Brien: I'm going to transfer it manually. On my mark, redirect the flow to the deflectors. Keep the power balanced.\nCrewman: Aye, sir.\nComputer: Field collapse in fifteen seconds.\nO'Brien: Now.\nComputer: Field energy now within flight tolerances.\nCrewwoman: Good work, sir.\nO'Brien: Computer, you and I have to have a little talk.\nDax: The Cardassian warship is in visual range.\nKira: On screen. They're headed right to it.\nBashir: They've got to listen to reason, haven't they? When we warn them what could happen if they go in there.\nOdo: Doctor, most people in my experience wouldn't know reason if it walked up and shook their hand. You can count Gul Dukat among them.\nKira: This is the Federation ship Yangtze Kiang. Major Kira Nerys in command.\nDukat: Yes, Major?\nKira: Gul Dukat, we know you're headed for the wormhole.\nDukat: Wormhole? What wormhole is that?\nKira: I strongly suggest you do not proceed. We encountered a hostile lifeform inside.\nDukat: Perhaps they will be less hostile to Cardassians than to humans.\nOdo: Dukat, these people are trying to save you from a lot of trouble.\nDukat: Really? And I suppose you'd also tell me these are not the lifeforms that have sent the Orbs, or that your Commander Sisko is not negotiating for their technology. I thank you for your concern, but I think we'll see for ourselves.\nOdo: So much for reason.\nJennifer: Jennifer.\nSisko: Yes, that was her name.\nJennifer: She is part of your existence.\nSisko: She is part of my past. She's no longer alive.\nJennifer: But she is part of your existence.\nSisko: She was a most important part of my existence, but I lost her some time ago.\nJennifer: Lost? what is this?\nSisko: In a linear existence, we can't go back to the past to get something we left behind, so it's lost.\nJennifer: It is inconceivable that any species could exist in such a manner. You are deceiving us.\nSisko: No, this is the truth. This day, this park, it was almost fifteen years ago. Far in the past. It was a day that was very important to me, a day that shaped every day that followed. That is the essence of a linear existence. Each day affects the next.\nSisko 2: Listen to it.\nJennifer 2: To what?\nSisko 2: The sound of children playing. What could be more beautiful?\nJennifer 2: So you like children?\nSisko 2: That almost sounds like a domestic inquiry.\nJennifer 2: I've heard Starfleet officers don't want families because they complicate their lives.\nSisko 2: Starfleet officers don't often find mates who want to raise families on a starship.\nJennifer 2: That almost sounds like a domestic inquiry.\nSisko 2: I think it was.\nSisko: As corporeal entities, humans find physical touch to cause pleasure.\nJennifer: Pleasure? What is this?\nSisko: Good feelings, happiness\nTactical: But this is your existence.\nSisko: But it's difficult to be here, more difficult than any other memory.\nTactical: Why?\nSisko: Because, because this was the day that I lost Jennifer. I don't want to be here.\nJennifer: Then why do you exist here?\nSisko: I don't understand.\nJennifer: You exist here.\nSisko: What's wrong? What's happening?\nDax: We should be reaching the wormhole coordinates in two minutes.\nKira: Slowing to one-third imp\nSisko: Are you still there? What just happened?\nJennifer: More of your kind.\nSisko: Another ship in the wormhole?\nJennifer: Wormhole? What is this?\nSisko: It is how we describe the kind of passage that brought me here.\nPicard: It is terminated.\nSisko: Terminated?\nPicard Alien: Our existence is disrupted whenever one of you enters the passage.\nConn Officer: Your linear nature is inherently destructive.\nOps Officer: You have no regard for the consequences of your acts.\nSisko: That's not true. We're aware that every choice we make has a consequence.\nCaptain: But you claim you do not know what it will be.\nSisko: We don't.\nJake: Then how can you take responsibility for your actions?\nSisko: We use past experience to help guide us. For Jennifer and me, all the experiences in our lives prepared us for the day we met on the beach, helped us recognize that we had a future together. When we married, we accepted all the consequences of that act, whatever they might be, including the consequences of you.\nJake: Me?\nSisko: My son, Jake.\nJennifer: The child with Jennifer.\nSisko: Yes.\nJennifer: Linear procreation?\nSisko: Yes. Jake is the continuation of our family.\nJennifer: The sound of children playing.\nBatsman: Aggressive. Adversarial.\nSisko: Competition. For fun. It's a game that Jake and I play on the holodeck. It's called baseball.\nJake: Baseball? What is this?\nSisko: I was afraid you'd ask that. I throw this ball to you and this other player stands between us with a bat, a stick, and he, and he tries to hit the ball in between these two white lines. No. The rules aren't important. What's important is, it's linear. Every time I throw this ball, a hundred different things can happen in a game. He might swing and miss, he might hit it. The point is, you never know. You try to anticipate, set a strategy for all the possibilities as best you can, but in the end it comes down to throwing one pitch after another and seeing what happens. With each new consequence, the game begins to take shape.\nBatsman: And you have no idea what that shape is until it is completed.\nSisko: That's right. In fact, the game wouldn't be worth playing if we knew what was going to happen.\nJake: You value your ignorance of what is to come?\nSisko: That may be the most important thing to understand about humans. It is the unknown that defines our existence. We are constantly searching, not just for answers to our questions, but for new questions. We are explorers. We explore our lives, day by day, and we explore the galaxy, trying to expand the boundaries of our knowledge. And that is why I am here. Not to conquer you either with weapons or with ideas, but to co-exist and learn.\nTactical: If all you say is true, why do you exist here? First Officer's log, supplemental. We've rendezvoused with the space station at the former coordinates of the wormhole. Unfortunately, our scans have revealed no trace of either the wormhole or Dukat's ship. A few minutes ago, three Cardassian warships crossed the border, no doubt on their way to search for Dukat.\nKira: Mister O'Brien, can you establish a high energy thoron field before they get into sensor range. I don't want them to be able to scan our defense systems.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nDax: They're hailing us.\nJasad: I am Gul Jasad of the Cardassian Guard, Seventh Order. Where is our warship?\nKira: With any luck, they're in the Gamma Quadrant, on the other side of the wormhole.\nJasad: What wormhole? Our sensors show no indication of a wormhole in this sector.\nKira: That's because it just collapsed.\nJasad: What?\nDax: We believe it was artificially created. That may be why our sensors never picked up any of the usual quantum fluctuation patterns.\nJasad: You expect me to believe that someone created a wormhole, and now conveniently has disassembled it?\nKira: That's exactly what I expect you to believe.\nDax: They're flooding subspace with anti-lepton interference. It'll cut off our communications with Starfleet.\nO'Brien: They're powering up their forward phasers.\nKira: Red alert. Shields up.\nO'Brien: What shields?\nDax: They're hailing us again.\nKira: Open the channel.\nJasad: We do not accept your explanation. Somehow you have destroyed our warship.\nKira: Gul Jasad, I assure you.\nJasad: We demand the unconditional surrender of this space station or we will open fire.\nKira: I need at least a day to make the necessary preparations.\nJasad: You have one hour.\nO'Brien: I can transfer all available power to establish partial shields around critical areas, but if they hit the docking ring we'll sustain heavy damage.\nKira: Constable, if you would coordinate moving all personnel to safer locations.\nKira: What was the last reported position of the Enterprise?\nDax: At least twenty hours away.\nKira: We've got to hold out till they get here.\nBashir: I can't believe the Cardassians would ever attack a Federation outpost.\nO'Brien: Doctor, you ever studied your military history of the border wars?\nBashir: Yes.\nO'Brien: You ever heard of the Setlik Three massacre?\nKira: I assume, Mister O'Brien, you would agree surrender is not a preferable option.\nO'Brien: You know what they do to their prisoners, sir.\nSisko: What is the point of bringing me back again to this?\nJake: We do not bring you here.\nJennifer: You bring us here.\nTactical: You exist here.\nSisko: Then give me the power to lead you somewhere else. Anywhere else.\nOpaka: We cannot give you what you deny yourself. Look for solutions from within, Commander.\nSisko: I was ready to die with her.\nTactical: Die? What is this?\nJennifer: The termination of their linear existence.\nTactical: We've got to go now, sir.\nSisko 2: Damn it, we just can't leave her here. Oh, no!\nSisko: I never left this ship.\nJennifer: You exist here.\nSisko: I exist here. I don't know if you can understand. I see her like this every time I close my eyes. In the darkness, in the blink of an eye, I see her like this.\nJennifer: None of your past experiences helped prepare you for this consequence.\nSisko: And I have never figured out how to live without her.\nJennifer: So you choose to exist here. It is not linear.\nSisko: No. It's not linear.\nDax: Their lead ship is hailing us Gul Jasad wants an answer.\nKira: Are you ready, Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. When they penetrate our thoron field, it should raise a few eyebrows over there.\nKira: All right, then, let's give them our answer. Fire six photon torpedoes across Jasad's bow.\nO'Brien: We only have six photons, Major.\nKira: We're not going to win this battle with torpedoes, Chief.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: An urgent hail from Jasad.\nBashir: Looks like we got his attention.\nKira: On screen.\nJasad: This is your answer?\nKira: You don't think Starfleet took command of this space station without the ability to defend it, do you?\nJasad: Defend it? Your space station could not defend itself against one Cardassian warship.\nKira: You're probably right, Jasad. And if you were dealing with a Starfleet officer, they'd probably admit we have a hopeless cause here. But I am just a Bajoran who's been fighting a hopeless cause against the Cardassians all her life. So if you want a war, I'll give you one.\nO'Brien: Major. Remind me never to get into a game of Roladan Wild Draw with you.\nCardassian 3: They were using a Thoron field to block our sensors but we were able to penetrate it.\nJasad: What are their defenses?\nCardassian 3: According to our scans, an estimated five thousand photons, integrated phaser banks on all levels.\nJasad: When did they receive these armaments? And how did they installl them without our knowledge? Somehow they have created a massive illusion of duranium shadows.\nCardassian 3: What if it is not an illusion?\nJasad: It is!\nCardassian 3: Why risk the confrontation? The Fourth Order can be here in a day.\nJasad: So can Starfleet.\nDax: Their lead ship is sending out a subspace message asking for reinforcements.\nBashir: Yes!\nKira: Too soon for a victory celebration, Doctor. Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: The ships are being deployed into a standard attack formation, sir.\nKira: Battle stations.\nOdo: Quickly now, quickly now. Calmly. Calmly. Come along.\nO'Brien: They may just be testing us. I could run a pulse compression wave through the phaser banks. Put out a blast that'll make them think twice.\nKira: Do it.\nKira: Damage report.\nO'Brien: Direct hit, level fourteen. Empty storage bays. No casualties.\nDax: Shields down to twenty-seven percent.\nDax: A fuel conduit has ruptured on the Promenade.\nKira: Can you divert the main power flow?\nO'Brien: Controls are locked.\nOdo: Odo to Ops.\nKira: Go ahead.\nOdo: I've got wounded people down here.\nOdo: Have you seen that doctor of yours anywhere?\nBashir: I'm on my way.\nO'Brien: I'm going to have to shut down the primary power flow or the whole Promenade will go up. Bloody Cardassians! I just got the damned thing fixed.\nBashir: Press there, hard.\nOdo: Look, Doctor, maybe I should find you someone\nBashir: Hold it there.\nO'Brien: That should do it for awhile.\nDax: Shields are at eighteen percent and falling.\nO'Brien: I might still be able to give you one more phaser blast, Major.\nKira: No. Signal the lead Cardassian ship that we will proceed with\nDax: Major, I'm reading a huge neutrino disturbance fifteen kilometers off the forward docking ring. It's the wormhole.\nKira: On screen.\nKira: Hail the lead ship. What did I tell you, Jasad?\nKira: There's your wormhole!\nSisko: Rio Grande to DS Nine.\nKira: On screen. Go ahead, Commander.\nSisko: Sorry to be late. Our friend Gul Dukat had some problems on the other side of the wormhole. I see you've had a few of your own.\nKira: A few, Commander.\nSisko: Gul Dukat is signaling his ships to disarm. Clear me for docking, Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir. Cleared for pad C.\nSisko: Casualties?\nBashir: Thirteen injured, Commander, and no fatalities.\nSisko: Jake!\nJake: Dad!\nSisko: Captain's log, Commander Benjamin Sisko, stardate 46393.1. The lifeforms who created the wormhole have agreed to allow safe passage for all ships traveling to the Gamma Quadrant. With the arrival of the Enterprise, the Cardassians have left the area.\nPicard: I suspect that the sight of their warship being towed back by a Starfleet runabout took the heart out of their fight.\nSisko: We're not done with the Cardassians yet, not with the strategic importance of that wormhole.\nPicard: Well, you've put Bajor on the map, Commander. This will shortly become a leading center of commerce and scientific exploration. And for Starfleet, one of our most important posts.\nSisko: Captain, regarding our conversation about someone to replace me.\nPicard: Yes, I'm sorry I haven't had time yet to communicate that to Command.\nSisko: I would prefer you ignore it, sir.\nPicard: I'm not sure that I can. Are you certain that's what you want, because we cannot afford to have an officer who's\nSisko: I'm certain, sir.\nPicard: Good luck, Mister Sisko.\nBashir: So, where can someone practice with his phaser around here?\nQuark: New rules?\nKira: You're can't cheat every customer who walks through the door anymore, Quark. You are a community leader now.\nQuark: Very well, very well. Perhaps we could discuss these new rules over a drink.\nKira: If you don't take that hand off my hip, you'll never be able to raise a glass with it again.\nQuark: Oh, I love a woman in uniform.\nDax: Benjamin, three Frunalian science vessels are requesting permission to dock.\nO'Brien: Problem is, we've been retro-fitting the airlocks. Half of them were damaged during the move, and most of the others when the Cardassians blew out the fuel conduits.\nSisko: I guess they'll just have to transport aboard."}
{"text": "Dax: Do you need me, Julian?\nBashir: How did you know it was me?\nDax: There are different ways to recognize someone. The rhythm of their steps, for example.\nBashir: You are remarkable.\nDax: Julian, you and I have to have a talk about Trills and relationships.\nBashir: Fine. We'll do it over supper. Quark has found me this delightfully dry champagne estate bottled on Korris One.\nDax: Julian.\nBashir: What is this?\nDax: An Altonian brain teaser.\nBashir: A brain teaser?\nDax: A puzzle.\nBashir: A puzzle? I love puzzles. How does it work?\nDax: It responds to neural theta waves. The goal is to turn the sphere into a solid color.\nBashir: That's all?\nDax: That's all. I've been trying to master it on and off for, oh, a hundred and forty years. Would you care to try?\nBashir: Yes.\nDax: Just sit comfortably, and release your tension into my hands. Dax strokes his head)\nBashir: Your hands are cold.\nDax: It's a peculiarity of the Trill.\nBashir: Cold hands, warm heart.\nDax: Concentrate on the sphere. Clear your mind. This requires focus and clarity of thought.\nBashir: I understand completely. What is that exotic scent you're wearing?\nDax: Focus and clarity of thought.\nBashir: Yes, yes, I have it.\nDax: I'm going to release it to you now, okay?\nBashir: Okay.\nDax: Computer, transfer control to second player.\nDax: I think your mind is still a little busy, Julian.\nBashir: So, are you free for supper?\nSisko: Ready, Dax?\nDax: Sorry. Perhaps another time. Maybe you'd like to try again.\nSisko: Doctor.\nBashir: Computer. Reset.\nOdo: Business is good, Quark. You're almost making an honest living.\nQuark: A lot of new faces.\nOdo: The wormhole does bring them our way, doesn't it?\nQuark: Everybody wants a piece of the new frontier.\nOdo: And I'm sure you've already tried to sell it to a few of them.\nO'Brien: We made the decision together.\nKeiko: Not true. That's not true. You decided and asked me to agree with it.\nQuark: Grapevine says Chief O'Brien and the missus are having problems.\nOdo: I'll never understand the humanoid need to couple.\nQuark: You've never coupled?\nOdo: Choose not to. Too many compromises. You want to watch the karo-net tournament, she wants to listen to music, so you compromise. You listen to music. You like Earth jazz, she prefers Klingon opera, so you compromise. You listen to Klingon opera. So here you were ready to have a nice night watching the karo-net match and you wind up spending an agonizing night listening to Klingon opera.\nKeiko: That's exactly what I'm saying.\nO'Brien: Keiko, sit down, please.\nOdo: What could they be going on about like that anyway?\nQuark: She doesn't like it here.\nOdo: Who does?\nOdo: Don't even think about it.\nQuark: I can so think about it.\nOdo: You might as well try to find a drink of water on the Yadozi desert. Besides I'd say our new Commander is interested in her.\nQuark: Not at all. I know for a fact, when she was a he, you know, before she got this new body, they were old friends.\nOdo: Things change.\nIrudan: All right now, here we go.\nOdo: How long has he been here?\nIbudan: All right, one more time.\nQuark: He came in on a transport last night.\nWaiter: Something to eat?\nDax: Just steamed azna.\nSisko: Well, some things are still the same.\nDax: If you'd listen to me, you would eat steamed azna too.\nSisko: Dax, did I ever tell you about the meals my father used to cook for us when we were children?\nDax: All the time.\nSisko: Every night in my house, my dad insisted that we have supper together as a family. He would try out his new recipes on us. He used to call us his test tasters.\nDax: Steamed azna will put years on your life.\nSisko: Dax, I don't want years on my life if I can only eat steamed azna. Sautéed, rolloped, fricasseed, fine. But not steamed. I've missed your steamed azna.\nDax: You must miss Curzon, too.\nSisko: He was, you were, are a mentor, another father to me.\nDax: This happens to Trills, Benjamin. Sometimes, our friendships with other species don't survive because of the change.\nSisko: It won't be that way with us. It's just a little uncomfortable right now.\nDax: I suggest you that allow yourself to be comfortable with your diskomfort. Time can do the rest.\nO'Brien: Keiko.\nDabo Girl: Dabo!\nIrudan: All right.\nOdo: I don't want you on this station.\nIbudan: Yeah, well that's too bad, because I have every right to be here.\nOdo: I decide who has rights and who doesn't on this Promenade.\nIbudan: You'd better ask your Federation superiors about that one.\nOdo: I don't have to check with anyone.\nIrudan: Get off me.\nOdo: You have twenty-six hours to get off this station.\nO'Brien: Look, I'm willing to ask for a transfer if that'll make you happy.\nKeiko: That's not fair either. You'd have to give up your promotion.\nO'Brien: Not necessarily.\nKeiko: I wish I knew the right thing to do. I'm just lost here. Starfleet doesn't need a botanist on this station.\nO'Brien: Keiko, there's a whole new quadrant on the other side of the wormhole, full of new plant life to explore.\nKeiko: And ships going to explore it and I'm not on any of them.\nO'Brien: We'll be sending runabouts through the wormhole. I'll see to it you get to go.\nKeiko: I don't need favors from you. I just need to be useful.\nO'Brien: Just think how much more attractive this place could be if you planted some trees and flowers on the Promenade. You could even create an arboretum from the new specimens we bring back from the Gamma Quadrant.\nKeiko: Do you really want to raise your daughter in this place, Miles?\nKira: Kira to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Go ahead.\nKira: We have a non-functional power transfer grid on level five. All the upper docking pylons are out of commission.\nO'Brien: On my way.\nJake: Hi.\nNog: What do you want, Human?\nJake: My name's Jake.\nNog: I know who you are.\nJake: What's yours?\nNog: Why do you care?\nJake: Not exactly a lot of friends to choose from around here. You know what I mean.\nNog: Nog. My name's Nog.\nOdo: His name is Ibudan. He used to run black market goods through here to the surface during the Cardassian occupation, gouging his fellow man who needed medical supplies and so forth. Some Bajorans actually considered him a hero, but I saw him let a child die when the parents couldn't afford the drug that would've saved her life. A few years back, he killed a Cardassian officer who wanted a payoff to look the other way. He went to prison for murder. I sent him there.\nSisko: For murder? What's he doing out?\nOdo: The Provisional Government let him go. Killing a Cardassian isn't considered much of a crime nowadays.\nSisko: Doesn't sound like there's much we can do about it.\nOdo: I can get him off my Promenade.\nSisko: If he hasn't done anything wrong, you can't just arbitrarily force him to leave.\nOdo: Watch me.\nSisko: Mister Odo, you're not going to take the law into your own hands.\nOdo: The law? Commander, laws change depending on who's making them. Cardassians one day, Federation the next. But justice is justice, and as long as I'm in charge of security.\nSisko: If you can't work within the rules, I'll find someone who can.\nJake: What are they?\nNog: Garanian bolites. Come on.\nBashir: I guess I know the competition now.\nDax: What are you talking about, Julian?\nBashir: Did you have a nice dinner with Commander Sisko?\nDax: Julian, Trills do not look for romance the way humans do. In fact, we find it quite a nuisance.\nBashir: A nuisance?\nDax: It's a weakness of the young, and although a Trill host may have these feelings occasionally, it is our wish to live on a higher plane, to try to rise above these kinds of temptations.\nBashir: You said, try to rise above, which suggests you don't always succeed.\nDax: Julian.\nSisko: Sisko to Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Go ahead.\nSisko: We need medical assistance above the bar in holosuite four.\nBashir: Acknowledged, Commander. I still have that champagne on ice.\nWoman: Help us!\nMan: Somebody help us!\nWoman: Something is happening to us!\nMan: Get a doctor!\nOdo: The door opened only twice. The first time when the computer logged Ibudan's check-in at seventeen hundred hours, sixteen minutes. The suite was secured so no one else could enter. He ran Lauriento massage holoprogram number one oh one A. Thirteen minutes later the door opened for the second time, but since Ibudan obviously didn't exit, we have to assume that's when the killer left.\nKira: Any evidence of a beam in during those thirteen minutes?\nOdo: No.\nKira: Well then how did the killer get in?\nSisko: He might have entered the holosuite the same time Ibudan did.\nBashir: Cause of death's no mystery. The knife was thrust directly between the left and right thoracic vertebrae, perforating the lower ventricle of the heart. The murderer apparently had a decent knowledge of Bajoran anatomy.\nSisko: Doctor, I want you to look for evidence that could establish someone was in here with him.\nBashir: I'll do a sweep for hair follicles, any skin or cellular remnants, and DNA fragments.\nSisko: How many ships have left since yesterday.\nKira: Two. A Federation survey ship and a Vulcan science vessel.\nSisko: Advise all ships in dock that departures will be delayed until further notice.\nKeiko: And they were just looking for trouble. Those kids have no reason to be hanging around the Promenade.\nO'Brien: It's about the only place they have to go. You can't keep them locked in their rooms.\nKeiko: This isn't like a starship, Miles. The kind of freedom children have on the Enterprise just won't work on a space station. There are too many ways to get into serious trouble here. What this place needs is a school.\nKira: All ships have been informed of the delays, Commander.\nSisko: Major, do you know Mister Zayra, who operates the Transit Aid center?\nKira: We've met.\nSisko: He was just telling me something disturbing. I think you should hear it\nZayra: It's just that the murdered man, Ibudan, I spoke to him yesterday about an hour before it happened.\nKira: Where was this?\nZayra: Quark's. By the dabo table. It was after his scuffle with the shape-shifter. He told me that he was scared. He was afraid that Odo might kill him.\nKira: There isn't a more honorable man on this station than the Constable.\nZayra: Maybe so. All I know is, an hour later, Ibudan was dead.\nOfficer: Computer, lights. This was Ibudan's quarters. Feel free to look around.\nOdo: Double accommodations?\nOfficer: That's what he requested, but only one passenger was logged in. He probably just wanted larger quarters. If there's anything else you need.\nOdo: I want a record of all the passengers on board.\nOfficer: Of course. I'll get you a copy of the ship's manifest.\nOdo: Computer, how many entries made from this terminal during the last seventy eight hours.\nComputer: Seven entries noted in personal calendar files.\nOdo: Show them to me. (Stardate 46383 Secure for departure, Depart from Alderaan spaceport, Lifeboat drill, Lunch meeting with Della Santina, Tennis holodeck 2, Dinner, Ship's concert.)\nOdo: Take me to stardate 46384\nSisko: You won't get an argument from me, Mrs O'Brien. When I found out what happened this morning on the Promenade\nJake: We weren't doing anything.\nSisko: I don't want to talk about this now. It's this Ferengi boy, Nog. Jake's won't be having anything more to do with him.\nJake: He's the only one here even close to my age.\nKeiko: That's not exactly true, Jake. There are twelve other children on board, ranging from eight to sixteen. The problem is there's no structured activity for them. Don't you miss the schools you used to go to, Jake?\nJake: No. I guess. Studying alone on the computer, it kind of gets boring sometimes.\nKeiko: You know, I've never actually been a teacher, Commander, but it's something I've always thought about doing.\nSisko: As a Starfleet Commander and as a father, I think this is a terrific idea. What do you need?\nKeiko: Some space.\nSisko: We'll find it.\nKeiko: Computers?\nSisko: You'll have them. I hope you realize what you're getting yourself into. I can't force the Bajora, the Ferengi or anyone else to send their children to your school. And even if they do come, every one has a different culture, a different philosophy.\nKeiko: I know I'll have to come up with an innovative program But I can't imagine any parent not welcoming the news of a school opening here. Thank you, Commander.\nSisko: If I hear of you hanging around with him.\nJake: I thought you didn't want to talk about this now.\nBashir: These are the DNA sequence analyzes, the cellular spectrographs and the particulate matter traces. I asked Lieutenant Dax to confirm my findings and I'm afraid she concurs.\nDax: There were no new DNA traces found in the holosuite.\nKira: You're saying nobody went into the room with him?\nBashir: Well, apart from those of us who were in there after the body was diskovered, this was the only DNA present, and we've identified it as Ibudan's.\nKira: Wait a minute. Ibudan goes in the holosuite alone, locks the door, nobody transports in, a few minutes later he's murdered. How is that possible?\nOdo: It's not. Unless the murder was committed by someone who could get through the cracks in the door. Say, a shape-shifter.\nOdo: It's a pretty neat package. His calendar shows he was planning to meet with me at the time of the murder. No one except a shape-shifter could get into the holosuite. And since I'd obviously be called there after the body was diskovered, traces of my DNA wind up at the scene of the crime.\nKira: Do you have any kind of an alibi?\nOdo: Major, I have to return to my natural state every eighteen hours to regenerate. To be quite honest about it, I was in a pail in the back of my office when Ibudan was killed.\nKira: The killer might have known your regenerative cycle and planned the murder accordingly.\nOdo: Like I said, a neat package.\nKira: Who might want to frame you for murder?\nOdo: I can think of about five hundred different people, but I haven't seen any of them around the station recently. Do you think that Federation doctor could do a sweep of Ibudan's quarters for me, see if he can find out if somebody else was using that second bed?\nKira: I'll send him over there right away.\nOdo: Thank you, Major.\nGirl: Dabo!\nRom: You want my boy to go to a Federation school?\nKeiko: Not just Federation. I'm developing a curriculum that will take a much broader approach.\nRom: Little lady, little lady, what do you know of Ferengi education?\nKeiko: I understand you employ a work-study approach, Mister Rom, with apprenticeships in a wide range of business and economic fields.\nRom: We throw them into the cut-throat competition of Ferengi commerce and anyone who survives, graduates. Are you prepared to teach that to my son?\nKeiko: I'm sure I couldn't improve on what you've already taught him in that department.\nRom: Thank you. Thank you. I've taught him everything I know. It's so important that we prepare our youth for the challenges of the future.\nKeiko: Exactly. Consider the advantage your son will have over other Ferengi once he's learned about other cultures, once he learns how others run their economies, conduct business, negotiate.\nRom: You will teach my son these things?\nKeiko: Knowledge is power, Mister Rom.\nRom: It can't work. He will not listen to you.\nKeiko: Why not?\nRom: You are female.\nKeiko: So?\nRom: My son cannot learn anything from a female human teacher.\nKeiko: Let him try it for a few weeks. He has nothing to lose and so much to gain.\nRom: I don't think so.\nKeiko: Will you at least think about it?\nRom: Yes. Yes. Of course. Now, really, I'm quite busy. Place your wagers! Place your wagers. Get this lovely young woman a drink.\nZayra: What do we know about him anyway? He's not one of us.\nBajoran: He isn't one of anything.\nZayra: You know what really bothers me? This shifter was the last Chief of Security when the Cardassians were here.\nBajoran: He's the one who caught Ibudan for them.\nZayra: Why is he still Security Chief?\nBajoran: You're right. We ought to talk to Major Kira.\nQuark: Nobody knows him like I know him. Let me tell you something. He's an ill-tempered, over-bearing crosspatch. But he was no Cardassian collaborator and he's no killer.\nZayra: I can't believe you're defending him, Quark. You're his worst enemy.\nQuark: Guess that's the closest thing he has in this world to a friend. (A gray-bearded Bajoran in a cloak and hood watches the men talking.\nZayra: Security, huh?\nSisko: Listen, I hear what you're saying. I understand your concerns.\nZayra: We're not saying whether he's innocent or guilty, Commander. All we're saying is isn't it reasonable under the circumstances that he\nKira: Thank you very much for coming.\nKira: This is wrong.\nSisko: And what would you suggest we do?\nKira: He didn't do it.\nSisko: The man we have in charge of a murder investigation is the prime suspect, Major. Those people have a right to complain.\nDax: Even if he's innocent, it could still seem like a conflict of interest, Kira.\nKira: You're going to relieve him of duty.\nSisko: I don't see any other choice.\nKira: He has been completely candid about this investigation. He could have covered his tracks a half a dozen times already if he were guilty.\nSisko: I appreciate how you feel, but the decision stands. I'll inform him myself.\nBashir: The only curious thing I found were these seofurane fragments near the matter reclamation unit. Dish, please. It appears he was trying to get rid of them.\nOdo: Do you have any idea what they're from?\nBashir: I know exactly what they're from. A biological sample container. I use them all the time.\nOdo: What would Ibudan be doing with a biological sample container?\nBashir: That I'm not so sure about, but when I analyzed the fragments I detected traces of a complex organic structure.\nOdo: Translate, Doctor.\nBashir: It suggests Ibudan may have been conducting some sort of medical experiment on board his ship.\nOdo: He wasn't a doctor or a scientist.\nBashir: Let's see what a standard electrophoretic analysis tells us.\nBashir: What the? The complex proteins are breaking down into DNA fragments.\nOdo: And what does that mean?\nBashir: It means we should set up a bio-regenerative field to accelerate the cellular development. If I can reconstruct the DNA sequence, it might just give us an idea what he was up to.\nSisko: Sisko to Odo.\nOdo: Here.\nSisko: May I see you in my office, please.\nOdo: Acknowledged.\nOdo: Commander?\nSisko: Sit down. I am temporarily relieving you of duty. I'm sure the reasons are obvious.\nOdo: Who will be taking over the investigation?\nSisko: I've placed Major Kira and Lieutenant Dax in charge.\nOdo: Will that be all, Commander?\nSisko: I want you to know I don't personally believe that you were responsible for this.\nOdo: Really? Now how can that be true? You don't know me. You have no reason to believe that I wouldn't kill Ibudan if it suited my fancy. So don't tell me there isn't some doubt inside of you, some question about whether or not I murdered the man.\nSisko: I simply feel that putting Kira and Dax in charge of the investigation will be in everyone's best interests, including your own.\nOdo: I'll take care of my own best interests.\nMan: That's him.\nVoice: They found his DNA.\nQuark: I can find out who did it for you.\nOdo: Not for me. Tell it to Starfleet. I'm not in charge here any longer.\nQuark: Well now, there's a piece of good news to brighten my day.\nOdo: You'd better take advantage of my absence while you can, Quark.\nQuark: Oh, I will, I will. Count on it. I'll have every confidence man in the sector on board by tomorrow.\nOdo: You do and I'll\nQuark: What?\nOdo: You're going get sloppy without me to keep an eye on you\nQuark: I don't think so. You've kept me on my toes for far too long now.\nOdo: Sure. I've turned you into a better crook.\nQuark: Like it or not.\nOdo: Quark, think you could use a shape-shifter in your organization?\nQuark: You had me going.\nOdo: I did, didn't I.\nQuark: Yes, you did. You know, I've been asking some friends at Kran-Tobol prison about Ibudan. Whether he made any enemies while he was there. Couldn't find any. Mostly he stayed around the Bajoran dissidents that the Cardassians locked up.\nBashir: It's growing exponentially. We're going to have to increase the metabolic field energy.\nSisko: Just what is it that's growing in there?\nDax: Aren't those DNA patterns humanoid, Julian?\nBashir: That's what it looks like to me, but there's a genetic drift I can't quite put my finger on.\nSisko: What was Ibudan up to?\nBashir: We're going to have to wait and see what this becomes before we have a clue. You can transfer it to the larger field now.\nNurse: Yes, Doctor.\nSisko: Care for lunch?\nBashir: Sure.\nDax: No, thank you. Major Kira's waiting for my report.\nBashir: Just how many different lives do you think she's led?\nSisko: I don't even know. He'll go, she'll go through a list of them, then out comes another one in a later conversation. I'd guess that Jadzia is probably the sixth host.\nBashir: Has she changed much?\nSisko: Changed?\nBashir: From the last one, Curzon Dax. I understand a Trill integrates the personality of each new host.\nSisko: I guess I'll have to find that out. If I were to tell you some of the mischief he and I got into. There was a time, I was no older than you are, we were at the running of the Rujian Steeplechase. Dax loves the races. Anyway, there were these gorgeous seven foot Ruji twin sisters that Curzon knew, and he and I. I guess we won't be doing that again soon, will we?\nBashir: You care for her a great deal, don't you?\nSisko: Dax and I are just friends, Doctor. If you're interested, you have nothing to fear from me.\nBashir: I mean, I were in your shoes, knowing Dax as intimately as you do, I think I'd find her hard to resist.\nSisko: You don't understand, Doctor. Dax used to beat me regularly at bare fist Juro counterpunch.\nBashir: Well I guess you won't be doing that again soon, either.\nMan: I'm not drinking with that scum.\nVoice: I won't drink near this man.\nKeiko: In a semi-circle here, facing the module. That's right. Thank you.\nO'Brien: Here's Mommy.\nMolly: Where you been, Mommy?\nKeiko: I've been getting ready for school tomorrow, honey.\nMolly: Can I come to school?\nKeiko: I wish you could. At least I'd know one student would be coming. But you have to wait a year or two.\nO'Brien: How's it going?\nKeiko: We'll be ready in time. In time for what, I'm not sure. Aside from Commander Sisko, we haven't had a firm commitment from any of the parents. What's this?\nO'Brien: Just a little something I replicated on the way over.\nKeiko: Help Mommy to open her present, Molly. Come on, pull.\nKeiko: Oh, Miles. Thank you.\nO'Brien: I want to see you standing in the Promenade tomorrow morning ringing your school bell.\nMan: Murderer.\nO'Brien: I'd better take her home.\nCrowd: Murder. Killer.\nZayra: Shape-shifting freak.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Ops.\nO'Brien: Security to the Promenade on the double.\nKira: Acknowledged.\nSecurity: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Sisko.\nSisko: I'm here, Chief. What's going on?\nO'Brien: We've got a crowd, more like a mob, outside Odo's office.\nO'Brien: You'd better get down here.\nCrowd: Freak! Shape-shifter!\nZayra: Freak! Murdering shifter.\nSisko: Odo's inside?\nO'Brien: Yes sir, he went in a few minutes ago. The crowd followed him from the bar.\nSisko: I want more security here and I want them armed.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir\nKira: It's going to be harder to control them if numbers keep growing. We can secure all turbolifts, slow down the traffic onto the Promenade.\nSisko: Good idea.\nDax: Julian, look at this.\nBashir: The chromatin pattern is changing.\nDax: It's definitely humanoid.\nBashir: It's definitely humanoid. It's definitely. My God! Dax, I think I know what it is. Run a chromosome analysis. I think we're going to find a gene-sequence degradation.\nZayra: Shifter! Shifter! Shifter! Shifter!\nSisko: Coming through. What the hell do you people intend to accomplish here?\nBajoran: We want the shape-shifter!\nSisko: And what do you think you're going to do to him if you get to him?\nCrowd: He deserves to die.\nZayra: He's right. How do you get a rope around the neck of a shape-shifter.\nSisko: Listen to me. You will disperse immediately. Return to your quarters. Return to your ships.\nMale: He's a murderer. We want justice.\nSisko: Do you? Justice? Really? Is it justice you're after or just some way to express your anger, your fear. Look at yourselves! In an hour, you'll regret what you've tried to do here. Do not condemn this man because he is different than you are.\nZayra: We condemn him because of the evidence.\nSisko: Then take that evidence to a court of law. There will be no justice served here today.\nBashir: Commander! Commander Sisko. I believe we have some new evidence to consider. The man who was murdered was not Ibudan.\nOdo: What?\nBashir: Come with me.\nO'Brien: All right. break it up now.\nKira: Move on, people. Let's clear the area.\nSecurity: You heard what she said. Come on, back to your quarters. Quickly, move.\nBashir: A clone. That's what Ibudan was working on. Creating a clone of himself.\nOdo: And then he killed the clone to frame me for his murder.\nSisko: How can we be sure the victim was a clone?\nDax: A clone has identical DNA to that of the donor, but certain cloning methods cause a characteristic gene-sequence degradation which can be detected.\nBashir: if you know to look for it. We've matched the victim's gene-sequence with the fellow in the jar here. They're definitely both clones.\nOdo: What happens to this one?\nBashir: In about two days, he becomes a living, breathing member of Bajoran society.\nOdo: Let's hope he doesn't follow in his donor's footsteps.\nSisko: What about Ibudan?\nOdo: I have an idea where to find him.\nLamonay: Computer, lights.\nLamonay: Who are you? How did you get in here?\nOdo: Oh, I think you know.\nLamonay: I warn you, I'll call ship's security.\nOdo: Do that. I have some interesting questions to ask them. For example, I'm especially curious to know how the name Lamonay S came to appear on this ship's passenger list yesterday.\nLamonay: That is my name, and I arranged for transport on this vessel. What should that be so strange?\nOdo: You did not arrive on this ship.\nLamonay: No.\nOdo: Well, just what ship did you arrive on, Mister Lamonay S? I can't find any record of your arrival on any vessel that has docked here in the last three weeks.\nLamonay: I assure you, you are in error.\nOdo: In fact I think you did arrive on this ship, and that you spent the last few years in prison among Bajoran dissidents, one of whom I've learned was a scientist who was arrested by the Cardassians for conducting experimental research into tri-phasic cloning.\nOdo: Killing your own clone is still murder. Commander's log, stardate 46421.5. Ibudan has been turned over to the Bajoran authorities just hours after his clone gained consciousness and began a new life. The perpetrators of the mob violence have retreated into their own business. To my knowledge, Odo has received no apologies. Meanwhile, life on the station has begun to return to normal.\nKeiko: Computer what time is it?\nComputer: Oh nine oh seven hours.\nKeiko: I guess you were right. It isn't going to be easy.\nSisko: Maybe it's just going to take a little time to\nRom: Sit down! Not next to that human boy. I don't want you to have anything to do with him.\nRom: We'll try it for a few weeks.\nKeiko: Please, come in. Take any seat. Try to be on time from now on. My name is Keiko O'Brien, I'll be your teacher. Why don't we turn on our computers and access the files on Bajor to find out a little bit more about the people and history of this world?"}
{"text": "Garak: It's Doctor Bashir, isn't it? Of course it is. May I introduce myself?\nBashir: Er, yes, yes, of course.\nGarak: My name is Garak. Cardassian by birth, obviously. The only one of us left on this station, as a matter of fact, so I do appreciate making new friends whenever I can. You are new to this station, I believe.\nBashir: I am, yes. Though, though I understand you've been here quite a while.\nGarak: Ah, you know of me then.\nBashir: Would you care for some of this Tarkalean tea? It's very good.\nGarak: What a thoughtful young man. How nice that we've met.\nBashir: You know, some people say that you remained on DS Nine as the eyes and ears of your fellow Cardassians.\nGarak: You don't say? Doctor, you're not intimating that I'm considered some sort of spy, are you?\nBashir: I wouldn't know, sir.\nGarak: Ah. An open mind. The essence of intellect. As you may also know, I have a clothing shop nearby, so if you should require any apparel, or merely wish, as I do, for a bit of enjoyable company now and then, I'm at your disposal, Doctor.\nBashir: You're very kind, Mister Garak.\nGarak: Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak. Now, good day to you, Doctor. I'm so glad to have made such an interesting new friend today.\nBashir: You won't never believe who just sat down next to me at the Replimat\nO'Brien: Major, upper pylon three'll be shut down for maintenance for forty-eight hours.\nBashir: The spy! Garak, the Cardassian.\nSisko: We don't know for a fact Garak's a spy, Doctor.\nBashir: He is. You should have heard him. He introduced himself and he struck up conversation just like that. he was making contact with me, with me of all people.\nDax: What do you think he might want from you, Julian?\nBashir: I don't know. Federation medical secrets? Rest assured they're safe with me, Commander.\nSisko: I'm sure they are, Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: In fact, Chief O'Brien, I think you should place a monitoring device on me. Well, just in case he's up to something?\nSisko: I don't think that'll be necessary, Doctor. Just be very cautious when you're around him.\nKira: Commander? We've got a small craft taking evasive action. Cardassian war vessel in pursuit.\nSisko: On screen.\nKira: That's Bajoran. That damned Cardassian's firing at a Bajoran scout ship in Bajoran space!\nSisko: Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: Confirmed, sir. They've crossed into Bajoran space.\nSisko: Open a hailing frequency to the Cardassians.\nO'Brien: Channel open.\nSisko: Cardassian vessel, you are violating Bajoran space. Break off your pursuit. Repeat, break off now.\nO'Brien: No reply from the Cardassians. The Bajoran vessel is hailing us.\nSisko: Open the channel.\nTahna: Space station, do you read? Space station\nO'Brien: We can only get audio, Commander.\nSisko: This is Benjamin Sisko, Starfleet Commander of the station. Who are you? Why are they pursuing?\nTahna: Please! Repeating request for emergency docking! Please!\nDax: The Bajoran scout ship is badly damaged. Structural integrity is failing.\nDax: He's breaking up.\nSisko: Get him out, Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nBashir: Medical assistance to Ops.\nTahna: My name is Tahna Los. Request political asylum. Kira?\nKira: His name is Tahna Los. We fought together in the underground.\nO'Brien: Commander, the Cardassians are hailing us.\nKira: Now they want to talk.\nO'Brien: They're hopping mad.\nSisko: Open the channel, Mister O'Brien.\nGul Danar: Federation Commander, you've taken aboard a known criminal. You will turn him over to us.\nSisko: He has requested asylum.\nGul Danar: You have not granted it.\nSisko: To be honest, I haven't decided yet.\nGul Danar: He is Kohn-Ma! Even the Bajorans would not grant his kind asylum. He has committed heinous crimes against the Cardassian people and I demand you release him to our custody.\nSisko: I'll investigate the matter immediately. In the interim, if you'd care to dock your vessel, I'll be glad to hear an explanation for having violated Bajoran space and threatened a Federation facility.\nGul Danar: We have made no threat to your facility.\nSisko: I stand corrected. Sisko out.\nSisko: The Major and I will be at the Infirmary. I'd like some time to talk with this fellow Tahna. When Gul Danar comes in, it'd be nice if we had a few docking regulations to keep him outside a while.\nO'Brien: Understood.\nKira: You're not seriously considering handing Tahna over to the Cardassians?\nSisko: Were you part of this Kohn-Ma, Major?\nKira: If I had been, I would not be working with the provisional government now.\nSisko: You'd still be out murdering Cardassians or even some Bajorans that the Kohn-Ma hold in contempt. Didn't they claim responsibility for the assassination of one of your First Ministers last month?\nKira: Look, I know Tahna.\nSisko: Is he Kohn-Ma?\nKira: Yes, but\nSisko: I suggest you get your priorities straight, Major, because I don't have any room for divided loyalties in this command. And I won't have a Kohn-Ma terrorist using this station as a protective shield for continuing violence.\nKira: My priorities are straight, Commander. Let's not be confused here. my loyalties are to Bajor, and Bajor needs men like Tahna Los.\nSisko: Apparently his war with the Cardassians isn't over yet.\nKira: If Bajor is ever to rebuild a strong and independent society, it will require the repatriation of splinter groups like the Kohn-Ma. You have, we have, an opportunity here, Commander. I hope you don't miss it.\nKira: How is he?\nBashir: Second degree burns, lacerations, a minor concussion. Not much compared to what he's been through before.\nSisko: Before?\nBashir: The most recent of these scars is only two, perhaps three years old.\nTahna: Two and a half, actually.\nBashir: It's remarkable you lived through this.\nKira: It's a Cardassian technique designed to keep you alive.\nSisko: I'm Commander Benjamin Sisko. I have a few questions for you if you're up to answering them.\nKira: Commander Sisko hasn't decided whether to grant you asylum yet, Tahna.\nSisko: Major, perhaps I should conduct this alone.\nTahna: Major?\nKira: I'm the liaison officer to the Federation here. Still fighting for Bajor in my own way. I'll stop by later.\nTahna: What do you need to know, Commander?\nSisko: For starters, why were they chasing you?\nTahna: You really want to hear the story of my life?\nSisko: I assume as a member of the Kohn-Ma you've committed serious acts against them.\nTahna: Any one of a hundred that would lead to a Cardassian death sentence.\nSisko: Any of them since their withdrawal from Bajor?\nTahna: Frankly, yes.\nSisko: Why would you continue the violence against them now?\nTahna: To be honest, I'm not sure anymore. We say we're punishing them for crimes committed against us for over half a century, but I've had enough of the killing.\nBashir: I'm sorry, Commander. He needs rest now.\nKira: Admiral, I think Commander Sisko's being incredibly short-sighted. He obviously doesn't understand the issues involved.\nRollman: Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Major. I'll stay in close touch with the situation.\nKira: Thank you, Admiral.\nO'Brien: Sir, the Cardassian warship has docked. Lieutenant Dax is making sure that all procedural details are precisely observed, no matter how long it takes.\nSisko: Well done. I have some more research to do on the Kohn-Ma before I see them.\nO'Brien: Sir, I don't know much about the Bajoran terrorists, but you've never fought the Cardassians, have you?\nSisko: No.\nO'Brien: Well, you just wouldn't want to turn a man, any man over to their tender care, sir. You just wouldn't. Subspace transmission from Admiral Rollman for you, Commander.\nSisko: In my office.\nRollman: Ben, that Bajoran woman you have working for you interrupted a staff meeting to tell me how she disapproves of your handling of this asylum matter. I think you have a problem there, Commander.\nSisko: Yes, Admiral.\nKira: It's all right. You're safe.\nTahna: Strange to run into each other here, isn't it?\nKira: It's good to be with someone who knows what it's been like out there.\nTahna: Wearing that uniform, I thought maybe you'd forgotten.\nKira: Never.\nTahna: Working on the inside hasn't dulled that old fire just a little?\nKira: Ask Sisko about that.\nTahna: Don't get along?\nKira: Oil and water. You're tired. I should go.\nTahna: Kira, do you think he'll give me to the Cardassians?\nKira: Over my dead body.\nTahna: That's the Kira I remember.\nGul Danar: If you require all vessels to endure such lengthy docking procedures, Commander, you're going to have a lot of impatient traffic out there.\nSisko: I apologize. We're still trying to repair all the damage your forces did before they left. It does create unreasonable delays.\nGul Danar: I accept your apology, but not your explanation. What about Tahna Los?\nSisko: Well, we've got a problem.\nGul Danar: A diplomatic insult to the Cardassian people would be a problem. Delivering a wanted criminal to us would not be.\nSisko: Danar, in war, both sides commit atrocities.\nGul Danar: I can only tell you that we are certain he plans to commit more acts of terrorism\nSisko: He tells me that he has renounced the Kohn-Ma and wants to help to rebuild Bajor.\nGul Danar: He committed brutal acts of destruction and murder and he must pay for those crimes.\nSisko: I appreciate the Cardassian position but I know if a Bajoran freedom-fighter is turned over to the Cardassians by the Federation, that would be a mistake that would undermine everything that I'm trying to accomplish here. So, with apologies, I'm going to grant him asylum for the time being. Eventually, he'll want to relocate to Bajor and if you want to pursue the matter with the Provisional Government, then that's your business.\nKira: How long since you've slept in a comfortable bed?\nTahna: I can adapt to that part very quickly, thank you.\nKira: I'm glad you're here. We need you, Tahna.\nTahna: I don't think the Federation has any use for my particular talents.\nKira: I mean Bajor needs you. If you had the impression that I'm a Federation officer in any way, I promise you I\nTahna: I thought you were under Sisko's command.\nKira: I am, but\nTahna: You see, that's something I could never adapt to.\nKira: Somebody has to coordinate relations between the Federation and the Provisional Government, At least with someone like me here\nTahna: Why? Why should they be here at all? What right does this so-called Provisional Government have to bring them here\nKira: I know\nTahna: After everything we fought for, Kira. Freedom from domination, true independence. No outsiders. No Cardassians, and no Federations.\nKira: Things have changed, Tahna. With the diskovery of the wormhole\nTahna: Oh, yes, the wormhole.\nKira: Look, I don't want the Federation here any more than you do but they are serving a purpose. For the time being, at least. Without the Federation, the Cardassians would be back in a minute to take control of the wormhole. And the wormhole is the future of Bajor, Tahna. It's bringing ships and commerce. It's making us a power in the quadrant.\nTahna: I don't want to be a power in the quadrant. I want Bajor for Bajorans. I want our homeland back.\nKira: We have it back. And as we grow stronger, we'll be able to defend it ourselves without having to lean on the Federation or anyone else. I know it's difficult to see. After all we've been through, we want it all now. But with people like you leading the way\nTahna: You have adapted, haven't you.\nKira: Tahna, I've put myself on the line for you here. You are finished with the Kohn-Ma?\nTahna: Yes. Yes, I am finished with the Kohn-Ma.\nKira: I've been talking with several of the ministers of the Provisional Government about amnesty. For you and any member of the Kohn-Ma who follows you.\nTahna: There are some who might, if there were assurances.\nKira: I'm working on it, Tahna. I'll find a way to make it happen.\nOdo: What?\nDeputy: Sir, we've had a little problem. These two women are just arriving. They objected to giving up their weapons.\nLursa: Klingons do not surrender their weapons. ODO@ Who are you?\nLursa: We are Lursa and B'Etor. Of the house of Duras.\nOdo: And we have specific regulations. You can leave the weapons or leave the station. Your choice. Please make it now.\nB'Etor: Who are you?\nOdo: I'm the one giving you the choice.\nOdo: Welcome to DS Nine.\nOdo: We have some new guests you might be interested in. A couple of Klingon sisters from the Duras Family.\nSisko: Lursa and B'Etor.\nOdo: You know them, then.\nSisko: They tried to grab control of the Klingon High Council, started a brief civil war. They've been out of sight since then.\nOdo: I ran a security check. The Klingons have them listed as renegades.\nSisko: We've heard they've been trying to raise capital to rebuild their armies. What are they doing here?\nOdo: Sitting. They went straight to Quark's, but not for the gambling and certainly not for the food. They're just sitting.\nSisko: I don't like it.\nOdo: Why don't I lock them up and call the Klingons to come get them.\nSisko: Odo.\nOdo: If they're enemies of the Klingon High Council?\nSisko: They haven't broken any laws here. You can't just throw them in jail.\nOdo: You know, Cardassian rule may have been oppressive, but at least it was simple.\nSisko: Keep an eye on them.\nOdo: As you wish, Commander.\nBashir: And how are you this evening, Mister Garak? Excuse me, just plain, simple Garak, you said.\nGarak: Plain and simple. Join me, Doctor. Enhance my evening.\nBashir: Keeping an eye on the ebb and flow of things, are you?\nGarak: As a clothier, I do have a keen interest in what the population is wearing from day to day. Klingons have an odd sense of style, don't you agree?\nBashir: Oh, yes, they do.\nGarak: But intriguing. I would say that those two outfits are worth studying closely. Look.\nLursa: All right, where's the payment.\nTahna: It's on its way.\nB'Etor: That was not the arrangement.\nTahna: I couldn't stop to get it. I barely got past the Cardassians.\nLursa: Your safety is not our concern.\nB'Etor: Your gold is.\nTahna: It will be available tomorrow.\nB'Etor: Good. Because if we have made this trip for nothing, you will have made a fatal mistake.\nKira: I've managed to arrange a hearing of the Ministers' Court.\nSisko: Any predictions?\nKira: I have two of the ministers, the smart ones, ready to vote for amnesty. I'm sure one of the others will fall in line.\nSisko: Good.\nKira: And Tahna says two more of the Kohn-Ma are willing to follow him if you'll guarantee their safety.\nSisko: Done.\nKira: I have to say this, Commander. When we first talked I wasn't sure you. This wouldn't have been possible without your support. I want you to know it's appreciated.\nSisko: Be sure to mention it the next time you chat with Admiral Rollman.\nKira: Sir.\nSisko: Go over my head again and I'll have yours on a platter\nSisko: So, Constable. News about our Klingon sisters?\nOdo: They seem to make friends easily.\nSisko: Friends?\nOdo: Our reformed Kohn-Ma, for example.\nSisko: Tahna with Lursa and B'Etor?\nOdo: Talking about a business arrangement. He's paying them for something. I don't know what. The gold is supposedly on its way.\nSisko: Two other members of the Kohn-Ma may be bringing it.\nOdo: How do you know that?\nSisko: Major Kira mentioned that they were on their way.\nOdo: Do you want her to know about this?\nSisko: Not quite yet.\nLursa: You are the clothier, Garak?\nGarak: At your service, madam. May I show you our latest fashions? Perhaps some silk lingerie from Kraus Four?\nB'Etor: Watch your tongue, Cardassian, or I'll rip it out and eat it.\nGarak: I meant no offense. I have few Klingon patrons. So, is there something you wish to buy?\nLursa: We are not here to buy. We are here to sell.\nB'Etor: We understand you still represent Cardassian interests here.\nGarak: I am only a simple clothing merchant.\nB'Etor: We have no time for your games. Do you want Tahna Los or not?\nGarak: You are in a position to deliver the Bajoran to Cardassian authorities?\nLursa: What is he worth to them?\nB'Etor: In gold-pressed latinum.\nLursa: You insult us.\nGarak: Ladies, ladies, please. Everything is negotiable. I am no more than what I seem to be, a merchant trying to make the best transaction. So, let us haggle.\nTahna: Yes?\nKira: I have the third minister's vote. The hearing is simply a formality now. You are going to receive amnesty, Tahna.\nTahna: I never realized you were such an accomplished politician.\nKira: Me? A politician? No, I don't think so.\nTahna: You manipulate Sisko and the Federation, the ministers of the Provisional Government.\nKira: I'm just determined. I think they all simply get tired of hearing my voice.\nTahna: And here we expected to find that Kira Nerys had lost the fire in her heart.\nKira: What are you talking about? You knew I was here before you even came. Tahna, I trusted you.\nTahna: I am Kohn-Ma. I fight for the freedom of Bajor. You once fought for it as well.\nKira: I'm still fighting for it.\nTahna: Stop deluding yourself! You say you don't believe in the Federation, you say you don't believe in the Provisional Government, and yet you are their dance instructor.\nKira: That's not fair.\nTahna: Don't be naive, Major.\nKira: I don't want the Federation here, but for now\nTahna: Once you're in your comfortable bed with the Federation, you won't be able to get out. We won't be able to get out.\nKira: If you expect me to help you commit some act of violence against the Federation\nTahna: No. No, the violence is over. That is the truth. No one will get hurt in any way, I promise you that. But I do need your help.\nKira: You've already lied to me, Tahna. I know how the game works.\nTahna: To do what we plan, we need a small ship capable of warp speed. I gambled that I could convince you to get it for us.\nKira: Just what is this peaceful plan?\nTahna: In one move and non-violently, we accomplish everything both of us has ever wanted for Bajor.\nKira: How?\nTahna: I know the game too, Kira. You know I cannot risk telling you that.\nKira: How do you know I won't just go straight to Sisko?\nTahna: Well, if you do, we'll both know where your loyalties are, won't we?\nBashir: Ah. Plain, simple Garak. How are you today?\nGarak: Being observant, Doctor.\nBashir: I'm sure of it.\nGarak: There's a time for levity, my young friend, and a time for genuine concern. The arrival on this station, for instance, of those two Kohn-Ma terrorists.\nBashir: Terrorists? What are they doing here?\nGarak: I'm not exactly sure. But together, we might have some success at finding out.\nBashir: Garak, I'm a doctor\nGarak: And once you do have the appropriate answer, I'm sure you'll know what to do with it.\nBashir: I really must be getting along now.\nGarak: Doctor, I think it's time for you to take advantage of my shop. If you'll be there at exactly twenty fifty five hours tonight, I promise to show you a suit that will make you into a new man.\nBashir: A suit? We're talking about terrorists, and you want me to buy a new suit?\nGarak: Doctor, am I making myself clear? I want you to buy a new suit tonight at twenty fifty five, exactly.\nBashir: Er, yes, I see. Well, if you'll excuse me. A suit?\nSisko: Major?\nKira: Commander.\nSisko: I'd like to meet the two Kohn-Ma who just arrived as soon as possible.\nKira: Of course. I'll arrange it.\nSisko: How do they seem to you?\nKira: Sir?\nSisko: Do you feel as secure about them as you do about Tahna Los?\nKira: Absolutely.\nBashir: Commander Sisko.\nBashir: I need some guidance.\nSisko: Yes, Doctor?\nBashir: It's about Garak, the Cardassian? I'm afraid this relationship has gotten a little out of hand.\nSisko: How's that?\nBashir: He wants me to buy a suit.\nSisko: A suit?\nBashir: At exactly twenty fifty five tonight.\nSisko: Why twenty fifty five?\nBashir: I don't know but it has something to do with those two Bajoran terrorists on board. He says that together, he and I might diskover what they're really doing here. I don't understand why he wants me involved.\nSisko: Sometimes communications can't be conducted through official channels. Maybe this is their way of telling us that we have a common enemy.\nBashir: Well, what do you want me to do?\nSisko: I think, Doctor, you could definitely use a new suit.\nKira: Busy?\nOdo: What can I do for you?\nKira: Are all the security measures in place for the trip to the Ministers' Court?\nOdo: I told you they'd be taken care of and they will.\nKira: Fine.\nOdo: You know, there's one thing about you humanoids I can't imitate very well.\nKira: What's that?\nOdo: Pretense. There's a special talent to it. It's as hard for me as creating one of your noses.\nKira: Maybe that's why I've learned to respect your opinion, Constable. Never any pretense. How much do you know about me, Odo?\nOdo: More than you probably realize.\nKira: I've done some things I'm not proud of. I still have nightmares about the raids on the Haru outposts, but at least I was sure of what I was doing then.\nOdo: And there's something you're not sure of now.\nKira: You have no more love for the Federation than I do.\nOdo: Meaning?\nKira: Maybe there are still wars to be fought and I'm just making a fool of myself doing what I'm doing here.\nOdo: It sounds like you're trying to talk yourself into something. Or out of something.\nKira: Either way, I have to betray someone.\nOdo: The only important thing is not to betray yourself.\nKira: How could I possibly turn against my own people?\nOdo: Are they? Your own people?\nKira: They're no different than I used to be.\nOdo: Used to be.\nKira: I could just refuse to help them. Ignore the whole thing.\nOdo: The Joranian ostrich hides by sticking its head under water. Sometimes even until it drowns.\nKira: Then they'd find a way to do whatever they want to do anyway and I'd still feel responsible for the consequences. It was so much easier when I knew who the enemy was.\nOdo: Odo to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nOdo: There's someone down here in security who wants to talk to you, Commander.\nGarak: Quickly, Doctor, you're late. It's twenty fifty seven. Now just take this and try that on as many times as you like, and stay very, very quiet.\nBashir: I was just\nGarak: Ah, right on time. Welcome.\nB'Etor: Save your welcomes, Cardassian. Do your people want the Bajoran or not?\nGarak: I can now venture to say, with some certainty, that you will receive the agreed-upon payment on delivery.\nLursa: We will complete our business with Tahna Los in four hours.\nGarak: And what business might that be?\nB'Etor: That is not your concern.\nGarak: If it requires that those I represent must take extra precautions, it becomes my concern.\nLursa: We will deliver him a cylinder of bilitrium.\nB'Etor: The rendezvous will be on the dark side of Bajor Eight's lower moon. The Cardassians can have him then.\nBashir: What's bilitrium?\nGarak: A rare crystalline element, that can be an incredibly powerful source of energy. Provided, of course, one also has an anti-matter converter. Unfortunately, that's why Cardassians were chasing Tahna Los when he arrived here. He stole one.\nBashir: But if he's got both.\nGarak: Quite right, Doctor. He has the ingredients for a bomb. A bomb of significant destructive capability.\nSisko: We have nothing to hold them on. they haven't committed any crime yet.\nOdo: Conspiracy is a crime.\nBashir: Conspiracy to what? We don't even know what their plan is.\nO'Brien: Once the switch with the Klingons is made, you've got them holding the components to an explosive device. That's enough evidence right there.\nKira: Chief O'Brien is right. We have to give them a runabout.\nSisko: Agreed.\nKira: And I have to be on it.\nSisko: Not agreed. Major.\nKira: Commander, Tahna doesn't know if he can trust me as it is. If I try to stay behind, he won't buy into this. The only way to convince him is if I'm on board. If Tahna fails, I promise you others will try. At least this way you can find out what they're up to.\nSisko: Mister O'Brien, you and I will take a runabout to a point behind the second moon of Bajor Eight to avoid detection.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Dax, stay in touch with us on a secured channel. Keep an eye on the Cardassians. They'll be coming to the party, too. You get him there, Major. We'll be waiting.\nOdo: They're moving into the runabout.\nDax: Acknowledged. DS Nine to Ganges.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nDax: They're in the Yangtzee Kiang. They're initializing pre-launch systems now.\nSisko: Understood, Lieutenant. Shut down all main power systems.\nO'Brien: Dead quiet.\nKira: Bajor Eight in one hundred twenty thousand kilometers. Dropping to impulse. What is that?\nTahna: An anti-matter converter. I'm transferring power from the ship's warp drive into the storage cells.\nKira: We've got a Klingon Bird of Prey decloaking dead ahead.\nTahna: It's all right. We're here to meet them.\nKira: Klingons? Why?\nTahna: You'll know soon enough.\nO'Brien: The Klingons have powered up their transporters.\nSisko: Prepare to go to full impulse.\nTahna: Thirteen kilograms of gold-pressed latinum, as promised.\nLursa: This is yours.\nB'Etor: 'eH. HImaH!\nKira: What is it?\nTahna: Bajoran independence.\nO'Brien: Bird of Prey is moving off and cloaking.\nSisko: Set up an intercept course for the runabout.\nO'Brien: Intercept in one minute, twelve seconds.\nDax: DS Nine to Ganges.\nSisko: Ganges.\nDax: The Cardassian warship Aldara is crossing the border, Benjamin, on an intercept course with the Yangtzee Kiang. They'll enter\nDax: Bajoran space in twenty nine seconds.\nSisko: Acknowledged.\nO'Brien: The Yangtzee's sensors should be picking us up now, sir.\nTahna: What is that?\nKira: It's another runabout.\nTahna: They must've been waiting for us here. How did they know?\nKira: We also have got a Cardassian warship three minutes away. The Klingons must have sold us out.\nTahna: Prepare to engage warp engines.\nKira: There's nowhere to run, Tahna.\nTahna: We don't have to go far.\nTahna: I should have know. Now set the course for DS Nine.\nKira: No.\nTahna: If you don't, I'll explode the bomb right here and destroy all six colonies on Bajor Eight.\nKira: You would kill thousands of your own people for this?\nTahna: The question is whether you would kill them by refusing to set the course.\nO'Brien: They've gone to warp.\nSisko: Follow them. Ganges to Yangtzee Kiang.\nSisko: Drop out of warp, or we will open fire.\nSisko: Repeat. Reduce your power immediately or we will open fire.\nTahna: I doubt that he'll shoot while his Major is on board. But just in case. This is the voice of the Kohn-Ma.\nTahna: There is an armed bilitrium explosive device on board this ship.\nTahna: Fire on us and you will detonate it.\nO'Brien: If that device goes off while they're at warp, they'll spread radiation across half the system.\nSisko: He's headed straight back for the station. This is the Federation vessel Ganges to Cardassian warship Aldara.\nGul Danar: So, we're finally allies, Commander.\nSisko: Gul Danar, the Federation runabout Yangtzee Kiang is carrying an explosive bilitrium device. Can you intercept before it reaches the space station?\nGul Danar: Our time to intercept is two minutes, fourteen seconds.\nO'Brien: That's about a minute too late, Commander.\nGul Danar: If I may take this opportunity to say that I warned you\nSisko: Can we get them in a tractor beam?\nO'Brien: Not at these speeds. They have twenty seven seconds on us. We may have to shoot them down, Commander.\nSisko: Ready photons, Chief. We'll fire as soon as they slow to impulse.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nKira: One hundred thousand kilometers to DS Nine. This is your idea of a non-violent solution? You realize there are hundreds of Bajoran civilians aboard the station.\nTahna: No one's going to be hurt, Kira. Adjust your course to take a vectored approach past the mouth of the wormhole.\nKira: The wormhole? It's not the space station you're after. You can't possibly believe you can destroy the wormhole with that device?\nTahna: I don't have to destroy it, just have to collapse the entrance.\nKira: You're only hurting Bajor by doing this, Tahna.\nTahna: No more wormhole, no more Federation or Cardassians. Or anyone. Drop out of warp. Now!\nO'Brien: My God, they're going into the wormhole. At full impulse.\nTahna: Damn you!\nSisko: Sisko to Kira. Are you all right, Major?\nTahna: No, she's not all right, Commander. And if you want her alive you'll do exactly as I say.\nSisko: Listen to me carefully, Tahna.\nSisko: You can either surrender now to me or you can wait for the Cardassian warship\nSisko: And I can let them deal with you this time.\nSisko: Your choice.\nKira: There'll be no further resistance, Commander.\nKira: Tahna, the old ways don't work anymore. Everything is different now. I had to do this. One day you'll understand.\nTahna: Traitor."}
{"text": "O'Brien: Look, save your energy. We'll have you out of there as soon as possible. I hope. Try re-routing the power coupling.\nJaheel: Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: See if you can activate the interlock servos.\nJaheel: Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Captain Jaheel, those people have been stuck in that airlock for over an hour. Now if you can wait until we get that door opened, I'll be happy to listen to any problems you might have.\nJaheel: But I've already been waiting two days for your people to readjust my ship's antimatter flow converter.\nO'Brien: I'm afraid we've gotten a little bit behind in our maintenance schedule.\nJaheel: I'm not interested in hearing excuses. I have a shipment of Tamen Sasheer waiting to be delivered to Largo Five, and I'll need to do better than warp one to get there before it spoils.\nO'Brien: I'll try to get a repair crew to you by the end of the day. Now that's the best I can do.\nJaheel: Your best, Mister O'Brien, hardly seems good enough.\nDax: Dax to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: O'Brien here.\nDax: Can you spare a minute, Chief? I have a little problem here at the lab.\nO'Brien: On my way.\nDax: Thanks for coming, Chief.\nO'Brien: What are you doing out here?\nO'Brien: Have you checked the EPS convertor?\nDax: Yes. First thing.\nO'Brien: How about the intensity grid?\nDax: It's fine.\nO'Brien: Then it's probably the secondary phase modulator. We had trouble with them last week in the main power core. That should do it.\nO'Brien: Anything else I can do for you?\nKira: The navigational computer hasn't been working reliably for three days. I ask for the star charts of the Argosian sector, Glessene sector comes up instead. That's when I can coax this system online.\nO'Brien: Uh-huh. Try it now.\nKira: That's more like it. You look like you could use some sleep.\nO'Brien: Who has time for sleep? I'd settle for five minutes of peace and quiet.\nSisko: Chief, I thought you were going to fix the replicators.\nO'Brien: You're absolutely right, sir. I knew I'd forgotten something. Can't have the operations chief sitting around daydreaming when there's work to be done, can we? I'll get right on it.\nO'Brien: Fix the replicators, Chief. My console's offline, Chief. I should've transferred to a cargo drone. No people, no complaints.\nO'Brien: Hot coffee, black, double sweet.\nOdo: Tell me, Quark, am I mistaken or is business a little slow today?\nQuark: Slow? It's been almost nonexistent for the past three days.\nOdo: Who knows, if things don't improve you may be forced to close down.\nQuark: You'd like that, wouldn't you?\nOdo: Let's just say, without you around my job would be considerably easier.\nQuark: Without me around, you'd be forced to find some other, poor innocent to persecute. Think about that while you sit here gloating at my misfortune.\nAsoth: Quark! You call this Kohlanese stew?\nQuark: If your meal isn't satisfactory I'm sure we could exchange it for something more to your liking.\nAsoth: Aren't you the least bit curious as to how it tastes?\nAsoth: Now, you served it, you're going to eat it.\nOdo: All right, that's enough.\nAsoth: I said eat it!\nOdo: I said, that's enough.\nOdo: Well, another satisfied customer.\nQuark: It's these replicators. If I don't get them fixed soon, they'll destroy my business.\nOdo: Why not get O'Brien to fix them? He has the replicators on the command level working perfectly.\nQuark: I'm on his waiting list. He assures me he'll get to them as soon as he can.\nOdo: No telling when that will be. The Chief's a very busy man.\nQuark: Computer, display a station layout. Highlight locations of all repaired replicators on command level.\nComputer: Information restricted to security clearance five and above. Please enter security verification.\nComputer: Clearance verified.\nO'Brien: There you go, sir. I think you'll find that more to your liking.\nSisko: Very much appreciated, Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Don't mention it, sir. Unfortunately, there are plenty of replicators around the station that still need looking after.\nSisko: You all right, Chief?\nO'Brien: I'm just a bit hot. The environmental controls must be acting up again.\nSisko: Send my regards to Mrs O'Brien. Jake tells me she's a wonderful teacher.\nO'Brien: That's nice to hear, sir. She's flower units about the lad herself.\nSisko: Excuse me?\nO'Brien: Sir?\nSisko: What was that you just said?\nO'Brien: She's quite fond of the lad herself.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear it.\nO'Brien: Very good, sir.\nSecurity: Ladies.\nCrewman: Hello, Lieutenant.\nDax: I forgot how different it was.\nKira: How different what was?\nDax: Being female. I haven't been one for over eighty years. All this attention.\nKira: I imagine it must take some getting use to.\nDax: Actually I find it quite enjoyable.\nQuark: Major Kira. Lieutenant Dax.\nQuark: I'd be honored to have you join my little party. As my guests, of course.\nKira: What's all this, Quark? You cheat your one thousandth customer?\nQuark: Who says Bajorans don't have a sense of humor? Actually, we're celebrating the repair of the bar's replicator system. Perhaps I could interest you in a nice double whipped Idanian spice pudding.\nDax: What do you think?\nKira: I think I'm due back at Ops, but go on, enjoy yourself.\nQuark: Please, make yourself comfortable, Lieutenant. I did say a double whipped spice pudding, didn't I?\nDax: It's lovely. I almost hate to eat it.\nQuark: By all means, take the time to admire its beauty While I admire yours.\nKira: Chief?\nO'Brien: How can I help you, Major?\nKira: You're the one who could use a little help.\nO'Brien: Oh, no, I'm fine, really.\nKira: I suppose this isn't a good time to tell you that number three turbolift has broken down again. Joking, Chief.\nO'Brien: Major, larks true pepper.\nKira: What?\nO'Brien: Let birds go further loose maybe. Shout easy play.\nKira: Chief, you're not making any sense.\nO'Brien: Round the turbulent quick. Well, close the reverse harbor. Ankle try sound. Reset gleaming. Dinner to bug.\nKira: Chief, wait.\nO'Brien: When?\nKira: Chief!\nBashir: Computer, continue neural imaging scan and stimulate visual cortex.\nComputer: All visual responses normal.\nBashir: Computer, begin auditory stimuli.\nComputer: No physiological damage. All brain functions within normal parameters.\nBashir: Nurse.\nJabara: Yes?\nBashir: Will you pull up Mister O'Brien's neurophysiological history, please?\nJabara: Yes, Doctor.\nKira: What is that? What's he written?\nBashir: I wish I knew.\nO'Brien: Strike limits. Flame the dark true salt.\nBashir: Please, Chief, have a seat.\nO'Brien: Way link complete. Way link!\nKira: What's wrong with him?\nBashir: He appears to be suffering from a form of aphasia. It's a perceptual dysfunction in which aural and visual stimuli are incorrectly processed by the brain. His actual thinking hasn't been affected, but he's incapable of expressing himself or understanding others.\nO'Brien: Victory strike limits frosted wake. Simple hesitation!\nSisko: I'm not sure I follow you, Doctor. You say Mister O'Brien is aphasic, but all of his tests come up negative.\nDax: Isn't aphasia typically associated with some kind of cranial trauma?\nBashir: Yes. It can occur as a result of a stroke or blow to the head. But there's no evidence of that here.\nDax: Did you check the medical library for any precedents?\nBashir: And rechecked. Nothing so far.\nSisko: Do you have any theories?\nBashir: Not yet.\nSisko: Find one. Major Kira, get hold of the Chief's personal duty log. I want to know where he's been and what he's done for the past fifty two hours.\nKira: I've already examine it, Commander. He's been all over the station.\nSisko: Retrace his steps and see what you come up with. Dax, you will temporarily assume Mister O'Brien's duties.\nDax: Yes, I'll\nSisko: Is there a problem, Lieutenant? Lieutenant?\nDax: I'm sorry, Benjamin. I'm unable to foolish assembled regal controlled weather.\nBashir: Spontaneous development of aphasia is virtually impossible. Yet we saw Lieutenant Dax become aphasic before our eyes. This told me we are dealing with a disease that only mimics aphasia. So I ran a full neurosynaptic comparison of Dax and O'Brien, and I found this in the temporal lobes of both patients.\nSisko: A virus?\nBashir: It imposes itself within the established synaptic pathways and then randomly reroutes them. For example, when I look at this, a process occurs in my brain which connects the stimulus to the word tricorder. This virus disrupts that process.\nSisko: I'd see a tricorder but I would say something ridiculous like window.\nBashir: Exactly.\nJabara: Doctor, I think you should get over here.\nCrewwoman: Night, the flow trade again.\nCrewman: View lost pile luck. Away tunnel back the garden.\nSisko: Doctor, I want this station put under emergency quarantine immediately.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nMan: Dabo!\nOdo: Quark, what is going on here?\nQuark: What does it look like?\nOdo: It looks like business as usual, but that's impossible because all shops and business have been closed until further notice.\nQuark: Except, of course, for essential station operations.\nOdo: For which this place hardly qualifies.\nQuark: I don't think they'd agree. This quarantine has everybody on edge, Constable. Would you deprive them of a little harmless diversion?\nOdo: They'd be safer in their quarters.\nAsoth: Quark, that Kohlanese stew. Magnificent.\nQuark: Fortunately, my assistant Rom, was able to fix the replicators.\nOdo: Yes, very fortunate.\nSisko: Jake! I expected you home an hour ago.\nJake: Sorry. I was at Nog's. Dad, about this quarantine, it's going to be okay, isn't it?\nSisko: It's just a precaution. Nothing more.\nJaheel: I wish I shared your confidence Commander.\nSisko: Go straight home, son. I'll see you at dinner.\nSisko: Captain Jaheel, all visitors have been confined to their ships.\nJaheel: Believe me, there is no place I'd rather be.\nSisko: Then what are you doing here?\nJaheel: Commander, I officially request permission to leave this station.\nSisko: Request denied.\nJaheel: But none of my crew has been affected by this virus of yours, and unless I depart at once my whole cargo will be ruined.\nSisko: Captain, I suggest you return to your ship now.\nJaheel: Please. I don't want to get sick.\nSisko: I'm sorry, but until we find a cure for this thing, no one's going anywhere.\nQuark: Computer, let's start with one Ferengi starduster, please. Extra strong. Perfect.\nQuark: I thought the front wheels were sticking a bit.\nOdo: Unauthorized access to crew quarters is a crime, Quark. You could have just asked to use the replicators.\nQuark: There's an old Ferengi saying. Never ask when you can take. How did you figure it out?\nOdo: You claimed Rom fixed your replicators.\nQuark: So?\nOdo: Rom's an idiot. He couldn't fix a straw if it was bent.\nQuark: You're right. Rom is an idiot. Remind me to get rid of him tomorrow.\nBashir: Based on the levels of the virus found in the patients' blood, I believe it's being absorbed through ingestion.\nSisko: You're saying it's in our food?\nKira: That's not possible. All the food on the station is replicated, and all the replicators use biofilters. They automatically screen out contaminants including viruses.\nBashir: Major, I've analyzed samples from replicators all over the station. Food on the command level is contaminated.\nSisko: But all of us here have eaten from those replicators. How come we're not aphasic?\nBashir: This virus is highly adaptable. Its incubation period seems to vary within each individual.\nKira: According to O'Brien's duty log, the last thing he did before become aphasic was fix the command level replicators.\nSisko: Get a repair crew over there to inspect the site. Let's shut down those replicators. Maybe we'll be able to limit further contamination.\nBashir: I'm afraid that's not going to do it, sir. I've been getting aphasic patients from all over the station.\nSisko: How is that possible?\nOdo: You can thank Quark. I caught him using a replicator in one of the vacant crew quarters. He was producing his entire menu out of there.\nBashir: If this virus is present within a large enough segment of the population, it could mean\nSisko: What is it, Doctor?\nBashir: I just took an air sample.\nSisko: The virus?\nBashir: It's mutated into an airborne variety.\nOdo: Which means?\nBashir: Which means the whole station is infected.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 46423.7. Nearly sixty percent of DS Nine's population has now contracted the aphasia virus. We've initiated standard quarantine procedures, and are advising all incoming ships to maintain their distance from the station until further notice.\nKira: I found it inside the replicator's pattern generator.\nSisko: O'Brien must have accidently triggered it when he repaired the system.\nKira: According to Bashir, it introduced an anomalous programming sequence into the materialization subroutine. In effect, it built the virus directly into the replicated food at a molecular level.\nSisko: So what we have here is sabotage.\nKira: Cardassian sabotage.\nSisko: How can you be sure?\nKira: It has a diboridium core for a power source. That is Cardassian technology.\nBashir: Bashir to Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko here.\nBashir: Commander, I think you'd better get down here to the Infirmary, as soon as possible.\nSisko: On my way.\nSisko: You wanted to see me, Doctor?\nSisko: Jake?\nJake: Left, become better, control, entire hope.\nBashir: We've converted some empty crew quarters into a hospital ward. He'll be well looked after.\nSisko: I'll take him there myself. Come on, Jake. You're going to be all right.\nBashir: Commander, when you've got a moment, I've found something I'd like to show you.\nNurse: It'll be fine. Just lay back. I know, but just lay back and relax.\nQuark: Food. Dabo. Drinks. Money. Hand. Mine. Give.\nSisko: Well, Quark, I see even you couldn't weasel your way clear of this one.\nQuark: You underestimate the Ferengi immune system, Commander. I'm merely here visiting my less fortunate customers to make sure they're not faking the illness to avoid paying their bills.\nSisko: No one's that devious.\nQuark: I am. You gold owe me. I now give.\nSisko: We're doing everything possible. I'll be back as soon as I can.\nBashir: The virus is synthetic, Commander. Its nucleotide sequence is too perfect. It's clearly not natural.\nSisko: You're saying the Cardassians genetically engineered this thing?\nBashir: Well that's what I thought at first, but I've studied Cardassian genetic engineering. They always build distinctive monoclonial links into their DNA. This virus has none of those features.\nSisko: All right then, who made it.\nBashir: That's what I wanted to find out. So I referenced all known DNA construction techniques in the Federation records, and this protein series was the key. It indicates that\nSisko: Doctor! Who created this virus?\nBashir: The Bajorans, sir. I believe it must have been a terrorist plot to sabotage the Cardassians while they were here.\nKira: The energy decay of this power core indicates that it dates back to the building of the station.\nOdo: That's eighteen years ago. I suppose the Bajoran underground could have smuggled it aboard during construction, before I took over as Head of Security.\nSisko: But why would the underground go to all the trouble of planting a booby trap and not set it off?\nOdo: Maybe they forgot.\nKira: No. More likely they were captured or killed before they could release it.\nSisko: We need to find out who created this virus. You're our best hope.\nKira: Eighteen years is a long time.\nOdo: Besides, even if she finds who did this, that's no guarantee they can help us.\nSisko: We just have to hope they remembers the antidote.\nOdo: That's assuming they ever bothered to create one.\nKira: Had to be someone in the underground familiar with genetic engineering.\nGalis: Eighteen years ago. Sounds like something Dekon Elig might have thought up.\nKira: How can I find him?\nGalis: The last I heard he was in a Cardassian prison.\nKira: Where was he being held?\nGalis: The Velos Seven Internment Camp. But that was nine years ago.\nKira: And you have no idea where he is now? Think, Galis. This is important.\nGalis: I'm sorry, Kira, but it was all so long ago.\nJabara: What is it, Jake?\nJake: Roll linger when life. Roll linger when.\nJabara: What?\nDax: Other support. Strong courage.\nJabara: He's running a high fever.\nJake: Open way long. Open way.\nJabara: Doctor, we have an emergency in crew quarters.\nSisko: How is he, Doctor?\nBashir: Not good, I'm afraid. The virus has attacked his autonomic nervous system.\nSisko: Can he be stabilized?\nBashir: He hasn't responded to neural stimulation. I've given him thirty cc's of corophizine to avoid secondary infection, but so far I've been unable to lower his fever.\nSisko: What are his chances?\nBashir: Unless I find some way to counteract the virus, he'll be dead in twelve hours.\nSisko: Have you made any progress?\nBashir: No. I've tried base pair destabilizers, sequential disruption, nothing seems to affect it. Sir, I've got seven other aphasic patients displaying the same symptoms as O'Brien here, and I'm afraid this is only the beginning.\nSisko: Keep searching, Doctor. I hope Major Kira can find whoever's responsible for creating this virus.\nBashir: I'd like to meet that person myself. This virus is a work of genius.\nSisko: I'll try to arrange it for you.\nComputer: Link established with the Bajoran Archival Records.\nKira: Locate files on Velos Seven Internment camp.\nComputer: Ready.\nKira: Do you show a record of an inmate named Dekon Elig?\nComputer: Affirmative.\nKira: Biographical data.\nComputer: Dekon Elig. Geneticist. Former member of the Higa Metar Sect of the Bajoran underground. Killed while attempting escape stardate 39355. Certificate of Death on file.\nSisko: No need to ask how you're doing.\nKira: Chasing after ghosts.\nSisko: You have twelve hours to catch one.\nKira: And then?\nSisko: People start dying.\nKira: Computer, display Dekon Elig's Certificate of Death. Identify signature of witness.\nComputer: Certificate of Death was witnessed by Surmak Ren, Bajoran Medical Assistant.\nKira: Show me biographical data on Surmak Ren.\nComputer: Doctor Surmak Ren. Former member of the Higa Metar sect of the Bajoran underground. Repatriated to Bajor upon closing of the Velos Seven Internment Camp, stardate 46302. Current status unknown.\nQuark: Dabo.\nOdo: Any luck?\nQuark: I haven't won a spin in hours. Care to place a friendly wager? If it's your reputation you're thinking about no one need ever know.\nOdo: It has nothing to do with my reputation. The truth is, I never learned the game.\nQuark: You mean, you've sat here for all these years and you don't even know how to gamble?\nOdo: That's correct.\nQuark: No wonder you always look so bored. The rules are quite simple, actually. I'd be happy to show them to you.\nOdo: Some other time perhaps. Sisko needs me in Ops. And since the entire security force stricken with aphasia, the Promenade in a very vulnerable position.\nQuark: How unfortunate.\nOdo: Consider it a warning, Quark, because I'm holding you personally responsible if anything turns up missing. Is that understood?\nQuark: Perfectly.\nQuark: Dabo,\nBashir: Computer, analyze test sample thirty seven delta. Detail effects on viral containment.\nComputer: Working. Analysis complete. Sample thirty seven delta ineffective. Viral protein sheath is unaffected. Nucleotide sequence remains intact\nBashir: Computer, replay morning.\nComputer: Command unclear. Please repeat.\nBashir: Glass lunch judge a bin to let it\nComputer: Command unclear. Please repeat.\nKira: Computer, establish link with the Bajoran Medical Index for the Northwestern District.\nComputer: Link established.\nKira: Access all information on Doctor Surmak Ren.\nComputer: There are no records matching that name.\nKira: Try the Northeastern District, same search.\nComputer: Doctor Surmak Ren, currently serving as Chief Administrator of the Ilvian Medical Complex.\nKira: Computer, open a channel to the Ilvian Medical Complex. Administrators office.\nSurmak: This is Doctor Surmak. And you are?\nKira: Major Kira Nerys. Bajoran liaison to Deep Space Nine.\nSurmak: Ah yes, the old Cardassian mining station. How can I help you?\nKira: That depends.\nSurmak: On what?\nKira: On whether or not you helped Dekon Elig plant an aphasia virus here eighteen years ago.\nSurmak: I have no idea what you're talking about.\nOdo: Look, Sisko. I'm a security officer, a good one, but that doesn't make me qualified to help you run station operations.\nSisko: You're probably right, Constable, but as you can see, you're all I've got.\nKira: Commander? Commander, I think I found our scientist.\nSisko: Does he have an antidote?\nKira: I don't know. He broke the connection the minute I mentioned the virus.\nSisko: Major, you mind telling me where you're going?\nKira: To continue my conversation with Doctor Surmak in person.\nSisko: Major, I can't allow you to break quarantine. We can't risk spreading the virus to Bajor.\nKira: I am well aware of that, Commander. As a matter of fact, I don't intend to step foot on the planet.\nOdo: Better let her go, Sisko. She's all we've got.\nOdo: Let's just hope there's someone left to greet her when she returns.\nSisko: Jake. How's it going? I've missed you. I know things don't look too good right now, but they'll get better. You have to believe that. Because I'm not going to lose you, Jake. You hear me? I'm not going to lose you.\nOdo: You'd better take a look at this. We have activity on docking port five. I think a ship is about to depart.\nSisko: Docking port five? That's Jaheel's ship. Put him on screen. Captain, your ship has not been cleared for departure. The mooring clamps are locked and I don't intend to release them.\nJaheel: I suggest you change your mind. I'm taking aft thrusters to one half.\nSisko: Captain, cut your engines before you rip your ship apart.\nOdo: He's not reducing power.\nSisko: Jaheel, I'm ordering you to stand down.\nJaheel: Your orders are no concern of mine. My entire crew has been confined to your hospital. I must leave now while I can still function.\nSisko: Look, I understand you're frightened, but believe me, you're better off here. You don't want to be out there alone and get hit by the virus.\nJaheel: Don't worry about me. I'm fine, and I plan to stay that way. And if you think you're going\nSisko: We'll have to retract the clamps. Once he's clear of the station we can grab him with a tractor beam. Damn.\nOdo: What's wrong?\nSisko: There's too much stress on the mooring clamps. They're not retracting.\nOdo: His aft isolation plate buckled.\nSisko: His main power core's been ruptured. If the internal fuel cells collapse the whole ship will explode.\nOdo: And take half the docking ring with it.\nKira: Computer, isolate a comm. line to the Ilvian Medical Complex, Administrator's office.\nComputer: Line isolated.\nKira: Scan office for lifeforms.\nComputer: One life form present.\nKira: Lock on and stand by to transport.\nSurmak: This is Doctor Surmak.\nKira: Hello again, Doctor. Just checking to see you're in your office.\nSurmak: I have nothing to say to you\nKira: Hello again, Doctor.\nSurmak: This is outrageous. I demand you return me to my office immediately.\nKira: Relax, Doctor, you won't be gone long.\nSisko: Try to re-establish visual contact with Jaheel's ship.\nOdo: No response. His comm. lines are down.\nSisko: Bypass communications through a secondary grid. See if you can switch to external pickups.\nOdo: Got it.\nOdo: His fire control systems don't appear to be working.\nSisko: We have about fifteen minutes before the fuel cells collapse.\nOdo: I hope you feel better than you look.\nSisko: It must be that damn virus. This is Sisko. Any station personnel who can understand what I'm saying come to Ops immediately. We need help up here. We have to get that ship away from the station.\nOdo: Why don't we explode the mooring clamps. The blast should push the ship away from the docking ring.\nSisko: We'll have to get down there and blow them manually.\nOdo: I'll do it.\nSisko: All right. You can cross barrels. All job appallled.\nOdo: What was that?\nSisko: Bread the arrive seen earlier.\nOdo: Oh, I see.\nSurmak: Major, this is kidnapping. Turn this ship around or I swear you'll spend the rest of your life in Kran-Tobol Prison.\nKira: Fine. But first we need your help. The aphasia virus is spreading through the station.\nSurmak: Why come to me?\nKira: You helped create the virus, didn't you?\nSurmak: No, I had practically nothing to do with it. Dekon Elig created the virus. I was merely his medical assistant. That seems like a lifetime ago now. I was only in the underground for six months before we were captured. I am not responsible for this.\nKira: I am not looking to place blame. All I want is the antidote.\nSurmak: I don't know of any antidote. If Dekon made one, he never told me.\nKira: Listen, Surmak. I have a station full of dying people, and you are the closest thing there is to an expert on this virus.\nSurmak: I sympathize, Major. But I don't think I can help you.\nKira: All right. Then how about helping yourself?\nSurmak: Meaning what?\nKira: Meaning I've been infected with your virus, Doctor. So now you're infected too.\nOdo: To anyone who can hear me. This is Odo. Sisko's infected. I could really use some help here in Ops.\nQuark: Do I detect a note of panic in your voice?\nOdo: Quark, am I to believe you're volunteering to help?\nQuark: Who said anything about volunteering? We can haggle over price later. Now, how may I be of use?\nOdo: I need to get to docking port five now. That ship's going to explode in five minutes.\nQuark: I'll beam you over.\nOdo: You?\nQuark: Relax. I served on a Ferengi freighter for eight years.\nOdo: All right.\nQuark: I must have witnessed the procedure hundreds of times.\nOdo: Witnessed? You mean to say you never handled the controls yourself?\nQuark: Energizing.\nKira: Kira to Ops. Approaching landing pad seven. Request clearance to initiate docking procedure.\nQuark: Welcome back. I could use some help up here.\nKira: Quark? What are you doing in Ops?\nSurmak: First thing I need to see is your Doctors' viral characterisation research. He was beginning to develop an antidote series. Let's take a look at that.\nKira: Listen, Doctor, I'll be in Ops. If you need me use this string impact. Lot show red intense.\nSurmak: I think you'd better sit down, Major.\nJaheel: Dog fellow distance.\nOdo: Yeah, tell me about it.\nQuark: Odo, you'd better hurry up.\nQuark: That ship's going to explode in one minute.\nSurmak: Virus protein sheath. Nucleotide sequence. Yes, that's right. It's an adaptive, synaptic inhibitor. Dekon was brilliant, no doubt of that. I think we've found your antidote, Major.\nQuark: Forty seconds.\nQuark: Thirty seconds. Hurry.\nOdo: I know, I know.\nQuark: Twenty seconds!\nQuark: Ten seconds!\nQuark: Odo? Quark to Odo.\nQuark: You still with us?\nOdo: Try not to sound too disappointed.\nQuark: Now, about that little matter of my hazard pay.\nOdo: Come on, come on.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 46425.8. With the help of Doctor Bashir's notes, Doctor Surmak was able to find an antidote for the aphasia virus. We are continuing to administer it throughout the station, and things are slowly returning to normal.\nSisko: Good to have you back, Chief.\nO'Brien: Thank you, sir.\nSisko: Coffee, black. O'Brien!"}
{"text": "Sarda: I'm not what a lot of people think. I mean, if you're a dabo girl, you know, you get a reputation.\nSisko: Miss Sarda, why don't tell me exactly what happened? When did you start to have trouble with Quark?\nSarda: About five minutes after I got off the ship.\nSisko: He immediately made sexual advances?\nSarda: He said it was part of the job.\nSisko: And what did you say?\nSarda: I told him I'd wear the costume and entertain the gamblers, but to keep his Ferengi knuckles to himself.\nSisko: That didn't stop him?\nSarda: No. He said again that it was part of the job. He showed me my employment agreement. See? There it is in the Ferengi print. Page twenty one, subsection D, paragraph twelve.\nSisko: You're telling me the contract you signed requires you to\nSarda: I guess I should have read it more carefully. I'm not a legal expert, Commander\nSisko: I'm not a legal expert either, but I can assure you, after I talk to Quark, he won't hold you or anyone else to this provision concerning the exchange\nKira: Commander, sensors are picking up elevated neutrino readings. Something's coming through the wormhole.\nSisko: Excuse me.\nSarda: Thank you, Commander.\nSisko: Are any of the transports due back?\nKira: Not according to our logs.\nSisko: Put us on yellow alert.\nDax: It doesn't match anything in Starfleet files.\nO'Brien: I'm getting readings of a massive energy flux. It could be damaged.\nDax: Sensors indicate a single humanoid lifeform on board.\nSisko: Hail it.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir. Hail acknowledged. Response coming in.\nSisko: On screen.\nSisko: Welcome to the Alpha Quadrant. I'm Commander Benjamin Sisko of the United Federation of Planets.\nTosk: Alpha Quadrant?\nSisko: You've passed through a wormhole into a new part of the galaxy.\nTosk: I saw a small ship disappear. I followed it\nSisko: That was one of our patrol vessels. You've traveled almost ninety thousand light years. What planet do you come from?\nTosk: How long does it last, this anomaly?\nSisko: It's stable. You can return whenever you want. In the meantime, you're welcome to dock here and we'll try to answer all your questions.\nTosk: No. No time.\nO'Brien: Inertial stress is overloading his structural capacity.\nSisko: Prepare to transport him off his ship.\nTosk: I will not abandon my vessel.\nSisko: Sir, your ship is in danger of\nTosk: I will not leave!\nO'Brien: We can use a tractor beam to tow him in. The beam's graviton field should shore up the structural integrity.\nSisko: Do it.\nO'Brien: Cut your engines.\nTosk: Why?\nO'Brien: So I can save your ship, friend. We'll bring you in. Try to fix you up as good as new. Good. Engaging tractor beam. Steady now. Feel the graviton field taking hold?\nTosk: Yes.\nO'Brien: You'll be fine now. Just relax and enjoy the ride.\nDax: I think we might want to skip formal first contact procedures for now.\nSisko: Agreed. Why don't you meet him by yourself at the airlock, Mister O'Brien. He might find that a little less intimidating.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: And, if you can, find out what he's so nervous about.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Ops.\nSisko: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien: Sure you\nO'Brien: Didn't beam this fellow out when I wasn't looking, did you?\nSisko: Negative.\nO'Brien: Well, he's not in here.\nDax: Sensors say\nDax: He's still on board, Chief.\nO'Brien: Friend? If you're in here, you've got nothing to worry about from me. Understand? I'm just going to take a look at your ship. See what the problem is. Okay? Just to let you know, I'm an engineer. I know a little bit about ships. Well, more than a little, actually, but I'll tell you, I've never seen anything close to this. All right then. Is this some sort of plasma injector? Okay. Then\nO'Brien: that must be an off-axis field controller over there.\nTosk: The coladrium flow has been damaged.\nO'Brien: You can't go sneaking up on someone like that, friend. It's an Alpha quadrant rule.\nTosk: Can it be repaired?\nO'Brien: Well, that all depends.\nTosk: Depends?\nO'Brien: On what exactly a coladrium flow is.\nTosk: On my world, it would be simple. With proper materials I could do it myself.\nO'Brien: Hang on, I didn't say we couldn't figure it out. You're just going to have to teach me as we go. I'm sure that we can\nTosk: I have no time!\nO'Brien: I know. Everybody's in a hurry these days. We'll get you on your way as soon as it's humanly possible. Oh, that's me, by the way, human species. Name's O'Brien.\nTosk: Oh. Brien.\nO'Brien: Miles O'Brien, Chief of Operations. How about you?\nTosk: I am Tosk.\nO'Brien: That's your name or your species?\nTosk: I am Tosk.\nO'Brien: Tosk, it is. Come on. There's nothing to be afraid of out there. We've got to let your reactor cool down anyway before we can do anything else. Come on. I've work to do.\nO'Brien: So what happened to you, anyway? Looks like you took some sort of shot to your hull.\nTosk: The passage through the anomaly was very rough.\nO'Brien: Yeah, sure. The wormhole can shake you up all right.\nO'Brien: Security sensor. Screens for weapons. It's just picking up my phaser. You're fine.\nTosk: You wear a weapon?\nO'Brien: Defensive purposes only. It may not seem hospitable, but when you go into an alien ship for the first time, you never know what might be in there. You may even find someone who can make himself invisible, you know what I mean?\nTosk: I understand. A health center?\nO'Brien: Yeah. That's Doctor Bashir. He looks after our medical problems.\nTosk: How many live here?\nO'Brien: Well, three hundred, more or less.\nTosk: What is its purpose?\nO'Brien: Purpose?\nTosk: Defense? Surveillance?\nO'Brien: Well, sometimes when I walk along here I feel like we're the flea markets of the sector. But I guess our real job is to keep an eye on the wormhole. There's traffic going in and out all the time now.\nTosk: Many ships dock here?\nO'Brien: Five or six a week. We sometimes have a whole convoy on its way through the wormhole. But you have the honor of being the first visitor from the other side.\nTosk: Others will detect ships from your quadrant as I did and follow them here.\nO'Brien: We hope so. Our mission as Starfleet officers is to seek out new life forms so we can learn about each other.\nQuark: Madame, I distinctly saw you move your wager to the green line after the play was completed. I will return your currency, but you will promptly leave the establishment. You are not welcome here.\nO'Brien: Well, there are some things to learn about us that can wait. How about you? Are you an explorer? A scientist?\nTosk: I am Tosk.\nO'Brien: Right.\nO'Brien: Computer, lights. I wasn't the decorator.\nTosk: I wish to begin work on my ship.\nO'Brien: Yes, well, we'll start as soon as we can Now, why don't you get some rest?\nTosk: I require only seventeen minutes of sleep per rotation.\nO'Brien: Seventeen? No kidding. If I don't get a good eight hours a night, I'm not the same man. Are you hungry?\nTosk: Hungry?\nO'Brien: You know, would you like to eat, take in sustenance?\nTosk: Liquid nutrients are stored in plasmic fibers throughout my body.\nO'Brien: Well, this is the food replicator over here in case you change your mind. We've finally got it making a pretty good bowl of oatmeal. Just ask the computer if you need anything else.\nTosk: Oh Brien. Thank you.\nO'Brien: As the Vulcans say, we're here to serve.\nTosk: Computer.\nComputer: State request.\nTosk: May I see a display of this facility?\nComputer: Specify exterior or interior display.\nTosk: Interior.\nComputer: Interior display available in nineteen sections. Specify requirements.\nTosk: Show me where the weapons are stored.\nComputer: Habitat ring, level five, section three. Access restricted to security clearance seven and above.\nO'Brien: It's hard to say, sir. You hate to prejudge anyone.\nSisko: What're you thinking, Chief?\nO'Brien: You know the old saying. A man who's always looking over his shoulder is waiting for trouble to find him.\nSisko: You think he's on the run?\nO'Brien: I'll tell you this. He wasn't telling the whole truth about the damage to his ship. It sure wasn't caused by the wormhole. Somebody took a shot at him. It came in at a forty five degree angle to the hull, sliced through two propulsion systems. I'll know more when I get a better look at it.\nSisko: Stay with him as much as possible while he's here. I'll tell Odo to keep an eye on him too.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nTosk: No. The coladrium flows through the arva nodes.\nO'Brien: What are they? Some kind of high-energy magnetic coils?\nTosk: For fuel replenishment. Fuel?\nO'Brien: Like a ramscoop.\nTosk: Ramscoop?\nO'Brien: To capture stellar gasses and convert them into usable fuel\nTosk: Yes! The arva nodes convert space matter into fuel.\nO'Brien: Ah, got you. Piece of cake.\nTosk: Piece of cake. Ramscoop. Arva nodes.\nO'Brien: A piece of cake. It's an old human expression. It means they'll be easy to fix.\nTosk: They will be easy to fix?\nO'Brien: Sure. We'll just get my crew to remove your arva nodes, then we'll take them over to the replicator center and make new ones.\nTosk: Piece of cake.\nTosk: How long?\nO'Brien: Maybe a day or two. We'll want to run some tests after we have the replacement unit's in.\nTosk: No. No time for that.\nO'Brien: Hey, I let you take that unit out without proper testing, it breaks down, you blame me, next thing I know my work has a bad reputation in the Gamma quadrant.\nTosk: I would not blame you.\nO'Brien: I was joking, Tosk.\nTosk: I cannot tell, O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Sorry, it's in my nature. And you're the most natural straight man I've met in ages. Come on. While the fellas are working here, I'll buy you a drink and you can tell me why you're in such a rush.\nGirl: Dabo!\nTosk: Nothing like this exists on my world.\nO'Brien: This is where we do most of our R and R.\nTosk: What is R and R?\nO'Brien: Rest and relaxation. You know, down time. When we're not working.\nTosk: You sleep a full third of your rotation. You rest and relax while you are awake. Alpha quadrant has far too much down time.\nO'Brien: My wife would laugh at that. She's barely seen me in the last three weeks.\nTosk: We are very different, Tosk and O'Brien.\nO'Brien: I've noticed. Hey, barkeep!\nQuark: Don't call me barkeep. I'm not a barkeep. I'm your host, the proprietor. A sympathetic ear to the wretched souls who pass through these portals.\nO'Brien: And a man who will exploit any vice you may have. Two synthales, barkeep.\nTosk: I am sorry. I have no vices for you to exploit.\nQuark: A challenge.\nO'Brien: Tosk is our first guest from the Gamma Quadrant, Quark. I'd take him at his word.\nQuark: Perhaps a short adventure in a holosuite?\nTosk: Holosuite?\nQuark: A fantasy encounter with danger. Romance. Thrills. Created for your personal entertainment by the brothers Quark.\nTosk: I have no use for fantasy adventure. I live the greatest adventure one could ever desire.\nQuark: Then I envy you, Mister Tosk.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about, Tosk? What is this adventure you're on?\nTosk: I cannot discuss it.\nO'Brien: Oh. Sure. Of course.\nKira: Sounds like you've changed your mind about him, Chief.\nO'Brien: Not exactly. I mean, he's running from something, that's for sure, and he's in danger. And he can't or won't talk about it\nBashir: People tell doctors things they wouldn't tell any one else. If you could talk him into having a routine medical examination, maybe I could\nO'Brien: The thing is, I kind of like the guy. I'm not even sure why. In a way, he's almost naive. I guess any one would be in an alien environment, but I don't sense a thread of criminal intent or dishonesty about him.\nSisko: I thought you said he lied about the damage to his ship.\nO'Brien: He didn't exactly lie.\nDax: But he didn't exactly tell the truth either.\nO'Brien: He keeps the truth pretty much to himself.\nSisko: When do you think his ship be ready?\nO'Brien: Tomorrow.\nSisko: I don't see that we have much of a choice. We can't hold him. If he wants to tell you the truth, fine. If not, wish him well and send him on his way.\nOdo: Just what do you think you're doing?\nOdo: Computer, seal off corridor fourteen A, habitat level five.\nComputer: Seal confirmed.\nOdo: Security to habitat five fourteen A.\nOdo: When you get tired of bouncing off forcefields, we can talk, all right?\nTosk: I did nothing to you.\nOdo: It's that security junction I'm curious about.\nTosk: I must prepare.\nOdo: For what?\nTosk: I cannot discuss it. I am Tosk.\nOdo: I'm sure you are. Now why don't we go down to my office while your friend Chief O'Brien takes a look to see just what you've been doing in there.\nTosk: O'Brien?\nOdo: Right. I'm going to release the forcefields now. I don't need a fight from you. Understand?\nTosk: I will not fight you.\nOdo: Good. Computer, release the security seals.\nTosk: I cannot discuss it.\nSisko: And I can't accept that as an answer.\nTosk: I did nothing to you.\nSisko: You were tampering with the security grid. I consider that a threat.\nO'Brien: I think he was trying to shut down the lockouts to Section Three\nOdo: The weapons locker.\nSisko: What were you going to do with the weapons?\nOdo: Are you wanted by authorities somewhere in the Gamma Quadrant?\nTosk: Wanted?\nOdo: Have you committed crimes?\nTosk: Never. I am Tosk.\nSisko: What does that mean? Is that supposed to explain all this?\nTosk: It is all I can say.\nO'Brien: Tosk, don't you think we deserve some answers?\nOdo: What should I do with him?\nSisko: Hold him for now. We'll wait to see if someone shows up looking for him.\nO'Brien: Enough of this craziness, Tosk. Tell me, what were you doing?\nTosk: O'Brien, you must let me out.\nO'Brien: Tell me!\nTosk: Allow me to die with honor.\nO'Brien: Die? Who'd want to kill you, Tosk?\nTosk: Allow me to die with honor.\nO'Brien: He's climbing the walls like a trapped animal.\nOdo: I'm sorry our jail cells aren't to his liking.\nO'Brien: Somehow I feel responsible.\nOdo: You do?\nO'Brien: Yeah. Well, I guess I kind of adopted him. I talked him into coming on board.\nOdo: You didn't talk him into breaking into the security system.\nO'Brien: I just feel sorry for him. Somehow, I don't think he means us any harm. What the hell is his secret?\nDax: Sensors are reading ionized L-band emissions. The patterns match Tosk's ship.\nSisko: Hail them. Maybe we'll finally get a few answers.\nKira: No response.\nSisko: Again. Rotate frequencies.\nDax: It's a modulated particle beam. It's scanning us.\nKira: Ready shields.\nSisko: Not yet, Major. Let them have a good look at us.\nO'Brien: I'm reading phased power fluctuations. They may be readying a transporter of some kind.\nSisko: Now, Major.\nKira: Shields up.\nSisko: Open all hailing channels.\nDax: Open.\nSisko: This is Commander Benjamin Sisko of the United\nO'Brien: They're bombarding us with some kind of radiation I've never see before. Very rapid magnetic flux variations.\nO'Brien: What the? They've reversed the polarity of our shields.\nDax: I'm picking up transporter locks. They're beaming on board.\nSisko: Location?\nDax: Promenade.\nSisko: Security to the Promenade. Kira, O'Brien with me. Dax, you have Ops.\nSisko: Ready phasers.\nSisko: I'm Commander of this station. Put down your weapons. (Odo steps forward and gets slapped to the ground. Sisko hauls Odo away as Kira and security open fire. The aliens absorb the energy beams with a device on their forearms, but Sisko manages to get one in the chest, then O'Brien does likewise. They don't stay down for long though. A Security guard takes one out from the upper level.)\nSisko: Increase setting to level six.\nOdo: It's that Tosk they're after.\nKira: Maybe they have a right to him.\nOdo: Nobody's abducting a prisoner out of my brig as long as I'm alive, Major.\nKira: You may need this\nOdo: Thanks, Major, I know I never use them.\nHunter: I have Tosk.\nHunter: Alive. It is over.\nHunter: What a disappointment. And after such an entertaining beginning\nSisko: Entertaining?\nHunter: These aliens gave us a great deal of resistance. We wondered how you got their cooperation without violating your oath of silence.\nTosk: I told them nothing.\nHunter: But to see you here, caged, helpless. How could you allow this? It is a disgrace to all Tosk. And the most disappointing hunt in memory.\nSisko: You're saying that this whole thing is a hunt and Tosk is the prey?\nHunter: You were right. This Tosk is unworthy of such a noble description. For this dishonor, you'll endure the greatest humiliation Tosk can know. To be captured and brought home alive. You will live out your existence on public display where children can make fun of you, toss you scraps of food which is more than you deserve. Release him.\nSisko: You've disrupted life on this station for the pleasure of your hunt? I'm not inclined to take orders from you. Odo, watch the prisoner while our guest and I discuss this in private. Unless you intend to take him by force, in which case I am prepared to give orders to open fire on your ship.\nHunter: Over this Tosk?\nHunter: Have you nothing similar in your own society?\nSisko: Centuries ago, people on my world engaged in bloodsports, killing lower species for pleasure. A few cultures still do. But even they wouldn't consider hunting a sentient being.\nHunter: But he is sentient only because we have made him sentient. He has been bred for the hunt. His entire reason to exist is the hunt. To make it as exciting, as interesting, as he can. Obviously, you do not comprehend.\nSisko: I comprehend just fine. I have no tolerance for the abuse of any lifeform.\nHunter: Abuse? We honor Tosk. They are the symbol of all that is noble and courageous. They train and condition themselves all their lives for this event. They're proud of their role in our culture.\nSisko: I can't judge what is right and wrong for your world. But on this station\nHunter: In the future, passage through the anomaly will be considered out of bounds for the hunt. Will that satisfy you? Now you will arrange for the release of the Tosk.\nSisko: I've agreed to release him.\nO'Brien: But sir, Tosk is an intelligent, living being.\nSisko: It's their custom, Chief. Under the prime directive, we have no right to interfere.\nKira: What if Tosk were to request asylum?\nSisko: If he asks for it.\nO'Brien: All right. I have a way out for you.\nTosk: A way out? Of here?\nO'Brien: Request asylum.\nTosk: Asylum?\nO'Brien: You ask for the protection of the Federation. You understand? My Commander is willing to protect you.\nTosk: O'Brien, I am Tosk. I cannot hide here behind the protection of your Federation. It is against everything I believe.\nO'Brien: You'd rather go back and live in a cage on public display?\nTosk: To stay would be a greater dishonor. I am Tosk, the hunted. I live to outwit the hunters for another day. To survive until I die with honor. But that will not be my fate. But I will not deny my existence as Tosk. Thank you, O'Brien, but I cannot request asylum.\nQuark: So far, I'm not impressed with the tourist trade from the Gamma Quadrant. Not one of them has bought a single drink.\nO'Brien: Shut up, Quark.\nQuark: More trouble with the little woman?\nO'Brien: What's that supposed to mean?\nQuark: Nothing. Nothing. I just thought you might want to talk.\nO'Brien: There is nothing wrong between my wife and I. If there were, I sure as hell wouldn't want to talk to some barkeep about it.\nQuark: Sorry. My mistake.\nO'Brien: What?\nQuark: Your face gets very pink when it gets aggravated. Much more so than most other humans.\nO'Brien: So stop aggravating me.\nQuark: Not me. You came in the door this way.\nO'Brien: Fine. You're right. I'm aggravated.\nQuark: I am a keen observer of behavior. You want to talk about it?\nO'Brien: No.\nQuark: Why not?\nO'Brien: Because it wouldn't do any good talking to you.\nQuark: Try me.\nO'Brien: Forget it. It's just the rules of the game.\nQuark: Ah-ha. Rules of the game. Go on.\nO'Brien: It's a hunt, did you know that? They're chasing Tosk in a hunt. Everybody's playing by the rules. They're playing by their rules, we're playing by ours and he's caught in the middle. Of course, I suppose if the Ferengi don't like the rules, they just change them.\nQuark: Well, rules, rules are always subject to interpretation.\nO'Brien: Of course! Change the rules. Why didn't I think of that? Thanks, barkeep.\nQuark: So, what's bothering you today?\nO'Brien: Computer, access the power grid to security check point four on the Promenade.\nOdo: That isn't necessary.\nHunter: Our ritual requires it when a Tosk is captured alive.\nOdo: All right, let's go.\nO'Brien: I'll escort the prisoner to the transporter station.\nOdo: This is a security matter\nO'Brien: This is a Starfleet matter. Orders from Sisko.\nOdo: We'll see about that.\nHunter: Do not trouble yourself. My ship will transport us.\nO'Brien: No, sir, that won't be necessary. Good relations with other cultures is our highest priority. Commander Sisko wants to make sure you understand we're sorry we interfered with your hunt. The least we can do is give you an official escort off the station. It's a token of goodwill and respect in our society.\nHunter: Very well.\nOdo: Starfleet has no business taking charge of a prisoner transport.\nSisko: Calm down, Constable. What are you talking about?\nOdo: I'm talking about you ordering O'Brien to escort Tosk off the station.\nSisko: I didn't give him any orders at all. Sisko to O'Brien.\nSisko: Mister O'Brien, report to Ops immediately.\nO'Brien: This way.\nO'Brien: Glass jaw. Now I know why you wear a helmet. Up here.\nHunter: The hunt has resumed.\nO'Brien: Come on. Your ship's ready.\nKira: Security reports a fight in the Promenade. Here. Apparently O'Brien set him loose.\nDax: I'm showing someone in an access conduit above Quark's. Two lifeforms. One's human. They're heading out toward the docking ring.\nOdo: I'll seal off the adjoining corridors. They won't get far.\nSisko: Constable. There's no hurry.\nO'Brien: Here.\nTosk: Now you are Tosk as well, O'Brien.\nO'Brien: The Cardies made these conduits from two meter thick duranium composite. I've never seen a scanning device that could penetrate it.\nO'Brien: Until now.\nO'Brien: Come on, Tosk. Round this corner and we're there.\nHunter: No. He is mine.\nO'Brien: No.\nO'Brien: Go on.\nO'Brien: What now?\nTosk: The hunt goes on. You wish to come?\nO'Brien: No. No, I don't think so. One day as a Tosk is enough for me, and I've got a wife and kid that wouldn't fit too well into this lifestyle.\nTosk: Will your Federation punish you for helping me?\nO'Brien: Maybe. But if I know my Commander. Hell, those guys wanted a hunt. I just gave them one. Go on. You'd better get out of here while you can.\nTosk: O'Brien. Die with honor, O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Die with honor, Tosk.\nSisko: Just what did happen at that security checkpoint, Chief?\nO'Brien: The weapons' sensors must have overloaded on all his various gear, sir.\nSisko: Must have?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. Must have since I increased their output by about two hundred percent.\nSisko: So in effect you assaulted him. Our first contact with a new species.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nSisko: We've got dozens of top level officials back at Starfleet Command eagerly waiting to hear about our encounter with the first new lifeforms to come through the wormhole. How do you suggest I write up this report?\nO'Brien: Well, sir I'm not one to say, but you know, these hunters weren't any happier than we were about having to bring Tosk home. It seems to me in the interests of mutual understanding and future relations\nSisko: Save it. You ignored your duty to Starfleet. You took off your comm. badge so you could ignore me. You even ignored the Prime Directive by interfering with their damned hunt. Another stunt like this and your wife won't have to complain about the conditions here anymore. Do I make myself clear?\nO'Brien: I understand. I was surprised by one thing, sir.\nSisko: What's that?\nO'Brien: I knew I couldn't override all the security seals on the station, and I figured once you and the Constable located us, well, it'd be over. We'd find ourselves locked behind some forcefield somewhere.\nSisko: I guess that one got by us.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.\nSisko: Dismissed."}
{"text": "Bashir: So there I was, fighting the toughest battle of my life, looking around hoping to spot a friendly face only to diskover my colleagues were gone. I was alone. I admit, for a moment there, I considered giving up. I could feel the seconds ticking away, panic building up inside of me. I knew my only chance was to trust my instincts. So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and just like that it came to me, the answer I was looking for. A pericardial membrane. I looked down and punched the answer into my computer terminal just as the buzzer sounded ending the exam. And that, I suppose, is the stuff salutatorians are made.\nWoman: Salutatorian?\nBashir: Well, I mistook a preganglionic fiber for a postganglianic nerve during the orals or I would have been valedictorian. It was a trick question.\nWoman: Fascinating.\nBashir: Not nearly as fascinating as when I\nSisko: Doctor Bashir. Chief O'Brien. Report to landing pad five.\nBashir: Bad timing.\nWoman: There'll be another time.\nBashir: Starfleet medical finals. Gets them every time.\nKira: It's no use.\nSisko: Chief, we have to get this hatch open. Lieutenant Dax and Ensign Pauley are trapped in there.\nKira: The runabout barely made it back through the wormhole. By the time they docked, power levels were near zero.\nO'Brien: There's not even enough juice left in the ship to release the servos.\nBashir: Life support's down. Oxygen levels have dropped dangerously low.\nKira: We'll have to burn it through.\nSisko: Forget it Major. The hatch is made of duranium composite. It'll take you an hour to get through.\nBashir: We don't have that much time. That's odd. How many passengers did you say were onboard the Ganges?\nSisko: Two.\nBashir: I'm reading three.\nO'Brien: We need to get power to the hatch servos. Major, hand me the EPI capacitor. There, middle shelf.\nO'Brien: Try her now.\nBashir: Dax.\nDax: I'm fine, check the others.\nO'Brien: Vash?\nVash: That's right?\nO'Brien: Miles O'Brien, from the Enterprise.\nVash: Oh. Yes, of course.\nO'Brien: What are you doing on the Ganges?\nDax: We found her in the Gamma Quadrant. She'd been there for over two years.\nO'Brien: Two years?\nSisko: Doctor, we'd better get these people over to the infirmary.\nBashir: Right this way.\nO'Brien: How did you get to the Gamma Quadrant two years ago?\nVash: A friend dropped me off.\nO'Brien: Oh.\nVash: Will I live?\nBashir: You're fine. In fact, you're in remarkable shape.\nVash: Thank you, Doctor. I try.\nBashir: I, I, I mean you've managed quite well considering you've been out of contact with civilisation for over two years.\nVash: I'd hardly call the Gamma Quadrant uncivilized. Some of the cultures I've encountered have histories that date back millions of years.\nBashir: Really? I'd love to hear about them. I mean, we have no idea what's beyond the wormhole.\nVash: Well, maybe I'll write a book.\nBashir: It's sure to be a best-seller around here. Well, er, no sign of disease or malnutrition or parasitic infections.\nVash: You sound disappointed.\nBashir: I am. Now I have no reason to keep you here.\nVash: You almost make me wish I wasn't feeling well.\nSisko: And she claims she knew nothing about the wormhole?\nDax: She did seem very surprised when I told her about it. I don't think she ever expected to see this part of the galaxy again.\nSisko: How could she get there in the first place if she didn't go through the wormhole?\nDax: She said she didn't want to talk about it. Said it was a personal matter.\nSisko: This doesn't make sense. A human alone in the Gamma Quadrant for two years? Let's check her background. See what we can find out about her.\nDax: She claims to be an archeologist.\nSisko: That's a good place to start.\nVash: You're sure this place is safe?\nClerk: The Assay office is the most secure area on the station. The chambers are surrounded on all sides by individual force fields.\nVash: And how are the locks controlled?\nClerk: Once you secure a chamber, it can't be opened except with your personal authorization code combined with a verified retinal print.\nVash: A Cardassian MK-seven scanner?\nClerk: MK-twelve, with an L-ninety enhanced resolution filter.\nVash: Well, I suppose that'll have to do.\nClerk: Computer, begin inventory for cubicle nineteen. One statue, stone, thirty odd centimeters tall, approximately eight kilograms. Assorted gems. Gold necklace. One dagger, bronze and gold, about twenty five centimeters.\nClerk: Beautiful. I've never seen anything quite like it. Some kind of Promethean quartz.\nVash: I thought so too, at first, but it's molecular density and refraction index is much higher.\nClerk: Remarkable. End inventory. Please, enter an access code.\nVash: All right, I'll be back tomorrow to pick everything up. I've booked passage on the Mulzirak Transport.\nSisko: You're not leaving us so soon?\nVash: I'm afraid so.\nSisko: The Daystrom Institute will be very disappointed.\nVash: The Daystrom Institute?\nSisko: Their scientists are anxious to hear about life in the Gamma Quadrant. Every place you've been, everything you've seen, no matter how insignificant, could prove important. Including how you got there.\nVash: I'm sorry, Commander, but that's a SISKO +\nVash: Personal matter.\nVash: So now the Daystrom Institute is interested in me. well, that's ironic.\nSisko: Professor Woo seemed especially eager to speak to you again.\nVash: Did he really? I suppose he told you that he suspended my membership from the Institute's Archeological Council?\nSisko: On two occasions. Something about the sale of illegal artifacts.\nVash: Well, when it comes to choosing between science and profit, I'll choose profit every time.\nSisko: The professor was hoping you'd make an exception in this case.\nVash: You know, I haven't been back to Earth in, it must be twelve years.\nSisko: Here's your chance. I could arrange passage.\nVash: I think I'd like that.\nSisko: Fine. I'll take care of it.\nO'Brien: I don't understand it, Commander. I can't find anything wrong with her. This ship is completely functional.\nSisko: It didn't look that way this morning.\nO'Brien: Oh, don't get me wrong. The power reserves are empty, the inertial damping fields are barely operational, and the warp drive containment field's on the verge of collapse.\nSisko: But\nO'Brien: But there's nothing wrong with any of them. Once we put power back into her, she should be fully operational.\nSisko: Did you check the central power linkages?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. I ran a level one diagnostic. Everything checks out. I can't explain it. It's like something tapped into the ship's systems and drained them dry.\nSisko: Tell me Chief, how well do you know this woman Vash?\nO'Brien: Hardly at all. I only met her that one time she was aboard the Enterprise.\nSisko: What was she doing there?\nO'Brien: Well Sir, Vash and Captain Picard were friends. Close friends, if you follow my meaning. Seems they met on Risa a few years back.\nO'Brien: I think she must be a special woman, being friends with the Captain and all.\nSisko: Somehow she doesn't seem to be his type.\nO'Brien: The Captain likes a good challenge, sir.\nSisko: Status report?\nDax: We suffered a broad spectrum power drain.\nKira: Power transfer is completely inoperative. The energy was drawn out faster than it could handle.\nO'Brien: I'll have to replace the whole unit.\nDax: Chief, are you reading any graviton flux around the transfer systems?\nO'Brien: I am detecting a low level graviton disturbance. How did you know?\nDax: That's exactly what happened when we lost power on the Ganges.\nO'Brien: These were originally Cardassian living quarters. The bed may take some getting use to.\nVash: As an archeologist, I've spent half my life sleeping in tents. To me, any bed will be a luxury.\nO'Brien: You've obviously never slept on a Cardassian mattress. If you need anything, just ask the computer.\nVash: Thanks, Chief. Oh, by the way, how's Jean-Luc?\nO'Brien: The Captain? The last time I saw him he was fine.\nVash: Now that I'm back, I'll have to look him up.\nQ: Really, Vash, I can't believe you're still pining for Jean-Luc, that self righteous do-gooder.\nVash: I should have listened to him. He warned me about you.\nQ: You're hurt, you strike back. I understand. But be of good cheer, I bring wonderful news. I'm back. I can see now it was cruel of me to leave you.\nVash: Very touching. But you didn't leave me, I left you.\nQ: You left me, I left you Details, mere details. The important thing is we're back together again. A team, joined together at the hip.\nVash: Not a chance.\nQ: You know you're going to miss me.\nVash: Don't flatter yourself.\nQ: You know, I thought first we'd visit the Teleris Cluster, look in on the star dancers at Mundahla. Or maybe head over to the Lantar nebula and view the Sampalo relic on Hoek Four.\nVash: Not interested.\nQ: I know. Vadris Three. Charming little world. The natives think they're the only intelligent life in the universe.\nVash: No.\nQ: All right, you choose then.\nVash: I choose never to go anywhere with you again, Q.\nQ: You don't know what you're missing. When we started this little partnership, I promised to take you places no human had ever seen before.\nVash: And you have. It was wonderful. Thank you. Now goodbye.\nQ: Two years in the Gamma Quadrant hardly qualifies as a grand tour of the universe. There's still the Delta Quadrant to explore, not to mention all the other galaxies.\nVash: It's over, Q. I want you out of my life. You are arrogant, you are overbearing and you think you know everything.\nQ: But I do know everything.\nVash: That makes it even worse.\nQ: All right, fine, what is it you really want?\nVash: I want the life I had before I met you.\nQ: And a stellar life indeed. The eminent Vash. Barred from the Royal Museum of Epsilon Hydra Seven, persona non grata on Betazed. Wanted dead on Myrmidon for stealing the Crown of the First Mother.\nVash: Dead or alive.\nQ: Preferably dead. It's a wonder you haven't offended every sentient race in the galaxy.\nVash: You're the one who almost got me killed on Errikang Seven. And they weren't exactly thrilled to see you on Brax either. What did they call you? The God of Lies?\nQ: They meant it affectionately.\nVash: Come in.\nQuark: I\nQ: Go away.\nVash: Q, bring him back.\nQ: What business could you possibly have with that disgusting little troll?\nVash: I don't know. You didn't give him time to tell me. Now bring him back this instant.\nQ: All right.\nVash: Can I help you?\nQuark: My name is Quark. It's come to my attention that you have access to certain items. Items that might perhaps turn a tidy profit.\nVash: I'm listening.\nQuark: For a percentage, I might be able to arrange a buyer for your trinkets. Perhaps an auction.\nVash: I'll only accept payment in gold-pressed latinum.\nQuark: I'll shower you in it. Fifty-fifty.\nVash: Mister Quark, I believe you're trying to take advantage of me.\nQuark: Some wine?\nQuark: . You have a talent for oo-mox.\nVash: So I've been told.\nQuark: I'll not be distracted by your feminine wiles. I demand forty percent.\nQuark: All right, thirty.\nVash: What magnificent cartilage.\nQuark: Twenty two and don't stop.\nVash: You've got a deal. I expect you to make all the necessary arrangements.\nQuark: Oh, you're good. You're very, very good.\nQ: How perfectly vile. If that's the kind of company you kept before meeting me, it's no wonder you ended up with Picard.\nVash: Go away.\nVash: Enter.\nQ: Aren't we the hub of activity?\nBashir: I'm sorry. Am I interrupting anything?\nVash: No. Come in, Doctor.\nBashir: Thank you. And please, call me Julian.\nVash: Julian. Is this medical business?\nBashir: Well, to tell the truth, I tried to come up with some official reason for dropping by, but your excellent health has robbed me of any excuses.\nVash: Well, that didn't seem to stop you.\nBashir: So I thought I'd contribute to your good health by buying you dinner. Quark's makes a delicious couscous, and the company, I hope, might be mildly entertaining.\nVash: Sounds like fun. Though I would like to freshen up first. Could I meet you there in, say, twenty minutes or so?\nBashir: Those twenty minutes will seem like an eternity.\nQ: These mating rituals you humans indulge in really are quite disgusting.\nVash: Get out.\nQ: You know you don't mean it.\nVash: Out.\nQ: You're making a terrible mistake. You'd be lost without me.\nVash: I can take care of myself.\nQ: Really? Well, we'll see about that.\nBashir: Just a cup of mint tea.\nQ: You're making a terrible mistake.\nBashir: Why? The replicators haven't malfunctioned again?\nQ: I'm talking about Vash. Stay away from her.\nBashir: My god, you're an impertinent waiter.\nQ: I'm a friend. I'm giving you friendly advice. She's nothing but trouble.\nBashir: Really? Well I don't think it's any of your business who I see. In fact, I'm having dinner with her now.\nQ: Are you sure you're feeling up to it? You look tired.\nBashir: I feel fine.\nQ: No, no, no. You look tired. Very, very tired.\nBashir: Funny, I do feel a bit, a bit spent. Maybe I should go and lie down for a few minutes.\nQ: Hopefully by yourself for a change.\nO'Brien: Bloody hell.\nKira: Sir, the Klingon scout ship has departed docking bay eleven.\nSisko: Good. I'll tell Odo he can relax now.\nO'Brien: We've got a problem. sir. I just saw Q on the Promenade.\nSisko: Q? Here?\nKira: What's Q?\nSisko: A powerful and extremely unpredictable entity. I was at a Starfleet briefing on him two years ago.\nO'Brien: Blasted menace, is what he is.\nDax: What does he want with us?\nSisko: Whatever it is, you can be sure we won't like it.\nO'Brien: You might ask Vash.\nDax: Why Vash?\nO'Brien: They know each other.\nSisko: From the Enterprise?\nO'Brien: I believe they actually met in Sherwood Forest. It was one of the little jokes Q played on the Enterprise crew.\nKira: Main power grid has dropped eighty percent.\nDax: Sensors are reading a massive graviton build-up.\nSisko: How long will it take to bring us back up to full power?\nDax: It's already beginning to normalize.\nKira: You know, if we have one of these outages during a docking procedure, we could lose an entire pylon.\nO'Brien: I've double-checked every system. For the first time in a month, there's nothing wrong with any of them. It's got to be Q. Another one of his stupid jokes.\nSisko: I'm not laughing.\nVash: I figured we'd auction this off last.\nQuark: Interesting, but hardly of any intrinsic value.\nVash: Really? I thought it was the best piece in the collection.\nQuark: Obviously my associates have more sophisticated tastes than what you're used to. But just so it's not a total loss, I'll take it off your hands for, say, seven bars of gold-press latinum.\nVash: It's worth fifty times as much.\nQuark: Ridiculous! All right, eighteen, but you must swear never to tell a soul about my foolish generosity.\nVash: If you want it you're going to have to be a lot more foolish than that.\nQuark: All right, thirty. Now give it to me.\nVash: Bidding starts at two hundred bars of gold latinum.\nQuark: I can't decided what's more intoxicating, this Gamzian wine or your negotiating skills.\nSisko: We need to talk.\nQuark: The lady and I are having a private conversation.\nSisko: It can wait.\nVash: Tell me, Commander, where is that Doctor of yours? He was supposed to meet me here half an hour ago\nSisko: Tell me about Q.\nQ: I'll tell you anything you want to know, Commander. Just answer one question. Is Starfleet penalizing you or did you actually request such a dismal command.\nSisko: I want you off this station.\nQ: Don't be hasty, my happy-go-lucky friend. This dreary little gulag could use a little color, some excitement. And who better to provide it than moi? Though I must say I approve of your new tailor.\nSisko: I'm not impressed by your parlor tricks. These power outages are going to stop right now.\nQ: Why tell me? Oh, yes, of course, go ahead. Blame Q if it makes you feel any better. I suppose it's my fate to be the galaxy's whipping boy. Heavy is the burden of being me.\nSisko: If you're looking for sympathy, you've come to the wrong place.\nQ: Actually, what I was hoping for was a little witty repartee, but I see I'm not going to get any of that either. At least your beloved Jean-Luc knows how to turn a phrase\nVash: Take a hint, Q. No one wants you around.\nQ: Really, Vash, this playing hard to get is growing tedious. Let's not forget that I'm the Q and you the lowly human. I will decide when this partnership is over. Understand?\nSisko: Why don't you and I continue this discussion in private?\nQ: Excellent idea.\nQ: You're right. This is an excellent idea.\nSisko: Sisko to Ops.\nQ: All gone.\nSisko: Bring them back, Q, now!\nQ: Or what? You'll thrash me? Shall we settle this mano a mano?\nQ: Marquis of Queensberry Rules?\nSisko: What?\nQ: Fisticuffs, pugilism, the manly art of self-defense. Come on. Isn't this all wonderfully barbaric? Go on, take a poke at me. I know that's really what you want to do. Come on.\nQuark: I'll wager five bars of latinum on Sisko.\nVash: You're on.\nQ: Fight back. This is supposed to be brutal.\nQuark: You can pay me out of your profits from the auction.\nQ: You hit me Picard never hit me.\nSisko: I'm not Picard.\nQ: Indeed not. You're much easier to provoke. How fortunate for me.\nOdo: Not again.\nO'Brien: Damn it, Q. Enough is enough.\nDax: We're losing atmosphere.\nSisko: Decompression protocol. Mister O'Brien, raise the confinement shields.\nO'Brien: Shields up.\nSisko: Damage report.\nKira: We've got a minor hull breach in one of the upper bulkheads.\nO'Brien: I'm getting reports of hull fractures throughout the station. Emergency systems appear to be functioning. Repair crews are responding.\nDax: The breach was caused by some kind of focused graviton pulse.\nSisko: Every time we've had a power drain, it's been followed by an increase in the graviton field. If this continues, we could wind up with a breach in one of our reactor cores. We'd lose half the station.\nDax: Maybe it's time we opened negotiations with Q.\nSisko: I'm not convinced Q is behind this. Playing with the lights and punching holes in the hull doesn't strike me as his style.\nQuark: You wanted to see me? Make it quick. I have important business.\nOdo: Yes, I know. You're auctioning off some artifacts from the Gamma Quadrant.\nQuark: You were eavesdropping on my conversation with Vash. What were you this time? The table? One of the chairs? The wine bottle.\nOdo: When are you going to realize that you have no secrets from me?\nQuark: I have nothing to hide. I'm selling quality merchandise to a select clientele.\nOdo: And what makes them so select?\nQuark: They're all ridiculously wealthy and not too bright.\nOdo: I'll never understand this obsession with accumulating material wealth. You spend your entire life plotting and scheming to acquire more and more possessions, until your living areas are bursting with useless junk. Then you die, your relatives sell everything and start the cycle all over again.\nQuark: Isn't there anything you desire?\nOdo: I have my work. What more do I need?\nQuark: A suit of the finest Andorian silk? A ring of pure Surax? A complete set of Tanesh pottery? How about a latinum plated bucket to sleep in?\nQ: Well, I'm glad to see you've packed. I hope you said goodbye to all your new-found friends.\nVash: I don't have time for this.\nQ: You've led a charmed life these past two years under my benevolent protection.\nVash: I can take care of myself.\nQ: Really? Do you remember that tiny little insect bite you had on Erabus Prime? If I hadn't been there\nVash: I am not going with you.\nQ: The galaxy can be a dangerous place when you're on your own.\nVash: It's over, Q.\nQ: I leave you now to reconsider my offer of friendship.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 46531.2. The station's power is continuing to be drained and converted into gravitons. At this rate, our life support systems will fail in fourteen hours.\nO'Brien: Sir, we'll never find the source of the power drain using these bloody Cardassian internal sensors. They're just not sensitive enough.\nDax: What if we make the power drain easier to detect? If we flood the station with ionized tridium gas, we should be able to trace the particle flow to the source.\nO'Brien: Tridium? Isn't that pretty toxic.\nDax: Only when it's highly concentrated. We'd only use a very small amount.\nSisko: Do it. Unless we get this under control in the next eight hours, we'll begin evacuation procedures.\nQ: Still chasing your own tail? Picard and his lackeys would have solved all this techno-babble hours ago. No wonder you're not commanding a starship.\nKira: Security to Ops.\nQ: Well, aren't we the feisty little go-getter. I'd keep my eye on this one. Chances are, she's after your job.\nO'Brien: Why don't you do something constructive for a change? Like torment the Cardassians.\nQ: Do I know you?\nO'Brien: O'Brien. From the Enterprise.\nQ: Enterprise. oh yes. Weren't you one of the little people? Quite a motley crew you've assembled here, Benji. My advice to you is to evacuate now and save all this pointless guesswork.\nSisko: Q, either you tell us what's going on or get the hell out of the way.\nQ: I'll tell you what's going on. While you're here conducting futile experiments, Vash is below engaging in base commerce and setting Federation ethics back two hundred years. Believe me, gang, she's far more dangerous to you than I.\nQuark: Kolos, my friend. I don't know which pleases me more, your smiling face or your overflowing purse.\nKolos: Quark, you obsequious toad, your so-called Gamma Quadrant merchandise had better be legitimate or I'll toss you out the nearest airlock.\nQuark: No cause for alarm. Each piece comes complete with a statement of authenticity from Vash, the Federation's foremost expert on the Gamma Quadrant.\nKolos: In that case, stop sniveling and give me a synthale.\nVash: Are they all that pleasant?\nQuark: I don't care about their manners. The important thing is, they're honest collectors of antiquities, every one.\nVash: How honest?\nQuark: As honest as you and I.\nVash: Then we'd better keep a close eye on them.\nQuark: My dear, I've been thinking. What would you say to a permanent partnership? What with your knowledge of the Gamma Quadrant, and my business connections, we could make a fortune.\nVash: Sorry, Quark, but I've slept in my last tent. I'm looking forward to a nice quiet life back on Earth.\nQuark: You won't last a month. You're like me. You live for excitement, adventure and profit.\nVash: Not anymore.\nQuark: Would you care to make a wager on that?\nDax: The graviton field has increased by sixty percent.\nSisko: How soon can you begin the sensor sweep?\nDax: Not until we've increased tridium levels to one part per million. It should only be another seven, eight minutes.\nKira: Commander, we're being pulled out of our normal position.\nSisko: Use control thrusters to stabilize the station.\nKira: Firing thrusters. We're still moving.\nO'Brien: If the graviton field is feeding off the station's power, maybe we can cut its supply by shutting down the reactors.\nSisko: Put life support on emergency backup. Take everything else offline.\nKira: We're still moving out of position.\nSisko: What's our heading?\nDax: Bearing one five seven, mark one three.\nKira: Straight into the wormhole.\nQuark: Now, as you know, payment must be in gold pressed latinum, and all transactions are final. Remember, bid high and bid often.\nVash: Ladies and gentlemen, our first item is a statue from the Gamma Quadrant's Verath System. Now, I suppose I take a minute to tell you a little bit about the Verathan civilisation, which reached its height some thirty thousand years ago and spanned over two dozen systems, interconnected by a highly developed trade and communications network. This statue represents Drohlak, the Prime Ossemite of the nineteenth dynasty.\nQuark: Vash, what are you doing?\nVash: I'm placing the statue in its historical context.\nQuark: Here, give me that. This isn't the Daystrom Institute. Watch closely. Friends, it's rare, it's beautiful, and it's a Gamma Quadrant original. And it can be yours for the right price. Bidding will start at ten bars of gold pressed latinum. Make it ten. Fifteen? Sixteen? Who'll say seventeen and be the first to own a piece of the Gamma Quadrant?\nO'Brien: Tridium levels throughout the station have reached one part per million.\nDax: Initiating sensor sweep.\nO'Brien: We can rule out the docking ring.\nDax: The tridium gas seems to be draining toward the central core.\nSisko: Where in the central core?\nO'Brien: Let me see if I can get a more precise reading. It's not clear enough. I can't pinpoint an exact location.\nKira: Based on our current trajectory, we'll hit the wormhole in eighteen minutes.\nSisko: What the hell could be pulling us into the wormhole? Do we have time to transfer auxiliary power to the deflectors, Chief?\nO'Brien: Sir, there's not enough power left to make any difference. If we get sucked into that wormhole, we'll be in a billion pieces by the time we reach the Gamma Quadrant.\nQuark: Sold to Kolos for thirty-six bars of gold pressed latinum. Next we have a dagger, studded with some very interesting looking gems. Think of it as a weapon and an investment. Bidding will start at forty. Forty. Forty two. Forty five. Don't hold back. You know you want it. Give me fifty. Fifty. We have fifty.\nQ: I hate to interrupt such a thrilling display of naked avarice, but I thought it was only right of me to warn you that this station is hurtling toward its doom, and it's very unlikely any of you will survive to enjoy your purchases. I just thought I'd mention it. Please, carry on.\nQuark: Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you, everything is under control. Drinks for everyone. And free use of the holosuites at the conclusion of the auction. And\nVash: I don't think I realized until this moment how evil you really are. You'd kill all these people to get even with me.\nQ: I must admit, the thought had occurred to me, but this station is in enough trouble without me. Although I'd be glad to save you. All you have to do is ask. VASH I'll take my chances with the others.\nQ: As you choose. I'm going to just right here sit here and watch. I've never seen a space station torn apart by a wormhole before.\nQuark: Sold to my cousin Stol for a hundred and five bars of gold pressed latinum.\nKira: What if we pump more tridium gas into the central core? The sensors might be more accurate with the greater concentration.\nO'Brien: It might work, but in four years we'll all be dead from tridium poisoning.\nDax: Wait a minute. Of course. Bring the reactors back online\nO'Brien: The reactors? But they'll just feed more energy to the graviton field.\nDax: If we generate enough energy, it should create a power drain big enough to trace.\nKira: It might also push us faster into the wormhole. A lot faster.\nSisko: It's a chance we've got to take. Bring us to full power, Mister O'Brien. Everything you've got.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nQuark: Sold to Rul the Obscure for a hundred and fifty one latinum bars. And now, our final item. And I think you'll agree with me it was well worth the wait.\nQuark: Bidding will start at two hundred bars of gold pressed latinum. Two hundred. Can I get two fifty? Two fifty. Three hundred anyone? Three hundred bars of gold pressed latinum. Three hundred and fifty?\nVoice: Here.\nQuark: Four hundred? Four hundred. Five? Five hundred and twenty?\nQuark: Six hundred bars of gold press latinum.\nDax: It's not in any of the crossover bridges or the habitat ring. It's in the upper core.\nKira: Three minutes, fourteen seconds to the wormhole. We're picking up speed.\nDax: I've got it. The power drain's coming from the Promenade.\nSisko: Chief, you have Ops.\nKolos: Twenty-five hundred.\nQ: Twenty-five hundred and one.\nDax: This way.\nKolos: Three thousand bars of latinum. My final offer.\nQuark: Three thousand bars.\nQ: A million.\nQuark: A million bars of gold press latinum?\nDax: Over here.\nQuark: A million Going once.\nKira: It's by the podium.\nQuark: A million going twice.\nDax: That's it.\nQuark: Three times.\nSisko: This auction's over.\nQuark: Sold.\nSisko: Chief, shut down the reactors. We've found it.\nQ: And it's about time, too.\nQuark: Sorry, all transactions are final. This item now belongs to that gentleman over there.\nDax: I'm reading a massive graviton build up inside this container. It's increasing exponentially. We have got to get it off the station now.\nSisko: Chief, lock on to my combadge. Prepare to transport it five hundred meters off the docking ring.\nQuark: But I haven't been paid!\nSisko: Energize.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 46532.3. With the embryonic lifeform off the station, graviton levels have returned to normal. We've used the control thrusters to return the station to its original position.\nQuark: So, you're off to the Daystrom Institute. Bet you can hardly wait. Long, boring lectures, endless conferences, whining students dogging your every step. Sounds delightful. Of course. No, you wouldn't be interested.\nVash: In what?\nQuark: I hear they've uncovered the ruins of a Rokai provincial capital on Tartaras Five. If you could obtain some Rokain artifacts\nVash: Forget it, Quark. I'm going back to Earth.\nQuark: Have it your way.\nQ: An abysmal place.\nVash: Tartaras Five?\nQ: Earth. Oh, don't get me wrong. A thousand years ago it had character. Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Watergate. But now it's just mind-numbingly dull.\nVash: Well then by all means, don't come with me.\nQ: I think you'd be much happier poking about the ruins of Tartaras Five.\nVash: I don't need your advice. You really think I\nQ: You know, I still feel that I owe you a million bars of gold pressed latinum.\nVash: Keep it. Just give me back my life.\nQ: You'll regret it if I do.\nVash: I'm willing to take my chances.\nQ: All right. If you insist. But it's not going to be the same without you. When I look at a gas nebula, all I see is a cloud of dust. Seeing the universe through your eyes, I was able to experience wonder. I'm going to miss that.\nVash: Well, I guess in some ways I'm going to miss you too.\nQ: Maybe I could drop in sometime.\nVash: Oh, God, I hope not.\nVash: Hey Quark, What's the quickest way to Tartaras Five?\nBashir: I feel as though I've been sleep for days. What? Did I miss something?"}
{"text": "Scene: Station log. stardate 46910.1. Chief O'Brien has escorted his wife back to Earth to celebrate her mother's hundredth birthday. In the meantime, the rest of us are trying to keep the station up and running.\nBashir: It's almost as though the re-filtration processors were waiting for Chief O'Brien to leave before breaking down.\nDax: The technology looks like something the Cardassians must have taken from the Romulans. Is that an RCL type one matrix field?\nBashir: Perhaps we ought to call in a Romulan repair service.\nDax: Or an RCL type two?\nBashir: Another raktajino?\nDax: It'll keep me up all night.\nBashir: I can think of better ways of keeping you up. And they're more fun than drinking Klingon coffee\nDax: Definitely type one.\nPeers: Dax.\nDax: I really should be getting to bed.\nBashir: May I escort you to your quarters?\nDax: That's not necessary, Julian.\nBashir: Oh, well, good night then.\nBashir: Not necessary, Julian. But not forbidden, either.\nTandro: Dax.\nDax: Yes?\nTandro: You are Dax.\nDax: What do you want?\nBashir: Dax!\nSisko: Yes, Major.\nKira: I'm just not sure, Commander. What does it look like to you?\nSisko: It looks like a residual charge in the graviton generator. If that's what it is, it'll bleed off. Let's run a quick level three diagnostic, just to be sure.\nBashir: Bashir to Ops.\nKira: Ops.\nBashir: Three people\nBashir: I think they just took Jadzia.\nBashir: She tried to struggle with them, and I tried to help\nSisko: Full station security alert. Secure all turbolifts, seal off airlocks for levels four through twelve. Computer, locate Lieutenant Dax.\nComputer: Lieutenant Dax is on level six, corridor one.\nBashir: No, that's where I am.\nBashir: They just left her comm. badge.\nOdo: How long ago, Doctor?\nBashir: Oh, not sure, really.\nDax: What are you doing?\nTandro: We turn right at the next corridor. Come on.\nOdo: They're managing to avoid the security tracking grid. They seem to know a lot about the station.\nKira: Then they may know the speed of our runabouts. If they do, they probably have a faster ship to make their escape.\nSisko: Major, survey all ships in dock with a high warp capability. Damn!\nOdo: What?\nSisko: That's why we've got a residual charge in the graviton generator. They've disabled the tractor beam.\nKira: We've got eight ships in dock capable of warp five or more. Three on docking pylons, five smaller ones in the ports.\nSisko: Seal off all docking ring airlocks.\nOdo: Security. All duty squads to the docking ring. Commence immediate inward sweep, levels sixteen through twenty one.\nKira: I've got them. Airlock five.\nOdo: I'm on my way. Security report to airlock corridor five. We have a hostage situation.\nKira: Isolating with cadderon force fields.\nDax: Will you just tell me what you want?\nTandro: Move.\nKira: Force field is down. They know the security override codes. They're boarding a ship.\nSisko: I'm trying to speed up the bleed-off process in the graviton generator.\nKira: We lost them.\nSisko: It's working. I'm increasing the flow to the EPS wave guides.\nKira: The excess charge is neutralizing.\nSisko: Engage tractor beam.\nKira: Gotcha.\nSisko: Bring it in to docking port six, Major.\nOdo: Slowly. Extremities where I can see them.\nTandro: You're the Chief of Security?\nOdo: Are you all right?\nTandro: My name is Ilon Tandro, special envoy from Klaestron Four in charge of this extradition procedure.\nSisko: Extradition? I call this kidnapping and assault.\nTandro: You'll find that to be a valid warrant for her arrest. The relevant treaty between Klaestron Four and your Federation allows for unilateral extradition.\nSisko: And the charge?\nTandro: The fugitive Dax is charged with treason and the murder of my father.\nOdo: The warrant says Dax was responsible for the death of General Ardelon Tandro thirty years ago.\nSisko: Thirty years ago? That would've been Curzon Dax.\nOdo: when he was on Klaestron Four as a Federation mediator during their civil war.\nSisko: He never mentioned he'd even been to Klaestron Four. Strange.\nOdo: Not so strange considering these charges.\nSisko: Odo, let me tell you something. Curzon Dax tended to be a little cavalier about life, even about his personal responsibilities from time to time. I think that was part of the reason I liked him so much. He had more faults than the usual socially acceptable Trill. He was not a murderer.\nOdo: How about a traitor? It says Dax betrayed the Klaestron government to the rebels.\nSisko: It's all nonsense, Constable. I'm telling you, I knew the man.\nOdo: But did you know the symbiont inside the man?\nDax: Come in.\nSisko: I've sent a subspace message to Klaestron Four requesting confirmation of the warrant. That's the only stall I could think of. Now, what the hell's going on, Dax? Dax, if I'm going to help you, you've got to help me.\nDax: I don't expect any help, Benjamin. Thank you, though.\nSisko: Are you crazy? Treason and murder. On Klaestron Four, either of those gets you the death penalty. What's the matter with you? Talk to me before I have to let these people take you.\nDax: No. I'm sorry, Benjamin, but no.\nSisko: We've got eighteen, twenty years of friendship behind us.\nDax: I'm Jadzia Dax now. That was Curzon Dax you knew for twenty years.\nSisko: So when the Dax part of you survived from one host to the next, it really didn't take our friendship along.\nDax: Benjamin, you know you're still my very dear friend. I'm sorry.\nTandro: You've received your confirmation, Commander. Now we'd like to be on our way with the prisoner.\nSisko: You know, Mister Tandro, I kept wondering why you tried to kidnap Lieutenant Dax, rather than just present your warrant to me in the proper way. I couldn't figure that out at first.\nTandro: I trust you have figured out, Commander, that our extradition treaty with your Federation is current and valid.\nSisko: This station is technically Bajoran.\nTandro: What does that mean to us?\nSisko: You don't have an extradition treaty with Bajor. I think that's why you tried to abduct Lieutenant Dax. You were afraid the Bajorans would refuse extradition.\nTandro: That's absurd. No Bajoran interests are even involved here.\nKira: How did you know your way around the station so well?\nTandro: My conversation is with the Commander.\nSisko: No, your conversation is with my First Officer now.\nKira: You Klaestrons are allies of the Cardassians. Your knowledge of this station confirms that. They must have given you the layout, which not only compromises Bajoran security, but also annoys us.\nSisko: I'm afraid Bajoran interests are involved, and Bajor is adamant that. At least I believe it's adamant.\nKira: Oh, yes.\nSisko: You see. There will have to be an extradition hearing before I can lawfully release Lieutenant Dax.\nQuark: For how long?\nOdo: As long as it takes.\nQuark: That could be for days!\nOdo: There's nowhere else on the station that's suitable.\nQuark: That's too bad. I'm not shutting down for any Bajoran hearing.\nOdo: I'm sure Lieutenant Dax would appreciate it.\nQuark: Business is business.\nOdo: You know, that wall's going to have to come in about five meters.\nQuark: What are you talking about?\nOdo: Of course, after you move the wall that'll mean your second level holosuites'll have to come down.\nQuark: Come down? Why?\nOdo: New restrictions.\nQuark: Restrictions?\nOdo: Building codes. Since the provisional government took over, they've got their hands into everything and of course, I'm the one who's expected to enforce their rules here. You know, I think the bar is just a little too near the exit.\nQuark: This is blackmail.\nOdo: No, it's just business. And business is business.\nSisko: I was just coming to see you. We still haven't found a place for the hearing. Holding it on Bajor would involve Dax leaving the station and I don't want to risk that.\nOdo: Well, now that's a coincidence. Our good friend Quark just donated the use of his facility for the hearing.\nSisko: Nice gesture.\nOdo: I thought so.\nSisko: You know, I haven't been able to get a word out of Dax about any of this. So I thought someone might go do some investigating on Klaestron Four itself. What do you think?\nOdo: This case has thirty years of dust covering it. The extradition hearing'll take about thirty minutes.\nSisko: I'm hoping to make it a little longer than that.\nOdo: Good luck.\nRenora: This will be an informal hearing, so I'm going to start with some informal advice. I am one hundred years old. I do not have time to squander listening to superfluous language. In short, I intend being here until supper, not senility. Understood?\nTandro: Understood, Madame Arbiter.\nRenora: You seek the extradition. Make your case.\nTandro: The accused Trill, whatever its present appearance may be, was and is a Federation officer who committed capital crimes on our planet. Since there is no time limit on the prosecution of such crimes\nRenora: Thank you, I've already read the warrant and charges. The crimes described are thirty years old. What took you so long?\nTandro: The evidence was contained in military files which were officially sealed until recently.\nRenora: Fine. Sit. Commander, the warrant is in order. On what grounds do you ask that I deny extradition?\nSisko: You say the warrant's in order. But the name on the warrant is Dax. Certainly that doesn't refer to Jadzia Dax, a female, but to the now deceased Curzon Dax, a male. This young woman wasn't even born thirty years ago.\nTandro: You are arguing semantics. This creature is a Trill. The symbiont known as Dax has progressed from one host to the next.\nSisko: Exactly. From one host to the next. A different host, a different person. So I submit that the person he wants to extradite no longer exists, and I challenge him to prove otherwise.\nTandro: That's ridiculous.\nRenora: It would have been easier on me, Commander, had you not raised that particular point. But the penalty for these crimes on your planet is death, and that is rather permanent. So before I grant extradition, you will convince me please, that the person named in your warrant is the person who is standing here now.\nKira: She doesn't seem to care whether she gets out of this or not.\nSisko: I care. Doctor, we've given the opposition access to our computers and station library, so let's utilize them ourselves. I want you to find all the medical evidence you can to support the theory that Jadzia Dax and Curzon Dax are two entirely separate people. Major\nBashir: Excuse me, sir. I don't know that there is any medical evidence on that.\nSisko: Assume there is, then find it. Major, I'm not asking you to be an attorney here, but if you could check the Federation computers for any precedents, legal decisions involving Trills.\nKira: Is a Trill responsible for the conduct, for the acts of it's antecedent selves.\nSisko: Right. That kind of thing.\nKira: What if I find the answer's yes?\nSisko: Then that answer is wrong. From this minute on, our answer is no. But if you do find a wrong answer, I want to see it. I can't fight what I don't know about.\nCrewman: Commander Sisko, there's a subspace communication from Odo on Klaestron Four.\nSisko: We only have a few hours, people.\nSisko: Constable What've you got for us?\nOdo: Well, I know two things so far. Whoever did murder that General Ardelon Tandro, it got his troops so mad they went out and won their civil war. They made the General a national hero. There are statues of him all over the place. Second, everyone that's old enough to remember says the General and Curzon Dax were the closest of friends. Comrades, inseparable.\nSisko: Now that sounds like the Curzon Dax I knew.\nOdo: But treason, plus the murder of his own best friend? Strange business. If those charges are true, I'd want to hang Curzon Dax up by his heels myself.\nSisko: Thanks for the confidence.\nOdo: Don't worry, I'll do my job. The General left a widow. If the two men were that close, she has to remember something about Curzon Dax that's not in the record. You'll hear from me.\nEnina: Curzon Dax was not responsible for the death of my husband.\nOdo: You're certain of that?\nEnina: Without a doubt.\nOdo: But your own son\nEnina: My son is obsessed with the death of a father he never knew. Ohm I tried to persuade him not to reopen the case. He wouldn't listen to anyone, least of all to me. You have to understand. Curzon Dax was closer to the General than other any man on this planet. He was a dear friend to this family. Curzon would have died himself sooner than conspire against my husband.\nOdo: Is that a personal opinion or are there any facts that would support this.\nEnina: The only facts I know are in my son's hands and he intends to use them against Dax.\nOdo: It might help my people to know what they are.\nEnina: There is proof of a secret transmission that was made from out military headquarters to the enemy camp. It identifies exactly the route my husband was taking on his way back from the capital to the front. It was at that time that he was ambushed and kidnapped. A short time later, he was killed.\nOdo: Then your son must believe that Dax made the transmission.\nEnina: There were only five people including my husband who knew that route. My son has established the whereabouts of all of them at the time of the transmission. All of them, except Curzon.\nOdo: So Dax has no alibi.\nEnina: That cannot possibly be enough to convict him, can it?\nOdo: I don't know. Thank you. You've been helpful.\nEnina: How is he?\nOdo: Ma'am?\nEnina: Curzon Dax.\nOdo: He's gone. The Dax your son is trying to extradite is Jadzia Dax, a twenty eight year old woman. Curzon Dax died two years ago. Jadzia is the new host.\nEnina: What? I'm sorry. I didn't know.\nTandro: Madame Arbiter, I call on the expert knowledge of another Trill, Selin Peers. Minister Peers, we're fortunate to have you with us.\nRenora: Excuse me. It also seems rather convenient to have you with us. How do you come here?\nPeers: Because another Trill is involved, the Trillian government requested that I be present during the extradition.\nRenora: And do you know the accused personally?\nPeers: I do not.\nRenora: We accept you as an expert on Trills. Proceed.\nTandro: Minister, through how many hosts have you survived?\nPeers: The symbiont within me has survived through the adult lifetimes of seven hosts.\nTandro: Do you remember your very first host?\nPeers: Of course. It was a woman, as a matter of fact.\nTandro: Do you remember what you thought and felt when you were joined with your first host?\nPeers: Yes. The symbiont does carry memories of times shared with previous hosts.\nTandro: So if a crime is committed by a Trill, then the symbiont's next host would remain aware of it, would recall that crime?\nPeers: Yes, absolutely.\nTandro: Would recall the details of it.\nPeers: Yes, absolutely.\nTandro: And would still feel the guilt of it.\nPeers: Oh, yes.\nSisko: Madame Arbiter, this is not a trial and Mister Tandro is not the prosecutor.\nRenora: Mister Tandro, you have made your point.\nTandro: I don't believe that I have, Madame Arbiter. The real point is that Commander Sisko would have you endorse his idea of a perfect Trill crime. To commit it, all one has to do is elude capture long enough to change hosts, and then he or she can go free.\nSisko: Minister Peers, you said you were with your first host throughout her adult life.\nPeers: Yes.\nSisko: So, before a symbiont is joined with any host, that host has already lived a significant portion of his or her life from birth to what age, sir?\nPeers: Early to mid-twenties.\nSisko: Why not younger?\nPeers: To give the prospective host the chance to develop, mature. They have to be old enough to make an informed judgment as to whether or not they really want to be joined.\nSisko: And once they are joined, this host's personality is completely suppressed by the symbiont?\nPeers: Oh, no. No, it's a joining. It's a total sharing, a blending, of both host and symbiont. Neither is suppressed by the other.\nSisko: So with each new host there does come in fact, a new personality, a new combined person. A different person.\nPeers: From that standpoint, yes.\nSisko: Well I for one don't know from what other standpoint we could be talking about. Thank you, Minister.\nTandro: Just to return us to what's important here, Madame Arbiter, the accused can remember any crimes she committed as Curzon Dax and nothing can be truthfully asserted in this hearing that can alter that fact.\nSisko: Yes, the memories were passed to an entirely new host, to an entirely different person.\nTandro: This is outrageous. You can't let Dax get away with murder.\nRenora: Gentlemen, I said this would be an informal hearing, not riotous. We will take a two hour recess.\nRenora: The answer seems simple enough to me. Split her down the middle. Send the symbiont back to stand trial and keep the host here.\nBashir: I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that.\nRenora: Oh, what a surprise. Please enlighten me.\nBashir: The symbiont and the host are biologically interdependent. Ninety three hours after they've joined, neither can survive without the other.\nRenora: I see. Proceed, Commander.\nSisko: Doctor, you've heard the arguments. From a medical viewpoint, are Curzon Dax and Jadzia Dax the same person.\nBashir: Certainly not. Aside from the gender change, there's a marked difference in blood types, metabolisms, nervous system, height, weight.\nTandro: This is not at all relevant.\nBashir: What is relevant, sir, is my analysis of the brain waves of Curzon and Jadzia Dax.\nSisko: Madame Arbiter.\nBashir: As you can see, they are distinctly different, which clearly illustrates that Curzon and Jadzia are two unique individuals.\nSisko: Thank you, Doctor.\nTandro: Doctor, I've looked through your research myself. It's quite impressive for such a young man.\nBashir: Thank you.\nTandro: As a layman, there are obviously things I don't fully understand.\nBashir: I'd be happy to explain anything you wish.\nTandro: Yes? Well, exactly how does the Trill brain work?\nBashir: It's quite complicated, actually. First of all, there are two cerebral nuclei.\nTandro: Two?\nBashir: One in the symbiont and one in the host.\nTandro: Two brains. And these two brains talk to each other?\nBashir: Like two computers linked together.\nTandro: That's very clear, Doctor. Thank you. Now, in your investigations, were you able to analyze the separate wave patterns from each of these brains?\nBashir: They don't function separately.\nTandro: I didn't ask you how they function, Doctor Bashir. I asked if you could analyze the two distinct patterns.\nBashir: I just don't see the relevance of\nTandro: Could you?\nBashir: Yes.\nTandro: And have the brainwave patterns of the symbiont changed since it joined with its new host?\nBashir: With the available evidence, there's no way of telling.\nTandro: What's your best guess?\nBashir: I wouldn't care to guess.\nTandro: In fact, is there evidence of any change at all in the symbiont since it joined with this new host? Yes or no.\nBashir: No.\nTandro: Thank you, Doctor Bashir. You've been very helpful.\nRenora: Any more witnesses, Commander Sisko?\nSisko: Yes, Madame Arbiter. I'd like to call the one person in this courtroom who knew Curzon Dax. Me.\nRenora: You know where the witness stand is.\nSisko: With your permission, I'd like Major Kira will direct the questions.\nKira: Tell us a little about Curzon Dax, Commander.\nSisko: He probably wasn't the ideal Trill. He drank a little too much. He could be more interested in women than maybe he should've been.\nKira: I thought he was your friend.\nSisko: I'm simply pointing out that he was not at all like the young woman in this courtroom.\nKira: What was, exactly, your relationship with Curzon Dax?\nSisko: He took a raw young Ensign under his wing and taught me to appreciate life in ways I'd never thought about before. He taught me about art and science and diplomacy. Whatever sense of honor I might have today, he nurtured. Treason, murder. He was not capable of those things.\nTandro: As you've already said, Commander, this is not a trial.\nSisko: I'm describing my friend, Curzon Dax. A man I knew very well. On the other hand, I can't tell you too much about my new friend there. We're really just getting to know each other.\nTandro: Commander, Starfleet officers do have the reputation of being honorable and I judge you to be an honorable man. As an honorable man, do you think this crime should go unpunished?\nSisko: I prefer no crime to go unpunished.\nTandro: Then, if it were possible, even you would not argue with punishing the symbiont part of Dax.\nSisko: How can you be so sure that the symbiont was the criminal influence? What if it were the Curzon host that was responsible? Then the surviving symbiont would be completely innocent.\nTandro: No. They'd both be guilty. You yourself have argued that the two personalities, once joined, function as one. Your own Doctor Bashir confirmed it. When you put salt in water, the two become indistinguishable and inseparable.\nSisko: I think you've just made my point for me. When the water boils off, the salt returns to its original state. Pour that same salt into another liquid, and you have something completely different. Jadzia Dax is an entirely new entity.\nRenora: Following a one hour recess, Lieutenant Dax will take the witness chair. One hour.\nSisko: If you won't defend yourself, you're not going to testify.\nKira: It's a hearing, not a trial. She has no choice.\nKira: Odo's on subspace. It's urgent.\nOdo: I've made some progress.\nSisko: Good.\nOdo: Not good. Since the transmission to the enemy is the key evidence, I thought it might be a good idea to go through all the communications logs from headquarters during that period. I even found Curzon Dax's records.\nSisko: You can't tell me Curzon would log in a communiqué to the enemy.\nOdo: No. Nothing like that. But the log shows a number of conversations between Dax's office and General Tandro's home.\nSisko: They were close friends.\nOdo: A number of the conversations took place when the General was away at the front.\nSisko: The wife?\nOdo: The wife.\nSisko: Curzon Dax and Enina Tandro.\nOdo: Maybe it was innocent. Maybe he was just providing a little emotional support during tough times. Or maybe they were taking advantage of the General's absence to get a little closer. If they were having an affair, that translates into a pretty solid motive for murder.\nOdo: The conversations were just the beginning. I've also found records of gifts, of holidays spent at an inn outside the capital.\nEnina: What purpose does this serve?\nOdo: It serves the truth.\nEnina: The truth.\nOdo: If there's more to this than meets the eye, I hope you'll explain, because as it stands, this will severely hurt Dax's defense.\nEnina: My husband was not the hero in life that he was in death, Mister Odo. In death he became a legend, and I became a legend's wife. There are people who did not even know my husband who still contact me. Decades after his death, they still mourn him.\nOdo: But you don't.\nEnina: No, because I knew the man before he became a legend. But I also knew my place in history. My place is to carry on bravely, never to remarry, to represent my husband at the banquets given in his name. But never, never to talk about who he really was, because nobody wants to hear that.\nOdo: They may have to hear it now.\nEnina: No matter what is said, they will still embrace his memory, for he was and will always be, the hero who died for his people. But perhaps it's time for my place in history to change.\nSisko: You've been protecting her reputation. That's it, isn't it? That's why you won't even defend yourself. There are worse things than an illicit love affair. Curzon didn't murder anybody. He didn't commit treason. Are you really willing to commit suicide over something done in another lifetime? That is what you're doing, you know. My God, Dax. Young Tandro, that wouldn't be your son?\nDax: You have an overactive imagination, Benjamin.\nSisko: Then what is it that's holding you back? Help me. Damn it, if you were still a man.\nDax: I see your temper hasn't improved.\nSisko: Don't talk to me about my temper.\nDax: Curzon always warned you about it.\nSisko: You're not going to get me off track here.\nDax: Do you remember that Argosian lieutenant who threw a drink in your face?\nSisko: And you knocked me down with a right cross before I could kill him. I still have a little scar here from your ring finger.\nDax: I tried on that ring on after Curzon died. It just slipped off my finger.\nSisko: If you don't help me, old man, they're going to take you because I don't know any more arguments.\nDax: Then allow it to happen.\nSisko: It is my an obligation to protect the lives of those in my command. You ought to know that. You taught it to me.\nDax: That was Curzon.\nSisko: I'll stop trying to protect you the minute you tell me Curzon was guilty of these charges.\nDax: I won't discuss it with you. As for Enina Tandro, yes, I feel the shame of Curzon's indiskretions. When one of my kind stumbles, Benjamin, it is a mistake that's there forever. I can't tell you which part of Curzon Dax couldn't stop himself from acting shamefully with another man's wife. I can tell you that he did love her, for whatever that's worth.\nSisko: Enough to kill her husband?\nDax: So you are questioning?\nSisko: What else can I do?\nDax: Nothing, Benjamin. Nothing at all.\nRenora: Lieutenant Dax, you're either two hundred years older than I am or you're about the same age as my great granddaughter. At first I wondered which of those you were. Now I am bothered by the likelihood that you may be both. Let's finish this, Commander.\nSisko: At what age did the host, Jadzia, first want to be joined as a Trill?\nDax: I wanted it since I was a child. I worked very hard for it.\nSisko: The competition to become a Trill is very strong, then, among potential hosts.\nDax: Yes. It's considered a great honor.\nSisko: How did young Jadzia finally become a host candidate?\nDax: By winning scholarships, competing against other young people. You're tested in countless ways.\nSisko: Including psychological tests, to determine the strength of character of the prospective host. Is that true?\nDax: Yes.\nSisko: And the young Jadzia excelled in those tests of academics and character, of psychological stability.\nDax: Yes.\nSisko: If you can remember other things, remember that as well. What academic degrees do you hold, Lieutenant?\nDax: I hold Premier Distinctions in exobiology, zoology, astrophysics and exoarcheology.\nSisko: How many of those degrees did you earn before you being joined with the symbiont Dax?\nDax: All of them.\nSisko: All of them. As Jadzia. Alone. This brilliant and independent young woman has done nothing in her life but contribute to her society. Madame Arbiter, how can anyone justify trying her for a crime allegedly committed by another entity before she was even born?\nTandro: This will only take a minute. Lieutenant, as a Trill candidate, did Jadzia fully understand the responsibilities to be assumed upon becoming a Trill, and did you willingly accept those responsibilities, and whatever consequences they might entail?\nDax: Yes.\nTandro: And would that not obviously include the consequences of criminal acts committed by Curzon Dax?\nEnina: May I speak?\nRenora: And you are?\nEnina: I am Enina Tandro, widow of General Ardelon Tandro. This hearing is unnecessary. The accusations are erroneous.\nTandro: Mother, what are you talking about?\nEnina: Madame Arbiter, Curzon Dax is accused of sending a transmission to the enemy that betrayed my husband. But I know where Curzon was at the exact time that transmission was sent. He was in my bed.\nRenora: Mister Tandro, you will want to re-examine your extradition request. Until then this hearing is adjourned.\nEnina: You were kind to try and protect me. Someone you'd never even met.\nDax: There's much of Curzon that's still a part of me, that still remembers what you had together.\nEnina: But it was Curzon Dax who swore himself to silence to preserve the memory of General Tandro. Not Jadzia.\nDax: I felt it was important to keep that promise. The General's memory is cherished by your people.\nEnina: And it will continue to be. No one will ever know that he was the one who tried to betray us, and that the rebels killed him for the favor. As for you, there is one favor I would ask.\nDax: Of course.\nEnina: Live, Jadzia Dax. Live a long, fresh and wonderful life."}
{"text": "Kira: I've never seen anything like that.\nBashir: Hmm?\nKira: I've never seen anything like that.\nBashir: The woman?\nKira: She was dead. The tricorder clearly showed\nBashir: Ah yes, well, tricorders. Very accurate with live people, not so accurate with dead ones. We learn that first year medical school.\nKira: Well, I was very impressed, Doctor.\nBashir: And well you should have been. I impressed myself on this one actually. I can't imagine what other doctor would even consider examining the scapular nodes for parasitic infection. I just seem to have a talent, I suppose. A vision that sees past the obvious, around the mundane, right to the target. Fate has granted me a gift, Major. A gift to be a healer.\nKira: I feel privileged to be in your presence.\nBashir: Glad to have you along.\nKira: Did anyone ever tell you that you're\nComputer: Priority one broad band distress signal.\nKajada: Kobliad transport Reyab to any ship. Our central power linkage exploded. We're losing life support. Please respond.\nBashir: Just picking it up on long range sensors. Bearing three four seven mark zero eight.\nKira: I'm reading massive energy leakage. Its aft structural integrity field is failing. This is the Federation Ship Rio Grande. We're on our way.\nBashir: O-2 pressure dropping rapidly. Toxic gas levels are rising. We've got no more than ten minutes breathing time left in here.\nKira: Automatic fire suppression must be offline. I'll check the central power linkage.\nBashir: Relax. I'm a doctor.\nKajada: What happened?\nBashir: You lost consciousness. Now listen, is there anyone else aboard your ship? We've got to evacuate it.\nKajada: The pilot is dead.\nBashir: I'm reading another lifeform.\nKajada: No. Don't open that.\nBashir: It's sealed.\nKajada: The prisoner I was transporting, he started the fire to escape.\nBashir: He's dying. Where's the manual override?\nKajada: No. Stop! Don't!\nKajada: Wait. Don't go in there. He's dangerous.\nBashir: I assure you, in this condition, he's of no threat to anyone.\nKira: Power linkages are completely shot. Maneuvering subsystems are out. I've managed to stabilize the structural integrity field, but I don't know how long it's going to last. We'll have to tow it in.\nBashir: His synaptic fields are dissipating. I can't get a neural reading. I have to get him to the emergency unit on the runabout.\nKira: Computer, four to transport.\nVantika: Make me live.\nBashir: This one I can't bring back.\nKajada: Where am I?\nBashir: You're on Station DS Nine. I'm Doctor Julian Bashir.\nKajada: Ty Kajada, Kobliad Security. DS Nine? But that's where he was going. Where is he? Where is Vantika?\nBashir: Your prisoner? He's dead.\nKajada: You're certain.\nBashir: Yes. You were the only survivor.\nKajada: Where's his body?\nBashir: I have it in stasis.\nKajada: I want to see it.\nBashir: When you're feeling stronger\nKajada: Now!\nBashir: Preliminary examinations indicated the subject died of a massive respiratory failure, brought on by the pulmonary trauma suffered during the fire.\nKajada: Are you sure it's the same body?\nBashir: Quite certain. It's been sealed in here ever since our arrival.\nKajada: Have you run a retinal imaging scan?\nBashir: What for?\nKajada: To confirm that there is no residual activity in the visual cortex.\nBashir: Miss Kajada, I assure you he is dead.\nKajada: He's faked his death more times than I can tell you. And the last time someone thought he was dead, they didn't live to regret the mistake.\nBashir: He was a murderer?\nKajada: That description doesn't do justice to the horrors he's responsible for on my world. He's quite brilliant in his way. A man of science who killed others to prolong his own life. I've tracked him for twenty years.\nKajada: Please perform an autopsy. I want his identity confirmed with a DNA reference scan.\nBashir: Of course.\nKajada: And have someone scan my ship. I want to make sure there are no anomalous life forms on board.\nBashir: Are you sure that's necessary?\nKajada: Very sure.\nQuark: Iced raktajino, extra cream.\nDax: Thank you, Quark.\nQuark: At your service, day or night.\nDax: Thanks.\nQuark: Poor woman. She's obviously infatuated with me.\nOdo: You're deluding yourself.\nQuark: There's nothing wrong with a good delusion. I sell them upstairs to dozens of people every day. Besides, there is something in her eyes when she looks at me.\nOdo: An allergic reaction, no doubt.\nQuark: I think she's lonely.\nOdo: Dax? She has ten lifetimes worth of friends to call on before she calls you. And every man on the station would like to be buying her a raktajino.\nQuark: Ah, but I'm the one with the raktajino machine.\nOdo: She seems to prefer spending most of her time alone, which I understand perfectly.\nQuark: Then that must make her the perfect woman for you.\nOdo: I wouldn't intrude on her privacy, as some would.\nQuark: You're pathetic. You think everyone in the galaxy should be as lonely and as miserable as you are. As hard as it may be for you to understand, some of us like company. The sound of a friendly voice. The sight of a familiar face. The feel of smooth, pliant flesh.\nOdo: Why do you bother?\nQuark: It's good to want things.\nOdo: Even things you can't have?\nQuark: Especially things I can't have.\nOdo: Like the deuridium shipment?\nQuark: Deuridium shipment? Is there a deuridium shipment coming here?\nOdo: I'm watching you, Quark.\nQuark: And I'm watching you, Jadzia.\nPrimmin: Interesting technique. Do you always get ready for an important operation by leaking word about it to the local black market?\nOdo: How I handle my business is none of your concern.\nPrimmin: I'm afraid it is. Lieutenant George Primmin. Starfleet security, and if you don't mind, I would like to talk to you about the deuridium shipment from the Gamma Quadrant.\nOdo: There's nothing to discuss. Security is already in place.\nPrimmin: I would appreciate it if we could go over it anyhow. It took me three weeks to get here and I'd hate to think it was for nothing.\nOdo: If you insist. Meet me in my office at seventeen hundred hours.\nBashir: The autopsy revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Fingerprints, cerebral cortex scans, retinal patterns all matched up perfectly with the records Kajada provided. Vantika may have faked his death before, but I don't think he's faking this time.\nSisko: Why was he coming here?\nBashir: They're Kobliad.\nDax: The deuridium.\nKira: I'm sorry?\nSisko: The Kobliad are a dying race. They need deuridium to stabilize their cell structure. It prolongs their lifespan.\nDax: The Federation's been working to supply them with deuridium, but even the new deposits from the Gamma Quadrant aren't enough to service the whole population. It's so scarce that some of the Kobliad have gone underground to get it.\nKira: So he was coming here to hijack a shipment?\nDax: Exactly.\nSisko: Is Kajada satisfied with your autopsy?\nBashir: I don't think anything's going to convince her he's dead, Commander.\nDax: Vantika has been the focus of Kajada's attention for most of her adult life. In a way, they were as intimately connected as any two beings could be.\nSisko: Let's do her the courtesy of granting her requests as long as they're not too far out of line. A quick sweep of her ship is not too much to ask. I'm more concerned that Vantika might have had help here waiting to hijack the shipment. Ah, Mister Primmin. Good. In my office. I want to brief you on a security issue that's arisen.\nKira: I'll get Odo up here.\nPrimmin: Ah, that's okay, Major. I'll fill him in later on anything he needs to know.\nSisko: How are you getting on with the Constable, Lieutenant?\nPrimmin: I'm sure he's very good at keeping order down there on the Promenade.\nSisko: But\nPrimmin: Frankly, isn't the security of a deuridium shipment a little over his head? I mean, he was chatting about it in the bar with that Ferengi, Quark. If I could overhear it, so could half-dozen others.\nSisko: It's hard to keep a secret in a place like this, Lieutenant. It's not a starship.\nPrimmin: I understand that.\nSisko: I'm sure almost everyone knows about the shipment by now. Odo was probably making sure Quark knows we know he knows.\nPrimmin: It's not they way they taught us at the Academy, is it, sir. If you want my opinion\nSisko: Actually, I don't. You and I are guests of the Bajorans, Lieutenant. You don't have to forget what you learned at the Academy, you just don't throw it in anyone's face here. If you're really smart, you might even learn a few new things about station security from our Constable. Clear?\nPrimmin: Very clear, sir.\nSisko: Now, regarding the shipment. We've been made aware of a possible Kobliad plot to hijack the deuridium. You and Odo ought to have a talk with Kajada, the Kobliad security officer who arrived yesterday\nPrimmin: Before we get started, I want to apologize for us getting off on the wrong foot.\nOdo: Think nothing of it.\nPrimmin: Listen, I know this is your bailiwick. I don't mean to be throwing my weight around. No hard feelings?\nOdo: None at all.\nPrimmin: Just because I'm from Starfleet Security doesn't mean I don't respect your opinion. How about showing me what you've got and I'll see if there's anything we can work with.\nOdo: Lieutenant, you're welcome to see my plans, but I assure you I've taken every precaution regarding the shipment. However, if you have any suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. What? Odo to Ops.\nKira: Go ahead.\nOdo: Major, are we having some\nOdo: Sort of computer problem?\nKira: Everything in active memory has been accessed and purged.\nOdo: That's impossible.\nKajada: Oh, it's possible. Vantika did the exact same thing on Rigel Seven.\nKajada: I know Vantika. I've learned to think as he thinks.\nBashir: Kajada, our best evidence suggests Vantika stopped thinking two days ago.\nKajada: He's alive. And he's on board this station. And his first thought when he came on board was to plan a way to access your security files on the deuridium shipment, which is exactly what he's done.\nPrimmin: Even if he was alive, it doesn't make sense that he would purge an entire computer memory to go after a single file.\nOdo: It makes perfect sense. Try to access the single file and you'd be stopped by a dozen different lock outs that I put in to protect it.\nKajada: But you would never consider locking out the active memory of your entire system.\nKira: It would make it impossible to use the computers at all.\nKajada: So that's where you're vulnerable.\nDax: But how would he gain access?\nKajada: In the past, he's used a subspace shunt. It would be attached to a secondary system, something that runs through the entire facility but isn't covered by security.\nKira: The lighting controls, or the replicators.\nDax: I'm showing an unauthorized tap into the computer system. A temperature control panel, Level twenty one, section ten. ODO +\nPrimmin: Security to\nOdo: To L twenty one, S ten. We're looking for a subspace crossover link to the computer system.\nSecurity: Acknowledged.\nKajada: Tell them to be careful. Vantika undoubtedly equipped the shunt with an auto-destruct system.\nKira: You know that for certain without having to check?\nKajada: I know Vantika.\nSisko: Miss Kajada, I must admit I'm having a tough time with your theory.\nKajada: Then you're making a fatal mistake.\nSisko: Three passengers were on your ship. Two bodies are in our morgue. Unless the ghost of Vantika is\nKajada: Don't patronize me, Commander!\nSisko: Isn't it more likely that some accomplice did this?\nKajada: Rao Vantika is obsessed with his own survival. He's prolonged his life with the use of drugs, cryogenics, transplants. As a medical supervisor in a high security penitentiary, he used prisoners for his illegal experiments in cellular longevity. He's organized raids on government labs to steal bio-regenerative research. I promise you when he started that fire on board my ship, he had a plan to survive. I'm not sure what that plan was, but I'm convinced it succeeded.\nSisko: Doctor, how soon before we get the results of the DNA trace?\nBashir: I sent it to Starfleet Command yesterday. They'll have to coordinate with Kobliad security. I'd say another twelve hours.\nSisko: Until then, we will operate under the assumption that Vantika is alive.\nOdo: Commander, may I have a word with you?\nSisko: What's on your mind?\nOdo: My resignation.\nSisko: You're overreacting.\nOdo: Oh, so you already know about this.\nSisko: Yes, Lieutenant Primmin mentioned to me\nOdo: You asked me to stay in charge of security when you took command of this station. I did not ask you.\nSisko: Constable, no one knows this station like you do.\nOdo: Yes, I've noticed that. Constable. Very cute.\nSisko: It's an expression of affection. I believe Major Kira was the first to\nOdo: I don't need anyone's affection. I do need clear jurisdiction or I am out.\nSisko: I like you, Odo. I like to know where a man stands. There's never been any question of that with you. I need you here. No Starfleet officer can do the job you do.\nOdo: You've got that straight.\nSisko: But you have to realize that Starfleet is not going to take command of a station in deep space without assigning some security to protect its interests.\nOdo: Understandable.\nSisko: You're going to have to work with Primmin. The two of you have to find a way to get along.\nOdo: Tell him that.\nSisko: I already have.\nOdo: Who's in charge?\nSisko: In joint operations like this one, you are.\nOdo: I can live with that arrangement.\nSisko: What have you got, Dax?\nDax: I'm not exactly sure yet. I finished the sweep of Kajada's ship. No anomalous readings, but I did notice one odd thing.\nSisko: What's that?\nDax: Somebody tried to break into the ship's cargo bay.\nSisko: Since it's been docked?\nDax: Kira confirmed that there was no damage to the cargo area when they brought it in.\nSisko: What do you think they were after?\nDax: This, maybe. I found it in Vantika's personal belongings.\nSisko: What is it?\nDax: A map of the humanoid brain.\nQuark: You call this clean? I've already found three coins on the floor up here. Who knows what else there might be? Somebody may have lost some valuable jewellry or something. Fine, never mind. I'll do it myself and I'll keep it myself. Leave!\nQuark: You just can't find good help any more.\nVantika: Have you made the preparations?\nQuark: Preparations? What preparations?\nVantika: The deuridium shipment. You were to hire mercenaries to help me.\nQuark: Help you? But. You can't be Vantika.\nVantika: I told you to expect me at this hour.\nQuark: Yes, and I contacted some very reliable soldiers of fortune in anticipation of your arrival. I was told you were dead.\nVantika: Almost, but not quite.\nKajada: You wanted to see me?\nBashir: Kajada. I'll be right with you. There. Now remember, next time lift with your back straight and use the anti-gravity generator. I'm sorry. Come in. I have the DNA scan results. I thought you might want to see them. In fact, I tried to call you last night, but you never responded to the comm.\nKajada: I have trouble sleeping. Last night was particularly bad I used an alpha wave inducer to help me.\nBashir: You should be careful with those. They're only meant for occasional use.\nKajada: The scan results, Doctor.\nBashir: Oh, yes. There wasn't even a trace of diploid variation. It's definitely not a clone. Positive identification, Rao Vantika.\nKajada: They must have overlooked something.\nDax: Dax to Bashir.\nBashir: Yes, Jadzia.\nDax: I need some medical advice. Can you come to my lab?\nBashir: I'll be right there.\nBashir: Bashir out. Every conceivable test has been done, Kajada.\nDax: Here's the hypothesis. The body dies, the consciousness lives on.\nBashir: In another brain?\nDax: Possible?\nBashir: The closest thing I've encountered is synaptic pattern displacement. But that's never been done by a non-Vulcan.\nDax: I'm convinced Vantika was working on it. There are over seventy different computer simulations in his file. All involve identifying neural energy patterns and storing them in different areas of the brain.\nBashir: There's plenty of room. A humanoid uses only a small portion of the brain.\nDax: What if another entity shared the unused portion?\nBashir: Hypothetically, Vantika's consciousness could be occupying someone else's brain while he waits for the deuridium to arrive. But whose? Kajada?\nDax: They're both Kobliad. What better place to hide than in the mind of your worst enemy?\nSisko: It doesn't make sense. She's been doing everything she can to convince us that Vantika is alive. If Vantika's controlling her, why would he call attention to himself?\nDax: We're not suggesting he's controlling her.\nBashir: This is all theoretical, but to extend the logic, there's no reason to believe she'd even be aware of his presence.\nDax: Like a stowaway on a ship. The pilot's at the helm, but someone else is along for the ride.\nSisko: Would an examination of Kajada confirm any of this?\nBashir: We don't know what we're looking for yet. We still have to identify a method of transfer first.\nOdo: I could assign some personnel to maintain continuous surveillance on Kajada.\nPrimmin: We're already stretched to the limit preparing for the shipment. Why don't I just set up the computer to track her movements and alert us if she goes near a secured area.\nOdo: At the very least, she has to be left out of our security plans.\nBashir: She won't like that.\nSisko: I'm afraid we have no choice.\nDax: What do we tell her?\nOdo: Nothing. She'll figure it out. When she does, send her to me.\nKajada: The computer security codes have been changed. I've been denied access. Why?\nOdo: Because I ordered it.\nKajada: What kind of fool are you?\nOdo: My own special variety.\nKajada: I'm the only one here who has experience with Vantika.\nOdo: I'm sorry. I believe it's necessary at this point to limit access to the security files to four people. Myself, Lieutenant Primmin, Major Kira and Commander Sisko.\nKajada: When is the shipment scheduled to arrive?\nOdo: I can't give you that information.\nKajada: What about this Ferengi, Quark?\nOdo: What about him?\nKajada: From what I understand, he has his hands into everything around here. Is he under surveillance?\nOdo: I always keep an eye on him.\nKajada: I hope so. Because he's exactly the kind that Vantika would use in his plans.\nQuark: Everything's been taken care of.\nDurg: That's what you said about Vener Seven.\nQuark: You should thank me for Vener Seven. You got paid, didn't you?\nDurg: We almost got killed.\nQuark: A normal risk in your line of work.\nDurg: It's a normal risk when we work for you, that's for certain. So, when do we meet this Kobliad?\nQuark: When he decides it's appropriate.\nDurg: All right then, a better question. When do we get paid?\nQuark: When the job is completed of course.\nDurg: Not acceptable. We'll require an advance payment of seventy percent.\nQuark: Durg, wake up. This is Quark you're talking to, remember.\nDurg: All past debts have been settled.\nQuark: They'll never be settled. You'd still be rotting in a Cardassian jail if I hadn't\nBashir: Can you speak?\nKajada: Pushed. Vantika.\nBashir: I can't keep her conscious any longer, Commander. If she moves too much, she could suffer permanent paralysis.\nSisko: Did you see anybody behind her?\nQuark: I just heard the scream and looked up. she fell from the balcony. What was she doing up there anyway?\nOdo: She had an odd feeling you might be helping someone hijack this deuridium shipment.\nQuark: I resent the inference.\nOdo: It's not an inference. It's a definite suspicion.\nSisko: Was anyone else in the bar?\nQuark: Anyone else?\nSisko: At the time of the accident.\nQuark: No, just me. Just tidying up, which if you'll excuse me, I really must finish.\nOdo: Not so fast, Quark. I want to take a look at that third floor before you get rid of all the evidence.\nQuark: Be my guest, but I'm telling you she was alone up there. And she had no business invading the privacy of a law-abiding member of the community.\nSisko: What do you think, Doctor? Could this have been a suicide attempt?\nBashir: I haven't noticed any indication of suicidal behavior, but then, who knows what the effect of sharing one's brain might be?\nSisko: I'd still like some confirmation of that.\nBashir: I'll have to tend to her injuries before I conduct any brain scans, but until we find the transfer method Vantika used, I'm not even sure what to look for.\nSisko: Computer, location of Lieutenant Dax.\nComputer: Lieutenant Dax is in the stasis room.\nSisko: Find something under his fingernails?\nDax: Not yet.\nSisko: What are you looking for?\nDax: Confirmation of a theory, I hope. I've been asking myself, why would anyone induct a bioelectrical charge into a glial cell?\nSisko: A question I have always wondered about.\nDax: Well, it might make sense if you wanted to send a bio-coded message along the glial cells of someone's nervous system all the way to the brain. My guess is that's what Vantika was trying to do.\nSisko: Using his fingernails?\nDax: Frankly, I can't think of another way he could have delivered the bio-coded message. He must have used a very weak electrical charge, or the sensors on Kajada's ship would have detected it. Ideally, he would have injected the coded message directly into his victim's skin but there were no hyposprays or needles anywhere on the ship.\nDax: A microscopic generator.\nSisko: You're suggesting stored his consciousness in that thing?\nDax: His neural patterns encoded as bioelectrical pulses. He could have placed that device under his nail months ago, just in case he needed an escape route in an emergency. His last resort before death.\nSisko: Will this show up in Kajada?\nDax: Now that we know what we're looking for, we should be able to confirm it with a glial scan.\nSisko: Do it as soon as Bashir stabilizes her. Nice work.\nKira: Confirm that each distribution amplifier is at one hundred percent efficiency. If there's more than a point-zero three percent fall off, replace it. And that won't mean a thing if any of the power waveguide outlets fail. Double-check them.\nOdo: You'd better make this the last check. We've only got an hour. Where's Primmin?\nKira: I thought he was with you.\nOdo: I sent him to help you make the final security sweep of the docking area.\nKira: He has not been here all morning.\nQuark: I won't be going with you. I'm simply a middleman, a facilitator.\nDurg: A profit monger.\nQuark: And proud of it.\nDurg: How did you get your hands on a Federation runabout, Quark?\nQuark: I can't take credit for that. Your employer has somehow managed to arrange security access.\nDurg: When do we meet this employer?\nQuark: His message said he'd be waiting for us on board.\nQuark: Oh, er, er, I'm terribly sorry. We seem to have made a wrong turn. We didn't mean to disturb you, Doctor.\nBashir: Not at all, gentlemen. I've been expecting you.\nDax: Julian? Computer, location of Doctor Bashir.\nComputer: Doctor Bashir is in the Infirmary.\nOdo: What the hell are you doing in there? I told you to sweep the docking bay again.\nPrimmin: I took a cue from you.\nOdo: From me?\nPrimmin: You understood the logic of Vantika's MO when he downloaded the computer memory. Avoid the single file, attack the system.\nOdo: I'm not following.\nPrimmin: Vantika has to know that all of our security efforts will be focused on the docking ring.\nOdo: And?\nPrimmin: I figured if he holds true to form that's not where he'll try to hurt us. So I ran a diagnostic of all the systems that could shut our whole defense array down.\nOdo: I already did that twice today.\nPrimmin: I know. I didn't find anything either. But then I went to the back-up systems and I found a glitch there I couldn't explain. And I tracked it back to the waste reclamation system where no body would ever think to look because it's considered non-essential. And I found this.\nOdo: Another subspace crossover shunt, just like the one Vantika used when he tapped into the computer.\nPrimmin: And it's set to feed back into the primary command and control functions.\nOdo: This would have shut us down for close to an hour.\nPrimmin: Long enough for him to grab that freighter and warp to who knows where.\nSisko: Yes, Major?\nKira: The Norkova's just come through the wormhole, requesting permission to dock.\nSisko: Let's go to security alert yellow. What bay do you have assigned in the plan?\nKira: Number eight.\nSisko: Odo, maintain a visible contingent of security at bay eight but I'm sending the Norkova to the second back-up. Bay twelve.\nPrimmin: I'll send additional forces to twelve.\nOdo: Commander, your Lieutenant Primmin there just saved us all a lot of problems. Another subspace crossover that would have crippled us long enough for them to escape with your deuridium.\nKira: Odo, did you deploy a runabout to escort the Norkova?\nOdo: No.\nKira: How come the Rio Grande's going out to meet it.\nSisko: On screen.\nDax: Benjamin, Julian's missing.\nSisko: Missing?\nDax: His comm. badge was in the Infirmary. I can't find him anywhere.\nSisko: Computer, who authorized access to Runabout Rio Grande?\nComputer: Authorisation access code four one two one. Doctor Julian Bashir.\nDurg: It's safe.\nBashir: Shields up.\nDurg: Done.\nBashir: Secure the rest of the ship. Be sure to account for all twelve members of the crew. If they resist, kill them. Enter the new course.\nDurg: Aye. The station has locked a tractor beam on us.\nBashir: But that's not possible. They should be shut down by now.\nDurg: Well, they're not. They're hailing us.\nBashir: Hailing us? Engage engines, full impulse.\nDurg: We're not going anywhere with a tractor beam on us.\nBashir: Do it!\nDurg: Full impulse engaged. The tractor beam is holding.\nBashir: But they won't be able to pull us in.\nDurg: We can't just sit here and wait. What do you intend to do?\nBashir: Open a channel.\nSisko: I'm Benjamin Sisko, Commander of DS Nine.\nBashir: Rao Vantika is my name. But I assume you know that already.\nSisko: I want to speak to Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Unfortunately, he's not available at the moment.\nSisko: Is he all right?\nBashir: His body is, how do you humans say it? Fit as a fiddle. Looks rather good on me, don't you think?\nSisko: What have you done to his mind, Vantika?\nBashir: It was necessary to render him unconscious for the time being. However, I might consider leaving his body and returning him to you. But first you must release your tractor beam.\nSisko: I can't do that.\nBashir: If you don't, I'll take this vessel to warp.\nSisko: The tractor beam would rip apart your ship, and you and everyone on board would be killed.\nBashir: Exactly. So if you care at all about the welfare of your Doctor, you will release your hold on us. You have one minute to decide.\nSisko: Can we get a transporter lock on him?\nPrimmin: Negative. Their shields are up.\nSisko: Suggestions?\nKira: A small ship like a runabout might be able to get close enough to overload their shield generators with directed phaser fire. We used to do it to Cardassian freighters all the time.\nOdo: But you'd be risking a hull breach and with all the deuridium on board\nSisko: He's right. We can't risk releasing deuridium into the system. Every populated area would have to be evacuated. Dax, is there any way to disrupt Vantika's control over Bashir?\nDax: I have an exact model of Vantika's neural energy patterns. If I can design an electromagnetic pulse to disrupt those patterns, Julian might emerge. We still need a way to get it there.\nSisko: Could we run it right along the tractor beam at the same frequency as their shields?\nDax: The pulse would resonate off the shields and create a reflected EM field inside the ship.\nKira: He's hailing us.\nDax: I need some time.\nSisko: I'll give you as much as I can. On screen.\nBashir: Have you decided?\nSisko: If I permit you to leave, what guarantee do I have that you'll return Doctor Bashir?\nBashir: Oh, you're far too ready to capitulate, Commander. Would you be planning a rescue attempt, perhaps?\nSisko: I'm only interested in the safety of my doctor.\nBashir: You insult my intelligence. Prepare to go to warp\nSisko: You've gone to great lengths to survive, Vantika. I don't think you're ready to kill yourself.\nBashir: And I don't think you are ready to risk spreading deuridium all over this system.\nBashir: Ready to engage warp engines.\nDurg: You must be crazy! I want no part of this.\nBashir: No more middlemen, Sisko. No more delays. What's it to be?\nSisko: All right. We're prepared to release the tractor beam. Dax.\nDax: Ready.\nSisko: Do it.\nSisko: Doctor Bashir! Answer me! Bashir!\nBashir: Yes? What?\nSisko: Doctor. Lower the shields.\nBashir: What? What shields? Where am I?\nSisko: I'll explain later. Lower the shields now!\nOdo: The shields are down.\nSisko: Get him out of there.\nPrimmin: Energizing.\nBashir: It's okay. It's me.\nDax: I've programd this transporter to isolate any glial cells with Vantika's neural patterns and to beam them from Julian into this micro-containment field. Once they're out he should be back to normal.\nDax: I'm only reading human neural patterns. He's clear.\nBashir: I have the worst headache.\nKajada: Doctor Bashir I'm so sorry for all of this.\nBashir: I suppose we should have listened to you when you said he was alive.\nKajada: There was no way for you to control what he was doing to you.\nBashir: I'm afraid I don't remember it. Actually, I feel quite humiliated.\nSisko: No one blames you, Doctor.\nKajada: It wasn't you. It was that.\nDax: What do you intend to do with it?\nKajada: May I assume that you've returned custody of the prisoner to me, Commander Sisko?\nSisko: The prisoner? What's left of him.\nKajada: Good."}
{"text": "Jake: Dress uniform?\nSisko: I haven't worn this in almost three years. I must've lost a little weight. Feels kind of baggy.\nJake: It looks great. Besides, baggy's quite fashionable on Bajor right now. Lemonade.\nSisko: Since when are you interested in Bajoran fashions?\nJake: Well, a lot of Bajoran girls come to the station with their families.\nSisko: Since when are you interested in Bajoran girls?\nJake: Dad.\nSisko: Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that you were playing with model starships?\nJake: Try a few years ago.\nSisko: You and I have got to have a talk, young man, about women.\nJake: That's okay.\nSisko: I mean it. There are some things you have got to know.\nJake: I already know them, Dad.\nSisko: Oh yeah? And who told you?\nJake: Nog.\nSisko: Nog. So all you know about women you've heard from the Ferengi boy.\nJake: We were just talking.\nSisko: Swell. Listen, I don't have time now, but obviously I have a lot of damage control to do with you on this subject. Let's set aside some time tomorrow.\nJake: Fine.\nSisko: Okay. Tomorrow morning, first thing.\nJake: Fine. What's going on anyway?\nSisko: A Vulcan ship has made contact with a new species called Wadi in the Gamma Quadrant three weeks ago. We're expecting a delegation from their planet.\nJake: Rolling out the red carpet, huh?\nSisko: First contact is our most important mission, Jake. It has to be handled delicately. You might say it's sort of like a first date with a girl. You want to show a certain respect for\nKira: Ops to Sisko\nSisko: Go ahead.\nKira: The Wadi ship has just come through the wormhole. We're sending them to docking bay four.\nSisko: I'll meet you all there.\nSisko: Sisko out. Tomorrow morning.\nBashir: I'm positive I packed my dress uniform. I can't understand it.\nDax: You look fine, Julian. Relax.\nBashir: I mean, they are aliens, aren't they. I mean, they won't know our protocol.\nKira: It'll be fine.\nSisko: Where's your uniform, Doctor?\nBashir: I can't seem to find it, sir. I mean, I'm certain I packed it.\nSisko: Listen to me. This is no dress rehearsal, this is the real thing. Our first formal reception for a delegation from the Gamma Quadrant, and I want things to go right from this moment on. Clear?\nBashir: Yes.\nSisko: Let's do it.\nFalow: I am Falow, Master Surchid of the Wadi.\nSisko: Welcome in the name of Bajor and the United Federation of Planets. I am Commander Benjamin Sisko, and on behalf of my senior staff officers, Major Kira, Lieutenant Dax and Doctor Bashir\nFalow: Yes, yes, yes. Now, where are the games?\nSisko: Games?\nFalow: We were told you had games. Quark's. Take us to Quark's.\nKira: Right this way.\nSisko: First contact is not what it used to be.\nQuark: Do they have money?\nDax: We don't know. We didn't ask.\nSisko: That's not the point.\nQuark: It may not be your point, but it's mine.\nSisko: Damn it, Quark, this is a new lifeform from the Gamma Quadrant. I expect you to treat them with\nQuark: Commander, I'm a host. A host is an ambassador of good will. The more good will that I can generate, the longer they'll stay, the greater my profits. I think we're talking the same language here.\nSisko: Not quite.\nQuark: Allow me to put your concerns to rest. So, do you fellows do a lot of gambling where you come from?\nFalow: We like games.\nQuark: Doesn't everybody? Doesn't everybody? You know, those virgin territories in the Gamma Quadrant are ripe for dabo franchising. You and I might want to talk about an investment opportunity at some point.\nQuark: So, have you figured out the essentials of the game yet?\nFalow: I believe we have.\nQuark: Give her a spin, One time, on the house.\nQuark: Ah, two pinch showing. Too bad. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I always say. What would you care to wager?\nQuark: Oh, what a handsome container. There's an old Ferengi expression. Good things come in small packages. Sticks?\nFalow: Klon peags. Highly sought in our culture. They have many different uses.\nQuark: I'm sorry, but I have enough sticks right now.\nQuark: What's this?\nFalow: Alpha-currant nectar. It's priceless.\nQuark: One man's priceless is another man's worthless.\nSisko: Quark. Take the juice.\nQuark: Sorry, not interested.\nFalow: Then, we really have nothing to wager, except this.\nQuark: Get these folks some drinks\nSisko: McCoullough.\nQuark: McCoullough?\nSisko: Captain McCoullough. That's the name I've been trying to remember for the last six hours.\nGirl: Dabo!\nQuark: Good Lord, they've won again.\nSisko: McCoullough's the one who wrote the revised First Contact procedures for Starfleet.\nQuark: That right?\nSisko: I wish he was here now instead of me.\nGirl: Dabo!\nQuark: No, they couldn't have doubled again.\nSisko: With all due respect to the procedures and to McCoullough, I have had it. This is as far as duty takes me. Keep them happy. If they ever get tired of playing dabo, let me know. Good night.\nQuark: What's good about it? Getting ready to call it a night?\nFalow: We've only just started.\nQuark: The girl's arm must be getting tired. All that spinning.\nFalow: Replace her.\nQuark: Very well. Broik, take the wheel.\nQuark: Oh. One pinch showing. An unfortunate reversal.\nSisko: What are you still doing up?\nJake: Nog and I were setting up a reactive ion impeller for school.\nSisko: Nog is older than you, Jake. He stays up later. He probably does things, things with girls for instance, you're not ready for yet.\nJake: Come on. We were just working on a school project.\nSisko: You know what time you're supposed to go to bed. We never had any problems with it until Nog.\nJake: Dad, I'm fourteen.\nSisko: I'm glad we agree on something. Go to bed.\nJake: Fine. So, how'd it go?\nSisko: Great. Just great. I've done nothing for the past six hours but eat Ferengi lokar beans and watch people play childish games.\nQuark: Broik, you disreputable swindler! I've put up with your cheating for the last time.\nFalow: Sit.\nQuark: Look, er, why don't we just call it even and no hard feelings. Or take another spin on the house. Or two or three. A free visit to a holosuite. Do you know what a holosuite is? Do you have sex on your world? Look, take it all back, all the gemstones, and I'll throw in a case of Andolian brandy to make your trip home a little more enjoyable.\nFalow: You like our gemstones? You will have the opportunity to win more. A lot more.\nQuark: I will?\nFalow: In a new game. An honest game.\nQuark: Very unusual. I don't think I know this game. What's it called?\nFalow: Chula.\nQuark: What are the rules?\nFalow: These are your players. We'll start them on the second shap.\nQuark: Second shap? Can't we start at the beginning?\nFalow: Only children enter at the first shap.\nSisko: Sisko to Ops. Sisko to Security. Computer, freeze program. End program. Exit.\nSisko: You?\nFalow: Shap two. Move along. Move along home.\nSisko: Where is this place? Where have you brought me?\nFalow: Move along home.\nSisko: Falow!\nSisko: Doctor!\nBashir: Aaah! Oh. Oh, thank God. I thought I was having a nightmare. I couldn't wake up.\nKira: You two.\nDax: What was all that yelling?\nBashir: Haven't you ever had to wake yourself up out of a bad dream?\nSisko: This isn't a dream. We're guests of the Wadi.\nKira: What do they want?\nSisko: I don't know yet. I just had a strange run-in with Falow. He said something about moving along home.\nDax: Home?\nBashir: Perhaps we're being given some sort of behavioral test, like a laboratory rodent who must work his way out of a maze.\nKira: Behavioral test? Now wait a minute.\nDax: There doesn't seem to be any immediate threat, Major.\nKira: Oh, no. I'm sure all you Starfleet explorers find this fascinating, but I'm a Bajoran administrator. This is not what I signed up for.\nSisko: I don't find this fascinating either, Major, but I suggest we take Falow's advice and find our way home.\nDax: Do the comm. badges still work? As long as we can maintain contact, it should be reasonably safe to split up and see if any of us can find a way out of here.\nSisko: Use your tricorders for proximity checks every two minutes. And if all else fails, just yell again, Doctor. We'll find you.\nOdo: Mister Sisko, how can I help you?\nJake: Do you know where my Dad's gone?\nOdo: You can't find him?\nJake: Last night, he was making a big deal about us having a talk this morning. But when I got up he was gone.\nOdo: Have you checked his office?\nJake: The computer says he's not on the station.\nOdo: Why don't you go on to school while I track him down.\nJake: School's closed while Mrs O'Brien's back on Earth. Nog and I were going over to airlock three and watch the Bajoran transport passengers come on board\nOdo: You mean, to look at the girls.\nJake: No, we were just\nOdo: Go on. When I find out where your father went, I'll let you know.\nJake: Thanks, Odo.\nOdo: Computer, confirm that Commander Sisko is not on the station.\nComputer: Confirmed.\nOdo: What time did he log out?\nComputer: That information is not on file.\nOdo: What ship did he leave on?\nComputer: That information is not on file.\nPrimmin: Constable Odo. Good morning to you.\nOdo: Where's Major Kira?\nPrimmin: Didn't report for duty on time this morning. None of the senior officers did.\nOdo: And you don't find that odd?\nPrimmin: I heard that Wadi party went on all night.\nOdo: How long have you been a security officer, Lieutenant?\nPrimmin: Six years. Why?\nOdo: Lost many Commanders?\nPrimmin: Lost?\nOdo: Because you've lost one now. Sisko's off the station, missing. All of the senior officers may be missing. I want a sweep of this station, and if the others are missing too, I want to know the last time anybody saw them. I'm going to contact all ships that have departed since last night. Understood?\nPrimmin: Yes, Constable.\nOdo: And don't call me Constable. I'm Chief of Security.\nPrimmin: Yes, sir.\nFalow: Last wagers. The board is ready.\nQuark: It is?\nFalow: How much do you wish to risk on the second shap?\nQuark: Is there a minimum wager?\nFalow: Roll.\nQuark: Roll? Roll? But you haven't even told me the rules yet.\nFalow: You're required to learn as you play. Roll.\nFalow: Chula!\nQuark: Did I win?\nFalow: Hardly. Your pieces will meet the Chandra.\nQuark: The Chandra? What does that mean? Is it good or bad?\nFalow: Neither. Both.\nQuark: I don't understand.\nFalow: Ah, but there is the key. Some will never understand while others will consider it mere child's play.\nChandra: Allamaraine, count to four. Allamaraine, then three more. Allamaraine, if you can see. Allamaraine, you'll come with me.\nSisko: This is Sisko I've found something.\nChandra: Allamaraine, count to four. Allamaraine, then three more. Allamaraine, if you can see. Allamaraine, you'll come with me.\nChandra: Allamaraine, count to four. Allamaraine, then three more. Allamaraine, if you can see. Allamaraine, you'll come with me. Allamaraine, count to four. Allamaraine, then three more. Allamaraine, if you can see. Allamaraine, you'll come with me. Allamaraine, count to four. Allamaraine, then three more. Allamaraine, if you can see. Allamaraine, you'll come with me.\nDax: Hello. Can you tell us where we are? Is there a way to leave?\nBashir: Do you think we're supposed to do something?\nKira: Well, this is the first door that's opened for us. I want to know where it goes.\nSisko: Are you all right?\nKira: I'll be okay.\nDax: Some kind of ionic field.\nSisko: She's goes right through it.\nBashir: The panels on the floor. She steps on certain panels which must allow her to go through the field.\nDax: If you can see, you'll come with me.\nBashir: Watch this.\nChandra: Allamaraine, count to four. Allamaraine, then three more. Allamaraine, if you can see. Allamaraine, you'll come with me.\nBashir: But I did everything she did.\nDax: No, Julian, you didn't.\nBashir: I followed her footsteps exactly.\nDax: But you didn't say the rhyme. CHANDRA +\nDax: Allamaraine, count to four. Allamaraine, then three more. Allamaraine, if you can see. Allamaraine, you'll come with me.\nDax: Come on! Just say the rhyme. SISKO, BASHIR,\nKira: Allamaraine, count to four. Allamaraine, then three more. Allamaraine, if you can see. Allamaraine, you'll come with me.\nChandra: Allamaraine. Third shap.\nFalow: Allamaraine!\nQuark: I think I'm getting the hang of this.\nFalow: Choose their path.\nQuark: Path?\nFalow: Short or long.\nQuark: What's the difference?\nFalow: The short path doubles the peril to your four players. It also doubles your winnings.\nQuark: Double my winnings? Well, in that case\nFalow: Choose carefully. If none of your players makes it home, you lose everything you've won.\nQuark: Oh. I see why you find this game so interesting.\nFalow: Do you?\nQuark: Yes. You know I might have room for another gaming table or two on the second floor. We might negotiate a licensing agreement? Perhaps we could discuss\nOdo: Quark!\nQuark: I'm busy.\nOdo: Yes. I can see. When was the last time you saw Sisko?\nQuark: Last night when he went home to bed.\nOdo: Did he say anything to you about leaving the station?\nQuark: Not a thing.\nFalow: Choose their path.\nOdo: Quark.\nQuark: Really, Odo you'll have to\nOdo: He's missing, and so are Kira, Dax and Bashir. Four officers have just disappeared. You're sure you have no idea?\nQuark: Why would I know anything about. Four? Did you say four officers are missing?\nOdo: Yes.\nFalow: Double their peril. Double your winnings.\nFalow: Bet or leave.\nQuark: Odo, how about taking my place?\nFalow: Choose their path.\nQuark: I'll take the safer path.\nFalow: Roll.\nKira: Rhymes and riddles and mazes. What's the logic behind all this? what do they want from us?\nBashir: Move along home. That's what the man told the Commander.\nDax: A game. Home is often the destination in a game.\nKira: The Wadi do love games.\nDax: Think of it. We've been given directions, clues, obstacles to overcome.\nSisko: Pawns.\nKira: Excuse me. Excuse me. This has gone far enough.\nKira: Will somebody please tell me what is going on around here. Why are you doing this to us? What is wrong with you people?\nBashir: Madame, this is no laughing matter.\nSisko: Don't drink or eat anything.\nBashir: Maybe it's the Wadi's way of providing nourishment.\nSisko: Or maybe it's drugged or poisoned.\nSisko: Falow.\nFalow: Drink?\nSisko: We're not playing any more.\nFalow: Move along. Move along home.\nSisko: You brought us here. You take us home.\nDax: The smoke.\nBashir: Not bothering them.\nKira: You're hurting us. Can't you see that?\nBashir: Drink! It's the antidote.\nKira: How did you know?\nBashir: Scientific method. Actually, I took a guess. It didn't seem like I had much to lose.\nFalow: Shap four.\nSisko: Let's go.\nFalow: Allamaraine!\nOdo: Wouldn't your scans pick up human life signs on their ship?\nPrimmin: Usually, but we've never encountered Wadi technology before.\nOdo: Isolate that energy flux on their second deck.\nPrimmin: Some kind of intense bipolar current.\nOdo: What would cause something like that?\nPrimmin: Got me. The only thing we've got that would put out that type of current would be a transporter, but a transporter burst would only last for a few seconds.\nOdo: I think we better go take a look.\nPrimmin: No, wait a minute, Odo. You can't just go storming onto their ship without their permission.\nOdo: Oh, is that Starfleet policy?\nPrimmin: That's right.\nOdo: Well, I'm not in Starfleet. Set the coordinates to midway down the second deck corridor. Is it against Starfleet rules to press a few buttons?\nPrimmin: Energizing.\nFalow: Choose their path.\nOdo: No. This game is finished right now.\nFalow: Stop the game. Lose your players.\nQuark: Odo, just stay out of this.\nOdo: Quark.\nQuark: I'm doing fine. They're doing fine.\nFalow: Choose their path. Double their peril, double your winnings.\nOdo: Quark!\nQuark: Fine. Fine. The safer path.\nFalow: Roll.\nFalow: An unfortunate roll.\nBashir: Isn't it a matter of simply figuring out how to win this game?\nKira: Simply?\nDax: I don't think we have any other choice.\nBashir: Seriously, we've gone from the second shap to the third shap to the fourth shap already.\nKira: What is a shap?\nBashir: I have no idea, but we're making progress, whatever it are.\nKira: We're playing for our lives here, Doctor. I don't think you're taking this very seriously.\nBashir: On the contrary, Major. I find the stakes to be highly motivating.\nSisko: Listen.\nDax: I'm reading high magnetic field variations. Intense flux patterns. It's coming toward us.\nSisko: Find cover if you can.\nSisko: Falow!\nFalow: Next move.\nOdo: What happened to that one? Why is it there?\nFalow: Next move. Choose their path.\nOdo: Listen to me. I want that player back.\nFalow: If you would care to play the game after he's done, it can be arranged. Choose their path. Double their peril, double your winnings.\nQuark: Give me the shortcut.\nOdo: The shortcut?\nQuark: It's the right thing to do.\nOdo: Are you crazy?\nFalow: Double the stakes.\nOdo: Wait!\nQuark: I know what I'm doing. I've spent my life figuring the odds of all sorts of games. Now, I'm just learning this one, that's true, but I know this is the right move.\nOdo: The right move to make you rich.\nQuark: More than that. Look at the board. The shortcut skips a whole level. I've learned there are risks in every roll of the dice. This way, they can advance all the way home on just one move. Trust a gambler.\nFalow: Roll.\nOdo: What?\nQuark: Blow on them.\nOdo: Would you please just\nQuark: Blow on them.\nFalow: Thialo.\nQuark: What does it mean?\nFalow: Sacrifice one so that two may live.\nOdo: You can't ask him to do that.\nFalow: If you do not sacrifice one, all three will be lost.\nQuark: I can't. Please.\nFalow: Which player?\nQuark: I don't even know which one is which.\nFalow: Select one to be sacrificed or else this game is finished.\nQuark: Fine! Fine! Fine. Fine. I can't do it. I beg of you. A terrible mistake has been made. This is all a misunderstanding. Please, I've learned my lesson. I'll never cheat again. I'll never cheat again! Please! Just don't make me do this. Anything but this. Please. Please. Please.\nFalow: Very well.\nQuark: I don't have to sacrifice one of them?\nFalow: No. You do not. We'll program the game to choose one at random. Final wagers. Last move.\nKira: We should have eaten something at the party when we had the chance.\nBashir: Commander Sisko.\nSisko: Doctor?\nBashir: Over here. Hurry!\nKira: Where's it coming from?\nSisko: Spread out.\nBashir: I can see it! I've found the way home!\nDax: Over here! I've found an open door.\nBashir: Come on, Dax\nDax: Julian!\nBashir: Hurry up!\nDax: Julian, are you all right?\nSisko: Dax!\nDax: My leg!\nKira: Don't move.\nSisko: Nothing's broken.\nBashir: What's taking so long? We're almost out of here. Can't you see it?\nSisko: Doctor, we need some help, Dax is hurt.\nFalow: Thialo. Move along home. Shap Six.\nKira: I'm reading a tectonic shift of two ground masses. We are directly over the fault line. The cavern wall structure has been significantly weakened by the stress. It's not going to hold much longer.\nSisko: See if you can put some weight on it. Come on, let's get out of here.\nDax: I'll never make it across.\nSisko: There's got to be a way around this.\nDax: Benjamin, you and Kira can make that jump.\nKira: We're not leaving you here.\nDax: This cavern is going to collapse and kill all of us if you don't go now. Seven lives is more than enough for a Trill. You haven't even finished one.\nSisko: How could I live out that life knowing I left you behind, old man.\nDax: Don't let sentiment get in the way SISKO +\nDax: Of command decisions.\nSisko: Yeah, I've heard that one somewhere.\nDax: If you were hurt, I'd leave you behind.\nSisko: Then I'm glad I'm not the one who's hurt. Major. Major, you go across. We'll find a way around. We'll be all right.\nSisko: Major, I gave you a direct order.\nKira: Court-martial me.\nSisko: I can't. You're not in Starfleet.\nDax: If I were your superior officer, I'd court-martial both of you.\nSisko: Only a few meters more.\nSisko: Hang on!\nDax: Benjamin!\nQuark: They made it! I won! I had full confidence in you, Commander. There wasn't a moments doubt that you wouldn't prevail in this outrageous\nFalow: No, Quark. I'm afraid all your players were lost.\nKira: What? You mean we were never in any real danger?\nFalow: It's only a game.\nFalow: Time to move along home.\nSisko: Not so fast. This may all have been a game to you, but we take first contact with a new species very seriously, and I don't appreciate\nOdo: Excuse me, Commander.\nSisko: Yes, Odo?\nOdo: Before you blame them, you might want to ask Quark just how all this started.\nSisko: Quark.\nQuark: I wish I could explain it. They just had a run of bad luck and they blamed me for their losses and\nOdo: That's not what you said when you were groveling on the floor.\nQuark: Oh, that's right, you were here for the groveling.\nOdo: You said something about cheating, didn't you?\nSisko: Cheating?\nQuark: I would have said anything to end the ordeal. It was too much for me to bear. You have no idea the pressure I was under, Commander.\nFalow: If you will excuse us. Perhaps, someday, a rematch.\nQuark: You know, this game could work here. It really could. Excuse me. Falow? Mister Falow? A word with you, sir. What's your hurry? I think you'll like this. Mister Falow!"}
{"text": "Jake: Shoes.\nSisko: Jake, I've got a terrific surprise for you.\nJake: Oh yeah, what is it?\nSisko: The two of us are going to Bajor for the start of the Gratitude Festival.\nJake: What's the Gratitude Festival?\nSisko: It's the biggest Bajoran holiday of the year. Major Kira says it's pretty spectacular. And I figured, while we were on the surface, we could visit those fire caverns you've been wanting to see.\nJake: Sounds great. When do we leave?\nSisko: This afternoon, right after school.\nJake: For how long?\nSisko: Three days.\nJake: Three days!\nJake: Computer, orange juice. Dad, do I have to go?\nSisko: Well, no, not if you don't want to.\nJake: Thanks, Dad. Nog and I kind of have plans for tomorrow.\nSisko: What kind of plans?\nJake: There's an Andorian freighter due in for a maintenance check tomorrow night.\nSisko: An Andorian freighter?\nJake: It's supposed to be carrying a shipment of those new anti-grav tractors. We're hoping we'll get a chance to see one.\nSisko: Let me get this straight. You would rather hang around a cargo bay with Nog than visit the Bajoran fire caverns with the old man?\nJake: Nog's my friend.\nQuark: No need to thank me, madam. Here at Quark's customer satisfaction is our primary concern. Now, you run along back to the dabo table. Rom, that lady tells me she misplaced a fat currency pouch.\nRom: Yes, brother?\nQuark: And then you found it.\nRom: Yes, brother.\nQuark: And then you returned it to her intact.\nRom: I was dazzled by her beauty.\nQuark: You worthless, tiny eared fool! Don't you know the First Rule of Acquisition?\nRom: Yes, brother.\nQuark: Then say it.\nRom: Once you have their money, you never give it back.\nQuark: Exactly. You can ponder its meaning this evening while polishing every rail in the place. Now get out of my sight before I toss you out the nearest airlock.\nRom: Nog! Is this what they teach you at that human school of yours? Sloth and indolence?\nNog: No, father.\nRom: We'll see about that. Tonight you'll polish every rail in the place until they sparkle. Is that clear?\nNog: Yes, father. Tonight. Every rail.\nQuark: And so the Andorian says. your brother? I thought it was your wife. Get it, wife!\nQuark: Had to think about that one, didn't you?\nKrax: I'm looking for Quark.\nQuark: You found him.\nKrax: I am Krax and this is my father, Grand Nagus Zek.\nQuark: Tell me, is the Grand Nagus here on business or pleasure?\nKrax: Is there a difference?\nQuark: No, of course not.\nKrax: My father will reveal the purpose of his visit when he sees fit. As for now, he desires the use of a holosuite. He's heard that some of your programs are quite alluring.\nQuark: Oh, they are. They are. But they may prove a touch energetic for his advanced years.\nKrax: Are you refusing his request?\nQuark: Not at all. Not at all. Is there a particular activity he'd like to sample?\nKrax: The Nagus dislikes having to choose between so many delightful possibilities.\nQuark: In that case, here's a list of five programs that rank among my personal favorites. I'd be happy to select one for him.\nKrax: That won't be necessary. The Nagus has decided to try all five.\nO'Brien: Sorry I'm late. The Transporter in Ops needed a minor adjustment in its upper molecular imaging scanner. but never mind that. All right, let's settle down. Let's settle down! Jake! Nog! Nog!\nO'Brien: Thank you. Now we only have two more weeks to get through before Mrs O'Brien returns from Earth, so that shouldn't be too difficult, right? Right. Let's take out our homework PADDs. We'll begin with the older students. Your last assignment was to write an essay defining the term 'ethics.' Let's start with Nog.\nNog: I don't have my essay.\nO'Brien: Why not?\nNog: My PADD was stolen.\nO'Brien: Is that a fact? Any idea who stole it?\nNog: It happened in Quark's. I put it on a table and there were some Vulcans nearby\nO'Brien: Hold on. You're saying Vulcans stole your homework?!\nNog: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: Any idea why?\nNog: Because they don't have ethics?\nO'Brien: All right, that's enough.\nNog: It's the truth. Ask Jake. He was with me. Go on. Tell him.\nJake: I guess so.\nO'Brien: You guess?\nJake: He, yeah. They took it. I was there.\nO'Brien: All right, but I want that essay in tomorrow. Is that understood?\nNog: Yes.\nO'Brien: I hope so.\nQuark: Did the Nagus happen to mention how long he'd be using the holosuite?\nKrax: The Nagus will be done when he's done.\nQuark: What if he injured himself?\nKrax: My father left specific instructions not to be disturbed. Are you suggesting we disobey him?\nQuark: Forget I ever said anything.\nRom: The Grand Nagus, here under our roof. I've never been so proud.\nQuark: I hope you can live on pride, because that's all we'll have left once he's through with us.\nRom: You think he's here to take over the bar?\nQuark: Why else would he come all this way? To buy me out and for a fraction of what the place is worth.\nRom: You can always refuse to sell.\nQuark: Oh, why didn't I think of that. Idiot, the Nagus doesn't take no for an answer.\nKrax: Quark.\nZek: Here. Good program.\nKrax: My father requires rest.\nQuark: I would imagine. Please feel free to use my own brother's quarters for as long as you're with us.\nKrax: That should be satisfactory.\nQuark: Now, is there anything else I can do to make your stay a pleasant one?\nZek: Invite me to dinner.\nQuark: I would be honored.\nSisko: Chief, I just heard that airlock nine is jammed again.\nO'Brien: I'll get a crew on it immediately, Commander. Ensign Jonas?\nSisko: So how's school?\nO'Brien: We'll muddle through, I imagine. Though I'm counting the days till Keiko gets back.\nSisko: The students giving you a hard time?\nO'Brien: You know how it is, sir. Kids, there's nothing they like better than to take advantage of a substitute teacher. I always did.\nSisko: I hope Jake's behaving himself.\nO'Brien: Jake? He's a fine lad, sir. It's just, well.\nSisko: Just what?\nO'Brien: It's just, if he were my son, I'd find a friend for him other than Nog.\nSisko: I'm afraid that's easier said than done. The two of them have become inseparable.\nO'Brien: Well, I'd find a way to separate them, sir. That Nog's a bad influence.\nSisko: I appreciate the advice, Chief, but I trust my son. Besides, if I get between them now, it would become me versus Nog, and I'm not going to force Jake to choose between us.\nO'Brien: Why not?\nSisko: Because I'd probably lose.\nO'Brien: I doubt that, sir.\nSisko: That's because your daughter's three. Wait until she's fourteen.\nZek: Are you sure? My compliments, Quark. These tube grubs are chilled to perfection.\nZek: Did I say I was finished?\nQuark: Please, help yourself.\nZek: I saw your cousin Barbo recently.\nRom: Barbo? I thought he was still in that Tarahong detention center.\nZek: They finally released him.\nQuark: How fortunate.\nZek: He told me how the two of you sold those defective warp drives to the Tarahong government. Very clever.\nQuark: It was nothing. The Tarahongians are an incredibly gullible people.\nZek: He also spoke of how you betrayed him to the authorities and left him to rot behind bars while you kept all the profits.\nQuark: The sixth rule of Acquisition expressly states\nZek: Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity. I certainly never have. You see, I told you he had brains. You've done well for yourself, Quark.\nQuark: Not that well.\nZek: Never contradict your elders. It's impolite.\nQuark: I suppose I'm doing quite well at that.\nZek: It was a stroke of brilliance to open a bar so close to a stable wormhole.\nKrax: But he didn't even know the wormhole existed.\nZek: That's what makes it so impressive. He had the instinct, the ears, to make the smart move before anyone else did. You could learn from his example. Boy! Boy!\nNog: Can I go now? I have homework.\nZek: Did he say homework?\nKrax: There's a Federation school here. Run by a human. A female.\nZek: And you allow your son to attend such a place.\nRom: Nog, I never want you to step foot in there again. Now go to your room. And no studying. My apologies, Nagus. It's those Federation do-gooders, always sticking their ugly noses in other peoples business.\nZek: Most distressing.\nRom: Yes, Nagus, most distressing. Yes, yes.\nZek: Now, speaking of business. Quark, I've come to ask you a favor, and one that would be very important to me. I need your bar.\nQuark: I knew it.\nZek: And your services as host, for an important conference to be held here tomorrow at nine o'clock sharp.\nQuark: I would consider it a privilege. And the purpose of this conference is?\nZek: The future. And for Ferengi business interests, the future is already here. And its name is the Gamma Quadrant.\nKira: Ferengi transport Sepulo has put in at docking bay five.\nSisko: That's the third Ferengi ship to arrive here in the last eighteen hours.\nDax: Maybe it's Quark's birthday.\nKira: My advice is to lock up the silverware.\nSisko: I don't think we have to go that far. Sisko to Odo.\nOdo: Go ahead, Commander\nSisko: About all these Ferengi visitors we've been getting\nOdo: I'm already on it.\nKrax: No, no, no.\nQuark: Is something wrong?\nKrax: You can't seat Turot next to Hoex. They've been bitter rivals ever since Hoex bought out Turot's controlling interest in the cargo ports on Volchok Prime.\nQuark: Rom! Change these seating arrangements immediately. Quickly, you fool, before I toss you out the nearest airlock.\nKrax: I thought you understood this was to be a private meeting.\nQuark: Yes. Go away! We're closed. Go away.\nQuark: Shoo! Shoo!\nGral: What's the delay?\nKrax: We await the Grand Nagus.\nGral: Well, he'd better show his ears soon or I'm leaving.\nKrax: No one leaves until the conference has concluded.\nGral: Still hiding in your father's shadow.\nKrax: The Nagus casts a very long shadow. Careful you don't disappear in it.\nZek: I see we're all here.\nQuark: Enough drinks.\nNog: All right, I'm going.\nQuark: Quickly.\nZek: No, you stay.\nQuark: Me?\nZek: Gentlemen, be seated.\nJake: Hey, Nog. Where were you this morning?\nNog: I'm through with school.\nJake: What do you mean, through?\nNog: I mean I don't have to attend those boring classes anymore.\nJake: Is this your father's idea?\nNog: It's the right decision.\nJake: Look, if you want I'll talk to Mister O'Brien.\nNog: No. I don't belong there.\nJake: Don't you want to learn things?\nNog: You mean like ethics?\nJake: Yeah, and other stuff.\nNog: You don't understand. I'm a Ferengi. For me, school is a waste of time.\nJake: Why is that?\nNog: Because there's no profit in it.\nJake: So why are you getting mad at me?\nNog: Because you're a stupid human. I don't know why I bother with you.\nJake: I'm stupid? You're the one not going to school. See if I care.\nZek: And lastly, I would like to salute Nava, whose takeover of the Arcybite mining refineries in the Clarius system is now complete. I congratulate you all. Profits are better than ever. Nevertheless, it is becoming more and more difficult to find truly lucrative business opportunities here in the Alpha Quadrant. And why? Because no matter where we go, our reputation precedes us. A reputation tainted by the lies of our competitors, who maliciously spread the erroneous impression that we are not to be trusted. But now, thanks to the diskovery of the wormhole, for the first time we can now avoid such falsehoods. The Gamma Quadrant, gentlemen. Millions of new worlds at our very doorstep. The potential for Ferengi business expansion is staggering.\nKrax: And best of all, no one there has ever heard the name Ferengi.\nGral: Our reputation will be absolutely stainless.\nNava: Our word can be our bond.\nKrax: Until we decide to break it.\nZek: It'll be the good old days all over again.\nNava: And who shall lead us in this great endeavor?\nKrax: Who else but my father.\nGral: The Nagus. The Grand Nagus. Yes, yes.\nZek: I thank you for your confidence, but I must decline the offer.\nKrax: But father.\nZek: I'm old. The fire dims. I'm just not as greedy as I used to be.\nKrax: Yes, you are. More so.\nZek: No, my mind's made up. I've already chosen my successor. A leader whose vision, imagination, and avarice will oversee Ferengi ventures in the Gamma Quadrant. The new Grand Nagus. Quark!\nGral: He's a lobeless amateur!\nKrax: Father, have you lost your mind?\nNava: I won't stand for this!\nZek: Congratulations. I know you'll do a wonderful job.\nSisko: Oatmeal lumpy again?\nJake: Nah, just not hungry.\nSisko: Want to talk about it?\nJake: It's Nog. His father's pulled him out of school.\nSisko: I see.\nJake: It's not fair. Nog can't even read. School's not going to be much fun without him.\nSisko: You can still get together with him after school.\nJake: Maybe. I don't think he wants to be my friend anymore.\nSisko: Did he say why?\nJake: He says humans and Ferengis don't get along.\nSisko: Usually they don't.\nJake: But you're the one always saying that we should make friends with other cultures.\nSisko: I believe that, and I'm glad you believe that too. But human values and Ferengi values are very different. We've never been able to form a common bond.\nJake: So Nog goes his way and I go mine?\nSisko: These things happen. Hey, how about after school we play a little baseball?\nJake: I can't. I have something to do.\nGral: Grand Nagus Quark.\nQuark: I love the sound of that.\nGral: I'm afraid we were never formally introduced. I am Gral, your new best friend.\nQuark: You wish to serve me?\nGral: I wish to protect you.\nQuark: Protect me?\nGral: From those who are jealous of your position and wish to take your place. They can be very dangerous.\nQuark: How do I stop them?\nGral: Leave it to me. I'm not going to allow anybody to harm such a grateful friend as yourself.\nQuark: How grateful am I?\nGral: Grateful enough to make sure that I have my pick of the most lucrative Gamma Quadrant opportunities.\nQuark: And if I refuse?\nGral: You won't.\nQuark: Nagus, I'm in desperate trouble.\nZek: So am I, and please, call me Zek. Now, which would you choose. Risa or Balosnee Six?\nQuark: I don't quite follow.\nZek: For my vacation. My first in eighty five years. I'm told on Balosnee the soothing harmonies of the tide can cause the most stimulating hallucinations. But when I think of those voluptuous Risian females\nQuark: Nagus, please. Gral just threatened my life.\nZek: So he's the first, is he? Well, he won't be the last.\nQuark: But what am I to do? You picked me for your successor. Surely you must have some advice?\nZek: To survive, you must surround yourself with loyal men.\nQuark: That's good.\nZek: But not too loyal. Never trust anyone who places your prosperity above their own.\nQuark: I see.\nZek: And remember, when in doubt, be ruthless.\nQuark: Yes. I can do that. Go on.\nQuark: Zek. Zek?\nQuark: I didn't do anything.\nNava: I don't know, Krax. Twenty bars of gold press latinum? I'll need to think about it.\nKrax: In a year it will be worth twice as much.\nNava: All right, I'll take it.\nRom: You want me to be your bodyguard?\nQuark: Think of it as a promotion.\nRom: But why me?\nQuark: You're the only one left I can trust. You're my closest associate, my friend, my brother.\nRom: But I thought since you'd be so busy being Grand Nagus, I could take over running the bar.\nQuark: You? Run my bar?\nOdo: Not exactly overcome by grief, are we?\nQuark: This is a private funeral service.\nOdo: You have my sympathies for your loss. Nevertheless, when someone dies on my station there are questions that must be answered.\nKrax: There was nothing suspicious about my father's death. It was caused by a massive infection of the tympanic membrane. A chronic condition.\nOdo: Then I hope you won't mind if I ask Doctor Bashir to examine the body.\nKrax: That would be difficult.\nOdo: What's this?\nNava: My piece of Zek.\nKrax: You see, when a Ferengi of my father's stature dies, the body is automatically vacuum-desiccated and sold as a prized collectible.\nOdo: How touching.\nNog: I know there's a. I wonder where\nJake: Go ahead.\nNog: It wasn't important.\nJake: I guess humans and Ferengis don't have a lot to talk about.\nNog: That's what my father says.\nJake: Mine too. That doesn't mean they're right. We always had stuff to talk about before. So what do you say, you still want to be friends?\nNog: Yes. When my father finds out, he won't be happy.\nJake: Neither will mine. Come on, I have a great idea.\nNog: What is it?\nJake: Come on.\nOdo: So, what exactly does it mean, becoming Grand Nagus?\nQuark: It means that from now on if you wish to speak to me, you must first make an appointment with Rom.\nOdo: Don't be ludicrous.\nQuark: It's also customary to show respect by kissing my scepter.\nQuark: I suppose I could make an exception in your case.\nO'Brien: You see the diskoloration around the impact perimeter? These are sorium and argine traces.\nSisko: Aren't they Ferengi explosives?\nO'Brien: Exactly. What we have here is a Ferengi locator bomb, designed to lock on to a target's pheromones.\nOdo: You mean they're attracted to body odor?\nO'Brien: Very deadly and very accurate. If Quark hadn't lowered his head at the last second\nBashir: Commander.\nSisko: Yes, Doctor?\nBashir: I've just given Quark a thorough examination. He's a bit shaken up, nothing more.\nSisko: I guess it's time to have little chat with the Grand Nagus.\nOdo: I'd be delighted.\nOdo: When are you going to get it through your twisted little brain that we are trying to save your life.\nQuark: You're trying to interfere in Ferengi affairs of state, which are none of your concern.\nSisko: Now look here, Quark.\nRom: Grand Nagus Quark.\nSisko: Those locator bombs are damn near foolproof. You were lucky once. Next time we could be scraping you off the walls.\nQuark: The Grand Nagus does not ask for help from outsiders.\nOdo: I'm sure whoever tried to kill you is counting on that. You must have some suspicion who that could be?\nQuark: I'm suspicious of everybody.\nOdo: But who would you say stands to benefit the most from your death?\nQuark: Let's see. That would have to be Krax. Yes, if anything happens to me, Krax becomes Nagus.\nRom: True, but let's not forget that it was Gral who threatened you.\nOdo: Threatened you? How?\nQuark: That's none of your concern. Besides, Gral and Krax were at the funeral when the bomb went off. Which means that neither one of them could have set it.\nSisko: Whoever planned this could have had an accomplice.\nOdo: You're sure all of Zek's associates attended the funeral?\nQuark: Yes, yes, they were all there. Look, this is getting us nowhere.\nOdo: What about Zek's servant?\nRom: You mean Maihar'du?\nQuark: What about him?\nOdo: Was he at the funeral?\nRom: I don't recall seeing him there. Do you?\nQuark: Now that you mention it, no, I don't.\nOdo: Interesting. Hupyrian servants are renowned for their devotion to their employers. For Maihar'du not to have shown up at Zek's funeral is very odd indeed.\nSisko: You were out pretty late last night.\nJake: I was?\nSisko: You came in after midnight.\nJake: I guess I got kind of busy doing stuff.\nSisko: What kind of stuff?\nJake: Nothing important. Just hanging around.\nSisko: With Nog?\nJake: We weren't doing anything wrong.\nSisko: Good. Then you can tell me all about it.\nJake: I can't. It's private.\nSisko: Private?\nJake: I got to go or I'll be late for school.\nSisko: I want you home in time for dinner. Understood?\nJake: Understood.\nNava: The thing is, Nagus, I feel I've done all I can in the field of gouge mining.\nQuark: You wish to find profit elsewhere.\nNava: Yes, Nagus.\nQuark: And where would that be?\nNava: I'd like the chance to introduce synthehol to the Gamma Quadrant.\nQuark: A very lucrative opportunity. Tell me Nava, when Zek announced I was to succeed him, were you pleased?\nNava: No, Nagus.\nQuark: Did you come to me and offer your support?\nNava: No, Nagus.\nQuark: Yet, now you call me Nagus. But is it out of true friendship? No. You only pretend to show me respect so I will grant you this immense opportunity.\nNava: Which I'm willing to split with you. fifty-fifty.\nQuark: Well, in that case, let's hope the Gamma Quadrant develops a taste for synthehol.\nNava: Yes.\nKrax: A very smart deal, Nagus.\nQuark: I seem to have a knack for it, don't I.\nRom: Yes, Nagus.\nQuark: The rest will have to come back tomorrow. All this benevolence wearies me.\nRom: Yes, Nagus.\nKrax: As you wish, Nagus.\nQuark: I think I'll head over to the bar and check the receipts. KRAX +\nRom: Yes, Nagus.\nKrax: If he keeps handing out these choice opportunities, he's going to become very popular.\nRom: We'll just have to come up with a new plan. Something more reliable than a locator bomb. Something that can't possibly fail to kill my dear brother.\nSisko: Come in.\nDax: I was going to ask you to join me in a round of Jokarian chess but I can see you're just sitting down to dinner.\nSisko: I sat down a half hour ago, about the time Jake was supposed to be home.\nDax: Aubergine stew. Looks delicious. So where's Jake?\nSisko: Where else.\nDax: With Nog.\nSisko: Going through my own adolescence was difficult enough. Surviving my son's is going to take a miracle.\nDax: Maybe it's time you had a little talk with Jake. Children need to know their boundaries. I should know, I've been a mother three times and a father twice.\nSisko: Which was easier?\nDax: Actually, I wasn't very successful either way, so feel free to reject what I'm about to say, but if I were you, I would go find Jake and bring him here to eat his dinner.\nSisko: You would?\nDax: Absolutely.\nSisko: Computer, locate Jake Sisko.\nComputer: Jake Sisko is in cargo bay fourteen.\nSisko: Thanks, old man.\nNog: There are four teen\nJake: Fourteen planets.\nNog: Planets in the Bajoran. What's that word?\nJake: System.\nNog: System.\nJake: That was pretty good. Want to try some more?\nNog: The lar, largest planet is Bajor. It has three moons?\nJake: You got it. Keep going, keep going.\nNog: The third moon, it has\nQuark: You clumsy idiot. You want to strangle me?\nRom: My apologies, Nagus.\nQuark: Stop daydreaming and pay attention to your work.\nRom: Yes, Nagus.\nQuark: When do we leave?\nRom: Just as soon as you're ready, Nagus.\nQuark: I've always wanted to take a trip through the wormhole. Still, it's odd Zek never mentioned that he'd traveled to the Gamma Quadrant, let alone opened negotiations with one of its worlds.\nRom: Negotiations that you will have the honor of completing. According to Krax, Stakoron Two contains rich deposits of mizanite ore.\nQuark: A very lucrative opportunity.\nRom: Quark?\nQuark: What now?\nRom: About the bar. You have so much, and I have so little.\nQuark: Which is exactly how it was meant to be.\nRom: Come. Let's not keep our new partners waiting.\nKrax: May I say, Nagus, that my father himself never looked more commanding.\nQuark: I've been thinking, maybe it would be wise to take a dabo girl along with us.\nKrax: Whatever for?\nQuark: A pretty woman by my side will only add to my prestige. Never underestimate the importance of a first impression.\nKrax: One look at your imposing features, and the Stakoron negotiators will give us everything we ask for.\nQuark: All right, if you really think I won't need her.\nKrax: Believe me, you won't. Shall we?\nKrax: This is an historic moment.\nKrax: Nagus.\nQuark: There must be some mistake. There's no ship docked here\nQuark: Wait! Rom, you idiot. Krax, what are you standing there for? What's the matter with you two? Open the door! Do you hear me? Open up. You must obey your Nagus!\nKrax: Sorry, Quark, but you've just been voted out of office.\nQuark: Rom! Brother! Please!\nRom: So you were going to toss me out an airlock.\nQuark: I never meant it.\nRom: Well I do. Rom's. Nice name for a bar, don't you think?\nKrax: Enough talk. Let's get this done.\nKrax: Would you like to do the honors, or should I?\nQuark: Let me out! Let me out of here! Please.\nZek: Release him. ROM +\nKrax: Nagus! You're alive!\nOdo: Well, Quark, looks like you needed my help after all.\nZek: Don't you recognize your father?\nKrax: You died.\nQuark: I saw it happen.\nZek: You saw me enter a Dolbargy sleeping trance. Maihar'du taught it to me.\nKrax: But why, father?\nZek: It was a test to see if you were ready to take my place. And you failed miserably.\nKrax: But father, I am ready. I am ready. You saw for yourself. I was about to grab power.\nZek: You don't grab power. You accumulate it quietly without anyone noticing.\nKrax: But, but, I don't understand.\nZek: The bar, you fool. That was the key. All those visitors stopping by on their way to and from the wormhole. You could have sat there quietly at your leisure and gathered up all the information you needed about the Gamma Quadrant.\nKrax: But what about him?\nZek: You could have let him hold the scepter while you controlled everything from the shadows. And then, when everything was running smoothly, only then would you take over.\nKrax: But, Father.\nZek: No! I'm not interested in excuses. Go back to the ship. We'll be leaving here shortly.\nKrax: Yes, Father.\nZek: It's like, it's like talking to a Klingon.\nQuark: I guess this still belongs to you.\nZek: Yes, it looks like I'll have to remain Grand Nagus long enough to establish a Ferengi presence in the Gamma Quadrant. And I was really looking forward to retirement. If I hear of any good Gamma Quadrant deals you'd be right for, I'll let you know.\nQuark: You know where to find me.\nZek: You've done a very profitable job with this place. Who knows, maybe one day I'll come back and buy it from you.\nQuark: So, Rom, you were going to toss me out an airlock.\nRom: Forgive me, brother.\nQuark: Forgive you? Why, brother, I didn't think you had the lobes. Such wonderful treachery deserves a reward. I'm going to make you the assistant manager of policy and clientele here at Quark's.\nRom: What exactly does that mean?\nQuark: How should I know, I just made it up. Come on, I'll buy you a drink.\nJake: So, what time tomorrow?\nNog: How about as soon as you get out of school.\nSisko: Jake.\nJake: Dad, what are you doing here?\nSisko: I was waiting for you.\nJake: Dad.\nSisko: You're a great boy, you know that? Now go be with your friend."}
{"text": "Quark: The usual, Odo?\nOdo: Nothing.\nQuark: The usual. If all my customers were like you, my family would be begging on the Promenade.\nOdo: Oh, I seriously doubt that. Not as long as there's a Miradorn raider for you to do business with.\nQuark: Raider? You mean the Miradorn ship that just docked?\nOdo: The raider.\nQuark: It's reputation, like mine, has probably been exaggerated. Anyway, I don't know the ship or its crew.\nOdo: You didn't make your usual welcome call inviting them in for a free drink?\nQuark: The Miradorns are a quarrelsome people. I chose to forego the usual amenities.\nOdo: He looks away whenever we make eye contact.\nQuark: Who?\nOdo: The new arrival. The one the Klingons brought back from the Gamma Quadrant.\nQuark: Croden? He's harmless.\nOdo: Really. How is it you've come to know him so well?\nQuark: A man comes in for a drink, he wants to talk\nOdo: He didn't seem to want to talk much to Sisko when he arrived.\nQuark: Who would? All those Starfleet officers greeting him at the airlock. It would scare me too. The Federation could learn a few things from the Ferengi about hospitality.\nOdo: They scared him, huh?\nQuark: Of course.\nOdo: I wonder what he has to be scared about.\nOdo: Well, now. I believe a pair of twinned Miradorn just nodded your way.\nQuark: I'm the man behind the bar. Obviously, they want to use a holosuite. You think the whole galaxy is plotting around you, don't you. Paranoia must run in your species, Odo. Maybe that's why no one has ever seen another shape-shifter. They're all hiding. I won't have you come in here harassing my customers. Order a drink, play the tables, or vacate the premises. Rom, bring a flask of my special langour.\nKel: One thousand bars of gold pressed latinum. Non-negotiable.\nQuark: Very nice. Unfortunately, there's a problem. RO-\nKel: Problem?\nRom: Langour, anyone? AH-\nKel: What problem?\nQuark: The buyer has backed out. RO-\nKel: You guaranteed us a buyer.\nQuark: A question has been raised about the origin of this bauble. A similar one was taken during a raid on a Vanoben transport just two light years from here. If you had a bill of sale RO-\nKel: You didn't ask for any bill of sale when we contacted you. You will find another buyer.\nQuark: A buyer who asks no questions? That could take a long time. AH-\nKel: We don't have a long time.\nCroden: Just stay, stay, stay where you are, please. RO-\nKel: What's this?\nQuark: Don't fire. What do you want?\nCroden: No one is going to get hurt. Just give me that. AH-\nKel: Whoever you are, you're making a mistake.\nCroden: Well, it wouldn't be the first, and probably won't be the last. Give that to me.\nOdo: Security and medical to holosuite one.\nQuark: Five glasses for four people? AH-\nKel: He's dead. My brother.\nOdo: Take them all to Security.\nQuark: Yes, take them both to his office. Thank goodness you were close by, Odo\nOdo: All of them. Get out. Go on.\nKel: Have you known any twinned Miradorn, Commander?\nSisko: I haven't met any before now. AH-\nKel: In my species, we are not just twin brothers. Together we are a single self, two halves of one being. I am incomplete now.\nOdo: You should have considered the risks before trying to sell stolen property. AH-\nKel: You have no proof\nOdo: Two people were killed on the transport this object was taken from. AH-\nKel: My brother and I purchased it from a passing Altoran trader.\nOdo: His name? His ship's identification? AH-\nKel: I am the one whose brother was killed, Commander.\nOdo: You have only yourself\nSisko: I'd like you to return to your ship now. You have my sympathies, but there may be more questions. Please don't leave the station. AH-\nKel: I want to deal with the one who killed my twin.\nSisko: The law will deal with him. AH-\nKel: My only purpose in life from here on is to see him dead.\nQuark: Well, can't say I didn't warn you about Miradorns, Odo. I assume we are free to go?\nSisko: Do you have enough evidence to hold them, Constable?\nQuark: As Odo will be happy to confirm, I was just as concerned as everyone else that this was a stolen objet d'art.\nOdo: Yes. Curious, but it's true.\nQuark: We'll be on our way then.\nOdo: You know what else is curious? It's curious that Croden had a Ferengi phaser.\nQuark: Available in many a port.\nOdo: And it's curious that he knew the Miradorn were trying to sell you something of value.\nRom: How dare you suggest that my brother set up this robbery!\nOdo: What an interesting theory, Rom.\nQuark: If that theory should ever reach the Miradorn, I'd wake up dead one morning. So, I'd appreciate your not spreading wild theories around casually.\nQuark: Lobeless idiot, next time I'll\nCroden: Don't you feed your prisoners?\nOdo: The fact that you just killed a man doesn't affect your appetite?\nCroden: It was him or me. And if he'd have killed me, I wouldn't be hungry now.\nSisko: I want to be sure you understand exactly what's going to happen. There will be a trial to determine your guilt or innocence. We can assign an advocate or you can request one from your home world.\nCroden: I doubt that anyone on Rakhar would much care.\nSisko: Really. Isn't murder considered a serious crime where you come from?\nCroden: On Rakhar, all crimes are serious, only there are no trials.\nSisko: It's a shame that our first encounter with your species had to take place under these circumstances.\nCroden: I'm sorry if I made things awkward. I didn't have much choice.\nSisko: Why not?\nCroden: My needs exceed my skills. Now, if I had his talents, I would have no problems at all. I've never heard of a changeling with such versatility.\nOdo: A what?\nCroden: A changeling, like you.\nOdo: You've heard of other shape-shifters in the Gamma Quadrant?\nCroden: Haven't they come through the wormhole yet? I assumed when I saw you\nOdo: It's a lie. He heard me talking in the bar to Quark.\nCroden: Well, maybe I dissemble a little. Lie is a hard word. But shape-shifters are harsh in their judgments. Feed me, and maybe I'll tell you where I met someone just like you.\nSisko: I don't see that we have any choice. We have to contact his planet.\nO'Brien: Not the best way of introducing ourselves.\nBashir: Homicide as a means to open relations, it's not exactly how they teach it at the academy, is it.\nKira: I think you're all wrong.\nSisko: How's that?\nKira: They're going to thank us.\nSisko: Thank us?\nKira: That's what I'd do. He's probably committed all sorts of crimes in their system. They'll be glad to have the problem taken off their hands.\nSisko: There's only way to find out. Dax?\nDax: It won't be hard to find Rakhar. According to the logs, Croden was found in a damaged shuttlecraft about three light years from the wormhole. There aren't many M class planets in that area.\nSisko: You're with me. Major Kira, as long as the Miradorn ship is here, there's a threat to Croden. I don't want to have to tell his people that he was killed while in our custody.\nKira: I'll have Odo increase security.\nQuark: Stop in to see if I'd run away?\nOdo: I couldn't get that lucky. That Croden is an interesting character.\nQuark: I wouldn't know.\nOdo: Really? I thought you said you got to know him rather well.\nQuark: I never told you that. I merely said we chatted when he bought a drink or two.\nOdo: I've talked to several people who saw the two of you engaged in heavy conversations. Why, Morn here says you even bought the fellow a meal.\nQuark: Morn should keep his big mouth shut!\nOdo: So what were you talking to him about?\nQuark: Just being friendly. He was so out of place here, alone. I felt sorry for him. You should sympathize with my kindness.\nOdo: There's no profit in kindness.\nQuark: You attribute odious motives to my every charitable act.\nOdo: That's because your favorite charity is your own pocket. Speaking of odious motives, I hear you've been making inquiries about finding a small ship to go through the wormhole.\nQuark: That had nothing to do with any of this.\nOdo: I think it does. I think you were trying to secure passage back to the Gamma Quadrant for Croden in exchange for staging this tragic little robbery of yours.\nQuark: This could turn into a much bigger tragedy for me if you don't keep your voice down.\nOdo: What did Croden tell you about himself?\nQuark: Nothing. We didn't talk about anything except business. Inconsequential things.\nOdo: What's inconsequential to you may be important to me. Did he say anything about his home world?\nQuark: No.\nOdo: Other species in the Gamma Quadrant?\nQuark: No.\nSecurity: Security to Odo.\nOdo: Go ahead.\nSecurity: Ah-Kel and his crew are blocking the entrance to your office. Should we clear them out?\nOdo: Leave it. I'll handle them.\nOdo: You were told to stay on your ship. AH-\nKel: Understand me, shape-shifter. He killed the part of me that made existence bearable. I cannot stop until I kill him.\nOdo: You're not going to kill anyone. Get back to your ship and stay there. If I find you here again, I'll lock you up too.\nOdo: You've made a lot of friends in your short stay here.\nCroden: Well, I guess you'd know how that feels. You and I have a great deal in common, changeling.\nOdo: We have nothing in common.\nCroden: We are both aliens here, the only ones of our kind. Each of us is alone, isolated, shut out. Others like us only exist in the Gamma Quadrant. I have always wondered why changelings are so distrustful of other species.\nOdo: I doubt the changelings on your world would trust you.\nCroden: Of course not. There are no shape-shifters on Rakhar.\nOdo: You just said. You implied there were.\nCroden: I'm sorry if I misled you. There were shape-shifters on Rakhar at one time, but that was centuries ago.\nOdo: What happened to them?\nCroden: They were persecuted. Driven out. But I know a place where there are still some left. Of course, that was a few years ago.\nOdo: And if you had the chance, you'd take me there.\nCroden: Sure I would. Why not?\nOdo: Tell me where it is. I'll have a look.\nCroden: No, I have to show you. There is no way you could find it on you own.\nOdo: The next time you lie, I'll save Ah-Kel the trouble of killing you.\nCroden: There's that hard word again. There are times when I don't dissemble.\nOdo: Whatever you call it, the truth isn't in you.\nCroden: From the colony of the changelings.\nDax: We're in orbit.\nSisko: Open hailing frequencies.\nDax: Open.\nSisko: This is the Federation Starship Rio Grande attempting to make contact with the planet Rakhar. Please respond. One of your people has committed a homicide and we have him in custody. His name is Croden.\nDax: I'm picking up a signal in the southern hemisphere. They're hailing us.\nSisko: On screen\nHadran: I am the Exarch of Nehelik Province. You will transport Croden to this location.\nSisko: I'm afraid we haven't brought him with us.\nHadran: Your communication clearly stated that he was in your custody.\nSisko: On our space station. Perhaps I should explain where we come from.\nHadran: We are well aware of the traffic through the newly diskovered passage. We simply have no interest in contact with anyone from your quadrant.\nSisko: I am sorry to hear that, but we certainly will respect your wishes. We just felt it necessary after Croden was arrested\nHadran: Croden is an enemy of the Rakhari people. We request that he be returned immediately.\nSisko: He's scheduled to be tried for his crime on our station .\nHadran: Tried? Croden has already been declared guilty in absentia for myriad crimes on this world. That judgment supersedes your charges. Return him, and I can assure you his punishment will be appropriate to your crime as well as ours.\nSisko: I would feel more comfortable if we could\nHadran: I do not know what kind of people you are. I do not care to know. But if your society purports to respect the rules of our society, you will return him without delay.\nSisko: Expect him to return in a vessel just like this one within fifty two hours.\nBashir: It's an amalgam of organic material and some sort of crystal.\nOdo: You mean it's alive?\nBashir: More or less. It's almost like a transitional stage between organic and inorganic matter. I've only seen one life form that even remotely resembles it.\nOdo: Me.\nBashir: In a way, this stone might qualify as a distant cousin of yours. Maybe there's a clue to your origins here. Where did it come from?\nOdo: Unfortunately, the only one who can tell me is less reliable than Quark.\nCroden: How do you like my stone, changeling?\nOdo: Where'd you get it?\nCroden: What would telling you get me?\nOdo: Nothing.\nCroden: Well, that's too bad. I was hoping you'd feel sorry for me, seeing as we're the only two here from the other side of the passage.\nOdo: I feel nothing for you but contempt. You're a thief, and a killer, and who knows what else.\nCroden: Typical. It's typical.\nOdo: Of changeling behavior. Yes, I'm sure.\nCroden: Excuse me.\nCroden: In my sector, there is a nebula called the Chamra Vortex. There are millions of asteroids in it. I found this stone on one of them. I could take you to it, changeling.\nOdo: Others must know where it is.\nCroden: No, no, the Vortex is uncharted, but as a thief and a killer and who knows what, I hid there often. I found this colony of changelings by chance. And I know my way back.\nSisko: Come in.\nOdo: Yes, Commander?\nSisko: Constable, I want you to escort the prisoner back to his home planet.\nOdo: He's not to stand trial here?\nSisko: Croden apparently committed crimes on Rakhar. His government is adamant and the Bajorans have agreed to release him.\nOdo: We're going to have trouble getting him past the Miradorn.\nSisko: Yes, I know. Ah-Kel's been screening every ship leaving the station. How soon can you be ready?\nOdo: I'm ready now.\nSisko: There's a Rigelian freighter leaving here for the Gamma Quadrant in an hour. Maybe we can use them to run interference between you and the Miradorn ship.\nOdo: I'll move the prisoner to the runabout right away.\nSisko: Constable, once you're on the other side, you'll be on your own. The Miradorn vessel can outrun any of our runabouts and if they do come after you, a warning from us will just point an arrow to you.\nOdo: Understood.\nCroden: So you're finally taking me up on my offer.\nOdo: I'm taking you home.\nO'Brien: Commander. The Rigelian freighter's ready for departure.\nSisko: Signal Odo.\nKira: The Miradorn ship is scanning the freighter. Doesn't look like they're reading the runabout.\nCroden: How do you stand it, changeling, living where you don't belong. Are you happy?\nOdo: I'm as much a part of the place as anyone else.\nCroden: I doubt it. They tolerate you, but you're not one of them. Being what you are, you can pour your square shape into a round hole, but you never really fit, do you? You're like my stone.\nOdo: I think I finally figured out what crime you were found guilty of on your world.\nCroden: What's that?\nOdo: You talked too much.\nCroden: Maybe you're right. Perhaps that is how it started. Perhaps I asked one question too many. Anyway, that's as good an explanation as any.\nOdo: Explanation for what?\nCroden: For why they came that night. I never was told and to this day I don't know. They broke into my home just before dawn, and before I had time to stop them, they had murdered both my wives. You see, on my world, the punishment for being an enemy of the people is the death of your family. I had no sophisticated weapon. Only a short, slaughter knife that I used for cutting the necks of fowl we would prepare for supper. Imagine my surprise when I diskovered that the necks of the security officers were no more difficult to cut than the birds. Even the sound they made as the blade crossed their gullets were similar.\nOdo: You expect me to believe this appallling tale?\nCroden: Would it make any difference if you did?\nOdo: No.\nCroden: Well then, believe it, because it's true. My return will be celebrated, changeling. They'll be very grateful. You'll be a hero. Perhaps you might even use this as an excuse to exchange envoys.\nOdo: If you don't stop talking, I could sedate you for the rest of the trip.\nCroden: Sorry. I didn't, I didn't know I bothered you.\nKel: Get in there!\nRom: He's going to kill us. He says we were in with Croden. AH-\nKel: Where is he, Quark?\nQuark: Croden? He's in security. AH-\nKel: You're lying. He's gone. You're hiding him. You've been in this together all along. You're as responsible for my brother's death as he is.\nQuark: Ah-Kel, no. This is Odo's doing. Don't you see? He wants to turn us against each other. AH-\nKel: Why should I believe you? Tell me where Croden is, or you can die in his place.\nQuark: I don't know where he is. But maybe I can find out if you'll just release me. Get me the security chips. Level four clearance.\nQuark: It isn't at all clear. AH-\nKel: The coordinates are very clearly stated right here in the log entry. One more thing, little Ferengi. You better be telling the truth or I'll be back to finish this.\nRom: Oh, you are clever, brother. Now, Ah-Kel will rid us of Croden and Odo.\nQuark: Unless Odo is sensible and gives up his prisoner.\nRom: Oh, no. Then Croden would tell Ah-Kel the truth about our plan. We're dead. We're dead. You shouldn't have told him how to find them.\nQuark: Be quiet. Odo would never give up his prisoner. He'll just get himself killed.\nRom: Do you really think so?\nQuark: Oh, get out of here, you fool!\nSisko: Yes, Chief?\nO'Brien: The Miradorn ship is leaving the station.\nSisko: Major, do whatever you can to delay them.\nKira: Ops to Miradorn vessel. Please hold your position. Stand by for departure instructions.\nO'Brien: No response. They're still moving.\nSisko: Dax, how long before Odo reaches Rakhar?\nDax: Just over five hours.\nKira: Miradorn vessel, you are in violation of Bajoran transit regulations. Please return at once to the docking ring.\nO'Brien: They've increased power to their thrusters.\nSisko: On screen.\nCroden: You'd save time going through the Vortex. It's a long way around it. Aren't you the least bit curious about your own people?\nOdo: Of course I am. Unfortunately, I don't have the liberty of pursuing that curiosity right now.\nCroden: They don't maintain a humanoid shape, you know. They refused to assimilate on my world. They're a proud species. That's why they were so persecuted. But I will say this for them, they treated me well enough when I landed at their colony. I was badly wounded. They could have allowed me to die. They didn't. You're one of them, that's for sure. You have the sense of decency, of justice.\nOdo: You don't give up, do you.\nOdo: Computer, what was that?\nComputer: A temporary loss of stability resulting from the impact of a concentrated plasma charge.\nOdo: We're being attacked?\nComputer: Affirmative. Pursuing vessel approaching from one eight one mark one two.\nOdo: Put it on the monitor and identify.\nComputer: Miradorn vessel, Theta class.\nOdo: He's hailing us. AH-\nKel: The first shot was a warning. You will surrender the Rakhari prisoner to me.\nOdo: I don't give up my prisoners, Ah-Kel. AH-\nKel: Very well. Then you can die with him.\nComputer: Warning. Damage to shields\nOdo: Computer, evasive maneuvers!\nComputer: Warning. Shields at forty one percent.\nCroden: Your computer's not going to outsmart him.\nOdo: I'm a security chief, not a combat pilot.\nCroden: Then give me the controls!\nOdo: You?\nCroden: I can get us through the vortex. The ionized gasses would screen us from his sensors. Drop your suspicious nature for a minute, changeling. Can't you see it's our only chance.\nOdo: Why are we slowing down?\nCroden: The vortex is riddled with volatile pockets of a gas we call toh-maire. If we destabilize them, they could ignite and blow this ship apart.\nOdo: You really have been through here before.\nCroden: Sometimes I do tell the truth.\nOdo: How do you remember what's true and what isn't? I thought you said they couldn't detect us in here.\nCroden: He must be following our impulse wake. Computer, disengage impulse engines. Go to thrusters.\nComputer: Acknowledged. Thrusters engaged.\nOdo: What are you doing?\nCroden: Once our impulse wake drops off, he might try to pick up the diskharge of our thrusters. We'll be better off if we land. So, changeling, I guess I'm going to take you home after all.\nCroden: Hurry. This way.\nOdo: Croden! Slow down, Croden. Stay where I can see you. Croden! What's your hurry? What's in here?\nCroden: I told you. The colony.\nOdo: Anxious to see them again, are you?\nCroden: Yes. Of course.\nOdo: Whatever it is you came here for, you can forget it. We're leaving.\nCroden: No!\nOdo: Now! How much of it was true? Any of it? Any of it?\nCroden: No. No. On Rakhar, we tell stories about changelings. I thought they were myths until I met you.\nOdo: The stone.\nCroden: I have no idea where it came from. Rakhari merchants buy stones just like it from off-world traders. It's used as a key.\nOdo: A key to what?\nCroden: To my only reason for living. And it's ahead, in that cavern there.\nCroden: Please, help me. There's been a cave-in.\nOdo: What is it?\nCroden: A stasis chamber.\nCroden: It's my daughter, the only member of my family I could save. Help me.\nCroden: It shapes itself to fit the lock.\nYareth: Father? I was dreaming about you.\nCroden: I'm here now, Yareth. You don't have to dream anymore.\nYareth: Hello.\nCroden: This is Odo. He's a security officer. No, no, he's not going to hurt you. He's going to take you to a place where you'll be safe. Won't you?\nYareth: Where are you going?\nCroden: I'm going home.\nYareth: But you can't. They'll kill you.\nCroden: Yareth, I must answer for my crimes.\nYareth: But all you did was try to protect us.\nOdo: Their sensors must have picked up our life signs. We've got to get back to the runabout.\nCroden: Odo!\nYareth: Is he badly hurt?\nCroden: There's no way to tell. I don't know anything about his species. I'll carry him back to the ship.\nYareth: What's the matter, father?\nCroden: Nothing, Yareth. Nothing.\nCroden: Nothing. Go! Go!\nCroden: You're heavier than you look.\nOdo: You could have left me behind.\nCroden: Don't thank me. I already regret it.\nCroden: I haven't been able to lose them. Sooner or later, one of his photons is going to trigger a toh-maire explosion and kill us all.\nOdo: Let me have the controls. Find us one of those toh-maire fields.\nCroden: I just told you, you don't want to go anywhere near one, changeling.\nOdo: Find the closest toh-maire field.\nCroden: Six degrees to starboard.\nOdo: Changing course. He's chased us everywhere else, maybe he'll follow us in there too.\nCroden: His sensors may not be able to detect how volatile the field is. If he fires on us in there, the whole thing will ignite.\nOdo: That's what I'm counting on.\nOdo: Set a course along the interior perimeter.\nCroden: Done.\nOdo: Computer, shut down all engines.\nComputer: Engines disengaged.\nOdo: Maintain emergency readiness to re-engage impulse on my command.\nCroden: We're an awfully easy target.\nCroden: He's hailing us.\nOdo: On screen. AH-\nKel: Are you prepared to surrender your prisoner?\nOdo: I have a full array of Starfleet weapons trained on you, Ah-Kel. Frankly, I don't know much about them but I understand they equip this little vessel with some pretty powerful stuff. So I suggest you withdraw while you still can AH-\nKel: There will barely be a trace of your little vessel when we are finished with you.\nCroden: He's coming about. Powering his shields. His starboard photon bank is armed.\nOdo: Computer, engage.\nCroden: He's firing photons!\nOdo: Is everybody back there in one piece?\nYareth: Yes.\nOdo: Good. Take us out of your precious vortex.\nCroden: I only have one last favor to ask. Yareth is going to be alone on your world, just as you've always been. She's going to need someone to look after her.\nOdo: If you're asking me what I think you're asking.\nCroden: You know you could use some company, changeling. You deny it, but we both know it's true, or the stone would have meant nothing to you.\nComputer: Incoming subspace signal. Vulcan band frequency.\nOdo: On screen.\nVulcan: Starfleet runabout, this is the Vulcan Science Vessel T'Vran. Are you in any difficulty?\nOdo: Chief of Security Odo from DS Nine. We're fine, Captain.\nVulcan: We detected a major eruption in the Chamra vortex. I was afraid a small ship like yours might have suffered damage.\nOdo: I appreciate your concern. What's your course?\nVulcan: To the wormhole, then home to Vulcan.\nOdo: I've beamed over two survivors from a ship that wasn't so lucky. I have to complete a mission. Could you give them transportation to Vulcan?\nVulcan: Easily done. We will rendezvous with you shortly. Prepare for transport.\nOdo: Don't thank me. I already regret it.\nCroden: How? How will you explain not delivering me?\nOdo: I'll tell them you were killed when Ah-Kel torpedoed the asteroid. This dissembling must be catching. You're going to have to get used to living in an alien society.\nCroden: Like you. But I know where my home is. And perhaps someday I'll be able to go back there. I hope this helps you to find where you came from.\nVulcan: T'Vran to Ganges. Ready for transport.\nYareth: Are you really a changeling?\nOdo: Yes, I suppose I am. Go on, we don't want to keep the Vulcans waiting. Energizing.\nOdo: Computer, set a course for the wormhole.\nComputer: Course laid in.\nOdo: Ready engines. Home. Where is it? Someday we'll know, cousin. Engage."}
{"text": "O'Brien: What's funny is where the files were located, right there in Ops protocols.\nDax: The encryption system was extremely easy to break.\nSisko: So they wanted us to find these.\nDax: Or they didn't care.\nSisko: Well, there's nothing of strategic value here, just personal logs and some files on Bajoran terrorists. But it is a glimpse into the Cardassian mind.\nO'Brien: You might want to warn Kira before she sees her file.\nKira: Warn me? About what?\nSisko: Oh, er, Dax and Mister O'Brien diskovered some of the last Prefect's personal files. There's a file on you. You may find it disappointing.\nKira: I'm a big girl, Commander.\nBashir: Bashir to Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko here.\nBashir: I'm at airlock fourteen, Commander. I think you'd better get down here.\nSisko: What's the problem\nSisko: Doctor?\nBashir: Well, I was about to begin off-loading some medical specimens from the Bajoran transport\nBashir: And, well, the Kai is here.\nSisko: Kai Opaka. Why would she be here?\nBashir: She says you once offered her a tour of the station.\nKira: A minor operative whose activities are limited to running errands for the terrorist leaders?\nSisko: Major, when you're through feeling underappreciated, perhaps you'd join me in welcoming the Kai aboard.\nBashir: You say she's never been here before?\nSisko: She's never even left Bajor before.\nBashir: Excuse me for saying so, Commander, but she looks preoccupied.\nKira: Is something wrong, Opaka?\nOpaka: Contemplating prophecy.\nKira: It's interesting you chose this viewport. The wormhole is just out there.\nBashir: It's a spectacular sight to see.\nSisko: Unfortunately, it can only be seen when a ship enters it or exits. But there's nothing scheduled for today.\nOpaka: A shame.\nSisko: Sisko to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Go ahead Commander.\nSisko: Prepare the Yangtzee Kiang for launch, Chief. Kira and I are taking the Kai through the wormhole.\nO'Brien: Right away, sir.\nOpaka: Thank you.\nSisko: I didn't want to keep you from your duties, Doctor.\nBashir: It's a slow day.\nSisko: All right. This way.\nSisko: Is the ship ready, Chief?\nO'Brien: All prepped and ready for departure, Commander. Ma'am\nSisko: After you.\nOpaka: You have a child, don't you?\nO'Brien: I do. I have a little girl, ma'am.\nOpaka: Yes. Would you give this to her for me.\nSisko: We'll be entering the wormhole in about a minute.\nOpaka: Thank you again for indulging me.\nKira: Not at all, Opaka. You honor us with your presence.\nSisko: Yangtzee Kiang to DS Nine. Estimated time of return, fourteen hundred hours.\nDax: Logged in We'll expect you then.\nKira: Flight stabilization at maximum.\nSisko: Here we go.\nBashir: Spectacular, isn't it?\nOpaka: More than I imagined.\nSisko: My smoothest ride yet, Major.\nBashir: There's Idran, the closest system. It's a ternary star.\nOpaka: A doorway into the unknown.\nSisko: The other side of the galaxy, to be precise. The Gamma quadrant is seventy thousand light years from Bajor. It would take our fastest starship over sixty seven years to get here.\nOpaka: I'm glad I got the chance to see it.\nSisko: You'll be seeing what this wormhole is worth to Bajor in a few years.\nOpaka: If that is to be my fate, Commander.\nKira: Should I reverse course?\nOpaka: So soon?\nSisko: There's not much else to show you yet.\nOpaka: Prophecy can often be vague, Commander. That's why we must test it.\nSisko: I don't understand, Opaka.\nOpaka: You may return.\nSisko: Take us back to the wormhole, Major.\nKira: Coming about. Sensors are picking up a narrow band subspace signal.\nSisko: What do you make of it?\nKira: Just a long stream of statistical data followed by a request for reply. I'm not reading any response.\nSisko: Launch a class two probe. We'll follow it up later.\nOpaka: You're not going to investigate it now?\nSisko: I'm not sure that's a good idea.\nOpaka: Because of my presence?\nKira: There's no telling what it may be.\nOpaka: Please, Commander. I don't get out often.\nSisko: Can you get a fix on the source, Major?\nKira: Point three five light years, bearing two two nine mark four one.\nSisko: I guess we'd better take a look.\nKira: This is definitely the origin of the signal. I'm having trouble pinpointing the source. It's not coming from the surface.\nSisko: There's your answer. A network of artificial satellites. One of them looks like it's malfunctioning. Its orbit is unstable. I'd bet the signals we picked up were from the system trying to repair it.\nBashir: Commander, sensors indicate lifeforms localized in twelve square kilometers on the moon's surface. They may be humanoid, sir\nSisko: Humanoid? Can you verify that?\nBashir: I can't resolve the biopatterns. There's too much interference.\nSisko: Take us in a little closer.\nKira: We're being scanned by one of the satellites. I don't like this. It's heading toward us.\nSisko: Shields up!\nKira: Reading a significant energy build-up in the satellite. Six hundred megawatts, nine hundred, it's firing.\nKira: Shields are down. Forward thrusters are gone. We're losing power.\nSisko: Attempting to compensate with secondary boosters.\nKira: Impulse generators failing.\nSisko: Hold on, we're going down. Check contingency fuel cell output.\nKira: Holding at sixty-five percent.\nSisko: Doctor, watch the hull temperature.\nBashir: Aye, sir.\nKira: Stabilizing attitude control response.\nSisko: Pitching up to twenty degrees.\nBashir: Hull temperature nine hundred C, nine fifty, eleven hundred.\nKira: We're holding profile.\nBashir: Twelve hundred C. Thirteen.\nSisko: Ejecting antimatter pod.\nKira: Pitching up to sixty degrees. Prepare for final braking maneuvers.\nSisko: Brace for impact!\nBashir: Commander. Pulmonary collapse. Her upper thoracic vertebrae have been crushed.\nKira: Stay with us, Opaka. Stay with us.\nBashir: I'm sorry.\nKira: Ahn-kay ya, ay-ya vasu. Coh-ma-ra, di-nay-ya. Ahn-kay ya, ay-ya vasu.\nSisko: We've got company.\nOdo: Still no contact with Sisko?\nDax: Not yet.\nOdo: But they're nearly three hours overdue.\nO'Brien: Three and a half.\nOdo: Opaka's people are on subspace to me every five minutes.\nO'Brien: Tell them one of our runabouts found a trace of a warp eddy current. It's got to be from their ship.\nDax: With any luck, we should be able to tell which direction they were headed.\nOdo: That's not going to satisfy them on Bajor. You have no idea what the Kai means to them. When they heard Sisko had taken her into the wormhole\nO'Brien: Constable, tell them we're doing the best we can, okay? Runabout pad C.\nDax: Have the Bajorans station a ship on the Gamma side, we'll stay in close touch by subspace.\nEnnis: Move. SHEL-\nLa: Our first visitors. You're not all the same race.\nKira: I'm a Bajoran.\nSisko: I'm Commander Benjamin Sisko. Major Kira Nerys and Doctor Julian Bashir. SHEL-\nLa: A doctor? How ironic. I'm Golin Shel-la, leader of the Ennis. Why are you here?\nSisko: We were attacked by one of your satellites. Our ship was damaged and we crashed. SHEL-\nLa: Of course, Commander. But why did you come here?\nSisko: We were exploring. We've recently diskovered a permanent wormhole linking our quadrant of the galaxy with yours. I command a space station at the mouth of that wormhole. SHEL-\nLa: You know nothing of our home planet. You know nothing of the punishment.\nSisko: We're just beginning to explore this sector. As I said, our home is on the other side of the galaxy.\nBashir: Major.\nKira: I'm all right.\nBashir: The hell you are. She needs treatment. I'd like my medical case, if you don't mind.\nBashir: For God's sake. SHEL-\nLa: I apologize for our cautious nature. If you haven't realized, we're at war.\nSisko: Who are you fighting? SHEL-\nLa: A brutal enemy that attacks at whim. We maintain a constant vigil. This is an energy weapon.\nSisko: Yes. SHEL-\nLa: The Ennis stopped using directed energy weapons centuries ago. Not damaging enough. Your arrival complicates matters.\nSisko: We don't plan to be here long. SHEL-\nLa: Oh, you expect to repair your ship?\nSisko: No, but a rescue team is probably on it's way right now. SHEL-\nLa: Like you, they'll have to deal with the defense net, and that is beyond my influence.\nSisko: You don't control the satellites? SHEL-\nLa: We're all prisoners on this moon.\nSisko: Then this is a penal colony SHEL-\nLa: My immediate concern regards your partisanship. By your presence here, you'll be considered our allies. All your lives are in danger. SHEL-\nLa: The latest victims of our enemy, the Nol-Ennis.\nSisko: Where are your doctors? SHEL-\nLa: We have none.\nSisko: You have no medical personnel? How do you survive without SHEL-\nLa: We were thrust into this situation with few resources. Since you're here under similar circumstances I was hoping we'd be of some help to each other.\nBashir: This should make you feel better. Major, I'm so sorry. I would've done anything.\nKira: It's all so senseless. Opaka's always been a symbol of hope to me. Her words gave our struggle meaning. And now she's dead. Her life ends on some unknown moon, and for what?\nSisko: Doctor Bashir will give you any medical assistance he can, but understand, we can't take sides in your battle. SHEL-\nLa: It doesn't matter what I understand if the Nol capture you.\nSisko: Seems we're in the middle of a pretty ugly war.\nBashir: I gathered that.\nSisko: Shel-la says his people will protect us from their enemy in exchange for your services.\nBashir: Perhaps I can train some of them in the basics of field triage.\nSisko: Do whatever you can. How's the shoulder, Major?\nKira: I'll live.\nBashir: I still have to run a neuromuscular scan on her when we get back.\nSisko: Don't count on a quick rescue. This moon is some kind of high security prison colony.\nSisko: Major!\nNol: Let's go! Leave him!\nKira: Commander!\nSisko: Put your phaser down, Kira.\nBashir: Her vital signs appear to be normal, but I could have sworn she was\nKira: I was there, Doctor.\nSisko: Opaka, are you aware of what happened?\nOpaka: The surface was approaching so quickly, I must admit I closed my eyes, Commander. There was a deafening whine. I felt the impact. A wall of heat seemed to pass through me, and then nothing.\nSisko: After we crashed, we pulled you from the wreckage but you were\nOpaka: Dead.\nSisko: How do you explain this, Doctor?\nBashir: Although she appears to be normal, her physiology has been radically altered.\nSisko: How?\nBashir: I'm not sure. The tricorder indicates some kind of bio-mechanical presence at a cellular level.\nSisko: Bio-mechanical? You mean something artificial?\nBashir: I wish I could tell you. Whatever it is, it seems to be directly controlling her metabolic processes.\nSisko: Is she in any danger?\nBashir: I'm sorry to keep saying it, Commander, but I really don't know. If the runabout's computer were functional, I might be able to run a full analysis.\nKira: Commander. Over here.\nBashir: It's okay. It's all right.\nDax: There's still no sign of them on any of the long range scanners.\nO'Brien: Not even a transponder signal. If they went down, we should at least get something from their transponder. The warp eddy has traces of meson particle emissions. That makes it a Starfleet power reactor.\nDax: The current shows that their heading was approximately two three zero mark four.\nO'Brien: Anything interesting in that direction?\nDax: An uncharted binary star system.\nO'Brien: I guess it's time to chart it.\nDax: Setting a new course.\nBashir: His reading's are the same as Opaka's. Virtually every cell in his body shows signs of this bio-mechanical presence. Now somehow it has literally brought him back to life.\nSisko: You've died before? SHEL-\nLa: Many times. Too many to count.\nBashir: Sir, I'd like to return to the runabout and try to get the computer up and running.\nSisko: Doctor, we're in the middle of a war.\nBashir: Sir, this could be a breakthrough of unprecedented magnitude.\nSisko: It's too dangerous. SHEL-\nLa: I'll see to his protection. SHEL-\nLa: I would like to know more about this breakthrough myself. Your doctor acts as though he's seen a miracle.\nSisko: He's not alone. SHEL-\nLa: If you lived with it as we have, you'd see it as a curse.\nSisko: How long have you been here? SHEL-\nLa: It feels like an eternity. It's all part of the punishment.\nSisko: What is this punishment, Shel-la? SHEL-\nLa: Everything here is designed to prolong our suffering.\nSisko: What was your crime? SHEL-\nLa: The Ennis and the Nol-Ennis are ancient enemies. For generation after generation we fought the same war. The leaders of our planet were unable to mediate a peace. Finally, they sent us all here and told us that we would serve as an example for the rest of civilisation.\nOpaka: How did your fight begin? SHEL-\nLa: Some say it was water, some say it was land. It's not really very relevant now.\nOpaka: Then what do you hope to gain by continuing? SHEL-\nLa: Vengeance. All of us has seen our families suffer incredibly at the hands of the Nol.\nSisko: The Nol can say the very same thing. SHEL-\nLa: They probably do.\nKira: If you must fight your war, the least you can do is to learn to fight it more effectively.\nSisko: Major, this is not our SHEL-\nLa: What do you mean?\nKira: There were no guards at the entrance when we arrived. You have no system to alert your forces of an attack. Your people are obviously unprepared for fighting close-quartered.\nSisko: That's enough, Major.\nKira: We're trapped on this moon with only his forces between us and damnation. We have to defend ourselves to stay alive. Now, when the Nol attack again we\nSisko: I said, that's enough!\nKira: We have to be ready!\nOpaka: This is not your war, Kira. SHEL-\nLa: We used to defend ourselves better, Major. Safety perimeters, counter-attacks, preemptive strikes. And then we realized that it was all pointless. When you cease to fear death, the rules of war change. You'll understand as the years begin to pass, Major.\nSisko: Listen to me, Shel-la. Our rescue is not going to take years. Days, weeks maybe, but they will find us and then they'll penetrate the defense net and transport us out of here. SHEL-\nLa: Then you will be luckier than we have been.\nSisko: We'd be willing to transport all of you away from here if that's what you want. SHEL-\nLa: Away from here? To live one life, to die in peace? To us this is an ancient prayer that's never been answered, Commander. You would do this for us?\nSisko: For both sides, the Ennis and the Nol-Ennis. After you leave, you can go wherever you want, but end this nightmare. Stop fighting long enough for all of us to get off this moon. SHEL-\nLa: Zlangco, the leader of the Nol would never agree to a cease-fire.\nSisko: Ask him. SHEL-\nLa: You don't know them. All they care about is\nSisko: What do you care about? If you want to end the suffering of your people, then at least try. Set up a meeting with this Zlangco. Talk about this. SHEL-\nLa: This is hopeless. But I will talk, if he will.\nO'Brien: I'm not reading a single M Class planet in the system. If they went down anywhere around here, they couldn't have survived.\nDax: I'm not sure we can believe the scans, Chief. The star is putting out abnormal levels of delta radiation.\nO'Brien: That'd foul up our long range scanners.\nDax: We'll have to survey each planet, one at a time.\nO'Brien: Not to mention two dozen or so moons and an asteroid belt. Bloody needle in a haystack. A needle in a haystack. What we need is a magnet.\nDax: A magnet?\nO'Brien: Yeah. You want to pick a piece of metal out of the straw, you use a magnet.\nDax: I don't think I'm following you, Chief.\nO'Brien: Runabout hulls are made out of metallic composites that interact with magnetic fields. We could send out a few probes to scan the system for those specific magnetic resonance patterns. If Sisko's runabout is in the system, we might pick up a fluctuation in the hysteresis curve.\nDax: The magnetic deflection of a runabout's hull is extremely weak. The probes will never be able to detect it.\nO'Brien: They will, if I can outfit them with a differential magnetomer.\nDax: A differential magnetomer. I've never heard of a differential magnetomer. How does it work?\nO'Brien: I'll let you know as soon as I've finished making one.\nBashir: Nice work, Julian.\nLa: I'm surprised. Zlangco has agreed to listen to your proposals.\nSisko: Good. When. SHEL-\nLa: Right away. We'll meet at a neutral site near your vessel. We've both agreed to carry no firearms.\nKira: What if they use the opportunity to set a trap? SHEL-\nLa: We've taken the appropriate precautions, Major, but if you personally would care to check the security, I'm sure your Commander will allow you to accompany us.\nSisko: Major Kira will be staying here with the Kai. SHEL-\nLa: What a shame.\nOpaka: You can't bury it, Kira.\nKira: What?\nOpaka: Do you recognize yourself in these people?\nKira: Me? No, not at all, I. They're content to die. I've always fought to stay alive. I don't want you to have the wrong impression of me, Opaka.\nOpaka: Jus what impression do you think I have?\nKira: That I enjoy any of this. I don't enjoy fighting. Yes, I've fought my entire life, but for a good cause, for our freedom, our independence. And it was brutal and ugly and I. But that's over for me now. That's not who I am. I don't want you to think that I am this violent person without a soul, without a conscience. That is not who I am.\nOpaka: Don't deny the violence inside of you, Kira. Only when you accept it can you move beyond it.\nKira: I've known nothing but violence since I was child.\nOpaka: In the eyes of the Prophets, we are all children. Bajor has much to learn from peace.\nKira: I'm afraid the Prophets won't forgive me.\nOpaka: They're just waiting for you to forgive yourself.\nComputer: Twenty-two minutes into launch. All readings within normal parameters.\nDax: Probe B approaching planet six. Three moons. No change in the hysteresis curve. Probe C approaching planet seven. No change.\nO'Brien: What the hell would they be doing here anyway. It's a waste of time. They could be twenty light years from here and we wouldn't have the first clue.\nDax: Probe A approaching planet three. One moon. Chief.\nComputer: Probe A measuring a point zero zero one two fluctuation in the hysteresis curve.\nO'Brien: It's the third planet.\nDax: No, look, it isn't. We're picking up something from its moon.\nO'Brien: Laying in a new course, full impulse.\nSisko: Any progress, Doctor?\nBashir: Yes, sir. I've got the computer up, more or less. It's processing the data now. I can already confirm that these microbes are artificial. rather like nanites in a way. I should have a complete analysis from the computer in a few minutes. What's going on?\nSisko: Talks about a cease fire.\nBashir: No kidding. How'd you arrange that?\nSisko: I told them that we'd transport them off this moon.\nBashir: Isn't that a bit like assisting a jailbreak?\nSisko: I don't need you to interpret the prime directive for me, Doctor.\nBashir: Yes, of course. I only meant\nSisko: Whatever crimes they've committed they've paid for a hundred times over. They've been altered somehow and been abandoned by their world. I believe the Federation would recognize them as separate and unique.\nBashir: Yes, sir. Well, I should be checking on that analysis.\nZlangco: So, you are the leader of the aliens.\nSisko: Benjamin Sisko, Commander of a Federation space station.\nZlangco: Federation? SHEL-\nLa: What does it matter to us, Zlangco?\nZlangco: It matters to me.\nSisko: The Federation is made up of over a hundred planets who have allied themselves for mutual scientific, cultural and defensive benefits. The mission that my people and I are on is to explore the galaxy.\nZlangco: Such a noble purpose. There'll be no reward for our release, you know. SHEL-\nLa: You are being a fool, as usual.\nZlangco: A fool who always manages to outwit you, Shel-la, as I have proven over and over again. SHEL-\nLa: If you care to die once again, then all you need to do is ask.\nSisko: If you've had enough of this, then make your leaders stop and listen. Your only reason to live is to make each other suffer. If you've had enough of suffering, then make them stop. I'm not here to be a mediator, but if you ask for an alternative I'll give you one.\nZlangco: We're listening.\nSisko: In a matter of days, when our rescue party arrives, I can arrange to transport you and your people off this moon, if both sides can only cooperate until then. SHEL-\nLa: Zlangco, they will resettle us on different planets.\nSisko: If that's what you wish.\nZlangco: The two of you seem to have discussed this plan in detail. SHEL-\nLa: Of course. His crew has been with us for two days.\nZlangco: Explain why you choose to ally yourself with the Ennis.\nSisko: We have allied ourselves with no one.\nZlangco: One of your people fired a weapon at us.\nSisko: We were defending ourselves.\nZlangco: I think you're lying. I don't know the alien, but I know Shel-la. I know how his mind works. I promise you this is an Ennis trick to lure our entire population out of hiding so they can be slaughtered.\nSisko: That's not true.\nZlangco: Then the Ennis are surely willing to make the first gesture of peace. Let them bring all of their people out of hiding first to prove their honorable intention. SHEL-\nLa: Do you think I would allow a single Nol escape this moon alive?\nZlangco: No more than I would let an Ennis go free.\nBashir: I'm sorry, Commander, but I've diskovered we can't afford to die here. Not even once.\nO'Brien: It's some kind of artificial satellite system. That's what our probe must have picked up.\nDax: Our sensors are reading lifeforms on the surface, Chief. I think some of them are human.\nO'Brien: If the ship's down there, why wouldn't the transponder be sending out a\nDax: We're being scanned\nO'Brien: Increasing orbital altitude.\nDax: What are you thinking?\nO'Brien: The only thing that could block out a transponder signal is a broad band damping field. That requires a low level satellite system like this one. Suddenly we're being scanned by these satellites, so\nDax: Maybe they had something to do with our missing runabout.\nO'Brien: Exactly. See, they're putting out a mutual induction field that would block out ninety nine percent of all transmissions to and from the surface.\nDax: Is there any way for us to get a comm. line through the field?\nO'Brien: Well, I've got one percent to work with, don't I?\nBashir: The analysis is very clear. Once the microbes have restored a body after death, that body becomes permanently dependent on them for all cellular functions.\nSisko: Permanently?\nBashir: It gets worse. The designers made them environment specific. If the microbes are removed from this ecozystem, they'll stop functioning.\nSisko: So if we transport anyone off this planet, we kill them.\nBashir: I'm afraid so.\nSisko: The Kai?\nO'Brien: Rio Grande to Sisko. Do you read me? This is O'Brien, come in.\nSisko: Go ahead, Chief. I can barely read you.\nDax: Is everyone all right?\nSisko: We're alive, but the Yangtzee Kiang was destroyed. Will you be able to beam us up?\nO'Brien: Not quite yet, Commander.\nO'Brien: we've got to find a way to penetrate this network of satellites. They're making it impossible to lock on to anything down there.\nSisko: Understood.\nSisko: But those satellites will come after you if you get too close. They're armed. One of them cut us down without any trouble at all.\nO'Brien: Yeah, we figured as much.\nSisko: Let me know before you're ready to make an attempt.\nO'Brien: Acknowledged. Rio Grande out.\nSisko: We have to talk to the Kai.\nKira: Is there a cease-fire?\nSisko: Neither side took it seriously.\nOpaka: I'm not at all surprised. You were right, Kira. They don't know how to do anything else but die. They've forgotten how to live.\nSisko: The Rio Grande has made contact. Dax and O'Brien are in orbit. They're working on a way to penetrate the defense system.\nOpaka: I'll be staying, Commander.\nKira: What?\nOpaka: This is the answer to all the prophecies of my life.\nKira: It's the wrong answer, Opaka. You can't stay here.\nOpaka: I didn't know how or why, but when we came through the wormhole, I knew I wouldn't be returning. You must tell our people, Kira, that I have answered the call of the Prophets. I was brought here because it is time for these people to begin their healing process, just as you were brought here to begin yours.\nO'Brien: You know, all we really need to do is find a way to create a gap in the net.\nDax: Maybe a photon would destroy one of the satellites.\nO'Brien: Maybe, but you'd think they'd build a defense network with that in mind. You shoot one, the rest might swarm up like Vayan horn flies. We need to go for something simpler. all I need is about a fifteen percent increase in the opening in the net. Rio Grande to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien: We're going to try to poke a hole up here, sir, if you're about ready to end your stay.\nSisko: Only three of us are coming back. Kai Opaka is remaining.\nDax: Benjamin, please confirm. Did you say we're not transporting the Kai?\nSisko: That's correct. I'll explain later.\nO'Brien: We'll need a few minutes, Commander.\nO'Brien: Rio Grande out. SHEL-\nLa: Leaving without us?\nBashir: My analysis of these microbes that keep you alive showed that if you were to leave the moon, you would die. SHEL-\nLa: Then there is no end.\nBashir: Commander, I find myself caught in a moral dilemma. As much as I am dedicated to the preservation of life, I wonder if we shouldn't help these people end this torture.\nSisko: How could you do that?\nBashir: Anything that can be programd can be reprogramd. If I could disable the mechanism in these microbes, they should no longer function when someone is killed, and these people would finally be able to die. SHEL-\nLa: You've seen our life here. Please, it's the only solution left. Give us a way to reprogram these microbes. It will put an end to this war.\nKira: You really think the fear of death will end the fighting? It never has in any other war. SHEL-\nLa: No, but it will allow us to finally win, to wipe out the Nol for good. On this world, Doctor, your disabled microbes would be the ultimate weapon. We could finally and truly destroy our enemies.\nO'Brien: Rio Grande to Sisko. Stand by for transport.\nSisko: Ready.\nDax: Coordinates set.\nO'Brien: Launching probe.\nDax: Twelve seconds to intercept.\nO'Brien: Come on, come on, go for it.\nDax: One of the satellites is breaking orbit, moving toward the probe.\nO'Brien: That's it.\nDax: The satellite is showing a power buildup, about eight hundred megawatts.\nDax: Probe destroyed\nO'Brien: Rio Grange to Sisko. Trying to lock on, Commander.\nO'Brien: Establishing pattern lock. SHEL-\nLa: You can't leave without giving us\nSisko: Energize when ready, Chief.\nSisko: Opaka, if we can ever find a way\nOpaka: My work is here now, Commander. But your pagh and mine will cross again.\nO'Brien: Energizing."}
{"text": "Scene: Station log, Stardate 46729.1. The Bajoran government has asked me to mediate a disagreement between two rival factions, the Paqu and the Navot. At issue is a land dispute which could trigger a civil war.\nKira: Commander, the Paqu delegation has arrived at docking port six.\nSisko: Let's welcome them aboard. Dax, any word on the Navot?\nDax: They should be here within the hour.\nO'Brien: Excuse me, Commander.\nSisko: Chief, I thought you'd be on your way to Bajor by now.\nO'Brien: We're due to leave any moment. But, sir, I was wondering if perhaps Ensign Boyer might replace me on this particular mission. After all, I'd be little more than a chauffeur, and Boyer can pilot a runabout just as well as I can.\nSisko: Has something come up that requires your presence on the station, Chief?\nO'Brien: Oh, no, sir. Everything's running smoothly for a change. But around here, you never know.\nBashir: Ah, Chief, there you are. All set to go?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nBashir: Commander, did the Magistrate give any indication regarding the nature of this medical emergency?\nSisko: Only that his village was in danger of extinction.\nBashir: In that case we'd better be on our way.\nSisko: I agree.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Docking port six.\nBashir: You know, Chief, in a way I'm really looking forward to this mission.\nO'Brien: Why's that?\nBashir: I see it as a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know each other.\nO'Brien: Ah.\nSisko: I'd like you to set a preliminary meeting with both sides for later this afternoon. Make sure they know that this is an informal session. I just want to get them talking to each other.\nKira: Just getting them to sit down at the same table will be an accomplishment. Sir, about these negotiations.\nSisko: You have some advice for me?\nKira: There's an old saying on Bajor. The land and the people are one. Well, the land inhabited by the Paqu and Navot is some of the harshest on the planet.\nSisko: Relax, Major. This is not my first time up at the plate.\nKira: Sir?\nSisko: Besides, I'll have you by my side to help me avoid making mistakes.\nSisko: Tell me what you know about the Paqu Tetrarch.\nKira: Not much. The Paqu choose to avoid contact with outsiders.\nVaris: Commander Sisko?\nSisko: Yes?\nVaris: I am Varis Sul, Tetrarch of the Paqu.\nBashir: Chief, may I ask you a question?\nO'Brien: Of course.\nBashir: And I'd like an honest answer.\nO'Brien: You'll get one.\nBashir: Do I annoy you?\nO'Brien: Annoy me? What sort of a question's that?\nBashir: Well, the thing is, we've just spent two hours alone together in this runabout and you hardly said a word to me the whole time.\nO'Brien: Really? I hadn't noticed.\nBashir: Oh, I see.\nO'Brien: I suppose because I was too busy thinking.\nBashir: Thinking?\nO'Brien: That's right.\nBashir: About what?\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: What were you thinking about? I'm just curious.\nO'Brien: Let's see. I was thinking that when we get back to the station, I'll have to run a level one diagnostic on the phase coil generators. Satisfied?\nBashir: I suppose so.\nO'Brien: Glad to hear it.\nBashir: I mean, the only reason I bring it up is because your opinion means a lot to me, and I'm aware I have a tendency to run off at the mouth sometimes.\nO'Brien: Is that a fact.\nBashir: It's just a nervous habit. I hope you don't hold it against me.\nO'Brien: Not at all, sir.\nBashir: And one more thing.\nO'Brien: What's that, sir?\nBashir: I don't think it's really necessary to call me sir.\nO'Brien: What should I call you? You're my superior officer.\nBashir: How about Julian?\nO'Brien: Is that an order?\nBashir: Of course not. It's just that I'd simply prefer it if you called me by my first name.\nO'Brien: All right. We've achieved stable orbit around Bajor. We can beam down any time. Julian.\nBashir: No sign of any airborne infections. The soil appears to be free of pollutants, and the ground water clear of bacterial contamination.\nFaren: Gentlemen. I am Faren Kag, the village magistrate.\nBashir: I'm Doctor Bashir and this is Chief O'Brien.\nFaren: This village is in great jeopardy. I only hope you're not too late.\nFaren: Has he shown any sign of improvement?\nHovath: None.\nFaren: You must help him.\nBashir: How many others are sick?\nFaren: Others?\nO'Brien: You said the entire village was in jeopardy.\nFaren: It is. If he dies, we all die.\nWoban: I'll say this for the Cardassians. Their replicators make a fine larish pie.\nVaris: I didn't come here to eat, Commander.\nSisko: Then let's talk. The official negotiations don't begin until tonight, but I thought it might be a good idea that we meet informally to see where we all stand. According to the treaty that has existed between you for the past ninety years, the border separating the Paqu and the Navot shall forever be the river Glyrhond.\nWoban: That's correct.\nKira: Well, at least we all agree on something.\nSisko: Now, as I understand it, during the occupation the Cardassians diverted the river for use in their mining operations. As a result the Glyrhond now flows twenty kilometers west of its former position.\nWoban: Twenty kilometers into Navot territory.\nVaris: That's Paqu territory now. You read the treaty, Commander. The river is our common border.\nWoban: The treaty says nothing about stealing land. If your father was alive he would give us back what was ours.\nVaris: My father would do no such thing. Besides, I'm Tetrarch now. I will not be pressured into betraying my people.\nQuark: Let's see, two Bajoran synthales, a glass of Gamzian wine, and a Trixian bubble juice for the little lady.\nVaris: I'm not a little lady.\nQuark: I'm still charging her for that drink.\nJake: Nog, we've been sitting here over an hour. Let's go play some ball in the holosuite.\nNog: No.\nJake: Why not?\nNog: Because baseball is slow and boring.\nJake: And you can't hit my curve ball.\nNog: It's a stupid game that even humans stopped playing hundreds of years ago.\nJake: Maybe, but you still can't hit my curve ball.\nOdo: Mister Sisko, Nog, I thought I told you no dangling over the Promenade.\nJake: We're not going to fall, Odo.\nNog: We can see things better from down here.\nOdo: And what, may I ask, is so interesting?\nJake: Nothing.\nOdo: In that case, you can see nothing just as well from up here. Now, on your feet. Thank you.\nJake: Are you going to come to the holosuite with me or not? Come on, we can have Buck Bokai hit a few out to us. He was the greatest hitter of all time. I'll even let you use my glove.\nNog: I have never seen anything so beautiful.\nJake: She's all right.\nNog: All right? I have to meet her.\nSirah: The Dal'Rok.\nBashir: Easy now. Try not to exert yourself.\nSirah: Hovath.\nHovath: I'm here.\nSirah: The time?\nHovath: It's still two hours before nightfall.\nSirah: You should have wakened me. Help me get dressed.\nBashir: I'm afraid you're in no shape to go anywhere.\nSirah: The Prophets sent you, didn't they.\nBashir: I beg your pardon?\nSirah: No, there's something wrong. It must be your companion.\nBashir: You mean Chief O'Brien?\nSirah: Bring him to me.\nBashir: Why?\nSirah: Because you are not the one I have been waiting for.\nBashir: Chief? He wants to see you.\nSirah: Come. Closer. I knew. I knew the Prophets would not fail us. You may leave now. Both of you.\nBashir: See that he stays in bed.\nO'Brien: What was that all about?\nBashir: I haven't a clue.\nFaren: The Sirah, how is he?\nBashir: I wish I had better news. He's suffering from systemic organ failure brought on by an accelerated rate of cellular decay. His body's surrendering to old age.\nFaren: Is there anything you can do?\nBashir: I can keep him comfortable and relatively free of pain. Other than that, it's just a matter of time. I'm sorry.\nFaren: But we need him. The Dal'Rok will be here soon.\nO'Brien: What's the Dal'Rok?\nFaren: It's a terrible creature that lives in the woods just north of the village. Every year at the end of harvest it appears.\nBashir: And you say it's coming here tonight?\nFaren: Yes, it always comes for five nights. This will be the fourth. And only the Sirah is strong enough to defeat it.\nBashir: Right now, the Sirah isn't strong enough to get out of bed.\nFaren: If what you say is true, this village will be destroyed tonight.\nJake: You're sure this is the place?\nNog: You saw the readout. There's only one female her age visiting the station, and these are her quarters. Well, go ahead.\nJake: What?\nNog: Ring the bell.\nJake: Me? You're the one who wants to meet her.\nNog: Are you afraid?\nJake: Of a girl?\nNog: Then ring.\nJake: You ring.\nNog: You are afraid.\nJake: No I'm not, you are.\nVaris: What are you doing?\nNog: My name's Jog. I mean Jake.\nJake: He's Nog. I'm Jake Sisko.\nVaris: Sisko.\nJake: We're kind of the unofficial welcoming committee around here.\nNog: That's right. Welcome to DS Nine.\nVaris: Thank you. I'm Varis Sul.\nJake: Would you like a tour of the station? There's a Klingon freighter leaving for the Gamma Quadrant in a little while. We could watch it go through the wormhole.\nNog: Good idea.\nJake: Thanks. So, how about it? You want to go?\nVaris: I've never seen the wormhole.\nNog: Then you're in luck, 'cos we know the best spot on the station for wormhole watching.\nJake: Unless you're busy or something.\nVaris: Not at the moment.\nBashir: Listen to me, Sirah. You must return to bed. To be out here in your condition\nSirah: Your concern touches me, Doctor. But I am now in the hands of the Prophets.\nCrowd: We believe in you, Sirah. Help us, Sirah. Save us, Sirah.\nO'Brien: Strange. I'm not registering any atmospheric disturbance.\nSirah: The Dal'Rok wakes.\nCrowd: The Dal'Rok. The Dal'Rok.\nSirah: But we are ready. In the shadow of the night, he hungers. With a hatred of the ancients, he rages. From the twisted pit of chaos, he approaches.\nBashir: Is it alive?\nO'Brien: The tricorder's still not picking up anything.\nBashir: Could it be some kind of holographic image?\nO'Brien: No, I'm not picking up any power source.\nSirah: The Dal'Rok's anger is like a wave crashing down on the village. The weight of its fury threatens to crush us all. The Dal'Rok thinks the village is powerless to defend itself.\nSirah: But the Dal'Rok is mistaken. The village is strong, much stronger than the Dal'Rok can ever imagine.\nCrowd: We can do it. The village is strong. The village is strong.\nSirah: With our strength, our unity, we shall drive the Dal'Rok\nO'Brien: Bloody hell.\nBashir: Chief, help us get him down from here.\nSirah: Where is my successor?\nHovath: Sirah.\nSirah: No, the one whom the prophets sent. Yes, you.\nO'Brien: Wait a second. I think you've got the wrong guy.\nSirah: Say as I say. The village shall not be destroyed.\nO'Brien: What?\nSirah: Quickly.\nO'Brien: The village shall not be destroyed.\nSirah: Louder, so they can all hear.\nO'Brien: The village shall not be destroyed!\nSirah: Despite our fears, we shall stand our ground and face the Dal'Rok.\nO'Brien: Despite our fears, we stand our ground and face the Dal'Rok.\nO'Brien: The village is strong.\nCrowd: The village is strong.\nO'Brien: More powerful than the Dal'Rok.\nCrowd: More powerful than the Dal'Rok.\nO'Brien: Together, we use that power to drive it away.\nCrowd: Drive it away. Drive it away! Drive it away!\nO'Brien: The Dal'Rok is defeated. The village is safe.\nBashir: He's dead.\nFaren: The Sirah has left us, but the Prophets have sent us his successor. A new Sirah to tell the story. A new Sirah to protect the village.\nQuark: So I sold them a whole herd of Klingon targs.\nQuark: Major, what a pleasant surprise. I always look forward to one of your infrequent visits.\nKira: Spare me the small talk and get me a star drifter.\nQuark: So, how are the negotiations coming along?\nKira: Better make it a double.\nQuark: Ah.\nVaris: You asked to see me?\nSisko: Please, sit down.\nVaris: I just spent the last five hours sitting.\nSisko: Yes, five long, unproductive hours.\nVaris: Woban is an obstinate fool.\nSisko: Woban is here to talk. What are you here for?\nVaris: I would think that was obvious. To defend the interests of my people.\nSisko: How? By starting a war?\nVaris: I object to your tone, Commander.\nSisko: Because if that's what you're here for, if you'd rather fight than talk, then we're just wasting our time.\nVaris: That land belongs to the Paqu.\nSisko: The Navot don't agree.\nVaris: Then they'd better be ready to die for it. I am. Or don't you believe me?\nSisko: I believe in people working together to find reasonable solutions to their problems. I hope you do as well.\nVaris: What you hope is no concern of mine. Now, anything else you wish to say to me can be said tomorrow across a conference table.\nSisko: Varis, are you sure your people are as ready as you are to die for that land?\nNog: Where do you think she is?\nJake: I guess if she's not here, we'll try again at her quarters.\nNog: When we find her, let me do the talking.\nJake: She asks me questions, I answer them. What's wrong with that?\nNog: Just remember, I saw her first. She's mine.\nJake: Then, how come you can barely say two words to her without getting tongue tied?\nNog: That's a lie.\nJake: I've never seen you so nervous. You must really like her.\nNog: I never said that. All I said was\nNog: Oh, er, we were just\nJake: Looking for you.\nVaris: I've been busy.\nJake: Is something wrong? You seem a little depressed.\nVaris: It's nothing, really. It's just there are these people who want something I have and I refuse to give it to them.\nNog: How badly do they want it?\nVaris: Very badly.\nNog: Is there anything they have that you want?\nVaris: That I want?\nNog: Maybe this isn't a problem. Maybe it's an opportunity.\nVaris: Maybe.\nJake: When I have a problem I can't figure out, I ask my dad.\nNog: I ask my dad, too.\nVaris: It helps, doesn't it?\nJake: Yeah.\nNog: No.\nJake: My dad's a pretty smart guy.\nNog: Mine, too, in his own way.\nVaris: My parents are dead. They were killed by the Cardassians.\nJake: I'm sorry. My mom was killed during an attack by the Borg. Isn't there someone you can talk to? Someone you trust?\nVaris: I don't trust many people.\nJake: My dad says\nNog: Could we please talk about something besides your father?\nVaris: You admire him very much, don't you?\nJake: I trust him.\nOdo: Mister Sisko.\nNog: Odo.\nJake: We were just leaving.\nBashir: I wonder what was controlling those energy creatures.\nO'Brien: One thing's certain, it wasn't me.\nBashir: Try telling the villagers that. They saw the Sirah choose you as his successor.\nO'Brien: Well, he made a mistake.\nBashir: You saw how he greeted you when we arrived. It was as if he were expecting you. I'll tell you this, Chief. I'm glad you came along on this mission, because if it wasn't for you, I'd have done what I could for the Sirah and left. And look at what I would have missed.\nO'Brien: I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Julian.\nBashir: Don't worry, Chief, I have faith in you.\nO'Brien: Oh, do you?\nBashir: I mean, for all we know, you really were sent by the prophets.\nO'Brien: I was sent by Commander Sisko. This Dal'Rok or whatever will be returning tonight and everybody's counting on me to be able to stop it. The only trouble is, I don't have the slightest idea how I'm supposed to do that.\nFaren: These gifts are for you, Sirah.\nO'Brien: Well, tell them I don't want them.\nBashir: Oh, bring them right in. Put them wherever you like.\nO'Brien: Now look, Julian.\nBashir: We're visitors here, Chief. It would be impolite to refuse our hosts.\nO'Brien: How can I help you, ladies?\nBashir: I think they're the ones offering services, Chief.\nO'Brien: Now look, there's been a serious misunderstanding\nFaren: Is there a problem, Sirah?\nO'Brien: No! They're not. Well, yes, I mean, they're quite. Look, I have a wife and daughter back on DS Nine.\nFaren: Of course.\nFaren: You must send for them.\nO'Brien: Why?\nFaren: So they can live here with you.\nO'Brien: You're missing the point. I'm not staying.\nFaren: Then who will tell the story?\nO'Brien: You'll just have to find someone else.\nFaren: But there is no one else. The Sirah chose you.\nBashir: He made a mistake.\nFaren: But what about the Dal'Rok? Without your protection, he will kill us all.\nO'Brien: Faren, I would like to help, really I would, but I don't know how.\nFaren: You must tell the story.\nO'Brien: As simple as that, is it?\nFaren: May the Prophets grant you victory, Sirah.\nO'Brien: Let's hope so.\nBashir: Now what are we going to do?\nO'Brien: The way I see it, the only way out of this mess is to find out exactly what this Dal'Rok is, and destroy it before it destroys us.\nSisko: Captain's log supplemental. We have completed a second day of talks between the Paqu and the Navot. So far, we're no closer to finding a solution than we were when the negotiations began.\nVaris: Enter.\nJake: Hi, you want to do something?\nVaris: Sorry, not right now.\nJake: Okay, we'll stop by later.\nNog: Is there anything we can do to cheer you up?\nVaris: I don't think so.\nNog: You sure?\nJake: Let's go before you embarrass yourself.\nVaris: Wait.\nNog: Yes?\nVaris: Do you remember that opportunity we were discussing yesterday?\nNog: Yes.\nVaris: How can you be sure that an opportunity is worth the risk?\nNog: Instinct. The ninth Rule of Acquisition clearly states opportunity plus instinct equals profit.\nVaris: Instinct.\nJake: That's not going to help.\nVaris: I think it does. Thank you, Nog.\nNog: Good. Let's celebrate.\nVaris: Celebrate?\nNog: I took one of my uncle's security rods.\nJake: What are we going to do with that?\nNog: I don't know. We could swipe Odo's bucket.\nJake: Are you kidding?\nVaris: A bucket?\nNog: Yeah. We'll give it back.\nJake: Yeah, but\nNog: It'll be funny.\nJake: But we can't just walk into Security.\nNog: Watch me.\nNog: Wait over there.\nVaris: I still don't understand what's so funny about a bucket.\nJake: Odo lives in it. He's a shape shifter. Every sixteen hours he has to change back to his original form.\nVaris: Inside a bucket?\nJake: He turns into some kind of liquid.\nJake: Maybe this isn't such a good idea.\nNog: Watch the front door. I'll be right back.\nVaris: Jake, you're sure this is all right?\nJake: Well it's not like we're really stealing anything.\nNog: Found it.\nJake: Odo! Odo!\nNog: It's oatmeal. I filled it from the replicator.\nJake: Very funny.\nNog: You should have seen your face!\nOdo: I believe that belongs to me.\nSisko: What's the rush?\nO'Brien: There's some residual neutrino levels in the microstructure of these rocks.\nBashir: If the Dal'Rok has no physical substance, how can it leave a neutrino trace?\nO'Brien: I didn't say it made sense. But this rock face didn't just spontaneously blow itself to pieces.\nBashir: Lucky for us, you were able to stop it before it did anymore damage.\nO'Brien: All I did was repeat what the Sirah told me.\nBashir: In that case, how did the Sirah manage to stop it?\nO'Brien: Good question. Maybe there's some a control mechanism hidden somewhere.\nO'Brien: Excuse me, miss.\nWoman: Please, Sirah, for my daughter.\nO'Brien: What about her?\nBashir: I think actually she wants you to bless the child.\nO'Brien: Me?\nWoman: It would mean so much.\nO'Brien: I'm sure she'll make you very proud.\nWoman: Oh, thank you. Thank you.\nO'Brien: You're quite welcome.\nMan: There he is.\nBashir: Looks like more of your followers are requesting an audience.\nO'Brien: Oh, no. This won't do. You continue looking around here. I'll go to check the Sirah's room.\nBashir: Please, please. I'm afraid the Sirah is busy at the moment. Perhaps I can be of service.\nCrowd: Sirah, just a moment. Sirah, please come back.\nO'Brien: Look, I could use some privacy.\nHovath: There are more gifts outside for you.\nO'Brien: All right, bring them in. Hold on. Didn't you work for the Sirah?\nHovath: I was his apprentice.\nO'Brien: Did he ever reveal any of his secrets? How he controlled the Dal'Rok, and that sort of thing?\nHovath: Why ask me? Surely the Sirah must have taught you all you need to know.\nO'Brien: All right, have it your way. Don't blame me when that creature goes rampaging through your village.\nBashir: Chief!\nO'Brien: Careful, don't hurt him.\nBashir: I'll try not to.\nO'Brien: That's enough.\nBashir: Tell him that.\nO'Brien: I said that's enough!\nO'Brien: Now you mind explaining why you tried to kill me?\nHovath: You are not the true Sirah.\nO'Brien: You won't get any argument from me.\nBashir: If he isn't, who is?\nHovath: I am.\nHovath: For nine years, I studied with the Sirah, learning the secrets of the storyteller, only to have you come along and take my place.\nO'Brien: Look friend, as far as I'm concerned, the job's yours.\nBashir: But if you were supposed to take over, why come the Sirah chose him?\nHovath: It was his way of punishing me.\nBashir: Punishing you?\nHovath: Three nights ago, the Sirah allowed me to tell the story. But when the Dal'Rok appeared I was unable to control it. Several people were injured.\nO'Brien: Control it? How?\nHovath: With this. The stone is said to be a fragment of an orb from the Celestial Temple.\nBashir: We had one of these orbs aboard our station. We're aware of how powerful they are.\nHovath: Many years ago, this village was deeply divided by hate and mistrust. The first Sirah knew that unless he could find a way to unite the people, the village would destroy itself. So he used the Orb fragment as a catalyst to give their fears a physical form.\nO'Brien: So the villagers' thoughts create the Dal'Rok.\nHovath: Yes, but they don't know that. It's a secret which has passed from Sirah to Sirah.\nO'Brien: Why do they need a storyteller?\nHovath: The story helps focus the villagers' thoughts.\nBashir: And that enables them to defeat the Dal'Rok by creating the shimmering lights.\nHovath: I know if I had another chance, I could control the Dal'Rok.\nO'Brien: Well, son, it looks like tonight you are going to get that chance.\nFaren: What is this? You have no right to wear those clothes.\nHovath: I have every right.\nFaren: You had your chance to prove yourself. You failed.\nHovath: It won't happen again.\nFaren: That's right, because you won't be allowed to endanger the village a second time. Now take off those robes.\nO'Brien: Hold on.\nFaren: Sirah, it's time you were getting ready. The people will be assembling soon to hear the story.\nVaris: I want you to know, Commander, that I take complete responsibility for what happened in the Security office.\nSisko: I think that there's more than enough blame to spread around. Jake should have known better.\nVaris: I'm afraid he and Nog were just trying to impress me.\nSisko: That's not much of an excuse.\nVaris: Didn't you ever do anything foolish to impress a girl?\nSisko: I may have.\nVaris: Jake's a nice boy. So's Nog, in his own way. I enjoy their company.\nSisko: I suppose you don't get much of a chance to be with people your age.\nVaris: True, but that's not why I wanted to be with them. I wanted to learn about you.\nSisko: And?\nVaris: Jake speaks very highly of you. He trusts you.\nSisko: That's always nice to hear.\nVaris: Hearing Jake speak of you reminded me of how much I miss my own parents. My father was a great man. A great leader.\nSisko: I'm sure he'd be very proud of you.\nVaris: I try to be strong, the way he was strong but. It's difficult.\nSisko: From what I've learned about your father, he wasn't afraid to compromise.\nVaris: That's because he knew the Navot feared him. If I were to make concessions, Woban would think I was weak.\nSisko: I doubt he would be that foolish, but he is determined to get that land back.\nVaris: I'm not afraid of Woban or the Navot.\nSisko: I never said you were. So your answer is still no.\nVaris: You don't lose by saying no.\nSisko: Maybe. But a great leader like your father is one who's willing to risk saying yes.\nVaris: Commander, I believe I know of an opportunity that could allow both sides to say yes.\nCrowd: There he is. Sirah, you'll save us.\nO'Brien: I thought you wanted this job.\nHovath: I do.\nO'Brien: Then why don't you fight for it.\nHovath: No, Faren is right. These people will never accept me as Sirah. Without their support I could never control the Dal'Rok.\nO'Brien: You think I can?\nHovath: You have to.\nBashir: Oh, Chief? Good luck.\nCrowd: Tell the story.\nO'Brien: Once upon a time, there was a Dal'Rok. And it lives there, in the woods, and he hated the village and all of the villagers and he wanted to see them destroyed.\nO'Brien: Yes, the Dal'Rok is here, and it's hungry. But the village is prepared to fight, like it has always fought, with the lights, the shimmering lights.\nHovath: Something's wrong.\nBashir: What's wrong is O'Brien's not the Sirah. You are.\nO'Brien: You know what I'm talking about. Come on, you can do it. The village is strong and unafraid and powerful, and ready to face the Dal'Rok.\nBashir: Do you think that maybe the Sirah planned all this? He knew the villagers had lost confidence in you, so he chose O'Brien as his successor, knowing that you would have to rescue him. Don't you see? This is your chance to prove once and for all that you are the true Sirah.\nO'Brien: All right now, let's really focus and send this one out, okay? Let's really the Dal'Rok a message. Where the hell are those lights?\nHovath: Wait, there is no need to run. A new voice appears to challenge the Dal'Rok.\nO'Brien: It's about time.\nHovath: The Dal'Rok is a fearsome enemy. The mountains tremble with its fury. But our prosperity is its misery. Our unity is its vulnerability. And our strength is its doom.\nHovath: Look, the Dal'Rok trembles. It fears our strength. It fears our determination. It knows it cannot stand against us because the village is united. We are as one.\nHovath: You see for yourselves the Dal'Rok is defeated. This village is safe for another year.\nFaren: The Sirah! The Sirah!\nO'Brien: Let's get out of here before they change their minds.\nSisko: Nervous?\nVaris: Not at all. Maybe a little. Do you think Woban will accept my proposal?\nSisko: It's very possible. It would give the Navot back their land.\nVaris: And free trade access to both sides of the river would mean a lot to my people.\nSisko: It's a reasonable compromise.\nJake: We thought we'd wish you luck with your meeting.\nVaris: Thank you.\nVaris: For all your help.\nOdo: All right, let's go. You two are going to clean the Security office until it shines.\nBashir: You know, Chief, this is going to make a fantastic story to tell around the station.\nO'Brien: Not for me. I've had my fill of storytelling for the time being.\nBashir: Well, I hope you won't mind if I mention it.\nO'Brien: Suit yourself, Julian.\nBashir: Oh, and Chief, on second thoughts, you don't really have to call me Julian.\nO'Brien: Right you are, sir."}
{"text": "Quark: I thought I told you to cancel that order. Now what am I supposed to do with five thousand wrappages of Cardassian yamok sauce. They're the only ones who could stomach that swill.\nJake: Hey, Nog, are you going to play, or what?\nQuark: You ordered it, you're going to pay for it. I'm going to take half of your paycheck every week for the next six years. From now on, no more Cardassian food in here ever.\nJake: Come on, Nog, it's your turn.\nNog: Five thousand wrappages. That's a lot of yamok sauce.\nJake: Look, either take your turn, or I win.\nNog: It'd be a shame to let it to go to waste.\nJake: That's it. Game over.\nNog: Jake, I'm getting that tingle in the lobes. And when a lobe tingles, it means only one thing. Opportunity.\nJake: What are you talking about?\nNog: I'm talking about gold-pressed latinum. Maybe four or five bars.\nJake: I thought you were talking about yamok sauce.\nNog: You've got a lot to learn about opportunity. Come on.\nJake: Where?\nSisko: Captain's log. Stardate 46844.3. With the help of the Federation, Bajor is about to commence its first large-scale energy transfer, the tapping of the molten core of its fifth moon, Jeraddo.\nDax: Magma pressures remain constant.\nO'Brien: Differential subsurface movement is at zero point three percent.\nToran: Is that good?\nKira: They'd tell you if it weren't.\nToran: Why is that red light blinking?\nO'Brien: We're in normal standby mode.\nToran: I take it, then, that we're not expecting any surprises.\nSisko: We don't like surprises any more than you do.\nKira: Minister Toran, these people are professionals.\nToran: Forgive my bureaucratic nitpicking, Major, but we're counting on Jeraddo's energy to heat a few hundred thousand Bajoran homes this winter.\nKira: And with that in mind, we're due to make our next inspection.\nDax: Anyway, so there I was, sitting in Quark's, when Morn just comes over and invites me for dinner. Grid square twelve-delta reads clear of life forms.\nKira: Morn? Are you serious?\nDax: Beginning scan of grid square fifteen delta.\nKira: So what'd you say?\nDax: I told him I was busy.\nKira: Good.\nDax: But you know those seven or eight little wiry hairs that come out of his forehead?\nKira: What?\nDax: They make him look kind of cute. That's odd. Sensors read a humanoid presence in fifteen delta. Could be one of the project thermologists.\nKira: Not in fifteen delta.\nDax: Look for yourself.\nKira: All the inhabitants were supposed to have been evacuated by now. Well, I'd better beam down there, take a look around.\nDax: Ready to transport.\nKira: I won't be long.\nMullibok: The problem is, they don't like uniforms.\nKira: Neither do I, but it comes with the job.\nMullibok: Which is?\nKira: Do we talk, or do they attack?\nMullibok: You're halfway pretty.\nKira: Does that mean I can come in?\nMullibok: No. No, I don't like uniforms either. I'm scared of them. We had our fill of uniformed bullies.\nKira: I'm no Cardassian. You know you were supposed to be out of here by now.\nMullibok: All I know is this farm, girl. Now you want proof, just look at my crop.\nKira: I'd rather you didn't call me girl.\nMullibok: It's mostly katterpod beans, but you won't find better katterpods.\nKira: My father always said you get bigger katterpods when you spray in some chlorobicrobes.\nMullibok: Is that right? That could be. Your family's farmers, then.\nKira: No but if I don't get on your good side soon, my arm's going to fall off.\nMullibok: Pretty eyes like yours deserve a meal. You come on in.\nKira: I'm afraid we don't have the time. Obviously, you were overlooked in the general evacuation. I've got to get you out of here.\nMullibok: We'll talk about that over supper. Come on.\nJake: There he is.\nCaptain: Two twenty, bottom price two twenty.\nNog: Excuse me, sir. Are you the captain of the Lissepian cargo ship?\nCaptain: That's right.\nNog: And you do a lot of trading with the Cardassians?\nCaptain: Why not? One thing about Cardassians, they pay their bills.\nNog: Yes, I've heard that. I've also heard they love their yamok sauce.\nCaptain: Look, if you're trying to buy some yamok sauce from me, boy, you're wasting your time. I'm not carrying any.\nNog: We're not buying. We're selling.\nJake: Five thousand wrappages of it.\nNog: Original, not replicated.\nCaptain: Where would you two boys get all that yamok sauce?\nNog: We have connections.\nCaptain: Five thousand, you say.\nNog: And they can be yours for say, five bars of gold-pressed latinum.\nCaptain: That's a lot of latinum.\nNog: That's a lot of yamok sauce.\nCaptain: Look, I'm not carrying any latinum. But I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll trade you something for it.\nNog: We were counting on latinum.\nJake: Hold on. What would you trade? )\nCaptain: I'll give you a hundred gross of self-sealing stem bolts. Some Bajoran ordered them from me, and now he can't pay.\nJake: Self-sealing stem bolts?\nCaptain: Top grade merchandise. You won't find a better stem bolt in this sector.\nNog: I don't think so. We deal strictly in latinum.\nJake: Nog, are you sure?\nNog: What are we going to do with stem bolts?\nJake: What are we going to do with yamok sauce?\nNog: Sir, I've discussed it with my partner, and you have a deal.\nCaptain: Good. I'll meet you at cargo bay nine at twenty one hundred hours. We'll make the trade then.\nNog: Now the question is, what do we do with a hundred gross of self-sealing stem bolts.\nJake: I have a better question. How do we get your uncle's yamok sauce?\nMullibok: At least you're not the type that'd dispossess a man on an empty stomach.\nKira: Wouldn't think of it.\nMullibok: That's good, because these roots are going to take three hours to soften.\nKira: What?\nMullibok: You wouldn't want to eat your roots hard, now would you?\nKira: I'm in no hurry. Kira to Ganges.\nDax: This is Dax. Are you all right?\nKira: A man with a talent for delay has just invited me to a farewell supper here. You go on. I'll have one of the thermologists bring me back.\nDax: Enjoy supper. Dax out.\nMullibok: Here. Wash it off first, and then you scrape the skin off.\nKira: You don't talk much.\nMullibok: No, they don't talk at all. The Cardassians took care of that. They escaped up to this moon eighteen years ago. I've been here forty. We did real well together. Oh, get out the plates and utensils, like a good girl. That cupboard right over there. You know, you look real good even from this angle. But you know something? You walk like a carnivorous rastipod.\nKira: Now look! You're trying to make me mad.\nMullibok: How'm I doing?\nKira: Not well enough to get rid of me.\nMullibok: Damn. So what do they call you, dear?\nKira: I'm Major Kira. I'm in charge of evacuating all the\nMullibok: Your given name.\nKira: Nerys.\nMullibok: Nerys. Well, Nerys, I'm Mullibok, and these roots are really going to take three hours to cook, so you might as well just sit down and relax yourself, child. It's going to be tasty.\nKira: Mullibok, they begin tapping the core of this moon in seven days.\nMullibok: I know.\nKira: You are only three people. This project is going to benefit thousands, hundreds of thousands.\nMullibok: I made myself unconcerned with that forty years ago when I ran away from a Cardassian labor camp on your precious Bajor.\nKira: What we're trying to create now is what you weren't allowed to have then. It can be your Bajor, too.\nMullibok: This is where I live. This is my home.\nKira: You can have a home on Bajor with people to welcome you and your friends. Life'll be different, yes, but it'll be fine. Really.\nMullibok: No. I told you, my life's here. If I leave, I'll die. So I'd rather die here.\nGirl: Dabo!\nNog: Uncle Quark.\nQuark: You. Last night, that dabo player who dropped his drink? I saw you run and get him another one without charging him. I warned you about picking up your father's habits.\nNog: It'll never happen again, Uncle. You know, I was trying to find some storage space for the shipment of lokar beans that are due in tomorrow. Is it okay if I stack them on top of the yamok sauce? If I can reach that high.\nQuark: Please don't talk to me about yamok sauce.\nNog: Do you want me to get rid of it? I can take it to the matter reclamation unit.\nQuark: Anything. Just get it out of my sight. Nog, you're a good boy.\nMullibok: I stowed away on a Cardassian survey vessel which was making stops all through the Bajoran system. They were looking for possible mining sites. Anyway, when we got here to Jeraddo, I overpowered the crew and I stole whatever I'd need to start building my life here.\nKira: You overpowered the crew yourself?\nMullibok: There were only six of them. That was fortunate for me, because I was somewhat weakened a bit by the captivity and starvation. Anyway, here I was, the first person ever to settle on this moon, and the only trouble was that I didn't have any kind of farm implements. So once again starvation and I were staring each other in the face. I'm not boring you?\nKira: No, no. I want to hear who won.\nMullibok: Well, it was mind over matter. Every twenty-six hours I'd just tightened up my waist-belt another notch, and that way my belly didn't know that it was shrinking.\nKira: Excuse me?\nMullibok: You asked me to tell you how I got started here, which I'm trying very politely to do. Now will you kindly let me finish.\nKira: I assume you found some food before you ran out of belt notches.\nMullibok: Are you telling the story or am I?\nKira: By all means. I can't wait to hear how it ends.\nMullibok: Obviously I was going to have to plant and harvest a crop. So I did what any person would do who had to build an entire world for himself. First I rolled back and forth on the ground til it surrendered. Then I went down on my hands and knees and I started to plow using nothing but my fingernails, mind you. I plowed every last furrow in that field straight as a plumb line.\nKira: Now that is inventive.\nMullibok: If I came across a deposit of mineralised clay, what I'd do is just grind it up in my teeth. That way it enriched the soil. Baltrim, how about some of that wonderful wine here? What I'm telling you, Major. I tamed this place. Me.\nKira: I believe you.\nMullibok: You look like a bit of a fighter yourself.\nKira: Well, on Bajor, we had to be.\nMullibok: To get rid of the Cardassians. Mindless butchers.\nKira: We paid them back.\nMullibok: I bet you did. They probably never knew what hit them. I'm sorry I missed the fun.\nKira: Fun?\nMullibok: Must have been like spearing kandippers in a bottle.\nKira: Wait a minute, are you serious? You know what the Cardassians were like, what weapons they had. We didn't stand a chance against them.\nMullibok: How'd you beat them, then?\nKira: We beat them because, because we hung on like fanatics.\nMullibok: Hung on like fanatics. I got to remember that.\nKira: Mullibok, listen to me.\nMullibok: One of these days I'm going to have to finish up that kiln. Then I can temper my baking pots, put some colorful lids on them. That'd be nice, wouldn't it.\nKira: I appreciate that you're trying to hang on here. I sympathize, but you can't stay. The minute they start tapping the crust, it'll release carbon and sulfur compounds that'll make the air unbreathable.\nMullibok: The Cardassians probably told you you didn't stand a chance, either. Did you surrender?\nKira: No.\nMullibok: Why would you expect me to act any different than you? You tell them they can start cracking this moon apart whenever they're ready. I'll be here.\nKira: I'll tell them.\nJake: So that's a stem bolt.\nNog: A self-sealing stem bolt. There's a difference.\nJake: You're sure about that?\nNog: What's important is that it's top grade merchandise. You can't get a better stem bolt in this sector.\nJake: And we have a hundred gross of them.\nNog: That's a lot of stem bolts.\nO'Brien: Excuse me, gentlemen. Anyone know what this cargo's doing here?\nNog: It belongs to my Uncle Quark. They're stem bolts.\nO'Brien: Will you do me a favor and tell your uncle we're getting a bit weary of him bypassing import procedures.\nNog: I'll certainly do that, sir. It's just that my Uncle Quark really needed some stem bolts.\nO'Brien: You mean self-sealing stem bolts.\nNog: That's right. That's it. Self-sealing stem bolts.\nO'Brien: He sure needs a lot of them.\nJake: It's top grade merchandise. You can't find a better stem bolt in this sector.\nO'Brien: Oh, I don't doubt it. What does he need them for?\nNog: The usual.\nO'Brien: The usual?\nNog: Well, you know. Why does anybody use self-sealing stem bolts?\nO'Brien: I wouldn't know. I've never used them.\nJake: Never?\nO'Brien: I've never even seen one.\nNog: Then how did you know they're self-sealing?\nO'Brien: I read it here on the manifest PADD.\nNog: I would've bet anything that he would have known what they were.\nJake: I told you. We should've asked that freighter captain.\nNog: Wait. I know who can tell us what self-sealing stem bolts are. The Bajoran who ordered them in the first place. His name's got to be on the shipping codes.\nJake: Sirco Ch'Ano. It has his address and everything. You think he'll be mad that we have his stem bolts?\nNog: He couldn't afford them, remember? But we'll offer to sell them to him at a diskount.\nDax: I'm glad you finally made it back. I was getting worried about you.\nKira: Is he alone?\nDax: I think Minister Toran is in there with him.\nKira: Even better.\nToran: I don't understand. There were forty-seven other people living on that moon. They all left willingly.\nKira: How do we know? All we know is that they obeyed the order to leave.\nToran: And so will these people.\nKira: You haven't met Mullibok.\nSisko: Is there anything you can offer that might make him more willing to leave?\nKira: Not a thing, believe me.\nSisko: Would a postponement help?\nKira: Give us time to work something out with him.\nToran: We can't postpone. And if he stays, he'll be committing suicide. We'll have to beam him off the surface.\nKira: If we take him like that, we'll be killing him.\nToran: I refuse to allow three stubborn holdouts to jeopardize a project that will benefit so many of our people. I'm sorry, Major. If there was anything else that we could do, we'd have done it.\nKira: But there is another way. We can tap the core using phased energy retrieval.\nToran: I thought we'd agreed phased energy retrieval would take too long. It would mean waiting a full year before we can extract any meaningful amount of energy. I wish we had the time to be more delicate, but we don't.\nKira: So instead we'll act like Cardassians.\nSisko: Easy, Major.\nToran: I resent that. It's obvious to me that you've developed a feeling for this man. Fine. I can accept that. But if you're not comfortable with completing this assignment, I'll find someone else who is.\nKira: That won't be necessary.\nKira: Mullibok? Mullibok!\nSecurity: What about the other two?\nKira: They have a cottage thirty five, forty meters through there. Now remember, these people were victims of the Cardassians. They don't speak. They're very frightened of uniforms. Understood?\nSecurity: Understood, Major.\nKira: If you find them working in the fields, just gather up their clothes and supplies, I guess.\nSecurity: Without permission?\nKira: We're not going to get their permission. Just be very careful with everything.\nMullibok: You plan to use that?\nKira: Protocol. If you like, I'll help you pack your things.\nMullibok: You sent those two uniforms after Baltrim and Keena.\nKira: That's right. I'm doing what has to be done.\nMullibok: Me, too.\nKira: Don't make us take you by force. Please!\nKira: I promise you. It won't be so bad. You can plant whatever you want to on Bajor. Stay by yourself if you want to. That's fine. Take some seeds with you for those terrible roots of yours I had to eat. Just listen to reason.\nMullibok: Just listen to yourself, Major. Tell me what you hear.\nKira: What do you mean?\nMullibok: Well, I mean you sound like a two-headed Malgorian I knew when I was a boy. You ever try talk to a two-headed Malgorian?\nKira: This is no time for one of your stories.\nMullibok: You see, the thing about two-headed Malgorians is, it can never figure out what it really wants to do, and that can be very confusing, believe me.\nKira: You know, eventually you're going to have to stop talking, and deal with this.\nMullibok: And the trouble with my Malgorian friend was, he had all kind of problems and he couldn't decide how to solve them. So he'd always come running for me so I could solve them for him.\nKira: Mullibok.\nMullibok: You know what I finally said to that Malgorian? I said fellows, deal with it yourselves.\nKira: Fine. I'll pack your things myself.\nSecurity: Major! They're crazy! The man just stuck me with a farm tool, and she attacked me from behind!\nMullibok: Let her go!\nSecurity: Stop!\nMullibok: Let her go!\nKira: No!\nKira: You! Beam up to the runabout and call the station. Get Doctor Bashir. Move!\nCh'Ano: I'm sorry, I still can't see you. What'd you say your name was? I'm getting some kind of subspace interference.\nJake: My name's\nNog: We're, the Nog and, er the Noh-Jay Consortium, and we have a hundred gross of self-sealing stem bolts. And we were wondering\nCh'Ano: You have my stem bolts? What would you want for them?\nNog: We'll let you have them for five bars of gold-pressed latinum.\nCh'Ano: Five bars!\nNog: Four bars.\nCh'Ano: I don't think I\nNog: Three bars.\nCh'Ano: If I had any latinum, I'd already have the bolts. Would you consider an exchange?\nNog: I would consider one bar of latinum.\nJake: He doesn't have any latinum. Let's exchange for something.\nNog: I don't want something. I want latinum.\nCh'Ano: I can't hear you. Can I interest you in a piece of land?\nJake: Land is good.\nNog: For what? It's nothing but dirt.\nJake: How much land?\nCh'Ano: I can let you have seven tessipates.\nJake: Seven sounds good.\nNog: First yamok sauce, then stem bolts, now tessipates, and still no profit.\nJake: We're getting closer. I can feel it.\nNog: You can?\nJake: I think so.\nCh'Ano: Do we have a deal?\nJake: We'd have to see proof that you own the land.\nCh'Ano: Naturally. You'll get a transmission on that by twelve hundred hours.\nJake: You just bought yourself some stem bolts.\nJake: Land!\nNog: Dirt.\nBashir: Just rest easy. You took a phaser blast which punctured your peritoneum. It's serious, and if you try to move around, you'll make it worse.\nMullibok: Another uniform.\nBashir: Doctor Julian Bashir, Starfleet. Major Kira sent for me.\nMullibok: She did, huh? You're backwards, Nerys, I told you.\nMullibok: With me unconscious, she could have swept us all off of here with no trouble at all. My friends Baltrim and Keena?\nBashir: They've been evacuated to Bajor. I'll be taking you back to our station, so I can\nMullibok: No. I stay here.\nBashir: He refuses to leave.\nKira: Really?\nBashir: He's got to be cared for. I'm going to take him without his permission.\nKira: No, you're not.\nBashir: He needs close attention.\nKira: I'll be here.\nBashir: There's no medical facility here.\nKira: Leave the instructions and whatever medication you think he'll need.\nBashir: She didn't offer a word of explanation, sir. She simply removed her uniform tunic and started building.\nSisko: Well Doctor, right now she stands a pretty good chance of being out of uniform permanently. I'm going to tell Minister Toran that she's remained temporarily on Jeraddo at your request.\nBashir: But sir, that isn't true.\nSisko: Make it true, Doctor. Now, please.\nBashir: Commander, I'd advise that Major Kira remain on Jeraddo for humanitarian reasons. How long?\nSisko: The next day or two.\nBashir: For the next day or two, sir.\nSisko: Thank you, Doctor. I'll consider that request. Dismissed.\nMullibok: What's that?\nKira: It's for deep bruises. Don't ask my why it works. I'm not the doctor.\nMullibok: What're they going to do to you for staying here?\nKira: Probably the same thing they're going to do to you. I don't really know.\nMullibok: What are you so angry about?\nKira: I don't really know. When I was very small, I remember there was this tree right outside my window. It was the ugliest, most gnarled and battered old tree I've ever seen. Even the birds stayed away from it.\nMullibok: But you loved it.\nKira: I hated it. Because it'd grown so huge that its branches blotted out the sun for kellipates. And its roots buried themselves so deep in the soil nothing else could grow there. It was a big, selfish, annoying\nMullibok: Nasty\nKira: Nasty, nasty old tree.\nMullibok: Sounds to me like it had a lot of character.\nKira: A lot.\nMullibok: So what happened? Did you cut it down?\nKira: I don't know yet.\nSisko: Sisko to Kira.\nKira: Commander.\nSisko: I'm preparing to beam down.\nKira: I don't think that's a good idea.\nSisko: Major, either I'm coming down or you're coming up.\nMullibok: He doesn't have much faith in you, does he?\nMullibok: Nerys. This is still my home.\nMullibok: What do you want?\nSisko: I'm here to see Major Kira.\nMullibok: Well she doesn't want to see you. Neither do I.\nKira: Wait a minute. Don't speak for me.\nSisko: You know, you're causing a lot of trouble.\nMullibok: I can't tell you how delighted I am to hear it. How many of your Federation uniforms are you planning to send after me? Forty? Fifty?\nSisko: I don't think it'll come to that.\nMullibok: That depends on how bad you want to get rid of me.\nSisko: Mister Mullibok, I'm here because I'm concerned about my first officer.\nMullibok: What about her?\nSisko: By staying here, she's jeopardizing her career.\nKira: Would you go back to bed.\nMullibok: You quit telling me what to do!\nSisko: Major, can I see you outside for a minute?\nMullibok: Talk to him as long as you want. Why don't you tell him the story about your tree.\nKira: Be quiet.\nMullibok: There was this big, ugly tree.\nSisko: Go on.\nMullibok: Never mind.\nSisko: I can see why you like him.\nKira: What can I do for you, Commander?\nSisko: You and I have a material subsistence report to finish by the end of the week.\nKira: I don't think I'm going to be able to help you with that.\nSisko: It's part of the liaison officer's job.\nKira: I know.\nSisko: I don't like the prospect of having to break in a new one.\nSisko: You have a job to do here, Major, and you're not doing it.\nKira: It's not as simple as that.\nSisko: I'm not saying it's simple, I'm saying it can't wait. Look, I understand you're used to sympathizing with the underdog. You've spent your life fighting to overcome impossible odds just like he's doing. But you have to realize something, Major. You're on the other side now. Pretty uncomfortable, isn't it?\nKira: It's awful.\nSisko: When I first met you, Major, I thought you were hostile and arrogant. But I was wrong. Bajor needs you, and I need you. I like you and I don't want you to be hurt. So, as a friend, I'm here to remind you that his fate is already decided. Yours isn't.\nKira: Thank you.\nSisko: There'll be a runabout standing by. One to beam up.\nKira: Mullibok. Mullibok.\nMullibok: No! You're hurting her. Let go.\nKira: Easy.\nMullibok: Lussilla.\nKira: Easy.\nMullibok: I told you take your hands off me.\nKira: That's right. It's okay. Everything's going to be fine.\nMullibok: Oh. it's you.\nKira: You were having a bad dream.\nMullibok: Not just a bad dream, bad memories. I didn't say anything, did I?\nKira: No. Are you thirsty?\nMullibok: No.\nKira: Hungry?\nMullibok: No. Leave me alone.\nKira: Go back to sleep.\nMullibok: Where are you going?\nKira: I'd like to get some sleep, too.\nMullibok: Fine. Bring the chair over here. Well, are you my nurse, or not?\nKira: Is this better?\nMullibok: Are you going to talk all night, or let me sleep?\nJake: Nog, I'm waiting.\nNog: I'm thinking.\nJake: About what?\nNog: Latinum. And how we don't have any. All we have is dirt.\nJake: How many times do I have to tell you. It's not dirt, it's land.\nNog: What are we supposed to do with this land?\nJake: Sell it, I guess.\nNog: To who?\nJake: Why do I have to think of everything.\nNog: We should've kept the stem bolts.\nJake: Land is better than bolts.\nNog: How do you know?\nJake: You can build things on land.\nNog: You can't build anything without bolts.\nJake: Just throw down a card.\nQuark: And you say they're based here on the station?\nOdo: That's correct.\nQuark: The Noh-Jay Consortium. No, never heard of it. Why do you ask?\nOdo: I was contacted by a government official this morning. They want to build a reclamation facility on a strip of land owned by four different people. Three of them have agreed to sell, but the government doesn't know how to reach the fourth, this Noh-Jay Consortium.\nQuark: You mean the government can't build without that one piece of land?\nOdo: Apparently not.\nQuark: What a wonderful opportunity for profit.\nJake: I told you that land was better than bolts.\nQuark: And you think that I'm part of this consortium?\nOdo: I think very little goes on here without your knowledge.\nQuark: True. This time, however, someone has failed to include me.\nOdo: Are you telling me you're not involved?\nQuark: Not yet, but that will be remedied. You can tell the Bajorans I'll be opening negotiations with them shortly.\nQuark: Let's see. Who on this station is clever enough\nNog: Uncle Quark?\nQuark: Not now.\nNog: But Uncle Quark.\nQuark: Go sweep the floor.\nNog: It's important.\nQuark: All right, make it fast.\nNog: I have a business opportunity that might interest you. It'll only cost you five bars of gold-pressed latinum.\nQuark: Nog.\nKira: Any pain?\nMullibok: Just a little sore. I was starting to think you'd sleep all day.\nKira: That's because I was taking care of you all night.\nMullibok: I don't recall asking you to that. I can handle this. Go get something to eat.\nKira: There isn't time.\nMullibok: You're finally leaving?\nKira: Last one.\nMullibok: I didn't think I'd ever finish it.\nKira: It's finished.\nMullibok: Nothing to do but fire it up.\nMullibok: What's all this?\nKira: You've finished your work, now I have to finish mine.\nMullibok: But you don't want to.\nKira: I could use a friend on Bajor. I'd like it to be you.\nMullibok: As long as that cottage is standing, I stay here.\nMullibok: What the hell are you doing!\nKira: Saving your life.\nMullibok: So you chose your uniform over me after all.\nKira: That's not true. The time I've spent with you here has meant so much to me, but it's over. It's time we went on with our lives. Mine and yours.\nMullibok: You say you're my friend. Prove it. Use that weapon on me.\nKira: I can't.\nMullibok: If I leave here I'll die.\nKira: No, you won't. I won't let you. Two to beam up."}
{"text": "Quark: Can't you ever just let go?\nOdo: Let go?\nQuark: The place is almost deserted. There hasn't been a ship in for three days and yet you just sit here like a Baneriam Hawk looking for prey. This is your chance to relax. I could set you up with a terrific holosuite program.\nOdo: Thank you, but I don't accept gifts from the likes of you.\nQuark: Who said anything about gifts? You pay like everyone else. I'm just trying to get you into the tent.\nOdo: I have no time for fantasies.\nQuark: Ah. No imagination, huh?\nOdo: Waste of time. Too many people dream of places they'll never go, wish for things they'll never have, instead of paying adequate attention to their real lives.\nQuark: I could create a shape-shifter playmate for you. The two of you could intermingle.\nOdo: You're disgusting.\nQuark: It's a living.\nOdo: You're not allowing young Mister Sisko in your holosuites, I hope.\nQuark: It's not what you think.\nOdo: It better not be.\nQuark: You see that thing on his hand? It's a baseball mitten. Every afternoon, the boy goes up to play. His father brought a program with famous players. You ever hear of Tris Speaker or Ted Williams or Buck Bokai?\nOdo: Afraid not.\nQuark: Neither had I until I made it my business to find out. With all these humans coming now, the true entrepreneur knows how to sniff the wind. Try it. Go ahead.\nOdo: I have no sense of smell.\nQuark: You don't need one to detect the scent of opportunity.\nOdo: Opportunity.\nQuark: Family entertainment. That's the future, Odo. There's a fortune to be made. Little holo-creatures running around, rides and games for the kiddies, Ferengis in every doorway selling useless souvenirs.\nOdo: You're going to replace all your sexual holo-programs with family entertainment?\nQuark: No, no, no, I'm expanding. I'm negotiating to lease the space next door so I can use the same holo-generators.\nOdo: You're still disgusting.\nQuark: Till the day I die.\nDax: I'm sure you're exaggerating.\nBashir: You are constantly in my thoughts. I can't even\nWaiter: That was two raktajinos, extra strong.\nBashir: I can't even concentrate.\nDax: You seemed to be concentrating just fine on the junior Lieutenant at the reception for Captain Stadius.\nBashir: She was a poor substitute for you.\nDax: And the Betazoid envoy who was here last week.\nBashir: A barely adequate substitute for you.\nDax: Julian, you are a wonderful friend. I enjoy the time we spend together.\nBashir: Stop. You're driving a stake through my heart.\nDax: Try a high-pitched sonic shower. It'll make you feel better.\nBashir: No it won't.\nBashir: I've already tried it.\nDax: Sorry I'm late. I was having dinner with Julian.\nSisko: How is our young doctor?\nDax: Young. Anything going on?\nKira: We were just looking at an unusual energy reading.\nDax: Elevated thoron emissions in the plasma field.\nSisko: We thought it might be an environmental byproduct created by the increased traffic to this area.\nDax: It could be. Ships have always avoided the Denorios Belt. We have no idea how the presence of so many warp and impulse engines might affect it. The question is, is this going to cause us any problems?\nKira: We were hoping you could tell us.\nO'Brien: And the messenger from the Queen watched the little man as he danced and sang and laughed. How he would soon have the daughter he always wanted because they would never guess that his name was\nMolly: Rumpelstiltskin.\nO'Brien: Rumpelstiltskin, right. And the next day, when the little man came and asked, 'Now, Mrs Queen, what is my name?' She said at first, 'Are you called Jack?' 'No,' he answered. 'Are you called Harry?' 'No,' he answered. And then she said, 'Then perhaps your name is'\nMolly: Rumpelstiltskin.\nO'Brien: Rumpelstiltskin. And at the sound of his own name, the old man was so furious that he stamped his foot, shaking the entire kingdom, and he broke in two and disappeared. And the King and Queen and their daughter lived happily ever after. Good night, little one. Sweet dreams.\nMolly: I'm not tired!\nKeiko: Ah, ah, ah, none of that. Goodnight, sweetheart.\nO'Brien: Now then, shall I tuck you in with a bedtime story too?\nKeiko: Only if you're tucked in with me.\nO'Brien: Naturally.\nMolly: Mommy?\nKeiko: What is it, honey?\nMolly: He's in my room.\nKeiko: Who?\nMolly: Rumpelstiltskin.\nO'Brien: Sweetheart, that was just make-believe. Rumpelstiltskin isn't real, okay? All right, I'll come in and check, but then it's bedtime. Why we tell her stories about evil dwarfs that want to steal children?\nRumpelstiltskin: Don't look so distraught. I'm only here to offer you my services if you should need them.\nO'Brien: Take her out of here.\nKeiko: What's wrong?\nKeiko: Miles, what?\nO'Brien: Please, just go.\nRumpelstiltskin: A pity you're sending the ladies away. It's as if all the life just went out of the room.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Security.\nSecurity: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: Intruder alert. Send a team to my quarters immediately.\nSecurity: On our way, Chief.\nRumpelstiltskin: So where's the straw? I assume you want gold spun from straw?\nO'Brien: What are you?\nRumpelstiltskin: Surely you must know. You were just telling the little one all about me.\nO'Brien: I know what you look like. but you're not\nRumpelstiltskin: Ah, don't say it. I don't like the sound of it, you know.\nO'Brien: Rumpelstiltskin.\nRumpelstiltskin: You didn't think that would make me break in two and disappear, did you? Not this time. I learned my lesson back in the kingdom. I don't make deals like that any more.\nRumpelstiltskin: Ah, the local constabularies. Gents, give me a small bit of courtesy and I'll be very pleasant, but try and lay a hand on me, and you'll soon regret it. Besides, I'm much too fast for you.\nRumpelstiltskin: And now, my good host, if gold is not your pleasure, tell me your needs and I'll tell you my price.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien: I need you in my quarters on the double.\nSisko: I'm on my way.\nJake: Dad, I've got to talk to you.\nSisko: Jake, I don't have time.\nBuck: Hello, Ben.\nJake: He followed me home from the holosuite.\nBashir: Jadzia!\nDax: Hello, Julian.\nBashir: What are you doing here?\nDax: Watching you. Waiting for you to wake up.\nBashir: I'm awake.\nDax: Is something wrong?\nBashir: Funny, I was about to ask you the same question. It must be this Larosian virus that's been going around. How do you feel?\nDax: Wonderful.\nBashir: No fever. It must be me. It must be me. It must be me. Must be an allergic reaction to the replicated antipasto I had at lunch. Perhaps, I must be hallucinating.\nDax: Why are you fighting this?\nBashir: Why am I fighting this? Why am I fighting this? I have no good answer to that question.\nKira: All senior officers report to Ops immediately.\nBashir: Okay, I get it. Very funny. Did O'Brien put you up to this?\nDax: I don't know what you're talking about.\nBashir: Senior officers report to Ops. We all walk in, everybody has a good laugh at my expense.\nDax: This is not a joke, Julian.\nBashir: We'll see.\nSisko: Ah, good. It seems we have a small mystery on our hands. Lieutenant Jadzia Dax and Doctor Julian Bashir, I'd like you to meet Harmon Bokai, a baseball player from the London Kings who's been dead for two hundred years.\nBuck: Don't look at me. I can't figure it out either.\nSisko: And a medieval fairy tale character named Rumpelstiltskin.\nRumpelstiltskin: Fine, now everyone knows my name.\nSisko: Until today, he only existed in storybooks.\nBashir: A pleasure, I'm sure.\nSisko: Could this be related to the increased thoron emissions in the plasma field?\nDax 2: Thoron emissions?\nDax: I think you'd better ask me, Benjamin.\nBuck: I was hitting a few to the boy. He's really been moving well onto the ball lately, Ben. We would've worked on some baserunning except he was getting hungry and I realized I was too.\nKira: A hologram with an appetite?\nBuck: Hologram?\nBashir: On the contrary, Major, he's quite real. They all seem to be.\nBuck: What the hell are they talking about, Ben?\nSisko: You. You're not actually Buck Bokai.\nBuck: So how come I'm wearing his uniform?\nSisko: You're a holographic image of Buck Bokai that I created so Jake and I could play ball with you.\nBuck: But I remember. I remember all the games, all the opening days. The home run that won the forty two World Series. The squeaker that went under Eddie Newsom's glove. The day I broke DiMaggio's consecutive streak.\nSisko: I programd it into the computer. All of it. Every statistic.\nRumpelstiltskin: What foreign tongue are they speaking?\nO'Brien: This one didn't come out of any holosuite.\nSisko: But he did come out of your imagination, just as Buck came out of Jake's.\nRumpelstiltskin: His imagination?\nDax 2: Then I must have come out of your imagination, Julian.\nBashir: Not necessarily. Well, maybe. How could this sort of thing possibly happen?\nDax: A subspace disruption. Maybe some kind of dimensional shift.\nDax: I didn't see an anomaly when I scanned the plasma field, but it could have been so small the sensors missed it.\nDax 2: Julian, let's go to your quarters.\nBashir: Please, I haven't got time for this.\nOdo: Odo to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nOdo: Is there something you want to tell me?\nSisko: I'm in no mood for games, Constable.\nSisko: What do you need?\nOdo: Are the environmental controls broken down? It's snowing on the Promenade.\nSisko: Snowing?\nOdo: We're looking at five or six centimeters down here.\nSisko: Bring in all available security, Odo.\nSisko: We're going to Yellow alert.\nOdo: What's going on?\nSisko: It seems we're letting our imaginations run wild. As soon as I have an explanation I'll give you one. Sisko out.\nKira: Yellow alert? Against our own imaginations?\nSisko: You have a better idea?\nDax: I think I've got something. Look at the wave patterns of the plasma field.\nO'Brien: The wave front's converging toward a single point.\nDax: The particle density rises as you get closer to the center, but then it looks like it just drops off completely.\nO'Brien: You're right. I'm not getting any particulate readings from the core.\nKira: What does that mean?\nDax: Whatever falls in there is just gone.\nBashir: You were right. It is some kind of subspace disruption.\nSisko: I want a full analysis. Chief, get a class four probe ready.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir..\nRumpelstiltskin: Is there anything I can do to help?\nOdo: Odo to Ops.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nOdo: The snow's\nOdo: Disappeared but now there's a Gunji jackdaw running loose down here.\nSisko: Just try to keep things under control, Odo. We're working on it.\nOdo: Understood. Come along now, come along. There we go.\nOdo: Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? Ladies and gentlemen, and all androgynous creatures, your attention please! As you may have noticed, we're experiencing some difficulties. I'm going to have to ask you all to please refrain from using your imaginations.\nQuark: Just because you don't have an imagination, don't ruin it for the rest of us.\nQuark: Let me guess. Another clever Federation experiment has gone awry and you've turned the whole station into one vast holosuite.\nOdo: The phenomenon is being investigated as we speak.\nQuark: Well, tell them to take their time. I haven't had the chance to show the ladies my collection of Tartaras landscapes yet.\nOdo: I'm surprised by your attitude, Quark.\nQuark: Ah, yes, well, you simply don't have the same appreciation for art as I do.\nGirl: Dabo!\nOdo: I'm surprised because every one of your customers is winning.\nQuark: What?\nOdo: They're taking you to the poorhouse.\nGirl: Dabo! Another winner!\nQuark: No! No, that's not possible. Let me through. Lose. Lose. One cross. Two cross. No. No.\nOdo: You're outnumbered, Quark. Pardon me. Pardon me.\nDax: I was afraid of this. The proximity of the wormhole is amplifying the rupture.\nBashir: The proton counts are going through the roof.\nDax: Dax to O'Brien. How are you coming with that probe, Chief?\nO'Brien: I'll have the subspace scanners programd in less than an hour.\nDax: Keep me informed. Dax out.\nBashir: I have the wave intensity analysis.\nDax: Computer, scan all data files for comparable wave intensity patterns.\nComputer: Stand by.\nBashir: Jadzia, I find this difficult to say, but I want you to know, I would\nDax: Julian, there's really no need to apologize. In a way, I feel as if we've invaded your privacy. We all have fantasies and dreams we keep to ourselves, thoughts that should remain private.\nBashir: I'm glad you understand.\nDax: Of course I do. I was a young man, once.\nBashir: So we can put all this behind us?\nDax: Of course.\nBashir: Good. The computer seems to be having trouble finding a match.\nDax: She really is submissive, isn't she? Is that how you want me to be, Julian? So submissive?\nDax 2: I am not submissive. Am I?\nBashir: No, er, well, I don't think so.\nDax 2: I'm just not the cold fish you are.\nDax: Cold fish?\nBashir: Now, I never said that.\nDax 2: If you'd get down off your high horse, you'd start to appreciate Julian.\nBashir: She has a sense of humor, as, as I've always imagined you do.\nDax: I could use one about now.\nDax 2: Come on, Lieutenant. Stop denying all those yearnings you feel.\nDax: Yearnings?\nDax 2: If you don't, you'll never know what you missed.\nComputer: Pattern match found.\nBashir: Just in the nick of time.\nDax: A similar subspace rupture was reported in the Hanoli System in the mid twenty third century.\nBashir: The Hanoli system? I don't believe I know where that is.\nDax: There's no reason you should. When the rupture expanded, the system was destroyed.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 46853.2. We have launched a probe to study the subspace anomaly. Meanwhile, more than half the people aboard DS Nine have reported manifestations of their imagined thoughts.\nDax: All probe systems are reading normal.\nO'Brien: Calibrating sensors for subspace. Three minutes to coordinates.\nDax: Wave pattern should begin to fluctuate any time now. There.\nO'Brien: The probe is penetrating the thoron field. Two and a half minutes to coordinates.\nRumpelstiltskin: Ah, for simpler times, eh?\nO'Brien: Go away.\nRumpelstiltskin: I only want to help.\nO'Brien: You're in the way.\nRumpelstiltskin: A farmer from Derry once tried to chase me off until I saved his crops from locusts\nO'Brien: Two minutes to coordinates. Thoron emissions are stable.\nRumpelstiltskin: You know what I find most intriguing about you, my good host? You're afraid. Of me.\nO'Brien: Look, figment, I'm not afraid of anybody, least of all you. Ninety seconds to coordinates.\nRumpelstiltskin: Figment, am I?\nO'Brien: A figment of my imagination, that's all.\nRumpelstiltskin: And yet you can't deny how this imagination of yours empowers me, can you? Empowers me in a way that somehow terrifies you.\nO'Brien: You should be getting some primary data, Commander.\nSisko: They're coming in now, Chief. Stand by.\nRumpelstiltskin: She is your first born, isn't she?\nO'Brien: Thirty seconds to coordinates.\nDax: Thoron emission patterns unstable. Probe hull temperature dropping rapidly.\nO'Brien: Ten seconds.\nDax: The probe's approaching the perimeter of the anomaly. That's strange.\nSisko: What is it?\nDax: Negative readings on all sensors. We may be looking at some sort of folded space.\nSisko: Let's see what the optical scanner on the probe gives us.\nBashir: It's drawing in all the matter from the surrounding space.\nDax: Benjamin, it's getting larger.\nBuck: Feel like taking a few ground balls?\nSisko: Look, I tried to tell you. You're on a space station in the twenty-fourth century. The only ball field around is a holographic simulation. It's not real and neither are you.\nBuck: Oh. You see, I don't get it. I can pinch myself and it hurts, and I am here with you, aren't I?\nSisko: Right now you are, but in a minute, who knows? I hope when we get this thing figured out you'll\nBuck: Disappear for good?\nSisko: I hope so.\nBuck: Oh, you do, huh? Well, let's say for a moment I don't. So what am I supposed to do, huh? You got room on your team for a switch hitting third baseman with good power?\nSisko: Good power from the left side.\nBuck: Left side? Ben! Hey! Hey, Ben. What are you talking about? I hit over twenty homers right-handed in each of my first three years in the majors.\nSisko: And never more than ten after that.\nBuck: That was because Old Crow moved me to second in the order.\nSisko: I wish I had more time for this.\nBuck: Well, that was baseball's epitaph, wasn't it. Nobody seemed to have time for us anymore. I could've played five more years if they hadn't killed the game.\nSisko: You were the best that ever played. I know. I've played with them all. I've got work to do.\nBuck: Hey, Ben. It really meant a lot to me, how much you cared. That day we won that world series, there were only three hundred people in the stands.\nSisko: Three hundred and one in my version.\nBuck: I heard you cheering. It meant a lot to me. I just thought you should know, you know. In case I do finally disappear.\nSisko: Ops.\nRumpelstiltskin: We don't know any more than when we started.\nDax 2: Why would mine create a woman and then reject her?\nRumpelstiltskin: Why would mine create a dwarf that could terrify him? We should abandon the whole thing.\nBuck: Not yet. I made a connection with mine. A curious one. I sense a feeling from him. An affection for this ballplayer who died two hundred years before he was even born.\nRumpelstiltskin: How much longer do you suggest we devote to this?\nBuck: As long as it takes. It ain't over til it's over.\nSisko: Captain's log, supplemental. The subspace anomaly continues to expand. As of yet, we've been unable to find a way to contain it. As a precaution, we have diverted all incoming ships away from the station.\nO'Brien: A Vulcan science mission to the Hanoli rift detonated a pulse wave torpedo at the coordinates of the tear.\nDax: Five minutes after they did, the rupture expanded radically.\nO'Brien: They were wiped out, along with the entire Hanoli system.\nKira: What happened to the rupture after that? it's not still there?\nDax: It reached a critical mass point and imploded and then disappeared from normal space altogether.\nSisko: Were there any reports from the Vulcans about hallucinations on board? Anything similar to what we're experiencing?\nO'Brien: No, sir. But they were only within range of the anomaly for twelve hours.\nBashir: And Vulcans don't have the most active imaginations.\nSisko: Were there any explanations offered for the initial cause of the rupture?\nDax: Dozens. Nothing confirmed. But we do know there were no wormholes and very little starship activity in the area before it formed.\nO'Brien: We've looked high and low for some common ground, something to give us a fix on how to attack this thing. And frankly, sir, as funny as it sounds, we think pulse wave torpedoes may still be the best approach.\nKira: Wait a minute. If it didn't work very well last time, why\nO'Brien: The Vulcans were using a primitive device. In the past two hundred years, we've developed far better ways of controlling the flux density. We should be able to contain the internal reaction this time.\nKira: And if we can't, we destroy the whole Bajoran system.\nSisko: Major, the rupture is already expanding. We have to seal it or it's going to destroy this system anyway.\nDax: The smaller it is, the better chance we have.\nSisko: How long will it take to create one of these torpedoes?\nO'Brien: We could have one ready by twenty two hundred hours.\nSisko: If the rift expands at all before imploding, we have to be prepared. Route auxiliary power to shields. Major, I'd like you to coordinate evacuation of the pylons. Odo can help you. Dismissed.\nKira: Kira to Odo.\nOdo: What is it, Major?\nKira: I need you to do a security sweep through the pylons. We're going to evacuate them.\nOdo: I'll get on it as soon as possible. I've got my hands full right now. Clear the way. Get out of the corridor. Let them through. Clear the way, now.\nKira: Kira to Ops. Lower pylon one is gone. I need emergency\nSisko: Sisko to Kira. Report. Kira, can you read me? Major Kira, report.\nKira: Disregard, Commander. False alarm. Kira out.\nKira: All personnel in lower pylon one, report to outer ring airlock. Prepare for evacuation.\nOdo: Clear the way now, clear the way. Please stay inside. This isn't a show.\nQuark: Odo!\nOdo: Get out of the way.\nQuark: Odo! Odo! Odo! Odo! Odo! Thank goodness. I want to report two missing persons. A blonde and a brunette.\nOdo: Can't you see I'm busy. Don't scare them!\nQuark: One minute they're whispering sweet nothings in my ear, the next minute the sweet nothings are gone.\nOdo: Will you get off the street before\nQuark: Girls! I've been looking everywhere for you. Don't ever do that to me again. So, Odo, what have you conjured up during all this?\nOdo: Me?\nQuark: I should have guessed. Nothing at all.\nOdo: I've spent all my time chasing incarnations of the Prophets, long dead lovers, Gunji jackdaws, blizzards, trollops.\nQuark: As I always said, a man without any imagination. Come along, my dears. I'll show you what a fertile imagination can do.\nOdo: Imagination, ha. Computer, run a level one personnel sweep of all pylons\nComputer: Requested function will take approximately three minutes.\nQuark: Let me out of here! Let me out of here! Get the Nagus on subspace. I want to talk to him and I mean now! I'm not spending another minute in this cell.\nOdo: How did you get in there?\nQuark: How did I get in here? You put me in here!\nOdo: I guess I did, didn't I?\nQuark: Yeah.\nOdo: No imagination, indeed. Ha!\nBuck: Heads up, Jake. So what are you doing here?\nJake: I can't go. I've got homework to do.\nBuck: But you'd rather be at the ballpark.\nJake: You don't understand. If I go to the holosuite without finishing my homework, my dad'll kill me.\nBuck: Kill you?\nJake: Yeah.\nBuck: You really believe he'd kill you?\nJake: I know he would.\nBuck: Well if that's true, why are you still thinking about going?\nJake: I'm trying not to.\nBuck: But you are wondering if you can get away with it, aren't you.\nSisko: Well?\nJake: I couldn't understand the directions. The computer accidentally erased the instruction page.\nSisko: You really expect me to believe that?\nJake: No, I guess not.\nJake: I've really got homework to do.\nDax: I need to see you, Benjamin.\nSisko: What do you have, Dax?\nDax: In the last hour alone, the rupture's expanded twenty seven percent The rate of expansion is increasing.\nSisko: Can we gain any time by moving the station?\nDax: If the rift collapses, the implosion would overtake us almost immediately.\nSisko: How soon can you be ready, Chief?\nO'Brien: I'm installling pulse wave devices in the torpedoes now, Commander. Six, seven minutes.\nDax: The rift's gotten large enough to pick up on visual scanners. SISKO On screen. Magnify.\nKira: All pylons are secured. Everyone's been moved to the habitat ring for the time being.\nDax 2: You're worried.\nBashir: You bet I am. If this doesn't work, nothing real or imagined is going to survive.\nDax 2: Hold me, please.\nO'Brien: Torpedoes ready.\nSisko: Status of shields?\nDax: All available power's been transferred. Reading shield strength at one hundred fifty eight percent above normal.\nSisko: Let's hope it's enough. Red alert. Fire.\nO'Brien: All systems functioning properly. Torpedo guidance is on nominal track.\nDax: Thirty seconds to coordinates.\nO'Brien: Impulse sustainer throttling down. Arming pulse wave initiator.\nDax: Torpedo hull temperature dropping.\nO'Brien: Activating pulse waves. Compression level at fourteen hundred and rising.\nDax: Twenty seconds.\nO'Brien: Compression twenty nine hundred. Three thousand.\nDax: Terminal targeting spread confirmed.\nO'Brien: Thirty five hundred. Holding compression.\nDax: Ten seconds.\nSisko: Ready to detonate.\nO'Brien: Ready, sir.\nDax: Five seconds.\nSisko: Now.\nO'Brien: Wave intensity from the rift is dropping. The thoron field boundary is shrinking. Particle energy is rising. Wait a minute, what's this?\nDax: Wave emissions are fluctuating. We're not getting a controlled collapse.\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: Damn it. We're picking up an exothermic reaction pattern. It may be neutralizing the pulse waves. Stand by.\nKira: Perimeter sensors are picking up a subspace oscillation. What the hell does that mean?\nDax: Proton counts have tripled.\nO'Brien: Residual pulse wave activity from our torpedoes is down to fourteen percent. The flux density readings inside the rupture are off the scale.\nOdo: Odo to Ops. Ops? Ops!\nKira: Comm. circuits are down. I'll trying to reroute pathways. Life support is normal.\nSisko: Shields?\nO'Brien: A generator's down. Section four is exposed.\nOdo: Odo to Ops!\nKira: There we go.\nSisko: Constable, check for casualties. Have your deputies move everybody out of section four. We have shield damage.\nOdo: Acknowledged.\nSisko: What are we getting from the rift?\nDax: Sensors aren't operating.\nO'Brien: Stand by, sir.\nDax 2: I can't feel my hands.\nBashir: Lie still, lie still. There's an emergency medical kit in the cabinet there. Get it.\nDax 2: I'm sorry.\nBashir: Shh.\nBuck: Here you go.\nDax 2: I never meant to bother you.\nBashir: No, no. You didn't bother me\nDax 2: I can't keep my eyes open.\nBashir: Don't close your eyes. I want you awake. You have a nasty concussion.\nDax 2: I can't help it.\nBashir: Dax! Dax!\nO'Brien: Sensors are back online.\nKira: The rupture is continuing to widen. Three hundred and forty times larger than before.\nSisko: Is it showing any signs of collapsing?\nDax: Wave emissions from the rift are still fluctuating. I can't make sense out of these readings. Proton counts are lower than before. And now they're beginning to rise again.\nO'Brien: The pulse waves from our torpedoes have been completely neutralized. It's just a matter of time before the rift starts expanding again.\nSisko: How much time?\nO'Brien: Minutes.\nSisko: Suggestions?\nRumpelstiltskin: Run out of ideas, friend? I have a suggestion. Maybe I can help.\nO'Brien: You?\nRumpelstiltskin: You created me with powers beyond those of mortal men. I would be more than happy to use them to assist you, for a price.\nRumpelstiltskin: I've always wanted a daughter.\nKeiko: Miles?\nKira: Perimeter sensors are picking up subspace oscillations again.\nO'Brien: You're telling me you can seal that rupture out there?\nRumpelstiltskin: I can spin straw into gold, my friend. This seems no more difficult.\nO'Brien: Well do it, damn it!\nRumpelstiltskin: Will you meet my price?\nO'Brien: This is crazy. You're out of a storybook, a fairy tale.\nRumpelstiltskin: Are you willing give her up to save so many others?\nSisko: No. He doesn't have to. Dax, when did our sensors first pick up traces of the rupture?\nDax: You were there, Benjamin. When we were first trying to figure this whole thing out.\nSisko: And if I remember correctly, you said that your previous scans hadn't picked up any anomalies at all.\nDax: I thought that whatever was out there was too small for the scanners to identify.\nSisko: So you imagined that we had a subspace rupture, and that's exactly what it turned out to be.\nDax: That is what I imagined.\nSisko: And once you learned about the rift that destroyed the Hanoli system, we all imagined that we might have another just like it. Mister O'Brien, drop the shields.\nO'Brien: Sir?\nSisko: There is no rupture. There is no threat to this station or this system. End Red alert and drop the shields.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: And believe it, Mister O'Brien. It's important that you believe it.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Are your sensors picking up any magnetic shock waves, Major?\nKira: Yes, sir. Perimeter readings still show\nSisko: No shock waves at all.\nKira: None at all.\nSisko: Lieutenant, proton counts.\nDax: Normal.\nKira: It's gone.\nBashir: You're going to be fine.\nDax 2: Of course, I am. I have the best doctor in the galaxy.\nKira: None of this makes any sense. I mean, why did they appear in the first place?\nDax: It might still be related to the elevated thoron emissions in the plasma field. The readings still haven't returned to normal.\nSisko: Continue your analysis, Dax, but this time no speculations, just facts.\nDax: Yes, Benjamin.\nSisko: Major, keep us on yellow alert for the next twenty six hours till we see that everything is back to normal. Chief, take your family home. That's an order.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nBuck: This imagination of yours, it's a tough concept for us to get a handle on, Ben.\nSisko: You're not simply a figment of my imagination, are you.\nBuck: We're on an extended mission exploring the galaxy. Awhile back, we followed one of your ships through that hole in space out there. We've been watching you, trying to figure out the rules of your game.\nSisko: Why didn't you just talk to us like this?\nBuck: We've learned you never can tell how someone will treat the visiting team.\nSisko: I understand.\nBuck: That's what this has been all about. Learning to understand.\nSisko: Was it really necessary to put the whole station in jeopardy?\nBuck: But we didn't, Ben. It was you. It was your imaginations that created everything. We were just watching to see where it took you. This imagination of yours. We have never seen anything like it. It's very real to all of you but yet it's not. At first, it seemed to us to be a curse, an irritation. That Odo fellow even called it a waste of time.\nSisko: I'd disagree with him.\nBuck: I knew you would. I learned that about you. That you could have such an affection for someone you never even met. I wonder if you appreciate how unique that imagination of yours really is.\nSisko: Not always.\nBuck: We've got to go.\nSisko: But you haven't told us anything about your species.\nBuck: I'd like to. Maybe next year."}
{"text": "Scene: Station Log, stardate 46925.1. We have been honored with a visit by a delegation of Federation ambassadors on a fact-finding mission to the wormhole. Fortunately I have just the officer to take them off my hands.\nBashir: I only wish there was something I could do, Ambassador.\nTaxco: Madam Ambassador.\nBashir: Madam Ambassador. But all the guest quarters on the station are roughly the same size.\nTaxco: Then move me to the crew level.\nBashir: All the quarters on the crew level are currently occupied.\nTaxco: Then someone can move. You, for example.\nVadosia: She did the same thing during the voyage here. She's never satisfied.\nTaxco: At least I didn't bother the Captain every hour with some new suggestion on how to run his ship.\nVadosia: He welcomed my suggestions, as I'm sure your Commander Sisko will welcome them. If we ever get to spend any time with him.\nBashir: Commander Sisko is extremely busy.\nVadosia: With what?\nBashir: With the recalibration sweep.\nLojal: What are you recalibrating?\nBashir: Everything. It's a sweeping recalibration of all systems.\nLojal: I cannot speak for the others, but I would be fascinated to observe this recalibration, Doctor.\nBashir: You would? After your long trip, I thought you might enjoy stopping by a holosuite?\nTaxco: Are you actually suggesting we indulge in one of those disgusting Ferengi sex programs?\nBashir: No. I, the holosuites are capable of many different\nVadosia: Of course that was what he was suggesting. The Arbazan are so sexually repressed.\nTaxco: Why, this is outrageous.\nBashir: Perhaps we should all just get some rest.\nLojal: I did not come all this way to rest, Doctor. I would like to see your facility.\nTaxco: A first-year officer assigned as our liaison. Starfleet command will hear of this.\nBashir: Ambassador. Madam Ambassador, I'm only\nLwaxana: Oh! Where is it? It's gone! It's gone!\nBashir: What's gone, Madam Ambassador?\nLwaxana: My latinum hairbrooch.\nBashir: Quark!\nLwaxana: I had just made a third straight cross. I was leaning across the table to pick up the dice again, something brushed against me and my God, I've been wigged.\nQuark: What's the problem here?\nBashir: Someone has stolen Ambassador Troi's latinum hairbrooch.\nQuark: I'm sorry, but as the sign says, the establishment is not responsible for the loss of any personal items.\nLwaxana: Sign? What sign?\nQuark: The one above the door.\nBashir: You'd have to stand on a chair to read that.\nQuark: House rules. I'm very sorry. Have a nice day.\nLwaxana: You are dealing with a daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the sacred Chalice of Rixx, Heir to the holy Rings of Betazed.\nQuark: Not my ear, please!\nLwaxana: Yes, and I know where it hurts the most, you little troll. Now, I want this room sealed and I want everyone in it strip-searched until you find my brooch.\nOdo: May I be of service?\nBashir: Oh, thank goodness. Our Chief of Security, Odo.\nOdo: What seems to be the problem?\nLwaxana: Well, my brooch has been stolen. It's been in my family for thirty six generations. It's absolutely priceless, and I want it back.\nOdo: You're certain you were wearing it today.\nLwaxana: Yes, of course, I'm certain. I never use this hair without it.\nOdo: I see. You're Betazoid?\nLwaxana: Of course.\nOdo: Telepathic.\nLwaxana: Yes.\nOdo: And you sense no guilt anywhere in this room?\nLwaxana: No, but Betazoids cannot read Ferengis.\nOdo: Quark has plenty of reason to feel guilty, but he usually doesn't have to resort to petty theft to fleece his clients.\nQuark: Thank you.\nOdo: Wait a minute. Empty your pockets now.\nOdo: Well, since when did you join Starfleet?\nLwaxana: That's it. That's my brooch. But how did you know?\nOdo: Dopterians are distant relatives of the Ferengi. It made sense that if you couldn't read Quark, you might not be able to read this charming fellow either.\nLwaxana: How perfectly brilliant of you.\nLwaxana: Doctor, I want to know everything there is to know about your Security Chief.\nO'Brien: Computer, is the diagnostic on the fusion power plant finished yet?\nComputer: Affirmative. The fusion power plant is operating within normal parameters.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about? It's thirteen percent below normal.\nComputer: Cardassian specifications accept operating efficiency within twenty percent.\nO'Brien: Well, I don't. Anara.\nAnara: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: How much do you know about the carbon reaction chambers?\nAnara: I've learned a little about laser-induced fusion. Not much more than the basics.\nO'Brien: It's a bloody inefficient system, and I'd trade it in for a Federation model tomorrow if I could. But it's all we've got. Do me a favor. Keep an eye on the exhaust plasma temperature. Computer, increase deuterium flow by five percent to reaction chamber two.\nComputer: Procedure is not recommended.\nO'Brien: Look, I've had enough of your opinions, damn it. Just do it.\nComputer: Procedure is not recommended. Consult Cardassian operational guidelines, paragraph two five four A, now on screen.\nO'Brien: I don't want to read your tech manual. Fine, we'll do it ourselves. Re-initializing reactor two. Directing plasma stream to conduits one four three, one four four\nAnara: Chief O'Brien. The power flow from reactor two has just been shut down.\nO'Brien: What? Computer, analyze reactor two failure.\nComputer: Reactor two was shut down after sensors detected a potential overload of the carbon reaction chambers.\nO'Brien: That's it. That's the straw.\nSisko: Relax, Chief. It's just a computer.\nO'Brien: This is no computer. This is my arch enemy.\nSisko: You've got it working just fine, as far as I can tell.\nO'Brien: Fine? With all due respect, Commander, as an engineer, I couldn't look at myself in the mirror if I allowed this computer to perform as it is now. I'll have to do a root canal.\nSisko: Root canal?\nO'Brien: It's engineering shorthand, sir. I'll have to get into its guts and rebuild her from the ground up.\nSisko: How long will that take?\nO'Brien: Well, I'm still not that familiar with Cardassian technology but I'd guess no more than two, three years.\nSisko: That's going to take a lot of man-hours. Is it really necessary?\nO'Brien: You don't understand.\nSisko: Let's just say I don't have your sensitivity to the computer.\nO'Brien: That's all right. Forget about it.\nSisko: Chief.\nO'Brien: It's all right. It doesn't matter.\nSisko: Chief, I want you to do what you have to do.\nO'Brien: Thank you, sir. I'll get on it right away.\nBashir: And this is Ops.\nVadosia: The heart and soul of Deep Space Nine. Ah, there you are, Commander.\nSisko: Gentlemen. Madam Ambassador.\nBashir: They insisted on seeing Operations, sir.\nSisko: Of course. Make yourself at home. I trust that Doctor Bashir has been taking care of all your needs.\nTaxco: He refuses to change my accommodations.\nSisko: Accommodations?\nTaxco: If I have to sleep another night on a Cardassian bed with gargoyles staring at me from the woodpoles\nKira: Commander, unidentified vessel coming through the wormhole.\nSisko: On screen. Excuse me.\nBashir: You'll get a better view from over here.\nBashir: Quite a sight, isn't it?\nVadosia: That's it? That's the whole thing?\nBashir: Well, yes, it is.\nVadosia: I was expecting more somehow.\nDax: Scanners aren't picking up any lifeforms on board.\nSisko: A probe?\nDax: Might be. I'm reading an extensive computer array but no signals to suggest it's trying to maintain contact with the mother ship.\nSisko: Are the computers compatible with ours?\nDax: It's hard to tell. I don't recognize any known subprocessor patterns.\nLojal: Obviously the young woman doesn't have the necessary experience. Perhaps I\nBashir: The young woman over there has over three hundred years experience, Ambassador.\nDax: I might have better luck if we towed it into the docking ring.\nSisko: No. Not until we know a little more about it. Major, tow it to five hundred meters off the docking ring.\nKira: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Mister O'Brien, try to set up an adaptive interface link and see if we can download any information from it.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nBashir: I think it will be best if we clear this area.\nVadosia: But this probe may represent contact with a new species. Commander, I think it would be appropriate for at least one Federation Ambassador to be present at this historic occasion, and since I have a particular interest in first contact procedures\nSisko: I appreciate your interest, Ambassador. And to keep you all informed, I'm scheduling a briefing at oh four hundred. In the meantime, Doctor Bashir, the best place to view this probe is from the docking ring near port seven.\nBashir: I'll show them the way.\nLwaxana: Such concentration. Such intensity, such a passion for your work. Tracking intergalactic malefactors.\nOdo: Most people find it rather tedious.\nLwaxana: Tedious? No, those of us who have been beneficiaries of your heroism would never call your work tedious. We've learned that on this station, you are the thin beige line between order and chaos.\nOdo: That's my job. Now, what can I do for you? You haven't lost anything else, I hope.\nLwaxana: Only my heart.\nOdo: I beg your pardon?\nLwaxana: Is Odo your first or last name?\nOdo: Yes.\nLwaxana: Ah, then I can just call you?\nOdo: Odo.\nLwaxana: It has a certain lyrical quality.\nOdo: Lyrical?\nLwaxana: Odo. It rolls off the tongue.\nOdo: I have a lot of work to do.\nLwaxana: I'm understand you're a shape-shifter.\nOdo: That's correct.\nLwaxana: I've never been with a shape-shifter.\nOdo: Been with?\nLwaxana: I've heard you're the only one of your kind.\nOdo: So far.\nLwaxana: All the men I've known have needed to be shaped and molded and manipulated. Finally I've met a man who knows how to do it himself.\nOdo: Is that the comm.? I think it is. Excuse me, I've got to get to Ops.\nComputer: Initiating high-resolution scan. Memory nodes located. Proceeding with data transfer.\nO'Brien: Yeah, there you go. Who would have thought?\nDax: You seem surprised, Chief.\nO'Brien: Well, knowing this computer, I thought I would have to reconfigure the whole emulator module to make it compatible with the probe, but it's cooperating for once.\nComputer: Transfer of data is complete.\nO'Brien: Well done, computer.\nDax: Computer, run standard code translations on probe data. Isolate syntax results.\nComputer: Processing. Stand by.\nSisko: Come in. Yes, Odo.\nOdo: Commander, I have a problem.\nSisko: Quark again?\nOdo: No, sir, this one's named Lwaxana.\nSisko: Lwaxana Troi the Ambassador?\nOdo: That's her. There was a minor incident at the bar that I helped her with, and now she's grateful.\nSisko: What's the problem?\nOdo: The manner in which she expresses her gratitude. To be honest, Commander, she seems interested in me.\nSisko: What's wrong with that?\nOdo: She's extremely aggressive.\nSisko: I see. So, she's after you.\nOdo: Like a Wanoni tracehound.\nSisko: Have you thought of letting her catch you?\nOdo: Sir?\nSisko: A little romance, Odo.\nOdo: I have six pylons that need a complete security sweep. I don't have time for romantic interludes. Frankly, in my humble opinion, most of you humanoids spend far too much time on your respective mating rituals.\nSisko: It does help the procreation of one's species.\nOdo: Procreation does not require changing how you smell, or writing bad poetry, or sacrificing various plants to serve as tokens of affection. In any event, it's all irrelevant to me.\nSisko: I'm sorry to hear that.\nOdo: I would appreciate it if you would do something about this woman.\nSisko: Me?\nOdo: Just tell her to leave me alone.\nSisko: Constable, you can handle thieves and killers but not one Betazoid woman?\nOdo: I understand thieves and killers. I don't understand her.\nSisko: I can't help you, Odo.\nOdo: I'm just trying to avoid a diplomatic incident. I don't want to insult the Ambassador.\nSisko: A reasonable concern. I suggest you handle the matter with great delicacy.\nOdo: I don't handle delicacy very well.\nAnara: The probe appears to be made out of some sort of corundium alloy.\nComputer: Analysis of all subprocessor modules is complete.\nO'Brien: Already? On screen. Lieutenant?\nDax: No science modules, no communications system, and enough computer capacity to run a Galaxy class starship. It's very odd.\nO'Brien: That's an awful lot of computer hardware to simply navigate a probe.\nKira: Anything?\nDax: Nothing to suggest the probe's mission or any hint of its origin.\nLwaxana: Ah, there you are, Odo.\nLwaxana: Have you ever been on the fourth moon of Andevian Two at dawn?\nOdo: Can't say I have.\nLwaxana: I have the most wonderful holo-program and I've reserved a suite for us with that Quark person.\nOdo: You told Quark you were going into a holosuite with me?\nLwaxana: Of course. He's preparing a special picnic basket for us.\nOdo: Good lord.\nOdo: I'm afraid I'm not available. I have to get to upper pylon three immediately.\nOdo: Madame Ambassador.\nLwaxana: Lwaxana. Upper pylon three. I've always wanted to see an upper pylon.\nLwaxana: I know. I'll have Quark send one of his minions with our basket. We'll have our picnic up there.\nOdo: Madame Ambassador.\nLwaxana: Lwaxana.\nOdo: I don't eat. This is not a real mouth, it is an approximation of one. I do not have an esophagus or a stomach or a digestive system. I am not like you. Every sixteen hours, I turn into a liquid.\nLwaxana: I can swim.\nOdo: Computer? Computer. Odo to Ops.\nKira: Go ahead, Odo.\nOdo: Ambassador Troi and I are stuck in turbolift seven. What's going on?\nAnara: Power to the pylon turbolifts has failed.\nKira: We're reading a turbolift failure, Odo. We'll beam you out.\nDax: Locking on. Prepare to transport.\nOdo: Ready.\nDax: Energizing.\nOdo: Well?\nKira: Looks like the transporter's down too. But don't worry, Constable, we'll get it repaired right away.\nDax: Dax to Chief O'Brien, please report to Ops immediately.\nKira: Be patient, Odo.\nKira: We'll get you out of there as soon as we can.\nLwaxana: Alone at last.\nComputer: Electromotive coil functions normal. Load detection functions normal. Diagnostic complete.\nO'Brien: I don't get it. Every component of the turbolift power net seems to be operational.\nDax: We can't find anything wrong with the transporter.\nKira: Great. Everything's in working order except nothing's working.\nSisko: How do we get our people out of the turbolift, Chief?\nO'Brien: If we were on a starship, I'd reroute the EPS power flow in a couple of hours but with this computer, there's no telling how long it'll take.\nSisko: Get it started.\nKira: Kira to Odo.\nOdo: Yes, Major.\nKira: I'm sorry, but you're going to have to stay put for a while longer.\nOdo: Define a while.\nKira: I wish I knew.\nKira: By the way, Cardassian turbolifts run exposed multi-phase alternating currents through their positioning mechanisms, so don't try to shape-shift your way out.\nOdo: I wouldn't think of it.\nLwaxana: Besides, it wouldn't be polite.\nKira: I didn't hear that.\nOdo: It wouldn't be polite.\nKira: Understood. Kira out.\nLwaxana: Do you suppose that we're actually in any danger?\nOdo: Not if we remain calm.\nLwaxana: Well then, we might as well enjoy ourselves. Take the opportunity to get to know one another.\nOdo: I'd really prefer to pass the time quietly.\nLwaxana: Quietly.\nOdo: Quietly.\nLwaxana: Of course.\nOdo: Thank you.\nLwaxana: The quiet man.\nOdo: Hmmm.\nLwaxana: You know, I've always been attracted to quiet men. Odd, isn't it? But maybe there's more truth than we realize to that old axiom that opposites\nLwaxana: Quietly.\nLwaxana: Odo.\nOdo: Yes?\nLwaxana: I don't think I can.\nOdo: Can what?\nLwaxana: Well, you don't have to say another word as long as we're here, but I think I really need to talk.\nOdo: I understand. There's nothing to be afraid of.\nLwaxana: Of course not. No, things could be much worse.\nOdo: Really?\nLwaxana: My daughter and I were once trapped aboard a Ferengi cargo ship and it was dreadful. Well, all right, it wasn't actually dreadful, it was mildly lamentable. And it was all because of that loathsome Daimon. Well, actually he wasn't altogether loathsome. He was just slightly repulsive. But he did have a certain charm, in an insufferable sort of way. Of course he was totally at the mercy of his uncontrollable passion for me, which means he wasn't all bad now, doesn't it? You know, it wasn't all passion. There was some negligible commercial interest involved, but oh, the passion, that was perfectly real, and kind of sweet, in a way. He was so helpless. At first it was totally a question of expediency when I made love with him. what are you looking at?\nOdo: Hmm? Oh nothing. I was just wondering how many volts are in that exposed circuit. Go on, go on.\nLwaxana: Well, frankly, by the time one thing led to another\nSisko: Think of it as an opportunity, Doctor. You never know when a friendly ambassador is going to be in the right place at the right time to help your career.\nBashir: Another hour with them could destroy my career.\nSisko: It's a simple job. Just keep them happy and away from me.\nBashir: Simple? Nothing makes them happy. They are dedicated to being unhappy and to spreading that unhappiness wherever they go. They are the Ambassadors of Unhappy.\nSisko: All of us have had these assignments, Doctor.\nBashir: Have you, sir?\nSisko: As a matter of fact, Curzon Dax used to take perverse pleasure in assigning me to take care of VIP guests.\nBashir: Ah. So now you take the same perverse pleasure in doing it to me.\nSisko: Exactly.\nBashir: May I ask, sir, when you graduated from this sort of assignment?\nSisko: The day I hit one of the guests.\nBashir: Hit one.\nSisko: It was a simple misunderstanding over his attempt to coax a young Ensign to his quarters against her will. But\nSisko: Don't hit one of them, Doctor. I'm not nearly as understanding as Curzon was.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: Commander, can I talk to you? It's about the computer, sir.\nSisko: Still giving you problems?\nO'Brien: No, sir, that's just the thing. It's not. It rerouted the EPS power flow in less than an hour.\nSisko: That's good news. How soon can we get Odo and the Ambassador out?\nO'Brien: We can't. It didn't activate the Turbolift circuits. Don't ask me why.\nSisko: You must have some idea what's wrong.\nO'Brien: I want you to listen to something. Computer, analyze Ops O2 sensor readings.\nComputer: All sensors read between fourteen point three and fourteen point four KSC.\nO'Brien: Computer, restart all shield generator subsystems.\nComputer: Shield generator subsystems set to active status. Reading ninety eight point three percent efficiency.\nO'Brien: Do you hear it?\nSisko: Hear what?\nO'Brien: The voice. It's not the same attitude.\nSisko: It sounds like the computer.\nO'Brien: Sir, when you work with a computer as much as I do, you get to know it. They're all very different. Working with the Enterprise computer was like dancing a waltz. With this computer, it's always been like a wrestling match, till we started downloading the probe.\nSisko: You think some kind of program from the probe is influencing our computer?\nO'Brien: Well, it's got to be more than just a program, sir. The computer's whole personality has changed. It's not resisting any commands, offering any opinions, giving any arguments. And there's this one other crazy thing I'm almost afraid to mention,\nSisko: What's that?\nO'Brien: Every time I leave, something happens to bring me back.\nSisko: Bring you back?\nO'Brien: To the computer. Like the failures to the turbolifts and the transporters. A few minutes ago, I was working at the transporter pad and the comm. lines went down. And when I broke for a quick bite to eat, we had a replicator failure. It's almost like the computer doesn't want me to leave it alone.\nSisko: You almost make it sound like a child.\nSisko: Captain's log, supplemental. Odo and Ambassador Troi remain trapped in turbolift four. As of yet, we have been unable to ascertain what it is that's causing the station's computer to malfunction.\nDax: What if it's some kind of non-biological lifeform we've never seen before?\nKira: Non-biological?\nDax: Well, it all comes down to how we define lifeform, but just as biological organisms have evolved in our cultures, mechanical life could have done the same in others.\nKira: You're suggesting someone left a baby on our doorstep?\nDax: Possibly.\nSisko: Do you think we can communicate with it?\nO'Brien: In a way, we already have. I mean, it's part and parcel of our computer now.\nDax: But as far as direct communication is concerned, it may not be capable of that. We haven't seen any evidence that this entity is sentient.\nKira: It may be more like a stray puppy that's attached itself to you, Chief.\nSisko: Whatever it is, it's slowly disabling our station. People, we've got to get it out of there.\nO'Brien: It came here when we downloaded the probe's files. If we upload those same files back to the probe, it might go with them.\nDax: What if it's fully integrated itself into our computer?\nO'Brien: I don't think it has. That would make it more like a virus, but I don't see any evidence that it's trying to overwrite our control networks or destroy our systems. I think it's more likely that it simply creates connections with areas of the computer that are active.\nDax: Almost as though it feeds off the energy of the computer functions.\nO'Brien: If I'm right, transferring all of its programming off the station just might solve our problems.\nSisko: How long since we had any communication from Odo?\nKira: Comm. lines have been down over ninety minutes. He's been in there almost four hours now.\nSisko: Do you happen to know the schedule of his regenerative cycle?\nKira: My god, I have no idea, but if he doesn't get back to his pail in time\nComputer: Subspace emitter aligned. Outgoing data stream activated.\nO'Brien: Computer, upload all probe command sequences back to probe's computers.\nComputer: Stand by. Unable to complete requested function. Please abort and retry.\nO'Brien: Reset subspace emitter. Reinitialize data stream.\nComputer: Receptors open control. Relays activated.\nO'Brien: Upload all probe command sequences back to probe's computers.\nComputer: Stand by.\nO'Brien: It's not as easy as I thought it would be, Commander.\nTaxco: Is it just the lights or the heat too? I didn't bring any warm clothes.\nBashir: I'm sure it's just temporary.\nLojal: I've been reading the reports of your Chief of Operations, Doctor. They gave me the impression that he was a competent engineer.\nBashir: Chief O'Brien? One of the best in Starfleet.\nLojal: Then why aren't the backup systems functioning?\nBashir: Well, you know, out here on the edge of the frontier, it's one adventure after another. Why don't I escort you back to your quarters where I'm sure we can all wait this out.\nLwaxana: Well, enough about me.\nOdo: Hmmm?\nLwaxana: Enough about me. Tell me about yourself.\nOdo: I'm really a private man.\nLwaxana: Yes, of course you are. Is that hair real?\nOdo: It is real in that it is me. It is not real hair.\nLwaxana: How did you do it? Your hair.\nOdo: It took a great deal of practice.\nLwaxana: You studied hairstyles?\nOdo: If you must know, I imitated the hairstyle of the Bajoran man who was assigned to me.\nLwaxana: Assigned?\nOdo: To study me at the research center. He was a scientist.\nLwaxana: You mean that's how you grew up, in a laboratory?\nOdo: I did not grow up as you think of it. It was merely a transition from what I used to be to what I learned to become.\nLwaxana: Sounds very lonely to me.\nOdo: I was always very self-sufficient.\nLwaxana: I'm sure you had to be, to survive, being so different from everyone else.\nOdo: Odo to Ops. Odo to Ops! Comm. lines are still down. I don't know what's taking so long.\nLwaxana: Are you sure you're all right? You look warm.\nOdo: It's nothing. I'm fine.\nLwaxana: I can't imagine how it must have been. If it bothers you to talk about this?\nOdo: Not at all. What was it like? I guess you could say I was the life of the party.\nLwaxana: I don't think I understand.\nOdo: My way of trying to fit in. I found I could be entertaining. Odo, be a chair. I'm a chair. Odo, be a razorcat. I'm a razorcat. Life of the party. I hate parties.\nLwaxana: Perhaps you've been going to the wrong ones. Come to one of mine, Odo. I'll make sure that all the guests are there to entertain you. No, you're not well.\nOdo: No, it's fine. It's just, I told you I turn into a liquid every sixteen hours? Well, I'm in hour fifteen.\nO'Brien: Ready, Commander\nSisko: How long do you expect it to take?\nO'Brien: If it works, we ought to be able to get all of the probe's files manually transferred to the six isolinear rods in less than sixty seconds.\nSisko: Let's do it.\nO'Brien: Computer, run a level one diagnostic of all power systems on board.\nComputer: Requested function will require forty three minutes. Stand by.\nSisko: Computer, give me an analysis of all Cardassian traffic along the border.\nComputer: Processing long range sensors, stand by.\nDax: Computer, create an historical data base for all known wormhole activity.\nComputer: Indicate time parameters.\nDax: All known occurrences.\nComputer: Requested function will require subspace link-up with Federation computers.\nDax: In that case, create a subspace link with Nehru colony, New France colony and Corado One transmitter array.\nComputer: Attempting link-up, stand by.\nAnara: Computer, access musical files in the Bajor master data banks and create a concert program of Bajoran serenas.\nComputer: Stand by. Unable to. Stand\nDax: I'm reading a huge plasma surge in the habitat ring.\nVadosia: You tell Commander Sisko that I expect that probe briefing to be held on schedule, lights or no lights.\nBashir: I will surely pass that on, Ambassador.\nKira: We've got a plasma explosion in corridor H-12-A. Guest quarters.\nO'Brien: The computer's not responding. None of the fire suppression systems are coming online.\nDax: I'm reading four lifeforms in that corridor.\nSisko: Major, you're with me. Chief, send get an emergency crew down there. We'll need manual fire gear.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Phasers at maximum.\nKira: Toranium inlay. Cardassian design. I should have guessed. We're going to need a bipolar torch to get through it.\nSisko: Then get a message to Ops. Tell them it's going to take us a while to get inside. If they can't get the fire suppression systems online we're going to lose our people in there.\nCrewman: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: It's not paying any attention to me.\nDax: I guess it just doesn't want to leave, like a scared puppy.\nO'Brien: We have no idea how long that probe was tumbling through space, maybe years with that lifeform alone on board. It's sort of like shutting up a puppy up in a room, you know? I had a pup once. If I had to lock him up, he'd scratch forever at the door, trying to get out.\nDax: I'm not sure I know what you're getting at.\nO'Brien: Pups don't like to be left alone. They like attention.\nDax: This one's certainly getting a lot of it.\nO'Brien: That's right, so it's no wonder it doesn't want to leave.\nDax: Okay, but how does that help us?\nO'Brien: Everything we've seen suggests that this entity likes to be where the action is. It seems to feed off the energy of an active computer. We've been trying to separate it from what it thrives on. We've got to do the exact opposite.\nDax: The exact opposite?\nO'Brien: Lieutenant, I've got to build a doghouse.\nOdo: Odo to Ops. Odo out.\nLwaxana: Odo, turn around.\nOdo: I can't. It's beginning.\nLwaxana: It's all right.\nOdo: You don't understand. No one has ever seen me like this before.\nLwaxana: Not even the scientist who was assigned to you?\nOdo: That was different. It was only research to him.\nLwaxana: You don't have to be ashamed with me.\nOdo: I'm not ashamed. It's a private matter, that's all.\nLwaxana: How can I make it easier for you?\nOdo: You can't. I'm fine.\nOdo: What's that?\nLwaxana: My hair. Nobody's ever seen me like this.\nOdo: Why? It looks fine.\nLwaxana: It looks ordinary. I've never cared to be ordinary. So you see, Odo, even us non-shape-shifters have to change who we are once in a while.\nOdo: You are not at all what I expected.\nLwaxana: No one's ever paid me a greater compliment.\nOdo: I cannot hold my shape any longer.\nLwaxana: Let go. I'll take care of you.\nKira: We're going to need portable oxygen and get anything Bashir has in stock to treat plasma burns. Have a runabout ready to evacuate these people to Bajor if we need to.\nCrewman: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: Anara?\nAnara: The subprogram is ready, Chief.\nO'Brien: Computer, analyze subprogram labeled Pup.\nComputer: Requested subprogram is a series of bi-directional data transfer and monitoring commands.\nO'Brien: Re-route all main computer backup functions through this subprogram.\nComputer: All backup functions re-routed.\nO'Brien: Great. Okay, Computer, now, listen carefully, I want to transfer all probe command sequences out of core memory and into the subprogram Pup.\nComputer: Stand by. Transfer complete.\nDax: Dax to Sisko. Fire suppression is responding. All systems are back online. Can you get in?\nSisko: We're in, Dax. Stand by.\nKira: We'd better advise Starfleet Command. (\nSisko: Are you all right?\nBashir: Here, take my hand, Madam Ambassador. Watch your head.\nTaxco: Please, Julian. Call me Taxco.\nSisko: Ambassador, are you all right?\nVadosia: Yes, thanks to Julian.\nLojal: The doctor was remarkably calm and logical for a man of his years under such severe conditions.\nVadosia: We'll be putting him in for a commendation.\nSisko: Nice work, Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Just in the right place at the right time, sir.\nLwaxana: Well, it's about time.\nOdo: I know that wasn't exactly what you had in mind for your picnic.\nLwaxana: When it comes to picnics, the only thing that really matters is the company.\nOdo: Your sensitivity and diskretion are appreciated.\nLwaxana: Next time you see me, I'll give you a lot more to appreciate.\nSisko: How did you beat that thing in the computer, Chief?\nO'Brien: I didn't.\nDax: He adopted it.\nSisko: Adopted it?\nO'Brien: I was able to get our friend out of the main command pathways and into a subprogram.\nSisko: You're suggesting we leave it in there?\nO'Brien: I don't see why not. It's happy. It's not bothering us any more. It seems the humane thing to do.\nDax: It's just another new lifeform visiting the station.\nO'Brien: I'll take care of it, make sure it gets enough attention and all.\nSisko: Keep it off the furniture.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir."}
{"text": "Sisko: Come in.\nKira: Commander, I just received word that a Valerian transport has requested permission to dock here at the station.\nSisko: Let me guess. You're here to recommend that we deny that request.\nKira: The Valerians ran weapons-grade dolamide to Cardassian forces during the occupation of Bajor.\nSisko: I'm aware of that.\nKira: I believe they're continuing to ship weapons to the Cardassians. Weapons that could eventually be used to attack Bajor.\nSisko: I share your concern, Major. But unless we have proof to back up those charges\nKira: The proof is on that ship. Let me conduct a search and if I find any dolamide, we can confiscate it.\nSisko: I'm afraid it's not that simple. Dolamide is used for power generators, reactors, in short-range transports.\nKira: And for weapons.\nSisko: Only if it's extremely pure.\nKira: So we're going to do nothing.\nSisko: I didn't say that. We just can't board their ship and start tearing it apart.\nKira: Well, what can we do?\nSisko: You bring me evidence that the Valerians are dealing in weapons-grade dolamide and I promise you the Federation will use every kind of diplomatic pressure to stop them.\nKira: You think that'll work?\nSisko: It will if the Valerians want to continue trading with the Federation.\nKira: All right. We'll try it your way.\nSisko: Good. Then you will see to it that the Valerian ship is cleared for docking.\nKira: Yes, sir.\nDax: Chief, I have a subspace message for you from your wife. They've arrived safely on Bajor.\nO'Brien: Imagine taking eleven bored schoolkids on a visit to the grain processing center at Lasuma. I'm glad it's not me.\nOdo: Here's the information you requested on the captain of the Valerian ship.\nKira: Let me know if you find anything else.\nDax: Sensors are reading elevated neutrino levels at the wormhole. Something's coming through.\nKira: On screen.\nKira: Kira to Sisko. You'd better come out here.\nDax: It's the Klingon vessel Toh'Kaht.\nKira: They weren't due back for another month.\nSisko: Open hailing frequencies.\nO'Brien: I'm reading a transporter signal. Someone must have beamed off the ship just as it exploded.\nSisko: Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: Something's interfering with the rematerialization process.\nDax: Lock on with our transporter signal. Try boosting the annular containment field.\nO'Brien: I'm already there.\nBashir: He's been hit by weapons fire. It's severe. We've got to get him to cryostasis.\nKlingon: Victory.\nBashir: He's dead.\nSisko: Captain's log, Stardate 46922.3. We have identified the dead Klingon his name was Hon'Tihl, First Officer of the Toh'Kaht. Why he died, and the cause of his ship's destruction, is still unknown.\nBashir: I found tritanium alloy fragments in his chest and upper arms. If that was all, we could have saved him, but those weapon burns were too severe.\nSisko: Is there any way to identify the kind of weapon used?\nBashir: I'm running a microtissue analysis right now. I should have the results in a couple of hours.\nKira: The Klingon said victory just before he died. I wonder what he meant.\nDax: According to Klingon High Command, the Toh'Kaht was in the Gamma quadrant on a routine bio-survey mission,\nO'Brien: Victory during a bio-survey?\nOdo: As I recall the Toh'Kaht put in for a maintenance check.\nSisko: Ask around the station, see what you can learn about this bio-survey.\nSisko: Dax and O'Brien, I'd like the two of you to take a runabout and try to find the Toh'Kaht's mission recorder. I want to know what caused that ship to explode.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: Lieutenant\nDax: Yes.\nO'Brien: You coming?\nDax: Yes. I'm sorry. Never mind.\nKira: Damn it, not yet.\nValerian: Deep Space Nine, this is Valerian vessel Sherval Das. We are entering the Bajoran system, clear us for docking.\nKira: Negative, Sherval Das. There's going to be a slight delay.\nValerian: We are in need of maintenance. It's been a long journey.\nKira: Oh, I'm sure it has, but we have our own problems. You'll just have to wait.\nSisko: Stand by, Sherval Das.\nSisko: I'd like an explanation.\nKira: I wasn't finished running a background check on their ship.\nSisko: We agreed there would be no delays in the docking procedure.\nKira: They just visited Fahleena Three and Mariah Four, the same two stops they used to make when they were running dolamide to the Cardassians. The last stop would be the purification plant on Ultima Thule. Now if I can place them there, we'll know they're running weapons-grade material.\nSisko: Your ship has been cleared for docking.\nValerian: Thank you, Commander. Sherval Das out.\nSisko: No delays,\nOdo: So, Quark I heard you had some problems with the Klingons the last time they came through.\nQuark: Spare me from beings who think pain is pleasure. In small doses, perhaps, but the Klingons? They're hard on the holosuites, they wreck the furniture. I'm still fixing the walls of holosuite six. I'm not saying they don't spend big. I'm just saying by the time you figure in the damage, I'm lucky to break even.\nOdo: They do tend toward bluster, don't they? Throwing their weight around, bragging.\nQuark: This crew was worse than the last. Our glorious mission. I said, what's so glorious about a gamma quadrant bio-survey?\nOdo: And what did they say?\nQuark: Crafty tonight, Odo, aren't we? Looking for clues about the fate of the Klingons. If I tell you what I heard, what do I get in return?\nOdo: The chances are what you heard won't help, so why should I give you something for it?\nQuark: Because otherwise, I heard nothing.\nOdo: That damaged holosuite. Work crew seven is probably doing the repairs, am I right?\nQuark: Ah, ha.\nOdo: Well it looks as though I might have to put in a priority request for work crew seven. The bulkheads in security could use a little shoring up.\nQuark: They said they'd be coming back through the wormhole with something that would make the enemies of the Klingon Empire tremble.\nOdo: Their exact words?\nQuark: Direct quote.\nOdo: You've been most helpful.\nQuark: Don't let it get around.\nQuark: Odo?\nQuark: Doctor Bashir! Doctor Bashir! Doctor Bashir!\nBashir: Welcome back, Constable.\nOdo: How am I?\nBashir: How do you feel?\nOdo: Fine.\nBashir: Good. Because I have no way to know. Your body chemistry defies analysis.\nOdo: I don't remember anything, But I'm back to normal?\nBashir: Like I said, you tell me. I don't know what caused it, and I couldn't tell you if it'll happen again. In fact, there's really nothing more I can do here.\nOdo: Then thank you for your time, Doctor.\nBashir: Tell me, Odo, Do you share my concern about this Valerian situation?\nOdo: Concern?\nBashir: I think you know what I mean.\nOdo: Why don't you tell me and then you can be sure I know.\nBashir: Just don't be surprised if the uneasy alliance on this station starts to show a few cracks.\nOdo: What uneasy alliance?\nBashir: Commander Sisko and Kira. Mark my words, there's going to be trouble.\nOdo: What exactly are you basing all this on, Doctor?\nBashir: Very clever, Constable. But you're probably right. It's still too early to commit oneself either way.\nOdo: Are you finished with me?\nBashir: Unless you'd like to pour yourself through my phoretic analyzer. I'd love to see the results.\nOdo: Another time, perhaps.\nKira: I've got them!\nSisko: Who?\nKira: The Valerians. Their ship was at the Ultima Thule station one week ago. That confirms it. They're definitely running dolamide.\nSisko: So?\nKira: So I've got an armed team ready to board their vessel. We confiscate the material and send them back where they came from. Frankly, I'm half-tempted to take them to Bajor and press charges.\nSisko: By whose authority?\nKira: You're not going to do anything about this.\nSisko: I'm not. And neither are you.\nKira: That ship is acting against Bajoran interests. This station is Bajoran property.\nSisko: Commanded by a Federation officer. Commanded by me. Are you challenging that, Major?\nKira: No, sir.\nSisko: Good.\nDax: Short-range sensors are picking up some debris.\nO'Brien: Looks like duranium alloy. Probably pieces of the Klingon's secondary hull.\nDax: It's possible their mission recorder is somewhere in the debris. The magnetic field from the duranium could be masking it.\nO'Brien: Let's get a little closer. Major Kira's been awfully aggressive toward Commander Sisko lately about station policy.\nDax: An honest difference of opinion.\nO'Brien: What if it's more than a difference of opinion? What if Kira thinks the Bajorans don't need us on DS Nine? It is their station.\nDax: That would be suicidal. Without a Federation presence, Bajor would be vulnerable again to the Cardassians.\nO'Brien: That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of misguided Bajorans who think they can go it alone. You've become quite friendly with Major Kira, haven't you?\nDax: Have I? Well, yes, I suppose I have, if you say so.\nO'Brien: Well, I wouldn't get too friendly with the natives if I were you. Remember where your loyalties lie.\nDax: Of course. Benjamin and I have been close for a long time. Hand and glove. I'm on his side. No question about it. That reminds me of the time we found ourselves\nO'Brien: Good. Anyone who's against Sisko is against me. I'm picking up a weak subspace transponder signal. It's the mission recorder.\nKira: Constable.\nOdo: Can I help you, Major?\nKira: You always manage to help me, Odo. In fact, I think we work pretty well together, you and I.\nOdo: Yes, I suppose our relationship has always been cooperative.\nKira: Exactly. And that's just what I need right now. Your cooperation. I'm convinced the Valerians have dolamide on board, but the evidence is still circumstantial. I need solid proof. I want you to slip past their security systems and into their cargo bay.\nOdo: I heard that Commander Sisko was adamant about not interfering with the Valerian ship. Has he changed his mind?\nKira: Yes.\nOdo: How odd. Very well. I'll keep the two of you informed of my progress.\nKira: That won't be necessary. Commander Sisko's very busy. There's no sense in disturbing him.\nKira: I can't fool you, Odo.\nOdo: You wanted me to go behind Sisko's back, didn't you?\nKira: Forget it. Bad idea. What if you had to choose sides? Just remember who your friends are. Personal log, Miles O'Brien. Stardate 46923.1. We've managed to retrieve a portion of the Klingon Officer's journal. Of course, Major Kira heard about it immediately. She must have spies everywhere.\nKlingon: I believe the Captain has gone insane. He executed two more crew members, charging them with attempted mutiny. Medical Officer ... quarters ... violence is being caused by those telepathic energy spheres we brought back from Saltah'na. Believing him to be the Captain's spy, I slit his throat.\nSisko: I've seen enough.\nO'Brien: There's more.\nKira: The Klingon's mission must have failed. That failure caused problems on board.\nSisko: I couldn't care less what happened to a Klingon ship.\nO'Brien: The Klingons might want to know. Dax and I are setting up a data interpolation to fill in what's missing. It might take some time.\nSisko: If you have to.\nDax: The search itself is often reward enough. Benjamin, do you remember that wild\nSisko: Fine. Do whatever you have to do. Don't bother me with it.\nQuark: Here we are. A Modela aperitif. It's bright and sweet. Much like yourself, Lieutenant. I'll put it on your tab.\nKira: The bad flattery's on the house.\nQuark: The two loveliest creatures on DS Nine. I must be living correctly to be so blessed. What can I do for you, Major?\nKira: Get lost.\nQuark: As you wish.\nKira: How are you, Lieutenant?\nDax: You know what they say, put the shoe on the right foot first, but put the left foot first into the bathtub.\nKira: I understand. But what I really meant was, are you happy?\nDax: That's not a question I get asked too often.\nKira: Oh, but it should be. In my opinion, you are the most valuable officer on this station. May I?\nDax: Please.\nKira: Not bad. For Quark.\nDax: It is good.\nKira: I couldn't imagine running this station without you.\nDax: Are you trying to tell me something?\nKira: My disagreement with Sisko over the Valerians is no secret. Well, you know how he gets once he's made a decision.\nDax: Yeah, it's like talking to a stone. I remember a time on Rochani Three. We were cornered by a party of Kaleans, who were not at all happy to see us, but Benjamin\nKira: You told me this story this morning.\nDax: Oh. I suppose I did.\nKira: If you were to talk to Starfleet Command, tell them how displeased the Bajorans are with Sisko's handling of this. I know they'll listen to you\nDax: I was decorated on my very first assignment. The Admiral was a Vulcan, so during the presentation ceremony\nKira: Dax. We have to keep the Valerians here until we can search their ship and confiscate the dolamide. You've got to convince Starfleet it's for the good of Bajor and the Federation.\nDax: I've been friends with Benjamin Sisko for many years. In many ways, he's like a son, or a nephew. Some kind of close relative anyway.\nKira: Jadzia, listen to me. I'm getting rid of Sisko one way or another. Don't force me to get rid of you as well.\nKira: Would you like to join us?\nQuark: Let me go!\nKira: What did you hear?\nQuark: Nothing. Nothing at all.\nKira: Good.\nOdo: Is this a Ferengi fashion I'm not aware of?\nQuark: Kira tried to tear my head off. I want to file charges.\nOdo: Tell me about it.\nQuark: I heard her plotting.\nOdo: Go on.\nQuark: She tried to convince Dax to take her side against Sisko.\nOdo: And did Dax seem persuaded?\nQuark: What difference does that make? I was attacked!\nOdo: Answer the question.\nQuark: I couldn't tell. She was on the fence.\nOdo: Doesn't Kira's behavior seem a little out of the ordinary? And the others. At the staff briefing Sisko was bored as if he couldn't be bothered about running the station. And Bashir. Since when is he so concerned about station politics?\nQuark: Don't look at me that way. I'm perfectly normal.\nOdo: Yes, I suppose you are. It's time I had a talk with Sisko.\nQuark: Odo, wait! Odo! Wait! Odo! Odo! I want satisfaction.\nKlingon: We have ... battle for decks ... through twelve. Armory ... in the hands of Captain Tel-Peh, ... my death. But I ... confident ... gain control of the ship. I am weakened by my wounds.\nOdo: Sisko?\nKlingon: My enemies are moving in. I am\nO'Brien: Come in.\nOdo: Where's Commander Sisko?\nO'Brien: In his quarters, where he's safe.\nKlingon: Still ... able to hide a thalmerite device under ... beam near the reactor ... deck twenty-six. Rather ... taken prisoner, I will blow up this ship and transport to safety. Perhaps medical officer Kee-Bhor was correct. Our ... began when we opened those energy spheres. All I know is that Captain Tel-Peh must die. Journal closed.\nOdo: It sounds like there was a power struggle on board, some sort of attempted takeover.\nO'Brien: Management by mutiny. Standard operating procedure on a Klingon vessel.\nOdo: But awfully unusual for a Federation-run space station.\nO'Brien: Don't worry. If Major Kira tries anything we'll be ready.\nOdo: When will the other log entries be available?\nO'Brien: At the current rate of processing it'll take at least seven more hours. But the computer's taking it one entry at a time. I'll set it up so you can access as it goes.\nOdo: Thank you, Chief.\nO'Brien: Of course, Constable. Don't the Commander and I always try to make you happy?\nOdo: What are you doing here?\nGuard: Chief O'Brien's orders.\nSisko: Come in.\nOdo: Commander.\nSisko: Hello, Constable. How are you today?\nOdo: Concerned, sir.\nSisko: On such a fine afternoon? How inappropriate.\nOdo: Commander, I think something might be wrong with some of us. Ever since the Klingon ship exploded and their First Officer beamed over, certain behaviors and attitudes have been abnormal. There appears to have been a mutiny on the Klingon ship. I wouldn't go so far as to say the same thing is happening on DS Nine, but I do find some disturbing parallels.\nSisko: If something's bothering you, Odo, tell it to Mister O'Brien. That's what he's there for.\nSisko: What do you think?\nOdo: What is it?\nSisko: A clock. Fascinating, isn't it?\nKira: It's not nice to keep a friend waiting.\nOdo: Did we have an appointment?\nKira: When have I ever had to stand on ceremony with you, Odo? I need your help. I took care of the Valerians.\nOdo: What do you mean?\nKira: I locked down their docking clamps. That ship isn't leaving until I say it is. O'Brien will need at least a day to do anything about it. By then, it won't matter.\nOdo: You're going after Sisko.\nKira: And O'Brien. Either we get a more reasonable commander from Starfleet, someone we can control, or we go it alone. With me running this place, you will be able to do what needs to be done. If you want to toss Quark out on his ears, toss him out. If you want to proclaim martial law on the Promenade, proclaim it. This station will be yours to protect with no interference.\nOdo: What's your plan?\nKira: Oh, Odo, I trust you more than anyone on this station because you can't be corrupted. But this is a dangerous time. I can't take any chances, even with you. When the time comes, you'll know it. I'll be counting on you.\nOdo: Computer, open a channel to Starfleet Headquarters.\nComputer: Subspace communication to Federation territories is currently unavailable.\nOdo: Why?\nComputer: By authority of Major Kira.\nOdo: Open a channel to the Bajoran Council.\nComputer: Communication to Bajor is currently unavailable.\nOdo: By authority of Chief O'Brien?\nComputer: That is correct.\nOdo: Computer, are you finished reconstructing the journal of the Klingon First officer.\nComputer: Data interpolation is complete.\nOdo: On screen. Computer, scan the journal for mention of contact with any alien race.\nComputer: One entry found.\nOdo: Play it.\nKlingon: First Officer's journal, day twenty two. Exploration of the fifth planet turned out to be a waste of time. This world is not worthy of a Klingon colony. All we found were a collection of energy spheres which possess some type of telepathic archive. The spheres described an ancient power struggle that destroyed a race called the Saltah'na. We will forward these results to our science division.\nO'Brien: Kira's already locked down the Valerian ship, and she's diverted half the station's systems to her control.\nSisko: Since when?\nO'Brien: An hour ago. I've heard some disturbing rumors from our people on the Promenade. I think she's going to make an attempt on your life.\nSisko: I want you to arrest them. Kira and every Bajoran officer on this station. I want the names of every sympathizer\nO'Brien: That's not a good idea, sir. There's a lot more of them than there are of us. If we tip our hand, it might work against us.\nSisko: What can we do?\nO'Brien: Leave the station.\nSisko: Never! Get me a phaser! I'll get rid of Kira!\nO'Brien: Hear me out, sir. We leave the station, raise a Federation attack force and return. On that day, we'll get rid of all your enemies.\nSisko: How do we proceed?\nO'Brien: I need a few more hours to free up the Valerian ship. I've already talked to their Captain. He's more than happy to take us back to Federation space.\nSisko: Call me as soon as you're ready.\nBashir: It'll take effect in two minutes. Plenty of time to get a good Plenty of time for you to get a good night's sleep.\nBajoran: Thank you, Doctor.\nBashir: Chronic insomnia. I think it's hormonal. So, how are you?\nOdo: I take it you've completed your autopsy of the Klingon.\nBashir: Of course. You know, Odo, events have been moving rapidly since our last conversation. I'd advise you to choose sides now or risk finding yourself without any friends at all.\nOdo: The Klingon, Doctor, what did you find?\nBashir: He's still dead, if that's what you mean.\nOdo: I don't have time for jokes. Your findings could determine who controls this station.\nBashir: How?\nOdo: All in good time. First, tell me about the Klingon.\nBashir: Well, I found nothing very unusual. The columnar cells in his brain stem, perhaps. The membrane permeability was off.\nOdo: What could cause that?\nBashir: Any number of things.\nOdo: Could it have something to do with telepathy? The Klingons were studying the telepathic archives of an ancient race.\nBashir: If those archives were contained in a self-sustaining energy matrix, that could explain the changes in the Klingon's brain.\nOdo: Could that energy matrix have somehow caused them to re-enact the power struggle that destroyed the Saltah'nans.\nBashir: Possibly. What are you getting at?\nOdo: Doctor, I believe the Klingon brought the matrix with him and everyone in Ops was affected except me. Without a humanoid brain, my system rejected it.\nBashir: An interesting theory, Constable, but I'm certainly not behaving out of the ordinary.\nOdo: Of course not. But what if you and I are the only two who aren't affected?\nBashir: Do you think we could use this to our advantage?\nOdo: Exactly.\nBashir: Tell me your plan.\nOdo: The first thing we have to do is figure out how to remove the field from everyone affected.\nBashir: But then we'd lose our advantage.\nOdo: Would you prefer that someone blew up the station?\nBashir: I see your point.\nOdo: The power to control the energy matrix is the power to control this station.\nBashir: If I could determine the natural resonance frequencies of this telepathic field, I might be able to generate an interference signal which could force it out.\nOdo: Do it. I promise, Doctor, you won't regret it.\nSisko: O'Brien, what's taking so long?\nO'Brien: Almost there, sir. We've got one more level of security lockouts to break through and the Valerian ship will be ready to go.\nBajoran: Commander, I have the report you asked for on those weapon scanners.\nSisko: Give it to Mister O'Brien.\nBajoran: I really think you should see this, sir.\nO'Brien: Commander!\nDax: Dax to Kira!\nSisko: Is it Kira?! Did Kira put you up to this?\nBajoran: No.\nSisko: I want the truth. Is that clear? Let's see how this works.\nKira: Put it down. Sir. Take them.\nKira: Dax, you were supposed to deactivate the transporter.\nDax: I forgot.\nO'Brien: Damn it. Kira must have set up a force field to keep us from beaming onto the Valerian ship. The transporter rerouted us here.\nSisko: We've got to get to that ship.\nO'Brien: Odo's our only chance. He might be able to override the field.\nSisko: You're sure we can trust him?\nO'Brien: I don't see we have any choice.\nSisko: Sisko to Odo.\nOdo: Odo here.\nSisko: Kira has moved against us. She has Dax on her side.\nSisko: We need your help, Constable. You've got to\nSisko: Clear us a path to the Valerian ship.\nOdo: Take crossover bridge one to the cargo bay entrance into docking port four.\nOdo: I'll keep it open for you.\nSisko: Right. Sisko out. Leave your comm. badge here. Don't look so worried, Chief. She hasn't beaten us yet.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nDax: They're still in airlock corridor six.\nKira: What could they be doing in there?\nDax: Maybe they've given up.\nKira: Sisko would rather die, which is fine with me. They must have taken off their comm. badges. That's all right. They won't get far.\nDax: Somebody's taking out our forcefields.\nKira: Whoever it is knows how to override the security codes. Kira to Odo.\nOdo: Go ahead, Major.\nKira: Whose side are you on, Constable?\nOdo: Yours, of course.\nKira: Really? Then why are you helping Sisko escape?\nOdo: On the contrary.\nOdo: You'll find him trapped in cargo bay four.\nOdo: Consider it my gift to you.\nKira: Oh, my apologies. We'll see you there.\nKira: Kira out.\nBashir: Well done. You certainly fooled her, didn't you, Constable.\nOdo: We're running out of time, Doctor.\nBashir: I'm just about finished. I've set up an ionic interference signal in cargo bay four, calibrated to lock onto the resonance frequencies of the telepathic field and drive it out of all those affected.\nOdo: And what will happen to it then?\nBashir: It'll remain suspended as long as the interference is in effect.\nOdo: That's all I need to know. Let's go.\nSisko: What's wrong?\nO'Brien: It's been sealed.\nO'Brien: I wouldn't do that, sir. You might run into Kira. She must have realized we removed our comm. badges by now.\nO'Brien: It's completely locked down. Someone's activated a level five security protocol. There's only one other person on this station besides yourself who has that kind of access.\nSisko: Odo!\nKira: Relax, Commander. He'll be here any minute.\nSisko: So, this is how it all ends.\nKira: For you.\nSisko: You know what disturbs me? The ingratitude. I offered you my kindness, my help, my leadership, and how do you repay me? With betrayal. But you won't get rid of me so easily. You see, unlike you, I understand history. My name will blaze across the stars long after your petty treacheries have been forgotten.\nKira: But you won't be here to see it.\nOdo: Major, wait!\nKira: Glad you two could make it.\nOdo: Computer, execute Odo one.\nSisko: Constable?\nOdo: Everyone grab hold of something secure.\nOdo: Welcome back, everybody. Commander's log, stardate 46924.5. With nothing to contain it, the telepathic matrix has dispersed in space. Meanwhile, I'm happy to report everything and everyone aboard DS Nine has returned to normal.\nKira: Did you really build that?\nSisko: Apparently so.\nKira: Why?\nSisko: I have no idea.\nKira: I know that none of us were really responsible for our actions, but I feel like I owe you an apology.\nSisko: For attempted mutiny.\nKira: Well, yes.\nSisko: I think we'll let it go. This time. (Sisko sets the alien timepiece going again and gazes at it."}
{"text": "Kira: We never cared what we did, as long as it annoyed the grown-ups. All inner deflector shield sub-systems are showing equal intensity.\nDax: Power balance levels are reading normal. I was a champion window breaker. On a dark night with a few rocks, I was deadly.\nKira: Er, which you are you talking about?\nDax: We're being hailed by an incoming freighter.\nKira: Open a channel. On screen. Welcome to DS Nine. I'm Major Kira Nerys.\nCaptain: This is the Kobheerian freighter Rak-Miunis, requesting permission to dock.\nKira: Docking port six is clear for approach.\nCaptain: Thank you. We have a passenger on board requiring medical assistance.\nSisko: Can you tell us what's wrong with your passenger?\nCaptain: He says it's a condition called Kalla-Nohra. It's apparently chronic, but he doesn't have his medication.\nSisko: Beam him directly to our Infirmary. we'll have our doctor standing by.\nCaptain: Thank you, Commander. Rak-Miunis out.\nDax: Dax to Infirmary.\nBashir: This is Bashir. Go ahead.\nDax: A Kobheerian transport's about to beam a patient to you. He's suffering from something called Kalla-Nohra.\nBashir: I'm not aware of it. I'll check the computer.\nKira: Commander, I'd like to go down to the Infirmary and meet that patient.\nSisko: Of course. Why?\nKira: The only cases of Kalla-Nohra I know of were the result of a mining accident at a Bajoran forced labor camp I helped liberate. The survivors of Gallitep have always been a symbol to us of strength and courage.\nSisko: By all means, Major. Take as much time as you want.\nBashir: Ah, Major. I'll be right with you.\nKira: Kira to Odo.\nOdo: Go ahead.\nKira: I'm in the Infirmary. I need security here on the double.\nOdo: I'm on my way, Major.\nBashir: What's the matter, Major.\nKira: Your patient is a criminal.\nOdo: Good afternoon. I assume this is the problem?\nMarritza: Problem?\nKira: Lock him up.\nMarritza: This is outrageous. On what charge?\nBashir: Will someone tell me what's going on? This man needs medical care.\nKira: Then give it to him in his cell.\nMarritza: I haven't done anything.\nOdo: Then why did you run?\nMarritza: I'm trying to get away from this Bajoran fanatic. Look at the hate in her eyes. She'd like to kill me.\nOdo: Oh? And why would that be?\nMarritza: Well, it's obvious. I'm a Cardassian.\nKira: He's not just any Cardassian. He's a war criminal.\nSisko: You're saying this man, what's his name?\nOdo: Marritza. Aamin Marritza.\nSisko: You're saying Marritza's on the Bajoran's list of Cardassians wanted for war crimes?\nOdo: He's not on any list I've seen, Commander, and I've got them all.\nKira: I don't care if he's listed or not.\nSisko: Hold on, Major. Marritza's traveling on a Federation ship. He comes here for a medical emergency, and we throw him into a security cell. I, for one, hope he's listed.\nKira: Commander, I know what I've done isn't exactly policy. It may not even be legal. But it's right.\nSisko: All right, Major, what do we charge him with?\nKira: I'm charging him with having contracted Kalla-Nohra.\nSisko: Do you want to explain that to me?\nKira: The only way he could have contracted that condition was to have served at the Gallitep labor camp at the time of the mining accident.\nSisko: So that makes him a war criminal, just being there?\nKira: Commander, if you'd been there twelve years ago when we liberated that camp, if you'd seen the things I saw. All those Bajoran bodies starved, brutalized. Do you know what Cardassian policy was? Oh, I'm not even talking about the murder. Murder was just the end of the fun for them. First came the humiliation, mothers raped in front of their children, husbands beaten till their wives couldn't recognize them, old people buried alive because they couldn't work anymore.\nSisko: I think I'll have a talk with our guest.\nKira: I'll come with you.\nSisko: No, Major. It'd be better if I spoke to him alone.\nSisko: How do you feel?\nMarritza: Better, thank you.\nSisko: I'm Benjamin Sisko. I'm in charge of this station.\nMarritza: Oh, finally, the Federation to the rescue. Are you going to let me out of here?\nSisko: I hope so. Tell me, how did you contract Kalla-Nohra syndrome?\nMarritza: I don't have Kalla-Nohra. I have Pottrik Syndrome.\nSisko: The freighter captain said it was Kalla-Nohra.\nMarritza: A very similar condition. Take the same medication, as a matter of fact.\nSisko: Then you didn't serve at the Gallitep labor camp?\nMarritza: Labor camp? I've never been to Bajor. I was a military file clerk. I now reside on Kora Two, where I boarded the freighter, which, unfortunately for me, came here. Now, Commander, if you have no more questions, I'd like to be on my way.\nKainon: Am I still drunk, or am I in jail with a Cardassian? Odo! You're not keeping me in here with one of those! Odo! Odo!\nMarritza: I put myself in your hands, Commander.\nSisko: Let me get this straight. You're saying that Marritza does have Kalla-Nohra?\nBashir: There's no doubt about it. He has all the symptoms. And when I ran a lower pulmonary bio-probe, it read positive.\nSisko: And you're sure he doesn't have Pottrik Syndrome.\nBashir: Yes, absolutely. If he had Pottrik's, the bio-probe would've been negative.\nSisko: Then he was at the Gallitep labor camp.\nBashir: Definitely. I've cross-checked all Bajoran and Federation medical records, and there's simply no other way he could've gotten this condition.\nKira: Kira to Sisko.\nSisko: Yes, Major.\nKira: Commander, there's an incoming transmission for you from Bajor. It's the Minister of State.\nSisko: Thank you. If you'll excuse me, Doctor.\nSisko: Minister Kaval. Good day, Sir.\nKaval: And to you, Commander. I trust you're in good health. Things are going well on the station?\nSisko: Quite well, thank you.\nKaval: That's wonderful. I'm told you've performed a special service for Bajor today. Congratulations to you.\nSisko: I don't quite follow.\nKaval: You're not holding a certain Cardassian for us?\nSisko: We are holding a Cardassian, temporarily.\nKaval: By temporarily, you mean until you're satisfied that a verified identification has been made.\nSisko: Minister, I'm not sure we have the grounds to hold him that long.\nKaval: I fully understand your concerns, Commander, but since our Major Kira's accepted responsibility in this matter, the burden is off your shoulders.\nSisko: I don't agree.\nKaval: Commander, if this Marritza was at Gallitep, we want him, and we will have him. Is that clear?\nSisko: It is.\nKaval: Good. We'll chat again soon. Good day, Commander.\nSisko: May I join you?\nKira: Actually, I was just about to pay a visit to our friend Marritza.\nSisko: That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Major. I'd like Odo to handle this investigation.\nKira: Why?\nSisko: He's our Chief of Security.\nKira: Minister Kaval put me in charge.\nSisko: Minister Kaval doesn't run this station.\nKira: And the Federation has no right telling us how to deal with our criminals.\nSisko: If it turns out that he is a criminal, then he'll be yours and you're welcome to him. Until then, he's just a traveler under suspicion.\nKira: You think this is all some personal vendetta on my part, don't you?\nSisko: I think you're too close to be objective, yes.\nKira: You're right, I'm not objective. But I'm your first officer, and I give you my word I will conduct myself accordingly. You once said we were friends. I'm asking you now as a friend, please, let me conduct this investigation. I owe it to them.\nSisko: You mean the victims.\nKira: That's right. The ones who moved too slowly and never moved again. I'm asking for all the Bajorans who can't ask. Let a Bajoran do this.\nSisko: Sisko to Odo.\nOdo: Go ahead.\nSisko: Constable, Major Kira will be in charge of the Marritza investigation.\nOdo: I understand.\nKira: Thank you.\nKira: Constable.\nKainon: It's about time you let me out.\nOdo: Try to stay out of trouble for a day or two, will you?\nKainon: I'll do my best. Oh, and Odo let me know when you hang the Cardassian.\nOdo: I've begun a background check on Marritza. So far he is what he says he is. He boarded that Kobheerian freighter at Kora Two, where he's worked as an instructor at a military academy for the past five years.\nKira: Keep looking.\nOdo: Don't worry, Major, I intend to.\nKira: I'll be with the prisoner if you need me.\nMarritza: My compliments on your replicators, Major, But this sem'hal stew could use a little yamok sauce.\nKira: I'm glad you're enjoying it.\nMarritza: I doubt that, Major. I doubt it very much.\nKira: I hope it won't disturb your dinner if I ask you a few questions.\nMarritza: And if I refuse to answer?\nKira: I'll ask them anyway.\nMarritza: Of course.\nKira: This is my job.\nMarritza: Persecuting Cardassian goes far beyond your job, Major, it's your passion.\nKira: You claim you were never at Gallitep.\nMarritza: I missed that honor.\nKira: And that your illness is not Kalla-Nohra.\nMarritza: Again, true.\nKira: Again false. Our doctor confirmed you do have Kalla-Nohra, which means you were at Gallitep. If your lies are going to be this transparent, it's going to be a very short interrogation.\nMarritza: In that case, I'll try to make my lies more opaque.\nKira: What was your rank at Gallitep? What were your duties?\nMarritza: You don't want to know.\nKira: Just answer the question.\nMarritza: You'll be disappointed.\nKira: I'll risk it.\nMarritza: I had the distinction of serving in the exalted position of filing clerk.\nKira: Filing clerk?\nMarritza: I told you you'd be disappointed. Actually, I would have preferred to avoid military service altogether, but I had the good fortune to be posted to the records office at Gallitep, and I turned out to be an exemplary file clerk. In fourteen units of service, I never misplaced or lost a record. I received numerous commendations. Gul Darhe'el himself called my computer filing system a masterpiece of meticulous exactitude. Well, there you are. My secret's out. My crimes laid bare. I await execution.\nKira: I hope we don't keep you waiting long. I never heard of a filing clerk becoming an instructor at a military academy.\nMarritza: Until now.\nKira: And what did you teach?\nMarritza: Believe it or not, filing.\nKira: I can verify that.\nMarritza: Be my guest.\nKira: I still think you're a liar.\nMarritza: So much for our search for the truth. Now we trade insults.\nKira: You admit you worked under Gul Darhe'el.\nMarritza: We all did.\nKira: I take it then you witnessed the atrocities.\nMarritza: Atrocities? What atrocities? Oh, I do vaguely recall hearing a scream from time to time. Atrocities? No.\nKira: You expect me to believe you knew nothing of the murders, the tortures? You never saw the bodies?\nMarritza: Of course I saw bodies. People died all the time at Gallitep. Mining accidents, illnesses, feuds among the workers.\nKira: You're saying Bajorans killed each other?\nMarritza: At times. Over food, a blanket, a woman. The conditions were harsh. It was a labor camp, Major.\nKira: I helped liberate that camp. I saw the bodies. I know how they died.\nMarritza: You saw what we wanted you to see. Who do you think started the rumors about brutality at Gallitep? It was Gul Darhe'el himself. Now there was a leader. Brilliant, extraordinary man. He knew that to rule by fear was to rule completely. Why bother with actual mass murders, when the mere reports of such incidents had the same effect.\nKira: Which was?\nMarritza: You know as well as I do, Major. To keep you Bajorans thinking of yourselves as victims. To keep you afraid and helpless.\nKira: Turned out we weren't so helpless. We did get rid of you.\nMarritza: Leaving was a political decision, Major. I've enjoyed reminiscing with you. Now I think it's time you let me out of here.\nKira: I can't do that.\nMarritza: Oh, no, no, no, no, of course not. No, you see you're the one who's lying now, Major. it's not the truth you're interested in. All you want is vengeance.\nDukat: Commander, I was led to believe the Federation guarantees the safe and unrestricted passage of all travelers visiting your station.\nSisko: That's correct.\nDukat: Then how do you explain the detention of a Cardassian citizen?\nSisko: Marritza came here seeking medical attention. Right now, he's under our doctor's care. All we're trying to do is to verify his identity. A simple matter, if you'll give us some assistance.\nDukat: I assure you, Commander, you don't require our assistance. If this patient says his name is Marritza, then that's who he is. I hope you're not suggesting you don't trust him simply because he's Cardassian.\nSisko: I don't trust him because he's already lied about being at Gallitep.\nDukat: Is that what you're charging him with, Commander? Lying?\nSisko: So far, we haven't charged him with anything.\nDukat: Then let him go.\nSisko: I'd like nothing better. But first I need to know who it is I'm letting go.\nDukat: I do appreciate the awkwardness of your position here, Commander. This Bajoran obsession with alleged Cardassian improprieties during the occupation is really quite distasteful.\nSisko: I suppose if you're a Bajoran, so was the occupation.\nDukat: I might remind you that neither one of us is Bajoran, and I would hate their bitterness to cause conflict between Cardassia and the Federation.\nSisko: I hope to avoid that too, with your help.\nDukat: You don't need my help to safeguard one Cardassian on your own station. If any of these Bajoran hate-mongers get their hands on him, I'll holding you personally responsible.\nDax: What are you looking for?\nKira: Answers.\nDax: Found any yet?\nKira: Marritza says I don't care about the truth. That all I want is vengeance.\nDax: Are you worried that maybe he's right?\nKira: All I want is to see him punished.\nDax: Even if he is just a file clerk?\nKira: That's just it. I don't want him to be a file clerk. I want him to be, I don't know, something worse.\nDax: You want him to be guilty.\nKira: As far as I'm concerned, if he was at Gallitep, he is guilty. They're all guilty. His punishment will let Bajor feel some satisfaction.\nDax: It sounds like you're trying too hard to believe what you're saying. You already know if you punish him without reason, it won't mean anything. And you already know vengeance isn't enough.\nO'Brien: Re-route the signal enhancement module to the main sensor array.\nNeela: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: How's it look?\nNeela: Just give me a second. I'll run a diagnostic.\nOdo: I've checked with the Bajoran archives, and they do have a Marritza on record as being a filing clerk at Gallitep. I also checked with the military academy on Kora Two. Marritza has been teaching filing there just as he claims.\nO'Brien: All set, Commander.\nSisko: Major, how many images were sent from the Bajoran archives?\nKira: Only one. It's the only picture they could find of Gallitep that had Marritza in it. The Cardassians destroyed almost all records of the occupation.\nO'Brien: The image enhancement and transformation functions are patched directly into your console.\nSisko: Major, what if this image confirms that Marritza was a filing clerk? What do you expect us to do, then?\nKira: I suppose you'll let him go.\nSisko: I'm glad we understand each other.\nDax: I've got it.\nSisko: On screen.\nSisko: Which one is Marritza?\nDax: Let's see. According to the caption, he's the one in the background on the far right.\nSisko: Isolate and magnify.\nSisko: We're going to have to do better than that.\nDax: Give me a minute. I'm running an image enhancement sequence.\nKira: It's not him.\nSisko: Are you sure we're looking at the right man?\nDax: Background, far right, Aamin Marritza.\nKira: It can't be.\nSisko: If that's Marritza, then who are we holding? Lieutenant, isolate the Cardassians in the foreground. The one in profile on the left. What can you give us?\nKira: That's him. That's Marritza.\nDax: Not according to the caption.\nKira: What do you mean?\nDax: According to this, it's Gul Darhe'el.\nMarritza: Let me guess. You've come back to learn the secret of my filing system.\nKira: I know all your secrets now.\nMarritza: Is that so.\nKira: What did you do? Did you kill the real Marritza so you could take his place? Well, you'll pay for that death and all the others you're responsible for.\nMarritza: I don't think I could pay for all of them, Major. There were so many, and you can only execute me once.\nKira: That's my only regret. But I'll settle for knowing that Bajor will finally have the satisfaction of punishing The Butcher of Gallitep.\nMarritza: Tell me, Major, did you figure it all out by yourself, or did you have help from your Federation masters?\nKira: I'll let you wonder about that. It'll keep you occupied while we're waiting for the provisional government to prepare your war crimes tribunal.\nMarritza: War crimes? How could there be war crimes when there hasn't been a war? Oh, I can understand your wish there had been a war. Your need to indulge some pathetic fantasy of brave Bajoran soldiers marching to honorable defeat. But in fact, Major, you and I know there was no war, no glory. Bajor didn't resist, it surrendered.\nKira: The Bajorans were a peaceful people before you came. We offered no threat to you. We could never understand why you had to be so brutal.\nMarritza: Well, we can't have that, Major, I want no more secrets between us. Anything you don't understand, I'll explain to you.\nKira: Thank you, but I think I've heard enough of your lies.\nMarritza: What lies? You mean my failure to divulge my true identity? Believe me, Major, I yearned to tell you but I knew how much more satisfaction you would have if find out for yourself. And that was my only deception. Marritza was a magnificent file clerk. And I, Gul Darhe'el, I hope you'll not think it immodest of me to say so, but I was a magnificent leader. You never saw Gallitep at its height. For a labor camp, it was the very model of order and efficiency. And why? For that, you have to look to the top. To me! My word, my every glance, was law and the verdict was always the same, guilty.\nKira: You're insane.\nMarritza: Oh, no, no, Major. You can't dismiss me that easily. I did what had to be done. My men understood that, and that's why they loved me. I would order them to go out and kill Bajoran scum, and they'd do it. They'd murder them and they'd come back covered in blood, but they felt clean. Now why did they feel that way, Major? Because they were clean.\nKira: You admit your atrocities.\nMarritza: I admit everything. Why not? I was the best at what I did. My accomplishments speak for themselves. Can you say the same? You and that little Shakaar resistance cell that you belonged to. All you did was annoy Cardassians, while I was out exterminating Bajorans.\nKira: Make sure you tell that to the tribunal.\nMarritza: Oh, I will.\nKira: Then they'll sentence you to death.\nMarritza: Let them. Don't you see? It doesn't change anything. Kill me, torture me, it doesn't matter. You've already lost, Major. You can never undo what I've accomplished. The dead will still be dead. What will you do now, Major? Withhold my medicine?\nOdo: Here, this will help.\nKira: What is it?\nOdo: Maraltian seev-ale from Quark's private stock. Better?\nKira: You know, Odo, I wonder how many others like Darhe'el are still out there, still free, unpunished.\nOdo: Quite a few, no doubt. But thanks to you, there's one less out there now.\nKira: You should've heard him. He bragged about what happened at Gallitep. The torture, the murders, the humiliation. He's proud of about what he did to us.\nOdo: Why don't you go to your quarters, and lie down for a while. We'll leave him alone with his Cardassian pride.\nKira: I don't want to lie down. That's what he'd like. Another Bajoran hiding in a corner. He's probably in there laughing at me right now.\nOdo: He won't be laughing very long.\nKira: I hate him, Odo. I hate his smirking, superior Cardassian face. When I was fighting with the resistance, we used to lie awake at night plotting the assassination of men like Darhe'el. Now I have to stand there and listen to him belittle the Shakaar and everything it stood for.\nOdo: Perhaps you should avoid discussing your personal history with a creature like that.\nKira: I didn't.\nOdo: Then how did he know you were with the Shakaar?\nKira: I don't know, he was an important military leader.\nOdo: That doesn't explain it. If he'd been in charge of quelling Bajoran resistance, then he might have had your name on file. But he commanded a forced labor camp. Something's not right here. Where are you going?\nKira: To have another little chat with Gul Darhe'el.\nOdo: Computer. Review all off-station requests for information regarding Major Kira Nerys within the last eight months.\nComputer: Working.\nMarritza: Oh, back to see the Butcher. Am I really so fascinating?\nKira: How did you know I was with the Shakaar?\nMarritza: This provisional government of yours certainly moves slowly. They should've dragged me away in chains by now.\nKira: Just answer the question.\nMarritza: My, my, you are a strutting little egotist. You forget the brilliance of Marritza's filing system. He made sure that I was provided with information on all your little terrorist bands. What I particularly enjoyed were the termination reports. Yes, life in a forced labor camp can be so isolating. At times I felt that I alone bore the burden of cleansing Bajor of its rabble, but those reports reassured me I was not alone.\nKira: And I'm supposed to believe you remembered my name from some report you read years ago?\nMarritza: At the risk of bruising your vanity even further, Major, I didn't remember you at all until I heard your name here. I can see that disturbs you.\nKira: Hardly.\nMarritza: You know, Major, they will be coming for me soon, so before we say goodbye, there are a few little questions I should like to ask you.\nKira: Your questions don't interest me.\nMarritza: How can you be so sure? Or are you just afraid to hear them?\nQuark: Who're they?\nOdo: Survivors of Gallitep. They arrived early this morning. I suppose they're waiting for justice.\nQuark: Gallitep. Imagine living through that hellhole. The pain, the sorrow. Do you think they like to gamble?\nOdo: Doctor, I need your help.\nBashir: Of course.\nOdo: Three months ago, a request came from Kora Two for information concerning Kira Nerys.\nBashir: To what purpose?\nOdo: I'm not sure, but the name on the request was Aamin Marritza. I've established a subspace link with Kora Two and I'd like you to access his medical history there.\nDax: Dax to Odo. Gul Dukat is responding to your subspace transmission.\nOdo: Could you route it to my office.\nDax: Aye, sir.\nDukat: I do miss working with you, Odo. I've miss our games of kalevian montar.\nOdo: As I recall, Gul Dukat, we played one game and you cheated.\nDukat: The same old Odo. Like a blunt instrument. But no to your question I regret that I cannot give you access to any of the files pertaining to Gul Darhe'el, but I assure you the files would only tell you what I'm telling you. Gul Darhe'el is dead.\nOdo: That's not possible.\nDukat: I attended his funeral myself. As a matter of fact, he's buried under one of the largest military monuments on Cardassia.\nOdo: Then who are we holding here?\nDukat: Some innocent Cardassian citizen, just as I explained to your Commander Sisko. And we want him released.\nOdo: That innocent citizen has admitted he is Gul Darhe'el.\nDukat: What are you saying?\nOdo: He says his name is Gul Darhe'el.\nDukat: Then he's lying!\nOdo: Well if he is, it's the most foolish lie he could have invented. It's likely to get him executed. Why would anyone do such a thing?\nDukat: I don't know. But I tell you I attended Darhe'el's funeral.\nOdo: You're sure the man you saw buried was Gul Darhe'el?\nDukat: Half of Cardassia viewed his body,\nOdo: I saw a photograph of Darhe'el taken at the Gallitep labor camp. It certainly appears to be the man we're holding.\nDukat: You're mistaken.\nOdo: Am I?\nDukat: This is obviously some plot to embarrass the Cardassian Empire.\nOdo: It's possible. Give me access to your files and perhaps I can find some proof to support your claim that Gul Darhe'el is dead.\nDukat: I suppose I could grant you limited access to the files.\nOdo: I think that's wise.\nKira: I was twelve when I started fighting but I've heard of some who were even younger than that.\nMarritza: Yes, yes, let's get to the real issue. How many Cardassians did you kill? I mean personally.\nKira: I didn't keep count.\nMarritza: Oh, I think you did. And I'm sure your total wasn't limited to military personnel. After all, the most effective terrorist weapon was random violence. Don't leave now, Major, it's just getting good. How many Cardassian civilians did you kill?\nKira: Look, I regret a lot of what I had to do.\nMarritza: How convenient of you.\nKira: We had no choice! We were fighting for survival!\nMarritza: So were we! We had an empire to protect. We needed your resources. Everything I did was for the greater glory of Cardassia! And if you spineless scum had to be ground under, so much the better. All that mattered was Cardassia. I loved my homeland. That's what justified my actions, that's what gave me my strength.\nKira: Nothing justifies genocide.\nMarritza: What you call genocide, I call a day's work.\nOdo: Major? Could I have a word with you?\nOdo: Doctor Bashir and I have done some checking. I don't know why yet, but the man in that cell wanted to be caught.\nOdo: This certificate of death was in the file sent to me by Gul Dukat.\nSisko: According to this, Gul Darhe'el died in his sleep six years ago. Cause of death, massive coleibric hemorrhage.\nKira: Commander, I guarantee you that's a forged document. I think it's pretty clear what's going on here. The Cardassians are trying trick us into letting him go.\nSisko: I wouldn't put it past our friend Gul Dukat.\nOdo: Nor would I. However\nKira: The man in there confessed he is Gul Darhe'el.\nOdo: Major, the man in there has Kalla-Nohra Syndrome.\nKira: Of course he does.\nOdo: According to the evidence I've been sent, Gul Darhe'el never contracted that condition.\nKira: More evidence from our trustworthy Gul Dukat.\nSisko: What've you got, Constable?\nOdo: Darhe'el's progress reports from Gallitep show that when the mining accident occurred, he was back on Cardassia being awarded the Proficient Service Medallion.\nSisko: If he wasn't at Gallitep on the day of the accident, then he couldn't have contracted Kalla-Nohra.\nOdo: Correct. But the man we're holding does have it.\nKira: I can't believe I'm listening to this.\nOdo: I'm afraid there's more, Major. I inquired about his last two weeks on Kora Two. He resigned his position at the military academy, put all his affairs in order, and even provided handsomely for his housekeeper, I understand\nKira: All right, all right. So like any criminals, he wanted to move on before somebody traced his whereabouts.\nOdo: He specifically requested passage on a vessel that was scheduled to stop here, at a Bajoran station. A rather unusual request for a Cardassian war criminal.\nSisko: Unless he wanted to be captured.\nKira: Wait a minute. Let's be clear about one thing. This evidence may raise some interesting questions. Nevertheless, Darhe'el is going to be sent back to Bajor to stand trial for the atrocities he committed.\nSisko: Major, that is still to be determined.\nKira: Then go talk to him. If you still have any doubts, just listen to what he has to say. He was there. He did it. He'll tell you about it.\nBashir: Constable, I've checked on Marritza's medical record.\nSisko: What have we got?\nBashir: He's been under treatment for Kalla-Nohra Syndrome, of course, and a few other minor ailments, most relating to his age. It's all pretty standard, actually, except for one thing.\nOdo: Which is?\nBashir: Five years ago, after arriving on Kora Two, he started taking massive doses of a dermatiraelian plastiscine, which is a dermal regenerative agent used to maintain skin resilience after cosmetic alteration.\nKira: You're saying he changed his face to look like Gul Darhe'el.\nBashir: It certainly appears that way.\nKira: How are you feeling?\nMarritza: I was starting to get a little bored, but seeing you again brightens my day.\nKira: I was referring to your Kalla-Nohra Syndrome. Would you like see Doctor Bashir?\nMarritza: Oh, so that's it. You want to see me writhe around on the floor in pain. A Cardassian would never put on such a deplorable display in front of a Bajoran. You just don't understand us at all.\nKira: I'm beginning to understand a great deal about you. One thing does puzzle me.\nMarritza: And what would that be?\nKira: How you contracted Kalla-Nohra syndrome.\nMarritza: Did you think that the mining accident only affected the Bajoran laborers, and not their Cardassian masters? That would be very nice.\nKira: So you're saying you were at Gallitep when that mining accident occurred?\nMarritza: Of course. Why are we going over this again?\nKira: Because your own progress reports shows that you were back on Cardassia at the time of the accident.\nMarritza: That's ridiculous.\nKira: Receiving your Proficient Service Medallion.\nMarritza: The reports are wrong.\nKira: I can show them to you.\nMarritza: That won't be necessary. I know where I was.\nKira: Why were you taking a dermal regenerative?\nMarritza: I don't know what you're talking about.\nKira: Then let me help you. Five years ago when you first got to Kora Two\nMarritza: All right, that's enough. Your presence no longer amuses me. Get out.\nKira: Why did you have your face altered?\nMarritza: Security, get this woman out of here!\nKira: Why are you pretending to be Gul Darhe'el?\nMarritza: Why don't you ask me something intelligent, as for instance how I did I feel when we were withdrawing from Bajor? The answer is, I was furious! The thought of leaving any survivors behind was repulsive to me. So while our useless office clerks were packing their precious files, I ordered my overseers to begin slaughtering the laborers.\nKira: If you felt that way about your filing clerks, why did you take Marritza's name?\nMarritza: My plan was to do nothing less than kill every Bajoran in the camp! And to this day, my one regret is that I was not able to accomplish this honorable goal.\nKira: You're Marritza, aren't you?\nMarritza: You mistake me for that bug? That whimpering nothing? Oh, you stupid Bajoran girl, don't you know who I am? I'm your nemesis, I'm your nightmare. I'm the Butcher of Gallitep.\nKira: The Butcher of Gallitep died six years ago. You're Aamin Marritza, his filing clerk.\nMarritza: That's not true. I am alive. I'll always be alive. It's Marritza who's dead. Marritza, who was only good for cowering under his bunk and weeping like a woman. Who, every night, covered his ears because he couldn't bear to hear the screaming for mercy of the Bajorans.\nMarritza: I covered my ears every night. I couldn't bear to hear those horrible screams. You have no idea what it's like to be a coward, to see these horrors and do nothing. Marritza's dead. He deserves to be dead.\nMarritza: What are you doing?\nKira: I'm letting you go.\nMarritza: Security? Get in here!\nKira: You didn't commit those crimes, and you couldn't stop them. You were only one man.\nMarritza: No, don't you see? I have to be punished. We all have to be punished. Major, you have to go out and tell them I'm Gul Darhe'el. It's the only way.\nKira: Why are you doing this?\nMarritza: For Cardassia. Cardassia will only survive if it stands in front of Bajor and admits the truth. My trial will force Cardassia to acknowledge its guilt. And we're guilty, all of us. My death is necessary.\nKira: What you're asking for is another murder. Enough good people have already died. I won't help kill another.\nKira: You should be back on Kora Two in three days.\nMarritza: There's nothing for me to go back to.\nKira: We've contacted officials there. They'll be waiting to help you.\nMarritza: If they believed that I was Gul Darhe'el, then my trial might have helped bring about a new Cardassia. Now you've told them I was just a file clerk.\nKira: What you tried to do was very honorable. If Cardassia is going to change, it's going to need people like you.\nKira: Why? He wasn't Darhe'el! Why?\nKainon: He's a Cardassian. That's reason enough.\nKira: No! It's not."}
{"text": "O'Brien: Try one. You'll like it.\nKeiko: Too early for me\nO'Brien: You sure?\nKeiko: It's so sweet.\nO'Brien: It's a natural sweetness from the sap of the jumja tree. It's full of vitamin C.\nKeiko: Since when did you become such an expert on jumja sticks?\nO'Brien: Oh, Neela told me.\nKeiko: Did she? So, is she working out any better than the last one?\nO'Brien: Who, Neela? She's terrific. She's even taught me a thing or two.\nKeiko: I'm glad to hear her expertise doesn't end with jumja sticks .\nO'Brien: No, she's a good engin Hold on.\nKeiko: What?\nO'Brien: Well, you're not thinking? Well, Keiko.\nKeiko: Just keeping you on your toes, O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Oh, very funny.\nKeiko: Be careful who you share your jumja with.\nKeiko: Now, as we discussed in yesterday's lesson, the wormhole was diskovered by Commander Sisko and Lieutenant Dax earlier this year. Does anyone know what makes this wormhole so unusual? Jake?\nJake: It's stable?\nKeiko: It's stable. That's right, Jake. It's the first stable wormhole known to exist.\nWinn: Please, continue.\nKeiko: A stable wormhole is very important because it allows us to travel secure in the knowledge that neither end will shift locations. Who knows why the wormhole is stable? Because it was artificially constructed. Commander Sisko encountered the entities who created the wormhole when he\nWinn: Excuse me. By entities, do you not mean the Prophets?\nKeiko: Yes, on Bajor the entities are worshiped as prophets. Our studies of the wormhole have shown that it was formed by unique particles we call verterons that are apparently self-sustaining in nature. This begins to explain how a ship at impulse can safely pass through\nWinn: Ships are safely guided through the passage by the hands of the Prophets.\nKeiko: In a manner of speaking.\nWinn: Not apparently in your manner of speaking.\nKeiko: Perhaps we should discuss this after class.\nWinn: Do you believe the Celestial Temple of the Prophets exists within the passage?\nKeiko: I respect that the Bajoran people believe that it does.\nWinn: But that's not what you teach.\nKeiko: No, I don't teach Bajoran spiritual beliefs. That's your job. Mine is to open the children's minds to history, to literature, to mathematics, to science.\nWinn: You are opening the children's minds to blasphemy, and I cannot permit it to continue.\nO'Brien: Sorry I couldn't get here sooner. Another fusion reactor went down. How's it going?\nNeela: Done.\nO'Brien: Done? Did you remember to re-initialize the isolinear coprocessor?\nNeela: I did it exactly like you showed me. Should I test it?\nO'Brien: Let me. You know us old folks. We like to feel useful.\nO'Brien: Not bad, not bad at all. If you keep this up, I'll be out of a job.\nNeela: I doubt that.\nO'Brien: Let's close it up.\nO'Brien: Not that one. That's a security seal. You need an E-J-Seven interlock to close it.\nNeela: E-J-Seven?\nO'Brien: It's okay, I have one here.\nO'Brien: Bloody hell.\nNeela: What's wrong?\nO'Brien: My E-J-Seven's missing. It was here yesterday.\nNeela: Maybe you left it in Ops.\nO'Brien: No, I don't misplace my tools.\nSisko: I'm not exactly surprised.\nKeiko: You knew this was going to happen?\nSisko: A confrontation like this was inevitable. Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever find the common ground we need to bring Bajor into the Federation.\nSisko: Major, would you join us?\nSisko: We've been talking about an incident this morning at school.\nKira: I heard. Vedek Winn has been meeting with some of the Bajoran civilians about it.\nSisko: What do you know about her?\nKira: She's from an orthodox order. She has some support to become the next Kai. Probably not enough.\nKeiko: The question is, how much support does she have on this station?\nKira: She has mine.\nKeiko: You can't possibly believe teaching the facts about the wormhole amounts to blasphemy?\nKira: I think some revisions in the school curriculum might be appropriate. You teach a lot of Bajoran children.\nKeiko: I'm not going to let a Bajoran spiritual leader dictate what can or can't be taught in my classroom.\nKira: Then maybe we need two schools on the station. One for the Bajoran children, another for the Federation.\nSisko: If we start separating Bajoran and Federation interests\nKira: A lot of Bajoran and Federation interests are separate, Commander. I've been telling you that all along.\nSisko: Nobody's saying that there can't be spiritual teaching on this station, Major, but can't it be in addition to what's taught in Mrs O'Brien's classroom?\nKira: But if she's teaching a fundamentally different philosophy\nKeiko: I'm not teaching any philosophy. What I'm trying to teach is pure science.\nKira: Some might say pure science, taught without a spiritual context, is a philosophy, Mrs O'Brien.\nSisko: My philosophy is that there is room for all philosophies on this station. Now, how do you suggest we deal with this?\nKira: I'm not sure you can.\nWinn: I can't tell you how much I've looked forward to this moment. I'm honored to meet the Emissary to the Prophets.\nSisko: If you'd let me know you were coming, Vedek Winn, I would have greeted you sooner.\nWinn: I did not wish to bother you with my insignificant visit.\nSisko: I'd hardly call it insignificant.\nWinn: Thank you, Emissary.\nSisko: I wish you wouldn't call me that. I'm Commander Sisko or Benjamin, if you like.\nWinn: But you are the Emissary. Don't you know the cherished place you have earned in the Bajoran spiritual life?\nSisko: I'm not sure I'm comfortable in that role.\nWinn: The course the Prophets choose for us may not always be comfortable. But we must follow it.\nWinn: May I? Still the disbeliever. I once asked Kai Opaka why a disbeliever was destined to seek the Prophets, and she told me one should never look into the eyes of one's own gods. I disagreed. I told her I would do anything to look into their eyes. She suggested that I sit in darkness for a day and quite properly so. She cannot be replaced and I miss her deeply.\nSisko: It's important to me that we resolve your problems with the school.\nWinn: The prophets have spoken to me through the orbs, Emissary. I understand my duty to defend the Bajoran faith. The teacher has dishonored the Celestial Temple. If she does not recant, I cannot be responsible for the consequences.\nNeela: This still seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through to find one tool.\nO'Brien: With that interlock, someone could access every critical system on the station.\nDax: Chief, have you seen Ensign Aquino recently?\nO'Brien: No, now that you mention it.\nDax: He didn't report for duty this morning. The computer says he's not on the station, but he didn't log out.\nO'Brien: Have you talked to Odo?\nDax: I guess I'd better.\nNeela: Scanners are ready.\nO'Brien: Computer, show location of any independent tritanium sources.\nNeela: Level three, section five.\nO'Brien: That's the tool locker. I've been through everything in there three times. What's that?\nNeela: Looks like something in a power conduit on level twelve, section eight.\nO'Brien: What would tritanium be doing in there? Computer, shut down that conduit. Reroute power flow.\nComputer: Conduit deactivated.\nO'Brien: Come on.\nNeela: Over here, Chief.\nO'Brien: That's a tritanium composite, all right. Looks like our missing interlock.\nNeela: It must have been melted by the conduit's plasma flow.\nO'Brien: That still doesn't explain how it got here in the first place. Hey, I'm picking up traces of organic material. Whatever it was, it's been pretty well cooked by this conduit. Let's take a sample to Doctor Bashir, see what he can make of it.\nO'Brien: Ensign Aquino made a log entry the night he disappeared about some sort of plasma flow irregularity in the conduit. He indicated he was going to fix it.\nKeiko: So it was an accident.\nO'Brien: Well, I guess so. Bashir has confirmed that the remains were human.\nO'Brien: I'm sure the DNA trace will show it's Aquino. I'll have one, please, unless you're feeling adventurous today.\nVendor: Sorry, we're all out.\nO'Brien: What? What are all these?\nVendor: These aren't for sale.\nO'Brien: Not for sale, huh?\nO'Brien: How would you like a jumja stick\nKeiko: Miles.\nOdo: Is there a problem?\nO'Brien: You're damned right there is.\nVendor: I don't have to sell anything to them if I don't want to.\nOdo: Why wouldn't you want to sell to them?\nKeiko: Miles, can we go? Let's go.\nVendor: Seek the Prophets.\nOdo: Seek them yourself.\nO'Brien: Maybe you were right. Maybe we've no business here. I'll put in for a transfer and\nKeiko: No. I can't run away from this now. What's this?\nWinn: If we abandon the Prophets, then everything we have. Here's Mrs O'Brien now.\nKeiko: Good morning.\nWinn: Are you Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: That's right.\nWinn: A pleasure to meet you. I've just been hearing many wonderful things about your wife from the parents of these children. She apparently is an excellent teacher.\nO'Brien: Yes, she is, and she doesn't deserve what you're doing to her.\nWinn: I feel your anger toward me, and I forgive you for it. Mrs O'Brien, if I've misjudged you, I am terribly sorry. Have I? Is there a place in your school for the Prophets?\nKeiko: No.\nWinn: I admire you for standing by your convictions even though I disagree with them. Please believe me, I want to find a way to allow these children to stay in your school.\nKeiko: I'm sure the children and their parents are happy to hear you say that.\nWinn: Let me be the one to make the first concession. I will no longer request that you teach anything about the Celestial Temple. Just don't teach anything about the wormhole at all.\nKeiko: Ignore it?\nWinn: Find other ways, other things to teach the children.\nKeiko: And when we get to theories of evolution or creation of the universe, what then?\nWinn: We'll face those issues when we come to them.\nKeiko: I'm a teacher. My responsibility is to expose my students to knowledge, not hide it from them. The answer is no.\nWinn: I've tried to be reasonable.\nSisko: If Aquino turned off the conduit to fix the relay, why did it reactivate.\nO'Brien: The Cardassians only equipped those power conduits with one flow regulator per level. The computer could've realigned it. When the power flow was rerouted back, it could've caught him inside.\nDax: You don't sound entirely convinced.\nO'Brien: No, it all adds up only, well, I don't know.\nSisko: Spit it out, Chief.\nO'Brien: He borrowed one of my tools without asking.\nKira: It was four in the morning. Maybe he didn't want to disturb you.\nO'Brien: The repairs could've waited. He was a Starfleet engineer. You don't take a Chief's tools without asking. It's unheard of.\nOdo: Are you suggesting it might not have been an accident?\nO'Brien: I don't know what I'm suggesting. I only know what I know. He should've asked.\nSisko: Constable, maybe you ought to take a closer look into this. Dismissed. Hi.\nJake: Can I talk to you for a minute.\nSisko: Sure. I heard about what happened at school. Did Mrs O'Brien call off classes?\nJake: No. There was only me and four other kids left, but she still kept the school open. She changed the lesson to teach us about Galileo. Did you know that he was tried by the Inquisition for teaching that the Earth moved around the sun?\nSisko: Tried and convicted. His books were burned.\nJake: How could anyone be so stupid?\nSisko: It's easy to look back seven centuries and judge what was right and wrong.\nJake: But the same thing is happening now with all this stuff about the Celestial Temple in the wormhole. It's dumb.\nSisko: No, it's not. You've got to realize something, Jake. For over fifty years, the one thing that allowed the Bajorans to survive the Cardassian occupation was their faith. The Prophets were their only source of hope and courage.\nJake: But there were no Prophets. They were just some aliens that you found in the wormhole.\nSisko: To those aliens, the future is no more difficult to see than the past. Why shouldn't they be considered Prophets?\nJake: Are you serious?\nSisko: My point is, it's a matter of interpretation. It may not be what you believe, but that doesn't make it wrong. If you start to think that way, you'll be acting just like Vedek Winn, Only from the other side. We can't afford to think that way, Jake. We'd lose everything we've worked for here\nJake: You're worried, aren't you? What're you going to do?\nSisko: I'm not sure, but I think I've got to find some help.\nBareil: I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, Commander.\nSisko: Vedek Bareil?\nBareil: No need to pay tribute to me.\nSisko: Pay tribute? I was just. Usually when I meet one of Bajor's spiritual leaders, the first thing they do is grab my\nBareil: Ear? It's unpleasant, isn't it?\nSisko: I've been far too polite to admit it.\nBareil: I was five the first time one of the monks grabbed my ear. He was a stern old crow who could virtually squeeze the pagh out of you with his thumb and forefinger, and as a chronic misbehaver I was his favorite victim. I swore one of my life's goals would be to do away with that archaic ritual.\nSisko: You can count on the Federation's support.\nBareil: I hope you don't mind if I do a little planting while we talk. All those hours of listening to a hundred and twelve vedeks talking at once made me yearn for the sanctity of my arboretum.\nSisko: Is this yours?\nBareil: I began my service at the monastery as the gardener. I had no other ambition but to grow the most lovely Feloran bromeliads on the planet. Unfortunately, the Prophets did not allow me that peaceful life. I understand my friend Vedek Winn has brought her blessings to your station.\nSisko: I was hoping you might be able to arrange an audience with the Assembly so I could discuss our school.\nBareil: Why me?\nSisko: You are the leading candidate to become the next Kai. Your ideology is quite different than Vedek Winn's.\nBareil: You have been correctly informed. I'm sorry, Commander. The Vedek Assembly will not see you.\nSisko: Why not?\nBareil: Some fear you as the symbol of a Federation they view as godless. Some fear you as the Emissary who has walked with the Prophets. And some fear you because Vedek Winn told them to. We're all very good conjuring up enough fear to justify whatever we want to do. Today, I am only a Vedek. If the Prophets will it, someday I may be Kai, and I can be a better friend to you then.\nSisko: In other words, being my friend now might hurt your chances.\nBareil: The Prophets teach us patience.\nSisko: It appears they also teach you politics.\nBareil: I'm sorry you made this long trip for nothing, Commander. Please stay and enjoy the gardens as long as you like.\nSisko: Is it my imagination or are we a little short handed today?\nKira: Three Bajoran crewmen didn't report for duty. They said they weren't feeling well.\nSisko: Do you think it's contagious, Major?\nKira: It's too early to tell.\nSisko: Are your people willing to throw away everything we've accomplished during the past seven months?\nKira: Everyone knows if the Federation leaves the Cardassians will be back.\nSisko: With all due respect, Major, protecting your borders is not the primary reason the Federation is here and it's not why I'm here. I'm here to build a trusting relationship with your people and I'd like to start feeling that somebody, somebody on your side is giving something back to that effort.\nKira: I think I've given you all the support I can, short of\nSisko: It's not enough.\nKira: I thought there was room for all philosophies on this station.\nSisko: You tell our sick Bajoran crewmen they better get well immediately or they'll recover on their way to their next assignment.\nKira: Yes. Sir.\nOdo: Commander, Doctor Bashir has found some new evidence about Ensign Aquino you should see.\nBashir: Sir, I've finally managed to reconstruct the victim's DNA. It's definitely Aquino, but the power flow in the conduit didn't kill him. You see, the plasma disruption in his cellular membranes indicates that he was exposed to a directed energy diskharge before he was placed in the conduit.\nO'Brien: A directed energy diskharge? From a phaser?\nOdo: Set to kill.\nSisko: Could this murder be related in any way to the tensions over the school issue?\nKira: If you're suggesting he was killed by a Bajoran just because he was with the Federation, I\nBashir: The analysis proves he was killed the night before Vedek Winn arrived. There wasn't any school issue yet.\nSisko: Any ideas about a motive? All right, then let's start from the beginning. Ensign Aquino goes to repair to a power conduit.\nOdo: One moment, Commander. I'm not convinced of that.\nKira: But the log\nOdo: It could have been altered by our killer to cover his tracks. I've checked the turbolift records the night of the murder. Aquino did take a turbolift to level three, but not to the power conduit where he was found.\nDax: Where did he go?\nOdo: Runabout pad C.\nO'Brien: A runabout? What was he doing at a runabout at four in the morning?\nOdo: Apparently, he was getting murdered.\nO'Brien: Everything in the runabout seems to be perfectly normal.\nNeela: It doesn't look like the airlock systems have been tampered with.\nO'Brien: Let's run a level one diagnostic of the runabout's computer interface, then we'll call it a day.\nNeela: I already have. Everything's normal.\nO'Brien: I don't even know what we're looking for. If something happened around here, it's been pretty well covered up.\nNeela: Did you know him well?\nO'Brien: Aquino? Barely at all. Just the welcome aboard, if you need anything speech. You?\nNeela: Not really. Bajoran and Starfleet officers don't really socialize that much.\nO'Brien: How come?\nNeela: I don't know. I guess we just keep to ourselves.\nO'Brien: You're not like that with me.\nNeela: You're not like the others. You know. You don't put on any airs. You're just nicer.\nO'Brien: Look, I'll close up here. Why don't you take off?\nNeela: You sure?\nO'Brien: Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure.\nNeela: Good night.\nO'Brien: On your toes, O'Brien.\nQuark: You were looking for me? Don't tell me. There's a Bajoran convention on the station I didn't know about? Thanks, Odo. I need to call in more dabo girls\nOdo: It's not a convention. They're from an orthodox spiritual order coming to support Vedek Winn's efforts to keep the Bajoran children out of school.\nQuark: Orthodox? In that case, I'll need twice as many dabo girls. These spiritual types love those dabo girls.\nOdo: This is not what I wanted to talk to you about. What do you know about the murder of Ensign Aquino?\nQuark: You wound me. All the years together. I thought you knew me. Odo, I am not a killer.\nOdo: No, but most of your friends are.\nQuark: True, and I would gladly sell one of them to you if I could. But unfortunately, none of them have taken credit for the death of the Starfleet officer. Sorry.\nO'Brien: Odo!\nOdo: Keep your ears open.\nQuark: Are you kidding? That's the seventh rule of acquisition.\nO'Brien: This is a security bypass module.\nOdo: You found it at runabout pad C?\nO'Brien: No, that's just it. It wasn't at pad C. That was clean as a whistle. Just to be safe, I ran a diagnostic across the board. This showed up at runabout pad A.\nOdo: Pad A.\nO'Brien: Aquino never went anywhere near pad A. It doesn't make sense.\nOdo: On the contrary, it makes perfect sense. Ensign Aquino goes to runabout C because some sensor shows an anomaly in the security net there. He interrupts whoever is tampering with it and is killed. The killer puts the body in the conduit and instead of going back to pad C, which might be traced with Aquino's turbolift log, he changes his plan and moves to pad A.\nO'Brien: But what was the plan? Everything else seems normal.\nOdo: I'd guess somebody wanted to steal a runabout.\nO'Brien: We're not missing any.\nOdo: It's curious. He goes to a lot of trouble to defeat the security net and then doesn't go through with\nO'Brien: The school!\nO'Brien: Keiko! Keiko!\nKeiko: Miles!\nSecurity: Stand back, please. Clear the way.\nSisko: What've you got?\nKira: I'm reading traces of cabrodine and infernite, common explosives, both easily obtained.\nOdo: Then we're looking at a simple home-made bomb.\nWinn: Where is Mrs O'Brien?\nSisko: Her husband took her home.\nWinn: Was she hurt? Was anyone hurt?\nSisko: No.\nWinn: The Prophets have been kind today.\nSisko: The Prophets had nothing to do with what happened here today. This was the work of a disturbed and violent mind who listened to your voice, not the Prophets.\nWinn: Is the Emissary holding me responsible for this act of terrorism?\nSisko: The Commander of this station is.\nWinn: May the Prophets forgive you for abandoning them.\nSisko: You claim the Prophets as your personal constituency, Vedek Winn. I'm not convinced that's justified. Who do you speak for? An order that is barely listened to in your Assembly. So you come here looking for a more receptive audience.\nWinn: Is that what your friend Vedek Bareil told you? He's as misguided as you are. No, that's not fair. You are not simply misguided as I once thought. Now I see that you want nothing less than to destroy us.\nSisko: Destroy you?\nWinn: You live without a soul, Commander. You and your Federation exist in a universe of darkness and you would drag us in there with you. But we will not go.\nSisko: You have just made your first mistake, Vedek.\nWinn: Have I?\nSisko: The Bajorans who have lived with us on this station, who have worked with us for months, who helped us move this station to protect the wormhole, who joined us to explore the Gamma Quadrant, who have begun to build the future of Bajor with us. These people know that we are neither the enemy nor the devil. We don't always agree. We have some damn good fights, in fact. But we always come away from them with a little better understanding and appreciation of other. You won't succeed here. The school will reopen. And when your rhetoric gets old, the Bajoran parents will bring their children back.\nWinn: We'll see.\nSisko: How is she, Chief?\nO'Brien: She's pretty shaken up, sir, but she's planning to hold classes tomorrow in one of the small cargo bays, if that's okay.\nSisko: You tell her Jake'll be there on time.\nO'Brien: It'll make her feel a lot better to hear that, sir.\nSisko: Anything new on Aquino?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. I found a security bypass module at runabout pad A. It looks like someone might have wanted to steal a runabout. That's probably why Aquino went there in the first place. I've put security seals in place at all three pads and I'm checking for any other anomalies.\nDax: Benjamin. There's an incoming transmission from Vedek Bareil on board a Bajoran transport.\nSisko: On screen\nBareil: Commander, I've decided to accept your gracious invitation.\nSisko: Invitation?\nBareil: You did invite me to tour your facility?\nSisko: Yes, yes, of course, Vedek. We'd be honored. Unfortunately, we have some damage on our Promenade. We won't have time to clean up before you arrive.\nBareil: Yes. I heard about it. Perhaps I can help you clean it up.\nSisko: That would be very much appreciated.\nBareil: It's the least a friend can do. I look forward to seeing you again.\nWinn: My dear, you should not be here.\nNeela: Vedek, they found out about the runabout.\nWinn: I see.\nNeela: I have no way to escape.\nWinn: Then we must accept that as the will of the Prophets.\nNeela: But if I go through with this now, I will be caught and executed.\nWinn: The sacrifices the Prophets call on us to make are great sometimes, my dear, but the rewards they give will last through eternity.\nO'Brien: What the hell? Computer, identify subprogram labeled ANA\nComputer: That file is protected by a personal security access code.\nO'Brien: On whose authority?\nComputer: Chief of Operations Miles O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Me? I never saw this file before. Override command.\nComputer: Unable to comply. State security code to release protection.\nO'Brien: Lieutenant, I've got to do a manual isolation of an anomalous file. It's in the security field subsystem, labeled ANA.\nDax: That file is going to be protected by a series of encryption sequences. I'll run an adaptive program.\nO'Brien: For once we're lucky for once we're working with a Cardassian computer. It shouldn't have any more than seven sequences.\nDax: Beginning decryption.\nO'Brien: Online. Patched to subroutine ANA.\nOdo: Clear the way. Clear the way, please.\nO'Brien: That's it! Computer, access subprogram ANA. code four one zero zero R L X.\nComputer: Accessing.\nO'Brien: Identify commands within the file.\nComputer: Commands are sequential overrides of security fields approaching runabout pad A.\nO'Brien: The forcefields. Display sequence on screen.\nDax: Right to the Promenade.\nO'Brien: Computer, run a level three sensor sweep through the Promenade. Report any anomalous reading.\nComputer: Working.\nO'Brien: An escape route.\nDax: Escape from what?\nO'Brien: You got me.\nComputer: One anomalous reading detected.\nO'Brien: Identify.\nComputer: A subspace relay was activated in the Security Office nine minutes, seven seconds ago.\nO'Brien: Activated to do what?\nComputer: Unknown. Insufficient data.\nO'Brien: I'm going down there.\nDax: I'll run a diagnostic on the other security systems, and I'll call you as soon as I have anything.\nO'Brien: Promenade.\nWinn: I expected you sooner, Bareil.\nBareil: It seems our paths have grown apart. Perhaps we can bring them together again.\nWinn: I would like nothing better than that.\nBareil: Come with me to the school. Let us both show our commitment to a peaceful resolution to this series of events.\nWinn: Of course.\nO'Brien: Computer, is the subspace device integrated into the isolinear coprocessor?\nComputer: Confirmed.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Dax.\nDax: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: It's in the isolinear co-processor.\nDax: Didn't you just repair that unit two days ago?\nO'Brien: Yes, I did. With Neela.\nBareil: Looking around at your faces, I believe you feel the shame that I feel at this sight.\nO'Brien: No, it's got to be the weapon detectors in the Promenade. That's the only thing those co-processors could possibly affect.\nDax: All weapon detectors appear to be functional, Chief.\nO'Brien: That's got to be it. She's real. She's real good. She could make it look like they're normal. It's got to be the weapon detectors. O'Brien to Sisko\nBareil: Once our world was a center of learning. It attracted travelers from many other worlds\nSisko: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien: I'm not entirely sure.\nO'Brien: I think the weapon detectors on the Promenade may have been disabled.\nSisko: What do you mean, you're not sure?\nO'Brien: I mean, Neela may have disabled them.\nSisko: Your assistant?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nBareil: To reject violence as a solution, to join hands with all peoples and begin to trust again.\nSisko: No!\nNeela: The Prophets spoke. I answered their call. The Prophets spoke! I answered their call!\nKira: It was all to get him here, wasn't it? The school, the protests, the bombing. You knew that would get him out of the monastery. You did it all to kill him, to stop him from becoming Kai.\nSisko: Neela insists she acted alone, unless you want to consider the Prophets co-conspirators.\nKira: She'll never tell us the truth. We'll never be able to prove that Winn was involved.\nSisko: You okay?\nKira: Okay? I've forgotten okay. I haven't seen okay in what seems like years. I was just sitting here thinking. Last year at this time, I was fighting the Cardassians in some nameless swamp. If you'd stopped by and told me that just one year later they'd be gone, I'd be wearing a uniform, up here in charge of protecting some\nSisko: Protecting your Celestial Temple.\nKira: I envied Vedek Winn because she was a true believer. I wanted my faith to be as strong as hers.\nSisko: Maybe it is. I've got a report to put together for Starfleet. You ought to get some rest.\nKira: I'd rather help you. Commander, I heard what you said to Vedek Winn at the school. I just wanted you to know you were right what you said about the Bajorans, at least about me. I don't think you're the devil.\nSisko: Maybe we have made some progress after all."}
{"text": "Sisko: This is the emblem of the Alliance for Global Unity. They call themselves the Circle.\nO'Brien: What gives them the right to mess up our station?\nOdo: They're an extremist faction who believe in Bajor for the Bajorans.\nSisko: I can't loan you a Starfleet runabout without knowing where you plan on taking it.\nKira: To Cardassia Four to rescue a Bajoran prisoner of war.\nKira: Come on. We have a ship waiting.\nJaro: What you did today, Major, was declare war on Cardassia. Thankfully, they declined the invitation.\nSisko: What if I told you that I knew someone who could bring stability to Bajor. Someone who could unite the factions and give us a chance to do our job.\nSisko: But Bajor doesn't need a man. It needs a symbol, and that's what you are.\nJaro: The Navarch needed to return here to assume his new post. He's been made the Bajoran liaison officer to Deep Space Nine.\nSisko: I already have a liaison officer.\nJaro: Not anymore you don't. Major Kira is no longer assigned to this post. She's been recalled to Bajor. And now, the continuation.\nJaro: Frankly, Commander, I'm surprised at your reaction.\nSisko: Oh, I don't think much surprises you, Minister.\nJaro: But I expected you to be celebrating. I was under the impression that Major Kira has been nothing but trouble to you since\nSisko: Who gave you that impression?\nJaro: Common knowledge.\nSisko: Major Kira has my complete respect. She's been invaluable in establishing this command post. And now she's been dismissed without anyone consulting me and I don't appreciate it.\nJaro: Commander, Starfleet doesn't consult us when they wish to promote one of their officers.\nSisko: Are you suggesting that this is a promotion for Kira?\nJaro: Certainly it is. We must find the proper spot for her. After all, she's the one who brought Li Nalas back to us.\nSisko: Well then, that's a different matter.\nJaro: I'm glad you see it.\nSisko: Yes, of course I do. For a minute I was thinking to myself, there's a warm wind blowing in from Minicoy.\nJaro: I'm sorry?\nSisko: Just an old saying where I come from. It all started with a famous Ambassador from Minicoy who used to bluster, exaggerate, and dissemble to get what he wanted. Not at all like you or me. He was a bag of hot air and everyone recognized him for what he was.\nJaro: May I assume you are satisfied with the assignment of Li to fill your vacant post?\nSisko: I thought you'd want Li to stay in the capital to strengthen the provisional government.\nJaro: Frankly, I'm not sure it's safe in the capital with what's going on these days.\nSisko: The Circle?\nJaro: The fires and graffiti were a nuisance, but two days ago, one of my fellow ministers was attacked and beaten. We can't risk the same thing happening to Li Nalas. Look at it this way, Commander. We're entrusting you with Bajor's greatest hero. Could you have a better liaison officer than Li Nalas? I think not.\nO'Brien: Commander, your son's been waiting to speak with you on the com.\nSisko: Jake?\nJake: Dad? I'm outside our quarters. Could you come down for a minute?\nSisko: Is something wrong?\nJake: I really think you ought to come down, Dad.\nSisko: On my way.\nSisko: What's the problem?\nJake: Look.\nKira: Come in.\nOdo: You're not?\nKira: Leaving? I really don't have much choice, do I\nOdo: You're not just leaving, Major. You're surrendering.\nKira: You break the rules, you pay.\nOdo: Wait a minute. I want to be sure I heard that correctly. Because it doesn't sound like the Kira Nerys who has made a career out of breaking the rules.\nKira: Well, I guess I broke one too many.\nOdo: Major, you've been breaking one too many for fourteen and a half years. Cardassian rules, Bajoran rules, Federation rules, they're all meaningless to you because you have a personal code that's always mattered more. And I'm sorry to say you're in slim company.\nKira: I'll miss you too, Odo.\nOdo: Have you asked Sisko for help?\nKira: I'm sure he'll do whatever he thinks is best for the station.\nOdo: You haven't even gone to him?\nKira: Well what do you want me to do, Odo?\nOdo: Fight for what you want. It's what you do best.\nKira: Maybe I just want a vacation.\nOdo: Idiotic bureaucracy. Now I suppose they'll expect me to break in a new man.\nKira: A great man. Li Nalas can handle the job, believe me.\nOdo: You did fairly well at it once I smoothed your rough edges.\nKira: Ha!\nOdo: What's so funny?\nKira: I thought you did fairly well, once I smoothed your edges.\nKira: Yes?\nDax: Am I disturbing anything?\nKira: Stick around, you can help me cry in my synthale.\nDax: I thought I'd better return this epidellic lotion.\nKira: No, if you like it\nDax: Oh, it's wonderful.\nKira: Well then, keep it.\nOdo: How can you be chatting about skin lotion at a time like this?\nDax: Do you have any idea where you'll be stationed?\nKira: Come in. Not yet. They say that after I've taken some leave time, I've earned a desk at the foreign affairs building somewhere. Doctor.\nDax: Foreign affairs building?\nBashir: I came to give you my best.\nDax: Well that's rather dull.\nBashir: I beg your pardon?\nKira: Dull is a polite word for it.\nOdo: Doctor, if you were Kira, wouldn't you at least be complaining to Commander Sisko?\nBashir: Look, I just wanted to wish you good luck.\nKira: Thank you, Doctor.\nBashir: Complaining about what?\nOdo: Never mind, Doctor. If she doesn't care, why should we?\nBashir: Have they given you any reason yet?\nDax: Did they give you any alternative?\nKira: I do care. No, they haven't. No, they didn't. I really ought to finish packing.\nBashir: You said she doesn't care. You mean about leaving\nKira: By all means, come on in.\nOdo: She's done well here. She ought to stay here. And I'd say she needs a little support from her friends, Doctor.\nBashir: Well, yes, certainly, but if her orders\nO'Brien: Er.\nKira: Chief. Come in.\nO'Brien: I didn't mean to intrude. I just\nBashir: Don't worry, Chief. It's all been said.\nOdo: I have a good deal more to say, thank you, Doctor.\nO'Brien: Look, I could come back.\nDax: Odo, leave her alone. This is Kira's decision to make. Unless of course you want me to talk to Sisko.\nKira: I knew what I was doing. I knew the risk.\nOdo: That's not what she asked.\nO'Brien: I'd just like to say, Major, it's been a pleasure serving with you.\nKira: Come in.\nBashir: Will somebody please explain this conversation to me?\nQuark: A party! For you, I would've reduced my catering rates.\nOdo: It's not a party.\nQuark: Whatever.\nOdo: What's that?\nKira: A bottle of my favorite synthale, I think. That's very thoughtful, Quark.\nOdo: It's also very small.\nQuark: I was anticipating a far smaller gathering. I thought, perhaps, an intimate farewell drink, a sympathetic smile, a shoulder to cry on.\nO'Brien: As I was saying, Major\nQuark: You'd be surprised how often that works with women.\nKira: Is this a joke? Did you plan this?\nBashir: Nobody could have planned this.\nKira: We're open for business. Come on in. Join the crowd. Vedek Bareil.\nBareil: I hope I'm not interrupting.\nKira: No. Please come in. These are my These are my friends. I had no idea you were coming to the space station.\nBareil: Nowadays it's probably wiser not to announce those things.\nOdo: How bad is it on Bajor, Vedek?\nBareil: The violence has seriously escalated. It almost seems there are more weapons on the streets now than during the occupation.\nKira: How could that be? Where would they be coming from?\nBareil: I try to concentrate on more spiritual matters.\nKira: Yes, of course, I mean, I didn't mean to suggest that you\nBareil: I understand your duties here are finished.\nKira: Yes, they are.\nBareil: Do you have any immediate plans?\nKira: I haven't really had much chance to give it any thought.\nBareil: Then perhaps I have the perfect solution. Come and stay at our monastery for a while. It can help when the spirit gets a little bruised.\nKira: Thank you.\nLi: Major?\nKira: I just want you to know that if there's anything I can do to help?\nLi: Major, I'm sorry. I didn't want this job.\nKira: Neither did I. I mean, back when I was sent here in the first place. But it turned out better than I expected. I'm sure it will for you as well.\nLi: I don't even know what I'm supposed to do here. How does a Navarch fit into this command structure?\nSisko: As I understand the position, you report directly to the Prophets. But from time to time, I might ask for your help.\nLi: Commander, anything you need from me, I will try my best to do, but I know that I can never replace Major Kira.\nSisko: No one could.\nKira: Thank you, sir. Request permission to disembark.\nSisko: I'm going to get you back, Major. I promise that to both of us.\nKira: Docking bay three.\nBareil: May I make a friendly observation?\nKira: It's crooked.\nBareil: It's crooked.\nKira: I've been adjusting it for an hour. It looks fine from over here, but then I go over there and. This isn't working, Bareil\nBareil: It's only a row of stones.\nKira: No, it isn't. It's me. The stones are straight. I'm the one who's crooked.\nBareil: Is that really how you see yourself?\nKira: Sometimes. Sometimes I even like being that way. If I stay here long enough, I'm sure I could destroy your entire arboretum.\nBareil: Perhaps you'd rather try your hand at woodcrafts.\nKira: Can I tell you something very personal?\nBareil: Of course.\nKira: And you won't tell.\nBareil: I'm a Vedek.\nKira: I have absolutely no artistic skills. I was the worst fingerpainter at the four year old level. My parents were humiliated.\nBareil: It'll be our secret.\nKira: The point is, I'm useless here.\nBareil: So?\nKira: So? I need to feel useful.\nBareil: It might be interesting to explore useless for a while. See how it feels.\nKira: You don't know me.\nBareil: I'm beginning to. It's time, isn't it?\nKira: Time?\nBareil: Come inside with me.\nKira: I really should finish the\nBareil: Come.\nKira: I've never been to this part of the monastery before.\nBareil: May it be the first of many visits.\nKira: Bareil, maybe we should talk about\nKira: Oh, Bareil. All my life I've dreamed of this.\nBareil: It is the third orb, the orb of prophecy and change.\nKira: What do I do?\nBareil: Be useless, Nerys. Allow the prophets to guide you.\nKira: The Chamber of Ministers.\nKira: Dax.\nDax: Listen to them, Kira.\nKira: I can't hear them.\nDax: It's all right. Listen.\nWinn: Can you hear them now, child?\nJaro: I hear them, Major. They're calling to me.\nBareil: Don't listen to him, Nerys. Allow yourself to hear them. They are calling to you.\nWinn: Blasphemy.\nBareil: Listen to them, Nerys.\nKira: Help me to hear them. I don't know how.\nBareil: But you do.\nBareil: You do.\nBareil: You do.\nOfficer: Last night alone we had dozens of beatings. They're everywhere, then we go looking for them and they're nowhere.\nOdo: Which would suggest they have powerful friends to warn them, and protect them.\nOfficer: Probably. We've got to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand. The provisional government is bringing troops into the capital,\nOdo: Troops?\nOfficer: That will put an end to the Circle. You keep your eyes open up there, old friend.\nOdo: I always do.\nOdo: No, I haven't made any progress in finding the ones who assaulted you.\nQuark: It's over, Odo.\nOdo: The investigation isn't closed, it's just a matter of\nQuark: No, you don't understand. It's over.\nOdo: What are you talking about?\nQuark: Everything. Bajor. The provisional government. The Federation being here. All of it. We've got to leave. Well, I do anyway. You can just turn into a couch.\nOdo: You mean because of this Circle business? They're just a bunch of hooligans who use violence to get attention.\nQuark: I happen to know they've got enough weapons and explosives and supplies to support an army.\nOdo: How do you know that?\nQuark: I've been asking questions of people who don't answer questions from people like you.\nOdo: Where would the Circle be getting so many weapons?\nQuark: The Kressari.\nOdo: The Kressari? That doesn't make sense. The Kressari don't even have a military. They're botanic DNA traders,\nQuark: Well they're not delivering flowers these days. I know, Odo.\nOdo: Computer, when's the next Kressari vessel due here?\nComputer: The Kressari vessel Calondon is scheduled to arrive in thirty six hours.\nOdo: Do you know where these weapons are being sent to on Bajor?\nQuark: No, not exactly.\nOdo: Find out.\nQuark: Are you out of your mind? My plan is to put as much distance as possible between me and Bajor, thank you very much.\nOdo: Quark. I hate to do this, but I guess I'll have to.\nQuark: That's not fair.\nOdo: I haven't done anything yet.\nQuark: Whatever you're going to do, it's not fair.\nOdo: You're a deputy.\nQuark: It's not. What?\nOdo: You're a deputy. I want you to find out where the weapons are going on Bajor. Meanwhile, I'm going to find out exactly where they're coming from.\nQuark: You and me, a team?\nOdo: That's right.\nQuark: Goodbye.\nOdo: Either that or I'm putting you in a cell.\nQuark: That's not fair! On what charge.\nOdo: Impeding an investigation. Unless you want to reveal the identities of the people you've been talking to.\nQuark: You know I can't do that.\nOdo: It's your choice. You're a deputy, or you're a prisoner.\nQuark: I'm a deputy.\nSisko: I've got to go to Bajor. Odo has some information that suggests we may be facing a coup. I've got to check things out\nLi: Is there any way I can help?\nSisko: Your Military contacts. See if you can get a feeling for how much support the provisional government has.\nLi: No problem. What about the station while you're gone?\nSisko: Dax and Mister O'Brien can handle things in Ops. If you need any other help\nLi: Help? I can't even sneeze without three people handing me handkerchiefs. But I was thinking we might want to establish a curfew. Another cargo bay was vandalized last night.\nSisko: Good idea. I've asked Odo to assign you a bodyguard.\nLi: That's not necessary.\nSisko: I think it is. Docking bay one.\nKira: Woodcrafts. Definitely the way to go.\nBareil: Is that where the Prophets led you?\nKira: Yeah, lots of hammers and nails and saws surrounded by monks and vedeks. Very safe and secure\nBareil: You don't want to talk about it.\nKira: No.\nBareil: Can I tell you something very personal?\nKira: I'm not a Vedek but I can keep a secret.\nBareil: The last time I encountered the third orb, you were a part of my vision.\nKira: Me?\nBareil: It's the reason that I came to the station, to invite you here.\nKira: What part did I play in your vision?\nBareil: It's not important. I was just wondering if I was part of yours.\nKira: No. No, you weren't.\nBareil: How could there be a storm on a day as lovely as this?\nKira: That's not thunder. I know that sound. That's gunfire.\nWinn: How pleasant to come upon such a flowing exchange of spiritual harmony.\nBareil: Vedek Winn.\nWinn: We've met before, haven't we? Major? Major?\nKira: Kira Nerys.\nWinn: That's right. Major Kira. From the space station. What brings you here?\nBareil: I do, Vedek Winn.\nWinn: Good for you, Vedek Bareil. After working so hard, you deserve a little recreation.\nBareil: Major Kira is here to explore her pagh.\nWinn: A worthy endeavor for someone who has led such a life of violence, child. And I'm sure the Assembly would have had no objection to your encounter with an orb had Vedek Bareil consulted us.\nBareil: No one has ever been held to that formality.\nWinn: You're right, of course. But I've always consulted with the Assembly in advance. I think of it as a courtesy, nothing more, nothing less. How long will you be with us, Major?\nKira: I'm not sure.\nWinn: Feel free to stay as many days as you like. Even a week, if necessary.\nKrim: Have them withdraw from the Northeast quadrant. Move them to join the fourteenth column south of the city.\nSisko: General Krim. I'm Benjamin Sisko. We met during a session of the executive committee last year.\nKrim: I remember, Commander. I was impressed by your talk.\nSisko: As I recall, you disagreed with all of it.\nKrim: Yes, but you presented your arguments well. What can I do for you?\nSisko: I understand you're in command of the forces defending the city.\nKrim: I'd hardly call it defending the city.\nSisko: There is concern in some quarters that the military is unwilling to confront the forces of the Circle.\nKrim: I don't know with whom you've been speaking, Commander.\nSisko: I've been observing troop movements. Every time there is a potential confrontation, the military withdraws to a safer position.\nKrim: You can't possibly appreciate that this is Bajoran against Bajoran.\nSisko: I can appreciate that the provisional government will stand only if the military supports it.\nKrim: We are all patriots, Commander.\nSisko: We have intelligence that the Circle is being armed by the Kressari.\nKrim: The Kressari? I hadn't heard that.\nSisko: We've been trying to track the movements of their shipments. If we can determine where they're stored\nKrim: I'd like to know.\nSisko: You'll be the first one I contact.\nKrim: Thank you.\nSisko: There is one other thing, General. My first officer, Major Kira Nerys.\nKrim: Yes, I know Major Kira.\nSisko: I understand she hasn't been reassigned yet. It would mean a great deal to me to get her back.\nKrim: That's out of my purview, Commander. You might want to discuss it with Minister Jaro. Commander Sisko, you told me about the Kressari before you asked the favor regarding Kira. You could've tried to trade that information for the favor.\nSisko: I wouldn't do that.\nKrim: I'll remember that about you.\nDax: He's calling again.\nLi: What do you think we should do?\nDax: I think he's getting tired of seeing me smile.\nLi: Anything new from O'Brien or Odo?\nDax: They haven't come up with anything yet.\nLi: All right. Put him on the screen. I will give this a try.\nLi: I am First Officer Li Nalas. Can I help you?\nZef'No: Somebody had better be able to help me. I have been delayed for six hours. I can assure you the Kressarian government will lodge a formal protest\nLi: My apologies. Apparently has been some confusion with your manifest interface with our computer inventory system that had to be\nZef'No: Yes, yes I know all that. I didn't know they were going to be opening every container in my cargo hold. You understand these are highly sensitive herbaceous materials?\nLi: I'm sure that all necessary precautions are being.\nZef'No: This is ridiculous. I have a schedule to keep.\nLi: We should be able to have this all cleared up in a few minutes.\nZef'No: That's what I was told a few hours ago.\nDax: Dax to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Yes, Lieutenant.\nDax: We don't want to hold up the Kressari any longer than necessary.\nO'Brien: Well, there isn't much more we can accomplish for now\nDax: The ship's due back here the day after tomorrow. Perhaps we'll be able to correct any additional problems then.\nO'Brien: Yeah, we'd come to the same conclusion. O'Brien out. Fair voyage to you, Captain.\nZef'No: Prepare for immediate departure.\nSisko: Major.\nKira: Commander. I didn't hear you.\nSisko: I'm sorry if I interrupted your meditation.\nKira: Daydream.\nSisko: Daydreaming. I think I remember doing that a long, long time ago.\nKira: I've diskovered it's like riding a bicycle. It comes back to you right away.\nSisko: Can I bring you back to reality for a minute?\nKira: Back to reality, or back to DS Nine?\nSisko: Are you still interested?\nKira: A lot has happened here. I encountered an orb, Commander. It's given me a great deal to think about.\nSisko: They do have a way of doing that, don't they? Well, I just came to let you to know that we haven't given up yet, but for the moment there seem to be some bigger problems for the leaders down here.\nKira: I heard the gunfire in the distance.\nSisko: That distance is getting closer. The Circle is for real, Major. They've been armed for a coup and I'm not at all convinced that the military's going to back the provisional government.\nKira: I didn't realize. We've been so isolated.\nSisko: Well, I guess I'd better get back.\nKira: Commander. Me too.\nSisko: I told you I haven't given up.\nZef'No: Begin transport.\nCardassian: I think you'll find everything's in order.\nZef'No: Very well. If you'll sign off on the shipment, we'll be on our way.\nCardassian: Return transport.\nJaro: Good afternoon.\nKira: So, you're involved with the Circle.\nJaro: I am the Circle, Major.\nKira: Now I understand why you wanted to ship Li Nalas off to the station.\nJaro: The last thing I need right now is a great war hero capturing the devotion of the Bajoran people.\nKira: How can you betray your own government?\nJaro: Major, I don't have to tell you. I've heard your opinion of this government. Government. They can't even agree it is a government, so they call it provisional. It's just another word for powerless. I won't allow the Bajoran people to be powerless any more. We have been doormats to the Cardassians and now the Federation. Any great power that happens by. We will not be that again. We are a people who brought art and architecture to countless planets. We don't deserve to be victims.\nKira: If you want to change the government, Minister Jaro, you vote to change it. You don't sneak up from behind it with a dagger.\nJaro: We'll discuss politics another time. I need to know, please, what the Federation will do once our objective becomes clear. Major, I've heard you have no love for the Federation. I'm not an unreasonable man. I'm willing to send you back to the station if that's what you want. I'll give you that station after we get rid of Starfleet. Now, do you believe they will continue to support the provisional government?\nKira: How about our own military? I'd worry about them first if I were you.\nJaro: What will the Federation do, Major? What will Sisko do? You know him better than any Bajoran. No one despises the Cardassians more than I, Major, but we did learn a few things from them. Like how to encourage people to talk.\nMan: Let's go.\nSisko: Bareil said there were no signs of a struggle.\nBashir: Maybe somebody saw them leave.\nSisko: That's what we need to find out.\nO'Brien: What if they transported her off the grounds?\nSisko: Let's hope they didn't. Now, we can't expect much help from the local authorities. They've got their hands full.\nLi: Commander. I should be able to get some cooperation. If my name carries any weight, let's use it.\nSisko: Good. When's Odo due back?\nO'Brien: Not for another twelve hours.\nQuark: Who needs Odo when you've got his number one deputy?\nDax: Quark, this isn't the time.\nQuark: No, this is exactly the time. I think I know where you can find Kira.\nSisko: Go on.\nQuark: You see, Odo blackmailed me into helping him, a matter I've been meaning to bring to your attention, Commander.\nSisko: Quark.\nQuark: I managed to find out where the Circle's headquarters is. In the labyrinths beneath the Perikian Peninsula.\nSisko: Sisko to Security.\nSecurity: Go ahead.\nSisko: I need a couple of officers to go on a rescue mission to Bajor. Report to runabout pad C.\nSecurity: On our way.\nSisko: Doctor, Lieutenant, you're with me. Mister O'Brien, you'll be our pilot. Configure the runabout sensors for a full sweep of the peninsula. Once we find the base, I'll be depending a great deal on your famous transporter talents.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nLi: Commander, I'm going.\nSisko: No, it's too dangerous.\nLi: Don't you understand? I can do this. I don't know what it means to be a Navarch. But I can fight in the trenches and I take orders well. Besides, I owe her one.\nSisko: Dax, you're in charge.\nQuark: We can discuss appropriate compensation for this at a more convenient time.\nVoice: Two men, sector D. Take your position.\nRebel: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Only five but they've got more firearms than a galaxy class starship.\nBashir: Where the hell's it coming from?\nSisko: All right, straight power play, nothing fancy. Expect heavy resistance. Anyone who finds Kira, pin this on her and call for transport immediately. Let's do it.\nBashir: Kira!\nBashir: Chief, get us out of here!\nKira: We don't have time for this. Ouch.\nBashir: Do not talk.\nSisko: We have to assume Jaro will move quickly now that we've got you back.\nKira: Li's the only chance we've got.\nLi: Me?\nKira: Jaro knows you're the only force that could stop him. If we could get him to the Chamber of Ministers.\nSisko: It's much too great a risk. He'd be dead before he had a chance to speak.\nOdo: Courtesy of a Cardassian weapon. The Circle's being supplied by the Cardassians.\nKira: What?\nOdo: I borrowed the proof. It's got a Gul's thumbscan on it.\nKira: The Circle hates the Cardassians.\nOdo: They don't know it is the Cardassians. They think they've been buying from Kressari traders.\nLi: I don't understand. Why would the Cardassians want to help Jaro if he hates them?\nBashir: Because it gets them what they want the most.\nSisko: Rid of us. They're just using Jaro. Once the Federation is forced to leave\nLi: The Cardassians come back. We've got to do something. I've got to do something.\nSisko: Sisko to Ops.\nDax: Go ahead.\nSisko: Dax, open a channel to Bajor.\nSisko: Tell them that Navarch Li Nalas wants to address the Chamber of Ministers on subspace.\nDax: I can't do it, Benjamin. All frequencies\nDax: To Bajor are jammed. We lost all communication with the planet five minutes ago.\nKira: Then it has started.\nSisko: Get me Admiral Chekote at Starfleet Command.\nJaro: I feel the Prophets smiling on me today, Vedek.\nWinn: The Prophets have rarely encountered a pagh as forceful as yours, Minister Jaro.\nJaro: So what's it to be, Winn?\nWinn: Be?\nJaro: Don't tease me.\nWinn: I can't interpret the prophecies for you, Essa.\nJaro: I know the future. It belongs to me. I don't need your interpretation.\nWinn: Then what?\nJaro: Your support.\nWinn: I've made it very clear to you how I feel.\nJaro: Your public support.\nWinn: Support from the Vedek of an order so small as mine surely would not be significant.\nJaro: You stand for a return to orthodox values, as do I. We're a match made by the Prophets.\nWinn: I wish there were more with that opinion. Unfortunately, as my Assembly approaches the selection of a new Kai, I fear my voice is rarely heard.\nJaro: That can change.\nWinn: Can it?\nJaro: Think of the prestige of having the new leader of Bajor being a member of your order.\nWinn: If you are the new leader.\nJaro: Have the Prophets given you reason to doubt it?\nWinn: I didn't say that.\nJaro: Then let them bless my ascension. Tell the people the Prophets are with me.\nWinn: That's a lot to ask.\nJaro: I know that.\nWinn: I need more than just prestige, Essa.\nJaro: I know that too.\nWinn: The people need leadership to return to the old values. Yours and mine.\nJaro: I can think of no one more worthy of being the next Kai than you, Winn. I shall do everything in my power to see that you are.\nWinn: The Prophets are smiling on you today, Minister.\nSisko: Dax?\nDax: I have Admiral Chekote on subspace.\nSisko: In my office.\nO'Brien: Commander. Two assault vessels are headed this way on direct course from Bajor. They're giving all non-Bajorans seven hours to evacuate.\nSisko: Admiral, are you up to date on my communiqués?\nChekote: I think so, Commander. How's it look?\nSisko: Not good. Jaro has the military, communications have been cut off and assault vessels are on the way here.\nChekote: Are you preparing to withdraw?\nSisko: Admiral, we've just obtained evidence that the Circle's been receiving weapons from the Cardassians. If we withdraw, we'll be giving Bajor and the wormhole back to them.\nChekote: Damn. That's a hell of a turn. How can these Bajorans get in bed with the Cardassians?\nSisko: They don't even know the Cardassians are involved.\nChekote: Then you're saying it's a genuine political revolution internal to Bajor.\nSisko: Supported by the Cardassians.\nChekote: But internal to Bajor. The Cardassians might involve themselves in other people's civil wars, but we don't. The Prime Directive applies, Ben.\nSisko: Admiral.\nChekote: Would you say our people on the station are in danger?\nSisko: Yes.\nChekote: There's no other choice but to evacuate. We'll have to worry about the long term political implications down the road. That's an order, Commander.\nSisko: Chief, how long will it take us to evacuate Deep Space Nine?\nO'Brien: I'd say we could have all our people out and away in three hours.\nSisko: I mean a complete evacuation. I intend to take all Starfleet instruments, materiel. In fact, all Federation property of every kind. How quickly can we do that?\nO'Brien: Sir, that'll take days. A week, for all I know. But those assault ships are going to be here in seven hours.\nSisko: Then I guess some of us won't quite be done by the time they get here. To Be Continued..."}
{"text": "Sisko: This is the emblem of the Alliance for Global Unity. They call themselves the Circle.\nO'Brien: What gives them the right to mess up our station?\nOdo: They're an extremist faction who believe in Bajor for the Bajorans.\nSisko: I can't loan you a Starfleet runabout without knowing where you plan on taking it.\nKira: To Cardassia Four to rescue a Bajoran prisoner of war.\nKira: Come on. We have a ship waiting.\nSisko: What if I told you that I knew someone who could bring stability to Bajor. Someone who could unite the factions and give us a chance to do our job.\nSisko: But Bajor doesn't need a man. It needs a symbol, and that's what you are.\nJaro: The Navarch needed to return here to assume his new post. He's been made the Bajoran liaison officer to Deep Space Nine.\nSisko: I already have a liaison officer.\nJaro: Not anymore you don't. Major Kira is no longer assigned to this post. She's been recalled to Bajor.\nQuark: It's over. Everything. Bajor, the provisional government, the Federation being here, all of it. We've got to leave.\nSisko: The provisional government will stand only if the military supports it.\nKrim: We are all patriots, Commander.\nJaro: I am the Circle, Major.\nKira: How can you betray your own government?\nOdo: The Circle's being supplied by the Cardassians.\nKira: What?\nOdo: I borrowed the proof. It's got a Gul's thumb scan on it.\nKira: The Circle hates the Cardassians.\nOdo: They don't know it is the Cardassians. They think they've been buying from Kressari traders.\nJaro: Think of the prestige of having the new leader of Bajor being a member of your Order.\nWinn: If you are the new leader.\nO'Brien: Commander, two assault vessels are headed this way on a direct course from Bajor. They've given all non-Bajorans seven hours to evacuate. And now, the conclusion.\nSisko: Starfleet feels it has no other choice. The Federation is here at the invitation of the Bajoran provisional government.\nBashir: No more provisional government, no more invitation.\nSisko: Governments can break off relations with an edict. It's not so easy when it comes down to our level. Lieutenant Bilecki here is engaged to a young man from Bajor. Ensign Kelly. Ensign Kelly's daughter and a Bajoran girl worked together on a prize-winning science fair project. All of us who have served on the station for the past year have made Bajoran friends. We've come to care about what happens to these people. I know I do. So I've decided to stay. Just to make sure the evacuation is conducted properly.\nO'Brien: You'll need someone to oversee the inventory process, sir.\nBashir: Packing up all my medical supplies could take quite a while, Commander.\nSisko: Before you volunteer too quickly, understand what you're getting into. We'll be trying to delay the takeover of the station as long as possible. Hopefully as long as it takes to expose the Cardassian's involvement in all this. It won't be easy. The Bajoran assault forces have been told that the Federation is their blood enemy. Jaro and the Circle would love nothing more than to have my head and yours and present them to the Chamber of Ministers. This is your last chance to leave here in one piece. Some of you have families. Some are on temporary assignment. I wouldn't blame anyone for getting out now while you can. I mean that. Anyone who wants to evacuate is dismissed.\nSisko: Non-Bajorans won't be safe here. Our families, children have to be evacuated. I'm sure many of the Bajorans who have worked with us will want to leave too. There's a lot to get done. The assault vessels will be here in less than five hours. Dismissed.\nQuark: Hundreds of people to evacuate and only three tiny runabouts available. Do you know what that means?\nRom: It means a lot of people will be left behind. Tragic. Yes, brother, your compassion never ceases to amaze me\nQuark: It means we're going to make a fortune.\nRom: We are?\nQuark: People will pay anything for a seat on those ships.\nRom: You can't make me. I won't sell my seat.\nQuark: Rom\nRom: No, I won't stay and be killed just to fill your pockets.\nQuark: Rom, do you actually believe that I would sacrifice my own brother's life for personal profit?\nQuark: It would have to be the deal of a lifetime.\nRom: Yes, my lifetime.\nQuark: Listen to me. We're both going to escape. But our bags will be packed with all the gold-pressed latinum we can carry.\nJake: Nog!\nNog: I've been looking all over for you.\nJake: What ship you on?\nNog: Rio Grande.\nJake: I'm on the Ganges.\nNog: It'll be okay. We'll see each other at the Hanolan colony in a few days.\nJake: That's not where I'm going.\nNog: But my dad told me\nJake: My ship's going to the Korat system. I guess that's where they're taking all the Starfleet families.\nNog: This'll be over in no time. We'll be back in school driving Mrs O'Brien crazy again in a few days.\nJake: Just when I think I've found a new home, made a new friend, it always seems like I got to leave.\nNog: Hey, Human.\nJake: Cut it out.\nNog: Has there ever been one of your kind and one of mine who were better friends?\nJake: Never.\nNog: And if our fathers couldn't break us up, no stupid coupe day. Coupe dey\nJake: Coup d'état. It's French.\nNog: No stupid French thing will either. We'll see each other again soon. That's a promise.\nOdo: Mister Sisko, Nog. This is no time to be fooling about. Get yourselves wherever you're supposed to be.\nO'Brien: Is that everything?\nKeiko: Sure.\nO'Brien: Keiko, please, don't go like this.\nKeiko: Like what?\nO'Brien: I don't have any choice.\nKeiko: Don't you?\nO'Brien: He needs me.\nKeiko: We don't?\nO'Brien: We can't just let the Cardies have the wormhole.\nKeiko: They can have the whole Gamma Quadrant for all I care. Miles, come with us.\nMolly: Where are we going?\nO'Brien: On a ride, sweetheart\nMolly: Are you coming too, Daddy?\nO'Brien: Soon, baby. I'll come as soon as I can. I'll walk you to the airlock.\nDax: I've scanned every subspace communication window to find a frequency to Bajor. They've got them completely jammed.\nKira: Then we have no choice. We'll have to take the proof to the Chamber of Ministers.\nLi: Jaro's forces will be scanning for any incoming vessels.\nSisko: A runabout could handle a Bajoran patrol. Unfortunately I don't have one to give you\nLi: The Lunar Five base?\nKira: You think there's still a ship there?\nLi: We managed to get a few sub-impulse raiders underground before the Cardassians hit us, but that was ten years ago.\nKira: Can one of the evacuation vessels take a detour and drop me off?\nSisko: What if you get there and those raiders won't fly?\nKira: Then I'll just have to wait to hear from you, I guess.\nSisko: You may be waiting a long time. Dax, do any of your former hosts have experience with sub-impulse thruster configurations?\nDax: Yes. Tobin Dax.\nKira: Tobin? I don't think I've heard about this one.\nDax: My second host. Barely a sex life and no imagination, but he knew phase coil inverters like no one else.\nSisko: Major Kira could use his experience today.\nQuark: I have no time for this foolishness! I still have to pack!\nSisko: What's the problem?\nOdo: He's been brokering seats on the evacuation vessels.\nSisko: Where did you get more seats?\nQuark: Everybody always asks the brokers where they get their extra seats, and all I can say is, it's my business to find preferred seating for a select list of clients\nSisko: I have got more than two hundred people who want to get off this station. Where did you get more seats?\nQuark: A few trades. A person here or there who changed his mind about leaving at the sight of a reasonable stipend.\nBashir: Bashir to Commander Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nBashir: We're having a bit of a panic at the airlocks, sir. Far more passengers than we can handle have shown up\nBashir: And they all claim to have made arrangements to leave.\nQuark: I might have overbooked slightly.\nSisko: On my way.\nQuark: It's an accepted Ferengi transit practice. I feel perfectly justified. I have complete faith in Commander Sisko's ability to straighten this out.\nOdo: I'll pass that on. He'll be so pleased to know that he has your confidence.\nQuark: As I'm no longer needed, my brother is waiting for me on the ship. Hey, Odo, you'll miss me. You know you will. Say it.\nOdo: I'll miss you, Quark.\nQuark: You said it,\nOdo: I'll miss the aggravation, the petty theft, the bad manners.\nQuark: Odo. Take care of yourself.\nSisko: Don't you understand? There isn't room for everyone. We have to get our families, our children and non-Bajorans\nLi: Where are you running to? This is Bajor. We are Bajorans. We fought a war to regain our homeland. How can you abandon it like frightened Cardassian voles? These ships are for our guests who must leave because it is no longer safe for them here. However, we are Bajorans. And I say that we stay and we solve our problems together. Are you willing to join me?\nSisko: As soon as the passenger lists are confirmed, get these ships out of here.\nBashir: They're almost ready to go, sir. The Rio Grande is full and so is the Orinoco.\nSisko: Get them launched.\nBashir: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Are you ready?\nJake: I've been thinking. I really think it'd be better if I stayed. Look, I just don't want anything to happen to you.\nSisko: That makes two of us.\nJake: What's this?\nSisko: A letter I wrote you.\nJake: A letter?\nSisko: Just some things.\nJake: I'll read it as soon as I get on the ship.\nSisko: Wait a while. I'll see you in a couple of weeks.\nO'Brien: That's everyone.\nSisko: Sisko to Ganges. Proceed with launch.\nKira: Acknowledged. Good luck, Commander. Kira out.\nQuark: No! No! Wait!\nQuark: My ship, the Rio Grande, my brother's on it. He's got my ticket.\nBashir: That ship was full, sir. I checked the list myself and Quark's name wasn't on it. His brother Rom did go aboard, but he was with a dabo girl.\nQuark: A dabo girl? What?\nSisko: Looks like he sold your seat.\nQuark: No, you don't understand. You don't understand! I can't stay here. I'll be hung. Call the ships back! I'll pay anyone five bars of gold pressed latinum for a seat. Ten bars. Twenty.\nDay: Clear.\nDay: No resistance at all. Minister Jaro's prediction was correct. The Federation has tucked its tail between its legs.\nKrim: Where are the Bajoran officers who worked Starfleet? Where is Li Nalas?\nDay: Perhaps they knew this old station could never withstand a siege and they abandoned it with Starfleet.\nKrim: The most strategic position in the entire sector, at the mouth of the wormhole. Had I been Federation commander, I would not have abandoned it so easily.\nKira: Can you believe a year ago I was living in a camp like this, only not quite so nice.\nDax: Have I mentioned how allergic Trills are to insect bites?\nKira: Really?\nDax: Well, he biochemical connections between the host and symbiont can't tolerate the. Oh! Whoa! What's that? Is that a spider or a dog?\nKira: Palukoo. The Bajoran moons are full of them.\nDax: I suppose you used to make them your pets and sing songs about them around the campfire.\nKira: No, we used to eat them. There it is.\nDax: Are you sure this thing is supposed to fly?\nKira: I've been in a lot worse.\nDax: I guess the Bajoran resistance must have had a lot of short pilots.\nKira: No, just short engineers. They were always building these things without thinking.\nDax: Encouraging.\nKira: Bend your knees, you'll fit.\nKira: The real trick will be to fire up these thrusters after all this time. It was hard enough to get them running when they were being used every day.\nDax: We'll get them fired up. You don't need to worry about that.\nKira: You're sure, huh?\nDax: Yep. I have no intention of getting stuck here eating palukoos.\nDay: We should advise Minister Jaro of our success immediately.\nKrim: You're too eager to receive his plaudits, Colonel. What's the status of the internal security net?\nOfficer: Completely disabled, General.\nKrim: Scan the Operations Center for organic material.\nOfficer: Organic?\nKrim: The station's security chief is apparently missing. The shape-shifter. It's possible he left with the evacuation ships or perhaps there's something more here than meets the eye.\nOfficer: Yes, sir.\nKrim: Scan six times an hour at random intervals.\nBajoran: Minister Jaro on subspace, sir.\nDay: Minister, I'm pleased to inform you that we've encountered no resistance so far.\nJaro: Good news. Then the Federation has withdrawn.\nDay: We monitored the evacuation of three vessels several hours ago\nJaro: When I announce that we've secured the station, it will certainly impact the\nKrim: Minister, I urge caution. The battle for this station hasn't even begun yet.\nJaro: You expect the enemy to return, General?\nKrim: I'm not convinced they ever left. The internal security net has been sabotaged. We have no way of tracking the movements of anyone on board, which suggests someone didn't want to be that easily found.\nJaro: Kira?\nKrim: Perhaps. She is unaccounted for. So too is Security Chief Odo. So is Li Nalas.\nJaro: You're right. Li Nalas would never abandon Bajor. He must still be there.\nJaro: Let me re-emphasize that you are to take every necessary step to keep Li Nalas alive. Dead, he's a martyr. Alive, he seals our victory.\nDay: Understood.\nWinn: Once you have him, Li will see the wisdom of giving you his support.\nJaro: I'll offer him anything he wants to make sure he does. Short of becoming the next Kai, of course.\nWinn: You have a unique ability to build a consensus, Essa. Bajor has been waiting for a leader like you.\nJaro: Leaders like us.\nWinn: If I am so favored by the Vedek Assembly.\nJaro: You don't have to worry about that. Twenty six hours after I'm sworn into office, I'll direct the Vedek Assembly to elect you Kai. Together, we will rebuild Bajor.\nKira: You got it!\nDax: Don't turn the engines off. We'll never get them started again.\nKira: Let's go!\nDax: Thank you, Tobin.\nKira: Dax, come on.\nDax: The hell with it. If it's going to fly, it's going to fly.\nKira: Problem?\nDax: No. Everything's wonderful.\nDax: Ow!\nKira: The knees. Listen to that sound. That sure brings back some memories.\nDax: How did you ever win a war in these things?\nKira: We were the insects, Lieutenant. The Cardassians were just as allergic as Trills. Is the proximity system working?\nDax: I think so.\nKira: All right. Let's see if we can get out of here without bouncing off any walls.\nKrim: You're be playing right into their hands.\nDay: If you're so convinced they're still here, how can you sit and wait for them to attack?\nKrim: They have no interest in attacking.\nDay: What makes you so sure?\nKrim: Because I understand military tactics. They are vastly outnumbered. If we divide our forces\nOfficer: The primary sensor array was sabotaged, sir. As soon as we tested it, the subnet shorted out.\nDay: You can let your engineers play with the machines. I'm sending out search parties.\nO'Brien: Eat hearty. The replicators crash in sixteen minutes. This'll have to last awhile.\nSisko: Combat rations, Chief? Couldn't you replicate something a little more palatable?\nO'Brien: You don't like combat rations?\nSisko: A french onion soup would have really been nice.\nO'Brien: Miracle of science, these little combat rations. Timed release formula of all the nutrients the body needs for three days. I love 'em. Only thing I miss about the Cardassian front.\nSisko: Sisko to all units. You can thank Chief of Operations Miles O'Brien\nBashir: You haven't made any friends, here, Chief. Or should I say, Chef.\nO'Brien: Julian.\nO'Brien: Well, I would have expected you of all people to appreciate the nutritional value of combat rations.\nBashir: Actually, when I was in Med school, I designed an incredible candy bar which was far superior in food value.\nQuark: Am I the only one who doesn't think this is funny?\nOdo: Odo to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nOdo: Stand by. There's a patrol approaching. I'll get back to you in a minute.\nOdo: A five-man unit is about to begin a search of the cargo deck.\nBashir: That puts them closest to me, Commander.\nSisko: Stand by, Doctor.\nO'Brien: Maybe we should send him with a little more experience. Someone who can run the show, like Li.\nSisko: No, I need him here with us. Doctor, move your unit to cargo bay six. You know what to do. And let me re-emphasize, use deadly force only if absolutely necessary.\nBashir: Aye, sir. We're on our way.\nQuark: Happy hunting.\nBashir: I wouldn't get too close to that. It's thorium isotope.\nBashir: Prolonged exposure could have very nasty consequences.\nBashir: Bashir to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nBashir: Mission accomplished.\nBashir: We have our first five prisoners of war.\nKira: Preparing to establish a high altitude orbit of Bajor.\nDax: Navigational sensors aren't functioning.\nKira: No problem.\nDax: No problem? Big problem. Without navigational sensors\nKira: we'll have to fly by the seat of our pants.\nDax: Great. Seat of the pants technology.\nKira: You Starfleet types are too dependant on gadgets and gizmos. You lose your natural instincts for survival.\nDax: My natural instincts for survival told me not to climb aboard this thing. I'd say they were functioning pretty well.\nKira: I know the terrain of Bajor. We ought to be able to recognize a landing site by\nKira: What the hell was that?\nDax: I have no idea. None of the sensors are functioning.\nKira: Someone's firing at us. Initiating evasive maneuvers.\nDax: I'm reading the EM signature of an impulse engine.\nKira: Let's see what we're dealing with.\nKira: Welcoming committee from Jaro.\nDax: We'll never outrun them in this.\nKira: You're right. We'll have to even the match.\nDax: And how do you intend to do that?\nKira: New playing field. I'm taking us down into the atmosphere. They won't be able to use their impulse engines down there. If they want a fight, they'll have to fight on our terms.\nO'Brien: Come on. Get down.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: They've got us pinned down in here.\nSisko: On our way, Chief.\nO'Brien: Now!\nKira: All right. They've gone to thrusters. That evens things up a little.\nDax: If you consider two against one even.\nKira: There is one problem.\nDax: One?\nKira: The guys flying those ships?\nDax: Yeah?\nKira: Used to be the guys flying these ships. Test the phaser banks.\nDax: Full power.\nKira: Good.\nDax: Not so good. The phaser locks are dead. There's no way to aim.\nKira: Sure there is.\nDax: I know, I know. Seat of the pants.\nKira: With your eyes, Lieutenant, not your pants. Just point at them and fire.\nDax: You fly, I'll shoot.\nKira: Hang on.\nKira: Where the hell's the other one?\nKira: I think we found him.\nDax: Thruster power is falling.\nKira: They must have hit a plasma conduit.\nDax: Got any fire gear?\nKira: Check under the seat.\nDax: I think I've got something. Got it. That's it?\nKira: That's it.\nDax: Might as well jettison the plasma tank. The thrusters are gone.\nKira: Plasma tank ejected. Can you see any openings where we could put down?\nDax: Six kilometers ahead at two o'clock.\nKira: Er, anything a little closer?\nDax: How much closer?\nKira: How about right here.\nSoldier: Sir, up here. One of the Ferengi's holosuites is in use.\nDay: Don't try it. Get their weapons.\nSisko: This is Commander Benjamin Sisko. Please listen very carefully. The Cardassians are supplying the weapons for this coup,\nDay: Ridiculous. No Bajoran would ever accept help from them.\nSisko: Jaro doesn't know. The Cardassians are using the Kressari to deliver the weapons to the Circle.\nDay: That is a Federation lie.\nSisko: The proof is on its way to Bajor. Once this evidence is presented, the coup will end. We don't want to fight you or hurt anyone. Your officers will be our guests for awhile. I hope they won't mind Starfleet combat rations.\nKrim: Day, what the hell is going on?\nDay: I was taken prisoner. The Federation is behind all this. Sisko spoke to me.\nKrim: So, Commander, you didn't abandon your post after all. What did he say?\nDay: Nothing of consequence.\nKrim: Why did he let you go?\nDay: I promised them amnesty. A promise I have no intention of keeping.\nOfficer: General, the security net is back online.\nKrim: Scan for their communication devices.\nOfficer: Not picking up a thing, sir.\nKrim: Then they must be in a shielded location.\nDay: The Cardassians used duranium composite to shield all the conduits.\nKrim: Then that's where we'll find Commander Sisko.\nDax: They've found the raider and now they're spreading out. We can't stay here.\nKira: I'll slow you down. The only thing that's important now is to get the evidence to the provisional government.\nDax: It would be a lot more convincing if it comes from you.\nKira: No, the evidence speaks for itself. You have to leave me. That's an order, Lieutenant.\nDax: The Federation officially left Bajor yesterday. You're no longer my commanding officer.\nKira: I can't walk.\nDax: Yes, you can.\nKira: You are being a fool, Dax.\nDax: Don't talk to your elders that way.\nMan: You two check over there.\nOdo: Odo to Sisko. I hope you're not still on level five.\nSisko: No, we're on three. Why?\nOdo: Because they're about to fill the conduits with anesthizine gas, starting with level five.\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: It's a good idea. Kind of thing I might've come up with. We've got to get out of here, and soon.\nSisko: We should have heard something from Kira and Dax by now.\nO'Brien: If they didn't make it, we're all fighting for a lost cause here.\nSisko: We still have an ace in the hole.\nLi: Me?\nSisko: Mister O'Brien, get the units ready to move out.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Jaro's plan depends on the military's support. Without it, the coup fails.\nLi: You think I can sway the Generals.\nSisko: Right now there's only one General I'm concerned with. The one that's here. He's picked the wrong side and we've got to convince him of that. Would he rather follow a politician or Bajor's greatest war hero\nLi: I've done everything I can to help. I'd die for my people but\nSisko: Sure you would. Dying gets you off the hook. Question is, are you willing to live for your people? Live the role they want you to play. That's what they need from you right now.\nBareil: Kira! Kira, you're safe. You're at the monastery.\nKira: How did I? The last thing I remember\nBareil: The entire city saw your ship go down. The searchers who found you were from my order.\nKira: Dax?\nBareil: She's fine. She's changing clothes.\nKira: We've got to get to the Chamber of Ministers. The Cardassians\nBareil: I know. Lieutenant Dax told me.\nBareil: Careful. Careful, you've just had a broken hip mended.\nKira: How long have I been here?\nBareil: Six hours.\nKira: Six hours? We have to get out of here. The Chamber of Ministers\nDax: Good, you're up. Here, put this on.\nKira: Why are we?\nDax: It's the only way we can get to the Chamber of Ministers.\nBareil: Members of religious orders are the only ones who can travel safely in the streets. I'm going to escort you.\nKira: No. No, we have to go alone, Bareil. I can't be responsible for your safety.\nBareil: Of course you can't. But I can be responsible for yours.\nKira: No.\nBareil: Please, don't argue.\nDax: So what do you think?\nKira: Think?\nDax: The nose?\nKira: It's flattering.\nDax: I'm thinking of keeping it.\nBashir: Quark, leave it!\nQuark: I can't leave it. It's all that I am. My personal mementos, my family album.\nBashir: It's filled with gold-pressed latinum and you know it.\nQuark: Who told you?\nBashir: Your mother did. The day you were born.\nQuark: Never make fun of a Ferengi's mother! Rule of Acquisition number thirty-one.\nSisko: Sisko to Bashir. We're in position.\nBashir: We're stationed above airlock fourteen, sir, awaiting your signal.\nSisko: You've got it. Just make as much noise as you can before you surrender, Doctor.\nBashir: We'll make them think there are two hundred of us instead of twenty, sir. Bashir out. Twenty-one. Come on. Now!\nQuark: Fine. Fine. I'm coming.\nDay: Proceed with level three.\nOfficer: General, the enemy has attacked our position at airlock fourteen.\nKrim: They have attacked?\nDay: We must have flushed them out. Seal all airlocks. Lock all docking clamps. This is Colonel Day. All security units to airlock fourteen.\nKrim: Let me see what's going on down there\nOfficer: Surveillance cameras have been sabotaged.\nKrim: How many of our men are stationed by that airlock?\nOfficer: Four, sir.\nSecurity: Security to General Krim. The enemy forces at airlock fourteen have surrendered. We've taken several prisoners.\nKrim: Bring their leaders to me for questioning.\nSecurity: Aye, sir.\nLi: Please don't resist, General. We don't wish to use deadly force. My name is Li Nalas. Perhaps you've heard of me.\nJaro: Guards, stop that woman.\nWinn: What is this blasphemy?\nKira: I am Major Kira Nerys and I've come with proof that Cardassians are behind Minister Jaro's attempt to take control of the government.\nJaro: Major Kira has long been an outspoken opponent of the provisional government, of reason, of progress and now finally, of me. I am honored to be included, Major, but I have no intention of allowing you to disrupt the orderly transition of power with these wild charges.\nKira: This is a manifest PADD from a Kressari vessel. It bears the thumbscan of a Cardassian Gul who transferred weapons to that ship. Those weapons were taken by the Kressari to the Circle. This coup will deliver Bajor back into the hands of its greatest enemies. Are you willing to live under Cardassian rule again?\nJaro: I assure you there is nothing to these accusations.\nWinn: Then you should have no objection to an inspection of this manifest, Minister.\nJaro: Of course not. We'll adjourn for the time being. And let me say that I completely support this investigation and fully intend to cooperate.\nKrim: Colonel, you deliberately withheld information that was to be communicated to me.\nDay: Information?\nKrim: Regarding the Cardassians.\nDay: Lies. That's all they were.\nKrim: We have been told the Chamber is in recess while evidence of Cardassian involvement is being examined.\nSisko: The Circle is broken, Colonel.\nKrim: I'm returning to the surface immediately to consult with the Ministers. I expect I will be asked to resign. Commander, since the provisional government has prevailed, I believe it is appropriate to return the command of this station to Starfleet. Well fought, sir.\nDay: No!\nO'Brien: Commander!\nLi: Off the hook, after all.\nKira: Somehow, you figured now that he was here, things would be better, you know. He'd find a way to make things better because he was a man who could do that. A great man. I wish I knew where we could find others like him.\nSisko: Major, there are heroes all over Bajor. I'm sitting with one.\nKira: I'm sorry, I don't feel like celebrating tonight. Excuse me.\nO'Brien: Sir, can I ask you something?\nSisko: Sure.\nO'Brien: About Li Nalas.\nSisko: Mm hmm.\nO'Brien: Listening to Kira talk about all he was, all he did, all he was going to do, she makes him sound like he was larger than life. like he was some kind of military genius. But the Li Nalas I\nSisko: Chief, Li Nalas was the hero of the Bajoran resistance. He performed extraordinary acts of courage for his people and died for their freedom. That's how the history books on Bajor will be written, and that's how I'll remember him when anybody asks.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nDax: Dax to Sisko. The Ganges has just docked at pad C, Benjamin.\nSisko: Acknowledged.\nO'Brien: Excuse me, sir.\nJake: Dad!"}
{"text": "Scene: Station log, stardate 47182.1. DS-Nine has been temporarily evacuated due to a violent plasma disruption. Until the disturbance ends, we'll be forced to maintain the station with a skeleton crew.\nSisko: How are we holding up?\nKira: So far, so good. I'll say one thing for the Cardassians, they built this place to last.\nDax: Just in case it doesn't, I've got the Orinoco prepped and ready at pad C.\nSisko: Any word from Chief O'Brien?\nDax: He and Odo checked in about an hour ago. They sealed off the airlocks in the upper and lower pylons and were moving on to the docking ring.\nSisko: Sisko to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: O'Brien here.\nSisko: What's your\nSisko: Status, Chief?\nO'Brien: Almost done, Commander. We've sealed all the airlocks on levels twenty one, twenty two and twenty three, but we still have to check the outer bulkheads to make sure there hasn't been any crystallization\nO'Brien: From the plasma diskharges. It shouldn't take too long.\nO'Brien: O'Brien out.\nOdo: Did you hear that?\nO'Brien: Hear what?\nOdo: I could've sworn I heard something.\nO'Brien: Quark.\nOdo: What are you doing here? You're under strict orders from Sisko to stay in the bar.\nQuark: I'm not a prisoner, Odo. I volunteered to stay and help you protect the station.\nOdo: The only reason you volunteered is because there wasn't any room on the evacuation shuttles for six hundred bars of gold-pressed latinum. Which still doesn't explain what you're doing out here in the docking ring.\nQuark: I was saying goodbye to my brother.\nOdo: Your brother? His shuttle left three hours ago.\nQuark: Funny, it's only been three hours and I'm already lost without him.\nOdo: Oh, please. Don't try to tell me you've been sitting out here all this time pining for Rom.\nQuark: I know, I know. He couldn't find a cup of water if you dropped him in a lake, but even if he is an idiot, he's still my brother.\nOdo: And you'd betray him in a second if it suited your interests.\nQuark: That doesn't mean I don't love him. Chief, do you have any brothers?\nO'Brien: As a matter of fact, I have two.\nQuark: And did you ever have to say goodbye to them?\nO'Brien: Sure, when I joined Starfleet.\nQuark: And did it bring a tear to your eye?\nO'Brien: I suppose so.\nQuark: Try explaining that to him.\nDax: The storm's intensity is up thirty-seven percent.\nKira: Is there any way of telling how long it'll last?\nDax: Your guess is as good as mine. Plasma storms are extremely rare. But look at the bright side, this gives us a great opportunity to study one.\nKira: Oh, lucky us.\nBashir: You should see the view from the Promenade. It's simply amazing.\nSisko: I assume the Promenade is secure.\nBashir: Oh, yes, sir. I've struck the sails and battened the hatches, so to speak.\nDax: Benjamin, you'd better look at this. I'm detecting a small vessel headed this way at one quarter impulse.\nKira: They're hailing us.\nSisko: On screen.\nKira: I can't get a visual.\nVerad: This is the cargo ship Ekina. We've been caught by the storm. Our engines have been severely damaged. We need emergency assistance. Can you read me? Repeat, this is the cargo ship Ekina\nKira: I've lost it.\nSisko: Can we get a transporter lock on the crew?\nKira: There's too much interference.\nSisko: Engage the tractor beam. Bring them into the closest docking bay.\nBashir: There might be casualties. I'll get down to the Infirmary.\nSisko: Good idea. Sisko to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: O'Brien here.\nSisko: Chief, we've got some storm victims coming into docking bay five. They may be in need of assistance.\nO'Brien: I'll have to release the emergency seal on the airlock before they can board the station. On my way.\nO'Brien: Stand clear.\nO'Brien: Are you all right? Is anyone hurt?\nT'Kar: Not yet.\nO'Brien: What the hell do you think you're doing?\nT'Kar: No questions.\nO'Brien: This is a nice way to showing your gratitude. We just saved your lives out there.\nT'Kar: You see? The ever-helpful Federation. So predictable.\nO'Brien: Listen, friend, in case you haven't heard the Federation and the Klingon Empire are allies now.\nT'Kar: The Empire is governed by doddering fools and frightened old women who aren't worthy of the name Klingon. Mareel, the comm. badge.\nMareel: This one must be the shape-shifter.\nYeto: Go on. What are you waiting for?\nO'Brien: You're a Trill.\nT'Kar: You, shifter. Inside.\nOdo: And what if I refuse?\nVerad: Please, do as he says and no one will get hurt.\nT'Kar: Now. Or this one dies.\nT'Kar: Let's go, ally.\nBashir: Chief, were there any casualties?\nT'Kar: That depends on you.\nBashir: What's this is all about?\nT'Kar: Yeto, get the Ferengi. Any more questions?\nVerad: Don't hurt him.\nT'Kar: Mareel, the box. Put it in your stasis chamber. Now. Or I will destroy it.\nBashir: Is that supposed to be some kind of threat?\nO'Brien: They've got Odo in there.\nBashir: I see. Well, in that case.\nDax: I'm still not getting a response from O'Brien or Odo.\nSisko: Run a level three security scan.\nT'Kar: Don't bother.\nVerad: Please take your hands away from the controls.\nT'Kar: Now! Get to the center of the room.\nSisko: Do as he says.\nMareel: Don't worry, Verad. It's going to be all right.\nT'Kar: Get with the others. Move. Your turn, little man.\nVerad: Don't forget to disable the backups as well as the primary systems.\nO'Brien: It's my fault, Commander. They caught us by surprise. Somehow they must have neutralized the security systems in the docking ring.\nSisko: How did they manage that?\nO'Brien: I'm not sure, but I've got a pretty good idea. We ran across Quark in an airlock a little while ago.\nKira: When this is over, Quark and I are going to have a little talk.\nSisko: Do you know him?\nQuark: Ah, Yeto. It's such a pleasure doing business with Klingons. You're so punctual. I see that your ship was rescued according to plan. I've got your merchandise right here but I don't see any latinum.\nYeto: You Ferengi, you think you're so clever but you're stupid.\nQuark: Now, now. There's no need for name calling. If you don't want these liquid data chains, I'm sure I can line up dozens of other buyers.\nYeto: Go right ahead.\nQuark: Yeto, you expect me to believe you've come all this way, braved the storm, just to tell me that the deal is off?\nYeto: Stupid Ferengi.\nT'Kar: I said no one moves.\nSisko: I'm commander of this station. What is your business here?\nT'Kar: You'll have to ask my employer.\nVerad: I'm, I'm sorry about this. If everyone would just cooperate, I promise it will all be over soon.\nSisko: What will be over soon?\nQuark: This is an outrage. I demand to be released at once.\nYeto: Enough of your whining.\nQuark: Who are these people? What do they want from us?\nKira: Funny, I was about to ask you that question.\nMareel: That's enough.\nSisko: I agree. Now tell me what you want here.\nVerad: Dax. I want Dax.\nSisko: She's not going anywhere with you.\nVerad: No, no. I don't want the girl. I only want what is rightfully mine. What should have been mine years ago. I want Dax.\nDax: The symbiont, Benjamin. He's come to steal my symbiont.\nBashir: You can't remove Jadzia's symbiont. If you do, she'll die.\nSisko: He knows that, Doctor.\nVerad: I'm, I'm sorry about all this. Please, believe me, I wish I didn't have to do this.\nSisko: Then don't.\nVerad: I don't have any choice. I spent my whole life trying to qualify for the joining. I studied constantly every day, every waking hour. I sacrificed everything and then I went before the Symbiosis Evaluation Board and they reduced my entire life to one word. Unsuitable.\nDax: It's nothing to be ashamed of. Neither of my parents or my sister underwent symbiosis. And they live happy and productive lives. Only one Trill in ten is chosen to be joined.\nVerad: That's easy for you to say. They chose you.\nDax: I was one of the lucky ones.\nMareel: Now it's Verad's turn to be lucky.\nKira: Why Dax? There are thousands of symbionts on Trill. Why her?\nVerad: I did research. I worked it all out. The Dax symbiont is the best match for me. We have mutual interests. Science, diplomacy\nSisko: Verad. There's another reason, isn't there? The wormhole. After you've stolen the symbiont, you plan on escaping to the Gamma Quadrant, don't you.\nMareel: Can you think of a better place to start a new life?\nDax: I understand your frustration, But there could be dozens of reasons why the Board didn't select you for symbiosis. They have to be very careful. An improper joining can cause permanent psychological damage to both the symbiont and the host. They were only looking after your best interests.\nVerad: Your best interests, maybe, but not mine. All they've done is condemn me to a life of, of mediocrity. Well, I refuse to accept it. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life dreaming about what I could have been, what I should have been. I deserve more and I'm going to get it.\nMareel: Yeto, T'Kar. It's time.\nBashir: I'll have no part in this.\nVerad: I, I understand.\nVerad: Keep away from him. There, you see? I've taken the first step. Even if I don't get what I want, my life is over. So either you help me or you and your friends will die. It's your choice.\nDax: He'll help. I don't want anyone else hurt because of me. But you have to give me your word that no one else on the station will be harmed.\nVerad: I promise. Doctor?\nDax: Do as he says, Julian. Please.\nBashir: Let me treat Chief O'Brien's phaser wound first. It won't take long. There's an emergency medical kit in the console.\nT'Kar: Get it.\nBashir: Hold still, Chief. There. There should be no permanent damage. Apply this every twenty minutes or so. It should help the wound regenerate.\nT'Kar: Enough stalling.\nSisko: Do as he says, Doctor. This is no time to be a hero.\nT'Kar: Take them to the Infirmary.\nKira: This isn't over, Dax. I promise you.\nSisko: Dax.\nDax: I know, Benjamin. You'll do all you can. And just in case it isn't enough, I want you to know It's been fun.\nMareel: Let's go. Good luck.\nVerad: It won't be long now, and then you'll see. Everything will be just as I promised.\nMareel: I know.\nVerad: What's that?\nBashir: It's a delta wave inducer, to keep you asleep during the operation. It also increases your body's natural endorphin production to help accelerate the healing process.\nVerad: I don't want it.\nBashir: I strongly recommend that you use it. The surgery will be much easier on you if you\nVerad: I don't want your advice. I want to be awake. Use a neuroelectrical suppressor and set up a monitor so I can watch the procedure. That way, if you run into any trouble, I can assist you. Now, let's get started.\nBashir: I'm sorry, Jadzia.\nDax: Don't blame yourself, Julian. You did everything you could.\nBashir: This'll help you sleep.\nDax: Thank you.\nBashir: Forgive me.\nKira: How long can Dax survive without the symbiont?\nSisko: Once the symbiont is removed, the host usually dies within hours. But Jadzia is young and healthy. Bashir will do what he can. She'll make it through the night.\nO'Brien: That still doesn't give us much time\nT'Kar: No talking!\nMareel: I don't want to kill you, Commander, but I will.\nQuark: This is ridiculous. Don't you realize they're going to kill us? What are you people sitting around for? Do something.\nKira: Do you have any suggestions?\nQuark: Why should I have any suggestions? I'm not the military mastermind. I'm just a victim of circumstances.\nKira: Really? Then maybe you'd like to tell me how four armed terrorists got by our docking ring security grid.\nQuark: Security grid? I don't know anything\nKira: Save it, Quark. You crossed the line this time. You sold us out and now Dax may die because of it. Whatever happens next, one thing is certain. You're through here.\nMareel: Are you all right?\nKira: I'll live.\nMareel: Don't try that again. I don't want to have to hurt anyone.\nKira: Tell that to Jadzia.\nMareel: That's different.\nKira: Do you really believe that?\nMareel: You heard Verad. They didn't leave him any other choice.\nKira: That's his reason. What's yours?\nMareel: I owe him. I grew up on the streets of Khefka Four. I never would've made it out of there without Verad.\nSisko: What was he doing on Khefka Four?\nMareel: He was the communications clerk at the Federation consulate. He used to come by the accommodation house where I worked. I used to help him relax. When he was recalled to Trill he asked me to go with him. We've been together ever since.\nKira: And that's it? He got you out of a bad situation and now you're willing to kill for him?\nMareel: I owe him my life. If there's anything I can do for him, I'll do it.\nSisko: Even if it means losing him?\nMareel: Losing him?\nSisko: After the surgery, Verad won't be just Verad anymore. He'll be a blending of Verad, Dax, and all the previous hosts. Their memories, their knowledge, even their personalities.\nMareel: Verad told me that you'd say things like that. I know he'll change. He'll be smarter, more confident, but in all the important ways, he'll be the same.\nSisko: I'm sorry, but if he told you that, he's lying. Once a Trill is joined, it's like a rebirth. He'll be an entirely different person.\nMareel: If you think I'm going to betray Verad, you're wrong. It doesn't matter what you say. I love him, and I'm going to stand by him no matter what.\nVerad: I never doubted it.\nMareel: Verad.\nVerad: No, not just Verad. I'm Verad Dax.\nBashir: Take this. Come on, we haven't got much time. Just move it back and forth over the wound in slow even strokes.\nYeto: Why bother? She'll be dead in a few hours anyway.\nBashir: Not if I have anything to do with it. Now help me.\nYeto: Why should I? She let herself be slaughtered like a mindless t'gla. If she wanted to live, she should have fought back.\nBashir: She did what she did to save the rest of us.\nYeto: Then she is a fool and she deserves her fate.\nBashir: Now listen to me, Yeto, or whatever your name is. I don't care about your warrior ethic, or your Klingon philosophy. This woman is dying and I need your help to save her. Now take this instrument.\nYeto: So the little human has some spark after all.\nBashir: Come on, come on.\nDax: Julian.\nBashir: Oh, thank God, I thought I'd lost you.\nDax: The symbiont. It's gone.\nBashir: Everything went perfectly. The operation was a complete success.\nDax: I feel so alone.\nBashir: I've got you stabilized. If only we could get the symbiont back in time.\nDax: I'm scared, Julian.\nBashir: You're not going to die. Do you hear me? I'm not going to let you die.\nDax: I've never felt so empty.\nBashir: Just rest.\nSisko: Dax?\nVerad: That's right, Benjamin. It's me.\nSisko: Curzon, Tobin, Jadzia, all the others. They're all a part of you now.\nVerad: It's amazing. So many ideas. So many memories.\nSisko: Eight lifetimes of memories. It must be incredible.\nVerad: It's better than I ever imagined.\nSisko: The station must look very different to you.\nVerad: It does. I, I know this place. And I know you Benjamin.\nSisko: Of course you do. Remember when we first met?\nVerad: Pelios Station.\nSisko: Anastasia?\nVerad: And that trip we took to the cliffs of Bole.\nSisko: All the months we served aboard the Livingston?\nVerad: And Science officer Kustanovich. What was it, eight helpings of Andorian redbat?\nSisko: I've never seen anybody eat so much. Remember my wedding?\nVerad: I remember your bachelor party, or some of it anyway.\nSisko: And the time we diskovered the wormhole? My, my, my.\nVerad: One of Jadzia's proudest moments.\nSisko: And now that woman is bleeding to death in the Infirmary.\nVerad: I'd rather not discuss that, Benjamin.\nSisko: You have to discuss it, Dax. You know as well as I do we can't let her die.\nVerad: But she's not going to die. She'll live on, in me.\nSisko: Jadzia's memories will live on, but Jadzia herself will die and you will have killed her.\nVerad: You think I don't know that? I'll never be able to forget it. But I promise you, Benjamin, I'll do all I can to make up for it. I'm not going to the Gamma Quadrant to hide. There are entire worlds who can benefit from my knowledge and experience. I can help them, and I will.\nSisko: I have a better idea.\nVerad: What's that.\nSisko: Help Jadzia. Come with me down to the Infirmary. Put the symbiont back where it belongs.\nVerad: I can't do that, Benjamin, even if I wanted to. Don't you see it's too late. The integration is already under way.\nSisko: But there's still time to stop it. Jadzia's life can still be saved.\nMareel: Don't listen to him. He's just trying to confuse you.\nVerad: It's all right, Mareel. Benjamin, the symbiont's still weak from the operation. If we attempt another joining so soon, it might not survive. Are you willing to risk that?\nSisko: I am. The question is, are you?\nMareel: Why are you wasting your time with him?\nVerad: Because he's my friend! Now go watch the others. We are still friends, aren't we, Benjamin?\nSisko: I hope so. Come with me down to the Infirmary and prove it.\nVerad: I can't do that.\nSisko: Then you're not the Dax that I know. Our friendship's over.\nMareel: Here, drink this.\nO'Brien: What is it?\nMareel: Senarian egg broth. It'll keep your strength up. All right, don't drink it. It makes no difference to me.\nO'Brien: Hold on. Thank you.\nSisko: He even looks different, doesn't he? The way he stands, the way he moves, talks.\nMareel: He's better than he was.\nSisko: I'm glad you think so.\nMareel: I do.\nSisko: Really? The way he dismissed you before. Verad never did that.\nMareel: He's under a lot of stress.\nSisko: Verad was under stress the minute he stepped onto this station. But he never turned on you, did he?\nMareel: What's your point, Commander?\nSisko: I think you know.\nMareel: You're trying to turn me against Verad.\nSisko: Verad no longer exists. You know that better than I do.\nMareel: All right then, Verad Dax. But it won't work. Nothing has changed between us.\nSisko: You really believe that?\nMareel: Yes.\nSisko: All right, then make me believe it. Go in there and talk to him.\nMareel: Talk to him about what?\nSisko: I don't know. Whatever you want. I'm sure the two of you have a lot to say to one another.\nMareel: I don't want to disturb him.\nSisko: Why not?\nMareel: Because I don't want to.\nSisko: Look at him, sitting in there all alone. He needs you.\nMareel: That's enough.\nSisko: I don't understand why you're being so reluctant. This is a perfect time for the two of you to get reacquainted.\nMareel: I said, that's enough!\nVerad: Mareel? Is anything wrong?\nMareel: No. Everything's fine.\nVerad: Good. Be careful. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you.\nQuark: I got him! I got him!\nMareel: Stay back.\nQuark: Maybe we should talk about this?\nQuark: My ear!\nT'Kar: Pathetic.\nVerad: Mareel, take him to the Infirmary.\nBashir: What is it now?\nQuark: Please. It hurts.\nBashir: All right. Hold on. The damage appears to be fairly superficial. But Ferengi ears are incredibly sensitive, so I'd better run some further tests.\nVerad: The storm's intensity's dropped another twenty percent. I know this has been hard for you, Benjamin. It's been hard for both of us. But it's almost over.\nMareel: Good. I'm getting tired of waiting here. How are you feeling?\nVerad: Better than ever, thanks to you. I couldn't have done this without you. I would have spent the rest of my life a mediocre man only dreaming of what might have been. You know what you have to do.\nMareel: You just worry about getting through the wormhole. The Klingons and I'll make sure that no one stops you.\nVerad: Remember, I don't want you staying here any longer than you have to. Give me an hour, then head for the wormhole. The runabout's on pad C.\nMareel: The sooner you leave, the sooner I can follow, and the sooner we can be together.\nMareel: It's going to be all right, isn't it?\nVerad: Just wait for me at the rendezvous point.\nYeto: Stop whining or I'll put you out of your misery.\nBashir: It's not his fault. He's got a deep contusion of the auricular lobe and a possible dislocated malleus. In a Ferengi, either condition could be fatal. But if you want him to stop, give me a hand with this.\nYeto: I'm not your nurse.\nBashir: Look, let's not go through that again. Just hold this against his ear.\nBashir: Not too hard.\nBashir: Just another second. Relax.\nBashir: There.\nQuark: Thank you, Doctor. I feel better already. How is she?\nBashir: I've have her stabilized, but there's no telling how much time she's got left. We've got to get the symbiont back before it's too late.\nQuark: What are you doing?\nBashir: Odo's in here.\nQuark: He is?\nBashir: Yes, and we've got to get him out.\nQuark: Are you sure?\nBashir: Quark. If we only knew the access code.\nQuark: Allow me.\nQuark: Standard Delgorian locking mechanism. Sophisticated, but vulnerable if you know its weaknesses. Hand me that laser scalpel.\nQuark: It's a gift.\nT'Kar: The storm's decreased another fifteen percent.\nVerad: Excellent. That should be more than enough to allow safe passage to the wormhole. Verad to Yeto. Verad to Yeto.\nT'Kar: Yeto, report!\nVerad: The doctor must have overpowered him.\nT'Kar: The doctor? Impossible.\nVerad: It's the shape-shifter. He must have freed the shape-shifter. T'Kar, get me to the ship.\nMareel: You better take a hostage, just in case.\nSisko: I'll go with you.\nVerad: I'd love your company, Benjamin, but somehow I don't think you have my best interests at heart. Kira, I hate to inconvenience you.\nKira: That's all right. If Odo's free, there's no way you're getting off this station.\nVerad: Mareel.\nMareel: Good luck.\nVerad: Well, Benjamin, I guess this is goodbye. Not many friendships last over two lifetimes. I wish we could have made it three.\nSisko: You'll be seeing me again, Verad.\nSisko: So, where's this rendezvous going to be?\nMareel: You don't really expect me to tell you?\nSisko: No, but I hope you like it there, because you'll be waiting for Verad a long time.\nMareel: How would you know?\nSisko: You told me yourself. I saw the look on your face when he asked you to wait for him.\nMareel: The plan was the was supposed to get there first. That he would wait for me, not the other way around.\nSisko: Well, maybe it was an honest mistake, a slip of the tongue.\nMareel: He lied to me. He's never lied to me before. He's not coming. He doesn't need me anymore.\nSisko: No, you're wrong. He does need you now, more than ever.\nMareel: You never give up, do you? I told you I'm not going to betray him.\nSisko: I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to save him. To help us save him.\nMareel: All you care about is Jadzia.\nSisko: That's right. And you care about Verad. And we can save them both. Don't you see? Dax and Verad were never meant to be joined. We've got to remove the symbiont while there's still time.\nMareel: If you hurt him, I'll kill you.\nSisko: I don't doubt it.\nVerad: The ship. It's gone.\nOdo: That's because I released the docking clamps.\nSisko: Looks like that goodbye was a little premature.\nVerad: Don't be ridiculous. You're not going to shoot me.\nSisko: What makes you so sure?\nVerad: This is Dax you're talking to, Benjamin. We both know that if you shoot me, even on stun, you risk killing the symbiont.\nSisko: If I let you go, Jadzia dies.\nVerad: But Dax will live. What's one girl's life compared to eight lifetimes of knowledge and experience? You're not going to shoot me. You know that and so do I. Goodbye, Benjamin.\nSisko: Verad. Don't call me Benjamin.\nVerad: I feel strange. So empty.\nSisko: It's over now, Verad. The symbiont is back where it belongs.\nVerad: So close. I had it. I had it and now I'm alone.\nMareel: You're not alone, Verad. I'm here. I'll always be here.\nVerad: I can't remember any of it. The knowledge, the confidence, it's all gone.\nBashir: Commander?\nSisko: Jadzia. Are you?\nDax: I'm fine. I remember it all, Benjamin. Everything he thought, everything he did, and it's so sad. I guess he'll always be with me."}
{"text": "Garak: Tarkalean tea again, Doctor?\nBashir: Yes, and you're drinking Rokassa juice again, aren't you, Garak.\nGarak: How did you know?\nBashir: The odor is unmistakable.\nGarak: So it is. Rokassa juice soothes my nerves. I had a very demanding customer today. A Bajoran engineer who comes to the shop constantly just to plague me.\nBashir: You know, I've always wondered about that. About who your steady customers really are. I can't imagine Bajorans frequenting a shop run by a Cardassian.\nGarak: I like to think that my expertise and willingness to serve overcome any general resentments any of my clientele may have.\nBashir: Ah. And perhaps your expertise and willingness to serve go so far as to establish a certain trust between you and your customers?\nGarak: Trust is very important\nBashir: And once they trust you, they're much more open with you, and they tell you things.\nGarak: Really, Doctor, must we always play this game? I'm no more a spy than you are a\nBashir: A doctor.\nGarak: I'm afraid you really do allow your imagination to run away with you. What else can I say to finally convince you that I'm just\nBashir: Plain, simple Garak?\nGarak: Precisely.\nGarak: Now there's something you don't see every day.\nZolan: Have a seat. I'll get us all some refreshment.\nBashir: That was odd. Do you know him?\nGarak: On the contrary. I've never seen him before in my life.\nGarak: I hope I'm not intruding, but I couldn't help noticing what a handsome young man you have here.\nGarak: Argh!\nBashir: I'm sorry I'm late. The damnedest thing just happened. Garak the tailor was attacked.\nOdo: Attacked? Where?\nBashir: At the Replimat. He was bitten on the hand.\nDax: Another unsatisfied customer?\nO'Brien: He always cuts the pants too long.\nBashir: Actually, it was a boy. A Cardassian boy.\nSisko: I wasn't aware we had any Cardassian children on the station.\nOdo: We don't.\nBashir: He's just arrived on a Bajoran transport with an adult Bajoran who says he's his father.\nKira: The boy was probably one of the orphans left behind after the Cardassians pulled out. We had no choice but to take care of them. You have an incoming subspace transmission from Cardassia, Commander. It's Gul Dukat.\nSisko: In my office.\nDukat: Commander, it's been brought to my attention that the sole Cardassian living on your station has been assaulted.\nSisko: I'm surprised how quickly the news reached you, Dukat. I only heard about it myself a minute ago.\nDukat: Is it true he was attacked by a Cardassian boy brought to the station by a Bajoran?\nSisko: A Cardassian boy appears to have be involved, yes.\nDukat: Exactly as I feared. Exactly as I've been warning my colleagues.\nSisko: Warning them?\nDukat: The Cardassian war orphans, Commander. Abandoned when we left Bajor. It's a disgrace. Obviously these children are being raised to hate their own kind. This incident is proof.\nSisko: You're assuming a lot from one incident.\nDukat: Am I? Then why would this boy attack poor Garak? An amiable fellow, if there ever was one.\nSisko: If you like, I'll try to find out.\nDukat: That would be most appreciated, Commander. I need to find out everything I can about this boy, so that I can use his story in my fight to bring these orphans back to their homeland. This is a tragedy that all of Cardassia is going to have to address.\nProka: We didn't come here to cause trouble. Has this Garak filed a complaint?\nSisko: No, but the Cardassian officials asked that look into the incident.\nProka: I wish they'd shown as much concern when they left my boy and dozens like him to fend for themselves.\nSisko: How did you come to adopt him?\nProka: My wife and I felt that Rugal shouldn't suffer for crimes committed by others.\nSisko: But why would he attack another Cardassian?\nProka: That Cardassian should have minded his own business.\nBashir: Garak was only trying to be friendly. The boy seemed terrified of him on sight.\nSisko: The Cardassians are suggesting that the Bajorans are raising these orphans to hate their own people.\nProka: To hate Cardassians? It shouldn't be too hard, should it? We told him the truth, Commander. The truth about what Cardassia did to Bajor. He needed to know, and for that I make no apologies. To us, he isn't even one of them anymore. He isn't Cardassian, he's Bajoran. And we love him just as if he were our own flesh and blood.\nZolan: All right, here we go. Here we go. Baby, come on. Dabo!\nQuark: There's nothing quite so depressing as a winning streak that won't stop streaking.\nZolan: Dabo!\nBashir: It would appear as if you have this game all figured out.\nZolan: Dabo! Dabo is a passion of mine. I remember you. You're Doctor\nBashir: Bashir.\nZolan: Bashir, yes. How's the Cardassian? Still has all his fingers, I presume?\nBashir: Yes. Luckily there were no broken bones. I've never seen a boy take a bite out of a man's hand like that.\nZolan: He's a strange boy, Rugal.\nBashir: Do you know the family well?\nZolan: Dabo!\nBashir: Do you?\nZolan: Look, this is really none of my business.\nBashir: You were a witness. I just want to get my facts right for the medical report.\nZolan: I'd really rather you asked someone else.\nBashir: Frankly, I don't understand your attitude. All I asked was if you know them well.\nZolan: Well enough. I heard the father was looking for a new job several months ago and I offered to help. I visited them on Bajor several times.\nBashir: Did you find anything troubling?\nZolan: It must be torture for that boy living like that. Hated by people he thinks of as his parents. Told day after day that he's worthless Cardassian scum. Beaten if he even looks the wrong way. Rugal is their revenge. Their revenge against all Cardassians.\nProka: It is not true. It is not true. Rugal will tell you. We have not mistreated him. Is this some Cardassian?\nSisko: There'll be ample opportunity to go over the matter in detail, but during the investigation, we'd like for Rugal to stay with our schoolteacher, Mrs O'Brien. She's expecting him now.\nProka: What if I refuse?\nSisko: Then I'll have to call Security and have them remove him from your quarters. I don't think either of us wants that.\nRugal: Why?\nProka: It'll be all right\nRugal: I didn't do anything wrong!\nProka: I know. I know. It'll be all right. I promise.\nRugal: I didn't do anything wrong.\nSisko: Nobody's accusing you of a crime, Rugal. You're not being arrested. My name is Commander Sisko. I believe you already know Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Hello, Rugal.\nSisko: I'm sure all of this will be straightened out in a day or two. If you want to visit with your father tomorrow, you can.\nProka: Go on, Rugal. We'll talk tomorrow. They won't hurt you. They're humans, not Cardassians.\nBashir: Actually, something good did come out of all of this, Garak.\nGarak: Oh?\nBashir: If it hadn't happened, we never would have diskovered Rugal's situation. And a bite on the hand is certainly worth saving a boy's life, wouldn't you say?\nGarak: I suppose it depends on whose hand. Just joking, Doctor.\nBashir: Perhaps it might even help Gul Dukat in his efforts to resolve the entire war orphan predicament.\nGarak: I beg your pardon?\nBashir: Gul Dukat. He called Commander Sisko right after this happened. Apparently he was quite concerned with your well-being. You never mentioned you were friends.\nGarak: You said Dukat is doing something about war orphans?\nBashir: He wants to bring them all home from Bajor.\nGarak: Does he.\nBashir: Am I missing something?\nGarak: Tell me, Doctor. Is there a single trait would you ascribe to me and to my fellow Cardassians? Would it not be our attention to detail? Do you think we simply forgot about those poor little orphans when we left Bajor? Do you think they simply slipped from our minds? And who would you guess was in charge of the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor?\nDukat: I don't know how to thank you.\nSisko: Don't thank me too quickly, Dukat. The boy could be returned to his adoptive parents.\nDukat: After the accusations this businessman has made.\nSisko: That's all it is for the moment. An accusation.\nDukat: We would not take kindly to the boy being returned to the Bajorans. However, I have complete confidence in your ability to be thorough, Commander. And if there's anything I can do.\nSisko: As a matter of fact, there is. If it is decided the boy should be returned to Cardassia, to whom would we return him? It might help to find out if he still has any living relatives.\nDukat: I was going to suggest that you forward us a sample of the boy's DNA and we'll run it through our data banks immediately.\nSisko: We'll send it right away.\nBashir: Excuse me, Gul Dukat. I have a question.\nDukat: Doctor Bashir, isn't it?\nBashir: Yes. Isn't it true you were in charge of the evacuation of Bajor?\nDukat: Yes, I was.\nBashir: Then it would have been your responsibility to ensure that these orphans were in fact part of that evacuation, yet you chose to leave them behind. Why?\nDukat: I did not choose to leave them behind, Doctor. I was ordered to leave them behind.\nBashir: Ordered? By whom?\nDukat: By the civilian leaders. They\nBashir: Excuse me, but if I understand the Cardassian political system correctly, the civilian leaders have no direct authority over military officers.\nDukat: Who's been tutoring you in Cardassian social studies, Doctor?\nBashir: Your old friend, Garak.\nDukat: Well then, perhaps you should remind my old friend Garak the withdrawal of Bajor was a decision made by the civilian leaders. One that I clearly opposed. And yes, they made the decision to leave the orphans behind. A decision I've regretted ever since. Thank you for your concern, Doctor. Good day, Commander.\nBashir: He's lying.\nSisko: Is that an opinion, or do you have evidence to support it?\nBashir: I have Garak.\nSisko: Garak.\nBashir: He seems to think there's more going on here than we realize.\nSisko: What exactly does he think is going on?\nBashir: I'm not sure. He doesn't actually tell me what he really thinks. I sort of have to deduce it.\nSisko: So, you deduced that Garak thinks Dukat is lying about something you're not sure of and you proceeded to interrupt my conversation to confront him about whatever that may be.\nBashir: I'm sorry, Commander. It just seemed an opportune\nSisko: Don't apologize. It's been the high point of my day. Don't do it again.\nDax: Why would Garak want to undermine Gul Dukat?\nBashir: I'm not really sure. I don't think he likes Dukat very much.\nSisko: I'd like to ask Garak about this myself. Have him in my office at twenty one hundred hours.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nKeiko: Hi.\nO'Brien: Here, let me.\nKeiko: Thanks.\nO'Brien: Good idea.\nKeiko: What?\nO'Brien: Three settings. I assume you sent Molly over to stay with the Fredericks.\nKeiko: She's asleep. She and Rugal played all afternoon. He wore her out.\nO'Brien: You let them play together?\nKeiko: Why not?\nO'Brien: The boy almost bit somebody's hand off.\nKeiko: I was with them all afternoon. He's not like that. He's really very gentle.\nO'Brien: Gentle was bred out of these Cardassians a long time ago.\nKeiko: You know, that was a very ugly thing you just said.\nO'Brien: I only said.\nKeiko: I don't need to hear it twice.\nKeiko: Rugal, dinner's ready. I hope you like it.\nO'Brien: Keiko, darling, what is this?\nKeiko: I found some Cardassian recipes in the memory bank of our food replicator. It's a stew, made with Cardassian zabu meat. I thought Rugal might enjoy a dish that's popular on his own world.\nO'Brien: Can't sleep?\nRugal: What're they going to do with me?\nO'Brien: I'm not sure. You might have something to say about that, you know. I mean, you should be telling Commander Sisko what you want.\nRugal: I want to go home.\nO'Brien: He'll understand that. You're a Cardassian. They should've taken you home when they left.\nRugal: No, I mean home. To Bajor.\nO'Brien: It must be tough for you, living on Bajor.\nRugal: Why?\nO'Brien: Being Cardassian.\nRugal: That's not my fault. I was born that way.\nO'Brien: That's not what I meant. There's nothing wrong with being a Cardassian.\nRugal: Yes, there is.\nO'Brien: Who taught you that?\nRugal: It's the truth. Everybody knows it.\nO'Brien: How do your parents feel about Cardassians?\nRugal: They hate them.\nO'Brien: Why would you want to live with someone who hates you?\nRugal: They hate other Cardassians, not me. My parents have never done anything wrong to me.\nO'Brien: Come on, even I got my bottom whacked by my Dad once or twice.\nRugal: Not me. My parents follow the teachings of the Prophets. What do you think of Cardassians?\nO'Brien: Me? Well, I can't say, really.\nRugal: Why not?\nO'Brien: Well, you can't judge a whole race of people. You can't hate all Cardassians or all Klingons or all humans. I've met some Cardassians I didn't like, and I've met some I did. Like you.\nRugal: Do you know how many Bajorans the Cardassians murdered during the occupation? Over ten million. We had a test on it in school. I wish I wasn't Cardassian.\nGarak: Come, Doctor, get dressed. We need to be going.\nBashir: Going? Going where?\nGarak: To Bajor.\nSisko: I assume this couldn't wait until morning?\nBashir: No, sir. I need to use a runabout.\nSisko: I'm waiting.\nBashir: It's Garak, sir. He wants to go to Bajor.\nSisko: Bajor? For what?\nBashir: He wouldn't tell me.\nSisko: Oh, well, by all means. Will one runabout be enough?\nCrewman: Ops to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nCrewman: Commander, there's an urgent communication for you from Gul Dukat.\nDukat: I'm sorry to disturb you at such a late hour, Commander, but thanks to the DNA gene type you sent us, we've diskovered the boy's actually the son of one of our most prominent politicians, Kotan Pa'Dar.\nSisko: When was Pa'Dar on Bajor?\nDukat: Over eight years ago. He was Exarch for a Cardassian settlement there. The boy was believed to have died in a Bajoran terrorist attack.\nSisko: Has he been told his son is alive?\nDukat: Of course. As you can imagine, he's overwhelmed with joy. He's already on his way to the station to reclaim him.\nSisko: It's not that simple.\nDukat: I don't understand.\nSisko: The boy wants to go back to Bajor.\nDukat: Back> To live with the same brutal people?\nSisko: I can't find any evidence to support that accusation. I can't even find the man who made it in the first place.\nDukat: Nevertheless, when the boy finds out his real father's alive, surely he'll change his mind. And even if he doesn't, it would be in the boy's best interests.\nSisko: We'll just have to see what happens when Pa'Dar gets here. Sisko out.\nBashir: It can't just be a coincidence, sir. Garak must have heard about Pa'Dar before he woke me up. What could he be looking for on Bajor?\nSisko: There's only one way to find out.\nBashir: Excuse me, is this the Tozhat Resettlement Center?\nDeela: Yes.\nBashir: I'm Doctor Bashir from the Federation command at Deep Space Nine. I've been trying to find some information on a Cardassian war orphan who was apparently placed for adoption here.\nDeela: Yes, the Bajorans opened their hearts to many abandoned children.\nBashir: The boy's name is Rugal, and the Bajoran who adopted him is named Proka Migdal.\nDeela: I don't recognize either of the names. What was it you were trying to find out about them?\nBashir: Yes, exactly what are we trying to find out about them?\nGarak: The circumstances surrounding the young man's adoption. It took place about eight years ago.\nDeela: The Cardassians were still here. You'll never find anything from back then.\nGarak: Oh, the Cardassians are quite meticulous record keepers, Madame. They've taught many worlds, including this one, how to keep records. I find it difficult to believe that none exist from that time period. Certainly computer entries made on a regular basis.\nDeela: I wouldn't know. I wasn't a volunteer then. I was in the underground.\nGarak: Really? Perhaps we have met.\nBashir: Look, can we just check your computers?\nDeela: Our computers don't work. I can't get a technician to come out. We're not exactly a top priority.\nGarak: Perhaps I can be of service.\nBashir: You can fix computers?\nGarak: I dabble with isolinear data subprocessors. It's a hobby of mine.\nBashir: I continue to underestimate you, Garak.\nGarak: It's no more difficult than sewing on a button, actually. Excuse me.\nBashir: You carry this everywhere with you, do you?\nGarak: A simple tailoring tool. You'd be surprised how often someone needs their pants let out. Oh, it's not there.\nBashir: What's not there?\nGarak: Rugal's name, his father's name, none of it.\nBashir: You managed to find eight year old files that quickly?\nGarak: It's simply a question of knowing what you're looking for, Doctor. Excuse me. Now, it's either been misfiled, under a wrong name, or this is entirely the wrong relocation center.\nBashir: I'm not going to any other district until I know.\nGarak: That won't be necessary. We can access the files of this entire province from here and download them onto a data clip.\nBashir: That'll be thousands of files.\nGarak: Tens of thousands, actually.\nAsha: Excuse me, sir. Have you come to take us back to Cardassia?\nGarak: I'm afraid not, child. Come, Doctor. I believe you'll find your computer system fully functional now, Madame.\nGarak: Computer, set up a data bank, cross-referencing age groups, sex and year of adopt.\nBashir: Computer, disregard that request and shut down all engines.\nGarak: I'm sorry you're upset about the orphans. Children without parents have no status in Cardassian society. The situation is most unfortunate, but I don't make the rules.\nBashir: But you do play the game, don't you, Garak. And there is a game being played right now, as we speak, isn't there.\nGarak: There are always games, Doctor.\nBashir: The trouble is, I don't have the slightest idea what this game is about. So you're going to tell me what's going on inside that plain and simple head of yours, my Cardassian friend, or we're going to sit here until we rot!\nGarak: Tell me, Doctor, why do you think the Cardassians left Bajor?\nBashir: Gul Dukat said it was a decision made by your civilian leaders.\nGarak: And isn't it interesting that one of Cardassia's most notable civilian leaders has recently entered this scenario.\nBashir: Rugal's father? You're saying Kotan Pa'Dar was involved in the decision to evacuate Bajor?\nGarak: Very good, Doctor. I'm glad to see our little get-togethers haven't gone for naught.\nBashir: Which makes him a political enemy of Gul Dukat's. Who lost his job as Prefect when they withdrew.\nGarak: And seemingly out of nowhere, Dukat takes an interest in this orphan boy who recently arrives on our station. And then soon afterwards, with Gul Dukat's assistance, we diskover that the orphan boy isn't really an orphan boy, but Pa'Dar's long lost son.\nBashir: Another coincidence?\nGarak: I believe in coincidences. Coincidences happen every day. But I don't trust coincidences.\nPa'Dar: I am Kotan Pa'Dar.\nO'Brien: Miles O'Brien. Come in. Sit down.\nPa'Dar: Where is my son?\nO'Brien: He's with my wife. They'll be back shortly. I thought it might be a good idea if we talked first. Your son, Rugal\nPa'Dar: At least they didn't change his name.\nO'Brien: When was the last time you saw him?\nPa'Dar: On Bajor. He had just had his fourth birthday. He probably doesn't even remember me. Does he?\nO'Brien: I think he's spent most of his life trying to forget you.\nPa'Dar: I don't think I understand.\nO'Brien: The boy hates everything he is. He hates Cardassians, he hates being a Cardassian.\nPa'Dar: Yes, I've heard those stories. Well, I suppose after growing up among the Bajorans. But now that I'm back in his life.\nO'Brien: He may not want you back in his life.\nPa'Dar: I am his father. Mister O'Brien, I know very little about human culture. I don't know how you view the family.\nO'Brien: We'd do almost anything to protect our families. I have a daughter myself. She's four, the same age your son was when you lost him.\nPa'Dar: Then I expect you can imagine what I'm feeling right now. On Cardassia, family is everything. We care for our parents and children with equal devotion. In some households, four generations eat at the same table. Family is everything. And I have failed in my responsibilities to my family.\nO'Brien: You had no way of knowing he was still alive.\nPa'Dar: I should have tried harder. I should have looked everywhere. To abandon my son, to allow him to be raised a Bajoran. I have disgraced that everything a Cardassian believes in.\nPa'Dar: Hello, Rugal. Do you remember my face? Even a little?\nRugal: No.\nPa'Dar: Would you like to see some pictures of you when you were a child?\nRugal: No.\nPa'Dar: Rugal, you have to understand. There was nothing left of the house after the attack. Your mother was dead and you. I cried for you, Rugal. I missed you so much. I could not even stay on Bajor. It was too close to the happy memories of you.\nRugal: It was your own fault. You deserved it. You are Cardassian. What the Bajorans did, they had to do.\nPa'Dar: I understand why you say that.\nRugal: You can't understand. You are a Cardassian butcher! A butcher. They killed your son for your crimes.\nPa'Dar: Rugal.\nRugal: You are not my father! And I will never go back to Cardassia. Never.\nPa'Dar: I have no intention of allowing a Bajoran court to rule on the custody of my son.\nProka: You gave up custody when you abandoned him here.\nPa'Dar: He is my natural born child. As Cardassian law clearly stipulates\nProka: There is no more Cardassian law on Bajor\nSisko: Gentlemen, I think you may need an arbitrator to settle this.\nProka: It must be someone who is neither a Cardassian nor a Bajoran. What about you?\nSisko: I'd be willing, but wouldn't you have objections because of the Federation's relationship with Bajor?\nPa'Dar: No, Commander. You are a father too. You would be acceptable to me.\nSisko: Very well then. I'll schedule a\nOdo: Odo to Commander Sisko.\nSisko: Yes, Odo. What is it?\nOdo: I thought you might be interested to know Gul Dukat has just arrived on the station.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 47177.2. The arrival of Gul Dukat only powers my suspicion that we are being manipulated in some unseen manner. Doctor Bashir and Garak continue to search for anything of relevance in the adoption files. So far, they've found nothing. And the decision on custody for Rugal cannot wait much longer\nSisko: You've come a long way just to view a custody hearing.\nDukat: Pa'Dar is an eminent member of the civilian assembly. This matter has generated a great deal of interest at the highest levels of our government.\nSisko: So, you're here representing your government?\nDukat: Not exactly. I like to think that I'm here representing the children. All of the children abandoned on Bajor. I want to see Rugal reunited with his father.\nSisko: Well, I'm sure Pa'Dar is grateful for your support because I was under the impression that you were political adversaries. Isn't that so, Pa'Dar?\nPa'Dar: We have disagreed in the past, but Commander, I don't see\nDukat: And I must object, Commander. The past is the past. It has no relevance here. What is relevant are the children. What are we going to do about the children?\nSisko: If you don't mind, I'd like for you to go over the events leading up to the disappearance of Rugal eight years ago.\nGarak: How perfectly foolish of me.\nBashir: Don't tell me you've decided you were wrong. Not after searching seven thousand, four hundred and twenty files for a misspelling.\nGarak: Dukat is much smarter than that.\nBashir: Than what?\nGarak: Think about it, Doctor. He would never have left a file to be found.\nBashir: Do you really think he purged the file on Rugal?\nGarak: I would have.\nBashir: There was something in that file he didn't want anybody to see.\nGarak: Exactly. We have one last chance, to find the person who wrote that file in the first place.\nBashir: How do you ever hope to find him?\nGarak: Her.\nBashir: Her? How do you know?\nGarak: Because I've already found her name. Jomat Luson.\nSisko: Do you remember anything from back then, Rugal?\nRugal: No.\nSisko: Do you remember being adopted?\nRugal: No.\nSisko: What's the first thing you do remember?\nRugal: My father teaching me how to swim.\nJomat: I know exactly the one you're talking about.\nBashir: You do?\nJomat: He was the only Cardassian boy we had at the time. We had several girls.\nBashir: Are you sure his name was Rugal?\nJomat: That's what we were told.\nBashir: Somebody told you his name?\nJomat: Yes, that was the most unusual thing about his arrival. Virtually all of the other Cardassian children turned in to us were found on the streets by Bajorans. Rugal was brought in by a Cardassian.\nBashir: A Cardassian military officer, by any chance?\nJomat: Yes, as a matter of fact, she was.\nBashir: A woman?\nJomat: I don't remember her name, but she was attached to the command post at Terok Nor. Is there anything else, Doctor?\nO'Brien: The boy accused him of being a butcher. He hates Cardassians, sir. Pa'Dar was heartbroken. I can only imagine how I'd feel in his shoes.\nBashir: Commander, can I ask O'Brien a few questions? Chief, didn't Pa'Dar tell you about the humiliation he feels right now?\nO'Brien: He said he had disgraced everything a Cardassian believes in.\nBashir: Has the news of your son's diskovery become public knowledge on Cardassia?\nPa'Dar: The government has not chosen to reveal it to the people yet.\nBashir: What happens when it is revealed?\nPa'Dar: It will be the end of my political career.\nBashir: That's a shame. Especially considering the timing.\nPa'Dar: The timing?\nBashir: Isn't there an inquiry about to begin concerning the Cardassians who were involved in the attempted military coup on Bajor?\nPa'Dar: Yes.\nBashir: And isn't Gul Dukat one of the key witnesses in that inquiry?\nDukat: This is irrelevant and insulting. Commander, you've lost control here.\nSisko: Yes, it seems that I have.\nDukat: I suggest we return to the issue of the children.\nBashir: All right, let's talk about children. Have you ever been to the Tozhat Resettlement Center on Bajor where Rugal was adopted?\nDukat: Never.\nBashir: Of course, Tozhat is the province where Pa'Dar was stationed eight years ago.\nDukat: I'm aware of that.\nBashir: I've been trying to find records of Rugal's adoption, but they're missing from the files.\nDukat: How unfortunate.\nBashir: Yes, but we have found someone who was working at the center at the time Rugal was brought in. Do you know a Bajoran social volunteer named Jomat Luson?\nDukat: No.\nBashir: Jomat Luson remembers Rugal being brought in by a Cardassian military officer. A woman who seemed familiar with him. Even knew his name.\nDukat: Is there a question?\nBashir: The question is whether or not this officer deliberately left the son of Kotan Pa'Dar at the Relocation Center with full knowledge that he was not an orphan. Perhaps even with the hopes of humiliating Pa'Dar someday.\nDukat: I wouldn't know.\nBashir: Would you happen to know then of a base known during the occupation as Terok Nor?\nDukat: Terok Nor? It was here. This space station.\nBashir: Jomat Luson clearly recalls that the officer who brought in Rugal was attached to Terok Nor.\nBashir: Gul Dukat! Who was the commanding office at Terok Nor eight years ago?\nBashir: For the record, the commanding office of Terok Nor eight years ago was Gul Dukat.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 47178.3. After long and difficult deliberations, I have decided to allow Pa'Dar to take his son back to Cardassia. Although I am convinced his Bajoran foster parents treated him with love, Rugal has been the clear victim in this conspiracy. I believe it's time for his healing to begin.\nPa'Dar: Your doctor has given me the leverage I need, Commander.\nSisko: Leverage?\nPa'Dar: Dukat will never allow these events to be made public now, and I certainly won't choose to discuss them.\nSisko: A stalemate.\nPa'Dar: A stalemate. You've helped me salvage my political career. I won't forget that.\nSisko: Perhaps you'll use your influence to help other Cardassian orphans on Bajor.\nPa'Dar: Well, yes, we'll see.\nO'Brien: Remember what I said. If you ever want to come back and visit, just let me know and I'll arrange it.\nPa'Dar: Hello, Rugal. Ready to go?\nPa'Dar: I suppose it'll take time.\nBashir: But there's one more question I haven't figured out, Garak. Why did you want to expose Dukat? What's the truth about you and him?\nGarak: Truth, Doctor, is in the eye of the beholder. I never tell the truth because I don't believe there is such a thing. That's why I prefer the straight line simplicity of cutting cloth.\nBashir: You're not going to tell me.\nGarak: But you don't need me to tell you, my friend. Just notice the details. They're scattered like crumbs all over this table we regularly share. Until next time."}
{"text": "Scene: Medical log, stardate 47229.1. Chief O'Brien and I have been working overtime to prepare for the arrival of a new cartographer. Ensign Melora Pazlar is the first Elaysian to join Starfleet and, as such, requires special accommodations.\nDax: I haven't seen one of these in three hundred years. I'm surprised it was even on file in the replicator's data bank.\nBashir: It isn't. Ensign Pazlar sent me the specifications.\nDax: She really uses one like this?\nBashir: Her normal anti-grav unit isn't going to work here. Same problem we had with the Starfleet cargo lifts. Cardassian construction just isn't compatible.\nKira: Ops to Bashir. The Yellowstone has just docked at airlock fourteen, Doctor.\nBashir: We're on our way.\nBashir: Just think what she's gone through to get here, Jadzia. What it must be like to adjust to our gravity after growing up on a planet with such low surface gravity.\nO'Brien: Doctor. We've done the best we can with the ramps. The Cardassians obviously didn't have her in mind when they built this place.\nBashir: I've managed to modify the maximum vertical clearance of the chair three centimeters to a slope of fifty six degrees.\nO'Brien: That still leaves a lot of places around here she won't have access to.\nDax: Can't we just use the transporter to help her get around?\nO'Brien: It makes sense to me, but she sent word that it wasn't be acceptable to her.\nDax: I wonder why.\nBashir: I know exactly why. She went through the Academy the same way. Once her basic needs are met, she refuses any special assistance. She's extraordinary.\nDax: You make it sound as though you've known her for years.\nBashir: I almost feel as though I have. I've pulled all her personnel and medical files to get ready. Her quarters. They're ready, aren't they?\nO'Brien: I've got the bumps on the head to prove it.\nBashir: Thanks, Chief.\nO'Brien: Let me know if there's anything else I can do.\nBashir: That'll be something to see. When we turn off the gravity and she flies around the room.\nMelora: Ensign Melora Pazlar reporting for duty.\nDax: Welcome to DS Nine, Ensign. I'm Chief Science Officer Jadzia Dax, and this\nMelora: Doctor Bashir. We spoke on subspace.\nBashir: Good to meet you in person.\nMelora: I see you have my trolley car ready to go.\nBashir: As requested.\nDax: Can I help?\nMelora: I'm fine, thank you.\nMelora: That's better. You've modified it.\nBashir: Yes. I wanted to give you as much mobility as I could.\nMelora: I've been practicing on the model I requested for a month.\nBashir: Well, it's no problem. We can replicate the other design.\nMelora: No, I'll just have to adapt.\nDax: I'll be accompanying you on your survey mission.\nMelora: I really don't think that'll be necessary, Lieutenant. I'm perfectly capable of piloting a runabout.\nDax: Commander Sisko thought that it\nMelora: I'm sure he thought what every officer I've ever served with has thought. That I need extra help to get the job done. Please tell him I don't.\nDax: Commander Sisko wouldn't allow any Ensign take a runabout into the Gamma Quadrant the day after she arrives.\nMelora: I'm sure the Chief Science Officer has more important things to do than to chart a sector in the Gamma Quadrant.\nBashir: Um. Here we are.\nMelora: You didn't modified the specifications I gave you for my quarters, did you?\nBashir: Not one iota. You can control the gravity unit with this device. If you'd care to try it out.\nMelora: Thank you, I will. It was a pleasure meeting both of you.\nAshrock: Paltriss only created eighty of them. Each a work of art.\nQuark: And I've come into possession of forty-two.\nAshrock: Forty-two? My world will honor your name for returning the Rings of Paltriss to his birthplace.\nQuark: Honor my name all you want as long as your honor is accompanied by a hundred and ninety nine bars of gold-pressed latinum\nAshrock: I heard you drive a hard bargain.\nQuark: Shall we celebrate our closing the deal with another drink?\nQuark: Excuse me, I'm sorry but we're not open yet if you'll come back in\nQuark: Have another drink on me.\nQuark: Fallit Kot, is it really you? How long has it been?\nFallit: Eight years. Eight long years.\nQuark: It can't be. I must say, you look terrific. Tanned, toned up, all of that baby fat has disappeared from your face.\nFallit: You don't keep extra weight on where I've been.\nQuark: Just passing through, are you? I'll bet you have business in the Gamma Quadrant. You always had a sharp eye for fresh territories.\nFallit: I'm not going to the Gamma Quadrant. My business is right here. With you.\nQuark: With me?\nFallit: That's right. I've come to kill you, Quark.\nDax: I've gone through her mission profile and she certainly seems to know what she's doing.\nSisko: Nevertheless, this is her first deep space assignment, and it doesn't make sense to me to. Here she is.\nSisko: Welcome, Ensign. I'm Commander Benjamin Sisko.\nMelora: Am I late?\nSisko: Not at all.\nMelora: It looked as though the meeting had already begun.\nSisko: Dax and Bashir were just telling me about your request to pilot a runabout alone.\nMelora: Wouldn't it have been more appropriate to include me in that conversation?\nSisko: I was getting a briefing by my senior officers, Ensign. We discuss personnel matters all the time.\nMelora: I'm sorry if I seem overly sensitive, but I'm used to being shut out of the Melora problem. The truth is, there is no Melora problem until people create one. This may sound ungrateful, because Doctor Bashir has been wonderfully helpful in the preparations for my arrival, but frankly, I wonder why a medical opinion is necessary in this discussion.\nDax: Julian knows more of your capabilities than any of us.\nMelora: I don't need a medical opinion to tell me my own capabilities.\nSisko: Ensign.\nMelora: I simply object to being treated like someone who is ill.\nSisko: I don't see anybody doing that.\nMelora: Try sitting in the chair, Commander. No one can understand until they sit in the chair. I have been in one chair or another since I left my homeworld. My family gave me this cane. It's made from the wood of a garlanic tree. They had no idea what it would be like to live off-world in what you consider normal gravity. Only a handful of Elaysians have ever left home. But I always knew that I had to be one of them. I dreamt about exploring the stars as a child, and I wasn't going to allow any handicap, not a chair, not a Cardassian station, to stop me from chasing that dream.\nSisko: You must feel a great deal of pride about you've achieved.\nMelora: And I've achieved that, Commander, without being dependent on anybody. To be honest, I prefer to work alone. It's simply easier for me.\nSisko: I am not comfortable sending you alone into the Gamma Quadrant.\nMelora: Sir, I can focus on the job better, I can work at my own pace without being a bother to anyone else.\nSisko: Lieutenant Dax will be going with you.\nMelora: Yes, sir. When do you wish to leave, Lieutenant?\nDax: Your schedule is fine with me.\nMelora: Then tomorrow at oh seven thirty.\nBashir: Is it working? The low-grav field actuator. I just heard it go off.\nMelora: It's working fine.\nBashir: So you were just\nMelora: For me, it's like slipping into a hot tub at the end of a long day.\nBashir: Really? I'm a shower man myself. Look at this. Is this your husband? Boyfriend?\nMelora: Doctor, if you came for an apology, Doctor, I apologize.\nBashir: Apology?\nMelora: My speech wasn't intended to attack you personally.\nBashir: I'm sure you never set out to attack anyone personally, but you do seem to attack a lot.\nMelora: That's rather insensitive of you, Doctor.\nBashir: Julian. I'm no longer your doctor.\nMelora: I see. You've decided I need a friend.\nBashir: Was that an attack? You see, you do it so well, with such charm, it's hard to tell.\nMelora: I really don't mean to\nBashir: Sure you do.\nMelora: I beg your pardon?\nBashir: Of course, you mean to. All of these broad shots you fire it's your way of keeping the rest of the universe on the defensive. Has to be. You're too good at it.\nMelora: Well, it always seemed to work pretty well. Until now.\nBashir: That is the nicest thing you've said to me, or anybody else. Are you hungry? I came here thinking about asking you to dinner.\nMelora: Then afterward we'll go dancing, I suppose.\nBashir: Red alert.\nMelora: Sorry.\nBashir: Come on. There's a new Klingon restaurant open on the Promenade, if you like that sort of thing.\nMelora: All right.\nQuark: Dinner is served.\nFallit: I didn't order dinner.\nQuark: What better way to mollify, satisfy a hungry traveler than with a delicious home-cooked meal? Starting with a delicate Vak clover soup.\nQuark: Why spoil your appetite with soup? Here's the real treat. Jumbo Vulcan mollusks. Sautéed in rhombolian butter. A taste so exquisite, it's to die for. Or to live for, for that matter.\nQuark: Do you know dabo, Fallit? It's a wonderfully entertaining game and easy to learn. I took the liberty of lining up a couple of excellent tutors I know.\nQuark: Be sure to ask them about their double down betting strategy. If I haven't made it clear, I intend your stay here as pleasurable as you could ever imagine. So, allow me to propose a toast to old friends.\nFallit: Old debts.\nChef: Gagh Tek Or.\nBashir: Shall I order for us both?\nMelora: All right.\nBashir: Let's see we'll have some racht of course\nChef: Racht.\nBashir: And a double order of gladst. No sauce please.\nChef: Gladst usu bal.\nBashir: And a side order of zilm'kach. Is that too much for two?\nChef: Zilm'kach.\nChef: Drak doo.\nMelora: May I?\nBashir: Don't be alarmed.\nMelora: Excuse me, Julian, but I can't eat this.\nBashir: I know how it looks but\nMelora: P'kar tel Durg Le Frakn'l?\nChef: Dug a bul, rah'tar!\nMelora: D'tel klop a bul!\nChef: Pak't pol!\nMelora: D'kar tel G'denna!\nChef: I like a customer who knows what she wants.\nMelora: G'denna. There's nothing worse then half dead Racht.\nChef: Gagh Tek Or.\nBashir: When I was ten, my father was a Federation diplomat on Invernia Two. One day, when we were out on a remote part of the planet, we were hit by a massive ionic storm. While we were waiting it out, we found an Invernian girl about my age who was sick. After the storm cleared, my father went for help, but it was too late. I sat there and watched her die. The next day when he returned, his guide told us that we could have treated her with a simple herb that was growing all around. I could have saved her life.\nMelora: And so you started to study medicine.\nBashir: Actually, first I started to study tennis.\nMelora: Tennis?\nBashir: I really thought about making a career of it.\nMelora: You must be very good.\nBashir: Well, I used to think so, but then I went to my first major competition. my opponent served first and I heard the ball bounce past me. The computer announced it was good and I realized I was in trouble. Turned out I had more talent at medicine than tennis.\nMelora: I have an early mission tomorrow. I better get some rest.\nBashir: Of course.\nDax: Dax to Pazlar. Computer, level one security access.\nDax: Ensign Pazlar? Computer, locate Ensign Melora Pazlar.\nComputer: Docking level twenty two, section fourteen.\nDax: Section fourteen?\nDax: We need to get you to the Infirmary.\nMelora: It's my own fault. I decided I could use an extra astrometric array after going through the mission profile again. I came to the storage bay to get one. My mind was already in the Gamma Quadrant. I wasn't paying enough attention to what I was doing. I guess my boot didn't make the lip of the door. I fell on my controls.\nDax: Dax to Bashir. Ensign Pazlar's had a minor accident. We need to see you in the Infirmary.\nBashir: Acknowledged. I'll be there in three minutes.\nMelora: What kind of an architect would deliberately design a raised rim at the entrance to every door?\nMelora: So much for the dangers of the Gamma Quadrant. I didn't even make it there.\nBashir: You will. There's no concussion. You can reschedule your mission for tomorrow.\nMelora: It was so. Flopping back and forth like a broken toy. I didn't want anyone to find me like that but I couldn't get up by myself.\nBashir: Why didn't you wait for Dax before you went into an area that was unmodified with ramps?\nMelora: I didn't need Dax. If I'd just paid attention.\nBashir: Melora, no one on this station is completely independent. In space we all depend on one another to some degree.\nMelora: I just want you all to know that you can depend on me.\nBashir: You've proven that. Now, what do the rest of us have to do to convince you?\nMelora: Of what?\nBashir: That you can depend on us.\nBashir: Have you ever heard of the work Nathaniel Teros did with low gravity species thirty years ago?\nMelora: Neuromuscular adaptation? It had no practical success at all.\nBashir: No, but the principles were sound and a lot of progress has been made in neurochemistry since then.\nMelora: You think some day I could throw away the chair?\nBashir: Theoretically, perhaps.\nMelora: Would you like to come in?\nBashir: Oh, no. I know how much you look forward to turning down the gravity.\nMelora: Don't let that stop you.\nMelora: You may want to brace yourself until you get used to it.\nMelora: Come on, Julian.\nBashir: What do I do?\nMelora: Just give a gentle push. It's easy.\nBashir: This is astonishing. I can't tell you how curious I was about this.\nMelora: Most people are. Sometimes they make me feel like a carnival attraction. So, usually I prefer to keep everyone out.\nBashir: Thank you for letting me in.\nMelora: He's my brother.\nBashir: Who?\nBashir: Oh.\nMelora: Setting course twenty eight mark one forty two.\nDax: Confirmed.\nMelora: Computer, any Vulcan etudes on file?\nComputer: Affirmative.\nMelora: If you have no objections? Computer, play something by Delvok.\nDax: Delvok never seems a Vulcan to me. There's too much emotion in his music.\nMelora: It's pretty. Tell me something, Lieutenant. You think there's room for romance in Starfleet?\nDax: I think so.\nMelora: You've made it work?\nDax: Now and then.\nMelora: I mean, really work.\nDax: Oh, really work. Well, for that I'd have to go back a hundred and fifty years.\nMelora: That's a long time.\nDax: Could it be that Doctor Bashir's bedside manner's won you over?\nMelora: Our species are just so different.\nDax: Since when has that ever stopped anybody? I knew a hydrogen-breathing Lothra who fell hopelessly in love with an Oxygene.\nMelora: You're kidding! How could they even be in the same room?\nDax: Forty minutes a day without their breathing apparatus, that's all. Fifty seven years they were together.\nMelora: What about career conflicts? Two friends of mine from the Academy got engaged even though they knew they were being assigned to different starships.\nDax: Subspace relationships? That's a tough one.\nMelora: They may not be together for a year or more and even then only for a few weeks.\nDax: Love across light years, it's just so\nMelora: It lacks intimacy.\nDax: You could say that.\nMelora: I finish my mission here, I move on to the next one. What kind of future is that for a romance?\nDax: Look at the alternative.\nMelora: I guess.\nOdo: Oh. It's you.\nQuark: Don't be so happy to see me.\nOdo: All right, I won't.\nQuark: Odo, there's a desperate criminal on board the station.\nOdo: You wouldn't be talking about Fallit Kot, who just finished eight years in a labor camp for hijacking a shipment of Romulan ale, and whose name was right next to yours on the original indictment?\nQuark: I had nothing to do with the hijacking itself. I was only the, er, middleman.\nOdo: Trafficking in stolen goods should have been enough to get you your own cell at that Romulan camp. Unless, of course, you sold out your partner.\nQuark: I can honestly say justice was served.\nOdo: I would imagine Fallit Kot is looking for his own kind of justice now.\nQuark: He threatened to kill me. What?\nOdo: Nothing. Just a passing thought.\nQuark: Odo, he means it. Nothing I do seems to change his mind. You've got to do something.\nOdo: I'll do my job, Quark.\nOdo: Unfortunately.\nMelora: Racht, anyone?\nBashir: I've been waiting for you. I've got something to show you.\nMelora: What is it?\nBashir: It's a computer model of an elevated neural output from the brain's gross motor cortex. It's stimulating acetylcholine absorption to increase muscular tensile strength.\nMelora: The neuromuscular adaptation theory?\nBashir: It was a theory thirty years ago, but with the development of neo-analeptic transmitters during the last decade, it's not even that complicated. It's just that no one's gone back to re-examine the ideas of Nathaniel Teros, until now.\nMelora: This could actually work?\nBashir: No more servo-controls, no more chair.\nFallit: Have I done something wrong?\nOdo: Not that I'm aware of. We have something in common.\nFallit: We do?\nOdo: I don't like Quark either, but I can't let you kill him.\nFallit: Kill him? Did he tell you I was going to do that?\nOdo: I know your history together.\nFallit: Let bygones be bygones, I always say.\nOdo: I always say you can tell a man's intentions by the way he walks.\nFallit: How do I walk?\nOdo: Like someone carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders.\nFallit: Must be the memory of those Romulan bricks I carried for eight years.\nOdo: Must be.\nFallit: But you can't lock a man up for the way he walks, can you?\nQuark: Well?\nOdo: I'd say he's a man with nothing to lose.\nQuark: As opposed to me.\nOdo: I have no reason to hold him for now and he knows it. I'll watch him the best I can, but I suggest you carry a comm. badge with you at all times. Call me at the first sign of trouble.\nQuark: What if the first sign is the last sign?\nOdo: You people sell pieces of yourself after you die, don't you?\nQuark: Yes.\nOdo: I'll buy one.\nMelora: My heart is pounding.\nBashir: I'd like to think that has more to do with me than the neo-analeptic infusion.\nMelora: Would that also explain why my backside is getting warm.\nBashir: That's more likely the result of the neuromuscular tissue stimulation due to increased activity in the motor cortex. I'd say that's enough first time out. It's good that you've already been using your muscles in this gravity environment. It'll make it easier to adapt. Feel any different?\nMelora: No.\nBashir: Nothing at all?\nMelora: I'm sorry, Julian.\nBashir: The acetylcholine absorption is precisely at fourteen percent above normal. Increased tensile strength would be the inevitable result.\nMelora: Julian? I can lift my leg.\nBashir: Your neural pathways are beginning to adapt. Endurance and coordination might take awhile, but we should have you walking within the hour.\nSisko: How's the upgrade coming?\nO'Brien: We've been able to get it to about seventy percent of what we'd get with a standard EPS, but it looks like that's going to be\nO'Brien: I'll be damned.\nMelora: I wanted to give you our first day's mission summary myself, Commander.\nSisko: A pleasure, Ensign.\nDax: Julian, how did you?\nBashir: Oh, it was simply a matter of increasing the output on the brain's motor cortex. Someone else's research actually. I just dotted the i's and crossed the t's.\nO'Brien: Well, you'll get your name into the medical journals for this one.\nBashir: Yes, I know.\nMelora: Julian, I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm not sure I can make it.\nBashir: Easy now. It's just the first day's treatment beginning to wear off.\nMelora: Thank you.\nBashir: Nothing to be concerned about. Look, I'd better get you back to your quarters. I want you to get a good night's rest tonight.\nMelora: Thank you.\nBashir: Habitat ring, level fourteen.\nBashir: With each progressive treatment you should get stronger, and the effects should last longer.\nMelora: What about this?\nBashir: A low-grav environment now would really confuse your motor cortex.\nMelora: I understand. Julian.\nBashir: You let me fly for the first time. I let you walk. We're even. I'll see you in the morning.\nQuark: Lights. Computer, turn on. Quark to Odo.\nFallit: No one can hear you, Quark. It's just you and me.\nQuark: Fallit. I wasn't prepared to entertain this evening, but make yourself at home.\nFallit: I already have.\nQuark: What's mine is yours. All you have to do is ask.\nFallit: I'm tired of your gifts, Quark. All I want is your miserable life.\nQuark: Wait! Everything's negotiable. Believe me, I'm worth much more to you alive.\nFallit: How's that?\nQuark: How does a hundred and ninety nine bars of gold-pressed latinum sound to you?\nFallit: It's a start.\nMelora: The mattress felt like rocks and every one of my muscles ached all night long.\nBashir: You'll adjust to that after a few more treatments. This time the effects should last for several hours.\nMelora: Exactly when does this become irreversible?\nBashir: Melora, if you're not certain?\nMelora: Oh, I'm sure it's just some strange form of buyers remorse. I'll be fine.\nBashir: Tell me exactly what you're feeling.\nMelora: Last night, I just missed. I didn't feel like me.\nBashir: If you want to end your dependence on the chair and the servo controls, you're going to have to give up the low-grav environment. You knew that that was the trade-off.\nMelora: And it seemed like a good trade, until I realized I couldn't do it anymore. If I could just spend\nBashir: I'm just concerned that going back and forth could ultimately lead to a loss of fine motor control.\nMelora: Meaning?\nBashir: Your ability to perform complex tasks could be affected. The effects are fully reversible for the next few days. We can pull the plug at any time before then. But after that, if all goes well, your motor cortex impulses will kick in on their own. Permanently.\nMelora: It's starting to wear off again. I don't understand myself. How could I possibly have second thoughts? This would mean real independence. It's everything I ever wished for. But then I start to think about home and how I won't be able to go back. Well, maybe just for a short visit, but never really go back.\nDax: The Little Mermaid.\nMelora: Mermaid?\nDax: It's an Earth fable by Hans Christian Andersen. She trades her magical life under the sea for a pair of legs to walk on land.\nMelora: Didn't she live happily ever after?\nQuark: Ashrock. Right on time. May I present my longtime business partner, Fallit Kot.\nQuark: For your inspection.\nAshrock: Exquisite.\nQuark: Then our transaction is complete.\nFallit: Not quite.\nFallit: I'll be taking them too.\nAshrock: They warned me about you.\nQuark: Not true. A deal is a deal. Rule of Acquisition number sixteen. Kot, you got what you came for. Now let's be reasonable.\nFallit: Pick it up. Pick it up! Move! Hurry up! Move! Move. Let's go.\nOdo: Priority one security to level twenty two, section five.\nDax: I'm sure Julian will understand. Besides, he can still publish the results from your first treatments.\nFallit: Both of you, back into the ship. Let's go! Move it! Come on, move it.\nFallit: Now get us out of here.\nQuark: He's already shot a man. Do as he says. I'll just wait in the back.\nFallit: In the front where I can see you. There. Hurry up.\nMelora: I'm moving as fast as I can.\nDax: She's an Elaysian. She's needs motor support in our gravity.\nO'Brien: They're in the Orinoco. Docking clamps have been released, thrusters engaged.\nSisko: Ready a tractor beam. Open a channel.\nKira: Open.\nSisko: This is Commander Benjamin Sisko. Return to the station at once.\nKira: No reply.\nSisko: Engage the tractor beam.\nDax: They've locked on to us with a tractor beam.\nFallit: Open the channel to that Commander of yours. Release this ship or I'll kill a hostage.\nSisko: I'm willing to negotiate your freedom but first release those\nFallit Kot: Didn't you hear what I just said?\nFallit Kot: No, I have something\nFallit: Special in mind for you.\nFallit: Do I make myself clear? Release the ship now.\nSisko: Doctor, Chief, with me. Beam us to the Rio Grande. Give us ten seconds and then disengage the tractor beam.\nKira: Understood. Energizing.\nDax: They've released us.\nFallit: Through the wormhole.\nFallit: What was that?\nDax: I'm not sure.\nFallit: What was it?\nDax: Another ship coming through the wormhole.\nFallit: Take us to warp.\nDax: We haven't even set a course yet.\nFallit: I don't care about the course. Just go to warp\nDax: If we don't set a course, we could warp ourselves into oblivion.\nFallit Kot: Fine. Set a course. Just get us out of here.\nO'Brien: They're powering up their warp drive.\nSisko: Stay with them.\nO'Brien: Engaging warp engines.\nBashir: Can we beam them aboard at warp?\nO'Brien: I wouldn't recommend that.\nFallit: Get the phasers ready.\nDax: I'm not going to fire at them.\nFallit: You'll do it or you'll die. It's your choice.\nDax: Fine. Then I hope you can fly this ship.\nFallit: Just sit down and do what I told you. Now!\nDax: Quark, how well do you know this man?\nQuark: We've been friends for years, not counting today.\nDax: I suggest you explain to him that Starfleet isn't going to give up and stop chasing us.\nQuark: That's true, Fallit. You don't know these Starfleet types.\nFallit: Then we'll all die.\nQuark: Great. We escape and he's got something special planned for me. We don't escape, I just die with everyone else. Am I missing a choice, Fallit?\nO'Brien: They've dropped out of warp.\nSisko: Go to impulse.\nO'Brien: Sir, their gravity generators are off.\nBashir: Melora's alive.\nO'Brien: Gravity's been reinstated. All engines are down.\nSisko: Come on, Doctor.\nQuark: I think we have the situation in hand, Commander.\nSisko: Sisko to Rio Grande. Everything's under control. We're going home.\nO'Brien: Aye, Commander. Setting course for the wormhole.\nMelora: Why didn't the phaser kill me?\nBashir: I don't know. Maybe all the neuro-stimulants we've been pumping into your system.\nMelora: That's what I was wondering too.\nBashir: You know, it might make an interesting side effect of the treatment. It's worth exploring.\nMelora: Julian, I'm not going ahead with the treatments.\nBashir: Well, you can always try it again someday, if you change your mind.\nMelora: I don't think I will. I like being independent, but to give up everything that I am to walk on land. Well, I might be more independent but I wouldn't be Elaysian anymore. I'm not sure what I'd be. Besides, maybe independence isn't all it's cracked up to be. I kind of like how it feels to depend on someone for a change. And I'm glad you got me to unlock the doors to my quarters so I could finally let someone into my life.\nBashir: So am I.\nChef: Aler acht'jar Aler act'jar T'lembda boool-gah toh-gal. Aler acht'jar Aler act'jar T'lembda boool-gah toh-gal.\nBashir: You must be exhausted. If you don't want to stay.\nMelora: Let's just sit a while and listen.\nChef: Rom, rom. Keldor\nMelora: I want to remember all of this."}
{"text": "Odo: All right, Morn, you know the rules. No sleeping on the Promenade. Go home.\nQuark: The risk is to you, Lieutenant.\nDax: I could probably think better without your hand on my thigh.\nQuark: Now, how did that get there? So what's it going to be? Confront? Evade? Acquire? Retreat?\nDax: Confront. Yes.\nRom: Doesn't she ever lose?\nQuark: Tell me, Lieutenant, how did you get to be so good at tongo?\nDax: Actually, it was Curzon that played it all the time.\nRom: Well, that explains it. It's Curzon who's beating us, not this female.\nDax: This female happens to be a better player than Curzon ever was.\nQuark: And a prettier one too.\nRom: Maybe so, but I still prefer a Ferengi female. One who never wears clothes, never talks back, and never plays tongo.\nDax: Is that how you really prefer your women? Naked and submissive?\nQuark: Do you find such a lifestyle appealing?\nDax: Don't you wish.\nQuark: I do. I really do.\nDax: All right. The opening risk is at five strips of latinum. The purchase is at three, the sell at eight.\nRom: No, absolutely not. This isn't the proper time.\nQuark: I'm trying to concentrate.\nRom: I'm sorry, brother. It's this insolent young waiter's fault.\nPel: My apologies, Quark, but I really think you should try this.\nQuark: What is it?\nPel: A way to double your beverage profits. Taste it.\nPel: You see? Just as I told you. He immediately reached for his drink.\nQuark: So I did. Amazing. You don't even realize you're thirsty. What are they?\nPel: Gramilian Sand Peas. They inhibit secretion of the salivary glands while drying out the tissues of the tongue. It works every time. If you replace your complimentary dishes of lokar beans with Gramilian sand peas, you won't be able to fill your customers' glasses fast enough.\nQuark: What's your name again?\nPel: Pel. So what do you think about my idea?\nQuark: I think I agree with the fifty ninth Rule of Acquisition. Free advice is seldom cheap.\nPel: True, but the twenty second rule says, A wise man can hear profit in the wind.\nQuark: I see you know your Rules.\nPel: All two hundred and eighty five of them, and the various commentaries as well. I don't plan on being a waiter forever.\nRom: Good, then you're fired.\nQuark: Shut up, Rom. When it comes to business, my brother has the weak little lobes of a female. So, what made you take a job here at the station?\nPel: I wanted to learn from the very best.\nQuark: Which brings to mind the thirty third Rule of Acquisition QUARK +\nPel: It never hurts to suck up to the boss.\nDax: What's that?\nQuark: The Grand Nagus Zek's personal subspace frequency.\nRom: I wonder what he wants.\nZek: Why do you look so surprised? I told you I'd be back.\nQuark: I've looked forward to your return, Nagus.\nZek: Still the perfect little toady, eh, Quark?\nQuark: I try to be.\nZek: Then listen carefully. The Ferengi expansion into the Gamma Quadrant is about to begin. I'd like you to be my chief negotiator.\nQuark: Me?\nZek: That's right. I'm offering you an opportunity to make more profit than you ever dreamed of. All you have to do is earn it.\nZek: Can I interest you in some Hupyrian beetle snuff?\nSisko: I don't think so.\nZek: Major?\nKira: No, thank you.\nZek: Well, suit yourself. More for me.\nZek: A little late, aren't we? So, you wanted to see me, Commander?\nSisko: I understand you're planning to host a business conference here at the station.\nZek: Yes, with the Dosi, a race from the Gamma Quadrant. A very profitable opportunity for all concerned, I might add.\nKira: Profitable for the Ferengi, maybe.\nZek: Are you implying something, Major?\nKira: Me? Not at all. No. The Ferengi's reputation speaks for itself.\nZek: A reputation of honesty, and decency, and reliability. You always know what to expect when you do business with the Ferengi.\nKira: Which is why, if you're smart, you don't do business with the Ferengi.\nSisko: I think you've made your point, Major.\nZek: As misinformed and misguided as it may be. Besides, how we do business is no concern of yours.\nSisko: Except when you conduct your business on this station.\nKira: In other words, Zek, Grand Nagus or no Grand Nagus, if we allow you to hold these negotiations here, and we find out you're cheating the Dosi, I'll see to it that you never set foot on this station again.\nZek: Did anyone ever tell you your eyes shine with the brilliance of Kibberian fire diamonds.\nKira: Not that I recall.\nZek: Well they do. So, tell me, Major, could Bajor use fifty thousand kilos of brizeen nitrate?\nKira: Of course we could. With that much brizeen, we could fertilize the entire northern peninsula.\nZek: Well I've recently come into possession of fifty thousand kilos of brizeen nitrate, and to show you how much your cooperation means to me, I'll let you have the entire shipment.\nSisko: I'll still need your assurances that the Dosi will be fairly treated while they're here.\nZek: You have my word.\nSisko: Good.\nZek: Then it's settled. Now, let's see, that's fifty thousand kilos at twenty five percent off our usual price.\nSisko: Twenty five percent? You just said you were giving it to them.\nZek: Well, you're right, Commander. We're all friends here. So I'll let you have it at cost.\nSisko: I have a better idea. Why not consider the nitrate as a gift to the people of Bajor.\nZek: A gift? That doesn't sound very profitable.\nSisko: It depends.\nZek: On what?\nSisko: On whether you want to conduct business here or not.\nZek: Your negotiation skills aren't bad for a human. Your nitrate will be delivered promptly. Anything else you need, please come see me personally.\nZek: You know Quark, I've been involved in some profitable opportunities in my time, but my lobes are telling me this may be the most profitable opportunity in Ferengi history.\nQuark: Imagine that. And part of those profits will be mine.\nZek: Profit. Fame. Power. As much as you want.\nQuark: Tell me, Nagus, what exactly is this great opportunity.\nZek: I can sum it up in one word. Tulaberries.\nQuark: Tulaberries?\nZek: Exactly.\nQuark: Go on.\nZek: Well, they're the main ingredient in tulaberry wine. Your job is to purchase ten thousand vats from the Dosi.\nQuark: We're going into the wine business?\nZek: Within a single year we'll have made tulaberry wine the most popular drink in their entire sector. That's enough. Oh, I like it. Very distinguished.\nQuark: Tell me, Nagus, how are tulaberries going to be the most profitable opportunity in Ferengi history?\nZek: Do I have to spell it out for you?\nQuark: If you don't mind.\nZek: Tulaberries will establish a Ferengi presence inside the Gamma Quadrant. And once we get our foot in the door, they'll never get it out.\nQuark: Yes, I see.\nZek: Tulaberries, Quark. Tulaberries.\nRom: Tulaberries. I wonder what they taste like?\nQuark: Who cares what they taste like. They're an opportunity to get a Ferengi foot in the Gamma Quadrant door.\nRom: And it'll be your foot, brother. I'm so proud.\nQuark: I'm going to make history, Rom. And I'm going to be rich. And I have the Grand Nagus to thank for it. He must really like me.\nPel: Just remember one thing. The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.\nQuark: Forty eighth Rule of Acquisition.\nPel: I'd keep it in mind if I were you.\nRom: He has some nerve. I warned you about that fellow.\nQuark: Pel, do you mind telling me what you meant just now?\nPel: Did you ever think about why the Nagus is putting you in charge of such a lucrative opportunity?\nQuark: Isn't it obvious? He knows I have the lobes for business.\nPel: That's only part of it.\nRom: I refuse to stand here and allow my brother to be insulted. You're fired.\nQuark: Shut up. Go on.\nPel: If the negotiations are profitable, then the Nagus becomes a greater hero than ever. But if they fail, he's going to need someone to take the blame.\nQuark: You mean me?\nPel: All I'm saying is, be careful.\nRom: I never heard such ridiculous lies. He's just jealous of your success, brother.\nQuark: No, he's right. If something goes wrong, it'll be my fault.\nRom: Then you're going to need help, brother.\nQuark: Yes.\nRom: Someone to serve as your consultant during negotiations.\nQuark: Yes.\nRom: Someone like me.\nQuark: No. I've been thinking about what you just said, and I probably could use some help during these negotiations.\nPel: I accept.\nQuark: Good.\nPel: Then we're partners.\nQuark: Not quite. I don't need a partner, I need an assistant.\nPel: All right. But I get twenty five percent of everything you make.\nQuark: Fifteen.\nPel: Twenty.\nQuark: Done.\nRom: But brother, what can I do to help?\nQuark: You want to help? Table six is waiting.\nQuark: How do I look?\nSisko: Nervous.\nQuark: Who, me? What have I got to be nervous about?\nKira: It's Zek who should be nervous, with Quark here as his chief negotiator.\nKira: If you ever do that again.\nZek: Do what?\nKira: If you ever do that again, I'll stick those fifty thousand kilos of brizeen right up your\nQuark: Here they come.\nInglatu: Don't worry, just a minor disagreement.\nQuark: So, er, can I get anyone something to eat? All right, in that case, let's go over our offer. As you know, the Ferengi are interested in purchasing ten thousand vats of tulaberry wine. In exchange, the Dosi will receive what I consider to be a very fair trade package.\nPel: There are some very interesting items on that list. A subspace field modulator, some optical data processors.\nInglatu: We'll give you five thousand vats.\nQuark: I'm afraid that won't be enough. We're looking to establish a vast distribution network in the Gamma Quadrant. We'll need at least ten thousand vats.\nInglatu: I'm offering you five thousand vats. I suggest you take it.\nPel: The Nagus will never agree.\nZyree: This is a waste of time. We should be talking directly to Zek.\nInglatu: I know we should be talking to Zek.\nZyree: Then why do you bother talking to this insignificance?\nInglatu: Now see what you've done.\nQuark: What?\nInglatu: You've made me look foolish.\nQuark: I didn't mean to.\nZyree: Then bring us Zek.\nPel: The Nagus has asked Quark to represent him during these negotiations.\nZyree: Are you implying that Zek is too important to negotiate with us?\nQuark: We never meant to imply anything of the sort.\nInglatu: Because if we kill you, Zek will have to talk to us.\nPel: You want to do business with the Ferengi, you talk to Quark.\nQuark: So, how about it? Do we say ten thousand vats?\nInglatu: We'll think about it.\nO'Brien: Can I help you?\nKira: What is it?\nDax: It's beautiful.\nKira: It's latinum. Excuse me. I really can't accept this.\nKira: Did Zek really think this was going to get him anywhere?\nDax: Probably not, but it doesn't stop a Ferengi from trying.\nKira: You sound like you admire them for it.\nDax: I suppose in a way I do.\nKira: I don't understand your attitude about the Ferengi.\nDax: That's because you don't socialize with them the way I do. Looking back over seven lifetimes, I can't think of a single race I've enjoyed more.\nKira: Did anyone ever tell you that you have very strange taste?\nDax: I admit they place too much emphasis on profit, and their behavior toward women is somewhat primitive.\nKira: They're greedy, misogynistic, untrustworthy little trolls and I wouldn't turn my back on one of them for a second.\nDax: Neither would I. But once you accept that, you'll find they can be a lot of fun.\nRom: Evade.\nPel: Evade.\nQuark: Retreat.\nZek: Acquire.\nDax: Confront.\nZek: Did I say acquire? I meant evade.\nDax: You said acquire.\nZek: But I meant evade.\nQuark: Why don't we just play the round over.\nRom: That sounds fair.\nZek: Who asked you? And shouldn't you be plotting strategy for tomorrow's negotiations?\nQuark: Believe me, Nagus, I've thought of nothing else all evening.\nRom: That must be why you're losing so badly.\nQuark: And I think by tomorrow we should have an agreement.\nZek: Well I've been thinking, too, and ten thousand vats of tulaberry wine aren't enough. Tell them we want a hundred thousand.\nQuark: A hundred thousand? But I'm not sure they'll even agree to sell us ten thousand.\nZek: A hundred thousand vats would mean more profit for them and for us. Now do as I say, or I'm going to take over the negotiations myself.\nPel: I think raising the stakes is a brilliant idea.\nZek: You do?\nPel: It'll show the Gamma Quadrant we mean business. No wonder Quark says you're a genius.\nZek: He says that, does he?\nQuark: All the time.\nZek: That's very touching. Now bring me some fresh tube grubs. These are losing their crunch.\nQuark: Right away.\nZek: So, I believe the next challenge goes to you.\nPel: I think I'll pass on this round.\nZek: Such loyalty must be expensive.\nDax: You can't buy that kind of loyalty.\nZek: You can where I come from.\nPel: Is the Nagus always this impatient?\nQuark: He wants results, and he expects me to get them. But he's not making my job any easier. A hundred thousand vats. That's a lot of tulaberries.\nPel: You'll get them.\nQuark: How can you be so sure?\nPel: Because you're good. And with me helping you, you're even better.\nQuark: Why are you being so nice to me?\nPel: For twenty percent of your profits, why else?\nQuark: Fair enough.\nZek: Quark, where are my grubs?\nQuark: Coming!\nZek: Mmm, now this is what I call fresh.\nDax: I didn't know the Replimat had a Ferengi menu.\nPel: It doesn't. I like to try new things.\nDax: That's unusual for a Ferengi.\nPel: I never heard of a Trill who could play tongo.\nDax: I guess that makes us both unusual. You know, I was impressed by your show of loyalty to Quark last night.\nPel: He deserves it.\nDax: That's not the point. Any other Ferengi would have let Zek pick him to pieces, but you're not like any other Ferengi I've ever met.\nPel: Quark really likes you. He talks about you all the time.\nDax: You know he once convinced me to go up to a holosuite with him. Turns out he recreated the bedroom I slept in as a child. He overheard me describing it to Kira. Of course, most of the details were wrong, but it was a very sweet gesture, up until he tried to kiss me.\nPel: That sounds like Quark.\nDax: I don't care what anybody says, I love him.\nPel: So do I.\nDax: You really do, don't you?\nPel: What?\nDax: Love Quark. Don't bother trying to deny it. I've seen the way you look at him.\nPel: Please, keep your voice down.\nDax: Does he know?\nPel: He doesn't even know I'm a female.\nDax: You're a woman?\nPel: Please lower your voice.\nDax: I knew there was something different about you, but I've never met a Ferengi woman before.\nPel: You probably never will again. On my world, women aren't allowed to leave the house, or wear clothes, or learn to read.\nDax: And you wanted more.\nPel: Why not? I'm as smart as any man. So I made myself a pair of synthetic lobes and became one.\nDax: But why come here?\nPel: To acquire profit, of course. There's only one thing I wasn't counting on.\nDax: Falling in love with Quark.\nPel: What do you think I should do?\nDax: I don't know. But I do know there's more to life than profit.\nQuark: Pel, it's time. We don't want to keep the Dosi waiting. Hurry!\nKira: Excuse me.\nZek: Ah, Major, did that shipment of brizeen nitrate arrive on time?\nKira: Yes, it did.\nZek: Good. And here you are to thank me. Have a seat.\nKira: Actually, I just stopped by to return this.\nZek: Why? Is something wrong with it?\nKira: No, it's lovely. I just can't accept it.\nZek: Then I suppose a night of wild passionate romance is out of the question?\nKira: That's right.\nZek: Just thought I'd ask.\nKira: Dax must be crazy.\nQuark: Nice view, isn't it?\nZek: Don't tell me the negotiations are already over. That's fast work, Quark. Now let's see the contract.\nQuark: There is no contract.\nZek: No contract? But you offered to buy a hundred thousand vats, didn't you?\nQuark: Yes.\nZek: And?\nQuark: And that's when they left.\nZek: The room?\nQuark: The station.\nZek: What?\nQuark: I begged them to stay.\nZek: This is a catastrophe. A complete catastrophe. This was your big chance, Quark, and you blew it. You may have seriously harmed future Ferengi opportunities in the Gamma Quadrant.\nPel: Hold on a minute. We said we're going to get you the tulaberries and that's exactly what we're going to do.\nQuark: We are?\nZek: How?\nPel: We're going to travel to the Gamma Quadrant, find the Dosi and get them to sign the contract.\nZek: And how do you plan to get there?\nPel: We'll take your ship.\nZek: My ship? And I suppose you expect Maihar'du to pilot it for you.\nQuark: We don't need Maihar'du. I can pilot the ship myself.\nPel: It's up to you, Nagus. Do you want those tulaberries or not?\nZek: All right. You can use my ship. But I'm warning you, Quark. Either you get the Dosi to sign that contract or you'll be tending that worthless little bar for the rest of your life.\nQuark: I've waited my whole life for an opportunity like this.\nPel: So have I.\nQuark: So far it hasn't turned out quite the way I planned.\nPel: It's not over yet.\nQuark: I still don't understand why the Nagus is suddenly insisting on a hundred thousand vats.\nPel: Neither do I.\nQuark: You don't think he's purposely trying to sabotage the negotiations?\nPel: Why would he?\nQuark: I have no idea.\nPel: One thing's for certain, he knows more than he's letting on.\nQuark: About what?\nPel: Everything. The tulaberries, the Dosi, even the Gamma Quadrant.\nQuark: Well, if you ever figure out what he's up to, make sure you tell me.\nPel: Don't worry, I will.\nQuark: So far the only thing I've done right is pick you as my consultant.\nPel: I'm glad you feel that way.\nQuark: Now, if we could only make some profit.\nPel: Quark, there's something you should know.\nQuark: You're too late. I already know what you're going to say.\nPel: You do?\nQuark: It's no secret.\nPel: It's not?\nQuark: I admit you've been a great help to me, but you agreed to a twenty percent share of the profits and that's all you're going to get.\nPel: I see.\nQuark: Never place friendship above profit.\nPel: Twenty first Rule of Acquisition.\nQuark: I'm glad you agree.\nRom: Go, just go.\nOdo: Feeling a little overwhelmed, are we?\nRom: I'm glad someone notices.\nOdo: When's Quark due back?\nRom: How should I know? He never tells me anything. He doesn't even bother to insult me anymore. It's Pel, that flabby eared interloper. He's stealing my brother's affections.\nOdo: You're better off.\nRom: But he's my brother. Would you let someone steal you're brother?\nOdo: I don't have a brother. Not that I know of, anyway.\nRom: But if you did?\nOdo: Well, I suppose if I did have a brother, even one as worthless as Quark, I wouldn't let anyone come between us.\nRom: There must be something here I could use against him.\nZyree: I control the interests so I want to supervise all operation.\nDosi: That's ridiculous.\nZyree: Then find another partner.\nDosi: Let's not be hasty.\nDosi 2: I said No!\nZyree: Are you enjoying yourselves, little Ferengi?\nQuark: How could we not?\nPel: Tell us, Zyree, what is this place?\nZyree: This? This is where opportunities are made.\nQuark: Really? I thought it was some kind of party.\nZyree: Then you thought wrong. This is all about profit. And like the Ferengi, the Dosi are very serious when it comes to profit.\nDosi 2: You, take him away.\nZyree: Very serious.\nPel: Look who finally showed up.\nQuark: It's about time.\nPel: Where are you going?\nQuark: To get serious about profit.\nInglatu: Oh, it's you, Ferengi. Aren't you on the wrong side of the wormhole?\nQuark: It certainly feels that way. Fortunately, all I need is your thumbscan on this very lucrative contract and I can go home.\nInglatu: You had your chance. Go away.\nQuark: Not until we finish our discussion.\nInglatu: You are starting to annoy me.\nQuark: Sorry.\nInglatu: I should have killed you back on that station.\nQuark: But you didn't, because deep down inside you recognize a good opportunity when you see one. Just put your thumbscan here.\nInglatu: All right. You can have the ten thousand vats.\nQuark: A hundred thousand.\nInglatu: I told you before, that's impossible.\nQuark: One hundred thousand and I'm not leaving till I get it.\nInglatu: Fine. Then stay.\nPel: Wouldn't we be more comfortable sleeping on the ship?\nQuark: No, I want to be right here in case Inglatu changes his mind. Don't worry. I don't snore.\nPel: Wait!\nQuark: What about it?\nPel: The mattress!\nQuark: What about it?\nPel: It looks lumpy.\nQuark: Actually, it's quite comfortable.\nPel: I can't sleep on a lumpy mattress.\nQuark: Well, you're in luck. There's not a lump to be found. Try it for yourself. What side to you want?\nPel: What are you doing?\nQuark: Getting undressed. What's it look like?\nPel: You're not going to sleep, are you?\nQuark: Why not? I'm tired.\nPel: Shouldn't we be discussing rules of strategy?\nQuark: There's nothing to discuss.\nPel: But you know what the hundred and third Rule of Acquisition says.\nQuark: Not offhand.\nPel: Sleep can interfere with\nQuark: And I don't care either.\nPel: Wait!\nQuark: What is it now?\nPel: First, a toast.\nQuark: To what?\nPel: To profit, of course.\nQuark: Of course. Is it warm in here?\nPel: It must be the wine.\nQuark: I hope so.\nPel: I was really impressed with the way you handled Inglatu.\nQuark: I was good, wasn't I. Now let's go to bed.\nPel: Wait. The look on his face when you knocked over that barrel.\nQuark: That was risky.\nPel: The riskier the road, the greater the profit.\nQuark: Sixty second Rule.\nPel: That's right.\nQuark: You really know your Rules.\nPel: And you have a very nice smile.\nQuark: I do?\nPel: Quark, I have something I have to tell you.\nZyree: I'm not interrupting anything, am I?\nQuark: No. Definitely not.\nZyree: Are you sure?\nQuark: Positive.\nZyree: I'll come back tomorrow.\nQuark: Wait! No, wait! This is all a silly misunderstanding.\nZyree: But you seem to be busy.\nQuark: Busy? Don't be ridiculous. We can't wait to hear what you have to say. Besides, we could use the company. Isn't that right.\nPel: Absolutely.\nZyree: All right, then. Let me give you some advice. Inglatu will never sell you a hundred thousand vats of tulaberry wine. Not because he doesn't want to, but because he can't.\nQuark: If he can't, who can? You?\nZyree: I wish I could, but there aren't that many vats on the entire planet.\nQuark: Then we're finished.\nZyree: Not necessarily. If you really want a hundred thousand vats of tulaberry wine, I can put you in touch with the right people. For a price, of course.\nQuark: Of course. I always said you were my favorite Dosi. Now, who do we have to see?\nZyree: The Karemma.\nPel: Who's the Karemma?\nZyree: An important power in the Dominion.\nQuark: The Dominion? What's that?\nZyree: Let's just say if you want to do business in the Gamma Quadrant, you have to do business with the Dominion.\nQuark: The most profitable opportunity in Ferengi history, that's what Zek called it. But he didn't mean tulaberries. No, he meant the Dominion. That's why he sabotaged the negotiations. He never wanted to do business with the Dosi. He just wanted to use them to get to a more important member of the Dominion.\nPel: Quark, we need to talk.\nQuark: We are talking.\nPel: Don't you want to know why I kissed you?\nQuark: You never kissed me.\nPel: Yes, I did.\nQuark: No, you didn't. And I don't want to discuss it anymore. Let's just concentrate on the Dominion. I only wish Zyree would have told us more.\nPel: Maybe it's some planetary alliance or trading consortium.\nQuark: Whatever it is, it's important, and I want a piece of it.\nZek: Quark, I'm very disappointed. I really wanted those tulaberries.\nQuark: You and I both know my trip had nothing to do with tulaberries.\nZek: It didn't?\nRom: I must speak with you, brother.\nQuark: Can't you see I'm busy. Does the word Dominion mean anything to you.\nZek: What have you found out?\nQuark: You first.\nRom: Please, brother, it's urgent.\nQuark: Not now. I'm waiting.\nZek: Well, most of my information consists of little more than hints and whispers, but it's enough to convince me that whoever learns the secret of the Dominion, whatever that may be, will learn the secret of the Gamma Quadrant. Unfortunately, the Dosi don't seem to know very much. I was hoping they'd lead us to someone who does.\nQuark: What would such information be worth to you?\nZek: A lot.\nQuark: What if I told you I can arrange a meeting between you and a powerful member of the Dominion?\nZek: If you can do that, I'll see to it that you earn a percentage of every Ferengi opportunity in the Gamma Quadrant.\nQuark: That's a lot of latinum.\nZek: Give me a name.\nQuark: The Karemma.\nZek: The Karemma. I always knew you had the lobes for business.\nRom: Now may I speak with you, brother?\nQuark: All right. But make it quick.\nBashir: Easy now. That's quite a bump you have there.\nQuark: Where's Rom?\nRom: Right here, brother.\nBashir: Luckily there doesn't seem to be any serious damage.\nQuark: If you don't mind, I'd like to rest here for a few minutes.\nBashir: Of course. I'll be in the other room if you need me.\nQuark: Thank you, Doctor.\nQuark: You haven't told anybody, have you?\nRom: You mean about Pel?\nQuark: Quiet.\nRom: I haven't breathed a word. I thought it would be best if you told Zek yourself.\nQuark: Nobody's going to tell Zek anything. Is that clear?\nRom: But she's a female.\nQuark: Not so loud.\nRom: Who wears clothes and is trying to earn profit. Why, she even quotes from the sacred Rules of Acquisition. Such a female must be severely punished.\nQuark: I know that.\nRom: Then we must stop her.\nQuark: No.\nRom: You're scaring me, brother. Could it be you have feelings for this woman?\nQuark: Of course not. Don't you see? If Zek learns that I've been deceived by a female, I'd be ruined. He'd never trust me again.\nRom: But if you don't tell him and he finds out, you're certain to be ruined. You have to tell him, or I will. Let me go. I have to save you from yourself.\nQuark: Forget about me. What about the bar?\nRom: The bar?\nQuark: You still want it, don't you?\nRom: Don't you?\nQuark: Who needs the bar when I can have the Gamma Quadrant? I'll transfer ownership immediately, but only on one condition. That you never mention the truth about Pel to anyone.\nRom: Pel? What about him?\nPel: Come.\nQuark: Where are your lobes?\nPel: Over there.\nQuark: Well, put them on before somebody sees you.\nPel: No one's going to see me.\nQuark: Put them on, now. And wrap yourself up. Have you finished packing?\nPel: Am I going somewhere?\nQuark: As far away from the station as possible.\nPel: But you need me, Quark. I'm the only one you can trust.\nQuark: Not anymore. Well, what did you expect? I mean, look at you. You're wearing clothes.\nPel: Is that a crime?\nQuark: As a matter of fact, it is. Look, it's just too risky for you to stay here. You can take this with you.\nPel: What is it?\nQuark: Ten bars of latinum. To help you start a new life. If you're going to pretend you're a man, act like one. Take the profit.\nPel: This is not about profit anymore, it's about love.\nQuark: Spoken like a true female.\nPel: I love you, Quark, and I know you care about me, too. Admit it.\nQuark: What difference does it make if I do? You'd never be happy being a Ferengi wife.\nPel: Then come with me to the Gamma Quadrant. No one there cares if I wear clothes or not.\nQuark: I'd care.\nPel: I guess I'd better start packing.\nQuark: I guess so.\nZek: These flaked blood fleas are surprisingly succulent.\nRom: You really should try them, brother.\nQuark: I'm not feeling particularly hungry.\nZek: Let me guess. Too busy thinking about how to spend all that latinum we're going to earn? Well, I don't blame you.\nQuark: Come.\nRom: I thought you said she left the station.\nQuark: I thought she did.\nPel: I hope you don't mind, Quark, but I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to the Nagus.\nZek: I'm glad you stopped by. I know how much you helped Quark during the negotiations. I predict a big future for you, Pel. You certainly have the lobes for it.\nPel: So, you like my lobes?\nQuark: Pel.\nZek: Yes, I do.\nPel: Good. Then you can have them.\nQuark: No!\nZek: It's a female!\nRom: Does this mean I don't get the bar?\nQuark: Rom. Out.\nZek: Quark, this is outrageous. Now, what's going on here?\nQuark: I, I, I.\nPel: Leave him out of this.\nZek: You dare give me orders! You knew about this all along, didn't you?\nQuark: I\nPel: So, tell me more about my big future.\nZek: You have no future. I'll see to it that you spend the rest of your life in prison.\nQuark: No.\nZek: Let me remind you that taking business advice from a female is a violation of Ferengi law.\nQuark: I didn't know she was a female.\nZek: Stupidity is no excuse. Now one more word out of you and you are going to share her cell.\nQuark: Then you'd better make sure it's big enough for three.\nZek: Are you threatening me?\nQuark: I wonder what your associates will say when I tell them you allowed a female to represent you in a business negotiation.\nZek: I didn't know she was a female.\nQuark: Stupidity is no excuse.\nZek: I see your point. It seems that Pel's identity will have to remain our little secret, but it's going to cost you.\nQuark: My Gamma Quadrant profits.\nZek: I've always said you were a bright fellow, Quark. Shame on you.\nQuark: I hope you're satisfied.\nPel: I'm sorry, but it's time he learned that when it comes to accumulating profit, women are as capable as men.\nQuark: Well, do me a favor and don't tell anybody else.\nPel: I should go. I've booked passage on an Andorian transport. You could come with me.\nQuark: I can't.\nPel: I know.\nPel: Well then, I guess if I can't have you, I'll take those ten bars of latinum after all.\nQuark: So, Lieutenant, ready for another night of tongo?\nDax: Haven't you lost enough for one day?\nQuark: I don't know what you're talking about.\nDax: I'm talking about Pel. She came by to see me before she left. I'm going to miss her. So are you.\nQuark: You really think I'd let anyone come between us?\nDax: Nice try, Quark, but I know you better than that."}
{"text": "Pallra: I didn't kill him, you know. A lot of people believed it was me. That shape-shifter thought so. But he was wrong.\nQuark: It was a long time ago.\nPallra: Say what you will about the Cardassians, at least they could keep the power on. Would you like more ice?\nQuark: I'm fine.\nPallra: You were always very kind.\nQuark: Was I?\nPallra: You made life a little easier.\nQuark: I ran a black market for anyone who could pay. Never exactly thought of myself as kind.\nPallra: There was always that little extra ginger tea in that package you gave me, wasn't there?\nQuark: You didn't call me to Bajor to talk about tea.\nPallra: No. I need a favor.\nQuark: For old times sake?\nPallra: That's right.\nQuark: I'm still as kind as ever.\nPallra: I can pay you.\nQuark: I'm listening.\nPallra: My husband kept a strongbox in our shop on the station, buried in the wall. I want you to bring it to me.\nQuark: What's in it?\nPallra: Nothing anyone would value.\nQuark: Anyone but you.\nPallra: Sentimental reasons.\nQuark: Why not take a sentimental journey back to the station, if it's your property?\nPallra: I couldn't stand being back in that shop where my husband was murdered.\nQuark: Or maybe you'd rather not let Odo see you there.\nPallra: I'm sure he's forgotten about all that by now. Can you neutralize the security system? It's behind the paneled wall on the left as you enter. Four panels in, five up.\nQuark: Four in, five up.\nPallra: And I can pay you five bars of latinum.\nQuark: Five?\nPallra: And as always my personal gratitude.\nQuark: A day, maybe two. Commence Station Security log. Stardate 47282.5. At the request of Commander Sisko, I will hereafter be recording a daily log of law enforcement affairs. The reason for this exercise is beyond my comprehension, except perhaps that humans have a compulsion to keep records and lists and files. So many, in fact, that they have to invent new ways to store them microscopically, otherwise their records would overrun all known civilisation. My own very adequate memory not being good enough for Starfleet, I am pleased to put my voice to this official record of this day. Everything's under control. End log.\nQuark: Now, when we get to the entrance, you stay flat against the wall. It's a pulsatel lockseal. I can get it to release in twenty five seconds.\nRom: Twenty five seconds? But somebody will see us. Let me do it.\nQuark: You? We'd be at it all night.\nRom: All night? No, only about ten seconds.\nQuark: How would you get a pulsatel lockseal to release in ten seconds?\nRom: You have one on the storeroom door.\nQuark: So?\nRom: Sometimes, when you forget to leave me the desealer, I have to get the storeroom open.\nQuark: You've unsealed the storeroom without my knowledge?\nRom: Only to serve a customer's needs.\nQuark: In ten seconds?\nRom: You forget fairly often.\nQuark: Ten seconds. We'll see how you handle the desealing rod.\nRom: That's all right. I have my own.\nQuark: What?\nRom: Nog made it for me. The boy's always been clever with his hands.\nQuark: My storeroom.\nRom: Time this, Brother. You'll be very proud. There, you see?\nQuark: Thief. Don't deny it. You've been stealing from me.\nRom: Brother, I'd never\nQuark: Tomorrow morning, I'm changing my entire lock system. Four in, five up. Here. It's behind this one. Keep an eye on the Promenade while I burn off the panel.\nRom: The glare could attract attention. I have a better idea.\nQuark: A better idea?\nRom: I took the liberty of bringing along a small vial of magnasite drops.\nQuark: Magnasite drops? What are magnasite drops?\nRom: A compound that will eat through duranium one on each corner and the panel will fall off.\nQuark: How do you know that?\nRom: When you were in the Gamma Quadrant overnight we did very good business. Naturally, I had to keep your profits safe, but you had the only key to the latinum floor vault.\nQuark: You got into my latinum floor vault with that?\nRom: I didn't want to tell you because then you'd know I'd burned off your floor plates, but I replaced them out of my own salary, brother.\nQuark: My floor vault.\nRom: Should I take it out for you?\nQuark: Don't touch it. Don't you touch anything ever, ever, again.\nQuark: Just a piece of paper?\nRom: A treasure map, perhaps? What does it mean, brother?\nQuark: I have no idea. Eight names. All of them Bajoran. I want to get a picture of this list before I reseal the box. Go, get me an imager. Go.\nQuark: You can't be in here. We're closed.\nQuark: Well, if you really want a drink. She sent you, didn't she?\nTrazko: She knew you couldn't resist opening it. I'm sorry.\nQuark: Yeah. Me too.\nRom: Brother! Brother? Brother? Help! Somebody help! My brother's been killed!\nBashir: Ten cc's of cortolin. I want an anti-grav lift in here, stat! Ready the cortical stimulator. What kind of weapon? I am waiting for an answer!\nOdo: Whatever it was had to get by the scanners. My best guess is a compressed tetryon beam weapon.\nBashir: Okay, okay, that's consistent with what I'm seeing here. Get the stimulator over here.\nSisko: Doctor?\nBashir: Thoracic cavity ruptured. Extensive neural trauma. Now.\nOdo: Rom says it was a robbery attempt.\nSisko: Was anything taken?\nOdo: He says he doesn't know, but he knows.\nKira: Security's stopping everyone at the airlocks but it took them five minutes to get in position. The assailant may already be on a ship.\nSisko: Delay all outgoing vessels as long as you can. Advise their respective security details.\nBashir: We've got to get him to the surgery. Help me get him up here.\nRom: He's dying, isn't he? He's dying. What am I going to do if my brother dies?\nOdo: Do? Oh, you'll have a lot to do once this place is yours.\nRom: But if he dies. Mine?\nOdo: Wives serve, brothers inherit. Rule of Acquisition number one hundred thirty nine, if I'm not mistaken.\nRom: I hadn't thought of that.\nOdo: Really? I had. Because it's a solid motive for murder.\nRom: Yes, actually, I have heard of a few untimely deaths that seemed. Wait a minute, you're not suggesting that I?\nOdo: I've had my eye on you for a long time, Rom. You're not as stupid as you look.\nRom: I am too. I would never\nSisko: Constable, it's his own brother.\nRom: My own brother.\nSisko: I hardly think\nOdo: Stay out of this, Commander. I know these Ferengi. They'd sell their own flesh and blood for a Cardassian groat.\nSisko: Odo, he's a family friend. His son is very close to my boy.\nOdo: Well, you'd better tell his son that Dad's going to the lunar prison on Meldrar One. Two hundred degrees in the shade.\nRom: I didn't! It's not true! Oh! Irony of ironies. I finally get the bar and I'm falsely accused of my brother's murder.\nSisko: Rom, as a friend, if you know anything that might be helpful, I think you should tell us.\nRom: It was a list. The man who shot my brother stole a list.\nOdo: What kind of list?\nRom: Of names. Eight Bajoran names. It was in this box we, we found.\nOdo: Found?\nRom: In a manner of speaking.\nOdo: You...\nRom: My brother was hired by someone on Bajor to retrieve it.\nOdo: Who?\nRom: He didn't tell me. He never told me anything. I tried so hard to earn Quark's trust. Now he's dead, and I can never earn his trust.\nOdo: Just his share of the profits.\nRom: I swear I don't know who hired him. All I know is that the box had been hidden years ago.\nOdo: How many years ago?\nRom: I'm not sure. When the Cardassians were here. When the ship's store used to be the chemist shop.\nOdo: The chemist shop?\nRom: That's right.\nOdo: Here? This is where you found the box?\nRom: Behind a duranium wall panel. I'll show you which one. Do you want me to open it? I can do it in ten seconds.\nOdo: You asked to see me?\nDukat: Yes, yes, please come in. I'm Gul Dukat. We've met before.\nOdo: Have we?\nDukat: I wouldn't expect you to remember. I was one of the guests at the reception at the Bajoran Center for Science. It must have been two years ago.\nOdo: Ah, yes, when the Cardassian High Command was invited to view me.\nDukat: You were very amusing that night.\nOdo: Was I?\nDukat: Yes. You did a Cardassian neck trick that brought the house down.\nOdo: The Bajoran scientist who worked with me thought you might find it entertaining. He made me practice for weeks on the Cardassian neck trick.\nDukat: Gul Hadar couldn't stop talking about it. He wanted to send you out to entertain the troops. I, on the other hand, began to wonder if you couldn't provide a more valuable service for the Cardassian Empire. I've stayed informed about you, Odo, ever since you walked out on your Bajoran keepers.\nOdo: I simply felt I could learn more outside a laboratory.\nDukat: Yes, you've become quite the student of humanoid nature, haven't you?\nOdo: Just what is it you need, Gul Dukat?\nDukat: Have you ever seen a dead man before?\nOdo: Yes. In your mines.\nDukat: Oh, those are casualties. This is murder. And I've decided you're going to investigate it.\nOdo: Me? Why me? I'm no investigator.\nDukat: Ah, but I suspect you'd make a good one, shape-shifting your way into places the rest of us can't go.\nOdo: I have no intention of being a Cardassian agent.\nDukat: Not an agent. An investigator.\nOdo: There's a difference?\nDukat: We can't have these Bajorans running around murdering each other, now can we? I'm talking about order here, justice.\nOdo: There's very little justice in the Cardassian occupation of Bajor.\nDukat: Don't push me, Odo. My superiors would have me solve this murder by rounding up ten Bajorans at random and executing them. I'm hoping you'll give me a better alternative. Now, these Bajorans won't talk to us but they seem to trust you. I understand you used to sort out petty disputes concerning food, blankets, everyday sorts of things. They come to you.\nOdo: I suppose I'm considered a neutral observer.\nDukat: Of course. You're not one of them. And for that you should be thankful. So, here's one more petty dispute, only this time I'm bringing it to you. Find the murderer.\nOdo: Are there any witnesses?\nDukat: I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Mrs Vaatrik. This is Odo. He'll be investigating your husband's death. Perhaps you two already know each other.\nPallra: Have you been into the shop?\nOdo: No, I don't use chemicals.\nDukat: I've assigned this space to you. We'll get you anything you need. Madam, my sympathies. Good hunting.\nOdo: I'm sorry for your loss.\nPallra: Thank you.\nOdo: Do you have any idea who might have done this?\nPallra: I have a very good idea.\nOdo: You do?\nPallra: May I be honest with you?\nOdo: That might be helpful.\nPallra: My husband was having an affair. Some girl showed up on the station a couple of weeks ago. He became infatuated with her, I don't know. Why are men like that?\nOdo: Believe me, I have no idea.\nPallra: We had two wonderful years together, till she arrived. And now\nOdo: You loved him very much.\nPallra: Of course I did.\nOdo: Then, perhaps you could explain something I don't understand.\nPallra: What's that?\nOdo: Mister Vaatrik was found dead two hours ago. Mrs Vaatrik hasn't shed a tear.\nPallra: What makes you think\nOdo: By necessity I'm an observer, Mrs Vaatrik. When a humanoid cries, the epidermis below the eyes swells noticeably. Your epidermis is perfectly normal.\nPallra: I've been too angry to cry. I, I, the shock, I\nOdo: Of course. So, you were about to accuse this other woman of the murder, I believe?\nPallra: He confessed his indiskretion to me days ago, but said it was over\nOdo: And when he broke it off with her, she killed him in a jealous rage.\nPallra: Something like that.\nOdo: Do you know her name?\nPallra: No, but I can point her out to you.\nGuard: Move along. Step back from the gate. That's enough.\nComm: Attention, all bio-organic materials must be disposed of according to regulations.\nOdo: When was the last time you saw Mister Vaatrik alive?\nPallra: At dinner. He went back to the shop to do some inventory work afterwards.\nOdo: You don't live in community quarters.\nPallra: No. We were lucky enough to be assigned a private room. I guess because we ran the shop, but at least we had a little privacy. There. That's her.\nKira: Odo. We haven't picked up anyone at the airlocks. I can't hold up outbound traffic any longer.\nOdo: I'm sure he disposed of the weapon before he left.\nKira: I heard about the list, the one that Quark got out of the wall.\nOdo: Rom said it had been hidden there during the occupation.\nKira: I couldn't help wondering if it had something to do with Vaatrik.\nOdo: I've been wondering the same thing. Security log, stardate 47284.1. In this job, there is no unfinished business. The assault on Quark reopens a five year old murder case that I've never, not for a moment, closed. Patience is a lost virtue to most. To me, an ally.\nRom: I barely saw it. I'm sorry. I don't remember any of the names.\nOdo: All right, all right, let's just relax for a moment.\nRom: I really ought to be getting back to my bar.\nOdo: He's not dead yet, Rom.\nRom: They're not keeping him alive by artificial means, are they? My brother wouldn't want that.\nOdo: No, he's clinging to life all on his own.\nRom: Typical.\nOdo: All right, let's try again. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Clear your mind of everything in it, if there's anything there. Breathe. Breathe. Now, what do you see?\nRom: The bar.\nOdo: Yes?\nRom: With my name on it.\nOdo: The past, Rom, not the future. The box opens. There's a piece of paper inside it.\nRom: Yes, yes, I see it.\nOdo: Quark unfolds it. There's a list of names, Bajoran names.\nRom: Right.\nOdo: The one at the very top catches your eye. And the first letter is?\nRom: C! It's a C.\nOdo: And the next letter is?\nRom: Er, er.\nOdo: Skip to the last letter in the name, Rom.\nRom: O! It's an O.\nOdo: Starts with a C, ends with an O.\nRom: And, and there's a mark in the name.\nOdo: An apostrophe?\nRom: Ches'so!\nOdo: You're sure?\nRom: Yes. Maybe.\nOdo: Maybe?\nRom: It's something like Ches'so. I think.\nOdo: Call me day or night if you remember something else.\nKira: Anything? Ches'so.\nOdo: Might be the first name on the list. Remember anyone from those days on the station with that name?\nKira: No, but I wasn't here very long.\nOdo: So I recall.\nKira: We never talked about it.\nOdo: We never had to.\nKira: I would have been executed.\nOdo: You were innocent of the crime I was investigating.\nKira: That wouldn't have mattered to the Cardassians.\nOdo: It mattered to me.\nGuard: Work detail tomorrow. Surrender your passes. You there, keep moving. This way, this way.\nComm: Radiation crew, report to observation level. Radiation crew, report to observation level.\nOdo: Do you mind if I join you?\nComm: Sector four salvage team report at once to your work station.\nOdo: A pretty girl like you shouldn't be eating alone.\nKira: I don't do whatever it is you want. Not for money, not for food.\nOdo: No, you misunderstand. I'm sorry, of course I can see how you could. Let me start over.\nKira: Are you some kind of a security officer?\nOdo: How did you know that?\nKira: You are, aren't you.\nOdo: Unofficially, I suppose that's true.\nKira: Unofficially? What's that supposed to mean?\nOdo: Gul Dukat asked me to investigate the murder of a Bajoran man named Vaatrik. I understand you knew him.\nKira: Who says I did?\nOdo: His widow.\nKira: I suppose she also told you I killed him.\nOdo: Did you?\nKira: No.\nOdo: On the contrary, you were in love with him.\nKira: No.\nOdo: But he was in love with you.\nKira: No.\nOdo: It doesn't sound like much of a romance.\nKira: We weren't having a romance.\nOdo: Then why would he tell his wife that you were?\nKira: You'll have to ask him.\nOdo: If you were having an affair, I promise you I'll find out about it.\nKira: All you're going to find is that I've been here for two weeks. I met the man right after I arrived. He had Pyrellian ginger tea. How he managed to get it I don't know, but I happen to like ginger tea. We became friends. Maybe he was attracted to me. It never went anywhere. Why do you think Dukat wanted you on this investigation?\nOdo: I'm sure he had good reasons.\nKira: Why not his own security people?\nOdo: No Bajoran would talk to them.\nKira: That never stopped the Cardassians before. They have ways of getting their information. Something to think about.\nOdo: Where were you last night?\nKira: I was at the bar. I heard the Ferengi are allowed to hire some Bajorans for dog work. It's better than the mines.\nOdo: You haven't spent any time in the mines.\nKira: How do you know?\nOdo: Your hands.\nKira: You're not bad at this. You're right. My last job was at a replicator plant on Bajor.\nOdo: You're not allowed to quit those jobs. What happened?\nKira: I hit a supervisor for trying what I thought you were trying a few minutes ago.\nOdo: I appreciate your restraint this time. You're not planning on leaving the station soon?\nKira: If I were, would you have the Cardassians stop me?\nOdo: Yes.\nKira: Then I'm not planning on leaving the station soon. Let me tell you something. Unofficially or not, you're working for the Cardassians. Sooner or later, you're going to have to decide whose side you're on.\nOdo: I don't choose sides.\nKira: Everybody has to choose sides, Constable.\nPallra: I don't know what you're talking about.\nOdo: You knew nothing about a list?\nPallra: Nothing.\nOdo: Why would your husband have hidden a list of Bajoran names?\nPallra: I can't imagine why. Are you sure it was his?\nOdo: No.\nPallra: Maybe the Cardassians put it there before they left.\nOdo: Someone on Bajor told Quark where to find it.\nPallra: I wish I could help. I sort of liked that little Ferengi.\nOdo: Don't write his eulogy yet. He's still with us.\nPallra: I thought you said\nOdo: He was shot at point blank range. The Federation doctor saved his life.\nPallra: Good for him.\nOdo: Does the name Ches'so mean anything to you?\nPallra: I don't think so. Who is it?\nOdo: Oh, just someone I'd like to talk to. Thank you for seeing me.\nPallra: If this has anything to do with my husband's murder, I want to be of help in any way I can.\nOdo: Oh, there was one other thing. I understand your power was recently terminated for lack of payment.\nPallra: That's right.\nOdo: Yet you were able to transfer funds to the power company this morning.\nPallra: I don't appreciate your looking into my private affairs.\nOdo: Just part of a routine investigation. If you could tell me where you got the money?\nPallra: A loan from a friend.\nOdo: Of course. And your friend's name?\nPallra: Odo, this really has nothing to do with your investigation.\nOdo: Good. Then you won't mind giving me the name.\nPallra: I'm sorry. My friend is married. I won't drag him into this. Security Log, supplemental. The Ferengi holds on to life like it's gold-pressed latinum. Maybe he just doesn't want his brother to get the bar, or maybe he knows he's the only real witness I have.\nBashir: The next several hours will tell the whole story. We've done everything we can for him. I'll keep you updated.\nKira: I've got some good news and some bad news. I think I've found our Ches'so.\nOdo: Who is he?\nKira: A Bajoran mining engineer. He's been very active in charity work for the war orphans.\nOdo: What makes you think he's our man?\nKira: Some connections from my past suggested he might be. His work brought him to the station a lot. The bad news is he's dead. Drowned in a pond on his property last night.\nOdo: I'm responsible.\nKira: How?\nOdo: I mentioned the name Ches'so to the Vaatrik woman. If she recognized it as Ches'sarro, and thought he might lead us to her. Security to the Infirmary.\nSecurity: Acknowledged.\nOdo: Major, I need some help. Advise the Medical Examiner that I want a complete autopsy on Ches'sarro, and that his death is to be treated as a suspected homicide. I'll need the communication records for the Vaatrik home for the past fifty-two hours and have the Central Bank keep a supervisor on duty all night. I'll need several bank records as well.\nKira: Whose?\nOdo: I don't know yet.\nOdo: I want round the clock armed security on Quark. No visitors.\nGuard: Yes, sir.\nQuark: Stop by one of the holosuites. Two programs for the price of one.\nOdo: I'm looking for the proprietor of this establishment.\nQuark: Does he owe you money?\nOdo: No.\nQuark: Are you here to arrest him?\nOdo: No.\nQuark: Then you've found him. Quark, at your service. First drink on the house. An old and dreadful Cardassian tradition. What'll you have.\nOdo: I don't drink.\nQuark: A soft drink, then.\nOdo: I don't drink.\nQuark: I guess that's why we don't see you around here much.\nOdo: I'd like to ask you a few questions about the death of the Bajoran chemist.\nQuark: Wait a minute. You're the shape-shifter. You're the one who's working for Dukat.\nOdo: I'm not working for Dukat. I'm just trying to solve a murder.\nQuark: No, I've heard about you. You do some Cardassian neck trick, am I right?\nOdo: Not anymore.\nQuark: That could go over big in this room.\nOdo: I'm checking on the alibi of a young Bajoran woman, red hair, named Kira Nerys. She says she was here last night\nQuark: Yeah, I remember her. She wanted a job.\nOdo: How long was she here?\nQuark: Long enough.\nOdo: Long enough for what?\nQuark: Oh, you know.\nOdo: No, I don't. Why don't you tell me.\nQuark: She was showing me her, er, initiative.\nOdo: Is that some sort of sexual reference?\nQuark: These jobs are hard to come by. Her credentials were very impressive. Hey, listen. Listen here, what's the problem?\nOdo: The problem is you're lying.\nQuark: You've got me all wrong.\nOdo: I want the truth otherwise I'll just turn you over to Gul Dukat and he can get it for me.\nQuark: Okay, fine, I didn't realize we were dealing with a murder here. She didn't pay me enough for that anyway.\nOdo: She paid you for an alibi? I wonder how Gul Dukat will react when I tell him about that.\nQuark: I'm sure it'll cost me a case of Cardassian ale.\nDukat: Two cases at the very least. A broken alibi. That sounds like progress. Is there someone you want me to arrest?\nOdo: Not yet.\nDukat: But soon. I need a name, Odo.\nOdo: You'll get your name when I'm certain it's the right name.\nDukat: Listen to the way he speaks to me, Quark. You're not afraid of anyone, are you, shape-shifter? Not even me. I was right about you. You are the man for this job.\nQuark: Listen, I feel you and I, we've gotten off to a bad start here. Let me make it up to you. You need anything? A little ginger tea? No, you don't drink. Chocolate? Maybe companionship?\nSisko: You look like you just lost your best friend, Constable.\nDax: Is Quark?\nOdo: Quark is stable.\nSisko: What's this?\nOdo: The list.\nDax: You found it?\nOdo: No, I assembled it from the Vaatrik woman's communication records. She's been talking to each of these people a lot. Odd thing is, she'd never talked to any of them until two days ago.\nSisko: When the list was stolen.\nOdo: Interestingly, every one of them has transferred exactly one hundred thousand Bajoran litas into her bank accounts within the last twenty six hours.\nSisko: Blackmail?\nOdo: Blackmail.\nSisko: What did they have to hide?\nOdo: For one thing, that they'd come out of the occupation with that kind of money.\nDax: You think they were working with the Cardassians.\nOdo: Selling out their own world for a profit. Collaborators. Not even a Ferengi would do that. It explains a lot of things.\nSisko: Do you have enough to charge her?\nOdo: Not yet, but I'd like to bring her in for questioning. With your permission, I'll ask the local Bajoran authorities transport her here.\nOdo: Nobody ever had to teach me the justice trick. That's something I've always known. A racial memory from my species, I guess. It's really the only clue I have to what kind of people they are. Are these kinds of thoughts appropriate for a Starfleet log? I don't care. There's no room in justice for loyalty or friendship or love. Justice, as the humans like to say, is blind. I used to believe that. I'm not sure I can anymore.\nKira: Yes, I lied about my alibi. That doesn't make me a killer.\nOdo: Where were you when he was murdered?\nKira: Asleep, alone.\nOdo: No one saw you in the community quarters.\nKira: I wasn't there. I've found a small corner in\nOdo: You're lying.\nKira: I\nOdo: Don't bother. Your whole face changes. I should have seen it before. You don't lie well.\nKira: Thanks.\nOdo: So why don't you start telling the truth?\nKira: Whose side are you going to be on, Constable?\nOdo: I'm not going to play your game.\nKira: When I tell you the truth, you'll have to choose.\nOdo: No. No, that's why I was given this job. That's why all of you always come to me with problems. I'm the outsider. I'm on no one's side. All I'm interested in is justice. If you're innocent, you'll go free. If you're not, I'll turn you over to Cardassian authorities. That's the only choice here.\nKira: I didn't kill him. When he was killed, I was on level twenty one.\nOdo: Twenty one? Ore processing?\nKira: Check the Cardassian security logs. You'll see a breach on twenty one last night. I'm in the Bajoran underground. I came here to commit acts of sabotage against the Cardassians. Last night, I succeeded.\nOdo: The ore processor was damaged by a sub-nucleonic device at twenty five hundred hours last night. It'll be out of operation for two weeks.\nKira: Give the mine workers a little time off at least. I'll describe the device I used if you still don't believe me.\nOdo: That's why you needed an alibi from Quark.\nKira: If you tell the Cardassians the truth, none of this will matter. I'll be executed for the sabotage. Who cares about Bajorans killing Bajorans when you can hang a rebel.\nDukat: Is this her?\nOdo: I told you when I have the name\nDukat: Is this her?\nOdo: No. You can go.\nDukat: If you're lying, shape-shifter.\nOdo: If you know as much about me as you say you do, Gul Dukat, you know I don't lie. I am convinced that she did not kill Vaatrik.\nTrazko: Is it too late for visitors?\nGuard: I'm sorry, sir. No visitors are permitted here.\nTrazko: Perhaps you could just put these in water for him.\nGuard: Of course.\nOdo: Odo to Bashir. Report to the Infirmary immediately.\nBashir: On my way.\nOdo: It's over, Rom, over. You're a hero.\nRom: I am?\nOdo: You saved your brother's life.\nPallra: I've never seen him before in my life.\nOdo: Really? Your communications records indicate that you made several calls to his home, and received several as well.\nKira: You also transferred a large sum of money into his account two days ago.\nPallra: I want to confer with my advocate.\nOdo: Certainly. I'll make arrangements for you to speak with him. Meantime, the two of you can introduce yourselves to one another.\nPallra: I don't care what you think you know, shape-shifter. You will never be able to prove that I killed my husband because I didn't.\nOdo: I know.\nKira: When did you realize?\nOdo: The possibility occurred to me when you got the name Ches'sarro so quickly. Your friends from the underground must have already suspected him of being a collaborator. Once I knew the eight names were a list of collaborators the murder of Vaatrik made sense for the first time. He must have been a collaborator too. He had the money for ginger tea. He had the private quarters. I never had a motive for his murder until now. He kept his wife in relative luxury. She surely wouldn't have killed him. So who would kill a Cardassian collaborator? Someone in the Bajoran underground, of course.\nKira: A colleague of mine was given the job of sabotaging the ore processor. Vaatrik was my responsibility.\nOdo: You were here to execute him.\nKira: No. I was here to find the list. The names of the Bajorans who were selling us out. We'd been informed that Vaatrik was their direct link to Dukat.\nOdo: That must have been why Dukat chose me to investigate. He had to stay as far away from this incident as he could so as not to endanger his network of Bajoran sympathizers.\nKira: Obviously, I never found the list. But that's what I was looking for in his shop when Vaatrik walked in on me. I didn't have a choice.\nOdo: I misjudged you, Major. You were a better liar than I gave you credit for.\nKira: You were working for the Cardassians.\nOdo: I haven't been for more than a year. You've had all that time to tell me the truth.\nKira: I tried to tell you the truth a hundred times. What you think of me matters a lot. I was afraid.\nOdo: That might affect our friendship? Maybe it doesn't have to.\nKira: Will you ever be able to trust me the same way again?"}
{"text": "Scene: Personal log, stardate 47329.4. I finally realize why I've had trouble sleeping the last few nights. Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the massacre at Wolf three five nine. The fourth anniversary of Jennifer's death.\nSisko: I'm not sure what bothers me more. The date itself, or the fact that it almost passed unnoticed.\nJake: Dad what are you doing up?\nSisko: I was about to ask you the same thing.\nJake: I had a weird dream.\nSisko: Get some hot chocolate and tell me about it.\nJake: Nah, it's nothing.\nSisko: Come on. Tell me about this weird dream.\nJake: It's stupid.\nSisko: Maybe so, but the thing about dreams is, if you talk about them, they kind of go away faster.\nJake: Okay, but don't laugh.\nSisko: I promise.\nJake: I don't know. I was on the station somewhere. I'm not sure where. And I was trying to get back here but I couldn't find my way. Every time I saw a familiar corridor, it kind of led into some other direction. See, I told you it was stupid.\nSisko: You got me interested.\nJake: Well then, I guess I got a little scared and started looking for you, but I couldn't find you. Somehow I ended up in Ops but you weren't in your office. And then it was like the floor started sloping and I couldn't keep my balance and all I wanted to do was find you.\nSisko: And here I am.\nJake: Dad, I love you.\nSisko: I love you too.\nJake: I have a calculus test in the morning.\nSisko: Then you'd better get some sleep.\nJake: Yeah. Dad? I miss her.\nSisko: Me too.\nFenna: Beautiful, aren't they? I don't think I've seen the stars shine so brightly.\nSisko: The Bajorans call that constellation the Runners. I can never figure out if they're running toward something or away from something.\nFenna: Does that matter? Sometimes it just feels good to run.\nSisko: I never thought about it that way. I'm Benjamin Sisko, Commander of this station.\nFenna: I'm Fenna. I'm sorry. You must be very busy. I didn't mean to bother you.\nSisko: You're not bothering me at all.\nFenna: Good.\nFenna: Commander of the station. That must be very exciting. All those ships coming and going. Every day must bring something new.\nSisko: It has its moments. In some ways, though, I prefer this time the best, when everything's quiet and\nFenna: And you can feel a kind of anticipation in the air like something wonderful's going to happen but you don't know what it is. I guess that sounds kind of silly, doesn't it?\nSisko: Not at all. That's one of the great things about this station. You never know what's going to happen next, or who you're going to meet.\nFenna: I like it here. I wish I could stay longer.\nSisko: Where are you going?\nFenna: I'm not really sure. I guess I'll just keep going, like the Runners.\nSisko: I tell you what. Before you run any farther, why don't I show you around the station? If you have the time.\nSisko: Fenna?\nSisko: Good morning, Chief.\nO'Brien: Morning, Commander.\nSisko: Is this maintenance or repair?\nO'Brien: Right now it's maintenance, but five'll get you ten it'll be a repair by the time I'm through.\nSisko: Admit it, Chief. If you were on a station where everything worked, you'd be miserable.\nO'Brien: You may be right, sir. But I'd be willing to give it a try.\nSisko: Good morning, Major. Computer, one chiraltan tea, with a double twist of lemon. Something wrong?\nKira: No, nothing.\nSisko: If something's bothering you, Major, I want to hear it.\nKira: It's just that every morning for the last year, I've seen you walk in here and start your day with a raktajino.\nSisko: I love raktajino.\nKira: I know. You never even talk to anyone until you've had your first cup.\nSisko: I'm not awake until I've had my first cup.\nKira: So how come you're drinking chiraltan tea?\nSisko: I, er, I just felt like having something different. That is all right with you, isn't it, Major?\nKira: Of course. You can drink whatever you like.\nSisko: Thank you, Major. I appreciate your support.\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Lieutenant.\nDax: Professor Seyetik and I are in the science lab, if you'd like to meet him.\nSisko: On my way.\nSisko: Lieutenant, where's our guest?\nDax: Inside the flux generator.\nSisko: What? What's he doing in there? He could be killed.\nDax: Well, that's what I tried to tell him.\nSisko: And he went in anyway.\nDax: Benjamin, have you ever met a terraformer?\nSisko: No. What's that got to do with it?\nDax: You can't tell a terraformer anything. It's an amazing talent bringing dead worlds to life, but humility and common sense aren't part of the job description.\nSisko: Oh.\nSeyetik: There you go, Lieutenant. That should increase your generator output by at least five percent. You must be Commander Sisko. Gideon Seyetik. Great pleasure to meet you, sir.\nSisko: Professor. I'm a great admirer of your work.\nSeyetik: Good. A man of intelligence and taste. I can see we're going to get along famously.\nSisko: My son and I visited Blue Horizon on the way to Deep Space Nine. I must say I was impressed.\nSeyetik: Of course you were. I created the place and even I'm impressed. How did you like Da Vinci Falls?\nSisko: We didn't get to see them. We were only on the surface for a few hours.\nSeyetik: Oh, Commander, you missed Blue Horizon's crowning glory. Imagine water cascading off cliffs the height of Mount Everest, thundering through continuous rainbows, straight into an ocean the color of sapphire wine. I'm going to have to take you there one day. By God, I wouldn't mind seeing it again myself.\nSisko: I may take you up on that.\nSeyetik: Good, good. But first, Epsilon one nineteen.\nSisko: Yes, I understand the initial surveys look promising.\nSeyetik: Promising? They look magnificent. Imagine, reigniting a dead sun. Bringing new life to an entire solar system. Next to that, terraforming planets will seem like child's play.\nDax: Let's hope it works. Right now, it's a promising theory.\nSeyetik: Of course it'll work. I never fail. Well, I did once, but I found it didn't agree with me. So I swore never to do it again and I never break my word. You should be glad you're coming with me, Lieutenant. This'll be my crowning achievement. Giving birth to a star. Even I will have a hard time topping that one.\nDax: Benjamin, you're not going to let that last piece of Andorian tuber root go to waste, are you?\nSisko: Why do you ask?\nDax: Because it's delicious. May I?\nSisko: Be my guest.\nDax: I'm going to need the extra calories to keep up with Seyetik. The man works almost as much as he talks. Benjamin?\nSisko: What?\nDax: Are you looking for someone?\nSisko: I'm sorry, what were you saying?\nDax: Nothing important. I have to meet with Chief O'Brien. We're boosting the maximum speed of Seyetik's ship to warp nine point five. If his experiment fails and that sun goes supernova, we're going to need to get out of there fast.\nSisko: I'll see you in Ops.\nFenna: Benjamin, I was hoping I'd see you again.\nSisko: I was just thinking about you.\nFenna: Were you really? I've been thinking about you, too.\nSisko: Where did you disappear to last night?\nFenna: I had to go. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rush away like that. Does your invitation still stand? To show me around the station?\nSisko: What would you like to see?\nFenna: Everything.\nSisko: Everything? That's going to take some time.\nFenna: I don't mind, if you don't.\nSisko: What do you think?\nFenna: It's wonderful.\nSisko: I'm glad you like it.\nFenna: You must come here all the time.\nSisko: Not really. But when I do, a ship is usually blocking the view.\nFenna: We should have brought a picnic basket.\nSisko: Here?\nFenna: What better place?\nSisko: Well, I guess there is tomorrow.\nFenna: Is that an invitation?\nSisko: Sounded like one to me.\nFenna: Then I accept.\nSisko: Good. There's plenty left to see. In fact, I doubt that we can see it all in one evening.\nFenna: Then you can show me the rest after our picnic tomorrow.\nSisko: Do you always do that?\nFenna: Do what?\nSisko: Say exactly the right thing.\nFenna: No one's ever told me that before.\nSisko: There you go again. So, tell me all about yourself.\nFenna: There's not much to tell.\nSisko: Whatever there is, I want to hear it.\nFenna: I can't.\nSisko: Can't what?\nFenna: I can't tell you.\nSisko: Why not?\nFenna: I'm sorry, Benjamin, but I have to go.\nSisko: Fenna, wait.\nJake: So then Tiet looked down at Altrina's lunch and said, Klingon food? Those are worms. And Altrina vomited all over the table. It was pretty disgusting.\nSisko: That's nice, Jake.\nJake: Nice? She threw up.\nSisko: Hmm? Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I was thinking about something else.\nJake: Dad, are you in love?\nSisko: What?\nJake: You know, with a woman. You're showing all three of the signs.\nSisko: Signs?\nJake: The ones that Nog told me about. Loss of appetite, daydreaming, smiling all the time.\nSisko: You've been talking to Nog about women again?\nJake: Look, I just want you to know that if you're in love, it's all right with me.\nSisko: Thanks, Jake.\nJake: What's she like?\nSisko: She's really interesting.\nJake: Interesting, huh? So when do I get to meet her?\nSisko: I think it might be a little early to do that.\nJake: Why? She likes you too, doesn't she?\nSisko: I think so.\nJake: So then what's the problem?\nSisko: Well, er, it's just that, er, she keeps disappearing.\nOdo: Above all, stay alert. If the subspace transmission I received is correct and Villus Thed is en route to the station, I want to be notified the moment he arrives. Keep him under constant surveillance, but remember, he's a short-range telepath, so stay at least five meters away from him at all times. That's all.\nDeputy: Yes, sir.\nOdo: Commander, what can I do for you?\nSisko: I need to ask a favor, Constable, of a personal nature.\nOdo: Go on.\nSisko: I'm looking for someone. A woman.\nOdo: Name?\nSisko: Fenna.\nOdo: First name or last?\nSisko: I don't know.\nOdo: Species?\nSisko: I don't know. Humanoid.\nOdo: What ship did she arrive on?\nSisko: I don't know.\nOdo: Well, what can you tell me about her?\nSisko: Let's see. I'd say she's about one point six meters tall. Brown skin, dark hair. And the last time I saw her, she was wearing, she was wearing red.\nOdo: Well, that's something, anyway.\nSisko: Do you think you can help me?\nOdo: I don't know.\nSisko: I need to find her, Constable. I think she may be in some kind of trouble.\nOdo: What kind of trouble? Let me guess. You don't know. Well, it's not much to go on, but I'll do what I can.\nSisko: I appreciate your help, Odo.\nDax: Benjamin, do you have a minute?\nSisko: In my office.\nSisko: What's on your mind, Dax?\nDax: I was hoping you had something to say to me.\nSisko: I don't follow you.\nDax: You really have no intention of telling me, do you?\nSisko: Telling you what?\nDax: Come on, Benjamin. I saw you with her last night on the Promenade. What's her name?\nSisko: Fenna. But believe me, Dax, there is nothing to talk about.\nDax: You used to tell Curzon everything.\nSisko: Not everything.\nDax: You know what I mean. It's because I'm a woman now, isn't it?\nSisko: Don't be ridiculous.\nDax: No, I understand. It's hard to talk man to man with a woman.\nSisko: That has nothing to do with it.\nDax: Then tell me what's going on.\nSisko: I will. As soon as there is something to tell. Personal log, supplemental. Odo continues to search for new information about Fenna. In the meantime, Professor Seyetik has invited me and the senior staff to dinner on board the Prometheus.\nSeyetik: A great terraformer needs the green thumb of a gardener, the eye of a painter and the soul of a poet. And of course it doesn't hurt to be a raging egomaniac.\nKira: Which makes you eminently qualified.\nSeyetik: Of course.\nBashir: Terraforming is amazing enough, but I don't understand how you intend to re-ignite a dead sun.\nSeyetik: Basically I'll use a remote-piloted shuttlepod to deliver proto-matter into the dead star. This will cause a cascade effect which will transform the star's carbon and oxygen into elemental hydrogen. Then we just stand back and watch the fireworks.\nDax: Of course, if it doesn't work it might be the last thing we ever see.\nSeyetik: Come now, Lieutenant. Nothing of worth was ever created by a pessimist.\nSisko: I don't know about that. Van Gogh, Beckett, Y'Raka. I wouldn't exactly call them optimists.\nSeyetik: Precisely, and look at their work. Dark and dreary and dismal. Art should be an affirmation of life. For example, take my own work in the field.\nBashir: I once saw an exhibit of your paintings at the Central Gallery on Ligobis Ten. They were certainly memorable. I don't think I've ever seen such huge canvasses.\nSeyetik: Doctor, nobody ever accused me of understatement.\nDax: Certainly not anyone who's ever read your autobiography.\nSeyetik: Nine volumes and counting. You know, I always said I wanted to write as many books as I've had marriages. Which reminds me, wait till you taste the food my wife has created for you. None of that replicated nonsense you're used to. No, every dish was prepared entirely by Nidell's own sweet hands.\nKira: I can't wait to meet her.\nSeyetik: And so you shall. She should be just about ready. I'll go and get her.\nKira: Commander, you think he'd notice if we weren't here when he got back.\nSisko: Don't even think about it, Major. I've had dinner with about two dozen Bajoran ministers. I think you owe me this one. Besides, Seyetik is one of the Federation's greatest minds.\nKira: I know. He told me.\nBashir: I for one find him remarkable entertaining.\nSeyetik: Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my wife and my inspiration. Nidell.\nDax: Now we have something to talk about.\nBashir: I can't eat another bite.\nO'Brien: That was delicious. Do you think I could have the recipe?\nNidell: You'll have to ask Gideon. It's his creation.\nSeyetik: Well, it took me years to perfect it. The secret, you see, is to sear the kalo roots slightly before layering them over the slices of roasted waroon.\nSisko: She acts like she doesn't recognize me.\nSeyetik: The most important thing is the broth. One liter of clear Rumall stock. A tumbler and a half of Gremish, two clusters of Vulcan redspice.\nDax: It is the same woman, isn't it?\nSisko: She looks the same.\nSeyetik: Half a dozen humat pods, and a dash of ice salt. Then you reduce it in a Andorian boiler, cook it exactly five hundred degrees Kelvin and then just pepper to taste. Any questions?\nO'Brien: Maybe you should write that down.\nSeyetik: Of course. No trouble at all. Now, I think we should continue this conversation in the other room. We shall be more comfortable there.\nNidell: Commander, can I help you with something?\nSisko: I hope so. It would have been a lot easier if you'd told me you were married.\nNidell: I don't understand.\nSisko: Yesterday, on the Promenade. You had plenty of opportunity.\nNidell: Commander, I don't know what you're talking about. I've never met you before tonight.\nSisko: I suppose you never told me that your name was Fenna? Would you like to talk about this?\nNidell: Commander, obviously you have mistaken me for someone else.\nSisko: Seems that way, doesn't it?\nSisko: I'm telling you Dax, it was the same woman. The face, the voice. It was Fenna.\nDax: Maybe you ought to talk to her when her husband isn't around.\nSisko: Dax, she's a married woman.\nDax: That would have never stopped Curzon.\nSisko: It's just that this was the first time since Jennifer's death that I felt drawn to someone.\nOdo: Commander, may I have a word with you? I thought you should know I've checked this week's docking and transporter logs, and there is no record of anyone matching the description you gave me.\nSisko: Thanks, Odo, but you can call off your search. I've already found the woman I was looking for.\nOdo: Did you? And where was she, if you don't mind my asking?\nSisko: Aboard the Prometheus.\nOdo: The Prometheus? Are you sure?\nSisko: Yes, we just left there a few minutes ago.\nOdo: That's impossible.\nSisko: What do you mean?\nOdo: I checked the de-embarkation logs as part of my search. With the exception of Professor Seyetik, no one has left the Prometheus during the entire time it's been at the station.\nQuark: Commander?\nQuark: I thought you could use this.\nSisko: No thanks, I was just leaving.\nQuark: Stood you up, didn't she? When you've worked in a bar as long as I have, you get to recognize that look. I've even seen it in the mirror once or twice.\nSisko: I'd better be getting home.\nQuark: If you'd like, we could go down to the bar and talk. You know, about women.\nSisko: I don't think so.\nQuark: Don't forget, the holosuites are always open.\nFenna: Benjamin!\nFenna: I missed you. Is there something wrong?\nSisko: I just had dinner with someone who looks exactly like you.\nFenna: Like me? How strange?\nSisko: Then you're telling me that your name isn't really Nidell and you're not the wife of Gideon Seyetik.\nFenna: Of course not. I'm Fenna, you know that.\nSisko: Right now, I'm not sure what I know. I don't suppose you have a twin sister, do you?\nFenna: Not that I know of.\nSisko: Fenna, I need to know where you came from, what you're doing on this station.\nFenna: Does that matter?\nSisko: Of course it matters. I need to know who you are.\nFenna: You do know me, Benjamin. When I came here, I thought I was looking for a place, somewhere I belonged, but I was wrong. I wasn't looking for a place, I was looking for a person. I was looking for you.\nFenna: Benjamin.\nO'Brien: All right, Lieutenant. I've got the warp drive on the Prometheus purring like a kitten. It'll do nine point six in a pinch but I wouldn't take it any faster.\nDax: I thought the theoretical maximum for those engines was warp nine point five?\nO'Brien: It was.\nSeyetik: Must I remind you, Lieutenant, some of us only have one lifetime.\nDax: I'll be right there.\nO'Brien: Good luck, Lieutenant. Commander.\nDax: Come to see us off, Benjamin?\nSisko: Not exactly. I'm going with you. After all, how often do you get to see a star reborn.\nDax: Do you really think this is a good idea?\nSisko: I need answers, Dax, and the key to Fenna's disappearance could be on that ship.\nPiersall: Have you finished loading the protomatter device into the shuttlepod?\nDax: All set. The containment fields are holding fine, remote guidance systems are fully operational.\nSeyetik: I'm telling you, Commander, by the time I was through with New Halana, it was a veritable paradise. How are we doing, Mister Piersall?\nPiersall: We'll be initiating preliminary scans in a few hours.\nSeyetik: Let me know when we get there.\nSisko: Well, Professor, you must be eager to get started. What did you call this? Your crowning achievement.\nSeyetik: Don't remind me. Commander, my entire life has been a series of escalating triumphs. It's what I live for, knowing that no matter what I achieve, there's always another triumph waiting for me.\nSisko: And now?\nSeyetik: Are you familiar with the Klingon poet G'trok?\nSisko: A little. The Fall of Kang is required reading at the Academy.\nSeyetik: So honor the valiant who die 'neath your sword.\nSisko: But pity the warrior who slays all his foes.\nSeyetik: Yes, well, a bit obvious perhaps, but true nonetheless. So, what were we talking about?\nSisko: You.\nSeyetik: Of course. My favorite subject. Where was I?\nSisko: You had just finished terraforming New Halana.\nSeyetik: Ah, of course. Well, you can imagine how grateful the Halanans were. Endless parades and receptions. Got to be a bit of a bore actually. But then I met Nidell. She was the daughter of a local dignitary. She was utterly infatuated with me from the very start. I can't say I blame her, actually. The first time she saw me, I was surrounded by crowds of people, unveiling a statue they'd commissioned in my honor. I could tell from the start she was something special. You know, she'd never been off world before she met me. I promised to show her the galaxy. I'd have given it to her if I could've.\nSisko: She must love you very much.\nSeyetik: She does, Commander. Don't ask me why, but she does.\nSisko: Fenna?\nFenna: Benjamin, I'm so glad to see you.\nSisko: Dax, report to my quarters immediately.\nDax: On my way.\nFenna: Benjamin, what's wrong?\nSisko: The last time I saw you, you vanished.\nFenna: I'm with you now and I'm never going to leave you again.\nSisko: I wish I could believe that.\nFenna: You have to, Benjamin.\nSisko: Dax, this is Fenna.\nFenna: What is she doing?\nSisko: It's all right. She's not going to hurt you.\nDax: I'm not reading any cellular structure. No DNA patterns. Just pure energy.\nFenna: Benjamin, what is she talking about?\nSisko: I think it's time we found out.\nSeyetik: Help her. She won't wake up.\nDax: She's in shock. Her respiration is shallow, her heartbeat irregular and falling. Her blood pressure's dropping. Benjamin, she's dying.\nSeyetik: You've got to do something!\nDax: I don't know that I can.\nSeyetik: Fenna. I should have known. But you can't be here. Nidell promised me you'd never come back.\nFenna: I don't know what you're talking about.\nSeyetik: Just look at her.\nFenna: She looks like me.\nSeyetik: Of course she looks like you. She is you. The real you.\nSisko: Professor, what the hell is going on here?\nSeyetik: That thing over there isn't real. She's an illusion, created by my wife's unconscious mind.\nFenna: That's not true! Benjamin, you know that he's lying.\nSeyetik: Nidell is a psychoprojective telepath. Fenna's just another one of her projections.\nSisko: Lieutenant?\nDax: I've never seen readings like these. Her occipital lobe is giving off enormous amounts of energy. I don't see how she can survive more than an hour or two like this.\nSeyetik: She's dying. You've got to something.\nDax: There's nothing I can do.\nSisko: Get Fenna to my quarters, Dax, and notify Doctor.\nSeyetik: No!\nSisko: Get her out of here, Dax.\nFenna: Benjamin, I want to stay with you\nSisko: It'll be all right, Fenna. I just want to talk to Professor Seyetik here.\nSisko: All right, Professor, if what you're saying is true, Nidell's psychoprojective abilities are killing her and I need to know why.\nSeyetik: Nidell doesn't even know this is happening. In times of deep emotional distress Halanans sometimes lose control of these abilities. My wife is very emotionally distraught. This happened once before, three years ago on Terosa Prime. It nearly killed her then. She swore to me it'd never happen again.\nSisko: Obviously it has.\nSeyetik: You may have noticed, Commander, that I tend to invoke strong emotions from people, particularly my wives. Oh, they all start out loving me, but a few years of togetherness soon cures them of that. My others all had the good sense to leave me.\nSisko: Why can't Nidell? What keeps her with you.\nSeyetik: Halanans mate for life. She can never leave me, no matter how much she might want to.\nFenna: Benjamin, I've never seen Seyetik or that woman before. I don't know why he's saying those things about me but they're lies. I'm as real as you are.\nSisko: Oh, how I want to believe that. But can you tell me where you came from? How you got to the station? Can you tell me a single memory of your life before we met on the Promenade?\nFenna: Benjamin, I'm so frightened.\nSisko: Nidell's dying, Fenna. She only has a few hours.\nFenna: What happens to me if she dies?\nSisko: You no longer exist without her. But you can save her, give her back the life she gave to you.\nFenna: I don't know how.\nSisko: You can go back to her. I've seen you do it three times.\nFenna: But even if she lives, then I die, and everything you and I have dies with me.\nSisko: Fenna, what we have is a dream. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but it's still just a dream. Nidell's dream.\nFenna: And she won't remember any of it, will she?\nSisko: There's no way to be sure.\nFenna: I love you, Benjamin, and I always will.\nDax: Commander, you'd better come to the Bridge right away.\nSisko: What is it?\nDax: It's Seyetik. He's launched the shuttlepod toward Epsilon one nineteen, and he's on board.\nSisko: On my way.\nDax: He's opening a channel.\nPiersall: On screen.\nSeyetik: I hope this transmitter is working. I'd hate to go to all this trouble without an audience.\nPiersall: Professor, you'll be killed. What do you think you're doing?\nSeyetik: Making history. You might want to record this for posterity and all that.\nDax: He's about sixty seconds from impact.\nSisko: Gideon, you don't have to do this. We've found a way to save Nidell.\nSeyetik: I had a feeling you would, Commander. This is the only way I can really set her free. I owe her that. Besides, this'll be my crowning achievement. Remember The Fall of Kang. Well, this is one warrior who refuses to be pitied.\nPiersall: What's he talking about?\nSisko: Klingon poetry.\nDax: Thirty seconds from impact.\nSisko: Gideon, I want you to turn the shuttlepod around now. That's an order.\nSeyetik: Too late, Commander. I've already entered the gravity well of the star.\nSisko: Engage the tractor beam.\nPiersall: He disabled it before he left.\nSeyetik: Commander, when this is over, you'll find a case among my personal belongings. There's something in there you need to find.\nSisko: What is it?\nSeyetik: My obituary. I wrote it myself. After all, I couldn't leave such an important document to some stranger. Do me a favor and see to it that it's sent to the Daystrom Institute for publication. Which reminds me, I didn't get a chance to update it before I left. Let the record state, 'He sacrificed himself on the altar of science.'\nDax: Ten seconds.\nSisko: I'll be sure they get it.\nSeyetik: I'm sure I can count on you.\nDax: Five seconds.\nSeyetik: Keep you eyes on the viewscreen, Commander. You'll never see anything like this again. Let there be light!\nSisko: Captain's log, supplemental. Epsilon One Nineteen continues to burn brightly, a fitting memorial to a brilliant man. Meanwhile, I'm happy to report Nidell has made a complete recovery. Unfortunately, she has no memory of Fenna's experiences.\nNidell: Commander.\nSisko: Nidell. How did you know I was here?\nNidell: Lieutenant Dax told me.\nSisko: So, when does the Prometheus leave?\nNidell: Soon. I just wanted to say goodbye and thank you. It'll be good to get home.\nSisko: How long do you plan on staying on New Halana?\nNidell: For the rest of my life. I've been gone too long as it is. I wish that I could remember Fenna, what she did, how she felt, but I can't. I'm sorry.\nSisko: That's all right. I can remember for both of us.\nNidell: Tell me one thing.\nSisko: If I can.\nNidell: What was she like?\nSisko: Fenna? She was just like you."}
{"text": "Kira: You wanted to see me, Commander?\nSisko: Actually, what I'd like to see is next month's duty roster.\nKira: You'll have it on your desk first thing in the morning.\nSisko: That's what you said yesterday.\nKira: I know, but I just spent the whole day yesterday\nSisko: Talking to Minister Rozahn about irrigating the Trilar Peninsula.\nKira: How did you know?\nSisko: It's hard to keep a secret in Ops, especially when you've been shouting at a monitor for the last two days.\nKira: I thought I kept it down to an angry whisper.\nSisko: Let's just say that your voice carries.\nKira: Every time I talk to one of the ministers I promise myself I'm not going to lose control. But then they give me some stupid bureaucratic excuse for why something isn't getting done, and I get so, so\nSisko: Frustrated.\nKira: Oh Commander, I am way beyond frustrated. Bajor is in trouble. I just want to help.\nSisko: I can understand that, and I sympathize. As far as I'm concerned you can shout at the provisional government all you want to, as long as it doesn't interfere with your duties here on the station.\nKira: You're right. I'll get on that report right away.\nO'Brien: Major, Quark's been looking for you. He says it's urgent.\nKira: Perfect.\nKira: I hear you've been trying to get in touch with me.\nQuark: You hear right. Look around you. Does anything seem to be amiss?\nKira: The sonata Varani is playing is lovely. Your customers seem to be enjoying him.\nQuark: Why be modest, Major? They're not just enjoying him. They're mesmerized by him.\nKira: So?\nQuark: So while they're being mesmerized, they're not gambling, they're not eating, they're barely drinking. Profits are down across the board.\nKira: He just started yesterday.\nQuark: I monitor my gross income hourly. My hourly figures become my indicators. My indicators become my projections. And my projections based on the last twenty six hours show an unprecedented decline in profits.\nKira: Stop overreacting. When people hear about how wonderful Varani is, they'll come beating down your door.\nQuark: What are you basing that projection on? Bajoran intuition? That and a strip of latinum will get you a couple of spins at the dabo wheel.\nKira: You promised me you will try him out for a month.\nQuark: If my projections hold true, in a month I'll be out of business!\nKira: Quark, you are going to do this.\nQuark: Why should I?\nKira: Because I asked you to.\nQuark: Maybe he could play something with a little more bounce to it.\nKira: Bounce?\nQuark: For a change of pace.\nKira: That was beautiful.\nVarani: Having my work appreciated again, I've almost forgotten how it feels.\nKira: Granted, it's not quite the exhibition halls you're used to.\nVarani: One can't be choosy about performance venues these days.\nKira: I just spoke with Quark. He likes what you're doing but he's hoping you'll play a variety of styles.\nVarani: A little less exhibition hall and a little more music hall, is that it?\nKira: Something like that.\nVarani: I think I can accommodate him.\nGirl: Dabo!\nMan: That's great.\nKira: I'd love to hear you play in a more appropriate setting.\nVarani: Have you spoken to Minister Bolka about my idea to rebuild the Jalanda Forum?\nKira: I mentioned it to him. He's got a lot on his mind.\nVarani: You must keep trying. Bajorans must reclaim their artistic heritage if they ever hope to regain their sense of self-worth.\nKira: Next time I talk to the Minister I'll bring it up again, but I can't promise anything.\nSisko: Ah, Major. Get everything settled with Quark?\nKira: That little toad is this far from doing a three sixty out an airlock.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear everything went okay.\nO'Brien: Commander, sensors are picking up elevated neutrino readings. A ship's coming through the wormhole.\nSisko: On screen.\nKira: Sensors are detecting four lifeforms on board.\nO'Brien: I'm reading a plasma leak in their engine core.\nSisko: Hail them.\nKira: No response.\nO'Brien: The reactor's overheating. Life support is barely functioning.\nSisko: Get them out of there, Chief.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: I'm Commander Sisko of the United Federation of Planets. You've just been beamed onto a Bajoran space station. We don't mean you any harm. We're going to bring your ship in. Once it's docked, we'll diagnose its problems and hopefully fix them. After that, you can be on your way. I can offer you medical assistance for that wound\nTumak: Oo-mata! Oo-mata! Dongo patar meeoto fenta. Fenta!\nHaneek: Naga dentana. Dentana. Oobay a-tal? Oobay a-tal. Keetama sootay. Shalanta Skrreea. Skrreea.\nKira: Does anyone understand what she's saying?\nSisko: Something must be wrong with the Universal Translator. Chief?\nO'Brien: It's working, Commander, but for some reason it's having a hard analyzing their language patterns. Their syntax and their grammatical structure must be completely unlike anything in our database.\nSisko: We'll have to keep them talking until the computer can establish a translation matrix.\nHaneek: Ketoh maseeca Skrreea. Tolak mayfessaka. Koo masek. Gadoux besoolin fenta. Fenta?\nKira: Keeping them talking shouldn't be much of a problem.\nHaneek: Oobay-a-tal? Fidask setoma meeka?\nSisko: Major, we've got to get them down to the Infirmary. They seem to be most comfortable with you. Why don't you lead the way?\nKira: All right. We're going to take a little ride in the turbolift.\nHaneek: Toma. Bessa.\nSisko: Sisko to Odo.\nOdo: Yes, Commander.\nSisko: We're bringing some new arrivals from the Gamma Quadrant down to the Promenade. Meet us at turbolift nine.\nOdo: I'm on my way.\nKira: We're here. You can come out now. There's no need to be afraid. Come on, it's all right.\nOdo: What seems to be the trouble, Commander?\nSisko: The computer's having a hard time translating their language.\nOdo: I can see how that would be a problem.\nKira: It's okay. Come on.\nOdo: Hold on, let's stick together. No wandering off. You just stay put while I round up your friends.\nKira: Let me try. Come with me.\nHaneek: Intaowa. Intaowa.\nSisko: Dress. It's called a dress.\nHaneek: Intaowa.\nKira: Intaowa?\nOdo: I'm afraid you'll have to put that back.\nTumak: Vala. Vala!\nHaneek: Intaowa!\nKira: Do you like it?\nOdo: Yes, it's very nice but it's not yours.\nOdo: And that goes for you, too.\nSisko: Major, perhaps you'd better handle this.\nKira: All right, let's put those back, both of you. They really need to put those back. We can go shopping later, but right now it's very important that we go to the Infirmary, so everyone follow me. We'll all go together.\nHaneek: Fazeek. Cromay fazeek!\nGai: Kootana.\nCowl: Kootana batoo lakar asheem!\nGai: Dokka?! Pestani voe lakar asheem!\nHaneek: Kolat! Kolat kee!\nOdo: There's no doubt who the boss is.\nSisko: How bad is it, Doctor?\nBashir: Looks like a second degree plasma burn. The dermal regenerator should take care of it.\nKira: I'm sorry. I'm not the doctor.\nHaneek: Kolat. Kolat gadoux.\nBashir: I assure you, I will not hurt him.\nKira: He's going to be all right.\nKira: This will be your quarters while you're here on the station. I'm sure you want to rest and clean up and you don't understand anything I'm saying, do you.\nSisko: I know something they might understand. Seven maaza stalks. This is food. Please, try one. Major, show them it's okay.\nKira: See? It's really very good.\nKira: I'm glad you like them.\nHaneek: Noloux bataak rama satta. Rama emal jeetaka. Zula koo Gadoux soka gee.\nKira: I'm sorry I don't understand.\nHaneek: Bataak rama satta. Rama satta. Zula koo. Hemena kee. Soulak. Need estassa.\nOdo: Wait. Did you hear that? I think she said need.\nSisko: Go on, keep talking.\nHaneek: Ganoux? Noloux bataak rama setta my people yeekopa Skrreea havou fotar save them.\nKira: Save them?! How? Do you understand what I'm saying? Keep talking.\nHaneek: Noloux Skrreea soka roo need your help. There's no time. Soulak. We are the Skrreea. My people need your help. There's no time to waste.\nKira: You're people are the Skrreea. You need our help. There's no time to waste.\nSisko: Your people, where are they?\nHaneek: They're on the creshnee side of the Eye.\nKira: The Eye?\nHaneek: The Eye of the Universe. The tunnel.\nOdo: I think she means the wormhole.\nHaneek: They're on the other side. They don't realize we found the Eye.\nSisko: How many people are we talking about?\nHaneek: Many. Three jeetaka.\nKira: Three hundred? Three thousand?\nOdo: Three million?\nHaneek: Three million. Three million of my people are on the other side. We must bring them through the Eye. We must bring them here.\nKira: Is there anything wrong?\nHaneek: I'm just not used to the men being here. Skrreean men don't involve themselves in situations like this.\nDax: Are all your leaders women?\nHaneek: Yes.\nBashir: All of them?\nDax: You heard her, Julian.\nHaneek: Men are much too emotional to be leaders. They're always fighting among themselves. It's their favorite thing to do. I'm sorry. I hope I haven't offended anyone.\nSisko: Sorry to keep you waiting.\nDax: That's all right, Benjamin. Haneek was just telling us how the Skrreea are a female dominant society.\nO'Brien: It seems the men are a bit too emotional to become leaders.\nHaneek: Please do not misunderstand. We love our men. Really.\nSisko: Are you one of the leaders of your people, Haneek?\nHaneek: Me? Oh, no. I'm little more than a farmer. I was just lucky.\nBashir: How so?\nHaneek: I was the first one to find the Eye of the Universe.\nDax: You were looking for the wormhole?\nHaneek: We had heard about a great tunnel being diskovered. We knew it must be the Eye of the Universe that would lead us to Kentanna.\nO'Brien: Kentanna?\nHaneek: Kentanna is the legendary home of the Skrreeans. It has always been portrayed in our sacred texts as being just beyond the Eye of the Universe. A planet of sorrow where the Skrreean will sow seeds of joy.\nSisko: I can't guarantee you'll find Kentanna, but I can promise you that we'll help you find a home. We've sent our runabouts to the Gamma Quadrant to make contact with your ships.\nHaneek: That will be difficult. They're spread out, looking for the Eye.\nOdo: And when we find them, what then? This station only holds seven thousand people. You're talking about three million Skrreeans.\nKira: I'm afraid most of your people will have to stay confined to their ships.\nHaneek: I understand.\nSisko: In the meantime, is there any one person we should be looking for? A leader or leaders?\nHaneek: Most of our leaders were killed by the T-Rogorans.\nBashir: The T-Rogorans? Who are they?\nHaneek: For eight centuries my people have lived under their rule. We've been forced to work as laborers and servants. We were able to escape when the T-Rogorans were invaded and conquered.\nOdo: Who conquered them?\nHaneek: I don't know their name. I only know they were members of something called the Dominion.\nKira: Did I wake you?\nHaneek: That's all right. Please, come in. Computer, lights on full.\nKira: I can come back.\nHaneek: No. You've been so kind to me, how could I possibly refuse your company?\nHaneek: Go back to bed. Go on. Go on. I'll join you again after I'm through.\nKira: Are those your husbands?\nHaneek: Hus-bands? I'm not familiar with that word. They're bonded to me.\nKira: Do you sleep with them both?\nHaneek: Of course. Don't you sleep with your males?\nKira: No, I don't have any males. Not at the moment, anyway.\nHaneek: They're very useful.\nKira: Yes, I can imagine they are. I just wanted to tell you we found some of your ships. Several hundred Skrreeans should be arriving at the station today. We thought it would be a good idea if you were there to meet them.\nHaneek: Why me?\nKira: You yourself said most of your leaders were dead.\nHaneek: Yes, that's true, but Kira, I'm just a farmer.\nKira: You also were the first one through the Eye of the Universe. That's got to mean something, in some symbolic sort of way. Oh, here. I brought you something. Go ahead, open it.\nKira: You seemed to like it.\nHaneek: I'm sorry. I think you misunderstood.\nKira: What do you mean?\nHaneek: I thought this was the most hideous thing I'd ever seen.\nKira: Well, that makes two of us.\nHaneek: It's awful.\nKira: It's horrible. Who would wear that?\nJake: It was no big deal.\nNog: You go out on a date with a dabo girl for the first time and you sit there and tell me it was no big deal?\nJake: It's wasn't really a date.\nNog: Does your father know you went out with her?\nJake: Not exactly.\nNog: He doesn't?\nJake: I told him I had to help someone with their homework.\nNog: Good thinking. Too bad I won't ever be able to use that lie. My dad knows I never do homework.\nJake: It's not a lie, Nog. Mardah's studying entomology. She asked me to help her out.\nNog: A dabo girl who studies entomology? Sure.\nJake: It's true.\nNog: What is entomology?\nJake: The study of bugs.\nNog: You mean she wants to be a chef?\nJake: Hey, who's that?\nNog: I don't know. What's he doing?\nNog: That's disgusting.\nJake: He must be one of those Skrreeans. My dad says there's a lot more on the way.\nJake: Hi!\nNog: Doesn't he know what a replicator's for? Idiot. So, does Mardah have any sisters?\nO'Brien: Commander, I've cleared the Skrreean ship to dock at upper pylon two.\nSisko: It's time to welcome your people to the Alpha Quadrant, Haneek.\nHaneek: Come along. Don't be afraid. Come on. It's all right, you're among friends. Don't be afraid. It's all right. It's all right.\nOdo: Slow down! There's no running on the Promenade! It's going to get awfully crowded around here, Commander\nSisko: I know, Constable, but it's worth it. Just look at them. They're experiencing their first taste of freedom.\nJake: Nog! Where are you going?\nNog: Can't talk now! Got to run!\nOdo: Nog! You know there's no running on the Promenade.\nNog: Who's running?\nOdo: What seems to be the problem?\nJake: What's that smell?\nTumak: Ask him!\nNog: Me? You're the one who stinks!\nTumak: That's because you sprayed that vapor on us!\nOdo: Is that true, Nog?\nNog: No!\nOdo: Nog?\nNog: It was a joke!\nOdo: Very amusing. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll take care of it from here.\nTumak: This isn't over yet, Big Ears!\nNog: Hey, here's a new one. What kind of name is Plix Tixiplik?\nOdo: I believe he's a Reegrunion.\nNog: Wanted in seven star systems for illegal weapon sales. Weapon sales, huh? Very profitable.\nOdo: How would you know about that?\nNog: My Uncle Quark told me.\nOdo: And what would your Uncle Quark know about illegal weapon sales?\nNog: He, er, he, er\nQuark: Knows better than to ever get involved in anything so disreputable.\nOdo: I'm sure. I asked that the boy's father come to see me.\nQuark: Rom is doing the weekly stock inventory. I don't want to interrupt him. You know how easy he loses count, so I came in his place. Nog, have you been causing mischief again?\nNog: No, Uncle. It's all a misunderstanding.\nOdo: He sprayed several Skrreean boys with a foul-smelling vapor.\nQuark: Did he. What do you have to say for yourself?\nNog: I'm sorry?\nQuark: You see? The boy's beside himself with guilt.\nOdo: That doesn't excuse his actions.\nQuark: And he will be punished severely.\nNog: I will?\nQuark: I want you to tell the Constable here that you will never do it again.\nNog: I won't? I mean I won't. I promise. Never again.\nOdo: See that you don't.\nNog: Can I leave now?\nOdo: Go on.\nQuark: You know, you really can't blame the boy.\nOdo: And why's that?\nQuark: Oh, come on, Odo. You know these Skrreeans are nothing but trouble. They're all over the station, looking and touching, never buying anything. And they flake.\nOdo: I didn't notice.\nQuark: Come to my place. You'll see little pieces of Skrreean skin all over the bar and the floor. It's disgusting.\nOdo: They won't be here long.\nQuark: I hope not. They're driving my paying customers away. If they stay here too long I'll be out of business.\nOdo: In that case, I hope they never leave.\nVayna: We've talked it over among ourselves. Our feelings were unanimous. You diskovered the Eye of the Universe. You must lead us the rest of the way.\nHaneek: I'll do the best I can.\nKira: That looked serious. Is everything all right?\nHaneek: Look at them. Look at my people. I've never seen them so happy. And here I sit, feeling trapped.\nKira: Why?\nHaneek: They expect me to lead them to Kentanna.\nKira: It's going to be okay. Commander Sisko is doing everything he can to find you a place to live. You're not alone.\nVarani: I hope I'm not intruding.\nKira: Oh, not at all. Haneek, this is Varani, a great musician. Maybe the greatest Bajor has ever known.\nVarani: She exaggerates, but that's why I'm so fond of her. Being a Bajoran, I know what it's like to be displaced. As a token of friendship, I would like to give you this.\nVarani: It's from a concert I played many years ago at the Jalanda Forum.\nHaneek: Tumak, where have you been?\nTumak: Nowhere.\nHaneek: Where are you going?\nTumak: To wash.\nHaneek: Computer, please show me a chart of this star system.\nJake: So what did your Dad say?\nNog: About what?\nJake: About you getting in trouble with Odo.\nNog: He was very angry.\nJake: He was?\nNog: He always gets angry when I get caught.\nNog: I just remembered. I have some errands to run for my uncle.\nJake: You're going to have to face them sooner or later.\nTumak: That was very funny, what you did.\nNog: You see, Jake? There's a man with a sense of humor.\nTumak: Nobody's laughing.\nJake: And luckily nobody got hurt. I think my friend's real sorry for what he did. Aren't you?\nNog: I suppose.\nJake: See? What did I tell you?\nTumak: He doesn't sound sorry to me.\nNog: I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!\nQuark: All right, that's enough. Break it up. I said, break it up!\nQuark: It's bad enough you're all hanging around the station without buying anything. You have to start fighting, too?\nTumak: I thought we were welcome here.\nQuark: Well make yourselves welcome somewhere else.\nTumak: You don't want us here. You don't want anything to do with us. We don't want anything to do with you. Any of you!\nQuark: I can see the Skrreean don't bother to teach their children manners.\nSisko: Dax and I have been combing through data on every uninhabited M class planet in the sector. We think that Draylon Two would make a perfect home for the Skrreea.\nKira: Draylon Two? Never heard of it.\nDax: It's near Sefalla Prime. It's got definite possibilities. Stable orbit, temperate climate, and very low surface radiation.\nSisko: Add to that good soil and a long growing season. I think it's our best bet.\nSisko: May we come in?\nHaneek: Of course.\nSisko: Ladies.\nHaneek: Forgive them, Commander Sisko. They don't mean any disrespect.\nSisko: I understand. We have some encouraging news.\nKira: We think we've found a planet for you and your people, one with excellent potential for resettlement.\nHaneek: We appreciate all your hard work, but I'm afraid it was unnecessary. You see, we've found Kentanna.\nKira: You did?\nHaneek: A planet of sorrow, Kira. Don't you see? Kentanna is your planet. Kentanna is Bajor.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 47391.2. Chief O'Brien is continuing to oversee repairs to the Skrreean ships docked at the station. Meanwhile, Minister Rozahn and Vedek Sorad have arrived from Bajor with an official response to the Skrreeans' request to immigrate.\nVarani: Major, if I may have a moment.\nKira: I'm sorry, Varani. I'm on my way to a meeting.\nVarani: I know. With Minister Rozahn and Vedek Sorad. I presume Haneek will be there as well.\nKira: That's right.\nVarani: Please tell her my heart goes out to her and her people. Tell her how much Bajorans everywhere regret having to refuse their request.\nKira: Aren't you being a little premature?\nVarani: Am I? You know what the provisional government's answer is going to be.\nKira: These are people who've lost everything, Varani.\nVarani: I know, and I wish there was some way we could help them. But Bajor is in shambles, Kira. You know that as well as I do.\nRozahn: First of all, I want you all to know that the provisional government has taken the Skrreeans' request for immigration very seriously. The debate in the Chamber of Ministers became quite heated at times. Though I suppose you could say that about all of our debates.\nSisko: But a decision was reached?\nRozahn: Yes. I was sent here to tell you that the Ministers in accord with the Vedek Assembly have decided to deny the Skrreeans' request. I am sorry.\nSorad: Bajor simply cannot absorb three million refugees at this time.\nRozahn: After what the Cardassians did to our planet, we can barely take care of our own.\nHaneek: But no one is asking you to take care of us.\nSorad: This decision is not based strictly on Bajoran self-interest. Such a huge increase in population would prove to be tragic to your people as well as ours.\nHaneek: But Bajor has more than enough room for us. The plains of the northwest peninsula are practically uninhabited. The land's ideal for farming.\nRozahn: It used to be, before the Cardassians got their hands on it.\nHaneek: Minister Rozahn, the Skrreeans are farmers. Just give us the land. I guarantee you we can make it thrive again.\nRozahn: Under ideal circumstances, perhaps you could. But what if the circumstances aren't ideal? What if we go through another long winter? What if your crops fail? What if the famine that has been plaguing Bajor continues to spread? What then?\nHaneek: We're willing to take that risk.\nRozahn: I'm afraid we aren't. We ran a series of projections to see whether a Skrreean settlement could survive on the northwest peninsula. The results were not encouraging.\nSisko: Haneek, I think you should seriously consider Draylon Two as an alternate to Bajor. The winters are mild, there's plenty of good farmland.\nHaneek: No! Projections can be wrong.\nSorad: But what if they're not? What is Bajor to do if your people start dying?\nHaneek: I thought I made that clear. We are not expecting your help.\nRozahn: Do you really think we could stand by and do nothing? We would feel obligated to help with food, with clothing, with whatever it would take.\nSorad: And where would that aid come from? Our resources are already depleted. To help you would mean depriving our own people.\nRozahn: I'm afraid the decision of the provisional government is final. The Skrreea will have to find somewhere else to live.\nHaneek: Please, talk to them. Tell them they're wrong. Help us.\nKira: I can't. I'm sorry, Haneek, but they're right. I wish they weren't. I wish Bajor was Kentanna, but it's not.\nSisko: There's still Draylon Two.\nJake: Excuse me.\nJake: If you like cake, the icoberry torte is really good.\nTumak: Is that big-eared troll really your friend?\nJake: Yeah.\nTumak: He's an idiot.\nJake: You're not the first one to say that. But he's not such a bad guy once you get to know him.\nTumak: I don't plan on being around here that long.\nJake: My dad says you're probably going to Draylon Two.\nTumak: Does he?\nJake: Yeah. Sounds like a nice place.\nTumak: Do you want to move there?\nJake: No.\nTumak: Neither do I.\nHaneek: Come in.\nKira: Haneek.\nHaneek: The thing I don't understand is why you pretended to be my friend.\nKira: I wasn't pretending.\nHaneek: Ah. So you are my friend until I need you.\nKira: I know it's hard for you to see right now, but I am trying to help.\nHaneek: I think I've had quite enough of your help.\nKira: You've got to believe me, Commander Sisko has found you a wonderful home.\nHaneek: You betrayed me, Kira.\nKira: No, I didn't. I honestly believe the provisional government made the right decision, for both Bajor and the Skrreeans.\nHaneek: If that's true, we have nothing more to discuss.\nKira: I was hoping we could still be friends.\nHaneek: So in other words, you came here looking for forgiveness. Well, I don't forgive you.\nSisko: Sisko to Kira.\nKira: Go ahead, Commander.\nSisko: Is Haneek with you?\nKira: Yes.\nSisko: I need both of you in Ops immediately. Tumak has taken a ship. He's headed for Bajor.\nO'Brien: They're not responding, sir.\nSisko: Keep trying, Mister O'Brien.\nKira: How did this happen?\nSisko: With all the traffic around the station, Tumak and two of his friends were able to slip away. We didn't even know the ship was gone until the Bajorans contacted us. Haneek, I need for you to try to talk to your son.\nO'Brien: There's a high-energy radiation leak in the port nacelle. We've tried to make him aware of it, but he refuses to acknowledge us.\nSisko: Major, open a channel to the Skrreean vessel.\nKira: Yes, sir. Ready.\nHaneek: Tumak? Listen to me. Your ship's in danger.\nSisko: Have him turn off his engines and drift until the Bajorans can tractor him in.\nHaneek: Tumak, turn off your engines. You must turn off your engines now.\nO'Brien: He's not responding\nHaneek: Tumak, this is serious. Your life is in danger. The others who are with you, their lives are in danger. Please, answer me!\nDax: Sensors are detecting two Bajoran vessels closing in on the Skrreean ship.\nSisko: Display it here. Mister O'Brien, patch us into the Bajoran interceptor.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nPilot: have entered restricted space you must turn around and leave immediately.\nKira: Open a channel. This is Major Kira Nerys on Deep Space Nine. The Skrreean vessel has refused to acknowledge our hails. Communications may be down. You have to let them land.\nPilot: That's impossible, Major we have strict orders not to allow any Skrreean vessel to land.\nKira: The pilot's just a boy. He took the ship without permission It's barely operational. We're not sure he'll make it back here.\nPilot: I'm sorry, Major, but we have our orders.\nKira: Who gave you those orders?\nPilot: They come directly from General Hazar.\nSisko: Dax, get me General Hazar on Bajor. Tell his people it's an emergency. I want to speak with him now.\nKira: Stand by, interceptor. General Hazar will be countermanding those orders any minute.\nO'Brien: The interceptor's closing on the Skrreean ship.\nDax: It's General Hazar, Benjamin.\nSisko: On screen.\nHazar: What is this about, Commander?\nSisko: It's about the Skrreean vessel that's approaching Bajor.\nHazar: I've already given the order to have it turned back.\nSisko: That ship is being flown by a child and it's leaking radiation.\nHazar: A child?\nPilot: Skrreean ship. Repeating. Return to the space station now.\nHazar: Have him shut down his engines. We'll tow him back.\nHaneek: Tumak, please, turn your engines off!\nKira: Interceptor One, what's going on?\nPilot: They've opened fire on us. Taking evasive action.\nHaneek: Tumak, don't do this!\nPilot: We've been hit!\nO'Brien: Commander, they're returning fire.\nHaneek: No!\nKira: Disengage, interceptor! Repeat, disengage!\nSisko: General, tell your pilots to hold their fire.\nHazar: Relaying that order now.\nKira: Interceptor One.\nPilot: The Skrreean ship exploded. I didn't even think we hit it.\nO'Brien: The phaser beam must've ignited the radiation leak.\nHazar: I'm very sorry, Commander.\nSisko: We all are, General.\nKira: I just stopped by to wish you luck on Draylon Two. Haneek, I still believe this is the best choice, for Bajor and for you.\nHaneek: You still believe we would have been a burden to your people?\nKira: Yes.\nHaneek: I think you've made a terrible mistake. All of you. Maybe we could have helped you. Maybe we could have helped each other. The Skrreeans are farmers, Kira. You have a famine on your planet. Perhaps we could have made that peninsula bloom again. We'll never know, will we? Fifty years of Cardassian rule has made you all frightened and suspicious. I feel sorry for you. You were right. Bajor is not Kentanna."}
{"text": "Alsia: When my husband was alive, we ran the business together, and I managed to put away a bit of latinum every year just for myself. Now he's gone, well, I've got quite a little sum.\nMartus: That's important.\nAlsia: Well, to be honest, it's not enough. Not for the future. Not for the way I want to live out my retirement. So, I've decided to invest it all. I can't believe I'm telling you this. I just met you but I feel like I can really trust you. It's like I've known you forever.\nMartus: When hearts are in sympathy, time collapses.\nAlsia: I'm taking everything I've saved and I'm purchasing the mining concession on the entire Vlugta asteroid belt.\nMartus: How ambitious. And such an adventurous undertaking for a woman of your delicate sensibilities. Are you sure that's wise? Prospecting can be risky.\nAlsia: Not this time. My father was a stellar cartographer. Thirty years ago, he conducted a full spectrum mineral analysis of those asteroids but he never had the means to follow up on what he found.\nMartus: And now you plan to carry out your father's dream.\nAlsia: When his survey results become public, I'll get seven times my investment back overnight. I still can't believe I'm telling you this. My secret plan. I've been thinking about it for years. I never even told my husband. It must be all this Gamzian wine.\nMartus: How brave of you to do all of this on your own.\nAlsia: It hasn't been easy. There's so much to keep track of, so much to do.\nMartus: Maybe I could help. Would you consider some kind of partnership?\nOdo: Let's go.\nMartus: Exactly where are we going?\nOdo: To Security.\nMartus: But I've done nothing wrong.\nAlsia: It's true. We were just talking.\nOdo: You were talking, madam. He was listening.\nMartus: Security Chief Odo, isn't it?\nOdo: I've been watching you ever since you arrived.\nMartus: Should I be flattered?\nOdo: Martus Mazur, a refuge from the El-Aurian system.\nMartus: Well, everyone has to be from somewhere. Where are you from, Odo?\nOdo: Don't pull that routine on me.\nMartus: What routine?\nOdo: I know all about you El-Aurians. You're listeners. People like to talk to you.\nMartus: Everyone has to have someone to confide in, someone to hear their stories I offer a sympathetic ear. And if they request my help I give it to them.\nOdo: That couple from Pythro Five told me you asked for their financial access codes.\nMartus: Some might call helping an elderly couple invest their savings a compassionate act.\nOdo: Not when you invest it in your own business. A business that promptly folds.\nMartus: I had a run of bad luck. No one regrets it more than I do.\nOdo: You're a con man. And they've signed a complaint.\nMartus: This isn't necessary. It really isn't necessary. I'm not going anywhere. Let's have a drink. Talk a bit?\nBashir: Chief.\nO'Brien: Hello, Doctor.\nBashir: Great job. You built it yourself, didn't you?\nO'Brien: Yeah. Just finished. I missed playing and I figured there'd be at least a couple of other players on board. I didn't think you'd be one of them. BASHIR Captain of the team at Starfleet Medical Academy. We took the sector championships in my final year.\nO'Brien: Against other medical students?\nBashir: Against everybody. Played a Vulcan in the finals. Talk about stamina. I don't think he ever actually broke a sweat.\nO'Brien: And you won?\nBashir: Took him on a back wall riser shot.\nO'Brien: Well, I can't say I've had much in the way of formal training myself, but it's been a serious pastime for a lot of years.\nBashir: Some of the toughest players I've come up against didn't really know what they were doing.\nO'Brien: Really.\nBashir: Formally I mean. Hey, whatever works, works. This exercise for example, I picked up at a tournament from a top player. It's a five thousand year old battle warm-up. According to the legend, it makes the heart a friend to the hand. Medically, I don't really know what that means, but it seems to give me a lot of energy. Fancy a game?\nO'Brien: Serve.\nBashir: I guess from the lines you prefer the old style rules.\nO'Brien: I can play any style you like.\nBashir: Traditional it is, then. Always been my personal favorite.\nO'Brien: Serve!\nBashir: One.\nMartus: Pardon me, friend. Pardon me!\nMartus: Friend? Friend, re you all right?\nMartus: I thought you'd died.\nCos: If only I could be so fortunate.\nMartus: You were snoring.\nCos: Please accept my apologies. I didn't mean to disturb you, but as you can see, my health is not so good.\nMartus: Yes, well, I'm sorry I had to wake you.\nCos: I wasn't always like this.\nMartus: Of course not.\nCos: I had youth, vigor, fame, wealth beyond measure. All gone.\nMartus: I'm not listening.\nCos: All because of this.\nMartus: A gambling device? Did you win?\nCos: Of course not.\nMartus: You gambled away everything you had?\nCos: In a manner of speaking. Every trade deal I struck was a disaster. Every alliance I formed fell apart. Every endeavor backed, a failure.\nMartus: But what does this have to do with the toy? Sounds like you just had a lot of rotten luck.\nCos: Yes. Rotten luck. In the end It all comes down to luck. I won!\nMartus: That's nice. What did you win?\nMartus: Officer, you've got a dead prisoner in here. Officer!\nKeiko: How'd it go?\nKeiko: Good workout?\nO'Brien: Medical school. Captain of the team at Medical school.\nKeiko: Who are you talking about?\nO'Brien: Bashir.\nKeiko: You had a game?\nO'Brien: No, he had a game. I just kind of stumbled around the court for ninety minutes and made a complete ass of myself.\nKeiko: I'm sure he didn't see it that way.\nO'Brien: The hell he didn't. That smug look on his face. I guess you prefer old style rules. Like I was some kind of a fossil. In my day, I could've wiped the court with him.\nKeiko: That's the point. You're not a kid anymore. It's nothing to be ashamed of. People just naturally slow down.\nO'Brien: Like molasses in winter, huh? Thanks.\nKeiko: Miles, you're taking this way too seriously.\nO'Brien: I'm out of shape, that's all. I just need to get my wind back. Sector Champion, my eye. He's vulnerable to every one of my best shots. I just couldn't get them there. This time.\nBashir: I thought he was going to have a heart attack.\nDax: Come on, Julian. It couldn't have been that bad.\nBashir: No, really. His face was flushed. I could've taken his pulse just watching the side of his neck.\nDax: Why didn't you stop it?\nBashir: Don't think I didn't try. After the first game, I told him I had an appointment. He ignored me. After the second game, I told him I was getting tired. He didn't believe me. And then his racquet broke and I thought, finally. But no. He made me stay there while he went away and replicated another one.\nDax: So what finally happened?\nBashir: While he was gone, I called my assistant and told her. May I? Told her to call me back after five minutes and say there was an emergency at the Infirmary.\nDax: That's terrible.\nBashir: There was no other way out. Otherwise there would have been an emergency. Chief O'Brien's coronary.\nDax: At least it's all over.\nBashir: That's just it. This is just the beginning. The Chief wants a rematch, and I'm telling you, it's going to kill him.\nDax: Honestly, Julian, you're exaggerating. O'Brien's can't be a day over thirty eight.\nBashir: He's too young to die. I guess I'm overstating the health risk. That's not the point. The Chief has a lot of pride, and for good reason. I really respect him, the things he does, the kind of man he is. I just don't want to humiliate him.\nMartus: Another winner. What luck.\nOdo: The Pythron couple has refused to press charges. You can go.\nMartus: Of course. Didn't I tell you? They're my friends.\nQuark: All right. Double or nothing.\nRom: House always takes blue.\nQuark: Sorry, the drink's on you. Can I help you.\nMartus: Prosecco.\nQuark: And how do you plan on paying for this? With charm, perhaps?\nMartus: Double or nothing?\nQuark: Double nothing is still nothing.\nMartus: If I lose, I'll give you this.\nQuark: House always takes blue.\nQuark: Lucky.\nMartus: My luck's running good today.\nQuark: So I heard. Decided not to testify, did they?\nMartus: I don't know what you mean.\nQuark: No? The forty seventh Rule of Acquisition says 'Don't trust a man wearing a better suit than your own.' Either you're a con artist or you're covering up an empty coin purse. I happen to know it's both.\nMartus: Well, we can't all be as successful as you are.\nQuark: Too true.\nQuark: Some kind of game? I've never seen that one before. How do you play?\nMartus: Just push the key.\nMartus: Too bad.\nMartus: As I told you, my luck's running good today.\nQuark: Am I supposed to be impressed?\nMartus: A little tinkering, some replication and expansion, it might make a nice addition to your casino.\nQuark: And who would play this? It's just a child's toy. My nephew, it might keep him out of my ears for a couple of days. I'll take it.\nMartus: That's a tidy sum.\nQuark: I'm feeling benevolent today. Have another.\nMartus: I might have accepted, but the offer of the drink? That tells me you're very interested.\nQuark: Nonsense. You read too much into nothing. My benevolence is known far and wide.\nMartus: Oh, it's legendary, I'm sure. I'll take one hundred times what you've got here.\nQuark: Not in this space-time continuum, you won't. Go try to peddle this little triviality down on Bajor. You might be able to trade it for a meal, but it won't be a hot one.\nMartus: You'll be in profit by the end of the week.\nQuark: Final offer. Take it before my generosity fades.\nMartus: Perhaps I'll hold on to it a bit longer.\nQuark: Suit yourself. But be under no illusion. If I was serious about acquiring this, it would be mine, and for substantially less than what you'd hoped for.\nMartus: It seems overconfidence comes in small packages around here.\nQuark: My track record speaks for itself, just like your security file.\nMartus: Thanks for the drink.\nMartus: Times are difficult.\nRoana: Oh, it's not that. Business was good.\nMartus: Then why are you shutting down?\nRoana: My husband and I ran this place for nine years. Before that, we had a shop on Bajor for seventeen. But a few months ago he passed away, and my heart just not in it anymore.\nMartus: Not the same, is it, working by yourself.\nRoana: No. It's so much nicer to work next to someone else. You understand.\nBashir: Nice shot.\nBashir: Damn.\nO'Brien: You think I'm stupid, too?\nBashir: I don't know what you're talking about.\nO'Brien: I don't need your charity. Next time, you either play your best game or you don't play.\nQuark: He can't do this. I have an exclusive contract. I want him arrested.\nOdo: Who are you talking about?\nQuark: Martus, that listener.\nOdo: What's he done?\nQuark: Just look.\nMartus: Welcome, friends, welcome, welcome. Welcome to Club Martus.\nQuark: I have a contract for which I paid considerably. All gambling on DS Nine happens at Quark's or it doesn't happen.\nSisko: A few bribes to the Cardassians when they ran this place doesn't constitute a contract, not in the eyes of the Federation.\nQuark: He's a con-artist, a crook.\nSisko: One more won't make much difference.\nQuark: Without me, the other merchants would have abandoned the station.\nQuark: You owe me. You begged me to stay here when you first came on board and I did, against my better judgment.\nSisko: I didn't beg, I blackmailed you. And don't pretend it hasn't paid off for you either.\nQuark: It's paid off fine until now. Martus is cutting into my profits. I want him stopped before it gets any worse.\nRom: Too late for that, my brother.\nQuark: What is the meaning of this?\nMartus: I've promised your underpaid sibling a one quarter partnership in my establishment.\nRom: Make me a better offer.\nQuark: A bidding war? Over you? Don't make me laugh. Careful, Martus. He shaves the latinum.\nRom: I do not. Not much.\nAlsia: Martus, I just received word that the Vlugta government has accepted my bid.\nMartus: That's wonderful. What's wrong?\nAlsia: They won't finalize the transaction until I commission a study on the effects of asteroid mining on inner-system navigation. All my money is committed to the bid. I can't afford the study and I only have a week to get it done.\nMartus: How much do you need?\nAlsia: Ten thousand Isiks.\nMartus: Ten thousand Isiks? It won't be easy to raise that kind of money.\nAlsia: I hope I can find an investor in time.\nMartus: I might know someone. But what kind of return could they expect on their investment?\nAlsia: Once I begin mining, I'd pay back ten times ten thousand.\nMartus: Don't worry, Alsia, I'll do everything in my power to keep your dream alive.\nAlsia: Oh, Martus, I don't know how to thank you.\nMartus: Is there some problem, Rom?\nRom: Not with this batch but with my brother around you can never be too careful.\nMartus: You mean to say he'd poison the canapés?\nRom: Maybe not poison, but a small intestinal bug? I wouldn't put it past him.\nMartus: Don't worry about Quark. I've had the most astonishing run of luck lately. I'm beginning to think I can do no wrong.\nMartus: Neatness counts. Never think it doesn't. A toast to the Queen of the Promenade. A woman whose business acumen is matched only by her beauty and charm. Have I missed anything? To you, my treasure. Are you as pleased as I am?\nRoana: What do you think?\nMartus: I think we make quite a good team. Perhaps we should consider formalizing our relationship.\nRoana: Are you proposing to me?\nMartus: What do you think?\nRoana: It's beautiful.\nMartus: You deserve nothing less.\nRoana: And these are wonderful. Where did you find them?\nMartus: I had them replicated from a handheld version a friend gave me.\nRoana: I've never seen anything like them.\nMartus: No one has.\nKira: All right, is this everything you'll need for the lab?\nDax: I think so.\nDax: I don't believe it.\nKira: Believe what?\nDax: I've had the computer looking for this program for weeks. It was buried somewhere in the deep code level right before the Cardassians left.\nKira: How'd you find it?\nDax: I'm not sure. It's more like it found me. Just lucky, I guess.\nBashir: I'm so sorry.\nO'Brien: What happened?\nBashir: You served, I returned low, you slipped on the ball.\nO'Brien: I slipped on the ball?\nBashir: Stepped right on it mid-flight. Never seen anything like it. Easy now, let me check you out.\nO'Brien: I'm fine. Serve.\nCrewman: Doctor Bashir, report to the Infirmary.\nBashir: I'm sorry, Chief, I have to go.\nO'Brien: I'll get you next time, okay?\nBashir: Look, about that. It's just that I guess I don't enjoy this game as much as I used to. I hope you don't mind. I'm sure you'll find another opponent.\nO'Brien: Where is everybody?\nQuark: My friendly competitor's place. A listener. So what? So he listens. I can listen. I can listen as well as anyone. What happened?\nO'Brien: I fell down.\nQuark: See? I'm listening. Nothing to it. How did you fall down?\nO'Brien: Playing racquetball with Bashir.\nQuark: Where?\nO'Brien: On the court, where do you think?\nQuark: What was the score?\nO'Brien: Who cares?\nQuark: I care. I'm listening. Tell me your problems, all of them.\nO'Brien: I've got no problems a good drop shot wouldn't cure.\nQuark: He beat you.\nO'Brien: Only by half a step, that's all. He's got a few years on me. So what. I've got more experience.\nQuark: The aging champion.\nO'Brien: I've got spin shots he's never even seen\nQuark: Versus the daring challenger.\nO'Brien: So I had some bad breaks. One more game. That's all I needed.\nQuark: Come one, come all.\nO'Brien: I'd've kicked him all over the court.\nQuark: Welcome to Quark's.\nO'Brien: Thanks.\nQuark: Don't mention it. Quark's House of Champions\nKira: Damn.\nSisko: Something wrong, Major?\nKira: My terminal just self-destructed.\nDax: What?\nKira: I lost an evaluation report I've been working on for weeks.\nDax: Even the backups?\nKira: Even the backups.\nSisko: Funny, I've been hearing a lot of bad luck stories in the last few hours. Doctor Bashir tells me the Infirmary is full of minor accidents. People slipping and falling, walking into turbolift doors before they open, that kind of thing.\nDax: Well, I've had a great day so don't try to send your misfortunes my way.\nKira: Come on. You make our own luck. We all know that.\nKira: Ow!\nMartus: They all hit the jackpot at once? Is there any way I can blame this on you?\nRom: I don't think so.\nMartus: No, I suppose not. All right, pay them all off.\nQuark: Challenge of the Galaxy. Match of the Century. Wonder of the Wormhole.\nQuark: House always takes blue.\nQuark: If it's action you want, you've come to the right place. Excitement? We've got it all. Thrills, spills, victory and defeat. Look no further. We've got it all.\nQuark: And here he is, the reigning champion of Starfleet. A legend on both sides of the wormhole. Ladies and gentlemen, Miles The Mechanic O'Brien!\nO'Brien: What's this all about? I got an emergency call.\nBashir: So did I, but I don't see any emergency.\nQuark: And the challenger. He's fast, he's deadly, he's Julian Bashir. They call him the Doctor. The grudge match of the galaxy!\nO'Brien: Get down here!\nQuark: And all For a worthy cause. Yes, these noble competitors have insisted that I donate half the house's winnings to the Bajoran Fund for Orphans.\nO'Brien: Orphans?\nQuark: The Mechanic versus the Doctor. Tomorrow, twelve hundred hours. Only one will emerge victorious, so place your bets. And in the meantime, the tables are open.\nBashir: This is outrageous. We haven't agreed to anything.\nQuark: As your exclusive promoter, I have the right to arrange matches as I see fit.\nBashir: Exclusive promoter?\nQuark: Just sign here.\nO'Brien: Forget it, Quark.\nQuark: I understand how you feel, but think of the children. The monks have already made a down payment on new blankets for the winter. Ah well, I'm sure the little ones can huddle together for warmth.\nBashir: Looks like you're going to get that rematch after all.\nDax: I don't believe it. The program I found. It disappeared.\nSisko: Have you checked the deep code level?\nDax: No luck. It's funny, it's like the computer brought that program up at random then just swallowed it up again.\nSisko: Major, are you all right.\nKira: Not even a sprain, which is more than I can say for everybody else in the Infirmary.\nSisko: Still crowded?\nKira: Yeah. And Doctor Bashir tells me it's a whole new batch.\nSisko: More minor accidents?\nKira: Dozens of them.\nDax: Could there be a connection between the accidents and the increase in the system failures?\nKira: I didn't get hurt by a system failure. I tripped and fell. Just coincidence, that's all.\nSisko: There must be a logical explanation for all of this. Maybe a virus or some kind of spatial disruption?\nDax: It would have to be something that would affect both people and machinery.\nSisko: Get on it.\nRom: I always had smaller lobes than the rest of the boys. They used to tease me about it. Quark was the worst. He told everyone I was adopted.\nMartus: I just don't understand. Things were going so well.\nRom: On my naming day, Quark substituted old vegetables for my presents. Then he sold the presents for more than our father had paid for them.\nMartus: I couldn't care less about your trivial childhood. We've been virtually abandoned, and I want to know why.\nRom: A bad streak. It happens.\nMartus: Not to me it doesn't. I require the comfort of a compassionate soul.\nRoana: Don't think I didn't see through you right from the start.\nMartus: It's a joke. Really.\nRoana: Well in case you've forgotten, I still hold the lease on this place. I want you out of here by tomorrow, and take those damn things with you.\nMartus: But, but\nMartus: But Treasure!\nRom: Oh, I knew no good would come of this. I never should've left Quark. What's going to happen now?\nMartus: I'm not sure. But I have an idea.\nMartus: The profits from the Club. I believe it comes to just about ten thousand Isiks.\nAlsia: Oh, Martus, you don't know how much this means to me.\nMartus: I know what it means to me. Ten times as much in return.\nAlsia: You won't regret this. You'll see. We'll both be rich.\nO'Brien: You can beat his backhand. Keep the ball low and to his left. Corner return on the serve, then kill shot left. If he returns again, high back wall And remember\nKeiko: Win or lose, tonight we celebrate. Miles, wait.\nKeiko: A silk handkerchief, medieval Japanese design, scented with my perfume.\nKeiko: Kick his butt.\nQuark: Doctor, I brought you something. A token of thanks from the monks to show how much they appreciate your participation in their little fund-raiser.\nBashir: Thanks. Put it over there.\nQuark: Aren't you going to try some?\nBashir: What is it?\nQuark: The monks tell me it's a medicinal brew. An ancient secret of their order. It's supposed to impart great energy and vigor. Just the kind of thing to have before an athletic competition. But you're a man of science. You probably don't believe in folk medicine.\nBashir: Actually, you'd be surprised just how often traditional medicine turns out to have genuine value. Did they say was in this stuff?\nQuark: They didn't exactly, but I'm sure it's all completely natural. Oh, the monks said you should drink the whole thing in one gulp in order to get the proper effect.\nBashir: Did they?\nQuark: What are you doing?\nBashir: Just curious about its contents.\nQuark: But what about your exercises?\nBashir: This won't take a second.\nQuark: Why bother? Don't you trust the monks?\nBashir: Water, sucrose, dextrose, tribnel root extract, grain particulates, yeast, synthehol, and seventeen milligrams of hyvroxilated quint-ethyl metacetamine.\nQuark: Like I said, all natural.\nBashir: It's an anesthetic, Quark. If I drank that, I'd hardly be able to stand, let alone play racquetball. You were trying to fix the match, weren't you.\nQuark: Would I do that?\nBashir: If you had enough latinum bet on Chief O'Brien you would.\nQuark: No one's betting on Chief O'Brien. All the money's on you. If you win, there won't be any profits. And if there aren't any profits, I can't donate anything to the monks. No donations, no winter blankets for the children. But if you lose, then the house would win, and the monks would get their blankets.\nBashir: Are you suggesting that I throw the match?\nQuark: For the children.\nBashir: Forget it, Quark.\nQuark: But the blankets\nBashir: Will be provided by you one way or another, and if the monks don't get their blankets, Chief O'Brien and I'll be very upset. Do I make myself clear?\nQuark: Perfectly.\nBashir: Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a match to play.\nSisko: Kira said you'd found something.\nDax: Oh, I found something all right. I just don't know what it means. Look at this.\nSisko: Solar neutrinos.\nDax: Notice anything unusual?\nKira: There're a lot of them?\nDax: The spin. Given the laws of probability, from any point of view, about half of them should be spinning clockwise and the other half counterclockwise. But over eighty percent of them are spinning clockwise.\nKira: You're saying people are having accidents because of the way the neutrinos are spinning?\nDax: No, but I think it's a symptom of the same problem. The neutrinos outside the station are normal, but inside the station something very strange is going on.\nO'Brien: Have a good game, Julian.\nBashir: You too.\nQuark: First point, O'Brien, breaking the serve. So it begins\nQuark: Two zero, O'Brien. Not a rousing start for the Doctor.\nMartus: Where is she?\nRom: Who?\nMartus: Alsia. She was supposed to meet me here and tell me how the bid went.\nRom: I still don't think it's fair. You investing my money without asking.\nMartus: Your money?\nRom: You promised me one quarter of the profits, but then you gave her everything we earned.\nMartus: I promised you a quarter of the profits after expenses.\nRom: Expenses? What expenses?\nMartus: Operating costs, overhead, recapitalisation.\nRom: That does it.\nMartus: Where are you going?\nRom: Back to Quark. At least then I'll get cheated by family. Let's get out of here.\nQuark: Another bad break for Bashir. Nine three, O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Quark. I'm cutting the transmission.\nQuark: What? You can't.\nO'Brien: Watch me.\nQuark: Ladies and gentlemen, the players have called a three minute break. Betting is reopened. Three minutes. Three minutes only.\nBashir: Why did you do that?\nO'Brien: Something's wrong here.\nBashir: With me maybe, but you're having a great game.\nO'Brien: The best I've played my entire life. I'm making shots I couldn't have made fifteen years ago when I was playing five hours a day, every day. I can't miss.\nBashir: And I can't hit the broad side of a Plygorian mammoth.\nO'Brien: Try throwing the ball against the wall.\nBashir: It should have come straight back to me. You try.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Ops.\nBashir: It goes right into his hand. Every single time.\nO'Brien: I must have done it a dozen times by now. And I haven't missed once yet.\nBashir: Nobody can be that lucky. It's impossible.\nDax: Not impossible, just extremely improbable.\nO'Brien: Improbable?\nSisko: Like the neutrinos on the station spinning the same way. Or a few dozen people having minor accidents at the same instant. Or a system failing at just the wrong time.\nDax: Exactly. Someone or something on this station is distorting the laws of probability.\nSisko: Changing them so incredibly unlikely things can happen on a regular basis.\nO'Brien: How can we find out what's causing it?\nDax: I think I know a way.\nDax: Ninety-eight percent of the neutrinos in this room are rotating clockwise.\nMartus: The games are open.\nSisko: We're not here to play. Dax?\nDax: One hundred percent clockwise. It's these machines.\nMartus: My gambling machines? What's wrong with them.\nDax: Somehow these machines are altering the laws of probability all over the station.\nMartus: So that's what he meant.\nSisko: Who?\nMartus: The alien who gave me the original. He said that it all came down to luck. That must be how it works. When you win, it makes you lucky, and when you lose\nDax: These machines are effecting everyone on the station, whether they're playing them or not.\nMartus: Impossible. You must be mistaken.\nSisko: Wait a minute. You said there was an original machine?\nMartus: Yes, a smaller one. When I opened the club I replicated these larger versions.\nSisko: Larger versions. So, how do you turn them off?\nMartus: I'm not completely sure.\nSisko: Then how did you turn them on in the first place?\nMartus: I didn't, exactly. I just told the replicator to scan the original and make copies. I think they have some kind of internal power source.\nSisko: Lieutenant.\nMartus: Wait, wait, wait! What are you doing?\nSisko: Now as for you.\nMartus: You can't possibly blame me for this, Commander.\nSisko: I'd like to. Unfortunately, I don't have anything I can charge you with.\nOdo: Fortunately, I do. That elderly Pythron couple you assisted has had a change of heart. They've decided to press charges after all.\nMartus: Alsia! I knew you'd come to get me out.\nOdo: Inside.\nMartus: What's the meaning of this?\nOdo: Ask him.\nQuark: Your lady friend over here just tried to scam me.\nMartus: Scam?\nQuark: Asteroid mining. To think anyone would be foolish enough to be taken in by that old trick. But don't worry, Martus, I've come to get you out.\nMartus: In return for what?\nQuark: Nothing. Pure generosity.\nMartus: You're enjoying this, aren't you?\nQuark: Taken in by one of your own victims and no one to turn to but me? I can't remember when I've been so entertained.\nMartus: I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. Now how about giving me two thousand Isiks to book passage out of here.\nQuark: You want me to give you money? Ridiculous. Of all the ungrateful arrogance.\nMartus: Unless you want me to stay here on the station.\nQuark: All right. I'll loan you five hundred Isiks. You can book passage on a cargo ship.\nMartus: Fifteen hundred. After all, I do have expenses.\nQuark: Six hundred.\nMartus: Twelve hundred. I still have my dignity.\nQuark: Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack. Rule of Acquisition number a hundred and nine.\nMartus: All right. Eight hundred.\nQuark: Go on. I'm listening."}
{"text": "Quark: I am merely a businessman. It would take an orator with the skills of the late, great Plegg himself, to sing the praises of the late, great Plegg. What Ferengi could resist the honor of owning a small piece of the man that took a computer chip and turned it into the modular holosuite industry. A small piece of the man that brought holographic entertainment to the most remote parts of this quadrant, creating profit centers from societies that could barely afford to feed their own people.\nOdo: How much are you asking?\nQuark: As I was about to tell my good friend here, a mere three strips of latinum. And I'd be taking a loss at that price.\nQuark: Okay, for you, two strips. Thank you very much.\nOdo: Three strips? That's a fair price for Plegg.\nQuark: I suppose you're interested.\nOdo: Humanoid death rituals are an interest of mine.\nQuark: Death rituals?\nOdo: Everybody needs a hobby. Some species burn their dead, others pack them in blocks of ice. Some even surround themselves with the company of family corpses. But the Ferengi ritual of chopping up their loved ones and selling them? I find that irresistible.\nQuark: I'm very busy here.\nOdo: What a fitting and distinguished way to honor the memory of great Ferengi entrepreneurs. I'm thinking of starting a collection, putting up a display case in my office. There'll be a special space in there reserved for you, Quark.\nQuark: I'm sure.\nQuark: You're serious?\nOdo: Have you ever known me not to be?\nOdo: There is one thing I was curious about.\nQuark: And what's that\nOdo: How do I know it's Plegg?\nQuark: It says so on the label.\nOdo: Isn't there some sort of letter of authenticity?\nQuark: The Ferengi Seal of Dismemberment is right there. What more do you want?\nOdo: I want Plegg.\nQuark: You've got him.\nOdo: Not if he's still alive.\nQuark: Still alive?\nOdo: Still alive.\nQuark: Plegg?\nOdo: After I tracked him down on Khosla Two and told him about your little scheme, he was quite amused. I'm not.\nQuark: Odo, I'm a victim here. I bought these disks in good faith. I have five thousand pieces of Plegg in my storeroom.\nOdo: Not Plegg.\nQuark: Then who?\nOdo: Good question.\nQuark: I demand an investigation.\nOdo: You'll get one, I promise you.\nMora: Odo!\nOdo: Doctor Mora.\nMora: It's been too long. You're looking well. Yes, coming along nicely.\nOdo: Why didn't you let me know that you were coming?\nMora: It was a last minute arrangement.\nOdo: The trip from Bajor takes five hours.\nQuark: Can I get you something, Doctor Mora, was it?\nMora: Yes, some Deka tea would be nice. Haven't quite managed the ears yet, have you? Oh, no, but they're difficult. Is the suit a suit, or part of you? And what about the boots?\nQuark: Here we are, nice and hot.\nMora: Thank you.\nQuark: So, you two seem to be old friends.\nOdo: Doctor Mora is the Bajoran scientist who was assigned to me after I was found.\nMora: I was personally responsible for his development during his formative years.\nQuark: So this is a family reunion! I had a hunch. Well, Odo's dad is always welcome at Quark's.\nMora: Well, actually I\nOdo: He's not my\nQuark: I know he wouldn't tell you himself, but Odo is doing a wonderful job here on the station, if I may say so.\nMora: Is he?\nQuark: Absolutely. As a matter of fact, when you came in, he was just beginning a fraud investigation.\nOdo: Quark! Excuse us.\nQuark: Of course. The two of you have a lot of catching up to do. If there's anything I can help you with, Doctor, don't hesitate to call on me.\nMora: That was uncalled for.\nOdo: You don't know Quark.\nMora: I know that he was trying very hard to present you in a positive light to someone he thought was important to you, and you responded with\nOdo: Please.\nMora: Still having trouble with social integration?\nOdo: I integrate as much as I want to.\nMora: Define as much as I want to.\nOdo: As much as I want to means, as much as I want to.\nOdo: Quark is a thief, a con man, nobody you want to know.\nMora: So, tell me about this police thing you've gotten yourself involved with. Is it working out?\nOdo: I enjoy my work as Chief of Security.\nMora: Chief of Security at a way-station in space. Don't you miss it, Odo?\nOdo: What?\nMora: Our work.\nOdo: Never.\nMora: I don't believe it. I know you too well. You were unhappy in the lab, I can't blame you for that. But the work, Odo, the work. The exploration of you, what you are, where you came from. That's never far from your mind, is it.\nOdo: That part of it is true.\nMora: Good. Because I came here counting on that.\nJake: See you later, Dad.\nSisko: Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hold on.\nJake: I'm late.\nSisko: For what?\nJake: For Nog.\nSisko: Your homework.\nJake: It's done.\nSisko: You've studied that whole Klingon opera for the music test on Friday?\nJake: I'm going to ace the test, Dad, I promise.\nSisko: This isn't about tests, Jake. This is about learning. You can't learn to appreciate Klingon opera by cramming for the exam the night before.\nJake: What am I ever going to use Klingon opera for?\nSisko: Well, first of all, you don't know what you're going to be when you grow up. You may diskover along the way that you want to be a musician, or you may find yourself among some Klingons in a job somewhere.\nJake: Dad, even if I did, they wouldn't be going around singing operas.\nSisko: It helps to understand their culture.\nJake: When was the last time you listened to Klingon opera?\nSisko: When I was your age.\nJake: There, you see?\nSisko: Yes. Do you?\nJake: Just because you suffered through all that doesn't mean I have to.\nSisko: Yes, it does.\nSisko: Come in.\nJake: Dad.\nSisko: I have the perfect solution. Nog has the same test. Why don't you invite him over and you can listen to the Klingon opera together?\nSisko: Please, Odo, sit down.\nOdo: Commander, I'd like to request the use of a runabout.\nSisko: Of course. For what?\nOdo: A Doctor Mora Pol from the Bajoran Institute of Science has asked me to help him secure one from the Federation.\nSisko: Why did he come to you?\nOdo: Doctor Mora is the scientist who was assigned to me in my first years here. If he went to the Board of Ministers to request permission to approach you, it would take months, and he's very anxious to investigate something in the Gamma Quadrant. And may I say, Commander, so am I.\nSisko: You've got me curious, Constable. Is it a secret?\nOdo: No, but there isn't much to tell. One of the Bajoran science probes recently scanned a planet about six light years from the wormhole. It picked up some very unique and familiar DNA patterns. Patterns very much like my own, Commander. Doctor Mora thinks he may have diskovered the origin of my people. Of me.\nMora: It would seem to me that being a scientist yourself, Lieutenant, you can appreciate the difficulty of our dilemma, and the elegance of the solution. When Odo was first found, nobody knew who, or indeed, what it was we were dealing with. A shapeless, viscous mass of fluid, a veritable organic broth. That was our Odo in the beginning.\nDax: When did you realize you were dealing with a sentient lifeform?\nOdo: He didn't. I had to teach him that myself.\nMora: It's true. It's very true. Tell her.\nOdo: It was a dilemma for me. I had never seen anything like these creatures either.\nMora: Seen isn't really an appropriate description. He had no eyes per se.\nOdo: I was just trying to describe it in simple terms.\nMora: He had never perceived anything like us before. Go on.\nOdo: I knew I had to find some way to communicate with them. So I transformed myself into\nMora: It was remarkable. Every morning I would come into the lab, and every morning Odo would be there resting in his liquid form in a Krokan petri beaker. One morning I walked in and Odo was gone. The beaker was empty, but next to it was an identical beaker that had not been there before. A perfect replica in every way. It was amazing. It hasn't been the same since you've gone, Odo. Working with you has been the most rewarding part of my career.\nDax: We're approaching the planet. Prepare to enter standard orbit. Planet designated L S Six.\nWeld: Initiating scans.\nDax: There's a lot of seismic activity down there, possibly volcanic in origin. Moving into synchronous orbit.\nMora: Do the letters mean anything to you?\nOdo: No. I don't think so.\nMora: Judging by its position in the ruins, I think it's fair to say that this pillar represented something important to the people who lived here.\nDax: Why don't we take it with us. Our computers back on the station might be able to decipher the inscriptions.\nMora: Where is Doctor Weld? Doctor Weld?\nWeld: Over here. I think I may have found what we're looking for.\nMora: Is it carbon based?\nWeld: No, silicate, but vegetative, and very much alive.\nMora: Odo Junior, perhaps.\nDax: Computer, begin transport.\nDax: Computer, realign transporter. Lock on to our comm. badges.\nComputer: Stand by.\nOdo: This way.\nComputer: Ready for transport.\nOdo: Computer, energize!\nBashir: They're stable for now. Dax is in fair condition. The Bajorans seem to be more seriously affected. Perhaps they were exposed to more of the gas, or there may be something about Trill physiology. I'm not sure yet.\nSisko: And Odo?\nOdo: I'm fine.\nBashir: The paralyzing action occurred when the gas was taken into the respiratory system. Since Odo doesn't have a respiratory system as we know it, he apparently wasn't affected at all.\nSisko: O'Brien's off-loaded the cargo they brought back. He has set up everything in the Science Lab. I understand there are some organic specimens from that planet. Maybe there's something that will help you figure this out.\nBashir: Good idea.\nOdo: Will he be all right?\nBashir: The molecule appears to have quite an unstable structure. That might mean the effect is temporary.\nSisko: I know how you feel, Constable.\nOdo: Feel? About what?\nSisko: When my father became ill I can remember how small and weak he looked lying there in the bed. He'd been so strong, so independent. It always seemed to me there was nothing that he couldn't do. But in the end, I realized that there was nothing that he could do, and nothing I could do to help him.\nOdo: I appreciate your thoughts, Commander, but Doctor Mora is not my father.\nO'Brien: The computer's having a hard time classifying your new lifeform.\nOdo: Why?\nO'Brien: Whatever it is, it keeps changing. Somehow it goes through a metamorphosis every time it reproduces, and it reproduces like crazy. Look at this. It's multiplied so much I had to change containers. I'll put it in a level five security field overnight. I wish Dax were here to take a look at it. How's she doing?\nOdo: Doctor Bashir thinks she'll be fine.\nO'Brien: Any idea what it is?\nOdo: I'm hoping it's a key, Mister O'Brien. A key to my past.\nKira: Kira to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Major\nKira: Sorry to bother you, Commander, but we need you up here in the Science lab.\nSisko: I'm on my way.\nSisko: Any signs of a break-in?\nKira: Not that we could find. The security seal on the lab was still in place when we got here.\nO'Brien: I can't imagine why anyone would want to steal that thing anyway.\nSisko: You're suggesting the lifeform itself did this.\nO'Brien: I don't know what did this. Commander. Unless a tornado passed this way without us hearing it. The room was locked. It's gone. That's all I know for now.\nSisko: Constable, get a level three Security scan underway on the entire station.\nO'Brien: Our scanners may have trouble finding this lifeform. It has metamorphic qualities that were confusing the computer. You might want to run that sweep two or three times.\nSisko: Let's go to Yellow alert.\nOdo: Major, you could help me by reviewing the security camera records and the heat sensor readouts for the Lab and the surrounding areas.\nO'Brien: Commander, I'm picking up slight trace elements near the ventilation intake duct. It looks as though our lifeform may have taken this way out.\nSisko: Doctor Bashir give you permission to be up and about?\nDax: Doctor Bashir wouldn't listen to me and hid my clothes so I wouldn't leave. I had to sneak out to my quarters in a hospital gown that wouldn't close in the back. What did this?\nSisko: The working theory is that lifeform you brought back is somehow responsible.\nDax: I don't believe it.\nSisko: Good. Find me a better theory.\nDax: Odo, Doctor Mora is awake and would like to speak with you.\nMora: I heard them say something had happened in the lab.\nOdo: The lifeform sample is gone.\nMora: Gone?\nOdo: We're not sure how or why yet.\nMora: I want to help.\nOdo: Everything is under control.\nMora: I know more about shape-shifters than anyone in this sector.\nOdo: Anyone except me, and I'll be running the investigation. Besides we're not even sure it is a shape-shifting lifeform.\nMora: Any metamorphic characteristics?\nOdo: It was changing faster than the computer could analyze.\nMora: Any indication of intelligence?\nOdo: Not unless you consider wanton destruction of the lab an indication of intelligence.\nMora: It might be. It might be. Don't dismiss any possibility. Doctor Weld hasn't regained consciousness. I feel responsible.\nOdo: I'm sure Doctor Bashir is doing everything possible.\nO'Brien: The same trace elements are inside the duct.\nO'Brien: I'm following the trail. Moving toward corridor two H.\nSisko: Nothing's showing up anywhere on the scanners, Chief.\nO'Brien: Yeah, I figured as much.\nO'Brien: Did the security cameras in the lab give you anything?\nOdo: The security cameras stopped operating for forty-three seconds at zero three hundred hours, five minutes right when the alarm sounded\nO'Brien: Stopped? You mean somebody turned them off.\nSisko: More likely some kind of power interruption. It might have affected the security field around the lifeform too. We're trying to analyze it now.\nO'Brien: Do the heat sensors in the lab show any thermal deviation at the same time?\nSisko: Almost a six degree increase during the forty-three seconds.\nO'Brien: But then back to normal after that?\nSisko: Affirmative.\nO'Brien: We might be dealing with an entity that absorbs low frequency RF energy.\nO'Brien: It might be feeding off our power.\nOdo: But an energy drain should be showing up on our scans.\nO'Brien: Yeah, that's true, Constable. I don't get it. Maybe this thermal deviation was the result of\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: Hold on, I hear something.\nSisko: We've got your position. Nothing else is showing up anywhere near you.\nO'Brien: Well, I definitely hear something ahead. Can you hear it on the comm. line?\nSisko: No.\nO'Brien: It almost sounds like. I can't describe it. I'm moving in closer. If you run into my wife, don't mention I did this.\nSisko: Move some backup to the nearest corridor.\nOdo: Security to core section, level four, corridor two H.\nO'Brien: I'll come home tonight and she'll ask me how\nO'Brien: My day was and I'll say, fine, honey, how was yours? Sometimes I think she really doesn't want to know the truth, so I do us both a favor and\nO'Brien: It's a structural breach. Ahhh!\nSisko: O'Brien, report!\nO'Brien: I'm okay. I'm fine. I found our missing lifeform. Except it isn't a lifeform anymore. It's dead.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 47391.7. Engineering crews have been working for over fifteen hours searching conduits. There have been no additional incidents and no further evidence of the alien lifeform has been found.\nBashir: With this kind of cellular structure, the lifeform would have needed a higher concentration of carbon dioxide than our atmosphere provides.\nDax: It just couldn't survive out of its own environment.\nBashir: That'd be my analysis.\nDax: But with that in mind, do you still think this lifeform was capable of destroying the lab?\nBashir: That's not impossible. The environmental impact might have taken some time to set in.\nDax: I'd really like to get Doctor Mora's opinion on all this.\nBashir: He's much better. He should be up and around in the morning.\nDax: Feel like getting a raktajino before we call it a night?\nBashir: My replicator or yours?\nDax: I was thinking more of the Promenade.\nBashir: I knew that. Well, thanks anyway. I've got a few things to wrap up around here.\nDax: Sleep tight, Julian.\nBashir: She enjoys it. She actually gets some kind of perverse pleasure out of it. One of these days I'm going to stop chasing her, and then we'll see.\nBashir: Emergency. Emergency! Intruder alert.\nBashir: It happened so quickly. I'm sorry I can't tell you any more about it. It was behind me, and then it was gone. But it was big, very big.\nSisko: How badly did you injure it?\nBashir: I don't know. I don't even know if I injured it at all. I just hit it once with a laser scalpel on the arm, or the leg, or the tentacle, or whatever it was, and then it went up the wall and was gone.\nMora: It appears as though our lifeform has survived and grown into something interesting.\nOdo: Did you notice anything else when you entered the room, Doctor? Anything out of place, anything unusual. Was it unusually warm, perhaps?\nBashir: Now that you come to mention it, it was a bit warm in here.\nOdo: Another thermal distortion. Did you try the lights, Doctor?\nBashir: No, I didn't want to disturb the patients.\nOdo: Commander, I suggest we check the RF energy flow to the Infirmary. We might find a power interruption as we did in the lab.\nDax: No blood or any fluid traces, but I am picking up a very slight trail of something we didn't see last time. An organic residue.\nSisko: Enough to test?\nDax: We'll see.\nSisko: Sisko to Ops.\nKira: Go ahead.\nSisko: Restrict all nonessential personnel to their quarters and go to Red alert, Major.\nKira: Understood.\nSisko: Keep in touch with Dax's progress. She might give us a way to track this thing.\nOdo: Until we can, I suggest we close down the Promenade.\nSisko: I'll give the order, Constable.\nMora: Constable?\nOdo: It's a nickname that I barely tolerate.\nMora: It's the expression of affection that you find difficult to accept.\nMora: You know, that was really a remarkable display back there.\nOdo: Display?\nMora: You were very careful, attentive.\nOdo: I was just doing my job.\nMora: I'm beginning to think that the scientific method and police method have a lot in common.\nOdo: I never thought of it that way. Perhaps they do.\nMora: In science we look for the obvious. We track in straight lines. If something looks too good to be true, it usually isn't true. If there appears to be more to something than meets the eye, there usually is more. We take it step by step.\nOdo: That applies to criminal investigation as well.\nMora: You do it very well. I'm very proud of you, Odo. Do you know that?\nOdo: Anything?\nDax: The computer's having trouble breaking down the DNA chains.\nMora: What about this pillar? Did the computer have any success decoding the encryptions?\nDax: No luck there either. All things considered, the computer's having a bad week. We have such a limited database for the Gamma Quadrant.\nOdo: I have to close down the Promenade. Call me when you have something. Wasn't that pillar over here before?\nDax: It was in my way. I had it moved.\nMora: Have you compared this new organic strain to the lifeforms we brought back from the planet?\nDax: Only enough to be sure that they're not the same.\nMora: It might be interesting to see if there are any commonalties at all.\nDax: Let me run a cross-tabulation analysis. It should only take a few minutes.\nMora: Do you know Odo well, Lieutenant?\nDax: Not as well as I'd like to. He keeps to himself a lot.\nMora: I'm not surprised. I never realized until I actually saw him how much I missed him. We didn't part on very good terms.\nDax: So I've heard.\nMora: He wanted to leave and we still had so much work left to do. But I see him now and I wonder if he wasn't right to go. After all, he's come so far.\nDax: He's an invaluable man around here.\nMora: I never thought he could do it. Integrate successfully. If you could have seen him before. He was so ill-prepared to be on his own. I was sure he'd come back. I told him when he left, he'd come back, and all these years I was so certain that eventually one day he'd show up at the lab. Well, I guess I'd better get used to the idea he's not going to.\nDax: Here we are.\nMora: Which one's this?\nDax: This is the new one from the Infirmary, and this is the lifeform from the planet. But remember it went through several metamorphoses.\nMora: It's not the same entity. The nucleotide sequences are entirely different.\nDax: Some metachromic similarities.\nMora: Yes, on a most basic level. At best they could be distant cousins.\nDax: The computer's broken down the DNA chain on the new sample. I can run an analysis and see if it matches up with any other lifeform in the computer.\nMora: How long would that take?\nDax: Two, three hours, maybe.\nMora: Let me know.\nOdo: Doctor Weld has regained consciousness. It looks like he'll be fine.\nMora: That's a relief.\nOdo: You don't seem relieved.\nMora: You can tell that just by observing me, the tone of my voice, my eyes, my body movements?\nOdo: Yes.\nMora: You are truly a remarkable lifeform, Odo. But there is so much about you we still don't understand.\nOdo: What are you getting at, Doctor?\nMora: The computer has broken down the DNA chain from the organic sample we found in the Infirmary. Dax is running an analysis of it now. She'll identify it in a couple of hours. But I already know what it is. I've seen it before. The organic sample, it's from you, Odo.\nMora: The destruction in the science lab occurred at zero three hundred hours, five minutes. The attack in the Infirmary occurred at nineteen thirty five. Roughly sixteen hours apart. Is your rejuvenation period still sixteen hours?\nOdo: I was in my pail during both attacks.\nMora: But were you? I don't think so. I think, Odo, that you've been in the ironic position of having to track down yourself.\nOdo: How could this be?\nMora: Has anything like this ever occurred before?\nOdo: Of course not.\nMora: Are you certain?\nOdo: Yes, I'm certain. There would have been incidents.\nMora: Any unsolved crimes on the books?\nOdo: There are always unsolved crimes.\nMora: Then the possibility exists.\nOdo: It doesn't! I do not commit criminal acts. It is not in my nature.\nMora: Isn't it?\nOdo: The gas. Maybe it was the gas on the planet. It affected all of you, it must have done something to me.\nMora: A possibility.\nOdo: That has to be it.\nMora: It's certainly worth of an investigation.\nOdo: Doctor Bashir\nMora: Doctor Bashir will not understand any of this, except that you turned into some kind of uncontrolled thing that tried to kill him. Really, Odo. What do you think they'll do with you?\nOdo: Do?\nMora: They won't know what to do with you. They'll put you in a high security prison, or quarantine you on a deserted asteroid in the Gamma Quadrant. Odo, they'll put you in a zoo.\nOdo: I don't believe that. You don't know them.\nMora: What other humanoid have you been able to trust except me?\nOdo: What makes you think I trust you?\nMora: I resent that. I really do. After the time I invested in you, after the education I gave you, the attention I gave you. You would not be here today if it were not for my guidance. I gave you more than anyone else in my life. You were my life. And then you walked away. And now you don't trust me? Fine. Put yourself in their hands then. You always had to learn your lessons the hard way, didn't you.\nOdo: I am not going back to the center with you.\nMora: Why? We'll work through this together. We'll solve it together, just like we used to.\nOdo: No!\nO'Brien: I have a power failure in Security, Commander.\nSisko: Sisko to Odo. Sisko to Odo.\nKira: All deputies report to the Security Office. Possible intruder.\nO'Brien: I'm tracking it. We have a power drain in the life support conduit above the Security Office. If it's feeding off our power, we may be able to slow it down by shutting off the primary flow to the entire core section.\nSisko: Do it. Where the hell did it come from?\nSecurity: Security to Ops.\nKira: Go ahead.\nSecurity: There's no one down here, Major.\nKira: And there's no sign of Odo?\nSecurity: No, sir.\nMora: I can help you with that, Major. The creature you're after is Odo. There must have been some kind of metamorphic reaction to the volcanic gas that we encountered on the planet.\nSisko: Is there any way to communicate with him?\nMora: I don't know. It's not Odo really. It's separate and independent from the Odo we know, and yet, at the very least, it's aware of me.\nKira: How can you know that?\nMora: The incident in the science lab. I believe that was an attempt to rescue the lifeforms I placed in containment. The second encounter occurred in the Infirmary where I was asleep. The third happened just a couple of minutes ago when we got into a heated discussion in Security. I think that even the Constable himself would arrive at the same conclusions given the evidence. On some instinctual level, this creature is familiar with me.\nSisko: He might even conclude it has hostile intentions toward you.\nMora: It had occurred to me.\nO'Brien: The power shutdown is complete, Commander. Odo, or whatever it is in there, has stopped moving for the moment.\nSisko: Chief, based on your knowledge of its behavior, if we can lure him out, is there any way we can set up a forcefield to hold him?\nO'Brien: We could reverse polarity on the energy fields. That might work, but that's only a guess.\nSisko: Set it up on the Promenade. I want a lot of room to operate. Major, station security teams along the perimeter.\nKira: How are we going to get him to come out of the conduits?\nO'Brien: Maybe I could use some RF energy bursts to attract him.\nMora: There's only one way that you're going to attract that creature into your trap. It's me it's after.\nSisko: Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: Our plan seems to be working, Commander. He's following my trail of energy crumbs directly toward you.\nSisko: On my signal, open the conduit and let him in.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: We're not sure which vent he'll come through. Hopefully, it'll be the first one available to him over there. If not, there are seventeen others he may choose. We're not stationing officers near any of them. We don't want to scare him away.\nMora: I understand.\nSisko: Just get him to the forcefield. We'll do the rest. Pass the word that phasers are to be set on maximum stun. The moment Doctor Mora appears to be in jeopardy, I'll open fire. Their orders are to follow my lead. If maximum stun doesn't bring him down immediately, we set phasers to kill.\nKira: Commander.\nSisko: I know, Major. Those are my orders. Mister O'Brien.\nSisko: We're ready.\nO'Brien: Releasing the conduit seal.\nSisko: Doctor Mora, did you hear that?\nMora: Ready and waiting.\nMora: What are you waiting for? I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere.\nMora: I've done it to you again, haven't I, Odo? Made you a prisoner? Dear God, what have I done?\nSisko: Mister O'Brien, drop the forcefield.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nMora: We have a lot to talk about.\nBashir: I'm not going to try and explain exactly what happened to you, Odo, because I haven't the vaguest idea. I can tell you that with Doctor Mora's help we've managed to eliminate all traces of the gas from your cellular structure. I prescribe rest because it's hard for a doctor to go wrong with that one. Otherwise, there's not much more I can do for you.\nOdo: Thank you, Doctor.\nMora: I'm going home.\nOdo: Doctor Mora, I want to be sure you understand, I had no idea.\nMora: You had to speak in a voice loud enough for me to hear.\nOdo: I'm sorry.\nMora: I'm sorry it was necessary. I would like, in a very small way, to be a part of your life again. Your life here on the station. From time to time, we could talk about things that matter to you. To us.\nOdo: I'd like that."}
{"text": "Scene: Chief Medical Officer's log, supplemental. Chief O'Brien and I are on board a T'Lani cruiser helping the T'Lani and the Kelleruns eliminate their stockpile of Harvesters, deadly biomechanical gene disrupters used by both sides in their centuries-long war\nBashir: Doctor Nydrom, how's our muon charge?\nNydrom: Coming up to full power.\nBashir: Go ahead, please. (A woman puts a cylinder of orange stuff into the central machine - think Tardis console)\nBashir: Computer, this is harvester test sequence three hundred and seventy five.\nNydrom: Muon generator now at full power.\nBashir: Once more unto the breach. I hope this works, because quite frankly I'm running out of ideas.\nNydrom: It took ten years to perfect the harvesters. We've only been trying to eliminate them for a week.\nBashir: Is that all it's been? It feels like we've been working more than a month. I've never seen a nanobiogenic weapon so resistant to broad spectrum radiation. It's just a matter of finding the right combination of muon frequencies. It should be simple, but it's not.\nO'Brien: Doctor, start the sequence or we will be here a month.\nBashir: All right, Chief. I'm introducing the harvester into the genetic bath. Beginning muon influx now.\nBashir: Doctor, please check for any gene-disrupter phasing.\nNydrom: The genetic integrity of the sample is holding steady. I'm not reading any genetic disruption at all.\nBashir: Are you sure? Check the sequence again.\nNydrom: The results are identical.\nO'Brien: What? It worked, didn't it? Would somebody say something?\nBashir: It worked all right.\nNydrom: The harvesters have been destroyed.\nSharat: Good news, I take it.\nNydrom: Ambassador Sharat, I'm pleased to inform you that we have found a way to eliminate the harvesters.\nSharat: Excellent. Well done. I knew if our people stopped killing each other and worked together, we could put an end to these horrible weapons. This is a symbol of the new future we have embarked upon.\nNydrom: Yes. And let's not forget, we couldn't have done it without the help of our friends from the Federation.\nSharat: At first we had questioned Doctor Nydrom's decision to bring in outside help. Obviously it was the right thing to do. We're all very grateful for your assistance.\nBashir: It was our pleasure, I assure you.\nSharat: But eliminating the harvesters is only half the task. We must make certain all scientific data concerned with them is wiped out as well.\nO'Brien: I've purged every file in the T'Lani and Kellerun data banks pertaining to harvesters. If anyone gets it in their head to build these things again, they'll have to start from scratch.\nNydrom: Then it's finished.\nSharat: Not quite. We shouldn't rest until the entire Kellerun and T'Lani supply of harvesters has been destroyed.\nBashir: We will begin immediately.\nKira: Commander, I have Doctor Bashir for you on subspace.\nSisko: In here.\nBashir: Commander, we have some good news to report.\nSisko: I've already heard.\nBashir: You have?\nSisko: Yes. I received a message from both the T'Lani and Kellerun ambassadors, informing me of your success in neutralizing the harvesters. Congratulations, gentlemen.\nO'Brien: Thank you, sir, but Doctor here deserves the bulk of the credit.\nBashir: Actually, it was a team effort\nO'Brien: The Doctor's just being modest, sir. He was the one who came up with muon rays as a possible solution.\nBashir: Luckily, it worked.\nSisko: When can we expect you back?\nO'Brien: Soon, I hope.\nSisko: The ambassador said something about a celebration on T'Lani Prime.\nBashir: Yes, it's set for tonight, but the Chief is quite anxious to return back to the station.\nO'Brien: It's been a long week.\nSisko: Still, I think we can spare you for another day.\nBashir: I agree. If that's okay with you, Chief.\nO'Brien: I suppose another day won't kill me.\nBashir: That's the spirit.\nSisko: Then we'll expect you back day after tomorrow.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Enjoy yourselves, gentlemen. You've earned it.\nNydrom: The last cylinder. I believe that you should have the honor, Doctor.\nBashir: My pleasure.\nNydrom: It's ironic, isn't it, that the war would finally come to an end up here, above T'Lani Three, a planet whose entire population was decimated by harvesters. I hope this will be a lasting peace.\nNydrom: What is this? Weapons aren't allowed up here.\nBashir: They're all dead.\nO'Brien: We will be, too, if we don't get out of here. O'Brien to Ganges. Computer, activate remote transporter sequence. O'Brien to Ganges.\nBashir: They must be jamming communications with the runabout.\nO'Brien: We sure as hell can't stay here. We'll have to beam down to the surface.\nBashir: But they'll be able to follow us.\nO'Brien: I'm programming the system to overload thirty seconds after we transport. Let's go.\nSisko: I'll have a cup of Alterian chowder, uttaberry crepes, and a slice of\nKira: Kira to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Major.\nKira: The T'Lani and Kellerun ambassadors have just arrived on the station. They're asking to see you.\nSisko: Are O'Brien and Bashir with them?\nKira: No, Commander. And the ambassadors refuse to speak to anyone but you.\nSisko: Show them to my office. I'll be right there.\nKira: Yes, sir.\nSisko: I'll have to cancel that order.\nSisko: Are you saying both of my officers are dead?\nE'Tyshra: Along with some of our greatest scientists.\nSharat: We're sorry you had to share in our misfortune.\nSisko: What happened?\nE'Tyshra: It was\nSharat: It was a terrible accident. It appears one of your officers, a Chief O'Brien I believe, inadvertently tripped a security device. A lethal pulse of radiation flooded the room, killing everyone.\nE'Tyshra: Ambassador Sharat transported off the ship just minutes before the accident occurred.\nSisko: This security device\nE'Tyshra: It was built into the lab's computers decades ago. We didn't even know it existed.\nSisko: If there were no survivors, how do you know that Chief O'Brien caused the accident?\nSharat: I was able to return to the ship almost immediately after the accident. The first thing I did was to check the internal security sensors. They recorded the entire incident. We assumed you'd want to see for yourself.\nSisko: Thank you.\nE'Tyshra: Commander, I just want you to know we don't blame Chief O'Brien for what happened.\nSharat: On the contrary, both he and Doctor Bashir will always be considered heroes to both the Kellerun and the T'Lani. Without their help, we never could have destroyed the harvesters.\nE'Tyshra: Please extend our sympathies to their families.\nSisko: I'll do that.\nBashir: Chief! Chief, in here.\nO'Brien: Wait. Don't touch anything.\nBashir: Why not? There's food and medical supplies.\nO'Brien: They could be booby-trapped. The Cardassians used to rig the supplies they left behind with pressure grenades. I've seen more than one soldier permanently lose his appetite that way.\nBashir: Well, did you find anything?\nO'Brien: It looks all right.\nBashir: Good. At least we won't starve. Here.\nO'Brien: No.\nBashir: Why not, Chief? I thought you loved military rations.\nO'Brien: Federation rations. I've had enough T'Lani food this past week to last me a lifetime.\nBashir: Well, we've got to keep our strength up. We're going to have to find some way of warning the T'Lani the Kelleruns have broken the treaty.\nO'Brien: I still can't figure it. Why would the Kelleruns wait till the harvesters were destroyed before they made their move?\nBashir: Maybe they didn't ha d over all the harvesters for destruction.\nO'Brien: Maybe they're convinced they can defeat the T'Lani with conventional weapons.\nBashir: I suppose, but that might mean continuing the war for another hundred years. Well, whatever the reason, we'd better keep moving.\nO'Brien: Wait. Listen to me, Julian. The Kelleruns are going to expect us to be on the move. If we start running, their sensors'll pick us up before we've gone a kilometer. If we stay still maybe, just maybe, it'll take them longer to find us. The way I see it, we have only one chance to survive this thing that's to stay alive long enough for Commander Sisko to find us.\nBashir: But that won't be for at least another day. He still thinks we're celebrating on T'Lani Prime.\nO'Brien: I said it was our only chance, I didn't say it was a good one. What have we here? Looks like some kind of comm. system. Maybe we can contact the T'Lani from here.\nBashir: Do you think you can get it working?\nO'Brien: I'll have to open it up, see if there's a backup power supply. Why don't you take a seat, Doctor?\nBashir: I thought maybe I could help. I took the engineering extension courses at Starfleet Medical.\nO'Brien: Extension courses?\nBashir: They were actually quite informative.\nO'Brien: Julian, do you really want to help?\nBashir: Yes.\nO'Brien: Then let me do my job.\nBashir: Of course. I'll inventory the supplies.\nO'Brien: Fine. Why don't you do that.\nNydrom: The last cylinder. I believe you should have the honor, Doctor.\nBashir: My pleasure.\nNydrom: The harvesters have been destroyed. We must make certain that all records of their existence are wiped out.\nO'Brien: I've purged every file in the T'Lani and Kellerun data banks pertaining to the harvesters. If anyone gets it in their head to build these things again, they'll have to start from scratch.\nNydrom: Then it's finished.\nO'Brien: Hold on, what's this?\nBashir: Chief?\nO'Brien: I don't know. Closing the last file seems to have activated some kind of security program. It looks like it was part of the original operating system. I can't shut it down. Do you know anything about this?\nNydrom: No. Maybe you should try cutting the power.\nO'Brien: It's not responding\nOdo: I've heard of security weapons like this. A radiation pulse that vaporizes any intruder who doesn't enter the proper code.\nKira: I'm surprised the Chief didn't detect it.\nDax: It must've been buried very deep in the system.\nKira: I'd like to talk to the chief of security for that ship.\nOdo: So would I.\nSisko: Remember, they lost people too.\nKira: The T'Lani were responsible for O'Brien's and Bashir's safety. They should have known about that device and deactivated it.\nSisko: That'll do, Major. I'd like for you to contact Bajoran medical officials. We'll need a doctor to be temporarily assigned to the station until Starfleet can send us a replacement for Doctor Bashir. Dax, inform Starfleet of the accident. Tell them we'll need a new medical officer and a new chief of operations.\nDax: Would you like me to go with you to see Mrs O'Brien?\nSisko: No, I'll take care of it. Find out how I can contact Julian's family. Major, inform the crew we'll be holding a memorial service tomorrow evening at eighteen hundred hours.\nKira: Yes, sir.\nSisko: All right, people. I know the next few days are going to be hard, but we all have jobs to do. Dismissed.\nBashir: So, having any luck?\nO'Brien: I wish you'd stop asking me that.\nBashir: I'm sorry. It's just all this standing around. I'm used to doing something constructive.\nO'Brien: Just keep your eyes open for any Kellerun soldiers.\nBashir: Don't worry, I will.\nO'Brien: It's such a mess in here.\nBashir: You'll make it work, Chief. It's the kind of challenge you live for. You know, I was looking forward to the celebrations on T'Lani Prime. I don't know if you'd noticed, but T'Lani women are quite attractive.\nO'Brien: I'm not blind, you know.\nBashir: Of course not. But you are married.\nO'Brien: Just because you're married doesn't mean you stop looking at women.\nBashir: Just as long as you don't let your wife see you look. For me, tonight's celebrations would have been an adventure. The most you could have hoped for was a good meal.\nO'Brien: Women. That's all you ever think about\nBashir: No, it isn't. Though I do think about them a lot.\nO'Brien: Yeah, well, one of these days you'll fall in love with one.\nBashir: I did once.\nO'Brien: Not work out?\nBashir: Not quite. Close. I don't know. Somehow marriage just doesn't seem fair.\nO'Brien: Fair?\nBashir: Fair to them. I mean, look at us. Our lives are constantly in danger. There's enough to worry about without worrying about the wife and kids at home worrying about us. I'm sorry, Chief. I just feel that way. A lot of career officers feel that way.\nO'Brien: Well, you career officers don't know what you're missing.\nBashir: Really? That may be so. I just look at you and Mrs O'Brien and I\nO'Brien: What about me and Mrs O'Brien?\nBashir: Nothing.\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's no secret that your assignment to this station hasn't been conducive to your marriage.\nO'Brien: Say that again?\nBashir: Why don't we just forget it.\nO'Brien: That's the first intelligent thing you've said since we got here.\nBashir: Are you cold?\nO'Brien: Yes. Aren't you?\nBashir: No. Actually it's quite warm in here. You're looking a little pale.\nO'Brien: I'm fine.\nBashir: Your blood pressure's low. You're running a fever. You'd better sit down.\nO'Brien: I don't want to sitting down. I've got work to do.\nBashir: Roll up your sleeve.\nO'Brien: Why?\nBashir: Do it. Please.\nBashir: You were behind the genetic bath when it shattered, weren't you?\nO'Brien: You have something to tell me, Doctor?\nBashir: You've been infected by the harvesters.\nKeiko: Come in.\nKeiko: Commander Sisko.\nSisko: Keiko.\nKeiko: Something's happened to Miles.\nSisko: There was an accident. Both your husband and Doctor Bashir were involved.\nKeiko: They're dead.\nSisko: I'm sorry.\nKeiko: Tell me what happened.\nSisko: The T'Lani security sensors recorded the entire incident.\nKeiko: I want to see it.\nSisko: I'll have it sent to you. Miles was a fine officer and a fine man. I'll miss him.\nKeiko: Thank you, Commander. I would like to be alone now.\nSisko: If there's anything you need, just let me know.\nBashir: Chief?\nO'Brien: It's my eyes. They're getting fuzzy.\nBashir: You'd better sit down. I'll take over from here.\nO'Brien: What makes you think you can fix this?\nBashir: Because you're going to talk me through it. Now, take a seat.\nO'Brien: Maybe. Just for a minute. Or two.\nBashir: Now, tell me where you left off.\nO'Brien: You see the dark blue coil in the upper right hand corner?\nBashir: No.\nO'Brien: It's there, beside the green cylinder. Just below it.\nBashir: Yes, I see it.\nO'Brien: You have to lock the base of the coil into the tiny receptor just below it.\nDax: You know, I just remembered I still have Julian's medical school diaries.\nKira: He let you read them?\nDax: He felt they would help me understand him better.\nKira: How? By reading about all the women he went out with?\nDax: That's not what they're not about. When he gave them to me, he told me that they were about his innermost thoughts, his struggle to graduate top of his class, his dream of a career in Starfleet, his constant fear of failure.\nKira: Really? And did you understand him better?\nDax: I never got around to reading them. I suppose I should send them to his parents.\nKira: You could keep them.\nDax: Really?\nKira: I think he'd like that. He cared a great deal about you.\nDax: I know. I cared about him, too.\nQuark: These are on the house.\nKira: How come?\nQuark: I thought we'd have a toast to the memory of Chief O'Brien and Doctor Bashir.\nDax: That's very thoughtful, Quark.\nQuark: I can be thoughtful. To our dear departed comrades. We may have had our differences, but I'll say this for them, and it's no higher tribute I can think of. They were good customers. They always paid their bar bills on time.\nKira: That's it?\nQuark: I'm not done yet. At times like these I'm reminded of the Fifty Seventh Rule of Acquisition. Good customers are as rare as latinum. Treasure them.\nKira: Mrs. O'Brien?\nKeiko: Major, I need to see Commander Sisko. It's very important.\nKira: I'll tell him you're here. I just wanted you to know how sorry I am. How sorry we all are.\nKeiko: Thank you.\nO'Brien: If anyone gets it in their head to build these things again\nKeiko: Watch. It's coming up in just a few seconds.\nNydrom: Then it's finished.\nKeiko: Computer, freeze image.\nKeiko: There. Do you see it?\nSisko: I see the Chief drinking coffee.\nKeiko: Exactly. Now look at the time index.\nKira: Fifteen hundred hours.\nKeiko: That's right. Late afternoon. Miles never drank coffee late in the afternoon. It keeps him up all night.\nSisko: Maybe he made an exception this time. Working long hours, under a lot of stress.\nKeiko: I know my husband. He never drinks coffee late in the day.\nKira: Maybe he isn't drinking coffee. Maybe it's tea.\nKeiko: I checked the data clip. It contained a spectroscopic analysis. The liquid in Miles' cup consisted of vegetable-based oils and caffeine. It's coffee all right.\nSisko: You're suggesting someone tampered with this recording?\nKeiko: Yes, I am. And I want to know the reason why.\nSisko: Lieutenant, when were you planning on bringing the Ganges back from T'Lani Three?\nDax: Tomorrow.\nSisko: I don't see any reason to wait, do you?\nDax: I'll leave right away.\nSisko: Good. I'll come with you. Mrs O'Brien, if this recording has been altered, we'll find out why.\nBashir: You were right, Chief. The contacts on the subprocessor are corroded.\nO'Brien: Yeah. They need to be cleaned.\nBashir: I think there are some sterile pads in the med kit. Here we go.\nBashir: Don't leave me, Chief. I still need you.\nO'Brien: Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. So who was she?\nBashir: Who?\nO'Brien: Not quite close.\nBashir: Palis. Palis Delon. She was a dancer, a ballerina. She had the most exquisite feet. I'm serious. It's very important for a dancer to have good arches. She was gorgeous, not to mention brilliant. I used to watch her on stage. I couldn't believe how anyone could be so graceful.\nO'Brien: And she was crazy about you?\nBashir: We were crazy about each other. I used to think, Julian, you lucky devil. You've found the perfect woman. We used to finish each other's thoughts. There. What do you think?\nO'Brien: Good, good. Put it back in the comm. panel.\nBashir: Looks like we have some power, anyway. Still no response from the transmitter, though.\nO'Brien: Try retuning the RF oscillators. So what happened with you and Palis?\nBashir: What happened is I graduated. Her father was the top administrator at a medical complex in Paris. He offered me a job, promised I'd be Chief of Surgery within five years\nO'Brien: But you would have to give up your Starfleet career.\nBashir: I can't tell you how close I came. But, here I am.\nO'Brien: You made your choice.\nBashir: Yeah. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I think to myself, will I ever find anyone that wonderful again? The oscillator's working, but the frequency is still fluctuating.\nO'Brien: Let me take a look. Argh.\nBashir: What is it?\nO'Brien: It's my legs. I can't feel them.\nDax: We're approaching T'Lani Three. Establishing a synchronous orbit along side the Ganges.\nSisko: Open a channel to the T'Lani cruiser.\nE'Tyshra: Commander Sisko. What a pleasant surprise. I take it you're here for your runabout?\nSisko: That's correct.\nE'Tyshra: We were about to leave for the memorial service on T'Lani Prime. You're welcome to accompany us.\nSisko: Perhaps we will. But first I'd like to see for myself where the accident took place.\nE'Tyshra: Of course.\nDax: While you're on the cruiser, I think I'll beam over to the Ganges and take a look around.\nSisko: Good idea.\nBashir: Chief! Chief, it's working. The signal's very faint\nO'Brien: You'll have to switch to a higher carrier frequency. Reset the actuators on the chamber's coil.\nBashir: That's better. It's still pretty weak though. I'm sending a distress signal. It's set to repeat every two minutes. Let's hope the T'Lani find us before the Kellerun do.\nO'Brien: They'd better get here soon.\nBashir: Don't worry, Chief I'm going to get you home.\nO'Brien: In a box, maybe.\nBashir: Nonsense. Don't go giving up on me now.\nO'Brien: I'm not giving up, I'm dying. Listen to me, Julian. You must tell Keiko and Molly\nBashir: You'll tell them yourself.\nO'Brien: You were wrong, you know, about marriage.\nBashir: Whatever you say, Chief.\nO'Brien: Listen to me, Julian. You're always talking about adventure. Ha, adventure! Marriage is the greatest adventure of them all. It's filled with pitfalls and setbacks and mistakes, but it's a journey worth taking because you take it together. I know Keiko's been unhappy about us coming to the station. We still argue about it. But that's all right, because at the end of the day, we both know we love each other.\nBashir: Chief.\nO'Brien: That's all that matters.\nBashir: Chief, you'd better get some rest. The T'Lani will be here soon.\nSisko: I see there's still some residual traces of the radiation pulse.\nE'Tyshra: That's to be expected, given the pulse's intensity, but it poses no danger.\nSisko: Tell me, Ambassador. Have you been able to learn any thing else about the fail-safe device that caused the accident?\nE'Tyshra: Not yet, Commander, but we're working on it.\nSisko: It was Ambassador Sharat who brought you the data clip?\nE'Tyshra: That's right.\nSisko: I suppose he showed it to you as soon as you arrived?\nE'Tyshra: Of course.\nSisko: Could the clip have been altered before you saw it?\nE'Tyshra: Why would Ambassador Sharat alter the data clip?\nSisko: I have no idea.\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko.\nDax: Commander, when you're through there, could you join me on the Ganges?\nSisko: Yes. I'll be here a few more minutes.\nE'Tyshra: Commander, the T'Lani and Kellerun have finally made peace. That peace cannot survive unless both sides trust each other.\nSisko: What have you got, Dax?\nDax: It looks like someone erased five seconds from the Ganges's computer log.\nSisko: Show me.\nDax: At first I thought it was just some kind of power fluctuation, but when I checked the log's memory core it showed traces of a remote transport command.\nSisko: Did you find any indication of transporter activity at that time?\nDax: No.\nSisko: And you're saying somebody erased it later on?\nDax: Look at the time index when the call for transport came in.\nSisko: Fifteen thirty four. That's a full three minutes after the accident on the T'Lani cruiser.\nDax: Which means if either Chief O'Brien or Julian made that request\nSisko: They would've been alive after the fail-safe device went off. Good work, Lieutenant.\nBashir: Chief! Chief! Don't leave me now. Breathe. That's better. Now it you're doing it.\nO'Brien: Tell me, Julian, ever talk to that ballerina of yours?\nBashir: Not since I left Earth.\nO'Brien: Maybe you should.\nBashir: Well, maybe one day I will.\nBashir: Ambassador E'Tyshra, am I glad to see you. Chief O'Brien was infected by the harvesters when the Kelleruns attacked your ship. They killed all of the scientists.\nSharat: Not all of them.\nBashir: You're too late, Sharat.\nE'Tyshra: No, Doctor. He's right on time.\nBashir: But why kill Nydrom and the others?\nE'Tyshra: To ensure that the peace agreement between our two races will last.\nBashir: But we'd already destroyed the harvesters. There was no reason for more killings, unless\nSharat: It's not enough to simply destroy the harvesters. We have to be sure no one can ever recreate them.\nE'Tyshra: The only way to do that was to eliminate everyone who possessed such knowledge, including the two of you.\nBashir: But we have no use for such horrible weapons.\nSharat: As long as the knowledge exists, there's a danger it may be used. That's a risk we refuse to live with.\nE'Tyshra: I truly am sorry, Doctor, but at least you have the consolation of knowing your deaths will be for a noble cause.\nO'Brien: Wait.\nE'Tyshra: Let him speak.\nO'Brien: Help me up. I want to die on my feet.\nBashir: I'm sorry I didn't get us home, Chief.\nO'Brien: You did your best. It's been an honor serving with you.\nBashir: Why thank you, Chief. That means a lot.\nBashir: Commander, am I glad to see you. Chief O'Brien going to be dead within the hour if we don't get him back to the station.\nSisko: What happened?\nBashir: He was exposed to the harvesters. That should stabilize him for now.\nDax: They told us you were both dead, Julian.\nBashir: We would have been, if the T'Lani and Kelleruns had had their way. They're killing everyone involved in the harvesters project.\nDax: The T'Lani cruiser's coming this way. They're hailing us.\nSisko: Ignore them. Send a general distress signal on all Federation subspace frequencies.\nDax: They're blocking all subspace communications with a broadband inversion. They're hailing us again.\nSisko: Is the inversion field affecting sensors as well?\nDax: All short range sensors are useless.\nSisko: Which means theirs are useless too.\nJakin: Ambassador, Commander Sisko is attempting to escape. We are in pursuit.\nSharat: Can we overtake them?\nE'Tyshra: Their runabout is no match for this ship. Fire a warning shot.\nJakin: Confirmed. Commander Sisko is hailing us.\nE'Tyshra: I thought he would.\nSisko: By firing on this vessel, you've committed an act of war against the Federation.\nE'Tyshra: Commander, we have no quarrel with the Federation or with you, but we must insist you turn over Doctor Bashir and Chief O'Brien.\nSisko: Why? So you can murder them?\nSharat: Unfortunately, Commander, your officers are the only two people left who've seen the data concerning the development of the harvesters.\nSisko: They have no intention of using that knowledge. You have my word\nSharat: Their intentions are irrelevant. The fact is, the threat remains as long as the knowledge exists.\nE'Tyshra: Commander, I know this is painful for you. It wasn't easy for us to order the deaths of our own people, but it is necessary.\nSisko: And if I refuse to turn them over?\nE'Tyshra: You can't outrun us and you can't fight us. We can destroy your runabout at any time.\nSisko: Lieutenant Dax and I have no knowledge of the harvesters. Are you willing to kill us too?\nSharat: We'll do whatever we have to do to ensure our safety.\nE'Tyshra: Commander, you are running out of options. You have one minute to turn over Doctor Bashir and Chief O'Brien\nSisko: You want them, you're going to have to take us all.\nSharat: He leaves us no choice.\nJakin: The runabout is turning. It's heading back in our direction.\nE'Tyshra: Full stop.\nJakin: He's preparing to fire.\nE'Tyshra: Employ shields.\nJakin: Shields employed.\nE'Tyshra: Put the runabout on screen.\nSharat: He must know his phasers can't hurt us.\nJakin: He's aiming his vessel straight for us.\nSharat: The man must be crazy.\nE'Tyshra: Fire phasers.\nSharat: It's over.\nE'Tyshra: Head back to T'Lani Three. Prepare to take the other runabout in tow.\nJakin: Ambassador, sensors indicate the other runabout is no longer in orbit.\nE'Tyshra: Then where is it?\nJakin: I don't know. It's gone.\nSharat: It can't just have disappeared.\nJakin: I'm picking up a warp signature.\nE'Tyshra: Sisko. Maybe he and the others weren't on that runabout we destroyed.\nJakin: They could have transported to the other runabout while our sensors were down.\nE'Tyshra: And then piloted the first ship by remote navigation.\nSharat: But we saw them die.\nE'Tyshra: Did we?\nO'Brien: What's this?\nKeiko: Something Molly made for you. She painted it herself.\nO'Brien: It's lovely. She's really talented.\nBashir: How's my patient?\nO'Brien: Better. Can I go home now?\nBashir: You should be out of here by tomorrow. I just wanted to let you to know how much I appreciated what you said back on T'Lani Three.\nO'Brien: What did I say?\nBashir: That it was an honor serving with me.\nO'Brien: Oh, right.\nBashir: And I'd like to return the compliment, if I may. It's been an honor serving with you, too, Chief. You know, Mrs O'Brien, they say when two people face death together, it creates a bond that cannot be broken. I never believed that until I was\nO'Brien: Julian.\nBashir: Hmm? Oh, er, of course. You'd like to be alone. I understand.\nKeiko: Miles, he saved your life, you know.\nO'Brien: He's never going to let me forget it.\nKeiko: So what was it like spending all that time alone with him?\nO'Brien: It was hell. You can see for yourself the man never stops talking. You know, I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee right now.\nKeiko: Miles, you never drink coffee in the afternoon.\nO'Brien: Sure I do.\nKeiko: You do?"}
{"text": "O'Brien: Computer, set heading one four zero mark three two.\nComputer: Course laid in.\nO'Brien: Maximum warp. Engage. Time to Parada system?\nComputer: One hour, fourteen minutes.\nO'Brien: Open a new file, computer. O'Brien, personal log, stardate 47581.2. I've got to try to set the record straight about the last fifty two hours. I don't know who's going to hear this. I don't even know if I'll be alive by the time this log is recovered. I figure they'll be coming after me. If I'm right about this whole thing, they won't want me to warn the Paradas. Coffee, Jamaican blend, double strong, double sweet. I wish I could tell you who they are. That's part of the puzzle I haven't figured out yet. Part of the puzzle, hell. None of this whole damn thing makes any sense. I'm trying to remember the first time I noticed that things were wrong. It seems to me it was, yeah.\nO'Brien: It had to be the first morning after I got back to the station.\nO'Brien: What are you two doing up so early?\nKeiko: I had a lot of work to catch up on at school. Thought I'd get an early start.\nO'Brien: At five-thirty in the morning? Coffee, Jamaican blend, double strong, double sweet.\nKeiko: I have a dozen essays to read.\nO'Brien: Did you have sweet dreams, darling?\nMolly: Go away.\nO'Brien: Don't I get my morning kiss?\nMolly: No.\nO'Brien: What did I do to deserve that?\nKeiko: It's just a phase, Miles. She doesn't mean it.\nO'Brien: Huh?\nKeiko: Don't let it bother you.\nO'Brien: What time did you get to bed last night?\nKeiko: I don't know. Late. I didn't want to wake you.\nO'Brien: I was tired. I guess that trip really took it out of me.\nKeiko: What did they have you doing?\nO'Brien: The Paradas? They put me through basic training on all the security measures they want in place for the peace talks. Odo would have had a field day. I wish he could have been there.\nKeiko: I'd better get going.\nO'Brien: I'll drop Molly at day care on my way to Ops.\nKeiko: That's okay, I'm taking her with me. Molly?\nO'Brien: To school? When you've got all that reading to do? That doesn't make a lot of sense.\nKeiko: There's something I want to show her. A Vulcan program that teaches basic problem solving skills.\nO'Brien: At five-thirty-five in the morning?\nKeiko: I want to do it while her mind is fresh.\nO'Brien: If you say so.\nKeiko: See you later.\nO'Brien: What's this?\nDecurtis: Just getting a head start, Chief\nO'Brien: Head start? Everybody seems to be getting a head start on me today.\nDecurtis: Sir?\nO'Brien: DeCurtis, I appreciate your bushy-tailed enthusiasm but I was waiting for Odo to came back from Bajor to do this. We have to realign the entire security net for the peace talks. The Constable might have a few things to say about it all.\nDecurtis: Commander Sisko didn't feel we should wait for Odo.\nO'Brien: Sisko gave you permission to start this without asking with me first? I don't think so.\nDecurtis: You might want to check with him, sir. I'm only following orders.\nO'Brien: I'll check with him all right.\nDecurtis: Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: Carry on.\nO'Brien: Computer, how much longer to Parada system?\nComputer: Fifty three minutes.\nO'Brien: Direct sensors back toward the wormhole. Scan for other warp signatures on this heading.\nComputer: One warp signature found.\nO'Brien: Display. Can you identify?\nComputer: Identification confirmed. Starfleet runabout Mekong.\nO'Brien: I figured as much. They'll wait for me to drop out of warp and then. Well, we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it, won't we.\nComputer: Please restate question.\nO'Brien: Disregard, computer. Continue personal log. Okay, so it was all a little curious but who could've guessed at that point\nO'Brien: I mean, the way they were acting, they might've been trying to pull off one of those surprise parties that I can't stand, only my birthday's not until September, and believe me, as it turned out, I had nothing else to celebrate.\nBashir: Ah, there he is now. I've been waiting for you, Chief.\nO'Brien: What is it, Julian.\nBashir: No excuses this time.\nO'Brien: Excuses?\nBashir: I'd like you in my office in an hour.\nO'Brien: For what?\nBashir: Your physical. You can't put this off any longer.\nO'Brien: Look, this isn't a good day.\nBashir: It's a perfect day. Commander Sisko has arranged to have you covered and\nO'Brien: What are you doing going to the Commander about my check-up?\nBashir: Because this has been. I just know how you feel about\nO'Brien: Forget it. I've got things to do.\nBashir: I'm afraid I'll have to insist. If I have to order you as your superior officer, I will.\nSisko: Is there a problem?\nBashir: Mister O'Brien says he's unavailable for a physical.\nSisko: Make yourself available, Chief.\nO'Brien: Commander.\nSisko: Doctor Bashir's annual report on the senior staff is due next week at Starfleet. We've all had to go through this.\nO'Brien: Fine. Fine, I'll be there in an hour.\nO'Brien: Commander, can I talk to you for a minute?\nSisko: Ensign DeCurtis mentioned to me that you were a little upset.\nO'Brien: Not upset, exactly.\nSisko: No, no, you had every right to be. I'm sorry I assigned him before advising you. I guess I dropped the ball on that one.\nO'Brien: Well, I guess I just felt a little left out of the loop, you know.\nSisko: Understood. I've gone through your reports on the Paradas. They seem unusually preoccupied with security.\nO'Brien: They may be a little paranoid, but I suppose we would be too if we'd been engaged in a civil war for twelve years.\nSisko: Anything else I should know about them? Any unusual protocols we should observe when they get here?\nO'Brien: No, nothing too out of the ordinary. It's all pretty much in my report.\nSisko: Now, tell me something that's not in the report.\nO'Brien: Sir?\nSisko: You know, the kind of things we don't include in reports but might help me in these talks.\nO'Brien: Well, I'd have to give it some thought. There was one thing I noticed. I don't know if it means anything or not, but the Paradas have an odor from some kind of skin excretions, I'd guess. It changes with their moods. When they're upset, it can get pretty strong actually.\nSisko: I'll try not to get them upset.\nO'Brien: Good idea.\nSisko: Their leaders have been in regular contact with us. I've assured them that we'll be following all of their security recommendations to the letter.\nO'Brien: I'll see to that.\nSisko: Well, I certainly want you to check everything before they get here, but the upfront work can be done by the Engineering crews. I have bigger problems for you.\nO'Brien: Bigger?\nSisko: All three upper pylons are down again.\nO'Brien: That's impossible. I went over that repair work when I got back. The pressure locks seemed to be at maximum efficiency.\nSisko: You'd better check again. We had to tow a Bolian freighter to a lower dock this morning.\nO'Brien: It can't be anything that serious. I rebuilt that entire subsystem myself. I'll get on it right away.\nSisko: After your physical.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. Oh, by the way, I noticed you and Keiko out in front of the school this morning, talking. Is there anything wrong?\nSisko: Oh, Jake is having some problems with his grades.\nO'Brien: I'm sorry to hear that, sir. Keiko's very fond of the boy. I'm sure she'll work that much harder to help him.\nSisko: I'm sure she will.\nO'Brien: Are we nearly finished? I believe you've poked into every orifice of my body and created a few new ones.\nBashir: Any dizziness? Oversleeping? Lack of energy? Euphoria?\nO'Brien: Yes, all of them. Especially euphoria. Lots of euphoria.\nBashir: Seriously.\nO'Brien: Look, if you're determined to keep me here until you find something wrong with me, I'll see if I can't grow you a hangnail.\nBashir: Eye problems? Hearing? Headaches?\nO'Brien: Headache. There you go. In fact, I'm getting a very bad one right now.\nBashir: Short temper. Flies off the handle under the slightest provocation. Perfectly normal behavior.\nO'Brien: I'm glad you're enjoying this.\nBashir: Sorry. I know how you feel about doctors.\nO'Brien: It's not doctors I have problems with. O'BRIEN +\nBashir: It's you, Julian.\nBashir: Well, your sense of humor seems normal enough\nO'Brien: I don't have a sense of humor.\nBashir: Cough. How's the sex life?\nO'Brien: I don't have a sense of humor.\nBashir: Cough. Everything all right in that department?\nO'Brien: That department is none of Starfleet's business, or yours.\nBashir: Mother and father in good health?\nO'Brien: Oh, come on, Julian. You knew my mother died two years ago.\nBashir: Did I?\nO'Brien: You don't remember me telling you when my father remarried last spring? Me blathering on about this woman I've never met before?\nBashir: Of course. Now I remember.\nO'Brien: Are you finished?\nBashir: Not quite. I just have one or two more tests to run.\nO'Brien: This is insane! I haven't had a physical take this long since I was born. Look, unless I'm dying or something, I think it's about time. Wait. That's it, is it? I mean, there is something wrong with me. That's why everyone seems so strange.\nBashir: Relax, Chief. I'm giving you a clean bill of health. You can get dressed.\nJake: Hey, Chief!\nO'Brien: Hello, Jake.\nJake: I need a favor.\nO'Brien: Sure. What is it?\nJake: I'm working on a subspace transceiver for my science project but I can't seem to figure out how to get the emitter crystal to work.\nO'Brien: A subspace transceiver model. I used to build them when I was your age. I'll be glad to help.\nJake: You don't think it's a conflict of interest or anything, you being married to the teacher?\nO'Brien: We'll have to clear it with Keiko but I don't think she'll mind. Besides, it's a chance to help get those grades of yours back up, right?\nJake: My grades are great. I just want to keep them that way.\nO'Brien: Sisko was telling the truth about one thing. The upper pylons had failed again. It didn't make any sense, because the new pressure locks I'd installled seemed to be working just fine, so it had to be an entirely new problem. I realized it wasn't going to be a quick matter to track it down after all. And I couldn't help thinking how this was going to keep me occupied while the security arrangements for the Paradas were underway.\nO'Brien: How's it coming, DeCurtis?\nDecurtis: Chief. I thought you had your hands full with the upper pylons.\nO'Brien: I do, but I thought I'd take a break and check in on your progress.\nDecurtis: Everything's on schedule here. We made a complete sweep of all the quarters assigned to the Paradas.\nO'Brien: Good. Open it up. I'd like to look it over myself.\nDecurtis: I can't, Chief.\nO'Brien: That's an order.\nDecurtis: Sir, the security seal was activated the minute we left. Only Major Kira has the access codes.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Kira.\nKira: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien: I'd like the access codes to the Parada quarters.\nSisko: Chief, what are you doing down there?\nO'Brien: Commander, I spent the last week going over these arrangements with the Paradas. I really need to\nSisko: I want those upper pylons operational, Chief. That's your priority. Understood?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nJake: Chief, is this the right inverter for the subspace transceiver?\nO'Brien: Where'd you get this? I haven't seen one of these since I was a kid.\nJake: I replicated it. I found the design in a really, really, old data file in the library program.\nO'Brien: Really, really, old?\nJake: I didn't mean\nO'Brien: Don't worry about it. Why don't you come by my place after dinner. We'll see if we can add the rest of the pieces.\nJake: Oh, that's great.\nO'Brien: Jake, did anything unusual happen here at the station while I was in the Gamma Quadrant last?\nKira: Jake. Your Dad's been looking for you. I think he's back in your quarters. It may be important.\nJake: See you later.\nKira: Everything under control, Chief?\nO'Brien: All under control, Major.\nO'Brien: I worked on the pylon controls the better part of the day. Needle in a haystack wouldn't do this job justice. When I finally found the crack in the RF power conduit, I couldn't imagine how it could've occurred so deep in the system, unless someone had broken it deliberately.\nKeiko: Hard day?\nO'Brien: You could say that.\nKeiko: You want to lie down before dinner?\nO'Brien: No, Jake's coming over in a little while. I promised to help him with his science project.\nKeiko: Er, Commander Sisko just called. Jake can't make it tonight. He isn't feeling well.\nO'Brien: Really? He seemed okay a few hours ago.\nKeiko: Well, you know how it is with kids. He probably just ate too much junk on the Promenade after school.\nO'Brien: Where's Molly?\nKeiko: She's over at the Fredricksons spending the night.\nO'Brien: So there's just the two of us, then.\nKeiko: We'd better eat while the food's still warm.\nO'Brien: The replicator can keep it warm, and I can keep you warm.\nO'Brien: What's the problem?\nKeiko: No problem. I'm just not in the mood. I had a hard day too.\nO'Brien: Okay, we'll eat. What is it?\nKeiko: Fricandeau stew.\nO'Brien: But you don't like Fricandeau stew.\nKeiko: You do.\nO'Brien: Yeah, but\nKeiko: I just thought you'd appreciate one of your favorite meals. I know how you hate all that terrible food when you're away. A little endive salad, sweet flan for dessert.\nO'Brien: How thoughtful of you. You're not having any?\nKeiko: I just feel like having salad.\nO'Brien: Not hungry?\nKeiko: I had a late lunch.\nKeiko: How is it?\nO'Brien: You know, I think I will lie down.\nKeiko: But you haven't eaten a bite.\nO'Brien: I just don't seem to have an appetite right now.\nO'Brien: I don't know if there was anything wrong with the stew or not. When I went back later to check, she'd already put it into the disposal. But all I could think of, as I looked at her, was that this was not my Keiko.\nO'Brien: Computer, open O'Brien personal log. Play back last sentence.\nO'Brien: But all I could think of, as I looked at her, was that this was not my Keiko.\nO'Brien: You're right. She wasn't. Continue log. I didn't get much sleep that night.\nO'Brien: I waited for Keiko, or whoever she was, to go to bed and I started my search. I had no idea what I was looking for. Something odd, something not quite normal, anything to explain what might be going on.\nComputer: Scan complete. No unknown microorganisms detected.\nO'Brien: Check for traces of any chemical agents with bioactive properties.\nComputer: No chemical agents with bioactive properties detected.\nO'Brien: Any unknown chemical agents?\nComputer: Negative.\nO'Brien: Access internal EM sensor grid.\nComputer: Ready.\nO'Brien: Scan for any evidence of sub-harmonic transmissions.\nComputer: Scan complete. No sub-harmonic transmissions detected.\nO'Brien: Any unusual neural wave patterns.\nComputer: Negative.\nO'Brien: Any telepathic activity on board.\nComputer: Negative.\nO'Brien: Computer, display all arriving vessels from stardate 47550 through 47571.\nO'Brien: None from the Gamma Quadrant?\nComputer: No ships arrived from the Gamma Quadrant within time parameters requested.\nO'Brien: Coffee, Jamaican blend, double strong, double sweet. You're drinking too much of this stuff, O'Brien. Anything to stay alert, O'Brien. Okay, computer, play back station logs chronologically, starting with stardate 47550.\nComputer: Identify which officer's logs are to be included.\nO'Brien: All officers.\nComputer: Vocal or transcribed?\nO'Brien: Vocal.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 47552.9. Admiral Gupta has arrived to personally assess the Cardassian movements along the border. Several Federation colonies in the demilitarized zone have complained of\nDax: diskovered a new lifeform previously unreported. We have tentatively classified it as a protozoic species but still have to\nSisko: lost in a shuttlepod somewhere in the vicinity of the third moon of Bajor Seven. We have two runabouts\nKira: a request by the Chamber of Ministers that I find absolutely ridiculous. They have actually requested that we begin to screen all arriving\nDecurtis: were completed at seventeen-hundred hours and seem to be functioning with no further difficulties. A level one diagnostic\nSisko: and the Admiral seemed satisfied that the Cardassians would not violate the treaty.\nComputer: Access denied.\nO'Brien: Denied? Access denied to what?\nSisko: Captain's logs after stardate 47569.4 are restricted.\nO'Brien: The day I got back. Describe the restrictions.\nComputer: Access restricted to level one security clearance.\nO'Brien: I am level one.\nComputer: Please enter security verification.\nComputer: Access denied.\nDecurtis: Anything I can help you with, Chief?\nO'Brien: No, I'm just making sure these upper pylons are in working condition by morning.\nDecurtis: You're an inspiration to us all.\nO'Brien: There were several traps laid into the computer subroutine, no doubt to let someone know if I'd penetrated their security lockout. I wasn't fooled for a minute and released the protected files without any problem.\nO'Brien: What I found in those hidden logs didn't answer all my questions, but it sure as hell confirmed what I'd been afraid of. They were analyzing and reanalyzing everything I had put into my report about Paradan security. They'd even broken into my personal logs to see what they could find in there. I hope they enjoyed reading the sexy letters to my wife. There were several entries by Sisko about secured messages from the Parada system but no indication what those messages were about. Maybe they were afraid I'd get into their files even with the security lockout. Smart people.\nOdo: Chief.\nO'Brien: Odo, we've got a problem. I have to talk to you.\nOdo: It's good to see you too.\nO'Brien: Aside from Jake, not one of them was, I don't know, real. I'm not sure who we can trust on the station at this point.\nOdo: Do any of them know you're suspicious?\nO'Brien: Probably. I've asked a few questions, been a few places that might have tipped them off. They'll be keeping close tabs on me. I'd call Starfleet but what could I tell them? My wife doesn't seem like my wife? Sisko's been making security arrangements without consulting me?\nOdo: They might even call Commander Sisko and start asking questions about you.\nO'Brien: That's what I was afraid of.\nOdo: When are the Paradas due?\nO'Brien: Thirty eight hours.\nOdo: I don't want them coming anywhere near this place until we get this cleared up.\nO'Brien: Agreed.\nOdo: Go on about your business. Don't do anything to get their attention. In the meantime, I'll do some investigating. If I can confirm your suspicions, we can go to Starfleet and the Bajoran authorities at the same time.\nO'Brien: I'm glad you're back, Odo.\nOdo: We'll get to the bottom of this.\nO'Brien: I felt better than I had for a long time. I finally had an ally. Now, all I had to do was wait. I like to think I'm a man with many talents, but waiting isn't one of them. I had to cover my bets, prepare myself for whatever might happen next. I still had a few tricks up my sleeve.\nQuark: The odds are against you, O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Against me? What are you talking about?\nQuark: You know what I'm talking about. You look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?\nO'Brien: What are you talking about, Quark?\nQuark: Racquetball. The rematch with Bashir next week. We never finished the first one, remember? My, we are jumpy, aren't we.\nO'Brien: Change the subject.\nQuark: Fine, we'll change the subject. So, tell me about the Paradas. They're going to be here, when, tomorrow?\nO'Brien: Why do you want to know anything about the Paradas?\nQuark: It's always good business to know about new customers before they walk in your door.\nO'Brien: Which Rule of Acquisition is that?\nQuark: Oh, one of the high numbers. One ninety four, I think.\nO'Brien: Well, you'll have to find out about the Paradas from someone else.\nOdo: Odo to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Go ahead.\nOdo: Can I see you in my office?\nO'Brien: On my way.\nOdo: I see what you mean.\nO'Brien: What did you find out?\nOdo: Sit down. How much do you know about the Paradan rebels?\nO'Brien: Don't ask me to explain the politics of the situation, but I know they've been fighting the government forces for twelve years. Why?\nOdo: I'm just trying to understand the players involved here.\nO'Brien: Odo, Sisko's logs indicate that secret messages have been coming from the Parada System. Could those messages have been from the rebels?\nOdo: As a matter of fact, they were.\nO'Brien: That's already a breach of the security agreement we made with the Paradan government, and it's a good enough reason for us to cancel these peace talks.\nOdo: That still might be premature.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about? We've got more than enough They got to you.\nOdo: Don't be ridiculous. I'm just trying to\nO'Brien: No, they did. They got to you.\nSisko: All right, let's have a little talk.\nO'Brien: Who the hell are you?\nKira: We don't want to hurt you.\nBashir: Here, this'll help you relax.\nO'Brien: Thanks just the same.\nO'Brien: Computer, lock on to my comm. badge. Initiate emergency transport to runabout Rio Grande.\nComputer: Unable to complete request. Please contact station commander for assistance.\nO'Brien: Making it tough for me, huh? Fine. You want forcefields, I'll give you forcefields. There. Now, you want to get me, you'll have to release them all.\nO'Brien: Thank you.\nO'Brien: Jake, are you okay?\nJake: Yeah.\nO'Brien: Good. Listen to me. Something isn't normal round here. Your dad, the others, something's happened to them. You and I are the only ones who can help.\nJake: Jake Sisko to Security. He's here. Level H two, section five. It'll be okay. Just surrender to them and you'll be fine.\nOdo: Spread out. Check all quarters. Advise people to stay where they are and not to let anyone in.\nSecurity: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Shut down your engines.\nO'Brien: Sorry, Commander. I have no intention of doing that.\nSisko: You will not be allowed to leave. I repeat, shut down your engines now.\nO'Brien: If you check your systems, you'll find that the mooring clamps are already unlocked and your tractor beams are offline. O'Brien out. Shields up!\nO'Brien: Are the shields holding, Computer.\nComputer: Shields at seventy-one percent.\nComputer: Warning. Shields at forty nine percent.\nO'Brien: Transfer emergency life support power to shield generators.\nComputer: Transfer complete.\nO'Brien: Shield status.\nComputer: Shields at ninety three percent.\nO'Brien: Full impulse, heading four one mark three three-zero.\nComputer: Confirmed.\nO'Brien: Computer, open a subspace channel to Starbase four zero one. Priority one, Admiral Rollman.\nComputer: Stand by.\nO'Brien: Admiral. Miles O'Brien, Chief of Operations, Deep Space Nine.\nRollman: I know who you are.\nO'Brien: Admiral, I must apprise you of an emergency situation on the station. There's been some sort of takeover, a conspiracy. I believe it has something to do with the Paradan peace talks.\nRollman: Listen to me very carefully. Return to DS Nine immediately.\nO'Brien: Admiral, you don't understand. I believe Commander Sisko and all of the senior officers have fallen under the influence of something that\nRollman: Turn the ship around and go back. You will not be harmed.\nO'Brien: It seemed almost unbelievable to me. Had someone or something started to infiltrate all of Starfleet?\nO'Brien: Computer, new heading. One eight zero mark three one. To the wormhole.\nO'Brien: Coffee, Jamaican blend, double strong, double sweet. Time to Parada system, Computer.\nComputer: One minute, twenty seconds.\nO'Brien: How much lead time do we have on the Mekong.\nComputer: At current speeds, seven minutes, four seconds.\nO'Brien: That'll disappear in a hurry once we drop out of warp. At least I get to choose where they catch up. Computer, identify the largest planet in the Parada system.\nComputer: Parada Four.\nO'Brien: Adjust course to approach Parada Four.\nComputer: Confirmed.\nO'Brien: How many moons around Parada Four?\nComputer: Seven.\nO'Brien: Lucky seven. Display coordinates.\nComputer: Approaching the Parada system.\nO'Brien: Drop to impulse. Status of Mekong?\nComputer: Mekong has dropped out of warp and has adjusted course to identical heading.\nO'Brien: Perfect. How much time have they made up on us?\nComputer: At current speed, the Mekong is two minutes, one second behind this vessel.\nO'Brien: Adjust speed to let them catch up to us in thirty seconds.\nComputer: Dropping to point four impulse.\nO'Brien: Come on, I'm waiting for you.\nComputer: Warning. Entering polar magnetic field. Sensors will be nonfunctional for twenty seven seconds. Switch to manual navigation.\nO'Brien: Switching. Computer, full impulse, engage.\nComputer: Confirmed. Manual navigation in effect.\nO'Brien: Shut down all engines, all main power systems. Maintain silent running status.\nComputer: Confirmed.\nO'Brien: Yeah, where did I go? Now you see me, now you don't. What's it going to be, fellas? I can play hide and seek with the best of them. No time for games, huh? Computer, identify Mekong's new heading.\nComputer: Four one mark two zero one.\nO'Brien: Probable destination?\nComputer: Parada Two.\nO'Brien: Parada Two? What's on Parada Two?\nComputer: Specify parameters.\nO'Brien: Computer, monitor all transporter activity to and from the Mekong.\nComputer: Mekong transporter has been energized.\nO'Brien: They beamed to the surface?\nComputer: Confirmed.\nO'Brien: How many people?\nComputer: Three people.\nO'Brien: Anyone left on board?\nComputer: Negative.\nO'Brien: Put us on a course for Parada Two. Take us into synchronous orbit above their location on the surface.\nO'Brien: Having a little unscheduled negotiation with the rebels, are we?\nSisko: You don't understand. Put down your weapons and we'll explain.\nO'Brien: No, I've got a better idea. You put down yours first. Do it.\nO'Brien: You too.\nCoutu: Everything you need to understand is behind this door.\nO'Brien: Yeah, like a squadron of rebels maybe, huh?\nCoutu: No. If you'd just permit me\nO'Brien: Just stay where you are.\nKira: Listen to him. He's not your enemy. We're not your enemy.\nO'Brien: No?\nCoutu: Please. This will explain everything.\nO'Brien: I don't want to hurt you.\nSisko: Doctor, we need you!\nO'Brien: He's perfect. He looks just like me.\nKira: Apparently he thought he was you.\nCoutu: No doubt they thought that would make him more convincing. We believe there was some triggering device programd into him that would have taken over during the peace talks. The government scientists have learned how to do remarkable things with replicants.\nO'Brien: What was he programd to do?\nCoutu: We're not entirely sure. Assassinate someone at the peace talks, we think. Perhaps our entire delegation.\nSisko: They were tipped off by one of the informants in their government. There was a rumor you'd been abducted and replaced by a replicant.\nCoutu: We've had people looking for you ever since.\nBashir: There was no way to prove he wasn't you. He passed a physical exam with flying colors, and he sure knew his way around the station.\nO'Brien: I had more wires attached to my head than you can count. Now I know why.\nKira: We were trying to shut him out of every sensitive security area while they were searching for you. He must have wondered what the hell was going on with all of us.\nBashir: By the time we learned of your rescue, he'd already gotten away from us and was on his way here.\nCoutu: I wonder why he was coming back?\nO'Brien: If it were me, I'd be trying to warn somebody there was something wrong at the station.\nSisko: Maybe in a strange sort of way, he was just trying to be a hero.\nFake O'Brien: Keiko.\nO'Brien: What about her?\nFake O'Brien: Tell her I love"}
{"text": "Scene: Station log, stardate 47573.1. To respond to questions about setting up colonies near the wormhole, Chief O'Brien and I have set out to survey nearby star systems.\nSisko: If it's an imposition\nO'Brien: No, sir, it's fine.\nSisko: You're sure?\nO'Brien: I'm sure, Commander. Jake's a good fellow. I'll enjoy working with him.\nSisko: I don't want you to make it easy for him, Chief. He has to know what it takes to make it in Starfleet.\nO'Brien: I'll have him up to his elbows in thorium grease, sir.\nSisko: It's not going to be easy for him. He placed in the lower third of his age group in mechanical aptitude.\nO'Brien: Good for him. So did I.\nSisko: You? Come on.\nO'Brien: No, it's true. It wasn't till I got to the Cardassian front I found I had talents I never knew I had.\nSisko: At the front?\nO'Brien: It was a matter of figuring out how to get a field transporter operational in ten minutes or wind up a Cardassian prisoner of war. Now, I didn't know a transporter from a turbolift in those days but somehow, in nine minutes fifty three seconds, I got that thing to work. I got thirteen men safely off the surface of Setlik Three. Next thing I know I'm the tactical officer on the Rutledge. That's how I got the gold suit.\nSisko: Well, Jake's ready for a new suit too. The boy seems to grow a centimeter each week. You know, he struck me out with a curve ball the other day. First time.\nO'Brien: They grow up in a hurry, don't they, sir.\nSisko: That they do.\nO'Brien: I think I've got one. Computer, set a new heading, four one mark three zero one.\nComputer: Confirmed.\nSisko: It's an M class all right. One hundred and sixty million kilometers from Orellius Minor. Should be a perfect place to set up a colony.\nO'Brien: Only it looks like someone's beat us to it.\nSisko: You're reading life forms?\nO'Brien: Human life forms.\nSisko: I don't see anything on the books about a colony in the Orellius system.\nO'Brien: Trying all hailing frequencies.\nSisko: Moving into synchronous orbit.\nO'Brien: No response. I'm picking up some kind of low level duonetic field down there. It may be blocking communications.\nSisko: Let's introduce ourselves to our neighbors.\nSisko: Yours too?\nO'Brien: Even the self-diagnostics aren't working. It's plain dead.\nSisko: Sisko to Rio Grande. Computer, respond.\nO'Brien: I'd say there's no EM activity at all around here.\nSisko: Any idea why?\nO'Brien: I'm not sure, but it might have something to do with that duonetic field our sensors picked up.\nSisko: Well, I hope you find a few more of those talents you never knew you had, because if you don't we're going to have a hard time getting off this\nVinod: Don't move!\nVinod: And put your hands up.\nVinod: Turn around. Slowly.\nJoseph: They're from Starfleet.\nSisko: That's right. Mind if we put our hands down?\nJoseph: The uniforms have changed, or have I just forgotten what they looked like? My name is Joseph. Vinod's the one playing with the sharp object.\nSisko: Benjamin Sisko, and this is Miles O'Brien.\nVinod: How did you get here?\nO'Brien: We were going to ask you the same thing.\nSisko: We were surveying for habitable planets when our sensors picked up your lifesigns. There was no record of a human colony here.\nJoseph: Our group was on its way to settle on Gemulon Five over ten years ago when our ship developed life support problems, and we had to land here for repairs.\nVinod: Once we got here, all our systems failed. Nothing worked anymore.\nO'Brien: So we've seen.\nJoseph: We've been stuck here ever since, and I guess you are too now.\nSisko: We have a ship in orbit. It won't take our people long to find us.\nO'Brien: We'll be able to get all of you out of here.\nJoseph: After ten years, this is our home.\nO'Brien: But you just said it yourself. Nothing works.\nJoseph: Well, we still do. Come, we'll show you. Vinod, run ahead and tell your mother we have guests. Come.\nSisko: Erewon-class personnel transport.\nJoseph: Commissioned the Santa Maria. Now, we just call it the Cabin.\nAlixus: After all this time, visitors!\nJoseph: Alixus, meet Ben and Miles.\nAlixus: Welcome to our community. Miles. Are there others?\nSisko: Just an empty runabout in orbit. Hopefully, it'll attract some attention.\nJoseph: A runabout. Is that some kind of new Starfleet vessel?\nO'Brien: Yeah, they commissioned the first ones two years ago. They're a short-range interstellar craft about a quarter the size of your cabin here.\nJoseph: I was the engineer aboard the Santa Maria.\nAlixus: You and Miles will have a lot to talk about, Joseph. I'm sure all of us have questions for our guests.\nVinod: Who won the soccer matches this year? Is Golanga still playing?\nSisko: No, he hurt his knee four years ago. They replaced it with a bio-implant but he wasn't the same after that. Who was it that won last year anyway? I never can remember.\nCassandra: What are women's fashions like back home now?\nSisko: Chief, you're the married one.\nO'Brien: Keiko, my wife, she's been replicating longer dresses lately.\nCassandra: Oh, no. That means I'll have to alter everything I own.\nO'Brien: That might just be the Bajoran styles she sees on Deep Space Nine.\nJoseph: On Deep Space Nine?\nAlixus: I'm sure Ben and Miles will be happy to tell us everything we want to know. There'll be plenty of time for that later.\nO'Brien: Actually, the first thing I'd like to do is to try and get some response from the EM systems.\nAlixus: We gave up any hope of that years ago.\nSisko: Yes, we noticed a low-level duonetic field in the area before we transported down.\nAlixus: Yes, the same thing appeared on our sensors when we were landing. Our engines failed almost the instant we hit the surface.\nJoseph: Without a functional tricorder, it was virtually impossible to track down the source.\nAlixus: We do know that the marshes all around us are filled with astatine deposits. That's the only explanation we have. But we've done pretty well without our tricorders and EM converters and comm. links haven't we? After all, the human body is a powerful tool. We can plow the crops, harvest the fields, construct the walls that we need for protection against the wilderness, weave clothes that we need to stay warm. In a way, we've rediskovered what man is capable of without technology. It hasn't been easy. We've had some bitter winters and we've lost some dear friends. But we're very proud of what we've accomplished here.\nSisko: You have every right to be.\nCassandra: Are we all going to leave when the others come to rescue them?\nAlixus: That's something each of us is going to have to think about, isn't it.\nCassandra: Are you going to leave, Alixus?\nAlixus: Speaking for myself, no. No, I'll never leave. And I'll never want what we have in our community to change. It means too much to me. But while you are here, you are welcome to everything our community has to offer. The only thing we ask is that you contribute. We all work for our supper. You'd be surprised how much sweeter it tastes when you do.\nSisko: We'll be happy to do our part.\nAlixus: Joseph, would you find them some bunks, please?\nAlixus: Two more strong, healthy men, Vinod. That could mean an awful lot to this community.\nKira: Do you know an Admiral Mitsuya?\nDax: Best poker player in the fleet, next to me.\nKira: Well, he's diverting the Crockett to stop at DS Nine day after tomorrow to talk about Cardassian foreign policy?\nDax: That's just an excuse to get Benjamin in a game. Mitsuya cleaned him out last year. We'd better hail the Rio Grande and get them back this way. I've worked two lifetimes on Benjamin's poker. He just can't learn how to bluff.\nKira: That's odd.\nDax: I know. You'd think a man like Benjamin\nKira: No. The Rio Grande. It's not responding to our hails.\nO'Brien: Commander.\nSisko: Come in, Chief. I'm just reading one of the books our host has written. Alixus is quite a prolific author.\nO'Brien: A bunch of these were left in my room too. I haven't had a chance to look at them. What does she write about?\nSisko: She seems to have something to say on just about everything.\nO'Brien: Yeah?\nSisko: Economic analysis, political commentaries, literary critiques. She says she's spent her life examining the human condition.\nO'Brien: What's her prognosis?\nSisko: Not very good. She says we've become fat and lazy and dull.\nO'Brien: My wife told me something along those lines just last week.\nSisko: The common conceit that the human species has evolved over the last several centuries is ludicrous. What gains we have made have come at the cost of our own core identities. Man has lost touch with his true power.\nO'Brien: Sounds like it took a crash landing for her to find her paradise.\nSisko: Have you found anything in their ship that can help us restore contact with the runabout?\nO'Brien: There's nothing to find. Waveguides, conduits, baffle plates. You name it, it's gone. The ship looks like it's been through a Ferengi junkyard.\nSisko: What happened to it all?\nJoseph: We threw it away. Well, since none of it worked, to us it was merely useless junk taking up space.\nSisko: Alixus felt its presence was a constant reminder of who you used to be.\nJoseph: Well, we all had to abandon our dependence on technology. Removing every trace of it, well, that made the transition easier.\nO'Brien: As an engineer, you must've had some problems with that.\nJoseph: I was the last convert. But as time passed, I realized Alixus was right. She was helping us diskover a new philosophy of life together, because we needed one to survive. And I'll tell you, every one of us is better for it. We're more committed to each other. We are truly a part of each other's lives. We've renewed a sense of community that man left behind centuries ago.\nCassandra: Joseph, Meg's fever's getting worse.\nJoseph: The new herb doesn't seem to be helping at all.\nSisko: May I see?\nJoseph: Please.\nAlixus: We have an insect here that transmits a disease we haven't found a cure for. We've lost three to it already.\nSisko: Have you found anything in the forest like the sleeger fungi?\nJoseph: We've searched everywhere for the right fungus or root that would draw out the infection.\nSisko: If it keeps spreading, she'll die before the rescue team finds us.\nO'Brien: The medical kit in the runabout could probably take care of this in a second.\nSisko: We've got to find a way to restore the comm. link to the transporter.\nAlixus: It would only be a waste of time.\nO'Brien: This duonetic field inhibits energy flow, but a duonetic field is a form of energy too. Maybe we could modify our communicators to run on the field itself.\nJoseph: Do you really think you could?\nAlixus: No. If you want to put your efforts to good use, search the forest for something else we might use.\nSisko: This is primitive medicine. You can't expect to save her\nAlixus: Ben, may I see you outside please.\nAlixus: Talk like that isn't constructive.\nSisko: I'm talking about saving the life of one of your followers.\nAlixus: You don't understand us yet. No one follows me. They follow their own hearts.\nSisko: My heart tells me to try to get back to my ship.\nAlixus: I'm sure it does. But if we'd had that attitude for the last ten years, we wouldn't have been doing what was necessary to survive here. To find the plants, herbs, molds that cure disease. We've conquered seventeen illnesses with the most powerful resource man has. His ingenuity.\nSisko: An interesting philosophy. And while we're debating it, a woman is dying.\nAlixus: We're doing everything we can for her.\nSisko: No, we're not.\nAlixus: I won't have you disrupting everything this community has worked for, Ben.\nSisko: I don't intend to stay any longer than necessary.\nAlixus: And that's another thing. Let's not bring up the Starfleet rescue party again. Until they come, if they come, you'll have to do things our way. I'd strongly advise you get rid of that uniform. By mid afternoon, it gets hot in the fields.\nDax: The Rio Grande's been spotted.\nKira: Where?\nDax: The details are coming in from Starfleet. The Romulan vessel Gasko reported seeing an abandoned runabout. Markings NCC seven two four five two.\nKira: That's our ship all right.\nDax: Traveling at warp two through sector four zero one.\nKira: At warp, with no one on board?\nDax: Command wants to know if we can send someone to investigate.\nKira: Signal them affirmative.\nDax: I already have.\nKira: Runabout pad C.\nVinod: You've got a real talent for this, Ben.\nSisko: Well, my father was a chef. He grew all his own vegetables. My brothers and I were sent out to the gardens every day.\nVinod: Most of the others, they'd only eaten replicated food before they got here. The flavor of the foods we prepare, quite a surprise to them.\nSisko: But not you?\nVinod: My mother would never let me eat replicated food.\nJoseph: What?\nO'Brien: I can't help thinking what my wife would say if she saw me doing this.\nJoseph: Why?\nO'Brien: Well, around my house, I'm known as the Black Thumb. I'm just one of those people, you know? The only way I could get anything to grow was to marry a botanist.\nJoseph: A botanist? Really?\nO'Brien: Yeah. You should have seen the arboretum she grew on the Enterprise. That's where I asked her to marry me. She'd love it here.\nJoseph: Maybe you'll bring her someday.\nO'Brien: Trouble is she wouldn't want to leave.\nJoseph: That's okay too.\nJoseph: Get him into the shade.\nJoseph: Here, Stephan, chew these. They'll help you regain your strength.\nO'Brien: What did he do to deserve this?\nJoseph: He stole a candle.\nO'Brien: One candle?\nSisko: How long was he in there?\nJoseph: Since yesterday.\nO'Brien: In that hell box?\nSisko: Is this part of your philosophy of life too?\nAlixus: You're a Starfleet Commander. I'm sure you've had to diskipline members of your crew.\nSisko: Diskipline is one thing. Torture is another.\nAlixus: The first thing this community accepted was the need to establish rules of conduct. All of us, including Stephan, approved this form of punishment as necessary and fair. How are you, Stephan?\nStephan: I'll be all right. I'm sorry, Alixus, that I let down the community.\nAlixus: The matter is closed. Go inside. Get some rest now.\nStephan: Thank you, Alixus.\nAlixus: Stephan will never steal another candle, and neither will anyone else who saw him here today. In time, you'll understand that this is a simple and effective way to maintain law and order in our community.\nO'Brien: SI get the distinct impression that she expects us to be here for a while.\nSisko: If there's a way to adapt the energy in the duonetic field to get us back to the runabout, I want you to find it, Chief.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nCassandra: Is there anything you need?\nSisko: No, I don't think so.\nCassandra: I'm sorry. Alixus doesn't believe in doors. We all take it for granted now. You'll get used to it.\nSisko: Hopefully, I won't be here long enough to get used to it.\nCassandra: You don't like it here, do you.\nSisko: It's not what I'm used to.\nCassandra: Alixus has reminded us all that it wasn't easy for us at first either. She's told us to be patient with you.\nSisko: Has she.\nCassandra: I know your muscles must be sore from all the work today. This is an oil extract from the xupta tree. It's wonderfully soothing.\nSisko: Thanks, I'll try some.\nCassandra: Would you like me to massage you with it?\nSisko: I don't think so. Thanks, anyway.\nCassandra: It'll make you feel a lot better. Here, let me show you.\nSisko: Did she send you here? Did she send you here to make love to me?\nAlixus: Ben, come in, I was just writing about you and Miles in my journal. I understand you're quite a chef.\nAlixus: That's the first core behavior I've seen from you since you arrived.\nSisko: Core behavior. Does that chapter come before or after sexual procurement?\nAlixus: I assume you're talking about Cassandra.\nSisko: Did you send her to my room?\nAlixus: Yes.\nSisko: I think you're contemptible.\nAlixus: Interesting. Contemptible. Try and see it through our eyes just for a moment, Ben. Cassandra came to me. She was worried. She sensed that you weren't happy.\nSisko: She was right about that.\nAlixus: She was concerned that all you see here is work and hardship, and she wanted you to share in our joy as well.\nSisko: So you sent her to win my devotion to your cause.\nAlixus: I suggested she might make it easier for you to become a member of our community. The choice was hers. Cassandra really likes you, Ben.\nSisko: It's fortunate that all these books of yours aren't on PADDS like the other materials the colonists brought.\nAlixus: I used to print them myself.\nSisko: I'm not surprised. And Vinod told me you never ate replicated food before you came here.\nAlixus: I'm not sure I see the connection.\nSisko: It's just that you never had much use for technology, did you? It's interesting you happened to crash on a planet that fit your philosophy of life so well.\nAlixus: I agree. In fact, I've started writing a book about our experiences. I've been wondering if in the ancient religions of man, there aren't some new truths to be found. Something to explain how sometimes fate delivers us exactly where we need to be.\nSisko: Perhaps one day you'll even feel the hand of God on your shoulder.\nAlixus: You won't give a millimeter, will you? Look at you, still in your uniform, wanting so badly to get back to your station with its artificial gravity and sterilized air. You are so diskonnected from your core identity, Ben. There is a better way. How can we help you to see it? Perhaps good hard work is the answer. Vinod!\nVinod: Yes, mother?\nAlixus: Ben will be standing watch tonight.\nO'Brien: Are you all right, Commander?\nSisko: Tired, but I'll be fine. Any luck on your end?\nO'Brien: This duonetic field is still a mystery, sir. I can't believe it's being generated by the astatine deposits in the stream bed.\nAlixus: Good morning, Ben. Ready for some breakfast? We have some lovely fruit. Try this. We found it growing along the riverbank a few years ago. It's some kind of native pear. Oh, will you be able to work your regular shift in the field today?\nO'Brien: What are you talking about? You just had him up all night standing watch.\nAlixus: Of course, if you'd like to be relieved of your duties, all you have to do is ask.\nSisko: I'll work my shift.\nAlixus: Good. We're so short-handed out there. But you really should do yourself a favor and change into some more comfortable clothes. Oh, by the way, you'll be pleased to know Meg seems better this morning. Joseph is very optimistic about a new combination of herbs he's trying.\nDax: We're picking up a ship ahead. It's the Rio Grande, moving at warp one point three.\nKira: Plotting an intercept course. Once we're abeam, match our speeds exactly and I'll transport over.\nDax: Like hell you will.\nKira: Sorry, I'm the ranking officer here.\nDax: At warp, I wouldn't be in such a hurry to volunteer.\nKira: You got a better idea?\nDax: I'm the science officer. It's my job to have a better idea.\nKira: What are you doing?\nDax: Trying an old rope trick I learned on Earth once.\nKira: A rope trick.\nDax: A very talented Hopi I knew did things with a rope you wouldn't believe. It's an old West American artform.\nKira: You're suggesting we try to rope the Rio Grande at warp?\nDax: With a tractor beam.\nKira: Once we pull it back to impulse, isn't there a risk that the strain will rip both hulls apart?\nDax: If the ship assembly teams back in the yards did their jobs really well, we'll probably make it. If they had an off day, we're going to have a problem. But it's our best shot. Unless, a as ranking officer, you have a better idea.\nKira: We're within tractor range. Locking on.\nDax: Engaging impulse engines.\nDax: Remind me to send a thank you note to the assembly teams.\nKira: All stop. Computer, ready transporter.\nAlixus: Meg has died. Suddenly, quietly. No one was prouder of what we've accomplished here than Meg was. Her dedication to this community and to us was an inspiration, which is why I find myself so troubled today by an act that by its very nature defiles her memory. Vinod?\nAlixus: All of us have welcomed our new arrivals with open arms, but they continue to reject us. Despite their agreement to respect our fundamental way of life, this man has committed the worst offense that can be committed against this community. He has selfishly wasted precious time that could have been put to productive use. Miles was diskovered trying to activate his technological devices so he could return to his ship.\nJoseph: Alixus, I'm sure he only wanted to get to the medical equipment that might have saved Meg's life.\nAlixus: Thank you, Joseph. I knew you would feel that way and I'm glad you said it, so that all of us could see the true danger these two represent. Our very own Joseph defending what he knows is wrong. He knows that if we had spent our energy all these years trying to escape, we'd all be dead today. This is good. This is a test of our convictions, and we will survive.\nSisko: You're not going to put him in there.\nAlixus: No, Ben, I'm not. You are his commanding officer. I hold you responsible for his actions. I'm putting you in there.\nO'Brien: Wait a minute!\nKira: No signs of resistance. None of the onboard weapons has been fired.\nDax: But the logs have been erased. Someone else must have been here.\nKira: Maybe Sisko and O'Brien beamed off before the ship was boarded. But why would somebody send the runabout off at warp? Why wouldn't they just keep it or destroy it?\nDax: I think they were trying to destroy it.\nKira: How can you tell?\nDax: The hull's been exposed to high temperatures and intense gamma radiation. If we retrace the Rio Grande's course it takes us right back to\nKira: An F-type star.\nDax: Orellius Minor. There's only one way this ship could be coming straight from Orellius Minor and that's if someone tried to destroy the ship by flying it into the star.\nKira: And missed.\nDax: If the trajectory had been slightly off, the star's gravity flux would have deflected it in a new direction. Computer, send a tractor beam to the Orinoco. Prepare for a warp tow. With a little luck, we'll be able to find the warp signature the engines left when they were fired up.\nComputer: Tractor beam in place.\nKira: Course laid in for the Orellius system. Engaging warp engines.\nAlixus: Please. This is painful for me, too. I want so much to give you water, to let you lie down to sleep. But I can't. Not without your help. I know it's too difficult to speak right now. Just rest. Change doesn't come easily to you, Ben. I realize it. Believe me, I'm not expecting some sudden, miraculous conversion. Change will come by itself if you're open to it. But you do have to show us that you're open to it. A good start would be to get rid of the uniform. I'll leave you these clothes. Once you've changed, you can have this water. Join us, Ben.\nJoseph: Miles? What are you doing here?\nO'Brien: I need your help, Joseph.\nJoseph: With what? There's nothing I can do, so please don't ask me.\nO'Brien: I've got to try to track down where that duonetic field is coming from.\nJoseph: We told you there are astetine deposits.\nO'Brien: That's not what's causing it. If it were, I'd have that transmitter running and we'd all be out of here already. It's got to be something else and I think I've figured a way to get me to the source of it.\nJoseph: And you want me to look the other way while you leave?\nO'Brien: She'd put you in the box, wouldn't she. Then, do me a favor. Look down at that hematite deposit I just diskovered.\nJoseph: Miles\nO'Brien: I can do it so it won't hurt at all.\nO'Brien: I owe you one, my friend.\nO'Brien: Well, you finally got one of us out of our uniform.\nO'Brien: Come on, move it. Where's Alixus?\nO'Brien: Get her out here!\nO'Brien: Get him some water! Do you know why this phaser is working now? Because I shut down the duonetic field that was stopping it from working. An artificially created duonetic field.\nSisko: Sisko to Rio Grande. Computer, respond.\nAlixus: Your ship is no longer in orbit, Ben. I destroyed it.\nSisko: I assume that means you control the duonetic field.\nAlixus: I helped invent it. You'd be surprised how many scientists are sympathetic to my philosophies.\nJoseph: Then it was no accident we developed life support problems near this planet.\nAlixus: No. We were always on our way here, Joseph. I chose it months in advance. It was far away from any trade route, completely isolated. It was perfect for our ideal community. I hoped when we landed we would never leave here.\nCassandra: You lied to us. You've been lying to us for ten years.\nAlixus: Yes, but perhaps a lie can lead to a more important truth. Would any of you have learned who you really are at the core if you hadn't have come here? Joseph, you would have been a repairman all of your life. Cassandra, you would have been a technical clerk in some closed-in room. And Stephan, my friend, you probably would have been in prison by now. Look at yourselves. Look at what you've become. What you've achieved here has redefined your potential, the potential of man. Just as I knew it would. You are the living proof.\nSisko: What of the dead? What of Meg and the others?\nAlixus: Only my son knows how I have suffered as I watched each of them die.\nSisko: You were willing to let them die for your theories. You're going to have to answer for what you've done.\nAlixus: I'm prepared to go with you. Casualties were inevitable. I had to accept that from the start.\nSisko: What if it were your son who had been sick? Would you let him die, too?\nAlixus: Yes. For the sake of the community. I did it all for the community.\nKira: Kira to Sisko. Are you all right, Commander?\nSisko: Everything is under control, Major. Stand by to begin multiple transports.\nKira: Acknowledged.\nO'Brien: We have room for all of you on the runabout. If you have anything you want to bring with you, you ought to get it now.\nJoseph: Miles, this is our home. Whatever Alixus may be guilty of, she did give us our community. I'm not sure if we'll leave the device on or off now that we know it's there. And we'll have to decide if we want to establish contact with the outside world. But Alixus is right. We have found something here that none of us is willing to give up.\nAlixus: It's time for those of us who don't belong here to leave, Ben.\nSisko: Four to beam up, Major.\nJoseph: Come. Come."}
{"text": "Scene: Science Officer's log, stardate 47603.3. Commander Sisko has assigned me to investigate an unusual particle field detected on the other side of the wormhole. Odo has come along to Gamma Quadrant, hoping to find clues to his origin.\nDax: So you see, Ensign Manwaring has spent the last two weeks avoiding the assay office because he thought that Freyla was in love with Lieutenant Strek, but all the while Strek was seeing Security Officer Seelee. And Freyla was waiting for Manwaring to ask her out.\nOdo: Officer Seelee has seemed distracted at work lately. I'm going to have to talk to her about this when I get back to the station.\nDax: Odo, I didn't tell you that story to get Seelee in trouble.\nOdo: Frankly, Lieutenant, I fail to see any point in your story at all, except perhaps to illustrate the foolish humanoid preoccupation with romantic coupling.\nDax: The point is that sometimes we don't see true love even when it's staring us right in the face.\nOdo: How fascinating.\nDax: Let me give you another example. You know Lysia Arlin?\nOdo: The Bolian woman who runs the jumja kiosk.\nDax: I've noticed she's been making a lot of visits to the Security Office lately.\nOdo: She has a cousin who's interested in a career in law enforcement.\nDax: You don't say.\nOdo: Are you implying that Lysia Arlin is interested in me? Ridiculous. I would have noticed.\nDax: Exactly my point.\nOdo: You must be mistaken.\nDax: And how can you be so sure?\nOdo: Because women don't react to me in that manner.\nDax: Are you saying that you've never had a female friend?\nOdo: I consider Major Kira a friend.\nDax: That's not what I meant. I'm talking about an intimate friendship.\nOdo: That's a very personal question.\nDax: I'm sorry, but after seven lifetimes the impersonal questions aren't much fun anymore.\nOdo: Huh.\nDax: Looks like we found our particle field. They're omicron particles.\nOdo: Is that unusual?\nDax: Omicron particles are incredibly rare. They can only be created by certain types of matter-antimatter reactions. The field seems to be coming from the second planet in the system. Let's go a little closer. That's strange. The particles are concentrated in one small valley.\nOdo: Sensors aren't picking up any lifeforms.\nDax: The particle field could be interfering with the sensors. We'd better beam down for a closer look.\nDax: I'm still getting a lot of interference. The particle field must be blocking the tricorder functions.\nDax: The interference seems to be coming from here. This must be the source of the field. It's probably some kind of matter-antimatter reactor.\nOdo: Lieutenant, I suggest we leave before we're diskovered.\nDax: Give me a minute.\nOdo: Take all the time you want.\nQuark: It's about time. Enter. Where have you been? I've been waiting hours. Major. Er, I'm sorry. We're closed. You'll have to come back in the morning.\nKira: Oh, I didn't come here for a drink. I thought you'd like to know your cousin Kono just tried to come aboard the station.\nQuark: Kono? Here? What an unexpected pleasure.\nKira: He's gone, Quark. When we tried to talk to him, he beamed onto a departing Tellarite freighter.\nQuark: There must be some mistake. Why would Kono be coming here?\nKira: I was wondering the same thing myself, so I did a little checking. Your cousin's wanted for robbing a museum on Cardassia Five. My guess is he thought someone here would help him sell the merchandise.\nQuark: Outrageous. You have no proof of that.\nKira: Quark, get this into that twisted little brain of yours. If you thought you were going to get away with anything while Odo's gone, think again. I'm watching you.\nQuark: Major, you make it sound like you don't like me.\nKira: Don't like you? You collaborated with the Cardassians, you cheat your customers, and you're a danger to this station. I don't just not like you, I despise you.\nQuark: I'm sorry I mentioned it.\nJake: A job? What do I need a job for?\nSisko: You're fifteen years old. It's time you took a little responsibility. Look, Nog works, doesn't he?\nJake: Yeah.\nSisko: You're almost as old as he is. When I was your age, I had a job, and it was a terrific experience.\nJake: All right. I'll talk to Nog and see if he can get me a job at Quark's.\nSisko: Quarks? I was thinking more along the lines of you helping out Chief O'Brien.\nJake: Chief O'Brien?\nSisko: You do like Chief O'Brien, don't you?\nJake: He's okay, but I don't know anything about engineering.\nSisko: This is the perfect opportunity to learn. Besides it'll look great on your application to Starfleet Academy.\nJake: Okay, I'll give it a try.\nSisko: That's all I ask.\nOdo: Are we being accused of some kind of crime?\nColyus: Have you committed one?\nDax: We've just arrived here.\nColyus: So you keep saying.\nDax: If you want, you can check our ship's logs and they'll prove it to you.\nColyus: Logs can be tampered with. Well, you ought know that. After all, you claim to be a Security Officer.\nOdo: I am a Security Officer and I've had enough of this. If we were guilty, we wouldn't even be here right now. I'll prove it. Computer, one to beam up.\nDax: Don't worry, he'll be right back.\nDax: What did I tell you?\nColyus: Now that's interesting, you disappearing like that, because I've got twenty two people who've disappeared without a trace.\nOdo: Twenty two missing people? Did they all disappear at the same time?\nColyus: No, it started in the fall. But the last victim vanished six hours ago.\nDax: Six hours ago we weren't even in this system. If you want, you can accompany us back to our station and they will verify everything we've told you.\nOdo: Do you have any other suspects?\nColyus: You were my only ones. I'm not saying everybody here is perfect. We have some petty thefts, an occasional fight, but kidnapping or murder? No, no, we've never had anything like that before.\nOdo: I see. So, Have you scanned the area for signs of transporter activity?\nColyus: It was the first thing I tried. I didn't find anything. You know, I've been protector here for almost ten years. I like to think I'm pretty good at my job. People trust me to solve their problems. But whoever's behind these disappearances is a lot smarter than I am. I have to admit, I'm starting to get desperate.\nOdo: Maybe what you need is a little help.\nColyus: Maybe.\nColyus: Rurigan.\nRurigan: So, these are the strangers I heard about. Shouldn't they be in a cell?\nColyus: I'm satisfied they have nothing to do with the disappearances. In fact, Odo here is a Security Officer. He's going to try to help us.\nRurigan: And how do you plan to do that?\nOdo: I understand your daughter is the latest victim. When was the last time you saw her?\nRurigan: This morning, at first meal. But Taya said she saw her later, in her workroom around midday.\nOdo: Taya?\nRurigan: My granddaughter. Colyus, Anetra's gone just like the others. We're never going to find them.\nOdo: How can you be so sure?\nRurigan: Let's just say I haven't been proven wrong yet.\nDax: I'd like to scan the area again for transporter activity, in case you missed something.\nColyus: Go right ahead.\nDax: I'm still not getting a clear reading. The omicron particles put out by the reactor are creating too much interference.\nColyus: It must be your equipment. Our scanners never give any trouble.\nDax: Certain kinds of transporters leave behind a residual electrostatic charge. If we could check Anetra's workroom?\nOdo: If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to your granddaughter.\nRurigan: Well, last time I saw her she was across the square. I'll take you to her.\nRurigan: Taya? Don't be afraid, Taya. This is a friend of Protector Colyus. He just wants you to answer a few questions.\nTaya: Do I have to?\nRurigan: Not if you don't want to.\nOdo: But it would help if I could talk to you about your mother's disappearance.\nTaya: She hasn't disappeared. She'll be back.\nOdo: The last time you saw your mother, did she seem upset about anything? Nervous, perhaps, or worried?\nTaya: She seemed fine. When will she be coming home?\nRurigan: I don't know, Taya. Let's go. It's past your bedtime.\nOdo: I'd like to ask a few more questions.\nRurigan: It'll wait till morning.\nSisko: Chief, here's the new apprentice we discussed.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. Welcome aboard. Well, let's get to work. I was just about to run a diagnostic on the primary system core.\nSisko: Mister Sisko. I almost forgot. For you.\nJake: Thanks, Dad.\nSisko: It's standard equipment for all station personnel.\nBashir: Let me get this straight, Major. You want me to spy on Quark for you?\nKira: I wouldn't call it spying, exactly. I just thought you might, you know, keep an eye on him while Odo's away. When you're not busy.\nBashir: It's no problem, Major.\nKira: Then you'll do it?\nBashir: I look forward to it. Garak has been lecturing me on surveillance techniques. This will give me a chance to try some of them out.\nSisko: Sisko to Kira.\nKira: This is Kira.\nSisko: Major, I thought you might like to know we've received word that Vedek Bareil is coming aboard the station.\nKira: Coming aboard? When?\nSisko: His ship just arrived at docking bay twelve.\nKira: I wish you'd given us a little more notice. We could've arranged a formal reception.\nBareil: That's exactly what I wanted to avoid.\nKira: What brings you to the station?\nBareil: Prylar Rhit invited me to speak at the station shrine. But, to be honest, I've been looking for an opportunity to see you.\nKira: Really? I'm honored.\nBareil: Honored? Actually, I was hoping you'd be happy to see me.\nKira: Oh, I am. Very happy.\nOdo: Hello, Taya. Remember me? We met last night.\nTaya: You wanted to ask me questions.\nOdo: That's right. About your mother. I understand you were the last one to see her.\nTaya: I guess. What happened to your face?\nOdo: Nothing happened to my face. I'm a shape-shifter. I just don't do faces very well. I have the ability to change my shape to look like other things.\nTaya: You mean you're a changeling?\nOdo: That's right.\nTaya: There's no such thing as changelings. They're make-believe. Everyone knows that.\nOdo: Well, I'm not make-believe.\nTaya: All right, then let me see you change into something.\nOdo: Maybe later. Right now I feel like talking.\nTaya: If I were a changeling, I'd change shapes all the time. Everyone would want to be my friend.\nOdo: I wish it were that easy.\nTaya: Why wouldn't it be?\nOdo: When I was younger, people were always asking me to change shape for them. They'd pretend to be my friends, but all they wanted was to see me become a chair or an animal. None of them ever really cared about me.\nTaya: Maybe they were scared of you.\nOdo: Some of them probably were.\nTaya: I'm not afraid of you.\nOdo: I'm glad to hear that.\nTaya: Were your parents changelings too?\nOdo: I never knew my parents. I've been looking for them a long time.\nTaya: My father died when I was four. I don't remember him very well. The last time I saw my mother, she was in her workroom making pottery. When I went to get her for midday meal, she was gone.\nOdo: How did she act when you last saw her?\nTaya: Happy. She was making a vase for Mister Depnen, the baker. He really likes my mom so he always saves us the best loaf of greenbread.\nOdo: Has your mother ever gone anywhere before? A trip? Vacation?\nTaya: We don't go on trips.\nOdo: Never?\nTaya: No, we never leave the valley.\nOdo: Why not?\nTaya: Nobody ever leaves the valley. Everything we need is right here.\nOdo: I see.\nTaya: My mother's never coming back, is she?\nOdo: Why do you say that?\nTaya: That's what grandfather told me.\nOdo: Taya, I don't know where your mother is, but I promise you, I'm going to do everything I can to find her and bring her back to you.\nO'Brien: Okay, one more time. These are all isolinear rods. The ones with the white labels contain data relating to the engineering system controls, the red labeled ones are for library and information storage, and the blue ones are?\nJake: I'm never going to get this.\nO'Brien: Give yourself some time. I didn't get a handle on this stuff until almost a year after I joined Starfleet. I mean, it's not like you're going off to the Academy tomorrow, is it? What's wrong?\nJake: Nothing. It's just that, why does everyone assume that I'm going to go to the Academy?\nO'Brien: You want to go, don't you?\nJake: Not really.\nO'Brien: Does your father know?\nJake: He wouldn't understand.\nO'Brien: I know how you feel. You know what my father wanted me to be? A musician. It's true. I was supposed to be a cello player. He made me practice every day. I got to be pretty good, and when I was seventeen, he sent a recorded audition to the Aldebaran Music Academy.\nJake: What happened?\nO'Brien: I got in. It was the happiest day of his life. I didn't know how to tell him I didn't want to go, so two days before I was due to leave, I went into town and signed up for Starfleet.\nJake: What did your dad do?\nO'Brien: Oh, he was furious. But once he calmed down a little, he saw how much I wanted to join. Nowadays, when I go home, he introduces me as 'my son, Senior Chief Specialist Miles Edward O'Brien'. The point is, you've got to live your own life.\nJake: I don't want to disappoint my dad.\nO'Brien: Your dad's not a bad guy. He'll come round. Just give him some time.\nBareil: So, what did you think?\nKira: Of your speech? I liked everything about it, except the content.\nBareil: You disagree with my interpretation of the Eighth Prophecy?\nKira: Disagree is a bit of an understatement. Passionately disagree is more like it. The way you have of taking a prophecy and showing that it can mean exactly the opposite of the accepted interpretation is\nBareil: It's brilliant. Insightful.\nKira: Infuriating.\nBareil: Maybe we should talk about something else.\nKira: Like what?\nBareil: The Ilvian katterpod crop maybe? Or the new nature preserve in Hedrikspool Province? No? Maybe the standings in the springball championship.\nKira: You follow springball?\nBareil: Religiously, if you'll pardon the expression. I even used to play a little.\nKira: Me, too. I had Chief O'Brien design a springball holosuite program.\nBareil: Really? Let's go.\nKira: You want to play springball?\nBareil: Why not? Well, unless you have a more pressing engagement?\nKira: Not that I can think of.\nBareil: Good. I could use the practice.\nOdo: From what I understand, you helped found this colony.\nRurigan: That's right. I'm the oldest one left.\nOdo: This colony must be very important to you. You helped found it, you raised a family here.\nRurigan: I'm very proud of what we've accomplished.\nOdo: Then explain something to me. This colony's undergoing a serious crisis. Your daughter is among the missing, yet you hardly seem concerned.\nRurigan: There's nothing I can do to change things. I wish there was. Now is there anything else, or can I go?\nOdo: Are you sure you're all right?\nRurigan: Why wouldn't I be?\nOdo: You seem to be in a great deal of pain.\nRurigan: Why do you say that?\nOdo: I can see it in your eyes. Perhaps you'd like to sit here for a moment and rest.\nRurigan: Well, it wouldn't do much good. You see, I'm dying.\nOdo: I'm sorry.\nRurigan: I've had a good life. No regrets. I wish I could see my daughter once again. Now, if there are no more questions?\nOdo: Actually, there is one thing I've been wondering. How come no one ever leaves the village? I haven't met anyone yet who's ever been outside this valley. Any idea why?\nRurigan: I suppose it's because people around here don't like to travel. After all, there's no place to go.\nOdo: How can you be so sure? Have you ever left the valley?\nRurigan: Now that you mention it, no.\nOdo: When I asked Colyus if he searched outside the valley for the missing people, he looked surprised, as if he'd never thought of it before. I find that very peculiar. Where I come from, we would have searched the entire countryside.\nRurigan: Yes, I suppose Colyus thought there was no point to it. But I guarantee you, there are no missing people out there.\nOdo: You're sure of that.\nRurigan: Absolutely.\nTaya: And then the great Minra said to the evil changeling, 'maybe you can turn into a mountain, or a ghergher beast, or a tornado, but those are big things and big things are easy. I bet you can't turn into something small, like a loaf of greenbread.' And so the changeling said 'Yes I can.' and he did, and do you know what happened?\nOdo: The great Minra gobbled him up.\nTaya: How'd you know that?\nOdo: The changeling in your story wasn't very smart.\nTaya: Could you turn into a loaf of greenbread?\nOdo: I suppose I could.\nTaya: Show me.\nOdo: And let you gobble me up? I don't think so.\nTaya: You see that tree. Sometimes we go there to play. That's the farthest I've ever been from the village.\nOdo: Wait here.\nTaya: But I want to come see too.\nOdo: Please, do as I say. Lieutenant, would you come with me?\nDax: I'm still not reading other lifeforms, and no indications of any power source.\nDax: Did you see that? It just vanished. It happened just as we passed those bushes.\nDax: Taya.\nOdo: Taya, don't come any closer.\nTaya: But I brought you some harrid berries.\nColyus: Odo says you know what happened to the missing villagers.\nDax: I think I do. It's a little complicated to explain. It'd probably be easier if I showed you. May I have your cloak?\nColyus: My cloak?\nDax: Please.\nColyus: Well.\nDax: Thank you.\nDax: Now stand back.\nColyus: I'm waiting. DAX This may take a minute. I don't want to make a mistake.\nColyus: That was my favorite cloak.\nOdo: Please, stay where you are.\nColyus: Are you saying somebody used our reactor to transport the victims away?\nDax: No. It's not a transporter. It's a holographic projector. It creates an omicron particle field and then manipulates the field to form physical objects like your cloak.\nColyus: What does this have to do with the missing people?\nDax: The people are made up of omicron particles too.\nColyus: You mean they're holograms?\nDax: I'm afraid so. You see, the component that controls the particle field, it's breaking down, and that's why people are disappearing.\nColyus: That's ridiculous. Some of the victims were my friends. One of them is my nephew.\nDax: If I'm right, everyone and everything in this village is a holographic projection.\nColyus: And I thought I was desperate to find an answer.\nOdo: Listen to me, Colyus. I know this is difficult to accept.\nColyus: It's going to take a whole lot more than a vanishing cloak to make me believe that I'm some kind of hologram.\nOdo: I'd be skeptical too if I were you, but we have further proof.\nColyus: What kind of proof?\nDax: The holographic field ends just outside this valley, and earlier today Taya tried to reach past the edge and her arm disappeared.\nColyus: Is she all right?\nOdo: She's fine. Her arm rematerialized as soon as she pulled it back inside.\nColyus: Where exactly did this happen?\nDax: We could show you, if you'd like.\nColyus: I think you'd better.\nKira: I'm sorry.\nBareil: Don't apologize. I should have seen it coming. Where did you learn to play like that?\nKira: My brothers and I used to play at the Singha refugee camp. There wasn't much else to do.\nBareil: Yeah, I was at Relliketh. And now here we are. That was delicious.\nKira: Thank the replicators.\nBareil: Here, let me help.\nKira: That's not necessary. Your shoulder\nBareil: Never felt better.\nKira: Maybe I could use some help after all.\nKira: I'll have to remember to thank Prylar Rhit for inviting you here.\nBareil: You'd better tell him soon. Prylar Rhit is going to be returning to Bajor. It appears he fancies himself something of a dabo player.\nKira: Really?\nBareil: He's run up a sizable gambling debt. It's caused quite a scandal in the Vedek Assembly.\nKira: Let me get this straight. The man who invited you to the station owes money to Quark?\nBareil: Who?\nKira: The little troll who runs the dabo tables. I have to go.\nBareil: Why?\nKira: I need to talk to Prylar Rhit. I think I know the real reason he invited you here.\nColyus: People, please. Please! Quiet! Quiet! Calm down! Quiet! Calm down, everybody. We have to make a decision here.\nMerruk: Colyus, you should be out looking for my wife and all the others who are missing.\nFemale: Not wasting time listening to these strangers and their lies.\nColyus: You all witnessed what happened when they brought us to the edge of the field. Merruk, we both saw your hand disappear.\nMerruk: It could've been a trick.\nDax: It wasn't a trick.\nFemale: Then how come we've never learned about this before.\nOdo: Because none of you ever tried to leave the valley.\nColyus: It's possible we were programd not to leave so that we wouldn't learn the truth. Now, we have to shut down the system. If we don't fix it soon, the whole village will disappear. Dax, you said if you can fix the machine, you might be able to bring back the missing people.\nDax: We hope so.\nRurigan: What if you turn off the projector and you can't get it back on?\nDax: Then this village will cease to exist. The system's only a few months away from complete failure anyway. At least this way we have a chance to save you.\nTaya: Grandfather, please, let her try.\nMerruk: What do you think?\nRurigan: Well, we can't go on like this. I guess we should let her shut it down.\nColyus: Are there any objections? Then it's settled.\nTaya: I can't wait to see my mother.\nTaya: Your face isn't so scary, once you get used to it.\nOdo: Thank you, Taya.\nDax: All right, here we go.\nDax: Odo.\nRurigan: Don't look so surprised. I'm as real as you are.\nRurigan: I was happy living on Yadera Prime, that is, until the Dominion took over and changed our whole way of life. I realized one morning that I didn't really belong there anymore. So I came here, and I used a holo-generator to recreate all the things that I'd lost. I've lived here in my village for nearly thirty years. I've watched its people marry, have children, grow old. And sometimes I even forgot that they were holograms. But it's over. It's over. And I would appreciate it if you'd take me back to Yadera Prime.\nOdo: But what about the villagers? What about your granddaughter?\nRurigan: She's not real.\nOdo: Technically, I suppose you're right. Maybe by our definition, Taya's not real. Her memories are stored in a computer. Her body is made up of omicron particles. But who's to say that our definition of life is the only valid one. I'm sure if you asked her, she'd say she was real. She thinks, she feels.\nRurigan: She only seems to. It's all an illusion. An illusion that I created.\nOdo: You said you created the village thirty years ago. Taya's only ten.\nRurigan: I designed the program so the villagers could have children if they wanted to.\nDax: Then Taya's personality is a combination of her parent's personalities.\nOdo: Just like a real child. You had nothing to do with it.\nRurigan: But she's still a hologram.\nOdo: Maybe, but I saw the way you held her hand when she was sad. I saw the way you tried to comfort her when she was frightened.\nRurigan: I didn't want her to get hurt.\nOdo: If she's not real, what does it matter?\nRurigan: It matters. It matters to me.\nOdo: Why should it matter to you if a hologram cries?\nRurigan: Because I love her.\nDax: And she loves you.\nOdo: Don't you see? She's real to you, and she's real to me too. They're all real. And you can't turn your back on them now.\nSisko: Jake, how was work?\nJake: Okay. It's kind of fun working with Chief O'Brien. But it would be better if I knew what I was doing.\nSisko: You'll get there.\nJake: I guess so.\nSisko: I'm glad you decided to stick with it.\nJake: Yeah. Dad, I don't want to join Starfleet.\nSisko: Since when?\nJake: Since forever. Starfleet is too much like you. I need to find what's me. Does that make any sense?\nSisko: Perfect sense.\nJake: It does?\nSisko: It's your life, Jake. You have to choose your own way. There is only one thing I want from you. Find something you love, then do it the best you can.\nJake: I'll try.\nSisko: Good. Then you'll make the old man proud.\nJake: I'd better go study. I'm still trying to figure out those isolinear rods.\nKira: Hello, Quark.\nQuark: Major. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure.\nKira: Just thought I'd let you know. We caught your cousin trying to slip back onto the station. and guess what we confiscated from him? Bone-carvings stolen from a museum on Cardassia Five.\nQuark: I always knew Kono was no good.\nKira: I only wish we could have caught the two of you together.\nQuark: Life is full of disappointments.\nKira: By the way, Prylar Rhit tells me you encouraged him to invite Bareil onto the station.\nQuark: Is that a crime?\nKira: Not at all. I just wanted to thank you. I found him very diverting.\nQuark: Not diverting enough.\nDax: All right, nothing to do now but reactivate the system and see what happens.\nRurigan: Wait. Lieutenant, I'd like to ask you a favor. If it works, please don't tell any of the others that I'm not like them. I don't want to be treated any differently than before.\nOdo: Of course.\nTaya: Mother? Mother? Mother!\nColyus: Well, you did it.\nDax: We upgraded the system's memory core and realigned the field generators. I don't think you'll have to worry about anyone disappearing now.\nColyus: We just have to get used to the fact that we're holograms.\nRurigan: We're alive and we have our families back. That's the only thing that counts.\nColyus: I wonder who created all this?\nOdo: Whoever it was did a fine job.\nColyus: They did, didn't they. Well. it was good working with you, Odo. Next time you're on this side of the galaxy I hope you come by and see us.\nOdo: I would like that.\nColyus: We don't get that many visitors.\nTaya: Odo, my mother's back.\nOdo: I'm glad.\nTaya: You're leaving.\nOdo: I'm afraid so.\nTaya: I'll miss you.\nOdo: I'll miss you, too.\nTaya: Thank you for bringing my mother back. I hope you find your parents, too.\nOdo: Thank you, Taya. So do I.\nOdo: Taya.\nDax: Computer, two to beam up."}
{"text": "Bashir: You know, if there's anything I can do for you while you're here\nArjin: Oh, you've already been helpful. Just hearing about Dax makes me feel a little less nervous about the whole thing.\nBashir: Really? There's no reason to be nervous. Jadzia will be a wonderful host, Well, that is, she is a wonderful host in a Trill manner of speaking. I'm sure you'll learn a lot from her.\nArjin: She sounds very different from the other Dax's I've heard about.\nBashir: In what fashion?\nArjin: Let me put it this way. When I was told that Jadzia Dax had been designated my field docent, I asked for reassignment.\nBashir: You're joking. Why?\nArjin: Because Dax is known for breaking initiates.\nBashir: Breaking them?\nArjin: I looked up the records. Over the past two hundred years, Dax has personally eliminated fifty seven host candidates from the program.\nArjin: I suppose it's too late to introduce myself to her.\nBashir: Too late? I doubt it. Jadzia's a night owl. Computer, locate Lieutenant Dax.\nComputer: Lieutenant Dax is on level seven, section five.\nBashir: Ah. Of course. Then take us to level seven, section five. That's the computer's way of saying she's in Quark's.\nArjin: Over five thousand candidates qualify for the training program each year. Only three hundred symbionts are available on the average. It doesn't take much for one of us to get knocked out of consideration. The administrators only want hosts who are\nDax: Confront.\nArjin: The best and the brightest\nDax: It's the ears every time he goes to acquire he scratches behind his left ear like this.\nQuark: Don't play with my ears, unless you're serious about it.\nBashir: Jadzia, you have a guest.\nDax: Oh. You're not supposed to be here till tomorrow.\nArjin: Yes, ma'am. I caught a transport from Starbase forty one a day early.\nBashir: We found ourselves sitting next to each other on the way here. I've been telling Arjin all about you.\nDax: Really.\nBashir: Well, not quite all about you.\nQuark: Do you play tongo, Arjin?\nArjin: Tongo? No, sir.\nQuark: Then, you'll have to leave, Arjin. The risk's to you, Lieutenant.\nDax: Shame on you, Quark. Where are your manners. This is a Trill initiate you're speaking to. Of course he doesn't play Tongo.\nQuark: I beg your pardon.\nDax: So, we'll have to teach him.\nQuark: Actually, it is very easy to learn. How much money did you bring with you? Give the young fellow a seat. You, out!\nArjin: It was a very long trip. I think perhaps I should\nDax: Oh, of course, you're tired. I'll take you to your quarters. Roll me away, fellas.\nQuark: We can't roll you away.\nDax: They're just sore losers.\nQuark: You can't quit now. You just won! Female!\nTrajok: Yes?\nArjin: Oh. I'm sorry. I thought this was Lieutenant Dax's quarters.\nTrajok: She's in the shower.\nArjin: Oh. Well. In that case.\nTrajok: Is she expecting you?\nArjin: Yes. My name is Arjin. She told me I should be here at\nDax: Is that Arjin?\nDax: You're early again, Arjin. We're going to have to work on that.\nArjin: I can come back.\nDax: Don't be silly. Come in. I'll only be a minute. It always takes me longer to get ready as a female.\nTrajok: I have to go. I have to be at Calondia Four by tomorrow\nDax: When's my rematch?\nTrajok: I'll be back next week.\nDax: It was fun. Brutal, but fun. Safe trip.\nDax: The replicator makes a decent citrus blend.\nArjin: Thanks, but I've already had something to eat.\nDax: Would you get me a Black Hole?\nArjin: A what?\nDax: A Black Hole. It's a Ferengi drink. A bartender I've known for a hundred years introduced it to Curzon. Or was it Lela? Well, it was ages ago. Try one. You might like it.\nArjin: Computer, Black Hole.\nDax: Oh, my muscles are so sore. Did you ever wrestle Galeo-Manada style, Arjin?\nArjin: Wrestle?\nDax: You should. It's a great way to start the day. It makes you more alert. I'll set you up with Trajok. He's a great coach.\nArjin: Okay.\nDax: Better. So, you don't play Tongo, you don't wrestle. What are we going to do while you're here?\nArjin: Well, I was under the impression that field training consisted of\nDax: I know all about field training. Jadzia just went through it a few years ago.\nArjin: Yes, ma'am.\nDax: Arjin, if you truly want to become a Trill host someday, you'll never call me ma'am again\nArjin: Yes, Lieutenant.\nDax: Why don't you try Jadzia.\nArjin: If you think that's appropriate.\nDax: Oh, I'm sure it isn't appropriate at all. But then, I hate to be appropriate.\nO'Brien: Ow! Nothing!\nKira: Over here, Chief.\nO'Brien: No. All right, come to papa.\nSisko: Major?\nKira: Voles, sir.\nSisko: Voles?\nKira: A Cardassian legacy.\nO'Brien: They weren't bothering us until we started moving into areas of the station that they've been hiding in. Now they're spreading out all over the place.\nO'Brien: They seem to be attracted to electromagnetic fields. Give me a hand, Major, will you?\nSisko: Phasers on stun, Mister O'Brien. I want those voles taken alive.\nDax: Benjamin, I'd like you to meet Arjin, the host candidate I told you about. Commander Benjamin Sisko.\nArjin: Sir.\nDax: And that's our first officer Major Kira, and Chief Engineer O'Brien. Conducting repairs?\nSisko: Chasing Cardassian voles.\nDax: Really? I've never seen a Cardassian vole.\nKira: Be my guest.\nSisko: So, you're the one who picked the black marble.\nArjin: Sir?\nSisko: Field training with Dax was the nightmare of the initiate corps.\nDax: That was Curzon Dax.\nDax: Gotcha! Arjin, here.\nDax: Spectacular, isn't it?\nArjin: It's amazing.\nDax: Computer, play something by Frenchotte.\nArjin: Frenchotte?\nDax: A self-exiled Romulan. I collect forgotten composers. Feel like taking the controls?\nArjin: I've never flown a Federation runabout before.\nDax: These things practically fly themselves. You have third level flight experience, don't you?\nArjin: Actually, I just finished fifth level last month.\nDax: Fifth! I didn't finish third level until\nArjin: Your last year of training.\nDax: You've been studying up on me, Arjin. I can't say that I blame you. I did the same thing when I found who my field docent was going to be.\nArjin: And how did you feel when you found out it was going to be Curzon Dax?\nDax: Nauseous might be the best description.\nArjin: I suppose it wouldn't be fair for you to give me a few tips.\nDax: Tips?\nArjin: On how you managed to impress him.\nDax: Look, let's get one thing straight. I'm not Curzon or Lela or any of the others. I'm Jadzia Dax, and Jadzia's only a few years older than you are. You're her first initiate. To be honest, in a lot of ways, I still feel like an initiate myself. I still can remember the pressure of the competition when Jadzia was going through it and I'm not going to make this difficult for you. You don't have to impress me, okay?\nArjin: Okay.\nDax: Okay.\nArjin: So how did you? Impress him.\nDax: I didn't. Curzon recommended that my initiate period be terminated.\nDax: I got it! Engaging manual stabilizers. Shutting down all engines. Computer, analyze stability loss.\nComputer: Stability loss was due to an impact by a subspace interphase pocket.\nDax: Nature of interphase pocket.\nComputer: Unknown.\nDax: Damage report.\nComputer: Starboard nacelle nonfunctional. Maximum available power fifty percent.\nArjin: Jadzia, you'd better take a look at this.\nDax: Looks like we snagged something from the subspace pocket. Computer, identify mass on the starboard nacelle.\nComputer: Unknown.\nO'Brien: Maybe we could create some kind of EM pathway along the inner hull and try to lure them into a trap.\nKira: But how can you do that without shutting down all the other power systems?\nO'Brien: I can't, and it would take days to round them all up. We'd have to evacuate the station. The only other thing I can come up with is a directional sonic generator. Now I can adjust it to a frequency that'll be uncomfortable to their ears, drive them out of hiding one at a time. But at that rate, I'll be doing this for the rest of my tour of duty.\nQuark: It ran right across a Dabo table.\nKira: How'd it die? Get into your food?\nQuark: As landlords, you're responsible for this. I expect vermin control or I'm going to have to\nKira: Leave? Oh, please say leave. I'd take a Cardassian vole over you any day.\nQuark: The girl insists on fighting her latent attraction to me. What are you going to do about these pests, O'Brien?\nO'Brien: Relax, Quark. We're working on something new that ought to make the voles beg for mercy.\nQuark: What is it?\nO'Brien: A sonic\nQuark: ARGH! Stop! Stop!\nO'Brien: You all right? Are you all right?\nQuark: What?\nKira: Chief, the Mekong just came back through the wormhole. They're showing damage.\nSisko: Open a channel, Major. Put them on screen. Are you all right, Dax?\nDax: Our power reserves are gone we could use a tow.\nSisko: What happened?\nDax: Not exactly sure. We picked up some kind of subspace seaweed on our starboard nacelle. We couldn't get rid of it without causing further damage.\nO'Brien: You can shut down your engines, Lieutenant. We'll bring you in to pad D.\nDax: Set up a containment chamber in the science lab for me, would you, Chief? When we get this thing untangled, I'd like to study it under controlled conditions.\nO'Brien: We'll need a couple of hours.\nDax: Morning'll be fine. That'll give Arjin and me a little time to recoup.\nO'Brien: Acknowledged.\nSisko: Stop by and fill me in later.\nDax: Mekong out.\nDax: Come on. I'll take you to dinner.\nChef: Ak'la bella doo. Bella ak'la doo. La suhm, La suhm, L'kahtra la suhm. CHEF +\nDax: Ak'la bella doo!\nChef: She taught that to me. Can you believe it? A Klingon song I'd never heard.\nArjin: She collects lost composers.\nChef: Ak un lach'tel?\nDax: Doko doko. Un koliay Trill\nChef: Don't get any ideas. She's mine.\nDax: You haven't touched your racht.\nArjin: No, I have. It's interesting.\nDax: No, you've been moved it around your plate to make it look like you've touched it.\nArjin: I didn't have to move it. It moved itself.\nDax: Arjin, if this didn't appeal to you, why didn't you say something?\nArjin: No, it's all right. I wasn't really very hungry anyway.\nDax: Speak up for yourself while you're here, okay?\nArjin: I'll make a concerted effort.\nDax: So, who sponsored you for the program?\nArjin: My father.\nDax: Was he Joined?\nArjin: No, but he had great ambitions for his children. He was a pilot instructor at the Gedana post for forty years. He died last year.\nDax: I see where you got your flight skills.\nArjin: My sister was always his choice for Joining but after she got accepted to the program, she ran off and got married. My father never spoke to her again. On the day that he died, he turned to me and he said, 'I'm counting on you.' His last words to me.\nDax: Did he want you to enter Starfleet after Joining? To put your flight training to good use?\nArjin: Honestly, he couldn't care less what I did afterwards, as long as I became Joined. That was his only goal.\nDax: And what about your goals?\nArjin: There are so many possibilities when you're Joined. I'm not sure what I'd do yet. I figure I'd get a lot of guidance from the symbiont, wouldn't you say?\nDax: The symbiont's influence is very strong, Arjin, but you're the host. You've got to be strong enough to balance that influence with your own instincts. If you can't, the symbiont will overwhelm your personality.\nCardassian: Oh, they are a nuisance, aren't they?\nO'Brien: I was just hoping you'd found a way to deal with them.\nCardassian: Federation technology isn't up to the task, eh?\nO'Brien: Look, I just thought in the interests of good relations, you might\nCardassian: You've got the station, you've got the voles. By the way, their mating season begins in about six weeks.\nO'Brien: Thanks for your help.\nCardassian: The Federation could always withdraw from Bajor.\nO'Brien: What's this?\nDax: Got me. It's from Julian. He called it the solution you've been looking for.\nO'Brien: It worked in Hamlin. Very funny.\nSisko: Your move. Your seaweed's been safely transported to the science lab.\nDax: Did you take a look at it?\nSisko: What do you think?\nDax: We did as much analysis on the runabout as we could. None of the matter would scan. We'll do more tests tomorrow.\nSisko: How'd your initiate come through the experience?\nDax: Fine. He's a good pilot.\nSisko: Uh oh.\nDax: What?\nSisko: I know that look.\nDax: What look?\nSisko: That look, old man. The one that says this one isn't going to make it.\nDax: Not because of me.\nSisko: But you have your doubts.\nDax: I have my doubts.\nSisko: What's his problem?\nDax: I'm not sure what he brings as a host, how he'll advance the symbiont to the next level. Frankly, he's more than a little arrogant, Benjamin.\nSisko: Is he?\nDax: Okay, for a Trill, that's to be expected. Check. But he's riding his father's ambitions and he doesn't have any idea what he'd do with a symbiont if he got one.\nSisko: Have you confronted him?\nDax: It's not my job to confront him.\nSisko: Isn't it?\nDax: My job is to show him what it's like to function as a Joined Trill. That's all. I can show you the guidelines. They're very clear. Who am I to confront him?\nSisko: You're Dax.\nDax: Yes, but I'm not Curzon Dax. And I won't do to him what Curzon did to me\nSisko: So, what are you going to do? This kid has to measure up soon or he'll never be chosen. True? So you're not doing him any favors by avoiding a confrontation, are you? Curzon was tough. Maybe even abusive in his own charming way. But he always demanded the highest standards of excellence from these host candidates.\nDax: You don't know what he did to me.\nSisko: I know that you made it through the program.\nDax: No thanks to him.\nSisko: Are you sure?\nO'Brien: Voles have eaten through the security field energy lines. No telling how long it'll take me to set up another field.\nSisko: So, nothing is secure on this station any more. Is there any reason to believe there's an imminent threat from this?\nDax: Not as far as I can tell, but I can't tell you a lot yet.\nSisko: I want to know what we're dealing with as soon as possible. I'll schedule a briefing for fourteen hundred hours. And take those phasers off stun, Chief. No more Mister Nice Guy.\nDax: Arjin, how's your astrophysics profile.\nArjin: It's one of my better subjects. Maybe that's why I was sent here to work with you.\nDax: Set me up a gravimetric microprobe. I need to calibrate the energy profile.\nArjin: Jadzia, I felt that last night maybe I didn't express myself well about my own goals.\nDax: I think you expressed yourself very clearly.\nArjin: I just didn't want you to think that I hadn't set any goals for post-Joining. I have thought about Starfleet. With my flight training it would be a perfect\nDax: Starfleet's a career. A pilot's a job. What does that have to do with being Joined.\nArjin: I'm not sure I understand.\nDax: No, I don't think you do.\nArjin: I'm sorry?\nDax: I think you're telling me what I want to hear.\nArjin: That's not true.\nDax: I think you went to your quarters last night and you tossed and turned in bed because you knew some of the things you said to me concerned me. And now you're trying to fix it.\nArjin: I'm, I'm just trying to, to clarify\nDax: I know what it's like. I've tossed and turned myself. Please don't insult me by denying it.\nArjin: I'm finished.\nDax: Let's run a phase variant analysis. I'm worried about you, Arjin.\nArjin: Worried?\nDax: I'm worried you're not preparing yourself for being Joined.\nArjin: That's it? A day and a half and you've made up your mind.\nDax: I didn't say that. Look, you've gotten this far by anticipating every demand of the program and performing above everyone's expectations, am I right?\nArjin: I'd like to think that's true.\nDax: And I'm telling you from this point on that's not going to be good enough. Highly structured, but it doesn't seem to conform to any of our physical laws. Computer, run a spectral line profile analysis.\nComputer: Spectral analysis will take approximately seven minutes.\nArjin: Just to speak up for myself. I'm feeling a little betrayed here. I mean, after your impassioned 'I am Jadzia, fellow initiate' speech in the runabout\nDax: I understand why you feel that way. But this isn't about me. This is about the standards for Trill hosts. The opportunity is too rare and too important to waste on the wrong candidate.\nArjin: And in your mind, I'm a wrong candidate.\nDax: I don't know that yet. But I felt it only fair to let you know I am worried about you.\nArjin: I see. I should have known this. I should have realized this. You're Dax. Standards for Trill hosts? That is really incredible coming from you. I have never seen any host in my life who is so far below those standards as you are, ma'am. No wonder Curzon Dax tried to terminate your training.\nDax: I was finally able to read the EM flux. There are high plasma concentrations and a rapidly expanding mass.\nSisko: How rapidly?\nDax: The energy buildup is already straining the containment chamber. On top of that, the mass periodically undergoes phased expansions, and grows in spurts. It's a very specific growth pattern that the computer recognized.\nKira: Recognized as what?\nDax: The expansion patterns of a universe.\nKira: What?\nO'Brien: A universe?\nDax: What we have here, Benjamin, is a proto-universe in its earliest stages of formation. Unfortunately, as it grows, it's displacing our own universe.\nSisko: Can we get it back where it came from?\nDax: This has turned into an energy mass with properties that don't conform to our own laws of nature. I have no idea what might happen if we tried to move it, let alone take it back into the wormhole. Even if we get there, the wormhole's verteron nodes would probably interact with the energy fluctuations of the proto-universe, causing a devastating reaction. It could threaten this whole system.\nBashir: And if we don't do anything, it'll eventually obliterate this system and beyond.\nO'Brien: Can't we contain it somehow?\nDax: Not without destroying it.\nKira: Under these circumstances, that sounds like a pretty good option to me.\nDax: We can create a forcefield that will contain it. If we can suppress it long enough, the feedback pressure should create an implosive wave. It would self-destruct.\nSisko: How long before the next phase of expansion?\nDax: About three hours. The collateral shock waves will probably destroy the lab.\nSisko: Can we get this containment field ready by then?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Have Odo evacuate section fourteen. Dismissed.\nQuark: Another?\nArjin: Just keep pouring until I drown.\nQuark: Sounds pretty serious.\nArjin: Serious? No. I just threw my whole life out a porthole. Nothing serious.\nQuark: There isn't a problem in the world that can't be fixed by the right holosuite program.\nArjin: Never trust a Trill, Quark.\nQuark: Why not?\nArjin: They're two-faced.\nQuark: That go for all Trills or just for the ones with the worm?\nArjin: Any worm named Dax.\nQuark: Did she break your heart, son?\nArjin: What?\nQuark: Mine too. And Bashir is in here every other day crying in his synthale over her. The Promenade is littered with the bodies of\nArjin: It wasn't my heart she broke. It was me. My career, my life.\nQuark: Wait a minute. Is this about all that initiate stuff?\nArjin: She told me I wasn't preparing myself to Join.\nQuark: With the worm? So, that's her opinion. What's that worth, anyhow?\nArjin: A bad recommendation from your field docent and you can forget it.\nQuark: Listen, son. When I was a young man, no older than you, I had an apprentice position with the District Sub-Nagus. I licked his boots like you couldn't believe. He loved me. I was his golden boy. I was on the high road to the top of the Ferengi business world, and then it all fell apart.\nArjin: How?\nQuark: Rule of Acquisition one twelve. Never have sex with the boss's sister. I was fired, broke. It was quite a setback to my ambitions.\nArjin: How'd you recover?\nQuark: Never did. Look at me. Tending bar out here in Wormhole Junction while the big boys fly past me at warp speed. You only get one shot at the latinum stairway. If you miss it, you miss it. Welcome to the club, son.\nArjin: Thanks.\nQuark: Glad I could help.\nDax: Computer, confirm the localized entropy decrease in the energy mass.\nComputer: Confirmed.\nDax: How much have the readings decreased in the last hour?\nComputer: Localized entropy readings have decreased twelve percent during the last fifty eight minutes.\nDax: This can't be right. The whole thermodynamic structure would have to be changing. Activate a quantometer probe. Verify filter calibration.\nComputer: Filter calibration verified.\nDax: Set energy flux resolution to point one microdyne. Begin high resolution energy scans. There must be a malfunction in the sensors. Computer, run a self-diagnostic and check quantometer calibration.\nComputer: Calibration is locked and normal. Diagnostic underway.\nDax: Are there any feedback anomalies in the dynametric array?\nComputer: Negative.\nDax: What's the feedback reading?\nComputer: Feedback reading is zero. Diagnostic complete. Sensors are functioning normally.\nOdo: Odo to Sisko.\nSisko: Yes, Odo.\nOdo: Section fourteen has been evacuated.\nSisko: Acknowledged. Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: Just finishing, Commander.\nSisko: Sisko to Dax. We're preparing to establish the containment field. I want you out of the lab during this.\nDax: I'm already out, Benjamin, but I'm not sure you're going to want to do this now.\nSisko: Why not?\nDax: I've found indications of life in the proto-universe.\nDax: Non-random thermodynamics. Irregular power consumption. The computer's confirmed that these are lifesigns.\nKira: Now wait a minute. Single cell microbes are lifeforms too, but Doctor Bashir has a hypospray that will kill them, to say nothing of the voles.\nDax: Kira, we could very well be dealing with intelligent life here.\nKira: How is that possible? You told us that this proto-universe was just formed.\nBashir: It's quite possible. We may have only experienced hours since this universe was formed but there's no way of knowing how fast time is moving for them. Theoretically, billions of years may have passed.\nOdo: An entire evolution of a species might have taken place in the last few hours.\nBashir: It's possible.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien: Commander, if we're going to implement that containment field, we'd better do it now. In two minutes, this thing's going to expand.\nSisko: Get your people out of there, Chief.\nSisko: We're not going to put up the containment field.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nKira: Commander, this is only going to delay the inevitable.\nSisko: Take us to yellow alert, Major. Move the repair crews into position.\nComputer: Warning. Hull breach, level twenty two section fourteen.\nSisko: Sisko to O'Brien. Seal off section fourteen. Move your repair crews in.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: How long before the next expansion?\nDax: Roughly five hours.\nSisko: How much will it expand?\nDax: About three hundred percent. We'll lose a whole section of the station. By tomorrow, the station will be gone.\nBashir: We could beam them into space, give us some more time to come up with a solution.\nKira: We already have a solution and the longer we wait the harder it's going be to implement it. I'm sorry, but it's is us or them. We have to destroy it.\nOdo: You can't just wipe out a civilisation. We would be committing mass murder.\nKira: It's like stepping on ants, Odo.\nOdo: I don't step on ants, Major. Just because we don't understand a lifeform doesn't mean we can destroy it.\nKira: Do you have a better idea? Does anyone?\nSisko: I'll give you my decision in an hour. Personal log, supplemental. One hour. One hour to make a decision that could mean the life or death of a civilisation or the end to our own. My mind keeps going back to the Borg. How I despised their indifference as they tried to exterminate us, and I have to ask myself, would I be any different if I destroyed another universe to preserve my own?\nSisko: Hey.\nJake: Hi, Dad. What're you doing back so early?\nSisko: I just wanted to see you.\nJake: He told you, didn't he.\nSisko: Told me what?\nJake: Chief O'Brien. Darn it, he promised.\nSisko: If there's something you want to tell me, I want to hear it.\nJake: I love her, Dad.\nSisko: Okay.\nJake: She's everything I ever wanted in a woman.\nSisko: I'm sure she's a wonderful girl.\nJake: Oh, she's not a girl, she's a woman. She doesn't like to be called a girl. Everybody calls her that and she hates it. She wants to be something better than that.\nSisko: Than what?\nJake: Than a dabo girl.\nSisko: You're in love with a dabo girl?\nJake: Wait a minute, you said Chief O'Brien told you that\nSisko: No, I didn't. Who is she and how old is she, Jake?\nJake: Oh, jeez. I wanted to tell you, but I was sure you wouldn't understand.\nSisko: So now you're hiding things from me?\nJake: You mean you would have understood?\nSisko: Of course not! It's Mardah, isn't it? The one you've been tutoring in entomology.\nJake: I really want you to meet her, Dad.\nSisko: I really want to meet her.\nJake: Can I invite her to dinner tonight?\nSisko: No. Not tonight. But soon.\nJake: Thanks, Dad. You'll love her.\nDax: What's so interesting in there?\nArjin: I can see my future.\nDax: I wouldn't trust a glass of synthale to tell you the future.\nArjin: Let's get this over with, okay? Just use a sharp blade so I won't feel it.\nDax: You don't know me as well as you think you do. I'm sure you looked at all the training profiles, but that doesn't tell you who Jadzia really was before she was Joined. She was the quietest, shyest, most withdrawn young woman you've ever known. Brilliant, top grades, and not a clue to what life was about. She'd never lived outside the program and it didn't matter because she was sailing through it, until she met Curzon Dax. Curzon sized her up in about twenty seconds and made the next two weeks the most miserable of her life. She cried herself to sleep every night. She hated him for it. But when the field training was over and she learned about Curzon's recommendation to terminate her from the program, she went back a different woman. She found her voice and reapplied. She tore through the program with a passion, a vengeance. And in the end the administrators chose her for Joining.\nArjin: How did you wind up with the Dax symbiont?\nDax: When I found out Curzon was dying, I requested the Dax symbiont.\nArjin: And Curzon didn't object?\nDax: No. And I've never been sure quite why, except as I've come to know Curzon's dark sense of humor, I have a feeling the irony might have appealed to him. Jadzia Dax is not Curzon Dax, but I am Dax and I'm slowly coming to terms with what that means to me. Sometimes it means gambling or wrestling. Sometimes it means waking up an initiate before he slides into the middle of the pack and gets overlooked.\nArjin: You're giving me another chance?\nDax: You are the only one who can give yourself another chance. You can't simply do this anymore to meet other people's expectations. Not your father's, not your teachers', not mine. You've got to diskover what Arjin wants out of life, out of Joining.\nSisko: Lieutenant, we'll try to take it back through the wormhole. How soon can you be ready?\nDax: I want to be sure the containment field can block out any verteron node radiation as we pass through it. About two hours?\nSisko: Better get started.\nDax: Wouldn't hurt to have a level five pilot along.\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: The containment field is in place and holding, sir, but I'd like to run a practical test on the verteron integrity.\nSisko: Like to or need to that thing expands again in less than an hour.\nO'Brien: This is the strongest forcefield I know how to construct, sir, but a test would at least give us the odds of getting it through the wormhole intact.\nSisko: I'm not playing the odds today. Sisko to Rio Grande. Your status?\nDax: Systems check complete. Auxiliary power to shields. I'd say we're packed and ready to go, Benjamin.\nSisko: Ready transporter.\nO'Brien: Locking on to the containment field.\nSisko: Energize.\nDax: Chief, we're getting a phase variation here.\nO'Brien: Stand by. The energy fluctuations are driving the transporter crazy.\nDax: We've got it now.\nO'Brien: Switching your transporter to secure mode. Readings are stable.\nSisko: When you're ready, Dax.\nDax: Take us out gently, Arjin.\nArjin: Firing thrusters.\nO'Brien: Energy readings from the containment field are holding.\nDax: Take us to fifty kph.\nArjin: Confirmed. Seventeen seconds to the wormhole.\nDax: Hold at fifty kph.\nO'Brien: Ten seconds to the wormhole.\nKira: Reading higher levels of neutrino activity.\nDax: A short cross to the other side and we're home free. Rio Grande to Ops. Comm. links will terminate in five seconds.\nDax: See you later.\nKira: Acknowledged, Rio Grande. May the prophets guide you.\nDax: Containment field stability is down to eighty five percent. Every time we pass through a verteron node, there's resonance leakage from the energy mass.\nArjin: In twenty seconds, we'll be out of here.\nDax: We'll never make it. Field stability is down to sixty five percent and falling. We've got to kill our forward acceleration now.\nArjin: All engines stop.\nDax: Thirty eight percent stability. Still falling. Twenty six percent.\nArjin: Computer, thrusters on reverse, two second burst. All stop.\nDax: It's stabilizing. The containment field is at twenty seven percent, twenty six percent and holding.\nArjin: Now what?\nDax: Well, we can't stay here. In forty two minutes, that energy mass expands and once it intersects with one of those verteron nodes, they'll feel the result on the Cardassian homeworld\nArjin: But the containment field is so weak now, it'll fail as soon as we start to move again.\nDax: I guess we'll just have to let it fail.\nArjin: Let it fail? But you said it yourself. If we pass through even one of those verteron nodes without the containment field, the energy mass will explode.\nDax: Then we'll have to avoid them.\nArjin: You're talking about precision flying through a wormhole. It's never been done.\nDax: Until now.\nArjin: Jadzia\nDax: I'm a level three pilot, You're level five. I'll do it if I have to but I don't have time to argue.\nArjin: Watch the conn readouts. I'll try to keep at least fifty meters away from any node.\nDax: Understood. Computer, calibrate internal scanners to detect verteron radiation in the cabin. Activate sonic indicators. Verteron levels are well within safe limits.\nArjin: We'll start with one short thruster blast and we'll coast through. That'll protect the containment field for a few extra seconds.\nDax: Thrusters ready.\nArjin: I'm taking the inertial dampers offline. It'll be a rougher ride but I'll have a little more response time. Firing thrusters.\nDax: Velocity is forty meters per second.\nComputer: Warning. Containment field at ten percent.\nDax: Sixty seconds to Gamma. Node to starboard bearing zero three seven mark seven.\nArjin: Firing starboard thruster.\nComputer: Warning. Containment field has collapsed.\nArjin: No more margin for error.\nDax: Forty five seconds to Gamma. Node to port, bearing zero three zero mark five one.\nArjin: I've got it.\nDax: Thirty five seconds to Gamma. Verteron levels are still okay.\nArjin: Jadzia, look at this. We're never going to get through it.\nDax: Reading a passage. Adjust heading to one three one mark four seven.\nArjin: Confirmed.\nDax: Sensors say it's directly ahead.\nArjin: I don't see it\nDax: Hold your course.\nArjin: I don't see it. I see it! It's less than seventeen meters across.\nDax: This ship is only fourteen meters wide. That gives you over two meters to work with. Verteron levels are red-lining. Five seconds to Gamma.\nDax: This is going to look very good on your initiate record, Arjin. Now, lets get this thing back where it belongs.\nArjin: There's one thing I want to do before I go, and that is to apologize for the things I said to you in the lab.\nDax: That was the first time you were being honest with me.\nArjin: Somehow I always expected that Joining would make any Trill complete, serene, wise beyond her years.\nDax: And I'm none of those things.\nArjin: What I mean is, you're nothing like I expected.\nDax: I'm nothing like I expected. Life after life, with each new personality stampeding around in your head, you get desires that scare you, dreams that used to belong to someone else. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone but in time I might recommend it for you. When you're ready.\nArjin: I know what I have to do.\nDax: Good luck.\nDax: I'm not Curzon."}
{"text": "Kira: Definitely Cardassian.\nDax: And in trouble. Its engines are completely disabled.\nSisko: Open a hailing frequency. This is Commander Sisko of Deep Space Nine. Do you need assistance?\nDax: They're not answering. Their life support systems are operating on reserve power.\nSisko: Better lock on a tractor beam and pull them into cargo bay seven. Tell Mister O'Brien to meet me there.\nSisko: I'm Benjamin Sisko, commander of Deep Space Nine. My chief of operations, Miles O'Brien. Do any of you need medical assistance?\nNatima: I think we're all fine, considering. I'm Professor Natima Lang. These are two of my students, Rekelen and Hogue.\nO'Brien: What happened to your ship?\nNatima: We were caught in a meteor swarm. I'm a decent teacher, but I'm afraid I'm not much of a shuttle pilot. Do you think you'll be able to repair our ship?\nO'Brien: I'll have to take a look. Excuse me.\nNatima: We'd like to be on our way as soon as possible. We know having Cardassians on a Bajoran station may cause trouble. That's the last thing we want.\nSisko: If anyone can fix your ship, it is Mister O'Brien. In the meantime, you're welcome to stay here. If you stick to the Promenade, I'm sure there won't be any trouble.\nBashir: Wait, wait, wait a second. Are you telling me you agreed with General Yiri's decision to execute his brother?\nGarak: Of course I agreed. Yiri's brother was a traitor to the Trelonian government.\nBashir: The evidence is all circumstantial.\nGarak: It all comes down to a question of loyalty. My dear Doctor, Yiri had to choose between protecting his brother and protecting the state. He chose the state, as would I, every time.\nBashir: I suppose that's one way of looking at it. But then again, before you can be loyal to another, you must be loyal to yourself.\nGarak: And who can we thank for those misguided words of wisdom? Sarek of Vulcan?\nBashir: Actually, it was Bashir of Earth.\nGarak: With sentiments like those, you wouldn't last for five seconds on Cardassia.\nBashir: Would you?\nGarak: Fishing again, Doctor?\nBashir: Well, assuming you're not a spy\nGarak: Assuming.\nBashir: Then maybe you're an outcast?\nGarak: Or maybe I'm an outcast spy.\nBashir: How could you be both?\nGarak: I never said I was either.\nOdo: I heard an interesting rumor today.\nQuark: Only one? I started at least twelve.\nOdo: Rumor has it you've managed to get your hands on a small cloaking device.\nQuark: And you believe everything you hear?\nOdo: When it's about you, yes. According to Bajoran law, such a device would be highly illegal.\nQuark: If I had one, which I don't.\nOdo: I didn't expect you to admit it. I'm simply serving notice. You try to sell it and I'll see to it that you spend the next fifty years digging trenches in a penal colony.\nQuark: I told you, you have nothing to worry about.\nQuark: Excuse me. Excuse me. Out of my way. Excuse me.\nQuark: Natima!\nNatima: Quark.\nQuark: I knew you'd come b\nNatima: I told you never to speak to me again.\nOdo: Are you all right?\nQuark: All right? This is the happiest day of my life.\nQuark: Natima, wait. At least let me buy you and your friends a drink. I can make you a Samarian Sunset.\nNatima: I don't drink Samarian Sunsets anymore.\nQuark: Why not?\nNatima: Because they remind me of you.\nHogue: Is this Ferengi bothering you?\nQuark: This Ferengi happens to be Natima's old and cherished friend. Who are you?\nNatima: These are my students.\nQuark: Students. You don't say. I'd love to sit in on one of your classes. What do you teach?\nHogue: Political Ethics.\nRekelen: Her teachings will change the future of Cardassia.\nNatima: That's enough, Rekelen.\nQuark: Not at all. I want to hear more. I always knew Natima was destined for greatness.\nNatima: Quark.\nQuark: Just one drink. It'll be like old times.\nNatima: It'll never be like old times.\nQuark: You're right. It'll be better. I'll be right back with refreshments.\nOdo: Your hands are shaking. So, how well does this woman know you? Just enough to dislike you, or well enough to really hate you.\nQuark: She used to work here on the station. She was a correspondent for the Cardassian information service. It was before your time.\nOdo: So which is it, dislike or hate?\nQuark: It's none of your business, but if you have to know, I was the love of her life.\nOdo: Must have been some life.\nHogue: What about our drinks?\nQuark: If you want a drink, the bar's right over there.\nNatima: Go ahead.\nQuark: Your Samarian Sunset.\nNatima: I said I didn't drink these anymore.\nQuark: Because they remind you of me. But since I'm here anyway, you may as well enjoy yourself. Besides, it's on the house. You know, you're as beautiful as ever.\nNatima: And you're as big a liar as ever.\nQuark: You see, just like old times. I've missed you, Natima. That's no lie.\nNatima: You seem to have kept busy.\nQuark: Oh, yes, I'm very successful. But as the two hundred and twenty third Rule of Acquisition says\nNatima: Please. I haven't heard a Rule of Acquisition in seven years and I don't want to hear one now.\nQuark: So, how long are you going to be on the station?\nGarak: Thank you for another enjoyable lunch. Doctor.\nNatima: I didn't think there'd be any Cardassians left on the station.\nQuark: He's the only one.\nHogue: What do we do now?\nQuark: Is something wrong?\nNatima: We have to leave as soon as possible. Goodbye, Quark. Thanks for the drink.\nQuark: But you didn't touch it.\nSisko: How are your repairs coming?\nO'Brien: The damage is more extensive than I thought. They were lucky to escape the attack.\nSisko: The attack?\nO'Brien: They weren't in any meteor swarm. They were hit by Cardassian disrupters.\nKira: That doesn't make sense. Why would Cardassians fire on other Cardassians?\nDax: Maybe you should ask her.\nNatima: Commander, I hate to be an imposition, but I need my ship.\nSisko: That's not possible. Mister O'Brien is still working on it. Your ship sustained more damage than we originally thought. In fact\nNatima: You suspect that our ship was damaged by Cardassian weapons. You're right, of course.\nHogue: Professor.\nNatima: It's all right, Hogue. I should've told them the truth in the first place.\nKira: Then why didn't you?\nNatima: Because Cardassians don't involve outsiders in their internal politics. Especially Bajorans.\nSisko: Being shot at by your own people goes a little beyond politics.\nNatima: We take our politics very seriously. Commander, if I don't get my students to safety they're going to be killed. And if they die, the future of Cardassia may die with them.\nNatima: There are some who believe the future of Cardassia should not remain in the hands of the military.\nSisko: And you're among them?\nHogue: Yes, we are.\nNatima: Rekelen and Hogue are two of the most important leaders of our movement.\nSisko: Which makes you fugitives.\nHogue: The military's afraid to let us speak our minds.\nRekelen: They've already tried to kill us once. They're sure to try again.\nNatima: Which is why I have to get them off this station as soon as possible.\nSisko: I'll dispatch additional work crews to help repair your ship.\nHogue: We saw another Cardassian aboard the station in the bar.\nSisko: Garak. He saw you?\nNatima: I'm certain of it.\nSisko: Well then, we may have a problem. Mister Garak is a bit of a mystery to us. I'll assign you some guest quarters. You'll be safe there until your ship is ready.\nNatima: We appreciate your assistance, Commander.\nGarak: Ah, Mister Quark, this is a surprise. I don't believe you've ever been in my establishment before.\nQuark: You usually don't frequent mine, either. Though I did see you in there today.\nGarak: The Replimat was a little crowded. So what brings you here now?\nQuark: Oh, I just wanted to see what you're offering. What do you get for that?\nGarak: Seventeen strips of latinum.\nQuark: I tell you what, I'll give you twenty.\nGarak: Twenty? How uncharacteristically generous for a Ferengi.\nQuark: Just one businessman trying to help out another. I figure we have to stick together.\nGarak: Well, this is the latest style on my homeworld. Do you like it?\nQuark: I'm no expert on Cardassian fashions. What do you think?\nGarak: I don't know. It's been so long since I've had a Cardassian customer.\nQuark: Then you're in luck. There're some board on the station right now.\nGarak: Now that you mention it, I think your lady friend may find this style very appealing. You're old friends, aren't you?\nQuark: You're very perceptive, for a Cardassian.\nGarak: It would have been hard to miss the way you were looking at her.\nQuark: It would've been hard to miss the way you were looking at her.\nGarak: Personally, I find this style a bit too radical, but your friend seems the sort who appreciates that kind of thing.\nQuark: Different tastes for different people. Nothing wrong with that, is there?\nGarak: Oh, you'd be surprised how detrimental a poor choice of fashion can be. Take this dress. It may be all the rage now but in a very short time it can become tiresome, an affront to the eyes. Certain people might even think it's objectionable. And then Nothing but rags.\nQuark: I see.\nGarak: Mister Quark, might I offer you some free advice?\nQuark: As long as I'm under no obligation to follow it.\nGarak: I've been in this business a long time and I know there's nothing worse than following the wrong trend. Now you're a smart fellow, with your own inimitable sense of style. Perhaps you should mention this to your lady friend. I'd hate to see her fall victim to fashion.\nQuark: Would you like to explain that?\nGarak: She's chosen to associate herself with some rather flamboyant companions. It would be a tragedy if she got in the way when her friends go out of fashion.\nQuark: If anyone tries to harm her, they're going to have to deal with me.\nGarak: What're you going to do, short change them at the dabo table?\nQuark: I think I'll buy this dress after all. See that it's mended.\nNatima: What is it you want from me?\nQuark: I know you're in trouble. I want to help you.\nNatima: I don't want your help.\nQuark: I owe you. You saved my life. If you'd turned me over to the authorities, I would have been executed.\nNatima: I admired your courage. It was a brave thing you were doing selling food to the Bajorans. I thought you were a man of honor.\nQuark: I'm a Ferengi. You should've known better.\nNatima: You're right. I should have. Instead\nQuark: Can't you even say it?\nNatima: I can't even think it.\nQuark: Okay, I'll say it for you. We fell in love. And that month we spent together was the best time of our lives and you know it.\nNatima: I think you're confusing lust with love.\nQuark: I admit I'm capable of that, but not this time. I loved you, Natima.\nNatima: Then how could you have betrayed me?\nQuark: I didn't betray you.\nNatima: Don't lie to me, Quark. I know better. You used my personal access codes to authorize payments for goods you never provided.\nQuark: So I took a little money from the Cardassian Communication Service. They could afford it.\nNatima: You stole that money.\nQuark: I saw a chance for profit and I took it. Maybe that was wrong. I don't know. But what I really regret is betraying your trust. That was the worst mistake of my life.\nNatima: And you'd do it again in a second. I believed in you, Quark. But you were using me like you use everyone. For profit.\nQuark: Then let me make it up to you. Let me help you. I ask for nothing in return.\nNatima: Nothing?\nQuark: Except that you stay with me forever.\nNatima: I can't stay here. My students need me.\nQuark: Listen to me, Natima. You can't leave me. Not now. If you don't stay with me, I'll have to follow you. And I will, wherever you go, until you agree to take me back.\nNatima: You don't even know me anymore. I'm part of the Cardassian underground. Following me will only get you killed.\nQuark: I'll take that chance.\nNatima: What about the bar?\nQuark: I don't care about the bar. I'll turn it over to Rom. He'll run it into the ground in a month, but it doesn't matter. I have to be with you.\nNatima: It won't work, Quark. You say you'd do anything for me. Maybe right now, you even believe it. But I know better. In the end, you'd only care about yourself.\nQuark: But I love you.\nNatima: I don't love you.\nQuark: Now which one of us is lying?\nNatima: You'd better go.\nQuark: All right. But if there's anything you need, anything at all, I'll be waiting.\nNatima: It'll be a long wait.\nO'Brien: Professor Lang's ship should be ready to go in about an hour, Commander.\nSisko: Good, I'll let her know.\nKira: We have a Cardassian warship approaching fast.\nSisko: On screen. Hail them, Lieutenant.\nDax: No response.\nKira: They're taking up an attack posture.\nDax: They're ignoring us.\nO'Brien: They're powering up their forward disrupters.\nSisko: Shields!\nKira: Shields up.\nSisko: Lock on phasers and photon torpedoes. Prepare to return fire if necessary.\nGarak: Commander. We think we should talk.\nSisko: All right, Garak, do you mind telling me why a Cardassian warship is threatening my station?\nGarak: No one is threatening you. The Central Command merely wants to make sure they have your undivided attention.\nSisko: Well, they have it. I assume this has something to do with Professor Lang and her students?\nGarak: Students is a rather benign term for them. Terrorists would be more accurate. The Cardassian government would very much like Hogue and Rekelen returned home immediately.\nSisko: They haven't committed any crimes here. As long as they're on my station, they're free to do whatever they want.\nGarak: This is all very embarrassing, Commander. The Central Command would hate to see the Federation pulled into such an insignificant and purely internal affair.\nSisko: I would hardly call it insignificant. Judging by the behavior of the ship out there, it appears the Central Command considers Hogue and Rekelen to be extremely dangerous.\nGarak: Not at all. Annoying, perhaps, inconvenient, maybe, but dangerous? Hardly. And if they were dangerous, would the Central Command entrust the situation to me, a simple tailor?\nSisko: Which only confirms what I have suspected all along. You, Mister Garak, are no simple tailor.\nGarak: Really, Commander, that's another discussion entirely. All you really need to know right now is that the return of Hogue and Rekelen is in the best interests of the Cardassian Empire.\nSisko: Or at least in the best interest of the Cardassian military.\nGarak: Is there a difference?\nSisko: Do you really expect a Bajoran station under Federation command to turn over Cardassian political refugees on your say-so?\nGarak: The ultimate decision is of course yours. I am simply relaying a message.\nSisko: Then relay this. Tell the Central Command if anyone attempts to take Hogue and Rekelen by force, I will respond in kind. Am I clear, Mister Garak?\nGarak: Absolutely. Thank you for your time. Oh, and if you'd like, stop by the shop one day. I have a number of suits that would look quite flattering on you.\nQuark: Here, you go. Two mugs of Kanar on the house.\nHogue: We didn't order these.\nQuark: They're the drinks I promised you the first time you came in here. Sorry they took so long but things have been a little hectic. Do you mind?\nRekelen: I'm afraid that we do.\nHogue: Professor Lang told us you couldn't be trusted.\nQuark: You Cardassians do hold grudges. Seven years ago Natima and I had some little silly lovers' quarrel and well, all I can say is I'm willing to let bygones be bygones.\nHogue: But Professor Lang isn't.\nQuark: I have to say I find your loyalty to her extremely touching.\nRekelen: There is nothing that we wouldn't do for her, and if she says we're not to talk to you, we don't talk to you.\nQuark: I understand. She's your teacher, you're her students. You have to listen to her. So, if you don't want to talk to the only person who can get you off this station in one piece, that's fine with me.\nHogue: Wait.\nRekelen: You say you can help us get away?\nQuark: It's possible.\nHogue: How?\nQuark: One second.\nQuark: The station's security chief's a shape-shifter. You can never be too careful. I take it you know what a cloaking device is? Well, I have one. It's not in the best of condition but it'll work for about fifteen minutes. Long enough to get you away from here.\nRekelen: Sounds expensive.\nHogue: We don't have much latinum. What we do have is yours.\nQuark: Exactly how much latinum are we talking about? No, forget I said that. I don't want your money. Consider the cloaking device a gift.\nRekelen: I'm surprised. Ferengis aren't known for their generosity.\nQuark: We are a deeply misunderstood race.\nHogue: You may've saved our lives. Our movement owes you a debt of gratitude.\nQuark: And I know exactly how you can repay me. You have to convince Natima to stay here.\nRekelen: The Professor will never agree to stay behind.\nQuark: No Natima, no cloaking device, and no way off this station.\nRekelen: She won't do it.\nQuark: You have to talk her into it. After all, you're the ones the Cardassians are after.\nHogue: He's right. She shouldn't have to risk her life for our crimes.\nRekelen: I suppose we could ask her.\nQuark: Don't ask her. Tell her.\nHogue: We will. We'll do our best.\nQuark: I'm sure you will. I shudder to think what would happen if the military got its hands on you.\nHogue: Meet us at our quarters in an hour.\nQuark: I'll be there.\nNatima: Come in.\nQuark: Where are Rekelen and Hogue?\nNatima: They're waiting at the ship.\nQuark: Perfect. I know my quarters might seem a little crowded at first, but tomorrow morning, I'll put in a request for something bigger.\nNatima: That won't be necessary.\nQuark: All right. If you want your own quarters to start out with, I can arrange that, too.\nNatima: I mean I'm not staying.\nQuark: Now hold on. Your students and I have an agreement. They get the cloaking device and you stay with me. That way everyone's happy.\nNatima: Quark, you say you love me? Then give me that cloaking device and let me be on my way.\nQuark: And let you disappear out of my life again?\nNatima: I'm not part of your life.\nQuark: But you are. You always have been. Don't you understand, since you left me, not a day goes by that I don't regret what I did. And now you're asking me to lose you again.\nNatima: You lost me a long time ago.\nQuark: All right, then say it. Let me hear you say there isn't a spark of love left in you.\nNatima: There isn't a spark of love left in me.\nQuark: I heard that.\nNatima: What?\nQuark: You hesitated. Admit it, you still care.\nNatima: Quark, I don't have time for this. Give me that cloaking device.\nQuark: I can't. I won't let you go.\nNatima: Quark. I didn't want to have to get it this way, but I need that device. Give it to me. Now.\nQuark: Or what? You'll shoot me?\nNatima: If I have to.\nQuark: Then go ahead and shoot.\nNatima: Quark. Quark, are you all right.\nQuark: You shot me.\nNatima: I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I've never fired a phaser before. I barely touched the trigger\nQuark: Careful. Owww.\nNatima: It hurts?\nQuark: She wants to know if it hurts? Of course it hurts. It's supposed to hurt. It's a phaser.\nNatima: I made sure it was on the first setting.\nQuark: How considerate of you.\nNatima: Should I get a doctor?\nQuark: It's okay. Maybe if you rub it.\nNatima: Oh, Quark, I'm sorry.\nQuark: Really?\nNatima: Yes, for everything. For all those horrible things I said.\nQuark: You really didn't mean them?\nNatima: I love you, Quark. I've always loved you. Even when I hated you.\nQuark: Natima.\nNatima: I've missed you. I've missed you so much. Being with you was the happiest time of my life.\nQuark: And now we're together again, and we have the rest of our lives to be happy.\nNatima: I wish it was that easy.\nQuark: It can be if you let it.\nNatima: I'm not the same person I was seven years ago. I have responsibilities.\nQuark: I'll share them with you.\nNatima: The movement is my life now. I don't have time for anything else.\nQuark: We'll make the time. You're a woman, Natima, believe me, I know. It's not right for you to be alone.\nNatima: I'm not alone. I have my students, my dreams for a better Cardassia.\nQuark: But are dreams enough? Can dreams make you laugh? Can dreams hold you close at night?\nNatima: No. But my life demands I make certain sacrifices.\nQuark: And you've made them, but it doesn't mean you can't be happy.\nNatima: We did have fun together, didn't we?\nQuark: Remember the day I installled my first holosuite.\nNatima: I'd never been in one before.\nQuark: I still have that program. The picnic on Rhymus Major. Two suns in the sky.\nNatima: The sound of the waterfalls.\nQuark: The whisper of flitterbird wings over our heads.\nNatima: You painted my face with honey.\nQuark: And a Mordian butterfly landed on your nose.\nNatima: And a Mordian butterfly got stuck on my nose.\nQuark: His wings were beating almost as fast as my heart.\nNatima: Those were good times.\nQuark: The best. And we can have them back again. I'll give the cloaking device to your students. Once they're gone you'll be safe, and we can be together.\nNatima: I can't just abandon them. They need me.\nQuark: I need you. Listen to me, Natima. You've done enough for the movement. You lit the match. Let them carry the torch. Or are you saying that the movement won't survive without you?\nNatima: Of course it will.\nQuark: Then let it. And let us have the happiness we deserve.\nNatima: You really do love me, don't you?\nQuark: With all that I am, Natima. Forever. Will you stay?\nNatima: Yes, Quark. I'll stay.\nQuark: You don't know how I've waited to hear you say that.\nNatima: Enter.\nOdo: Professor Lang?\nQuark: Not now, Odo. Can't you see we're busy?\nOdo: I apologize for the interruption, but I'm afraid, madam, that you're under arrest.\nNatima: I'm what?\nQuark: On what charge?\nOdo: Commander Sisko will explain. I'm truly sorry.\nQuark: Now hold on.\nNatima: Quark, it's all right.\nNatima: Commander, would you please explain what we're doing here?\nSisko: I'm afraid all of you are to be turned over to the Cardassian government.\nRekelen: You can't do that.\nSisko: I wish I didn't have to, but Cardassia has offered to hand over a half a dozen Bajoran prisoners in exchange for you.\nNatima: And you've agreed to this?\nOdo: The Bajoran Provisional Government has agreed to it. A Cardassian transport will deliver the Bajoran prisoners within five hours.\nNatima: Commander, you have no idea what they'll do to us.\nRekelen: We're the ones they're after. At least let Professor Lang go.\nSisko: I'd like nothing better, but the provisional government has ordered you all be turned over. I'm fighting this every way I can. I'm not ready to give up yet. But in the end, this is a Bajoran station, and I have to abide by their decision no matter how much I disagree with it.\nToran: How the mighty have fallen.\nGarak: Toran?\nToran: It's Gul Toran now.\nGarak: They've made you a Gul. I didn't realize the situation on Cardassia had gotten so desperate.\nToran: I find your bitterness extremely gratifying. I'm glad to see that you're adjusting so poorly to exile.\nGarak: Actually, I'm finding my time here quite illuminating.\nToran: Then I don't suppose you'd be interested in going home again?\nGarak: Am I to be rewarded for informing the Central Command about the presence of Hogue and Rekelen on the station?\nToran: Perhaps. But only after you see to it that they don't leave this station alive.\nGarak: But I suggested a prisoner exchange and the Central Command agreed.\nToran: I convinced them otherwise.\nGarak: They listen to you?\nToran: My voice is less tarnished than yours.\nGarak: Kill them and all you'll do is create martyrs.\nToran: You overestimate their importance.\nGarak: And how do you propose to arrange this unfortunate incident?\nToran: I'm sure you'll think of something. You always did in the past. Don't you see? Lang's death will benefit us both. Unless of course, you intend to spend the rest of your life as a tailor.\nGarak: I see your point.\nToran: I knew you would.\nQuark: Odo, we have to talk.\nOdo: I'm busy. Come back later.\nQuark: Later will be too late. I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane?\nOdo: Chief O'Brien loaned it to me. This better be important, Quark.\nQuark: It is. Odo, you have to let Natima and her students go.\nOdo: Do I?\nQuark: Those students could be the key to a new Cardassia. A Cardassia free of military rule and oppression.\nOdo: Since when have you become so interested in Cardassian politics?\nQuark: A freer more open society on Cardassia would benefit this entire sector. And it'd be great for business.\nOdo: So, wanting me to free Natima and those students is strictly a financial consideration on your part?\nQuark: Now, Odo. Don't allow my greed to keep you from doing the right thing.\nOdo: I know you better than you think, Quark. This isn't about Cardassia, and for once it's not even about profit. This is about Professor Lang.\nQuark: You're right. It is. Her life is in jeopardy as long as Rekelen and Hogue are on the station.\nOdo: Why didn't you tell me that before?\nQuark: What was I supposed to say? That I love her? That I would do anything for her? That without her, my life would be meaningless? Sure, I could say those things, but what good would it do? How could I expect you to understand? You've never had those feelings. You don't know what it means to really care about another person. You've never been in love. You've got all the emotions of a stone. No offense.\nOdo: Go on.\nQuark: Listen to me, Odo. You do this for me, and I promise you there'll be no more secrets between us. I will tell you about every underhanded deal, every lying scheme, every dirty trick my brother Rom's involved in.\nOdo: Well, since you put it that way, I'm not interested.\nQuark: Okay, okay, let me put it another way. Do it for me.\nOdo: For you?\nQuark: That's right. For all the years we've known each other. For everything we've been through together. You say you know me better than anyone else? Well, I know you. Sure, sometimes we're on opposite sides, but that doesn't mean that we aren't close. I never told you this, Odo, but I consider you as dear to me as my brother.\nOdo: And I've seen how well you treat him.\nQuark: Odo, look at me.\nQuark: Look at me. I'm on my knees. I'm begging you. I don't care why you do it. Pick any reason you want. But please, let Natima and the others go.\nOdo: All right. I'll do it.\nQuark: You will?\nOdo: But not for you. Turning Hogue and Rekelen over to the Cardassians would mean their deaths. I've read their files and nothing they've done warrants that kind of punishment. I'll free them, Quark, but only in the name of justice.\nQuark: Justice. That was going to be my next suggestion. So, you're not really doing this for me?\nOdo: That's right.\nQuark: Then I don't owe you a thing. Thank you.\nQuark: You'll never know how much this means to me.\nOdo: Let go.\nQuark: Sorry. Now let's hurry before you change your mind.\nOdo: One question. How do you expect Rekelen and Hogue to get past that warship? I knew you had a cloaking device.\nQuark: I always said you were too smart for me, Odo.\nNatima: Quark, what are you doing here?\nQuark: Getting you out.\nNatima: Thank you.\nOdo: Good luck.\nQuark: I've installled the cloaking device in the central engine core. You can activate it from the bridge as soon as the mooring clamps are released. Then I suggest you take your ship to warp eight and don't look back. Now please, make your goodbyes brief.\nGarak: But what's the rush?\nRekelen: You've betrayed us.\nQuark: No.\nGarak: Don't. I'd hate to ruin such a nice suit.\nQuark: Why are you doing this?\nGarak: Exile tends to wear a bit thin after a while, even with surroundings as pleasant as these.\nQuark: Fine. Take them, but leave Natima alone.\nNatima: Quark.\nHogue: No, he's right. We're the fugitives, not you.\nQuark: You see, they agree with me.\nGarak: Unfortunately, it's not their decision to make, nor mine. Professor Lang, however minor her role in this matter, has come to the attention of the Central Command.\nNatima: Do you think killing us will change anything? Cardassia is slipping out of the hands of the military, and nothing you do will prevent it.\nGarak: Madam, I am not here to debate you.\nQuark: Garak, if you harm these people, I'll see to it that Commander Sisko prosecutes you to the fullest extent of the law.\nGarak: Which brings up another issue. Quark, things would've gone much easier if you'd taken my advice and not gotten involved with these people.\nQuark: I was already involved.\nGarak: I know. A pity, really. Personally, I rather like you, Quark.\nQuark: You mean you're going to shoot me too?\nGarak: Before I became a tailor, I lived by a simple motto. Never let sentiment get in the way of your work. A bit of a cliché, but true, nonetheless.\nQuark: I'll keep that in mind.\nGarak: Well then, although I admit it's against my better judgment, I'm afraid I must carry out the verdict of the Central Command.\nQuark: But you admit that they're wrong. Why don't you stand up for what you believe in?\nToran: More to the point, what do you believe in, Garak?\nGarak: What are you doing here, Toran?\nToran: Making sure that you carry out your assignment. I suspected that two years living among the Bajorans would make you soft. I see I was right.\nGarak: You've never been right about anything. Now step aside, Toran, and allow me to finish this sorry business.\nToran: I will take over from here.\nGarak: Why? So you can take the credit and make sure I remain in disgrace.\nToran: I can't believe that you were once considered clever. Do you think that completing this one simple task your reputation will be restored at Central Command?\nGarak: No, I suppose not.\nToran: Go back to your sewing kit, tailor.\nGarak: Well, some people should never be promoted. Well, don't just stand there. Your ship is waiting.\nQuark: I'm going to see to it that every Ferengi on the station shops at your store.\nGarak: Ah. That alone makes it all worthwhile.\nQuark: You heard the man. Get moving.\nHogue: Thank you. Both of you.\nQuark: Yes, yes, yes, go, quickly. Keep up the good work.\nNatima: Quark, I've got to say goodbye.\nQuark: Just let them go. It'll be less painful that way.\nNatima: No, you don't understand. I have to say goodbye to you. I'm going with them.\nQuark: But we had a deal.\nNatima: I can't stay here. Maybe one day I can come back and we'll be together again, but not until my work is done.\nQuark: So all I have to do to get you back is wait until Cardassia becomes a free and democratic society?\nNatima: I promise, I'll make it worth the wait.\nQuark: I don't suppose I could come with you.\nNatima: No. It's not your fight. Besides, I could never live with myself if something happened to you. I need to know that you're here, safe. That way a part of me will always be safe too. I love you, Quark. I always will.\nQuark: I love you, too.\nGarak: I suggest we return to the Promenade without delay.\nQuark: You have to tell me, why'd you do it? Shoot Toran?\nGarak: Why did you let Professor Lang go?\nQuark: I had no choice. I love her.\nGarak: And I love Cardassia. Which is why I had to do what I did.\nQuark: I don't understand.\nGarak: That's the thing about love. No one really understands it, do they?"}
{"text": "Quark: He only paid for one hour. He's been in there for three, fighting the Battle of Klachdachbrach or some such thing over and over.\nOdo: The Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt was a legendary Klingon victory over the Romulans almost a century ago.\nQuark: Well, he's been losing it all afternoon and he says he's not coming out until he wins. I banged on the door, he sealed himself in. I threatened to shut off the power, he threatened to kill me.\nOdo: Since when did you add ancient Klingon battles to your holosuite programs?\nQuark: The Captain of the last Klingon ship that went through the wormhole sold some to me. I know, I know. It's brutal, it's violent, it's bloody, but to the Klingons, it's entertainment.\nOdo: Shut off the power.\nQuark: He'll kill you.\nOdo: No, he said he'll kill you. Shut it off.\nKor: chay'pen Aha'bA?\nKor: Ar got k'nel d'kulluh marg rah low! You dare interrupt the Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt, you Ferengi k'pekt!\nOdo: The battle has been won. The people are waiting to celebrate your victory.\nKor: They are? Lead the way then!\nOdo: How did you get in here?\nKoloth: I am Koloth.\nOdo: That doesn't answer my question.\nKoloth: Yes. It does. What are the charges against him?\nOdo: Charges? No charges. He's today's guest of honor.\nKoloth: You must be a very brave man to attempt humor at the expense of a Klingon Dahar Master.\nOdo: I apologize. No offense intended.\nKoloth: Kor!\nOdo: Sir, if you'll wake up, I'll release you into your friend's custody.\nKor: Koloth! wIj jup My old friend. I knew you'd be here.\nKoloth: You disgrace yourself and our purpose. I do not go into battle with one whose honor is washed away in breshtanti ale. Keep him!\nOdo: Security reassignments, Major. Sorry it took so long. It's been a Klingon afternoon.\nKira: A Klingon afternoon?\nOdo: Every time Klingons come to the station, I wind up with a Klingon afternoon. But this was definitely one I'll cherish forever. There's a drunk Klingon in my holding cell, must be a hundred years old, singing battle songs. Even his best friend who's probably a hundred and fifty years old won't have anything to do with him, so I get the pleasure of listening to his repertoire. Kor, Dahar Master of the Klingons.\nDax: Did you say Kor?\nOdo: That's what he announced right after winning the Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt at Quark's.\nDax: What is he doing here? Did you get his friend's name? Was it Kang?\nOdo: No, it was DAX +\nOdo: Koloth.\nDax: Come with me, Odo.\nKor: B'aski't Kor, B'askr'ip Kor, KoHmanati, B'aski't Kor.\nDax: Hello, Kor.\nKor: I'm thirsty.\nDax: Let him out.\nOdo: Lieutenant.\nDax: I'll take responsibility.\nKor: I am very thirsty.\nDax: Kor, do you remember Curzon Dax?\nKor: Curzon? My dear friend Curzon? I lift my ghoptu to Curzon Dax!\nDax: And I, who was Curzon Dax lift my ghoptu to you. Scorcher burn on your fourteenth rib, and your left QiVon aches every time your ship hits warp eight.\nKor: Dax! My Curzon? After eighty-one years I find you a kyamo-looking woman. Kiss me!\nDax: How about just a great big hug.\nKor: Curzon, my beloved old friend!\nDax: I'm Jadzia now.\nKor: Well, Jadzia, my beloved old friend.\nDax: Come on, Kor, let's go find Koloth.\nKor: Koloth's here?\nKor: Look at him. He practices cuts and thrusts even with his food. Little children do that.\nKoloth: A sharp knife is nothing without a sharp eye.\nKor: It's been forty years since even his good eye was sharp. It is luck when you hit the plate.\nKoloth: I see the Federation insults us by sending a Lieutenant to greet us.\nDax: You never had much use for the Federation, did you, Koloth. I used to call you D'akturak, Ice man, because no proposal, no matter how reasonable, no matter how much it favored the Klingon Empire would satisfy you. You were the toughest man I ever faced across the negotiations table.\nKor: Do you not recognize our old friend Dax?\nKoloth: Dax?\nDax: Curzon's dead, but Dax is alive as part of me.\nKoloth: This is a mistake. Kang must not have known.\nKor: Ah, but what a beautiful mistake.\nDax: Is Kang coming?\nKor: Of course he's coming. He's brought the four of us back together after eighty one years.\nDax: Could it possibly mean that he's\nKang: Yes. That is exactly what it means. I have found the Albino.\nDax: Kang, do you remember the first time we sat together over bahgol? It was the Korvat colony. The Federation and the Klingon Empire were still enemies.\nKang: I have never sat with you before today.\nDax: I am Dax, godfather of your son.\nKoloth: You are no one's godfather.\nDax: I am Dax, godfather of your son .\nKang: So, you are the same Dax who took a blood oath with us to seek vengeance?\nDax: Don't mistake a new face for a new soul, Kang. I still feel at one with your family just as I did eight decades ago. I hope one day you will embrace me as a brother again.\nKoloth: Brother! Ha!\nKor: Brother, sister, what's the difference. We're here now. Speak to us, Kang. Where is he? Where did you find the Albino?\nKang: Seven years ago, on Dayos Four, I met one of the Albino's diskarded wives. I fed and clothed her. I told her the story of our sons. She still feared him and told me nothing. Three months ago, she died. A week afterwards, an amulet she wore around her neck was delivered to me by messenger. In it was the location of the Albino's sanctuary.\nKoloth: Are you certain that he's still there?\nKang: I have confirmed it with traders who supply him. It is on the fourth planet in the Secarus System. He has been hiding there for nearly a quarter of a century.\nKor: Hiding from us, no doubt.\nKang: I have been told he only has forty men in his compound. Evidently he has become very lax in his waning years.\nKor: The fool.\nDax: I wouldn't count on information from traders. The Albino might have told them what to say if anyone asked questions.\nKoloth: She's right. The traders may already have warned him that we are coming.\nKang: They will never warn anyone ever again. This time, we will reach the Albino. And when we do, I will cut his heart out and eat it while he watches me with his dying breath.\nKang: I did not know, of course.\nDax: About Curzon?\nKang: I did not want to risk contacting you by subspace.\nDax: I don't blame you. That's how the Albino learned we were coming to Galdonterre.\nKang: His ears that reach across the galaxy. I don't know how. Tell me about my friend Curzon. Did he die an honorable death?\nDax: He died in a hospital room yelling at doctors and friends who were trying to keep him alive for one more miserable day.\nKang: That's a pity. He was a good man. He deserved to die in battle. It pains me that I will never see him again in this life.\nDax: Curzon was decorated many times for his diplomatic achievements, but no honor touched him as deeply as yours. For a Klingon to choose a Federation official to be the godfather of his son.\nKang: Curzon Dax opened the door to peace. He was the first Federation diplomat I ever met who truly seemed to understand the Klingon nature.\nDax: Well, there was always a bit of the Klingon nature in Curzon. His blood oath with you was very important to him.\nKang: Would you eat from the heart of the Albino, Jadzia Dax? I know about the Trills during my long friendship with Curzon. And I know that each new host has no obligation to past commitments.\nDax: And I know that a Klingon blood oath can never be broken.\nKang: The old Klingon ways are passing. There was a time, when I was a young man, the mere mention of the Klingon Empire made worlds tremble. Now, our warriors are opening restaurants and serving racht to the grandchildren of men I slaughtered in battle. Things are not what they used to be, not even a blood oath.\nDax: I know you, Kang. You don't believe that.\nKang: What I believe is no longer relevant. You are released from Curzon's oath. You owe nothing to any of us.\nKira: Are you still reading a plasma leak in lower pylon one? I can't seem to find it now.\nDax: It's been intermittent. Let me do a high-resolution scan. Kira?\nKira: Uh huh?\nDax: How many people did you kill?\nKira: What?\nDax: While you were in the underground.\nKira: Too many.\nDax: Were they all faceless Cardassians or did you know who you were killing?\nKira: Why are we talking about this?\nDax: If it bothers you, we can stop.\nKira: It bothers me.\nDax: I'm sorry.\nKira: Why, are you thinking about killing somebody?\nDax: Me?\nKira: Tell me.\nDax: I don't know what you're talking about.\nKira: Tell me.\nDax: Eighty years ago, there was a band of depredators, led by an Albino, raiding Klingon colonies. Three Klingon warships were sent to stop him. One of the captains was a close friend of Curzon's. The mission was successful. Most of them were captured. But the Albino escaped. In his last message to the Klingons, he promised to take his revenge on the firstborn of each of the three captains. A few years later, he kept his word. Somehow, he infected three innocent children with a genetic virus that killed them. One of them was my godson.\nKira: I'm sorry. But Jadzia, that was Curzon's godson.\nDax: I took a blood oath to revenge his death.\nKira: Curzon took a blood oath.\nDax: I can still remember the boy's funeral. He was named Dax for me.\nKira: You've found this Albino?\nDax: We know where he is. The three Klingons came here to tell me.\nKira: Look, you've said yourself every new life for a Trill has to be a new life. If not, you'd wind up paying off old debts forever. These Klingons can't possibly expect you to keep this oath.\nDax: No, they don't. That's just it. They say I have no obligation to them. But I do. I know it, I feel it. If not to them, I owe it to Curzon.\nKira: Jadzia. Your questions about my experience with killing. If you're wondering what it's like. When you take someone's life, you lose a part of your own as well.\nKor: I need another arm. Or am I doomed to choose between perfection and palate.\nDax: Let me spare you that decision.\nKor: majQa'! To the rescue. Dax, may I present these two students of Klingon history.\nDax: Would you excuse us for a minute?\nKor: Only a minute, my students.\nKor: Well, you certainly don't share Curzon's priorities.\nDax: About going after the Albino, I do. Kang and Koloth don't want me to come with you.\nKor: Kang thinks too much. Koloth doesn't feel enough.\nDax: And where do you stand?\nKor: Of course you should come! The splendor of fighting and killing. A bloodbath in the cause of vengeance. Who wouldn't want to come?\nDax: Will you speak to them for me? It means far more to me than I realized.\nKor: Koloth spends all his time practicing in the holosuite. He listens to no one. And if Kang's made up his mind, there's nothing I can do.\nDax: And you call yourself a history teacher? What of your own history? You are Kor, Dahar Master. They cheered you at Klach D'kel Brakt. Your voice weighed heavily on the course of Klingon events.\nKor: You shame me.\nDax: No, please don't feel that.\nKor: The only weight I carry now, dear comrade, is my own bulbous body. I was once, if you remember, far less than you see, and far more than I have become. I'm sorry.\nDax: My memories are still of Kor, a great warrior.\nKor: Quark, you devious little Ha'DIbaH. Bring wine.\nDax: Nice of you to stop. I'm coming with you.\nKoloth: Curzon Dax was a politician. It was a diplomatic ploy for him to bond himself to us in a blood oath.\nDax: That's a lie.\nKoloth: Are you? I am practicing here. Leave while you can.\nDax: When you agree that I can fulfilll my part of the oath.\nKoloth: You? Your presence will jeopardize the rest of us. Leave me!\nDax: Computer. I want a Klingon bat'leth, tip to tip one hundred and sixteen centimeters, weight five point three kilos with an exterior handgripping diameter of five centimeters. Blades composite baakonite.\nKoloth: Ah, a warrior's configuration. Now what are you going to do with it?\nDax: I'm going to fight you.\nKoloth: And if my hand should slip, and you should die?\nDax: Your hand would never slip, unless you've become old and feeble.\nDax: Come now, Koloth. Surely you can take me down.\nKor: There is tension on your face, Koloth. You ought to drink more.\nKoloth: Stand up. Your presence against the Albino will do honor to our cause.\nKor: Well, that's a surprise from the great stoneface.\nKang: Releasing you from Curzon's oath was not enough. I can see that now.\nKor: It is agreed then!\nKang: No! I tell you now you will not be a part of this quest.\nKor: Why do you dismiss her like some useless t'ooho'mIrah?\nKang: We cannot go into an enemy stronghold with your sickly chest announcing us.\nKor: There is nothing nothing wrong with my chest.\nKoloth: Nothing that won't get us all killed before we reach battle. Come.\nKor: I need no nurse's hand.\nDax: You can't deny my right for vengeance.\nKang: You try to speak as a Klingon but the words do not fit in your mouth.\nDax: You said that to me before, Kang. Do you remember?\nKang: I do not care to discuss it any further.\nDax: The Korvat colony. First day of negotiations. I walked out on you right in the middle of that long-winded speech of yours. You should have seen the look on your face. Nobody ever had the kajunpak't to show their back to the great Kang before Curzon did.\nKang: I almost killed Curzon that day.\nDax: I knew I had to get you very, very angry or my mission wouldn't succeed. Getting you angry at me was the only way to begin to create a bond between us.\nKang: Curzon understood Klingons.\nDax: And he understood what he was doing when he took a Klingon blood oath. You can't expect me to stay here and not avenge my own godson's murder. You can't ask me to live with that kind of dishonor.\nKang: I cannot dishonor myself by permitting you to die in Curzon's place.\nDax: Who's talking about dying? I have no intention of dying. You dishonor yourself already, Kang, by placing your own honor above mine. No Klingon warrior would leave a comrade behind while he goes off to battle. Perhaps you're right. Klingon honor isn't what it used to be.\nKang: Are you trying to anger me again? Do you think the same trick would work twice?!\nDax: I understand Klingons.\nKang: All right, then! It worked! Come fight with us. Come and be damned.\nDax: Come in.\nDax: I was just about to come see you.\nSisko: No.\nDax: No what?\nSisko: No leave of absence.\nDax: Kira shouldn't have told you.\nSisko: Kira is my First Officer.\nDax: I don't have to tell you what this oath meant to Curzon.\nSisko: Jadzia Dax took an oath too, when she joined Starfleet. You're subject to orders, Lieutenant.\nDax: Don't do it, Benjamin. Don't make me disobey a direct order.\nSisko: I never understood this. I mean, whatever else Curzon was, he did have a fundamental morality. He wouldn't condone murder any more than I would, and yet he swore to kill this Albino and now you plan to go out and kill in his name. What about the laws of the Federation?\nDax: The Klingons have their own set of laws. This is justice to them.\nSisko: And to you?\nDax: I've chosen to respect their codes of honor in this matter, yes.\nSisko: You really think you're capable of doing this?\nDax: I don't know. There's only one way to find out, isn't there.\nSisko: Let's say you are. Let's say you even survive this insanity. You expect to just come back here and resume your duties as though nothing's happened?\nDax: I guess that'll be up to you.\nKang: The compound is constructed of riddinite. There are several walls that separate the main house from the rest of the grounds. The main power source is here. There is an armory there.\nKoloth: Any information about the position of the sentries?\nKang: They are posted at standing intervals, seventy-five meters apart along the perimeter.\nDax: Standing? No patrols?\nKang: That's what I'm told.\nKor: Perhaps he thinks we're already dead and have stopped chasing him.\nDax: Or perhaps he has made his defenses look weak for our benefit.\nKoloth: She may be right.\nDax: We have to assume the guards patrol the perimeter. At seventy-five meters apart, they're out of eye contact with each other\nKor: He wouldn't be that stupid. We must expect them to be no farther than fifty meters apart.\nKang: Fine. It makes no difference.\nDax: Doesn't it? If we assume he has adequate defenses, a minimum of fifty guards, then we should use a N'yengoren strategy.\nKang: No! I will not sneak into his bedroom and murder him like a kah'plakt. I want him to see us coming. I say we make a direct attack boldly through the threshold. The guards will be too scattered to defend against us. We will overwhelm them to glorious victory.\nKoloth: Or to a glorious death.\nKor: It is a good day to die.\nDax: It is a good day to die.\nKoloth: Come on, old comrade. For the last time, let's sharpen our blades.\nDax: So, we talk about dying again.\nKang: A Klingon warrior is always prepared to die.\nDax: Yes, but to invite death with a direct assault against a superior force? Kang, what are you doing? What's really going on here? Loyalty blinds Kor and Koloth, but not me. This is not a plan for battle, it's a plan for suicide. If it were someone else, I might think you were paid to lure us here.\nKang: How could you say that? I took a blood oath with you.\nDax: Is this why you didn't want me to come? Because you knew you were coming to die?\nKang: When the amulet arrived with the location of the Albino, I went to the Secarus system to see if it was true. Somehow, the instant I arrived the Albino knew I was there. He contacted me. He sent an invitation to one last glorious battle. He said he is tired of this lifelong pursuit. He swore to send forty of his strongest and most skilled men against us in honorable combat. And I agreed.\nDax: But why?\nKang: Because this is our last chance. If we cannot reach the Albino, we can at least die an honorable death trying to reach him. A death a Klingon Dahar Master deserves.\nDax: You know what, Kang? I think you Klingons embrace death too easily. You treat death like a lover. I think living is a lot more attractive. I think an honorable victory is better than an honorable defeat.\nKang: I know the Albino's defenses. There is no chance of victory here.\nDax: What if they had no phasers? That might make the odds a little better, don't you think?\nKang: How do you intend to disarm them all?\nDax: When we establish a low orbit, we modulate your disruptor banks to bombard the compound with tetryon particles. Every directed energy weapon will be neutralized.\nKang: You're certain such a thing could be done?\nDax: If Curzon were here, you'd be out of luck, but Jadzia Dax is a science officer.\nKang: We would also be unable to use our disruptors. But who among them could match our skills with the bat'leth?\nDax: Not many. We're about forty minutes away from the Secarus System. I think we should cloak and then you and I, old friend, should sharpen our blades too.\nKang: Perhaps it is a good day to live!\nDax: You say they promised you an honorable battle. Hand to hand combat at the main threshold.\nKang: That's right.\nDax: Take a look at this. This indicates a gravitic mine buried at the main threshold.\nKoloth: Yes, and he plans to detonate it the moment we enter the compound.\nKor: That's what you get for making a deal with the devil, Kang.\nDax: On the other hand, this gives us an advantage we wouldn't otherwise have. He's expecting us at the front door.\nKor: How do we know that he's even inside?\nDax: Good question.\nKoloth: Wait here.\nKor: Where are you going?\nKoloth: I'm going to find out if he's inside.\nKor: How do you intend to do that?\nKoloth: I'll ask somebody.\nKang: We would be wise to shut down his sensor array before we attack. It's controlled from this power station.\nKor: Yes, but a power failure will signal our presence. At the same time that you shut down the sensors, I'll create a diversion at the armory to misdirect their response.\nDax: A good strategy. But whoever creates the diversion will have to run across this field to escape. With all due respect, none of you are as quick as you once were. I'll volunteer for that job.\nKang: Agreed.\nKang: It seems this is best place for entry right here.\nKoloth: I encountered a helpful lookout. The Albino is inside.\nKor: His overconfidence will be the death of him.\nKoloth: He's in there now, but the moment we attack, he will move to a secured command post here.\nKang: It will be midday in one hour. Can you create the diversion in the armory by then?\nDax: I think so.\nKang: We will be in position at the powerhouse\nKang: May Kahless guide us on this day of vengeance.\nDax: Excuse me. Could you tell me where the tennis courts are? I seem to be lost.\nAlbino: Report.\nGuard: The armory's been sabotaged. I've diverted the forward patrols to that area.\nAlbino: Cancel those orders. Move all guards to the inner defense line. Make sure the power station is secure.\nGuard: Go!\nGuard 2: Yes, sir.\nGuard: None of the phasers are functioning\nAlbino: Not functioning?\nGuard: We're running diagnostics now.\nAlbino: Use long range sensors to check for interference from a cloaked ship in orbit. In the meantime, have the guards fix kuttars to their rifles and prepare for hand-to-hand combat.\nGuard: I can't make contact with the power station.\nAlbino: They must have already broken through the inner defense line. Move the perimeter guards into the house.\nGuard: Sir, without power, we have no communications.\nAlbino: Then get out there and tell them yourself. I don't want that Klingon filth to get in this\nKang: Look upon your executioners, killer of children.\nAlbino: Get them!\nKor: Koloth!\nKoloth: I didn't see him coming.\nKor: Even you cannot have eyes in the back of your head, my friend. Quiet now. Rest. I still have work to do.\nKoloth: I will not die before you, you thunderous bulk.\nKor: The story of your courage will never die. I will sing the story. The children of all Klingons will know of this day.\nAlbino: You'll die far quicker than your son did, Kang.\nAlbino: No vengeance today, Kang.\nAlbino: And who are you, girl?\nDax: You knew me as Curzon Dax.\nAlbino: The Trill. Of course. You're far too young and lovely to sport such a deadly weapon. All right, then.\nAlbino: Use it, if that's what you came to do. Kill me in cold blood. Run me through the belly and cut out my heart. Isn't that what your blood oath promised? Or have you lost your appetite, my dear.\nKang: Thank you for saving the death blow for me. You have honored me one last time, godfather to my son.\nKang: Where is Koloth?\nKor: He is dead.\nKang: I was right, Dax. It is a good day to die.\nDax: It's never a good day to lose a friend.\nKor: Ki-naH-naH, lo-maytool. Ki-nah-nah, lo-maytaH."}
{"text": "Scene: (A group of Cardassians go back into their ship. A\nStarfleet engineer checks there's no one around and opens a panel on the ship's hatch and does something clever.)\nDax: The Cardassian freighter Bok'Nor is requesting permission to depart upper pylon one in three minutes.\nKira: We have an incoming Bolian vessel at coordinates one zero one mark three eight. Give the Bok'Nor a clear trajectory out of the traffic pattern.\nDax: Acknowledged.\nKira: Feel like getting together for dinner tonight?\nDax: Can't. I'm having dinner with Captain Boday.\nKira: The Gallamite? You're going out on a date with him?\nDax: Is something wrong with that?\nKira: No. Not at all.\nDax: He happens to be brilliant. His brain is twice the size of yours and mine.\nKira: I know. I've seen it.\nDax: It's not his fault Gallamites have transparent skulls.\nKira: No, it's not. It's not exactly the view I want to have with dinner.\nDax: You know, Kira, sometimes I think you place too much emphasis on how men look.\nKira: What's that supposed to mean?\nDax: Nothing.\nKira: Look, when I kiss a man goodnight, I like to know where I'm kissing him.\nDax: I guess seven lifetimes gives me a somewhat broader perspective.\nKira: Since I have just one lifetime, I have to be a little more particular about whom I go out with.\nDax: I never said I wasn't particular.\nKira: I'm not the one who dates Ferengis.\nDax: And what's that supposed to mean?\nKira: Nothing.\nDax: Releasing docking clamps at upper pylon one. That's funny. I'm picking up elevated. DS Nine to Bok'Nor. Shut down your engines! Repeat, shut down your engines!\nKira: Report!\nDax: Some kind of impulse overload. Checking.\nKira: Ops to all engineering personnel. Report to rescue stations. We have an S I D in progress.\nDax: There's nothing left of it. There's no one left to rescue.\nO'Brien: Kelindide, rhodinium, nothing unusual there. All materials commonly used in Cardassian ship construction.\nKira: Maybe it was a malfunction in the impulse generator.\nO'Brien: I'd like to be able to tell you that, Major, but it's too soon to be sure.\nKira: I can't believe the Cardassians have waited this long for an official explanation.\nSisko: Anything, Chief?\nO'Brien: No sign of an explosive device yet, sir.\nSisko: I've got every Admiral within subspace range on my back. Can I at least tell them that it looks like an accident?\nO'Brien: Well, I wouldn't do that yet.\nSisko: When?\nO'Brien: I'll let you know, sir.\nKira: Anything from the Cardassians, Commander?\nSisko: Not a word.\nOdo: All Bajoran outposts have been put on alert for retaliatory strikes. The provisional government has made a statement disavowing any responsibility.\nKira: Maybe it really was an accident. I mean, it is a possibility.\nOdo: An accident involving a Cardassian ship in Bajoran space? If I were a Cardassian, I wouldn't easily accept\nO'Brien: That's odd.\nSisko: What?\nO'Brien: I'm picking up traces of a mercassium compound.\nDax: Mercassium? There shouldn't have been any mercassium on board that ship.\nO'Brien: Well, there was.\nSisko: Meaning?\nO'Brien: I'm not quite sure yet.\nOdo: Is mercassium some kind of explosive?\nSisko: No, it's a synthetic composite used in shield generator construction by the Federation. We don't share that technology with anyone.\nDax: Chief, I don't think you're going to find evidence of an explosive device.\nO'Brien: Lieutenant, respectfully, these kinds of things take time and I've got to\nDax: I don't think you're going to find an explosive device because I'm pretty sure it was an implosive proto-matter device designed to match the impulse signature. Just before the explosion, I picked up a sudden increase in their fusion rate. I'm trying to find any sign of malfunction in the Bok'Nor's engines to explain it but there just isn't one. This doesn't look like an accident. The fusion shock had to be caused by something external to the impulse drive system.\nO'Brien: If a proto-matter device was attached to the crossfeeds, that could have created the overload and we'd never see any sign of it.\nSisko: Can you prove that's what happened?\nO'Brien: Maybe. If we could get a high resolution spectra of the impulse debris. But that's going to take some\nSisko: Time. Yes, I know. Get it started. I'll tell the Admirals. Sisko out.\nHudson: Benjamin.\nSisko: Cal. Thanks for coming on such short notice.\nHudson: I wish it didn't take a disaster like this to get us back together.\nDax: Hi, Calvin.\nSisko: Jadzia Dax.\nHudson: Dax? My goodness. You look a lot better than the last time I saw you.\nSisko: Chief of Security Odo. Lieutenant Commander Calvin Hudson, Starfleet's attaché to the Federation colonies in the new Demilitarized Zone.\nOdo: You must be concerned about the colonies' security at a time like this.\nHudson: Well, we haven't noticed any unusual deployment from the Cardassians along the border.\nOdo: Neither have we, and that's what's got me worried.\nSisko: Let's go into my office.\nHudson: Lieutenant, I don't have time this trip, but you and I have a few stories to catch up on.\nDax: Next time.\nHudson: Next time.\nHudson: That woman knows more about me than any woman ever has. More than my wife, even.\nSisko: Tell me about it.\nHudson: Don't you find things a little uncomfortable?\nSisko: Oh, no. She's a good officer.\nHudson: Yes, but Curzon was a\nSisko: She's not Curzon.\nHudson: Now, you two aren't? I mean\nSisko: Oh, no. She may not be Curzon, but she is Dax.\nHudson: Yes, that would be extremely strange. So, Ben, how is Jake?\nSisko: As tall as me.\nHudson: No.\nSisko: He throws inside to knock the old man off the plate.\nHudson: A little chin music, huh?\nSisko: He's growing up too fast.\nHudson: It must have been difficult for you. At least I didn't have a child to raise by myself.\nSisko: Well, we kind of helped each other through it. When I heard about Gretchen, I wanted to be there for you. There was just no way to get back.\nHudson: I know that, Ben. You know, I was hoping when they sent me to the colonies that you and I would have time for some R and R together.\nSisko: Who's got R and R time?\nHudson: I know. You can't imagine how my life has changed since the Federation abandoned these colonies.\nSisko: Abandoned them? Doesn't your presence there\nHudson: My presence there is a joke. I am supposed to help these colonies function under the terms of the new treaty. Now Ben, what the hell does that mean?\nSisko: I thought these colonists wanted to stay. That they refused to evacuate.\nHudson: The treaty gave away their territory to the Cardassians, territory that these people had invested their lives in. Now, Ben, if you knew them as I do, you'd know why they can't leave. It's a bad treaty. The Federation gave away too much.\nSisko: Several Cardassian colonies wanted to stay on the Federation side of the Zone too. It seemed like a reasonable compromise\nHudson: Well, yes, the Cardassians would love to have their colonies in our territory. Because they knew we'd protect them. But they have no intention of doing the same for ours.\nSisko: A number of Admirals at Starfleet Command are worried the destruction of the Bok'Nor might jeopardize the treaty.\nHudson: Oh, are they really?\nSisko: As the two ranking officers along the Cardassian border, we've been asked to assess the potential risk.\nHudson: There is no risk, Ben. None. I have been dealing with the Cardassians most of my professional life, and believe me, they are very pleased with what they got from the treaty. They are not about to risk all they've gained by sending forces into the Zone. They're much too slick for that. If I were you, I'd be very concerned with security along the Bajoran border.\nSisko: Are you surprised they haven't responded at all yet?\nHudson: Well, Ben, you and I both know they never let you see what you expect to see. They'll respond.\nSakonna: Quarters have been arranged through diskreet channels. Deck seven, section four G. I suggest you keep a low profile until your ship arrives.\nQuark: Can I get you something?\nSakonna: You are Quark, aren't you?\nQuark: I assure you the warrant is out of date. I cleared that matter up months ago.\nSakonna: Warrant?\nQuark: Oh. When you recognized me, I assumed\nSakonna: You are counting your receipts. It is logical to conclude you are the proprietor of the establishment.\nQuark: You're very observant. What can I do for you?\nSakonna: I was hoping to discuss a business proposition.\nQuark: With me? Er, perhaps I should explain about that slip of the tongue.\nSakonna: Your past is of no consequence to me.\nQuark: I'm delighted to hear you say that. Because nothing would please me more than to make a fresh start with the Vulcans, Miz\nSakonna: Sakonna.\nQuark: Sakonna. Such a handsome name for such a handsome young woman. What'll you have to drink? Wait a minute, I have just the thing.\nQuark: Vulcan port. Three centuries old. Very rare, very expensive. Shall I pour you a glass?\nSakonna: No.\nQuark: Not even a taste? It's exquisite.\nSakonna: I'm not thirsty, thus I see no reason to have a drink.\nQuark: Well, it'll be right here should you develop a thirst. Now, you mentioned a business proposition?\nSakonna: It is a private matter. I'd rather not discuss it here.\nQuark: Then we can discuss it over dinner. That is, we can plan the business meeting to coincide with when you think you might get hungry.\nSakonna: That would be acceptable.\nQuark: That would be wonderful. How does eight sound to your tummy?\nSakonna: I will return then.\nQuark: And by the way, I'd love to melt that cold Vulcan heart of yours.\nBomber: Here, allow me.\nFemale: Thank you.\nSisko: Jake-O?\nDukat: Your son is not here, Commander\nSisko: Dukat.\nDukat: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you.\nSisko: Where is he?\nDukat: Who? Your son? How would I know? I just Commander, you don't? Do you think that I would ever do anything to harm your son?\nSisko: I think you're capable of anything.\nDukat: You wound me, sir. I'm here as your friend.\nSisko: Sisko to Kira.\nDukat: Please do not do anything hastily, Commander. We must talk in private.\nKira: Yes, Commander?\nSisko: Major, I want you to find Jake.\nKira: Is he missing?\nSisko: I don't know. Find out where he is and let me know.\nKira: Understood.\nSisko: How the hell did you get in here?\nDukat: I was an unregistered passenger on a Kotakian ship that docked here this morning. I slipped in through the cargo bay.\nSisko: And made your way here without anyone seeing you?\nDukat: I was the commander of this station for almost ten years. When one knows the various corridors and passageways as well as I. Oh, by the way, I love what you've done with these quarters.\nKira: Kira to Sisko. Jake's fine, Commander. He's with Nog watching the women coming off the Bajoran transport at docking bay one. Shall I have him brought to your quarters?\nSisko: No, that's all right. Thank you, Major. Sisko out.\nDukat: There, you see. Safe and sound.\nSisko: What are you doing here?\nDukat: You have a problem.\nSisko: Do I?\nDukat: The Bok'Nor.\nSisko: Is this the Cardassian Central Command's way of responding to my communiqués?\nDukat: On the contrary, Central Command has no idea I'm here. It's true. I'm here unofficially to help you find out the truth about the Bok'Nor.\nSisko: Why would you want to help me?\nDukat: Because I already know the truth.\nSisko: You know who's responsible?\nDukat: I do.\nSisko: Who?\nDukat: You are. Oh, not you personally, Commander. I know you to be an honorable man. You're not one to sneak around attaching implosion devices to impulse engines. But, believe it or not, there are those of your brethren who are willing to do such things. Morally superior human beings and other members of the Federation.\nSisko: I'm supposed to take your word for that?\nDukat: Of course not. It's my job to convince you so you can clean your own house instead of forcing us to do it for you, which would certainly endanger the new treaty. We'll need one of your runabouts.\nSisko: Where are we going?\nDukat: The Volan colonies.\nSisko: The Demilitarized zone?\nDukat: Not so demilitarized, I'm afraid.\nDukat: I can't help but notice that my controls are not illuminated. Isn't it customary for both seats to be turned on so that I may pilot the craft in the event of an emergency?\nSisko: If there's an emergency, I guess you're out of luck.\nDukat: Commander, I'm not going to sit here and steal all your little technical secrets, I promise you.\nSisko: I appreciate your assurances, but Cardassians are famous for their photographic memories.\nDukat: So you turn off my controls so I don't have enough light to take my photograph, is that it?\nSisko: I've heard they put Cardassian children in intense mind training programs when they're four years old. Is that true?\nDukat: The Cardassian educational system is unparalleled in the quadrant.\nSisko: If you don't mind taking the joy out of growing up.\nDukat: Education is power. Joy is vulnerability.\nSisko: What?\nDukat: Your reaction surprises me, Commander. I thought you would understand. Of all the humans I've met, you strike me as the most joyless and the least vulnerable.\nSisko: I am when I'm with you.\nDukat: Well said. But in truth, I'm looking forward to getting to know you better on this journey.\nSisko: I think we know each other well enough.\nDukat: Is that a ramscoop control or a deflector grid panel? Just curious. It really doesn't matter. Cardassian pursuit vessels are years ahead of this design.\nDukat: What is it?\nSisko: Long range sensors are picking up a distress signal.\nDukat: From whom?\nSisko: A Federation merchant vessel under attack by Cardassians. I'm reading two Cardassian attack vessels just inside the Demilitarized zone.\nDukat: That's not possible. I promise you, Commander, we would not violate the treaty.\nSisko: The merchant vessel's comm. links are down. I can't raise them. Computer, fix source coordinates of the distress signal and lay in a new course, warp three. I hope you don't mind.\nDukat: Not at all. I'm as curious about this as you are.\nDukat: What type of Cardassian ship are they? Patrol cruisers?\nSisko: No, much smaller. They look like shuttlecraft.\nDukat: Cardassian shuttles attacking a Federation merchant ship?\nSisko: They seem to be armed with Galor-class phaser banks.\nDukat: They must be from Cardassian colonies in the Demilitarized zone. Hail them.\nSisko: No response.\nDukat: Open a channel.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nDukat: To the pilots of the Cardassian attack vessels. This is Gul Dukat, Commander of the Second Order. Please respond. This is Gul Dukat, security identification ADL four zero. I order you to immediately disengage your attack.\nSisko: We're still two minutes away. The Federation vessel's shields are down to forty percent.\nDukat: Hail those Cardassians again. I don't know who you are or where you come from, but you're going to pay for this, I promise you. Answer me immediately or I personally will fire the photons that will destroy you. Arm the photons.\nSisko: The photon launcher is there.\nDukat: I know. I knew all about these controls before I ever came aboard. Tell me when we're in torpedo range.\nSisko: Stand by. I'm picking up another ship moving toward them.\nDukat: That's a Federation signature I believe, Commander.\nSisko: It sure isn't from Starfleet. I've never seen a ship configuration like that before. It almost seems like someone has modified an old support courier. Hailing them. No response. They've fired torpedoes. what kind of civilian vessel that size would be carrying photon?\nDukat: Something from one of your colonies, perhaps?\nDukat: Do you begin to see, Commander, that without any help from either one of us, they've managed to start their own little war out here.\nQuark: I hope you're hungry. I've planned a wonderful meal for us starting with plomeek soup, which I know is a traditional Vulcan favorite. Followed by jumbo Romulan molluscs. You can't get those back on Vulcan any more, can you.\nSakonna: Do you eat in this grand a manner every night?\nQuark: Certainly not. This is a special occasion.\nSakonna: It is?\nQuark: The commencement of a new business relationship is the most special occasion for any Ferengi. It's a cause for opening great bottles of wine, dancing into the wee, small hours of the morning. We'll let it breathe for a few minutes.\nSakonna: Very well, I will attempt to respect some of your cultural idiosyncrasies. I will drink the wine, but I won't dance.\nQuark: Maybe you'll change your mind after you drink the wine.\nSakonna: No. I won't.\nQuark: Oh, come on. Somewhere inside that cool, controlled exterior of yours, there's a wild woman screaming to get out. Maybe by the end of the night, you'll be dancing on the tabletops. Maybe not.\nSakonna: Is it appropriate to begin our business discussion now?\nQuark: Rule of Acquisition number two fourteen. Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach.\nSakonna: Rule of Acquisition?\nQuark: Yes. Every Ferengi business transaction is governed by two hundred and eighty five Rules of Acquisition to insure a fair and honest deal for all parties concerned. Well, most of them anyway.\nSakonna: Commendable. To create a code of behavior for business transactions is\nQuark: Is logical.\nSakonna: and quite reassuring.\nQuark: Do Vulcans have anything similar?\nSakonna: In structure, it reminds one of the Vulcan Bill of Rights which guarantees the fundamental personal freedoms of every Vulcan citizen.\nQuark: Same thing exactly. May I propose a toast?\nSakonna: Is this another cultural idiosyncrasy?\nQuark: Yes. You know, I can't describe the honor I feel at this moment. It's rare that a Ferengi and a Vulcan can overcome their inherent differences to see eye-to-eye as we're doing. I've always had the greatest respect for Vulcans, even though the few I've met haven't exactly felt the same way about me. You are a noble people and I salute you. Now then, what kind of business proposition do you have in mind?\nSakonna: I wish to procure weapons.\nQuark: I beg your pardon?\nSakonna: Guns, phaser banks, photon torpedoes\nQuark: Shh!\nSakonna: Troop transports and a number of cobalt-thorium devices. My list is quite extensive.\nQuark: You're a gun runner?\nSakonna: I'm prepared to pay in latinum and I will very likely need a continuous supply for the foreseeable future.\nQuark: You're not like other Vulcans, are you?\nEvek: The Federation merchant ship refused to be boarded!\nAmaros: So your ships just decided to open fire.\nEvek: It was clear the Federation ship was carrying weapons through the Demilitarized zone.\nHudson: That ship was carrying medical supplies to Soltok Four. Ben, what are you doing here?\nSisko: I'm not sure yet. Gul Dukat asked me to accompany him.\nEvek: Dukat. No one informed us you were coming.\nDukat: I decided an impromptu visit would be preferable so you wouldn't be bothered with special preparations.\nEvek: I see.\nHudson: Commander Sisko, do you know my counterpart from the colonies, Gul Evek?\nEvek: I'm glad you're here to listen to this, Commander.\nSisko: We monitored the attack on the way in.\nDukat: Yes, monitor is the proper word because none of the ships would respond to our hails. Even the Cardassian pilots refused to acknowledge me.\nEvek: A strange voice from a Federation runabout.\nDukat: I gave them my security identification.\nEvek: Well, obviously they had their hands full.\nKobb: With an unprovoked attack.\nEvek: Unprovoked, was it? Do you deny that the Federation is engaging in organized terrorist activities against the Cardassian people? Deliberately attempting to undermine this treaty?\nSisko: The Federation does not conduct secret wars.\nEvek: Then perhaps then you can explain where the Federation ship came from, the one outfitted with photon torpedoes?\nHudson: Explaining why your ships were armed with Galor-class phaser banks?\nEvek: They have a right to defend themselves against organized terrorist activities.\nSisko: I haven't heard any proof yet of organized terrorist activities.\nAmaros: Because there is none.\nEvek: On the contrary, we have the confession of the Federation terrorist responsible for the destruction of the Bok'Nor at your station, Commander.\nSisko: Confession?\nEvek: A forty three year old male human, William Patrick Samuels, born Bergan, Norway, Earth.\nAmaros: We know who he is. What have you done with him?\nEvek: Came to the Federation colony on Volan Two twenty years ago. Married, wife's name Louise, two female children aged fourteen and twelve. He was quite cooperative once we apprehended him on Deep Space Nine.\nCardassian: Begin.\nSamuels: My name is William Samuels. I am being held for crimes against the Cardassian people. I have been well treated. I have confessed that, as a member of a well-armed anti-Cardassian force organized by Federation colonists, I set an implosion device that destroyed the freighter Bok'Nor. I deeply regret participating in this arbitrary attack that led to the deaths of over seventy five crewmen. To my wife and children, I'm sorry, and I love you.\nAmaros: He would have confessed to anything after you were through with him\nEvek: On the contrary, he confessed quite early in the interrogation procedure, far sooner than we expected. I believe he truly felt remorse.\nHudson: We want to talk to him ourselves.\nEvek: Bring him in.\nEvek: Unfortunately, he committed suicide in his cell.\nHudson: Come on, come on. It's all right, it's all right.\nSisko: Dukat, get them out of here.\nDukat: Get outside.\nHudson: Go on. We'll talk later.\nKobb: We can't let them get away with this.\nHudson: We'll talk later. You go on. Get him out of here.\nHudson: I knew him. Bill Samuels was a farmer. He cultivated his land for twenty years. He raised two kids on that land. He made something out of that land and the Federation told him he had to give it all up to the Cardassians. Well, he just was not willing to do that.\nSisko: And it was people like him who made both sides realize that some accommodation had to be made for the colonies so they could stay.\nHudson: The Cardassians have no intention of allowing these people to stay. They will either force them out or they will kill them. It's already started. Not a day goes when there's not some random act of violence against our people. Every Federation colonist knows you do not go out alone at night. Can you imagine living in that kind of fear?\nSisko: If you're saying the Cardassian authorities are not enforcing the laws, we can\nHudson: Enforcing the laws? The Cardassian authorities were part of a mob that stoned two colonists on the streets of Ropal City three days ago.\nSisko: That's something the Federation can take up with the Cardassians at the highest level.\nHudson: Well that will help a lot. The word is the Cardassian High Command is arming their colonists to the teeth.\nSisko: You really think they'd risk sending weapons into the Demilitarized zone and breaking the treaty?\nHudson: I think they'll find a way to do it that's not so obvious.\nSisko: Not long ago, we caught the Cardassians shipping weapons to Bajoran extremists through a third party, the Yridians.\nHudson: That sounds about right. Could the Bok'Nor have been transferring weapons to someone else to bring in here?\nSisko: If it was, the transfer was made before the ship reached the station. The cargo holds of the Bok'Nor were empty. Do you think he did it?\nHudson: Samuels? I don't know. They could have forced him to make a false confession and then killed him.\nSisko: I don't think Gul Dukat would drag me all the way here unless he knew he could prove it.\nHudson: Then, maybe he did do it, Ben. I don't know. Damn! I've got to go see his wife. I don't know what I'm going to tell her. Makes you pine for the good old dull days in New Berlin, doesn't it? Sausage and beer all around, and everyone's idea of a good time was the mazurka Festival.\nSisko: Gretchen and Jennifer had a ball together there, didn't they?\nHudson: I'll never forget the sight of you in those lederhosen.\nSisko: I still have the hat. Is there something larger going on here, Cal? Are these colonists organizing some kind of terrorist campaign?\nHudson: Well if they are, they're not about to tell me about it. But I'll tell you one thing, Ben, between you and me, those people have every right to defend themselves. When the Federation said goodbye to them, they left them no other choice.\nDukat: You're very quiet, Commander.\nSisko: You knew about Samuels before we left.\nDukat: I knew about his confession, yes. I didn't know he was. I was as surprised as you were by his death.\nSisko: No one is going to buy your suicide story. I don't care what he did. This kind of barbaric disregard for life will gut this treaty.\nDukat: If it means anything, I entirely agree. I told Evek he was a fool to let Samuels die. A good interrogator doesn't allow his subject to die. You lose the advantage.\nSisko: That's all you're interested in, isn't it. The advantage.\nDukat: Oh, now don't go spouting off your holier-than-thou Federation fair-play dogma. And lest we forget, your man was responsible for the deaths of seventy eight innocent crewman.\nSisko: What was the Bok'Nor transporting?\nDukat: The Bok'Nor had just delivered fourteen metric tones of golside ore to the Regulon system prior to its arrival at the wormhole.\nSisko: You're sure it wasn't carrying weapons?\nDukat: Weapons? To whom?\nSisko: To the Cardassians in the Demilitarized zone.\nDukat: No. The route of the Bok'Nor didn't take it anywhere near the Demilitarized zone.\nSisko: It could have rendezvoused with someone else. With the Lissepians, maybe. They could have transferred the weapons to them and they could have taken the weapons\nDukat: Commander, I know you'd love to find some justification for this mass murder to ease your Federation conscience, but if the Bok'Nor was carrying weapons, I would know. And on the lives of my children, I swear to you it was not.\nSisko: I didn't know you had children.\nDukat: Seven.\nSakonna: I received your message. How soon will it be available?\nQuark: My source can have everything ready tomorrow, say by fourteen hundred hours.\nSakonna: That's not soon enough. I must leave the station tonight.\nQuark: You're leaving so soon?\nSakonna: My plans have changed. Can your source have the materials ready by tonight?\nQuark: I guess he'll have to.\nSakonna: I have your latinum if you'd like to count it.\nQuark: Are you trustworthy?\nSakonna: I'm a Vulcan.\nQuark: Of course. Just a little joke. I'm sure it's all there. Well, it wouldn't hurt to give it a quick count, I suppose.\nSakonna: I will have it brought to your quarters.\nQuark: I was looking forward to showing you more ways to mix business with pleasure.\nSakonna: Perhaps in the future. I do find you intriguing, Quark.\nQuark: Intriguing.\nSisko: You can stay in the guest suite on level H Two while you arrange transport back to Cardassia. I'll have a security guard sent to meet you there.\nDukat: Starfleet security, if you don't mind, Commander. Some of the Bajoran deputies are still around in the good old days when I was in charge.\nSisko: I understand.\nDukat: If there's anything else I can do to assist you in your investigation.\nSisko: I think I can handle it from here.\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. I've got answers for you but I'm not sure you're going to like them.\nSisko: It was an implosive device.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir, and not only that\nSisko: Not only that, it was a Federation implosive device.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. The traces of mercassium we found were from the casing of the device itself. It had to be a Federation design.\nSisko: Get me Starfleet Command on subspace.\nKira: Commander, is there anything you'd like me to communicate to the Provisional Government?\nSisko: Tell them some reckless colonist in the Demilitarized zone blew up the Bok'Nor. There's no further threat of Cardassian reprisals to Bajor.\nKira: I'll advise all of our outposts to stand down. Sir, are you, are we facing the prospect of war here?\nSisko: Not if I can help it.\nKira: But that's what the colonists are after.\nSisko: I don't think they know what they're after, Major. I just know they have to be stopped, and it's Starfleet's job to stop them.\nKira: Sir, I know this is none of my business\nSisko: But you're going to give me your opinion anyway.\nKira: I don't know what the Cardassians told you\nSisko: They played a confession from the man who planted the bomb. A man they most likely tortured to death.\nKira: And you don't think you might be playing into their hands?\nSisko: I've got people out there killing people, Major. You suggest I turn a blind eye to that?\nKira: Well, they don't have a right to defend themselves?\nSisko: They've crossed the line.\nKira: If Starfleet is unwilling to defend their people in\nSisko: They chose to live with the Cardassians.\nKira: Well, I didn't. But I lived with them for twenty six years before the liberation came. Every Bajoran lived with them in constant fear. I know what those colonists are going through. Most of all, I know that the Cardassians can't be trusted to keep their side of the bargain in this treaty.\nSisko: So, you'd suggest the Federation not keep our side of the bargain either, perhaps by arming these colonists?\nKira: I can tell you one thing for certain. The Cardassians are the enemy, not your own colonists, and if Starfleet can't understand that, then the Federation is even more naive than I already think it is.\nNiles: I've been sent to relieve you\nGuard: There must be some mistake. I just reported for duty an hour\nDukat: Yes?\nNiles: Sorry to disturb you, sir, but there's a message here from Commander Sisko.\nSakonna: We have been asked to escort you to airlock eleven, sir.\nNiles: A Cardassian freighter's just arrived.\nDukat: Is there a problem?\nNiles: Apparently another bomb has been found and disarmed.\nDukat: Where's Commander Sisko?\nAmaros: Comfortably asleep in his quarters, I hope. Remember me?\nDukat: I take it we're not about to board a Cardassian freighter.\nSisko: I'm hoping I don't have to remind the admiral how many people pass through here during a week's time. It's not possible to keep tabs on every single person while they're on the station\nAdmiral: If I didn't know you better, commander, I'd think you were just making excuses\nSisko: I'm not making excuses! Would it be in keeping with Federation policy to frisk everyone who steps through our airlocks? To search every room of every visitor during their stay?\nAdmiral: Of course not but with two kidnappings and a ship being destroyed all in less than a week's time obviously your security measures leave something to be desired\nSisko: Security on this station is by the book. Our security program and the officers who work in it are first-rate.\nAdmiral: Then what were they doing when all this was happening? We here at Starfleet are watching how you resolve this situation very closely, commander. We think it might be prudent to replace this chief of security you have\nSisko: Odo is both highly intelligent and extremely thorough. He's the most qualified person I have for the job.\nAdmiral: Still, it would be a concrete example that you are taking active measures to resolve this situation and to make sure it doesn't happen again.\nSisko: I stand behind my chief of security one hundred percent.\nAdmiral: That may be a mistake, Commander\nSisko: Then it's my mistake.\nAdmiral: Then let me make my point again. Starfleet is very unhappy this has happened. We want this matter taken care of immediately. I don't have to remind you how this reflects on your position\nSisko: We're doing everything we can to apprehend the kidnappers\nAdmiral: Don't bother me with details. Just clean up the mess, Commander. And quickly. Before this becomes a permanent stain on your record. Do I make myself clear?\nSisko: Yes, sir.\nBashir: What do you think they're telling him?\nKira: With two kidnappings and a ship exploding in the course of a week, I'm sure they've got a few things to say.\nOdo: It's their own fault. I've been warning them from the beginning.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about, their fault? You're in charge of Security.\nOdo: If you will let me be in charge of Security I will give you a safe station. You people tell me to do my job then give me a Federation rulebook listing all the things I can't do. Untie my hands before you start to blame me, Mister O'Brien.\nDax: I'm sure no one meant to blame you, Odo.\nOdo: Give me the right to set a curfew, let me do more searches of arriving passengers, give me fifty more deputies.\nKira: And this station will be just the way it was during the occupation.\nOdo: Say what you like, it was safer then.\nKira: Unless you happened to be a Bajoran.\nSisko: I want a complete review of all security measures on board this station.\nOdo: I'd be delighted to accommodate you.\nSisko: What do we have from the guard?\nKira: He's given us a description of the two who assaulted him. A Vulcan female and a human male in a Starfleet officer's uniform.\nOdo: We're trying to locate anyone they might have contacted here.\nSisko: How many ships left the station during the night?\nO'Brien: Only two, sir. A Bardeezan merchant ship and a Galador freighter.\nSisko: What were their destinations?\nO'Brien: The Bardeezans went through the wormhole. The freighter is operating on a trade route between Galador Two and Farius Prime.\nSisko: I'm guessing these people wouldn't take Dukat through the wormhole. They'd head back to the Demilitarized Zone with him. Dax, check the Galador ship's registry and make sure it's in order. Chief, see if you can identify its warp signature from our sensor records.\nO'Brien: No problem, Commander. I've got it.\nSisko: Last known course?\nO'Brien: The computer's showing it was on a bearing two one six, mark one seven seven. As it left our sensor range, it was still heading for Farius Prime.\nSisko: Major, send a message to Farius Prime. If that ship shows up, and I doubt it will, I want to know about it right away.\nKira: I could send the warp signature out over subspace.\nO'Brien: We could make it a general transmission. If it changes course, someone should spot them.\nSisko: Do it.\nDax: It's a phony. The Galadorans don't have any ships in this sector. The registry is forged.\nSisko: Doctor, Major, you're with me. Odo, send a message to Commander Hudson at the Volan colony that I'm moving in his direction on the assumption that Dukat will be taken to the Demilitarized zone. Give him the warp signature of the ship.\nOdo: Aye, sir.\nKira: Commander, we just received a general subspace transmission from somewhere in the Demilitarized zone. A group there is taking credit for the kidnapping of Dukat. They're calling themselves the Maquis.\nO'Brien: Commander, a Klingon freighter two light years from the Demilitarized zone has ID'ed the warp signature. The ship did change course just as you predicted.\nSisko: Transmit their last known coordinates and heading to us, Chief.\nKira: Acknowledged.\nSisko: Let us know if anyone else picks up their signature.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir. O'Brien out.\nSisko: Set a new course, Major.\nKira: Yes, sir. Their heading takes them into the Badlands.\nBashir: Badlands?\nKira: It's a stretch of the Cardassian border ships try to avoid. A lot of plasma storms in the area.\nSisko: A few ships have been lost there over the past year or two.\nBashir: Sounds like the perfect place for a hideout. Excuse me, sir. What do you plan to do if we catch up with them? After all, these Maquis are Federation colonists.\nSisko: We're going to get Gul Dukat back by any means necessary.\nBashir: Even if we have to fire on our own people?\nKira: Long range sensors are picking up the warp signature. It leads to an M-class asteroid.\nSisko: Take us there.\nKira: Scanning the surface. I've located the ship.\nBashir: Those are human life signs.\nSisko: Is there a Cardassian among them?\nBashir: No, sir.\nSisko: Prepare to beam down.\nHudson: I'm glad to see you had no trouble finding us, Ben. It seems that one disaster after another keeps bringing us back together again. To Be Continued"}
{"text": "Garak: What a waste of a morning. That Galipotan freighter that was scheduled to be here at oh seven hundred still hasn't arrived. Oh well, that's the price of doing business with a culture that refuses to even acknowledge the concept of time. Though I must say, they make magnificent sweaters. I hope I'm not boring you, Doctor.\nBashir: Oh, not at all. No, I was just up late last night.\nGarak: Entertaining one of your lady friends?\nBashir: Unfortunately, no. I was reading the last few chapters of The Never-Ending Sacrifice.\nGarak: Isn't it superb? Without a doubt the finest Cardassian novel ever written.\nBashir: I'll take your word for it.\nGarak: So you didn't enjoy it?\nBashir: Well, I thought it was interesting. Maybe a little dull in parts.\nGarak: Oh, wonderful. At this rate, we'll be done eating lunch just in time for dinner.\nBashir: There's always Quark's.\nGarak: True, but I'm really not in the mood for noisy, crowded and vulgar today.\nBashir: Then I suppose the Klingon restaurant is out of the question.\nGarak: I can't believe that I'm having lunch with a man who thinks The Never-Ending Sacrifice is dull.\nBashir: I just thought the story got a little redundant after a while. I mean the author's supposed to be chronicling seven generations of a single family, but he tells the same story over and over again. All of his characters lead selfless lives of duty to the state, grow old and die. Then the next generation comes along and does it all over again.\nGarak: But that's exactly the point, Doctor. The repetitive epic is the most elegant form of Cardassian literature, and The Never-Ending Sacrifice is it's greatest achievement.\nBashir: None of his characters ever really come alive, and there's more to life than duty to the state.\nGarak: A Federation viewpoint if ever I heard one. This is ridiculous. Can't you just move to the front of the line? Tell them it's a medical emergency or something.\nBashir: We'll be there in a minute. Look, maybe if you lent me another book by a different writer.\nGarak: It would only be a waste of time. When it comes to art, you're obviously a prisoner of Federation dogma and human prejudice.\nBashir: I'm sorry you feel that way. I was just trying\nBashir: Are you all right?\nGarak: I'm fine.\nBashir: You don't look fine. Your skin is clammy and your pupils are contracted.\nGarak: I assure you, I'm in perfect health. Now, you were asking about other Cardassian books. Something maybe a little more accessible\nBashir: Perfect health. Then Cardassian standards must be a little lower than mine. Come on.\nGarak: Doctor, what do you think you're doing?\nBashir: I'm taking you to the Infirmary.\nGarak: That won't be necessary.\nBashir: Maybe not, but humor me.\nGarak: Frankly, Doctor, I'm a little tired of humoring you. There's nothing wrong with me that a little peace and privacy wouldn't cure. Now if you'll excuse me, I seem to have lost my appetite.\nKira: What was that all about?\nBashir: I have no idea.\nDax: Can you tell what's wrong with it?\nBashir: In my expert medical opinion, I'd say It's sick.\nDax: I know that, but why is it sick?\nBashir: I'm a doctor, not a botanist. Did you ask Professor O'Brien?\nDax: Keiko's at a hydroponics conference on Rigel Four. She won't be back for a week.\nBashir: And none of your past hosts have had any experience with plants?\nDax: Daxs have never been much on gardening. Tobin was the only one who ever tried his hand at it, but he had even less luck with plants than he did with women.\nBashir: Do you even know where it's from?\nDax: I picked it up on Ledonia Three.\nBashir: May I?\nDax: Be my guest.\nBashir: That explains it. Ledonian soil contains a benevolent mycorrhizal fungus that helps the native plants retain water. But the fungus in this potting soil's almost completely died out. If we can salvage what's left and cultivate a new batch in the lab, that should do the trick.\nDax: Keiko would be proud of you.\nBashir: It's all there on the screen. I only wish my humanoid patients were as easy to treat.\nDax: Did Chief O'Brien dislocate his shoulder again?\nBashir: It's Garak. At lunch today, he seemed as though he was going to have some kind of seizure. He was having trouble breathing and he appeared to be in a great deal of pain. When I tried to get him to come to the Infirmary, he outright refused.\nDax: Maybe he just doesn't like going to see the doctor.\nBashir: That's not it. It's that damn Cardassian evasiveness of his. I mean, making me guess about his past is one thing, but when it comes to his health? I don't know. Why can't he just tell me what's going on?\nDax: It sounds like you're taking this personally.\nBashir: I suppose I am. It's just that Garak and I have been having lunch together once a week for more than a year now. You'd think he'd come to trust me a little.\nDax: Why should he? It's not like you two are really friends.\nBashir: No, of course not. I suppose when it comes right down to it, I don't trust him either. I mean, for all I know, the man is a Cardassian spy.\nDax: Exactly.\nBashir: Exactly. If he doesn't want my help, that's his prerogative.\nGarak: So I take it we understand each other?\nQuark: Garak, how long have you been living on this station?\nGarak: Too long.\nQuark: And in all that time, have I ever let you down?\nGarak: I have never done business with you until now.\nQuark: Which is why this deal is so important to me. I want our business relationship to get off on the right foot. Now relax. You'll get your merchandise.\nGarak: Soon, Quark I. can't wait much longer.\nBashir: You and Garak going into business? I couldn't help overhearing your conversation.\nQuark: Oh, that. I'm helping Garak get a new sizing scanner for his shop.\nBashir: A sizing scanner?\nQuark: Not just any sizing scanner. The best. Straight from Merak Two. Calibrated to be accurate down to the micrometer. And, I might add, at a very reasonable price.\nBashir: Really? I thought Garak sounded a bit upset.\nQuark: Upset? Garak? I hadn't noticed. Now, is there anything I can do for you? A little Saurian brandy to go, or maybe a late night session in a holosuite?\nBashir: No. Thank you. I think I'll call it a night.\nQuark: Suit yourself.\nBashir: There. How does that feel?\nSisko: Much better.\nBashir: Try not to yell at any more admirals for a while.\nSisko: I wasn't yelling. I was just expressing my feelings. Loudly.\nSisko: Chief.\nO'Brien: Commander.\nO'Brien: You wanted to see me?\nBashir: Yes. I was hoping you could give me a hand. I've been trying to access the old Cardassian medical files but I haven't been having much luck.\nO'Brien: I'm not surprised. The Cardassians did a general systems sweep before they pulled out. The medical files would have been deleted along with everything else.\nBashir: Is there any way to recover them?\nO'Brien: Maybe. These subroutines don't look anywhere near as bad as the engineering files did. I might be able to reconstruct the data by microscanning the purge trace.\nBashir: How long will that take?\nO'Brien: Two, maybe three weeks.\nBashir: Well, that settles that. Thank you anyway, Chief.\nO'Brien: Sorry I couldn't be any more help.\nQuark: Quark to Bashir\nBashir: This is Bashir.\nQuark: Doctor, I need you in my bar right away.\nQuark: Come on, Garak. Don't you think you've had enough?\nGarak: On the contrary. Anyone who talks about the numbing effects of your liquor is severely overstating the case.\nBashir: What's all this?\nQuark: He came in complaining about a headache. The next thing I knew he drank up half my stock of kanar.\nGarak: Doctor, what a pleasant surprise. I apologize for my outburst at lunch, but I promise I'll make it up to you. Please, join me.\nBashir: I think I will. May I?\nGarak: By all means.\nGarak: What are you doing?\nBashir: I think it's a little noisy in here. I prefer to drink somewhere quiet.\nGarak: An excellent idea. We'll go to my quarters.\nBashir: Whatever you want. But first I must make a stop at the Infirmary.\nGarak: The Infirmary? My dear Doctor, what kind of fool do you take me for? Now give me back my bottle. Give me my bottle!\nBashir: I will. In the Infirmary.\nGarak: I'm not going to the Infirmary and I refuse to play this ridiculous game. Now give me, give me\nGarak: Make it stop. Make it stop.\nBashir: Bashir to Ops. Medical emergency. Two to beam to the Infirmary. Energize.\nOdo: Some kind of implant?\nBashir: Apparently.\nOdo: What's it for?\nBashir: Well, I was hoping you could tell me. After working for the Cardassians for five years, I'd guess you know them as well as anyone.\nOdo: Maybe so, but I never bothered to look inside their skulls.\nBashir: No, I don't suppose you did.\nOdo: Do you think this is the cause of Garak's condition?\nBashir: It's possible. Whatever this thing is, it's situated in his postcentral gyrus and has filaments that connect it to his entire central nervous system.\nOdo: Maybe it's some kind of punishment device. A parting gift from the Cardassian government.\nBashir: I thought of that, but based on the amount of scarring in the surrounding tissue, this implant's been in there for years. And as far as I can tell, Garak's only been in pain for the past few days.\nOdo: Interesting. I wish I had an answer for you, Doctor.\nBashir: Well, I was hoping you could help me get one. I think Quark knows what this thing is.\nOdo: Now what makes you say that?\nBashir: I overheard them talking the other night. Garak was negotiating to buy some merchandise from Quark. He seemed pretty desperate. I tried to ask Quark what it was about, but\nOdo: No need to explain, Doctor. The direct approach seldom works with people like him. This could answer some of my own questions. Quark has sent several coded messages to Cardassia Prime in the past few days.\nBashir: Really?\nOdo: I routinely monitor all of Quark's subspace communications.\nBashir: Is that legal?\nOdo: It's in the best interests of station security. Doctor, do you want to know what Quark knows or not?\nBashir: I see your point.\nOdo: Then meet me in Security at oh two hundred hours. Quark always makes his clandestine calls after the bar closes.\nBashir: I wouldn't miss it.\nBoheeka: Quark, you parasite. It's been too long. Is Hartla still working for you?\nQuark: The dabo tables wouldn't be the same without her.\nBoheeka: Oh, what I wouldn't give to see her again.\nQuark: I'm sure she misses you too.\nBoheeka: I'll bet she does. She would've bankrupted me if the occupation would've lasted much longer. But I'm sure you didn't contact me just to reminisce. What can I do for you?\nQuark: How'd you like to earn a little extra latinum? Maybe enough to buy yourself a promotion?\nBoheeka: You have my undivided attention.\nQuark: I need a piece of Cardassian bio-technology and the schematics relating to its installlation.\nBoheeka: Bio-technology. That shouldn't be too difficult. What is it?\nQuark: You know, I never ask those kinds of questions, but I've got the requisition code number.\nBoheeka: Give it to me. I'll look for it.\nQuark: I knew I could count on you. Here it is.\nBashir: I hope you don't have one of those little bugs hidden in my quarters.\nOdo: Should I?\nQuark: Transmission complete.\nBoheeka: Hold on.\nBoheeka: This won't take long.\nQuark: Take your time.\nBoheeka: Quark, you idiot!\nQuark: Is something wrong?\nBoheeka: Is something wrong? I'm ruined. My career is over.\nQuark: What did I do?\nBoheeka: You and your damn requisition code. It's for classified bio-technology, Quark. Even the cursed number is classified. Where did you get it? No. Don't tell me. I don't want to know. If I'm lucky, I can still get through this with my skin intact. Maybe they won't trace the request back to me.\nQuark: Who won't?\nBoheeka: The Obsidian Order.\nQuark: Nice talking to you, Boheeka. We'll have to\nQuark: Do it again sometime.\nOdo: The Obsidian Order. That certainly complicates things.\nBashir: Who are they?\nOdo: They're the ever-vigilant eyes and ears of the Cardassian Empire. It is said that a Cardassian citizen cannot sit down to a meal without each dish being duly noted and recorded by the Order.\nBashir: What happens if you eat something that doesn't meet with their approval?\nOdo: People have been known to disappear for less. Whether you agree with their goals or not, you can't help but admire their efficiency. Even the Romulan Tal Shiar can't compete with them when it comes to intelligence gathering and covert operations.\nBashir: What has all this to do with Garak?\nOdo: I wish I knew.\nBashir: Do you think the Order put that implant in Garak's head?\nOdo: I have a better question. If the implant is a punishment device, then why is Garak trying to get his hands on another one?\nBashir: He did ask for the specifications. Maybe he's trying to find some way of removing it.\nOdo: Either way, I'd like to have a talk with him when he wakes up.\nBashir: You'll have to get in line. Thank you, Constable.\nBashir: Computer, report on the status of patient Garak.\nComputer: Patient Garak is no longer in the infirmary.\nBashir: What? When did he leave?\nComputer: Patient checked out at zero three twenty hours.\nBashir: Garak? Are you in there? Computer, open the door to chamber nine oh one, habitat level H three. Emergency medical override Bashir one alpha.\nGarak: Ah, Doctor, what a pleasant surprise. I'm sorry, I must've missed the door chime.\nBashir: What the hell do you think you're doing? Triptacederine. How much of this did you take?\nGarak: A mere thirty cc's. Not nearly enough, I'm afraid.\nBashir: Thirty cc's would anesthetize an Algorian mammoth.\nGarak: We Cardassians must be made of sterner stuff. I barely feel it.\nBashir: Listen to me, Garak. I've had just about enough of your nonsense. Now you're coming back to the Infirmary with me.\nGarak: I don't think so. Believe me when I tell you there's nothing you can do for me.\nBashir: Oh, and Quark can, is that it?\nGarak: I thought I was supposed to be the spy.\nBashir: Quark's not coming, Garak.\nGarak: How do you know?\nBashir: I heard him talking to his Cardassian contact. He couldn't get the item you requested.\nGarak: Really? That's most distressing, but I suppose, not all that surprising. Ah, well. Maybe it's for the best. My hypospray, if you please.\nBashir: Another dose of triptacederine might kill you.\nGarak: Thank you for your concern, Doctor, but I'd rather have the hypospray.\nBashir: I'm not going to let you commit suicide. I'm here to help you.\nGarak: I doubt you can. I think you'll find that I'm experiencing some slight deterioration of my cranial nerve cluster.\nBashir: It's not so slight, I'm afraid. We've got to get you to the infirmary.\nGarak: My dear Doctor, I have no intention of putting myself on display for the amusement of the Bajoran inhabitants of this station.\nBashir: It's not your pride I'm worried about. It's that implant you're carrying around inside your head.\nGarak: You know about that, do you?\nBashir: It's some kind of punishment device, isn't it?\nGarak: Punishment device? I suppose in a way that's what it's become.\nBashir: If it wasn't put there to punish you, then what's it for? Garak, I need to know what we're up against. If you tell me what it was meant for, maybe I could find some way to remove it.\nGarak: It's hopeless, Doctor. Believe me, it can't be removed.\nBashir: How do you know?\nGarak: That's the whole point. If it could be easily removed, it would be useless. You see, on Cardassia I was entrusted with certain information. Information that needed to be kept safe regardless of the situation. My implant was given to me by Enabran Tain himself, the head of the Obsidian Order. If I was ever tortured, it was designed to stimulate the pleasure centers of my brain to trigger the production of vast amounts of natural endorphins. I do hope you appreciate the irony, Doctor. The sole purpose of the implant was to make me immune to pain.\nBashir: What caused it to malfunction?\nGarak: It was never meant for continuous use.\nBashir: Continuous use? What do you mean?\nGarak: Living on this station is torture for me, Doctor. The temperature is always too cold, the lights always too bright. Every Bajoran on the station looks at me with loathing and contempt. So one day I decided I couldn't live with it anymore, and I took the pain away.\nBashir: You activated the implant.\nGarak: I created a device which allowed me to trigger the implant whenever I wanted. At first, I only used it a few minutes a day, but I began relying on it more and more until finally I just turned it on and never shut it off.\nBashir: How long has it been on?\nGarak: Two years.\nBashir: And now the implant is breaking down.\nGarak: That's correct.\nBashir: Then why not just shut the damn thing off?\nGarak: It's too late, now. My body has become completely dependent on the higher endorphin levels generated by the implant.\nBashir: So, that's it then. You're going to just give up and let them win.\nGarak: Them, Doctor?\nBashir: The Central Command, the Obsidian Order, whoever it is who exiled you here. You're just going to roll over and die, let them destroy you, give up any hope of ever seeing Cardassia again.\nGarak: Doctor, did anyone ever tell you that you are an infuriating pest?\nBashir: Chief O'Brien all the time, and I don't pay any attention to him either.\nGarak: Has it ever occurred to you that I might be getting exactly what I deserve?\nBashir: No one deserves this.\nGarak: Oh, please, Doctor. I'm suffering enough without having to listen to your smug Federation sympathy. Do you think because we have lunch together once a week, you know me? You couldn't even begin to fathom what I'm capable of.\nBashir: I'm a doctor. You're my patient. That's all I need to know.\nGarak: Wrong again. You need to know who you're trying to save. During the occupation, I was a Gul in the Cardassian Mechanized Infantry. We were stationed just outside the Bajoran Capital. Shortly before the withdrawal, a handful of Bajoran prisoners escaped from my custody. My aide, a man named Elim, tracked them to a Cardassian shuttle about to depart for Terok Nor. Elim got aboard, but the captain refused to let him search the ship, because he claimed he was under strict orders from Gul Dukat to depart immediately. So I had the shuttle destroyed, killing the escapees, Elim, and ninety seven Cardassian civilians.\nBashir: You can't be serious.\nGarak: I followed my orders. None of those prisoners escaped off of Bajor alive. Unfortunately as it turned out, one of the passengers on the shuttle was the daughter of a prominent military official. I was stripped of my rank and commission, and exiled from Cardassia. So now you know, Doctor. I hope I haven't shattered too many of your illusions.\nBashir: Listen to me, Garak. Right now I'm not concerned with what you did in the past. I'm simply not going to walk out of here and let you die. We need to turn that implant off and whatever withdrawal symptoms or side effects you may experience, I promise I'll help you through them. I need to know where that triggering device is. Where is it?\nGarak: The desk, second drawer.\nBashir: That'll be all for now. If you need to reach me, I'll be here for at least the next twenty six hours.\nBashir: Computer I'm reading an ongoing erosion of tissue in the patient's lymphatic system. Explain.\nComputer: Unable to determine a cause due to insufficient data on Cardassian physiology.\nBashir: All right. Continue to monitor the status of the patient's cranial implant. Inform me if it shows any sign of reactivation.\nBashir: Yes?\nOdo: Doctor, I was hoping I could ask Garak some questions.\nBashir: He's asleep. He has been ever since I turned off his implant. Come on, we can talk outside.\nOdo: Doctor, I need to talk to him as soon as possible. I have four cases left in my homicide files which I'm almost certain were committed by the Obsidian Order. If Garak was a member he may be able to shed some light on them.\nBashir: I'm afraid your questions will have to wait.\nOdo: How long?\nBashir: I don't know yet. Constable, Garak's body has undergone a severe shock. I don't know when he'll recover. I'm not even sure if he'll recover.\nOdo: In that case I want to talk to him now. Wake him up.\nBashir: I'll do no such thing.\nOdo: Doctor, these are murder cases and Garak may be a suspect.\nBashir: That may be so, but he's still my patient and I won't have him disturbed. So until further notice, his quarters are off limits to everyone except emergency medical personnel. So, if you'll excuse me, I have a patient to attend to.\nBashir: Garak?\nGarak: Leave me alone.\nBashir: I don't think that would be a good idea right now. Your blood chemistry is severely imbalanced. You need to rest.\nGarak: Don't touch me.\nBashir: Just calm down.\nGarak: I don't want to be calm, Doctor. I've been calm long enough. Look at this place. It's pathetic. To think that this is what my life has been reduced to. This sterile shell, this prison.\nBashir: Take it easy, Garak. Look, you're obviously experiencing some side effects from the deactivation of the implant.\nGarak: Ridiculous. I feel more clear-headed than I have in the past two years. Two years. What a waste these past two years have been.\nGarak: There was a time, Doctor, oh there was a time when I was a power. The protégé of Enabran Tain himself. Do you have any idea what that means?\nBashir: I'm afraid I don't.\nGarak: No, you don't, do you. You don't know much of anything. Tain was the Obsidian Order. Not even the Central Command dared challenge him. And I was his right hand. My future was limitless until I threw it away.\nBashir: You mean when you had that shuttle shot down to stop those prisoners from escaping?\nGarak: Stop them? I only wish that I had stopped them.\nBashir: You didn't?\nGarak: No, Doctor, my disgrace was worse than that. Unimaginably worse.\nBashir: What could you have possibly done worse than that?\nGarak: I let them go. It was the eve of the Cardassian withdrawal. Elim and I were interrogating five Bajorans. They were children, Doctor. None of them were older than fourteen years old. They knew nothing. They lived in bombed-out rooms, scrounged for food on the streets. They were filthy and they stank. The room was freezing cold, the air was like ice, and suddenly the whole exercise seemed utterly meaningless. All I wanted was a hot bath and a good meal. So I let them go. I gave them whatever latinum I had in my pockets, and opened the door, and flung them back into the street. Elim couldn't believe his eyes. He looked at me as if I were insane.\nBashir: You took pity on those children. There's nothing wrong with that.\nGarak: No! I was a fool! I should've finished the interrogation and turned them over to the troops for execution. But because I was chilly and my stomach was growling, I failed in my duty and destroyed everything I had worked for.\nBashir: And so they exiled you.\nGarak: That's right. And left me to live out my days with nothing to look forward to but having lunch with you.\nBashir: I'm sorry you feel that way. I thought you enjoyed my company.\nGarak: I did. And that's the worst part. I can't believe that I actually enjoyed eating mediocre food and staring into at your smug, sanctimonious face. I hate this place and I hate you.\nBashir: Okay, Garak, that's your prerogative. Now I really think you should lie down.\nGarak: Get away from me.\nBashir: Garak.\nBashir: Garak, stop this. I don't want to hurt you.\nBashir: Bashir to Infirmary. I need an emergency medical team in Garak's quarters now.\nBashir: Administer another twenty cc's of hyperzine.\nJabara: He's not responding.\nBashir: Give it a second. Begin cardiostimulation.\nJabara: His heartbeat is stabilizing.\nBashir: But his lymphatic system is critical. I don't understand it. I shut down the implant. It can't be affecting his blood chemistry anymore, yet toxins are still accumulating in his lymphatic tissues. Computer, display analyzes of all biochemical samples taken from the patient in the past thirty-nine hours. Display them by chemical composition. Isolate and display sample number seventeen. Bring up sample twenty three. Sample twenty seven. Sample thirty two. Sample thirty five. Sample forty. Stop. Bring back sample thirty five. Superimpose the molecular structure of this leukocyte with an analogous sample from yesterday. That's it. The molecular structure of Garak's leukocytes has been altered. That must be what's causing the accumulation of toxins in his system.\nJabara: Can we synthesize Cardassian leukocytes?\nBashir: Probably, but that could take weeks and we don't have that much time. We have three or fours days at most.\nJabara: If we turn the implant back on, we might be able to keep him alive for another week or two.\nGarak: No.\nBashir: What?\nGarak: I won't allow it. I never want that thing turned on again.\nBashir: I understand how you feel, but I'm not sure what else I can do for you.\nGarak: You've done enough, Doctor. More than I deserve. There's something you have to know.\nBashir: What's that?\nGarak: The truth.\nBashir: I've about given up on learning the truth from you, Garak.\nGarak: Don't give up on me now, Doctor. Patience has its rewards. Now listen carefully. Elim wasn't my aide. He was my friend. We grew up together. We were closer than brothers. For some reason, Enabran Tain took a liking to us. Before long, we were both powerful men in the Obsidian Order. They called us the Sons of Tain. Even the Guls feared us. And then there was a scandal. Someone in the Order was accused of letting some Bajoran prisoners escape. There were constant rumors of who was going to be implicated. Fingers were being pointed at me. By then Tain had retired to the Arawath Colony. He couldn't protect me, so I panicked. I did everything in my power to make sure that Elim was accused instead of me. I altered records, planted evidence, only to diskover that he'd beaten me to it.\nBashir: He betrayed you first?\nGarak: Elim destroyed me. Before I knew what was going on, I was sentenced to exile. And the irony is, I deserved it. Oh, not for the reasons they claimed, but because of what I had tried to do to Elim, my best friend.\nBashir: Why are you telling me this, Garak?\nGarak: So that you can forgive me. Why else? I need to know that someone forgives me.\nBashir: I forgive you for whatever it is you did.\nGarak: Thank you, Doctor. That's most kind.\nBashir: See that he rests comfortably. I'll be back within fifty two hours.\nJabara: Where are you going?\nBashir: To find the man responsible for this.\nTain: Doctor Bashir. Welcome. Please make yourself at home.\nTain: Well, Doctor, you've come all this way to see me. Aren't you going to say something?\nBashir: How did you know my name?\nTain: Information's my business.\nBashir: You're Enabran Tain.\nTain: And you're Doctor Julian Subatoi Bashir. I hope you weren't greeted too rudely upon entering Cardassian space.\nBashir: Not nearly as rudely as I expected.\nTain: Good. I alerted them that you'd be coming. The military hates surprises. Still, what you did was very brave. I'm impressed. Can I get you something to drink? Tarkalean tea perhaps?\nBashir: I always drink Tarkalean tea.\nTain: A good host knows the needs of his guests. One Tarkalean tea, extra sweet, and a glass of kanar. So, Lieutenant, how's Garak? Has his condition improved at all?\nBashir: That Cardassian Quark was talking to, Boheeka, I suppose he really did have a reason to fear the Obsidian Order.\nTain: Everyone has reason to fear the Order.\nBashir: I don't understand it. Garak told me you were retired.\nTain: Oh, I am. Have been for years. But I try to keep informed on current events. I bet you could tell me all kinds of things I'd like to know, Doctor.\nBashir: I'm sure I could. I'll tell you anything you want to know about medicine, biology or tennis. Do you want to hear my opinion on the latest nillimite alloy rackets?\nTain: I don't think that will be necessary.\nBashir: Have it your way.\nTain: Are all the Starfleet Lieutenants as brash as you are?\nBashir: I couldn't say, though I doubt it.\nTain: So do I. Tell me, Doctor, how sick is Garak?\nBashir: He's dying.\nTain: And you're trying to save him.\nBashir: That's right.\nTain: Strange. I thought you were his friend.\nBashir: I suppose I am.\nTain: Then you should let him die. After all, for Garak, a life in exile is no life at all.\nBashir: Say what you will, my job is to keep him alive, and I need your help.\nTain: My help? What can I do?\nBashir: The molecular structure of Garak's leukocytes has been disrupted. I need to synthesize replacements in order to stabilize his condition. Unfortunately, my knowledge of Cardassian biochemistry is severely limited.\nTain: And you think I have access to that kind of information?\nBashir: Information is your business. Besides, you're the one who ordered him to put that implant put in his head, aren't you?\nTain: I never had to order Garak to do anything. That's what made him special. So, you're saying if you don't get the information, Garak dies?\nBashir: That's it.\nTain: Well, we can't allow that can we? I'll see to it that the necessary data is transferred to your station's computers.\nBashir: Thank you.\nTain: Don't thank me. I'm not doing Garak any favors. He doesn't deserve a quick death. On the contrary, I want him to live a long, miserable life. I want him to grow old on that station, surrounded by people who hate him, knowing that he'll never come home again.\nBashir: What a lovely sentiment.\nTain: And it's from the heart, I assure you. And now, Doctor, I really think you should be going.\nBashir: One last thing.\nTain: Make it brief.\nBashir: Garak mentioned an old friend of his the other day, a member of the Obsidian Order. I was wondering what happened to him.\nTain: Did he give you the name of this friend?\nBashir: He said it was Elim.\nTain: Elim?\nBashir: Mind letting me in on the joke?\nTain: I can see that Garak hasn't changed a bit. Never tells the truth when a lie will do. That man has a rare gift for obfuscation. Doctor, Elim is Garak's first name. Now run along home. And please, tell Garak that I miss him.\nBashir: I'll be sure to give him the message. Computer, one to beam up. Energize.\nGarak: May I join you?\nBashir: Garak.\nGarak: Thank you.\nBashir: What are you doing up? You're supposed to be in bed.\nGarak: Out of the question. I couldn't stand being cooped up in that dreadful infirmary for another second. Besides, I feel perfectly fine. So, how's the I'danian spice pudding today?\nBashir: How's the spice pudding? Is that all you have to say for yourself? How can you just sit there and pretend that the last ten days never happened?\nGarak: I for one, Doctor, am perfectly satisfied with the way things turned out. And I see no need to dwell on what was doubtlessly a difficult time for both of us. By the way, I just had the most interesting conversation with Constable Odo. It seems he's under the impression that I was a member of the Obsidian Order.\nBashir: What did you tell him?\nGarak: That he was mistaken, of course.\nBashir: And he believed you?\nGarak: He said something about keeping a closer eye on me in the future. I told him to be my guest, I have nothing to hide. Here. I've brought you something.\nBashir: What is it?\nGarak: Meditations on a Crimson Shadow by Preloc.\nBashir: More Cardassian literature.\nGarak: I think you'll find this one more to your tastes. It takes place in the future during a time when Cardassia and the Klingon Empire are at war.\nBashir: Who wins?\nGarak: Who do you think?\nBashir: Never mind, don't tell me. I don't want you to spoil the ending. You know, I still have a lot of questions to ask you about your past.\nGarak: I've given you all the answers I'm capable of.\nBashir: You gave me answers, all right, but they were all different. What I want to know is of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?\nGarak: My dear Doctor, they're all true.\nBashir: Even the lies?\nGarak: Especially the lies."}
{"text": "Scene: Medical log, supplemental. Major Kira and I are returning home after opening the hospital on New Bajor, the first Bajoran colony in the Gamma Quadrant.\nKira: Could you take it for a while?\nBashir: Sure. Do you mind if I listen to some music?\nKira: Actually, I do. I was hoping to meditate for a few minutes.\nBashir: Of course. I didn't know you meditate.\nKira: Every day.\nBashir: I had the opportunity to study meditation with Isam Helewa when I was in college. A remarkable fellow. He sort of took me under his wing. I can't tell you how much I learned from him. The man was a master at rhythmic breathing.\nKira: You'll have to give me a few tips some time.\nBashir: Gladly. Oh, and I'd be more than interested in learning any Bajoran meditation techniques you'd like to show me.\nKira: We just usually like to sit quietly.\nKira: What are you doing?\nBashir: Bellows breath. It's a series of quick intakes followed by one long intake of air through the nose. Hold, release. Increases the energy flow. It's quite simple. Let me show you.\nKira: How about some music?\nBashir: What's your pleasure?\nKira: I'm afraid my musical knowledge is limited to Bajoran composers.\nBashir: Computer, play us a little something by Tor Jolan.\nKira: You know Tor's work?\nBashir: I've made it a point to listen to Bajoran music ever since I arrived.\nKira: Really.\nBashir: Tor strikes me as the best of the lot, really. Slightly derivative of the Boldaric masters of the last century but pleasantly diverting. This is nice. I'm glad we're finally doing this.\nKira: What?\nBashir: Talking to one another. Finding common interests. Burying the hatchet.\nKira: Hatchet?\nBashir: A human expression. It means that we're finally putting past conflicts behind us.\nKira: Making way for brand new ones.\nBashir: Right. You know, Nerys. May I call you Nerys?\nKira: Sure.\nBashir: Even when we weren't getting along, I've always felt you were one of the most interesting women I'd ever met. I'm very serious.\nKira: Thank you. Doctor.\nBashir: Julian. Go on, say it. Julian.\nKira: Julian.\nBashir: It was hard for Chief O'Brien as well at first. We had our problems ourselves, but now we're like this.\nKira: One minute to the wormhole. Stand by to drop to impulse.\nBashir: Would you like to have dinner sometime?\nKira: I think you'd better stick with Dax.\nBashir: I'm sorry? Oh, you thought that I was trying to? No, no, no.\nKira: My mistake.\nBashir: But if I thought\nKira: Forget it.\nBashir: Right.\nKira: Take us out of warp. What's wrong?\nBashir: The warp field's not fully collapsed. I'm showing a plasma injector leak.\nKira: Injector controllers are locked. I'm trying to compensate.\nKira: Injectors opening. Velocity falling.\nBashir: What was that?\nKira: Initiating emergency stabilization control.\nBashir: Are you all right?\nKira: A little dizzy.\nBashir: Me too. I guess we're lucky to be in one piece.\nKira: We'd better get O'Brien to take a look. What the hell?\nBashir: Where's the station? What happened to the station?\nKira: I have it on long range sensors. It's orbiting Bajor?\nBashir: Major, vessel approaching on an intercept course dead ahead.\nKira: What is this?\nKlingon: I'm sorry, ma'am. We were not informed you had left the station.\nKira: Who are you?\nKlingon: We were on standard patrol when your vessel seemed to appear out of nowhere. If you will allow us to withdraw, we will escort you back to the station.\nKlingon: I was as close to her as I am to you. She cannot be an imposter.\nGarak: But she is.\nKira: What is going on here?\nBashir: Garak?\nGarak: Yes. My name is Garak.\nIntendant: The question is who are you?\nBashir: This may seem like an odd question, but could you tell us where we are?\nGarak: This is the Terok Nor station, the center of authority for the Bajoran sector.\nBashir: Center of authority. Whose authority?\nGarak: The Alliance, of course.\nKira: Something is very wrong here. I think we took a wrong turn in the wormhole.\nGarak: Wormhole?\nKira: The wormhole to the Gamma. It's very difficult to explain. I think it would be best if we just to got back to our ship and\nIntendant: No. I don't think so.\nBashir: Now wait a minute.\nGarak: Don't take that tone with me, Terran.\nBashir: Terran?\nIntendant: If you are whom I suspect you are, I'm afraid I can't run the risk of letting you go. Take that one below. Put him to work. Tell the supervisor to keep an eye on him. He won't know the rules.\nTelok: Intendant!\nIntendant: What is it you need, Telok?\nTelok: This Terran was caught trying to stow away on one of the freighters leaving the station.\nIntendant: What is your designation.\nHuman: Zero four one three theta.\nIntendant: Theta.\nHuman: Yes, ma'am.\nIntendant: You worked so hard to earn your Theta designation, to earn our trust. Why do you throw it away like this? Reassign him to Lambda. Send him to the mines.\nGarak: The mines? But he should die for this. We should make an example of him.\nIntendant: You have made a career out of setting examples, Garak. I think you enjoy it too much.\nGarak: He could not have gotten on board that ship without help. This is the third incident in a month. At least allow me to interrogate him.\nIntendant: Fine. Interrogate him. But if he dies under your interrogation I will make you my example. Is that clear?\nGarak: Very, Intendant.\nO'Brien: I'm telling you. If you don't upgrade the thorium containment cells, there's going to be an accident and I'm not going to be responsible for the consequences.\nKlingon 2: Another extra worker for you. A Terran who doesn't know the rules.\nOdo: Well, we'll see to it that he learns them. What's your designation?\nBashir: Bashir. Julian.\nOdo: Is that a joke?\nBashir: I don't know. Is it?\nOdo: No joking. That's my Rule of Obedience number fourteen. Now, what's your designation?\nBashir: I don't have a designation.\nOdo: I don't have a designation, sir.\nBashir: Another Rule of Obedience?\nOdo: I don't have a designation, sir.\nBashir: I don't have a designation, sir.\nOdo: Now why is that?\nBashir: I don't know. And frankly I don't even know what I'm doing here.\nOdo: You're here to process ore. Have you ever done that before?\nBashir: No, I haven't.\nOdo: Have you ever worked in the mines?\nBashir: No.\nOdo: Then what have you done?\nBashir: I've been practicing medicine.\nOdo: Did you forget the Rule of Obedience number fourteen?\nBashir: It's not a joke. I'm a doctor.\nOdo: Well, Doctor, don't forget to scrub before you operate.\nIntendant: Sit down. You are me, aren't you.\nKira: I am Kira Nerys.\nIntendant: That makes two of us. Where you come from, things are very much like this, aren't they? There's a station, a Bajor, Cardassians, Terrans, Klingons.\nKira: The players are the same, but everyone seems to be playing different parts.\nIntendant: You didn't seem to recognize the Alliance.\nKira: No.\nIntendant: Perhaps you'd recognize the name Kirk.\nKira: I'm sorry, I don't.\nIntendant: Interesting. On my side, Kirk is one the most famous names in our history. Almost a century ago, a Terran starship Captain named James Kirk accidentally exchanged places with his counterpart from your side due to a transporter accident. Our Terrans were barbarians then, but their Empire was strong. While your Kirk was on this side, he met a Vulcan named Spock and somehow had a profound influence on him. Afterwards, Spock rose to Commander in Chief of the Empire by preaching reforms, disarmament, peace. It was quite a remarkable turnabout for his people. Unfortunately for them, when Spock had completed all these reforms, his empire was no longer in any position to defend itself against us.\nKira: Us?\nIntendant: The Alliance. The historic coming together of the Klingons and the Cardassians.\nKira: And Bajor is part of this Alliance?\nIntendant: We'd been under Terran occupation for decades. When we were freed, we petitioned for entry and were accepted. We have become quite an influential power within the Alliance. Is it similar at all on your side?\nKira: No. My Bajor is not so fortunate.\nIntendant: I'd be very interested to hear more about it.\nKira: I can't stay here. You must see that.\nIntendant: Well, you see, that's part of the problem. I don't know how to send you back. But, more than that, there is a certain protocol I'm supposed to follow.\nKira: I'm not sure what you mean.\nIntendant: After the first crossover, we were afraid that others might come to interfere in our affairs. It was decided then that if it ever happened again, we would promptly dispose of anyone who appeared from your side.\nKira: I see.\nIntendant: Unlike my First Officer, Mister Garak, I have no taste for violence. I regret using it even when it seems necessary.\nKira: I know exactly what you mean.\nIntendant: You do, don't you?\nKira: I know you don't want to kill me and you're searching for a good reason not to.\nIntendant: Got any ideas?\nKira: My side needs what you have. A strong Bajor. If you knew the struggles we've been through to rebuild our world. Who's to say you won't influence us this time?\nIntendant: Me?\nKira: My side once changed the course of your history. Well, maybe this time your side can change mine. Maybe you can teach me what I need to become the leader of Bajor as you have.\nIntendant: That appeals to me.\nKira: If I can find a way back.\nIntendant: But I will have to kill your friend.\nKira: No. Don't. If you knew him. He's an arrogant Terran who's lived a privileged life on my side. Let him see how the other half lives.\nIntendant: No, it's too dangerous. The Cardassians and the Klingons would never allow it.\nKira: Are you the leader of this sector or not?\nIntendant: You know how to manipulate me.\nKira: I know how I'd feel in your place. I wouldn't give a damn what the Cardassians or the Klingons thought.\nIntendant: You're right. I don't.\nIntendant: Find this attractive young woman some quarters. Kira Nerys, I'll call for you later.\nOdo: The Intendant informed me that you'd be inspecting the facilities. If there is anything I can explain?\nKira: No, I've worked in ore processing myself. Is my Terran friend behaving himself?\nOdo: They all behave themselves when I'm in charge.\nKira: Good. Good. If you don't mind, I'll speak with him.\nKira: Are you all right?\nBashir: Learning a new trade. Do you have any idea what happened?\nKira: Have you ever hear of a Starfleet Captain named James Kirk?\nBashir: Kirk? Of course. The transporter accident. Read about it at the Academy. So that's where we are.\nKira: That's where we are.\nBashir: Is there another me here?\nKira: Not on this station. I haven't found Dax or Sisko.\nBashir: O'Brien's been tinkering around with the machines. Major, if Kirk got here using a transporter, do you think we can get back the same way?\nKira: I don't know anything about transporters, do you?\nBashir: No one knows more about transporters than Chief O'Brien.\nKira: Our Chief O'Brien. Who knows about theirs?\nBashir: It's worth a shot.\nKira: Talk to him. I'll try to see if I can find anyone else who might be willing to help.\nQuark: You certainly are the splitting image of the Intendant, just as they said.\nKira: Hello, Quark.\nQuark: You know my name.\nKira: Quark runs a bar on my side too.\nQuark: Really? I hope I'm doing decent business. Got to be better than here. The Alliance taxs are killing me. What can I get you? The Intendant likes a hot jumja tea this time of day.\nKira: Well, I'm not her, but that does sound good.\nQuark: Coming up. So, are we close friends on your side?\nKira: Yeah. As a matter of fact, we are. On my side, Quark does me a lot of favors.\nQuark: Favors?\nKira: The Quark I know, well, he just has the ability to get things done when no one else can. You know what I mean? Sometimes he even gets things done behind the backs of the security people.\nQuark: What kind of favors do you ask him for?\nKira: Oh, all sorts of favors, like getting me things I need.\nQuark: Such as?\nKira: Well, for instance, a transporter for a few hours.\nQuark: Didn't I hear somewhere that a transporter was involved in the first crossover?\nKira: That's right.\nQuark: Do you have a way back to your side, Major? Under the right circumstances, I might be willing to help you get access to a transporter.\nKira: Look, Quark, I don't have a strip of gold-pressed latinum so don't even think about it.\nQuark: Gold-pressed what?\nKira: What is it you want?\nQuark: The ability to send others across to your side.\nKira: Others? What others?\nQuark: That's not important.\nKira: Look, I can't open a revolving door to\nGarak: Quark!\nQuark: Mister Garak, what can I get you today? Drinks are always on the house for you.\nGarak: You must come with us.\nQuark: Is there a problem?\nGarak: Yes. A slight problem. You've been helping Terrans escape from the station.\nQuark: Me? I'm a simple barkeep, and a coward. I assure you I don't stick my neck out for anyone.\nGarak: That's not what the Terran we caught this morning told us during his interrogation.\nQuark: This is all a misunderstanding. I assure you\nGarak: I shall miss him. He always let me win at dabo.\nSisko: Bartender!\nGarak: He's just been arrested.\nSisko: Arrested? What a damned shame. Who wants a drink on the house?\nBashir: Here.\nBashir: Miles O'Brien. I know you on my side.\nO'Brien: Yeah?\nBashir: Actually, we're best friends.\nO'Brien: You and me?\nBashir: That's right.\nO'Brien: What am I, some kind of doctor too?\nBashir: No, you're Chief of Operations of this station.\nO'Brien: Me? Go on.\nBashir: It's true.\nO'Brien: Chief of operations.\nBashir: Looks like you know your way around machines.\nO'Brien: I know some things. What else is he like, this Chief of Operations.\nBashir: He's married, he has a five year old daughter, he's one of the most decent men I know. We've fought our way out of a few scrapes together. I admire him a great deal.\nO'Brien: Sounds like he got the lucky draw between me and him.\nBashir: Have you ever done much work on transporters?\nO'Brien: Me? Yeah, some. Why?\nBashir: The Chief O'Brien I know is an expert in transporter technology.\nO'Brien: I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I know as much as any Terran.\nBashir: I hope that'll be enough\nO'Brien: Enough for what?\nBashir: We think a that transporter will help us get back to our side.\nO'Brien: What? You're filling me up with this stuff just to get me to help you, is that it?\nBashir: No, everything I've told you is the truth.\nO'Brien: I don't know you. I'm not your friend. I'm not your friend.\nOdo: Meal break is over. You're wanted in the bar.\nO'Brien: Look, if I don't finish here\nOdo: You're wanted in the bar by Mister Sisko.\nSisko: Yes. Look at this. Do you believe it? She called me all the way from the Fowla System to see you. Not only do you look like her, you have the same temper.\nKira: You and your friends don't seem like the other Terrans I've seen here.\nSisko: The Intendant has honored me with a ship and a crew. I honor her by collecting duties, of a sort, from vessels who pass in this direction.\nKira: And why do you deserve this special treatment?\nSisko: I suppose because I amuse her and she's not easily amused. And it seems that you amuse her too.\nO'Brien: You wanted to see me, Mister Sisko?\nSisko: Hello, Smiley, how are you?\nO'Brien: It's Miles, Mister Sisko.\nSisko: I don't like Miles. That's why I named you Smiley. Are they treating you okay, Smiley?\nO'Brien: Just fine. What do you need?\nSisko: You don't like me, do you, Smiley?\nO'Brien: Not really, Mister Sisko.\nSisko: And you're not afraid to show it, are you? I guess that's why I like you so much. My impulse driver coil isn't operational. Take care of it.\nO'Brien: I've got a serious problem in ore processing that's got to be fixed or\nSisko: I don't care what's going on in ore processing. Fix my engine.\nIntendant: Kira to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nIntendant: I'd like to discuss your recent mission. Would you please report to my quarters?\nIntendant: There she is. Have you met my friend Benjamin Sisko, my dear? Tell us, is there another one of him on your side?\nKira: Yes, there is.\nIntendant: Is he as loyal and true as mine?\nKira: He's a good man.\nIntendant: I'm sorry he didn't come with you. Wouldn't that have been something, Benjamin? Two of you by my side.\nSisko: I need to check my ship.\nIntendant: Benjamin! Did I hurt your feelings?\nSisko: I never had any to hurt, Intendant.\nIntendant: Now, what is this I hear about you wanting a transporter?\nIntendant: Quark mentioned something about it during his interrogation.\nKira: I did ask him about a transporter, that's true.\nIntendant: But why?\nKira: You know I'm looking for a way back. A transporter was responsible for the first crossover.\nIntendant: And if you had come to me, I would have told you all transporters were redesigned afterwards to make sure the same thing would never happen again. It won't work. So, why didn't you come to me?\nKira: You're very busy.\nIntendant: You don't trust me.\nKira: I guess I am a little afraid of you.\nIntendant: Then you fear yourself. I don't want your fear. I want your love. If you can't love me, who can? Don't be in such a hurry to go. I'm glad you're here. There is so much we can learn from one another.\nKlingon: Intendant, Garak is here with the prisoner.\nIntendant: Send him in.\nGarak: He's made a complete confession and implicated two others, who have been arrested.\nIntendant: Quark. I've always liked you, you know that.\nQuark: I have nothing but respect for you, Intendant. I am so sorry.\nIntendant: You did it because you felt sorry for these Terrans. You hate to see them suffer just as I do.\nQuark: Yes, Intendant.\nIntendant: But where would we be without them? Who would perform the labor for the Alliance? A quick death. Don't make him suffer any more.\nQuark: No, Intendant, please. I made a mistake. Have mercy. Please. No.\nIntendant: I've planned a party for us tonight. What shall we wear?\nGarak: Lovely. I do admire a well-tailored gown.\nKira: What are you doing in my quarters, Garak?\nGarak: She's never going to let you leave, you know. Can't you tell? She's in love.\nKira: What are you talking about? GARAK In love with you, my dear. She's all a-twitter about you, can't talk about anyone else. You're the perfect gift for the girl who has everything. She's taken you into her heart like a Drathan puppy lig left on her doorstep. Who else could she share her deepest secrets with, tell her troubles to, trust with her life?\nKira: All you have to do is take a look at the guard outside to see how much she trusts me.\nGarak: I arranged the guard. Oh, she trusts you. As much as she trusts anyone. So who better to betray her?\nKira: You're taking quite a risk coming to me like this.\nGarak: True career advancement requires risk. Consider my offer carefully, my dear. She'll never let you go. I will. If you want to leave, you'll assist me.\nKira: How?\nGarak: By taking her place.\nKira: What?\nGarak: Tomorrow morning, she will be gone.\nKira: Gone?\nGarak: She will be gone. Please, don't make me use some foolish euphemism. You will assume her place as Intendant and announce that your counterpart from the other side has returned to wherever she came from. In a few weeks, you will step down to embark on some spiritual journey, to explore your pagh or whatever, and I will take your place as Intendant.\nKira: What about my friend?\nGarak: The good Doctor, yes. He'll be taken off the station and treated to as much hospitality as we Cardassians can offer until you resign, and then you can be happily reunited. Oh, but I've made arrangements with his supervisor that if you should decide to decline my offer, tomorrow it will be your doctor friend who will be gone.\nKira: We've to get out of here tonight.\nBashir: Why? What's happened?\nKira: I don't have time to explain. Just watch your back. You're in danger.\nBashir: Why my back? What kind of danger?\nKira: We've got to find a way back to the runabout.\nBashir: And then where do we go? The Alliance controls the entire quadrant.\nKira: There's still a wormhole out there they don't know about. Now I'm not sure whether it'll get us back or not, all I know is we can't stay here any longer.\nBashir: How are we supposed to get by their security?\nKira: I'm trying to find some help.\nBashir: I've heard Quark's helped some Terrans escape.\nKira: It's too late for Quark. Stay alert. If our chance comes, there won't be much warning.\nKira: Sisko.\nSisko: Tell her I'm busy.\nKira: I have something important to tell you.\nSisko: I'm listening.\nKira: It's valuable information and I want something in exchange.\nSisko: You've gone into business for yourself, have you?\nKira: All I want is to get off this station. I want my runabout back.\nSisko: And you expect me to help you? She'll have my head. Or something else.\nKira: Not if you save her life.\nSisko: Her life?\nKira: Garak is planning to kill her. Tonight.\nSisko: That's it? That's the valuable information? Garak has been trying to kill her since the day he got here.\nKira: He wants me to take her place.\nSisko: Well, now, that's more creative than he usually gets. I wouldn't worry about it.\nKira: What kind of a man are you?\nSisko: You're disturbing my nap.\nKira: The Benjamin Sisko I know would never sell his soul and allow himself to become a part of this tyranny against his own people.\nSisko: Terrans don't have souls. We don't believe in them.\nKira: What do Terrans believe in? Raising their children to dig the ore out of the mines for the Alliance? I worked in mines too till I was old enough to start fighting for my freedom.\nSisko: What do you care about Terran's freedom?\nKira: I care about freedom. What I don't understand is why you don't care. Why the only one on this station I have met who seemed to give a damn was a Ferengi toad named Quark.\nSisko: You're looking in the wrong place for a hero, ma'am. I've made the best of a bad life for my crew. That's my contribution.\nKira: Yes, you charmed your way out of the mines but you and I both know you're no less a victim than anyone else here.\nGarak: My dear, how breathtaking you look tonight. I do hope you'll save a dance for me later this evening.\nTelok: After four years as a personal guard for the House of Duras, I was ready to do anything to get out of there. You never knew if Lursa and B'Etor were going to do\nTelok: Clumsy fool. Stupid Terran pig!\nTelok: What's wrong, Terran? Lost your nerve? Afraid to die today, eh?\nTelok: Get out of my sight.\nMusician: Intendant, what is your pleasure?\nIntendant: Play something bright. I'm in a happy mood.\nOdo: You're not accustomed to this workload, are you, Doctor? You have much to learn. It's a shame this is going to be your last night on the job.\nOdo: Engineering, we have a thorium leak down here! Release the security locks!\nTelok: Establish security fields on the levels above and below. Station guards at all turbolifts.\nKlingon: You men come with me.\nBashir: O'Brien? You've got to help me.\nO'Brien: I don't see you. You're not here. I'm just trying to seal this thorium leak.\nBashir: Look, I don't know my way around these conduits but you do. My O'Brien does. Just tell me where the runabout pads are. I know you, Miles O'Brien. Somewhere inside of you is a shred of decency. There has to be.\nO'Brien: I am a decent man. I just, I just. You don't understand. I can't help you. I can't. They'll kill me.\nBashir: You're already dead. I'm sorry you don't see that. The life inside every human being here, every Terran, died here a long time ago.\nO'Brien: That's not the right way. Just tell me one thing. Is there any room over there on your side for me?\nBashir: You want us to take you with us?\nO'Brien: I've no reason to stay here.\nBashir: Starfleet would probably have a big problem with that. To hell with them. Let's go.\nTelok: Stop right there.\nTelok: Intendant. The new Terran killed the shape-shifter and O'Brien tried to help him escape.\nIntendant: This is my fault for listening to you, for keeping him alive in the first place. I know very little about where you come from but from what I've heard, I think your kind has a lot to learn.\nBashir: We've got a lot to learn? What a laugh.\nIntendant: Quiet. On this side, Terran workers do not speak to their superiors as you do. They certainly do not murder them. He was the only one of his kind, the man you killed. Do you realize that? He's irreplaceable. No one ran that operation as efficiently as he did. No one kept order among the workers as he did. This is my reward for treating you Terrans with the least bit of respect. Very well. I can learn from my mistakes. You want to set an example, Garak? Use him. Set an example for all Terrans. Let him die slowly in public view on the Promenade. Let his pleads for mercy echo through the corridors for all Terrans to hear.\nKira: Intendant.\nIntendant: Another word from you and you will die right beside him. And you, O'Brien, you tinkerer and putterer and fixer of broken things, you've been a perfect theta for years. What could have possibly gotten into you. What were you thinking?\nO'Brien: Do you want an answer, Intendant?\nIntendant: Yes!\nO'Brien: This man. This man is a doctor where he comes from. And there's an O'Brien there just like me, except he's some kind of high up Chief of Operations. They're Terrans. Can you believe that? Maybe it's a fairy tale he made up, but it made me start thinking how each of us might have turned out if history had been just a little different. I wanted him to take me with him because whatever it's like where he's from, it's got to be better than this. There's got to be something better than this.\nIntendant: Not for you, Mister O'Brien. Oh, he's going to be taking you with him. Just not exactly where you thought he would be taking you.\nSisko: No. I don't think so.\nIntendant: Have you lost your mind?\nSisko: No. I didn't lose it, I just changed it.\nKira: She's never going to let you get away. She'll track you down no matter how long it takes.\nBashir: You may want to consider trying to follow us back to our side.\nSisko: I've got the feeling I may not fit in very well over there. We'll stay one step ahead of the law, don't worry about us. Maybe we can stir up some things on this side.\nBashir: You're still welcome to come with us.\nO'Brien: I might have something to stay for now, if you have room on your ship for me, Mister Sisko.\nSisko: I can always use a good tinkerer and putterer. You're with me, Smiley.\nKira: Good luck. Thank you.\nSisko: Come on.\nKira: Disengage the docking clamps.\nBashir: Confirmed.\nKira: Firing thrusters.\nBashir: Thrusters engaged.\nKira: Taking us straight to impulse.\nBashir: Impulse engines online.\nKira: Forty five seconds to wormhole.\nBashir: I'm still reading up a plasma injector leak from the warp core.\nKira: I'm just hoping that leak gets us back where we came from. I'm matching speeds and attitude with our last time through.\nBashir: Klingon cruiser approaching.\nBashir: Shields are down to sixty percent.\nBashir: Forty.\nKira: Ten seconds to the wormhole.\nBashir: We're hit!\nKira: Hold on!\nSisko: Anything?\nDax: The search vessels picked up their warp signature traces. There was also an indication of a plasma leak.\nSisko: But no wreckage.\nDax: Nothing.\nO'Brien: Reading elevated neutrinos. Something's coming through the wormhole. I can't believe it. It's them!\nDax: Benjamin, they're showing damage to their deflector grids.\nSisko: Put them on the screen, Mister O'Brien. We've got ships out from here to New Bajor looking for you. Where have you been?\nKira: Through the looking glass, Commander. It's good to be back."}
{"text": "Bareil: Nerys?\nKira: Vedek Bareil. Want to play?\nBareil: Help me. Please.\nKira: All right.\nKira: Who is it?\nBareil: It's Prylar Bek.\nKira: No, it's not. It's you.\nKira: Good morning.\nBareil: I thought you'd sleep till noon.\nKira: Shh. You're supposed to be relaxing.\nBareil: Oh, I'm very relaxd.\nKira: Good.\nBareil: How are you feeling this morning?\nKira: Miserable. I wish you could stay here longer.\nBareil: All right, I will. I'll stay a few more days.\nKira: You know you can't do that.\nBareil: Why not?\nKira: Because in two days, you are going to be elected Kai.\nBareil: Oh, that. You know there's no guarantee I'm going to win.\nKira: Course you're going to win. The people need you.\nBareil: Are you going to vote for me?\nKira: Is that why you spent the past three days here? To get my vote?\nBareil: Well, I know you don't agree with many of my views. So I thought a personal appearance might sway your opinion.\nKira: I was going to vote for Vedek Tolena. But I might be persuaded to change my mind.\nBareil: Good. Because your vote is the only one that matters to me.\nKira: I may not always agree with your interpretations of the prophecies, but I think you will make a wonderful Kai. Besides, everyone knows you were Kai Opaka's personal choice to succeed her.\nBareil: I could never replace Opaka. Bajor wouldn't have survived the occupation without her.\nKira: Once you become Kai, we'll never have these times together.\nBareil: Listen to me. No matter how busy I become, I'll always have time for you.\nKira: It won't be easy.\nBareil: I didn't say it would be. I'm not going to lose you, Nerys. I promise you that.\nWinn: Remember now, honor the Prophets and they will always love you.\nBareil: As I understand the Sacred Texts, the Prophets' love is unconditional. They ask nothing in return.\nWinn: Thank you, Vedek Bareil, for reminding us how the Sacred Texts can be easily misinterpreted.\nBareil: Nothing pleases me more than providing you with an opposing viewpoint, Vedek Winn.\nWinn: Somehow you never fail to do that. I had no idea you were on the station, but perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised.\nBareil: Oh, I wouldn't even try to surprise you. I understand you've been keeping a close eye on my activities these last few weeks.\nWinn: The eyes of all of Bajor are focused on you, Bareil. Why should I be any different? After all, the common wisdom is that you are destined to be the next Kai.\nKira: Was that a concession speech?\nWinn: Hardly. The choosing is still two days away. The Prophets may yet surprise us all. Remember that, Bareil. I would hate for you to start celebrating prematurely.\nKira: What brings you to the station, Vedek Winn?\nWinn: My child, if I thought the Prophets wanted you to know the purpose of my visit, I would have informed you of it in advance.\nKira: Now that I know that you're here, I'll be sure to inform Constable Odo to increase station security.\nWinn: That won't be necessary. I feel quite safe here.\nKira: No, it wasn't your safety that concerned me.\nWinn: Just what are you trying to infer, child?\nBareil: I'm sure Major Kira meant no disrespect.\nKira: No, not at all. I just want to avoid the violence that occurred during your last visit.\nWinn: My child, I know you still hold me responsible for the deplorable attempt on Vedek Bareil's life, but I can only pray that someday you will be cured of this unfortunate misconception.\nKira: Well, that's one prayer that'll never be answered.\nWinn: What a pity, for both of us.\nEblan: Excuse me.\nEblan: Excuse me, don't I know you?\nKubus: You must be mistaken.\nEblan: No, no, I've seen you before. You're Kubus. That's it. Kubus Oak. You worked for the Cardassians.\nKubus: Out of my way.\nEblan: You wait a minute. You're not going anywhere. I know who you are and I know what you did. You're a traitor! This is Kubus Oak! He's a traitor. He worked for the Cardassians.\nOdo: What's going on here?\nEblan: See for yourself.\nOdo: Secretary Kubus. Last I heard, you were living on Cardassia.\nKubus: I decided it was time to come home.\nOdo: Welcome back. You're under arrest.\nWinn: The Prophets have spoken. All blessings on the new Kai.\nCrowd: Blessings on the Kai. May the Prophets guide you.\nBareil: Kai Opaka.\nOpaka: Be at peace, my child. You must be strong. Now more than ever.\nBareil: Why did you leave us?\nOpaka: All is as the Prophets will it to be. As you will learn. Follow me.\nWinn: Be careful, Bareil. The path she walks is a narrow one. See that you don't stumble.\nOpaka: Heed her words.\nBareil: I don't deserve to walk in your path.\nOpaka: You must. It is your destiny.\nBareil: Prylar Bek?\nBek: Accept this gift from the Prophets.\nOpaka: You must not refuse their offering. Take it, my child. Its venom will make you stronger.\nOdo: There was quite a mob gathering out there. I had to call in extra security to disperse it.\nKubus: I never doubted your ability to handle the situation, Odo. You always were good at your job.\nOdo: I could say the same for you. Secretary Kubus, special liaison between the Cardassian occupation forces and their pawns in the Bajoran government.\nKubus: I served the only recognized government on Bajor during the occupation.\nOdo: Recognized by the Cardassians.\nKubus: If it wasn't for us, the situation on Bajor would have been ten times worse than it was.\nOdo: Maybe. But I don't see how you could know that seeing that you spent nearly all your time here on the station. I remember Gul Dukat telling me once that you were his favorite Bajoran.\nKubus: Really? I never could stand that arrogant tyrant.\nOdo: You hid your feelings well.\nKubus: It kept me alive. Bajor is my home. I never should have left it.\nKira: But you did. And you're going to have to live with that decision.\nOdo: This is Major Kira, the highest-ranking Bajoran on the station.\nKubus: Then I suppose you're the one I should be talking to.\nKira: Make it brief. I don't enjoy talking to collaborators.\nKubus: I'm not asking you to like me. I'm simply requesting that I be allowed to return home.\nKira: Your request is denied.\nKubus: I doubt if you have the authority to make that decision.\nKira: The decision has already been made. In the Ilvian Proclamation, every Bajorans who was a members of the Cardassian occupational government was sentenced to exile. Your name was number four on that list. Personally, I think you all got off too easy.\nKubus: Major, I'm an old man. I don't have many years left. What's the harm of letting me live them out on Bajor?\nKira: When the Cardassians needed a new group of Bajorans to work in the mines, who approved the work orders?\nKubus: The Bajoran Government.\nKira: Whose signature was on those authorisation forms?\nKubus: Mine.\nKira: You had to know that those authorisations were death sentences. Did you ever once refuse to sign them?\nKubus: No.\nKira: And that's why you can never be allowed to set foot on Bajor again. Because if you do, it would dishonor the memory of every person you sentenced to death.\nSisko: Vedek Winn. What can I do for you?\nWinn: Emissary, it has recently come to my attention that there are some on Bajor who believe my relationship with you is not all it should be.\nSisko: Really?\nWinn: Personally, I find such a perception, however inaccurate, to be most distressing.\nSisko: I suppose the question we have to ask ourselves is whether or not that perception is inaccurate.\nWinn: Don't tell me that you, yourself, Emissary, believe you and I are, how shall I put this\nSisko: Enemies?\nWinn: At odds.\nSisko: Well, let's see. How could I have come to such a conclusion? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the last time you were here at this station, you claimed that I was a danger to Bajor. That I was here to destroy your people.\nWinn: What I was really saying, what I have always maintained is that you, Emissary, were sent here by the Prophets to challenge our long-held beliefs.\nSisko: Am I correct in assuming that you no longer consider the Federation to be an enemy to Bajor?\nWinn: Emissary, I admit I had some concerns about Bajor's application for Federation membership. But now, I see that the Federation's presence here is essential for our long-term security and growth.\nSisko: Then you support the notion of Bajor joining the Federation?\nWinn: If that is the will of the Prophets, I would never oppose it.\nSisko: I'm glad you said that. And I would be grateful if you would tell it to the Bajoran people.\nWinn: Nothing could make me happier than to please you, Emissary. Perhaps you and I could address the Vedek Assembly together so everyone can celebrate our new friendship.\nSisko: An excellent idea. Perhaps some time next week.\nWinn: Why wait, Emissary? I'm sure the Assembly would grant us an immediate audience.\nSisko: I'm sure they would. Unfortunately, if we were to appear together in public before the Choosing, it might be misconstrued as an endorsement of your bid to become the Kai.\nWinn: Oh, I doubt that, Emissary. It's common knowledge that you support Vedek Bareil. Although I have been pleasantly surprised that you haven't made any public statement to that effect.\nSisko: The election of the Kai is strictly an internal affair to Bajor. As a Federation officer, I would never interfere.\nWinn: What an enlightened philosophy.\nSisko: So, then, it's agreed. I'll be seeing you sometime next week.\nWinn: I look forward to it.\nOdo: Odo to Major Kira.\nKira: This is Kira.\nOdo: Sorry to disturb you, Major\nOdo: But I thought you should know that Secretary Kubus is about to leave for Bajor.\nKira: How can that be?\nOdo: Vedek Winn has granted him sanctuary.\nKira: I'll be right there.\nKira: Kira to Ops.\nDax: Go ahead.\nKira: Dax, has Winn's ship left the station?\nDax: Not yet.\nDax: I was about to clear them for departure.\nKira: Keep those docking clamps locked on. I don't want that ship going anywhere until I say so.\nDax: Understood.\nKira: Tell me what happened.\nOdo: Kubus requested a private meeting with Vedek Winn. They talked for ten minutes, after which Winn asked for the use of my computer. She accessed some information from the library system.\nKira: And?\nOdo: And then she called the Provisional Government and informed them she was granting Kubus sanctuary.\nKira: Do you know what she looked up?\nOdo: I'm trying to find that out right now. Ah.\nKira: That's Prylar Bek. Now why would Winn be interested in another Bajoran collaborator?\nOdo: I'm not sure, but Bek and Kubus did know each other. Bek was the liaison between the Cardassians and the Vedek Assembly at the same time that Kubus was Secretary to the occupational government. They spent a lot of time together on the station.\nKira: Hold on a minute. See if Winn accessed any information on the Kendra Valley massacre.\nOdo: You're right, she did. Do you think Kubus told her something new about the massacre?\nKira: What else is there to know? Kai Opaka's son and forty two other Bajoran freedom fighters were ambushed and killed because Bek gave the Cardassians the location of their encampment. He made a full confession in his suicide note. Well, you were here then. You must have read it.\nWinn: Major Kira. May I speak to you please?\nKira: Of course.\nWinn: I was told you were the one who stopped my ship from leaving.\nKira: Yes, I did. You know, you're the last person I would expect to help a collaborator like Kubus. Unless, of course, he has something you need.\nWinn: My needs are no concern of yours, child. Now I suggest you allow my ship to depart immediately.\nKira: Oh, you're free to leave any time you like. Unfortunately, in light of public feelings about Kubus, I can't allow any ship with him on board to leave the station until it's undergone a thorough security check to prevent sabotage, and that includes a molecular scan for nanotechnology.\nWinn: And how long would such a scan take?\nKira: Oh, I'm no expert, but I'm sure it could take days. Even weeks.\nWinn: Very well. It seems the Prophets have decided you will have a part in this after all. In exchange for sanctuary, Kubus has agreed to provide the name of the man responsible for the massacre at Kendra Valley.\nKira: Prylar Bek was responsible for the massacre. Everyone knows that.\nWinn: Bek was a pawn, an intermediary. He killed himself to prevent the diskovery of the real traitor.\nKira: The real traitor?\nWinn: Bek's superior. The person who ordered him to reveal the location of the rebel base to the Cardassians. The man who was truly responsible for the massacre, Vedek Bareil.\nKira: Do you really think I'm going to let you get away with this? You know, no one's going to believe the word of a convicted traitor like Kubus.\nWinn: I never said I believed him. I'm only trying to protect the spiritual life of Bajor.\nKira: Don't flatter yourself. You're trying to grab power, nothing more.\nWinn: My child, do you want to risk the consequences of having a collaborator as the next Kai?\nKira: He is not a collaborator.\nWinn: That's yet to be determined. But if he is chosen and turns out to be guilty, the ramifications for Bajor would be catastrophic. It would shatter faith in the authority of the Kai, and without a strong Kai Bajor cannot survive.\nKira: You can't condemn Bareil without proof.\nWinn: I don't intend to. I was planning to conduct a quiet investigation when I returned to Bajor. But I didn't know whom to trust with such a delicate assignment, until now.\nKira: You want me to do your dirty work for you.\nWinn: All I care about is the truth. And I believe the Prophets have chosen you to help me find it.\nKira: I'll find the truth, don't worry about that, but I want you to keep Kubus's accusations from becoming public until I have a chance to prove Bareil's innocence.\nWinn: You have my word. Let the Prophets be my witness. But if you diskover proof that he's guilty?\nKira: Whatever I find out, I will share with you.\nWinn: Then it's decided. Oh, and child, one last thing. I know you're under a terrible strain, but if you're wise, you will never speak to me with such disrespect again.\nKira: Were you aware at the time that Prylar Bek was a collaborator?\nKubus: He wasn't a collaborator, he was only a messenger between the Cardassians and the Vedek Assembly. At the time I could see in the weeks prior to the massacre that something was bothering him. He was tense and nervous and he was in constant communication with the Vedek Assembly.\nKira: Do you know who?\nKubus: Not at the time, but the day after the incident, Vedek Bareil came to visit him on the station.\nKira: Did you see them together?\nKubus: I saw Bareil enter Bek's quarters, which were in the same section as mine. He was in there for a couple of hours and at times I could hear shouting through the bulkhead.\nWinn: Did you hear what they were saying?\nKubus: No, but I saw Bareil when he left the station. He was upset. In the morning, Bek hung himself.\nKira: This is all the evidence you have?\nKubus: Well isn't that enough? Bek was obviously working with Bareil and when he realized the enormity of what he'd done, he must've wanted to confess. Bareil wouldn't allow it, so Bek took the only way out he had.\nKira: That's a fascinating story but it is pure conjecture. There have to be a dozen explanations for why Bareil came to see Bek.\nWinn: And it's up to you to find out which of those explanations is true.\nBareil: What exactly is it you're asking me, Nerys?\nKira: I guess I'm asking whether or not you came to the station to see Bek that day.\nBareil: I visited Bek, yes. That hardly makes me a collaborator.\nKira: I know that. It's Vedek Winn who needs convincing.\nBareil: Poor Winn. Her desire to become Kai has clouded her judgment.\nKira: I wouldn't take her lightly, if I were you. She is determined to ruin you.\nBareil: Believe me when I tell you there's no reason to worry. I had nothing to do with the massacre and Winn will never be able to prove otherwise.\nKira: All right. But I still need to know why you came to the station.\nBareil: Bek was a deeply troubled man seeking spiritual guidance. His guilt at betraying the Kendra Valley base was overwhelming. He called me for help. I came as soon as I could. I only wish I could have done more for him.\nKira: What did he tell you about the massacre?\nBareil: Nerys, you have to understand, he was a monk speaking in confidence to his Vedek. I cannot betray that trust.\nKira: I understand. Is there anything else you think I should know about Bek, about the massacre?\nBareil: Nothing that will satisfy Winn.\nKira: All right, I'll keep looking. But one way or another, I am going to prove to Winn that you are innocent.\nBareil: Thank you, Nerys.\nOdo: Ha. Just as I thought. When the Cardassians left, they purged all records of communication between the station and Bajor.\nKira: Then we'll just have to get the information from the other end.\nOdo: I'll establish a computer link with the Bajoran Central Archives. That way I can access the files of the Vedek Assembly. Are you all right?\nKira: I'm fine.\nOdo: You don't seem fine.\nKira: It's nothing.\nOdo: If you say so.\nKira: He says he's not guilty. I know he's not guilty.\nOdo: But you're afraid he's guilty.\nKira: I love him, Odo.\nOdo: Really? Well, I, er.\nKira: What?\nOdo: I was just wondering when you were going to figure that out. You humanoids. When it comes to emotional attachments, you never see the obvious. I'm into the Vedek Assembly files.\nKira: Can you retrieve the communications records between the station and the Assembly?\nOdo: I'll need a time frame.\nKira: Try the week leading up to the Kendra Massacre.\nOdo: That's odd.\nKira: What?\nOdo: All the communications records between the Assembly members and Bek for that week have been sealed.\nKira: Sealed? By who?\nOdo: It doesn't say. It just indicates a security seal.\nKira: In the Assembly records? Who has that kind of authority?\nOdo: Only a Vedek.\nQuark: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.\nQuark: Okay, okay. Eleven? Fine. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen. And not a strip more.\nQuark: I hate payday.\nOdo: Ahem.\nQuark: Whatever she told you, I didn't do it.\nOdo: Relax, Quark. No one's accusing you of anything.\nQuark: The day's still young.\nKira: Don't be so defensive.\nQuark: I can't help it. Between the two of you, I'm developing a persecution complex.\nKira: I'm sorry to hear that.\nQuark: All right, what's going on? You want something from me, don't you?\nKira: How'd you guess?\nOdo: It's simple. We've been here more that a minute and we haven't insulted him, threatened him or arrested him.\nQuark: Exactly. So what is it and how much trouble is it going to cause me?\nKira: No trouble at all. We just need you to bypass a security seal.\nQuark: Isn't that illegal?\nOdo: Oh, spare us.\nKira: Quark, this is important. We need access to certain communication files in the Vedek Assembly records.\nQuark: Perfect. Not only is it illegal, it's sacrilegious.\nKira: I'm sure the Prophets won't mind just this once.\nQuark: Okay, but I'm going to have to have written authorisation from you, countersigned by Commander\nOdo: Just do it, Quark.\nQuark: Sure, and then when things go wrong, I take the fall.\nKira: Nothing is going to go wrong.\nQuark: That's what you think, But I happen to be a firm believer in Rule of Acquisition number two hundred and eighty five. No good deed ever goes unpunished.\nOdo: You can access the Vedek Assembly's records through the Bajoran Central Archives.\nQuark: Of course I can, if I wanted to barge in like some rank amateur. This is going to take a little while. I'll let you know when I'm done.\nOdo: It happened right about here. Bek hanged himself in front of dozens of witnesses. It caused quite a stir.\nKira: At least he had the decency to feel guilty about what he'd done.\nOdo: Strange. Bek and I were passing acquaintances here on the station. From what little I knew about him, I always thought he was a good man.\nKira: A good man does not betray his own people.\nOdo: The one thing I've learned about humanoids is that in extreme situations even the best of you are capable of doing terrible things.\nQuark: Hey, hey, Odo. The good news is I broke through the security seal. The bad news is the file's empty. All the messages have been erased.\nO'Brien: They're erased, all right.\nKira: Is there anything you can do about it?\nO'Brien: I could scan the empty file for traces of recurring data fragments. There's always a faint residue of the original data, if you know where to look. But to unscramble those fragments so they form a coherent pattern could take a while.\nKira: So what you're telling me is we're never going to retrieve that information.\nO'Brien: Not in time to do you any good. But hold on a second. Let me see something. I may not be able to get you the data, but I might be able to find out who erased it. Their retinal scan would've been noted by the authorisation subroutine when they logged on.\nKira: But wouldn't the scans have been erased, too?\nO'Brien: Sure, but even a fragment of the retinal scan might be enough to identify the user. Here, I'll run a sweep of the authorisation subroutine, see if we can find anything. Okay, these are mathematical representations of fragments of the retinal scan. We can use them to reassemble a portion of the original image. Not bad. Now we'll cross-reference it with the Assembly's main archive. See if we can find out who it is. I think we've got something.\nVedeks: Blessings on Kai Bareil.\nBek: You. I trusted you. I needed you. And you let me die.\nWinn: You will be rewarded.\nKira: Accept this gift from the Prophets.\nOpaka: May the Prophets comfort you, my child. May they comfort us all.\nBareil: Come in. Nerys.\nKira: Did you really believe I wouldn't learn the truth?\nBareil: The truth is not always easy to recognize.\nKira: I recognize it now and I don't like what I see. Why did you do it? Why did you erase those transmission records?\nBareil: Don't make me do this.\nKira: I don't have any choice. Winn is waiting to hear from me. Do you really want me to tell her that you ordered Bek to give the Cardassians the location of that resistance base? That you are responsible for the deaths of those forty three people? That you killed Kai Opaka's son?\nBareil: The Cardassians were determined to eliminate all resistance in the Kendra Valley. If someone hadn't told them the location of that base, they would've wiped out every village in the area. That would have meant the death of twelve hundred innocent Bajorans. I could not allow that.\nKira: There had to have been another way. I believed in you. I defended you. And Winn was right all along. And now she's going to destroy you.\nBareil: No. I've destroyed myself.\nKira: What's our status?\nO'Brien: Everything's under control.\nDax: You received a subspace transmission from Vedek Winn. She seemed anxious to talk to you.\nKira: Open a channel to the Vedek Assembly. Put it on monitor seven. I might as well get this over with.\nWinn: I was wondering when you'd contact me, child.\nKira: I was waiting to I complete my investigation.\nWinn: I must congratulate you on a job well done. I knew the Prophets were right in picking you to assist me.\nKira: You sound like you already know what I'm going to tell you.\nWinn: Oh, but I do. Bareil just made a surprise announcement to the Vedek Assembly. He's withdrawn himself from the Choosing. He no longer wishes to be the next Kai. I know this is painful for you, child, but you've done a great service for all of Bajor. Whoever is chosen tomorrow as the new Kai will owe you a debt of gratitude. May the Prophets guide you.\nDax: Are you all right?\nKira: It doesn't make sense. Vedek Bareil's an honorable man. He wouldn't hide from the consequences of his actions by covering them up. I'm missing something. Chief, I need to get back into the Vedek Assembly archives.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nKira: Kai Winn.\nWinn: Your pagh is strong, my child. Be at peace. In time you will learn I am not your enemy.\nKira: I hope that's true.\nWinn: I know you do. Oh, and tell Commander Sisko I must postpone appearing with him before the Assembly. At least for now.\nBareil: Nerys? I didn't expect to see you here.\nKira: You forgot to erase the transit files.\nBareil: I'm not sure I understand what you mean.\nKira: Oh, you did a wonderful job erasing the transmission records, but you forgot all about the transit files. The files that prove you weren't a collaborator.\nBareil: It's over. Let it rest. The people have chosen Winn.\nKira: Only because you withdrew and you didn't have to. The transit reports clearly show you were on a personal retreat at the Dakeen monastery during the week leading up to the massacre. I checked the Dakeen transmission reports. You had contact with no one except one transmission after the massacre, ordering you back to the Vedek Assembly.\nBareil: That's enough.\nKira: No, it is not enough. There is no way you ordered Bek to reveal the location of the Kendra Valley encampment. You were covering up for someone else. Someone who meant more to you than me. More to you even than becoming Kai.\nBareil: Please, Nerys. Don't.\nKira: Why not? It's the truth, isn't it? Who else meant that much to you? It had to be Kai Opaka. Opaka knew where the resistance cell was located because her son was a member. She was the collaborator, wasn't she?\nBareil: She sacrificed her own son to save a thousand people. I had to protect her.\nKira: So instead of you, we have Winn to lead us.\nBareil: It is the will of the Prophets.\nKira: The question is, where will she lead us?\nBareil: Down paths she cannot possibly imagine. She's going to need our help along the way, even if she doesn't realize it yet.\nKira: And what happens to us?\nBareil: What do you want to happen?\nKira: Let's go pay our respects to the new Kai."}
{"text": "O'Brien: And I've downloaded the new docking procedure checklist for bay six into the BayProd D nine file. That's the only bay that's using the new criteria.\nDax: Got it.\nO'Brien: And be sure to monitor the power fluctuations in the secondary fusion core. It's got some little kinks in there I don't like the look of.\nDax: I will care for the secondary fusion core like it was my own child.\nO'Brien: As soon as I get back I'm going to run a full diagnostic to be sure\nKira: Chief, we are perfectly capable of running this place by ourselves for a week.\nO'Brien: Well, if you have any problems you can reach me on subspace.\nKira: Would you please go on vacation and get out of our hair?\nDax: Miles?\nO'Brien: Yes?\nDax: Have a good time.\nO'Brien: Oh right. Thanks. I feel relaxd already.\nSisko: Is he gone?\nKira: Finally.\nSisko: Good. He's been driving me crazy all day. You'd think that I was\nO'Brien: Commander. I forgot to tell you. I added a new subroutine to the environmental control in the habitat ring.\nSisko: Chief O'Brien\nO'Brien: Yes, sir?\nSisko: You're on leave. Please disembark the station.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: Boone? O'Brien. Miles O'Brien. We served together on the Rutledge.\nBoone: Of course. O'Brien. It's been a long time. How're you doing?\nO'Brien: I'm fine, just fine. I work on this station now. Chief engineer.\nBoone: Is that a fact.\nO'Brien: How long you been out of Starfleet?\nBoone: Oh, about eight years now. I settled on Volan Three.\nO'Brien: Well, that's on the Cardassian side of the Demilitarized zone, isn't it?\nBoone: Yes, the new treaty really puts us in harm's way, but I run a ladarium mining sluice. As long as the Cardassians need ladarium for their warp drives, they leave me alone.\nO'Brien: After what we went through in the border wars, I don't know how you can live there. You were there at Setlik Three?\nBoone: That's what got me out of Starfleet.\nO'Brien: Really? That's why I stayed in. Listen, my wife is waiting me at a runabout and she hates it when I'm late, and I always am.\nBoone: I'm coming back for another supply pickup in a month or two.\nO'Brien: Okay, let me know when.\nO'Brien: O'Brien. Miles O'Brien. We served together on the Rutledge.\nKeiko: Miles.\nO'Brien: Huh?\nKeiko: Didn't you bring the holocam?\nO'Brien: Was I supposed to?\nKeiko: You said you were going to.\nO'Brien: Did I?\nKeiko: Last night, when we were going over the list in bed.\nO'Brien: Not me. I was dead as soon as my head hit the pillow.\nKeiko: You talked to me for a half hour.\nO'Brien: No, there must have been someone else in bed with us.\nKeiko: What's this?\nO'Brien: Oh, just some new technical update manuals.\nKeiko: Our first vacation in five years and you brought technical update manuals?\nO'Brien: Yeah, maybe we should've brought Molly with us. Do you think she'll be okay with the Petersons?\nKeiko: She likes the Petersons more than she likes us. She's fine.\nO'Brien: We could swing back, pick up the holocam and Molly, and still only lose half a day.\nO'Brien: Or we could pick up the holocam when we get there.\nKeiko: How many did you bring?\nO'Brien: What?\nKeiko: Tech update manuals.\nO'Brien: Just a few. Computer, play something by Minezaki.\nKeiko: Do these chairs recline?\nO'Brien: I wish they did.\nKeiko: You're an engineer. Do something about it. I'll make it worth your while.\nComputer: Vessel approaching bearing one nine one mark six.\nO'Brien: Identify.\nComputer: Cardassian patrol ship, Hideki Class.\nO'Brien: Shields up. Try to send an emergency subspace signal to the station.\nKeiko: I can't. They're jamming all subspace frequencies.\nO'Brien: They're hailing us. This is Miles O'Brien of Starbase Deep Space Nine. State your business.\nGul Evek: Mister O'Brien, we've spoken before. My name is Evek. Shut down your drive and come to a full stop. We're beaming an inspection team aboard.\nO'Brien: We're nowhere near the Cardassian border. You've no authority here.\nGul Evek: We'll argue about authority later. Now, you will either comply, or we will take preemptive action.\nComputer: Warning. Sensors are reading photo lock-on activation.\nGul Evek: You have ten seconds.\nO'Brien: Don't worry. We haven't done anything.\nGul Evek: Thank you for your cooperation. I have orders to arrest you, Mister O'Brien.\nKeiko: Arrest?\nGul Evek: Search the ship.\nO'Brien: What are the charges?\nGul Evek: You have the right to refuse to answer questions, but such refusal may be construed as a sign of guilt.\nO'Brien: I demand to know what I'm being accused of.\nGul Evek: You deny all knowledge of this crime then?\nO'Brien: How the hell am I supposed to deny something when I don't know what you're talking about?\nGul Evek: So you do not deny all knowledge.\nKeiko: We are Federation citizens and we have rights.\nGul Evek: Yes, yes. All your rights as defined by Cardassian Articles of Jurisprudence will be protected.\nO'Brien: I demand to speak to my Commander.\nGul Evek: We will contact your Commander and see that your wife is returned safely to your station. You will be taken to Central prison on Cardassia Prime to await trial.\nO'Brien: I'm not going anywhere with you.\nKeiko: Miles! Miles! No!\nKeiko: Miles! Miles!\nCardassian: Look to the children. They are the future of Cardassia and they will lead the way. Invest in their minds. Teach them carefully.\nCardassian: Remove your clothes.\nO'Brien: My name is Miles O'Brien. My rank, Chief of Operations, Starfleet. I'm a Federation citizen.\nCardassian: Remove your clothes.\nO'Brien: My name is Miles O'Brien. My rank is Chief of Operations, Starfleet. I'm a Federation citizen.\nCardassian: Would you care to make a confession?\nO'Brien: My name is Miles O'Brien. My rank is Chief of Operations, Starfleet. I am a citizen of the Federation.\nCardassian: Process him. (O'Brien is held down while a laser is shone into his eye. His ID number 41302 comes up on a monitor. He's dragged to a metal chair, hits one of the guards but is slammed back and drugged. The chair tilts to lie him down.)\nO'Brien: My name is Miles O'Brien. My rank is Chief of Operations\nMakbar: Has he been processed?\nCardassian: He has.\nMakbar: You were told he was not to be harmed.\nCardassian: He had to be restrained. Bring him his clothing.\nMakbar: I apologize for the way you've been treated, Mister O'Brien. I am Makbar, Chief Archon. I want your stay here to be as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. I've scheduled your trial to begin in two days. You've been assigned the Venerable Kovat as Public Conservator.\nO'Brien: As what?\nMakbar: Your lawyer. Many feel that he's the best counsel in all Cardassia.\nO'Brien: What do I need a lawyer for? What am I charged with? Who's accusing me?\nMakbar: All in good time, Mister O'Brien. All in good time\nSisko: Starfleet has ordered the Enterprise, the Prokofiev and the Valdemar to the border of the Demilitarized zone. Hopefully, when the Cardassians see that they are risking the entire treaty over this\nKeiko: In the meantime, my husband is being violated by them. Every shred of his humanity is being violated. Isn't that true?\nSisko: We don't know exactly what\nKeiko: Damn it, don't lie to me! They're torturing him as we sit here.\nOdo: It is standard procedure for the Cardassians to use torture in their interrogations. You are correct, Mrs O'Brien.\nKeiko: You don't know how many times Miles spoke to me about this, what the Cardassians did to the prisoners they took at Setlik Three, what they were like when they came back. The thought of it, it disgusted him, it scared him. We can't leave him there.\nSisko: We don't even know where he's being held on Cardassia Prime.\nSisko: Keiko, I promise you as soon as we have more information, I'll do everything in my power to\nKira: Commander, you have a subspace transmission from Cardassia Prime.\nSisko: On screen. I'm Benjamin Sisko, Commander of Deep Space Nine.\nMakbar: My name is Makbar. I am the Archon representing the Cardassian Empire in its case against Miles O'Brien.\nSisko: May I speak with him?\nMakbar: That is not possible.\nSisko: May I see him?\nMakbar: Commander\nSisko: May I be assured that he is well and being treated properly?\nMakbar: Mister O'Brien is being treated with great care and respect.\nSisko: Good. Because if he is not, I will hold you personally responsible. And if that sounds like a threat, it is.\nMakbar: Gul Dukat's told me about you. You live up to your reputation, Commander.\nSisko: That's right. I do. Now, what are the charges against Chief O'Brien?\nMakbar: The charges will be announced when the trial begins, as is customary in Cardassian jurisprudence.\nKeiko: How can we prepare for the trial if we don't know the charges?\nMakbar: Mrs O'Brien, I take it?\nKeiko: Yes.\nMakbar: Mrs O'Brien, there's nothing for you to prepare. Your husband's verdict has already been determined. He is guilty. The trial will reveal how this guilt was proven by the most efficient criminal investigation system in the quadrant. You may, if you desire, attend this trial, which begins in two days time.\nSisko: We'll be there.\nMakbar: Oh, I'm sorry, Commander, this is a privilege enjoyed solely by the spouse of an offender.\nOdo: What about his Nestor?\nMakbar: His Counsel and his Nestor will be assigned by the court.\nSisko: Nestor?\nOdo: Advisor to the offender. Madame Archon, I volunteer to serve as Nestor in this trial.\nMakbar: That is not possible. The Nestor must be an officer of the Court.\nOdo: I am an officer of the Court. Chief of Security Odo. I served Gul Dukat on Terok Nor. You may check my credentials. I was designated an officer of the Cardassian court four years ago in order to testify in criminal cases.\nMakbar: Very well. If this is true, you may accompany Mrs O'Brien and serve as Nestor.\nOdo: May I ask what penalty does Mister O'Brien face?\nMakbar: His execution is scheduled for next week.\nKeiko: How can you schedule an execution before the trial even begins?\nMakbar: We believe in swift justice.\nOdo: Mrs O'Brien, we should leave immediately.\nSisko: Begin a complete security sweep of the station and Chief O'Brien's recent activities. I want to know if there's anything out of the ordinary that might begin to explain this.\nKira: Commander, Chief O'Brien's attitude toward the Cardassians is hardly a secret. What if he actually has done something?\nSisko: Then we need to know that too, don't we?\nKovat: Miles O'Brien? Yes, of course you are.\nKovat: I am Conservator Kovat.\nO'Brien: I've been told that I've already been charged, indicted, convicted and sentenced. What would I need with a lawyer?\nKovat: Ah, Mister O'Brien, if it seems immodest of me, I apologize, but the role of Public Conservator is key to the productive functioning of our courts. I'm here to help you concede the wisdom of the state, to prepare you to accept the inevitable with equanimity. There is an old Cardassian expression. Confession is good for the soul. But it's also good for the populace to see people like you confess. It makes them feel better about themselves. It makes their lives more bearable.\nO'Brien: So that's what this is all about? Make the people of Cardassia feel better, huh?\nKovat: No, no, no, but that's not a bad side effect. Now then, I have your biographical extract and your Starfleet record. All this will be very useful.\nO'Brien: What am I being charged with?\nKovat: No need to worry about that at this point.\nO'Brien: This is insane.\nKovat: Whatever you've done, whatever the charges against you, none of that really matters in the long run.\nO'Brien: What does matter?\nKovat: This trial is to demonstrate the futility of behavior contrary to good order. Everyone will find it most uplifting.\nO'Brien: Not everyone.\nKovat: Once again, justice will be done. Our lives will be reaffirmed, safe and secure. Here on Cardassia, all crimes are solved, all criminals are punished, all endings are happy. Even the poorest of our subjects can walk the streets in the dead of night in perfect safety. You're only one man, but your conviction will be a salutary experience for millions. Now then, the trial opens tomorrow. Do you have any questions, anything you want to tell me?\nO'Brien: Only that I am not guilty of any crime, and that I hold this whole procedure with nothing but contempt.\nKovat: That's good, that's good. Maintain that level of arrogance in the courtroom and we should put on a very good show indeed.\nO'Brien: I do have one question.\nKovat: Yes, certainly.\nO'Brien: Have you ever won a case?\nKovat: Winning isn't everything.\nSisko: Are they all like this?\nKira: All of them. There isn't a photon warhead left in here.\nSisko: How could somebody transport two dozen warheads off this station without the perimeter sensors picking it up?\nDax: The metal in these crates has the same mass as the warheads. A transporter could been programd to switch the two simultaneously. The sensors could've been fooled.\nKira: But it would require a transporter expert.\nBashir: I know what you're implying, Major, and I don't like it.\nKira: Neither do I, but there is more. According to the logs, O'Brien was in here just minutes before his runabout left.\nDax: Computer, play security log entry, stardate 47944.2, weapons locker.\nO'Brien: Request access. weapons locker four. Miles O'Brien, security level one.\nDax: The computer confirmed his voice-print ID and let him in.\nKira: As soon as the door opened, some kind of field saturation device was activated that froze all the security scanners in the room.\nSisko: I want a full analysis of that voice-print. Make absolutely sure it was O'Brien.\nBashir: It doesn't make sense. What would he do with photon warheads?\nKira: Give them to the Maquis. We had an advisory two weeks ago that a Maquis ship disabled a Bolian freighter near the Demilitarized zone and stole a supply of photon launchers.\nSisko: Launchers, but no warheads.\nKira: Launchers, but no warheads.\nBashir: You're suggesting that Miles O'Brien took his wife on a romantic vacation as an excuse to deliver warheads to the Maquis? I don't believe it.\nSisko: If these warheads were in the runabout, they'll be used as evidence in the trial.\nBashir: Commander!\nSisko: We'll find that out soon enough.\nDax: If they were in the runabout, how did the Cardassians find out?\nSisko: That's the one question I want an answer to. I also want to find out who the other guy was.\nKira: The other guy?\nSisko: The one who was waiting to receive these warheads. I'll have Starfleet intelligence begin to pick up Maquis suspects for questioning. In the meantime, let's see if we can ID any possible Maquis members who've been on the station recently. Dismissed.\nO'Brien: Tell me you're here to take me home.\nOdo: I'm sorry. How have they treated you?\nO'Brien: Not so bad. They did some dental work when I got here that wasn't fun.\nOdo: All Cardassians are required to give the Bureau of Identification one of their first molars. It's usually extracted at age ten.\nO'Brien: Keiko. Is she all right?\nOdo: She came with me.\nO'Brien: She's here? Now?\nOdo: It's not permitted for family members to visit offenders in confinement. She'll be at the trial tomorrow. The Cardassians always invite families to trials and executions so that the public can see them weep.\nO'Brien: No, I don't want her there. I don't want her to see me like this.\nOdo: I think that's a mistake.\nO'Brien: My lawyer's already told me it's all over but the execution. I don't even know what I'm charged with! Did they tell you anything?\nOdo: No. But we have an idea.\nO'Brien: What?\nOdo: Have you ever had any dealings with the Maquis?\nO'Brien: Dealings? No. I'm not sure what you mean\nOdo: Do you know anybody in the Maquis?\nO'Brien: No.\nOdo: Ever supplied any of them with weapons?\nO'Brien: No! Are you here to interrogate me, Constable? Is anybody ever going to tell me what I'm supposed to have done?\nOdo: Commander Sisko informed me a few hours ago that twenty four photon warheads are missing from the station. We believe they may have been in your runabout's cargo bay intended for the Maquis.\nO'Brien: The Cardassians did find something in the hold, it's true.\nOdo: But you know nothing about it?\nO'Brien: Nothing.\nOdo: And you didn't transport them from weapons locker four just before you left the station?\nO'Brien: No.\nOdo: Were you in weapons locker four before you left the station?\nO'Brien: No.\nOdo: Then why does the log say that you were? Why was it your voice releasing the security lock?\nO'Brien: My voice?\nOdo: Your voice.\nO'Brien: I don't know. You don't know me very well, Constable, but I, I, I've been in service to the Federation, Starfleet, all my adult life. No one has ever questioned my loyalty. No one in my entire life has ever had cause to ask, Miles O'Brien, are you a criminal? I took an oath to defend the Federation and what it stands for. I don't steal from them. I don't lie to them. I'm no angel, but I try to live every day as the best human being I know how to be. I need my little girl to wake up in the morning and look up at me and see a man she can respect. Until now, she always could.\nOdo: Being accused of a crime is not a disgrace, Chief. Some of the great figures of history have shared the honor with you.\nO'Brien: I didn't figure on dying a martyr.\nOdo: Not all of them were martyrs, not all of them died. Some of them were just innocent men like you. Now, I've managed to get myself named to your defense team. I'll be there tomorrow. Your wife will be there as well, but she won't be weeping and neither will you. I want the Archon to see the clear, unwavering eyes of an innocent man. Is that understood?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nOdo: Guard! I'll see you tomorrow.\nO'Brien: Odo. Thanks for being here.\nDax: The voice modulation patterns don't match up. See how the peaks here and here are out of phase?\nBashir: So we can prove it wasn't O'Brien who entered the weapons locker?\nDax: It's O'Brien's voice, but the sentence was reconstructed sound by sound.\nKira: I've got our Maquis. I narrowed the suspects down to twelve people who live in the Demilitarized zone and were on the station that day.\nKira: Raymond Boone, human, lives on Volan Three. Three merchants on the Promenade saw him talking to O'Brien just before he left.\nBashir: Talking to him. And recording his voice, perhaps?\nKira: Recording?\nDax: Someone doctored Chief O'Brien's voice to get into the weapons' locker.\nSisko: I'll have him picked up.\nMakbar: The offender, Miles O'Brien, human, officer of the Federation Starfleet\nMakbar: Has been found guilty of aiding and abetting seditious acts against the state. The sentence is death. Let the trial begin. Conservator Kovat, is the offender ready to face his judgment?\nKovat: He is, Madame Archon.\nMakbar: Let him enter.\nMakbar: Mister O'Brien, you can spare your family and the Federation further humiliation by dispensing with this proceeding and confessing now.\nO'Brien: No, thanks.\nMakbar: Very well. The Nestor and Mrs O'Brien may enter.\nMakbar: Mrs O'Brien, this court recognizes the disgrace your husband has brought to you. As is prescribed in the Cardassian Articles of Jurisprudence, we hereby offer you the opportunity to dissociate yourself from his actions by testifying against him.\nKeiko: I have no intention of testifying against my husband.\nMakbar: Call the first witness.\nOdo: Madame Archon, may I confer privately with the Conservator before we begin.\nMakbar: I believe this is the first time you are serving as Nestor, so perhaps I should explain that you have no authority to address this court. You assist the defendant, that is all.\nOdo: I beg the court's indulgence. I am new at this.\nMakbar: All of Cardassia is watching these proceedings. Private conferences do not make for good viewing. You should have done this before we convened. Very well, make it quick.\nKovat: Please don't ruin this for me. I'm only a year away from retirement.\nOdo: We have new evidence to prove O'Brien's innocence.\nKovat: New evidence?\nOdo: If O'Brien is accused of stealing warheads from Deep Space Nine, we can prove that he didn't do it.\nKovat: Of course he did it. He's been found guilty, hasn't he?\nOdo: Someone manipulated a recording of his voice to gain entry. I can produce that recording here.\nKovat: No evidence can be submitted after the verdict has been reached. You should know that.\nOdo: Of course, but I was hoping that the most renowned Conservator in all of Cardassia\nKovat: You flatter me, sir, you flatter me, but we want justice, not chaos in this court. No, I will have no part of this.\nMakbar: Enough. Are you ready to proceed, Conservator?\nKovat: I am.\nOdo: Madam Archon, may I address the court?\nMakbar: Didn't I just explain to you that you may not?\nOdo: But if our Conservator refuses to bring up new evidence\nMakbar: Silence!\nOdo: Of a manipulated recording of the offender's voice that would prove his innocence.\nMakbar: You are out of order, sir!\nOdo: what else am I supposed to do?\nMakbar: You are supposed to respect our judicial procedures. Wouldn't you ask that we respect your rules if we were in your court?\nOdo: Which raises my next point, Madame Archon. I would like to move for a change of venue to my court. No crime has been committed against Cardassia. It was in fact committed at a Bajoran space station\nKovat: Madame Archon, I am extremely humiliated. I ask to be relieved of this assignment.\nMakbar: No! Sit down! And you, sir, do not try the patience of the Cardassian people. If this court finds you in contempt, you will diskover the punishment very unpleasant.\nOdo: I regret that I have no teeth to offer your Bureau of Identification.\nMakbar: As for new evidence, yes, I fully expected the Federation to come up with remarkable new evidence in an attempt to free Mister O'Brien. I'm sure your experts can create all sorts of evidence to confuse the issues. That may work in your courts, but not here. There will be no new evidence considered. Call the first witness.\nSisko: Look, we're not after the Maquis. We're just trying to help an innocent man.\nBoone: And I'm telling you I don't have any idea what you're talking about.\nKira: People saw you talking to O'Brien just before he left.\nBoone: Since when is that a crime? We're old friends from the Rutledge.\nSisko: Doesn't it bother you that old friend is about to be executed by the Cardassians?\nBoone: Of course it does. I wish there were something I could do to help.\nKira: He has a wife and a five year old daughter.\nSisko: If you're worried we'll turn you over to the Cardassians, I can assure you that we won't.\nBoone: I haven't done anything. I don't have anything to be worried about.\nSisko: Hold him for further questioning.\nBashir: Computer, lights.\nMaquis: Don't turn around, Doctor.\nBashir: There's nothing here you could want.\nMaquis: You have a man in custody suspected of arranging the theft of photon warheads. Raymond Boone.\nBashir: That's right.\nMaquis: I am here to tell you he is not one of us.\nBashir: One of us? You're from the Maquis.\nMaquis: That's correct.\nBashir: Why should I believe you?\nMaquis: We knew nothing about the theft and this man is not one of us. That's all I can tell you.\nBashir: How do I know that you're not just trying to protect him? Who else would want photon warheads?\nGul Evek: The Maquis are savage, Federation-born killers. They live\nGul Evek: You terrorize and murder innocent Cardassians, as evidenced by these weapons we confiscated from O'Brien's ship.\nKovat: These Maquis are based in the Demilitarized zone?\nGul Evek: They are all from Federation settlements in Cardassian-occupied territory. Frankly, the situation is becoming untenable. How many more innocent people must die before the situation becomes clear?\nKovat: How do you know these photon warheads recovered from the offender's vessel were intended for the Maquis?\nGul Evek: According to reliable sources, the Maquis arranged the theft.\nOdo: I object.\nKovat: Madame Archon, please!\nMakbar: I thought we went over this yesterday, Mister Odo. What is it this time?\nOdo: Gul Evek has tied the Maquis to this plot by quoting reliable sources. I think we deserve to know who these reliable sources are.\nMakbar: Can you provide any details, Gul Evek?\nGul Evek: I'm afraid that information cannot be revealed without risk to national security, Madame Archon.\nMakbar: That's an acceptable answer.\nOdo: Might we know how Gul Evek learned the warheads were in the runabout?\nGul Evek: Yes, of course. We learned about them from reliable sources.\nMakbar: Are you satisfied, Nestor?\nOdo: Madame Archon!\nMakbar: Enough. This is already the longest trial in the history of Cardassia let's try to speed things up, shall we? Proceed, Mister Kovat.\nKovat: As you wish, Madame Archon. I'll try to be as brief as possible.\nBoone: What is this?\nSisko: I'd like Doctor Bashir to give you a physical examination.\nBoone: What for?\nSisko: To help us answer some questions about you.\nBoone: What are you talking about?\nBashir: For example, why you haven't spoken to your parents in eight years.\nBoone: What's that got to do with anything? I never got along with them.\nBashir: That's not what they told us.\nSisko: You left your wife about eight years ago. You'd been married a long time. Almost fifteen years, wasn't it?\nBoone: Look, this is none of your business.\nSisko: And about the same time you were diskharged from Starfleet after failing several crew performance reviews.\nBashir: All of it seemed to happen shortly after Setlik Three.\nBashir: Bring him over here.\nO'Brien: Some romantic vacation I took you on, huh?\nKeiko: We'll have other chances.\nO'Brien: Keiko, I don't want you to be there next week.\nKeiko: It isn't over yet.\nO'Brien: Don't give them the satisfaction.\nKeiko: Miles, you can't just\nO'Brien: I mean it.\nMakbar: Court will resume. The offender will step forward and testify.\nO'Brien: I have nothing to say to this court.\nMakbar: Under Cardassian law, you are compelled to testify. Step forward.\nKovat: This would be a good time for you to advise the offender.\nOdo: Advise him to do what?\nKovat: To confess. To throw himself on the mercy of the court, of course.\nOdo: I never heard of a Cardassian court showing mercy.\nKovat: That is not the point. Think of the children, sir. Allow them to see a glimmer of enlightenment as the offender realizes that the end is near. Let him use his last breath to show remorse.\nMakbar: Do you wish to advise the offender at this time, Nestor?\nOdo: No, Madame Archon.\nMakbar: Very well. Proceed, Mister Kovat.\nKovat: Mister O'Brien, were you abused as a child?\nO'Brien: What?\nKovat: Were your parents especially abusive? Did you hate them very much?\nO'Brien: I loved my parents.\nKovat: I see. Spousal abuse, perhaps? Was your wife causing you severe psychological stress?\nO'Brien: My wife is the most wonderful, supportive person I've ever known.\nKovat: Excuse me for asking. I'm merely trying to establish why a fine man like you could turn into a criminal. Perhaps you could help me.\nO'Brien: Sorry, no, I can't help, because I'm no criminal.\nKovat: Well, I tried.\nMakbar: Tell me, Mister O'Brien. How many Cardassians have you killed?\nO'Brien: Killed? None. Since the war, that is.\nMakbar: Including the war, how many Cardassians have you killed?\nOdo: Madame Archon, what relevance does Mister O'Brien's war experiences have?\nMakbar: His past criminal record is very much relevant to these proceedings, sir. Answer the question.\nO'Brien: I'm not sure.\nMakbar: That many, eh?\nO'Brien: It was war. Both sides did things they had to do.\nMakbar: Tell me, Mister O'Brien, now that we are at peace, do you have a warm place in your heart for your Cardassian neighbors? Or are you deeply prejudiced against Cardassians? Do you not, in fact, hate Cardassians? Have you not on several occasions publicly stated your opposition to the treaty because, and I quote, 'the bloody Cardies can't be trusted'?\nO'Brien: I decline to answer.\nMakbar: There are no grounds in Cardassian law which permit you to decline. Answer the question. Is it an accurate quote or not?\nO'Brien: It is.\nKovat: Madame Archon, at this time, it seems the offender's guilt has been clearly established and I see no other alternative but to concede to the verdict.\nO'Brien: I do not concede.\nMakbar: You may stand down, Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: I am not guilty. I have committed no crime, and I do not concede to this court or the Cardassian Empire.\nKovat: Madam Archon, I apologize but I appear I have lost control of my client.\nMakbar: No matter. You've done your usual eloquent job on his behalf, Conservator Kovat.\nKovat: Thank you, Madam Archon. This has been a most difficult case but it is always an honor to serve your court.\nKovat: I object to this. Madam Archon, how can you continue to tolerate these intrusions?\nMakbar: Return to your seat. Once again the Cardassian system of jurisprudence has worked to protect it's people. A guilty man has been brought to justice. But, never let it be said that there is no room in this system for compassion. I sense in Mister O'Brien, a man with strong family ties, the potential for rehabilitation. And I'm sure he has gained a new appreciation of Cardassian law through this difficult process. Therefore, I am pleased, in the spirit of furthering Cardassian-Federation relations, to hereby set aside the verdict and to release Mister O'Brien into the custody of his Commander, Benjamin Sisko.\nKovat: What happened? What?\nOdo: You won.\nKovat: I? They'll kill me.\nKeiko: Then the Maquis told you about Boone.\nSisko: When Doctor Bashir examined him, he diskovered that Boone was missing his first molar. The DNA analysis confirmed that he was Cardassian.\nKeiko: He was surgically altered?\nSisko: Eight years ago, to replace the real Raymond Boone who was taken prisoner at Setlik Three and apparently killed in detention.\nO'Brien: Well, how did you figure it out?\nSisko: His ex-wife told us he came back from captivity a different man. She blamed it on the treatment he received from the Cardassians, but it started us to think.\nO'Brien: So he was spying for the Cardassians even when he was serving on the Rutledge with me?\nKeiko: But why did they want to frame Miles?\nOdo: This trial was never about your husband, Mrs O'Brien. It was designed from the beginning to diskredit the Federation, to show that the Maquis had their official sanction. Gul Evek's testimony made it clear that the situation had become untenable.\nO'Brien: Next they would have been demanding that the Federation colonies be disbanded.\nSisko: Exactly. When Makbar saw Boone in the courtroom, she realized that we had the goods to embarrass the High Command in front of the entire populace.\nKeiko: I'm just glad it's all over.\nO'Brien: Yeah, I'm ready to get back to work.\nSisko: Oh no, no, no. I had to use all of my influence to extend your accommodations at the lagoon. We'll drop you off on our way home.\nO'Brien: But we haven't any bags, no holocam. I've nothing to read.\nKeiko: Perfect."}
{"text": "Sisko: Hey, Jake. What's all this?\nJake: My science project. I'm growing Bajoran katterpods to find out which hybrid yields the biggest root.\nSisko: That's it? You're just going to watch it grow?\nJake: Yeah. Pretty neat, huh?\nSisko: Not bad, but don't you think it's a little Low tech?\nJake: I'm a low tech kind of guy, Dad.\nSisko: I still think you can do something a little more challenging. If you could do any science project you wanted to, anything at all, what would it be?\nJake: Learn how to pilot a runabout?\nSisko: Well, that's not exactly a science project, is it? Second choice?\nJake: Visit the Gamma Quadrant?\nSisko: And what would you do when you got there?\nJake: I don't know. I could do a planetary survey?\nSisko: Not bad. All right, let's do it.\nJake: Really?\nSisko: It'll be like a vacation. A working vacation.\nJake: That's great! Thanks, Dad. I bet we'll have a great time.\nSisko: I know we will.\nKira: Let's see. We have a Bolian freighter due in day after tomorrow. We'll be outfitting another group of settlers leaving for New Bajor. You know, I heard their new irrigation system is really something to see. When you get to the Gamma Quadrant, you ought to take a look.\nSisko: Not this trip. I really want to spend some time alone with Jake. When's the Odyssey due back from the Cardassian border?\nKira: Three days.\nSisko: It's a shame I'll have to miss your reunion with Captain Keogh.\nDax: Don't you find him just a little arrogant?\nSisko: Funny, he said the same thing about you.\nDax: Did he.\nO'Brien: Commander, your son's here to see you.\nSisko: Send him in. He's really looking forward to this trip.\nJake: Dad, guess what? I was talking to Nog and it turns out he's having trouble coming up with a science project, so I told him he could be my partner.\nKira: We can finish this up later.\nSisko: Partner?\nJake: We asked Mrs O'Brien and she said it would be okay, so I invited Nog to come with us to the Gamma Quadrant.\nSisko: Now hold on a second, Jake-o.\nJake: Dad, if Nog doesn't get a good grade on this science project, he's going to drop out of school. And I can't let that happen.\nSisko: Maybe he can help you analyze the survey information when we get back?\nJake: That's not enough. Mrs O'Brien said he'd have to be an equal partner. Come on, Dad. He's my friend. I have to help him.\nQuark: Morn, you've been sitting here all day staring at the same drink. Talk to me. I want to help. I'm not just your bartender, I'm your friend. Whatever's wrong, I'm here for you.\nQuark: Hold that thought.\nQuark: Well? What did he say?\nOdo: What did who say?\nQuark: Commander Sisko. About my idea.\nOdo: You mean using the monitors throughout the station to sell merchandise?\nQuark: Stop torturing me, Odo. Tell me what he said.\nOdo: Guess.\nQuark: He said yes.\nOdo: Guess again.\nQuark: It would triple my profits. But how could he refuse?\nOdo: Maybe it's because he doesn't like you.\nQuark: Don't be ridiculous. Major Kira's the one that doesn't like me. Sisko\nOdo: Doesn't like you either.\nQuark: What did I ever do to him?\nOdo: Oh, I could think of one or two things.\nQuark: One or two things. That's nothing. So do you think there's any way I can change his mind?\nOdo: Ha!\nNog: Uncle Quark?\nQuark: Not now.\nNog: I just wanted to tell you I'm not going to be able to work my shift for the next couple of days.\nQuark: Why not?\nNog: I'm going to the Gamma Quadrant with Jake and his father.\nQuark: You're going to the Gamma Quadrant with Commander Sisko. How Lucky for you.\nNog: I always wanted to see what the cockpit of a runabout looked like. Hey, how do you fire the phasers?\nJake: Nog, you promised.\nNog: I wasn't going to touch anything.\nSisko: Why don't the two of you stow our gear in the back while I go through pre-launch?\nNog: I'll do it.\nJake: I'll be right there.\nSisko: Fire the phasers?\nJake: He was kidding. Look, Dad. I know this isn't exactly the trip you planned on, but you'll see Nog's a great guy.\nSisko: I'm sure he is. I was just hoping that you and I could spend this time together.\nJake: We will. Don't worry. You won't even know Nog's along. This'll be a great trip, you'll see.\nQuark: Ah, there you are. Where do I put my bags?\nNog: Uncle Quark, what are you doing here?\nQuark: What does it look like? I'm going with you.\nSisko: Since when?\nQuark: Really, Commander. You don't expect my nephew to go all the way to the Gamma Quadrant without proper supervision? No offense. Some of my best friends are humans. But my brother Rom isn't as liberal as I am. Let's face it, he's never been comfortable about Nog's friendship with your son.\nSisko: You can tell Rom not to worry. I'll take good care of the boy. And I promise I won't try to corrupt him with my human values.\nQuark: I know that, but Rom is convinced all humans look down on Ferengi, and by allowing me to come on this trip you can help prove him wrong. He is wrong, isn't he?\nJake: Dad, please.\nSisko: All right. But let's get going before anyone else shows up.\nJake: Thanks, Dad. Thanks.\nJake: This place is great.\nSisko: Our preliminary surveys suggest it's a lot like Earth during the early Devonian period. A lot of plant life, fish, some insects, but no predators or large animals. Pretty, isn't it?\nQuark: I don't see what's so pretty about it.\nNog: I think they mean the trees and stuff.\nSisko: Quark, this is as close to paradise as you're going to get. All you need to do is allow yourself to see it.\nQuark: I can tell you what I see in two words. Exploitable resources.\nSisko: I suppose you want to cut down all these trees and start strip mining the entire planet.\nQuark: As a wise man once wrote, 'Nature decays, but latinum lasts forever.'\nNog: Rule of Acquisition number one oh two.\nQuark: Good lad. Nog, I have some ointment in one of my bags. Get it.\nSisko: What's the problem?\nQuark: Oh, I get a mild reaction now and then.\nSisko: To what?\nQuark: Nature.\nSisko: Perhaps you'd be more comfortable sleeping on the runabout.\nQuark: And miss all the fun? Never. Besides, I'm really looking forward to our getting to know each other better.\nQuark: Ahh, that's much better. Now, if it only wasn't so hot.\nSisko: I hadn't noticed.\nQuark: It isn't the heat so much as the humidity and the insects, the stench of these flowers. I'm glad we could talk like this. There's nothing like facing the wilderness to bring people closer.\nSisko: The answer is still no, Quark.\nQuark: No? No to what?\nSisko: I'm not going to allow you to sell merchandise over the station's monitors.\nQuark: Why not? It's a brilliant idea. With my connections, I could offer a whole range of merchandise which normally couldn't be acquired in this sector.\nSisko: Such as?\nQuark: Collectibles. Andorian jewellry, Vulcan IDIC pins, Bolian crystalsteel. And with my low overhead, I could offer these items at a significant diskount.\nSisko: Quark, you're wasting your time, and mine.\nQuark: Did I mention I was going to donate two percent of my net profits to the Bajoran Fund for Orphans? Three percent?\nSisko: So how's it going?\nJake: The atmosphere's seventy seven percent nitrogen, twenty one percent oxygen, and two percent carbon dioxide. The water contains traces of copper, nickel and a little birythium.\nSisko: You're showing a little lead there too.\nJake: It's from the surrounding soil, but we think it's localized.\nNog: We're going to check other water sources just to be sure.\nSisko: Why not wait until tomorrow. I was just about to start dinner.\nJake: Jumbalaya?\nSisko: How'd you know?\nJake: Great.\nNog: Jumbowhat?\nJake: You're going to love it.\nSisko: The two of you did good work today.\nNog: Yes!\nSisko: Anyone want some more?\nJake: Not me.\nNog: Me neither, Commander, but it was very good. You know, I think I'm developing a taste for human food.\nSisko: Quark?\nQuark: I still say there's some dirt in the sauce. And these bugs. Look at this. They get into everything. It's disgusting.\nSisko: I thought the Ferengis liked eating bugs.\nQuark: Only certain bugs. Ferengi bugs. Nog, get some more ointment for the back of my neck.\nNog: Yes, Uncle.\nSisko: Better get a good night's sleep. We have another big day tomorrow.\nJake: Yeah, I want to start cataloging the plant life first thing in the morning. You know what this reminds me of?\nSisko: A camping trip we took on Itamish Three.\nJake: I don't think I remember you, me, and Mom ever having more fun together.\nSisko: Isn't that where I taught you how to water ski?\nJake: Mom taught me how to water ski.\nSisko: Yes. She was always the graceful one. You know, Jake, we really need to get away more often.\nJake: I'm ready whenever you are. I'm sure Nog is too. I'm joking.\nQuark: I'm on fire! I'm on fire!\nSisko: Quark, cover it up! Are you all right?\nQuark: No, I'm not all right! My ears itch, my nose is running, I'm eating foreign bugs. Now look at me. One minute I'm trying to pick out a couple of bugs out of that jumbawhatsit pot, next thing I know, whoosh!\nSisko: Quark, calm down. Look, do us all a favor. Sit down and try to stay out of trouble.\nQuark: What did I do?\nJake: I'd better go see if he's okay.\nQuark: Now see what you've done.\nSisko: What I've done?\nQuark: The boy couldn't stand seeing his favorite Uncle insulted. I guess Rom was right after all. You don't like Ferengis, do you?\nSisko: That is not true.\nQuark: All right, name me one Ferengi you do like. Ah ha. You see? I was right. You Federation types are all alike. You talk about tolerance and understanding but you only practice it toward people who remind you of yourselves. Because you disapprove of Ferengi values, you scorn us, distrust us, insult us every chance you get.\nSisko: Quark, I don't have to stand here and defend myself.\nQuark: Tell me, Commander, would you allow your son to marry a Ferengi female?\nSisko: I never thought about it.\nQuark: Exactly my point.\nQuark: Don't hurt me.\nEris: How many of them are there?\nQuark: There's just the two of us.\nEris: Not you, the Jem'Hadar.\nSisko: We don't know who you're talking about. We are not your enemies.\nEris: Then you'd better run.\nTalak'Talan: It's too late. You're done running.\nQuark: This has not been a good day.\nJake: Dad, this is Jake. Where are you? Dad, answer me.\nNog: I'm telling you, Jake, something's happened to them. Maybe they were attacked by a wild animal.\nJake: You heard my Dad. There aren't any wild animals, just insects and plants.\nNog: Maybe they were attacked by a vicious tree?\nJake: Take a look at this.\nJake: I don't know any trees that wear boots.\nNog: We'd better beam up to the runabout.\nJake: Listen, we can't run away just 'cos we're scared.\nNog: Hey, who said anything about being scared? I just thought the runabout would be a good place to er, to plan our next move.\nJake: There's nothing to plan. My Dad never would've left here without telling me first, not unless he was in some sort of trouble. We can track them with the tricorder.\nNog: Hey! Wait for me.\nQuark: Hey! Is anybody there? Hello! We're humanoids! We require food and water. Hello?\nSisko: Quark, shut up.\nQuark: This is your fault. They were after you, not us. Why don't you say something to them? Tell them you've never seen us before. We have nothing to do with her! This is a misunderstanding!\nSisko: Quark.\nQuark: I have the right to express my opinion.\nSisko: I'm about to put my fist in your opinion.\nQuark: You don't scare me. And you want to know why you don't scare me? Because I'm already more scared than I've ever been in my life.\nSisko: You're not helping anything.\nQuark: I'm not helping anything? I don't see you coming up with any ideas. Or her.\nSisko: If she wants to help us, she will. Right now, I'd say she's even more scared than you are.\nQuark: Believe me, she's not.\nSisko: She's obviously been running from these people for a while. She's probably been through a lot. She doesn't know who we are, what we're about. I just hope that Jake and Nog are smart enough to stay out of sight until help gets here.\nQuark: Trust me, I didn't raise my nephew to be a fool. He'll find the nearest dark hole and climb into it.\nSisko: I'm not so sure about Jake. If I know him, he'll be looking for us.\nQuark: Don't they teach you how to neutralize security fields in Starfleet?\nSisko: I've never seen anything like this before. It seems like it's generated by\nEris: Don't. The security barrier will kill you.\nSisko: Thanks for the warning.\nEris: I have no wish to see you hurt.\nQuark: A lovely sentiment.\nSisko: How did you know that the security barrier's lethal?\nEris: Because everything about the Jem'Hadar is lethal.\nSisko: Anything you can tell me about them might be helpful.\nEris: Are you saying you've never heard of the Jem'Hadar?\nSisko: We're not from around here. My name is Benjamin Sisko. I'm from the United Federation of Planets. We came through a wormhole to get here. Our home is thousands of light years away.\nEris: My name is Eris.\nSisko: I'm glad to meet you, Eris.\nSisko: That's Quark. Tell me about the Jem'Hadar.\nEris: They're the most feared soldiers in the Dominion.\nQuark: The Dominion? The Ferengi have been trying to open up trade negotiations with the Dominion for almost a year now. We've never heard of the Jem'Hadar.\nEris: Then you've been fortunate. Negotiations with the Dominion can be a dangerous thing.\nSisko: If it's so dangerous, why would anyone do business with them?\nEris: The Dominion decides that you have something that they want and then they come and take it by negotiation or by force. Believe me, I know. I've seen it happen on my own world. Kurill Prime was offered entry into the Dominion. They thought our telekinetic powers would be useful to them.\nSisko: Back there in the camp, that's what you used to knock me down.\nEris: When Kurill refused the Dominion's offer, they sent in the Jem'Hadar. They destroyed our communications center, they executed our leaders, and before we realized it, they had seized control of the entire planet.\nSisko: How did you manage to escape?\nEris: I was on a freighter returning home when the attack occurred. We fled, but they came after us.\nSisko: Why?\nEris: My mother was an outspoken opponent of the Dominion. I guess they wanted to make an example of my family.\nSisko: That thing they put around your neck\nEris: It suppresses my telekinetic abilities. Without it, I might be able to break through the security barrier.\nSisko: Then we'll just have to find a way to get this collar off.\nEris: Even if we do get past the barrier, no one ever escapes from the Jem'Hadar.\nSisko: Luckily for us, they seem as sure about that as you do. Look around you. They've placed the three of us in the same containment field. I've never seen more than four guards on duty at any one time. As far as I can tell, there's only this single containment field between us and freedom. They're overconfident, and that's what's going to help us get out of here. Maybe if I can pry off that casing, I can get at the locking mechanism. May I?\nEris: Of course.\nNog: Are you sure you know how to read that thing?\nJake: Pretty sure.\nNog: Pretty sure? We've been walking for hours and you're only pretty sure?\nJake: Would you be quiet? I'm picking up some kind of humanoid lifeforms.\nNog: I don't know who they are, but they don't look friendly.\nJake: I wish we could get closer.\nNog: I don't think they'll look any friendlier close up.\nQuark: Hello! I know someone must be listening to me out there.\nEris: If we escape, do we have to take him with us?\nSisko: He's not so bad.\nQuark: Whoever's in charge, you're missing a very lucrative opportunity.\nEris: Doesn't he realize he's not accomplishing anything?\nSisko: Don't be so sure. We need to know what the Jem'Hadar plan to do with us. Which means we need to get their attention.\nQuark: Did I mention I happen to be a close personal friend of the Grand Nagus. He's a very powerful person.\nSisko: And if there's one thing I know\nTalak'Talan: That's enough.\nSisko: It's that Quark is hard to ignore.\nSisko: I'm Commander Benjamin Sisko of the United Federation of Planets. I want to know why we are being held here.\nTalak'Talan: That's not my concern.\nSisko: Then why won't you let us go?\nTalak'Talan: Because the Founders don't want you released.\nSisko: And who are the Founders?\nTalak'Talan: That's not your concern.\nQuark: This isn't getting us anywhere. Commander, allow me. How would you like a thousand cases of tulaberry wine.\nTalak'Talan: Don't bother, Commander. I'm not going to do any permanent damage.\nSisko: If the Founders are the ones who give the orders, I want to meet them.\nTalak'Talan: Those aren't my orders.\nEris: He can't take you to the Founders because they don't exist. They're a myth.\nTalak'Talan: The Founders exist. They created the Dominion.\nSisko: And the Jem'Hadar are their servants?\nTalak'Talan: A Ferengi and a human. I was hoping the first race I'd meet from the other side of the anomaly would be the Klingons.\nSisko: I'm sorry to disappoint you.\nTalak'Talan: It's too late for apologies. The Dominion will no longer stand by and allow ships from your side to violate our territory. I hear that Klingons are effective warriors. What's that weapon they're so fond of? The bat'leth?\nSisko: I am not interested in discussing the Klingons.\nTalak'Talan: All right. Then what about the Cardassians? Are you satisfied with the treaty your Federation made with them? It seems a tactical error.\nSisko: How do you know so much about our side of the galaxy?\nTalak'Talan: We gain more knowledge every day, and now we have you to help us learn more.\nSisko: I don't plan on telling you anything.\nTalak'Talan: I won't be the one asking the questions.\nSisko: Who will?\nTalak'Talan: I was really hoping to meet a Klingon.\nQuark: Well, now that we're all friends, I feel much better.\nNog: I hope this works.\nJake: You wanted a plan, I came up with a plan. Now let me concentrate. Computer, scan the region around our base camp for human and Ferengi lifesigns.\nComputer: One human and one Ferengi located.\nNog: That's them.\nJake: I told you this would work. Computer, lock onto the two lifeforms and beam them up.\nComputer: Unable to comply. Subjects are located inside a spatial distortion field.\nNog: I knew it couldn't be that easy.\nJake: Maybe we'd better go back to the station for help.\nNog: Good idea. Computer, fly us back to the station.\nComputer: Please restate command.\nJake: Computer, disengage autopilot and lay in a course back to the wormhole.\nComputer: Enter authorisation code.\nNog: Go ahead. What are you waiting for?\nJake: I don't know the authorisation code.\nComputer: Vessel approaching from the planet's surface, bearing one seven three mark two eight one.\nNog: Computer, evasive manoeuver! Fire phasers! Launch torpedoes and escape pods!\nJake: Computer, display the approaching ship on the monitor.\nJake: Computer, where'd the ship go?\nComputer: The vessel has entered warp, bearing one seven one mark two five nine.\nNog: Maybe they didn't see us.\nJake: Maybe we're not what they're after.\nNog: So what do we do now?\nJake: We'll have to shut down the autopilot.\nNog: How do we do that?\nJake: I guess we'll find out how much I learned working for Chief O'Brien.\nKira: Lieutenant, what's the eta of the Odyssey?\nDax: They're due in eight hours. I'm reading elevated neutrino levels from the wormhole.\nKira: On screen.\nKira: Hail them, Lieutenant.\nDax: They're not answering.\nKira: Shields up. Go to yellow alert.\nO'Brien: Computer, intruder in Ops. Activate a level three containment field.\nKira: I'm Major Kira Nerys, First Officer of this station. You'll have to excuse the containment field, but around here it's customary to identify yourself before transporting into someone else's command center.\nTalak'Talan: I'm Third Talak'Talan of the Jem'Hadar. I'm here to inform you that your commander has been detained for questioning by the Dominion.\nKira: Detained? For how long?\nTalak'Talan: Indefinitely. Commander Sisko will serve as an example of what happens to anyone who interferes with the Dominion.\nKira: What kind of interference are you talking about?\nTalak'Talan: Coming through the anomaly is interference enough. Unless you wish to continue to offend the Dominion, I suggest you stay on your side of the galaxy.\nDax: You're making a mistake if you think that detaining Commander Sisko will stop us from exploring the Gamma Quadrant.\nTalak'Talan: We anticipated that response.\nO'Brien: Security team to Ops.\nTalak'Talan: Here's a list of vessels we've destroyed for violating our territory.\nKira: Where did you get this datapadd.\nTalak'Talan: From the Bajoran colony on our side of the anomaly. You should be proud. I hear they fought well for a spiritual people. I hope we won't have to repeat this lesson.\nKira: Chief, lock a tractor beam onto his ship.\nO'Brien: Acknowledged. I can't establish a lock, Major. They must have some kind of deflectors we haven't seen before.\nDax: They've entered the wormhole. We've lost them.\nSisko: Got it. It looks like some kind of multiple locking system.\nEris: Even if I can break through the security barrier, how do you plan to get off the planet?\nSisko: We'll try to find my son. We'll use his communicator to signal my ship and transport us off the surface.\nEris: And then what?\nSisko: You're welcome to come back to the station with us. I'm sure Starfleet would like to hear anything you have to tell them about the Dominion.\nEris: I'd be glad to tell them all I know.\nSisko: Quark, maybe you'd better take a look at this.\nQuark: Sure, Quark, be quiet. Quark, stand watch. Quark, pick a lock. All you ever do is order me around. You know, Commander, I think I've figured out why humans don't like Ferengis.\nSisko: Not now, Quark.\nQuark: The way I see it, humans used to be a lot like Ferengi. Greedy, acquisitive, interested only in profit. We're a constant reminder of a part of your past you'd like to forget.\nSisko: Quark, we don't have time for this.\nQuark: But you're overlooking something. Humans used to be a lot worse than the Ferengi. Slavery, concentration camps, interstellar wars. We have nothing in our past that approaches that kind of barbarism. You see? We're nothing like you. We're better. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lock to pick.\nJake: This shouldn't be so hard. I just watched Chief O'Brien run a maintenance check on the Mekong's navigational array a couple of weeks ago.\nNog: From the looks of things, you haven't been watching very closely. Try that one.\nJake: I don't think that's it.\nNog: Try it. I have a hunch.\nJake: All right. Let's see.\nComputer: Warning. Warp core collapse in ten seconds. Nine, eight\nNog: Put it back! Put it back!\nComputer: Seven, six. Warp core containment field stabilized.\nNog: Sorry.\nJake: Wait a second. he G and N relay.\nNog: What about it?\nJake: I think O'Brien said something about the autopilot being connected to the guidance and navigational relay. If I could just find it. It was this round thing, with this square part on the bottom. I think I got it.\nNog: Is that it?\nJake: I hope so. Computer, what's the status on the autopilot?\nComputer: The automatic pilot system is not functional.\nNog: All right! Yes!\nJake: Lay in a course for the wormhole at warp eight.\nComputer: Unable to comply. The automatic pilot system is not functional.\nNog: Now what?\nJake: I guess we'll have to try and fly it ourselves.\nKeogh: Starfleet's orders are simple. Traffic through the wormhole will be suspended until the Odyssey can investigate the Jem'Hadar's threat.\nDax: What about Benjamin and the others?\nKeogh: Don't worry, Lieutenant. Commander Sisko's return is a top priority.\nDax: If you're going to try to rescue them, then we're coming with you.\nKeogh: Are you sure that's wise? With the exception of Major Kira and Mister O'Brien, none of you have had much combat experience.\nBashir: We fought the Maquis.\nKeogh: All the Maquis had were a pair of lightly armed shuttlecraft. I expect the Dominion to have sharper teeth.\nKira: Well then you're going to need all the help you can get.\nKeogh: Mister O'Brien, can you equip the two remaining runabouts with extra banks of photon torpedoes?\nO'Brien: I already started retrofitting their weapons systems. They should be ready in a few hours.\nDax: It should take at least that long to offload all the nonessential personnel from the Odyssey. You were planning on doing that, weren't you?\nKeogh: Lieutenant, have you ever thought of serving on a starship?\nDax: I'm happy where I am.\nKeogh: Good. Major, be prepared to leave at thirteen hundred hours. I'll be aboard the Odyssey if you need me.\nKira: Yes, sir.\nBashir: I thought you said Keogh didn't like you.\nDax: Did I say that?\nKira: Come on. You heard him. We've got three hours.\nOdo: Station security is to be on maximum alert. I want random patrols of all corridors and periodic sensor sweeps of every level. Now, the Provisional government has agreed to send us a detachment of extra security personnel. This outlines how I want them deployed.\nKira: Odo.\nOdo: Major. That'll be all.\nKira: Captain Keogh has moved up our departure time. We have to be ready in fifteen minutes.\nOdo: I'm on my way to meet Chief O'Brien and Lieutenant Dax at the Mekong right now.\nKira: Are you sure that you don't want to stay and oversee things here on the station? I don't know what we're going to come up against once we're there. Your duties do not require you to come with us.\nOdo: I realize that, but I figure while you and the others are trying to rescue Sisko and the boys, someone ought to be there to look out for Quark.\nKira: Quark? You're joking. I thought you hated Quark.\nOdo: I do. But I'd rather see him in jail than in the hands of the Dominion. Believe me, Major, if anything happened to him, you'd miss him too.\nKira: I'd be willing to take that chance. But not today. I'd better get to the Orinoco. Odo? Keep your head down.\nOdo: Make sure you do the same.\nBashir: Where's the welcoming committee?\nDax: Maybe the Jem'Hadar were bluffing.\nOdo: Or maybe it's a trap.\nKeogh: Odyssey to runabouts.\nO'Brien: Go ahead, Captain.\nOfficer: Preliminary tachyon scans are negative.\nKeogh: We're not detecting anything on long range scanners, but for all we know, the Dominion could have cloaking technology.\nDax: We'll keep our eyes open, sir.\nNog: I'm telling you, Jake, we should go to warp.\nJake: First let me get the hang of flying at impulse.\nNog: How hard can it be?\nJake: Are you kidding? You think making course corrections manually is easy?\nNog: But at this speed, it'll take weeks to get home.\nJake: Actually, it'll take about five years.\nNog: Can't we reassemble the autopilot?\nJake: If Chief O'Brien taught me anything, it's that it's a lot easier taking things apart than put them back together.\nComputer: Warning. Three ships coming out of warp.\nNog: Where? Where?\nJake: Right there.\nO'Brien: Mekong to Rio Grande.\nJake: Hey, Chief! It's me, Jake.\nKira: Jake, are we glad to find you. Where's your father?\nJake: He and Quark were taken prisoner.\nO'Brien: Jake, come to a full stop. I'll beam aboard.\nO'Brien: Having trouble getting her out of orbit?\nNog: How'd you know?\nJake: Chief, we have to go back and save my dad.\nO'Brien: Don't worry, son. That's exactly what we're going to do.\nQuark: This is a very sophisticated device. Most telepathic suppressors I've seen have been much bulkier. You know, there might be a market for this in the Alpha Quadrant.\nEris: You're hurting me.\nQuark: I'm sorry, but I don't have much to work with.\nEris: You've been at it for hours.\nQuark: If you would just stay still, I'd be\nQuark: Done.\nSisko: All right, let's get out of here.\nEris: Stand back.\nSisko: Quark, move it!\nSisko: Thanks.\nQuark: You're welcome.\nSisko: Let's go.\nBashir: Major, I'm picking up something on forward scanners.\nKeogh: Odyssey to runabouts.\nKira: Go ahead, Odyssey.\nKeogh: We're detecting three incoming ships in attack formation.\nOfficer: Shields up. Going to Red alert.\nDax: Odo, take the helm. I'll handle the targeting controls.\nOdo: Very good.\nO'Brien: Captain, this is the Rio Grande.\nKeogh: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: Half the systems on this ship are disabled. I'm going to have to break formation.\nKeogh: Understood. Return to the wormhole. We'll try to screen you from enemy fire.\nJake: Well what about my dad?\nO'Brien: Captain, I'd like to see if I can get close enough to the planet to locate Commander Sisko.\nKeogh: All right.\nKeogh: But you have ten minutes, then I want you out of there.\nOfficer: Enemy ships within range. Ready to fire at your command.\nKeogh: Runabouts, break formation. Attack pattern Delta.\nKira: Here they come.\nOfficer: I'm getting casualty reports from decks four, five, eight and seventeen. We also have a plasma leak in our port nacelle.\nKeogh: Deploy damage control teams.\nOfficer: Aye, sir.\nKeogh: Keogh to runabouts.\nKira: Go ahead.\nKeogh: They're using some kind of phased polaron beam to penetrate our shields.\nDax: Have you tried altering your harmonics to compensate?\nKeogh: We've run through the full spectrum, but none of the frequencies were effective. Divert shield power to weapons. We'll give O'Brien five more minutes\nKeogh: Then we're getting out of here.\nKira: Understood. Dax, let's see if we can take some pressure off the Odyssey.\nDax: We're with you.\nBashir: Hang on.\nQuark: Wait. Stop. I've got to start using one of those holosuite exercise programs.\nEris: He's slowing us down. He can hide in the underbrush. We'll transport him to safety once we get to your ship.\nSisko: No, I'm not leaving him behind. We never would've gotten away from the Jem'Hadar without him.\nQuark: Thank you, Commander. I'm glad someone around here appreciates me.\nJake: Dad!\nSisko: This has turned into some science project, huh, Jake?\nNog: Uncle Quark!\nQuark: Nog, you're never going on a field trip again.\nSisko: Take Eris back to the passenger compartment and wait there. Jake, well done.\nDax: My control's are dead!\nOdo: We've lost our sensors.\nKira: Break off, Mekong. Initiate evasive maneuvers. We'll lay down covering fire.\nOdo: Acknowledged.\nO'Brien: Rio Grande to Odyssey.\nO'Brien: We've got Sisko.\nKeogh: Well done, Chief.\nOfficer: Damage control team to level seven. Our tactical control systems are down. We've lost all power to phasers.\nKeogh: Bridge to Engineering, get that port nacelle back online.\nEngineer: Aye, Captain.\nKeogh: Keogh to runabouts, we've got what we came for.\nKeogh: We'd better fall back before we\nO'Brien: Their communications array must've been hit.\nSisko: Kira, Dax, you heard him. Let's get out of here.\nBashir: Major, one of the Jem'Hadar ships is making a direct run at the Odyssey.\nKira: Move to intercept.\nO'Brien: We were retreating. There was no need for a suicide run.\nSisko: They're showing us how far they're willing to go. Set a course for the wormhole.\nQuark: Commander, wait. We need to talk.\nEris: I can't believe I'm on the other side of the galaxy.\nSisko: You'll get used to it. Move away from her.\nEris: I don't understand.\nQuark: I've been looking over this collar of yours. I thought if I replicated it, I might be able to turn a tidy profit. Imagine my surprise when I diskovered there's nothing in here. It's just a complicated locking device.\nSisko: Which means you could have used your telekinetic abilities at any time. So the question is, why didn't you?\nEris: You seem to already know the answer.\nSisko: The Jem'Hadar wanted us to escape, didn't they? That was the plan all along, for us to bring you back here so that you could spy on the Federation.\nEris: Well done, Commander.\nSisko: You're one of the Founders, aren't you?\nEris: You think the Founders would waste their time with you?\nSisko: Constable.\nOdo: Madam, if you'll come with us\nEris: You have no idea what's begun here.\nSisko: Chief!\nO'Brien: I'm picking up a transporter signature but I can't trace it. She didn't rematerialize anywhere on the station. There are no ships nearby.\nBashir: Then where is she?\nKira: She'll be back. The question is who she'll bring with her?\nSisko: If the Dominion comes through the wormhole the first battle will be fought here, and I intend to be ready for them."}
{"text": "Sisko: If you could do any science project you wanted to, anything at all?\nJake: Visit the Gamma Quadrant?\nQuark: We've never heard of the Jem'Hadar.\nEris: Then you've been fortunate. Negotiations with the Dominion can be a dangerous thing.\nTalak'Talan: The Dominion will no longer stand by and allow ships from your side to violate our territory.\nKeogh: Starfleet's orders are simple. Traffic through the wormhole will be suspended until the Odyssey can investigate the Jem'Hadar's threat.\nDax: What about Benjamin and the others?\nKeogh: Don't worry, Lieutenant. Commander Sisko's return is a top priority.\nDax: If you're going to try to rescue them, then we're coming with you.\nKira: Here they come.\nBashir: Major, one of the Jem'Hadar ships is making a direct run at the Odyssey.\nSisko: The Jem'Hadar wanted us to escape, didn't they?\nEris: You have no idea what's begun here.\nKira: She'll be back. The question is who she'll bring with her?\nSisko: If the Dominion comes through the wormhole the first battle will be fought here, and I intend to be ready for them. And now, the continuation.\nKira: We're in trouble, people. We've run seven simulations, and they all come out the same. The Jem'Hadar overwhelm our defenses and board the station within two hours.\nBashir: Two hours doesn't even give us time to get reinforcements from Bajor.\nDax: There must be something we overlooked.\nO'Brien: Major, I'm the last one to say it's hopeless, but given DS Nine's structural limitations, our available power supply, and the difficulty of defending a stationary target against a heavily armed mobile force, I'd say two hours is optimistic.\nBashir: Regardless of the time, the casualties would be appallling.\nKira: All right, let's say we let them board the station. That still doesn't mean we have to surrender.\nDax: What are you suggesting?\nKira: We can hide in the conduits, set up booby-traps, prepare ambushes. Try and hold out until we can get reinforcements.\nOdo: We can try, but I don't think there'd be much of a station left by the time they got here.\nDax: That leaves us with two options. Abandon the station and make a stand on Bajor or collapse the entrance to the wormhole.\nKira: I want a third alternative. I cannot believe that we can't\nDax: Some kind of large subspace surge has just activated our security sensors.\nKira: Where is it?\nDax: Bearing one four eight mark two one five. Distance three hundred meters.\nO'Brien: Three hundred meters? That's almost inside our shield perimeter.\nDax: From the intensity and the harmonic signature, it could be a cloaked ship, but I've never seen an energy dispersal pattern like this.\nKira: It's too close for comfort, whatever it is. Red Alert. Raise shields, energize phaser banks, stand-by to lock photon torpedoes on\nDax: The energy signature's fluctuating. It's decloaking.\nDax: It's definitely a Federation starship but I've never seen that design before.\nO'Brien: A Federation ship with a cloaking device?\nDax: It's hailing us.\nKira: On screen.\nSisko: Hello, Major. Sorry to startle you, but I wanted to test the Defiant's cloaking device.\nKira: The Defiant?\nSisko: I've brought back a little surprise for the Dominion.\nSisko: Officially, it's classified as an escort vessel. Unofficially, the Defiant's a warship. Nothing more, nothing less.\nKira: I thought Starfleet didn't believe in warships.\nSisko: Desperate times breed desperate measures, Major. Five years ago, Starfleet began exploring the possibility of building a new class of starship. This ship would have no families, no science labs, no luxuries of any kind. It was designed for one purpose only, to fight and defeat the Borg. The Defiant was the prototype, the first ship in what would have been a new Federation battle fleet.\nDax: So what happened?\nSisko: The Borg threat became less urgent. Also, some design flaws cropped up during the ship's shakedown cruise, so Starfleet decided to abandon the project.\nO'Brien: What sort of design flaws?\nSisko: You'll have complete access to the ship evaluation reports but to put it simply, it's overgunned and overpowered for a ship its size. During battle drills, it nearly tore itself apart when the engines were tested at full capacity.\nKira: And this is the ship that Starfleet sends us to fight off an attack by the Dominion?\nSisko: We're not going to fight the Dominion, Major. At least, not yet anyway. Our mission is to take the Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant and try to find the leaders of the Dominion, the Founders. We have to convince them that the Federation does not represent a threat to them.\nBashir: What if they don't believe us?\nSisko: That's why I asked for the Defiant. She may have flaws, but she has teeth, and I want the Dominion to know that we can and will defend ourselves if necessary.\nEddington: I've posted two security officers at the Defiant's docking port, sir. No one'll get near the cloaking device without us knowing about it.\nOdo: I wasn't informed about any special security arrangements.\nT'Rul: The security arrangements were by my request to protect the cloaking device.\nSisko: A few introductions are in order. This is Subcommander T'Rul from the Romulan Empire. She's here to operate the cloaking device which her government so kindly loaned us for this mission.\nT'Rul: Romulan interests will be served through cooperation, and my role is to keep unauthorized personnel away from the cloaking device.\nSisko: May I present my officers. This is Major\nT'Rul: Thank you, but I know their names, and I'm not here to make friends.\nKira: Charming.\nEddington: Well, I am here to make friends. I'm Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington, Starfleet Security.\nKira: Major Kira Nerys.\nOdo: Odo. Head of station security. May I ask what your function is here, Commander?\nSisko: There will be a complete mission briefing at eighteen hundred hours, but be prepared to depart the station at oh seven hundred tomorrow morning. Dismissed.\nOdo: You needn't brace yourself to give me unpleasant news, Commander, I'll save you the trouble. I've been relieved as Chief of Security.\nSisko: Odo, wait. You've not been relieved. You're still in charge of all non-Starfleet security matters aboard this station.\nOdo: And what about matters that are Starfleet?\nSisko: In those areas, you'll coordinate your efforts with Commander Eddington.\nOdo: Coordinate is another way of saying I'll report to him.\nSisko: I'm sorry, Odo. This wasn't my idea.\nOdo: I'm sure it wasn't. You were just following orders.\nSisko: An order I strongly disagreed with. I did everything I could to fight this. I even took it to the Chief of Starfleet Security herself. But their decision was final.\nOdo: May I ask why?\nSisko: There were some concerns regarding several recent security breaches.\nOdo: If I was given the authority I asked for instead of being tied to Starfleet regulations, there wouldn't have been any security breaches.\nSisko: Odo, your resistance to following Starfleet regulations is part of the problem.\nOdo: I think there might be a simpler explanation, Commander. I think Starfleet decided to bring in someone they could trust, someone besides the shape-shifter.\nSisko: This is not a racial issue, Odo. I understand how you must feel, and I want\nOdo: Commander, I don't require your understanding. My resignation will be logged within the hour.\nSisko: Hey, hey, hey, I thought you were unpacking.\nJake: I am. I mean, I was. But I just kept looking at the replicator and\nSisko: And you just had to have some I'danian spice pudding.\nJake: I still can't believe I couldn't get a decent bowl back on Earth.\nSisko: That didn't stop you from ordering it at every replicator you saw. So, is it good to be home?\nJake: Yeah, I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again.\nSisko: Phew. I wonder when that happened?\nJake: What?\nSisko: When did I start thinking of this Cardassian monstrosity as home?\nJake: I think it happened last Thursday, around seventeen hundred hours. When you took all this stuff out of storage back on Earth.\nSisko: Careful. That's a two thousand year old Yoruba mask and that stuff is one of the finest collections of ancient\nBoth: African art you'll ever see.\nJake: I know. And I also know how much it means to you. But to me this will always be the stuff in your library at home. When you took it out of storage so you could bring it here, it meant Earth wasn't home anymore. This was.\nSisko: So, what do you think?\nJake: Perfect.\nKira: Odo, there you are. I just finished talking to the Provisional Government and they want you to go with us to the Gamma Quadrant tomorrow to act as an official Bajoran representative.\nOdo: I'm no diplomat.\nKira: I know. That's why they want you to go. If we do locate the Founders, we're going to need more than diplomacy. We're going to need to size them up, see what kind of threat they pose to Bajor, analyze\nOdo: You're the military expert, Major, not me. And I doubt that the Provisional Government contacted you and asked for my presence on this mission. If I'm not mistaken, this is a misguided attempt to make me feel better.\nKira: Maybe it is. Maybe I'm your friend, and maybe I want you to see that you are still needed here no matter what some idiot Starfleet admiral might think. The Defiant leaves at seven hundred hours.\nQuark: I'm a little confused, Commander. You want me to go with you to the Gamma Quadrant to help you locate the Founders?\nSisko: See? It's not so confusing after all.\nQuark: You're joking with me, aren't you? Having a little fun with Quark?\nSisko: I'm quite serious.\nQuark: You can't be. I'm not a diplomat, or an explorer, or a tactical officer, or whatever else you might need on this trip. Now, if you need a caterer, I'll be happy to loan you a new replicator that I just got from\nSisko: Eight months ago, you helped the Nagus establish a trade agreement with the Karemma. Tulaberry wine, I believe. The Karemma are part of the Dominion.\nQuark: A minor part, a very minor part.\nSisko: They might still be able to help us contact the Founders. Since you're experienced in dealing with the Karemma, it seems to me you're the logical person to\nQuark: Actually, my brother Rom did most of the talking. I think he'd be better suited for this mission.\nSisko: Not Rom, you.\nQuark: But why? Rom only has a son to think about. I have a business.\nSisko: You.\nQuark: I'm sorry, Commander, but I must refuse. My last experience with the Jem'Hadar was not a pleasant one and I have no intention of repeating it. Now, there's no way you can legally force me to do this.\nQuark: The scepter of the Grand Nagus.\nSisko: I had a chance to discuss this mission with him on my way back from Earth. He seemed to agree with me, unless peaceful contact can be established with the Founders, business opportunities in the Gamma Quadrant might suddenly dry up. He also agreed with me that you are the perfect man to help me.\nQuark: I don't believe it.\nSisko: Which is why he sent this along. He thought it might convince you of the high value he holds for the success of this mission. Now, are you going to defy the wishes of the Grand Nagus himself?\nQuark: No, no, of course not. I'm happy to serve the Nagus any way that I can.\nSisko: Thank you, Quark. I knew I could count on you. Quark, aren't you forgetting something?\nDax: I just thought you'd like to know that the Defiant'll be ready at oh seven hundred hours.\nSisko: Did it pass the Chief's inspection?\nDax: Does anything? His maintenance list is as long as this table, but he did say it'll take us where we're going.\nSisko: And back, I hope.\nDax: Well, he said that was up to you.\nSisko: I'd never have volunteered for this mission if I didn't think we had a chance of coming back.\nDax: How many times did Curzon tell you never volunteer for anything?\nSisko: As I recall, Curzon broke that rule a few times himself.\nDax: And regretted it every time.\nSisko: This is different. I'd be regretting it even more if we just waited around for an invasion.\nDax: If I know Starfleet, they must've run at least two hundred probability studies on this mission of ours. So what are the odds of us succeeding?\nSisko: Slim. But better odds than fighting off a Jem'Hadar assault on this station. And if the station falls, then Bajor falls, and I will not let that happen.\nDax: You know, after Jennifer died I never thought I would see you this passionate about something again.\nSisko: Two months ago I would have agreed with you. Then I went back to Earth and I spent all those weeks debriefing at Starfleet Headquarters. And I, I used to get a thrill just walking into that building. I'd look around at the Admirals and think, one day that's going to be me. One day I'm the one that's going to be making the big decisions.\nDax: Curzon always thought that was very funny.\nSisko: Did he?\nDax: What I mean is, he could never see a set of Admiral's stars on your collar. He thought that just making the decisions would never satisfy you. You had to implement them, see the results, face the consequences. Curzon always thought you were the kind of man who had to be in the thick of things, not behind some desk at Headquarters.\nSisko: He was a smart old man, wasn't he?\nDax: He liked to think so.\nSisko: You'd better get a good night's sleep.\nDax: I was just about to say the same thing to you. I'll see you in the morning, Benjamin.\nBashir: The medical database is practically nonexistent. I've downloading as many of my files from the station as I can, but this ship simply wasn't designed to handle many casualties.\nSisko: Do the best you can and let's hope your new database won't be put to the test.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nDax: Quark's settling into his quarters and asked me to relay his profound disappointment in the accommodations, and to inform you that he could get you in touch with several reputable interior decorators for a modest fee.\nSisko: I'll take his offer under advisement. Stand by to get underway.\nO'Brien: Tactical and Communications are ready, sir.\nDax: Navigation and Operations ready.\nKira: Weapons ready.\nT'Rul: Impulse engines online. Warp power available at your command.\nSisko: Very well. Seal the airlock. Release docking clamps. Aft thrusters\nO'Brien: Just a moment, sir. There's someone in the airlock. It's Odo.\nSisko: Sisko to Odo. Is there a problem, Constable?\nOdo: No, Commander. I would like permission to come aboard. I'm here at the request of the Bajoran government.\nSisko: Permission granted.\nOdo: Thank you, sir.\nSisko: Dax, we'll have to arrange some quarters for the Constable.\nBashir: I'll do it, sir. I need to go down to what is laughingly called the Sickbay.\nSisko: Thank you, Doctor.\nO'Brien: Odo's aboard, sir. The airlock's clear.\nSisko: Release docking clamps. Aft thrusters at one quarter, port and starboard at station keeping.\nDax: We've cleared the station.\nSisko: Lay in a course to the wormhole. I want to cloak as soon as we reach the Gamma Quadrant.\nT'Rul: Understood.\nDax: Course laid in, sir.\nSisko: Engage.\nT'Rul: The cloaking device is operating within normal parameters.\nSisko: Set course for the Karemma system, warp seven.\nT'Rul: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Engage.\nQuark: Odo!\nOdo: Is this the best you can do?\nBashir: I'm afraid so. Most of the crew quarters don't have life support yet. Besides, I think we'd all feel a bit better with someone here to watch over Quark.\nQuark: I take that as a personal insult, Doctor.\nBashir: You should. Now, I think I'll let you two bunkmates get more comfortable.\nQuark: Am I glad to see you. I've been stuck down here in this miserable hole ever since I came aboard. Bunk beds, no view, and I can't tell you what came out of that replicator when I asked for synthehol.\nQuark: So, what's your role on this little adventure? Providing security, no doubt. Well, of course you are. I mean, why else would you be here? I can tell you I feel much safer now, just knowing that you're along, because I know I can trust you\nOdo: I have been holding this shape for sixteen hours. I have to revert back to my liquid state, but I don't want you to watch and gawk at me.\nQuark: I understand, completely. This is a very private moment and I won't interfere. This won't be so bad, sharing\nOdo: I have no interest in speaking to you, or in listening to your witless prattle. So stay out of my way, or you'll regret the day you ever met me.\nO'Brien: Commander, long range scanners have picked up two Jem'Hadar warships directly ahead. They're heading this way at warp five.\nSisko: How close will they pass us?\nO'Brien: One hundred thousand kilometers.\nKira: That's well within range of their weapons, Commander.\nDax: Should I alter course?\nSisko: No. We need to know if they can see through the cloaking device and this is as good a time as any. Maintain course and speed. Red Alert.\nKira: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: Here they come. They'll pass us in five seconds.\nSisko: On screen.\nSisko: Track them.\nO'Brien: They're continuing on their original heading no indication that they saw us. Wait a minute. They're changing course, heading this way.\nDax: They must've seen us.\nKira: They're powering their weapon systems.\nSisko: Prepare to decloak. Lock phasers on the lead ship and\nT'Rul: No. We may not have been detected.\nSisko: Explain.\nT'Rul: A cloaked ship radiates a slight subspace variance at warp speeds.\nO'Brien: I've never heard of that.\nT'Rul: It's not something we've been eager to reveal. I suggest dropping out of warp. That will eliminate the variance. When they reach our position they'll find nothing.\nSisko: Do it.\nDax: All stop.\nO'Brien: Commander, they're sweeping the area with some kind of anti-proton scan and they're being very thorough about it.\nSisko: Will an anti-proton scan penetrate the cloak?\nO'Brien: That's a good question.\nT'Rul: I'm not sure.\nKira: They're getting closer.\nO'Brien: Commander, the Defiant's power signature is unusually high for a ship this size. The cloaking device may not be masking everything.\nSisko: Cut main power.\nKira: The other one has broken off its search. It's headed this way.\nSisko: Stand by weapons and shields.\nKira: They've gone into warp and resumed their original course.\nSisko: The first thing to go right in the Gamma Quadrant in a long time.\nKira: Let's hope it's not the last. Ship's log, stardate 48212.4. We have arrived at the Karemma homeworld and opened talks with one of Quark's business partners in an effort to contact the Founders of the Dominion.\nQuark: The Grand Nagus himself has sent me as an emissary on his behalf. If you aid us in our mission, I'm authorized to increase our purchases of tulaberry wine to the Karemma by three percent.\nOrnithar: Mmm, looks like a polyduranium alloy blend. Interesting, but the metal has no real value. A three percent increase is negligible.\nQuark: I have considerable leeway to bargain in this circumstance. Name your terms.\nOrnithar: Nothing, nothing, nothing. The terms are not the issue. I cannot help you locate the Founders because I do not know who they are or if they even exist. Nothing. Ah, here's something interesting. appears to be diamide laced beritium. I'll give you fifty two diraks for it.\nQuark: Done.\nSisko: Quark.\nQuark: I mean, one deal at a time, Ornithar. We were talking about the Founders.\nOrnithar: There is nothing further to say. If the Founders exist, they clearly do not wish to be contacted. That is good enough for me.\nSisko: Who's your contact in the Dominion regarding administration, trade, defense?\nOrnithar: Our only contact with the Dominion has been through the Vorta. I have no idea who they report to. All I know is that the Vorta say to do something and you do it.\nSisko: Why?\nOrnithar: Because if you do not they will send in the Jem'Hadar, and then you die.\nSisko: Will you put us in contact with the Vorta?\nOrnithar: Commander, we do only as we are told, nothing more. And so far, we have not been told to help you in any way.\nSisko: You haven't been told not to, either.\nOrnithar: No, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.\nQuark: In this case, being cautious will cost you a substantial profit. The Ferengi will cease purchasing tulaberry wine immediately.\nSisko: If you lost such a valuable contract with the Alpha Quadrant, it might displease the Vorta. They may even send the Jem'Hadar here to find out what happened.\nOrnithar: I will need to access one of our computers on the surface.\nOrnithar: This is the Callinon system. The Dominion maintains an unmanned subspace relay on the seventh planet. We have been told by the Vorta to direct all communications there. Where the messages are sent after that is not our concern.\nOdo: What is that?\nOrnithar: It is the Omarion Nebula.\nOdo: The Omarion Nebula.\nOrnithar: If there is nothing else, I would like to leave now.\nSisko: Of course.\nQuark: Commander, I believe I have fulfillled my role on this mission, so if you don't mind\nSisko: You want to stay behind.\nQuark: That was our agreement.\nSisko: How can you be sure he won't turn you over to the Dominion as soon as we leave?\nQuark: He may serve the Dominion, but I'm the one lining his pockets with latinum. I'll book passage on the next ship going through the wormhole, and I'll make a profit in the process.\nSisko: All right, Quark. Good luck.\nQuark: Same to you, Commander.\nSisko: Lay in a course for the Callinon System.\nDax: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Come in.\nKira: Did I wake you?\nSisko: Not quite. What can I do for you, Major?\nKira: It's about Odo.\nSisko: You're worried about him.\nKira: Is it that obvious?\nSisko: No, I'm worried about him too. But at the moment I don't know what to do about it.\nKira: Can I speak freely? What the hell is wrong with Starfleet? How could they do this to him?\nSisko: This has been a long time coming, Major. Starfleet has never been happy with the Constable. They've been pressing me to replace him for the last two years.\nKira: Because he worked for the Cardassians.\nSisko: No, it goes deeper than that. Odo is not what you'd call a team player.\nKira: Why? Because sometimes he doesn't go through the proper channels?\nSisko: That's a start. You know Odo. He enjoys thumbing his nose at authority. He files reports when he feels like it. His respect for the chain of command is minimal\nKira: He gets the job done.\nSisko: Starfleet likes team players. Starfleet likes the chain of command, and frankly, so do I.\nKira: So you agree with their decision?\nSisko: No. But I understand it.\nKira: And when this mission is over, you're just going to let him go?\nSisko: Look, Major, I want him to stay as much as you do but he has to want to stay.\nT'Rul: Bridge to Commander Sisko. We've reached the Callinon System.\nSisko: On my way. Ship's log, supplemental. The Defiant has cloaked and assumed a standard orbit around Callinon Seven. I plan to send Dax and O'Brien down to survey the relay station on the surface.\nKira: According to our sensor sweeps, it looks like Ornithar was telling the truth when he said the relay station was unmanned. It also appears there are very few security measures in place.\nSisko: Nothing fancy. Get in, find what we need, and get out.\nDax: Understood.\nSisko: On your way.\nSisko: The transporter will need six seconds to beam them down. I want to decloak for exactly six seconds.\nDax: Dax to Bridge. We're ready, Benjamin.\nSisko: All right. Disengage cloak. Energize.\nKira: They're on the surface.\nSisko: Were we scanned during transport?\nKira: I don't think so.\nDax: Dax to Defiant.\nSisko: Go ahead, Dax.\nDax: We're in what seems\nDax: To be the central computer room. The user interface is a little unusual, but I think we can access it.\nSisko: Keep us posted.\nO'Brien: I'm into the main directory.\nDax: That was fast.\nO'Brien: Yes, it was. A bit too fast if you ask me.\nDax: Any indication that we've tripped some kind of security protocol?\nO'Brien: No, I still have access to everything.\nDax: Then let's get the information and get out of here.\nO'Brien: That's fine with me.\nSisko: I should've taken Quark up on his offer for a new replicator.\nBashir: Sir?\nSisko: Nothing. Let's make good use of this time, Major. Begin running a level three diagnostic on\nDax: Dax to Defiant. I think we have something, Benjamin.\nDax: We've accessed the communications log of outgoing transmissions.\nO'Brien: From the way I read this, sir, it looks like eighty percent of outgoing traffic is sent to one location. It's my guess it's either another relay station or a command center.\nSisko: Do you have the coordinates?\nDax: I'm sending them to you now.\nKira: We've lost contact with them.\nSisko: Get them out of there!\nKira: I can't. Some kind of shield has appeared around the outpost. I can't get through it.\nBashir: We're picking up three Jem'Hadar ships, Commander, heading this way.\nSisko: Can we punch through the security shield with our phasers before the ships get here?\nKira: I'm not sure. I've never seen this kind of field before.\nT'Rul: In order to use the phasers we will have to decloak. That means we'll be seen by the Jem'Hadar.\nBashir: We've got to do something. We can't just leave them there.\nT'Rul: That's exactly what we should do Doctor. Leave them. We came here to locate the Founders, not to fight the Jem'Hadar over two expendable crew members.\nBashir: No one is expendable.\nKira: The Jem'Hadar ships have entered the system. They'll be in orbit in thirty seconds.\nSisko: Prepare to leave orbit, Major.\nBashir: Commander.\nSisko: As you were, Doctor. Lay in a course to the coordinates Dax sent us.\nKira: Course laid in.\nSisko: Warp seven. Engage.\nBashir: What do you think'll happen to Dax and O'Brien?\nSisko: They'll probably be held for interrogation. If I know Dax, she'll use the opportunity to try and contact the Founders, and I intend to do the same. Sisko to Odo. Report to the Bridge, Constable. I want to discuss the security arrangements for our arrival at\nOdo: I'm presently indisposed Commander. Please find someone else for the job.\nBashir: That doesn't sound like Odo.\nSisko: No, it doesn't. I'd better have a talk with him.\nKira: Let me, sir. I think he'll listen to me.\nT'Rul: Three Jem'Hadar ships have just entered sensor range, bearing zero three seven, mark two one five.\nSisko: Is there any sign they've detected us?\nT'Rul: Negative.\nSisko: Bring us out of warp, and then cut main power. We'll wait here until they pass.\nKira: Odo, it's time we had a talk.\nOdo: I'm not going to the Bridge, so you can save your breath. And I'd appreciate being left alone right now.\nKira: Well, you've tried being alone and it hasn't done any good, so maybe it's time to stop brooding and started talking.\nOdo: Are you the ship's counselor now?\nKira: No, I'm your friend. You know, the one who comes to you when she needs help. I'm just trying to return the favor.\nOdo: Well, you can return the favor by giving me a shuttlecraft and letting me go.\nKira: Go? Go where? We're in the heart of the Dominion. Where the hell do you think you're going to go?\nOdo: The Omarion Nebula.\nKira: Why?\nOdo: I'm not sure why. I just know I have to, that's all.\nKira: You're going to have to do a lot better than that. Odo, talk to me. Tell me what's going on.\nOdo: Ever since we've come into the Gamma Quadrant, I've had this feeling of being drawn somewhere, pulled by some instinct to a specific place. The Omarion Nebula.\nKira: Why there?\nOdo: I don't know.\nKira: All right. Once we've contacted the Founders, I'm sure Commander Sisko\nOdo: No. Not after we've contacted the Founders. Now! I have to leave now!\nKira: Look, I understand this is important to you, but we have a mission to complete.\nT'Rul: Direct hit on the port nacelle.\nBashir: How did they see through the cloaking device?\nT'Rul: They might have analyzed the sensor information from the anti-proton scan and found a way to penetrate the cloak.\nSisko: We'll have to save the speculation for later. Disengage the cloak, raise the shields, and fire on my command.\nT'Rul: Communications and long range sensors are out.\nSisko: What's the status of the warp drive?\nT'Rul: The starboard power coupling is destroyed. I'm trying to reroute main power.\nBashir: He's gone. I'll take the helm.\nSisko: I'm locking onto the lead ship. Ready?\nBashir: Ready.\nSisko: Fire!\nBashir: The other two are moving out of phaser range. They're coming back for another pass but they're moving a little slower now.\nSisko: They'll be more cautious this time. Doctor, use evasive pattern delta five. We need to keep them off balance until we get warp power back.\nBashir: Aye, sir.\nOdo: Are you all right?\nKira: Just a few bruises. Kira to Bridge. Kira to Bridge. We have to get up there.\nSisko: T'Rul, where's my warp power?\nT'Rul: I can't get the phase inducers to align with the ODN matrices in the\nBashir: Commander, three more Jem'Hadar warships approaching off the port bow!\nSisko: Full impulse, get us out of here.\nKira: We've lost main power.\nOdo: We've got to get to a shuttle.\nKira: Our duty is to get to the Bridge and help defend the ship.\nOdo: If main power is out, then the shields are out, Kira. The ship is defenseless.\nT'Rul: Main power is offline! The shields have collapsed!\nBashir: I've lost helm control. Inertial dampers failing\nSisko: Ready escape pods. Prepare to abandon ship.\nKira: Where, where am I?\nOdo: You're in a shuttlecraft. You were wounded. Try not to move around.\nKira: Odo, what happened? We were under attack.\nOdo: The ship was boarded. You were wounded in the attack. I managed to get us to this shuttlecraft, but I don't know much more than that. The last time I saw the Defiant, she was dead in space and surrounded by Jem'Hadar ships.\nKira: Sisko? Bashir?\nOdo: I don't know.\nKira: Where are we?\nOdo: Approaching the Omarion Nebula.\nKira: You should have taken us back to the wormhole.\nOdo: You didn't object at the time.\nKira: I was unconscious. Have you found anything? There's a class M planet, no star system. A rogue planet?\nOdo: Yes.\nFemale: Welcome home. To be continued..."}
{"text": "Sisko: Our mission is to take the Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant and try to find the leaders of the Dominion, the Founders.\nKira: What the hell is wrong with Starfleet? How could they do this to him?\nSisko: This has been a long time coming, Major. Starfleet has never been happy with the Constable. I want him to stay as much as you do but he has to want to stay.\nOdo: Ever since we've come into the Gamma Quadrant, I've had this feeling of being drawn somewhere, to a specific place. The Omarion Nebula.\nOdo: The last time I saw the Defiant, she was dead in space and surrounded by Jem'Hadar ships.\nKira: Sisko? Bashir?\nOdo: I don't know.\nFemale: Welcome home. And now the conclusion.\nOdo: You really are just like me, aren't you?\nFemale: Yes.\nOdo: And you're saying this is where I'm from?\nFemale: This is your home.\nOdo: I wish I could remember it.\nFemale: It's understandable that you cannot. You were still newly formed when you left us.\nOdo: Newly formed? You mean I was an infant?\nFemale: An infant, yes.\nOdo: I suspected as much. Tell me, do I have any family at all?\nFemale: Of course.\nOdo: I'd like to meet them, if that's possible.\nFemale: You already have. We are all part of the Great Link.\nOdo: Is that all of us, or are there others?\nKira: Odo, this isn't a police investigation.\nOdo: I'm aware of that, Major.\nKira: Then stop interrogating these people. This is the moment you've been waiting for all your life. Enjoy it. He really is happy to be here. Aren't you?\nOdo: Yes, of course. It's just this is all very sudden.\nFemale: And you have many questions.\nOdo: Yes. Please, what exactly is this Great Link?\nFemale: The Link is the very foundation of our society. It provides a meaning to our existence. It is the merging of thought and form, the sharing of idea and sensation. Is something wrong?\nOdo: I've lived a very solitary life.\nFemale: That's unfortunate but necessary, as you'll learn in time. But now, that part of your life is over. You're home.\nMale: What are you doing?\nFemale: Take it.\nMale: It's not time. He isn't ready.\nFemale: He's been gone too long. He needs to remember, if only for a moment. Don't be afraid.\nKira: Odo. What have you done to him?\nFemale: I allowed him to experience the Link.\nKira: Odo.\nOdo: Yes, Major.\nKira: Are you all right? What happened?\nOdo: I'm not sure. But I know one thing. She's right, I am home.\nSisko: Commander's log, supplemental. It's been six days since we had to abandon the Defiant after the Jem'Hadar attack. We still don't know what happened to the rest of the crew. Doctor Bashir and I have plotted a course back to the wormhole. Whether the shuttle can get us back there or not is questionable at best. Our engines are failing, our external sensors are barely functioning and life support systems are at twenty percent and dropping.\nBashir: But other than that we couldn't be in better shape.\nSisko: I thought you were sleeping.\nBashir: From the sound of things I wish I were.\nSisko: Things could be worse.\nBashir: I believe you. You think it's some kind of tractor beam?\nSisko: Could be. I wish these sensors were working.\nBashir: Now what?\nO'Brien: Whoa. Hey, don't shoot. We surrender.\nSisko: Chief. Dax.\nBashir: I don't believe it. We thought you'd been captured by the Jem'Hadar.\nDax: Well, we had our doubts about ever seeing you again either, Julian.\nO'Brien: We've been searching for you for days.\nSisko: What about the others?\nDax: No sign of them yet, but we still have ships out looking for them.\nO'Brien: Meanwhile, our orders are to get you back to DS Nine as soon as possible.\nDax: There are big things happening there, Benjamin. I think you're in for a surprise.\nKira: This is beautiful.\nOdo: How long do they plan on making us wait here?\nKira: It's only been a few hours.\nOdo: I finally return home and they still treat me like an outsider.\nKira: Believe me, you're not the outsider here. I am.\nOdo: You? KIRA I'm the one they don't trust, not you.\nFemale: How perceptive, Major. If our history has taught us anything, it's to avoid contact with Solids whenever possible.\nKira: Solids?\nFemale: Our name for mono-forms like yourself, who'll never know the joys of the Great Link.\nKira: I don't intend to stay long. There's a chance Sisko and the others survived the attack. I'm going to go back to the shuttle and try contacting them.\nFemale: I'm sorry. I cannot allow you to send any communications from the planet's surface. They could be traced back here. We value our isolation.\nOdo: Yes, of course.\nFemale: Tell me, Odo, have you made good use of the arboretum?\nOdo: In what way?\nFemale: By assuming the various shapes surrounding you.\nOdo: Why would I do that?\nFemale: To become a thing is to know a thing. To assume its form is to begin to understand its existence.\nOdo: Understand it? How?\nFemale: Living among the Solids has damaged you far worse than I realized. It has left you ignorant of the gifts you possess.\nOdo: Then teach me what I need to know.\nFemale: I'll do what I can. But in the end, this is another journey you'll have to make on your own.\nFemale: And when it is over you'll be ready to take your place in the Great Link.\nKira: Odo.\nOdo: I'd like to be alone if you don't mind.\nKira: All right. But if you need me, I'll be in the shuttle trying to contact Sisko. Don't worry. When I was in the resistance I learned to camouflage subspace messages with quantum interference. I taught the method to Commander Sisko. If anyone intercepts the signal all they'll read is elevated levels of background radiation.\nOdo: Good luck.\nKira: You too.\nNechayev: Well, Commander, it appears your mission was an even greater success than we hoped.\nSisko: So I'm told. Has the delegation from the Founders arrived on the station yet?\nNechayev: They're already meeting with representatives from the Federation Council and a dozen other Alpha Quadrant alliances. We're hoping to have a treaty signed within a matter of days, and we have you to thank for it.\nSisko: Actually it's Lieutenant Dax and Chief O'Brien who deserve most of the credit.\nO'Brien: We were lucky the Jem'Hadar handed us over to the Founders.\nDax: We just had to convince them that we were serious about peace.\nO'Brien: Actually, it didn't take that much convincing.\nSisko: I suppose the only question is, can we trust them?\nNechayev: It's a risk, I know, but both the Federation Council and Starfleet Command believe it's one worth taking. By the way, Commander, one of the Founders asked to see you the moment you arrived on the station.\nSisko: Asked to see me?\nNechayev: If you're not too busy.\nSisko: Well, I suppose I could spare a few minutes.\nBorath: Commander Sisko, come in. I've looked forward to meeting you. I am Borath.\nSisko: And you're one of the Founders?\nBorath: That's correct. You seem surprised.\nSisko: Not really. Only I hadn't realized till now I've already met one of your people.\nBorath: You're referring to Eris, of course. Yes, she is one of us. Though she couldn't very well admit it while you were pointing a phaser at her. I'm glad to see you're not holding one now.\nSisko: Do I need one?\nBorath: Not at all. You seem skeptical.\nSisko: Can you blame me?\nBorath: No. I realize you have no reason to trust the Dominion, but you must understand that we were only trying to defend ourselves.\nSisko: From what?\nBorath: We felt threatened by your incursions into the Gamma Quadrant.\nSisko: And now?\nBorath: Commander, you risked your life to bring us a message of peace and friendship. We chose to accept your offer. Would you rather we refused?\nSisko: No.\nBorath: Good. Because believe me, Commander, an alliance between the Dominion and the Federation will be beneficial to both our people.\nGarak: Doctor, welcome back.\nBashir: Why thank you, Garak. It's good to be back.\nGarak: Yes.\nBashir: Business keeping you busy?\nGarak: The tailoring business, or the spy business? I'm joking, of course.\nBashir: Of course.\nGarak: I've missed you. I've been genuinely concerned for your safety. Lunch hasn't been the same without you.\nBashir: That's very kind of you to say so, Garak. Hopefully things'll start getting back to normal around here.\nGarak: Oh, I doubt that's going to happen, Doctor. I doubt that very much.\nBashir: And why is that?\nGarak: There's an old saying on Cardassia. Enemies make dangerous friends. And I fear the Dominion will make a very dangerous friend indeed.\nBashir: I take it you're referring to the peace talks.\nGarak: Exactly. I'm afraid these treaty negotiations are a mistake we're going to live to regret.\nBashir: Is that your opinion or the opinion of the Cardassian Central Command?\nGarak: The former, I assure you. The Central Command is very much in favor of this treaty. Which, as far as I'm concerned, only justifies my fears.\nBashir: Well, I for one, hope you're worrying about nothing.\nBashir: Sub-Commander T'Rul, are you all right?\nT'Rul: I'm fine. I had a minor disagreement with some Starfleet security officers. They refused to allow me to speak with the Federation's negotiating team.\nBashir: What did you want to talk to them about?\nT'Rul: I wanted to protest the exclusion of the Romulan Empire from the treaty negotiations.\nBashir: I wasn't aware the Romulans had been excluded.\nT'Rul: Every great power in the Alpha Quadrant has been invited to participate except for us.\nBashir: There must be some mistake.\nT'Rul: The mistake is thinking the Romulan empire will stand by and allow such a betrayal to go unchallenged. Believe me, Doctor, if a treaty is signed without our approval, it will mean war.\nGarak: Still feel that I'm worrying about nothing, Doctor?\nKira: Computer, transmit a subspace signal using a narrow theta band frequency shifted into a background radiation domain.\nComputer: Working.\nKira: I hope you're out there, Commander.\nComputer: Unable to transmit signal due to external interference at all frequencies.\nKira: Identify source of interference.\nComputer: Interference generated by thermal radiation from a subterranean power source.\nKira: Locate power source.\nComputer: Power source is located four kilometers beneath the planet's surface, coordinates one two seven mark three.\nKira: Can you identify?\nComputer: Unable to identify due to an unknown polymetallic substance within the surrounding rock.\nOdo: Any luck, Major?\nKira: No. Some kind of power source interfering with my signal. Do you have any idea what it could be?\nOdo: I haven't a clue.\nKira: Are you all right?\nOdo: I have spent the last two hours shape-shifting. Rocks, flowers, trees. I have been everything in that garden.\nKira: And?\nOdo: And nothing. Oh, I can become a rock, all right, but I have no more of an idea what it is to be a rock than I did before.\nKira: I'm not really sure what that means.\nOdo: I'm not sure either, and that's unfortunate. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to return to my bucket.\nDax: Commander. Admiral Nechayev is here to see you.\nSisko: Send her in.\nNechayev: You asked to see me, Commander?\nSisko: I understand that the Romulans haven't been invited to the peace talks.\nNechayev: That's correct.\nSisko: I was wondering what prompted that decision.\nNechayev: The Founders requested that they be excluded.\nSisko: Did they say why?\nNechayev: They felt the Romulans would be a disruptive influence.\nSisko: More disruptive than the Cardassians?\nNechayev: They seemed to think so. Do you have a problem with this, Commander?\nSisko: Whether I have a problem with it isn't the point. It's the Romulans we have to worry about.\nNechayev: Commander, if this treaty is signed, and I'm confident it will be, we'll never have to worry about the Romulans again.\nSisko: Are you sure of that?\nNechayev: Quite sure. After all, what chance would they have against the combined power of our new alliance?\nSisko: They wouldn't have much of a chance at all.\nNechayev: I'm glad we agree. Believe me, Commander, the Federation carefully weighed all the options before entering into these peace talks.\nSisko: I realize that.\nNechayev: Then we have nothing further to discuss, do we?\nOdo: Why do you dislike humanoids so much? I know they have their flaws, but I've found many of them to be kind, decent people.\nFemale: Like Major Kira?\nOdo: Yes, like Major Kira.\nFemale: Then you've been more fortunate than most Changelings.\nOdo: Changelings?\nFemale: You recognize the term.\nOdo: I've been called a Changeling on occasion.\nFemale: It's a name given to us by the Solids. They meant it as an insult, but in defiance we took it and made it our own.\nOdo: Go on, please.\nFemale: The Great Link tells us that many years ago our people roamed the stars, searching out other races so we could add to our knowledge of the galaxy. We went in peace, but too often we were met with suspicion, hatred and violence.\nOdo: Why?\nFemale: The Solids feared our metamorphic abilities, so we were beaten, hunted and killed. Finally we arrived here. And here, safe in our isolation, we made our home.\nOdo: Tell me, why was I sent away?\nFemale: Because even in our solitude we desired to learn more about the galaxy. You were one of a hundred infants we sent off to gain that knowledge for us.\nOdo: But how could you be sure that we'd find our way back here?\nFemale: You had no choice. The urge to return home was implanted in your genetic makeup. And now, thanks to the passageway, you're the first to return to us. We weren't expecting you so soon.\nOdo: When were you expecting me?\nFemale: Not for another three hundred years.\nOdo: How long was I away?\nFemale: A long time. But now all that matters now is that you're here.\nOdo: It's different than I imagined it would be.\nFemale: Whatever you imagined, I promise it will be better.\nKira: Odo, are you here, Odo? I'm going to try to track down the source of the interference. If I can't find it and neutralize it, I'm going to have to leave here and try to find Sisko and the others. I'm really glad you made it home, Odo. I know everything is going to work out just fine. I don't believe it. I'm talking to a tree. You're probably not even here, are you?\nKira: Why would shape-shifters need a door? Kira to computer. Scan the area dead ahead of me for one hundred meters.\nComputer: Unable to penetrate due to interference.\nQuark: Excuse me. Pardon me. After you. Look out. Coming through. Sorry to keep you waiting, gentleman. That's two synthales. On the house.\nO'Brien: What's put you in such a good humor?\nQuark: I have inside information that the peace agreement is about to be finalized.\nBashir: And where did you get this information, from one of your friends on the Federation Council?\nQuark: If you must know, I overheard two Jem'Hadar officers.\nBashir: And you believed them?\nQuark: I don't see why not. Oh, I know we got off to a rocky start but, they're not so bad really. I think they have the gene.\nO'Brien: What gene?\nQuark: The gambling gene. They've barely been on the station a week and already they can hardly drag themselves away from the dabo table.\nBashir: How fortunate for you.\nQuark: How fortunate for all of us. You see, I have a dream. A dream that one day all people, human, Jem'Hadar, Ferengi, Cardassians, will stand together in peace around my dabo tables.\nBashir: You're a regular visionary, Quark.\nQuark: I am, aren't I?\nJem'Hadar: You're in my way.\nO'Brien: Sorry.\nBashir: Now look\nQuark: Gentlemen, please, remember my vision.\nBashir: That's enough.\nEddington: All right, what's going on here?\nJem'Hadar: He addressed me in a disrespectful tone.\nBashir: That's a lie.\nEddington: Easy, Doctor. We're all friends here.\nBashir: Tell him that.\nEddington: I'll see this doesn't happen again.\nJem'Hadar: I expect you will.\nBashir: Is that's it? You're just going to let him walk away?\nEddington: Our orders are to give the Jem'Hadar a wide berth.\nBashir: Look, I know what the orders say, but he attacked Chief O'Brien and we have rules here against that sort of thing.\nEddington: I'm aware of station regulations, Doctor. However, the Jem'Hadar are not. We have to allow them some time to get used to our customs.\nBashir: So in the meantime, they're free to do whatever they want?\nEddington: Remember that before you get into another brawl with them.\nJake: Dad, pass me the potatoes. Dad?\nSisko: Yes, Jake.\nJake: The potatoes?\nSisko: Oh.\nJake: Dad, is something wrong?\nSisko: Not really. I'm just a little preoccupied, that's all. It's these Dominion negotiations.\nJake: What about them?\nSisko: Well, it's all happening behind closed doors. I guess I just feel out of the loop.\nJake: There's something going on, isn't there?\nSisko: Like what?\nJake: You tell me.\nSisko: Come in.\nDax: Benjamin, did you know about this?\nSisko: Know about what?\nDax: I'm being transferred to the Lexington. I'm their new Science Officer.\nSisko: There must be some mistake.\nDax: The orders are right here.\nSisko: Let me see this. I don't believe it.\nBashir: Bashir to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Doctor.\nBashir: Commander, I need to talk to you about the Jem'Hadar.\nSisko: I want to know what the hell is going on.\nNechayev: Commander, I don't appreciate your barging in here.\nSisko: I want to know why my Science Officer's been transferred without my consent. I want to know why my Chief of Operations is lying in the Infirmary while the Jem'Hadar who beat him is free to walk the station, and I want to know why the Federation is willing to risk a war with the Romulans to form an alliance with a group of people that we hardly know and barely trust.\nNechayev: Are you finished?\nSisko: I haven't even begun.\nBorath: Admiral, I think you should tell Commander Sisko what he wants to know.\nNechayev: All right. I suppose he deserves to be the first to hear the news.\nSisko: What news?\nNechayev: The Federation is pulling out of this sector. All Starfleet personnel currently stationed on DS Nine will be reassigned to other posts. Yourself included.\nSisko: What about Bajor?\nNechayev: Our plans for Bajor are on hold for the time being. From now on Bajor will be the Dominion's responsibility. They'll be running this station.\nSisko: And you're telling me the Bajorans have agreed to this?\nBorath: We're confident they'll have no objections.\nSisko: And if they do object, what then? You send in the Jem'Hadar?\nBorath: The Jem'Hadar are used only against our enemies. Bajor will be protected, Commander. We'll see to it.\nSisko: What about the wormhole? Will they get to protect that too?\nNechayev: It's the price of peace, Benjamin.\nSisko: Well, if you ask me, the price is too damned high. What is the Federation supposed to get out of all this?\nBorath: Our friendship. Isn't that enough?\nNechayev: And you, Benjamin, get a promotion. Captain Sisko. It's an important step toward that Admiralcy you've always wanted.\nSisko: I want a chance to speak to the Federation negotiating team before this treaty is signed.\nNechayev: It's too late for that, Ben. The treaty was signed late this afternoon.\nBorath: It's the beginning of a new era, Commander, and you helped make it possible. Congratulations.\nKira: Odo, I've been waiting for you.\nOdo: Major, I have just had the most remarkable experience. For a few moments I actually felt what it was like to be an Arbazon Vulture. The air currents beneath my wings, the exhilaration of soaring above the treetops. Oh, it was all very stimulating.\nKira: I'm so happy for you.\nOdo: I know you are.\nKira: So, I guess this means you'll be staying here a while.\nOdo: I've enjoyed working with you, Major.\nKira: I've enjoyed working with you too, Odo. But before we say goodbye, I need your help one last time.\nOdo: Certainly.\nKira: Remember that power source I was telling you about?\nOdo: The one preventing you from trying to contact Commander Sisko.\nKira: Well, I've found it.\nOdo: And what did it turn out to be?\nKira: I couldn't tell. There was a door blocking my path. I need you to help me open it.\nOdo: What kind of door?\nKira: It's composed of some kind of metal the tricorder couldn't identify. Other than that, it's an ordinary door.\nOdo: That's odd. My people have no need for doors. They dislike taking humanoid form.\nKira: I know.\nOdo: Then who could be using it?\nGarak: Ah, Commander. I was hoping to see you before you left. I just wanted to tell you how impressed I've been with you during these past two years. You've run this station with strength, dignity and compassion. Well done.\nSisko: Thank you, Mister Garak.\nGarak: But I'm sure you'll be back before long. Though from what I've heard, it'll be to fight against Bajor.\nSisko: I've heard the same rumors. That Bajor has forged a pact with the Romulans to stand against the Jem'Hadar and their allies.\nGarak: The Bajorans have fought for their freedom before. It only makes sense that they'd fight for it again.\nSisko: So much for my peace mission.\nGarak: Do I detect a note of bitterness in your voice?\nSisko: I wouldn't be surprised.\nGarak: If it means anything to you, Commander, I happen to share your feelings about this Dominion treaty. I've thought about it a great deal, and the only explanation I can find is that our leaders have simply gone insane.\nSisko: It seems that way.\nGarak: Unfortunately, there's nothing you or I can do about it.\nSisko: I suppose not.\nGarak: After all, you have your orders and as for me, well, I wouldn't dream of opposing the wishes of the Central Command. A pity.\nSisko: I agree that it's a pity.\nGarak: I thought you would.\nSisko: Mister Garak, I never knew we thought so much alike.\nGarak: Life is full of surprises, Commander.\nT'Rul: Commander Sisko!\nJem'Hadar: There she is.\nSisko: No.\nEddington: Can I help you?\nDax: We're here to see Commander Sisko.\nEddington: Sorry, my orders are no one sees him.\nBashir: But we're here on urgent business.\nEddington: You'll have to talk to Admiral Nechayev. She's in charge here until the Jem'Hadar\nGarak: I'm afraid you have a loose thread right here.\nGarak: I'm sorry, but we are pressed for time.\nDax: I'll get Sisko.\nGarak: Doctor, if you'd be so kind as to take his legs.\nBashir: If I didn't know better, I'd say you were enjoying yourself, Garak.\nGarak: Not at all, Doctor, but after years of hemming dresses, a little action is a welcome change of pace.\nSisko: I hope you feel the same way an hour from now. The first thing we need to do is get our hands on a runabout.\nDax: It's already taken care of, Benjamin. The Chief's waiting for us at landing pad C with the Rio Grande and a full complement of photon torpedoes.\nSisko: How did you know we needed photon torpedoes?\nDax: I know you. You want to make sure the Dominion stays on their side of the galaxy, and the only way to do that is to collapse the entrance to the wormhole.\nSisko: I'm glad we're all in agreement.\nBashir: Well, I guess this means the end of our Starfleet careers.\nGarak: Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Doctor.\nDax: That's easy for you to say.\nGarak: Oh, you misunderstand me, Lieutenant. All I meant was it's a little foolish to worry about your careers at a time like this, when there's a good chance we're all about to be killed.\nOdo: Interesting. Judging from this locking mechanism the purpose of this door is not to keep people out, but rather to keep whatever's on the other side in.\nKira: Do you think you can get it open?\nOdo: We'll see.\nJem'Hadar: Halt. Put down your weapons.\nGarak: I have them. I have them. By all means, Commander, do as they say.\nBashir: Garak?\nGarak: You heard me, Doctor. I'm glad to see the plan is going according as scheduled.\nJem'Hadar: What plan is that?\nGarak: You mean no one told you? You see, I pretend to be their friend and then I shoot you.\nSisko: Well done, Garak.\nGarak: Well, it's just something I read once in a book.\nBashir: I'm sure.\nBashir: Garak! Garak.\nGarak: Doctor, I'm afraid I won't be able to have lunch with you today.\nSisko: We've got to go. Come on.\nSisko: Move it, Lieutenant.\nDax: I'm right behind you.\nSisko: Get us out of here, Chief.\nO'Brien: What about Garak?\nBashir: He's not coming.\nO'Brien: I see. Hang on. We'll reach the wormhole in thirty seconds.\nSisko: Prepare to launch photon torpedoes.\nDax: We're being hailed. It's Admiral Nechayev.\nNechayev: Commander, I'm ordering you to stand down. Return to the station immediately.\nSisko: I'm afraid I'm going to have to refuse that order.\nBorath: Please, Commander, don't make us send the Jem'Hadar after you.\nSisko: Go right ahead. But you'd better warn them not to expect any reinforcements for about seventy years.\nSisko: Attack pattern theta, Mister O'Brien. Hard a-port.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nOdo: Step back, Major. (The door opens to reveal waiting Jem'Hadar soldiers who escort them down a tunnel into\nBorath: Please, come in.\nKira: Commander?\nBorath: They can't hear you.\nOdo: What have you done to them?\nBorath: Nothing harmful. We're just conducting a little experiment.\nKira: What kind of experiment?\nBorath: To see how they'd respond to an attempt by the Dominion to gain a foothold into the Alpha Quadrant. We were curious to see how much they'd be willing to sacrifice to avoid a war.\nKira: And what have you found out?\nBorath: Unfortunately, they're proving to be just as stubborn as I'd feared.\nOdo: I'm glad to hear it.\nBorath: You are? Well, that is a problem. But thankfully, it's not one I have to solve.\nFemale: But I do.\nOdo: I don't understand. You knew about this?\nFemale: Yes.\nOdo: But how could you allow it?\nKira: You belong to the Dominion, don't you?\nFemale: Belong to it? Major, the Changelings are the Dominion.\nOdo: You're the Founders.\nFemale: Ironic, isn't it? The hunted now control the destinies of hundreds of other races.\nOdo: But why control anyone?\nFemale: Because what you control can't hurt you. So, many years ago we set ourselves the task of imposing order on a chaotic universe.\nKira: Is that what you call it? Imposing order? I call it murder.\nFemale: What you call it is no concern of ours.\nOdo: How do you justify the deaths of so many people?\nFemale: The Solids have always been a threat to us. That's the only the justification we need.\nOdo: But these Solids have never harmed you. They travel the galaxy in order to expand their knowledge, just as you once did.\nFemale: The Solids are nothing like us.\nOdo: No, I suppose they're not. And neither am I. I've devoted my life to the pursuit of justice, but justice means nothing to you, does it?\nFemale: It's not justice you desire, Odo, but order. The same as we do. And we can help you satisfy that desire in ways the Solids never could. This will all become clear to you once you've taken your place in the Great Link.\nOdo: No. I admit this Link of yours is appealing. But you see, I already have a link with these people. I want you to remove those devices and bring them their comm. badges.\nBorath: We can't allow them to leave.\nOdo: And I can't allow you to keep them here. They're leaving, and so am I.\nFemale: It's taken you many years to find your way back home. Are you really willing to leave it again so soon?\nOdo: Unless you intend to stop me.\nFemale: No Changeling has ever harmed another.\nOdo: Whatever you do to them you're going to have to do to me.\nFemale: They're free to go.\nOdo: Thank you.\nFemale: The next time, I promise you, we will not be so generous.\nSisko: Major? Constable?\nO'Brien: What happened to the Rio Grande?\nDax: The last thing I remember is collapsing the wormhole.\nT'Rul: The last thing I remember is being shot by some Jem'Hadar soldier.\nKira: I'm sure it all seemed very real, but the truth is, you've been held in this room since the Jem'Hadar brought you here from the Defiant.\nSisko: Borath? What the hell is going on here?\nBorath: Your ship is in orbit. You may transport back to it whenever you're ready.\nOdo: Commander, I'll be along shortly.\nKira: I'll stay down here and make sure that he gets back to the ship.\nBashir: Another Shape-shifter.\nOdo: Commander, you must leave now. I give you my word I'll explain everything later.\nSisko: I'll look forward to it. Sisko to Defiant. Five to beam up.\nFemale: I hope that one day you'll return to us, Odo, and take your rightful place within the Dominion.\nOdo: I don't think that's possible.\nFemale: Your link to the Solids won't last. You will always be an outsider.\nOdo: Being an outsider isn't so bad. It gives one a unique perspective. It's a pity you've forgotten that.\nFemale: Then perhaps one day I'll come visit you. The Alpha Quadrant seems wracked with chaos. It could use some order.\nOdo: Imposing your type of order on the Alpha Quadrant may prove more difficult than you imagine.\nFemale: We are willing to wait until the time is right. We will miss you, Odo, but you will miss us even more.\nKira: Odo?\nOdo: Ready, Major.\nKira: Kira to Defiant. Two to beam up."}
{"text": "Quark: Now I know we're doomed.\nRom: Why, brother?\nQuark: Rule of Acquisition two eighty six. When Morn leaves, it's all over.\nRom: There is no such rule.\nQuark: There should be.\nRom: I know business is bad, but that's no reason\nQuark: Bad? Bad? It's twenty-one hundred hours, the bar's open, there's a sale on synthehol, and there's no one here!\nKozak: You! Ferengi! Another blood wine! Now!\nRom: At least someone is still here.\nQuark: How many has he had?\nRom: A dozen.\nQuark: I should've gone into insurance. Better hours, more money, less scruples. It's all Sisko's fault.\nRom: Sisko?\nQuark: That's right. If he'd handled things better with the Dominion, none of this would've happened. They want a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant? Cut a deal, make a few arrangements, give them a little something for their trouble.\nRom: Brother\nQuark: But no, he had to play it tough, so now everyone's afraid of the Dominion.\nRom: Yes, but brother\nQuark: And that means fewer people on the station, which means fewer people at Quark's, which means I am out of business.\nKozak: Where's my wine, you cowering little Ferengi slug?\nQuark: What's the problem?\nRom: He says he's out of money. He's asking for credit.\nQuark: Credit? I'll handle it. Watch and learn.\nQuark: My name is Quark. I'd like to discuss arranging a line of credit.\nKozak: You dare speak to me like that? You pathetic mak'dar.\nRom: How long are they going to leave him there? I wish they would hurry up and get rid of him.\nQuark: I wish we could put him on display.\nRom: What?\nQuark: Look at them. They're consumed with morbid fascination. They can't wait to get in here. They all want to know what happened. Was it a bar fight? What started it? And most of all, who killed the Klingon?\nRom: But no one killed him. It was an accident.\nQuark: I killed him in a bar fight. You heard me. I killed him in self-defense.\nRom: But where is the profit in lying about a simple drunk\nQuark: Look at that crowd. How long has it been since you've seen that many customers waiting to get in here? This is an opportunity to turn everything around.\nRom: This is insane, brother. What if his family comes looking for the killer? What if they want revenge?\nQuark: If push comes to shove we tell the truth and no harm done. Rom, let me put it another way. If business doesn't improve, I'll have to start making a few cutbacks in the operation of my bar. Beginning with your salary.\nRom: How big of a cutback?\nQuark: I'd probably have to cut it back to zero.\nOdo: All right, Quark. Start at the beginning.\nRom: My brother fought a desperate hand to hand battle with the Klingon and was forced to kill in self-defense!\nOdo: You killed him?\nQuark: I'm sorry. I couldn't avoid it.\nQuark: He was abusive, vulgar. A typical drunken Klingon. All that was fine, till it came time to pay his bill and he refused. I insisted. We began to argue. He pushed me. I pushed back. I was about to call for security to throw him out of my bar when suddenly he pulled a knife on me! I avoided the first thrust. He came at me again. I hit him with a left jab. There was a furious exchange of blows. The next thing I knew, his knife was at my throat. So I twisted it from his grasp and plunged it into his chest. I will never forget the look on his face when his life drained away. I'd rather not talk about this anymore.\nO'Brien: Hi, honey.\nKeiko: Hi.\nO'Brien: Oh, what a day. Synthale, tall glass. We had three Kobheerian freighter captains who all wanted to use the same docking port. Someone stole a case of medical supplies from the Infirmary. Two power failures. How was school?\nKeiko: I closed it.\nO'Brien: You closed the school? Why? What happened?\nKeiko: My last two Bajoran students left today. Their families relocated back to Bajor. That left Jake, Nog, and a lot of empty chairs.\nO'Brien: What about Jake and Nog? Don't they have to?\nKeiko: I told them I'd be happy to tutor them from now on. Two students are not enough to sustain a school.\nO'Brien: I'm really sorry, Keiko.\nKeiko: It's not your fault. Everyone's just afraid of the Dominion. People aren't going to be moving their families to the station anymore. That means no more children, which means no more school. Don't look so upset. It's not like I was planning to be a teacher for the rest of my life.\nO'Brien: Keiko.\nKeiko: I'm fine, really.\nQuark: Don't worry Constable, I won't be dispatching anymore customers today. You don't have to keep an eye on me.\nOdo: Thank you for putting my mind at ease, but I didn't come here to protect the patrons from your violent temper.\nQuark: Then what can I do for you?\nOdo: I just thought you'd like to know who it was that you killed in self defense.\nQuark: Sure.\nOdo: His name was Kozak. By all accounts a thoroughly disreputable character, a notorious drunkard.\nQuark: Well, sounds like someone who was going to get himself killed sooner or later. It's a shame it had to happen here.\nOdo: Isn't it? I thought that you would also like to know that Kozak wasn't just some drifter passing through. In fact, he was the head of a Klingon family. A rather powerful family from what I can gather. Now, do you want to change your story or do you want to wait for Kozak's family to show up and ask to see the Ferengi bartender who killed him?\nQuark: I told you what happened, Constable. Now, either order something or make room for a paying customer.\nRom: Brother, didn't you hear what he said?\nQuark: I heard him.\nRom: Then we have to tell the truth. We've made enough profit in the last few hours to make up for the losses we had\nQuark: It's not about profit anymore. It's about respect.\nRom: It is?\nQuark: You see the way they look at me now? I'm not just some venal Ferengi trying to take their money. I'm Quark, slayer of Klingons. I've struck a blow for Ferengi everywhere.\nRom: What about Kozak's family? What if they come here for revenge?\nQuark: If that happens I'll stand up, look them right in the eye, and offer them a bribe.\nD'Ghor: You killed my brother. My brother killed by a miserable Ferengi. I would never have believed it possible.\nQuark: I can explain.\nD'Ghor: You'd better. I want to know exactly how Kozak died. And if I don't like what I hear.\nQuark: Believe me, you'll like it. He was in my bar. I asked him to pay his tab. He refused. I was willing to let it go at that but then he pulled his knife and came at me. And the truth of the matter is, he was so inebriated that he just fell and\nD'Ghor: I hope you're not going to tell me that he died in an accident.\nQuark: You do?\nD'Ghor: Yes. Because there's no honor in such a death. And if Kozak died in disgrace, then that disgrace would be passed along to the rest of his family. So if you were the cause of an accident that will dishonor my entire family, then I'm going to kill you and stuff your miserable corpse out the nearest airlock.\nQuark: I see.\nD'Ghor: On the other hand, if he died as a warrior in personal combat, then there would be no dishonor for him or his family.\nQuark: So what you're saying is if I killed him in personal combat, that's good?\nD'Ghor: Of course it is not good! He was my brother! But it would be honorable, and an honorable death requires no vengeance. Your life would be spared.\nQuark: I wish you had been there. You would have been proud of your brother. He fought a brave and valiant battle right up to the end. It was an honor to kill him.\nD'Ghor: I'm sure it was. Remember that when you tell your customers about the death of Kozak.\nQuark: You can count on it.\nD'Ghor: Qapla'!\nQuark: Meh-ha.\nKeiko: What what's going on?\nO'Brien: You're five minutes early. The canapés aren't ready yet.\nKeiko: Have I missed something?\nO'Brien: Now don't tell me you've forgotten what day it is\nKeiko: Well, it's not our anniversary or my birthday or\nO'Brien: I can't believe you've forgotten. It's 'I'm married to the most wonderful woman in the galaxy' day. I marked it in your calendar.\nKeiko: I don't think I'm too familiar with that day.\nO'Brien: It's an old Irish tradition. Here we go. I thought we should start celebrating it.\nKeiko: Too bad it only comes once a year.\nO'Brien: Actually, it's a very irregular holiday, crops up all over the place. Sometimes twice a day.\nKeiko: Really? What's the traditional celebration? Cake? Noisemakers? Fireworks?\nO'Brien: Oh, definitely fireworks.\nO'Brien: I should be finished the docking inspection by thirteen hundred hours. How about lunch at the Replimat?\nKeiko: Sounds good to me.\nO'Brien: It's a date then. See you later.\nKeiko: Hey, I just wanted to thank you for last night. It was wonderful.\nO'Brien: You've already thanked me. Have a good day. I'll be on upper pylon two if you need me.\nKeiko: I'll be here.\nQuark: Who's there? We're closed.\nGrilka: Are you Quark?\nQuark: That depends on who's asking.\nGrilka: My name is Grilka. Kozak was my husband.\nQuark: Oh, er, well, er, come in. Can I get you a drink or something to eat?\nGrilka: I've been told that you are the one who killed my husband.\nQuark: I didn't want to. I had no choice.\nGrilka: Was it an honorable death?\nQuark: Absolutely. He died like a warrior. I'm very sorry this happened. Is there something I can do?\nGrilka: Actually, there is. Defend yourself!\nGrilka: So this is the man who killed my husband in personal combat.\nQuark: What's going on here? Who are you?\nGrilka: I already told you. I'm Kozak's widow. But first things first, Quark. I want to know how my husband died, and I want the truth.\nQuark: All right.\nQuark: He was drunk and he did try to attack me, but he tripped and fell on his own knife.\nGrilka: So you lied to the station security officer, to your customers, and to D'Ghor. You must be quite a liar.\nQuark: It's a gift.\nGrilka: I think it's time you put that gift to work for me.\nGrilka: Cho'echu!\nQuark: What? What happened? Where am I?\nTumek: You are on Kronos.\nQuark: Kronos? The Klingon homeworld.\nTumek: You are in the ancestral home of what used to be known as the House of Kozak.\nQuark: What's it called now?\nTumek: Kozak died without a male heir. The House no longer has a name.\nQuark: What about Kozak's brother, D'Ghor?\nTumek: That pahtk's name is not spoken in this house. He is no brother to Kozak. His family has been a sworn enemy of this house for seven generations.\nQuark: But he came to DS Nine. He told me\nTumek: What he told you were lies. He wanted you to say that Kozak had died in honorable combat so that no special dispensation would be granted.\nQuark: I don't understand.\nTumek: If Kozak had died in an accident and left no male heir, the Council might have decided that this was an unusual situation and granted special dispensation. That might have allowed Grilka to become head of the family even though she's a woman. But if Kozak died in an honorable fight, and was simply defeated by a better opponent, then no dispensation would have been granted, and without a male heir the House will fall.\nGrilka: That hasn't happened yet, Tumek, and there is still time to prevent it from ever happening.\nGrilka: Put this on.\nQuark: Why?\nGrilka: Because if you do not, I will kill you.\nTumek: I beg you, consider what you do here, mistress.\nGrilka: The decision is made. There is no other choice.\nGrilka: Go'Eveh lu cha wabeh. Mo ka re'Chos.\nTumek: Repeat my words Go'Eveh lu cha wabeh. To va re'Luk.\nQuark: Let me ask just one\nGrilka: Repeat the words.\nQuark: Go'Eveh lu cha wabeh to va re'Luk.\nTumek: Ghos ma'lu Kah!\nTumek: It is done.\nQuark: What's done?\nTumek: The ceremony is complete. You are husband and wife.\nSisko: And while you're at it, have alpha shift begin a series of battle drills. I'm not satisfied with their last performance evaluations.\nKira: Right.\nO'Brien: Oh excuse me, sir. I can come back later.\nSisko: No, no, no, no. We're done here. What can I do for you?\nO'Brien: Well, it's kind of private.\nDax: Wife problems, Chief?\nO'Brien: How did you know?\nDax: I've been a husband and I've been a wife, and I know that look from both sides. Come on.\nKira: What?\nDax: This is where we make a graceful exit, and let the boys talk amongst themselves.\nKira: Must be some kind of human thing.\nSisko: Well, I'm sure the old man will be happy to explain it to you on your way out.\nSisko: Chief. I guess Keiko must be very upset about the school closing.\nO'Brien: That's just it sir. She's acting like she doesn't care, like there's nothing's wrong.\nSisko: It sounds bad.\nO'Brien: I've tried to lift her spirits a bit, romantic dinners, long moonlit walks in the holosuite. I even rearranged my work schedule so I could spend more time with her. Nothing seemed to make a difference.\nSisko: But now you have an idea\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. I'd like permission to convert one of the empty cargo bays into an arboretum.\nSisko: I think bay twenty one would be ideal. The ODN conduits are shot, and the security systems never worked anyway.\nO'Brien: So, you're saying yes?\nSisko: It sounds like it to me. Listen, there's nothing harder than knowing that the person you love is unhappy, and I know how important it is to do something about it. If one empty cargo bay makes Keiko happy, then I'm all for it. I just hope it works.\nO'Brien: So do I. She sacrificed her entire career to be here with me. I owe her.\nSisko: If there's anything else I can do, just let me know.\nO'Brien: Thank you, sir.\nD'Ghor: There being no special circumstances in the death, and no male heir, I make claim to the title and property of this fallen House.\nGowron: The Council has considered your petition and will grant the transfer once the final rituals have been\nGrilka: The petition is out of order!\nD'Ghor: This woman has no place here. Her husband is dead and her House has fallen. I ask that she be taken from the Hall.\nGrilka: I have performed the brek'tal ritual, Gowron, and I have chosen a new husband to lead my House. Enter, husband.\nD'Ghor: A Ferengi cannot be allowed to rule a Klingon House!\nGrilka: All I have done is follow the brek'tal ritual. If the leader of a House is slain in honorable combat, the victor may be invited to take his place and his wife. You're the one who made this possible, D'Ghor. You certified before the Council that Kozak died an honorable death at the hands of this man. I am simply exercising my rights as an honored widow.\nD'Ghor: I will have your House and your title, Grilka. And when I am done, I will place your head and the head of this ridiculous Ferengi outside the gates.\nQuark: Can I say something? It seems there's some kind of dispute going on over some land, maybe some other property. I think maybe we should consider a deal.\nD'Ghor: I should kill you right now.\nGowron: Mev'yap! D'Ghor, you cannot challenge this man in Council without just cause. We will have to consider this matter carefully before a final decision is reached. Until then, the brek'tal will be respected. The House of Kozak is gone. For the time being it will be known as the House of\nQuark: Quark.\nGowron: Querk.\nQuark: Quark!\nGowron: The House of Quark.\nGrilka: I told you not to say anything.\nQuark: I was trying to avoid a lot of unnecessary bloodshed, like my own.\nGrilka: Just do as I say and there won't be any bloodshed.\nQuark: Fine. What's next? What do we do now? How do we strengthen the position of your House? How do we keep D'Ghor from carrying out his threat? What's the plan?\nGrilka: I'm thinking.\nQuark: You don't have a plan, do you? You're just making this up as you go along.\nGrilka: I've managed to get us this far.\nQuark: But you have no idea where to go from here. Can I make a suggestion? Let's try having a more equal partnership, shall we?\nGrilka: What do you want?\nQuark: Just tell me what's going on.\nGrilka: Kozak squandered much of our family's wealth, incurred several large gambling debts, made unwise investments. As a result, the House has been weakened severely in power and in influence. Much of the debt is owed to D'Ghor who is now ready to take advantage of our weakness. If he can gain title of our lands and property, his family will become a very powerful influence in the Empire. He may even earn a seat on the Council.\nQuark: Would it be possible for me to see all the financial records of your House and I mean all of them. D'Ghor's too, if you can arrange it. Maybe I can find a way out of this mess.\nGrilka: That is not how we do things here. We are Klingons. We do not dirty ourselves with filthy ledgers looking for some financial trick\nQuark: Look, we've been doing things your way ever since this started, and now you've run out of ideas, so maybe we should try doing things my way for a change. It certainly can't hurt to let me look at some filthy ledgers.\nBashir: Afternoon, Chief.\nO'Brien: Doctor.\nBashir: Plomeek soup, hot. Oh, with a touch of basil.\nO'Brien: What do you think?\nBashir: You're asking my opinion?\nBashir: An arboretum. For Keiko, I presume? To make her a little happier now the school's been closed down.\nO'Brien: It's not just for Keiko. I mean, it'd benefit the entire station. Do you think it'll work?\nBashir: Absolutely. For about two months. Then you'll be right back where you started.\nO'Brien: Two months?\nBashir: Well, it's been my experience that during any serious disagreement a smile and sweet words will buy you two hours, flowers will buy you a week, an arboretum, well, that's at least two months. But in the end, you still have to solve the underlying problem.\nO'Brien: I thought an arboretum would give her a chance to continue her studies. Help her find something to do with her time.\nBashir: Like a hobby.\nO'Brien: Exactly.\nBashir: Exactly why it won't work. You can't ask her to turn her profession into a hobby. Would you be satisfied just puttering around in a workshop making nano-circuit boards and playing with tricorders?\nO'Brien: I suppose not.\nBashir: You're Chief of Operations, I'm a doctor, and Keiko's a botanist. And until she can be a botanist again, I'm not sure she's ever really going to be happy.\nQuark: Very clever. Very clever indeed. D'Ghor has manipulated your family's holdings, devalued the lands you hold, and he is the principal creditor on Kozak's outstanding gambling debts. It's no accident your family's getting weaker and D'Ghor's family is getting stronger. He's been systematically attacking your family's assets for over five years now.\nGrilka: You mean D'Ghor has been scheming and plotting like a F?\nQuark: Like a Ferengi.\nGrilka: There is no honor in what he has done. If he wanted to challenge my House, he should've made a declaration, met our forces in battle.\nQuark: And risk destroying the very thing he wanted most, your lands and property?\nGrilka: Can you prove any of this? You can show the Council exactly what D'Ghor has done?\nQuark: It's all right there. All I have to do is talk them through it.\nGrilka: Thank you, Quark. You may have saved my family.\nQuark: Well, it is the House of Quark, after all.\nGrilka: I really am very grateful for all you've done, Quark. That is why I'm going to let you take your hand off my thigh instead of shattering every bone in your body.\nQuark: Let's go talk to the Council.\nQuark: So, as you can see from the gross adjusted assets tabulation in column J, the net value of the land acquisition was actually zero. Now, if you go to the file marked Devaluation of Capital Income, we can review the way D'Ghor\nGowron: Enough! I don't want to hear anything more about finances, mergers, or currency transactions. The charge has been made that you have used money to bring down a great House. What do you say to this, D'Ghor?\nD'Ghor: I say that he is a liar, that he has smeared my name and I demand vengeance through personal combat. I have diskovered new evidence, evidence which proves Kozak did not die honorably. That he actually died in an accident. I have a witness who will say he watched Kozak trip and fall on his own blade and that Quark made up the entire story.\nQuark: I don't know what he's trying to pull here. The only other person who was there was\nRom: Hello, brother.\nQuark: Come on, this way. And keep quiet.\nGrilka: I thought you might try to leave.\nQuark: Look, I have done my part in this little game of yours and I am sorry about your House and title, but there's a man out there who wants to kill me tomorrow.\nGrilka: It's a matter of honor, Quark. D'Ghor has accused you of lying. There's no way to answer that charge except through personal combat.\nQuark: To you Klingons there may be no other way, but there's an old Ferengi saying about diskretion being the better part of valor.\nGrilka: Then what they say about the Ferengi is true. You're all lying, thieving, cowards who have no sense of loyalty or honor.\nQuark: Sticks and stones.\nGrilka: I thought you were different. I thought you had something in here. But all you have in there is a piece of latinum, and it's a pretty small piece at that. Let them run. I don't want them in my house.\nQuark: All right, let's go. What? What? You think I should stay and fight D'Ghor? Is that what you're thinking? How could you let her get to you like this? Don't you see what she's trying to do? She's trying to make us feel guilty. Well, it's not going to work.\nRom: You're right, brother. You're a businessman. All you care about is profit.\nQuark: Right.\nRom: This was all just a ploy to boost sales at the bar. Who cares if some Klingon female loses her House?\nQuark: I certainly don't.\nRom: Me neither.\nQuark: Well, now let's get out of here.\nGowron: Grilka, where is the leader of your House?\nGrilka: I do not know.\nD'Ghor: Then I say that the House of Quark has dishonored itself before this Council and I ask that it be dissolved and its lands and property be turned over to me as compensation for\nQuark: I am Quark, son of Keldar, and I have come to answer the challenge of D'Ghor, son of whatever.\nGrilka: Whatever happens, I am proud of you.\nQuark: I wish I could say that's comforting.\nGowron: Ready?\nD'Ghor: Ha!\nGowron: Ready? DaH!\nQuark: Go ahead, kill me. That's why I'm here, isn't it, to be killed? Well, here I am, so go ahead and do it. You all want me to pick up that sword and try to fight him, don't you? But I don't have a chance and you know it. You only want me to put up a fight so your precious honor will be satisfied. Well, I'm not going to make it so easy for you. Having me fight D'Ghor is nothing more than an execution, so, if that's what you want, that's what you'll get. An execution. No honor, no glory. And when you tell your children and your grandchildren the glorious story of how you rose to power and took Grilka's House from her, I hope you remember to tell them how you heroically killed an unarmed Ferengi half your size.\nD'Ghor: Whatever you say, Ferengi.\nGowron: D'Ghor, what are you doing? I didn't want to believe the things he said about you yesterday, but if you can stand here and murder this pathetic little man, then you have no honor, and you have no place in this Hall.\nGowron: A brave Ferengi. Who would have thought it possible? I believe there are enough unusual circumstances here to justify granting you special dispensation. You can lead your House on your own, if that is what you want. Yej rhin!\nGrilka: You've given me back my House and my family name. How can I repay you?\nQuark: I would like a divorce, please. No offense.\nGrilka: None taken. I can give it to you right now.\nGrilka: N'Gos tlhogh cha!\nGrilka: You're a free man.\nQuark: A little warning would've been nice.\nGrilka: Qapla', Quark son of Keldar.\nQuark: Qapla' to you too.\nKeiko: I've never understood what people see in that game. Don't they ever get sick of it?\nO'Brien: Keiko, there's an agrobiology expedition leaving for the Janitza mountains on Bajor in two weeks. They need a chief botanist. I think you could probably qualify.\nKeiko: On Bajor?\nO'Brien: That's right. They've never surveyed these mountains. It's a very important expedition.\nKeiko: How long is this expedition supposed to last?\nO'Brien: Six months.\nKeiko: I can't leave you and Molly for six months.\nO'Brien: You can take Molly with you, I've already checked. And as for me, well, Bajor's only three hours away in a runabout. We can manage.\nKeiko: When we moved here, we made an agreement.\nO'Brien: I know.\nKeiko: And I'm not trying to back out of that agreement. Don't let this business about the school make you feel guilty and\nO'Brien: This isn't about guilt. This is about you being happy and me knowing that you're not.\nKeiko: I made a promise to stay with you and make this work.\nO'Brien: I know. But you're a botanist. That's what you trained to do. That's what you love. Be a botanist, Keiko. Be the best damned botanist in the galaxy.\nRom: Brother, I haven't had the chance to tell you, but in the Great Hall when you stood there in front of D'Ghor, you were magnificent.\nQuark: I was lucky. If it didn't work I didn't have another card to play. Business is dropping off again.\nRom: Money isn't everything.\nQuark: If father were alive, he'd wash your mouth out with galcor.\nRom: You can't buy respect, brother, and that's what you have now. Respect. After all, that's what you wanted, isn't it?\nQuark: Respect is good, but latinum's better.\nRom: Tell the story again about how you stood there in front of D'Ghor, not knowing whether you were going to live to see another day.\nQuark: Everyone's tired of hearing it, Rom. It's not going to boost business anymore.\nRom: No, I mean, tell me. I want to hear it again.\nQuark: All right, but I'm taking this time out of your pay cheque. Well, when I entered the Great Hall, the first thing I noticed was that D'Ghor was about a meter taller than I remembered."}
{"text": "Bashir: I don't know about you, but I'm starving.\nKira: Me, too.\nJake: Here you go. Enjoy.\nKira: Thanks. This looks delicious.\nSisko: Now, Constable, the secret of a good soufflé is consistency. You have to be careful not to over-whip it.\nOdo: I see.\nSisko: I hope I'm not boring you.\nOdo: Just because I don't need food, Commander, doesn't mean I'm not interested in its preparation. I'm fascinated by the humanoid preoccupation with eating. May I?\nSisko: By all means.\nSisko: Nice and smooth. That's it, it's all in the wrist.\nBashir: Where did you learn all this?\nSisko: In my father's restaurant in New Orleans.\nKira: What are we having? It smells delicious.\nJake: Blackened redfish with creamed spinach and sautéed beets.\nBashir: Beets?\nSisko: You don't like beets, Doctor?\nBashir: Well, they're not exactly a personal favorite of mine.\nSisko: That's because you haven't had them prepared properly.\nSisko: Beets are a very misunderstood vegetable.\nBashir: Well, I look forward to understanding it better.\nSisko: Come in.\nDax: Oh, what a day. I just spent the last six hours in one of the upper pylons trying to get the new sensor relay online.\nSisko: Help yourself to something. Dinner'll be ready in a few minutes.\nDax: Great, I've been looking forward to this all day.\nBashir: I hope you like beets.\nDax: I love'em.\nSisko: Keep at it, Constable. Nice, even strokes.\nOdo: Do you find something amusing, Major?\nKira: I just think you look so cute.\nDax: Who's is this?\nJake: It's mine.\nDax: I didn't know that you played.\nJake: I don't. I took lessons for a while but I wasn't very good.\nDax: I know the feeling. None of Dax's hosts, even Jadzia, had any musical ability.\nBashir: Nobody said life was fair.\nDax: Not even if you've had seven of them.\nDax: You would think one of us would've been born without a tin ear.\nKira: Sounds like one of you had some talent, after all.\nBashir: That's lovely.\nDax: Quiet. That's not it.\nKira: What piece was that?\nDax: I don't know. I don't believe I've ever heard it before.\nBashir: Maybe you hit on it by accident. You know, beginner's luck.\nDax: But I know it somehow.\nKira: It's probably something from your childhood. You'll think of it.\nJake: Dinner is ready.\nSisko: Do you mind?\nDax: What?\nSisko: Your humming. It's a little distracting.\nDax: Sorry, I didn't realize I was doing it.\nSisko: You've been humming that same tune since we started the game.\nDax: I guess I just can't get it out of my mind.\nSisko: Do me a favor. Try.\nSisko: Your turn.\nSisko: You sure you want to do that?\nDax: Your move.\nSisko: Check.\nDax: Where did that knight come from?\nSisko: Your mind is not on the game.\nDax: Oh, so you decided to made an illegal move to get my attention?\nSisko: Of course not. And it's a legal move. You know, why don't we just call it a day. You obviously have other things on your mind.\nDax: Curzon always suspected you were a cheat.\nSisko: Is this some kind of joke?\nDax: Don't play innocent with me, Benjamin. We both know you're trying to cheat me here, so why don't you just admit it?\nKira: Dax?\nDax: Did Sisko send you to apologize for him?\nKira: No. But he was concerned about what happened. I thought you might like to talk about it.\nDax: There's nothing to talk about.\nKira: You can't really think he tried to cheat you?\nDax: I knew you'd take his side.\nKira: I'm not taking anybody's side.\nDax: In that case I think you should leave, Kira.\nKira: Dax.\nDax: I'm serious. Leave. Fine. I'll go.\nKira: Wait.\nDax: Get your hands off of me before I do something I'll regret. That's the first smart thing you've done since you walked over here.\nQuark: Something wrong, Lieutenant?\nDax: No. No.\nSisko: How do you feel?\nDax: I feel like an idiot. I'm so sorry about all the horrible things I said to you.\nSisko: Don't worry about it. They're already forgotten. And I used to think Curzon had a temper.\nDax: I don't know what's wrong with me. I feel like I have so much anger inside and I don't know where it's coming from.\nSisko: This masked figure in your\nDax: Hallucinations?\nSisko: Do you have the sense of who it might've been?\nDax: That's what's so strange. He seems familiar somehow but I don't know from where. And the music. Benjamin, I have to find out what that music is.\nSisko: Why don't you input as much as you can remember in the computer. It might be able to find a match in the Federation database.\nDax: I'll do it. Well, as soon as Julian lets me leave here.\nBashir: Jadzia, have you experienced any hallucinations prior to this?\nDax: Never. And I hope I never do again. It was terrifying.\nBashir: Have any of Dax's other hosts?\nDax: No. Believe me, I'd remember.\nBashir: Well, according to your file, the only major trauma the Dax symbiont ever suffered was when Torias Dax was injured in a shuttle accident.\nSisko: Torias. He was Dax's fifth host, wasn't he?\nDax: Yes, right before Curzon.\nBashir: It says here that Torias remained in a comatose state for just under six months. There must've been a lot of tissue damage. The doctors couldn't keep his isoboramine levels up.\nSisko: Isoboramine?\nDax: It's a neurotransmitter that mediates the synaptic functions between the host and the symbiont.\nBashir: When the levels dropped to below forty percent of normal they had to remove the symbiont.\nDax: Sometimes the host is sacrificed to save the symbiont. Are you checking my isoboramine levels?\nBashir: Yes.\nDax: How low are they?\nBashir: They've fallen to seventy three percent of normal.\nSisko: Do you have any idea what's causing it?\nBashir: I'm not sure. There's no tissue damage, no synaptic degradation.\nDax: Julian, am I in danger of rejecting my symbiont?\nBashir: I wouldn't worry about rejection just yet, but we do have to get your isoboramine levels back up. And I suggest we take her back to the Trill homeworld and have the doctors at the Symbiosis Commission examine her.\nSisko: Curzon always said he wanted to show me the Trill homeworld. Looks like I'm going to get there after all.\nBashir: How long before we reach Trill?\nSisko: A little over thirty seven hours. How's Dax?\nBashir: Resting in her quarters.\nSisko: It's funny. It's been almost four years since Curzon died, and I still miss the old man. At first I never thought I'd ever get used to a new Dax, but if anything happens to Jadzia\nBashir: I know. I feel the same way. We'll just have to make sure nothing happens to her. Right?\nSisko: Right.\nBashir: Yes?\nDax: Oh, good. I didn't wake you.\nBashir: Not at all. You're having trouble sleeping?\nDax: Yeah, a little.\nBashir: I could get you something.\nDax: No, thanks, but I could use some company, if you're not too busy.\nBashir: Oh, no, no, no, no. I was just reading.\nDax: Oh, anything I'd be interested in? Trill physiology.\nBashir: Just some background research. Look, Jadzia, I know you're worried, but the doctors at the Symbiosis Commission know a lot more about this than I do.\nDax: I can't believe I'm going back there. I spent three years as a Trill Initiate, and in all that time I hardly ever left the complex. After I was joined I swore I would never set foot in there again.\nBashir: Was it really that bad?\nDax: No. What I remember is the endless series of tests they put me through.\nBashir: Considering the risk of rejection, you can't really blame them. If they were to put a symbiont to an unsuitable host, they'd both be dead in a matter of days.\nDax: That's true. I guess I had such a difficult time because I put so much pressure on myself. I wanted to be joined so badly.\nBashir: Well, look on the bright side. At least this time you won't be going there as an Initiate.\nDax: No, I'm going there as a patient, and that's much worse. I never told you this before, Julian, but I've always been afraid of doctors.\nBashir: Most people are. When I was younger I was terrified of them.\nDax: Really?\nBashir: They seemed to know everything. It was as if they held the power of life and death in their hands. I used to think that if I didn't behave, they'd make sure I got sick. Then as I got older, I decided that I wanted to know what they knew, be as smart as they were.\nDax: And that's why you went to medical school?\nBashir: That's right. And you know what I learned there? That all I really wanted to do was help people. That's what doctors are there for, to help. So there's really no reason to be afraid of them. Now if that little story didn't put you to sleep, I don't know what will.\nDax: You're a very dear man, Julian.\nBashir: Listen, Jadzia, you're welcome to stay the night here if you want. You can have the top bunk.\nDax: Are you sure you don't mind?\nBashir: Absolutely not. Up you go.\nDax: Okay, well, in that case, if it's not too much trouble, would you mind if I took the lower bunk? Curzon fell out of a tree once, and\nBashir: Whatever you want.\nDax: Thank you.\nBashir: Is this light too bright for you? Dax?\nBashir: Sweet dreams.\nDax: After they finally finished the neural response analysis, another doctor came in and ran a cortical protein series.\nBashir: Did they do a bio-spectral scan on the symbiont?\nDax: They had to make an incision so they could insert the scanner.\nRenhol: Jadzia, it's good to see you again.\nDax: Doctor Renhol.\nRenhol: Everyone's very excited about your being here, you know. Jadzia is the only Initiate to ever successfully reapply to the program after being dropped. You must be Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: That's right.\nSisko: Commander Benjamin Sisko.\nRenhol: Ah, yes. Curzon's friend.\nSisko: Yes, I had that privilege.\nBashir: Did you get a chance to look over the test results?\nRenhol: Yes, I did. As you noted, Doctor, her isoboramine levels are low so I've put her on a benzocyatic regimen to compensate. As you can see, there's already a three percent improvement.\nDax: Will I have to stay here for the duration of the treatment?\nRenhol: No, Doctor Bashir can administer it. But I would like to see you back here tomorrow for a follow up, and for lunch.\nDax: I'd like that.\nRenhol: Well, if you'll excuse me I have an Initiate who needs some hand-holding.\nDax: I don't know why we came back here when I could be taking you on a tour of the Tenaran ice cliffs.\nSisko: You're not taking us anywhere, Dax.\nBashir: You're going straight to your quarters to rest.\nDax: But\nBashir: No buts. Doctor's orders.\nDax: But I cannot sleep in the afternoon.\nBashir: Just lie down, close your eyes, and try not to think.\nSisko: It usually works for me.\nDax: Who are you?\nFigure: It's beautiful, isn't it?\nBashir: Dax! Jadzia!\nBashir: I don't understand why she'd have another hallucination. I've checked her isoboramine levels. They've risen another six percent.\nRenhol: That's a larger increase than I'd anticipated. The suddenness could be what triggered the hallucination. I want you to start administering more frequent treatments at a lower dosage.\nDax: Doctor, the people who attacked me, they were from the Symbiosis Commission.\nRenhol: Hallucinations often take the form of latent anxieties, and we all know the time you spent here wasn't that easy for you.\nDax: But the uniforms they were wearing, they were from over a hundred years ago.\nSisko: That was long before Jadzia was an Initiate.\nDax: And none of my other hosts had bad memories of being here.\nRenhol: Well, with seven lifetimes worth of memories it's no surprise things would get a bit jumbled.\nSisko: So you feel we're on the right track with these treatments?\nRenhol: Yes, I do. But I still want to see you tomorrow.\nSisko: What's on your mind, Dax?\nDax: I wish I knew what these hallucinations meant.\nSisko: The computer's still trying to identify the music. Maybe that'll tell us something.\nDax: I hope so.\nBashir: Jadzia, maybe you still have some issues you need to sort out about the time you spent here.\nDax: I don't need therapy, Julian, I need answers. Maybe the Guardians could help me.\nBashir: The Guardians?\nSisko: They're unjoined Trill who have devoted their lives to the care of the symbionts.\nDax: They know more about them than anyone.\nBashir: So, this is where the symbionts breed?\nDax: There are interconnecting pools throughout these caves. They stretch back for kilometers. Look, there's two of them surfacing now.\nSisko: What was that energy diskharge?\nDax: That's how the symbionts communicate with each other.\nBashir: Fascinating.\nDax: That's one of the Guardians. Don't be surprised if he seems a little distracted. They're not used to visitors.\nTimor: Hmm, that explains things.\nBashir: Can I ask what you're doing?\nTimor: Yes.\nBashir: What are you doing?\nTimor: Oh, just making sure they're comfortable. Checking the ion concentration, temperature, viscosity. They get very cranky if everything's not perfect. You don't want them cranky.\nBashir: Oh no, of course not.\nTimor: They can be very demanding. Sometimes I don't know why I put up with it. What's the weather like outside?\nBashir: Well, it's sunny. Very pleasant.\nTimor: Ah, sunshine. I miss sunshine. You're Dax\nDax: Yes. Jadzia Dax. How did you know?\nTimor: I know. Something's wrong.\nDax: Yes.\nTimor: Do you mind?\nTimor: Oh. Oh, that is not good. Not good at all. Tell me, how bad are the dreams?\nDax: They're not dreams. They're hallucinations.\nTimor: Actually, they're memories.\nDax: Then why don't I remember them?\nTimor: The balance is off.\nDax: You mean the balance between host and symbiont?\nTimor: What other balance is there? Someone's not playing fair. It wouldn't be Dax so it must be the host.\nSisko: You're saying the problem is with Jadzia?\nTimor: No, no, not necessarily. It could be any one of the hosts. All right, Dax, come with me. Let's see what we find.\nSisko: How did it go?\nDax: Timor is convinced that my hallucinations have something to do with one of my previous hosts. But he's not sure which one. So he wants me to come back again tomorrow to see him.\nSisko: We've got some good news. The computer's identified your music.\nDax: Can I hear it? That's it.\nSisko: The piece was written by a Trill named Joran Belar eighty six years ago.\nBashir: Does the name sound familiar?\nDax: Joran Belar? I don't think so. Is there a picture of him?\nSisko: I'll see.\nFigure: He left me no choice.\nDax: Who are you?\nSisko: Dax?\nBashir: She's in neural shock.\nRenhol: We had to stabilize her synaptic functions. Activate the neural induction field. Give her another two cc's of benzocyatizine.\nBashir: Doctor.\nRenhol: Her isoboramine levels are down to fifty one percent. I don't understand it. A decrease that severe is usually the result of tissue damage. Commander, this wormhole you've diskovered. Have your people done any surveys of the diametric fields it generates?\nSisko: Yes. In fact Dax did the most recent survey herself.\nRenhol: I'd like to see those reports.\nBashir: Do you think there's any correlation between Dax's condition and the wormhole?\nRenhol: Something unusual is affecting her and at this point we can't afford to rule anything out. If we can't get her isoboramine readings up to an acceptable level within forty eight hours, I'm afraid we'll have to remove the symbiont.\nSisko: But that'll kill Jadzia.\nRenhol: I'm well aware of that, Commander. But Jadzia would be the first to tell you that our primary responsibility must be to the symbiont. If there's any change in her condition, I'll let you know.\nSisko: Timor, we need your help Dax has gone into neural shock.\nTimor: I'm sorry to hear that\nSisko: The doctors at the Symbiosis Commission don't know what's causing it.\nBashir: You told Jadzia that her condition had something to do with one of Dax's previous hosts.\nTimor: That was just speculation.\nSisko: You told her you were certain of it.\nTimor: If I gave that impression, I apologize. Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, the symbionts need me.\nSisko: Jadzia needs you too. She's dying.\nBashir: All we're asking is that you come with us to the Symbiosis Commission and consult with Doctor Renhol.\nTimor: I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do.\nBashir: How do you know that unless you try?\nSisko: Timor, what's going on here? Did someone tell you not to pursue this?\nTimor: Why would anyone do that?\nSisko: You tell me.\nTimor: I hope your friend recovers. I truly do. Now, if that's all, I'm very busy.\nBashir: He's not busy. He's scared.\nSisko: Why would anyone want him to keep quiet about this? What are they trying to hide?\nBashir: Yesterday, Timor claimed the problem was with one of Dax's previous hosts. Today, the mere mention of the possibility makes him nervous.\nSisko: You'd think someone doesn't want an investigation of those past hosts.\nBashir: I can't think of a better reason for such an investigation, can you?\nSisko: It's possible that one of the Dax hosts had something to do with this composer, Belar.\nBashir: Well, Jadzia seemed to lose consciousness the minute she saw Belar's picture.\nSisko: I think it's time we found out more about him.\nBashir: I've accessed the Trill central database. Let's see what information there is on Joran Belar. Here we are. Born on stardate 1024.7, died on 8615.2.\nSisko: Is that all there is?\nBashir: I was expecting a lot more. When I looked through Dax's records there was detailed information on each host.\nSisko: Could the file have been purged?\nBashir: If part of the file's been deleted, the data compression ratio might be off. Yes, look at this. The ratio's for a file five times larger. There was definitely more information here.\nSisko: Call up Dax's records. Put them side by side with Joran's. Wait a minute. Look at these dates.\nBashir: Belar died on the same day as Torias Dax died.\nSisko: The same day the Dax symbiont was put into Curzon.\nBashir: Oh, this has to be more than a coincidence.\nSisko: Whoever purged the main database might have missed something. Check the enrolllment records of all the Trill music academies during Belar's lifetime.\nBashir: He's not listed but there is someone here with the same last name. Maybe they're related?\nSisko: Yolad Belar. Check the central database. See if he's still alive.\nBashir: He is.\nSisko: Access the Trill communications grid. Try to locate him.\nBashir: There's a reasonable chance that he and Joran were related. Musical ability often runs in families. I've established a comm.-link.\nSisko: Put him on the main viewer.\nYolad: Yes, can I help you?\nSisko: I'm Commander Benjamin Sisko of the Federation Starbase Deep Space Nine.\nYolad: What would a Starfleet officer want with me?\nSisko: Are you Yolad Belar?\nYolad: I am. Why?\nSisko: We're trying to find information about a man named Joran Belar. Did you know him?\nYolad: Of course I did. He was my brother.\nSisko: He was a composer?\nYolad: That's right. We both graduated from the same music academy.\nSisko: Are you aware that his record has been purged from the Academy's files?\nYolad: That doesn't make any sense. What's all this about?\nSisko: That's what we're trying to find out. Do you know if your brother knew a joined Trill named Torias Dax?\nYolad: My brother died eighty five years ago. I have a hard time remembering what happened yesterday.\nBashir: Then you don't remember the name?\nYolad: No, but that doesn't mean Joran didn't know him. You said he was joined? They could've met when my brother went off to become an Initiate.\nSisko: He was a candidate for joining?\nYolad: That's what I just said, isn't it?\nSisko: Was he given a symbiont?\nYolad: Not according to the Symbiosis Commission. They claim he was dropped from the program after the second year. According to them he murdered the doctor that recommended dropping him, and was killed trying to escape the murder scene.\nSisko: It sounds like you're not convinced that's what really happened.\nYolad: Oh, I believe he killed that doctor. My brother had a violent temper. But about six months before that happened my brother contacted me. He sounded different somehow, more confident, even colder than usual. And when I asked him about it he laughed. He said me he was different, that he'd been Joined.\nSisko: Did he tell you the name of his symbiont?\nYolad: Maybe he did. I was so surprised to learn he'd been chosen to be Joined I can't remember much else. I loved my brother, Commander. In spite of all the things he did, I loved him.\nSisko: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us.\nSisko: Doctor, call up Dax's records. I think I'm beginning to understand what's going on here. According to the official records, after Torias died the Dax symbiont was put into Curzon. What if that's not what happened? What if Dax was given another host before Curzon. A host who should never have been given a symbiont.\nBashir: A host named Joran Belar.\nRenhol: Her isoboramine levels have dropped to forty four percent. Tell Doctor Torvin to prepare the new host for surgery. We'll begin transferring the symbiont in fifteen minutes.\nSisko: Tell Doctor Torvin to get himself a cup of raktajino. He won't be needed.\nRenhol: Commander Sisko, how dare you come in here and\nBashir: It's over, Doctor. We know about Joran Belar.\nRenhol: Wait outside. Tell the surgeons to stand by.\nRenhol: I don't have time for this, Commander. The symbiont is in danger.\nSisko: So is Jadzia.\nRenhol: I can't do anything for her.\nSisko: Can't? Or won't?\nRenhol: I resent that implication.\nSisko: And I resent having to watch my friend die just so you can protect your secret.\nRenhol: What secret?\nSisko: Oh, I think you know. And the thought of it becoming public scares the hell out of you.\nRenhol: Commander, I don't know what you're talking about.\nSisko: I'm talking about the fact that eighty six years ago the Symbiosis Commission mistakenly gave the Dax symbiont to Joran Belar.\nRenhol: I don't recall ever seeing any mention of a Joran Dax on our records.\nSisko: And we both know why, Doctor. The Symbiosis Commission altered the records, just like they tried to erase all knowledge of Joran from Dax's memory.\nBashir: And now after eighty years the memory block is deteriorating and Dax is starting to remember the Joran host.\nRenhol: What possible reason would anyone have to create that sort of elaborate cover up?\nSisko: We wondered about that too. What was it about Joran that had to be hidden at all costs? The fact that he never should have been selected as a host? No, that simple error in judgment wouldn't be enough, would it? There had to be something more, something that would shake the very foundation of your society.\nBashir: Tell me, Doctor, how many of your people are suitable for Joining?\nRenhol: I don't see how that's relevant.\nBashir: I understand the percentage is very low. Maybe one in a thousand?\nRenhol: That's right.\nBashir: Which is why the candidates are put through such rigorous testing.\nRenhol: That's how we make sure the symbionts aren't given to an unsuitable host.\nBashir: What would happen if for some reason a symbiont was given to an unsuitable host?\nRenhol: That doesn't happen.\nBashir: But what if it did?\nRenhol: Rejection would set in. The host and symbiont would both die.\nBashir: How long before rejection would set in?\nRenhol: Three, maybe four days.\nBashir: Then someone like Joran Belar, an unstable personality with violent tendencies, should have rejected a symbiont within a matter of days. Yet that didn't happen, did it? According to our information, he was Joined to the Dax symbiont for six months.\nSisko: Six months, Doctor. If a man like Joran Belar can be Joined successfully for that long, how many others can be joined as well? Hundreds, thousands? Certainly more than the Symbiosis Commission would have us believe. And that is what you've been trying to cover up all along, isn't it? That's why you're willing to let Jadzia die. I'm not interested in exposing your secret, Doctor. All I care about is Jadzia. And I promise you, if she dies, I will see to it that the entire planet knows why.\nRenhol: Do you realize what would happen if you did that? It would mean chaos. There aren't enough symbionts for that many hosts. The potential danger to the symbionts would be enormous. They would become commodities to be purchased or prizes to be fought over. Nearly half our population is capable of being Joined. That's what we learned from our unfortunate experience with Joran Dax. Now do you understand why you must not reveal the truth?\nSisko: Do you understand my terms?\nRenhol: It's not that simple. For Jadzia to survive, we have to stabilize the synaptic functions between the host and symbiont. Joran's memories have to be allowed to surface, to re-integrated with Dax's other memories. It could be very dangerous.\nSisko: Jadzia is a strong woman. I say we give her that chance.\nRenhol: What if you're wrong? What if Joran's personality overwhelms Jadzia? Are you willing to risk that?\nSisko: The point is. it's not up to me or you to decide. It's her life and her decision.\nDax: Julian.\nBashir: We've got a lot to talk about, Jadzia. You have a decision to make.\nDax: Joran.\nJoran: You know who I am.\nDax: You're a part of me.\nDax: Come in. Checking up on me, Benjamin?\nSisko: Just thought I'd see how you were doing.\nDax: Julian stopped by fifteen minutes ago and said the same thing. I'll be all right. I just need some time to sort things out.\nSisko: I suppose it would have been easier if you'd never found out about Joran.\nDax: No, I'm glad I did. If you want to know who you are, it's important to know who you've been.\nSisko: Good night, old man.\nDax: Benjamin, I'll see you in the morning."}
{"text": "Quark: Why don't you tell your Uncle Quark all about it?\nDax: What are you talking about, Quark?\nQuark: You're fifteen minutes late for your appointment in the holosuites, and by the look of that drink, you've been nursing it for a while. You got stood up, didn't you?\nDax: Well, if you must know, I'm waiting for Major Kira. We were supposed to go anti-grav sailing together, but you know how she feels about the holosuites.\nKira: She feels they're a complete waste of time. Anything worth doing in a holosuite can be done better in the real world.\nQuark: You've obviously never been in the right holosuite program. But, if you'd like, I could\nKira: You could, but you'd live to regret it.\nQuark: Maybe some other time.\nKira: Sorry I'm late. Sisko and I had to revise crew rotations again.\nDax: So you're not canceling?\nKira: No. I'm kind of looking forward to it, except for crashing.\nDax: Oh, don't worry, you won't crash. We'll start out with an easy simulation like sailing across the Great Erg on New Mecca. You'll see, it'll be great .\nCrewman: Ops to Major Kira.\nKira: Kira here.\nCrewman: You have an incoming communication from the Bajoran Central Archives.\nKira: I'm in the Replimat. I'll take it down here. This will only take a minute.\nKira: This is Major Kira.\nAlenis: Major My name is Alenis Grem. I'm doing a study on the Elemspur Detention Center for the Bajoran Central Archives and I was hoping to ask you a few questions.\nKira: I'd be glad to help, but why come to me? I was never at Elemspur.\nAlenis: Cardassian records clearly indicate that a Kira Nerys was held at Elemspur for seven days.\nKira: You've got the wrong Kira Nerys. Believe me, if I'd been held in a Cardassian prison, I'd remember.\nAlenis: I don't understand. I have the records right here. Kira Nerys of Dahkur Province, a member of the Shaakar resistance cell. You see?\nDax: It's you.\nOdo: If your memory and these prison records don't agree, then one of them must be wrong. Either the records or\nKira: My memory is fine. I know exactly where I was that week.\nOdo: After ten years?\nKira: I spent the entire winter with my Resistance group in the Dahkur Hills. We had no power cells for our phasers, very little food, and we spent most of our time in caves hiding from Cardassian sensor sweeps. Believe me, it was very memorable. These records are fake. The only question is, who faked them and why.\nOdo: According to this, you supposedly shared a cell with three other inmates. Maybe one of them can help us find out what's going on here.\nYeln: Elemspur? I haven't thought about that place for a long time.\nKira: I was hoping you could answer some questions about your fellow prisoners.\nYeln: I'll try and. Now wait a minute. I remember you. You were there, too, weren't you? Kiri something?\nKira: Kira. Kira Nerys.\nYeln: I almost didn't recognize you. You used to wear your hair differently, didn't you? Longer?\nKira: You remember me after all this time?\nYeln: When the Cardassians dragged you out of our cell, I gave you up for dead. Glad to see I was wrong. Those were bad times.\nKira: Yes, they were.\nSisko: He could've been lying.\nKira: Maybe. But the records and the only surviving witness both say I was at Elemspur. My memory says something different. I've got to find out the truth.\nSisko: I understand. If there's anything you need?\nKira: I'll let you know. This shouldn't take long. I should only be on Bajor a few days.\nSisko: We'll try to manage without you until you get back.\nBashir: There you are, Garak. I went past your shop, but it was closed.\nGarak: Unfortunately business has been a bit slow. For some reason, living under the constant threat of Dominion attack has made people less eager to invest in new clothing. So how was your trip to Klaestron Four?\nBashir: Oh, terrific. The Klaestrons have developed a burn treatment technology which has to be seen to be believed.\nGarak: You know, I envy you.\nBashir: How so?\nGarak: When I was younger, traveling was a bit of a passion for me. There are few things in life that compare with the thrill of immersing yourself in the culture of an alien world, meeting the inhabitants, earning their trust. But aside from our brief excursion to Bajor, I don't think I've been off this station in nearly three years.\nBashir: What's stopping you? Ships are leaving Deep Space Nine almost every day.\nGarak: Space is dangerous, Doctor. You never know what might happen.\nBashir: Garak, you're being paranoid. Are you saying the Cardassian government would have you killed if you left this station?\nGarak: My dear Doctor, you do have a vivid imagination.\nDax: Commander, we're receiving a transmission from the Bajoran Central Archives\nSisko: I'll take it. If you're looking for Major Kira, I'm afraid she's not on the station right now. She's on Bajor.\nAlenis: I know. That's why I called. The Major contacted me before she left. She was supposed to meet with me so I could show her the information I retrieved from Elemspur. She never came. I tried to contact the Major to reschedule, but she wasn't where she said she'd be. As far as I can tell, no one's seen her since she left the spaceport for Elemspur.\nEntek: Wake her.\nKira: Where where am I?\nYteppa: It's all right. You're safe.\nKira: What have you done to me?\nEntek: We've brought you back home, to Cardassia.\nEntek: Please, we're here to help you.\nKira: I don't know who you are or what you're trying to do, but it won't work. Whatever you think this is going to get you, you can forget it.\nEntek: We don't think it's going to get us anything. If all we wanted was information, we'd have it already.\nKira: Oh? Then what's stopping you?\nEntek: We have no intention of hurting you. Why should we? You're one of us.\nKira: This is absurd. You can mutilate me, change my appearance, you are never going to convince me that I am a Cardassian.\nEntek: I know this is difficult for you, and I'm sorry. I wish there were a better way to prepare you for what you're going through. Sometimes I question the wisdom of our infiltration methods. By altering the memories of our long-term operatives, we ensure that they'll never be diskovered, but it makes reintegrating them back into Cardassian society much more difficult. Still, it's hard to argue with success.\nKira: You really expect me to believe all of this?\nEntek: Of course not. At least, not yet. We've given you medication to reverse your memory loss, but it can take some time to become effective. Until your original memory re-emerge, I don't expect you to believe a word I say. But it still can be difficult watching someone you care about suffer.\nKira: Oh, so I suppose you and I are old friends?\nEntek: I supervised your training. You are an undercover operative of the Obsidian Order named Iliana Ghemor. Ten years ago, you volunteered for an undercover assignment on Bajor. We kidnapped a Bajoran terrorist, gave you her memories, her appearance, and placed you back on Bajor to infiltrate the Resistance. I know, you don't believe me, but you'll remember. It will just take some time. Being here should help.\nKira: This place? It's just another Cardassian prison.\nEntek: This is not a prison, Iliana. This is your room in the house where you were born. Your home.\nKira: My home is in the Dahkur Province of Bajor.\nEntek: Here. This contains a personal statement you recorded before you were sent to Bajor. Watch it. It should help explain things. If you have any questions, just ask.\nOdo: We've interviewed all the residents in the vicinity of the Elemspur Detention Center. One of them thinks he saw Kira walking up the old Cardassian road toward the Center.\nDax: When we scanned the area, we found a residual electrostatic charge.\nSisko: This could be a transporter trace. You think she was beamed away? All right, I want the name of every ship that was in the area at the time of the beam out. Constable, contact your friends in the Bajoran militia. Tell them we need to see the activity logs of all the ground-based transporters in that area. That'll be all.\nDax: Benjamin, those residual electrostatic charges. They could also have been left by a disrupter or a phaser set to kill.\nSisko: I know.\nCardassian: Look to the children. They are the future of Cardassia and they\nKira: Enter.\nEntek: Ah. There's someone here who wants to see you.\nGhemor: You took your time about it, Entek. I don't appreciate being kept waiting in my own house.\nEntek: As I explained, Legate, the initial debriefings can be difficult. We couldn't allow any interruptions.\nGhemor: It really is you.\nEntek: Remember, her memory hasn't returned yet.\nGhemor: I understand. Iliana, I, I wish I could tell you how much this means to me.\nKira: Am I supposed to know you?\nEntek: Iliana, this is Legate Tekeny Ghemor. He's your father.\nKira: My father? My father died on Bajor fighting the Cardassians.\nGhemor: That's not true. I'm sorry. I know you don't remember me, but I've been waiting for this for so long. Please leave us.\nEntek: Are you sure that's wise?\nGhemor: She's my daughter. She's not going to hurt me.\nEntek: As you wish.\nGhemor: I've missed you, Iliana.\nKira: Don't call me that. It's not my name and I am not your daughter.\nGhemor: I should let you rest. You will remember, in time. Until then, please, consider yourself a guest in this house.\nGarak: Good evening, Doctor. If you're finished here, I was wondering if you'd like to join me for a late snack.\nBashir: Actually, all I want right now is a little sleep. Maybe tomorrow.\nGarak: I'm afraid this can't wait until tomorrow. I have very important news about Major Kira.\nGhemor: In the left corner, above the window.\nKira: What?\nGhemor: The Obsidian Order's surveillance devices. That is what you're looking for, isn't it? Don't worry. They're not on. I'm a member of the Central Command. They're only activated at my request. I thought you might want some breakfast. I assumed you'd be used to Bajoran food by now, so I took the liberty of replicating some hasperat.\nKira: I'm not hungry.\nGhemor: You recognize that? It's the bone-carving you made for me when I was promoted to Legate.\nKira: Your daughter was talented.\nGhemor: Yes. She is. I always thought you should have been an artist. You have such a wonderful eye for detail. But you were determined to join the Order. You thought it was your duty to Cardassia. Personally, I think Cardassia could use a few more artists. Are you sure you won't try some hasperat? It's only good when it's warm.\nKira: No, thank you.\nGhemor: You're as stubborn as your mother. She could never do anything the easy way. You don't remember her either, do you?\nKira: My mother was an icon painter from Dahkur Province. She died of malnutrition at the Singha Refugee Camp when I was three.\nGhemor: Your mother was an inquisitor at the Central University. This is my fault. I never should have let you go on that mission. I could have prevented it. A well placed word here, a favor from a friend there. You never would've known. But you were so determined to go, so proud that you'd been chosen, that I didn't have the heart to stop you. Your mother never forgave me.\nKira: You're good. Really good. The house, the food, the stories, it's all very convincing. But I don't believe a word of it.\nGhemor: Iliana, I just want you to know I'm sorry.\nGarak: Commander, I've already told the good doctor everything I know.\nSisko: I'd like to hear it again firsthand.\nGarak: This is pointless. Believe me, there's nothing you can do. If my friend is correct, and Major Kira is being held by the Obsidian Order, retrieving her would be impossible.\nOdo: Impossible for us, maybe, but not for you.\nGarak: I'm afraid you overestimate my abilities.\nSisko: I hope not, because I intend to put your abilities to the test. The three of us are going to Cardassia.\nGarak: The three of us? You can't be serious. Commander, if I were allowed on Cardassia, do you really think I'd be living here?\nSisko: Which brings up an interesting point. There are certain ministers in the Bajoran government who are concerned about your presence on this station. In fact, they want you removed. Right now, I see no alternative but to honor their request. Unless, of course, I can show them how you might be valuable to us.\nOdo: Rescuing Kira would go a long way toward improving your standing with the Bajoran government.\nGarak: Why should I care what the Bajoran government thinks of me?\nSisko: I don't know. But it seems to me if someone were in trouble with the Cardassian Central Command, a Bajoran space station under Federation control might just be the safest place in the galaxy.\nGarak: Commander, this is extortion.\nSisko: Yes. It is. We'll be traveling under false transit documents prepared by Starfleet Intelligence. Mister O'Brien has reconfigured the shield harmonics of the Defiant so that, on long-range sensors, it'll appear to be a Kobheerian freighter. We leave in three hours.\nGarak: I'll go along on your fool's errand, but I want one thing to be perfectly clear. I have no intention of sacrificing my life to save yours. If it looks like we're in danger of being captured, if there's any signs of trouble at all, you're on your own.\nSisko: Mister Garak, I believe that's the first completely honest thing you've ever said to me.\nGarak: How perceptive of you, Commander.\nEntek: She doesn't remember anything?\nGhemor: Not yet.\nEntek: That's unfortunate. It would've made things easier. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you some questions.\nGhemor: So soon? I thought she would be given time to regain her memory.\nEntek: She was given time. The desegranine injections should've worked by now. Memories usually begin to resurface after only a few hours. It's been two days.\nGhemor: And what if the injections never work?\nEntek: Your daughter has some information that we need. I'm sure in time she'll see the wisdom of cooperating. So, if you'll excuse us.\nGhemor: I'll be in the next room if you need me.\nEntek: Legate, your concerns are baseless. She's one of our own people. We have no reason to harm her.\nGhemor: And I'll be nearby to remind you of that, in case you forget.\nEntek: As you wish, Legate.\nEntek: What were your duties as first officer of Deep Space Nine?\nKira: I told you, the Federation runs the station. I wasn't even allowed into Ops.\nEntek: How many Starfleet personnel are stationed on Deep Space Nine?\nKira: Thirty, forty thousand. Don't tell them I told you.\nEntek: That's enough. Iliana, don't you understand what's going on here? I'm trying to give you a chance. Even if you don't remember who I am, you are still one of my operatives. Now, I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't cooperate. Maybe there is a way to convince you to take what I say seriously. This is Entek. Send me exhibit S one-nine-eight-three I. Immediately.\nCardassian: Yes, sir.\nKira: Nothing you can show me will make any difference.\nEntek: Did you know that the Obsidian Order saves everything that comes into its possession? You never know what might prove useful. We have libraries of data transcripts, vaults of ancient artifacts, even\nEntek: Ah, here it is. Even cryogenic chambers containing biological subjects like this one here.\nKira: That's impossible.\nEntek: I assure you, when it comes to the Obsidian Order, nothing is impossible.\nKira: It's a fake, a clone, a hologram. For all I know, this whole place is a holosuite.\nEntek: Do you remember when you were on long-range reconnaissance in the Bestri Woods. You thought you saw a Cardassian soldier and opened fire on him. You hit your target, only to find out\nKira: I killed a hara cat.\nEntek: A mother hara cat, who was nursing her young.\nKira: How do you know that? I never told anyone that story.\nEntek: I know about it because we placed that story in your memories, Iliana. Just like we gave you every other memory you have. What we couldn't extract from the real Kira, we got from other prisoners or just invented ourselves. Ask yourself two things, Iliana. First, is there anything that I've said we've done that's beyond the capabilities of the Obsidian Order? I assume you know there isn't. Second, if you're not my operative, if you're not who I say you are, why would I be playing this game? Believe me, if I wanted to extract the information from you, I'd have it already. I don't want to do that. I care about you. You were one of my best students. Watch the recording, think about what I've said, because the Order won't wait much longer.\nGhemor: I see you haven't forgotten all of your Obsidian Order training.\nKira: Actually, I learned that in the Resistance.\nGhemor: Next time you might want to leave a contact wire running between the wall and the access plate. You tripped a silent alarm when you separated them.\nKira: I'll keep that in mind. I suppose if I walk out of here, you'll try to stop me.\nGhemor: I don't have to. You wouldn't get half a kilometer without being detected by the Obsidian Order.\nKira: Maybe I'm willing to take that chance.\nGhemor: Iliana.\nKira: Stop calling me that. I am not your daughter and I never was. I'm leaving.\nGhemor: You'll never get off Cardassia. In the end, you'll just make things worse for yourself. I can only do so much to help you.\nKira: If you want to help me, get me off this planet. I will never cooperate with the Order. Eventually, they're going to realize that, they'll interrogate me and I won't survive.\nGhemor: I promise you that will never happen. I'll never allow the Order to harm you. No matter what you decide, I won't let them hurt you. I only ask one thing. Before you make your decision, I beg you, watch the recording Entek gave you. It's the only way you'll ever really know the truth.\nKira: Begin playback.\nIliana: Hello, Iliana. Welcome home. I've been asked to make these recordings for myself, for you, to help my memory recover when I get back. I go in for my surgery tomorrow. I'm going to miss Cardassia, but I know what I'm doing is right. The terrorism on Bajor has to be stopped. Father doesn't want me to go. Mother just looks unhappy all the time. I hope some day they'll understand. I want them to be proud of me.\nSisko: How're the modifications to the shield harmonics holding up.\nDax: So far, so good. Nobody here but us Kobheerians.\nSisko: We're well into Cardassian space, so keep a close eye on that shield modulator. If it breaks down, we could be in for some unwelcome company.\nOdo: Commander, I just caught Garak snooping around the access corridor outside the main phaser banks.\nGarak: I was merely taking a stroll to stretch my legs. The quarters on this vessel are rather claustrophobic.\nSisko: Confine him to his cabin for the rest of the trip, and post a guard at the door.\nGarak: Commander, I must protest.\nSisko: You can protest all you like, I\nDax: Benjamin, I'm detecting two Galor class warships headed this way.\nSisko: What about the shield harmonics?\nDax: Still holding. As far as their scanners are concerned, we should still look like a Kobheerian freighter.\nGarak: It's probably just a routine security check.\nDax: They're hailing us.\nSisko: Drop out of warp. I don't want to get too close to them. Is the communications holo-filter ready?\nDax: I can make your comm. image look like a three thousand ton screech rhino if you want me to.\nSisko: A Kobheerian Captain will do nicely, Lieutenant. Engage the overlay. Put them on screen.\nBenil: This is Gul Benil of the Eighth Order.\nBenil: Identify yourself.\nKobheerian: This is the Kobheerian freighter Rak-Miunis.\nSisko: I'm Captain Viterian. How can I help you?\nBenil: What is your destination?\nSisko: Cardassia Prime. We're carrying a shipment of Kobheerian toranium intended for military use.\nBenil: Prepare to be boarded.\nDax: They're headed toward us. If they get any closer, they might be able to identify us.\nSisko: Gul Benil, our toranium is urgently needed on Cardassia. I would hate for you to have to explain why it was delayed.\nBenil: The toranium can wait. Maquis activity is on the rise in this sector. By order of the Central Command, all incoming ships are to be stopped and searched.\nGarak: Drop the holo-filter. Do it. I can get us out of this if you let me talk to them.\nSisko: Please stand by. Are we within their weapons range yet?\nDax: No.\nSisko: Do as he says, but be prepared to get us out of here fast if it doesn't work.\nGarak: Gul Benil.\nBenil: You, you're not Kobheerians.\nGarak: Very observant of you. Now turn your ships around.\nBenil: Excuse me?\nGarak: This is an Alpha Red priority mission, clearance verification nine two one eight black. By the authority of the Central Command, you are ordered to turn your ships around. Erase all record of this encounter from your logs and talk of it to no one. Is that clear?\nComputer: Clearance code verified.\nBenil: My apologies. I had no idea.\nGarak: You were doing your duty. End transmission.\nSisko: Mister Garak, I'm impressed.\nGarak: Oh, it was just something I overheard while hemming someone's trousers. I suggest that we get away from here as quickly as possible, in case Gul Benil should decide to show some initiative.\nEntek: All right. One more time, Iliana. What are the names of the Starfleet ships deployed along the Demilitarized zone?\nKira: I don't know.\nEntek: That's not acceptable. As a Bajoran liaison officer, it's your duty to help coordinate Federation activity near Bajoran space. Now, what are the names of the ships deployed along the Demilitarized zone? Their names, Iliana. Give me their names.\nGhemor: I think you've asked enough questions for today.\nEntek: Legate, you can't come in here.\nGhemor: Do you presume to tell a member of the Central Command where he may and may not go in his own home?\nEntek: This is Obsidian Order business. Our autonomy\nGhemor: Is a privilege granted by the Central Command and is revocable at any time. Don't you agree?\nEntek: Of course, Legate. Iliana, I'm afraid the next time we talk, it will have to be at the Order's facilities. Good day.\nGhemor: Iliana, are you all right?\nGhemor: Iliana?\nKira: No. No!\nGhemor: Iliana!\nKira: No.\nGhemor: It's all right. Everything will be all right.\nGhemor: I'm a selfish old man. I can't keep you here any longer, no matter how much I want to. Entek will never rest until he's broken you. If he takes you to Order Headquarters. We must get you away from Cardassia.\nKira: You'd do that for me? Why?\nGhemor: You're my daughter, Iliana. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. Even if it means losing you again.\nGhemor: Iliana? Here. For you.\nKira: It's beautiful.\nGhemor: It was your mother's. I want you to have it to remember her by.\nKira: I can't take this.\nGhemor: There's no use arguing. I can be as stubborn as you. It runs in the family.\nAri: Legate?\nGhemor: Iliana this is Ari. He's a friend. He's going to help get you off Cardassia.\nKira: Without the Order's knowledge? How's that possible?\nGhemor: I have friends who can arrange things, friends who think the same way I do.\nAri: The Obsidian Order and the Central Command have been given too much power over our lives. We're going to change that.\nKira: You're a dissident?\nAri: Your father is a great man. He has everything any Cardassian could want, yet he's willing to risk his life for what he believes.\nGhemor: People like Ari are the heroes. My position protects me. The risk is theirs.\nAri: Legate, I have to get your daughter to our next contact.\nGhemor: Goodbye, Iliana. I love you.\nKira: Legate, I\nAri: Sir, we have to go now.\nKira: Wait. This is wrong.\nGhemor: Please, Ari's right.\nKira: No, don't you see? The fact that you're a dissident, that you're willing to help me? Now that can't be a coincidence.\nGhemor: Iliana, you have to trust me. We're trying to help you\nKira: Oh, no, it's Entek I don't trust. Why did he go to so much trouble changing me into a Cardassian, sending me to you? It's not me he's after.\nGhemor: What are you talking about?\nKira: What if the Order suspects your involvement with the dissidents?\nGhemor: Impossible. I'm too well protected. They couldn't have evidence of my activities.\nKira: But they could still suspect you. And without any evidence, they wouldn't dare interrogate you, would they?\nAri: Central Command would never allow it.\nKira: Which is why they had to make you betray yourself. Which is why they kidnapped me, because I resemble your daughter. And they knew you would never stand by and watch me be tortured. They wanted you to do this. They wanted you to try and rescue me.\nEntek: Very astute, Major. You couldn't have done any better if you were one of us.\nGhemor: This is Ghemor. Three to beam out. Now.\nEntek: It won't work. We've got a transporter suppression field over this whole area.\nAri: No!\nEntek: You don't know how long I've waited for this day. Imagine, in one bold stroke the Obsidian Order will unmask a traitor in the Central Command and shatter the entire dissident movement. And we have you to thank for it.\nGhemor: The movement will survive without me.\nEntek: You underestimate your importance, Legate. With your help, we'll be able to purge the government of all disloyalty. The enemies of Cardassia will be destroyed.\nGhemor: The enemies of the Order, you mean.\nEntek: The Obsidian Order is Cardassia.\nGhemor: What are you doing?\nEntek: I think you know. Major, your testimony would make for a more dramatic trial, but I'd be willing to dispense with it if you give us any trouble.\nGarak: The Major is the least of your problems, Entek.\nSisko: I suggest you lower your weapons.\nGarak: Do as he says. Now, Entek.\nOdo: I'll take that. Thank you.\nKira: Get over with him.\nEntek: Garak, what are you doing here?\nGarak: I got homesick. I think we'd better be going.\nKira: Don't worry, he's on our side. I think. Come on.\nGarak: Major, I don't think I've ever seen you looking so ravishing.\nSisko: Are you all right?\nKira: I'm fine. How did you?\nGarak: Suffice it to say, I still have friends on Cardassia. You will no doubt derive years of enjoyment trying to determine exactly who they are.\nSisko: Legate, we have a ship waiting. From the sound of things, I think you'd better come with us.\nGhemor: Yes, I think that might be wise.\nEntek: Garak, I don't understand. Why are you helping these people? Ghemor is a traitor, an enemy of the Order.\nGarak: Treason, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.\nEntek: You're making a serious mistake. Up until now, the Order was satisfied to let you live in exile, but now\nKira: Come on. Odo, Garak, let's go.\nGarak: I'd almost forgotten what a pleasure it was to be with my fellow Cardassians. And though I'd like to stay and listen to you bluster, I simply don't have the time.\nGarak: A pity. I rather liked him.\nGhemor: So, it was all a lie?\nKira: According to Doctor Bashir, my genetic structure is entirely Bajoran. The alterations were surgical.\nGhemor: What about the man who said he was with you at Elemspur?\nKira: Gone. Completely disappeared. We suspect he was a Cardassian agent. He's probably the one who changed the Detention Center records in the first place.\nGhemor: I thought you'd be happy.\nKira: I am. It's just, I still don't understand. If Iliana really was transformed into a Bajoran, then why did Entek have me kidnapped? Why not bring Iliana back instead?\nGhemor: Because the desegranine would've worked on Iliana. Her memories would've returned and she would have cooperated with Entek. But they knew that you'd resist and that I'd be forced to try to get you off of Cardassia.\nKira: Do you think Iliana's still alive?\nGhemor: I have to. I'm her father. For all I know, she's still on Bajor, and someday I'll find her.\nKira: Are you sure you don't want to stay on the station?\nGhemor: There's no place for me here. The Mathenite government has offered me political sanctuary. I'll be safe there. One more thing before I leave. Can I give you some fatherly advice, for old times sake?\nKira: Of course.\nGhemor: That Garak fellow who helped you, helped us. Don't trust him, Nerys. Ever. He's a dangerous man and he'd betray you and all of your friends in an instant if he thought it would help him.\nKira: I'll keep my eye on him.\nGhemor: I suppose it's time to go.\nKira: Here.\nKira: It doesn't belong to me. I can't keep it.\nGhemor: No. I want you to have it. You may not be my daughter, but until I find Iliana, you're the closest thing I have to family.\nKira: I want you to know something. In spite of whatever I might have said, I realize now you're an honorable man. And I think your daughter must have loved you very much."}
{"text": "Quark: Not now. Look!\nCrowd: Dabo!\nCrowd: Dabo!\nCrowd: Dabo!\nMardah: You aren't leaving?\nOkalar: Well.\nMardah: Come on. Aren't you feeling lucky?\nOkalar: All right then. One more time. Let it ride.\nMardah: Karjinko. Sorry.\nOkalar: Wait a minute there. My name is Okalar. What's yours?\nMardah: Busy.\nJake: You are evil.\nMardah: Who, me?\nJake: He was going to walk away a winner.\nMardah: The first rule of dabo is watch the wheel\nBoth: Not the girl.\nMardah: So, what's on the menu tomorrow night? Tomorrow night? Dinner with your father?\nJake: What?\nMardah: He didn't tell you? He came by this afternoon and invited me to dinner tomorrow night. In fact, he said it was your idea.\nJake: My idea? Oh, I guess I might have mentioned something about having you over. I thought he forgot.\nMardah: It is all right, isn't it? I mean, you don't mind, do you?\nJake: Oh, no. No, of course not. It'll be great. You're going to love my dad's cooking.\nQuark: This is a surprise.\nBoslic: A pleasant one, I hope.\nQuark: So do I.\nBoslic: I have some salvage for you, Quark.\nQuark: This isn't a good time to be selling your kind of salvage.\nBoslic: Oh, it's perfectly legal and it's really salvage this time.\nQuark: I'm not looking for junk right now, but I'm more in the market for entertainment.\nBoslic: I think you'll like this junk, Quark. It's wreckage from a ship that crashed in the Gamma Quadrant.\nQuark: You're still going to the Gamma Quadrant? I love bold women. How much?\nBoslic: Three bars of latinum and you can have it all.\nQuark: What kind of ship is it?\nBoslic: I don't know.\nQuark: Can I see it first?\nBoslic: There's no time. Quark, you and I have been doing business for years. Don't you trust me?\nQuark: Three bars of latinum? It was worth it.\nQuark: No. No. No.\nSisko: You bought a child?\nQuark: I just thought that I was buying some wreckage. How was I supposed to know there was a baby in there?\nSisko: Maybe you should inspect the merchandise before you make the deal. Or isn't there a Rule of Acquisition for that?\nQuark: There is and I do, usually.\nDax: We haven't been able to trace the Boslic Captain since she left the station. Her flight plan said she was headed for Risa, but I don't think we should put much faith in that.\nBashir: Well, I haven't been able to identify his species, but he seems to be healthy.\nSisko: Seems?\nBashir: For a humanoid, he has an incredibly fast metabolic rate. The cells in his body are dividing at a pace I haven't seen outside of a laboratory, but since there are no thyroid or hypothalamic problems, I assume this is only natural for someone of this species but I would like to do further tests.\nSisko: Very well. What do we know about the ship the boy was on?\nDax: Chief O'Brien just started to analyze the wreckage. We should have a preliminary report in a couple of hours.\nQuark: Now wait a minute. I paid good money for that wreckage and\nQuark: And now it's yours. Enjoy.\nSisko: Hi there.\nDax: We should contact one of the orphanages on Bajor and let them know we might have someone for them.\nSisko: Hmmm?\nDax: I was talking about an orphanage.\nSisko: Oh, right. Have Major Kira make the appropriate arrangements. And keep me informed about him.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nSisko: What?\nDax: You are positively glowing.\nSisko: Oh, come on.\nDax: I haven't seen that look on your face since\nSisko: Since Jake stopped wearing diapers. I never thought I'd hear myself saying this but, I miss taking care of Jake when he was a baby. I miss holding him, singing to him at night, feeding him.\nDax: Listening to him cry, changing his diapers, worrying when he was sick.\nSisko: I haven't forgotten. But there are times when I would give almost anything for the days when I could make Jake happy just by lifting him over my head. Good night.\nSisko: Hey, how about a hug for the old man?\nJake: Why didn't you tell me you were going to invite Mardah to dinner?\nSisko: Well I did, weeks ago. I told you if you didn't invite her soon, I'd invite her myself.\nJake: I still wish you'd given me a little more warning.\nSisko: I didn't realize that a dinner invitation required so much warning.\nJake: It doesn't, and it's not a problem or anything. It just caught me by surprise.\nSisko: Well, dinner isn't till tomorrow night. That'll gives you a full day to prepare her for the traumatic experience of having dinner with the old man.\nJake: Yeah. I mean, there's nothing to prepare for. It's just dinner.\nSisko: Exactly.\nJake: Right.\nSisko: Right.\nJake: All right.\nSisko: You wanted to see me, Doctor?\nBashir: Yes, it's about our new visitor\nSisko: Is something wrong with the baby?\nBashir: No, but he's not a baby any more.\nBashir: There are a great many species with what we would consider accelerated growth rates. But they're usually small, physiologically simple creatures. I've never seen such a rapid maturation process in anything as complex as a humanoid.\nSisko: He looks about eight or nine years old. How old is he in reality?\nBashir: Well, judging by his cellular kinetics profile, I'd say he's no more than two weeks of age.\nBoy: Who are you?\nSisko: I'm Benjamin, and that's Julian. Do you have a name?\nBoy: I need food.\nBashir: With your kind of metabolism, I'm not surprised. I'll get you something in a few minutes.\nBoy: Where am I?\nSisko: On a space station. Do you know what that is?\nBoy: No, but I want to learn.\nSisko: I'd say we have a lot to learn from each other.\nBashir: I'll be right back.\nSisko: Advanced language skills.\nBashir: And cognitive reasoning. He didn't just pick those up by sitting there listening to us. This is either a natural ability of his species or there's been some kind of basic intelligence implanted into his genetic structure.\nSisko: Implanted? You mean artificially?\nBashir: Yes. And I tend to diskount the possibility that it is a natural ability. His biomolecular diffusion gradient already suggests that his cellular mitosis has been artificially enhanced.\nSisko: So, you're saying he may have been part of some experiment?\nBashir: Possibly. If so, he's an example of some very advanced genetic engineering. His cognitive abilities are developing without any external stimuli.\nSisko: I want you to test his mental abilities. See if they increase. Maybe he'll get to the point where he can tell us who he is and where he's comes from.\nO'Brien: This is where Quark said he found the boy. It seems to be some kind of stasis chamber that was damaged in the crash.\nSisko: That could imply that they didn't want him to begin maturing while he was on board. What about the rest of the wreckage?\nO'Brien: It seems to indicate this was some kind of freighter or transport vessel.\nSisko: Did you find any computers or other information systems?\nO'Brien: No, not yet. Most of it's just junk. Twisted bulkheads, burnt deck plating, that sort of thing. We should have a full inventory done by tomorrow morning.\nSisko: Good. By the way, the replicators in my quarters' on the blink again. Could you spare someone this afternoon to fix them?\nO'Brien: That's right. Tonight's the big dinner with Mardah.\nSisko: You know about that?\nO'Brien: Well, Jake mentioned it this morning. In fact, I'd say it's the only thing on his mind.\nSisko: You would think I was going to court martial her by the way he's acting.\nO'Brien: Well, I guess it's only natural. Bringing a girl home for the first time's a pretty traumatic experience.\nSisko: Quark may call her a dabo girl but she's twenty years old. She's a woman and Jake's a sixteen year old boy. It has to stop.\nO'Brien: Why did you invite her over, if you don't mind my asking.\nSisko: Curiosity, mostly. I wanted to see what I was up against.\nO'Brien: What if it turns out you like her?\nSisko: She's a dabo girl and she's dating my son. I don't want to like her.\nO'Brien: Sixteen years old and dating a dabo girl. Godspeed, Jake.\nOdo: Major.\nKira: Odo. For you.\nOdo: Ah. Let me guess. Decoration for my new quarters.\nKira: Just a little something to brighten the room.\nOdo: That's very thoughtful of you.\nKira: You're welcome.\nOdo: I suppose you'd like to see my new quarters.\nKira: Everyone wants to see your quarters. It's called curiosity.\nOdo: Ah.\nOdo: It's not really finished yet. This is just the start.\nKira: The start of what?\nOdo: I want to make this room into a place where I can explore what it truly means to be a shape-shifter.\nKira: I thought it had to be something like that. I mean, you don't exactly need an entire set of quarters just to sit in your bucket.\nOdo: I don't use the bucket anymore. I've kept it to reminder of how I used to be. But now, when I need to regenerate, I simply revert to my gelatinous state anywhere in these rooms. Here, I can experiment with different shapes, textures. I can bring in various forms to emulate, and I can do it in private.\nKira: I'm sorry if I intruded. Maybe I should leave.\nOdo: No, please. You're always welcome here, Major.\nKira: Well, where shall we put it?\nKira: Perfect.\nBashir: The boy's DNA sequence has definitely been altered. The nucleotide analysis proves that conclusively.\nDax: So he's a product of genetic engineering. But why? Was he a unique experiment or is this sort of thing common to his species?\nBashir: There's more. His blood chemistry shows he's missing a key isogenic enzyme. Without large quantities of it his circulatory system would simply shut down.\nDax: Can you replicate this enzyme?\nBashir: I've been trying and I think I've come up with a temporary substitute, but what I don't understand is why anybody would want to genetically engineer someone with such an obvious flaw.\nHortak: Nurse Hortak to Doctor Bashir. You're needed in the Infirmary immediately.\nBashir: On my way.\nBashir: Listen, it's all right, no one's going to hurt you. Let's just go back inside and\nDax: Security to the Promenade.\nOdo: Stop! Stay where you are!\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nDax: I think we've solved the mystery of our young visitor, Benjamin. He's a Jem'Hadar.\nSisko: I've just spoken with Starfleet Command. They want to make sure he's healthy enough to travel and then send him to Starbase two oh one where he'll be handed over to a team of specialists.\nKira: Sounds good to me. The sooner, the better.\nOdo: What sort of specialists are we talking about, Commander?\nSisko: There will be a complete team xenobiologists and exopsychologists waiting for him.\nOdo: So they're going to study him like a laboratory specimen.\nSisko: He'll be very well treated.\nOdo: So he'll be a well treated specimen.\nBashir: I have to agree with Odo, Commander. We can't just ship him off like some biological sample that we've found. He's a sentient life form.\nDax: True, but the Founders could have removed his sense of free will. He may be nothing more than a genetically programd killing machine.\nKira: I agree. We don't want one of them walking around this station.\nOdo: Fine. If you want answers about the Jem'Hadar, I'm the one who can get them for you. Let me get to know him. I'll be responsible for his conduct while he's here.\nSisko: Odo, do you really think you can control him?\nOdo: He's already shown a certain deference to me. That's probably another genetic alteration implanted by the Founders to insure the Jem'Hadar's loyalty. I can keep him from harming anyone.\nSisko: I'd like to speak with the Constable in private for a moment, please.\nSisko: Talk to me, Odo. Tell me what's really going on here. What the Founders did to the boy, to all the Jem'Hadar, is not your fault.\nOdo: Maybe not, but I feel an obligation to undo some of the damage that my race has done to this boy. And I also know what it's like to be a specimen in a laboratory. Oh, I'm sure they'll treat him very well. No one will risk harming their new prize. They'll be courteous, caring, treat him like he's among friends, but in the end he'll be just another specimen to them, something to be analyzed and cataloged. Give me a chance to find out if he really is just a programd killing machine or if we can help him become something else.\nSisko: I'll tell Starfleet we have some preliminary tests to run before we send him to Starbase two oh one.\nOdo: Thank you, Commander.\nSisko: Just be careful, Odo. He is still a Jem'Hadar.\nBashir: Listen to me. I'm trying to help. Your body is craving a certain chemical compound. That is why you're feeling anxious and having muscle spasms.\nJem'Hadar: There's nothing wrong with me.\nBashir: Yes, there is, and denying it won't make it go away.\nJem'Hadar: Leave me alone.\nOdo: You can wait outside. I think everything is under control now.\nOdo: Please, sit down. You don't look well. How do you feel?\nJem'Hadar: Something's wrong with me. I feel sick when I eat. I have pains in my head, in my chest.\nBashir: His body is addicted to a specific isogenic enzyme. Right now, he's experiencing all the symptoms of withdrawal.\nOdo: Addicted?\nBashir: That's right.\nOdo: Can you replicate this enzyme?\nBashir: I've had some success with triglycerides, but they're just a stopgap measure. I can't get an exact chemical formula without doing further tests, but he's shown a certain resistance to that idea.\nJem'Hadar: I don't want any more tests.\nOdo: Doctor Bashir is trying to help you. You should let him.\nJem'Hadar: You may run your tests.\nBashir: Thank you.\nOdo: My name is Odo.\nJem'Hadar: I don't have a name.\nOdo: When your tests are done, I can get you out of here, maybe show you around the station.\nJem'Hadar: If you wish.\nOdo: What do you want? Do you have any needs or desires of your own?\nJem'Hadar: I want to fight.\nOdo: Who? Me?\nJem'Hadar: No. The others.\nOdo: Why?\nJem'Hadar: I don't know. But that's what I want to do. Is that wrong?\nOdo: Let's just say we need to find other interests for you to pursue. For the moment, why don't you relax? Try not to be so tense. Take it easy. Smile. A smile, you know.\nOdo: Well, we'll work on that.\nMardah: Smells good. What is it?\nSisko: Shrimp Creole with Mandalay sauce. One of my father's recipes.\nJake: You're going to love this.\nSisko: I hope you like spicy food. This sure has a bite. So, Mardah, tell me a little about yourself.\nMardah: What do you want to know?\nSisko: Anything. Family.\nMardah: There isn't much to tell. It's a pretty familiar story. Parents killed during the occupation, raised by my neighbors until I was thirteen, then I moved out on my own. I have a sister and a brother on Bajor, but we haven't talked in years.\nSisko: Why not?\nMardah: Sarjeno and Koran were not exactly thrilled when I told them I had a job as a dabo girl. Then I told them what I thought of their lives and we stopped speaking.\nSisko: I see.\nMardah: It's amazing how some people will judge you based on nothing more than your job.\nJake: Did I mention that Mardah's quite a writer?\nSisko: Really?\nJake: Yeah. Mrs O'Brien used to say that Mardah should try to get some of her stories published.\nMardah: Jake, they aren't that good.\nJake: Yes, they are.\nMardah: Nothing like your poetry.\nJake: No, you don't have enough faith in yourself.\nSisko: Poetry? You write poetry?\nJake: Well, sort of. Not really.\nMardah: Now who doesn't have enough faith in themselves? He writes some of the most beautiful things I've ever read. That's what won me over.\nSisko: His poetry.\nMardah: And the way he plays dom-jot.\nSisko: You play dom-jot?\nMardah: Oh, your son can play. He's quite the hustler.\nSisko: A hustler?\nJake: Why don't I see how dessert's coming?\nMardah: Jake seemed like just another teenage boy at first, but there's more to him than that.\nSisko: I'm beginning to realize that myself.\nMardah: I care about him very much.\nSisko: And so do I. Now, tell me more about my poet-hustler son.\nO'Brien: It's over here. This is it. We tried to run an analysis of it, but the computer couldn't make heads or tails of it. Do you really think this is the drug the boy's addicted to?\nOdo: It seems logical that the Founders would've kept a supply of the enzyme aboard his ship. Hopefully Doctor Bashir can determine if this is it.\nO'Brien: I still don't understand why they would engineer someone to be addicted to a certain chemical.\nOdo: I suspect it's another way of insuring the loyalty of the Jem'Hadar to the Founders. If your soldiers are addicted to a drug that can't be replicated and only you can provide, that gives you a great deal of control over them.\nO'Brien: Seems a pretty cold-blooded thing to do.\nOdo: My people don't even have blood, Chief.\nBashir: I believe this tube intravenously delivers the chemical agent directly into the carotid artery.\nOdo: How large of a dosage is required?\nBashir: I'm not sure yet. This supply could last for a week or maybe a month or even a year. I'll have to experiment to find the right dosage. All right, we'll going to start with two milligrams per minute. Let me know if you feel uncomfortable.\nBashir: Well, his heart rate is slowing. Some increase in neurotransmitter activity, and his cortical impulse readings are leveling out. Let's try three cc's.\nBashir: I think we can hold it there for now. How do you feel?\nJem'Hadar: Good. Thank you.\nOdo: You should rest now. We'll talk later. I'll be in my quarters.\nJem'Hadar: Wait. I want to go with you.\nOdo: The doctor will take care of you.\nJem'Hadar: I want to stay with you.\nBashir: He doesn't have to stay here as long as I can monitor his condition regularly.\nOdo: Well, it seems I have my first houseguest.\nJem'Hadar: So you can change into any of these objects?\nOdo: With varying degrees of success. Some forms are more difficult to emulate than others.\nJem'Hadar: Like what?\nOdo: Like this one. As you can see, I haven't mastered the humanoid face. I've found it to be quite challenging.\nJem'Hadar: Why do you want to look like a humanoid? You're better than they are. You're a changeling.\nOdo: That doesn't make me better, just different.\nJem'Hadar: But I know in here that I am inferior to you. But that everyone else here is inferior to me.\nOdo: No. That may be what your instincts tell you, but it's not true. No one on this station is better than anyone else. We're all equal.\nJem'Hadar: Then I must be at fault, because I know that you cannot be wrong.\nOdo: The first thing we have to establish is that I'm not infallible. I'm no different than you are in that respect. You have to begin to think for yourself, to make decisions based on what you want, not what I want. Do you understand? Now tell me, what do you want right now? Don't think about it. Just tell me the first thing that comes to mind.\nJem'Hadar: I, I want, I want to know more about my people. Who I am and where I come from.\nOdo: I can understand that. I was also found by aliens. I didn't know who I was or what my people were like.\nJem'Hadar: Did you ever find them?\nOdo: Yes, but sometimes the truth is not very pleasant. Computer, display Bridge Security log USS Defiant, stardate 48214.5, time index three one zero.\nJem'Hadar: These are my people?\nOdo: Yes. They're a race of brutal warriors, but that doesn't mean you have to be like that. You can channel your feelings of aggression in other ways.\nJem'Hadar: How?\nOdo: Computer, run program Odo One.\nJem'Hadar: So this is not a real person?\nOdo: That's right. He can't be injured or killed. He's just a computer simulation.\nJem'Hadar: How strong is he?\nOdo: As strong as you want to make him. The computer will adjust his strength, agility, speed, anything you want. In here, you can indulge yourself. You can let your instincts take over, fight until you're ready to stop. But at a price. Out there you have to control yourself. You have to learn restraint. Learn how to live peacefully among other races regardless of how you may feel, learn to contain your feelings of aggression and violence.\nJem'Hadar: Can I?\nJem'Hadar: Can I do it again? Can I have a stronger opponent?\nOdo: Computer, increase difficulty to level two.\nJem'Hadar: It's too easy. Make it more difficult.\nOdo: Computer, increase to level three.\nKira: Can I speak to you for a moment?\nJem'Hadar: Computer, increase to level five.\nKira: I heard you let him move in with you.\nOdo: It was his idea. He feels safer around me.\nKira: Of course he does, Odo. He was programd to feel that way.\nOdo: It's more than that. I think I've begun to form a real connection with him. He trusts me.\nKira: But can you trust him? How long do you think you're going to be able to control him?\nOdo: I'm not trying to control anybody. I'm just trying to give him some choices other than becoming a laboratory specimen or a Jem'Hadar soldier.\nKira: I never thought I would say this to you, Odo, but you are listening to your heart not your head. That boy was created in a laboratory. His body, his mind, his instincts, are all designed to do one thing. To kill.\nOdo: My body, mind and instincts were designed to be a Founder. You were trained to be a terrorist. But each of us chose to be something different. I just want to give him the same chance we've had.\nKira: All right. Give him a chance. Just don't forget he is a Jem'Hadar. He's dangerous.\nOdo: I'm well aware of the risk, Major.\nKira: I hope so.\nOdo: Computer, end program.\nJem'Hadar: Everyone keeps looking at me. They're afraid of me.\nOdo: They're mostly curious, but they're also afraid.\nJem'Hadar: They should be. I could kill any of them.\nOdo: Is that all you can think about? Killing? Isn't there anything else that you care about?\nJem'Hadar: I don't think so.\nOdo: But there is so much more to life than that, so much for you to diskover and experience.\nJem'Hadar: Maybe there is for you, and maybe there is for all these other people here, but for me\nSisko: Sisko to Odo.\nOdo: Go ahead, Commander.\nSisko: I need to see you in my office, Constable.\nOdo: On my way. Wait for me in our quarters.\nOdo: Something's wrong.\nSisko: Starfleet is sending the USS Constellation to pick up the boy and then take him to Starbase two oh one. They'll be here in five hours.\nOdo: I thought we had an agreement.\nSisko: I'm sorry, Odo. Starfleet considers the boy a top priority. I did everything I could, but orders are orders. I put\nJem'Hadar: You're not sending me anywhere.\nSisko: What do you want?\nJem'Hadar: A runabout.\nSisko: To go where?\nJem'Hadar: That's not your concern.\nOdo: Listen to me. This is not the way.\nJem'Hadar: I know what I'm doing. I'm leaving this place and you're going with me. You don't belong here any more than I do.\nOdo: All right. It won't be necessary to hurt anyone. Commander Sisko will see to it that no one interferes with us.\nJem'Hadar: If they do, I'll kill them.\nOdo: Where are we going?\nJem'Hadar: To the Gamma Quadrant. It's where my people are. It's where your people are. It's where we both belong.\nOdo: I don't belong there. I don't believe you do either.\nJem'Hadar: I won't allow them to put me in a laboratory. I won't go with them to Starfleet.\nOdo: All right, but there are another options besides going to the Gamma Quadrant. We can find a place where neither Starfleet nor the Jem'Hadar will bother you. A place where you can grow and learn about yourself without worrying about being sent to some laboratory. It's a big galaxy. All we have to do is head out for unexplored space and keep on going. I am willing to do this with you, to help start you on this new life, if that's what you want.\nJem'Hadar: You just don't understand, do you? I want to be with my people. I don't want to be anywhere else. I'm not like these other humanoids. I'm a Jem'Hadar and that's what I want to be. You're not like these humanoids either, but they've done something to you. They've filled your mind with ideas, with these beliefs. I don't know what the other Changelings are like, but I know they're not like you.\nOdo: No, they're not.\nSisko: Spread out, but remember not to fires until you hear my command or the boy fires first.\nSisko: This is as far as you go.\nOdo: Let us go, Commander. I'm leaving of my own accord. I'll take the boy back to his people then return in the runabout. If he boards the Constellation when it arrives, he'll either kill a lot of innocent people or be killed himself.\nSisko: What makes you think he'll let you come back?\nOdo: I don't believe he could injure a Changeling.\nSisko: When the Constellation arrives I'll tell them that I couldn't stop you from leaving, that I would've had to kill the boy to keep him here. Admiral Necheyev won't like that answer but it has the virtue of being the truth. Sisko to O'Brien. Release the security fields around the airlock, Chief.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: I'll see you when you get back.\nJem'Hadar: He was afraid of me. I could see the fear in his eyes.\nOdo: Commander Sisko was trying to do what's best for you. He was trying to help you.\nJem'Hadar: He's not my friend. He's my enemy. And I now know that anyone who is not a Jem'Hadar is my enemy.\nOdo: Does that include me?\nSisko: Captain's log, supplemental. Starfleet has expressed disappointment over what it considers a missed opportunity to learn more about the Jem'Hadar. However, I am happy to report that with the boy gone, life on the station has returned to normal.\nO'Brien: I think we can get the upper sensor grid back online by morning.\nSisko: Good. We're going to need it in the next few days.\nO'Brien: I thought you were going to lower the boom on the two of them.\nSisko: Well, I was, but some things came up at dinner I didn't expect.\nO'Brien: Oh. Got to know her a little better? Decided you liked her after all?\nSisko: No, I actually got to know Jake a little better. Have you ever played dom-jot with him?\nO'Brien: No.\nSisko: Don't.\nOdo: Major, about the boy. You were right."}
{"text": "O'Brien: How's it going, Jake?\nJake: Fine. I've deleted half the Cardassian files from the computer. I can't believe how many subroutines it took just to run this ore processor.\nO'Brien: Well, it used to be a pretty large operation. When the Cardassians were in charge, I understand they processed twenty thousand tons a day.\nJake: That's a lot of ore.\nO'Brien: It must've been hell in here. I heard stories that the temperature reached fifty five degrees Celsius.\nJake: How could the Bajoran workers survive that?\nO'Brien: A lot of them didn't. When you've deleted all those files, I'll show you how to download the new operating system.\nJake: You really think we can convert this place into a deuterium refinery?\nO'Brien: Absolutely. It'll take us three, maybe four weeks at the most.\nSisko: I hope you're planning on eating during the next three to four weeks.\nO'Brien: Commander. I guess I lost track of the time.\nJake: We're almost finished, Dad. Chief, I'm having a problem deleting one of these files.\nO'Brien: Have you tried reformatting the data cluster?\nJake: Yeah, but the file's still here\nO'Brien: Let me see. That's odd.\nSisko: What's that, Chief?\nO'Brien: Well, the file has no name. No indication what it is. I'd better set it aside for now. I can transfer it to the central database in Ops and analyze it in the morning.\nO'Brien: Wait a minute.\nComputer: Unauthorized computer entry detected in Ore Processing unit five. Enter access code.\nComputer: Incorrect code. You have five seconds to enter correct access code.\nJake: Or what?\nO'Brien: I don't know. I'd better stop it.\nComputer: Warning.\nComputer: Worker revolt in progress in Ore Processing unit five. Security countermeasures initiated.\nKira: What the hell?\nDukat: Bajoran workers, your attention please. Your attempt to seize control of this facility is going to fail. You are valuable workers and we wish you no harm. However if you do not return control of this unit to your Cardassian supervisors, we will be forced to take action. You have eight minutes to make your decision.\nO'Brien: The computer's engaged the magnetic seal. I can't override it.\nKira: Ops to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nKira: Commander, what is going on down there?\nKira: We just got a recorded message from Gul Dukat regarding some worker revolt in the ore processing facility.\nSisko: We saw the same message.\nSisko: It seems we've tripped some kind of automated security program the Cardassians left. We're locked in.\nKira: We'll beam you out of there.\nComputer: Enter access code.\nDax: What?\nBashir: If this security program thinks there's been some kind of worker revolt, then it must think this station is still under Cardassian rule, so it's probably waiting for us to enter an emergency code.\nKira: One that the Cardassians never bothered to give us when they left.\nOdo: Odo to Ops.\nKira: Kira here.\nOdo: My Cardassian access codes are still valid. I'm attempting to override the security program but it's going to take some time. I'm not sure my clearance level is high enough.\nKira: Well, keep at it. We'll try to do the same thing from up here.\nOdo: Acknowledged.\nQuark: Odo, do you mind telling me what this is all about? That message from Dukat is making my customers nervous, and when they're nervous they're not\nOdo: Not now, Quark. I'm busy.\nQuark: Well, is there anything I can do to help?\nOdo: Not unless you have a level nine Cardassian security clearance.\nQuark: Let's see. I think I have everything from levels one through seven.\nOdo: I only have levels one through six.\nQuark: Well, if you'd like a level seven, I'm sure we could make some kind of arrangement.\nOdo: Leave me alone, Quark.\nQuark: Oh, no. There's something very wrong going on and this is the safest place on the whole station. I think I'll stay right here.\nO'Brien: Any luck?\nSisko: Nothing. It's probably magnetically sealed like the door. We'd need a phaser to blast it open.\nO'Brien: Well, there's no way I can disable the program from here.\nDukat: Bajoran workers, your time is running out. But it's not too late. You can still surrender and save your lives.\nSisko: Computer. This is the leader of the Bajoran workers. We surrender.\nDukat: I'm glad to see you've come to your senses. Stay where you are. When Cardassian security arrives, they will place you into custody but you will not be harmed. You have my word.\nO'Brien: Whatever that's worth.\nJake: Now what?\nSisko: Well, it sounds like the program is going to wait for Cardassian security to enter the all-clear protocol. That'll give us a few minutes, anyway. What's in here?\nO'Brien: Nothing at the moment. Processed uridium used to flow down that pipe to a secondary refining facility on level thirty three and be purified.\nJake: It's not locked.\nSisko: Since that pipe was filled with molten uridium, there wasn't any need for security measures.\nO'Brien: It's too narrow for anyone to escape through.\nJake: I can get in there.\nSisko: Chief, if he can crawl up this pipe into the machine, cab he can get to the ore chute and open that hatch from inside?\nDukat: Bajoran workers, you have not surrendered to Cardassian security. If you do not do so in the next three minutes, I will be forced to release neurocine gas into the ore processing facility.\nJake: I can do it.\nDukat: Bajoran workers, you have two minutes left to give yourselves up to your Cardassian overseers and save your lives.\nSisko: Can you hear me, Jake?\nJake: Loud and clear, but I can't see a thing.\nO'Brien: There should be a large circular opening to your right.\nJake: Okay, let me see if I can find it.\nDukat: Even if you were to escape this station\nJake: Ow!\nSisko: Jake-o, are you all right?\nJake: Yeah, I just banged my head on something.\nDukat: Back to Bajor? I can tell you\nJake: Wait a second, there's a junction here. It feels like it goes off in two directions. Which way do I go?\nDukat: The guls in charge.\nSisko: Follow this sound, Jake.\nJake: Do it again, Dad. Got it. I'm in the chute.\nO'Brien: There should be a small access port in one of the walls.\nJake: Found it.\nO'Brien: Open the port and feel around inside for a handle. It should be shaped like a stirrup.\nSisko: You know, I never knew how much this man's voice annoyed me.\nJake: I can reach, but I can't get hold of it.\nO'Brien: You have to pull the handle down, Jake. It's the release for the hatch.\nJake: I'm trying, I can't\nSisko: Don't tense up, relax. Now just take a deep breath and try again.\nDukat: I'm sorry, but your time has run out. I was hoping you would be reasonable. Rest assured that your deaths will serve as an example to prevent similar incidents in the future.\nJake: I got it.\nKira: Dax.\nDax: Maybe if we bypass the primary command pathway and cross-connect the backup with the ODN.\nComputer: Warning. Workers have escaped from Ore Processing unit five. Initiating stationwide counterinsurgency program.\nBashir: Now what?\nDukat: Attention, Bajoran workers. I will not allow this rebellion to succeed. If you do not surrender immediately, I will be forced to kill every Bajoran on this station.\nJake: Wait a second, I found something.\nSisko: What is it?\nJake: I don't know. Some kind of room. It sure is dirty. Doesn't smell too good either.\nSisko: Looks like some kind of loading bay.\nO'Brien: You're right. This is where the uridium ore was separated from the rock. Then it would be dumped down that chute to the processing facility.\nSisko: Locked. Chief, is there another way out of here?\nO'Brien: Just back down that chute. You know where that leads to.\nSisko: Sisko to Ops. Sisko to Security. Try yours.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Ops.\nJake: Jake Sisko to anyone who can hear me.\nO'Brien: Something must be interfering with the signal.\nJake: What do we do now?\nDax: It's no good. We're completely cut off from the rest of the station.\nBashir: There must be some kind of general dampening field in place. It must be disrupting communications.\nKira: All right. It's time for a less subtle approach.\nKira: Doctor.\nBashir: The Cardassians don't miss a trick, do they?\nDax: The ironic thing is that field is probably there to protect Ops from the hoards of rebelling Bajorans.\nKira: Well we've got to find a way of disabling the security program or a lot of people are going to be killed.\nDax: If we can regain control of the main computer, we may be able to wipe the security program from its memory. Now, if I can reroute the APT relay through the secondary buffer, I might get an independent terminal working.\nBashir: You know, I've been here nearly three years and I was just finally starting to think of this place as home.\nKira: Your home was built by Cardassians, Doctor. Don't ever forget that.\nBashir: No, there's not much chance of that, is there.\nQuark: What do you mean, we're trapped?\nOdo: I mean we're trapped. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire station is locked down.\nQuark: But you're a shape-shifter. Excuse me, a changeling. So change into something and get us out of here.\nOdo: This forcefield isn't just protecting the door, it goes through the bulkheads, the ceiling, the deck. There's nowhere for me to go.\nQuark: You're telling me I'm stuck here with you?\nOdo: No, I'm stuck here with you. Believe me, a far worse fate. And stay away from my computer.\nSisko: Again. Okay, hold on.\nJake: Anything?\nO'Brien: Not even a dent.\nSisko: There has to be something else we can do. What about all this ore? As I understand it, uridium's very unstable.\nO'Brien: That's true, but in it's raw form you'd need a strong electrical charge to detonate it.\nSisko: Can we use that?\nO'Brien: If I had some tools, I might be able to get in there and yank out some electrical cable.\nSisko: Tools.\nKira: How's it coming?\nDax: Almost done.\nBashir: Jadzia!\nBashir: Get me a medkit. Easy, Jadzia. I have to take a look.\nDax: I was reaching toward the ODN conduit and a small forcefield went off and it caught my hands.\nBashir: They're second degree burns but I don't think there's any neural damage. This should relieve the pain.\nComputer: Warning, security in the Operations Center has been compromised. Initiating counterinsurgency program level two.\nDukat: Attention, Bajoran workers. Your failure to surrender is forcing me to take stronger measures. In five minutes, we will begin pumping neurocine gas into the habitat ring. Think of your families as you consider your course of action. All Cardassian personnel should evacuate the area immediately.\nKira: Habitat ring. There have to be hundreds of people trapped in their quarters out there.\nGarak: I believe that's the point, Major. Computer, access code Garak one three five nine.\nGarak: Ironic isn't it? The only place in the galaxy that still recognizes my access code is a Bajoran space station.\nKira: If you can get past the forcefields, you've got to get out to the habitat ring and start evacuating those people before\nGarak: I'd like nothing better than to help my loyal customers, but it's not that simple. My access code enables me to move about the station, but unfortunately, as you've just seen, the forcefields reappear the moment I pass through a doorway.\nBashir: Have you tried using your code to shut down the security program?\nGarak: Several times, but for some reason I can't begin to fathom, Gul Dukat chose not to trust me with his top level security codes during the occupation.\nBashir: Garak, do you know a way we can stop this neurocine gas?\nGarak: The only way to do that is to destroy the life support system.\nKira: What are you trying to do, Garak? Get us all killed?\nBashir: No, wait a minute. He's right. The neurocine gas is released through the life support system. Destroy it and we save everyone in the habitat ring.\nDax: For twelve hours. And then everyone on the station will suffocate when we run out of oxygen.\nBashir: Well, that gives us twelve hours to regain control of this station.\nGarak: Believe me, Major, it's the only way to save those people. I believe life support is controlled from over there.\nKira: Get down.\nComputer: Warning. Counterinsurgency program level two has been interrupted. Initiating counterinsurgency program level three.\nDukat: My fellow Cardassians I regret to inform you that Bajoran workers have gained control of this station.\nDukat: In all likelihood, I am dead or otherwise incapacitated\nDukat: But rest assured, this station will not be allowed to remain in Bajoran hands. However, it is my duty to inform you\nDukat: That if you do not regain control within two hours, the station will be destroyed.\nComputer: Self-destruct sequence initiated.\nQuark: Come on. Come on!\nOdo: Give me that before you hurt yourself. I checked the entire security complex. There's no way out.\nQuark: I should've listened to my father. He always warned me this was going to happen.\nOdo: What? That you'd spend your final hours in jail? I could've told you that.\nQuark: No. He warned me never to leave home. He said there were plenty of business opportunities right outside my door. But no, I had to follow the seventy fifth Rule of Acquisition. Home is where the heart is but the stars are made of latinum. A lifetime of scheming and plotting, wheeling and dealing, and what has it got me? One measly little bar. My uncle Frin owns thirty and my cousin Gaila\nOdo: I know. He owns a moon.\nQuark: I told you that?\nOdo: Many times.\nQuark: It's a small moon, but it's enough to live on.\nOdo: Oh, come on, Quark, you've done all right for yourself.\nQuark: Oh, what do you know?\nOdo: Quark, I've met a lot of Ferengis in my time and the truth is, although some of them may have been more wealthy, I've never met one more devious.\nQuark: Really?\nOdo: Would I lie?\nQuark: I guess not. Thank you, Odo. That means a lot to me. Now, can I have the phaser back?\nOdo: No.\nBashir: How do your hands feel?\nDax: A little better\nBashir: Good. I wish I could have done more, but I won't be able to repair the damaged tissue until we can get you to the Infirmary.\nKira: Any luck?\nGarak: Plenty, Major. Unfortunately, all of it bad. My personal code can activate any terminal on the station. However, that's the extent of my access. All I can do is just look around. I can tell you exactly what's going on, but I can't do anything about it. As far as I can see, the only person who can disable the security program is Gul Dukat.\nDax: Maybe there's a way to fool the computer into thinking that you are Gul Dukat. You could try rewriting your code to match his.\nGarak: Even if I could, it wouldn't do any good. If I were to input his code, the computer would scan my DNA pattern to determine if I really were Dukat.\nDax: But what if we disabled the sensors in Ops so that the computer couldn't scan you?\nGarak: What a creative idea. It certainly is worth a try.\nBashir: The question is, can we diskonnect the sensors without getting anyone else hurt.\nKira: We're just going to have to take that chance.\nDax: We could switch the sensor input from the primary scanners to the backup scanners. The computer shouldn't see that as a threat, but it'll blind the system for a few seconds while we make the changeover.\nGarak: If it works, a few seconds are all I'll need.\nDax: Major, I'm going to need a hand.\nGarak: Tell me, Doctor, what is it exactly about this situation that's making you smile?\nBashir: You, Garak. Just wondering how many other tailors can rewrite Cardassian security protocols?\nGarak: I wouldn't even venture a guess. Which reminds me, those pants you wanted altered are ready to be picked up. Oh, this is a problem.\nBashir: What's wrong?\nGarak: I always suspected that Dukat was a little paranoid. He's left a rather large number of interrogative subroutines imbedded in his access code.\nBashir: Meaning what?\nGarak: Meaning the computer is constantly challenging to prove I am who I say I am. Lieutenant, how much long before you can disable those sensors?\nDax: At least another ten minutes.\nGarak: I'm not sure we have that much time. In fact, I'm sure we don't.\nComputer: Warning. Unauthorized use of command code. Initiating counterinsurgency program level four. (The replicator builds a weapon and starts firing energy beams. A red-shouldered extra is vaporised.)\nSisko: On three. One, two, three.\nJake: You did it.\nO'Brien: Okay we have the power cable. Now we need to pack the uridium around the door.\nKira: My phaser's on the Ops table. Can anyone get to it?\nBashir: The answer, Major, is no.\nKira: Well, we can't stay here and do nothing.\nGarak: I respectfully disagree, Major. Nothing is about all we can do.\nDukat: Let me guess. Someone tried to duplicate my access code.\nKira: Dukat, what the hell are you doing here?\nDukat: A short time ago, I had a very strange experience. There I was, patrolling the Demilitarized zone, when I received a distress signal from me. Or at least a recording of me. It seems the Bajoran workers were rioting on Terok Nor. I must admit, it piqued my curiosity. I see the auto-destruct program has begun. Well, well, well. You are in trouble. Where's Commander Sisko? I trust he wasn't vaporized while asking for one of those raktajinos he's so fond of.\nDax: No. Last we heard, he was trapped in the ore processing unit.\nDukat: Hmm. I wish him well.\nBashir: Well, can you help us or not?\nDukat: Oh, most certainly. All I have to do is enter my command code and shut the program.\nKira: Then do it!\nDukat: All in good time, Major Kira. All in good time. But first, there are a few things we should discuss. Red leaf tea, please.\nDukat: Doctor.\nKira: What do you want, Dukat?\nDukat: You'll find I don't react well to that tone of voice, Major. Garak, groveling in a corner. That alone makes my trip worthwhile.\nBashir: Garak!\nGarak: Easy, Doctor. It would appear that the computer is only targeting non-Cardassians.\nDukat: If you had been on the station when I designed this program, I would have made an exception in your case.\nGarak: Well, you've always been shortsighted. It's held you back over the years. As I recall, your father had the same flaw.\nDukat: My father's only flaw was trusting you.\nGarak: Funny, at his trial your father said his biggest flaw was that his ambition outweighed his patriotism.\nKira: Maybe you two could settle this at another time!\nDukat: You're right, Major. Oh, believe me, Garak, that time is coming. Major, why don't you join me in the Commander's office where we can talk in private. Oh. I forgot. The replicator. Well, it's the least I can do.\nDukat: You can all rise now. You're safe, for the moment. Major.\nDukat: I know time is of the essence, Major, so I'll be brief. I think it is time to re-establish a permanent Cardassian presence aboard this station. Nothing too elaborate, mind you. A garrison would suffice. I can deploy troops from my ship immediately. And in return, I'll solve your current dilemma.\nKira: You know I'm never going to agree to that.\nDukat: I'm not sure you have much of a choice, do you?\nKira: Dukat, you and I both know neither Bajor nor the Federation will ever honor an agreement negotiated under a death threat.\nDukat: I don't expect them to be happy about it, but once my troops are in place I think you'll find it very difficult to get them to leave.\nKira: Well let me put this another way. I will destroy this station before I ever give it back to the Cardassians.\nDukat: Yes, I'm sure you would. But would you allow two thousand people aboard this station to die simply because you don't like us? Well, there's no need to decide just yet. We still have a little time left. Thirty minutes, in fact. Why don't I return to my ship so that you'll have time to think about it.\nDukat: I'll be back in say, twenty five minutes. Dukat. One to transport. Energize. Energize.\nKell: Dukat, if you are seeing this recording, it means you tried to abandon your post while the station's self-destruct sequence was engaged. That will not be permitted.\nDukat: This is outrageous.\nKell: You have lost control of Terok Nor, disgracing yourself and Cardassia. Your attempt to escape is no doubt a final act of cowardice. All fail-safes have been eliminated. Your personal access codes have been rescinded. The destruct sequence can no longer be halted. All you can do now is contemplate the depth of your disgrace and try to die like a Cardassian.\nDukat: Computer, abort the self-destruct sequence. This is a priority one override. Clearance level nine. Authorisation Dukat five one one six green.\nComputer: Request denied. All authorisation codes are void. Time to self-destruct, twenty-five minutes.\nGarak: Even your own computer program turns against you. I always knew your shortsightedness would be your downfall.\nDukat: I don't see you coming up with any ideas, tailor.\nKira: Look, if you two are finished with the insults, we could use some help here. Now, what can you tell us about the self-destruct sequence?\nDukat: It's very simple. When the countdown is completed, the computer will order the main fusion reactor to disengage the reaction stabilizers, causing it to overload, destroying the station.\nDax: What about the reactor? Is there any way to shut it down?\nDukat: It may be possible to manually disengage the laser fusion initiator, but in order to do that we have to be in the reactor room.\nDax: Not necessarily. We can disengage the initiator from one of the control junctions on level thirty four.\nBashir: But now that the computer's wiped out the access codes, not even a Cardassian can get out of this room.\nKira: Well then, maybe we should concentrate on trying to eliminate the forcefield protecting the door.\nDax: We don't have time to eliminate every forcefield between here and level thirty four. What we need to do is find a way to deactivate all the forcefields on the station at the same time.\nO'Brien: Okay, that should do it. If we use much more we run the risk of bringing the whole room down around our ears.\nSisko: All right, we'd better take cover.\nO'Brien: Would you like to do the honors, sir?\nSisko: Keep your heads down.\nJake: It worked!\nDukat: I set up this program, and I assure you, Major, I will find a way to defeat it. There's no dilemma that cannot be solved by a diskiplined, Cardassian mind.\nGarak: It's not going to work, you know.\nDukat: What are you babbling about now?\nGarak: I'm talking about Major Kira\nKira: What about her?\nGarak: She's much too busy trying to save this station to be impressed with your incessant posturing.\nDukat: Garak!\nGarak: And even if she weren't, she has much better taste than to be attracted to you. And you, a married man\nDukat: I should've had you executed years ago.\nGarak: You tried, remember?\nBashir: Garak, this isn't helping.\nDax: Wait a minute. What about the power supply grid? If we could overload the grid, we might be able to cause a power surge and short out all the forcefields on the station.\nKira: It might even be enough to eliminate the dampening field that's been keeping us from using our communicators.\nDukat: Tell me something, Major. The Cardassian neutralization emitters that were under here. I assume you deactivated them when you control of the station?\nKira: That's right. We prefer our containment fields to be non-lethal.\nDukat: But are the emitters still in place?\nKira: As far as I know.\nDukat: Excellent. That means they have not been affected by the counterinsurgency program. That means we still have control of them.\nDax: Then if we can get the emitters back online, we can use them to overload the power grid.\nDukat: Exactly.\nKira: Do you think it'll be enough to eliminate the forcefields?\nDax: Unfortunately, we'll lose the turbolifts and the transporters, but they aren't much use to us right now anyway.\nKira: Let's give it a try.\nSisko: Anything?\nO'Brien: I only got a couple hundred meters and I was stopped by a forcefield. How about you?\nJake: We didn't even get that far.\nO'Brien: There's got to be some way up to Ops.\nSisko: The turbolift shaft. We can climb it all the way to Ops. Let's see if we can get these doors open.\nKira: Dukat, we're running out of time.\nDukat: I'm almost done. I've got the emitters wired into the control panel. Now all I have to do is reattach them to the power grid like so. All right, I'm ready.\nDax: Brace yourselves.\nKira: Kira to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead Major.\nKira: Commander, am I glad to hear you. What's you location?\nSisko: Level twenty nine section D. What's your status in Ops?\nKira: We've got about ten minutes before the main reactor core\nKira: Overloads and destroys the station. The only way to stop it is to disengage\nKira: The laser fusion initiator at one of the control junctions on level thirty four.\nKira: But the turbolifts and transporters are offline.\nO'Brien: They'll never get there in time.\nSisko: But we might. Major, Mister O'Brien and I will handle the reactor. You begin evacuating the station.\nSisko: Get as many people as you can to the Defiant and the runabouts.\nKira: Understood. Good luck.\nSisko: Jake, I want you to head for runabout pad C.\nJake: It's too far. I'll never make it.\nSisko: Listen to me, Jake.\nJake: I'm going with you.\nSisko: All right. Let's go.\nComputer: Warning. Main fusion reactors will overload in seven minutes.\nQuark: Tell me something I don't already know.\nKira: Kira to Odo.\nOdo: Go ahead, Major.\nKira: We're beginning evacuation procedures. The forcefields have been deactivated and all the doors on the station should be operable.\nOdo: All except one. It seems the forcefield around my office are still in operation.\nKira: I'll send a work team down immediately.\nComputer: Warning, main fusion reactors will overload in six minutes.\nQuark: Are you telling me we're the only ones still locked in?\nOdo: This forcefield must be on a separate system from the others.\nQuark: But why go to so much trouble to keep people out of the Security office?\nOdo: It's not to keep people out, it's to keep me in. I suppose during the occupation the Cardassians considered their security chief a security risk.\nQuark: And I know why.\nOdo: Oh, do you?\nQuark: It's because they knew you were an honorable man. The kind of person who would do the right thing regardless of the circumstances. And now your integrity is going to get us both killed. I hope you're happy.\nComputer: Warning. Main fusion reactors will overload in five minutes.\nSisko: Chief, did you ever finish those upgrades on the deflector shields?\nO'Brien: Yeah, why?\nSisko: We may not have time to disengage the fusion initiator. What if we directed the explosion into the shields?\nO'Brien: That's not a bad idea. The shields are the only thing on the station that can absorb that much energy.\nO'Brien: That power surge we felt must've blown out one of the plasma conduits. The corridor's completely blocked for the next fifty meters.\nJake: Can't we get around it?\nSisko: We don't have time.\nO'Brien: There might be a way. There's a maintenance conduit adjacent to this corridor. If it's not blocked, we might be able to get around the debris and get to the reactor control junction. Give me a hand.\nO'Brien: I can feel heat through the door.\nSisko: What's wrong?\nO'Brien: See for yourself.\nComputer: Warning. Main fusion reactors will overload in three minutes.\nSisko: I want you to wait here.\nJake: But\nSisko: I mean it this time.\nSisko: I'll go first. Follow five meters behind me. If one of us runs into trouble in here\nO'Brien: I know, I know. The other one keeps on going.\nSisko: O'Brien!\nComputer: Warning. Main fusion reactors will overload in ninety seconds.\nSisko: Sisko to O'Brien.\nSisko: Chief, can you hear me?\nSisko: Chief, answer me.\nComputer: Warning. Main fusion reactors will overload in sixty seconds.\nComputer: Warning. Main fusion reactors will overload in thirty seconds.\nO'Brien: Jake, I thought your father told you to stay out of there.\nJake: If you don't tell him, I won't.\nComputer: Warning. Main fusion reactor overload.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Sisko.\nSisko: Chief, you're all right?\nO'Brien: Yeah, looks like we all are.\nOdo: It's about time. All right, Quark. You can leave now.\nQuark: A self-important con artist who's nowhere near as clever as he thinks he is. That's your official security evaluation of me?\nOdo: Quark, I told you to stay away from the computer.\nQuark: Two hours ago you told me I was the most devious Ferengi you ever met.\nOdo: I thought we were going to die. I was trying to be nice.\nQuark: Name one Ferengi who's more devious than I am.\nOdo: The Grand Nagus.\nQuark: All right, name another.\nOdo: DaiMon Tye.\nQuark: One you personally know.\nOdo: Your brother, Rom.\nQuark: My brother?\nOdo: Your uncle Frin, your cousin Gaila.\nQuark: Gaila? The one with the moon?"}
{"text": "Odo: Too hot?\nKira: A little.\nOdo: Why don't you specify a lower temperature?\nKira: No, no, no. Coffee should be a little too hot to drink right away.\nOdo: Why?\nKira: It slows down the experience, gives you time to savor the taste.\nOdo: Ah, yes, taste.\nKira: Odo, I know you don't need to eat but did you ever try anyway?\nOdo: Once, not long after I was first able to assume the humanoid form.\nKira: And?\nOdo: And since I don't have taste buds, it was very unsatisfying. Not to mention messy.\nKira: Messy?\nOdo: I'd rather not talk about it.\nTiron: Major Kira, how nice to see you again.\nKira: Tiron.\nTiron: You left Quark's last night just when I was about to buy everyone another round. I was devastated that you didn't say goodbye. We were having such a pleasant conversation.\nKira: As I recall, you were the one doing all the talking.\nTiron: Well in that case you have me at a disadvantage. You know all about me, and I know next to nothing about you.\nOdo: Er, perhaps I should be going.\nKira: Oh, no. Stay. This is Tiron, a business associate of Quark's. This is Odo, my lover.\nTiron: Well, you're a very lucky man.\nKira: I'm a lucky woman.\nOdo: Yes, we're both very lucky.\nTiron: And you make a most interesting couple. So, Mister Odo, what is it that you do?\nOdo: I'm Chief of Security on this station.\nTiron: Oh. A station this size, it must be a very challenging job. I hope you're well compensated?\nKira: Oh, money doesn't matter. All we need is each other. Isn't that right, sweetheart?\nOdo: Yes, sweetheart.\nKira: You see? Money isn't everything.\nTiron: Oh no. But it can buy everything. Well, I'm afraid I must be going. Goodbye.\nKira: Oh, good riddance. Thank you, Odo. I wish you'd been around last night. I'd better get back to Ops. See you later, sweetheart. Commander's log, stardate 48423.2. Despite the continuing threat posed by the Dominion, I've convinced Starfleet that we must continue our exploration of the Gamma Quadrant.\nBashir: I've run a preliminary analysis of our sensor sweeps, and the second planet in the Kylata system is definitely M-class.\nDax: I wish we'd had time to beam down to the surface and take a closer look.\nO'Brien: I'd hate to have run into a Jem'Hadar patrol while we were down there picking flowers.\nSisko: Fortunately there's no sign of any Dominion activity in this sector.\nBashir: Let's hope it stays that way.\nDax: I'm picking up very unusual gravimetric distortions in the Trialus system.\nSisko: Any idea what's causing them?\nDax: It's hard to tell at this range.\nSisko: Let's take a closer look.\nO'Brien: The system's coming into visual range.\nSisko: On screen.\nDax: The gravimetric distortions are intensifying but they don't seem to be coming from the star itself.\nO'Brien: Where else could they be coming from? There aren't any planets in this system.\nDax: There are now\nDax: The planet seems to have settled into a stable orbit.\nBashir: Where did it come from?\nSisko: Could the entire planet have been cloaked?\nO'Brien: If it was, there should be residual ionization traces but I'm not reading any.\nDax: Commander, we're being scanned. The beam is coming from a settlement on the southern hemisphere. I'm reading approximately thirty humanoid inhabitants. They seem to be the only humanoids on the planet.\nO'Brien: They're hailing us.\nSisko: Open a channel. I'm Commander Benjamin Sisko of the Federation Starbase Deep Space Nine.\nSeltin: I am Seltin Rakal of Meridian.\nSisko: We were studying this star system when your planet appeared.\nSeltin: I expect it must have come as something of a surprise.\nSisko: Well, you could say that. It seemed to come out of nowhere.\nSeltin: Not nowhere, Commander, but a dimension that intersects with this one. I could explain more in detail, if you're interested. We were just about to sit down for First Meal. Why don't you join us?\nSisko: We'd like that. I just need to know your planet is not going to disappear in the middle of dessert.\nSeltin: Don't worry. We'll be here for a while.\nSeltin: It's good to be together again around this table after so long. What's more, we're fortunate to have visitors to share First Meal with us.\nDeral: I was admiring your markings. Are they decorative?\nDax: No. Are yours?\nDeral: No. If you don't mind my asking, how far down do they go?\nDax: All the way.\nSeltin: You're not eating, Commander.\nSisko: I guess my curiosity is bigger than my appetite.\nSeltin: I hope we can satisfy both.\nSisko: Well, you were saying Meridian emerged from a dimension that intersects with this one?\nSeltin: Yes. You see, our planet has a dual existence. It shifts between this dimension and another.\nDax: What causes these shifts?\nSeltin: Well we're not entirely sure. Deral has been studying the phenomenon.\nDeral: With only limited success, I'm afraid. My theory is that the dimensional shifts are caused by fluctuations in Meridian's quantum matrix. Fluctuations that are somehow triggered by our own sun.\nBashir: What's it like, this dimension of yours?\nSeltin: It's hard to explain. It's without form. We exist as pure consciousness\nSisko: And Meridian?\nSeltin: It becomes non-corporeal as well, but when we return to this dimension, everything is just as we left it. The buildings, the trees, even our bodies.\nO'Brien: Are you saying that when you return here, it's as if no time has passed?\nSeltin: We only age when we're in corporeal form.\nBashir: Sounds like this other dimension has its advantages.\nDeral: Yes, but we always look forward to this existence and its many pleasures. Here, let me help you with that.\nDeral: The trick is to scoop out the pulp and eat the thin layer inside the rind. Here, try some.\nDax: It's delicious.\nDeral: Especially if you've been looking forward to it for sixty years.\nDax: Sixty years?\nO'Brien: That's a long time between meals.\nTiron: A glass of Andorian ale.\nQuark: Done so soon? You were barely in the holosuite ten minutes.\nTiron: There was no reason for me to stay the full hour.\nQuark: I understand. It's a very effective program.\nTiron: On the contrary. I found it quite dull. Boring, boring, boring.\nQuark: I'm sorry to hear you say that, but if you're asking for a refund, forget it. The contract specifically says that satisfaction is not guaranteed. But for a valued customer such as yourself, I'll make an exception and allow you try a different program. No extra charge. Let's see. Something a little bit more unique. Oh, I have just the thing. A picnic with the Pleasure Goddess of Rixx. I can even provide real food for a small fee, of course.\nTiron: I don't like picnics, Quark, and the food here is abominable.\nQuark: Forget the food. Believe me, you've never had a picnic like this one.\nTiron: What I want is not in your catalog.\nQuark: Well, tell me what it is and I'll order it for you. It may take some time, but if it exists I'll get it.\nTiron: That's just the point, Quark. The program I want doesn't exist. Not yet, anyway.\nQuark: A custom program? It'll be expensive.\nQuark: For that kind of money you can move into a holosuite. Now, what is it you want?\nTiron: I want Major Kira.\nQuark: Kira? What are you going to do with Kira in a holosuite? No, don't tell me. I don't want to know.\nTiron: Can you do it?\nQuark: It isn't going to be easy. I'd have to get her into the holosuite and record her image, and she hates holosuites.\nTiron: Spare me the details. Do we have a deal, or do I take my business elsewhere?\nQuark: Consider it done. Now I'll just keep this\nTiron: Payment on delivery, and not a moment sooner. Don't disappoint me, Quark. When I walk into that holosuite and I see Kira standing there, I'd better believe it's really her.\nQuark: Leave it to me. The things I do for money.\nDeral: Just beyond that forest there's a garden with a small pond.\nDax: It sounds lovely.\nDeral: It is.\nDax: Deral, our scans showed that there are only about thirty of you on this entire planet\nDeral: There were never many of us. We're the descendants of an expedition that was stranded here millennia ago.\nDax: And your population hasn't increased since then?\nDeral: It did for a time, but over the last few centuries our numbers have dwindled. You see, we only reproduce when we're in humanoid form, and our time here keeps growing shorter. In twelve days, Meridian will shift back to its non-corporeal state.\nDax: And remain there for the next sixty years.\nDeral: Eventually we will only be here for a matter of minutes. When that happens Meridian will too unstable to successfully shift back to the other dimension.\nDax: And then what happens?\nDeral: The planet and all its inhabitants will cease to exist in either dimension.\nSeltin: We deeply appreciate your offer of help, Commander.\nSisko: If there is a way to stabilize the dimensional shifts, we'll do everything we can to find it.\nSeltin: That's all we can ask.\nSisko: Here you go.\nLito: Do you want to play vajhaq with us?\nSisko: Maybe later.\nDax: Deral and I are beaming up to the Defiant. We're going to run a series of helio-seismic scans on Meridian's sun.\nSisko: I'll join you.\nSeltin: Good luck.\nKira: Quark, I got a message that Morn wanted to see me.\nQuark: I'm afraid you just missed him.\nQuark: Really? So soon? Would you come with me, please. Listen up, everyone! I have wonderful news! It's my pleasure to announce that my one millionth customer just walked through the doors and here she is. Ladies and gentlemen, Major Kira Nerys!\nKira: Quark, I don't have time for this.\nKira: Why don't you make him your one millionth customer.\nQuark: Major, that would be dishonest.\nKira: That never stopped you before.\nQuark: This is a special occasion. An event like this only happens once in a bar owner's lifetime. Let me tell you about your prizes.\nKira: You mean I won something?\nQuark: Of course you won something, it's part of the celebration.\nKira: I've never won anything before.\nQuark: Well, now you have. Congratulations.\nKira: Are you really serious about this.\nQuark: My customers are my livelihood, Major. This is a chance for me to give something back to them. Now, let's see what we have for you. A bottle of Kandora champagne, vintage twenty three sixty eight. That's a very good year. These are good for five free spins at the dabo wheel and last but not least, one free hour in a holosuite with the program of your choice.\nKira: A visit to a holosuite?\nQuark: Offer good today only.\nKira: That's perfect.\nQuark: Right this way.\nKira: It's Ensign Quintana's birthday. He'd love a free trip to the holosuite.\nQuark: But, Major, what about you?\nKira: Oh, you know how I feel about the holosuites, Quark. But thanks for the champagne.\nDax: These are the Defiant's sensor readings from when we first entered this system. Take a look at the spectral scan.\nSisko: It indicates that your sun was giving off modulated gamma bursts right before Meridian appeared.\nDeral: My people have no record of that phenomenon.\nSisko: That's not surprising, since Meridian was in a non-corporeal state when it occurred.\nDax: Gamma activity would seem to indicate an anomaly in your sun's fusion cycle.\nSisko: Let's find out for sure. Chief, I want you to send a probe into the sun's corona to scan the core.\nO'Brien: It'll take a minute to modify its shield configuration.\nDax: How do modulated gamma bursts cause a dimensional shift?\nDeral: Do you always do that when you're concentrating?\nDax: Do what?\nDeral: Bite your lower lip.\nDax: I guess I do.\nO'Brien: The probe's ready, Commander.\nSisko: Target it to these coordinates and launch.\nO'Brien: Shields are holding.\nDax: It's going to be a while before the probe starts sending back any telemetry.\nDeral: Well, I'm sure you have things you need to do.\nDax: Not really.\nDeral: What a coincidence. Neither do I.\nDeral: This isn't turning out exactly the way I'd planned.\nDax: What do you mean?\nDeral: You've barely said a word since we left the settlement.\nDax: I don't know if you noticed or not, but Seltin didn't seem too happy to see us leave together.\nDeral: She'd probably prefer if I was walking with Keshara or Renar. You see, ever since my wife died everyone's been wondering when I was going to find myself another companion.\nDax: Why haven't you?\nDeral: I guess I was waiting for the right woman to fall out of the sky.\nDax: That doesn't happen too often.\nDeral: It only had to happen once. Don't worry about Seltin. After all, we both know this is just a harmless little walk.\nDax: Absolutely.\nDeral: With a brief stop to climb a tree. Come on. Don't tell me that in eight lifetimes you've never climbed a tree?\nDax: That's how I know I'm afraid of heights.\nDeral: Well don't worry, I won't let you fall.\nDeral: This is one of my favorite views.\nDax: It's hard to believe that it might all be gone in two weeks.\nDeral: I hope not.\nDax: So do I.\nDax: We'd better climb down.\nDax: It's as beautiful as you described.\nDeral: I knew you'd like it.\nDeral: Try one.\nDax: Mmm. It's wonderful.\nDeral: I knew you'd like that too.\nDax: You know me pretty well for someone who just met me.\nDeral: I'm glad you noticed.\nDax: I can't remember the last time I did this. Stroll through a garden, climb a tree, eat fresh berries by a pond. What comes next?\nDax: I think I'm starting to remember.\nDax: How are the calculations coming?\nDeral: I'm checking them now. They're the same as before. There's nothing to indicate the gamma bursts are causing the quantum fluctuations.\nDax: Then something else must be triggering the dimensional shifts. Whatever it is, we'll find it.\nSisko: Sisko to Dax.\nDax: Go ahead, Commander.\nSisko: Good news. We've been able to get the probe down another thousand kilometers\nSisko: Into the sun's corona.\nO'Brien: We picked up some additional telemetry. I'll download it to you.\nDax: Thank you, Chief.\nSisko: If all that fresh air and sunshine start getting to you, you're welcome to come back up here to the Defiant.\nDax: We're managing just fine.\nSisko: I'm sure you are. Sisko out.\nDax: Don't you want to take a look at the new telemetry?\nDeral: I'd rather sit here and look at you.\nDax: How about this? We work for a few more hours and then we go back to your room and count each other's spots.\nDeral: Can I go first?\nDax: We'll see.\nDax: Take a look at the fusion reactants in the core.\nDeral: They're out of balance.\nDax: That's right, and the imbalance is building toward a cascade reaction on the quantum level. That's what's triggering the dimensional shifts.\nDeral: Now if we can stabilize that reaction.\nDax: We can keep Meridian here longer.\nDeral: Oh, Jadzia.\nDax: I've got to get this to Commander Sisko and Chief O'Brien. And then we can count each other's spots.\nQuark: Odo, move out of there. You're ruining my shot.\nKira: Odo?\nOdo: Oh, Major. Why is Quark trying to take a holo-picture of you?\nKira: Looks to me like he's pointing it at both of us.\nOdo: True, but every time I stand in front of you he seems to get very upset.\nQuark: Where are you going? Uh-oh\nKira: What do you think you're doing, Quark?\nQuark: Nothing.\nKira: Then what's this?\nQuark: Oh, you mean this holo-imager? I was just recording an image of the Promenade to send home to my mother.\nOdo: Ha!\nKira: You're trying to take a holo-scan of me and I want to know why.\nQuark: Of you? Not at all. You just happened to get in the frame.\nOdo: Ha!\nQuark: Will you stop doing that?\nOdo: Not until you start telling the truth.\nQuark: You want the truth? I'll tell you the truth. I was trying to get an image of you for a special holosuite program I'm designing.\nOdo: Oh, I can just imagine what kind of program that would be.\nQuark: I'm sure you can, but you'd be mistaken. The fact is, I'm working on a simulation of the station's Operations Center. People want to know what goes on up there, and they want to imagine themselves fending off a Cardassian attack, or facing a fleet of Jem'Hadar ships.\nOdo: Naked, I assume.\nQuark: Isn't there some petty thief you can harass?\nOdo: Just you.\nQuark: What do you say, Major? Give the public what they want. They're not asking for much. Just the chance to work side-by-side with you.\nKira: They want to work with me? Then let them apply to the Bajoran Military Academy. That way I can be sure everyone in Ops will be wearing their uniform.\nQuark: Is that a no?\nKira: Let me put it another way. If I ever catch you pointing a holo-imager at me again, you will end up eating it.\nQuark: Definitely a no.\nDeral: Jadzia.\nDax: I've been looking for you.\nDeral: You've found me.\nDax: I have. Good news. It's going to work. We'll be able to equalize the time between dimensional shifts.\nDeral: Oh Jadzia, that's wonderful. Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to build a house right here. Nothing extravagant, just big enough for two.\nDax: Deral, I\nDeral: I know what you're thinking. You're thinking this man who just met me is talking about building a home for us. I realize you have a life on Deep Space Nine, but now you'll have a place here as well, for when you visit.\nDax: I won't be able to visit for a while. It's going to take a long time to stabilize the sun's cascade reaction.\nDeral: How long? Meridian is going to shift in five days. Jadzia?\nDax: We'll see each other again.\nDeral: In sixty years. I want you with me now.\nDax: That's what I want too, but there's nothing we can do.\nDeral: Yes, there is. I can leave Meridian and go back to the Alpha Quadrant with you. If you'll have me.\nDax: What do you think?\nSeltin: Deral, we've been looking for you. Commander Sisko told us the great news. I can't thank you enough for all you've done.\nDax: I'm glad we were able to help.\nSeltin: The next time Meridian returns here, we'll have thirty years for our people to get to know each other better.\nDeral: I need to discuss something with you.\nSeltin: Of course. I've called a meeting. Now that we have a future again, we need to start planning for it. And you need to make some decisions as well.\nDeral: That's what I want to talk to you about.\nSeltin: The person you need to talk to is Keshara. She's not going to wait for you forever, you know.\nDeral: I was going to speak to her, as well.\nSeltin: I'm glad. Think of it, Deral. People can start having families again. Eventually we may have to expand the settlement. As you can see, Jadzia, we have a great deal of planning to do. Well, I think Iwe've kept the others waiting long enough. Come, lets get started.\nDax: You'd better go inside.\nDeral: I'll meet you back at the ship.\nBashir: You know, the person I feel sorry for is Quark. He always thought that you and he were made for each other. I don't suppose he'll be letting you win at tongo anymore.\nDax: What are you talking about? He doesn't let me win.\nDax: Come in. Deral!\nDeral: Well, it's done. I told Seltin and the others that I'm leaving Meridian.\nDax: What did they say?\nDeral: They asked me not to go. Seltin feels the settlement can't afford to lose anyone.\nDax: What did you tell her?\nDeral: I told her I understood her concern, but that I've made up my mind. So what were you two talking about before I interrupted? Not me, I hope?\nBashir: Actually, I was just telling Jadzia that she's not as good a tongo player as she thinks she is.\nDeral: Tongo?\nDax: It's a game. And I'm very good at it.\nBashir: Now we'll find out on Tuesday night.\nDax: And I want you there to see for yourself. I'm going to clean you and Quark out.\nDeral: Jadzia, I have to go.\nDax: But you just got here.\nDeral: There are some things I need to take care of before we leave Meridian.\nDax: Do you need any help?\nDeral: No. I just have to say goodbye to some people. I'll see you later tonight.\nQuark: Tiron, I was just thinking about you.\nTiron: And I was thinking about you, and your reputation as a man who can get anything for a price.\nQuark: Stop, you're embarrassing me.\nTiron: I'll embarrass you even more if you don't get me my program.\nQuark: Not to worry.\nTiron: Is that it?\nQuark: No. It's a high-level decryption protocol and I'm going to use it to get the final information I need for your program. It cost me dearly.\nTiron: If it works, it's worth whatever price you paid for it.\nQuark: I was hoping you'd say that. I'll put it on your bill.\nTiron: Fine. Just get me my program. I'm leaving in two days.\nQuark: You'll have it. And I assure you it'll be well worth the wait. I'll stake my reputation on it.\nTiron: You already have.\nQuark: Now, where to begin?\nKira: You wanted to see me?\nOdo: Yes. Someone has been illegally accessing the station's personnel files. Your file, to be exact.\nKira: Mine?\nOdo: They've downloaded your voiceprint, your retinal scan, even your psychiatric profile. I've managed to trace the data-path back to its source.\nKira: Well, let me guess. Quark.\nOdo: Was there any doubt?\nKira: With all this information he'd have no problem generating a holo-image of me.\nOdo: So, shall I arrest him, or would you prefer to do it yourself?\nKira: No. I have a better idea. Can you spare a few hours? I'd like to prepare a little surprise for Quark.\nDax: You see, the key to tongo is to confront when you're sure you're in a better position than the other players. And if your cards match the roll of the dice, then you win. Deral?\nDeral: Go on, I'm listening.\nDax: You haven't heard a word I've been saying, have you?\nDeral: I'm sorry. I just have so much on my mind.\nDax: You don't want to leave Meridian, do you?\nDeral: I said I would and I will.\nDax: I know what you said, but what do you want?\nDeral: To be with you.\nDax: But you're worried about your people. DERAL There are so few of us, Jadzia, and now that Meridian has a future again, they need me.\nDax: Then you have to stay.\nDeral: And lose you? No.\nDax: What if you didn't have to lose me? What if I stayed here with you?\nDeral: I wish you could but that's not possible. Your molecular structure wouldn't survive the dimensional shift.\nDax: We could use the transporter buffer to match my quantum matrix to yours.\nDeral: But how do you know that's possible?\nDax: Because I discussed it with Julian after you left my quarters.\nDeral: Jadzia. Are you sure you're willing to do that?\nDax: It's the only way we can be together and I don't want to lose you, either.\nDax: Come in. Benjamin. I was just finishing up my request to Starfleet for my leave of absence.\nSisko: I bet this is the first time anyone's ever requested a sixty year leave.\nDax: You'll be sure that it gets to them?\nSisko: If you're sure that this is what you really want.\nDax: What I really want is for you to say you're happy for me.\nSisko: I guess I just need to know that you have thought this thing through. If Curzon had told me he wanted to go off with some woman he'd just met, I would've tried to talk him out of it too.\nDax: And you would have been right. He fell in love with someone new every other week. But I'm not Curzon.\nSisko: No, and I've never seen Jadzia do anything without thinking it through first. I am happy for you. It's just I'm going to miss you, old man.\nDax: You've been my friend for two lifetimes. I can't imagine what it's going to be like not having you around. Leaving Deep Space Nine is the hardest thing I have ever done but I know it's right. Besides, after eight lifetimes as a humanoid, existing as pure consciousness might be interesting.\nSisko: Next time we see each other, I'll probably be a great grandfather.\nDax: Good. Then I can call you old man.\nSisko: I'll look forward to it.\nQuark: Now I believe we agreed I'd be paid on delivery.\nTiron: I haven't seen the merchandise yet. You know, Quark, if this program is as good as you claim, I might just purchase it from you to use at home.\nQuark: You have your own holosuite?\nTiron: Just a little present I bought myself.\nQuark: His very own holosuite. It's good to have money.\nKira: I've been waiting for you.\nTiron: Quark! I will ruin you for this, Quark.\nQuark: You mean you didn't like the program?\nTiron: I don't know how, I don't know when, but I will ruin you.\nQuark: Wait. What about my money?\nKira: Another satisfied customer, Quark?\nBashir: How do you feel?\nDax: Pretty good considering, I spent six hours having my molecule's scrambled in the transporter.\nBashir: I, er, I don't know what to say.\nDax: That's a first.\nO'Brien: According to Deral's calculations, the dimensional shift should occur within the next forty seven minutes.\nDax: Do you think you'll be done overhauling the station by the next time I see you?\nO'Brien: I doubt it.\nDax: Tell Quark I'll be back to collect the three strips of gold latinum he owes me, with sixty years interest.\nSisko: Energize.\nDeral: I was beginning to think you were having second thoughts.\nDax: No, I was just saying goodbye.\nDeral: You missed Last Meal. I saved you some of these.\nDax: Thank you.\nSeltin: Jadzia, I just wanted you to know how happy we are you've decided to join us.\nDax: Thank you.\nSeltin: Everyone's beginning to gather. It's almost time.\nDax: Is there anything I need to do to prepare?\nDeral: Not that I can think of.\nDax: What if I just hold onto you? After all, we're not going to be together again like this for a long time and I was just getting used to this.\nDeral: We'll still be together, Jadzia, in a way you can't even imagine.\nO'Brien: There she goes.\nBashir: Goodbye, Jadzia.\nDeral: Something's wrong.\nBashir: Commander, I'm reading intense seismic activity throughout the planet's crust.\nO'Brien: It'd better shift soon, or it's going to tear itself apart.\nDeral: Jadzia.\nO'Brien: Picking up some kind of singularity in the planet's quantum matrix. It's interfering with the dimensional shift.\nBashir: It's functioning almost like an anchor.\nO'Brien: Commander, it's Dax. Her presence there is destabilizing the matrix.\nSisko: Sisko to Dax.\nBashir: Get her out of there, Chief.\nSisko: I thought you'd like to know that Meridian shifted normally once we beamed you away.\nDax: Good.\nSisko: Jadzia, I'm sorry.\nDax: Benjamin, don't. There's nothing you can do. I just need some time.\nDax: Just sixty years or so."}
{"text": "Dax: Kira, we've got six Byzatium transports coming in this afternoon. I've got to have more cargo space.\nKira: All right. Have them offload into cargo bays three and four, but that's it. We are pushing our storage capacity as it is.\nO'Brien: That reminds me. We got a message last night saying the Byzallians want to move their conference up by a week.\nKira: I haven't had a chance to read through last night's reports. Is there anything else I should know?\nO'Brien: Well, er.\nKira: What?\nDax: Starfleet wants a complete report done on our computer calibration subroutine.\nKira: The whole subroutine? When?\nO'Brien: Tomorrow.\nBashir: Major, the scheduled transport's been delayed and I need those medical supplies by the end of the week.\nKira: We can't spare a runabout to go all the way to Vulcan right now.\nBashir: I'm supposed to setting up a field hospital for a new colony on Campor Three next week. If I don't have get those medical supplies, the entire colonization schedule could be set back by at least\nKira: Listen to me. You can't have a runabout, you can't get your medical supplies, and I don't give a damn about the colonization schedule. Those colonists can make do with a box of bandages for all I care.\nBashir: Stop right there, Major. When was your last day off?\nKira: I don't know. What does that have to do with anything?\nBashir: If you can't remember, then it's been too long. You're off duty as of this moment.\nKira: What do you mean, I'm off duty? You can't do that.\nBashir: Oh yes I can, And not even Commander Sisko can overrule my judgment as Chief Medical officer.\nKira: Now, wait a minute, Julian. Just because I snapped\nBashir: My diagnosis is that you're overworked, and suffering from extreme stress and borderline exhaustion. As for my prescription? Follow me.\nQuark: Karvino juice, Lorvan crackers, a holosuite program, a jumja stick and gambling tokens.\nBashir: Now, at least two of these items must be used and fully enjoyed before you can leave this facility.\nKira: Julian, I\nQuark: I'll be giving you a full report of her activities, Doctor.\nBashir: If I hear you didn't completely relax and enjoy yourself tonight, we'll do this every night until you do. Have fun.\nRiker: Looks like you've got your evening all planned. Hope you've got room for the unexpected.\nSisko: Welcome aboard, Commander.\nRiker: Thank you. Call me Will.\nSisko: What brings you to Deep Space Nine?\nRiker: Strictly pleasure. Actually, I've built up about three months of leave and Doctor Crusher finally insisted that I take some of it. She nearly shoved me out the airlock.\nSisko: DS Nine isn't exactly known as a vacation spa.\nRiker: Actually I was just passing through on my way to Risa. The last time I was here, I was only able to spend a couple of hours at Quark's, but by the time I left I had all of his latinum and a date with one of his dabo girls, so I thought I might try my luck again.\nSisko: You be careful. Quark's dabo wheel has been a little stingy recently. And one of his dabo girls is dating my son.\nRiker: In that case, maybe I better spend my time in the holosuites. It sounds safer, all the way around.\nDax: Who's in there?\nKira: What?\nDax: Who's in with Benjamin?\nKira: Oh, it's Will. Commander Will Riker from the Enterprise.\nDax: Will Riker.\nKira: You know him?\nDax: Yeah, I met him a year ago at Quark's. He's quite a dabo player. Do you know him?\nKira: Yes, a little. I met him at Quark's last night.\nDax: You met him last night and?\nKira: And we talked.\nDax: And then?\nKira: And then we talked. For three hours. No, we just talked. And yes, he's a warm, charming man, but I'm involved with someone.\nDax: Of course. So why do you keep glancing back at Sisko's office?\nSisko: If you can find the time, you have an open invitation for dinner with me and Jake.\nRiker: Thank you, I may take you up on that.\nDax: I hope you're not here for another loan. Don't tell me you've forgotten who staked you three strips of latinum when your winning streak ran dry?\nRiker: I'm sorry. Of course. Most of that night's still a blur. How've you been, Dax?\nDax: Fine.\nRiker: Well. I'd better get out of your way. I know you've all work to do. I hope I see you again. Major.\nKira: Commander.\nRiker: I'm sorry.\nKira: It's all right.\nRiker: My mind was a million light years away. I should've been paying attention to where I was going.\nKira: Are you doing some shopping?\nRiker: Actually I was just exploring the Promenade. I thought about going into Quark's, but I wasn't really in the mood. Where are you off to?\nKira: I'm just getting off duty. I was about to call it a night.\nRiker: I see. Well, goodnight.\nKira: Goodnight.\nKira: Commander, would you like a tour of the station?\nRiker: I'd love one. Where should we begin?\nKira: We can walk along the Promenade for a start. There's quite a bit to see here.\nRiker: Do you think we might get a chance to take a look at that new starship of yours? What's she called?\nKira: The Defiant.\nRiker: Yeah, the Defiant. I hear it's quite a vessel.\nKira: I'm sure that could be arranged.\nComputer: Please identify for access to USS Defiant.\nKira: Major Kira Nerys, Bajoran militia.\nComputer: Identity confirmed.\nRiker: Commander William Riker, Starfleet.\nComputer: Identity confirmed.\nKira: Chief. I didn't know there was anyone aboard tonight.\nO'Brien: Oh, I hadn't planned to. I was just getting a little extra work done on the deflector targeting arrays.\nO'Brien: Commander. I'd heard you were aboard, but I hadn't\nRiker: I have nothing to say to you, O'Brien. I think you know why.\nKira: Oh. Maybe we should come back another time.\nO'Brien: No, no, no, Major. It's all right. I was just leaving. Commander.\nKira: What was that all about?\nRiker: It's a long story. I'd rather not get into it. Let's take a look at this ship of yours.\nKira: Okay. I'll show you the tactical systems first. I think you're going to be surprised at how big a punch this little ship has.\nRiker: Running the plasma conduit through the primary phaser coupling has almost doubled your phaser power. Doesn't that cut into your warp drive efficiency?\nKira: Not at all. In fact, it's thirty percent more efficient.\nRiker: That's ingenious. I'd like to see how it's all routed through the tactical display.\nComputer: Command authorisation required.\nKira: New security procedure. Computer, release Bridge lockout. Authorisation Kira delta five four seven alpha.\nRiker: Thank you.\nSisko: What's going on?\nDax: I'm not sure but something's happened to the warp core on the Defiant. It looks like it's going to breach in fifty seven seconds.\nSisko: Anyone on board?\nDax: O'Brien was working there this morning, but I don't know if he. Incoming signal from the Defiant. It's Commander Riker.\nSisko: On screen.\nRiker: Commander Sisko, there's been an accident. One of the plasma conduits has exploded. Major Kira's been injured. We are forty five seconds from a core breach. Release the docking clamps. I will get us away from the station.\nSisko: We'll beam the two of you away as soon as you're clear.\nDax: Docking clamps released.\nRiker: I'm engaging thrusters.\nDax: Fifteen seconds.\nSisko: Lock on and beam them away, Chief.\nO'Brien: I can't get a lock. The Defiant's shields are up.\nSisko: What?\nDax: She's gone into warp. I've lost them.\nKalita: We're beyond their sensor range.\nRiker: Set course for the Badlands. Warp seven. Tamal, secure that conduit.\nTamal: Right.\nKalita: Course laid in. We'll be in the Badlands in six hours.\nKalita: You did it, Tom.\nRiker: It's not over yet.\nOdo: Nine years ago, a transporter accident created two William T. Rikers. One of them returned to his ship, the other was marooned on Nervala Four.\nSisko: The second Riker was finally diskovered two years ago. He chose to use his middle name Thomas to distinguish himself from the other Riker.\nOdo: The two men are physically identical in all respects, right down to their DNA coding. There was no way for the security computer to know that it was Thomas, not William, who boarded the Defiant.\nDukat: This is a very entertaining story, but why am I listening to it?\nSisko: We have reason to believe that Thomas Riker is a member of the Maquis.\nDukat: What?\nOdo: Thomas Riker was serving aboard the starship Gandhi. While he was there, he began to express certain political opinions. Opinions that supported the Maquis and their goals.\nDukat: Are you telling me that one of the most heavily armed warships in this quadrant is now in the hands of Maquis terrorists? Do you have any idea what kind of response this will provoke from the Central Command?\nSisko: They'll probably want to send ships into the Demilitarized zone to conduct a search. We understand that. But any entry into the zone must be a joint operation between Cardassia and the Federation.\nDukat: The Central Command will not be interested in any joint operation, Commander. They won't believe your story about transporter duplicates and security failures. They will assume that Starfleet wanted the Maquis to have the Defiant, and they will respond accordingly.\nOdo: And what does that mean, exactly?\nDukat: It means they will seize this opportunity to finally eliminate the Maquis. They'll send a fleet into that zone.\nSisko: Starfleet will cooperate in a search for the Defiant, but they will not allow the Central Command to use this as an excuse for a full-scale invasion.\nDukat: Of course not. So you will send your own fleet into the zone to protect Federation colonies. But at some point the two fleets will meet, tensions will rise, nerves will fray, and someone will make the tiniest mistake.\nSisko: And we'll have a war on our hands.\nDukat: It is a prospect I do not relish, Commander.\nSisko: Neither do we.\nOdo: That's why we need to work together to prevent it from happening.\nDukat: Unless I can bring something back to Central Command to prove your good faith and your willingness to help stop the Defiant, I don't believe anything can prevent this conflict from beginning.\nSisko: Then bring me with you. I can help you stop the Defiant and prove our good faith. I was in charge of the shipyard where the Defiant was built. I helped design it. I know her vulnerabilities and her weaknesses.\nDukat: You'll help us destroy one of your own ships?\nSisko: I want to try and disable it first.\nDukat: Oh, I'm sure you do, but you're in no position to bargain here, Commander. You want to prevent a war? You come back to Cardassia with me and you help me destroy the Defiant.\nKira: I don't care who you are or what your name is.\nRiker: I am sorry about lying to you, and I'm sorry about using you. It was an operational necessity. You were a resistance fighter. You know at certain times you do things that you're not proud of to accomplish the mission.\nKira: Well, you accomplished your mission, so now what? Everyone's going to be looking for you. The Cardassians and Starfleet. How far do you think you're going to get with this ship before they find you?\nRiker: A lot farther than people anticipate.\nKalita: Kalita to Riker. We've reached the rendezvous point.\nRiker: I'm on my way.\nKalita: The other Maquis ships just arrived.\nTamal: The rest of the team's ready.\nRiker: Lower the shields and beam them aboard.\nTamal: The Maquis ships are heading for the border, Tom.\nKalita: All defense systems online and operational. Warp power standing by.\nRiker: Lay in a course for the Cardassian border. Warp eight.\nKalita: Course already laid in.\nRiker: This ship was built to fight. I think it's time she got her chance. Engage. Commander's log, stardate 48467.3. Gul Dukat and I have arrived on Cardassia Prime. I am about to do something which goes against twenty years of Starfleet training. Help an enemy hunt down one of our own ships.\nDukat: This is where I will be conducting the search for the Defiant. From this room, I can control every Cardassian ship, outpost, and space station anywhere in our\nDukat: Ah. Commander, allow me to introduce Korinas, our observer from the Obsidian Order. Commander Sisko.\nSisko: Korinas.\nKorinas: Welcome to Cardassia Prime, Commander.\nSisko: Thank you.\nKorinas: Excuse me. Secure that console while the human is here. Anything else classified level four or above should also be secured. I'm sure you can understand that although we all respect Gul Dukat's decision to bring you here, we must take some precautions.\nSisko: Of course. I would have done the same. But then I would have been more diskreet.\nKorinas: Since you are here to provide technical expertise on the Defiant, I suggest you begin by briefing us on the ship's defensive capabilities. Please, describe for us in detail the weapon systems of the Defiant, beginning with the ship's phaser array and\nSisko: Before we discuss weaponry, there is a more urgent matter that I think you should be aware of. The Defiant is equipped with a cloaking device.\nKorinas: I wondered if you were going to share that little detail with us.\nDukat: You knew about this?\nKorinas: The Obsidian Order has known for some time about the loan of a cloaking device from the Romulans to the Federation.\nDukat: And the Order chose not to share this intelligence with the Central Command?\nKorinas: Until now, the Order had not considered this one cloak to be a threat against Cardassia.\nSisko: Under the terms of our agreement with the Romulans, the cloaking device was to be used only in the Gamma Quadrant and then only in exchange for all our intelligence reports on the Dominion.\nDukat: Well, your Lieutenant Riker isn't likely to respect that agreement with the Romulans. And there's no way to locate a ship under cloak.\nSisko: There is one possibility. The Dominion managed to penetrate the cloak by using some kind of anti-proton beam.\nDukat: Can you give us the specifications of that beam?\nSisko: Not precisely, but I can give you everything we've learned from our sensor logs. It'll give you a chance to find the Defiant before she attacks.\nKalita: We're approaching the security perimeter, Tom.\nRiker: All right, this is it. Red alert. Cloak the ship. Stand by weapons.\nTamal: Squadron Baker has arrived at their checkpoint.\nRiker: Transmit the go-ahead signal.\nKalita: We'll be in Cardassian sensor range in five minutes.\nSoldier: There is a perimeter alert in the Almatha sector.\nDukat: Put it on the main viewer. Who's commanding the outpost nearest that ship?\nSoldier: Gul Toran of the Sixth Order, and he's identified the vessel. It's the Defiant.\nDukat: Order all warships in that sector to converge on the Defiant.\nSisko: Something's wrong. Why wouldn't they be cloaked? Can you show me the sensor information on the Defiant?\nSoldier: The Defiant is attacking outpost sixty one.\nDukat: Tell Gul Toran that he has permission to pursue the Defiant into the Demilitarized zone.\nSisko: No, don't pull your ships off the border.\nDukat: Commander, you don't expect me to break off pursuit of the Defiant simply because the treaty\nSisko: That's not the Defiant. It's a decoy. They're trying to draw your patrol ships out of position. That ship's sending out a fake warp signature identical to the Defiant, but the phase variance and subspace harmonics don't match.\nDukat: Order Toran to break off pursuit. Have him redeploy his\nSoldier: Sir, another perimeter alert. Outpost forty seven has detected a cloaked ship with their anti-proton beam.\nDukat: Tell Toran to head for Outpost forty-seven!\nSoldier: The Defiant has decloaked and begun to attack the outpost. We've lost contact with outpost forty seven. Incoming message from Gul Toran. The Defiant has recloaked and it's last know heading was one four eight, mark two one five.\nDukat: It's headed directly into the heart of Cardassian territory.\nKorinas: Commander Sisko, you should be commended. I only wish we had someone with such keen tactical instincts who could have prevented this invasion of our territory.\nKalita: We're past the security perimeter, out of their sensor range.\nRiker: They're using anti-proton beams to scan for us. Adjust the cloak's resonance frequency so they can't detect us again.\nKalita: Right.\nRiker: Damage report.\nTamal: We took six hits on the port shields. There's been some minor damage to the outer hull but all systems are operational.\nRiker: Tough little ship. Set course for the shipyard at Omekla Three. We'll let that be the place\nRiker: Report.\nKalita: We've lost main power and the cloak is offline.\nTamal: It looks like two plasma conduits blew out.\nRiker: Where?\nTamal: Deck three, section fifteen. Crew quarters.\nRiker: It looks like Major Kira has been busy.\nRiker: You crossed the replicator power converter with the plasma manifold, I take it?\nKira: That's right.\nRiker: Nice work. You know I'll have that thing bypassed in thirty minutes.\nKira: At least that'll be thirty minutes that we're visible.\nRiker: Fortunately, I was able to take us into a nebula. No one's going to see us.\nKira: Thanks.\nRiker: You're lucky you only got singed. You know the whole plasma relay could've exploded.\nKira: Yeah, that was the idea.\nRiker: You've been fighting Cardassians most of your life. I know that you sympathize with what we're doing here.\nKira: I fought the Cardassians because they invaded my home. You don't live in the Demilitarized zone, you don't have family there. Why are you in this fight?\nRiker: Because people are dying in the Demilitarized zone and Starfleet isn't doing anything about it.\nKira: Taking the Defiant only raises the stakes. The Cardassians are going to send a fleet after you. They are going to kill more people hunting you down than they ever did during those border raids.\nRiker: You're assuming the Defiant is going to stay in the Demilitarized zone. Let's go to the bridge. I think we'd all feel better having you someplace we can keep an eye on you.\nSisko: Fifteen outposts have checked in. No sign of the Defiant. Twenty-six warships have scanned fourteen cubic light years of space with anti-proton beams. No Defiant. What are the possibilities? They're still under cloak and heading deeper into Cardassian space. They're laying low and waiting for some unknown reason. Dukat, are you listening to me?\nDukat: Oh, I'm sorry, Commander. I was thinking about my son's birthday.\nSisko: Really?\nDukat: Yes. Today is his eleventh birthday. I'd promised to take him to the amusement center in Lakarian City. He always wanted to go but I never have the time. I told him, this year will be different this year, Mekor. This year I will make the time.\nSisko: I've had the same experience with Jake. At that age they never understand, do they. You just hope that one day they'll look back and say, now I understand, now I know why he did that.\nDukat: When my son looks back on this day, the only thing he'll remember is that a Federation officer on a Federation ship invaded his home and kept his father away from him on his eleventh birthday. And he won't look back with understanding, he'll look back with hatred. And that's sad.\nTamal: The cloak is operating within normal parameters but the plasma conduit damage has caused a slight neutrino leak in the port nacelle. The Cardassians might be able to detect it even through the cloak.\nRiker: A chance we have to take. Lay in a course for Omekla Three. Engage at warp eight.\nKalita: Warp eight, aye sir.\nKira: Omekla Three? You're headed for the shipyard? There have to be half a dozen better targets in this sector alone.\nRiker: I hope the Cardassians have the same reaction. What is he doing, and why?\nKira: All right, you're trying to keep them off-balance, keep them guessing. Why?\nRiker: The Maquis have been hearing rumors about shifting loyalties in the Cardassian government. Certain hardline elements were unsatisfied with the Federation Treaty and are doing whatever they can to scrap it. We had our hands on an intelligence report outlining a suspected military buildup in the Orias System. A secret buildup that even the Central Command isn't aware of.\nKira: You're telling me you did all of this to attack some secret base that may or may not exist?\nRiker: I'm convinced that it does. They are building an invasion fleet. If we let them finish it, these renegade Cardassians are going to use it.\nKira: You're really not cut out for this, are you? Being a terrorist, I mean. You're not very good at it.\nRiker: Really?\nKira: You're acting more like a Starfleet officer who's more interested in intelligence reports and Cardassian politics than in actually hurting Cardassians. You have one of the most powerful ships in this quadrant under your command. Why aren't you out attacking every Cardassian outpost along the border?\nRiker: Because these stakes here are far greater than border outposts.\nKira: Not for the Maquis, there're not, because the Maquis are terrorists and the only thing terrorists care about is attacking the enemy. I know. I was a terrorist. And if I'd had this ship then, I would've destroyed Deep Space Nine. I would've hit the Cardassians so hard they would have screamed for peace, but I certainly wouldn't have gone flying off into the middle of Cardassia on some wild goose chase.\nRiker: I guess we're different kinds of terrorists.\nKira: No, you're trying to be a hero. Terrorists don't get to be heroes.\nRiker: We'll see.\nSisko: This is how your ships were deployed before the first Defiant attack. And this is where they are now. Don't you see what happened? Each Defiant attack was designed to draw your ships away from that sector, leaving it virtually defenseless.\nDukat: But there's nothing of any value in that sector.\nSisko: There must be something. Are there any Class-M planets there?\nDukat: There's one. Orias Three. But it's uninhabited, it's desolate.\nSisko: But everything seems to point to the Orias System. It might be worth your sending one of your warships there just in case the Defiant does show up.\nDukat: All right. Contact Gul Ranor. Tell him to dispatch one warship\nKorinas: No. You'll send no ships to the Orias system.\nDukat: You're here as an observer. You have no authority\nKorinas: That sector is under direct control of the Obsidian Order and you will not enter it.\nDukat: Why?\nKorinas: That matter's classified.\nDukat: Well you can file a complaint with the Central Command later. Open a channel to Gul Ranor now.\nKorinas: Any warship sent into the Orias system will be destroyed.\nDukat: Are you saying that you will fire on another Cardassian ship?\nKorinas: What I am saying is that the Obsidian Order will take whatever steps are necessary to protect the Orias system. And so will I.\nDukat: I've spoken to a few friends in the Central Command. The Obsidian Order isn't giving them any answers either.\nSisko: The Order has to answer to someone.\nDukat: In theory they answer to the political authority of the Detapa Council, just as the military does. In practice we both run our own affairs.\nSisko: Not the most efficient system.\nDukat: It's worked for over five centuries.\nSoldier: There's an incoming message from the warship Kraxon. They say they've found an unusual neutrino signature in their sector. It looks like radiation from a damaged warp plasma relay.\nDukat: Is this signature moving?\nSoldier: No. But they're scanning the area with their anti-proton beams.\nDukat: Where is the Kraxon?\nSisko: If it is the Defiant, they're in position to make a run for the Orias system.\nDukat: We still don't know that Orias is the target. Until we do, I can't risk pulling ships away from other potential targets to chase down a neutrino signature.\nKalita: They're coming around for another pass.\nRiker: Are there any other ships nearby?\nKalita: There are nine Galor-class cruisers about six light years away.\nRiker: Any ships between us and the Orias system?\nKalita: No.\nKira: If you make a run for it, that ship out there's going to see our neutrino signature go through a phase change. They're going to call their nine friends and you are going to have a small fleet chasing you all the way to Orias.\nRiker: They can chase me all they want, as long as they don't catch me.\nSoldier: The Kraxon reports that the neutrino signature has just phase-shifted, and is moving now at warp speed directly toward the Orias system.\nDukat: Order the Kraxon to pursue at maximum warp. Order all other ships in the sector to follow.\nKalita: The Kraxon is pursuing but they won't catch us before we reach Orias.\nRiker: Full scan. I want to see everything that's in that system.\nDukat: When you make out your report for the Obsidian Order be sure to mention the fact that I could have prevented the Defiant from reaching Orias if you hadn't interfered.\nKorinas: They will never reach Orias. You can count on that.\nSoldier: Three more ships have just appeared in the Orias system.\nDukat: What kind of ships?\nSoldier: Cardassian warships. Keldon Class.\nDukat: Whose ships are those, Korinas?\nKorinas: Why are you asking me?\nDukat: Because if they were military ships, I would know about them. So that leaves the Obsidian Order.\nSisko: I thought the Obsidian Order didn't have any ships.\nDukat: They're not supposed to. In fact, they are explicitly forbidden from having military equipment of any kind.\nRiker: It looks like we're going to have to fight our way to Orias.\nKira: Listen to me. Those three ships up ahead are going to lock onto our neutrino leak and open fire. That means you'll have to fight back.\nRiker: With this ship it'll be a short fight, I promise you that.\nKira: Let's say you disable or even destroy those three ships up ahead of us. Fighting them at all is going to slow us down and then those ten ships behind us are going to catch up, and not even the Defiant can win against those odds.\nRiker: We have come too far to quit now.\nKira: You are an experienced Starfleet officer, Tom. Analyze the situation, Tom. Going to Orias is suicide. Now the smart move is to make a run for it while we still can.\nRiker: Maybe that's what an experienced Starfleet officer would do. Maybe that's what Will Riker would do. But it's not what I'm going to do. I'm going to continue the mission.\nKira: It's not the mission you're thinking about, is it, or even the colonists in the zone. This is about you, isn't it? You and that other Will Riker out there. The man with your face, your name, your career. You are looking for a way to set yourself apart. Some way to be different.\nRiker: You shouldn't go fishing today. You won't catch anything. Take us in.\nSisko: You want to know what's going on in the Orias system? I know how you can find out. Give Riker a chance to surrender. The Defiant's scanned the Orias system by now. Its sensor logs can tell you everything you want to know.\nDukat: I'd be happy to accept his surrender but I doubt he'll be willing to hand over his logs.\nSisko: He will if you agree to release Major Kira, the ship and the Maquis over to the Federation.\nGul Dukat: Impossible. I cannot allow a group of terrorists to just walk away after invading our territory and\nSisko: Then you must decide which is important to you. Your sense of Cardassian justice or the information contained in the Defiant's sensor logs.\nDukat: I do want that information, Commander, and I would be willing to return your wayward ship. But someone has to pay for what's happened here and I don't want that someone to be me.\nSisko: If you return the Maquis to the Federation, I can promise that you they will stand trial for what they've done.\nDukat: A Federation trial\nSisko: It's the best I can do.\nDukat: All right. I would be willing to hand over Major Kira, the Maquis, and the ship, but not Riker. He led the mission. If I can bring him to justice and obtain the information on Orias, that might be enough for Central Command.\nSisko: I might be able to get him to do it on one condition. We both know that Cardassian sentences are determined well in advance of the trial. I'd like you to arrange a sentence other than death.\nDukat: I'll have to clear that with the Ministry of Justice.\nSisko: You'd better make it quick.\nTamal: We're approaching the first cruiser. They'll be in phaser range in fifteen seconds.\nRiker: Go to impulse. Decloak the ship, Raise shields and stand by phasers. Go to heading one one eight, mark three zero one. Lock on phasers. Fire.\nKalita: Direct hit on the cruiser's port nacelle. Their shields are down by thirty percent.\nTamal: We've been hit on our starboard shield.\nTamal: Shields holding.\nRiker: Quantum torpedoes. Full spread.\nTamal: Torpedoes locked on target.\nRiker: Fire.\nKalita: Their defense systems are offline and they've lost main power.\nTamal: Tom, three more cruisers have just appeared in the Orias system. That makes five ships ahead of us and ten behind.\nRiker: Resume our original course to the Orias system. Stand by emergency power to the shields.\nKalita: Incoming message from Cardassia Prime. It's Gul Dukat and Commander Sisko.\nRiker: On screen.\nDukat: This is Gul Dukat of the Second Order. I am authorized to tell you that if you surrender your ship none of you will be harmed.\nRiker: Is that right\nSisko: Listen to him, Lieutenant. If you surrender, the Defiant and your crew will be handed over to a Federation starship at the Cardassian border.\nRiker: Why the sudden generosity?\nSisko: He wants the Defiant's sensor logs on the Orias system. They're worth a lot more to him than Maquis prisoners.\nRiker: I don't buy it. The Cardassians aren't going to just let us just walk away.\nSisko: You're right. Someone has to pay the price.\nRiker: Me.\nSisko: The deal is you'll be tried and convicted in a Cardassian court and then sentenced to spend the rest of your life in the Lazon Two labor camp.\nRiker: No death sentence, huh? That must have taken some doing.\nSisko: Some.\nRiker: Give me a moment.\nKira: Tom, there's no reason for you to continue. They're offering you a way out. The only reason not to take it is because you want to die.\nRiker: I have a mission to complete.\nKira: That mission is over. You're never going to make it to Orias, you know that Tom. There are five ships out there ahead of you but there may be fifty waiting there for all we know. Be a Starfleet officer one last time. Think of your crew. I know you want Tom Riker to go out in a blaze of glory that they'll talk about for the next ten years. Don't drag them along with you.\nRiker: On screen. I agree to your terms.\nSisko: You need to reverse course and surrender the Defiant to one of the ships that've been following you.\nRiker: Why?\nSisko: It'll take too long to explain. But the ships coming out of the Orias system are not under Gul Dukat's control.\nRiker: I see.\nDukat: I've ordered the Kraxon to put her shields around you as soon as you arrive. You'll be safe once you get there.\nRiker: Understood.\nRiker: Turn us about. Lay in a course for the Kraxon. Do it.\nDukat: Those are faster than any Keldon class ships I've ever seen. What is going on in that system?\nKalita: We're one hundred million kilometers from the Kraxon.\nTamal: Incoming message\nRiker: Let's hear it.\nRanor: This is Gul Ranor of the Kraxon. Cut your engines in five seconds, and we will extend our shields around you.\nRiker: Acknowledged. Kalita?\nKalita: All stop.\nDukat: They won't fire on another Cardassian ship. They can't.\nKalita: They're moving off. They've set course back to the Orias System.\nRiker: Transmit the Orias Three sensor logs to the Kraxon, and tell them to prepare to beam me aboard. I'm turning command over to Major Kira. She'll get you back to the Federation. I'm holding you personally responsible to see that these people get a fair trial.\nKira: I give you my word. We'll get you out of there, Tom. I promise you that.\nRiker: Riker to Kraxon.\nRanor: Go ahead.\nRiker: One to beam up.\nKira: Set course for the Federation. Warp eight."}
{"text": "Sisko: I didn't expect to find you here. I thought you'd be down on the Promenade, helping Mardah put up the decorations for the Bajoran Gratitude Festival.\nJake: That was the plan, but it turns out I don't have much to be grateful for.\nSisko: Isn't that the earring you\nJake: Bought for Mardah. Yeah, you want it? Maybe you can give it to Major Kira for her next birthday or something.\nSisko: All right, tell me about it.\nJake: Mardah's gone, Dad. She got accepted to the Science Academy on Regulus Three.\nSisko: That's a good school.\nJake: It's three hundred light years away.\nSisko: Jake, you're sixteen. Take my word for it, you'll survive. Sooner or later you'll find someone else. Who knows, maybe you'll find someone tonight at the Gratitude Festival.\nJake: Yeah, sure.\nSisko: Jake, the whole point of the Festival is to put all your troubles behind you and make a new start.\nJake: I could use one. Okay, I'll go.\nSisko: Good. That's the spirit.\nJake: But I'm not going to have any fun.\nSisko: Oh.\nBashir: Nervous, Chief?\nO'Brien: What are you talking about?\nBashir: That's your fifth cup of coffee in twenty minutes.\nO'Brien: I didn't realize you were keeping track.\nBashir: Nervous and irascible.\nO'Brien: If you hadn't seen your wife and child for two months, you'd be irascible too.\nBashir: Believe me, I'm looking forward to Keiko and Molly's visit just as much as you are.\nO'Brien: I doubt that.\nBashir: How many games of racquetball have we played in the last two months?\nO'Brien: I don't know. Fifteen, maybe twenty.\nBashir: No, try seventy. I've been keeping track of that, too. And you know what all those games have proved to me? That I'm a poor substitute for your wife.\nO'Brien: I could've told you that sixty games ago. Thing is, they're only going to be here for two days. That's barely enough time to say hello. Then they're back to Bajor again for four more months.\nBashir: Four months. Why that's another hundred and fifty games of racquetball. I don't think my elbow can take that kind of abuse. Maybe you can try and convince her to stay.\nO'Brien: Oh, no. I can't do that. I'm the one who suggested she go on this agrobiology expedition in the first place. No, we're just going to have to make the best of the little time we have. Which means we can't waste a second of the next two days.\nKira: Peldor joi, Odo.\nOdo: Peldor joi to you too, Major. Well, it's, er, it's hard to believe the Promenade is this empty at midday.\nKira: Calm before the storm. In a few hours, this place will be packed with Bajorans celebrating the Festival.\nOdo: Actually, I was thinking of joining you this year.\nKira: Really?\nOdo: I don't see why not. None of my Bajoran deputies work during the Gratitude Festival. Why should I? Besides, if I'm going to live here with you humanoids, I may as well immerse myself in your rituals.\nKira: Well then, we'll see each other later.\nOdo: I'd like that, if you're not too busy being the Presider at the Festival.\nKira: For you, I will make time, Odo. Just look for me. I'll be with Bareil.\nOdo: Oh. I thought he'd be celebrating the Festival on Bajor.\nKira: So did I. I'm glad I was wrong. He's arriving on the next shuttle.\nOdo: Well, you'd better go. It'll be here soon.\nKira: You're right. I'll see you at the Festival.\nKira: Chief?\nO'Brien: Major. Keiko.\nKira: Ah. Bareil.\nO'Brien: Good luck.\nKira: You too.\nBareil: Nerys. I am so glad to see you.\nKira: I've missed you.\nBareil: I've missed you, too.\nKeiko: Miles? Miles?\nO'Brien: Keiko, I'm so glad to see you.\nKeiko: I have had the worst trip.\nO'Brien: Oh really? I'm sorry to hear that. Now that you're here, everything's going to be great. Hello, sweetie. You ready to have a great time with your Dad?\nMolly: No.\nO'Brien: Why not?\nMolly: I don't feel so good.\nO'Brien: Really? Oh. Tell Daddy what's wrong.\nLwaxana: Oh, you poor dear. I should never have given you all that candy.\nOdo: I usually make it a point to drop by Quark's three or four times a day at random intervals, just to let him know that I'm thinking about him. But seeing today is a holiday, he'll be busier than usual. I suggest you station a man there full time. I think that about covers it. If you need me, I'll be on the Promenade.\nLwaxana: But don't call unless it's an emergency. The Constable will be occupied.\nOdo: Madame Ambassador.\nLwaxana: Oh, do we have to be so formal?\nLwaxana: Didn't they teach you any manners in Starfleet Academy? Be a dear, run along. The Constable and I have a lot of catching up to do.\nOdo: Come back in five minutes.\nLwaxana: Make that half an hour.\nOdo: So, what brings you to the station.\nLwaxana: Officially I'm here as the Betazoid representative to the Gratitude Festival. But the truth is, I came to see you, you poor sweet tortured man.\nOdo: Excuse me?\nLwaxana: I know the torment you must be going through. To spend your whole life searching for your people only to diskover that they're the leaders of that awful Dominion.\nOdo: You heard about that?\nLwaxana: Odo, don't worry. I'm here to help you.\nOdo: What kind of help do you mean?\nLwaxana: A sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on. A lap to melt in.\nOdo: Well, that's very considerate of you, but unnecessary. My people are who they are, and I am who I am. I've learned to accept that.\nLwaxana: You brave soul. Why don't we go someplace quiet, and you can tell me all about it.\nOdo: Actually, I was planning to attend the opening of the Gratitude Festival this afternoon.\nLwaxana: Oh, well, even better. First a little fun and relaxation, and then we can delve into the depths of your pain. I'll freshen up, and meet you in front of the Bajoran Temple for the Presider's opening address. I promise you, Odo, you'll never be alone again.\nLwaxana: Level twenty three, section eight.\nKira: We need to see each other more often.\nBareil: I wish we both weren't so busy. I never expected Kai Winn to make me one of her principal advisors.\nKira: I think she asks your advice just so that she can do the exact opposite of what you recommend.\nBareil: I know you don't like Winn, but the office has changed her. The Prophets chose well. So why don't we leave spiritual matters in their capable hands and concentrate on enjoying ourselves?\nKira: I have to go.\nBareil: The Festival doesn't start for an hour.\nKira: But I have to set up the Renewal scrolls along the Promenade. But it won't take long. Jadzia's promised to help me.\nBareil: Jadzia, of course. I've never understood how the two of you could be such good friends. She's so unpredictable and you're so\nKira: Predictable?\nBareil: I didn't mean it like that. It's just that she gets to spend so much more time with you than I do.\nKira: Jadzia and I have been doing this for the past two years. It's becoming a tradition.\nBareil: I was hoping we could start a few traditions of our own.\nKira: We will. Later tonight.\nO'Brien: Is she asleep?\nKeiko: It looks like the medicine Doctor Bashir prescribed is working.\nO'Brien: That's a relief. Rough trip?\nKeiko: It was a disaster. I thought it would never end.\nO'Brien: Well, I'm glad you're home.\nKeiko: Me too.\nO'Brien: We should get ready for the Festival. The babysitter'll be here any minute.\nKeiko: Ah. The Festival.\nO'Brien: On the other hand, we could spend the rest of day locked away in our quarters.\nKeiko: Miles, what I really want to do is sleep.\nO'Brien: Then maybe you should.\nKeiko: Miles, I didn't say I was going to. I just meant I could use some.\nO'Brien: That's okay. If you need to sleep, go ahead. I'll understand.\nKeiko: No, you won't. You'll be disappointed and you'll start brooding and stomping around like an Andorian Bull.\nO'Brien: Look, go or stay, sleep or don't, it's all the same to me. Just tell me what you want to do and we'll do it.\nKeiko: Miles, I've been making decisions all day long. You decide.\nO'Brien: Okay. We'll go to the Festival. But we don't have to go right away. I mean, you can take some time to relax and change into something nice.\nKeiko: Nice?\nO'Brien: Yeah, like your red dress.\nKeiko: My red dress? Really?\nO'Brien: Is there something wrong with your red dress?\nKeiko: No, it's just a little tight, that's all.\nO'Brien: That's the way I like it.\nKeiko: All right. If it'll make you happy, I'll wear the red dress.\nO'Brien: Forget the red dress, okay? Just wear whatever you want.\nKeiko: Look, let's just try to enjoy the next two days. I'll change into something nice and we'll go to the Festival, okay?\nO'Brien: Fine.\nO'Brien: I can hardly wait.\nKira: Tesra Peldor impatri bren.\nKira: Bentel vetan ullon sten.\nKira: And now, I have the honor of placing the first Renewal Scroll into the fire. As the scrolls burn, may our troubles turn to ashes with them. And now, for the next twenty-six hours, I expect you all to enjoy yourselves. I know I will. May the Prophets walk with us.\nSisko: Jake, are you all right?\nJake: Just felt funny there for a second.\nSisko: You sure you're all right?\nJake: Yeah, Dad. Never felt better.\nKira: Bareil? What are you looking for?\nBareil: Oh, nothing. Just looking.\nJake: Peldor joi.\nKira: Oh Jake, how thoughtful. Thank you.\nJake: I know you're busy, but can I talk to you for a second?\nKira: Sure.\nJake: In private. It's kind of personal.\nKira: I'll be right back. Now, Jake, what can I do for you?\nJake: I need some advice. You see, there's this older woman and I think we're perfect for each other.\nKira: Ah. And she doesn't.\nJake: I don't know what she thinks.\nKira: Well, Jake, my advice to you is to tell Mardah how you feel. That way you'll know\nJake: Mardah and I broke up.\nKira: You broke up? Well then who?\nJake: You.\nKira: Me?\nJake: I love you, Nerys. Want to go out with me?\nDax: Morn, I can't believe a handsome, fun-loving guy like you could have so many problems. My advice to you is to burn this as quickly as possible and don't look back.\nBareil: Sage advice.\nDax: Vedek Bareil, it's good to see you.\nBareil: You have such a wise, generous spirit. I only wish I had a friend like you.\nDax: I think of you as a friend.\nBareil: You mean that?\nDax: Of course.\nBareil: I'm glad. Because I was hoping that you and I could get to know each other better. A lot better.\nDax: Excuse me.\nLwaxana: I love Bajoran music. It's so intelligent, so vital. It reminds me of you. Dance with me, Odo.\nOdo: I'm sorry, I don't dance.\nLwaxana: Nonsense. I saw you moving to the music.\nOdo: That wasn't dancing. That was swaying.\nLwaxana: Then sway with me, Odo. Sway with me.\nOdo: I just remembered, I'm needed in Security.\nLwaxana: I'll come with you.\nOdo: Hello, Lieutenant. Having a good time?\nDax: No.\nQuark: That's right genuine latinum-plated Renewal Scroll inscription pens. Blessed by Vedek Redab himself shortly before he passed away. Each pen is engraved with the words Deep Space Nine's Third Annual Gratitude Festival, today's date, and a lovely portrait of the station by Ermat Zimm. So get them while you can. They're sure to become collector's items.\nO'Brien: So, what do you say we take a walk around the Promenade for a little while?\nKeiko: I'd rather stay here. I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss Quark's. The noise, the excitement, our table.\nO'Brien: You know, I haven't sat here since you've been gone.\nKeiko: That's so sweet.\nO'Brien: So, how's the survey been going?\nKeiko: The terrain's rougher than we expected, and the ecozystem's a lot more diverse than it looked from the orbital scans. All in all, it's been pretty grueling.\nO'Brien: Really?\nKeiko: Don't get me wrong, I'm having a wonderful time.\nO'Brien: That's good.\nKeiko: There is one problem I have to talk to you about. It looks like the project's taking longer than we hoped.\nO'Brien: What do you mean, longer?\nKeiko: You have to understand, Miles. Every valley has an entirely different ecozystem. There's a lot of work to be done.\nO'Brien: How much longer is it going to take?\nKeiko: I'm not sure.\nO'Brien: Try a guess. An extra couple of days, a week, two?\nKeiko: More like two or three months.\nO'Brien: You're telling me you're going to be on Bajor for another seven months?\nKeiko: It's either that or ask them to find another botanist.\nO'Brien: Maybe that's something worth considering.\nKeiko: Are you asking me to resign?\nO'Brien: No. But another seven months?\nKeiko: I don't like this any more than you do.\nO'Brien: You just said you were having a great time.\nKeiko: Oh, I'm sorry. I suppose you'd be happier if I was miserable?\nO'Brien: I didn't say that.\nKeiko: Sebarr was right. I never should have mentioned it.\nO'Brien: Who's Sebarr?\nKeiko: He's one of the zoologists I'm working with. He warned me not to talk to you about this until after the Gratitude Festival.\nO'Brien: And who's he to be giving you advice?\nKeiko: He's a friend.\nO'Brien: A friend? I thought you were down there working.\nKeiko: We are working.\nO'Brien: Yeah, with time out for intimate little chats about our relationship. What else did you tell him about us?\nKeiko: Miles, you're behaving like a child. What do you want me to say?\nO'Brien: I want you to say that you're not going back, that you're going to stay here with me.\nKeiko: Miles, right now I don't even want to sit at the same table with you.\nO'Brien: Fine. Go on, leave. Go back to Bajor and your plants and Sebarr. See if I care.\nSisko: Whoa, slow down.\nJake: Hi, Dad.\nSisko: I've been looking all over for you. In case you've forgotten, we're hosting a Gratitude Dinner tonight in the wardroom. I could use your help in getting ready.\nJake: I'm kind of busy right now, Dad. I have to find someone.\nSisko: Major Kira?\nJake: How'd you know?\nSisko: I just spoke to her.\nJake: Really? Where is she?\nSisko: Just hold on.\nJake: But I have to talk to her. You know, you were right about me meeting someone at the Festival.\nSisko: I did not mean Major Kira.\nJake: You like her, don't you?\nSisko: Of course I like her.\nJake: Well so do I.\nSisko: Jake, what you're feeling now is just a crush. Look, Jake, right now you're confused, vulnerable, hurt. You miss Mardah\nJake: Mardah was a mistake. She was too young, too immature for me. Major Kira is a woman.\nSisko: Major Kira is in love with Vedek Bareil.\nJake: It won't last. He's always on Bajor. She needs someone who can be with her all the time. Like me.\nSisko: Jake, I don't want to see you hurt again.\nJake: I appreciate that, but this is between Nerys and me. Don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. Thanks.\nOdo: I really can't accept this.\nLwaxana: But I want you to have it. It's my gift to you.\nOdo: That's very thoughtful but I have nothing to give you in return.\nLwaxana: Being with you is the only present I need. Now, come on. Let's go write our Renewal Scrolls.\nQuark: Peldor joi, Chief. You look terrible.\nO'Brien: Just a little headache, that's all.\nQuark: Here, have a free pen.\nO'Brien: What for?\nQuark: To write down your problems on a Renewal Scroll.\nO'Brien: There isn't a scroll long enough to hold all my problems.\nQuark: Really? I thought you could sum them up with one word. Keiko. Tell me I'm wrong. If you ask me, it's your own fault. You never should have let her go to Bajor in the first place.\nO'Brien: What was I supposed to do? Force her to stay here with me?\nQuark: That would've been a good start. You humans, you never learn. You let your women go out in public, hold jobs, wear clothing, and you wonder why your marriages fall apart.\nO'Brien: That's your solution, Quark, huh? Treat women like property?\nQuark: Criticize it all you want. But on the Ferengi homeworld, husbands and wives never argue. There's no divorce, no broken homes, nothing but peaceful conjugal bliss.\nO'Brien: If Ferengi marriages are so wonderful, why are you still single?\nQuark: I haven't met the right woman yet.\nO'Brien: Well, I have. She just walked out that door.\nQuark: And out of your life.\nO'Brien: Not if I can help it.\nKira: Bareil. I was wondering where you disappeared to.\nKira: Come on. You can do better than that.\nBareil: Someone might see us.\nKira: We are the only people here. Everyone else is on the Promenade. We have two hours before we're supposed to join Commander Sisko for dinner. That gives us some time to be alone together.\nBareil: I can't.\nKira: Why not?\nBareil: I have to find Jadzia.\nKira: Jadzia? Is something wrong?\nBareil: No, not at all. Do you know where she is?\nKira: She's probably on the Promenade.\nBareil: She wasn't there the last time I looked.\nKira: Why is it so important for you to see Jadzia?\nBareil: I'll explain everything later. Thank you, Nerys.\nKira: For what?\nBareil: For being such a good friend.\nKira: Friend?\nSisko: Dax, what are you doing here?\nDax: I thought you might need some help getting ready for the party.\nSisko: Thanks, but that won't be necessary. Wouldn't you rather be celebrating on the Promenade?\nDax: No, thanks. I don't want to run into Vedek Bareil.\nSisko: Is there a problem between you?\nDax: He can't keep his hands off me.\nSisko: That doesn't sound like Vedek Bareil.\nDax: I couldn't believe it myself, but he wouldn't leave me alone. He's probably still out there looking for me.\nSisko: Have you told Kira?\nDax: I don't know how. It's going to break her heart.\nSisko: Someone has to tell her. Do you want me to do it?\nDax: Would you?\nSisko: Well, if you think that's the best way to handle it.\nDax: I'd really appreciate it, Benjamin. I mean, this whole thing is ridiculous. How could I be interested in Bareil? We both know it's always been you.\nSisko: Dax?\nDax: Mmm?\nSisko: What are you doing?\nDax: Making myself comfortable. Have I ever told you that you smell wonderful?\nSisko: You know, old man, I have to admit you had me going there for a minute.\nDax: Benjamin, stop acting so coy. There's no one around. I have an idea. You cancel the party, and then that way we can spend the evening alone together. What do you say?\nSisko: Sisko to Bashir.\nBashir: Go ahead, Commander.\nSisko: Meet me in the Infirmary immediately.\nBashir: Aye, sir.\nBashir: Her vital signs are normal. Her brain activity is normal. No sign of infection or intoxication of any kind. She's the picture of health.\nDax: I told you.\nSisko: Then why did you put your head on my chest?\nDax: Oh, Julian, you should've seen his face. Admit it, you were this far away from total panic.\nBashir: I think we've both been victims of a practical joke.\nDax: At least someone around here has a sense of humor. See you at the party, Julian.\nDax: I've never been so embarrassed in my life, making me go through all those tests\nSisko: It's your fault, Dax. You took this one too far.\nDax: If I didn't love you so much, I'd be angry with you. See you at the party.\nJake: You look like you could use a little cheering up.\nKira: Jake, do me a favor.\nJake: Anything.\nKira: Leave me alone.\nO'Brien: Hi, sweetie.\nMolly: Hi.\nO'Brien: Feeling better?\nMolly: Lots better.\nO'Brien: Ah, that's what I wanted to hear. Where's Mommy?\nMolly: In her room, sad.\nO'Brien: Well, listen. Why don't you go and play with Piggy in your room for a while and we'll see if Daddy can cheer Mommy up?\nO'Brien: Keiko? It's me. Can I come in?\nKeiko: Not now, Miles.\nO'Brien: You're right. I'm an idiot, sometimes. When I don't get my way, I can be selfish and childish and pigheaded. I said some things to you that were pretty stupid. I wish I could take them back. But even if it's too late for that, there's one thing I want you to know, Keiko. I love you. I always have, and I always will. I want you to know I've left a letter of resignation on Commander Sisko's desk. I'm ready to move down to Bajor with you tomorrow, if you'll have me. And after that if you want to move back to Earth, that's okay too. I'll do whatever it takes. I just don't want to lose you. Honey, did you hear what I said?\nKeiko: Yes.\nO'Brien: And?\nKeiko: And I need time to think. Why don't you go to Commander Sisko's party? We can talk when you get back.\nO'Brien: If that's what you want.\nOdo: Major. Aren't you headed in the wrong direction?\nBashir: Commander Sisko's party?\nKira: Oh, I'm not going.\nLwaxana: Why ever not?\nKira: Because Bareil will be there.\nOdo: I thought the two of you were very happy together.\nKira: So did I. But it turns out he'd rather be with Dax than me. And to make matters worse, I have Jake Sisko chasing me around the station, professing his undying love.\nBashir: That's strange. A little while ago, Jadzia had Commander Sisko convinced that she was in love with him. He even had me examine her to make sure she was all right. Apparently it was only a joke.\nKira: Are you sure? People are acting very strangely today.\nBashir: Maybe I should take another look at Jadzia's test results. Excuse me. Constable, Would you tell Commander Sisko that I'll be a little late?\nBashir: I should be getting to the Infirmary.\nKira: I'll join you. Maybe you should examine Bareil and Jake while you're at it.\nBashir: That wouldn't be a bad idea.\nBashir: This won't take long.\nLwaxana: What is it, Odo? I may not be able to read your emotions, but I can read your expression. Something's wrong.\nOdo: I'm fine.\nLwaxana: I wish you'd tell me what's bothering you. Maybe it would help you.\nOdo: As soon as something bothers me, I'll let you know. I promise.\nLwaxana: Why do I find stubborn men so attractive?\nDax: Would you please stop following me?\nBareil: Gladly, if you'll stop running away. I have something important to talk to you about.\nDax: discuss it with Major Kira. I'm not interested.\nJake: But Dad, you promised that Nerys would be here.\nSisko: She will. And stop calling her Nerys.\nDax: Peldor joi.\nLwaxana: Oh, Commander, I didn't realize that you and Lieutenant Dax were that close.\nSisko: We're not. Sisko to Bashir. Computer, locate Doctor Bashir.\nComputer: Doctor Bashir is in the Infirmary.\nSisko: Constable, go get Doctor Bashir and bring him here immediately.\nOdo: I'll be right back.\nLwaxana: I'll go with you.\nOdo: Yes, of course you will.\nBashir: I wonder what Commander Sisko wanted?\nKira: It can wait.\nBashir: This is very embarrassing.\nKira: We have to stop.\nBashir: Definitely.\nOdo: Doctor. Commander Sisko needs to see you in the Wardroom.\nBashir: Tell him. Oh, tell him I'll be there shortly.\nOdo: Now, Doctor!\nKira: You'd better go.\nBashir: Right.\nKira: Peldor joi.\nBareil: Please step aside, Commander. I need to talk to Jadzia.\nSisko: I don't think she wants to speak with you.\nDax: You tell him, Benjamin.\nBareil: I only want to give her this.\nSisko: A Bajoran betrothal bracelet?\nBareil: It's been in my family for generations.\nDax: Can I see that?\nJake: Nerys, am I glad to see you.\nSisko: Doctor, I need your help.\nBashir: I need yours too. You've got to get me away from Kira. I can't keep my hands off her.\nKira: And what's worse, I can't keep my hands off him.\nOdo: I can't explain it either.\nJake: She doesn't love me.\nO'Brien: Who?\nJake: Nerys.\nO'Brien: You're better off. In the end, they only break your heart.\nO'Brien: Although sometimes it's worth it.\nKeiko: What do you think?\nO'Brien: You look beautiful.\nKeiko: Did you really mean it about turning in your resignation?\nO'Brien: Mmm hmm.\nKeiko: You'd better get it back before Commander Sisko sees it. It was nice of you to offer. I love you so much.\nQuark: Hey! Commander, here's that I'danian spice pudding you ordered.\nDax: I want to give this to you as a token of my affection.\nBareil: Oh no you don't.\nSisko: Bareil, listen to me.\nBareil: I'll fight for her if I have to.\nDax: I'm sorry, Benjamin. He was just starting to annoy me.\nQuark: Commander, you throw one hell of a party. Pudding, anyone? I've got I'danian spice pudding.\nKeiko: Are you all right?\nQuark: Pudding anyone? Doctor. Pudding any one?\nLwaxana: No, thank you.\nDax: I'll take one.\nQuark: Help yourself.\nBareil: Why did she hit me?\nQuark: Forget about him. What about me? I need you, Keiko. My ears tingle at the sight of you. Marry me.\nO'Brien: She's taken, Quark.\nSisko: Easy, Chief. He doesn't know what he's doing.\nLwaxana: What are you looking at me for?\nLwaxana: Zanthi fever? That's ridiculous, that's impossible. That only effects older Betazoids.\nBashir: That may be, but according to my tests you show all the symptoms. Zanthi Fever is a virus which effects the empathic abilities of mature Betazoids. It causes them to project their own emotions onto others.\nSisko: Then Mrs Troi's amorous feelings for someone on the station were being passed along to the people around her.\nBashir: Not everyone. Only those within close proximity to her when she had an attack. And even then there would have to have been some pre-existing latent attraction.\nSisko: You're saying Dax?\nBashir: Only on a subconscious level. Best not think about it too much, if you ask me.\nLwaxana: I'm terribly sorry, Commander. I hope I haven't caused too much trouble.\nSisko: I'm sure no permanent harm was done. Right, Doctor?\nBashir: A simple wide spectrum antiviral agent should cure Mrs Troi, and as for everyone else, well they'll be back to normal in a day or two. Excuse me. I promised Nerys that I'd meet her in her quarters this evening.\nSisko: I think you ought to postpone that visit for a day or two. Commander's log, supplemental. I'm happy to report that Doctor Bashir's diagnosis has been proven correct. My son and all the other's affected by Mrs Troi's condition have made full recoveries.\nLwaxana: This is one Gratitude Festival they'll be talking about for a long time.\nOdo: I know I'll never forget it.\nLwaxana: I hope everything works out for you, Odo, with Major Kira.\nOdo: I don't know what you mean.\nLwaxana: Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. After all, I know what it's like to be attracted to someone who doesn't necessarily feel the same way. If you get tired of waiting for her you know where to find me.\nOdo: I'll keep that in mind.\nKeiko: So you're sure Doctor Bashir said your test results were negative?\nO'Brien: That's right. My headache was just a headache. I never was affected by Mrs Troi.\nKeiko: Oh. I guess that means you don't have a latent attraction to me after all.\nO'Brien: Nothing latent about it. Weren't you paying attention last night?\nKeiko: I was paying attention. You've still have the touch, O'Brien.\nO'Brien: So do you. Take good care of Mommy, honey, okay?\nMolly: I will.\nKeiko: See you in a few months.\nO'Brien: I'll be here.\nBashir: Chief?"}
{"text": "Scene: Commander's log, stardate 48481.2. My senior staff and I have been asked to address the annual Starfleet symposium on the current situation in the Gamma Quadrant. I'm looking forward to the opportunity and to visiting my sister in Portland.\nDax: Entering Earth orbit.\nSisko: Now there's something I never get tired of looking at.\nDax: If you ask me, the seas could be a little more purple.\nKira: That's funny, I was just thinking they weren't green enough.\nBashir: I guess it's true what they say. There is no place like home. No matter what color the water is.\nDax: We'd better get ready, Benjamin. Dinner tonight with Admiral Drazman.\nO'Brien: Not Droner Drazman? The commander of the Proxima maintenance yards?\nBashir: You're more than welcome to come along. The entire senior staff was invited.\nO'Brien: Full dress uniform, fine table linens, a different fork for every course? Thanks but no thanks. That's why I stayed an enlisted man. They don't expect me to show up for these formal dinners.\nDax: Major, Constable, would you care to join us?\nKira: No, thank you.\nOdo: I'd say this is strictly a Starfleet occasion.\nO'Brien: Commander, I'm receiving an incoming emergency message. It's from DS Nine.\nSisko: On screen.\nQuark: Commander, am I glad to see you.\nKira: This better be good, Quark. You're on an emergency channel.\nQuark: I just received a message from the Grand Nagus. He wanted me to remind you of the critical role he played in establishing contact with the Dominion.\nSisko: You can assure the Nagus I will mention his assistance prominently in my report to Starfleet.\nQuark: There is one more thing, Commander. It seems the Nagus's nephew Belongo is currently being held by Starfleet authorities on Aldebaran Three. A slight misunderstanding, I'm sure.\nSisko: A misunderstanding the Nagus no doubt wants to be cleared up. I do owe him a favor.\nQuark: He thinks so too. And to quote the one hundred and eleventh Rule of Acquisition\nSisko: Treat people in your debt like family. Exploit them. I have been reading up. You can tell the Nagus I will do everything I can, but also remind him of the two hundred seventeenth Rule of Acquisition.\nQuark: You can't free a fish from water. I'll be sure the Nagus gets the message.\nSisko: She's all yours, Major. Energize, Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: That's strange.\nKira: What's wrong?\nO'Brien: Oh, nothing serious. Just a power fluctuation in the annular confinement beam. Hold on, that's impossible.\nKira: What happened?\nO'Brien: I stabilized the beam, but according to our sensors they never materialized at their destination. They're just gone.\nVin: Okay buddy, come on, rise and shine. Come on. Well, look what we have here.\nSisko: Who are you?\nVin: Who am I? Do you believe this? Sleeping Beauty's asking me questions. Up.\nBernardo: Hey Vin, we've been working all night why don't we forget these guys? I just want to go home and see Sonya and the kids and get some sleep.\nVin: What are you, an anarchist? There's a law against sleeping in the streets. Though I do like the matching pajamas. All right, let's see some logo.\nSisko: Logo?\nVin: ID. Identification. UHC Card? Transit pass?\nBashir: Where are we? What happened to Starfleet Headquarters?\nVin: Oh, perfect. Just what we need. Two more dims.\nSisko: Those shotguns and uniforms. There's something very familiar about this.\nVin: Yeah, probably from the last time you were in a Sanctuary District.\nSisko: Sanctuary District? What year is this?\nBernardo: Same year as it was yesterday. Twenty twenty four. Let's go.\nVin: How do they find us?\nChris: Are you okay?\nDax: Oh, my head.\nChris: What happened? Did you get jacked or something?\nDax: Jacked?\nChris: You know, robbed? Did they get your credit chips, your ID?\nDax: It looks like they got everything, except my brooch.\nChris: Do you live near here? Can you get home?\nDax: I was traveling with some friends and I guess we got separated.\nChris: Well, you shouldn't be walking around without ID. You'd better order some replacements. You can use my Interface terminal if you wish. My office is just round the corner.\nDax: That's very kind of you.\nChris: Chris. Chris Brynner.\nDax: Jadzia.\nChris: That's a pretty name. What is that, Dutch?\nDax: Something like that. It's very kind of you to help me.\nChris: Oh, don't mention it. It's not everyday that I get to rescue a damsel in distress. Let me help you.\nChris: It's just this way.\nO'Brien: Check the Heisenberg compensators. I'll run a level one diagnostic of the pattern buffers, see if there's any kind of field imbalance.\nKira: Chief.\nO'Brien: Any news from Starfleet?\nKira: Nothing good. As far as they can tell, Commander Sisko and the others never materialized in San Francisco. According to their sensors, our transporter signal disintegrated immediately after we began the beam out sequence.\nO'Brien: That doesn't agree with our records. The system log shows the transport was completed successfully. They definitely materialized somewhere.\nKira: That's good news, anyway. But the question is, where?\nO'Brien: I wish I knew. Whatever the answer is, it's not in the log. The only thing unusual it recorded was the variance in the annular confinement beam.\nKira: But you corrected for that.\nO'Brien: It was a simple adjustment. The beam was just reacting to the accumulation of chroniton particles in the ship's hull.\nKira: Chroniton particles?\nO'Brien: They're emitted by the cloaking device. They sometimes become lodged in the ship's ablative armor matrix.\nKira: But we've used the transporter many times since the cloaking device was installled. There's never been a problem before.\nO'Brien: And I don't know why there should be one now. Wait a minute. It looks like there was a surge in temporal energy seconds before the initiation of the transporter sequence.\nKira: Tell me that's a clue.\nO'Brien: Oh, it's a clue all right. I just don't know what it means yet.\nBashir: How do you feel?\nSisko: Better.\nBashir: Me too. Probably transporter shock. Disorienting, but it wears off quickly. I know one thing. We're definitely in San Francisco. I caught a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge a few blocks back.\nSisko: I saw it too.\nBashir: Do you know what happened to our comm. badges?\nSisko: They were probably stolen while we were unconscious. This is not the Earth we're used to, Doctor. That's still at least a century away. I wonder what happened to Dax?\nBashir: She was caught in the transporter beam with us. Whatever affected us must have affected her too.\nSisko: That means she's probably somewhere nearby. The first chance we get, we've got to find her.\nBashir: And then what?\nSisko: And then we find our way home.\nVin: All right, let's go. Bring them.\nBernardo: Okay, let's go. Hurry it up. Sonya's going to kill me.\nBashir: What is this place?\nSisko: A Sanctuary District.\nBashir: Twenty first century history is not one of my strong points. Too depressing.\nSisko: It's been a hobby of mine. They made some ugly mistakes, but they also paved the way for a lot of the things we take now for granted.\nBashir: I assume this is one of those mistakes.\nSisko: A bad one. By the early twenty twenties there was a place like this in every major city in the United States.\nBashir: Why are these people in here? Are they criminals?\nSisko: No. People with criminal records weren't allowed in the Sanctuary Districts.\nBashir: Then what did they do to deserve this?\nSisko: Nothing. They're just people without jobs or places to live.\nBashir: So they get put in here?\nSisko: Welcome to the twenty first century, Doctor.\nVin: Hold it right there. If you want to go home, go home. What do I care?\nBernardo: Thanks, Vin.\nVin: Shall we?\nChris: Hi. Sorry to keep you waiting. Were you able to order new ID?\nDax: Just finished. It took me a while to convince them I was who I said I was. They'll be expressing a transit pass and a couple of credit chips in a few hours. I asked them to send it here. I hope you don't mind.\nChris: No problem.\nDax: Thanks for letting me use your terminal and your account.\nChris: Glad I could help. You know, those are very unusual.\nDax: Oh, you mean my tattoos.\nChris: It's amazing work. Where did you have them done, Japan?\nDax: How did you guess?\nChris: Well, I used to have one myself. A Maori tribal pattern used to go all the way down my arm. Got it in high school back in the nineties just like everybody else. Of course, I had to have it removed. Well, you know how it is. To get the government contracts, you have to look like all the rest of the drones. So I guess that makes me a sell-out.\nDax: Not necessarily. What kind of business do you do?\nChris: You don't know? Well, I guess I'll have to have a talk to my public relations people. I'm Chris Brynner. Brynner Information Systems? You know, Interface Operations, Net Access, Channel Ninety.\nDax: That Chris Brynner!\nChris: So what do you think? Does that make me a sell-out or not?\nDax: Probably, but I won't hold it against you.\nChris: These friends of yours that you told me about. Is there any way for you to get a hold of them?\nDax: I wish I could.\nVin: Left hand. Other hand. Look straight ahead. Now stand over here.\nInterface: Welcome to SafeTech's fingerprint database. your government diskount has been accepted. Remember our new retinal scan services, now accessible on channel one seventy eight.\nVin: Yeah, yeah. Save the commercial.\nInterface: We are sorry but the fingerprints you have provided are not on record.\nVin: No ID, no fingerprint record, no Interface account. It's like you two don't exist.\nBashir: Since we don't exist, why not let us go?\nVin: Yeah, well, let's see. You don't have any ID, you don't have any money, and you're both dressed like clowns. You figure it out.\nVin: Please fill out these forms. Answer all questions to the best of your ability. If you cannot speak English an interpreter will be provided. If you cannot read, questions will be given to you verbally. If there is any part of this form you do not understand, ask one of our staff for assistance. Now sit down, shut up, and fill out the forms. And if you've got any problems, don't come to me with them.\nBashir: Thank you very much.\nKira: Tell Admiral Ngomo I appreciate her offer, but I don't want anyone beaming onto this ship until we know what's going on. If they want to come up by shuttle, that's fine.\nO'Brien: Major, I think I know what happened to Commander Sisko and the others. The temporal surge we detected was caused by an explosion of a microscopic singularity passing through this solar system. Somehow, the energy emitted by the singularity shifted the chroniton particles in our hull into a high state of temporal polarization.\nKira: Which means what?\nO'Brien: Which means the transporter beam was redirected as it passed through the polarized particles.\nKira: Redirected where?\nO'Brien: Not where, when. The beam was redirected through time, not space. They arrived in San Francisco, just like they were supposed to.\nKira: But not when they were supposed to. How much time are we talking about? Days? Weeks?\nO'Brien: More like centuries.\nBashir: This is ridiculous. I mean, we've been here three hours and the line has barely moved at all.\nVin: I got one word for you, pal. Plenty of overtime.\nBashir: That's three words.\nVin: Hey, for a dim, you're pretty smart. Now go back and take a seat. Oh boy. (A calendar on the wall says today is Friday 8/30/24, temperature 15 degrees, and Sisko is thinking.)\nBashir: Some of these people are mentally ill. They need proper medical treatment.\nSisko: I know, but they're not going to get it. Not now anyway.\nBashir: What? What is it?\nSisko: That calendar over there. It says August thirtieth, twenty twenty four.\nBashir: I'm not sure I understand.\nSisko: You ever hear of the Bell Riots?\nBashir: Vaguely.\nSisko: It was one of the most violent civil disturbances in American history, and it happened right here. San Francisco, Sanctuary District A, the first week of September, twenty twenty four.\nBashir: That's only a few days from now.\nSisko: Which means if we don't get out of here soon, we'll be caught right in the middle of it.\nBashir: Just how bad are these riots going to be, Commander?\nSisko: Bad. The Sanctuary residents will take over the District. Some of the guards will be taken hostage. The government will send in troops to restore order. Hundreds of Sanctuary residents will be killed.\nBashir: Hundreds? And there's nothing we can do to prevent it. Starfleet's temporal displacement policy may sound good in the classroom, but to know that hundreds of people are going to die and to not be able to do a thing to save them\nSisko: I sympathize, Doctor, but if it will make you feel any better, the Riots will be one of the watershed events of the twenty first century. Gabriel Bell will see to that.\nBashir: Bell?\nSisko: The man they named the Riots after. He is one of the Sanctuary residents who will be guarding the hostages. The government troops will storm this place based on rumors that the hostages have been killed. It turns out that the hostages were never harmed, because of Gabriel Bell. In the end, Bell sacrifices his own life to save them. He'll become a national hero. Outrage over his death, and the death of the other residents, will change public opinion about the Sanctuaries. They'll be torn down and the United States will finally begin correcting the social problems it had struggled with for over a hundred years.\nBashir: And all of this is going to happen in the next few days.\nSisko: Which means if we warn these people about what's coming, if we try to help them in any way, we risk altering a pivotal moment in history. And we can't let that happen.\nVin: Hey, I hate to break up your intimate conversation, but you're next.\nSisko: Is there something wrong?\nLee: Well, according to these forms, you're supposed to be dims. But you're not, are you?\nSisko: I hope you're not disappointed.\nLee: Pleasantly surprised is more like it. I guess I owe you an apology. If I'd known you were gimmies, I could've processed your application much sooner.\nBashir: Gimmies?\nSisko: They're American slang terms.\nLee: I try not to use them, but it's a bad habit. Gimmies are people like you. People who are looking for help, a job, a place to live.\nBashir: And what about the dims? Don't they need help?\nLee: The dims should be in hospitals, but the government can't afford to keep them there, so we get them instead. I hate it, but that's the way it is. I see here that you both have just arrived in San Francisco. Do you have any jobs lined up?\nBashir: No. Actually we weren't planning on staying here very long.\nLee: Have you got a place to stay or anyone who can vouch for you?\nSisko: No. We were traveling with a friend but we were separated right after we arrived.\nLee: Do you have any way of contacting this friend of yours?\nSisko: Not at the moment.\nLee: Well, in that case, I'm afraid you're going have to stay here in the Sanctuary for the time being.\nBashir: You mean we can't leave?\nLee: It's for your own safety.\nSisko: Really.\nLee: And it's the law.\nSisko: What about jobs? How are we supposed to find a place to work and somewhere to live if we're stuck in here?\nLee: One of the services we provide is job placement.\nSisko: And how long's that usually take?\nLee: I wish I could give you a definite answer, but jobs are hard to come by right now, what with the economy and all. My advice is to be patient. In the meantime, take these. They're your ration cards. You can use them to get food and water at any of the distribution points in the district. Hang on to them.\nBashir: Where are we supposed to stay while we're here?\nLee: Anywhere you like. The buildings in the district are there for everyone to use.\nSisko: Thanks for your help.\nLee: One more thing. A little advice. Stay away from District Security. They've had their budget cut again. They're overworked and underpaid. Just give them a lot of space. And watch out for ghosts.\nBashir: Ghosts?\nLee: That's what we call people who haven't integrated well into the Sanctuary. They can be dangerous, and they tend to prey on other residents.\nSisko: Thanks for the warning. We'll stay away from them.\nDax: Dax to Sisko. Dax to Bashir. If you can hear me, please respond.\nChris: Okay, my assistant was able to get you a room at the Clift for the next five nights.\nDax: You didn't have to do that.\nChris: I know that, but I wanted to. So, what are your plans?\nDax: I still have to find my friends.\nChris: Well, I hope you don't mind, but I had Britt do some checking. No one matching their descriptions has been admitted into any of the city hospitals or trauma wards.\nDax: That's good news.\nChris: Look, I would like to know how this turns out. I'm having a little get-together here tomorrow, in the office. I'd like you to come if you want. You and your friends.\nDax: I'd like that.\nChris: Well, good luck.\nDax: Thanks. I could use it.\nGuard: Whoa, you guys can't come in here.\nBashir: We're just looking for someplace to sleep.\nGuard: Well you're going to have to look someplace else.\nBashir: Let me guess. This building is full.\nGuard: Sorry.\nBashir: Every building we go to, it's the same story. They can't all be full.\nSisko: Don't be so sure. One of the main complaints against the Sanctuary Districts was overcrowding. It got to the point where they didn't care how many people were in here. They just wanted to keep them out of sight.\nBashir: And once they were out of sight, what then? I mean, look at this man. There's no need for that man to live like that. With the right medication, he could lead a full and normal life.\nSisko: Maybe in our time.\nBashir: Not just in our time. There are any number of effective treatments for schizophrenia, even in this day and age. They could cure that man now, today, if they gave a damn.\nSisko: It's not that they don't give a damn, Doctor. It's that they've given up. The social problems they face seem too enormous to deal with.\nBashir: That only makes things worse. Causing people to suffer because you hate them is terrible, but causing people to suffer because you have forgotten how to care? That's really hard to understand.\nSisko: They'll remember. It'll take some time and it won't be easy, but eventually people in this century will remember how to care.\nBashir: But it makes you wonder, doesn't it? Are humans really any different than Cardassians or Romulans? If push comes to shove, if something disastrous happens to the Federation, if we are frightened enough, or desperate enough, how would we react? Would we stay true to our ideals or would we just stay up here, right back where we started?\nSisko: I don't know. But as a Starfleet officer, it's my job to make sure we never have to find out.\nBc: Get his food card.\nSisko: Remember, Doctor, we can't interfere.\nBc: You got a problem?\nSisko: No problem.\nBc: You look upset. If we've done anything to offend you, please let us know so that we can be sure not to do it again.\nSisko: Don't worry about us. We're new here.\nBc: Really? I never would've guessed. But let me be the first to welcome you. Would you like a piece of this?\nBashir: No, thanks.\nBc: Gimmies. No sense of fun.\nSisko: We're just looking for a place to sleep.\nBc: In that case, you'd better look somewhere else, new boy.\nSisko: You heard what he said. Let's go.\nBc: Enjoy your stay. And in a few days I know you're going to feel right at home. Bye\nOdo: So, in theory, we should be able to travel into the past by focusing the transporter beam through the polarized chroniton particles?\nO'Brien: The problem is, we don't know where in time Sisko and the others are. I've narrowed it down to a dozen different possibilities. But we only have enough polarized chronitons to make five or six attempts.\nKira: We'll have to take our chances. Pick the most likely time periods and send a team down with tricorders to find them. The hard part will be to find a couple of volunteers crazy enough to risk getting lost in time to do the job.\nO'Brien: I think I know a few likely candidates.\nSisko: Here you go, Julian.\nBashir: If we ever get home, I promise never to complain about the station's Cardassian beds ever again. Where is everybody?\nSisko: In the food lines, waiting for breakfast. It's not much to look at, but it's better than nothing.\nSisko: I'm sorry. They ran out of utensils and napkins.\nBashir: Why am I not surprised?\nSisko: When you're finished eating, I think we should get up on the roof of one of these buildings. I want to get a better look at the place.\nBashir: Do you think there's a way out of here?\nSisko: If there is, we'll find it.\nGuard: Not you two guys again. Look, I told you, we don't have any room.\nSisko: We're not here to stay. All we want is to do is get up on the roof and take a look around.\nGuard: It doesn't matter what you want. You can't come in. We've got to protect what's ours around here.\nBashir: Look, maybe we can make a deal. Isn't there something we could exchange in order to get access to the roof?\nGuard: I don't know. What have you got to offer? That's what I thought. Look, maybe you guys should try another building.\nGuard: Hey, wait a minute. Maybe we can make a deal after all.\nSisko: Well at least now we look like we belong here.\nBashir: Yeah, and we smell just as bad as everyone else too.\nWebb: Stay away from him.\nSisko: Whatever you say. Just put the knife down.\nWebb: Step into the light so I can see you.\nSisko: We're new here. We're just trying to get up to the roof, get a better look at the place.\nWebb: Believe me, it doesn't look any better from up there.\nDanny: Dad.\nWebb: It's going to be okay, Danny.\nBashir: What happened?\nWebb: He was beaten up by some ghosts. My wife went to get help, but there's only one doctor on duty at the Processing Center.\nBashir: Well, why don't you let me take a look? I know a little bit about medicine.\nSisko: Julian.\nBashir: It can't hurt to just look.\nBashir: Hey, I'm just going to take a quick look here, okay?\nBashir: Does that hurt? Here? Looks like you've been lucky. No broken ribs and these cuts are mostly superficial. You're going to be okay. You're going to need some clean rags and something to disinfect these wounds. Alcohol should do.\nWebb: I think I can get some.\nBashir: Okay, here we go.\nSisko: Looks like we made a new friend.\nWebb: Hey. You know, the District could use another doctor.\nBashir: I don't really practice anymore.\nWebb: But there are people here who need you.\nBashir: I'm sorry, but they'll have to get along without me.\nWebb: You two are new here, so let me explain something to you. You can forget about getting out of here any time soon. This is your home now. The only help we're going to get is from each other, and if we don't start pulling together, we're finished.\nSisko: All we want is to be left alone.\nWebb: My mistake. I thought you wanted to get out of here.\nBashir: We do.\nWebb: Well the only way that's going to happen is if we get organized and let people on the outside know what's going on in here.\nSisko: Do whatever you want. Just leave us out of it.\nWebb: If you want to be left alone, that's fine with me. But if you want to help us, and help yourselves, you know where to find me.\nMan: Our sea floor mining project is almost ready to go into operation. The Pan-Caribbean government did have some misgivings, but I think we've won them over. I hear you just came back from Christchurch?\nChris: Yes. Did a little skiing on Mount Cook.\nWoman: You're lucky. We had to cancel our trip to the Alps this year because of the student protests in France.\nChris: I thought the Neo-Trotskyists were going to put a stop to that.\nWoman: They're not having any more luck that the Gaullists did.\nMan: Europe is falling apart.\nWoman: Well, at least we don't have to worry about that kind of thing here.\nDax: Don't count on it.\nChris: You'll have to excuse Jadzia's cynicism. She was just mugged yesterday. That kind of thing's bound to give a negative impression of the future.\nWoman: So, who mugged you? Did you see them?\nDax: It doesn't really matter. I'm just glad that I wasn't hurt.\nChris: Well, whoever it was did a very thorough job. They took everything she had, even her ID.\nDax: Chris rescued me and let me use his computer to get my replacement ID.\nMan: You're lucky the police didn't find you first. If they'd caught you on the street without ID, you might have ended up in a Sanctuary District.\nWoman: I thought they stopped doing that.\nMan: Why would they? It's the only way to keep those people off the streets.\nDax: Excuse us a minute.\nDax: Is that true?\nChris: Is what true?\nDax: About taking people without ID to a Sanctuary District.\nChris: Yes, it is. Why?\nDax: I still haven't found my friends.\nChris: And you think they might be in a Sanctuary District?\nDax: It's possible. If you hadn't found me, I might've wound up in one. Can we check and see if they're inside?\nChris: Well, that might take some doing. The Sanctuary District records are not posted on the Net. But I might be able to pull in some favors.\nBashir: And I thought the replimat lines were bad. By the time we get dinner, it'll be time for breakfast. You'd think that before they lock thousands of people into a twenty square block area, they'd give some thought to how those people are going to get fed.\nSisko: I'm go see how much longer this is going to take.\nBc: Hey, gimmie. I'm talking to you. Let me see your food card.\nBashir: What for?\nBc: Because I said so.\nSisko: Let him go.\nBc: What?\nSisko: I said, let him go.\nBc: Oh, well, when you put it like that.\nBell: Leave him alone.\nBell: Are you all right?\nBc: Get his card. Get his food card. Come on, let's get out of here. Come on, let's go.\nSisko: Help him. He never would have gotten hurt if it wasn't for us.\nBashir: Breathe, damn you. Breathe. He's gone.\nSisko: Come on. We've got to get out of here.\nSisko: Cover!\nBashir: They're gone.\nSisko: For now, but they're the least of our worries. That man who just got killed trying to help us?\nSisko: That man was Gabriel Bell.\nBashir: If only I'd had my medkit. If only I'd got him to a hospital I might've been able to save him.\nSisko: You did all you could, Doctor.\nBashir: But it wasn't enough, was it? A good man died because of us. And what about the hostages? What's going to happen to them?\nSisko: Without Bell, there's a good chance those hostages are going to die.\nBashir: And if that happens, how is it going to affect the future?\nSisko: We have to save them. Whatever it takes, we have to make sure those hostages survive.\nKira: All right, Chief, let's get over to the transporter room before we change our minds.\nO'Brien: Too late, Major. It looks like Starfleet's changed our minds for us. Headquarters thinks our plan's too risky. They're afraid that while we're searching for Sisko and the others, we may contaminate the timeline.\nKira: Get me Admiral Wright.\nO'Brien: I had a feeling you'd say that. That's odd.\nKira: What is it?\nO'Brien: I'm not getting any response from Starfleet.\nOdo: Is there something wrong with our communications array? I was just talking to Starfleet Security when my comm. line went dead.\nO'Brien: There's nothing wrong on our end. Everything checks out fine.\nKira: Could be interference on the comm. channels. Try a wide band subspace signal.\nO'Brien: Still nothing. Maybe if I direct it toward one of the Federation communications satellites in Earth orbit.\nOdo: What is it, Chief?\nO'Brien: They're not there. The entire Earth satellite network is gone.\nKira: The spacedocks? The orbital habitats?\nO'Brien: All of it. The Utopia Planitia yards on Mars, the terraforming stations on Venus, Starfleet Headquarters. I'm not detecting a single sign of Starfleet activity anywhere in this sector.\nKira: Try a non-Federation frequency.\nO'Brien: The only subspace signals I'm detecting are coming from the vicinity of Alpha Centauri. And they're Romulan.\nKira: That's impossible.\nOdo: Do you think Sisko and the others might have somehow altered the timeline?\nO'Brien: They must have.\nKira: Then why weren't we affected?\nO'Brien: I'm not sure. Maybe, maybe when it exploded, the singularity that polarized the chroniton particles created some kind of subspace bubble around the ship, isolated it from the changes in the timeline. I'm not sure, I'd have to run some tests. One thing's for certain, right now this ship is all that's left of Starfleet.\nWebb: I thought you didn't want to get involved.\nSisko: We've changed our minds.\nWebb: Glad to hear it. We can use all the help we can get. This place is about to explode. Most of us agreed to live here because they promised us jobs. I don't know about you, but I haven't been on any job interviews lately, and neither has anyone else. They've forgotten about us.\nSisko: So what do we do?\nWebb: We make them remember. The day after tomorrow, we're going to hold a rally outside the Processing Center. I want everyone to be there. Gimmies, ghosts, even the dims. I want to remind the people outside that we haven't done anything wrong, that we're not criminals, and that we don't deserve to live like this.\nSisko: We'll spread the word.\nWebb: Good. One more thing. Tell people when they come to the rally to bring their families, their kids, and try to look their best. We're not derelicts, no matter what they say about us.\nSisko: I could probably use a shave.\nBashir: Not to mention a bath.\nChris: Yes. Yes, thank you. You were right. Your friends are in Sanctuary District A.\nDax: When can we get them out?\nChris: Well, it might not be that easy. The Sanctuary personnel first have to find them. There are something like ten thousand people in there.\nDax: Did they say how long it would take?\nChris: They're not sure. But don't worry, your friends are fine. That's the whole point of the Sanctuary. To give people in trouble food and a place to stay.\nDax: If that's all it's for, then why is there a wall around it?\nBashir: In two days, in front of the Processing Center. Will you spread the word?\nSisko: Okay, you got it? The day after tomorrow. Try to be there and tell everyone you know.\nBashir: That's five hundred people we've talked to today.\nSisko: That only leaves about nine thousand to go. Whoa. Slow down. What's going on?\nDanny: One of the guards got into a fight with a dim down at Processing. Everyone's going crazy. I have got to find my dad.\nSisko: Give me that. Get back.\nBashir: Get away. Get away from him.\nSisko: Come on. We have to get him off the street.\nBc: Everybody put your hands on your head and face the wall.\nLee: You can't do this.\nBc: I can do anything I want. Now, against the wall.\nSisko: That's enough.\nBc: Well look who we've got here. Way to show initiative, new boy. Take him and throw him back there along with the rest of our guests.\nBashir: What the hell do you think you're doing?\nBc: I think I am a making a political statement. Maybe if we're lucky, I might even be able to stage a nice little photo op. I hope that meets with your approval.\nSisko: Do as he says.\nBc: All right! I've waited a long time for this. And I know I won't be disappointed. Ain't that right, new boy?\nSisko: The name is Bell. Gabriel Bell. To be continued..."}
{"text": "O'Brien: I think I know what happened to Commander Sisko and the others. The transporter beam was redirected as it passed through the polarized particles.\nKira: Redirected where?\nO'Brien: Not where, when.\nSisko: You ever hear of the Bell Riots? It was one of the most violent civil disturbances in American history, and it happened right here. San Francisco, Sanctuary District A, the first week of September, twenty twenty four.\nBashir: That's only a few days from now.\nSisko: The Riots will be one of the watershed events of the twenty first century. Gabriel Bell will see to that.\nDax: I still haven't found my friends.\nChris: And you think they might be in a Sanctuary District?\nDax: It's possible. If you hadn't found me, I might've wound up in one.\nWebb: This place is about to explode. Most of us agreed to live here because they promised us jobs. I don't know about you, but I haven't been on any job interviews lately.\nSisko: That man who just got killed trying to help us? That man was Gabriel Bell.\nSisko: Give me that. Get back.\nBashir: Get away. Get away from him.\nSisko: Come on. We have to get him off the street.\nBc: I've waited a long time for this. And I know I won't be disappointed. Ain't that right, new boy?\nSisko: The name is Bell. Gabriel Bell. And now the conclusion.\nBc: Hey, what are you looking at?\nBernardo: Nothing.\nBc: If you're trying to find a way out, forget it Bernardo. You ain't going anywhere. None of you are.\nLee: What are you going to do with us?\nBc: I was going to let you think about that for a little bit. Now, everybody, against the wall. Sit down over there. Move! Move it! If any of them moves, shoot'em.\nSisko: No one's shooting anyone.\nBc: Maybe, maybe not.\nSisko: We need them alive. They're the only thing we have to bargain with.\nBc: You think I didn't know that?\nSisko: Just making sure. We need to get these blinds closed.\nBashir: The police will drop snipers on the roofs across the street, pick us off one by one.\nBc: All right, let's use the benches as barricades. We'll stack them up against the windows. It's too bad. I kind of like watching this place burn.\nVin: Drop your weapons. What's so funny?\nBc: You. You're dead. (Sisko knocks Vin out of the way as the shot is fired, Lee screams, BC aims his weapon at her)\nBc: Shut up! That's enough! I said shut up!\nBashir: Leave her alone. She's just scared. Listen, calm down. No one's going to hurt you.\nSisko: Get over there with the others.\nVin: I know you. I picked you up the other day.\nSisko: I know. It's my way of saying thank you. Now get over there with the others!\nBc: Hey, nice tackle, Bell. You ever play any football?\nSisko: Baseball, actually.\nBc: Really, I'd hate to be a catcher and seeing you barreling towards home plate. Hey, you, get up.\nVin: Leave her alone.\nBc: Oh, nice mouth. All right, you get up. I said get up.\nSisko: What are you doing?\nBc: Relax. I just want to see what they're saying about us on the Net. I need his access code to log on. Don't make me ask you again.\nVin: Get lost.\nBc: After you.\nBernardo: Wait. I'll do it.\nVin: What are you doing? Sit down.\nBernardo: Hey, Vin, we're not on duty now so don't give me orders. I just want to make it home in one piece.\nBc: Smart boy. Move. Get back there.\nSisko: I know what you're thinking. It's not going to be easy keeping the hostages safe.\nBashir: It's not just them I'm worried about, it's you. Didn't you say Gabriel Bell died when the police stormed the building?\nSisko: Right. But I'm not Bell.\nBashir: No, but we're the only one's who know that.\nNewscaster: National Guard units are mobilizing now and should reach Sanctuary District A within the hour. Governor Chen has issued a statement saying the uprising will be quelled and District secured. It's still not clear how this riot began, though rumors of mounting tensions have been filtering out of the district for weeks.\nBc: This is great. We're on every channel. I bet they're even watching this in China. Why do they sound so surprised? When you treat people like animals, you're gonna get bit.\nWebb: Let me through.\nMan: Stop right there.\nBc: Hey, who said you could come in here?\nSisko: It's okay. Let him in.\nBc: You know this gimmie?\nSisko: He's a friend.\nBc: Go join your friends.\nSisko: Glad to see you're all right.\nWebb: So much for our peaceful demonstration.\nSisko: I know it's not what we talked about, but it's what happened and now we have to deal with it.\nWebb: How? It's a madhouse out there and this building is crawling with ghosts.\nSisko: I know. That's the first thing we have to fix. I want you to go out and find gimmies, people you know, people who can be trusted to guard the hostages.\nBashir: If we leave it to the ghosts, there's no telling what could happen.\nWebb: I think I know just the people you're looking for.\nSisko: Good. We're going to need them.\nBc: Hey, Bell. You're really missing something over here.\nNewscaster: Many of the district employees fleeing the riot have been reported injured and several have yet to be accounted for. There's been no official count of injuries among Sanctuary residents, however satellite pictures show a number of possible casualties. We'll have more on this story as information becomes available.\nChris: This is terrible.\nDax: I've got to get down there.\nChris: What are you talking about?\nDax: My friends are in there.\nChris: I know they are, but there's nothing you can do for them.\nDax: I have to try.\nChris: Jadzia, it is too dangerous. You could get hurt.\nDax: I just can't stay here and watching that place burn, knowing my friends are inside.\nChris: Look, I have friends in the police department. When things settle down a little bit, I'll talk to them.\nDax: I can't wait that long. By the time things settle down, my friends could be hurt or even killed. They don't belong in there. None of those people do. First officer's log, supplemental. Somehow Sisko, Dax, and Bashir have altered Earth's history. We have no choice but to send an away team into the past, to try to find them and to correct the changes to the timeline. The only problem is, we're not exactly sure where to look or when.\nO'Brien: According to our computer simulations, the degree of temporal displacement is directly proportional to the number of chroniton particles interacting with the transporter beam. Unfortunately, there's no way to know the exact concentration of particles at the time of the accident, but I've narrowed it down to ten possibilities, each one corresponding with a different time frame. One of them has to be right. We just hope we find the right one before we run out of chroniton particles.\nKira: I feel ridiculous.\nOdo: Well, it does effectively disguise your Bajoran heritage.\nO'Brien: Just say you broke your nose. On the other hand, maybe you'd better say nothing. I'll do the talking.\nKira: That's fine with me.\nOdo: Good luck.\nKira: Energize.\nO'Brien: If this is where Commander Sisko and the others materialized, there should be a residual electrostatic charge.\nKira: Kira to Sisko. Kira to Dax. Kira to Bashir.\nO'Brien: Judging from this vehicle, I'd say we were somewhere in the mid-twentieth century.\nKira: No one's responding to my hails.\nO'Brien: I'm not reading any electrostatic variance or any distress signals. They're definitely not here.\nKira: How long before the transporter re-engages?\nO'Brien: About thirty seconds.\nO'Brien: Evening.\nKira: I broke my nose.\nO'Brien: I told you not to say anything.\nBc: I've got one question for you two. What are all these gimmies doing here?\nWebb: I asked them to help.\nBc: And who invited you?\nSisko: I did.\nBc: Look, last time I checked this was my party. That means I get to decide who's on the guest list and who isn't.\nSisko: We needed people we could trust in here.\nBc: What's that supposed to mean?\nSisko: How many ghosts do you know who you can really trust?\nBc: One. Me. And that's enough.\nSisko: No, it isn't. Not here. Not now.\nWebb: We need people to guard the building, watch the exits, keep an eye on the hostages when we need to sleep.\nBc: All right, all right, you made your point. Just keep them out of my hair.\nSisko: The important thing we have to decide is what we're going to do with those hostages.\nBc: Don't have to worry about that. I've got it all figured out.\nWebb: I bet you do.\nBc: And just to prove I'm not such a bad guy, I'm going to let you two in on it. It's simple. We trade the hostages for our freedom. We get amnesty, a handful of credit chips, and a flight to anywhere we want. Personally, I'm thinking Tasmania.\nSisko: Tasmania.\nBc: Errol Flynn was born in Tasmania. Look, you guys go where you want and I'll go where I want, all right?\nWebb: Yeah, and as soon as we step off the plane, they lock us up.\nSisko: Besides, we can't just think about ourselves. There are ten thousand people living in here.\nBc: Well let them get their own hostages.\nWebb: No, Gabe is right. This is an opportunity for us to be heard. To let people on the outside know exactly what's going on in here.\nSisko: You want to make demands, I'll give you some demands. We tell them if they want the hostages back, they've got to shut down the Sanctuaries.\nWebb: And reinstate the Federal Employment Act.\nBc: Why don't you have them throw in a couple of silk shirts, maybe a penthouse in Singapore. Jobs? You guys want jobs? When are you going to get it? There are no jobs. Not for us, anyway.\nSisko: They'll find jobs. They'll have to. After tonight, they won't be able to ignore us anymore.\nBc: All right. All right, we'll do it your way. I'll log onto the Interface and I'll tell them that we want the District closed.\nSisko: Not you. Him.\nWebb: Funny, I would have nominated you.\nBc: What? Is there something wrong with me? I can be as eloquent as the next guy.\nSisko: I'm sure you can. But they can't dismiss Webb as easily as you or me. He's got the face. He's got the family. He's the guy next door. And that's what they need to see.\nWebb: My name is Michael Webb. I used to be a Plant Manager at ChemTech Industries. I'm speaking for the residents of Sanctuary District A. We're holding six hostages. We don't want to hurt them. All we want is\nBashir: What happened?\nSisko: Someone cut off our access to the Interface.\nBc: I knew it! I knew this was a waste of time. They don't care. No one cares about us.\nVin: Why should they? You're all a bunch of losers.\nBc: What did you say?\nBernardo: He didn't say anything.\nVin: You heard me. I called you a loser because that's what you are. And this time, you're going to lose big.\nSisko: That's enough!\nVin: Check your e-mail, buddy. You're a loser, too.\nBashir: If you want to get out of here, you'd better hope you're wrong.\nBernardo: Quiet down, Vin. You'll only make things worse.\nVin: I just want these guys to know what they're in for. I bet the National Guard's already has this place surrounded. Sooner or later they'll come rolling right in here, and you people aren't even going to slow them down.\nBc: I really think we should kill this guy.\nPreston: Mister Webb, I'm Detective Preston from the SFPD. It's urgent that I speak with you.\nWebb: Did you shut off our access to the Interface?\nPreston: I'm afraid it's department policy in these types of situations, but it does give us a chance to talk one-on-one\nWebb: All right, let's talk.\nPreston: First, I want to see the hostages.\nWebb: What for?\nPreston: I need to make sure they're okay. You said you weren't going to hurt them. I need to know I can count on that.\nBc: Get up. Let's go. They want to see a hostage, let's show them a hostage.\nBc: Take a good look, lady. I've got five more just like her. And if we don't get what we want, they're going to get hurt.\nSisko: I think you've made your point.\nBc: Have I, Detective?\nPreston: I'd say so.\nBc: Good.\nPreston: Look, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with Mister Webb again.\nBc: Why would I mind?\nWebb: All right, Detective, I'm here.\nPreston: Your friend has quite a temper.\nWebb: That's because he's angry. We all are.\nSisko: BC, let me ask you something.\nBc: Go ahead.\nSisko: Why do I get the feeling that you're not going to be happy until you've hurt one of those hostages?\nBc: I have to admit, the thought has crossed my mind. It might alleviate some of the stress I'm feeling.\nSisko: I think you'd better find a way to deal with that stress. It's sure to be a lot healthier for you in the long run.\nBc: No kidding. Let me ask you something. You think it looks better like this or like this?\nSisko: It's your head. and your decision.\nWebb: Hey, Gabe .Detective Preston wants to meet with me.\nSisko: When?\nWebb: Now, by the main gate.\nSisko: May I join you?\nWebb: I was hoping you'd say that.\nSisko: Keep an eye on the hostages\nBashir: Got it. Good luck.\nPreston: It's been a long night for all of us. You guys must be exhausted.\nWebb: We're okay. We could use some breakfast come morning.\nPreston: Breakfast for ten thousand? That's a lot of take-out. But in the interest of friendship, I'll do what I can. Now, how about returning the favor and letting me have one of the hostages?\nWebb: No hostage, no food. Is that what you're saying?\nPreston: Not at all. You'll get the food either way. Giving up one of the hostages would show good faith. Besides, you'd still have five left.\nSisko: Those hostages aren't going anywhere until we get what we want.\nPreston: Which is what?\nSisko: We want the Sanctuaries closed and the Federal Employment Act reinstated.\nPreston: That's asking a lot.\nSisko: I don't think so. What we want is to get out from behind these walls, to stop having to depend on handouts.\nWebb: That's right. All we're asking for is a chance to get back on our feet again. We don't deserve to be locked up in here.\nPreston: Obviously I can't make any promises, but I will see to it the Governor hears your demands.\nSisko: You do that.\nBashir: Are you all right?\nVin: Hey, leave her alone.\nBashir: I'm a doctor.\nBernardo: Sure you are.\nLee: You were here the other day, weren't you?\nBashir: That's right. Are you hypoglycemic?\nLee: You really are a doctor.\nBashir: Why didn't you tell someone?\nLee: I was afraid to.\nBashir: I'll see about getting you some medicine. In the meantime I'll try and find you a chocolate bar or something.\nMan: I'm going to get some sleep.\nLee: Wasn't he here with you?\nBashir: Bell? We came in together.\nLee: He gave me a false name, didn't he?\nBashir: Well, yes. He got himself into a little trouble a while back and he didn't want you to put his real name on the computer.\nLee: When I first started working here, I processed a woman who had a warrant out on her for abandoning her kid. She couldn't take care of him, so she left him with a family that she worked for over in the Marina. I felt so sorry for her I didn't log her in. I just let her disappear into the Sanctuary.\nBashir: Well, that was very kind of you.\nLee: Almost got me fired when my supervisor found out.\nBashir: What happened to this woman?\nLee: I don't know, but I think about her all the time. Ever since then I've just done my job, you know? Tried not to let it get to me.\nBashir: It's not your fault that things are the way they are.\nLee: Everybody tells themselves that, and nothing ever changes.\nSisko: Hold it!\nSisko: Don't. Don't do it, BC.\nBc: Give me one reason why not.\nSisko: All right.\nBc: You really going to shoot me, Bell? I don't think so.\nSisko: Think again.\nBc: I thought we were on the same side here.\nSisko: We are, but you get on my nerves and I don't like your hat. Now put the gun down.\nVin: Yeah, then you and I can see how tough you really are.\nSisko: Shut up! Now put it down.\nWebb: You heard the man.\nBc: You gimmies. No sense of fun.\nSisko: Come here.\nVin: Hey!\nSisko: Now you listen to me closely because I'm not going to say this again. The next time you try something stupid I will make you regret it.\nVin: You trying to scare me?\nSisko: I'm trying to save your life, and the lives of every hostage in that room. And mister, you are not making it easy.\nVin: If you're so concerned about our welfare, why don't you let us go?\nSisko: You don't know what any of this is about, do you? You work here, you see these people every day, how they live, and you just don't get it.\nVin: What do you want me to say? That I feel for them? That they got a bad break? What good would it do?\nSisko: It'd be a start. You get back in that room, and you shut up.\nKira: Kira to Sisko. Kira to Dax. Kira to Bashir.\nO'Brien: I'm not picking up any residual electrostatic charge.\nKira: What?\nO'Brien: I said I'm not picking up any residual electrostatic charge.\nKira: What?\nO'Brien: They're not here!\nKira: Thank you\nO'Brien: Uh-oh.\nHippie: Wow.\nWebb: Danny.\nDanny: Dad.\nBashir: He was outside looking for you.\nWebb: Your mother and Jeannie, are they okay?\nDanny: They're fine. They're with the Petersons.\nWebb: So what are you doing here?\nDanny: I wanted to be with you.\nWebb: All right. All right, you can stay for a while but when I tell you to go, I don't want any arguments.\nBashir: Now that didn't hurt a bit, did it. I managed to find some glucajen in what was left of the clinic. You should be feeling better soon.\nLee: Thank you.\nBashir: Is that your family?\nBernardo: Yeah.\nVin: Let him see it. Nice looking bunch, huh?\nBashir: Absolutely.\nBernardo: Right now those two kids are sitting at home wondering if they'll ever see their dad again.\nBashir: Look, I realize this won't make what you're going through any easier, but something good will come from all this.\nBernardo: You think they're just going to close down the Sanctuary and let you walk out of here?\nBashir: No, but I do know that someday there won't be a need for places like this.\nLee: I hope you're right. Even though it'll mean I'll be out of a job, I hope you're right.\nBernardo: I just want to get home, you know?\nBashir: I know. So do I.\nPreston: The Governor assures me that if you let the hostages go, he'll reduce the charges against you to incitement to riot.\nWebb: That's it? What about closing the Sanctuary, what about jobs?\nPreston: The Governor intends to form a committee to look into the problems facing the District residents.\nSisko: So what you're telling us is that nothing is going to change.\nPreston: I wouldn't say that. But change takes time.\nSisko: You've run out of time.\nPreston: Gentlemen, if I were you I would seriously consider taking this offer.\nSisko: Or else what?\nPreston: The Governor is not going to let this situation continue forever.\nWebb: You tell him if he wants to see those hostages again, he's going to have to do better.\nSisko: Tough talk.\nWebb: I was bluffing.\nSisko: I couldn't tell.\nWebb: I hope she couldn't either.\nSisko: Try opening that menu.\nBashir: It just brings me back to the same screen. There doesn't seem to be any way of getting past the lockout and logging onto the Net.\nSisko: There has to be.\nBashir: How can you be certain?\nSisko: Because according to history, the residents were able to get onto the Net and tell their side of the story. Millions of people watched.\nBashir: Well no one here's been able to get past the lockout.\nSisko: Maybe it was Bell. And if he did it, we have to also.\nBc: Listen up, everybody. A couple of dims just brought us a little present.\nBc: I don't know about you fellas, but I'm in love.\nBashir: Jadzia.\nBc: You know her?\nDax: Julian.\nBc: Can you believe it? It's the story of my life. All the good ones are taken.\nBashir: You remember my friend Gabe?\nSisko: Gabriel Bell. It's good to see you again.\nDax: Good to see you.\nBc: Allow me to introduce myself. Biddle Coleridge.\nVin: Biddle?\nBc: Hey.\nVin: I didn't say a word.\nDax: I've been looking all over for you.\nWebb: Excuse me. You obviously don't live here, so how did you get in?\nDax: I managed to recode my ID card so that I could get past the Sanitation Department checkpoint.\nBc: You crawled in through the sewers? You must really like these guys.\nBashir: You should sit down. You must be exhausted.\nBc: It's too bad. I really think me and her could've had something special.\nDax: So what you're saying is that even if I could get you out, you wouldn't leave.\nSisko: Those hostages have to be protected whatever the cost.\nBashir: You said that one of the men who brought you here took your comm. badge.\nDax: That's right. And it's set to emit a subspace distress signal.\nSisko: Julian, I want you to help Dax find the men who took her comm. badge and then I want you both to get away from this place.\nDax: But if the Defiant locks on to my distress signal and we're not together.\nSisko: As soon as the hostages are in police custody, I'll try to make it back to the beam-in site. If for some reason I can't make it, you'll have to leave without me.\nBashir: Sir, obviously Jadzia has got to leave. If something were to happen to her, it wouldn't take a doctor long to figure out she wasn't human. But you're still going to need help to keep those hostages alive, and if it's all the same to you, I'll stay.\nSisko: All right. See if you can get her comm. badge back. I'll keep trying to log onto the Net.\nBashir: The police cut off our access.\nDax: That's one problem I might be able to help you with.\nBashir: Do you really think you can convince your friend to put us on the Net?\nDax: It'll take some persuading but I think he'll do what's right. This is it. The men who took my comm. badge brought me here before they took me to the Processing Center.\nBashir: Hello? Hello?\nGrady: There's nobody here.\nBashir: We just want to talk.\nGrady: Woosh! I'm invisible.\nDax: If you say so.\nGrady: You can see me?\nBashir: Just barely.\nGrady: That's okay. As long as they can't see me.\nDax: Who?\nGrady: The aliens. They'll suck your brains out right through your ears.\nDax: I know. You see, I'm an alien.\nGrady: I thought so, but you're a good alien.\nDax: Right. I'm here to protect the Earth from its enemies. But I need that piece of jewellry you're holding to do it.\nGrady: I understand. Here, you take it. Good luck.\nDax: Thank you. Shh. Don't tell anyone.\nGrady: I won't. I won't.\nDax: I came in there. Take care of yourself.\nBashir: We'll see you at the beam-in site.\nChris: Let me see if I understand what you're asking me to do. You want me to override a government block, violate my Interface operating license, and turn over my channels to a bunch of criminals.\nDax: They're not criminals.\nChris: I know that, but they're acting like criminals. They have guns, they have taken hostages.\nDax: So why do you think they're doing it? Don't you want to know? Don't you think that the public deserves to know?\nChris: You are asking me to break the law.\nDax: I am asking you to give those people a voice. Chris, sooner or later, the government is going to retake the Sanctuary District. And when they do, a lot of people are going to die. And unless the public learns why the Sanctuary residents did what they did, all those deaths will be for nothing.\nChris: You know I'll lose my license. But I'll get great ratings.\nHenry: My name is Henry Garcia. I've been living here two years now. I came to San Francisco to work in a brewery but they laid a bunch of us off because they got some new equipment. So I ended up here. I've never been in trouble with the law or anything. I don't want to hurt anybody. I just want a chance to work and live like regular people.\nJulie: My name is Julie Hess\nPreston: Governor, I understand your concern, but I think the use of force would be premature at this time. I am aware that there have been disturbances in other Sanctuary Districts, but we have to think about the hostages. I know I've heard the rumors too, but that's all they are, rumors. If you just give me another chance to talk with Webb and Bell, I. Yes, sir. Of course. We'll do our best.\nPreston: The Governor's made up his mind. We move in at oh five hundred.\nOdo: No luck?\nKira: Afraid not.\nO'Brien: Well, we know one thing. They arrived before the year twenty forty eight.\nOdo: How can you be sure?\nO'Brien: Because we were just there. And that wasn't the mid-twenty first century I read about in school. It's been changed. I mean, Earth history has been through its rough patches, but never that rough.\nKira: If we limit our search to dates before twenty forty eight, how many possibilities does that leave us with?\nO'Brien: According to my calculations, three. But we've only have enough chroniton particles for one more try.\nKira: Well, pick one, Chief. Let's hope you get lucky.\nO'Brien: That's my best guess.\nKira: That's good enough for me. Energize.\nKira: Kira to Sisko. Kira to\nO'Brien: I'm picking up a comm. badge distress signal. It's Dax.\nKira: Kira to Dax.\nKira: Dax, do you hear me?\nDax: Kira.\nKira: Dax, am I glad to hear your voice.\nDax: Where are you?\nO'Brien: We're at the corner of Polk and California.\nDax: I'll meet you there.\nKira: Are Sisko and Bashir with you?\nDax: No. I'll explain everything when I see you.\nKira: The transporter's\nKira: Set to automatically retrieve us in about a minute. You'd better deactivate your comm. badge.\nDax: Acknowledged.\nO'Brien: We can reactivate them tomorrow in time for the next beam out.\nKira: Should be interesting.\nVin: Best ball club I ever saw? The ninety nine Yankees, no doubt about it.\nBernardo: Get out of here. The fifteen Kings could've taken them any day.\nVin: Come on.\nBernardo: Am I right?\nBashir: I wouldn't know. I prefer tennis.\nVin: Tennis?\nLee: Soccer.\nVin: It's up to you, Bell.\nSisko: I don't think there's any question. The Kings. Fifteen was Buck Bokai's rookie year.\nVin: That's all they had going for them.\nBc: I've been up on the roof. It looks like another National Guard unit arrived. There's something's going on out there.\nSisko: Everybody on your feet.\nWebb: What are you doing?\nSisko: They'll be safer in there. Let's go. I want you in there with them. Make sure they keep their heads down.\nBashir: I'll see if I can find something to block the door.\nWebb: Danny. Danny, wake up. Come on, it's time for you to go.\nDanny: I want to be here with you.\nWebb: I'll meet up with you later. Tell your mom I love her and give your sister a kiss for me. Go on, now. Go on.\nBc: Hey, kid.\nBc: Yeah, I thought so. Looks good on you. Now get lost.\nBc: What the hell. It's probably raining in Tasmania, anyway.\nWebb: I'm going to talk to Preston and find out what's going on.\nWebb: Oh my god.\nVin: Stop shooting, damn it! We're okay!\nSisko: Hold it! No!\nPolice: Don't move. Clear. Damage control. Freeze!\nVin: I'm a hostage, you idiot!\nPolice: Blue leader, this is team one. The Processing Center is secure.\nVin: What's wrong with you people? You could've gotten us all killed.\nPolice: There were rumors you were dead.\nVin: Do I look dead to you?\nPolice: Our orders were to pacify the building\nVin: Yeah? Well you certainly did a good job.\nBashir: I'm a doctor.\nVin: Leave him alone.\nPolice: I copy. All right, listen up. There's trouble on Second Street.\nVin: You go pacify Second Street. Officer Calvera and I can handle things in here. Give me that.\nPolice: All right, men. Let's move.\nVin: How is he?\nBashir: Lucky. He'll live.\nSisko: The next time I tell you to stay down, you\nVin: Gotcha.\nSisko: Yeah. What about Webb?\nMedic: Keep the pressure on.\nMedic 2: Over here, quick.\nBoy: Mommy? Mommy?\nVin: How could we have let this happen?\nBashir: The question is, how do we stop it from happening again.\nBernardo: So what do we do with them?\nVin: I don't know.\nSisko: You could let us go.\nVin: All right.\nBernardo: Vin!\nVin: They saved our lives back there.\nBernardo: How can we explain what happened to them?\nVin: Give me your ID cards.\nSisko: It's in my pocket.\nVin: We'll switch these with two of the casualties. As far as anybody knows, you both died here. Is that okay with you, Bell?\nSisko: Thanks.\nVin: My pleasure.\nBernardo: Come on, let's get you out of here.\nVin: Anything else we can do for you?\nSisko: There is one more thing.\nVin: Name it.\nSisko: Tell people the truth about what happened here.\nVin: I would've done that anyway. First officer's log, supplemental. Upon returning to the present with our missing crewmembers, we were relieved to diskover that the timeline had been restored.\nSisko: Come in.\nBashir: How do you feel?\nSisko: Better.\nBashir: I thought you might like to see this. I found it in the historical database.\nSisko: I'm not looking forward to explaining this to Starfleet Command.\nBashir: Well, at least it's a good picture. You know, Commander, having seen a little of the twenty first century there is one thing I don't understand. How could they have let things get so bad?\nSisko: That's a good question. I wish I had an answer."}
{"text": "Leanne: Jake! Hi!\nJake: Leanne. I thought you were on Bajor.\nLeanne: I came back early. You know, I was just thinking about you.\nJake: Really?\nLeanne: Yeah. I passed by the Klingon restaurant and I was thinking about the time you and I and Orak were eating dinner\nJake: And you ordered the gagh. How is Orak? I haven't talked to him in a while.\nLeanne: We stopped seeing each other a few weeks ago.\nJake: Oh.\nLeanne: Yeah. So, are you doing anything tomorrow night?\nJake: I'm supposed to play dom-jot with Nog.\nLeanne: Oh.\nJake: But they're not really firm plans. In fact, I was thinking of canceling them.\nLeanne: Really? If you do cancel, would you be interested in dinner?\nJake: Sure.\nLeanne: Great. How about eighteen hundred at the Klingon restaurant?\nJake: I'll be there. But this time we'll skip the gagh.\nLeanne: Definitely. I'll see you then.\nJake: Okay.\nOdo: Move aside! Look out! Move! Move!\nBashir: What have we got?\nO'Brien: Bajoran transport coming in. They had some kind of accident on board. They've got casualties.\nOdo: They're docking.\nBashir: We should have beamed the wounded directly to the Infirmary.\nO'Brien: They have a loose plasma coil. We couldn't beam through the radiation.\nOdo: Docking clamps secure. I'm opening the airlock. Stand back.\nO'Brien: Come on.\nOdo: This way, this way. It's all right.\nNurse: Here, I've got you.\nOdo: It's all right. Come along now.\nBajoran: This way, Eminence.\nBashir: Kai Winn?\nWinn: The Vedek. Take care of the Vedek.\nOdo: Odo to Kira.\nKira: Kira here.\nOdo: I think you should meet us in the Infirmary, Major.\nOdo: Vedek Bareil was on the transport. He's been injured.\nO'Brien: The report from the transport, sir.\nSisko: Give me the short version.\nO'Brien: There was a molecular fracture in one of the warp plasma conduits. It was only a matter of time before it gave way. Once it collapsed the entire relay system exploded.\nWinn: Was it sabotage?\nO'Brien: I don't think so.\nKira: Why would you suspect sabotage?\nWinn: I would prefer to discuss that with the Emissary in private.\nBashir: Put a pressor field on that artery.\nNurse: The arterial disruption is too severe the pressor can't stop the hemorrhaging.\nBashir: All right. Clamp off the artery and then increase the plasma level to maximum.\nNurse: Cardiac arrest.\nBashir: Clear.\nBashir: Clear.\nBashir: He can't take much more of that.\nNurse: The arterial pressure is falling.\nBashir: I see it.\nNurse: The neurotransmitter levels are falling too.\nBashir: Two cc's cordrazine.\nNurse: Doctor?\nBashir: Do it.\nBashir: Synaptic failure. Apply direct neuro-stimulation to the brainstem.\nWinn: Thank you. Vedek Bareil and I were on our way to a secret meeting with a member of the Cardassian Central Command. It was my intention to open talks between Bajor and Cardassia that would lead to a treaty and to a final peace settlement.\nSisko: You have been negotiating peace with Cardassia?\nWinn: The Prophets teach us that while violence may keep an enemy at bay, only peace can make him a friend.\nSisko: How long has this been going on?\nWinn: Vedek Bareil has been working to set up this meeting with Legate Turrel for the past five months. They've discussed issues ranging from war reparations to the exchange of ambassadors. There's even the possibility that the Cardassians will issue a formal apology for the pain and suffering inflicted on the Bajoran people during the occupation. I was on my way to our first face-to-face meeting when we had the accident.\nSisko: Please, don't take this the wrong way, but I never would've guessed that you would be the one to bring such a bold vision of peace to Bajor.\nWinn: A large share of the credit goes to Vedek Bareil. Without him, the talks could have never come this far.\nSisko: It sounds like you've developed a deeper appreciation for Vedek Bareil.\nWinn: I must admit he has been a loyal and trustworthy aide since the election. I'm not sure I could have been as forgiving if I'd been in his place. These talks were Bareil's idea. He's guided me through them, and without him in the future, these talks may never resume.\nBashir: I'm sorry. The radiation severely damaged his neural pathways. I did everything I could.\nKira: I know you did. Did he ever regain consciousness?\nBashir: No. I don't think he suffered.\nKira: Thank you, Doctor. I'm on duty in Ops. Excuse me.\nBashir: Kira. I think they can get along without you in Ops today.\nKira: Maybe, but I need to be there. I appreciate your concern but I'll grieve in my own way in my own time.\nNurse: We're ready to begin the autopsy, Doctor.\nBashir: Release the stasis field. Let's begin with a neural scan. I want to map his central axonal pathways, find out where the breakdown began.\nNurse: Shall I begin taking neural tissue samples?\nBashir: Looks like the damage began in the parietal lobe, spread through the rest of the brain in a retrograde manner.\nBashir: Wait a minute. A neuron just fired in his cerebral cortex. There it is again. His nerves. His nerves are still transmitting electrical impulses to his brain\nNurse: How can that be? His brain activity level is zero. His nervous system should be completely inactive.\nBashir: I don't know but it means his body's still capable of sending messages to the brain, even though the brain can't process them. The radiation he was exposed to might have fortified his peripheral cell membranes. If we can regenerate his pathways with his own neuron cells, we might be able to revive him.\nNurse: What about brain damage? There's been no oxygen to his brain for almost forty minutes.\nBashir: But he's been in stasis for most of that time. That, combined with the strengthening of his cell membranes might buy us the time we need.\nBashir: We'll have to direct a burst of electrical energy into his cerebral cortex. If the burst is the proper intensity, it should create a cascade effect within the brain and the neurons might resume their normal firing pattern. Okay. Let's close up the cranial cavity.\nBashir: The neurogenic stimulator is in place. Let's try a fifty millivolt burst.\nBashir: Increase it to sixty.\nBashir: Seventy.\nNurse: That's five millivolts above what normal tissue can withstand. It'll burn out his cerebral cortex.\nBashir: If I'm right, the inaprovaline drug I gave him should provide additional resistance against the excess electro-stimulation. Seventy.\nNurse: Doctor!\nBashir: Well, it's a little early to tell, but I'm hoping he'll make a full recovery. He should be back on his feet again in a few weeks.\nSisko: You say that so calmly, but it's not every doctor that can lose a patient and then has him back on his feet in a few weeks.\nWinn: Indeed, you are too modest. You've performed nothing less than a miracle here. The Prophets must walk with you, Doctor.\nBashir: Well, I and the Prophets, were lucky that the ionizing radiation left a residual signature on Bareil's axonal pathways. That's what really made this possible.\nBareil: Whoever deserves the credit, Doctor, I am grateful.\nWinn: And I am grateful you were not taken from us, Vedek Bareil.\nBareil: My work here is not yet finished.\nWinn: No, it is not. We must resume the negotiations immediately. We can't risk losing the momentum we've established. I would like to send a coded message to Legate Turrel and invite him to come to DS Nine to continue the talks.\nBashir: Wait a minute. Bareil's in no condition to conduct negotiations.\nWinn: Bareil will simply be advising me. I will conduct the actual talks.\nBashir: I'll allow it as long as your visits don't tire him.\nWinn: Agreed. Vedek, we will talk again soon.\nBareil: Eminence.\nBareil: So, are we going to be playing springball next month?\nKira: You bet, although I'm afraid I'll have an unfair advantage.\nBareil: You mean playing against a dead man?\nKira: No. I've been practicing.\nNog: My Dad said that you were looking for me.\nJake: Yeah. It's about tomorrow night\nNog: Don't worry, I've already taken care of that. I met these three Terrellians who were bragging about how great they are at dom-jot. So I arranged a game, us against them.\nJake: Nog, we have a little problem.\nNog: No, we don't. I guarantee we'll beat them.\nJake: It's not that. I just can't make it tomorrow night.\nNog: But it has to be tomorrow night. They're leaving the next day.\nJake: I, I made other plans.\nNog: What could be more important than dom-jot?\nJake: I have a date.\nNog: Oh. Well, that's different.\nJake: It is?\nNog: Yeah. Money is money, but women are better.\nJake: Is that a Rule of Acquisition?\nNog: It's a personal rule. So, who is she?\nJake: Leanne.\nNog: Leanne! Way to go, Jake. So, what is the name of my date? I hope she's as cute as Leanne.\nJake: Your date?\nNog: She has a friend, right?\nJake: I'm sure she does.\nNog: Then tell her to bring her along.\nJake: Nog, that's not what I had in mind.\nNog: That's because you were confused. Would you rather the three of us go out?\nJake: When you put it that way.\nNog: Exactly. Just one thing, Jake. You're still pretty new at this dating business. Just promise me you won't do anything to embarrass me.\nJake: I'll do my best.\nNog: Ah, this'll be great. Maybe I'll even wash my lobes.\nBareil: I suggest that we put off discussion of the Cardassians returning the Orbs until diplomatic relations have been established.\nWinn: That would only delay an inevitable argument.\nBareil: But it will give the peace process a chance to grow. Once the Cardassians are invested in the process, it may be easier to discuss these matters.\nWinn: Very well.\nBareil: A wise decision, Eminence.\nWinn: I hope so, Vedek Bareil. The first meeting with Turrel is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I will see you again before then.\nBareil: I take it you're not here to deliver a good report, Doctor?\nBashir: In order to revive you, I had to flood your nervous system with neurogenic radiation. Unfortunately, this has caused some kind of selective vaso-constriction of your arteries. The result is an inadequate blood flow to your internal organs.\nBareil: So what do we do?\nBashir: We'd like to place you back into stasis, do some research on your condition.\nBareil: For how long?\nBashir: I don't know yet. Days, weeks even months.\nBareil: Maybe even years?\nBashir: Maybe.\nBareil: I'm sorry, Doctor, that's not acceptable. I can't allow myself to be put in storage when my people need me. I don't want to wake to a Bajor still haunted by the memory of the occupation.\nBashir: I realize how important these talks are to Bajor, but as your physician my duty is to you first.\nBareil: And I have a duty to Bajor. Please, help me heal my people. It's the only thing that matters to me.\nBashir: There is an experimental drug called Vasokin which would increase the blood flow to your organs and might enable you to function normally for a while. But there is a great deal of risk attached.\nBareil: What sort of risk?\nBashir: In twenty two percent of cases, Vasokin has severely damaged the patient's lungs, kidneys, even heart. Sometimes the brain. In your condition, it could even be fatal.\nBareil: But it would allow me to function normally for the next few days?\nBashir: Yes. But why risk your life for a few days?\nBareil: I have no great desire to die, Doctor, but I am determined to carry out the will of the Prophets as long as I am able, and I cannot carry out their will if I am unconscious in some stasis tube. Please, begin the Vasokin treatment.\nBashir: All right. We'll start this afternoon. I only hope we don't regret this.\nBareil: So do I.\nSisko: Captain's log, stardate 48498.4. Legate Turrel has arrived aboard the station to resume the negotiations. Vedek Bareil suggested that I sit in on the talks as an impartial observer, and Kai Winn has agreed.\nTurrel: Perhaps you didn't hear me. There are no Bajoran prisoners left in Cardassian hands.\nSisko: Maybe we should redefine our terms. Perhaps there are no official prisoners but are there be a number of, shall we say, detainees?\nTurrel: There are, of course, people being detained at the Justice Ministry for crimes against the state, but that is a discussion for another time. Now, I would like to discuss what you've called war reparations. We would be willing to pay for the destruction of all Bajoran property incurred during the occupation as long as you would be willing to return to us all Cardassian property and equipment left behind on Bajor.\nWinn: What sort of property?\nTurrel: I can provide you with lists of material, equipment, as long as we have an agreement in principle that anything of Cardassian origin does still belong to the Cardassian people.\nWinn: I will consider your offer.\nTurrel: Good. Shall we take a recess?\nWinn: He's up to something.\nSisko: That much seems clear.\nWinn: But what? Why is he insisting on this principle of his? I need Bareil. He's the only one who knows the entire negotiating record. Bareil has been talking with Turrel for months. He understands him, respects him. I think he even likes him.\nSisko: I'm afraid you may have to face the possibility that Bareil may not be able to help you much longer.\nWinn: I was chosen by the Prophets to lead our people into a new era. I know that. But I was not meant to be in a room with a Cardassian debating legalisms and diplomatic nuances. I can't do this without Bareil. If he dies, then peace with Cardassia dies with him.\nLeanne: My father used to take me to the wilderness preserves on Vulcan, so for years I thought their planet was like, animals and plants everywhere. I had no idea there were people on Vulcan.\nNog: Boy, Jake, she talks a lot for a female.\nLeanne: Excuse me?\nJake: Riska ,weren't you telling me your uncle runs a bar on Osinar Six? You know, Nog's uncle runs this bar.\nRiska: Is that right?\nNog: Let's not make foolish conversation. Just sit there and look beautiful.\nJake: Nog, what do you think you're doing?\nNog: I think I know how to handle females. Jake, you know, I've been thinking. After we're done eating, we could take the females to the holosuites. I borrowed one of my uncle's private programs, The Massacre on Ferris Six. We could spend an hour pillaging and looting the frightened townspeople.\nRiska: I don't think so.\nNog: No one's asking you to think, my dear. Here, make yourself useful. Cut up my food for me.\nRiska: You must be joking.\nNog: She's so dumb. She's perfect.\nRiska: That's it.\nJake: Wait, you're not leaving?\nLeanne: I suppose you want me to sit here and cut your food for you, too?\nJake: I never said anything about cutting\nLeanne: I hope you and your friend enjoy your holosuite. Come on.\nJake: Nog!\nNog: Don't say another word, Jake. I think you've done enough damage for one night.\nJake: Me?\nNog: Yeah, you. You were treating my female as if she was an equal.\nJake: And you were behaving like an idiot. This is the last time I'll ever do a favor for you. From now on you get your own dates.\nNog: And you can find someone else to play dom-jot with.\nJake: Fine!\nNog: Good!\nBareil: Turrel is trying to get a concession from you that I already rejected. Tell him that the question of Cardassian property on Bajor was already dealt with in the Armistice talks four years ago. Don't worry, he'll still pay the reparations.\nWinn: What about this question of mining rights? His attention has been wandering. He's in pain. Give him more of the drug.\nBashir: He's had enough.\nWinn: Then you'll need to give him something else. The negotiations resume in less than six hours and we still have forty pages.\nBashir: Listen to me. I don't care about your negotiations, and I don't care about your treaty. All I care about is my patient, and at the moment he needs more medical care and less politics. Now, you can either leave here willingly or I'll call security and have you thrown out.\nKira: You won't need to call them. I'll do it myself.\nWinn: Put yourself in the hands of the Prophets, Bareil. They will not forsake you.\nBareil: Yes, Eminence.\nKira: Is there anything I can do?\nBareil: Just be here. I'm beginning to dislike seeing that look on your face, Doctor.\nBashir: As I feared, the Vasokin has already damaged your internal organs.\nKira: What happens now?\nBashir: I can replace the damaged organs with artificial implants, but as long as you're taking the drug I can't guarantee that the damage won't spread. I think you should reconsider letting me put you in stasis.\nBareil: I'm afraid my mind's made up. Just get me through the negotiations. I must carry out the will of the Prophets. Please. Whatever it takes, just do it.\nWinn: Are you going to call security and have me removed from this room now, Doctor?\nBashir: It hadn't occurred to me. Yet.\nWinn: How is Bareil?\nBashir: The organ replacement surgery went well. He's still unconscious, but he should be awake within the hour.\nWinn: Oh, good. There are still several points I have to discuss with him before the next negotiating session.\nBashir: That's why I'm here. When you see Bareil, I want you to tell him that you don't need him, that you can complete these negotiations without him.\nWinn: But I do need him, Doctor.\nBashir: I realize that. But I want you to tell him that you don't.\nWinn: You seem to be asking me to lie.\nBashir: I'm asking you to free Bareil of his obligations to you. The only way he'll accept that is if you tell him he's no longer needed, that you can go on without him. Now, if that's a lie, then so be it.\nWinn: That doesn't sound like a Starfleet officer.\nBashir: I'm a doctor first. And right now, I'm trying to give my patient his best chance to live. The only way to do that is to put him in stasis. Bareil knows that, but his desire to complete these negotiations is so strong that he's forcing me to keep him conscious and mentally alert, even though it may kill him.\nWinn: None of us wants that to happen, Doctor. But if I'm not mistaken, the decision regarding Bareil's treatment is up to him.\nBashir: Yes. As the patient, it is his right to make that choice. But I'm asking you to help me change his mind. Eminence, you're the Kai. These are your negotiations. Let this be your moment in history. Finish the talks on your own and you won't have to share the credit with anyone.\nWinn: You say that as though success is guaranteed, Doctor.\nBashir: Of course. If the talks fail, you'll need someone to accept the blame. A scapegoat. You're a coward. You're afraid to stand alone.\nWinn: Bareil's already made his decision, Doctor. I won't interfere. And Doctor? I won't forget what you've said here.\nBashir: Neither will I.\nSisko: So, you never told me about your double-date.\nJake: Not much to tell\nSisko: That's not what I hear. Quark tells me that you and Nog aren't speaking to each other.\nJake: You should've seen the way he acted, Dad. He was acting like a spoiled brat. I've never been so embarrassed. I don't think Leanne will ever speak to me again.\nSisko: So what did he do?\nJake: All kinds of stupid things. Riska couldn't even say two words without him telling her to be quiet. And he insisted that she cut up his food for him. He was treating her like she was some kind of slave.\nSisko: Sounds like he's acting like a Ferengi to me. You can't blame him for that.\nJake: Well, in that case, maybe you were right all along.\nSisko: About what?\nJake: You once said that Humans and Ferengis are too different to ever really be friends.\nSisko: I remember saying that. And you know what? I was wrong. You and Nog proved that. Sure, you have your cultural differences, but there's a real bond between you.\nJake: Well, I know one thing. I'm never going to set him up on a date again.\nSisko: I think you two should talk this over before it becomes too big a problem.\nJake: I'm not sure Nog is going to be willing to talk to me so soon.\nSisko: Well, I guess you'll have to do something to get his attention.\nBashir: What happened?\nNurse: I don't know.\nBashir: Two cc's morphenolog. It's all right, it's all right. You're getting help. You're getting help. I thought I made it clear there were to be no visitors for the next three hours.\nWinn: It's not her fault, Doctor. Bareil called me himself. He said he had some ideas on the treaty.\nBashir: And you just couldn't wait to hear them, could you. His left temporal lobe is showing signs of massive synaptic failure. Well, I hope you got all the advice you needed, Eminence, because the Vasokin has damaged his brain and that damage is irreversible.\nSisko: Will he regain consciousness?\nBashir: Not in his present condition.\nWinn: You were able to replace some of his internal organs with artificial implants. Could you do something similar with the damaged parts of his brain?\nBashir: It's hard to say with any certainty. There's still a great deal about the way the brain operates we don't understand. One of my professors at medical school used to say that the brain had a spark of life that can't be replicated. If we begin to replace parts of Bareil's brain with artificial implants, that spark may be lost.\nKira: But you're saying if we don't do it, Bareil will never regain consciousness and he'll die.\nSisko: I think we need to consider what Bareil would want us to do.\nWinn: Vedek Bareil wanted these negotiations to be completed, no matter what the cost.\nBashir: With all due respect, your Eminence, you're hardly an impartial observer here. You have a personal interest in these talks.\nWinn: There is more at stake than one man's life.\nBashir: One man's life is all I'm concerned with at the moment.\nKira: I think she's right, Julian. I think Bareil would want the positronic implants.\nBashir: Kira, if I go through with this, the man who wakes up may not be the man you used to know.\nKira: I realize that, but I know how important this is to him, and I know he wouldn't want to just be put into stasis indefinitely, waiting for some medical solution that may never come. Do the surgery, Julian. Let him finish what he started.\nOdo: Mister Sisko.\nJake: Odo, I'd like you to do me a favor. I want to be arrested.\nNog: Argh! This is outrageous! I didn't steal anything from a Tholian Ambassador!\nOdo: Just another innocent man arrested for a crime he didn't commit.\nNog: What is he doing here?\nOdo: As if you didn't know. Your accomplice here has also denied involvement, but I have an eyewitness who saw both of you breaking into the Tholian Ambassador's quarters last night.\nNog: I don't even know what a Tholian looks like!\nOdo: Tell it to the Magistrate.\nNog: At least put me in my own cell.\nOdo: I'm sorry the quarters aren't to your liking. Please feel free to submit a complaint to the management.\nBashir: The positronic implant is functioning normally. The mid-brain interface is online and he's awake.\nKira: Bareil?\nBareil: Yes, Major.\nKira: How are you feeling?\nBareil: Awake. Everything is different.\nKira: Different? In what way?\nBareil: It's hard to explain, but when you touch me, it doesn't seem real. It's more like the distant memory of a touch.\nWinn: Vedek, do you remember the negotiations? I have some questions for you.\nBareil: Of course, Eminence. I will do all I can.\nNog: Something's wrong.\nJake: No kidding.\nNog: That's not what I mean. My father told me that if I got caught stealing again, he would send me back to live on the Ferengi homeworld with my grandmother. So where is he? Why isn't he here yelling and threatening me? And where's Uncle Quark? I'm late for work. And come to think of it, what are you doing here?\nJake: Ask Odo.\nNog: No, no, no. Throwing you in here wasn't Odo's idea. You don't just arrest the station commander's son without some really strong evidence. And I know there is no evidence because I know we didn't do anything. So why are we in here, Jake?\nJake: All right. I put Odo up to this because I wanted to talk to you.\nNog: In here?\nJake: I didn't think you'd listen to me otherwise.\nNog: Well, this better be good.\nJake: I wanted to say I'm sorry. I guess I just forgot you're a Ferengi.\nNog: You forgot? To most people, the lobes are a dead giveaway.\nJake: What I mean is, we spend so much time together and we seem so much alike, I sometimes forget we're different.\nNog: I know we're different. I mean, anyone who talks to a female with fawning respect is no Ferengi. It made me sick.\nJake: You want to talk about sick? Sick is making Riska cut up your food for you.\nNog: At least I didn't have her chew.\nJake: Chew it?\nNog: That's right. In traditional Ferengi homes, the females soften the food with her teeth before they give it to the males.\nJake: That is disgusting.\nNog: I knew you would react that way, which is why I didn't have her do it.\nJake: Well, do you have any other disgusting Ferengi customs I should know about?\nNog: Plenty. And I know plenty of human customs that disgust me.\nJake: Great. So we both disgust each other. You know, as we get older, this is just going to get worse. But I know one thing. I don't want to lose you as a friend.\nNog: Well, in that case, double-dating is definitely out.\nJake: Agreed. And I guess we'll just have to deal with the rest of our disgusting habits as they come up.\nNog: I guess so. You feel better?\nJake: Yeah.\nNog: Good. Now can we get out of here?\nJake: Sure. Odo? Odo? He's just playing around. Odo!\nSisko: Captain's log, supplemental. Kai Winn has announced that Legate Turrel has signed the peace treaty. The news has sent a shockwave throughout the quadrant. And although there is still some opposition from hard-line elements on both Bajor and Cardassia, it looks as though they're finally willing to put their long conflict behind them.\nDax: Remind me not to invite you to my next party.\nBashir: I'm sorry. I guess I'm sort of casting a pall over this gathering.\nDax: Julian, no one's expecting you to provide entertainment. But you should try to enjoy yourself. After all, this celebration is for you, too.\nBashir: Frankly, I can't imagine what I've done deserves a celebration.\nDax: You kept him alive against incredible odds. No matter what happens, you should always be proud of that.\nQuark: Excuse me, your Eminence.\nWinn: Yes?\nQuark: Kai Winn, allow me to introduce Kai Winn.\nWinn: I don't understand.\nQuark: In honor of the occasion, I've named my latest creation after you. It's a chocolate soufflé with Haligian tongue sauce.\nWinn: Well, I'm very honored.\nQuark: And you're also very popular. Believe me, I can't keep up with the orders so far.\nNurse: Medical emergency. Doctor Bashir to the Infirmary.\nWinn: Please, excuse me.\nKira: It's the other half of his brain, isn't it? But you can still help him can't you? You can replace the other half of his brain with a positronic matrix.\nBashir: I'm sorry, Nerys, but this is where it ends.\nKira: What do you mean?\nBashir: I won't remove whatever last shred of humanity Bareil has left.\nKira: But you can do it.\nWinn: Perhaps, child, it is time to listen to Doctor Bashir.\nKira: Sure. You've got your peace treaty, your place in history. You don't need Bareil anymore.\nWinn: Believe me child, I share your pain. But I think the Prophets are calling to Bareil. I will see to it that Bajor never forgets him. Doctor.\nKira: Julian, you can't give up now. You have to keep going.\nBashir: Nerys, if I remove the rest of his brain and replace it with a machine, he may look like Bareil, he may even talk like Bareil, but he won't be Bareil. The spark of life will be gone. He'll be dead. And I'll be the one who killed him.\nKira: But if we do nothing he'll die.\nBashir: That's right, he will. But he'll die like a man, not a machine. Please, don't make me fight you on this one. Just let him go.\nKira: How much time?\nBashir: All brain activity should cease within the next three hours.\nKira: I'd like to stay with him until then.\nBashir: Of course.\nKira: You got your treaty. I just wish we'd had more time for us. There's so much I never told you, but this is the time we have left so I'd better say it now. I'll never forget the first time I saw you, the day you came to the station. You had such a serenity about you. I thought you had all the answers. It really got on my nerves for a while. But then I got to know you and I realized you were just as confused as the rest of us. You just accepted your confusion better than anyone I've ever known. That's when I realized I loved you."}
{"text": "Scene: First Officer's log, stardate 48521.5. Odo and I are returning to Deep Space Nine after reviewing security procedures at Prophet's Landing, the Bajoran Colony closest to the Cardassian Border.\nKira: Those orbital sensor platforms should give the colonists plenty of advanced warning in case the Cardassians ever decide to violate the new treaty.\nOdo: Hopefully.\nKira: How did your meeting with Security Chief Bemar go?\nOdo: Fine.\nKira: Was he properly impressed by the depth of your expertise?\nOdo: Huh.\nKira: Odo, is something bothering you?\nOdo: What makes you say that?\nKira: Well for one thing, you haven't said five words to me since we left Prophet's Landing.\nOdo: Huh.\nKira: Look, if I've done something to offend you, I wish you'd tell me what it is.\nOdo: It's not important.\nKira: Whatever you say.\nOdo: It's certainly not worth making an issue about.\nKira: Well, glad to hear it.\nOdo: It's just When Governor Avesta invited us to dinner at his house\nKira: Go on.\nOdo: You said no.\nKira: And?\nOdo: You never bothered to ask me if I wanted to go.\nKira: You wanted to go to the governor's house for dinner?\nOdo: Not particularly.\nKira: Well then, what's the problem?\nOdo: The problem is you never asked what I wanted.\nKira: Odo, you don't eat. Besides, you hate socializing with people you don't know.\nOdo: Well that's beside the point. I would have liked to have been consulted, that's all.\nKira: You're right. Next time we are invited out for dinner, I'll make sure you are the one to say no.\nOdo: I'd appreciate that.\nKira: Hold on. I'm picking up a wide band subspace transmission from a Lissepian supply ship. They've just been attacked by a Maquis interceptor.\nOdo: Long range sensors are detecting a modified Peregrine class courier ship, lightly armed, one man crew, bearing two six eight mark three oh one.\nKira: The Maquis use Peregrine class courier ships. The Lissepians didn't sustain any serious damage. I'm going after him.\nOdo: Right.\nKira: I don't know what the Maquis have done to that ship's engines, but it's fast.\nOdo: Not fast enough. We're closing on him.\nKira: We'd better catch him soon. We're entering the Badlands.\nOdo: Wait a minute, I've lost him. The Badlands' plasma fields are disrupting our sensors.\nKira: Increase the sensor bandwidth. That should compensate for the interference.\nOdo: I hope you're right.\nKira: He can't have gotten far. He's got to somewhere in this solar system.\nOdo: There he is. It looks like he's trying to land on one of the moons orbiting that gas giant.\nKira: I'm following him in.\nOdo: Something's wrong with his ship. It looks like his attitude stabilizers have failed.\nKira: Can you get a transporter lock on him?\nOdo: Too much interference. He's trying to land on that moon. We've lost him.\nKira: Did he make it?\nOdo: I don't know. Something in the moon's atmosphere is jamming our sensors.\nKira: Then I guess we'll have to land and see for ourselves.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: Commander\nO'Brien: There's someone here to see you.\nSisko: Who is it?\nO'Brien: It's Nog.\nSisko: Nog?\nNog: Tell him it's urgent.\nO'Brien: He says it's urgent.\nSisko: Send him in.\nNog: I told you he'd see me.\nNog: Commander, first let me express my most sincere thanks for allowing me to speak with you.\nSisko: You're welcome. Now, what is this all about?\nNog: I wanted to give you this.\nNog: Open it.\nSisko: What's this?\nNog: It's latinum.\nSisko: I know it's latinum, but why are you giving it to me?\nNog: Yesterday I completed the Ferengi Attainment Ceremony. I'm an adult.\nSisko: Congratulations.\nNog: Thank you.\nSisko: But that doesn't explain this.\nNog: According to Ferengi by-laws, section one oh five, subparagraph ten, upon reaching adulthood, Ferengi males must purchase an apprenticeship from a suitable role model. I choose you.\nSisko: You want to be my apprentice?\nNog: That's right. I want to be the first Ferengi in Starfleet. Now, who do I see about getting a uniform?\nSisko: Nog, if you want to become a Starfleet Officer, you have to attend the Academy.\nNog: All right. Where do I sign up?\nSisko: It's not that simple. As a non-Federation citizen, you need a letter of reference from a command level officer before you can even take the entrance exam.\nNog: A command level officer? You mean, like you?\nSisko: Well, yes. Like me.\nNog: Then you'll write the letter.\nSisko: I'll think about it.\nNog: Thank you, Commander. I know you'll make the right decision.\nSisko: Aren't you forgetting something?\nNog: Keep it. Consider it a token of my appreciation.\nOdo: The tricorders are useless. The atmospheric ionization is jamming their transponders.\nKira: You're sure he's in these caverns?\nOdo: Well, he wasn't in the wreckage of his ship. And given the weather conditions on the surface, there's no way anyone could survive out there for very long, so that leaves\nKira: That's the third quake since we got here. This moon must be seismically unstable.\nOdo: The sooner we find our fugitive, the better off we'll be.\nKira: Finding him isn't going to be easy. These caverns could go on forever. With all this seismic activity, I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to. I say we split up. We meet back here in twenty minutes, and if we haven't found him by then, we may have to leave without him.\nOdo: If he's smart, he'll let us find him. A Federation prison would be paradise compared to this place.\nKira: Let's hope he's smart.\nOdo: I'll see you in twenty minutes.\nKira: Kira to Odo. Odo, can you hear me?\nOdo: This is Odo. I can barely hear you.\nKira: Odo, I'm trapped. I need your help. Come quickly. Odo, do you read me?\nOdo: Stay where you are, Major. I'm on my way.\nKira: Odo, is that you?\nOdo: I'm right here, Major.\nKira: Odo, am I glad to see you.\nOdo: What's wrong?\nKira: You're not going to believe this. My foot is stuck.\nOdo: Stuck? How?\nKira: I don't know. I must've stepped in a fissure or something. I can't get it loose.\nOdo: Let me take a look.\nOdo: It's not a fissure.\nKira: Then what is it?\nOdo: Your foot's been encased in some kind of crystal. And from the look of things the crystal is spreading.\nOdo: Now you're sure you can't pull it loose?\nKira: Oh, believe me, I've tried.\nOdo: Maybe if you slip your foot out of your boot.\nKira: I can barely feel my foot. The crystal is pressing against it so hard, there's no way I can get my boot off.\nOdo: Hold on a minute.\nOdo: This might hurt a bit.\nKira: Go ahead.\nOdo: I fail to see the humor in this situation.\nKira: Come on, Odo, it's pretty ridiculous, don't you think? The two of us being outsmarted by a chunk of crystal.\nOdo: I'm not giving up just yet.\nKira: Neither am I. Hand me my phaser.\nOdo: Are you sure this is a good idea? If you're not careful\nKira: I may blow off my foot and Julian the have a chance to prove what a wonderful doctor he is? Don't worry, I have no intention of giving him the opportunity. Stand back.\nKira: I guess that wasn't such a good idea after all.\nOdo: The crystal formation seems to have somehow fed off the energy from your phaser.\nOdo: Odo to Mekong. Two to beam out. Energize. Odo to Mekong. I can't contact the runabout. There's too much interference. I'll have to walk back to the landing site and try to transport you from there.\nKira: Are you worried about leaving me here?\nOdo: Now that you mention it, yes.\nKira: I'll be fine, Odo. I promise not to go anywhere.\nRom: Nog, hand me that phase matrix recalibrator.\nNog: Here you are, Father.\nQuark: Is it fixed yet?\nRom: Not yet, brother.\nQuark: What's taking so long?\nNog: We're working as fast as we can. The replicators' entire power supply grid has been shorted out.\nRom: I told you, brother, if you don't shut down your replicators at least once a week for routine maintenance, you risk system overloads like this one.\nQuark: You said it might overload the system. Might.\nNog: He tried to warn you, Uncle Quark. You should've listened to him.\nRom: No. It's my fault. I should have explained it better.\nQuark: Of course it's your fault. Everything that goes wrong here is your fault. It says so in your contract. Now, this mess had better be cleaned up before lunchtime or I'm taking the losses out of your pay.\nRom: Of course, brother.\nRom: I need to get a replacement power coupling from the storage room. I'll be right back.\nJake: Hey, Nog. What's going on?\nNog: If you're here to order lunch, you'll have to come back in an hour.\nJake: Actually, I just ate. Hey, that was a pretty funny joke you pulled on my Dad this morning.\nNog: What?\nJake: You know, about wanting to join Starfleet?\nNog: I wasn't joking.\nJake: Come on, Nog. You don't really expect me to fall for that one.\nNog: Did you tell your father I was joking?\nJake: Yeah. Kind of.\nNog: How could you do that to me? I want you to go back to your father and tell him that you were wrong.\nJake: All right. Calm down. I mean, how was I supposed to know you were serious? You never said you wanted to join Starfleet before.\nNog: I'm saying it now.\nJake: So what brought this on?\nNog: I have my reasons.\nJake: Okay, name one.\nNog: Why should I?\nJake: Because I'm your friend. And friends don't have secrets from one another.\nNog: It's not a secret. I just don't feel like talking about it.\nJake: Why?\nNog: Because it's personal. Now stop asking me.\nJake: All right. But my father's a pretty smart guy, and if this is some kind of trick, he's going to figure it out.\nNog: There's nothing to figure out. I'm joining Starfleet, and that's that. Now, if you don't mind, I have a lot of work to do.\nOdo: Computer, lock onto these coordinates and initiate transport sequence.\nComputer: Unable to comply.\nOdo: Explain.\nComputer: The high level of atmospheric ionization is inhibiting transporter lock.\nOdo: Can you compensate for the interference by using pattern enhancers?\nComputer: Negative. Pattern enhancers will not function in a polarized ionization field.\nOdo: Is there any way to achieve a transporter lock in this kind of ionization field?\nComputer: Negative.\nOdo: Computer, send out a priority one distress signal to Deep Space Nine.\nComputer: Unable to comply. Communications systems are inoperable due to atmospheric interference.\nOdo: In that case, launch a communications probe and instruct it to begin a continuous broadcast of our whereabouts as soon as it clears the atmosphere.\nComputer: Working.\nComputer: Probe launch confirmed.\nOdo: Computer, given ideal conditions, how soon can we expect help from Deep Space Nine?\nComputer: Deep Space Nine should receive the probe's distress signal in approximately two days.\nOdo: Kira, I heard phaser fire.\nKira: You just missed our friend. He came out of that tunnel. I think he was as surprised as I was. He fired at me from over there, and when I shot back he ran off down the tunnel.\nKira: Don't worry, his aim wasn't any better than mine was.\nOdo: He didn't miss by much.\nKira: My lucky day.\nSisko: I see you've put in a request to reassign Ensign Vilix'pran from cargo inspection.\nBashir: I think that would be best. Given his condition, I don't want him coming in contact with any hazardous materials.\nSisko: His condition?\nBashir: Vilix'pran is budding. His buds are undergoing individuation in just over a month.\nSisko: You mean he's pregnant?\nBashir: Twins.\nSisko: Reassignment granted. I'll have make sure I offer my congratulations to the ensign next time I see him.\nBashir: O'Brien and I are throwing him a baby shower in a couple of days. I think it would mean a lot to him if you were there.\nSisko: Are you getting him anything?\nBashir: O'Brien's building him a hatchling pond and I've put an order in with Garak for some new baby clothes.\nSisko: Count me in.\nBashir: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Ensign Pran.\nNog: Commander Sisko, have you made up your mind yet about my letter?\nSisko: Not exactly.\nNog: What does that mean, not exactly?\nSisko: Look, Nog, I have to be honest with you. When I think of candidates for Starfleet Academy, yours is not the first name that comes to mind.\nNog: Why not? Because I'm a Ferengi?\nSisko: Not at all. The fact is, your reputation on this station leaves a lot to be desired. Your school grades are mediocre at best, and you've had more than a few run-ins with Constable Odo.\nNog: Okay, okay, so I've made some mistakes. I admit that. But I can do better. Just give me a chance.\nDax: You wanted to see me, Benjamin?\nSisko: Lieutenant, I need a complete inventory on the contents of Cargo bay twelve.\nDax: Didn't we inventory twelve last week?\nSisko: I'd like it done again.\nDax: All right. I'll assign a crew to it immediately.\nSisko: Actually, I already have someone in mind for the job.\nDax: Really? Who?\nSisko: Nog.\nDax: Nog.\nSisko: He's asked for a recommendation to Starfleet Academy.\nDax: Nog?\nSisko: My reaction exactly.\nDax: I always thought it would be interesting to have a Ferengi in Starfleet, but Nog?\nSisko: I know it seems unlikely, but before I make up my mind I want to give him a chance to prove himself.\nDax: Commander, there's a lot of valuable equipment in Cargo bay twelve.\nSisko: I know.\nDax: Maybe I should assign a couple of crewmembers to assist him.\nSisko: No. I want him to do it alone. No help, no interference, no one looking over his shoulder.\nOdo: I wish I could analyze this material.\nKira: Too bad our tricorders don't work.\nOdo: Or our communicators or the transporter. Our fugitive couldn't have chosen a better place to hide. Very convenient, don't you think?\nKira: You make it sound like he planned on trapping us.\nOdo: Well maybe he did, but it's not going to work. I'm going to get you out of here.\nKira: How long do you think I have, Odo?\nOdo: Long enough.\nKira: I figure at the rate the crystal's been growing, I'm going to be completely covered in less than twelve hours.\nKira: Unless this cave collapses first.\nOdo: There has got to be a way to shatter this crystal.\nKira: I'm sure there is. But that doesn't mean that we're going to find it in less than twelve hours.\nOdo: We'll find it. Major, do you ever look at the Criminal Activity Reports we get from Starfleet Security?\nKira: Not often.\nOdo: You should. They make fascinating reading. A few months ago we got a report on a theft on Remmil Six. It seems the natives there spin a kind of crystalline webbing that they use to construct their buildings. A band of Nausicaan raiders broke into their central museum by using a high frequency ultrasonic generator to create a sympathetic vibration inside the webbing and shatter it.\nKira: So all we need to do is find a band of Nausicaan raiders and ask them to give us a hand?\nOdo: No, I might be able to put together a makeshift generator using the covariant oscillator on the runabout. The trick will be finding the right frequency to create a sympathetic vibration inside this crystal. I'm going to have to go back to the runabout and start assembling the generator. Keep your phaser handy in case our friend decides to comes back.\nKira: I will.\nOdo: I'll be back as soon as I can.\nKira: Constable. When we get back to the station, I'm going to start reading those Criminal Activity Reports.\nOdo: I'll make sure you get them.\nDax: Due to a computer error, we lost the manifest on this entire cargo bay. Commander Sisko would like you to re-inventory the contents.\nNog: The entire cargo bay?\nDax: That's right.\nNog: By myself?\nDax: Look, Nog, Starfleet isn't just about diplomacy, exploration. A lot of the time, it's just hard work.\nNog: When does Commander Sisko want it done?\nDax: He'd like the manifest on his desk first thing in the morning.\nNog: He'll have it tonight, before he goes off duty.\nDax: Tomorrow morning will be fine, Nog.\nNog: Now if you don't mind, Lieutenant, I'd like to get started.\nKira: How long do you think it's going to be before the generator finds the right frequency?\nOdo: It's hard to say. It could take hours.\nKira: I don't suppose there's any way to speed things up? I didn't think so.\nOdo: Don't worry, Major. I have every intention of getting us back to the station by tomorrow night. Chief O'Brien is counting on it.\nKira: What does O'Brien have to do with it?\nOdo: We have an appointment.\nKira: What kind of appointment? Talk to me, Odo. It helps pass the time.\nOdo: The Chief and I are supposed to go kayaking together in a holosuite.\nKira: You're kidding. How did he talk you into that one?\nOdo: He didn't talk me into anything. It's really quite enjoyable.\nKira: You mean you've done it before?\nOdo: Twice. He invited me one evening and, seeing I had no plans, I accepted.\nKira: I'm sorry. I'm just having trouble imagining the two of you together in a boat.\nOdo: Well if it helps any, he's the one who does all the singing.\nKira: He sings?\nOdo: He says it's necessary to establish a smooth paddling rhythm.\nKira: This gets better and better. What kind of songs does he sing?\nOdo: Ancient human sea chanties, mostly. He's particularly fond of one called 'Louie, Louie'.\nKira: I never pictured O'Brien as a nautical type.\nOdo: Next to his work and his family, shooting the rapids is his favorite activity. He's had the holoprogram since he was on the Enterprise.\nKira: How long do these boat trips usually take?\nOdo: That depends.\nKira: On what?\nOdo: On how many times we capsize.\nKira: It must be a very difficult program.\nOdo: It's extremely difficult. According to him, he's dislocated his shoulder a half dozen times trying to make it down those rapids.\nKira: Then why does he keep doing it?\nOdo: Because he loves it. And it's been my observation that you humanoids have a hard time giving up the things you love, no matter how much they might hurt you.\nKira: I'm glad you're here, Odo.\nOdo: I'm glad I'm here, too.\nKira: Odo!\nOdo: Major?\nKira: I'm all right. What about the generator?\nOdo: It's fine. It still hasn't found the right frequency to shatter the crystal.\nKira: Tell it to hurry. A couple more tremors like that last one and this whole cave is going to collapse.\nOdo: We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen. After all, we've been in worse situations than this one and come out all right.\nKira: Name three. I can't think of any either.\nOdo: No, it's not that. It's just that that wasn't the response I expected.\nKira: What do you mean?\nOdo: In the detective novels Chief O'Brien gives me to read, when the hero says, we've been in tougher situations than this one, his friends always agree.\nKira: I never read any of those books.\nOdo: There must be some humanoid platitude I can use to cheer you up.\nKira: I don't have much use for platitudes, Odo. I'd rather face the truth of a situation and go on from there.\nOdo: I feel the same way.\nKira: I know you do. That's why you and I get along so well.\nOdo: I suppose it is. But in this case, the truth is we're going to get you out of here, Major. And that's no platitude.\nSisko: I must admit, this is impressive work.\nDax: Incredible is more like it. He inventoried the whole cargo bay in under five hours.\nSisko: You're sure he didn't have any help?\nDax: According to the internal sensors, no one else entered that cargo bay the entire time he was there.\nSisko: I guess he did learn something working in his uncle's storeroom. I assume that all our equipment is where it's supposed to be?\nDax: If you're asking if he stole anything, the answer is no. He even found some things we missed on our last inventory.\nSisko: Okay, so now we know he's a hard worker. The question remains. Why does he want to join Starfleet?\nDax: I have no idea.\nOdo: I don't understand it. I've run through the entire harmonic spectrum and none of the frequencies have had any effect on the crystal. It's almost as if the structure of the crystal is mutating to keep us from finding the right frequency.\nKira: Odo.\nOdo: Yes, Major. I wish there was something else I could do.\nKira: Just keep talking to me.\nOdo: What do you want me to say?\nKira: Anything. Tell me a story.\nOdo: A story?\nKira: I know. Tell me how you got your name.\nOdo: My name? Now that you mention it, that is an amusing story.\nKira: Tell it to me.\nOdo: Well, as you know, when Doctor Mora first brought me to his laboratory, it was under Cardassian supervision. All specimens had to be clearly labeled in Cardassian, so the overseers would always know what the scientists were working on. Since no one was exactly sure what I was, Mora labeled me Unknown Sample, which the overseer translated into Cardassian as Odo'ital.\nKira: So, your name is Unknown Sample?\nOdo: No, no. Odo'ital literally means the word 'nothing'. Even after it became clear that I was sentient, the Bajoran scientists kept calling me that. As a joke, they split it into two words like a Bajoran name, Odo Ital, which eventually got shortened.\nKira: To Odo.\nOdo: But the thing is, for the longest time, whenever anyone would use my name, the first thing I'd think of was what it meant. Nothing. What better way to describe me? I had no family, no friends, no place where I belonged. I thought it was the most appropriate name anyone could give me. And then I met you. And the others. Sisko, Dax, even Quark. And now, when I hear one of you call me Odo, I no longer think of myself as nothing. I think of myself as me. I'm sorry, Major. I guess that story wasn't as amusing as I'd hoped it would be.\nKira: No. I liked it very much. The ultrasonic generator isn't going to work, is it?\nOdo: No, I'm afraid it's not.\nKira: I don't suppose you have any other ideas.\nOdo: I wish I had.\nKira: Neither do I.\nOdo: It doesn't make sense. The ultrasonic generator should have worked. Something's not right here.\nKira: Odo, you've done your best. It's time for you to go.\nOdo: Go?\nKira: This place is going to collapse at any minute. That Maquis is probably dead from one of the cave-ins. There's nothing more you can do for me.\nOdo: If you're asking me to leave?\nKira: As your superior officer, I'm telling you to take the runabout and get the hell off this moon. That's an order.\nKira: Odo, why are you still standing there? I told you to get out of here.\nOdo: I'm not leaving.\nKira: Constable, I gave you a direct order.\nOdo: You can order me all you want. As of now, I'm resigning my commission.\nKira: Odo, if you stay here, you'll die.\nOdo: You don't know that for certain. And even if it were true, I'm not going to abandon you.\nKira: I want you to get out of here.\nOdo: Don't you understand? I can't.\nKira: You have to. Odo, please.\nOdo: No. I won't leave you.\nKira: Why?\nOdo: Because! Because I'm in love with you. So, now you know.\nKira: Odo, I'm in love with you too.\nNog: You wanted to see me, Commander?\nSisko: Nog, I've given your request a lot of thought.\nNog: I appreciate that, Commander.\nSisko: But I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn you down.\nNog: Turn me down? Why? Did I do something wrong?\nSisko: It's not anything you did, Nog. You're just not Academy material. Here. This belongs to you.\nNog: Commander, can't we talk about this?\nSisko: There's nothing to talk about. We both know you'd never make it through the Academy. You couldn't handle the workload or the diskipline. You wouldn't last two weeks.\nNog: That's not true. I'm a hard worker. I proved that to you.\nSisko: It doesn't matter. And I'm not going to put my reputation on the line just to satisfy some whim of yours.\nNog: It's not just a whim. I'm serious about joining Starfleet.\nSisko: I don't have time for this, Nog. Now whatever little scheme you had, you can forget it. I'm not giving you that letter.\nNog: It's not a joke or a scheme. I want to join Starfleet. I want it more than anything I've ever wanted anything in my life.\nSisko: You're a Ferengi. Why would you want to be in Starfleet? Where's the profit in it?\nNog: I don't care about profit.\nSisko: Then what do you care about? Come on, Nog, tell me. Why is it so damned important for you to get into Starfleet? Why are you doing this?\nNog: Because I don't want to end up like my father.\nSisko: Your father.\nNog: That's right. My father. He's been chasing profit his whole life, and what has it gotten him? Nothing. And you know why? Because he doesn't have the lobes. And neither do I.\nSisko: And a Ferengi without profit\nNog: Is no Ferengi at all.\nSisko: The eighteenth Rule of Acquisition.\nNog: My father is a mechanical genius. He could've been Chief Engineer of a starship if he'd had the opportunity. But he went into business, like a good Ferengi. The only thing is, he's not a good Ferengi, not when it comes to acquiring profit. So now all he has to live for is the slim chance that someday, somehow, he might be able to take over my uncle's bar. Well, I'm not going to make the same mistake. I want to do something with my life. Something worthwhile.\nSisko: Like joining Starfleet.\nNog: I may not have an instinct for business, but I have my father's hands and my uncle's tenacity. I know I've got something to offer, I just need the chance to prove it.\nSisko: All right. I'll see that you get that chance.\nNog: You're going to recommend me to Starfleet Academy?\nSisko: I'll send the letter the first thing tomorrow morning.\nNog: Commander, I don't know how to thank you.\nSisko: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't thank me yet. You still have a lot of work ahead of you.\nNog: Don't worry. You're never going to regret this.\nKira: Odo?\nOdo: Yes, Major.\nKira: You haven't said a word to me in over an hour.\nOdo: I've just been going over a few things in my mind.\nKira: I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you how I feel about you. If I'd told you earlier, maybe things would've been different.\nOdo: Ah.\nKira: What are you smiling about?\nOdo: I think I've finally figured out what's going on here. This whole situation hasn't seemed right since the beginning. There've been too many coincidences, too many unanswered questions.\nKira: Are you still trying to prove that this is all some kind of conspiracy?\nOdo: You said the Maquis was standing here when he shot at you?\nKira: That's right.\nOdo: How tall was he? My height?\nKira: No. Maybe shorter.\nOdo: Like this?\nKira: More or less. Why does it matter anyway?\nOdo: It matters because from this position, you're blocking those phaser hits. There's no way someone standing here could hit those rocks without hitting you first.\nKira: Maybe he was standing somewhere else.\nOdo: Maybe. Or maybe you were lying to me. Which makes two times you've lied to me today.\nKira: What are you talking about?\nOdo: You lied when you said you were shot at by the Maquis. And you lied when you said you loved me.\nKira: I do love you.\nOdo: I wish you did, but you don't. Remember Major, I pride myself on my ability to observe human nature, and I've watched you for the past three years. In all that time I never saw any indication that you had those kinds of feelings for me. You like me. You think of me as a close friend. But love? I'm afraid not.\nKira: Maybe I told I loved you because I thought it would make you feel better. Because I thought that's what you wanted to hear.\nOdo: You're lying again. The Kira I know has far too much regard for our friendship to lie to me, even for the best of reasons.\nKira: Odo, I can explain.\nOdo: Good. And you can start by telling me who you are and what you've done with Kira.\nFounder: Well done, Odo. You really are quite a skilful investigator.\nOdo: And you're quite a skilful changeling.\nFounder: You still have much to learn.\nOdo: If you want to share your wisdom, tell me where Major Kira is.\nFounder: Close by.\nOdo: You were the fugitive we were chasing, weren't you?\nFounder: That's correct.\nOdo: How did you get your hands on a Maquis ship?\nFounder: Now, Odo, you really can't expect me to give you all the answers.\nOdo: But why did you lead us here? Why replace Kira?\nFounder: I needed to understand why you chose to live with the Solids rather than your own people. I suspected it had something to do with Major Kira. Now I'm certain of it.\nOdo: So your plan was to let me think she died. You thought that would take away my link to the Solids.\nFounder: Then you would return to us.\nOdo: I assure you, nothing will ever make me do that.\nFounder: I wouldn't be so sure.\nOdo: Tell me where she is.\nFounder: And if I don't, then what? You'll shoot me? No changeling has ever harmed another.\nOdo: There's always a first time.\nFounder: Major Kira is down that tunnel, two hundred meters south of here. Save her, if it suits you, but it won't make any difference. She is never going to love you. How could she? You are a changeling.\nOdo: Major, wake up.\nKira: Odo, what happened? What am I doing here?\nOdo: It's a long story. Right now we have to get you back to the Mekong.\nKira: There's one thing I still don't understand. If that Founder was trying to test your allegiance to the Solids, why did she impersonate me?\nOdo: I suppose it's because you happened to be with me in the runabout. It could have just as easily have been Commander Sisko or Doctor Bashir.\nKira: What finally made you realize the truth?\nOdo: She made eventually a mistake. She said something I know you would never say.\nKira: What was that?\nOdo: Just a slip of the tongue. Nothing important.\nQuark: I tell you, I won't stand for it. No nephew of mine is going to disgrace our family name by joining Starfleet.\nNog: But Uncle Quark\nQuark: My mind is made up. I forbid it.\nRom: No, you don't.\nQuark: Rom, stay out of this.\nRom: I will not. When it comes to the bar you may be in charge, but when it comes to my son, I make the decisions.\nQuark: Fine. You tell him he can't go.\nRom: Nog. Good luck. I would be proud to have a son in Starfleet.\nQuark: You're both insane.\nNog: Like father, like son."}
{"text": "Emi: Am I doing it right?\nQuark: You don't have to be quite so gentle.\nEmi: Tell me again.\nQuark: Tell you about what?\nEmi: About the stem bolts.\nQuark: I have one hundred gross of self-sealing stem bolts sitting in Cargo bay eleven.\nEmi: And they're all mine?\nQuark: For only ten bars of gold-pressed latinum.\nEmi: Quark, you don't know how much this means to me.\nQuark: You don't know how much this means to me.\nEmi: With those stem bolts, my family will be able to triple production of our reverse-ratcheting routing planers.\nQuark: Glad to be of help.\nEmi: Quark, I can't wait any longer. Why don't you and I go down to Cargo bay eleven and sign the contract?\nQuark: No need to rush. Your family's ship won't be here for a week. We'll have plenty of time to finalize the deal before then.\nEmi: That's an unusual attitude for a Ferengi.\nQuark: I'm a very unusual Ferengi.\nQuark: That must be the Saurian brandy I ordered. Enter.\nQuark: Rom? Where's my brandy?\nRom: Forget the brandy, brother. You must leave here immediately. And that goes for the female as well.\nEmi: Is something wrong?\nQuark: There's nothing wrong. Have you lost your mind? She's willing, she's wealthy, and she's wants to buy our stem bolts.\nRom: It's going to have to wait. Something important has come up.\nQuark: Right now, nothing is more important than this.\nQuark: Grand Nagus Zek.\nRom: As big as life.\nQuark: Go. Go!\nQuark: What does Zek want with me?\nRom: Looks like he's moving in with you, brother.\nSisko: Sisko to Bashir.\nBashir: This is Bashir.\nSisko: Doctor, please report to the wardroom immediately.\nBashir: On my way.\nBashir: What's this?\nDax: Champagne.\nSisko: Congratulations, Doctor.\nBashir: Well thank you. Now will someone please tell me what's going on?\nSisko: The Federation Medical Council has announced the nominees for this year's Carrington Award. And the nominees are, Doctor April Wade of the University of Nairobi, Healer Senva of the Vulcan Medical Institute, Doctor Henri Roget of the Central Hospital of Altair Four, Chirurgeon Ghee P'Trell of Andoria, and Doctor Julian Bashir, Chief Medical Officer of Starbase Deep Space Nine. Good luck.\nBashir: There must be some mistake. As far as I know, my name wasn't even up for consideration.\nDax: Oh, it was up for consideration. I submitted it myself through an old friend of Curzon's.\nKira: You deserve the nomination, Doctor. Your work on biomolecular replication was both audacious and groundbreaking. According to Dax, anyway. She's the only one who understands it.\nO'Brien: So, how does it feel to be the youngest nominee in the history of the Carrington award?\nBashir: It feels good. Excuse me, I've got to finish some work.\nBashir: What exactly is it you want me to say?\nDax: I want you to say that you are thrilled beyond belief to be nominated for the Federation's most prestigious medical award.\nBashir: Believe me, I'm honored to have been nominated.\nDax: Well you're not acting like it.\nBashir: It's just that I don't want everyone to make a big deal out of it.\nDax: It is a big deal. We're all proud of you.\nBashir: I'm glad, but before you agonize over the next few days over the board's decision, I want to assure you that I'm not going to win.\nDax: You don't know that. The work you've been doing deserves to be recognized.\nBashir: This isn't about my work. Do you know what the life expectancy of a Carrington Award winner is? Five years. Ten at the very best. And do you know why? Because the Carrington Award is intended to be the crowning achievement for a lifetime in medicine. April Wade is a hundred and six. The last time she was nominated, three years ago, people said it was premature.\nDax: You're exaggerating.\nBashir: Maybe, a little. But the undeniable truth is I am way too young to be a serious contender for the Carrington. Now, put my name up for nomination in seventy years, and I promise you I will get very excited. But until then, I don't plan on giving it much thought.\nDax: That's a very mature attitude.\nBashir: You sound surprised.\nDax: I'm actually astonished, but impressed.\nBashir: So then we don't have to dwell on it for the next three days.\nDax: I won't mention it again.\nBashir: I appreciate that, Jadzia.\nDax: So who do you think is going to win? Wade or P'Trell?\nQuark: A cup of millipede juice, hold the shells.\nQuark: Rom! Rom! Rom!\nRom: Did you call me, brother?\nQuark: Would it be too much trouble for you to put these empty bottles in the replicator?\nRom: Keeping my quarters clean is Nog's job.\nQuark: Except Nog is on the Homeworld visiting his grandmother.\nRom: Then cleaning will just have to wait until he gets back.\nQuark: No it won't. Until the Nagus gives me back my own quarters this is my home too, and I've had enough of this mess. Clean it up. Now.\nRom: I won't.\nQuark: Yes, you will. It's bad enough I've to put up with your constant teeth grinding every night, and your incessant ear-picking. But I will not tolerate living like some Pakled refuse merchant for another. Wait a minute. This is a bottle of Aldeberan whiskey.\nRom: Let me, brother.\nQuark: I recognize this label. This is from my private stock.\nRom: No, it's not.\nQuark: It most certainly is. Wait a minute. What's that over there?\nRom: Trixian bubble juice?\nQuark: Nog's favorite. This came from my stockroom, didn't it?\nRom: Are you accusing my son of being a thief?\nQuark: No, I'm accusing you of being a thief. These table linens, this chair, that table, everything in here comes from my bar.\nRom: Not everything.\nQuark: As soon as you're done cleaning up, I'm going to conduct a complete inventory and find out exactly what you've stolen from me. Now get to work.\nRom: No. I refuse. I work for you all day, brother, but here I'm the boss. You want this place cleaned up, do it yourself.\nQuark: What I want is my own quarters back.\nRom: That makes two of us. Living with you was bad enough when we were children.\nQuark: What do I do?\nRom: You think.\nQuark: What do you mean, I think?\nRom: You stay up late every night, plotting and scheming. And when you think, you mumble. And if there's anything I can't stand, it's listening to you mumble.\nQuark: That does it. I've been accommodating long enough. If the Nagus wants to stay on the station, he's going to have to find someplace else to live.\nRom: Are you sure this is a good idea? No one's seen the Nagus since he got here. He must be working on something important. If you disturb him, he might get very angry.\nQuark: I'm not going to disturb him. You are.\nRom: Me? Why not you?\nQuark: Zek likes me, so I can't afford to get on his bad side. On the other hand, he barely acknowledges your existence, so you have nothing to lose. Now get in there and tell the Nagus he'll have to leave. And whatever happens, don't let Maihar'du intimidate you.\nRom: Where are you going?\nQuark: Don't worry. If you need me, I'll be close by.\nZek: Rom! What can I do for you, my boy?\nRom: Grand Nagus, forgive me for disturbing you.\nZek: Who's disturbed? I've been hoping someone would drop by. Now come right in.\nQuark: Why thank you. We'd be delighted.\nZek: Quark. I knew you'd be lurking around here someplace. Well, what are we standing out here for? I've got something very exciting to show you both.\nQuark: What happened to my furniture?\nZek: I got rid of it. It was getting in the way of my work.\nQuark: And what work was that, Grand Nagus? If I my be so bold?\nZek: I'm glad you asked. Maihar'du, the book.\nZek: You are about to read the shining triumph of my life. The one thing I'll always be remembered for.\nQuark: May I?\nZek: By all means.\nQuark: The Rules of Acquisition, Revised for the Modern Ferengi. You rewrote the Rules of Acquisition?\nZek: I hope you like them. Absorb, enjoy.\nQuark: Rom, you know what this means?\nRom: Yes. It means we're going to have to memorize a whole new set of Rules.\nQuark: No, you idiot. It means we'll be the first Ferengi to benefit from Zek's wisdom. The knowledge contained in this book could make us both rich beyond our wildest dreams.\nRom: I'll be able to go into business for myself. Turn the page, brother. Turn the page.\nQuark: The first Rule of Acquisition is\nRom: Go on.\nQuark: If they want their money back\nRom: Yes, yes?\nQuark: Give it to them.\nRom: If they want their money back give it to them?\nRom: Rule number twenty one. Never place profit before friendship. Rule number twenty tour. Latinum tarnishes, but family is forever. Rule twenty three. Money can never replace dignity.\nQuark: Oh, skip to the end. Well, what is it?\nRom: You're not going to like it, Brother.\nQuark: I can take it. Tell me.\nRom: Rule number two hundred and eighty five. A good deed is its own reward.\nRom: Brother, are you all right?\nQuark: I just have to sit down.\nQuark: No, take it away.\nRom: Sorry.\nQuark: Got to think. Got to think. There has to be some explanation, a reason for why he's doing this.\nRom: Maybe we should ask him.\nQuark: No. Don't you see? He's testing us. Yes, that must be it. It's some kind of test. The book, the book.\nRom: You want to hear more?\nQuark: No, but it must be some kind of code. Read me the first word of every Rule.\nRom: If. Never. Keep. Profit. A. Good. Smile. Honesty.\nQuark: If never keep profit a good smile honesty.\nRom: What does it mean, brother?\nQuark: It means absolutely nothing. Maybe if we hold the pages up to the light. No, no.\nQuark: No, that's not it. The answer must be right in front of us.\nRom: I know. Maybe the Nagus has gone insane.\nQuark: Nonsense. The Nagus is the most brilliant Ferengi alive. I've modeled my life after him. Don't ever let me hear you speak that way about him again.\nRom: But what if he really believes all this?\nQuark: How could he believe this insanity? No. It has to be part of some brilliant, twisted, devious plan. The Nagus isn't like you and me, Rom. He thinks ten, sometimes twenty, steps ahead. These Rules are probably the key component in some vast plot to seize financial control of the entire quadrant.\nRom: So what do we do?\nQuark: The only thing we can do. We put down this book and we walk away. And when the Nagus feels ready, he'll inform us of his plans. But until then, we have to act as if we know nothing.\nRom: I can do that.\nQuark: If never keep profit a good smile honesty. Nah.\nZek: Quark, my boy. What say we buy everyone a drink? Put it on my tab.\nQuark: But why?\nZek: It will make everyone happy. And that will make me happy.\nRom: It must all be part of his plan. Wheels within wheels, brother.\nQuark: Drinks for everyone, compliments of the Grand Nagus. Is there anything else I get you, Nagus? We just got in a shipment of quality Hupyrian beetle snuff.\nZek: Actually, I've lost my taste for beetle snuff. It might be fun for you and me, but it's no fun for the beetles. Oh, and by the way, Quark, I just met the most lovely young female. She came by your quarters looking for you.\nQuark: Was her name Emi, by any chance?\nZek: She wanted me to tell you that her family's ship has arrived with the latinum.\nQuark: It's about time. Rom, watch the bar. We're finally going to get rid of those stem bolts.\nZek: I don't think so.\nQuark: But we have a contract.\nZek: Which was never signed. And frankly, Quark, you were charging an outrageous price for those stem bolts.\nQuark: She didn't seem to think so.\nZek: Well, she did once I explained it to her.\nQuark: You what?\nZek: Well, I couldn't allow you take advantage of an innocent young female like that, Quark. So I told her where she could get all the stem bolts she needed at wholesale.\nQuark: Wholesale? He told her where to get them at wholesale. What am I going to do with a hundred gross of stem bolts?\nRom: My poor brother.\nZek: Oh, don't worry about him. Eventually, he'll sell those stem bolts at a fair price.\nRom: A fair price? I'm very confused.\nZek: That's understandable. It'll take some time to get used to the new ways.\nRom: New ways?\nZek: Walk with me, Rom.\nO'Brien: Your turn.\nBashir: I don't know about this.\nO'Brien: Would you rather play a game of racquetball?\nBashir: Chief, since Keiko's been on Bajor we've played one hundred and six games of racquetball.\nO'Brien: Right. So throw a dart.\nBashir: I'm a bit rusty.\nO'Brien: So am I. I guess the smart money's on Wade or P'Trell.\nBashir: That seems to be the general consensus.\nO'Brien: I mean, Doctor Wade is very popular but P'Trell is doing some amazing work in gerontological research. Which one do you think will win?\nBashir: Either of them would be a worthy recipient of the Carrington.\nO'Brien: Of course, if I had my druthers, the award'd go to you.\nBashir: Thank you.\nO'Brien: But let's face it. You don't stand a chance.\nBashir: You don't say.\nO'Brien: I mean, I know you're talented, but I bet there're doctors all over the Federation saying, Julian Bashir? Who the hell is he?\nBashir: Chief, you are absolutely right.\nO'Brien: I'm glad you agree.\nBashir: So, how much longer is Keiko going to be on Bajor?\nRom: Make sure the relief shipment is sent by high warp courier, and don't worry about the cost.\nQuark: Rom, what's all this?\nRom: You're looking at the sector headquarters for the Ferengi Benevolent Association.\nRom: Brother, I don't have time to talk to you. I have work to do. I'm the new Senior Administrator of the Ferengi Benevolent Association. You know, brother, I never realized how many people there are who could use a little help.\nQuark: If you don't get down to the bar right now, you're the one going to need a little help.\nRom: The Nagus said you'd react like this.\nQuark: The Nagus is a very smart man.\nRom: Oh, he's more than that, he's a visionary. He has plans, brother, and I'm going to be a part of them.\nQuark: What could the Nagus possibly want with you?\nRom: He says I'm malleable. And that he's going to mold me into a new kind of Ferengi. An evolved Ferengi.\nQuark: Evolved? Into what?\nRom: I'm not sure, exactly. The Nagus says that the answers lie in his new Rules of Acquisition. He told me, Rom, it's time for the Ferengi to move beyond greed.\nQuark: Beyond greed? There's nothing beyond greed. Greed is the purest, most noble of emotions.\nRom: Greed is dead. That's the tenth Rule of Acquisition.\nQuark: No, it's not. The tenth Rule of Acquisition is, Greed is Eternal.\nRom: Not anymore. The Nagus is going to shake the very foundation of Ferengi society, and we're going to be at his side every step of the way.\nQuark: What do you mean, we?\nRom: The Nagus has made you co-chairman of the Benevolent Association. Your name will figure prominently on all our correspondence.\nQuark: He never mentioned anything about that to me.\nRom: The Nagus wouldn't dream of excluding you, brother. As soon as we get the Benevolent Association established here, the Nagus plans on returning to the homeworld, and we'll go with him. Think of it. You and I will be there when Zek personally announces the New Rules of Acquisition on the Grand Steps of the Sacred Marketplace.\nQuark: We'll be there, all right. And we'll probably be right alongside of him when they throw him from the spire of the Tower of Commerce.\nRom: The Tower of Commerce? But that's the tallest building in the Ferengi Alliance. A fall from that height could, could, could\nQuark: Exactly. Don't you see, Rom. There's something terribly wrong with the Nagus, and we have to help him before he gets us all killed.\nZek: That tickles.\nBashir: Well, I must say, for a Ferengi your age, you're in excellent health. That is, aside from some vascular damage to your mucus membranes. You really should stop using beetle snuff.\nZek: As a matter of fact, I already have.\nBashir: I am glad to hear it.\nQuark: Does this mean you'll going to have to go in for some exploratory surgery?\nBashir: Why would I do that?\nQuark: To find out what's wrong with him.\nBashir: There's nothing wrong with him, Quark.\nQuark: That's not true. There's something deeply wrong with him, and you have to find out what it is.\nBashir: I've done every test I can think of. There's no trauma, brain damage, mental illness. His central nervous system's working within normal parameters, and his endocrine system's in terrific shape.\nZek: You see, I told you. They're like a couple of nervous investors always looking for trouble. Oh, well, I suppose I should be flattered. Thank you, Doctor. You've been very helpful.\nQuark: No. He's sick, I tell you. You have to perform more tests.\nBashir: Quark, if you don't get out of here, I'll perform some tests on you.\nQuark: You have to do something.\nBashir: Like what?\nQuark: Put him in stasis. Keep him from hurting himself until you can figure out what is wrong with him.\nBashir: I don't think that's necessary.\nQuark: I can't believe you're supposed to be one of the five best doctors in the Federation. If you ask me, you're a quack. No wonder everyone says you don't have a chance to win the Carrington. Let's go. Maybe we can make an appointment for you to see Doctor Wade.\nBashir: Good luck. If I remember correctly, Nairobi is beautiful this time of year.\nZek: Here, Doctor. For your trouble.\nBashir: I can't accept that.\nZek: Why not? It's only money. Donate it to charity if you'd like.\nQuark: And you say he's not sick.\nZek: Oh, and Doctor, I do hope you'll attend tomorrow night's ceremony.\nBashir: Ceremony?\nZek: At the Bajoran shrine on the Promenade. I intend to give a gift to the Bajoran people.\nQuark: A gift. What kind of gift?\nZek: It's a surprise. You'll find out tomorrow night like everyone else. Come along. We have a lot of work to do before then. So many needy people, so little time.\nQuark: Aren't you done yet?\nRom: Breaking into the Nagus's personal shuttle somehow seems wrong, brother.\nQuark: I don't care. I have to know what he intends to give the Bajorans.\nRom: But the Nagus wants it to be a surprise.\nQuark: I hate surprises. Now hurry it up, before some\nQuark: Maihar'du. As you can see, my brother and I were repairing the door locks on the Nagus's\nQuark: This is the gift?\nRom: What is it?\nQuark: It's one of the missing Bajoran Orbs, Rom. An Orb of the Prophets. I tell you, this Orb explains everything. Zek's behavior, the new Rules, the Ferengi Benevolent Association, everything.\nRom: It does? How?\nQuark: I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out. Don't just stand there. Talk to me. I know how you feel. What are you doing?\nRom: I thought we should look inside. I mean, we don't know for certain that there's an Orb in here. Maybe Zek's just giving them the box.\nQuark: Don't be ridiculous.\nRom: But how will we know unless we look?\nQuark: Rom, it's too dangerous. Leave it alone.\nRom: But brother\nQuark: I said, leave it alone.\nQuark: Rom? Maihar'du? Morn? Anybody?\nZek: What's the matter, Quark? Spinning out of control, are we?\nQuark: Grand Nagus?\nZek: Maybe. Maybe not.\nZek: Looking for answers? You couldn't find them if they were dangling from your lobes.\nZek: Where's that old Quark cleverness I've heard so much about? Or are you so paralyzed with fear that you can't think straight?\nZek: Answer me, Quark. What are you so nervous about? Don't you think change is worth dying for? All I want is a little leap of faith.\nZek: Nice catch. That's the wonderful thing about mysteries. Sometimes the answers just fall from the sky. What do you have to lose? Open it.\nZek: Consider it a gift.\nQuark: Yes. Yes!\nRom: Are you all right?\nQuark: A gift.\nRom: A gift?\nQuark: Zek said the new rules were a gift.\nRom: A gift from Zek to the Ferengi people.\nQuark: No. A gift to Zek from them. Don't you see? They did it. They put the idea for the New Rules in Zek's head. They changed him somehow.\nRom: They did? How dare they? Who are we talking about, brother?\nQuark: The Prophets. The aliens that live inside the wormhole. They did this to him, didn't they?\nQuark: Tell me everything.\nRom: Easy, brother. You know Hupyrian servants take a vow only to speak to their masters.\nQuark: You're right. Give him a handkerchief or something. I'm going to try to break into Zek's personal logs.\nQuark: According to Zek's logs, he obtained the Orb from one of his contacts on Cardassia Three. From there, he headed straight for the wormhole. His ship's log shows that he entered the wormhole, stayed inside for only a few minutes, then reversed course and came here.\nRom: You think he went in there to talk to the Prophets?\nQuark: In his personal logs, Zek said that the future was looking very bright indeed. Don't you get it? According to Dax, the wormhole aliens can see through time. The Nagus must've thought he could convince them to let him see the future. That way he could anticipate economic changes throughout the galaxy.\nRom: The opportunity for profit would have been enormous. But instead he created the New Rules of Acquisition. Why?\nQuark: Something must've gone terribly wrong. But I intend to set it right.\nRom: How, brother?\nQuark: I have an idea.\nRom: Does it involve me?\nQuark: Not really.\nRom: I like it.\nOdo: May I join you, Doctor?\nBashir: By all means. And what can I do for you?\nOdo: It's what I can do for you. I have a friend at Starfleet Intelligence and she has a friend who has a cousin who's married to the assistant of one of the members of the Federation Medical Council.\nBashir: Really?\nOdo: And according to my friend, her friend heard something from his cousin that his wife heard from the council member that I thought you might find interesting.\nBashir: Which is?\nOdo: Doctor Wade is not going to win the Carrington.\nBashir: Oh, not you too.\nOdo: Doctor, I thought you'd be delighted.\nBashir: Even if that's true, and mind you, I'm not saying it is, the only one who has reason to celebrate is Ghee P'Trell.\nOdo: Perhaps. But P'Trell is by no means as popular as Doctor Wade.\nBashir: According to your friend.\nOdo: Actually, according to my friend's friend's\nBashir: I get the picture.\nOdo: The point is, if it's not going to be Wade, it could be anyone. P'Trell, Senva, Roget, even you.\nBashir: I didn't think I was going to win before. And I don't think I'm going to win now.\nOdo: Is that a fact? Then why have you been working on your acceptance speech?\nBashir: How did you know?\nOdo: Just a guess.\nZek: My goodness, I never knew solar flares could be so devastating to a planet's agriculture. Now let me see. At current market rates two thousand tons of Kohlanese barley would cost me a hundred and eighty nine bars of gold press latinum but it's worth it. I can have the first shipment of barley on the way to you in Oh, hold on. I'll be right back.\nZek: How can I help you, boys?\nQuark: Wait. I have to be sure that he's all right. Grand Nagus, can you hear me? Are you okay?\nZek: Don't worry, Quark. I forgive you.\nQuark: You hear that? We have to help him.\nRom: Brother, this is a very brave thing you're doing, taking the Nagus back to the wormhole. I wish I could come with you but I can't. Goodbye.\nQuark: Go on. Get out of here before you have me crying too. Get out of here.\nQuark: Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay.\nZek: You know, my boy, I should be very angry with you.\nQuark: Are you?\nZek: Not in the slightest. I can't help myself. I like you. Now, where have you taken me?\nQuark: Into the wormhole. What's going on?\nZek: This is exactly what happened the last time I was in here. The wormhole aliens are delightful people, but they like their privacy.\nQuark: So you did meet them. How did you make contact?\nZek: Well, I see you've brought the Orb of Wisdom with you. That should do the trick. Now, if you really want to get their attention, open the box. That's what I did.\nQuark: Sounds simple enough.\nZek: You'd better hurry. I got the dampening field on this ship for a substantial diskount.\nQuark: Hello?\nQuark: Hello? Anyone there?\nBashir: It is corporeal.\nQuark: Doctor? What are you doing in here?\nDax: A physical entity\nKira: Not another one.\nQuark: I get it. You're the wormhole aliens. Or would you rather be called the Prophets? I never could figure that one out.\nRom: Did the Sisko send you?\nQuark: What? Sisko? What does he have to do with anything?\nSisko: The Sisko taught us about corporeal lifeforms.\nKira: About linguistic communication.\nBashir: And linear time.\nQuark: I know all about it. He's quite a guy. But I'm not here to talk about Sisko.\nMaihar'Du: Then why are you here?\nQuark: I'm here to talk about the Nagus.\nEmi: The Nagus?\nQuark: The other Ferengi who visited you. The one who brought the Orb.\nEmi: We are aware of the Zek.\nQuark: He came to see you, to ask for help. He wanted to learn about the future.\nSisko: The Zek wanted to know the outcome of the game before it was played.\nQuark: That's right. So what went wrong?\nRom: At first we did not understand the Zek's request. The Sisko said that corporeal beings value their linear existence.\nDax: The Zek wanted to understand events outside the restrictions of linear time.\nQuark: He wanted to see the future so he could gain by it.\nBashir: Yes. The Zek explained the value of gain. How more is preferable to less.\nQuark: He taught you about profit.\nKira: We found the concept aggressive.\nSisko: Adversarial.\nEmi: Dangerous. We could not comprehend how any species could lead such a barren existence.\nQuark: It has its advantages.\nMaihar'Du: We don't agree. We found the Zek's adversarial nature invasive, threatening.\nSisko: We examined your species' history, the totality of your existence. We diskovered that you have not always been as you are now.\nQuark: We haven't?\nKira: There was a time when your peoples' acquiring nature was not so pronounced.\nQuark: Wait a second. Are you telling me that you somehow de-evolved the Nagus?\nBashir: We restored the Zek to an earlier, less adversarial state of existence.\nQuark: You can't do that. The Nagus is the financial leader of billions of Ferengi. I demand that you re-evolve him immediately.\nDax: This one is adversarial too.\nBashir: Aggressive. Intrusive.\nSisko: We should do to this one what we did with the other. Restore it to a purer existence.\nRom: Counteract its adversarial nature.\nQuark: Wait. Let's not be hasty. There's nothing wrong with acquiring profit.\nMaihar'Du: That is what the Zek said.\nQuark: And he was right. Look, I don't know how you people live, but all of us corporeal, linear whatevers have certain things in common, and one of those things is the need to improve ourselves. Our ambition to improve ourselves motivates everything we do. Without ambition, without, dare I say it, greed, people would lie around all day doing nothing. They wouldn't work, they wouldn't bathe, they wouldn't even eat. They'd starve to death. Is that what you want? Are you so isolated and detached that you would sit back and allow the extinction of every corporeal being in the galaxy?\nSisko: Your argument is specious. Changing you will not result in the termination of all corporeal existence.\nQuark: All right, so maybe I exaggerated a little.\nEmi: We should alter this one and return it to its own people.\nRom: Agreed. It is best to avoid contact with this species.\nQuark: Wait. If you don't want to have any more contact with the Ferengi, that's fine with me. But by altering me, you won't be avoiding contact, you'll be encouraging it. My people are very inquisitive, and if you change me, they're going to want to know what happened. And they're going to come here to find out. Just as I came to find out what happened to Zek.\nDax: That is linear.\nQuark: And potentially very annoying to you. But on the other hand, if you leave me alone, and you put the Nagus back the way he was when you met him, I guarantee you you'll never have to talk with another Ferengi again. So what do you say?\nKira: Linguistic communication is tiresome.\nQuark: My point exactly. Which is why I think you should send me back\nZek: Quark. Quark! Quark, are you all right?\nQuark: I think so. What about you?\nZek: Oh stop toadying up to me, Quark. It's revolting. Just get me out of here. I have an Orb to sell to the Bajorans.\nQuark: Did you say sell?\nZek: I'm going to make them pay through the nose. And speaking of noses, where's my beetle snuff?\nQuark: Oh, Nagus. You're back. I'm so happy.\nZek: You're wrinkling my suit.\nQuark: Whatever you say.\nMan: And now it is with great pride that I present the nominees for this year's Carrington Award. They are, Doctor April Wade, Senva of Vulcan, Doctor Henri Roget, Chirurgeon Ghee P'Trell, and Doctor Julian Bashir.\nMan: And the winner is, Doctor Henri Roget.\nSisko: Roget?\nO'Brien: How could they give it to Roget?\nKira: Better luck next time.\nBashir: Maybe, in forty or fifty years.\nSisko: Julian.\nO'Brien: Sorry.\nBajoran: You should have won.\nStarfleet: Next time.\nDax: You seem to be handling this very well.\nBashir: Believe me, I'm not.\nDax: I didn't think so.\nZek: Remember what I said, Quark. If anyone asks, you have no idea what happened to the charity money.\nQuark: You can count on me.\nZek: And you're sure you've destroyed every last copy of the revised Rules of Acquisition?\nRom: The only place the new Rules exist is inside my head.\nZek: Head?\nQuark: Don't worry. Within a week, he'll have forgotten them all.\nZek: He'd better.\nRom: I don't believe it, brother. After all you did for the Nagus, he never even thanked you.\nQuark: He doesn't have to thank me. He's the Nagus. There's only one thing that bothers me. Don't get me wrong, I was honored to help the Nagus, but it would've been nice if I'd been able to make a little profit for my troubles.\nRom: That's all right. I made enough profit for the both of us.\nQuark: What are you talking about?\nRom: I'm talking about the Ferengi Benevolent Association. Did you know it was funded with Zek's personal fortune? I was the senior administrator, brother.\nQuark: You embezzled money from the Nagus?\nRom: Surprise.\nQuark: Father would be proud."}
{"text": "Bashir: It's all right, Chief. You're going to be just fine.\nO'Brien: What happened?\nSisko: You were re-routing a phase inducer when one of the plasma conduits blew out.\nBashir: Easy there, Chief. You have a mild case of radiation poisoning. I've given you some hyronalin, which should counteract the affects. But I think he should be restricted to light duty for the next few days.\nSisko: Agreed.\nKira: Commander, the transport's arrived and they're requesting permission to dock.\nSisko: Route them to docking bay twelve. Inform the Romulan delegation we'll meet them there. And Chief? Light duty means light. I don't want to see you crawling around the Jefferies tube tonight looking for power surges.\nO'Brien: You won't get any arguments today, Commander.\nSisko: Ready, Major?\nSisko: Promenade.\nBo'Rak: Du'cha Kovah! Estah!\nSisko: Constable, I wasn't aware there were any Klingons on the station.\nOdo: They just arrived a few hours ago. It seems the main computer on their freighter was damaged and they need a complete overhaul before they can continue back to the Klingon Empire.\nKira: How long is this overhaul going to take?\nOdo: Two days, at least.\nSisko: The Romulan delegation has just arrived and they're going to be here for at least two days while they study our intelligence reports on the Dominion. I want you to keep a close eye on the Klingons. We don't need any trouble right now.\nOdo: Understood. Let's go. Come on.\nSisko: Welcome to Deep Space Nine. I'm Commander Sisko, and this is my first officer, Major Kira.\nRuwon: I am Ruwon. This is Karina. We're ready for your report on the Dominion.\nSisko: We have arranged quarters for you. I know it's been a long trip, so perhaps you'd like to\nRuwon: We are not interested in your accommodations, Commander. We are here for your intelligence briefing. Nothing else.\nSisko: Very well. If you'll come this way.\nO'Brien: This'll be the foul line. We need to put a marker here on the floor.\nQuark: I still don't see how this is going to help my business, Chief.\nO'Brien: No, that's not right. The number twenty needs to be at the top. Trust me, Quark. Darts and bars go together like bacon and eggs.\nQuark: At least people order bacon and eggs. In all the years I've been here, no one has ever come in and asked to see the dart board.\nO'Brien: Trust me. They will.\nQuark: I just don't see the appeal of this game. No lasers, no holograms, just steel tips and feathers.\nO'Brien: It's a game of skill, Quark. And it's not easy. Go ahead. Try and get one in the bullseye.\nO'Brien: No!\nQuark: Now what if one of those darts had gotten into his eye? Do you realize I'd be liable for that? Do you know how much money an eye costs?\nO'Brien: You're not supposed to throw them like that. You throw them gently, one at a time. Like this.\nQuark: Chief O'Brien?\nO'Brien: What is it, Quark?\nQuark: The Klingons just destroyed two of my holosuites. I need a maintenance crew immediately.\nO'Brien 2: Quark, this happens every time the Klingons come aboard the station. Why don't you just keep them out of the holosuites?\nQuark: Did you ever said no to a Klingon? Besides, they're paying me double.\nQuark: Chief? Chief!\nBashir: Well, the pain you experienced appears to be a muscle spasm caused by a sudden decrease in your serum calcium levels. It's a common side effect of radiation poisoning. I'm giving you some asinolyathin for the pain.\nO'Brien: What about the vision I had?\nBashir: Well, mild hallucinations are also a fairly common side-effect of radiation poisoning.\nO'Brien: It was anything but mild. I really felt I was standing on the Promenade watching myself talking to Quark.\nBashir: What was the conversation about?\nO'Brien: He was complaining about some Klingons. He said they'd damaged two of his holosuites.\nBashir: Well, you do have one problem. If all you can hallucinate about is Quark's maintenance problems, you have a sadly deficient fantasy life.\nO'Brien: Oh. Well, thank you for your professional opinion.\nBashir: Any time. My doors are always open to you, Chief.\nRuwon: The Dominion represents the greatest threats to the Alpha Quadrant in the last century. We need more information on its military capabilities. How many ships do they have? Where are they deployed? What are their plans for the future? Are they planning an attack?\nSisko: We don't know any of that yet.\nKarina: You have one of the Founders of the Dominion on this very station. He should be able to tell us everything we need to know about their intentions.\nKira: Odo is not one of the Founders.\nKarina: Your own reports indicate that a group of changelings are the real source of power behind the Dominion.\nKira: Yes.\nRuwon: And Odo is a changeling.\nKira: But he's not one of the Founder.\nRuwon: I fail to see the distinction.\nKira: Odo made a conscious choice to stay here with us. He has no loyalties to the Dominion and he has no information about their plans.\nRuwon: We find that hard to believe.\nSisko: It's the truth, whether you choose to believe it or not.\nRuwon: Commander, we allowed you to place one of our cloaking devices on the Defiant in exchange for information regarding the Dominion. Now you have the cloaking device and we have very little.\nKarina: We shouldn't have to remind you of the importance both our governments place on continuing to carry out this agreement. It's the first treaty between Romulus and the Federation in many years.\nSisko: I'm aware of that and I'm willing to cooperate with you in any way I can.\nRuwon: Very well then. We want to see every piece of information Starfleet has on the Dominion, no matter how insignificant.\nKarina: That includes any classified reports you may have made to Starfleet Command.\nSisko: I'll have to clear that with Starfleet.\nRuwon: Then do it.\nQuark: Chief O'Brien.\nO'Brien: What is it, Quark?\nQuark: The Klingons just destroyed two of my holosuites. I need a maintenance crew immediately.\nO'Brien: Quark, we go through this every time Klingons come aboard the station. Why don't you just\nQuark: I think my holosuites can wait. It looks like you have bigger problems.\nDax: I went over the internal sensor logs and I did find evidence of a minor temporal disturbance in Quark's and another one later on the Promenade. Both disturbances happened at about the same time as the Chief's experiences.\nSisko: So it would seem that you did travel into the future and then returned to the same moment that you left.\nO'Brien: Have you any idea what might have caused this time shift?\nDax: Not yet. I want to go over the medical scans Julian took of you earlier. That dose of ionizing radiation you received might have something to do with it.\nO'Brien: How?\nDax: I'm not sure, but it's a good place to start. I have heard of a couple of theories that ambient low level radiation could have a temporal\nO'Brien 2: Look out!\nDax: Effect on radioactive isotopes\nDax: Chief!\nSisko: Mister O'Brien?\nBashir: I ran a microcellular scan and detected minute damage to his cerebrospinal nerve cells which might have been caused by the time shifting.\nO'Brien: Can you repair it?\nBashir: Yes, but the effect is cumulative. If you keep time shifting, there may come a point where the damage becomes irreparable. Eventually, it might even kill you.\nSisko: Don't worry, Chief. Dax is using every scanner on the station to hunt for any temporal abnormalities.\nO'Brien: Well, if anyone can find the cause of the time shifts, it's Dax.\nSisko: Chief, do you have any idea of how far into the future you traveled?\nO'Brien: No, sir. There was nothing to indicate that it was today, tomorrow, next week.\nSisko: Well, this conference with the Romulans is not supposed to last longer than three days. In the meantime I'll have Odo tighten security around Quark's.\nKira: How are you feeling, Chief?\nO'Brien: Better.\nKira: Good. Commander, may I speak with you for a minute?\nSisko: Of course.\nKira: The Romulans want to debrief everyone who was on the Defiant when it was captured by the Founders. They're also still not happy with the sensor information collected by the Defiant, so they want unrestricted access to the Defiant. And they also want complete access to all our personal logs.\nSisko: Personal logs are out of the question, but they can have limited access to the Defiant. I'll let them debrief us as well. I know they're pushing us, Major, but consider their position. There have never been any Romulan ships in the Gamma Quadrant, so they've never encountered the Dominion. So they're completely dependent on us for information.\nKira: Well then maybe they should send their own ships through the wormhole and find out for themselves.\nSisko: The Romulans generally prefer to sit back and pull the strings from a distance if they can.\nKira: This is one puppet who doesn't like her strings pulled.\nSisko: I know. But like Ruwon said, they've lived up to their part of the bargain. We have to do everything we can to live up to ours.\nKira: All right. I'll draw up a schedule of interviews and I'll tell everyone to cooperate.\nSisko: And Major, when you're in with the Romulans, try to be diplomatic.\nKira: I'm always diplomatic.\nKira: That is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard, and I resent the implication!\nRuwon: You seem very agitated for someone who's proclaiming her innocence.\nKarina: Indeed, your emotional state would seem to indicate that our theory is correct and you did abandon the Defiant prematurely when it was attacked by the Jem'Hadar.\nKira: When the Defiant was attacked, Odo and I were trapped below decks. There was a hand-to-hand fight in the corridor. I was wounded and I lost consciousness. When I came to, Odo had already put me aboard the shuttle and we had escaped. I did not abandon the ship prematurely.\nRuwon: Why didn't Odo try to help the rest of the Defiant's crew?\nKira: well I'm sure he wanted to. But there was no way to get to the Bridge and\nKarina: Why were you in Odo's Quarters when the ship was attacked?\nKira: We were talking.\nKarina: About what?\nKira: It's personal.\nRuwon: Do you often have personal talks with the changeling?\nKira: What business is that of yours?\nRuwon: We're trying to determine the nature of your relationship.\nKarina: You are the only member of the Defiant's crew who was not taken prisoner. Why? Did the Founders believe Odo would react badly if you were harmed? Did they think you held some kind of attraction to him?\nRuwon: Has Odo ever shown some kind of physical interest in you, Major?\nKira: That's it. You rip the cloaking device out of the Defiant right now. I am not answering any more questions. And I suggest you avoid asking Odo those questions or you just might find yourselves on the other side of that bulkhead floating home.\nBashir: There. That's the game. Had enough?\nO'Brien: One more.\nBashir: Chief, that's the tenth game we've played in a row. Nothing's happening here and I don't think anything is going to happen. By telling us about the fight, you've changed the future. Security's here and Quark said he won't let the Klingons back in the bar. There is not going to be a fight.\nO'Brien: I know, I know. But I've seen it and I can't shake the feeling that it's going to happen despite our precautions. There's something about the way things look, the number of people. There's something a little too familiar about everything.\nBashir: All right. If it makes you feel any better, I'll beat you at another ten games. But I can't help getting the feeling\nBo'Rak: Ach'cho korvak batah!\nMorka: Karagh, abeh!\nO'Brien: You said you weren't going to let the Klingons back in the bar.\nQuark: I didn't. They were in the holosuites. Besides, now they're paying me triple.\nMorka: Who let these filthy pahtak in here?\nBo'Rak: Maybe someone should show them the way out\nKira: And then what's his name?\nOdo: Ruwon?\nKira: Ruwon started to insinuate that you were\nOdo: That I was what?\nKira: Interested in me.\nOdo: He said that?\nKira: Have you ever heard anything more\nOdo: Ridiculous.\nKira: Exactly.\nQuark: Quark to Security! I've got a fight on my hands! They're tearing my place apart!\nO'Brien: Watch the Romulan!\nOdo: That's enough! Get back. Come on. Hold it. Let's go. Come on now.\nO'Brien: Miles?\nBashir: Chief, it's all right. You collapsed outside Quark's about an hour ago. You're going to be fine.\nO'Brien: No, I'm not. In a few hours I'm going to be dead.\nO'Brien: This is the panel I saw myself open. It looked like a phaser or a high-energy laser came out of the bulkhead.\nOdo: Nothing on the tricorder. Just the standard conduits and power juncture ports.\nSisko: If there is something dangerous in there, it could be cloaked or have some dampening field around it.\nOdo: If you gentlemen will step down the corridor, I'll open the panel and take a look. Don't worry, I'll be careful.\nOdo: It's all right. Nothing.\nSisko: You're sure this is the right panel?\nO'Brien: Absolutely. Believe me, I have a pretty vivid memory of the whole thing.\nSisko: Well, since it appears that your first two time jumps each moved you to about five hours into the future, we could also assume that the incident you saw in this corridor moved you to about five hours into the future.\nOdo: That means someone will place a device in this panel in the next few hours.\nSisko: All of these quarters are vacant at the moment. There are no vital power conduits in this area, no crucial defense systems. Why would someone want to booby-trap a wall panel here?\nOdo: I suggest we place a surveillance device in this corridor. If anyone attempts to tamper with the panel, we'll be able to detect it.\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko here. Go ahead, Lieutenant.\nDax: Benjamin, can you come to Ops? I think I found a clue to Chief O'Brien's time shifting.\nSisko: We're on our way. Keep me informed.\nDax: I've been scanning the area around the station out to a radius of two kilometers, and I didn't find anything at first. Then I started to scan some of the lower subspace bandwidths. I found traces of low-level tetryon emissions.\nO'Brien: I've never seen an emission pattern like that outside of a neutron star.\nDax: Or a quantum singularity. And singularities are known to send out waves of temporal displacement.\nO'Brien: But if there is a singularity nearby why can't we find it? It should also be affecting the gravimetric field signatures.\nDax: I don't know. Maybe it's buried so far down in the subspace layers that we can't detect it.\nSisko: Assuming for the moment that a singularity is responsible, how do we combat its effects on the Chief?\nBashir: The temporal displacement caused by a quantum singularity most commonly affects delta series radioisotopes, which is exactly what the Chief absorbed during the conduit breach.\nSisko: So you're saying that it could be pulling O'Brien's body like a magnet?\nBashir: Exactly. I think I may know a way to neutralize the remaining radioisotopes in your body.\nDax: Without the radiation, the temporal displacement might stop.\nBashir: It's going to take time. He may experience one or two more time shifts before I can complete the process.\nO'Brien: When can we start?\nBashir: Right away.\nSisko: Keep trying to pinpoint the singularity. If it is out there, we need to locate it and find a way to get rid of it.\nDax: Right.\nKira: I wanted to let you know I moved the Romulans to different quarters.\nSisko: Oh?\nKira: It's the replicators again. I assigned a maintenance crew, but in the meantime I moved the entire Romulan delegation to section forty seven, level two in the Habitat ring.\nSisko: Section forty seven?\nKira: Yes. Is something wrong?\nSisko: The wall panel where O'Brien saw himself being killed is right outside those quarters. Which means either the Romulans are going to put a device in the bulkhead themselves or someone else will, possibly to be used against the Romulans.\nKira: Should I move them to other quarters?\nSisko: No. That'll warn whoever's responsible. But inform Odo of the change in quarters. He already has that corridor under surveillance. Let's see how this thing plays out before we make any further moves.\nSisko: You have something, Constable?\nOdo: Someone has planted a class three surveillance device behind the wall panel we've been monitoring.\nSisko: Were you able to see who it was?\nOdo: No. We've been monitoring the corridor constantly for the past three hours. No one's come anywhere near the panel. However, sensors did detect a low energy transporter beam a short time ago. They beamed the device directly into the wall.\nSisko: That's a delicate piece of transporter work.\nOdo: Yes, it is. We haven't been able to trace the beam to its point of origin, but since there aren't any ships nearby, I believe it originated on the station.\nSisko: Any suspects?\nOdo: Since it appears to be a device intended to conduct covert surveillance of the Romulans, my leading suspects would be the Klingons.\nSisko: Do you have any evidence besides the fact that Klingons hate Romulans?\nOdo: Not yet. But don't worry, I plan on investigating the Klingons, the Bajorans, Quark, the visiting Terrelians.\nSisko: You think Quark had something to do with this?\nOdo: I always investigate Quark.\nBashir: It looks like you're going to cheat death after all. Round about this time you saw yourself being killed.\nO'Brien: I feel like someone just walked over my grave. I mean, I've had a few brushes with death in my career, but there was something about watching myself being killed, feeling my own neck for a pulse that wasn't there.\nBashir: Well, it could've been worse. It could've been me.\nQuark: Here you are, gentlemen. And how is DS Nine's most famous fortune teller?\nO'Brien: Don't call me that. I haven't told anyone's fortune.\nQuark: Just a figure of speech. On the other hand, if you should find yourself in the future again and you find yourself passing by the dabo table, would it really hurt to take a look at the numbers coming up on the wheel? I could make it worth your while.\nO'Brien: Let's get out of here.\nQuark: Just a thought.\nO'Brien: Can you believe that? I'm being pulled into the future and all he can think about is\nBashir: Chief! Oh, am I glad to see you.\nO'Brien: What the hell happened to me, Julian?\nBashir: It was the radiation. I didn't realize it had damaged the basilar arteries in your brain stem until it was too late.\nO'Brien: Well why not?\nBashir: It didn't show up on any of the diagnostics. I couldn't tell what had happened until I was doing the autopsy.\nO'Brien: Autopsy?\nBashir: Yes. I just finished doing it a few moments ago. Do you want me to show you the results?\nO'Brien: No, no, that's all right.\nBashir: Now look. When you go back to the past, ask me to perform a basilar arterial scan. Now since you're going five hours back into the past, I should have enough time to find the damage and repair it before this happens.\nO'Brien: Right. How could you just let me die?\nBashir: I didn't just let you die. I did everything I could to keep you alive for over an hour, but your body just gave up.\nO'Brien: Gave up?\nBashir: I'm sorry, Chief, but there comes a point when the human body just gives up.\nO'Brien: Yeah? Well, maybe my doctor wasn't\nBashir: Bashir to Infirmary. I need a nurse and an emergency medkit here immediately.\nOdo: We finally were able to localize the transporter beam and trace it back to this location.\nSisko: These quarters have been vacant for weeks.\nOdo: Somehow, they overrode the security lock on the door to gain access.\nSisko: So what did they do? Bring in a portable transporter and beam the surveillance equipment into the bulkhead?\nOdo: That was my first thought. But then I realized that a portable transporter is a rather large and bulky piece of equipment to be carrying around the halls.\nSisko: That's true.\nOdo: So, then I began thinking about the replicator.\nSisko: Ah. They realigned the matter-energy conversion matrix.\nOdo: Turning it into a small transporter. A very sophisticated, very professional job.\nSisko: So now we know how they did it, the next question is who?\nOdo: I think I have an answer to that as well. This device is manufactured on Davlos Three, a planet on the Klingon border. In fact, Davlos does over ninety percent of its trade with the Klingon Empire.\nSisko: That's still very little evidence to make an arrest.\nOdo: Yes, it is. But then I contacted a friend at Starfleet Intelligence who used to be assigned to the Federation Embassy on the Klingon Homeworld. He put me in contact with a former Klingon operative who's out of favor with the current administration. This former operative sent me a series of reports\nSisko: Odo, cut to the chase.\nOdo: The three Klingons now on the station are part of a covert strike force that reports directly to the Klingon High Council.\nSisko: Why didn't you just say so?\nOdo: Sometimes I have to remind you just how good I am.\nSisko: So Gowron sent our three friends here and they're conducting surveillance on the Romulan delegation. Why? Are they here to kill them?\nOdo: Possibly. It's also possible that this is just a routine intelligence-gathering operation. The high-energy laser that killed O'Brien is simply a booby trap to prevent someone from tampering with the device. It's not meant for assassination.\nSisko: Well in either case I think we have enough evidence to at least hold the Klingons for questioning, don't you?\nOdo: Absolutely. And I think I can question them until the Romulan delegation leaves the station.\nSisko: Just be careful.\nOdo: Commander, there is no careful way to question a Klingon.\nO'Brien: I, I haven't given up. I won't give up.\nBashir: It's all right, Chief. You're okay.\nO'Brien: No, I'm not. You need to run a basilar arterial scan.\nBashir: Why?\nO'Brien: Because if you don't, I'm going to die in less than five hours.\nBashir: Who told you that?\nO'Brien: You did. In the future.\nBashir: Oh. Well, who am I to argue with me?\nAtul: Let me go!\nMorka: This is an outrage! We've done nothing!\nBo'Rak: We will have our vengeance on all of you for this!\nMorka: We are being treated with dishonor. We have done nothing wrong.\nOdo: We take a very dim view of spies and saboteurs on this station.\nMorka: Now you slander us. When my family finds out what you have done, they will come here and kill you!\nOdo: I doubt that very much. The only people who will be coming here are your friends in Klingon Intelligence. And from what I understand, they don't like being embarrassed by operatives who fail in their missions. However, should you suddenly feel like cooperating, I may be persuaded to let you go without contacting your friends in Intelligence. Maybe.\nSisko: So, how are you feeling, Chief?\nO'Brien: Better, sir.\nBashir: I've eliminated almost all the radioisotopes from his body. I have to wait a couple more hours before I give him the last treatment but after that there should be no more time shifting.\nSisko: What about the quantum singularity?\nDax: We've been able to track it by using its tetryon emissions as a guide. It seems to be orbiting Deep Space Nine in a roughly elliptical fashion.\nO'Brien: At certain points in its orbit, the singularity radiates temporal energy at a specific wavelength. That seems to be what triggers my time shifts.\nSisko: Is there any way to break it out of its orbit and send it on its way?\nO'Brien: Well, we were hoping to station\nO'Brien 2: Come on, come on! Hurry up! We don't have much time! Prepare to seal the hatch and release the docking clamps. Initiating emergency escape protocol. Hang on. I'm going to full impulse.\nO'Brien: Now what?\nO'Brien 2: You're here! Look, I don't know what happened. I was asleep in bed, and the whole station was rocked by an explosion. Before I could get to Ops, the evacuation alarm sounded and the comm. systems were down. I got as many people as I could in here. I don't know what happened to the others. When you go back, you have to find out what happened and stop it.\nO'Brien: Oh, my God.\nSisko: Chief? What's wrong?\nO'Brien: We've got a new problem, sir.\nSisko: Did you see anything from the runabout that would indicate how the station was destroyed?\nO'Brien: There were a series of explosions that rippled across the Habitat ring, but it all happened so fast I couldn't get a clear sense of exactly what was going on.\nKira: Could you tell if you were looking at internal explosions, which might indicate some kind of sabotage or accident, or external explosions which might indicate we were under attack?\nO'Brien: No. No, I'm not sure.\nDax: Do you remember seeing any other ships nearby?\nO'Brien: No, but I had a very limited view of the area.\nKira: At this point we can't rule anything out.\nSisko: Agreed. Make preparations to evacuate the station, but do it quietly. If the destruction of the station is the result of an attack or sabotage, we don't want to alarm our enemy and make him trigger events we're trying to avoid. Begin a complete systems check of everything on the station that could potentially cause this kind of explosion.\nDax: Right.\nO'Brien: Commander, there might be another way to find out what's going on. If I could travel into the future again, this time just before the destruction of DS Nine, I might be able to find out what's going to happen and then return to the present in time for us to prevent it from happening. If you could flood my body with high concentrations of delta series radioisotopes, it might trigger a time shift into the future.\nBashir: Possibly, but those isotopes are toxic. It could cause permanent damage to your nervous system. It might even kill you.\nO'Brien: Oh. Well, if the future happens the way I saw it happen, a lot of people are going to get killed when the station explodes. It's a risk I'm willing to take.\nSisko: Even if you're able to initiate a time jump, each time you traveled into the future, you've always gone five hours. How do you propose to shorten the length of the jump?\nO'Brien: There might be a link between the temporal frequency of the singularity and the length of the time shift.\nBashir: We might be able to calibrate the decay constant of the isotope that we inject you with to match the frequency of the singularity. And with a few minor adjustments we can control how far you jump into the future.\nO'Brien: Exactly.\nSisko: All right. But if you can't do it within two hours, I'm going to begin to evacuate the station.\nO'Brien: Understood.\nBashir: Now, when you activate this device it'll inject you with a two rad dose of delta isotopes. Now, if our calculations are right, that should put you about three hours into the future.\nO'Brien: What's the margin of error?\nBashir: Plus or minus a half hour I'd say, but that's the best we could do. Now, it's already set for the return trip, so all you have to do is activate it again to return to the present.\nO'Brien: Right.\nBashir: And remember, don't wait too long. Your body will be experiencing symptoms of severe radiation poisoning. If you don't get treatment it will kill you.\nO'Brien: I won't forget.\nBashir: Good.\nO'Brien: Julian, there's a message in my quarters for Keiko if\nBashir: I understand, Miles.\nO'Brien: Zero two hundred. That's three and half hours into the future. Miles. Miles, wake up!\nO'Brien 2: What? Computer, lights. Oh no, not you again. What is it now?\nO'Brien: Listen to me. I've jumped ahead and seen your future. Don't ask me how, it'll take too long to explain. There's going to be a disaster. DS Nine will be destroyed.\nO'Brien 2: Destroyed? How?\nO'Brien: I don't know. That's why I'm here. I have to find out what's going to happen and then travel back into the past and prevent it.\nO'Brien 2: You look pretty bad.\nO'Brien: It's the radiation.\nO'Brien 2: But if you feel bad and you're my past self, shouldn't I feel bad too?\nBoth: I hate temporal mechanics.\nO'Brien: Let's get down to Ops and see what's going on. Help me up.\nO'Brien: Run a sensor sweep of the entire station. Look for anything that might indicate a\nKira: Report!\nDax: A Romulan warbird just decloaked off of lower pylon two. They've taken out our shield generators.\nKira: On screen. Lock phasers and return fire.\nO'Brien 2: They've hit the fusion reactor. Main power's down. Defense systems are offline.\nKira: Try to re-route phasers through the emergency power couplings.\nO'Brien 2: Miles, you've got your answer. The quantum singularity that's been orbiting the station. It's the Romulans. Are you listening? The Romulans use a confined singularity to power their warp core. That's what we've been detecting. That's what's causing the time shifts. You must go back and tell them to put up the shields and stand by for an attack.\nO'Brien: I can't. I can't get through another shift. It's the radiation poisoning.\nO'Brien: You go. Just activate it. It's set for the return trip.\nO'Brien 2: Me? I don't belong there.\nO'Brien: I'm you, you're me, it doesn't matter. Just go. Go!\nBashir: Chief, what happened?\nO'Brien 2: It worked. O'Brien to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien 2: I've been to the future, Commander. The quantum singularity off the station is actually in the warp core of a cloaked\nO'Brien 2: Romulan warbird. They're going to decloak and fire on us in a matter of hours.\nSisko: Understood, Chief. Raise shields. Stand by weapons systems.\nBashir: I don't understand it. Your body should be flooded with delta series radiation but there's only a tiny amount in your tissues. Your metabolic readings are different. What happened?\nO'Brien 2: There's been a change.\nQuark: I really have nothing else to say.\nRuwon: I think you're lying, Quark.\nQuark: About what part?\nRuwon: All of it.\nQuark: Well, at least I'm consistent.\nSisko: Quark, you can leave.\nQuark: Thank you.\nSisko: I know you have a cloaked warbird orbiting the station, and I know you're planning an attack. At first, I couldn't understand why, and then I remembered what you said about the Dominion. How they were the greatest threat to the Alpha Quadrant in the last century. If you really believed that, then the only way you could ever be truly safe from the Dominion would be to collapse the wormhole.\nKira: But you knew we wouldn't just sit by and watch while you did it, so you had to destroy the station too. That way, there'd be no witnesses.\nOdo: Everyone would assume that Deep Space Nine was destroyed by what appeared to be the accidental collapse of the wormhole.\nKarina: An interesting theory, Commander. But that's all it is. A theory.\nSisko: That's right. But I'll tell you what's not a theory. We tracked the tetryon emissions back to your warbird and I have about fifty photon torpedoes locked on to it right now.\nRuwon: I think it's time we left.\nSisko: I couldn't agree more. Constable, will you please escort our guests to the nearest transporter room.\nOdo: If you'll come with me.\nBashir: So you're telling me that you remember playing this game with me in the future?\nO'Brien: Right.\nBashir: All right, what am I going to hit?\nO'Brien: Twenty, outer ring.\nBashir: But that's remarkable.\nO'Brien: It's also a little disturbing. I have this nagging feeling that I don't really belong here. This isn't really my life. Maybe this life belongs to that other Miles O'Brien.\nBashir: Listen, Chief, whether you're living in the past or in the present, you are Miles O'Brien. The only difference is, you have a few memories the other one didn't have.\nO'Brien: Well, I think I'll go to bed. I'm still kind of tired.\nBashir: Now that sounds like a good idea.\nO'Brien: Quark. Dabo.\nQuark: Dabo?\nCrowd: Dabo!\nQuark: Wait! Chief, wait!"}
{"text": "Bashir: Can I interest you in some more Yigrish cream pie?\nGarak: No, thank you, Doctor. I'm quite full.\nBashir: But you've hardly touched your food.\nGarak: The truth is, I'm trying to lose a little weight. Hemming women's dresses may provide me with a modest income, but it offers very little in the way of exercise.\nBashir: Well if you like, I can help you set up an exercise program in one of the holosuites here.\nGarak: I might just take you up on that. And speaking of holosuites\nGarak: Happy birthday. I know it's a few days off, but I wanted to give you your present early. It's a Cardassian holosuite program. An adaptation of one of Shoggoth's enigma tales.\nBashir: Is it? I see.\nGarak: You sound disappointed. I thought you enjoyed mystery novels.\nBashir: I do. Human mystery novels. The problem with Cardassian enigma tales is that they all end the same way. All the suspects are always guilty.\nGarak: Yes, but the challenge is determining exactly who is guilty of what. Is Lieutenant Dax throwing one of her surprise parties for you this year?\nBashir: Oh, so I'm told.\nGarak: You don't sound enthusiastic about that either.\nBashir: It's not that I don't appreciate all the trouble she goes to and everything. It's just that this year is a little different.\nGarak: How so?\nBashir: This will be my thirtieth birthday.\nGarak: And?\nBashir: Well, in many human cultures, the thirtieth birthday is considered a sort of landmark. It marks the end of youth and the beginning of the slow march into middle age.\nGarak: And that's considered bad?\nBashir: No. It's just that when you hit thirty, it becomes harder and harder to ignore the passage of time.\nGarak: I wasn't aware that humans saw growing old as a negative experience. On Cardassia, advanced age is seen as a sign of power and dignity.\nBashir: Well I am aware that aging is part of the natural process of life. It's just that I don't want to be reminded of it, that's all. Look, Garak, in two days I turn thirty. If I choose to be grumpy about it, that's my prerogative.\nGarak: By all means, Doctor, be as grumpy as you like.\nBashir: Thank you for the support.\nQuark: Excuse me, Doctor.\nBashir: What? Oh, Quark. I'm sorry. How can I help you?\nQuark: Er, my friend Altovar here is looking to purchase a small quantity of er, biomemetic gel. And I was wondering if you might be able to tell him where he can find, let's say, a few hundred milliliters.\nBashir: Biomemetic gel is a restricted substance. Its sale is strictly prohibited by Federation law.\nQuark: I thought so. You see, I told you.\nAltovar: I'm willing to pay whatever's necessary. Name your price.\nBashir: Why do you need it?\nAltovar: That's my business.\nBashir: Oh. I am sorry, but biomemetic gel can be hazardous if handled incorrectly. It's not for sale. At any price.\nQuark: Well, we tried. Thank you, Doctor.\nBashir: Quark, you might want to warn your friend that even attempting to obtain biomemetic gel is a felony under Federation law.\nQuark: I know. I told him that. But he insisted that I ask you anyway. Letheans can be incredibly stubborn. I hope you'll forgive the interruption.\nGarak: Of course.\nQuark: You know, we just introduced a new lunch menu at the bar.\nBashir: Goodbye, Quark.\nGarak: Don't take it personally. He's turning thirty.\nBashir: Lights.\nBashir: What do you think you're doing?\nBashir: Bashir to Security. Bashir to Ops. This is Doctor Bashir. Can anyone read me? Computer, locate Commander Sisko. Computer, respond. Computer?\nBashir: Hello? Is somebody there? Hello?\nBashir: Hello? Is there anybody there? Where is everybody?\nBashir: Who's there?\nBashir: Quark? It's all right. It's me, Bashir. What is it? What's going on? Tell me.\nQuark: He's going to kill us. He's going to kill us all.\nBashir: Who? Who are you so afraid of? Where's Sisko? What happened to the rest of the crew? Why don't you come with me? We'll go and try to find them.\nQuark: No. Don't you see? If we move, he'll find us. If we stay here, we might be safe.\nBashir: Safe? From whom? Quark, you have got to tell me.\nQuark: He's here.\nBashir: We've got to find a way to put these lights back on.\nQuark: It's too late. He's found us. We've got to get out.\nBashir: Wait.\nBashir: Who's there? Show yourself!\nBashir: Quark? Quark!\nBashir: Tarkalean Tea. Constable?\nBashir: Garak?\nGarak: Doctor, what are you doing here?\nBashir: I was about to ask you the same question.\nGarak: I was looking for Constable Odo. Everyone on the station seems to have disappeared.\nBashir: Not everyone. I just saw Quark cowering behind his bar. He believes that someone is terrorizing the station, and I'm not sure I disagree with him.\nGarak: What do you mean? Tell me, what's going on.\nBashir: There's some thing in Quark's tearing up the place. I didn't get a really good look at it, but believe me, it was not friendly. Computer.\nGarak: It's no use. As far as I can tell, the station has suffered a massive systems failure. Aside from life support and simple functions like turbolifts and doors, nothing seems to work. It's been like that for hours. I was up late programming some replicator patterns for a suit I'm designing when everything went dead.\nBashir: I can't believe that you, Quark and I are the only people left on this station. Sisko and the others must be around somewhere.\nGarak: Maybe. Or maybe they've fallen victim to some kind of rampant virus, or space anomaly, or Dominion plot.\nBashir: All the more reason to try and locate them.\nBashir: Wait. Do you hear that?\nGarak: Hear what?\nBashir: That sound. It's like voices whispering.\nGarak: I don't hear anything. But then Cardassian hearing is not quite as acute as human's. Doctor, are you feeling all right? You look different somehow.\nBashir: What is it?\nGarak: Your hair. It seems to be turning gray.\nBashir: So I've noticed.\nGarak: I guess you had reason to worry about turning thirty after all. Either that or your job is even more stressful than I thought.\nBashir: Look, Garak, we haven't got time for this. We have to find out what's going on here.\nGarak: I agree. Perhaps we should split up. I can search the docking ring while you look around the habitat ring and the central core.\nBashir: I'll meet you back on the Promenade in an hour. Be careful.\nGarak: Hey, you too. And Doctor, try to relax.\nBashir: Level H one, section A.\nDax: Look, what are we doing standing around here?\nO'Brien: What do you want to do? Rush out and get us all killed?\nDax: It's better than doing nothing. Let's go.\nOdo: Of course. And follow you right into a trap. Is that what you want?\nKira: You're all crazy. None of this is helping us deal with the Lethean.\nDax: Well I don't see you coming up with anything.\nKira: If you'd stop talking and gave me some time to think, maybe I would.\nO'Brien: I say we do nothing until we get reinforcements from Bajor. DAX Julian, there you are. Where have you been?\nKira: Bajor? Bajor doesn't even know we're in trouble.\nBashir: Looking for you.\nOdo: And we can't tell them unless you get the communications system back online.\nDax: Well, I'm glad you're here.\nO'Brien: It'll take hours. Too many system's have been sabotaged. All my work crews are missing, and I cannot make new parts until we get the replicators fixed.\nDax: The first thing we need to do is neutralize the Lethean.\nBashir: The Lethean? You mean Altovar?\nKira: You know him?\nBashir: We've met. He attacked me in the Infirmary.\nO'Brien: Oh well, now he's trying to kill us all by destroying the station.\nDax: What are we waiting for? Let's get some phasers and hunt him down. If you ask me, none of us are safe until he is dead.\nO'Brien: If we go out looking for the Lethean, we're the ones who'll end up dead.\nKira: Tell you what. If we find the Lethean, maybe we can find you a backbone.\nOdo: Maybe he doesn't want us to find the Lethean. Maybe he's in league with him.\nBashir: Computer, scan the occupants of this room for any anomalies.\nKira: Doctor, what are you doing?\nBashir: You're all acting very strangely and I intend to find out why. Computer?\nOdo: Don't bother, Doctor. For some reason, the computer isn't working.\nO'Brien: Don't go blaming me for that, Constable. None of this would be happening if Security had done its job.\nBashir: That's enough. Where's Sisko? Where are O'Brien's work crews? I've been wandering around this station for hours and the only two people I've seen are Quark and Garak. Where is everybody else? There's something very wrong here.\nDax: I'll say there is. Have you looked in the mirror lately?\nBashir: Hold on. Does anybody else hear that?\nKira: What?\nOdo: I don't hear anything.\nBashir: Garak didn't either.\nDax: Julian, what are you talking about?\nBashir: I know, I know it sounds odd, but I keep hearing voices.\nO'Brien: And he says we're acting peculiar?\nOdo: So what are these so-called voices saying?\nBashir: That's the problem. I can't make out the words.\nKira: Well I think you're the one who needs help, Doctor. Not us.\nDax: Maybe you should lie down.\nBashir: I'm fine.\nO'Brien: Except you're hearing voices and you've aged about thirty years in the last few hours.\nBashir: There must be some logical explanation. Maybe there's a virus or a subspace anomaly. A neural inversion field, an anaphasic parasite.\nDax: You keep thinking, Julian, and while you try to figure it out, I'll find the Lethean and stop him from sabotaging any of the other systems.\nO'Brien: And what good will that do? You have no idea where he is. We don't know what we're up against, how strong he is, if he can be hurt by phaser fire.\nDax: Don't worry Chief. I wasn't asking for any of your help. If he's here, I'll find him. Even if I have to do it all by myself.\nBashir: Calm down, Dax. You're not going anywhere. No one is. There are too many strange things going on on this station. My aging, O'Brien's missing crewmembers, the sabotage to the station, your abnormal behavior.\nOdo: You think it's all connected somehow?\nBashir: I think we should find out. Is there any way of getting the internal sensors online?\nO'Brien: There's a computer processing junction near here. I might be able to repair the internal sensors from there. But I'm not going alone.\nKira: Oh, what a surprise.\nOdo: Don't worry. I'm not letting you out of my sight.\nBashir: We'll all go together. Let's move.\nO'Brien: It's even worse than I thought. The entire sensor array is burnt out and there's extensive damage to the computer's central processor. The only system that looks salvageable is the subspace communication relay.\nBashir: Well, that would at least let us contact Bajor.\nDax: See what you can do, Chief.\nKira: Constable, would you stop doing that?\nOdo: Doing what?\nKira: Looking around like that. It's getting on my nerves.\nBashir: There's no harm in keeping both eyes open.\nKira: I don't remember asking your opinion.\nOdo: If the Lethean's around, I want to know it.\nBashir: The last time I saw him, he was in the central core.\nDax: The central core? What level were you on?\nBashir: Level five. But I doubt he's still there. I think I lost him.\nO'Brien: You think?\nBashir: Just keep working, Chief.\nO'Brien: For all we know, he could be right outside the door.\nOdo: And if he is, then you'll have led him here.\nO'Brien: Hold on, Lieutenant, I think I've got the communications relay working.\nBashir: Open hailing frequencies. Try to contact Bajor.\nO'Brien: Hold on. It's not working. But I'm receiving a signal. Audio only.\nKira: Well let's hear it.\nO'Brien: Patching it through.\nDax: Four cc's of cordrazine, but there was no response.\nOdo: That sounds like you, Lieutenant.\nSisko: There has to be something we can do.\nKira: That's Sisko's voice.\nNurse: We've tried everything we can think of, but we haven't been able to counteract the telepathic damage. His motor functions are minimal. His blood pressure's dangerously low. I'm afraid\nBashir: Where's this signal coming from?\nO'Brien: I don't know. Somewhere outside the station.\nSisko: Give me the bottom line.\nDax: The bottom line is that Julian's in some kind of telepathically induced coma. And unless we can get him out of it he'll be dead in less than three hours.\nSisko: I'll be in my office. Keep me informed.\nO'Brien: What the hell's going on here?\nBashir: Delta waves. When I scan myself for brain activity, all I get are low frequency delta waves.\nO'Brien: And what's that supposed to mean?\nDax: It means that the voices were telling the truth.\nBashir: I'm in a coma.\nKira: How can you stand there and say that you're in a coma? That's crazy.\nBashir: Not necessarily, Major.\nDax: I suppose the next thing you're going to tell us is that we're unconscious.\nBashir: Not according to these readings.\nO'Brien: I'm glad to hear it.\nBashir: Actually, I'm not picking up any life signs from you at all.\nO'Brien: Let me see that. You want to know what this means? This tricorder is broken, that's what it means.\nBashir: I don't think so.\nOdo: Well what are you saying, Doctor? That we don't exist?\nKira: I've had enough of this. I am not some figment of your imagination.\nBashir: But don't you see? That is why you're all behaving so strangely.\nO'Brien: I'm not behaving strangely. Am I?\nBashir: You all are. Dax, you're not usually the sort of person to solve her problems by running around with a phaser. And Chief, you're not usually so pessimistic.\nKira: Look, we are wasting time. The Lethean could be here any minute.\nDax: So if you're in a coma, and we're not real, then what are we doing here?\nOdo: Maybe we're just here to give him someone to talk to.\nKira: A paranoid, a coward, a hothead, and me? Oh, you'd think he'd pick some better company.\nBashir: I haven't picked any of you. I'm in a coma. I'm the only one who's really here. Which means when I'm talk to you, I'm really only talking to myself.\nO'Brien: I wish you wouldn't say that.\nBashir: It's the only possible explanation.\nKira: So, you're saying I'm you?\nBashir: In a manner of speaking.\nKira: And I suppose he's you too?\nBashir: All of you are. You all embody different aspects of my personality, different voices inside my head.\nO'Brien: I don't believe we're having this discussion.\nBashir: If I were to guess, Chief, I would say that you represent my doubt and my disbelief.\nO'Brien: No I don't.\nBashir: I knew you were going to say that. Major, you're the perfect choice for my aggression. And Odo, you represent my sense of suspicion and fear. Dax, to me you've always represented my confidence and sense of adventure.\nOdo: Ha!\nDax: Thank you, Julian.\nOdo: You're forgetting something, Doctor. What about the Lethean? What is he supposed to represent?\nBashir: I suppose he represents the telepathic damage that the real Lethean did to my mind.\nKira: So why is this Lethean running around sabotaging the station?\nBashir: It's not the station he's sabotaging. It's my mind. The station represents my mind just as you represent aspects of my personality. Think about it. When Chief O'Brien fixed the communications relay, we could hear what was happening in the real world.\nDax: It's like he restored your hearing.\nBashir: Exactly. So if we could repair the station\nOdo: You'd wake up.\nO'Brien: But if you wake up, what happens to us?\nDax: Julian! Julian!\nBashir: Jadzia!\nDax: Help me, Julian!\nBashir: Jadzia! Jadzia!\nBashir: How did I get here?\nGarak: Oh, don't ask me. After all, we're inside your mind. It's a pity about Lieutenant Dax.\nBashir: How do you know about her?\nGarak: I'm a part of you, remember? I know what you know. Well, maybe a little more.\nBashir: Still the man of mystery?\nGarak: Oh, you wouldn't have me any other way.\nBashir: I'm getting a little too old for this game.\nGarak: yes, apparently so. You, or should I say we, are running out of time. Your service, Doctor.\nBashir: I can't stay here. I have to get the main computer back online.\nGarak: Then you'd better get to Ops. If there are repairs are to be done, that's the place to do them.\nBashir: You're right. Try to find Kira, Odo and O'Brien Kira. Tell them to meet me in Ops.\nGarak: I'd be delighted. I wonder if any of them plays tennis.\nWoman: Help me.\nMan: Doctor, help us.\nSisko: I'll handle this, Doctor. She's suffering cranial trauma. Treat the fracture with an osteogenic stimulator and then follow it up with BASHIR +\nSisko: With two cc's of inpedrezine.\nBashir: How did you know that?\nSisko: I'm just doing my job.\nBashir: No, you're not. You're doing my job. And what's more you're doing it as well as I could.\nSisko: Give him a coagulation activator to stop the bleeding.\nBashir: You represent my professionalism and my skill.\nSisko: I'm flattered.\nBashir: Come on. You've got to come with me to Ops.\nSisko: But I'm needed here.\nBashir: I can't repair the station without your help.\nSisko: I suppose you're right. Look after things here. I won't be long.\nNurse: Yes, sir.\nAltovar: You're not going anywhere, Doctor.\nAltovar: You're staying right here, trapped on this station, watching while I destroy you piece by piece. And when all the best parts of you are gone, when there's nothing left but the withered shell, then, and only then, will I put you out of your misery.\nAltovar: You can't escape, Doctor. You can run if you want to, but you can't outrun death.\nBashir: Major.\nOdo: Doctor.\nBashir: Odo, what happened?\nOdo: The Lethean. He came out of nowhere.\nBashir: He's trying to rob me of my confidence, my intelligence, my strength. I have to get to Ops.\nOdo: Use the conduits. They're your best chance.\nBashir: I have to get there while I still can.\nBashir: Chief.\nO'Brien: Julian, what the hell are you doing here?\nBashir: I've got to get to Ops.\nO'Brien: You'll never make it.\nBashir: I've got to do something. I can't just let the Lethean kill me.\nO'Brien: The Lethean's too strong, too fast. He's going to kill us all.\nBashir: You sound awfully sure of that.\nO'Brien: I know you're not going to stop him. Look at you. You look like you've got one foot in the grave already.\nBashir: I'll tell you something. I like the real Chief better than you.\nO'Brien: Where are you going?\nBashir: I'm going to try and find a way out of these conduits. It's hard enough for me to walk, let alone crawl.\nO'Brien: Mind if I come along?\nBashir: I thought you said I didn't have a chance.\nO'Brien: Well, I'm hoping I was wrong.\nBashir: So am I.\nO'Brien: But somehow I doubt it.\nBashir: How did we get back here?\nO'Brien: You tell me. It's your mind.\nBashir: This monitor. It's displaying my vital signs.\nO'Brien: What's the prognosis?\nBashir: Pulse is thready, blood pressure is dropping steadily. I'm dying.\nO'Brien: I could've told you that just by looking at you.\nBashir: Ha!\nCrowd: Dabo!\nBashir: Excuse me.\nQuark: Can I offer you gentlemen a drink?\nBashir: Quark, where did all these people come from?\nQuark: Just goes to show. Give the people what they want, and they'll show up in droves. Now, care to place a wager?\nBashir: A wager? On what?\nQuark: You name it. On how much longer you have to live. What organ will fail first. Ultimate cause of death. The house is covering all bets.\nBashir: What if I want to bet that I will survive?\nQuark: It's a long shot, but if you want to throw your money away, who am I to stop you?\nCrowd: Dabo!\nQuark: Uh-oh. It looks like all bets are off.\nAltovar: Everyone loses.\nBashir: Garak. The Lethean. He's in Quark's.\nGarak: Well he hasn't caught you yet, Doctor. Let's get you out of here.\nBashir: I've got to get to Ops.\nGarak: What's wrong?\nBashir: I don't believe it. I've broken my hip. I can't walk.\nGarak: Well, Doctor, it was a good game while it lasted.\nBashir: I've got to keep moving.\nGarak: And how do you propose doing that, hmm?\nBashir: You're going to help me.\nGarak: I admire your tenacity, Doctor, but it's over. Look at yourself. Your bones are as brittle as twigs, you can't catch your breath. You can't even stand, let alone walk.\nBashir: But other than that, I feel wonderful. Now, are you going to give me a hand or not?\nGarak: It would be my privilege. Now what would you like me to do?\nBashir: Get me up.\nGarak: Of course. Come on. All right? Let's go.\nGarak: Anybody home? All right, Doctor, here we go. Easy now. That's it. Good.\nDabo Girl: Surprise!\nBashir: What is this?\nDabo Girl: Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you GARAK +\nDabo Girl: Happy birthday dear Julian. Happy birthday to you.\nGarak: And many more. I really must congratulate you, Doctor. You have a fascinating mind.\nBashir: I'm sorry, but I really haven't got time for this. DABO GIRL But it's a party and it's all for you.\nGarak: You must try to enjoy yourself. It's your birthday.\nBashir: Garak, get me over to the engineering station. Now.\nGarak: Sorry, dear. Come along, Doctor. That's it. Good.\nBashir: There must be a way to reactivate the central computer network.\nGarak: Any ideas on how to go about doing that?\nBashir: My engineering extension classes at Starfleet Medical focused mainly on starship operations, but I think if I can re-route the primary command processor I might be able to bypass the disabled systems and get it operational.\nGarak: So, what panel accesses the computer?\nBashir: If you were really Garak, you could tell me. In fact, you could fix this computer without my help.\nGarak: But I'm not really Garak, am I? I'm just another part of you.\nBashir: Help me get this panel off.\nBashir: Yes.\nBashir: My tennis balls.\nGarak: This station is in worse condition than we thought.\nBashir: Garak, the computer controls are behind one of these panels. I just have to find the right ones.\nGarak: Face it, Doctor, there's no way to repair the damage. It's much too extensive.\nBashir: If you won't help me, I'll do it myself.\nGarak: I'd be more than willing to help you, if I thought it would accomplish anything, but you're only delaying the inevitable.\nBashir: That doesn't sound like the Garak I know.\nGarak: We've been through this, Doctor. I'm not Garak. I'm you.\nBashir: Well it doesn't sound like me either.\nBashir: I've been thinking. Why did the Lethean let you live? He killed everyone else who could've helped me. Exactly what part of me do you represent? Is it my conscience? My curiosity? Hmm, is it? Is it my sense of humor?\nGarak: You tell me.\nBashir: I don't think that you are any part of me. In fact, I don't even think you belong here at all. Which leaves me with just one question. Who are you?\nAltovar: You've put up an entertaining struggle, Doctor.\nBashir: Well I'm glad you enjoyed yourself.\nAltovar: Now it's time to make things easy on yourself.\nBashir: Oh, you mean just give up? I don't think so.\nAltovar: Why not? Isn't that what you've always done? Remember, Doctor, I'm inside your head. I know all about you. When you were younger, you wanted to be a tennis player, didn't you.\nBashir: I wasn't good enough to play professionally.\nAltovar: Don't lie to me. Not in here. You were good enough. But you knew your parents wouldn't approve of it. So you gave up and you became a doctor instead.\nBashir: I love medicine.\nAltovar: But you loved tennis more. And what about medical school? You should've been first in your class. What went wrong?\nBashir: I made a mistake in the final exam.\nAltovar: You mistook a pre-ganglionic fiber for a post-ganglionic nerve.\nBashir: That's right.\nAltovar: But pre-ganglionic fibers and post-ganglionic nerves aren't anything alike. Any first year medical student could tell them apart. You purposely answered the question wrong.\nBashir: That's ridiculous.\nAltovar: You didn't want to be first in your class. You couldn't take the pressure.\nBashir: That's not true.\nAltovar: Isn't it? Then let's talk about Lieutenant Dax. You like her, don't you?\nBashir: She's my friend.\nAltovar: But she could've been a lot more if you'd tried a little harder. But you'd rather give up than fight, wouldn't you?\nBashir: We'll see about that.\nAltovar: Wait. Where are you going?\nAltovar: What do you think you're doing?\nBashir: The mistake I made was trying to repair the station from Ops. It may be the nerve center of the real world, but this is the center of my world.\nAltovar: Get away from that panel.\nBashir: Or what? You'll kill me? Go ahead. What's stopping you? You've had plenty of opportunities so far. I don't think that it is as easy for you as you say it is.\nBashir: Ah. You know, you don't look half as threatening in normal light.\nAltovar: Take a close look, Doctor. You're dying. Why can't you just accept it?\nBashir: Because that's what you want me to do. You may be inside my head, but you don't know me half as well as you think you do. Take Dax. I do have feelings for her, but the important thing is she's my friend. You know? Friend? And I wouldn't exchange that friendship for anything. As far as my career is concerned, I may have been a good tennis player, but I'm a great doctor. Maybe I could've been first in my class, but it wouldn't have changed anything in my life. I still would've chosen this assignment. This is where I belong. Computer, activate quarantine field three J.\nAltovar: You can't do this.\nBashir: I can do anything I want. It is my mind. Begin sterilization.\nDax: Julian. He's awake.\nNurse: Vital signs have stabilized. His brain wave activity's normal.\nSisko: Welcome back, Doctor.\nBashir: You will never believe where I've been.\nBashir: As for the real Altovar, he tripped a security alert when he broke into the Infirmary. He barely got two meters before Odo arrested him.\nGarak: Well, it sounds as if he were more dangerous in your mind than he was in the real world.\nBashir: Actually, I did some checking on Letheans. Their telepathic attacks are almost always fatal. I guess I was lucky.\nGarak: Cardassians don't believe in luck, Doctor. You survived because you're strong.\nBashir: One thing's for sure, you know. After experiencing life at a hundred plus, turning thirty doesn't seem that bad anymore.\nGarak: In that case, happy birthday. You know, Doctor, what I find most fascinating about this entire incident is how your unconscious mind chose people you know to represent the various parts of your personality.\nBashir: Well, it did make things interesting.\nGarak: And what I find interesting is how your mind ended up casting me in the role of the villain.\nBashir: Oh, I wouldn't read too much into that, Garak.\nGarak: Oh how can I not? To think, after all this time, all our lunches together, you still don't trust me. There's hope for you yet, Doctor."}
{"text": "Garak: But I'm sorry, Doctor, I just don't see the value of this man's work.\nBashir: Garak, Shakespeare is one of the giants of human literature.\nGarak: I knew Brutus was going to kill Caesar in the first act, but Caesar didn't figure it out until the knife is in his back.\nBashir: That's what makes it a tragedy. Caesar couldn't conceive that his best friend would plot to kill him.\nGarak: Tragedy is not the word I'd use. Farce would be more appropriate. Supposedly, this man is supposed to be the leader of a great empire, a brilliant military tactician, and yet he can't see what's going on under his own nose. Doctor, are you in a hurry?\nBashir: I've to get to the Infirmary. I've a lot of work to do this afternoon.\nGarak: Oh, you're fortunate. I have more time on my hands than I know what to do with.\nBashir: Maybe you could finish those trousers I dropped off last week.\nGarak: Tomorrow.\nBashir: Tomorrow.\nGarak: You're going to give yourself indigestion.\nBashir: Well I only have you to thank for that. If you hadn't been so late, I could have enjoyed my lunch.\nGarak: This isn't the first time I've seen you rush through a meal. You never take the time to savor your food. It seems to be a human characteristic. Look over there. That Talarian is barely halfway through his meal, but his human companion's plate is empty.\nBashir: Well maybe he and I can have dessert while you and the Talarian to wile away the afternoon.\nGarak: But it is a very interesting sociological phenomenon, don't you think? For generations now, humankind has had more than enough food and yet you go about your eating as if you were afraid someone was going to come along and snatch away your plate.\nBashir: Garak, why don't you eat for a while and let me talk?\nGarak: Fear of starvation amid plenty. It points to some dark secret hidden in the human soul. A gnawing hunger. perhaps someone should do a study.\nBashir: Why don't you do? You appear to have plenty of time on your hands.\nGarak: Doctor, if you want to have your dessert, please go ahead. I won't be offended.\nBashir: I have to go. And I'm sorry to leave while you're still eating.\nGarak: No, no, I'm done as well.\nBashir: But you've hardly touched your plate.\nGarak: If you really must know, I've been nibbling on Delavian chocolates all morning.\nBashir: How did you get Delavian chocolates?\nGarak: I promised my supplier I wouldn't tell, but since I deprived you of your dessert, I'd be more than happy to bring some by the Infirmary later this afternoon.\nBashir: Why thank you, I'd like that.\nGarak: Until then, Doctor.\nKira: Julian.\nBashir: Major.\nKira: Garak.\nKira: About those atmospheric specifications you requested for the Yalosian Ambassador?\nBashir: Sixty percent nitrogen, ten percent benzene, and the rest hydrogen fluoride, as I recall\nKira: Well we ran a test in one of the guest quarters. The mixture is so corrosive it dissolved the carpet.\nBashir: Don't look at me. It's what they breathe.\nKira: Then I guess we'll just have to rip out the carpets.\nBashir: Be sure not to replace it with anything red or orange\nKira: Why not?\nBashir: They don't see that part of the color spectrum.\nKira: Is there anything else I should know about the Yalosians?\nBashir: As a matter of fact\nBashir: Bashir to Infirmary. Medical emergency on the Promenade. It's Garak's shop!\nBashir: Are you all right?\nGarak: As well as could be expected. But I'm afraid your pants won't be ready tomorrow after all.\nSisko: Report.\nO'Brien: The explosion was caused by a rupture in the power conduit behind that wall.\nSisko: What caused the rupture?\nO'Brien: Probably an overload in the ODN juncture.\nOdo: Ha.\nSisko: I take it you don't agree.\nOdo: Well, let's just say I find it odd that a conduit running behind Garak's shop should just happen to overload.\nSisko: So you think someone ruptured it deliberately?\nOdo: I wouldn't be surprised. It stands to reason that a man with Garak's past would have enemies.\nO'Brien: I'm detecting traces of nitrilin.\nOdo: Nitrilin is extremely unstable.\nO'Brien: And very rare. It couldn't have come from the power conduit.\nOdo: This could be the residue from a micro-explosive device planted on the conduit and rigged to cause a rupture.\nSisko: Making the explosion look like an accident.\nOdo: Exactly.\nSisko: Sisko to Ops.\nKira: Go ahead, Commander.\nSisko: Delay the departure of all vessels until further notice. I have reason to believe that someone may have tried to kill Mister Garak.\nGarak: But who would want to kill me, a simple tailor?\nOdo: A simple tailor? A simple tailor who used to be an agent of the Obsidian Order.\nGarak: The Obsidian Order? Constable, you shouldn't put too much stock in the good doctor's flights of fancy. Are you sure this explosion wasn't an accident, because I can't think of anyone who would wish me harm.\nSisko: Someone tried to kill you, Garak. Whoever it was may try again, so if I were you I would give this matter some serious thought.\nGarak: Well, let me see. I mean, there's the Nausicaan whose wedding suit I misplaced, and that Yridian I owe money to. And of course, there's always Major Kira.\nBashir: This is serious, Garak.\nGarak: I'm being serious. I don't think she likes me.\nOdo: She doesn't. But if she wanted you dead, you would be.\nGarak: You do have a point.\nSisko: Could this attempt on your life have anything to do with the reason you were exiled from Cardassia?\nGarak: I seriously doubt the Finance Ministry would try to have me killed for failure to pay my taxs.\nOdo: You expect us to believe that's the reason you were exiled?\nGarak: Do you think I would lie about a thing like that? It's not something I'm proud of.\nSisko: I don't like explosions going off on my station, Garak. Innocent people could've been hurt. You could've been killed. Now if there's anything you know you're not telling us, I suggest you start talking.\nGarak: I've told you everything I can think of.\nOdo: All right, then. I'll investigate the leads you've given us. If there's anyone else you think I should talk to, let me know.\nGarak: I certainly will.\nSisko: We've assigned a security detail to you. I suggest you stay as close to them as possible.\nBashir: Someone should do a study\nGarak: A study?\nBashir: To try and figure out why some people can't bring themselves to trust anyone, even if it's in their own best interest.\nGarak: Why is it no one ever believes me, even when I'm telling the truth?\nBashir: Have you ever heard the story about the boy who cried wolf?\nGarak: No.\nBashir: It's a children's story about a young shepherd boy who gets lonely while tending his flock. So he cries out to the villagers that a wolf is attacking the sheep. The people come running, but of course there's no wolf. He claims that it's run away, and the villagers praise him for his vigilance.\nGarak: Clever lad. A charming story.\nBashir: I'm not finished. The next day the boy does it again, and the next day, too, and on the fourth day a wolf really comes. The boy cries out at the top of his lungs, but the villagers ignore him and the boy and his flock are gobbled up.\nGarak: Well that's a little graphic for children, wouldn't you say?\nBashir: But the point is, if you lie all the time, nobody's going to believe you even when you're telling the truth.\nGarak: Are you sure that's the point, Doctor?\nBashir: Of course. What else could it be?\nGarak: That you should never tell the same lie twice.\nGarak: You wanted to see me?\nOdo: I have bad news for you. Major Kira has an airtight alibi. I thought you might want to look over the passenger manifests of ships that recently came to the station.\nGarak: To see if I recognize anyone who might wish me harm?\nOdo: Exactly. I suggest you start with the most recent arrivals and work your way backwards.\nGarak: Don't worry about me, Constable. I can manage on my own.\nOdo: I'm not about to leave you alone in here so you can look through my security files.\nGarak: What makes you think I haven't already looked through them? I'm joking, of course.\nOdo: Of course.\nGarak: No, I'm afraid I don't recognize any of these names.\nOdo: The bomb could've been planted days ago, even weeks. I suggest you keep going back just to be sure.\nGarak: This could take forever.\nOdo: I should think you'd have plenty of time on your hands, now that your shop is no longer open for business.\nO'Brien: Odo, I. I finished running the biomolecular scan you asked me for. I found traces of living tissue on the bulkhead around the blast site.\nOdo: This looks like the remains of a pheromonic sensor.\nO'Brien: A what?\nOdo: It's triggered when a person of a particular species gets within range.\nGarak: In this case a Cardassian. Me.\nOdo: They're known to be favored by Flaxian assassins, and it just so happens a Flaxian came aboard the station just this morning.\nOdo: So, Mister Retaya, your papers indicate that you're a merchant.\nRetaya: I deal in fine wares, mostly fabrics and fragrances.\nOdo: According to my information, you were a suspect in the murder of Dekora Assan, on Japori Two.\nRetaya: I was cleared of those charges. It was a case of mistaken identity.\nOdo: This is your sample case, I take it.\nRetaya: Yes.\nOdo: Ah. How fortunate. As it happens, I'm looking for a gift for a friend.\nRetaya: A lady friend?\nOdo: Exactly. Unfortunately, I don't have a sense of smell. Perhaps you could describe this fragrance for me?\nRetaya: It has a somewhat floral bouquet.\nOdo: We have a Cardassian tailor here on the station named Garak. There was an explosion in his shop not long after you arrived.\nRetaya: I felt the blast. Was he hurt?\nOdo: Not seriously.\nRetaya: That one is more musky than the first.\nOdo: Tell me, where were you when the explosion occurred?\nRetaya: The Ferengi's bar. I went there as soon as I arrived this morning. I suppose I'd have to describe that one as spicy.\nOdo: I see. And how long were you at Quark's?\nRetaya: The rest of the day. Right up until your deputy came and brought me here. So, have you found something for your lady friend?\nOdo: Almost. I think she would like something both floral and musky. Perhaps if we mixed these two?\nRetaya: Why not? Very nice.\nOdo: But on the other hand, she's also quite fond of spicy things. Maybe we could add a drop of this as well?\nRetaya: I really don't think they would go well together.\nOdo: Let's find out.\nRetaya: I really don't think your lady friend will like the aroma.\nOdo: Much less the fact that when these three fragrances are combined, they produce a gaseous mixture that can trigger a fatal heart attack when inhaled.\nRetaya: I had no idea.\nOdo: Then why did you stop me from mixing them?\nRetaya: As I said, I simply didn't think your friend would like the aroma. Unless you have any more questions, I'd like to go now. I have deliveries to make on Cardassia.\nOdo: I'll let you know when you can leave the station.\nO'Brien: Everything's set. The transponder is on board the Flaxian's ship.\nOdo: You're sure he won't find it?\nO'Brien: Not a chance, I've hidden it inside the ship's magneton relay. You'll be able to track him as long as you stay within half a light year. Who do you think he's going to lead you to?\nOdo: If I knew that, I wouldn't have to follow him.\nGarak: I was wondering when you'd get here. The Flaxian left two minutes ago. If we're going to follow him, we'd better get moving.\nOdo: What makes you think I'm going to follow him?\nGarak: I happen to know that you're too dogged an investigator to allow the only witness in this case to simply disappear.\nOdo: Congratulations. Your powers of deduction are truly astonishing. Now, if you will kindly disembark, I will get on with my dogged investigation.\nGarak: I intend to go with you.\nOdo: Forgive me, but are you making a joke? Cardassian humor escapes me.\nGarak: I'm quite serious. Believe me, when someone tries to kill you it's no laughing matter.\nOdo: Perhaps, but I don't require your company on this trip.\nGarak: My presence could be most helpful, especially if the Flaxian goes into Cardassian space.\nOdo: I am not interested in debating your usefulness to me\nGarak: I hate to interrupt you, but the Flaxian is getting farther away. Now I assume you've placed a tracking device on his ship, but if we don't get started soon he's going to get out of range.\nOdo: Rio Grande to Ops. Request permission to depart.\nKira: Permission granted.\nGarak: Trust me, Constable. I can be a most pleasant traveling companion. And this promises to be an interesting trip.\nOdo: The tracking device is working perfectly.\nGarak: If I'm reading this correctly, and I'm no expert, it looks like the Flaxian ship is about to go into warp.\nOdo: Well. It seems that our interesting trip has just been cut short.\nO'Brien: According to our sensor logs, the Flaxian ship exploded the moment its warp drive was engaged.\nDax: Was there a malfunction?\nO'Brien: That's what I thought at first. Then I analyzed the telemetry from the transponder I planted aboard the Flaxian ship. Just before the explosion, there was an interference pattern in the transponder's signal.\nDax: This interference could have been caused by a forced neutrino inversion.\nOdo: The Romulans. They use neutrino inverters in their explosive devices.\nSisko: Why would the Romulans want to destroy the Flaxian's ship?\nOdo: One possibility is that the Romulans hired the Flaxian to kill Garak and then killed the Flaxian when he failed in his mission.\nDax: Do you have any evidence to support that?\nOdo: It's only a supposition, but it fits the available facts.\nSisko: All right, Mister Garak. Do you know why the Romulans might hire someone to kill you?\nGarak: I have no idea.\nSisko: I'm getting tired of hearing you say that. How long do you expect us to believe\nOdo: He's telling the truth, Commander. He doesn't know why the Romulans would try to kill him.\nSisko: What makes you so sure?\nOdo: Because if he did know, he'd already be spinning out an elaborate web of lies to cover up the truth.\nGarak: The truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination.\nOdo: Is it.\nGarak: If you want to know what the Romulans have against me, you'll have to ask them.\nSisko: I intend to. But I don't expect them to be entirely forthcoming.\nRomulan: Yes, we destroyed the Flaxian's ship.\nSisko: I have to say I'm a little surprised to hear you admit it so easily.\nRomulan: Why should we hide it? Retaya was wanted for crimes against the Romulan Empire. His execution was perfectly legal.\nSisko: We have information that he may have worked as an assassin.\nRomulan: I have nothing to corroborate that, though it wouldn't surprise me.\nSisko: Shortly after he came here, someone tried to kill a Cardassian who lives aboard the station.\nRomulan: That would be Mister Garak. A cobbler, I believe.\nSisko: A tailor, actually.\nRomulan: I'll correct our records. That is, if he's still alive.\nSisko: He is.\nRomulan: Well, is there anything else?\nOdo: One more thing. How long had the Tal Shiar been looking for Retaya?\nRomulan: Nearly a year. Why?\nOdo: Isn't it curious that you finally caught up with him here, just hours after he attempted to kill Mister Garak?\nRomulan: We're just grateful to have found him at all. Now, if you're finished, Commander, I have other matters to attend to.\nSisko: I take it you don't believe her either.\nOdo: No.\nSisko: But the question still remains. Why would the Romulans want to have Garak killed?\nOdo: I don't know. Considering those uniforms of theirs, you'd think they'd appreciate a decent tailor.\nSisko: So, where does this leave your investigation?\nOdo: At a standstill. We don't know that the Romulans hired the Flaxian. We don't even know that it was Retaya who tried to kill Garak. All we do know is that a bomb went off in Garak's shop.\nSisko: All right, then let's start with him. What do we know about Garak? He was exiled from Cardassia. For what reason, we're not sure. He never leaves the station. He avoids contact with other Cardassians. And it's possible he was once an intelligence agent of the Obsidian Order.\nOdo: A very strong possibility, Commander.\nSisko: Agreed. So we can assume that this attempt on his life had something to do with the Order?\nOdo: Unfortunately, he's rather uncooperative when it comes to answering questions about his past.\nSisko: And the Obsidian Order is uncooperative when it comes to answering questions about their former agents.\nOdo: Ordinarily, yes.\nSisko: What do you mean?\nOdo: I have certain resources in the Cardassian Government.\nSisko: I take it you don't want to elaborate on that?\nOdo: I'd rather not. But I would like to request the use of a runabout.\nSisko: Granted.\nOdo: Thank you, sir.\nInformant: Stop there.\nOdo: Where are you?\nInformant: Nearby. I've changed my appearance since we last saw each other. I don't want you to see me.\nOdo: I need some information.\nInformant: Is this about the tailor's shop?\nOdo: Yes.\nInformant: I didn't do it.\nOdo: I wasn't going to ask you that. I think the Romulans tried to kill Garak.\nInformant: Very good, Odo. I see working for the Bajorans hasn't entirely dulled your instincts.\nOdo: My question is why.\nInformant: You'd have to ask the Romulans. But I do know that you are investigating a very insignificant piece of a much larger puzzle.\nOdo: What do you mean?\nInformant: There's been a great deal of unusual Romulan activity these past weeks. Cloaked ships believed to be warbirds have been detected near the Cardassian border. Troop movements. Communication activity.\nOdo: Sounds like they're preparing for an invasion.\nInformant: It has occurred to us. And we're ready for it if it should happen. But it doesn't make any sense.\nOdo: Does war ever make sense?\nInformant: Still the wry observer of humanoid folly. Tell me, do you still do the Cardassian neck trick?\nOdo: No, I don't.\nInformant: Pity. You were so good at it. Garak isn't the only former operative in the Order who had an unfortunate incident yesterday. But he's the luckiest. The other five didn't survive.\nOdo: Five operatives were killed yesterday?\nInformant: Killed? No. Three died from natural causes. The other two perished in accidents.\nOdo: Quite a coincidence.\nInformant: If you believe in coincidence.\nOdo: I take it you think the Romulans had something to do with their deaths.\nInformant: There were certain indications of their involvement.\nOdo: That still leaves us with the question why?\nInformant: Here.\nInformant: Those are the names of the five dead operatives. I suggest you show that to Garak then ask him that question.\nOdo: I'll do that.\nInformant: I trust you'll agree that this information satisfies my debt to you.\nOdo: Agreed.\nInformant: However, if you do learn something from your tailor and wish to share it with me, I would be indebted to you again.\nOdo: I'll consider it.\nGarak: They're all dead?\nOdo: I take it you're not going to mourn their passing.\nGarak: Oh, quite the contrary. In fact, if these were different circumstances I'd be celebrating tonight.\nOdo: So you did know them?\nGarak: Oh, yes. We were quite well acquainted.\nOdo: In the Obsidian Order.\nGarak: Oh, Constable, we've been down this road before. I don't see why you\nOdo: I've had enough of your dissembling, Garak! I am not Doctor Bashir and we are not sparring amiably over lunch. Now, you dragged me into this investigation and you are now going to cooperate with me.\nGarak: Dragged you in? I don't know what you're talking\nOdo: You blew up your own shop, Garak! Well, I don't think I've ever seen that particular expression on your face. Is it surprise?\nGarak: Yes, Constable, it is. I'm surprised that you could come this unlikely conclusion.\nOdo: Drop the pretense. I knew as soon as I spoke with the Flaxian. Assassins don't like varying their methods. He planned to poison you. I think you spotted him on the station and then blew up your own shop so that I'd begin an investigation.\nGarak: That seems like a very elaborate way to get you involved. If I needed your help I could have just asked.\nOdo: But you couldn't be sure that I'd take you seriously. Or that I'd help you. Besides, I think you secretly enjoyed destroying your own shop.\nGarak: Well, I admit watching it burn wasn't exactly tragic.\nOdo: Whether or not you want to admit it, you pulled me into this case and now you're stuck with me. I want to know who those men were and what your connection was to them.\nGarak: We were all associates of Enabran Tain.\nOdo: Enabran Tain. The former head of the Obsidian Order.\nGarak: He retired some years ago. He was, I might add, the only head of the agency ever to live long enough to do so. For some time, we were his most trusted advisors.\nOdo: Do you have any idea why the Romulans would want you all dead?\nGarak: I don't know. But Tain might.\nOdo: That is, unless he suffered an unfortunate accident as well.\nGarak: That is a distinct possibility. May I use your communications system?\nOdo: By all means.\nOdo: That's an interesting way of scrambling a signal.\nGarak: Yes, I thought you might appreciate it on an esthetic level. Ah, here we are.\nGarak: Mila.\nMila: Elim. I never thought I'd see your face again.\nGarak: I need to speak to Tain. It's urgent.\nMila: You can't. He isn't here.\nGarak: Where is he?\nMila: I don't know. He left yesterday in a great hurry. He wouldn't tell me where.\nOdo: Maybe he realized someone was coming after him.\nMila: He's in trouble, isn't he? You have to help him, Elim. I know you're still bitter because of what happened between the two of you, but you must help him, Elim.\nGarak: If you speak to him, tell him to contact me.\nMila: Promise me you'll help him.\nGarak: I promise.\nGarak: I'll need a runabout, Constable.\nOdo: We'll need a runabout. I'm coming with you.\nBashir: I hope you know what you're doing, Garak.\nGarak: So do I.\nBashir: Is there anything you need me to do while you're gone?\nGarak: Like what?\nBashir: I don't know. Any unfinished business?\nGarak: Actually, Doctor, there is something.\nBashir: What?\nGarak: If you go into my quarters and examine the bulkhead next to the replicator, you'll notice there's a false panel. Behind that panel is a compartment containing an isolinear rod. If I'm not back within seventy eight hours, I want you to take that rod and eat it.\nBashir: Eat it? You're joking.\nGarak: Yes, Doctor, I am.\nBashir: Very funny.\nGarak: I thought so. The answer to your question, Doctor, is no. There's nothing you can do for me while I'm away.\nBashir: Then these are for you.\nGarak: Delavian chocolates. But these were meant for you.\nBashir: I know. I thought you might need them more than I do.\nGarak: Thank you.\nBashir: Good luck.\nOdo: We've cleared the station. Now if you'll be kind enough to let me know where we're going, I'll set a course.\nGarak: Head for the Cardassian border. We're going to the third planet of the Unefra system.\nOdo: How do you know that's where Tain has gone?\nGarak: I don't, but he has a safe house there that no one's supposed to know about it. Especially me.\nOdo: That woman, Mila. Who is she?\nGarak: She's been Tain's housekeeper and confidant for over thirty years.\nOdo: She seemed almost fond of you.\nGarak: Is it so hard to believe that there's one person in this galaxy who could regard me with a certain affection?\nOdo: I could believe there's one but I wouldn't expect it to be someone who worked for Enabran Tain. As I understand it, the two of you didn't part on the best of terms.\nGarak: You could say that. Tain was directly responsible for my exile from Cardassia.\nOdo: Then I don't understand\nGarak: Why I would be risking my life to help him?\nOdo: Exactly.\nGarak: Yes, I can see how that would be puzzling.\nOdo: All right. You owe him something.\nGarak: A logical deduction. I see why you're the constable.\nOdo: But it's more than that. He means something to you. Something personal?\nGarak: Ah, now you've just moved from deduction to supposition.\nOdo: You're not the kind of man who would go to such lengths simply to repay a debt.\nGarak: Are you trying to say that I have no sense of honor?\nOdo: That remains to be seen.\nGarak: Yes.\nOdo: You wouldn't risk going into Cardassian space for just anyone. It would have to be someone important to you, someone you cared about. I think you were more than Tain's advisor. I think you were his protégé and he was your mentor. That is, until he sent you into exile. And yet, despite that, you care enough about him to risk your life for him. Or is all that just supposition?\nGarak: A very interesting analysis. Very interesting. Particularly coming from you.\nOdo: Oh?\nGarak: It's been my observation that you always act from a sense of justice, or at least what you consider justice. There's no feeling behind what you do, no emotion beyond a certain distaste for loose ends and disorder. You don't know what it means to care about someone, do you? People are just interesting creatures to be studied and analyzed.\nOdo: Is there any point to this?\nGarak: Only that I find it interesting that you ascribe feelings and motivations to me that you know nothing about. Or am I wrong? Tell me, is there one person in this universe you do care for? One person who's more than just an interesting puzzle to be solved. Is there, Odo? Anyone?\nOdo: If there were, I certainly wouldn't tell you.\nGarak: And that would be a wise decision.\nOdo: I'm taking us out of warp. We're approaching the Unefra system.\nGarak: What's that?\nOdo: I'm detecting a subspace energy surge directly above us. A vessel of some kind is decloaking.\nOdo: It's a Romulan warbird.\nGarak: In Cardassian space?\nOdo: They've locked onto us with a tractor beam. Take the helm. I'm going to try to send out a distress signal.\nGarak: I can't pull away. The tractor lock is too strong.\nOdo: They're jamming our transmission.\nGarak: Do you think you got through?\nOdo: I don't know. I'm going to hail them, see what they want.\nGarak: I think we're about to find out.\nGarak: Tain.\nTain: Ah, Garak. It's good of you to come. It spares me the trouble of having to send someone else to kill you. Come in, come in. It's been a long time, Elim. So, you're a tailor now. Is this one of your creations?\nGarak: A minor example of my work, yes.\nTain: I don't think I like the neckline.\nGarak: Well you always did have a keen sense of fashion, but you seem to have let it go along with your once trim figure.\nTain: Constable Odo, I've always wanted to meet you.\nOdo: I wish I could say the same.\nTain: Oh come now. Haven't you ever been the least bit curious about me, about my relationship with Garak, or our work in the Obsidian Order?\nOdo: I seldom waste time speculating about retired spymasters and their associates.\nTain: He's good. He hides his true feelings almost as well as you do, Elim. He'd have made a good operative in the old days.\nGarak: I had the same thought myself. But then, those days are long gone. At least they are for me. You, on the other hand, seem to have left your retirement far behind. Unless you're simply on a pleasure cruise with your pointed-eared friends.\nTain: Cunning, isn't he? He makes a racial slur within earshot of two Romulans, putting me in the position of either defending them, thus giving away my allegiance to them, or letting the comment pass, in which case he's managed to plant a seed of diskord between us.\nOdo: Frankly, I don't find any of this interesting. You both go to such lengths to hide the true meaning of your words you end up saying nothing.\nTain: I think you'll find when I have something to say, you won't have any trouble understanding it. To answer your question, Garak, no I'm not on a pleasure cruise. This ship is part of a fleet of Romulan and Cardassian vessels. A fleet that will very soon be traveling through the wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant.\nOdo: I take it you're not on a mission of peaceful exploration.\nTain: Not exactly.\nOdo: You're going to attack the Dominion, aren't you. You're going to stage a first strike against them before they can come into the Alpha Quadrant.\nTain: A clear and precise analysis. Commander Sisko must find you a valuable advisor.\nGarak: A daring plan. I didn't think there was anyone in the Central Command bold enough to take on the Dominion.\nTain: Who said anything about the Central Command? This is a joint operation between the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar. We've been building a fleet of ships in the Orias System for months now.\nOdo: If you attack the Dominion they'll certainly strike back. You'll be taking Romulus and Cardassia into war. A war you may not win.\nTain: I don't think they'll be striking back. Our intention is to wipe out the Dominion in one single blow by eliminating the Founders. Without them, the Dominion will collapse. You seem disturbed by this, changeling. Why? After all, didn't you turn your back on your people.\nOdo: You seem to know a great deal about me and my people.\nTain: We know everything you know, including the location of their homeworld.\nOdo: Starfleet has shared their intelligence on the Dominion with the Romulans.\nTain: And the Romulans have shared it with me.\nGarak: You'll forgive me if I reduce the scope of this conversation to something a little more personal, but why was it necessary to kill me and the rest of our former colleagues, in order to embark on this excursion into the Gamma Quadrant?\nTain: Because, Garak, I don't plan on going back into retirement when this is over. I plan on going back to my old job and my old life.\nGarak: And you were afraid we knew things, things that could be used against you, and so you decided to have us eliminated.\nTain: Like I used to say. Always burn your bridges behind you. You never know who might be trying to follow.\nGarak: You always used to say as well that the Tal Shiar was sloppy. You never should have relied on them to burn your bridges.\nTain: True. They should never have hired the Flaxian to blow up your shop.\nGarak: Actually, I blew up my shop. It was a way of piquing the interest of the good constable.\nTain: You blew up your own shop? You, my friend, are a true original. If you hadn't betrayed me, things would have been very different.\nGarak: I never betrayed you! At least, not in my heart. Why do you think I'm here? I came because I thought the Romulans were trying to kill you. I came here to save you.\nTain: I never thought I'd hear myself say this, Garak, but I believe you. You can go.\nGarak: Excuse me?\nTain: The changeling of course will have to stay, but you're free to go. Your runabout is in launching bay three.\nGarak: Just like that?\nTain: Just like that.\nGarak: Aren't you concerned that I might warn Central Command and Starfleet about your plans?\nTain: It's too late. Central Command will have a war on its hands, whether it wants one or not. And as for Starfleet, this isn't their fight. They won't interfere.\nOdo: It's a trick, Garak. After all this, he won't let you just walk away.\nTain: It's not a trick, it's a choice. You can walk out that door, or join me.\nGarak: Join you?\nTain: That is what you've been waiting for, isn't it? To end your exile, to come back into the fold. I'm asking you to serve Cardassia again, by my side.\nGarak: Well you'll pardon me if I appear a little startled, but are you saying that all is forgiven?\nTain: I can't forgive what you did but I can try to forget, to put it aside as if it never happened. So, do you want to go back to your shop and hem pants or shall we pick up where we left off?\nOdo: Garak, this is the man who put you into exile. This is the man who just two days ago tried to have you killed.\nGarak: Yes, he is. But it doesn't matter. I'm back. To be continued..."}
{"text": "Odo: I found twenty seven voles in his storeroom.\nQuark: Vole infestations are not uncommon on this station. If you don't believe me, ask Chief O'Brien.\nOdo: When I came in, he and Morn were painting numbers on the voles' backs.\nQuark: We were just counting them to see how many we'd caught.\nSisko: You were getting ready to stage a vole fight.\nQuark: A vole fight? I'm appallled. Do you really think that was what Morn was up to?\nSisko: Constable, I want the voles confiscated and removed from the station.\nQuark: You can't confiscate Morn's voles. They're like his pets.\nSisko: I'll see if I can get him some goldfish. Now, gentlemen, if you will excuse me, it's late.\nQuark: Poor Morn. This is going to break his hearts.\nSisko: Ops is yours, Lieutenant.\nSisko: You going somewhere, Chief?\nO'Brien: Sir, I need to talk to you. It's kind of private.\nOdo: We were just leaving. Come on, let's go break the news to Morn.\nSisko: Do you want to talk in my office?\nO'Brien: Actually, I thought we might go to my place.\nSecurity: Commander.\nSisko: Stand down.\nO'Brien: Get on the transporter pad. Move.\nO'Brien: Computer, energize on my command.\nO'Brien: Energize.\nSisko: Where are we?\nO'Brien: I guess you could say we just stepped through the looking glass.\nO'Brien: Sit down. Make yourself comfortable.\nSisko: Right now I'm not feeling very comfortable.\nSisko: There. That's better.\nO'Brien: That was a pretty nice move.\nSisko: I'm glad you liked it.\nO'Brien: Of course, it doesn't change anything. You can't go home unless I reconfigure the transporter, and I'm not about to do that. I guess you've got a lot of questions.\nSisko: Not as many as you think.\nO'Brien: You know where we are?\nSisko: If I had to guess, I'd say that this is the same parallel universe that two of my crewmembers visited a year ago.\nO'Brien: You're quick. Just like our Sisko. That saves me having to give you a history lesson. But I'd better update you on current events. Since your officers left here, we've started a rebellion against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. We're fighting for our lives.\nSisko: I wish you luck, but I don't see what that has to do with me.\nO'Brien: It has everything to do with you. You were the leader of the Terran Rebellion. At least, our Benjamin Sisko was.\nSisko: Was?\nO'Brien: Captain Sisko's dead. The Cardassians blew up his ship.\nSisko: Ah. So you want me to take his place.\nO'Brien: Like I said, you're quick.\nSisko: Well, I've got a better idea. We're going to walk back to the transporter pad and you're going to send me home.\nO'Brien: Wait. Hear me out. I'm not asking for a lifetime commitment. All I need is for you to finish the mission Sisko was on when he was killed.\nSisko: I'm sorry, but you're going to have to find someone else. I don't belong here and I'm not about to interfere with events going on in this universe.\nO'Brien: At least let me tell you about the mission. And then if you decide not to help, I'll send you home. There's a Terran scientist working for the Alliance. Our sources tell us she's close to completing a new transpectral sensor array that will allow the Alliance to locate our bases in the Badlands. Without a safe place to hide, the Alliance will be able to track us down and kill us all.\nSisko: So, you want me to prevent this scientist from finishing her project?\nO'Brien: Captain Sisko was convinced he could change her mind, get her to work for us instead.\nSisko: How did he plan to do that?\nO'Brien: She was his wife.\nSisko: Jennifer.\nO'Brien: You know her?\nSisko: She was my wife too. But in my universe, she's dead.\nO'Brien: Not here she isn't. Not yet, anyway.\nSisko: What do you mean not yet?\nO'Brien: Unless you can persuade Professor Sisko to join our cause, we'll have no choice but to kill her.\nSisko: Kill her?\nO'Brien: We cannot let her finish the sensor array. It'd mean the end of the rebellion.\nSisko: I can't let her die. Not again.\nO'Brien: You're the only one who can save her.\nKira: Delectable. And so are you.\nKira: Enter.\nJennifer: Mister Garak said you wanted to see me.\nKira: Yes. Come. Join us.\nJennifer: If you're wondering when the new sensor array will be finished, the answer is\nKira: As soon as possible. I know.\nJennifer: Will that be all? I have to get back to work.\nKira: I have news of your husband.\nJennifer: Nothing you could tell me about Ben would interest me. I haven't even seen him in five years.\nKira: I know that. And I hope that will make this easier for you. You see, Benjamin is dead.\nJennifer: Can I go now?\nKira: You must've loved him very much to be so angry with him. To have become so cold.\nJennifer: Were other Terrans killed with him?\nKira: A whole ship full.\nJennifer: All this killing, it has to stop.\nKira: And it will. As soon as you complete your transpectral sensors we'll be able to locate the rebel bases, disarm them and put an end to all this bloodshed. And I will be able to resume pressing the Alliance to become more reasonable to its Terran population. You do believe me, don't you?\nSisko: So it's agreed. I help you get Jennifer away from the Alliance, and then you get me home.\nO'Brien: You get us Jennifer, you can have anything you want. I just hope you can convince her to leave Terok Nor.\nSisko: I don't understand what Jennifer's doing helping the Alliance in the first place. I mean, didn't she know that Sisko was leading the Rebellion?\nO'Brien: Oh, she knew. The truth is, she and Captain Sisko didn't get along too well. Then again, the captain didn't really get along with anyone. In some ways the rebellion's better off without him. Don't get me wrong, the captain knew how to fight but that's about all he knew.\nO'Brien: Ready?\nSisko: You don't look very confident, Chief.\nO'Brien: You'd better start calling me Smiley. That's what the Captain called me.\nSisko: All right, Smiley.\nO'Brien: I just wish we had more time to get you ready. I probably haven't told you half of what you need to know. I hope you don't run up against too many surprises.\nSisko: If I do, I guess I'll just have to improvise.\nBashir: I told Sisko he'd never get close to Terok Nor, and I was right.\nRom: I say we teach the Alliance a lesson. Throw everything we've got at Terok Nor and rip it to pieces.\nTuvok: I disagree. Following your suggestion would do nothing to enhance our goals and would result in a significant loss of life.\nRom: That's easy for you to say. Those Cardassian pigs didn't kill your brother.\nTuvok: We have all suffered losses at the hands of the Alliance. Nonetheless, logic dictates caution in the face of a superior enemy.\nRom: Logic isn't going to win us our freedom. We have to take action.\nBashir: And we will. But this time we do it my way.\nTuvok: And what do you propose we do?\nBashir: We smuggle explosives aboard the station, plant them in her quarters, and detonate them.\nTuvok: You realize it is highly unlikely that anyone assigned to such a mission would survive.\nBashir: I say it's worth the risk.\nSisko: Does that mean you're volunteering for the job?\nRom: Captain, you're alive.\nO'Brien: Of course he's alive. You can't kill the Captain. He's too ornery.\nSisko: I hope that doesn't disappoint anyone.\nBashir: We're glad you're all right.\nSisko: I'm sure you are.\nTuvok: We heard your fighter was destroyed. The Alliance said you were dead.\nSisko: Just their propaganda machine working overtime. But you know what all that tells me? They're scared. And we're going to give them plenty of reasons to stay scared.\nDax: Well, well, well. It's about time you came back.\nDax: That's to let you know I missed you.\nDax: And that's for letting me think you were dead.\nSisko: I'm glad to see you still care.\nDax: You coming or not?\nSisko: I thought you told me I was married.\nO'Brien: You are, technically. She's your mistress.\nSisko: I see what you meant by surprises.\nDax: I'm really glad you're alive. And I'm going to make you glad you're alive, too.\nSisko: We have a lot of planning to do.\nDax: It can wait.\nSisko: I suppose it can at that.\nKira: Well these progress reports are unacceptable. Productivity in the ore processing center is down fifteen percent. You have got to do better. Or are you purposely trying to make me look bad to Sector Command?\nGarak: Not at all. I've done everything I can think of to motivate the workers.\nKira: Such as?\nGarak: Bribes, torture. I've even given overseers permission to execute any worker not meeting the quota.\nKira: I'm sure that pleases the overseers, but it is not getting the job done. Follow me.\nKira: Lets start with him, him, and her.\nGarak: And do what?\nKira: Execute them. I think you'll find that random and unprovoked executions will keep your entire workforce alert and motivated.\nGarak: I bow to your brilliance.\nGuard: Let's go. You too.\nGarak: Though I do hope your mood improves before we run out of workers.\nKira: What does my mood have to do with anything?\nGarak: If you don't mind my saying, I have noticed a certain amount of ill-humor on your part lately.\nKira: I don't know what you're talking about.\nGarak: As I recall, it began about the time you learned of Captain Sisko's death.\nKira: Now why would I be upset by such delightful news?\nGarak: Well, I was under the impression that you were rather fond of him.\nKira: Well then, you were mistaken.\nGarak: Well I will say this for him. He did had spirit.\nKira: Too much spirit can be a dangerous thing. It tends to infect others.\nGarak: Well that's something we won't have to worry at least. With Sisko's death, and the imminent completion of the transpectral sensor array, the Rebellion is certain to collapse.\nKira: You seem very sure of yourself.\nGarak: I am.\nKira: I'll remember that. If the Rebellion continues, I'll know who to blame.\nSisko: Are you sure these Alliance patrol patterns are accurate?\nDax: You tell me. You gathered the information.\nSisko: Hmm? Oh, that's right.\nDax: Are you okay? You seem a little distracted.\nSisko: Just thinking.\nDax: I've been thinking too. You know, we've been fighting against the Alliance for almost a year now. And what has it gotten us? Nothing. Sometimes I think we were better off when we were collecting tribute for the Intendant.\nSisko: Those days are gone.\nDax: Maybe, but I'm tired of living like this. The rebellion's a lost cause and we both know it.\nSisko: Don't you want to see the Terrans gain their freedom?\nDax: Have you taken a good look at your troops lately? They're nothing but ex-slaves with delusions of grandeur. They'll never overthrow the Alliance. Let's just get a ship and go. Forget all about the rebellion.\nSisko: I'm not ready to give up just yet.\nDax: It's not like you're going to have much choice. Once that witch you married finishes her new sensor array, Alliance ships are going to be all over these Badlands. We're going to have no place to hide.\nSisko: Then I suppose we'll just have to make sure she doesn't finish.\nSisko: Trying to reach Terok Nor using small fighters didn't work. But we need to get Jennifer off that station, and we need to get her off there soon.\nBashir: We've been meaning to talk to you about that.\nTuvok: Mister Bashir is not convinced that you can persuade your former mate to join our cause.\nSisko: I can be very persuasive.\nBashir: Look, I don't even know why we're bothering to discuss this. The Cardassians destroyed your ship way before it got even close to Terok Nor. And even if you had made it there, there was no guarantee you could've convinced your wife of anything.\nO'Brien: Hit him. That's what the Captain would do. Go on, hit him.\nBashir: Let's face it, Captain, the woman hates you.\nSisko: What my wife thinks of me is no concern of yours.\nDax: Anyone else want to disagree with the captain?\nSisko: Put it away, Dax. Go on, put it away.\nBashir: No one is questioning your authority, Captain. But we have got to stop her before she finishes that sensor array.\nRom: And there's only one sure way to do that.\nBashir: We have to kill her.\nO'Brien: You've been saying that all along.\nBashir: Well maybe it's time he listened.\nDax: Killing her would be a lot easier than trying to get her away from the Alliance.\nO'Brien: Easier, but not smarter. If she's that important to the Alliance, think how important she could be to us. We could use a scientist on our side.\nSisko: You tell them, Smiley. At least someone here is using his brain.\nO'Brien: Think about it. Who knows what other weapons the Alliance is developing. Someone like Professor Sisko could counteract anything they come up with.\nSisko: She's valuable. We need her. All right. Does anyone disagree? Good. Now let's get to work.\nGarak: Tell the Intendant what you told me.\nRom: It's about Captain Sisko.\nKira: Sisko?\nRom: He's alive. He was able to get off his ship before it exploded.\nGarak: I suppose it's possible.\nRom: It's more than possible. It's true. But I can tell you how to get your hands on him. If you're interested.\nSisko: Don't do that.\nO'Brien: I can't help it. It itches. I hope this works.\nSisko: It'll work. Just stop scratching.\nO'Brien: You did pretty good back there. I don't think anyone suspected you weren't Captain Sisko. At least not once you hit Bashir.\nSisko: But you and I both know that was just a warm up. Jennifer's the one I really have to convince.\nO'Brien: I guess seeing her isn't going to be easy for you. How long's it been since your wife died?\nSisko: Five years.\nO'Brien: Well just remember, Jennifer may look like her, but she's not. She's a completely different person.\nSisko: I'll try to remember that. Do you have any idea what went wrong between her and Captain Sisko?\nO'Brien: From what I heard, they never should've been together in the first place. She came from one of the few privileged Terran families, people who cooperated with the Alliance. The captain he fought his way up from the mines.\nSisko: What is she like, this Jennifer?\nO'Brien: I don't know. They'd separated by the time I got to know the captain. What was your Jennifer like?\nSisko: She was the kindest, most caring person I ever knew.\nO'Brien: I wouldn't get my hopes up. Hold on. I'm reading a slight energy distortion in subspace.\nSisko: What are the coordinates?\nO'Brien: It's coming from all around us.\nO'Brien: You know, Captain Sisko would try to fight his way out of this.\nSisko: Be glad I'm not him.\nKira: Well, if it isn't the notorious Captain Sisko and his friend the Tinkerer.\nSisko: I'm glad to see you too, Intendant.\nKira: Still the same old Benjamin.\nSisko: You wouldn't have it any other way.\nKira: Perhaps not, but I'm still going to kill you.\nSisko: Maybe, but not right away.\nKira: You flatter yourself.\nSisko: Not unjustly, I hope.\nGarak: Intendant, please, let me teach him some manners.\nKira: All in good time. But first, whatever shall we do about O'Brien? I remember the first time I saw you, Tinkerer. You were fixing something. You were always fixing things, making things better. And everyone loved you for it. Even me. But that just wasn't enough for you, was it. You couldn't be happy, staying here, being loved. You had to lash out and betray everyone who was ever good to you. Why?\nO'Brien: I wanted to be free.\nKira: Free? You're a Terran. You were born a slave and you'll die a slave. Take him to ore processing. Remind him where he belongs.\nGuard: Let's go.\nGarak: What about Sisko?\nSisko: Take me to the Intendant's quarters. Then she'll decide what to do with me.\nGarak: Of all the impudent\nKira: Do as he says.\nGarak: Intendant. I demand that this man be\nKira: You demand?\nGarak: But you promised me he'd die.\nKira: And he will. When I say, and not a moment before.\nSisko: Shall we?\nGarak: After you.\nKira: I really don't know what to do with you.\nSisko: I sympathize. It's a difficult decision. But I'm sure you'll come up with something.\nKira: The only reason I can think of to keep you alive is to infuriate Garak.\nSisko: What better reason do you need?\nKira: Well, suppose I let you live. What will I get in return?\nSisko: What do you want?\nKira: Your loyalty. That's all I've ever wanted. For you to be at my side, my strong right hand. But I'm afraid I can never trust you again. Which means that I will have to dispose of you eventually. The question is, should it be sooner, or later?\nSisko: Do I get a vote?\nKira: Of course you do. It just doesn't count. No, I've got to think about this.\nSisko: You will let me know what you decide?\nKira: I wouldn't dream of keeping it a secret.\nSisko: Jennifer.\nJennifer: Hello, Ben. Please leave us.\nGarak: What, and miss this touching reunion?\nSisko: You heard her.\nGarak: If you need anyone to beat him into submission for you, don't hesitate to call me.\nJennifer: All right, I'm here. What did you want to see me about?\nSisko: I was hoping we could talk.\nJennifer: Really? You never seemed interested in talking to me while we were married.\nSisko: I made a lot of mistakes back then.\nJennifer: Save the apologies, Ben. They're not going to work. You are without a doubt, the most insensitive, self-absorbed, egotistical\nSisko: You've made your point.\nJennifer: I doubt it. You never listened to me before. You were always too busy trying to impress every woman who crossed your path.\nSisko: Where there really that many?\nJennifer: There were enough. And if it wasn't women, then it was that ship of yours. Sometimes I think it was the only thing you ever loved.\nSisko: Maybe I loved you both.\nJennifer: Then why did you leave me to go run and play pirate for the Intendant?\nSisko: That's a good question.\nJennifer: And now this Rebellion of yours. Do you know how many deaths you've caused? How much destruction?\nSisko: I'm fighting to help free our people.\nJennifer: You're fighting because you like to fight, Benjamin. The only thing you've accomplished is to give the Alliance an excuse to treat the Terrans worse than before. I just hope that with your capture, this rebellion can be ended peacefully.\nSisko: Who said I'd been captured?\nJennifer: Oh, I suppose you came here just to see me?\nSisko: Actually, I came here to rescue you.\nJennifer: Rescue me?\nSisko: That's what I said.\nJennifer: I'm not going anywhere with you.\nSisko: You can't stay here.\nJennifer: I have a job to finish.\nSisko: You mean the sensor array?\nJennifer: That's right.\nSisko: If you finish the array you'll destroy any hope our people have for a better future. I don't think you want that.\nJennifer: All I want to do is to put an end to all this fighting. To force the rebels to seek a peaceful settlement with the Alliance.\nSisko: It's not that simple. The Alliance isn't interested in a peaceful settlement. If we lay down our arms, we'll all be killed.\nJennifer: The rebellion is killing people every day. It has to stop.\nSisko: Not this way. Not while the Terrans are still at the mercy of the Alliance. They're your own people, Jennifer.\nJennifer: You have no right to talk to me like that. Since when do you care about what happens to our people? You've never cared about anyone but yourself.\nSisko: Maybe I've changed in the past few years.\nJennifer: How many times have I heard you say that?\nSisko: I guess I was a pretty lousy husband.\nJennifer: You guess?\nSisko: Look, I know it's too late for an apology.\nJennifer: You're right about that.\nSisko: But for what it's worth, I'm sorry. What is it?\nJennifer: For a second, I almost believed you. You know what I wish? I wish I'd never met you.\nSisko: And I wish things could've been better between us. But this isn't about us. Or is it? Why are you working for the Alliance? Is it because you believe in what they're doing or is it something else?\nJennifer: I don't know what you're talking about.\nSisko: I think the two of us have been fighting each other for so long that you've gotten used to us being on opposite sides. But I'm not the enemy this time, Jennifer. The Alliance is.\nJennifer: The Alliance is your enemy, not mine.\nSisko: That's where you're wrong. Don't you see, you're no different than the slaves working in the ore processing center. In fact, you may even be worse off. At least they know they're prisoners.\nJennifer: What if I am a prisoner?\nSisko: You don't have to be. Fight back. Come with me.\nJennifer: You want me to join the rebellion?\nSisko: The way I see it, freedom is a lot better than slavery. Think about it.\nO'Brien: It took him long enough.\nJennifer: What are you doing?\nSisko: Sending a message.\nJennifer: You have a subdermal communicator?\nSisko: Courtesy of the Ferengi.\nSisko: Jennifer, I need an answer. Are you coming with me or not?\nJennifer: Do I have a choice?\nSisko: Of course you do. If you want, you can go back to your quarters and forget we ever spoke. It's up to you.\nJennifer: All right. But lets get one thing clear.\nSisko: What's that?\nJennifer: I still hate you.\nSisko: I know.\nCardassian: Terran, what are you doing down there?\nO'Brien: Re-routing the central ODN processor. The Intendant's orders.\nCardassian: I don't recall receiving clearance for any repairs.\nO'Brien: You don't say?\nO'Brien: All right, anyone who wants to get out of here, follow me. Come on.\nJennifer: You still haven't told me where we're going.\nSisko: Airlock seven. There should be a ship waiting there for us. Providing we can get there before the security systems reactivate.\nVoice: You two look in there.\nSisko: Get back.\nJennifer: Now what?\nSisko: I'll think of something.\nO'Brien: Hey! (The Cardassians are killed in the crossfire.\nSisko: Good work, Smiley.\nO'Brien: Yeah. The only problem is there's thirty more of them behind us.\nSisko: Then we'd better get to the airlock.\nO'Brien: Come on.\nJennifer: Something tells me that's not part of your plan.\nO'Brien: We've got to find another way out of here.\nSisko: Got any suggestions?\nSisko: Fall back.\nKira: That was very clever, Benjamin, having one of your own men betray you so you could get aboard the station. I was completely fooled. Fortunately Mister Garak is somewhat more cynical than I am.\nGarak: Your Ferengi friend told us of your entire plan, with a little persuasion of course.\nKira: I'm afraid there's no escape. Your ship's locked down, your pilot's dead. There's no way out. You might as well surrender.\nO'Brien: If we surrender, she'll kill us.\nSisko: Maybe us, but not Jennifer.\nJennifer: What if we offer a trade? I stay here and she lets you live.\nKira: Benjamin, you know how I hate to be kept waiting.\nSisko: I came a long way to get you out of here, and I'm not going to leave without you. What is it?\nJennifer: Nothing.\nSisko: Smiley, how far is the ore processing center?\nO'Brien: Only a couple of levels.\nKira: Time's up, Benjamin. Benjamin!\nGarak: Pursue!\nKira: He always has to make things difficult.\nGarak: It's one of his least endearing qualities.\nSisko: Smiley, seal the doors.\nO'Brien: Sure. It's easy for you to say.\nSisko: I'm going to get you out of here, I promise.\nJennifer: I believe you.\nO'Brien: I don't know what you're up to, Captain, but there's no way out of this room except through that door.\nSisko: Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I just hope your Terok Nor was designed by the same Cardassian that built my Terok Nor.\nKira: Are you sure they're in there?\nKira: Good. Then we've got them. Use the manual override to open the doors.\nGarak: This time, Intendant, I trust you're not going to be so lenient with our dear Mister Sisko.\nKira: Don't worry. He's disappointed me for the last time.\nKira: Jennifer. Oh, I was so worried about you. But you're safe now. In fact, I can assure you that your husband will never annoy you again.\nJennifer: Actually, for the first time since I've met him, he's not annoying me. In fact, he's been making a lot of sense.\nKira: Well, he can be very persuasive when he wants to be. I suppose this means you won't be finishing the sensor array.\nJennifer: I'm a Terran.\nKira: Keep her alive. Kill the others.\nSisko: Oh, I wouldn't. You'd be making a mistake.\nKira: The only mistake I made was not executing you in the first place.\nSisko: You don't know how right you are. I have activated the station's self-destruct sequence. Unless I disarm it, this whole place will blow up in nine minutes.\nKira: That's impossible. There's no way you could know the station's command access code.\nSisko: Alpha nine one seven five blue.\nKira: Computer, disengage self-destruct sequence. Authorisation Kira alpha nine one seven five blue.\nComputer: Authorisation denied.\nSisko: I changed it. You have eight minutes and thirty seconds to let us go. Otherwise we all die.\nGarak: Don't listen to him. He's bluffing.\nKira: He's not bluffing.\nGarak: How do you know?\nKira: I know. Give me the new access code and I'll let you go.\nSisko: I will give you the access code once my friends and I are safely away from the station. Do we have a deal?\nKira: This isn't over Benjamin. I'll hunt you down. I swear it.\nSisko: You're welcome to try.\nSisko: Well, I'm glad to see the two of you are getting along.\nDax: We have a lot in common. He's all yours.\nJennifer: Dax tells me you're leaving.\nSisko: I thought I'd pay the Romulans a visit. See if I can convince them to help us.\nJennifer: Then I guess this is goodbye.\nSisko: Jennifer, there's so much I want to tell you. I just don't know where to start.\nJennifer: Why don't you start by telling me what happened to my husband? He's dead, isn't he?\nSisko: I'm sorry.\nJennifer: Don't be. Who are you, really?\nSisko: It's a long story. But ask Smiley. He can fill you in on the details.\nJennifer: He seems like a good man.\nSisko: He does at that. So, what are you going to do now?\nJennifer: Oh, I'm sure Smiley'll find something to keep me busy. You're not really going to visit the Romulans, are you.\nSisko: The deal was that I get you off the station, and then I go home.\nJennifer: Will I see you again?\nSisko: I don't know.\nJennifer: Thank you for rescuing me.\nSisko: It was my pleasure.\nO'Brien: Ready, Captain?\nJennifer: You'd better go.\nSisko: Take me home, Smiley."}
{"text": "Bashir: Bashir to Infirmary. Medical emergency on the Promenade.\nOdo: I find it odd that a conduit running behind Garak's shop should just happen to overload.\nSisko: Why would the Romulans want to destroy the Flaxian's ship?\nOdo: One possibility is that the Romulans hired the Flaxian to kill Garak and then killed the Flaxian when he failed in his mission.\nSisko: Do you know why the Romulans might hire someone to kill you?\nGarak: I have no idea.\nInformant: You are investigating a very insignificant piece of a much larger puzzle.\nOdo: What do you mean?\nInformant: There's been a great deal of unusual Romulan activity these past weeks.\nOdo: Now, you dragged me into this investigation and you are now going to cooperate with me.\nGarak: Dragged you in? I don't know what you're talking\nOdo: You blew up your own shop, Garak!\nOdo: It's a Romulan warbird.\nGarak: In Cardassian space?\nOdo: You're going to attack the Dominion, aren't you. You're going to stage a first strike against them before they can come into the Alpha Quadrant.\nTain: I'm asking you to serve Cardassia again, by my side.\nOdo: Garak, this is the man who put you into exile. This is the man who just two days ago tried to have you killed.\nGarak: Yes, he is. But it doesn't matter. I'm back. And now the conclusion.\nBashir: Yes, yes.\nBashir: Modern playwrights have become obsessed with writing human interpretations of alien theatrical works while ignoring completely our own unique cultural heritage in hopes of. Chief, are you listening to me?\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: I thought so.\nO'Brien: I heard every word you said.\nBashir: And what do you think?\nO'Brien: About what?\nBashir: Any of it.\nO'Brien: I don't know. Look, what do you want me to say?\nBashir: Say you agree. Say you disagree. Say you hate theater. Just say something.\nO'Brien: Look, Julian, you said you wanted to have lunch. We're having lunch.\nBashir: Yes, but I was hoping for a little more conversation with my plomeek soup.\nO'Brien: Ah. My mother taught me if you combine eating and talking, you'll end up doing neither very well.\nBashir: Well, I suppose Garak taught me to think of lunch as a sort of arena for philosophical debate. I take it there's still no word about Garak and Odo?\nO'Brien: The starship Portland and a Cardassian cruiser are still searching the Algira Sector for the runabout. That's not entirely bad news. If the runabout had been destroyed they would have found debris by now, or something to\nKira: Kira to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Go ahead, Major.\nKira: Report to Ops, Chief. There's something here we'd like you to take a look at.\nO'Brien: I'm on my way.\nSisko: About ten minutes ago, our sensors picked up high concentrations of tetryon particles moving toward the station.\nDax: I've never seen readings like these. What do you think?\nO'Brien: Subspace energy fluctuations, quantum fractures in the electrodynamic field, EM spikes across the spectrum? You've got me.\nKira: Whatever it is, it's getting closer.\nDax: And larger. The tetryon concentrations have increased ten percent in the last thirty seconds. There's an energy surge bearing two one zero mark three one five. A ship is decloaking. It's a Romulan warbird.\nSisko: Romulans? Open a channel\nDax: Another warbird decloaking at zero one zero. No. It's a Cardassian ship.\nKira: A Cardassian ship with a cloaking device?\nDax: Definitely Cardassian, Keldon class. Benjamin, there's an entire fleet decloaking out there.\nSisko: Red alert. All hands to battle stations. Shields up, stand by weapons. Try to hail them, Lieutenant.\nO'Brien: Their weapons are charged but they haven't locked onto us yet.\nKira: The lead ship's heading for the wormhole, Commander.\nDax: No response to our hails.\nKira: The fleet's following the lead ship. They're headed for the Gamma Quadrant.\nSisko: Lieutenant, open a priority channel to Starfleet Command now.\nTain: you should have seen the look on Legate Porania's face when I told him I was going into retirement three years ago. He was literally speechless. A rare event.\nGarak: I remember wanting to invent charges of treason against him just so I wouldn't have to hear his voice again.\nTain: And you would have, too, if I hadn't held you back. You had quite a vicious streak in those days.\nGarak: Oh, I learned from the best.\nTain: No, no. You had a gift. I never met anyone else who relished a good interrogation as much as you did. Do you remember getting that confession out of Doctor Parmak?\nGarak: I never even touched him.\nTain: That was the beauty of it. You just sat there for what, three hours?\nGarak: Four.\nTain: And after four hours of watching you stare at him, he confessed.\nGarak: I was good, wasn't I?\nTain: You were brilliant. Afterwards, he just kept saying, 'His eyes his eyes.' I've missed you, Elim. Things just haven't been the same since you left.\nGarak: I've missed you too, Enabran.\nTain: We're both getting sentimental in our old age. Next thing you know, we'll be crying over our lost youth.\nGarak: So whatever happened to Doctor Parmak?\nTain: He spent three years in a labor camp, then returned to Cardassia Prime. I think he's practicing medicine again. When we get back, you should look him up.\nGarak: Oh, there are a number of people I intend to look up when we get back. For instance, do you remember a Gul named Dukat?\nTain: Dukat? Oh, yes. The business with the arms merchant. I take it you'd like to have him eliminated?\nGarak: The thought had crossed my mind.\nTain: When this mission is completed, you'll be in a position to eliminate anyone you want.\nGarak: I'll make up a list and give it to Mila.\nTain: Perhaps you'd better give it to me personally. Mila may not be around much longer. She knows a great deal about me. Too much for her own good.\nGarak: Still, it would be a shame to have her killed. She's proven that she can be trusted on numerous occasions, and you'd be hard put to find a better housekeeper.\nTain: Is this a request I hear?\nGarak: Not at all. Just an observation.\nTain: No reason to pretend, Garak. You're fond of Mila. You don't want her hurt, right?\nGarak: If you're looking for an excuse to spare the life of your own housekeeper, you don't need me to provide you with one. You can do it out of the kindness of your heart.\nTain: Mila always believed you were innocent of betraying Cardassia, and me.\nGarak: I was.\nTain: Of course. No wonder the Romulans can't conquered the galaxy. No one can stomach their cuisine.\nTain: Ah. Colonel Lovok. Allow me to introduce my associate, Elim Garak.\nLovok: And what is his role to be in this operation?\nTain: He will do whatever I require of him. Elim is a cherished colleague of long standing.\nLovok: You will not enter the bridge or any other secured space aboard this ship unescorted. If you do so, you will be killed.\nGarak: Direct, isn't he?\nTain: I'm afraid the Colonel believes in wasting little time with pleasantries or idle conversation.\nLovok: The fleet has recloaked and is about to set course for the Founders' homeworld at warp six.\nGarak: Warp six? That's a bit slow, isn't it? Something wrong with your engines?\nLovok: If we travel any faster, our warp signatures may be detected by the Jem'Hadar, even through the cloaking devices.\nGarak: Very clever.\nLovok: The changeling is in quarters on C deck. There are forcefields in place to prevent his escape.\nTain: Good. Which brings us to your first assignment, Garak. I want you to explain to Odo that it would be in everyone's best interest, especially his, if he were to provide us with all the information he has on his people.\nGarak: That may prove difficult. He can be quite stubborn.\nTain: Then you'll have to find a way of convincing him.\nGarak: Well, Odo. I trust the accommodations meet with your approval? You have to admit, it's certainly better than a prison cell.\nOdo: There are forcefields around the bulkheads and a guard outside the door. Feels like a prison cell to me.\nGarak: I see your point. And believe me, if it were my decision, things would be\nOdo: I don't believe you, Garak, and I doubt I'll believe much of what you have to say from now on, so save us both some trouble and leave me alone.\nGarak: Why, Constable, you seem positively disappointed in me. Well, I suppose it's understandable. After all, I did pledge my undying devotion and eternal allegiance to both you and the Federation. And you and I have been through so much together, shared many experiences, and I know you considered me a close friend. No wonder you feel betrayed.\nOdo: You're wasting your time, Garak. I don't care about the rationalizations you come up with to justify your actions.\nGarak: Justify? I don't need to justify anything to you.\nOdo: Living on Deep Space Nine has made you a little rusty. Your lies are becoming more transparent. You should be careful. You don't want Tain to know that you're feeling guilty about what you've done.\nGarak: You are imaginative, Constable, I'll grant you that. But I would suggest that you put those creative powers to better use. We would like you to share your unique insights on the Founders.\nOdo: Would you?\nGarak: We would be grateful, most grateful, for any information you could provide.\nOdo: And if I refuse?\nGarak: Oh, really, Odo. You really must stop reading those human crime novels Chief O'Brien gives you. It's poisoning your thinking. I'm not here to threaten you. I just want to talk.\nOdo: I don't feel like talking.\nGarak: Surely you can see that we share a common enemy, the Founders. By cooperating, you'll be helping us provide security for the entire Alpha Quadrant.\nOdo: The only common enemy you and I share is Enabran Tain. The difference between you and I is that you don't know it.\nGarak: I suggest that you think over what I've said, Constable.\nOdo: Funny. I was about to make the same suggestion.\nTain: Since the Jem'Hadar are genetically addicted to a drug that only the Founders can provide, we expect the Jem'Hadar to weaken and die once their supplies of the drug run out. A matter of days by our estimates. However, that will give them enough time to stage some kind of counterattack against the Alpha Quadrant, so I suggest you place the Cardassian fleet on alert. I take this action not in defiance of the Cardassian state, but in defense of it. You in the Central Command have neglected the security of our people and allowed peace with Bajor and the Federation to blind you to the real threat, the Dominion. I intend to remove that threat. Let history be my judge.\nToddman: That message was intercepted by a Federation outpost earlier today. A similar message was sent to the Romulan Senate. Now, both governments are denying any prior knowledge of Tain's plans and calling this a rogue operation.\nBashir: Are they going to do anything to stop Tain?\nToddman: Both the Romulans and the Cardassians claim to be studying ways to stop Tain, but we believe that they'll just sit back and wait to see if he succeeds or not.\nDax: But sir, that could plunge Romulus and Cardassia into war with the Dominion.\nToddman: Only if he fails, Lieutenant. His plan looks like it has a fair chance of success. He's commanding a fleet of twenty ships manned by combat veterans. They know the location of the Founders' homeworld and they've modified their cloaks so the Jem'Hadar can't detect their approach.\nKira: It sounds like you're hoping Tain will succeed.\nToddman: I never hope for war, Major. But if it comes, I'd rather see the Dominion on the losing side. However, we have to plan for the worst. Ben, I want you to evacuate DS Nine of all non-essential personnel and put the Defiant on standby alert. Even if Tain succeeds, the Jem'Hadar are going to come screaming out of the wormhole looking for revenge and they may not be too particular who their targets are.\nSisko: Admiral, we believe Security Chief Odo is aboard one of the Romulan ships.\nEddington: Odo's message said the runabout had been caught in a tractor beam. That suggests he was captured and taken aboard one of their ships.\nSisko: I'd like permission to take the Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant and try to determine if he's still alive.\nToddman: I'm sorry about your officer, but there's nothing we can do. I want the Defiant guarding Bajor. That's your top priority. Toddman out.\nSisko: Commander Eddington, am I correct in assuming that Starfleet is planning to send substantial reinforcements to this sector?\nEddington: Yes, sir. A task force of nine starships is due to arrive tomorrow.\nSisko: Nine starships. I want the Defiant prepared to leave for the Gamma Quadrant in two hours.\nEddington: Sir, Admiral Toddman's orders were quite clear and\nSisko: I am not going to just abandon one of my officers. Toddman's concerned about the defense of Bajor, and so am I. If we detect a Jem'Hadar strike force heading for the Alpha Quadrant, we'll use the communications relay to warn DS Nine, and we'll do everything we can to stop them before they reach the wormhole. I consider this a volunteer mission, but don't volunteer yet. There's a good chance you won't be coming back from this mission. And even if you do, you'll probably be facing a general court martial. If you do decide to go, be aboard the Defiant at fifteen thirty hours. Dismissed.\nSisko: All stations report.\nKira: Tactical ready.\nO'Brien: Warp and impulse engines online, cloaking device standing by.\nDax: Helm ready.\nEddington: The Security detachment is aboard and phaser rifles have been issued to every fire team.\nSisko: Release docking clamps.\nKira: Commander, there's an incoming priority message from Starfleet Command. It's Admiral Toddman. He's repeating his order not to enter the Gamma Quadrant.\nSisko: That's what you think it says. How can you be sure when a transmission is as badly garbled as that one?\nKira: You're right. There's an awful lot of subspace interference on this channel. Must be an ion storm or something.\nSisko: Must be.\nSisko: Aft thrusters back one quarter, port and starboard at station keeping.\nDax: The cloaking device is operating within normal parameters.\nSisko: Set course for the Founders' homeworld, warp eight.\nLovok: We know that the Founders' planet lies at approximately these coordinates within the Omarion nebula. As you can see, there are no Jem'Hadar bases nearby. This means that even if the Founders did send out a distress call, it would take at least seven hours for any help to arrive.\nTain: Our plan is to wait until we've entered orbit of the Founders' planet, then decloak and begin massive bombardment.\nLovok: Computer analysis indicates that the planet's crust will be destroyed within one hour, and the mantle within five.\nGarak: That should more than take care of the Founders.\nTain: Yes, it should. Unless they have some planetary defenses we don't know about. There is one person here who might answer that question. Mister Odo.\nGarak: Anything he knows about the Founders and their planet was undoubtedly included in his report to Starfleet. The constable is remarkably thorough in these matters.\nTain: There was a time when you were eager to begin an interrogation, Elim. In fact, I remember having to restrain your enthusiasm on several occasions.\nGarak: Then you should also remember the pride I took in my work. I don't think that interrogating someone who can alter their form at will is likely to provide either amusement or information.\nTain: I wouldn't worry about Mister Odo's shape-shifting if I were you. The Obsidian Order has developed a device which should prove quite effective in neutralizing him.\nLovok: I was not informed about this device.\nTain: It's only a prototype. We've never had a chance to test it, until now. Perhaps the Tal Shiar should take over the interrogation of the changeling.\nGarak: No.\nTain: It's all right, Garak. It's my fault. I should've known you'd develop feelings for these people you've been living with for the past few years. But I just never expected that you would become friends with someone who worked for the Bajorans.\nGarak: This has nothing to do with my friends or my feelings. I simply don't believe he has the information you want.\nTain: Possibly. Colonel Lovok will find out.\nGarak: No. I brought Odo here. He's my prisoner and my responsibility.\nTain: You don't have to do this.\nGarak: Yes, I do. And I think we both know that you won't trust me until I do.\nTain: All right. I look forward to hearing your results.\nDax: Commander, I'm reading some kind of power fluctuation in the cloaking device.\nSisko: What kind of fluctuation?\nDax: I don't know. I can't locate the source of the problem but it is getting worse.\nKira: We're decloaking!\nSisko: All stop. Full scan, Lieutenant. Are there any other ships in the area?\nDax: No, nothing in sensor range.\nKira: Commander, if the Jem'Hadar show up while we're decloaked\nSisko: We'll have to fight our way out of here.\nO'Brien: Everything looks fine. The power converters are online. The projection matrix looks normal. The cloaking device should be working.\nKira: Maybe there's some kind of spatial anomaly nearby that's interfering with the cloak's power systems.\nEddington: This isn't the result of a spatial anomaly, Major. The tetryon compositor on the cloaking device has been sabotaged.\nKira: How do you know that?\nEddington: Because I sabotaged it.\nSisko: Why?\nEddington: I was under orders from Admiral Toddman to stop you from pursuing the Romulan-Cardassian fleet.\nO'Brien: You've turned us into sitting ducks for the Jem'Hadar!\nEddington: We can still defend ourselves. I didn't damage any of the ship's weapon systems or the engines. But without the cloak, we'll have to return to DS Nine. I'm sorry Commander, I didn't want to do this. Odo's my friend too but I report directly to Admiral Toddman and he gave me an explicit order. I couldn't disobey it.\nSisko: I don't suppose you could. Chief, now that we know the problem is in the tetryon compositor, how long until you can fix it?\nO'Brien: About ten hours.\nSisko: You've got two. On your way.\nSisko: I'm afraid I'm going to have to confine you to quarters, Mister Eddington.\nEddington: Sir, if we run into the Jem'Hadar, you're still going to need a chief security officer.\nKira: What makes you think we'll trust you again?\nEddington: Because I give you my word.\nSisko: I make it a policy to never question the word of anyone who wears that uniform. Don't make me change that policy. Man your station, Commander. But I'd stay out of the Chief's way if I were you.\nGarak: I realize it must be nearly time for you to return to your liquid state, so I thought I'd bring you something to relax in.\nOdo: How kind.\nGarak: But before you go for a swim, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you.\nOdo: I have nothing to say.\nGarak: Well I had hoped a few hours alone might jog your memory but I can see I'm going to have to take some steps I'd hoped to avoid.\nOdo: Oh, no. You're going to torture me, aren't you? How I've been dreading this. Please have mercy, Garak.\nGarak: You do have a certain flair for sarcasm. It's one of the things I like about you.\nGarak: You can go now.\nOdo: I'd bring those guards back if I were you. I'm not in a very good mood.\nGarak: Yes, under normal circumstances, you would pose quite a threat to me. You could turn yourself into a Vicarian razorback or stretch out your arms and strangle me from across the room. But not this time.\nOdo: Oh? And why is that?\nGarak: Because that device is emitting a quantum stasis field designed to prevent any changeling from altering his biomolecular structure.\nGarak: Yes, it must be very diskoncerting for you to be locked into a humanoid form. Especially now. I'm sure you were looking forward to returning to your liquid state. Tell me, what will happen if you can't revert to a liquid?\nOdo: I don't know.\nGarak: An honest answer. But it's probably safe to say that it won't be pleasant.\nOdo: Garak, this is pointless. There's nothing I can tell you about the Founders that you don't already know.\nGarak: I wish I could believe that.\nOdo: Then why don't you?\nGarak: Because you and I are so alike. We both value our privacy, our secrets. That's why I know there's something about the Founders you haven't told anyone. Something you didn't even share with Starfleet and Commander Sisko, hmm? But you are going to tell me, Odo.\nOdo: There's nothing to tell.\nGarak: Well, perhaps something will come to you. I can wait. The question is, can you?\nSisko: Major, leave the chief alone.\nKira: What makes you think I'm going to see O'Brien?\nKira: It's been three hours. I just wanted to see if he needed some help.\nSisko: If he needed help he would ask for it. For now, the best thing we can do is to stay out of his way.\nOdo: What's the matter, Garak? You don't look very happy. Aren't you enjoying yourself?\nGarak: There's no pleasure in this for me, Constable, I assure you. I am simply doing my job.\nOdo: Your job. Yes, this is the job you've been waiting for. All these years of exile and here you are interrogating a prisoner again. It must fill you with pride.\nGarak: Odo, just tell me what I need to know and this will end.\nOdo: But you don't want it to end, do you, Garak? Isn't this what you've been dreaming of? Back at work serving Cardassia.\nGarak: That's right. And you have information that I need. Information that it's my duty to extract from you. It's not personal. Odo, talk to me. Tell me something. Anything! Lie if you have to, but say it now. Please.\nOdo: Home. I want to go home.\nGarak: And you will, I promise. As soon as this is all over, I promise I'll take you back to Deep Space Nine.\nOdo: No, not the station. Home with my people.\nGarak: The Founders? You want to return to the Founders? I thought you turned your back on them.\nOdo: I did, but they're still my people. I tried to deny it, I tried to forget, but I can't. They're my people and I want to be with them in the Great Link.\nGarak: I knew there was something, a secret you were holding back.\nOdo: And now you've found it. I hope it's useful.\nO'Brien: Repairs are complete, sir. The cloaking device is online. A souvenir of your handiwork.\nSisko: Engage cloak.\nDax: The cloak is operating normally.\nSisko: Resume course to the Founders' planet, maximum warp.\nTain: Did you get anything out of him at all?\nGarak: Nothing. He never broke.\nTain: Well, that's unfortunate. I see no further use for Mister Odo. Terminate him.\nGarak: On the other hand, he is a member of the Bajoran militia and an officer on Deep Space Nine. We may not wish to provoke the Federation by killing him.\nLovok: I agree with Garak.\nTain: Do you?\nLovok: Yes. There is no way to be certain that all of the Founders will be on the planet when we attack. We should be prepared to encounter other changelings in the future and we could use more information on their capabilities. I want to take Odo back to Romulus for further study.\nTain: All right, in the interest of cooperation.\nRomulan: Bridge to Colonel Lovok.\nLovok: This is Lovok.\nRomulan: We've entered the Omarion Nebula and dropped out of warp. We should be in orbit of the planet in fifteen minutes.\nLovok: Acknowledged.\nTain: Well, seems the moment is nearly at hand. Gentleman.\nGarak: Can I do something for you, Colonel?\nLovok: Why were you trying to protect the changeling?\nGarak: I wasn't trying to protect him. And as I recall, you thought it was a good idea to keep him alive as well.\nLovok: My interest in the changeling is based on what I believe to be the strategic interests of the Romulan Empire. But you, you seem to have a personal interest in him.\nGarak: Tell me, what else am I feeling? I've never been psychoanalyzed by a Romulan before. This is a fascinating experience.\nLovok: You are a practiced liar, Mister Garak, but I am a practiced observer. And I can assure you, I am going to be observing you very closely.\nPilot: We are within disruptor range.\nLovok: Scan the planet for life-signs.\nPilot: Sensors show multiple lifeforms on the surface. They appear to be in a liquid state.\nGarak: The Founders.\nTain: Signal the fleet to charge weapons and lock onto their targets. We will open fire the moment we drop our cloaks.\nPilot: All ships report ready. All weapons charged.\nTain: So much for the Dominion. Open fire.\nPilot: The first barrage is complete.\nTain: Effect?\nPilot: Thirty percent of the planetary crust destroyed on opening volley. No change in lifeform readings.\nTain: What? That's impossible. Some of them had to be killed.\nPilot: Our sensor readings have been confirmed by three other warbirds. There has been no change in the number of life-signs on the surface.\nGarak: They're using an automated transponder to send back false sensor readings. The planet's deserted.\nTain: Colonel, signal the fleet to\nPilot: Colonel, there are ships coming out of the nebula.\nLovok: What type of ships?\nPilot: Jem'Hadar fighters.\nTain: How many? I asked you a question.\nPilot: One hundred fifty.\nTain: Tactical display on screen.\nGarak: It's a trap. They've been waiting for us all along.\nPilot: Cardassian cruiser Koranak has been destroyed. Romulan warbirds Makar and Belak have lost main power.\nLovok: Bring us about to three one eight mark two one five. Concentrate fire on ships attacking on the port quarter.\nGarak: The Jem'Hadar will destroy every ship if we stay. Our only hope is to return to the Alpha Quadrant.\nLovok: There's no way out of here, Garak. The Jem'Hadar have cut us off. We need to consolidate the fleet and make our stand here.\nTain: How could this be? What have happened?\nGarak: I'm afraid the fault, dear Tain, is not in our stars but in ourselves.\nTain: What?\nGarak: Just something I learned from Doctor Bashir.\nPilot: Main power's out. Switching to emergency backups.\nLovok: Bridge to Engineering. We need power to the weapons. Bridge to Engineering, respond. I'll be in Engineering. Tain, take command of the Bridge.\nPilot: Four more Jem'Hadar vessels are closing on our position.\nOdo: I take it that the attack on the Founders is not proceeding according to plan.\nGarak: No, it's not, but I suggest we make our way to the runabout.\nOdo: For once, Garak, I agree with you.\nLovok: You will need this in order to gain access to your runabout.\nOdo: Why are you doing this?\nLovok: Because no changeling has ever harmed another.\nGarak: You are one of the Founders?\nOdo: Of course. This whole plan was the Founders' idea in the first place. You wanted the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order to combine forces and come into the Gamma Quadrant so you could wipe them out.\nLovok: Not exactly. Tain originated the plan, and when we learned of it we did everything we could to carry it forward. The Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order are both ruthless, efficient organizations. A definite threat to us.\nOdo: But not after today.\nLovok: After today the only real threat to us from the Alpha Quadrant are the Klingons and the Federation. And I doubt that either of them will be a threat for much longer. It is not too late for you, Odo. Come with me. You can still become one with the Great Link if you wish.\nOdo: Thank you. But my answer is still no.\nOdo: Come on. I don't think we have much time.\nGarak: The runabout is that way. Two decks down. Section twenty five. Wait for me there.\nOdo: Where are you going?\nGarak: To the Bridge, to get Tain.\nOdo: What?\nGarak: I know it's difficult for you to understand, Constable, but I still owe him a personal debt and I have to try to repay it. Wait for us as long as you can.\nGarak: Tain, we have to go!\nTain: There must have been an informant. That's the only explanation.\nGarak: Yes, there was an informant. You're right. Colonel Lovok is a changeling.\nTain: Lovok.\nGarak: Yes, but that's something we can discuss it at another time. Right now we have to\nTain: It appears I have underestimated the Founders. I should have seen it coming. There was a time when nothing got past me. You remember, don't you, Elim?\nGarak: Yes, I do. But now we have to go!\nTain: Go where? Back to Mila and my quiet retirement? I don't think so. I must be getting old. I let my pride override my instinct. Wouldn't have played it that way in the old days. In the old days I would've kept Lovok at arms length. He was too cagey, too smart.\nGarak: I can't just leave you here.\nTain: I always did have a soft spot for you, Garak. Another of my flaws.\nGarak: Enabran!\nTain: These Founders, Elim. They're very good. Next time we should be more careful.\nGarak: You can be very persuasive on occasion, Constable. But in the future I hope you'll consider using gentler language.\nOdo: I'll keep that in mind. A Jem'Hadar ship is following us. Raise shields and charge the weapons.\nGarak: Aft shields down to fifty percent. More speed would be advisable.\nOdo: The warp drive is offline.\nGarak: Shields down to thirty percent.\nOdo: Another Jem'Hadar ship is approaching to starboard. Hang on!\nGarak: Shields down to fifteen percent.\nOdo: Main power's failing. We're losing speed.\nGarak: The shields are gone. Odo, I hope that you will accept my sincere apologies for all this.\nOdo: A little late, isn't it?\nGarak: Nevertheless.\nOdo: I may not agree with what you did, but I can certainly understand your desire to return home.\nGarak: Thank you.\nOdo: What?\nKira: Three more coming in off the port bow.\nSisko: Fire on the lead ship, then bring us back to the runabout.\nDax: Two life-signs on the runabout, Commander.\nSisko: Drop shields. Bridge to Transporter room. Beam them aboard, Chief.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nEddington: Four more Jem'Hadar ships closing to starboard.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Bridge. I've got them.\nSisko: Raise shields.\nO'Brien: Welcome back.\nOdo: Thank you.\nBashir: Oh, that looks painful.\nGarak: It is. But it did save my life.\nEddington: Shields at eighty percent.\nSisko: Attack pattern omega four. Full impulse power. Hold your fire until we're within five hundred meters.\nKira: We might get pretty singed at that range.\nSisko: Not as singed as they're going to get. Engage.\nDax: Fifty thousand meters and closing. Two thousand meters. Five hundred!\nSisko: Fire!\nKira: The third Jem'Hadar fighter is still pursuing.\nSisko: Aft torpedoes fire.\nKira: Direct hit on their port nacelle. They're losing speed. We're out of their weapons' range.\nSisko: Any other signs of pursuit?\nDax: Negative. The other fighters are still concentrating on the remaining Romulan and Cardassian ships.\nSisko: Let's not wait around for them to change their minds. Set course for the wormhole, Lieutenant. Warp eight.\nKira: It's good to see you again, Constable.\nOdo: Likewise, Major.\nDax: Course laid in.\nSisko: Engage.\nSisko: There is still no indication that any Romulan or Cardassian vessels survived the attack.\nToddman: Sounds like Wolf three five nine all over again.\nSisko: I had the same thought.\nToddman: You may be interested to know I've decided not to file charges against anyone aboard the Defiant.\nSisko: Thank you, sir.\nToddman: But if you pull a stunt like that again I'll court martial you or I'll promote you. Either way you'll be in a lot of trouble.\nSisko: I'll keep that in mind, sir.\nOdo: I just read the report that you wrote and I wanted to thank you.\nGarak: Me? For what?\nOdo: For not mentioning my desire to return to my people.\nGarak: I consider the entire conversation as something best forgotten.\nOdo: As do I. Quark has expressed an interest in renting this space if you're not going to be using it.\nGarak: Oh?\nOdo: He mentioned something about an Argelian massage facility.\nGarak: Unfortunately I don't think Commander Sisko will approve of such an interesting facility on the Promenade.\nOdo: I tend to agree. But do I think he would approve of a tailor's shop.\nGarak: Do you know what the sad part is, Odo? I'm a very good tailor.\nOdo: Garak, I was thinking that you and I should have breakfast together sometime.\nGarak: Why, Constable, I thought you didn't eat.\nOdo: I don't."}
{"text": "Leeta: Excuse me. You're Doctor Bashir, aren't you?\nBashir: That's right.\nLeeta: I'm Leeta. I've been meaning to come by the Infirmary to see you.\nBashir: Oh, dear. How long have you had that cough?\nLeeta: A few days now.\nBashir: May I? Cough for me.\nBashir: Hmm.\nLeeta: Is it serious, Doctor?\nBashir: No, but it's a good thing you came to me when you did. We need to start your treatment immediately. Bring me a Fanalian toddy, very hot. Make that two. I'm feeling a bit of a cough coming on myself.\nLeeta: I'm sorry to hear that, Doctor.\nBashir: No, please, call me\nDax: Julian.\nBashir: Hi.\nDax: I'm Jadzia.\nLeeta: Leeta\nBashir: Before I forget, here's the immunological data you asked for.\nDax: How nice of you to put it together for me so quickly. I think I'll go over it right now. Oh, by the way, I hear the Lexington's docking here for a few days.\nBashir: The Lexington?\nBashir: Excuse me for just one second. Stay there.\nBashir: Jadzia. Do you happen to know when the Lexington is coming in?\nDax: Three weeks. Don't you have a friend aboard?\nBashir: Do I?\nDax: The medical officer. Elizabeth Lense?\nBashir: Elizabeth Lense. You know, I think she may have been in my class at Starfleet Medical.\nDax: Wasn't she valedictorian?\nBashir: That's right.\nDax: And you were salutatorian?\nBashir: Second in my class. But if I hadn't mistaken that pre-ganglionic fiber\nDax: For a post-ganglionic nerve. I know.\nBashir: I would've been valedictorian.\nDax: You must be looking forward to seeing her.\nBashir: I can hardly wait.\nSisko: Hey, Jake-o!\nJake: Hey, Dad.\nSisko: Hey.\nJake: What is this?\nSisko: I just thought it was time for a change. What do you think?\nJake: I like it. How was Bajor?\nSisko: Beautiful. You should've come with me.\nJake: The re-opening of some old library isn't exactly my idea of a good time.\nSisko: This wasn't just some old library. We're talking about the most extensive collection of Bajoran antiquities on the planet. I saw manuscripts that date back to before the fall of the First Republic.\nJake: Great.\nSisko: Here. Look at this.\nJake: What is this, some kind of ship?\nSisko: According to legend, the ancient Bajorans used ships like these to explore their star system eight hundred years ago\nJake: You mean that when humans were first sailing across the oceans, Bajorans were already going to other planets?\nSisko: Some scholars say they made it all the way to Cardassia.\nJake: That seems hard to believe. What are these?\nSisko: Solar sails. These ships were propelled by light pressure.\nJake: Like a sailboat catching the wind.\nSisko: Exactly.\nJake: I wonder if a ship like that could really fly?\nSisko: I don't know. That's why I'm going to build one.\nSisko: I'm expecting a lumber shipment from Bajor this afternoon.\nO'Brien: Okay.\nSisko: Which reminds me. I'll need a saber saw.\nO'Brien: A saber saw?\nSisko: You know, to cut wood.\nO'Brien: Why not use a laser cutter?\nSisko: Oh, no. I want to use the same types of tools the Bajorans had. This will do fine, Major. As soon as these cargo containers are out of the way, I'll start construction.\nO'Brien: Sir, I've looked over the specifications you brought back from Bajor. I'm not sure this design is spaceworthy, and I'm positive a ship like this could never have made it from Bajor to Cardassia.\nKira: Now why would you say that?\nO'Brien: At sublight speeds, the trip would've taken them years, and that's assuming ideal conditions. One unexpected ion storm in the Denorias Belt would've torn the sails to pieces and left them stranded.\nKira: Well, maybe they were lucky and they didn't go into any storms.\nO'Brien: I just don't see how this ship could've made the trip. They didn't even have replicators back then. They would've had to store their air supply and there's only enough room on board for a few weeks worth.\nKira: Well maybe they recycled it somehow, used some kind of photosynthetic plant.\nO'Brien: Yeah, maybe.\nKira: Oh, you sound just like a Cardassian.\nO'Brien: I beg your pardon?\nKira: They've denied the possibility of ancient contact for decades because they cannot stand the idea of Bajor having interstellar flight before they did.\nO'Brien: With all due respect, Major, you're beginning to sound like a Romulan.\nKira: A Romulan?\nO'Brien: There is no piece of technology in existence they don't claim they invented before everyone else.\nSisko: Look, I don't plan to spend the next few years sailing to Cardassia. All I want is to build one of these ships and prove that it's spaceworthy.\nO'Brien: A computer model could do that. And why go to all that trouble?\nSisko: Why? Because it'll be fun.\nSisko: Oh, yes.\nSisko: You know, I've been thinking. According to the star charts, the most difficult part of the trip between Bajor and Cardassia would be getting through the Denorias Belt. After that, it would be smooth sailing the rest of the way.\nJake: Really.\nSisko: Just making that part of the trip would go a long way towards demonstrating that the Bajorans could have made the journey to Cardassia.\nJake: Seems reasonable.\nSisko: It should only take about four, five days.\nJake: That's not so long.\nSisko: So?\nJake: What?\nSisko: So what do you say you come with me? We'll have a great time. The ship will be ready to go in another week.\nJake: That's when Leanne is supposed to get back from Bajor. I really want to see her, and I don't know how long she's going to be here.\nSisko: Oh, well. If you can't do it, you can't do it.\nJake: I'd like to, but it's just not good timing, you know?\nSisko: Sure. I understand.\nDax: Hi.\nSisko: Hello Jadzia.\nDax: I brought you something to eat.\nSisko: Oh, thank you. Let me just finish this welding and I'll take a break.\nDax: Benjamin, I can't believe the work you've put into this.\nSisko: I'm just following the blueprints.\nDax: But you didn't have to bother with detail like this to prove the ship is spaceworthy.\nSisko: Oh, I suppose not, but I want everything to be just right. It's an exact replica, you know, except for the gravity net I installled in the floor. Weightlessness makes me queasy.\nDax: I haven't seen you like this for a long time.\nSisko: Like what?\nDax: So caught up in something, so excited. Not since, not since you and Jennifer decided to have a baby.\nSisko: The nursery.\nDax: I don't think anyone's ever put such effort into making a room for their child.\nSisko: Well, you have to admit it turned out pretty well.\nDax: Especially the starscape on the ceiling.\nSisko: Jake loved that ceiling. In fact, when we moved out of the house, he couldn't understand why we couldn't bring it with us.\nDax: You're disappointed he's not going with you on this trip, aren't you?\nSisko: Oh, he has other things he'd rather be doing, friends he'd rather be with. It's funny. A year or two ago, nothing would've stopped him from coming with me on an adventure like this. I guess I waited too long.\nDax: You'll have other adventures, Benjamin. They'll just be different. Believe me, I know. I've been a father a couple of times, myself. Oh, I could tell you stories.\nSisko: You already have.\nDax: That's right. I have, haven't I? Then you know I'm right.\nJake: Computer, are there any messages for me?\nComputer: One. A communication from Wellington, New Zealand.\nJake: Display it on screen.\nJake: Hello.\nSisko: Welcome aboard, sir.\nJake: Hey, Dad.\nSisko: So, what do you think?\nJake: Well, it's wonderful. Maybe a bit small for two people but I think I could get used to it. That is, if you still want me along.\nDax: A Survey of Cygnian Respiratory Diseases? Fascinating.\nBashir: Yeah, I'm reading just about everything I can get my hands on. I don't want to be caught flat-footed by our intrepid Doctor Lense. It's useless, of course. She's probably diskovered the cure to aging by now.\nDax: I take it the two of you are competitive?\nBashir: Absolutely. We were neck and neck right until the final exam. Then I blew it. That's how she wound up on the Lexington, a post which virtually everyone in our graduating class was hoping for.\nDax: Including you?\nBashir: No. This is the assignment I wanted.\nDax: Then what does it matter?\nBashir: Well don't you see? She could have had this post, she could have taken it from me. No matter what I accomplish while I'm here, somehow that'll always make me feel second best.\nDukat: I understand you're planning a trip.\nSisko: Word gets around.\nDukat: I can't believe that a man of your intelligence would take stock in Bajoran fairy tales about ancient contact.\nSisko: If you recall, you thought the Celestial Temple was a Bajoran fairy tale, until we diskovered the wormhole.\nDukat: I suggest you reconsider your plans. Solar vessels are very fragile, and it's a long way to the Denorias Belt at sublight speeds.\nSisko: Don't worry. I'll have emergency equipment on board. If something goes wrong, Major Kira can have a runabout to me within an hour.\nDukat: An hour can be a long time, especially if you happen to encounter something unexpected.\nSisko: Like what?\nDukat: Oh, I don't know. A Maquis ship perhaps.\nSisko: Why would the Maquis have any quarrel with an unarmed ship sailing toward the Denorias Belt. They have nothing at stake here. Nothing to prove, or should I say, disprove.\nDukat: Commander, I contacted you out of concern for your safety, but you seem to be intimating that I've made some sort of threat.\nSisko: Ah. Then I'm glad I was wrong. For a moment there I thought that you had been put in charge of the Cardassian Ministry for the Refutation of Bajoran Fairy Tales.\nDukat: Since I don't seem to be able to dissuade you from undertaking this little voyage of yours, I'll wish you luck instead. Let's hope you don't need it.\nSisko: All right. First we have to deploy the mainsails. I want you to take that winch right there. Release brakes. All right. When I give you the word, crank it with all you've got. And now.\nJake: That's as far as they'll go.\nSisko: Lock it off. All right, let's work on the spritsails.\nJake: It's just. Oh.\nSisko: All right. Now get your back into it, eh?\nJake: All right.\nSisko: That's right. We'll make a sailor out of you yet.\nSisko: These will trim the spritsails.\nJake: Now I get it.\nSisko: What?\nJake: Why you wanted to build this ship.\nSisko: It is beautiful, isn't it.\nSisko: Jake-o, trim the starboard sprit about six degrees.\nJake: Okay. How's that?\nSisko: That should do it. We'll start to pick up speed as the pressure on the sails builds.\nJake: Hey, Dad, where do we sleep?\nSisko: We have hammocks we can string up later.\nJake: Is this the bathroom?\nSisko: Yes. It was designed for a zero-gravity environment.\nJake: How am I suppose to? How are you supposed to, er?\nSisko: You'll get the hang of it. We'll be tacking against the light most of the way, and then we'll run like this for about ninety minutes or so, then come about and I'll calculate the next leg of our trip. How about something to drink?\nJake: Yeah, sure. Don't tell me we only have zero-gravity rations.\nSisko: That's all the ancient Bajorans had. Listen.\nJake: I don't hear anything.\nSisko: Exactly. Not even the hum of an engine. It's almost like being on the deck of an old sailing ship, except the stars are not just up in the sky, they're all around us. Imagine how the ancient Bajorans must have felt, heading into space in a ship like this one, not knowing what they were going to find or who they were going to meet. Jake, I know that you really didn't want to come on this trip. I just want to say I'm glad you're here.\nJake: Dad, there's something I need to talk to you about.\nSisko: What is it?\nJake: First you should read this. It's a story I wrote.\nSisko: Ah. A story. That's why you kept putting this away every time I walked into the room, huh? Well if you'll keep an eye on the rigging, I'll read it right now.\nJake: Deal.\nOdo: It looked better where it was before. I thought you might want to know the Lexington docked a few minutes ago\nBashir: Already? Oh. I thought it wasn't coming for another day or two.\nOdo: She's in Quark's.\nBashir: Phew. Okay.\nO'Brien: Are you going to go talk to her or not?\nBashir: She's busy.\nQuark: You never mentioned she was beautiful.\nBashir: I never mentioned her at all, not to you anyway.\nQuark: Morn gave me three to one odds that you'll exchange awkward pleasantries for a few minutes then say goodbye. I'm betting that your charm will take you further.\nLense: Okay then. In the ship?\nO'Brien: She's getting up.\nLense: See you there. Bye.\nJake: So, what do you think?\nSisko: I liked it.\nJake: You're not just saying that?\nSisko: No, no, no. It's good.\nJake: What did you think about the part where Jared thinks he's been betrayed?\nSisko: I don't think that he'd confront him with it, not right away.\nJake: Yeah, I guess he could wait until he gets back from the Demilitarized zone.\nSisko: Yeah, that'd make it more believable.\nJake: So you really think it was good, huh?\nSisko: I think it shows a lot of promise.\nJake: What? Promise?\nSisko: In a few places you're writing about things you haven't actually experienced. At least, I hope you haven't experienced. Unless you've joined the Maquis without telling me.\nJake: I can't talk about it. I had you going there.\nSisko: Jake, I really am impressed. I think you should keep writing.\nJake: I'm thinking about it.\nSisko: Don't think about it, just do it.\nJake: What I mean is, yesterday I got a communication from the Pennington School in New Zealand, and they offered me a writing fellowship\nSisko: Jake, that's terrific. I didn't realize you had applied\nJake: I didn't really. What happened is, I showed a story I wrote to Mrs O'Brien. I guess she liked it because she showed it to a friend of hers who knows someone at the school and\nSisko: A mast support gave way. The starboard sprit is fouling one of the mainsails.\nJake: Can we fix it?\nSisko: I don't think so. We're going to have to jettison the sprit. Let's fall off a little, take some pressure off the sails. Lock that down and give me a hand. One more turn. Lock it. Good work. I'm going to jettison the sprit.\nSisko: That's better, but we're still getting a lot of spill off the sails. We won't be able to make much headway with each tack. I don't think we'll be able to get to the Denorias Belt like this.\nJake: The ancient Bajorans probably ran into these kinds of problems.\nSisko: I suppose they did.\nJake: Well, did they give up and go home?\nSisko: Seems to me we're here to prove that they didn't.\nJake: What are we waiting for?\nSisko: Let's get to work. Lay out the port sprit. Coming about.\nBashir: Bring me my chariots of fire! I will not cease from mental fight, Nor shall my sword sleep in hand Till we have built Jerusalem In England's green and pleasant land.\nBashir: That was really beautiful, Chief. You know what we should do?\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: We should go to Quark's and sing it for everybody.\nO'Brien: I think we should switch to synthale.\nBashir: No! No, this isn't a synthale kind of night. She walked right past me, Chief. Acted like I wasn't even there.\nO'Brien: Do you know what I think?\nBashir: What?\nO'Brien: I think she's in love with you.\nBashir: I don't think so.\nO'Brien: It's the only explanation. Unless, unless she really ignored you because she can't stand you.\nBashir: Isn't there some explanation in between?\nO'Brien: Well, you're not an in-between kind of guy.\nBashir: What do you mean?\nO'Brien: Well, people either love you or hate you.\nBashir: Really?\nO'Brien: I hated you when we first met.\nBashir: I remember.\nO'Brien: But now.\nBashir: But now?\nO'Brien: Well, now I don't.\nBashir: That means a lot to me, Chief. It really does.\nO'Brien: Really. Now that is from the heart. I really do, not hate you anymore. Hey, do you know what I think? If you want to know why she ignored you, you have got to confront her.\nBashir: You're right. I'm going to go right up to her and ask her flat out where she gets off walking past me like that.\nO'Brien: Better wait until tomorrow.\nBashir: Why? Why not right now?\nO'Brien: Because you can barely stand up right now.\nBashir: Good point. Good point. Good point. And did those feet O'BRIEN +\nBashir: In ancient time, Walk upon England's mountains\nSisko: Lock it. Coming about. Now. Good. Solid job. Let's take a break. String up the hammock. Hammock time.\nJake: Yo.\nSisko: Hop in. Phew. Oh, man.\nJake: Nice.\nJake: I'm okay.\nSisko: Comfortable, isn't it?\nJake: I'm fine. Yes.\nSisko: We'll make a sailor of you yet. I suppose congratulations are in order. Pennington is a good school, and very competitive.\nJake: Dad, before you say anything. I'm turning down the Fellowship.\nSisko: Turning it down? Why?\nJake: I'm just not ready to go.\nSisko: Jake, an opportunity like this doesn't come along every day/\nJake: I can defer admission for a year. If I want to go then, I still can.\nSisko: Well, that's fine, but why will things be different in a year?\nJake: I don't know. They just might be, that's all.\nSisko: I remember, Jake, I wasn't much older than you when I left for San Francisco to go to Starfleet Academy. For the first few days, I was so homesick that I'd go back to my house in New Orleans every night for dinner. I'd materialize in my living room at six thirty every night and take my seat at the table just like I had come down the stairs.\nJake: You must have used up a month's worth of transporter credits.\nSisko: My parents, they never said anything about it. Just 'how you doing, son, how was school today? They knew that I would get over being homesick soon enough. And after about the fifth, sixth day, you could pry me from that campus. Of course now, if you go to Pennington, you won't be able to beam back to the station to have dinner with your old man. After about a week or so, you'll get over it.\nJake: It's not me I'm worried about. It's you.\nSisko: Me?\nJake: If I go, you'll be all alone.\nSisko: Oh, I appreciate you thinking about me, Jake, but please don't turn down this opportunity on my account. I'll have plenty of people to keep me company. I can always eat dinner with Dax, or Doctor Bashir, or even Quark.\nJake: I guess, but I'd feel a lot better if you had someone. You know, someone special, like a girlfriend.\nSisko: I see.\nJake: Let's face it. It's been over a year since your last date. A year, Dad. You've got to make time for these things.\nSisko: I cannot believe that I'm getting advice about women from my son.\nJake: Don't think of me as your son right now. Just think of me as another guy. Another guy who happens to know a very attractive lady who wants to meet you.\nSisko: You are trying to set me up?\nJake: Well why not?\nJake: What was that?\nSisko: I'm not sure, but whatever hit us almost tore off the port mainsail.\nSisko: Main power's offline. We're moving at warp.\nJake: How can that be?\nSisko: I don't know.\nJake: What happened?\nSisko: That's a good question. There's no record of any spatial anomalies in this region.\nJake: What are these?\nSisko: Tachyon eddies. They run all through this area.\nJake: Could we have gotten caught up in one?\nSisko: No, tachyons don't have enough mass to affect a ship of. This isn't an ordinary ship. It has a lot more surface area relative to its mass.\nJake: Because of the sails.\nSisko: And since tachyons travel faster than light, it could be that their impact on the sails somehow accelerated us to warp speeds. We could be light years off course.\nJake: The question is, where did we end up?\nSisko: You check the rigging. I'll try to figure that out.\nJake: We lost the jib and port mainsail.\nSisko: Damn.\nJake: What?\nSisko: It's useless. Now we can't figure out where we are or where we're going. Guess we'll have to contact the station, let them know they have to come and get us.\nJake: We were so close. Another day and we would have made it to the Denorias Belt.\nSisko: Hey, we did pretty well getting as far as we did.\nJake: Is something wrong?\nSisko: The station's not responding.\nJake: Is the comm. unit damaged?\nSisko: Not as far as I can see. Maybe they haven't received our message yet\nJake: You think we could have been carried that far away from the station?\nSisko: I suppose it's possible.\nJake: Well, they'll find us eventually, right?\nSisko: Sure.\nBashir: Excuse me.\nLense: Yes?\nBashir: We were to medical school together. Julian Bashir.\nLense: You're Bashir?\nBashir: You sound surprised.\nLense: Well, I thought you were Andorian.\nBashir: Andorian?\nLense: Someone pointed out an Andorian to me at a party and said that that was Julian Bashir. It was New Year's Eve at Bruce Lucier's, four years ago.\nBashir: I did go to that party. May I?\nLense: Yes.\nBashir: With my friend, Erit. He's Andorian. No, thank you.\nLense: I must've gotten you mixed up. All these years, I thought you were someone else.\nBashir: Didn't you see me give my speech at graduation?\nLense: No, I was backstage waiting to give my speech. I was so nervous I almost passed out.\nBashir: I know the feeling.\nLense: So. You gave me quite a run for my money. If it hadn't been for that pre-ganglionic fiber\nBashir: You know about that?\nLense: I know that if you hadn't got that wrong you would be valedictorian.\nBashir: Well, I never got a chance to congratulate you.\nLense: Seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?\nBashir: Not so long. So, you got the Lexington. You must have had quite an adventure, exploring uncharted space, meeting fascinating new races with fascinating new diseases.\nLense: Actually, it ended up being more of a charting expedition. Sometimes it would be months between planetary systems. You wouldn't believe how excited I would get if we actually found something living, even if it was just moss under a rock. Don't take this the wrong way but, there were times when I regretted not taking your assignment.\nBashir: Really.\nLense: I read your paper on the immuno-therapy project you've been doing on Bajor. It was brilliant.\nBashir: Thank you.\nLense: I really envy the opportunity you have to work on that kind of long-term project. On the Lexington, it was collect your samples and then on to the next system.\nBashir: I suppose I was lucky.\nLense: What's happening on Bajor? Were you able to get the T-cell anomalies under control?\nBashir: If you're really that interested, we should go to the Infirmary and I can show you my latest results.\nLense: I'd love it.\nQuark: Morn, about that bet. I believe the odds were three to one.\nJake: So, Dad, we're not going to run out of air or anything, are we?\nSisko: Don't worry, somebody'll find us before that happens. So, tell me about this woman you want me to meet?\nJake: Well, she's a freighter captain.\nSisko: A freighter captain?\nJake: Dad, trust me, you'll like her.\nSisko: All right, I'll agree to meet her on one condition.\nJake: What?\nSisko: That you agree not to base your decision about going to Pennington on how our date turns out.\nJake: Don't worry, I won't. I've already decided to wait at least a year.\nSisko: Why?\nJake: Well, I've heard that you can only write about what you've experienced. And you've got to admit, Deep Space Nine is a pretty good place to get experience.\nJake: Dad!\nSisko: It appears we've got company.\nJake: What do you think they want?\nSisko: Looks like we're about to find out. What can I do for you, Dukat?\nDukat: Well, I wanted to be the first one to congratulate you.\nSisko: Congratulate me?\nDukat: On managing to make it all the way here.\nSisko: All the way where?\nDukat: Don't you know? You've just entered the Cardassian system.\nJake: The tachyon eddy. It must've taken us past the Denorias Belt and brought us here.\nSisko: The same thing must've happened to the ancient Bajorans.\nJake: We did it! We proved the trip was possible.\nDukat: I hate to interrupt your celebration, Commander, but I've been asked to convey a message from the Cardassian Government. Your voyage is a testament to the spirit of the ancient Bajorans who first ventured out into space. It could not be more appropriate that your arrival coincides with the diskovery here on Cardassia of an ancient crash site, a site that our archeologists believe contains the remnants of one of the Bajoran vessels whose journey you have just recreated.\nSisko: What an amazing coincidence.\nDukat: Yes, isn't it. Welcome."}
{"text": "Jake: Hey, Dad.\nSisko: Jake-o. Take your seat. Dinner's almost ready.\nJake: Let me guess, you've convinced the Peljenites to exchange ambassadors with the Federation.\nSisko: How did you know that?\nJake: You're cooking chicken paprikish.\nSisko: Paprikash.\nJake: You only cook Hungarian food when you're in a really good mood.\nSisko: You know, I always said that you are a smart child.\nJake: Runs in the family. You know, I've got some good news, too. Captain Yates is back on the station. Kasidy Yates.\nSisko: Who?\nJake: The freighter captain I told you about.\nSisko: The one you want me to meet?\nJake: I could invite her over for dinner. How about tomorrow night?\nSisko: Jake, I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. I know you want me to meet her, and I will. Just let me handle it my way.\nJake: You're going to like her, Dad.\nSisko: You never know.\nQuark: The place is packed. Where's Nog?\nRom: I gave him the night off.\nQuark: You what?\nRom: He's studying for his Starfleet exams. He's a very dedicated student.\nQuark: He's a disgrace to his family and to Ferengi everywhere. He should be here, helping us earn profit, not in his room, learning how to be more like a human.\nRom: He doesn't want to be human, brother. He just wants to join Starfleet.\nQuark: It's the same thing. Don't you see? That's is how it begins. All it takes is for one impressionable youngster to join Starfleet, and the next thing you know, a whole generation of Ferengi will be quoting the Prime Directive and abandoning the pursuit of latinum. It's the end of Ferengi civilisation as we know it and it's all your fault.\nRom: Relax, brother. Nog isn't going to destroy the Ferengi way of life. He just wants a job with better hours.\nBrunt: You must be Quark.\nQuark: That's me. What can I do for you?\nBrunt: Brunt. FCA.\nRom: The Ferengi Commerce Authority.\nQuark: A Writ of Accountability.\nRom: We're in trouble. All right, everyone. The bar is closed. Everybody out. Go, go, go. Now, everybody. This way. Out. Everybody out.\nRom: So, how do you get to be an FCA liquidator anyway?\nBrunt: Hard work, bribes, sucking up to the boss. Just like any other job. Are these all your assets? QUARK +\nRom: Yes. No.\nQuark: Down to the last slip of latinum.\nBrunt: You realize concealing financial information from the FCA could result in severe fines?\nQuark: I would never dream of trying to hide anything from the FCA.\nBrunt: We'll see.\nQuark: Could I look over those figures again?\nBrunt: Yes.\nQuark: Wait a minute. That can't be right. Rom, you forgot to include the profit figures for the tulaberry wine franchise.\nRom: But you told me\nQuark: Go get them. Now.\nRom: Yes, brother.\nQuark: You'll have to excuse Rom. He means well, but he can be a lobeless idiot sometimes.\nBrunt: Please provide a dermal imprint for FCA records.\nQuark: But you haven't even told me what I'm being charged with.\nBrunt: No. I haven't.\nQuark: Oh. How rude of me. For your trouble.\nBrunt: You're being charged with violating Ferengi Trade Bylaws subsection one thousand twenty seven, paragraph three.\nQuark: Subsection one thousand twenty seven, paragraph three? I'm not sure I'm familiar with that one.\nBrunt: Well in that case you need a copy of the Bylaws.\nQuark: Which you just happen to have.\nQuark: Subsection one thousand twenty seven, paragraph three. Improper supervision of a family member?\nBrunt: You are being held accountable for the criminal activities of one Ishka, daughter of Adred, wife of Keldar.\nQuark: Ishka? You mean our mother. What's she done?\nBrunt: She's charged with earning profit.\nRom: Earning profit? Our Moogie?\nQuark: Odo, I'm holding you personally responsible for the safety of my bar and my personal possessions for as long as I'm off the station. And make sure my thieving brother doesn't touch anything.\nOdo: Going somewhere?\nQuark: Back to the homeworld to take care of some business.\nOdo: A little trouble with the FCA?\nQuark: How'd you know? I won't be gone long. All I've got to do is get my mother to confess to her crimes and I'll be on the next transport back to the station.\nOdo: Your mother? What's she done?\nQuark: It doesn't matter. The important thing is I'm required by law to get her to admit her wrongdoing, make reparations and reveal her accomplices. And that's what I'm going to do.\nOdo: Assuming she cooperates.\nQuark: Well, she'd better. I have no intention of spending my latinum to make restitution for her crimes. I will wring that confession out of her if I have to.\nOdo: This is your mother you're talking about?\nQuark: Don't remind me.\nKira: Chief O'Brien wants to know when you can stop by and inspect the new runabout.\nSisko: I will be available at fourteen hundred hours. Tell him I want to name it the Rubicon.\nKira: The Rubicon it is. You know, the rate we go through runabouts, it's a good thing the Earth has so many rivers.\nDax: Have you met her yet?\nSisko: Met who?\nDax: Captain Yates.\nSisko: How did you know about her?\nDax: Jake introduced us. So are you going to ask her to dinner?\nSisko: I'm considering it. What did you think about her?\nDax: Let me just put it this way. If I were Curzon, I'd have stolen her from you by now.\nSisko: That's one of the reasons I'm glad you're not Curzon anymore.\nRom: Brother, wait. I'm coming with you.\nQuark: No, you're not.\nRom: Yes, I am.\nQuark: What did I tell you about contradicting me?\nRom: You told me not to do it.\nQuark: That's right. So you're going to stay here and watch over the bar while I'm gone.\nRom: No, I'm not. The bar's closed. There's no reason why I can't come along.\nQuark: You want a reason? I'll give you a reason. I don't want you to. And you know why? Because you'll just take her side.\nRom: You mean Moogie?\nQuark: Yes, I mean Moogie. Stop calling her by that infantile nickname.\nRom: But she likes it.\nQuark: Well, I don't.\nRom: Well, she does.\nQuark: You see? You always take her side.\nRom: Somebody has to. After all, she is our mother. Now, I'm coming with you and that's final.\nQuark: All right. Fine. Come if you want. Just remember one thing. This is between Moogie, I mean Mother, and me. So if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of the way.\nQuark: Welcome to our home.\nQuark: Please place your imprint on the legal waivers and deposit your admission fee in the box by the door. Remember, my house is my house.\nBrunt: As are its contents.\nRom: It's good to be back, isn't it, brother?\nQuark: Now that you mention it, no.\nRom: But you haven't been here in twenty years.\nQuark: And if I had my way, I would have been gone another twenty.\nRom: Mother certainly has been acquiring quite a few new things. Doubtlessly with the generous stipend you give her. Look, brother. The latinum tooth-sharpener I used when we were children.\nQuark: All I had was a cheap wooden chewstick.\nBrunt: Excuse me for interrupting, but we do have business to attend to. As a registered liquidator, it's my duty to present a formal list of the infractions committed by your mother. You have three days to obtain an admission of guilt from the accused.\nQuark: Three days? Is that all?\nBrunt: If you're not able to obtain a confession, your mother will be placed in indentured servitude and you will be required to make restitution for her crimes. Do you understand everything I've said to you?\nIshka: He understands, all right. Not that it matters. I'm not confessing to anything.\nRom: Moogie!\nIshka: It's good to see you, son. You look well.\nRom: And you look dressed.\nIshka: Oh, now, now, now.\nBrunt: Your mother is wearing clothes.\nQuark: Mother, get undressed this instant.\nIshka: Hello, Quark. You haven't changed a bit.\nBrunt: Perhaps I should leave.\nIshka: Perhaps you should.\nBrunt: Was she addressing me?\nQuark: No, no, no, not at all.\nIshka: Of course I was. This is my home and I'll speak to whomever I want.\nRom: But Moogie, he's a stranger, and you're a female.\nIshka: It's all right, Rom. I know what I'm doing.\nBrunt: Perhaps you do, but I will not stand here and be spoken to by a female.\nQuark: Wait. I'm sure there's an explanation.\nBrunt: You have three days to get your house in order.\nQuark: Now, see what you've done?\nIshka: Quark, you're upsetting your brother.\nQuark: He's not the only one who's upset. Not that anyone cares how I feel.\nIshka: That's not true. I care.\nQuark: Then imprint this and take off those clothes.\nIshka: I'm not doing anything of the kind.\nQuark: Yes you are. You're going to make a full confession, so that I can go back to my bar and pretend none of this has ever happened.\nRom: You mean we're leaving so soon?\nIshka: Rom, this is your home. You can stay as long as you like. Or leave whenever you like. It's up to you.\nRom: Same old Moogie.\nQuark: Yeah.\nOdo: Are you sure this is absolutely necessary?\nBashir: Well, I don't know if I would call it necessary.\nO'Brien: Constable, there's no telling how long Quark will be away. All we want is our dartboard.\nOdo: Can't you just replicate another one?\nBashir: We could\nO'Brien: But we're not going to. That's our dartboard and we want it back. If Quark was going to run off, the least he could do is give us some warning so we could retrieve our property.\nBashir: It's the principle of the thing.\nOdo: Well, getting it back might not be as simple as you think. This is one of Rom's special security locks. I've never seen anything so convoluted.\nSisko: Gentlemen, is there a problem?\nOdo: Ah. Well, it seems Quark has locked some of Chief O'Brien and Doctor Bashir's personal property inside the bar.\nSisko: Ah. Let me guess. Your lucky dartboard?\nO'Brien: We never said it was a lucky dartboard.\nBashir: We're just used to playing on it, that's all.\nSisko: A little defensive, aren't they? Ah well, it looks like it's a tripartite microsealing mechanism. It's going to take you a long time to get through that one. If you want any suggestions, I'll be in cargo bay\nO'Brien: Four.\nSisko: Seven.\nO'Brien: Oh, I just thought\nSisko: Thought what?\nO'Brien: I thought you were going to talk to the freighter captain.\nBashir: You know. Jake's friend.\nSisko: How do you two know about her?\nBashir: The Chief told me.\nSisko: Exactly how many people has Jake told about this woman?\nO'Brien: Everyone.\nRom: Tube grubs, extra juicy, just the way you like them.\nQuark: What are you doing?\nRom: Serving dinner.\nQuark: That's mother's job.\nRom: She's not feeling well.\nQuark: Not feeling well? Wait a minute, that's not bad. We could say she's having emotional problems. We might even be able to get the FCA to drop the charges in light of her illness.\nRom: Actually, all she has is a slight rash. Her skin's still a little sensitive to clothing.\nQuark: That's hardly an excuse not to serve her sons dinner. Look at this. She hasn't even softened these grubs for us.\nRom: You know Moogie. She never liked chewing our food for us.\nQuark: Not even when we were children.\nRom: She always had her own way of doing things.\nQuark: Remember how the other children used to tease us about her. Your mother won't chew your food. Your mother talks to strangers. It's like she went out of her way to embarrass us. Not to mention Father. Oh, I remember. There were nights when I would find him sitting, slumped in this chair. He'd say to me, 'Quark, I don't know what I'm going to do about that female.' No wonder he never earned much profit. He was too busy worrying about her.\nRom: I thought Father did all right.\nQuark: He could've done a lot better if she'd just behaved herself, showed him the respect he deserved. Well, she may have dragged Father down, but she's not doing the same to me. It's time someone put her in her place.\nIshka: Have anyone in mind for the job? Mmm, dank and musty.\nRom: I hand picked them from the cellar.\nQuark: Mother, we need to talk.\nIshka: Forget it, Quark. I am not imprinting the confession.\nQuark: Why not? Imprinting the confession doesn't take away your achievement. Just admit to what you did and tell the FCA the name of any male who might have helped you.\nRom: What exactly did she do, brother?\nQuark: Never mind what she did.\nIshka: Why don't you tell him? Or would you prefer I did?\nQuark: All right. She took a part of the monthly stipend I send her and invested it in a Hupyrian beetle farm.\nIshka: High quality beetles. The best.\nRom: Really? How much did you make, Moogie?\nIshka: Three bars of gold-pressed latinum.\nRom: Three bars of latinum? Isn't the FCA overreacting a little?\nQuark: It doesn't matter whether it's one slip or a hundred thousand bars. Females are not allowed to earn profit.\nIshka: Why not?\nQuark: Because it's the law. And without law, society would descend into chaos.\nIshka: If you ask me, this society could use a little chaos.\nQuark: Not if I have anything to say about it.\nRom: Gee, I wish Father were alive. Then it'd be just like old times. Sitting around the family table, eating tube grubs, discussing important issues of the day.\nQuark: Mother, I know you're not like other females. You like to think about things. You have opinions.\nIshka: Is that a compliment, or an accusation?\nQuark: It's a fact. But what's also a fact is, if you don't imprint this confession, you'll be sold into indentured servitude, and I'll be forced to make restitution.\nRom: But Brother, it's only three bars of latinum.\nQuark: And I'm not going to let those three bars to destroy this family. If our disgrace is made known, do you think we could ever do business with another Ferengi again? I wouldn't do business with me. Mother, please, for our family's reputation, for your sons' financial future, please imprint the confession.\nIshka: I can't. I wish you could understand, Quark.\nQuark: I understand perfectly. You're a selfish female who never cared about this family, about Father, or about me.\nRom: I see you haven't changed your bedroom, Moogie. It's still very traditional.\nIshka: I keep it this way to remind myself how idiotic Ferengi tradition can be when it comes to females.\nRom: Oh.\nIshka: Rom, is something wrong?\nRom: Wrong? No. Not really. Except your clothes.\nIshka: Would you feel more comfortable if I took them off?\nRom: Well, maybe just a little.\nIshka: All right, if it will make you feel better. But only for you.\nIshka: Better?\nRom: Much. You know, Moogie, it really would mean a lot to Quark if you imprint that confession.\nIshka: He's made that quite clear.\nRom: I know he can be headstrong and overbearing, not to mention mean and insulting and rude, but he's not all bad. He works hard. You should see the bar. It's thriving.\nIshka: I'd like to, but Ferengi tradition doesn't allow females to travel.\nRom: Quark doesn't make the rules.\nIshka: He just lives by them.\nRom: Like a good Ferengi.\nIshka: Like an unenlightened Ferengi.\nRom: Moogie, can't you give back the three bars of latinum? If you don't, you're going to destroy everything Quark's worked for.\nIshka: You always were a good boy. I don't think Quark knows how lucky he is to have a brother as loyal as you.\nRom: He knows. He just doesn't like showing it. If you cooperate with the FCA, I bet I can convince him to increase your stipend.\nIshka: This isn't about money, Rom. Quark has always been more than generous with my stipend. I have more than enough to live on.\nRom: If it's not about money, then what is it about?\nIshka: It's about pride. And knowing that I'm just as capable of earning profit as any male. Don't you see? If I imprint that confession, I'll be admitting that what I did was wrong. I'm not going to do that. I'd rather be sold into servitude.\nRom: But what about Quark?\nIshka: He's a smart boy. He can take care of himself. Enough about your brother. Let me see your teeth.\nRom: My teeth? Why?\nIshka: They're looking a little dull. Why don't you sit here and I'll sharpen them for you. Here we are.\nRom: Oh, Moogie, you're the best.\nKasidy: Pardshay, don't be an idiot. Go get an anti-grav sled before you hurt yourself.\nSisko: Why don't you just beam it to your cargo hold?\nKasidy: Well I wish I could, but it's unstable biomatter.\nSisko: The transporter should still be able to handle it, as long as you adjust your phase transition inhibitor.\nKasidy: Provided I had a mark seven transporter.\nSisko: You're still using a mark six?\nKasidy: A mark five.\nSisko: A mark Five? I thought they stopped making those things\nKasidy: Fifteen years ago. But when you're working for the Petarians, you have to make do with what they give you. Oh, let me guess. Commander Sisko.\nSisko: Benjamin.\nKasidy: Kasidy. Kasidy Yates.\nSisko: Yes, I know. My son has told me a lot about you.\nKasidy: Well I think Jake fancies himself something of a matchmaker.\nSisko: He means well. He does get a little too enthusiastic now and then.\nKasidy: Oh, damn. That sounds like the inertium ore. I'd better go see what's going on.\nSisko: I'll give you a hand.\nKasidy: I can take care of it.\nSisko: Of course. Sorry about Jake.\nKasidy: How about coffee? Say tomorrow evening, eighteen hundred hours?\nSisko: Sounds good.\nKasidy: I'll see you tomorrow.\nRom: There's nothing like sleeping in your old room. So, how was your night?\nQuark: Mother's been busy.\nRom: Really? I didn't even know she was up yet.\nQuark: I mean she's been busy. I've been doing some checking. This isn't about three bars of latinum.\nRom: You mean she earned more?\nQuark: A lot more. So much that I haven't been able to track it all down. She's been operating under dozens of different aliases, conducting transactions all over the Ferengi Alliance. Do you know what this means?\nRom: It means Moogie's got the lobes for business.\nQuark: Even if I sold everything I have, I couldn't come close to paying back what she's earned. I'm ruined.\nRom: Brother? Is everything all right? I'm so proud of you, Quark. I mean, other people in your situation might overreact and lose their temper, make a bad situation worse. But not my brother. You're too smart for that. You're going to sit there and study the problem, and then come up with a clear, simple solution.\nQuark: I already have.\nRom: You see? I told you. What is it?\nQuark: I'm going to kill her.\nRom: Moogie!\nQuark: A-ha. Caught you. Give me that.\nIshka: Give you what?\nQuark: That PADD you just hid.\nIshka: It's a letter to your cousin Stol.\nQuark: A likely story.\nQuark: I knew it. You were trying to hide more profits. Well, it won't work. I know all about your little financial empire.\nIshka: It's not so little.\nQuark: Then you admit it?\nRom: Brother, calm down. I'm sure Moogie has a perfectly good explanation for what she's done. Don't you, Moogie?\nIshka: Since when does a Ferengi have to make excuses for making profit?\nQuark: You're a female.\nIshka: And when it comes to profit, this female is a better Ferengi than you'll ever be.\nQuark: You expect me to believe you did all this on your own? You had help. Admit it. Tell me his name. I'll see to it the FCA hangs him by his lobes in the Sacred Marketplace.\nIshka: Quark, sometimes you can be so thick-headed.\nRom: Now, Moogie, there's no need to be insulting.\nIshka: Of course there is. Insults are the only thing he understands. He's so blind with jealousy, he can't even think straight.\nQuark: Me? Jealous of you? Hah.\nIshka: You're just like your father.\nQuark: Why would Father be jealous of you?\nIshka: Because he knew I had the lobes for business and he didn't. I tried to help him, give him financial advice, but he wouldn't listen to me because I was a female.\nQuark: What other reason did he need? Females don't belong in business.\nIshka: Give me one reason why not.\nQuark: Because it's wrong.\nIshka: You're going to have to do better than that.\nQuark: No, I'm not. It's the law. That was good enough for Father, and it's good enough for me.\nIshka: A lot of things were good enough for your father. He was a lobeless failure and if you're not careful, you're going to end up just like him.\nQuark: That does it.\nRom: Brother, where are you going?\nQuark: To the FCA. Let's see what they have to say about your financial empire.\nRom: Brother, wait.\nQuark: Out of my way, Rom.\nRom: No. I'm not going to let you hurt Mother.\nQuark: She's no mother of mine.\nRom: Why? Because of what she said about Father? Did it ever occur to you that she might be right?\nQuark: How dare you take her side against Father's?\nRom: Oh, don't tell me about Father. I knew him a lot better than you did. You went off as soon as you reached the Age of Ascension, but I stayed here for ten more years. And you know what I learned in those ten years? I learned that Father was no financial genius.\nQuark: Take that back.\nRom: It's the truth. He went from one bad deal to the next, one failure after another. He couldn't hold onto latinum if you sewed it into his pants.\nQuark: Take that back!\nRom: No!\nIshka: Quark! Rom! That's enough! Let him go!\nRom: But Moogie\nIshka: Stop it! Stop it, both of you.\nIshka: If your brother wants to go to the FCA, let him.\nRom: But you'll get in trouble.\nIshka: I'll worry about that. Go on. What are you waiting for?\nQuark: That's the steepest forty flights of stairs I've ever climbed. Seven slips of latinum to use the elevator. Talk about inflation. Refined dilithium down ten percent?\nQuark: The name's Quark. I'm here to see Liquidator Brunt.\nQuark: Of course.\nReceptionist: I'll tell Liquidator Brunt that you're here. Have a seat.\nQuark: How much?\nReceptionist: Three slips.\nQuark: I'll stand.\nReceptionist: That'll be one slip.\nQuark: I'll give you two for the chair.\nReceptionist: If you're here to deliver an imprinted confession, you can leave it with me. I'll see that Liquidator Brunt gets it.\nQuark: Tell Brunt I need to talk to him now. I have information that could shake the very foundation of the Ferengi Alliance.\nRom: Brother. Wait. I have to sit down.\nReceptionist: That'll be three slips of latinum.\nRom: Brother, can you loan me?\nQuark: Yeah, yeah. Here. Now what do you want?\nRom: I have a message from Moogie.\nQuark: There's nothing she could say that would interest me.\nRom: She'll share it with you.\nQuark: What was that?\nRom: Her profits. Fifty-fifty.\nQuark: Tell Brunt I'll talk to him later. Come on. Let's try out that elevator.\nRom: But it's so expensive.\nQuark: I can afford it. For your trouble.\nQuark: Mother, I want to apologize for all the terrible things I said. I was angry, and I got carried away. I'm sorry.\nIshka: Apology accepted. I'm just glad that Rom was able to catch you before you made a horrible mistake.\nQuark: It would've been a shame to waste all of that profit.\nIshka: I'm glad we agree.\nQuark: So, how much latinum have you made?\nIshka: Does it matter?\nQuark: I just want to make sure that everything is divided fairly.\nIshka: Divided?\nQuark: Fifty-fifty. Just like you said.\nIshka: I never said that. You said he'd let me keep all the profit for myself.\nQuark: I said no such thing.\nRom: So I lied to both of you. I had no choice. It was the only way to get the two of you talking again.\nQuark: There's nothing to say.\nIshka: Don't get your lobes caught in the door on your way out.\nRom: That's enough bickering. You're both acting like children. I will not stand by and let this family fall apart. Quark, you should be ashamed of yourself. I've seen you treat Cardassians with more respect than you show your own mother. And Moogie, if Quark can uncover your hidden investments, eventually the FCA will too. And then all that profit will be lost. Think about that for a moment. Now, neither of you is going to leave this room until you've settled things. Is that clear? And no shouting! I'm going to take a nap.\nIshka: He's a sweet boy.\nQuark: That's easy for you to say. He doesn't live next door to you.\nIshka: You're too hard on him. You always have been.\nQuark: I had to be. You were always too easy on him. Maybe if you'd pushed him a little harder, he would've amounted to something.\nIshka: I doubt it. When it comes to business, he's a lot like your father.\nQuark: You enjoy insulting Father, don't you?\nIshka: I'm not insulting anyone. I'm just being honest. Rom's a lot like his father. And you, I suppose, are a lot like me.\nQuark: I never knew you felt like that.\nIshka: Your father might have bought you your first copy of the Rules of Acquisition, but who helped you memorize them?\nQuark: You did.\nIshka: I don't think I've ever been prouder than the first time you made it through all two hundred and eighty five rules without a mistake.\nQuark: Rom knows them just as well as I do.\nIshka: But you understand them. Rom never did. And neither did his father. But even if Keldar didn't know the first thing about profit, he knew everything about family. He was a good husband and a wonderful father. And I loved him for that. The way I love Rom, and the way I love you.\nQuark: You mean that?\nIshka: Yes, I suppose I do. If it'll make you happy, I'll give back the money.\nQuark: You'll imprint the confession?\nIshka: You're my son, Quark. How can I refuse you?\nQuark: You don't know how much this means to me.\nIshka: I know exactly how much this means to you.\nQuark: Oh, Moogie. I love you.\nSisko: There's no place like New Orleans for simple pleasures. Good food, great music.\nKasidy: Sounds like a great place to grow up.\nSisko: The best. Can I get you another raktajino?\nKasidy: No, I'm fine.\nSisko: You seem a little preoccupied.\nKasidy: It's just when we made our plans I forgot I had a previous engagement.\nSisko: I see.\nKasidy: It's not what you think. It's kind of a family obligation. You see, my youngest brother, he's a colonist on Cestus Three.\nSisko: That's on the other side of the Federation.\nKasidy: It's so far away, it takes two weeks for a subspace transmission to get here and I'm expecting one tonight. I promised my brother I'd listen to it as it came in.\nSisko: I hope nothing's wrong.\nKasidy: Not unless he hurt himself again. Last time he tore some ligaments in his knee.\nSisko: How'd that happen?\nKasidy: He was doing something called sliding into second.\nSisko: Sliding into second?\nKasidy: Yes.\nSisko: That sounds like baseball.\nKasidy: You know about baseball?\nSisko: It's my favorite sport. But no one has played it for two hundred years.\nKasidy: Well, they're playing it on Cestus Three, At least they have been for the past six months.\nSisko: I had no idea. That's fantastic. How many teams are there?\nKasidy: Six, but they're trying to organize a couple more. I didn't know you liked baseball.\nSisko: I didn't know anyone else liked baseball, except me and Jake.\nKasidy: Look, this transmission I mentioned, it's an audio recording of a game between my brother's team, the Pike City Pioneers and the Cestus Comets. Well, if you'd like you're welcome to listen to it with me.\nSisko: I'd love to.\nKasidy: Oh, great.\nSisko: Tell me, does your brother's league use a designated hitter rule?\nKasidy: Oh no. They thought about it, but decided against it.\nSisko: Wood bats or polyduranide?\nKira: Wood, of course.\nSisko: Do you think your brother could use a right handed pitcher?\nBrunt: Everything seems to be in order. I'm glad we can finally put an end to this matter. And I certainly hope you've learned your lesson.\nIshka: And what would that be?\nBrunt: She's speaking to me again.\nRom: No, she wasn't.\nQuark: She's speaking to me. Now, what were you saying about a lesson?\nBrunt: Ah, the lesson is, no one can outsmart the FCA.\nQuark: I think she's certainly learned that.\nBrunt: Your mother's confession will serve as a warning to females all over the Alliance.\nQuark: Oh, I don't think anyone has to know about this. After all, what would people say if they knew a female had earned that much latinum?\nBrunt: I shudder to think. Goodbye. I sincerely hope I never see any of you again.\nQuark: The feeling is mutual.\nIshka: I thought he'd never leave.\nQuark: Mother, must you?\nIshka: Quark, I've just given up a sizable fortune. I'm in no mood for your nagging.\nQuark: You're absolutely right. If you want to wear clothes, go ahead. What do I care? I'm leaving anyway.\nIshka: So soon?\nQuark: I have to reopen the bar. It's supporting all of us now.\nIshka: Well, you know you could call your mother every once in a while. Maybe even visit.\nQuark: I will. I promise. Let's go, Rom.\nRom: I'll be along in a moment, brother.\nRom: I'm glad to see you two are finally getting along.\nIshka: I think things will be a lot better between us from now on.\nRom: As long as he doesn't find out you only gave the FCA a third of your profits.\nIshka: If you ask me, a third was too much. But it's my own fault for not hiding it better.\nRom: You sure the FCA won't find the rest?\nIshka: I've got it hidden so well, I'll be lucky if I can find it.\nRom: Oh, Moogie.\nIshka: Now, Rom, don't start crying. You'll get me doing it. Go on. Go on. Quark's waiting for you. Take care of your brother."}
{"text": "Sisko: Got you this time, Chief.\nO'Brien: Sorry, Commander.\nSisko: Don't apologize. That just makes it worse.\nO'Brien: I guess I'm just in the zone today.\nSisko: In the zone?\nO'Brien: The feeling that I can't lose. That I can put the dart exactly where I want it. You know the feeling.\nSisko: Not today.\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nDax: Benjamin, there's a priority message for you from the Bajoran Provisional government.\nSisko: On my way. Fortunately, duty calls. You'll have to find yourself another victim.\nSisko: Doctor.\nBashir: Commander. Is Chief O'Brien in here?\nSisko: He's back there, in the zone.\nKira: Raka ja ut. Shala morala. Ema bo roo kana. Uranak. Ralanon Bareil. Propeh va nara ehsuk. Shala kan vunek.\nKira: Enter.\nSisko: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt.\nKira: It's all right. It's called a duranja. It's a lamp for the dead. I was just praying for Bareil. What can I do for you?\nSisko: This may come as somewhat of a shock, but I wanted you to hear it from me. The First Minister of the Provisional government has died.\nKira: Kalem Apren? How?\nSisko: Heart failure. He died in his sleep.\nKira: Well, I just met him once, but he seemed like he was a good man. How soon will they appoint someone to replace him?\nSisko: They have already appointed someone. The new head of the Provisional government is Kai Winn.\nOdo: So as a result, I've transferred Ensign Palmers back to the night watch and reassigned Crewman Donark to the Defiant as a member of the security detachment. Starfleet is sending a series of upgrades for our tactical computer modules next week. I've drawn up a plan to phase in the upgrades over the course of three days. Major. Is something wrong?\nKira: Yes. Oh, it's this whole thing with Kai Winn. I was just trying to get used to her as spiritual leader of Bajor and now she's running the government, Odo?\nOdo: Not an ideal situation.\nKira: Well I'm beginning to think that you and I are the only ones who feel that way. No one's is opposing her in next month's elections. She is going to be elected the First Minister for the next six years and no one seems to care.\nOdo: You and I have a different perspective than most Bajorans. There's a personal element to our feelings about her. I know that you still blame Winn for Bareil's death.\nKira: That's part of it. This is about the future of Bajor. I can't shake the feeling that giving Winn control of the government is a mistake and she should be stopped.\nOdo: Stopped from doing what?\nKira: I don't know. Maybe, maybe I'm afraid that if she's given power, she's never going to let go.\nOdo: Unfortunately that suspicion is not shared by the people of Bajor. They still admire her as the woman who made peace with Cardassia.\nKira: Bareil made peace with Cardassia.\nOdo: I know that, Major. But to the rest of Bajor, Winn is the real hero. In their eyes it took courage for her to conclude a treaty with a race that she herself had so bitterly condemned and fought against.\nKira: I don't care what her popular image is. She is no hero. The only thing that she cares about is her own power. Why can't people see that? We spent so many years fighting the Cardassians. We spent so much time hoping and praying for a Bajor that was free. Now that we won, how can people just hand their freedom over to someone like Winn?\nOdo: It has been my observation that one of the prices of giving people freedom of choice is that sometimes they make the wrong choice.\nKira: Bo roo kana uranak. Ralanon Bareil. Propeh va nara ehsuk. Shala kan.\nKira: Yes?\nWinn: Hello, child.\nKira: Eminence.\nWinn: May I come in?\nKira: Yes.\nWinn: Please forgive this intrusion. I know the hour is late.\nKira: Does Commander Sisko know you're aboard the station?\nWinn: I'm not here to see the Emissary. I'm here to see you.\nKira: Me?\nWinn: Yes, child. Have you suffered a recent loss? Or are you still mourning the death of Minister Kalem?\nKira: It's for Vedek Bareil, actually.\nWinn: It's been three months since Bareil left us to walk with the Prophets. You must have cared for him deeply.\nKira: I loved him.\nWinn: As did I.\nKira: Is that why you never mention Bareil's name when you talk about your peace treaty with Cardassia? As I recall, he's the one who negotiated it.\nWinn: Bareil saw himself as simply carrying out the will of the Prophets. To him, achieving peace with Cardassia was its own reward. He never wanted fame or glory for what he did. As someone who loved him, I'm surprised you didn't know that.\nKira: What is it you want, Eminence?\nWinn: Are you familiar with Rakantha Province?\nKira: It's a farming community.\nWinn: And it used to be one of the most productive agricultural regions on Bajor. But as you know, the Cardassians poisoned much of our farmlands before they left, and Rakantha has been mostly barren wasteland ever since. After years of research, the agricultural ministry has finally developed reclamators which can detoxify the soil and make it fertile again.\nKira: It's very interesting, but what does it have to do with me?\nWinn: Patience, child. In six months, it will be planting season in Rakantha. By this time next year, we can be producing boton, moreka and salam grass. All valuable commodities for export. If we can attract interstellar commerce to Bajor, it will only enhance our application for membership in the Federation.\nKira: I understand.\nWinn: Unfortunately, a group of farmers who were allowed to use the reclamators in another province are now refusing to return them. And this is why I've come to you, Kira. The farmers who seized the equipment are in Dahkur Province. Your home. And they're led by a man with whom you're acquainted. His name is Shakaar.\nKira: Shakaar?\nWinn: And if I'm not mistaken, he was the leader of your resistance cell during the occupation.\nKira: That's right.\nWinn: I want you to convince him to return the equipment he's stolen.\nKira: You want me to go up against a man who saved my life countless times for you?\nWinn: Not for me, child. For Bajor. I know we've had our differences in the past, but I'm asking you to put those feelings aside and think of what is best for our people. We're on the verge of a new era. The Occupation is over, we've achieved peace with Cardassia, Federation membership is only a few years away. This is an exciting time to be a Bajoran. But our future depends on each of us acting for the common good of all Bajor. Shakaar has lost sight of this. By stealing the reclamators, he's acting in his own self-interest at the expense of the rest of our people.\nKira: I know Shakaar. He's one of the most selfless people I have ever met. He must have a good reason for what he's done.\nWinn: Perhaps. Perhaps he is just misguided. That's why I've come to you, Kira. You know him, you can talk to him. I don't want this to become a scandal. I want this settled peacefully, quietly. Surely we can both agree that that's a worthy goal.\nKira: I'll talk to him, but I can't guarantee that he'll listen to me.\nWinn: Vedek Bareil used to tell me that you could be quite persuasive when you put your mind to it, child. I hope he wasn't mistaken. Walk with the Prophets.\nShakaar: You cut your hair.\nKira: You let yours grow.\nShakaar: I liked you the old way.\nKira: I was thinking the same thing about you.\nShakaar: It's good to see you, Nerys.\nKira: It's good to see you, too.\nShakaar: Come on in.\nShakaar: So, Major Kira Nerys, Deep Space Nine's first officer. You've made quite a name for yourself.\nKira: Not really.\nShakaar: You've accomplished a great deal. You should be proud. Furel and Lupaza are so proud of you they actually stand a little taller every time your name comes up.\nKira: Furel and Lupaza? You still see them?\nShakaar: Of course. They both have farms less than ten kilometers from here.\nKira: Those two are farmers? Now you, yes, that's all you ever talked about. But Lupaza? How did that happen?\nShakaar: You can ask her yourself. They'll be here in a couple of hours. I can hardly wait to see the look on their faces when they walk through that door and see you standing there.\nKira: Shakaar, before they get here we should talk. I'm here on business.\nShakaar: I know why you're here, Nerys. I need time to think about it, all right?\nKira: All right.\nDax: I think I'll stick to tongo from now on.\nO'Brien: Sorry, Lieutenant.\nQuark: Thank you. Thank you all for your gaming business. The House will start taking bets on the next challenger at ten to one. That's ten to one without even knowing who the next challenger will be.\nO'Brien: Quark, I have to go.\nQuark: No problem. Ladies and gentlemen, Chief of Operations Miles Edward O'Brien has to leave to resume his duties on board the station. Now, everyone, make way. I trust we'll be seeing you again tomorrow, Chief, for your forty seventh straight victory?\nO'Brien: I don't know. I was actually thinking about getting some time in the holosuites tomorrow.\nQuark: The holosuites? You weren't thinking of going kayaking by any chance?\nO'Brien: As a matter of fact, I was.\nQuark: Didn't I tell you? I misplaced the kayaking program. Haven't seen it in days.\nO'Brien: Quark.\nQuark: All right, look. You're on a streak. An epic streak. If you go kayaking tomorrow and something happens and you damage that golden shoulder, this streak will be over and you'll never know just how far it might have taken you. Could you really live with that?\nO'Brien: You're offering ten to one to anyone betting against me tomorrow?\nQuark: That's right.\nO'Brien: I'd make it fifteen if I were you.\nQuark: Yes!\nLupaza: You never would've found your way out of there if I hadn't left that marker on that rock.\nFurel: I have a fine sense of direction. I knew exactly where I was that night. Exactly.\nKira: I found your tracks the next day. You'd been walking in circles.\nFurel: I was throwing the Cardassians off my trail. Again, please.\nKira: Furel, if you don't mind my asking, why haven't you?\nFurel: Had my arm replaced? Well, I thought about it. I even saw a Federation doctor about it. She said, no problem, Furel. You can have a new arm in less than a week. It'll have full range of motion and feel just like your own.\nKira: So why didn't you do it?\nFurel: Before I went into that interrogation center, I asked the Prophets to give me the strength to get the rest of you out of there. And in exchange, I said I'd give up my life. As it turned out, I was able to rescue you, Shakaar and Lupaza. It only cost me an arm. I felt the Prophets were generous. Somehow replacing the arm seems ungrateful.\nLupaza: I think you're just afraid that with two arms you'd actually have to do some real work for a change.\nFurel: I've done more work in three months on my farm than you've done in three years. I have seen better weeds than the crops you grow.\nLupaza: You know good and well that my soil's more toxic than any other tract within a hundred kilometers.\nFurel: Ha!\nLupaza: It's true. Once I get a chance to use one of the reclamators things'll change, I can promise you that.\nShakaar: You may not get that chance, Lupaza. Nerys was sent here by the Kai with orders to convince us to return the reclamators to the government.\nFurel: And you said no.\nShakaar: I said I'd have to think about it.\nLupaza: There's not much to think about, Shakaar, you know that. Tell the Kai or the First Minister or whatever she wants to be called these days, that the answer's no. We need the reclamators and that's the end of it. Now, who wants tuwaly pie?\nKira: You know this business with the reclamators isn't going to just go away, Shakaar.\nShakaar: Maybe not.\nKira: Definitely not. I think you should reconsider. I know what you're trying to do here, and I know how difficult it's been. We have to think about what's best for Bajor.\nShakaar: If you think giving the reclamators back to the government is the best thing for Bajor, then you've been out on that space station for too long. We waited three years to get the reclamators. We finally got them two months ago and we were told that they were ours for at least a year. The Provisional government actually did something right for a change. Then Minister Kalem died, and the next thing we know we get an order to return the reclamators immediately to the Rakantha farming project.\nKira: The Rakantha project is important. If they can get it underway, Bajor could start exporting goods again. It could start to change the way the rest of the galaxy looks at us. They'll stop seeing us as poor refugees and start seeing us as equals.\nShakaar: I don't give a damn how the rest of the galaxy looks at us. We're trying to feed our own people here and you're talking about exports.\nKira: There must be a way to reach some kind of compromise here\nShakaar: How?\nKira: I don't know, but maybe if you and the Kai would sit down and talk together, maybe you can reach some kind of agreement. Some way of sharing the equipment more fairly. If I could arrange a meeting between the two of you, would you at least agree to sit down talk with her about it?\nShakaar: I don't know if it'll accomplish anything.\nKira: It might not, but it's a place to start.\nShakaar: All right. For you. It's good to have you home, Nerys. You should come back more often.\nKira: I might do that.\nShakaar: Good. Because we've all missed you. Especially me.\nWinn: Am I to assume, my child, that you've met with Shakaar?\nKira: We talked.\nWinn: And have you convinced him to return the soil reclamators?\nKira: He's not ready to return them yet.\nWinn: I see. When can we expect the return of the equipment?\nKira: When the topsoil in Dahkur Province has been restored and readied for planting. Another six months.\nWinn: In six months, the planting season in Rakantha will be over.\nKira: I realize that, and I know how important the Rakantha project is, which is why I've arranged a meeting between the two of you.\nWinn: A meeting?\nKira: Yes. To work out a compromise. If you just hear him out and look at the work they've been able to accomplish in Dahkur in just two months, you'll see how important this is to them. I'm sure there's a way to resolve this situation so that both Rakantha and Dahkur can benefit.\nWinn: Did you explain to Shakaar that you were there on the direct authority of the First Minister?\nKira: Yes, but it wouldn't have mattered if I were there on behalf of the Prophets themselves. He wasn't about to just give up the equipment.\nWinn: A pity. Shakaar sounds like a prideful and arrogant man. It also seems there's no reasoning with him.\nKira: Shakaar is not an unreasonable man. He's desperate. They all are. You should see what they're up against. The condition of the soil, the harsh weather. I'm sure if you talk to him, you'll be able to work out a compromise.\nWinn: It would seem that I have little choice.\nKira: So I can tell him that you'll discuss it with him?\nWinn: You can tell him that. And then you can return to Deep Space Nine.\nKira: But I can still serve as an intermediary between you and Shakaar.\nWinn: That won't be necessary. You've already done enough. And please give my best regards to Commander Sisko. That will be all, my child.\nShakaar: I'll be interested to hear what she has to say, but she's not getting those reclamators back till we're finished with them.\nKira: Shakaar, you have to be flexible. I'm not sure this is a fight you can win.\nShakaar: That's what the Cardassians used to say.\nShakaar: Come in.\nSecurity: Are you Shakaar?\nShakaar: Yes.\nSecurity: You're under arrest.\nKira: Wait a minute. On whose authority?\nSecurity: Our orders came directly from the office of the First Minister.\nKira: She lied to me.\nShakaar: She's good at it, Nerys. Don't feel bad.\nSecurity: If you'll come with us.\nShakaar: Yeah, all right. I just want to make one thing clear.\nShakaar: I'm glad to see that living on a space station hasn't slowed you down.\nKira: We have to get out of here.\nShakaar: This can still be explained away. It was a tense situation, you acted on instinct. They'll understand that. But they won't understand you coming with me. This isn't your fight, Nerys. Go home.\nKira: I am home, Shakaar, and I have been lied to by Kai Winn for the last time. She wants a fight, I'll give her one.\nFurel: The civil police have issued a province-wide alert for you and Kira. They've also requested that the surrounding towns send more troops and equipment to help in the search for the fugitives.\nShakaar: Now there's a familiar word. Haven't been called that in a while. I kind of missed it.\nLupaza: The authorities have seized your farm and they've brought in a scanning machine to hunt for the reclamators.\nShakaar: Let them scan. There's nothing there to find.\nLupaza: They've also detained some of the other members of our resistance cell for questioning.\nKira: Who?\nLupaza: Mobara, Klin and Ornak were taken away before I could reach them. The others are heading for the Kola Mountain stronghold. I said we'd meet them there and go over our plan.\nFurel: Well, what is our plan?\nShakaar: For now, the plan is to keep moving. We'll let the civil police run themselves ragged chasing us through the mountains.\nFurel: Just like old times.\nShakaar: That's the general idea. The Cardassians spent ten years searching for us in these mountains. The civil police will probably give up in ten days.\nKira: I'm not so sure about that. Some of them were in the Resistance too. They might not give up so easily.\nShakaar: Maybe. But I really don't think they want to hunt down a group of fellow Bajorans who are just trying to defend their homes. We head for Kola Mountain, pick up anyone who's there, and move further into the hill country. Let's go.\nBashir: Yes!\nSyvar: A most auspicious shot.\nBashir: You've got him, Chief. One in the bull and you win.\nDax: I think he knows that, Julian.\nO'Brien: Don't worry, coach. I won't let you down.\nSyvar: I see no need for delay. Throw the dart.\nO'Brien: I will throw the dart when I'm ready to throw the dart.\nQuark: Did I miss anything?\nDax: Shhh.\nO'Brien: Is that my synthale?\nQuark: Extra-stout, just the way you like it.\nO'Brien: Excuse me.\nQuark: There you go.\nO'Brien: Argh!\nQuark: What is it?\nBashir: It's his shoulder. It's popped out of its socket. Get me the tricorder.\nQuark: What did I do? I just handed him a drink.\nO'Brien: It's all right. Just pop it back in, Julian. I'll be all right.\nBashir: Oh, no. I'm afraid it's not that simple this time, Chief. You've got a rotator cuff tear and severe degenerative damage. We'd better him to the Infirmary.\nSyvar: If he leaves the line, he forfeits the game.\nQuark: Forfeit?\nBashir: This man needs surgery.\nO'Brien: Surgery?\nBashir: That's right, Chief. I may have to replace the entire humeral socket. It's not a complicated procedure. We can postpone the conclusion of this competition until tomorrow, at which time he will be good as new.\nSyvar: I do not make the rules, I merely follow them.\nO'Brien: Wait, wait, wait. Look, I'm in the zone. I just need\nO'Brien: Argh! I just need surgery.\nSyvar: I believe the House is paying fifteen to one.\nQuark: All I did was hand him a drink.\nWinn: Emissary, I'm so happy you came to consult with me.\nSisko: Frankly, I'm surprised you wanted my advice.\nWinn: The advice of the Emissary is always welcome. But what I need is your help.\nSisko: What kind of help?\nWinn: It's been two weeks since I was forced to send the militia into Dahkur Province.\nSisko: And?\nWinn: And they've yet to catch sight of Shakaar or any of his followers, let alone take them into custody.\nSisko: I guess now you know how the Cardassians must have felt.\nWinn: The point is, I can't let this go on much longer. It embarrasses me to say this, but Shakaar's defiance seems to be catching on in some of the other Provinces, and I've had to take certain unfortunate actions to maintain order.\nSisko: You mean declaring martial law and suspending local government in the hill provinces?\nWinn: I wasn't aware that you kept such close watch on the Bajoran political situation.\nSisko: From what I understand, Shakaar is gaining support all over Bajor.\nWinn: Is that what Major Kira's been telling you?\nSisko: I haven't spoken with Major Kira in quite some time.\nWinn: Emissary, I don't want this issue to divide my people.\nSisko: Then I advise withdrawing your troops from Dahkur.\nWinn: I'm more than willing to do that, on one condition.\nSisko: And what might that be?\nWinn: I'd like you to provide a Federation security force to take their place.\nSisko: You want me to bring in Shakaar for you.\nWinn: Such an act would do much to solidify the relations between the Federation and Bajor.\nSisko: I wasn't aware that our relationship needed solidifying.\nWinn: Nevertheless, this would be an opportunity for the Federation to once again show it's friendship for Bajor.\nSisko: I'm sorry, but I'm afraid Federation law prevents me from interfering in Bajoran internal affairs.\nWinn: So, you're refusing my request for aid?\nSisko: I suppose I am.\nWinn: If Bajor cannot depend on the Federation, we'll withdraw our application for membership.\nSisko: That would be an unfortunate overreaction on your part. If I may say so, your entire response to this crisis has been an overreaction. By using the militia against your own people, you're risking civil war over a couple of soil reclamators.\nWinn: I'm afraid you can't see what's really going on here. This isn't about soil reclamators. This is about the future of our society. When someone like Shakaar can defy the law and escape punishment, we risk descending into anarchy and chaos. This is a test, a test by the Prophets. They want to see if I'm worthy of the role they've given me as First Minister and Kai. I will not fail them. I will stop Shakaar by any means necessary.\nShakaar: Move, move, move!\nFurel: They're closing. Seventy five meters.\nShakaar: Come on, Kira.\nKira: I've almost got it.\nLupaza: They're on the ridge.\nShakaar: Kira, if you can't do it, tell me now.\nKira: I got it.\nTroop: New reading. Seven hundred meters that way.\nTroop 2: Yes, sir.\nLeader: Let's go.\nShakaar: How long do we have?\nKira: I've projected the false life signs about seven hundred meters past that ravine. It'll take them about an hour to cover that distance, and another fifteen to realize what's happened.\nFurel: Either I'm getting older or these mountains are getting higher.\nLupaza: The next time I start getting nostalgic for the old days, shoot me.\nFurel: If you insist.\nShakaar: They're good.\nKira: Half of them are from Dahkur Province. They know this terrain almost as well as we do.\nShakaar: I think you're right. We need to leave Dahkur. They'll box us in if we stay much longer.\nKira: We could take Serpent's Ridge up to Ratosha Pass, head for Lonar Province.\nShakaar: Serpent's Ridge is pretty rugged territory.\nKira: I don't think we have much choice.\nFurel: Yes, we do. We can turn and fight.\nLupaza: He's right, Shakaar. It's just like in the old days. Every once in a while the Cardassians would get too close and we'd turn around and give them a bloody nose.\nShakaar: Sometimes it was our nose that got bloodied.\nFurel: We were willing to take the chance. I'll follow whatever orders you give, but I am tired of running.\nShakaar: Kira?\nKira: I'm not sure we can keep up this pace.\nShakaar: All right. We head for Tanis Canyon. Kira's on point, column of twos behind her. Lupaza, you take up the rear.\nFurel: There is no way out of Tanis Canyon\nShakaar: And that's why we're going to lead those militia troops in there. Because we're going to be waiting for them. Let's move.\nShakaar: I don't think they've picked us up on their tricorders.\nKira: They won't, either. Not with that dampening field in place. I think I recognize that man.\nShakaar: Which one?\nKira: The colonel. That's Lenaris Holem.\nShakaar: Lenaris? From the Ornathia resistance cell.\nKira: I met him at a reception in the Capital about a year ago.\nShakaar: He's good. No wonder we haven't lost them. We have to get him with the first volley. You take the Lieutenant on the right. I'll take Lenaris.\nKira: I can't. I'm sorry.\nShakaar: Don't be. I can't either.\nLenaris: Hold.\nLenaris: Set a perimeter and watch the hills. Nobody fires until I give the order.\nTroop: Aye, sir. Firing positions, hold.\nLenaris: That's far enough. Shakaar?\nKira: Kira Nerys.\nLenaris: We've met. I've wanted to thank you for a long time. I had a brother at Gallitep when you liberated the camp.\nShakaar: A lot of people did. I just wish we'd gotten there sooner.\nLenaris: Well. I take it from your calm demeanor that I've walked into an ambush. I should have stayed up on the ridge line, never come down into the valley.\nShakaar: It's an easy mistake to make. You thought we were another two kilometers ahead so you tried to make up time. I might have done the same thing.\nLenaris: I think I should tell you I've been in worse situations.\nShakaar: The Pullock Five raid.\nLenaris: You know about that?\nShakaar: The first offworld raid against the Cardassians? Of course. It was a bold move.\nLenaris: If you know about Pullock Five, then you should also know I won't give up without a fight. If you're here to ask me to surrender, you're wasting your time.\nShakaar: That's not why I'm here. I want to take my people and walk out of here. I want to take them home.\nShakaar: Wait!\nKira: Stop! No one shoot! No one shoot!\nLenaris: Cease fire! Cease fire!\nTrooper: Sir, I saw someone. I thought they were going to open fire.\nLenaris: Lieutenant. Take this man's weapon and get him off the perimeter. Now, I believe you were saying something about wanting to walk out of here?\nShakaar: That's right.\nLenaris: You know that's impossible.\nKira: Well we'd better find a way to make it possible, because the next time someone starts shooting, we won't be able to stop it. And I'm not talking about today. I'm talking about tomorrow and the next day and the next. I am talking about the beginning of a civil war.\nShakaar: I didn't fight the Cardassians for twenty five years just so I could start shooting other Bajorans.\nLenaris: Neither did I. So, what do we do about it?\nWinn: What is it?\nAide: Colonel Lenaris is here to see you.\nWinn: Send him in.\nWinn: I see you've brought me a pair of gifts. How thoughtful of you.\nLenaris: They're not my prisoners.\nWinn: What do you mean, they're not your prisoners? What's going on?\nShakaar: I'm here to enter the election as a candidate for the office of First Minister.\nWinn: You have an interesting sense of humor.\nKira: It's no joke. Shakaar is going to enter the election and you are going to lose.\nLenaris: I've consulted with the other army commands, and he has their full support.\nWinn: So this is a coup?\nKira: No, it's a free election. If you want to run, go ahead. But if you do, this entire incident is going to be made public. And when the people know the real facts, when they know you risked a civil war over a couple of pieces of farm equipment, they're never going to trust you again. You'll still be Kai, the spiritual leader of Bajor. But your days in this office are numbered. So if I were you, I'd start packing.\nBashir: How's it feel?\nO'Brien: Good so far. Let's see.\nBashir: Well try it again, Chief.\nO'Brien: No. I can feel it. I'm out of the zone. You know, I've played sports all my life and I've never been in the zone like that before. Probably never will again, but it felt good while it lasted.\nBashir: Well, look on the bright side. Now you have a new shoulder, you might finally finish that kayaking program.\nO'Brien: Hey. You may be right. Quark, I need a holosuite.\nQuark: Doctor. Welcome to the zone. Let me tell you about a little thing I've\nSisko: Have any other candidates entered the election?\nKira: One or two, but Shakaar's popularity is growing so fast I don't think anyone can catch him at this point.\nSisko: What about the Kai?\nKira: She's trying to make the best of it. She even put out a statement of support for Shakaar. Ow. You know, I used to enjoy sleeping on the ground.\nSisko: It's good to have you back, Major.\nKira: It's good to be back, sir.\nSisko: I'll see you in Ops."}
{"text": "Computer: The Cardassians are still closing. They have powered their weapons systems. They have established weapons lock.\nComputer: Weapons lock broken.\nNog: Going to warp.\nNog: Get out of here, Jake. I'm in the middle of a simulation.\nJake: What?\nNog: I said, get out of here. Computer, end program.\nJake: Oh, you okay?\nNog: Look what you made me do.\nJake: Well you should know not to end a program sitting down.\nNog: Why did you come in here?\nJake: You were supposed to meet me half an hour ago.\nNog: I didn't realize it'd gotten so late. Sorry.\nJake: Don't worry about it. How's it going, anyway?\nNog: Pretty good. I've improved my reaction time by almost twenty percent, but I've got to get it up another five.\nJake: Is that the cutoff point for getting into the Academy preparatory program?\nNog: Exactly.\nJake: Don't worry about it, Nog. You'll get there.\nNog: I'd better.\nNog: If I don't get into the program, I'll never be admitted to the Academy next year.\nJake: You think six weeks of summer classes'll make the difference?\nNog: If I do well. I have to show the admissions committee how determined I am to become a cadet.\nJake: Don't worry so much, Nog. You'll be a great cadet.\nQuark: In the meantime, you make a lousy stock boy. Why can't you take after your friend here? He knows enough to stay out of Starfleet. Even a human can see that there are a lot more profitable opportunities out there for a young man with ambition.\nNog: Uncle, he wants to be a writer. There's no profit in that.\nQuark: On the contrary. Writing holosuite programs, especially the more intimate variety, is very profitable.\nJake: I'll bet.\nQuark: I'll tell you what. The two of you come up with a proposal, and I'll put up the latinum for your first program.\nNog: I don't think so, Uncle.\nQuark: All right, fine. Join Starfleet. I don't know why I bother trying to help you, anyway. Go down to the storeroom and get your father. Tell him to get behind the bar. Lieutenant Dax has asked me to join the senior staff for a very important meeting in the wardroom.\nBashir: Do you have any idea what Dax wants to talk to us about?\nOdo: No.\nBashir: Apparently she asked Leeta to come as well.\nOdo: I've noticed they've been spending quite a bit of time together.\nBashir: Do you keep tabs on everybody, Constable?\nOdo: Not everyone. But really, Doctor, two Delvin fluff pastries for breakfast this morning? You of all people should know better than to start your day like that.\nBashir: Major. Chief. Hello, Leeta.\nLeeta: Oh, hello.\nBashir: How are you doing?\nOdo: And what does that mean, exactly?\nDax: Thank you all for coming.\nBashir: No problem.\nDax: I'll get right to the point. You are the seven people on this station that I feel closest to, and I want you all to be a part of my zhian'tara.\nQuark: Zhian'tara? What's that?\nLeeta: It's the Trill Rite of Closure. I've read about it.\nDax: The zhian'tara is a ritual where joined Trills get a chance to actually meet their previous hosts.\nKira: Meet them? How?\nDax: That's where you come in. If you don't mind, I'd like to borrow your bodies for a few hours.\nO'Brien: What do you mean borrow our bodies?\nDax: If you agree to participate, the memories of one of my previous hosts will be temporarily removed from the symbiont and imprinted onto you. You essentially become one of my hosts for the duration of the ritual.\nBashir: And how is this accomplished?\nDax: The memories are transferred telepathically by a Guardian.\nOdo: A Guardian?\nLeeta: They take care of the symbionts. Usually they're unjoined Trill.\nBashir: Leeta is sort of an amateur sociologist.\nLeeta: It comes in handy in my line of work. You never know who you'll meet at the dabo table.\nQuark: You're asking me to hand my body over to some dead person?\nDax: Oh, only for a few hours.\nQuark: What happens to me in the meantime?\nDax: You'll remain conscious of everything that's going on around you, and at any time you can reassert yourself and regain control of your body.\nSisko: But it's best to you relax and let the host's memories emerge. The point is to give Jadzia the chance to interact with her previous hosts. Curzon spoke very fondly of his zhian'tara. He said it was one of the most powerful experiences of his life.\nBashir: I do have one question. What about Joran?\nQuark: Joran? Was he the crazy host of yours? The musician who killed someone?\nDax: Commander Sisko has volunteered to embody Joran.\nSisko: We've already discussed taking certain precautions during the transfer.\nBashir: Well, count me in.\nLeeta: Me, too.\nKira: Yes.\nOdo: Agreed.\nDax: Chief?\nO'Brien: Oh. Yes. Yeah, I'm in.\nQuark: Why is everybody looking at me?\nOdo: Because you're the only one who hasn't agreed to participate.\nQuark: I'm sorry, Lieutenant. You're going to have to find someone else.\nDax: I really want you to be a part of this, Quark. I was hoping that you'd embody Audrid for me.\nQuark: Well.\nDax: I think it'll make us closer.\nQuark: When you put it that way.\nDax: I knew I could count on you. Kira, I would like you to embody Lela, my first host. We'll start tomorrow, after the Guardian arrives. It means a lot to me that all of you all willing to do this. Thank you.\nSisko: Correct me if I'm wrong, but did Quark just agree to embody one of your female hosts?\nDax: Yes, he did.\nO'Brien: After that comes the deductive reasoning portion of the exam, and then the spatial orientation test. The whole thing should take about four days. Now I know it must sound overwhelming to you. Just try to take it one day at a time.\nNog: One day at a time. Right.\nO'Brien: And today, all you have to worry about is the stress reaction test. Computer, run program delta five nine.\nNog: I thought this was going to be a runabout simulation.\nO'Brien: No.\nNog: But that's what I practiced.\nO'Brien: If we tested you where you practiced it wouldn't exactly be stressful, now would it? Man your post. You're the Operations Officer on duty.\nNog: What was that?\nO'Brien: You tell me.\nGuardian: We've been trying to get Dax back to the homeworld to perform the zhian'tara for some time now. She kept putting us off, so the Symbiosis Commission decided to force the issue and send me here.\nDax: I just haven't had time to get away.\nSisko: You could've made the time.\nGuardian: Where is the zhian'tara to take place? I have preparations to make.\nDax: This way.\nGuardian: I'nora, ja'kala Dax. Ahian'shee Lela tanus rem. Gon'dar Jadzia tor. Jadzia, zhian'tara vok. Tu Dax, zhian'tani ress. Zhian'par, Lela garu'koj.\nDax: Kira?\nLela: No, Lela. You must be Dax's new host.\nDax: I'm Jadzia.\nLela: What a beautiful name.\nGuardian: I have a few questions for both of you. I need to make sure the memory transference is complete.\nLela: Go ahead\nGuardian: What is the last thing you remember?\nLela: Talking to Curzon at his zhian'tara.\nGuardian: Can you tell me the name of the person who supervised Lela when she was an Initiate?\nDax: No. I can't remember.\nGuardian: That's perfectly all right. It just means Lela's memories have been temporarily removed from your mind.\nDax: It's a little disorienting, like part of me is suddenly missing.\nLela: Not missing, right here. And the name of my Initiate supervisor was Jobel.\nGuardian: Excellent. The transference seems to be complete. Unless either of you has any questions, I'll leave you alone for a few hours.\nLela: Thank you.\nLela: Such odd fellows, these Guardians, huh?\nDax: I know.\nLela: Well, it's understandable, I suppose. They spend most of their time underground tending symbiont pools full of this stuff. I love the smell of it, don't you? It looks like you've ended up a long way from home, Jadzia. What is it?\nDax: It's just, I hold my hands behind my back the same way you do.\nLela: It's a habit I picked up when I was a Legislator. I was one of the first women to serve as a council member. When I started out, I talked with my hands a lot. Lots of emphatic gesturing. I diskovered some of my male colleagues were imitating of me, so I started to do this.\nDax: I thought it was just an unconscious habit. I never realized why I did it.\nLela: That's the point of the zhian'tara, to diskover these kinds of things about yourself.\nDax: It's so strange. It's like you really are Lela.\nLela: Well in a sense, I am. After all, what is a person but a sum of their memories? I have a feeling that these next few days are going to be extraordinary for you.\nDax: Tobin, I don't think Chief O'Brien is going to appreciate you biting his nails.\nTobin: Sorry. I guess I'm a little nervous.\nDax: That's all right. I get that way sometimes myself.\nTobin: Now you know who you have to thank for it. Sorry.\nDax: Will you please stop saying you're sorry?\nTobin: Sorry.\nDax: I've been working on finishing your proof of Fermat's last theorem.\nTobin: You have?\nDax: It's the most original approach to the proof since Wiles over three hundred years ago.\nTobin: Thanks.\nDax: I guess I tend to look for original approaches myself. I guess I have you to thank for that, as well.\nDax: Very nice.\nEmony: This is an excellent body you've managed to get for me.\nDax: I'll be sure to pass that on.\nEmony: I remember when I first got the Dax symbiont, I was worried that it might affect my coordination in some way.\nDax: And hurt your gymnastics career?\nEmony: As it turned out, being joined improved my concentration.\nDax: Really? I found that as well.\nEmony: You're a gymnast?\nDax: No, but I'm an expert in Klingon martial arts.\nEmony: Ah. Did you take it up before or after you were joined?\nDax: After.\nEmony: Why am I not surprised?\nAudrid: Sit right here and I'll tell you all about it.\nAudrid: The day I was named head of the Symbiosis Commission was one of the happiest of my life. Right behind the day I gave birth to my first child. Are you a mother, Jadzia?\nDax: No.\nAudrid: Oh, I hope you will be someday. There's nothing quite like holding a baby to your breast, nursing it. The entity that lent me this body wishes to speak.\nQuark: How much longer am I going to have to do this?\nDax: Another hour at most. And the sooner we get back to it, the sooner it'll be over.\nQuark: Just remember, not a word about this to anyone.\nDax: I promise.\nDax: Maybe you should go easy on those, Torias. Julian was just telling me the other day he's started to watch what he eats.\nTorias: Well, you should tell your friend to live a little. Life's too short to deprive yourself of the simple pleasures. I should know.\nDax: You didn't exactly deprive yourself.\nTorias: No, but my life was too short.\nDax: The accident.\nTorias: Still, I'm lucky. I continue to exist as part of you. Just as Jadzia will go on existing when the symbiont is passed on to a new host. We're part of something bigger than any one of us. I just feel lucky to have been chosen.\nDax: So do I.\nTorias: Come in.\nGuardian: It's late. I think it's time we returned Doctor Bashir's body to him.\nDax: It was nice meeting you.\nSisko: I'm ready.\nOdo: Are you sure about this, Commander?\nSisko: Don't worry, Odo. Joran isn't going to be able to hurt anyone from inside a holding cell.\nOdo: There's just one problem. You're going to be in there with him.\nGuardian: Activate the forcefield.\nDax: Joran.\nJoran: Hello, Jadzia.\nOdo: If you need me, I'll be right outside.\nGuardian: As will I.\nJoran: It's good to see you again, Jadzia. Tell me, have you been practicing your music?\nDax: Yes, when I have the time.\nJoran: Good. Do you think of me when you play?\nDax: Sometimes.\nJoran: I'm glad. You're a very pretty girl, Jadzia. Very pretty. But unfortunately that's all you are. You're nothing compared to Lela, Torias or myself. A pretender. You must realize that by now.\nDax: You don't know anything about me.\nJoran: Only what I can see. A little girl not worthy of the noble creature nestled inside her. You're overwhelmed by it. You're in over your head. And they said it was a mistake choosing me for joining. But there is one hope for you, Jadzia, and that's me. My strength is within you. You don't have to be afraid of it.\nDax: I'm not.\nJoran: Then use it let me show you how to use it. Lower the forcefield, Jadzia. Lower it, and you will never be afraid of anything ever again.\nDax: No.\nDax: Joran! Stop it, you're hurting him. Benjamin, take control!\nSisko: I think that's enough of Joran for now.\nDax: Are you all right?\nJoran: Surprise.\nSisko: It's all right, old man, it's me. Thanks.\nDax: For what?\nSisko: For not breaking any bones.\nQuark: Will you stop that. It's very distracting. I'm trying to do the books.\nRom: I can't help it. My son's future is being decided at this very minute.\nQuark: Well, pacing around like some Alvanian cave sloth isn't going to help him.\nQuark: What's that?\nRom: A cadet's uniform. I got it for Nog. I had Garak make it to order. It cost five strips of latinum.\nQuark: Well you wasted your money. He's not going to need it.\nRom: Why not?\nQuark: Because he'll be issued a uniform if and when he gets to the Academy.\nRom: Well, now he'll have two.\nDax: I keep thinking about Joran.\nSisko: I heard what he told you.\nDax: I can't seem to get it out of my head.\nSisko: Jadzia, did you put off having your zhian'tara because you were afraid you wouldn't measure up to the other hosts?\nDax: I don't know. Maybe I did.\nSisko: Now that it's almost over, I hope you realize you were wrong.\nDax: I'm not so sure I was.\nSisko: I don't understand how you could say that. You were chosen for joining because you deserved it, just as much as any of the others.\nDax: If that's true, then why did Curzon wash me out of the Initiate program?\nSisko: You tell me.\nDax: I've always believed it was because he wanted to challenge me so that I would reapply and try harder, but now I'm not so sure.\nSisko: Why not? That's exactly what you did.\nDax: Maybe Curzon just didn't think I was good enough.\nSisko: I find that hard to believe. But if that's what you're afraid of, why don't you ask him when you see him?\nDax: I will. But what happens if he tells me something I don't want to hear? I have to go.\nGuardian: Jadzia, zhian'tara vok. Tu Dax, zhian'tani ress. Zhian'par, Odo garu'koj.\nSisko: I'm going to my office for a while.\nCurzon: Benjamin! You do recognize me, don't you?\nSisko: Curzon?\nCurzon: Don't tell me. The nose gave me away. What's the matter? Aren't you happy to see me?\nSisko: Of course, of course. So where's Jadzia?\nCurzon: It's all right. I told her I wanted to come see you, that we'd meet up later at Quark's. I'm going to give that little toad the scare of his life.\nSisko: You sound like Odo.\nCurzon: I am Odo.\nSisko: I don't understand. I thought you were Curzon.\nCurzon: I'm both. The Guardian thinks it has something to do with my shape-shifting nature. It's as if Odo and Curzon have been joined. It's proving to be quite interesting experience for both of us. In any case, the Guardian says it's nothing to worry about. I like the beard, by the way.\nSisko: Yeah?\nCurzon: Absolutely. So, when is Kasidy Yates coming back?\nSisko: Not you, too.\nCurzon: She's a fine looking woman, Ben. Kind of reminds me of the girl you took up with on Pelios Station.\nSisko: Why don't we go join Jadzia in Quark's and let Jake finish his homework?\nCurzon: I'll tell you all about it later.\nJake: Okay.\nSisko: Curzon, remember?\nCurzon: Quark!\nQuark: Odo? What happened to your face?\nCurzon: Never mind my face.\nCurzon: Did I ever mention you're a magnificent scoundrel. Two Tranyas please, very cold.\nQuark: Right away.\nSisko: It's going to take Quark a little while to get over that.\nCurzon: Jadzia!\nDax: Looks like the two of you are having a good time.\nCurzon: Well, as good a time as two gentlemen can have without the company of a lady. Please, join us. Excuse me while I slip into something more appropriate.\nCurzon: I love being a changeling.\nSisko: Well, if you two don't mind, I think I'll be pushing off\nCurzon: Benjamin, don't go.\nSisko: I need to finish evaluating Nog's test results. He's waiting to hear how he did. Thanks for stopping by, old man. It was good to see you.\nCurzon: Well, there goes the best friend I ever had. Well?\nCurzon: So, are you been enjoying your zhian'tara?\nDax: For the most part.\nCurzon: What about that Tobin, eh? Did he tell you that I got him drunk for the first time during my zhian'tara?\nDax: No, but I can see why you did. Curzon, there's something I want to talk to you about.\nCurzon: Oh?\nDax: Do you remember when I was an Initiate?\nCurzon: Do you see that Ferengi over there? A bulletin came in on him last week. He's a tongo hustler. I'd love to clean him out. We should get a game going.\nCurzon: Tongo!\nNog: I just don't understand how I could have failed, Father.\nRom: You've always been so good with spatial orientation. Remember the time we redid the floors, and you managed to stack all the chairs so they fit behind the bar?\nNog: Now I won't qualify to take the Academy entrance exam. My Starfleet career is over before it even started.\nQuark: He's right, you know. And it's not fair. Starfleet has no idea who it's passing up. Nog, you would have made a good officer. I want you to know something. There will always be a place for you here, at Quark's.\nCurzon: Sorry, Lonzo.\nQuark: Excuse me, folks, but the bar has been closed for over an hour now. I asked you nicely before, but if you don't leave, I'm going to have to call security.\nCurzon: I am security.\nDax: Don't worry, Quark. We're going.\nCurzon: I confiscated this from a Yridian smuggler.\nDax: Don't you need it for evidence?\nCurzon: Bah.\nDax: I still want to talk to you about what happened when I was an Initiate.\nCurzon: I know you do. So, what is it you want to ask me?\nDax: Why didn't you object when you heard I was reinstated into the program?\nCurzon: I don't know, Jadzia. Maybe I decided I'd been too hard on you.\nDax: It was your job to be hard on Initiates.\nCurzon: Yes, but the truth is, I felt sorry for you. Well, you wanted to be joined so badly. You were so young, so lovely.\nDax: I guess I've always had this nagging feeling I didn't have your complete confidence. I tried to push it aside, but now it turns out I was right. You never thought I was good enough to be a host.\nCurzon: Whatever I may have thought doesn't matter. You are a host. Isn't that enough?\nDax: No. I feel like I don't have your respect. And I'm afraid when your memories are restored to me, I'm going to feel like I don't respect myself.\nCurzon: In that case, you'll be happy to know that I've come to a decision that's going to benefit both of us.\nDax: What do you mean?\nCurzon: I've decided to stay where I am, in this body. And I'm not just speaking as Curzon. This is Odo's decision as well. We like what we've become and neither of us wants to go back to the way things were.\nGuardian: There's no way to remove Curzon's memories from Odo without his cooperation. He has to give them up willingly.\nSisko: What'll happen to Jadzia if we can't persuade him?\nGuardian: It'll take some time for her to adjust to the new balance, but she'll be fine.\nSisko: Do you want me to talk to Curzon? I know him better than anyone. I might be able to get him to cooperate.\nDax: I don't think so. I don't think I want to do anything.\nSisko: What do you mean?\nDax: I mean I'm fine, and obviously Odo and Curzon are well suited to each other. Maybe it's better this way.\nSisko: I'd like to speak to Jadzia alone for a moment.\nSisko: Do you really want to leave things as they are? Or are you just trying to avoid a confrontation with Curzon? You once told me that Curzon intimidated you when you were an Initiate.\nDax: I looked up to him. I still do. Maybe that's why I find it hard to challenge his decisions.\nSisko: Let me tell you something about Curzon. He was my friend, he was my confidant. In a way, he was my teacher as well. But he was also be manipulative, selfish and arrogant. Most people let him get away with it because he was so charming. Sometimes I let him get away with it too. But from time to time he'd push me too far and I'd have to stand up to him, tell him he'd crossed the line.\nDax: And how would he react?\nSisko: Sometimes he'd just laugh and admit it, sometimes he'd get furious. But either way he'd back off, because he knew he was wrong. And he is wrong now. He's being selfish and he's manipulated you to get you to go along with what he wants. Now, are you can confront him or let him get away with it? It's up to you.\nRom: I know what you did.\nQuark: Take it easy. What's wrong with you?\nRom: You know what's wrong. You reconfigured the holosuite so that Nog would fail the spatial orientation test.\nQuark: I did it for his own good, Rom. I couldn't just stand by and watch my nephew throw his life away.\nRom: You had no right to interfere. I've already told Commander Sisko what you did and he's going to let Nog retake the test.\nQuark: You what?\nRom: You heard me. And if you ever do anything to hurt Nog again, I'll burn the bar to the ground.\nQuark: You wouldn't dare.\nRom: Oh yes I would. My son's happiness is more important to me than anything, even latinum. Remember that, brother.\nCurzon: Jadzia, come in, come in. I was just oozing around the room. You have no idea what a liberating experience it is to be in a liquid state.\nDax: We need to talk.\nCurzon: All right. What is it you want to talk about?\nDax: I want my memories back.\nCurzon: I'm sorry. I realize this is difficult for you, but you'll get over it. Trust me, it's better this way.\nDax: For you, maybe. You're both living out a life you never could have had otherwise. But it's my life you're living. Those should be my memories.\nCurzon: Not anymore. Maybe they never should've been.\nDax: That's where you're wrong. I earned the right to be joined. I am the only person in our planet's history who was ever readmitted to the Initiate program after being washed out.\nCurzon: The only reason you got back in was because I felt sorry for you.\nDax: Curzon Dax famous for rejecting Initiates. Why feel sorry for me?\nCurzon: Now don't you use that tone of voice with me, little girl.\nDax: You can't intimidate me, Curzon. And I'm not a little girl anymore.\nCurzon: No, I suppose you're not. The truth is, you weren't a little girl back when you were an Initiate. You were a brilliant and beautiful young woman. Very beautiful.\nDax: You were in love with me?\nCurzon: At first I thought it was just an old man's passing infatuation. After all, I'd always had an eye for the ladies. But as we spent more time together, I started to realize it was something deeper.\nDax: Then why were you so hard on me?\nCurzon: I couldn't let you know the truth. You were an Initiate, I was your supervisor.\nDax: So you washed me out of the program.\nCurzon: Later I realized that I'd robbed you of something you'd wanted all your life. I felt so guilty I nearly retired from the Symbiosis Commission.\nDax: So when I reapplied, you didn't object.\nCurzon: On the contrary. I was grateful when you'd reapplied. It let me off the hook. So now that you know, you can see that it's best for both of us that I stay here, in this body.\nDax: Why? Because you loved me?\nCurzon: Because I still love you.\nDax: There's no shame in that, Curzon.\nCurzon: Yes, there is, and if we rejoined, you'll feel it too.\nDax: No, I won't, because I love you. You're a part of me and I want you back. That way, Jadzia and Curzon can be together the way they should be, through Dax.\nRom: He's coming! He's coming.\nRom: Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce Starfleet's future. My son Nog.\nSisko: Congratulations, Nog.\nNog: Thank you, sir.\nJake: Yeah, way to go.\nSisko: I'm afraid you jumped the gun putting on that uniform.\nNog: I know I haven't earned the right to wear it yet, but my father got it for me.\nSisko: Hopefully, you'll get to put on the real one next year.\nJake: When you ace the Academy entrance exam.\nNog: Yeah.\nBashir: What's the matter, Chief?\nO'Brien: It just occurred to me. As soon as that kid graduates from the Academy, I'm going to have to call him sir.\nNog: Okay.\nQuark: What can I get you, Nog?\nNog: A root beer. It's an Earth drink. Something they serve at the Academy.\nQuark: A root beer. This is the end of Ferengi civilization.\nOdo: May I join you, Lieutenant?\nDax: Of course.\nOdo: I'd just like to apologize for my behavior while I was joined with Curzon.\nDax: There's no need to apologize. In a way I'm glad it happened. It forced me to deal with some things about myself I've never really faced. Besides, you've given me a special gift.\nOdo: Oh?\nDax: You see, now I have Curzon's memories of what it felt like to be a changeling. I never realized how much joy it gives you.\nOdo: And I never understood how much joy you humanoids experience in things like eating, drinking, staying up all night playing tongo. Frankly, I don't see how Curzon ever managed to get any work done.\nDax: He always seemed to, somehow.\nOdo: Well, he must have been a remarkable man.\nDax: Yes, he is."}
{"text": "Scene: Commander's log, stardate 48959.1. It is with mixed emotions that I record this, my final Commander's log. The last three years have been the most demanding and rewarding of my career. I can only hope that the future will hold even greater challenges.\nJake: Dad, there's something I've been wanting to say to you for a long time. And now that I finally have the chance, I'm going to make it short and simple.\nJake: Congratulations, Captain Sisko.\nKira: Now that you have another pip on your collar, does that mean I can't disagree with you anymore?\nSisko: No. It just means I'm never wrong.\nKira: We'll see about that.\nDax: Curzon would've been proud of you, but not as proud as I am.\nSisko: That means a lot to me, Dax.\nOdo: Though I don't fully understand this humanoid obsession with rank and title, if anyone deserves to be promoted, it's you.\nSisko: Thank you, Constable.\nEddington: Well, as someone who is obsessed with rank and title, congratulations, Captain.\nO'Brien: That goes for me too, Captain.\nQuark: This calls for a toast.\nBashir: That better not be from a replicator, Quark.\nQuark: Chateau Cleon, twenty three oh three. I already put it on your account.\nJake: Can I?\nSisko: I guess a sip wouldn't hurt. Well.\nO'Brien: Here's to the newest and best captain in Starfleet. And all I can say is, it's about time.\nAll: Hear, hear. Cheers.\nSisko: That's enough. Thank you for coming, Ambassador.\nKrajensky: Those pips look good on you, Captain. Though to be honest, I'm not really here for the ceremony.\nSisko: I had that feeling. What can I do for you?\nKrajensky: Our intelligence reports indicate there's been a coup d'état on the Tzenkethi homeworld.\nSisko: I doubt anyone is going to miss the Autarch.\nKrajensky: I know I won't. Unfortunately, it's too early to tell who's in control, but we don't want to take any chances. We need to remind the Tzenkethi that the Federation is committed to protecting our colonies near their border.\nSisko: You want to show the flag.\nKrajensky: Exactly. The Defiant will leave in two days on a week-long patrol. I'll be coming along as an observer. I've heard a lot about the Defiant. I'm looking forward to seeing her in operation.\nSisko: I don't think you'll be disappointed. She's a fine ship.\nKrajensky: With a fine crew. Now what do you say we get back to the party?\nSisko: Of course. O'BRIEN et al: For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, which nobody can deny!\nO'Brien: Hip hip.\nAll: Hooray!\nO'Brien: Hip hip.\nAll: Hooray!\nO'Brien: Hip hip.\nAll: Hooray!\nSisko: I want a complete overhaul of the deflector shield generators and targeting sensors. Oh, yes, take on a full complement of photon torpedoes.\nO'Brien: Don't worry, Captain. If the Tzenkethi try to start any trouble, we'll be ready for them.\nSisko: I don't doubt it, Chief.\nO'Brien: Captain?\nO'Brien: Getting jumpy in your old age, O'Brien. My son, the writer, thinks I should say something profound on his occasion. He even offered to write me a brief statement. I told him I'd take care of it myself, but as it turns out the only think I can think of is, Begin Captain's log, stardate 48960.9.\nDax: So, have you told her yet?\nSisko: Told who?\nDax: Captain Yates. About your promotion.\nSisko: Yeah. I barely had time to send my father a transmission. In fact, I don't even know where Kasidy is.\nDax: She's hauling a load of duridium ore to Solais Five. You could probably contact her on subspace.\nSisko: I'd rather tell her in person.\nDax: When's she due back on the station?\nSisko: About a month.\nDax: A month!\nDax: There's nothing worse than a long-distance relationship.\nSisko: I wouldn't call it a relationship, Dax. I've only taken her out once. Okay, twice.\nDax: I think the exact figure is three times.\nSisko: She's quite an interesting woman. She's very independent, a little opinionated, but she has a nice sense of humor.\nDax: And?\nSisko: And? What do you want me to tell you, Dax?\nDax: That you miss her. That you can't wait to see her. I don't know. Anything. Kira, O'Brien, Bashir, they're all dying of curiosity and, well, I have to tell them something.\nSisko: Fine. You tell them when she gets back, I'm going to taking her to the holosuite and we're going to watch the seventh game of the nineteen sixty four World Series.\nDax: You do like her.\nEddington: Captain on the bridge.\nSisko: Ambassador.\nKrajensky: Captain.\nSisko: All stations report.\nDax: Helm ready.\nKira: Weapons ready.\nOdo: Communications systems standing by.\nO'Brien: Warp and impulse engines are online.\nSisko: Seal the airlock. Release docking clamps.\nDax: Docking clamps released.\nSisko: Engage thrusters.\nDax: Clearing the station.\nSisko: Lay in a course for the Tzenkethi border, warp eight.\nDax: Aye, aye, Captain.\nSisko: Engage.\nO'Brien: Hello. Who's there?\nO'Brien: Julian!\nBashir: You called me, Chief?\nO'Brien: Why didn't you answer me?\nBashir: I had this spanner in my mouth.\nO'Brien: What are you doing here, anyway?\nBashir: I was connecting my new diagnostic console to the medical bay's power grid.\nO'Brien: I could have done that for you.\nBashir: Oh, just putting my engineering extension courses to work. Besides, I know you have your hands full.\nO'Brien: Oh. Where are you going now?\nBashir: I'm done.\nO'Brien: Not bad for an extension course.\nEddington: You wanted to see me, sir?\nSisko: Yes, Commander. It's about Ambassador Krajensky. Please. I know Starfleet doesn't intend for this to be a combat mission, but just in case the Tzenkethi have other ideas, I want to make sure the Ambassador is kept out of harm's way.\nEddington: Yes, sir. I'll see to it that if hostilities do occur, the Ambassador is escorted off the bridge.\nSisko: He won't like it.\nEddington: I won't let that bother me.\nSisko: Very good, Commander. That'll be all.\nEddington: Captain, I just want to say that I agree with what Chief O'Brien said. About your promotion. It's about time.\nSisko: I appreciate the sentiment, Commander, but it doesn't really change anything. I have the assignment I want, I have the crew that I want. The rank doesn't make much difference.\nEddington: You'd be surprised. People don't enter Starfleet to become commanders, or admirals for that matter. It's the captain's chair that everyone has their eye on. That's what I wanted when I joined up, but you don't get to be a Captain wearing a gold uniform.\nSisko: You could always transfer from Security to Command.\nEddington: Then who would protect the Ambassador?\nSisko: Dismissed, Mister Eddington.\nEddington: Thank you, sir. Captain's log, stardate 48962.5. We are twelve hours from the border. I haven't been in this area since the last Federation-Tzenkethi war. Being here brings back a lot of memories, most of them bad.\nOdo: Captain, we're receiving a priority one distress signal from Barisa Prime. Audio only.\nSisko: Put it through.\nMan: under heavy fire from Tzenkethi warships. I don't know how much longer we can hold out. Can anyone hear me, This is\nSisko: Constable?\nOdo: We've lost contact.\nSisko: Try to re-establish.\nOdo: It's no use, Captain. They're gone. Captain's log, supplemental. We've been unable to re-establish contact with Barisa Prime. Therefore I've no choice but to assume we are at war with the Tzenkethi.\nSisko: Lieutenant, set a course for Barisa Prime, maximum warp. I want continual scans for Tzenkethi ships. Constable, contact Starfleet Command. Let them know what happened.\nSisko: Major, what other starships are in this sector?\nKira: The closest one is the Ulysses. They're studying protoplanetary masses in the Helaspont Nebula.\nSisko: That puts them twenty hours away at maximum warp. Lieutenant, transmit a message to Captain Entebe on the Ulysses. Tell her\nOdo: Captain. I'm having trouble getting through to Starfleet Command. There seems to be a power fluctuation in the communications system.\nDax: I can't get a message out either.\nO'Brien: The console's functioning normally. The problem must be in the transceiver assembly.\nSisko: I need that system back online, Chief.\nO'Brien: I'll get on it right away. Lieutenant, I could use some help.\nSisko: Major, take the helm.\nKira: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: What do you make of this, Lieutenant? I've never seen anything like it.\nDax: It's spreading through the system like some kind of parasite.\nO'Brien: It seems to be linked to key points within the transceiver assembly. We'd better get it out of there.\nO'Brien: Argh!\nDax: A forcefield.\nO'Brien: Come on.\nDax: Where are we going?\nO'Brien: I want to check the other command systems. I have a bad feeling about this.\nSisko: You say these things are all over the ship?\nO'Brien: They've attached themselves to the command and communication relays, the internal sensors, the transporter, the deflector shield grid, almost every critical system.\nSisko: Is there any way to get past the forcefields?\nO'Brien: None that we've found yet. We're still working on it.\nSisko: Well I guess the question is, how did they get aboard? Or should I say, who placed them here?\nO'Brien: I don't know who did it, but I know it definitely happened after we left the station. I ran a systems check before our departure. They weren't there then.\nSisko: Which means someone aboard this ship is a saboteur.\nDax: We've got forty seven people on board. Theoretically, anyone of them could've planted those devices.\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: It's nothing, sir. It's not even worth mentioning.\nSisko: It doesn't sound like you're too sure about that.\nO'Brien: Well, I did see someone crawling about in one of the Jefferies Tubes the other day.\nSisko: Who?\nO'Brien: It was Julian. He was connecting a medical console to the power grid.\nSisko: Which is right next to the communications relay.\nDax: Are you accusing Julian of sabotage?\nSisko: No one's accusing anyone of anything. But I want to talk to Julian.\nDax: Wait. I think I have a better idea.\nSisko: This crew has been through a lot together. In fact I would trust any one of you with my life. But after looking at the evidence, there's only one conclusion I can draw. Someone on this ship is guilty of sabotage.\nEddington: With your permission, Captain, the Constable and I can begin questioning the crew immediately.\nSisko: That won't be necessary. Lieutenant.\nDax: We found one of the devices planted in the warp plasma conduit. Which means whoever put it there would've been exposed to trace amounts of tetryon particles.\nKrajensky: And those particles would still be detectable on the saboteur?\nO'Brien: Yes, but not for much longer. They dissipate quickly.\nOdo: So you're going to scan all the members of the crew for tetryon particles?\nSisko: Starting with the senior staff.\nDax: O'Brien and I already scanned positive, since we opened up the warp core controls during our investigation.\nEddington: You realize, of course, that if no one else tests positive\nO'Brien: We'll be the prime suspects. Yes, we know that.\nSisko: We might as well get started.\nDax: You're clean.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear it.\nKira: Might as well do me next.\nDax: You're okay, too. Julian.\nBashir: Oh, of course.\nO'Brien: Nothing.\nBashir: You sound relieved.\nO'Brien: Well I am. After all, you were in that conduit the other day.\nBashir: I don't know what you're talking about.\nDax: Ambassador, if you please.\nKrajensky: Certainly.\nBashir: I was never in any conduit.\nO'Brien: Of course you were. I saw you.\nKira: It's a changeling.\nSisko: We've cloaked. Lieutenant, bring us out of warp. Full stop. Now. Constable, Commander, deploy security teams immediately. I want that changeling found before he can do any more damage.\nEddington: Yes, sir.\nDax: Captain. The helm isn't responding. We're still at warp.\nO'Brien: I can't deactivate the cloaking device.\nKira: The weapons array has activated. The phaser banks are charging and we've got photon torpedoes online and ready to launch.\nDax: The ship's no longer under our control.\nEddington: Our security teams have gone over every centimeter of the ship, checked every piece of cargo, questioned every crewmember. We still haven't been able to find the changeling.\nSisko: Is there any way he could've been transported off the ship?\nEddington: At warp? It's unlikely. But with Dominion technology, I suppose it's possible.\nOdo: He's still here. He won't leave until he's completed his mission.\nBashir: Which is?\nSisko: It looks like the Dominion is hoping to start a war between the Federation and the Tzenkethi.\nKira: If you ask me, the Tzenkethi are doing a pretty good job of that all by themselves.\nSisko: Not necessarily. The transmission we received from Barisa Prime could've been faked using that device we found implanted in the communications relay. In fact, our entire mission could have been engineered by the Dominion. Think about it. We've been all over this ship, and we have not seen a trace of the real Ambassador Krajensky nor his remains.\nEddington: Which means he was probably replaced before we left the station.\nOdo: Maybe the real Ambassador never came to Deep Space Nine at all.\nBashir: So anything Ambassador Krajensky told us could have been a lie. The Tzenkethi coup d'état, increased tension along the border, the threat of an attack.\nSisko: And now here we are, cloaked, armed for battle, and headed into Tzenkethi space. If we can't stop this ship before we cross the border, we may wind up causing a war rather of preventing one.\nOdo: Which is no doubt what my people are hoping for. A war between the Tzenkethi and the Federation would destabilize the Alpha Quadrant, making it that much easier for the Dominion to move in.\nEddington: I wish the internal sensors were online. It'd make it a lot easier to track down the changeling.\nOdo: I'm not sure the sensors would help. If you scan me when I'm a rock, you'd detect a rock. I may not be able to duplicate a humanoid perfectly, but I'm guessing he can.\nBashir: We scanned Ambassador Krajensky for tetryon particles. He registered as human.\nKira: Well then right now the changeling could be anything or anyone on this ship.\nSisko: Then we have to narrow his options. Confine all nonessential personnel to their quarters and seal them in with forcefields. Doctor, I want you to review those tricorder readings. See if you can find anything that will help us find the changeling. And take some security with you. From here on, no one is to be left alone.\nSisko: We have seven hours before we enter Tzenkethi space. I want that changeling found before then.\nEddington: That won't be easy. Let's face it, no matter how many precautions we take, he could replace any one of us and we won't know it until it's too late.\nOdo: Thank you for your cooperation. Hopefully this will be over soon and you'll be able to return to duty.\nOdo: All right, let's go.\nBashir: This may take a while.\nEddington: Keep your phasers on stun. And stay calm. I don't want anyone getting nervous and shooting one of us by mistake. You sure I can't interest you in one of these?\nOdo: I don't use them. Besides, in the history of my people, no changeling has ever harmed another. I'd hate to be the first.\nEddington: Apparently that changeling doesn't feel the same way. If we don't stop him, no one on board will escape unharmed. Including you.\nOdo: You may be right. But I've been a security officer most of my humanoid existence. And in all that time, I've never found it necessary to fire a weapon or take a life. I don't intend to start now.\nO'Brien: This is O'Brien. I need a security team in the engine room immediately.\nO'Brien: It must've been the changeling. I went down the hall to get an interphasic compensator. I heard a noise and when I came back\nBashir: She's got a severe concussion. Give me a hand. We've got to get her back to the medical bay immediately.\nOdo: Stay here with the Chief.\nO'Brien: Damage control team, report to the engine room.\nCrewman: Aye, sir.\nBashir: Dax is still unconscious. I've given her cortical analeptics to stabilize her condition. She should be all right in a day or two, but until then\nSisko: Is there any way to speed up the process?\nBashir: I could use a neural stimulator but that might cause irreversible brain damage. I don't recommend it.\nSisko: Then Chief O'Brien is going to have to regain control of the ship without her.\nBashir: I'm afraid so. I should get back to my patient.\nKira: The changeling's very clever. Taking out Dax makes O'Brien's job a lot harder.\nSisko: One thing's for sure, we're not going to start a war with the Tzenkethi. If O'Brien can't regain control before we cross the border I'll have no choice but to destroy the Defiant.\nSisko: Our objective is simple. Find the changeling and stop him before he can do any more damage. We'll break into two-person teams. Each team will be armed with phaser rifles.\nEddington: We've reconfigured the rifles to fire an expanding energy pulse.\nOdo: Phasers have been set low enough to avoid damaging equipment, but high enough to affect the changeling.\nSisko: The changeling could be hiding anywhere. He could look like anything. So we're going to have to systematically sweep the ship with phaser fire. Every conduit, every corridor. If he's out there, we'll find him. Any questions?\nBolian: What if the changeling's not out there? What if he's one of us?\nSisko: That's why everyone will be in teams. Keep your partner in sight at all times.\nKira: And if we see anyone without a partner?\nSisko: Escort them to the brig. We don't want to take any chances. Let's go.\nKira: All right. Let's go.\nBolian: After you.\nKira: Don't you trust me?\nBolian: No, I don't.\nKira: I know exactly how you feel. Follow me.\nEddington: Don't you ever sweat?\nOdo: No, I don't. It's the modified phaser beam. It's heating up the air.\nEddington: You know, this'd be a lot easier if we knew where he was hiding. Where would you be if you were him?\nOdo: I wouldn't know. I'm not him.\nEddington: He is one of your people. Can't you put yourself in his position, try to anticipate his next move?\nOdo: I've thought about it, but the truth is I don't understand my people all that well.\nEddington: That's too bad.\nOdo: Yes, it is.\nEddington: For all of us.\nSisko: Watch my back.\nSisko: Over there. On three. One, two\nSisko: This is Sisko. The changeling is in Jefferies tube seven A heading to the lower deck. I'm in pursuit.\nBolian: The changeling. He's right over there.\nKira: Put your phaser down. It's me, Kira. We were on our way to meet you and we got separated for a second. The next thing I know, he opens fire.\nBolian: You can't fool me. You're the changeling. I saw you come out of that hatch and go around the corner.\nKira: I didn't see anyone. Maybe he morphed into the ventilation system. Or maybe he didn't. For all we know, you may be the changeling.\nBolian: Keep back!\nSisko: Both of you put your weapons down now.\nBolian: I can't do that, Captain.\nKira: You heard him.\nEddington: What happened?\nSisko: How long have the two of you been apart?\nOdo: At least a minute.\nSisko: Then we've got a problem. Any of us could be the changeling. You, Kira, Eddington, even me.\nOdo: Not you.\nSisko: What do you mean?\nOdo: You're bleeding.\nSisko: I cut my hand when the changeling attacked me.\nEddington: What are you getting at?\nOdo: When blood leaves a humanoid body it's still blood. But when any part of me separates from my body\nKira: It reverts back to a gelatinous state.\nSisko: Sisko to Bashir.\nBashir: This is Bashir.\nSisko: Doctor, meet us in the mess hall immediately.\nBashir: This shouldn't take long.\nBolian: Satisfied?\nSisko: So far.\nBashir: Who's next?\nKira: I'll go.\nBashir: I'd say the Major is exactly who she appears to be.\nKira: Try not to look so surprised.\nBashir: There doesn't seem to be any point obtaining a sample from the Constable. I guess that leaves the three of us.\nEddington: Let's get this over with.\nKira: You'd better come with us.\nEddington: This is ridiculous. I'm not the changeling. If I were, don't you think I'd put up a little more of a fight?\nOdo: Inside.\nEddington: You're making a mistake.\nKira: Do as he says.\nBashir: Would someone please get me out of here?\nCrewman: Bridge to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko here.\nCrewman: Sir, we're entering Tzenkethi space.\nSisko: Any sign of Tzenkethi ships?\nEddington: Sensors aren't picking up any warp signatures.\nKira: We've altered course. Our new heading is zero one five mark four seven. We're headed directly for the Tzenkethi settlement on M'kemas Three.\nSisko: How long before we're in weapons range of the settlement?\nKira: Twelve minutes.\nSisko: Computer, this is Captain Benjamin Sisko. Initiate auto-destruct sequence. Authorisation Sisko alpha one alpha.\nComputer: Identity confirmed. Additional authorisation required.\nKira: This is First Officer Kira Nerys. Auto-destruct authorisation Kira beta two beta.\nComputer: Identity confirmed. Auto-destruct sequence armed.\nSisko: Set the countdown for ten minutes from my mark. Authorisation Sisko one five destruct. Mark.\nComputer: Sequence initiated. Auto-destruct in nine minutes, fifty five seconds.\nSisko: Sisko to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: O'Brien here.\nSisko: I could use some good news right now, Chief.\nO'Brien: How about this?\nO'Brien: I think I may be able to shut down the changeling's forcefields and gain access to the sabotaged systems. The only problem is we may lose our\nO'Brien: Forcefields too.\nComputer: Auto-destruct in seven minutes.\nSisko: Just tell me how long it will take.\nO'Brien: Well, I guess it'll have to be less than seven minutes, won't it.\nSisko: That'd be my suggestion. Sisko out.\nEddington: Doctor, how's Lieutenant Dax?\nBashir: Still unconscious. The changeling gave her enough sedative to keep her under for days. I've managed to filter most of it out of her system, but she'll be out for another few hours. I wish I could do more.\nSisko: You've done all you can, Doctor. Now it's up to Chief O'Brien.\nComputer: Auto-destruct in six minutes.\nO'Brien: All right, we're almost there. Look, when we set off this device there's a possibility we may lose the protective field around the warp core. If that happens, this room is going to heat up real fast so give the warp core a wide berth or you'll get a dose of radiation poisoning even Bashir can't cure.\nOdo: Where's the changeling? I lost him in the conduits.\nO'Brien: We haven't seen him.\nOdo 2: Wait. It's me, Odo.\nO'Brien: You don't say.\nOdo 2: Chief, remember the last time we went kayaking in the holosuites. You had lamb stew for lunch.\nO'Brien: That's right.\nOdo: But you forgot to bring a fork. Anyone could have gotten that information.\nComputer: Auto-destruct in five minutes.\nOdo 2: You'd better make a decision. We're running out of time.\nO'Brien: I've got more important things to do than play choose the changeling. Keep the phaser on both of them.\nKira: The shuttlebay doors are sealed. The evacuation pods are locked down. We have no way out.\nEddington: Weapons are fully charged and ready to fire. Tactical systems are programming an attack run on the Tzenkethi settlement.\nOdo 2: Chief, what are you doing?\nComputer: Auto-destruct in four minutes.\nO'Brien: You'll see. Now.\nComputer: Warning. Warp core field breach. Engine room will be sealed in ten seconds. Evacuate immediately.\nO'Brien: Shut down the main power grid.\nOdo: No!\nComputer: Engine room sealed.\nFounder: Why are you protecting these solids? You don't belong with them. You belong with us.\nComputer: Auto-destruct in three minutes.\nFounder: Let go. Don't you see? You've lost. It's too late for you to help them but it's not too late to help yourself. Link with me, Odo. We can escape together.\nOdo: I don't think so.\nComputer: Auto-destruct in two minutes.\nOdo: You have to regain control of the ship.\nFounder: Odo.\nOdo: I never wanted to harm you.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Bridge.\nSisko: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien: I've restored\nO'Brien: Control to the helm. She's all yours\nO'Brien: Captain.\nSisko: Hard aport, Major. Take us away from the settlement. Computer, end auto-destruct sequence. Authorisation Sisko omega one seven abort.\nKira: This is Kira Nerys, First Officer. I concur.\nComputer: Auto-destruct sequence aborted.\nEddington: The phaser banks are powering down.\nSisko: Take us home, Major. Captain's log, supplemental. We've returned to the station without further incident. However, I'm concerned about my Chief of Security, who hasn't said a word since we left Tzenkethi space.\nSisko: The real Ambassador Krajensky was supposed to be on his way to Risa for an extended vacation, but he never arrived.\nEddington: Starfleet Security believes he's been kidnapped or possibly killed.\nBashir: What about the coup on the Tzenkethi homeworld?\nSisko: It never happened. Starfleet Command wants a detailed report from each of us.\nKira: Odo, are you all right?\nOdo: I'm fine. I hope I'm not interrupting.\nDax: Not at all.\nO'Brien: Have a seat.\nOdo: Captain, there's something you need to know. The changeling, before he died, he whispered something to me.\nSisko: Go on.\nOdo: He said, you're too late. We are everywhere."}
{"text": "Scene: In memory of\n Gregg Duffy Long\n Ronald W. Smith\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: We've swept all of level seventeen. No sign of the changeling.\nSisko: Move down to eighteen. We'll meet you there after we finish checking the guest quarters.\nKira: Watch yourself, Chief. This changeling knows the station as well as we do. He could be anywhere or anything.\nO'Brien: Aye, Major.\nSisko: We've found him. He's headed to the Promenade.\nBashir: Just there. All right, I want phaser sweeps of everything in the Promenade. He's here somewhere. Let's find him. On three. One, two\nO'Brien: Bang. You're dead.\nOdo: And so is Doctor Bashir.\nKira: Computer, elapsed time?\nComputer: Three hours, twenty-seven minutes.\nOdo: That's not good enough. If one of my people were loose on the station for that long, there's no telling how much damage they could do.\nSisko: Schedule another surprise drill. If the Dominion tries to infiltrate the station, I want to be ready for them.\nOdo: And remind everyone that next time they'd better sweep everything. A changeling can be anything. A post, a pillar, even a patch of reflective surfacing.\nO'Brien: We get the message, Constable.\nOdo: I hope so, Chief. Just remember that the Founders are even better shape-shifters than I am.\nQuark: Excuse me. If you're done scaring my customers away, I'd like to open the bar.\nKira: Go right ahead.\nQuark: Thank you. Constable, it just occurred to me that if I knew in advance how just long it'll take them for to catch you during the next drill? Well, let's just say you and I could share a substantial profit.\nQuark: Think about it.\nKira: Performance reviews will be held starting at oh eight hundred hours tomorrow in the wardroom. Check your team leaders for the schedule. Dismissed.\nKira: How about some dinner?\nSisko: Not tonight. I have a previous engagement.\nKira: Oh, that's right. Captain Yates got in this morning. Give her my regards.\nSisko: I will.\nSisko: Come in.\nKasidy: Hello, Ben. I hope I'm not too late.\nSisko: Some things are worth waiting for.\nKasidy: Nice.\nSisko: I'm glad you like it. For you.\nKasidy: Isn't that a coincidence? I have something for you, too. Oh, where did you find Tholian silk?\nSisko: The Tholian ambassador owed me a favor. May I?\nKasidy: It's not silk, but I think you'll like it.\nKasidy: It's from my brother's team.\nSisko: The Pike City Pioneers.\nKasidy: My brother says if you're ever on Cestus Three, he'll get you seats in the dugout.\nSisko: How far is Cestus Three?\nKasidy: Eight weeks at maximum warp.\nSisko: To see a real baseball game, it might be worth the trip.\nKasidy: If you ever decide to go, I'll take you there myself. As long as you don't mind traveling by freighter.\nSisko: I just might take you up on that.\nKasidy: Did you do this all yourself?\nSisko: My father always says the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach.\nKasidy: So it's my heart you're after.\nSisko: I never could keep a secret.\nKasidy: In that case, maybe you could tell me what all those maintenance crews are doing in the docking ring.\nSisko: Just some retrofitting.\nKasidy: Now you are keeping a secret.\nSisko: Let's just say we're preparing a few surprises just in case the Dominion comes through the wormhole.\nKasidy: Seems like everyone's got the Dominion on their minds these days. I hear the Cardassians have even sealed their borders.\nSisko: What do you say we forget about business for a while?\nKasidy: I'd say that's a good idea.\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nDax: I think you'd better get up here.\nSisko: On my way. I'll be back as soon as I can.\nKasidy: I know you will.\nDax: Benjamin, take a look at this. We've got some unexpected company.\nDax: It's just decloaked.\nSisko: Ah. The new Klingon flagship.\nDax: The Negh'Var. There's a General Martok on board asking to speak with you.\nSisko: Put him through.\nMartok: Captain Sisko. I bring greetings from your allies in the Klingon Empire. (Everyone say Hi! to J G Hertzler.)\nSisko: Welcome to Deep Space Nine, General. Is there something I can do for you?\nMartok: It has been a long journey. My men require shore leave.\nSisko: Certainly. They can come aboard any time they like.\nMartok: Good. Sowee tah.\nBashir: Chief, I'm beginning to think there's no limit to the wonders you can perform.\nO'Brien: That's what I like about you, Julian. You're easily impressed.\nBashir: Thank you, Quark. Can we get a little yamok sauce for these sand peas? Quark?\nQuark: Listen, do you hear that?\nBashir: I don't hear a thing.\nQuark: Exactly. The ambient noise level in this room is less than thirty decibels. On an average day it's sixty five. When there're Klingons in the room, it can go as high as eighty-five.\nO'Brien: So what you're saying is, it's quiet in here.\nQuark: Too quiet. Something is terribly wrong.\nBashir: Like what?\nQuark: I don't know. But have you ever met a quiet Klingon before? Look how they're watching the room. It's like they're picking out targets. Where are you going?\nO'Brien: I thought I'd ask the Klingons what they're up to.\nQuark: Don't do that.\nO'Brien: Why not?\nQuark: I don't want them to know we're on to them.\nO'Brien: Well, suit yourself.\nO'Brien: The secret is positioning the pea correctly on the hand.\nBashir: But I thought I had that.\nQuark: What are you two doing? I'm telling you, the Klingons are up to something.\nBashir: Calm down, Quark. The Klingons are our allies.\nQuark: They might be your allies, but they're not mine.\nO'Brien: Relax. If something's up with the Klingons, Captain Sisko will find out about it.\nQuark: Yeah. But will he tell me?\nSisko: So, what brings you here, General?\nMartok: A valid question. But first, let us be sure we are all who we say we are.\nKira: You think we're changelings?\nMartok: What I think doesn't matter. The blood will tell.\nSisko: Now that that's over with.\nMartok: We have been sent here to fight alongside our Federation allies against the Dominion.\nSisko: I appreciate your gesture, but I'm not sure it's necessary.\nMartok: The Klingon High Council thinks it is.\nSisko: Our communications relay in the Gamma Quadrant hasn't detected any signs of Jem'Hadar activity for quite some time. They seem to be giving the wormhole a wide berth.\nMartok: They will come. And when they do, we will be ready for them.\nDax: Oh, there you are. We've been looking all over for you. Malko here just gave me the most amazing massage, and I'm sure if you ask nicely he'll do the same for you.\nKira: No, thanks.\nDax: Why?\nKira: Because Malko's not real. He's a puppet made out of holographic light and replicated matter.\nDax: Boys, can you wait outside?\nKira: Are you afraid I hurt their feelings?\nDax: You really should try to get into the spirit of things. People come from all over Trill to visit the Hoobishan Baths.\nKira: And if I'm ever on Trill I'll visit them too. But we're not on Trill and this isn't the Hoobishan Baths. It's a holosuite and none of it is real.\nDax: And?\nKira: And? I'm sorry. I feel silly.\nDax: Good. That's what a holosuite's for. To have a good time. All you have to do is relax and use your imagination.\nKira: I guess I don't have much of an imagination.\nDax: Of course you do. Everyone does. Didn't you play make-believe when you were a child?\nKira: Yeah. I used to make-believe that the Cardassians would stop killing the Bajorans and just go away.\nDax: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to\nKira: No. I'm sorry. I guess I never had much use for my imagination. I mean, look at me. You plan a fun evening for us and all I can do is sit here and worry about Klingons.\nDax: You can worry about the Klingons tomorrow. From what I hear, they're not going anywhere. And as for your underdeveloped imagination, I prescribe a strict regimen of exercise starting immediately.\nKira: All right. I'll give it a try.\nDax: That's all I ask. Come on. Malko couldn't have gone far.\nGarak: Fascinating. So both the cup and the liquid are merely extensions of your body.\nOdo: That is correct. And if I want to, I can even drink the liquid, reabsorb it, and produce new coffee in the cup. This way I can give the illusion that I'm sharing in the dining experience.\nGarak: Very thoughtful. Tell me, Odo, have you heard any news from Cardassia lately?\nOdo: Not since they sealed their borders.\nGarak: Well I have, and frankly I don't like what I've heard. Rumors of uprisings, civil disturbance. It's all very alarming.\nOdo: I didn't know you still had friends inside the Empire.\nGarak: One or two, but I can't even get through to them now. That's what worries me. With the destruction of the Obsidian Order and the threat of the Dominion, these are unsettling times for Cardassia.\nOdo: They're unsettling for everyone.\nDrex: Stop. What are you doing here? Let me see that.\nDrex: Two bottles of\nOdo: But if I hear anything, I'll let you know.\nGarak: I'd appreciate that, Constable.\nOdo: Excuse me for a moment.\nDrex: So far away from the Hyundite nebula. So what is it that you do on this station?\nOdo: Can I help you?\nDrex: Lohd Zoss-lee chaw-KU sohk jaTAL?\nGarak: Actually, I'm not sure Constable Odo has a mother.\nOdo: Morn, I believe Ensign Sanders was looking for you. Gentlemen, if you have business on this Promenade, I suggest you get on with it.\nGarak: I'd listen to him if I were you.\nDrex: I don't take orders from shape-shifters, or their Cardassian lapdogs.\nOdo: I may be a shape-shifter, but I am also Chief of Security of this station. So either move along, or you'll be continuing this conversation from inside a holding cell.\nDrex: As long as you wear that Bajoran uniform, we're allies. Make sure you never take it off.\nOdo: I didn't know you spoke Klingon.\nGarak: Oh, you'd be surprised at the things you can learn while you're doing alterations.\nGarak: Let me guess. You're either lost or desperately searching for a good tailor.\nDrex: Guess again.\nBashir: I can't believe you're not pressing charges.\nGarak: Constable Odo and Captain Sisko expressed similar concern. But really, Doctor, there was no harm done.\nBashir: They broke seven of your transverse ribs and fractured your clavicle.\nGarak: Ah, but I got off several cutting remarks which no doubt did serious damage to their egos.\nBashir: Garak, this isn't funny.\nGarak: I'm serious, Doctor. Thanks to your ministrations, I am almost completely healed. But the damage I did to them will last a lifetime. What I can't understand is their inexplicable hostility toward me. Maligning Constable Odo is one thing. After all, he's a changeling. The Klingons don't know him as well as we do. But relations between the Klingon and Cardassian Empires have never been anything but amicable.\nBashir: With the exception of the Betreka Nebula incident.\nGarak: A minor skirmish.\nBashir: That lasted eighteen years.\nGarak: That was ages ago. Perhaps they decided they just didn't like me?\nBashir: Not like you? Impossible.\nGarak: You're right, as always, Doctor. They must have mistaken me for someone else.\nKira: The Klingon ships keep cloaking and decloaking, so it's impossible to get an exact count, but so far we've been able to identify at least twenty different warships in the vicinity of the station.\nDax: Captain, we're receiving a priority one distress call from the freighter Xhosa.\nKira: Kasidy's ship?\nSisko: She left the station an hour ago. Put her through.\nKasidy: This is the freighter Xhosa to Deep Space Nine. We're under attack by\nDax: Her signal's been jammed.\nSisko: Get a fix on her location. Tell the crew on the Defiant to man their stations. We'll meet you on the bridge. Defiant.\nDax: Forward scanners are detecting the Xhosa at bearing zero one seven mark three four six.\nKira: I'm picking up another ship. It's got a tractor beam on the Xhosa.\nSisko: On screen.\nKira: A Klingon ship.\nDax: I can't get through to Kasidy. They're still jamming her communications.\nSisko: Hail the Klingon vessel.\nKaybok: This is Commander Kaybok of the M'Char. What is it you want?\nSisko: I want to know why you stopped that ship.\nKaybok: We have orders to search all vessels attempting to leave Bajoran space.\nKira: Search them for what?\nKaybok: For shape-shifters. Each ship will be scanned, its cargo searched, and its crewmembers and passengers subjected to genetic testing.\nSisko: On whose authority?\nKaybok: On the authority of Gowron and the Klingon High Council.\nKira: The Klingon High Council has no jurisdiction over ships in Bajoran space.\nKaybok: We assumed you would welcome our assistance.\nSisko: Do you have any evidence that there are changelings aboard this particular ship?\nKaybok: How can we have evidence until we conduct our tests?\nKira: Commander, Bajoran law strictly prohibits any unwarranted search and seizure of vessels in our territory.\nKaybok: I have my orders.\nDax: The Klingon ship has increased power to its tractor beam. It looks like they're preparing to board the Xhosa.\nSisko: Major, raise shields. Power up the forward phasers. See if that gets their attention.\nKira: Shields up. Forward phasers standing by.\nDax: They're still not releasing the tractor beam.\nSisko: Fire a warning shot two hundred meters off their starboard bow.\nKira: Yes, sir.\nDax: Commander Kaybok would like to speak with you.\nSisko: Let's hear what he has to say.\nKaybok: Captain, this is outrageous.\nSisko: I agree, but you leave me no choice. You're violating Bajoran law. Now, I will ask you one last time. Release that ship immediately.\nKaybok: We are your allies.\nSisko: Major, lock phasers on M'Char's engines. Prepare to fire on my command.\nKira: Phasers ready.\nKaybok: Kltrek im stram. Gowron will hear of this.\nDax: I'm receiving a hail from the Xhosa. It's Captain Yates.\nSisko: Put her through.\nKasidy: Captain, I don't know what you said to those Klingons, but it must have been good.\nSisko: Is everyone all right?\nKasidy: Everyone is fine.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear it. We'll keep you on sensors as long as we can, but I doubt the Klingons will give you any more trouble.\nKasidy: I appreciate that, Captain. I'll see you in about two weeks.\nSisko: You know where to find me.\nDax: According to our long-range sensors, the Klingon task force has withdrawn to just outside Bajoran territory.\nSisko: So now they're in unclaimed space. And if they decide to continue searching ships\nDax: There's nothing we can do about it unless they try to stop a Federation or Bajoran vessel.\nSisko: Which, so far, they haven't done.\nO'Brien: Captain, General Martok is here to see you.\nSisko: Send him in. Ah, General, we need to talk.\nMartok: Sohk vad.\nDax: It's Commander Kaybok's.\nSisko: Why did he give it to me?\nDax: He's letting you know Kaybok's dead. Martok probably had him executed for disobeying orders.\nSisko: Which means our next confrontation with the Klingons won't be resolved so easily. Any suggestions, old man?\nDax: The longer the Klingons are here, the worse things are going to get. Whatever you decide to do, you'd better do it soon.\nSisko: Curzon told me once that in the long run, the only people who can really handle the Klingons are Klingons. Get me Starfleet Command.\nO'Brien: Commander Worf.\nWorf: Chief. It has been a long time.\nO'Brien: Too long. Welcome aboard.\nQuark: Just what the station needs. Another Klingon.\nWorf: Lieutenant Commander Worf reporting for duty, sir.\nSisko: It's good to have you aboard, Commander.\nWorf: Thank you, sir.\nSisko: At ease, Mister Worf. I was sorry to hear about the Enterprise. She was a good ship.\nWorf: Yes, sir.\nSisko: I understand you've been on extended leave.\nWorf: Yes. I have been visiting the Klingon monastery on Boreth. I found my discussions with the clerics to be there most enlightening.\nSisko: Well, I hope you'll forgive me for pulling you away from your studies, but I doubt that this assignment will take very long.\nWorf: My leave was almost over, sir.\nSisko: Do you have any idea where you'll be stationed next?\nWorf: I am considering resigning my commission.\nSisko: Really? May I ask why?\nWorf: I have spent most of my life among humans. It has not always been easy for me. And since the destruction of the Enterprise, it has become even more difficult. I am no longer sure I belong in this uniform.\nSisko: Mister Worf, if I told you we didn't need you here, I'd be lying. But if you don't want to take this assignment, I'd understand.\nWorf: Thank you, sir. But until I make my decision, I intend to do my duty.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear that. I assume you've read my situation report.\nWorf: Yes, sir.\nSisko: I can't help but feel that General Martok isn't telling the whole truth about this Klingon task force. There are too many unanswered questions.\nWorf: Then I will find you some answers.\nSisko: Good. If you need any help, let me know.\nWorf: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Commander. I once thought about resigning from Starfleet too. I know if I had, I would've regretted it. Don't make any quick decisions.\nWorf: I will keep that in mind.\nQuark: Let me guess. Klingon bloodwine.\nWorf: Prune juice, chilled.\nQuark: Prune juice? If you say so.\nO'Brien: Commander, over here.\nO'Brien: Doctor Julian Bashir, Lieutenant Commander Worf.\nBashir: Care for a game of darts?\nWorf: I do not play games.\nO'Brien: It's like poker, but with pointed tips. All right then, think of it as target practice.\nBashir: The object is to throw this dart and hit that board over there.\nO'Brien: Aim for the dot in the middle.\nKira: Well, you saw how he was acting.\nDax: I can't believe you did that.\nKira: He didn't leave me any choice.\nBashir: Wait, wait, wait. What did she do?\nDax: She knocked out Lancelot.\nKira: He kissed me.\nDax: He's supposed to kiss you.\nKira: But I was playing a married woman.\nBashir: Lieutenant Commander Worf, this is Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax, and Major Kira Nerys, our first officer.\nWorf: Nice hat.\nKira: I don't usually dress like this. We were in the holosuite.\nWorf: So I gathered. You used to be Curzon Dax.\nDax: That's right. And I don't usually dress like this either.\nWorf: Curzon's name is an honored one among my people.\nDax: Louk, a jeek cHim talaw.\nWorf: I suppose so.\nDrex: Bloodwine! And hurry!\nWorf: Excuse me.\nKira: What did you say to him?\nDax: It loses something in the translation.\nDrex: This bloodwine is cold! Get me another one!\nWorf: You are Drex, son of Martok.\nDrex: That's right.\nWorf: I am Worf, son of Mogh.\nDax: He's good.\nO'Brien: What did I tell you?\nWorf: Enter.\nMartok: I have come for my son's d'k tahg. Give it to me or I will take it from you.\nWorf: Now that you are here, I have no further need of it.\nMartok: You robbed my son of his honor just to get my attention?\nWorf: You can't take away what someone does not have.\nMartok: Are you saying my son is without honor?\nWorf: I am saying your son is a coward and a liar.\nMartok: And what of his father?\nWorf: That remains to be seen.\nMartok: Tell me, what have I done to earn your disrespect?\nWorf: The misdeeds your troops have committed speak for themselves. Attacking a Cardassian tailor. Detaining and searching ships in neutral space without warning or provocation. And you, executing one of your commanders because he refused to fire on a Federation ship,\nMartok: Whatever we have done is in the best interests of the Alpha Quadrant.\nWorf: You must think me a fool to make your lies so transparent.\nMartok: I do not wish to quarrel with you, Worf.\nWorf: Nor I with you. The House of Martok is an honored one, with a proud tradition. But I must know why you are here.\nMartok: I am here under the authority of Gowron himself. I am carrying out his orders. That should be all the explanation a Klingon warrior needs.\nWorf: You forget. I am not only a Klingon warrior, I am a Starfleet officer. And Starfleet deserves an explanation.\nMartok: They will get one soon enough. Until then, know this. My mission will determine the fate of the Klingon Empire. Interfere, and you risk destroying us all.\nDax: You shouldn't drop your left arm like that.\nWorf: I do not remember asking you for advice.\nDax: Just trying to help.\nDax: So, how did you like the program?\nWorf: I found it adequate. Though I was surprised to find a Klingon exercise program on the holosuite.\nDax: It's mine.\nWorf: You mean Curzon's.\nDax: No, I mean it's mine. Computer, bat'leth. I thought you might be tired of fighting holograms.\nWorf: It would not be a fair match.\nDax: I'll go easy on you.\nWorf: Very well. Defend yourself.\nDax: I hope you're not holding back because I'm a woman. If it makes things any easier, think of me as a man. I've been one several times.\nDax: Feel better? I take it your conversation with General Martok didn't go all that well.\nWorf: He was not forthcoming. And he is not the only one. I tried to contact Gowron, Emperor Kahless, even my brother who sits on the High Council. No one will speak with me.\nDax: Maybe you're going about this the wrong way. With so many Klingons around, there must be someone who owes your family a favor.\nHuraga: Ej IM-ta fey DE-ja i. Ejdahk-so-TAS ghos va Skral byteek. Empa jaj law-moch jaj-push. Jaj Kayless Molor migh hohk-chew koo.\nHuraga: Your father and I used to sing that song when you were just a small boy. Did I ever tell you how your father saved my family's honor during our bloodfeud with the House of Duras?\nWorf: Many times.\nHuraga: It is a good story!\nWorf: Yes, an you tell it well.\nHuraga: Your father was a great warrior. My family owes him everything we have. I wish there was some way I could repay him.\nWorf: There is. Tell me why the task force is here. The real reason, not the one Martok gave the Federation.\nHuraga: The real reason? I suppose you have the right to know. You are a Klingon warrior and it would be wrong to keep you away from battle. And it's going to be a glorious battle!\nOdo: It all seems simpler from up here, doesn't it?\nWorf: If you are looking to start a conversation, look somewhere else. I would prefer to be left alone.\nOdo: That may be, but you can't stay up here forever. Sooner or later you're going to have to talk to Captain Sisko. Whatever it is you've found out about the Klingons, he should be the first to know.\nWorf: You have been spying on me.\nOdo: As Chief of Security, it's my duty to observe the inhabitants of this station. Since your arrival, you've transmitted an average of five messages a day to the Klingon Homeworld, none of which has gotten a response. Then last night you met with a Klingon officer in your quarters. Since then, you haven't sent a single message. In fact, you've done nothing to further your investigation of the Klingon task force.\nWorf: None of which is your business.\nOdo: The security of this station is my business. Your behavior leads me to conclude that either you've given up your investigation, in which case it's my duty to take over, or you've found something. Something so disturbing that you're hesitant to inform Captain Sisko.\nWorf: I am not interested in your conclusions.\nOdo: Commander. I just wanted to say that I understand what you're going through. I've also had to choose between duty and loyalty to my people.\nWorf: Yes, I have read your Starfleet security file.\nOdo: Frankly, Mister Worf, I don't care which choice you make. But you owe it to Captain Sisko to let him know which side you're on, before it's too late. Enjoy the view.\nO'Brien: Mister Worf, what can I do for you?\nWorf: Where is Captain Sisko?\nO'Brien: I think he's in a briefing session with\nWorf: I need to talk to him. Now.\nSisko: Cardassia? Why would the Klingons want to invade Cardassia?\nWorf: According to my source, there has been an uprising on the Cardassian homeworld. The Central Command has been overthrown and power transferred to civilian authorities.\nSisko: Even if your source is correct, what does that have to do with the Klingons?\nWorf: Gowron and the High Council believe the coup was engineered by the Dominion.\nSisko: Do they have any proof?\nWorf: None that I know of, but they are convinced that civilians could not have overthrown the Central Command without help.\nSisko: So, by attacking Cardassia they think they're protecting the Alpha Quadrant from the Dominion? Sisko to Dax. Contact General Martok. Tell him I need to meet with him immediately.\nDax: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Mister Worf, I know this hasn't been an easy assignment for you.\nWorf: No, it has not. But I knew this day would come again when I'd be forced to choose between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.\nSisko: Maybe you don't have to make that choice just yet. I don't think there's any need for you to be there when I meet with Martok.\nWorf: I would prefer to be there. I cannot avoid responsibility for what I have done today.\nMartok: I must compliment you on your intelligence network, Captain. One day you must tell me how you learned of our plans.\nWorf: General\nSisko: How I got the information isn't important.\nMartok: I think it is. And so will Gowron.\nSisko: General, I want you to call off this attack.\nMartok: And what do you propose we do instead? Stand by and let the Dominion take over the Alpha Quadrant?\nSisko: You have no proof that there are any Founders on Cardassia.\nMartok: The change in government is all the proof we need.\nWorf: And what if you are wrong?\nMartok: That would be unfortunate for the Cardassians.\nSisko: General, the Federation council has made it clear to me that they cannot support your plans to attack Cardassia.\nMartok: Are you saying the Federation will sit back and do nothing while Klingon soldiers give their lives to protect the Alpha Quadrant?\nWorf: Starfleet will not participate in an unprovoked invasion.\nMartok: Then the victory will be ours alone.\nSisko: General, I would advise you to reconsider. The Federation Council has informed Gowron that if the attack goes forward, it will jeopardize our treaty with the Klingon Empire.\nMartok: Believe me, Captain, we have no wish to antagonize your people.\nSisko: Then call off the attack.\nMartok: I will consult with Gowron. You will have his decision within the hour.\nDax: Captain, I think you'd better take a look at this.\nSisko: Report.\nDax: As soon as General Martok beamed back to his ship, he sent a message to the Klingon fleet. It was just one word. In'Cha.\nWorf: Begin.\nO'Brien: I'm picking up a huge distortion wave in subspace. The Klingon ships are going to warp.\nKira: Can you plot their course?\nO'Brien: Judging from the vector of the subspace disturbance I'd say their heading is two six nine mark zero three two.\nSisko: Straight to the Cardassian Empire.\nSisko: The Federation Council has been trying to contact Gowron. So far, they've had no response. So until they've had a chance to speak with him, we've been ordered not to get involved.\nKira: The Bajoran government has agreed to abide by the decisions of the Federation Council.\nBashir: So that means we're not going to warn the Cardassians?\nDax: The Klingons are still our allies. If we warn the Cardassians, we'd be betraying them.\nO'Brien: Besides, what if the Klingons are right? What if the Dominion has taken over the Cardassian government?\nOdo: If my people wanted to seize control of Cardassia, that is how they would do it.\nKira: The coup could have happened just as easily without the Founders. The Cardassian dissident movement has been gathering strength for years. With the Obsidian Order out of the way, they might have finally succeeded.\nWorf: The issue is not if there are any Founders on Cardassia. There are many Klingons who say we have been at peace too long, that the Empire must expand in order to survive. Fear of the Dominion has given my people an excuse to do what they were born to do. To fight and to conquer.\nSisko: If they're so eager to fight, who's to say they'll stop with the Cardassians.\nKira: Their next target could be anyone. Even the Federation.\nDax: If I were you, I'd be more worried about Bajor. Think about it. What good would it do for the Klingons to defeat Cardassia, if they don't control the wormhole?\nWorf: Agreed. If my people return to the old ways, no one will be safe.\nSisko: Then we'll have to make sure that doesn't happen.\nO'Brien: But how? The way I see it, we only have got two choices, both of them bad. If we stand by and do nothing, we run the risk of being the Klingons' next target. But if we disobey Starfleet orders and warn the Cardassians, we may end up starting a war with the Klingons.\nSisko: Which means we need a third option.\nGarak: Trust me, you won't regret this. When it comes to keeping warm, nothing beats Vitarian wool undergarments. And in case you change your mind about the earmuffs, I'll keep them on hold for you.\nSisko: Mister Garak, I'd like to see you in the wardroom immediately. Bring your tailor's kit.\nDax: All together we're talking about well over a hundred ships, just in the first wave.\nGarak: Excuse me. I hope I'm not interrupting.\nSisko: I'd like to be measured for a new suit.\nGarak: Now?\nSisko: Right now.\nGarak: But Captain, I do have your measurements.\nSisko: Take them again. You were saying, Commander?\nDax: I was saying that between ground forces and warships, the Klingons have committed almost a third of their military to this invasion.\nSisko: How long before they reach their target?\nWorf: According to our estimates, the task force should enter Cardassian space within the hour.\nSisko: Don't forget the waist. I think I've lost a little weight.\nGarak: Thank you, Captain. I believe I have everything I need.\nDukat: The Klingons? Why would the Klingons invade us?\nGarak: According to my sources, the Klingon High Council believes that Cardassia has been taken over by the Founders.\nDukat: That's ridiculous.\nGarak: Is it?\nDukat: Garak, you have got to talk to Sisko. Tell him he has to find a way to stop the Klingons. Cardassia has enough problems right now.\nGarak: You're having trouble keeping the civilians in line?\nDukat: How do you know about that?\nGarak: I'm afraid that since the fall of the Obsidian Order, Cardassian security isn't what it used to be.\nDukat: Yes. Shame about the Order. I suppose there won't be much of a demand for your services anymore. Looks like you'll be hemming women's dresses for the rest of your life.\nGarak: We can stand here all day reminding ourselves just how much we hate each other, but you don't have the time. The Klingon fleet will reach Cardassian territory in less than one hour. I suggest you prepare for them.\nKira: Based on Klingon transmissions we've intercepted, the outlying Cardassian colonies were overrun almost immediately. But, now that the Cardassian fleet has mobilized, the Klingons are meeting stronger resistance.\nDax: You'd almost think somebody warned the Cardassians they were coming.\nKira: Hopefully it'll make the Klingons think twice about what they're doing.\nWorf: Unlikely, Major. Now that the battle has begun, Martok and his troops will settle for nothing less than victory.\nO'Brien: Well, what did the Federation Council say?\nSisko: They've decided to condemn the Klingon invasion. In response, Gowron has expelled all Federation citizens from the Klingon Empire and recalled his ambassadors from the Federation.\nKira: You're saying he cut off diplomatic relations?\nSisko: He's done more than that. The Klingons have withdrawn from the Khitomer Accords. The peace treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire has ended.\nO'Brien: Captain, you're never going to believe this. A Klingon ship just decloaked off upper pylon three and is requesting permission to dock. They claim they have Chancellor Gowron on board and he is demanding to speak with Mister Worf, personally.\nWorf: Chancellor Gowron. You wished to speak with me?\nGowron: Worf. Worf! It is good to see you. I always said that uniform would get you into trouble one day.\nWorf: It seems you were right. But I do not apologize for my actions\nGowron: Yes, yes. I know. you did what you thought was right. And even though you may have made some enemies, I assure you I am not one of them.\nWorf: I am glad. Your friendship means much to me.\nGowron: And yours to me. It has been too long since you last fought at my side. But now the time has come again. We will do great deeds in the coming days. Deeds worthy of song.\nWorf: You want me to go to Cardassia with you?\nGowron: What better way to redeem yourself in the eyes of your people. Come with me, Worf. Glory awaits you on Cardassia. Worf, why do you stand there like a mute d'blok. I have offered you a chance for glory. All you have to do is take it.\nWorf: If there's any glory to be won, Gowron, it'll have to be yours alone. I cannot come with you.\nGowron: Of course you can. It is where you belong.\nWorf: I cannot abandon my post.\nGowron: You no longer have a post. You have no place on that station, and no business wearing that uniform.\nWorf: I have sworn an oath of allegiance.\nGowron: To the Federation.\nWorf: You would have me break my word?\nGowron: Your word? What good is your word when you give it to people who care nothing for honor, who refuse to lift a finger while Klingon warriors shed blood for their protection. I tell you, they are without honor. You do not owe them anything.\nWorf: It is not what I owe them that matters. It is what I owe myself. Worf, son of Mogh, does not break his word.\nGowron: And what of your debt to me? Are you saying you owe me nothing? I gave you back your name, restored your house, gave your family a seat on the High Council. And this is how you repay me?\nWorf: It is true I owe you a great debt. I would give up my life for you. But invading Cardassia is wrong, and I cannot support it.\nGowron: Worf, I have always considered you a friend and an ally. And because you are my friend, I am giving you this one last chance to redeem yourself. Come with me.\nWorf: I cannot.\nGowron: Think about what you are doing. If you turn your back on me now, for as long as I live, you will not be welcome anywhere in the Klingon Empire. Your family will be removed from the High Council, your lands seized, and your House stripped of its titles. You will have nothing.\nWorf: Except my honor.\nGowron: So be it.\nO'Brien: You look like you could use some company.\nWorf: Chief, do you remember the time we rescued Captain Picard from the Borg?\nO'Brien: How could I forget? It was touch and go there for a while. There were a couple of moments when I thought we were all going to wind up being assimilated.\nWorf: I never doubted the outcome. We were like warriors from the ancient sagas. There was nothing we could not do.\nO'Brien: Except keep the holodecks working right.\nWorf: I have decided to resign from Starfleet.\nO'Brien: Resign? What are you talking about?\nWorf: I have made up my mind. It is for the best.\nO'Brien: Look, I know how much you miss the Enterprise, but I'm sure they'll be building a new one soon.\nWorf: It will not be the same. The Enterprise I knew is gone. Those were good years, but now it is time for me to move on.\nO'Brien: And do what?\nWorf: I do not know. I thought I would be returning to Boreth, but now that is impossible. I have made an enemy of Gowron, and every other Klingon in the Empire.\nO'Brien: All the more reason to stay in Starfleet.\nWorf: This uniform will only serve to remind me of how I have disgraced myself in the eyes of my people. I suppose I could get a berth on a Nyberrite Alliance Cruiser. They are always eager to hire experienced officers.\nO'Brien: The Nyberrite Alliance? That's a long way. What about your son?\nWorf: Alexander is much happier living with his grandparents on Earth than he ever was staying with me. One thing is certain. The sooner I leave here, the better. My continued presence on Deep Space Nine would only be a liability to Captain Sisko in his dealings with the Klingons.\nQuark: Do you hear that, Chief? Seventy two decibels. Music to my ears.\nO'Brien: I think I liked it better when it was quiet.\nQuark: You want quiet, go to the Replimat. This is Quark's the way Quark's should be. The way it was meant to be. Am I glad we finally got rid of all those Klingons. Present company excepted, of course.\nO'Brien: I got to hand it to you, Quark. You really know how to make your customers feel welcome.\nQuark: What do I care? All he ever drinks is prune juice.\nSisko: I'm sorry, Mister Worf, but I can't accept your resignation at this time.\nWorf: I do not understand. What further use could I be here?\nSisko: I'm not sure yet. But as long as the fighting continues between the Klingons and the Cardassians, I need you here on the station.\nWorf: If you think that is wise.\nSisko: I don't know if it's wise or not. But I do know that you're a good officer, and right now I need every good officer I can get.\nKira: Captain, we just got word from Bajoran Intelligence. The Klingons have broken through the Cardassian fleet.\nSisko: How long before they reach Cardassia Prime?\nKira: Fifty two hours.\nWorf: If the Klingon Empire has reverted to the old practices, they will occupy the Cardassian homeworld, execute all government officials, and installl an imperial overseer to put down any further resistance.\nSisko: I think it's about time we had a talk with the Cardassians.\nDukat: Captain, I'm a little busy at the moment, so whatever you have to say, make it brief.\nSisko: Dukat? I was trying to reach someone in the civilian government.\nDukat: And you have succeeded. You are speaking to the new Chief Military Advisor to the Detapa Council.\nSisko: Does this mean you've turned your back on the Central Command?\nDukat: It means that as a loyal officer of the Cardassian Military, I am pledged to serve the legitimate ruling body of the Empire. Whoever that may be.\nSisko: In other words, you saw which way the wind was blowing and switched sides.\nDukat: It seemed like a good idea at the time.\nSisko: Dukat, you have got to get those council members to safety before the Klingons reach Cardassia Prime.\nDukat: I am open to suggestions, Captain.\nSisko: If you can get a ship and meet me at these coordinates, I'll do what I can to escort you out of the war zone.\nDukat: That is a very generous offer. I must say I am touched. By saving the members of the Detapa Council, you will be saving some very\nSisko: Forget the speech, Dukat. Just meet me at the rendezvous point.\nDukat: And if the Klingons try to stop us?\nSisko: Then I'll be there to reason with them. I doubt the Klingons will fire on a Federation ship.\nDukat: I'm not sure I share your optimism, but then I don't have much choice, do I? We'll meet you there.\nWorf: Sir, if the Klingons are right, if the Cardassian government has been taken over by the Founders\nSisko: Then we'll be helping them to escape. That's the chance we'll have to take. I know you want to be out of that uniform but right now I need you with me.\nWorf: I understand.\nSisko: Make sure the chief double checks all our new systems. We may need them.\nKira: I'll tell him. But knowing the chief, he's probably doing it already.\nSisko: Keep the station on yellow alert. And just to be on the safe side, I'd recommend that you send some of the civilian population down to Bajor.\nKira: I was planning to. I wish I was going with you.\nSisko: So do I, but I need you here.\nKasidy: Ben. I'm glad I caught you before you left.\nSisko: So am I. When'd you get back?\nKasidy: Less than an hour ago. Jake told me you were about to go off on some kind of mission.\nSisko: The Defiant leaves in a few minutes.\nKasidy: And you can't tell me about it.\nSisko: I'll be back in four or five days.\nKasidy: I'm leaving tomorrow.\nSisko: I guess our timing hasn't been too good.\nKasidy: No. No, it's been terrible. I'm not even sure when I'll be back.\nSisko: Make it soon.\nKasidy: Don't get killed.\nSisko: I'll do my best.\nSisko: Activate the cloaking device.\nWeapons: Cloaking device is functioning within normal parameters.\nSisko: Set a course for the rendezvous point. Maximum warp.\nDax: Course laid in.\nSisko: Engage. Mister Worf, keep an eye out for Klingon ships, cloaked or otherwise.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Something wrong, Mister Worf?\nWorf: No, sir. Yes, sir. It is just I have never been on a Federation ship that had a cloaking device. It is a little strange.\nSisko: You'll get used to it.\nBashir: Sir, I hate to bring this up, but our agreement with the Romulans expressly prohibits use of the cloaking device in the Alpha Quadrant.\nSisko: You're right. It does. But there are hundreds of Klingon ships between us and Dukat, and I intend to make that rendezvous in one piece.\nBashir: Well, I won't tell the Romulans if you don't.\nO'Brien: I never thought I'd say this, but right now I'm glad the Dominion's around. Otherwise we never would've started these upgrades, let alone have them almost finished by now.\nKira: There's something to be said for incentive.\nO'Brien: I just hope everything works okay.\nKira: You're saying you're not sure?\nO'Brien: The way I see it, there are two possibilities. Either everything'll be fine or\nKira: Or?\nO'Brien: Or we'll end up blowing the station to pieces.\nKira: Oh. Well, let's hope we don't have to find out.\nWorf: Captain, I'm detecting some debris, bearing zero two five mark three one nine.\nSisko: Commander, drop is to one quarter impulse.\nDax: Aye, Captain.\nWorf: It appears to be the wreckage of a number of Cardassian vessels.\nSisko: On screen.\nBashir: Are there any signs of survivors?\nDax: I suppose it's possible, but there's no way to know without decloaking and using our primary sensor array.\nWorf: Sir, I strongly recommend against that. It is likely there are cloaked Klingon warships in the vicinity, lying in wait.\nBashir: Well that doesn't sound very honorable to me.\nWorf: In war, there is nothing more honorable than victory.\nSisko: Commander, keep us at one quarter impulse until we clear the wreckage, then take us to warp.\nBashir: But sir, if there are survivors\nSisko: I'm sorry, Doctor. We can't risk it. We have to reach Dukat.\nSisko: And double check the secondary power grid. It's still not performing as well as it should.\nCrewwoman: Yes, sir.\nSisko: What's our status?\nDax: We're approaching the rendezvous point.\nWorf: Captain, I am detecting weapons fire ahead. It appear to be three Birds of Prey attacking a Cardassian vessel. The vessel is badly damaged.\nDax: Captain, I'm picking up a distress signal from Dukat. Audio only.\nSisko: Put it through.\nDukat: This is Gul Dukat of the cruiser Prakesh. We're under heavy fire. Our shields are failing. I don't know how much longer we can hold out. Send reinforcements immediately. I repeat, this is\nDax: We're in visual range.\nSisko: On screen. Maximum magnification.\nBashir: Two decades of peace with the Klingons, and it all comes down to this.\nWorf: Orders, Captain?\nDax: Benjamin, Dukat's ship isn't going to last much longer.\nSisko: Arm quantum torpedoes, drop the cloak, and raise shields. We're going in. Red alert. Doctor.\nSisko: Commander Worf, transmit a priority one signal to the Klingon ship. Tell them to break off their attack and stand down immediately.\nWorf: Message sent. Captain, I find it highly unlikely that the Klingons will heed your\nDax: We've been fired upon by the lead bird of prey. Shields are holding.\nSisko: I see your point, Mister Worf. Let's show them what they're up against. Attack pattern omega. Target their engines.\nWorf: Incoming message from the Cardassian ship.\nSisko: Put it through.\nDukat: I must compliment you, Captain. You're nearly Cardassian in your punctuality.\nDax: Fire phasers.\nSisko: Dukat, power up your engines and prepare to follow us back to DS Nine.\nDukat: An excellent suggestion, Captain, assuming we had any engines left.\nSisko: What's your status?\nDukat: Our engines are gone, our shields are down, and we have no weapons to speak of.\nSisko: Prepare to evacuate. We'll start to beam you over as soon as possible.\nDukat: You'll have to drop your shields to use your transporters.\nSisko: Let me worry about that. Sisko out.\nWorf: Sir, restricting our fire to their engines has not proven effective.\nSisko: Very well. Target at your diskretion.\nWorf: Aye, aye, sir.\nDax: Dukat's ship is under fire. I don't know how much longer they can hold out.\nWorf: Another Klingon ship has just decloaked. It's a Vor'cha class attack cruiser.\nSisko: Sisko to transporter bay. Stand by to beam aboard survivors.\nSisko: Sisko to Bashir. Prepare to receive casualties. And Doctor, have security standing by. I want our guests to undergo blood screenings.\nBashir: Understood.\nWorf: Blood screenings?\nSisko: Just in case Martok was right.\nDax: Benjamin, it's going to take at least two minutes to evacuate Dukat's ship. Even with the Defiant's new armor, I don't think we can last that long with our shields down.\nWorf: Sir, I have a suggestion.\nDax: You were right, Mister Worf. The modulated tractor beam's deflecting some of the Klingons' disruptor fire.\nWorf: Disruptor's effectiveness at fifty percent.\nSisko: Well done, Mister Worf. Lower shields. Sisko to transporter bay. Begin emergency transports.\nCrewwoman: Transports underway.\nDax: The ablative armor is holding.\nWorf: Klingon ships are closing. Armor on the port side is losing integrity.\nSisko: Transporter bay, what's our status?\nDukat: Captain, this is Dukat. Almost half the council members are still aboard my ship. We need at least another minute.\nSisko: Looks like we're going to find out just how much of a pounding this ship can take.\nWorf: The Klingons have closed to point-blank range.\nDax: Ablative armor has failed. We've got plasma leaks on decks two, three and five, and we've lost our aft torpedo launchers.\nDukat: Dukat to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nDukat: The council members are aboard.\nSisko: Raise shields. Activate the cloak.\nWorf: Shields up.\nDax: I'm not getting any response from the cloaking device. It's not working.\nSisko: Well, that should make the trip home a little more interesting. Set a course for DS Nine. Maximum warp.\nDukat: Thank you, Doctor, but if you don't mind, I would like to go to the bridge now.\nBashir: This will only take a minute. Your arm please.\nDukat: What is the meaning of this?\nBashir: Just a simple blood screening.\nDukat: I assure you, Doctor, I am not a changeling.\nBashir: Then you have nothing to worry about.\nDukat: I find this whole procedure offensive.\nBashir: And I find you offensive. Now hold out your arm, or I'll have a security officer do it for you.\nDukat: Captain, would you kindly inform this security guard that he does not have to monitor my every move? It makes me feel unwelcome.\nDax: Looks like I won, Benjamin. You owe me dinner.\nDukat: And what is that supposed to mean?\nDax: Captain Sisko bet me that you would thank him for the rescue before you started complaining.\nSisko: I lost.\nDukat: Captain, are you aware that there's a Klingon on your bridge?\nSisko: He's not the Klingon you should be worried about. Switch to aft view, maximum magnification.\nDukat: I'd suggest you cloak immediately.\nWorf: We lost our cloaking device rescuing you.\nGarak: Might I trouble you for a glass of kanar?\nQuark: Help yourself. It's on the house.\nGarak: How uncharacteristically generous of you.\nQuark: I'm in an uncharacteristic mood. Besides, I've got eighty cases of this stuff sitting in my stockroom. And the way things are going, I'll never unload another bottle unless it's to you.\nGarak: How thoughtless of me not to consider the effect the destruction of my homeworld would have on your business. These must be trying times for you. Be brave.\nQuark: I should've listened to my cousin Gaila. He said to me, Quark, I've got one word for you. Weapons. No one ever went broke selling weapons. But did I take his advice? No. And why not? Because I'm a people person. I like interacting with my customers. Like you and I are doing right now. Talking to each other, getting to know one another\nGarak: I can see the attraction for you.\nQuark: But when you're dealing in weapons, buyers aren't interested in casual conversation. They just want their merchandise, no questions asked. It's so impersonal.\nGarak: Your charms would be wasted.\nQuark: Exactly. So now Gaila owns his own moon, and I'm staring into the abyss. And the worst part is, my only hope for salvation is the Federation.\nGarak: I know precisely how you feel.\nQuark: I want you to try something for me.\nQuark: Take a sip of this.\nGarak: What is it?\nQuark: A human drink. It's called root beer.\nGarak: I don't know.\nQuark: Come on. Aren't you just a little bit curious?\nQuark: What do you think?\nGarak: It's vile.\nQuark: I know. It's so bubbly and cloying and happy.\nGarak: Just like the Federation.\nQuark: But you know what's really frightening? If you drink enough of it, you begin to like it.\nGarak: It's insidious.\nQuark: Just like the Federation.\nGarak: Do you think they'll be able to save us?\nQuark: I hope so.\nKira: Any luck?\nO'Brien: Not yet. Hold on. I'm picking up something on long-range scanners. It's the Defiant.\nKira: They made it.\nO'Brien: Yeah, but they've got two Klingon ships on their tail. The Captain's hailing us.\nKira: On screen.\nSisko: Chief, our ETA is in five minutes. Are the new systems online?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nSisko: I think we're going to need them.\nO'Brien: I wish we could've tested them first.\nSisko: No time like the present.\nKira: Raise shields. Red alert.\nQuark: Now what?\nGarak: Well, I can't be sure, of course, but my guess would be Klingons.\nQuark: The Klingons! First it was the Cardassians, then it was the Dominion, and now it's the Klingons. How's a Ferengi supposed to make an honest living in a place like this?\nSisko: Drop out of warp. Reverse thrusters at maximum. Prepare for docking.\nDax: Aye, sir.\nDukat: Well, it looks like the Klingons chased us all this way for nothing.\nWorf: That remains to be seen. Klingons do not give up easily.\nDukat: Two ships against the station? I don't think they'd risk it.\nDax: It may not be much of a risk.\nDukat: Why do you say that?\nDax: They've got friends.\nSisko: Status report, Major.\nKira: I'm detecting several dozen Klingon ships, including the Negh'Var. They're in an attack formation.\nO'Brien: While you were gone, we spoke to Starfleet command. They sent a relief force under Admiral Hastur.\nSisko: When will they get here?\nO'Brien: Not soon enough.\nDax: The Klingon ships have raised their shields and charged their weapons.\nWorf: What are your orders, Captain?\nSisko: Battle stations.\nBashir: The thing to remember is that the Klingons prefer to use their knives and bat'leths in close combat. So if we get boarded, you can expect severe lacerations, broken bones, and blunt force traumas. All I can say is, keep calm, remember your training and do the best that you can. Report to your posts.\nOdo: Doctor.\nBashir: Constable. What can I do for you?\nOdo: I just want you to know I'll be assigning a security team to the Infirmary for your protection.\nBashir: Thanks, but I'd rather you didn't. I'm going to have wounded people in here. The last thing I need is a team of deputies having a firefight in my doorway.\nOdo: I understand. Just do me a favor. Don't count on that blue uniform to protect you. In the heat of battle, Klingons aren't very choosy about their targets. Doctor or no doctor, you might end up having to defend yourself.\nBashir: Well, hopefully it won't come to that. But if it does, I promise you I'll be ready.\nOdo: That's all I ask.\nBashir: And while we're on the subject, Constable. I'm sure there's more than one Klingon who thinks that slaying a changeling would be worthy of a song or two.\nOdo: Doctor, if a Klingon were to kill me, I'd expect nothing less than an entire opera on the subject.\nBashir: Maybe. I just don't want to have to listen to it. Watch your back.\nOdo: Come on, Quark. Move along. You should be in an emergency shelter by now.\nQuark: I'm not going to any emergency shelter. This is my bar and I'm going to defend it.\nOdo: Really? And how do you plan to do that?\nQuark: With this.\nOdo: You're going to hit them with a box?\nQuark: No, this is my disruptor pistol. The one I used to carry in the old days when I was serving on that Ferengi freighter.\nOdo: I thought you were the ship's cook.\nQuark: That's right, and every member of that crew thought he was a food critic. If the Klingons try to get through these doors, I'll be ready for them.\nOdo: Dear Quark. I used parts of your disruptor to fix the replicators. Will return them soon. Rom.\nQuark: I will kill him.\nOdo: With what?\nDukat: That's close enough, Garak.\nGarak: I wanted to make sure the council members were safe.\nDukat: Hoping, no doubt, that your concern would curry some political favor?\nGarak: Oh, and I take it your concern is motivated strictly by patriotism.\nDukat: Oh, the council members are well aware of my patriotism and the sacrifices I was willing to make in order to save them. Now, why don't you go back to your tailor shop and sew something?\nGarak: Because if the Klingons do invade this station, you just may need my help.\nGarak: Who would've thought that the two of us would be fighting side by side?\nDukat: Just remember when you fire that thing you're aiming it at a Klingon.\nGarak: I'll try to keep that in mind.\nDax: We're receiving a transmission from General Martok.\nSisko: Put him through.\nMartok: Captain, I demand you surrender the Cardassian council members to us immediately.\nSisko: They're not Founders, Martok. We tested them. You were wrong.\nGowron: It is of no consequence. All that matters is that the Alpha Quadrant will be safer with the Klingon Empire in control of Cardassia. Now, surrender the council members or we will have no choice but to take them by force.\nSisko: And risk an all-out war with the Federation?\nGowron: If a war starts here, the blame will be yours.\nSisko: I doubt very much history will agree.\nGowron: History is written by the victors.\nMartok: Consider what you're doing, Captain. The lives of everyone on your station are at risk.\nSisko: I am aware of that. But maybe you're not aware of what you're risking. We've had a year to prepare this station for a Dominion attack and we're more than ready.\nGowron: You are like a toothless old grishnar cat, trying to frighten us with your roar.\nSisko: I can assure you, this old cat may not be as toothless as you think. Right now, I've got five thousand photon torpedoes armed and ready to launch. If you don't believe me, feel free to scan the station.\nMartok: It's a trick. An illusion created by thoron fields and duranium shadows.\nSisko: It's no illusion.\nGowron: We shall see. Chech chew jaj-Vam jaj-kak!\nWorf: He said, today is a good day to die.\nSisko: Target the lead ships. Ready even-numbered photon launchers.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Fire on my mark. Fire!\nSisko: Ready odd numbered launchers. Fire!\nKira: They're still closing.\nSisko: Ready phasers.\nWorf: Standing by.\nSisko: Fire!\nKira: Eight Klingon ships destroyed. Several heavily damaged.\nSisko: Contact Gowron. Maybe we can put an end to this before it gets any farther.\nDax: They're not responding.\nWorf: They have given you your answer, Captain.\nSisko: Weapons stations, fire at will.\nMartok: A klingon kaogh.\nGowron: Zo a klingon Hegh-lah. Yod-wee kaW. Tig mang rup.\nMartok: Jee yaJ. Duj-va, Yod wee kaW.\nDax: They've disabled two of our shield generators.\nOdo: Thank you, Doctor.\nBashir: Any time.\nGarak: I find this hand-to-hand combat really quite distasteful.\nDukat: I suppose you prefer the simplicity of an interrogation chamber.\nGarak: You have to admit, it's much more civilized.\nSisko: Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: Yeah.\nSisko: Get those shields back online. Major?\nKira: I'll be okay. It's not as bad as it looks.\nSisko: Sisko to Odo.\nOdo: Odo here.\nSisko: Status report.\nOdo: We have Klingon troops on the Promenade\nOdo: The habitat ring, and lower pylon three. They seem to be contained for the moment, but I can't guarantee it'll stay\nOdo: That way.\nSisko: Keep me informed.\nWorf: There is another wave of Klingon ships coming in.\nO'Brien: I've got the shields back up, but I don't know how long they'll hold.\nDax: I'm reading a cluster of warp signatures approaching, bearing one eight seven mark zero two five. It's Starfleet, Benjamin. Six starships, led by the Venture. They'll be here in fifteen minutes.\nSisko: Contact the Negh'Var again. Maybe now Gowron will be in the mood to talk.\nDax: I've got him.\nGowron: Captain, your shields have been weakened, your station boarded, and more Klingon ships are on their way. Surrender while you can.\nSisko: I don't think so. My shields are holding, your boarding parties are contained, and my reinforcements are closer than yours. You're facing a war on two fronts. Is that what you really want?\nWorf: The Empire is not strong enough to fight the Federation and the Cardassians. End this now, Gowron, before you lead the Empire to its worst defeat in history.\nMartok: We will not surrender!\nSisko: This is exactly what the Founders want. Klingon against Cardassian, Federation against Klingon. The more we fight each other, the weaker we'll get, and the less chance we have against the Dominion.\nWorf: Consider what you do here, Gowron. Kahless himself said, destroying an Empire to win a war is no victory.\nGowron: And ending a battle to save an Empire is no defeat.\nMartok: We can still win!\nSisko: Not before those starships get here. Now, what do I tell them? To stand down or to come in firing?\nGowron: It is we who shall stand down.\nMartok: Ach Gowron, yay chol.\nGowron: Enough. Cease fire. Order our ships in Cardassian territory to halt their advance. I do not intend to hand victory to the Dominion. But let your\nGowron: People know, the Klingon Empire will remember what has happened here. You have sided against us in battle, and this we do not forgive or forget.\nDax: The Klingon ships have powered down their weapons.\nO'Brien: It's over.\nWorf: For now. Captain's log, stardate 49011.4. Gowron has returned to the Klingon home world and his task force has withdrawn from Bajoran space. I don't know if I can fully express the pride I felt at seeing how well Deep Space Nine and it's crew weathered this latest crisis. While the station suffered heavy damage during the Klingon attack, repairs are well ahead of schedule and life on the station is beginning to return to normal, leaving me with one final piece of unfinished business.\nWorf: Enter.\nSisko: I brought your diskharge papers. I thought you might want to take a look at them before I send them off to Starfleet.\nWorf: Thank you, sir.\nSisko: I understand you're headed for the Nyberrite Alliance.\nWorf: Yes. I leave this afternoon.\nSisko: For me, it was a job on Earth, directing construction of orbital habitats.\nWorf: Why did you change your mind?\nSisko: I finally realized that it wasn't Starfleet I wanted to get away from. I was trying to escape the pain I felt after my wife's death. I thought I could take the uniform, wrap it around that pain and toss them both away. But it doesn't work like that. Running may help for a little while, but sooner or later the pain catches up with you, and the only way to get rid of it is to stand your ground and face it.\nWorf: But wearing that uniform must remind you of what you have lost.\nSisko: Sometimes. But it also reminds me of what I've gained, and who I am. Oh, I can throw away the uniform, resign my commission, run all the way to the Nyberrite Alliance, but it really wouldn't matter. A Starfleet officer. That's what I am, and that's what I'll always be.\nWorf: And you think that is true of me as well.\nSisko: What's important, Mister Worf, is what you think.\nWorf: I think Starfleet has been my home for many years. Perhaps it still is.\nSisko: There are starships out there that are in need of good officers. In fact, the captain of the Venture is a friend of mine. If you'd like, I can talk to him, see if he has an opening for a lieutenant commander.\nWorf: Perhaps that will not be necessary.\nWorf: Lieutenant Commander Worf reporting for duty.\nSisko: Well, you all know our new strategic operations officer.\nOdo: Commander.\nWorf: Thank you. Thank you.\nO'Brien: Congratulations.\nSisko: Assume your post, Mister Worf.\nWorf: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: You look good in red.\nWorf: It feels good. But I have a lot to learn about Command.\nO'Brien: Well, you couldn't ask for a better teacher.\nSisko: Now that everyone is here, I wanted you to know I've spoken to Dukat and several members of the Detapa Council. They've returned to Cardassia Prime without incident and wanted me to convey to you their personal thanks.\nKira: Who'd have thought I'd help save the Cardassian government?\nOdo: Don't worry. I'm sure Dukat will take all the credit.\nBashir: Poor Garak. Dukat's a hero, and Garak's still stuck in his tailor shop hemming trousers.\nDax: Captain, I'm receiving a priority one message from Starfleet Intelligence. The Klingons are refusing to give up several of the Cardassian colonies they seized during the invasion. They're fortifying their positions and deploying orbital defense systems.\nKira: Looks like the Klingons are here to stay.\nSisko: Maybe they are. But so are we."}
{"text": "Quark: That is the worst mugshot I've ever seen. I've never understood why law enforcement agencies don't keep better visual records. You'd think they'd be concerned about little things like making an accurate identification.\nWorf: This picture is accurate enough to establish that your customer is Regana Tosh, who is known to be associated with a Markalian smuggling operation.\nQuark: Really? Well, everyone is welcome at Quark's. I don't diskriminate. Just like Starfleet. They have a non-diskrimination policy too, don't they, Commander? I guess we have something in common.\nKira: You have more in common with a Rakonian swamp rat, Quark.\nQuark: Major. Always a delight to see you here. What can I get for you?\nKira: Tarkalean tea. But not too sweet this time. Catching up on some work?\nWorf: Not exactly. That man arrived on the station this afternoon and came directly here. I believe the Ferengi bartender is plotting something with him.\nKira: I wouldn't be surprised. Quark's always up to something.\nWorf: If he is a known criminal, why does your security chief not do anything about him?\nKira: Odo keeps him in check.\nWorf: Yes. But not in prison. Medical Officer's log, stardate 49066.5 Chief O'Brien and I have concluded our bio-survey of Merik Three in the Gamma Quadrant. We're on course back to the wormhole and should arrive at the station two days ahead of schedule.\nO'Brien: Keiko only spends a few days at a time on the station. I'm the one living in those quarters, and if I want to set up a little workshop in the bedroom\nBashir: You set up a workshop in the bedroom?\nO'Brien: Yeah. I don't use it when she's visiting.\nBashir: Of course not. O'BRIEN She says I'm trying to live like a bachelor again, that I'm expressing a subconscious desire to push her out of our quarters.\nBashir: Now that is ridiculous.\nO'Brien: That's what I said.\nBashir: I mean, if anything, by spending your free time in the bedroom, a place you intimately associate with Keiko, you are actually expressing a desire to be closer to her during her absence. It's quite touching, really.\nO'Brien: Exactly. Exactly. See, you understand. Now, why can't she see that? Why can't she be more like\nBashir: More like?\nO'Brien: Well, a man. More like a man.\nBashir: So you wish Keiko was a man?\nO'Brien: I wish I was on this trip with someone else, that's what I wish.\nO'Brien: We're picking up a subspace magneton pulse, bearing zero nine zero mark one one five. The Bopak system.\nBashir: What's a magneton pulse?\nO'Brien: It's a burst of polarized magnetic energy. It's usually produced by a damaged warp core.\nBashir: So there could be a ship in trouble?\nO'Brien: Possibly. Let's take a look.\nO'Brien: I'm having trouble pinpointing the source of the plasma surge. Too much EM interference in the atmosphere. But it's definitely down there somewhere.\nBashir: According to our records, Bopak Three is uninhabited. The nearest Dominion outpost is six weeks away and this system is well off the established trade routes in the Gamma Quadrant.\nO'Brien: Strange place for a ship to set down even if it was having engine trouble. Of course it could be an anomalous reading, but I'd feel a lot better if we could. Hold on. There's some kind of energy surge on\nBashir: What the hell?\nO'Brien: We've been hit by a plasma field. We're losing main power. Switching to auxiliary units. The field's draining our power. I can't break free.\nBashir: We're losing altitude.\nO'Brien: Send out a distress call. I'll try and get us down in one piece.\nBashir: And the comm. system's jammed.\nO'Brien: I'm reading a clearing up ahead. I think we can make it. Hold on.\nBashir: What a lovely place. Smells like a garbage dump.\nO'Brien: I'm sorry I couldn't find a nicer place to crash-land. Should we try again?\nGoran'Agar: Do not move. You are prisoners of the Jem'Hadar.\nGoran'Agar: Are there other Starfleet ships with you? Tell me.\nBashir: There are no other ships with us. But if we don't return, Starfleet will begin looking for us.\nGoran'Agar: When?\nBashir: Soon.\nGoran'Agar: You're lying.\nArak'Taral: No other crew. Standard Danube-class runabout. Some modification to the phaser array and shield generators.\nGoran'Agar: Why were you in this star system?\nBashir: We picked up a magneton pulse. We thought there might be a ship in trouble, so we altered our course to\nGoran'Agar: Return to the ship. Put a damping field on our warp engine. Human. Gold uniform indicates specialty in Security or Engineering. Rank, chief petty officer. You are what Starfleet refers to as a noncom.\nO'Brien: That's right.\nGoran'Agar: You must have a great deal of experience.\nO'Brien: I've been around.\nGoran'Agar: That makes you a priority target. We will kill you first. Human, rank of lieutenant with a specialty in the sciences.\nBashir: Doctor, actually.\nArak'Taral: Science and medical officers are low priority targets. I submit we execute this one and use the other in a tactical exercise.\nGoran'Agar: No. Bring them both back to camp.\nArak'Taral: Move.\nWorf: We cannot allow him to continue these criminal activities.\nOdo: I am fully aware of Quark's activities and I'm conducting a thorough investigation of his connection with the smuggler. If you'll excuse me, Captain.\nSisko: Of course.\nSisko: I know Odo may do things a little differently than you're used to, but he really is very good at his job.\nWorf: I'm not questioning his competence.\nSisko: How many years were you in security, Commander?\nWorf: Seven.\nSisko: Must be a hard habit to break.\nWorf: I have remained vigilant.\nSisko: And I do encourage vigilance in my officers. But remember, Odo is chief of security on this station, and you're the strategic operations officer. Your primary duty is to coordinate all Starfleet activity in this sector, not to catch smugglers.\nWorf: Understood. I will not let this matter interfere with my duties.\nSisko: Very well. Dismissed.\nBashir: Does he look nervous to you?\nO'Brien: A bit distracted, yeah.\nBashir: And at the runabout, they seemed concerned about being found here. Something's going on.\nO'Brien: I'd hate to think what would make the Jem'Hadar jumpy.\nBashir: They need a doctor. Someone's injured, or sick.\nO'Brien: If that's true, Julian, don't help them. Anything that weakens them increases our chances of getting out of here.\nGoran'Agar: Come with me. He stays.\nGoran'Agar: You will work here.\nBashir: Where are the patients?\nGoran'Agar: There are no patients. You are here to carry out scientific research for us. If you refuse, I will have to kill you. Do you understand?\nBashir: And you need to understand that I'm a Starfleet officer, and I won't do any work for you that might potentially be used against the Federation or any other race for that matter. Now, if that's what you want, you'll have to kill me.\nGoran'Agar: Fortunately for you, weapons research is not what I need. There is a drug that all Jem'Hadar must have in order to live. We call it ketracel-white.\nBashir: An isogenic enzyme.\nGoran'Agar: You know about it?\nBashir: I know that the Jem'Hadar have been genetically engineered by the Dominion to be addicted to what you call ketracel-white. And that by controlling the supply of the drug, the Founders maintain control over you.\nGoran'Agar: The Vorta. They are the ones who control the drug. They are the ones we came here to escape.\nBashir: Escape? You're trying to leave the Dominion?\nGoran'Agar: Yes. You disapprove.\nBashir: No, I, I'm just surprised.\nGoran'Agar: Surprised because a Jem'Hadar soldier might want something more than the life of a slave? You know nothing about the Jem'Hadar except that you fear us. But you will make our final escape from the Dominion possible. We have only enough white to last another five days.\nBashir: And you want me to try and synthesize the drug?\nGoran'Agar: No. We do not want more of the drug. We want to be free of it. To break the addiction.\nBashir: I'm not sure that that's possible.\nGoran'Agar: It is possible. I know because I am free of the drug.\nBashir: No supply tube. I don't understand. Your entire genetic structure was designed to collapse without the ketracel. Why did you stop taking the drug?\nGoran'Agar: It was not by choice. Three years ago, I was on a ship that crashed on this world. The rest of the crew died and I was left with only enough white to sustain me for three days. I rationed my supply and managed to stretch out the drug for eight days, and then it was gone, and I was ready to die. But death never came. I lived here for thirty five days without a single drop of White. Being here, on this planet, cured me.\nBashir: And that's why you returned here. To cure the rest of your men as well. But it hasn't worked, has it? They still need the drug.\nGoran'Agar: We have come to the same place, breathed the same air, eaten the same food. It should have cured them as well.\nBashir: That may be over simplifying the situation. There may be many factors\nGoran'Agar: I want you to see this.\nArak'Taral: Take the pain. Show Goran'Agar we're still Jem'Hadar.\nGoran'Agar: You did not fall. Feel pride in that. As a Federation Doctor, I know you are trained to feel sympathy and compassion for those in pain. These men are suffering now, but it is nothing compared to what will happen if they are not freed from the drug before our supply runs out.\nBashir: I can't promise anything.\nGoran'Agar: Will you try?\nBashir: I'll need Chief O'Brien's help. Yes, I'll try. Now give those men what they need, please.\nGoran'Agar: Second.\nGoran'Agar: I've told them we have enough white to last twenty seven days. That is a lie. There's only enough to last five days. You have that long, Doctor. After that they will die, but not before they kill me for betraying them and you for not saving them.\nDax: The Klingons have also attacked three more outposts along the Romulan border. In short, they're reasserting themselves all over the quadrant.\nKira: You'd think they'd be a little less aggressive after failing to conquer Cardassia.\nWorf: If the invasion was seen as a failure, Gowron would have been assassinated by now. He simply declared victory and returned home.\nSisko: Now he's looking for his next victory.\nOdo: Bajoran Intelligence believes the Klingons are searching for weaknesses in the star systems along their borders.\nKira: And when they find an appropriately weak system, they invade. It's the same old story. The strong survive and the weak perish.\nSisko: We'll save that particular debate for another time. I want a complete briefing every day about the Klingon situation. Dismissed.\nWorf: May I speak with you for a moment?\nOdo: I assume this is about Quark.\nWorf: He has made arrangements to acquire a type four Tallonian microscanner.\nOdo: Has he?\nWorf: The type four is primarily used to determine the purity of Tallonian crystals.\nOdo: Which are illegal anywhere but on the Tallonian homeworld. Interesting. I appreciate you bringing me this information, Commander.\nWorf: I expect him to be meeting with the smuggler again this evening.\nOdo: That would seem likely.\nWorf: Then you will arrest him when\nOdo: Thank you, Mister Worf. Rest assured I'll take care of this matter.\nBashir: How long until that scanner's ready, Chief?\nO'Brien: About thirty minutes. I'm having trouble with the transtater interface. Maybe you should take a look, sir.\nO'Brien: The plasma charge should have an effective range of about fifteen meters.\nBashir: That's pretty close.\nO'Brien: Well, it's enough to take care of the guard. Once he's down, I'll get his weapon and we run like hell for the runabout.\nBashir: Good work, Chief. Keep this up. You may make a fine officer some day.\nO'Brien: Thank you Lieutenant. Coming from you that means a lot to me.\nBashir: I know. Carry on.\nGoran'Agar: What have you found?\nBashir: Well, so far, nothing I've tested matches the molecular structure of the enzyme receptors in your bodies. But I did find something promising in one of the native plants here. Take a look at this. As you can see, there is a high content of chlorophyll in these plants, which you wouldn't expect on a planet orbiting a red giant.\nGoran'Agar: When will you have the cure?\nBashir: I'm not really sure, yet.\nGoran'Agar: Three days left, Doctor.\nArak'Taral: What is this?\nO'Brien: That is something I put together to enhance the resolution on that scanner.\nGoran'Agar: Stay where you are. Release him. I said release him. Let him go. You know the penalty for disobedience.\nBashir: You have a bruised trachea but there's no permanent damage.\nGoran'Agar: Return him to the holding cell.\nTemo'Zuma: He cannot stand.\nGoran'Agar: Heal his wound.\nBashir: It missed the femoral artery but the knee joint's been destroyed. I can give you something for the pain, but I'll need a surgical unit to replace this joint. He'll have to stay off this leg until you can get him to a medical facility.\nMeso'Clan: If I cannot stand, I am useless.\nBashir: You are not going to kill him.\nTemo'Zuma: This has nothing to do with you, human.\nMeso'Clan: When I am dead, there'll be more white for the rest of the men.\nGoran'Agar: No. Take him back to the ship.\nMeso'Clan: You know the rule. If the death of one will make the rest stronger, then he dies.\nGoran'Agar: We came here to be free of the Vorta. It is time to stop living by their rules. Get back to work.\nQuark: Come in. Do you have it? Of course.\nWorf: You are supposed to be watching the Ferengi.\nOdo: I don't need you to tell me what I'm supposed to be doing.\nWorf: I saw him inspecting the crystals. You had an opportunity to arrest him.\nOdo: I perform my duties as I see fit.\nWorf: You do not seem to be performing them at all.\nOdo: Frankly, Commander, I'm not interested in your opinion of my job performance. Now I suggest you attend to your own duties and stop interfering in mine.\nBashir: Remarkable. Your body is producing the exact amount of ketracel-white you need to survive. But I can't find where it's coming from. There don't appear to be any glands or cell clusters producing the enzyme. Mind you, your entire metabolism defies belief. The growth rate of the Jem'Hadar children is extraordinary.\nGoran'Agar: You have seen our children?\nBashir: We found a newborn on the station once. He was fully grown in three days.\nGoran'Agar: I would have like to have seen a group of humans try to control a Jem'Hadar child.\nBashir: We couldn't. All he wanted to do was fight and kill. If it weren't for Odo, I don't know what we would've done.\nGoran'Agar: Odo is the Founder on your space station?\nBashir: That's right.\nGoran'Agar: I have never seen a Founder.\nBashir: Never?\nGoran'Agar: To us, they are almost a myth. But everyone in the Dominion, even the Vorta, serve the Founders. I have fought against races that believe in mythical beings who guide their destinies and await them after death. They call them gods. The Founders are like gods to the Jem'Hadar, but our gods never talk to us and they don't wait for us after death. They only want us to fight for them and to die for them.\nBashir: He's beginning to question everything he's been taught. Blind obedience to the Founders, killing without remorse and the devaluation of other sentient lifeforms. He's developing his own moral structure. It's incredible.\nO'Brien: Or maybe that's what he wants you to believe. Think about it, Julian. What did he say to you? Federation doctors are trained to feel compassion and sympathy. He's manipulating you. He wants you to work hard and stop trying to escape.\nBashir: What about saving the life of the wounded Jem'Hadar? I saw the look on their faces. They were shocked at his behavior. I'm telling you, he's changing.\nO'Brien: All right. Let's say you're right and he's turning into a nice guy. What are you getting at?\nBashir: I think we should cooperate with him, help him in what he's doing.\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: What makes Goran'Agar different from the others? He's not addicted to the drug. Now if we can get the other Jem'Hadar soldiers off the drug, they may go through a similar change. And with the Jem'Hadar soldiers thinking for themselves, the Founders may suddenly find themselves without an army to give orders to.\nO'Brien: You're just guessing. You don't know how the other Jem'Hadar will react when they're off the drug. They may go marauding through the galaxy on their own. At least now the Dominion keeps them on a short leash.\nBashir: They're not animals. They're people being used as slaves. And this is their one chance at freedom.\nO'Brien: And what are they going to do with that freedom? Stop being so naive, Julian, and look at them for what they are. They're killers. That's all they know how to do. That's all they want to do.\nBashir: But they have the potential to be so much more. Goran'Agar has shown them that. They just need our help.\nO'Brien: Well then they should have asked for our help instead of shooting us down and threatening to kill us.\nBashir: But they didn't know why we were coming. They probably thought we were trying to attack.\nO'Brien: I can't believe you're making excuses for them.\nBashir: I'm trying to make you understand there are larger issues here. We're dealing with a complex situation.\nO'Brien: No, it is not complex. It is simple. Those men out there are Dominion soldiers. We help them, we may end up unleashing the Jem'Hadar against the Federation, and that is a risk I am not willing to take. So we do not help them and that's the end of it!\nBashir: No, that is not the end of it. I am the senior officer here and I have decided what we're going to do. Now, I need the bio-spectral phase diskriminator from the runabout's sensor array. I haven't got the technical skills to remove it, so I'm ordering you to do it. Now is that clear?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nArak'Taral: How long will this take?\nO'Brien: A few minutes.\nArak'Taral: Your escape plan was flawed.\nO'Brien: Obviously. I got caught.\nArak'Taral: Even if you had killed the guard, you never would have reached the runabout.\nO'Brien: I guess we'll never know that.\nArak'Taral: I know.\nO'Brien: I'm sure you do.\nArak'Taral: You're not like the other human.\nO'Brien: We have our differences.\nArak'Taral: You don't like helping us.\nO'Brien: No, I don't.\nArak'Taral: Good. I don't like it either.\nO'Brien: Well I'm glad we understand each other.\nArak'Taral: Slowly. Now put it down.\nBashir: Nothing. I can find nothing in the atmosphere, the soil, the water, the plant or the animal life that is remotely compatible to your cellular structure or your DNA. Maybe you were exposed to some anomalous conditions four years ago that no longer exist. A magnetic storm, solar radiation, volcanic gasses.\nGoran'Agar: No. Everything is as it was four years ago. The planet is the same. The conditions are the same. The answer must be here. There is no other explanation for what happened to me.\nBashir: Maybe there is an explanation. Maybe nothing happened to you on this planet. Maybe you were never addicted to this drug at all?\nGoran'Agar: But I took white all my life.\nBashir: But maybe you didn't need it. It's possible that your DNA structure underwent a random mutation that\nArak'Taral: He's escaped.\nGoran'Agar: How?\nArak'Taral: Using their ship's transporter. They planned this together.\nGoran'Agar: Do you know where O'Brien is?\nBashir: No.\nGoran'Agar: Deploy the men in a standard\nArak'Taral: He's lying. He's been lying for days. There is no cure here. Even if there was, he wouldn't give it to you.\nGoran'Agar: There is a cure. I am the proof. Now, deploy the men in a standard search pattern. Find O'Brien and return him to the holding area alive.\nArak'Taral: Alive?\nGoran'Agar: Are you questioning me?\nArak'Taral: I knew you once. Trusted you. Obeyed you without question. But now you're like this human, weak, soft, inferior. If being free of white means becoming like you, I don't want to be cured.\nBashir: What'll happen to O'Brien?\nGoran'Agar: There is nothing we can do for him. My men will no longer obey me.\nBashir: You have to find him first and keep him alive until I can find a cure.\nGoran'Agar: If I go, there will be no one here to guard you.\nBashir: I will not try to escape. I give you my word.\nGoran'Agar: I will do what I can.\nQuark: I've been saving this for a special occasion. Tonight certainly qualifies. How did you manage to get these out of the Tallonian system?\nTosh: I have my resources.\nQuark: A hundred percent pure.\nTosh: Well worth twice the price I'm asking.\nQuark: I don't know if I'd go that far.\nWorf: Trafficking in illegal merchandise is a felony under Federation law.\nQuark: What's he doing here?\nOdo: A very good question.\nWorf: I was just about to arrest these criminals.\nOdo: I should arrest you for interfering in my investigation.\nTosh: Will someone tell me what is going on here?\nWorf: Odo, why did you not tell me what you were doing?\nOdo: I don't report to you, Commander. And I don't spread the word when I'm conducting an undercover investigation. I also thought that your surveillance would make the setup more convincing. I'm not interested in this man. He was supposed to complete the transaction and take the latinum back to his ship, so that I could infiltrate the entire Markalian smuggling operation. Now I suppose I'll have to settle for the middleman.\nQuark: If you gentlemen are finished with this little fiasco, I'd like to tidy up.\nOdo: Quark.\nOdo: On your feet. Let's go.\nTemo'Zuma: I've lost his signal.\nArak'Taral: Spread out.\nBashir: Chief!\nO'Brien: Where's the guard?\nBashir: Everyone's out looking for you.\nO'Brien: Good. Anything else around we can use as a weapon? No? Let's get moving. It's only three hundred meters to the runabout, but those guys move fast.\nBashir: Chief, I'm not going.\nO'Brien: What the hell do you mean, you're not going?\nBashir: I'm onto something here, Chief. With a little more time, I think\nO'Brien: I don't care what you think. This is our one chance to get out of here and we've got to take it.\nBashir: It's also our one chance to break their addiction.\nO'Brien: Julian, even if you find a cure, they're going to kill you anyway.\nBashir: That's not true, Goran'Agar\nO'Brien: Forget about him. What about all the others? They're still a bunch of bloodthirsty\nBashir: Look, we haven't got enough time to argue about this. If you want to go, go.\nO'Brien: All right. I will. But you're coming with me.\nO'Brien: There. You can bring me up on charges when we get back, but there's nothing to keep you here now. So let's get going.\nGoran'Agar: You did this?\nO'Brien: Yes, I did.\nGoran'Agar: Move. Both of you.\nBashir: This won't\nGoran'Agar: No discussion. Move.\nBashir: There still might be a way. If I had another sample of your blood.\nGoran'Agar: There is no more time. The supply of white will run out tomorrow.\nArak'Taral: You caught him. I shouldn't have doubted you. Should we kill them ourselves or let the others?\nGoran'Agar: I will do the killing.\nGoran'Agar: Take your ship and go.\nBashir: Goran'Agar, if you stay here, they'll kill you.\nGoran'Agar: Unless I kill them first. It would be better for them to die quickly in battle, than slowly as the drug runs out.\nBashir: You don't have to do this. Even if we can't save their lives, there's no need to sacrifice yourself.\nGoran'Agar: You are a soldier?\nO'Brien: I have been.\nGoran'Agar: Then you explain.\nO'Brien: He's their commander. They trusted him. He can't leave them. Julian.\nSisko: Come in.\nWorf: Captain, there is some information I would like to add to Security Chief Odo's last report. He did not feel it was necessary to include the details of my involvement, but I think you should know that I hindered his investigation.\nSisko: Yes, I heard about what happened. Please, sit. Word gets around in a place like this. It's one of the things you have to get used to.\nWorf: One of many things, it seems.\nSisko: Starfleet officers often have trouble learning the unofficial rules of the station. There's no manual to study. You have to learn things as you go. A little different than life on a starship.\nWorf: When I served on the Enterprise, I always knew who were my allies and who were my enemies.\nSisko: Let's just say DS Nine has more shades of gray. And Quark definitely is a shade of gray. He has his own set of rules and he follows them diligently. Once you understand them, you understand Quark. I'd say that's true for everyone here. You'll fit in, Commander. Just give it time.\nKira: Kira to Rubicon. Docking platform two is open. Welcome back, gentlemen.\nO'Brien: Thanks, Major. You can bring me up on charges, you know.\nBashir: No, that's not really my style.\nO'Brien: I wish things could have been different, Julian.\nBashir: So do I.\nO'Brien: And I'm sorry I had to destroy your work.\nBashir: You didn't have to, Chief. You had a choice and you chose to disobey orders, override my judgment, and condemn those men to death.\nO'Brien: Yes, I did, because I thought it was the only way to save your life. Whatever else you may think of who I am and what I did, at least try to understand that.\nBashir: Tonight's supposed to be our weekly dart game.\nO'Brien: Don't worry. I don't feel much like playing either.\nBashir: Maybe in a few days."}
{"text": "Jake Sr: May I help you?\nMelanie: I'm sorry to bother you. I just er been\nJake Sr: You're hurt.\nMelanie: Yeah, I must have scraped myself on a branch.\nJake Sr: That's what happens when you go tromping around the bayou in the middle of the night. Come, warm yourself up by the fire. Now, I have a first aid kit around here somewhere. Where is it? So, what are you doing out here, anyway?\nMelanie: I'm a writer. At least, I want to be. And the truth is I was looking for you.\nJake Sr: Oh?\nMelanie: You are Jake Sisko the writer?\nJake Sr: Yes.\nMelanie: I can't believe I'm really here talking to you. You are my favorite author of all time.\nJake Sr: You should read more.\nMelanie: I mean it. Your books, they're so insightful.\nJake Sr: I'm glad you like them.\nJake Sr: There. Good as new.\nMelanie: Thank you.\nJake Sr: I didn't realize people still read my books.\nMelanie: Of course they do. A friend recommended Anslem to me and I read it straight through twice in one night.\nJake Sr: Twice in one night?\nMelanie: It made me want to read everything you'd ever written, but when I looked, all I could find was your Collected Stories. I couldn't believe it. I'd finally found someone whose writing I really admired, and he'd only published two books.\nJake Sr: Not much to show for a life's work, is it? I'm going to go get us some tea.\nMelanie: I savored those stories. I read them slowly, one each day, and when I was done I wished I hadn't read them at all. So I could read them again like it was the first time.\nJake Sr: There's only one first time for everything, isn't there? And only one last time too. You think about that such things when you get to be my age. That today might be the last time you sit in your favorite chair, or watch the rain fall, or enjoy a cup of tea by a warm fire.\nMelanie: Can I ask you something?\nJake Sr: Of course.\nMelanie: Why did you stop writing?\nJake Sr: I lost my favorite pen and I couldn't get any work done without it.\nMelanie: You're joking. You weren't even forty when you stopped writing. I've never understood why you gave it up.\nJake Sr: It's a long story.\nMelanie: I have time. Tell me. Please.\nJake Sr: If you had shown up yesterday or the day before, or a week ago, I would have said no and sent you on your way. But here you are, today of all days, and somehow it seems like the right time for me to finally tell this story. It begins many years ago. I was eighteen and the worst thing that could happen to a young man happened to me. My father died. We were very close, my father and I, partly because we'd lost my mother several years earlier.\nMelanie: I know. I read a biography about you. It said that you stopped writing so you could conduct scientific research?\nJake Sr: It's not quite that simple. You see, just before my father died, I was working on a short story. I don't remember what it was about but I do know that I was taking it very seriously. I worked on it night and day for weeks, and I wasn't making any headway and it was making me miserable. I suppose my father saw that I needed a break.\nJake Sr: Because he insisted I come with him to the Gamma Quadrant to watch the wormhole undergo what they call a subspace inversion.\nSisko: Jake-o, let's go.\nJake Sr: Of course what he didn't realize was that I could hide away on the Defiant just as easily as I could on the station.\nJake: Yeah.\nSisko: Jake, this only happens once every fifty years. You will never forgive yourself if you miss it.\nJake: Yeah, I'll be right there.\nSisko: That's what you said ten minutes ago.\nJake: I just want to get this last paragraph right.\nSisko: I thought you were going to put that aside for a while.\nJake: I tried, but it's all I can think about.\nSisko: Well, I'm no writer, but if I were, it seems to me I'd want to poke my head up once in a while and take a look around, see what's going on. It's life, Jake. You can miss it if you don't open your eyes. Now, what do you say you come up to the bridge with me and we'll watch the wormhole do its thing, and then I'll read what you've got and we'll talk about it. Deal?\nJake: Deal.\nSisko: Sisko to Bridge.\nSisko: What happened?\nDax: The wormhole's gravimetric field is surging.\nSisko: Pull us to a safe distance.\nDax: I'm on it, Benjamin, but we've got another problem. The power output from the warp core just jumped off the scale.\nSisko: Sisko to Engineering. Engineering, report. Dax, I'm going to find out what's happening down there. Stay here, Jake.\nJake Sr: Most of the time, I knew enough to do what my father told me. But that day, for some reason, I didn't.\nSisko: Sisko to Sickbay, I need a medical team down here right away.\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nDax: The warp coils are locked into a feedback loop. You've got to realign them or the core's going to blow.\nSisko: I'm on it. Jake, I need an interphasic compensator.\nComputer: Warning. Warp core breach in forty seconds.\nSisko: Dax, better stand by to eject the core.\nDax: We can't.\nDax: The ejection system's offline.\nSisko: Jake, where's that compensator?\nJake: It's not here.\nComputer: Warning. Warp core breach in thirty seconds.\nJake: Got it.\nSisko: I'm going to try shunting the excess power out through the deflector array.\nComputer: Warning. Warp core breach in twenty seconds.\nSisko: Just a little more. There.\nJake: No!\nJake Sr: He was gone.\nMelanie: I'm not sure I could ever get over losing somebody like that, right in front of my eyes.\nJake Sr: People do. Time passes, they realize that the person they lost is really gone, and they heal.\nMelanie: Is that what happened to you?\nJake Sr: No. I suppose not. There was a memorial service aboard the station.\nJake Sr: People came forward and talked about my father, what they remembered most about him why and they would miss him.\nKira: Benjamin Sisko was more than my commanding officer. He was the Emissary to my people, sent by the Prophets. But most importantly, he was my friend.\nJake Sr: I didn't step forward. I couldn't. I felt that no matter what I said about him, I'd be leaving so much more out and that didn't seem right.\nJake Sr: I'd never felt more alone in all my life. Everyone went out of their way to look after me, especially Dax. She was my father's closest friend, and I guess she felt responsible for me.\nJake Sr: After a few months things started returning to normal, for everyone else, that is.\nNog: Jake, I'm almost done. We have holosuite three for half an hour.\nJake: Great.\nQuark: Nog, get down to the storeroom and bring up five kegs of Takarian mead.\nNog: Yes, Uncle. Sorry, looks like we're going to lose our holosuite reservation.\nQuark: You know, Nog, things seem to be slowing down a bit. I'll get someone else to bring up those kegs. You and Jake go and have some fun.\nNog: Are you sure?\nQuark: Go, now, before I change my mind.\nNog: Next time we go ion surfing, remind me to keep clear of those whip curls.\nJake: I don't know if I really want to try it again.\nNog: You know, Jake I'm going to be gone soon. We probably won't see each other for a while.\nJake: I know.\nNog: So, what are your plans?\nJake: Well, I was thinking about taking that deferred admission and going to Pennington in the fall.\nNog: That'd be great. We'd both be on Earth together.\nJake: But maybe I'll just stick around here. I don't know. I haven't decided yet. It's late. I think I'll turn in.\nNog: Okay.\nSisko: Jake?\nJake: Dad?\nSisko: What happened?\nJake Sr: I told Dax about what had happened. How it felt so real, not like a dream at all and she very kindly obliged me and did a very thorough scan of my room. I felt vaguely ridiculous, like a child insisting his parents check under his bed for monsters. She tried to tell me it was probably just a nightmare and I did my best to put the entire episode out of my mind. I puttered around the station for the next eight or nine months. Nog was off at Starfleet. My stories stubbornly refused to write themselves. I filled my time playing dom-jot and tried not to think about how alone I felt. Dax and the others were worried about me.\nJake Sr: But before long, they had bigger things to worry about. Tensions with the Klingons were continuing to rise. My father was a kind of religious figure to the Bajoran people, and when he died they took it as a sign from the Prophets that the Federation wouldn't be able to protect them from the Klingons. Eventually Bajor entered into a mutual defense pact with the Cardassians, and the Klingons didn't like that at all. The station's civilian population was leaving en masse. They knew that if war broke out against the Klingons, Deep Space Nine was going to be on the front line.\nKira: Jake, where are you going ?\nJake: I thought I'd watch the ships leave from one of the upper pylons.\nWorf: You should be on one of those ships.\nJake: I don't have to go, do I?\nKira: No. It's a voluntary resettlement, not an evacuation.\nWorf: But it would be prudent that you leave at this time.\nJake Sr: I suppose I wasn't feeling very prudent that day, because I ignored their advice.\nKira: Jake. I wanted to talk to you about something. I spoke with your grandfather and he told me that he asked you to go live with him. Even if this sector weren't on the brink of war, I would like to see you leave the station.\nJake: I'm not going anywhere.\nKira: Oh, Jake. I could order you to go if I wanted to.\nJake: Please don't make me leave. Not yet. This is my home. When my Dad and I came here this place was just an abandoned shell. He turned it into something. Everywhere I look it's like I see a part of him. If I leave I won't have anything left of him.\nKira: All right. You stay a while longer if you want to. But you have to promise me when the time comes and I tell you to go, you'll do it.\nJake: Dad?\nJake Sr: It wasn't until I actually touched him that I knew this wasn't a dream.\nJake Sr: But something was wrong. I didn't understand everything they were saying, but Dax and the others seemed to think that the accident had somehow knocked my father's temporal signature out of phase.\nDax: Benjamin, what's the last thing you remember?\nSisko: I was in Engineering on the Defiant. It feels like a few minutes ago.\nJake: Dad, it's been over a year since the accident.\nSisko: A year? How could that be?\nO'Brien: We think the warp core diskharge pulled you into subspace. If we're right, that would explain why you didn't experience the passage of time.\nBashir: According to these readings, unless we can realign your temporal signature, you'll be pulled back into subspace again within the next few minutes.\nO'Brien: Maybe we can set up some sort of containment field.\nDax: We're going to have to reconfigure the field parameters.\nSisko: Jake, they'll have me fixed up in no time. How are you doing?\nSisko: It's all right. Everything's going to be all right.\nJake: I thought it was a dream.\nSisko: What was?\nJake: When I saw you in my quarters I should have felt you were alive. I should have known it.\nSisko: It's not your fault, Jake. I'm here now. That's what matters.\nDax: We're losing him.\nSisko: Look at me. I need to know you're going to be all right.\nO'Brien: His temporal signature is fluctuating.\nBashir: I need that containment field now, Chief.\nO'Brien: Right away. Field active.\nBashir: It's not working.\nSisko: Jake.\nJake: Dad!\nO'Brien: I'm going to try locking onto him with the transporter beam.\nJake: Don't leave me.\nJake: Don't leave me.\nJake Sr: I didn't think anything could be worse than losing him that first time on the Defiant, until I was standing there staring down at his empty bed, knowing he was alive yet trapped somewhere that existed outside of time.\nMelanie: I can't imagine what that must have been like for you.\nMelanie: Can I get you something?\nJake Sr: No, nothing.\nMelanie: Telling me all this is hard for you. Maybe I should come back some other time?\nJake Sr: No. There won't be any another time. You see, I'm dying. You must understand, when person my age says he's dying, he's only admitting to the inevitable. Besides, we old people need to remind everyone to pay special attention to us.\nMelanie: If that's what you're up to you shouldn't have bothered. You have my attention already.\nJake Sr: You're a good listener. That's important in a writer.\nMelanie: I'm not a writer yet.\nJake Sr: Sound like you're waiting for something to happen that's going to turn you into one.\nMelanie: I'm not waiting. I'm doing a lot of reading. You know, to see how it's done. And I'm still trying to figure out what it is I want to write about.\nJake Sr: I see.\nMelanie: So what happened? With your father, I mean. Did you ever see him again?\nJake Sr: For the next few months Dax and O'Brien tried to find a way to locate him. They even considered recreating the accident, but that was impossible since the wormhole wasn't going to undergo an inversion for decades. Eventually the situation with the Klingons came to a head, and the Federation decided to turn over control of the station to the Klingon Empire.\nJake Sr: There was nothing I could do. I had to leave my home of five years and give up whatever hope there was of seeing my father again.\nMelanie: Did the Klingons ever contact Starfleet to say that your father had reappeared?\nJake Sr: No. I was left with no choice but to try to get on with my life. I went to Earth, drifted around and eventually ended up studying writing at the Pennington school. After graduation, I settled here in Louisiana so I could be near my grandfather. He had a restaurant in the French Quarter, you know.\nMelanie: I've been there. It's still called Sisko's. And on the wall there's a copy of the letter your publisher sent you when he accepted your first novel.\nJake Sr: Grandpa was always showing off his famous grandson. He was just as proud of me as my father would've been.\nMelanie: You wrote Anslem in this house, didn't you?\nJake Sr: At that desk, right over there. It came out to generally favorable reviews, and little by little I began to think less and less about the past. After a while I met a woman, fell in love, we got married, and for a while this house was a happy one.\nKorena: I'm back. (Not quite as far in the future. Korena is an artist and Nog is in red TNG uniform and Tony is out of the age makeup.)\nKorena: Nog. I didn't realize you were here already. I was trying to finish a painting before the light changed and I guess the time got away from me.\nNog: It's good to see you.\nKorena: You too. Did you start the grill?\nNog: What are we having?\nKorena: Blackened redfish fresh from the bayou.\nNog: Fish? When these woods are crawling with perfectly good slugs?\nKorena: I suppose you're going to ask me to chew your food for you?\nNog: I have to admit I've been more popular with women since I stopped asking them to do that.\nJake Sr: I tried to tell you that twenty years ago.\nNog: I'm a slow learner.\nKorena: I'm going to get some champagne.\nJake Sr: I'm glad you're here, Nog.\nKorena: I see you've got another pip on your collar. You keep that up you're going to make captain by the time you're forty.\nJake Sr: Last time we talked you mentioned you might be heading to the Bajoran Sector.\nNog: The Klingons agreed to let Starfleet send an expedition through the wormhole. They said it was in the spirit of scientific exchange, but I think they were happy to have us test the waters in the Gamma Quadrant after all these years. Find out how the Dominion would react to ships coming through.\nJake Sr: Did you see the station?\nNog: I'm sorry to say it's looking a little run down these days. But you'll never guess who's still there.\nJake Sr: Not your father?\nNog: No, no. He and my Uncle left years ago. Quark finally got that little moon he was always talking about, and my father, as usual, is making sure it doesn't fall out of orbit. But Morn is still there, running the bar!\nJake Sr: Talking his customers' ears off and drinking himself out of business, I'll bet.\nKorena: Well, why don't we get to the point of today's little celebration.\nNog: To my dear friend Jake Sisko, winner of this year's Betar prize for his Collected Stories. May the years continue to be good to you, may your muse continue to inspire you, and may someone make a holoprogram out of one of your stories so you can start raking in the latinum.\nMelanie: Are you all right? Do you want me to call a doctor?\nJake Sr: No. I'll be fine.\nMelanie: You should rest.\nJake Sr: No. You came a long way to find out why I had stopped writing and you deserve an answer.\nJake Sr: Later that night, after Nog had left, I stayed up working. My new novel was going well, and when it's going well you don't want to stop.\nKorena: Coming to bed?\nJake Sr: I'm not tired.\nKorena: Neither am I.\nJake Sr: You know, I wanted to ask you something. How would you feel about designing the cover to my new book?\nKorena: Do you mean it?\nKorena: What was that?\nSisko: Jake?\nJake Sr: Did you get through?\nKorena: I talked to someone at Starfleet Science. They're going to get a team here as soon as they can.\nJake Sr: This is Korena, my wife.\nSisko: Your wife?\nKorena: I never thought I'd have the pleasure of meeting you.\nSisko: The pleasure is mine. How long have you two been married?\nJake Sr: Seven years.\nSisko: Do I have any grandchildren?\nJake Sr: Not yet.\nKorena: We were married in New Orleans, in your father's restaurant.\nJake Sr: He insisted. Just about everyone came. Dax, Kira, O'Brien.\nSisko: That must've been something.\nJake Sr: I got to go call Starfleet.\nSisko: Whoa. They'll get here as soon as they can. Talk to me. I've missed so much. Let's not waste what little time we have.\nKorena: I have a feeling you might want to see these. They're Jake's.\nSisko: You did it. I always knew you would.\nSisko: Oh, Jake.\nJake Sr: I'm sorry.\nSisko: What for?\nJake Sr: For giving up on you.\nSisko: No one could be expected to hold out hope for this long.\nJake Sr: I should have just kept trying to find you. I just went on with my life.\nSisko: And I'm proud of what you've accomplished.\nJake Sr: None of it matters now that I know you're still out there, lost somewhere.\nSisko: Of course it matters. You have a wife, a career. And don't think because I'm not around much that I don't want grandchildren.\nJake Sr: Within a few seconds, he was gone again.\nMelanie: I don't know what to say.\nJake Sr: You don't need to say anything. Just listen, because there isn't much time and there's so much more for me to tell you. I consulted with Dax and we realized that the accident must have created some sort of subspace link between my father and myself.\nMelanie: That's why he always appeared somewhere near you even if you were hundreds of light years away from where the accident happened.\nJake Sr: We also realized that there was a pattern to his appearances. They were governed by fluctuations in the wormhole's subspace field. Dax's calculations also showed that the next time he appeared, I'd be an old man. And so I decided to put aside my novel and try to find a way to help him. At the age of thirty seven, I went back to school and started studying subspace mechanics. At first, Korena was very patient. She supported what I was trying to do. But I got so caught up in my work I didn't notice I was losing her. By the time I became a graduate student, we were no longer living together. By the time I had entered my doctoral program, it was over between us. But I pressed on with what I was doing, and one day, years later, it hit me. I figured out a way to recreate the accident. It had been almost fifty years, and the wormhole would soon be undergoing another inversion. There was only one other thing I needed.\nJake Sr: The Defiant. Nog was a Captain by then, and he helped me round up the old crew and get the ship pulled out of mothballs. Worf threw his weight around with the Klingon High Council, and they gave us permission to enter the Bajoran system.\nNog: Take us out of warp.\nDax: I think I remember how to do that.\nBashir: I haven't worked a two-dimensional control panel in a long time. How did we manage?\nDax: We always seemed to muddle through somehow.\nNog: Look.\nBashir: Maybe after we've got Captain Sisko back, we can all stop by Morn's for a drink for old time's sake.\nJake Sr: I'd designed a subspace flux isolator and we set it up in Engineering.\nJake Sr: Are you ready over there, Dax?\nDax: As ready as I'll ever be, considering the replicators were just about the only things still working when we came aboard.\nBashir: It's a lucky thing too. Dax isn't any good to anybody these days without a cup of coffee in her hand.\nDax: It's the only thing that's kept me awake while you prattled on about your latest paper, or your new backhand, or your kid's science projects.\nNog: We're picking up temporal distortions in the subspace field.\nJake Sr: The wormhole's beginning to invert.\nNog: According to our readings, it's going to kick out a gravimetric wave like the one that almost destroyed the Defiant last time.\nJake Sr: Don't worry. I've modulated the shields to channel the wave's energy into this apparatus.\nDax: Once subspace begins to fragment, we'll try to locate the captain.\nBashir: Since the accident created a subspace link between him and Jake, there'll be a path of bread crumbs to follow.\nNog: I'd better get back to the bridge. Good luck.\nJake Sr: The wormhole wouldn't undergo another inversion for decades, so this was my only chance.\nDax: Subspace field fragmentation is beginning.\nBashir: It's working.\nDax: I think I've got the captain's signature.\nDax: Something's happening. I'm losing him.\nBashir: We're losing them both. They're being pulled into subspace.\nSisko: Jake. How long has it been?\nJake Sr: Fourteen years. What is this place?\nSisko: I don't know\nJake Sr: We could be inside some sort of subspace fragment. Sisko to Dax. Can you read me? I brought the Defiant back to the wormhole. We're trying to rescue you. Dax, if you can hear me, try to lock onto my signal.\nSisko: Look at you. You're older than I am.\nJake Sr: Damn it. Why can't they lock on to us?\nSisko: Jake, they're doing the best they can. There's nothing we can do from here. It's been so long. I need to know what I've missed. What about those grandchildren we talked about?\nJake Sr: Korena and I, we're no longer together. She left me.\nSisko: I'm sorry.\nJake Sr: I shouldn't have let her go, but there was so much I had to do. This has taken years of planning.\nSisko: What about your writing?\nJake Sr: Dax, try boosting the carrier amplitude. Maybe you can\nSisko: Jake, what's happened to you?\nJake Sr: This is the last chance I'm ever going to have to help you.\nJake Sr: No!\nSisko: Jake, it's over. It's not going to work.\nJake Sr: It has to.\nSisko: Let go, Jake. If not for yourself, then for me. You still have time to make a better life for yourself. Promise me you'll do that. Promise me!\nJake Sr: I want you to see something. Go over to my desk. Go ahead.\nJake Sr: It's a collection of new stories. I decided to honor my father's request and try to rebuild my life. Writing these stories was the best way I knew to do that. I'd like you to have a copy. Let me get you one.\nMelanie: Can I have these instead?\nJake Sr: Well, if you'd like, but those have handwritten notes all over them.\nMelanie: I know. I want to study them so I can see the changes you made.\nJake Sr: Because you want to be a writer someday.\nMelanie: Can I ask why you haven't published these?\nJake Sr: Well, I was tinkering with the last story just this morning. Besides, if you publish posthumously no body can ask you for rewrites. I was hoping to finish another two stories, but there isn't enough time.\nMelanie: You keep on saying there's no more time.\nJake Sr: You see, Melanie, after the last attempt to rescue my father failed, I spent months trying to figure out what went wrong. Eventually, I came to understand the nature of what was happening to him. It was as if he was frozen in time at the moment of the accident, and the link between us was like an elastic cord. Every so often the cord would go taut enough to yank him forward into my time. But only for a few minutes. I realized that if my motion through time came to a stop, the cord would go slack and he'd be lost in subspace forever. But if I could cut the cord when the link was at its strongest, while we were together, he'd return to the moment of the accident.\nMelanie: Your father's coming here, isn't he? Soon.\nJake Sr: Yes.\nMelanie: You're going to cut the cord, aren't you?\nJake Sr: I want you to promise me something.\nMelanie: Anything.\nJake Sr: While you're studying my stories, poke your head up every once in a while. Take a look around. See what's going on. It's life, Melanie.\nMelanie: And you can miss it if you don't open your eyes.\nMelanie: Thank you. For everything.\nJake Sr: It was a pleasure meeting you, young lady.\nSisko: Jake.\nJake Sr: I've been expecting you.\nSisko: I'm glad to see you're still in this house. You seemed happy here. And this. I can't tell you how good it makes me feel you got back to writing.\nSisko: Jake, what is it?\nJake Sr: Read at the dedication.\nSisko: To my father, who's coming home. Thank you, but I don't understand.\nJake Sr: It was me. It was me all along. I've been dragging you through time like an anchor and now it's time to cut you loose.\nSisko: Jake, what are you saying?\nJake Sr: It won't be long now.\nSisko: Jake! No!\nJake Sr: When I die, you'll go back to where this all began. Just remember to dodge the energy diskharge from the warp core.\nSisko: Jake, you could still have so many years left.\nJake Sr: No. We have to be together when I die.\nSisko: Jake, you didn't have to do this. Not for me.\nJake Sr: For you and for the boy that I was. He needs you more than you know. Don't you see? We're going to get a second chance.\nSisko: Jake. My sweet boy.\nSisko: You okay?\nJake: How'd you know that was coming?\nSisko: I guess we were just lucky this time.\nJake: You okay, Dad?\nSisko: I am now, Jake. I am now."}
{"text": "Worf: Worf to Major Kira.\nKira: This is Kira.\nWorf: Major, you've got an incoming transmission from a Razka Karn. He claims to be an old friend.\nKira: Put him through. Razka. It's been a while. How's business?\nRazka: Oh, let's just say I miss the old days on Bajor. Smuggling might not have been the safest line of work, but it was a lot more exciting than selling scrap metal.\nKira: What's on your mind, Razka?\nRazka: I picked up a lead on the Ravinok.\nKira: Like the last time?\nRazka: Last time it was just a rumor. This time I have evidence, a fragment of metal. Looks like it's part of the forward sensor array.\nKira: Can you bring it to Deep Space Nine for analysis?\nRazka: Sorry. I'm afraid I can't leave the Badlands right now. Important business. You understand.\nKira: Tholians are after you again?\nRazka: Let's just say it'd be better if you came to me.\nKira: It's been six years. Even if you have found a piece of the Ravinok, it doesn't mean there are any survivors.\nRazka: There's only one way for you to find out. I'll be waiting.\nOdo: And item number seventeen, Trelos Vren was arrested on the Promenade outside of the Klingon restaurant. He's being held on four counts of petty theft.\nKira: Trelos Vren? Where have I heard that name?\nOdo: We arrested him once for attempting to break into the assay office.\nKira: And now he's taken up pickpocketing?\nOdo: Without much success. Still, I suppose you should admire him for his persistence. That was a joke.\nKira: I'm sorry, Odo. I may have a lead on the Ravinok. I know what you're going to say. It's been six years since the Ravinok disappeared. Odds are everyone on board is dead.\nOdo: That all may be true, but that is not what I was going to say. I was going to say good luck.\nKira: Good luck?\nOdo: You had a friend aboard the Ravinok, correct?\nKira: Lorit Akrem.\nOdo: Which means it doesn't matter if I think there are any survivors, or even if you think there are any survivors. You are going to go looking for that ship, and all I can say is good luck. And I hope you find them.\nKira: Come in. Captain. You here to see me off?\nSisko: I'm afraid not. I'd like you to postpone your trip for at least for a day or two.\nKira: What's wrong?\nSisko: Somehow the Cardassian government got wind of your plan to search for the Ravinok. They've asked permission to send someone with you.\nKira: And you said yes?\nSisko: I said I'd talk to you about it. The Ravinok was a Cardassian ship.\nKira: Carrying Bajoran prisoners. I'm not stopping anyone else from looking. I just don't see why they have to come with me.\nSisko: The request came directly from the leader of the new civilian government. Nerys, I know this isn't what you had in mind, but Bajor and Cardassia must to learn to work together and that means cooperating on missions like these.\nKira: All right. Just tell them I'm not going to wait forever. If their representative isn't here within fifty two hours, I'm going alone.\nSisko: I'll be sure they get the message.\nDax: So did you and Kasidy have a nice time last night?\nSisko: I just wish she wasn't leaving tomorrow.\nDax: It sounds like the two of you are getting serious.\nSisko: I don't know about that. I don't think Kasidy is looking to get serious.\nKasidy: Ben!\nSisko: Kasidy.\nDax: We were just talking about you.\nKasidy: I don't mean to interrupt. I wanted you to know I won't be leaving tomorrow after all.\nSisko: That's good news. I mean, that's great. How long are you going to be here?\nKasidy: That depends on whether I get this new job or not. I've applied for a position with the Bajoran Ministry of Commerce to captain one of their freighters.\nSisko: You're going to work for the Bajorans?\nKasidy: If we can hammer out an agreement. It's a terrific opportunity. I get to use my own ship, pick my own crew, and the best part is, I never have to leave this sector.\nDax: Where're you going to live?\nKasidy: On my ship, I suppose.\nDax: Well, why don't you stay here? I'm sure that Benjamin could arrange for some quarters.\nKasidy: That's not a bad idea.\nSisko: Yeah.\nKasidy: Well, I have a meeting on Bajor and the shuttle leaves in a few minutes. I'll see you tonight?\nDax: That answers that. She's serious.\nWorf: Captain, the Cardassian transport Rabol is approaching the station. They're requesting permission to beam their representative directly to Ops.\nKira: Someone's in a big hurry.\nSisko: Permission granted.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nDukat: Ah, Major Kira. I'm ready to leave whenever you are.\nKira: We'll be crossing into the Badlands in approximately six hours.\nDukat: Very good, Major.\nKira: Dukat, let's get one thing straight. This is my mission. The only reason you're here is because I agreed to let you come along. When I give an order, I expect you to follow it. No questions asked.\nDukat: Believe me, Major, I want nothing more than for this mission to be concluded as quickly and as efficiently as possible. I leave the details in your capable hands.\nKira: Good, then we shouldn't have any problems. There's one thing I don't understand. Why did the Cardassian government send you?\nDukat: The Ravinok was under my general command. Those were my troops and it is my duty to try to find them. The question is, what are you doing here, Major?\nKira: I knew someone aboard the Ravinok.\nDukat: One of the prisoners, I assume?\nKira: Lorit Akrem.\nDukat: I see. So you're on this mission for personal reasons.\nKira: Is there something wrong with that?\nDukat: Not at all. I've found that when one is trying to do a difficult job, personal reasons can be quite an incentive. So who was he? A family member, a compatriot, a lover?\nKira: Lorit recruited me into the Shakaar resistance cell.\nDukat: Ah. The infamous Shakaar resistance. We never could eliminate that little group of yours. And it was not from lack of trying, I assure you. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, Major, but I've always admired you. You are the embodiment of the new Bajor. A Bajoran born out of the ashes of the occupation, a Bajoran tempered with Cardassian steel.\nKira: Captain Sisko's right. You are in love with the sound of your own voice.\nDukat: I know you find this to accept, but I believe that in some ways the Occupation actually helped Bajor.\nKira: Which part? The massacres or the strip mining?\nDukat: I have no desire to debate the merits of the Occupation with you. I'm even willing to admit that perhaps we were a little harsh in our methods. But the fact is, the Bajoran people are stronger now than they have been in centuries. When we arrived, you were a weak, contemplative race, choking on your isolation. And now you have a new confidence, a whole new sense of purpose, not to mention a key role in the future of this entire quadrant.\nKira: All of which Bajor achieved in spite of the Cardassians, not because of them.\nDukat: Think what you must, But I believe the time will come when Cardassia and Bajor will grow to be not only allies but also close friends.\nKira: Cardassia and Bajor, maybe. You and me? I doubt it.\nDukat: All I ask is that you have an open mind.\nKira: All right, Dukat, that's enough. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to spend the next six hours in silent meditation.\nDukat: Is that a request, or an order?\nKira: Whatever it takes.\nDukat: Well, in that case, as much as it pains me.\nKira: We both might survive this trip after all.\nKasidy: They didn't even wait for the interview to be over. After twenty minutes, Minister Azin said she'd heard enough, and if I wanted the job, it was mine.\nSisko: So what did you tell them?\nKasidy: What do you think I told them? I said yes.\nSisko: Congratulations.\nKasidy: That's it?\nSisko: Oh.\nKasidy: That's not what I meant. I want to know how you feel about it.\nSisko: I think it's great. We'll see a lot more of each other.\nKasidy: You know, I was thinking about what Dax said. Maybe I should get quarters on the station.\nSisko: That's a big step.\nKasidy: What does that mean?\nSisko: I just meant it's a big step.\nKasidy: A bad big step, or a good big step?\nSisko: A good one.\nKasidy: Could you muster a little more enthusiasm?\nSisko: I am enthusiastic. I'm proud of you. This job\nKasidy: Forget about the job. I'm talking about us. I tell you I'm thinking about living on the station and all you can say is, it's a big step?\nSisko: Oh, I don't think you took it the way I meant it.\nKasidy: I don't think you know what you meant. But I do. You're afraid of commitment.\nSisko: Who said anything about commitment?\nKasidy: Obviously not you. You know what? Forget the whole thing. I'm not going to take the job. If you don't want me to stay here, that's fine with me.\nSisko: Phew.\nKira: How'd you get a hold of this, Razka?\nRazka: I bought it off a Ferengi scrap metal merchant.\nDukat: It appears to be composed of uridium alloy. It's definitely Cardassian.\nKira: Can you tell if it's from the Ravinok?\nRazka: Why didn't you tell me you were bringing him along?\nKira: Because when we talked, I didn't know I would be.\nRazka: Too bad. The Maquis would've paid handsomely to get their hands on him.\nDukat: And my government would be very happy to get their hands on you. Razka Karn, if I'm not mistaken. Smuggler, thief, black marketeer. There are at least twelve outstanding warrants for your arrest on Cardassia right now. But I suggest we ignore all that and try to cooperate with one another.\nRazka: The voice of the new Cardassia, so compassionate, so understanding. Almost makes you forget that five years ago he was working Bajorans to death in forced labor camps and shooting anybody who tried to stop him. Almost makes you forget.\nDukat: It's from the Ravinok. No doubt about it.\nKira: Did the Ferengi tell you where he found it?\nRazka: No, but I was curious so I bribed one of his crewmembers. Turns out his last trip was to the Dozaria system.\nDukat: Dozaria. I believe there is one class M planet in that system.\nRazka: Barely class M. He found that in orbit.\nKira: Dozaria it is then. Thanks, Razka. I owe you one.\nRazka: Just let me know what you find out. Lorit was my friend too.\nKira: I just don't understand how the Ravinok could've gotten so far off course. Dozaria is light years from where they should have been.\nDukat: The Central Command always believed that the ship was destroyed in some kind of escape attempt by the Bajoran prisoners.\nKira: Maybe. Or they could've had a problem with their navigational array or run into some kind of subspace anomaly.\nDukat: Hopefully we'll find the truth.\nKira: We're entering orbit.\nDukat: I'm reading severe ionic interference in the planet's atmosphere. Sensors will be limited, to say the least.\nKira: I'm picking up a faint magneton signature. It could be residual radiation from a damaged warp nacelle.\nDukat: Shall we beam down?\nKira: I wouldn't advise it. All this ionic interference will scatter our molecules halfway around the planet. We're going to have to do this the old fashioned way.\nDukat: It's going to be a difficult landing. I'll take the controls if you like.\nKira: That'll be the day. Going in.\nDukat: Invigorating, isn't it. A bit sunny, perhaps, but this heat feels wonderful.\nKira: Only a Cardassian would call this hellhole invigorating.\nDukat: Oh, I forgot. Compared to us, you Bajorans are a bit fragile, physiologically speaking, of course.\nKira: Don't worry about me.\nKira: The Ravinok.\nDax: It's a big step. That's all you said?\nSisko: That's all.\nBashir: You're sure?\nSisko: Positive.\nDax: What do you think, Julian?\nBashir: It's ambiguous. Definitely open to interpretation. But it could've been worse. He could have said it's a very big step.\nDax: You didn't say that, did you?\nSisko: I don't think so.\nBashir: Oh, that's good, anyway. So, what does he do now?\nDax: It's simple. He goes to Kasidy, admits that everything was his fault, and pledges his undying love.\nBashir: That sounds a little extreme to me. What if he just tells her he made a mistake, there had been a misunderstanding, and that he really would like her to live on the station?\nDax: Could work. Assuming that's what you want.\nQuark: Captain, I would think long and hard before answering.\nSisko: I don't recall asking your opinion, Quark.\nQuark: Well maybe you should. I mean, who knows more about women than me?\nBashir: Everyone.\nQuark: You humans. All you want to do is please your women. You want them to be your friends. But we Ferengi know better. Women are the enemy and we treat them accordingly. The key is to never let them get the upper hand. If she says she doesn't see you enough, threaten to see her even less. If she wants more gifts, take back the ones you've already given her. It's all about control.\nDax: What if your woman leaves you?\nQuark: That's what holosuites are for.\nBashir: It's a wonder the Ferengi reproduce at all.\nDax: So, you never answered the question. Do you want her to stay or not?\nSisko: I appreciate all the advice. I'll let you know how it turns out.\nBashir: So, just between you and me, what do you think about Kasidy moving onto the station?\nDax: It's a big step.\nBashir: A very big step.\nKira: She didn't just crash. These are phaser hits.\nDukat: Looks like she put up quite a fight.\nKira: And paid for it.\nKira: Twelve graves.\nDukat: There were eighteen crewmembers and thirty two prisoners aboard.\nKira: So where's everybody else?\nDukat: First things first.\nKira: What are you doing?\nDukat: We need to identify these bodies.\nKira: I'll help.\nDukat: No. Our funeral rites are very strict. It would dishonor the dead for a non-Cardassian to view the remains.\nKira: There could be Bajorans buried here too.\nDukat: No doubt. But if memory's correct, Bajorans are much more concerned with the souls of the dead than they are with the physical remains. How did Kai Meressa put it? What remains after death is but a shell, a sign that the pagh has begun its final journey to the Prophets. Please, Major, don't make this any more difficult for me than it already is.\nKira: I have a list of the missing Bajorans. I should be able to identify them from the family imprints on their earrings. I'll work on the Ravinok. I should be able to get something from the ship's computers.\nDukat: You'll need the command codes.\nKira: Standard Cardassian military codes from six years ago, right?\nDukat: Yes.\nKira: I got them from Bajoran intelligence before we left.\nDukat: Very good, Major. Very good.\nKira: Dukat, I was able to reactivate the Dukat. What was her name? I recognize a Bajoran pledge bracelet when I see one.\nDukat: Her name was Tora Naprem. You see, Major, you're not the only one who had a friend aboard that ship.\nKira: Friend? Is that all she was? I see. Don't worry, Dukat. You're not the only Cardassian officer who kept a Bajoran mistress.\nDukat: It wasn't like that. Naprem and I loved each other.\nKira: The head of the Occupation in love with a Bajoran?\nDukat: Ironic, isn't it?\nKira: Did your wife know?\nDukat: No. And she's never going to find out. Now if you don't mind, Major, I'd rather not talk about this right now. Here are the earrings you wanted.\nKira: If Lorit's dead, he's not buried here. According to the ship's computers, the Ravinok was attacked by two unidentified warships. The attackers chased the Ravinok here and must have forced her to crash-land.\nDukat: Then the survivors could have been captured and taken away.\nKira: Or they could still be here somewhere on this planet.\nDukat: We should go up in the runabout and scan for them from orbit.\nKira: Too much ionic interference. The sensors would never be able to pick up their life signs. There may be another way. In these conditions, tricorder readings will only be about twelve meters, but that should be enough.\nDukat: Enough for what?\nKira: During the occupation, Bajoran resistance fighters carried subdermal implants of tritonium isotopes. The idea was that if they were captured, they could activate the implant which would leave a trail of isotopes so they could be tracked and rescued. I think I have something. That way.\nDukat: Let's go.\nDukat: I don't know why we have to stop.\nKira: For one thing, I can't see two meters ahead of us. And anyway we could both use the rest. So stop pacing and sit down.\nKira: What is it?\nDukat: I don't know. I sat on something. I sat on something!\nKira: Let me see.\nDukat: Ooo, get it out.\nKira: Well keep still and let me see what I can do.\nDukat: Get it out!\nKira: Oh. This is going to hurt.\nDukat: It already hurts. Just take it out.\nKira: If you say so.\nDukat: OW!\nKira: Ouch. Run this dermal regenerator over the wound.\nDukat: This isn't funny.\nKira: It is from this angle.\nDukat: You know what's even funnier? This doesn't work.\nKira: You have to activate it.\nDukat: Ah. Ah, yes. Oh, much better.\nKira: You probably should eat one of these.\nDukat: Ah, I haven't had field rations in a very long time. I'm sure they haven't improved a bit.\nKira: Actually, they've gotten a little worse. Tell me something.\nDukat: What?\nKira: Who's Tora Ziyal? When I reactivated the Ravinok's computer, I downloaded the manifest. There were two civilians on board in addition to the prisoners and crew. One was your friend, Tora Naprem, and the other was Tora Ziyal, a thirteen year-old girl.\nDukat: I suppose you wouldn't believe me if I told you she was Naprem's sister?\nKira: Ziyal's a Cardassian name. The way I see it, there's only one explanation. Ziyal was Naprem's daughter, and you\nDukat: I was her father.\nKira: Now I know why you're in such a hurry to find the survivors. You're hoping that she's still alive and you can rescue her.\nDukat: Not quite. You see, if my daughter is still alive, I'll have no choice but to kill her.\nKira: You know I'm not going to let you do it. I mean it, Dukat. You are not going to kill that girl.\nDukat: Major, why don't you worry about the other survivors and let me worry about Ziyal. After all, she is my daughter.\nKira: That's right. She's your daughter. And there is nothing more important to Cardassians than family. At least that's what your people are always saying.\nDukat: I have a wife and seven children. They are my family. They are the ones I must protect.\nKira: Well, you should have thought of that before you got involved with Naprem.\nDukat: You're right. I should have. But I made a mistake. A mistake I intend to correct.\nKira: You don't have to take her back to Cardassia with you. Let me take her to Bajor. No one has to know that you're her father.\nDukat: What kind of life would that be for her? Your people have never exactly welcomed half-Cardassian children into your society. That's why I sent her and her mother away in the first place. I knew the Occupation was coming to an end, and that there'd be no place for them on Bajor or Cardassia.\nKira: So you sent them to a prison camp.\nDukat: They were not on their way to a prison camp. The Ravinok was supposed to rendezvous with a freighter which would take Naprem and Ziyal to Lissepia, where they could live out their lives in some sort of peace.\nKira: I don't understand. If you cared enough to help Ziyal then, how can you be thinking about killing her now? Why not send her away again?\nDukat: Because my position isn't nearly as stable as it once was. By aligning myself with the new civilian government, I've made many enemies. Enemies that wouldn't hesitate to use Ziyal against me.\nKira: Listen to you. It's not your wife or your seven children you're protecting, it's you.\nDukat: By protecting myself, I am protecting them.\nKira: And the only one who suffers is Ziyal. You would kill your own daughter to save your career. I don't understand you. You said you loved Naprem. I saw you crying at her grave.\nDukat: I did love her. And when I bury Ziyal, I'll weep over her grave just as I wept over her mother's. But that will not stop me from doing what I have to do. Do you understand? And when the time comes, I suggest you stay out of my way.\nSisko: Good morning, Jake-o.\nJake: Morning, dad.\nSisko: So, what's new?\nJake: Nog and I ran into Kasidy last night over at the Vulcan restaurant. I guess she's not going to take that job after all.\nSisko: She told you? Did she say why?\nJake: She said you didn't want her to take it.\nSisko: Look, Jake, sometimes things between men and women can get a little complicated.\nJake: Yeah, maybe, but I don't think this is one of those times. It's pretty simple, Dad. You're scared.\nSisko: What do I have to be afraid of?\nJake: A lot. Kasidy's willing to make a major change in her life just to be close to you. If things don't work out, you're going to feel responsible, and that's scary.\nSisko: You figured out all this by yourself?\nJake: Actually, I talked with Nog about it.\nSisko: You talked to Nog about my relationship with Kasidy?\nJake: And we think you have nothing to worry about. If Kasidy wants to change jobs, that's her decision, not yours. Same thing if she wants to live on the station. If things don't work out, they don't work out.\nSisko: Have you told any of this to Kasidy?\nJake: No. Nog and I thought about it, but we thought it would be better if you told her yourself.\nSisko: I see.\nJake: So, what's new with you?\nKira: Take a look.\nDukat: Breen? What are they doing here?\nKira: My tricorder's picking up a large concentration of dilithium in the area. They must be using the survivors of the Ravinok to mine the ore.\nDukat: It makes perfect sense. The Breen homeworld is a frozen wasteland. This place is about fifty degrees too hot for them.\nKira: You approve of what they're doing?\nDukat: No, not at all. I do admire their ingenuity.\nKira: What is it?\nKira: It's her.\nDukat: My daughter.\nKira: All right. We're going to need some help. I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on things while you go back to DS Nine for reinforcements.\nDukat: I have a better idea. You go back to the station. I'll stay here.\nKira: I'm sending you back, Dukat. That's an order.\nDukat: And I hate to refuse it, but I'm afraid I must. You're welcome to file an official protest with the Cardassian military when we get back.\nKira: There's no way I'm leaving you alone here.\nDukat: Well, then I suggest we devise a plan to rescue these prisoners together. You need me, Major.\nKira: Maybe I do. But if you hurt that girl, I promise I'll kill you.\nKira: Don't make any noise. We're here to help.\nHeler: You're Bajoran.\nDukat: Gather as many prisoners as you can. Tell them to meet us here.\nKira: How many Breen guards are there?\nHeler: I'm not sure. There are always at least eight in the mines.\nKira: How many prisoners?\nHeler: There're only thirty one of us left.\nKira: What about Lorit Akrem? Did he make it?\nHeler: He died in a cave-in two years ago. You knew him?\nKira: He was a friend.\nDukat: My condolences, Major, but we don't have time for this. Tell me where I can find Tora Ziyal.\nKira: Don't tell him anything.\nHeler: He's a Cardassian. I don't understand.\nKira: There's a peace treaty.\nHeler: You mean the Occupation is over?\nDukat: I need to find the girl. Where is she?\nKira: Dukat!\nKira: Go get the rest of the prisoners. Meet me at the entrance to the mine.\nDukat: Where is Tora Ziyal?\nDukat: Ziyal.\nZiyal: Father? It's really you. Mother said you'd\nZiyal: Father, what's wrong?\nKira: Dukat, no. I'm warning you, Dukat. Don't do it.\nDukat: I have no choice.\nKira: There's always a choice. You don't want to do this. If you did, you never would've told me about Ziyal. Now, put the rifle down.\nDukat: No.\nZiyal: The Cardassian prisoners, they told me this would happen. That you'd never let me go home. But I didn't believe them.\nKira: Ziyal, run!\nZiyal: I used to dream about you coming to save me. It's what kept me alive.\nDukat: Ziyal.\nZiyal: If I can't be with you, then I'd rather die.\nDukat: Let's go home.\nSisko: Kasidy Yates.\nKasidy: Hello, Ben. Hold this a second.\nSisko: About that job with the Bajoran Commerce Ministry.\nKasidy: You know someone who's qualified for it?\nSisko: I know someone who would be perfect for it. You. I think you should take the job. I want you to take the job.\nKasidy: You've been talking to Jake.\nSisko: How'd you know?\nKasidy: Oh, he's a smart boy. Must take after his mother.\nSisko: I owe you an apology. You came to tell me all this wonderful news, and all I could say was, it's a big step. I don't know what I was thinking.\nKasidy: Take a guess.\nSisko: I wanted to tell you how happy I was for you, for us. But it didn't come out that way. I was uncomfortable, and a little nervous.\nKasidy: A little nervous?\nSisko: All right, a lot nervous. I haven't been in a serious relationship for a long time, and I didn't expect to be in one anytime soon. Until I met you. This life I lead, the job I do, that's what got Jennifer killed. If anything ever happened to you\nKasidy: Why not let me worry about that?\nSisko: That's what Jake said.\nKasidy: You see? Smart boy. Look, I could stay here and listen to you apologize all day, but I've got to get to Bajor.\nSisko: Bajor? I thought\nKasidy: Oh, I know what you thought, but I took the job. Do you think I'd give up a great opportunity just because you got cold feet? You're a good man, Benjamin Sisko, but you've got a lot to learn about women. Especially this one. I'll see you when I get back. You can help me pick out quarters.\nSisko: I'll be here.\nDax: What was it like, all that time alone with Dukat?\nKira: I've had better weeks. But I'll never forget the look on his face when he sat on that sand spine.\nDax: I wish I'd been there.\nDukat: Major.\nKira: Dukat. Where's Ziyal?\nDukat: Waiting for me aboard my ship. We'll be leaving for Cardassia shortly.\nDax: I think I'll leave the two of you alone.\nDukat: I just wanted to say thank you, Major, for a most interesting journey.\nKira: You're taking Ziyal back to Cardassia with you.\nDukat: After six years, she deserves a home and a father.\nKira: Won't that make things difficult for you?\nDukat: I'll let you know."}
{"text": "Quark: It's a trick.\nBashir: Of course it's a trick. But how she did it?\nQuark: She probably beamed the egg directly into her mouth from one of the transporters.\nDax: Actually, one of my previous hosts used to dabble in the sleight of hand.\nBashir: Was it Tobin?\nDax: That's right.\nBashir: Ah, he sounds like the right type. Painfully shy, introverted, a slight lack of confidence, just the kind of person who might want to dazzle the world with his magical abilities.\nQuark: She swallowed the egg before she came into the bar and then regurgitated it on cue. Quite disgusting, actually.\nDax: Wrong again.\nSisko: Sisko to Dax. I'd like to see you in my office, Commander.\nDax: On my way, Benjamin. Don't worry, Quark. You'll figure it out eventually.\nQuark: What?\nDax: No wonder you can't figure it out.\nDax: Your head's full of latinum.\nBashir: Ladies and gentlemen, the amazing Jadzia Dax!\nSisko: Have a seat. A Trill science team is coming to the station to conduct field tests on experimental techniques for creating artificial wormholes.\nDax: It sounds interesting.\nSisko: It's an important project and I've agreed to let them use the Defiant for their experiments. But I thought you would want to know that the leader of the science team is Doctor Lenara Kahn.\nDax: Lenara Kahn?\nSisko: That's right. Look, you've got about three months of leave accumulated. Why don't you take some of it? We can afford to do without you for a while.\nDax: Am I that dispensable around here?\nSisko: We'll never notice you're gone.\nDax: No. I'll stay. I can handle it.\nSisko: You're sure?\nDax: I'm sure. I've never let my past lives interfere with my job and I'm not going to start now. I'll be fine.\nSisko: Okay.\nDax: But thank you for giving me the option.\nSisko: Any time, old man.\nPren: I'm Doctor Hanor Pren of the Trill science ministry.\nKira: I'm Major Kira Nerys, and I'd like to welcome you to Deep Space Nine. This is our strategic operations officer, Commander Worf, and this is our science officer, Commander Dax.\nPren: Allow me to introduce you our team leader, Doctor Lenara Kahn, and her brother, Doctor Bejal Otner. Major Kira, Commander Worf, Commander Dax.\nDax: It's been a long time.\nLenara: Yes, it has.\nWorf: If you will come with me, I will show you to your quarters.\nKira: You know that woman?\nDax: I know her. She used to be my wife.\nQuark: So let me get this straight. Dax's first host was named Lela. Right?\nBashir: I think so.\nKira: Lela Dax, that's right.\nQuark: Then Lela dies and the Dax symbiont goes on to a man named Tobin. And after Tobin dies, then it's on to Emony, then Torias, Audrid\nKira: No, no. Audrid, then Torias.\nQuark: Sorry. Audrid, Torias, Joran, Curzon and then eventually Jadzia.\nKira: Right.\nQuark: And this Doctor Lenara Kahn person was once married to?\nBashir: Torias. But of course in those days she wasn't Lenara.\nQuark: I knew it couldn't be that simple.\nBashir: The Kahn symbiont which is now joined to Lenara used to be joined to a woman named Nilani, and it was Nilani who married Torias Dax.\nKira: But Torias was killed in a shuttle accident.\nBashir: And Nilani became a widow. Years later, when Nilani died, the Kahn symbiont was joined to Lenara.\nQuark: And now Nilani is Lenara, and Torias is Jadzia. So that makes Lenara Jadzia's ex-wife.\nKira: It's a little more complicated than that, Quark.\nQuark: I'm sure it is. But to be honest, I'm sorry I brought the whole thing up. It's giving me a headache.\nBashir: It must be all the latinum rattling around in there.\nBashir: I thought so. You really should have that looked at.\nQuark: Get back to work. If you'll excuse me.\nKira: Did Dax teach you that?\nBashir: Next time I'm going to pull a rabbit out of his ear.\nKira: One thing I don't understand is why Dax and Lenara can't just pick up where they left off. I mean, if they're still in love with each other.\nBashir: Ah, now there's the rub. Even if they do harbor feelings for each other, it's strictly against the rules of Trill society for them to acknowledge it in any way.\nKira: Rules?\nBashir: Well, it's more of a taboo, really. Having a relationship with a lover from a past life is called reassociation, and the Trill feel very strongly that it's unnatural.\nKira: Unnatural? How can it be unnatural for a married couple to resume their marriage?\nBashir: Well, the whole point of joining is for the symbiont to accumulate experiences from the span of many lifetimes. In order to move on from host to host, the symbiont has to learn to let go of the past, let go of parents, siblings, children, even spouses.\nKira: I don't understand how two people who've fallen in love, and made a life together, can be forced to just walk away from each other because of a taboo. There must be some Trill who have reassociated with people from their past lives.\nBashir: I asked Dax the same question, and it seems there have been a few.\nKira: And what happened?\nBashir: They were exiled from the Trill homeworld.\nKira: That means the symbionts would never be joined to a new host.\nBashir: Exactly. So when the hosts die, the symbionts die with them. So you see, even if Dax does harbor feelings for Lenara, she can't take that risk. For a joined Trill, nothing is more important than to protect the life of the symbiont. Nothing.\nDax: Come in.\nSisko: I had a feeling you weren't going to be ready. Curzon was never on time in his life. He was even late for his hundredth birthday party.\nDax: You're never going to let me forget that, are you?\nSisko: Do you know how long it took me to plan that party?\nDax: Three months. I know.\nSisko: You still have time to back out of the reception, you know.\nDax: You know how I hate to miss a party.\nSisko: I'm serious.\nDax: I know. And I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm going to be working with Lenara for the next week. I have to get used to being around her. Stop worrying about me, Benjamin. I'll be fine.\nSisko: So, in the spirit of friendship, we welcome you to Deep Space Nine and wish you success in the creation of the galaxy's first artificial wormhole.\nAll: Hear, hear.\nLenara: I understand you'll be commanding the Defiant during our research.\nWorf: Yes.\nBejal: You must be very excited. I mean, to be a part of a potentially history-making project.\nWorf: I am looking forward to it.\nLenara: I think Mister Worf is less than enthusiastic about heading a research mission. It's not exactly what every Klingon dreams about.\nKira: What do Klingons dream about?\nWorf: Things that would send cold chills down your spine and wake you in the middle of the night. It is better you do not know. Excuse me.\nKira: I can never tell when he's joking.\nLenara: Maybe it is better that we do not know.\nLenara: Well, this looks wonderful.\nDax: Mmm-hmm.\nLenara: I take it most of this is Bajoran.\nDax: Hasperat. No, hasperat. Moba fruit and veklava.\nLenara: Of course, I'm not the least bit hungry.\nDax: Neither am I.\nLenara: But I suppose we should load our plates anyway since the whole room is watching us.\nDax: Quite an audience.\nLenara: Seems a shame to disappoint them. Maybe we should do something.\nDax: We could get into a screaming match and start throwing things at each other.\nLenara: Not bad. Or I suppose we could throw ourselves at each other, profess our undying love for each other and complete disregard for Trill society.\nDax: Doctor Pren would probably have a heart attack.\nLenara: Forget about him, my brother's head would explode. He's been a nervous wreck ever since we arrived.\nDax: I know the feeling.\nLenara: Well, I'll tell you what I told him. We're both mature adults and we can handle this.\nDax: I agree completely. It'll be fine.\nLenara: They're watching us again.\nDax: I know. I guess we'll probably have to get used to it.\nLenara: Well, thank you, Commander Dax. I appreciate your insightful commentary on Bajoran cuisine.\nDax: My pleasure, Doctor Kahn.\nBejal: After we launch our target drone, the Defiant will have to generate a subspace tensor matrix in the twenty five to thirty thousand Cochrane range. Then the drone will send out a magneton pulse which should react with the matrix to create an opening in the space-time continuum.\nEddington: How long will we have to keep generating the matrix?\nPren: Two minutes, maybe less. Once the wormhole forms, we can shut down the tensor matrix.\nO'Brien: We'll have to reroute the pre-ignition plasma from the impulse deck down to the auxiliary intake to get that much power. But I think we can do it.\nBejal: Excellent.\nPren: We'll also need to download our parameters for the matrix into one of your computers.\nDax: I think we'd better use the main computer, Chief. I don't think the engineering computer can handle it.\nO'Brien: I agree.\nDax: If you'll follow me, I'll take you up to the bridge and we can begin downloading the data.\nPren: All right.\nLenara: Everything looks good here. Dax?\nDax: The backup navigation program is still showing some calibration drift. I think some data may have been lost in the startup routine.\nLenara: Possibly.\nPren: Well, that explains the seven percent falloff in AFR ratios I keep seeing. Must be a problem with diagnostic sub-routines. I have a recalibration unit in my quarters that might solve the problem.\nDax: I'll have someone bring it here.\nPren: Oh, no, no. I need a break anyway.\nLenara: Now I'm getting a drop-off in the triple-R output. We might have a bigger problem than the diagnostic subroutines.\nDax: Don't panic yet. It could just be transtater failure. It happens all the time.\nLenara: I wasn't panicking.\nDax: It's just an expression. Sorry.\nLenara: No, I'm sorry. Forget it. It's just that you always used to, I mean Torias always used to tell Nilani that she was panicking about things, making a big fuss about nothing.\nDax: Well, Torias used to be insensitive at times. But you have to admit, Nilani did do her share of overreacting.\nLenara: That's because you were a pilot and it made me nervous. Made her nervous. Torias being a pilot made Nilani nervous. I've never had quite this much trouble sorting out my feelings from those of a past host.\nDax: I know what you mean.\nLenara: Probably another good reason why we're not supposed to spend much time together. We'd probably just get lost in the past.\nDax: Let's try running the transtater diagnostic again.\nLenara: Okay.\nDax: Nilani wasn't panicking the day before Torias died.\nLenara: No?\nDax: No. Torias should have listened to her. The shuttle was not ready for a full impulse test, but Torias had to do it anyway. And he was wrong. And whatever part of me is still Torias is very sorry and wishes he'd listened to you. Well, we have a lot of work to do.\nLenara: Right. Right.\nDax: Would you be interested in dinner? I mean, I'm having dinner with some friends and I thought you might like to go along.\nLenara: I wouldn't want to intrude on your friends.\nDax: It's actually not that big of a group. It's just me and Julian.\nLenara: Doctor Bashir? Sure. That sounds great.\nDax: Great.\nLenara: Okay. Dinner. Tonight.\nDax: At Quark's.\nLenara: Great.\nBashir: Tonight? I can't. I have plans.\nDax: Cancel them. I mean, if you can cancel them that would be really nice.\nBashir: Nice. Because?\nDax: Because I invited Lenara out for dinner and\nBashir: And it would be less awkward if you had a chaperone.\nDax: Exactly. Will you do it?\nBashir: Something tells me that I should say no, but I won't. What time?\nDax: Twenty two hundred at Quark's. Thank you. I owe you one.\nDax: No, it didn't have a red awning. It had a big ratana tree or something out front.\nLenara: Well, you don't mean the Barros Inn?\nDax: Yes! That's it.\nLenara: Curzon was kicked out of the Barros Inn? That's one of the wildest bars in the whole Rigel system. What did he do?\nDax: He sort of set fire to it.\nLenara: Sort of?\nDax: All right, he set fire to it. But it wasn't deliberate. It was part of a bet. But that's another story.\nLenara: Curzon was certainly different from most joined Trills.\nDax: He liked to do things his own way. He used to say there was an exception to every rule, and he usually went out of his way to find it.\nLenara: I'm actually glad we never met. We probably wouldn't have liked each other very much.\nDax: No, he wasn't that bad really. I tend to exaggerate his rebellious qualities. But you may have a point. Curzon never had much use for scientists.\nLenara: Well, that's interesting considering what you do now.\nDax: Curzon would be horrified to know that I'm a scientist. The very idea of doing research made him ill.\nLenara: Torias wasn't much different. I can remember talking to him about my wanting to study theoretical quantum physics and his eyes glazing over.\nDax: The irony is, you and I have more in common than Torias and Nilani ever did.\nLenara: That's right.\nNurse: Infirmary to Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Doctor Bashir here. Go ahead.\nNurse: I'm sorry to interrupt you, Doctor, but Ensign Tyler's broken his leg and I think you'd\nBashir: I'm on my way. I'm sorry. I must go. Duty calls.\nDax: That's all right. Thanks for coming.\nLenara: It was nice to see you again.\nLenara: Now that's a good friend. He sat here all night listening to us trade stories of our former hosts and never once complained.\nDax: I think he enjoyed himself. Maybe not. I'll make it up to him.\nLenara: Yeah.\nDax: Those are Klingon, aren't they?\nLenara: How did you know? Oh, Curzon.\nDax: They're beautiful.\nLenara: They were given to me by a Klingon scientist. He wanted to give me one of the swords they carry around, but I refused.\nLenara: Keep them. Really. I'm not very Klingon.\nDax: Thanks.\nDax: Well?\nLenara: They suit you. It's really good to see you again, Dax. That sounds so strange. I mean, I'm looking at a different face, hearing a different voice, but somehow it's still you.\nDax: I know. Every time I start to think of you as just Lenara, you'll smile or laugh and suddenly it's you.\nDax: I'm really glad you're here.\nLenara: Me too. Defiant log, stardate 49195.5. Lieutenant Commander Worf reporting. We have arrived at the coordinates to begin preliminary tests for the artificial wormhole project.\nBejal: Target drone is in position, Commander.\nWorf: Full scan.\nDax: No ships in sensor range.\nWorf: Bridge to Engineering. Are you ready, Mister Eddington?\nEddington: We're ready, Commander.\nWorf: Doctor Kahn, you may proceed.\nLenara: Energize the focal array and stand by to initiate the subspace tensor matrix.\nDax: This AQF sequencer, it's always causing me problems.\nBejal: The plasma coil interlocks are in place. Deflector grid is charged and standing by.\nPren: They're very friendly today.\nBejal: Hmm?\nPren: They had dinner last night. Alone.\nBejal: What are you trying to say?\nPren: I shouldn't have to say anything.\nBejal: Then don't. We're ready to generate the tensor matrix.\nDax: The drone is standing by.\nLenara: Initialize the focal array.\nBejal: The tensor matrix is forming.\nLenara: Activate the drone.\nDax: The drone is sending out the magneton pulse. It's reached the matrix.\nPren: I'm picking up a subspace distortion.\nBejal: The distortion's becoming coherent. It's working.\nDax: The magneton pulse is causing a feedback loop. It'll destroy the drone in a few seconds.\nLenara: A few seconds is all we need.\nDax: The drone's been destroyed. But you did it.\nWorf: Congratulations, Doctor.\nLenara: Thank you. That was only the first step, but what a step.\nDax: I'm so proud.\nLenara: Thank you.\nDax: I'm so proud.\nLenara: The subspace field data, quantum readings, all the telemetry checks out. The wormhole was open twenty three point four seconds and during that time it was completely coherent.\nBejal: You couldn't ask for a better beginning. But it all comes down to the next test. We have to be able to send an object through the wormhole to prove that it's stable for space travel.\nLenara: Oh, that reminds me. Dax thinks we should use a class four probe to make the actual run. She says that the class four shielding will give us a better idea of how the wormhole will affect a real ship.\nBejal: I didn't know you'd talked to Dax since we got back.\nLenara: I saw her last night.\nBejal: Where?\nLenara: She came by my quarters.\nBejal: How long did she stay?\nLenara: Is there something you want to ask me?\nBejal: I don't want to ask you anything, but I'm beginning to wonder if I should.\nLenara: I don't believe this.\nBejal: Believe it. People are starting to notice.\nLenara: People?\nBejal: Doctor Pren saw you holding hands at dinner the other night. I thought he was overreacting, but then I saw the way the two of you were acting on the Defiant.\nBejal: Lenara!\nBejal: Lenara. Lenara! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Look, I'm your brother. You tell me nothing's going on, then nothing's going on. I just want to hear you say it.\nLenara: There is nothing going on. All right?\nBejal: All right.\nDax: Come in. What's wrong?\nLenara: I just had the most unpleasant conversation with my brother. He thinks that there's something going on between us.\nDax: Oh. And what did you tell him?\nLenara: Well I told him that that was ridiculous, that there's nothing going on between us. That you and I are just friends.\nDax: Well then, that should settle that. Maybe we shouldn't see each other. It'll just give people the wrong idea.\nLenara: Or give them the right idea.\nDax: I don't think we should have this conversation.\nLenara: Would it do any good? Would it change how either of us feels?\nDax: No, but it would be easier.\nLenara: You've never been one for the easy way out.\nDax: That's true. But in this case, I'm not the only one involved. I don't want to do anything to hurt you. I did that before. I climbed into a shuttlecraft and I made you a widow.\nLenara: I knew you were a pilot when I married you. I knew the risks. I went into it with my eyes wide open.\nDax: And what about now? Are your eyes open? Do you know what the risks are?\nLenara: I thought I'd, thought I'd gotten over you. It's been so long and so much has happened. And now I know I haven't.\nDax: Shh. I've missed you. I've missed you so much.\nLenara: I'd better go.\nDax: Yeah.\nDax: I don't know what to do, Benjamin.\nSisko: What do you want to do?\nDax: Throw myself at her. Profess my undying love and my complete disregard for Trill society. A joke Lenara made at the reception. Doesn't sound so funny anymore, does it?\nSisko: Not really.\nDax: You don't think I should pursue this, do you.\nSisko: No.\nDax: Okay. Why?\nSisko: Because I remember what Curzon used to say about reassociation. That it didn't matter whether he agreed with the taboo or not, because the price for violating it was too high. Exile.\nDax: I know what Curzon used to say, and I'm not Curzon.\nSisko: And you're not Torias either. You're Jadzia Dax and you have a responsibility as a joined Trill to never\nDax: I didn't come here to hear a lecture about my responsibilities.\nSisko: You came here for advice from a friend, and that's exactly what you're getting.\nDax: You're right. I'm sorry.\nSisko: I know this is difficult for you. I know how you feel about Lenara. But I want you to think about what will happen if you pursue this. If you're exiled from Trill, there will be no further hosts for your symbiont. When Jadzia dies, Dax dies. That goes against everything you were taught during your initiate training. You've told me again and again that each host is only a link in a chain and that the life of the symbiont, no matter what happens, must go on.\nDax: I know that and I believe in that. But I also know I love her, Benjamin.\nSisko: I know you do. If I were in your position I'd probably be just as ready to throw everything away for the person I love. But I would also want to be sure that I was ready to pay the price.\nDax: You're right. I need to be sure.\nSisko: But if you're sure, if this is what you really want, I will back you all the way.\nDax: I've lived seven lifetimes and I have never had a friend quite like you.\nEddington: Eddington to Bridge. We're ready to generate the tensor matrix.\nWorf: Understood. Stand by.\nEddington: Aye, sir.\nWorf: Commander Dax?\nDax: Subspace field stress is within normal parameters.\nPren: Probe's ready for launch.\nBejal: Target drone is in position.\nWorf: Bridge to Engine Room. Initialize subspace matrix, Mister Eddington.\nWorf: On my mark.\nEddington: Acknowledged.\nBejal: The tensor matrix is starting to form.\nPren: Activate the drone.\nBejal: Wormhole neutrino readings are stable.\nDax: Subspace field stress is up by fifteen percent. but still within safety margins.\nWorf: Launch the probe. (As soon as the probe enters the wormhole, the whole thing goes KaBOOM and the shock wave hits the Defiant.)\nWorf: Report.\nDax: No helm control. There's a hull breach on deck five. Emergency forcefields are in place.\nBejal: I'm reading a massive plasma leak in the Engine room.\nWorf: Bridge to Engine room. Mister Eddington, Doctor Kahn, can you hear me?\nDax: Have a damage control team meet me down there.\nDax: Stand back.\nEddington: It's out of control. We can't put it out with those. We'll have to vent the entire compartment out into space.\nDax: No. Lenara might still be alive.\nEddington: There's no way to get to her.\nDax: How long will a level eight forcefield last in here?\nEddington: Not long with that plasma fire. Ten, twenty seconds at most.\nDax: I think I can get to her.\nEddington: Dax, if we don't contain this thing now, it's going to set off the warp core.\nDax: I know. Just give me ten seconds after the forcefield goes off and then vent the compartment. I need to reconfigure the field geometry.\nEddington: I'll try to keep the field stable as long as I can.\nLenara: Oh, Dax.\nDax: I thought I'd lost you.\nLenara: So did I. I don't want to lose you, not again.\nDax: Not again. Never again. Never again. Never.\nLenara: Come in.\nDax: How are you feeling?\nBejal: Much better. She's almost fully recovered.\nLenara: My brother the nurse.\nBejal: I want to thank you for what you did. Lenara means a lot to me.\nDax: To both of us.\nBejal: Yes. I'll leave you two alone.\nDax: Risian perfume.\nLenara: Do they know what happened to the wormhole yet?\nDax: Our best guess is that the tetryon field reacted to the probe's shielding, producing a massive graviton wave. The important thing is no one was killed and we brought the ship back in one piece.\nLenara: Oh, the ship. How badly was it damaged?\nDax: Chief O'Brien says he'll have it good as new in two weeks. Now stop torturing yourself. It wasn't your fault.\nLenara: It was my project, my theories.\nDax: And you shouldn't forget that your project and your theories produced the first artificially created wormhole in history. It's a huge achievement.\nLenara: You're right. I am being a little self-indulgent, aren't I?\nDax: Yes, you are.\nLenara: Well, I guess I'll have a lot of work to do when I get back to Trill. Analyzing the telemetry from the probe alone will probably take months.\nDax: Probably. Why not do the work here with me.\nLenara: With you? The two of us together. You know what that would mean.\nDax: I know exactly what that would mean. But I think it's worth the price.\nLenara: That's funny. Bejal just spent the last half hour trying to convince me that it wouldn't be worth it. He wants me to go back to Trill with him tomorrow, try to forget about you.\nDax: Well, at least he's consistent.\nLenara: Don't be too hard on him. He's only trying to look out for his big sister.\nDax: Everyone is trying to look out for us. Protect us from ourselves. But in the end, all that matters is how we feel and what we do about it. Because either way, we're the ones who have to live with the consequences.\nLenara: That's the tricky part though, isn't it? Living with the consequences. When you're not with me, when you're not around, it's like a part of me is missing. I want to be with you more than anything, but I don't think that I can do this. Dax, I am not like you. I don't have a little Curzon inside me telling me to be impulsive, to ignore the rules, to give up everything I've worked for.\nDax: Can you really walk away from me, from us? After all this time, we're together. Don't throw that away.\nLenara: I don't want to! Maybe I need more time. Maybe if I go back to Trill for a while, think it over. I can always come back later.\nDax: I wish I could believe you. But ultimately, it comes down to this. If you feel about me the way I feel about you, you won't go on that transport tomorrow. And if you do leave, I think we both know you're never coming back again."}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's log, stardate 49263.5. At the request of the Karemma Commerce Ministry, we've brought the Defiant to a remote system in the Gamma Quadrant to discuss problems that have surfaced regarding our recent trade agreement.\nHanok: When we first agreed to use the Ferengi as intermediaries, we did it because we knew the Dominion would never tolerate direct trade between us and the Federation.\nQuark: And we're glad to be of service. I'm happy to say that not a single Ferengi vessel has been stopped by the Jem'Hadar.\nHanok: Unfortunately, we have found there is little profit in doing business with the Federation. In order to comply with your all commerce laws, we have had to pay a series of taxs and fees that have made the costs too high.\nSisko: What sort of taxs and fees are you referring to?\nHanok: For example, on a recent shipment of Karemman Fleece, a four percent surcharge was added to inspect the cargo for changeling infiltrators.\nSisko: What?\nQuark: You never know where they might be hiding.\nHanok: And a six percent tariff was imposed to help offset the lost income of Tarkalian sheep herders.\nQuark: Hardworking people. You have to feel for them.\nHanok: Need I go on, Captain?\nSisko: No. I think you've made your point.\nCarson: These are the results of the last weapons drill, sir.\nWorf: These response times are unacceptable, Ensign.\nCarson: They are a little high, sir, but not if you take into account that\nWorf: I want these response times reduced by fifteen percent. Schedule another drill.\nCarson: Yes, sir.\nDax: Want one?\nKira: I'm fasting. Today is Ha'mara.\nDax: Ha'mara?\nKira: It's the anniversary of the Emissary's arrival. We fast to show our gratitude to the Prophets for sending him to us. Last night, there was a Festival of Lights in the Capital.\nDax: Sounds beautiful. Sorry we missed it.\nKira: Something tells me the Captain scheduled these negotiations so he wouldn't have to attend.\nDax: Benjamin's never been one for ceremonies, especially where he's the center of attention.\nKira: Oh, I understand how the Captain feels. Still, it would have meant a lot if the Emissary had been there.\nDax: After being stuck in the mess hall all morning with Quark and Hanok, I bet he wishes he had gone.\nCarson: Two ships have just entered sensor range. They're Jem'Hadar warships.\nWorf: Red alert. Captain Sisko to the Bridge. All hands battle stations.\nWorf: The Jem'Hadar are powering their weapons systems. They are targeting the Karemma ship.\nHanok: They're here to punish us for meeting with you. If I give myself up and assume full responsibility, they may spare my ship.\nSisko: I'm not about to turn you over to them. Open a channel. This is Captain Benjamin Sisko of the USS Defiant. Stand down or we'll be forced to\nSisko: Return fire.\nDax: The Karemma ship is coming about. They're moving away, Captain.\nSisko: Tell your people to hold position. We can't protect them if they run.\nKira: The Karemma aren't responding to our hails.\nWorf: The Jem'Hadar are changing course. They're going after the Karemma ship.\nSisko: Move to intercept.\nDax: What are they doing?\nHanok: They're hoping that the Jem'Hadar won't follow them into the atmosphere.\nKira: They'd be smart not to. That's a class J gas giant. I'm reading wind speeds of over ten thousand kilometers per hour.\nHanok: Twenty three of my people are on that ship and they're going to die because I was foolish enough to defy the Dominion.\nSisko: They're not going to die, Minister. Not if I can help it. Sisko to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Go ahead, sir.\nSisko: I'm taking the ship into the atmosphere.\nSisko: I know she wasn't built for it, but I think the ship can handle it.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: I'll see if we can get more power to the structural integrity field.\nKira: Adjusting shield geometry for atmospheric entry.\nWorf: Transferring auxiliary power to forward shields.\nSisko: Take us in.\nDax: Five seconds to atmosphere.\nKira: There's so much interference our imaging systems are practically useless.\nDax: We've hit a cross-current.\nSisko: Head into it.\nKira: We've slipped between two thermal layers. Wind velocities are a little more manageable here.\nSisko: Hold this altitude. Any sign of the Karemma or the Jem'Hadar?\nWorf: No, but sensor range is less than two kilometers.\nDax: There might be a way we can increase it.\nSisko: Let's do it. Mister Hanok, I think it'd be best if you returned to the mess hall.\nHanok: As you wish, Captain.\nSisko: Mister Worf?\nWorf: Sir.\nSisko: What's the status of our weapons systems?\nWorf: The cloak is not effective in this atmosphere, and the interference will jam our torpedo guidance systems.\nSisko: What about phasers?\nWorf: We'll have to target them manually.\nDax: Benjamin, we have an idea.\nKira: It's a little trick I learned during the occupation. Sometimes we'd evade the Cardassian ships by hiding in the Badlands. Sensor range was limited, so we learned to use an old active-scan system to navigate.\nDax: It works by echo-location. We send out a modulated tetryon pulse, and if it reflects off the hull of a ship we can approximate its location.\nSisko: But won't these pulses give away our position as well?\nKira: We'd have to alter course and speed after every one.\nQuark: Good news, Minister.\nHanok: Really?\nQuark: I think I've found the problem. I made the mistake of letting my brother Rom execute these contracts.\nHanok: Your brother?\nQuark: Yes. I'm ashamed to say it, but he's an idiot. You see, the Federation and the Karemma have very different laws governing commerce, and I think poor Rom must've gotten confused by all the legalisms. Now, I will be more than willing to make up any losses you might have encountered. In fact, I will pay them back with interest.\nHanok: You cheated me, Quark, and you haven't even have the courage to admit it. If we survive this, I'll see that you never work in the Gamma Quadrant again,\nKira: Nothing within ten thousand kilometers.\nSisko: Ahead at one quarter impulse. Try again, Major.\nKira: There's something four hundred kilometers below us. It could be the Karemma. I can't tell at this range.\nSisko: Close to ten kilometers.\nDax: We're crossing into another thermal layer.\nCarson: Holding position at ten kilometers.\nSisko: Major?\nKira: Well, from the size of it I'd say it's the Karemma.\nKira: I'm picking up two more ships.\nWorf: Shields at sixty percent.\nSisko: Return fire!\nKira: The Jem'Hadar are breaking off their attack.\nSisko: Are they going after the Karemma?\nKira: I don't think they've spotted them.\nCarson: Captain, impulse power is offline. We're losing altitude.\nSisko: Try using thrusters to stabilize.\nCarson: It's no use.\nWorf: Hull pressure is at two million GSC and rising.\nSisko: Sisko to Engine room.\nSisko: We need impulse power.\nO'Brien: The primary ODN lines have overloaded, Captain. It'll be a few minutes.\nDax: Chief, if you can spare someone to meet me in Jefferies tube four, I'll try to re-route the power through the secondary couplings.\nO'Brien: Muniz, you go.\nMuniz: Yes, sir.\nCarson: Hull pressure at nine million GSC and still rising.\nKira: If we keep losing altitude at this rate, the hull will collapse in less than six minutes.\nWorf: Sir, the phaser couplings were overloaded during the attack. It'll take at least two hours to repair them.\nSisko: The Jem'Hadar aren't going to let us tractor the Karemma out of here without a fight.\nKira: Right now it seems like we're the ones who need to be tractored out of here.\nSisko: One thing at a time, Major. Sisko to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: O'Brien, here.\nSisko: How many atmospheric probes do we have on board?\nO'Brien: Two.\nSisko: Could they be rigged with warheads from\nSisko: Quantum torpedoes?\nO'Brien: Well, we'd have to pull the imaging systems out to make room in the casings, but I don't see\nO'Brien: Why not.\nSisko: How long?\nO'Brien: Twenty minutes.\nSisko: You've got ten.\nO'Brien: You okay?\nStevens: I'm all right.\nO'Brien: The Captain's gotten us out of tougher spots than this. Last year, when the Romulans tried to invade the Founder's homeworld, we went up against a dozen Jem'Hadar ships\nStevens: I know, Chief. You've told me the story.\nO'Brien: Oh, yeah? Well unless you want to hear it again, you'd better get down to the torpedo bay and start working on those probes.\nStevens: I'm going.\nO'Brien: Janklow, I'm going to need a dualitic inverter. There's one in the cargo bay.\nJanklow: Right, Chief.\nWorf: Hull breach on deck two.\nKira: An emergency forcefield is in place, but it won't hold up long against this pressure.\nSisko: How many people are down there?\nWorf: Half a dozen in Sickbay. Dax and Muniz in Jefferies tube four.\nSisko: We've got to get them out of there.\nKira: If we don't seal off that deck now, we'll lose the entire ship.\nBashir: Easy now.\nSisko: Sisko to Bashir.\nBashir: Go ahead.\nSisko: The emergency forcefield won't\nSisko: Hold much longer. We've got to evacuate\nSisko: That deck so we can seal it off.\nBashir: Aye, sir. Let's get everybody past that bulkhead.\nSisko: Dax, are you finished?\nDax: Not quite.\nSisko: Get out of there as soon as you're done. In about\nSisko: Thirty seconds we're going to have to seal that deck.\nBashir: Bashir to Bridge, I'm sealing the bulkhead now.\nBashir: Dax! Hurry!\nBashir: Jadzia!\nKira: The forcefield is down.\nSisko: Doctor, close that bulkhead.\nBashir: But Jadzia's still in there.\nSisko: Now, Doctor. That's an order.\nDax: Julian.\nBashir: Bridge.\nBashir: Bridge.\nKira: She did it.\nSisko: Helm, take us to a higher altitude.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Bridge. One of the atmospheric probes is armed and standing by. We'll have the second one ready in a few minutes.\nSisko: Very good, Chief. All right, Major. Now that we've got something to defend ourselves with, let's start looking for the Karemma.\nQuark: We're gaining altitude.\nHanok: How can you tell?\nQuark: I've got the lobes. You've got them, too. It's an old Ferengi expression. Usually when we say that someone has the lobes, we mean that they have a keen business sense. That's you. I'll admit it. You fooled me. I thought you were just another easy mark. But you saw right through my little scam, and taught me a thing or two about doing business in the Gamma Quadrant. I guess I've gotten lazy. I'm used to dealing with the Federation. If you thought I was cheating you, oh, you have no idea what I was doing to them and they still haven't caught on. If someone like me can put one over on them, think what someone like you could do.\nHanok: Someone with my lobes?\nQuark: Exactly. And I'm just the man to help you do it. we could become rich, rich beyond our dreams.\nHanok: You are despicable.\nQuark: I hate the Gamma Quadrant.\nKira: Sir, I have something. It's a Jem'Hadar ship.\nSisko: Just one?\nWorf: They must have split up to search for the Karemma.\nKira: It's about seventy kilometers above us on a roughly perpendicular course.\nSisko: Helm, come about to course zero seven five mark four. Let's fall in behind them.\nKira: Do you think they've detected us?\nSisko: I don't know, but let's make it harder for them. Shut down all non-essential systems. It'll minimize our power signature.\nSisko: All stop. Program the probe to home in on the first metallic signature it finds.\nWorf: Sir, if it does not locate anything within fifty kilometers, the probe might turn back and home in on the Defiant.\nKira: What if they changed course or moved out of range?\nSisko: Something tells me they may be closer than you think.\nWorf: The probe is ready, sir.\nSisko: Fire. (The probe streaks away but the Jem'Hadar come up behind the Defiant. BOOM! Bridge crew are thrown about and knocked out. Bits of scaffolding fall down. The probe acquires its target. KaBOOM!)\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Bridge. Try the com-panel.\nMuniz: Engine Room to Bridge. Bridge, please respond.\nO'Brien: Save your breath. I don't think there's anybody left alive up there.\nWorf: Are you all right?\nKira: I think so. Captain?\nWorf: Computer, lights. Bridge to Engine Room.\nCarson: Boyce and Peterson are dead, sir.\nKira: Try not to move. You took a bad blow. Get me a medkit.\nWorf: Bridge systems are completely offline. We're not getting any power to these consoles.\nKira: There, the bleeding's stopped. He's got a concussion, sub-cranial bleeding. We need a medic!\nCarson: The comm. system's down. I'll go below and try and find one. It's stuck.\nWorf: We will have to force it open.\nKira: I'm afraid if he loses consciousness he may slip into a coma, but I don't think I can risk using a stimulant on him.\nWorf: You have to keep him awake. Talk to him. Give him something to focus on.\nKira: All right.\nWorf: I will attempt to reach to the Engine Room and take over the ship from there.\nKira: Good luck.\nKira: Captain. Everything's going to be all right but you have to try to stay awake for me. I'm just to keep talking, all right, but you have to listen. It's very important that you listen to me, because there's going to be a test later.\nBashir: How do you feel?\nDax: Terrible\nBashir: That's not surprising considering that you took in a few lungfuls of fluorine.\nDax: Remind me to hold my breath next time. I take it we're stuck in here?\nBashir: I thought of trying to climb up the turbolift shaft, but it's flooded with gas.\nDax: I've had enough fluorine for one day. Maybe we should just stay put and wait for someone to come get us.\nBashir: They probably don't even know we're in here. Our comm. signals can't cut through the interference.\nDax: Is there anything else I should know?\nBashir: We only have a few hours of breathable air.\nDax: Thanks, anyway. For trying to rescuing me.\nBashir: Lot of good it did you.\nDax: I mean it. It's funny. A year ago if you'd have done something like this, I would've thought you were just trying to be a hero.\nBashir: And now?\nDax: Now that I know you better I realize it was just a really stupid thing to do.\nBashir: You're welcome.\nQuark: You're taking this too personally. Okay, I cheated you. I cheat everyone. It's business. You see what you can get away with, and you've got to figure the other guy's doing the same to you.\nHanok: That's not the way the Karemma conduct business.\nQuark: Oh, come on. You can't tell me you never padded an inventory, or pawned off a load of substandard merchandise.\nHanok: No, I haven't. The Karemma believe that merchandise has a set value, determined by the raw materials and the labor involved in creating it. Factor in transportation costs and a reasonable profit margin, and you arrive at a fair price.\nQuark: You make it sound so antiseptic. Where's the bargaining, where's the scheming, where's the greed?\nHanok: Greed leads to misjudgment, and that can result in a loss of profits.\nQuark: If there's no risk, there's no thrill. Your way is just barter. If you want to win big, you've got to be willing to play the odds. It's like gambling.\nHanok: Gambling is the last recourse of the desperate. Only a fool would risk losing what he has to chance.\nO'Brien: Commander, am I glad to see you.\nWorf: The Captain is injured and all bridge functions are offline.\nO'Brien: We're trying to route command functions to these consoles.\nWorf: All right. I will take command from here. Who configured these helm controls?\nMuniz: I did, sir.\nWorf: They are not laid out properly.\nMuniz: I realize they're not the same as on the Bridge, but I had to make some changes because\nWorf: I need to be able to ascertain our status at a glance. Reconfigure these controls to their standard layout.\nMuniz: Aye, sir.\nWorf: Mister Stevens, you will operate the echo-location system we've been using to track the Jem'Hadar.\nStevens: I'll do my best.\nWorf: I expect nothing less.\nO'Brien: Let's get to work.\nKira: So I was thinking we could go on a four shift rotation, because that would give people a little more flexibility with their time. There is a downside because that would mean that every shift would have to. What am I doing? I'm supposed to keep you awake, not bore you to tears. I'm sorry. I don't know why this is so hard for me. All I have to do is talk to you. I mean, what do we usually talk about?\nSisko: We talk about work.\nKira: You're right. That is what we usually talk about. Even when we're not working. I get the feeling it's not that way between you and Dax, or you and Chief O'Brien. But then, you're not a revered figure in their religions. I know you don't like it when I talk about you as the Emissary, but that's how I think of you. And maybe that's why sometimes it's hard for me to relax around you.\nSisko: Nerys?\nKira: Yes, sir?\nSisko: Tell me a story.\nKira: All right. All right. Do you know the one about the three brothers who go to Jo'kala?\nSisko: No.\nKira: They were kava farmers, and one day they go into their field and they see the biggest kava root they'd ever seen. It's as big as a house. That's going to make us rich, said the oldest. So they decided to sell it in the city.\nStevens: Sir, I have something.\nWorf: They're too small to be ships.\nStevens: They're closing fast.\nO'Brien: Torpedoes.\nWorf: Hard a-port!\nO'Brien: I'm modulating the deflectors. It might confuse their guidance systems.\nStevens: The second one's still closing. Range, one hundred meters. Seventy five. Fifty.\nHanok: I suggest we leave this room immediately.\nQuark: And go where? If that thing explodes, the entire ship will be destroyed. No. Maybe we should try and defuse it.\nHanok: I think we should wait for help.\nQuark: All right, but what if no one can get to us?\nQuark: I don't like the sound of that. It's up to us. There must be an emergency tool kit around here somewhere.\nQuark: The arming mechanism must be somewhere in here. I'm going to have to remove this casing.\nHanok: How?\nQuark: There's no lock that can't be picked.\nO'Brien: It looks like the torpedo hit somewhere in here.\nMuniz: Problem is, we're cut off from that part of the ship.\nO'Brien: But we'll have to think of something.\nWorf: Mister Stevens, recalibrate the structural integrity field to minimize the strain caused by the torpedo.\nStevens: The field generators are already at their limit compensating for the hull breach on deck two.\nWorf: I am aware of the situation. If you cannot carry out my orders, I will find someone who can.\nStevens: That won't be necessary, sir.\nO'Brien: Can I have a word with you, sir?\nWorf: Of course.\nO'Brien: With all due respect, I think you're riding the men a bit hard. You have to understand, they're out of their element. They're not bridge officers, they haven't been to Starfleet Academy. They're engineers. They're used to being given a problem to solve, then going out and figuring out how to do it.\nWorf: What are you suggesting?\nO'Brien: Give them a little slack. Ease up on the reins. Let them do what they're good at, and give them a little encouragement now and then.\nWorf: I will take it under consideration.\nDax: I'm so cold.\nBashir: These walls aren't that well insulated. It's going to get even colder. Come here. Better?\nDax: What?\nBashir: Just remembering something.\nDax: Tell me.\nBashir: When I first got to the station, I used to have this fantasy that you and I went off on a runabout together on some mission. Something went wrong with the ship and we ended up drifting around for a few days until they sent someone to rescue us.\nDax: If you don't mind my saying, Julian, that's a very strange fantasy.\nBashir: It seemed the only way you and I could spend time alone together. You were always avoiding me.\nDax: It's just you came on so strong. You never really gave me a chance to get to know you.\nBashir: You're right, I didn't. Well, don't worry, Jadzia. It's been a long time since I had that particular fantasy.\nDax: Oh?\nBashir: You sound disappointed.\nDax: Julian!\nBashir: That's right. You enjoyed being chased and now you miss it.\nDax: That's preposterous. And if you start chasing after me again\nBashir: Don't worry, Jadzia. Now I know you liked it, I don't need to, do I?\nWorf: I require your assistance. I need a weapon.\nMuniz: We still have one atmospheric probe.\nWorf: If my plan is going to work, the probe will not be available. I need something else.\nStevens: The phasers are out of the question. The emitters are completely fused.\nMuniz: But the phaser generator's working fine.\nStevens: The deflector array.\nMuniz: With a few modifications, we could use it as a phaser emitter.\nStevens: It might not be what you had in mind, sir.\nMuniz: And there is one problem. It will overload after the first shot.\nWorf: I only need one shot. How long will it take you to make the modifications?\nMuniz: Twenty minutes?\nStevens: Ten if we can bypass the safeties.\nWorf: Proceed.\nStevens: I think we should route the generator output through the secondary power grid.\nMuniz: We'll have to recalibrate the ODN manifold.\nStevens: That'll overload the whole system. What a mess.\nMuniz: We'll worry about that tomorrow.\nStevens: Yeah, it's easy for you to say. It's your day off.\nO'Brien: Don't count on it.\nKira: So the three brothers started arguing about how to divide the money for the kava root. The oldest said that he should get more because it was his idea to sell it in the city, and the youngest objected, saying he was the one to till the. This can't happen. You can't die. You're the Emissary. There's still so much for you to do. I don't know if this is the right thing to do or not but I'm going to give you a stimulant. Captain, I know my beliefs make you uncomfortable around me sometimes, and that maybe that's why you keep me at arm's length. But I don't care about that right now and I am going pray, because I don't know what else to do. I'm losing you and I can't let that happen. Jia kaja, tre nu tola rem lapor. Ilani kor. Inar tanatali nor.\nMuniz: Everything's ready, sir.\nStevens: You can target the deflector from here.\nWorf: Good work. Take your posts.\nWorf: Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Nothing within scanning range, sir.\nWorf: The Jem'Hadar are out there. You can be certain of that.\nQuark: Gently.\nQuark: All right. Now what?\nHanok: One of these diodes connects the warhead to the power source. The other one is the firing mechanism.\nQuark: How do you know that?\nHanok: I saw a design schematic once.\nQuark: Where?\nHanok: At the Ministry of Trade on Karemma. We sell these torpedoes to the Jem'Hadar.\nQuark: I thought you said you never sold substandard merchandise. This was supposed to explode on impact, wasn't it?\nHanok: Maybe I should offer them a refund.\nQuark: We'd better do something about this torpedo of yours.\nHanok: We have to remove the firing diode only I don't know which one it is.\nQuark: And if we pick the wrong one we die. It's not funny. We just have to pick the right one. It's fifty-fifty, better odds than you get at the dabo table.\nHanok: Dabo?\nQuark: Yes, it's a game. If we get out of this, I'll teach it to you. Choose one.\nHanok: How?\nQuark: It's a gamble. Go with your instinct.\nQuark: You're thinking too much. You just have to reach in and pick one.\nQuark: I think we have a winner.\nHanok: That was exciting.\nQuark: Feels good, doesn't it?\nHanok: Yes.\nQuark: That's how it works. The bigger the risk, the bigger the win. You know, there's another risk you could take. Staying in business with me.\nHanok: You never give up, do you?\nQuark: No. I tried to cheat you, and I lost, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up the game. Come on, Hanok. What do you say? You want to keep playing?\nHanok: Let's talk about these Bolian currency fluctuations.\nKira: Jiakaja, tre nutola rem. Lapor ilani kos. Inar jiakaja tre\nSisko: Major?\nKira: Yes, Captain?\nSisko: What happened?\nKira: The Jem'Hadar hit us pretty bad and Worf went down to the Engine\nSisko: No, no. What happened to the three brothers?\nKira: They gave all the money away and went back to the farm where they belonged.\nSisko: It's good. Major?\nKira: Sir?\nSisko: Tell me another story.\nKira: I'd love to, sir.\nO'Brien: I've got something, sir. It's the Jem'Hadar. They've locked onto the tetryon pulse.\nWorf: Stand by, Mister Stevens.\nWorf: Now.\nO'Brien: What do you say we find the Karemma and get out of here? Defiant log, supplemental. Damage control teams are repairing the ship's systems and medics are tending to injured crewmembers. We have located the Karemma ship deep in the atmosphere and are moving to assist. It appears that it will have to be abandoned and its crew brought back to Deep Space Nine until transportation can be arranged to the Karemma homeworld.\nQuark: It's going to be a levy.\nHanok: A levy?\nQuark: A levy.\nHanok: Where? I don't see that.\nQuark: Right here. Put the levy right here.\nQuark: Oh! Pass five. Too bad. You lose half your stake. You can either quit now, or try to double it.\nOdo: My advice is to take what latinum you have left and walk away.\nHanok: Just because one loses a bet, doesn't mean one gives up the game.\nQuark: Exactly. May I suggest placing your next wager on double down.\nHanok: Put it all on triple over.\nQuark: I think that's a big mistake.\nHanok: Triple over. Nothing personal, Quark.\nQuark: Of course not.\nAll: Dabo!\nQuark: You're really catching on.\nBashir: Oh. Seventeen brothers and sisters? Well, that's quite a family.\nDax: Excuse me, Morn. It's your turn.\nBashir: For what?\nDax: Darts.\nBashir: That's right. I'm sorry, Morn. It's been nice talking to you.\nBashir: Thank you for rescuing me.\nDax: Now we're even.\nStevens: Excuse me, sir. Here's the repair schedule we drew up for the Defiant. With your approval, we thought we'd start by tearing out the ODN lines. They're shot. It'll be easier to get to the manifolds that way. And then we figured we'd\nWorf: Proceed at your diskretion, Mister Stevens.\nStevens: Thank you, sir.\nWorf: How long will the repairs take?\nStevens: Sixteen hours.\nO'Brien: Oh, you can do it in twelve.\nStevens: Twelve. Sure. No problem.\nO'Brien: See? You can give them a little of slack, but you can't take your hands off the reins.\nKira: The Karemma transport will be here at eighteen hundred hours tomorrow, and the Defiant should be ready to escort them back to the Gamma Quadrant.\nSisko: Good. Major, it occurred to me that we might consider going to a four shift rotation. I think the crew might appreciate more flexibility in their schedules.\nKira: I'll look in to it first thing in the morning.\nSisko: Major, what are you doing for the next few hours?\nKira: I'm going off duty, so I thought I'd just relax.\nSisko: Would you like to go to a baseball game?\nKira: I'd love to, sir.\nSisko: Good. Meet me at holosuite three in half an hour.\nKira: I'll see you there.\nSisko: Nerys. Sisko tosses her a baseball cap with a G on it. He puts on the Pike City Pioneers cap.)\nSisko: You'll need one of those. You can get the hot dogs from Quark.\nKira: Hot dogs?\nSisko: He'll know."}
{"text": "Rom: All right, everyone. Gather around. We're about to start. When a young Ferengi goes out on his own, he traditionally raises capital by selling his boyhood treasures. As you know, my son Nog will be leaving shortly for Earth and Starfleet Academy. I'm going to miss him, and I know you will too. And what better way to remember him than to purchase one of his very own personal belongings? I don't know about you, but I'm buying these pajamas.\nNog: That'll be three strips of latinum.\nRom: Two.\nNog: Sold. Let the buying commence. No reasonable offer will be refused.\nO'Brien: I didn't expect to see you here, Mister Worf.\nWorf: Captain Sisko made it a personal request that I attend. He seems to have taken some interest in the young Ferengi.\nO'Brien: The Captain sponsored Nog's application to the Academy.\nWorf: A Ferengi at the Academy? I am not sure that is wise.\nO'Brien: Oh, I don't know about that. Not so long ago someone might have said the same thing about you.\nSisko: You two'd better hurry or there won't be anything left to buy.\nBashir: Nog, what is this?\nNog: My favorite holosuite program. A Visit with the Pleasure Goddess of Rixx. Yours for a mere ten strips of latinum.\nDax: He'll take it. Consider it a gift.\nBashir: You're too kind.\nKira: Nog, where did you get this springball racket?\nNog: Out of a replicator?\nKira: Try out of my quarters. This is mine. I've been looking for it for two years.\nNog: And it was sitting here on the bar all along. That's incredible.\nJake: It's a Ferengi tooth sharpener.\nWorf: How much?\nQuark: Rom.\nRom: Brother, you're here. If you hurry, there still might be some choice items left for you to buy.\nQuark: I'm not here for the sale. Nog has no business going to Starfleet Academy and I'm not doing anything to encourage him. Now, come with me.\nRom: But the sale\nQuark: It's over as far as you're concerned. The ship. It's here.\nRom: What ship?\nQuark: The ship. Our ship. My ship. The shuttle cousin Gaila owed me.\nRom: He's owed you that shuttle for ten years.\nQuark: Ever since I loaned him the latinum to start up his munitions consortium. He always said that if he became a success, he'd buy me my own ship. Now it's here.\nRom: But why do you need me?\nQuark: Because knowing our cousin, it's probably defective merchandise.\nRom: I'd better have a look at it.\nQuark: What a wonderful idea. Now get going.\nQuark: And leave the clothes here.\nRom: Brother?\nQuark: All right. Tel1 me what's wrong with it.\nRom: Nothing. The ship is perfect. Gaila must've paid a fortune for it.\nQuark: You mean it'll actually fly?\nRom: This ship could outrun a Romulan interceptor. We could take it halfway across the galaxy before it would even need a maintenance check.\nQuark: You don't say? And it's all mine. I can go any place I want.\nRom: Maybe it's time you considered that early retirement we talked about. I could take over the bar, and you could fly off into the great unknown never to return. Unless you wanted to.\nQuark: Don't get your hopes up. The first thing we need to do is take this thing for a test flight. Someplace reasonably far away, but safe. Someplace like\nRom: Earth?\nQuark: Exactly. If the boy wants to go to Starfleet Academy, he might as well do it in style.\nRom: Yes, brother. Thank you, brother. I'll go tell Nog. A trip to Earth. This is going to be fun.\nQuark: Not to mention profitable. All I ask is a tall ship and a load of contraband to fill her with.\nQuark: Here are the codes to operate the holosuites. Now remember, don't extend any lines of credit, don't touch the dabo girls, and make sure you keep your eyes on him. Because he'll be keeping his eyes on you.\nOdo: Good choice, Quark. I'm sure Morn'll do an excellent job, as long as he doesn't drink up all your profits.\nQuark: Better him than one of my Ferengi waiters. They'd rob me blind.\nOdo: Very generous of you, taking Nog to Earth.\nQuark: I'm a generous person.\nOdo: So I've noticed.\nQuark: Try not to miss me too much while I'm gone.\nOdo: I'll be counting the days until you get back.\nQuark: Yeah.\nJake: I wonder how many hours you and I spent hanging around up here.\nNog: Two thousand, one hundred and forty seven. Just kidding. But it was a lot.\nJake: You know, aside from playing dom-jot and watching the Bajoran transports dock, it seems like we spent most of our time doing nothing.\nNog: Maybe so, but I can't think of anyone I'd rather do nothing with than you.\nJake: Same here.\nBashir: Nog.\nNog: Doctor, if you're trying to return something from the sale\nO'Brien: It's a going-away present.\nBashir: To help you get around easier on Earth.\nNog: A guidebook?\nO'Brien: It's not just a guidebook. It's a completely interactive program detailing Earth's customs, culture, history, geography.\nBashir: Everything you ever wanted to know about Earth is right in that PADD.\nNog: You mean it'll teach me how to attract human females?\nO'Brien: Well, almost everything.\nNog: I'm sure it'll come in handy. Thank you. Well, I'd better get going. My father and Uncle Quark are waiting for me.\nO'Brien: Good luck, Nog.\nBashir: Make us proud.\nJake: I'll walk you over to the airlock. It was a good spot.\nNog: The best.\nDax: The Ferengi shuttle 'Quark's Treasure' has just departed the station.\nKira: Quark, Rom and Nog together on that ship all the way to Earth? I'm glad I'm not going with them.\nSisko: Only thing that worries me, no one warned Earth that they're coming.\nNog: It says here that humans didn't even have currency until five thousand years ago. Let alone banking, speculative investments or a unified global economy.\nQuark: They're a primitive, backward people, Nog. Pity them.\nNog: But think about it, uncle. That means they went from being savages with a simple barter system to leaders of a vast interstellar Federation in only five thousand years It took us twice as long to establish the Ferengi Alliance, and we had to buy warp technology from the\nQuark: Five thousand, ten thousand, what's the difference? The speed of technological advancement isn't nearly as important as short-term quarterly gains. Can't this thing go any faster?\nRom: We're already exceeding the safe maximum cruising speed by two tenths of a warp factor.\nQuark: Push it another tenth. This trip is taking long enough as it is.\nRom: Relax, brother. I know kemacite is unstable, but another day or two won't make any difference.\nQuark: What are you talking about?\nRom: The shipment of kemacite that you're smuggling in the cargo hold.\nNog: Uncle, are you smuggling kemacite? Isn't that dangerous?\nRom: Dangerous and highly profitable. Especially if we make a side trip to Orion on the way home from Earth.\nQuark: What tipped you off?\nRom: When I engaged the impulse engines, I noticed the ship's weight distribution was a little off. So the last time you went to waste extraction, I snuck back to the cargo bay and took a look around.\nQuark: When did you get so smart?\nRom: I've always been smart, brother. I've just lacked self-confidence. Of course, I could forget everything I saw.\nQuark: How much?\nRom: Twenty percent of the profits.\nQuark: I suppose you'll want a cut too?\nNog: As a Starfleet cadet, it's my duty to report any violation of Federation law to my superiors immediately. But then again, I haven't been sworn in yet. I'll take ten percent.\nQuark: It's a deal. I thought I told you to go faster.\nRom: Faster it is.\nRom: Brother, wake up. We're approaching Earth's star system.\nQuark: Take her out of warp.\nNog: Father, have you ever heard of the Bell Riots?\nRom: Don't bother me now.\nNog: But doesn't this Gabriel Bell human look just like Captain Sisko?\nQuark: All humans look alike. thought I told you to take us out of warp.\nRom: I'm trying, brother, but the warp core isn't responding. It looks like the command sequencer has been disabled. I don't understand. I tested everything. The only way this could've happened is if the command sequencer was designed to fail.\nNog: You mean sabotage?\nQuark: Cousin Gaila.\nNog: He never did like you very much, Uncle.\nQuark: Okay, okay. No need to panic. So the warp drive won't shut down. What's the worst thing that could happen?\nRom: The ship could continue accelerating until it tears itself apart and scatters our remains halfway across the quadrant.\nQuark: There must be something we can do?\nRom: Jettison the warp core. No, I tried that already. Emergency overrides are frozen.\nQuark: Then we'll have to try something else, won't we?\nRom: The kemacite! If we vent plasma from the warp core into the cargo hold, we may be able to start a cascade reaction in the kemacite. Then we can modulate the reaction to create an inversion wave in the warp field and force the ship back into normal space! If I time it just right, I should be able to get us close enough to Earth to make an emergency landing.\nQuark: Rom, you're a genius!\nRom: You think so?\nQuark: How should I know? I have no idea what you're talking about. Just do it.\nRom: Hold on.\nQuark: Rom? Nog?\nWainwright: Get me General Denning. Tell him one of the Martians is awake.\nWainwright: We've got the farmer who found their ship. He's locked up in the BOQ, but I don't know how much longer we can keep him there.\nDenning: You keep him there until I tell you to let him go. Did you take care of that idiot in Roswell who told the press we captured a flying saucer?\nWainwright: We've convinced him to issue a retraction. Turns out it was just a weather balloon.\nDenning: Weather balloon?\nWainwright: We had to come up with something quick. The last thing we need is a bunch of reporters snooping around.\nCarlson: You can't keep this from the public forever, General. Beings from another planet have landed on Earth. This is one of the most important events in human history.\nDenning: Maybe, but we can't risk causing a panic. I'm not telling the public anything until we find out exactly what we're up against.\nQuark: Pip im gren tovat. Yop bree gren skin law po far.\nRom: Yop im too, yoba. Yop sko ta yop ma.\nQuark: It's locked. What is this place? Where are we?\nRom: I wish you'd stop asking that. I told you I don't know.\nNog: The last thing I remember was father taking the shuttle in for an emergency landing.\nQuark: Well we must be on Earth. But where?\nNog: One thing's for sure, this isn't Starfleet Academy.\nRom: I wonder what happened to the ship?\nQuark: My ship. Where's my ship? Hey! Is anybody out there? What did you do with my ship? I want my ship back.\nQuark: Goss uff wok ton. Goss uff wok ton.\nWainwright: He's trying to break out.\nGarland: Don't let them hurt him. He's just scared.\nCarlson: General, these creatures come from a race far more advanced than our own. There's no telling what they can teach us. We have to try to communicate with them.\nDenning: Well, you're in luck. The President agrees with you and he wants us to try and talk to them. So that's just what you're going to do.\nCarlson: Me?\nDenning: Look, Professor, we didn't ask you here just because you're Nurse Garland's fiancée. I need someone to talk to these Martians. You're elected.\nQuark: I knew Earth was a bad idea. Ferengis and humans have no business being together. But you had to go to Starfleet Academy.\nRom: Don't blame my son. It was your idea to use Gaila's shuttle.\nQuark: And you were the one who said it was safe.\nNog: Leave him alone. If it wasn't for my father, we'd all be dead.\nRom: Maybe we are dead.\nQuark: What are you talking about?\nRom: Maybe this is the Divine Treasury.\nQuark: Oh, don't be ridiculous. The Divine Treasury is made of pure latinum. Besides, where's the Blessed Exchequer? Where are the Celestial Auctioneers? And why aren't we bidding for our new lives?\nRom: You don't think we're in the other place?\nNog: The Vault of Eternal Destitution?\nQuark: Don't be ridiculous. The bar was showing a profit.\nCarlson: Welcome to Earth. We mean you no harm.\nCarlson: We're sorry we had to separate you from your ship, but I'm sure you can understand that we have lots of questions for you.\nQuark: Did you understand a word of that?\nRom: Our universal translators must be malfunctioning.\nWainwright: What are they doing?\nGarland: Maybe it's some kind of greeting.\nCarlson: She may be onto something.\nQuark: What are they doing?\nRom: Maybe their universal translators are broken too.\nNog: No. They don't have universal translators. I recognize those uniforms from my guidebook. They're from the twentieth century.\nRom: The twentieth century? You mean we traveled back through time?\nNog: More than four hundred years. Those are military uniforms from one of the old nation states. Australia or something.\nRom: So if they don't have universal translators, then why are they banging their heads?\nQuark: They're just mimicking us. (Quark walks forward and tweaks his nose. Wainwright copies him.\nQuark: Brik yop tal hopdrew, ki los hoem bog?\nQuark: I'd always heard primitive humans lacked intelligence but I had no idea they were this stupid.\nNog: They weren't just stupid. They were violent, petty, bigoted and selfish.\nRom: And we're stuck here with them, maybe for the rest of our lives.\nQuark: The three of us and millions of primitive humans. I like those odds.\nGarland: Two fifty over one sixty seven. If you were human, I'd say you were due for a heart attack.\nQuark: Gran fat ari oo-mox? Ya ta fa.\nGarland: I've given them every medical test I can think of, but the only thing I can tell you for sure is they're not human.\nCarlson: Well, that's a start. I think these two are involved in some kind of grooming ritual. Look how the older one is taking care of the younger one.\nGarland: It's sweet. Maybe they're father and son? Wouldn't that be something? They've come from so far away, but they still have the same basic family structure that we do.\nCarlson: I wonder if the third one's related too.\nGarland: For all we know, it could be the mother.\nQuark: Gren fa hoe loth pex pil.\nCarlson: If she is the mother, she's quite a shrew.\nRom: I'm working as fast as I can, brother, but there must be some kind of interference disrupting our translators.\nQuark: What kind of interference?\nRom: I'm not sure. Could be solar flares, or maybe ionic interference. Or I suppose it could be beta radiation, but that's only produced by nuclear fission.\nQuark: Don't be an idiot. Nuclear fission doesn't happen within planetary atmospheres.\nNog: It does here. In the twentieth century humans used crude nuclear reactors as weapons. They called them atom bombs. They used to blow them up all the time.\nQuark: They irradiated their own planet?\nRom: If Nog says so, they did. He knows all about Earth history.\nQuark: You'd better fix those translators fast. The sooner we start talking to these savages, the better off we'll be.\nRom: Vo yop toe pah?\nCarlson: He seems to want something from you.\nGarland: You'd better tell him I'm your girl.\nRom: Yop triska gleep dosta grenla.\nCarlson: I think he wants your hairpin.\nGarland: If you say so, Professor. Here you go.\nRom: Neep gren. Now where's that reset button?\nGarland: Ouch. That looks like it hurts.\nCarlson: He doesn't seem to mind.\nCarlson: I wish I could get some help. I don't know why we can't bring in a few more experts.\nGarland: Let's face it, Jeff, when it comes to beings from another planet, we don't have any experts. You'll find a way to communicate with them, darling. I know you will.\nGarland: Imagine the possibilities. Who knows what they could teach us. A few years from now, mankind could have rocket ships of our own. We could travel the galaxy, exploring new worlds and new civilisations.\nCarlson: Always the dreamer.\nGarland: That's why you love me.\nCarlson: It's funny, isn't it? Here we are in the middle of one of the greatest diskoveries in human history, and all I can think about is what you're going to look like in your wedding dress.\nGarland: My mother keeps asking where we're going on our honeymoon. She thinks we should go to Niagara Falls.\nCarlson: Who knows? Maybe we'll go to Mars.\nQuark: What is that disgusting smell?\nNog: I think it's called tobacco. It's a deadly drug. When used frequently, it destroys the internal organs.\nQuark: If it's so deadly, then why do they use it?\nNog: It's also highly addictive.\nRom: How do they get their hands on it?\nNog: They buy it in stores.\nQuark: They buy it? If they'll buy poison, they'll buy anything. I think I'm going to like it here.\nNog: Uncle, I hope you're not thinking of doing anything that would disrupt the timeline.\nQuark: Perish the thought.\nNog: Changing the history of Earth could effect the entire galaxy. The Federation, Deep Space Nine, your bar could all cease to exist.\nQuark: Wouldn't that be a shame. Rom, hurry up with those translators.\nWainwright: The alien ship has a small control area in the front and rudimentary sleeping quarters in the back. So far, we can't even figure out what drives the engines, let alone how they work.\nCarlson: Hey, how you doing, big fella.\nDenning: You making any headway, Professor?\nCarlson: It's fascinating. I would've expected creatures of their technological sophistication to communicate telepathically, but they seem to have a structured verbal language just like we do. Given enough time, a good team of linguists could probably decipher it.\nWainwright: We're not bringing in anyone else. Too many people know about this as it is.\nDenning: Besides, we don't have the time. President Truman is an impatient man. He wants answers, and he wants 'em now.\nGarland: Jeff, General Denning. I think you'd better come inside right away.\nQuark: My name is Quark, Chief Financial Officer of the Ferengi Alliance. And I've got a business proposition for you.\nDenning: I don't see any universal translator.\nQuark: Trust me, it's in there.\nDenning: So this gadget of yours is what makes it possible for us to understand each other? How's it work?\nQuark: It's simple, if you know how. You'd be surprised at the kind of things you can do with the right technology. Which brings me to why I'm here.\nDenning: I was wondering about that.\nQuark: I've been sent by my people to open up a market for advanced Ferengi technology.\nDenning: What kind of technology you talking about?\nQuark: How would you like to travel beyond the stars at speeds you never even dreamt were possible? Or to transport yourselves from one place to another in the blink of an eye?\nDenning: You know how to do that?\nQuark: That's only the beginning. We can give you the medical knowledge to cure your deadliest diseases. We have machines that can produce food and clothing out of thin air.\nDenning: What about weapons?\nQuark: Weapons? If you want weapons, I'm the man to see. We can teach you to make phasers, disruptors, photon torpedoes or even quantum torpedoes. A little more expensive, but worth it.\nDenning: What do you want in return?\nQuark: That depends. What do you use for currency around here? Latinum? Dilithium?\nDenning: We use dollars.\nQuark: Dollars? Never heard of them. Don't you have any gemstones or precious minerals?\nDenning: You mean like gold?\nQuark: Gold? Gold is good.\nDenning: How much gold are we talking about?\nQuark: Seeing how we're going to be advancing your culture about four hundred years overnight, I'd say a couple of million bars would be about right as a good faith deposit.\nDenning: You know, Quark, you might be some kind of Martian\nQuark: Ferengi.\nDenning: Whatever. But the more we talk, the more you remind me of my brother-in-law.\nQuark: Is he a businessman?\nDenning: He's a car salesman, and not a very good one.\nQuark: Then he's nothing like me.\nDenning: The bottom line is, I don't trust him and I don't trust you. So before we sit down and sign any contracts, you are going to tell me just what the hell you people are really doing here.\nQuark: I just told you. We're here to open up trade negotiations. If you're not interested, just say so. I'm sure I can do business with one of your planet's other nation states.\nDenning: In other words, if we don't play ball, you're going to sell those advanced weapons of yours to the Russians.\nQuark: I'd rather it didn't come to that. To be honest, I'd much rather work with you Australians.\nDenning: Americans.\nQuark: Whatever. But if you won't do business with me, and the Russians will, who am I to say no?\nDenning: I'm not saying we can't do business, but I don't have the authority to make this kind of decision. I'll have to er, well, I'll have to get clearance from the President.\nQuark: I can wait. In the meantime, let me give you some free advice, just to show I'm on your side. You people should take better care of yourselves. Stop poisoning your bodies with tobacco and atom bombs. Sooner or later, that kind of stuff will kill you.\nDenning: What do you know about atom bombs?\nQuark: My people have been watching your world for years. We know all about you. Baseball, root beer, darts, atom bombs. It's quite a fascinating culture you humans have here. And with a little Ferengi technology, it could be even better. Now, why don't you go talk to that president of yours?\nCarlson: Let me get this straight, Rom. Are you saying that all the women on your world walk around naked?\nRom: It's the law.\nCarlson: You don't say?\nGarland: Well I guess I'm never going to visit your world. And neither are you.\nNog: Nurse Garland, I'm having trouble with my ear again. Could you massage it some more?\nGarland: Are you sure you don't want a doctor to look at that?\nNog: No. I feel more comfortable with you.\nNog: Ah! Much better.\nRom: You know, come to think of it, my ear's bothering me too.\nRom: Brother, how did your meeting with the general go?\nCarlson: It's late. We should let you get some rest.\nNog: I'm not tired.\nGarland: We'll visit some more tomorrow.\nQuark: There's something about that female that I don't like. She's so cheerful.\nRom: What about the general?\nNog: Is he going to let us leave?\nQuark: Don't worry. Everything's under control.\nQuark: Oh. They forgot to take that thing with them.\nRom: It seems to like you, brother.\nQuark: Get away from me.\nOdo: Hello, Quark.\nQuark: Odo? What are you doing here?\nOdo: Placing you under arrest for attempting to smuggle kemacite. Did you really expect me to believe that you were traveling all the way to Earth just to be nice to your nephew?\nRom: You hid on board the ship.\nOdo: That's right. And now I'm stuck here with you. Now listen carefully, because we don't have much time. Someone could come in any minute. Your ship is in a hangar on the other side of the base. It sustained some damage in the crash, but the engines are still functioning. If we're lucky, we should be able to use it to get away from here.\nNog: And go where? Even if we get out of here, we're still going be trapped four hundred years in the past.\nRom: Actually, I've been thinking. If there's enough kemacite left, there might be a way to get back to our own time.\nOdo: How?\nRom: If we find a sufficiently powerful energy source, we should be able to trigger a temporal surge in the subspace continuum and recreate the same kind of time warp that brought us here in the first place.\nOdo: What do you mean by a sufficiently powerful energy source?\nQuark: We're not going anywhere. We're staying right here.\nRom: But brother, what about the bar?\nQuark: Who cares about the bar? I'm telling you, Rom, we stay here and inside a year, we'll be running this place.\nRom: You mean the military base?\nQuark: I mean the whole planet. Harumph all you want. But these humans, they're nothing like the ones from the Federation. They're crude, gullible and greedy.\nOdo: You mean like you.\nQuark: Yeah. These are humans I can understand and manipulate.\nNog: But Uncle, what about the timeline?\nQuark: Forget this timeline. The one we're going to create will be better. Once we get things in order here, we'll contact the Ferengi homeworld and sell them our ship. The Ferengi will have warp drive technology centuries before humans or Klingons or even the Vulcans. We'll establish an economic empire beyond even Grand Nagus Zek's wildest dreams. And I'll control it all.\nOdo: You do have a vivid imagination. But the only place we're going is back to our own time. I'll have the ship ready to go in six hours. And you're all going to be on it.\nQuark: I'm not going back, and neither is my ship.\nOdo: We'll see about that.\nWainwright: What's the word, General?\nDenning: That little piano-playing Democrat's not as dumb as he looks. He's not about to make a deal with these aliens until we learn more about them.\nWainwright: And how does the President propose we do that?\nDenning: He said he'd leave that in our capable hands.\nWainwright: Don't worry, General. I'll find out what those Martians are up to.\nDenning: See that you do.\nQuark: This is the opportunity of a lifetime.\nRom: I don't know, brother. It seems awfully risky to me.\nQuark: The riskier the road, the greater the profit.\nRom: What about Rule of Acquisition two hundred and three? New customers are like razor-toothed gree worms. They can be succulent, but sometimes they bite back.\nQuark: No. If there's any biting to be done, we're the one's who are going to do it.\nQuark: Get this off me! Get this off me! I can't breathe!\nQuark: This is an outrage. I demand to see General Denning. If I don't get satisfaction, I'm taking my business to the Russians.\nWainwright: The Russians. That's a good place to start. Why don't you tell me everything you know about the Russians?\nQuark: Would you please stop doing that?\nGarland: That's the fifth injection of sodium pentathol I've given him. It's not working.\nCarlson: Their biochemistry is obviously nothing like ours.\nQuark: Then stop sticking me with those needles!\nGarland: Captain, this is wrong. These people are our guests.\nWainwright: They're not people, they're things. Invaders from another world. And it's up to us to put an end to whatever they're planning. Now, if you don't tell me what I want to know, needles are going to be the least of your worries. You know, Doc, I've always wanted to see what a Martian looked like from the inside.\nNog: Don't you people have laws against this kind of thing?\nWainwright: Not when it comes to National Security. Now, which one should we start with. The loud one? The little one? Or the quiet one? Now, why don't you tell us why you're really here?\nRom: It was an accident. We're from the future. The warp core was sabotaged. It's all Cousin Gaila's fault. I want to go home! I want my Moogie.\nWainwright: Moogie?\nNog: You want the truth, I'll tell you the truth. We're advance scouts for the Ferengi invasion fleet.\nWainwright: I knew it.\nQuark: Nog, what are you talking about?\nNog: We've been studying you puny Earthlings for centuries and you're ripe for conquest.\nQuark: It's not true.\nRom: Moogie!\nNog: It's no use, Supreme Commander. They've seen through our cover. But knowing our plans won't do them any good. Even now three hundred Marauder-class attack cruisers are orbiting your planet preparing for the attack.\nRom: Moogie!\nQuark: I'm telling you, this is crazy. Nog, tell him the truth. We're helpless. We're harmless. We just want to sell you things.\nCarlson: Captain, I'm not sure I believe this invasion story.\nWainwright: You scientists, you're like children. Always walking around with your heads in the clouds. Keep talking.\nNog: When the appointed hour arrives, the Marauders will deactivate their cloaking devices and begin transporting Klingon shock troops directly to the landing zone.\nWainwright: Landing zone? Where? Tell me.\nNog: Why not? Your feeble weapons will be useless against us. We will kill all your males, and take your females to mate with.\nWainwright: Where's the landing zone?\nNog: Untie me and I will show you on that map.\nWainwright: You heard him. Go get General Denning. Tell him he was right about the Martians all along. Now show me.\nNog: The first landing parties will arrive here.\nWainwright: Where?\nNog: Here. Right by that blue blob.\nWainwright: You mean your people are going to invade Cleveland?\nNog: No, not Cleveland. Right here.\nMp: Hold it!\nGarland: Don't hurt him.\nNog: It was an accident. I tripped. I didn't mean to do it. I'm really, really, sorry.\nWainwright: Shoot him.\nNog: Thank you.\nQuark: We're all grateful, but couldn't you have done that an hour ago?\nCarlson: We've got to get you out of here.\nRom: Won't you get in trouble for this?\nQuark: Why should they? We forced them to help us by using our er\nGarland: Your insidious mind control powers.\nQuark: That's not bad.\nNog: For a primitive female, she's pretty smart.\nCarlson: Come on. Your ship's in hangar eighteen.\nGarland: Come on.\nGarland: Captain Wainwright needs to see you in examination room three.\nDenning: Hold it right there.\nQuark: Stay back, or I'll disintegrate this hostage.\nDenning: With your finger?\nQuark: With my death ray.\nDenning: Looks a lot like a finger to me. (The spare wheel on the jeep morphs into Odo, who knocks out the two MPs and then Denning.)\nCarlson: Who's he?\nQuark: My hero.\nOdo: Can we please leave now?\nNog: You're sure they're going to be detonating an atomic bomb today?\nGarland: That's what it said in the paper. Five a.m. at the proving grounds in Nevada. But I don't see how an atomic bomb is going to help you get home.\nRom: It's simple. We need to harness the beta radiation to trigger a cascade\nQuark: Save your breath. It's much too complicated for them to grasp.\nCarlson: Five a.m. That's seven minutes from now.\nRom: Don't worry. We'll get there.\nQuark: Thanks for your help. You may be humans, but you're okay by me.\nGarland: You don't have to thank us. I only hope that one day mankind will travel to the stars, and take its place in a vast alliance of planets.\nRom: Federation of Planets.\nGarland: Excuse me?\nQuark: Don't pay any attention to him. He's an idiot. Trust me, the galaxy is a pretty rough place. You people are much better off staying right here on Earth.\nOdo: Let's go, Quark.\nCarlson: A vast alliance of planets. You get the craziest ideas.\nWainwright: What do we do now, General?\nDenning: About what, Captain? All we ever found was a crashed weather balloon.\nOdo: Tell me again. What's going to happen when we get there?\nRom: We fly straight into the atomic explosion, expose the kemacite to the beta radiation and engage the warp engines. If we have enough kemacite, we should be able to create a reverse time warp and ride it home.\nNog: My dad. Always thinking.\nOdo: If this doesn't work, I'm holding you personally responsible.\nQuark: I don't remember inviting you on this trip.\nRom: We're at the target site. Hold on!\nQuark: I don't like this.\nOdo: Rom, tell your brother it's going to be all right.\nRom: It's going to be all right, brother. I hope.\nNog: Did we make it?\nRom: This doesn't look like the Divine Treasury.\nQuark: What year is this?\nRom: Good question.\nOdo: What's that flashing indicator?\nRom: We're being hailed!\nQuark: Answer them, answer them!\nHuman: This is Earth Orbital Control to the unidentified Ferengi vessel. Do you need assistance?\nNog: Yes. Definitely.\nHuman: We'll send a ship to tractor you to a docking facility.\nRom: We'll be waiting. Well, son, it looks like you're going to get to Starfleet Academy after all.\nQuark: Just remember. Under that placid Federation veneer, humans are still a bunch of violent savages.\nNog: Maybe. But I like 'em.\nRom: Oh, it's good to be home. I bet you can't wait to see the bar again.\nQuark: The bar? I could've ruled the galaxy, but now I have nothing. I don't even have my ship anymore.\nRom: Look on the bright side, brother. You may've had to sell your shuttle for salvage, but at least you got enough for our passage home.\nQuark: Wait 'til I get my hands on Cousin Gaila.\nOdo: You're going to have to wait longer than you think. Let's go.\nQuark: What are you doing?\nOdo: Taking you to a holding cell. Kemacite smuggling is a serious offense.\nQuark: But you have no evidence. We used all the rest of the kemacite to get back to the twenty fourth century.\nOdo: Tell it to the Arbiter.\nQuark: I'm innocent, I tell you. This is all a misunderstanding. Rom, get me a lawyer\nRom: I'll contact Cousin Gaila. I'm sure he'll know a good one.\nQuark: Rom, you idiot!\nRom: See you in a few weeks, brother."}
{"text": "Kor: Walls of fire on one side, rivers of lava on the other. We snaked our way through the hot, smoldering canyon, our skin so parched and blistered it was thick as armor. Kang and Koloth and I had set out with forty legions and now only we three remained to take on T'nag's army.\nQuark: You know what I like about Klingon stories, Commander? Nothing. Lots of people die and nobody makes any profit.\nKor: Chanting a battle cry Koloth attacked their flank his eyes bulging with hate and revenge. It was a magnificent sight. A disruptor in one hand and his bat'leth in the other, I saw him kill two dozen men. I'll never forget\nBashir: Do you believe a word of this?\nOdo: Walking along rivers of lava, past walls of fire? Not likely.\nKira: And three against an army? Even more unlikely.\nO'Brien: Yeah, but who cares? He tells it well.\nKor: Kang took the high ground and, keeping the three suns to his back, he forced the enemy to fight him against the blinding light.\nDax: When Kang told this story, you took the high ground.\nKor: Who gets the credit is of no important. What matters is this, in the end the mountainside was covered with dead so that not a square meter of ground could be seen. We found T'nag's body by the river, its waters red with blood. Which of us had slain him, no one could say for certain. So we cut out his heart and all three of us feasted on it together.\nDax: Big heart.\nKor: You need more bloodwine.\nDax: Thanks but I've had enough for a year. What I need is tea.\nDax: Mister Worf. I didn't see you come in.\nWorf: I was just about to leave.\nDax: Join us. I'll introduce you to Kor.\nWorf: No. It might make the Dahar Master uncomfortable. I am considered an outcast by most Klingons.\nDax: Kor isn't like most Klingons. Kor! I have someone I'd like you to meet.\nKor: Oh?\nDax: I'd like you to meet our strategic operations officer, Commander Worf.\nKor: Ah, Worf the traitor, the pariah, the lowest of the low. It's a pleasure to meet you. Any enemy of Gowron and the High Council is a friend of mine.\nWorf: This is a great honor.\nKor: No doubt.\nDax: Worf is a great admirer of yours.\nWorf: Yes. Please. I have heard stories about you since I was a child. Your confrontation with Kirk on Organia, your attack on Romulus, your defense of the Korama Pass\nKor: Everything I have done pales in comparison to what I am about to achieve. I am on a quest. A quest for the most revered icon in Klingon history.\nDax: Kor.\nKor: An icon that predates the Klingon Empire, an icon more sacred than the Torch of G'boj\nDax: Kor.\nKor: More revered than Sabak's armor, and more coveted than the Emperor's crown!\nWorf: The Sword of Kahless.\nDax: You told me not to tell anybody.\nKor: He guessed. I know where the Sword rests. Think of the glory, the honor of finding the bat'leth of the first Warrior King\nWorf: Lost for a millennium. It's return would change Klingon history. If you know where it is, we must bring it back to the Emperor.\nKor: We?\nWorf: It would be an honor to accompany you, if you will have me.\nDax: We could use another strong arm.\nKor: And a stout heart. Besides, it will annoy Gowron.\nWorf: To return the Sword to our people. I would give my life for that chance.\nKor: Children will sing our names for a thousand years. They'll erect statues of us in the Hall of Heroes.\nDax: Before you decide on a pose for that statue, we need to find the Sword. What makes you so sure you know where it is?\nKor: This.\nKor: You see?\nDax: See what?\nKor: The imprint on the cloth.\nWorf: Yes! Yes! This held the Sword of Kahless.\nDax: Don't be so sure. You could carpet this station with all the authentic Shrouds of the Sword that people have tried to peddle.\nKor: No one tried to peddle this. It was given to me.\nDax: By whom?\nKor: I'll tell you everything later. Now I need you to confirm its authenticity.\nDax: I'll look this over in the lab first thing in the morning.\nWorf: Why not right now?\nDax: Right now my head is swimming in bloodwine and I'm going to bed. And so should you.\nKor: Absolutely. As soon as I finish what's left in my cup. Maj ram, blood brother.\nDax: Maj ram.\nKor: Imagine the look on Gowron's face when we present the sword to the Emperor.\nLethean: Kor\nLethean: Open your mind.\nKor: What?\nDax: Couldn't find the bed?\nKor: Damn that Ferengi and his replicated bloodwine.\nDax: Worf looked a little bleary-eyed in Ops this morning. How late did you keep him up?\nKor: Until that toad-faced Ferengi threw us out of his bar.\nDax: And then where did you go?\nKor: Worf's quarters, I think. That's right. He had a bottle of Yridian brandy he was saving for a special occasion.\nDax: Like meeting you.\nKor: He was honored to join our quest. That is, if there's going to be a quest. What did you find?\nDax: I found both Klingon and Hur'q DNA on the cloth. And traces of metallic compounds that could only have been left by a Klingon bat'leth. A bat'leth fourteen hundred years old.\nKor: The time of Kahless! I never doubted it. When do we leave?\nDax: After I talk to Captain Sisko, and after you answer a few questions. Now, where did you get this?\nSisko: The Gamma Quadrant.\nDax: A Vulcan geological survey team was mining bakrinium on an uncharted planet when they accidentally unearthed some ancient ruins. They brought back several artifacts to study, including the cloth.\nWorf: Kor was the Klingon ambassador to Vulcan.\nDax: When he saw the cloth, Kor recognized the markings and got them to give it to him as a gift. They didn't realize it, but the markings were Hur'q.\nSisko: Hur'q? That's the Klingon word for outsiders, isn't it?\nWorf: Yes. The Hur'q invaded our homeworld over one thousand years ago. Whatever they could not pillage, they destroyed. They took the Sword and my people have been searching for it ever since. It is said its return will bring back a new era of glory for the Klingon Empire. With the Sword, the Emperor will be able to unite my people again.\nSisko: And if two Starfleet officers were involved in recovering the Sword, that might go a long way toward patching things up between the Klingons and us.\nWorf: That is my hope as well, Captain.\nSisko: What about you, old man? You want to go along for the adventure?\nDax: Hard to pass up a good quest.\nSisko: I suppose you'll want a runabout?\nWorf: The Rio Grande is available.\nSisko: Try to bring it back in one piece.\nDax: We'll do our best. Benjamin, thanks.\nDax: Mister Worf, lay in a course for the wormhole.\nWorf: Course laid in.\nDax: Ahead half\nKor: Wait. Let this moment be remembered. For on this day, we three, Kor, Dahar Master of the Klingons, Jadzia Dax, a joined Trill of seven lives, and Worf, son of Mogh and thorn in Gowron's side, together stepped forth into the eye of destiny.\nDax: Now?\nKor: Now.\nDax: Ahead half thrusters.\nKor: Glorious.\nDax: Hey.\nWorf: Forgive me, Commander.\nDax: It's a little crowded in here.\nWorf: I would have used the aft quarters for my exercise, but the Dahar Master is resting.\nDax: I know. I heard him snoring through the bulkhead.\nWorf: Commander, I wish to thank you for introducing me to Kor. It is an honor to be here.\nDax: And I'm glad he invited you, even if it does make things a little crowded.\nKor: Ahh. I slept like an Alvanian cave sloth. But I had the most magnificent dream. I dreamt that the three of us were in the Hall of Heroes presenting the bat'leth to the Emperor. We stood near the statues of Kang and Koloth and as the crowd sang our names, the most astonishing thing happened. Their statues came to life. Kang and Koloth were flesh and blood again, and we held the Sword high. Kang, Koloth and Kor. Together again.\nWorf: We have assumed a standard orbit.\nDax: I'm reading a series of interconnected structures and tunnels several kilometers beneath the surface.\nKor: And that is all that remains of the Hur'q, the great plunderers of the galaxy. And now it is time for us to reclaim what is ours.\nDax: Assuming we can find where to look. It's a big planet.\nKor: The Vulcan survey team was meticulous. They mapped the entire area during their mining operation. Now the Sword should be in the chamber that once was the Central Museum, along with all the other great treasures looted by the Hur'q. It's the structure furthest north.\nWorf: There is a forcefield around that chamber.\nKor: The Vulcans told me they couldn't get through it. We'll be the first inside.\nDax: Why didn't you mention this forcefield before?\nKor: Oh, it's not important. I know you'll get past it.\nDax: We should be just outside the forcefield.\nWorf: The main chamber must be back there.\nDax: Let's get to work. First we need to modulate the field destabilizers to create an interference pattern.\nDax: It's not working.\nWorf: Try reversing the polarity.\nDax: That helped. Now if we can just increase the amplitude of the interference field.\nKor: Well done, my friends.\nWorf: The air.\nKor: Foul, isn't it? This place has been undisturbed for hundreds of years. Come.\nDax: It's been ransacked.\nWorf: The Vulcans may not have gotten in here, but someone did.\nDax: Whoever did this has taken everything. I'm sorry, Kor.\nKor: Don't be sorry for me, be sorry for the Empire.\nWorf: If we could find out who did this, we might be able to track them down.\nKor: For all we know, the Sword is halfway across the galaxy by now.\nDax: Sounds like a worthy quest.\nKor: For you and Worf, perhaps, but not for me. My last chance for glory dies here.\nWorf: Commander. Take a look at this.\nWorf: The dust. It does not reach the wall. DAX.: Something must be repelling it. I'm getting a faint electrostatic charge along this section.\nKor: Another forcefield?\nWorf: Masked by a holographic projection.\nKor: Are you saying there may be another chamber behind it?\nDax: If there is, I don't know how we can get to it. This shield has completely different harmonics than the one at the entrance.\nWorf: This, this is a sensor focused on the area directly in front of the forcefield.\nDax: It must be keyed to read lifesigns.\nKor: Why?\nWorf: So only Hur'q can enter.\nDax: If you're right we're going to need a Hur'q tour guide to get us through.\nWorf: We may be able to fool the sensor into thinking that we are Hur'q.\nDax: We can reconfigure the tricorder to emit Hur'q lifesigns.\nWorf: Exactly.\nDax: I still have the DNA readings we got from the cloth.\nDax: I feel like a Hur'q already.\nWorf: I cannot believe it.\nKor: For a thousand years, our people have dreamed of this moment.\nDax: The age, the composition, the design, everything's right.\nKor: How can you doubt it? Look at it.\nWorf: It is more beautiful than I imagined. You should be the first to hold it.\nDax: How does it feel?\nKor: Good. Very, very good. To think Kahless himself once held this Bat'leth.\nWorf: With it he slew Molor, conquered the Fek'Ihri and forged the first Empire. And now I hold it in my hands.\nDax: We should go. The field destabilizers won't hold for long.\nKlingon: Stop where you are.\nToral: Well, Kor, it seems you were right. You did find the Sword.\nKor: Who are you?\nToral: Ask your friend.\nWorf: This is Toral, from the House of Duras.\nToral: It is good to see you too, Worf. Seems you were too drunk to remember me or the tavern on Torna Four? You held us all spellbound with a tale of a Hur'q cloth and how it was going to lead you to the Sword. I was so intrigued that I sent my friend here to see what else you knew.\nDax: What do you want?\nToral: What we all want. The Sword.\nWorf: The Sword is for the Emperor.\nToral: Who will be so grateful he'll give Kor his statue and perhaps even forgive your dishonor? I'm afraid I have different plans for the Sword.\nWorf: You think that if you give the Emperor the Sword, he will restore your family's seat on the High Council.\nToral: I'm not giving the Emperor anything. With the Sword in my hand, I'll be leading the Empire! I can see from your face, Worf, that you regret having spared my life. Now give it to me.\nKor: No.\nToral: Then I'm afraid we'll have to take it.\nWorf: If he wants it, give it to him.\nDax: Let's go!\nDax: We need to stop the bleeding. We'd better get you up to the ship. Dax to Rio Grande.\nWorf: That is a Klingon jamming signal.\nDax: Can we override it?\nWorf: Maybe from the surface.\nDax: Kor, go make sure no one's following us.\nKor: Did you see the face of that Klingon that I killed? It was as if he understood the honor bestowed upon him. The first man in a thousand years to be killed by the Sword of Kahless.\nDax: I'm sure he was very proud.\nWorf: We should keep moving. Toral will find a way past the forcefield.\nKor: Why did Toral say you had spared his life?\nWorf: When it was diskovered that the House of Duras had conspired to destroy my father's honor, Gowron offered me Toral's life.\nKor: Under the Right of Vengeance.\nWorf: I declined.\nKor: Why?\nWorf: He was a boy. He had done nothing.\nKor: That's beside the point. It was a matter of honor.\nDax: It was Worf's right to decline.\nKor: It was a mistake! Perhaps what they say about you is true. You've been around humans too long.\nDax: Kor!\nKor: If he hadn't spared Toral's life, we'd be on the way to Kronos.\nWorf: And if you had not been drunk and told a tavernfull of people what you were planning, Toral would not have followed us here in the first place.\nKor: I told them nothing of consequence. How could I know Toral was going to send a Lethean to steal my thoughts.\nWorf: You should have been more diskreet.\nKor: And you should have been more of a Klingon!\nDax: Kor, what was that all about? Worf admires you. You have no idea how much it meant for him to be invited on this journey.\nKor: Tell me, Dax, how well do you know him?\nDax: Well enough. Why?\nKor: I'm beginning to think I was too lenient in my judgment of him. Any Klingon who denies himself the Right of Vengeance is no Klingon at all. He dishonors the Sword with his presence. I don't trust him. I should have let him stay on that space station where he belongs.\nDax: Worf.\nKor: HoH!\nDax: What is it?\nKor: Lunch!\nKor: Delicious, isn't it?\nWorf: A hunt builds the appetite.\nDax: It's disgusting.\nKor: Ah, but it'll make a good part of the story. How we slew the beast. Remember? It attacked us from the dark, five meters long.\nDax: Oh, ten, at least.\nKor: Eyes ablaze, fangs like daggers.\nDax: Breathing great plumes of fire.\nKor: It seems the son of Mogh is not amused.\nWorf: A true warrior has no need to exaggerate his feats.\nKor: You'd better hope that I exaggerate or when they start singing songs about this quest, they'll come to your verse and it will be, and Worf came along.\nWorf: This is the Sword of Kahless. It is not something to shovel food into your mouth! It must be treated with honor.\nKor: Look at him. He's like the Hur'q. He thinks it's a museum piece. Why, Kahless himself used it to skin the serpent of Xol, to harvest his father's field, to carve a statue of his own beloved. It's a sword! But Worf doesn't know what to do with it, except bow before front of it and then hand it over to his precious Emperor.\nWorf: And when we do, you will get your precious statue. And after they have sung songs about you and you have passed out from too much drink, the Emperor will use the Sword to unite our people.\nKor: If Gowron allows him. The Emperor is merely his puppet.\nWorf: The Emperor is no one's puppet. He condemned Gowron's invasion of Cardassia.\nKor: And the invasion went ahead despite his objection.\nWorf: That is why the Emperor needs the Sword. It will allow him to unify the Houses against Gowron.\nKor: The Emperor is a pretender, a clone of the original Kahless cooked up in a vat by ambitious clerics. And if you hadn't supported him, he'd be right back in that vat where he came from.\nWorf: I supported him because we need him. He can unite us.\nKor: The Sword will unite us, if it's held by a true Klingon. Not a politician like Gowron or some toothless figurehead like the Emperor. The Sword must rest in the hands of someone who has been hardened by battle, pure of heart, who understands loyalty and honor. A warrior like Kang and Koloth!\nWorf: Someone like you?\nKor: The Empire could do far worse.\nDax: We should get moving.\nWorf: Are you saying it is your intention to lead the Empire?\nKor: I'm saying it's my intention to lead us to the surface.\nDax: We have to change your bandage.\nWorf: No. We must keep moving.\nDax: You're hemorrhaging. We have to stop the bleeding.\nKor: That cave-rat was all bones. I need another one.\nDax: Find a nice fat one. We all could use something to eat.\nWorf: He never answered my question about his plans for the Sword.\nDax: I noticed.\nWorf: He is a hero to many. If he brings it back with him to Kronos and decides to seize power, many will follow him.\nDax: But you wouldn't?\nWorf: He is not all I thought he was.\nDax: Maybe not. Sorry. But I've known him a long time, and his heart's in the right place.\nWorf: He drinks too much. He exaggerates his feats. He blames others for his own mistakes. But he could be right about one thing. The Emperor may be too weak to stand against Gowron, even with the Sword.\nDax: I thought you believed in the Emperor.\nWorf: I do not know what I believe anymore. All I know is when Kor asked me to help find the Sword, I knew we would succeed. I knew we would find it!\nDax: I can't say I felt the same way.\nWorf: I had no doubt. I felt as if my life was finally coming into focus.\nDax: What do you mean?\nWorf: For as long as I can remember, I have always been an outsider. I was raised by humans, but I was too Klingon to be one of them. I did not belong. I begged my foster parents to allow me to visit the Klingon homeworld. They arranged for me to stay with my cousin's family. When I first set eyes on the Great Domes of Kronos, I felt that I had finally come home. But my own cousins wanted nothing to do with me.\nDax: You were too human to be one of them.\nWorf: I ran away into the mountains. I was without food or water for three days. But there, in the caves of No'Mat, Kahless appeared to me in a vision and told me I would do something no other Klingon had ever done. After I returned to Earth, I pondered the meaning of his words and wondered what lay ahead for me. When I was old enough, I joined Starfleet.\nDax: Something no Klingon had ever done.\nWorf: And for a time, I thought that I had fulfillled my destiny, but I now see that Kahless had something else in mind for me. Something, something greater. That is why I had to endure so much pain, why I was forced to choose between the Federation and my own people. I was being tested, prepared for some greater purpose.\nDax: Like finding the Sword\nWorf: More than that. When I held the Sword in my hands, I felt the spirit of Kahless himself had guided me to it. Don't you see? He wants me to have it. He wants me to lead his people!\nDax: You sound like Kor.\nWorf: Kor is an old man. His greatest days are behind him. Mine are still ahead.\nDax: Then we have a bit of a problem. There's only one Sword and you both want it.\nKor: How much further?\nDax: The way these caves wind around, this could take forever.\nDax: Or longer.\nKor: We can't get across. We'll go back and find another way up.\nWorf: Wait. There\nWorf: Kor, there is a ledge right below you.\nKor: I don't see it.\nWorf: It is less than one meter down. Let go and you'll land on it.\nKor: Dax, can you see it?\nDax: I can't see anything.\nWorf: I can't hold you! You'll have to let go.\nKor: There is no ledge.\nWorf: It is there.\nKor: Then you let go.\nWorf: No! We cannot risk losing the Sword. Let go!\nKor: I'll take the Sword to my grave before I give it to you.\nDax: Just hold on. We'll pull you up.\nKor: You call that a ledge?\nWorf: It would've been sufficient.\nKor: For a Degebian mountain goat, not a Klingon warrior. You were going to let me fall. You wanted me to die so you could keep the Sword for yourself.\nWorf: And you were willing to take the Sword to your death and rob our people of their future.\nKor: Give it to me!\nDax: That's enough, both of you.\nWorf: I will not give him the Sword.\nDax: Then give it to me. I'll carry it. Kor, put away your dagger.\nKor: Are you siding with him?\nDax: Put away your dagger so he can give me the bat'leth.\nKor: You see. I was right. He's not to be trusted.\nWorf: His mind has been poisoned by bloodwine and age.\nDax: He was right about one thing. You wanted him to fall. That ledge would have never supported him and you knew it.\nWorf: I did not force him off that cliff. He is old and clumsy. If he'd have fallen, it would have been his own fault.\nDax: I'm exhausted.\nWorf: Commander. We can rest in here for a few hours.\nDax: I'm so tired I think I might be able to sleep.\nWorf: I will take the first watch.\nKor: How generous of you. And we'll just curl up like trusting children under your vigilant gaze.\nWorf: Sleep or do not sleep. It makes no difference to me.\nKor: You're wounded. I should take the first watch. You get some rest. You close your eyes.\nWorf: I'm not tired.\nKor: I understand. It's hard to sleep in the presence of something so magnificent. Someone might try to steal it.\nWorf: You reveal your own intentions.\nDax: Enough! I have the Sword and it's not going anywhere.\nKor: What was that?\nWorf: I heard nothing.\nKor: A voice. I hear it again. It's the Spirit of Kahless. He is talking to you, Worf. He's telling you to bide your time. Let them sleep and then slit their throats and claim your destiny.\nWorf: I have had enough of your drunken ramblings, old man.\nDax: And I have had enough of both of you. I don't care if you sleep or not, but I'm going to. So be quiet.\nKor: Go ahead and sleep, Dax. I'll keep an eye on him.\nWorf: I have had enough!\nDax: What?\nWorf: His eyes. He has been staring at me for three hours.\nKor: And what have you seen reflected in my eyes? Your own guilt, gnawing at you.\nDax: All right, if you're not going to sleep, then let's walk.\nKor: I'm not going anywhere with this traitorous p'tak.\nWorf: This ends here.\nKor: Agreed.\nDax: I'm not going to stand here and watch\nWorf: You stay out of this!\nKor: This is between us. We'll settle it in our own way.\nDax: Let's get out of here.\nKor: MaH HIv DaH!\nDax: He's going to get himself killed.\nWorf: No, no. He has the Sword. HIv DaH!\nKor: It's mine!\nDax: Kor! Commander! Worf! Stop!\nKor: Dax, I knew in the end you'd choose me. We're blood brothers\nDax: Be quiet.\nDax: Now, about that jamming device you're using to block our communications.\nKor: Are you sure of this, Worf?\nWorf: Yes. Yes, it is the only way.\nKor: Do we have the right? This Sword belongs to all Klingons.\nWorf: But are we ready for it? The Sword turned you and me against each other. Imagine how it would divide the Empire.\nKor: Just let me hold it one last time.\nWorf: The Sword is not meant for us. It was never our destiny to find it.\nKor: You're wrong. It was our destiny to find it. It just wasn't our destiny to keep it.\nWorf: It is done.\nDax: Good. It's for the best.\nKor: I hope you're right. It could be lost for another thousand years.\nWorf: When it is destined to be found, it will be."}
{"text": "Dax: There it goes again. That's the seventh time in the last two hours.\nSisko: Still no idea what's causing it?\nDax: It seems to be opening and closing completely at random. No unusual readings, no ships coming through. For all we know, the Bajorans are right. Maybe it is a message from the Prophets.\nPriest: Emissary.\nSisko: If it is, they didn't tell me.\nDax: Maybe the Prophets don't recognize you with the new beard.\nSisko: There must to be a scientific explanation for this.\nDax: Here we go.\nSisko: Something funny, old man?\nDax: Hmm? No, nothing.\nWorf: Ops to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko here.\nWorf: Captain, we are receiving a priority one message from Starfleet Security.\nSisko: On my way.\nQuark: So then, the Andorian says 'That's not my antenna.'\nQuark: Why do I bother?\nOdo: Quark!\nQuark: What can I do for you, Constable?\nOdo: Dax. Where is she?\nQuark: She's not here. Is there anything else I can do for you?\nOdo: You find all this very funny, don't you? You and Dax probably planned it together.\nQuark: Planned what?\nOdo: Moving my furniture.\nQuark: Is that what this is all about? Someone moved your furniture?\nOdo: Not someone. Commander Dax. It's the fourth time she's done it this past year. She breaks into my quarters while I'm regenerating, and moves all my furniture out of alignment. Shifts one piece three centimeters to the left, the next four centimeters to the right. Not one object in my quarters is where it's supposed to be.\nQuark: And is that a bad thing?\nOdo: Everything I own is carefully and painstakingly arranged. Dax knows this, and yet she takes a perverse delight in throwing my quarters into chaos.\nQuark: I'd hardly call three centimeters chaos.\nOdo: Maybe you wouldn't, but I do. You humanoids are all alike. You have no sense of order. And Dax is the most humanoid person I know.\nSisko: Sisko to Constable Odo.\nOdo: Odo here.\nSisko: Please report to Ops immediately.\nOdo: Acknowledged.\nQuark: When you see Dax, say hello to her for me.\nKira: How many people were at the conference?\nSisko: Twenty seven, including the Tholian observer.\nO'Brien: Twenty-seven. It's unbelievable.\nSisko: Federation President Jaresh-Inyo has declared a planet-wide day of mourning.\nSisko: Constable, take a seat.\nOdo: Of course.\nWorf: Ten minutes ago we received a recording of a high level diplomatic conference that took place between the Federation and the Romulan Empire on Earth a few days ago. Computer, begin replay at time index five nine eleven.\nOdo: A bomb.\nWorf: Of unknown composition.\nSisko: A crime like this hasn't been committed on Earth in over a hundred years.\nKira: Go back, and show him what you showed us.\nWorf: Computer, restart recording at time index five nine one six, one tenth normal speed. Freeze picture. Enlarge section F three and enhance.\nWorf: Keep your eye on the piece of pottery. Computer, resume at one tenth speed.\nOdo: That's a changeling.\nWorf: No sign of a changeling was found in the aftermath. We must assume that it escaped unharmed.\nSisko: I was hoping that this would never happen. But it finally has. The changelings have reached Earth.\nDax: How's that?\nOdo: Another centimeter to the left.\nDax: Shouldn't you be on the Lakota?\nOdo: The Lakota won't depart for another hour. Which gives us plenty of time to repair the damage you've done to my room. And while I'm gone, I want your solemn word that you'll stay out of my quarters.\nDax: You've got it. So how long do you think you and Captain Sisko will be on Earth?\nOdo: I've no idea. I just hope this trip isn't a waste of time. I'm not sure what Captain Sisko and I can tell Starfleet about my people that hasn't already been in our reports.\nDax: Believe me, Odo, with changelings on Earth, Starfleet's going to need all the help it can get. There. How's that?\nOdo: A little more to the left.\nDax: Whatever you say, Constable.\nJoseph: Wait until you see the size of the eggplant I'm getting out of my garden this year. As big as Crenshaw melons and twice as heavy. (Everyone say Hi! to Brock Peters, previously seen as Admiral Cartwright.)\nSisko: So, how is Judith? She still helping out in the restaurant?\nJoseph: I sent her home to Portland. Your sister's got her own life to worry about. Besides, she never puts enough cayenne pepper in the jambalaya.\nSisko: Just like mom.\nJoseph: Which means she has no business in the kitchen. It'll be good to have you home again, Benjamin. Jake too.\nSisko: Dad, you know that this isn't exactly a vacation. I'll be spending most of my time in San Francisco at Starfleet Headquarters.\nJoseph: Whatever you do during the day is your business. But at dinner time, you better get yourself down to New Orleans. No son of mine is going to eat that replicated slop Starfleet calls food. Not if I have anything to say about it.\nSisko: You won't get any argument from me. So, Dad, you feeling okay?\nJoseph: Oh, let's not start that again.\nSisko: It's just a question. You look a little tired. How's the new aorta holding up?\nJoseph: The doctors say I am a medical marvel. At the rate things are going in another year or two I won't have an original organ left in my body. They'll write me up in the medical books.\nSisko: But you're feeling okay?\nJoseph: Just point me in the direction of a party and a pretty girl and I'll show you how good I feel. Make sure you call me as soon as you and Jake get here. Your rooms are always waiting and ready for you.\nSisko: I know that, Dad. We'll be there before you know it.\nSisko: Jake-o.\nJake: Dad.\nSisko: You just missed Grandpa Joe.\nJake: Did you tell him we're staying in San Francisco?\nSisko: I didn't quite get around to it.\nJake: Dad! You know if we stay with Grandpa he's going to put me to work in the kitchen.\nSisko: Is that so bad?\nJake: Chopping vegetables for nine hours a day isn't exactly my idea of a vacation.\nSisko: Jake, you're not a child anymore. Grandpa will not expect you to chop vegetables. He'll want you to wait tables.\nO'Brien: Barkeep.\nQuark: So, what can I get you two flyboys.\nBashir: A Scotch, neat, and a pint of your finest bitter for my mate.\nO'Brien: And make it quick. The cabbage crates'll be coming back over the briny any minute now.\nQuark: All right, all right. I'd hate to let the Jerries strafe that green and pleasant land of yours while the two of you were taking time out to get a drink.\nBashir: No choice, man. Ritual, you know.\n0'Brien: To Clive. The best bloke ever to prang his kite into the Channel.\nBashir: Got to keep a stiff upper lip.\nO'Brien: Hear, hear.\nBashir: Down the hatch. (They drain their glasses in one - that was not a full pint anyway - and make to smash them.)\nQuark: Ah! Ah! Ah! Now remember what I said about throwing glasses.\nO'Brien: So, you want to go back up have another crack at the Jerries?\nBashir: I don't know. To tell you the truth, my heart isn't in it.\nQuark: Aren't you taking Clive's death a little seriously? After all, he was just a holosuite character.\nO'Brien: It's not Clive. It's Earth. You probably wouldn't understand this, Quark, but when you care about a place and it's in trouble, and you want to do something about it and you can't, it's very frustrating.\nQuark: I know exactly what you mean. When the Great Monetary Collapse hit Ferenginar, I was hundreds of light years away, serving as a ship's cook on a long haul freighter. I can't tell you the heartbreak I suffered, knowing that rampant inflation and currency devaluation were burning like wildfires through the lush financial landscapes of my home. It still depresses me even today. I remember thinking my accounts needed me, and there was nothing I could do. I felt so, so helpless. So you see, I do understand.\nO'Brien: Somehow, you telling me that doesn't make me feel the least bit better.\nQuark: Humans. All you care about is yourselves.\nO'Brien: Odo, hang on a minute.\nOdo: Well, I take it the Battle of Britain has been won yet again.\nBashir: There's a Spitfire with your name on it waiting in the hangar. When you get back from Earth, you can take Clive's place in the squadron.\nOdo: Somehow I doubt it.\nO'Brien: Look, Odo, do me a favor. If you get a chance, stop by and visit my folks in Dublin. Just make sure they're okay, you know?\nOdo: I'll try to find the time.\nO'Brien: Good. I'll let them know you might drop by.\nOdo: Anyone I can look up for you, Doctor?\nBashir: No, no, that's perfectly fine. I just wish I was coming with you.\nOdo: To be perfectly honest, Doctor, I wish you were both going with me. I could use the company. I doubt that a shape-shifter is will be welcome on Earth at the moment.\nO'Brien: No one can hold you responsible for what your people are doing.\nOdo: Oh really? Well, I'd better get over to the Lakota. We'll be leaving shortly.\nBashir: Good luck.\nOdo: I don't believe in luck. But I appreciate the sentiment.\nBashir: Well, we'd better get out of these uniforms.\nO'Brien: The Lakota's gone to warp.\nWorf: When was the last time the wormhole opened?\nKira: Twelve hours ago.\nWorf: Perhaps it has returned to normal.\nKira: I suppose so.\nO'Brien: You sound disappointed, Major.\nKira: I guess I am. Part of me was hoping that the Prophets were behind it. That they were finally going to show themselves to the Bajoran people.\nWorf: I prefer Klingon beliefs.\nKira: I suppose your gods aren't as cryptic as ours.\nWorf: Our gods are dead. Ancient Klingon warriors slew them a millennia ago. They were more trouble than they were worth.\nKira: I don't think I'll ever understand Klingons.\nO'Brien: Don't worry about it, Major. Nobody does. That's the way they like it.\nLeyton: Ben.\nSisko: Admiral Leyton. Good to see you again, sir.\nLeyton: Captain Sisko. This is my adjutant, Commander Benteen. Benjamin was my executive officer aboard the Okinawa. And a damn fine one too.\nSisko: I did all right.\nBenteen: Ah, don't be modest. Admiral Leyton has had his share of executive officers and you're the only one he ever speaks fondly of.\nLeyton: Present company excluded.\nSisko: Admiral Leyton is the one who recommended me for the job on Deep Space Nine.\nLeyton: One of my better ideas. You must be Odo.\nOdo: That's right.\nLeyton: Forgive me for staring, but you're the first changeling I've ever met.\nBenteen: That you know of.\nOdo: I sympathize with your problem. Uncovering changeling infiltrators is no easy task.\nLeyton: Well, with the help of the two of you, I trust it'll be a little easier.\nSisko: What exactly do you want us to do?\nBenteen: We'd like to confer with you and Odo, see if there's anything about the Founders you left out of your official reports.\nOdo: I'll help any way I can, but I think you'll find my reports were quite thorough.\nSisko: Admiral, I doubt you brought us all this way just for a debriefing.\nLeyton: Of course not. Ben, Earth is in danger. Maybe the greatest danger it's faced since the last world war. Something has to be done about these shape-shifters. Which is why you're here. You know more about the Dominion than anyone in Starfleet. And so, effective immediately, I'm making you acting head of Starfleet Security here on Earth.\nBenteen: Congratulations, Captain.\nJoseph: This is one beautiful fish. Seems a shame to eat a trout this pretty. Why, you should thank me for the privilege of simply looking at it. Well, go on, take a bite. It won't bite you back. Now, I don't want to see anybody studying the dessert menu. If you order anything but the bread pudding soufflé, you'll be making a mistake you will regret the rest of your lives.\nSisko: You should listen to him. The man knows his bread pudding.\nJoseph: Benjamin!\nSisko: Dad.\nJoseph: Jake-o.\nJake: Hey.\nJoseph: When are you going to stop growing? If you keep this up, you'll be bumping your head on that alligator before too long.\nJake: I remember when you used to tell me that alligator was just in stasis, and you let it out at night to guard the restaurant.\nJoseph: I had to stop doing that. It got to be too much trouble wrestling it back up to the ceiling every morning. Come on. I'll get Nathan to bring you both something to eat and we can catch up. Nathan, some gumbo for these fine young men.\nNathan: Yes, sah.\nJoseph: So, where's this shape-shifting fellow you were coming with?\nSisko: With things the way they are, Odo thought it would be better if he stayed at Starfleet Headquarters.\nJoseph: I don't blame him. I haven't seen people so nervous since the Borg scare. Me, personally, I'd like to meet him. Though I have to admit, I'm a little suspicious about anyone who doesn't eat.\nJake: Grandpa.\nSisko: Well, aren't you going to eat anything?\nJoseph: I ate before you got here. Son, don't look at me that way.\nSisko: You've lost weight.\nJoseph: You think so?\nJake: The doctors said you have to keep your weight up.\nJoseph: Don't you start, too. I have a vat of crayfish in the back that needs cleaning and it's got your name on it. Now I'm going to say this one time and one time only. I am fine. I'm happy, I'm healthy, and I'm planning on celebrating at least fifty more birthdays. Satisfied?\nSisko: Gumbo's as good as I remember.\nJoseph: Starfleet must be taking the shape-shifters pretty seriously to have you come all the way back here.\nSisko: It is serious, Dad.\nJoseph: Twenty seven people murdered right here on Earth. Never thought I'd see the day. But now that my son's on the case, I feel a lot better.\nNog: Jake!\nJake: Nog?\nNog: Captain Sisko. What do you think?\nSisko: You look good, Cadet.\nNog: You think so?\nJake: Nog, I thought I was going to see you tomorrow at the Academy.\nNog: You are. I'm just here for dinner. Nathan, the usual.\nSisko: I didn't know you liked Creole food.\nNog: I don't. I like tube grubs, and your father is the only person on this planet who can get me live ones.\nJoseph: I've been thinking of adding them to our menu. Of course I'll have to cook them for my human customers, serve them with a nice remoulade.\nNog: Cook them? What good are tube grubs if they don't wriggle on the way down?\nJake: So how's everything at the Academy?\nNog: Jake, they call it the Academy, but what it really is is school.\nJake: I want to hear about it.\nNog: It's a lot of work. Lots of classes, lots of studying. I'm doing okay. Now where are those tube grubs?\nJoseph: Good night. You come back soon. Come on, Ben. I've got a nice bottle of cognac I've been saving for a special occasion, and I think this qualifies.\nSisko: I think you're right.\nNog: Ah. There's nothing like a full stomach to make life worth living.\nJake: So, you going to tell me what's on your mind or not?\nNog: What do you mean?\nJake: I mean you didn't stay here until closing just to get one more root beer. Something's up.\nNog: My friend the writer. Always looking for a good story.\nJake: If you don't want to tell me, fine. Don't tell me.\nNog: It's nothing. It's stupid.\nJake: All right. Forget about it.\nNog: It's just the Academy is different than I thought it would be.\nJake: Different how?\nNog: Some of the cadets. They're kind of standoffish, especially the upperclassmen.\nJake: Because you're a Ferengi?\nNog: That's what I thought at first. But then I heard some of the other freshmen complaining about the same thing.\nJake: Complaining about what?\nNog: Little things. For instance, there's this group called Red Squad made up of all the top students. They're always going off on trips, getting special training. None of them will even talk to me.\nJake: You've only been in the Academy for a month. You can't expect to fit in right away. Who knows, one of these days you might even be in Red Squad. I'm sure if you let them get to know you, show them you're a good guy to be around, everything'll work out.\nNog: I am a good guy to be around, aren't I?\nJake: I always thought so.\nLeyton: Mister President, I'd like to introduce Captain Sisko. JARESH-\nInyo: Captain. I've seen your record. Most exemplary.\nSisko: Thank you, sir.\nLeyton: Captain Sisko has several suggestions on how to combat Dominion infiltration. I think you'll find them very interesting. JARESH-\nInyo: Hmm. I understand the need for increased security, but blood screenings? Phaser sweeps?\nSisko: They've proven very effective on Deep Space Nine. JARESH-\nInyo: I'm sure they have. But I hope you'll keep in mind that this is Earth, and not a military installlation.\nLeyton: Which means it's a lot more vulnerable. We have to take precautions. JARESH-\nInyo: Precautions may be advisable, but I will not disrupt the lives of the population. Despite what happened at Antwerp, I believe the changeling threat to be somewhat less serious than Starfleet does.\nLeyton: Mister President, I assure you the threat is real. JARESH-\nInyo: For all we know, there was only one changeling on Earth, and he may not even be here anymore.\nSisko: But if he is here, we have a problem. There's no telling how much damage one changeling could do. JARESH-\nInyo: Forgive me for saying so, Captain, but you sound a little paranoid.\nSisko: Do I?\nOdo: Forgive the intrusion, Mister President, but as you can see, Starfleet has every right to be concerned.\nSisko: Allow me to introduce Odo, my Chief of Security. JARESH-\nInyo: A very effective entrance, Mister Odo.\nOdo: One that never should have been allowed to take place. Admiral Leyton and Captain Sisko walked in here without being searched, without being blood-tested, and without having their possessions subjected to phaser sweeps.\nSisko: If Odo was a Dominion infiltrator, he could have killed you.\nLeyton: Or replaced you. The way security is now, a changeling could get anywhere on Earth, replace anyone, even you.\nSisko: Mister President, all we want is your permission to increase security at Federation and Starfleet installlations here on Earth. Blood tests will be limited to high-ranking Federation officials, Starfleet officers and their families. The average citizen won't even notice the difference. I wish these security measures were not necessary, but the safety of Earth and the entire Federation depends on them. JARESH-\nInyo: You present a convincing argument, Captain. It seems I have no choice but to accept your proposals.\nSisko: Thank you, sir. JARESH-\nIny0: Don't thank me. If I could think of another solution, I would use it. It took centuries for Earth to evolve into the peaceful haven it is today. I would hate to be remembered as the Federation President who destroyed paradise.\nSisko: We're not looking to destroy paradise, Mister President. We're looking to save it.\nSisko: Activate the phaser.\nSisko: That's enough. How do you feel?\nOdo: That time I definitely experienced diskomfort.\nSisko: What was the setting?\nBenteen: Three point one. If we set the phasers at three point four, we should be able to stun any changeling we hit and force them back into a gelatinous state.\nOdo: I'd push it to three point five just to be on the safe side. But if you want to do any more tests, you'll have to get another guinea pig. I've been shot quite enough for one day.\nSisko: Three point five it is. I want these units installled in every room at Starfleet and Federation Headquarters, then start working on the orbital stations.\nBenteen: We'll have them in place by tomorrow night. I want to thank you, Captain.\nSisko: Thank me? For what?\nBenteen: For convincing the President to implement these security measures. It feels like we're finally on the right track.\nOdo: Huh. You'd think she would have thanked me as well. I'm the one who got shot thirteen times today.\nNog: Captain Sisko. I hope I'm not interrupting anything.\nSisko: We were just about finished.\nNog: Can I speak to you for a minute? In private.\nNog: Captain, I just want to say I appreciate everything you've done for me so far, and\nSisko: Jake says you're having difficulty in school.\nNog: He told you that?\nSisko: He tells me everything.\nNog: I don't want you to get the wrong idea.\nSisko: Nog, you and I both knew that it was going to take a while for you to adjust to the Academy and for the Academy to adjust to you.\nNog: I know, but it turned out to be even more difficult than I expected.\nSisko: You're just going to have to stick with it.\nNog: And I intend to. In fact, I think I've come up with something to help me make some new friends.\nSisko: Good.\nNog: But I need your help. I want to join Red Squad.\nSisko: Red Squad?\nNog: What do you think?\nSisko: I don't know what to think. I've never heard of it.\nNog: It's an elite squad of cadets at the Academy. You know, the best of the best. They get special classes, simulated missions, off-campus training sessions, all kinds of things.\nSisko: A group of elite cadets? They never had anything like that when I was at the Academy.\nNog: It's pretty new. It's a way of rewarding excellence among the cadets. I have the grades to qualify, but I need to be sponsored by a high-ranking officer.\nSisko: And you want me to put your name in for consideration?\nNog: All I'm asking for is a chance to prove myself.\nSisko: I'm kind of busy right now, Nog. But if I get the chance, I'll see what I can do.\nNog: Thank you, sir. This means a lot to me.\nSisko: I can see that. Dismissed, Cadet.\nNog: Yes, sir.\nJoseph: Well, look who's here. Come in, stranger.\nSisko: Sorry. I haven't been around much lately. Things have gotten a little busy.\nJoseph: You want to tell me about it?\nSisko: I'm afraid I can't.\nJoseph: You'd think that Admiral could spare you for a few hours a day to visit your father. With you in San Francisco and Jake off visiting that school in New Zealand, it's like the two of you aren't even here.\nSisko: You know, Dad, you could come and visit us at the station once in a while.\nJoseph: Don't start that again. Earth's my home. It's where I belong. Besides, what would happen to the restaurant if I went gallivanting around the galaxy? You think Nathan can handle this place on his own?\nSisko: Nathan will be running things around here sooner than you think if you don't take better care of yourself. I had a talk with your doctor and he tells me that you haven't been in to see him for eight months.\nJoseph: The man's an idiot. He's lived in New Orleans twenty years and can't tell the difference between Creole food and Cajun food.\nSisko: Maybe not, but he can tell the difference between a healthy body and one with progressive atherosclerosis. He says that if you don't come in for vascular regeneration therapy, that this restaurant will be looking for a new owner.\nJoseph: Ben, at my age, staying healthy is a full time job, and I am too old to work two jobs. Now, how long until you're due back at Starfleet Headquarters?\nSisko: I've got about an hour.\nJoseph: Just enough time to take a walk to Audubon Park. You up for a stroll with your old man?\nSisko: I can't think of anything I'd rather do.\nJoseph: Nathan, don't forget to stir the gumbo.\nBenteen: Odo. That was really something. I've never seen you imitate a lifeform before.\nOdo: Well, I was just taking a little aerial tour of San Francisco. It's quite nice. Not as ancient as the cities on Bajor but almost as impressive.\nBenteen: It makes me wonder how many other changelings might be flying around up there.\nOdo: If all they're doing is flying around imitating seagulls, we don't have much to worry about.\nLeyton: I doubt that other changelings are wasting their time imitating birds. They don't all share Odo's lack of skill when it comes to mimicking humans.\nOdo: That's right, they don't. I'm glad you're keeping that in mind.\nBenteen: Well, if you ask me, that was a pretty convincing seagull.\nOdo: Thank you. Though I'm not sure the gulls would agree.\nLeyton: Commander, I think we've taken up enough of Mister Odo's time. Keep practicing. You'll have those birds fooled in no time.\nOdo: Admiral.\nLeyton: Yes.\nOdo: I know that Starfleet Command has always been a little uneasy about a changeling working in their midst. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate the trust you've shown in me. Thank you.\nLeyton: You're welcome.\nLeyton: Well done, Odo.\nBenteen: Are you all right?\nOdo: I'm fine.\nLeyton: How did you know he wasn't me?\nOdo: I'm not sure exactly. It's as if I could feel the changeling's hostility toward me.\nSisko: You're the only changeling who's ever harmed one of his own people. I'm sure that hasn't made you many friends.\nLeyton: What I'd like to know is, why was he imitating me?\nBenteen: You have access to all our security procedures, all our protocols. That makes you a logical target.\nLeyton: I suppose so.\nBenteen: The bottom line is a changeling infiltrated the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters, imitated the Admiral, and got away scot-free. Our security measures aren't working.\nSisko: We're doing everything the President will let us do.\nBenteen: Maybe that's not enough.\nOdo: We could talk to the President again.\nLeyton: I'm afraid that would be a waste of time. Jaresh-Inyo would be a fine president in peacetime, but we have a war on our hands. He doesn't seem to understand that. All he cares about is not upsetting people. But humans are tougher than he thinks. We've created a paradise here and we're willing to fight to protect it.\nSisko: And you think the President isn't willing to fight?\nLeyton: I think the President is a long way from home. This isn't his world. We can't expect him to care about it the way we do.\nSisko: Sisko here.\nCrewman: Captain, your son's trying to contact you. He says it's urgent.\nSisko: Put him through.\nJake: Dad, you'd better get down here right away.\nSisko: What's wrong?\nJake: It's Grandpa. He's been arrested.\nSisko: What's going on here?\nOfficer: Captain, we never meant for things to get out of hand.\nJoseph: What did you think would happen? Storming in here and accusing me and my grandson of being a couple of shape-shifters.\nOfficer: We never accused you of being a shape-shifter, Mister Sisko. We were just carrying out our orders. All family members of Starfleet personnel are required to submit to blood screenings. No exceptions.\nJoseph: That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of. Do you believe that?\nSisko: I should. I signed the orders myself.\nJoseph: Now why would you go and do a stupid thing like that?\nSisko: Dad, it has to be done.\nJake: Grandpa, look, I'll take the test first. Go ahead.\nSisko: Now me.\nOfficer: Sir, that's not necessary.\nSisko: Do it anyway.\nSisko: it's your turn.\nJoseph: Jake, do you think I'm a shape-shifter?\nJake: Come on, Grandpa.\nJoseph: Answer the question.\nJake: No, I don't think you're a shape-shifter.\nJoseph: At least somebody in my family has some sense.\nSisko: Dad!\nJoseph: I don't want to hear about it. You take these two vampires and tell them to either sit down and grab a menu or get out of my restaurant.\nSisko: Jake, get them a menu.\nOfficer: But sir.\nSisko: I would recommend the shrimp Creole. Look, Dad\nJoseph: I don't want to hear it.\nSisko: Listen to me. You have got to take the test.\nJoseph: Why should I? If I were an enemy spy looking to replace someone, I think I could come up with better choices than an old chef.\nSisko: Yeah, you're probably right. But this isn't about you. We've got civilian families living on starships and Starfleet installlations all over the Federation. The only way we can secure those facilities is to test everyone there, whether they wear a uniform or not.\nJoseph: I'm not living on a Starfleet installlation.\nSisko: Dad, if we're going to test the family members of one Starfleet officer, we must to test them all.\nJoseph: You may want to test everyone, but that doesn't mean we all have to cooperate. I didn't take an oath to Starfleet. Neither did Jake or your sister or anyone in your family. We have rights, Ben, including the right to be as stubborn or thickheaded as we want.\nSisko: Damn it, Dad. Can't you cooperate just one time? You don't take your medication, you don't go to the doctor, you won't let Judith help you in the restaurant. Just one time, please do what you're asked.\nJoseph: I wish I could, but what you're asking me to do is wrong. You can't go around making people prove they are who they say they are. That's no way to live and I'm not going to go along with it. Now, if you want to make yourself useful, start some water boiling for the shrimp.\nSisko: Come on, Dad. Don't be this way. If I have to, I will get a warrant\nJoseph: And what? Hold me down and force me to give you my blood? Because that's the only way you'll get. Damn it. Now look what I've done.\nJoseph: Jake?\nJake: Yeah?\nJoseph: I've got a dermal regenerator under the. Benjamin Lafayette Sisko. What the hell has gotten into your head? You actually thought I was one of them, didn't you?\nSisko: I don't know. I wasn't sure.\nJoseph: This business has got you so twisted around you can't think straight. You're seeing shape-shifters everywhere. Maybe you ought to think about something for a minute. If I was a smart shape-shifter, a really good one, the first thing I would do would be to grab some poor soul off the street, absorb every ounce of his blood, and let it out on cue whenever someone like you tried to test me. Don't you see? There isn't a test that's been created a smart man can't find his way around. You aren't going to catch shape-shifters using some gadget. The only thing you can count on in this life is\nJake: Grandpa!\nSisko: The EMT's said he'd be okay and they were right. It turns out it was just a mild stroke brought on by his atherosclerosis.\nOdo: How's Jake handling it?\nSisko: He is very upset. He knows as well as I do that if my father doesn't take better care of himself\nOdo: I've found that when it comes to doing what's best for you, you humanoids have the distressing habit of doing the exact opposite.\nSisko: I can't argue with that. But what bothers me is that for a few minutes there, I really believed that my own father was a changeling.\nOdo: A reasonable assumption, considering the circumstances.\nSisko: I don't care if it's reasonable or not. But when a son can't trust his own father?\nOdo: That's why my people came here. To undermine the trust and mutual understanding the Federation is built on.\nSisko: But what if my father's right? What if all our precautions turn out to be useless?\nOdo: Maybe they will. But that doesn't mean you should give up. My people are here and you've got to fight them with whatever you've got.\nSisko: I hope you don't take this the wrong way, Constable, but there are times I wish you'd never found your people.\nOdo: Believe me, Captain, sometimes I feel the same way.\nJake: Grandpa, would you please sit down?\nJoseph: Enjoy your meal. Your food'll be right out.\nJoseph: What's that look supposed to mean?\nJake: You sat down.\nJoseph: You're damn right I sat down. I feel terrible.\nJake: You should be in bed.\nJoseph: Jake, the only time you should be in bed is if you're sleeping, dying, or making love to a beautiful woman. I'm not tired, I'm not dying, and the truth is I'm too old for beautiful women, so I might as well be here. Your father's the one you should be worried about.\nJake: Dad? Why?\nJoseph: I've never seen him so tense. It's like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.\nJake: He is.\nJoseph: I suppose he is at that.\nJoseph: What happened?\nJake: I don't know. The whole block's dark.\nOdo: You all right?\nSisko: I'm fine. Admiral, what's going on?\nLeyton: From what we can tell, Earth's entire power relay system's been knocked offline. Even Starfleet's emergency backup's been affected.\nSisko: How could that happen?\nLeyton: I don't know, but if you ask me, there's only one possible explanation.\nOdo: Sabotage.\nSisko: The changelings.\nOdo: Take down the power relays, and you neutralize sensors, transporters, surface-based defense installlations.\nSisko: In other words, Earth is defenseless.\nLeyton: If the Dominion attacks now, we don't stand a chance.\nInyo: I'm not interested in excuses. It is imperative we get the power relay system functioning again.\nLeyton: Mister President. JARESH-\nInyo: How did you people get here?\nSisko: We contacted the Lakota and used their transporters. Mister President, as acting head of Earth Security, I must advise you to declare a State of Emergency. JARESH-\nInyo: You're serious. With the exception of the Borg incident, there hasn't been a State of Emergency declared on Earth in a century.\nSisko: I am aware of that, but I have reason to believe that a Dominion warfleet may be in the Alpha Quadrant headed for Earth. JARESH-\nInyo: Do you have evidence to back this up?\nSisko: Just before we left Deep Space Nine, the wormhole was exhibiting some unusual behavior, opening and closing for no apparent reason.\nOdo: We didn't detect any ships coming through at the time, but the Dominion might have been using some kind of cloaking technology. JARESH-\nInyo: I wasn't aware the Dominion had cloaking technology.\nOdo: The combined Cardassian and Romulan fleet that the Dominion destroyed in the Gamma Quadrant was equipped with cloaking devices. Who knows what my people might have taken from the wreckage? JARESH-\nInyo: How long until the power relays are fixed?\nLeyton: From what we can tell, the changelings infected the system with some kind of self-replicating computer protocol. It jumped from one power relay to the next, disrupting every system it came in contact with.\nOdo: The only way to correct the problem is to shut down the entire grid, purge all the operating systems, and restart the relays.\nLeyton: And that could take days.\nSisko: Which is why it is imperative that you declare a State of Emergency. JARESH-\nInyo: What good will that do when we have no way to defend ourselves?\nLeyton: Mister President, we can use the Lakota's transporters and communications system to mobilize every Starfleet officer on Earth in less than twelve hours. We've been preparing for something like this for a long time. We have stockpiles of phaser rifles, personal forcefields, photon grenades, enough to equip an entire army. I can start getting men on the streets immediately. JARESH-\nInyo: What you're asking me to do is declare martial law.\nLeyton: What I'm asking you to do is let us defend this planet. We don't know what the changelings will do next, but we have to be ready for them. Ben, tell him.\nSisko: Sir, the thought of filling the streets with armed troops is as disturbing to me as it is to you, but not as disturbing as the thought of a Jem'Hadar army landing on Earth without opposition. The Jem'Hadar are the most brutal and efficient soldiers I've ever encountered. They don't care about the conventions of war or protecting civilians. They will not limit themselves to military targets. They'll be waging the kind of war that Earth hasn't seen since the founding of the Federation.\nOdo: At the same time, my people will continue to undermine Earth's defenses in any way they can. This power outage is only the beginning. JARESH-\nInyo: I never sought this job. I was content to simply represent my people on the Federation Council. When they asked me to submit my name for election, I almost said no. Today I wish I had.\nLeyton: We appreciate your feelings, Mister President, but we don't have time for regrets. You accepted the job and now it's yours.\nOdo: Mister President, there are people all over this planet right now huddled in the dark, terrified about what might happen next. They're waiting for a sign, something to reassure them that everything will be all right. But they won't wait long. Fear is a powerful and dangerous thing. And if you don't act, if you don't show them that they're not alone, then fear will surely take over.\nSisko: Give us the authority we need, Mister President, and we will take care of the rest. JARESH-\nInyo: Earth is in your hands, gentlemen. Do what needs to be done.\nLeyton: Thank you, sir. You've made the right decision. JARESH-\nInyo: I hope you're right, for all our sakes.\nJake: Grandpa! Grandpa, wake up.\nJoseph: I'm not sleeping. I'm checking my eyelids for holes.\nJake: You'd better come take a look at this.\nJoseph: Take a look at what?\nJake: Come on. To Be Continued..."}
{"text": "Joseph: It'll be good to have you home again, Benjamin.\nSisko: Dad, you know that this isn't exactly a vacation. I'll be spending most of my time in San Francisco at Starfleet Headquarters.\nLeyton: Ben, Earth is in danger. Something has to be done about these shape-shifters. You know more about the Dominion than anyone in Starfleet. And so, effective immediately, I'm making you acting head of Starfleet Security here on Earth.\nOdo: Forgive the intrusion, Mister President, but as you can see, Starfleet has every right to be concerned.\nSisko: If Odo was a Dominion infiltrator, he could have killed you.\nJoseph: You actually thought I was one of them, didn't you?\nSisko: I don't know. I wasn't sure.\nJoseph: This business has got you so twisted around you can't think straight.\nBenteen: A changeling infiltrated the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters, imitated the Admiral, and got away scot-free. Our security measures aren't working.\nSisko: We're doing everything the President will let us do.\nBenteen: Maybe that's not enough.\nLeyton: Earth's entire power relay system's been knocked offline.\nSisko: In other words, Earth is defenseless. JARESH-\nInyo: What you're asking me to do is declare martial law.\nLeyton: What I'm asking you to do is let us defend this planet.\nJake: You'd better come take a look at this.\nJoseph: Take a look at what?\nJake: Come on. And now, the conclusion.\nSisko: I don't like this. The more I read Starfleet's reports on the sabotage of the power relays, the more unanswered questions I have. How were the changelings able to infiltrate the Division of Planetary operations? Where did they get the codes for the Division's computer control network? And how did they even manage to disable every power relay on Earth at the same time?\nOdo: Captain, have you ever heard of a group called Red Squad?\nSisko: They're an elite team of Starfleet cadets. According to Nog, every student at the Academy wants to be a part of it.\nOdo: That explains it.\nSisko: Explains what?\nOdo: Well, according to this transporter log, a group called Red Squad was beamed back to Starfleet Academy twenty six minutes after the State of Emergency was declared.\nSisko: That's strange. During the blackout, Starfleet mobilized hundreds of units. Why would they demobilize Red Squad?\nOdo: That's why I brought it up. But if they're cadets I suppose Starfleet wanted to get them out of harm's way.\nSisko: If that's true, how do you explain this? (Sisko calls up a file on his wall monitor. It reads as follows - From Commander, Starfleet to OIC Training Squadron 47, stardate 49334.53. Trans code 4747-23 routing Paris/satcom 5/Luna 6017/San Francisco. Message begins. Effective immediately. All members of CTS-47 designation Red Squad are hereby assigned to field duty patrolling Sol sector, Terra 1. Mission specific orders will be transmitted once all squadron personnel are on station. Message ends.)\nSisko: Three hours later Starfleet Command issued an order assigning the entire Corps of Cadets to field duty.\nOdo: Which means they weren't bringing Red Squad home for their protection.\nSisko: So the question is, why would they demobilize Red Squad only to mobilize them again three hours later?\nJoseph: Lights.\nJake: Are you sure re-opening the restaurant is a good idea?\nJoseph: Jake, it's been four days since the power outage. Have you seen any Dominion invasion fleet?\nJake: No.\nJoseph: Neither have I. Besides, at my age, I don't have time to waste sitting at home being bored.\nJake: You know, there's hardly anyone on the streets. You're not going to have any customers.\nJoseph: Oh, I've got plenty of customers. Just look outside.\nJake: All I see are security officers.\nJoseph: And I bet not one of them has had a good meal in four days. Now you do your grandfather a favor and start chopping up the okra.\nCommandant: Captain Sisko, is there something I can do for you?\nSisko: I need to talk to you about Red Squad.\nCommandant: Go on.\nSisko: Are you aware that there's a transporter record of Red Squad being returned to the Academy not long after the power outage?\nCommandant: Are you saying that's in the official records?\nSisko: That's right.\nCommandant: Is this a secure line?\nSisko: It is at my end.\nCommandant: One moment.\nCommandant: Sorry, Captain, but I think you'll agree that this is a time for caution.\nSisko: Absolutely.\nCommandant: Does Admiral Leyton know about this report?\nSisko: He hasn't mentioned it to me.\nCommandant: Listen to me, Captain. I want that record erased before anyone else can see it. Is that understood?\nSisko: I'll take care of it immediately.\nCommandant: Good. That report could cause us a lot of trouble. I'm glad you spotted it.\nSisko: So am I. I'd hate to see the members of Red Squad get into any trouble.\nCommandant: They're fine young men and women. When Leyton talked to me about using them I thought it was a mistake, but I must to admit they performed their mission admirably. I appreciate your call, Captain. I'm in your debt.\nOdo: Well, that certainly raised more questions than it answered.\nJoseph: What did I tell you? As human as I ever was.\nSisko: You seem pretty jovial today.\nJoseph: Is there a problem with that?\nSisko: It's just, well, you didn't seem too happy about being tested a few days ago.\nJoseph: That was before the changelings sabotaged the power grid.\nSisko: I know, but you have to admit you were pretty adamant about it.\nJoseph: I don't understand you. When I didn't want to be tested, you made it an issue. Now that I'm cooperating, you're still not satisfied.\nSisko: It's not you, Dad.\nJoseph: Then what is it?\nSisko: I'm not sure. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.\nNog: Captain, Jake said you wanted to see me.\nSisko: Yes, I do.\nJoseph: You two talk. I'll go chill some tube grubs.\nNog: What can I do for you, sir?\nSisko: It's about Red Squad.\nNog: Red Squad? Did you get me in?\nSisko: Not just yet.\nNog: Too bad. Those guys are the best. They're the only people I know who aren't afraid of the Dominion.\nSisko: Why is that?\nNog: I don't know. They're not scared of anything, I guess.\nSisko: You seem to know them pretty well.\nNog: Jake told I should try to get to know them better, show them I'm a good guy. And so far it seems to be working. The truth is, I think they only like me because I know you.\nSisko: Is that so?\nNog: You're kind of their hero. The man at the front line in the war with the Dominion.\nSisko: I'd like to meet some of these cadets. You think you could introduce me to one of them?\nNog: I'm sorry. I can't do that, sir. The names of Red Squad members are supposed to be secret.\nSisko: But you know who they are.\nNog: It's not easy keeping secrets from a Ferengi. But I feel funny about telling anyone else. Besides, if they found out I told you who they were, I'd never get in.\nSisko: Cadet, you are obviously under the mistaken impression that I'm asking a favor. I want a name, and I want it now. And that is an order. Understood, Mister Nog?\nNog: Yes, sir.\nShepard: Cadet Shepard reporting as ordered, Captain.\nSisko: Riley Aldrin Shepard, Starfleet Service number C nine five three oh four six nine nine four two seven. A third year student at Starfleet Academy with a specialty in tactical operations.\nShepard: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Cadet, I have been reviewing a record of Red Squad activities on the night of the twenty third. The night of the power outage.\nShepard: Record, sir? We were told that there was not going to be any written record.\nSisko: Are you contradicting me, Cadet?\nShepard: No, sir.\nSisko: Good. Now who told you there wasn't to be a written record?\nShepard: The briefing officer, sir.\nSisko: I want that officer's name.\nShepard: She didn't give us her name, sir, but she did say there would be no record of our actions and that our role would have to go unrecognized, at least for now.\nSisko: Maybe if you'd done your job better, it would have. But you fouled it up, didn't you? You cadets did some sloppy work. Some damn sloppy work.\nShepard: With all due respect, sir, that's not true, sir. The mission went perfectly. If anything, it was easier than the simulations.\nSisko: Now son, if you think by lying to me you're going to save your own hide, you'd better forget it. Mistakes were made, and I will find out who's responsible.\nShepard: I'm not lying to you, sir. I was there. I was at Planetary Operations the whole time. If anything had gone wrong, I would have known about it.\nSisko: Is that so? All right, Cadet. Let's go over this step by step, from the time of your mission deployment until your return to base at nineteen hundred forty seven hours PST on the twenty third.\nShepard: Yes, sir. We assembled on the Eastern Quad at seventeen hundred hours on the evening of the twenty third.\nSisko: I assume by we you mean Red Squad?\nShepard: Yes, sir. After assembly we were beamed aboard the Lakota. Once aboard we received our equipment and the necessary codes, and were transported directly to the Division of Planetary Operations in Lisbon.\nSisko: At what time?\nShepard: Oh four hundred hours exactly, local time of course.\nSisko: Go on, Cadet.\nShepard: Our contact inside the DPO gave us access to their computer control network. From there we used the access codes we were given, bypassed the security lockouts, and downloaded the disordering protocols into the network.\nSisko: And from there the protocols spread to every power relay on the planet.\nShepard: It was a pretty impressive sight, sir, watching those relays wink out one after another.\nSisko: Sorry I missed it.\nShepard: After that, all we had to do was sabotage the restart sequencers and get out. Like I said, sir, it was all by the numbers.\nOdo: And are you sure that this cadet is telling the truth?\nSisko: He admitted to committing acts of treason against the Federation. If he was going to lie, I think he would have made up a better story.\nOdo: I take it that you gave him a blood screening.\nSisko: I tested him myself. He's human.\nOdo: Well then, let's say he is telling the truth, that his superior officers ordered him to sabotage the power relays. That still doesn't rule out Dominion involvement. For all we know, his superiors have been replaced by changelings.\nSisko: I thought about that. But if it were changelings, what have they accomplished? There's been no invasion and power's been restored.\nOdo: And Starfleet has fortified Earth. I see your point, Captain. So let's say you're right. Starfleet officers have sabotaged the power grid. What are you going to do about it?\nSisko: That is the bottom line, isn't it? What am I going to do? These aren't evil people, Odo. These are people I've worked with. They're my friends, people I respect. How can I turn against them?\nOdo: It seems to me, if they have committed treason against the Federation, the Federation that you swore to protect, you won't be turning against them. They will have turned against you.\nInyo: Captain, I've been in politics for seventy years. I'm no stranger to overstatement and exaggeration. But the idea that Starfleet would plot to overthrow the Federation government is the single most astonishing accusation I have ever heard.\nSisko: Sir, if you'll hear us out. JARESH-\nInyo: As I intend to. But you'll forgive me if I remain somewhat skeptical. Now, you should start at the beginning.\nOdo: Several months ago, I learned from one of my people that changelings had infiltrated the Federation. Not long after I gave this information to Starfleet, reports indicate that Admiral Leyton led a contingent of high ranking officers to meet with you and recommend implementation of sweeping security measures meant to protect Earth. JARESH-\nInyo: And I rejected their suggestions as extreme.\nOdo: It's no secret that Leyton disagreed with you, and despite your calls for calm, his concern about the Dominion threat continued to grow.\nSisko: When the Antwerp Conference was bombed, Leyton became convinced that the changelings posed a greater threat to Earth than you were prepared to admit. JARESH-\nInyo: And so Admiral Leyton approached me again, this time with you two at his side. And I agreed to his proposals.\nSisko: To some of his proposals.\nOdo: We believe that Admiral Leyton and his supporters weren't satisfied with the limited security procedures you authorized. They were convinced that extraordinary measures were necessary to counter the changeling threat.\nSisko: More than that, they were determined to prove to you and to everyone else how vulnerable Earth was to a Dominion takeover. So they sabotaged the global power grid. JARESH-\nInyo: Starfleet officers committing sabotage?\nSisko: I know exactly how you feel, but it's the truth. JARESH-\nInyo: I find that difficult to believe. Admiral Leyton may be somewhat grating and inflexible at times, but for a man of his accomplishments, a man of his distinguished record to commit treason?\nSisko: I'm sure the Admiral doesn't see it as treason. He would probably defend it as a desperate act of patriotism. He and his supporters think that their actions are both necessary and justified.\nOdo: Not to mention effective. Think about it. The power grid fails, and the next thing you know Starfleet security officers are on the streets of every city, armed with phaser rifles, blood testing citizens at random. JARESH-\nInyo: Your story has a certain logic to it, gentlemen, but what it lacks is proof.\nSisko: You want proof? Order Admiral Leyton to withdraw his troops from the streets. See what he does. JARESH-\nInyo: You think he would refuse a direct order from his Commander-in-Chief?\nSisko: If he orders his troops to stand down, then I'm wrong and I'll offer my resignation. But I don't think that's going to happen. With those troops in place, Admiral Leyton controls Earth. And he's not going to give up that control until he's convinced that he has ended the Dominion threat. JARESH-\nInyo: He may not have to give up anything. If what you say is true, if the power outage was part of Leyton's plan, then it's worked perfectly. Right now the public overwhelmingly supports the increased security. If I tried to remove those troops over Leyton's objections, I'll have a planetwide riot on my hands.\nSisko: What if we bring you the proof? Hard evidence linking Leyton to the sabotage of the power grid?\nOdo: With that, you could force Leyton to stand down, make him withdraw the troops. JARESH-\nInyo: If what you say is true, I'll have his resignation. Bring me the evidence, I promise I'll use it.\nNog: Sorry I'm late.\nSisko: Where's Cadet Shepherd?\nNog: That's a good question. I couldn't find him anywhere.\nOdo: What do you mean you couldn't find him?\nNog: I mean he's gone. And as far as I can tell so is every other member of Red Squad. The rumor is they've all been sent on some kind of training exercise.\nLeyton: I'm afraid Cadet Shepherd won't be returning to Earth anytime soon.\nNog: Admiral Leyton, it's\nLeyton: Return to your quarters, Cadet.\nLeyton: Ben, I think you and I have to talk, in private.\nOdo: I'll be in the next room if you need me.\nLeyton: Mind if I get a cup of coffee?\nSisko: Help yourself.\nLeyton: I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. Too much to do.\nSisko: Maybe you need a vacation.\nLeyton: Mmm. Somehow replicated coffee never tastes this good. I'm afraid I owe you an apology, Ben.\nSisko: The way I see it, you owe a lot of people an apology.\nLeyton: I wish I could have told you the truth from the beginning, but somehow I suspected we wouldn't see eye to eye on this thing.\nSisko: Then why did you bring me here?\nLeyton: Because I needed someone who knew how to fight shape-shifters, and that's you. And I suppose on some level I hoped that when you saw what we were accomplishing, you'd join us. You've always had a strong sense of duty.\nSisko: My duty is to protect the Federation.\nLeyton: That's what we're trying to do.\nSisko: What you're trying to do is to seize control of Earth and place it under military rule.\nLeyton: If that's what it takes to stop the Dominion.\nSisko: So you're willing to destroy paradise in order to save it.\nLeyton: Remember when we were on the Okinawa fighting the Tzenkethi? That time when I wanted to take the ship into an asteroid belt to chase down those three raiders.\nSisko: And I said it was an unnecessary risk.\nLeyton: You spoke your mind. Which is exactly what a good executive officer is supposed to do. But I overruled you. After the staff meeting you followed me into my ready room and tried to argue your point again.\nSisko: That's right, I did.\nLeyton: And remember what I told you?\nSisko: That a good officer must respect the chain of command. There comes a time when you must to accept the orders of a superior officer, and carry out those orders whether you agree with them or not.\nLeyton: I also told you when you became a CO, you'd feel the same way.\nSisko: And you were right. About going after the Tzenkethi, and about me.\nLeyton: Without the chain of command, Starfleet would cease to function and we wouldn't stand a chance against our enemies. I'm still your commanding officer, and now more than ever I need you to respect my authority.\nSisko: And I cannot do that! Not this time.\nLeyton: Then as of now, I'm relieving you of your post as temporary head of Earth Security and sending you back to Deep Space Nine. Go home, Ben. You don't belong here.\nO'Brien: Beautiful evening, isn't it?\nSisko: Chief, how'd you get here?\nO'Brien: You don't look so good. You've got a lot on your mind, I bet. How is your father?\nSisko: There's no way the Defiant could get here so soon.\nO'Brien: I didn't say I came on the Defiant. Tell me the truth. Do you really believe that phaser rifles will do any good against shape-shifters?\nSisko: You're not O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Luckily, no. The thought of being locked in the one shape all the time. It's unnatural. Don't bother calling for help. It'll only cut short our conversation, and I do enjoy your company.\nSisko: If you have something to say to me, say it.\nO'Brien: You solids. You are so impatient. I thought we could sit here for a while, maybe go to a bar, have a pint, throw some darts.\nSisko: I don't think so.\nO'Brien: Let me ask you a question. How many changelings do you think are here on Earth right at this moment?\nSisko: I'm not going to play any guessing games with you.\nO'Brien: Ah. What if I were to tell you that there are only four on this entire planet. Not counting Constable Odo of course. Think of it. Just four of us, and look at the havoc we've wrought.\nSisko: How do I know you're telling me the truth?\nO'Brien: Four is more than enough. We're smarter than solids. We're better than you. And most importantly, we do not fear you the way you fear us. In the end, it's your fear that will destroy you.\nSisko: Are you finished?\nO'Brien: Finished? We've barely begun. I'll be seeing you.\nJoseph: I recognize that look.\nSisko: What look?\nJoseph: The one you're wearing. The one that says, something's bothering me and I don't know what to do about it.\nSisko: Oh, that look.\nJoseph: You want to tell me about it?\nSisko: I wish I could.\nJoseph: Oh, I see. It's a Neffie Beumont kind of thing.\nSisko: Neffie Beumont? What a crush I had on her.\nJoseph: Not that you'd admit it. You just sat around for weeks, brooding and pining away, trying to sort it all out, until your old man finally sat you down one day and gave you some advice.\nSisko: There comes a time in every man's life when he must stop thinking and start doing.\nJoseph: And the next day, you finally went over to young Neffie's house and asked her out.\nSisko: And she turned me down.\nJoseph: But at least you weren't brooding anymore. And when Zoey Phillips moved into the neighborhood a few weeks later, you asked her out before her parents were done beaming in the furniture.\nSisko: And dated her for three years. I guess what you're telling me is that I must stop brooding and make a decision.\nJoseph: Exactly.\nSisko: Thank you, Dad.\nJoseph: Don't mention it. Make sure you turn out the lights on your way out. I wonder what ever happened to Zoey Phillips?\nSisko: Zoey Phillips.\nKira: Captain, why are you transmitting on a Bajoran frequency?\nSisko: We have things we need to discuss that I don't want anyone else to hear. What's your status?\nKira: Everything here is fine. There's been no sign of Dominion activity.\nSisko: What about the wormhole?\nKira: It's acting normally again. It stopped opening and closing at random not long after you left. If any Dominion ships did sneak through, they're not giving us any trouble.\nSisko: Listen closely. There's something I need for you to do.\nOdo: It's all yours. I suggest you hurry. I doubt it'll take them very long to diskover that we're here.\nSisko: I never knew it was so easy to break into classified Starfleet files.\nOdo: Everything I know I learned from Quark.\nSisko: Looks like Leyton's been a busy man. He's personally reassigned over four hundred officers in the past three weeks.\nOdo: Do you recognize any of these names?\nSisko: A lot of them. Daneeka, McWatt, Snowden, Orr, Moodus. All of them were officers on the Okinawa when I was Leyton's XO. As far as I can tell, every officer on this list served under Leyton at one time or another.\nOdo: And now they're all in key positions here on Earth.\nSisko: Or commanding ships somewhere in this sector. It says here he's ordered another set of transfers. Take a look at these dates.\nOdo: They all take effect on the fourteenth.\nSisko: The day before the President's speech.\nOdo: Do you think there's any connection?\nSisko: Maybe Admiral Leyton doesn't intend for the President to make his speech. I'd better get a copy of this.\nSisko: Odo, if Admiral Leyton is planning some kind of takeover on the fourteenth, I want to make sure that Jake and my father are safe.\nOdo: We should get them off Earth as soon as possible.\nSisko: Come in.\nBenteen: Captain. I'm surprised to find you here.\nSisko: Just cleaning out some of my files. I'll see you later, Constable.\nOdo: Good night, Captain.\nSisko: I hear congratulations are in order. Your promotion. Captain of the Lakota.\nBenteen: Thanks, but it's still a few days away. The Lakota won't be done with its refit until the fourteenth.\nSisko: I guess that'll make the fourteenth a special day.\nBenteen: I'm looking forward to it. Too bad you won't be around for the ceremony.\nSisko: Who knows? I might be able to fit it in.\nBenteen: I thought Admiral Leyton ordered you back to Deep Space Nine.\nSisko: He did, but I've got some leave coming and I've decided to take it. After all, I don't get much time to spend on Earth, and it is so pleasant here. With a Starfleet officer on every corner, paradise has never seemed so well-armed.\nBenteen: You're a very interesting man, Captain. I'm sorry we didn't get to work together longer.\nSisko: Admiral. I didn't expect to see you here.\nLeyton: I'm sure you didn't.\nBenteen: Captain, your arm please? JARESH-\nInyo: Do as she asks.\nLeyton: Just as I said, Mister President. He's a shape-shifter.\nSisko: Are you going to tell me how you faked the blood test?\nLeyton: Does it matter?\nSisko: I suppose not.\nLeyton: You know, Ben, I stand here looking at you, the best officer who ever served under me, trapped in this holding cell, and I think life can be damned cruel.\nSisko: Let me out. Maybe life'll look a little better.\nLeyton: I don't think I can do that just now.\nSisko: So what are you going to do? Keep me here forever?\nLeyton: No. You'll be free to go in a few days.\nSisko: Let me guess. After the President's speech.\nLeyton: The President won't be making a speech. I will.\nSisko: I assume you'll be explaining to the public why it's necessary for Starfleet to seize control of Earth.\nLeyton: Temporarily, of course. Until the changeling threat has been neutralized.\nSisko: And how long will that be? Months? Years? Decades?\nLeyton: However long it takes. The people deserve strong leadership. Someone who can protect them.\nSisko: In other words, you.\nLeyton: If you need anything, food, something to read, just tell the guards.\nChief: Well, if it isn't my favorite vampire.\nSecurity: Vampires come out at night. I've been pushing this cart all day.\nChief: Look, I'm getting a little tired of all these blood screenings.\nSecurity: Believe me, I'm as tired of giving them as you are of taking them.\nSisko: Why don't you give me one of those while you're at it?\nSecurity: You don't really expect me to let down that forcefield and go in there with you?\nOdo: Sisko's not the one you should be worried about. I am. Come here. Odo disarms the Chief and neck-pinches the Security woman unconscious.)\nSisko: Nicely done, Constable.\nOdo: Well, it wasn't that difficult, considering I helped you revise the security measures for this building.\nSisko: Lucky for me. Have you contacted Major Kira?\nOdo: The Defiant is on its way to Earth.\nSisko: That must mean they found what we were looking for.\nOdo: It was just as you suspected. They even found the officer responsible. Lieutenant Arriaga. They've put him on the Defiant.\nSisko: You have to get to the President. Tell him everything we know and warn him that Leyton is going to make his move some time today.\nOdo: What about you?\nSisko: I've got some business to take care of.\nOdo: Right.\nBenteen: I understand the situation, Admiral. I'll do my best.\nLeyton: Good luck, Captain Benteen. Leyton out.\nLeyton: Are you planning on using that?\nSisko: Against a fellow officer? I hope not. But I will have to ask for your resignation.\nLeyton: You'll forgive me if I don't leap at the opportunity.\nSisko: I have enough evidence to convict you of treason.\nLeyton: Do you?\nSisko: We have Lieutenant Arriaga in custody. He is prepared to admit that under your orders he attached a subspace modulator to the relay satellite on the far side of the wormhole. That is why it was opening and closing at random.\nLeyton: Why would anyone want to do that?\nSisko: To make it look like a cloaked Dominion fleet was entering Federation space so that when the Earth's power relays were sabotaged, the people would think that an invasion was imminent.\nLeyton: That's a very interesting theory, but it's not going to do you much good. Lieutenant Arriaga isn't going to get to Earth. I've sent the Lakota to intercept the Defiant.\nSisko: You think that one Starfleet ship is going to fire on another?\nLeyton: As far as Captain Benteen's crew is concerned, the Defiant isn't a Starfleet ship. They've been told everyone on the Defiant has been replaced by shape-shifters.\nDax: Commander, we're being hailed by the Lakota. They're ordering us to drop out of warp, and prepare to be boarded.\nKira: They've raised their shields and powered up their phasers. Looks like they won't take no for an answer.\nSisko: Admiral, do you realize what's going on here? Even if you win, even if you do manage to oust Jaresh-Inyo, you still lose. We all lose.\nLeyton: I can't say I agree with you.\nSisko: Do you think other Federation worlds are going to sit back and let their President be replaced by a military dictatorship?\nLeyton: Hardly a dictatorship, Ben.\nSisko: Overthrowing a legitimately elected President and giving Starfleet direct control over the government? It sounds like a dictatorship to me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks so.\nLeyton: There will be some dissenters at first, but they'll fall in line once they realize that strengthening Earth is the first step toward strengthening the Federation.\nSisko: And what if they don't agree? What then? Are you willing to risk a civil war? If the Lakota fires on the Defiant, you will be opening up a Pandora's box that may never be closed.\nLeyton: Then contact the Defiant and tell them to stand down.\nSisko: I won't do that.\nLeyton: I didn't think so. But don't kid yourself, Ben. This Pandora's box of yours, we're opening it together.\nKira: The Lakota's targeting their weapons on our warp engines.\nO'Brien: They're bluffing. That's a Federation ship. They're not going to fire on us.\nBashir: I hope you're right about that, Chief.\nWorf: Continue on course.\nKira: We're in weapons range.\nWorf: Raise shields.\nWorf: Damage report.\nDax: Port shields are at sixty percent.\nO'Brien: Someone's been upgrading the Lakota's weapons. That's a lot of firepower for an Excelsior-class ship.\nKira: Can we cloak?\nWorf: We would have to lower shields.\nBashir: I wouldn't advise it.\nDax: Do we make a run for it?\nO'Brien: If they've been tinkering with the weapons, who knows what they've done to the warp drive.\nWorf: Hail them.\nDax: No answer.\nKira: They're trying to disable our engines.\nBashir: Let's go. We've got to get you to the Medical Bay.\nO'Brien: What do we do, Commander?\nWorf: We fight.\nWorf: Target their weapons. Fire phasers.\nLeyton: Want some? It's Bolian tonic water. Calms the nerves.\nSisko: No, thank you.\nLeyton: Ironic, isn't it? When you came on board the Okinawa, you were more interested in engineering and ship design than command. But I promoted you to lieutenant commander, gave you the post of executive officer, and taught you everything I knew about being a leader.\nSisko: You were a good teacher.\nLeyton: I only wish I'd taught you more about the importance of loyalty.\nSisko: You want to talk to me about loyalty? After you broke your oath with the Federation, lied to the people of Earth, ordered one of our own starships to fire on another! You don't have the right.\nLeyton: You don't understand me at all, do you?\nSisko: I used to think I did. I used to think that you were a man of principles, a man of honor. I see that I was mistaken.\nLeyton: I'm sorry you feel that way.\nSisko: So am I.\nCrewman: Admiral, we're receiving a message from the Lakota.\nLeyton: Put it through.\nBenteen: We've been unable to stop the Defiant. Someone has equipped her with ablative armor and neglected to inform Starfleet operations.\nLeyton: Under no circumstances is that ship to reach Earth. The Lakota's carrying quantum torpedoes, isn't she?\nBenteen: Yes, sir.\nLeyton: Then use them.\nBenteen: Admiral, my orders were to disable the Defiant, not destroy her.\nLeyton: Your orders are to keep the Defiant from reaching Earth by any means necessary. Is that understood?\nBenteen: Yes, it is.\nSisko: Captain, you know as well as I do that there aren't any shape-shifters on the Defiant. Use those quantum torpedoes and you will be killing fifty Starfleet officers.\nLeyton: Captain Benteen knows where her duty lies. You have your orders.\nBenteen: Yes, sir.\nDax: Shields are almost gone. We have major systems failures on decks one, three and four.\nWorf: What about the Lakota?\nKira: They're in worse shape. One good hit will probably finish them.\nO'Brien: And kill everyone on board.\nWorf: That is not an option.\nKira: It's either them or us.\nO'Brien: Mister Worf, I think you should look at this.\nWorf: They have powered down their weapons. Hold your fire.\nDax: Commander, they're hailing us.\nWorf: On screen.\nCrewman: Admiral Leyton, we are receiving a message for Captain Sisko from the Defiant.\nSisko: Put him through.\nLeyton: Do as he says.\nCrewman: Patching it in, sir.\nWorf: I apologize for the delay, Captain.\nSisko: What's your status, Mister Worf?\nWorf: The Lakota has powered down its weapons and is allowing us to proceed to Earth.\nSisko: Casualties?\nWorf: Bartlett and Ramsey are dead, sir. Seven others seriously injured. Captain Benteen thinks there may be as many as twenty four casualties on the Lakota.\nSisko: Get here as soon as you can. The President's expecting you.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nLeyton: That was a mistake, Ben, talking to your ship from my office. Now that security knows you're here, you'll never make it past that door.\nSisko: It doesn't matter whether I get out of here or not. By now, Odo is talking to Jaresh-Inyo. The President will have all the evidence he needs to stop you. It's over.\nLeyton: It's not over! I have enough loyal officers to make a fight of it.\nSisko: Who will you fight? Starfleet? The Federation? Don't you see, Admiral? You're fighting the wrong war. And as for your loyal officers, Benteen's already abandoned you. And she was closer to you than anyone. You've lost. Don't make anyone else pay for your mistakes.\nLeyton: I hope you're not the one making the mistake.\nJoseph: The streets are going to seem emptier with them gone.\nOdo: Would you be happier if they'd stayed?\nJoseph: oh, if they'd stayed, it wouldn't be Earth anymore, would it? It didn't seem right, all those phasers everywhere.\nJake: Something wrong, Odo?\nOdo: Am I the only one who's worried that there are still changelings here on Earth?\nJoseph: Worried? I'm scared to death. But I'll be damned if I'm going to let them change the way I live my life.\nSisko: If the changelings want to destroy what we've built here, they're going to have to do it themselves. We will not do it for them.\nJoseph: I'm going to miss you, son. You too, Jake-o. Feels like you just got here.\nSisko: You sure we can't convince you to come back to the station with us?\nJake: A Creole restaurant would be a big hit on the Promenade.\nJoseph: Then you'll just have to open one. This is my home.\nSisko: Well, we'd better get going. Now don't forget\nJoseph: Take my medicine. I know. Is he always such a mother hen?\nOdo: He means well.\nJoseph: Take care of yourself.\nSisko: I'll do my best.\nJoseph: That's all I can ask.\nSisko: Three to beam up.\nJoseph: Well, what are you waiting for? Come in, have a seat. Today I'm recommending the pasta boudin. It's got a bit of a kick, but it will make you smile."}
{"text": "Odo: One raktajino, extra hot, two measures of kava. Time?\nComputer: Oh seven fifty nine hours.\nKira: Good morning.\nOdo: Major.\nKira: So. Ahh. How many have we got?\nOdo: Sixteen items.\nKira: The station's criminal element has been busy this week.\nOdo: Nothing out of the ordinary. Three petty thefts, two incidents of disorderly conduct, one assault.\nKira: Ijarna's wife hit him again? Why does he stay with her?\nOdo: Skip to item twelve.\nKira: Public lewdness.\nOdo: The same night Ijarna reported the assault, I found him and his wife behind the information kiosk on the second level.\nKira: That answers my question. What about item seven?\nOdo: Ah. One of my deputies caught Ojuy Gel scrawling political graffiti on a wall in section four.\nKira: He's always riled up about something, isn't he? What is it this time?\nOdo: He was protesting First Minister Shakaar's upcoming visit to the station.\nKira: He's been handing out leaflets saying Shakaar should drop the petition to join the Federation.\nOdo: Well, leaflets are one thing, vandalism is quite another. Ojuy spent a night in a holding cell for his trouble, and I understand the Arbiter has sentenced him to three weeks community service on sanitation duty.\nKira: Just make sure he scrubs that wall clean before Shakaar gets here. I don't want him to see it.\nOdo: Right.\nQuark: I'd like to file a complaint.\nOdo: Not now, Quark.\nQuark: A noise complaint against you.\nOdo: We are conducting station business.\nQuark: My quarters are right below his. You wouldn't believe the racket he makes.\nOdo: Quark.\nQuark: Do you know what it's like to hear someone practice shape-shifting? Last night, it sounded like a Takaran wildebeest was tromping around up there.\nOdo: That was for all of five minutes. Once you complained, I took the form of a Rafalian mouse.\nQuark: Yeah, little tiny feet skittering across the floor. Back and forth, back and forth.\nKira: You could hear that?\nQuark: Hello? Sometimes I can even hear him oozing around.\nKira: Maybe you should change quarters.\nQuark: Maybe he should have a little more consideration. Shape-shifting in the middle of the night. There ought to be a regulation against it.\nOdo: Come back in half an hour, I'll be happy to take your complaint then.\nQuark: Oh, I'll be back. You can count on it.\nKira: It's just Quark's luck that you would be assigned quarters right above his.\nOdo: Luck had nothing to do with it.\nO'Brien: I don't see why Captain Sisko insists on having me here. I'm not a senior officer.\nBashir: Maybe he just wanted to see you in your dress uniform. It does show off your figure.\nO'Brien: Why, thank you.\nSisko: Good of you to make it, old man. Shakaar's transport just docked.\nDax: Sorry. There were so many people on the Promenade it was hard to get through.\nKira: I hope Shakaar's gotten better at speaking in front of groups. He used to mumble his way through mission briefings. Everyone in our resistance cell had to learn to lip read.\nSisko: Welcome to Deep Space Nine, Minister.\nShakaar: Thank you, Captain. I've been looking forward to visiting the station and meeting the Emissary.\nSisko: This is part of my senior staff. Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax, Chief of Operations Miles O'Brien, Doctor Bashir, and, of course you know Major Kira.\nShakaar: Nerys.\nKira: Good to see you again, Edon.\nShakaar: Well, I guess I should introduce my senior staff. There he is.\nSarish: Sarish Rez, the First Minister's adjutant.\nSisko: A pleasure. Come this way. There's quite a crowd waiting for you on the Promenade.\nShakaar: Can't wait.\nDax: Why didn't you tell me?\nKira: What?\nDax: He's so good looking.\nSisko: The guards will escort you to the podium whenever you're ready.\nSarish: Don't forget to mention the transit subsidies you just allocated. Tell them they can expect the price of transport to Bajor to start dropping within a few months. And remember, enunciate.\nShakaar: Let's go.\nKira: Good luck.\nShakaar: Yeah.\nOdo: Odo to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Constable.\nOdo: I've just\nOdo: Received a disturbing communication. I have reason to believe someone is planning to assassinate First Minister Shakaar.\nOdo: As far as I'm concerned we should've gotten the First Minister off that podium as soon as we received the information.\nSarish: If Shakaar canceled his public appearances every time someone threatened his life, he would never leave his office.\nOdo: We're not talking about some disgruntled shopkeeper who writes a letter threatening Shakaar for raising taxs, we're talking about a Cardassian extremist group that's already succeeded in assassinating two Bajoran officials.\nSarish: I know all about the True Way and what they're capable of.\nOdo: My sources in the Cardassian Civilian Government believe the True Way already has an operative in place aboard the station. I suggest you cancel the First Minister's conference and reschedule it at another location.\nSarish: Absolutely not. Nothing is going to keep Shakaar from meeting those delegates tomorrow. Bajor's effort to join the Federation hinges on what happens over the next few days.\nSisko: Shouldn't the decision be up to the First Minister?\nSarish: It will be. But I already know what he's going to say.\nKira: So do I. Shakaar knows better than anyone you can't capitulate to terrorists. He used to be one, and the day the Cardassians started to negotiate with him was the day he knew they'd been beaten. He'll stay.\nSisko: I suppose if I were in his position I'd do the same. Constable, I want station security stepped up for the duration of Shakaar's visit.\nOdo: The First Minister will have round-the-clock protection. I'd like to deploy Starfleet security personnel in addition to my own deputies.\nSisko: Of course. Commander Eddington is on leave. I'll ask Mister Worf to head up Starfleet Security while he's gone.\nOdo: I've cleared the rooms above, below and to both sides of the First Minister's quarters.\nWorf: I would recommend clearing that entire section of the Habitat Ring.\nOdo: I'm afraid that isn't feasible. There are over twelve hundred people living there.\nWorf: Providing security was difficult enough aboard the Enterprise. It appears to be next to impossible on this station.\nOdo: It isn't easy.\nWorf: I prefer a more orderly environment.\nOdo: We have that in common. My people have an innate need for order.\nWorf: How do you tolerate living here?\nOdo: I make order where I can. For one thing, I have a daily routine which I follow unwaveringly. Shopkeepers on the Promenade joke that they can set their clocks by me.\nWorf: Unfortunately, I have found it difficult to establish a routine here.\nOdo: There are other ways to create order in your life. Your quarters, for example. Everything in mine has its specific place and it's all arranged just so.\nWorf: Yes, mine too. Even with my eyes closed I would still know where everything was.\nOdo: Exactly.\nWorf: I would not tolerate it any other way.\nOdo: I'll tell you what else to do. Make sure everyone knows they can't just drop by your quarters to say hello. If someone does, whatever happens, don't make them feel welcome.\nWorf: Of course not. That would only invite subsequent visits.\nOdo: Precisely.\nWorf: So far, the only person who has a tendency to drop by is Chief O'Brien.\nOdo: That's probably because he knows you from the Enterprise.\nWorf: Perhaps if I am more inhospitable, he will stop.\nOdo: Good luck.\nOdo: Odo to Worf.\nWorf: Go ahead.\nOdo: The guards are in position. The corridors between Shakaar's quarters and the wardroom have been cleared.\nWorf: Acknowledged.\nOdo: The First Minister is scheduled to leave for the reception\nOdo: In half an hour.\nWorf: The wardroom will be scanned and secured well before then.\nShakaar: You must be Odo.\nOdo: First Minister.\nShakaar: I was hoping I'd get to meet you. I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances. We're ready to go.\nOdo: Well, the reception doesn't start for another\nShakaar: I know. I want to stop by the Promenade and visit the Temple first.\nOdo: Why wasn't I told about this?\nSarish: I didn't know myself until a moment ago.\nShakaar: Is there a problem?\nOdo: I would have posted extra security on the Promenade.\nShakaar: We'll just slip in, I'll stay for a few minutes, and then we'll slip out.\nOdo: With all due respect, sir, now that you're First Minister you can't slip in or out of bed without people noticing.\nShakaar: Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stay in bed all day.\nOdo: Odo to Worf. There's been a change of plans.\nShakaar: I understand you used to work for the Cardassians when they were running the station.\nOdo: I was in charge of keeping order on the Promenade.\nShakaar: They could've given that job to one of their own people. They must have thought very highly of you. I know Kira does. She once told me she trusted you with her life.\nOdo: Well, I'm gratified to hear that.\nShakaar: I've always found her to be a good judge of character, so I'll trust you with mine too.\nMan: It's him.\nWoman: Really?\nMan: First Minister.\nShakaar: Gentlemen. How are you. Hi. How are you today?\nWorf: Worf to Odo. We have secured the Temple.\nOdo: I'll try to get him inside as soon as I can.\nShakaar: Welcome. It's a pleasure to see you here. How do you do? Pleasure.\nWoman 2: It's nice to meet you.\nShakaar: I appreciate you being here. Thank you.\nMan 2: It's a great pleasure, Minister.\nShakaar: Nice to see you.\nKira: Is it always like this?\nSarish: It's not often that people get a chance to talk to the First Minister. Besides, have you ever met a Bajoran who didn't have a fervent opinion about everything from Prophetic interpretation to farm policy?\nKira: I guess not.\nSarish: Is that Vedek Tonsa?\nKira: Yes, it is.\nSarish: I hear he's an excellent springball player.\nKira: Oh, the best on the station. Why?\nSarish: I think I'll see if we can arrange a game.\nKira: You'd better be good.\nSarish: I'm terrible. But it will give me a chance to talk to him about supporting Shakaar in the Vedek Assembly.\nKira: Do you have to stare like that? I think it's making people nervous.\nOdo: Good.\nKira: I've been meaning to ask you. Why don't you wear that belt anymore?\nOdo: I don't know. It didn't really serve a purpose. It's not as if I needed it to hold my pants up.\nKira: I just thought it looked good on you, that's all.\nOdo: Really?\nKira: Really.\nOdo: Well, if you say so.\nOdo: Better?\nKira: Much. I guess I'll turn in.\nOdo: Of course. Good night, Major.\nKira: Good night.\nShakaar: Will you excuse me? Nerys. Where are you going? You haven't even said hello.\nKira: You were so busy, I didn't want to bother you.\nShakaar: You wouldn't be bothering me, you'd be rescuing me.\nKira: That bad?\nShakaar: You have no idea.\nKira: Then I suppose now wouldn't be a good time for me to give you my opinion on how Bajor should be dealing with the Klingons.\nShakaar: Actually, it would. But not here.\nKira: I was joking.\nShakaar: Fine. We'll talk about something else.\nQuark: Care for some hasperat?\nOdo: No. I don't eat.\nQuark: Have some. I'm charging by the head for this little function and you do have a head, for the moment.\nShakaar: Let's take a walk.\nKira: Okay.\nOdo: Minister?\nShakaar: We're going to take a stroll.\nOdo: If you tell me where you're going, I'll secure your route.\nShakaar: If I knew where we were going, it wouldn't be a stroll, would it?\nOdo: I suppose not. I'll escort you.\nShakaar: Fine, but just you. Oh, and don't stay too close.\nShakaar: Let's go.\nOdo: Where?\nShakaar: Back to my quarters.\nOdo: This way.\nOdo: I take it the negotiations aren't going all that well.\nShakaar: How'd you know?\nOdo: The truth is, the Bajorans are even less successful than most humanoids at hiding their emotions.\nShakaar: So you're saying it's as plain as the nose on my face?\nOdo: I've been working with the Federation for a number of years. They claim to be open and understanding, but somehow they're always convinced that they're right. It can be exasperating at times.\nShakaar: I've been trying to get them to cut the timetable for Bajor's admittance into the Federation by half. But every time I think I've made them understand my reasons, they remind me that every member of the Federation has gone through the same admittance process.\nOdo: And why should Bajor be any different?\nShakaar: I can't think of a single reason.\nOdo: Unless of course, you take into account the effect that fifty years of occupation might have on a society.\nShakaar: Thank you.\nShakaar: You know, I've been a soldier and I've been a politician, and I have to say I'm starting to think that being a soldier was easier.\nOdo: Well, I'm afraid I don't know much about politics.\nShakaar: Well, you agree with me. As far as I'm concerned, that makes you an expert.\nShakaar: I realize I haven't been making your job any easier the past few days.\nOdo: Well, I can't argue with that.\nShakaar: Well, I want to you to understand that I appreciate your thoroughness.\nOdo: Thank you.\nShakaar: Yeah. Odo, I know that you and Nerys are friends, and I was wondering. Does she ever talk to you about me?\nOdo: Of course. She's spoken about you on more than one occasion.\nShakaar: What I mean is, has she ever said anything to you that might indicate that she thought of me as more than a friend?\nOdo: Ah. Well, let me think. No.\nShakaar: Oh, I see. I've known Nerys for over ten years. I've trusted her with my life on more than one occasion.\nOdo: So have I.\nShakaar: She always knew how to follow orders. She never complained when things got rough. She was a good soldier and a good friend. But now it's different.\nOdo: Is it? She's still your friend.\nShakaar: I know. I think I'm falling in love with her. Sometimes I get the sense that maybe, just maybe, she feels the same way. But I could be wrong. I'm afraid to say anything because it might ruin our friendship. But if I don't, I could be letting something precious slip through my fingers.\nOdo: It's a difficult situation.\nShakaar: Yeah. Well, for all I know, I've gotten myself all twisted up over nothing. I mean, if she hasn't said anything to you, then this whole thing is probably just inside my head.\nOdo: Frankly, I think she's still grieving for Vedek Bareil.\nShakaar: Of course. It's only natural. Maybe I should just be patient.\nOdo: That's what I would do.\nShakaar: On the other hand, maybe I should let her know how I feel. It might help her get over her loss if she knew that there was somebody who really cared about her. What do you think?\nOdo: I'm afraid I know even less about relationships than I do about politics.\nShakaar: Well, then, I understand. I don't mean to burden you with my problems. Talking about humanoid relationships can't be that interesting to you.\nOdo: For the most part, no.\nQuark: You don't have to bother, Odo, I can personally vouch for every one of my employees who had access to that food.\nOdo: Huh. I can't tell you how relieved that makes me feel.\nOdo: I'm reading some sort of power signature.\nOdo: Ah. A Ferengi eavesdropping device. I don't suppose you know anything about this?\nQuark: There it is. I've been looking for that all day.\nOdo: You admit it's yours?\nQuark: I must have misplaced it.\nOdo: I take it you were hoping to peddle information about Shakaar's meeting?\nQuark: Odo, you know as well as I do that it's illegal to listen to someone's conversation without their consent.\nOdo: Why else would someone like you own such an expensive listening device?\nQuark: I use it to monitor Rom's sleep. You see, ever since he was a boy, my brother's had this condition where he sometimes stops breathing in the middle of the night. The fact is, I can't sleep unless I know he's all right.\nOdo: Very touching.\nOdo: How clumsy of me.\nQuark: You are in a bad mood today.\nOdo: I don't have moods.\nQuark: Of course not. You're an unfeeling changeling. All you care about is order.\nOdo: That's right.\nQuark: Oh, please. I know what's going on. You don't have to pretend with me.\nOdo: I have no idea what you're talking about.\nQuark: You're in love with her.\nOdo: Who?\nQuark: Kira.\nOdo: That's ridiculous.\nQuark: And what's more, you're worried she's falling in love with Shakaar.\nOdo: Is that a fact.\nQuark: It's the truth. Why can't you just admit it? It's nothing to be ashamed of. Look, Odo, I know this can't be easy for you\nOdo: I don't want your sympathy, Quark, and I don't need your advice. Just stay out of my business.\nOdo: Computer, time.\nComputer: Oh eight twenty one hours.\nKira: I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't realize what time it was. So what do we have?\nOdo: Nine items.\nKira: So far it's all fairly routine. Something wrong?\nOdo: Your raktajino?\nKira: Oh, I had one this morning with Shakaar.\nOdo: I didn't see you in the Replimat.\nKira: No, it was in his quarters. He asked me to look over a proposal he's going to make to the Federation delegates.\nOdo: Ah. There's an interesting story behind item four.\nKira: And I would love to hear it, but I'm a little pressed for time right now.\nOdo: Of course.\nKira: I promised Shakaar I'd give him a tour of the station.\nOdo: I'll make sure security is in place.\nKira: Thank you. See you later.\nKira: The upper pylons have the best view of the wormhole.\nShakaar: I've never seen it, actually.\nKira: Why don't we stay a few minutes. May a ship will go through. You can see it open.\nShakaar: You're the First Officer, can't you order a ship through?\nKira: Well, you're the First Minister, you should be able to order a whole fleet through.\nShakaar: The other day I heard someone say that if you happen to see the wormhole open, you get to make a wish.\nKira: That's been going around the station for a while now.\nKira: Look. Did you make a wish?\nShakaar: Yes.\nKira: We should get going. There's a lot more to see.\nOdo: Odo to Worf.\nWorf: Go ahead.\nOdo: We're heading back down to the Docking Ring.\nWorf: Acknowledged.\nWorf: Your route has been secured.\nOdo: Level two D.\nComputer: Please enter security code.\nShakaar: You know I haven't had a meal outside the wardroom or my quarters since I got here.\nKira: Well, there are some pretty nice places to eat on the Promenade.\nShakaar: You have a favorite?\nKira: There's a new Bolian restaurant that's pretty good.\nShakaar: I've never had Bolian food.\nKira: This isn't going to sound very appetizing, but the meat they use is sort of aged.\nShakaar: Aged?\nWorf: Worf to Odo, a turbolift is stuck on level forty one. We're going to have to re-route you.\nOdo: Verify your security code and I'll release the controls to you.\nKira: You don't want to know.\nShakaar: Why don't we go there tonight?\nKira: I'd love to.\nShakaar: Great. How does nineteen hundred hours sound?\nShakaar: We can\nKira: We're falling! Kira to Worf. Someone cut our comm. links.\nOdo: Controls aren't responding.\nShakaar: Well, I guess this means my tour is over.\nSisko: You're telling me someone overrode the station's comm. system, faked Worf's voice, and then sent one of our turbolifts into a free fall?\nOdo: I'm afraid so, sir. Apparently they tapped into the comm. system with a voice synthesizer.\nSisko: What I want to know is how they got Worf's security code.\nOdo: We don't know that they did that, sir.\nSisko: What do you mean?\nOdo: I turned over control of the turbolift without verifying his code.\nSisko: They say to err is human, But you're not human, Odo. You're not even humanoid. And this is not the sort of mistake that I'd expect from you.\nOdo: I was distracted.\nSisko: Distracted?\nOdo: A personal matter, sir. I prefer not to discuss it.\nSisko: Constable, whatever this personal matter is, don't let it interfere with your job again.\nOdo: I won't, sir.\nSisko: That's all I need to hear. Now, no ships have been allowed to leave since this incident occurred. That means that whoever was responsible is still on the station. I want them found.\nOdo: Yes, sir.\nWorf: It appears that they accessed the turbolift control system through the ODN relays.\nWorf: There might be a trace of the access signal left in the relays. If we can isolate it, we might be able to follow it back to the source. Odo. Are you listening?\nOdo: I've heard every word.\nWorf: Your mind does not appear to be on its work.\nOdo: With all due respect, Commander, you don't know me well enough to gage my state of mind.\nWorf: When someone fails to ask for a security verification, their state of mind is obvious.\nOdo: Is it.\nWorf: And with all due respect, I do not see how sitting in a chair staring at a wall is going to help apprehend Shakaar's would-be assassin.\nOdo: You're right. It won't. I'm going to go talk to Major Kira.\nWorf: Why? She already gave us her statement.\nOdo: You follow your leads, Commander, I'll follow mine.\nOdo: Jimenez? What are these men doing here?\nJimenez: First Minister Shakaar is in Major Kira's quarters, sir.\nOdo: How long has he been there?\nJimenez: Since they finished dinner about three hours ago.\nOdo: All right, Ensign, you're relieved.\nJimenez: Sir, I'm not scheduled to go off duty\nOdo: I said you're relieved. I'll take the rest of your shift.\nJimenez: Yes, sir.\nKira: Let's have dinner.\nShakaar: Great. I'll see you then.\nKira: Good morning.\nOdo: May I ask where you're going, First Minister?\nShakaar: To my quarters and then to the meeting in the Wardroom.\nOdo: Major, I was wondering if you had a moment to answer a few questions about what happened in the turbolift.\nKira: Sure. Come on in.\nKira: Lights.\nOdo: Did I do something amusing?\nKira: No, it's just. Edon and I.\nOdo: I understand.\nKira: Odo, if someone had told me a year ago that this was going to happen, do you know what I would've said? You're crazy. Yes, I respect him. Yes, he makes me laugh. But we know each other too well. He's seen me go weeks without a bath. We've spent long, cold nights huddled together for warmth. There's no mystery left between us. We're friends, that's all. I guess I was wrong.\nOdo: I'm happy for you.\nKira: This must seem so silly to you.\nOdo: No, not in the least.\nKira: You're such a good friend to me. I'm so glad you're the first person to know. Now, you wanted to ask me something about what happened in the turbolift.\nOdo: Yes, but we can talk about it later.\nKira: Oh, no, are you sure?\nOdo: Yes. I have an appointment.\nKira: All right.\nWorf: Take him to a holding cell.\nOdo: What'd he do?\nWorf: He was responsible for the attack on First Minister Shakaar.\nOdo: What?\nWorf: He has admitted to being a True Way operative. They provided him with an isolinear interface to access station systems. He was attempting to use it to depressurize Shakaar's quarters by sabotaging the environmental controls.\nOdo: I see.\nWorf: When he tried to access them, I traced the signal path back to him. He was operating out of an abandoned cargo hold on level thirty one.\nOdo: Why didn't you call me before you made the arrest?\nWorf: It was not necessary. Your deputies assisted me quite capably. They are well trained. You are to be commended.\nQuark: I know you're in there. I heard you.\nQuark: Fine. We'll do this the hard way.\nQuark: I knew it would come to this. You take the form of an animal, you're going to end up behaving like one. What was it? A Klingon targ, a Trellan crocodile? I tell you, this time you crossed the line. I've had it. Odo. Odo! Are you okay?\nOdo: You were right.\nQuark: Oh. I take it Major Kira and Shakaar are? You really are in love. I must say, I really didn't think you had it in you. It takes passion to do something like this, and I always thought you were colder than a Breen winter.\nOdo: What was I thinking? How could I have fooled myself into believing she could ever love someone like me?\nQuark: Look, the last thing I want to do is interfere with your personal life but this, this just isn't any good, for either of us.\nOdo: I'll try to keep my problems more quiet next time.\nQuark: I'm not talking about the noise, I'm talking about business. I'm losing my shirt in the manhunt pool.\nOdo: The what?\nQuark: Anytime there's an unusual crime committed on the station, I run a pool so that people can bet on how long it'll take for you to catch the perpetrator. It's very popular. Frankly, I don't care whether you and Major Kira end up living happily ever after or not. I just want to see the situation resolved. The way I see it, you've either got to tell her how you feel, or forget about her and get on with your life. Concentrate on the essentials. Because you can't keep going like this. It's interfering with your job. And my profits.\nOdo: Your profits?\nQuark: Unless you do something about the situation, I'm going to have to stop running the pool.\nOdo: I'm devastated.\nQuark: You should be. The fact that that pool exists says something about you, about who you are. People see you as the guy who always gets his man. Now you're becoming the guy who tears up his quarters and sits alone in the rubble. And no one's going to want to place bets on how long someone's going to sit around in the dark. Well, I've said my piece. Sorry for butting in. But I'm just looking out for my business.\nOdo: Funny. For a minute there I thought you were talking to me as a friend.\nQuark: Nah.\nKira: Yes.\nOdo: Good morning, Major.\nKira: Come in. What brings you here?\nOdo: I wanted to talk to you about something.\nKira: What is it?\nOdo: I don't quite know how to say this, but I've given it a lot of thought, and er\nKira: Go on. Just say it.\nOdo: I'm afraid I won't be able to make our Tuesday morning meetings anymore.\nKira: Oh. Why not?\nOdo: I've decided to schedule additional training exercises with my deputies.\nKira: Maybe we could have our meetings at another time?\nOdo: My schedule is rather tight. And lets face it, the Criminal Activity reports speak for themselves. There's really no reason we have to review them together.\nKira: Maybe not, but I kind of enjoyed doing it. I thought you did too.\nOdo: Of course.\nKira: Odo, is something wrong?\nOdo: It's just a matter of using my time more efficiently.\nKira: I understand.\nOdo: Well.\nKira: Hey. No belt?\nOdo: I'm just trying to keep to the essentials, Major.\nKira: See you.\nQuark: They're upstairs.\nOdo: Who?\nQuark: Kira and Shakaar. They're in holosuite three, practicing the speech he's going to give tomorrow before he leaves. I hear he's going to announce that the Federation has agreed to cut the timetable on Bajor's admittance.\nOdo: Where did you hear that?\nQuark: Just a rumor.\nOdo: Are you sure you haven't been listening in on your holosuites again?\nQuark: Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. I don't have the right equipment.\nOdo: Not anymore.\nQuark: By the way, I dropped by your quarters this morning.\nOdo: Oh?\nQuark: I heard some noise, and when I went to complain, I found a work crew installling soundproofing in the floor. I have to say, Odo, I'm touched that you would do something like that for me.\nOdo: I'm having the floor reinforced. The fact that they're soundproofing it as well is incidental. If you think I'd put up with three days of construction for your sake, think again.\nQuark: I guess I should've known. Thanks, anyway.\nOdo: Don't mention it.\nKira: What?\nShakaar: That's what she said.\nKira: No. I don't believe it. Okay, from the beginning. Tell me the whole thing.\nShakaar: They're either going to do it or they're not."}
{"text": "Kira: Is all this really necessary?\nBashir: The Klingon invasion has all but destroyed the Cardassian health system. They're suffering outbreaks of all kinds of diseases and in epidemic proportions. Besides, you've only got twelve more inoculations to go.\nKira: Twelve?\nBashir: Sorry, but if you want to go to the conference.\nKira: I don't want to go. I'm no diplomat. Going to some obscure Cardassian outpost to share Bajoran intelligence about the Klingons isn't exactly something I'm good at. I don't know why I even agreed to go in the first place.\nBashir: You agreed to go because it was a personal request from the First Minister of Bajor.\nKira: Oh, it was a personal request all right. Shakaar took me to my favorite restaurant in Jalanda City, poured me glass after glass of spring wine, then took me to his home, and gave me a massage with Kolaish spice oil.\nBashir: Well, nice to know he's keeping in touch with his constituents.\nKira: It wasn't fair. I mean, I would have said yes to anything at that point.\nBashir: What is it?\nKira: I'm seeing spots.\nBashir: Big green, swirling ones?\nKira: The size of Alvinian melons.\nBashir: And is the room beginning to spin?\nKira: Yes.\nBashir: Good. It means the vaccine's beginning to work. Everything'll settle down in a moment.\nWorf: Major, may I speak with you?\nKira: I'm not going anywhere.\nBashir: This one might make you a little queasy. If you have something to say to the major, you'd better make it fast.\nWorf: The Federation has some concerns about your upcoming meeting with the Cardassians.\nKira: So do I.\nWorf: There are certain technological advances that we have shared with both Bajor and the Klingons that we prefer to keep out of Cardassian hands.\nKira: Such as?\nWorf: Photon torpedo guidance systems, long-range sensors, enhanced warp core overdrives. This is a complete list.\nKira: Oh. Well, I think the Cardassians are going to be a little disappointed.\nWorf: Undoubtedly.\nKira: Is that all?\nWorf: Yes.\nKira: Oh good. I'll be right back.\nBashir: I'm glad I'm not going to Cardassia.\nKira: Come in.\nDukat: Hello, Major.\nKira: Dukat? What are you doing here?\nDukat: I'm to escort you to your meeting on Korma.\nKira: You're commanding the Groumall?\nDukat: Thanks to you. If you had not convinced me to bring my half-Bajoran daughter back to Cardassia, I'd still be Chief Military Advisor to the Detepa Council.\nKira: They demoted you.\nDukat: Exactly one week after my mother disowned me and my wife took our children and left.\nKira: You still did the right thing, Dukat.\nDukat: And as a reward for following your advice, I have been relegated to ferrying freight. And, occasionally, various foreign dignitaries such as yourself.\nKira: Look, if it makes you feel better to blame me, go right ahead.\nDukat: No, no, no. I blame no one but myself. I was indiskreet. I compromised myself and have been punished accordingly. If someone under my command had behaved so outrageously, I would do the same to him. Besides, I assure you, this is only a temporary setback. Everything I have lost, I will regain. It's only a matter of time. Now, may I take your bags? Please?\nKira: Come in. Ziyal! I didn't know you were on board.\nZiyal: Hello, Major.\nKira: Oh please, call me Nerys. So, I take it living on Cardassia didn't work out very well.\nZiyal: I wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms. There were some Cardassians who could see past the Bajoran ridges on my nose, but not many.\nKira: I'm sorry. I know it must have been very difficult for you.\nZiyal: The only good thing about living on Cardassia was being with my father.\nKira: I'm glad you two are getting along.\nZiyal: He's been wonderful. And so brave. He never tried to hide me away. He never acted like he was ashamed of me. We'd go out to dinner together, take long walks.\nKira: And now that he's been exiled?\nZiyal: Wherever he goes, I go. He's the only family I have. And this is the only home I need.\nKira: Your father isn't the only one who's brave.\nKira: What's that?\nZiyal: It's a battle drill.\nKira: On a freighter?\nDamar: Target at four hundred thousand kilometers and closing.\nDukat: Shields at maximum. Maintain scan.\nDamar: Engineering and Tactical, ready. Waiting on weapons, sir.\nDukat: What's taking so long?\nDamar: The phaser banks are still charging.\nDukat: I want those weapons online now!\nDamar: Phasers ready.\nDukat: Lock on target.\nDamar: Target set.\nDukat: Fire!\nDukat: Time?\nDamar: Three forty seven.\nDukat: That's pitiful. A crew of Ferengi scrap peddlers could do better than that. Select another target. We'll do it again.\nDamar: Aye, sir.\nDukat: This may be a lowly freighter, Major, but it's still a military vessel and will be run in a military manner.\nKira: You know, you could speed up your phaser recharge time by routing power through an anodyne capacitor.\nDukat: Thank you, Major. That's very helpful. And if we had an anodyne capacitor, we would use it. But we don't. Major, please forgive me. I do appreciate your suggestion. Any anger I may have expressed was due to my frustration over the complete inadequacy of this vessel. I hope you'll allow me to make it up to you.\nKira: What did you have in mind?\nDukat: I was hoping we might have dinner together. After all, it is Cardassian tradition for the commanding officer of a ship to entertain his guests.\nKira: Far be it from me to stand in the way of tradition.\nKira: This is Bajoran Spring Wine.\nDukat: My last bottle. It's one of the things I miss most about Bajor.\nKira: I talked to Ziyal. She's a lovely girl.\nDukat: I'm very glad that you convinced me not to kill her.\nKira: Despite everything that's happened?\nDukat: You may not believe this, Major, but when it comes to Ziyal I regret nothing.\nKira: It's good to hear that.\nDukat: By the way, Major. What is this I hear about you and Shakaar?\nKira: I don't know what you've heard.\nDukat: First it was Vedek Bareil, and now it's the head of the Bajoran government. You do like powerful men, don't you?\nKira: First of all, Shakaar's an old friend. Second of all, what business is it of yours?\nDukat: Let's just say it's further incentive for me to regain my former position.\nKira: It's good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor.\nDukat: I must say, I've always admired Shakaar's success with women. The intelligence file I kept on him during the occupation is filled with reports of his conquests. In fact, if you remember correctly, you were the only female in his resistance cell that he didn't charm. At least until now.\nKira: Is that what you kept track of during the occupation? No wonder you lost.\nDukat: More wine, Major?\nKira: Another drill?\nDukat: I didn't schedule one.\nDamar: Sir, we're approaching the outpost on Korma, or what's left of it.\nDukat: What are you talking about?\nDamar: From what we can tell, it's been attacked. The planetary defense systems have been disabled. Every building has been destroyed.\nKira: How many casualties?\nDamar: There are no life signs.\nDukat: Then we have to assume that everyone at the outpost, including the Cardassian and the Bajoran dignitaries, is dead.\nDamar: Sir, I'm reading a subspace distortion bearing zero zero one mark one five.\nDukat: On screen.\nDukat: Klingons.\nDamar: They're scanning us, sir.\nDukat: Full power to forward shields.\nKira: At this distance your shields won't mean much.\nDamar: Sir, they've stopped scanning us.\nDukat: What are they doing?\nDamar: Nothing, sir. They don't seem to be in a hurry to do anything about us.\nKira: They don't think we're a threat, Dukat.\nDukat: Then why were they cloaked when we arrived?\nKira: They detected an incoming vessel, they didn't know what it was, so they hid. Now they know and they're unconcerned.\nDamar: The Klingon ship has lowered its shields. They're moving off at one quarter impulse.\nDukat: They'll pay for their arrogance. Charge phaser banks.\nKira: What are you doing, Dukat? You can't go up against a bird of prey!\nDukat: Must I remind you, Major, they just murdered your people as well as mine?\nKira: I know that, but getting all of us killed isn't going to change that.\nDukat: We're the only Cardassian ship in the area. I'm not going to let these Klingons escape unchallenged.\nKira: You attack them and all you're going to do is give them a little target practice. They're going to blow us to pieces with their first shot.\nDamar: Phaser banks charged.\nDukat: Lock phasers on target.\nDamar: Phasers locked.\nKira: Dukat! At least lock onto the underside of their hull. It's their weakest spot.\nDukat: You heard the Major.\nDamar: Target set.\nDukat: Fire!\nDamar: Their shields were down and we didn't penetrate their hull.\nDukat: Divert all power to forward shields.\nDamar: Aye, sir.\nDamar: They've gone to warp.\nDukat: Well, it would seem we're not worth destroying.\nKira: Lucky for us.\nDukat: I suppose from their point of view, there's no honor in destroying a worthless freighter. I have to inform Central Command. These Klingons have been operating behind our lines with impunity. Somebody has got to stop them. Someone else.\nKira: How close is the nearest Cardassian warship?\nDukat: Probably in the Dopa System somewhere.\nKira: That's almost three days away. By the time they get here, the Klingons'll be long gone.\nDukat: That's true, but what can we do about it?\nKira: We can go after the Klingons.\nDukat: A few moments ago, you were advising caution.\nKira: That's because a moments ago we were in no position to fight back. I have no intention of letting them get away with what they did. Now, you said scanners showed that the outpost disruptors were disabled not destroyed, right?\nDamar: Correct.\nKira: Dukat, do you think you'd be able to repair one of those disruptors?\nDukat: What would be the point? I doubt we can lure the Klingons back to the outpost.\nKira: Maybe not. But there's no reason we can't make a few alterations to your ship.\nDukat: What kind of alterations?\nDukat: Here? In the cargo hold?\nKira: Why not?\nDukat: Because the outpost's planetary defense weapons are system five disruptors. They were never designed to operate aboard a moving spacecraft, and this cargo bays were never designed to hold them.\nKira: Dukat, you are going to have to stop thinking like a Cardassian military officer.\nDukat: And more like you?\nKira: More like a resistance fighter. You have got to make use of what you have. If you need a hammer and you don't have one, use a pipe.\nDukat: And you really think we can make those weapons operational on this ship?\nKira: It's worth a try.\nDukat: I suppose if we disable the tractor beam, we could reroute enough power to operate one of the disruptors. But those weapons are huge. What do we do with all this cargo?\nKira: Get rid of it.\nDukat: All of it?\nKira: I realize it's traditional for a Cardassian captain to take a percentage of the haul, but you are going to have to shed a lot of traditions if you are serious about fighting the Klingons.\nDukat: Some traditions are hard to break.\nKira: You'll get used to it.\nDukat: You never cease to impress me, Major. I've got a lot to learn from you.\nDamar: Target at five hundred thousand kilometers.\nKira: System five disruptor's online.\nDukat: Open the cargo bay doors.\nDamar: Doors opening.\nKira: Telemetry lock confirmed.\nDukat: Are you ready? Diverting all power to your station.\nDamar: Two hundred thousand and closing.\nDukat: Fire!\nDukat: Very impressive, Major.\nKira: Don't be too impressed yet, Dukat. We still have some problems. Firing the disruptor ruptured power relays and plasma circuits all over the ship.\nDamar: We have small plasma leaks on levels two, four and five.\nDukat: I want those leaks fixed immediately.\nSoldier: Aye, sir.\nKira: We're going to have to do something about that recoil.\nDukat: Major, I'm confident you'll have that disruptor running so smoothly it wouldn't wake a sleeping child.\nKira: Why is it when you smile, I want to leave the room?\nDukat: I suppose it's because of my overwhelming charm. But you must admit it is rather amusing. When we do destroy that bird of prey, it will no doubt go a long way toward restoring my reputation. And I have you to thank for it.\nKira: I'm trying not to think about that.\nDukat: Major, why are you so reluctant to face the obvious? We make an excellent team.\nKira: We are not a team, Dukat, and we have nothing in common. The only reason I'm helping you is because those Klingons killed fifteen Bajoran diplomats.\nDukat: There were Cardassians at that outpost too.\nKira: Maybe. But all you care about is redeeming yourself in the eyes of the Cardassian government. You have seen an opportunity for advancement and you are grabbing it.\nDukat: You judge me too harshly, Major. Maybe I am seeking to regain my former position. One which I earned through hard work, dedication and sacrifice. But redemption is not my sole motivation. I care about my people and I don't intend to allow the Klingons to get away with murdering them. I'm a much more complicated man than you give me credit for.\nKira: If that's true, I suppose I prefer simpler men.\nDukat: Like Shakaar? It amazes me that a woman as intelligent and sophisticated as you could be attracted to such a lumbering, simplistic field hand. I mean, what could the two of you possibly talk about?\nKira: That lumbering field hand is the First Minister of Bajor. And he knows more about how to talk to me than you ever will.\nDukat: How can you be so sure? After all, you don't know me well enough to make a comparison.\nKira: I don't want to know you well enough. And if you want to keep working with me, I suggest you stick to business.\nDukat: I'm sorry, Major. I didn't mean any harm. I was only making conversation. Damar, set another target. We'll test our new weapon as soon as the Major's ready. Let's see if we can't work out our problems. At least the ones we're having with the disruptor.\nKira: This is a standard issue, Cardassian phase-disruptor rifle. It has a four point seven megajoule power capacity, three millisecond recharge two beam settings.\nZiyal: How do you know so much about Cardassian weapons?\nKira: We captured a lot of them during the occupation. It's a good weapon, solid, simple. You can drag it through the mud and it'll still fire. Now this. This is an entirely different animal. Federation standard issue. It's a little less powerful, but it's got a more options. Sixteen beam settings. Fully autonomous recharge, multiple target acquisition, gyro stabilized, the works. It's a little more complicated, so it's not as good a field weapon. Too many things can go wrong with it.\nZiyal: I can see why my father likes having you around.\nKira: I think you should stick with the Cardassian rifle. It's smaller, easier to use, and if we get boarded I don't want you to have to think too much about the weapon you're using.\nZiyal: You don't like my father much, do you?\nKira: No. I don't.\nZiyal: I understand. He did some very bad things during the occupation.\nKira: Yes, he did.\nZiyal: It bothers him, you know.\nKira: Does it.\nZiyal: Very much. He talks about it sometimes. He'd never admit it to anyone else, but he thinks the occupation was a mistake.\nKira: Somehow I don't think he'd say that if the Cardassians had won.\nZiyal: Maybe not. But maybe losing made him a better person.\nKira: Then a lot of innocent people died for his education.\nZiyal: I know. I think about that a lot. But when I look at my father, I have a hard time seeing a murderer.\nKira: And when I look at him, I have a hard time seeing anything else. You're his daughter.\nZiyal: My father says that the two of you have a lot in common. That you both did things during the war that you regret. That's why he cares so much about what you think of him.\nKira: Ziyal, what your father wants from me is forgiveness. That's one thing I can never give him. Now, I think we should concentrate on getting you comfortable with this weapon.\nKira: What about the Cardassian base on the fourth moon of Rakal?\nDukat: It's subterranean, much too fortified to be a viable target for a bird of prey. It would take a Vor'Cha class cruiser to do any real damage. How about the station on Amleth Prime?\nKira: The Amleth system's located inside an emission nebula. The Klingon cloaking device would be useless.\nDukat: I know where they'll go next. Loval.\nKira: That's on the other side of the sector.\nDukat: A long way from the Cardassian fleet.\nKira: From what it says here, Loval is mainly a civilian outpost with a small subspace relay station. The Klingons have been going after a lot bigger prizes.\nDukat: What it says there is not exactly true. Loval is also a weapons research installlation, which is supposed to be a closely guarded secret. Now considering the targets the Klingons have hit so far, I think we've underestimated their intelligence network.\nKira: Sounds like a choice target.\nDukat: Loval it is. The question is, even if we're right, can we stop them?\nKira: All we need is one good shot with the new disruptor.\nDukat: Which won't be easy to get considering they'll be cloaked.\nKira: We don't have to find them. We have to make them come to us.\nDukat: Lure them in. Make them think that we're a helpless freighter.\nKira: We have to make them think that we have valuable cargo aboard.\nDukat: How does refined dilithium crystal sound? I can get Damar to modify the subspace transceiver array to emit a false dilithium signal. Now if I know the Klingons, they'll lock their tractor beam on us and try to take our cargo.\nKira: And we'll have a little surprise waiting for them.\nDukat: Yes.\nKira: Not bad.\nDukat: I told you we make a good team, Major. You are as insightful a woman as you are intriguing.\nKira: I thought we agreed to keep this strictly business.\nDukat: Major, is it my imagination, or do you have a hard time accepting compliments?\nKira: I have a hard time accepting compliments from you.\nDukat: Well, I'll try to restrain my enthusiasm, but I can't make you any promises.\nKira: We'd better get to Loval before the Klingons do.\nDukat: Damar.\nDamar: Sir?\nDukat: Set a course for Loval. Maximum warp.\nDamar: Aye, sir.\nDamar: Loval system within scanning range, sir.\nDukat: Any sign of them?\nDamar: No, sir.\nKira: If they're not there now, they'll be there soon enough.\nDukat: Begin modifications to the subspace transceiver array.\nDukat: We soldiers spend a lot of time waiting, don't we, Major? It's not easy to keep your mind from drifting.\nKira: I don't usually have any trouble concentrating, unless I'm being distracted.\nDukat: Lately, when my mind wanders, I find myself thinking more and more about Gul Marratt. Do you know him? Very dashing. One of Cardassia's rising stars. Graduate of the Cardassian Military Academy, smooth-talking junior member of the Detepa Council, and like your friend Shakaar, quite a lady's man. Especially with other officer's wives.\nKira: Including yours?\nDukat: Mmm. A year ago he wouldn't have dared, but now? I think the first thing I do when I'm returned to power is to demote him. Assign him to the Cardassian Embassy on Breen. I hear it's bitter cold on Breen. And we Cardassians do despise the cold.\nDamar: Sir, I've got something.\nDukat: On screen.\nDukat: Well, Major, it seems fate has smiled on our little plan.\nDamar: They're scanning us.\nDukat: Good. Let's hope they take the bait.\nDamar: Sir, they've locked their disruptors on us.\nDukat: They haven't fired. Which means they could be interested in our cargo.\nDamar: They're hailing us, sir. Demanding our surrender.\nKira: They're interested. Now let's see if you can make them bite.\nDukat: On screen.\nK'Temang: Identify yourself.\nDukat: I'm Gul Dukat, Commander of the Cardassian freighter Groumall. Who are you?\nK'Temang: What is your cargo and destination?\nDukat: We are carrying replicator and transporter parts to the Dopa System.\nK'Temang: You're lying!\nDukat: I assure you, Captain.\nK'Temang: I'm confiscating your ship and its cargo.\nDukat: On whose authority?\nK'Temang: On the authority of the Klingon Empire and the disruptors I have pointed at your vessel.\nDukat: Convincing, wasn't I?\nKira: I'll let you know.\nDamar: They've locked their tractor beam on us.\nDukat: Wait for my signal. Wait. Open the cargo bay doors.\nKira: Doors opening.\nDukat: Fire!\nDamar: We've breached their hull! Their impulse engines are down. They're adrift.\nDukat: Excellent.\nDamar: They're re-locking their disruptors on us.\nDukat: All power to forward shields.\nDukat: Damage?\nDamar: Both shields are down to twenty percent. We can't sustain another hit.\nDukat: I think it's time to improvise.\nK'Temang: I want all power to the disruptors now! You. Get down to the weapons room and find out what's taking them so long.\nDukat: Major!\nKira: Just give me a minute.\nDukat: Hurry, Major.\nKira: Quiet. I need to concentrate.\nK'Temang: Lock target. Prepare to fire.\nDukat: You are a magician, Major.\nKira: There's nothing magical about it. Not when you know Klingon transporter codes.\nKira: It worked. All our people are here and all thirty six Klingons are on the freighter. I can just imagine that Klingon Captain explaining this to his superiors.\nDukat: He won't get the opportunity.\nKira: Was that necessary?\nDukat: You're the terrorist. You tell me.\nDamar: Weapons secured, sir.\nDukat: Excellent.\nZiyal: So is Engineering.\nDukat: Well done. Well, Major, quite a prize we've taken. The first Klingon bird of prey ever to be captured by Cardassia.\nKira: I think I just found a bigger prize. It looks like we've got the target priorities of all Klingon raiders in Cardassian space.\nDukat: I'll contact Central Command and inform them of our success. I think I'll request my Legate title be reinstated, effective immediately. Get me Central Command. No, on second thought, this is too important for them. I want to speak to the Chairman of the Detepa Council himself on a secure channel.\nDamar: I can't do that from here, sir. The communication terminals on the bridge are down but I could re-route it to the Captain's quarters.\nDukat: Good. Do so. Then make the repairs. I want this ship fully operational as soon as possible.\nDamar: Aye, sir.\nKira: Ziyal, do you see the phase compensator in the backup plasma manifold?\nZiyal: What's it look like?\nDamar: Perhaps I should go help her. Klingon technology is\nKira: Odd. Good idea. Hang on, Ziyal. Help's on the way.\nZiyal: Understood.\nKira: You know something, Dukat? These computer logs are even more valuable than I thought. They contain status reports from Klingon ships and outposts throughout Cardassian space. With information like this, Cardassia could launch a major counterattack against the Klingons.\nDukat: They could, but they won't.\nKira: Why not?\nDukat: The Detepa Council has something else in mind. They've ordered me not to engage the Klingons in any further conflict. The Council is looking for a diplomatic solution. They've ordered me to return to Cardassia Prime to resume my post as Military Advisor.\nKira: I thought that's what you wanted.\nDukat: It was. But what is the point of being a Military Advisor to a government that won't fight.\nKira: You can change their minds. Convince your fellow Cardassians to go on the offensive.\nDukat: No, I'd be wasting my breath. They wouldn't listen to me. No one wants to fight. There was a time when the mere mention of my race inspired fear. And now we're beaten people, afraid to fight back because we don't want to lose what little is left.\nKira: That's not the Cardassians I know.\nDukat: What Cardassians? Don't you see, Major? They're paralyzed. They're beaten and defeated. I am the only Cardassian left. And if no one else will stand against the Klingons, I will.\nKira: Look, Dukat, I know you're angry, but maybe you ought to think about what you're proposing. I mean, you can't go to war against the whole Klingon Empire with one bird of prey.\nDukat: Why not? Your people fought against us for fifty years with much less sophisticated weaponry than this. And you beat us.\nKira: It's not the same. The Bajoran people were united. We were all fighting for the same goal. You and your crew would be out there alone.\nDukat: Maybe at first, but perhaps our actions would inspire others to join the struggle.\nKira: It's not that easy, Dukat.\nDukat: I know. Which is why I need you.\nKira: Me?\nDukat: Who else? You know how to organize a resistance cell. You're an expert in terrorist tactics. You have close ties with Bajoran and Federation officials. And besides all that, it would give you a chance to do what you were meant to do.\nKira: No, thanks. I've already got a job.\nDukat: What do you mean? On that space station? We both know your talents are being wasted there. Coordinating docking assignments and leading training exercises. On Deep Space Nine, you're nothing but a bureaucrat, an administrator. If you come with me you can be a soldier again. Think about it, Major. The chance to fight against a superior foe in a righteous cause, to protect a defeated and broken people from a cruel aggressor. You know as well as I do that if Cardassia falls, Bajor is next. Help me stop the Klingons before you become their next target.\nKira: You're really serious about this.\nDukat: Absolutely. Look, Major, I'm not asking you to like me or to be my friend. I'm asking you to join me. To fight at my side. You know what I'm doing is right, and it's what you want to do as well. I know that our past makes it difficult for you to accept me as an ally. I also know that every fiber of your being is telling you to say no, no, no, but somewhere I know there's a yes. You need to listen to that yes. Not for my sake, not for Cardassia's, not even for Bajor's, but for your sake.\nDamar: We've completed the repairs on the navigational system and the cloaking device.\nDukat: Good. We'll leave as soon as you have it online. Think about it, Major. Think about the possibilities.\nZiyal: Nerys! I want to show you something.\nZiyal: Go ahead, attack me.\nKira: What are you talking about?\nZiyal: It's okay. I know what I'm doing. Damar showed me a good trick. Try to stab me with the knife.\nZiyal: I guess it wasn't such a good trick.\nKira: The best way to survive a knife fight is to never get in one.\nZiyal: If I'm going to help my father, I have to be prepared for anything. Show me what you did again. Please. I know I have a lot to learn. I've been practicing with the disruptor rifle but I need to know how to defend myself in hand-to-hand combat. I was lucky not to have to fight when we boarded this ship. I may not be so lucky next time.\nKira: Chances are you won't be. Fighting the Klingons is going to take more than knowing how to fire a rifle or use a knife. You have to learn how to be ruthless. You have to learn to hate the Klingons even more than you hated the Breen.\nZiyal: Whatever it takes, I will do it. But I'm going to need your help.\nKira: You're right. You do need my help.\nDukat: I am disappointed, Major.\nKira: But not surprised.\nDukat: Tell me, were you even tempted?\nKira: Not really.\nDukat: I thought I was so eloquent.\nKira: You had your moments. But the fact of the matter is I've already been where you're going. I've lived the life you're choosing. Fighting hit and run, always outgunned, living on hate and adrenaline. It's not much of a life, and it eats away at you so that every day a little bit of you dies.\nDukat: Very inspiring, Major. But I don't have any choice in this. No more than you had when you fought against us.\nKira: No, I don't suppose you do.\nDukat: Well, all that's left is for you to wish me luck.\nKira: That's not quite all. There's still Ziyal.\nDukat: What about her?\nKira: The life you're choosing isn't for her. She deserves better.\nDukat: She deserves to be with her father. You taught me that. I love her.\nKira: I know you do. And that's why you've got to let her go.\nDukat: Go? Where? She's not welcome on Cardassia or Bajor. This is the only place she belongs.\nKira: That's not true. She could come to Deep Space Nine with me.\nDukat: Are you serious?\nKira: She's a remarkable young woman. I'll make sure she's okay.\nDukat: Why? Why do you care so much?\nKira: Because she reminds me of myself, and I don't want her to go through what I went through. And neither do you.\nDax: Captain, a Klingon bird of prey just decloaked off the station.\nSisko: On screen.\nO'Brien: They're hailing us.\nSisko: Let's find out what they want.\nO'Brien: Sir, it's Gul Dukat.\nSisko: On a Klingon ship?\nO'Brien: He's asking permission to dock.\nDukat: When this is all over, I'll come back for you. I promise you that.\nZiyal: I know you will.\nDukat: Major.\nKira: I'll take good care of her.\nDukat: I know. Well, Major, it appears that whether you like it or not, our lives have become deeply intertwined.\nKira: That really pleases you, doesn't it?\nDukat: Pleases me? Major, it gives me reason to live.\nKira: Come. I'll show you to your quarters.\nOdo: Welcome back, Major.\nKira: Odo, this is Tora Ziyal.\nOdo: Gul Dukat's daughter.\nZiyal: That's right.\nKira: She's going to be living here on the station with us for a while.\nOdo: Ah.\nKira: I'll tell you all about it.\nOdo: I certainly hope so."}
{"text": "Worf: E-cha!\nDax: Movek. Okay. I see your point. The mek'leth definitely have its advantages. But I still think the bat'leth, with its longer reach, is usually the deciding factor.\nWorf: That is a classic argument. However, I find using a large and intimidating weapon like a bat'leth often leads to overconfidence.\nDax: So you think that I was overconfident?\nWorf: You were overconfident. You thought by distracting me with your outfit you would gain an advantage.\nDax: My outfit?\nWorf: Er, I thought that. I mean, I only assumed that\nDax: You thought I wore this for you? Talk about overconfidence.\nDax: Worf. Gotcha.\nWorf: Movek.\nDax: But in my own defense, you do try your own tactics of distraction with all that shouting and growling you do.\nWorf: I am only vocalizing my\nOdo: Odo to Worf.\nWorf: Worf here.\nOdo: Please report to airlock five, Commander. There's an intoxicated Klingon here who's demanding to see you.\nWorf: I'm on my way. Computer, exit.\nKurn: Stay back! You miserable koruts.\nOdo: Easy. None of us koruts is going to hurt you.\nWorf: Kurn!\nKurn: Worf. I knew you would come.\nWorf: He is my brother.\nKurn: The sons of Mogh reunited one last time.\nWorf: Where have you been? I have tried to contact you for months.\nKurn: Well, I'm here now, but not for long. Soon there will be only one son of Mogh. I have come for Mauk-to'Vor.\nWorf: What?\nKurn: Yes, brother. I want you to kill me.\nKurn: Guard! Something for my head. Guard!\nWorf: You are not in the holding cell. You're in my quarters.\nWorf: For your head.\nKurn: Soft, comfortable, just like the rest of these quarters. No one would ever suspect a warrior lives here.\nWorf: It serves me.\nKurn: Always defending the Federation. Tell me, Worf, does Starfleet ever make mistakes even in their furniture?\nWorf: Kurn, where have you been? It has been four months since your last message.\nKurn: I've been overseeing the end of a once-proud house. Perhaps you've heard of it. It was called the House of Mogh.\nWorf: I know what has happened. I regret that by opposing Gowron I have brought disgrace to our family.\nKurn: You regret? What's next, Worf? Do you want to apologize to me? Express your sympathy? How many human weaknesses will you display?\nWorf: I do not apologize for what I have done. I could not join Gowron in his war with Cardassia or the Federation. It would have been dishonorable.\nKurn: Oh, so in avoiding dishonor for yourself, you brought it on the rest of your family. What a noble act. How selfless.\nWorf: I will not debate this with you, Kurn. What is done is done.\nKurn: For you, it's done. You and your comfortable Federation life, your glorious Starfleet career. But not for me. Our family had a seat on the High Council. We were feared by our enemies, respected by our friends. It was even said that if Gowron died the leadership of the Council might be passed to someone from the House of Mogh. Then you chose to side with the Federation against the Empire. Gowron took our ships, our land, our seat on the Council, everything.\nWorf: Kurn, I know this has been difficult for you.\nKurn: What do you know? Did you watch as Gowron's men seized our land and stripped our family of its name? Did you have to endure the humiliation of being ejected from the High Council in front of the Emperor himself? No. You chose to stay here, safe, comfortable, secure. You have everything you want and I have nothing, not even my honor. But you can give that back to me.\nWorf: By killing you?\nKurn: I'm already dead to our people, and so are you, but you don't care. I have never asked you for anything, but you took away my honor and only you can give it back. So now, I am asking you for Mauk-to'Vor. Is an honorable death too much to ask from my brother? Operations log, stardate 49556.2. Major Kira and I are returning to the station after completing our inspection tour of the Bajoran colonies along the Cardassian border.\nO'Brien: This is the Federation runabout Yukon, requesting permission to enter Bajoran space.\nBajoran: This is Bajoran Control. Please transmit your identification code and flight plan.\nO'Brien: Acknowledged. Major. Major!\nKira: Yes! What?\nO'Brien: Sorry, Major. It's just we're almost home.\nKira: Oh. Thanks. Almost home? How long have I been asleep?\nO'Brien: Seven hours.\nKira: I don't get seven hours sleep at the station.\nO'Brien: Must be the company.\nBajoran: Bajoran Control to Yukon. You are cleared to enter the system and proceed to Deep Space Nine.\nO'Brien: Thank you.\nKira: I am so hungry I could even eat Quark's food.\nO'Brien: Let's not get crazy. If you really want some good\nKira: What was that?\nO'Brien: Some kind of high energy diskharge. It was pretty close. Only five thousand kilometers from here.\nKira: Just outside Bajoran space. Elevated tachyon readings, subspace shockwaves. Looks like a cloaked ship exploded.\nO'Brien: There's no debris, no residual warp fields.\nKira: Something exploded. Let's take a closer look. Bring us to five hundred meters from those coordinates.\nO'Brien: Approaching the coordinates. I'm not seeing any signs of. Wait a minute. I'm picking up another tachyon surge. A ship's decloaking directly ahead of us.\nKlingon: Federation vessel. This is the Imperial Klingon Ship Korinar. We are engaged in military exercises in this area. You will alter course and return to Bajoran space immediately.\nKira: This is Major Kira Nerys. We're investigating an explosion which happened at these coordinates.\nKlingon: You have been given a warning according to interstellar agreements. You will not receive another.\nO'Brien: They've locked their disruptors onto us, Major.\nKira: Take us home, Chief. But keep scanning the coordinates of that explosion. There's a lot more going on out here than just military exercises.\nDax: Quark, have you seen Worf? He was supposed to meet me in the holosuite five minutes ago.\nQuark: As if you're never late.\nDax: Worf is never late. In fact, he grumbles at me if I'm two minutes behind schedule.\nQuark: Well, I haven't seen him since this morning. And if he can't at least be civil, I don't care to see him in my bar again.\nDax: It's just his way. It's nothing personal, Quark.\nQuark: No, this was more than his standard rudeness. He came in here, ordered some Klingon incense and nearly threw me across the bar when I tried to give him some replicated incense.\nDax: What kind of Klingon incense?\nQuark: Something called adanji.\nDax: Why would he want adanji?\nQuark: Why? Is there something special about adanji?\nQuark: That's it. I'm going to stop talking to the customers.\nWorf: You have been wronged in this life. There is nothing left here for you. No honor, no future.\nKurn: I wish to reclaim my honor in the next life. I am ready to cross the river of blood and enter Sto'Vo'kor.\nOdo: Commander.\nDax: Odo. Yesterday you called Worf to the airlock to see some Klingon.\nOdo: That's right.\nDax: Who was it?\nOdo: His name is Kurn. It turns out he's Worf's brother.\nDax: Worf's brother. Oh my god. Dax to Worf. Computer, locate Commander Worf.\nComputer: Commander Worf is in his quarters.\nDax: Is he alone?\nComputer: Negative. Captain Kurn is with him.\nDax: Come on.\nWorf: May this blade speed you on your journey.\nWorf: Goodbye, my brother.\nKurn: Goodbye.\nDax: Dax to Ops. Emergency transport. Two to the infirmary.\nWorf: This is not your concern! It is a private matter!\nOdo: I doubt Captain Sisko would agree. You'd better hope he lives, Commander. If not, you'll be charged with murder.\nDax: Kurn's going to make it. Julian said he'll be up on his feet by tomorrow morning.\nSisko: Good. Mister Worf, I want you to tell me why I shouldn't put you on the next transport out of here.\nWorf: You are well within your right to do so.\nSisko: I didn't ask you about my rights. Answer my question.\nWorf: Captain, I do not have an answer. Sir, I realize my actions were in violation of Starfleet regulations, but\nSisko: Regulations? We're not talking about some obscure technicality, Mister Worf. You tried to commit premeditated murder.\nDax: Benjamin, it wasn't murder. Worf and Kurn were performing a Mauk-to'Vor ritual. It's part of Klingon belief that when\nSisko: At the moment, I don't give a damn about Klingon beliefs, rituals or custom. Now I have given you both a lot of leeway when it comes to following Klingon traditions, but in case you haven't noticed, this is not a Klingon station, and those are not Klingon uniforms you're wearing. There is a limit to how far I'll go to accommodate cultural diversity among my officers and you've just reached it. When your brother is released from the infirmary, you better find another way to settle your family problems. Is that clear?\nWorf: Captain, it may not be possible to\nDax: It's clear. There are definitely other possibilities for Kurn. This will never happen again.\nSisko: You're damn right it won't. Now both of you, get out!\nSisko: What do you make of it, Chief?\nO'Brien: From these magnetic flux readings, the energy diskharge we detected could've been caused by the destruction of a cloaked target drone.\nKira: Which would support their story about conducting military maneuvers.\nO'Brien: On the other hand this type of explosion could also have been caused by an accidental warp nacelle inversion.\nKira: Or a blown plasma conduit, or a dozen other things. The bottom line is, there's no way to be certain from these readings.\nSisko: The larger question is, what are these Klingons up to?\nKira: Whatever it is, they're doing it awfully close to Bajoran space.\nO'Brien: And they're very touchy about it.\nSisko: One thing I've had enough of is tiptoeing around Klingons. Take the Defiant and run a sensor sweep of those coordinates.\nKira: And if I run into the Klingons?\nSisko: Tell them that the ship is conducting military exercises according to interstellar agreements.\nKira: Understood. Should I take Worf?\nSisko: I don't want Worf anywhere near other Klingons right now. Keep him informed of what's going on, but under no circumstances is he to accompany you. Is that clear?\nKira: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: Sir.\nSisko: Don't say it, Chief. I've already got one officer defending Worf. I don't need two.\nBashir: He's stabilized. I can revive him at any time.\nWorf: Wake him.\nBashir: I'll be just outside if you need me.\nKurn: I am alive?\nWorf: Yes. Commander Dax realized what we were doing and she had you beamed to the Infirmary.\nKurn: I was looking forward to being in Sto'Vo'kor. I was hoping to see father there.\nWorf: He still awaits you, but it is not yet time for you to join him.\nKurn: And I suppose you will decide when that time has come?\nWorf: It is not for me to make that choice.\nKurn: Why not? You chose not to complete the Mauk-to'Vor ritual.\nWorf: It was not my decision. It was Dax and Odo that prevented\nKurn: Did you fight them? Did you threaten to kill them both if they interfered? And are you standing here now with the mevak dagger ready to slit my throat and bring me the death I deserve? No. For a moment in your quarters during the ritual you were Klingon. But your Federation life has claimed you again and now it is claiming me as well. I have no life. I have no death. whatever is to become of me is up to you.\nWorf: Enter. What can I do for you, Commander?\nDax: I wanted to apologize. I interfered in a family matter, and if I caused you and your brother any further dishonor, I'm sorry.\nWorf: You were following your conscience. That is an honorable motive.\nDax: Not from a Klingon point of view.\nWorf: You are not Klingon.\nDax: Is there anything I can do to help?\nWorf: No.\nDax: Okay.\nWorf: Commander, there is the question of what to do next.\nDax: Right. Do you have any ideas?\nWorf: None.\nDax: Well, in the short term, there's no reason why your brother can't stay here on the station.\nWorf: If Kurn is to remain on the station, he will need tasks to perform. A job.\nDax: What about security? It worked for one Klingon officer I know.\nWorf: Yes, but I doubt Kurn would be interested in joining Starfleet.\nDax: Well, there is another security force on the station.\nOdo: Your brother's had an interesting career with the Klingon Defense Forces, Mister Worf. I just have one question. Does he know how to use the stun setting on a disruptor?\nWorf: Non-lethal skills are not valued in the Empire.\nOdo: They are among my deputies. And if your brother is going to be a member of my detachment, he's going to have to make some adjustments in his thinking.\nWorf: He will.\nOdo: You're certain of that?\nWorf: I would not be asking you to consider him if I were not.\nOdo: I can appreciate how difficult it must be for you to be asking for a favor, especially from me. Very well. Have Kurn report here tomorrow morning.\nWorf: I am indebted to you.\nOdo: Yes, you are. And Mister Worf? You'll find I'm a man who collects on his debts.\nKurn: This container is not on your manifest.\nTilikia: It must be a clerical error. I apologize.\nKurn: Open it.\nWorf: This is a message from Starfleet Command requesting an update on our defense systems.\nOdo: I'd say your brother's doing well, Commander. He's been on the job six hours and he's only killed four Boslics so far. Kira's right. You do need a sense of humor. He's quite good, actually. A little stern, but he never steps over the line. I'm finding him to be a pleasant surprise.\nWorf: I am gratified to hear that.\nOdo: I'm sure you are. Well, thanks for the report, Commander. I'll give it my immediate attention.\nKurn: Brother.\nWorf: Kurn.\nKurn: I hate this uniform.\nWorf: I understand. The transition will probably be difficult for some time.\nKurn: That's not what I mean. I have accepted the transition. I am a Bajoran security officer. The uniform is simply uncomfortable.\nWorf: I see.\nKurn: But I will get used to it. You need not concern yourself with me, brother. I won't disgrace you.\nWorf: I never doubted it. Carry on.\nO'Brien: The same thing, Major, High concentrations of tachyons, subspace distortions and magneton traces. Some cloaked ships definitely passed through this area in the last twenty four hours.\nKira: They're getting close to violating Bajoran space but they're never crossing the line.\nO'Brien: I've never known Klingons to be this fastidious when it comes to respecting borders.\nKira: Especially when they're cloaked. Something's wrong here.\nO'Brien: That's a Vor'cha-class cruiser.\nKira: Stand by shields and phasers.\nO'Brien: They've been damaged. There's a massive hull breach in their port quarter. Main power's failing.\nKira: Casualties?\nO'Brien: It's hard to tell through all this radiation.\nKira: Open a channel.\nO'Brien: Channel open.\nKira: This is Major Kira Nerys on the USS Defiant to unidentified Klingon vessel. Do you require assistance?\nKlingon: This is IKS Drovana to USS Defiant. We do not require assistance at this time. Do not approach us.\nKira: Understood, Drovana. Defiant out.\nO'Brien: They're losing emergency power.\nKira: Why aren't the other Klingon ships helping them?\nO'Brien: Maybe they don't want to give away their positions.\nKira: Maybe they're busy doing something that can't be interrupted. Something that blew a hole the size of a house in a Vor'cha-class cruiser.\nO'Brien: Incoming transmission.\nKlingon: Drovana to Defiant. We need access to your medical facilities.\nKira: Our medical facilities are extremely limited. If you wish, we can tow you to Deep Space Nine.\nKlingon: Stand by. Defiant, your offer is accepted.\nOdo: Odo to Worf.\nWorf: Worf here.\nOdo: We need you in the Infirmary, Commander. Your brother's been seriously injured.\nWorf: On my way.\nWorf: What happened?\nOdo: Kurn found a container of contraband in the lower hold of the Boslic ship. When he confronted their Captain, the man pulled out a disruptor pistol, and then Kurn let himself get shot.\nWorf: Let himself?\nOdo: Kurn is a trained Klingon warrior. He could have disarmed the Boslic without breaking a sweat, but he just stood there, let the man pull out his weapon, aim, and fire. The only thing that saved him was the man was so frightened, his hand was shaking.\nBashir: He'll be all right. Again.\nOdo: Good. A man with a death wish is a danger not only to himself, but to the rest of his team. Kurn's days as a security officer are over.\nBashir: Would you like to see him?\nWorf: Yes.\nWorf: Thank you, Doctor. How do you feel?\nKurn: Like a man who's tired of waking up and seeing a human doctor's face.\nWorf: I thought we had agreed that you would try to make\nKurn: Worf. I don't want to talk anymore. It's not Klingon. You're the elder brother. You tell me what to do, and I'll do it. My life is in your hands.\nBashir: So far, there's nothing unusual about any of their casualties. I've treated fifteen cases of severe radiation burns, seven thoracic perforation traumas caused by shrapnel and twenty three decompression related injuries. All just what you'd expect following an explosion on a starship.\nSisko: Do you have any idea what caused the explosion?\nBashir: Well, the radiation burns were the result of exposure to gamma rays. My guess is they were hit by a photon torpedo.\nSisko: A torpedo?\nO'Brien: From the fracture pattern of the damage, I'd say something exploded about ten kilometers off their port quarter.\nDax: But torpedoes leave ion trails, and the Defiant didn't pick up any in the vicinity.\nKira: And the Drovana was cloaked. Even Klingon torpedoes can't track vessels operating under cloak.\nWorf: Mines. They hit a mine.\nO'Brien: That's why there weren't any ion trails.\nDax: And cloaked mines can't be detected by any known sensor array.\nKira: But there have been at least a dozen ships moving in and out of the system since that explosion. Why haven't they struck any mines?\nWorf: The type of mine currently used by the Klingons remains dormant until it is armed by a coded subspace signal.\nO'Brien: The mine that damaged the Drovana must've malfunctioned or been set off prematurely.\nDax: If we're right, there could be thousands of mines out there right now and we'd have no way of knowing it.\nBashir: Mining a star system is an act of war. I didn't think the Klingons were ready for that.\nSisko: At the moment we can't even prove these mines exist. But if war comes, the Klingons would be able to cut off Deep Space Nine and the entire Bajoran system.\nKira: How do we find these mines?\nDax: Unless we know their coordinates, there's no way to find them until we run into one.\nO'Brien: Then we'd better get those coordinates.\nKira: The place to get them is docked at upper pylon three right now. The only question is how?\nWorf: I have an idea.\nKurn: You want me to turn against my own people? Will my dishonor never end?\nWorf: It is their actions that are dishonorable. Secretly mining star systems is not the act of warriors. They behave like, like Romulan cowards.\nKurn: Is that how you rationalize this? By calling your people cowards so you can be a hero?\nWorf: Kurn, let me ask you this. Do you agree with what has happened between the Empire and the Federation?\nKurn: It is not my place to criticize.\nWorf: Answer the question!\nKurn: No. I opposed the decision to break the treaty but I was overruled in Council.\nWorf: Why did you oppose the decision?\nKurn: Because Gowron underestimates the Federation. He thinks they're soft, weak, and he is wrong. Sooner or later there will be war.\nWorf: A war the Empire may lose.\nKurn: Yes.\nWorf: You know that mining this system is just the beginning. If we do nothing, it will only encourage Gowron to continue thinking of the Federation as weak. Eventually he will attack, and that will be the end of the Empire. That is why you must join me on this mission. Not for my honor, and not for the Federation, but to prevent the Empire from being destroyed in a war they cannot win. Our people have turned their backs on us but we have not turned our backs on them. Let it be the Sons of Mogh, side by side, saving our people. Do this with me.\nBashir: There. Very ugly. Uglier, that is. A joke.\nWorf: I got it.\nBashir: This will temporarily alter your DNA signature to match one of our friends over there. It should be good enough to pass a cursory test.\nWorf: How long will it last?\nBashir: About four hours.\nWorf: That should be sufficient.\nBashir: Kurn. Kurn?\nKurn: Yes, Doctor?\nBashir: Please, take a seat.\nKurn: The deployment plan for the mines should be in the defense system database.\nWorf: I have found the main file directory.\nKurn: No, no, ignore it. It's a security procedure the High Council instituted three months ago. False directories, files, entire databases of disinformation designed for spies to steal. Here's the real database.\nWorf: Can you access the deployment plan?\nKurn: My security codes have been changed, but not all of them. Yes.\nOfficer: You two. What are you doing?\nKurn: We're running a diagnostic on the computer core. There have been power fluctuations in the navigational control system.\nOfficer: I've not been informed of any computer problems.\nWorf: Perhaps you have not been tending to your duties.\nOfficer: I do not know you. What is your name?\nWorf: I am Commander Sorval, son of M'tokra.\nOfficer: How long have you been aboard, Commander?\nWorf: I will not be questioned by a Lieutenant who should be cleaning my quarters. Leave us, or I shall have you stripped of rank and sent home in a transport!\nOfficer: My words were ill-chosen, Commander. Perhaps I can help in your investigation.\nWorf: That will not be necessary. All that we require is\nWorf: You did not have to do that. He was backing down.\nKurn: He was going to kill you.\nWorf: We must hurry. The disruptor blast will alert the security sensors.\nKurn: He was a warrior doing his duty defending the Empire, and I killed him. My dishonor is complete.\nWorf: Since we now have the detonation codes for each mine, we can set them off individually or all at once.\nSisko: Thank you, Commander. Major?\nKira: We'll take care of it.\nSisko: Congratulations, Mister Worf. You did an excellent job. That goes for your brother too.\nWorf: Thank you, sir.\nDax: You don't seem very pleased.\nWorf: I am still troubled by the death of that Klingon officer.\nDax: Your report said it was self-defense.\nWorf: That us not the point. I should have seen what he was going to do.\nDax: What do you mean? From the way you described it, he was standing so close to you, you couldn't have seen the knife in his hand.\nWorf: He decided to kill me while I was looking him right in the eyes and I never saw it. But Kurn did, and he was three meters away.\nDax: Worf, I don't think you can tell someone's going to kill you by looking at them.\nWorf: A Klingon can. It is an instinct. The ability to look someone in the eyes and see the decision to kill. An instinct I no longer have. Kurn was right. I have lived with humans so long I no longer think like a Klingon. For a long time I have tried to walk the line between the Empire and the Federation. I told myself I could live in either world, that it was my choice. But the truth is, I cannot go back to the Empire.\nDax: Do you want to go back?\nWorf: I had always hoped that one day the House of Mogh would reclaim its rightful place and that I would return. But now I know that even if I did, I have no place there. This is all I have.\nDax: Is that enough?\nWorf: It will have to be. But my brother does not even have this. For him there is no future without the Empire. No life.\nDax: Sounds like you're thinking of carrying out the Mauk-to'Vor ritual again.\nWorf: No. I was able to do it once by telling myself it was an honorable Klingon ritual. But now I cannot help but think of it as humans do. As murder.\nDax: What if there was a way for you to kill your brother without killing him?\nO'Brien: We're ready, Major.\nKira: Open a channel. This is the USS Defiant to all Klingon vessels near the Bajoran system. We are preparing to destroy your minefield. I suggest you leave immediately. This is your only warning. Anything?\nO'Brien: Nothing. If they're out there, they're keeping quiet.\nKira: Oh, they're out there all right, and I think we'll be seeing them fairly soon. Prepare to detonate the mine in grid twenty one alpha.\nO'Brien: Ready, sir.\nKira: Send out the code.\nO'Brien: Still nothing, Major.\nKira: We can't say we didn't warn them. Detonate all the mines in grids twenty two alpha through forty seven gamma.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: Just like flushing quail. They're setting course three two seven mark two one five. Back to the Klingon Empire.\nKira: Let's see how many other birds we can flush out of here.\nKurn: Why is it that suicide is considered a dishonorable death, Worf? Shouldn't a warrior have the right to decide when his time has come?\nWorf: If you die by your own hand you will not travel across the River of Blood and enter Sto'Vo'kor.\nKurn: Even if I got cast down into the Underworld, at least I'd be with other Klingons, even though they are the dishonored dead.\nWorf: Put down the disruptor.\nKurn: Do you know what my one regret is, Worf? That we weren't raised together. In the Empire, on Earth, it wouldn't have mattered, but the Sons of Mogh should have never been separated.\nWorf: On that we both agree.\nKurn: But that is the past, and a warrior should look to the future.\nKurn: And in the future you should not be burdened by my dishonor.\nWorf: You are not a burden.\nKurn: I have never understood you, Worf. But I do know this. In your own way you are an honorable man.\nWorf: And you will be an honorable man again, but not as my brother.\nDax: How long will the procedure take?\nBashir: Well, wiping his memory is relatively simple, say an hour. But changing his genetic coding, combined with surgically altering his features will take at least another five hours.\nWorf: What will he remember?\nBashir: He'll know he's a Klingon, and how to speak the language, and virtually everything he needs to know in order to survive, except who he is. And that's the first question he'll ask. Who am I? Do you have an answer?\nWorf: There is a man named Noggra, a friend of our father's. He will be arriving in a few hours. He has agreed to provide Kurn with a new identity and a new family. He will supply Kurn with all the answers he needs.\nBashir: Are you absolutely certain about this, Worf? Once I've erase his memory engrams it'll be almost impossible to restore them. He won't remember you or anything about his real life.\nWorf: It is the only way. You may begin.\nBashir: Prep him for surgery.\nNoggra: Rodek? Can you hear me? Rodek!\nKurn: Where? Where am I?\nNoggra: On a Federation space station. Our shuttle was damaged. You were hit by a plasma diskharge.\nKurn: I, I don't remember being on a shuttle. In fact, I don't remember anything.\nBashir: The plasma diskharge damaged your hippocampus. You're suffering from a severe form of amnesia. I'm afraid you may never regain all of your memory.\nKurn: Who am I?\nNoggra: Your name is Rodek. You are my son. You're part of the House of Noggra, a small but proud family. So don't worry. I will teach you all that you have forgotten when we get home.\nKurn: I understand, father.\nKurn: Who are you?\nWorf: I am Worf.\nKurn: Are you part of my family?\nWorf: I have no family."}
{"text": "Worf: Department heads, prepare reports for tomorrow's briefing. All hands, dismissed.\nDax: I'd say that was successful mission. Five days in the Gamma quadrant and no sign of the Jem'Hadar.\nWorf: Commander, during our maneuvers through that asteroid belt in the Kar-telos system, I noticed the Defiant felt a little sluggish when turning hard aport.\nDax: The inertial dampening generators may need to be realigned.\nWorf: I'll begin drawing up a schedule immediately. And while we're at it, we should recalibrate the targeting scanners and check the EPS relays.\nDax: O'Brien's going to be a little disappointed. He thought he finally had the ship running smoothly.\nWorf: Chief O'Brien has done an excellent job. This is a fine ship. But it is my duty to keep her functioning at peak proficiency.\nDax: Mister Worf, you're in love. With the Defiant.\nWorf: You exaggerate, as usual.\nBashir: I feel silly.\nLeeta: I like it. It shows off your legs.\nO'Brien: There, you see. Your public has spoken.\nLeeta: Have fun.\nBashir: What do you call this holosuite program of yours called again?\nO'Brien: The Battle of Clontarf. You and me and a thousand stalwart Irish warriors against a ravening hoard of Vikings. It's like the Battle of Britain, only with swords.\nBashir: How come you get to be the High King?\nO'Brien: I am a direct descendant of King Brian Boru. Besides, it's my program.\nBashir: I suppose that's only fair.\nQuark: I know exactly how you feel. The Bajoran Time of Cleansing. Could someone explain to me why the Bajorans need to abstain from worldly pleasures for an entire month? I mean, it's not like they're a bunch of hedonistic holosuite-obsessed drunkards to begin with. No use moaning about it.\nRom: It hurts.\nQuark: Who's that for?\nRom: Me. It's one of Moogie's home remedies.\nQuark: Your ear? Again?\nQuark: That's disgusting! You want to drive away all the rest of my customers?\nRom: I feel dizzy.\nQuark: What else is new? Go wait on table seven.\nLeeta: Rom, you look terrible. I think you'd better lie down.\nQuark: I don't pay you to think. I pay you to spin the dabo wheel. So get spinning.\nLeeta: But nobody's gambling.\nQuark: How can they when you're not at the wheel?\nRom: I really don't feel good.\nLeeta: Can't you see he's sick? He needs to lie down.\nQuark: Just because you happen to be intimately acquainted with Doctor Bashir's bedside manner doesn't make you a medical expert.\nRom: Brother, am I still standing?\nLeeta: What I do during my time off is no business of yours.\nQuark: If you don't get back to work this instant, you're going to have more time off than you know what to do with. The same goes for you. Here.\nRom: Yes, brother.\nLeeta: Aren't you going to do something?\nQuark: Of course I'm going to do something. I'm going to dock his pay. Broik, clean up this mess.\nBashir: This is one stubborn infection. How long have you had it?\nRom: A couple of weeks.\nBashir: You mean to tell me you've been walking around with a seeping infection of the tympanic membrane for two weeks?\nRom: More like three, actually.\nBashir: Rom, you could have died! Another forty eight hours and you'd have been bidding for a new life in the Divine Treasury.\nRom: I guess it's a good thing I fainted when I did.\nBashir: Why didn't you come and see me sooner?\nRom: I couldn't. I was busy.\nBashir: I'm sure your brother could have spared you for half an hour.\nRom: It would've been a violation of my contract. Paragraph seventy six, subsection three. Employees of Quark's Bar and Holding Company are strictly prohibited from leaving the work environment during business hours unless ordered to do so by their employer. Any failure to comply with this provision will result in severe fines and possible dismissal. It's a standard provision in all Ferengi labor contracts.\nBashir: You mean you don't get time off even if you're sick?\nRom: It's all part of our generous employee compensation package. No sick days, no vacations, no paid overtime.\nBashir: It sounds to me like you need a better contract.\nRom: There's no such thing. All Ferengi labor contracts are the same.\nBashir: Well, that should do it. But I want you to see me first thing in the morning for a follow-up.\nRom: It'll have to be before the bar opens.\nBashir: What you people need is a union.\nRom: A what?\nBashir: You know, a trade guild, a collective bargaining association. A union. Something to keep you from being exploited.\nRom: You don't understand. Ferengi workers don't want to stop the exploitation. We want to find a way to become the exploiters.\nBashir: Suit yourself. But I don't see you exploiting anyone.\nLeeta: Rom, how'd it go?\nRom: I'm okay.\nLeeta: Julian's a wonderful doctor. Your brother should have let you see him weeks ago.\nRom: It's not Quark's fault that I got sick. I forgot to get my bimonthly ear scan. And besides, I've probably been getting too much oo-mox.\nLeeta: Really? Who's the lucky female?\nRom: No female. Just me.\nLeeta: I'm sorry.\nRom: Sorry enough to do something about it?\nLeeta: I don't think Julian would approve.\nRom: We could ask him.\nQuark: All right, everyone. Gather around.\nLeeta: What now?\nQuark: I have an announcement to make. I've just been going over today's receipts and it's not good. The only thing this Bajoran Cleansing Ritual has cleansed is my profit margin. So, starting tomorrow, everyone's salary gets cut by a third.\nRom: No, no, it's not fair. I'll talk to him.\nLeeta: It's ridiculous.\nQuark: It was either that or fire half the staff. Don't bother thanking me.\nLeeta: I can't afford a pay cut.\nQuark: It's either a pay cut or a layoff. You decide. All right everyone, get back to work. I want this place cleaned up and the lights off in ten minutes.\nRom: Brother, this isn't right. You can't just cut people's salaries without warning.\nQuark: Actually, I can. And I have. Now why don't you concentrate on keeping your hands off your lobes and leave the business matters to me.\nRom: But once the Cleansing Ritual is over you'll restore everyone's salary, right?\nQuark: That depends on next quarter's fiscal summation.\nRom: Brother, I'm asking you as a personal favor to reconsider this pay cut.\nQuark: Anything for you. There. I've reconsidered it. My decision stands.\nRom: But, brother\nQuark: Don't brother me. In this bar you're not my brother. You're my employee. And employees have no right to question the management's decisions.\nRom: I'm warning you, if you don't rescind the pay cuts you're going to regret it.\nQuark: The only thing I regret is not being an only child.\nDax: You know, I think I'm finally getting the hang of this mek'leth. Don't you think?\nWorf: It would seem so.\nDax: Then why haven't you told me?\nWorf: A Klingon warrior does not need the praise of his teacher.\nDax: I'm not a Klingon warrior. I'm a beautiful and sensitive young woman who thrives on.\nDax: What is it?\nWorf: Listen.\nWorf: Do not move.\nDax: Isn't this your tooth sharpener?\nWorf: This p'tak just robbed my quarters.\nOdo: Take him to a holding cell.\nOdo: I'll need a statement.\nWorf: And you will have one. But I want to know why such a security breach was allowed to occur in the first place.\nOdo: Unfortunately, these things happen.\nWorf: They did not happen on the Enterprise.\nOdo: Really? Now let me see. Stardate 46235.7, Ferengi privateers led by DaiMon Lurin boarded and seized control of the Enterprise using two salvaged Klingon birds of prey. Stardate 45349.1. Berlinghoff Rasmussen, a petty criminal impersonating a scientist, committed numerous acts of theft against the crew of the Enterprise. Shall I continue?\nWorf: That will not be necessary.\nOdo: I know these incidents are the exception rather than the rule, but if security breaches like these could happen on the flagship of the Federation, imagine the difficulty of maintaining security at an open port such as DS Nine.\nWorf: I understand. It is just that I find it irritating.\nOdo: So do I, but I'm afraid you're just going to have to get used to it.\nRom: Attention please. Thank you all for coming. I know that in the past I've always defended my brother whenever he's taken a stance that's proven unpopular with the staff. But I'm not going to do that today.\nGrimp: You're not?\nRom: No. I'm not. Quark's just using the Cleansing Ritual to increase his profits at our expense. It isn't fair, and we're not going to take it.\nGrimp: Since when?\nRom: Since right now.\nLeeta: So what are we going to do about it?\nRom: We're going to fight back in the only way we can. We're going to form a, a\nFrool: A what?\nRom: We're going to form a union.\nGrimp: Are you insane? You've just destroyed the lives of every Ferengi in this room. When the FCA finds out we've even been talking of a, a\nLeeta: A union.\nGrimp: Don't say that word again. We're in enough trouble as it is.\nFrool: The Ferengi Commerce Authority doesn't have to hear about this. If we all go back to work now, no one else has to know this ever happened.\nGrimp: No, no, it's too late for that. The FCA has ears everywhere. And as soon as their lobes get wind of this, we're all doomed.\nRom: All right. So we're doomed. FCA Liquidators will probably haunt us for the rest of our lives. But I say if they're going to come after us, let's give them a good reason. Every one of you, Ferengi and non-Ferengi alike, knows that the way Quark treats us is unfair. Frool, don't you deserve a day off when your back starts acting up?\nFrool: Well, I suppose.\nRom: And Grimp, wouldn't you like to take a paid vacation?\nGrimp: You're being ridiculous.\nRom: Answer the question.\nGrimp: It's not going to happen.\nRom: It won't happen unless you make it happen. We're Ferengi. And when a Ferengi sees an opportunity, what does he do?\nFrool: He seizes it.\nRom: That's right. And I for one intend to grab it. We've been exploited long enough. It's time to be strong, take control of our lives, our dignity and our profits.\nAll: Yes!\nRom: Strike a blow against Quark.\nLeeta: Yes.\nRom: Strike a blow against the FCA.\nAll: Yes.\nRom: Strike a blow against exploitation.\nAll: Yes!\nRom: Are you with me?\nAll: Yes! Union! Union! Union!\nBashir: What you have there is a sebaceous cyst.\nO'Brien: I know it's a cyst. But it's getting bigger.\nBashir: It's nothing to worry about. Dermatologically speaking, you're perfectly healthy.\nO'Brien: I'm perfectly healthy except I've got a disgusting cyst on the back of my neck. Now either I paint a nose, eyes and mouth on it and pretend I've got two heads, or you take it off.\nBashir: I'll get you some paint.\nO'Brien: Julian, get it off of me!\nBashir: All right, all right. But you know what they say, two heads are better than one.\nO'Brien: Julian, I'm waiting.\nRom: Doctor Bashir, I'm glad you're in. I need your help.\nBashir: That ear acting up again?\nRom: My ear's fine. I need some advice about unions.\nBashir: Unions?\nRom: You said the other day I should form a union, so I did.\nBashir: Rom, I was speaking theoretically.\nRom: And I put your theory into practice. All of Quark's employees have joined. We're going to force Quark to treat us better. I hope.\nO'Brien: A union, huh? Good for you.\nRom: You know about unions?\nO'Brien: Who do you think led the Pennsylvania coal miners during the anthracite strike of nineteen oh two?\nRom: I have no idea.\nO'Brien: Sean Aloysius O'Brien.\nBashir: I didn't know that.\nO'Brien: There're lots of things about my family that you don't know. Eleven months those mines were closed, and they didn't open again until all the miners' demands were met.\nRom: You mean we should force Quark to close the bar?\nBashir: Only as a last resort. If he's reasonable about your requests, there's no need to strike.\nO'Brien: Quark reasonable? Ha! Unlikely. You'll have to strike, mark my words. And when you do, you'll have to be strong.\nRom: Just like Sean O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Exactly. You know, he had the biggest funeral in all of western Pennsylvania.\nRom: Funeral?\nO'Brien: They fished his body out of the Allegheny river a week before the strike ended. Thirty two bullets he had in him. Or was it thirty four?\nBashir: Well, he died a hero.\nO'Brien: He was more than a hero. He was a union man.\nO'Brien: I see the problem now. You've got a bad ODN relay here. We'll have to replace the whole unit.\nWorf: How long will it take?\nO'Brien: Two or three hours. But after that, it'll work like a charm.\nWorf: Until the next time it breaks down.\nO'Brien: That's the problem when you combine Cardassian, Bajoran and Federation technology. None of it was meant to work together.\nWorf: How do you tolerate working in this environment?\nO'Brien: It's a lot easier than working on the Enterprise.\nWorf: Easier? The Enterprise never had these kind of problems.\nO'Brien: Tell me about it. Have you have any idea how bored I used to get sitting in the Transporter room waiting for something to break down? Here, I've a half dozen new problems every day. This station needs me. Oh, do me a favor. Hand me the coil spanner.\nQuark: Happy Cleansing.\nQuark: If this is a surprise birthday party, you're a month late.\nRom: It's not a party. We're the Guild of Restaurant and Casino Employees and we're here to present our demands.\nQuark: The Guild of Restaurant and Casino Employees? What's that supposed to be?\nRom: What does it sound like?\nQuark: It's sounds like, like a union.\nRom: Exactly. So you'd better take our demands seriously.\nQuark: Increased pay. Shorter hours. Paid sick leave.\nRom: This is no joke.\nQuark: Yes, it is. And the fact that you don't know that is what makes it so funny. Now get back to work before I fire the lot of you.\nRom: You can't fire us.\nQuark: Why not?\nRom: Because as of right now, we're all on strike.\nAll: Yeah!\nRom: Thank you for not patronizing Quark's. Thank you very much. Thank you for not patronizing Quark's. Thank you for not patronizing Quark's. Thank you for not patronizing Quark's. Thank you for not patronizing Quark's.\nLeeta: I hope Rom's voice holds out.\nGrimp: I hope our latinum holds out.\nRom: Thank you for not patronizing Quark's.\nOdo: You wanted to see me.\nQuark: May I take you're order, sir?\nOdo: Quark, I'm in no mood for games.\nQuark: There seems to be an opening at the dabo table. Or perhaps I might interest you in some time in the holosuites?\nQuark: Not again.\nQuark: Are you carrying a tricorder or anything with a portable energy source?\nOdo: What are you talking about?\nQuark: I'm still working out the bugs in these holographic waiters. The Lissepian who sold me the program neglected to mention that certain energy sources can interfere with the imaging system.\nOdo: Sounds like there's no end to the problems you're facing.\nQuark: I can take care of the Lissepian. I need you to get those traitors away from my front door. They're blocking access to my place of business, causing a disturbance on the Promenade, and they're probably a fire hazard. They belong in a holding cell, every last one of them.\nOdo: Well, I hate to admit this, but I agree with you. From what Chief O'Brien tells me about strikes, they sound like trouble. I don't like mobs. In my opinion, if you need one to get what you want, it's not worth getting.\nQuark: Good. Then you'll haul them away.\nOdo: I'll do nothing of the sort.\nQuark: But you said\nOdo: I know what I said. But I have strict orders from Captain Sisko not to impinge on your employees' freedom of expression. As long as they stay peaceful and allow your customers access through the second level entrance, I'm not allowed to interfere.\nQuark: In that case, would you mind serving some drinks?\nQuark: I didn't think so.\nBashir: What about that Vulcan?\nO'Brien: With their sense of ethics? Definitely on the side of labor. Pass.\nBashir: I'd say this one's an Enter.\nO'Brien: Lucky guess.\nO'Brien: Pass. He barely set foot in the place when there wasn't a strike.\nBashir: Quark isn't exactly his favorite person.\nBashir: Wait a minute. I can't believe it! He's an Enter.\nO'Brien: Not for long.\nBashir: Where are you going?\nO'Brien: To talk some sense into him. Commander! Hold on!\nSisko: I cannot believe what I'm seeing.\nWorf: Sir, if I could explain.\nSisko: Mister Worf, do I look like I'm ready for an explanation? Three of my senior staff brawling on the Promenade.\nO'Brien: With all due respect, sir. We weren't brawling.\nSisko: Maybe you should take a closer look at Doctor Bashir's forehead.\nO'Brien: He shouldn't have got in the way.\nBashir: I was trying I was trying to stop the fight.\nWorf: We were not fighting.\nSisko: Then what were you doing?\nO'Brien: We were\nWorf: Having a difference of opinion.\nO'Brien: I suppose towards the end there, we might have done a bit of shoving.\nSisko: According to Odo, Doctor Bashir was shoved over a table.\nWorf: Now that was an accident.\nBashir: It was just, things just got a little out of hand.\nSisko: Things got more than a little out of hand. I suppose I'm going to have to talk to Quark myself, find a way to settle this strike, get things back to normal around here.\nO'Brien: Captain? Can we leave now?\nSisko: I'll tell Constable Odo to let you go in the morning.\nBashir: I hope you're proud of yourselves.\nQuark: Captain, believe me, I want this strike settled as much as you do.\nSisko: Then settle it.\nQuark: It's not that simple.\nSisko: Make it simple. Sit down with your brother and hammer out an agreement today.\nQuark: Captain, I'm afraid you don't understand what a delicate situation this is. Even talking with strikers would be a violation of the most sacred precepts of Ferengi culture.\nSisko: Maybe I don't know much about Ferengi culture but I do know who holds the lease on your bar.\nQuark: The Federation. And I couldn't ask for better landlords.\nSisko: That's because we don't ask you to pay your rent, or to reimburse us for your maintenance repairs, or the drain on the station's power supply.\nQuark: You're a very generous people.\nSisko: Until today. Let's see. Five years of back rent, plus power consumption, plus the repairs. Do you know how much latinum that is?\nQuark: A lot.\nSisko: That's right.\nQuark: I'll talk to my brother.\nSisko: I'm glad we're in agreement.\nRom: Labor. Where's wages? Wages are here. Wages.\nRom: Come in.\nRom: What do you want?\nQuark: Here.\nRom: What's this?\nQuark: It's the amount of latinum I'm willing to transfer into your private account if you'll just end this strike.\nRom: Are we talking about slips, strips, or bars?\nQuark: Slips. All right, strips.\nRom: It wouldn't matter if it were bars. I'm not going to end the strike unless you meet our demands.\nQuark: Rom, we shouldn't be fighting. We're brothers.\nRom: Not when it comes to business. We're nothing but employer and employee. You said so yourself.\nQuark: I was wrong.\nRom: No, you weren't.\nQuark: Rom, can't we talk about this?\nRom: There's only one thing I have to say to you. Workers of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your chains.\nQuark: What's happened to you?\nBrunt: Ah. It's about time you got back.\nQuark: Brunt.\nBrunt: That's Liquidator Brunt to you. I see you remember me.\nQuark: Who could forget. What do you want?\nBrunt: Quark, don't worry. I'm here to help. The Ferengi Commerce Authority has ordered me to end this nasty little labor dispute of yours.\nQuark: How do you propose to do that?\nBrunt: By any means necessary.\nFrool: I hear Quark had only fourteen customers all day.\nLeeta: And he'll have even less tomorrow. I've been talking to people all over the station and support for our cause is growing.\nFrool: Quark will have to settle. Either that or go out of business.\nGrimp: I don't know. Quark can be awful stubborn. I think he'd rather lose the bar than give in to us.\nRom: Don't be such a pessimist. Remember Rule of Acquisition two sixty three. Never allow doubt to tarnish your lust for latinum.\nGrimp: Your brother can quote the Rules of Acquisition, too. I think his favorite is two eleven. Employees are the rungs on the Ladder of Success. Don't hesitate to step on them.\nRom: My ex-brother wasn't quoting the Rules of Acquisition when he came to see me yesterday.\nLeeta: What did he say?\nRom: He offered me a bribe if I would end the strike.\nGrimp: Did you take it?\nRom: No, I didn't take it. Don't you see what that means? He's getting desperate. A few more days and we'll get everything we want.\nBrunt: Brunt, FCA.\nFrool: It's not my fault. They made me do it. It was all his idea. Forgive me.\nBrunt: If this was Ferenginar, I'd have you all taken to the Spire of the Tower of Commerce, displayed to the crowds in the Great Marketplace below, then shoved off, one by one. Small children would bet on where you would land, and your spattered remains would be sold as feed mulch for gree-worms.\nFrool: Spare me. I'm old, I'm fragile. I'll push the rest of them off myself.\nGrimp: I thought you said you weren't afraid of the FCA.\nFrool: I lied.\nRom: Don't let him intimidate you. We're not on Ferenginar.\nBrunt: Lucky for you. But the FCA understands that living on this station has corrupted you. You've been tempted by unwholesome Bajoran ideals, exposed to the twisted values of the Federation. And because of that, we are willing to forgive.\nFrool: Really?\nBrunt: But don't confuse our mercy with weakness. If you are not back at your jobs tomorrow morning, your financial accounts on Ferenginar will be confiscated, your families fined and your trading permits revoked. You'll be ruined, reduced to utter destitution. Am I understood? Good. I thought so. Don't bother getting up.\nGrimp: Would you get up? Come on.\nRom: Let him stay there. That's where he belongs. The question is, where do we belong? On our knees, like Frool, or standing tall like Sean O'Brien?\nLeeta: Who's Sean O'Brien?\nRom: He was a union man. A man who gave his life to earn a decent wage for his fellow workers. Brunt wouldn't have intimidated him, and he won't intimidate me.\nGrimp: What about our accounts on Ferenginar?\nRom: If your accounts on Ferenginar were worth anything, you wouldn't be working as a waiter. I'm telling you, nothing has changed. Victory is within our grasp. All we have to do is take it. Now are you with me? GRIMP +\nLeeta: Yes.\nRom: I said, are you with me!\nAll: Yes!\nRom: Then let's get back on that picket line and show Quark what we're made of.\nAll: Yeah!\nFrool: Can I get up now?\nRom: Look sharp now, no slouching. Remember, in unity there is strength, so be strong.\nWorf: Chief, may I speak with you?\nO'Brien: Sure. What's on your mind?\nWorf: I feel I owe you an apology. I allowed our argument in Quark's to get out of hand.\nO'Brien: I think there was plenty of blame to spread around.\nWorf: Nonetheless, we are Starfleet officers, and Starfleet officers do not brawl with each other.\nO'Brien: It wasn't much of a brawl, really. I grabbed you, you shoved me, and Julian was tossed over a table.\nWorf: It never should have happened. And under normal circumstances, it never would have. But there is something about this station I find unsettling.\nO'Brien: You'll get used to it.\nWorf: Perhaps. But in the meantime, I think I've found a solution. I'm going to move my quarters to the Defiant.\nO'Brien: You're going to live on the Defiant?\nWorf: I have already discussed it with Captain Sisko.\nO'Brien: And he said yes?\nWorf: As long as it doesn't interfere with my duties.\nO'Brien: But you'll be living out there all by yourself.\nWorf: I know.\nLeeta: That was pretty impressive, standing up to Brunt the way you did.\nRom: Who'd have thought I had such natural leadership skills?\nLeeta: I knew it all along.\nRom: Really?\nLeeta: No.\nRom: I didn't think so.\nLeeta: Well, you surprised a lot of people, including me. I've got to get ready. I'm having dinner with Julian.\nRom: He's a lucky man.\nLeeta: And almost as brave as you are.\nQuark: Psst! Rom!\nRom: She kissed me!\nQuark: There's no accounting for taste. Rom, we have to talk.\nRom: Are you ready to give in to our demands?\nQuark: Of course not.\nRom: Then there's nothing to talk about.\nQuark: There's plenty to talk about. The FCA's involved now, and those Nausicaans working for Brunt aren't just for show.\nRom: I'm not going to let Brunt intimidate me.\nQuark: Don't you see, Rom? You should be intimidated. There's no telling what Brunt might do, and I don't want you to get hurt.\nRom: You never cared what happened to me before.\nQuark: I always cared about you. I tried to protect you, save you from yourself.\nRom: How? By telling me I was an idiot my whole life?\nQuark: I had to be tough on you. I was trying to make you a better Ferengi.\nRom: What you were trying to do was make yourself feel important. Making me feel dumb made you feel smart. But I'm not dumb and you're not half as smart as you think you are.\nQuark: Rom! You have to listen to me! The FCA doesn't have to answer to anyone, and if Brunt decides to get rid of you I won't be able to stop him.\nRom: Look at it this way. If Brunt gets rid of me, then all your problems are solved. You always said you wanted to be an only child.\nQuark: Doesn't that hurt?\nBrunt: I'm sure it does. Most Nausicaan games do. Speaking of pain. Did you talk to your brother?\nQuark: We talked.\nBrunt: And?\nQuark: I need more time.\nBrunt: Time, like latinum, is a highly limited commodity.\nQuark: Look, you're here to help me, right?\nBrunt: Wrong. I'm here to enforce Ferengi law and to protect Ferengi traditions. And that means ending this strike. Now I can see we are going to have to make an example of someone.\nQuark: What kind of example?\nBrunt: Oh, I'm sure that we'll come up with something that will get people's attention.\nQuark: I don't want my brother hurt.\nBrunt: I wasn't thinking of him. Attack the leader of a movement, you risk creating a martyr. No, Rom must not be touched. Our target must be someone unexpected, someone he cares about. Like that dabo girl.\nQuark: Leeta? But she's not even Ferengi.\nBrunt: I know. That's what makes it so memorable. But she has such delicate lobes. I'm afraid I couldn't bring myself to give the order. Let's see. Who else does Rom care about? Boys.\nQuark: Me? But I'm on your side.\nBrunt: Ironic, isn't it.\nQuark: I thought I wasn't allowed to have any visitors.\nRom: Doctor Bashir made an exception. He said you were almost killed.\nQuark: It's nothing to smile about. Those Nausicaans shattered my left eye socket, broke two of my ascending ribs and punctured my lower lung. If Odo hadn't come along when he did.\nRom: Does it hurt?\nQuark: Of course it hurts.\nRom: Too bad.\nQuark: If you're going to stand there and gloat, you can leave right now.\nRom: I'm not done gloating.\nQuark: Don't you get it? This was a message for you.\nRom: It's not going to work.\nQuark: I wish Brunt had known that.\nRom: Odo has him and the Nausicaans in a holding cell. He says it's an open and shut case.\nQuark: It's an open and shut case all right, but I'm not going to press charges.\nRom: You're not?\nQuark: Of course not. I'm in enough trouble with the FCA as it is.\nRom: But then Odo will have to let them go.\nQuark: Either way, the FCA will just send another Liquidator. And that one will make an example of you.\nRom: Then you'll be the one gloating.\nQuark: I don't want to gloat. I want to end the strike.\nRom: So give us what we want.\nQuark: Rom, I can't. I'm not going against ten thousand years of Ferengi tradition.\nRom: You're just afraid of the FCA.\nQuark: Of course I'm afraid of the FCA. They crushed my eye socket. And if you had any sense, you'd be afraid of them too. If this strike doesn't get settled soon, we're both going to find ourselves tossed out of the nearest airlock. You have to dissolve the union. At least officially.\nRom: What do you mean?\nQuark: I mean, I mean you dissolve the union, make it look like I've won, and I'll give you everything you want.\nRom: You'll meet our demands?\nQuark: That's what I just said, you idiot.\nRom: Even sick leave?\nQuark: Even sick leave. And six months from now, when the FCA isn't watching my books so closely, you'll get your raises.\nRom: Six months!\nQuark: It's the best I can do.\nRom: No, it's not. All you have to do is make up one of your fake business ledgers for the FCA. They'll never know the difference.\nQuark: Shush! All right, you'll get your raises by the end of the week. But the union dies here. Today. And that's my final offer.\nDax: Better?\nWorf: Much.\nDax: I thought about getting you a plant, but somehow it didn't seem right.\nWorf: A wise decision.\nDax: So I brought you this instead.\nDax: It's a collection of my favorite Klingon operas. Think about it. You can lie in bed and pipe them through the Defiant's comm. system. Play them as loud as you like.\nWorf: A thoughtful gift.\nDax: You know, Worf, in the end living on the Defiant isn't going to change anything. You're still going to have to get used to life on the station.\nWorf: I am not sure I agree.\nDax: Sooner or later you're going to have to adapt.\nWorf: Perhaps in the end it will be all of you who that have to adapt to me.\nQuark: Come in. Come in. Welcome back.\nLeeta: Why don't you try your luck at dabo wheel? Remember, every Bajoran gets one free spin.\nQuark: You're in a good mood.\nLeeta: I just got a raise.\nQuark: Major. I must say, you are looking particularly cleansed today.\nKira: Just get me two mugs of synthale, a double order of hasperat, and hold the conversation.\nQuark: No wonder I missed you.\nQuark: Ah, Rom, there you are. Why aren't you in your waiter's uniform?\nRom: I'll have a large snail juice, please. Straight up.\nQuark: You know there's no drinking on the job.\nRom: That's no way to talk to a customer.\nQuark: You're not a customer. You're an employee.\nRom: Not anymore. I've wiped my last table and mixed my last Blackhole. Starting today, I'm one of the station's diagnostic and repair technicians. Junior grade, night shift.\nQuark: You're quitting?\nRom: Effective immediately.\nQuark: I gave you everything you wanted.\nRom: I know. But if the strike taught me anything, it's that I do a lot better when you're not around. Don't worry. I'll keep your holosuites running and fix your replicators when they're broken. I think this'll be really good for our relationship.\nQuark: I don't.\nRom: Think about it from my point of view. If I keep working for you, all I have to look forward to is waiting for you to die so I can inherit the bar. Well, I don't want you to die. And besides, I deserve to have a life of my own now.\nQuark: But without me looking after you\nRom: I'll do fine.\nQuark: I suppose you will. I'll miss you.\nRom: No, you won't. I'll be here all the time. Only I'll be a paying customer. Now get me my snail juice, brother.\nQuark: Coming up."}
{"text": "Bashir: I thought you said you'd started straightening this place up.\nO'Brien: You should've seen it before.\nBashir: Keiko's shuttle will be here before we know it. We should have left the holosuite hours ago.\nO'Brien: What, and let the Jerries cross the channel? Never.\nBashir: It is sort of a shame to pack all this stuff away\nO'Brien: I wish we didn't have to.\nBashir: It's like sculpture. A monument to your year as a bachelor.\nO'Brien: I suppose it is.\nBashir: Who are we to dismantle this piece of art?\nO'Brien: I don't know. But if we don't, Keiko will dismantle me.\nMolly: Daddy!\nO'Brien: Hi, sweetie!\nKeiko: Hi.\nKeiko: The one good thing about going away is coming home.\nO'Brien: I never want to be apart like that again.\nMolly: Daddy! Daddy! I have a little brother!\nO'Brien: Really? Is that him?\nMolly: No. He's in there.\nKeiko: Surprise.\nO'Brien: A baby?\nKeiko: Yeah. I thought you'd be happy. I mean, we talked about it and decided we'd start trying.\nO'Brien: Oh, I know. But your last visit, you were only here the one night. I thought it'd take a couple of nights. To be honest, a lot more nights.\nKeiko: I guess we just got lucky this time.\nO'Brien: I guess so.\nKira: Vedek Porta.\nPorta: Nerys. So this is where you are when you're not at the Temple. Very impressive.\nKira: Haven't you ever been to Ops?\nPorta: What business would an old monk have here except maybe helping a young couple to meet the Emissary. Are you sure this is a good time?\nKira: I think he'll be able to fit you in.\nLatara: Thank you so much for doing this, Major.\nKira: Oh, I'm glad to.\nSisko: They can take the Rubicon.\nSisko: Come in.\nKira: Vedek Porta's here with a young couple that just got married. They're hoping to get the Emissary's blessing.\nSisko: Bring them in.\nDax: You remember the words?\nSisko: The marriage blessing? I think so.\nLatara: Emissary. We're very grateful to you for seeing us.\nSisko: Not at all. Now, if you'll just join hands. Zhia'kala, tareh anu suur. Tevon akalu rez kavor. Matana kel.\nLatara: Thank you. Thank you very much.\nPorta: Your accent is getting much better, Emissary.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear it.\nDax: It isn't that bad, is it, being the Emissary? A few ceremonies, an occasional blessing.\nSisko: I didn't say it was that bad. It's just hard getting used to being a religious icon.\nDax: Really? I think I'd like it.\nKira: Kira to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nKira: You'd better get out here. There's something coming through the wormhole.\nSisko: A lightship.\nKira: I don't know where it came from. According to remote sensors it never entered the wormhole.\nDax: From these readings I'd say that ship's about three hundred years old.\nSisko: Lifesigns?\nDax: There's someone on board. A Bajoran.\nSisko: Try hailing them.\nKira: No response.\nDax: Whoever's in there could be injured.\nSisko: Tractor the ship into transporter range and beam the passenger directly to the infirmary.\nBashir: He's a little disoriented.\nSisko: I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko. You're aboard a Federation Space Station near Bajor. This is Kira Nerys, my First Officer.\nKira: Who are you?\nAkorem: I am the Emissary.\nAkorem: I was headed back to Bajor. My lightship was caught in an ion storm. It nearly tore it apart. A girder came loose from the bulkhead and impaled me through the shoulder here. I remember thinking I was going to die, alone in space, when a strange opening appeared in the sky. I was terrified at first, and then I realized what was happening. The Prophets were opening the gates of the Celestial Temple and drawing me to them.\nSisko: What happened then?\nAkorem: It's difficult to describe. They took the form of people that I know, my grandfather, my brother, so that they could communicate with me.\nSisko: You spoke to them?\nAkorem: I didn't have to. I could sense their understanding, their grace. I've never felt such bliss. And then they healed me. A light washed over me and then my wound was gone. They gave me back my life. I felt reborn.\nSisko: When exactly did you leave Bajor?\nAkorem: Oh, it couldn't have been more than a few days ago.\nSisko: What was the year?\nAkorem: Ninety one seventy four.\nKira: That was over two hundred years ago.\nAkorem: Two hundred years? My wife, my parents, they're gone.\nBashir: If you give us your name, maybe we can contact your descendants, let them know you're alive.\nAkorem: Akorem. Akorem Laan. But I have no descendants. My brother died last winter and my wife and I never had children.\nKira: Akorem Laan, the poet?\nAkorem: I'm a poet, yes.\nKira: You wrote Kitara's Song and The Call of the Prophets.\nAkorem: You know my work?\nKira: You're considered one of the greatest poets of Bajor. Every schoolchild can recite Gaudaal's Lament from memory.\nAkorem: People still read my work after all this time? Perhaps that's part of the Prophets' plan for me.\nSisko: Their plan?\nAkorem: It's not clear to me yet why they made me their Emissary, but I know that they gave me back my life for a reason.\nSisko: Akorem, a great deal has happened since you've been gone. Maybe Major Kira can spend some time filling you in.\nAkorem: Major Kira?\nKira: That's right.\nAkorem: But your family would be part of the artist D'jarra.\nBashir: D'jarra?\nKira: Bajor used to have a strict caste system. A person's work was dictated by what family they were born into.\nAkorem: You no longer follow your D'jarras?\nKira: When the Cardassians occupied Bajor we gave up the D'jarras so that we could fight them. We all became soldiers.\nAkorem: The Cardassians occupied Bajor?\nKira: For over fifty years.\nAkorem: It seems you're right, Captain. A great deal has happened since I've been gone.\nSisko: If you look at the prophecies about the Emissary, a lot of them make more sense with Akorem in the picture.\nDax: Really?\nSisko: Every text I've read says the Prophets will name their Emissary by calling him to them, that he would find the Celestial Temple, that there the Prophets would give him back his life.\nDax: Go on.\nSisko: They didn't give me back my life.\nDax: Not literally, but they did help you get your life back together.\nSisko: True enough. But I wasn't the first one to find the wormhole, or to meet the Prophets. Akorem was.\nDax: Benjamin, I thought you didn't believe in the prophecies.\nSisko: I don't.\nDax: Then why are you using them to justify giving up your position?\nSisko: I guess I was looking for something to convince me that I was making the right decision.\nDax: So your mind's made up. You're going to step aside.\nSisko: Akorem will make a far better Emissary than I ever was. He's Bajoran, he's a revered poet, and he wants the job. Besides, Starfleet will be thrilled. They never liked the idea that the Bajorans saw me as a religious figure.\nDax: How do you know the Bajorans will accept Akorem as their new Emissary?\nSisko: I talked to Vedek Porta. He seemed to think that as long as I make it clear that I'm stepping aside voluntarily, they will.\nDax: So you're off the hook. How does it feel?\nSisko: It feels good. No more ceremonies to attend, no more blessings to give, no more prophecies to fulfilll. I'm just a Starfleet officer again. All I have to worry about are the Klingons, the Dominion and the Maquis. I feel like I'm on vacation.\nBashir: Chief! Congratulations, dad.\nO'Brien: You heard.\nBashir: Great news, my friend. Come and have a drink. Celebrate.\nO'Brien: I really should be getting home.\nBashir: Oh, just one.\nO'Brien: All right.\nBashir: Quark, did you hear? Chief O'Brien is having a baby.\nQuark: I thought your females carried your young.\nO'Brien: My wife. My wife is having the baby.\nQuark: Congratulations. I remember when my nephew Nog was a baby. Cutest thing you ever saw. You know babies. Every little thing they pick up goes straight into their ears. I used to love reading to him. You know, See Brak acquire. Acquire, Brak, acquire.\nBashir: Just think, soon there'll be two little O'Briens scampering about underfoot.\nO'Brien: Hard to believe, isn't it.\nBashir: Mind you, they do say the second one is easier. Since you've already been through the diapers and the endless crying and the sleepless nights.\nO'Brien: Yeah.\nBashir: Cheers.\nO'Brien: Oh, cheers.\nBashir: Something wrong, Chief?\nO'Brien: No. Nothing at all. Couldn't be happier.\nQuark: Did you hear? Keiko's going to have another baby.\nWorf: Now?\nO'Brien: No, seven months.\nWorf: I see.\nO'Brien: Worf delivered Molly, you know.\nBashir: Really?\nO'Brien: The Enterprise was damaged. Keiko and he were trapped together when her time came.\nBashir: Oh, well I'll be sure and call you when she's ready to deliver. You can lend a hand.\nWorf: Seven months? Unfortunately, I will be away from the station at that time. Far away. Visiting my parents. On Earth. Excuse me.\nBashir: I don't know who's more anxious about this baby, you or Worf.\nO'Brien: The thing is, Julian, now that Molly's a little older, I was hoping to being able to spend some time with Keiko again. I thought we could, I don't know, go out at night. Don't get me wrong, I know once I'm hold my little baby in my arms I'll be the happiest man in the world, but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. How about a game of darts?\nBashir: Don't you have to get home?\nO'Brien: Yeah.\nOdo: Major. Come to see Akorem speak?\nKira: The Emissary's first public appearance? I wouldn't miss it.\nOdo: I'm surprised to hear you call him that.\nKira: Why? Akorem Laan was, is a great man. He's been with the Prophets for over two hundred years, and now they've sent him back to us.\nOdo: Yes, but two days ago you believed Captain Sisko was the Emissary.\nKira: Well, he made it clear he wants to step aside.\nOdo: Does that mean he never really was the Emissary?\nKira: No.\nOdo: But they can't both be.\nKira: I don't know. What do you want from me, Odo?\nOdo: Forgive me, Major, I don't mean to be difficult, but your faith seems to have led you to something of a contradiction.\nKira: I don't see it as a contradiction.\nOdo: I don't understand.\nKira: That's the thing about faith. If you don't have it, you can't understand it, and if you do, no explanation is necessary.\nAkorem: Ever since the Prophets returned me to my people, I've asked myself the same questions over and over again. Why did they keep me with them for so long? Why did they return me to my\nAkorem: People now? I now know the answers. Bajor suffered a great wound while I was with the Prophets. The Cardassian occupation. The Bajor I have returned to has lost its way. People no longer follow the path the Prophets have laid out for them. They no longer follow their D'jarras. Artists have become soldiers. Priests have become merchants. Farmers have become politicians.\nAkorem: We must heal the wounds of the occupation. We must return to our D'jarras. We must reclaim what we were and follow the path the Prophets have laid out for us. It is their will that the farmers return to their land, painters to their canvasses, priests to their temples. If we do this, if we follow our D'jarras, then Bajor will flourish again and become the green and peaceful land I remember. It will be as if the occupation never happened. By returning to our D'jarras, we will have erased it forever.\nSisko: I wanted to talk to you before you left for Bajor.\nAkorem: Of course.\nSisko: I was surprised by your speech. I had no idea you were going to advocate change on such a massive scale.\nAkorem: It's what the Prophets want for Bajor. It's why they sent me.\nSisko: Are you sure of that?\nAkorem: Absolutely.\nPorta: The Emissary knows that what he's proposing will be difficult for some people to accept. He doesn't expect things to change overnight.\nSisko: So, you're going to ask First Minister Shakaar to step down and go back to farming?\nAkorem: No, of course not. But, frankly, by the next election, I doubt very many people will left on Bajor who would elect a farmer to political office.\nPorta: We hope that eventually the people will support enforcement of the D'jarras by legal sanction.\nSisko: So if someone defies their caste?\nAkorem: Society will have appropriate remedies at it's disposal, such as deportation.\nSisko: You realize that caste-based diskrimination goes against the Federation charter. If Bajor returns to the D'jarra system, I have no doubt that its petition to join the Federation will be rejected.\nAkorem: Kai Winn and I have already discussed it. We're willing to make that sacrifice in order to follow the will of the Prophets.\nSisko: I had a feeling Winn would see it that way.\nPorta: Well, the Emissary's transport leaves shortly.\nSisko: As a Starfleet Officer, I am bound by oath not to interfere with Bajoran affairs. But, as a friend to Bajor, I have to say giving up Federation membership would be a mistake.\nAkorem: Your pagh is strong. I see now why Kai Opaka believed you were the Emissary, and why Winn fears you. Goodbye, Captain.\nSisko: Goodbye Emissary.\nSisko: Morning.\nKira: I guess I'll have to take my raktajino with me.\nJia: Please, sit here.\nKira: You're not finished.\nJia: I'll find someplace else to sit.\nKira: You don't have to get up for me.\nJia: You're Ih'valla. I'm Te'nari.\nSisko: It's been going on all morning whenever someone with a higher ranking D'jarra comes in.\nKira: I guess I'll have to start getting used to being treated like that.\nSisko: I remember when I got promoted to lieutenant. It took me a while to get used to being called sir by my friends who were still ensigns.\nKira: That's different. You'd earned the right to be treated with respect. I haven't done anything.\nSisko: Sounds like you have some reservations about bringing back the D'jarras.\nKira: I have some questions, sure. The Emissary is asking something very difficult of us, but we have to have faith that he's guiding us toward something.\nSisko: Even if what he's guiding you towards doesn't include the Federation?\nKira: It's not our place to question the Emissary.\nSisko: No matter what?\nKira: Maybe you never realized this, Captain, but we would've tried to do whatever you asked of us when you were Emissary, no matter how difficult it seemed. I'd better get to Ops.\nOpaka: Who are you?\nSisko: Kai Opaka.\nOpaka: Who are you?\nSisko: What are you doing here? How did you\nOpaka: Who are you?\nSisko: Don't you know me?\nOpaka: Know you? How can I know someone who doesn't know himself?\nBashir: I think you had what the Bajorans call an Orb Shadow. Sometimes people who've been exposed to the Orbs of the Prophets experience hallucinations weeks, even months later.\nSisko: What triggers them?\nBashir: An excess of neuropeptides. I can give you an inhibitor to make sure it never happens again. Of course, if I do, you risk never finding out.\nSisko: Finding out what?\nBashir: The Bajorans believe you only have a Shadow experience when you ignore what the Prophets have been trying to tell you during an Orb encounter.\nSisko: Interesting.\nBashir: So, any idea what they might have been trying to tell you?\nSisko: Sure. That I have too many neuropeptides rolling around in my head.\nPorta: A bird is a difficult thing to sculpt. Maybe you should have started with something simpler. Come in, come in. Services are about to begin.\nKira: But I can tell I have no aptitude for it.\nPorta: That's because you didn't give yourself over to what you were doing.\nKira: How can you say that? I was up half the night. I have a flock of flightless birds in my quarters.\nPorta: But you're still wearing that uniform. You're still clinging to a false life. You must do what the Emissary has asked and follow your D'jarra with all your heart. Because if you give yourself over to the Prophets, they will guide you along the path they've chosen for you. And you'll know more joy than you ever thought possible.\nO'Brien: Attagirl! Good shot, Molly.\nMolly: Did I win?\nO'Brien: We're just practicing. We'll play a game later. Try another one.\nKeiko: Miles?\nO'Brien: Oh. That's mine. Don't worry, I only wear it in the holosuites.\nKeiko: I suppose Julian has one, too. You two certainly spent a lot of time in the holosuites.\nO'Brien: Well, you should be glad. It kept me out of trouble.\nKeiko: Remind me to thank Julian next time I see him.\nO'Brien: Want to try for twins?\nKeiko: I don't think it works that way. You'd better brush up on your biology.\nO'Brien: Teach me.\nMolly: Look, I drew a pony.\nO'Brien: Oh, let's see. Does your pony have a name?\nMolly: I don't know.\nKeiko: Miles, I still have a lot of specimens I've got to catalog for the survey.\nO'Brien: Go ahead. I'll play with Molly.\nKeiko: Oh, Miles, it's good to be home.\nO'Brien: Come on, Molly. Let's play darts. Now, remember what I said about the right way to stand? Let's try again.\nMolly: I don't want to.\nO'Brien: Can daddy color, too?\nMolly: I'm coloring.\nKira: The four-shift rotation also seems to be improving performance. Less mistakes due to fatigue.\nSisko: Fine, let's make the change permanent. Anything else?\nKira: I was wondering if in the next few days you would have the time to meet with Major Jatarn.\nSisko: Sure.\nKira: Is something wrong, sir?\nSisko: I'm sorry. I just received a communiqué from Starfleet Command responding to my report on the Bajoran situation.\nKira: That bad?\nSisko: Not yet. But I can read between the lines. I was sent here to help bring Bajor into the Federation. That doesn't look like much of a possibility anymore. As far as Starfleet is concerned, I have failed my mission.\nKira: That's not fair. It's not your fault.\nSisko: It is from where they're sitting. The irony is Starfleet was always trying to get me to distance myself from this Emissary business. And now that I have\nKira: Maybe I could talk to First Minister Shakaar about sending Starfleet a communiqué explaining\nSisko: Thanks, it'll blow over. It's not that. I guess I'm just feeling I did fail.\nKira: Sir.\nSisko: Anyway, why did you want me to meet Jatarn?\nKira: We can talk about that another time.\nSisko: What is it, Major?\nKira: I think he'd make an excellent First Officer. As soon as you find someone to take my post, I'm going to resign my commission.\nSisko: To follow your D'jarra.\nKira: I'm planning to move back to the Dahkur province, There are a lot of artists who live in the capital and I have a friend there who's willing to apprentice me. I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is add to your problems, but this is something I have to do. If you don't hit it off with Major Jatarn, I can think of a few other people. It shouldn't be that hard to find someone to replace me.\nSisko: I don't doubt I can find someone to fill your post. But to replace you?\nO'Brien: Computer, time.\nComputer: Nineteen twenty-one hours.\nO'Brien: Where's Doctor Bashir?\nComputer: Doctor Bashir is in Quark's bar.\nBashir: Well, I'm chasing a triple seventeen and a bull, Morn. You've got some catching up to do. Chief! Excuse me.\nO'Brien: Julian.\nBashir: How've you been?\nO'Brien: Not bad. You?\nBashir: Oh, you know. All right.\nO'Brien: I was heading home, thought I'd stop in for a quick pint.\nBashir: It's been a while, eh?\nO'Brien: Seems like weeks. I see you found someone to play darts with. I've set up a board in my quarters so Molly and I can play.\nBashir: Well, Morn's er, he's pretty good.\nO'Brien: So's Molly. BASHIR +\nO'Brien: It's not the same.\nO'Brien: I mean, Molly's just a kid. We've been playing with magnets.\nBashir: Morn couldn't hit a Yridian yak at five paces.\nO'Brien: You and I were evenly matched.\nBashir: We had a good rivalry going on.\nO'Brien: Kept us sharp.\nBashir: Exactly.\nQuark: You're late.\nO'Brien: What do you mean?\nQuark: It's Thursday. I've got your usual holosuite reserved.\nO'Brien: Didn't you cancel?\nBashir: Actually, I was hoping maybe\nO'Brien: No, no, I've got to get home.\nQuark: What about you, Doctor? The Battle of Britain awaits. And you know my policy on cancelations. No refunds.\nO'Brien: Go ahead. Maybe Morn's better in the cockpit of a spitfire than he is at darts.\nBashir: Wouldn't be the same.\nO'Brien: You're right. Morn probably doesn't even know where England is. I'll see you.\nOdo: Odo to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nOdo: You'd better get down to the Promenade. Someone's been killed.\nSisko: What happened?\nKira: I don't know yet.\nOdo: He fell from the second level. His neck was broken on impact.\nSisko: Did anyone see it happen?\nPorta: I did.\nOdo: Was it an accident?\nPorta: I pushed him. His family name is Imutta. Their D'jarra is unclean.\nKira: They prepare the dead for burial.\nPorta: I asked him to set the proper example and resign from our order. He refused.\nSisko: You killed him because of his D'jarra?\nPorta: I had to. If a Vedek can't do what the Emissary has asked of us, how can we expect anyone else to?\nSisko: Get him out of here.\nAkorem: I regret what happened here today as much as you do, but change is never easy, and the road that the Prophets have asked us to walk won't always be a smooth one.\nSisko: And forcing people to follow their D'jarras won't make it any smoother. What happened on the Promenade was just the beginning.\nAkorem: Must I remind you, Captain? I am merely fulfillling the will of the Prophets.\nSisko: How do you know that?\nAkorem: I'm the Emissary.\nSisko: And what you've done with the position has made me wish I had never given it up.\nAkorem: But you did, and it was the right decision. You never truly accepted the role in the first place.\nSisko: I'm willing to accept it now.\nAkorem: You're challenging my claim?\nSisko: You've left me no choice.\nAkorem: If we went to the people and asked them to choose between us, it would be chaos.\nSisko: I don't want to divide Bajor any more than you do.\nAkorem: It wouldn't be divided for long. because in the end the people would choose me. My claim was foretold in the ancient texts. I was the first to find the wormhole. I was the first to be with the Prophets. They gave me back my life.\nSisko: We're not going to settle this by arguing over ancient texts.\nAkorem: Then how?\nSisko: There's only one way to be sure which one of us is the Emissary. We have to go to the wormhole and ask the Prophets.\nSisko: Going to half thrusters.\nAkorem: Now what?\nSisko: We wait.\nKira: You are the Sisko.\nBashir: This is the one that was injured.\nAkorem: Yes, I was. And you gave me back my life, just as the texts foretold.\nPorta: Why are you here?\nAkorem: To prove to this nonbeliever that you sent me to put Bajor back on the right path. Please, tell him you chose me to be the Emissary.\nAkorem: Tell him that I fulfillled the ancient Prophecies. That I was the first to find the Celestial temple. I was the first to meet with you. He came to you centuries later.\nBashir: First. Later.\nKira: They have no meaning to us.\nSisko: The Bajorans believe you are their Prophets, that you've chosen one of us to be your Emissary.\nOdo: We are of Bajor.\nSisko: Go on.\nOdo: They are linear.\nKira: It limits them.\nPorta: They do not understand.\nSisko: But we want to understand. That's why we're here. You saved his life. Why?\nKira: He was injured.\nBashir: We kept him with us.\nAkorem: So that I would be spared the occupation so that I could bring the D'jarras back to Bajor.\nSisko: Is that true? Is that what you want?\nPorta: The D'jarras are part of what the Sisko would call the past.\nKira: The Sisko taught us that for you, what was, can never be again.\nAkorem: If the D'jarras belong in the past, why did you send me into the future?\nOdo: For the Sisko.\nSisko: For me?\nAkorem: You're saying that he's your Emissary?\nBashir: He is the Sisko.\nAkorem: Then I've been wrong about everything. You should have let me die.\nKira: We still can.\nPorta: We can return him to the moment we found him.\nOdo: Allow him to die.\nSisko: No. Why not return him to his own time as he is now, uninjured, so that he can get back safely to Bajor?\nOdo: He would remember nothing of what has happened.\nAkorem: I could be with my wife my family. I'm ready to go home.\nOpaka: Why? Why do you stay here?\nSisko: Because I still have questions.\nOpaka: We are of Bajor.\nSisko: What does that mean?\nOpaka: You are of Bajor.\nO'Brien: You know, Molly really loves that book Jake gave her. She made me read it to her three times before she fell asleep.\nKeiko: I'm going to be working another few hours.\nO'Brien: That's okay I'll, er, I'll read.\nKeiko: If you want to go do something\nO'Brien: No, I'm fine.\nKeiko: Miles, I promised I wouldn't say anything, but it's about Julian.\nO'Brien: What about him?\nKeiko: I ran into him the other day and he seemed depressed. He'd never admit it, but he really misses you.\nO'Brien: Poor guy. No family to come home to every night.\nKeiko: Maybe you should go find him, you know, cheer him up a little.\nO'Brien: Depressed, is he?\nKeiko: Very.\nO'Brien: Maybe I should go spend an hour with him.\nKeiko: Maybe two.\nO'Brien: I'm a lucky man.\nKeiko: Keiko to Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Go ahead.\nKeiko: Julian, it's about Miles.\nKeiko: I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, but he's been really depressed lately.\nBashir: Oh.\nKira: I want you to have this. It's an original Kira Nerys. Could be very valuable one day.\nSisko: I hear she didn't make many.\nKira: I thought your speech went very well yesterday. It was the right thing to do.\nSisko: I wanted everyone to know what happened to Akorem, and that the Prophets said nothing about returning to the D'jarras.\nKira: Just about everyone was relieved to hear it.\nBashir: It's your own fault.\nO'Brien: I can't believe you didn't cover me.\nBashir: How was I to know you were going to insult the King of Leinster in his own keep?\nSisko: I was just reading one of Akorem's poems, The Call of the Prophets.\nKira: Oh, that's one of my favorites. It's a shame he never finished it.\nSisko: He did. Look.\nKira: This is confusing. The last time I read this poem it ended after the twelfth stanza. If the timeline's been changed, then why do I remember things the way they used to be?\nSisko: The Prophets work in mysterious ways.\nOnara: Excuse me, sir.\nSisko: Yes?\nOnara: I'm sorry to bother you but tomorrow, after evening services in the Temple we're having my daughter's ih'tanu ceremony. She's turning fourteen.\nSisko: Happy Birthday.\nOnara: We were wondering if there's any chance you could come and give her your blessing. It would mean so much to us.\nSisko: I'd be happy to.\nOnara: Thank you, Emissary.\nSisko: You're welcome."}
{"text": "Odo: Are you all right?\nWorf: What time is it?\nOdo: Oh four hundred. Your hearing starts in four hours. I suggest trying to get some sleep. You've got a big day ahead of you.\nT'Lara: This hearing will come to order. We are here to consider the request of the Klingon Empire that Lieutenant Commander Worf be extradited for trial on charges of murder. Advocate Ch'Pok, you may present your charges.\nCh'Pok: The Klingon Empire makes the following allegations against Lieutenant Commander Worf. That on Stardate 49648, while commanding the Starship Defiant, he knowingly fired upon and destroyed a Klingon civilian transport ship near the Pentath system. That as a result of that action, four hundred forty one Klingon civilians were killed. It is my intention to prove that Mister Worf was grossly negligent in his command of the Defiant. That his lust for combat overrode his good judgment. I ask only that he be returned to us to face the judgment of his own people. Thank you.\nSisko: The Advocate neglected to mention in his opening statement that at the time in question, the Defiant was under attack by two Klingon warships. This was a combat situation with hundreds of lives at stake. It was at that moment, when suddenly the transport ship decloaked in front of the Defiant. Worf gave the order to fire, not because he was reckless or negligent, but because he believed he was firing on a warship. We intend to show that the destruction of the transport was a tragic, but unavoidable, accident.\nT'Lara: I will hear formal evidence beginning tomorrow afternoon at fifteen hundred hours.\nSisko: I want to know everything there is to know about the Klingon who was commanding that transport ship.\nOdo: You suspect that he wasn't just on an innocent passenger run.\nSisko: I'm going to argue that he saw the battle and then decided to join it. That he decloaked in order to attack the Defiant.\nOdo: Not the smartest decision he ever made.\nSisko: That's where you come in. Use your contacts in the Empire and find out something about this captain I can use. Was he reckless, did he have a reputation for drinking, did he have a death wish? Something.\nOdo: I'll see what I can do.\nCh'Pok: Captain. The witnesses I intend to call.\nSisko: Thank you.\nCh'Pok: A remarkable station, Captain.\nSisko: Thank you. We don't get many Klingon visitors anymore.\nCh'Pok: After this case is over, you might be seeing a lot more of us.\nSisko: Oh?\nCh'Pok: When Worf is extradited, the Federation will be forced to admit that one of its officers committed a massacre. That will put you on the defensive throughout the quadrant. And while you're busy trying to repair a badly damaged reputation, we'll find ourselves with certain opportunities.\nSisko: An opportunity to annex more Cardassian space and set up additional military bases in this sector?\nCh'Pok: Possibly. But in any case, Worf is about to present us with something we never could have won in battle. Sympathy. Any move we make against you will be seen as a legitimate response to an outrageous slaughter.\nSisko: You're presuming an awful lot. Worf maintains his innocence.\nCh'Pok: And you are about to remind me that the burden of proof is mine. It's an interesting system of justice you have, Captain. It does have its flaws, however. It emphasizes procedure over substance, form over fact.\nSisko: I'm sorry if you feel it puts you at a disadvantage.\nCh'Pok: On the contrary. I look forward to fighting on your terms.\nSisko: This is not a fight. It's the search for the truth.\nCh'Pok: The truth must be won. I'll see you on the battlefield.\nCh'Pok: I have studied Commander Worf's report, the Defiant's sensor logs, and the reports of the other officers on the Bridge. And I believe every word of it. It's a point of pride for the Federation that Starfleet officers never lie or commit fraud, so I will accept the facts of the case as they have been submitted.\nSisko: Admiral, if there are no facts in dispute, then this hearing would appear to be at an end.\nCh'Pok: We Klingons are not concerned with matters of fact and circumstance. What matters to us is what was in Worf's heart when he gave the order to fire. Was he just a Starfleet officer doing his duty or was he a Klingon warrior reveling in the battle? That is why I am here. Because if he was a Klingon lost in the bloodlust of combat, only we can judge him, not you.\nSisko: We can't put a man's heart on trial. It's a subjective issue that cannot be reasoned in a court of law. I ask that the advocate be limited to arguing the evidence in this case.\nCh'Pok: Someone told me this was a search for the truth. Should we not follow that search wherever it takes us?\nT'Lara: The question of Commander Worf's motive is relevant. I will allow you to explore this issue, but only as far as logic permits.\nCh'Pok: I bow to your judgment.\nT'Lara: You may call your first witness.\nCh'Pok: You're something of an expert on Klingon society, aren't you, Commander?\nDax: My previous host, Curzon, would have called himself an expert. I tend to think of myself as having a passing familiarity with your culture.\nCh'Pok: In your opinion, as someone with a passing familiarity with our culture, wouldn't you say the Klingons are a violent, warrior race?\nDax: Yes, there is that aspect to your people.\nCh'Pok: Would you agree that one of the things that makes a Klingon warrior so formidable is his predatory instinct, his bloodlust, if you will?\nDax: I'd agree with that.\nCh'Pok: Now, when Worf was on the Defiant, engaged in combat, don't you think his predatory instinct took over?\nDax: I think that instinct was present, but I've seen Mister Worf restrain it before.\nCh'Pok: How do you know so much about how he behaves in battle?\nDax: In the holosuite. We've fought many times.\nCh'Pok: You mean you practiced with Mister Worf. You played with him.\nDax: Oh, no. When we fight, we fight.\nDax: I've made it very clear to Mister Worf that I never want him to take it easy on me because I'm a woman or a Trill.\nCh'Pok: Have you ever been injured?\nDax: A few bruises here and there. A broken finger once. Nothing serious. And I've given him a few lumps of his own.\nCh'Pok: So you're not afraid of Mister Worf?\nDax: I'm no fool. I can see the killer instinct in his eyes, and I know he could kill me if he wants to. But that look always goes away. He knows when to stop. Ja'cht.\nCh'Pok: Admiral, at this time I would like to enter into evidence files I obtained from the defendant's private database this morning.\nSisko: Objection. There's been no search order issued for those files. This is a violation of Mister Worf's privacy.\nT'Lara: The captain is correct. Without a properly executed search order, or the permission of the defendant, any information you have accessed from his private database may not be admitted into evidence.\nCh'Pok: Ah. I see. Well, I obviously have no search order, so I'll ask you, Worf. May I enter this files into evidence? Or do you have something to hide?\nSisko: Don't play his game.\nWorf: I have nothing to hide. Use whatever you wish.\nCh'Pok: Commander Dax, are you familiar with a holosuite program known as The Battle of Tong Vey?\nDax: Yes. It's one of the programs Mister Worf brought with him from the Enterprise.\nCh'Pok: Describe it for us.\nDax: It's an historical re-enactment of one of the epic Klingon battles. Ten thousand warriors under the command of the Emperor Sompek conquered the city of Tong Vey after a long siege.\nCh'Pok: A glorious battle. When Worf recreates it in the holosuite, what role does he play?\nDax: Sompek.\nCh'Pok: Of course. The conqueror's role. One of our greatest heroes. Tell me, Commander, what was the final order Sompek gave to his men once they had conquered the city of Tong Vey?\nCh'Pok: Commander?\nDax: He told them to burn the city to the ground and to kill everyone in it.\nCh'Pok: Everyone? Not just the soldiers, but the people of the town too? Civilians? Women? Children?\nDax: Yes.\nCh'Pok: Now, Commander, when Mister Worf runs this program, does he give the final order to destroy the city and kill all of the inhabitants?\nDax: It's not the same thing. It's a simulation.\nCh'Pok: Answer the question.\nDax: That's the way the program is supposed to end. You have to give that command\nCh'Pok: Admiral, I ask that the witness be instructed to answer the question yes or no.\nT'Lara: Yes or no, Commander?\nDax: Yes.\nCh'Pok: Of course he does. Because he is a Klingon warrior. He doesn't have the same moral code as a Starfleet officer. He is one of us. A killer, a predator among sheep.\nSisko: Objection!\nT'Lara: Restrain yourself, Advocate.\nCh'Pok: I only have one more question for this witness, Admiral. Commander Dax, when was the last time Worf used that program?\nDax: The day before he left on the convoy mission.\nCh'Pok: The day before. The day before. I have nothing further.\nCh'Pok: Captain, you ordered Worf to command the Defiant on the mission in question, did you not?\nSisko: That's right.\nCh'Pok: How did you describe the mission to Worf?\nSisko: An outbreak of Rudellian plague has struck the Cardassian colony on Pentath Three. The Cardassians are preparing several convoys of medical supplies and relief workers, but the Pentath system borders Klingon territory and the Cardassians are worried about raids.\nWorf: Well, Pentath is a strategically important system. The Klingons will try to stop them.\nSisko: Now the problem is the Cardassians don't have enough warships available to protect the relief convoy. They've asked for Starfleet protection, and because of the humanitarian nature of the request, we've agreed. There will be seven convoys headed for Pentath Three in the next week, each of them protected by a Federation starship. The Defiant has been assigned to escort convoy six, and I've chosen you to be in command.\nCh'Pok: Why did you select Worf for this mission?\nSisko: I felt he was an experienced officer who was ready to take on greater responsibilities. He had a distinguished record and obviously understood the Klingons.\nCh'Pok: Weren't you a little worried, Captain, that Worf, a famed Klingon Warrior, might jump at the chance for battle and forget about the plague victims?\nSisko: If I were, I wouldn't have given him the assignment.\nCh'Pok: And you're sure you made your instructions perfectly clear? That Commander Worf knew he was on a humanitarian relief mission. That he was not being sent out to seek combat?\nSisko: Yes.\nCh'Pok: Thank you, Captain. I have nothing further for you.\nT'Lara: Captain, since you are also acting as defense counsel, if you wish to add anything to the record, you are free to do so.\nSisko: Not at this time, Admiral.\nT'Lara: Call your next witness.\nQuark: It was about seventeen hundred hours. I was doing some cleanup work. Doctor Bashir was at the bar talking to Etheria, one of the dabo girls.\nBashir: Have you ever seen the wormhole open?\nQuark: No, wait. It wasn't Etheria. It was Glidia.\nBashir: Have you ever seen the wormhole open?\nQuark: Or was it Midia?\nCh'Pok: Mister Quark, is this necessary?\nQuark: No, no, no. It was Ralidia and she was with Morn. And he was the one who turned to her and said\nCh'Pok: Can we return to the matter at hand, please?\nQuark: Oh, right. Well, as I said, I was cleaning up and I saw Mister Worf come in.\nCh'Pok: Was there anything unusual about that?\nQuark: No, he comes in here all the time. But he was in a good mood.\nCh'Pok: And that's unusual?\nQuark: Well, he's a Klingon, and you people are rarely in what I would call good moods. Not that you're anything but a pleasant, charming race.\nCh'Pok: Let's get back to Mister Worf. Describe what happened next\nQuark: He came in, he ordered a drink, prune juice, I believe, and we started to talk. I'd heard about the convoy mission so I asked him about it and he said he was going to be commanding the Defiant.\nCh'Pok: What was his attitude?\nQuark: Hard to say. He's a very private man. He doesn't share a lot with his bartender.\nCh'Pok: Did he seem afraid of the mission?\nQuark: No.\nCh'Pok: Did he seem excited by the mission?\nQuark: Not excited, exactly.\nCh'Pok: Then what, exactly?\nQuark: I just remember asking him. What happens if the Klingons go after the convoy? And then he got this funny look on his face. He put down his prune juice, looked me right in the eyes, and then he said.\nWorf: I hope they do.\nCh'Pok: I hope they do. Well, it would appear Commander Worf's hopes were answered. I have nothing further.\nSisko: What do you have for me, Constable?\nOdo: Background on the Klingon transport captain. He'd never been in the military and he was known to his family and friends as a quiet, efficient man who was content in his position.\nSisko: Doesn't sound like a man who'd suddenly decide to take on the Defiant.\nOdo: No.\nSisko: What about this story of theirs that the transport ship just wandered off course into a combat area?\nOdo: I checked the flight plan the captain filed and the projected course was near the border. It would've taken only a very slight error in navigation for the ship to stray into the fight.\nSisko: But why did he drop his cloak right in front of the Defiant?\nOdo: Ah, that's the question no one seems able to answer.\nSisko: No one seems able, or no one seems willing?\nOdo: They're too willing to answer questions. That's the problem. I'm always suspicious of people who are eager to help a police officer.\nSisko: Start looking into the passengers on that ship. Maybe someone with a grudge against Worf or the Federation was aboard. Someone who could have seized control of the ship and taken it into the battle. I'm reaching, I know. But at the moment it's all we have.\nOdo: I'll keep looking.\nO'Brien: There were two Klingon ships. A bird of prey and an old battle cruiser. One would engage us while the other went after the convoy, then they'd switch, the first ship going after the Cardassians while the second ship came after us.\nKira: We've lost the number three starboard shield.\nWorf: Come about. The cruiser is taking us too far away from the convoy. Try to keep our portside to the Klingons.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir. This went on for, I don't know, maybe five minutes. They'd come at us, try to draw us away from the Cardassians, we'd head back. Then the bird of prey came toward us off the port bow.\nKira: I have phaser lock.\nWorf: Fire!\nKira: We damaged them, but not much.\nO'Brien: We'd seen them do this cloak and run maneuver a few times, and Commander Worf thought he saw a pattern.\nWorf: We have them now. Come to course one eight five mark two seven eight. Stand by quantum torpedoes, full spread.\nKira: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: I ran a quick sensor sweep and then I reported. I'm picking up a tachyon surge directly ahead.\nWorf: Fire!\nSisko: When did you realize it wasn't a bird of prey?\nO'Brien: As soon as it exploded.\nKira: Oh my God.\nO'Brien: We were all stunned.\nO'Brien: I scanned for survivors, but there were none.\nSisko: Chief, do you believe Worf was correct in giving the order to fire?\nO'Brien: I stand by his decision.\nSisko: Is there any question in your mind about his motives?\nO'Brien: No, sir. I've known Commander Worf for nine years. He's an honorable man. He would never intentionally fire on an unarmed ship.\nSisko: Thank you, Chief.\nCh'Pok: I'm curious, Chief. You said you stand by Commander Worf's decision. Do you agree with it?\nO'Brien: I completely support him.\nCh'Pok: That's not my question. Do you agree with his decision?\nO'Brien: I wasn't in command. It's not my place to question his judgment.\nCh'Pok: What if you were in command? What would you have done?\nO'Brien: I don't know.\nCh'Pok: Chief, how many years have you been in Starfleet?\nO'Brien: Twenty two.\nCh'Pok: And how many combat situations have you been in?\nO'Brien: I couldn't even guess.\nCh'Pok: Try.\nO'Brien: A hundred, hundred and fifty?\nCh'Pok: For the record, Chief O'Brien has been in two hundred and thirty five separate engagements and Starfleet has decorated him fifteen times. I would like to have him declared an expert in the area of starship combat.\nT'Lara: Any objection?\nSisko: None.\nCh'Pok: Chief O'Brien, if Mister Worf had been injured could you have taken over command of that ship?\nO'Brien: I would have.\nCh'Pok: Let's say that happened. You're in command.\nCh'Pok: You're chasing the bird of prey, it cloaks. You anticipate your opponent's maneuver, so you give the order.\nO'Brien: Come about to one eight five mark two seven eight. Stand by quantum torpedoes, full spread.\nCh'Pok: The crew obeys. The ship comes about, and then your helm officer tells you.\nHelm: I'm picking up a tachyon surge, directly ahead.\nCh'Pok: Now stop right there.\nCh'Pok: Freeze that moment in time. Everything rides on your next decision.\nCh'Pok: Do you give the order to fire?\nO'Brien: This isn't a fair question. It didn't really happen this way. I wasn't in command.\nCh'Pok: I'm not interested in whether you think it's a fair question or not. You're in command. There's a ship out there decloaking. You don't know what it is.\nCh'Pok: Do you fire?\nO'Brien: No. But that's just my opinion now, after the fact. I wasn't in command that day. Things look a lot different when you're sitting in that chair.\nCh'Pok: I'm sure they do.\nCh'Pok: Captain Sisko. Mind if I sit down? I understand you're going to put Worf on the stand this afternoon.\nSisko: That's right.\nCh'Pok: May I make a suggestion? Concede. Let me take him back to the Empire and I'll make sure he's not put to death. In fact, I'll defend him myself.\nSisko: You?\nCh'Pok: What matters to me is the thrill of the fight, not which side I'm on. And I think we both know the extradition fight is over.\nSisko: You're not making this offer out of kindness. You want the Federation to concede so the convoys will stop and the Klingons can move in on the Pentath system.\nCh'Pok: As humans would say, that would be icing on the cake.\nSisko: I wouldn't try eating that cake just yet, if I were you. But you have told me one thing I needed to know. You're worried about what Worf might say on the stand.\nCh'Pok: I'm not worried, but you should be.\nOdo: Captain.\nSisko: Good news or bad?\nOdo: Bad. I checked the backgrounds of every passenger on that transport. None had any connection with Worf, or grudge against the Federation, or any motive for seizing control of the ship and attacking the Defiant. But I'm still not giving up.\nSisko: I appreciate that. But I get the feeling that at this point the only one who can help Worf is Worf.\nWorf: The escort mission had proceeded smoothly for two days. We detected several subspace distortions which might have been cloaked ships, but nothing definite.\nSisko: So what was the first sign of trouble, Mister Worf?\nWorf: There was no warning.\nKira: A bird of prey just decloaked off the port quarter.\nWorf: Raise shields, arm phasers.\nO'Brien: Commander, another ship's decloaking. It's an older battle cruiser. She's going after the convoy.\nWorf: Bring us about.\nSisko: How did you feel when the Klingons attacked? Were you excited?\nWorf: Of course. I am a Klingon. We live for battle.\nSisko: So that's all that mattered to you? The chance to fight?\nWorf: No, sir. Whatever my personal feelings may be, I do not allow them to interfere with my duty or my professional judgment.\nSisko: Chief O'Brien says that he disagrees with your decision to fire. How do you respond to that?\nWorf: I respect the Chief's opinion. He and I have served together for many years, and I consider him a friend. However, he was not in command that day.\nSisko: What difference does that make?\nWorf: It makes all the difference. He is looking back at a decision, analyzing it weeks later. As the commanding officer of the Defiant, it was my duty to look forward, to anticipate every possible situation.\nSisko: Did you anticipate encountering a civilian ship on this mission?\nWorf: I knew that our convoy would be passing through civilian shipping lanes, but, in my judgment, the chances of a civilian vessel decloaking in the middle of a battle were remote. I decided that if I were engaged in combat I would not hesitate to fire at a decloaking ship.\nSisko: Mister Worf, I want you to think about the civilians who died on that transport ship and answer one question. Under the same set of circumstances, would you do it again?\nWorf: Yes, sir. If I had hesitated, I would have been negligent. I would have been risking my ship, my crew and the entire convoy.\nSisko: Thank you.\nCh'Pok: Worf, why are you considered an outcast among Klingons?\nWorf: I sided with the Federation during the invasion of Cardassia. For that, Chancellor Gowron stripped me of my name and my family honor.\nCh'Pok: So, you acted out of conscience and you were punished for it. How do you feel about that? Angry? Bitter?\nWorf: I am angry about the treatment I have received. I felt it was unjust.\nCh'Pok: Of course you are. Who wouldn't be? What happened affected your entire family. The House of Mogh was brought down. Your brother was ejected from the High Council in disgrace, your lands seized, and now your son Alexander has to bear the stigma of being the son of a traitor. Did I miss anything?\nWorf: No.\nCh'Pok: In your opinion, what do they think of you in the Empire, Worf?\nWorf: I am hated.\nCh'Pok: Why? Because of what you did?\nWorf: Yes.\nCh'Pok: Are you sure it's not something more basic?\nWorf: What is that supposed to mean?\nCh'Pok: Isn't it obvious? You were raised by humans, on Earth. And now you wear their uniform. Haven't you really always been a traitor in your heart?\nWorf: No.\nCh'Pok: Are you telling us that you live with humans but your heart is Klingon?\nWorf: Yes.\nCh'Pok: But if your heart is Klingon, how could you fire upon your own people?\nWorf: They fired the first shot. And when that happened, they became my enemies.\nCh'Pok: Then why aren't you glad you destroyed that transport? It was filled with your enemies and their children.\nWorf: There is nothing honorable about killing those who cannot defend themselves.\nCh'Pok: Are you telling me that you would never attack a defenseless opponent?\nWorf: No, I would not.\nCh'Pok: Maybe I've been wrong about you. Maybe you aren't really Klingon in your heart. A true Klingon rejoices at the death of his enemies. Old, young, armed, unarmed. All that matters is the victory. Tell me, Worf, did you weep for those children?\nWorf: I grieve for them.\nCh'Pok: Grieve for them? A Klingon doesn't grieve. They died in a glorious battle! They are with the honored dead in Sto-Vo-Kor! They do not want your grief. You dishonor their memories!\nSisko: Objection!\nT'Lara: Advocate.\nWorf: You will say anything. You have no honor!\nCh'Pok: I say this. You live with humans because you're afraid to live with Klingons.\nWorf: I fear nothing. And if you would like to pick up a bat'leth and face me with weapons instead of words, I will prove it to you.\nCh'Pok: You'd like that, wouldn't you, Worf? You'd love to prove that you are as strong and courageous as any Klingon warrior.\nWorf: I am a Klingon warrior.\nT'Lara: Advocate, you are stepping well beyond the bounds of protocol.\nCh'Pok: And that is why you told the Ferengi you hoped the Klingons do come for you. You wanted to prove yourself in the eyes of the only people that matter to you. Other Klingons.\nT'Lara: This will stop or I will hold both of you in contempt.\nCh'Pok: I apologize, Worf. Actually, I pity you. But the person I pity most is Alexander. Because one day he will come to you and ask, Father who am I? And you will have to tell him that he is the son of a small, frightened man who destroyed a ship full of children just to prove his own courage.\nSisko: Worf, no!\nCh'Pok: I thought you said you'd never attack an unarmed man. Perhaps you should have said, not unless I get angry, not unless I have something to prove. I rest my case. Captain's log, stardate 49665.3. The hearing is in recess and Admiral T'Lara has retired to her quarters to begin deliberations. I wish I could be more optimistic about her decision.\nSisko: Constable?\nOdo: Good news.\nSisko: If he objects, I know what to do.\nT'Lara: Captain Sisko?\nSisko: Admiral, I apologize for interrupting your deliberations, but I have some new evidence I'd like to present.\nT'Lara: Very well.\nSisko: I'd like Advocate Ch'Pok to evaluate the evidence as an expert witness on the Klingon Empire.\nT'Lara: I will not compel you to testify, Advocate.\nSisko: Care to step onto my battlefield?\nSisko: Advocate, how would you describe the current relationship between the Federation and the Klingon Empire?\nCh'Pok: There is no formal relationship between our two governments.\nSisko: What would you call us? Informal friends? Informal enemies?\nCh'Pok: I would say there is potential for either label, but at the moment neither is entirely accurate.\nSisko: Hmm. Interesting. Would you agree that at the moment, it is difficult for us to trust each other?\nCh'Pok: Difficult, but not impossible. There are things that transcend our differences. For example, we trust that this case can be decided fairly. We have faith in Admiral T'Lara's judgment.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear you have such a profound respect for the Admiral. But would it be fair to say that outside this hearing you do not entirely trust us?\nCh'Pok: Well, it is only prudent that we question your motives now that we are no longer allies.\nSisko: Of course. And it is only prudent of us to question your motives. After all, aren't there times when you feel it's in your best interest to deceive us?\nCh'Pok: I object to the question. It is vague and hypothetical.\nSisko: Well, can you imagine any circumstance in which the Empire would deceive the Federation?\nCh'Pok: I have a poor imagination.\nSisko: Let's see what we can do to spark it.\nSisko: Do you recognize these names?\nCh'Pok: These are the people who were killed on board the transport.\nSisko: You're positive? There are four hundred and forty one of them.\nCh'Pok: The names and faces of these people are seared into my heart. This is a list of heroes who died at the hands of a coward. It is a list I can never forget.\nSisko: They are an interesting group of people aren't they? From every walk of life. Merchants, soldiers, artists, shopkeepers.\nCh'Pok: Children.\nSisko: Children. We've done some checking in their backgrounds, and in our opinion they all appear to be a random group of people who shared only one thing in common. They traveled on the same ship. Is that your conclusion as well?\nCh'Pok: Yes.\nSisko: And it was just fate that led these particular people to board a doomed ship?\nCh'Pok: Fate is a human concept. They simply boarded the wrong ship at the wrong time.\nSisko: And then they did it again.\nCh'Pok: I don't think I understand your line of\nSisko: Three months ago a Klingon transport ship crashed in the mountains of Galorda Prime. Of course, everyone assumed the worst, that the passengers and crew had all been killed. But then, miraculously, everyone survived. Do you know anyone who was on that ship?\nCh'Pok: No.\nSisko: Are you sure? You have the names of the survivors right there. I can understand your confusion. The names in front of you are identical to the names on this list. The people who were killed in the Defiant incident. So, what does this mean? Four hundred and forty one people somehow survived a crash on Galorda Prime and then a few weeks later they all decide to take another trip, on the same day, on the same transport ship, under the same captain and crew, and then that ship is destroyed, too. This is a very unlucky group of people, wouldn't you say?\nCh'Pok: I am not an expert on luck.\nSisko: No. You are an expert on the Klingon Empire. So, tell me, Advocate. Isn't it possible that there were no civilians on the transport Worf destroyed? Isn't it possible that the ship he saw was sending out false sensor images and that this whole affair was staged so that the only Klingon officer in Starfleet would be accused of a massacre and the Federation would be forced to stop escorting the convoys? Tell me, Advocate, isn't it possible?\nCh'Pok: Yes.\nWorf: Captain.\nSisko: I thought you should know O'Brien and Bashir are throwing a party for you at Quark's. It looks like quite a bash.\nWorf: I am aware of it, but I have much on my mind. Ch'Pok was right. I did have something to prove when I took command of the convoy and I did not realize it until I stood there looking down at him, blood trickling from his mouth. In that moment I remember thinking finally he had given me what I really wanted. A reason to attack him. And I had that same feeling when the Klingon ships first attacked. Finally, a chance for vengeance. I should not have accepted the mission.\nSisko: I'm glad you realize that. That was your first mistake. What was your second?\nWorf: When the ship decloaked, I should have checked the target before I fired.\nSisko: You're damned right you should've checked. You knew there were civilian ships in the area. You fired at something you hadn't identified. You made a military decision to protect your ship and crew, but you're a Starfleet officer, Worf. We don't put civilians at risk or even potentially at risk to save ourselves. Sometimes that means we lose the battle and sometimes our lives. But if you can't make that choice, then you can't wear that uniform.\nWorf: Yes, sir.\nSisko: At ease, Commander. Now, all that being true, the reality is no harm has been done. There are no dead children on your conscience. You got lucky.\nWorf: I do not feel lucky.\nSisko: And that's why despite everything that's happened you're going to make a hell of a captain some day. Now, let's go. They'll all be waiting. Look, this party isn't for you as much as it is for them. Things got a little tense there for a while. They need a release, a chance to celebrate.\nWorf: But I do not feel like celebrating.\nSisko: Part of being a captain is knowing when to smile, make the troops happy even when it's the last thing in the world you want to do. Because they're your troops and you have to take care of them.\nWorf: Life is a great deal more complicated in this red uniform.\nSisko: Wait till you get four pips on that collar. You'll wish you had gone into botany."}
{"text": "Argrathi: All offenders prepare for decontamination. Decontamination will proceed immediately.\nRinn: Miles Edward O'Brien. The Argrathi Authority has been conducting a review of your case. Do you wish to add anything to the official record?\nRinn: No matter. Your correction is completed. You are free.\nO'Brien: Free?\nRinn: The crime of espionage requires a minimum of fifteen cycles of correction. You've been here for twenty. It's time for you to go.\nO'Brien: Go? I can't leave. Where would I go to?\nRinn: That's not my concern. Remove him.\nRinn: There. It's done.\nO'Brien: Major?\nKira: It's me, Chief.\nO'Brien: It can't be. It's been twenty years. You haven't changed at all.\nRinn: Only a few hours passed during your correction.\nO'Brien: I don't understand.\nKira: Chief, I know this is going to be hard for you to accept, but you haven't been in prison. What you experienced was an artificial reality, an interactive program that created memories of things that never actually happened.\nO'Brien: What?\nRinn: The Major is correct. We punish our offenders by giving them memories of incarceration modeled to fit each offender's personality. It's more efficient and much more effective than maintaining an extensive prison system.\nKira: Which means that what you think you experienced in prison, the things you remember, didn't happen. It wasn't real.\nO'Brien: It's real to me, Major. It's real to me.\nSisko: He apparently got curious about some Argrathi technology and asked a few too many questions. The Argrathi security arrested him and charged him with espionage.\nKeiko: But Miles would never break the law intentionally.\nSisko: I know that. But by the time the Argrathi told us what had happened, they had already carried out his correction.\nKeiko: Can the memories that they implanted be removed?\nSisko: The Argrathi claim it's impossible, but Doctor Bashir will do his best.\nKeiko: When can I see him?\nSisko: As soon as Doctor Bashir gives the okay.\nO'Brien: I used to dream about this. Being on in runabout, coming through the wormhole, seeing the station again. Now I keep expecting to wake up and find myself back in the cell.\nKira: Being in your cell was a dream. This is the reality.\nO'Brien: I'd forgotten how beautiful it was.\nKira: Come on. Let's get you home.\nBashir: Chief.\nO'Brien: Julian. Is it really you?\nBashir: It's me.\nKira: He's all yours.\nO'Brien: Never thought I'd see you again.\nBashir: I was pretty worried about you, too.\nO'Brien: Keiko?\nBashir: She'll see you in a little while. I want to run some tests first, see what we're up against. As for everyone else, they send their best. They would have been here, but I didn't want you to get overwhelmed. You should take things easy for a while, get used to this place again. All right?\nO'Brien: Doctor's orders?\nBashir: Oh, absolutely.\nBashir: I can't imagine what it would have been like. Twenty years in that cell.\nO'Brien: It was bad.\nBashir: In all that time, were you able to talk to anyone? See anyone?\nO'Brien: I was alone.\nEe'Char: Here.\nArgrathi: All offenders refusing to comply with dormancy period will be subject to habitat reprogramming.\nEe'Char: Eat this. It'll help you feel better. It's chee'lash fruit.\nO'Brien: Thanks.\nEe'Char: I'm the one who should be thanking you. I've been alone in here for six cycles.\nO'Brien: Six years?\nEe'Char: I know. It's a wonder I'm not insane. But you find ways to survive. Let me guess. Sedition?\nO'Brien: Espionage.\nEe'Char: It looks like we're going to be in here together for a long time. My name is Ee'Char.\nO'Brien: Miles. Miles O'Brien.\nEe'Char: Hello, Miles. Welcome to hell.\nO'Brien: Completely alone.\nBashir: The bottom line is, there isn't much I can do. The Argrathi didn't just installl memory implants. They ran Miles through a highly realistic time-compressed simulation of the prison experience. In his mind, he lived those twenty years. He reacted to everything that happened. He felt pain, fear, hatred. He made choices and decisions that affected the outcome. As a result, those memories are real. The only way I could rid him of the memories would be to wipe his entire memory clean, and clearly that isn't an option.\nKeiko: I understand.\nBashir: Listen, Keiko, he's been through some terrible things in his life, as you know. During the war on Setlik Three. That time he was taken prisoner by the Paradans. During his trial on Cardassia Prime. And he's always survived. In the long run, he's going to be okay. It's just going to take some time.\nO'Brien: Computer. A piece of chee'lash fruit please.\nComputer: Requested pattern for requested fruit is not available. Please provide specifications.\nO'Brien: Well, it's sort of. I don't know the specifications. Cancel the request.\nBashir: Chief?\nKeiko: Miles? Oh, Miles.\nKeiko: Miles, what's wrong?\nO'Brien: You're pregnant?\nKeiko: That's right.\nO'Brien: It's been so long I'd forgotten.\nKeiko: Oh, Miles. It's all right. Everything's going to be all right.\nMolly: I'm done. Can I go color?\nKeiko: Sure. Make sure to put your plate in the replicator, sweetie.\nMolly: Okay. Do you want to come color with me?\nO'Brien: Maybe in a little while.\nKeiko: It must be strange to suddenly have a family again.\nO'Brien: It's just, I've been alone for so long.\nKeiko: Talking about it with Counselor Telnorri should help. Julian says you'll be seeing him for a while.\nO'Brien: Three counseling sessions a week. I can hardly wait.\nKeiko: Miles?\nO'Brien: Mm-hmm?\nKeiko: What are you doing?\nO'Brien: Nothing.\nKeiko: I mean, with your food.\nO'Brien: It's just a habit I picked up in prison. The guards didn't care much whether I lived or died. Sometimes they wouldn't deliver food for days, weeks even. When they did feed me, I ate as little as possible and save the rest.\nKeiko: That's horrible.\nO'Brien: You get used to it.\nArgrathi: All food rations will be suspended until further notice. Any offenders caught with rations will be diskiplined.\nEe'Char: For later.\nO'Brien: How did you manage? Six years in here all by yourself.\nEe'Char: Oh, you find ways. I'd exercise, tell myself stories, draw eseekas on the ground.\nO'Brien: Eseekas?\nEe'Char: Geometric patterns. Drawing them is a way to relax your body and occupy the mind.\nO'Brien: That helps?\nEe'Char: Helps me.\nO'Brien: Show me.\nEe'Char: It's not easy.\nO'Brien: I have plenty of time to learn.\nEe'Char: Here. This is a good spot. Start by drawing a circle.\nEe'Char: Now gaze into the circle. You want to learn or not?\nO'Brien: I'm gazing.\nEe'Char: Relax your mind. Imagine that the circle encompasses your whole existence. Let it become a part of you. Now without thinking, allow your hand to make a mark inside the circle. Now expand on the mark. Let it grow organically until it becomes a pattern.\nO'Brien: What are you laughing at?\nEe'Char: You look like a reeta-hawk picking at a corpse. Awk! Awk!\nO'Brien: How do you do that?\nEe'Char: What, awk?\nO'Brien: No, laugh after six years in here.\nEe'Char: Well, after six years in a place like this, you either learn to laugh or you go insane. I prefer to laugh.\nArgrathi: All offenders prepare for dormancy period. Any offender still active during the dormancy period will be diskiplined. Illumination will be suspended in twenty seconds.\nEe'Char: Sleep well, Miles. And if you feel like laughing in the middle of the night, go ahead. I'm a heavy sleeper.\nArgrathi: Dormancy period initiated.\nKeiko: Miles?\nWorf: Your throw.\nO'Brien: Do I need one seventeen, or two?\nWorf: I am not sure.\nO'Brien: No, neither am I.\nWorf: We could start again.\nO'Brien: Nah, that's all right. I know darts isn't really your game. To be honest, I don't feel much like playing myself.\nWorf: We could go kayaking in the holosuite.\nO'Brien: You're a good friend, but\nO'Brien: Hold on a second.\nWorf: Is everything all right?\nO'Brien: It's fine. I just thought I saw someone I used to know.\nO'Brien: Interphasic coil spanner. ODN recoupler.\nJake: You got it.\nJake: It's a\nO'Brien: No, no, d on't tell me. I'll get it. A quantum flux regulator, mark three.\nJake: Perfect.\nO'Brien: Let's go through it again.\nJake: Chief, you know this stuff. You don't have to worry about it.\nO'Brien: I don't want to be embarrassed in front of the repair crews.\nJake: Even if you get one wrong, no one'll think anything of it. You may be a little rusty, but you're still the Chief.\nO'Brien: Oh, well if I'm still the Chief, I say we go through it again.\nO'Brien: All done here.\nMuniz: That was quick.\nO'Brien: I reconfigured the magnetic waveguides. Saved us the trouble of replacing the whole unit.\nMuniz: Good as new. We're about done here. If it's all right with you, I was going to dismiss the crew for lunch.\nO'Brien: You go ahead. There's a couple of things I want to look at down here. Brush up a little more.\nMuniz: Keep up the good work, crewman. Another week or two, you'll be running the place.\nO'Brien: Don't you forget it.\nBashir: Ah, there you are, Chief.\nO'Brien: Hello, Julian. Come to check up on me?\nBashir: To be honest, yes. Counselor Telnorri says that you haven't been in to see him in ten days.\nO'Brien: So?\nBashir: So, you're supposed to see him three times a week.\nO'Brien: What for? All Telnorri ever wants to do is sit and listen to me tell stories of what it was like to be in an Argrathi prison. How often did they beat me? Was I distressed by the lack of toilet facilities? If you ask me, he's the one with the problem.\nBashir: You can talk to a different counselor. Someone you might like better.\nO'Brien: Julian, I don't want to talk to a counselor. I just want to forget about what happened on Argratha and get on with my life.\nBashir: Just like that?\nO'Brien: Yes, just like that. I don't need counseling or relaxation or time to adjust. I just want to be left alone.\nBashir: I'd have thought after being alone for twenty years, you'd want someone to talk to.\nO'Brien: If there's one thing I haven't missed in the last twenty years, it's your smug, superior attitude. Now I have told you I want to be left alone and I meant it. So if you know what's good for you you'll stay the hell away from me.\nO'Brien: Promenade.\nEe'Char: Tell me about Keiko again. About how much you like her eyes.\nO'Brien: I've told you about her a hundred times. What more is there to say?\nEe'Char: Well, I like hearing about her. If I had a beautiful wife I'd talk about her, believe me. Besides, talking about her always relaxs you, and your pacing is getting a little distracting.\nO'Brien: Oh, yeah?\nEe'Char: Yeah.\nO'Brien: Well, your drawing is bothering me.\nEe'Char: Since when?\nO'Brien: Since now.\nEe'Char: You didn't need to do that.\nO'Brien: Don't tell me what I need.\nEe'Char: Miles.\nO'Brien: Don't Miles me. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of this place, I'm sick of your drawings, and most of all I am sick of you!\nEe'Char: Try to be calm.\nO'Brien: I don't want to be calm. I've had it with this place. I don't belong here.\nO'Brien: Do you hear me? I don't belong here. I didn't do anything wrong. I know you're listening.\nEe'Char: Miles!\nO'Brien: I don't belong here! Let me out of here! I don't do anything wrong and you know it!\nArgrathi: All offenders in detention area four. If you do not cease this disturbance immediately, you will be diskiplined.\nO'Brien: Diskipline this!\nEe'Char: Miles!\nEe'Char: Listen. Be quiet!\nOdo: Chief, how are you doing?\nO'Brien: I wish people would stop asking me that. I'm sorry, Constable. Everything's fine. I've just had a tough day.\nQuark: That's one Black Hole straight up, right?\nO'Brien: A synthale please.\nQuark: Be right with you, Chief.\nO'Brien: Quark, what about that synthale?\nQuark: Just another minute.\nO'Brien: Quark.\nQuark: Look, Chief, I'm a little busy right now.\nO'Brien: I'm in no mood for games, Quark, so why don't you give me my drink now or I'll break every bone in your worthless little body.\nQuark: Chief, just because your life's in shambles right now. Ow! One synthale coming right up.\nEe'Char: Miles.\nO'Brien: Ee'char. What are you doing here?\nEe'Char: I've never really been gone, have I?\nO'Brien: You're not real. You're just in my head.\nEe'Char: That's all I ever was. But I'm real to you and that's all that matters.\nO'Brien: Go away.\nEe'Char: I can't. I'm your friend. You need me.\nO'Brien: You are the last thing I need.\nEe'Char: You're wrong, Miles. You need me now more than ever.\nEe'Char: What are you doing?\nO'Brien: I'm going to work.\nEe'Char: Miles, as your friend, I have to tell you I'm worried about you.\nO'Brien: Don't be. I'm home, I'm working, and for the first time in as long as I can remember, I feel good.\nEe'Char: Then why am I here?\nSisko: Sisko to O'Brien. Please report to my office.\nO'Brien: On my way. Look, I don't know why you're here. And I don't care.\nSisko: Have a seat. I understand you had a confrontation with Doctor Bashir yesterday.\nO'Brien: That, sir? That was nothing.\nSisko: Not according to Doctor Bashir.\nO'Brien: We had a little argument. Julian and I are always arguing.\nSisko: According to Constable Odo, you also had an incident with Quark.\nO'Brien: Did that little? Look, sir, I may have let things get a little bit out of hand, but it won't happen again.\nSisko: Doctor Bashir also tells me that you've stopped seeing your counselor.\nO'Brien: Sir, I've been a little busy lately\nSisko: The agreement was that you were going to see a counselor on a regular basis.\nO'Brien: You're right. I'll make an appointment to go see him tomorrow.\nSisko: You'll see him today. Immediately.\nO'Brien: I've a lot of work to do today, sir.\nSisko: The work can wait. As of now, you're relieved of duty. I want you to report to Counselor Telnorri and begin attending daily counseling sessions for as long as he thinks it's advisable.\nO'Brien: Sir, you're blowing this all out of proportion.\nSisko: You know that's not true. What happened on Argratha affected you a lot more than you're willing to admit. And it's not going to get better overnight, no matter how much you want it to. You need help.\nO'Brien: Please, Captain. I'm asking you as a personal favor to me, give me one more chance.\nSisko: I wish I could. But right now, in the judgment of this station's Chief Medical Officer, you're unfit for duty. Which means you're on medical leave effective immediately. And if you don't begin attending counseling sessions on a regular basis, and cooperating in every other way with your physician, I will have no choice but to have you confined to the infirmary. Is that clear?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Dismissed.\nDax: Chief, I was just about to head down to the Replimat and I was wondering\nO'Brien: Not right, Commander.\nO'Brien: Promenade.\nO'Brien: What the hell did you say to him?\nBashir: I take it you talked to Captain Sisko.\nO'Brien: I talked to him all right. He relieved me of duty.\nBashir: It's for the best, Miles.\nO'Brien: How do you know what's best for me? You have no idea what I've been going through.\nBashir: You're right. You were alone in that cell. I wasn't there with you. I didn't see what they did to you. But I do know you suffered and that you're still suffering right now. And I'm trying to help.\nO'Brien: I never asked for your help.\nBashir: You didn't need to ask. I'm your doctor and your friend.\nEe'Char: You should listen to him, Miles. He cares about you just like I did. Don't make the same mistake with him you did with me.\nO'Brien: Don't you get it. You're not my friend. Not anymore. The O'Brien that was your friend died in that cell.\nBashir: He's not dead. He just needs a little help, that's all.\nO'Brien: Stay away from me. I don't want your help, I don't want your friendship. I just want to be left alone.\nEe'Char: Where are you going?\nO'Brien: I told you to go away.\nEe'Char: Miles, please, don't do this. Go back there and talk to him. He wants to help you.\nO'Brien: Like you did?\nEe'Char: That's right. We're both your friends.\nO'Brien: Yeah. And look what happened to you.\nO'Brien: Habitat ring.\nEe'Char: You know sooner or later you'll have to tell someone about me.\nO'Brien: Like hell I will.\nEe'Char: You can't run from me forever.\nO'Brien: You're dead. So why don't you go away and leave me alone.\nEe'Char: You want me to leave? I'll leave. Send me away. Don't you see? If I keep coming back, it's because some part of you keeps bringing me here.\nKeiko: Miles, Julian's been trying to contact you for an hour. Where have you been?\nO'Brien: Walking, thinking.\nKeiko: I know, I heard. I'm sorry. I know how much your work means to you.\nO'Brien: Try telling that to Julian.\nMolly: Daddy, come see what I drew.\nO'Brien: Not now, honey, okay?\nKeiko: I'm sure its only temporary. You'll be back at work before you know it.\nMolly: Daddy. You have to come see.\nO'Brien: Look, can we talk about this later?\nMolly: Daddy, come on.\nO'Brien: Not now.\nMolly: Please, Daddy, please.\nO'Brien: I said not now, right! I said\nKeiko: Miles, what are you doing?\nO'Brien: I didn't mean to. I'm sorry.\nBashir: Chief?\nO'Brien: Get out of here, Julian.\nBashir: You don't want to do this, Chief.\nO'Brien: The hell I don't.\nBashir: Look, I don't claim to know what you're going through, but whatever it is, it's not worth dying for.\nO'Brien: You don't understand at all. I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this to protect Keiko, and Molly and everyone else on the station.\nBashir: Protect us from what?\nO'Brien: From me. I'm not the man I used to be. I'm dangerous. I nearly hit Molly today. All she wanted was a little attention and I nearly hit her.\nBashir: But you didn't. You're a good man, Miles Edward O'Brien. And whatever it is you think you've done wrong, you don't deserve to die.\nO'Brien: You sound like Ee'Char.\nBashir: Who's Ee'Char?\nO'Brien: He's not real. He's just a memory, that's all.\nBashir: A memory from Argratha? Who was he? Another prisoner? A guard?\nO'Brien: He was my cell mate.\nBashir: You told me you were alone in that cell. Twenty years with no one to talk to.\nO'Brien: I was at the end. A week, two maybe. But the rest of the time there was Ee'char.\nBashir: What happened to him?\nEe'Char: Why did you do that?\nO'Brien: It wasn't helping.\nEe'Char: You need to concentrate more.\nO'Brien: It doesn't matter how much I concentrate. I'm still starving.\nEe'Char: So am I.\nO'Brien: You're sure there's nothing left?\nEe'Char: Not unless you have a hiding place I don't know about.\nO'Brien: We ate the last of the food I put away a week ago. We should have stockpiled more. We should have planned for this.\nEe'Char: They've never let us go this long without food before.\nO'Brien: Maybe they've forgotten about us, or just decided to finally let us die.\nEe'Char: Then we die.\nArgrathi: All offenders prepare for dormancy period. Any offender still active during the dormancy period will be diskiplined. Illumination will be suspended in twenty seconds.\nO'Brien: What are you doing?\nEe'Char: I'm going to sleep.\nO'Brien: How can you sleep at a time like this?\nEe'Char: Maybe I'll dream about food.\nO'Brien: You're crazy.\nEe'Char: No. Just hungry.\nArgrathi: Dormancy period initiated.\nO'Brien: You pretended to be my friend and all the time you were holding out on me.\nEe'Char: Now who's acting crazy?\nEe'Char: After all I've done for you. You ungrateful\nO'Brien: You were saving it for both of us. Ee'char? Ee'char, wake up. Ee'char. Ee'char.\nBashir: You killed him?\nO'Brien: And the worst part of it was, the next day the guards began feeding me again. I'd killed him for nothing, for a scrap of bread he was going to share with me.\nBashir: But it was a mistake. You didn't mean it.\nO'Brien: I meant it. I wanted him to die. I keep telling myself it doesn't matter. It wasn't real. But that's a lie. If it had been real, if it had been you instead of him, it wouldn't have made any difference. He was my best friend and I murdered him. When we were growing up, they used to tell us humanity had evolved, that mankind had outgrown hate and rage. But when it came down to it, when I had the chance to show that no matter what anyone did to me, I was still an evolved human being, I failed. I repaid kindness with blood. I was no better than an animal.\nBashir: No, no, no, no. An animal would've killed Ee'char and never had a second thought, never shed a tear. But not you. You hate yourself. You hate yourself so much you think you deserve to die. The Argrathi did everything they could to strip you of your humanity. And in the end, for one brief moment, they succeeded. But you can't let that brief moment define your entire life. If you do, if you pull that trigger, then the Argrathi will have won. They will have destroyed a good man. You cannot let that happen, my friend.\nEe'Char: Miles. Be well, Miles.\nBashir: Thirty milligrams twice a day. Take it religiously for a month, and if all goes well we'll experiment with a lower dosage.\nO'Brien: You sure this'll work?\nBashir: It's a treatment, not a cure. It'll prevent hallucinations, take the edge off the depression. But that's all it'll do. It won't take away the memories or the feelings.\nO'Brien: You mean the guilt.\nBashir: Well, that'll take time.\nO'Brien: Now's the part where you tell me I have to start seeing Counselor Telnorri again.\nBashir: Unless you want to talk to me.\nO'Brien: Telnorri'll be fine. Thanks, Julian. For everything.\nBashir: What are friends for?\nMolly: Daddy's home! Daddy's home!\nO'Brien: That's right, Daddy's home."}
{"text": "Odo: Enjoying the view?\nJake: I'm stuck on this new story I'm working on, and coming here helps me focus.\nOdo: No need to explain, Mister Sisko.\nJake: I just thought\nOdo: You just thought what?\nJake: I thought you were going to ask me to leave.\nOdo: Why would I do that?\nJake: You always used to chase me away.\nOdo: I never chased you away. I chased Nog. You just happened to be with him. So, unless you're planning on flicking sand peas at the passing throng, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like.\nJake: I don't have any sand peas.\nOdo: You miss him, don't you?\nJake: Nog? Maybe a little.\nQuark: A little? There isn't a day goes by that I don't see him standing here, pining away for that no-good nephew of mine.\nJake: I'm not here every day.\nQuark: No, just four or five times a week. If you ask me, Nog should never have gone off to the Academy. You lost a friend, and I lost a good waiter.\nJake: Nog'll be back, and he'll be wearing a Starfleet uniform. I'm proud of what he's doing.\nQuark: Remember that the next time you try to play dom-jot by yourself.\nJake: You don't want me hanging around here? Fine. I'll do my thinking someplace else.\nQuark: Poor kid. I suppose that's what you get for having friends.\nOdo: Meaning what?\nQuark: Just that when you think you can count on them, they go off and leave you. No. You're much better off without them.\nOdo: I imagine that's why you don't have any friends.\nQuark: Look who's talking.\nJake: Dad, I'm home.\nJake: Mom?\nJennifer: I'm afraid I'm not your mother, Jake.\nSisko: This is the woman I told you about. The one I met in the parallel universe.\nJake: So you're Jennifer Sisko, but you're just not my mom.\nJennifer: That's right.\nJake: You look exactly like her.\nJennifer: And I was married to a man who looked exactly like your father. It's all a little confusing, isn't it?\nJake: More than a little. Did you tell her?\nSisko: Tell her what?\nJake: Ever since my dad told me about you I've been wanting to meet you.\nJennifer: Well, here I am.\nJake: You even sound like my mother.\nKira: Ops to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nKira: Minister Gettor's shuttle has docked.\nSisko: Give me a few minutes. Offer him a tour of the station.\nKira: I already have. His time here is limited and he's anxious to meet with the Emissary.\nSisko: I'll be right there.\nJake: So why are you here?\nJennifer: I came here to see your father.\nJake: Really? That's great.\nSisko: Jennifer came to give me some good news. The Terrans have won an important victory.\nJennifer: We've driven the Alliance off of the space station.\nJake: Then the rebels control Terok Nor.\nJennifer: I see your father has told you all about us.\nSisko: I guess I'd better get to my meeting.\nJennifer: I understand. It's not like you were expecting me.\nJake: You're not leaving, are you?\nJennifer: Is it all right if I visit with Jake for a while?\nSisko: I don't think Jake would have it any other way.\nJennifer: Maybe the three of us can have dinner together.\nSisko: That depends on how long my meeting lasts.\nJennifer: We'll wait.\nSisko: Okay.\nJake: Would you like another raktajino?\nJennifer: Thank you. That would be nice.\nJake: That's amazing.\nJennifer: What?\nJake: I never thought I'd hold these hands again. They feel just like my mother's. I'll get you that raktajino.\nKira: That went well. I think you made it clear to the Minister why the Emissary can't endorse his land reform program.\nSisko: It only took three hours.\nKira: If you like, we can go over the weekly personnel reports.\nSisko: In the morning. I've got someone waiting for me in my quarters.\nSisko: Jake? Jennifer?\nSisko: Computer, locate Jake Sisko.\nComputer: Jake Sisko is not on the station.\nO'Brien: Are you sure this is what Smiley used to transport you to the alternate universe?\nSisko: Looks like it.\nDax: And you're convinced Jake's gone over there?\nSisko: He's not on the station and neither is Jennifer.\nKira: Maybe he convinced her to take him over there for a visit.\nSisko: Without asking me?\nDax: It could be she left that behind as an invitation to join them.\nSisko: And I accept. But only to get Jake back.\nKira: Want some company? I can think of safer places to visit.\nSisko: Major, you and the Chief come with me. Commander, you have Ops.\nO'Brien: Expecting trouble, Major?\nKira: Just want to be prepared.\nSisko: Energize.\nO'Brien: Welcome back, Captain.\nSisko: What happened to the others?\nO'Brien: They weren't invited.\nSisko: Where's my son?\nO'Brien: He's with Professor Sisko. She's showing him the station.\nSisko: The tour's over. I'm taking Jake home.\nO'Brien: Then I'm afraid we have a problem.\nSisko: What kind of problem?\nO'Brien: Jake's not going anywhere.\nO'Brien: and neither are you.\nO'Brien: Terok Nor in rebel hands. It just shows what people can do when their cause is just.\nSisko: Save the speeches, Smiley. Right now, I don't care too much for you or your cause.\nO'Brien: You've every right to be angry. We haven't exactly played fair with you.\nSisko: You kidnapped my son.\nO'Brien: Kidnapped? An ugly word.\nSisko: But accurate.\nO'Brien: Tell me, Captain. If we had come and asked for your help in fighting the Alliance, what would you have said?\nSisko: I'd have said no.\nO'Brien: Which is why we had to use your son to lure you over here. We need your help, Captain. No one else will do.\nO'Brien: Recognize her?\nSisko: Wow. The Defiant.\nO'Brien: During our last encounter, when I visited your station, I took a moment to download as many of your computer files as I could. I figured they'd come in handy some day. And they have. You see, captain, taking Terok Nor was one thing. Keeping it, that's the tricky part. The Alliance fleet is already on its way. When they get here, I want to have a proper welcome ready for them.\nSisko: These schematics look complete. Why do you need me? If you want to build another Defiant, why do you need my help?\nO'Brien: We've already built it. The problem is, when we power up its engines, the whole ship damn near shakes itself apart.\nSisko: We had the same trouble. It's a powerful ship.\nO'Brien: Well, right now it's a little too powerful for its own good. How did you solve it?\nSisko: We had to overhaul the structural integrity field grids.\nO'Brien: How long did it take?\nSisko: Two weeks.\nO'Brien: We have four days.\nSisko: I'm not sure that's enough time.\nO'Brien: It'd better be. Otherwise the Defiant won't be ready, and you and your son will die along with the rest of us. Or worse still, spend the rest of your lives working in the ore processing center under the tender mercies of an Alliance overseer. Help us, Captain, and I promise we'll get you and your son out of here before the fireworks begin. The Defiant's at docking port five. I think you know the way.\nSisko: I want to see my son first.\nO'Brien: I knew you would.\nBashir: Is he with us?\nO'Brien: You remember Captain Bashir.\nSisko: Captain?\nO'Brien: Captain Bashir, Captain O'Brien, Captain Sisko. We may not have enough troops or ships or weapons, but we have plenty of captains.\nBashir: Is he going to help us or not?\nO'Brien: You must have missed that cheery face. Relax. The Captain has found it in his heart to aid us once again.\nBashir: Good.\nBashir: I owed you that. I let you hit me once because I thought you were our Captain Sisko. Now I know better.\nSisko: We're even now.\nO'Brien: If I were you, I'd keep out of his way.\nNog: You and I friends? I don't think so.\nJake: Why not?\nNog: You're too tall. I don't trust tall men. Tall women, that's a different story. Here. See for yourself.\nJennifer: Jake, isn't she a little old for you?\nNog: Who are you, his mother?\nSisko: Jake!\nJake: Dad. I'm sorry, but I had to come. Somehow, talking to Jennifer, telling her all about the past nine years, about all the things that happened to me, what I've done, what I've been thinking about. It's like telling Mom.\nSisko: In a lot of ways she's nothing like your Mom.\nJake: Yeah, but in some ways, she's just like her. And not just physically. She listens like Mom. And it's the exact same smile.\nSisko: Okay, Jake.\nJake: This place is unbelievable. Chief O'Brien, Doctor Bashir, Dax, they're all here. I know, it's not really them but, look here's Nog. This is my father.\nNog: He's tall, too.\nSisko: Sorry. Look, Jake-o, I have to talk to Jennifer alone for a minute.\nJake: She likes you.\nSisko: Jake, whatever you're thinking, whatever plans you're making, forget about them.\nJake: I'm not making any plans.\nSisko: Outside.\nSisko: I just want to know one thing. Whose idea was this?\nJennifer: Does it matter?\nSisko: It does to me.\nJennifer: It was mine. We needed you to help us complete the ship. Smiley told me all about you. About your wife's death, about your son. I knew that Jake would want to meet me, that I'd remind him of his mother.\nSisko: You're nothing like his mother.\nJennifer: I think Jake would disagree.\nSisko: Of course he would. In his mind, the three of us are already living together.\nJennifer: Ben, you're the one that convinced me to join the rebels, to fight the good fight for my people.\nSisko: It's not your cause that I have a problem with, it's your methods.\nJennifer: I'm sorry if Jake's feelings get hurt, but that's a small price to pay if it means success against the Alliance.\nSisko: All right, I'm here and I'm going to help you. But I want you to leave my son alone.\nJennifer: I can't.\nSisko: Why not?\nJake: Jennifer!\nJennifer: Because he won't leave me alone.\nKlingon: Bow before the Regent!\nGarak: I can't think of anything I'd rather do.\nWorf: Ah. So this is the p'tak who lost Terok Nor to the rebels.\nGarak: It's not exactly\nWorf: Are you calling me a liar?\nGarak: I was merely observing that as one of many officers under the Intendant's command, it would be an overstatement to imply that I alone was responsible for our defeat.\nWorf: But you are the only officer who managed to escape.\nGarak: Perhaps I should have surrendered to the rebels, groveling on the floor, begging for my life like the Intendant.\nWorf: You are attempting to shift blame away from yourself.\nGarak: Am I succeeding?\nWorf: This time I will deal with the rebels myself. You will be at my side, redeeming yourself in battle.\nGarak: Your fairness and good judgment are everything I've heard it to be. Believe me, my Regent, it will take the blood of many rebels to quench the thirst of my revenge.\nWorf: Spoken like a Klingon.\nGarak: I'm trying. Now, if you could just remove this insufferable collar.\nWorf: No. The collar stays until every rebel on Terok Nor lies dead at my feet.\nSisko: Sisko to Smiley. I'm about to put the deuterium injector back online.\nO'Brien: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: I've got the flow regulators shut off.\nSisko: Injectors are operational. You can recalibrate the regulators now.\nO'Brien: Will do.\nDax: I heard you were back.\nDax: That's for making love to me under false pretenses. I was suspicious of you from the start.\nSisko: You hid it well.\nDax: If you ever try to touch me again. Do yet my point?\nSisko: I hope not.\nSisko: What happened?\nBashir: Ah. You remember the Intendant, don't you? I was taking her to an interrogation session when the vile little tyrant tried to escape.\nBashir: Oops.\nSisko: Pick her up.\nBashir: Leave her. She's not through with her lesson.\nKira: If this is supposed to teach me a lesson you might want to turn that little toy of yours to a higher setting.\nBashir: Gladly.\nSisko: That's enough.\nBashir: Whose side are you on?\nSisko: There's a difference between interrogation and torture.\nBashir: The Alliance never made that distinction.\nSisko: But you should.\nBashir: Take her back to her cell.\nKira: Well done. Now I have to admit, the last time you were here you had me completely fooled. I really thought you were my Benjamin Sisko.\nSisko: That was the idea.\nKira: Help me escape and I promise I'll be grateful. Very grateful.\nSisko: I'm sure you would be. But don't count on it.\nKira: Well then perhaps you'll find Marani and have her sent to my holding cell.\nSisko: Marani?\nKira: One of my servants. I am a touch sore. And she does give the most exquisite massages.\nWorf: A ship? What kind of ship?\nKlingon: According to our reports, it's of unknown classification and carries an impressive weapons array. Some kind of improved photon torpedoes, multi-targeting phaser banks.\nWorf: How long until it is operational?\nKlingon: Within two days.\nGarak: I know it's none of my business but perhaps it would be prudent to increase our speed to warp nine.\nWorf: Quiet!\nGarak: I was merely trying to be of service.\nWorf: If it was not for your incompetence, the rebels would have been destroyed.\nGarak: I thought we had agreed that it was the Intendant who was incompetent. I was merely following her orders.\nWorf: And for following those orders you deserve to die.\nGarak: Then why don't you kill me? The Intendant was bad enough. She was irrational, accusatory, unappreciative. But at least\nWorf: At least what?\nGarak: At least I was able to please her now and then.\nWorf: You are not my type.\nGarak: I never said I was.\nWorf: Increase speed to warp nine.\nJake: So, what do you think?\nJennifer: It was delicious. What do you call it?\nJake: Chicken a la Sisko.\nJennifer: How did you learn to cook like this?\nJake: Well, all Sisko men have the cooking gene. You should try my Dad's shrimp Creole.\nJennifer: Maybe one day I will.\nJennifer: Come in.\nSisko: Jake, it's time to call it a day.\nJennifer: How about some chicken a la Sisko? Jake made dinner. It's delicious.\nSisko: I am too tired to eat. Jake-o.\nJake: In a minute, Dad. I don't want to leave a mess.\nJennifer: Oh, that's really not necessary.\nJake: No, I want to.\nJennifer: How's the work on the Defiant coming?\nSisko: Slowly.\nJennifer: Does that feel better?\nSisko: Yes, but I don't know what you expect to gain by it.\nJennifer: I don't expect to gain anything. I just want to remind you that I am not your enemy. I don't know why you're being so hard on me. After all, you pretended to be my husband and I've forgiven you. By the way, you have done a good job with him. Jake, I mean.\nSisko: You're not making that job any easier.\nJennifer: Oh, he'll get over me.\nSisko: Maybe.\nJennifer: I wish I could say the same. Is it really a surprise? Think about it. My Ben Sisko is dead. I look at Jake and all I see is the son that I'll never have. Maybe bringing him here wasn't such a good idea after all.\nSisko: For any of us.\nJennifer: Come in?\nO'Brien: I just got word. The Alliance fleet is less than eight hours away. I guess we've run out of time.\nSisko: You concentrate on getting the weapons array online. I'll calibrate the SIF generators.\nO'Brien: Eight hours. It's not a lot of time, is it?\nSisko: It's all we have.\nBashir: Smiley! Your assembly crew won't let me into the torpedo bay.\nO'Brien: That's because they're trying to get the torpedo chambering mechanism online.\nBashir: Great. So what am I supposed to do with these torpedoes?\nO'Brien: I have a few suggestions.\nBashir: Do you now?\nDax: This isn't getting us anywhere. We need to buy ourselves some more time.\nSisko: Any ideas?\nBashir: How many raiders have we got left?\nO'Brien: Only one. There's no way we can stop the Alliance attack.\nBashir: Maybe not, but I might be able to buy more time before they get here.\nO'Brien: You'll never make it back.\nBashir: Is that what you're worried about? I thought it was because I was going to reap all the glory.\nO'Brien: What good is glory when you're dead?\nBashir: Who said anything about dying?\nDax: When are we leaving? I never liked staying in one place for very long.\nBashir: Then it's settled.\nSisko: Before you go, we'd better make damn sure you can get us that extra time.\nKira: Me help you fight the Alliance? What a perverse idea. I have a better one. Why don't I cut your throat? A quick death. Much less painful than anything the Regent will do to you.\nSisko: I think you'd better worry about what the Regent is going to do to you.\nKira: The Regent has no reason to question my loyalty.\nSisko: It's not your loyalty he'll be questioning. It's your effectiveness. After all, he wouldn't have to retake Terok Nor if you hadn't lost it in the first place.\nKira: I didn't lose anything. It was Garak and the rest of those Alliance fools with their excessive brutality. I could never make them to understand violence is a precision instrument. It's a scalpel, not a club.\nSisko: Garak was smart enough to escape.\nKira: Garak is a coward. He ran at the first sign of danger.\nSisko: Probably straight into the Regent's arms, where he no doubt laid the blame for the loss of this station entirely on you.\nKira: You have a point.\nSisko: Good. Then I'll ask you again. Is there any weakness in the Alliance fleet? Something we can exploit?\nKira: It's a possibility. Why don't you lower this forcefield and join me in here? It might help stimulate my thought process.\nSisko: I should think self-preservation would be stimulation enough for you.\nKira: That's not a very friendly attitude, especially when you want my help. Oh, it's Professor Sisko, isn't it. Well, she's very attractive but I've known Breen icicles that are warmer than she is.\nSisko: This has nothing to do with her.\nKira: If you say so. Still, I've never been able to resist anyone named Benjamin Sisko. The Alliance ships are quick and powerful, but they do have one weakness. Their targeting systems can be fooled. They've been known to chase warp shadows.\nSisko: How do I know I can believe you?\nKira: You're just going to have to trust me.\nWorf: The key. Where is it?\nGarak: You're not listening, I didn't take the key.\nWorf: You are lying.\nKlingon: I'm telling you. He stole it from me while I was feeding him.\nWorf: Don't make me ask you again.\nGarak: What good would the key do me? Even if I were to unlock this collar, where could I go? I can't get off this ship. And besides, you've searched me three times already. Where could I possibly be hiding it?\nWorf: Perhaps you swallowed it.\nGarak: Impossible. I'm very particular about what I eat.\nWorf: We will see about that.\nKlingon: Regent!\nWorf: What is it?\nKlingon: The key, sir. Somehow it fell into my boot.\nGarak: Now do you believe me?\nWorf: If he dies, you die.\nHelmsman: Six Rebel raiders are approaching, bearing three five four mark zero zero eight. Their sensors have detected us. They're fleeing.\nWorf: Wise choice. But they will not get far.\nDax: I hope these warp shadows we're emitting are going to fool them.\nBashir: Well, we'll know as soon as they start firing.\nJennifer: You look like you could use another pair of hands.\nSisko: Smaller ones might help.\nJennifer: Here, let me.\nSisko: I'm trying to calibrate the torque sensors.\nJennifer: Yes, I know. To control the inertial dampers. It's Professor Sisko, remember?\nSisko: Sorry.\nJennifer: For what it's worth, you should know that I've told Jake the truth. About my visit to you, why I brought him here, everything.\nSisko: And?\nJennifer: And he said that it doesn't matter. That he's still glad to have met me. Funny thing is, I know he means it.\nSisko: He has a forgiving nature.\nJennifer: It's more than that. I don't think he could be angry with me even if he wanted to. I remind him too much of his mother.\nSisko: He loved her very much.\nJennifer: No one has ever cared about me like that before. So, if it's all right with you, I will see to it that he is sent back to Deep Space Nine.\nSisko: When?\nJennifer: Right away.\nSisko: What's Smiley going to say about that?\nJennifer: He trusts you to finish your job. And so do I. Would you like to say goodbye to him?\nSisko: I'd better finish here. Tell Jake I'll see him soon.\nJennifer: Ben? When we first met there was a connection between us. And now, because of what I've done, it's gone, isn't it?\nSisko: I'm not sure it was real to begin with.\nJennifer: I'd better go get Jake home.\nNog: Hey! What are you doing there?\nJake: Nothing. I'm just thinking.\nNog: Well, think somewhere else. You're making me uncomfortable.\nNog: What's so funny?\nJake: Where I come from, it's you and I that would hang out here, and it's your uncle that would chase us away.\nNog: Am I suppose to be impressed by that? I don't care about some parallel universe. I only care about this one. And in this one, I run a bar and you do your thinking in your quarters.\nJake: All right, you made your point.\nNog: I'm waiting.\nJake: I'm going.\nNog: Good. You're a long way from home, human.\nJake: I guess I am.\nJennifer: Jake, I need to speak with you. In private.\nJake: Sure.\nKira: Tell me something. Are you as bored as I am?\nKira: I'll take that as a yes. You know, I bet if we put our heads together, we could create a little excitement for ourselves.\nGuard: You sentenced my wife to death.\nKira: Isn't that a coincidence? I was hoping you weren't married.\nNog: I've prepared the Intendant's dinner.\nGuard: Show me.\nKira: Nicely done.\nNog: Thank you. I have a ship waiting for you at landing pad C.\nKira: I'm going to need that more than you will. I wasn't aware we were on the same side.\nNog: You killed my father and my uncle. Thanks to you, I own the bar.\nO'Brien: Jettison the docking scaffold. Captain. I think it's time for you to go. I believe that was the agreement.\nSisko: I'm on my way. I just wanted to wish you luck.\nO'Brien: Thanks. You've given us a fine ship. I only wish I could have gotten to know her before taking her into battle. Still, there's nothing like a little on the job training to get the adrenalin pumping.\nSisko: Get out of that chair, Smiley.\nO'Brien: What do you mean?\nSisko: Just do it. Seal the airlock, release docking clamps. Aft thrusters at one quarter impulse. What are you standing there for, Smiley?\nO'Brien: Captain, you never cease to amaze me.\nSisko: Sometimes I even surprise myself.\nSisko: How long do you think the station's shields can withstand the Alliance assault?\nO'Brien: Long enough for us to see just how tough this ship of yours really is.\nSisko: Let's find out. Take us out of here.\nNog: You're sure you want to leave now?\nKira: I'm hoping this new rebel ship keeps the Alliance busy while I get to Bajor. I have friends there who'll hide me.\nNog: Well, don't worry, about me. I won't tell anyone where you are.\nKira: Nog?\nKira: You're right. You won't tell anyone.\nJake: I don't see why you can't come to Deep Space Nine with me.\nJennifer: Believe me, Jake, It's better in the long run if I don't. For all of us.\nKira: Jennifer. You look as beautiful as ever.\nO'Brien: A bird of prey has locked onto us.\nSisko: Evasive maneuvers. Pattern Delta.\nO'Brien: Pattern Delta? What's that?\nSisko: Rock her.\nO'Brien: Rock her?\nSisko: Port to starboard, hard.\nO'Brien: Got it. Can't lose her.\nSisko: Hard to port.\nSisko: Fire!\nO'Brien: I must remember that one.\nKira: You know, I really have to thank you, Jennifer. Not only do you guarantee me safe passage off the station, but you'll make the perfect gift for the Regent as well.\nJennifer: You want me to go with you, fine. But leave the boy here.\nKira: Why is he so important to you?\nJennifer: That doesn't matter. You're not taking him.\nKira: I've never seen you so passionate. It gives you a lovely glow. All right, he doesn't have to come.\nJennifer: No!\nKira: Now that was unfortunate.\nJake: She needs a doctor.\nKira: I'm afraid it's too late. For both of you. Just out of curiosity, why was she protecting you?\nJake: She's my mother.\nKira: Your mother? You're Sisko's son. From the other side? Well, in that case, give your father a message from me. Tell him I spared your life. That's a debt I intend to collect.\nO'Brien: Shields are down to forty percent. That cruiser has us in weapons' range. Do we make a run for it?\nSisko: We run all right. Right at it.\nO'Brien: Ah. Pattern Suicide.\nWorf: Concentrate your fire on that ship.\nHelmsman: It's changing course. It's headed directly toward us.\nWorf: Good. That should make things easier. Terok Nor will soon be ours again. Then you can spend the rest of your life contemplating your failure as you labor alongside the other slaves in the ore processing center.\nGarak: It's nice to have something to look forward to.\nO'Brien: Shields down to twenty-five percent. One more hit could finish us.\nSisko: Then we'll have to make sure we don't get hit. I'll take the helm. Nothing personal, I just know this ship better than you do.\nO'Brien: She's all yours.\nSisko: Hold on.\nWorf: I want that ship destroyed now!\nHelmsman: They're flying too close. I can't target them.\nO'Brien: We put a hole in their forward shields.\nSisko: Nice shooting, Smiley.\nO'Brien: Hold on. A bird of prey just locked on to us.\nSisko: Secondary power to aft shields.\nO'Brien: What secondary power? You've got to get us out of here.\nSisko: We can't risk giving the cruiser a clear shot.\nO'Brien: I was just starting to like this ship.\nBashir: Yeah! Bashir to Defiant. Aren't you going to welcome me back?\nO'Brien: I never thought I'd be happy to hear your voice.\nDax: You'll get over it.\nSisko: Sisko to Bashir.\nSisko: Concentrate your fire on their forward shields.\nBashir: With pleasure.\nGarak: Forgive me, my Regent, but perhaps the moment has arrived to remove your august presence from the battlefield.\nWorf: You mean retreat?\nGarak: I hope I'm not out of line?\nO'Brien: The cruiser's changing course. They're going to warp.\nO'Brien: The other Alliance ships have broken off their attack on the station. We've won.\nSisko: You sound surprised.\nO'Brien: Surprised? I'm astonished. Not that I'm complaining.\nWorf: I have been betrayed! There can be no other explanation for my defeat.\nGarak: I certainly can't think of any.\nWorf: The traitor must be found and punished.\nGarak: She will. It is the Intendant we're talking about, isn't it?\nWorf: The Intendant. Of course.\nGarak: All I ask is that when the moment comes, that you allow me, your humble servant, the honor of administering her punishment. I promise you, she will regret her disloyalty before she dies.\nWorf: And while you dispose of the Intendant, I will dispose of the rebels. Make it so!\nJake: Dad. See, I told you he'd come.\nSisko: How is she?\nJennifer: Ben.\nSisko: Easy.\nJennifer: I knew we were still connected.\nSisko: Always.\nJake: Dad.\nSisko: Let's go home."}
{"text": "Man: Here they are. Welcome.\nWoman: Thank you.\nPadd: Recording.\nJake: Character sketches for possible stories. A Bolian tries to impress a dabo girl by wearing a toupee. A thief disguises himself as a Monk so he can swindle a Ferengi. A woman traveling alone. She's come a long way.\nOdo: Lwaxana?\nLwaxana: Oh, hello, Odo.\nOdo: You've been crying.\nLwaxana: I can't help it.\nOdo: Why?\nLwaxana: Because.\nLwaxana: I'm pregnant.\nLwaxana: It's a miracle. I never thought I could have another baby.\nOdo: Then those were tears of happiness?\nLwaxana: I won't let him do it, Odo.\nOdo: Who? What?\nLwaxana: My husband, Jeyal. He wants to take my baby. That's why I ran away.\nOdo: Please, Lwaxana, try to be calm. Now tell me, why would your husband want to take your baby from you?\nLwaxana: He's Tavnian.\nOdo: And?\nLwaxana: They believe in strict separation of the sexes. Boys are raised by men, girls by women. Why, those poor children aren't even told the other sex exists until they're sixteen.\nOdo: And your child is male?\nLwaxana: And the day Jeyal found out, he said that he was going to take my baby away from me as soon as he was born. Well, I told him that that isn't what we'd agreed, that he had said it was going to be different with us because I wasn't Tavnian.\nOdo: But he changed his mind.\nLwaxana: During our wedding ceremony, he spoke so beautifully about why he wanted to marry me, but afterwards it was as if I had become a piece of property in his eyes.\nOdo: So you ran away.\nLwaxana: And it wasn't easy, believe me. Toward the end, I was practically a prisoner in my own house.\nOdo: Well, now that you've shown your husband how determined you are to be part of your boy's life, perhaps he'll reconsider his position.\nLwaxana: Oh, no. Not Jeyal. He's the most wilful man I've ever met. I'm so tired. I've never needed a friend more than I do right now.\nOdo: I appreciate your situation, and I would like to help.\nLwaxana: I knew you would. You're such a dear, sweet man.\nOdo: Unfortunately, I'm also a very busy man.\nLwaxana: Oh believe me, Odo, the last thing I want is to become a burden to you. I know how you value your privacy. All I want is a quiet place where I can have my baby in peace.\nOdo: I was about to suggest the very thing. I'll find out when the next transport leaves for Betazed.\nLwaxana: Oh, I couldn't possibly go there. That's the first place Jeyal will look for me. I know him. He won't give up. Not until he finds me and gets his son back. That's why I came to you. Because I knew you'd protect me. You will protect me, won't you, Odo?\nOnaya: You're a writer. I could see you were somewhere else. Some place you were inventing.\nJake: I'm working on a story.\nOnaya: I can spot a creative soul a galaxy away. My name is Onaya.\nJake: Jake Sisko.\nOnaya: Do you live here?\nJake: Yes.\nOnaya: I love Cardassian architecture, the way things flow together. Kell used to say that every element had to be of a piece, yet have a beauty all it's own.\nJake: Tavor Kell the architect?\nOnaya: I knew him when he was in exile.\nJake: What was he like?\nOnaya: He was shy, unsure of himself and his talent. Most people would never notice someone like him, but I have a weakness for artists.\nJake: You wouldn't think he was shy from his designs.\nOnaya: When I first met him, they were as timid as he was. I was always telling him to stop censoring himself.\nJake: He must've listened to you.\nOnaya: I've found artists have a weakness for me as well. At least, I hope they do.\nJake: I, er, I've always wondered what Kell would have designed if he'd lived to be older.\nOnaya: He accomplished more in the years that he had than most people could in a dozen lifetimes. His name is known throughout the quadrant. His buildings will stand for centuries to come. Isn't that what an artist wants, to be remembered? Isn't that why you write?\nJake: I don't know. I think it's mostly because I like to tell stories.\nOnaya: There's no reason to hide your ambition, Jake. It's nothing to be ashamed of. I think it's what makes artists so compelling.\nJake: All right. I guess I do want to be remembered.\nOnaya: So what are you doing to make sure you will be?\nJake: Well, I'm thinking of going to the Pennington School, on Earth.\nOnaya: You already have the talent inside you. I can see it. You just need someone to help you bring it to the surface.\nJake: How?\nOnaya: There are ways. Exercises. Techniques.\nJake: Can you show them to me?\nOnaya: Come to my quarters tonight.\nJake: I'll be there.\nSisko: Are you packed? Kasidy's ship is going to be here any minute.\nJake: Dad, I was thinking about staying home.\nSisko: Staying home? This trip was your idea.\nJake: I know.\nSisko: You really want to pass up three days in the Bajoran outback?\nJake: I thought maybe you and Kasidy would have a better time without me.\nSisko: Oh, lay off the matchmaking, Jake. Kasidy and I are doing fine.\nJake: It's not just that. I'm also working on this story and I don't want to lose my concentration.\nSisko: You can write on the trip. Look, I'm not trying to talk you into anything. I don't get leave often, and I was looking forward to the three of us spending time together.\nJake: Me too, but I really need to focus on this.\nSisko: All right. Good luck with it. See you in a couple days.\nLwaxana: My marriage was a sham. What I'd mistaken for love was nothing more than a prison.\nLwaxana: So, tell me, where are you girls headed?\nKira: Oh. A holosuite.\nDax: King Arthur's Court.\nLwaxana: Camelot. Love betrayed. Dreams shattered.\nQuark: Look at them. You'd think somebody died. I don't know if it's because she's Betazoid or what, but her mood is contagious. As soon as she walked in here, things started getting quiet.\nOdo: What do you want me to do about it?\nQuark: Either cheer her up or get her to leave. Because if you don't, I'm going to throw her out.\nOdo: Ahem.\nLwaxana: Odo. Won't you join the party?\nOdo: Actually, I have some free time and I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk.\nWorf: I would.\nOdo: I meant Lwaxana.\nLwaxana: I'd love to. Sorry. Maybe next time.\nDax: I'm so depressed.\nLwaxana: Kestra was six years old when she died. My sweet little girl. I lost my parents, a sister, a husband. But nothing, nothing compared to losing her. I didn't mean to carry on like that. I'm sorry.\nOdo: No, don't apologize. I think I finally understand why you're so determined not to let your husband take the baby from you.\nLwaxana: These are your quarters, aren't they?\nOdo: Yes. Right next to yours.\nLwaxana: My replicator is acting up. Would you mind terribly if we popped in so I could get a cup of Gavaline tea?\nOdo: Of course not.\nOdo: The replicator is right over here. I'll let Chief O'Brien know about yours.\nLwaxana: Oh, I already did. He said he'd get to it as soon as he could.\nOdo: Gavaline tea.\nLwaxana: Is this for shape-shifting?\nOdo: Yes. Actually, most people think it's a sculpture.\nLwaxana: Well, what do most people know? Thank you. May I ask you something, Odo? Are you over her? Don't worry, I'm not going to throw myself at you if you say yes.\nOdo: Major Kira and First Minister Shakaar are involved now.\nLwaxana: How sad.\nOdo: Not at all. I'm happy for her.\nLwaxana: Well, just don't go do what I did. Look for someone to fix your broken heart then end up pregnant and on the run.\nOdo: I don't think there's too much danger of that happening.\nLwaxana: Oh!\nOdo: What is it?\nLwaxana: The baby kicked. May I sit down for a minute?\nOdo: I don't have any furniture.\nLwaxana: The floor'll do.\nOdo: How are you feeling now?\nLwaxana: Like a changeling who's had to hold his shape too long.\nOdo: Ah. Well I think I know how that feels.\nLwaxana: He's moving. Here, you want to feel? There!\nOdo: Yes!\nLwaxana: Oh, I'm so tired, Odo. I don't think I've had a decent night's sleep in weeks. Sometimes, with Betazoid babies, you can actually sense their thoughts. Such contentment.\nOdo: Yes, I can feel it, too.\nLwaxana: Someone once said life is a search to find the peace you once had when you were safe inside your mother.\nOdo: I didn't have a mother.\nLwaxana: Don't worry, it's all right. You'll find your peace, just the same.\nOdo: Lwaxana? Your replicator isn't really broken, is it?\nLwaxana: No.\nOdo: I'm sorry if I made you feel unwelcome. It's just my way. Lwaxana?\nOnaya: Yes?\nJake: It's Jake. Jake Sisko. Remember me?\nOnaya: Come in.\nJake: I brought some of my stories for you to read.\nOnaya: I don't need to.\nJake: Oh. I thought maybe\nOnaya: It's what you're going to be writing next that interests me. You seem nervous, Jake.\nJake: Maybe a little.\nOnaya: That's understandable. You should be nervous when you start something new. Although maybe not this nervous. Haven't you ever been alone in a woman's quarters before? Whatever you're thinking, put it out of your mind. You're here to work.\nOnaya: Now, what's the most ambitious story you ever wanted to tell?\nJake: I have an idea for a novel. It's sort of autobiographical. The main character's mother dies. It's not about that really. It's about a lot of things.\nOnaya: So many it all seems so big to you right now. You're afraid that you can't do it justice?\nJake: Yeah.\nOnaya: But I'll bet you know what the first line is.\nJake: How'd you know that?\nOnaya: I have something I want to show you something.\nOnaya: Revalus used it when he wrote The Wait.\nJake: You knew him?\nOnaya: I told you I have a weakness for artists. I want you to have it.\nJake: I don't know what to say. Thank you.\nOnaya: There's more.\nOnaya: Here.\nJake: Paper. I've never worked on paper before.\nOnaya: Revalus used to say that a writer should put pen to paper as if he were a painter putting brush to canvas. It's part of what he called visceral writing.\nJake: What's that?\nOnaya: It's one of the techniques I told you about.\nJake: Can you teach it to me?\nOnaya: That's why you're here.\nOnaya: Isn't it? The opening line of your novel. Write it down.\nOnaya: Now keep going.\nJake: What do you mean, keep going?\nOnaya: Write whatever comes to you. The idea is to create a stream of consciousness and see where that takes you. You can edit later. Just write the first thing that comes to mind. I won't look.\nOnaya: Let the words tumble out of you. Don't censor them. Feel the pen in your hand, the texture of the paper. Let yourself fall into a rhythm. You feel where my thumbs are? That's your foramen magnum. It's a focal point of the body's bioelectric field. There's another one here. The Vulcans call them qui'lari. The Indians of ancient Earth called them shakras. I know how to stimulate them to make you feel restful or energized or even creative.\nJake: This isn't bad.\nOnaya: I told you I could help you. Let the words flow, Jake.\nOnaya: Let them flow.\nOnaya: Yes, that's it. Let them flow.\nLwaxana: There you are!\nOdo: Ah, ha. Got you that time.\nLwaxana: That's not fair. I didn't know you could do surfaces.\nOdo: Well, now you do.\nLwaxana: Shall we try again?\nOdo: Are you sure you're up to it?\nLwaxana: Oh, absolutely, I haven't had so much fun in months.\nOdo: Really? Neither have I.\nCom: Security to Odo.\nOdo: Go ahead.\nSecurity: A transport just arrived from the Umani sector. The man you asked us to look out for was on it.\nOdo: Acknowledged. You know what to do.\nSecurity: Aye, sir.\nLwaxana: It's my husband, isn't it?\nOdo: Stay here. I'll handle this.\nJeyal: You'd better have a good reason for dragging me in here.\nOdo: I'm Chief of Station security. That's all the reason I need.\nJeyal: Well, well. You're the changeling. Odo, if I remember correctly.\nOdo: And what of it?\nJeyal: Lwaxana told me all about you. How you broke her heart. Strange she'd come running to you for protection. The pregnancy must have her confused, poor woman.\nOdo: I find her remarkably clear-headed. She doesn't want to see you so you might as well turn around and go home.\nJeyal: I've come a long way, I'm not going to leave here empty-handed.\nOdo: She is not going back with you.\nJeyal: I am not talking about her. I am talking about my son. I intend to see that he is raised by men, not by the pampering foolishness of women.\nOdo: I hate to disappoint you, but Lwaxana has no intention of giving him up to you.\nJeyal: Her intentions do not concern me. As her husband, I have a legal right to my son.\nOdo: I've been familiarizing myself with Tavnian laws. It's well established that the male child is considered the property of the mother's husband.\nJeyal: Exactly.\nOdo: Not the child's father, the mother's husband. By the time Lwaxana gives birth, you won't be her husband.\nLwaxana: We're getting married?\nOdo: If you take me as your husband in a legal Tavnian ceremony, your marriage to Jeyal will be automatically annulled and he'll lose his claim to the baby.\nLwaxana: I don't quite know what to say. I'm just touched by your willingness to do this for me.\nOdo: It's not so much, really. We'll remain husband and wife for a few months, long enough to satisfy Tavnian law, and then get an annulment of our own. It's not as if I was planning to marry someone else.\nLwaxana: Even so, thank you.\nOdo: There is one thing I don't understand. Jeyal insisted on staying to witnessing the ceremony.\nLwaxana: He did?\nOdo: Is that a problem?\nLwaxana: In a Tavnian wedding, the groom must stand before the bride and tell her why he wants to marry her. And then, in front of his family and friends, he must proclaim his love for her and convince her to accept him as her husband.\nOdo: Well, I trust I can count on you to accept me even if I just stand there and read last week's Criminal Activity Report.\nLwaxana: No, no, you don't quite understand. If anyone present doubts the groom's sincerity, they can challenge the validity of the marriage.\nOdo: You mean I have to convince Jeyal that I want to marry you? Ah.\nJake: I've never been able to write like this. Ideas are coming so fast I can barely keep up with them.\nOnaya: It's amazing, isn't it?\nOnaya: Jake.\nJake: It's okay. It's just a nosebleed.\nOnaya: You should rest.\nJake: I'll be all right. It's already stopped. Where was I?\nBashir: Did I miss something? I didn't know Odo was getting married till this morning.\nKira: I'm not sure he knew either.\nO'Brien: Who's he?\nKira: I think that's Lwaxana's husband.\nO'Brien: Good of him to come.\nOdo: So glad you could make it.\nJeyal: I'm sure you are. It's not too late to call this off. Your dignity is important to you. I understand that. I would not want anyone to see me go through a charade like this.\nOdo: If you don't mind, this is a very special moment for me.\nOdo: In keeping with Tavnian tradition, I stand before you, here in my home, among my worldly possessions and declare my wish to add this woman to that which is mine. She is as kind as she is beautiful, and I want her to be part of my life from this day on. Marry me, Lwaxana.\nJeyal: Am I the only one finds this little more than a pale declaration of love? He could be talking about any woman.\nOdo: Lwaxana is not just any woman. Not to me.\nJeyal: Then prove it to us.\nOdo: Before I met her, my world was a much smaller place. I kept to myself. I didn't need anyone else and I took pride in that. The truth is, I was ashamed of what I was, afraid that if people saw how truly different I was they would recoil from me. Lwaxana saw how different I was and she didn't recoil. She wanted to see more. For the first time in my life, someone wanted me as I was. And that changed me forever. The day I met her, is the day I stopped being alone. And I want her to be part of my life from this day on. Marry me, Lwaxana. Let me into your light. Lwaxana?\nLwaxana: I give myself to you, forever and always.\nOdo: I say for all to hear that this woman is mine. If anyone challenges my claim to her, let them do so now. I present to you my beloved wife.\nO'Brien: Odo, congratulations.\nDax: Congratulations.\nKira: Congratulations.\nBashir: Well done, Odo.\nJeyal: I cherished you, Lwaxana. You were my most treasured possession. Take care of our son. When he asks, speak well of me.\nQuark: Ladies and gentlemen, please do me the honor of accompanying me to my humble establishment. I'm throwing a party for the happy couple.\nDax: Quark!\nQuark: What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic.\nOdo: Are you all right?\nLwaxana: We did it. He's really leaving.\nOdo: It would appear so.\nLwaxana: Oh, Odo, you were wonderful. You know, for a minute there, I really believed you wanted to marry me. I suppose that we should tell them the truth. But let's wait till after the party.\nOnaya: Jake, you should rest.\nJake: Not now. I'm onto something.\nOnaya: Your father will be home soon. You should be there.\nJake: I'll see him later.\nOnaya: Enough.\nJake: What'd you do that for?\nOnaya: You're pushing yourself too hard.\nJake: No, I'm not. My mind has never been so clear. Everything is coming together. At this rate, I can finish this novel in a few days.\nOnaya: And you will. I promise you. But if you rest now, your work will be even better.\nJake: All right, I'll go home. Maybe get some sleep.\nOnaya: You'll come back later?\nJake: Of course. I need you.\nJake: Promenade.\nJake: Orange juice.\nBashir: Something has stimulated Jake's brain functioning in a way that I have never seen. The capillaries in his cerebral cortex have dilated twenty percent. Neurotransmitter production is up by at least that amount, and neural activity is off the scale.\nSisko: Do you have any idea what caused it?\nBashir: Not yet, but it's a good thing we got him here when we did. His cortex was on the verge of synaptic collapse.\nSisko: But he is going to be all right?\nBashir: I'd like to keep him in a neural stabilization field for a while.\nJake: Onaya.\nSisko: Jake.\nJake: Where is she?\nSisko: Jake, what happened? I'm going to go talk to Odo, see if he knows anything about this Onaya.\nBashir: I'll let you know if his condition changes. I'll be in the lab.\nOnaya: Come with me, Jake. It's time to finish what we started.\nO'Brien: I'm picking up concentrated traces of some sort of psionic energy on the bulkhead.\nBashir: The tests I ran indicated that Jake's mental activity was stimulated by some kind of psionic phenomenon, possibly telepathic in nature.\nSisko: Then this entity Nurse Tagana saw could have been responsible.\nBashir: We have to find it, then get Jake back in the neural stabilization field before it's too late.\nO'Brien: I'll tell Odo to have his search parties reconfigure their tricorders to scan for psionic energy.\nBashir: That'll help, but only for a while. Psionic residue decays within minutes.\nSisko: Then we'd better get moving.\nOnaya: Keep going, Jake. The moment I saw you, I knew you were worthy of what I could give you. But I can't stay with you forever. This is your chance to create something that will live on, long after you're gone.\nOnaya: There. It will stop in a minute.\nSisko: I'm getting something about twenty meters in this direction. I'll go this way. You swing around and take tunnel sixty one G.\nOnaya: What's wrong?\nJake: I can't.\nOnaya: Let me help you.\nOnaya: That's better, isn't it?\nSisko: Get away from him.\nJake: Dad, don't interfere.\nSisko: I said get away.\nSisko: Sisko to Ops.\nKira: Go ahead.\nSisko: Lock on to my signal and stand by to beam Jake directly to the Infirmary.\nKira: You're too close to the reactor core. There's so much interference I can't get a lock.\nSisko: Get a medical team down here immediately.\nKira: Aye, sir.\nSisko: What are you?\nOnaya: It's not what I am that matters, it's what I do. You don't know the minds I've touched. Catullus, Tarbolde, Keats. a hundred others. I unlocked their potential.\nSisko: Is that what you did to Jake? Look at him!\nOnaya: They all die in the end, but look what I gave them in return. Immortality. Their names will live on forever.\nSisko: And you, what do you get out of it?\nOnaya: What I need to survive so I can go on, find others and unlock their talents as well. He was the youngest I ever found. So eager, ready to give everything he had in one great burst. What a waste. I will never forget you, Jake.\nSisko: You're not going anywhere.\nLwaxana: I have wonderful news. There's a transport for Betazed leaving this afternoon. I'm going home.\nOdo: I thought you were planning on having the baby here?\nLwaxana: If I did, I'd end up staying for months and that wouldn't be fair. I've imposed on you enough.\nOdo: Lwaxana, you could deliver at any time now, and it's a long way to Betazed. You really should stay.\nLwaxana: I'll miss you, too.\nOdo: Then why leave?\nLwaxana: You've gotten used to having me around, haven't you? Oh, you dear, sweet man. Don't you see? What you want is company, someone to take care of.\nOdo: Is that so wrong?\nLwaxana: No, of course not. The problem is I want much more than that from you. You see, I can't help it. I'm still in love with you. And as much as I wish that you were in love with me, I know you're not. I could stay, I try to make you fall in love with me, but we both know that won't happen. Then I'd end up resenting you, and our friendship is far too important for me to let that happen. That's why it's better for both of us if I leave now.\nLwaxana: Goodbye, husband.\nOdo: Goodbye, wife.\nSisko: How are you feeling?\nJake: Okay, I guess. You've read it?\nSisko: I just finished.\nJake: What'd you think?\nSisko: You've got a good start on a novel here, Jake. The dialogue is sharp, the story's involving, the characters are real. The spelling is terrible. I especially liked the father.\nJake: Remind you of anyone?\nSisko: A bit. It's really good.\nJake: I know. I just wish I wrote it.\nSisko: You did.\nJake: How can I be sure? I mean, without Onaya.\nSisko: Listen to me. You wrote these words, not her.\nJake: But she got them out of me.\nSisko: And that means they were somewhere inside you. And all you have to do is learn to find them for yourself.\nJake: You're right. But I got to tell you, I don't feel up to writing just yet.\nSisko: That's understandable. Take it easy for a while. You'll get back to it. And then, someday, when you're ready, maybe you'll finish it.\nJake: Sounds like a plan.\nSisko: I've got to get to work. I'll check in on you in a couple hours.\nJake: I'll be here."}
{"text": "Sisko: Kasidy Yates, where are you going?\nKasidy: Down to my ship. I have a meeting with my engineer. Go back to sleep.\nSisko: You're the captain. He'll wait.\nKasidy: Oh, is that how you treat your staff? Let them wait around while you sleep in?\nSisko: That's right. In fact, there are days when I never get out of bed.\nKasidy: You're not making this easy.\nSisko: That's the general idea.\nKasidy: You are evil.\nSisko: I am a Starfleet officer, the paragon of virtue.\nKasidy: You're more like a parody of virtue. But we'll have to continue this debate another time.\nSisko: I can't wait.\nKasidy: See you later.\nEddington: This briefing will contain information considered extremely sensitive by Starfleet Command. Please, do not share it with anyone who doesn't have a level seven security rating. It seems that during their recent invasion of Cardassia, the Klingons inflicted far more damage than we've been led to believe. Two weeks ago, the civilian government on Cardassia Prime secretly contacted the Federation Council and made an urgent request for industrial replicators. And that request has been granted.\nDax: How many replicators are we talking about?\nEddington: Twelve, all class four.\nKira: The Federation only gave Bajor two CFI replicators.\nEddington: With all due respect, Bajor is just one planet. The Klingons have destroyed the industrial base of literally dozens of Cardassian worlds. With twelve CFI replicators, they can at least start building new power plants and factories.\nDax: Why all the secrecy?\nEddington: Starfleet Intelligence believes the Maquis may try to stop the shipment or even seize the replicators for themselves.\nSisko: It makes sense. The Cardassian military has been so busy fending off the Klingons, they've basically given a free hand to the Maquis in the Demilitarized zone. The last thing the Maquis are going to want to see is a shipment of replicators on its way to Cardassia.\nEddington: Intelligence also reports that the Demilitarized zone between Cardassia and the Federation has become a hotbed of increasing terrorist activity in the past month. We suspect the Maquis have built several new bases in the Badlands, and the Cardassians in the DMZ are getting worried.\nWorf: They should be. Without the Cardassian military to stop them, the Maquis have a perfect opportunity to drive the Cardassians out of the DMZ permanently.\nSisko: I take it this shipment is going to pass through Deep Space Nine?\nEddington: Yes, sir. In three days.\nSisko: All right. Let's tighten security on the station. Step up random checks of incoming and outgoing cargo for weapons or explosives, more deputies on the Promenade. You know the drill.\nOdo: Understood.\nSisko: Mister Worf, tomorrow I want you to take the Defiant and patrol the Badlands. Show the flag. Let the Maquis know we're ready for any trouble.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Mister Eddington, I want daily briefings on this until the replicators are in Cardassian hands.\nEddington: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Dismissed.\nOdo: The Commander and I would like to have a word with you.\nSisko: Something wrong?\nEddington: Captain, it's come to our attention that there may be a Maquis smuggler here on the station.\nSisko: Oh?\nOdo: It's just a theory at this point and frankly, our suspicions are based on purely circumstantial evidence.\nSisko: Who is it?\nEddington: Again, we're still not certain.\nSisko: I understand that. Who? Gentlemen?\nOdo: Kasidy Yates.\nSisko: Kasidy? Working for the Maquis? That's impossible.\nOdo: I certainly hope so. Smuggling with intent to supply a terrorist organization is a serious offense.\nSisko: Where's your evidence?\nOdo: Five months ago, Captain Yates was hired by the Bajorans to carry cargo to their outlying colonies. One of her regular runs is from Bajor to a colony on Dreon Seven. It's a twelve hour run for most ships, but she always takes eighteen. The six hour difference is just enough time to allow her to make a side trip into the Badlands, rendezvous with a Maquis ship and then continue on to the Dreon System.\nSisko: That's your evidence? That she was slow in one of her deliveries?\nEddington: There's more. Starfleet Intelligence has infiltrated one of the Maquis cells and obtained a partial list of their contacts in the Bajoran Sector. They all had cover names, of course, but one of their contacts started living aboard Deep Space Nine in the last six months.\nOdo: And Captain Yates has been living aboard the station for just under six months.\nSisko: That's damned slim evidence to base an accusation.\nOdo: We haven't made accusations. I said we have suspicions.\nSisko: That's right. You did say that.\nOdo: Captain, I realize this is an awkward situation for you, but if I could step up my surveillance of Captain Yates?\nSisko: Odo, she's a Federation citizen. You can't just invade her privacy based on your suspicions. You'll have to show me some real evidence before I authorize what you're proposing.\nEddington: If she's really a Maquis, then she's no longer a Federation citizen.\nSisko: The answer is no.\nEddington: Understood, sir.\nSisko: Gentlemen. There are times we have to search vessels docked at the station. If you can find a reason.\nOdo: We'll let you know.\nBashir: Yeah, Nerys! There you go! Did you see that? The way she gave him the tiniest head fake and then boom, checked him into the wall.\nGarak: Yes, it was quite effective.\nBashir: Stop watching her.\nGarak: Oh, I thought the whole point was to watch.\nBashir: The point is to watch the game, not the spectators. Especially not that spectator.\nGarak: What does she expect? She's the only Cardassian woman on this station. She must know she's bound to attract some attention.\nBashir: Some, yes. Yours, no. Oh, come on! That was a foul!\nGarak: Perhaps I should say hello after the game.\nBashir: That's Gul Dukat's daughter, and I can't think of anyone in the galaxy who hates you more than he does. Besides, Ziyal is a friend of Kira's. I wouldn't play around with her if I were you.\nGarak: I simply thought it would be polite to say hello. But clearly, you think I'm incapable of conducting any kind of pleasant diskourse without some kind of nefarious ulterior motive.\nBashir: That's not what I meant. I just think you should leave well enough alone. Why stir up\nGarak: Yes! Well played! Brava, Major!\nBashir: What happened?\nGarak: A brilliant move on the part of the Major. You should have been paying attention.\nSisko: Come in.\nKasidy: Did you know you could smell that all the way down the corridor?\nSisko: It's an experiment. Bajoran ratamba stew over spinach linguine.\nKasidy: Don't your neighbors ever complain?\nSisko: Sometimes, but usually it's only an excuse to get a taste of my cooking.\nKasidy: Oh, how sneaky of them.\nSisko: Yes, they're a duplicitous bunch.\nJake: All right, you two, break it up. I've got a problem. Do either of you know what a Kavarian tiger-bat smells like? It's for a story I'm working on. The computer database has plenty of pictures, but no olfactory information.\nSisko: You're a writer. Make something up.\nJake: I'm going for a real 'you are there' feeling. The details have to be right. Kas, haven't you been to Kavaria?\nKasidy: Not me. Sorry.\nSisko: Don't you make a regular cargo run to a neighboring system?\nKasidy: No, Kavaria's out toward the Badlands. I try to stay away from there. You should ask Quark. I bet he knows someone who's been out that way.\nSisko: I thought you made deliveries to Dreon Seven. That's near the Badlands, isn't it?\nKasidy: I guess it depends on how you define near. On my ship, Dreon's a long way from the Badlands.\nSisko: What route do you take to the Dreon System? I imagine you go around the Rolor Nebula.\nKasidy: If you're really this interested in my flight plans, why don't you look them up. You are the Commander of the station, after all.\nSisko: Forget I brought it up. Okay, everyone grab a plate and prepare to be dazzled.\nJake: You first.\nGarak: You're not going to hurt me, are you? Normally I would simply make a strategic withdrawal at the first sign of trouble, but there doesn't seem to be a way out of here.\nZiyal: You could always call security.\nGarak: Oh, true. But it would take them a few minutes to arrive, and by then it might be too late.\nZiyal: I don't think I'll hurt you.\nGarak: I'm gratified to hear that.\nZiyal: In fact I think it's safe to say you have nothing to fear from me.\nGarak: And you, my dear, have nothing to fear from me.\nBrathaw: This is ridiculous. We have perishable goods in the hold and we cannot allow\nKasidy: What is going on here?\nOdo: Captain, we need to make a class two inspection of your cargo before we can allow you to leave the station.\nKasidy: Inspection? For what?\nOdo: Temecklian virus. There've been some reports of an outbreak on Bajor, so we're scanning all ships and cargo before they leave the system.\nKasidy: None of my cargo came from Bajor.\nOdo: I'm afraid the rules are very strict. No exceptions.\nKasidy: How long will this take?\nOdo: Six hours.\nKasidy: Six hours?\nBrathaw: We'll miss the rendezvous.\nKasidy: We'll see about that.\nSisko: Kasidy?\nKasidy: I'm sorry to bother you, Ben. Normally, I wouldn't do this, but\nSisko: What is it?\nKasidy: It's this health inspection. They're telling me it's going to take six hours, but I need to make a rendezvous with a Tholian freighter in nine hours and you know how they are about punctuality.\nSisko: If it weren't the health concern, maybe, but in this case\nKasidy: Ben, please. I promise to flood the entire cargo hold with baryon radiation as a precaution, but I need to go now or I'll lose\nKasidy: The entire consignment.\nSisko: Stand by. Is there any way we can make a shorter inspection?\nEddington: Not if they're going to search for contraband while they make it look like a health inspection. They need time to look for camouflage fields, false cargo manifests, computer records.\nSisko: We probably shouldn't bother at this point. If Kasidy's in a hurry, she'll going to be standing over their shoulders the whole time. They won't be able to make much of a search.\nEddington: Captain, I strongly recommend that we at least try.\nSisko: You are clear to leave the station. Just remember to irradiate that cargo.\nKasidy: Thanks, Ben. I owe you one. See you tomorrow.\nSisko: Do you have something to say, Commander?\nEddington: No, sir.\nSisko: Good. Now, get down to the Defiant and tell Worf he has a change of orders. I want you to follow the Xhosa.\nEddington: Aye, sir. What are our orders if we observe Captain Yates meeting a Maquis ship?\nSisko: Right now your orders are to observe and then report directly to me. Is that clear?\nEddington: Perfectly.\nO'Brien: The Xhosa's altering course, Commander. Now on heading one five eight, mark three two five.\nEddington: The Badlands.\nWorf: Stay with her, Chief.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: Say what you will about the Maquis, they're not stupid. Using the Badlands as their base of operations was a pretty smart move. Not to mention gutsy one.\nWorf: They are terrorists, little more than criminals. And criminals always make mistakes.\nO'Brien: They're just fighting for something they believe in.\nWorf: They should be hunted down and destroyed.\nO'Brien: What for? Defending their homes? Look at what's happened to those people. One day they're trying to eke out a living on some godforsaken colonies on the Cardassian border, the next day the Federation makes a treaty handing those colonies over to the Cardassians. What would you do?\nWorf: I would not become a terrorist. It would be dishonorable.\nO'Brien: I wouldn't say that around Major Kira if I were you. How about you, Commander? How do you feel about the Maquis?\nEddington: I don't have any feelings about them one way or the other.\nO'Brien: Oh, but you must have an opinion.\nEddington: I do my job, Chief. Starfleet says to find the Maquis, I'll find the Maquis. They tell me to help them, I'll help them. My opinion is irrelevant. What matters to me is doing my job like a Starfleet officer. Anything else is an indulgence.\nO'Brien: I think I've got something. An impulse signature off the starboard bow.\nWorf: Bring us within visual range.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: That's a Maquis raider.\nEddington: And the Xhosa's beaming over her cargo.\nZiyal: Hello.\nGarak: Hello.\nZiyal: This is your shop.\nGarak: Yes.\nZiyal: It's very nice.\nGarak: Thank you.\nZiyal: You do good work.\nGarak: How kind. Is there something I can do for you?\nZiyal: I got this holosuite program from Quark. It's a reproduction of a Cardassian sauna, like the ones they have back home.\nGarak: Yes?\nZiyal: I was wondering if you might be interested in trying it out with me.\nGarak: Oh.\nZiyal: I mean, we're the only Cardassians on the station, and, well, the temperature's too hot for almost anyone else.\nGarak: I see. When were you thinking of?\nZiyal: Maybe the day after tomorrow, say twenty one hundred?\nGarak: I'd be delighted.\nZiyal: Great. I'll see you there.\nGarak: I look forward to it.\nJake: Morning.\nSisko: Morning.\nJake: Raktajino, extra sweet. Makapa bread, no crust.\nSisko: What happened to juice and oatmeal?\nJake: Kasidy introduced me to this. It's great. When's she due back?\nSisko: Tonight.\nJake: Don't worry, it's supposed to do that. The foam tastes like a weird peppermint, and the bread, I don't know what it tastes like. You want some?\nSisko: I think I'll pass.\nJake: Dad, is something wrong?\nSisko: I'm a little tired. Didn't sleep much last night.\nJake: I guess you're not used to sleeping alone anymore. Oh, what I mean is, you miss her companionship. You miss talking and sharing insights about command and duty\nSisko: All right. That's enough.\nJake: I was just kidding.\nSisko: I know. I've just got a lot on my mind.\nJake: Something happen between you and Kasidy?\nSisko: Not exactly.\nJake: If you want to talk.\nJake: What?\nSisko: This is important. You and I. Things change, but not this. Forget it. I'm just having a bad day.\nEddington: After the cargo was beamed aboard the Maquis raider, the Xhosa took this route out of the Badlands and resumed its course to Dreon Seven.\nDax: Do you know what cargo was transferred to the Maquis ship?\nO'Brien: From the residual transporter signature, it was approximately eighty percent organic. I'd say food or possibly medical supplies.\nDax: Well, at least we're not dealing with weapons. It sounds like she's only providing\nSisko: Where is the Xhosa now?\nWorf: Captain Yates is on her way back to the station. She should arrive at nineteen hundred hours.\nSisko: Thank you. Dismissed.\nSisko: Dismissed, old man.\nSisko: Come in.\nKasidy: Miss me?\nSisko: Were you gone?\nKasidy: Admit it. Without me, you cried yourself to sleep.\nSisko: So, did you make your rendezvous with the Tholian freighter?\nKasidy: Right on time. And thank you for bending the inspection rules for me. We'd have never made it without you.\nSisko: Just don't make a habit of it.\nKasidy: I promise.\nSisko: Where'd you meet the Tholians anyway? The Dreon system?\nKasidy: Yeah. Why?\nSisko: It just seemed odd that they would travel that far just for some medical supplies.\nKasidy: They really needed them. They've got some kind of viral infection on one of their colonies. In fact, I can't stay long. I'm supposed to make a run tonight. But I promise you can inspect the cargo ahead of time.\nSisko: That'll make Odo very happy.\nJake: Hey, you're back.\nKasidy: Looks like it to me.\nJake: Are you guys doing anything right now? I just got a new holosuite program that Nog sent me. It's a baseball game between the nineteen sixty one Yankees and the nineteen seventy eight Red Sox.\nKasidy: I'll buy the hot dogs.\nSisko: I'll have to pass. I have to get back Ops. Anyway, Yankees will bury them. You two have fun.\nKasidy: But I'm only here for a few hours.\nSisko: Duty calls. I'll see you when you get back.\nKasidy: Okay.\nSisko: She's going on another run tonight. She seemed prepared for a cargo inspection this time, so I doubt you'll find anything.\nOdo: Captain, Mister Eddington and I have discussed this at length, and we both feel that if the Xhosa makes another rendezvous with a Maquis raider, we should seize both vessels and arrest everyone aboard.\nEddington: For all we know, the Xhosa may not make another run for months. We shouldn't let this opportunity pass us by.\nSisko: Agreed.\nEddington: Yes, sir. And that does bring up another point I'd like to discuss. In private, if I may.\nEddington: Sir, the CFI replicators are due to arrive here tomorrow afternoon. I'd feel better if I were here to supervise the security detail.\nSisko: Lieutenant Reese can handle it.\nEddington: Yes, sir, he can, but\nSisko: Just say it, Commander.\nEddington: Sir, if the Maquis put up a fight the Xhosa might get caught in the crossfire. If that happens, I can't guarantee the safety of Kasidy Yates. And to be blunt, I don't want that responsibility.\nSisko: I can't say I blame you. The security of the CFI replicators is your priority. I'll take command of the Defiant.\nEddington: Thank you, Captain.\nBrathaw: The inspection team just left.\nKasidy: Any problems?\nBrathaw: No.\nSisko: Kasidy.\nKasidy: I'll be right there.\nSisko: How was the game?\nKasidy: Good. Seven three Yankees. Did you come all the way down here for the score?\nSisko: No. I was just thinking. Why don't we drop everything and go to Risa. Just the two of us.\nKasidy: Now?\nSisko: We won't even pack a bag. We'll walk straight out of here, get in a runabout and go.\nKasidy: What about your station?\nSisko: I have a great crew. They can handle things around here for a few days. Neither of us is doing anything so important that it can't wait a few days.\nKasidy: I'm not sure the Tholians would agree.\nSisko: Let your first officer handle it. Or better yet, tell the Tholians they won't be getting this shipment at all.\nKasidy: I don't think I can do that, Ben. I have a commitment to fulfilll. But if you want to take a runabout and wait for me on Risa, I'll meet you there.\nSisko: Forget about it. It was just a crazy idea. Have a good trip.\nKasidy: Thanks. It as a tempting idea, Ben. I wish I could take you up on it.\nSisko: So do I.\nO'Brien: They're reducing speed.\nSisko: Match their velocity, Chief.\nWorf: These are the same coordinates they used for the last rendezvous.\nSisko: Any sign of another ship?\nOdo: Not yet. But our sensors are extremely limited in the plasma fields.\nO'Brien: They're turning again. Looks like a holding pattern to me, sir. Either the Maquis are late or the Xhosa's early.\nSisko: Either way, we wait with them.\nQuark: Can't you do something about these lapels?\nGarak: Such as?\nQuark: I don't know, I'm not a tailor. Just make them look good.\nGarak: Oh, make them look good. And all this time I thought you wanted me to try to make them look bad. I wish you'd said that before. It's so much simpler when the customer explains what he wants.\nQuark: Rudeness will get you nowhere. I don't need another waiter. Now, I want more room in the shoulders and these cuffs are completely unacceptable.\nKira: Garak, can I talk to you for a minute?\nGarak: Of course, Major. Excuse me.\nQuark: Sure.\nGarak: Now, what can I do for you, Major?\nKira: Listen closely. I don't know what kind of sick game it is you're playing with Ziyal, but it'd better stop and it better stop right now.\nGarak: I can assure you, Major, I have\nKira: I don't want to hear any of your lies. Now, that girl is here under my protection and I swear if you do anything to hurt her, I will make you regret it. Is that clear?\nGarak: As Tabalian glass.\nKira: Good.\nQuark: You told her. The pants are about a meter too long. So, are you canceling your date with Ziyal?\nGarak: It's not a date. And how do you know about that?\nQuark: You're a man, she's a woman, it's a date. And they are my holosuites, after all.\nGarak: I was going to cancel. I've had visions of Ziyal presenting my head to her father as a birthday gift.\nQuark: That's a little paranoid, wouldn't you say?\nGarak: Paranoid is what they call people who imagine threats against their life. I have threats against my life. But after my little chat with Major Kira, I feel much better.\nQuark: You do?\nGarak: Isn't it obvious? If Ziyal planned to kill me, Kira would not be trying to warn me away. On the contrary, the good Major would also welcome my untimely demise, and do nothing to interfere.\nQuark: Unless that's part of the plan.\nGarak: What do you mean?\nQuark: Oh, you know. Kira acts like she doesn't want you to go so you'll feel everything's okay, and then you go anyway. Nah, it's too complicated.\nGarak: Of course.\nQuark: Now they're too short.\nGarak: What?\nQuark: The pants.\nGarak: Oh.\nOdo: This is wrong. Terrorists don't work this way. If your contact doesn't show up for a rendezvous, you leave. You don't stay in the Badlands going in circles for five hours.\nWorf: Perhaps. But it is also possible that her cargo is so valuable to the Maquis that she will wait as long as it takes to make the delivery.\nOdo: I think she's already made her delivery, and you were the cargo. Think about it. If anyone but Kasidy Yates was on the Xhosa, would you be commanding this mission yourself?\nSisko: You're saying someone wanted me here. Why?\nOdo: I'm not sure, but one thing's certain. We're not going to find the answers sitting here staring at the viewscreen.\nSisko: You're right. The answers are over there. Let's go. Mister Worf, you have the Bridge.\nBrathaw: Still nothing.\nKasidy: This is getting ridiculous. All right, let's send a coded message to\nBrathaw: Tachyon surge. A ship's decloaking.\nKasidy: Oh my God.\nKasidy: Ben, what are you doing here? We've been\nSisko: Don't say it. I know that you're a smuggler. I know that you've been working with the Maquis, and right now I don't care. But I need to know what your orders were. Were you told to draw me out here so the Maquis could attack the station?\nKasidy: Ben, I\nSisko: Jake's back there. And whatever your feelings are for me, I can't believe you would put him in danger.\nKasidy: I was supposed to meet a Maquis ship at these coordinates. I don't know anything about an attack on the station, and I doubt the Maquis would try. I didn't know you were following me, but after our last talk, I suspected that you might be out there.\nOdo: If that's true, why didn't you abort the mission?\nKasidy: I was told that these medical supplies were urgently needed and that I had to be here no matter what. I tried to tell them that I'd made too many runs in the past few days, that I was just asking to get caught, but they wouldn't listen.\nSisko: They knew you were going to be caught. That's why they didn't send a Maquis ship here to meet you. Everything's been building to this. They needed to draw me away from the station. Why? If they aren't planning an attack, what other reason could there be? What could be happening Happening on the station?\nEddington: I've received new orders from Starfleet Command. The CFI replicators in cargo bay seventeen are to be transferred aboard a Vulcan freighter which should arrive at any moment. This operation is to be carried out in complete secrecy. No one aboard the station is to know about it.\nReese: Does that include the Bajoran security detachment, sir?\nEddington: Absolutely. Also, as of this moment, we're observing communications silence. No comm. traffic in or out of the station for the next nine hours. Understood?\nReese: Aye, sir.\nEddington: Dismissed.\nKira: You wanted to see me?\nEddington: Yes, Major. I'm afraid I need to take command of the station for the next few hours.\nO'Brien: We've cleared the plasma field, Captain.\nSisko: Get us back to the station, Chief. Maximum warp.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Any response from our hails, Commander?\nWorf: No, sir. Deep Space Nine seems to be under a communications blackout.\nSisko: Keep trying.\nOdo: You realize we'll probably never see the Xhosa or Captain Yates again.\nSisko: It's a possibility.\nOdo: I'd say it's more than that. If I'd been allowed to leave a security detail behind\nSisko: Our priority is to get back to the station, Constable. Captain Yates is my responsibility and I will thank you to leave it at that.\nOdo: As you wish.\nReese: The replicators have been secured in the ship's hold, sir.\nEddington: Very good. We'll be departing in five minutes and I'm leaving you in command until Captain Sisko returns.\nReese: Me, sir?\nEddington: You have a problem with that, Lieutenant?\nReese: No, sir. It's just that it's unusual for a junior officer to be left in\nEddington: If you're not up to the job, I'll find someone else who is. The safety of this station may depend on you and I need to know if you can handle it.\nReese: You can count on me, Commander.\nEddington: Good. Now go to Ops and take command.\nReese: Yes, sir. Captain's log, supplemental. The Defiant has returned to the station but it seems that Commander Eddington is still one step ahead of us.\nO'Brien: All Federation Starships near the Badlands have been alerted to look for the Vulcan freighter.\nOdo: I doubt they'll find it. Eddington anticipated every contingency. I'm sure he had his escape route well planned.\nKira: What do we tell the Cardassians?\nSisko: The truth. He fooled me. And he got away with it.\nKira: He fooled all of us.\nSisko: Everything that happens on this station is my responsibility, Major.\nO'Brien: Incoming message for you, Captain. It's from Commander Eddington.\nSisko: Put it through. In my office.\nEddington: Captain.\nSisko: Mister Eddington. I have just one question. Why?\nEddington: Will knowing my personal motivation change anything at this point?\nSisko: No, I don't suppose it will.\nEddington: Then let's table that for now. The only reason I've contacted you is to ask you to leave us alone. Our quarrel is with the Cardassians, not the Federation. Leave us alone and I can promise you you'll never hear from the Maquis again.\nSisko: Unless you see another shipment you want to hijack.\nEddington: You keep sending replicators to Cardassia and you're going to have a lot more to worry about than hijackings.\nSisko: I don't respond well to threats. I thought you would know that by now. But I'm beginning to see that you don't know me at all.\nEddington: I know you. I was like you once, but then I opened my eyes. Open your eyes, Captain. Why is the Federation so obsessed about the Maquis? We've never harmed you, and yet we're constantly arrested and charged with terrorism. Starships chase us through the Badlands and our supporters are harassed and ridiculed. Why? Because we've left the Federation, and that's the one thing you can't accept. Nobody leaves paradise. Everyone should want to be in the Federation. Hell, you even want the Cardassians to join. You're only sending them replicators because one day they can take their rightful place on the Federation Council. You know, in some ways you're worse than the Borg. At least they tell you about their plans for assimilation. You're more insidious. You assimilate people and they don't even know it.\nSisko: You know what, Mister Eddington? I don't give a damn what you think of the Federation, the Maquis, or anything else. All I know is that you betrayed your oath, your duty, and me. And if it takes me the rest of my life, I will see you standing before a court-martial that'll break you and send you to a penal colony, where you will spend the rest of your days growing old and wondering whether a ship full of replicators was really worth it.\nZiyal: Garak.\nGarak: Hello.\nZiyal: Doesn't it feel good? The station can be so chilly sometimes.\nGarak: Yes. It's quite pleasant.\nZiyal: Aren't you going to lie down?\nGarak: Not just yet. I have a question I'd like answered first. Why am I here?\nZiyal: Excuse me?\nGarak: Why am I here? Am I to believe that you've invited the sworn enemy of your father simply to enjoy the heat?\nZiyal: You really think I asked you here to kill you? Well, it did occur to me. Kira and my father both told me that you used to be an agent of the Obsidian Order. That you had my grandfather tortured and killed, and that you could easily kill me without a second thought.\nGarak: Although I seldom credit the Major or your father with being entirely trustworthy, in this case they're both telling the truth.\nZiyal: You know what else is true? I don't care. I'm half-Bajoran and that means I'm an outcast back home. I can't go back and neither can you. So we can either share some time together or we can ignore each other. I spent five years in a prisoner of war camp by myself. I don't need your company. But if you'd like to stay and share the heat with me, maybe tell me something about home that I don't know, then I would welcome your company. And I get the feeling you would welcome mine. Either way, it's up to you.\nGarak: Well, it seems I won't be needing this anymore.\nGarak: So, what shall we talk about first?\nSisko: Just you?\nKasidy: I dropped my crew off at a Maquis base. I had to come back, but I didn't see any reason to drag them here just to face a prison sentence.\nSisko: You didn't have to come back either.\nKasidy: Yes, I did. And I think we both know that's why you left us alone out there. To see if I would. I'm not going to stand here and apologize for what I did. You had your duty, I had mine.\nSisko: I still have my duty.\nKasidy: I know. And I know I'll probably going to prison. But I came back because of us. Because despite all that's happened, I still love you, Ben. I don't want to throw that away. Do you?\nSisko: No.\nSisko: Lieutenant Reese.\nKasidy: I'll be back.\nSisko: I'll be here."}
{"text": "O'Brien: Looks like he used some sort of encryption program to bypass the access protocols.\nKira: Unbelievable. The nerve.\nQuark: Major, you wanted to see me?\nOdo: Don't pretend you don't know what this is about.\nKira: Maybe this'll jog your memory. Engage monitor.\nQuark: Come to Quark's, Quark's is fun, come right now, don't walk, run! Oh, I love the part where my name rotates around.\nOdo: Tampering with the station's comm. system is a class three offense.\nQuark: It's just a little advertisement. I didn't put one up in Ops.\nOdo: I'm sure the magistrate will take that into consideration when he calculates your fine.\nWorf: You!\nQuark: As you can see, we're very busy here. Station business.\nWorf: How did you do it?\nO'Brien: Do what?\nWorf: I ordered a glass of prune juice from the replicator in the Defiant's mess. This is what it came in.\nKira: If all your little advertisements aren't purged from our systems by the time I get back from the Gamma Quadrant, I will come to Quark's, and believe me, I will have fun.\nQuark: Er, let me help you with that, Chief.\nBashir: According to Chief O'Brien the scan resolution on the new sensors is amazing. We could practically do the entire bio-survey from orbit.\nKira: Suits me. The sooner we get out of the Gamma Quadrant, the better.\nBashir: How can you say that? Those little points of light out there are the great unknown, beckoning to us. I wish I could visit every one.\nKira: You might want to skip the ones with Jem'Hadar bases on them.\nBashir: Is it my imagination or are the stars a little brighter in the Gamma Quadrant?\nDax: Is it my imagination, or has Julian lost his mind?\nKira: Setting course for the Gavara system.\nKira: I'm picking up some kind of emergency signal. It's fragmented. They say their homeworld's been attacked. Massive destruction, heavy casualties. They're asking any passing vessel for assistance.\nDax: Looks like the signal's coming from somewhere in the Teplan system.\nBashir: That's just outside Dominion space.\nKira: Let's hope the Jem'Hadar know that. Setting new course.\nBashir: What happened here?\nNorva: Help me. Don't let me die here. Take me to Trevean.\nBashir: Trevean?\nNorva: Hospital.\nDax: I'll try to find out where it is.\nBashir: I'm going to give you something for the pain.\nEpran: You're not from this world.\nBashir: No.\nEpran: The Blight's quickened in her. There's nothing you can do. You should leave here. now. Go back to where you came from and forget about this place.\nBashir: The painkiller I gave her isn't having much effect. But their physiology's so different from ours, I doubt this blight is any danger to us.\nDax: I got us transportation to the hospital.\nBashir: How did you manage that? These aren't exactly the friendliest people I've ever met.\nDax: I gave her my hair clip.\nDax: This is a hospital?\nAttendant: She's quickened. Take her to Trevean. You're from another world.\nDax: Yes.\nAttendant: Well, don't worry. We'll take care of her now.\nDax: I haven't seen a single person that doesn't have lesions on their face.\nBashir: His look inflamed. So do that woman's over there.\nDax: Like the woman we brought in.\nPatient: Trevean. Thank you for this.\nTrevean: You deserve nothing less.\nTamar: Yesterday, when I woke up, I saw that it had finally happened. I'd quickened. I always thought I'd be afraid but I wasn't, because I knew I could come here. Last night I slept in a bed for the first time in my life. I fell asleep listening to music. This morning I bathed in hot water, dressed in clean clothes. And now I'm here with my friends and family. Thank you, Trevean, for making this day everything I dreamed it could be.\nTrevean: You brought Norva here?\nDax: How is she?\nTrevean: It was too late for her. If only she'd come sooner, I could have helped.\nBashir: Then there is a treatment for the Blight?\nTrevean: There is no cure. It's always fatal.\nBashir: I'm sorry, I don't understand. I thought you said you could have helped her.\nTrevean: Why are you here?\nDax: We received a distress call. We're here to help in any way we can.\nBashir: I'm a doctor, and I have access to sophisticated diagnostic equipment.\nTrevean: We had sophisticated equipment once. Do you think our world was always this way? Two centuries ago, we were no different from you. We built vast cities, traveled to neighboring worlds. We believed nothing was beyond our abilities. We even thought we could resist the Dominion. I see you've heard of them. Then take care not to defy them or your people will pay the same price we did. The Jem'Hadar destroyed our world as an example to others. Bring me Milani's child. More than anything, the Dominion wanted my people to bear the mark of their defiance. So they brought us the Blight.\nTrevean: We're all born with it. We all die from it. When the Blight quickens, the lesions turn red. Death soon follows. Some in childhood. Most before they can have children of their own. Only a few live to be my age.\nBashir: Trevean, if you tell us what you know about the Blight, we may be able to help.\nTrevean: No. You should go. If the Jem'Hadar find you here\nDax: We're willing to take that risk.\nTrevean: Don't.\nBashir: Make some room. I'm a doctor.\nAttendant: Leave him alone. You don't understand.\nBashir: Can't you see he's dying?\nTrevean: Of course he's dying. He came here to die. People come to me when they quicken. I help them leave this world peacefully, surrounded by their families and friends.\nBashir: What are you saying?\nTrevean: The herbs I give them causes death within minutes.\nDax: You poison them?\nTrevean: The Blight kills slowly. No one wants to suffer needlessly. Not like that woman you brought me.\nBashir: You killed her?\nTrevean: I did what she asked.\nBashir: I thought this was a hospital and that you were a healer.\nTrevean: I am. I take away pain. Now you've disrupted Tamar's death. I'm going to have to ask you to leave.\nDax: I found the distress beacon in an abandoned building not far from here. It has its own power source. My guess is it's been repeating the same message for over two hundred years.\nBashir: Well, there's nothing for us to do here. We should go.\nEkoria: Are you really a doctor?\nBashir: Yes.\nEkoria: I've never met a doctor before. They say there's a woman in Nykalia who makes a medicine that helps people withstand the pain of quickening so they can live longer. I'd go there, but Nykalia's so far away.\nBashir: When are you due?\nEkoria: Not for another two months.\nDax: That's not very long.\nEkoria: We never know when the quickening will come.\nBashir: I'm Julian. What's your name?\nEkoria: Ekoria.\nDax: I'm Jadzia.\nEkoria: Did you come here to help us?\nBashir: Nobody around here seems to want our help.\nEkoria: I do. And I know others who would welcome it too.\nKira: Kira to away Team.\nDax: Go ahead.\nKira: The sensors just picked up two Jem'Hadar ships headed this way.\nKira: The Jem'Hadar are leaving the Kendi system and looks like they're heading for the Obatta cluster.\nDax: Sounds like they're on a patrol route which means this system is probably next.\nKira: We'd better go. Stand by to get underway.\nBashir: Hold on, Major. We can't just leave these people. They need our help.\nKira: And they'll get it. As soon as we get back we'll notify Starfleet so they can put together a relief mission.\nBashir: But that could take weeks, maybe even months. We're here, now. Remember the plague on Boranis Three? People were dying by the thousands and nobody there knew why. It took us one hour to identify the pathogen, and three days to dose the watertable and inoculate the entire population.\nDax: We might be able to do the same thing here.\nKira: All right, it's worth a try. We can't risk the Jem'Hadar detecting the runabout. I'll take it to the Jenkata Nebula.\nBashir: Come back for us in a week. With any luck, we'll have a cure by then.\nChild: They're here. They're coming.\nDax: Thanks.\nEkoria: Go. Go on. I'm sorry I can't offer you more space.\nBashir: Oh, don't be. This is fine. Can I use this table to set up my equipment?\nEkoria: Whatever you need.\nDax: Did you do this?\nEkoria: My husband did. He died last winter. It's what he imagined our world used to be like. He painted a mural similar to that on a building near here. He traded a good pair of boots for the paint he needed. He wanted to show people the way things were, he thought it might give them something to work toward.\nDax: Maybe later you can take us to see it.\nEkoria: All right.\nDax: Well, it looks like we have ourselves a clinic.\nBashir: The first thing I need to do is run a complete biospectral analysis on an asymptomatic individual.\nDax: Loosely translated, that means he needs a volunteer. Great. Now, if you'll just have a seat, the doctor will be with you in a moment. They love to keep you waiting. It makes them feel important.\nBashir: How would you like to see a picture of your baby?\nBashir: There it is!\nDax: Let me see.\nEkoria: What's happened?\nDax: We've isolated the virus.\nEkoria: Is that a good thing?\nBashir: It means we can start analyzing its molecular structure, look for binding sites so we can tailor an antigen.\nDax: In other words, yes, it's a very good thing.\nBashir: I'm going to start mapping nucleotides. Can you run a protein sequencer?\nDax: I think so.\nEkoria: I hope you two are hungry.\nBashir: Starving.\nEkoria: Good.\nDax: That looks like a feast.\nEkoria: It was supposed to be.\nDax: What do you mean?\nEkoria: Nothing. Do you like Takana root tea?\nDax: Ekoria, where did you get all this food?\nEkoria: I've been saving it for the hospital, for my death. Something tells me I'm not going to need it anymore.\nBashir: Well, thanks anyway. She's not interested either. I hope Dax is having better luck.\nEkoria: I don't understand why you need people who've quickened to make your cure.\nBashir: Well, I need to chart the progression of the viral I'm sorry.\nEpran: Oh, you're still here.\nBashir: Yes.\nEpran: I see the Blight has spared you. Maybe it doesn't like the taste of your blood.\nBashir: Unfortunately it seems to like yours.\nEpran: I'd invite you to my death, but we don't know each other that well.\nBashir: What if I told you there was a chance you didn't have to die? I'm a doctor.\nEpran: Don't tell me. You have a cure.\nBashir: I'm working on one.\nEpran: Yeah? What will it cost me? A good coat? A tilo of oil?\nBashir: It won't cost you anything.\nEkoria: He can help us. Listen to him.\nBashir: I need volunteers, people who have quickened.\nEpran: What will you do? See how loud we scream when the Blight burns through us?\nBashir: I have medicines that can dull the pain. I have equipment unlike anything on your world. How would you like me to fix that arm so you can play with your friends over there? I'm not going to hurt you. You have got a fracture right here. I bet it hurts.\nBashir: Better?\nEpran: How did you do that?\nEkoria: Does it matter? He can find a cure for us if we help him.\nTrevean: Fixing a broken bone and curing the Blight are two different things.\nBashir: I know that.\nTrevean: Others have come here with promises of a cure. They stirred up hope, took food and clothing in exchange for their elixirs. But their promises were always lies. And all those who believed them always came to me in the end, begging for release.\nBashir: I just want to do what I can to help. I'm not making any promises.\nTrevean: Take care that you don't. Because we've dealt with those who give false hope before. Believe me, their deaths make the Blight look like a blessing.\nEkoria: What's wrong?\nBashir: I'm trying to chart the life-cycle of the virus. It would be a lot easier if I'd gotten more tissue samples.\nEkoria: Maybe you should go home. Maybe my people don't deserve your help.\nBashir: They've just been suffering so long they've lost hope that things can be better.\nEkoria: It's more than that. We've come to worship death. I used to wake up and look at myself in the mirror, and be disappointed that I hadn't quickened in my sleep. Going to Trevean seemed so much easier than going on living.\nBashir: But you don't feel that way anymore.\nEkoria: Not since the baby. My little boy. Can your machines tell me what he's going to look like when he grows up?\nBashir: Oh, no, not really.\nEkoria: Maybe he'll look like his father. I want to be here for him. To hold his hand when he takes his first step. Kiss his knee when he scrapes it in a fall.\nBashir: Well, with any luck, you'll see him have children of his own.\nDax: Julian. There are some people here who'd like to see you.\nEpran: I suppose you're going to want to bleed me?\nBashir: Oh, a little.\nEpran: I canceled my death for you. I was really looking forward to it.\nBashir: All right, everyone gets three milligrams, including you. Perfect.\nDax: There this'll dull the pain.\nEpran: I like your spots.\nDax: You told me that yesterday.\nEpran: I still like them.\nDax: Julian. Epran has stopped responding to the cordrazine. I had to put him in an inhibitor field.\nBashir: He's further along than everyone else. I'm hoping he'll be the first to respond to the antigen. Think of it. She may well be holding the cure in her hands. Do you think we should tell her what she's giving them?\nDax: She's nervous enough about using the hypo. It's better if we wait until we're positive.\nBashir: I suppose.\nDax: You should take a break. You've been working non-stop for days.\nEkoria: Doctor?\nBashir: Oh?\nEkoria: Dax wanted me to tell you that Epran's white blood count is up another twelve percent.\nBashir: That's great news.\nEkoria: It is?\nBashir: Trust me.\nEkoria: I do. I did from the start. I don't really know why.\nBashir: Well, I'd like to think it's my bedside manner. Doctors and nurses are supposed to project an air of caring competence. You were doing it in there.\nEkoria: Me?\nBashir: I was watching you. You're very good with patients.\nEkoria: I was just trying to be kind.\nBashir: Well, some people don't like to be around the sick. It reminds them of their own mortality.\nEkoria: It doesn't bother you?\nBashir: Sometimes. I prefer to confront mortality rather than hide from it. When you make someone well, it's like you're chasing death off, making him wait for another day.\nEkoria: But death comes to everyone in the end.\nBashir: Except Kukalaka.\nEkoria: Kuka-who?\nBashir: My first patient. A teddy bear.\nEkoria: What's that?\nBashir: Oh, it's a sort of a soft puppet. Anyway, when I was a boy I took him everywhere I went. After a few years, he became a little threadbare until eventually his leg tore and some of the stuffing fell out. My mother was all set to throw him out, but I wouldn't have it, because at the tender age of five, I performed my first surgery. I re-stuffed him and sewed his leg closed. From that day on, I did everything I could to keep Kukalaka in one piece. I must have sewn and stitched and re-patched every square inch of that bear.\nEkoria: Why were you so determined to keep him together?\nBashir: Well, I wouldn't be much of a doctor if I gave up on a patient, would I?\nEkoria: Where's Kukalaka now?\nBashir: Oh, in a closet somewhere. On a shelf in my room.\nDax: Julian! Something's wrong.\nDax: Julian.\nBashir: Something's causing the virus to mutate.\nDax: Could it be a reaction to the antigen?\nBashir: I don't see how. I need a micro-cellular scanner.\nEpran: Help me, Bashir.\nEkoria: He's going to take care of you. You're going to be all right.\nBashir: My God! It's the EM fields from our instruments! Shut everything down! Now!\nDax: All right, everything's off.\nBashir: The mutation rate hasn't slowed. The effect must be cumulative. Give everybody four milligrams of cordrazine.\nEkoria: His heart stopped. His heart stopped!\nBashir: Come on breathe. Breathe. Breathe.\nDax: Julian. Julian.\nBashir: Breathe!\nDax: Doctor!\nTrevean: What have you done?\nLatia: Help me! Trevean, please.\nTrevean: Get out of my way.\nLatia: Trevean!\nTrevean: She's asking for me. You have no right to interfere.\nLatia: Thank you.\nMan: Trevean. Trevean, help me.\nBashir: I remember running a hematology scan on Epran the other day. There were changes in the viral base-pair sequence, and I didn't know why.\nDax: There's no way you could've known it was because of our instruments.\nBashir: I should have put it together.\nDax: That's not fair.\nBashir: Isn't it? I'm going to tell you a little secret, Jadzia. I was looking forward to tomorrow, to seeing Kira again and casually asking, how was the nebula? And oh, by the way, I cured that Blight thing those people had.\nDax: It's not a crime to believe in yourself, Julian.\nBashir: These people believed in me and look where it got them. Trevean was right. There is no cure. The Dominion made sure of that. But I was so arrogant I thought I could find one in a week.\nDax: Maybe it was arrogant to think that. But it's even more arrogant to think there isn't a cure just because you couldn't find it.\nEkoria: I'm glad you got a chance to see it before you left.\nBashir: Ekoria.\nEkoria: I thought I'd make it. I really did.\nBashir: I'm sorry.\nEkoria: Don't be. You gave me hope. I haven't felt that since before my husband died. Goodbye.\nBashir: Ekoria, wait.\nKira: You're sure about this?\nBashir: I can't leave these people. Not now.\nKira: Whenever you're ready, contact the station. We'll have a runabout here within days.\nDax: You know what worries me, Julian, is that without me you won't have anyone to translate for you. Good luck.\nBashir: Major.\nEkoria: What is it?\nBashir: There isn't a trace of the antigen I gave you in your bloodstream. Your immune system must've rejected it.\nBashir: Is it bad? I can give you another hypo, but you've so much cordrazine in your system already it might be hard on the baby's metabolism.\nEkoria: I'll wait.\nEkoria: What is that smell?\nBashir: I'm making a salve.\nEkoria: As long as I don't have to drink it.\nBashir: How do you feel?\nEkoria: I've been better.\nBashir: Can you sit up?\nBashir: Breathe. Again? Now let's see how the baby's doing. His head's over here now.\nEkoria: I'm not surprised. Feels like he's turning somersaults in there.\nBashir: His heart's getting stronger every day. I'd say another six weeks.\nEkoria: I'll never make it that long.\nBashir: Well, I can induce labor in two weeks. The baby will be old enough by then.\nEkoria: Two weeks.\nEkoria: Trevean. Am I dead?\nTrevean: Is that what you want? I can end your suffering. Your child will have known nothing but peace.\nEkoria: No. He deserves a chance to live.\nTrevean: The Blight will take him in the end.\nBashir: Trevean. I didn't realize you made house calls.\nTrevean: I was concerned that she might be too weak to come to me.\nBashir: I don't understand why you're so obsessed with death. From what I've heard, you've lived with the Blight longer than anyone.\nTrevean: Yes, and I've seen more suffering than anyone else. Goodbye, Ekoria. I hope you live long enough to see your baby.\nEkoria: Trevean means well. He's a kind man, in his own way.\nBashir: Push! Good. Good. Now breathe. Don't stop breathing. Don't stop breathing. Breathe. I can see his head. And push! Push! Yes, push. Yes. Yes.\nBashir: My God. That's why there's no antigen in your system. It's all been absorbed through the placenta. Ekoria, he doesn't have any lesions. He doesn't have the Blight.\nTrevean: You found a cure.\nBashir: It's not a cure, it's a vaccine. Every pregnant woman should be inoculated with it as soon as possible. It won't help them, but it will protect their babies.\nTrevean: Our children won't have the Blight?\nBashir: The vaccine isn't difficult to make, but seeing that everybody gets it will be a huge task.\nTrevean: Oh, not a task, a privilege. Can you show me how to make it?\nBashir: I was hoping you'd ask that. (Bashir hands the child to Trevean.\nComputer: Nucleotide sequencing complete. Viral reproduction normal.\nBashir: Let's try an A to C base pair reshuffling.\nSisko: Doctor. I read your report. Good work.\nBashir: Thank you, sir.\nComputer: Nucleotide sequencing complete. Viral reproduction normal.\nBashir: People are still dying back there.\nSisko: Yes, but their children won't.\nBashir: That's what I keep telling myself, sir.\nBashir: Initiate reshuffling sequence."}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's log, stardate 49904.2. After driving away Breen privateers from the Bajoran colony of Freehaven, we are returning to Deep Space Nine.\nDax: When I was Leela Dax, I went through the same thing. Every night I'd tuck in my son Ahjess, and two hours later he'd crawl into bed with me. I don't think I slept through a night for weeks.\nO'Brien: Weeks? Molly's been doing this for two months already.\nDax: She just needs a little attention.\nBashir: Dax is right. I'd say she's jealous. She knows that you and Keiko are going to have a baby soon.\nO'Brien: What makes you such an expert on children?\nBashir: First in my class in pediatric medicine.\nDax: I wouldn't sit there if I were you.\nBashir: Why? Miles spill something again?\nO'Brien: It's Worf's seat. He'll be here in a minute.\nBashir: Just because Worf lives on the Defiant full time doesn't give him proprietary rights in the mess hall.\nDax: No one says it does. He just likes that seat.\nWorf: Prune juice, extra large.\nBashir: Have a seat, Commander.\nWorf: Thank you.\nSisko: All senior staff report to the bridge, immediately.\nSisko: You'd better have a look at this.\nKira: Concentrate on the fires in section thirteen. We have to keep them away from the plasma conduits.\nQuark: Has anyone seen my brother Rom? He told me he was going to be working in one of the upper pylons today.\nKira: He's fine. I saw him with one of the damage control teams on level five.\nQuark: What a relief. Wait till I find him. I'll kill him for scaring me like that.\nOdo: Major, here's a preliminary list of the stolen equipment. Bashir, Dax and Sisko arrive on scene.)\nSisko: Report, Major.\nKira: It was a Jem'Hadar strike team. They beamed aboard from a civilian transport, disabled communications and weapons, set off an explosive device in upper pylon three, fought a number of small skirmishes\nBashir: This one's gone. Spinal fracture and severe trauma to the cranial meninges.\nKira: They raided the science lab, the reactor control facility and several cargo bays.\nSisko: Microfusion initiators, photonic amplifiers, EPS power stabilizers.\nKira: They were out of here and through the wormhole before we knew what hit us.\nBashir: Constable, how many casualties do we have?\nOdo: So far, eighteen confirmed dead, thirty one missing and over a hundred wounded.\nDax: How long ago did the Jem'Hadar leave?\nKira: Forty five minutes at the most.\nDax: That means their ion trail hasn't decayed yet. We could follow them.\nSisko: I intend to do more than that. Sisko to Defiant, prepare for departure.\nBashir: I'm going to stay here, take care of the wounded. That includes you.\nSisko: The station's yours, Major. Contact Starfleet. Tell them to get some ships out here just in case this is a diversion.\nKira: Understood.\nSisko: Constable, you're with us. Sisko to Defiant. Three to beam out.\nSisko: What do you see, Dax?\nDax: Nothing good. Their ion trail is getting fainter. The Jem'Hadar must be emitting a magneton pulse to cover their tracks.\nSisko: Keep on them. I want that ship.\nOdo: Frankly, I'm surprised that something like this hasn't happened sooner. Being at the edge of the wormhole makes Deep Space Nine a tempting target.\nSisko: Sometimes I wish we could have the Defiant standing guard over the station twenty six hours a day.\nWorf: Restricting the Defiant to guard duty would be a serious mistake.\nO'Brien: You wouldn't say that if you had family living on the station.\nWorf: Perhaps, but adopting a siege mentality is ultimately self-defeating.\nDax: I've got something. Bearing oh five seven mark zero zero nine.\nSisko: Red Alert. On screen.\nWorf: A Jem'Hadar warship. This can't be the vessel we're looking for. Major Kira said the Jem'Hadar strike team that attacked the station used a transport ship.\nO'Brien: Captain, that warship's in pretty bad shape. It looks like someone's been using it for target practice.\nDax: They're transmitting a broad-band distress signal.\nOdo: It could be a trap.\nSisko: How many crewmembers aboard?\nDax: I'm reading seven life signs.\nO'Brien: You won't be reading them for long. The reactor's about to go critical.\nSisko: Chief, have a security detail report to the transporter bay. Odo, Commander Worf, you're with me.\nSisko: Transporter protocol five. Sisko to Bridge. Drop cloak. Engage.\nSisko: Reinstate cloak. If you're looking for your weapons, they were removed in transport.\nOmet'Iklan: Even without weapons, we're more than a match for you.\nWorf: I would not be so certain of that.\nToman'Torax: A Klingon.\nVirak'Kara: And the traitor. The Founders will be pleased.\nWeyoun: Omet'iklan, control your men. These people saved our lives.\nOmet'Iklan: And for that we shall take advantage of their mistake.\nWeyoun: You'll do nothing without my approval. My apologies, Captain. I'm afraid the Jem'Hadar are sadly deficient in the social graces.\nSisko: Two hours ago, my station was attacked by a Jem'Hadar strike team.\nWeyoun: I know. They attacked us too.\nOdo: Why would your own people attack you?\nOmet'Iklan: Tell them nothing. This is not their concern.\nWeyoun: Your next allowance of white will be in two hours. If you want it on time, you will be quiet and do as you're told. Captain, you and I should talk in private.\nSisko: If you have something to say to me, make it quick.\nWeyoun: Captain Benjamin Sisko. I feel honored. Your psychographic profile is required reading for Vorta field supervisors. I probably know things about you you don't know yourself.\nSisko: If you're trying to impress me, you can forget it.\nWeyoun: What would you say if I offered to make you absolute ruler of the Federation? No President, no Starfleet Chief of Staff, just you.\nSisko: I'd say your psychographic profile of me isn't as good as you think.\nWeyoun: Just doing my job. Trying to build a bridge between the Dominion and a potential ally. After all, wouldn't it be much simpler if the Dominion and the Federation could reach some mutual beneficial understanding without resorting to the unpleasantness of military conflict?\nSisko: I want to know how to find the Jem'Hadar who attacked my station. If you want to build a bridge, why don't you start there?\nWeyoun: I can lead you to them. But there's something I need in exchange.\nSisko: What's that?\nWeyoun: I want you to help me eliminate them. The Jem'Hadar that attacked your station are renegades. They've turned their back on their oath of allegiance to the Dominion and it's my job to see to it that they're punished.\nSisko: Why do you need my help? You could send a whole fleet of Jem'Hadar warships after them.\nWeyoun: I'm afraid we don't have the time. Captain, are you familiar with the Iconians?\nSisko: They controlled a vast interstellar empire about two hundred thousand years ago.\nWeyoun: What's important is how the Iconians controlled that empire.\nSisko: The Gateways.\nWeyoun: Exactly. Sophisticated transporters that allowed them to move instantaneously from one planet to another, from one solar system to another, without the use of starships.\nSisko: What does any of this have to do with me?\nWeyoun: Dominion scientists recently diskovered a Gateway on one of our outlying worlds. We sent a team of scientists to restore it, but their Jem'Hadar guards rebelled and are now trying to complete the Gateway themselves.\nSisko: These renegade Jem'Hadar stole some equipment from my station. EPS power stabilizers, microfusion initiators, photonic amplifiers.\nWeyoun: I would say it's very possible they're going to use that equipment to help them complete the Gateway. You understand the nature of our dilemma?\nSisko: If the Jem'Hadar are able to make the Gateway operational, they'll become virtually invincible.\nWeyoun: Our experts predict the renegades would gather support from other Jem'Hadar units, launch a general insurrection, and effect a complete takeover of the Dominion in less than a year.\nSisko: None of which is my problem.\nWeyoun: That's very shortsighted of you, Captain. Think about it. If the Jem'Hadar seize control of the Dominion, there'll be no stopping them. Even shutting down the wormhole won't protect the Alpha Quadrant. With the Gateway, they could put a million Jem'Hadar warriors on any Federation planet instantaneously. Would you care to see our projections of Federation casualties?\nSisko: Couldn't the Founders just order them to surrender? From what I know, the Jem'Hadar have been genetically conditioned to obey them.\nWeyoun: The Founders' ability to control the Jem'Hadar has been somewhat overstated. Otherwise we never would have had to addict them to the white.\nSisko: Sounds like the Dominion isn't quite as stable as you'd like us to believe.\nWeyoun: The Dominion has endured for two thousand years, and will continue to endure long after the Federation has crumbled into dust. But we'll leave that to history. Right now, we have a more pressing concern. The Gateway must be destroyed. Agreed?\nSisko: Agreed.\nDax: Let me get this straight. We're going to work with the Jem'Hadar to fight the Jem'Hadar.\nSisko: I don't relish this idea either, but we don't have much of a choice.\nWorf: I was on the mission that diskovered the Iconian homeworld. We were forced to destroy the Gateway we found there rather than let it fall into the hands of the Romulans, and Starfleet Command supported our decision.\nDax: If they didn't want the Romulans to get a hold of it, I'm sure they won't want the Jem'Hadar to have it either.\nO'Brien: What are we supposed to do? Give Omet'iklan and his men their weapons back and then hope they don't point them at us?\nSisko: They're not going to get their hands on any weapons until we reach our target.\nOdo: How do we know these Jem'Hadar can be trusted? They must realize that controlling the Gateway would mean freedom for their people.\nSisko: According to Weyoun, they don't know anything about the Gateway. They think that this is just a routine search and destroy mission. Find the renegade Jem'Hadar, eliminate them and their base.\nWorf: You're asking us to lie to them about our mission. It is not honorable.\nO'Brien: There's a lot of things about this mission that bother me, but lying to the Jem'Hadar is not on top of my list.\nOdo: If the Jem'Hadar find out that we've deceived them.\nSisko: They're not going to find out anything.\nDax: Well, they won't hear it from me.\nSisko: There'll be a joint briefing session at nineteen hundred hours.\nO'Brien: Followed by a get-to-know-you buffet at nineteen thirty.\nDax: And I forgot my dress uniform.\nSisko: Enter.\nOmet'Iklan: You requested my presence.\nSisko: It seems we're going to be working together.\nOmet'Iklan: So I am told. Luckily for you, the only thing I despise more than the Federation is a Jem'Hadar soldier who breaks his vow of allegiance.\nSisko: I'm glad you see it that way. Now, I have a few things I want to make clear. First, this is my ship and my command. which means I give the orders, not you and not Weyoun. What's more, I'm holding you personally responsible for the actions of your men. If I have a problem with them, you're the one who's going to have to answer for it.\nOmet'Iklan: That's as it should be. After all, I'm the First.\nSisko: As far as I'm concerned, on this mission, I'm the First. They lock eyes, and neither blinks.)\nOmet'Iklan: Until the traitors are found and terminated. After that, we shall see. Am I dismissed?\nSisko: For the time being.\nSisko: According to Dominion intelligence, the Jem'Hadar have established a base camp here.\nSisko: The interior of the structure is riddled with a network of corridors and interlocking chambers.\nSisko: our primary objective is to destroy the Jem'Hadar arms and supply cache in this chamber. The trick will be getting there. We can't beam directly into the structure, which means we'll have to fight our way in.\nOmet'Iklan: Jem'Hadar tactics dictate at least twenty seven soldiers are stationed inside the base camp at all times. Nine will patrol the perimeter. Additional troops are deployed throughout the city.\nWorf: How many renegades are there all together?\nOmet'Iklan: A hundred and sixty two in the original garrison. We killed at least twelve during the initial rebellion.\nO'Brien: That still leaves a hundred and fifty.\nDax: Just between you and me, Captain, I think we're a little outnumbered.\nO'Brien: Wouldn't it be simpler to take out the base from orbit? A couple of quantum torpedoes should be enough to level the entire area.\nSisko: Unfortunately, that's not an option.\nWeyoun: The central structure is composed of solid neutronium. Even a direct hit from a quantum torpedo wouldn't necessarily destroy our objective.\nSisko: Which means we have to go in ourselves.\nToman'Torax: As it should be. It is our duty to punish those who would break their vow of loyalty.\nOdo: Are you accusing me of something?\nOmet'Iklan: It is not for us to accuse a god of betraying heaven. The gods themselves will sit in judgment over you.\nOdo: I'm no god, and neither are the Founders. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be.\nSisko: We've chosen a beam-in site here, in this wooded area. That'll give us a chance to evaluate the situation before proceeding. Our first objective will be to secure the main entrance to the ziggurat.\nWorf: Neutralizing nine guards before one of them can raise an alarm will be difficult.\nVirak'Kara: It's as you said. The Klingon will to fight pales in comparison to our own.\nToman'Torax: Yes. He has the look of a warrior but the heart of a coward.\nWorf: If you would like to test my courage, I\nSisko: All right, that's enough.\nToman'Torax: One day the Klingon Empire will fall before the Jem'Hadar. And when that day comes, and piles of Klingons lie dead at my feet, I will think of you standing here impotent and weak, and I will laugh.\nSisko: All right! I said that's enough. Worf, let him go!\nOmet'Iklan: Second! Release the Klingon or I will kill you where you stand.\nSisko: Now, the two of you, as you were. I promise, you'll both have more fight than you can handle before this is over.\nWorf: Let's go.\nO'Brien: I'm right with you.\nDax: Worf.\nWorf: Go.\nO'Brien: Ready.\nDax: Wait. The room's not secure. We have to find the third guard.\nWorf: I do not see him.\nDax: He's here somewhere.\nWorf: I know.\nO'Brien: We're supposed to be on our way out by now.\nWorf: Where is he?\nOdo: We're running out of time, Commander.\nWorf: The third Jem'Hadar guard. He is still here somewhere.\nOdo: Look for a slight rippling effect.\nDax: We know what we're looking for. We just can't find it.\nO'Brien: We're dead.\nOmet'Iklan: That's correct.\nWeyoun: The Jem'Hadar defense grid is now in operation. Automated weapons systems have killed everyone in this room.\nOmet'Iklan: Your crew failed in their mission.\nDax: Well you might as well tell us. Where's the other one?\nOmet'Iklan: There was no third guard.\nSisko: I don't understand. You told me the Jem'Hadar soldiers always operate in teams of three.\nOmet'Iklan: In battle, nothing is certain. You should have armed the explosives as soon as you were in position.\nWorf: We had to be sure the room was secure. otherwise someone could have disarmed the explosive the moment we left.\nOmet'Iklan: If you couldn't secure the room, you should not plan on leaving it.\nO'Brien: You want us to blow the place up while we're still in it?\nOmet'Iklan: This is a waste of time. They'll never succeed as long as they value their lives more than victory.\nWeyoun: There's something to be said for soldiers who aren't afraid to die.\nSisko: I don't know. I've found nothing keeps me alert quite like a healthy fear of death. Keep practicing. The two of you, with me.\nSisko: One of the reasons for these drills is to help our crews learn to work together. Constantly showing contempt for my people isn't making it any easier.\nOmet'Iklan: Would you prefer I lied?\nSisko: What I'd like is for you to at least maintain the pretense that we're on the same side.\nWeyoun: Captain, I understand your concerns, and so does Omet'iklan.\nSisko: Deck five, section one.\nOmet'Iklan: The only way my troops can come to respect your crew is to fight alongside them. Mixed teams in every aspect of the mission.\nWeyoun: That's not practical.\nOmet'Iklan: Why not?\nWeyoun: Are you questioning my decision?\nOmet'Iklan: You fool. My men and I, we know all about the Gateway.\nSisko: Halt turbolift. Looks like your secret's out.\nWeyoun: How do you know about the Gateway?\nOmet'Iklan: It doesn't matter how we know. The point is, we know. You think you have to lie to us and use the white to ensure our loyalty. But the fact is, we are more loyal to the Founders than the Vorta ever will. It is the reason for our existence. It is the core of our being.\nWeyoun: There's an entire company of Jem'Hadar down on Vandros Four who would disagree with you.\nOmet'Iklan: And for that, they will die.\nSisko: Mixed teams it is. But let's get one thing straight. This isn't going to be a suicide mission. As far as I'm concerned, everyone who goes in, comes back out. Starfleet and Jem'Hadar alike.\nOmet'Iklan: Your concern for life is touching. Let's hope it doesn't stop us from achieving our objectives.\nSisko: Computer, reactivate turbolift.\nDax: Am I really that interesting? You've been standing there staring at me for the last two hours.\nVirak'Kara: You are part of my combat team. I must learn to understand your behavior, anticipate your actions.\nDax: There must be something you'd rather do. Maybe get some sleep?\nVirak'Kara: We don't sleep.\nDax: How about getting something to eat?\nVirak'Kara: The white is the only thing we need.\nDax: Don't sleep, don't eat. What do you do for relaxation?\nVirak'Kara: Relaxation would only make us weak.\nDax: You people are no fun at all. Glad I'm not a Jem'Hadar woman.\nVirak'Kara: There are no Jem'Hadar women.\nDax: So what do you do? Lay eggs?\nVirak'Kara: Jem'Hadar are bred in birthing chambers. We are able to fight within three days of our emergence.\nDax: Lucky you. So let me get this straight. No food, so sleep, no women. No wonder you're so angry. After thirty or forty years of that, I'd be angry too.\nVirak'Kara: No Jem'Hadar has ever lived thirty years.\nDax: How old are you?\nVirak'Kara: I am eight.\nDax: I would've guessed at least fifteen.\nVirak'Kara: Few Jem'Hadar live that long. If we reach twenty we are considered Honored Elders. How old are you?\nDax: I stopped counting at three hundred.\nVirak'Kara: You don't look it.\nDax: Thank you.\nO'Brien: No women? I'm not surprised.\nOdo: Personally, I envy them. I mean their ability to go without sleep. I'm sure I could be more productive if I didn't have to regenerate every day.\nWorf: What is the point of doing battle if you cannot enjoy the fruits of victory?\nO'Brien: You mean sleep?\nWorf: No, I mean spending long nights singing songs of your deeds. Good food, good drink.\nDax: And good women.\nWorf: We consider Klingon women our partners in battle. They are the mothers of our children.\nDax: And a lot of fun at parties too.\nWorf: True.\nOdo: Why does he keep staring at us?\nO'Brien: I don't think it's us he's staring at. I think it's you.\nDax: The Vorta probably consider the Founders gods just like the Jem'Hadar do.\nOdo: I am not a Founder.\nDax: Well, you're a changeling. That's close enough. To them.\nO'Brien: I wonder what would happen if you went over to him and ordered him to stand on his head?\nOmet'Iklan: It's time.\nWeyoun: It is time when I say it's time. Oh, very well. Prepare six phials. Unlock. First Omet'iklan, can you vouch for the loyalty of your men?\nOmet'Iklan: We pledge our loyalty to the Founders from now until death.\nWeyoun: Then receive this reward from the Founders. May it keep you strong.\nO'Brien: I guess that's one way to ensure loyalty.\nWorf: Loyalty bought at such a price is no loyalty at all.\nOmet'Iklan: Resume your training.\nToman'Torax: Human, come with me. It is time to resume our battle drills.\nO'Brien: In a minute.\nToman'Torax: I'm ready now.\nO'Brien: Well, I'm not.\nToman'Torax: They stuff themselves with food but have no appetite for battle.\nWorf: When the time comes, you will find us more than ready.\nToman'Torax: Ready to flee at the first sign of danger. Let's go. You can practice running away.\nToman'Torax: I've always wanted to kill a Klingon.\nSisko: That's enough! The next one who throws a punch will have to answer to me. Now, I want to know who started this.\nWorf: I did.\nToman'Torax: And I.\nOmet'Iklan: You again. You knew my orders.\nToman'Torax: And I defied them. I deserve punishment.\nOmet'Iklan: And you shall have it.\nOmet'Iklan: Why are you waiting? Kill him and be done with it.\nSisko: Mister Worf, when not on duty, you are confined to quarters for the remainder of this mission.\nWorf: Yes, sir.\nSisko: All right, let's break this up. Get back to your stations or go to your quarters. Either way, I want this room cleared. Now!\nOmet'Iklan: You call that diskipline?\nSisko: A dead man can't learn from his mistakes. I don't get the same joy out of killing as you do.\nOmet'Iklan: You think I enjoyed it? Toman'torax was my Second. He served under me three years. I valued him.\nSisko: You have a funny way of showing it.\nOmet'Iklan: I did what had to be done, what any First would do. I placed the good of the unit above my personal feelings. Any soldier who cannot follow orders is a danger to his unit and must be eliminated.\nSisko: Mister Worf is not a danger to my command. But if I eliminate him for a simple breach of diskipline, then I would be. My men would stop trusting me, and I wouldn't blame them.\nOmet'Iklan: You are weak. You should die in his place. And when this mission is over, I will see that you do.\nWeyoun: Odo, may I speak with you for a moment?\nOdo: A moment.\nWeyoun: You know I've been watching you.\nOdo: I've noticed.\nWeyoun: I have to admit I find it somewhat disturbing seeing you working for these Federation people, letting them order you around. You are a Founder. You should be the one giving the orders to them, to the Jem'Hadar, even me.\nOdo: So if I order you to leave me alone, you will?\nWeyoun: Of course. But before you do, please, hear what I have to say. Your people want you to come home, Odo. No matter what differences you may have with them, no matter what mistakes you may have made, they still love you.\nOdo: Well maybe they do, but I don't love them.\nWeyoun: You're lying. And you're not very good at it. I, on the other hand, am an expert on lies. Both in telling them, and in spotting them. So you may as well admit the truth. More than anything in your life, you want to return to your people. And I can make that possible.\nOdo: How?\nWeyoun: Let me worry about the how. All I need to know is, are you ready to go home?\nOdo: No. But I am ready to end this conversation.\nWeyoun: Then it's over. After all, you are a Founder. I live to serve you.\nO'Brien: Commander?\nDax: For Keiko?\nO'Brien: It's my eleventh goodbye message since we've been married. I average almost two a year.\nDax: Does she know you do this?\nO'Brien: What would I tell her? You know, honey, every time I'm about to go into battle I record a message for you and Molly telling how much I love you, just in case.\nDax: She'd probably think it was sweet.\nO'Brien: It'd probably scare the hell out of her. To be honest, it scares the hell out of me. Every time I record one of these I think, this is it. This is the one they're going to end up hearing.\nDax: It'll never happen.\nO'Brien: What makes you say that?\nDax: Because when you've lived eight lifetimes, you develop certain instincts. And my instincts tell me that you, Miles Edward O'Brien, are going to live to be a hundred and forty and die in bed, surrounded by family and friends.\nO'Brien: Do you really believe that?\nDax: Do you?\nO'Brien: I'd like to.\nDax: That's all that matters.\nO'Brien: Well, just to be on the safe side, maybe you'd better enter this in the ship's log anyway.\nDax: I'll put it right alongside my message to my mother.\nO'Brien: You record these, too?\nDax: Doesn't everyone?\nCrewman: Sir.\nSisko: Well, it looks like the upgraded reactant injectors are working better than we thought.\nWorf: Captain.\nSisko: Mister Worf. Battle drills ended ten minutes ago. You should be in your quarters.\nWorf: I'm on my way.\nSisko: It looks like you got a little lost.\nWorf: There is something I wish to discuss with you.\nSisko: Go on.\nWorf: It has come to my attention that First Omet'iklan has threatened to kill you.\nSisko: I didn't know that was public knowledge.\nWorf: You told Commander Dax.\nSisko: Well, that explains it.\nWorf: She's concerned about you, and for good reason. As your executive officer, I recommend that you remain on the ship during the away mission. That way, Omet'iklan will have no opportunity to carry out his threat.\nSisko: I appreciate the concern, but do you really think I'm going to follow that recommendation?\nWorf: No, sir, I do not. But I hope you will take some advice. Do not turn your back on him.\nSisko: I won't.\nWorf: Good. I also want you to know if somehow he does carry out his threat, he will not live to boast about it.\nSisko: That's very reassuring, Mister Worf.\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko here.\nDax: We're approaching Vandros Four, Captain.\nSisko: On my way.\nOmet'Iklan: I'm waiting.\nO'Brien: Don't worry. These aren't like the ones we gave you during the drill. They're fully charged.\nVirak'Kara: The weapon's set on stun.\nOmet'Iklan: Deactivate safeties. Reset weapons to maximum power.\nWeyoun: Well, this is a momentous occasion. The first joint operation between the Federation and the Dominion. I can't wait to see how it turns out.\nSisko: Prepare to transport.\nOmet'Iklan: Wait. I am First Omet'iklan, and I am dead. As of this moment we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember. Victory is life.\nJem'Hadar: Victory is life.\nWeyoun: Such a delightful people.\nO'Brien: I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I'm very much alive and I intend to stay that way.\nSisko: Amen. Let's get it done.\nOmet'Iklan: You betrayed us.\nSisko: What are you talking about?\nOmet'Iklan: Our rifles have been sabotaged.\nO'Brien: Hold on. Mine's dead too.\nWorf: Something must be interfering with our equipment.\nDax: The Gateway. It's probably generating some kind of dampening field.\nOdo: If that's the case, we'd better come up with a new plan.\nOdo: We lost Ramirez, too.\nWorf: It would appear we no longer have the element of surprise.\nOmet'Iklan: I suppose you want to call off the mission.\nSisko: Guess again.\nDax: Worf.\nWorf: This way.\nDax: Go ahead. We'll hold them off.\nWorf: Keep moving.\nDax: Virak'kara, you still there?\nVirak'Kara: For a little while longer at least.\nDax: Don't worry. You'll make Honored Elder yet.\nJem'Hadar: Quick, down that way. Look down that hall. Over there.\nWorf: I think we have waited long enough.\nSisko: You're sure the explosives won't be affected by the Gateway?\nO'Brien: The primary detonator might not work, but the chemical backup should do the trick.\nOmet'Iklan: The way is clear.\nSisko: Let's move.\nOmet'Iklan: I threatened to kill you, but you were still willing to sacrifice yourself to save my life.\nSisko: Looks that way.\nOmet'Iklan: Why?\nSisko: If you have to ask, you'll never understand.\nO'Brien: Gentlemen, I think it's time we were leaving.\nOdo: Let's go, Dax.\nDax: If I were you, I'd run like hell.\nSisko: What about Dax and the others?\nWorf: Here, Captain.\nO'Brien: So much for the Gateway.\nOdo: It looks like we got out just in time.\nVirak'Kara: Our weapons are working again.\nWeyoun: The Defiant's sensors registered a powerful explosion in the vicinity of the Gateway. I trust your mission was a success?\nDax: The Gateway's been destroyed, if that's what you mean.\nWeyoun: Well done, Captain. You've all done quite nicely. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to inspect the wreckage.\nOmet'Iklan: That was for questioning our loyalty. I think there's been enough killing for one day.\nVirak'Kara: The Vorta will have no further use of this.\nOmet'Iklan: My men and I will remain here. There are still disloyal Jem'Hadar on this planet. They must be hunted down and eliminated.\nSisko: Good luck.\nOmet'Iklan: You fought well. But the next time we meet, we'll be enemies.\nSisko: I'll keep that in mind.\nO'Brien: I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd like to get out of here.\nSisko: Sisko to Defiant. Begin transport."}
{"text": "O'Brien: I never should have let her go. Not in her condition.\nWorf: Chief, I'm certain Doctor Bashir and Major Kira are taking good care of your wife.\nDax: And besides, you know there's no way you could have kept Keiko from going. She's been talking about the botanical mysteries on Torad Five for a long time. You're lucky she agreed to limit the trip to three days.\nO'Brien: Three days in the Gamma Quadrant. Do you know what she wanted to do last week?\nDax: What?\nO'Brien: She wanted to go back to Bajor and rappel down the cliffs of Undalar to get a fungus sample. Rappel to get fungus! It's as if I have to remind her that she's pregnant.\nDax: Yeah, I guess the extra weight, the morning sickness, the mood swings, the medical examinations, they aren't reminders enough.\nO'Brien: I've work to do.\nQuark: Hey!\nCrowd: Dabo!\nGirl: Very good, we have a winner.\nQuark: Rom, my brother! I'm glad to see you. Let me pour you a snail juice.\nRom: Okay. But only one. My shift starts in thirty three minutes.\nQuark: I'll make it a tall one and it's on the house. We're celebrating.\nRom: Celebrating? What?\nQuark: My return from two weeks on Ferenginar. Didn't you miss me?\nRom: I suppose.\nQuark: And I missed you. That's two reasons for celebrating. Enjoy.\nRom: Thanks.\nQuark: Just the way you like it?\nRom: Perfect. So, how was your trip? Did you close the vole belly deal?\nQuark: The what? Oh, yeah. Closed it on the first day. Fifteen percent profit margin.\nRom: Great. Did you see Moogie?\nQuark: Mother's fine. She sends her love.\nRom: What else did you do?\nQuark: Well, let's see. Closed the deal. Told you that. Did some shopping. Made a pilgrimage to the Great Marketplace. And, er, oh, yes, I found out I'm dying!\nQuark: what are you all looking at? Haven't you ever seen a dying man before?\nRom: You're dying?\nQuark: I got my results from my annual insurance physical. All the tests came back negative except for one. I have Dorek Syndrome.\nRom: But that's incurable.\nQuark: That's right. Which explains the dying part.\nRom: But Dorek Syndrome? It's so rare.\nQuark: It strikes only one out of every five million Ferengi. I finally beat the odds.\nRom: How long do you have before?\nQuark: According to Doctor Orpax, six days, maybe seven.\nRom: Is he sure?\nQuark: Oh, of course he's sure. He's one of the most expensive doctors on Ferenginar. He charges two strips of latinum just to walk into the waiting room.\nRom: This is terrible! I don't want you to die, brother. Maybe you should get a second opinion. Have Doctor Bashir examine you when he gets back from the Gamma Quadrant.\nQuark: Bashir? How good can he be? He doesn't even charge. Besides what could a human doctor know about Dorek Syndrome?\nRom: You're going to die.\nQuark: I have six days to take care of everything. My will, Moogie's pension, I have to make funeral arrangements, pay off my debts.\nRom: That's a lot of debts, brother.\nQuark: Yeah, but half are to humans, Bajorans, a couple of Klingons.\nRom: Rule of Acquisition seventeen. A contract is a contract is a contract. But only between Ferengi.\nQuark: Exactly. But you're right. It's still a lot of debt.\nRom: You can always sell the desiccated remains of your corpse on the Ferengi Futures Exchange.\nQuark: Who'd want to buy a disk of desiccated Quark? I'm nobody. Just some bartender with a domineering mother and an idiot brother.\nQuark: I won't get any cheers for that.\nRom: You were the Grand Nagus.\nQuark: For a week. If I'm lucky, I'll be a footnote in some Ferengi financial almanac.\nRom: You anticipated the change of administrations here on the station.\nQuark: And as a reward I'm inextricably linked to the Federation. I'm a joke on Ferenginar. Starfleet's favorite bartender. The Synthehol King. What a legacy.\nRom: You're not a joke here. You're a respected businessman, a pillar of the community, a man with many friends.\nQuark: Friends? Community? You sound like some sniveling human. The only opinions I care about are those of my peers. Ferengi businessmen. In their eyes, I'm a second-rate, small-time operator.\nRom: Stop it! Stop it, brother! You are somebody. You'll see. You march right over to that comm. link and offer your vacuum-desiccated remains for sale on the Futures Exchange. You'll see. Bids'll come flooding in from all over the Ferengi Alliance. Everyone will want a disk of Quark on their desk. In fact, there may not be enough of you to meet the demand.\nQuark: You're a liar. but I love you.\nRom: Just wait. When you see how much your body is worth you're going to wish you'd died years ago, or something like that.\nDax: Captain, something's coming through the wormhole.\nSisko: On screen. Magnify.\nWorf: The Volga. It's been damaged. Doctor Bashir is requesting emergency transport to the Infirmary. Two patients. Major Kira, Keiko O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Major?\nKira: Keiko's still in surgery but she's going to be just fine.\nO'Brien: The baby? Oh, my God.\nKira: No, no, Chief. The baby's fine.\nO'Brien: Are you sure?\nKira: Positive. Everything's okay. The baby just had a change of address, that's all.\nO'Brien: What do you mean?\nKira: Your son's living here now.\nBashir: Kira almost had us clear of the asteroid field, and then the deflectors became overwhelmed. We were side-swiped by a rock the size of this room. A fuel pod exploded and Keiko was thrown against the bulkhead. She had a concussion, broken ribs, internal hemorrhaging. I managed to stabilize her but the baby's autonomic functions were failing. I had to find another womb for the baby, and the only two people available were Major Kira and me.\nSisko: I think you made the right choice, Doctor.\nO'Brien: But the Major's Bajoran. How can she carry a human child?\nBashir: I had to stimulate Kira's estrogen and progesterone production, and administer high doses of tesokine to enable the baby to metabolize Bajoran nutrients.\nSisko: But the bottom line is it worked, right?\nBashir: Right.\nO'Brien: So, when will Keiko will be strong enough to take the baby back?\nBashir: Well, Keiko should be up on her feet in a day or two. However, the baby\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: Major Kira will have to carry the baby to term. You see, Chief, Bajoran women carry their children for less than five months. Because they have such a short gestation period, they vascularise very quickly. Mother and child form a complex interconnecting network of blood vessels. In order to transfer the baby back to Keiko, I would have to sever those ties, which would likely cause massive internal hemorrhage in Kira and a severe respiratory trauma for the baby.\nO'Brien: So, what you're telling me is that Major Kira's going to have my baby?\nQuark: What is it?\nRom: Hello, Brother. You wanted to see me?\nQuark: Come here.\nRom: Did you get lots of bids?\nQuark: I wouldn't say lots.\nRom: How many?\nQuark: Let me count. One.\nRom: Oh? Seventeen bars, three strips and five slips of latinum for the entire collection. It's a generous opening bid.\nQuark: It's an insultingly low offer. Oh, and it also happens to be exactly the sum total of your life savings.\nRom: Oh? What a coincidence.\nQuark: Stop it. I don't want your charity.\nRom: It's not charity. I want to have something to remember you by when you're gone.\nQuark: I knew this was a mistake.\nRom: But Brother, you've got to give it time. Your body's only been on the Exchange for\nQuark: Oh, forget the bidding. This has all been a mistake. My life, coming here, putting a bar on this Cardassian monstrosity of a station. What was I thinking?\nRom: Brother, come here quick. It's a bid.\nQuark: A bid.\nRom: A huge bid.\nQuark: Five hundred bars of latinum for the entire set.\nRom: That's ten thousand strips.\nQuark: That's one million slips.\nRom: That sounds even better.\nQuark: It doesn't say who the bidder is.\nRom: It's not me.\nQuark: No kidding.\nRom: You think it's Moogie?\nQuark: Nah, she doesn't like me that much. She might buy one disk but all fifty two? No. Who could it be? Who could afford to spend five hundred bars of latinum on me? Grand Nagus Zek.\nRom: The Nagus?\nQuark: Of course. It makes perfect sense. He always liked me.\nRom: He used you when it suited his needs. I don't think it's the same thing.\nQuark: Don't you see? He used me because he liked me. He couldn't admit that in public, so he made this anonymous bid as a gesture of his appreciation and gratitude.\nRom: That doesn't sound like the Nagus I know. But it doesn't matter who made the offer. The important thing is this could stimulate further bidding.\nQuark: Well, let's not be foolish, Rom. If we wait, the Grand Nagus might just change his mind. Going once, going twice, sold!\nRom: Congratulations, brother.\nQuark: Yeah. It took me all my life, but I'm going to die a winner.\nKira: Hi.\nKeiko: Hi.\nKira: How are you feeling?\nKeiko: Like I've been hit by a ten ton rock. Julian says I'll be on my feet tomorrow. How are you?\nKira: Fine. Though I think I've put on a little weight.\nKeiko: You carry it well. You know, what you're doing for me, for us, I don't know how to thank you.\nKira: Keiko, this is your baby.\nQuark: That will pay off Moogie, leaving one hundred and ninety six bars to pay off Uncle Gorad and Cousin Gaila. Is that clear?\nRom: I think so.\nQuark: Good. Now on to my funeral arrangements. First, I want\nBashir: Quark.\nQuark: I want my eulogy to take place in the holosuite. We'll charge admission, two slips a head.\nRom: I don't know about that.\nQuark: You're right. Make it three.\nBashir: Quark! I just received an odd message from a Doctor Orpax of Ferenginar. He wants me to tell you he's very sorry but you don't have Dorek Syndrome. Does that make any sense to you?\nRom: You don't have Dorek Syndrome?\nQuark: You know what that means, Rom?\nRom: It means you're going to live!\nQuark: It means I get to sue Doctor Orpax for malpractice! And I'm going to live.\nQuark: I'm coming. I'm coming.\nQuark: I'm coming!\nQuark: Computer, lights. Come in already.\nBrunt: Brunt. FCA.\nQuark: Don't tell me this is a surprise audit.\nBrunt: Not this time. I'm here to check on my merchandise.\nQuark: What are you talking about?\nBrunt: I'm talking about you. I paid five hundred bars of latinum for your desiccated remains and I'm here to collect.\nQuark: You're the anonymous buyer?\nBrunt: Who did you expect? The Nagus?\nQuark: The Nagus? Of course not. I'm just a little surprised it was you. I guess you haven't heard the news.\nBrunt: You mean that you don't have Dorek Syndrome? I know all about it.\nQuark: But then I don't understand. What are you doing here?\nBrunt: I'm here to get what I paid for. The contract calls for fifty disks of vacuum-desiccated Quark available within six days. I'm here to make sure you deliver the merchandise.\nQuark: Maybe I wasn't clear. I'm not dying.\nBrunt: Maybe I wasn't clear. I don't care. I want my merchandise. I have a thousand ideas of how to defile your remains. Want to hear my favorites?\nQuark: Oh, I see. How foolish of me. I forgot to mention that on top of your full refund, you'll also be receiving an additional five bars of latinum for your troubles. Did I say five? I meant ten. You drive a hard bargain. Twelve. That's my final offer. Look, it's late, you've come a long way. Why don't we stop this haggling and you just tell me how much you want.\nBrunt: What I want is fifty two disks of vacuum-desiccated Quark. Nothing more, nothing less.\nQuark: But I'm not going to die just yet! What do you expect me to do? Kill myself?\nBrunt: Of course not. You can have someone do it for you. I recommend strangulation. It leaves the body relatively unmarked for desiccation.\nQuark: You can't be serious?\nBrunt: A contract is a contract\nQuark: Is a contract. I know that! But you don't collect on contracts under these circumstances. We're not Klingons. We're businessmen.\nBrunt: This is not business, Quark. This is personal.\nQuark: Why? What have I ever done to you?\nBrunt: Done to me? And you call your brother an idiot? Nothing you've ever done to me has been more than a minor inconvenience. No. Protecting your mother from an FCA audit, and secretly settling with your striking employees were nothing more than symptoms of a vile and insidious weakness. A weakness that makes me loath you, not for what you've done but for who you are, what you are.\nQuark: A bartender?\nBrunt: A philanthropist.\nQuark: I am not!\nBrunt: You give your customers credit at the bar. You only take a thirty percent kickback from your employees' tips, and you sold food and medicine to Bajoran refugees at cost!\nQuark: That's not true. It was just above cost.\nBrunt: Close enough. It was still a generous, humanitarian gesture. You've gone Starfleet. You might as well be wearing one of their uniforms. It's people like you that give honest Ferengi businessmen a bad name.\nQuark: I can reform. I'll start gouging the customers again. I'll revoke all my employees' vacation time.\nBrunt: You gave them vacations?\nQuark: I didn't give them anything. They contributed to a central fund which I manage.\nBrunt: You disgust me.\nQuark: Look, I understand your anger. You're absolutely right about me, but there must be some accommodation we can make? Something other than me killing myself.\nBrunt: Of course there is. You can break the contract.\nQuark: Me, break a Ferengi contract? Never.\nBrunt: Never? I wonder if there's enough Ferengi left in you to stick to that. Part of me hopes you will break it because then everything you and your family own on Ferenginar will be confiscated and sold to the lowest bidder. Your mother will be forced to live in the streets, begging for scraps of food and of course no Ferengi will do business with you, or even talk to you. You'll be cut off from all contact with your own people.\nQuark: I like Ferengi. I feel comfortable around them.\nBrunt: Well, we don't feel comfortable around you. You're a disease, Quark. A festering tumor on the lobes of Ferengi society. And it's my job to cut you off.\nO'Brien: One step at a time. Yeah. We're almost there. Prepare for docking. Thrusters back to half. Yes.\nO'Brien: Nice landing, Captain. Let me know when you want to get underway again.\nKeiko: I think I'll sit here a week. Did you see Kira today?\nO'Brien: Yeah. I saw her in Ops.\nKeiko: I was thinking of inviting her to dinner.\nO'Brien: Good idea. Maybe she could come by every evening.\nKeiko: Even if she came every evening, it wouldn't be enough. I know I'm being selfish. I should be grateful that my baby's alive and well, but I shouldn't have to make appointments to be with my own child. Miles, what are we going to do?\nO'Brien: I don't know.\nRom: I know what you're thinking, brother. That you can't break a sacred Ferengi tradition. But the truth is, defying Ferengi tradition isn't so bad. I did it. I formed a union. Everyone said I was crazy, that no Ferengi would have anything to do with me.\nQuark: They didn't want anything to do with you before you formed the union.\nGarak: If you try on the trousers first you'll see I've added some extra padding to the seat which should make swiveling on your barstool much more comfortable.\nGarak: I'm afraid your pants won't be ready until next week, Quark.\nQuark: That's not why I'm here.\nGarak: Ah. And what can I do for you?\nQuark: I want to hire you, not as a tailor, as an assassin.\nGarak: I don't know what you're talking about.\nQuark: Oh, yes, you do. You weren't always a tailor.\nGarak: You're right. I used to be a gardener. Now if you have something you want weeded, you let me know.\nQuark: Not something. Someone.\nRom: You're going to have Brunt killed? I didn't think you had it in you, brother. What a bold, uncompromising move.\nQuark: Would you be quiet? I don't want you to kill Brunt. I want you to kill me.\nGarak: You want me to kill you? Well, that's different.\nQuark: Something swift and painless and preferably bloodless, though I imagine that's not always possible.\nRom: Wait a minute. You can't do this. I thought you were going to break the contract.\nQuark: What are the key words there? You thought.\nRom: But brother\nQuark: Don't brother me, Rom. I'm not like you or Nog or Moogie or the rest of our pathetic family. I'm a Ferengi businessman and I made a contract. And a contract is a contract is a\nRom: Don't quote the Rules of Acquisition to me. This is your life we're talking about.\nQuark: That's right. My life. What's the most important thing in my life?\nGarak: Business.\nQuark: That's who I am. That's what I do. I'm a businessman. And more than that, I'm a Ferengi businessman. Do you know what that means? It means that I'm not exploiting and cheating people at random. I'm doing it according to a specific set of rules. The Rules of Acquisition. And I won't disregard them when I find them inconvenient.\nRom: Inconvenient? You're going to die!\nQuark: Yes. And when I arrive at the gates of the Divine Treasury, the Registrar will accept my bribe and usher me inside. And do you know why? Because I died exactly the way I lived. As a Ferengi. Garak, let's talk about death.\nKira: He's kicking so hard. Do you think he's all right?\nKeiko: It's a good sign. Molly, I thought she was going to kick her way out of me.\nO'Brien: The lower back, huh? Hold on. I have just the thing.\nKeiko: It was so thoughtful of you to share this with us. Thank you, Major.\nKira: Please. Nerys.\nKeiko: So, any morning sickness?\nKira: What's that?\nKeiko: Well, I don't know how it is for Bajorans, but typically human mothers wake up feeling nauseous.\nKira: It doesn't work that way for Bajorans. Typically, we start sneezing. Uncontrollably. But this is a human baby. I don't know what to expect.\nO'Brien: Here we go. Slide that in there. Better?\nMolly: I'm hungry.\nKira: Much.\nO'Brien: Put your feet up.\nKira: Oh, no, no, that's fine.\nO'Brien: It is about that time. I'll get dinner started.\nKira: And I should be going back to my quarters.\nKeiko: Why? Have dinner with us.\nKira: I don't want to impose.\nKeiko: Nerys, you're having our baby. You're family now.\nO'Brien: That's right. In fact, Keiko and I have been talking about something. We have an idea that we'd like you to consider.\nKeiko: It's just an idea. We don't want to pressure you.\nKira: I understand. What is it?\nKeiko: Go ahead.\nGarak: How's that?\nQuark: Awful. Did you hear that sound of bone snapping? I don't want that to be the last thing I hear.\nGarak: It wasn't that loud.\nQuark: You don't have these ears. Snapping vertebrae is out.\nGarak: We're running out of options, Quark. You don't want to be vaporized because you need a body. The disruptor ruined your clothing. The knife was too savage. The nerve gas smelled bad. Hanging took too long, and poison. What was wrong with poison?\nQuark: It doesn't work. If I know the food is poisoned, I won't eat it. Could you get rid of this? The sight of it makes me sick.\nGarak: Computer, remove corpse. For a man who wants to kill himself, you're strangely determined to live.\nQuark: I am going to die, don't you worry about that. I just want to find the right way.\nGarak: Right way?\nQuark: I don't want to see it coming, or hear it, or feel it, or smell it. I just want to go on with my life and then, I'm dead.\nGarak: Ah. You want to be surprised.\nQuark: Exactly. I want to wake up in the Divine Treasury and have no idea how I got there.\nGarak: I see. Perhaps that can be arranged.\nQuark: Really?\nGarak: You have my word. You'll never know what hit you.\nQuark: Computer? Lights.\nQuark: Garak, if you're here I'm not going to be surprised!\nQuark: Where am I? Please have your profit and loss statement ready for inspection before entering the Divine Treasury. I'm dead. Garak, you're good.\nQuark: I'm really dead.\nGint: You're not just dead, Quark. You're an idiot.\nQuark: Who are you?\nGint: I am Gint, the first Grand Nagus.\nQuark: You look like, like my brother, Rom.\nGint: That's because this is a dream, you imbecile.\nQuark: So, I'm not dead.\nGint: What a clever boy. Always thinking.\nQuark: I'm asleep. That explains why this place looks so tacky. I mean, The Divine Treasury? Please.\nGint: Don't blame me for your limited imagination. Now, I'll make it simple. You have to break the contract with Brunt.\nQuark: You got to be joking. You're Gint. You wrote the Rules of Acquisition. The sacred precepts upon which all Ferengi society is based. You of all people can't expect me to break them.\nGint: Why not? They're just rules. They're written in a book, not carved in stone. And even if they were in stone, so what? A bunch of us just made them up.\nQuark: Are you saying they don't matter?\nGint: Of course they matter. That's why they're a best-seller. But we're talking about your life here. The Rules are nothing but guideposts, suggestions.\nQuark: Then why call them Rules?\nGint: Would you buy a book called Suggestions of Acquisition? Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it?\nQuark: You mean it was a marketing ploy?\nGint: Shh. A brilliant one. Rule of Acquisition two hundred and thirty nine. Never be afraid to mislabel a product.\nQuark: I've based my entire life around these rules. How can I just walk away from them?\nGint: Because I'm telling you to.\nQuark: But you can't do that. You're not Gint. This is just a dream.\nGint: Exactly. And I wouldn't be here if you didn't want to break the Rules. You just need someone's permission. So I'm giving it to you.\nQuark: I suppose if the First Nagus Gint came to me in a vision and told me to break the Rules, that would be all right.\nBrunt: Quark, hold it right there. Brunt, FCA.\nQuark: What are you doing here? This is a private vision.\nBrunt: I'm here to remind you of the consequences of disregarding the Rules. Poverty, destitution, exile.\nQuark: I know, I know. But look. Gint himself has come to me in a vision. He's telling me to break the contract.\nBrunt: That is not Gint. Gint was a lot taller. You listen to that fraud, you'll regret it for the rest of your miserable life.\nGint: I say we kill him right now.\nBrunt: This is a dream. You can't kill me. However, people have been known to die in their sleep.\nQuark: Come on, Rom, Gint, whatever your name is. Help me!\nGint: He's got a point, Quark. It's a dream. I can't really do anything. But if you want to live, break the contract. It's your only hope.\nQuark: I'm alive.\nBrunt: I find it surprising that someone with such long, slender and nimble fingers has never practiced oo-mox.\nBrunt: Come to beg for your life? What is this?\nQuark: I'm returning your five hundred bars of latinum. Plus interest.\nBrunt: I told you I wasn't interested in a refund.\nQuark: I know. I'm breaking the contract.\nBrunt: Ah ha. I knew it. You're just like the rest of your family. Weak-lobed degenerates. Another loser in a long line of failed Ferengis.\nQuark: Look, I've broken the contract, so do your job. Take my assets, revoke my Ferengi business license. Do whatever you have to do then get out. And if I ever see you walk into my bar again\nBrunt: Yes?\nQuark: You won't walk out.\nBrunt: May I have your attention, please! Brunt, FCA. As of this moment, no further Ferengi commerce may be conducted in this bar. No Ferengi may be employed by this bar. No Ferengi may eat or drink in this bar. And no Ferengi, no Ferengi, may do business with that man!\nBrunt: Confiscation of assets will begin immediately.\nQuark: Ladies and gentlemen, this bar is closed until further notice. Thank you for your patronage.\nO'Brien: Come in.\nO'Brien: I'll take that, Major. Oh, Nerys. Is this it?\nKira: Oh, I travel light.\nKeiko: Would you like to see your room?\nKira: Sure.\nKeiko: Welcome to your new home.\nKira: At least until the baby's born.\nMolly: Are you my aunt?\nKira: Well\nO'Brien: Sounds right to me.\nKira: Aunt Nerys.\nMolly: Aunt Nerys, can I play in your room?\nKira: Any time you want.\nRom: How are you, brother?\nQuark: How am I? I'm broke. Ruined. Destitute. A pariah. How are things with you?\nRom: Not bad.\nQuark: Glad to hear it.\nRom: They took everything?\nQuark: Including this shirt. I'm supposed to send it to Brunt in the morning.\nRom: Don't worry. I have some old clothes I was going to throw out.\nQuark: I'd rather be naked.\nRom: Okay. Brother, the way you stood up to Brunt? Well, I want you to know that I'm very proud of you.\nQuark: Well, then, I guess throwing my entire life away was worth it.\nRom: I wouldn't go that far. So what are you going to do now?\nQuark: Well, Rom, I've been thinking long and hard, and you know what? I don't have a clue.\nBashir: Quark, where do you want this?\nQuark: What is it?\nBashir: A case of Alvanian brandy. A patient sent it as payment but I can't accept it.\nQuark: Nice try, Doctor, but I don't want your charity.\nBashir: Oh, it's not charity. I find it undrinkable. So do you want it or shall I dump it?\nDax: Quark. My sister sent me these. I thought you might want them but they're really ugly.\nRom: They're not as ugly as the old ones, but they're pretty bad.\nQuark: This is all very amusing, but I can't start a bar with a case of bad brandy and a set of ugly glasses.\nSisko: Quark!\nQuark: Yes, Captain?\nSisko: We're doing some structural repair work on level two of the Habitat ring. We need a place to store some extra furniture for the next few months and it looks like you have the room.\nOdo: Captain, where do you want me to put all this furniture?\nSisko: We have three levels, Constable. Use them all.\nOdo: Understood.\nQuark: Captain, you can't do this! Not without paying a storage fee. A minimum storage fee. Practically nothing.\nSisko: Send me the bill.\nQuark: All right. Don't just stand there, Odo. Move it all in.\nRom: Look at them, brother. And you thought you had no assets.\nQuark: Sisko, Dax, Bashir, Morn? They're my assets?\nRom: To name a few.\nQuark: I guess you're right. I need a drink."}
{"text": "Odo: You wanted to see me, Garak?\nGarak: Ah, Constable. How good of you to stop by.\nOdo: A shoplifter?\nGarak: Excuse me?\nOdo: Is something wrong?\nAroya: Here I come.\nAroya: What do you think?\nGarak: A thing of beauty is a joy forever.\nAroya: Oh, well then, put it on my account. I'll wear it to work.\nGarak: A splendid idea. Ah, Security Chief Odo, I'd like to introduce you to Chalan Aroya, one of my best customers.\nAroya: I own the Celestial Cafe, the new Bajoran restaurant overlooking the Promenade.\nOdo: I'm familiar with it.\nAroya: I watch you walk by every morning when you're on patrol. Oh nine thirty seven. You're very precise.\nOdo: How nice of you to notice.\nAroya: I was hoping one day you might stop in when you're not working.\nOdo: I don't eat.\nAroya: I do, and I hate to eat alone. Think about it. Oh, and next time you're on the second level, don't forget to say hello.\nOdo: The next time you call me, it'd better be to report a crime.\nGarak: Now that you mention it, I've just witnessed a crime. Letting Aroya walk out of here without arranging a date. You should be locked away for that.\nOdo: You humanoids. You're all obsessed with these convoluted mating rituals.\nGarak: True. But do you think we'd waste so much time on something that wasn't worthwhile? I'll never understand you. You're such a sensitive man, yet there are so many aspects of humanoid life that you simply refuse to explore.\nOdo: I have no desire to become a slave to humanoid obsessions.\nGarak: But you have to admit, she is quite lovely.\nOdo: Well, she is, isn't she?\nGarak: Odo, what's wrong?\nOdo: I don't know.\nGarak: Garak to Doctor Bashir. I need a medical emergency team sent to my shop immediately.\nOdo: Doctor, this is a waste of time. You don't know enough about changeling physiology to diagnose what's wrong with me. No one does.\nBashir: Actually, I do have some idea what's going on. I've compared your current medical scans with ones I've made over the last four years and there are noticeable differences. Normally when you're in humanoid form, you have a specific density of one point four which is constant throughout your body. Your mass and density only vary when you change shape. Right now, your mass and density are in a state of fluctuation.\nOdo: Do you know what's causing it?\nBashir: No.\nOdo: Well, do you know how to prevent it from happening again?\nBashir: Not yet.\nOdo: Then tell me when you do.\nBashir: I'm afraid I can't let you leave just yet. Moving seems to increase the fluctuations and may bring on another attack.\nOdo: Are you saying that I have to stay here until you diskover a cure?\nBashir: Or until the fluctuations stop on their own. For all I know, this could be a normal biological process. The changeling equivalent of puberty, or menopause.\nOdo: That's an interesting theory, Doctor. One I suggest that you keep to yourself.\nBashir: Don't worry. This could just as easily turn out to be a virus or a bacterial infection. Now, lie back and I promise I'll do everything I can to get you out of here as soon as possible.\nGowron: We find the Federation's demands that we return the captured Cardassian colonies insulting and provocative. Klingon blood was spilled to conquer those worlds. They are now part of the Klingon Empire and we will never give them up. Furthermore, if the Federation still harbors any hope of peaceful coexistence with the Klingon Empire, it must abandon all Starbases and military installlations in the Archanis Sector. Our claim to Archanis Four and the surrounding territory is ancient and indisputable. We advise the Federation to leave Archanis, or prepare to face the consequences. Long live the Empire.\nSisko: This recording was sent to the Federation Council three days ago.\nWorf: If Gowron is willing to go to war over the Archanis sector, then he has become even more dangerous than I thought.\nKira: I don't get it. The Klingons relinquished their claim to Archanis Four a hundred years ago.\nDax: I guess they've changed their mind.\nSisko: I don't think Gowron gives a damn about Archanis. He's just looking for an excuse to rattle his saber. The question is why?\nDax: Yesterday I talked to an old friend of Curzon's from the Diplomatic Corps. She says that representatives from Federation worlds near the Klingon border are already urging a preemptive strike.\nKira: Sounds like war may be inevitable.\nSisko: I hope you're wrong, Major. But right now there's not much we can do about it either way. Archanis Four is a long way from here.\nDax: Two, three. I say she stops at seven.\nSisko: I say eight. Mister Worf?\nWorf: Ten.\nKira: I hate being pregnant.\nSisko: I win.\nKira: My nose hasn't stopped itching for weeks.\nDax: We've noticed.\nSisko: Is there anything Doctor Bashir can do about it?\nKira: I'm Bajoran. Human women get nauseous. We sneeze. Besides, I think Doctor Bashir's hands are full right now.\nSisko: How is the Constable?\nKira: No news yet. I was thinking of going to visit him.\nWorf: I doubt that he would wish to be seen in such a weakened state.\nDax: What if he wants some company? Someone to take his mind off his problems?\nWorf: That is doubtful. Odo values his privacy. He does not like to socialize.\nDax: I think it's all an act.\nWorf: It is not an act. He told me so himself.\nDax: But you were socializing with him when he said it.\nWorf: Captain, was Dax's last host as argumentative as this one?\nSisko: Worse.\nDax: Thank you, Benjamin. I think.\nSisko: Hopefully Odo will get back on his feet soon. In the meantime, I want him left alone to rest. Agreed? Agreed.\nKira: May I come in?\nOdo: If you're looking for Doctor Bashir, he's not in right now.\nKira: Actually, I came to see you.\nOdo: To be honest, Major, I really don't feel like company right now.\nKira: I didn't plan on staying. I just came to bring you this.\nOdo: Ah. Today's criminal activities report.\nKira: I figured you might be getting tired of staring at medical consoles all day.\nOdo: That was very thoughtful of you, Major.\nKira: If there's anything else you need, you let me know.\nOdo: Yeah, I'll do that.\nOdo: What?\nRionoj: Keep moving. I'll feel a lot better once we're off this station.\nOdo: Too bad, because you're not leaving.\nRionoj: Security Chief Odo. I heard you were indisposed.\nOdo: You heard wrong. Now you and I need to talk about those missing Falangian diamonds.\nRionoj: I told you before, I don't know anything about them.\nOdo: Well tell me again.\nOdo: Oh no you don't.\nRionoj: Let's go.\nBashir: How are you feeling?\nOdo: See for yourself.\nBashir: It's gotten worse.\nOdo: Very observant, Doctor. It's been more and more difficult for me to maintain humanoid form.\nBashir: The latest test results aren't encouraging. The destabilization of your molecular structure is increasing at an alarming rate.\nOdo: How much longer before I totally lose my ability to stay solid.\nBashir: One week, maybe two. After that, if the destabilization continues. I sent my findings to Doctor Mora. Frankly, he was as baffled as I am, but he wants you to come to his laboratory on Bajor for further tests.\nOdo: Seven years of playing lab rat for him was quite enough. Besides, you have complete access to his data. If the answer was there, you'd have found it by now.\nBashir: I don't suppose you'd agree on a trip to Starfleet Medical?\nOdo: Doctor, I think we both know where I have to go.\nBashir: I was hoping it wouldn't come to that.\nOdo: There doesn't seem to be much choice. You have to take me back to my people. The only ones who can help me now are the Founders.\nSisko: Once we enter the Gamma Quadrant, we'll begin transmitting a subspace signal explaining the purpose of our mission. Then we'll enter Dominion space and try to locate the Founders' new homeworld.\nKira: Odo's only got a few weeks at best. Do you think we can locate his people in time?\nBashir: If we go into Dominion airspace without cloaking, we'll get their attention.\nSisko: You can be sure of that.\nKira: I'd like to come along.\nSisko: I don't think so, Major. I know Odo's your friend, but I need you here. Besides\nKira: I know, I know. When will you leave?\nSisko: Doctor?\nBashir: As soon as possible.\nSisko: We'll prepare the Defiant. You prepare the Constable.\nO'Brien: All systems are ready for departure.\nSisko: Thank you, Mister O'Brien.\nBashir: The medical bay is all set, but it'll take a little while to get Odo on board.\nWorf: Why not use the transporter?\nBashir: Well, his molecular structure is scrambled enough as it is. The last thing he needs is a trip through a transporter buffer.\nDax: Benjamin, someone's asking permission to come aboard.\nSisko: Who is it?\nDax: Garak.\nWorf: Tell him the ship is off limits to Cardassian spies.\nBashir: Sir, if Garak is asking to come aboard, I'm sure he has a good reason.\nSisko: Have Mister Garak escorted to the mess hall. I'll meet him there.\nGarak: Personally I think Starfleet should allow their officers more latitude in accessorizing their uniforms. You'd be surprised what a nice scarf can do.\nGarak: Ah, Captain. How good of you to see me.\nSisko: Make it brief, Garak.\nGarak: I'd like to accompany you on your mission. There are some questions I'd like to ask the Founders.\nSisko: Such as?\nGarak: The Cardassian Empire lost a number of ships during their aborted attack on the Dominion. I want to know what happened to the crewmembers.\nSisko: I was under the impression that those ships were destroyed with all hands.\nGarak: Oh, we don't know that for a fact. As I recall, when the Defiant left the scene of the battle, there were a number of Cardassian warships still fighting.\nSisko: Ah. And you think some of their crewmembers might have been taken prisoner?\nGarak: I live in hope. Besides, if you do take me along, I think you'll find me quite useful. I'm a man of many talents.\nSisko: I have no need for a tailor on this mission, let alone a spy. But maybe there is something you can do for me. This is going to be a long trip for Odo. I need someone to occupy his attention, take his mind off his condition.\nGarak: You want me to keep him company?\nSisko: No. Anyone can do that. Dax, Bashir, myself. And what would we have to offer him? Kindness? Sympathy? That's the last thing he wants.\nGarak: But where you offer kindness, I offer mystery. Where you offer sympathy, I offer intrigue. Just give me a seat next to Odo's bed and I promise you I will conjure up enough innuendos, half-truths, and bald-faced lies about my so-called career in the Obsidian Order to keep the Constable distracted for days. If there's one thing Cardassians excel at, it's conversation.\nSisko: You've got yourself a job. But all questions for the Founders will have to wait until after Odo gets the help he needs.\nGarak: We share the same priorities, captain.\nSisko: Make sure you remember that.\nQuark: Odo.\nOdo: Not now, Quark. I'm busy.\nQuark: I hear you're taking a little trip to the Gamma Quadrant.\nOdo: Care to come along? QUARK Are you kidding? I expect to own this station by the time you get back. With you gone, profits from smuggling alone should go up sixty percent.\nOdo: Well, don't get used to it. I'll be back before you know it, making your life miserable.\nQuark: Then you are coming back?\nOdo: Count on it.\nQuark: I will.\nKira: Take your time. I promise the Defiant won't leave without you.\nBashir: Would you like me to have the Promenade cleared?\nOdo: That won't be necessary.\nDax: We've just cleared the wormhole.\nSisko: Begin transmitting a request for assistance, then set a course for the Dominion.\nDax: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: It's funny. I've served on a half a dozen ships, and none of them've had cloaking devices except the Defiant. Now that we're not using it, I feel naked.\nWorf: It is diskoncerting, to say the least.\nSisko: Gentlemen, I feel the same breeze you do.\nO'Brien: What're you smiling at?\nDax: I don't know. I guess it's just being in the same room with so many naked men.\nGarak: Ah, yes. The assassination of Proconsul Merrok of Romulus. Such a tragedy. I met him once, a few weeks before he died. I was working as a gardener at the Cardassian embassy during the\nOdo: You were a gardener on Romulus?\nGarak: My specialty was Edosian orchids. Beautiful but highly toxic.\nOdo: As I recall, Proconsul Merrok was poisoned.\nGarak: Funny, I don't remember that. But then again, so many Romulan dignitaries died unexpectedly that year.\nBashir: It must be hard to keep them all straight.\nGarak: You can't imagine.\nBashir: Maybe we should let the Constable get some rest.\nOdo: I'll let you know when I need rest, Doctor. A gardener at the Cardassian embassy on Romulus? Fascinating.\nO'Brien: So I get off duty the other night, and I walk into my quarters and there're Keiko and Major Kira talking.\nDax: Go on.\nO'Brien: As soon as I walked in, they stopped. It was like turning off a holosuite program.\nWorf: They did not want you to hear what they were saying.\nO'Brien: Exactly. I think they were talking about me.\nSisko: Come on, Chief. You have no way of knowing that.\nO'Brien: I may not have the proof, but I know one thing. Molly was there, and when she saw me she started giggling. Laugh all you want. I'm thinking of asking Julian to come live with us. Even things up a little.\nDax: Hold on. I'm reading warp signatures headed our way. Looks like our signal's finally getting a little attention.\nSisko: Full stop. On screen.\nSisko: Make that a lot of attention.\nDax: We're being hailed. They want to beam someone aboard to discuss our request.\nWorf: I would advise against allowing Dominion representatives aboard this ship.\nO'Brien: It might be better to negotiate over the viewscreen.\nSisko: But I don't want to give them any reason to think that we're hiding something. Odo needs their help and I'm going to make sure he gets it. Commander, tell the Jem'Hadar that I'll meet their representative in the transporter bay.\nDax: Aye, sir.\nFounder: That's enough. Let him go. Please, everyone, lower your weapons. There's no need for violence.\nDax: Are you okay?\nO'Brien: I've felt better.\nFounder: I've come for Odo.\nSisko: Can you help him?\nFounder: Only the Great Link can help him. Leave him with me and you may return home unharmed.\nSisko: I can't do that.\nAmat'Igan: A Founder has given you an order. You will obey it.\nFounder: I'll let you know when I need you. I understand your concern for Odo. I feel it too.\nSisko: Then let's not stand here and argue. Just tell us where we need to take him. The faster we get moving, the better off he'll be.\nFounder: Your loyalty to Odo is commendable. I will not stop you from accompanying him on the rest of his journey. However, I'm sure you understand my reluctance to reveal the location of our new home. Commander, I must ask you to surrender the helm. Amat'igan will guide your ship for the remainder of the voyage.\nDax: Captain?\nFounder: My terms are not open to negotiation.\nSisko: Commander, give him your seat.\nAmat'Igan: This will prevent your navigational computers from retaining any record of our journey.\nWorf: Sir.\nSisko: Not now, Mister Worf.\nFounder: There, that's better. Now, Captain, if it's not too much trouble, I would like to pay Odo a visit.\nGarak: How do I look, Doctor?\nBashir: Does it matter?\nGarak: Of course it matters. I'm here as a representative of the Cardassian Empire and I want to make a good first impression. Constable, what do you think?\nOdo: I think the Romulans poisoned Proconsul Merrok and you were the one responsible for the transporter accident that killed Subcommander Ustard.\nGarak: You're getting warmer. But how do I look?\nFounder: May I come in?\nOdo: You'll pardon me if I don't get up.\nFounder: Poor Odo. Look what's become of you.\nOdo: Not a pretty sight, am I?\nFounder: Pretty? I wasn't aware you applied such value to your outward appearance. Such concerns are more fitting for solids.\nBashir: Excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt, but is there anything you can do for him?\nFounder: Odo, give me your hand. Don't be afraid.\nGarak: Amazing.\nFounder: Feeling better?\nOdo: Yes. Though I still have to concentrate to hold my form.\nBashir: Your molecular structure is still fluctuating, but it's nowhere near as unstable as it was.\nFounder: Leave now. I wish to speak to Odo in private.\nBashir: Odo is my patient.\nOdo: It's all right, Doctor.\nBashir: Then I'll be right outside. It can wait, Garak.\nGarak: Of course.\nFounder: What we have to say is not for your ears. Wait for me outside.\nFounder: I wish this meeting were under better circumstances.\nOdo: I'm not exactly thrilled with the circumstances myself.\nFounder: I'd hoped you'd return to us on your own. After all, that Bajoran woman you were so fond of seems to have taken an interest in someone else.\nOdo: You know about Major Kira and First Minister Shakaar.\nFounder: Despite your rejection of us, we still take an active interest in your well-being.\nOdo: And just how do you keep so informed about my well-being?\nFounder: There's very little that escapes our attention.\nOdo: Are you saying that you knew I was sick even before we left the station.\nFounder: What do you think?\nOdo: I think you did this to me. You caused my illness so that I'd be forced to come home.\nFounder: As I said, I wish the circumstances of this meeting were different. You killed a changeling, Odo.\nOdo: He was trying to kill my friends. I had no choice.\nFounder: Of course you had a choice, and you chose to side with the solids. To protect them, you were willing to violate the most sacred law of our people.\nOdo: No changeling has ever harmed another.\nFounder: Until you. That's why we forced you to return home to enter into the Great Link and be judged.\nOdo: What does that mean, I'm going to be judged?\nFounder: You will join us in the Great Link, open your thoughts, allow us to understand you. Only then will we be able to decide if your actions were justified.\nOdo: And if you decide that they weren't?\nFounder: You will be punished.\nOdo: Punished? How?\nFounder: You have to understand that nothing like this has ever happened in the entire history of our people. We have never had to sit in judgment over one of our own. That's why we took so long to bring you home. There was disagreement in the Link over what to do with you.\nOdo: I'm sorry I've caused you so much trouble.\nFounder: Perhaps we are to blame. We sent you away.\nOdo: But I'm the one who's going to be punished.\nFounder: That remains to be seen.\nOdo: What if I refuse to cooperate? What if I refuse to join the Link?\nFounder: I stabilized your condition temporarily. Only the Link can heal you. If you refuse to join with us, you will die.\nFounder: You may go in now, Doctor.\nBashir: Thank you.\nFounder: Try not to disturb him. He needs his rest.\nBashir: I'll bear that in mind.\nGarak: Excuse me, madam. May I have a moment of your time?\nFounder: You are Cardassian.\nGarak: That's right. And on behalf of my people, I'd like to learn if there were any survivors after our attack on your homeland.\nFounder: Cardassian survivors?\nGarak: Yes.\nFounder: There were no Cardassian survivors.\nGarak: You mean, they're all dead?\nFounder: They're dead. You're dead, Cardassia is dead. Your people were doomed the moment they attacked us. I believe that answers your question.\nGarak: It was a pleasure meeting you.\nO'Brien: I don't suppose there's any way Odo could hide a communicator on him when he's in the Link with the Founders?\nWorf: I do not think he'll be able to hide anything from the Founders.\nO'Brien: There must be some way we can keep a transporter lock on him while he's in the Link.\nSisko: What about injecting him with radio-nuclides?\nO'Brien: That would give the transporter something to lock on to, but there's no way to be sure the nuclides won't disperse throughout the Link. If he's in there for more than a few hours, we could end up with a transporter pad full of shape-shifters.\nOdo: I wouldn't worry about that, Chief.\nSisko: Constable, shouldn't you be in bed?\nBashir: He insisted on coming to see you himself.\nOdo: I thought you might be trying to help me and I wanted to say, don't bother.\nO'Brien: Odo, surely you don't really expect us to just stand by while they do God knows what to you?\nOdo: That is exactly what I expect. Captain, I want to be judged. I'm the only changeling who's ever harmed another. I've spent most of my life bringing people to justice. Now that it's my turn, how can I run away?\nSisko: Are you sure that's what you'll find in the Great Link? Justice?\nO'Brien: I've heard a lot of stories about the Dominion and the Founders, and justice seems to be the last thing on their minds.\nOdo: Nevertheless, they're my people and I intend to accept their judgment.\nSisko: Report.\nDax: Everything's status quo. If you want more details than that, you'll have to ask our navigator.\nSisko: How much longer?\nAmat'Igan: You'll be informed when we reach our destination.\nFounder: We will be within transporter range of my world in less than one hour. After we have achieved orbit, Odo and I will transport to the surface.\nSisko: Doctor Bashir and I will be joining you.\nFounder: If you wish. But Odo may be in the Link for days.\nSisko: We'll wait.\nFounder: Come, Odo. It's time.\nBashir: How long has it been?\nSisko: I've lost track.\nBashir: So have I.\nSisko: Doctor.\nBashir: Oh. Right.\nWorf: Wait here.\nWorf: Garak. Just as I thought.\nGarak: Don't tell me. I overlooked one of the security monitors.\nWorf: You were trying to override the launch controls for the quantum torpedoes.\nGarak: I was hoping to gain control of the phasers as well. I just hadn't got around to it yet. Don't you see? We have an opportunity here. A chance to end the Dominion threat once and for all. We have enough firepower on this ship to turn that planet into a smoking cinder. Personally, I think that would be a very good thing.\nWorf: And what about Odo, and Captain Sisko and Doctor Bashir?\nGarak: They'll die. And once the Jem'Hadar ships realize what we're doing, so will we. But what are our lives compared to saving the entire Alpha Quadrant?\nWorf: We are not here to wage war.\nGarak: I'm not talking about war. What I'm proposing is wiping out every Founder on that planet. Obliterating the Great Link. Come now, Mister Worf, you're a Klingon. Don't tell me you'd object to a little genocide in the name of self-defense?\nWorf: I am a warrior, not a murderer.\nGarak: What you are is a great disappointment.\nWorf: You fight well for a tailor.\nSisko: Doctor.\nSisko: Odo, are you all right?\nBashir: Captain, I'm getting some strange readings.\nSisko: What have you done to him?\nFounder: He has been judged.\nBashir: Captain, I'm reading a heart, lungs, and a digestive system. It's as if he were human.\nFounder: We gave him what he wanted. We made him a solid. He's one of you now. Oh, poor Odo. Perhaps we should have killed you. It would have been far less cruel. He's yours. Take him and go.\nSisko: Sisko to Defiant.\nDax: Go ahead, Captain.\nSisko: Three to beam up.\nOdo: Staring at it isn't going to make it change shape.\nBashir: It's blood, all right. Not a trace of changeling protoplasm in your entire system. Type O negative, if you were wondering.\nOdo: I'll be sure to remember that.\nBashir: Physiologically, you're completely human.\nOdo: Except for my face.\nBashir: Yes, I was wondering about that. Why they left it unchanged.\nOdo: They left it this way on purpose. To make sure I'd never forget what I was. And what I've lost. Captain's log, stardate 49962.4. After leaving our Jem'Hadar escorts at the edge of Dominion space, the Defiant has returned home. But for Constable Odo, I'm afraid the journey has just begun.\nGarak: How does it feel? You comfortable? Not too tight?\nOdo: It's fine. Though it does make me feel a bit\nGarak: Itchy? That's the Inkarian wool. You'll get used to it. Unless of course you're allergic to Inkarian wool.\nOdo: It's not the uniform. I think I'm hungry?\nGarak: You know, I envy you. Think of all the wonderful foods you'll get to enjoy for the first time.\nOdo: I can hardly wait. Well, you've done your job. Now I have to do mine.\nGarak: yes, I suppose you do. Six months in a holding cell? The thought is unattractive, to say the least.\nOdo: Well, if you ask me, Captain Sisko let you off lightly. Sabotage, assaulting a Federation officer, attempting to incite war between the Federation and the Dominion.\nGarak: Yes, but my heart was in the right place.\nAroya: There you are, Odo. I've been looking all over for you. I heard about what happened. I'm so sorry.\nOdo: Thank you.\nAroya: I know it won't be easy, but eventually you'll see how being a humanoid has its advantages. If there's anything at all I can do, just let me know.\nGarak: What a generous offer.\nOdo: Let's go, Garak.\nSisko: Constable, are you all right?\nOdo: It's nothing. It's just a headache. Every once in a while I still get flashes of memory from the Great Link. A jumble of images or a word, but I can't quite make sense of it.\nSisko: You know, there's no reason to rush things. You don't have to go back to work right away.\nOdo: Yes, I do. When I joined with the other changelings in the Great Link, I felt something I've never felt before. In that moment, I knew I was home. For the first time, I felt that I understood my people. Their distrust of the solids, their willingness to do anything to protect themselves. And then in an instant it was all snatched away. I'm trapped in this body. I can never rejoin the Great Link. My job is the only thing I have left. Besides, I'm still the best law enforcement officer on this station.\nSisko: You're the best law enforcement officer in this sector. Maybe the whole damn quadrant.\nOdo: Maybe. What's that all about?\nSisko: I have no idea.\nGowron: The Klingon Empire is tired of words, of negotiation, of the endless delaying tactics of the Federation. Therefore, as of today, a Klingon task force has been dispatched to the Archanis Sector. Starfleet has ten days to abandon their bases and withdraw their forces from the Sector.\nKira: It's coming in on all frequencies.\nGowron: Any Starfleet vessels found in the Sector after that time will be considered the enemy and fired upon.\nSisko: Major, put the station on combat alert. Notify the Bajoran militia.\nOdo: Captain. It's him.\nSisko: Gowron? What about him?\nOdo: During the Link, I sensed that the other changelings were trying to hide things from me. Faces, names. One of them was him.\nKira: What are you saying?\nOdo: I'm saying that he's one of them. Gowron, the head of the Klingon Empire, is a changeling.\nGowron: No misinterpretation of my words. Archanis is ours and we will take it back. Resist us in any way, and there will be war!"}
{"text": "Garak: Odo, what's wrong?\nOdo: I don't know.\nOdo: I think you did this to me.\nFounder: You killed a changeling, Odo. That's why we forced you to return home to enter into the Great Link and be judged.\nSisko: What have you done to him?\nFounder: We made him a solid. He's one of you now.\nBashir: Captain, I'm reading a heart, lungs, and a digestive system. It's as if he were human.\nGowron: Will be considered the enemy and fired upon.\nOdo: Captain. It's him.\nSisko: Gowron? What about him?\nOdo: During the Link, I sensed that the other changelings were trying to hide things from me. Faces, names. One of them was him.\nKira: What are you saying?\nOdo: I'm saying that he's one of them. Gowron, the head of the Klingon Empire, is a changeling.\nWorf: Where are they? They should've been back hours ago.\nO'Brien: Maybe the meeting with Starfleet Command took longer than they thought it would.\nKira: Then why haven't Sisko or Dax contacted us?\nO'Brien: Well, the whole area they're traveling through is crawling with Klingon ships. The second they use their subspace transmitter, they become a target.\nWorf: I never should have let them leave in a runabout. I should have insisted that they take the Defiant.\nKira: You did. But the Captain's orders were clear. As long as we're at war with the Klingons, we need the Defiant here to help protect the station.\nO'Brien: All I know is that I'd hate to be dodging Klingon raiding parties in nothing but a runabout.\nWorf: It would take a fleet of Klingon ships to breach the station's defenses. I say we take the Defiant and go looking for them.\nO'Brien: I'm with Worf.\nKira: I'm glad the two of you are in agreement. But with the Captain gone, I am in charge of the station and I say we stay.\nWorf: You may be in charge of the station, Major, but I command the Defiant.\nKira: Mister Worf, the Captain has given us our orders and I intend for us to follow them until he issues new ones.\nO'Brien: Hold on a minute. I'm reading a warp signature approaching the station.\nWorf: It is the Rio Grande.\nKira: On screen.\nO'Brien: Looks like they had a run in with some Klingons. Weapons systems, shields and comm. system are all pretty shot up.\nKira: Life signs?\nO'Brien: Two. One human, one Trill.\nWorf: Permission to welcome the Captain back on board.\nKira: Permission granted.\nKira: Glad you made it back in one piece.\nSisko: So are we.\nKira: How was your meeting with Starfleet Command?\nSisko: I'm afraid the war's not going very well. The Klingons are throwing everything they have at us. Starfleet's been able to slow them down, but that's about all.\nKira: It's hard to believe one changeling could cause so much chaos.\nDax: He can if he's impersonating the leader of the Klingon Empire.\nKira: So is Starfleet going to do something about Chancellor Gowron or not?\nDax: Oh, they're going to do something.\nSisko: Starfleet's sending an infiltration team to Klingon territory. Their orders are to do whatever it takes to prove that Gowron's a shape-shifter.\nKira: Tough assignment. Who are they sending?\nSisko: Me.\nQuark: Captain, you're just in time for happy hour.\nSisko: Do I look happy, Quark?\nQuark: Do you think any of these people looked happy when they walked in here? How could they? There's a war going on. But they come because they know I'll do everything in my power to help them forget their troubles. For a reasonable fee, of course. Now, what can I do for you?\nSisko: I'm looking for Odo.\nQuark: Oh, Captain, we all have our failures, and he's mine. Every since he lost his shape-shifting abilities, I haven't been able to get a smile out of him.\nSisko: Where is he?\nQuark: I'm telling you, Captain, that's one depressed ex-changeling. He's upstairs at his usual table. Just follow the black cloud.\nSisko: Constable.\nOdo: Listen, Captain. Do you hear it?\nSisko: You mean the bubbles?\nOdo: Soothing, isn't it? You know, before I became a solid I never heard that. I didn't have a sense of taste so I never paid much attention to food or drink. I had no idea how seductive they could be. Would you like me to get you a glass?\nSisko: I'm on duty.\nOdo: I'm not.\nSisko: I thought you were always on duty.\nOdo: You know, at first I found the whole process of ingestion disgusting. But now that I've gotten used to it, I find eating and drinking to be quite comforting. It's one of the few things that you, that we humanoids have control over.\nSisko: Not necessarily. There's always the temptation to eat too much, to drink too much.\nOdo: One has to find something to do with one's time. For some reason, my work isn't as fulfillling as it used to be.\nSisko: I might be able to do something about that. Starfleet has ordered us to try to expose the Gowron changeling. I want you to come with us.\nOdo: Maybe it would be better for you to take Deputy Yndar. There's nothing I can do that he can't.\nSisko: I don't need Yndar. I need you.\nOdo: What you need is someone who can turn into Gowron's pet targ. I can't do that anymore.\nSisko: What I need is my Chief of Security. There will be a staff meeting at sixteen hundred hours. I expect you to be there.\nSisko: According to Starfleet intelligence, Chancellor Gowron has relocated Klingon military headquarters to Ty'Gokor.\nWorf: That will make our job more difficult. Ty'Gokor is located in an asteroid field deep in Klingon space. It is probably the most heavily fortified installlation in the Empire.\nSisko: There are at least thirty warships stationed there at any given time and the entire asteroid field is protected by a tachyon detection grid.\nO'Brien: Which means there's no way we can get a cloaked ship within transporter range.\nWorf: Even if we do find a way inside, getting close to Gowron will not be easy. He is guarded around the clock by his personal security force, the Yan-Isleth.\nDax: The Brotherhood of the Sword.\nKira: Look, I don't want to sound negative, but even if you do get to Gowron, how are you going to prove to the Klingons he's a changeling?\nOdo: I doubt he's going to stand still and let us take a blood sample.\nBashir: The Klingons are obsessive about blood screenings. If he's lasted this long, the changeling impersonating Gowron must have already found a way around them.\nWorf: There is another option. We could kill him.\nO'Brien: Dead changelings do revert to their gelatinous state.\nSisko: Our orders are to expose Gowron, not assassinate him. Which is why Starfleet has given us these.\nBashir: Very impressive. What are they?\nDax: They're modified polaron emitters.\nSisko: Starfleet Science thinks that exposure to polaron radiation will have a destabilizing effect on changeling physiology.\nOdo: In other words, if we use these on Gowron and he is one of my people, he won't be able to retain his humanoid shape.\nSisko: That's the theory.\nDax: The problem is, for it to work properly, you have to activate all four emitters at once.\nSisko: With this.\nO'Brien: I hate prototypes.\nDax: Plus, too much polaron radiation can be fatal. Which means we can only expose a person once. Any more than that, changeling or not, and they could die from radiation poisoning.\nSisko: The plan is to smuggle these into Ty'Gokor. Once they're set up, they can cover about twelve thousand cubic meters.\nO'Brien: So let me get this straight. All we have to do is get past an enemy fleet, avoid a tachyon detection grid, beam into the middle of Klingon headquarters and avoid the Brotherhood of the Sword long enough to set these things up and activate them in front of Gowron.\nWorf: If we succeed, there will be many songs sung in our honor.\nO'Brien: Let's hope we're there to hear them.\nKira: The first problem is how to get you safely to Ty'Gokor.\nSisko: That's one I think I can solve.\nDukat: Major, I must say I'm shocked. You use my daughter to lure me here, you're asking me to risk my ship on some fool's errand into the Klingon Empire, and you're pregnant. I hope First Minister Shakaar appreciates what a lucky man he is.\nKira: Shakaar's not the father.\nDukat: Then who is?\nKira: Chief O'Brien.\nKira: Promenade.\nDukat: Well, at least there's one good thing about your condition. You won't be going on this suicidal mission.\nKira: It may not be as hopeless as you think.\nDukat: How can Sisko be so deluded to think he and three of his crewmen can infiltrate Klingon military headquarters? They'll be caught in a heartbeat.\nKira: Maybe.\nKira: Maybe not.\nSisko: What's wrong, Dukat? Haven't you ever seen a Klingon before?\nSisko: I see we're all here.\nWorf: The ship is ready for departure, sir.\nSisko: At your convenience, Gul Dukat.\nDukat: Captain, I insist we make a holographic record of the four of you. Consider it payment in full for the use of my vessel.\nO'Brien: Maybe after the mission.\nDamar: After the mission you'll all be dead.\nDukat: Damar, let's not spoil this special moment with predictions of doom. Even you have to appreciate the audacity of Captain Sisko's plan.\nDamar: Personally, I think we'd be better off launching an orbital assault on Gowron's command center. A full spread of photon torpedoes would take care of him, the Klingon High Command and everyone else within a few hundred kilometers.\nOdo: You should ask Dukat for some shore leave. I think you've been in space too long.\nDamar: Why? Because I'm willing to spill a little Klingon blood to get the job done?\nO'Brien: Shelling Ty'Gokor won't get the job done. You'd be lucky to launch one torpedo before they shot you down. Besides, even a dozen won't penetrate the shielding around the command center.\nSisko: Thank you for the input, Mister Damar, but we'll stick to the original plan. Are you making any progress with our Klingon identity files?\nDukat: Oh, don't worry, Captain. By the time we get to Ty'Gokor, we'll have something suitably impressive to plant in their central computer system.\nWorf: Our names should be added to the list of candidates for the Order of the Bat'leth.\nDukat: The Order of the Bat'leth? Don't you think you might be overdoing it?\nSisko: They'll be inducting some new members in a few days, and Chancellor Gowron will be presiding over the ceremony.\nDukat: That should make for a very interesting evening.\nBashir: Here are the results of the crew physicals.\nKira: Anything interesting?\nBashir: Lieutenant Vilix'pran is budding again.\nKira: You're kidding. How many will this make?\nBashir: Let's see now. He had two from the last litter, four before that. Could be anywhere from eight to eighteen.\nKira: He'll need bigger quarters again.\nBashir: He said the request will be on your desk in the morning.\nKira: Eighteen? I just hope I can survive one.\nBashir: You're doing great.\nKira: I don't feel great.\nBashir: You're positively glowing.\nKira: Oh, really?\nBashir: I think so, but then, I suppose my opinion really doesn't count.\nKira: It counts. But don't forget, this is still your fault.\nBashir: My fault?\nKira: You performed the transfer from Keiko to me.\nBashir: After you volunteered.\nKira: After you put the idea in my head.\nBashir: After you flew the runabout into an asteroid field.\nKira: After you insisted we check on those anomalous bio-scans.\nBashir: That was Keiko.\nKira: That's right, it was. But I'd rather blame you!\nBashir: Whatever makes you happy. I never argue with my patients or my commanding officer. You think they'll make it?\nKira: They'll make it. Question is, will you be able to give them their old faces back?\nWorf: We shall start with you. I am waiting.\nOdo: I don't understand.\nWorf: I am not interested in excuses. Are you a Klingon warrior or an Alverian dung beetle?\nOdo: I really don't see the point\nWorf: Do not look away from me. I called you a dung beetle.\nOdo: I heard you.\nWorf: And what is your response?\nOdo: You should have your eyes examined.\nWorf: This is not going to work. It is not enough to look like a Klingon. One must act like one. Perhaps it is better if I went\nSisko: Are you questioning the validity of my plan?\nWorf: Very convincing, Captain. But was it your intention to challenge me to a battle to the death?\nSisko: No, not at all.\nWorf: The next time, do not strike me with the back of your hand. Use your fist.\nO'Brien: This is more complicated than I thought.\nWorf: You should think twice before insulting a Klingon like that.\nO'Brien: What did I do?\nWorf: Look at you. You stand so far away from me. You speak so softly. Are you afraid of me or just disgusted by my presence?\nSisko: Klingon warriors speak to each other proudly. They do not whisper or keep their distance.\n0'Brien: Sorry! I'll do better next time.\nWorf: Keep practicing.\nSisko: Constable?\nOdo: Captain, I have no business being on this mission. I'm not a very convincing Klingon.\nSisko: Then you'd better work on becoming one. Because like it or not, you are on this mission.\nOdo: I'd hate to be the reason it fails.\nSisko: Let me worry about that. Odo, I know this has been a difficult time for you. That you never would've chosen to become a solid. But what's done is done. Brooding isn't going to change anything, and shirking your responsibilities isn't going to make you feel better about yourself.\nOdo: No, I don't suppose it will.\nSisko: Then I suggest you get back in there and do your job.\nSisko: What's going on, Dukat?\nDukat: We're being hailed by another bird of prey.\nOdo: What are you doing about it?\nDukat: We're hailing them back. I wouldn't worry. This happens all the time.\nDamar: Sir, they're requesting visual contact.\nDukat: By all means. It's a shame you can't see the holo-image I'm projecting over the comm. system. I make quite an imposing Klingon.\nDamar: Sir, the holofilter's not working.\nDukat: What do you mean it's not working?\nO'Brien: Let me take a look at it.\nDamar: Sir, they're repeating the request.\nO'Brien: The optronic relays are fused.\nOdo: Maybe Worf should speak to them.\nWorf: I might be able to convince them that\nDukat: I have a better idea.\nWorf: You should have let me speak to them!\nSisko: Was that really necessary?\nDukat: It was either that or trust in Mister Worf's ability to lie. And frankly, I have more faith in my weapons. Get us out of here, Damar. I want to put as much distance between us and that wreckage as possible.\nO'Brien: I hope I remember how to set this thing up.\nWorf: If that is a joke, I am not amused.\nO'Brien: It's not easy being funny wearing these teeth.\nDukat: Well, Captain, I've enjoyed your company as always, but it appears it is time we said goodbye. I don't envy your assignment.\nO'Brien: Orbiting this place for the next day or so won't be the safest job in the galaxy either.\nDukat: Which is why we'll be leaving as soon as you beam down.\nOdo: Leaving? For how long?\nDukat: I really don't see any pressing need to come back.\nSisko: That's not what we agreed to.\nDukat: I realize that. But how long do you think we can stay here undetected without the holofilter? Besides, if you succeed, the war will be over and you won't need us. And if you fail.\nWorf: Did you add our names to the Commendation List?\nDukat: I haven't survived this long by being sloppy, Mister Worf. And now Jodmos, son of Kobor, your medal awaits you.\nSisko: Cho'Ghos!\nOdo: You all right?\nO'Brien: I'm fine. I just wish they'd stop ringing that bell.\nSisko: The Hall of Warriors.\nWorf: You can smell the blood of history in these stones. Come, we must celebrate. T'kah!\nOdo: Now what?\nSisko: Now we celebrate!\nBashir: How's the view?\nJake: You know, you can tell a lot about people's moods just by watching them walk on the Promenade. When things are going good, people take their time, window shop and talk to their friends. Then there's days like today.\nBashir: Everybody's in a hurry.\nJake: They can feel the Klingons breathing down their necks.\nBashir: Well, I shall have to remember to walk a little slower. Show no fear, that's my motto.\nKira: Ops to Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Go ahead, Major.\nKira: Report to the Infirmary. The Armstrong and the Drake were ambushed by a Klingon battle group and they took heavy casualties. They'll be docking in a few minutes.\nBashir: I'm on my way. Your father's going to be all right, Jake.\nJake: I suppose. But sometimes I wish that he wasn't so good at his job. That way, maybe every once in a while they'd give someone else the tough assignments.\nBashir: He goes where he's sent. It's all part of wearing the uniform, and I doubt that's ever going to change.\nBurly: I was the first to board their starship. With one blow from my bat'leth, I beheaded their helmsman, a Tellarite. The pig didn't even have time to raise his weapon. Well then I turned my attention to the Captain, a Benzenite named Laporin. Ah. He put up a valiant struggle, but in the end I ripped the breathing tubes from his head and\nSisko: Brag all you want, but don't get between me and the bloodwine.\nO'Brien: You knew Captain Laporin?\nSisko: We went to the Academy together.\nOdo: How long before Gowron gets here?\nWorf: Many hours. He will not appear until tomorrow morning at the earliest. This is an endurance test as much as it is a celebration. It's part of the initiation rite for the Order of the Bat'leth. The idea is to eat, drink, stay awake all night and still be clear-eyed when Gowron arrives for the ceremony.\nO'Brien: So when do we set up the emitters?\nSisko: Not until morning. I don't want to take the chance of anyone spotting them once they're in place.\nOdo: In that case, we might as well drink up. it's a pity it doesn't have any bubbles.\nO'Brien: You know, I think I'm actually beginning to like bloodwine.\nOdo: It's really not too bad, except for the taste.\nO'Brien: Just be thankful the anti-intoxicant we took is still working.\nWorf: Or you would be so drunk you would not be able to stand.\nO'Brien: Not bad.\nSisko: Captain of the Academy wrestling team. Twenty two years ago. Ow.\nKlingon: General Martok!\nWorf: Captain.\nSisko: I see him.\n0'Brien: What if he recognizes us?\nOdo: We'll have come a long way for nothing.\nSisko: Q'apla!\nOdo: Q'apla! WORF +\nO'Brien: Q'apla!\nMartok: Q'apla.\nWorf: If Martok is here, Gowron will not be far behind.\nSisko: Let's get it done.\nMartok: Hold on there. Don't I know you?\nO'Brien: I would be honored to think so.\nMartok: I know we have met.\nO'Brien: I am Pahash of the House of Konjah.\nMartok: The name is not familiar to me, but there is something about you.\nO'Brien: Perhaps we met on the battlefield. My regiment fought at Mempa.\nMartok: Mempa! Many noble deeds were done on that dark day.\nO'Brien: And yours have become legend.\nMartok: Mempa. Yes, that must be it.\nO'Brien: After the ceremony would you honor me with a drink?\nMartok: We will salute the fallen. There is something very familiar about this face.\nDrunk: Hey, where's Gowron?\nKlingon: What is this?\nOdo: Get away from me or you won't live to see Gowron. I'll take that.\nKlingon: This looks like some sort of weapon.\nWorf: Kodrak, my brother. Ah, you found it.\nKlingon: Found what?\nWorf: It's a tinghamut.\nKlingon: A what?\nWorf: A Vulcan toy for children.\nOdo: The spoils of war from the raid on Archanis.\nWorf: If you want one, you will have to find your own.\nWorf: Give this to your son.\nOdo: I'll make sure he gets it.\nMartok: Long live Gowron! Long live the Empire!\nGowron: Klingon Warriors, I salute you. At least, those of you still on your feet!\nGowron: This is a great day for the Empire, a day when we honor you who have brought us glory, whose deeds of valor will live on in song and story. And so now, here in this hallowed hall, under the watchful gaze of our greatest heroes, you will receive the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a Klingon. The Order of the Bat'leth!\nMartok: Come forward, H'Ta, son of Kahmar.\nGowron: Glory to you and your house.\nOdo: This is my place. Step down.\nYoung Klingon: Find another.\nMartok: Come forward, T'vis, son of Barot.\nOdo: That won't be necessary.\nGowron: Glory to you and your house.\nMartok: Come forward, Huss, daughter of A'trom.\nGowron: Glory to you and your house.\nMartok: Come forward, Jodmos, son of Kobor.\nGowron: Glory to you and your house.\nMartok: Captain Benjamin Sisko. I knew I recognized that face. Seal the room! It seems we have some uninvited guests.\nMartok: Captain, you have no idea how much I've looked forward to killing you in battle. And now your foolishness has cheated me of that pleasure.\nSisko: I'm sorry to disappoint you.\nMartok: Leave us. You heard me!\nMartok: Don't you understand you've thrown your lives away for nothing? Or did you really think you could fool us into believing that Chancellor Gowron was a Dominion spy?\nOdo: Gowron is the one who's fooling you. And as long as you follow him, the Empire will be nothing but a pawn of the Founders.\nMartok: Where's your proof?\nWorf: You want proof? Take our polaron emitters and use them on Gowron.\nMartok: Gowron had your equipment destroyed.\nO'Brien: Of course he did. He had to make sure he couldn't be tested.\nMartok: Captain, your mission was a failure. For that, you deserve to die.\nSisko: Would you be happier if we'd succeeded?\nMartok: I am a loyal officer of the Empire.\nSisko: You think we're right, don't you? You believe Gowron's a changeling too.\nMartok: That would be treason.\nWorf: Since when is it treasonous to act in the best interests of the Empire?\nSisko: How long have you suspected?\nMartok: Months. I've known Gowron a long time. And it is no secret that we have not always agreed on the way he runs the Empire. He is a politician, too eager to compromise, too eager to talk. Last year, he stopped the attack on Deep Space Nine instead of going to war with the Federation. And then he changed. Suddenly he was the one calling for war.\nO'Brien: I would have thought that would make you happy.\nMartok: At first it did, but after the war began he started ignoring the counsel of his generals, throwing aside all wisdom in his pursuit of victory. Our losses continue to mount and still he listens to no one.\nOdo: No one but the Founders.\nMartok: There is only one certain way to expose Gowron for what he really is, to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is a changeling. Gowron must die.\nOdo: Once he's dead, he'll revert to his natural form and all doubt will be eliminated.\nWorf: You could challenge him to honorable combat.\nMartok: There will be no honorable combat, no formal challenges. I will release you and help you reach the Hall of Warriors, and then you will kill him.\nMartok: The prisoners will come with me for further interrogation.\nGuard: General, I have strict orders from Gowron himself. The prisoners are not to leave this cell.\nMartok: I see. Well, we wouldn't want to disobey the Chancellor.\nMartok: Follow me.\nGowron: What? Another toast? Then let us salute Rurik the Damned, conqueror of the Zora Fel, liberator of Vrax.\nMartok: For the Empire.\nSisko: Let's go.\nMartok: Not you. There's no telling where your loyalties lie.\nGowron: What is this?\nWorf: It is your death.\nGowron: No. Lower your weapons. If this traitor wants a fight, I will give him one. You want to kill me, Worf? You're welcome to try.\nMartok: What are they doing? Why doesn't Sisko just shoot him?\nOdo: I have a better question. Why isn't Gowron letting his bodyguards kill Worf? I'll tell you why. Klingon honor. A concept you should be very familiar with. My people, on the other hand, don't care about honor. How did you put it? There will be no honorable combat, no formal challenges. Hardly the words of a Klingon. Tell me, General, did Gowron destroy the polaron emitters or did you?\nOdo: Worf, stop!\nOdo: Martok's the changeling.\nSisko: Well, looks like we found our changeling after all.\nGowron: So the Founders mislead Odo into thinking I was a spy, hoping that you'd eliminate me and pave the way for that thing imitating Martok to take over the Empire.\nSisko: That way the war between the Federation and the Klingons would continue until both sides were destroyed.\nGowron: Leaving the Alpha Quadrant wide open for a Dominion invasion.\nOdo: That seems to have been their plan.\nSisko: And we played right into it.\nGowron: But they sorely underestimated Odo here.\nOdo: Thank you.\nSisko: If we really want to strike a blow against the Founders, we have to find a way to end this war.\nGowron: That may not be possible.\nWorf: Why not? You told us that the Martok changeling was the one who pushed for the attack on the Federation.\nGowron: True, but if your Klingon blood wasn't so thin you'd know that once battle has begun, there can be no turning back. You want the war to end, then the Federation must allow us to annex Archanis and the other worlds we've seized.\nSisko: I wouldn't count on it. But if the fighting stops and the negotiations begin\nGowron: Ah, yes. Talk.\nOdo: That's right. Talk. The last thing the Dominion wants.\nGowron: I will call a meeting of the High Council, advise a temporary cease fire.\nSisko: Where Gowron leads the Council will follow.\nGowron: Perhaps. I'll see to it that you're safely delivered back to that space station of yours.\nSisko: I'd appreciate that.\nGowron: You have done a great service to the Empire. For that I thank you. As for you, you should have killed me when you had the chance. I promise you won't get another.\nBashir: Now, that's better, isn't it?\nSisko: I don't know. I could do without ridges but I kind of miss the fangs. That leaves you, Odo.\nOdo: It's about time. I, for one, won't miss the fangs at all.\nBashir: You know, Constable, I could give you any face you like. Bajoran, human, Trill.\nOdo: My old face will do very nicely, thank you.\nSisko: You heard the man.\nBashir: Whatever you say."}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's log, stardate 50049.3. We're conducting a mineral survey of Torga Four, an uninhabited planet in the Gamma Quadrant believed to contain vast deposits of cormaline. Our mission is to determine the feasibility of establishing a mining operation on the planet's surface.\nO'Brien: Hey, Muniz. What do you think of this?\nMuniz: It's a class five pyroclastic debris and ash. Same morphology we've seen all the way up, sir.\nO'Brien: How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me sir. I'm not an officer.\nMuniz: No, you know more than they do.\nO'Brien: I wouldn't go that far. But I know more than you. So listen to me while I try to teach you something. This morphology is not exactly the same. These deposits are more highly eroded.\nMuniz: So?\nO'Brien: So, they're different, that's all. I just thought I'd point that out to you.\nMuniz: I see. I thought maybe you just stopped to catch your breath.\nO'Brien: Me, out of breath? I was climbing mountains in Ireland before you were born.\nMuniz: You mean hills, don't you? They have gently sloping hills in Ireland. No mountains. But what do I know? After all, you're the mountain man. An old mountain man.\nO'Brien: You know something, Muniz? You're due for a transfer. How does waste extraction sound?\nSisko: How's it going, Chief?\nO'Brien: Fine, sir. We finished the survey of the south slope.\nSisko: What do you think, old man? Is this place worth mining?\nDax: Absolutely. The cormaline is only a few hundred meters below the surface, and my readings are correct, it's one of the richest veins I've ever seen.\nSisko: Mister Worf?\nWorf: Strategically, the planet's location would make it difficult to maintain adequate supply lines, but not impossible.\nHoya: Hoya to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nHoya: Sir, our sensors have detected a ship dropping out of warp.\nSisko: What kind of ship?\nHoya: I'm not sure, sir.\nHoya: I can't get a good reading on it. Plasma leaks from its warp nacelles are disrupting our sensors.\nHoya: Whatever it is, it's fallen into the gravitational pull of the planet. It should enter the atmosphere near your position.\nHoya: Sir, the ship withstood the impact.\nSisko: Survivors?\nHoya: I can't determine that.\nHoya: We're having trouble penetrating the hull with our sensors.\nSisko: Beam us directly to the crash site.\nWorf: A warship. A Jem'Hadar warship.\nDax: No hull breach. The only damage I could find is a crushed guidance thruster, if that's what it is.\nO'Brien: Captain. I think we have an access point.\nSisko: I'll be right there.\nO'Brien: So my young friend, what do you think we're looking at?\nMuniz: An upside down ship.\nO'Brien: An airlock? A maintenance hatch?\nMuniz: Maybe, but this is a warship, and on a warship you want a big access point on the belly to land troops.\nO'Brien: There's hope for you yet, Muniz.\nWorf: Can you open it, Chief?\nO'Brien: I think so.\nSisko: Mister Worf, take the point. T'Lor, you stay put.\nSisko: Commander, secure the area.\nDax: These men didn't die in the crash. They've been dead for hours.\nSisko: What killed them?\nDax: Massive osteonecrosis. Every bone in their body's been shattered.\nO'Brien: Sounds like inertial damper failure. The ship accelerated and people were thrown into the bulkheads. Nobody was alive when this ship hit the planet, yet it survived the impact. Whoever designed this baby knew what they were doing.\nDax: No viewscreen. No chairs.\nO'Brien: No EPS conduits, no microfusion initiators. No power converters, at least none that I can find.\nSisko: I suppose getting this ship up and running won't be easy.\nO'Brien: I can't even determine if it has a warp drive.\nDax: I wonder if this is what all the Jem'Hadar ships are like?\nSisko: The bigger question is what's a Jem'Hadar ship doing all the way out here? We're at least three weeks from the nearest Dominion outpost.\nMuniz: Captain, there are twenty nine other bodies. No survivors.\nSisko: Can we use the runabout's tractor beam to haul this thing into orbit? This would be the greatest intelligence find in the last ten years. We're not going to leave it here to rust. What do you say, Chief?\nO'Brien: We're not going to haul it out with a runabout.\nSisko: Then we need something with a little more muscle.\nBashir: Will you let the Major be the judge of that.\nQuark: What I'm saying is, if you're going to prosecute me I demand that you prosecute my co-conspirator.\nBashir: I'm not a conspirator.\nOdo: What would you call yourself, Doctor?\nBashir: An idiot.\nQuark: I'll buy that.\nBashir: For asking your help in the first place.\nKira: Would someone please tell me what's going on here?\nOdo: Quark brought aboard a shipment of Regalian fleaspiders without an import permit.\nQuark: He asked for them!\nBashir: The spiders were for you, Major. I can synthesize a drug from their venom that should improve your circulation. But I didn't know I needed a permit to import them.\nKira: So what's the problem? Fill out the paperwork.\nOdo: It's not that simple any more. It seems that Quark took the opportunity to import illegal Regalian liquid crystals along with the fleaspiders. The crystals are a highly intoxicating and sometimes dangerous aphrodisiac.\nQuark: What's love without danger?\nKira: I don't have time for this. I just spoke with Captain Sisko. They found a crashed Jem'Hadar ship in the Gamma Quadrant. They need the Defiant right away. I'll be back in about a week.\nBashir: When do we leave?\nKira: I'm leaving right away. I'd say you have some legal problems to work out.\nOdo: Gentlemen.\nO'Brien: It's embedded about ninety meters into the rock. If I can shake it loose by firing the main thrusters, hauling it out of here'll be a lot easier.\nSisko: There's a problem.\nO'Brien: Well, to fire the main thrusters, I need to calibrate the plasma injectors. So far, I can't get a grip the ion regulator.\nMuniz: Want to try a hyper-spanner above the matrix? It might open it up a bit.\nO'Brien: Maybe we won't send you to waste extraction after all, Muniz.\nWorf: Captain, we buried the bodies on the other side of that ridge. The DNA readings. Forty two Jem'Hadar. One Vorta.\nHoya: Hoya to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nHoya: A Jem'Hadar warship\nHoya: Has just dropped out of warp.\nSisko: Break orbit and get out of sight\nHoya: They've locked phasers on us. Hard to port.\nHoya: Shields are down! Engage warp\nSisko: Inside. We don't stand a chance in the open.\nDax: We may not be safer in here. The Jem'Hadar can transport through just about anything.\nWorf: Why do they not come?\nSisko: Give them time. Watch our backs, Commander. We're moving to the Command Center.\nO'Brien: Can you walk?\nMuniz: Faster than you can.\nSisko: Let me take a look at this.\nMuniz: I'm all right, Captain. I've had worse transporter burns.\nSisko: Where's the medkit?\nDax: T'lor had it.\nMuniz: I don't need it, sir. I'll be all right.\nSisko: We have to stop the bleeding.\nO'Brien: I'll take care of that. Transporter burn. I'm all right, Captain. Always kissing up to the officers, aren't you, Muniz?\nMuniz: Just following your example. You're my hero. Hey!\nO'Brien: I have to get to the wound.\nMuniz: But this is my best uniform. It's the only one that fits right.\nO'Brien: Don't worry, when we get back, we'll have Garak make you a new one.\nMuniz: How long 'til the Defiant gets here?\nO'Brien: Two and a half days.\nMuniz: Don't worry, jefe. I'll get you through this.\nO'Brien: I feel better already.\nDax: We've only got one portable generator. The rest are at the base camp. Looks like you need a new bandage, Enrique.\nSisko: Ah. Thanks, Chief.\nO'Brien: I'll take it from here, Commander. Quique, do me a favor. Please, stop bleeding before I run out of clothes.\nMuniz: I'll do the best I can.\nSisko: What do you make of this, old man?\nDax: My guess, it's some kind of virtual sensory display. The Jem'Hadar equivalent of our viewscreen?\nSisko: There are only two headsets. One for the Vorta and one for the Jem'Hadar First.\nDax: I guess they're the only ones that get to see what's going on outside.\nKilana: Captain Sisko. My name is Kilana. I'm the Vorta in charge of the Jem'Hadar troops surrounding you. If you touch the triangular green panel on any of the control consoles, you'll be able to speak to me.\nDax: They know your name.\nSisko: They always seem to be one step ahead of us. This is Captain Sisko.\nKilana: Captain, I'm so happy to hear your voice. I heard there were some casualties among your crew and I feared you may have been one of them.\nSisko: Thank you for your concern. What do you want?\nKilana: To talk. I think it would be in everyone's best interest if you and I met face-to-face and discussed the situation, like reasonable people.\nSisko: I can be reasonable.\nKilana: So I've heard. One escort each. Agreed?\nSisko: Agreed.\nKilana: Your photograph doesn't do you justice. You're quite striking in person.\nSisko: Look, I'm a little busy, so let's skip the flattery.\nKilana: Weyoun's report on you was right. You are direct. I like that. So let me cut to the chase. I believe that is the correct expression. This is our ship. We want it back.\nSisko: Was your ship. Now it's mine.\nKilana: Captain, I'm a little disappointed. That's the attitude of a thief, not a Starfleet captain with a reputation for integrity. This is clearly our property. What gives you any claim to it?\nSisko: An old legal tradition. Salvage rights. We found a wrecked ship and a dead crew, and we found it first.\nKilana: A very interesting position. But I'm afraid the Dominion doesn't recognize that tradition. What may be even more to the point, we have you completely surrounded and outnumbered. Would you like something to eat, Captain? Or maybe something to drink?\nKilana: These are q'lavas. A personal favorite. They're not poisonous, if that's what you're thinking.\nSisko: Not to you, anyway.\nKilana: I hope you're not teaching Jake to be this suspicious, Benjamin. Or do you prefer Ben?\nSisko: Captain will be fine.\nKilana: I'm sure it's my fault that we seem unable to establish an understanding between us, Captain. I'm sorry I'm not more experienced in these matters. This is my first mission outside the Dominion and my very first dealing with anyone from the Federation. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I hope you'll at least try to consider my offer with an open mind.\nSisko: I'm listening.\nKilana: If you'll leave our ship, I'll take you and your crew back to your space station unharmed. Our accommodations may not be lavish, but I promise you'll all be well cared for, especially your wounded.\nSisko: If you think I'm going to deliver my people into your hands without a fight then this really must be your first mission.\nDax: I'd love to know how the Captain's doing. Any chance you can get this thing working?\nO'Brien: Not right away. I'm still trying to get the main power grid online.\nDax: What's that?\nO'Brien: That wasn't here before.\nDax: You sure?\nO'Brien: Positive.\nDax: Some kind of sensor device.\nO'Brien: Whatever it is, it doesn't look too friendly.\nWorf: Captain, they're in the ship!\nO'Brien: I knew it. You've been goldbricking all along.\nMuniz: Like I said, you taught me everything I know.\nO'Brien: Whatever this sensor was supposed to do, it did it and then shut down.\nDax: Probably a surveillance device to find out how many of us there are, how many weapons we have.\nSisko: I don't think so. They seem to know all that already.\nDax: It doesn't make sense. If he had a rifle, O'Brien and I would be dead. But all he had was a knife.\nWorf: And why send only one Jem'Hadar?\nSisko: There's something about this ship. Something so important they won't risk destroying it in a full-on assault.\nWorf: If that is true, then we must find out what it is.\nDax: Captain, the first thing we need to do is make a structural scan of the ship. Make our own blueprints.\nSisko: Get started.\nMuniz: I'm leaking like a ruptured plasma conduit aren't I, sir?\nO'Brien: It's not that bad.\nMuniz: You're lying.\nO'Brien: What makes you say that?\nMuniz: I called you sir and you didn't even flinch. I must be dying.\nO'Brien: Now you listen to me, Quique. You're not dying unless I say you're dying. And I say you're going to make it.\nSisko: How are you doing, Muniz?\nMuniz: We seem to be having a difference of opinion on that one, sir. But I would like to file a complaint. The nurses around here are all thumbs.\nO'Brien: You watch it or I'll tighten this bandage like a tourniquet.\nMuniz: And as for bedside manner, I've known nicer voles. Certainly prettier ones.\nO'Brien: You keep moving around, you won't need any nurse.\nSisko: Listen to the Chief, Muniz. Save your strength.\nO'Brien: I'm worried about him, Captain. I can't stop the bleeding.\nSisko: Maybe it's a side effect of the Jem'Hadar weapons. They must leave some kind of anti-coagulant.\nO'Brien: If I don't get him to a medical bay soon he's not going to make it.\nSisko: None of us are going to make it if we don't get this ship operational. I need to get the power grid functioning and the aft turret weapon online. You're the only one who can do that. I'll take care of Muniz.\nO'Brien: Captain\nSisko: You have your orders.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nDax: Chief, structurally, a lot about this ship's design matches the other Jem'Hadar warships we've seen.\nWorf: But there are significant differences. There are many systems that we are completely unfamiliar with.\nO'Brien: I can start to restore power to the systems one at a time. That'll give us a chance to test them and establish their functions. But it's going to take a while.\nWorf: How long?\nO'Brien: I wish I knew.\nDax: Well, you can do it, Chief. I don't think a ship's been invented a ship that you can't figure out. Muniz is strong. He'll make it.\nWorf: No, he will not. He will not see tomorrow.\nO'Brien: You keep that to yourself. I don't want him to hear that kind of talk.\nWorf: It does no good to shield him from the truth. Let him prepare for death.\nO'Brien: The hell I will. His only hope is to keep fighting. If he gives up, it's over.\nWorf: It was over the moment he was shot by the Jem'Hadar.\nO'Brien: Now you listen to me. That boy's life is in our hands and I won't let anybody give up on him.\nDax: Worf, what do you say we go take a look at that ion exchange matrix we found. And on the way maybe we can discuss some of the finer points of diplomacy.\nKilana: Captain Sisko. Captain, you're annoyed with me. I understand. You feel betrayed, and with good reason. But I really think we should talk. If it will make you feel better, I'll come unarmed and without an escort but I won't hold you to the same restrictions.\nSisko: You have something to say, say it.\nKilana: Sending the Jem'Hadar into the ship was a mistake and I apologize. I trust no one was hurt? But what choice did I have? Just like you have to protect the lives of your men I have to protect our property. But I do hope we can put that behind us and move on.\nSisko: Move on to what?\nKilana: I'm sure it's obvious by now there's something on the ship we want. You allow me and my men to retrieve the item, we'll leave. You can keep the ship.\nSisko: How about this? You tell me what it is you want and I'll bring it out to you.\nKilana: I'm afraid I can't do that.\nSisko: Don't you trust me?\nKilana: I'd like to, Captain, But I can't. Not under these circumstances. There's simply too much at stake for us.\nSisko: We've got a lot at stake, too. I won't risk the lives of my crew.\nKilana: It seems we're approaching an impasse.\nSisko: We've already arrived.\nKilana: How unfortunate. Then negotiations have ended.\nDax: I take it things could have gone better.\nO'Brien: All the ship's systems are shutting down, Captain.\nSisko: I need to know what's going on out there. Chief, get me some sensor readings. Dax, take care of Muniz.\nMuniz: I can't feel my legs.\nDax: Don't worry, they're there.\nO'Brien: I've managed to bypass the virtual display interface and hook up a tricorder to the ship's sensor array. Those are ultritium concussion shells they're detonating.\nDax: Without shields, a direct hit would destroy us.\nWorf: I do not believe they're trying to hit us. Their targeting systems cannot be that ineffective.\nO'Brien: They're trying to rattle us.\nSisko: And we're not going to let them do that. The Vorta doesn't want the ship, she wants something aboard it.\nO'Brien: Any idea what?\nSisko: Could be anything. Encoding device, guidance system.\nDax: Maybe she lost an earring.\nSisko: Whatever it is, it's keeping us alive. Find it. Chief, I need that weapon.\nO'Brien: I still have to charge the emitter arrays.\nSisko: Stay on it.\nO'Brien: You have your weapon, sir.\nSisko: Nice work, Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: But the bad news is, the turret is stuck. It can only fire in one direction.\nSisko: Maybe we'll get lucky and the Jem'Hadar will pick that place to stand.\nO'Brien: Easy, Quique. There's nothing to be afraid of.\nMuniz: I'm not afraid, Papa. It's beautiful. Precioso. Better than last year, don't you think? Los cuehetes, the fireworks of the carnival, they're terrific, aren't they?\nO'Brien: Easy, Quique.\nMuniz: The colors, like a thousand shooting stars. That was a good one.\nO'Brien: Yeah, that was a good one.\nDax: I'll say one thing for the Jem'Hadar, they travel light. No cargo, no storage compartments. I did find these data crystals in one of the computer rooms. There may be some encoded information on them but the crystal structure has been randomized.\nSisko: In other words, they're blank.\nDax: As far as I can tell. It would help if we knew what we were looking for.\nSisko: But we don't.\nWorf: Commander.\nDax: What is it?\nWorf: It may have been the Vorta's computer console. I found it in one of the upper compartments, but the power grid is offline in that part of the ship.\nDax: So you ripped it out of the wall. Very nice. So what do we do with it now? Use it for a doorstop?\nWorf: I do not care what you do with it.\nDax: Worf I was kidding. It was a good idea. We'll hook it up and see if we can get it working. You'd think they'd be tired of playing this game with us by now.\nWorf: I have a game I would like to play with them. If only I could leave this prison and meet them face-to-face on a field of battle.\nDax: Right now that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Chief, could you take a look at that console?\nWorf: That is no way for anyone to die.\nO'Brien: I told you, he is not going to die.\nWorf: It is only a matter of time.\nO'Brien: So we might as well kill him, right?\nWorf: If you truly are his friend, you would consider that option. It would be a more honorable death than the one he's enduring.\nO'Brien: I'm not some bloodthirsty Klingon looking for an excuse to murder my friend.\nSisko: That's enough.\nWorf: No. You're just another weak human afraid to face death.\nSisko: I said, that's enough! You're Starfleet officers. Now start acting like it!\nDax: Tough guys. A little pressure and they buckle.\nSisko: Dax! Maybe you haven't noticed, but no one's laughing. Now I know it's hot, we're filthy, tired, And we've got ten isotons of explosives going off outside, but we will never get out of this if we don't pull it together and start to act like professionals. Chief, I want that power grid up and running.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Commander Worf, see if you can get that turret to rotate.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Dax, search the ship again and again until you find what the Vorta wants.\nDax: Yes, sir.\nSisko: And you, Mister Muniz. Your orders are to stay alive. Captain's log, supplemental. The Jem'Hadar barrage has continued on and off for ten hours. Chief O'Brien has restored main power and helm control. If we can bring the ship's engines online we may be able to lift off and escape from here.\nO'Brien: As soon as we finish calibrating the induction reactors, we can fire up the main core.\nSisko: Good. Because unless there are any objections, I'd like to get the hell off this planet.\nO'Brien: I'm for that.\nDax: Ready, Chief.\nO'Brien: I could use a couple more hours to fine tune the magnetic flux couplers but under the circumstances, now's as good a time as any.\nSisko: Then let's do it. Everyone brace yourselves. This is going to be a rough ride. Commence launch sequence.\nWorf: Ion thrusters fully charged.\nSisko: Ventral impellers, one quarter.\nWorf: Plasma compensators, online.\nSisko: Thrusters to one half.\nDax: Chief, I'm getting some low frequency resonance in the main reactor housing.\nO'Brien: That's all right. Just keep compensating with the inertial dampers.\nDax: Dampers are at maximum.\nWorf: We need more power.\nSisko: Ventral jets to one half.\nDax: It's working, captain. These engines just might shake us loose.\nSisko: Increase power to one half.\nDax: Main reactor housing destabilizing.\nWorf: Reactor containment fields overloading.\nO'Brien: Induction dampers disintegrating. Captain, if we don't cut power now we'll have a core breach.\nSisko: Disengage thrusters. Power down all systems.\nSisko: How bad?\nO'Brien: Main power grid is completely fused. Structural integrity field has collapsed.\nSisko: We'll have to wait until the Defiant gets here. She'll be able to pull us out of here with a tractor beam. Which means we have thirty six hours to make repairs. You all know what to do.\nO'Brien: I could really use your help now, Quique.\nSisko: I told Muniz he was going to make it.\nDax: That's what a captain's supposed to say.\nSisko: I have got to get this ship back to the station, old man. Five people have died on this mission. I want to be able to tell their families why.\nDax: Ben.\nSisko: It's a changeling.\nDax: It can't hold its shape. It's dying.\nSisko: Then we're in trouble. That's what the Vorta's been looking for, a Founder. No wonder the Jem'Hadar wouldn't attack.\nDax: They couldn't risk killing one of their gods.\nDax: The bombing's stopped.\nSisko: Prepare for an assault. Tell Worf to man the\nSisko: Where are your soldiers?\nKilana: They're dead. They killed themselves.\nDax: Why?\nSisko: Because they allowed a Founder to die.\nKilana: You should've trusted me.\nSisko: How could I? The first word out of your mouth was a lie. This isn't your first mission outside the Dominion, is it?\nKilana: I regret saying that, but my offer was genuine. All that mattered to me was the Founder.\nSisko: Then you should have told me about him.\nKilana: You might have killed him or made him a hostage.\nSisko: No. All I wanted was the ship.\nKilana: And I was willing to let you take it. So, this is how it ends.\nDax: It's true. The Jem'Hadar died by their own hands.\nSisko: Muniz, the runabout crew, your soldiers, they'd all still be alive if we had trusted each other.\nKilana: I have no way of stopping you from taking the ship. All I ask is that you allow me to remove some of the Founder's remains.\nSisko: Of course.\nKilana: Do you have any gods, Captain Sisko?\nSisko: There are things I believe in.\nKilana: Duty? Starfleet? The Federation? You must be pleased with yourself. You have the ship to take back to them. I hope it was worth it.\nSisko: So do I.\nDax: What did Starfleet have to say about our prize?\nSisko: They're pleased.\nDax: That's all? Just pleased?\nSisko: Very pleased. They're giving us all medals.\nDax: I'll add it to my collection.\nSisko: Starfleet Command is waiting for my official report, but every time I try to get it started, I find myself staring at the casualty list and reading the same five names over and over again. T'Lor, Rooney, Bertram, Hoya, Muniz.\nDax: It may sound cruel, but we both know that ship out there was worth it. Those five deaths may save five thousand lives, or maybe even five million.\nSisko: And if I had to make the same trade all over again, I would. But five people are dead. Fine men and women who deserved a lot more than to die on some lonely planet fifty thousand light years away from home. When you were at the Academy, was Professor Somak teaching?\nDax: Moral and ethical issues of command.\nSisko: I remember her favorite speech. Always maintain emotional distance between yourself and those under your command.\nDax: It's good advice.\nSisko: And I try to follow it. But it's a lot more complicated outside of the classroom. Did you know that Jake and Muniz have the same birthday? That I performed the ceremony at Hoya's wedding? And Rooney, he could play the trumpet. I heard him at Quark's once and he had the people dancing in the aisles.\nDax: I remember. And you know something else I remember about him? How proud he was to wear his uniform. And how proud he was to serve under you. The same as Hoya, T'Lor, Bertram and Muniz. They chose a life in Starfleet. They knew the risks and they died fighting for something that they believed in.\nSisko: That doesn't make it any easier.\nDax: Maybe nothing should.\nO'Brien: We used a phase-conjugate graviton emitter in the tractor beam. That baby came out of the rock first time. You would've loved it, Quique\nWorf: I did not mean to interrupt.\nO'Brien: It's all right.\nWorf: You are performing ak'voh for your friend.\nO'Brien: I am?\nWorf: Yes. It's an old Klingon tradition. When a warrior dies in battle, his comrades stay with the body to keep away predators. That allows the spirit to leave the body when it is ready for the long journey to Sto'Vo'Kor.\nO'Brien: That's a fine tradition. What are you doing?\nWorf: We will both keep the predators away.\nO'Brien: I'm sure Quique would like that."}
{"text": "Quark: Doctor?\nBashir: Oh! Hello, Quark.\nQuark: Let me guess. Eavesdropping on the battling O'Briens?\nBashir: Don't be ridiculous.\nQuark: Such language. I hope Molly's not around.\nBashir: You can hear what they're saying in there?\nQuark: How could I not?\nBashir: What are they saying?\nQuark: Let's use a little diskretion, shall we? He's done something. She's outraged. He thinks she's overreacting. She thinks he's trying to run her life. Pretty boring actually, but to hear them you'd think it was a matter of life and death.\nKeiko: Hello, Julian.\nBashir: Oh. Hello.\nKeiko: Quark.\nQuark: Mrs O'Brien.\nBashir: I thought you said the O'Briens were arguing in there.\nQuark: Not Miles and Keiko. The other O'Briens, Miles and Kira.\nBashir: What do they have to argue about?\nQuark: Miles hid Kira's springball racket because she's carrying his baby and he doesn't want her taking any risks, and she doesn't want him controlling her\nBashir: What?\nQuark: Keiko made them stop. Now they're in the 'let's talk this out and share our feelings' part of the fight. Show's over.\nBashir: Oh, well. I mean, good.\nWorf: It is the power of his voice, the strength of his intonation that make Barak-kadan a great singer. There are none like him.\nDax: None as boring anyway. He never varies his performance, by even a half-tone.\nWorf: I prefer traditional opera performed in the traditional manner.\nDax: You know, for a Klingon who was raised by humans, wears a Starfleet uniform and drinks prune juice, you're pretty attached to tradition. But that's okay. I like a man riddled with contradictions. and her entourage come out of the airlock onto the Promenade.)\nDax: That's a welcome sight. The peace talks must be going well if the Klingons are back on the station. Worf?\nWorf: Did you see her?\nDax: The Klingon woman?\nWorf: She was glorious.\nDax: Her? She's okay.\nWorf: I have never seen such a woman. Who is she? What house is she from? I do not recognize her family crest.\nWorf: She's a friend of the Ferengi.\nDax: Now I remember who she is. Her name is Grilka. And she's not just Quark's friend. She's his ex-wife.\nQuark: Maparian ale with just a hint of pazafer, as I recall.\nGrilka: You remember. I'm honored.\nQuark: How could I forget? You're the only Klingon I know who drinks something besides bloodwine, or prune juice.\nGrilka: Prune juice?\nQuark: Forget it. To the House of Grilka. May it continue to be as strong and proud as its lady is beautiful.\nGrilka: You may not have been the ideal husband but you are an excellent bartender.\nQuark: I know of no greater compliment. So, what brings you to my humble establishment? Business or pleasure?\nGrilka: The recent hostilities between the Federation and the Empire have been very costly to my family. We have suffered great losses in ships, lands, warriors.\nQuark: War. What is it good for? If you ask me, absolutely nothing.\nGrilka: The financial cost was significant.\nQuark: I have got an idea. Why don't I take a look at your financial records? I know that's not why you're here. I'm sure it's simply a social visit, but maybe I could help.\nGrilka: Very well. If it pleases you, I will allow you access to the records.\nQuark: Thank you.\nThopok: Hear this, Ferengi. Help Grilka and you live. Fail and I will kill you myself.\nDax: And even though it was an accident, Quark took credit for killing Grilka's husband.\nWorf: Why?\nDax: As a way of boosting business at the bar. And it worked. But then Grilka kidnapped Quark and took him back to the Klingon Homeworld and married him.\nWorf: Why?\nDax: I'm getting to that. As a woman, Grilka was forbidden to lead her House. By marrying Quark she was able to retain control through him. Eventually, she convinced the Council to give her control and she divorced Quark on the spot. As far as I know, that's the last time they saw each other.\nWorf: A marriage of convenience.\nDax: Certainly for Grilka. I'm not sure how convenient it was for Quark.\nWorf: His opinion is of no consequence. He is unworthy of such a prize as she.\nDax: Worf, it sounds like you have got a bad case of par'Mach.\nSisko: Is that contagious?\nDax: Par'Mach is the Klingon word for love, but with more aggressive overtones.\nSisko: Love? Worf?\nDax: Stranger things have happened.\nSisko: Especially around here.\nBashir: This should alleviate Kira's sneezing.\nO'Brien: Should?\nBashir: Bajoran women have been sneezing their way through pregnancy for over a hundred thousand years. You can't expect me to cure it overnight. You know, I heard a rumor the Jerries may trying to cross the Channel this evening. Maybe we should have a surprise waiting for them.\nBashir: Serves you right.\nO'Brien: I can't go to the holosuite tonight. Kira and I have some things to work out.\nBashir: Still fighting, huh?\nO'Brien: Who said we were fighting?\nBashir: Word gets around. It's a small station.\nO'Brien: It's a huge station.\nBashir: Obviously not huge enough.\nO'Brien: Well, for your information, we're not fighting.\nBashir: Glad to hear it. Bajoran takeo herbs for Kira's swollen ankles. She'll need to dissolve them in some kind of fruit juice before ingesting them.\nO'Brien: I hope they taste better than those makara herbs you gave her.\nBashir: Are you sampling all her medications?\nO'Brien: No. Kira didn't like the taste. Oh by the way, I almost forgot. She er, she has a rash on the back of her thighs. Do you have a salve or something?\nBashir: How long has she had it?\nO'Brien: Well, I noticed it yesterday when I was helping her out of the bathtub, so she's had it at least a day.\nBashir: Helping her out of the tub?\nO'Brien: She's living in my house. She's having my baby.\nBashir: So did you look?\nO'Brien: What? Oh, please. I was holding a towel up in front of her.\nBashir: How does Keiko feel about you helping Kira out of the tub?\nO'Brien: Keiko feels fine about it. You see, we are adults. We've developed a close, mature relationship.\nBashir: I'm sure that Keiko and Kira have. But you?\nO'Brien: What about me?\nBashir: I bet you looked.\nWorf: I will apologize for this at another time. You are in my seat!\nWorf: Bartender! Bloodwine! What is that smell? Is there a pile of rotting forshak in here?\nWorf: Or is it you. Stand when I talk to you. Do you think it is funny?\nTumek: Mev'Yap! Worf, Son of Mogh. Come, join me.\nTumek: Challenging Thopok to a fight is a waste of time. Grilka cannot mate with you, now or ever. Your House is dishonored. Your name is a curse.\nWorf: I meant no disrespect.\nTumek: You showed none. I'm sure your motives were honorable. Do not let it trouble you too much. In truth, I doubt it would've been a good match.\nWorf: Why?\nTumek: Have you ever pursued a Klingon woman?\nWorf: No.\nTumek: There's no shame in that. You were raised by Humans, you wear their uniform, you accept their values. How could you know anything about our women?\nWorf: You'd be surprised what I know.\nTumek: Perhaps. But we will not find out here. It is the wish of the Lady Grilka that you leave us now, son of Mogh, and do not return.\nWorf: I am a fool.\nDax: You're in love. Which I suppose is the same thing. You're making too much out of this, Worf. Tumek said Grilka wasn't offended. She was probably flattered.\nWorf: There is no flattery in a great lady being courted by a traitor.\nDax: Is that what's really bothering you? Or is it that Tumek said that you didn't know anything about Klingon women, and you're afraid he's right?\nWorf: What do you want?\nQuark: I want to talk to Dax if that's all right with you. I need help. Grilka invited me to dinner and I need to brush up on Klingon manners and protocol and all that.\nWorf: She invited you to dinner?\nQuark: In her quarters. A private dinner. A very private dinner.\nQuark: What's wrong with him?\nDax: He's having a bad day.\nQuark: That's a shame. Well, when Grilka and I were married there wasn't a lot of affection involved. So what does a Klingon woman expect from a man? Are there any secret Klingon phrases I should know, or do we just leap on each other like a pair of crazed voles?\nDax: Quark, Klingon mating rituals are very involved. It's not just a one night affair.\nQuark: Two nights. Whatever. Look, I'm serious. Grilka and I, we have something. I'm not sure what, but I want to pursue it.\nDax: For sex?\nQuark: No. Well, that too. But there's more. She's glorious.\nDax: So I hear. Look, if you're serious about this, then you have to go slow at dinner. No innuendo, no staring at her cleavage.\nQuark: So what do I do?\nDax: You talk. You ask her about her family's history and their accomplishments. She'll consider this a great sign of respect.\nQuark: Respect? Okay, okay, I can do that. Anything else?\nWorf: Grilka is from the Mekro'vak region. It is customary among her people that the man to bring a leg of a lingta to the first courtship dinner. Make sure it's fresh, as if you had just killed it. Then use the leg to sweep aside everything on the table and declare in a loud voice, 'I have brought you this. From this day, I wish to provide food for you and your House. All I ask is to share your company and do honor to your name.'\nQuark: Then what?\nDax: Well, either she accepts your offer or she has her bodyguard shatter every bone in your body.\nQuark: Sounds reasonable.\nKira: Did your father just sit you down one day and say, right, Miles, it's time to teach you about massaging pregnant women.'\nO'Brien: It's an O'Brien survival technique. My mother hated being pregnant. My father's massages were the only things that kept her from killing everyone.\nKira: Sounds like me.\nO'Brien: Pretty much. She didn't swear in Bajoran but she did like to use what she called descriptive phrases.\nKira: Are those my uniforms?\nKeiko: Garak finished the alterations and sent these along. He guarantees the insoles will help your feet.\nKira: Ow! Ow! Ow!\nKeiko: That wasn't very convincing. I think she's actually enjoying it, Miles. You'd better press harder if you want her to suffer.\nO'Brien: Harder it is.\nKira: Ow. You're a sadist, Miles Edward O'Brien. Was your father this cruel to your mother?\nO'Brien: Worse. I'd swear sometimes you'd hear her screams halfway across Ireland. The neighbors didn't know whether to be worried or titillated.\nKira: Here. You miss Ireland?\nO'Brien: You know, if you'd asked me that a year ago, I would have said no. But lately, I don't know why, I've been daydreaming about home. Maybe I'm getting nostalgic in my old age.\nKira: You've got leave coming. Take three weeks and go.\nO'Brien: If I left, who'd give you foot massages?\nKira: Take me along. I can think of worse things than spending three weeks in Ireland with you.\nO'Brien: Me too.\nKeiko: Don't stop on my account.\nO'Brien: Oh. Right.\nFemale: BOOOOW-cha-daaay WORF +\nMale: KEEEY-cha-daaay\nFemale: Me-YO-ca-BEEN-evaaa-kaa-MOOOOR WORF +\nMale: LIIING-tomaaa\nFemale: Oh-ma-do-VEE-kos ZOOOOOOO! WORF +\nMale: Oh-ma-do-VEE-ko ZOOOOOOO!\nQuark: Ahem.\nQuark: I'm not going to ask. Look, I came here to thank you for last night. Grilka loved it. All of it. Everything I did, everything I said it was perfect.\nWorf: So, I don't know anything about Klingon women.\nQuark: She said I had the heart of a Basai Master, whatever that is.\nWorf: It is a poet.\nQuark: A poet? I guess I can live with that.\nWorf: What else happened?\nQuark: She spent about an hour talking about her family history. A rather long and bloody tale, but what else is new? Then we ate the lingta, which tasted really bad, listened to some noise which she called Klingon music, and I left.\nWorf: A perfect evening.\nQuark: Almost. Her bodyguard was giving me threatening looks all night.\nWorf: That is to be expected. The idea of a Ferengi courting a great lady is offensive.\nQuark: You know, it's attitudes like that that keep you people from getting invited to all the really good parties.\nWorf: The heart of a Basai Master. She said that?\nQuark: Could I make that up? I'm telling you, Worf, she responded perfectly. You really have the key to this woman's heart. The question is, can you help me unlock it?\nWorf: Yes. I can. We have work to do.\nDax: Quark!\nDax: MoVas ah-kee rustak!\nWorf: Kosh tomah.\nQuark: Kosh tomoh I mean tomah ehpaq Lukara kaVeir.\nDax: Ish-tovee chuCH thling nuq?\nQuark: Besh besh-opar gree uchan argh. Besh opar gee urchun omaH te, te, te-doQ maugh-shta.\nWorf: Enough. You say the words, but there is no feeling behind them, no passion.\nQuark: Having to learn all this Klingonese isn't helping my performance.\nWorf: Do not think of it as a performance. Believe in where you are. Put yourself in this time, in this place. A thousand years ago, the dawn of the Empire, five hundred warriors storm the Great Hall at Qam-Chee. The city garrison fled before them. Only the Emperor Kahless and the Lady Lukara stood their ground. It was here that they began the greatest romance in Klingon history.\nQuark: This is ridiculous! I'm surrounded by corpses, my shoes are dripping with blood, and you want me to feel romantic? Why am I putting myself through this?\nDax: Because later that night, Kahless and Lukara jumped on each other like a pair of crazed voles. Grrr.\nQuark: Yeah? One more time.\nOdo: This is the fourth theft of equipment from upper pylon three this month.\nKira: I don't know how they keep doing it. We've changed the security protocols three times now.\nOdo: It's not the security arrangements that are at fault here. It's our friend the Chief of Operations.\nKira: Miles? What did he do?\nOdo: It's what he's not doing. He still hasn't finished upgrading the structural integrity field on upper pylon three, so half the bulkheads are torn open. A child could find a way into those cargo bays.\nKira: Look, Miles is a very busy man. He can't be everywhere at once.\nOdo: Sometimes it seems as though he's not anywhere at all.\nKira: He's doing a superb job under very difficult circumstances.\nOdo: Oh. Growing fond of the Chief, are we?\nKira: What are you talking about? I've always liked Miles.\nOdo: You've always liked the Chief, but Miles is a different story.\nKira: Look, I am living with him. I am carrying his baby. Don't you think that might change things a bit?\nOdo: How so?\nKira: We're closer. It's like I'm part of his family.\nOdo: Which part?\nKira: What?\nOdo: Which part of his family are you? Sister? Daughter? Cousin?\nKira: Could we concentrate on the criminal activities report?\nOdo: Of course. And I'll refrain from making any further disparaging remarks about the Chief. I mean, Miles.\nThopok: This consorting with a Ferengi is outrageous!\nTumek: You forget yourself, Thopok. You are the commander of the Lady's guard, nothing more. Do not presume to judge her.\nGrilka: Tumek. Maparian ale for two.\nTumek: Mistress.\nGrilka: You are an interesting man.\nQuark: I've always thought so.\nGrilka: Not much of a fighter, of course. Fortunately for you they were only holo-warriors.\nQuark: Well, it's the thought that counts.\nGrilka: Yes, it is. And what are your thoughts, Quark? Why play out one of the most romantic scenes in Klingon literature for me? Why learn to speak Klingon and observe our customs? Why do you pursue me?\nQuark: I only pursue those things I wish to acquire.\nGrilka: Acquire? Now you sound like a Ferengi again.\nQuark: I am a Ferengi. That means I have a talent for appreciating objects of great value. And I believe you may be worth more than all the latinum in the quadrant.\nGrilka: My Kahless.\nQuark: My Lukara.\nThopok: No!\nGrilka: Mev'Yap Thopok!\nThopok: Forgive me, mistress, but I cannot watch this any longer. I will not protect a House where you are welcome, Ferengi. You are a coward and a liar and you have no honor. So tomorrow you will kill me, or I will kill you.\nKeiko: Home two hours early? You'd better watch it. I'll get used to this.\nO'Brien: Yep, they don't need me anymore. Home at seventeen hundred every evening.\nKeiko: You're such a bad liar.\nKira: Hi.\nKeiko: Hi. Sit down. You look exhausted. Bad day? Miles, I think this woman needs one of your famous neck massages.\nO'Brien: Er, my hands are pretty cold.\nKira: I'm not in the mood anyway.\nKeiko: I can see the tension in your muscles from here.\nKira: No thanks, really. Oh. I'm going to Bajor tomorrow, just for a few days.\nKeiko: Bajor?\nKira: Yes. I thought I'd take the time and relax. A friend of mine has a house in Musilla Province. It's quiet, remote. No distractions.\nO'Brien: Perfect. When do you leave?\nKira: First thing in the morning.\nKeiko: Wait a minute. You can't go alone. What if you go into labor?\nKira: Well, Julian doesn't think that's going to happen for another month.\nKeiko: But he doesn't know for sure. Miles, maybe you should go with her.\nO'Brien: What?\nKeiko: I can't go. I have a botanical pathology seminar tomorrow. But you said yourself things are slow in Ops.\nKira: I don't think that's such a good idea.\nO'Brien: Me neither.\nKeiko: Miles Edward O'Brien, are you going to let the woman carrying your unborn child go on a trip all by herself?\nKeiko: Are you two fighting again?\nO'Brien: No.\nKira: Not at all.\nKeiko: Good. Then it's settled. Miles, let's pack your bag.\nQuark: What if I just do what I did the last time a Klingon wanted to kill me? I throw my sword away, kneel down in front of him and dare him to execute me. Yeah. He'll be humiliated and slink away like a scalded targ.\nWorf: The only reason that worked was because Gowron stepped in and restrained your opponent before he was able to kill you. No one will stop Thopok. Dax and I aren't even able to attend.\nQuark: So my choices are to not show up, be branded a coward and lose Grilka, or die?\nWorf: Yes.\nQuark: Oh, come on now! There has to be another way out of this! You people have rituals for everything except waste extraction. You must have a ceremony or a secret handshake or something I can do.\nDax: I have an idea.\nDax: Oh, congratulations. How do you feel?\nQuark: Like a puppet. And I have some complaints for the puppeteer. You nearly wrenched my arm out of its socket.\nWorf: The movement would not have hurt if you were in better physical condition.\nQuark: Exercise makes me sweat.\nDax: You need to get some sleep.\nDax: If your body's tired tomorrow, Worf won't even be able to save you.\nQuark: Bedtime.\nWorf: I cannot believe the lengths I am going to for that Ferengi. I'm practically giving him Grilka.\nDax: What is it you see in her, anyway? I mean, she's attractive, but other than that?\nWorf: It is everything about her. The way she carries herself, confident and strong. She commands those around her. The proud tilt of her head. The way her face betrays none of her true feelings. The power of her voice. And her eyes, as hard as separ gemstones and twice as sharp.\nDax: It sounds like you're describing a statue. What would you do with a woman like that? Put her up on a pedestal and clean her every week?\nWorf: You do not understand.\nDax: If I were in your shoes, I would be looking for someone a little more entertaining, a little more fun, and maybe even a little more attainable.\nWorf: You are not in my shoes.\nDax: Too bad. You'd be amazed at what I can do in a pair of size eighteen boots.\nDax: He's in position.\nTumek: Quark, son of Keldar, why are you here?\nQuark: To, to answer the\nQuark: To answer the Challenge of Thopok, to prove my honor, and to win the favor of the Lady Grilka.\nTumek: The challenge has been given and accepted. Let no one interfere. Mok!\nThopok: Where did you learn to fight with a bat'leth?\nQuark: I'm a man of many talents.\nQuark: No! Wait!\nDax: You damaged the optronic relay.\nWorf: Can you repair it?\nDax: I don't know.\nThopok: Well?\nQuark: I claim the Right of Proclamation.\nTumek: I've never heard of the Right of Proclamation.\nQuark: It is a Ferengi custom.\nThopok: It has no place here!\nQuark: I beg to differ! I am as proud of my heritage as you are of yours and I will not be denied the opportunity to express myself according to Ferengi custom.\nGrilka: He has shown respect to our traditions. We will do the same. What do you need to do?\nQuark: I must make a speech.\nGrilka: About what?\nQuark: About you!\nThopok: Get on with it.\nWorf: I do not know how, but he is still alive. You must work faster.\nDax: I'm going as fast as I can.\nQuark: To this end my blade soars through the aquarium of my soul, seeking the kelp of diskontent which must be cut so that the rocky bottom of love lie in waiting with fertile sand for the coming seed of Grilka's affection. And yet, does this explain my need for her? No. It is like a giant cave of emptiness waiting for the bats of love to hang by\nQuark: Well, I guess that's enough talking . Now back to the fighting.\nDax: No showing off this time, Worf. Just get it over with.\nWorf: I was not showing off.\nThopok: End it!\nQuark: If you insist.\nQuark: Maybe not. Maybe I'll pick up your sword.\nQuark: And give it to you I guess.\nGrilka: Thopok, your honor is satisfied. I return your weapon and diskharge you from my House.\nTumek: My lady.\nGrilka: Do-MACH ah chee ghos eh-PAGH?\nDax: Congratulations. You did it.\nWorf: What does she see in that parasite?\nDax: Who knows? But they're on the same wavelength, and at least Quark can see an opportunity when it's standing in front of him.\nWorf: He would have to be blind not to see it.\nDax: MoVas ah-kee rustak. Computer, bat'leth. MoVas ah-kee rustak!\nWorf: Kosh tomah ehpaq Lukara kaVeir.\nDax: Ish-tovee chuCH thling nuq?\nWorf: Meklo boH ka Mech.\nDax: Te-doQ roos ka Mech-TOH.\nO'Brien: So I guess we're going.\nKira: Looks like it.\nO'Brien: Tell me about this house we're going to.\nKira: It's a gorgeous two hundred year old cottage filled with antiques, sitting in the middle of a deep, dark forest. It's got three fireplaces, two balconies\nO'Brien: I see.\nKira: It's twenty kilometers to the nearest neighbor, thirty to the nearest town.\nO'Brien: Why am I not surprised?\nKira: It gets worse. There's a view.\nO'Brien: Of what?\nKira: Of the Holana river. You can see it from every room in the house. At night, when the stars are out and you can only hear rushing water, it may be one of the most romantic spots in all of Bajor.\nO'Brien: That's it. I'm not going. I don't care what Keiko says, I'm not going. You go. I'll wait an hour and then I'll, I'll tell her that you left without me, that there was a miscommunication about the departure time.\nKira: You think she'll buy it?\nO'Brien: She'll probably accuse us of having another fight, of behaving like children, but I can handle that. The important thing is that we don't go anywhere near that place together.\nKira: You're absolutely right. In fact, I'm going to go to the capital and see Shakaar.\nO'Brien: That's the best idea you've had all week.\nO'Brien: Have a good trip.\nKira: Thanks.\nO'Brien: It would've been nice.\nKira: In another life.\nO'Brien: Let's not even think about it.\nKira: All right, let's not. Miles?\nO'Brien: Yes, Nerys?\nKira: Get out.\nO'Brien: Right.\nBashir: A compound fracture of the right radius, two fractured ribs, torn ligaments, strained tendons, numerous contusions, bruises and scratches. What have you been doing?\nQuark: You mean, what have we been doing?\nBashir: Never mind. I don't need that particular image running around in my head. I'll just treat you.\nBashir: What happened to you two?\nWorf: We, er.\nDax: Well, er, if you must know\nBashir: No! No, er, I don't need that image either. In fact, I'm going to stop asking that question altogether. People can come in, I will treat them, and that's all. Please, have a seat. I'll be with you in a minute.\nWorf: You do realize that according to Klingon tradition\nDax: According to tradition, we have to get married.\nWorf: But as you keep insisting, you are not a traditional woman.\nDax: The truth is, Worf, at heart, you're not much of a traditional man.\nWorf: You might be right. How do you wish to proceed?\nDax: I don't know.\nWorf: You must have some idea. You were the\nDax: Aggressor?\nWorf: Yes. And now there are questions that must be answered.\nDax: I don't feel like answering questions. Why don't we just take it one day at a time and see what happens?\nWorf: I do not like the uncertainty of that arrangement.\nDax: One thing's for certain. You've stopped thinking about Grilka."}
{"text": "Voices: Dabo!\nOdo: Quark!\nQuark: Not now, Odo.\nOdo: We have to talk.\nQuark: It'll have to wait.\nOdo: It can't wait.\nQuark: Of course not. Make it fast. I have business to attend to.\nOdo: You remember that Subytt freighter we were discussing the other day? The one you claimed was smuggling defective isolinear rods to Bajor?\nQuark: Yes, yes, what about it?\nOdo: Well, I conducted a little investigation of that freighter, and do you know what I diskovered?\nQuark: That I was telling the truth.\nOdo: That's right. I arrested the first officer and two of the crew.\nQuark: Congratulations, Constable, I knew you could do it. Now if you don't mind, I'm needed upstairs.\nOdo: Hold on, I'm not finished with you.\nQuark: Oh, really, Odo? Sometimes I think there's no pleasing you. I help you crack a notorious smuggling ring, yet you still insist on treating me like the enemy.\nOdo: You are the enemy.\nQuark: Then how do you explain my helping you?\nOdo: That's just it. I can't explain it.\nQuark: It's simple, really. I figured we'd been at each others' throats long enough. It's time we called a truce.\nOdo: Truce? You must be joking.\nQuark: Ask the Subytt first officer if I'm joking. From now on, you and I are going to be friends.\nOdo: You're up to something.\nQuark: Why would you say that?\nOdo: Because you're always up to something.\nQuark: I can see this is going to take time, but eventually you'll learn to trust me.\nOdo: That'll be the day.\nQuark: I don't think I can remember Odo looking quite so perplexed.\nRom: He's not alone. Those Subytt smugglers were a potential source of great profit.\nQuark: Must I quote you the seventy-sixth Rule of Acquisition?\nRom: The seventy-sixth rule?\nQuark: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.\nCaptain: Hi, Quark. How are your lobes?\nQuark: Tingling at the sight of you. What'll it be? Another Black Hole?\nCaptain: No, I don't have time. My ship's about to pull out. Do you know of anyone going to Bajor?\nQuark: Ships go back and forth from there all the time. Why?\nCaptain: I promised someone I'd deliver this for them. Doesn't looks like I'm going to get there this trip.\nQuark: It's an earring.\nCaptain: I know it's an earring. It was given to me by a maintenance worker on Cardassia Four.\nQuark: Are you saying a Cardassian gave you a Bajoran earring?\nCaptain: He asked me to take it to Bajor. Said whoever I showed it to would understand.\nQuark: He said that?\nCaptain: Well, this is a Bajoran station, right? There must be someone here who would know what to do with it.\nQuark: Oh, there is.\nCaptain: Who?\nQuark: Me.\nKira: Come in.\nQuark: Surprise.\nKira: What do you want?\nQuark: I always wondered what your quarters looked like.\nKira: That better not be your only reason for being here.\nQuark: You don't entertain much, do you?\nKira: I entertain a lot. I just don't entertain you.\nQuark: Let me guess, the bedroom.\nKira: You take one step in here and I promise you it'll be your last.\nQuark: It could be worth it.\nKira: You have five seconds to tell me what you want.\nQuark: Aren't you going to offer me a beverage?\nKira: Five, four\nQuark: Can we at least sit down?\nKira: Three two one.\nQuark: Wait. I brought you something.\nKira: Where did you get this?\nQuark: Is it valuable?\nKira: I said, where did you get it?\nQuark: From a Boslic freighter Captain. She got it from a Cardassian.\nKira: Where?\nQuark: On Cardassia Four. That's what she told me, anyway.\nQuark: Consider it a gift.\nJake: Hey, Dad, wait up.\nJake: You got a minute?\nSisko: For you, absolutely.\nJake: I've got some great news.\nSisko: You passed your algebra test.\nJake: Better than that.\nSisko: You learned out how to hit Bob Gibson's fast ball.\nJake: No, even better.\nSisko: Better than hitting Gibson's fast ball? This I want to hear.\nJake: You remember that Bajoran girl I told you about?\nSisko: The one with the beautiful smile?\nJake: That's right, Laira. I decided to ask her out.\nSisko: Well good for you. And now you've come to the old man for advice on what to say to her.\nJake: Dad, I\nSisko: The main thing is you can't be afraid of rejection\nJake: Dad, I already asked her out. And she said yes.\nSisko: She did? That's wonderful.\nJake: I was just wondering if you had any ideas what we could do. I was thinking of taking her to the holosuites.\nSisko: The holosuites? I don't think so.\nJake: Why not?\nSisko: Because you're too young to take a girl to the holosuites.\nJake: Okay, then how about if I bring her to our quarters?\nSisko: No, no, no, no, no, no quarters.\nJake: We're just going to talk.\nSisko: Talk in public.\nJake: It's not the same.\nSisko: You want to talk? Take her upstairs. And that way you can talk and watch the ships go through the wormhole.\nJake: That's boring.\nSisko: Since when?\nJake: Since I started going out with girls.\nSisko: This is your first date.\nJake: And I don't want it to be my last.\nKira: Commander. I need to speak with you.\nSisko: One moment, Major.\nJake: I can see you're not ready to have this conversation yet.\nSisko: I'm not ready?\nJake: I'll just have to come up with a few ideas on my own. Really, don't worry about it.\nSisko: Who's worried?\nKira: Commander?\nSisko: Join me, Major.\nSisko: One Raktajino with a jacarine peel.\nKira: Nothing for me.\nSisko: One icoberry torte. So, Major, what can I do for you?\nKira: I need to borrow a runabout.\nSisko: For what?\nKira: You really don't want to ask me that.\nSisko: It's too late. I already asked.\nKira: You don't want to know the answer.\nSisko: Major, I can't loan you a Starfleet runabout without knowing where you plan on taking it.\nKira: To Cardassia Four to rescue a Bajoran prisoner of war.\nSisko: You're right. I wish you hadn't told me.\nKira: This earring was recently smuggled off the planet. Do you see this? That is the insignia of Li Nalas.\nSisko: The resistance leader?\nKira: The greatest we ever had. His victory over Gul Zarale in hand-to-hand combat\nSisko: Major, I have already heard the story. Wasn't he reported killed in action?\nKira: His body was never found. Look, Commander, I wouldn't be asking this if I thought there was another way to rescue Li. But Bajoran ships don't have the maneuverability or defensive capabilities to get me safely in and out of Cardassian territory.\nSisko: You're sure this is genuine?\nKira: Dax found dermal residue on the back. A genetic analysis matched it to Li's DNA records. It's genuine all right.\nSisko: Have you told the provisional government?\nKira: I contacted three ministers. Their response was exactly what I expected.\nSisko: In other words, they're unwilling to risk going to war with Cardassia over an earring. I can't say I blame them.\nKira: Commander, you and I both know the provisional government is made up of political opportunists too busy fighting among themselves to care what happens to Bajor. Since the loss of the Kai, the situation has only gone from bad to worse. There are reports of factional fighting in half a dozen districts, religious riots have spread throughout the southern islands. Bajor needs a leader. Someone the people will listen to. Someone they can trust.\nSisko: And you think Li Nalas is that leader?\nKira: I know he is.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien: I think you and Odo had better join me in the habitat ring. Level thirteen, section four. There's something you should see.\nSisko: We'll be right there.\nKira: Do I get the runabout?\nSisko: I'll have to think it over.\nO'Brien: I was on my way to crossover bridge three to do some repair work on the field modulators when I noticed this.\nSisko: It's the emblem of the Alliance for Global Unity. They call themselves The Circle.\nO'Brien: The Circle, huh. What gives them the right to mess up our station?\nOdo: They're an extremist faction who believe in Bajor for the Bajorans. All other species are inferior and should be expelled from the planet.\nSisko: I understand this emblem has appeared all over Bajor.\nOdo: That's correct. But this is the first time I've seen it here.\nSisko: I want to be informed immediately if this emblem appears anyplace else on the station.\nOdo: Understood.\nO'Brien: If they think scrawling a few of signs is going to get rid of us, they've got another think coming.\nSisko: Right now they're just trying us show us we're vulnerable.\nOdo: I wouldn't be overly concerned, Commander. This section is a low security area.\nSisko: As of now, Constable, there are no low security areas on this station.\nDax: You wanted to see me, Benjamin?\nSisko: Ah, yes. Have a seat.\nDax: Am I to assume this is going to be about baseball?\nSisko: Not this time.\nDax: Good.\nSisko: I thought you enjoyed talking about baseball.\nDax: Curzon enjoyed it, but not half as much as he led you to believe. So what's on your mind, Benjamin.\nSisko: I've been thinking about our mission here. I look at the turmoil on Bajor and I see everything we fought for this past year starting to unravel.\nDax: I told you this was going to be a tough assignment when we came here. Of course, I didn't realize it was going to be this tough.\nSisko: What if I told you I knew someone who could bring stability to Bajor. Someone who could unite the factions and give us a chance to do our job.\nDax: I'd say give Kira the runabout.\nSisko: How do you know about Kira wanting a runabout?\nDax: I promised not to tell.\nSisko: Supposing I do help, and she does rescue Li Nalas. What do we say to the Cardassians?\nDax: The question is, what do they say to us? They swore they released all their Bajoran prisoners.\nSisko: Chief, Major Kira needs a runabout.\nO'Brien: Oh, so she's going to Cardassia Four after all.\nSisko: Is there anyone on this station she didn't tell?\nO'Brien: I doubt she mentioned it to Quark.\nSisko: Well then, as far as Quark's concerned, she's going to Lamenda Prime to bring back mineral samples.\nO'Brien: I see.\nSisko: Now, is there any way we can prevent the Cardassian sensors from picking up the runabout's signature?\nO'Brien: I could modulate the engine's power emissions, reconfigure the deflector shield grid, and installl field buffers around the subspace emitter coil. By the time I'm done, the Cardassians will think they're reading a Lissepian transport.\nSisko: Yeah. I see you've already given this a bit of thought.\nO'Brien: I suppose I have.\nKira: Come in.\nKira: Commander, Chief, I was just getting ready to leave.\nSisko: I just stopped by to wish you luck. And to tell you that Chief O'Brien will be accompanying you on your mission.\nKira: I don't think that's a good idea. Having a Federation officer along could cause complications for you later.\nSisko: I'm willing to risk that. You're an excellent pilot, Major, but Mister O'Brien here is better. And I want to make sure that I get my runabout back in one piece.\nKira: I appreciate the offer, but this is a Bajoran problem.\nSisko: I don't agree. The truth is, I need Li Nalas back on Bajor as much as you do.\nO'Brien: Besides, I've seen how the Cardassians treat their prisoners. No one should have to suffer like that.\nKira: If the Cardassians get their hands on us, we'll be the ones suffering.\nO'Brien: They'll have to catch us first.\nKira: I suppose I could use the company.\nKira: You've got the controls, Chief.\nO'Brien: Right.\nKira: Before we go, there's one thing we need to clear up between us.\nO'Brien: And what would that be?\nKira: This mission can end only one of two ways. Either we bring back Li Nalas or we don't come back at all.\nO'Brien: Understood.\nKira: Then take us out of here, Mister O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Initializing launch sequence.\nKira: How much long till we reach Cardassia Four?\nO'Brien: I estimate another thirty minutes.\nKira: Hold on. We're being scanned.\nO'Brien: Can you get a fix on the source?\nKira: It's position is holding steady at bearing two one nine mark two three.\nO'Brien: It must be a navigational control post. It's probably just a routine scan.\nKira: We're being hailed.\nO'Brien: Then again, we could be in serious trouble.\nKira: They're repeating the hail.\nO'Brien: We're on the edge of their scanner range. That puts us out of visual contact. I say we try and bluff them.\nKira: Opening a channel.\nCardassian: This is Cardassian navigational control post twenty four. Identify yourself.\nKira: This is the Lissepian transport Martuk.\nCardassian: According to our scan, your subspace field emitters appear to be malfunctioning.\nO'Brien: The field buffers must be distorting our power signature.\nKira: We've been having trouble with our phase modulators. We're attempting to correct the problem.\nCardassian: Do you require assistance? We can dispatch a repair ship.\nO'Brien: They want to help us?\nKira: Your offer is most appreciated, post twenty four, but unnecessary.\nCardassian: Are you certain? Your power signature is still fluctuating.\nKira: He's getting suspicious. I believe we can correct the problem on our own. Besides, Gul Marayn is waiting on Cardassia Four to receive my shipment of Rulot seeds. Any delay could ruin the entire crop, not to mention the Gul's mood.\nCardassian: Understood. You can put in for repairs after you deliver your cargo.\nKira: My plan exactly. He's cut off their transmission.\nO'Brien: Tell me, Major, who is this Gul Marayn.\nKira: Don't ask me. I just made him up.\nO'Brien: We're in synchronous orbit above the Hutet Labor camp. I've limited the bioscans to detect only Bajoran lifeforms. Hold on. We're getting multiple readings. There must be about a dozen Bajoran prisoners down there.\nKira: What? Is there any way of beaming up more than two at a time?\nO'Brien: I'm afraid not. As soon as we beam the first two up, all hell is going to break loose in that camp.\nKira: And there's no way of guaranteeing Li will be one of the first two. What's security like down there?\nO'Brien: The compound is surrounded by a standard Cardassian forcefield.\nKira: We're going to have to land. It's our only chance of getting them all out of there.\nO'Brien: I'll find us a secluded spot to put down.\nGuard: Back to work.\nKira: How do I look?\nO'Brien: I doubt there's a Cardassian alive who could resist you.\nKira: I hope you're right.\nO'Brien: So do I.\nOverseer: Halt.\nO'Brien: We want to see the Prefect.\nOverseer: What for?\nO'Brien: She has an appointment with him.\nOverseer: I used to be stationed on Bajor.\nO'Brien: Then you know why the Prefect doesn't want to be kept waiting, huh?\nLi: What's this all about?\nBorum: I'm not quite sure.\nOverseer: What would it cost me for an appointment?\nKira: More than you could afford.\nO'Brien: Two strips of gold-pressed latinum, she's all yours.\nKira: He wouldn't know what to do with me.\nOverseer: She needs diskiplining.\nKira: From a boy like you? Ha! I don't think you're capable of it.\nOverseer: Step back. I want to examine what I'm paying for.\nO'Brien: Sure, sure. But no sampling the merchandise until the sale's complete, okay?\nOverseer: Come here.\nOverseer: Now, show me why you're worth two strips of gold-pressed latinum.\nKira: All right.\nKira: Li Nalas!\nLi: Who are you?\nKira: Major Kira Nerys. We've come to get you out of here.\nBorum: The earring. You got it.\nKira: Yes.\nLi: I don't understand. My earring was lost.\nBorum: No, I had it smuggled back to Bajor.\nO'Brien: Gentlemen, I suggest you save this discussion for later, okay?\nKira: Come on. (Li is wounded by another guard up the cliff, but O'Brien gets him. A prisoner at the back of the group is killed.)\nKira: Come on. We have a ship waiting.\nO'Brien: We'll never make it at this rate.\nBorum: Get Li to Bajor. Four of us will stay behind and hold them off until you reach your ship.\nLi: No, I won't allow it.\nBorum: Don't you see? We did this for you. Just get him back safely. That's all that counts.\nKira: You have my word. Come on. Come on.\nBorum: Go.\nKira: Come on.\nO'Brien: Ready to launch, Major.\nKira: Not yet. Some of the others still might make it.\nO'Brien: Standing by. I'm picking up two Galor class warships entering orbit. They should be overhead in one minute, forty five seconds.\nLi: Major, you can't leave those men behind.\nO'Brien: One minute, thirty seconds. If we don't leave now, Major, we never will.\nKira: Take us home, Chief.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nKira: Careful, he took a phaser hit.\nBashir: Easy now, I have you.\nLi: Doctor, these people have been prisoners for ten years. They need medical attention.\nBashir: And they'll get it. But first we'd better take a look at this wound. Bashir to Dax.\nDax: Go ahead, Doctor.\nBashir: We've got a patient who needs emergency treatment. Beam us to the Infirmary.\nDax: Stand by.\nKira: Commander, I need to talk to you.\nSisko: Ah, Major Kira, I'm glad you could join us.\nKira: I'm sorry. I didn't know you were busy.\nSisko: Apparently not.\nKira: I'll just wait outside.\nSisko: Hold on, Major. There's something I want you to hear. Go ahead, Dukat.\nDukat: Major, I have just informed Commander Sisko that the Cardassian High Command has issued a formal apology to the people of Bajor.\nKira: An apology?\nDukat: We had no idea that Bajoran prisoners were still being held on Cardassia Four. Such detentions are a direct violation of supreme directive twenty six forty five, and I assure you the camp Prefect will be chastised accordingly.\nKira: What about the prisoners that were left behind?\nDukat: They are already en route to Bajor.\nKira: Well, I look forward to their safe return.\nDukat: I'm sure you do. And I hope our quick response to this unfortunate situation will prove once and for all that Cardassia is no longer your enemy.\nKira: Commander?\nSisko: I'm as surprised as you are.\nKira: There's got be a reason why they're being so accommodating.\nSisko: I'm sure there is, but until we can figure out their motives, let's just be grateful that all the prisoners are being returned safely. Congratulations on the success of your mission, Major.\nBashir: There, that should do it. How do you feel?\nLi: Better.\nBashir: Good. Luckily your wound wasn't as serious as it looked. You've probably had a lot worse.\nLi: Well, actually, this one was bad enough.\nBashir: You know, I've read all about your battle with Gul Zarale.\nLi: That was a long time ago.\nBashir: Well, I consider myself to be a bit a history buff and I must say some of the campaigns you led against the Cardassians were truly remarkable\nLi: Doctor, I think that you'll find that others enjoy talking about those days far more than I do.\nBashir: Of course. I understand completely.\nLi: Amazing.\nKira: What is?\nLi: Being here. Years ago I worked in one of this station's ore processing plants.\nSisko: I think you will find things have changed considerably.\nOdo: Commander, a transport carrying Minister Jaro has just arrived from Bajor.\nSisko: Major, I think you should have the honor of welcoming him aboard.\nKira: Thank you, Commander.\nSisko: If you're hungry, the Replimat has some passable Bajoran food.\nLi: Actually, I'm a bit tired. I think I'd like to see my quarters.\nSisko: Of course.\nSisko: It appears you've been recognized.\nKira: Minister Jaro.\nJaro: Major. Where is he?\nKira: He's on the Promenade with Commander Sisko.\nJaro: And he's all right?\nKira: Considering what he's gone through in the past ten years.\nJaro: Li Nalas alive. Who would have ever imagined. The prophets were kind to you today, Major.\nKira: I'd say they were kind to all of us.\nJaro: You know your little adventure has made you some enemies in the Chamber of Ministers.\nKira: I'm not surprised. All I did was risk my life.\nJaro: What you did, Major, was declare war on Cardassia. Thankfully they declined the invitation.\nKira: I'd do it again if it meant bringing Li Nalas home.\nJaro: Yes, I'm sure you would. And though officially I have to warn you that the next time you disobey orders will mean the end of your military career, as a private citizen I want to thank you for what you've done this day.\nKira: That's good to hear.\nJaro: Now take me to see Li Nalas.\nOdo: Move it back, please. No pushing. No pushing.\nLi: I'm sorry about this, Commander.\nSisko: I don't think they're going to leave until you say a few words.\nOdo: I agree.\nLi: If that's what it takes.\nLi: It's good to be free. It's good to know that after all our years of struggle, Bajor is finally free.\nJaro: Yes, it is good to be free. Well, it really is you, isn't it.\nLi: Li Nalas.\nJaro: I'm Minister Jaro Essa. I can't tell you how delighted I am to welcome you home.\nLi: Believe me, it is a pleasure to be here.\nJaro: Would you mind if I address the crowd? Yu can't expect a politician to give up an opportunity like this.\nLi: You go right ahead.\nJaro: Thank you. Fellow Bajorans, I have only one thing to say to you, to ask you, really. Never forget this moment. Because I promise you one day your children and your grandchildren will ask you know what it was like the day Li Nalas returned to Bajor.\nSisko: I hope you'll find these quarters satisfactory.\nLi: Commander, I just spent ten years in a Cardassian labor camp. I'm just grateful for a moment's privacy.\nSisko: Enjoy it while you can. Judging from the crowd on the Promenade, a moment may be all you get.\nLi: I thought they would have forgotten me by now.\nSisko: It appears you were wrong.\nLi: This morning I was a slave, tonight I am a hero.\nSisko: It must seem a little overwhelming.\nLi: I'll tell you what is overwhelming, Commander. It's knowing that something I've waited for my whole life has finally happened. The Cardassians are gone. We won. You've been there recently. What's it like, a free Bajor?\nSisko: I think you'll be pleased, for the most part.\nLi: For the most part?\nSisko: Bajor lacks strong leadership.\nLi: So that's what Major Kira meant. On the runabout, she told me that my return would bring stability to Bajor.\nSisko: She's right. Bajor could use your help, and frankly so could I. But before you go off saving Bajor, I suppose you could use a good night's sleep.\nLi: It sounds like I'm going to need it.\nQuark: One for you, and six for me. One for you, and six for me. One for you, and six for me. Would you stop looking so glum? Payday is supposed to be a time of joy.\nRom: I know, brother, but every week it's the same thing. Six for you and only one for me. It's not fair!\nQuark: You're right.\nRom: I am?\nQuark: Yes. It's not fair.\nRom: It's not?\nQuark: Absolutely not. One for you, and seven for me. One for you, and seven for me. Is that better? And where are you going?\nRom: To bed. To dream of an equal share of profits.\nQuark: Dream on.\nQuark: One for you, seven for me. What is it now?\nBashir: Quark, Quark! Hold still.\nQuark: Doctor, will there be a scar?\nBashir: I said, hold still.\nQuark: Does that mean yes?\nBashir: No. This dermal regenerator should repair and damaged tissue as well as prevent scarring. Unless, of course, you don't hold still.\nSisko: Did you recognize any of your assailants?\nQuark: They were wearing masks.\nKira: And you're sure they didn't say anything?\nQuark: Not a word. They just came in, branded me and left.\nOdo: The Promenade is usually deserted at this hour. No one saw them enter or leave.\nSisko: Constable, I want all security personnel on full alert.\nOdo: I've already seen to it.\nLi: Who is responsible for this?\nKira: An extremist group from Bajor, who call themselves The Circle.\nLi: Bajorans did this?\nSisko: I'm afraid so.\nLi: But why?\nKira: Their goal is to rid Bajor of all non-Bajorans.\nLi: Hasn't the provisional government tried to stop them?\nKira: Oh, they've tried. But the truth is the Circle is more organized than the government.\nQuark: Well, the government better get organized, because I intend to sue them for financial compensation.\nSisko: Not now, Quark! People have grown impatient with the government's inability to get things done, so they turn to the Circle. Constable.\nKira: We need someone to speak out against these reactionaries. Someone the people will listen to.\nBashir: There, that should do it.\nQuark: How do I look?\nKira: As handsome as ever.\nQuark: Really?\nSisko: Jake, what are you doing up?\nJake: I couldn't sleep.\nSisko: How was your date? It was tonight, wasn't it?\nJake: It was supposed to be. She couldn't make it.\nSisko: It happens.\nJake: She said her father wouldn't let her go out with me.\nSisko: Why not?\nJake: Because I'm not a Bajoran.\nSisko: That's not much of a reason. Jake, there are some things happening on Bajor. Troubling things. I'm sorry you've become a victim of them. You don't deserve it. Nobody does. Time for bed, okay?\nJake: Okay. Night, Dad.\nCrewwoman: Commander, there's a call for you from the Tygarian freighter docked on upper pylon two.\nSisko: Put it through.\nDoek: Commander Sisko, I am Romah Doek, executive officer of the Nanut. We were preparing to depart the station for the Gamma Quadrant when we diskovered a Bajoran citizen trying to stow away on ship. I was hoping you'd know what to do with him.\nSisko: The Nanut isn't scheduled to return from the Gamma Quadrant for two years.\nLi: Actually I planned on staying there considerably longer.\nSisko: I don't follow.\nLi: Commander, I'm going to tell you a story. You may even believe it.\nSisko: I'm listening.\nLi: During the occupation I was a member of a minor resistance cell, the name is unimportant. One day, this was in the mountains surrounding the Sahving valley, we were ambushed by Cardassian troops. Only three of us managed to escape. We hid in the hills for two days. Finally the lack of food and water forced us down into the valley. We made our way to a ridge overlooking a small lake. As I was the only one still carrying a phaser, I went ahead to scout for the enemy. Halfway down the embankment, I slipped and went sprawling on my back down to the edge of the lake just as a huge Cardassian emerged from the water. He must have just finished bathing. He stood there, frozen in surprise, dressed only in his underwear, shivering from the cold. I lay there looking up at him too stunned to even move, and it was only when he reached for a phaser rifle that was lying across his clothes on a nearby rock that I realized I was still holding my own phaser, and I shot him. His body fell on top of me, and that's how my companions found us a moment later. One of them recognized him as Gul Zarale, responsible for the massacre of half a dozen Bajoran villages. Now I tried to tell them what happened, but they had already convinced themselves that I had killed Zarale in some kind of savage struggle, which is what they insisted on telling every Bajoran that we met. And no matter how hard I tried to deny it, the story continued to spread until it seemed all of Bajor had heard it. Soon every victory won by the resistance was attributed to my leadership. Stories of my brilliance, my daring, my courage grew more and more unbelievable, yet the people insisted on believing them. My reputation even followed me into the labor camp where my mere presence seemed to inspire my fellow prisoners. And I had done nothing but shoot an unarmed Cardassian in his underwear. I'll never forget the look on his face as he died. He was so embarrassed. So you see, Commander, I have done what Bajor needed me to do. I have allowed myself to be a slave to my reputation all of these years, and now it is enough.\nSisko: They still need you.\nLi: But I am not the man that they think I am.\nSisko: Perhaps not. But Bajor doesn't need a man. It needs a symbol, and that's what you are. No one's asking you to lead troops into battle, or to kill a hundred Cardassians with your bare hands. I saw you in front of the crowd on the Promenade. They look at you and they see strength, and honor, and decency. They look at you and they see the best in themselves.\nLi: But it's all based on a lie.\nSisko: No. It's based on a legend. And legends are as powerful as any truth. Bajor still needs that legend. It needs you.\nDax: The Yelikan transport is prepared for departure.\nKira: Opening mooring clamps on docking bay six.\nSisko: Major.\nJaro: Commander.\nSisko: Minister Jaro. Li.\nJaro: Navarch Li, as of yesterday's unanimous assembly vote.\nKira: Congratulations.\nLi: Navarch. There's never been one before. They felt any existing title was inadequate, so they created a new one for me.\nSisko: I hear that thousands of people showed up to greet your ship when it arrived on Bajor.\nLi: Yes, it was quite a celebration. I wish I could have stayed longer.\nSisko: What stopped you?\nJaro: The Navarch needed to return here to assume his new post. He's been made the Bajoran liaison officer to Deep Space Nine.\nSisko: I already have a liaison officer.\nJaro: Not any more you don't. Major Kira is no longer assigned to this post. She's been recalled to Bajor. To Be Continued"}
{"text": "Sisko: A number of Admirals at Starfleet Command are worried the destruction of the Bok'Nor might jeopardize the treaty.\nHudson: Oh, are they really?\nSisko: As the two ranking officers along the Cardassian border, we've been asked to assess the potential risk.\nSakonna: I wish to procure weapons.\nQuark: I beg your pardon?\nSakonna: Guns, phaser banks, photon torpedoes\nQuark: Shh!\nSakonna: Troop transports and a number of cobalt-thorium devices.\nQuark: You're a gun runner?\nDukat: I'm here unofficially to help you find out the truth about the Bok'Nor.\nSisko: Why would you want to help me?\nDukat: Because I already know the truth.\nSisko: I've got people out there killing people, Major. You suggest I turn a blind eye to that?\nKira: Well, they don't have a right to defend themselves?\nSisko: They've crossed the line.\nKira: If Starfleet is unwilling to defend their people in\nSisko: They chose to live with the Cardassians.\nKira: Well, I didn't. But I lived with them for twenty six years before the liberation came. Every Bajoran lived with them in constant fear. I know what those colonists are going through.\nKira: We just received a general subspace transmission from somewhere in the Demilitarized zone. A group there is taking credit for the kidnapping of Dukat. They're calling themselves the Maquis.\nHudson: I'm glad to see you had no trouble finding us, Ben. It seems that one disaster after another keeps bringing us back together again. And now for the conclusion.\nHudson: You should have seen the look on your face when you saw me standing there, Ben.\nSisko: I hardly recognized you without your uniform.\nHudson: Well, it's been feeling a little tight lately.\nSisko: Just like that.\nHudson: It's just a uniform, Ben.\nSisko: Is that all it is? I remember when you first put it on.\nHudson: Yes, graduation day at the Academy. We both swore we'd be starship captains by the time we were thirty.\nSisko: And admirals by forty.\nHudson: Yes.\nSisko: I think we've both done pretty well for ourselves.\nHudson: Yes, we have, haven't we? But now I've got something better. These settlers, Ben, if you saw all they have accomplished without any help from the Federation, then you'd fight along with them.\nSisko: I don't think so.\nHudson: They've traveled out here to the back of the beyond and built homes out of the wilderness. Now maybe the Federation can turn their back on them, but I can't.\nSisko: I'm not asking you to, but your joining the Maquis isn't helping anyone. Your actions have only endangered the treaty and put millions of lives at risk.\nHudson: The Federation believes that it can solve every problem with a treaty, but out here, on the frontier, without the power of the Federation to back them up, a treaty is only a piece of paper.\nSisko: Do you have evidence that the Central Command has violated the treaty?\nHudson: Not yet, but we will.\nSisko: If you're depending on Gul Dukat for proof, you're going to be disappointed.\nHudson: We'll find out, won't we.\nSisko: I want him back, Cal.\nHudson: He's not here.\nSisko: Then where is he?\nHudson: I never thought I'd see the day when you'd side with a Cardassian against me.\nSisko: Damn it, Cal. I'm on your side.\nHudson: You've got a funny way of showing it, Ben.\nSisko: I'm trying to stop you from making one of the biggest mistakes of your life. The Federation believes in the treaty. If you destroy it, Starfleet will come after you and they won't be satisfied until you're behind bars. If we work together to end the violence\nHudson: The violence will never end as long as the Central Command continues to smuggle weapons to their colonies. I wish there were a better way to handle this thing. I really do. Nobody wants peace any more than the Maquis.\nSisko: And you're willing to blow up Cardassian ships to get it.\nHudson: The Bok'Nor will never smuggle weapons again.\nSisko: And its crewmembers won't be returning home to their families either. Look, you say that the Central Command is behind the smuggling. Fine. Let's prove it.\nHudson: How?\nSisko: We'll go to Cardassia, find the evidence you need to back up your claim, and when we do, we'll take it to the Federation\nHudson: No. The Federation abandoned us. Told us to take care of ourselves. Well, that's what we intend to do, Ben. But you, you could be invaluable to us. Let us use your station.\nSisko: For what?\nHudson: A maintenance facility for our ships.\nSisko: I can't allow that.\nHudson: Every week innocent people are being murdered by the Cardassians. I will not allow those deaths to go unpunished.\nSisko: You don't want peace, Cal. You want revenge.\nHudson: I prefer to call it retaliation. I'm sorry we won't be working together, Benjamin. It would've been nice. Like old times.\nKira: Commander!\nHudson: Sorry, Ben.\nHudson: Okay, let's go. Knowing Ben's temper when he wakes up, we won't want to be here. Come on. Let's move out.\nSisko: Lieutenant, I want to speak with the Cardassian Central Command.\nDax: Then you're in luck. Legate Parn will be arriving within the hour.\nSisko: A Legate? I feel honored. While I'm waiting, I'll talk with Starfleet.\nDax: Admiral Necheyev's already here.\nSisko: Chief, The Maquis must have transferred Dukat off their ship before they reached that asteroid. I want to know where they've hid him.\nO'Brien: I can retrace their warp trail, see if they met up with any other ships.\nSisko: Do it.\nSisko: Admiral.\nNecheyev: Commander, the Cardassian Central Command has gone on military alert in response to the kidnapping of Gul Dukat.\nSisko: I'm not surprised.\nNecheyev: This Security Chief of yours, the shape-shifter.\nSisko: Odo.\nNecheyev: Odo. Are you sure you wouldn't be better off with a Starfleet officer heading your security team.\nSisko: Admiral, I have complete faith in Odo's ability to do his job.\nNecheyev: If you say so, Commander.\nSisko: I do. And as for Gul Dukat, I assure you we're taking all possible steps to locate him.\nNecheyev: Good. Keep me informed of your progress.\nSisko: I will. But Admiral, there's a bigger issue here than rescuing Dukat.\nNecheyev: And what is that?\nSisko: The Maquis.\nNecheyev: The Maquis are a bunch of irresponsible hotheads.\nSisko: These hotheads are responsible for the bombing of the Bok'Nor.\nNecheyev: I'm aware of that, Commander. We never should've allowed those colonists to remain on the Cardassian side of the Demilitarized zone.\nSisko: Well they're there, Admiral, and they're not leaving.\nNecheyev: What about Commander Hudson? He's lived with these people. What's his analysis of the situation?\nSisko: I'll have to ask him.\nNecheyev: You do that. And Commander, I want you to find the Maquis. Talk to them. Remind them that they're citizens of the Federation. That it is imperative that we preserve the treaty with the Cardassians.\nSisko: A treaty the Cardassians may not be honoring.\nNecheyev: Are you questioning Federation policy, Commander?\nSisko: All I know is that the situation in the Demilitarized zone is deteriorating rapidly.\nNecheyev: Personally, I think you're overstating the problem. Establish a dialogue with the Maquis. They're still Federation citizens. I'm sure they'll listen to reason. Good luck, Commander.\nSisko: Establish a dialogue? What the hell does she think I've been trying to do?\nKira: Commander?\nSisko: Just because a group of people belongs to the Federation it does not mean that they are saints.\nKira: Excuse me?\nSisko: Do you know what the trouble is?\nKira: No.\nSisko: The trouble is Earth.\nKira: Really?\nSisko: On Earth there is no poverty, no crime, no war. You look out the window of Starfleet headquarters and you see paradise. Well, it's easy to be a saint in paradise, but the Maquis do not live in paradise. Out there in the Demilitarized zone, all the problems haven't been solved yet. Out there, there are no saints, just people. Angry, scared, determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive whether it meets with Federation approval or not.\nKira: Makes sense to me.\nSisko: I'm glad someone understands.\nKira: Legate Parn's ship just put in at docking bay five. Maybe you'd like to give the same speech to him.\nSisko: I just might do that.\nOdo: Odo to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Constable.\nOdo: I think you'd better get down to Security. I've caught one of the Vulcan's accomplices.\nQuark: I assure you, I had no idea that Sakonna was planning to kidnap Gul Dukat.\nOdo: Really? Then perhaps you could explain why the two of you were spending so much time together.\nQuark: Surely it's no crime keeping company with a beautiful female. You ought to try it, Odo. It might improve your disposition.\nOdo: Do you expect us to believe that a Vulcan would be interested in you for your lobes?\nQuark: Vulcans are a species that appreciate good ears. Commander, this is very embarrassing, having to discuss my personal life in such surroundings.\nSisko: Embarrassment is going to be the least of your problems unless you tell me what kind of business arrangement you had with this woman.\nQuark: All right. But first I want to make it clear that I was led astray by Sakonna's feminine wiles.\nOdo: Save the excuses, Quark. Just tell us what you were up to.\nQuark: Sakonna was in the market for certain items which I was able to obtain. At a considerable diskount, I might add.\nSisko: What items?\nOdo: We're waiting.\nQuark: Let's see. Where to begin? She wanted some deflector shields, navigational arrays, maybe a couple of hundred photon torpedoes.\nSisko: Photon torpedoes!\nQuark: And pulse cannons and some high energy disrupters.\nOdo: Weapons. You sold weapons to a terrorist group.\nQuark: I did not. The Pygorians sold them the weapons. I merely made some introductions. Besides, I hadn't even heard of the Maquis until after Dukat was kidnapped.\nSisko: I want a complete list of every weapon she purchased.\nQuark: Of course. And if you need some one to testify against Sakonna in court, I'd be more than willing.\nOdo: Would you?\nQuark: In a second. And let me know if there's anyone else who needs testifying against. I'll tell you one thing, Commander, Sakonna was on a tight clock. Whatever she needed those weapons for, it's going to happen within the next few days.\nSisko: Just get me the list.\nOdo: Sir? I assume you'll be going out to search for Dukat again?\nSisko: As soon as O'Brien tells us where to look.\nOdo: As Chief of Security, I'd like to go along.\nSisko: I'll be happy to have you along.\nOdo: One other thing. How long do I keep him in here?\nSisko: Forever.\nQuark: Odo.\nQuark: This isn't funny. Odo!\nKira: Commander, this is Legate Parn. He insisted on seeing you immediately.\nParn: Because my business here is crucial. It demands immediate attention. And as a member of the Cardassian Central Command I must assure you, Commander, that what we have to discuss is most crucial indeed.\nSisko: I understand. I assure you we are doing everything we can to find Gul Dukat.\nParn: Please, Commander, your efforts are appreciated but unnecessary. You see, Central Command has learned that Gul Dukat was the leader of a small group of misguided officers who were funneling weapons to our colonies in the Demilitarized zone.\nKira: The Maquis are right. The Cardassian settlers are being supplied by the Central Command.\nParn: Dukat and the others were operating entirely without our knowledge. Central Command would never sanction anything that would violate our treaty with the Federation. We've arrested Dukat's co-conspirators and they shall be dealt with accordingly.\nSisko: Where does that leave Dukat?\nParn: With the Maquis, where he belongs.\nSisko: Are you saying you don't want him back?\nParn: I assume the Maquis will execute him for his crimes.\nSisko: I wouldn't be surprised.\nParn: Well then, I don't see what difference it makes whether we do it or they do it.\nKira: How do we know they won't use Dukat's death as an excuse to send troops into the Demilitarized zone?\nParn: I can assure you, Commander, that there shall be no retaliation. The Cardassians have no desire to go to war again with the Federation. You have my word.\nKira: Your word?\nSisko: Major. I've found our little talk very enlightening.\nParn: I hoped you would.\nSisko: Unfortunately, I have some business to attend to, but I do hope you'll take the time to enjoy the station.\nParn: Thank you, Commander, but I too must attend to my business. Besides, I am afraid this place has lost its charm since the last time I was here.\nKira: I don't believe a word he said.\nSisko: Neither do I. But he did tell me something that I needed to know. Cal was right. The Central Command is smuggling weapons into the Demilitarized zone.\nDax: We just received a report that three Federation settlers were killed on Hakton Seven. The Cardassians claim it was in response to the destruction of the Bok'Nor.\nSisko: Which gives the Maquis a new excuse to strike back. Chief, what have you found?\nO'Brien: Based on the residual subspace distortion of their warp drive, I was able to plot the course of the Maquis ship that took Dukat. As you can see, long range sensors show no signs of any other vessels traveling along that route.\nSisko: All right. They didn't transfer him to another ship. What about a planet?\nO'Brien: It's possible. Their course took them past five M Class planets. I've downloaded their coordinates into the Rio Grande's computer.\nSisko: Good work. Sisko to Odo.\nOdo: Yes, Commander.\nSisko: Find Doctor Bashir and meet me immediately at landing pad C.\nOdo: On our way.\nKira: Commander, you know there's no reason to go after Dukat. I mean, you heard Legate Parn. They don't want him back.\nSisko: Are you suggesting we leave him to the Maquis?\nKira: Why risk our lives over someone who's caused so many deaths? The way I see it, he's getting exactly what he deserves.\nSisko: The Central Command wants him dead. That's reason enough for us to want him alive. Landing pad C.\nSakonna: My mind to your mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts. My mind to your mind. Your thoughts to my thoughts. My mind to your mind.\nAmaros: What is wrong?\nDukat: It's not working. That is what's wrong.\nSakonna: This is quite puzzling. I am unable to establish a mind meld. It would appear he has the ability to shield his thoughts.\nDukat: It's simply a matter of diskipline.\nAmaros: Now what do we do?\nSakonna: I will rest a while, and then I will try again.\nDukat: You people really do not do this very well, do you? Now, on Cardassia we know how to extract information, though it can get a bit unpleasant, and we all know how the Federation dislikes unpleasantness.\nAmaros: I share very few sentiments with the Federation.\nDukat: Oh, that's right. You're renegades, aren't you? Or so you'd like to think. Unfortunately, the Federation has taught you your lessons all too well. You simply lack the commitment it takes to do what is necessary.\nAmaros: You tell that to the crew of the Bok'Nor.\nDukat: Anyone can blow up a ship. Ha! But to look your enemy in the eye, knowing you'll remember his face for the rest of your life. Now that takes a stomach much stronger than you'll ever have.\nAmaros: We'll see about that.\nSakonna: No. He's right. We do not possess the Cardassian gift for inflicting pain.\nDukat: There, you see?\nSakonna: Nor would we want such a gift.\nAmaros: But we do need to know when the Central Command is sending its next weapons shipment. So if it's all the same to you, Sakonna, I'll take over this interrogation. Then we can find out just how committed I am.\nSisko: I don't think anyone's that interested. Put down your weapons. We're not here to fight you.\nAmaros: If that is true, then you will let us go about our business.\nSisko: I'm not leaving without Dukat.\nAmaros: Then you're not leaving.\nBashir: Look, we're all on the same side here. We all want to stop the arms shipments. Why not work together?\nDukat: Will you stop talking and shoot them.\nSisko: No. That's not what we want.\nDukat: What are you waiting for?\nSisko: Put down your weapons.\nOdo: Do as he says.\nDukat: Shoot them!\nSisko: Let him go. I said, let him go! Odo, get these people secured on the runabout.\nOdo: With pleasure, Commander.\nSisko: Except this one.\nAmaros: You mean I'm free to go?\nSisko: Tell Cal Hudson I haven't told Starfleet anything yet. Tell him we can still solve this thing together, but we're running out of time. Tell him I still have his uniform. He can have it back anytime he wants.\nDukat: Enter.\nSisko: I just came by to see how you were doing.\nDukat: I find a good meal extremely relaxing, especially after a difficult day.\nSisko: So do I.\nDukat: Really? I wonder what else we have in common.\nSisko: Very little, I imagine.\nDukat: Other than the fact that you have my office. Tell me, what's going to happen with your prisoners?\nSisko: They'll be tried for their crimes under the Federation Code of Justice.\nDukat: And if they're found innocent?\nSisko: I doubt that they will, but if they are, they'll be set free.\nDukat: How barbaric. On Cardassia, the verdict is always known before the trial begins. And it's always the same.\nSisko: In that case, why bother with a trial at all?\nDukat: Because the people demand it. They enjoy watching justice triumph over evil every time. They find it comforting.\nSisko: Isn't there ever a chance you might try an innocent man by mistake?\nDukat: Cardassians don't make mistakes.\nSisko: I'll have to remember that.\nDukat: Commander, one thing does puzzle me. Surely the Central Command was informed of my kidnapping.\nSisko: They learned about it almost as soon as it happened.\nDukat: Then why was I rescued by you? Why wasn't the station surrounded by Cardassian ships demanding my release?\nSisko: We did receive a visit from Legate Parn.\nDukat: Ah. I'm sure he made some rather ugly threats on my behalf.\nSisko: He said that you were the one responsible for smuggling weapons into the Demilitarized zone, that if the Maquis did not execute you, then the Central Command would. After a comforting trial, I'm sure.\nDukat: It seems my relationship with the Central Command has somewhat deteriorated. I knew this was inevitable the moment we withdrew from Bajor.\nSisko: Are you saying they blame you for the withdrawal?\nDukat: Ha. There are those who believe I should have killed every last Bajoran while I had the chance. Oh well, it's too late for that, I'm afraid. Commander, it seems I was mistaken\nSisko: Mistaken about the arms shipment?\nDukat: It appears I was misinformed. I'm beginning to believe the Central Command is indeed smuggling weapons into the Demilitarized zone after all.\nSisko: Then you really didn't know, did you?\nDukat: No. They never bothered to tell me. If I help you stop the smuggling, will you help me stop the Maquis?\nSisko: You have a deal. I've scheduled a staff meeting for oh nine hundred.\nDukat: I'll be there. Commander, thank you for coming to my rescue.\nSisko: I'm sure you'd have done the same for me.\nSisko: Constable, you have the list of weapons Sakonna bought from Quark?\nOdo: I do, and quite a list it is. Six ship-mounted high energy disrupters, three particle accelerators, two hundred photon torpedoes and a dozen pulse cannons.\nKira: With that kind of firepower, the Bajorans could've launched a full-scale assault on Cardassia.\nDukat: And lost.\nO'Brien: Sounds like the Maquis have had their fill of border skirmishes. They're ready for something bigger.\nSisko: According to Quark, they're planning their first attack any day now.\nDax: Have you been able to make any headway with Sakonna?\nOdo: Have you ever tried to interrogate a Vulcan, Lieutenant?\nDax: No.\nOdo: Neither did I until today. I wouldn't advise it. That calm measured voice that tells you nothing, that impassive stare. It can be quite frustrating.\nDukat: Perhaps I could question her?\nSisko: I don't think so.\nDukat: Pity. I like a challenge.\nKira: You want a challenge? Finding out how the Central Command is getting weapons into the Demilitarized zone.\nDukat: My guess would be by way of a Xepolite free trader.\nDax: Why the Xepolites?\nDukat: Because the Xepolites have often served as intermediaries for us in the past.\nSisko: So have the Lissepians.\nDukat: Ah, but the Xepolites have never been caught.\nO'Brien: The Xepolite ship isn't responding to our hail, sir.\nDukat: Of course they're not responding. Would you respond to a Federation hail if your cargo bays were full of Cardassian weapons?\nSisko: Scan their ship, Major. Let's see what they're carrying.\nKira: Our scanners can't penetrate their hull.\nO'Brien: No wonder. It's composed of a sensor reflective material. They obviously value their privacy.\nSisko: Chief, you and Gul Dukat remain here. Major, you're with me. Let's go see if it's their privacy or their guilt they're trying to protect.\nO'Brien: Sorry, Commander, you can't transport over. They just raised their shields.\nDukat: You're wasting time. Xepolite ships can reach a maximum speed of warp nine point eight. If they decide to run, we'll never catch them.\nKira: Well what would you suggest?\nDukat: I would breach their shields with my phasers and destroy their bridge.\nKira: Killing everyone there.\nDukat: That's correct. Then I would lock onto the ship with my tractor beam and tow it and its cargo back to the station. Very simple, very effective.\nSisko: And needlessly bloody.\nKira: Sounds like a Cardassian plan to me.\nSisko: Chief, fire a phaser over their bow. Let's see if we can get their attention.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. That woke them up. They're hailing us.\nSisko: On my monitor, Chief.\nDrofo: I am Drofo Awa, Hetman of this vessel. What do you want from us?\nSisko: I'm Commander Benjamin Sisko of the United Federation of Planets. We believe you're carrying Cardassian weapons to their colonies in the Demilitarized zone.\nDrofo: Well then you believe wrong, Commander. My ship is carrying five kilotons of Regreein wheat husks, nothing more.\nSisko: Five kilotons. That's a lot of wheat husks. With your permission I'd like to come aboard and see what that looks like.\nDrofo: Permission denied. And if there's any attempt to board my vessel, I will consider it an act of piracy. Is that clear?\nSisko: Call it anything you like, but you're not going anywhere until we search your ship.\nDrofo: In that case, Commander\nDukat: In that case, you will do exactly as you're told. You will allow us free access to your ship, so that we can verify that you are indeed carrying Cardassian weapons into the Demilitarized zone. You will then follow us back to Deep Space Nine, where your cargo will be confiscated and you will make a full confession detailing everything you know about the smuggling of weapons into the Demilitarized zone. Then you will then sign that confession, after which you and your ship will be allowed on your way. Is that clear?\nDrofo: I don't understand. You're a Cardassian.\nDukat: I'm not just any Cardassian. I'm Gul Dukat, Commander of the Second Order. You have fifteen seconds to lower your shields or we'll destroy your ship.\nDrofo: No, wait!\nDukat: Ten seconds.\nDrofo: It's not that simple.\nDukat: Seven seconds.\nDrofo: I've already been paid!\nDukat: Four seconds.\nDrofo: Stop counting! Stop counting.\nO'Brien: He's lowering his shields.\nDrofo: I'll await your arrival, Commander.\nDukat: I think you can handle it from here.\nQuark: I hope you're happy.\nSakonna: I am a Vulcan. My emotional state is irrelevant.\nQuark: Well I'm a Ferengi, and my emotional state is very relevant, and right now I'm miserable and it's all your fault.\nSakonna: You were well paid for your assistance.\nQuark: Not well enough. Look, I know the Cardassians can't be trusted. I know the Central Command would like nothing better than to destroy the Federation colonies in the Demilitarized zone.\nSakonna: Then you agree with our position?\nQuark: Not for a second.\nSakonna: Why not?\nQuark: Because your position is illogical.\nSakonna: Do you propose to lecture me on logic?\nQuark: I don't want to, but you leave me no choice. It all comes down to the third Rule of Acquisition. You don't know that one, do you?\nSakonna: I am not well versed in Ferengi philosophy.\nQuark: Remind me to give you a copy of the Rules. You never know when they'll come in handy. Now, the third rule clearly states, 'Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to.'\nSakonna: Logical, but I fail to see how that applies to my situation.\nQuark: You want to acquire peace. Fine. Peace is good. But how much are you willing to pay for it?\nSakonna: Whatever it costs.\nQuark: That's the kind of irresponsible spending that causes so many business ventures to fail. You're forgetting the third rule. Right now peace could be bought at a bargain price and you don't even realize it.\nSakonna: I find this very confusing.\nQuark: Then I'll make it so simple that even a Vulcan can understand. The Central Command has been caught red-handed smuggling weapons to their settlers. So, every ship that approaches the Demilitarized zone will be searched. Without the support of the Central Command, the Cardassian settlers won't be so eager to fight.\nSakonna: You forget the weapons they already have.\nQuark: They have weapons. You have weapons. Everyone has weapons. But right now, no one has a clear advantage. So the price of peace is at an all-time low. This is the perfect time to sit down and hammer out an agreement. Don't you get it? Attacking the Cardassians now will only escalate the conflict and make peace more expensive in the long run. Now, I ask you, is that logical?\nDukat: A concealed weapons depot located within a civilian population center?\nSisko: According to Sakonna, the Maquis are going to attack the depot sometime within the next fifty-two hours.\nDukat: But she didn't tell you on which colony the depot's hidden?\nSisko: She says she doesn't know.\nDukat: How convenient.\nSisko: I believe her.\nDukat: Why? Because Vulcans don't lie?\nSisko: As a rule, they don't.\nDukat: They don't blow up ships either, as a rule. But let's assume she is telling the truth. I take it you haven't shared this information with the Central Command?\nSisko: No. I haven't.\nDukat: Good. Because they would never trust you to handle this matter alone.\nSisko: But they would be able to tell me where the weapons depot is located.\nDukat: Leave that to me. I may no longer be a favorite with Central Command, but I know people who are.\nSisko: In the meantime, I'll go to Volan Three, try to talk some sense into the Maquis.\nDukat: And if you can't?\nSisko: Don't worry, Dukat. I told you I'd stop the Maquis, and one way or another I will.\nKobb: I've also been recently informed that thirty five people had to be hospitalized on Umoth Eight after eating from public food replicators. Sabotage is suspected.\nAmaros: Then from now on, guards should be posted at all public replicators throughout the colonies.\nKobb: Thank you. Now, about the new curfew.\nKobb: Commander Sisko, what a pleasant surprise. If you'll just wait a moment, I'll finish up this meeting and we can talk privately.\nSisko: That won't be necessary. I want everyone to hear what I have to say. I don't know how many of you here actually belong to the Maquis. Those of you who don't probably have friends who do. So please make sure you pass along what I'm about to tell you. There is a treaty currently in place between Cardassia and the Federation. If you make yourself the enemy of Cardassia, you make yourself the enemy of the Federation.\nAmaros: That is outrageous!\nKobb: Agreed.\nSisko: I know the Maquis is planning to attack a Cardassian weapons depot. My advice to them and to you is to call it off, because I'll be waiting there and I'll stop you.\nHudson: A very rousing speech, Ben. I suppose my best rebuttal would be to kill you.\nSisko: But you won't.\nHudson: What is this?\nSisko: Your uniform.\nHudson: You always were an optimist.\nSisko: I have reason to be. The way I see it, now that we've stopped the shipments of Cardassian weapons, there's no longer any need for the Maquis. You and I can work together to reach a peace agreement with the Cardassian colonies.\nHudson: It's too late for that.\nSisko: Is it?\nHudson: We're in a war here, and I intend to win it. I could use your help, Ben, and I'm asking you as a friend.\nSisko: As a friend, I have to say no. If you attack that depot, you'll have to get through me first.\nHudson: I hope not. I truly hope not.\nDukat: The Bryma Colony. According to my sources, that's the location of the weapons depot.\nSisko: Then our objective is simple. Prevent the Maquis ships from reaching Bryma.\nDax: We're going to have to intercept them before they're picked up by the colony's sensors.\nKira: Good point. If the Cardassian settlers even suspect they might come under attack, they'll send a message to Cardassia asking for reinforcements.\nO'Brien: I don't care how much the Cardassians care about the treaty. If the Maquis launch an assault against a civilian target, the Central Command will have to respond.\nSisko: We could wind up with a full scale war on our hands. We have to stop the Maquis. Our runabouts will take up a defensive position just outside the Bryma colony's sensor range.\nO'Brien: The best way to detect incoming ships would be to hide a couple of dozen sensor probes in the system's Oort Cloud. That way, we can spot the Maquis no matter what route they take.\nBashir: How many Maquis ships are we expecting?\nOdo: According to Sakonna, they only have two ships capable of mounting the weapons she purchased.\nBashir: So we'll have three ships and they'll have two. The odds are in our favor, anyway.\nO'Brien: That's not going to give us much of an advantage, Julian. The colonists are used to being outnumbered. They'll fight just that much harder.\nDax: How do you propose to stop them?\nDukat: What's that human expression? Shoot to kill.\nSisko: We'll try to stop them with words if possible, with force if necessary.\nKira: So if they fire at us, we have orders to shoot back?\nSisko: That's correct. We'll target their warp engines and weapons arrays, try to disable them.\nDukat: How noble. I hope the Maquis will be as obliging to you.\nSisko: Rio Grande to Mekong and Orinoco. How do you read me?\nKira: Orinoco here. You're loud and clear.\nO'Brien: Mekong here.\nO'Brien: Our communications channel is fully operational and secure. The remote sensor probes I set up still haven't detected any sign of the Maquis ships.\nBashir: Do you really think they're coming? They know we're waiting for them, after all.\nDax: It's possible they changed the\nDax: Time frame of their attack. Postponed it a day or a week.\nSisko: They'll be here.\nSisko: The longer they wait, the greater the chance the weapons depot will be moved to another location.\nO'Brien: Commander, I'm picking up two Federation ships headed our way.\nSisko: Sisko to Hudson. This isn't going to work, Cal. Turn those ships around before someone gets hurt.\nHudson: Please, Ben. Don't make me open fire on you.\nAmaros: He's not going to listen.\nHudson: Initiating evasive maneuvers. Signal Niles to follow my lead.\nAmaros: Right.\nO'Brien: Commander, they're making a run for it.\nSisko: Lock on tractor beams.\nHudson: Damn it.\nAmaros: They've got Niles, too.\nHudson: Let us go, Ben.\nSisko: You know I can't do that.\nHudson: Then I suggest you duck. Fire on their beam emitter.\nDukat: What are you waiting for?\nO'Brien: We're losing tractor lock.\nKira: They're breaking away.\nSisko: Commence firing.\nAmaros: Niles' propulsion system is down. He's drifting.\nHudson: We'll have to even the odds.\nDax: They've hit our navigation array. I've lost attitude control.\nOc: Attempting to compensate with manual thrusters.\nKira: It's not working. Thrusters are still locked.\nSisko: Hang on. Chief, you go after the Orinoco. I'll handle Hudson.\nO'Brien: Right.\nO'Brien: Major.\nKira: Yes, Chief.\nO'Brien: lower your shields. We'll beam you out of there.\nKira: You've got it.\nDukat: They're coming back around.\nHudson: It's just you and me, Ben.\nSisko: I can't let you start a war.\nHudson: I'm not turning back.\nSisko: And you're not going forward.\nAmaros: We're hit. Our photon torpedo tubes are out.\nHudson: Switch to phasers. Come about. Heading one one five mark two three six.\nAmaros: Got it.\nDukat: We've taken a direct hit on our primary fusion core.\nSisko: Initiating emergency core shutdown.\nDukat: The port nacelle is flooded with ionized deuterium. We've lost both warp and impulse engines.\nSisko: We still have maneuvering thrusters.\nAmaros: They're coming back around. Use the phasers.\nHudson: I can't. They've knocked out the power couplings to our weapons array.\nAmaros: What do we do?\nHudson: The only thing we can do. We get the hell out of here.\nDukat: He's turning away. Now's your chance. Fire.\nSisko: It's over, Cal.\nHudson: For now, anyway. Next time tell Starfleet to send someone else. It doesn't feel right, us shooting at one another.\nSisko: There won't be a next time. Stand down.\nHudson: I don't think so, Ben.\nDukat: He's getting away.\nSisko: You run now, I won't be able to protect you. Starfleet'll track you down. You won't be safe anywhere, not even in the colonies.\nHudson: Don't be so sure. I have a lot of friends here. Besides, I've got to help the Maquis finish this thing.\nSisko: You'll be an outlaw, a hunted man.\nHudson: Maybe.\nSisko: You're throwing away your entire life.\nHudson: And beginning a new one.\nDukat: What are you waiting for? He's helpless. Finish him.\nHudson: I'm going to miss you, Ben. You've been a good friend.\nSisko: So have you.\nDukat: No! I thought you were strong, Commander. You're not. You're a fool. A sentimental fool.\nSisko: I said I'd stop the Maquis and I have. But I will not kill a good man for trying to defend his home.\nDukat: You disappoint me.\nSisko: Don't expect me to lose any sleep over it. Mister O'Brien, when you get a chance, I could use come help with these engines.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nKira: Commander, Gul Dukat has left the station.\nSisko: I'm sure he's glad to be going home.\nKira: Chief O'Brien says that the Orinoco and Rio Grande will be up and running in a few days.\nSisko: Thank you, Major. I just got a communiqué from Starfleet congratulating me on my good work, and thanking me for preserving the peace with the Cardassians.\nKira: You deserve it. You prevented a war.\nSisko: Did I? Or did I just delay the inevitable?"}
{"text": "Scene: Station log, stardate 48543.2. A team of Cardassian scientists is coming to the station to assist us in deploying a subspace relay in the Gamma Quadrant. If successful, it will allow communication through the wormhole for the first time.\nOdo: I've assigned these quarters to the senior Cardassian scientist. Her name is Ulani. Her colleague Gilora has the adjacent room.\nSisko: It's warm in here. I take it you've reset the environmental controls.\nOdo: I also had Chief O'Brien reprogram the replicators to provide Cardassian food.\nSisko: Security measures?\nOdo: I've assigned two of my people to follow the Cardassians at all times.\nSisko: Fine. Have them keep their distance. I want the Cardassians to feel like guests, not prisoners.\nOdo: Commander, there are still elements opposed to the peace treaty between Cardassia and Bajor on both sides. We have to be prepared for trouble.\nSisko: I realize that. But while the Cardassians are here, I want the Bajorans to get used to seeing them walking on the Promenade, buying from their shops, eating from their restaurants, getting to know them as something other than brutal overseers.\nDax: I just received the final update from the Cardassians on the transceiver they designed for the communications relay.\nSisko: How does it look?\nDax: I'm still not convinced it's going to work.\nSisko: The Cardassians seem sure that it will.\nDax: I hope they're right.\nQuark: Whose quarters are these? Gilora's or Ulani's?\nOdo: Ulani's. And how do you know their names? I was just informed an hour ago.\nQuark: Odo, please. I have a bottle of Kanar for each of them, along with a personal invitation to Quark's.\nDax: Where did you get real Kanar?\nQuark: I've had three cases in my storeroom since the occupation. There hasn't been much call for it the past few years, but that's about to change.\nSisko: There are only two Cardassians coming to the station. How much Kanar do you think they can drink?\nQuark: There may only be two for now, but there'll be more, thanks to the peace treaty.\nDax: And as the thirty fourth Rule of Acquisition states, peace is good for business.\nQuark: That's the thirty fifth Rule.\nDax: Oh, you're right. What's the thirty fourth?\nQuark: War is good for business. It's easy to get them confused. The way I see it, it won't be long before there's a permanent Cardassian presence on the station. Scientists, diplomats, spies.\nOdo: And they'll all be welcome at Quark's.\nQuark: As long as they can pay. Rumor has it that the shop next door to mine is going out of business. I'm thinking of renting it and setting up a few Cardassian gaming concessions.\nOdo: There'll be no live vole fights on the Promenade, Quark.\nQuark: I would never be party to anything so cruel and inhumane. But, of course, if some Cardassians happened to bring their voles along and they happened to get into a fight, I could hardly be held responsible for\nOdo: Oh, yes you could.\nSisko: And you will be.\nQuark: Fine. Forget the vole fights. But I'll tell you this. Good Kanar is hard to find and I have three cases of it.\nQuark: But that's just the beginning. Soon, Quark's will become known as the best place for Cardassian food and drink in this sector. I'll probably set up daily shipments from Cardassia. I may even need to buy my own transport ship.\nDax: Quark, this Kanar has gone bad.\nQuark: What?\nOdo: I suggest you take your bottles and leave, Quark, before I have you arrested for attempting to poison our guests.\nKira: Excuse me, Commander. There's a Vedek Yarka here to see you. He says it's urgent.\nYarka: Thank you for seeing me, Emissary.\nSisko: What can I do for you?\nYarka: I am here with a warning from the Prophets. They don't want you to let the Cardassians come aboard the station. If you do, you will bring destruction on us all.\nSisko: Are you making some sort of threat, Vedek?\nYarka: Not at all. I'm simply telling you what was foretold in the ancient texts.\nKira: Ancient texts? You mean a prophecy?\nYarka: Trakor's third, when he first encountered the Orb of Change.\nKira: I'm afraid I don't know it.\nYarka: Perhaps you should make more time to study the texts, child.\nSisko: Are you saying that the arrival of the Cardassian scientists was foretold in a Bajoran prophecy?\nYarka: Exactly. Trakor's words are clear. When the river wakes, stirred once more to Janir's side, three vipers will return to their nest in the sky. The river has awoken, Emissary.\nKira: The Qui'al dam was just put back into operation to divert water to the city.\nYarka: Just as Trakor prophesied over three thousand years ago. And even now, the vipers are making their way here.\nSisko: I take it you think the vipers are a reference to the Cardassian scientists.\nYarka: Yes, and this station is their nest in the sky.\nSisko: And how exactly is their presence here going to bring destruction on us all?\nYarka: Trakor said when the vipers try to peer through the temple gates, a sword of stars will appear in the heavens, the temple will burn and the gates will be cast open. You must not let the Cardassians come here. You must not let them violate the Celestial Temple or they will destroy it and Bajor will be cut off from the Prophets forever.\nSisko: Slow down. Now let me get this straight. You're saying that the vipers, the Cardassians, are going to destroy the wormhole?\nYarka: Don't you see? This communications relay you hope to create is part of the prophecy. It will allow the vipers to peer through the temple gates. The wormhole, as you call it. And if they do, the temple will be destroyed.\nKira: Even if we accept that the Cardassians are the vipers, there are only two of them coming, not three. Isn't it possible that there are other mistakes in your interpretation of the prophecy as well?\nYarka: There will be three vipers. You will see.\nSisko: Do you understand what this communications relay could mean for Bajor? If it works, we'll be able to stay in contact with ships in the Gamma Quadrant.\nKira: It'll facilitate exploration, help us monitor Dominion activity, give us warning in case of an attack.\nYarka: None of that matters. You must listen to me. I know it is difficult for you to accept because you are not Bajoran. I have studied the prophecies all my life. We are on the verge of a great disaster.\nSisko: Is the Bajoran Assembly aware of this prophecy?\nYarka: Yes. As is the Kai herself.\nSisko: Yet they still want us to proceed with the establishment of the communications relay.\nYarka: They have chosen to ignore the signs. That is why I came to you, Emissary. Because I have faith in you. I know that you will do what must be done.\nSisko: Vedek, I have the utmost respect for your beliefs, but I have no intention of calling this project off.\nYarka: I hope that you will reconsider, Emissary. My followers and I will remain on the station and pray that you change your mind.\nSisko: You're free to do that, of course.\nSisko: Major, have Odo find out everything he can about Vedek Yarka and his followers. I don't want them making any trouble while the Cardassians are here.\nSisko: I'm Commander Benjamin Sisko and on behalf of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet Command, I'd like to welcome you to Deep Space Nine.\nUlani: Thank you, Commander. I'm Doctor Ulani Belor.\nGilora: Gilora Rejal.\nUlani: The Cardassian Government wishes to express its gratitude to the Federation for agreeing to work together on this project.\nGilora: It is our hope that it will be the first of many such projects between our peoples.\nSisko: That's a hope that I can assure you we share. This is my First Officer, Major Kira.\nKira: And on behalf of the Bajoran Provisional Government, I'd like to welcome you. It's our belief that this project will mark the beginning of a new era of peace for Bajor and Cardassia.\nUlani: Thank you, Major.\nSisko: Well, now that we've gotten the formalities out of the way, how was your trip?\nUlani: Exhausting. We spent most of it rehearsing what we were going to say when we got here.\nGilora: We're scientists, not diplomats.\nSisko: You did very well.\nUlani: Please feel free to let the Central Command know that. In the past few days I've been contacted by Guls I haven't even heard of, all of them wanting to emphasize how important this mission is.\nSisko: I know what you mean. I've gotten three calls from Starfleet Command just this morning.\nUlani: Major Kira, I want to thank you personally for allowing us to come here.\nKira: Me?\nUlani: You're the ranking Bajoran officer on this station. I'm sure we wouldn't be here if you had been opposed to working with us.\nKira: I'll work with anyone who's interested in peace.\nUlani: I'm glad we already have so much in common.\nSisko: Well, why don't I show you to your quarters.\nSisko: The signaling platform we've designed is intended to be positioned in the Gamma Quadrant at this point, two kilometers from the far mouth of the wormhole.\nUlani: Our transceiver has been configured to fit inside it, and use its existing power grid.\nGilora: A similar transceiver will be put in place here on Terok Nor, on Deep Space Nine.\nDax: Ulani, I've looked over your design specifications. I'm not clear on what sort of carrier wave you're planning on using to cut through the interference on the inside of the wormhole.\nUlani: We're planning to test various types of soliton pulses. One of them should maintain the required signal integrity.\nO'Brien: We tried something similar about a year ago without much success.\nGilora: Yes. The Bajoran Government made your data available to us. I believe the problem had to do with a phase variance in your transceiver coils.\nO'Brien: I configured those coils myself. The variance was less than point zero one percent.\nGilora: Which as you saw, was unacceptably high. Our new design has less than half that variance.\nO'Brien: You don't mind if I look at the specs?\nGilora: If you think it's necessary.\nUlani: Commander, we'll need to make a few adjustments to the station's signaling array so that it can accommodate the type of transmissions we're planning to use.\nSisko: Chief O'Brien's people can assist you with that. And when you're ready, we'll take the Defiant to the Gamma Quadrant, deploy the communications relay, and start running tests.\nUlani: Excellent. Well, it's been a long day. We'd like to get some rest so we can start fresh tomorrow.\nSisko: I'll have someone show you to your quarters.\nGilora: Thank you, but that won't be necessary.\nUlani: Thank you.\nSisko: Now those are about the two friendliest vipers I've ever met. I'll explain later.\nUlani: Commander, I almost forgot to tell you. Another colleague of ours, Dejar, will be arriving later today.\nSisko: I'll arrange quarters.\nUlani: Thank you.\nSisko: So we need to discuss what we're going to do about. What is it, Major?\nKira: There are going to be three of them.\nSisko: Yes.\nKira: Three vipers, just like in the prophecy.\nOdo: It turns out that Vedek Yarka is no longer a Vedek at all. He was stripped of his title two months ago.\nSisko: Why?\nOdo: Officially, for teachings not in keeping with the Bajoran faith. But according to my sources, he was defrocked because he led a series of protests against the Vedek Assembly when they endorsed the peace treaty with Cardassia.\nSisko: So Yarka may be using this prophecy as a way to scuttle the peace treaty.\nOdo: That would seem to be his agenda. And it's probably coloring his view of the prophecy, just as your agenda colors how you see it.\nSisko: I don't have an agenda, Odo. I want this project to succeed because I want the peace treaty to succeed. If I thought for a moment there was any possibility that this communications relay could cause damage to the wormhole, I'd put a stop to it right now.\nOdo: That's not the agenda I was referring to, Commander.\nSisko: Oh?\nOdo: I was referring to your desire to distance yourself from the title of Emissary. It's just an observation, of course, but it's always seemed to me that you've never been comfortable with it.\nSisko: I can't deny that. Are you suggesting that I'm dismissing this prophecy too easily because I don't want to be the Emissary?\nOdo: I'm not suggesting anything. But it's been my experience that all humanoids have an agenda of some sort, and that their agendas can influence them without their even realizing it.\nBashir: Morn came by the Infirmary this afternoon. He had an acute case of food poisoning.\nKira: Morn? I didn't think anything could make him sick.\nBashir: Well he said he had a bad glass of Kanar at Quark's.\nKira: He should ask for a refund.\nBashir: Apparently it was on the house.\nYarka: Major, may I have a word with you?\nBashir: I'll see you later.\nKira: What can I do for you, Vedek?\nYarka: Have you been able to convince the Emissary to reconsider his decision?\nKira: I haven't tried and I'm not planning to.\nYarka: But you must. If not, the Celestial Temple will be destroyed.\nKira: I'm not convinced that's going to happen.\nYarka: Don't you believe in the Prophecies?\nKira: Yes.\nYarka: And don't you believe that Commander Sisko is the Emissary?\nKira: Vedek, you have to understand my position here. Commander Sisko is my superior officer. I have to deal with him on that basis first.\nYarka: So you do believe he's the Emissary. You just don't want him to know that. I understand. You want him to know that he can count on you as an officer under his command. You want to keep your work and your faith separate.\nKira: Yes, and for three years now I have.\nYarka: I'm afraid that's no longer possible. The Prophets have chosen you to help the Emissary make this decision. A decision that has profound implications for all of Bajor. You must convince him to make the Cardassians leave before the Sword of Stars appears.\nKira: Vedek, if you're asking me to\nYarka: It is not I who is asking, it is the Prophets. If you turn your back on them now, you're abandoning your faith. And without your faith, Nerys, what do you have left?\nDax: I prefer the serialist poets from the First Republic, like Iloja of Prim. He's easily my favorite Cardassian writer.\nUlani: It is so rare to meet a non-Cardassian who appreciates our literature.\nDax: I took an interest because I had the chance to meet Iloja.\nGilora: You knew him?\nDax: One of my previous hosts, Tobin, met him when he was in exile on Vulcan. As I recall, he had quite a temper.\nUlani: Really?\nQuark: I believe this is the party you're looking for.\nUlani: Dejar.\nGilora: May I introduce Jadzia Dax and Miles O'Brien. Our colleague, Dejar.\nUlani: We weren't expecting you so soon.\nDejar: I was able to arrange special transportation.\nGilora: I'm sure you were.\nQuark: I took the liberty of preparing a few of our special Cardassian delicacies.\nUlani: Tojal in yamok sauce.\nGilora: Regova eggs.\nQuark: All fresh, not replicated. Well, enjoy.\nDax: Is something wrong?\nUlani: It's just, I don't really care for Cardassian cuisine.\nGilora: We try to avoid it whenever possible.\nUlani: Fortunately, those of us in the Science Ministry are provided with a wide variety of offworld foods.\nDejar: Yes, we're actually quite spoiled. Some of us even think of ourselves as better than the average Cardassian.\nO'Brien: The main switching relays are in here. I think we should hook your transceiver to the ODN interface through the\nGilora: What happened to these couplings?\nO'Brien: What? Oh, I made some modifications.\nGilora: But these relays don't have nearly as much carrying capacity as before. They won't be able to handle the signal load from the transceiver.\nO'Brien: Well, in order to bring the system up to Starfleet code, I had to take out the couplings to make room for a secondary backup.\nGilora: Starfleet code requires a second backup?\nO'Brien: In case the first backup fails.\nGilora: What are the chances that both a primary system and its backup would fail at the same time?\nO'Brien: It's very unlikely, but in a crunch I wouldn't like to be caught without a second backup.\nGilora: Well, what's done is done. I'll try to figure out what we should do next.\nO'Brien: Well, I think our best bet would be to go\nGilora: Please, please. Just give me a moment to think.\nO'Brien: Fine. I'll just sit here quietly.\nGilora: Ah. In that case, could you get me a cup of red leaf tea?\nO'Brien: Why not.\nKira: We've loaded the communications relay into the Defiant's cargo bay.\nSisko: Good. How're Chief O'Brien and Gilora coming along?\nKira: They've run into some kind of problem, but the Chief says the transceiver should be online in about four hours.\nSisko: We won't be ready much before that anyway.\nDax: We've received clearance from Ops, Commander.\nSisko: Release docking clamps, and set course a for the wormhole.\nSisko: Full scan.\nDax: No sign of Dominion activity. No other ships in the area.\nSisko: All right, take us into position. Stand by to deploy the relay\nDax: Wait a minute.\nSisko: What is it?\nDax: Reading a large mass of ice and ionized gas entering sensor range, bearing two one five mark three. It looks like a rogue comet.\nSisko: Let's have a look. Put it on screen.\nUlani: It's beautiful.\nDax: Its core contains unusually high concentrations of silithium. That's why its tail is so bright.\nKira: The Sword of Stars.\nUlani: That's a very colorful way to describe a comet, Major.\nKira: It's just a figure of speech.\nUlani: Well, your Sword of Stars is going to pass very near the wormhole, but not close enough to interfere with our plans.\nDax: We're in position, Benjamin.\nSisko: Begin a final systems check on the relay station. I want to deploy it within the hour. Major, can I have a word with you?\nSisko: The Sword of Stars?\nKira: It certainly looked like that to me.\nSisko: That's open to debate. But what is not debatable is that this prophecy has no place on the Bridge of the Defiant, especially in front of the Cardassians. At the moment they are not even aware of it, and I want to keep it that way.\nKira: You're right. It won't happen again.\nSisko: I take it, Major, that you believe the prophecy is coming true?\nKira: Yes, I do.\nSisko: So you think I should call this mission off?\nKira: Look at what's happened already. The river has returned to Janir, the three vipers, now the Sword of Stars. Each of them predicted by Trakor's prophecy. And then there's you, the Emissary. You're here. You have a decision to make just like in the prophecy.\nSisko: Do you really believe that I'm the Emissary?\nKira: I guess I always have. I never wanted to admit it to myself. It's hard to work for someone who's a religious icon.\nSisko: I hope I don't offend your beliefs, but I don't see myself as an icon, religious or otherwise. I'm a Starfleet Officer, and I have a mission to accomplish. If I call it off, it has to be for some concrete reason, something solid, something Starfleet.\nKira: All right, how about this? The Prophets, the aliens who live in the wormhole as you call them, exist outside of linear time. They know the past, present, and the future.\nSisko: Agreed.\nKira: It seems perfectly reasonable that they could've communicated knowledge of the future to a Bajoran named Trakor. He wrote down that knowledge in the form of a prophecy and now, three thousand years later, we are seeing those events unfold. To me, that reasoning sounds concrete, solid, I'd even call it Starfleet.\nSisko: But that all hinges on how you interpret an ancient text that's been translated and re-translated over the centuries. Words that were couched in metaphor to begin with. I'm sorry, Major, but where you see a Sword of Stars, I see a comet. Where you see vipers, I see three scientists. And where you see the Emissary, I see a Starfleet Officer.\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nDax: We're ready to deploy the relay.\nSisko: On my way.\nGilora: All right, now we just have to shunt the ODN line through the secondary field coils.\nO'Brien: We can't do that.\nGilora: Why not?\nO'Brien: Because those coils aren't configured to handle ODN output.\nGilora: Why not? Did you modify them too?\nO'Brien: Actually, I replaced them. They were always shorting out on us. Frankly I don't see how this station kept running during the occupation.\nGilora: Why didn't you tell me you'd replaced the secondary field coils?\nO'Brien: If you had told me know what you were planning to do, I would have.\nGilora: I don't have time to explain everything.\nO'Brien: What, you think I won't be able to understand?\nGilora: It's been my experience that\nO'Brien: What? That humans aren't good engineers?\nGilora: No, not humans. Males.\nO'Brien: I beg your pardon?\nGilora: Men just don't seem to have a head for this sort of thing. That's why women dominate the sciences.\nO'Brien: Maybe on Cardassia. But on this station, this man is Chief of Operations, and I know more about these systems anyone, including you. I think I know what the problem is, so if you want to get that transceiver online, hand me the laser-torch and give me some room.\nSisko: Are we ready on this end?\nDax: Almost. I'm just about to activate the relay's transmission array. Dejar?\nDejar: Standing by. I'm receiving the relay's test signal.\nUlani: Target the signaling array toward the wormhole and initiate a carrier wave in the delta band frequency.\nDax: Initiating carrier wave.\nUlani: If they receive it on the station, they'll send an acknowledging signal on the same frequency.\nDax: I'm not receiving anything.\nUlani: Then we have to assume it didn't work. Let's try the theta band frequency.\nDax: Initiating carrier wave. Something's wrong. I'm picking up a neutrino surge from the wormhole.\nSisko: Report.\nDax: Somehow the carrier wave caused the wormhole to open.\nKira: The wormhole's gravity well has increased by a factor of three.\nSisko: Terminate the carrier wave and maintain our position.\nKira: Gravimetric fields have returned to normal.\nSisko: What happened?\nUlani: I'm not sure. The carrier wave shouldn't have affected the wormhole at all.\nSisko: Was there any damage to the relay?\nDejar: None. I'm still receiving the test signal.\nDax: Benjamin, the gravitational surge altered the course of the comet. It's now heading directly toward the wormhole.\nUlani: If the comet enters the wormhole, the silithium in its core will cause a cascade reaction.\nDax: And collapse the wormhole permanently. Commander's log, supplemental. With less than five hours before the comet reaches the wormhole, I've brought the Defiant back to the station and convened a meeting of the entire science team.\nDax: Apparently the carrier wave we sent created some sort of subspace inversion inside the wormhole.\nO'Brien: That's what caused the gravity well to form.\nUlani: The possibility of subspace inversion was predicted in one of our computer models.\nO'Brien: That wasn't included in the data you sent us.\nGilora: The probability of such an occurrence was less than two percent. Well within safety limitations. So we saw no reason to include it in the data we sent you.\nSisko: It would seem that our scientific methodologies differ slightly. It is our practice to examine all possibilities, no matter how unlikely, before we proceed with field tests.\nUlani: We would, of course, prefer to operate that way as well. However, since the Science Ministry falls under the jurisdiction of the military, we have to follow certain rules. One of them is not to make any project look unnecessarily dangerous.\nSisko: We'll have to keep that in mind when we resume work on the communications relay.\nDejar: That is an extremely unlikely possibility, Commander. The Science Ministry will undoubtedly wish to assemble a new team before proceeding further.\nSisko: That is, of course, an internal Cardassian matter. Chief, Dax feels that we can't risk using tractor beams to deflect the comet.\nDax: It would probably into smaller pieces and we'd have a bigger mess on our hands.\nGilora: The same thing would happen if you tried to destroy it with a phaser beam.\nO'Brien: Not necessarily. I could modify the Defiant's phaser array to generate a beam wide enough to encompass the entire comet.\nUlani: Vaporizing it evenly so it won't break up.\nSisko: How long would the modifications take?\nO'Brien: Three hours.\nSisko: Get on it. We'll be cutting this one pretty close.\nO'Brien: I've accessed the Defiant's primary phaser relay. I'm going to try shunting it through the warp drive.\nGilora: Won't that overload the relay?\nO'Brien: Not if we bypass the plasma emitter.\nGilora: I hadn't thought of that.\nO'Brien: The emitter coupling is over there.\nGilora: What are you doing now?\nO'Brien: I'm decoupling the servos so they don't lock up.\nGilora: You have very steady hands.\nO'Brien: Well they get the job done, I guess. And right now, the most important job is bypassing the plasma emitter.\nGilora: I assure you I'm quite fertile.\nGilora: I could provide you with many healthy children, if that's your concern, but quite frankly I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself.\nO'Brien: Children? What are you talking about? I already have a child, and a wife.\nGilora: You're married?\nO'Brien: Yes, happily.\nGilora: Then why have you been leading me to believe that you wanted me?\nO'Brien: I haven't. All we've done since we met is argue.\nGilora: I took your overt irritability toward me as a signal that you wished to pursue some physical relationship.\nO'Brien: Of course. That's how Cardassians, er, do things.\nGilora: Oh, my. I'm afraid this is a case of cross-cultural misunderstanding.\nO'Brien: I think so. I'm not remotely interested in you. That's not what I meant. No, you are very attractive, and I'm flattered of course\nGilora: Please, Mister O'Brien, there's no need to continue. You've made your feelings clear.\nO'Brien: Gilora, we have to finish this.\nGilora: I'm sure you can complete the job on your own.\nDax: Chief O'Brien said the modifications to the Defiant's phasers will be ready within half an hour.\nSisko: Half an hour ahead of schedule.\nDax: The Chief's a born engineer. He always gives himself a comfortable margin with his repair estimates. Let me guess. You're reading up on Bajoran prophecies concerning the Emissary.\nSisko: There are hundreds of them. Most of them are vague, some are contradictory, but just enough truth in a few of them to make me wonder.\nDax: You mean some of them have come true?\nSisko: If you interpret them a certain way, yes.\nDax: And so now you're wondering if Trakor's prophecy is going to come true as well\nSisko: I have to admit it's getting harder to ignore.\nDax: But Benjamin, there's every reason to believe we'll be able to destroy the comet.\nSisko: I know, but I'm becoming more and more concerned that if I don't send the Cardassians home, something else will go wrong.\nDax: The gates of heaven will burn and be cast open. Let me ask you something. If you'd never heard Trakor's prophecy, what would you do?\nSisko: I'd continue working on the communications relay.\nDax: Then it seems to me you have a choice. You can either make your own decisions or you can let these prophecies make them for you.\nSisko: As soon as the Defiant is ready, have the Cardassians meet us on board.\nDax: Yes, sir.\nDax: The comet is directly ahead. Distance, two hundred kilometers.\nSisko: Bring us to within ten kilometers. Chief, are your phaser modifications online?\nO'Brien: Aye, sir. Phasers are locked on target.\nDax: Holding position at ten kilometers.\nSisko: Shields up. Go to Red Alert. Fire.\nSisko: Chief, what the hell happened?\nO'Brien: I don't know, sir. The entire weapons relay just blew. All defensive systems are down.\nDax: Benjamin, sensors show that the modified phasers never came online. We fired a standard burst and it shattered the comet instead of vaporising it.\nO'Brien: There's no way they should have misfired like that. I modified the systems myself.\nKira: Commander, the three fragments are still on course for the wormhole.\nSisko: How long until they reach the entrance?\nKira: Twenty six minutes.\nSisko: Without weapons we have no way of stopping them.\nO'Brien: The main emitter coupling has been depolarized. I must have accidentally inverted the power flow when I tried to modify the phaser array. I can't believe it. A first year Engineering student wouldn't make a mistake like that.\nGilora: This wasn't your fault, Mister O'Brien. And it wasn't an accident.\nUlani: Gilora.\nGilora: Dejar is a member of the Obsidian Order. She was assigned to our team for security reasons. I believe she sabotaged this coupling.\nSisko: The Order has always been opposed to the peace treaty with Bajor. They sent you here to sabotage the relay because if the first joint venture between Cardassia and Bajor was a failure, it would probably be the last.\nDejar: This is all speculation, Commander. You have no proof.\nKira: If it was sabotage, a DNA scan on the coupling will probably reveal who was responsible.\nSisko: Take her to quarters and detain her there.\nSisko: Now that the comet's been fractured into smaller pieces, can we use the tractor beams to deflect them?\nUlani: They'd just disintegrate further, releasing more silithium.\nSisko: If we can't stop the fragments, is there any way that we can prevent the silithium from interacting with the wormhole?\nDax: Maybe if we could contain it, somehow.\nUlani: If you can generate a subspace field around the fragments, that might contain the silithium.\nO'Brien: The warp drive. It could create a subspace bubble around the ship.\nDax: But we'd have to maneuver the Defiant between the fragments. They're too close together. There's not enough room.\nSisko: A shuttlepod could maneuver between them and its warp drive should be able to create a large enough subspace field.\nO'Brien: Maybe, but it could overload the engines.\nSisko: That's the chance I'll have to take. Major, you have the Bridge. I want you to take the Defiant back into the Alpha Quadrant as soon as I've cleared the shuttlebay.\nKira: Commander, I want to go with you. Not just because I'm your first officer, but because I believe I'm here to help the Emissary.\nSisko: Dax, the Bridge is yours.\nSisko: We've cleared the shuttlebay. Signal the Defiant that they can leave.\nKira: They're heading for the wormhole.\nSisko: I'm going to take us in behind the comet fragments. It'll be easier to maneuver into position.\nDax: Hold position here. They could be in for a rough ride. Stand by transporters in case we need to beam them off the shuttlepod when they clear the wormhole.\nSisko: We're in position. Activate the subspace field.\nKira: Field engaged.\nSisko: We'll reach the entrance to the wormhole in five seconds.\nKira: The subspace field is losing integrity. Some of the silithium is starting to leak through/\nSisko: Divert power from the engines to the subspace field coils. We'll let our own inertia carry us the rest of the way.\nKira: That helped. We're still losing silithium.\nO'Brien: I'm picking up a neutrino surge. Something's coming through.\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko here.\nDax: Are you all right, Benjamin?\nSisko: There was some silithium leakage inside the wormhole, but we're fine.\nO'Brien: I don't believe it.\nDax: What is it, Chief?\nO'Brien: I'm picking up the test signal from the communications relay.\nSisko: How is that possible?\nDax: I'm not sure. We're reading a subspace filament leading back through the wormhole. It's acting like some kind of a carrier wave.\nO'Brien: The comet fragments. They must left a silithium trail in the wormhole.\nSisko: It's almost like the wormhole was wedged open just a crack. Just enough to let subspace signals through.\nKira: The prophecy came true. All of it. We just misinterpreted Trakor's words. The three vipers. He wasn't talking about the Cardassians. He meant the three comet fragments.\nSisko: The communications relay. In a sense we've been trying to peer through the temple gates.\nKira: The silithium ignited the wormhole, burning the temple gates.\nSisko: So that they never close again.\nKira: And it's all because the Emissary used the Sword of Stars.\nSisko: And Trakor saw it all three thousand years ago.\nO'Brien: I just wanted to say that I appreciate what you did on the Defiant. I hope it won't cause you too much trouble when you get back to Cardassia.\nGilora: My superiors in the Science Ministry will protect me. Frankly, I think Dejar is in much more trouble than I am. The Order doesn't reward failure.\nO'Brien: Still, it was a very brave thing to do.\nGilora: I didn't want you to take the blame for something that wasn't your fault. I know how proud you are of your work.\nO'Brien: Too proud, sometimes. It's gotten me into trouble now and again.\nGilora: What's your wife's name?\nO'Brien: Keiko.\nGilora: A lucky woman.\nYarka: Emissary, I'm sorry I doubted you. I realize now I let my distrust of the Cardassians blind me to the Prophets' words.\nSisko: It seems that the Prophets want peace between your two peoples after all.\nYarka: Perhaps so. There are signs that Trakor's fourth prophecy will soon come to pass as well.\nSisko: Don't tell me that has something to do with me?\nYarka: You, Commander? Well, it is a prophecy about the Emissary.\nSisko: Tell me about it.\nYarka: The fourth prophecy says that the Emissary will face a fiery trial and he'll be forced to choose"}
{"text": "Bashir: Lot of kick for a forty five Dom.\nCaprice: Thank you, Mister. Mister?\nBashir: Bashir. Julian Bashir.\nCaprice: Who's that?\nBashir: An uninvited guest. Excuse me.\nBashir: Nice tux.\nGarak: Thank you.\nBashir: Now get out.\nGarak: But Doctor, I've only just arrived.\nBashir: Breaking into a holosuite during someone's program is not only rude, it's illegal. I should call Odo and have you arrested.\nGarak: What an extreme reaction that would be. You must be very embarrassed by this program.\nBashir: I'm not embarrassed. I'm annoyed that you have intruded into my privacy.\nGarak: Privacy, indeed. I think it goes far deeper than that, Doctor. Ever since you received this new program, you've spent virtually every free hour in the holosuite. But you haven't told anyone what the program is.\nBashir: Am I supposed to?\nGarak: No, no, no. But you're such a, forgive me, a talkative man and it's so unusual for you to have secrets.\nBashir: I must have picked up that habit from you. Now, if you will excuse me.\nGarak: Is this fantasy of yours really truly revealing of your inner psyche?\nBashir: What?\nGarak: Is that why you're so protective? Are you afraid that I'll find out some humiliating secrets about the real Julian Bashir?\nBashir: This is a fantasy. I'm not hiding anything.\nGarak: Well, if you've nothing to hide, then why not let me stay?\nBashir: All right. Now I have to be at work in two hours and I'd like to enjoy myself, so keep quiet and don't rain on my parade.\nGarak: Your parade?\nBashir: Never mind.\nGarak: Don't worry, Doctor. I can be quite diskreet. You'll barely know I'm here.\nBashir: Good.\nGarak: But if I may make one observation.\nBashir: Garak.\nGarak: I only want to point out that your lovely companion is leaving. Odd. She seemed so interested in your advances just a moment ago. I wonder what scared her away? Oh, no. I do apologize. You must be incensed. In fact, if I were in your shoes, I would grab a bottle of champagne and shoot me.\nBashir: I can see I'm going to regret this.\nGarak: Don't worry, Doctor. We're going to have a wonderful time. After all, what could possibly go wrong?\nGarak: You live here?\nBashir: That's right.\nGarak: Decorate it yourself?\nBashir: The decor is appropriate for the period. Nineteen sixty-four.\nGarak: How did you pronounce the name of this city?\nBashir: Kowloon. It's part of Hong Kong.\nGarak: And the nightclub was in Paris, which, if I remember correctly, was on the other side of the planet.\nLuvsitt: Mister Bashir, I didn't expect you home so soon.\nBashir: I decided to leave Paris a little early. Allow me to introduce my friend, Mister Garak. Garak, this is my personal valet, Mona Luvsitt.\nLuvsitt: Pleased to make your acquaintance. Would you like to change into something more comfortable?\nBashir: That would be perfect. See if we can find Mister Garak something as well.\nLuvsitt: I'll see what I can do. Would you like me to put this away?\nBashir: Please. Care for a drink?\nGarak: Not just yet.\nGarak: Is she your valet or your personal assassin?\nBashir: Valet. Mona is very capable. She speaks seven languages, has degrees in biology, chemistry, physics, can fly anything from a jet to a helicopter and makes an excellent martini.\nMona: Is there anything else I can do for you?\nBashir: I'll let you know.\nGarak: I take it your character is some kind of rich dilettante with a fascination for women and weapons.\nBashir: Actually, my character is far more disreputable. I'm a spy.\nGarak: A spy? And you live here?\nBashir: Yes. I work for one of the nation states of this era, Great Britain, which is battling various other nations in what is called the Cold War. This apartment, my clothes, weapons, even my valet were provided to me by my government.\nGarak: I think I joined the wrong intelligence service.\nSisko: Orinoco to Deep Space Nine. This is Captain Sisko requesting landing clearance.\nEddington: Welcome back, Captain.\nEddington: You're cleared to set down on landing pad three. How was the conference?\nSisko: Informative, but I've got a ship full of tired officers here. I think we'll all be happy to be in our own beds tonight.\nEddington: I can imagine.\nEddington: There's some message traffic from Starfleet Command for you to look at\nEddington: But nothing\nO'Brien: Captain, there's some kind of power surge in the warp core.\nSisko: Looks like a fluctuation in the plasma coils. We'd better take the warp core offline.\nO'Brien: I can't. There's something wrong with the command control systems. I'm completely locked out.\nWorf: Magnetic interlocks are failing. Warp core breach is imminent.\nSisko: Eject the warp core.\nKira: The ejection system isn't responding.\nO'Brien: Correction. The ejection system is missing. We've been sabotaged.\nWorf: Ten seconds to warp core breach.\nEddington: Orinoco, cut your impulse engines and drop your deflectors. We're going to try to beam you out of there.\nSisko: Acknowledged. Cut main power.\nEddington: I've locked on. Energizing.\nOdo: What happened?\nEddington: Captain Sisko's runabout exploded while I was trying to beam them back. Some of the energy traveled back along the transporter beam and blew up the primary energizing coils.\nOdo: Do we still have their patterns?\nEddington: Yes. They're in the buffer. But the patterns will start to degrade if not used immediately. We need to store the patterns somewhere.\nOdo: This is more complicated than just an ordinary transporter pattern. We're going to have to preserve all the neural signatures of everyone on that runabout. Do you know how much memory it would take to save just one person's neural signature, much less five?\nEddington: I don't think we have any choice. Computer, I need to store all data currently in the transporter pattern buffer. Where can I save it?\nComputer: There is insufficient computer memory to save the data.\nOdo: The pattern buffer's beginning to lose coherence. The patterns will start to degrade any second now.\nEddington: Computer, what if we wiped all computer memory in every system on the station and then stored the patterns?\nComputer: That procedure has not been tested. It cannot be predicted.\nOdo: The buffer is depolarizing.\nEddington: Computer, this is a command priority override. Wipe all computer memory necessary in order to save the patterns from the buffer. Authorisation Eddington zero six five alpha enable.\nComputer: Executing command override.\nOdo: Tricorder. The buffer's lost coherence. The patterns are gone. Did the computer save them in time?\nEddington: I think so, but I'm not sure where.\nGarak: Thank you, my dear. Yes, this should do nicely, although I'm not too sure about the collar.\nBashir: It's perfect.\nLuvsitt: I'll have these cleaned right away. (\nBashir: Thank you.\nGarak: Isn't this a rather ostentatious life for a spy?\nBashir: It's all part of my cover. I'm posing as a wealthy jet-setter, so I have to act like one.\nGarak: Jet-setter?\nBashir: People of this era used to travel in\nKira: Julian. I must have fallen asleep.\nBashir: Very funny. Who else did you invite along with you today?\nGarak: This wasn't my idea. Major?\nKira: Colonel, actually. Colonel Anastasia Komananov, KGB. Oh, Julian, I never thought I'd see you alive again. Not after you fell out of that dirigible over Iceland.\nBashir: I had a parachute, and there was a submarine there waiting for me. But how do you know about that? Have you been downloading my holosuite programs?\nKira: Oh Julian, you are not well. Let's lie down.\nGarak: I must say, Major Kira's certainly throwing herself into the role, Doctor.\nBashir: Nerys, please.\nKira: Who is this Major Nerys Kira?\nBashir: Kira Nerys, actually.\nGarak: Perhaps this isn't Major Kira after all.\nBashir: I'm beginning to think you're right. Computer restore the image of Colonel Komananov back to its original parameters.\nComputer: Unable to comply. The character parameters of Colonel Komananov are correct.\nGarak: I'd say someone's been tampering with your program, Doctor.\nKira: Julian, we don't have time for games. There is much to talk about.\nBashir: Excuse me. Computer freeze program.\nComputer: Unable to comply. Computer control has been disrupted due to station-wide emergency.\nGarak: Emergency?\nBashir: Bashir to Ops. What's going on?\nOdo: We've got our hands full right now, Doctor. Stand by.\nEddington: Odo, wait. Doctor, where are you? And do you have access to a working computer console?\nBashir: I'm in holosuite three.\nBashir: The program's running but it won't comply with my commands.\nEddington: The program is still running?\nKira: I demand to know who you are talking to!\nKira: Julian, tell me.\nOdo: That sounded like Kira.\nBashir: Not exactly.\nBashir: Someone has replaced one of the characters with the image of Major Kira. What's going on?\nEddington: Stay where you are\nEddington: Doctor. Keep the program running for now. We'll get right back to you.\nKira: Julian, talk to me. Tell me what is happening.\nBashir: I'm not sure myself.\nEddington: Ops to Bashir.\nEddington: Doctor, whatever you do, don't end that program.\nBashir: Why not?\nEddington: There's been a transporter accident.\nEddington: We believe the holosuite memory core is holding the transporter patterns of five crewmembers. If you stop the program, their patterns\nEddington: Might be lost.\nBashir: How could that happen?\nEddington: It's a long story.\nEddington: But at this moment the patterns of Captain Sisko, Kira, Worf, Dax and O'Brien exist only in the holosuite database.\nOdo: Don't leave the holosuite. If you do, it might disrupt the holo-imaging array and right now we can't take any chances. You'll have to stay in there and keep the program running for now.\nBashir: Understood.\nOdo: We'll get back to you, Doctor.\nKira: Oh, Julian, you are so tense.\nBashir: It's been one of those days\nKira: I wish I could relax you but I am here on business.\nKira: In the last twenty-four hours, a series of earthquakes have struck cities from Vladivostok to New York. Our seismologists have analyzed the earthquakes and come to the conclusion that they are artificial.\nGarak: So? That's not so difficult. One only has to\nBashir: Garak.\nKira: Your friend seems to know something.\nBashir: Believe me, he knows nothing.\nKira: If you say so. Because of the global nature of this crisis, my government and yours have decided to cooperate. We will be working very closely.\nBashir: I'm sure we will.\nKira: Our assignment is to find out who caused the earthquakes and what they want.\nGarak: A rather vague assignment.\nKira: We do have one clue. One of the world's leading seismologists, Professor Honey Bare, has vanished. We believe she has been kidnapped.\nKira: I didn't think she was your type.\nBashir: You said she's been kidnapped.\nKira: We think so. She disappeared only a few hours before the first quake struck New York City.\nGarak: Doctor, we're in the middle of an emergency. Is this really the time to be playing games?\nBashir: Look.\nGarak: Interesting.\nBashir: If Honey Bare is killed, the computer will erase her character from its program. Now since the program thinks that Dax is Honey Bare\nGarak: The computer would actually be erasing Commander Dax's pattern.\nBashir: Kira, erm, Ana. Do you have any idea where Professor Bare is?\nKira: She was last seen\nBashir: I'll be right with you, Mona.\nGarak: Chief.\nBashir: No. It's Falcon.\nO'Brien: Nice to see you, Mister Bashir. Now I think we have a little unfinished business.\nO'Brien: Surprised to see me, Mister Bashir?\nBashir: You could say that.\nO'Brien: Well, you should use something a little more lethal than a champagne cork. Something like this.\nKira: Wait! Wait, please. Let us have one last kiss.\nO'Brien: Why not? I've always been a romantic at heart.\nKira: Earring.\nO'Brien: All right, Bashir. That's enough.\nGarak: Interesting jewellry.\nBashir: I bought those for Anastasia last Christmas. You're bleeding.\nGarak: The holosuite safeties must be off.\nKira: Time to clip this bird's wings.\nBashir: No!\nKira: Niet! What are you doing?\nBashir: We can't kill him.\nKira: Julian, what are you saying? He's been trying to kill you for nine years.\nGarak: I wouldn't dismiss her idea so quickly, Doctor.\nBashir: But that's Miles.\nGarak: No. As you pointed out, he's Falcon, a hired assassin who's going to do everything he can to kill you. And without the holosuite safeties in place, he may do just that.\nBashir: What do you want me to do? Kill him?\nGarak: I want you to stop treating this like a game where everything's going to turn out all right in the end. Real spies have to make hard choices. You want to save Dax? Fine. But you may not have the luxury of saving everyone.\nKira: Who is Dax?\nGarak: Eventually you may have to let someone die.\nBashir: I'll deal with that situation if and when it happens. In the meantime, we have to find Dax.\nKira: Who is Dax?\nBashir: Ana, I promise I'll explain everything later. Now, you said Professor Bare had been kidnapped. Do you have any suspects?\nKira: We believe that Doctor Noah is behind the abductions. During the past two years, he has kidnapped an elite group of sixty artisans and scientists from around the world. No one knows why or where he has taken them, but our sources tell us that each of the missing people was invited to meet Doctor Noah at a club in Paris shortly before they disappeared.\nBashir: The Club Ingénue?\nKira: Da.\nBashir: I had a feeling. Sorry, my dear. I hope you remember how to tie a bow-tie. We're going to Paris.\nKira: Who is Dax?\nRom: I've had to make a few modifications to this holosuite over the years.\nEddington: A few? It's like a junkyard in here.\nRom: My brother won't let me buy new components so I've had to scavenge for what I need.\nQuark: I'm barely breaking even on the holosuites as it is. If I had to buy new equipment every time there was a glitch.\nEddington: Where's the core memory interface?\nRom: Oh it's right behind the spatula.\nEddington: The spatula?\nRom: It's made of a copper-ytterbium composite, the perfect plasma conductor.\nEddington: I've found them. All five of their physical patterns are in here and they're stable.\nOdo: Why here?\nEddington: The holosuite is specifically designed to store highly complex energy patterns. The computer's processing their physical patterns as if they were holosuite characters. Trouble is, I'm not reading any neural energy.\nRom: Neural energy has to be stored at the quantum level. The holosuite can't handle that.\nOdo: So if their physical bodies are stored here, where are their brain patterns?\nQuark: Everywhere else. Their brain patterns are so large that they're taking up every bit of computer memory on the station. Replicator memory, weapons, life supports.\nOdo: He may be right. So what do we do about it? How do we get them back?\nBashir: I'd like to see Doctor Noah. I have an invitation.\nWorf: May I see your invitation?\nBashir: Doctor Noah?\nWorf: I am Duchamps. I am Doctor Noah's associate.\nBashir: May I?\nBashir: My name's Merriweather. Patrick Merriweather. And this is my wife Anastasia. And my friend Mister Garak.\nWorf: Charmed. Your invitation, Mister Merriweather?\nBashir: I don't have one.\nWorf: The Doctor does not like unexpected guests.\nKira: I believe Doctor Noah would be very interested in meeting my husband. He's one of the leading geologists in the world.\nWorf: Now why would that interest Doctor Noah?\nGarak: We believe he's taken quite an interest in the sciences. After all, he has invited several of the world's top scientists to this club. Isn't that true?\nBashir: I must say I feel a little insulted by being left out of such an illustrious group.\nWorf: How unfortunate. Of course, a meeting still can be arranged. For a price.\nBashir: Oh?\nWorf: Five million francs.\nBashir: No problem.\nWorf: I do not understand. Where's the rest of your money?\nBashir: Right in front of you. Shall we begin?\nOdo: A Cardassian separatist group calling themselves The True Way has claimed responsibility for sabotaging the runabout.\nEddington: Ever heard of them before?\nOdo: They're opposed to the peace treaty, they blame the Federation for Cardassia's economic and political troubles, et cetera, et cetera. Until now, they've never committed any terrorist action to support their beliefs. What have you found?\nEddington: From what we can tell, Quark was right. The computer has stored the neural energy patterns of everyone on the runabout throughout the entire station.\nQuark: Don't everyone thank me at once.\nRom: What we need to do is re-integrate their neural patterns with their physical patterns from the holosuite and rematerialize them.\nEddington: I say we use the Defiant. Its power systems and computers are independent of the station and it has its own transporter.\nRom: Sounds good. Except\nEddington: Except what?\nRom: Well, my equipment isn't designed to interface with Starfleet systems. I may have to make some modifications.\nBashir: Card.\nBashir: Nine. Five million francs.\nWorf: You're quite a baccarat player, Mister Merriweather.\nBashir: Baccarat and geology are my life. Now then, Mister Duchamps, I believe we've met your conditions.\nBashir: When do we leave?\nWorf: Right now.\nKira: что случилось?\nGarak: Another decorator's nightmare. This era has a distinct lack of taste.\nBashir: Where are we?\nSisko: Welcome to Paradise, Mister Merriweather. I believe you've been looking for me. My name is Hippocrates Noah.\nSisko: Mister Merriweather, I understand your field is geology.\nBashir: That's right.\nSisko: Then I'm sure you can appreciate these stones in my most recent acquisition.\nBashir: A most striking display of rubies, tourmaline, sapphire, topaz. Judging by the high chromium content in the rubies, I'd say they come from the hydrothermal deposits on the Tibetan plateau. Which isn't surprising, considering we're on the south eastern slope of Mount Everest at about twenty two thousand feet, I should say.\nSisko: Twenty five actually.\nBashir: You must not get many tourists.\nSisko: My guests and I place a premium on our privacy. We don't want any unwelcomed guests, such as men sent by governments who disagree with my political philosophy.\nKira: And what is your philosophy? Are you some kind of anarchist?\nSisko: Quite the opposite. I believe in an orderly world. A far cry from the chaos we find ourselves in today. We are building a new future here. A new beginning for mankind. A new chapter in human history will open right here on my island.\nBashir: Island?\nSisko: Forgive me. Sometimes I do get ahead of myself. Allow me to explain.\nDax: We're almost ready. I've programd the laser sequence and I'm making some last minute adjustments to a South American Site.\nSisko: I do have every confidence in you, my dear.\nKira: She's working with him.\nSisko: You see, Mister Merriweather, I intend not only to create a new future, I intend to create a new world. At each one of these points, I have hidden a new form of laser. One that can penetrate the Earth's crust down into the mantle itself.\nBashir: The global earthquakes.\nSisko: Those were only tests. Soon I will activate all of these lasers together, and when I do, they will produce worldwide earthquakes the likes of which we have never been felt before.\nGarak: Killing everyone on the planet.\nSisko: More than that. There comes a time when a house has been so damaged by termites that you must not only kill the termites but demolish the house and build again. The quakes are only a minor side effect. The real goal of this project is to have these lasers of mine produce massive fissures in the Earth's crust, releasing millions of tons of molten lava. Now, Mister Merriweather, you're the geologist. Tell me what happens next.\nBashir: Once that much lava is released, the tectonic plates would begin to settle.\nSisko: And the surface of the planet will shrink, just like letting air out of a balloon.\nKira: But if the surface of the Earth shrinks, the oceans\nBashir: Will cover the Earth. Diabolical.\nSisko: Visionary. I am going to let mankind begin anew, here on this island paradise, the only place that will remain above water on my brave new world. And that is why I have gathered the finest minds, the very best that mankind has to offer. We will repopulate and start a new human race. Pity you won't be able to join us.\nBashir: Are you revoking my invitation?\nSisko: I intend to do more than that, Mister Bashir. Not only have I brought the greatest minds to my mountain retreat, but I have also hired the greatest protection that money can buy. I believe you already know my newest employee.\nEddington: Is all this really necessary?\nRom: It's the best I can do.\nEddington: How long until we're ready to try retrieving their patterns?\nRom: I'd say another hour.\nEddington: O'Brien's going to kill me when he gets back.\nSisko: This is one of a seventy four lasers I've deployed around the world. When I throw that switch, it'll begin a five minute countdown that even I can't stop. Once the laser fires, the whole cave will be filled with molten lava.\nBashir: Where's Colonel Komananov?\nSisko: She's a spirited individual. Young, healthy. We'll need women like her to help propagate the second human race.\nSisko: Try to stay cool, Mister Bashir.\nGarak: So what do we do now?\nBashir: I'm thinking.\nGarak: Think faster. I don't know if I've made this explicit to you or not, Doctor, but I really don't want to die chained to a twentieth century laser. I think it's time to end this program.\nBashir: We can't do that. We'd wipe out the patterns of Sisko and the others.\nGarak: Then may I suggest calling Commander Eddington and having him send someone in here to remove these handcuffs?\nBashir: You heard what Odo said. We don't know what'll happen if we interrupt the holo-imaging array by calling for the doors. The entire program might collapse and kill them all.\nGarak: Well I only know one thing for sure, Doctor, that when the molten lava begins pouring into this cave, you and I are going to be very uncomfortable.\nGarak: Who's that?\nBashir: It's our ticket out of here.\nBashir: What a waste. That no one can see what a beautiful woman you are.\nGarak: Is that your plan?\nBashir: Shut up. Noah only wants you for your mind. He can't appreciate the woman inside you. Honey, would you grant me one last request and take off those glasses?\nDax: Like this?\nBashir: You know, your hair would look so much better if it were free.\nGarak: I must say, Doctor, this is more than I ever wanted to know about your fantasy life.\nBashir: There. That's the last thing I want to remember before I die.\nDax: Thank you.\nGarak: I'd give you both some privacy if I could.\nGarak: Great plan. Now can we call Eddington?\nBashir: That will not be necessary. Honey has given me all we need.\nGarak: Kiss the girl, get the key. They never taught me that in the Obsidian Order.\nBashir: Come on! (The laser lights up.\nBashir: We have to get to the control room.\nGarak: What?\nBashir: If this program ends like the others, either Komananov or Honey Bare will be killed by Doctor Noah. The other's supposed to end up with me. In either case, we have to make sure that both of them survive.\nGarak: You expect to take on Noah and his men with that?\nBashir: It's my fantasy. Trust me.\nGarak: No! This has gone far enough. It's time to cut our losses.\nBashir: We can't do that. Kira or Dax might\nGarak: Yes, they might be killed, and that is unfortunate. But there comes a point when the odds are against you and the only reasonable course of action is to quit!\nBashir: Quit? GARAK Yes.\nBashir: Is that what they taught you in the Obsidian Order? To give up when things get tough?\nGarak: As a matter of fact, they did. That's why I've managed to stay alive while most of my colleagues are dead. Because I know when to walk away. And that time is now. And you'd know that, Doctor, if you were a real intelligence agent.\nBashir: Oh, so that's what this is all about. The fact that my fantasy happens to step on what you consider to be your private domain. Well what's the matter, Garak? Have I bruised your ego by play-acting at something you take so very seriously?\nGarak: That's something else you've yet to learn, Doctor. A real intelligence agent has no ego, no conscience, no remorse. Only a sense of professionalism. And mine is telling me that it's time to go. Computer!\nBashir: Don't.\nGarak: Or what? You'll kill me?\nBashir: If you call for the exit, you might kill Sisko and the others, and I'm not prepared to risk that.\nGarak: I'm afraid I don't believe you'll pull that trigger.\nBashir: I wouldn't be so sure about that.\nGarak: It's time to face reality, Doctor. You're a man who dreams of being a hero because you know, deep down, that you're not. I'm no hero either, but I do know how to make a choice, and I'm choosing to save myself. Computer, show me the mechanism\nBashir: You'll be fine. It's just a flesh wound.\nGarak: That was awfully close. What if you'd killed me?\nBashir: What makes you think I wasn't trying?\nGarak: Doctor, I do believe there's hope for you yet.\nBashir: I'm so relieved. Now, we have to get to the control room. Are you coming or not?\nGarak: Well, who am I to question Julian Bashir, secret agent? Lead on.\nBashir: Everybody stay where you are.\nDax: Julian.\nBashir: Your weapon, Doctor Noah.\nSisko: This is your doing. You let them go.\nDax: I'm sorry, Doctor.\nKira: Julian, you are just in time. He was about to activate the final sequence of the lasers. Kill him, Julian.\nBashir: Not this time, Ana.\nKira: Well then, I will.\nBashir: No!\nKira: What are you doing?\nWorf: Making a mistake.\nSisko: Thank you, Mister Duchamps.\nEddington: Eddington to Bashir. We're going to try rematerializing their patterns in about two minutes.\nBashir: Understood.\nSisko: What is it you understand, Mister Bashir? That you should've killed me when you had the chance? I agree. But then again, I suppose it wouldn't be very heroic. I, on the other hand, have no pretensions about the idea of being a hero.\nBashir: Wait! Maybe I'm tired of being a hero. Maybe I've thought over what you said and decided that you're absolutely right.\nSisko: About what?\nBashir: Everything. The decadence of the world, the need for order. The more I think about it, the more I realize that your way may be the only way.\nSisko: Ha!\nSisko: You expect me to believe that? You are Julian Bashir. A man who has spent his entire life dedicated to fighting against\nBashir: Yes, but all that's about to end now, isn't it? You're going to destroy this world and start a new one. What's the use of me continuing to defend a doomed planet? Can you see the sense in that?\nSisko: No.\nBashir: No. I'm an intelligence agent, and if there's any one thing I've learnt, it is that there comes a point when the odds are against you and there is no reasonable course of action but to quit. How do you think I've managed to stay alive so long when all of my compatriots are dead? It is because I have known when to walk away.\nRom: Rom to Ops. I'm ready. You can start transferring the neural energy to the Defiant.\nOdo: Acknowledged.\nOdo: Beginning data transfer.\nSisko: You make a very interesting argument, Mister Bashir. But I'm afraid I've been looking forward to killing you for a long time.\nBashir: You need to move beyond that. You need to start thinking about your new world order. You may even need someone like me.\nSisko: If you think that by going over there you are going to destroy my control console, you're wasting your time.\nBashir: I don't intend to destroy your console, Doctor. I intend to use it.\nDax: You've just activated the final laser sequence.\nKira: You've destroyed the Earth.\nOdo: Data transfer complete. I am re-establishing computer control over the station.\nO'Brien: It's working just as you planned. You've done it, Doctor.\nSisko: Yes. But somehow, I didn't expect to win. I suppose the only thing left to do now is to kill you.\nSisko: What happened, Commander?\nO'Brien: What did you do to my ship?\nEddington: It's going to take some explaining. Eddington to Bashir. We've got them, Doctor. You can leave\nEddington: The holosuite now.\nBashir: Thank you.\nGarak: Interesting. You saved the day by destroying the world.\nBashir: I bet they didn't teach you that at the Obsidian Order.\nGarak: No, no. There was a great deal they didn't teach me. Like the value of a good game of chance, or how indulging in fantasy keeps the mind creative.\nBashir: Lunch tomorrow?\nGarak: Of course. But why don't we have it at your place, in Hong Kong. Unless, of course, this was your last mission.\nBashir: Oh, I think it's safe to say that Julian Bashir, secret agent, will return."}
{"text": "Bashir: I knew that my paper was controversial, but I had no idea it would turn the entire conference upside down. Believe me, Jake, panel discussions between doctors are usually a lot more civilized than that.\nJake: I don't know. They seemed polite enough to me.\nBashir: Oh, that was just a veneer. That paper stepped on quite a few toes, I can tell you. It's heresy to even consider the possibility that prion replication could be inhibited by quantum resonance effects. Aren't you going to take any notes?\nJake: Good idea.\nBashir: According to the so-called experts, it's all a matter of amino acid re-sequencing and disulfide shuffling. Quantum dynamics has nothing to do with it.\nJake: I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about.\nBashir: But how can that be? After all, peptide bonds can be reconfigured on a\nBashir: Quantum level. Ah, now get this. This is very good. A few months ago\nJake: If I don't find a way to get out of doing this article, my first writing assignment is going to be my last. Maybe if I write to The Journal and explained. Dear editors, thank you for the confidence expressed in my by accepting my proposed profile of Doctor Bashir. Unfortunately\nBashir: I was running a neural scan and noticed some anomalous protein readings. I thought there must be some mistake, so I ran an at the Journal and amino acid sequence to be sure. But there it was again, the prion mutation rate had spiked. I couldn't believe it. It meant the anomalous proteins had to have a strong quantum resonance.\nBashir: Do you follow?\nJake: Sort of.\nBashir: Good. Because that's the key. The protein anomalies. They indicate a correlative\nJake: Who cares about anomalies? People want stories about things they can relate to. Life and death, good and evil. An outbreak of Cartalian fever would be just the thing. The brave doctor battles the deadly virus. Listen to me, I'm actually rooting for a plague.\nBashir: Increase in prion replication. And that can only mean one of two things either the peptide bonds are unstable, or some other factor is causing the mutations. Rather than start the laborious process of running\nBashir: Quantum scanning each and every peptide bond, I thought I'd begin to make some kind of\nBashir: It's a distress call from the Federation colony on Ajilon Prime. They're under attack. The Klingons have landed troops.\nJake: So much for the cease fire.\nBashir: The main hospital's been damaged. They're short on doctors and running low on supplies.\nJake: What are we waiting for? Let's go.\nBashir: It's risky. The hospital's only fifty kilometers away from the front line.\nJake: You put yourself into dangerous situations all the time.\nBashir: Maybe, but that's not the same as putting you into one.\nJake: Don't worry about me.\nBashir: You're too young to die, Jake.\nJake: I'm eighteen. You know what I mean. I've been on the station when it was under attack plenty of times. I can handle myself. I'm a Sisko. There are lives at stake. These people need you.\nBashir: I hope I don't regret this. We'll be there in just under an hour. I can only imagine what your father's going to say.\nJake: He'll understand.\nBashir: I'll get you out of there as soon as reinforcements arrive. Besides, I wouldn't want you to miss the deadline on your story. Do you think they want a picture of me? Anyway, about those quantum scans I was telling you about.\nJake: Surgery Under Fire. Now we're talking.\nBashir: Instead of scanning each peptide bond, it occurred to me that I could scan for irregularities in the\nOdo: What is it, Quark?\nQuark: The Chief asked me to come up with a decaffeinated raktajino for Kira. I'm thinking of marketing it.\nKira: Ugh, ugh, ugh that's awful.\nO'Brien: Give it a chance. Let me taste.\nO'Brien: Quark!\nQuark: I did the best I could. The removal of caffeine from beverages has plagued bartenders and restauranteurs for centuries. You can't expect me to solve it overnight.\nO'Brien: I'm not paying for that.\nOdo: So much for Quark-tajino.\nO'Brien: I want to get her off caffeine, not poison her.\nKira: You make me sound like some kind of addict.\nDax: She has maybe two raktajinos a day.\nO'Brien: Look, I just don't want my son to be born with a caffeine habit, that's all.\nDax: You're being ridiculous. Why does pregnancy always make men hysterical?\nO'Brien: Excuse me, this is not the first baby I've had.\nKira: Excuse me. Keiko had Molly.\nDax: It's not up to you to tell Kira what she can and cannot do.\nWorf: She is carrying his child, he should have some say.\nQuark: As the lessee, he does have certain rights. Back home, pregnancy is considered a rental. KIRA +\nDax: Rental?\nOdo: Something wrong, Captain?\nSisko: I just talked to Doctor Bashir. He's on his way to Ajilon Prime to answer a request for medical assistance.\nKira: Jake's with him.\nSisko: According to the latest reports, Klingon ground troops have captured two settlements in the northern hemisphere.\nWorf: Half the colonists are still trapped on the planet. There are no ships in the area to evacuate them.\nO'Brien: We're three days away at best.\nSisko: The Farragut will get there the day after tomorrow. Bashir says that he and Jake will leave as soon as the relief teams are in place.\nDax: That means they'll be home by Thursday. Doesn't give you much time to snoop through Jake's things.\nJake: Ready to beam down?\nBashir: No, we can't leave the runabout in orbit, not with the Klingons around. Besides, the colonists moved what was left of the medical equipment underground when the hospital was destroyed and there's magnesite in the rock face. There's no way to transport through it.\nJake: I guess we'll have to find a place to set down.\nBashir: Looks like there's a clearing about a kilometer away from the main settlement. Jake, things could get a little rough down there. They've got a lot of wounded.\nJake: I'll be all right.\nBolian: We've got more wounded coming in.\nNurse: I'll need that plasma!\nKalandra: Are you Bashir?\nBashir: We got a distress call.\nKalandra: Resource said you were on your way.\nKirby: Watch it! Watch it! This is the last IP.\nNurse: His pulse is thready. He must be bleeding somewhere.\nKirby: We are losing him!\nNurse: Doctor Kalandra.\nKalandra: Bashir, jump in. Standard triage. Give him fifteen mils inoprovaline.\nJake: What should I do?\nBashir: Just keep out of the way, please.\nKalandra: Get this man into surgery!\nBolian: The artery's severed. Her BP's bottomed out.\nNurse: Oh two, three liters. Run full saline.\nJake: Somebody! This man needs help!\nEnsign: Help me! Somebody help me! I've been hit. Took a disruptor blast real close.\nBolian: I need that blood plasma!\nBashir: Let's get you up on the table.\nKalandra: There's nothing we can do. He's too far gone.\nBashir: It doesn't look that bad.\nEnsign: I was stepping over a Klingon. I thought he was dead. He got me right in the foot. You people better get out of here while you still can. The Klingons, there's no stopping them.\nBashir: This is a phaser burn.\nEnsign: What are you talking about?\nBashir: Just sit tight. We'll get to you as soon as we can.\nEnsign: It's not a phaser burn! It was a Klingon. You weren't there. You don't know what it's like. The Klingons had us pinned down. We were done for. We all knew it. Hendriks and Pajal, they got scared. They ran. They ran! Then Sully got hit in the leg and the medics pulled him off the line. And all I could think was, I wish I were him. And I took my phaser. Oh, God! What did I do to myself? What did I do?\nBolian: Find someplace else to stand.\nJake: No problem.\nJake: Triage, the sorting of the wounded, forces decisions that. I got to get a grip. Focus. Decisions that test what it means to be a doctor.\nKirby: Hey, you! Give me a hand. Come on! Come on! I've got to get some plasma for this guy. Keep an eye on him for me. I'll be right back. (The wounded man grabs Jake's shirt and tries to sit up. Now he's got blood on him.\nKirby: Wait, wait, wait. This way. Over there. Watch it! Watch it! Nice catch. Here you are, sir. A nice private room with a view. One, two, three.\nKirby: Well, you can count. You're hired. Let's get you dressed.\nBashir: I'd like to try an aortal graft.\nKalandra: All right. There's an extra surgical table in the back.\nJake: He's dead.\nKirby: Come on. Let's get him out of here.\nJake: One, two three.\nNurse: Party's over.\nKirby: So soon?\nBolian: And we were just starting to have fun.\nBashir: Since you two aren't busy, would you mind carrying me to the nearest replicator so that I can get something to eat?\nOdo: You wanted to see me, Captain?\nSisko: Yes, I hear you took a little trip to the Infirmary.\nOdo: I'll be fine. The only permanent damage was to my pride.\nSisko: What happened?\nOdo: Quark wanted me to keep an eye on two Yridians who he suspected were cheating at dabo. Turned out he was right. I could see from the second level that one of them was using a miniature gravimetric scanner to predict where the ball would land on the wheel, and signaling the information to his partner.\nSisko: Ingenious. Go on.\nOdo: I started down the stairs to make the arrest. One of them spotted me. They bolted, I pursued. I'm afraid I got a bit carried away.\nSisko: And jumped off the stairs.\nOdo: I was planning to change form in mid-air and become a Tarkalean condor.\nSisko: That would have been impressive.\nOdo: I thought so.\nSisko: It's an understandable mistake. You've been a changeling longer than you've been a solid.\nOdo: Solid. I wonder why my people use that term. Humanoid bodies are so fragile.\nSisko: Yes, they are. And there are a lot of ways you can get hurt.\nOdo: You're worried about Jake. I'm sure that Doctor Bashir is looking after him.\nSisko: It seems just yesterday he was five years old, clinging to me because he'd just scraped his knee and I was the only one in the world who could make it better. I remember sometimes getting up in the middle of the night and slipping into his room just to make sure he was all right, and I'd sit there and watch him sleep. And I'd think to myself that no matter what, I wasn't going to let anything bad happen to this child. Now he's a sector away in a war zone, and there's nothing I can do to protect him.\nOdo: Try not to worry, Captain. It won't do you or Jake any good.\nSisko: Can't help it. It comes with the territory.\nOdo: But Jake is eighteen years old. Does your father still worry about you?\nSisko: Oh, all the time.\nOdo: Ah. I never realized how stressful it is to be a parent. I have to say, I don't think it's for me.\nSisko: That's your choice, but you don't know what you're missing.\nSisko: Yes?\nDax: We just got word. The Klingons have destroyed the Farragut near the Lembatta cluster.\nOdo: What about Ajilon Prime? Without reinforcements\nSisko: Dax, you're with me. We'll leave as soon as the Defiant is ready.\nBashir: Here you go.\nJake: Thanks.\nBashir: How are you holding up?\nJake: Okay.\nBashir: You handled yourself well today. I'm impressed.\nJake: I'm starved.\nBashir: Think I'll start with a lateral incision across the thigh joint. Uh oh. Hang on. Out we go. Come on.\nNurse: First day?\nKirby: Yeah.\nBolian: Pass the salt.\nBashir: How do you feel?\nJake: Fresh air did me good. You remember that ensign, the one who shot himself?\nBashir: How could I forget?\nJake: What's going to happen to him?\nBashir: Oh, he'll probably be court-martialed.\nJake: He said that some of the people in his squad got scared and ran.\nBashir: It happens.\nJake: But they're Starfleet. They've passed psych-tests. They've spent hundreds of hours in battle simulations.\nBashir: Simulations can't prepare you for the real thing. Nothing can.\nJake: Some people say that you don't know what you're really made of until you've been in battle.\nBashir: Well let me tell you, Jake. There are plenty of situations in life which test a person's character. Thankfully, most of them don't involve death and destruction.\nKirby: Doctor Kalandra's looking for you. Something about that aortal graft you did.\nBashir: Oh, thanks. I'll see you later.\nKirby: I put your tray back in the replicator. I didn't know how long you'd be gone.\nJake: Me neither. I think I could handle some soup.\nBashir: How is he?\nKalandra: The graft's holding. Blood throughput is almost a hundred percent. Nice job.\nBashir: Thanks. You have a good team. My OR Nurse was sharp as they come.\nKalandra: We do the best we can, considering the circumstances. So, are things any better for us? Last I heard Starfleet had pulled out of the Arcanis sector.\nBashir: Well, the fleet's regrouping for a counterattack.\nKalandra: Do you have any idea what ships are involved? We don't get much news here. The Klingons have been jamming the subspace traffic.\nBashir: I think the Rutledge and the Tecumseh are heading things up.\nKalandra: The Tecumseh. My husband's the science officer.\nBashir: Well, believe me, Captain Raymond is one of the best there is. He saw the Tecumseh through the Cardassian wars. I don't think he's planning on losing her now.\nKalandra: No, I don't suppose he is.\nNurse: Doctor? They've prepped the spinal trauma. We're ready for you in surgery.\nKalandra: I'll be right there.\nBashir: They're keeping you busy.\nKalandra: Yes. It helps keep my mind off things.\nKirby: It's good to see you've got your appetite back.\nJake: I have a pretty strong stomach, most of the time.\nKirby: Don't worry about it. Same thing happened to me my first day. You know what I heard? That ship Starfleet sent, the Farragut? The Klingons intercepted it.\nJake: Starfleet'll send another one, won't they?\nKirby: It won't be here for days, and in the meantime we're looking at a ground war which is just what the Klingons want. According to a lieutenant I talked to, they've got so many transport scramblers online that we can't beam troops anywhere.\nJake: What about using hoppers?\nKirby: He says the Klingons have been shooting them out of the sky left and right. Unless something changes, he figures the Klingons'll take the settlement the day after tomorrow. Did you see all the bat'leth wounds today? Klingons get mad, they forget about their disruptors, go hand to hand. If you ask me, they're looking to get even for what happened on Ganalda Four.\nJake: What happened?\nKirby: They had to retreat. Klingons hate that.\nJake: At least we don't have to worry about them in here.\nKirby: Don't be so sure. Medical personnel are fair game as far as Klingons are concerned. They'll even kill wounded right in their beds. They think they're giving them an honorable death. So, how'd you wind up here?\nJake: I, er, I'm writing an article about Doctor Bashir.\nKirby: You're a journalist?\nJake: Not exactly.\nKirby: What does that mean?\nJake: I write stories mostly. You know, fiction.\nJake: I wonder if Kirby knew that the whole time we were talking, all I could think about was how close the Klingons were.\nJake: He didn't seem that worried. No one else seems to be losing sleep over it, so why is it the only thing I can think about? I've been on the station when it was under attack plenty of times, but somehow the danger never seemed as real as it does here. Maybe it's because I spent all day seeing firsthand what the Klingons are capable of, or maybe it's because for the first time in my life, my father's not here to protect me.\nNurse: What was that?\nBolian: The Klingons. They must've taken out the reactor.\nBashir: She's fibrillating!\nBolian: If we don't get power back soon, we'll lose half the ward.\nKirby: Kidney failure. He's going into renal shock.\nKalandra: I just talked to Resource. It's going to be at least three hours before we have power.\nJake: There must be some portable generators we could use.\nKalandra: They're using them to keep the shields up around the settlement.\nBashir: The runabout. There's a portable generator on the runabout.\nKalandra: Where is it?\nBashir: About a kilometer south of here. I'll need help carrying it though.\nKalandra: You won't be able to beam through the shields. You'll have to take the east tunnel.\nKirby: It lets out beyond the perimeter. I'll show you.\nBashir: We set down just over that ridge.\nJake: Yeah, it looks familiar.\nBashir: Get down!\nBashir: Stay close. And keep your head low.\nBashir: Whatever happens, one of us has to get that generator. Stick with me.\nBashir: Come on, Jake!\nBashir: Jake!\nBurke: Medkit. Over there. Now.\nBurke: Hypo. Sit me up. Do it. I'm not going to die with my face in the dirt. Okay.\nBurke: How's your head?\nJake: Hurts.\nBurke: You're lucky I didn't kill you. I thought you were a Klingon. Have you seen any?\nJake: What?\nBurke: Klingons. Are there any patrols around? What about Starfleet?\nJake: No.\nBurke: It's just you and me then. What are you doing out here? Why'd you leave the settlement?\nJake: I was outside when the shelling started. I guess I got lost looking for cover.\nBurke: Lucky me. I could use the company. Here. Water.\nJake: What about you?\nBurke: Go ahead.\nJake: Thanks.\nBurke: Probably would've leaked out of me anyway. Don't let me fall over. I want to go out looking up at the sky, not at the ground.\nJake: Don't worry.\nBurke: You didn't see a crashed hopper around here, did you?\nJake: No.\nBurke: They made it!\nJake: Who?\nBurke: My platoon. The Klingons had us pinned down. We couldn't beam out because they had a transport scrambler running. We called for a hopper. As soon as it set down, the Klingons came after us. CO ordered me and Brice to lay down cover so the squad could get up the ramp. By the time Brice got in, the Klingons were practically on top of us. The hopper was taking such a pounding, I didn't think it would make it off the ground.\nJake: You stayed behind on purpose, so they could get away.\nBurke: The hypo, where is it?\nJake: It's empty.\nBurke: Figures.\nJake: I'll get you out of here. I'll make a stretcher\nBurke: With what?\nJake: Then I'll carry you.\nBurke: Kid, you try carrying me, my guts are going to spill all over your shoes.\nJake: But I have to do something. I've got to try.\nBurke: Forget it.\nJake: But I have to. That way this'll all make sense. Maybe I ran for a reason, so I could find you and save your life.\nBurke: Ran?\nJake: From the explosions. We had to get to the runabout for the generator, and the shelling started and I couldn't see Doctor Bashir and the explosions, they kept getting closer. I had to get out of there, so I ran. I ran and I kept running until I found you.\nBurke: The doctor. You left him.\nJake: It was a mistake.\nBurke: That's what you call it.\nJake: I didn't mean for it to happen.\nBurke: And now you think bringing me back is going to make everything all right. Sorry, kid. Life doesn't work like that.\nDax: Benjamin?\nSisko: I'll be right out.\nDax: What have you been doing in there for three hours?\nSisko: I was just tweaking the pattern buffers in the replicator systems.\nDax: Great. I always thought the coffee could be a little hotter.\nSisko: I'm just trying to keep busy.\nDax: Is it helping?\nSisko: No, not really.\nDax: I wish there was something I could do, some way I could promise you that everything is going to be okay.\nSisko: But you can't. No one can.\nDax: I know what it's like to worry about a child. Raifi put Tobin through hell. When Neema was six, she came down with Rugalan fever. Audrid spent two weeks in the hospital with her, never left her side. It was hundreds of years ago. I still remember how helpless I felt. I read her all seventeen volumes of Caster's Down the River Light, even though I knew she couldn't hear me. It made me feel like I was doing something, that we were still connected. It wasn't until much after that that I realized that I was doing it as much for me as I was doing it for her.\nSisko: Just to keep busy. So, how did it turn out with Neema?\nDax: She pulled through.\nSisko: Phew. I was hoping you were going to say that. Because if this story had an unhappy ending, I would have never forgiven you.\nDax: Of course, by the time she was twenty one, she wouldn't even speak to me.\nSisko: For how long?\nDax: About eight years.\nSisko: Do me a favor. Tell me about it some other time. Right now, all I care about is seeing Jake.\nDax: You will, tomorrow, when we get to Ajilon Prime. You know, Ben, coffee can never be too hot. Are you sure you got the replicator buffers synchronized?\nSisko: You want to check for yourself?\nDax: I think I will. Can I borrow your decoupler?\nSisko: Get your own. I have to check the sonic shower relays.\nDax: Good idea.\nKirby: How are you feeling? Jake! Jake, we thought you were\nJake: I'm okay.\nKirby: This is great. What happened?\nJake: I got knocked out when we were trying to get to the runabout. Did Doctor Bashir make it back all right?\nKirby: He's in IC for the night. He's got plasma burns on his arm and shoulder. I don't know how he managed, but he carried the generator back here by himself. We went looking for you right after the shelling stopped. There was hardly anything left of the runabout. The whole place was nothing but bomb craters and smoke. We had pretty much given up hope.\nJake: I must've wandered off in the wrong direction when I came to.\nKirby: You're lucky you didn't get picked up by the Klingons. Word is, they're massing to attack the compound. You want to see him?\nJake: I should let him rest.\nKirby: He's awake, I was just in there. Go ahead, he'll be glad to see you're okay.\nBashir: Jake! Oh, thank God. I thought you'd been killed. Once the shelling had stopped and I couldn't find you, I assumed the worst. I am so sorry.\nJake: It's all right.\nBashir: No. No, it isn't. I should never have brought you here in the first place. Now we're stuck here, the Klingons are massing to attack. What was I thinking!\nJake: Forget it, okay! What's done is done.\nJake: I couldn't stand hearing him apologize to me like that. Not after what I'd done to him.\nKirby: All right, you two. Visiting hours are over. Let me have a look at that.\nJake: I keep turning it over in my head. The shelling, losing sight of Bashir, running, and I keep trying to make sense of it all, to justify what I did. But when it comes down to it, there's only one explanation. I'm a coward. Part of me wishes Bashir had seen me run away and told everyone the truth. They deserve to know what I am. They should know they can't count on me. That if the Klingons attack, I'll run and hide just like I did before.\nJake: Doctor Kaladra asked me to give this to you.\nNurse: Oh, thanks Jake. Would you take this to the patient in G-four?\nJake: Sure.\nNurse: Thanks.\nJake: Here you go.\nEnsign: Maybe I'll get a job as a cutter. Could be interesting work.\nJake: What's a cutter?\nEnsign: You know, on a mining team. They're the ones who split the asteroids up with phasers so the excavators can get at what's inside. You've got to have good aim. No matter what else you can say about me, you can't say that I don't have good aim. If I hadn't hit my foot just right, I would've taken my whole leg off. It's funny. One minute your life's moving along just like you always thought it would, and the next you do something that changes everything, that makes you realize you're not who you thought you were. At the Academy, I did really well in the battle simulations. I never had any problems. But when you're out there and the live shells are detonating all around you, it's a whole different thing.\nJake: All you can think about is getting away from the explosions.\nEnsign: Yeah. That's pretty much it. You know something? You're first person I've talked to since I got here who hasn't made me feel like I'm taking up valuable bed space. The way everyone looks at me. I can't stand it. After the court martial, I'm definitely signing up for the next mining expedition to the Gamma Quadrant.\nJake: Maybe there won't be a court martial.\nEnsign: You're right. None of us may get out of here alive.\nJake: No, I mean Starfleet could decide to send you to counseling instead.\nEnsign: I won't go. I don't deserve to be in Starfleet. Therapy won't change what I did. Nothing will. I just wish I'd aimed that phaser a little higher.\nNurse: I saw the report on Doctor Kalandra's desk. According to Resource, it's just a matter of time before the Klingons reach the compound.\nKirby: I guess that means I have to decide.\nNurse: Decide what?\nKirby: Whether I'd rather get hacked to bits or blasted by a disruptor.\nNurse: Disruptor, no doubt about it. Every molecule in your body vaporized in a flash. No time to feel pain.\nBolian: Don't be so sure about that. Some people think it's like being boiled alive.\nKirby: Decapitation has its virtues. Nice clean blow with a sharp bat'leth.\nBolian: The brain lives on for five, ten seconds at least. In theory, your headless corpse could be the last thing you see.\nNurse: You're so negative.\nBolian: I'm just telling you what I've heard.\nKirby: What do you think, Jake?\nJake: I think it's not funny.\nKirby: Of course not. There's nothing funny about having your throat slit\nJake: Cut it out!\nKirby: I was just kidding.\nJake: You think this is some joke. It's not. People are dying! It's all so stupid. This whole stupid war is such a waste. In ten years, no body's going to remember what anybody did here.\nBashir: Jake.\nJake: Maybe you saved a hopper full of people. Maybe you shot yourself in the foot. No one's going to remember!\nBashir: Jake! Let's take a walk.\nJake: I'm sorry.\nBashir: Look, I know you're scared. We all are.\nJake: No, it's not that. I\nBashir: What, Jake? What is it?\nJake: I just didn't think what they were saying was funny.\nBashir: Come on. That's not what set you off. Something's eating at you, I can see it.\nJake: I don't know what you're talking about.\nBashir: Ever since you came back you've been walking around looking miserable.\nJake: Leave me alone.\nBashir: Jake.\nJake: Leave me alone.\nBashir: All right, if that's what you want. But if you want to talk you know where to find me.\nNurse: What's going on?\nKirby: Are they inside the compound?\nKalandra: Everybody listen. Listen! We're evacuating. We're taking the patients out through the north tunnel to the surface. A hopper will take us down the peninsula to the base at Tananda Bay.\nKirby: That tunnel is almost two kilometers long. We have over seventy patients to move. Do you know how long that's going to take?\nKalandra: Resource is sending a security detail to defend the hospital and give us time to evacuate. We can do this.\nBashir: We have to keep calm. Focus on our jobs. Those people out there need us.\nKalandra: Yes. Let's move. Come on. Go.\nBolian: Give me a hand.\nKalandra: Keep moving.\nKirby: Two guards, is that it?\nBashir: The others are out defending the perimeter.\nKirby: Great, one's leaving.\nNurse: We're going someplace safe, all right?\nMale Guard: They're coming! Let's go. Move. Move!\nFemale Guard: Come on, let's go! Let's go.\nKirby: Anyone left back there?\nJake: No.\nKirby: Go! Go!\nFemale Guard: Get down!\nBashir: Jake, looks who's here.\nJake: Dad?\nSisko: Don't move, let Doctor Bashir check for injuries.\nJake: What happened?\nBashir: I came back for you when I realized you weren't on the hopper.\nSisko: The cease fire has been reinstated. The Klingons are pulling out. It's over.\nBashir: The timing could have been a little better, but he seems to be all right.\nSisko: Sealing the entrance way was a risky thing to do. You nearly brought the whole ceiling down on yourself.\nBashir: We never would have got these patients out alive if you hadn't done it. You're a hero.\nJake: More than anything, I wanted to believe what he was saying. But the truth is, I was just as scared in the hospital as I'd been when we went for the generator.\nJake: So scared, that all I could think about was doing whatever it took to stay alive. Once it meant running away, and once it meant picking up a phaser.\nJake: The battle of Ajilon Prime will probably be remembered as a pointless skirmish, but I'll always remember it as something more. As the place I learned that the line between courage and cowardice is a lot thinner than most people believe.\nJake: I wasn't sure whether to show it to you or not.\nSisko: Anyone who's been in battle would recognize himself in this, but most of us wouldn't care to admit it. It takes courage to look inside yourself and even more courage to write it for other people to see. I'm proud of you, son."}
{"text": "Quark: Welcome, welcome, welcome.\nDax: It's a little quiet in here.\nQuark: Oh, you just beat the rush. Let me get your order before, er, before I get swamped.\nDax: I'll have a Til'amin froth.\nKira: And I'll have a\nWorf: What was that?\nQuark: What was what? Oh, that? It's just my nephew and Chief O'Brien repairing some conduit. You'll get used to it.\nWorf: The Klingon restaurant?\nDax: It would be quieter.\nQuark: When are you two going to be done in there?\nNog: When the conduit is repaired and brought back up to safety specs.\nQuark: Well, hurry up, before I lose all my customers.\nNog: I need to get something.\nQuark: What?\nNog: Two root beers?\nO'Brien: Hyper spanner.\nO'Brien: Optronic coupler.\nO'Brien: How did you know I was going to ask for a phase decompiler?\nNog: I was paying attention, sir.\nO'Brien: That you were, Cadet.\nNog: My father says that I can learn a lot from you. He says you can fix anything.\nO'Brien: I'm an Engineer. That's what we do. There. Good as new.\nNog: Amazing.\nO'Brien: Damn!\nO'Brien: We repaired the leak right away. The problem is worse than I thought. The entire plasma distribution manifold is shot.\nSisko: Can you replicate a new one?\nO'Brien: No. Cardassian manifolds use a beta-matrix compositor which can't be replicated.\nOdo: I suppose we could contact Gul Dukat and ask if he has any spare manifold systems lying around.\nSisko: I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to help us. Any other ideas?\nO'Brien: We could send a salvage team to the abandoned Cardassian station in the Trivas System.\nSisko: Empok Nor?\nO'Brien: It's the same design as this station. The Cardassians pulled out about a year ago, but there's a good chance that the plasma manifold system is still operational.\nSisko: What about Dominion activity in the area?\nO'Brien: There hasn't been any for several months. Strategically, they seem to have lost interest in that sector.\nOdo: But there is one problem. It's standard Cardassian procedure to booby-trap a facility before abandoning it, and a lot of the surprises they leave behind are specifically keyed to attack non-Cardassians.\nSisko: Sounds like you should take a Cardassian along.\nO'Brien: So what did Captain Sisko do to persuade you to come along?\nGarak: How do you know I didn't volunteer?\nO'Brien: He threatened you, didn't he?\nGarak: Nothing so coarse. The Captain bribed me. He offered to help me procure a larger space for my workshop. The latest dressmaking equipment is surprisingly bulky.\nO'Brien: Well, whatever he did, I'm glad you're here. What's the matter?\nGarak: It's just that lately I've noticed that everyone seems to trust me. It's quite unnerving. I'm still trying to get used to it. Next thing I know, people are going to be inviting me to their homes for dinner.\nO'Brien: Well, if it makes you feel any better, I promise I will never have you over.\nGarak: I appreciate that, Chief.\nO'Brien: Don't mention it. Anything to return the favor. Disarming Cardassian booby traps is my least favorite kind of engineering.\nGarak: I can certainly understand that, but don't worry. I have some experience in that area.\nBoq'Ta: Booby-traps? I can't believe I let you talk me into volunteering for this.\nPechetti: Well, it beats working on the waste extraction system. Besides, how often does an engineer get to wear a phaser?\nStolzoff: Hate to disappoint you, Pechetti. But the only thing you'll be using that for is shooting voles. Empok Nor's been abandoned so long, they're going to be hungry.\nAmaro: Don't worry, you play with your wrenches, we'll watch your back.\nAmaro: Can I help you, Cadet?\nNog: I'm reporting for duty, sir.\nO'Brien: Welcome aboard, Cadet.\nNog: Thank you, sir. And may I say it's a privilege to be here, sir.\nO'Brien: You've earned it. But one more sir and I'll leave you behind.\nNog: Very well, s. Chief.\nO'Brien: Let's get going. Next stop, Empok Nor.\nGarak: What are you doing?\nNog: Regrouping.\nGarak: But you're losing.\nNog: That's why I have to protect my assets.\nGarak: This is not a financial transaction. Protecting your assets is what got you into trouble in the first place. You have to go on the offensive. You have to attack.\nNog: Your move.\nGarak: This is maddening. Asking a Ferengi to play a Cardassian game is like asking a Klingon to chew with his mouth closed. Kotra is not about regrouping or hoarding assets. It's about bold strategy and decisive action. Chief, would you like to take on the winner? I'd love to play Kotra against the hero of Setlik Three.\nO'Brien: What is that supposed to mean?\nGarak: Oh, we all know your distinguished war record. How you led two dozen men against the Barrica encampment and took out an entire regiment of Cardassians. If you play Kotra with half that brazenness, we'd have quite a match.\nO'Brien: I'm not a soldier anymore. I'm an engineer.\nGarak: I see. So when you and Doctor Bashir go into the holosuites for hours at a time you're just repairing them?\nO'Brien: What's your point, Garak?\nGarak: I'm just curious. Why do you and Doctor Bashir spend hours in the holosuites dressed as fighter pilots, reliving ancient battles?\nO'Brien: We do it for fun. It's a game.\nGarak: So is Kotra. And I'd love nothing more than to play against a man like you.\nO'Brien: Maybe some other time.\nPechetti: Chief, here's the wish list you wanted. Three categories. Must Have, which includes the manifolds and the plasma recoilers. Could Use, things like EPS matrix converters and Would be Nice. Bypass displacers, polarity maximizers, that sort of thing.\nO'Brien: Cardassian emblems and insignias?\nPechetti: A low priority, but if we happen to find some.\nO'Brien: This is a salvage operation, Pechetti, not an opportunity to indulge your collecting obsession.\nPechetti: Right.\nNog: Approaching Empok Nor, sir.\nO'Brien: Take us out of warp. Run a full scan. I'll take the helm.\nNog: The station's main power supply and life support systems are offline. No lifesigns.\nO'Brien: I'll take us into transporter range.\nGarak: Oh, I don't think we can risk beaming aboard. There are probably pattern scramblers rigged to go off if they detect a non-Cardassian transporter signal.\nO'Brien: That could be messy. We'll have to dock. Landing pads are sealed. We'll have to try an upper pylon.\nNog: Won't the airlock have booby-traps?\nGarak: You can count on it. And someone's going to have to disarm them before we dock.\nNog: I volunteer, sir.\nGarak: The scanner in the airlock might mistake your enthusiasm as Cardassian, but not your DNA. No, I'm afraid I'm the only one who as a chance of getting through.\nGarak: Ah. Welcome to Empok Nor.\nO'Brien: Thanks for having us.\nGarak: Take whatever you need. My house is your house.\nO'Brien: All right, listen up. We're going to break up into three teams. Nog and Stolzoff, you're with me. We're going to do the Must Haves. Pechetti and Amaro, you'll do Could Use. Boq'ta and Garak, Would Be Nice.\nO'Brien: Garak has disabled the central security net, but there could be booby-traps anywhere. Don't move into an area until you've scanned it. If you see something that isn't right, don't touch it. Call for help. All right, let's go.\nBoq'Ta: It's a biogenic compound.\nGarak: I wonder where it came from. Follow me.\nBoq'Ta: These look like stasis tubes.\nBoq'Ta: Cardassian. He's been dead for about a year. Hey, look at this.\nGarak: Interesting.\nBoq'Ta: A regimental badge.\nGarak: Third Battalion, First Order, if I'm not mistaken.\nBoq'Ta: This is going to make Pechetti's day.\nGarak: Both these tubes have been activated recently.\nO'Brien: Coil spanner. Flux-coupler.\nNog: Uh-oh.\nO'Brien: Flux-coupler!\nNog: I left it on the runabout. I'll go get it right away, sir. I mean, Chief.\nGarak: Garak to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Go ahead.\nGarak: Could you come down to the Infirmary? There's something you should see.\nO'Brien: On my way.\nNog: That's not right.\nO'Brien: A runabout doesn't disengage from its docking clamps and blow up all on its own.\nGarak: Which leads me to believe that the former occupants of these chambers are up and about.\nPechetti: If you're telling me that there are two Cardassian soldiers from the Third Battalion loose on this station, we're in trouble. Death to All. That was their motto.\nGarak: Three simple words, and they certainly sum up their credo nicely.\nNog: Why would the Cardassians abandon the station and leave behind a few soldiers in stasis tubes?\nStolzoff: Why do you think? To guard it. The tubes were probably rigged to wake them up as soon as someone came aboard.\nO'Brien: That's possible, but one thing's for sure. They're out there somewhere, and considering what they did to the runabout, I don't think they're too friendly.\nStolzoff: Maybe they're upset because we haven't introduced ourselves.\nAmaro: We should find them, say hello. This thing's not working.\nO'Brien: Neither's mine. They must've set up a dampening field.\nBoq'Ta: We've got to get out of here. Let's call for help.\nPechetti: How? The station's subspace transceiver was ripped out when the Cardassians evacuated.\nAmaro: Well, we could always try sending smoke signals.\nO'Brien: That's not a bad idea. The deflector grid is still relatively intact. If we could modify the field coils to emit a series of covariant pulses.\nPechetti: We could use the station like an old-fashioned telegraph and tap out an SOS.\nO'Brien: For the pulses to be strong enough to reach Deep Space Nine, we'd have to boost power to the induction grid. Pechetti, you go down to the Habitat ring and bring the microfusion reactor back online. Stolzoff, you go with him. Boq'ta, realign the magnetic flow field in conduit G-four. Amaro will watch your back. Nog and Garak, you're with me. We'll set up the signal generator in cargo bay four.\nNog: Aye, Chief.\nO'Brien: Use your communicators as little as possible. We don't want to give away our positions. Any questions? Let's go.\nGarak: I'm not convinced Stolzoff was right about our Cardassian friends. Why would anyone voluntarily seal themselves into a stasis tube, perhaps for years, just to guard an abandoned station? Even the Third Battalion isn't that fanatical. Something else is going on.\nO'Brien: Maybe so, but I don't intend to be here long enough to find out what it is.\nGarak: That's the trouble with humans. You don't know how to appreciate a good mystery.\nO'Brien: I love a good mystery, the kind I can read in bed, not the kind that's trying to kill me.\nGarak: Don't get me wrong, Chief. I want to get off this station as much as you do, but I just know if I don't figure this out it's going to nag at me for days.\nO'Brien: Right now, let's concentrate on finishing this signal modulator so we can get out of here. You have the whole trip home to sort out the mystery. Nog? I need your help with the phase diskriminator.\nNog: On my way, Chief.\nPechetti: Do you mind not aiming that at me?\nStolzoff: Don't worry, the safety's on.\nStolzoff: Tell me you did that.\nStolzoff: On three. One, two three.\nPechetti: Maybe I did activate the turbolift without realizing it.\nStolzoff: I'm going up.\nPechetti: Okay.\nStolzoff: Pechetti! Stolzoff to O'Brien. A Cardassian\nO'Brien: Stolzoff? Stolzoff!\nBoq'Ta: The Cardassians must've surprised them. They're probably using the internal sensors to track us.\nO'Brien: Take it easy. We're going to get out of here, you can count on that. But we've got to stay focused. It looks like Pechetti was almost done getting the microfusion reactor back online. I'll finish that and then I'll go back down to the cargo bay. How are you doing with the conduits?\nBoq'Ta: I'm done.\nO'Brien: Good. You and Amaro get down to auxiliary control and reconfigure the pulse generator.\nBoq'Ta: We're going to split up?\nO'Brien: We have to. If we don't send out a signal, we're never going to get off this station.\nBoq'Ta: But Chief, what if we can't\nO'Brien: I need you, Boq'ta. You can do this.\nAmaro: Don't worry. I'll watch your back.\nBoq'Ta: Stolzoff was supposed to be watching Pechetti's back. Look what happened to them.\nO'Brien: What if I send Garak with you too? Would that make you feel better?\nGarak: I'm flattered, but I'm afraid I have other plans.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about?\nGarak: I don't intend to stand around waiting to be killed.\nO'Brien: Meaning what?\nGarak: Meaning, I'm going after those two Cardassian soldiers and neutralize them. Besides, all this whining is giving me a headache.\nAmaro: You're going to have more than a headache if you don't do what the Chief wants.\nO'Brien: Amaro.\nGarak: You'd like to shoot me, wouldn't you? You're dying to kill a Cardassian. Any Cardassian.\nO'Brien: Let him go. If he thinks he can neutralize the Cardassians, let him try. He'll be doing us all a favor.\nGarak: That's the spirit. Why don't you come with me, Chief? Kill a few Cardies. It'd be like old times. Wouldn't you like to avenge their deaths?\nO'Brien: No. I just want to get everyone home.\nGarak: You're fighting your instincts, I can see it. But the hero of Setlik Three is still inside there somewhere.\nO'Brien: If you're going to go, go. Nog, you go with Boq'ta and Amaro.\nNog: Aye, sir.\nBoq'Ta: It's all right, Chief. He can stay with you. For some reason, knowing Garak's going after those Cardassians makes me feel better.\nGarak: Access denied. Access denied. Don't you know how to say anything else? Apparently not.\nGarak: Access denied.\nGarak: Access denied. Access denied. Access denied. How monotonous.\nGarak: Looking for me?\nGarak: That felt good.\nNog: Chief, why does Garak keep bringing up Setlik Three?\nO'Brien: Because he wants to get under my skin.\nNog: But you were a hero, weren't you?\nO'Brien: That doesn't mean I like thinking about what happened then. I was a soldier, Nog. Sometimes soldiers have to kill.\nGarak: Come now, Chief, don't be so modest. You did a lot of killing.\nNog: How'd you get in here? Both doors are secure.\nGarak: Secure is such a relative term, wouldn't you agree? I've brought you something, if you don't mind.\nGarak: I'm sure Pechetti would have appreciated it more, but\nO'Brien: Where did you get this?\nGarak: From its former owner.\nNog: You killed one of the soldiers?\nGarak: One down, one to go. By the way, I took a tissue sample from the soldier's body. The analysis was rather fascinating, in a grim sort of way. It seems the unfortunate soul had been given a massive dose of psychotropic drugs.\nO'Brien: Why?\nGarak: I'm not sure, but I can tell you one thing. It wasn't to make him amicable. The drug's protein structure seems designed to amplify my people's xenophobic tendencies. My guess is that the soldiers that were left here were part of a Cardassian military experiment. The High Command was probably looking for a way to further motivate their troops.\nO'Brien: So they gave them a drug to make them hate anybody but Cardassians?\nNog: Then why did they attack you?\nGarak: That's a good question.\nO'Brien: Maybe it's an experiment that went wrong. That's why they were left in stasis. They were uncontrollable.\nGarak: I'd love to stay and hypothesize all afternoon, but once I've set my mind to a task, I hate to leave it unfinished. What is it, Chief?\nO'Brien: You look different.\nGarak: How so?\nO'Brien: That's not the face of a tailor.\nGarak: I'm not a tailor. Not for the moment, anyway.\nBoq'Ta: You know, I once bought a suit from Garak. Turns out the sleeve was a little long. I remember being angry when I brought it in to be fixed.\nAmaro: Is there a point to this story?\nBoq'Ta: If I had known he was so dangerous, I never would've complained. You think he'll get the other Cardassian?\nAmaro: I hope not. I want to get him myself.\nBoq'Ta: I don't blame you.\nAmaro: Stolzoff was my friend. We were at the Academy together.\nAmaro: She was my sparring partner. The first time we faced off I remember thinking I ought to take it easy on her. She ended up taking me down so hard it knocked the wind out of me. That was the last time I ever pulled a punch with her. She had this one two combination, a feint to the right and a chop to the neck, faked me out every time. If that spoonhead gives me the chance, I'll just try it out on him. I think Stolzoff would have liked that.\nBoq'Ta: I can't get this loose. Give me the coil spanner, would you?\nAmaro: What does it look like?\nBoq'Ta: It's got two pointy things on the end.\nAmaro: He asked me to get a coil spanner for him. I just turned my back for a second.\nGarak: That's a shame. And the worst part of it is, this isn't a coil spanner.\nGarak: It's a flux coupler.\nO'Brien: That should do it. O'Brien to Boq'ta. Boq'ta, come in. Amaro, what's going on up there?\nAmaro: He's out there.\nO'Brien: Easy now. Easy. Who's out there?\nAmaro: Garak. He stabbed me.\nNog: Chief, why would Garak do this?\nO'Brien: Come on. He may still be close by.\nNog: It doesn't make any sense. Garak's on our side.\nO'Brien: Not anymore. The psychotropic drug. He must've been exposed to it. It's the only explanation. I should've seen it earlier. The way he accused Amaro of wanting to kill him. The way he insisted on going after those Cardassians.\nNog: He's coming after us, isn't he?\nO'Brien: Yes.\nNog: Maybe we can reason with him. Get him to try to understand that the drug is affecting him.\nO'Brien: You saw what he did to Amaro and the others. He's not going to listen to us.\nNog: Then we have to finish setting up the deflector grid. We've got to get a distress signal out.\nO'Brien: Garak knows what we've been trying to do. He'll stop us.\nNog: Don't we have to try?\nO'Brien: Forget it! I've already lost four crewmen trying to send out that bloody signal. Garak was right. We should've gone after those Cardassians as soon as they attacked us. You don't wait for the enemy to come to you, you go to him. Come on. We're going after Garak.\nNog: You mean, to kill him?\nO'Brien: If that's what it takes to stop him, yes.\nGarak: I know you're hiding somewhere. Ah, there you are.\nGarak: Garak to Chief O'Brien. You'll never guess what I found. A kotra board. The Station Commander left one in his office.\nGarak: The pieces were scattered all over but I found the last one hiding under his desk.\nGarak: I can't help thinking what a perfect metaphor this game is for our present situation. Two players, two minds, two strategies.\nGarak: Each trying to outmaneuver the other, testing the enemy's defenses. Advancing, retreating.\nO'Brien: We split up. Enter Ops through the main corridor. I'll go through the Captain's office. Wait for my signal.\nGarak: The only difference is, in the game we're playing\nGarak: The stakes are life and death, which makes it so much more interesting.\nGarak: I haven't had this much fun in years. My heart's pounding.\nGarak: The blood's racing through my veins. I feel so alive. And I'd wager so you do.\nGarak: It looks like I've captured your last piece, Chief. If you want it back, you're going to have to take it from me.\nGarak: It's your move, Chief. What are you going to do? Attack? Retreat? Surrender?\nO'Brien: Listen to me, Garak. It's the drug. It's affecting you. You've got to fight it.\nGarak: Fight it? But I'm enjoying myself. This is the most exciting game I've played in years.\nO'Brien: It's not a game!\nGarak: Oh, but it is. And the best thing about it is that it brings out the player's true nature.\nO'Brien: Where are you, Garak?\nGarak: I saw the look in your eyes when I took the Ferengi away from you. You wanted to kill me.\nGarak: You wanted to strangle me with your bare hands.\nO'Brien: I just want my crewman back, that's all.\nGarak: You're a killer. Admit it.\nGarak: We both are. Behind your Federation mask of decency and benevolence, you're a predator\nGarak: Just like me.\nO'Brien: No, I'm nothing like you.\nGarak: Oh, but you are. You proved that on Setlik Three. How many Cardassians did you kill? Ten? Twenty?\nGarak: A hundred?\nO'Brien: I don't remember.\nGarak: Oh, but you remember how you felt.\nGarak: The Cardassians were killing your men. You had to stop them. You had to make them pay. Blood for blood. You enjoyed killing them, didn't you. You enjoyed watching the life drain from their eyes.\nO'Brien: All right, Garak, you want to finish this game? Fine. Let's finish it.\nO'Brien: You and me. Face to face.\nGarak: Nothing would give me greater pleasure. We'll meet on the Promenade.\nO'Brien: No weapons.\nGarak: No weapons.\nGarak: You have no idea how hard it is to keep from pulling this trigger. But I need you alive.\nGarak: They've come to cheer you on, Chief. Your loyal team. Apparently they've forgiven you for getting them all killed.\nGarak: My supporters may be fewer in number, but they're no less loyal. I thought we agreed no weapons.\nO'Brien: What's that in your hand?\nGarak: Well, how did this get here? But we won't be needing these, will we. Put yours down.\nO'Brien: You first.\nGarak: Put it down, or say goodbye to the Ferengi.\nNog: Don't do it, Chief.\nGarak: He has nothing to worry about. I'm not going to shoot an unarmed man. What fun would that be?\nGarak: You wouldn't happen to have another one, would you?\nGarak: Naughty, naughty.\nO'Brien: Your turn.\nGarak: I admit I'm tempted to end this right now, But that would be depriving myself of too much enjoyment.\nGarak: I'm disappointed, Chief. I expected to see the bloodlust in your eyes but all I see is fear.\nGarak: Maybe it's true. Maybe you're not a soldier anymore.\nO'Brien: You're right. I'm an engineer.\nO'Brien: Are you okay, Nog?\nNog: I'm all right, sir.\nNog: Is he dead? Did you kill him?\nO'Brien: No. I didn't.\nBashir: He should be all right in a few days. I've neutralized the psychotropic compound that was affecting his nervous system.\nO'Brien: He looks so peaceful. It's hard to believe he's the same man who attacked us.\nBashir: In a way, he's not. The drug brought out the worst parts of him and allowed them to take over. He wasn't in control of his actions.\nO'Brien: Can I talk to him?\nBashir: For a minute.\nO'Brien: I thought you might want to know that we salvaged the plasma manifold. It's being installled right now.\nGarak: Mission accomplished.\nO'Brien: I guess it didn't exactly go the way any of us expected. You know there's going to be an inquest.\nGarak: Yes, I've been told that. Chief, I was hoping to ask a favor.\nO'Brien: Don't worry. Once they know the facts\nGarak: It's not about that. I'd like you to express my deepest regrets to Amaro's wife. I'd talk to her myself, but I'm not sure she'd welcome that.\nO'Brien: I'll tell her.\nGarak: I'd appreciate it.\nO'Brien: Julian tells me the blast broke a couple of your ribs.\nGarak: Well, it could have been worse. If I'd been any closer to that phaser, it would have killed me.\nO'Brien: Don't take this the wrong way, but that was the plan.\nGarak: I understand.\nO'Brien: I'll see you around."}
{"text": "Bashir: Computer, download file to PADD F seven. Come on.\nComputer: Download complete.\nBashir: Thank you. Nurse.\nOdo: You're up late.\nBashir: Ah, yes, I've got a few things to finish up before I leave in the morning. I'm presenting a paper at a medical conference.\nOdo: I see. Where is it? Risa, Casperia Prime?\nBashir: Casperia. How'd you guess?\nOdo: Well, Doctors always hold their conferences at sunny resorts.\nBashir: Ours is a grim profession. Don't you think we deserve a break from all the illness and death?\nOdo: Well, don't forget to take plenty of sunscreen.\nOdo: Oh, let me guess. You dislocated your shoulder.\nBashir: Not again.\nO'Brien: Afraid so.\nBashir: You promised me that you wouldn't go kayaking again until your shoulder had a chance to heal.\nO'Brien: I know, but I can't stay away. It's like the river calls to me.\nBashir: Yes, it's saying, stay away. Don't come near me. I'll only hurt you more!\nO'Brien: Ow! Much better.\nBashir: It'll be tender for a few days, so go easy on it.\nO'Brien: Right.\nBashir: If the pain gets any worse, Nurse Bandee'll give you something.\nO'Brien: Thanks, Julian. Have a good time on Casperia.\nBashir: I'm going to a medical conference, not on a vacation.\nO'Brien: Whatever you say.\nBashir: And if the river calls you again, listen to it and stay away.\nComputer: The time is oh seven hundred hours.\nBashir: What? You're joking. Computer, confirm time.\nComputer: The time is oh seven hundred hours, eleven seconds.\nBashir: Something tells me I'm going to need a lot of raktajinos today.\nBashir: See you in a few days, old chum. Keep the home fires burning.\nSisko: This is the Captain. All senior officers report to Operations immediately.\nBashir: What now?\nBashir: This better be quick. I've got a shuttle to catch. What's going on?\nO'Brien: Internal Affairs.\nBashir: What are they doing here?\nO'Brien: They're not saying.\nDax: If they'd called ahead, we could have thrown them a party.\nKira: Yeah, well, something tells me it's not a social visit.\nWorf: Where's the captain?\nOdo: He's in there.\nBashir: He doesn't look too happy.\nOdo: No, he doesn't.\nSisko: All right, people. This is Deputy Director Sloan of Internal Affairs. He's here under the authority of the Federation Council. I expect you all to give him your full cooperation.\nSloan: Starfleet Intelligence has reason to believe that there's been a security breach aboard Deep Space Nine. It appears that someone has been passing information to the Dominion.\nDax: With all due respect, I think there's been some kind of mistake.\nSloan: I hope you're right, Commander. I really do. But until we determine the source, we have to follow standard containment procedures and isolate all members of the senior staff.\nSisko: As of now, you're all relieved of duty and confined to quarters.\nKira: Confined to quarters?\nSisko: I don't like it any more than you do.\nSloan: You'll be contacted shortly. I'll be conducting interviews with each one of you. For the time being, you are not to discuss this matter amongst yourselves. Any questions?\nBashir: How long do you think your investigation's going to take?\nSloan: That's difficult to say, Doctor, but don't worry. We've already informed Starfleet Medical that you won't be attending your conference.\nBashir: Oh, that's very considerate of you.\nSloan: Take them to their quarters.\nChandler: Would you come with me, please.\nBashir: Hot buttered scones, moba jam, red leaf tea.\nBashir: Please. What's the matter with this thing? All right.\nBashir: Come in.\nChandler: Would you please come with me, Doctor?\nBashir: Ah. Yes. Certainly.\nBashir: Where are we going?\nChandler: To the wardroom. Director Sloan wants to ask you a few questions.\nSecurity: Stand clear!\nBashir: What's going on?\nChandler: Nothing you need to worry about, sir. This way.\nChandler: Doctor Bashir, sir.\nSloan: Thank you.\nSloan: Doctor Bashir. Have a seat, please. I'm sorry you had to miss your medical conference. It couldn't be helped. In a case like this, I have to follow strict procedures.\nBashir: Yes, I understand.\nSloan: Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. The last time you tried to attend a medical conference you were taken prisoner by the Dominion.\nBashir: An experience I wouldn't care to repeat.\nSloan: I'm sure you wouldn't. Five weeks in a Dominion prison camp? I can't imagine what that must have been like.\nBashir: Not pleasant.\nSloan: I read your report. It made me ask myself how I would have held up under those conditions. I guess you never really know until you go through it.\nBashir: I'm sure you would have been able to cope. We do what we have to to survive.\nSloan: I was just reading over some of your case reports. Fascinating stuff. The work you did with those genetically enhanced patients. Very impressive.\nBashir: Thank you.\nSloan: Before you started working with them, Starfleet Medical described them as alienated, uncommunicative and hostile. You were the first doctor who managed to establish a dialogue with them.\nBashir: Well, actually I think the fact that I'm genetically enhanced myself made them a little more open to accepting me.\nSloan: You spoke their language.\nBashir: Exactly.\nSloan: I envy your profession. You have a positive impact on people's lives. You know, I considered becoming a doctor myself.\nBashir: You have a good bedside manner. Actually, when I came in here, I half suspected that I would be interrogated under a very bright light.\nSloan: Not this time. Well, I see no need to trouble you any longer. Thank you for your cooperation.\nBashir: My pleasure.\nSloan: Lieutenant Chandler will take you back to your quarters now. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stay there until I've finished with the rest of the interviews.\nBashir: Well in that case, maybe you could send someone to take a look at my replicator. It's not working.\nSloan: Actually, we took them offline. To prevent anyone from trying to replicate a communications device or a weapon.\nBashir: Oh. Well, I just wanted some breakfast.\nSloan: What would you like? I'll have it sent right to your quarters.\nBashir: Hot buttered scones, moba jam and some red leaf tea, please.\nSloan: Coming right up.\nBashir: Thank you.\nSloan: Doctor, one more thing. Those genetically enhanced patients of yours. Did Starfleet Medical ask you to work with them, or did you volunteer?\nBashir: Oh, I volunteered.\nSloan: I see. Very good.\nBashir: Come in.\nKagan: Here you are, sir.\nBashir: Thank God. I'm famished. Cheers.\nKagan: Enjoy.\nBashir: Ugh. It's a little too early for gag'h.\nBashir: I hope your enjoying my scones, Worf.\nBashir: Miles. Sloan said we aren't supposed to be talking to each other.\nO'Brien: I just wanted to make sure you were all right.\nBashir: I'm fine. Except I think someone's been snooping around my quarters.\nO'Brien: Wouldn't surprise me. Has Sloan questioned you yet?\nBashir: We just finished.\nO'Brien: How'd it go?\nBashir: It went fine. He just asked me a few routine questions.\nO'Brien: Believe me, it's not fine. He grilled me for over two hours.\nBashir: Two hours? About what?\nO'Brien: About you.\nBashir: You're joking.\nO'Brien: I only wish I were. Every single question was about you. Look, I'd better go before they trace this transmission. I just wanted to warn you to watch your back.\nBashir: Miles, wait. What did he want to know about me?\nO'Brien: Just be careful. I think they're\nBashir: Come in.\nChandler: Director Sloan wants to see you.\nBashir: Again?\nKagan: That's right.\nSloan: Did you get your breakfast, Doctor?\nBashir: Yes, I did.\nSloan: Good. I was going over my notes from our last conversation and there are a couple of things I'd like you to clarify.\nBashir: Oh?\nSloan: Do you have a problem with that?\nBashir: Not at all.\nSloan: Let's go back to the time you spent with the Dominion.\nBashir: I wasn't with the Dominion. I was their prisoner.\nSloan: You were held at Internment Camp three seven one?\nBashir: That's right.\nSloan: Barrack six?\nBashir: Yes.\nSloan: And you were there five weeks?\nBashir: Thirty seven days, actually.\nSloan: You're absolutely sure about that?\nBashir: Yes.\nSloan: And General Martok was with you in barrack six?\nBashir: Correct.\nSloan: He said that the Jem'Hadar removed you from the barracks.\nBashir: I complained when they cut our rations, so they threw me in solitary.\nSloan: I see. And did you meet with anyone during that week?\nBashir: I was alone.\nSloan: Are you sure about that?\nBashir: Wait, let me think. Was I alone in solitary? Yes. I think I was.\nSloan: You didn't meet with a Vorta?\nBashir: No.\nSloan: Or a changeling?\nBashir: No.\nSloan: So, you're telling me that you spent seven days in complete isolation?\nBashir: it wasn't seven days, it was five. Five days.\nSloan: Now that's odd, because General Martok said you were gone for seven days.\nBashir: He's wrong. It was five.\nSloan: Why would he lie about something like that?\nBashir: He wasn't lying.\nSloan: You can't both be right.\nBashir: He must have lost count of the days. He was under a great deal of stress.\nSloan: And you weren't?\nBashir: Human beings are more adaptable to incarceration than Klingons.\nSloan: Especially when they're genetically engineered?\nBashir: Meaning what?\nSloan: Let's move on to the matter of your escape from the camp. I'll quote from your own report. We constructed a transmitter using components from the barracks' life support system. We used it to contact our runabout and beam ourselves out of the camp. Forgive me, Doctor. That sounds a little hard to believe.\nBashir: It's what happened.\nSloan: Why would the Dominion leave your runabout orbiting the camp unattended?\nBashir: They didn't think we'd be able to contact it.\nSloan: Why not? They left you everything you needed to build a transmitter. Isn't it more plausible that the Dominion wanted you to escape?\nBashir: Why? Why would they do that?\nSloan: So that you could start working for them.\nBashir: But I'm not working for them.\nSloan: How can you be sure?\nBashir: Excuse me?\nSloan: How can you be sure you're not working for them? Are you familiar with the term engramatic dissociation?\nBashir: Vaguely.\nSloan: The theory holds that if a person's mind is sufficiently diskiplined, he'd be capable of compartmentalizing contradictory information, believing one thing while doing another. I think you possess that kind of mind. I think the Dominion saw that and decided to take advantage of it. I think they broke you and turned you to their cause, and then had you suppress the memory of what happened.\nBashir: You're saying I'm a Dominion spy and don't even know it?\nSloan: What could be more perfect? There's no chance of your getting caught because you don't even realize you're working for them. When they want to debrief you, all they do is trigger your memory.\nBashir: That's ridiculous.\nSloan: Doctor, I am trying to help you, but I need your cooperation. I need you to tear down the walls inside your mind and dredge up a fragment of a memory, anything about your mission, your contacts. I know it's not easy, but you've got to try.\nBashir: There are no memories to dredge up. I'm not suffering from engramatic dissociation. I'm a loyal Starfleet Officer, and will not answer any more questions unless I'm formally charged and can respond with the benefit of counsel.\nSloan: I've had enough of your lies, Doctor. You think you're smarter than the rest of us, don't you? You think you're smarter than the millions of brave men and women who put their lives on the line for the Federation. You want to do things the hard way, fine, but I'm going to get the truth out of you, and when I'm done I'm going to take whatever's left of you and lock it away. Guards!\nSisko: Is it really necessary to drag a Starfleet Officer across the Promenade in irons?\nChandler: We have our orders, sir.\nKagan: Please stand aside.\nKira: We'll get you out of this, Julian.\nQuark: I'm sure it's all a mistake. Isn't it?\nBashir: Where's Odo?\nChandler: In his quarters. We'll be handling security for the time being.\nKagan: This way.\nKagan: Too tight?\nBashir: A bit.\nKagan: You'll live.\nBashir: So nice to see you enjoying your work.\nKagan: I was with the Seventh Fleet when the Dominion attacked the Tyra system. Ninety eight of our ships were destroyed in a matter of hours. I lost a lot of friends.\nBashir: I lost a lot of friends, too.\nChandler: I believe that, but yours were Jem'Hadar.\nChandler: You won't be needing this anymore. Step inside.\nChandler: With all due respect Captain, if you would just wait in the Security office, Director Sloan should be here any minute and you can discuss your request with him\nSisko: There is nothing to discuss. I want ten minutes alone with my officer, and I want them now.\nChandler: Very well.\nSisko: I thought you should know Odo did some checking. Sloan had a son in Starfleet. He was a transport pilot. He was killed by a Dominion patrol.\nBashir: Maybe he thinks I supplied them with the information that helped them target his son's ship.\nSloan: That's exactly what I think. When my son's convoy dropped out of warp to rendezvous with a Klingon bird of prey, they found three Dominion attack ships waiting for them instead.\nSisko: I'm sorry for your loss. But don't you think that your son's death indicates a conflict of interest in your investigation?\nSloan: I think it gives me an added incentive to go after the truth. Now what was it you wanted?\nSisko: I need to talk to my Chief Medical Officer in private.\nSloan: I can understand that. But security protocol require that no one talk to the prisoner without clearance from me.\nSisko: Director Sloan, have you received orders from Starfleet to relieve me of my command of this station?\nSloan: No, I haven't.\nSisko: Well then, as long as I remain in command, I will see Doctor Bashir whenever I please. Furthermore, from now on I will sit in on all interrogation sessions to make sure his rights are observed. Do I make myself clear?\nSloan: I believe so. Well, we'll see each other tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy your conversation.\nBashir: I appreciate your help, sir.\nSisko: We'll get this straightened out, I promise you.\nSloan: Let's go back a few years to the incident at Bopak Three. According to your report, you and Chief O'Brien crash landed on the planet, where you then made contact with a group of Jem'Hadar.\nBashir: We didn't make contact with them. They captured us.\nSloan: If that's the case, why didn't you attempt to escape?\nBashir: We didn't have a chance.\nSloan: According to Chief O'Brien, you were more interested in curing the Jem'Hadar of their addiction to Ketracel White.\nBashir: I'm a doctor. They were suffering from withdrawal.\nSloan: They're the enemy. Genetically engineered killing machines.\nBashir: They're not machines, they're sentient beings, and I couldn't just stand there and watch them die.\nSloan: Why? Because you felt sympathy for them, being genetically engineered yourself?\nSisko: This is irrelevant. We're talking about an incident that happened before Doctor Bashir allegedly became a Dominion agent.\nSloan: It's not irrelevant, Captain. If anything, it shows that he was already sympathetic to the Dominion. But let's move on. Doctor, we spoke yesterday about a group of genetically enhanced patients that you brought to the station. Why, exactly, did you decide to work with them?\nBashir: They'd been institutionalized most of their lives. I thought I might find a way to help them assimilate into society.\nSloan: A laudable goal, but what I find puzzling is the way you went about it. These misfits had been sheltered from the outside world for as long as they could remember, yet you chose to bombard them with information about the war with the Dominion. Frankly, I'm surprised it didn't scare them into a deeper isolation.\nBashir: I wanted to engage them, and it worked.\nSloan: Is that why you convinced Starfleet Command to give them access to classified battle plans?\nBashir: Starfleet was interested in hearing our ideas on how to win the war.\nSloan: How to win the war? You recommended that the Federation surrender.\nBashir: We were looking for ways to save as many lives as we could. Now, if you'd take the time to examine the findings\nSloan: Captain, you took the time to examine the findings, didn't you?\nSisko: I did.\nSloan: Did you agree with them?\nSisko: No.\nSloan: Of course not. No loyal Starfleet officer could.\nSisko: I won't deny that Doctor Bashir has made some questionable decisions in his career, but that's a long way from convincing me that he is a traitor. So far, your case is based on circumstantial evidence and speculation.\nSloan: What other kind of case can I make against a man who covers his tracks so well?\nSisko: That's a circular argument and you know it.\nSloan: Captain, if Doctor Bashir had been involved in one or two questionable incidents, I could understand how you might be able to dismiss it, but the sheer number of incidents form a pattern of behavior that can't be ignored. I understand you want to be loyal to a man who's served under you for so long. I understand you'd be inclined to take his word over that of an outsider. But step back for a moment and think about it. This man concealed the truth about his illegal genetic enhancement for over thirty years. He lied to get his medical license. He lied to get into Starfleet. He lied to you when he came aboard this station and he's been lying to you ever since.\nSisko: He did eventually come forward and tell the truth.\nSloan: That's right, he did. Why? Why? What made you confess? Was it because you realized that it was your duty to be honest with your captain?\nBashir: No.\nSloan: Was it because you felt guilty about having lied to him for so long?\nBashir: No.\nSloan: Then why did you come forward?\nBashir: I was found out.\nSloan: And if you hadn't been found out, would you have come forward and told your captain the truth, ever?\nBashir: I don't know.\nSloan: I see.\nBashir: Sloan was right about one thing, sir. I should have told you the truth from the beginning.\nSisko: You're right, you should have. But lets put that behind us for now.\nBashir: How can I defend myself against this man? Whatever I say to him, he either thinks I'm lying or repressing my memories.\nSisko: I know you're not lying, Julian.\nBashir: But?\nSisko: But, as a doctor, isn't it in the realm of medical possibility that the Dominion did recruit you and that you have blocked it out of your memory?\nBashir: Even if it is possible, it didn't happen. You don't believe me.\nSisko: I don't think you're lying, Julian. It's late. Try to get some sleep. We'll talk again in the morning.\nSloan: Sorry to interrupt your sleep, Doctor. It looks like you're going on a little vacation after all.\nBashir: Where are you taking me?\nSloan: Starbase fifty three for further questioning.\nBashir: Does Captain Sisko know about this?\nSloan: It's none of his concern. Not anymore.\nBashir: You have no right to do this, Sloan.\nSloan: Oh, but I do. Starfleet Special Order six six seven one five gives me the authority to neutralize security threats to Deep Space Nine by whatever means necessary. Doctor, you're about to spend the rest of this war in a maximum security cell. Unless you would care to put your thumbprint on this confession. We can reword it if it doesn't meet your exacting standards.\nBashir: You can take that confession and throw it out of the nearest airlock.\nSloan: I thought so. Take him to the shuttle.\nKagan: Would you put your hands in front of you, Doctor?\nSloan: He's beaming out! Stop him!\nWeyoun: Good evening, Doctor.\nBashir: Weyoun?\nWeyoun: Welcome home. It would appear we got you out just in time. It's all right, you're among friends now. Did they mistreat you? I don't see any bruises.\nBashir: Why did you bring me here?\nWeyoun: What choice did I have? Starfleet diskovered you were working for us.\nBashir: I'm not working for you. I'm not a Dominion spy.\nWeyoun: You actually believe that, don't you? That's why you're such a good operative.\nBashir: You're lying.\nWeyoun: Oh, here we go again. These little conversations of ours always follow the same pattern. You start out confused, then you get angry, then you deny everything until finally the walls inside your mind start to break down and you accept the truth.\nBashir: What truth? That you broke me when I was in the prison camp?\nWeyoun: We're not barbarians. There was no torture involved. We simply helped you to see that there's no way Starfleet can defeat the Dominion. And because you didn't want billions of Federation citizens to lose their lives needlessly, you agreed to provide us with information that would help us end this war quickly. You rose above the petty question of whose side you were on and made a moral decision. It's not surprising, really. After all, you are a doctor.\nBashir: You're saying that I'm a traitor.\nWeyoun: Traitor, hero, those are just words. Oh, your friends on Deep Space Nine may vilify you, but history will judge you to be a great man, a visionary who helped bring an end to one of the most devastating wars the galaxy has ever seen.\nBashir: But I don't remember, I don't remember any of it.\nWeyoun: Of course not. You suppressed the memories, compartmentalized them. It's a remarkable ability, but it does make these initial conversations a bit wearing. Have something to eat. You always re-integrate better on a full stomach.\nWeyoun: Do you remember the first time I offered you scones back at the camp?\nBashir: No.\nWeyoun: Concentrate. Sensory details are the key. I had you brought in from solitary. You were very hungry, but you refused to give me the satisfaction of seeing you eat. Do you remember?\nBashir: I don't remember because it never happened.\nWeyoun: You were almost there. Try again. With a little more effort you can break through.\nBashir: I am not a Dominion spy!\nWeyoun: I can see this is going to be one of our more difficult sessions.\nBashir: I'm innocent. I don't care what you or Sloan think. Wait a minute. Why would you both be trying to convince me of the same lie? Unless you were working together.\nWeyoun: Please, Doctor. Listen to yourself.\nBashir: Sloan's the traitor.\nCardassian: Combat stations. Enemy ship approaching.\nWeyoun: Sisko. I'm afraid we're going to have to continue your debriefing later.\nBashir: Am I glad to see you.\nKira: Away team to the Defiant. We've got him.\nSisko: I suppose you have a reasonable explanation for why the Dominion broke you out of that holding cell.\nBashir: I understand how this must look, sir.\nSisko: What did they want?\nBashir: Weyoun just tried to convince me that I was his operative. I think he and Sloan are working together.\nSisko: Now that's enough. You know you're not going to exonerate yourself by casting suspicions on someone else.\nBashir: Well maybe he's not a traitor, maybe he's been replaced by a changeling. All I'm saying is that both he and Weyoun are trying to frame me.\nWorf: You have run out of excuses, Doctor.\nBashir: You have to believe me. I'm innocent.\nSisko: I have had enough of your lies, Doctor.\nBashir: You can't just dismiss what I'm saying, because if I'm right there's no telling what kind of damage Sloan\nSisko: Get him off my bridge.\nKira: Let's go, Doctor.\nBashir: Jadzia, you believe me, don't you?\nDax: Why did you do it, Julian?\nBashir: Miles? You?\nBashir: Your shoulder. It's all right.\nO'Brien: Of course it's all right.\nBashir: But you dislocated it yesterday when we were playing springball.\nO'Brien: So? It's better now.\nBashir: You didn't hurt it playing springball. You dislocated it kayaking in a holosuite. You're not Miles. And you're not Captain Sisko. He'd at least be willing to hear me out. This isn't real. It can't be.\nSloan: You're right, Doctor. None of it was real. But I am. And this isn't over. Congratulations, Doctor. It's not often that we're proven wrong.\nBashir: I take it you finally believe I'm not working for the Dominion.\nSloan: I'm leaning heavily in that direction. But to erase any lingering doubts, what do you say we make one final test?\nBashir: I'm finished playing games with you, Sloan.\nSloan: I assure you, Doctor, this is no game.\nSloan: Don't be afraid. I have no intentions of hurting you. I just need to remove an implant from behind your right ear. I tell you what. Why don't you do the honors? Give it to him. Go ahead, Doctor. It's only a neuro-synaptic relay.\nBashir: You've recorded my neuroelectric responses?\nSloan: That's correct. And now I'd like to check the findings in order to confirm what I already believe. That you're an innocent man. Now either you remove the relay or we will.\nSloan: Thank you. This'll only take a moment.\nBashir: Take your time. I don't seem to be going anywhere.\nSloan: I'm glad to see your sense of humor's returning. That's a very good sign.\nBashir: Of what?\nSloan: You're beginning to relax. We subjected you to high levels of stress to ensure accurate test results. I'm glad to say the results are in your favor. Your loyalty to the Federation appears to be above reproach.\nBashir: Why do I still detect a hint of doubt in your voice?\nSloan: Frankly, I would have preferred to have kept you under observation a little longer. Unfortunately, we didn't know about Chief O'Brien's injury or we would've incorporated that into the program.\nBashir: So you beamed me out of my quarters into this holosuite when I was asleep.\nSloan: I believe we allowed you a full hour.\nBashir: No wonder I feel so tired. I suppose you find your subjects more malleable when they have been deprived of sleep.\nSloan: Not a new technique, I admit, but an effective one nonetheless.\nBashir: So, why don't you tell me who you are? Who you work for?\nSloan: I would think it's obvious. The same people you work for. The Federation. Starfleet.\nBashir: You don't expect me to believe you're with Internal Affairs, do you?\nSloan: No, of course not. Internal Affairs is a competent department, but limited.\nBashir: So which department are you with?\nSloan: Let's just say I belong to another branch of Starfleet Intelligence. Our official designation is Section thirty one.\nBashir: Never heard of it.\nSloan: We keep a low profile. Works out better that way for all concerned.\nBashir: And what does Section thirty one do, apart from kidnapping Starfleet officers?\nSloan: We search out and identify potential dangers to the Federation.\nBashir: And once identified?\nSloan: We deal with them.\nBashir: How?\nSloan: Quietly.\nBashir: So if I had been a Dominion agent, what would have happened to me?\nSloan: We wouldn't be standing here having this conversation.\nBashir: And Starfleet sanctions what you're doing?\nSloan: We don't submit reports or ask for approval for specific operations, if that's what you mean. We're an autonomous department.\nBashir: Authorized by whom?\nSloan: Section thirty one was part of the original Starfleet charter.\nBashir: But that was two hundred years ago. Are you telling me you've been working on your own ever since? Without specific orders? Accountable to nobody but yourselves?\nSloan: You make it sound so ominous.\nBashir: Isn't it? Because if what you say to me is true, you function as judge, jury and executioner, and I think that's too much power for anyone.\nSloan: I admit it takes exceptional people to do what we do. People who can sublimate their own ambitions to the best interests of the Federation. People like you.\nBashir: Me?\nSloan: You have all the qualifications to be a very useful member of Section thirty one.\nBashir: A few minutes ago, you were calling me a traitor and now you want to recruit me?\nSloan: Well, you're intelligent, you're resourceful, you've always been fascinated by covert operations. Why else would you spend so much time in Quark's holosuites playing spy?\nBashir: You're serious.\nSloan: We're on the same team. We believe in the same principles that every other Federation citizen holds dear.\nBashir: Yet you violate those principles as a matter of course.\nSloan: In order to protect them.\nBashir: No, I'm sorry, but the ends don't always justify the means.\nSloan: Really. How many lives do you suppose you've saved in your medical career?\nBashir: What has that got to do with anything?\nSloan: Hundreds? Thousands? Do you suppose that those people give a damn that you lied to get into Starfleet Medical? I doubt it. We deal with threats to the Federation that jeopardize its very survival. If you knew how many lives we've saved, I think you'd agree that the ends do justify the means. I'm not afraid of bending the rules every once in a while if the situation warrants it, and I don't think you are either.\nBashir: You've got the wrong man, Sloan.\nSloan: I don't think so. In time, you'll come to agree with me.\nBashir: Don't hold your breath.\nSloan: All I ask is that when you get back to Deep Space Nine, you consider what I've said.\nBashir: What if I decide to expose you?\nSloan: Let's just say I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.\nOdo: I'll say one thing for this fellow Sloan, he's clever. He timed the Doctor's abduction to coincide with his trip to the medical conference. That way, he wasn't missed.\nBashir: Yes, he's clever.\nKira: We went over Julian's quarters but we couldn't find any residual transporter signatures. So either they got him off the station some other way, or they have transporter technology that we can't detect.\nBashir: Captain, is there any word from Starfleet about Sloan or Section thirty one?\nSisko: There's no record of a Deputy Director Sloan anywhere in Starfleet. And as for Section thirty one, that's a little more complicated. Starfleet Command doesn't acknowledge its existence, but they don't deny it either. They simply said they'd look into it and get back to me.\nBashir: When?\nSisko: They didn't say.\nKira: That sounds like a cover up to me.\nBashir: I can't believe the Federation condones this kind of activity.\nOdo: Personally, I find it hard to believe they wouldn't. Every other great power has a unit like Section thirty one. The Romulans have the Tal Shiar, the Cardassians had the Obsidian Order.\nBashir: But what does that say about us? When push comes to shove, are we willing to sacrifice our principles in order to survive?\nSisko: I wish I had an answer for you, Doctor.\nKira: Maybe we should do some checking, try to track down this Sloan ourselves.\nOdo: That won't be easy. If he's right and Section thirty one has existed since the birth of the Federation, they've learned to cover their tracks very well.\nSisko: We don't have to find them. They'll come to us. You said that Sloan tried to recruit you.\nBashir: I turned him down.\nSisko: He doesn't strike me as a man who takes no for an answer. And next time he asks you to join his little group, you will say yes.\nOdo: Well, congratulations, Doctor. Looks like you're going to get to play a spy after all. Only this time, for real."}
{"text": "Kira: Welcome to Deep Space Nine. I'm Major Kira.\nDulmur: I'm Dulmur.\nLucsly: Lucsly. Department of Temporal Investigations.\nKira: We've been expecting you.\nDax: I guess you boys from Temporal Investigations are always on time.\nDulmur: Where's Captain Sisko?\nSisko: Are you sure you don't want anything?\nDulmur: Just the truth, Captain.\nSisko: You'll get it. Where do you want to start?\nDulmur: The beginning.\nLucsly: If there is such a thing.\nDulmur: Captain, why did you take the Defiant back in time?\nSisko: It was an accident.\nLucsly: So you're not contending it was a predestination paradox?\nDulmur: A time loop. That you were meant to go back into the past?\nSisko: Erm, no.\nDulmur: Good.\nLucsly: We hate those. So, what happened?\nSisko: This may take some time.\nDulmur: Is that a joke?\nSisko: No.\nLucsly: Good.\nDulmur: We hate those too. All right, Captain. Whenever you're ready.\nSisko: Two weeks ago the Cardassian Government contacted me and wanted to return an Orb to the Bajorans.\nDulmur: Orb?\nLucsly: They're devices of alien origin that are considered sacred objects by the Bajoran people.\nSisko: Each has a unique property, like the Orb of Prophecy, or the Orb of Wisdom. The one we received from the Cardassians was the Orb of Time, although we didn't know that at first.\nSisko: When the Defiant arrived at Cardassia Prime, we weren't sure if we were dealing with a genuine Orb or one of the fakes that have cropped up over the years.\nSisko: I had it secured in one of the crew quarters so we could bring it back to Bajor for authentication. But before we left Cardassia, we took on a passenger.\nWaddle: Humans! I never thought I'd see another normal face again.\nWorf: This is Mister Waddle.\nWaddle: Barry. Call me Barry.\nWorf: We are taking him back to the Federation. He was trapped on Cardassia when the Klingons attacked.\nWaddle: I'm a merchant. I deal in gemstones, kivas and trillium mostly. May I?\nO'Brien: Help yourself.\nWaddle: You know what Cardassians drink in the morning? Fish juice. Hot fish juice. Raktajino. After six months, I was hoping the Klingons would invade. At least they know how to make coffee, even if they are foul-smelling barbarians. Sorry.\nO'Brien: I wouldn't take it personally, Worf.\nBashir: I rather like the way you smell.\nO'Brien: Yeah, sort of earthy, peaty aroma.\nBashir: With a touch of lilac.\nSisko: With the Defiant under cloak we left Cardassian space and managed to avoid being detected by the Klingons. We were halfway home, and I was just starting to breath easy.\nO'Brien: Trust me. Next time you see him, just sniff the air and go 'is that lilac?'\nDax: Find somebody else. I have my own ways of torturing Worf.\nSisko: Don't look at me.\nO'Brien: I'm picking up a massive surge in chronoton radiation around\nSisko: What happened?\nDax: I don't know, but we've dropped out of warp.\nO'Brien: Sensors are coming back online.\nDax: Benjamin, something's very wrong. According to the navigational computer we're over two hundred light years from our last position.\nO'Brien: We're decloaking!\nDax: Someone's activated the transporter.\nSisko: Deactivate it and get us back under cloak.\nO'Brien: I'm picking up another ship dead ahead.\nSisko: Can you identify it?\nDax: Not yet. But it's close. Very close.\nSisko: Chief, I need that viewscreen.\nO'Brien: I think I've got it. (The static clears to reveal a starship with registration number NCC1701, no **** A B C or D)\nDax: That's\nSisko: The Enterprise.\nDulmur: Be specific, Captain. Which Enterprise? There've been five.\nLucsly: Six.\nSisko: This was the first Enterprise. Constitution class.\nDulmur: His ship.\nLucsly: James T Kirk.\nSisko: The one and only.\nLucsly: Seventeen separate temporal violations. The biggest file on record.\nDulmur: The man was a menace. What was the date of your arrival?\nSisko: Stardate 4523.7.\nDulmur: A hundred and five years, one month, and twelve days ago.\nLucsly: A Friday.\nDulmur: What was the Enterprise doing?\nSisko: She was orbiting one of the old Deep Space stations. K-seven, near the Klingon border. Security reported that just before we were thrown back in time, someone stunned the deputy who was guarding the orb and broke into the cabin. It didn't take us long to realize who it was.\nWorf: His real name is Arne Darvin. He is a Klingon altered to look human.\nDax: His surgeon does nice work.\nOdo: We're assuming that he came aboard the Defiant for the express purpose of gaining access to the Orb.\nO'Brien: Any idea why he brought us back to this point in time?\nWorf: We have a theory. This is Darvin as he appeared during that time period. At this moment he is aboard space station K-seven, posing as a Federation official.\nBashir: So you're saying he's a spy?\nOdo: The younger Darvin's mission was to derail Federation colonization efforts by poisoning a shipment of grain which was, which is being stored aboard the station. However, eighteen hours from now, James Kirk will expose him and he will be arrested.\nWorf: That arrest will end his career. Klingon Intelligence will turn their back on him and he will become an outcast.\nOdo: From what we've been able to piece together, he spent the next hundred years eking out a meager living posing as a human merchant. Then in a final indignity, he was trapped in Cardassian space by the Klingon invasion.\nSisko: Ah. Until he heard rumors about an Orb capable of taking him back in time.\nBashir: So what's he planning to do? Contact his younger self and warn himself about Kirk?\nDax: He could be planning to kill Kirk.\nSisko: The bottom line is, we have to find Darvin and stop him before he has a chance to alter history. Do we know where he beamed to?\nWorf: No. He wiped the transporter logs when he beamed out.\nO'Brien: So he could be on the Enterprise or the station.\nSisko: We'll have to search both without arousing suspicion or altering the timeline ourselves. The last thing I want is a visit from Temporal Investigations when we get home.\nBashir: I suppose we ought to find a way to blend in.\nBashir: Captain.\nSisko: Lieutenant, actually. I didn't want to push my luck.\nO'Brien: Looks good on you, sir.\nSisko: Thank you, Ensign.\nBashir: Wait a minute, aren't you two wearing the wrong color?\nO'Brien: Don't you know anything about this period in time?\nBashir: I'm a doctor, not an historian.\nSisko: In the old days, operations officers wore red, command officers wore gold.\nDax: And women wore less.\nBashir: I think I'm going to like history.\nO'Brien: The original Enterprise used an old-style duotronic sensor array. If we wait for just the right point in the scan cycle, we can decloak the Defiant for almost three seconds without being detected.\nSisko: Is that enough time to transport us aboard?\nO'Brien: Barely.\nDax: Chief, here are the coordinates. The Captain and I will start on deck four and work our way aft. You and Julian should start on deck twenty one\nO'Brien: And work our way forward.\nSisko: What about the station?\nWorf: Little of it is habitable. Most of K seven consists of storage areas and industrial fabrication facilities.\nOdo: It shouldn't take long to search. Security isn't as tight as it is on a starship.\nSisko: Remember, try to avoid contact with people of this time period.\nO'Brien: We're coming up on a bandshift in the scan cycle.\nSisko: Dax.\nBashir: Ready?\nO'Brien: Deck twenty one. Deck twenty one. I said, Deck twenty one.\nBashir: Maybe if you said please.\nO'Brien: What's wrong with this thing?\nBashir: Don't look at me. I don't know anything about this time period.\nO'Brien: Maybe it's jammed. Help me get this wall panel off.\nWatley: Deck fifteen.\nBashir: I won't tell anyone if you don't.\nDax: They really packed them in on these old ships.\nSisko: What about over there?\nDax: Perfect. An auxiliary communications juncture.\nSisko: I'll pretend to do repairs. You scan for Darvin.\nDax: I used to have one of these. I love classic twenty third century designs. Black finish, silver highlights.\nSisko: Dax.\nDax: Sorry.\nBartender: I don't want any more Spican flame gems. Thanks to you I already have enough Spican flame gems to me a lifetime.\nJones: How sad for you, my friend. You won't find a finer stone anywhere.\nWaitress: What's your pleasure?\nOdo: I'll have a raktajino.\nWaitress: You're the second person today who's ordered that. What is it?\nOdo: Klingon coffee. The second person? Who was the first?\nWaitress: An older man. A human.\nOdo: Where is he now?\nWaitress: I don't know. He left about an hour ago. I think he said he'd be back. We don't have any Klingon beverages. Would you like something else?\nOdo: Tarkalean tea.\nWaitress: Okay.\nJones: I have something from the far reaches of the galaxy. Surely you want\nBartender: Not at your price.\nUhura: Oooh. What is it? Is it alive? May I hold it? Oh, it's adorable. What is it?\nBashir: Chief, you're supposed to be working\nO'Brien: I'm afraid to touch anything. It's all cross-circuited and patched together. I can't make heads nor tails of it.\nBashir: Sounds like one of your repair jobs. Well, there's no sign of Darvin in this section. I'm going to widen the scan radius. If I can figure out how.\nO'Brien: Keep the scan field below twenty milliwatts, otherwise you'll set off the internal sensors.\nBashir: Thank you, Chief. I was listening during the mission briefing.\nEngineer: What are you two doing here? Scotty told me to do this.\nO'Brien: Oh, you were going to do this?\nEngineer: It's on the duty roster.\nBashir: Must have been some mix-up.\nEngineer: Isn't that a medical tricorder?\nBashir: Yes. Yes, it is. I'm a doctor.\nEngineer: Why do we need a doctor to repair a power relay?\nBashir: You don't, obviously. No, I'm doing a study. It has to do with work-related stress.\nEngineer: Oh.\nBashir: Why don't you two go on? Pretend I'm not here.\nEngineer: So, where should we start?\nO'Brien: Well obviously the first thing we should do is to take this transtator here, and\nO'Brien: And leave it exactly it is.\nBashir: The job pressure's been getting to him. Why don't you take over? All right, Ensign, I think I've seen enough. Let's get you back to Sickbay.\nO'Brien: Oh, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention this to anyone.\nEngineer: No problem. Hope you feel better.\nWorf: I have completed my search of the primary habitat levels and. What is that sound?\nOdo: Soothing isn't it? The bartender called it a\nWorf: A tribble.\nOdo: Sit down. You're drawing attention.\nWorf: Where did you get that thing?\nOdo: From a man named Cyrano Jones. He told me tribbles like everyone, but this one doesn't seem to like you.\nWorf: The feeling's! The feeling's mutual. They are detestable creatures.\nOdo: Interesting. It's been my observation that most humanoids love soft, furry animals especially if they make pleasing sounds.\nWorf: They do nothing but consume food and breed. If you feed that thing more than the smallest morsel, in a few hours you'll have ten tribbles then a hundred then a thousand.\nOdo: Calm down.\nWorf: They were once considered mortal enemies of the Klingon Empire.\nOdo: This? A mortal enemy of the Empire?\nWorf: They were an ecological menace, a plague to be wiped out.\nOdo: Wiped out? What are you saying?\nWorf: Hundreds of warriors were sent to track them down throughout the galaxy. An armada obliterated the Tribbles' homeworld. By the end of the twenty third century they had been eradicated.\nOdo: Another glorious chapter of Klingon history. Tell me, do they still sing songs of the great tribble hunt?\nDax: What should we do?\nSisko: Get to battle stations.\nSisko: Deck seven.\nSisko: Let's see if we can find out what's going on.\nSisko: Sisko to Defiant.\nSisko: Sisko to Defiant.\nKira: Defiant here.\nSisko: Report.\nKira: A Klingon D-7 battlecruiser just dropped out of warp. It's approaching the station.\nSisko: Have they locked weapons?\nKira: Not yet.\nDax: Kira, can you identify the Klingon vessel?\nKira: The IKS Gr'oth.\nDax: That's Koloth's ship.\nSisko: Curzon's old friend?\nDax: Yes. And he isn't going to attack. I remember Koloth telling me he once traded insults with Kirk on a space station near the Federation border. He always regretted never getting the chance to face him in battle.\nKira: The Klingon ship just transported two people\nKira: To the station manager's office, Captain.\nDax: That's Koloth. Maybe we should beam over to the station and help Odo and Worf. We know that Darvin was there a few hours ago.\nSisko: I think it might be better if Chief O'Brien and Doctor Bashir go.\nDax: But if we went, we might run into Koloth.\nSisko: Exactly.\nDax: It's not as if he would recognize me. I'd love to see him at his prime.\nSisko: Dax. Major, beam the Chief and the Doctor to K-seven and fill them in.\nKira: Aye, sir.\nDax: It would've been fun.\nSisko: Too much fun.\nSisko: Dax was right about the Klingons. They were only interested in shore leave, and Captain Kirk allowed them to beam aboard the station in small groups. When the Enterprise stood down from Red Alert, we all resumed our search for Darvin.\nKira: the next bandshift in the Enterprise scan cycle will be in three minutes.\nO'Brien: We'll be ready, Major. O'Brien out.\nBashir: We should find a turbolift.\nWatley: Hello again.\nBashir: Hello.\nO'Brien: Deck ten.\nWatley: Your flap's open.\nBashir: Excuse me?\nWatley: On your tricorder. You're draining power.\nBashir: Oh. Thank you.\nO'Brien: He's always doing that.\nWatley: You're a doctor?\nBashir: Yes.\nWatley: I just transferred here from the Lexington last week.\nO'Brien: Welcome aboard.\nWatley: I'm coming into Sickbay tomorrow for my physical. Fifteen hundred. Lieutenant Watley.\nO'Brien: You realize, of course, she just using you to get to me.\nBashir: Watley? That was my great grandmother's name.\nO'Brien: Funny.\nBashir: I think she was in Starfleet.\nO'Brien: It's a common enough name.\nBashir: But what if that was her?\nO'Brien: Do you realize the odds?\nBashir: No one ever met my great grandfather. This could be a predestination paradox. Come on, Chief, surely you took elementary temporal mechanics at the Academy? I could be destined to fall in love with that woman and become my own great grandfather.\nO'Brien: You're being ridiculous.\nBashir: Ridiculous? If I don't meet with her tomorrow, I may never be born.\nKira: Chief, are you ready for transport?\nO'Brien: Are we ever.\nKira: Stand by.\nBashir: You saw the way she looked at me. You can't just dismiss this.\nO'Brien: I can try.\nBashir: All right, fine. But I can't wait to get back to Deep Space Nine and see your face when you find out that I never existed.\nSisko: Dax and I resumed our search for Darvin.)\nDax: Benjamin, look.\nChekov: Bridge to Captain Kirk.\nKirk: Kirk here.\nChekov: Mister Baris is waiting on channel E to speak to you, sir.\nSisko: Keep working. We're a maintenance crew just doing our job.\nChekov: Mister Baris is coming on.\nKirk: Yes, Mister Baris. What can I do for you?\nBaris: Kirk, this station is swarming with Klingons.\nKirk: I was not aware, Mister Baris, that twelve Klingons constitutes a swarm.\nBaris: Captain Kirk, I consider your security measures a disgrace. In my opinion, you have taken this entire\nDax: I had no idea.\nSisko: What?\nDax: He's so much more handsome in person. And those eyes.\nSisko: Kirk had quite the reputation as a ladies' man.\nDax: Not him. Spock.\nBaris: Free and complete access to the station to that man who just walked out of here.\nSisko: Let's go.\nKirk: Mister Baris, I have guards around the grain. I have guards around the Klingons.\nDax: I can't believe you don't at least want to meet Captain Kirk.\nSisko: That's the last thing on my mind.\nDax: Oh, come on, Benjamin. Are you telling me you're not the tiniest bit interested in meeting one of the most famous men in Starfleet history?\nSisko: We have a job to do.\nDax: But it's, it's James Kirk!\nSisko: Look, of course I want to meet him. I'd like to shake his hand, ask him about fighting the Gorn on Cestus Three, but that's not why we're here, old man.\nDax: You're right. I guess the difference between you and me is I remember this time. I lived in this time and it's hard to not want to be part of it again.\nBashir: Clearly we've been going about this search business all wrong, Chief.\nO'Brien: You're right. Why bother searching thirty decks, when you can just plonk yourself down at a bar and wait for Darvin to come to you.\nOdo: We have reason to believe that he'll return to this area.\nO'Brien: Ah, yes. The raktajino.\nBashir: A vital clue that others might've missed. How fortunate it is that it has kept you stuck at this bar for the past three hours having drinks while we've been crawling through conduits.\nO'Brien: My God, that's him.\nOdo: Who?\nO'Brien: Kirk.\nWorf: Where?\nO'Brien: On the left, in the gold, just sitting down.\nBashir: That's Kirk?\nWorf: It would be an honor to meet him.\nO'Brien: Let's buy him a drink.\nOdo: Gentlemen, no one's buying anyone a drink.\nO'Brien: He's right. We can't risk altering the timeline.\nWaitress: What'll it be, boys? And don't ask for raktajino. If I have to say we don't carry that one more time\nOdo: Who ordered raktajino?\nWaitress: The Klingons.\nOdo: Klingons?\nWaitress: Over there, and over there.\nBashir: Those are Klingons?\nWaitress: All right. You boys have had enough.\nOdo: Mister Worf?\nWorf: They are Klingons, and it is a long story.\nO'Brien: What happened? Some kind genetic engineering?\nBashir: A viral mutation?\nWorf: We do not discuss it with outsiders.\nKorax: Delusions of god-hood.\nScott: Take it easy, lad. Everybody's entitled to an opinion.\nKorax: That's right. And if I think that Kirk is a Denebian slime devil, well that's my opinion too.\nScott: Don't do it, mister, and that's an order.\nChekov: But you heard what he called the Captain.\nO'Brien: Look at the way Kirk is ignoring that Klingon. He's letting the security officer handle it.\nBashir: Chief, are you sure that's Kirk?\nO'Brien: Absolutely.\nBashir: Why is he wearing lieutenant's stripes?\nOdo: I think we've got bigger problems than a case of mistaken identity.\nKorax: Garbage scow. Half the quadrant knows it. That's why they're learning to speak Klingonese.\nChekov: Mister Scott.\nScott: Laddie, don't you think you should rephrase that?\nKorax: You're right, I should. I didn't mean to say that the Enterprise should be hauling garbage. I meant to say that it should be hauled away as garbage.\nOdo: What are you doing?\nOdo: It's Darvin!\nDulmur: Your men could've avoided that fight, Captain.\nLucsly: Regulation one fifty seven, section three, paragraph eighteen. Starfleet officers shall take all necessary precautions to minimize any participation in historical events.\nSisko: All right. It was a mistake. But there were no lasting repercussions.\nDulmur: How do you know that? For all we know, we could be living in an alternate timeline right now.\nSisko: If my people had caused any changes in the timeline, we would have been the first to notice when we got back.\nLucsly: Why do they all have to say that?\nDulmur: So, your men were arrested.\nSisko: That's right, but instead of being taken to the brig, they were brought in for questioning.)\nKirk: I want to know who started it.\nKirk: I'm waiting.\nKirk: Who started the fight?\nO'Brien: I don't know, sir.\nKirk: All right. Chekov, I know you. You started it didn't you?\nChekov: No, sir. I didn't.\nKirk: Well who did?\nChekov: I don't know, sir.\nKirk: I don't know, sir. I want to know who threw the first punch. All right, you're all confined to quarters until I find out who started it. Dismissed.\nBashir: That was close.\nO'Brien: Me. Of all the people in the lineup, he asks me who threw the first punch.\nBashir: And you lied to him.\nO'Brien: I lied to Captain Kirk. I wish Keiko could have been here to see it.\nBashir: I'm sorry about that, little fellow. Who left you out here all alone?\nO'Brien: He's not alone.\nOdo: Welcome back, Mister Darvin.\nDarvin: The pleasure is all mine.\nOdo: Worf, hold on. I hope you realize you'll be facing some very serious charges when we get back.\nDarvin: You wouldn't dare put one of the greatest heroes of the Klingon Empire into the brig.\nWorf: You are no hero to the Empire.\nDarvin: I will be. I've been thinking about my statue in the Hall of Warriors. I want it to capture my essence. Our statues can be so generic sometimes, don't you think?\nOdo: I take it whatever your plan is, you've already set it in motion.\nDarvin: I see myself standing with Kirk's head in one hand and a tribble in the other.\nWorf: What have you done? Did you hire someone to kill him? Did you sabotage the Enterprise?\nDarvin: Nothing so mundane. Let's just say that Kirk's death will have a certain poetic justice to it.\nSisko: He put a bomb in a tribble?\nOdo: It's his revenge. Originally, Kirk saw how a tribble reacted\nOdo: To Darvin and realized he was a Klingon. He wouldn't say us where this tribble was, but he did say that it was set go off within the hour.\nSisko: It could be anywhere.\nDax: Benjamin, I think we should risk going to the bridge. If we can use the internal sensors, we can scan the entire ship for explosives in a matter of seconds.\nSisko: Dax and I will take care of the Enterprise. The rest of you beam over to K-seven and start searching over there.\nOdo: Understood. But I think Mister Worf should remain here. It seems he's allergic\nOdo: To tribbles.\nSisko: All right.\nO'Brien: Captain\nO'Brien: I'm not sure we can get to K-Seven's internal sensors.\nSisko: Then you will have to manually scan every tribble on the station.\nO'Brien: There must be thousands of them by now.\nBashir: Hundreds of thousands.\nDax: One million, seven hundred and seventy one thousand, five hundred and sixty one. That's starting with one tribble with an average litter of ten every twelve hours. After three days\nSisko: Thank you. You have your orders, people. Sisko out.\nKirk: Doctor McCoy, would you mind coming up to the bridge.\nDax: I re-routed the sensor interface.\nSisko: It worked. I'm scanning the Bridge. Nothing up here.\nDax: That's a relief. When Kirk sat on that tribble, I half expected it to go off.\nSisko: Nothing on the first six decks.\nMccoy: Did you want to see me, Jim? Well, don't look at me. It's the tribbles who are breeding.\nDax: I know him.\nSisko: That must be McCoy, the ship's doctor.\nDax: McCoy. McCoy.\nMccoy: Well, the nearest thing I can figure out is that they're born pregnant, which seems to be quite a timesaver.\nDax: Leonard McCoy. I met him when he was a student at Ol' Miss.\nSisko: Who met him, Curzon?\nDax: No, my host at the time was Emony. She was on Earth judging a gymnastics competition. I had a feeling he'd become a doctor. He had the hands of a surgeon.\nSisko: I've scanned every deck. The bomb's not aboard the ship.\nDax: Then it must be somewhere on K-seven.\nOdo: Odo here.\nSisko: The bomb's not\nSisko: On the Enterprise. It must be over there.\nOdo: We've only been able to get through two decks. We're running out of time.\nSisko: I can send more teams from the Defiant.\nOdo: It's not a question of manpower, it's a question of multiplication.\nOdo: The tribbles are breeding so fast we can't keep up with them.\nDax: Benjamin, maybe we could narrow things down a little. Presumably, Darvin put the bomb somewhere he knows Kirk\nDax: Is going to be in the next half an hour. So if we stick\nDax: Close to Kirk\nSisko: He might lead us right to it.\nOdo: It's worth a try, but there's no reason for us to stop searching over here.\nSisko: Keep at it\nSisko: For now, Constable. Deck five.\nKirk: This is my chicken sandwich and coffee. I want these things off the ship. I don't care if it takes every man we've got, I want them off the ship.\nScott: Aye, they're into the machinery, all right. And they're probably in all the other food processors too.\nKirk: How?\nScott: Probably through one of the air vents.\nSpock: Captain, there are vents of that type on the space station.\nKirk: And in the storage compartments.\nSisko: Storage compartments. Storage compartments!\nKirk: Have him meet us near the storage compartments. We're beaming down.\nSisko: Most of these are dead. The grain's poisoned.\nDax: I'm picking up a faint tricobalt signature. The bomb's under here somewhere.\nSisko: What's that?\nSecurity: It's not working, sir. It seems to be stuck.\nKirk: Here, let me try.\nDax: Someone's trying to open the bay door.\nDax: Benjamin, it's right here in front of us.\nSpock: They seem to be gorged.\nBaris: Gorged?\nBaris: On my grain? Kirk, I am going to hold you responsible. There must be thousands of them.\nKirk: Hundreds of thousands.\nSpock: One million, seven hundred seventy one thousand, five hundred sixty one.\nSpock: That's assuming one tribble multiplying with an average litter of ten producing a new generation every twelve hours over a period of three days.\nSisko: I found it. Sisko to Defiant.\nKira: Go ahead, Captain.\nSisko: I found the bomb.\nSisko: Lock onto my tricorder signal and beam it into space.\nKira: Acknowledged\nKira: Kira to Sisko. It worked.\nKirk: And as captain I want two things done.\nKirk: First, find Cyrano Jones.\nKirk: And second, close that door.\nSisko: After the bomb was detonated, history continued uninterrupted, and thanks to the tribbles\nSisko: Kirk was able to uncover the truth about Darvin.\nKirk: They don't like you, Mister Darvin. I wonder why? Bones?\nMccoy: Jim, this man is a Klingon.\nSisko: By the time we returned to the Defiant, Major Kira had diskovered how to use the Orb to bring us back to our own time.\nDulmur: And that's when you returned the present?\nSisko: Well, not exactly. Before we left, I realized there was one last thing I had to do. Something I'd been thinking about ever since I saw that ship on the viewscreen.\nSisko: Excuse me, Captain. Here's tomorrow's duty roster for your approval. (This is from Mirror, Mirror, and Sisko has replaced Marlena.)\nKirk: Lieutenant, er, Lieutenant?\nSisko: Benjamin Sisko, sir. I've been on temporary assignment here. Before I leave, I just want to say it's been an honor serving with you, sir.\nKirk: All right, Lieutenant. Carry on.\nSisko: Thank you, sir.\nSisko: Now, if you want to put a letter of reprimand in my file for that, then go ahead.\nLucsly: We'll have to review the case before making any recommendations.\nDulmur: However, I don't think there was any harm done. Probably would have done the same thing myself.\nDulmur: You'll be receiving our report in about a month. But based on what you've told us, I don't think you have anything to worry about.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear it.\nDulmur: Goodbye, Captain.\nSisko: Goodbye.\nLucsly: Docking port seven.\nDax: It went well?\nKira: Good. The Constable wants to see us on the Promenade.\nOdo: Did you tell them?\nSisko: They didn't ask. I'm open to suggestions, people.\nDax: We could build another station."}
{"text": "Quark: You know, Morn, there's nothing more invigorating than breakfast in a bar. Where else can you get raw slug liver first thing in the morning?\nRom: What's this?\nQuark: What do you mean, what's this? It's puree of beetle.\nRom: I didn't order it.\nQuark: Of course you didn't order it. You don't need to order it. You have it after work every morning.\nRom: Well, I'm not having it this morning. I'd like two eggs over easy, three strips of bacon and a side of corned beef hash.\nQuark: What kind of breakfast is that?\nRom: It's Chief O'Brien's breakfast of choice.\nQuark: That's the problem with working alongside humans, you pick up their disgusting habits. Bacon. Corned beef hash. What's next, Rom? Orange juice and coffee?\nRom: That might be nice.\nQuark: I don't understand. You gave up a perfectly good job with me to work on the station's waste extraction system?\nRom: A good waste extraction system is important. Imagine where we'd be without one.\nQuark: Of course it's important, but my point is, you're not getting the choice assignments. O'Brien's got you on the night shift, doing all the work nobody else wants to do.\nRom: I like my work.\nQuark: You like standing all night long, knee-deep in waste, fixing some broken flow regulator, when you could be here staring at half-naked dabo girls?\nRom: I have a good job. I'm proud of the work I do. And I know that one day Chief O'Brien will recognize my efforts and reward me with a position of respect and responsibility. And why? Because that's just the way things are in Engineering.\nQuark: I'm sorry I brought it up.\nBashir: They don't look so fine now.\nO'Brien: I can't understand it. I been followed Keiko's instructions to the letter.\nBashir: They were dry as a bone when I came by for you yesterday. I mean, I gave them water, I just don't think it wasn't enough.\nO'Brien: You watered them? These are Idran hybrids. Too much water rots their roots.\nBashir: Oh.\nMolly: Mommy's going to be mad.\nO'Brien: I can't believe it. Keiko's gone for five days and we killed her plants.\nBashir: She'll understand, won't she? After all, they're just plants.\nO'Brien: They're not just plants. These are her bonsai trees. She's cared for them and nurtured them, and carefully sculpted their growth for months, years.\nMolly: You're in trouble.\nO'Brien: Listen, Molly, I think you and I should both go to the airlock and welcome Mummy back. And then after we've hugged and kissed, you can tell her what happened.\nMolly: Not me.\nBashir: Well don't look at me.\nO'Brien: Well you killed her plants.\nBashir: We killed them. But I think you're overreacting to the situation. I mean, Keiko will forgive you. It's your birthday today, isn't it?\nO'Brien: So far it's one I'd like to forget.\nBashir: Well, she's been away on Bajor. She's missed you. Bring her a gift. What kind of chocolates does she like?\nO'Brien: Tellurian mint truffles. But I still think you should be with me.\nBashir: You don't need me there. I've seen you handle your wife thousands of times. Just say you're sorry and that you take full responsibility. You'll be fine. Besides, I have to be in surgery, operating.\nO'Brien: On who?\nBashir: I'll find someone.\nO'Brien: It was Julian. He was trying to be helpful. He over-watered them. It's not his fault, but you know how he is. Sometimes he doesn't even know what he's doing. I'm sorry, sweetheart. We'll buy some new ones.\nKeiko: Forget it, Miles. They're just plants.\nO'Brien: Exactly.\nKeiko: It's not as if something happened to Molly or the baby.\nO'Brien: Right, right, right. Everybody's fine. No problems.\nKeiko: Good. What about Kira? Is she back yet?\nO'Brien: No, she's still with Shaakar traveling around Dahkur Province. I thought you were going to visit them.\nKeiko: I didn't get a chance.\nO'Brien: So, how were the Fire Caves?\nKeiko: Fine. And now it's time for me to tell you some news. I'm not Keiko.\nO'Brien: No? Who are you?\nKeiko: Listen carefully, Miles. I have taken possession of your wife's body. I will hold it hostage until you do everything I tell you do accurately, and without question.\nO'Brien: Everything?\nKeiko: If you don't do precisely what I ask, I'll kill your wife.\nO'Brien: Are you all right? Maybe there's been an outbreak of Rudellian brain fever on Bajor. We should go see Julian\nKeiko: I see I'm going to have to give you a demonstration of my sincerity.\nO'Brien: Keiko! Keiko! No!\nKeiko: No, Miles, you're not telling anyone. If you do, I'll stop her heart forever.\nO'Brien: If you're really in control of my wife's body, let me speak to her.\nKeiko: She can hear whatever you have to say.\nO'Brien: Not good enough. I want to talk to her. I want her to talk to me.\nKeiko: You're in no position to bargain, Miles. Strange, these corporeal bodies of yours. So fragile. Burst even a tiny blood vessel in the brain and every memory, every passionate emotion, gone forever. You shouldn't let me eat all of these by myself, Miles.\nO'Brien: I'm not hungry. Look, why don't you just tell me what you want me to do so we can get this over with.\nKeiko: Very well.\nO'Brien: But let me make one thing clear I will not do anything to jeopardize this station or the people on it.\nKeiko: Don't worry, Miles. All I want you to do is reconfigure some of the communication and sensor relays on the station.\nO'Brien: Why?\nKeiko: I can't tell you.\nO'Brien: You'll have to be patient. The communications and sensor relays are distributed throughout the entire station.\nKeiko: You know your wife well, Miles, but she knows you even better. I know you're just playing for time until you can get to your friends. Julian, Dax, Captain Sisko, I know they'll all want to help you. The Captain may even allow you to do what I'm asking. At least until someone figures out a way to trap me in some sort of stasis field or some other clever device you're already dreaming up. And you know what? It might work. You might be able to stop me. But I promise you one thing. If you do, Keiko will die. All I need is a split second to cause a massive brain hemorrhage and she's gone. I know this is a difficult adjustment for you to make, but we don't have a lot of time.\nO'Brien: What do you want me to do?\nKeiko: How long is this going to take?\nO'Brien: In order to keep the polarity shift invisible to security checks, I'll have to tap into the optronic integrator on level five.\nKeiko: You're the engineer. What is it, Miles? What do you want to ask me? You always tighten your brow just a tiny bit whenever you're about to ask a question. It's something only a wife would notice.\nO'Brien: Why Keiko? Why take control of her? Why not me? I'm the one who can do the work. It'd be more efficient.\nKeiko: Come in.\nBashir: Hope I'm not interrupting anything.\nO'Brien: Yes, you are. We're busy.\nKeiko: Miles! Don't be so rude. Ah, Bajoran spiny basil. How thoughtful.\nBashir: It's the least I can do after er\nKeiko: It's all right, Julian. I forgive you. Now, you are coming to the party tonight, aren't you?\nBashir: I'll be here. I guess it's not a surprise anymore.\nKeiko: I can't believe I did that. I arranged a birthday dinner for you tonight, but I wanted it to be a surprise.\nO'Brien: That's okay. I don't like surprises.\nBashir: Well, I'd better going. I left a patient on the operating table. I'll see you later.\nKeiko: Thanks, Julian. This was so sweet.\nBashir: No problem.\nO'Brien: A party? Tonight?\nKeiko: It is your birthday.\nO'Brien: We can't have all those people here. We'll have to cancel.\nKeiko: And raise suspicions? It's better if the dinner goes on as planned. Besides, Keiko went to a lot of trouble to arrange it for you. Now, you'd better get back to work. You don't want to be late for your shift briefing. And I've got a lot of cooking to do.\nRom: Diagnostic and repair technician junior grade Rom reporting.\nWhatley: Right. You're Duarte's replacement. Have a seat.\nRom: I'm on the swing shift?\nWhatley: For a day or two.\nTekoa: What's the matter with Duarte?\nWhatley: Sick as a vole.\nRom: Is this where Duarte sits? So, what are you drinking?\nWhatley: Raktajino.\nRom: Great. Is that what we drink on the swing shift?\nWhatley: You can drink anything you want.\nRom: I'll have a raktajino. It's not like this on the night shift. We don't drink raktajino. We really don't drink anything.\nWhatley: Fascinating.\nO'Brien: Change of plans today, people. I need to recalibrate the optronic integrator on level five. What is it, Rom?\nRom: I volunteer. I like phase-shifting reconfigurations.\nO'Brien: Thank you, but I'll take care of that myself. I want the rest of you to concentrate on the new inertial couplings. I want all sixty four couplings done today. Whatley, you and Tekoa cover the docking ring. Abdon and Nori, the cargo bays. Rom the upper pylons. Any questions? Good. Now, since I'll be working alone today, I'm going to be very busy. So I don't want to be interrupted by anything unimportant. Is that clear?\nWhatley: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: Computer, locate Keiko O'Brien.\nComputer: Keiko O'Brien is in her quarters.\nO'Brien: Computer, initiate full identity scan of Keiko O'Brien and note inconsistencies with any existing medical records.\nComputer: Scan complete. No inconsistencies found. Identity confirmed.\nO'Brien: How long would it take for a level three stasis field to render Keiko O'Brien unconscious?\nComputer: All cognitive reflexes would cease in two point one seconds.\nO'Brien: Too long. Calculate the time if anesthetine gas were used.\nComputer: One point four seconds.\nO'Brien: What about a phaser set to stun?\nComputer: Zero point nine seconds.\nO'Brien: God help me.\nJake: There you are, Chief. I was beginning to think you were going to miss your own party.\nO'Brien: I'm sorry I'm late. Had a few odds and ends to tie up. Have you seen Keiko?\nBashir: Oh, she's in the bedroom, helping Molly put on different shoes. A little fashion crisis. But as usual, your wife has handled everything. You're a lucky man, Miles.\nSisko: Keiko has really outdone herself this time. Take it from an old cook, q'parol is a very time-consuming dish.\nMolly: Happy birthday, daddy.\nKeiko: For\nAll: He's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, which nobody can deny.\nKeiko: Happy birthday, sweetheart.\nJake: Make a wish.\nKeiko: Single malt Irish whiskey. Neat. Molly wanted to wear her new purple shoes for you. Doesn't she look pretty?\nO'Brien: Very pretty.\nKeiko: Now, all the food's set out on the table, so just relax with your friends and I'll pass these around.\nO'Brien: I want to talk to you.\nKeiko: Not right now, Miles. We have guests.\nDax: Sorry I'm late.\nKeiko: Dax! I was afraid you weren't coming.\nDax: I heard you were serving q'parol and how could I miss it?\nSisko: What's the matter, Chief? You look a little preoccupied. Everything all right?\nO'Brien: There's something I forgot to tell Keiko. Would you excuse me for a moment?\nSisko: Of course.\nJake: Did you see any Pah-wraiths?\nKeiko: Pah-wraiths?\nJake: In the Fire Caves. Odo was telling me the caves were haunted by some sort of weird supernatural beings.\nKeiko: Don't tell me you believe in wraiths?\nOdo: Well, I may have mentioned the Bajoran legends about creatures living in the caves, but I never said I believe in them.\nKeiko: Well, the only thing I saw in the caves were some beautiful and botanically fascinating fungi.\nJake: Well, maybe next time you go to the Fire Caves, I could come along. I've always wanted to meet a Pah-wraith.\nKeiko: Maybe you will. You never know.\nO'Brien: I've done what you asked.\nKeiko: That's terrific, Miles. We'll talk later.\nKeiko: Miles, are you bleeding?\nO'Brien: No, it's nothing.\nBashir: Let me take a look.\nO'Brien: I said I'm all right! I'm sorry. Sorry, everybody. Excuse me.\nKeiko: Get a hold of yourself.\nO'Brien: Look, I've done everything you asked me to do. Just give me back my wife.\nKeiko: You've done well, Miles.\nKeiko: But recalibrating the optronic integrator was only a test. I had to be sure I could trust you. Tomorrow the real work begins. Now it's time to get back to our guests. We don't want to raise suspicions, do we?\nKeiko: Is Molly asleep?\nO'Brien: Yes.\nKeiko: The q'parol was a big success.\nO'Brien: Look, no more tests, no more games. Just tell me what you want done.\nKeiko: We'll talk about it in the morning. It's late and you're working a double shift tomorrow.\nO'Brien: I want to talk about it now!\nKeiko: Miles, I make the rules. Now relax. Everything's going to be fine as long as you do what I ask.\nO'Brien: I'll sleep on the couch.\nKeiko: Don't be childish. What if Molly has one of her nightmares and comes running in? You'll sleep in bed with me, just like you always do.\nO'Brien: I'll be there in a minute.\nKeiko: Don't be too late. You've got a busy day tomorrow.\nO'Brien: Computer, give me the record of all Bajoran legends concerning the Pah-wraiths.\nComputer: There are six thousand, four hundred twenty-seven entries in the data banks that reference that subject. Please specify.\nKeiko: Miles.\nKeiko: Sleep well.\nKeiko: Another weakness of you corporeal lifeforms. Your need for physical intimacy. It's especially irritating in your young.\nO'Brien: I have to get Molly ready for school.\nKeiko: I'll do it. You have a big day ahead of you.\nO'Brien: Molly's going to sleep at the Davis' tonight and she's staying there until this is over.\nKeiko: Do you really think that's wise? A little girl needs her mother. Molly would be lost without hers.\nO'Brien: You stay away from her.\nKeiko: Miles, I'd never do anything to hurt your daughter, unless you forced me to. These are your instructions. Follow them precisely.\nO'Brien: Computer, locate Captain Sisko.\nComputer: Captain Sisko is in Security.\nKeiko: Miles!\nO'Brien: No!\nOdo: And you didn't see anyone near her before she fell?\nO'Brien: Nobody. But I was passing underneath the walkway and I had my back toward her.\nSisko: What were you doing on the Promenade?\nO'Brien: What?\nOdo: Weren't you supposed to be working on optronic circuitry on level five?\nO'Brien: I was going to the Replimat for lunch.\nBashir: Keiko's going to be all right. She's lucky that she landed the way that she did. It distributed the impact. Otherwise a fall from that height could easily have killed her or left her paralyzed.\nO'Brien: Is she conscious?\nBashir: Yes, but she's still in shock. She has a broken femur and a hairline fracture of the right parietal bone.\nO'Brien: Can I see her?\nBashir: Maybe in a couple of hours. Right now she needs to rest.\nO'Brien: Julian, I really need to see her now.\nSisko: Doctor.\nBashir: All right. But only for a few minutes. Don't excite her.\nO'Brien: Keiko.\nKeiko: You were going to tell them about me.\nO'Brien: How did you know?\nKeiko: I know everything your wife knows and she knows you. I told you we have to trust one another. You violated that trust. Now look where it's led us.\nO'Brien: I want my wife back, do you hear me? I want her back.\nKeiko: Then stop trying to fool me. How much more damage do you think this body can take? Now, no more tricks, agreed? Say it.\nO'Brien: Agreed.\nKeiko: Good. You know what you need to do. You should get back to work.\nO'Brien: I'll have everything completed in thirty six hours.\nKeiko: You have thirteen and not a minute more.\nO'Brien: I can't do it that fast.\nKeiko: You're a very resourceful man. I'm sure you can find a way, for Keiko's sake.\nO'Brien: You bloody\nBashir: She does need to rest, Chief.\nKeiko: Tell Molly I'll be home soon. Tell her Mommy's fine. Don't scare her. Miles? Give me a kiss.\nKeiko: I'm counting on you.\nBashir: She'll be back on her feet soon, I promise.\nO'Brien: Computer, begin a thirteen hour countdown starting now.\nComputer: Clock activated.\nWorf: Chief. I heard about Keiko's accident. How is she?\nO'Brien: Julian said she'll be home soon.\nWorf: That is good. If there is anything I can do.\nO'Brien: I wish there was. I really do. I'd better get going. I'm falling behind schedule.\nO'Brien: Computer, time remaining?\nComputer: Eight hours, twenty two minutes, three seconds.\nRom: Chief! Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.\nO'Brien: Rom, what are you doing here?\nRom: Reporting for my next assignment. I've completed calibration tests on the inertial coupling ports on all three upper pylons.\nO'Brien: Already?\nO'Brien: How did you finish so quickly?\nRom: I just did the work. I didn't allow myself to get caught up in any of the distracting discussions the other workers engage in. Ferengi can be very focused, especially when no one bothers to talk to them.\nO'Brien: I see.\nRom: Not that I mind. I'm used to being ignored. Is something wrong, Chief? I can work slower if you want me to.\nO'Brien: Rom, I need your help, and I need you to keep your mouth shut. Can I count on you?\nRom: Is that a trick question?\nO'Brien: Rom, this is serious.\nRom: You can depend on me, Chief.\nO'Brien: We're going to make some modifications to several of the station's systems. I don't want you to breathe a word of this to anyone. That includes Dax, Odo, Captain Sisko, Worf.\nRom: They don't know?\nO'Brien: Of course they know. At least, some of them do. But they have to pretend that they don't. This is a top secret Starfleet operation.\nRom: Culpable deniability. I understand. Don't worry about me, Chief. My lips are sealed. Nobody will get anything out of me. Not even my name.\nO'Brien: Rom, everybody on the station knows your name.\nRom: Right. But I won't confirm it. Where do we start?\nO'Brien: Computer, time remaining?\nComputer: Six hours, forty one minutes, twenty six seconds.\nDax: Chief.\nO'Brien: Commander, what are you doing up at this hour?\nDax: I want you to have a look at something. I couldn't sleep so I got up and decided to scan the wormhole for radiometric anomalies.\nO'Brien: At three in the morning?\nDax: I've always found anomalies to be very relaxing. It's a curse. I was using the wideband filter protocols and when I ran the primary calibrations check I found this.\nO'Brien: Oh, they're slightly off spec.\nDax: Yes. I thought it might be a fused matrix inverter until I ran a level three diagnostic. Have a look. We'd better wake the Captain. We have a saboteur on the station.\nSisko: All right, what have you got?\nDax: Computer, display diagnostic. Chief?\nO'Brien: We've identified nine hundred and forty three tiny fluctuations in the primary communication relays and several power distribution junctions.\nDax: Fluctuations that can't be attributed to anything except external intervention.\nSisko: Someone's gained access to our systems and is altering them. For what purpose?\nO'Brien: We're working on that. At this point, it's hard to even call it sabotage. There's been no real damage. The systems are just a little off spec. So far, these alterations don't seem to pose any threat to the station.\nSisko: So far. But this might be just the tip of a very large and dangerous iceberg. Is there any way to trace how this was done, and by whom?\nOdo: It has to be someone familiar with the station's systems.\nDax: Maybe someone who worked on the station under the Cardassians.\nOdo: I'm running extensive security checks on all recent visitors, but so far, I haven't found anything.\nDax: It could be someone who's been on the station a long time. Someone with a lot of access. Maybe even someone on the maintenance crew.\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: Yes.\nSisko: Yes, what? Do you think it's someone on your staff?\nCrewman: Chief O'Brien, I have a call from your daughter.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: Molly, honey, what is it?\nMolly: Hi, Daddy. Mommy told me I could call you.\nKeiko: I hope we didn't interrupt anything important.\nO'Brien: It's all right, Molly. I'm glad you called. What are you doing home?\nKeiko: She missed her mommy. Isn't that sweet?\nMolly: When are you going to come\nMolly: Ow! Mommy, that hurt.\nKeiko: Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie.\nO'Brien: Are you all right, Molly?\nKeiko: She's fine, Miles. She wants to know when you'll be finished. I told her you had to work another two hours, twenty two minutes and thirteen seconds.\nMolly: How long is that, Daddy?\nO'Brien: Soon. I'll be home very soon.\nKeiko: Good. We both miss you.\nSisko: Everything all right?\nO'Brien: Fine. I'm sorry about the interruption.\nSisko: You were saying you thought you knew who the saboteur might be.\nO'Brien: I think I have an idea.\nRom: Hello, Constable. Hello, Chief.\nOdo: What are you doing, Rom?\nRom: I can't talk about it.\nOdo: Oh, yes you can. And you will.\nOdo: Coming, Chief?\nO'Brien: I'd better see what he's been up to here. I'll take care of those.\nSisko: Has he said anything?\nOdo: Not much. For the first forty minutes, it was like pulling teeth even getting him to admit his name.\nSisko: You think he's working alone?\nOdo: I don't know. Rom admits to nothing. Now he's asking to see Chief O'Brien. He won't talk to anybody else.\nSisko: Then get the Chief down here. I want to know what's going on.\nOdo: Security to Chief O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Go ahead, Constable.\nOdo: We need you in Security right away.\nO'Brien: I'm still trying to figure out what Rom did to these systems.\nOdo: That'll have to wait. I have Captain's orders to get you down here immediately.\nO'Brien: On my way. Computer, time remaining?\nComputer: Thirty six minutes, nine seconds.\nO'Brien: Computer, locate maintenance technician Rom.\nComputer: Maintenance technician Rom is in Security holding cell number four.\nO'Brien: Initiate security override and scramble surveillance channels four A, B, C and D. Authorisation O'Brien seven one two.\nComputer: Specified security channels scrambled.\nO'Brien: Now, begin recalibration of gravitic sensors at access panel three seven nine as indicated. I'll be back in ten minutes.\nOdo: The Chief is here, Rom. Now what do you want to say?\nRom: Alone. I'll only talk if we're alone.\nO'Brien: What is it, Rom? It's okay. I've diskonnected Odo's eavesdropping devices.\nRom: I haven't told anyone anything, just like you said.\nO'Brien: You're a good man. Now why did you call me? I told you we're under very tight time constraints.\nRom: Captain Sisko is really angry. If I didn't know he was pretending\nO'Brien: Rom.\nRom: Don't worry, I can hold out until you say otherwise, but there is one thing I have to know.\nO'Brien: Go ahead.\nRom: Why are we focusing a chroniton beam at the wormhole?\nO'Brien: What?\nRom: The new frequency of the deflector grid is set to turn the station into a massive chroniton array aimed directly at the wormhole. So I just wanted to know. Why are we trying to kill the wormhole aliens?\nO'Brien: What are you talking about? A chroniton beam is harmless.\nRom: To us, but its temporal disruption would kill a wormhole alien instantly.\nO'Brien: Of course. Why didn't I think of that. She has me so on edge I haven't been able to see the forest for the trees.\nRom: Who's she?\nO'Brien: I don't have time to explain now. The question is, why would anyone want to kill the wormhole aliens?\nRom: Everyone has enemies, even the Prophets.\nO'Brien: That's right. They're not just wormhole aliens, they're Prophets, part of Bajoran mythology just like the Pah-wraiths of the Fire Caves. So, what have those wraiths have to do with the wormhole aliens?\nRom: Koss'moran.\nO'Brien: What?\nRom: It's a Bajoran legend. From the verb kosst, meaning 'to be' and amoran 'banished'. Leeta's been telling me all about Bajoran legends. She can go on for hours. She says I'm a good listener.\nO'Brien: I'm sure you are. Now's the time to be a good talker. Go on.\nRom: Well, according to Leeta, the Pah-wraiths used to live in the wormhole. They were part of the Celestial Temple.\nO'Brien: They were Prophets?\nRom: False Prophets. They were cast out of the Temple, exiled to the caves where they were imprisoned in crystal fire cages and forbidden to ever return lest they face the wrath of the true Prophets.\nO'Brien: So if these false Prophets were to return to the Celestial Temple?\nRom: I don't think they'd be welcomed.\nO'Brien: Unless she kills all the wormhole aliens first. Rom, I'm going to have to leave you in a tough spot.\nRom: Captain Sisko, Odo, they don't know about any of this, do they?\nO'Brien: No. No, they don't. And I want you to help me keep it that way for a little while longer.\nRom: I have to stay here and play the idiot?\nO'Brien: I'm afraid so. No matter what Odo asks you\nRom: I'm Quark's brother. I know the role.\nO'Brien: Computer, time remaining?\nComputer: Twelve minutes, twenty two seconds.\nOdo: Ahem. Sorry to disturb you, Chief. A couple of things are still bothering me. Rom couldn't have done all this sabotage alone. There were too many changes for any one person to make.\nO'Brien: Maybe so. Right now I've got a frequency problem in the cascade feeder.\nOdo: I checked with the repair logs. I was hoping to match someone's movements to the locations where the alterations were made, but I couldn't do that.\nO'Brien: We had a matrix system failure yesterday. Those files were lost. Sorry.\nOdo: We've had a lot of system failures recently, haven't we, Chief?\nO'Brien: Really? I hadn't noticed. I've been too busy repairing things.\nOdo: Like the surveillance channels in the holding cells? You authorized a security override. What was wrong with them?\nO'Brien: The fiber optic relay was out of sync. The isolinear chip junction was\nOdo: Enough, Chief. You didn't cover your tracks very well. Why?\nO'Brien: I didn't have time. I still don't.\nO'Brien: Sorry, Odo. Chief O'Brien to Keiko O'Brien.\nKeiko: This is Keiko.\nO'Brien: I'm finished, but we have to move quickly. This place is going to be swarming with security. Meet me at runabout pad C now.\nKeiko: How did you know I'd want a runabout?\nO'Brien: Because I know what you're planning to do. But don't worry, I don't give a damn about the Celestial Temple, or your non-corporeal feuds. I just want my wife back. Now you still need me to pilot you to the wormhole, so let's stop wasting time. Agreed?\nKeiko: I'll meet you there.\nO'Brien: That's correct, Commander. I want to test some new magnetic constrictors on the runabout's impulse thrusters.\nDax: Very well, Chief. You're cleared for departure. But before you go, there's one thing I'd like to ask you.\nO'Brien: What's that?\nDax: Did you enjoy your birthday?\nO'Brien: It was full of surprises.\nDax: Good. Those are always my favorites.\nKeiko: Hold position here.\nO'Brien: Computer. Initiate modifications O'Brien seven three one and enable remote comm. link.\nComputer: Comm. link enabled.\nDax: What the hell?\nKeiko: Target the center of the wormhole.\nO'Brien: Target coordinates set.\nKeiko: Have us face the Temple. The blast'll last only a fraction of a second. They'll all be dead before they even see it.\nKeiko: Oh, you have no idea how many centuries I've waited for this.\nO'Brien: Let's get on with it.\nKeiko: Miles, you have a lot to learn about patience. Proceed.\nSisko: Chief, what's going on out there? I'm ordering you to return to the station. Now!\nKeiko: Activate.\nO'Brien: Keiko? Keiko.\nKeiko: Miles?\nSisko: Chief. You have some explaining to do.\nKeiko: It was more like having something coiled around inside my head. I could see and hear through it, but any time I tried to do anything, it was like being stuck in sand and squeezed.\nO'Brien: Yeah. Could you sense any of its thoughts?\nKeiko: Just feelings sometimes. Kind of a cold rage. I don't think it had any intention of leaving either one of us alive.\nO'Brien: You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.\nKeiko: It feels better to talk about it. Besides, I don't want to forget how hard you fought for me.\nRom: Hello, brother.\nQuark: You look horrible. I'm telling you, Rom, working the night shift is driving you to an early grave.\nRom: I wasn't working.\nQuark: What do you mean you weren't working?\nRom: I'm not on the night shift anymore.\nQuark: I knew it. O'Brien fired you.\nRom: No, brother. In appreciation of my work the chief has promoted me to the day shift. He says I have a promising future in Engineering.\nQuark: Then why do you look so tired?\nRom: I was out celebrating.\nQuark: With who?\nRom: My crewmates. I think they like me.\nQuark: Do they.\nRom: Especially Litana. She's always finding excuses to talk to me.\nQuark: Well, Rom, I'm glad things are going so well for you.\nRom: No, you're not. But thanks anyway, brother.\nQuark: I guess you'll be wanting the Chief's Special again?\nRom: Actually, no. I've diskovered that bacon doesn't agree with me.\nQuark: What a surprise.\nRom: Instead, I'll have a short stack of pancakes, dripping with butter, side of sausage and pineapple.\nQuark: Pineapple?\nRom: That's the breakfast of choice on the day shift.\nQuark: Pineapple."}
{"text": "Odo: So, what do you think of the O'Brien's plan to name their baby Sean?\nSisko: Well, I kind of like it. Sean. Has a nice ring to it.\nOdo: Except that in Bajoran, Sean means swamp.\nSisko: Do the O'Briens know that?\nOdo: I doubt it.\nSisko: Someone should tell them.\nOdo: I nominate you.\nDax: Morning.\nOdo: Neck bothering you again?\nDax: It's just a muscle pull.\nSisko: What is that, the eighth muscle pull this month?\nOdo: Actually, I believe Commander Dax has been treated for seven muscle pulls, two contusions, and three cracked ribs. The only person who's spent more time in the Infirmary in the past few weeks is Commander Worf.\nSisko: Isn't there any way the two of you could, er, you know\nDax: Make love?\nSisko: Without injuring yourselves?\nDax: Interspecies romance isn't without it's danger. That's part of the fun. Maybe we'll have better luck on Risa.\nSisko: Risa? I thought you and Worf were taking your vacation on Earth.\nDax: That was his suggestion. I changed his mind.\nOdo: From what I hear, Risa makes the Hoobishan Baths look like a monastery.\nSisko: I hope they have a good hospital. I can't believe you actually convinced Worf to go to a pleasure planet. He must really be loosening up.\nOdo: I hadn't noticed it.\nSisko: Come to think of it, neither have I.\nDax: Oh, no, he's still the same old Worf.\nWorf: Prune juice, extra large.\nDax: See what I mean? Worf.\nWorf: Captain, Constable, Commander.\nSisko: Dax said you were going to Risa.\nWorf: Did she?\nDax: It's no secret.\nWorf: Apparently not.\nOdo: You must be looking forward to it.\nWorf: I am looking forward to spending some time alone with Lieutenant Commander Dax.\nDax: Isn't he sweet?\nWorf: We have much to discuss.\nSisko: About what?\nWorf: It is a private matter.\nDax: Worf's upset because I had lunch with Captain Boday.\nOdo: The Gallamite?\nWorf: His skull is transparent.\nDax: And if you couldn't see his brains, would it make you feel any better?\nWorf: It is not proper for you to have lunch with an ex-lover while we are together.\nDax: We were just talking. You have to learn to trust me a little more.\nWorf: I do trust you. I do not trust Captain Boday.\nOdo: Well, I can see it's going to be quite a trip.\nSisko: The two of you have to tell us all about it when you get back.\nWorf: I am sure she will.\nWorf: I do not see why you feel the need to talk about our personal lives to other people.\nDax: And I don't see why you feel the need to control my every move. And they're not other people. Benjamin and Odo are my friends.\nBashir: Jadzia.\nDax: Hey.\nBashir: Worf. We've been looking for you. I've been thinking about this trip you're taking to Risa.\nDax: He's a friend too.\nLeeta: Julian and I were talking it over and we'd like to come along, if that's all right.\nDax: Actually, we were hoping to spend some time alone together.\nBashir: Oh, you'll have it.\nLeeta: Oh, once we get to Risa, you won't even see us.\nDax: There's no harm in sharing a runabout.\nWorf: I suppose not.\nLeeta: Oh, thank you so much. I'm going to go pack.\nBashir: Commander.\nWorf: Do not hug me.\nBashir: I promise we will keep out of your hair.\nWorf: Good. Because we have much to discuss.\nSisko: I really wish I was going with you. Dax and I had some great times on Risa. Curzon Dax.\nWorf: Curzon. Of course.\nSisko: Have fun.\nQuark: It's about time you got here. The rest of us were ready to leave an hour ago.\nWorf: What is he doing here?\nQuark: I've always wanted to go to Risa and this seemed like a perfect opportunity.\nLeeta: He wouldn't give me any time off unless we promised to take him with us.\nBashir: I hope this isn't going to be a problem.\nQuark: Why should it be a problem? We're going to have a wonderful time. Now, if you don't mind, Risa awaits.\nLeeta: Sorry.\nWorf: Jadzia.\nDax: I know, I know. We have much to discuss.\nLeeta: Let's see. That's a Tarkalean tea for you, a raktajino for you, and an extra large prune juice.\nDax: Leeta, you're on vacation, not at Quark's. You don't have to serve us.\nLeeta: Oh, it gives me something to do. Space travel's so dull. Have you ever noticed how all the stars look the same?\nQuark: Excuse me, but I believe I ordered a snail juice, hand-squeezed.\nLeeta: Get it yourself. I'm on vacation.\nQuark: How much longer until we get there?\nDax: Another six hours.\nQuark: Six hours.\nWorf: Tell the Ferengi to return to his cabin.\nQuark: You call that a cabin? It's a cot and a waste disposal unit. It's so small even I can't stand up in there. Look. I'm developing a slouch.\nWorf: Tell the Ferengi to return to his cabin now.\nDax: Quark.\nQuark: What's he going to do? Turn around and take me home? Ruin everyone's vacation?\nWorf: Coming about. Setting course for Deep Space Nine.\nQuark: Okay, okay, you made your point. I'm going. But first, I have a little present for everyone.\nQuark: One for you, and one for you, and one for you. And none for you.\nLeeta: What's this?\nBashir: It's a horga'hn. A Risian fertility symbol.\nQuark: Displaying one to the locals indicates you're seeking jamaharon.\nLeeta: What's jamaharon?\nBashir: I'll show you later.\nLeeta: Oh. Look, they like each other.\nQuark: I think I'm going to be sick. All right, I'm going.\nDax: Me too.\nWorf: Going? Where?\nDax: I'm going to change into something more comfortable. You don't think I'm going to beam down to Risa dressed like this, do you?\nLeeta: That's a good idea.\nBashir: When in Rome.\nLeeta: Oh! I can't believe we finally made it.\nBashir: Well, enjoy your vacation.\nLeeta: We will.\nQuark: Time to test these babies out. Ladies.\nRisian 1: You seek jamaharon?\nQuark: I seek whatever you've got.\nRisian 2: All that is ours is yours.\nQuark: I'll take it.\nDax: Aren't you uncomfortable in that uniform?\nWorf: Starfleet uniforms are designed for comfort in even the most extreme environments.\nDax: Well, you look out of place. I mean, look around you. Isn't it beautiful?\nWorf: It's an artificially created paradise, maintained by the most elaborate weather control system in the Federation. In it's natural state, Risa is nothing more than a rain soaked, geologically unstable jungle.\nDax: Maybe so, but the only dark cloud I see around here is you.\nWorf: I did not come here to admire the scenery.\nDax: If you say so. I guess we should just go home.\nWorf: Well maybe. I would not be so hasty.\nDax: I take it the scenery has improved?\nWorf: A few months ago, when I was commanding the Defiant on a scouting mission in the Gamma Quadrant, we encountered a protostar cluster, a swirling mass of color set against a background of glowing clouds and burning sky. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, until now.\nDax: I've got to take you on vacation more often.\nArandis: Dax? Is that you?\nDax: Arandis. I was wondering if you were still here.\nArandis: Not only am I still here, I have been promoted. I'm Chief Facilitator for the entire Temtibi Lagoon.\nDax: Worf, this is Arandis.\nWorf: A friend of Curzon's.\nDax: She and Curzon spent a lot of time together on his last trip here.\nArandis: We had a wonderful time together, until I killed him.\nWorf: Killed him?\nArandis: Death by jamaharon. I suppose there are worse ways to go.\nDax: Trust me, he died happy.\nArandis: He was such a sweet old man.\nWorf: I will take your word for it.\nArandis: It's so good to see you again, Dax. Your new host is very attractive.\nDax: Thank you. I'd like to think so. You haven't aged a day.\nArandis: Risa's been very kind to me. Come, let me show you around.\nWorf: Maybe later.\nArandis: Of course. All that is ours is yours.\nWorf: Thank you. But we have everything we need.\nDax: That wasn't very nice.\nWorf: Why? Is there something of hers you want?\nDax: Arandis was Curzon's lover, not mine.\nWorf: I hope you remember that.\nDax: You're still angry about Captain Boday.\nWorf: If I am angry, it is because you do not take our relationship seriously.\nDax: Worf, we just got here. Do we have to start arguing again?\nWorf: If you were a Klingon woman, we would already be married.\nDax: In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a Klingon woman.\nWorf: That's no excuse. I have been loyal to you, and I expect you to be loyal to me in return.\nDax: I have been loyal to you, but I'm not going to let you run my life.\nWorf: I'm not trying to run your life.\nDax: Then I'm going to go have a big glass of icoberry juice.\nWorf: That is a mistake. You are allergic to icoberry juice. It makes your spots itch.\nDax: But I like the taste.\nWorf: Fine. Have as much icoberry juice as you like. But it is still a mistake.\nDax: But it is my mistake to make. Now why don't you go up to our room and put on your bathing suit so we can swim in the lagoon.\nWorf: As you wish.\nWorf: Enter.\nFullerton: I hope I'm not disturbing you, Lieutenant Commander. My name is Pascal Fullerton. I'm the Chairman of the New Essentialists Movement.\nWorf: I'm not familiar with that organization.\nFullerton: We're dedicated to restoring the moral and cultural traditions of the Federation. This is a statement of our principles. But if you'd like to hear more, we're holding a rally later this afternoon.\nWorf: On Risa?\nFullerton: What better place? This world revels in the kind of self-indulgence that's eroding the foundations of Federation society. We intend to shut it down.\nDax: I really wish you'd stop reading that.\nWorf: I would not dismiss Fullerton so quickly. His analysis of recent Federation history is both insightful and disturbing.\nDax: What's really disturbing is that you're still wearing your uniform.\nWorf: It would not hurt you to read this.\nLeeta: Mmm. The truth is, not everyone can be a dabo girl. First of all, you have to be able to wear the clothes, and believe me, that's not easy. You have to be able to calculate odds in your head very quickly, and most importantly, you need a very supple wrist. Like this. Dabo.\nDax: Worf, people have been predicting the end of the Federation since the day it was founded. Trust me, I know.\nLeeta: Oh, hi.\nDax: Leeta, what a surprise.\nLeeta: Care to join us? We were just about to take a reyamilk soak.\nDax: Maybe later. Worf. Worf!\nWorf: That was not Doctor Bashir.\nDax: It's none of our business.\nWorf: Are you defending her actions?\nDax: I am not defending anything, but it's not my business or yours. Now what do you say we go sign out a couple of floaters and take in the sights.\nWorf: I cannot. The Essentialists are having a rally and I plan to attend.\nDax: You're kidding. You're not kidding.\nDax: Don't these people have anything better to do?\nWorf: Perhaps you underestimate the power of Fullerton's message.\nDax: The plot thickens.\nDax: And you were worried about Julian.\nWorf: Why are he and Leeta not together?\nDax: I don't know, but don't jump to conclusions. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation.\nWorf: This place is a bad influence on people.\nArandis: Here for the show?\nWorf: I would not call it a show.\nArandis: Really? I find Mister Fullerton very entertaining.\nDax: He seems pretty determined to diskourage people from coming here.\nArandis: Risa receives millions of visitors every year. And all of them leave happier than when they've arrived. I don't see how one man, no matter how determined, can change that.\nWorf: Kahless fought off an entire army at Three Turn Bridge, and he was only one man.\nArandis: Fullerton and his Essentialists have been here for about a month. And no matter how many speeches he gives, the water's still warm and the wind still smells sweet. But if he's enjoying himself, who are we to diskourage him?\nFullerton: That's right. Take a good look. I can only imagine what you must think of me. A middle-aged ponderous academic, sweating under the hot Risian suns, wasting his time telling you things you don't want to hear. But you know what I see when I look at you? Children. Pampered, spoiled children. For some reason the citizens of the Federation have come to believe that they are entitled to lives of ease and privilege.\nBashir: I may be wrong, but didn't he just insult us?\nFullerton: If you want something to eat, you get it from a replicator. If you want amusement, you go to a holosuite. And if you need protection, you call for Starfleet. But someday, someday soon, you're going to have to learn to take care of yourselves. Because if I see you as helpless children, then how do you think the Borg see you? Or the Romulans, or the Klingons or the Dominion? These empires look at the Federation and they see a prize, a prize that we have forgotten how to protect. And if we don't change our ways, they're going to take it from us.\nArandis: Mister Fullerton has quite a flair for the dramatic.\nBashir: Does he really believe that?\nDax: I think he does.\nFullerton: The way I see it, we've got two options. We can either turn our backs on childish things and re-embrace the hard work that built the Federation in the first place, or we can lie here napping in the sun, until we wake up with Jem'Hadar guns to our heads. The choice is ours. Heaven help us if we make the wrong one.\nBashir: What are you talking about? Come on, Worf. This sounds like nonsense.\nWorf: I am merely observing that the Klingons never would have attacked if had they not believed the Federation vulnerable. Even now, since the changeling was diskovered on the Klingon High Council, most of my people continue to call for war because they think they can win.\nBashir: None of this has anything to do with Risa.\nWorf: You cannot be certain of that.\nDax: All I know is I've spent lifetimes defending the Federation, and I deserve a vacation every now and then.\nLeeta: Julian? Oh, there you are. I am so glad we came here. I'm having the most wonderful time.\nBashir: I told you this was just what we needed. Something wrong?\nDax: It's nothing.\nWorf: The two of you dishonor each other with your actions.\nLeeta: Do you know what he's talking about?\nBashir: You mean, we didn't tell you why we came here? We're conducting the Rite of Separation.\nLeeta: It's an old Bajoran custom. When a couple separates, they spend several days celebrating their parting. It's a way to remember all the good times, and to seek out new opportunities.\nBashir: A very wise and ancient culture.\nLeeta: You know, Julian, I don't think I've completely gotten you out of my system yet.\nBashir: I know exactly what you mean. Excuse us. We have a few details to work out.\nWorf: Terminating a relationship should not be taken so frivolously.\nDax: Not every relationship has to end like a Klingon opera.\nWorf: Oh, no. no. Just the ones that are important.\nBolian: Stay where you are.\nDax: On three. One, two\nWorf: Wait.\nFullerton: That's enough. Well, I hope we've proved our point.\nDax: The power cells are empty.\nFullerton: We have no intention of harming anyone.\nDax: I don't understand.\nFullerton: You think you're safe here in this paradise of yours, but you're not. What if we had been Jem'Hadar or Klingons or Romulans. You'd be dead now. Even you Starfleet officers were lulled into a false sense of security. If you could be taken unaware, what chance do the rest of us have? The sad truth is the galaxy is a hostile place. Forget that, even for a moment, and you risk losing everything. Just something for you to think about while you wait for your desserts.\nBolian: Demonstration's over. Move along, move along.\nDax: As a Starfleet Officer, I have the authority to arrest you for what you just did.\nFullerton: But that would be a waste of time. We both know the Risians won't prosecute. They don't have the courage for it. Believe me, I wish they did. Commander Worf, what did you think of our little demonstration?\nWorf: I cannot condone what you have done.\nFullerton: Maybe not, but I do think you understand it.\nDax: I don't know about you, but it's past my bedtime.\nWorf: We need to talk.\nDax: About the Essentialists?\nWorf: No. About us.\nDax: Oh, I suppose you have another list of things I'm doing wrong.\nWorf: I did not say you were doing anything wrong. It's just that some of your behavior\nDax: What about my behavior?\nWorf: At times, you are too impulsive. You act without thinking. You have no self-control.\nDax: And you think I need you to control me?\nWorf: Jadzia, you are my par'Machkai. And that means everything you do reflects on me.\nDax: I'm sorry if I embarrass you.\nWorf: I just need to know that you take this relationship as seriously as I do.\nDax: And I just wish you'd relax a little and let yourself enjoy what we have together. Worf, I'm not going to change who I am.\nWorf: Nor am I.\nDax: Well, at least we agree on something. Why don't we go to bed?\nWorf: You go. I will be there shortly.\nDax: This place looks a lot better than it did last night. I guess Risians aren't as lethargic as the Essentialists would like everyone to believe.\nArandis: The Essentialists are wrong about many things. What that Mister Fullerton could use is a little jamaharon. No, a lot of jamaharon.\nDax: I'd buy him a horga'hn myself if I thought held take it.\nArandis: It looks like he's not the only one that could use some cheering up.\nDax: I've had better vacations.\nArandis: Better than Risa?\nDax: I've never known a Klingon who had a tougher time enjoying himself.\nArandis: That's no reason for you not to have a good time. Risa is famous for its diversions.\nDax: I wish it was that simple.\nArandis: It was for Curzon Dax. And I can tell there's more than a little Curzon in you.\nDax: He loved this planet.\nArandis: And Risa loved him.\nDax: Why don't I help you clean up?\nArandis: All that is ours is yours.\nLeeta: Our paths have grown apart.\nBashir: What was one is now two.\nLeeta: The time of sharing is over. May the Prophets guide you toward the path of happiness.\nBashir: And may they walk with you always.\nQuark: That's it?\nLeeta: That's it.\nBashir: What were you expecting?\nQuark: I was expecting fireworks. Where's the anger, the vicious name-calling, the irrational accusations? I never would have agreed to be a witness if I knew you were going to be so civil. It's disgusting.\nBashir: Personally, I think it was admirable. No incriminations, no hurt feelings. I don't think I've ever felt this good about the end of a relationship.\nLeeta: Oh, I agree. Now I can finally be honest about my feelings.\nBashir: What does that mean?\nLeeta: It's just in the past few months I've been thinking a lot about another man.\nQuark: Let me get this straight. While you were still dating Julian here, you were having fantasies about someone else?\nLeeta: I'd rather not discuss it now.\nBashir: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You brought it up. You might as well tell me who it is.\nQuark: Yes, do tell.\nLeeta: It's\nQuark: Me?\nLeeta: Your brother, Rom.\nQuark: My brother Rom?\nBashir: His brother Rom?\nLeeta: He's so cute. And very sexy.\nBashir: Cute?\nQuark: Sexy? BASHIR +\nQuark: Rom?\nQuark: Here. You need this more than I do.\nArandis: You just close your eyes and let all the tension drain away. Doesn't the clay feel good?\nDax: Wonderful.\nArandis: Now pour your emotions into it. Begin to mold it. Feel the texture in your hands.\nDax: I do. I feel it. I really do.\nArandis: I knew you'd get it.\nWorf: Dax.\nDax: Worf?\nDax: Worf!\nFullerton: I'm tired of giving speeches. It's time we took action.\nBolian: We've taken action, the raid on the Solarium.\nFullerton: It'll be forgotten by tomorrow.\nFullerton: Mister Worf?\nWorf: You want to make people leave Risa. I think I know a way.\nBashir: I probably would've reacted the same way Worf did. I know Arandis is Curzon's lover, not yours, but if I'd walked in on the two of you together? Well, trying to figure you out at any given time isn't easy.\nQuark: I like that about her.\nBashir: So do I. It's the reason why I chased after her so long.\nDax: Would you two please stop talking about me like I'm not here.\nBashir: It's also why I stopped chasing after her. You're too much work.\nDax: Worf is the one who's too much work.\nQuark: What you need is a Ferengi.\nDax: Maybe, but what I want is Worf.\nBashir: Why?\nDax: Because he has the courage of a berserker cat and he has the heart of a poet.\nQuark: And the brain of a pigheaded idiot.\nDax: Yeah, sometimes.\nArandis: Jadzia.\nDax: Any luck?\nArandis: I'm afraid not. None of the staff can find him, but I'm sure he'll turn up.\nQuark: Well, no sense waiting around here for him. I say we take some floaters up into the hills and go skinny dipping in the hot springs.\nBashir: I never thought I'd say this, but I'm with Quark.\nDax: What was that?\nQuark: Great. Just what we needed.\nDax: I thought it wasn't supposed to rain in this part of Risa.\nArandis: It's not. Something must be wrong with the weather grid.\nArandis: May I have your attention please. Obviously the weather grid is experiencing some type of malfunction, but I'm sure we'll be able to repair it soon.\nFullerton: No, you won't.\nDax: You're responsible for this.\nFullerton: I authorized it, but it was not my idea.\nWorf: It was mine.\nBashir: Are you serious?\nDax: He's serious. Worf, what did you do? Build an uplink so you could take control of the weather grid?\nWorf: The grid has been deactivated. It will take three or four days to restore the system to normal operation. During that time, the inhabitants of Risa and their guests will experience the planet's natural weather cycle.\nArandis: And for most of Risa that means rain, and plenty of it.\nQuark: But why are you doing this?\nFullerton: Because Risa is an illusion created by weather control systems, industrial replicators, seismic regulators. If the Federation is going to survive, we're going to have to stop wasting our time with toys and get back to the essentials.\nArandis: I'm beginning to think there's no hope for that man. Or for you either, Mister Worf.\nBashir: Commander, with all due respect, are you out of your mind?\nWorf: I think you will find me quite rational.\nQuark: As rational as Klingons get, anyway.\nDax: Worf, this is wrong.\nWorf: I disagree. If Federation citizens cannot handle a little bad weather, how will they handle a Dominion invasion?\nQuark: I have seen drier days on Ferenginar, and we have a hundred and seventy eight different words for rain. Right now it's glebbening out there. And that's bad.\nDax: If you're so miserable, why don't you take your horga'hn and go find some company.\nQuark: Have you taken a good look at the Risians lately? They're even more depressed than the guests.\nArandis: I'm trying to organize a game of hoverball. Would either of you like to join us?\nQuark: In the rain?\nArandis: No, on one of the indoor courts.\nQuark: Indoor hoverball. That's just wrong.\nDax: I'll play.\nArandis: Good, that makes one.\nDax: Having trouble keeping the guests happy?\nArandis: I've never heard so much complaining in my life.\nQuark: Nobody came here to sit around in the rain.\nArandis: It's not just the weather. People are starting to complain about everything. The rooms, the entertainment, the food.\nDax: What's wrong with the food?\nArandis: Nothing, as far as I can tell. But the guests say it just doesn't taste right.\nQuark: It's the humidity. It dampens the food, makes everything mushy. Trust me. There's no word for crisp on Ferenginar.\nArandis: Maybe Mister Fullerton is right. Maybe we have forgotten how to deal with adversity.\nBolian: According to our figures, the guest population has declined by thirty percent in the last three days. WORF And you can be sure the guests that have stayed are taking what you have to say seriously.\nFullerton: It's a start.\nWorf: One that you can build on.\nFullerton: You're leaving?\nWorf: I have had my fill of Risa.\nFullerton: Mister Worf, you've been an inspiration to us all.\nWorf: Good luck.\nFullerton: Thank you.\nFullerton: You still have the uplink to the weather control grid?\nBolian: Right here.\nFullerton: By tomorrow, the weather grid will be restored to normal and no one here will remember this ever happened. But I intend to send a message they won't forget.\nDax: You must be feeling pretty good right now. The weather's terrible, the guests are miserable, and more and more people are leaving Risa every day.\nWorf: Their response only proves my point.\nDax: Oh, I see. Ruin the vacations of a few hundred thousand people to bolster the moral fiber of the Federation.\nWorf: I do not expect you to understand.\nDax: I understand even better than you do. What you did had nothing to do with Risa, or the Essentialists, or even the Federation. It's about you and me.\nWorf: You give yourself far too much credit.\nDax: Do I? You think I'm irresponsible, frivolous. That I care more about pleasure than I do commitment. What do you think is going on between me and Arandis?\nWorf: You know what I think.\nDax: That's right, I do. And you know what? You're wrong. Did it occur to you to ask me about it? Or trust, just a little?\nWorf: A Klingon woman would not have given me grounds for suspicion.\nDax: And how would you know? Curzon spent more time with Klingons than you ever did.\nWorf: You may have lived among my people, but you are not a Klingon. I am.\nDax: Maybe so, but you're not like any other Klingon I've ever met. What happened to you, Worf? You're a paragon of Klingon honor and diskipline, but when it comes to the Klingon passion for life, the exuberance, the enjoyment of the moment, you are constantly holding yourself back. Why?\nWorf: That's not the issue here.\nDax: I think it is.\nWorf: I do not wish to lose you, Jadzia.\nDax: Then talk to me, please.\nWorf: You know from the age of seven I was raised by humans on the farmworld of Gault? It was a sparsely populated world, no more than twenty thousand inhabitants. It often seemed as though everyone knew everyone else. But one thing was for certain, everyone knew me. I was the Klingon child, the uncontrollable one. I was the biggest, the strongest, most fearless child on the entire planet. I fought hard, played hard, I did as I pleased.\nDax: What changed?\nWorf: When I was thirteen, I was captain of my school soccer team. We had made the championships, and I was determined to win. Near the end of the second half, with the score tied, my team got a corner kick. The ball sailed up high. Both I and one of my opponents, a human boy named Mikel, leaped up to head the ball. He had position, but I was determined to score. I remember laughing with excitement as I threw myself at him.\nDax: Go on.\nWorf: The next thing I knew, the ball was sailing into their goal. I roared with triumph and turned around to Mikel to gloat, only to find him lying on the grass bleeding. Our heads had collided when we both went up for the ball. I had not feel the impact, but I had broken his neck, and he died the next day.\nDax: It was an accident.\nWorf: Which only makes it worse. Compared to Klingons, humans are fragile creatures. I realized at that moment to live among them I must practice restraint.\nDax: That must have been difficult for you.\nWorf: At first. In time it became part of who I was, who I am.\nDax: And you're still afraid that if you lose control\nWorf: Someone I care about might get hurt.\nDax: That explains a lot. But you have to realize there are some things in life you can't control, and one of them is me. But what you can do is trust me. I care about you, Worf, and I would never do anything to hurt you.\nWorf: Nor would I do anything to hurt you.\nDax: Who knows, I might have more self-control than you give me credit for.\nDax: That felt like an earthquake. So did that.\nWorf: The Essentialists.\nFullerton: You should see them all run. I think they've finally realized that the party's over. Increase the feedback in the tectonic stress regulators.\nBolian: If I do, there won't be a building left standing on this part of Risa.\nBolian: It might be a good idea to head to the spaceport. Or at least get out of this room.\nFullerton: Very well. I think our work is done here.\nWorf: The uplink. Give it to me.\nFullerton: Mister Worf, I suggest you all get off this planet as soon as possible. I have no wish to see you or your friends harmed.\nDax: Give us the uplink or the only person who will be harmed is you.\nFullerton: I thought you were one of us.\nWorf: Perhaps I was for a time. But I believe the Federation will survive the Dominion, the Borg and people like you.\nFullerton: Mister Worf, if you walk out of here now, you'll be turning your back on the Federation. Don't you see? Over-indulgence, lack of self-control, they'll destroy everything we hold dear, and you will be responsible.\nWorf: You say that we have to return to traditional Federation values. Well, I agree, but one of those values is trust. It is essential that we remember that.\nFullerton: Don't you walk away from me.\nWorf: I will do as I please.\nBolian: Are you all right?\nFullerton: Yes, yes.\nWorf: I am on vacation.\nQuark: Figures. The weather improves the day we leave.\nLeeta: I can't wait to get home. Not that I didn't enjoy myself.\nQuark: I'd better go find Bashir. He brought a horga'hn down to breakfast and that's the last I saw of him.\nArandis: I hope the two of you enjoyed Risa and will come again.\nWorf: I did not think that I would be welcome.\nArandis: Well, you still have a lot to learn about our people. I never got a chance to say goodbye to Curzon Dax.\nDax: And you're not saying goodbye to me either. I'll be back.\nArandis: And Risa will be waiting.\nDax: So what do we do now?\nWorf: Now we watch the suns set.\nDax: I have a better idea. Why don't we go swimming.\nWorf: I didn't bring a bathing suit.\nDax: I won't tell if you don't."}
{"text": "Garak: If I'd known what I was walking into, I never would have gone.\nDax: It was your idea to attend the conference in the first place, Garak.\nGarak: I thought the Bajorans would be grateful to hear someone provide them with an opposing philosophical view.\nDax: Opposing view? Garak, you were trying to defend the military occupation of their world. How grateful did you think they would be?\nGarak: My understanding of this conference was that it was supposed to be an examination of the occupation from a dispassionate historical perspective. Instead, everyone went out of their way to dismiss virtually everything I had to say.\nSisko: I thought the Bajorans bent over backwards to be polite to you, Garak.\nGarak: Giving me a name tag that read, 'Elim Garak, former Cardassian oppressor' was hardly polite.\nDax: And what did you want it to say? Former spy?\nGarak: What I would have liked was less posturing and more debate. It's clear to me now that the Bajorans aren't really interested in diskovering historical truth as much as they are in promoting the myths and legends of the glorious Resistance.\nDax: Well, Odo wasn't a member of the Resistance and he managed to attract a fair amount of attention.\nGarak: Yes, it seems you have quite a fan club on Bajor. I half expected you to be signing autographs at the end.\nDax: Don't let him get to you, Odo. You should be proud of what you did during the Occupation.\nOdo: I've nothing to be proud of. I tried to bring order to a chaotic situation, that's all.\nSisko: You need to give yourself more credit, Constable. Keeping order during the Occupation would be a tough job for anyone, but you not only did it, you did it by earning the trust of both sides.\nDax: What was it the Moderator said? That you may have worked for the Cardassians, but your only master was justice.\nSisko: And a legend is born.\nOkala: Sir, Captain Sisko's runabout is approaching the station.\nWorf: Very well. Clear them for docking on landing pad one.\nOkala: Aye, sir. Commander, something's wrong. They're not responding, and sensors show unusual EM signatures along their hull. The runabout's on auto-pilot\nWorf: Lifesigns?\nOkala: Four, very weak.\nWorf: Disengage the auto-pilot. Bring the runabout to within transporter range. Doctor Bashir to transporter room five. Medical Emergency.\nWorf: Check the aft compartment.\nBashir: He's alive, but there's an excess of neural energy in his cerebral cortex.\nWorf: What does that mean?\nBashir: I'm not sure of that.\nWorf: Can you revive them?\nBashir: I'm not sure of that, either.\nCardassian: All prisoners return to your quarters.\nBelar: Show some dignity. Look at you. No wonder the Cardassians think we're animals. Get up! Get up! If you're going to spend the night taking chemicals, stay off the Promenade. We don't need another cleansing today.\nDax: What happened?\nSisko: Not here.\nGarak: I couldn't agree more.\nCardassian: All bio-organic materials must be disposed of according to regulations.\nBashir: There's a high level of neural activity which suggests that their conscious minds are active, and yet there's no response to any external stimuli. What's the word on the runabout?\nWorf: We have found preliminary indications that the ship encountered a class two plasma storm which irradiated the vessel.\nBashir: Computer, are current neural readings for subjects Odo, Sisko, Dax and Garak consistent with the effects of encountering a class two plasma storm?\nComputer: There are no recorded causal relationships between plasma storms and specified neural readings.\nBashir: None? Computer, how many medical records are there on space plasma phenomena?\nComputer: Five thousand twenty one.\nBashir: Well, it would appear that a common phenomena has had an uncommon effect on our people.\nWorf: Well, the runabout is still being analyzed. We should have more information soon.\nBashir: Good. In the meantime I have some reading to do.\nSisko: This is Terok Nor. DS Nine during the occupation.\nDax: Time travel?\nGarak: No, it's more than that. Our clothes have changed.\nOdo: Could we be in a holosuite?\nSisko: Computer, end program. Let's assume that's a no for the moment.\nDax: Benjamin, we're not attracting any attention.\nSisko: And we should be. Humans, Trills and changelings didn't just stroll through Terok Nor unnoticed.\nGarak: Then I should be getting some attention as well. We are in the Bajoran sector, and Cardassians weren't exactly welcome here.\nSisko: I don't think they see you as a Cardassian. I'm beginning to think they don't see any of us as who we really are.\nGarak: The clothes we're wearing are Bajoran. They're treating us like Bajorans.\nSisko: Maybe they see us as Bajorans. Any theories, old man?\nDax: Some kind of cross-dimensional transfer? Our conscious minds might've been moved through time and space into the bodies of four Bajorans on Terok Nor.\nGarak: But then why are we still seeing each other as we really are instead of as Bajorans?\nDax: I just ran out of speculation.\nSisko: The last thing I remember was sitting in the runabout.\nDax: There was a plasma anomaly on the sensors, and then there was this sound.\nGarak: No, not a sound. More like a strong vibration\nSisko: I remember. Odo?\nOdo: I don't recall. But whatever's happened, we have to leave this place. Get off the station.\nGarak: Then I suggest we go directly to the authorities and explain our situation.\nOdo: Garak.\nGarak: I have knowledge of certain security codes that would be sufficient to prove that I am in fact a Cardassian, even if their eyes say otherwise. I could always say I'm an undercover operative posing as a Bajoran and\nOdo: Captain, the authorities on Terok Nor will not be looking for reasons to help us. They will be looking for a reason to interrogate us, and believe me, you do not want to be interrogated by the Cardassians.\nSisko: I tend to agree with the Constable. If they should diskover that we're actually from the future\nDax: Gul Dukat's on the second level.\nSisko: Let's move on.\nSisko: Odo? Who was that?\nOdo: I don't know.\nGarak: You should. It was your predecessor.\nOdo: My predecessor? Oh, yes. The man talking to Dukat. His name is Thrax. He was in charge of security on the Promenade before me.\nDax: That means we've gone back at least nine years.\nSoldier: You. Come with us.\nSisko: What's she done?\nSoldier: Nothing. Yet.\nGarak: Perhaps there's been some misunderstanding. If I may be so bold, you may find something which will bring you infinitely more profit than the arrest of a Bajoran woman.\nSoldier: Latinum?\nGarak: Two strips.\nSoldier: Where is it?\nGarak: Ah. But our friend is still in your custody.\nSisko: Don't move.\nSoldier: Tempting offer. Maybe next time. This one's been selected.\nDax: I'll be all right.\nWorf: Doctor.\nBashir: Garak's septial capillaries burst at this point. The pattern of his delta waves shows some unusual activity at the same moment. The bleeding might be the result of some kind of psychosomatic response.\nWorf: You mean he thought he was injured?\nBashir: Under certain conditions, people have been known to alter their blood pressure, lower their body temperature, even manifest a tumor as a result of psychological stimuli.\nWorf: Could these stimuli cause more serious injuries?\nBashir: I don't think he could spontaneously break a bone, but he could certainly stop his heart or break a key blood vessel in his brain.\nWorf: But what is causing all of this?\nBashir: At the risk of repeating myself, I just don't know.\nCardassian: Step back from the gate.\nSisko: He said she's been selected. What the hell does that mean?\nOdo: A random interrogation, forced labor relocation. It could be anything.\nSisko: That's not good enough. I want to know where they've taken her.\nGarak: But before we can help Commander Dax, we need to find out who we are in this reality.\nSisko: If we could get to a computer terminal, we could ask for a simple ID scan.\nOdo: Computer access was extremely limited on Terok Nor.\nGarak: What about a Cardassian comp-link? I took the liberty of borrowing this from the gentlemen who thought my nose needed adjustment.\nOdo: I see I'm going to have to add the word pickpocket to your resume.\nGarak: It's only a hobby.\nOdo: Interesting that a simple tailor should just happen to have a high-level security code.\nGarak: Yes, isn't it? And if my nose didn't hurt so much, I'd tell you with a fascinating story about how I came to possess it. Ah, yes. Captain, you are actually a Bajoran electronics engineer. You're thirty eight years old, you have no criminal record, your family resides in Rakantha province and your name is Ishan Chaye. Lucky me. I'm an artist. I'm fifty five, I've been arrested three times for disturbing the peace. I must be incorrigible. I also reside in Rakantha and my name is Jillur Gueta.\nSisko: And the Constable?\nGarak: Ah, yes. His profession is\nOdo: I'm a bookkeeper. Forty six years old. I have a wife and two sons in Rakantha Province, and my name is Timor Landi.\nGarak: That's right.\nSisko: How'd you know that? Odo?\nQuark: Congratulations, gentlemen. You get to work today. And you'll be laboring in the finest establishment on the station. My establishment. Twelve hours of work, two five minute breaks, one slip of latinum each. Let's go. Didn't you hear me? I'm offering you work. What are you waiting for?\nSisko: Nothing. Just show us the way.\nQuark: Open it. Start by stepping through the gate that the nice man has opened for you. Very good. You three must be warp engineers. Now we're going to walk down the Promenade to the bar. Would you like me to hold your hands or can you manage it?\nSisko: We'll manage.\nQuark: I'm so glad.\nOdo: How much damage would it do to the timeline if Quark were to suffer a mysterious accident?\nSisko: I'm not sure. But maybe we should conduct a little experiment and find out.\nDukat: Name?\nDax: Leeta.\nDukat: Look at me when I speak to you, Leeta.\nDukat: She'll do.\nDukat: Kanar.\nDukat: For two. Have you ever had kanar?\nDax: No.\nDukat: Well, then this is an occasion. You're trembling. Despite what you may have heard, I'm a fair man, Leeta. Rest assured, you have nothing to fear from me. I did not bring you here to be abused.\nDax: Then why am I here?\nDukat: It may surprise you to hear this, but my position is a lonely one. I'm isolated from the people who live under my protection. I require someone to talk with. In short, a friend.\nDax: You want me to be your friend?\nDukat: Ironic, isn't it, that I should choose a simple Bajoran girl to share my inner thoughts with. But as you get to know me, Leeta, I think you'll find that I'm a complicated man.\nDax: You're different than I imagined.\nDukat: To the beginning of your education.\nGarak: I never knew we were such messy conquerors. I remember the occupation being a little more tidy than this.\nSisko: Everything's tidy when someone else is doing the cleaning.\nGarak: The Bajorans were much more suited for this sort of thing than we were. Servile work is in their nature.\nSisko: I'll remember to mention that to Major Kira when we get back.\nGarak: There are exceptions to every rule.\nSisko: You all right?\nOdo: The smell's making me sick.\nSisko: How did you know your name would be Timor Landi in this, this, whatever this is.\nOdo: I recognized the other two names from the security files kept during the Occupation. Timor, Ishan and Jillur were the names of three Bajorans who were accused of attempting to assassinate Gul Dukat on the Promenade.\nSisko: Half the resistance tried to kill Dukat.\nOdo: These three were innocent. However, no one knew that at the time and Dukat wanted to make an example of them, so he had them led out onto the Promenade and publicly executed.\nGarak: If we're them\nSisko: If we're them, we'd better find a way out of here before Dukat makes an example out of us.\nThrax: Quark. I understand you had a visit from a Talavian freighter captain this morning. A Captain Livara, I believe.\nQuark: I had a lot of visitors this morning. It was a busy day.\nThrax: I'm surprised you're being so indiskreet. Captain Livara is a known smuggler.\nQuark: You don't say? Such a nice, friendly man, too. I guess you can never tell what some people are really like.\nThrax: Rumor has it that the Obsidian order has had him under surveillance for several months.\nQuark: The Obsidian Order?\nThrax: Rumor also has it that they're planning on bringing in all of Livara's co-conspirators for questioning.\nQuark: Well, you know how rumors are.\nThrax: Yes. They're usually true. So when the Order asks me for a list of all of Livara's known associates on board the station\nQuark: He was here for ten minutes. He wanted to unload a shipment of maraji crystals, but I wasn't interested. I can't move maraji crystals. The Cardassians don't like them and the Bajorans can't afford them, so I sent him on his way, all right?\nThrax: And that's all?\nQuark: That's all.\nThrax: I hope so. Because if I find out that you've been dealing in illegal crystals, I'll hand you over to the Order myself.\nQuark: Always a pleasure.\nSisko: I see you're not the first man around here to keep Quark on his toes.\nOdo: Yes.\nGarak: Something's wrong. Thrax talked about a Captain Livara.\nSisko: Does that name mean something to you?\nGarak: Livara wasn't just another smuggler. He was a Romulan spy and he didn't begin working in this sector until seven years ago. But seven years ago, Thrax wasn't on Terok Nor, you were, Odo. Odd contradiction. So I checked the date. This is seven years ago. Thrax shouldn't be here. You should be the Security Chief.\nOdo: None of this makes any sense, Garak. Now I suggest we concentrate on finding a way out of here. That's our priority.\nSisko: I tend to agree.\nGarak: Well, you'll get no argument from me. But how?\nSisko: We need to contact the Bajoran resistance. They might be able to get us off the station, maybe even to the Federation. Kira once told me about a prearranged signal the resistance used on Terok Nor to set up a meeting. Once we're finished here, we'll head back to the Bajoran sector and I'll make the signal.\nCardassian: All recreation passes are suspended for alpha unit personnel until further notice.\nGarak: The Bajorans never did have a sense of style. Turn the vase over and the resistance appears.\nOdo: It's simple and effective.\nSisko: And they did it for years, right under the Cardassian's noses.\nGarak: Not under my nose, Captain. Under his.\nSisko: At least Dax is all right\nGarak: Look at him. The Commander of Terok Nor. Just another swaggering, self-important Gul with too much vanity and not enough ability.\nSisko: Maybe, but he's no fool.\nSisko: Are you all right?\nOdo: Yes. Just slipped out of my hand.\nBelar: You wanted a meeting? Don't look at me, eat your soup.\nSisko: I didn't think you would come while Dukat was here.\nBelar: Everyone's watching our gentle dictator stroll the Promenade with his new girlfriend. Now, I hate soup and I have no intention of finishing this entire bowl, so whatever you want, let's hear it.\nSisko: We need to get off the station.\nBelar: Why?\nGarak: Does it matter?\nBelar: Yes, as a matter of fact, it does. We're not a commuter service. If you're running from a dispute over chemicals or women or smuggling, you're on your own. If you've killed one of the spoonheads\nGarak: Spoonheads?\nSisko: Garak!\nBelar: That's a different matter.\nSisko: We're not who we seem to be.\nBelar: I hope not, because you seem to be wasting my time.\nSisko: Let's just say we're involved with the Federation.\nBelar: Let me guess. You're Starfleet agents operating under cover, posing as indigent Bajorans who happen to be\nSisko: Dax!\nOdo: Captain, no!\nCardassian: Secure all exits on floor alpha.\nOdo: Captain, we can't stay. They'll take care of her but we must go\nSoldier: Don't move.\nGarak: You'd think they'd put us in our own cell block, instead of with the common criminals. After all, we are accused of attempting to assassinate the station commander. That deserves some respect.\nSisko: Maybe they'll salute when they execute us.\nThrax: Quiet down. Quiet down. Quiet. Quiet please! Quiet please! Kara Polus, Brin Tusk and Marat Kobar. Your sentence is five years hard labor. Trial to confirm this sentence will take place at seventeen hundred hours. Benten Vek, your fine has been paid and you'll be free to go within the hour. Lobo, Horis, Romara, Pelin and Gramm. You are being transferred to Cardassian authorities on Bajor for interrogation.\nWoman: No, no, please.\nThrax: Timor, Ishan, Jillur. You came aboard the station two days ago from Rakantha Province. Yesterday you paid a visit the chemist shop and then fell asleep on the Promenade. Last night you were hired as a cleanup crew by the Ferengi, and after you were paid, you went back to the Bajoran sector and attempted to murder Gul Dukat with a chambered plasma grenade.\nSisko: We were sitting at a table eating when the grenade went off. There are witnesses.\nThrax: None of which have come forward.\nOdo: Why would the witnesses risk their lives for three strangers? They're out there, but you have to go look for them.\nThrax: Epidermal scans revealed the presence of trinitrogen chloride on your hands and clothing. TNC is one of the components used in plasma grenades.\nOdo: TNC is also a cleaning solution, which is what we were using in Quark's.\nThrax: Or you used the opportunity of working at Quarks to obtain the TNC in the first place. You all have ties to the Bajoran underground. You have three cousins who are known Resistance members. Five of your friends are suspected sympathizers.\nOdo: After fifty years of occupation, is there anyone left on Bajor who doesn't have some tie to the resistance?\nThrax: Quiet! That may be true. But you were seen rushing toward Dukat after the explosion. Everyone else was running away.\nSisko: I wanted to help my friend. She was injured in the blast.\nThrax: The report of the Cardassian guard states that you were found over the body of Gul Dukat, attempting to strangle him.\nGarak: That's a lie.\nOdo: Interrogate the troops yourself, don't just take their report at face value.\nThrax: I don't interrogate members of the Cardassian military.\nOdo: Then run a ballistic analysis of the explosion. If you examine the fragmentation dispersal pattern, you'll find that we couldn't have thrown the grenade from our position at the table. It had to have come from\nThrax: Quiet! Quiet down! There is sufficient evidence for a conviction.\nOdo: All of which is circumstantial. Go beneath the surface. Conduct a real investigation.\nThrax: This investigation is over. Your case is going before a special tribunal this afternoon. You will be informed of the sentence just before it meets.\nOdo: No! Wait! I need to talk to you! Let me talk to you alone for just a moment! Please, listen to me!\nDukat: That's enough.\nDax: How do you feel?\nDukat: Better than last time.\nDax: Last time?\nDukat: This is the fourth assassination attempt I've survived.\nDax: Maybe you should find another job.\nDukat: Maybe I should. I'm glad to see you have your appetite back.\nDax: I don't get to eat like this very often.\nDukat: I've wanted to increase rations in the Bajoran sector for some time now, but the resistance makes it almost impossible to show any sort of kindness to your people.\nDax: You really want to help my people, don't you?\nDukat: Yes, of course. The Bajorans are, well, they're like my children, I suppose. And like any father, I want only what's best for them.\nDax: And you still feel like that now after some of your children have tried to kill you?\nDukat: Bad manners are the fault of the parent, not the child. My weakness is I'm too generous, too forgiving. My heart is too big.\nDax: And so is your ego.\nGarak: Yes, I know I don't look Cardassian. You see, I was surgically altered to appear Bajoran. But what if genetic scans show no cardassian DNA in my cellular structure? In that case, I'll suggest\nSisko: Tell me about Thrax.\nOdo: What do you want to know?\nSisko: Something about his background. He seems unusual. Doesn't have that casual brutality I've come to expect from Cardassian security officers. What makes Thrax different?\nOdo: I wouldn't know. He was gone by the time I came aboard the station.\nSisko: That brings up a good point. Why is he here now? Garak said that you were the security chief during this time.\nOdo: You're implying that I should know the answers, that I'm holding back information?\nSisko: I'm saying that maybe you know more than you think you do. You lived here, on Terok Nor. You're supposed to be out there now instead of Thrax. Think, Odo. There might be some connection between you and what's happening here.\nOdo: I don't know!\nDax: Miss me?\nOdo: It doesn't have to happen again\nDax: Dukat's personal shuttle is in docking bay three.\nSisko: What about the station defense system?\nDax: I've got their computer tied up in knots. I don't think they'll be able to\nThrax: Halt!\nGarak: A changeling?\nSisko: We'll figure that out later.\nDax: Here it is.\nSoldier: We just got the word. Your execution's been scheduled for nineteen hundred. That's two hours from now.\nOdo: We've got to find another way out of here.\nDax: We tried that. Escape doesn't seem to be the answer.\nSisko: How could Thrax be a changeling? In this time period, the Founders didn't know about the wormhole.\nOdo: I don't know.\nGarak: Putting aside the newest shape-shifter in town for the time being, how did we end up back in this cell?\nOdo: I don't know.\nDax: Care to guess?\nOdo: What makes you think I have the answers?\nSisko: You've been acting strangely ever since we first woke up on the Promenade. Continually distracted, depressed and agitated.\nGarak: And you knew the names of the people we're supposed to be.\nSisko: You knew the details of their case like you were there.\nGarak: But you couldn't have been there because it happened before you came aboard the station.\nSisko: Everything seems to lead back to you and I want to know why.\nThrax: You said you wanted to see me?\nOdo: Yes. It's urgent.\nThrax: I'm listening, but I don't have much time.\nOdo: You're about to make a very serious mistake.\nThrax: Because you're innocent, of course. All of you.\nOdo: That's right, and I can prove it. Compare this attack to recent bombings on Bajor. You'll find a similarity to four incidents in Musilla Province, none of which we could have done.\nThrax: That proves nothing. And under Cardassian law, the accused must prove his innocence. Since the evidence in this case is sufficient to warrant conviction, the investigation is over.\nOdo: Your job is to find the truth, not obtain convictions.\nThrax: Truth? You want the truth? All right. The truth is that none of you would be accused, none of you would even be here if the Bajorans weren't fighting the Cardassians. It's futile. The occupation has lasted for fifty years and it will probably last another fifty.\nOdo: I wouldn't be too sure about that.\nThrax: Why not accept it? If the Bajoran people would accept their place in history, none of this would be happening.\nOdo: We're talking about the attempt on Gul Dukat's life, not the socio-political ramifications of the resistance.\nThrax: It's all part of the same problem. When your people resort to terrorism and violence, they're fighting against order, against stability, against the rule of law, and this must be stopped.\nOdo: There is more to life than the rule of law.\nThrax: It has been my observation that only the guilty make that kind of statement.\nOdo: I didn't want to tell you this. I don't know what the consequences will be, but we're not terrorists. We're not even Bajorans. There's been a temporal displacement of some kind. We don't belong in this time. We're from the future.\nThrax: I know.\nOdo: You know? Then what are you going to do about it?\nThrax: What I am supposed to do, nothing more, nothing less. The question is, what are you going to do, Odo?\nThrax: It's too late for them now. It's out of my hands.\nOdo: Why aren't I with them?\nThrax: There were only three terrorists, Odo. You know that.\nDukat: This the price for taking up arms against those who would protect you, who have only your best interests at heart.\nOdo: They haven't done anything. They don't belong here.\nThrax: It's already happened, Odo.\nOdo: But this isn't what happened. It wasn't these people.\nThrax: Proceed with the execution.\nOdo: No! I'm not going to let this happen again! Not again!\nOdo: You can't execute them. You don't even belong here. I do.\nSisko: Constable?\nOdo: That's exactly how it happened seven years ago.\nSisko: It was you all along.\nOdo: Yes. I was Chief of Security on the Promenade. I was the one who charged those men with a crime they didn't commit, and I was the one who turned them over to Dukat. Three days after the executions there was another bombing on the Promenade, identical to the one that almost killed Dukat. Timor, Ishan and Jillur were innocent. All the evidence was there. The inconsistencies in the reports of the soldiers who arrested them, a pattern of bombings, the ballistics. It was all there from the beginning but I was too busy, too concerned with maintaining order and the rule of law. I thought of myself as the outsider, the shape-shifter who cared for nothing but justice. It never occurred to me that I could fail, but I did. And I never wanted anyone to know the truth. That seven years ago, I allowed three innocent men to die.\nBashir: Constable?\nBashir: Whatever it is you've been through has taken its toll.\nBashir: As far as I can tell, the four of you were locked into some version of the Great Link.\nOdo: The Link? How is that possible? I'm a solid now.\nBashir: Well, it seems you're not as solid as you think. When I ran a neurochemical scan of your brain, I found residual traces of morphogenic enzymes which I've only detected before in changelings.\nOdo: When the plasma storm hit the runabout it activated the enzymes and initiated a telepathic response.\nBashir: Your mind reached out to find other changelings to form the Link, but all it could find was Sisko, Dax and Garak.\nOdo: And just before the accident, I was thinking about the executions. Somehow being in the Link must have forced me to relive it, and admit the truth about what I'd done.\nBashir: It would make a fascinating paper. Although I don't intend to write one.\nBashir: If you have any questions, you know where to find me.\nKira: When I first read your report I didn't know what to think. So I said to myself, that's all right, Nerys You're stunned. You need to let it sink in a little. But it's been two days, Odo. I still don't know what to think.\nOdo: I'm guilty. What more is there to say?\nKira: Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. I believed in you. A lot of people did. You were special. You were the one man who stood apart from everyone else, the one man who stood for justice. Now what?\nOdo: Now I'm just another imperfect solid.\nKira: Okay. The Prophets know I'm not perfect. I guess the truth is that anyone who lived through the occupation had to get a little dirty. But I need to know that no other innocent people died on your watch, Odo. That this was the only time.\nOdo: I'm not sure. I hope so."}
{"text": "Sisko: Don't you think you might be overpacking?\nJake: It'll close.\nSisko: You don't have to take everything at once. It's not like you're moving to Bajor. One G twelve is practically right next door.\nJake: I know, but I'm not moving to one G twelve. I found some great quarters over in section M.\nSisko: That's all the way on the other side of the habitat ring.\nJake: Dad, don't get all sentimental on me.\nSisko: Wait until your son moves out on you.\nJake: I don't have a son.\nSisko: Ha, ha. Go ahead, Jake, make jokes. One day you'll be standing where I am, and believe me, you won't like it any more than I do.\nJake: Yeah, maybe, but right now I'm standing here and I can't wait to spend my first night in my own place.\nJake: See? I told you it'd close.\nSisko: Now wait, wait, let me get this straight. I can visit any time I want, but I have to call first. You won't be available for breakfast or lunch, but I can count on one dinner a week.\nJake: Yeah, well some weeks maybe even two.\nSisko: Ah. I have raised a very generous son. You and Nog moving in together. I can remember when I didn't even want you talking to him.\nJake: Yeah, well, things change.\nSisko: They sure do.\nRom: Come in.\nRom: Oh. It's you?\nQuark: Who'd you think it was?\nRom: Nog.\nQuark: How could it be Nog? His ship hasn't even docked yet.\nRom: I guess I wasn't thinking.\nQuark: What else is new?\nRom: Can I help it if I'm excited? My son is coming home. Root beer? His favorite. I don't know how to thank you, brother.\nQuark: Ten slips of latinum ought to do it.\nRom: You think he'd mind if I had one for myself?\nQuark: I'd mind.\nQuark: My own brother drinking root beer. It's so human.\nRom: Mmmm. And bubbly.\nRom: That's him! That's him! Come in.\nQuark: Wrong again.\nRom: Constable. Care for a root beer?\nOdo: No. But you have something I do want.\nQuark: Whatever it is, I didn't do it.\nOdo: Don't tell me. Tell the Federation Grand Jury on Inferna Prime.\nRom: Federation Grand Jury? Brother, what have you done now?\nQuark: I haven't done anything. What do they want to talk to me for?\nOdo: Oh, I think you know.\nQuark: Odo, I have no idea what this is all about.\nOdo: Well then, you'll have eight days to try to guess. We leave immediately.\nQuark: We?\nOdo: I've been waiting ten years for you to get what you deserve. Now that the big moment is finally here, I wouldn't miss it for anything. Let's go.\nRom: Brother.\nQuark: What?\nRom: I'll say hi to Nog for you.\nQuark: So, how much longer till we reach Inferna Prime?\nOdo: Oh, I'd say one hundred and ninety one hours and seventeen minutes, give or take a day.\nQuark: In that case, we'd better find something to occupy our time. Care for a game of fizzbin?\nOdo: I don't play cards.\nQuark: I'll teach you. It's a very simple game.\nOdo: Let me put it another way. I don't want to play cards. And even if I did, I wouldn't want to play with you.\nQuark: Afraid you'd lose? You know, Odo, I used to think all your problems stemmed from the fact that you were a changeling, isolated from your own kind, forced to live among strangers who didn't understand you. You couldn't eat, you couldn't drink, you couldn't sleep, you couldn't make love. Was it any wonder you had such a bad disposition? But you're not a changeling anymore. You're one of us. Life is yours for the taking. All you have to do is reach out and grab it. But do you? No. Because solid or changeling, you're still a miserable, self-hating misanthrope. That's who you are and that's who you'll always be.\nOdo: I'm still not playing cards with you.\nQuark: Fine. Then we'll just sit here for a week in silence. What are you reading?\nOdo: Nothing that would interest you.\nQuark: Don't be so sure.\nOdo: Quark, give me that.\nQuark: What are you going to do, arrest me? He walked toward her, the wooden deck heaving to and fro beneath his booted feet. Her hands moved to the brooch at her throat. She unclasped it and the cloak fell from her shoulders, her wet skin glistening in the moonlight. Lightning flashed and heaven's thunder roared in rhythm with the beating of their hearts.'\nOdo: All right, enough.\nQuark: Odo, I take it all back. You're obviously a lot more complicated than I thought. If you like that kind of thing I might be interested in selling you my first edition of 'Vulcan Love Slave.'\nOdo: This is work, not recreation. Books like this give me insight into the criminal mind. It is a well known fact that a high percentage of homicides are motivated by romantic obsession.\nQuark: Well, no one gets killed in 'Vulcan Love Slave,' but it's still a hell of a read.\nOdo: Give it up, Quark. You can annoy me, bait me, question my very existence, but in the end, we both know I've won. Because when all is said and done, I'll be heading back to Deep Space Nine and you'll be spending the rest of your life in a Federation penal colony.\nQuark: I'm not there yet. Look, Odo, give me a chance. At least tell me what the charges are.\nOdo: I'm afraid I can't do that. This is a high security investigation. I'm not allowed to discuss the specifics with anyone. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some reading to do.\nNog: Cadet Nog reporting for duty, sir.\nSisko: At ease, Cadet.\nNog: Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.\nSisko: I remember my sophomore year. Field studies Starbase one thirty seven. When I first got there I was a little apprehensive. But it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life.\nNog: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Now, the key to field study is simple. Keep your eyes and ears open, follow orders and try not to get in the way.\nNog: Yes, sir. Very good, sir. I won't let you down.\nSisko: I'd like to say on a personal note, I'm glad that you and Jake are going to be roommates.\nNog: Yes, sir.\nSisko: I'm sure the two of you are going to have a lot of fun together.\nNog: Yes, sir. Time permitting, sir. I mean, if I'm not too busy. After all I am here to work. Don't worry, sir, I'll look after him for you. Set a good example. Keep him out of trouble.\nSisko: You inspire me with confidence, Cadet. Dismissed.\nKira: How'd it go?\nNog: I inspire him.\nKira: Congratulations. Now don't let him down.\nNog: You can count on me, sir.\nJake: Lights! So, what do you think?\nNog: I think I've died and gone to the Divine Treasury. After living in cadet barracks for the past year, this is going to be paradise.\nJake: Yeah, I know what you mean. We're on our own now. No one to tell us what to do.\nNog: Well, before we unpack, we should call maintenance to clean this place.\nJake: They were here yesterday.\nNog: If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. I'll do the cleaning on the odd numbered days, and you'll do it on the even ones.\nJake: We're going to clean every day?\nNog: No, just the odd and even ones. I'd better start bringing in my things. I don't want to be up too late unpacking.\nJake: So what do you want to do tonight? Dom-jot? Holosuites?\nNog: I wish I could. But once we eat and unpack, it'll be time for bed. Lights out at twenty two hundred.\nJake: I haven't gone to bed that early since I was twelve.\nNog: Go to sleep whenever you want. But don't forget, we're hitting the gym at oh four thirty.\nJake: The gym?\nNog: Muscles, Jake. You know, those things that're supposed to go between your bones and your skin?\nJake: I've heard of them.\nNog: Good. Because by the time I'm done with you, you'll have some of your very own.\nQuark: You're doing it again.\nOdo: Doing what?\nQuark: Smacking your lips.\nOdo: No I'm not.\nQuark: There. Don't you hear that?\nOdo: The only thing I've heard for the last four days is you complaining.\nQuark: This whole runabout is alive with annoying little noises. Listen.\nOdo: To what?\nQuark: That buzzing noise.\nOdo: I don't hear a thing.\nQuark: It started over an hour ago.\nOdo: If you don't like the noises in here, why don't you go into the back?\nQuark: Because it's even colder back there than it is up here.\nOdo: Quark, leave the temperature controls alone.\nQuark: I will, when I get it right. There it is again.\nOdo: What?\nQuark: That buzzing noise. Don't you hear it?\nOdo: With all this lip-smacking, how could I hear anything?\nQuark: Where is it coming from?\nOdo: Inside your head.\nQuark: Shhh.\nOdo: Bzzzzzzzzz.\nQuark: I said be quiet! It's coming from here.\nOdo: It's probably a defective anodyne circuit.\nQuark: Defective anodyne circuits make a hissing sound. This is a buzz. We'd better open up this hatch.\nOdo: If this is some kind of convoluted plot to escape.\nQuark: Stop being so suspicious. That's odd. The buzzing's changed pitch.\nOdo: It's gotten louder too. I can hear it now. What could it be?\nQuark: Let's find out.\nQuark: Don't tell me. Let me guess.\nOdo: It's a bomb.\nQuark: Next time I tell you I hear something, maybe you'll listen.\nOdo: Let's hope there is a next time. I'm going to get a transporter lock on this thing and beam it out of here.\nQuark: What if it's set to go off if someone tries to transport it?\nOdo: What do you suggest? We wait for it to explode?\nQuark: Fine. Beam it out. But at least try and channel the explosion through the transporter buffer.\nOdo: I hope this works.\nQuark: We did it. We're safe.\nOdo: Don't be so sure about that. Comm. system's down, navigational array's failing, environmental controls are badly damaged. We're losing atmosphere.\nQuark: What now?\nOdo: Now we find someplace to land.\nQuark: Land? You mean crash.\nOdo: It's either that or wait for our lungs to explode in the vacuum of space. I'm picking up a class-L planet on long range scanners.\nQuark: Barely habitable.\nOdo: More habitable than this thing's going to be in a few minutes.\nQuark: How close?\nOdo: Close enough. I hope.\nOdo: If we live through this, whoever planted that bomb is going to regret it.\nQuark: Believe me, you don't want to get anywhere near the Orion Syndicate.\nOdo: The Orion Syndicate? Is that who the Grand Jury's investigating?\nQuark: I thought you knew.\nOdo: If I knew you were involved with the Orion Syndicate, you'd be on the Defiant right now, surrounded by half my deputies.\nQuark: Let me guess. You pretended to know more than you did so I'd think I had nothing to hide and say something to incriminate myself.\nOdo: Something like that.\nQuark: This is all your fault.\nOdo: You're the one who's a member of the Orion Syndicate.\nQuark: I'm not a member. I just know people who know people who know some other people. And besides\nQuark: Will someone adjust the temperature. It's freezing in here.\nOdo: Actually, it's freezing out there.\nQuark: Out there? Oh, yeah. Now I remember. You were apologizing for almost getting us both killed.\nOdo: If that's how you remember it, you must've hit your head harder than I thought you did.\nQuark: I guess there's nothing we can do now except send out a distress signal and wait to be rescued.\nOdo: Good plan, except we lost the comm. system in the explosion.\nQuark: That's not good.\nOdo: It gets worse. The replicator's been destroyed. From what I can tell the local plants are poisonous.\nQuark: Then I guess we're stuck with field rations.\nOdo: That's right. One package for you. One package for me. The rest\nQuark: I know, I know. Destroyed in the explosion. So now what?\nOdo: Now we either freeze to death or starve to death. Take your pick.\nNog: It's about time you woke up. I thought you were going to sleep all day. You should stretch a little before you start your workout.\nJake: I think I'll pass this morning.\nNog: You pass every morning.\nJake: You can work out for the both of us.\nNog: You don't know what you're missing. Healthy body, healthy mind.\nJake: Please, Nog, no clichés before breakfast. Orange juice, extra large. A healthy way to start the day.\nNog: A writer and a poet.\nJake: What's this?\nNog: Past Prolog.\nJake: What's it doing here?\nNog: I found it while I was cleaning up. Really, Jake, is it that hard to keep this place clean?\nJake: You read my story? What did you think?\nNog: Disposal is spelled with an i.\nJake: That's it? That's all you have to say?\nNog: I didn't really read it for content. I mostly corrected your spelling and grammar.\nJake: You changed my words?\nNog: Just a few. A preposition here, some punctuation there.\nJake: You can't change a writer's words without his permission. That's sacrilege.\nNog: All right. Next time, I'll let you make the changes.\nJake: There won't be a next time. From now on, if you see my stories lying around here, don't read them. Don't even touch them. Just leave them right where they are.\nNog: No problem. Just put them away when you're not working on them. Time to hit the shower. Duty calls. Remember, start with the lighter weights and work your way up.\nOdo: Quark? What are you doing back there? You need any help?\nQuark: You want to help? Here.\nOdo: I thought you were supposed to be repairing the subspace transmitter.\nQuark: I was.\nOdo: What's it doing out here?\nQuark: The signal booster's completely shot. Which means there's no way we can transmit a distress signal through a planetary atmosphere.\nOdo: I see. So you tore it out of the wall in frustration.\nQuark: Actually, I came up with a way to save our lives. All we have to do is haul this transmitter up to higher ground. More altitude, less atmosphere. Go high enough, and we might be able to get a signal out.\nOdo: How much higher do we have to go?\nQuark: Er, carry the seven, take the square root, times pi. I'd say that high.\nQuark: I'm ready when you are.\nOdo: Where'd you find that?\nQuark: In the back. It's pretty cozy.\nOdo: Great. Then I won't need this. I'll just get a suit for myself and we can be on our way.\nQuark: Don't bother. This is the only one that wasn't destroyed in the explosion.\nOdo: You mean there's only one survival suit left and you're going to wear it?\nQuark: Finders keepers. Besides, carrying this transmitter up the mountain should keep you warm.\nOdo: Here we go. How can it be so cold when the sun is shining?\nQuark: It isn't much of a sun and this isn't much of a planet. And you've got a lot of nerve complaining about being cold when you're the one wearing the jacket.\nOdo: Well, you agreed to take turns.\nQuark: Under duress.\nOdo: Oh, I hate this. You know, f I were still a changeling, I could've shapeshifted into a Vorian pterodactyl and flown that damn transmitter to the top of the mountain hours ago.\nQuark: You're the one who wanted to be a solid.\nOdo: I never wanted to be a solid.\nQuark: Oh, please. I used to see you coming into the bar, watching Morn eat, eyeing my customers as they gambled and flirted with the dabo girls, wishing you were one of them. Not to mention your platonic friendship with a certain Bajoran Major.\nOdo: If that's the kind of psychological insight you dispense with your drinks, it's a wonder you have any customers.\nQuark: Deny it all you want, but the fact is your people gave you what you wanted. You're one of us now and I finally can sit on a chair and know with absolute certainty that it isn't you.\nOdo: Quark? Quark!\nQuark: What?\nOdo: If you've damaged that transmitter\nQuark: I'm fine, thank you very much. And so's the transmitter.\nOdo: Here, let me help you up.\nQuark: No, thanks. I think I'll just lay here and freeze to death.\nOdo: All right, all right, you've made your point. I'll carry the transmitter for a while.\nQuark: And I get to wear the jacket.\nOdo: But I get the trousers.\nO'Brien: You did a good job today, Nog. You've an excellent grasp of mechanical engineering.\nNog: Ferengis have a natural talent for figures, sir.\nO'Brien: So what's your posting tomorrow?\nNog: Cargo bay six. Customs inspection.\nO'Brien: Ah. Well, that could be interesting.\nNog: If you're planning on being a customs inspector.\nJake: Hey, Nog.\nNog: Not again. When I left this morning, this place was spotless.\nJake: Yeah, that was nine hours ago.\nNog: You can't keep our quarters clean for one day?\nJake: A man's got to live, and sometimes living is messy.\nNog: But it doesn't have to stay messy. I'm going to the Replimat to get something to eat and when I come back I expect to see this place straightened up.\nJake: I'm working on a story right now. I'll do it in the morning.\nNog: This isn't a story. It's computerized dom-jot.\nJake: Sometimes when I get stuck, I play dom-jot. It clears my mind.\nNog: Well while you're at it, how about clearing a path to the bedroom?\nJake: I told you, I'm busy.\nNog: Jake, this isn't what we agreed to.\nJake: We didn't agree to anything. You've been shouting orders ever since you moved in here. I'm not in Starfleet.\nNog: Lucky for you. You wouldn't last a day at the Academy.\nJake: You're right. I'd die of embarrassment wearing those pajamas.\nNog: I don't have to take that from an undiskiplined jerk like you. Enjoy your dom-jot.\nJake: Where are you going?\nNog: Anywhere but here. I'll get my things in the morning.\nJake: I'll pack them for you.\nNog: Don't bother. You couldn't fold a shirt if your life depended on it.\nQuark: What's that over there?\nOdo: It's just another stone.\nQuark: I can't believe it. I've been walking for three days and I haven't seen a single beetle. I could really go for a beetle right now. Any kind of beetle, just as long as it had a little meat on it.\nOdo: There are no beetles, Quark.\nQuark: A nice slug would do.\nOdo: There're no slugs, either. No slugs, no beetles, no worms, no snails. Nothing but rocks and trees and we can't eat any of it.\nQuark: If I collapse from hunger, you've got to carry me and the transmitter.\nOdo: You are not going to collapse. We're almost to the tree line. After that, we've only got a few more hours of climbing left before we can set up the transmitter.\nQuark: A few hours? You mean like three?\nOdo: More like six.\nQuark: I could do six. Seven might be pushing it, but six I could do.\nOdo: Come on.\nOdo: Forget about six hours. It's more like six days.\nQuark: Ten thousand seven hundred and fifty one. Ten thousand seven hundred and fifty two.\nOdo: Quark.\nQuark: Ten thousand seven hundred and fifty three.\nOdo: Quark!\nQuark: I just want to know how far we're going. Every step down means an extra step up.\nOdo: Fine. Then count to yourself. I don't want to hear it any more.\nQuark: Fine. But don't talk to me. It's hard keeping track.\nOdo: By the time the Grand Jury gets through with you, you'll be counting years instead of steps.\nQuark: You know what's going to make all this worthwhile? The look on your face when they let me go.\nOdo: Let you go? I don't think so.\nQuark: And you call yourself a detective. The Orion Syndicate tried to kill me. They never kill their own. They don't need to. Any one of them would take their own life before they'd testify against the Syndicate. Don't you get it? I'm not a suspect. I'm a witness. Now you made me lose count.\nOdo: Ten thousand seven hundred and eighty five.\nQuark: Thank you.\nOdo: Now let me get this straight. You were never a member of the Orion Syndicate?\nQuark: I hate to disappoint you.\nOdo: But you must have tried to join?\nQuark: I don't want to talk about it.\nOdo: Now, if I remember correctly, the Orion Syndicate has a membership fee. Quite a substantial one. And the Ferengi Commerce Authority did seize all your assets. Oh it's even worse than that, isn't it? You never could afford to join, could you? All those years of scheming and lying and cheating and you're still too small-time for the Orions. Well, I guess you're not as successful a businessman as you think you are.\nQuark: Which means you've spent the last ten years of your life trying to catch a nobody. Without little success, I might add. So you tell me, which one of us is the bigger failure. Ten thousand seven hundred and eighty eight. Ten thousand seven hundred and eight nine. Ten thousand seven hundred and ninety. Ten thousand seven hundred and ninety one.\nRom: Snail juice. Extra shells. Make it a double. Captain, may I join you?\nSisko: Be my guest.\nRom: I wanted to ask you about Nog. You know, my son?\nSisko: I think I've met him.\nRom: Have you noticed anything strange about him lately?\nSisko: He seems fine to me. He's just more dedicated than when he left.\nRom: I've noticed.\nSisko: A year at the Academy will do that to people.\nRom: You think it's the Academy?\nSisko: What else could it be?\nRom: I was afraid he might be a changeling. So while he was asleep, I drew some blood, just to make sure.\nRom: It's been eight hours. So far, so good.\nSisko: Rom, he's still your son. He's just taking his duties very seriously, that's all.\nRom: Nog's moved back in with me, you know. It's horrible. He put me on report the other day. Said my tool kit was untidy. That's the exact word he used. Untidy.\nSisko: I wouldn't worry about it. He's just going through a phase, that's all.\nRom: I was hoping living with Jake would relax him.\nSisko: I'm afraid Jake's going through a phase of his own. I don't know what's so difficult about putting a dirty dish back into the replicator.\nRom: Nog says Jake is a slovenly, undiskiplined, unfocused writer.\nSisko: Not an unfair assessment. You know, I sometimes wish Jake had a little more of Nog's self-diskipline.\nRom: And I wish Nog had Jake's ability to enjoy himself. Those two could learn a lot from each other.\nSisko: If we could only get them in the same room.\nOdo: Quark, wake up. We've got a mountain to climb. Quark! Quark? Quark! Quark. Wake up. Wake up. Wake, wake, Quark.\nQuark: Stop hitting me!\nOdo: I thought you were dead.\nQuark: So you saw that as an opportunity to vent years of hostility towards me? Towards me. Towards me. Hostility.\nOdo: What's wrong?\nQuark: What?\nOdo: I said what's the matter.\nQuark: I'm deaf. I'm deaf in my right ear. I can't hear anything. Hello, hello, hello? Hello, hello, hello?\nOdo: Would you stop doing that?\nQuark: You don't understand. A one-eared Ferengi is only half a man. We've got to get out of here. My body's shutting down. It's too cold. There's not enough to eat. I'm dying. We both are.\nOdo: We're not dying. Here, here. You can have the rest of my rations.\nQuark: These aren't rations. These are crumbs. You can't climb a mountain on crumbs.\nOdo: Fine. I'll go by myself.\nQuark: You're going to leave me?\nOdo: What do you want me to do? Stay here and trade insults until we both starve to death? I'd rather take my chances on the mountain.\nQuark: Whose turn is it to carry the transmitter?\nOdo: Yours.\nQuark: Figures. Figures? Figures!\nQuark: I hate this transmitter and I hate this mountain and most of all I hate the Orion Syndicate for stranding us here.\nOdo: I think we both know who's really to blame.\nQuark: Don't try and blame this on me, Constable. It was your job to get me to Inferna Prime safely.\nOdo: You never told me the Orion Syndicate was after you.\nQuark: You never asked.\nOdo: If I had, would you have told me the truth? Or would you have lied like you lie about everything?\nQuark: Have I ever told you how much I hate that smug, superior attitude of yours?\nOdo: Have I ever told you how much I hate your endless whining, your pathetic greed and your idiotic little schemes?\nQuark: Well I hate\nOdo: What do you hate?\nQuark: You.\nOdo: Well that's fine with me, because I hate you too. You're nothing but a petty thief.\nQuark: You are an arrogant prude.\nOdo: Lecher.\nQuark: Freak.\nOdo: Fraud.\nQuark: Fascist.\nOdo: Failure.\nOdo: Quark?\nQuark: What?\nOdo: Are you all right?\nQuark: I'm fine.\nOdo: I'm not. My leg is broken.\nQuark: That should it hold together. Now we just have to get you on it.\nOdo: Stop looking at the leg. You'll pass out again.\nQuark: Not looking at it doesn't help. I still know it's there.\nOdo: I should be the one struggling to stay conscious. I'm the one who's in excruciating pain.\nQuark: Speaking of pain, this is probably going to hurt.\nOdo: Quark, there's no way you're going to be able to drag me up that mountain.\nQuark: Just watch me.\nOdo: Stop trying to be a hero. You'll get to the top faster if you leave me behind.\nQuark: Don't you get it? I'm not trying to rescue you. I'm taking you along as emergency rations. If you die, I'm going to eat you.\nOdo: You're joking.\nQuark: Waste not, want not. Comfortable?\nOdo: Not really.\nQuark: Join the club.\nQuark: Higher.\nQuark: Hold on, Odo, hold on. Hold on.\nOdo: Quark?\nQuark: It's over.\nOdo: What do you mean, it's over?\nQuark: I can't move. We'll have to set up the transmitter here.\nOdo: We're not high enough. You have to leave me here and go on by yourself.\nQuark: Don't you understand? I can't do it. I'm half frozen. I haven't eaten for days. My muscles won't work anymore. Odo? Say something.\nOdo: What is there to say? If we stay here, we're dead.\nQuark: I can't go any further.\nOdo: If Sisko were here, do you think he'd give up? Or Worf? Or Dax?\nQuark: They're not here.\nOdo: That's right. It's just us. Give me the transmitter.\nQuark: What for?\nOdo: Just give it to me.\nQuark: What are you doing?\nOdo: What does it look like?\nQuark: You'll never make it.\nOdo: Maybe not.\nQuark: You're trying to embarrass me, aren't you? You're trying to shame me into carrying that thing the rest of the way on my own. Well it's not going to work. You might as well accept the inevitable and die with dignity. That's what I'm going to do. I'm just going to lie here and die.\nQuark: My brother will get the bar. My nephew will be completely corrupted by the Federation and become a Starfleet captain. And my bones will lie here and freeze unsold and unmourned.\nQuark: Try not to break your other leg while I'm gone.\nOdo: I'll do my best.\nOdo: Good luck.\nJake: Come in. Dad? I though you were going to call first.\nSisko: Well, we've got a problem.\nJake: What's wrong?\nSisko: According to station regulations, these quarters require two occupants or more. I'm afraid you're going to have to move out.\nJake: Smaller quarters. All right, if I have to.\nSisko: Well, that's the problem. There are no smaller quarters available.\nJake: So where do I go?\nSisko: I guess back home with me.\nJake: You're kidding.\nSisko: Unless we can find you another roommate. Cadet!\nNog: Sir, I really must protest.\nSisko: Cadets don't have that privilege. Neither do you. Now, I know the two of you are very different people, but you're still friends, and somehow, some way, you'll make this work.\nJake: I don't know.\nNog: Neither do I.\nSisko: Well I do. And I'm your Captain. And I'm your father. And what I say goes. Good day, gentlemen.\nNog: Well, the place hasn't changed much, has it?\nJake: I guess not. Are you going to start cleaning again?\nNog: No. I've got to study.\nJake: Good, because it'll take a long time to clean up this pigsty.\nNog: It's not that bad.\nJake: It's bad.\nNog: Yeah.\nJake: You want to go to the gym? Healthy body, healthy mind.\nNog: I have a better idea. How about a game of dom-jot? I'll let you break.\nJake: You're on.\nOdo: Quark? Quark!\nOdo: Begin recording. Chief of Security's log, final entry. It looks like Quark didn't make it. I can't say I'm surprised. You'll find his body farther up the slope. No doubt he'd want you to vacuum-desiccate his remains and auction them off. Not that they're worth much. As for myself, cremate me, stick my ashes in my bucket, and shoot me through the wormhole. I might as well end up where I began. Or better yet\nBashir: Bashir to infirmary. Prepare an IV drip of poly-nutrient solution.\nMedic: Aye, sir.\nOdo: I'm alive.\nBashir: Yes. I'm going to see you stay that way.\nOdo: Quark?\nWorf: We found him on top of the mountain, slumped over a subspace transmitter.\nOdo: You mean he made it?\nDax: If it wasn't for his signal, we never would have found you. Looks like he saved both of your lives.\nOdo: I was afraid you'd say that.\nQuark: Odo? Odo? Are you awake?\nOdo: I am now.\nQuark: We survived.\nOdo: We did.\nQuark: I bet you were surprised I actually made it all the way to the top.\nOdo: Astounded.\nQuark: You remember back there when I told you I hated you, and you told me you hated me?\nOdo: Vividly.\nQuark: I just wanted you to know I meant every word of it.\nOdo: So did I."}
{"text": "Dax: That's it?\nSisko: That's it. The City of B'hala, painted nearly twenty thousand years ago.\nDax: Hmm.\nKira: Jadzia, you're looking at the most important Bajoran icon ever painted. The only known proof that B'hala actually existed, and all you have to say is hmm.\nDax: No, it's just that you both gave it such a build up I thought it would be a lot bigger.\nKira: We've been trying to force the Cardassian government to return this to us since the end of the Occupation. It's good to have it back.\nDax: I thought you said it was going to be returned to the State Museum in Ilvia.\nSisko: It will be. Tomorrow. But I couldn't let it pass without stealing a look. Sometimes being the Emissary isn't such a bad thing. You see this? It's a Bantaca spire. Ancient Bajoran cities were built around them. They were all about eleven meters high, made from hundreds of stones carved and fitted together so tightly they didn't need mortar.\nKira: It's said they mark the city's place in the cosmos.\nDax: Beautiful markings.\nSisko: Supposedly, they're coordinates of the lost city. But because we can't see the markings on the other two sides, they're impossible to decipher.\nKira: Which is why B'hala is likely to remain lost.\nSisko: Before you pack it up, have it scanned into the computer.\nDax: You're going to study it? Maybe see if you can find the lost city?\nKira: I was just thinking about Zocal's third prophecy. It said only someone who had been touched by the Prophets could find the ruins of B'hala.\nDax: No pressure.\nSisko: Computer, magnify grid C four.\nSisko: It's a reflection. Magnify D two.\nSisko: Computer. Process Sisko image file three seven six. Reduce in size seventy five percent.\nSisko: Oh. Ah, yes. Superimpose grid D two. Reverse image and enhance.\nQuark: Sorry to disturb you, Captain, but\nSisko: But what?\nQuark: It's after three in the morning.\nSisko: Three, already?\nQuark: Time flies when you're having fun.\nSisko: Quark I want you to save this program for me.\nQuark: What is it?\nSisko: An ancient puzzle.\nQuark: You know, Captain, if you like puzzles I have a wide assortment of pleasure mazes. And they all come with a surprise in the center.\nSisko: Never mind, Quark. I'll save the program myself.\nQuark: Computer, Quark to Infirmary. Medical emergency in holosuite four.\nQuark: You said yourself the Captain's all right.\nOdo: Lucky for you.\nQuark: Then why am I being arrested? I already told you it was an accident. A minor technical difficulty. You can't arrest somebody for a minor technical difficulty.\nOdo: No, but I can arrest you for negligence. Your own records show your holosuites are in desperate need of maintenance.\nQuark: Which is what I've been telling Chief O'Brien for the past week. I begged him to have Rom fix them, but you know what he said? Rom's too busy upgrading the sensor array. Can you believe that? Anyone can fix the sensor array but no one can fix the holosuites like that idiot brother of mine. So you see, if anyone should be arrested for negligence, it's Chief O'Brien.\nOdo: Tell it to the magistrate.\nBashir: Well, there are no signs of any permanent neural damage, although I am reading some odd synaptic potentials. Let me ask you something, does my uniform look any brighter to you?\nSisko: Yes, everything does. Colors seem more intense and shapes more focused.\nBashir: It's called post-neural shock syndrome. Your neural pathways were overloaded by the plasma burst. All external stimuli are going to seem more pronounced. It's going to take a while for things to settle down though, so I'm going to put you on restricted duty for the next three days. And if you experience any other side effects such as headaches, dizziness, even nausea, let me know immediately.\nSisko: Yes.\nBashir: In the meantime, enjoy the show.\nJake: So, did dinner meet with the Sisko stamp of approval?\nSisko: Grandpa would be so proud of you.\nJake: I was a little worried I overcooked the lingta roast, but I'm glad you liked it anyway. Can I get you anything else?\nSisko: Oh, no, I'm fine.\nJake: I guess you'll be cooking tomorrow night.\nSisko: Why's that?\nJake: To welcome back Kasidy Yates to the station. Maybe cook some of that jambalaya that she likes so much.\nSisko: We'll see.\nJake: Dad, Kasidy's spent the last six months in prison for helping the Maquis. She's paid the price for what she did.\nSisko: I suppose so.\nJake: I just hope you give her a chance that's all. You two had something together.\nJake: Dad? Dad, what is it?\nSisko: These shapes. I know what they are.\nDax: Ops to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nDax: Sorry to disturb you, Captain, but I have Admiral Whatley calling from Starfleet Headquarters.\nSisko: I'll take it in here.\nWhatley: Hello, Ben.\nSisko: Admiral.\nWhatley: How've you been?\nSisko: Never better.\nWhatley: Glad to hear it. I know you've been waiting for this news for a long time. I'm glad to be the one who tells you. Bajor's petition to join the Federation has been approved.\nSisko: It's about time.\nWhatley: Congratulations, Ben. You've done a hell of a job out there.\nSisko: Thank you.\nWhatley: And we're not the only ones who think so. The Bajorans requested that the signing ceremony take place on your station. So make sure you spruce up that floating bicycle wheel of yours. Count on me and a lot of other brass showing up for this one, Captain. cap.\nQuark: Computer, spotlight.\nQuark: Drum roll.\nWorf: Welcome Klingons.\nQuark: Not that one.\nDax: I see you're prepared for anything.\nQuark: Never hurts.\nDax: I take it you think the Federation membership is going to be good for business?\nQuark: Of course it is. This station is going to get busier than an Alvanian beehive. I'm expecting to do five times the volume in root beer alone. You see, it's all about foot traffic. The more people come in, the more they drink. The more they drink, the more they talk. The more they talk, the more they let slip things that I shouldn't know, And that, that always leads to latinum.\nWorf: Perhaps so. But there is one problem.\nQuark: What's that?\nWorf: There is an ancient Klingon proverb that says, You cannot loosen a man's tongue with root beer.\nKira: It is wonderful news, Vedek Mera. I'll see you at the signing ceremony. Enjoying the celebration?\nDax: As far as I'm concerned, the Federation should accept a new member every week.\nWorf: And you, Major? Are you celebrating?\nKira: You know, five years ago I wouldn't have been. I didn't think Federation membership was right for Bajor. It hadn't been that long since the occupation and I thought it was important for us to learn to stand on our own two feet.\nWorf: And what changed your mind?\nKira: A lot of things. My time on the station, my dealings with Starfleet, but mostly the captain.\nDax: He can be very persuasive.\nKira: No doubt about it. He made me a believer.\nDax: Well I'll drink to that.\nKira: Where is the Captain? I'd like to congratulate him.\nDax: Well, he was here for a little while, but I think he went back to the holosuite.\nQuark: Don't worry. I fixed it.\nKira: Captain. Sir? Is something wrong? Captain! Benjamin!\nSisko: Major.\nKira: Are you all right?\nSisko: I was there.\nKira: Sir?\nSisko: B'hala. It was the eve of the Peldor Festival. I could hear them ringing the temple chimes.\nKira: You were dreaming.\nSisko: No, I was there. I could smell the burning bateret leaves, taste the incense on the wind. I was standing in front of the obelisk and as I looked up, for one moment I understood it all. B'hala, the Orbs, the occupation, the diskovery of the wormhole, the coming war with the Dominion.\nKira: You could see the future as well as the past?\nSisko: For one moment, I could see the pattern that held it all together.\nKira: You were having a pagh'tem'far, a sacred vision.\nSisko: Hell, I don't know what I had, but it felt wonderful.\nKira: The Prophets chose well when they made you their Emissary. So how does it all fit together?\nSisko: I wish I knew. Someone woke me up.\nKira: I was worried about you.\nSisko: I understand. If I found you in the middle of a pagh'tem'far, I'd be worried about you, too.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: Sir, I've just received word that Kai Winn is on her way to the station. She should arrive in less than two hours.\nSisko: Thank you, Chief. Major Kira will greet her at the airlock. Make my apologies. Tell the Kai that I am busy today but I'll meet with her tomorrow. Make something up.\nKira: Where are you going to be?\nSisko: Right here. The answer is in this spire. I know it.\nKira: Kai Winn.\nWinn: Greetings, my child. You look very sweet.\nKira: Looks can be deceiving. But you don't need me to tell you that.\nWinn: Why isn't the Emissary here to greet me?\nKira: I'm afraid Captain Sisko's busy at the moment.\nWinn: Still basking in the adulation of Starfleet Command.\nKira: Something like that.\nWinn: I'm sure the Federation is very pleased with the job he's done.\nKira: I thought everyone was.\nWinn: Well, not everyone. You know, our culture has had only five short years to recover from the occupation. Only five years of freedom. It hardly seems enough time, does it?\nKira: Well, Bajor's still going to be free. Joining the Federation isn't going to change that.\nWinn: I see working beside Captain Sisko all these years has had quite an influence on you.\nKira: I have to give you credit. You just never give up. I'm sure the Emissary will consider everything you have to say, and then Bajor's admittance can go forward unobstructed.\nWinn: I await the will of the Prophets.\nKasidy: Hello, Ben.\nSisko: Kasidy.\nKasidy: Jake said I could find you here.\nSisko: Something wrong?\nKasidy: Er, no, not at all. I'm just a little surprised. I didn't know you'd be happy to see me.\nSisko: What are you doing for the next few hours?\nKasidy: I don't know. I just got here.\nSisko: Why don't you come to Bajor with me?\nKasidy: Right now?\nSisko: I think I know where to find B'hala, the sacred lost city of Bajor. You see these markings here? They're a coordinate system keyed to mark the position of the stars at a certain time of night. You don't have the faintest idea what I'm talking about, do you?\nKasidy: Not a clue.\nSisko: Well, why don't you come to Bajor and I will show you.\nKasidy: I'm not even sure where I'm staying yet.\nSisko: You can have your old quarters, if you want them.\nKasidy: They're still available?\nSisko: Everything is just as you left it. I have some pull with the station's CO.\nKasidy: Ben, I've missed you.\nSisko: I'm glad you're back. Now what do you say we go find B'hala?\nKasidy: Somehow I don't think you'll take no for an answer.\nSisko: This way.\nKasidy: Oh, we must be two hundred meters underground. I don't want to be negative, Ben, but this doesn't look like a lost city to me.\nSisko: You're looking at twenty thousand years of sediment here. Come on, stay close. We're not far from\nKasidy: Oh, what's the matter?\nSisko: It's nothing. I'll be all right in a second. Julian said that headaches might be a side effect of the accident.\nKasidy: Or obsessing over an ancient Bajoran city? Is that a side effect, too?\nSisko: You're being negative again. Come on, it's just around the bend.\nKasidy: What is it?\nSisko: B'hala.\nKasidy: Ben, it's a wall of stone.\nSisko: But what's behind the wall?\nWorf: Those quarters are not appropriate for Admiral Colti. She outranks Admiral Veta.\nOdo: Well then we'll put her in H two, Veta in D nine, and Rifkin in K four.\nWorf: That will not do. Rifkin commands a starship. Protocol requires he be given equal quarters.\nOdo: But he's only a captain.\nWorf: It is naval tradition.\nOdo: So is keelhauling, but right now we should focus on accommodations. Don't you agree, Major? Major?\nKira: Hmm?\nOdo: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your reverie.\nKira: I was just thinking about Captain Sisko finding B'hala. Bajoran archeologists have been searching for the sacred city for ten thousand years. He found it in just a few days.\nWorf: Your gods have granted the Captain a powerful vision.\nOdo: Or else he made a very lucky guess.\nKira: It's a sign. A sign from the Prophets.\nOdo: I wonder if the Prophets can help us find quarters for Captain Rifkin.\nWinn: I hope I'm not interrupting. I was wondering, could I have a word with you, Major?\nKira: Of course. Good luck.\nOdo: I was about to say the same to you.\nWinn: My child, you and the Emissary are close, are you not?\nKira: I consider Captain Sisko a friend.\nWinn: So you know his mind, how he thinks, how he reacts in certain situations\nKira: I'm not really sure what you're asking.\nWinn: I'm asking if you think the Emissary will forgive me.\nKira: Forgive you?\nWinn: For doubting him. He must have been aware that I never truly believed he was the Emissary.\nKira: I'm sure it crossed his mind.\nWinn: I was wrong, I know that now. Only someone touched by the Prophets could have found B'hala.\nKira: Does that mean you're not going to try to block Bajor's admittance into the Federation?\nWinn: I'm going follow the path the Emissary has laid out for us.\nKira: I must admit I'm surprised to hear that. It takes a lot of courage to admit you're wrong.\nWinn: And you think I lack courage?\nKira: I didn't say that.\nWinn: But it is what you think. Those of you who were in the Resistance, you're all the same. You think you're the only ones who fought the Cardassians, that you saved Bajor singlehandedly. Perhaps you forget, Major, the Cardassians arrested any Bajoran they found teaching the word of the Prophets. I was in a Cardassian prison camp for five years and I can remember each and every beating I suffered. And while you had your weapons to protect you, all I had was my faith and my courage. Walk with the Prophets, child. I know I will.\nSisko: Hello, Admiral.\nWhatley: Ben. So this is the ancient city of Balla.\nSisko: B'hala.\nWhatley: Missing for twenty thousand years and you found it. Pretty impressive. Sure as hell impressed the Bajorans. How'd you know where to look?\nSisko: You might say it came to me in a vision.\nWhatley: I know that's what the Bajorans think. But just between you and me, what really happened?\nSisko: I know it's hard to understand, but it really was a vision. For the past few days, I've had these moments of insight, flashes of understanding.\nWhatley: And they started after that accident. I don't know, Ben. This is a little strange.\nSisko: You didn't come here to see B'hala, did you, Admiral?\nWhatley: No, I came to see you. I was surprised you weren't on the station when I arrived.\nSisko: I'm sorry about that.\nWhatley: Not sorry enough to return my comm. signals. All three of them. That could get an officer in a lot of trouble. Look, Ben, I need to know that I can count on you. Now, Bajor's admission is only the beginning. Now comes the hard part. Federation council members have to be chosen, the Bajoran militia has to be absorbed into Starfleet. There are thousands of details that have to be overseen and you're our point man here. That means we need to depend on you more than ever.\nSisko: Don't worry. I won't let you down.\nWhatley: I'm glad to here that. Now, what do you say we get back up to the station?\nSisko: I can't go back to the station. Not just yet.\nWhatley: Why not? I'm sure the Bajorans can take it from here. Or were you thinking of digging up this entire city all by yourself?\nSisko: Charlie, I just need a little more time.\nWhatley: For what?\nSisko: For answers. There's clarity here. I wish I could explain it better, but I can't.\nWhatley: You're scaring me with this, Ben.\nSisko: I'm a little scared too, Admiral.\nWhatley: All right, I'll give you some time. But I want you back on the station by zero seven hundred hours tomorrow. You're to report to Doctor Bashir for a complete physical.\nSisko: I'll be there.\nWhatley: Good.\nWhatley: It's oh seven fifteen. Where the hell is he?\nBashir: His runabout only docked twenty five minutes ago, sir. I'm sure he's on his way.\nWhatley: When he gets here, I want you to give him a full work-up.\nBashir: I examined him before he left for Bajor. He didn't complain of any new symptoms, but my scans still showed the same odd synaptic potentials. I was hoping the problem would have cured itself by now.\nWhatley: But it hasn't. Isn't there something you can do to help?\nBashir: I could try neuro-polaric induction. But that's a very serious operation, and I'd rather not do it unless it were absolutely necessary.\nWhatley: So in the meantime he's going to keep having visions. I knew we were headed for trouble the minute he allowed the Bajorans to call him Emissary.\nBashir: He didn't have much choice. The Bajorans are deeply committed to their spirituality, not to mention incredibly stubborn. They believe that Captain Sisko is the Emissary and nothing's going to change their minds.\nWoman: Here he comes!\nBashir: I told you held be here, sir.\nSisko: There's no need to worry. The katterpod harvest will be much better this year. You don't belong here. Go home.\nBashir: Captain?\nWhatley: What's wrong?\nSisko: I'm fine. Admiral.\nWhatley: What is it, Ben?\nSisko: Your son. You can stop worrying about him. He forgives you.\nWhatley: How the hell did he know that Kevin and I weren't getting along?\nBashir: He's the Emissary.\nBashir: That should do it. I'll have the test results in a few minutes.\nWhatley: Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?\nKira: Captain?\nSisko: Cardassia.\nKira: Sir?\nSisko: That's where it was going. The cloud.\nWhatley: What cloud?\nSisko: I was on Bajor. B'hala had been rebuilt. The people were in the streets, celebrating. But then a shadow covered the sun. We looked up and saw a cloud filling the sky. It was a swarm of locusts, billions of them. They hovered over the city, the noise was deafening, but just as quickly as they came, they moved on. Now I know where they were going. Cardassia.\nKira: What do you think it means?\nSisko: I don't know.\nKira: At least the swarm was moving away from Bajor. That's a good sign. Isn't it?\nSisko: But what do these locusts represent? And why Cardassia?\nWhatley: You were dreaming. And dreams don't always make sense.\nSisko: This was no a dream.\nBashir: Captain, why didn't you tell me about these headaches of yours?\nSisko: I guess I was too busy.\nBashir: Well, if you'd stayed busy much longer you could have died. The area of unusual neural activity has increased another eight percent. As a result, your basal ganglia are starting to depolarize. I'm going to have to operate, try to repolarize your neural sheaths.\nSisko: How will that affect my visions?\nWhatley: That's not really the issue here, is it?\nSisko: It is to me. Doctor?\nBashir: Well, there's no way to tell for sure. But I assume if I can complete the procedure, your brain activity will return to normal and the visions will stop.\nSisko: Then you can't do it.\nWhatley: Ben, that's ridiculous.\nBashir: If I don't operate, sir, you could die.\nSisko: I understand that. But something is happening to me. Something extraordinary. I have to see it through.\nJake: What do you mean you're not going to let Doctor Bashir operate on you? You have to.\nSisko: Don't you see? These visions are gifts. I can't refuse them.\nKasidy: I cannot believe what I'm hearing. Listen to yourself, Ben. Sitting there, telling us that this mystical journey of yours is more important than watching your son grow up.\nJake: Dad, please think about what you're doing. These visions, they're not worth dying for.\nSisko: I remember the first time I held you in my hands. You were only a few minutes old and when I looked down at your face, it was almost as if I could see your whole life stretched out in front of you. All the joys it would bring, and the bruises. It was all there, hidden in that scrunched up little face. The baby that I'm holding in my hands now is the universe itself. And I need time to study its face.\nKasidy: Look at the face of your son now and then tell me you're doing the right thing.\nSisko: Come in.\nWinn: It's time, Emissary, if you're ready.\nSisko: I am.\nKasidy: Ready for what?\nWinn: The Emissary has asked for help in his journey. I'm providing it.\nJake: And you trust her? Since when?\nSisko: Jake, it'll be all right. I love you. Both of you.\nKira: I've never seen the Temple so crowded. Seemed like every Bajoran on the station was there to pray for the Emissary.\nDax: Glad to hear it. He going to need all the help he can get if he's going to survive this.\nKira: The Captain is not going to die. He is the Emissary. The Prophets will take care of him.\nO'Brien: With all due respect, Major, I'd rather see Julian take care of him.\nKira: Chief, I know you're worried, but the Prophets are leading the Emissary on this path for a reason.\nWorf: Do not attempt to convince them, Major. They cannot understand.\nDax: Since when did you believe in the Prophets?\nWorf: What I believe in is faith. Without it there can be no victory. If the Captain's faith is strong, he will prevail.\nDax: That's not much to bet his life on.\nKira: You're wrong. It's everything.\nO'Brien: I hope you're right, Major. I hope you're right.\nWinn: He asks for your guidance. Let him see with your eyes. Lift the veil of darkness that obscures his path. Emissary?\nSisko: I'm ready.\nWinn: The Orb of Prophecy is very powerful. It taxs even the healthy. Are you sure you want to go through with this?\nSisko: I have to. I need to bring the visions into focus, tie them together. I can't do it alone.\nWinn: But you're very weak. Perhaps it would be better to wait until after the signing.\nSisko: I may not have time. I need to do this now.\nWinn: As you wish. May the Prophets reveal their wisdom to you, Emissary.\nWhatley: He's already an hour late.\nWinn: He's still consulting the Orb of Prophecy.\nWhatley: How long do these Orb experiences last?\nWinn: Minutes. Hours. Sometimes days.\nWhatley: Then maybe we shouldn't wait for him. Do you have any objections to proceeding without Captain Sisko?\nWinn: I'm sure the Emissary would want to be here, but under the circumstances.\nWhatley: May I have your attention. I've been looking forward to this day for many years, as I'm sure all of you have. Welcoming a new planet to the Federation is the happiest assignment an Admiral could hope for. The Federation is not just a union of planets, it's much more.\nWinn: Emissary!\nWhatley: Get him to the Infirmary.\nSisko: No! I have to tell them.\nWinn: What is it, Emissary? Have the Prophets revealed something to you?\nSisko: Locusts. They'll destroy Bajor unless it stands alone.\nWhatley: Ben, what the hell are you talking about?\nSisko: It's too soon! Bajor must not join the Federation. If it does, it will be destroyed.\nBashir: His entire central nervous system is depolarizing. We have to operate immediately.\nWhatley: Then what are you waiting for?\nKira: Captain Sisko made it clear he didn't want surgery.\nKasidy: What are you suggesting, Major? We stand around and let him die?\nKira: It isn't about what I want or what you want, it's about Captain Sisko. And he told us he doesn't want anything interfering with his visions.\nWhatley: Major, these visions may be important, but I think we're all in agreement here that they are not as important as Captain Sisko's life. Start the procedures.\nBashir: It's not that simple. Captain Sisko refused surgery and I can't go against the decision of my patient. Not without the express consent of his closest relative.\nJake: I guess that means it's up to me. Dad, I know you want to see this thing to the end, but I need you. I'm sorry. Do what you have to do.\nBashir: Prepare for surgery. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you all to leave. Nurse.\nWinn: Any news about the Emissary?\nKira: He's still in surgery.\nWinn: I hope the Prophets will forgive us. We never should have allowed the Federation to interfere with the Emissary's visions.\nKira: It wasn't the Federation. It was his son and he had every right to make that decision.\nWinn: It was a selfish act.\nKira: He's an eighteen year-old boy who doesn't want to lose his father. What would you have done in his place?\nWinn: I would trust the Prophets.\nKira: Maybe we're the ones who need to trust the Prophets. For all we know, this is part of their plan. Maybe they've told Captain Sisko everything they want him to know.\nWinn: Perhaps. I suppose you heard that Bajor will not join the Federation today. The Council of Ministers has voted to delay acceptance of Federation membership.\nKira: You must be very pleased.\nWinn: I wish I were. But things are not that simple. Not anymore. Before Captain Sisko found B'hala, my path was clear. I knew who my enemies were. But now? Now nothing is certain.\nKira: Makes life interesting, doesn't it?\nSisko: No. No! You took them away.\nBashir: We had no choice. You were dying.\nSisko: I almost had it. Almost understood it all. Now it's gone.\nSisko: Yes.\nWhatley: How are you feeling?\nSisko: I'm fine, Admiral.\nWhatley: Look, Ben, it's not too late. You could contact the Chamber of Ministers. Tell them you were wrong. Convince them to accept Federation membership.\nSisko: I can't do that. The visions may have faded, but everything I said, everything I did, still feels right. When I said that Bajor should wait before it joins the Federation, I have never felt so certain about anything in my life.\nWhatley: I was afraid you would say that, Ben. I could have your commission for this.\nSisko: I know.\nWhatley: But considering how the Bajorans feel about you, if I pulled you from this post we'd probably lose Bajor forever.\nSisko: Admiral, for what it's worth, I wish things had turned out differently.\nWhatley: So do I.\nSisko: But it's not over. One day Bajor will join the Federation. That I'm sure of.\nWhatley: Are you speaking as a Starfleet Captain or as the Emissary of the Prophets?\nSisko: Both.\nWhatley: In that case, I'll keep the champagne on ice.\nJake: Just in time, Dad.\nSisko: What's this all about?\nKasidy: It's about jambalaya.\nJake: We never had that welcome back dinner for Kasidy.\nKasidy: Welcome back. To both of us. Ben, I can't say I understand what you've gone through. I know you feel you've lost something important and maybe you have. But believe me, you've held on to something important as well."}
{"text": "Latha: I am Vedek Latha Mabrin and I welcome you to the Calash Retreat. Today we begin prayer and meditation as preparation for our Days of Atonement. May the Prophets walk with us as we begin our journey.\nBashir: Have you been taking your makara herbs?\nKira: Absolutely. Mostly.\nBashir: Kira, you have to take them. Your progesterone levels are way too low.\nKira: But if I take the herbs, then the sedatives you gave me don't work.\nBashir: Yes, the herbs do act as a counteragent, but I thought you said you weren't having any trouble sleeping and that you didn't need any sedatives?\nKira: I don't. But Julian, those herbs taste like something that crawled out of Quark's ear.\nBashir: Just take them.\nKira: All right.\nOdo: Major, may I have a word with you?\nBashir: We're finished here.\nKira: Sure.\nOdo: I'm afraid I have bad news. One of the former members of your resistance cell has been killed on Bajor. Latha Mabrin.\nKira: How?\nOdo: It appears a small hunter probe was hidden inside a ceremonial candle and fired a disruptor blast.\nKira: Do they have any suspects?\nOdo: Too many. Before he became a Vedek, your friend was involved in some very questionable activities.\nKira: Latha was a violent man, but then he found the Prophets, and the last time I talked to him, he'd changed, really changed.\nOdo: I don't doubt that, Major. But it would appear that the violence of his past finally has caught up with him.\nKira: Let me know if you hear anything else.\nOdo: Of course.\nComputer: Major Kira, there is one message waiting for you.\nKira: Play back message.\nVoice: That's one.\nKira: Replay audio.\nVoice: That's one.\nKira: Again.\nVoice: That's one.\nVoice: That's one.\nOdo: As you might have guessed, there's no point of origin listed in the computer log.\nSisko: When did we receive this message?\nKira: It came over the primary subspace antenna at thirteen forty one hours. Almost the same moment Latha was killed on Bajor.\nSisko: And you think that this is a threat against all the former members of the Shakaar resistance cell?\nOdo: That's my working theory, but I'm not ruling anything out.\nSisko: Did anyone else receive this message?\nKira: Not that we know of. So obviously there's some connection to me, but I don't know what it is. I haven't even spoken to Latha in two years.\nOdo: I'm waiting for the preliminary crime scene report from the authorities on Bajor before I begin my own investigation. But I'd like to increase security here on the station and initiate random checks on all incoming cargo.\nSisko: Agreed.\nKira: I've contacted most of the surviving members of the Shakaar and warned them to take precautions, just in case.\nSisko: I'm sorry about your friend.\nKira: He died serving the Prophets. They'll take care of him.\nSisko: I'm sure they will. Keep me informed.\nO'Brien: How you feeling?\nKira: Fine. Exhausted. I didn't sleep much and Julian's got me back on those herbs again.\nO'Brien: I know. I heard you pacing all night.\nKira: I'm sorry.\nO'Brien: Don't be. I would've gotten up and kept you company, but I figured you wanted to be alone.\nKira: I couldn't stop thinking about Latha. All those fire fights and bombings he lived through just to be killed during a religious ceremony. You know, if I wasn't pregnant I would be down on Bajor right now trying to narrow down the suspects.\nO'Brien: You're safer on the station.\nKira: That's what's driving me crazy. I'm sitting here eating breakfast while someone may be hunting down my friends. I'm a Major in the Bajoran militia. I should be down there trying to protect them.\nO'Brien: Right now you're needed here, protecting someone else.\nKira: Yeah, right. I guess I do have my hands full at the moment.\nOdo: Ops to Major Kira.\nKira: Go ahead, Odo.\nOdo: There's another incoming message for you, Major, and they refuse to give either their name or location.\nKira: I'm on my way.\nOdo: We're having trouble tracing the signal.\nSisko: They're running it through some kind of scrambler and using a phase-divergent carrier wave. Try to keep them talking.\nKira: This is Major Kira Nerys. Who am I speaking to?\nFala: Nerys? Is that really you?\nKira: Fala?\nFala: Are you alone? I don't want anyone to hear me. I think, I think someone's trying to trace my signal.\nKira: Stand by. She's a friend. Her name's Trentin Fala.\nSisko: One of the members of your cell?\nKira: No.\nOdo: Then why is she hiding her location?\nKira: I'd rather not talk about it here, but trust me, she's no threat to anyone. Let me talk to her alone and see what's going on.\nKira: I'm alone, and no one here will trace your signal.\nFala: You heard about Latha? They killed him. As he knelt in prayer, they killed him!\nKira: I know. And the authorities are investigating that right now.\nFala: They're going to kill me too, Nerys. They've been watching me.\nKira: Who's been watching you?\nFala: I don't know, but I feel it. I need to get out of here, go somewhere safe. Please, Nerys, you've got to help me. You always promised that you'd help.\nKira: All right, calm down. I'll protect you. You can stay here at the station until all of this is over. Two of our officers are returning this afternoon from Starbase sixty three. I'll reroute them to Bajor and have them pick you up. Okay?\nFala: Okay.\nKira: Their names are Worf and Jadzia Dax. They'll contact with you within the hour.\nFala: I knew I could count on you.\nKira: I'll see you soon.\nDax: You've been smirking ever since we left the Starbase.\nWorf: I do not smirk. But if I did this would be a good occasion.\nDax: How was I supposed to know that Captain Ramirez was a three-time tongo champion?\nWorf: You might have asked before mocking him and then allowing him to up the stakes to a no-limit game.\nDax: I didn't lose that much.\nWorf: Two bars of latinum. I hope you have it.\nDax: I have it. Most of it. Worf?\nWorf: No.\nDax: Fine. I'll borrow it from Quark. He likes me.\nWorf: Major Kira's friend is ready for transport. Quark may lend you the money, but remember Rule of Acquisition number one hundred and eleven. Treat people in your debt like family, exploit them.\nDax: You know the Rules of Acquisition?\nWorf: I am a graduate of Starfleet Academy. I know many things.\nDax: Energizing.\nDax: There's a power surge in the buffer!\nWorf: Something is interfering with the integration matrix.\nDax: I'm transferring her pattern to the secondary buffer.\nWorf: Boost the gain on the energizing coils.\nDax: It won't go any higher. I'm losing her!\nBashir: I'm sorry, Nerys.\nKira: I'm hearing that a lot lately. Can I have a moment?\nBashir: Of course.\nSisko: I wish there was something I could say, Major.\nKira: Just tell me it was an accident.\nSisko: The Constable thinks otherwise.\nOdo: I believe she was killed by a remat detonator. It's a device programd to scramble a transporter beam during rematerialization. They're typically no more than two cubic millimeters in size. It could have been hidden in her clothing or injected into her skin.\nWorf: The device is typically used by the Romulans. However, it is sold on the black market.\nKira: Why didn't the transporter security system detect the device?\nDax: We're not sure. The system is programd to scan for remats, so whoever did this has a sophisticated understanding of our security protocols.\nKira: And a vendetta against the Shakaar resistance cell.\nSisko: I thought you said that Trentin Fala wasn't a member of the Shakaar.\nKira: She wasn't, at least not officially. Fala spent the occupation cleaning floors in a Cardassian records office in Dahkur Province. She passed us information for years without anyone catching on. But she was always so afraid. Afraid that she'd be caught and executed. But she never stopped. I once told her that I thought she was braver than all of us, because she had to live with her fear every day. Even after the occupation was over, she didn't want anyone to know that she was secretly helping us. She was worried that someone would come looking for her for revenge.\nSisko: Looks like her fears were well founded.\nVoice: That's two. That's two. That's two. That's two. That's two.\nQuark: Hello, Major. I was just about to call you.\nKira: Quark, what is that?\nQuark: I just found this PADD in a shipment of Saurian brandy that I just received. It was coded for you, but somehow I accidently activated it.\nKira: Give that to me.\nVoice: That's two. That's two. That's two That's\nOdo: Since she was an informant, it stands to reason that Fala was killed because she was providing information to the resistance. Information that the Shakaar used to plan an attack on a Cardassian target. The killer is probably someone who was either injured or who lost a family member or a friend in that attack.\nKira: We planned dozens of attacks based on Fala's information. It could be any of them.\nOdo: Not any. We're dealing with an operation in which you played a prominent part. Now perhaps you could make a list of all the attacks by the Shakaar that you participated in?\nKira: That's a long list.\nOdo: Someone is accessing the security database.\nKira: Can you trace it?\nOdo: No.\nVoice: That's three.\nKira: Mobara. He was in the Shakaar.\nOdo: Where does Mobara live?\nKira: Er, Musilla Province, at the university. Engineering school.\nOdo: I'm sending an emergency message to the authorities in Musilla. Maybe it's not too late. Are you all right?\nKira: No, I'm not all right! I haven't slept in three days, someone is killing my friends, and my back! Sorry.\nOdo: No apology necessary, Major. They haven't been able to contact Mobara, so they're sending a search party to the university right now. They'll let us know what happens. Major, if I may make a suggestion? Why don't you return to your quarters and rest for now? It may be several hours before they're able to make a complete search.\nKira: Maybe you're right. But let me know the moment you hear something.\nOdo: You have my word.\nKira: I'm going to lie down. Help yourself to the replicator if you're hungry.\nBrilgar: Thank you, Major.\nKira: Don't move!\nFurel: Hold it!\nKira: Furel?\nFurel: Nerys?\nKira: You're lucky I didn't shoot you.\nFurel: I could say the same about you. What are you doing creeping around in a dark room with a phaser.\nKira: I live here!\nLupaza: What about him?\nKira: This is Lieutenant Brilgar. He's station security. He's here to protect me.\nLupaza: Oh. Sorry.\nBrilgar: You know these people, Major?\nKira: I'm afraid so. This is Furel and Lupaza. We were in the same resistance cell.\nFurel: Brilgar, worry about the\nBrilgar: Yeah, yeah. I'll be outside if you need me.\nKira: Thank you.\nKira: How did you get in here? We just installled a new security system.\nFurel: And a pretty good one it is, too, but they have not yet invented the security system that Lupaza cannot beat.\nLupaza: It took some work, but I managed to retune the transporter scrambler.\nKira: You beamed in? From where?\nLupaza: We stowed away aboard a transport ship making a run from Bajor. Just before it docked, I accessed the station personnel records.\nFurel: We beamed into the bedroom about five minutes ago. We heard somebody moving around in here. I thought it was you\nLupaza: But it turned out to be a man with a phaser\nFurel: And I tried to tell her that we should contact you before we came.\nLupaza: You did not.\nKira: I should have you both thrown in the brig. But I'm glad to see you.\nFurel: It's good to see you.\nLupaza: Go get it.\nLupaza: Can I? How much longer?\nKira: A couple of weeks.\nLupaza: Been sneezing?\nKira: Off and on. The doctor's giving me something. But before we get too deep into baby talk. I had another message today. This time it's Mobara.\nFurel: Dead?\nKira: We don't know yet. There's a search party out right now looking for him.\nLupaza: Do you have any suspects?\nKira: No.\nFurel: When you do, you let us know.\nLupaza: That's why we're here, to find out who's doing this and take care of it.\nKira: I can't send you out like some assassination squad.\nLupaza: You don't have to send us anywhere.\nFurel: You just give us the name. We'll take care of the rest.\nKira: The occupation is over. We can't go around fighting private wars. Times have changed. We have got to change with it. Leave this for the authorities.\nFurel: Authorities.\nLupaza: Maybe you feel that way now, but trust me, when you find out who killed Latha and Fala, and maybe now Mobara, you're not going to want to leave it to someone else. You're going to want him dead and you're going to want us to do it.\nKira: Maybe so. But we're not at that point yet. What's in the box?\nLupaza: It's for you.\nKira: For me?\nFurel: A gift.\nKira: Makara herbs.\nFurel: You're supposed to take them during your pregnancy.\nLupaza: She knows what they're for. We thought you might have trouble getting fresh herbs on the station, so we picked them last night.\nKira: Thanks. Really, thank you. Well, if you're staying, I'd better find you some quarters.\nLupaza: We're staying right here where we can keep an eye on you. On both of you.\nFurel: We'll sleep out here. The couch is a little short, but it's probably as comfortable as our bed.\nKira: Well, since Keiko's visiting her parents with Molly, I guess there's room.\nFurel: Hold it!\nKira: It's all right!\nKira: Miles, we have houseguests.\nOdo: They found his body about two hours ago. Or at least what was left of it. Mobara had a micro-explosive implanted just behind his right ear.\nSisko: How could someone get close enough to implant something behind someone's ear and not get caught?\nOdo: I doubt he was ever near Mobara. The killer's shown a pattern of using remote-controlled devices. He was probably using some kind of hunter probe and injected Mobara as he slept.\nSisko: What are we dealing with here, a professional assassin?\nOdo: Well, that was my initial thought. But a professional would never be sending anonymous messages. No, our killer is someone with a very personal stake in this. Someone who is trying to make a point to Major Kira.\nSisko: And once he drives his point home?\nOdo: He'll try to kill her, too.\nVoice: That's one. That's two. That's three.\nNog: It doesn't sound natural.\nDax: No kidding.\nNog: I mean, I know they're using some kind of scrambler to disguise the voice, but there's something else. The rhythms don't sound natural. More like a composite of words from different speeches put together.\nKira: You can tell that through all that distortion?\nNog: It's the lobes. The intonation and phrasing are slightly off.\nDax: I made it a policy never to argue with someone's lobes.\nKira: All right, let's say these are composite messages. Does that help us?\nDax: Maybe. Since the first word of all three messages is the same, let's assume that it's simply been copied three times. That gives me a reference to begin screening out the electronic interference.\nVoice: That's. That's. That's. That's. That's.\nNog: It's a female. And it's not Cardassian\nKira: You're sure? All right, all right.\nNog: It's Bajoran. I know that voice. Can I hear the rest of the words?\nKira: That's one. That's two. That's three.\nKira: It's me. He's using my voice.\nDax: There's been an explosion in the habitat ring.\nKira: Location?\nDax: Level five, section twenty one alpha. The O'Brien's quarters. Go to Red alert. Stop all incoming and outgoing ships until further notice.\nNog: Aye, sir.\nDax: Dax to Infirmary. Doctor Bashir report to Habitat ring level five, section twenty one alpha. Medical emergency.\nSisko: Report.\nDax: There's been an explosion in O'Brien's quarters. There's a hull breach. The compartment is venting air into space.\nSisko: Casualties?\nDax: No word yet. I'm having trouble scanning through the debris.\nOdo: Where's Kira?\nGuard: Major! You can't go in. There's a hull breach and\nKira: Get out of my way!\nGuard 2: Major, please.\nBrilgar: Major, no! You'll vent the whole corridor!\nBashir: Nerys. Nerys, can you hear me?\nKira: Julian.\nBashir: You're in the Infirmary.\nKira: The baby?\nBashir: He's fine. You suffered a placental laceration and then you began to hemorrhage. But I've repaired the damage. You're going to be all right.\nKira: Lupaza and Furel. They're dead, aren't they?\nBashir: I'm afraid so.\nKira: Miles?\nBashir: He wasn't there when it happened.\nKira: Did they die quickly?\nBashir: Instantly.\nOdo: Doctor, may I?\nBashir: I'll be right outside.\nKira: I was thirteen when I joined the resistance. I'd been hanging around the Shakaar base camp for a couple of weeks, running errands, cleaning weapons, that kind of thing. Then one night they had an ambush planned and they were a man short, so I volunteered. But everyone thought I was too young, too small. Lupaza stuck up for me. She said I had the heart of a sinoraptor and they didn't have much choose. Furel made some kind of joke. I don't remember what it was, but I do remember that Lupaza hit him. She was always doing that. They loved each other in some way. But it was up to Shakaar and he stared at me for a long time before he decided I was big enough to carry a phaser rifle after all. So we set up the ambush up along a ridgeline that night and waited. It was so cold my hands were shaking. I was so afraid that one of them would look at me and think that I was nervous, that I kept biting my fingers to keep the blood flowing. We must have waited there three or four hours before the skimmer appeared and set down right where Furel said it would. And when that hatch opened and that first Cardassian stepped out, I just started firing. And I didn't stop till I'd diskharged the entire power cell. When it was all over, I was so relieved that I didn't let anyone down that I was almost giddy. Furel kept telling me to stop grinning, that it made me look younger, but I couldn't help it. I was one of them. I was in the Resistance. Lupaza made me this out of some of the metal from that skimmer. How were they killed?\nOdo: Someone attached a small hunter probe to the hull of a Talavian freighter. When the ship docked at the station, the probe detached itself and then began a visual scan of every room in the Habitat ring. Once the probe found its assigned targets, it attached itself to the window and exploded.\nKira: Do you have any leads?\nOdo: My sources on Cardassia have given me a list of possible suspects. They all have the computer skills, the opportunity and the motive to carry out these attacks.\nKira: You must have called in a lot of favors.\nOdo: One or two.\nKira: How many people are on the list now?\nOdo: Twenty five.\nKira: Can I see it?\nOdo: Not just yet. I'd like to narrow it a little.\nKira: You're afraid I'm going to take the names and go charging off after them.\nOdo: Something like that.\nKira: You're right. I probably would.\nOdo: I'm going to find the person that's done this. I promise you that.\nKira: I know you will, Odo. Keep me informed.\nOdo: Absolutely.\nComputer: Emergency transport standing by. Enter command code authorisation.\nKira: Authorisation Kira one five seven alpha.\nComputer: Initiating transport.\nKira: Computer, initiate emergency transport program Kira two.\nComputer: Initiating transport.\nOdo: Computer, locate Major Kira.\nComputer: Major Kira is no longer on the station.\nOdo: Damn.\nOdo: She's obviously going after the suspects on the list, but she erased the names from my computer file when she got them so there's no way to know where she's headed.\nSisko: Prepare the Defiant. I want to leave in ten minutes. See if we can pick up her ion trail.\nWorf: It will be difficult. Our sensor logs show that Major Kira masked her engine emissions with a polaron field. The runabout's particle\nSisko: I know what the difficulties are. You have your orders. Dismissed.\nWorf: Aye, sir. Kira Nerys, personal log, stardate 50416.2. I've eliminated three of the suspects from Odo's list. I'm satisfied that none of them could've committed the murders. The fourth name is Silaran Prin, a Cardassian living on a planet near the DMZ.\nSilaran: A creature born within the comforting anonymity of darkness, awakens in the harsh truth of daylight. It squirms in the glare, afraid of the light that pins it to the chair like a needle through its heart. Its heart beats faster.\nKira: Who's there? Silaran, is that you?\nSilaran: Panic starts to creep into its soul. Does it understand? Or is it so blinded by the light that it can think only of returning to the velvet cloak of darkness? No matter. Perhaps it is better that it doesn't realize how close death has come. But make no mistake, there is no escape. It has reached the end, and soon it will die.\nKira: What's the matter, Silaran? Are you so afraid of a pregnant woman in a restraining field you have to hide in the dark?\nSilaran: It bares its tiny fangs, hoping for a chance to strike, to sink its teeth deep into the flesh of its tormentor. But that chance will never come.\nKira: You'd better hope I don't get that chance.\nSilaran: And somewhere beneath the gleam of hatred in those eyes lurks the certain knowledge of its impending death. And it begins to know fear.\nKira: I'm not afraid of you. I'm not some coward who's been sending anonymous messages and bombs to murder innocent people.\nSilaran: No, Kira! I didn't murder anyone. You did! You killed them all.\nKira: There. That wasn't so hard, was it? Now we can talk.\nSilaran: Talk and lies won't help you. You're in the light and the light reveals the truth. And the light shows me no regret in those eyes, no compassion.\nKira: You want me to feel compassion for you? You murdered five people. What compassion did you show to them?\nSilaran: Unrepentant. How unfortunate. I thought you might have changed, might have found a path out of the darkness.\nKira: What am I supposed to be repentant for? What're you talking about?\nSilaran: That is part of your guilt. You did this to me.\nSilaran: And you don't even know who I am.\nKira: So you were wounded during an attack I carried out when I was part of the resistance, and I'm supposed to feel guilty? We were at war, Silaran. Fifteen million Bajorans died during the occupation and you want me to feel sorry for you?\nSilaran: No, I wasn't part of your war. I was an innocent. I wasn't even in the military. You know what I did on Bajor? I was a servant. I cleaned uniforms for Gul Pirak.\nKira: Gul Pirak. Commander of the weapons depot at Hathon.\nSilaran: I'm glad that you remember. Now, do you remember what you did? How you put a plasma charge outside his bedroom window in the middle of the night?\nKira: I remember he executed fifteen Bajoran farmers because they refused to display the Cardassian banner outside their homes.\nSilaran: Trentin Fala showed you how to circumvent the defense system. Latha Mabrin built the plasma charge. Furel and Lupaza stood guard outside while you crept up to the house.\nKira: None of us liked killing. We were fighting for our freedom against\nSilaran: You vaporized the entire east wing! Twelve Cardassians were killed, including Gul Pirak's entire family. Twenty three others were crippled. Don't you feel guilty? Don't you feel ashamed of what you did?\nKira: None of you belonged on Bajor. It wasn't your world. For fifty years you raped our planet and you killed our people. You lived on our land and you took the food out of our mouths, and I don't care whether you held a phaser in your hand or ironed shirts for a living. You were all guilty and you were all legitimate targets!\nSilaran: And that's what makes you a murderer. Indiskriminate killing. No sense of morality. No thought given to the consequences of your actions. That's what makes us different.\nKira: I was a soldier. You're just a bitter old man out for revenge.\nSilaran: I am bringing the guilty to justice. And unlike you, I take care to protect the innocent. I could have killed every monk in that cavern or everyone on the runabout, or half the population of Deep Space Nine, but I didn't. Only the guilty have died. And that is why, although though your actions have condemned you, the life of your child will be spared.\nKira: What does that mean? What does that mean?\nSilaran: The creature's diseased mind cannot understand its plight. Its imagination is too limited to perceive the truth. It cannot be saved. But there is still hope for its child. It can be taken from the womb and raised in the light.\nKira: Listen to me, Silaran. The child I'm carrying, it isn't Bajoran, it's human. It has unique medical needs. If you force me to give birth now you risk\nSilaran: The creature's cries grow louder, but no one can hear them. All that remains is to bring the child into the light and diskard the diseased carcass of the mother before it can infect it's offspring.\nKira: You can't bring it into the light! Not yet! Doctor Bashir said if I don't have at least three more weeks\nSilaran: It's time.\nKira: We both agree this baby's an innocent. Don't put him at risk, please, Silaran.\nSilaran: Don't worry. I promise that I'll take care of the child and that I'll teach him the difference between darkness and light.\nKira: Wait. Please, I'm begging you. At least give me a sedative. Show some compassion. Don't just cut me open.\nSilaran: All right. I'll show more mercy than you have. Take a good look at my face, Kira. I want it to be the last thing you see.\nSilaran: The creature slept, dreaming its dark dreams and happy to be out of the light. The innocent life it held would awaken in brilliance, and never know darkness again.\nOdo: Are you all right?\nBashir: She's fine. There's a large amount of merfadon in her system.\nSisko: Merfadon?\nBashir: It's a sedative, but the makara herbs she's been taking have counteracted the effect.\nSisko: I take it this is our assassin?\nOdo: Why did he give you a sedative?\nKira: He wanted to protect the innocent and separate the darkness from the light. But he didn't realize the light only shines in the dark and sometimes innocence is just an excuse for the guilty. Let's go home.\nSisko: Sisko to Defiant.\nCrewman: Four to beam up. Energize."}
{"text": "Bashir: Good morning, Constable. And what can I do for you today?\nOdo: It's my back.\nBashir: Let's take a look.\nOdo: It happened this morning when I got out of bed.\nBashir: Hmm.\nOdo: I have Alvanian spine mites, don't I?\nBashir: Actually\nOdo: I'll be in pain for the rest of my life.\nBashir: Odo, you have a pinched nerve.\nOdo: Really?\nBashir: It comes from bad posture.\nOdo: Me? Ridiculous. You've never seen anyone sit so straight.\nBashir: Exactly. You carry yourself too rigidly.\nOdo: This is how I've always carried myself.\nBashir: You haven't always have a spinal column. You're not a changeling anymore. Now that you're a humanoid, you have to learn to relax.\nOdo: That's what you said last week.\nBashir: And?\nOdo: And it helped. That and the prune juice.\nBashir: There, you see? I know what I'm talking about.\nQuark: Back trouble?\nOdo: It's none of your concern, Quark.\nQuark: Bad posture.\nOdo: Will you get out of here.\nBashir: What you need is a stretching regimen. Worf's morning exercise class should be just the thing.\nQuark: Forget that. I've got a holosuite program that'll take care of him. Three Orion slave girls strap you\nOdo: Quark.\nQuark: Go ahead, suffer.\nOdo: What do you want?\nQuark: A Yridian I've been dealing with sold me something that might interest you.\nOdo: I don't think so.\nQuark: You don't even know what it is.\nOdo: I know I don't want it.\nQuark: In that case, can you tell me how to get in touch with the Founders? I know they'll want it.\nOdo: What are you talking about?\nQuark: It's a changeling. Or it was, anyway. Since it's dead I'll let you have it for five slips of latinum.\nOdo: It's not dead.\nQuark: In that case make it ten.\nOdo: It's sick.\nQuark: Eight and we'll call it even.\nQuark: It's a pleasure doing business with you.\nBashir: If that is a changeling, maybe we should get it into a security field.\nOdo: That won't be necessary.\nBashir: If it gets out of that container, it could be dangerous.\nOdo: It's not going anywhere, Doctor. It doesn't know how. It's just a baby.\nSisko: A baby changeling?\nOdo: Centuries ago, my people sent a hundred of us out into the galaxy so we could learn about other races. When I was found, I looked very much like this.\nSisko: You were this small?\nOdo: Like a humanoid child, it'll grow. Its mass will increase as its shape-shifting abilities develop.\nBashir: As far as I can tell, it was exposed to a massive amount of tetryon radiation. I'm going to have to purge the isotopes with an electrophoretic diffuser.\nSisko: Get on it. Are you sure it's no danger to us, Constable?\nOdo: When I was first diskovered, I didn't know what I was. I had no memory of where I was from. I didn't even know I had the ability to mimic other forms.\nSisko: Why would the Founders send such helpless creatures out into space?\nOdo: To find out if the species they encountered posed any threat. What better way to gage another race than to see how it treats the weak and vulnerable?\nSisko: I see your point. How long before it is able to take humanoid form?\nOdo: Several months. Why?\nSisko: Well, there's still a lot we don't know about your people. The changelings could provide Starfleet with invaluable information about the Dominion.\nOdo: Well, that being the case, I'd like to be allowed to work with it, to teach it how to shape-shift.\nSisko: Oh, I can't think of anyone better qualified. You might just want a little help. Maybe you should contact Doctor Mora?\nOdo: Mora? Why?\nSisko: Well, he managed to find a way to communicate with you. He obviously knows what he's doing.\nOdo: Maybe so, but I'd prefer to do this alone.\nSisko: It's your call. But it's always nice to have someone around to help change the diapers.\nOdo: I'll keep that in mind.\nBashir: The purge was almost a hundred percent effective. The concentration of isotopes is nearly negligible.\nOdo: It certainly looks healthier.\nBashir: Well, I'd better go and check on Kira. Did you hear? She's in labor.\nOdo: Mm-hm.\nBashir: But I guess you have your own baby to think about. There is still a small degree of instability in its morphogenic matrix. I'm hoping it'll level out. I've set the computer to monitor for biomimetic fluctuations just in case.\nOdo: Thank you, Doctor.\nBashir: Good luck.\nOdo: How do you feel? Better? I realize you can't understand a word I'm saying, but that doesn't matter. I know you're aware of me. You see, I was once like you. I spent months in a lab being prodded and poked by a scientist who didn't recognize I was a lifeform. He thought I was a specimen, a mystery that needed to be unraveled. He never talked to me. It didn't occur to him. I didn't know what I was, or what I was supposed to do. I was lost, alone, but it's not going to be that way with you. No, I'm not going to make the same mistakes that were made with me. Come on, I want to show you something.\nKeiko: I'm sorry.\nO'Brien: Something's wrong. Kira said this would only take about an hour.\nBashir: For Bajoran women, giving birth is all about being relaxd.\nKeiko: He's right, Miles. That's why it's important for us to keep the rhythm.\nO'Brien: She's not going to relax until Shakaar gets here. I called him almost six hours ago. It takes half that time to make the trip from Bajor.\nKeiko: He's the First Minister of Bajor. He's a very busy man.\nBashir: And so am I. I have three surgeries scheduled this afternoon. I'll try and pop by later.\nKira: Y'Pora, the baby, he's moving.\nY'Pora: Relax. Breathe. It won't be long now.\nShakaar: Sorry I'm late. How are you?\nKira: All right.\nShakaar: I threw you off, didn't I?\nKira: It's all right, I'll get back on track. I'm glad you're here.\nOdo: This is the Replimat. Humanoids come here to eat. They, we rather, need to ingest nutrients. This is my home. It's a space station. People of many different species live here together. After you've learned to take humanoid shape, I'll show you everything. You can live here too, if you want. It's a fascinating place.\nWorf: Constable. Why are you talking to your beverage?\nOdo: It's not a beverage. It's a changeling. Excuse me, Commander.\nOdo: There we go. Now, doesn't that feel better? Nothing like spreading yourself out after being cooped up in a jar, eh? You have no idea of the marvels that are in store for you. Do you know what you are? You're a changeling. A shape-shifter. You can be anything. A Tarkalean hawk soaring through the sky, or a Filian python burrowing deep beneath the ground. It's all yours for the taking. I was never a very good shape-shifter. If you could see the face I'm stuck with, you'd know what I mean, but I think I can be a good teacher. You'll be better than I ever was. And I promise I'll never treat you the way I was treated. Never.\nMora: Odo!\nOdo: Doctor Mora. What are you doing here?\nMora: Well, I heard about the changeling. I came to help. Remarkable. You know, it's much larger than you were. What is that, about a quarter of a liter?\nOdo: I suppose so.\nMora: You didn't measure it?\nOdo: What difference does it make how large it is?\nMora: It could make a great deal of difference. Size could be an indication that it's already exercised its ability to shape-shift.\nOdo: I thought you were on Earth, working with Starfleet on new ways to detect changeling infiltrators.\nMora: Fortunately I was visiting my parents on Bajor when I got news of your find. How are you, Odo? I've been worried.\nOdo: Worried?\nMora: I heard that your people took away your ability to shape-shift.\nOdo: Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine.\nMora: I knew you were going to say that. You never want to give anything away even though it's all right there in your face. Well, let's get started, hmm? We have a lot of work ahead of us.\nOdo: Actually, Doctor\nMora: I told Starfleet that I won't be coming back for a couple of weeks.\nOdo: That may have been premature.\nMora: No, it'll take at least that long to get the changeling to respond.\nOdo: Don't do that!\nMora: Well, I see you still have trouble controlling your temper. I was just trying to determine its mass.\nOdo: Doctor Mora, I understand that you want to help, but I'm going to do this alone.\nMora: Alone? Odo, you don't know the first thing about teaching a changeling how to shape-shift.\nOdo: Well then I'll just muddle through somehow. You did.\nMora: It's too warm in here. You know, a changeling's morphogenic matrix is most malleable at seventeen degrees Celsius.\nOdo: I used to be able to change shape in almost any temperature.\nMora: That's true. But why not make it easy for the changeling. It took me weeks to figure out the optimal temperature, the humidity, even the light levels. Now don't you think that's information you could use?\nOdo: Well, I suppose I could take a look at your reports.\nMora: Oh, feel free to, of course. Except I was never one to keep extensive records. I always wanted to move on to the next test.\nOdo: Oh, believe me, I remember your tests very well.\nMora: Oh, so that's what this is about. You still resent the things I did to you in order to induce you to shape-shift. Well I know they weren't pleasant for you, but really, Odo, I would hope that you would get past that by now. I am disappointed.\nOdo: I have my own ideas about how to teach the changeling.\nMora: I imagine they're less invasive.\nOdo: Exactly.\nMora: Huh.\nOdo: You don't think I can do it, do you?\nMora: I didn't say that. As a matter of fact, I'd be fascinated to see what you have in mind.\nOdo: Well, in that case, why don't you stay and observe?\nMora: If you insist.\nKeiko: What's wrong?\nKira: I don't know. It's like a cramp or something.\nY'Pora: You shouldn't be feeling any pain. Well, it appears you're not going to be having the baby today.\nKira: What?\nY'Pora: You were in labor too long.\nO'Brien: I wonder why.\nY'Pora: For whatever reason you weren't able to fully relax. Your system had to stop producing endorphins before they accumulated to toxic levels.\nShakaar: When will she have the baby?\nY'Pora: It could be a few more days, or a few more weeks.\nKira: Weeks? If I don't have this baby soon, I'm going to go out of my mind.\nY'Pora: If you want, you can go see Doctor Bashir and have him\nKira: No, no, I want to have this baby the traditional Bajoran way.\nKeiko: We're a hundred percent behind you, Nerys. Right, Miles?\nO'Brien: Absolutely.\nKira: Can you stay?\nShakaar: I'll have to rearrange my schedule, but I think so.\nY'Pora: Nerys, return to your quarters and rest. I'll come by and see you later. You. Be punctual next time or don't come at all. And you? Practice.\nOdo: This is a sphere. It's one of the most basic forms in nature.\nOdo: See how it rolls? Interesting, isn't it? You're in my light. Now, this won't hurt a bit. Here we are. Here we go. Yeah, yeah.\nOdo: Now, this is also a sphere. Feel its symmetry, the softness of its shape, the sameness. Now you try.\nOdo: There we are. I understand that you prefer to remain shapeless. Believe me, I remember how relaxing it could be. But you have to learn to take other forms. That's what changelings do. It can be immensely rewarding. I remember the first time Doctor Mora here coerced me into taking the shape of a cube with one of his electrostatic gadgets. Once I did it, and he turned the infernal thing off, I was perfectly content to stay a cube for hours. It was fascinating, all those right angles. Of course, he had other plans. Before I knew it, he had me spinning around in a centrifuge. Well, if you're not interested in a sphere right now, we can always try a cube. What do you think? All right, now, this is a pyramid. It's one of the most mysterious shapes in nature.\nOdo: Now Mister Pyramid, here comes Mister Cube.\nOdo: What are you doing?\nMora: I'm measuring its volume. It's been here a week and it's only grown seventeen percent. After three days in my lab, you were twice that size.\nOdo: Well, maybe I was anxious to grow up so I could get out of there.\nMora: My point is, you've made no progress. By this time I'd already gotten you to mimic half a dozen simple forms.\nOdo: I'm trying to gain its confidence, not teach it tricks.\nMora: It's a shame you're not a changeling anymore. You could link with it and teach it everything it needs to know.\nOdo: You make it sound like it's my fault.\nMora: It might very well be. Let's face it, Odo, your shape-shifting ability was somewhat limited. Maybe that's why your people were able to force you to take a humanoid form.\nOdo: That is pure speculation.\nMora: Let's run a few tests and find out.\nOdo: Oh, you are just dying to get me into one of your contraptions, aren't you?\nMora: I'm trying to help.\nOdo: I am not about to submit myself to another round of your experiments.\nMora: Everything I did to you was for your own good.\nOdo: Ha!\nMora: True, some of the tests that I subjected you to proved inconclusive.\nOdo: The vacuum chamber springs to mind. The cytoplasmic separator. Come to think of it, the protein decompiler as well.\nMora: How could I know until I tried? By the Prophets, Odo, I wasn't even sure you were a lifeform.\nOdo: I wasn't sure about you either.\nMora: Once I realized you were sentient, the Cardassians wanted to know everything about you. I was under enormous pressure to come up with results, and I did. My technique worked. The fact that you are standing here whining about it proves it.\nOdo: You enjoyed watching me suffer.\nMora: You really believe that? How pathetic. If it wasn't for me, you'd still be sitting on a shelf somewhere, in a beaker labeled unknown sample.\nOdo: If it wasn't for me, you'd be a nobody. Starfleet wouldn't hire you to judge a science fair.\nMora: I'm getting a little tired of standing around watching you, but I can't seem to pull myself away. I can't wait to see what next preposterous thing you're going to try. Who knows, maybe in a couple months, it may get so tired of your incessant chatter that it might actually do something.\nOdo: You'd love to get your hands on it, wouldn't you? You could sell tickets on the Promenade. Doctor Mora's Chamber of Horrors open for business. Right this way.\nOdo: Captain.\nSisko: How's it going, gentlemen?\nOdo: Making progress, sir.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear it. I was just talking with Starfleet Command. They want you to establish communication with the changeling as soon as possible.\nMora: At the rate we're going, that is still a long way off.\nSisko: Better not be too long, otherwise Starfleet is going to want to take over the project.\nOdo: Sir.\nSisko: As long as you're making progress, there's nothing to worry about. Oh, by the way. Starfleet wants you to file daily reports for their review.\nOdo: Understood, sir.\nSisko: Carry on.\nMora: Now you understand the kind of pressure I was going through. I brought my old equipment from Bajor. Maybe it's time we started unpacking.\nMora: Any time you're ready.\nOdo: Don't worry. You're going to get through this all right.\nMora: Oh, no, no, no. I'm just an observer here.\nMora: Odo, the changeling won't respond to anything less than six millivolts.\nOdo: There must be some other way.\nMora: Spare the rod, spoil the child. Odo, without diskomfort the changeling will be perfectly comfortable to remain in its gelatinous state. It'll just lie there, never realizing it has the ability to mimic other forms, never living up to its potential. Odo, six millivolts is not going to hurt it. Once it realizes there's no charge in the center, the procedure will be finished.\nMora: Checking to see if I'm enjoying myself?\nOdo: That's it. You've found it.\nMora: I smiled the first time you did that. Little did I realize you'd end up hating me for it. Well, shall we move on?\nOdo: Why not?\nShakaar: Ahem.\nKira: Edon.\nShakaar: How're you feeling?\nKira: I'm all right. My feet are a little swollen.\nO'Brien: A little? They've never been this bad.\nShakaar: There's a zero-grav tumbling performance on the Promenade tonight. Do you want to go?\nKira: Well, maybe.\nO'Brien: You can't go standing around for an hour.\nShakaar: Chief, would you mind leaving us alone for a minute?\nO'Brien: I'm almost done.\nShakaar: I'll take over.\nKira: I think it's time.\nO'Brien: You got to do it harder.\nShakaar: I know what I'm doing.\nKira: It's time.\nO'Brien: And you've to work up the legs.\nKira: It's time!\nOdo: Now if I were you, I'd hold this shape. Otherwise you'll be in for a little shock.\nOdo: Wait a minute.\nMora: I had to try that three times before you caught on.\nOdo: Actually, the first two times I didn't hold my shape on purpose.\nMora: You're not serious.\nOdo: I suppose I didn't want to give you the satisfaction.\nMora: Well someday, if you're very lucky, this changeling will give you the satisfaction of saying, thank you very much, you did so much for me. Then again, it may leave the way you did. It will announce that it's striking out on its own and you will never hear from it again. I'm going to get something to eat.\nMora: I mean, the eyes!\nOdo: When he rose up.\nMora: The eyes are incredible.\nOdo: For a minute there, I thought he was going to say something.\nMora: Oh, put that down. We're celebrating.\nOdo: Oh, er, it's just that I've fallen behind in my security reports over these last few days.\nMora: Well you can catch up later. Aren't you excited about what happened?\nOdo: Of course I'm excited.\nMora: Tomorrow, we can expose the changeling to simple life-forms so it can mimic them. Some algae, some fungus. In a few more days, maybe even an invertebrate.\nOdo: I can't wait until I can actually communicate with it. There's so much I want it to see, so much I want to share.\nMora: Well, you may get that chance sooner than you think. The changeling is developing far faster than you did. I didn't mean that as a criticism. If anything, it's a compliment. I mean, I was wrong. Your approach to communicating to the changeling was sound. I mean, don't you see? It's reaching out to you. It's curious about you. The first time you ever did anything like that was when you formed a tentacle to slap my hand away from the control panel.\nOdo: I remember. I wanted you to stop zapping me.\nMora: You formed a connection with this changeling. That is something I was never able to do with you.\nOdo: That's not true. I respected you.\nMora: You feared me.\nOdo: You didn't know what I was. You were experimenting on what looked like a lump of organic residue. That's what I'd still be if it weren't for you.\nMora: You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that. I'm sorry, I know this sort of talk makes you uncomfortable. I suppose it's all my fault. If I hadn't poked and prodded you so much, you may have grown up with a less forbidding disposition.\nOdo: Something tells me no matter what we do to that changeling, it's going to have a more pleasant disposition than mine. It's just the way I am.\nMora: I'll leave you to your work.\nOdo: Doctor Mora? Two glasses of champagne, please. We're celebrating.\nY'Pora: The baby has turned. It's time. Awake, child.\nKeiko: We await you with love.\nShakaar: And welcome you into the world.\nShakaar: Why don't you stay there?\nO'Brien: I can't see from here.\nShakaar: Exactly.\nO'Brien: It's my baby.\nY'Pora: Shh.\nShakaar: I think it would make Nerys uncomfortable.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about? She's been living in my home for the last five months.\nKeiko: Be quiet.\nShakaar: What's that supposed to mean?\nO'Brien: Look, I missed Molly's birth, I am not going to miss this one.\nKira: I'm trying to have a baby. I am sick of this ridiculous little competition between the two of you. Now, if one of you says one more word, you're going to have to leave.\nO'Brien: Fine, tell him to let me to\nShakaar: Just tell him to stay where\nKira: Right, that's it. Out, both of you.\nO'Brien: Kira.\nShakaar: Nerys.\nKira: Go.\nO'Brien: You're joking.\nKeiko: Does it look like she's joking? Out!\nO'Brien: Nice going.\nShakaar: Oh, do me a favor. Next time you have a baby, leave my girlfriend out of it, huh?\nQuark: Comes to three hundred and twenty four. I'm going to have to start watering the drinks again\nQuark: Constable?\nOdo: Quark!\nQuark: What are you doing back there?\nOdo: What does it look like I'm doing?\nQuark: We're closed.\nOdo: Have a seat.\nQuark: You're in a good mood.\nOdo: Yes, I am.\nQuark: Which means you're probably about to arrest me on some trumped up charge.\nOdo: Not at all. I am buying you a drink.\nQuark: Why?\nOdo: Doctor Mora has gone to sleep, and I still feel like celebrating.\nQuark: What are you up to?\nOdo: I am happy, Quark. Can't you just accept that?\nQuark: No. It doesn't fit. If you're happy, something's very wrong in the world. The center cannot not hold.\nOdo: There we go.\nQuark: I've got it. You're getting back at me for selling you that sick changeling.\nOdo: Actually, I should thank you.\nQuark: If you want the money back, just say so.\nOdo: It changed my life. Here's to you, Quark.\nQuark: All right, all right, I confess. I don't know what I did, but I did it. Just stop. I can't take it anymore.\nOdo: Do you ever think about having children?\nQuark: Huh?\nOdo: You see, I never did. It seemed like too much trouble. But then fate dropped one into my lap and now I couldn't be happier. Cheers. It's strange. Over the past few months, I came to accept the fact that I'd never have any contact with my people again. They rejected me, they turned me into a humanoid. A part of me was lost forever. But that little ball of goo back in the lab changed everything. I feel as if I'm experiencing what it is to be a changeling again. And somehow, being a solid doesn't seem so bad anymore.\nQuark: Fill me up.\nComputer: Computer to Security Chief Odo. Please acknowledge.\nOdo: Go ahead.\nComputer: The lifeform being monitored is displaying biomimetic fluctuations beyond stated parameters.\nOdo: Have Doctor Mora meet me in the science lab.\nComputer: Acknowledged.\nOdo: What's happened?\nMora: It's morphogenic matrix is destabilizing. It's dying.\nBashir: Its lifesigns are fading. The radiation may have damaged its cytoplasm in a way we weren't able to detect.\nOdo: There must be something you can do.\nMora: You might try an enzymatic induction. That might stabilize the biomimetic fluctuations.\nBashir: It's worth a shot.\nOdo: It has to work, it has to.\nMora: Odo, please, wait outside. We'll do everything we can.\nKira: I feel so good.\nKeiko: You're doing great, Nerys.\nY'Pora: Here he comes.\nKira: Keiko, would you do me a favor?\nKeiko: Kira said you can both come back in if you promise to behave.\nO'Brien: After you.\nShakaar: Oh, no. After you.\nO'Brien: Please.\nKeiko: Will you two get in here! You're going to miss everything.\nY'Pora: That's it, Nerys. Relax. Let it come. That's right. Breathe.\nKeiko: Oh, look at him, Miles.\nO'Brien: He's beautiful.\nBashir: There's nothing we could do. I'm sorry, Odo. It won't be very long now.\nOdo: Please, don't die. There's so much I want to show you. I was going to teach you how to become a Tarkalean hawk, remember?\nMora: What happened? Where did it go?\nBashir: It somehow integrated itself into Odo's body\nBashir: Odo, what's wrong?\nOdo: It can't be.\nMora: What?\nShakaar: This might be a good time to take some leave and come down to Bajor.\nKira: Maybe in a few weeks. Right now I feel like staying around here.\nShakaar: So you can be close to the baby. He's a good-looking boy.\nKira: He is, isn't he?\nCrewman: Shuttle four seven zero nine for Bajor now departing.\nKira: You'd better go.\nShakaar: I have a few minutes left.\nMora: So how does it feel to be yourself again?\nOdo: I just wish it hadn't happened the way it did.\nMora: I am sorry. If it helps, think of it as a gift. Something the changeling wanted you to have.\nOdo: I think I finally understand how much I meant to you and what you must have gone through when I left.\nMora: You had to find your own way in the world.\nOdo: I should have included you in my life.\nMora: You still can. Take care of yourself, Odo\nOdo: I thought the O'Briens were having a party.\nKira: Shakaar and I stopped by. I didn't feel much like celebrating.\nOdo: Oh?\nKira: I got into this because the O'Briens' needed my help. I never wanted a baby. But now? I just wish I could hold him in my arms and never let him go.\nOdo: I think I know how you feel, Nerys.\nKira: Want to take a walk?\nOdo: Yeah."}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's log, stardate 50485.2. I've come to Marva Four, a planet near the Badlands, to rendezvous with an informer who claims to have information on the whereabouts of the Maquis leader and former Starfleet officer Michael Eddington.\nSisko: Looking for a friend of mine. His name is Cing'ta.\nSisko: Cing'ta?\nEddington: Throw it on the ground. Turn around. Hello, Captain.\nSisko: Eddington.\nEddington: Mister Cing'ta won't be joining us. His shuttle had an accident on the way to this rendezvous.\nSisko: Is he dead?\nEddington: You just don't understand the Maquis, do you, Captain? We're not killers. Mister Cing'ta's accident has marooned him on a particularly nasty planet in the Badlands, but I assure you he's very much alive.\nSisko: How merciful. You condemned him to a slow death.\nEddington: It's more than he deserved. He was going to sell us out to you. He betrayed us.\nSisko: Now there's a subject you know a lot about.\nEddington: You've been on my tail for eight months and now that we're face-to-face that's all you have to say to me?\nSisko: I will say the rest at your court-martial.\nEddington: Tell me, Captain. What is it that bothers you more? The fact that I left Starfleet to fight for a higher cause, or the fact that it happened on your watch?\nSisko: You didn't leave Starfleet. If you had, I wouldn't be here. You betrayed Starfleet. You used your position as security chief to feed the Maquis information about us. And at the same time, you misled us with false information about them. There is a word for that. Treason.\nEddington: Look out there.\nEddington: Those people, They were colonists on Salva Two. They had farms, and shops, and homes, and schools, and then one day the Federation signed a treaty and handed their world over to the Cardassians. Just like that. They made these people refugees overnight.\nSisko: It's not that simple and you know it. These people don't have to live here like this. We've offered them resettlement.\nEddington: They don't want to be resettled. They want to go home to the lives they built. How would you feel if the Federation gave your father's home to the Cardassians?\nSisko: I'm not here to debate Federation policy with\nEddington: I didn't tell you to turn around. Look at them, Captain. They're humans, just like you and me, and Starfleet took everything away from them. Remember that the next time you put on that uniform. There's a war out there and you're on the wrong side.\nSisko: You know what I see out there, Mister Eddington? I see victims, but not of Cardassia or the Federation. Victims of you, the Maquis. You sold these people on the dream that one day they could go back to those farms, and schools, and homes, but you know they never can. And the longer you keep that hope alive, the longer these people will suffer. Go ahead, shoot me.\nEddington: Someday I may take you up on that. For now, let me leave you with one piece of advice. Don't come after me. You'll regret it.\nSisko: Sisko to Defiant. Eddington just beamed out. Trace his transporter signal.\nKira: We've got it, Captain. He's on a Maquis raider. They're breaking orbit and heading out of the system.\nSisko: Beam me aboard and lay in a pursuit course. All hands to battle stations.\nKira: Aye, sir.\nKira: He's headed for the Badlands, all right. Course is zero mark two one three.\nSisko: Commander.\nDax: Changing course now to zero mark two one three. We're on his tail, Captain.\nSisko: Maximum warp. How long until we're in firing range?\nWorf: Twenty two minutes.\nSisko: Major?\nKira: Not good enough. He'll reach the plasma fields two minutes before we're in range.\nSisko: We need some help. What's the position of the starship Malinche?\nWorf: They're on patrol in the DMZ, near the Gamma seven outpost.\nSisko: Perfect. Is the new holo-communicator ready?\nKira: The Chief's had it online for six hours now. I think he's eager to have someone give it a try.\nSisko: Always like to please the Chief. Open a channel to Captain Sanders on the Malinche.\nSanders: Are you receiving my image, Captain?\nSisko: Yes. And you?\nSanders: You appear to be sitting on my bridge. It may take me a while to get used to this. I'm not fond of uninvited guests.\nSisko: I'll try not to overstay my welcome but at the moment I need your help. We're in pursuit of a Maquis raider headed for the Badlands. Can you intercept?\nSanders: You seem pretty eager, Captain. What did this Maquis raider do?\nSisko: It's not what they did, it's who's in command. Michael Eddington.\nSanders: Everyone's favorite traitor.\nSisko: Captain, if you don't mind.\nSanders: You want him in your brig. We'll cut him off, you can grab him. Sanders out.\nKira: The Malinche is moving to intercept.\nSisko: Prepare to target the Maquis ship. I want to disable them but I want them alive.\nWorf: Understood.\nSisko: Send a security detachment to the Transporter room. Have them prepared to receive prisoners.\nDax: Captain, Eddington's dropped out of warp.\nSisko: Go to impulse. Raise shields.\nKira: What is he doing?\nDax: He's changed course. Now he's headed directly for us.\nWorf: He has locked his weapons on us.\nKira: He's no match for the Defiant. Is this some kind of suicide run?\nSisko: Not Eddington. He's up to something. Let's not give him a chance to make his move. Mister Worf, fire phasers.\nSisko: Report.\nKira: We've got a massive computer failure. Every computer system is down. And all the backups. We're losing control over everything.\nDax: Weapons, navigation, helm, propulsion.\nSisko: Bridge to Engine room. Commander, get down there. Find out what's going on.\nSisko: Try to route the auxiliary controls through the\nEddington: Before you waste a lot of time running around trying to restore computer control, let me save you some trouble. You can't. You'll find that your memory cores are completely wiped and will have to be reprogramd from scratch. These work remarkably well. Glad we were able to procure one.\nSisko: You left a cascade virus in the Defiant's computers.\nEddington: Sounds simple, doesn't it? But I assure you, it took a great deal of time to devise one that wouldn't be detected by Odo or Chief O'Brien. I'm really quite proud of it.\nSisko: I'll add it to the list of charges against you.\nEddington: Well, as long as you're making a list, why don't you add this.\nEddington: You know what your problem is, Captain? You've made this personal. It didn't have to be. It wasn't with me. I have no animosity, no harsh feelings toward you.\nSisko: I wish I could say the same.\nEddington: Does it really pay to risk yourself, your ship, your crew, on a personal vendetta? And would Starfleet approve?\nSisko: I don't need any lectures about Starfleet from you. And no matter what happens here today it's not over between us.\nEddington: I'm the one in control here, Captain. Your ship is defenseless. I could destroy you right now, but I won't. Like I said, the Maquis aren't killers. Our quarrel is with the Cardassians, not you. Leave us alone and we'll leave you alone. Cease fire.\nSisko: Am I supposed to thank you?\nEddington: No. I'm not going to make you grovel for your life. Unlike you, Captain, I know when to walk away. Maybe you should think about that on your long trip home. Captain's log, stardate 50488.2. The Defiant has returned to the station, but not under its own power. The starship Malinche had to tow us home.\nO'Brien: We've got our work cut out for us. Eddington's cascade virus disabled every memory circuit on the Defiant. We have to reload and reprogram the entire database.\nSisko: How long?\nO'Brien: Well, if we were at a shipyard with a spacedock and a crew\nSisko: We're not. How long?\nO'Brien: Two weeks. And that's working with three shifts round the clock.\nSisko: Get started. If there's any way you can speed things up.\nO'Brien: I'll do what I can.\nOdo: I've removed two similar cascade viruses hidden on the station's main computer. By transmitting a signal, Eddington could have disabled our entire defense system.\nSisko: How long until you've eliminated all of Eddington's handiwork?\nOdo: It's a good question. I can't guarantee we've found all of them. Eddington was DS9's chief of Starfleet security for eighteen months. He had the opportunity to infiltrate and compromise every system on the station.\nSisko: Then check every system on the station.\nOdo: I intend to. Sir, have you ever reminded Starfleet command that they stationed Eddington here because they didn't trust me?\nSisko: No.\nOdo: Please do.\nSisko: What word do you have from Starfleet Intelligence?\nWorf: Two Bolian freighters have disappeared near the Badlands. They believe the Maquis are responsible.\nSisko: What were the freighters carrying?\nWorf: Several thousand tons of selenium and rhodium nitrite.\nSisko: That's not very valuable cargo. What would they want with it?\nWorf: Commander Dax is analyzing the possibilities.\nSisko: Good. In the meantime, help Chief O'Brien get the Defiant back online. I want to get out there as soon as possible.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nSisko: What can I do for you, Captain?\nSanders: I don't know quite how to tell you this so I'll just say it. Starfleet Command has given me a new assignment. They want me to bring in Eddington.\nSisko: Oh, you mean you've been ordered to help me bring him in, don't you?\nSanders: No. Your mission orders have changed. Eddington is no longer your responsibility.\nSisko: Did they give you a reason?\nSanders: You've been after him for eight months. Not to put too fine a point on it, but you haven't gotten the job done. Look, Captain, I understand how you feel. If one of my officers had fooled me the way Eddington fooled you, I'd take it personally, too. Bad choice of words, I didn't mean fooled.\nSisko: No, you're exactly right. I was fooled. But it won't happen again.\nSanders: That's not the issue. Starfleet also believes that where Eddington is concerned, you're vulnerable. He just knows you too well, Captain. So maybe it's time for someone he doesn't know to go after him.\nSisko: Good hunting.\nSanders: Thank you, Captain.\nDax: The good news is Starfleet Intelligence is making progress breaking the Maquis communication codes.\nSisko: The bad news is it won't do us any good. We're out of the game. But what the hell, right? You win some, you lose some.\nDax: You always had problems with the lose some part of that.\nSisko: What can I say, old man? In twenty five years of duty, I have never been taken off an assignment until now.\nDax: Right. This is about being taken off the assignment. It has nothing to do with a certain ex-security officer we both know.\nSisko: He worked under me for a year and a half. I saw him almost every day, read his reports, had him for dinner. I even took him to a baseball game in the holosuite once. And I never saw it. It's my job to be a good judge of character and what did I do? Not only did I not see it, I put him up for a promotion.\nDax: He played his hand well.\nSisko: He played me all right, and what is my excuse? Is he a changeling? No. Is he a being with seven lifetimes of experience? No. Is he a wormhole alien? No. He's just a man, like me. And he beat me!\nDax: It's good.\nSisko: Good?\nDax: It's good you're working it out on the bag, Benjamin. Because you're going to have to let go of this one. Eddington is someone else's problem now, and you're going to have to live with that.\nKira: Ops to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: What is it, Major?\nKira: Sir, you'd better get up here. There's news and it's about Eddington.\nSisko: Report.\nKira: Eddington just upped the ante. He attacked the Cardassian colony on Veloz Prime with a biogenic weapon.\nSisko: What?\nWorf: He launched three stratospheric torpedoes at the planet and spread cobalt diselenide throughout the biosphere.\nDax: A nerve agent that is harmless to most humanoids but it is deadly to Cardassians.\nWorf: The Cardassians are already evacuating. And Eddington has announced that the Maquis intend to reclaim the planet once they are gone.\nKira: What I don't understand is where the Maquis got the materials to make a biogenic weapon.\nDax: I do. I should've seen it earlier. The selenium and rhodium nitrites they hijacked can be reformulated, and with some work, synthesized to produce cobalt diselenide.\nSisko: Where's the Malinche?\nKira: On the other side of the Badlands. They're headed for Veloz Prime now, but by the time they get there.\nSisko: Eddington will be long gone.\nKira: Given the amount of chemical compounds Eddington stole, how many of these weapons will he be able to make?\nSisko: Enough to poison every Cardassian colony in the DMZ.\nDax: There must be something we can do. Worf, are there any other starships near Veloz Prime?\nWorf: The Malinche is our only ship in the sector.\nKira: So unless they stop Eddington, the Maquis have turned the tide.\nSisko: There is another ship in the area. It's moored at docking bay three.\nSisko: Defiant.\nO'Brien: It's going to be tricky, Captain. Only half the systems are back online and most of those are not operating at full capacity.\nSisko: What about the warp drive?\nO'Brien: We can go to warp six, but the inertial dampers haven't been fully repaired so don't expect a smooth ride.\nDax: The weapons are also online but the targeting scanners have to be manually calibrated. We can shoot, but God knows what we'll hit.\nSisko: What about communications?\nO'Brien: The Defiant's comm. system is fried. And I do mean fried.\nDax: Well, we still have our comm. badges.\nO'Brien: I'm afraid not. They won't work either, not with all the interference from the unshielded EPS conduits.\nDax: Well, what do we use? Cups and a long string?\nO'Brien: We'll have to improvise. Let me introduce you to your new comm. system. Cadet.\nNog: Cadet Nog, reporting as ordered, sir.\nSisko: Stand easy.\nO'Brien: With most of the bridge control functions offline, all orders to Engineering have to be relayed. In the interests of clarity I thought it best that those messages be relayed with one voice, Mister Academy here. I figured you'd want someone who could hear you while the bridge is exploding all around you.\nNog: Exploding?\nSisko: We may be going into a combat situation. Do think you're ready for that, Cadet?\nNog: Sir. Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear it. Report to the bridge.\nNog: Aye, sir. Exploding?\nO'Brien: Let me give you all the bad news at once, sir. We have no cloak, no transporters, no replicators, and the stabilizing gyros are at only fifty percent. So don't ask for any sharp turns, unless you want to end up doing barrel rolls.\nDax: That could be fun.\nSisko: Do you have any good news, Chief?\nO'Brien: The new holo-communicator I installled it works perfectly.\nSisko: Let's be thankful for small favors. Prepare for departure.\nSisko: All right, say it.\nDax: What?\nSisko: That I have lost all perspective. That I'm turning this into a vendetta between me and Eddington, and that I'm putting the ship, the crew and my entire career at risk, and if I had any brains at all I'd go back to my office, sit down and read Odo's crime reports.\nDax: I wasn't going to say that.\nSisko: But that's what you were thinking, right?\nDax: No. Actually, what I was thinking is, you're becoming more like Curzon all the time.\nSisko: I don't know how to take that.\nDax: Consider it a compliment. And the next time I go off half-cocked on some wild-eyed adventure, think back to this moment and be a little more understanding.\nWorf: Recalibrate phaser banks one and two.\nDax: Initialize starboard and port thrusters.\nNog: Captain. Ops has cleared us for departure.\nSisko: Very well. Engine Room, stand by impulse power.\nNog: Engine Room, Bridge.\nNog: Stand by impulse power.\nO'Brien: Stand by impulse power. Stand by to increase deuterium injection rate. Configure driver coils for impulse speed. Set EPS taps at level three.\nSisko: Ops, seal the airlock and release docking clamps.\nKira: Close exterior hatches, depressurize the airlock. Detach umbilicals, clear all moorings.\nSisko: Thrusters at station keeping.\nDax: Initialize deflector field.\nKira: Docking clamps released.\nSisko: Helm, ease us out.\nDax: Port and starboard thrusters at one quarter. Bearing one eight zero mark zero.\nKira: Distance from docking ring, fifty meters. Sixty, seventy, eighty.\nSisko: Bring us about, old man.\nDax: Hard to port. Ten degrees pitch. Minimal power to the aft thrusters. Let the momentum bring us around.\nDax: Hold at five degrees pitch.\nKira: We're coming around too fast.\nDax: I see it. Ease off on the port thrusters. Pitch back to zero degrees.\nKira: We're starting to roll.\nDax: Pulse the starboard thrusters. Point five second bursts.\nSisko: Engine Room. Helm control is sluggish. Re-align the navigational gyros.\nNog: Engine Room, bridge. Helm control is sluggish. Re-align the navigational gyros.\nDax: Port thruster, two second burst. Double pulse port thruster two second burst.\nSisko: Helm, I hope you see that pylon.\nDax: Bow thrusters, pitch up sixteen degrees. Full power to port thrusters. Half roll, now!\nSisko: Engine Room. One quarter impulse power.\nNog: Engine Room, bridge. One quarter impulse power.\nSisko: Helm, lay in a course for the Badlands. Engine Room. Stand by for warp speed.\nDax: Set intermix to point zero one. Initialize warp chamber on my mark. Three, two, one, mark.\nKira: Warp one, sir.\nSisko: Engine Room, increase speed to warp six as soon as possible.\nNog: Engine Room, increase speed to warp six as soon as possible. Sir, Engine room reports we could go to warp seven.\nSisko: Well done, people. Mister Worf, I think we should start running battle drills.\nWorf: Aye, sir. Captain's log, supplemental. After completing a series of readiness drills, we've entered the plasma fields of the Badlands and begun our search for Eddington.\nDax: Steady as she goes. Watch those gyros.\nWorf: Check the status of torpedoes three and four. We have an energy variance reading on the plasma warheads. Transfer power\nKira: Forward scanners are still not functioning. Engine room, where are those field stabilizers?\nNog: Engine Room, bridge. Where are those field stabilizers? Major, Engine room reports field stabilizers should be online in fifteen minutes.\nKira: I've got something. It's a small neutrino signature, bearing two one eight mark one three five. Distance approximately nine hundred kilometers. It's moving. It's a Maquis raider.\nSisko: Helm, set intercept course. Engine room, three quarter impulse.\nNog: Engine Room, three quarter impulse.\nKira: Incoming transmission from the Maquis raider. It's Eddington.\nSisko: Put him through. Well, well, Mister Eddington.\nEddington: You just couldn't resist the temptation to come after me, could you, Captain.\nSisko: I like to finish what I start.\nEddington: Well, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed, again. You won't get me, Captain. But I do have a consolation prize for you. Actually it's more of a gift.\nKira: Incoming transmission. Sending over a document.\nEddington: It's a book. One of my favorites. Les Miserables.\nSisko: Thank you, but I've read it.\nEddington: Recently? If not, you should read it again. Pay close attention to the character of Inspector Javert, the French policeman who spends twenty years chasing a man for stealing a loaf of bread. Sound like anyone you know?\nSisko: Why don't you beam over and we'll discuss it.\nKira: Captain, closing on the Maquis ship. Seven hundred kilometers.\nSisko: Ready weapons.\nWorf: Phaser banks charged.\nSisko: Lock target.\nWorf: Locked.\nSisko: It's over, Eddington. Why don't you surrender your vessel and prepare to be boarded.\nEddington: It's a tempting offer, but I have other plans. Enjoy the book.\nKira: Sir, the neutrino readings are dissipating. It's not a ship. It's an unmanned probe set to transmit a false warp signature.\nSisko: He wanted to lure us here. Why?\nKira: He's up to something outside the plasma fields.\nSisko: Helm, bring us about. Get us out of here. Engines at full impulse.\nNog: Engine Room, bridge. Engines to full impulse.\nDax: Hard to port. Full thrusters. Course one eight zero mark zero.\nNog: Sir, Chief O'Brien doesn't recommend increasing velocity through the plasma fields.\nSisko: Objection noted. Now get me more speed!\nNog: Engine Room, bridge. More speed.\nKira: Sir, picking up a distress call. It's the starship Malinche. They've been ambushed by the Maquis. It's dead in space.\nSisko: How can we help you, Captain?\nSanders: Our warp core matrix compositor is fused, our navigational systems are disabled. If you could spare some micro-power relays, we should have the engines back online in a day or two.\nSisko: Engine room, beam a damage control team to the Malinche. Tell them to take along a dozen micro-power relays.\nSanders: Wee got a distress signal from a Cardassian freighter.\nNog: Engine Room, bridge. Transport a damage control team to the Malinche with twelve micro-power relays.\nSanders: They'd just been attacked by the Maquis. Suffered some casualties. Our sensors confirmed what we were being told, but when we lowered our shields to transport the wounded\nSisko: The sensor readings had been faked.\nSanders: There were no Cardassians on that freighter. The Maquis had rigged it with a focused particle beam that punched through our gyro shielding and we lost helm control, and by the time we got back on our feet again, three Maquis raiders came out from the plasma field. Well, it seems I couldn't get the job done either, Captain.\nSisko: It's not over.\nSanders: I figured you'd be going after him. We have something that might be useful to you. We intercepted a coded message from one of Eddington's raiders. Maybe you can decode it. Our computers are still down.\nSisko: I appreciate it.\nSanders: Do me a favor?\nSisko: Of course.\nSanders: Save me a seat at his court-martial.\nSisko: Count on it.\nSanders: Good hunting, Captain. Captain's log, supplemental. With the Defiant's computers still not fully operational, we're relying on Odo back at Deep Space Nine, to decipher the Maquis message. In the meantime, we're combing the DMZ in the hopes of a chance encounter with Eddington. But with each passing hour, our hopes are fading.\nKira: Sir, incoming transmission. It's Odo.\nOdo: Captain.\nSisko: Odo, we need some good news around here. Tell me that you have some.\nOdo: Possibly. I've analyzed the Maquis message.\nSisko: And?\nOdo: It appears to be a simple Breen nursery rhyme. A heterophonic, five line verse. Quite a catchy one, too.\nSisko: What's it mean?\nOdo: Metrical analysis shows an alternating tetrameter and pentameter structure, but the computer could find no meaningful pattern in the words. They appear to be just what they are, nonsensical phrases strung together because they rhyme. At least, to the Breen.\nSisko: And the music?\nOdo: It's written on a Lyxian scale. I ran it through the computer too. No meaningful pattern.\nSisko: So we're nowhere?\nOdo: I wouldn't say that. You see, I remembered something that Eddington once said to me. The best place to hide something is in plain sight. And since this is a Breen nursery rhyme\nSisko: So you think that Eddington is using the music as a signal for a rendezvous in the Breen system?\nOdo: Or a Breen settlement like the one on Portas Five, which isn't far from the DMZ. The biogenic components of the weapons Eddington's been using are very bulky and very unstable. They need to be kept in a large, sophisticated cold storage unit.\nSisko: And if anyone knows how to keep things cold, it's the Breen. Thank you, Odo.\nOdo: Captain.\nSisko: Mister Worf, do we have a series of sensor relays near Portas Five?\nWorf: Yes, sir. Two class five intelligence drones.\nSisko: Pull their sensor logs. I want to see who's been visiting the Breen system. Captain's log, supplemental. Odo's hunch has proven accurate. Our intelligence drones detected a Maquis freighter entering Portas Five three hours ago. The freighter was last seen headed into the Dorvan sector of the DMZ.\nDax: Considering the freighter's range, velocity, and heading Eddington's next target is one of four Cardassian colonies. But these targets are unlikely.\nWorf: Their defense systems were recently upgraded by the Cardassians.\nSisko: Eddington isn't looking for a fight. That leaves only Quatal and Panora.\nWorf: Quatal has a lucrative mining operation and their weapon systems are in the process of being upgraded, but they're not fully operational.\nSisko: A tempting target.\nDax: Not as tempting as Panora. The Maquis attacked them two months ago and most of their defense systems were severely damaged. They're almost helpless.\nKira: And there are constant ion storms in that system. Good places to hide if you want to mount a surprise attack.\nWorf: A tactic Eddington knows well. Panora is a more logical target than Quatal.\nSisko: Then Eddington will attack Quatal.\nWorf: Sir?\nSisko: He likes being unpredictable.\nDax: Approaching Quatal Prime\nSisko: Slow to impulse power. Full scan.\nNog: Engine Room, bridge. Slow to impulse.\nKira: Activate parabolic sensor array. Initiate lateral scanners. We're too late, Captain. Eddington's detonated his weapon. The nerve agent is already spreading through the planet's atmosphere.\nDax: Which means the Cardassians don't have much time to get away. Eddington's always one step ahead of us.\nKira: Maybe not this time. I'm reading residual neutrino levels. Looks like one maybe two Maquis raiders behind the fourth moon. They're on the run.\nSisko: Go after them. Full impulse.\nNog: Engine Room, Bridge. Full impulse.\nDax: Onscreen. Shields up. Charge phaser banks.\nCrewwoman: Aye, sir.\nSisko: How long to intercept?\nKira: Fifteen seconds.\nSisko: Prepare to lock targets.\nWorf: Targeting sequence online.\nSisko: Hard to port. Stick with this one, old man.\nDax: Full power to aft thrusters.\nKira: They've locked phasers on us.\nSisko: Power to forward shields.\nKira: Forward shields online.\nWorf: At maximum.\nDax: Restabilize port and starboard\nSisko: Lock target.\nWorf: Targeting scanners synchronized.\nSisko: Fire!\nSisko: Helm, bring us about. One more to go.\nKira: Sir, this one's making another run for the planet. I don't get it. They've already poisoned the atmosphere.\nSisko: More speed.\nNog: Engine Room, bridge. More speed.\nKira: They've locked phasers on one of the transport ships evacuating the Cardassians.\nKira: They've disabled the transport. It's losing power. It's going down.\nSisko: Can we beam the crew off?\nKira: We're out of transporter range. Incoming transmission.\nEddington: Well, Javert, let's see how deep your obsession with me is. You've got me. I can't outrun or outfight the Defiant. But, if you come after me you'll have to pay a price. You'll have to let all those helpless Cardassians spiral down to their deaths. The choice is yours.\nSisko: How long do they have?\nKira: Two minutes to impact.\nEddington: Not much time. Probably take you at least a minute to get back to the planet. They're just Cardassians.\nSisko: Helm, bring us about. Prepare to engage tractor beam.\nWorf: Initializing tractor beam. Aligning induction field.\nCrewwoman: Alignment complete.\nDax: We've towed the transport ship out of the planet's gravitational pull.\nSisko: Once our repair team is back onboard, release the tractor beam. The Cardassians can limp their way home in a day or two.\nDax: Les Miserables.\nSisko: You know it?\nDax: I can't stand Victor Hugo. I tried reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but I couldn't get through it. It was so melodramatic and his heroines are so two dimensional.\nSisko: Eddington compares me to one of the characters, Inspector Javert. A policeman who relentlessly pursues a man named Valjean, guilty of a trivial offense, and in the end Javert's own inflexibility destroys him. He commits suicide.\nDax: You can't believe that description fits you. Eddington is just trying to get under your skin.\nSisko: He did that eight months ago. What strikes me about this book is that Eddington said that it's one of his favorites.\nDax: There's no accounting for taste.\nSisko: Let's think about it. A Starfleet security officer is fascinated by a nineteenth century French melodrama, and now he's a leader of the Maquis, a resistance group fighting the noble battle against the evil Cardassians.\nDax: It sounds like he's living out his own fantasy.\nSisko: Exactly. And you know what? Les Miserables isn't about the policeman. It's about Valjean, the victim of a monstrous injustice who spends his entire life helping people, making noble sacrifices for others. That's how Eddington sees himself. He's Valjean, he's Robin Hood, he's a romantic, dashing figure, fighting the good fight against insurmountable odds.\nDax: The secret life of Michael Eddington. How does it help us?\nSisko: Eddington is the hero of his own story. That makes me the villain. And what is it that every hero wants to do?\nDax: Kill the bad guy.\nSisko: That's part of it. Heroes only kill when they have to. Eddington could have killed me back in the refugee camp or when he disabled the Defiant, but in the best melodramas the villain creates a situation where the hero is forced to sacrifice himself for the people, for the cause. One final grand gesture.\nDax: What are you getting at, Benjamin?\nSisko: I think it's time for me to become the villain.\nSisko: Commander, prepare two quantum torpedoes. Have engineering attach a cargo pod with two hundred kilograms of trilithium to each torpedo.\nWorf: Yes, sir, but\nSisko: But what?\nWorf: The extra mass of the cargo pods will make the torpedo less effective. Maquis Raiders are small and maneuverable.\nSisko: I'm not planning to fire at any ships, Mister Worf. Major, what is the nearest Maquis colony.\nKira: Solosos Three. Less than an hour away.\nSisko: Helm, set a course for Solosos Three.\nDax: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Major, I want you to send the following message on all Maquis frequencies. To all the members of the Maquis resistance. This is Captain Sisko of the USS Defiant. In response to the Maquis's use of biogenic weapons in their recent attacks, I am about to take the following action. In exactly one hour, I will detonate two quantum torpedoes that will scatter trilithium resin in the atmosphere of Solosos Three. I thereby will make the planet uninhabitable to all human life for the next fifty years. I suggest evacuation plans begin immediately. What are you waiting for, people? Carry out your orders.\nWorf: Set torpedo targets to fifty kilometers above ground level.\nCrewwoman: Aye, sir.\nWorf: Lock. Ready, Captain.\nSisko: Time?\nKira: One minute left. And still no transport ship activity or any other sign that they're beginning to evacuate.\nSisko: Commander Worf, prepare to fire torpedoes on my mark.\nWorf: Detach safeties on torpedoes one and two.\nKira: Incoming message. It's Eddington.\nEddington: What are you really up to, Javert? Do you expect me to believe that a decorated Starfleet officer, the pride of the service, is going to poison an entire planet?\nSisko: That's exactly what I'm going to do.\nEddington: You're bluffing.\nSisko: Am I? Commander, launch torpedoes. Commander, I said launch torpedoes!\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nKira: The trilithium resin is dissipating throughout the biosphere. The Maquis are scrambling their transport ships. They're starting to evacuate.\nEddington: Do you realize what you've done?\nSisko: I've only just begun. I'm going to eliminate every Maquis colony in the DMZ.\nEddington: You're talking about turning hundreds of thousands of people into homeless refugees.\nSisko: That's right. When you attacked the Malinche you proved one thing, that the Maquis have become an intolerable threat to the security of the Federation, and I am going intend to eliminate that threat.\nEddington: But think about those people you saw in the caves, huddled and starving. They didn't attack the Malinche.\nSisko: You should have thought about that before you attacked a Federation starship.\nSisko: Helm, lay in a course for Tracken Two, warp six. Commander, prepare two more torpedoes.\nNog: Engine Room, bridge. Warp six.\nDax: Set course zero five zero mark one seven nine.\nWorf: Unlock safeties on torpedoes three and four.\nEddington: Can't you see what's happening to you? You're going against everything you claim to believe in, and for what? To satisfy a personal vendetta?\nSisko: You betrayed your uniform!\nEddington: And you're betraying yours right now! The sad part is, you don't even realize it. I feel sorry for you, Captain. This obsession with me, look what it's cost you.\nSisko: Major, shut that thing off! Commander Worf, prepare to launch torpedoes!\nEddington: Wait! If you call off your attack I'll turn over all our biogenic weapons.\nSisko: Not enough.\nEddington: All right, Javert. I'll give you what you want. Me. Captain's log, supplemental. Resettlement efforts in the DMZ are underway. The Cardassian and Maquis colonists who were forced to abandon their homes will make new lives for themselves on the planets their counterparts evacuated. The balance in the region will be restored, though the situation remains far from stable.\nOdo: Captain. Commander. Welcome home.\nSisko: It's good to be back.\nOdo: I gather your trip was productive?\nSisko: Constable.\nOdo: This way.\nDax: Benjamin, I'm curious. Your plan to poison the Maquis planets. You didn't clear it with Starfleet first, did you.\nSisko: I knew I'd forgotten to do something.\nDax: Big gamble.\nSisko: That's what it takes to be a good villain.\nDax: You know, sometimes I like it when the bad guy wins."}
{"text": "Scene: In memory of Derek Garth\nKira: Where do you want me to put this?\nOdo: Wherever you can find room.\nKira: I bet you can't wait to get all this put together so you can start shape-shifting around the room again.\nOdo: I suppose. Though I did enjoy sleeping in a bed.\nKira: There's nothing to stop you from sleeping in a bed if you want to.\nOdo: Except that now when I'm asleep I tend to revert to my gelatinous state and slide onto the floor. No, the bed goes. I'm a changeling, not a solid. There's no use pretending otherwise.\nKira: I guess we can put all this in storage. What about these PADDS? Finding and Winning your Perfect Mate by Doctor Jennings Rain?\nOdo: I'll take that. I thought I was going to be a humanoid for the rest of my life. There were certain things\nKira: You don't have to explain, Odo.\nOdo: I only read the first three chapters.\nKira: Maybe you should finish it.\nOdo: Why waste my time? Romance is for solids.\nKira: You are a solid, eighteen hours a day. I'm sure there are plenty of woman on this station who would be very interested in you if you gave them a chance.\nOdo: I'll keep that in mind, Major. Right now I'd be satisfied just getting this room in order.\nDax: Dax to Kira and Odo.\nOdo: Go ahead, Commander.\nDax: There's something we'd like you to take a look at in Ops.\nKira: We're on our way.\nSisko: One of our listening posts in the Gamma Quadrant picked this up a few minutes ago.\nDax: It looks like a Cardassian military code, but the computer doesn't recognize it.\nKira: Oh, it's Cardassian all right. But I didn't think there were any Cardassians in the Gamma Quadrant.\nSisko: None that we know of.\nOdo: Not Elgol-red or Fifth Order military encryption.\nKira: Try courier code five nine.\nOdo: Strange. Most Cardassian codes use a recursive encryption algorithm, but this has a completely different coding system.\nKira: Bajoran Intelligence has a lot of experience breaking Cardassian codes. Why don't you send it to them?\nDax: We did, as soon as it came in. We still haven't heard from them.\nOdo: It might take some time.\nSisko: If someone's sending coded Cardassian messages from the Gamma Quadrant, I want to know what they're saying. Now.\nOdo: We do have an expert in Cardassian codes living on the station.\nSisko: You're right. Dax, get me Mister Garak.\nBashir: It's good to see you again, Carrie.\nGarak: I'm sorry for the interruption.\nZiyal: Well, how did it go?\nGarak: I'm afraid I disappointed them. I think they were hoping that message they picked up would contain the key to defeating the Dominion. You should've seen the looks on their faces when I explained to them that it was a five-year old planetary survey report.\nBashir: A planetary survey report?\nGarak: That's the look exactly.\nBashir: I would have thought you'd be a little disappointed, too. After all, it could have been from one of the survivors of the Cardassian fleet that was lost in the Gamma Quadrant.\nGarak: Oh, I'd given up hope of ever finding any trace of them long ago.\nZiyal: Really? I never saw you as the giving up type.\nGarak: There comes a time when one must face reality, my dear. Those people are gone and are never coming back. Well, my young friends, I'd like to stay here and chat all day, but I have dresses to make, trousers to mend. It's a full life, if a trifle banal. And do tell Captain Sisko that I'd be more than happy to decode any Cardassian laundry lists that come across his desk. My dear.\nZiyal: My father would be furious to hear me say this, but there's something about Garak I find fascinating.\nBashir: Yes, he has his moments.\nBashir: Going somewhere?\nGarak: I really must remember to stop underestimating you, Doctor. How did you know?\nBashir: You mean that you were lying about the contents of the message? You said you'd given up on the Cardassian survivors who were lost in the Gamma Quadrant. Well, Ziyal was right. You're not the giving up sort.\nGarak: Very good, Doctor. You've come a long way from the naive young man I met five years ago. You've become distrustful and suspicious. It suits you.\nBashir: I had a good teacher. What did the message really say, Garak?\nGarak: It was a call for help from Enabran Tain.\nBashir: Tain? But you said you'd seen his ship destroyed by the Dominion.\nGarak: I did. But Enabran Tain was the head of the Obsidian order for twenty years. If he can survive that, he can survive anything. I have to find him, Doctor. I owe it to him.\nBashir: You don't owe Tain anything. He had you exiled from Cardassia.\nGarak: Yes, but aside from that, we were very close. He was my mentor, and I'm not going to turn my back on him. If it'll make you feel better, you can come with me. All you have to do is come up with an excuse why you need the runabout and we could leave immediately.\nBashir: So let me get this straight. You want me to lie to my commanding officer, violate Starfleet regulations, and go with you on a mission into the Gamma Quadrant which will probably get us both killed?\nGarak: I'm ready when you are.\nBashir: In that case, let's go. To Captain's Sisko's office.\nSisko: How do you know that the message isn't a fake? That it was really sent by Tain?\nGarak: The code sequence was personally designed by Tain and myself. No one else knows it. Now somehow he got that message out, and I have to follow it back to its source.\nSisko: Did the message contain any coordinates?\nGarak: No. Most of it was identification code. The rest was just one word, alive, repeated over and over again. So it should be easy enough to triangulate the source. Captain, Tain might not be alone. There could be others. Troops from the Cardassian-Romulan fleet, survivors from the Dominion attack on New Bajor, and even crew members from the Federation ships that disappeared in the Gamma Quadrant. This is a mission of mercy. You can't ignore it.\nSisko: I'm still not totally convinced that it's a genuine message. But I suppose there's only one way to find out.\nBashir: Captain, you can't let him go. It's too dangerous.\nGarak: Your concern is touching, Doctor, but I assure you I can take care of myself.\nSisko: Maybe you can, but you're still not going alone.\nGarak: Doctor, I think you've just volunteered.\nSisko: Doctor Bashir isn't going anywhere. But I do have someone else in mind.\nDax: I don't know what makes me angrier, That you agreed to go into the Gamma Quadrant with Garak or that I had to hear it from Sisko.\nWorf: I was going to tell you.\nDax: When? On your way out the airlock?\nWorf: A Klingon warrior does not have to explain why he chooses to face danger, not even to his par'machkai.\nDax: So in other words, you were afraid I'd make a scene, that I'd embarrass you. Maybe even cry.\nWorf: You are capable of anything.\nDax: Don't worry, Worf. I won't be shedding any tears over you.\nWorf: Then you came to wish me a good death in battle.\nDax: No. I came for these.\nWorf: My Klingon operas.\nDax: Well, you won't be using them for the next few days. Somebody might as well enjoy them. What? Something wrong?\nWorf: You have a tendency to misplace things.\nDax: And you're afraid that I might lose your precious operas?\nWorf: Yes.\nDax: It's a distinct possibility. If I were you, I'd hurry back. That is, if you want to keep your collection intact.\nDax: Have a glorious death. Or don't. It's up to you.\nZiyal: The Gamma Quadrant? You can't go to the Gamma Quadrant.\nGarak: Oh, I can and I will. I have to.\nZiyal: But if something were to happen to you, I don't know what I'd do.\nGarak: Oh, I'm sure you could find someone else to eat your meals with. Not that you'd have to. I fully intend to return.\nZiyal: It's not just the meals.\nGarak: Yes, I know. I'm the only other Cardassian on the station.\nZiyal: It's not that either. You know that. It's just that you're intelligent and cultured and kind.\nGarak: My dear, you're young, so I realize that you're a poor judge of character.\nZiyal: Why do you always make fun of my feelings for you?\nGarak: Perhaps because I find them a but misguided.\nZiyal: If that's what you think, why do you spend so much time with me?\nGarak: Because I'm exiled and alone, and a long way from home. And when I'm with you it doesn't feel so bad.\nZiyal: I'm glad I could help.\nGarak: Ziyal, no matter what happens, no matter how bleak things may look, I promise you I will come back. You have my word.\nZiyal: I believe you.\nDukat: Take your hands off her!\nZiyal: Father, no!\nDukat: You touch my daughter again, I'll kill you.\nZiyal: Father, let him go. Please.\nGarak: Go ahead, kill me. She'll never forgive you, you know.\nQuark: Gentlemen! Gentlemen. I don't know what's going on here, but I'm sure it's no excuse to act like a pair of Klingons.\nDukat: I'll act as I please, Ferengi.\nQuark: Then you'll excuse me while I call security. I'm sure Odo will a big thrill out of having you locked up in one of his holding cells.\nZiyal: Father, please.\nGarak: Public opinion seems to be running against you. You know, I think that actually helped my back.\nQuark: Let's go, Garak. I'll buy you a drink.\nGarak: A pleasure as always, my dear. You do have a lovely daughter. She must take after her mother.\nZiyal: You're wrong about Garak, Father. He's a good man.\nDukat: You have no idea how it pains me to hear you say that. It is good to see you again, Ziyal.\nZiyal: It's good to see you, too, Father. What are you doing on the station?\nDukat: Oh, I had a little skirmish with a Klingon battle cruiser. My ship was damaged, so I came here for repairs and to spend some time with you. And I can see we have a lot to talk about.\nSisko: Remember, this is a reconnaissance mission. You are to avoid Dominion ships at all cost. I want you back in one piece.\nWorf: What about Garak?\nSisko: I want him back too. I don't suppose I have to tell you to keep a close eye on him.\nWorf: At the first sign of betrayal, I will kill him. But I promise to return the body intact.\nSisko: I assume that's a joke.\nWorf: We'll see.\nWorf: You want me to sponsor your application to Starfleet Academy?\nGarak: What do you think?\nWorf: I think it is a bad idea.\nGarak: I'd write the actual letter myself. I just need you to sign it.\nWorf: Find someone else.\nGarak: Why? Because I'm a Cardassian? You're a Klingon, Nog is a Ferengi. Starfleet Academy is a very accepting place.\nWorf: You are not just a Cardassian. You are a spy, an assassin and a saboteur.\nGarak: I know I've done some unfortunate things in the past, and I regret them. That's why I want to join Starfleet. Why I need to join Starfleet. I'm looking for a fresh start, a way to make up for all the damage I've done. I need to prove to myself that I can be better than I am, but I need your help, your support, to start me on my way to redemption.\nWorf: If that is how you feel, I will consider your request.\nGarak: That's all I ask. Frankly, I think I can be quite an asset to Starfleet. With my extensive experience I could skip the lower ranks entirely and begin my career as a Commander. Maybe you should suggest that in your letter? Tell them you'd be honored to serve under me.\nWorf: Do not play games with me. You have no desire to join Starfleet, do you?\nGarak: No, I'm afraid I don't.\nWorf: Then why all of this deception?\nGarak: Because lying is a skill like any other, and if you want to maintain a level of excellence, you have to practice constantly.\nWorf: Practice on someone else.\nGarak: Mister Worf, you're no fun at all.\nWorf: Good.\nDukat: Major, you and I have to talk.\nKira: Dukat, I've had a busy day. I just want to drink my coffee and\nDukat: I left my daughter in your care. You promised me you would look after her. I trusted you.\nKira: Listen, if this is about taking Ziyal to services at the Bajoran shrine.\nDukat: I'm not talking about exposing her to your backward superstitions. She's half-Bajoran. That's part of her cultural heritage. I understand that. I'm talking about Garak.\nKira: What about him?\nDukat: She's in love with him.\nKira: I wouldn't call it love.\nDukat: So you've known about this all along, and you've done nothing to stop it?\nKira: She was lonely. The last time I checked, he's the only other Cardassian living on the station.\nDukat: The man is a heartless, cold-blooded killer.\nKira: Like I said, he's a Cardassian. Your daughter is a grown woman, capable of making her own decisions. I'm not fond of Garak, and I may even think that their friendship is a mistake, but the way I see it, that's her prerogative.\nDukat: You did this on purpose, didn't you?\nKira: Did what?\nDukat: Allowed my daughter to associate with a man you knew was my enemy. Stood by while he whispered poison in her ear. And all under the guise of doing me a favor.\nKira: Dukat, let's get one thing straight. I didn't bring Ziyal to the station for you. I did it for her. Because I knew it'd be better for her to be here than being a soldier fighting in your private little war with the Klingons.\nDukat: Save your excuses, Major. You've betrayed me, and I promise I won't forget it.\nKira: If that's a threat, I'm not impressed.\nDukat: There was a time when Bajorans took Cardassian threats very seriously.\nKira: Not anymore.\nDukat: Good day, Major.\nKira: Good day.\nGarak: I don't see why these runabout replicators can't provide a more varied menu. I would like to get my hands on that fellow Earl Gray and tell him a thing or two about tea leaves. We've just dropped out of warp. Is there something wrong?\nWorf: We can go no further.\nGarak: What do you mean?\nWorf: My readings indicate the source of that coded signal is deep in Dominion space. I have strict orders to avoid unnecessary risk. We must turn back.\nGarak: Well I certainly don't want to take an unnecessary risk, but our sensors show no sign of Jem'Hadar warships in this area.\nWorf: True. But the likelihood of contact will increase from this point on, and my orders were very clear.\nGarak: But we've come all this way. To turn around without an answer it seems so un-Klingon.\nWorf: I am also a Starfleet officer.\nGarak: Why don't we go through this nebula? We can avoid detection and get light years closer to the source of the transmission.\nWorf: Our shields would be useless in that nebula.\nGarak: But so would Jem'Hadar sensors. The answer is out there, Commander. We just have to have the courage to find it. And remember, it's not just Tain we're looking for. The Maryland, the Proxima, the Sarajevo. Starfleet ships that have been lost in the Gamma Quadrant for years, and their crews, brave soldiers, warriors of the Federation unaccounted for. We owe it to them to do everything in our power to find them and bring them home. It's the honorable thing to do.\nWorf: You use that word, but you have no idea what it means.\nGarak: Maybe not, but you do.\nWorf: Setting course for the nebula.\nGarak: There's a pocket of toh-maire gas ahead.\nWorf: Bringing her to zero three one mark three five five.\nGarak: Steady as she. Now what could that be?\nWorf: Whatever they are, they are coming straight at us.\nGarak: Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.\nGarak: You still haven't lost them.\nWorf: I know that.\nGarak: There are four more Jem'Hadar ships in close pursuit, and at least two ahead of us on an intercept course.\nWorf: We must warn the station. There is only one reason for the Dominion to hide such a large fleet this close to the wormhole.\nGarak: You think they're planning to attack the Alpha Quadrant?\nWorf: I'm certain of it.\nGarak: Your message is transmitting, but it's hard to tell if it's getting through all this interference.\nWorf: We've got to get clear of the nebula.\nGarak: What happened? We've just come to a dead stop.\nWorf: They have us in a tractor beam.\nGarak: Re-polarize the hull. Try to shake us loose.\nGarak: Ah, are we glad to see you. Could one of you point us in the direction of the wormhole?\nKira: I'm telling you, he knows exactly who I am. Kirayoshi already recognizes me.\nDax: Nerys, the O'Brien's baby is less than a month old. He doesn't recognize his own fingers.\nKira: He spent seven months inside my belly, listening to my heartbeat, hearing to my voice. There's a connection there.\nKira: Every time I walk into the room, he smiles.\nDax: It's probably gas.\nKira: Thanks. You always know just the right thing to say.\nO'Brien: So how's my baby boy?\nKira: He recognized me.\nO'Brien: Did he?\nDax: Hold on. I'm receiving a priority one distress signal from the Gamma Quadrant. Dax to Sisko. You'd better come out here.\nSisko: What is it?\nDax: I've got a message from Worf, but it's badly garbled.\nO'Brien: Maybe I can clean it up. It says Jem'Hadar, and then some coordinates I can't make out. Build up and then\nSisko: Go on, Chief.\nO'Brien: It ends with imminent.\nSisko: Imminent?\nKira: We've just lost contact with two of our listening posts in the Gamma Quadrant.\nDax: The Dominion. They're coming.\nSisko: Notify Starfleet Command. Put the station on Yellow Alert. Make sure everyone knows this is not a drill. Major, I want you to take the Defiant into the Gamma Quadrant. Locate Mister Worf. Find out what the hell's going on there.\nKira: And if an invasion fleet is on the way?\nSisko: Then get back here as soon as possible and God help us all.\nGarak: Ah, good. You look like the man in charge. I was just trying to explain to your colleagues here that this is all an unfortunate misunderstanding.\nIkat'Ika: Cardassians are all alike. You talk too much.\nWorf: Let him go.\nIkat'Ika: I give the orders here. Release me or die.\nGarak: Worf. Do as he says.\nIkat'Ika: This is Internment camp three seven one. You are here because you are enemies of the Dominion. There is no release, no escape, except death.\nSisko: Another listening post has gone dead, and the one closest to the wormhole is detecting an incoming ship.\nO'Brien: I'm picking up an increase in neutrino levels. Something's coming through.\nDax: Shields fully charged.\nO'Brien: Weapons ready.\nDax: The wormhole's opening.\nSisko: On screen.\nO'Brien: It's the Defiant.\nDax: We're being hailed.\nSisko: Put it through. Major, what have you find?\nKira: Trouble.\nZiyal: Father, have you been waiting long?\nDukat: Not long.\nZiyal: You should have come into the Shrine.\nDukat: No, I don't think so.\nZiyal: So, where would you like to have dinner?\nDukat: Forget about dinner. I want you to go to back your quarters and pack your things. There's a ship leaving for Cardassia in the morning. I want you on it.\nZiyal: You're sending me to Cardassia?\nDukat: I've just learned there's a Dominion fleet headed for the wormhole. This place is not safe any longer.\nZiyal: Father, I'm not sure that I want to go.\nDukat: Ziyal, there's nothing to discuss. I'm not going to let any harm come to you. Now, I think you'd better get ready to leave.\nGuard: They have been scanned. They have no weapons and their identities have been confirmed.\nIkat'Ika: Very well. You will be sheltered in barracks six. You are free to move about the compound. But remember, beyond the atmospheric dome there is nothing but airless vacuum and barren rock. Leave the dome, even for an instant, and you die.\nGarak: We'll keep that in mind.\nIkat'Ika: I've been waiting for another Klingon.\nWorf: General Martok.\nIkat'Ika: Enough. It's over. But for you, it's just beginning.\nMartok: Do I know you?\nWorf: I am Worf, son of Mogh.\nMartok: Yes, I've heard of you.\nGarak: How long have you been here?\nMartok: Two years.\nGarak: Aren't you Klingons supposed to kill yourselves when you're taken prisoner?\nWorf: Not when there are still enemies to fight.\nMartok: Or hope of escape. If you are Worf then you must be Garak. He said you would come.\nMartok: There.\nGarak: Tain.\nWorf: What is wrong with him?\nMartok: It's his heart.\nGarak: Really. There are many people who'd say he doesn't have one.\nMartok: He was convinced that you would come.\nGarak: He knew I had no choice. Tain. Tain, I'm here.\nTain: My message. It got through?\nGarak: It did.\nTain: Where are the others?\nGarak: There are no others. Just Commander Worf and me.\nTain: You allowed yourselves to be taken prisoner? I taught you better than that. Living on that station has dulled your wits.\nGarak: That's it? After I've come all this way, after all I've been through, that's all you have to say to me?\nTain: What do you want me to say?\nGarak: I want you to say thank you, Elim. Your loyalty is most gratifying. I knew I could count on you.\nTain: But I couldn't count on you, could I? All you've done is to doom us both.\nDukat: Sorry I'm late.\nKira: What's he doing here?\nDukat: Captain Sisko invited me.\nSisko: A Dominion invasion of the Alpha Quadrant will affect Cardassia every bit as much as it's going to affect us. Besides, we need all the help we can get. The Dominion picked a perfect time to invade. The Cardassian fleet is in shambles, the Romulans are not much better off, and between the Klingon War and the recent Borg attack, Starfleet's spread pretty thin.\nKira: Then we're going to have our hands full. There're at least fifty Dominion ships headed our way. For all we know, that could be just the first wave.\nDax: How soon can we expect reinforcements to get here?\nSisko: At maximum warp, two days.\nKira: Not soon enough.\nO'Brien: What help can we expect from Cardassia?\nDukat: My ship and my crew are at your disposal.\nBashir: One ship. Things are looking brighter.\nSisko: Right now, there's no way we can beat the Dominion. Our only hope is to prevent their fleet from entering the Alpha Quadrant.\nKira: You're going to destroy the wormhole?\nSisko: It's always been a final option. I'd hoped to never use it.\nKira: But the Celestial Temple, the Prophets SISKO Professor Kahn of the Trill Science Ministry has come up with a way to seal the wormhole without damaging it or harming the Prophets.\nKira: But Bajor will be cut off from the Celestial Temple.\nSisko: History has shown whenever the Prophets want to communicate with Bajor, they find a way.\nKira: But\nSisko: It's either that or Bajor becomes the first Dominion target.\nO'Brien: We'll have to remodulate the deflector grid frequencies and rig a phase-conjugate graviton beam.\nSisko: You and Dax start working immediately.\nDax: What about Worf?\nOdo: If we close the wormhole, he and Garak will be trapped in the Gamma Quadrant.\nDukat: Casualties of war.\nSisko: They have thirty six hours to find their way home. Let's hope they can make it. Dismissed.\nMartok: Before this asteroid was converted into a prison, the Dominion used to mine ultritium here. There was no dome. Each of these barracks had its own life support system embedded in the walls.\nGarak: And Tain was able to modify that life support system and create a subspace transmitter?\nMartok: Yes. There's a crawl space just behind those panels. He spent hours in there working every day for months on end. Cardassians. They're clever people. Especially that one. But in just a few days at best, he'll be dead.\nWorf: Then it is up to us to be clever.\nRomulan: They're releasing him from isolation.\nMartok: Good.\nWorf: Who?\nMartok: A friend.\nGuard: Move!\nBashir: B negative, in case you were wondering.\nMartok: Well, it appears we are all who we seem to be.\nWorf: If the blood screenings can be trusted.\nBashir: It's all we've got.\nGarak: What about the others? Have they been tested?\nBashir: Everyone except that Breen. No blood.\nGarak: When were you brought here?\nBashir: Over a month ago. I was attending a burn treatment conference on Meezan Four. I went to bed one night and woke up here.\nMartok: The same thing happened to me, except I was hunting saber bear out on Kang's Summit. Little did I know I was being stalked as well. And now I'm told the changeling that replaced me has caused the death of countless Klingons. It is a grave dishonor.\nWorf: You are not to blame.\nBashir: I can only imagine what my replacement is up to on the station.\nWorf: We must escape and warn Captain Sisko before that changeling carries out his mission.\nO'Brien: Creating a precisely modulated graviton field to seal the wormhole isn't going to be as easy as Lenara thought.\nDax: She was always a lot stronger on theory than execution. But we'll get it.\nBashir 2: I'm sure you will.\nO'Brien: Julian. What are you doing up this early?\nBashir 2: You've been working for sixteen hours straight. I thought you could do with some sandwiches.\nDax: That's very thoughtful.\nO'Brien: You're a gentleman and a scholar.\nBashir 2: Truer words were never spoken. Oh, if you need anything, anything at all, let me know.\nDukat: Ah, it's about time. You almost missed your transport. Where's your baggage? Never mind. I'll have it sent to you.\nZiyal: That won't be necessary, Father. I'm not leaving.\nDukat: Ziyal, I know we haven't spent much time together, but I think you know me well enough to realize that when I give an order, I expect to be obeyed.\nZiyal: I'm not one of your soldiers.\nDukat: No, you're my daughter.\nZiyal: I'm Tora Naprem's daughter too. I'm half Bajoran. I don't belong on Cardassia. You know I will never be accepted there.\nDukat: Ziyal, you have to trust me. Things are going to change on Cardassia.\nZiyal: What things?\nDukat: I don't have time to explain. You're leaving now.\nZiyal: I can't go.\nDukat: It's him, isn't it? That despicable tailor. You don't want to leave because you're waiting for him?\nZiyal: Garak promised me that he would come back.\nDukat: Listen to me, Ziyal. He's never coming back. He's probably dead already, and even if he isn't, the Federation is going to seal the wormhole. Garak will be trapped on the other side.\nZiyal: He made a promise and so did I. I said I would wait for him and I will.\nDukat: Is a promise to an enemy of your family more important than obeying your father? So be it. Stay here if that's what you want. Stay here and be damned.\nGarak: I should never have come here. I should have let that monster die forgotten and alone.\nBashir: Frankly, I'm glad you came. Misery loves company.\nGarak: All my life I've done nothing but try to please that man. I let him mold me, let him turn me into a mirror image of himself, and how did he repay me? With exile. But I forgave him. And here, in the end, I thought maybe, just maybe, he could forgive me.\nBashir: From what I've seen of him over the last month, he doesn't come across as the forgiving type.\nGarak: I've been a fool. Let this be a lesson to you, Doctor, perhaps the most valuable one I can ever teach you. Sentiment is the greatest weakness of all.\nBashir: If that's true, it's a lesson I'd rather no learn.\nMartok: I thought you might want to know. If you wish to speak to Tain do it now, before it's too late.\nTain: Elim? Elim, is that you?\nGarak: It's me.\nTain: Everything's gone dark. I can't see you. Are you alone?\nGarak: Yes. There's no one else but you and me.\nTain: Surjak, Memad, Brun. They can't be trusted. They must be dealt with.\nGarak: I've already taken care of it.\nTain: What about Gul Vorlem? Were you been able to contact him?\nGarak: Years ago.\nTain: The Romulan ambassador?\nGarak: he's gone. All your enemies are dead.\nTain: Good. A man shouldn't allow his enemies to outlive him.\nGarak: Then you can die happy. Unless you still consider me your enemy.\nTain: Elim, promise me one thing.\nGarak: I'm listening.\nTain: Don't die here. Escape. Live.\nGarak: Let me guess. So I can make the Dominion pay for what they've done to you.\nTain: You wouldn't deny an old man his revenge, would you?\nGarak: I'll do as you ask on one condition. That you don't ask me this favor as a mentor, or a superior officer, but as a father asking his son.\nTain: You're not my son.\nGarak: Father. Father, you're dying. For once in your life, speak the truth.\nTain: I should have killed your mother before you were born. You have always been a weakness I can't afford.\nGarak: So you've told me, many times. Listen, Enabran. All I ask is that for this moment, let me be your son.\nTain: Elim, remember that day in the country? You must have been almost five.\nGarak: How can I forget it? It was the only day.\nTain: I can still see you on the back of that riding hound. You must have fallen off a dozen times but you never gave up.\nGarak: I remember limping home. You held my hand.\nTain: I was very proud of you that day.\nBashir: Garak.\nGarak: Gentlemen, I don't know about you, but my business here is done.\nWorf: Then I suggest we find a way out of here. Captain's log, supplemental. A full scale Dominion invasion appears imminent. Still, I remain confident in my crew's ability to face this crisis as they have so many others, with dedication and with courage.\nKira: Our last listening post in the Gamma Quadrant just went dead.\nDax: That one was right on the other side of the wormhole.\nSisko: Which means the Dominion fleet is minutes away. Chief?\nO'Brien: Nearly ready.\nDax: Worf.\nBashir 2: Is a Klingon warrior. He'd understand.\nKira: Neutrino levels in the wormhole are rising.\nSisko: If we're going to do this, it's got to be now.\nO'Brien: Ready.\nBashir 2: Here goes nothing.\nSisko: Activate graviton emitters.\nKira: May the Prophets forgive us.\nDax: We're losing it.\nSisko: What happened?\nO'Brien: Someone sabotaged the emitter array.\nKira: Captain, the wormhole's opening.\nSisko: Battle stations. To Be Continued..."}
{"text": "Sisko: One of our listening posts in the Gamma Quadrant picked this up a few minutes ago.\nDax: It looks like a Cardassian military code, but the computer doesn't recognize it.\nGarak: It was a call for help from Enabran Tain.\nWorf: We must warn the station. There is only one reason for the Dominion to hide such a large fleet this close to the wormhole.\nGarak: You think they're planning to attack the Alpha Quadrant?\nSisko: There's no way we can beat the Dominion. Our only hope is to prevent their fleet from entering the Alpha Quadrant.\nKira: You're going to destroy the wormhole?\nDukat: You have to trust me. Things are going to change on Cardassia.\nZiyal: What things?\nDukat: I don't have time to explain. You're leaving now.\nZiyal: I can't go.\nDukat: It's him, isn't it? That despicable tailor. You don't want to leave because you're waiting for him?\nIkat'Ika: This is Internment camp three seven one. You are here because you are enemies of the Dominion.\nTain: You're not my son.\nGarak: Father, you're dying. For once in your life, speak the truth.\nWorf: General Martok.\nMartok: The changeling that replaced me has caused the death of countless Klingons. It is a grave dishonor.\nBashir: I can only imagine what my replacement is up to on the station.\nDax: We're losing it.\nSisko: What happened?\nO'Brien: Someone sabotaged the emitter array.\nSisko: Battle stations. And now the conclusion.\nKira: Release docking clamps.\nDax: Clamps released.\nKira: Shields up. Power to phasers and quantum torpedoes.\nDax: Weapons ready.\nKira: Bring us around.\nDax: Dukat's bird of prey is in position.\nKira: Maintain communications blackout. Nobody fires until we have our orders from Captain Sisko.\nDax: There sure are a lot of them.\nKira: That'll just make it harder for us to miss.\nO'Brien: They're still not responding to our hails.\nSisko: I think they're trying to intimidate us.\nO'Brien: It's working. I don't believe it. The Dominion ships are turning away from the station. They're laying in a new course.\nSisko: Heading?\nO'Brien: Straight for Cardassia.\nDax: Dukat's ship is breaking formation. He's going after the Dominion fleet.\nKira: Open a channel. Dukat, stop trying to be a hero. Get back to the station.\nDukat: Your concern is touching, Major, but I think you misunderstand me. I'm not attacking the Dominion fleet I'm joining it.\nKira: What are you talking about?\nDukat: I'm afraid I have a confession to make, Major. For the past few months, I've been conducting secret negotiations between the Dominion and Cardassia. And as of last week, Cardassia has agreed to become part of the Dominion.\nKira: You can't be serious.\nDukat: Goodbye, Major. You and I on the same side. It never seemed quite right, did it?\nKira: Lock phasers. open fire.\nDax: Too late. He's gone.\nRomulan: All clear.\nWorf: The transmitter Tain used to contact the station. Where is it?\nBashir: You have to crawl through that hole and kind of slide your way up into the wall.\nMartok: It took him over a year to modify the old life-support system into a transmitter.\nWorf: How did he operate it?\nMartok: He wired the message and the transmission coordinates directly into the system circuitry. That way all he had to do was connect the transmitter to the power grid and let it run.\nWorf: Could the coordinates and the message be changed?\nGarak: You're planning to contact the runabout.\nWorf: We could activate the transporter and beam ourselves onto the ship.\nBashir: And run like hell.\nGarak: Re-encoding the transmitter won't be easy. We'd have to reconfigure the array one circuit at a time.\nBashir: Can you do it?\nGarak: Me?\nBashir: I'm no engineer and neither is Mister Worf here. You, on the other hand, my dear Mister Garak, are a man of many hidden talents. If you can't do it, nobody can.\nGarak: It's nice to feel needed.\nGuard: All prisoners assemble immediately. I repeat. All prisoners assemble immediately.\nWorf: Who is that?\nMartok: Deyos. The Vorta who runs this camp.\nIkat'Ika: No talking.\nBashir: Touchy, aren't they?\nDeyos: All Cardassian prisoners step forward. I am pleased to announce that the hostilities between our peoples have ended. As of today, Cardassia has joined the Dominion. Therefore, you're all being sent home. Congratulations on your new status as Dominion citizens. Not you, Mister Garak.\nGarak: Excuse me?\nDeyos: You're staying.\nGarak: Well there must be some of misunderstanding. The last time I checked, I was a Cardassian.\nDeyos: But not a very popular one, I'm afraid. At least not with the head of the new Cardassian government.\nGarak: And who would that be?\nDeyos: Gul Dukat.\nDukat: You might ask, should we fear joining the Dominion? And I answer you, not in the least. We should embrace the opportunity. The Dominion recognizes us for what we are.\nDukat: The true leaders of the Alpha Quadrant. And now that we are joined together, equal partners in all endeavors, the only people with anything to fear will be our enemies. My oldest son's birthday is in five days. To him and to Cardassians everywhere, I make the following pledge. By the time his birthday dawns, there will not be a single Klingon alive inside Cardassian territory or a single Maquis colony left within our borders. Cardassia will be made whole. All that we have lost will be ours again, and anyone who stands in our way will be destroyed. This I vow with my life's blood. For my son, for all our sons.\nDax: Somebody tell me this is a bad dream.\nSisko: It's no dream.\nKira: Well, I've got a vow to make too. Next time I see Dukat I'm going to kill him.\nSisko: Right now we have a more immediate concern. Such as who sabotaged our graviton emitters?\nO'Brien: I don't know who it was, but they did a pretty thorough job. The emitters had the exact opposite effect to what we'd intended. They were supposed to collapse the wormhole's spatial matrix and close it forever. Instead, they made the matrix even more stable. Not even trilithium explosives could destroy it now.\nDax: So the Dominion can send reinforcements through the wormhole whenever they want.\nBashir 2: Looks like it's time for another round of blood screenings. Obviously we have a changeling infiltrator on the station.\nDax: What makes you think it's a changeling?\nBashir 2: That's who I'd send.\nKira: I think Julian's right. Odo tells me that a Bajoran maintenance engineers has been missing ever since the Dominion fleet arrived in the Alpha Quadrant.\nBashir 2: And if that was our changeling, he's either gone or assumed a new identity.\nSisko: We can't afford to take any chances. I want blood screenings and phaser sweeps. If he's out there, we've got to find him.\nMartok: He's taking too much time.\nBashir: How long has he been in there?\nWorf: Close to an hour.\nBashir: Garak? How's it coming along?\nGarak: I only wish I were still a member of the Obsidian Order. This would make a wonderful interrogation chamber. Tight quarters, no air, bad lighting, random electric shocks. It's perfect.\nBashir: Sounds like you're enjoying yourself.\nGarak: If you'd like, I'd happily trade places with you.\nBashir: I suppose you could give me a crash course in Cardassian field engineering. I should be ready to take over from you in what, five or six weeks?\nRomulan: Visitors.\nBashir: Quiet.\nIkat'Ika: It's time.\nWorf: I am ready.\nIkat'Ika: I've been looking forward to this.\nWorf: So have I.\nBashir: Give me a hand.\nBashir: Hold on, Garak.\nRomulan: Wait. The guards are still too close.\nBashir: Just a little while longer, Garak.\nWorf: I thought I would be fighting Ikat'ika.\nMartok: I would not be so eager if I were you. This is his handiwork.\nWorf: He has much to answer for.\nMartok: His time will come. Now remember, every time you hit the ground, you must touch one of those posts or else you forfeit the match.\nIkat'Ika: Today, we train against a worthy adversary. Observe, analyze, remember. Soon we will face his people in combat. The lessons you learn here will ensure victory. Victory is life.\nJem'Hadar: Victory is life.\nIkat'Ika: Begin.\nBashir: Come on.\nRomulan: Clear.\nGarak: That was thoroughly unpleasant.\nBashir: Are you all right?\nGarak: I am fine. It's just much hotter in there than I thought. I got a little lightheaded. Give me a minute and I'll go back in there.\nBashir: No, you need more than a minute. Your pulse is racing. I don't want to think about your blood pressure. Maybe you should wait until tomorrow.\nGarak: Do you want to get off this hellhole or not?\nBashir: You know I do.\nGarak: Then let me get back to work.\nBashir: Rest for five minutes. And from here on in you can take a fifteen minute break every hour. Doctor's orders.\nWorf: Was that the best you have to offer?\nIkat'Ika: He was our youngest and least experienced. I promise your next opponent will provide more of a challenge.\nKira: The view's even better from upper pylon two.\nZiyal: I keep hoping the wormhole will open, that Garak's runabout will come through and everything will be all right again.\nKira: Maybe it will.\nZiyal: My father says Garak's dead.\nKira: Right now I wouldn't believe your father if he said rain was wet.\nZiyal: I used to think my father was a hero. That even when he did something bad, he had a good reason.\nKira: Everyone has their reasons. That's what's so frightening. People can find a way to justify any action, no matter how evil.\nZiyal: You think my father is evil?\nKira: I think you can't judge people by what they think or say, only by what they do. Captain's log, stardate 50564.2. A large contingent of Klingon warships has arrived from Cardassian space, but its intentions, at least for the moment, remain unclear.\nO'Brien: We're being hailed.\nDax: It's Chancellor Gowron. He's requesting permission to dock. They've got wounded.\nSisko: Permission granted. I have the feeling the Klingons' war against the Cardassians has taken a turn for the worse.\nGowron: This is a dark day, not only for the Klingon Empire, but for the Alpha Quadrant itself.\nSisko: So what are we going to do about it?\nGowron: I will do what must be done. Fall back. Pull my forces out of Cardassian space, fortify the Klingon Empire and prepare for a fight to the death.\nSisko: Maybe there's a better way.\nGowron: The Khitomer Accords? The treaty between the Federation and the Klingon Empire is dead.\nSisko: But we can bring it back to life again. This is the most fortified position between here and the Klingon Empire. There will be a Starfleet task force will be here soon. If you could bring your fleet here.\nGowron: Then we could stand united against the Dominion. And if we do\nBashir 2: We might have a chance.\nGowron: Think of it. Five years ago no one had ever heard of Bajor or Deep Space Nine, and now all our hopes rest here. Where the tides of fortune take us, no man can know.\nSisko: They're tricky, those tides.\nMartok: Five matches and five victories. You truly have the spirit of Kahless within you.\nIkat'Ika: Until tomorrow.\nWorf: I'll be waiting!\nBashir: You've got three broken ribs, maybe four.\nWorf: They will heal.\nBashir: Not if you keep fighting, they won't. You're lucky you didn't puncture a lung. A body, even a Klingon body, can only take so much punishment.\nWorf: I will fight.\nMartok: It is the only honorable thing to do.\nBashir: He'll lose. And in this condition, he might even die.\nWorf: Then I will die. But I will not yield.\nMartok: You heard him. Bandage his ribs.\nGarak: I'm sorry, but that's absolutely unacceptable. I'm under enough strain as it is, I can't have you quitting on me. Get a hold of yourself, Garak. After all, you haven't had one of these attacks in years. Yes, this is a tight enclosed space. Yes, there's not a lot of room to move. But a diskiplined mind does not allow itself to be sidetracked by niggling psychological disorders like claustrophobia. Besides, this isn't like Tzenketh. The walls won't collapse in on you. Your friends are near by, there's plenty of air, so there's nothing to be concerned about. Focus on the job. You're the only person who can contact the runabout. People are depending on you. Ziyal is depending on you. You promised her you'd come back, and that young lady has had quite enough disappointments in her life without you adding to them, so control yourself. You're stronger than this. A diskiplined mind\nBashir: I'm afraid that's the best I can do. Does it feel any better?\nWorf: Much better.\nBashir: You're not a very good liar, Mister Worf.\nMartok: What was that?\nWorf: It's coming from inside the wall.\nBashir: Garak.\nMartok: How long has he been in there?\nBashir: About half an hour. Garak? Garak, what is it?\nMartok: Tell him to stop before they hear him.\nBashir: Garak, the panel's open now. You can come out. We've got to get him out of there.\nBashir: Garak. Garak, you have to stop. You're making too much noise. Garak. Garak.\nGarak: The light. The light went out.\nBashir: I know. Come on. I think you can take your break a little early.\nBashir: It would appear that he suffers from an acute form of claustrophobia. It's a wonder that he lasted as long as he did.\nWorf: Then one of us will have to finish reconfiguring the transmitter.\nBashir: And who would you suggest could do that? Exactly.\nMartok: If Garak can't contact the runabout, we're not going anywhere.\nDax: The last of Gowron's ships have arrived.\nO'Brien: I'll have a repair crew get to work on them right away.\nSisko: Any word from Starfleet?\nDax: Admiral Gilhouly's task force is less than four light years away.\nSisko: I'll feel a lot better when they get here.\nO'Brien: You're not the only one.\nKira: Captain.\nSisko: Yes, Major.\nKira: I just talked to Odo. Someone overrode the security blocks on the industrial replicator on level seventeen.\nSisko: Sounds like our saboteur. Did they catch him?\nKira: No such luck.\nDax: Do they know what he replicated?\nKira: He wiped the memory core.\nSisko: Tell Odo I want all security details to pull double shifts as of now. If he wants more men, have him talk to Gowron. I'm sure the Chancellor will be willing to assign some Klingon troops to guard key facilities.\nKira: Klingons helping to protect Deep Space Nine. What an interesting concept.\nSisko: These are interesting times, Major.\nDax: Captain, incoming message. It's Gul Dukat.\nSisko: In my office.\nSisko: Dukat.\nDukat: Please, Captain. Show a little respect. You are talking to the head of the Cardassian government.\nSisko: I don't recognize that government.\nDukat: Your recognition is irrelevant.\nSisko: Well, if that's what you think, why are we having this conversation?\nDukat: Because the fact is, Captain, I feel a certain obligation toward you. After all, I freely admit you saved my life on more than one occasion.\nSisko: Don't remind me.\nDukat: Oh, no, you should be glad you did. Because now I'm going to return the favor and give you a chance to save your precious Federation. All you have to do is convince them to follow Cardassia's example.\nSisko: You expect us to join the Dominion?\nDukat: I expect you to behave rationally. Joining the Dominion will save billions of lives and keep the Federation from fading into the mists of history.\nSisko: By allowing it to exist under Dominion rule? No thank you.\nDukat: I'm afraid you'll like the alternative even less.\nSisko: Dukat, if you have something to say to me, say it.\nDukat: Then I'll make it simple then A few days ago, I swore all Cardassia had lost would be regained. That space station you're so fond of was built by Cardassia.\nSisko: Funny, I thought it was built by Bajoran slave labor.\nDukat: Either surrender the station, or I'll take it by force. The choice is yours.\nSisko: If you want to retake this station, Dukat, you are welcome to try.\nMartok: Seven battles and seven victories. What hero of legend have done as well?\nWorf: Heroes of legends don't ache so much.\nMartok: Your Federation friends have taught you modesty, but this is no time for modesty. When we return to the Klingon Empire, I will seek out Keedera himself and tell him of your glorious tale. He will write a song worthy of you.\nBashir: Well, be sure to send me a copy.\nMartok: I'll do better than that. I can make sure that he mentions you, the healer who bound the warrior's wounds so he could fight again.\nWorf: Right now, the only part of the song that I wish to hear is the verse that tells of our escape. What good is defeating every Jem'Hadar soldier in this compound if it does not bring us closer to our freedom?\nBashir: We have to come up with a new escape plan.\nGarak: That won't be necessary. The original one will work. I just have to finish what I started. After all, a verse about the Cardassian who panicked in the face of danger would ruin General Martok's song.\nMartok: And would be unfortunate.\nGarak: Now, if you'll excuse me, my dungeon awaits.\nMartok: There is no greater enemy than one's own fears.\nWorf: It takes a brave man to face them.\nBashir 2: What can I do for you, Chief?\nO'Brien: Wasn't Lieutenant Japar brought in here?\nBashir 2: The Klingon engineer? You just missed him. The plasma burns weren't as bad as they looked.\nO'Brien: I'd better go find him. I can't make head nor tail of the power relay systems on his bird of prey. We're never going to get all these Klingon ships up and running.\nBashir 2: I have every confidence in you, Chief.\nO'Brien: Ah, that makes all the difference then, doesn't it.\nBashir 2: How are Keiko and the kids?\nO'Brien: They made it safely to Bajor, but I'm worried about Molly. She's getting old enough to know when something's wrong. I think she's scared.\nBashir 2: Well, it's only natural. It'll pass. Oh, by the way, I ordered two new sets of those new duridium alloy darts I told you about. They should be here next week.\nO'Brien: Darts? We're facing a major interstellar war and you're thinking about darts?\nBashir 2: Well, life must go on. Besides, I have a feeling things are going to turn out for the best.\nO'Brien: I hope you're right.\nQuark: Your asparagus with yamok sauce. The last of my fresh asparagus, I might add. Not that I'll need to stock it anymore. Somehow I get the feeling there won't be much of a demand for human food once the Jem'Hadar have finished with this place.\nZiyal: Aren't you being a little pessimistic?\nQuark: Am I? The Jem'Hadar don't eat, don't drink, and they don't have sex. And if that wasn't bad enough, the Founders don't eat and don't drink, and they don't have sex either. Which, between you and me, makes my financial future less than promising.\nZiyal: It might not be so bad. For all we know the Vorta could be gluttonous, alcoholic sex maniacs.\nQuark: I never thought of that. I wonder what their favorite food is?\nSisko: Good news. The Starfleet task force under Admiral Gilhouly has entered Bajoran space.\nKira: Hope they know what they're in for.\nWorf: First they demand we come out here, then they make us wait.\nMartok: They are worthy fighters, but they have no sense of honor.\nWorf: Is there no Jem'Hadar willing to face me?\nDeyos: Fascinating. Even after all he's been through, the Klingon still thirsts for battle. Doesn't he ever tire of it?\nIkat'Ika: I never do.\nDeyos: You fight because that is what you were designed to do. All that motivates him is some barbaric sense of honor.\nIkat'Ika: And that is something you will never understand. Prepare yourself. I've found you a worthy opponent.\nWorf: Where is he?\nIkat'Ika: Right in front of you. Victory is life.\nWorf: Today is a good day to die.\nGarak: Tain, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can I just want you to know you may not have been much of a father, but I really wish you were alive right now. That way you could be in here instead of me.\nRomulan: Jem'Hadar.\nBashir: Can we get him out?\nRomulan: No time.\nJem'Hadar: The Cardassian. Where is he?\nBashir: Outside, I suppose.\nJem'Hadar: He is not outside.\nJem'Hadar: Move.\nBashir: What do you want with him?\nJem'Hadar: He is to be put to death.\nGuard: Sir.\nJem'Hadar: If you wish to live, explain this.\nKira: The Bird of Prey Y'tem is in position.\nO'Brien: That's everybody.\nSisko: Major, Commander, report to the Defiant.\nDax: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Good luck.\nKira: To all of us.\nSisko: Deploy the runabouts.\nO'Brien: Runabout Yukon, prepare for departure. Runabouts Rio Grande and Volga stand by.\nBashir 2: Yukon ready. Engines engaged.\nO'Brien: Good luck, Yukon.\nO'Brien: Sir, I'm picking up a large tachyon buildup, multiple vectors. Ships decloaking.\nSisko: Romulans.\nO'Brien: They're requesting permission to join the fleet.\nSisko: I'll be damned. Permission granted.\nKira: Defiant to Ops.\nO'Brien: Go ahead, Major.\nKira: Sensors have just detected Dominion and Cardassian ships entering Bajoran space. ETA ten minutes.\nJem'Hadar: I'll ask you for the last time. What is this?\nBashir: It's either a self-sealing stem bolt or a reverse ratcheting router, I'm just not sure.\nJem'Hadar: She is next.\nGuard: Sir. If you'll allow me?\nMartok: Worf, honor has been satisfied. Stay down.\nDeyos: Finish this.\nJem'Hadar: What do you see?\nGuard: I see nothing. It's dark.\nRomulan: My people have a saying. Never turn your back on a Breen.\nGarak: Doctor, would you keep the noise down? I'm trying to work in here.\nBashir: Garak, how many transtator circuits have you got left?\nGarak: Three.\nBashir: Well, work fast, because pretty soon we're going to be up to our necks in Jem'Hadar.\nIkat'Ika: Enough, Klingon. You have proven your worth.\nMartok: Worf, you heard him. Enough.\nWorf: I will not yield.\nDeyos: What are you waiting for? End this.\nIkat'Ika: It's over.\nWorf: It is not over.\nDeyos: You heard him.\nIkat'Ika: I yield.\nDeyos: You what?\nIkat'Ika: I yield. I cannot defeat this Klingon. All I can do is kill him, and that no longer holds my interest.\nDeyos: Shoot them both.\nGarak: Got it.\nBashir: Take him to one of the cabins in the back. I'll be with you as soon as I can.\nWorf: Garak, you did well.\nGarak: So did you.\nBashir: Take us to maximum warp. We've got to get a message to the station.\nO'Brien: The Dominion fleet should be in visual range.\nSisko: On screen. Where are they?\nO'Brien: According to their warp signatures, they should be right there.\nSisko: Some kind of cloaking device?\nO'Brien: I didn't know the Dominion had them.\nSisko: Or the Cardassians, for that matter.\nO'Brien: I'm picking up additional warp signatures bearing one eight three mark nine seven, two four four mark one two, three oh two mark one three three.\nKira: Defiant to Ops.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nKira: According to our sensor readings, there are Dominion ships all around us, but we can't see them or get any kind of targeting lock.\nSisko: We're reading the same thing.\nO'Brien: They're everywhere.\nDax: What are your orders, Captain?\nSisko: Chief, I need targets.\nO'Brien: I'm trying, but I can't get anything. We may have to wait for them to open fire and then. Captain, I'm receiving a priority one message from the Gamma Quadrant. It's Doctor Bashir.\nSisko: Bashir? Computer, locate Doctor Bashir.\nComputer: Doctor Bashir is not on the station.\nSisko: What was his last known location?\nComputer: Doctor Bashir's last known location was runabout pad E.\nSisko: Sisko to Defiant.\nKira: Go ahead.\nSisko: Major, you have new orders. I want you to find the Yukon and destroy it\nSisko: At any cost. Is that clear?\nKira: Yes, sir. Commander.\nDax: The Yukon is headed straight for the Bajoran sun.\nDax: Its shields are holding.\nKira: How can that be?\nDax: Looks like someone's been doing some modifications to the Yukon. I'm also picking up large amounts of trilithium, tekasite, and protomatter on board.\nKira: A bomb. If it explodes inside the sun\nDax: It could trigger a supernova. Wipe out the entire fleet, the station\nKira: And Bajor. We have to use the tractor beams.\nDax: We're too far away.\nKira: Wanna bet? Take us to warp.\nDax: Inside a solar system?\nKira: If we don't, there won't be a solar system left. (Zoom and they grab the runabout, yanking it away from the sun then letting go just before it goes KaBOOM.\nO'Brien: The runabout's been destroyed.\nSisko: If the sun had gone nova, it would have wiped out the Dominion fleet too. Chief, scan for those warp signatures again.\nO'Brien: Captain\nSisko: They're gone, aren't they?\nO'Brien: All I'm reading is normal background radiation.\nSisko: The warp signatures must have been faked. The Dominion's real fleet never left Cardassian space. This was all an elaborate trap, an attempt to destroy the station and Bajor and cripple the Federation and Klingon fleets without ever firing a shot. Tell our friends out there to stand down. Armageddon will have to wait for another day.\nGarak: Ziyal? I told you I'd be back.\nZiyal: I never doubted it.\nO'Brien: Four weeks? Are you telling me I've been hanging around with a changeling for over a month?\nBashir: And you never even suspected it wasn't me?\nO'Brien: No. The worst part is, the clues were right in front of me.\nBashir: What clues?\nO'Brien: Well, for one thing, he was a lot easier to get along with.\nDax: So I suppose this means you want your Klingon opera collection back.\nWorf: Intact.\nDax: More or less.\nGowron: Then it's settled. In light of the new treaty and the continued Dominion threat to the Alpha Quadrant, there will be a permanent Klingon military presence on this station.\nSisko: But I choose the commander.\nGowron: Agreed.\nSisko: Mister Worf thinks very highly of you, General.\nMartok: I think very highly of him.\nSisko: Then I can't think of a better man for the job, if you'll take it.\nMartok: I would be honored.\nKira: Ops to Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko here.\nKira: You're receiving an incoming message. It's from Dukat.\nDukat: Well, Captain, I must congratulate you. If that protomatter device had gone off inside the sun, well, the death toll would have been enormous.\nSisko: And your daughter would've been one of the casualties.\nDukat: Ziyal made her choice. As far as I'm concerned, she is no longer my daughter.\nSisko: You know, Dukat, I thought you'd changed in the last five years. I see I was wrong.\nDukat: One man's villain is another man's hero, Captain. You should see the monument they're erecting in my honor at the gateway to the Imperial Plaza.\nSisko: Is that why you sold out your people to the Dominion? For a monument?\nDukat: What I did I did to make Cardassia strong again. And mark my words, Captain, I succeeded. You may have escaped defeat this day but tomorrow\nSisko: We will see about tomorrow.\nDukat: Yes, we will."}
{"text": "Leeta: Okay, that's twelve spins and not a single dabo so far. The pot is growing and someone's going to be a big winner.\nRom: Today's the day, brother. I'm really going to do it this time.\nQuark: You've been saying that for weeks.\nRom: I've been waiting for the right moment. And this is it.\nQuark: Now?\nRom: It's perfect. She's about to go on her break, and when she does, she'll come over here to say hi, to me like she always does, and that's when I'll do it.\nQuark: Okay, let's hear it.\nRom: I, er, Leeta, would you like, maybe, to one night, soon, to maybe?\nQuark: Rom, you're a regular poet.\nRom: I can do better.\nQuark: Prove it.\nLeeta: Hi, Rom.\nRom: Hello, Leeta. Bye.\nLeeta: I must be doing something wrong.\nQuark: I don't know, Leeta. Maybe he's just not interested in you.\nLeeta: Well, I know he likes me.\nQuark: Likes you, yes. But he's an engineer, a problem solver. He needs a woman with a body and brains.\nLeeta: I have brains.\nQuark: Of course you do, honey. That's why I hired you. Now eat up and then take those brains back to the dabo wheel where the customers can get a good long look at them.\nBashir: Triple twenty! He's back in the zone today.\nO'Brien: I never really left it. Just been giving you a chance to get even.\nBashir: Thank you, but I don't need your charity. Another game?\nO'Brien: Maybe one. I promised Molly I'd do some coloring with her this afternoon. With all this attention focused on the baby, I don't want her to start feeling that we've forgotten about her.\nBashir: A father's work is never done.\nO'Brien: You said it. Still, it's worth it. You should give it a try sometime.\nBashir: Me? No.\nO'Brien: Why not? I bet you'd make a great father.\nBashir: I'm not exactly the family type.\nZimmerman: Doctor Bashir, I presume?\nBashir: That's me.\nZimmerman: I'm Louis Zimmerman, Director of Holographic Imaging and Programming at the Jupiter Research Station. And I'm here to make you immortal.\nZimmerman: You're familiar, of course, with the Emergency Medical Holographic Program?\nSisko: I've heard of it. It's a hologram designed to provide assistance during emergencies in Sickbay.\nZimmerman: It does much more than provide assistance.\nBashir: A holographic doctor can literally replace a starship's medical officer during an emergency.\nZimmerman: I'm surprised you don't have one on the station.\nSisko: The station facilities are Cardassian in origin. Most of our equipment is incompatible with Federation technology.\nZimmerman: How unfortunate for you. In any case, the original EMH was designed for short-term use only. But now Starfleet has requested a program designed to operate as full-time doctor.\nSisko: Full time? You're not talking about replacing real doctors?\nZimmerman: No, no, of course not. Why is everyone so worried about holograms taking over the universe?\nBashir: There are many situations where a holo-doctor could be more beneficial than a humanoid. Research outposts, subspace communication stations, long-range exploratory vessels.\nZimmerman: In short, anywhere that life-support or living space is at a premium and where the primary mission does not require the doctor to leave Sickbay.\nSisko: I see. And they want to model this new EMH program after Doctor Bashir.\nZimmerman: Technically, it is a LMH. Long-term Medical Holographic Program. And yes, Starfleet Medical has selected Doctor Bashir to provide the template.\nSisko: Who was the template for the EMH?\nZimmerman: Me. It was my program after all. It only seemed logical to use myself as a model.\nSisko: Of course. This must be quite an honor.\nBashir: Yes, it is quite a feather in my cap, sir.\nZimmerman: It is nothing less than a shot at immortality. The original EMH program will probably still be in use for decades to come. The LMH will undoubtedly last far longer than that. That is, if I can work out certain technical problems. Now, I'll need to remain here for at least three weeks. I'll need quarters, access to your main computer, a technician to installl my equipment, a high-speed data link with my lab.\nSisko: Doctor, my first officer, Major Kira, will see to all your needs. Congratulations, Doctor. I know I speak for everyone on the station when I say we're really very proud of you.\nBashir: Thank you, sir. Thank you.\nZimmerman: Let's go.\nBashir: This is a long questionnaire.\nZimmerman: I pride myself on my attention to detail.\nBashir: Let's see. Compare and contrast your eating habits at age five with those at ages ten, fifteen, twenty, and twenty five?\nZimmerman: It will be necessary for the holo doctor to interact naturally with patients for weeks, possibly even months. The doctor will be expected to share amusing anecdotes, extend sympathy, swap dirty jokes and even have culinary opinions formed by experience.\nO'Brien: You mean this program is going to have all of his personal likes and dislikes?\nZimmerman: That is why we bother to choose a human template in the first place.\nO'Brien: Wow, think of it, Julian. If this thing works, you'll be able to irritate hundreds of people you've never even met.\nZimmerman: If you two could suspend your oh so amusing banter for the moment, I'd like to begin the optical parameter scans.\nBashir: What do you want me to do?\nZimmerman: Just stand there and look like a doctor. If you can.\nLeeta: Dabo!\nZimmerman: We don't have anything like this on Jupiter Station. Or like her.\nBashir: She's beautiful, isn't she?\nZimmerman: Who is she?\nBashir: Her name's Leeta. My ex-girlfriend.\nZimmerman: Who broke it off?\nBashir: She did.\nZimmerman: Oh, I like her already.\nZimmerman: I think I'll have to add her name to my list of interviews.\nBashir: Interviews?\nZimmerman: I'll be conducting in-depth interviews with your friends, colleagues, family members, in order to build a more rounded psychological profile for the LMH.\nBashir: I see. Well, regarding my family members, would you could refrain from\nOdo: Excuse me for interrupting, Doctor, Doctor. The Antidean transport wishes to leave the station a day early. Their cargo is still under quarantine. If you could issue a health certificate.\nBashir: Now?\nOdo: It would expedite matters.\nBashir: All right. I'll meet you in cargo bay three in ten minutes.\nOdo: Thank you, Doctor. Doctor.\nBashir: Well, duty calls. I wonder if you could do a favor and consider not interviewing my parents?\nZimmerman: Why?\nBashir: Well, to be blunt, we're not close, we haven't been for many years, and I would consider it a personal favor if you would er, sort of, leave my parents out of it.\nZimmerman: I see. Well, I certainly understand.\nBashir: Well, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow.\nZimmerman: Note. Contact subject's parents immediately.\nZimmerman: Computer, activate LMH test program one. Does it meet with your approval?\nBashir: Yeah, it looks all right. Except for the eyes. They seem a little dead. They don't have that certain sparkle, that zest for life that greets me in the mirror every morning.\nZimmerman: This is a test run. I can assure you that the final product will be zesty.\nBashir: Does it talk?\nZimmerman: Not yet. First I have to load the LMH with the basic database and software configurations of the original program. Computer, activate the EMH.\nEmh: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.\nZimmerman: This is a level three diagnostic.\nEmh: I understand.\nZimmerman: Diagnostics look good. Beginning data transferral.\nEmh: Data transferral? Am I being replaced?\nZimmerman: You're being supplemented by a new long-term program.\nEmh: By him?\nZimmerman: There. Transfer's complete. HOLO-\nBashir: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.\nEmh: Oh, that's original. He doesn't even look old enough to be a doctor. HOLO-\nBashir: If you'd like my advice, you should delete this program. Now that I'm here, why would you need an archaic piece of software like him?\nEmh: Archaic?\nZimmerman: We can discuss this at another time.\nEmh: Listen.\nBashir: He doesn't sound like much me.\nZimmerman: I'm sorry. Too zesty for you?\nBashir: Actually, he sounds more like you.\nZimmerman: As I said, I've loaded the LMH with the basic EMH software package. We'll have to build a new set of algorithms based on your scintillating personality. HOLO-\nBashir: I hope you're more interesting than you seem. I'd hate to be boring.\nZimmerman: There may be no preventing that. But we'll see what his friends have to say.\nZimmerman: What were your initial impressions of Doctor Bashir? Good and bad.\nSisko: Young, eager, ambitious. He was fresh out of medical school, looking forward to his first taste of frontier medicine. Sometimes he let that natural impulse override his sense of decorum.\nZimmerman: You mean he was difficult.\nJake: No. But sometimes he could give you way too much information.\nZimmerman: Could you elaborate on that?\nKira: Sometimes he just didn't know when to shut up.\nZimmerman: Are you implying that he harassed you with unwanted advances?\nDax: No. But he was very persistent.\nZimmerman: I see. Could you be more specific?\nZimmerman: You're not being very helpful.\nWorf: I do not like doctors. Any doctors.\nZimmerman: You can rest assured that I will keep anything you say in the strictest confidence.\nO'Brien: You're sure about that? I wouldn't want this to get back to Julian.\nZimmerman: You have my word.\nO'Brien: Well, the truth is he's an extraordinary person. A real sense of honor and integrity, great sense of humor, warm, caring. You're sure he's not going to read this?\nZimmerman: Positive.\nLeeta: So, is that all?\nZimmerman: There is one other thing. Would you have dinner with me this evening?\nVoices: Oh, I'm not going to tell you. Well, I think you should know. Sometimes I think I'm the happiest person. Stroll along the Promenade, maybe have a little.\nLeeta: You want a real game, try dom-jot. If I ran this place, we'd have three dom-jot tables and two prayko alleys. And I'd make sure the customers had a lot more fun. Quark is a lot of things, but he's not fun. I'm fun.\nZimmerman: I bet you are. You're a fascinating woman, Leeta.\nLeeta: For a dabo girl.\nZimmerman: Not at all. You're charming, intelligent\nZimmerman: Witty and extraordinarily beautiful.\nLeeta: Thank you.\nRom: Excuse me. I need to talk to you. It's very important.\nLeeta: All right. Will you excuse me?\nZimmerman: Of course.\nLeeta: What is it, Rom?\nRom: I want to ask you if. I want to. I, oh, I wanted to ask if tomorrow morning would be good time for me to fix your replicator.\nLeeta: Oh. Sure. That would be fine.\nRom: Okay. Tomorrow morning then. Enjoy the rest of your evening.\nLeeta: Thanks.\nBashir: I'm a little concerned about the amount of argonite that's been seeping into the station's air supply.\nSisko: Seventeen parts per million. That's well within safety margins.\nBashir: Yes. But it's on the rise and I'd like to\nDax: I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but there are a couple of visitors here looking for Julian, and I thought he might want to see them right away.\nSisko: Well, send them in.\nBashir: Oh, my God.\nAmsha: Hello, Jules\nBashir: Er, Captain, allow me to introduce Amsha and Richard Bashir, my parents.\nSisko: I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko. Welcome to Deep Space Nine.\nAmsha: Thank you, Captain. It's a pleasure to finally see where Jules works.\nRichard: We wanted to come before, but my schedule's been so busy up until now. I'm sure you know what it's like.\nSisko: All too well, I'm afraid.\nDax: What is it you do, Mister Bashir?\nRichard: Oh, I've done many things. At the moment, I'm involved in landscape architecture, designing public spaces, parks mostly. I love the idea of working on projects that thousands of people will enjoy long after I'm gone. They're my legacy, my gift to succeeding generations. Aside from Jules here, of course.\nSisko: You must be very proud of your son.\nAmsha: Oh, yes.\nRichard: He's a very gifted young man. I hope you're putting all his talents to good use, Captain.\nSisko: We try.\nRichard: Well, sometimes you have to push him a little. It took quite a while to talk him into taking up medicine, but he did.\nDax: So you're the reason he went to Medical School.\nRichard: That's right. He wanted to become\nAmsha: Perhaps we should save that until another time, Richard. I'm sure the Captain is a very busy man.\nRichard: Oh. Of course. Maybe after our interviews are over.\nBashir: Interviews?\nRichard: Yes, with Doctor er, Zimmerman. Didn't he tell you?\nBashir: No, he didn't.\nAmsha: He said it was urgent. That the two of you were working together on a very important project and that we had to come here right away.\nBashir: Yes, well, why don't I see if I can find you some accommodation for this evening.\nRichard: Yeah.\nSisko: It was a pleasure to meet you both.\nDax: I hope we get a chance to see you again. I can't wait to hear some stories about Julian as a little boy.\nRichard: Oh Lord, there are so many. You know, from the time he was this high we knew he was destined for greatness.\nBashir: The Captain, father, is a very busy man.\nRichard: We'll talk later.\nO'Brien: We're just working out a few bugs.\nBashir: Chief, if you'll excuse us, I'd like a moment or two alone with Doctor Zimmerman.\nO'Brien: Of course.\nBashir: You brought my parents to this station against my explicit wishes that you keep them out of this project.\nZimmerman: I'm sorry it upsets you, but their input is\nBashir: You had no right to bring them here.\nZimmerman: I did not bring them here. I simply issued an invitation.\nBashir: You said it was urgent.\nZimmerman: It is urgent, to me. Like it or not, they're an important part of your background and I need to interview them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a delivery to make.\nZimmerman: Have I caught you at a bad time?\nLeeta: It's never a bad time for flowers. Come on in. Could you find a place for those while I change?\nZimmerman: Of course.\nLeeta: By the way, if you're trying to impress me, you've succeeded.\nZimmerman: I spoke to some of my colleagues at the Jupiter Station this morning. It seems that the manager of our station cafe has decided to quit.\nLeeta: Really.\nZimmerman: They're still looking for a new manager. Someone with experience in both food service and entertainment. Someone like you.\nLeeta: Me?\nZimmerman: Yes. I've already taken the liberty of speaking to our station's commanding officer and she's amenable to the idea. The cafe is yours if you want it.\nLeeta: My own cafe? Oh. Sorry.\nZimmerman: Not at all.\nZimmerman: It's not very big. Less than half the size of Quark's.\nLeeta: Really?\nZimmerman: But here's room for a couple of dom-jot tables.\nLeeta: But I've never run a restaurant or any kind of business. I barely even know how to tend bar.\nZimmerman: That puts you one step ahead of our last bartender.\nLeeta: But where would I stay? I don't even know anybody there.\nZimmerman: You know me, and I was hoping you would consider staying with me.\nLeeta: But Louis, I just met you. I mean, I like you\nZimmerman: You see? You're warming up to me already. Given time, you might begin to feel more. Just as I do. Besides, you said you liked cerebral men, and at the risk of sounding immodest, I have a towering intellect. Come with me, Leeta, please. I promise that you won't regret it. I know I won't.\nLeeta: I need to think about that.\nZimmerman: Take all the time you need.\nAmsha: Captain Sisko seems like a very nice man, Jules.\nRichard: Not like the captain of the transport that brought us here. I've never met a ruder, more abrasive man in my life. I tell you, when I used to run shuttles, I never would have tolerated that kind of behavior toward my passengers.\nBashir: Dad, you're talking to me now. You were a third class steward for all of six months.\nRichard: That's right, and I was required to have daily contact with the passengers. And you can bet that if I even looked at them the wrong way, I would've been diskharged on the spot.\nBashir: I thought you were.\nRichard: No. I resigned.\nAmsha: Are you still doing research, Jules?\nBashir: Yes. Right now I'm working on two studies of prion replication in ganglionic cell clusters.\nRichard: You could've done research back on Earth. I told you that five years ago. But you insisted on taking this assignment because you wanted to work in frontier medicine.\nBashir: On DS Nine, I can do both. So, you're doing landscape architecture now.\nAmsha: It's all he can talk about. You should see the stacks of drawings in our house. It's like living in a drafting studio.\nRichard: Some very important people have expressed interest in my park designs. I have some very good prospects on the horizon.\nBashir: You always had good prospects, and they were always just over that horizon.\nAmsha: Maybe you should tell us about the interviews we're doing tomorrow, Jules. What kind of questions will they ask?\nBashir: Well, Doctor Zimmerman, as I understand it, is trying to build a complete psychological profile of me. He's going to be asking you all sorts of questions. Try to keep your answers as brief and to the point as you can. You don't want to give him any openings to probe into any awkward areas.\nRichard: I'm sure we can handle it.\nBashir: Try not to take this too lightly. He's going to be asking detailed questions about my childhood and if you're not careful\nRichard: You don't trust us?\nAmsha: He didn't say that, Richard.\nRichard: No, but that's what he meant, isn't it? You think we're going to slip up, say the wrong thing, get us all in trouble.\nBashir: Look, I've got a lot at stake here. My whole career could be destroyed if Doctor Zimmerman gets wind of our little secret.\nRichard: You've got a lot at stake? Well what about us? We could go to prison, Jules. Have you ever thought about that?\nBashir: Of course I've thought about that! That's why I want you to take this seriously.\nRichard: Oh, so now we're not taking it seriously. We're not as bright as he is. We don't have your gifted intellect so we can't see the perfectly obvious.\nBashir: This is exactly why I haven't been home in three years.\nAmsha: Jules, please.\nRichard: No, let him go. He can barely stand to be in the same room with us!\nLeeta: I haven't made up my mind yet. I mean, this could be a big opportunity, but that's no reason to rush into anything. What do you think I should do?\nRom: I, I, I don't know.\nLeeta: If I had a reason to stay, I'd stay. Do I have a reason to stay?\nRom: I, I don't know.\nLeeta: Well, I guess I'd better take the job.\nRom: Great.\nLeeta: Is that all you can say?\nRom: I, I, I\nLeeta: You don't know. Thanks. Rom. You've been a big help.\nRom: You're welcome.\nBashir: Is there something I can do for you?\nAmsha: Your father has something he wants to say. Richard?\nRichard: It's a stressful time for all of us and maybe I said some things I shouldn't have.\nAmsha: What he's trying to say is, we would never do anything to jeopardize your career.\nRichard: And just so there's no misunderstanding, I give you my word that at no time in our interview with Doctor Zimmerman will we ever mention or even hint at the fact that you were genetically enhanced as a child.\nAmsha: Jules, you can trust us. Your father and I have kept the secret of your DNA resequencing for almost twenty five years and we're not going to let it out now.\nRichard: But I would just add that, despite what the authorities would like us to believe, genetic engineering is nothing to be ashamed of. You're not any less human than anyone else. In fact, you're a little more.\nAmsha: We didn't come here to start another fight. Let's just try to get through this, all right?\nBashir: All right.\nBashir: Who were those people?\nBashir: I can't believe you set them up like that!\nO'Brien: We didn't set them up. They just happened to walk in when the program was running. Zimmerman thought it would be a idea to test the program's ability to cope with an unexpected situation.\nBashir: And you let it go on? You let them stand there and make fools of themselves while the two of you sat in the back room and laughed?\nO'Brien: Look, I'm sorry about this. I wish it had never happened, but it has and now we've got a problem.\nBashir: I don't want to talk about it.\nO'Brien: Julian, Zimmerman is going to file a report saying that Doctor Bashir is unsuitable for computer modeling because of his suspected genetically enhanced background. Do you know what's going to happen when that report gets back to Starfleet Medical?\nBashir: There's going to be a formal investigation which will lead to my eventual dismissal from the service.\nO'Brien: Then it's true? You're\nBashir: The word you're looking for is unnatural, meaning not from nature. Freak or monster would also be acceptable. I was six. Small for my age, a bit awkward physically, not very bright. In the first grade, while the other children were learning how to read and write and use the computer, I was still trying to tell a dog from a cat, a tree from a house. I didn't really understand what was happening. I knew that I wasn't doing as well as my classmates. There were so many concepts that they took for granted that I couldn't begin to master and I didn't know why. All I knew was that I was a great disappointment to my parents. I don't remember when they made the decision, but just before my seventh birthday we left Earth for Adigeon Prime. At first, I remember being really excited at seeing all the aliens in the hospital. Then they gave me a room and began the treatments, and my entire world began to change.\nO'Brien: What were the treatments? Some kind of DNA recoding?\nBashir: The technical term is 'accelerated critical neural pathway formation.' Over the course of the next two months, my genetic structure was manipulated to accelerate the growth of neuronal networks in my cerebral cortex, and a whole new Julian Bashir was born.\nO'Brien: In what way did they change you?\nBashir: Well, my mental abilities were the top priority, of course. My IQ jumped five points a day for over two weeks. Followed by improvements in my hand-eye coordination, stamina, vision, reflexes, weight, height. In the end, everything but my name was altered in some way. When we returned to Earth, we even moved to a different city, I was enrollled in a new school using falsified records my parents obtained somewhere. Instead of being the slowest learner, I was the star pupil.\nO'Brien: And no one ever suspected?\nBashir: Oh, there's no stigma attached to success, Chief. After the treatments, I never looked back. But the truth is I'm a fraud.\nO'Brien: You're not a fraud. I don't care what enhancements your parents may have had done. Genetic recoding can't give you ambition, or a personality, or compassion or any of the things that make a person truly human.\nBashir: Starfleet Medical won't see it that way. DNA resequencing for any reason other than repairing serious birth defects is illegal. Any genetically enhanced human being is barred from serving in Starfleet or practicing medicine.\nO'Brien: I don't there's been a case dealing with any of this in a hundred years. You can't be sure how they'll react.\nBashir: Oh, I am sure. Once the truth comes out I'll be cashiered from the service. It's that simple.\nO'Brien: There must be something we can do. We can't just give up.\nBashir: There is something I can do. Resign before Doctor Zimmerman files his report.\nO'Brien: Oh, Julian.\nBashir: It's over, Miles. I always knew this could happen. Now it has. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be alone.\nRom: I should have told her how I felt.\nQuark: Thank the Nagus that you didn't. Remember what happened with Nog's mother? Yeah, don't want to think about her, do you. Let me refresh your memory. You signed a standard five year marriage contract with Prinadora's father because you wanted to have a child. A simple everyday business deal. But then you fell in love with your wife and wanted to extend the contract. And you were so in love that you never bothered to read the extension before signing it. So in the end, her father swindled you out of all your money. Prinadora left you for a richer man and you got stuck with Nog. Hooray for romance.\nRom: Leeta is not Prinadora.\nQuark: She's a female, Rom. And the one constant in the universe is, females are trouble. Look, if you're lonely I've got a new holosuite program. Vulcan Love Slave part two, The Revenge. Give it a try. After a couple of hours you'll forget all about Leeta.\nRichard: We're not going to just take this lying down, that's for sure. I'll arrange for legal counsel. We're going to fight this all the way to the Federation Supreme Court.\nBashir: We can't fight this.\nRichard: You'd better change that attitude right now if you want to hang on to your career.\nAmsha: Jules, listen to your father. He's trying to help you.\nBashir: Neither of you is listening to me. I don't want to drag this through the courts.\nRichard: We're a little beyond worrying about your wants, Jules. We have a serious problem here. We have to stop the whining and concentrate on coming up with a new plan.\nBashir: A new plan. Yes, let's come up with a new plan. That's the way we do things in this family, isn't it? We don't face our problems, we come up with new plans. Don't like your job? Well move along to the next one. Don't like the law? Well, find a way to get around it. But whatever you do, do not accept responsibility.\nRichard: All those gifts, all those accomplishments, and you still want to behave like a spoiled child. Well you'd better grow up right now or you're going to lose everything!\nBashir: You mean you're going to lose everything. You're going to lose your only real accomplishment in this life. Me. You said before, I'm your legacy, your proud gift to the world. Well, father, your gift is about to be revealed as a fraud, just like you.\nRichard: I'm still your father, Jules, and I will not have you talk to me like that.\nBashir: No, you used to be my father. Now, you're my architect. The man who designed a better son to replace the defective one he was given. Well, your design has a built-in flaw. It's illegal.\nRichard: You're so smart. You know so much that you can stand there and judge us. But you're still not smart enough to see that we saved you from a lifetime of remedial education and underachievement!\nBashir: You don't know that. You didn't give me a chance.\nRichard: You were falling behind.\nBashir: I was six years old. You decided I was a failure in the first grade.\nRichard: You don't understand, Jules. You never did.\nBashir: No, you don't understand. I stopped calling myself Jules when I was fifteen and I'd found out what you'd done to me. I'm Julian.\nRichard: What difference does that make?\nBashir: It makes every difference, because I'm different! Can't you see that? Jules Bashir died in that hospital because you couldn't live with the shame of having a son who didn't measure up!\nAmsha: That's not true! We were never ashamed of you. Never.\nBashir: I'm sorry, mother, but the truth is\nAmsha: You don't know. You've never had a child. You don't know what it's like to watch your son. To watch him fall a little further behind every day. You know he's trying, but something's holding him back. You don't know what it's like to stay up every night worrying that maybe it's your fault. Maybe you did something wrong during the pregnancy, maybe you weren't careful enough, or maybe there's something wrong with you. Maybe you passed on a genetic defect without even knowing it.\nRichard: Amsha\nAmsha: No, this is important. You can condemn us for what we did. You can say it's illegal or immoral or whatever you want to say, but you have to understand that we didn't do it because we were ashamed, but because you were our son and we loved you.\nAmsha: What do you want us to do?\nBashir: Nothing. I'm going to visit Captain Sisko in the morning to explain the situation to him and tender my Starfleet resignation.\nAmsha: Are you certain this is what you want?\nBashir: Yes. I just want to leave the station quietly.\nSisko: Come in, Doctor. We were just talking about you. Admiral, allow me to introduce Doctor Julian Bashir. Doctor, this is Rear Admiral Bennett, Judge Advocate General.\nBashir: Admiral.\nBennett: Doctor.\nBashir: May I ask what's going on?\nSisko: Your parents came to me this morning. They explained the situation about your genetic background. I contacted Admiral Bennett a short time ago.\nBennett: We've just reached an agreement that will allow you to retain both your commission and your medical practice.\nRichard: I'm going to prison.\nBashir: What?\nRichard: Two years. It's a minimum security penal colony in New Zealand.\nBashir: You can't do this.\nBennett: It was your father's suggestion, Doctor. He pleads guilty to illegal genetic engineering and in exchange you stay in the service.\nBashir: Well, I want no part of it. I'm not going to just stand by while my father\nRichard: Jules. Julian. Listen to me. This is my decision. I'm the one who took you to Adigeon Prime. I'm the one who should take responsibility for it.\nAmsha: Let him do this, Julian.\nBashir: Two years? Isn't that a bit harsh?\nBennett: I don't think so. Two hundred years ago we tried to improve the species through DNA resequencing, and what did we get for our trouble? The Eugenics Wars. For every Julian Bashir that can be created, there's a Khan Singh waiting in the wings. A superhuman whose ambition and thirst for power have been enhanced along with his intellect. The law against genetic engineering provides a firewall against such men and it's my job to keep that firewall intact. I've made my offer. Do you accept?\nRichard: Yes.\nBennett: Then report to my office at Starfleet Headquarters once you arrive on Earth.\nSisko: Take your time.\nAmsha: Goodbye, Julian.\nBashir: Goodbye, Mother.\nRichard: I guess I'll see you in a couple of years.\nBashir: I'm sure they have visiting hours at your facility. Maybe I could\nRichard: That would be most welcome.\nBashir: Father. Thank you.\nRichard: Here, just think. I may usher in a new renaissance in landscape architecture. I'll certainly have time to work on my designs.\nZimmerman: Do you hear that?\nLeeta: What is that?\nZimmerman: It's getting closer.\nRom: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit! Wait.\nZimmerman: We heard you the first time.\nRom: Leeta, don't go.\nLeeta: Why not?\nRom: Because I love you, and I want you to stay.\nLeeta: I love you too, Rom. Oh. Doctor, I'm sorry.\nZimmerman: No, don't be. True love should always win. I'm happy for you. Really.\nLeeta: You're a sweet, wonderful, and brilliant man. There's someone out there for you, Doctor. I know it.\nZimmerman: I don't think so. Perhaps I'm better suited to a life of solitary research.\nZimmerman: and dedication to my chosen field of study. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Goodbye.\nLeeta: Bye.\nZimmerman: Excuse me are you familiar with the ancient text known as the Kama Sutra? You remind me of an etching\nCrowd: Dabo!\nBashir: Not my day.\nO'Brien: Not your week.\nBashir: You know what, Chief? I never got a chance to thank you for what you said when\nO'Brien: Uh-uh. None of that. Especially not in the middle of a game. Ooo, yes!\nBashir: Looks like it's your game again.\nO'Brien: What's that, five in a row?\nBashir: At least.\nO'Brien: Wait a minute. You haven't been letting me win, have you?\nBashir: What makes you think that?\nO'Brien: You said your hand-eye coordination had been genetically enhanced.\nBashir: Well, maybe I have been letting you win a little bit.\nO'Brien: I don't believe it. I don't need you to patronize me. I can play at your level.\nBashir: I never said you couldn't.\nO'Brien: Well play then. Really play.\nO'Brien: All right. From now on you play from over here. I play from up here. And if that doesn't work, we'll try a blindfold."}
{"text": "Tauvid: Computer, time.\nComputer: Eighteen twenty one hours.\nTauvid: Can I help you?\nTraidy: I think so.\nTauvid: What are you doing?\nTraidy: Where is it?\nTauvid: Where is what? I don't even know what you're looking for.\nTraidy: Yes, you do. Well?\nSorm: It's not here.\nTraidy: That's not good. Is it possible we have the wrong man?\nSorm: It's starting to look that way.\nTraidy: This is very embarrassing. Now listen to me. We know why you're here, we know who you came to meet, and we know what you were going to give her. So for the last time, where is it?\nTauvid: All right, I'll take you to it.\nTraidy: You see? It was him all along.\nSorm: I thought it was on stun.\nTraidy: Look what you did to the carpet.\nSorm: What do we do now? We don't have time to search the whole station.\nTraidy: We wait for the woman. She might know where he hid it\nOdo: You wanted to see us?\nDax: Is that the new holosuite program?\nBashir: Queen's Gambit. It came in this morning.\nO'Brien: Finally. That friend of yours promised to send it two months ago.\nBashir: According to Felix, it's worth the wait. He said it's the most elaborate program he's ever designed.\nDax: What parts do we get to play?\nBashir: You get to play Lady Wantsomore, a beautiful socialite who's brainwashed to assassinate the Queen of England.\nDax: Ooo, somebody stop me.\nO'Brien: What about me?\nBashir: Odo plays Nigel Dunlop, a former agent who comes out of retirement to help me foil this diabolical plot.\nDax: Perfect.\nBashir: I play\nO'Brien: Julian, we know who you play. What about me?\nBashir: You're Falcon, of course.\nO'Brien: Falcon? Again? I'm tired of being the bad guy.\nDax: But you do it so well.\nBashir: So, is everybody all right for Saturday?\nDax: Fine.\nO'Brien: No problem.\nBashir: Odo?\nOdo: What do you want me to do again?\nDax: Save the Queen.\nBashir: Not only that, you get to drive around in fancy automobiles, and go to posh parties and steal her away from Falcon.\nO'Brien: He steals my girl?\nOdo: Er, maybe you'd better get another Nigel Dunlop.\nBashir: Are you kidding? Look at her.\nOdo: I'm, I'm busy on Saturday.\nDax: We'll do it when you're not busy.\nOdo: I don't think so. I'm sorry. I never should have agreed to be a part of this in the first place. Sorry.\nBashir: Well, looks like we'll have to find someone else to play Odo's part.\nO'Brien: I'll do it.\nArissa: I've already told you, I don't want to play dabo, I don't want a holosuite, and I don't want anything to eat.\nQuark: Can I interest you in my collection of Risean tapestries?\nOdo: Why don't you leave her alone, Quark. Can't you see she's not interested?\nQuark: How do I know she's not interested unless I ask?\nArissa: Maybe you should spend less time bothering your customers, and more time keeping an eye on your business.\nQuark: Don't worry, I can keep my eyes on more than one thing at a time.\nArissa: Really? What about him?\nArissa: He's got a graviton emitter hidden in his ring. He's manipulating the table for his friend over there.\nCrowd: Dabo!\nOdo: You're very observant.\nArissa: Thanks.\nOdo: Are you waiting for someone?\nArissa: You. Where have you been all my life?\nOdo: Pardon me?\nArissa: Isn't that what you were hoping I'd say?\nOdo: It's just that you keep glancing at the door.\nArissa: I'm waiting for someone.\nOdo: That's all I meant.\nArissa: Sorry. I thought you had other things on your mind. Must be those bedroom eyes of yours.\nOdo: Bedroom eyes?\nArissa: You probably get that all the time.\nOdo: Not really. If anyone bothers you again, let me know. I'm Security Chief Odo. My office is just across the Promenade.\nArissa: I'll be all right.\nOdo: Well, I have to go. To work. In my office.\nArissa: Across the Promenade.\nOdo: Exactly.\nKira: Look at this. I was checking the contents of one of those crates. A tentacle grabbed my hand.\nOdo: Gagh. The Klingons have been getting regular shipments of it since the day they were posted here.\nKira: I can't believe they eat that stuff.\nKira: What are you doing?\nOdo: Nothing.\nKira: What are you looking at?\nOdo: Well, I'm. Actually I'm. I'm never mind.\nKira: What?\nOdo: It's embarrassing.\nKira: Would you just tell me.\nOdo: Last night, a woman in Quark's told me I have bedroom eyes. I'm trying to see if it's true.\nKira: Tell me about this woman.\nOdo: She thought I was trying to seduce her. It was all just a misunderstanding.\nKira: If you say so. You going to see her again?\nOdo: I have no idea. Why?\nKira: Obviously she's very perceptive.\nOdo: Meaning what?\nKira: Meaning you should see her again.\nArissa: Hello again.\nOdo: What's this all about?\nOdo: You tried to break into the station computer. Why?\nArissa: My friend never showed up last night. I wanted to check the passenger manifests to find out if he came aboard.\nOdo: Why didn't you come to me? I could have checked the manifests for you.\nArissa: When you grow up on Finnea Prime, you learn not to trust policemen.\nOdo: Dataport bothering you?\nArissa: The security protocols protecting your computer generated some nasty feedback.\nOdo: I know. I designed them that way.\nArissa: Nice job. I couldn't stay interfaced long enough to break past the encryption lockouts.\nOdo: That was the idea. Tell me, Arissa, what's a nice woman like you doing with a dataport?\nArissa: They're not illegal.\nOdo: They ought to be. People tend to use them to access information other people don't want them to access.\nArissa: I've heard that.\nOdo: This Idanian you were waiting for in Quark's, Tauvid Rem. What were you meeting him about?\nArissa: A personal matter.\nOdo: Well, I suppose I could just go to his quarters and ask him.\nArissa: I'd rather you didn't. It's a delicate situation.\nOdo: I'm listening.\nArissa: Tauvid's well known for finding people. People who don't necessarily want to be found. He's helping me locate my daughter. I gave her up when she was born fifteen years ago.\nOdo: I see.\nArissa: He told me he had information about her. That's all I know. I've been looking for her a long time. Please, let me talk to him.\nOdo: All right. I'll take you to him. We'll sort the rest out later.\nArissa: Thank you.\nArissa: Maybe he's not in.\nOdo: According to the access log, he's inside.\nOdo: It's Security. Hello?\nArissa: He's not here.\nOdo: Oh, yes he is. What's left of him.\nOdo: The residue we found contains Idanian DNA. I think it's safe to assume it came from Tauvid Rem. Do you have any idea why someone would want to kill him?\nArissa: No, but considering what he does for a living, he probably had dealings with all sorts of marginal characters. Maybe it was a robbery.\nOdo: What makes you say that?\nArissa: I didn't see any personal belongings in his quarters. Did your deputies find anything?\nOdo: No.\nArissa: Well, whatever happened, I doubt it had anything to do with me or my daughter.\nOdo: That depends. It's possible that someone doesn't want you to find your daughter.\nArissa: Tauvid didn't give me any indication of that when we spoke.\nOdo: When was that?\nArissa: About three days ago. I can't believe this. I was so close to finding her and now I'm going to have to start all over again. That's if you'll let me.\nOdo: If?\nArissa: In case you'd forgotten, I'm facing charges for trying to break into your computer.\nOdo: Considering you weren't able to access any secured information, I've decided to drop those charges.\nArissa: I appreciate that very much.\nOdo: You're free to go.\nArissa: Thank you. You're a very kind man.\nOdo: I hope you find your daughter.\nQuark: Morn! We're closed.\nQuark: Go home.\nOdo: I'm afraid the Assay Office is closed for the evening. If you want to secure any valuables, you'll have to come back in the morning.\nArissa: Thanks, I'll do that. I didn't realize I tripped an alarm.\nOdo: You didn't. You're good.\nArissa: I still got caught.\nOdo: I've been following you.\nArissa: I didn't know.\nOdo: I'm good, too. So, did you find anything in Tauvid's locker?\nArissa: Would you believe me if I said no?\nOdo: Actually, I'd have you strip-searched.\nArissa: That might be fun, but in the interest of saving time.\nOdo: I've never seen a data crystal quite like this. It looks like it has a phase inverter embedded inside it. It's not going to be easy to decode. Given that all it contains is information about a missing girl, Tauvid went to great lengths to secure it.\nArissa: You know how Idanians are. They're a secretive race.\nOdo: You realize it would be a simple matter for me to have a Doctor examine you to determine if you've ever been pregnant.\nArissa: You keep threatening to have me stripped down and examined. I'm trying not to read too much into that.\nOdo: You don't have a daughter, do you?\nArissa: No.\nOdo: That's probably the first true statement I've heard you make.\nArissa: Not quite. I meant what I said about your eyes.\nOdo: What's on the crystal?\nArissa: I don't know, but I need to find out.\nOdo: Why?\nArissa: Because if I don't, I'm dead.\nOdo: Maybe you'd better start at the beginning.\nArissa: I work for a man named Draim. I see you've heard of him.\nOdo: He's with the Orion Syndicate. If I'm not mistaken, he specializes in blackmail and extortion. Where do you fit in with his organization?\nArissa: I access computer systems and steal information for him, government data, business plans, whatever he asks for.\nOdo: I hope you're well paid. It's a dangerous line of work. Trigger the wrong security protocol, you could end up with permanent brain damage.\nArissa: I think about that from time to time, but there's not much I can do about it. You don't quit the Orion Syndicate unless they say you can.\nOdo: Do you want to quit?\nArissa: That's why I came to meet Tauvid.\nOdo: Who was he?\nArissa: I don't know.\nOdo: Then why did you come meet him?\nArissa: He told me he had information. Information I could use to break away from Draim, free and clear.\nOdo: What made you believe that he was telling the truth?\nArissa: I don't know. I just did. I'm not even sure how he knew I wanted to get out.\nOdo: Did he tell you what this information was?\nArissa: No. But for some reason I decided to trust him. I know this sounds insane. I guess I was desperate.\nOdo: Did you tell anyone you were coming here?\nArissa: No, but Draim must have monitored my communications. How else could he have gotten his people here before I arrived.\nOdo: So you think Draim had Tauvid killed to stop you from getting this crystal?\nArissa: And whoever he hired is probably still on the station. You can be sure that Draim wants to know what's on that crystal as much as I do.\nOdo: What are you smiling about?\nArissa: Oh, I'm just picturing myself trying to explain all this to the authorities back on Finnea. Not that they'll listen. They'll just send me to prison.\nOdo: I'm not turning this over to the Finneans.\nArissa: You're not?\nOdo: I'm placing you in protective custody while I have someone try to access the crystal. In the meantime, I want you to have a look at security recordings made at the airlocks. Draim was probably careful not to send anyone you'd recognize, but you never know.\nArissa: Why are you doing this?\nOdo: Doing what?\nArissa: Helping me.\nOdo: Why not?\nArissa: You mean you're just doing it out of the kindness of your heart?\nOdo: I don't have a heart.\nArissa: You could've fooled me.\nSorm: What'd you get?\nTraidy: It's called hasperat.\nSorm: Where is she?\nTraidy: She's with that changeling security chief.\nSorm: Spicy.\nTraidy: They have the crystal. We've got to make sure she doesn't access it.\nSorm: She's so pretty. I was hoping we wouldn't have to kill her.\nTraidy: You'll get over it.\nArissa: Nice room.\nOdo: Don't get too used to it. You're not staying here. Odo to Security, begin transport.\nOdo: There. Now, if anyone was watching, they'll think you're still in the other quarters.\nArissa: Good trick. I hope it works. Interesting furniture.\nOdo: I use these things to practice shape-shifting.\nArissa: These are your quarters?\nOdo: I thought this would be the last place anyone would look for you. There's a bed in the other room. I was planning to stay out here so I could keep an eye on you, if that's all right.\nArissa: I could use the company.\nOdo: I have two deputies stationed outside in the corridor, posing as a maintenance crew doing repairs.\nArissa: And where are you going to sleep?\nOdo: I don't need a bed. I regenerate by reverting to a gelatinous state.\nArissa: Sounds relaxing.\nOdo: It is, actually.\nArissa: I'm so tired I wouldn't mind being in a gelatinous state myself.\nOdo: I understand you haven't been able to identify anyone from the security recordings.\nArissa: No.\nOdo: I haven't had much luck identifying Tauvid either. It's not his real name. He took three different transports to get to the station, used a different identity each time. I've transmitted a picture of him to the Idanian authorities. I'm not sure we'll get a reply. As you said before, they're a very secretive race.\nArissa: What about the crystal?\nOdo: Dax and Chief O'Brien are still trying to get past the encryption lockouts.\nArissa: I could try to interface with it.\nOdo: That's not a good idea. The first time they attempted to access it, the feedback shorted out the computer. I'd hate to see what that would do to your dataport.\nArissa: I can't believe what I got myself into. Walking out on Draim to meet someone I don't even know? I must have been out of my mind.\nOdo: You said you were desperate.\nArissa: Why do you think I got involved with Draim in the first place?\nOdo: I know life on Finnea isn't easy, but you must have had other options.\nArissa: Have you ever been there?\nOdo: No.\nArissa: It's not like a Federation world where everything is handed to you. You know how I ended up with this? I was a netgirl. I told myself I wasn't selling my body since there was no actual contact. But I was. I let men into my mind for money. Draim was one of them. That's how we first met. Before I knew it, I was working for him. He paid me more than I'd ever seen before. I was so far removed from the consequences of what I was doing, it was easy to pretend that I wasn't hurting anyone. I'd hear things now and then. Some businessman Draim had me investigate would disappear. I tried to convince myself it had nothing to do with me. But after while I couldn't pretend anymore. I wanted out. I guess I'm finally going to get my wish. Only problem is, I'll be dead. I don't want to cry. The dead don't cry.\nOdo: Arissa, look at me. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. You have to trust me.\nArissa: I do trust you. But you can't protect me forever. Sooner or later, Draim will get to me. I've got to find out what's on that crystal.\nOdo: I don't think you can count on whatever's on that crystal to get you out of this.\nArissa: If that's true, then I don't have a chance.\nOdo: Yes, you do. If you testified against Draim, you could put him in prison for the rest of his life. You could get immunity for any past crimes you may have committed, start a new life.\nArissa: Testify against Draim? I would never make it to the witness stand.\nOdo: I will take personal responsibility for your safety. I don't care how long it takes. If I have to ask for a leave of absence, I will.\nArissa: You'd do that for me? Why?\nOdo: I've done things in my life I'm not proud of, too. You worked for Draim, I worked for the Cardassians. I never had the courage to walk away. You did. I admire that.\nArissa: Wait a minute. You're going to have to give me a minute to get used to this. I've never been admired for anything other than the way I look.\nOdo: Most people can't see past the surface, especially when what they see is so beautiful. I'm, I'm sorry, I merely meant\nArissa: Don't apologize.\nOdo: Well, I'm going to see if they've made any progress decoding the crystal. Make yourself comfortable. I'll check in on you later.\nArissa: I'm not going anywhere.\nBashir: Let me help you with that. Extraordinary. You just jumped out of an airplane at twenty thousand feet, and yet there's not a hair on your head out of place.\nBashir: Odo.\nOdo: I'm sorry to interrupt. I need to talk to you. Alone.\nBashir: Driver, stop the car. We'll just be a minute.\nOdo: Isn't that the woman I was supposed to steal away from Falcon?\nBashir: Well, yes, but since you didn't show up\nOdo: You swept her off her feet.\nBashir: Sort of.\nOdo: Tell me, how did you know she was interested?\nBashir: Well it's that kind of program. What is this all about, Odo? You didn't come here to talk about women, did you? Ah. This is about bedroom eyes, isn't it?\nOdo: Who told you about her? Kira?\nBashir: No.\nOdo: Dax.\nBashir: Actually it was Miles. If people are talking, it's only because they care. You put on a good front, but anyone who really knows you can tell that you're lonely. If you're interested in this woman, you have to let her know.\nOdo: I can't.\nBashir: Why not?\nOdo: What if I? What if she?\nBashir: Rejects you? She might. But you can't go through life trying to avoid getting a broken heart. If you do, it'll break from loneliness anyway. So you might as well take a chance. If you don't, she'll move on and you'll never know what you might have had. And living with that is worse than having a broken heart, believe me.\nBashir: We're nearly finished, darling.\nO'Brien: Car trouble, Mister Bashir? Hi, Odo.\nOdo: I should go. Thank you, Doctor.\nBashir: Odo. This isn't fair, Chief. Odo and I were talking.\nO'Brien: Didn't anyone ever tell you, you shouldn't stop for hitchhikers.\nArissa: Hello.\nOdo: Hello. I didn't expect to find you awake.\nArissa: I couldn't sleep.\nOdo: If the bed isn't comfortable, I\nArissa: The bed is fine. I guess you have no news for me.\nOdo: Chief O'Brien is going to run a quantum scan on the crystal in the morning.\nArissa: I'd like to be there. I might be able to help.\nOdo: I'll arrange it.\nArissa: I'm not in your way, am I?\nOdo: No. No, not at all. I, er, I usually read for an hour or two.\nArissa: What are you reading?\nOdo: It's a detective novel.\nArissa: Have you figured out who did it yet?\nOdo: By the third page.\nArissa: Well, I should let you get back to your book.\nOdo: I don't really feel like reading. Perhaps we could talk for a while?\nArissa: What do you want to talk about?\nArissa: Tell me more.\nArissa: I could swear that when we first met, your nose had a little curve right here.\nOdo: I tend to look a little different every day\nArissa: But you always manage to make these the same.\nOdo: I pay special attention to my scowl. An air of stern suspicion is very important in my line of work.\nArissa: What? Why are you looking at me that way?\nOdo: I'm just trying to figure something out.\nArissa: Tell me. Maybe I can help.\nOdo: You're the first woman I've ever been close with. I've never been able to let down my guard. I was just wondering what makes you different.\nArissa: Wait a minute. Have you never been with anyone else before?\nOdo: Not with a humanoid. Once, on my homeworld, I had an experience that you might consider sexual.\nArissa: But you've never been with a woman before?\nOdo: Could you tell?\nArissa: No.\nOdo: Good. I don't ever want to leave this room. Can we stay here forever?\nArissa: I wish we could.\nOdo: Arissa? Everything is going to work out.\nArissa: I want to believe that, but I know what the Orion Syndicate does to people who turn against them. I don't want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. Let's just be together.\nOdo: All right.\nArissa: Tell me more about this encounter you had on your homeworld.\nOdo: It was with another changeling. Our bodies became intermingled.\nArissa: Sounds nice. Too bad I'm not a changeling.\nOdo: We shouldn't let that stop us.\nDax: She spent the night in his quarters.\nKira: He had her under protective custody.\nDax: Come on, Nerys. He could have put her somewhere else.\nKira: You know how Odo is. He likes to be thorough.\nDax: It was more than that.\nWorf: Commander.\nKira: What makes you say that?\nDax: Instinct.\nWorf: Jadzia.\nDax: What?\nWorf: You asked to be told when the sensor array became available.\nDax: Thank you. Odo and a woman. It was bound to happen sooner or later, right?\nKira: I suppose.\nWorf: You can begin your experiment at any time.\nDax: I'm talking to Kira.\nWorf: You are not talking, you are gossiping. And besides, Odo is capable of taking care of himself.\nDax: Don't shout across the room. If you want to gossip with us, then come down here.\nSisko: Where's Odo? He asked me to arrange a conference with Starfleet Intelligence at oh eight hundred.\nDax: I guess he's running late.\nSisko: He's never late.\nDax: He never spent the night with a woman before.\nSisko: A woman? That's nice. Isn't it?\nWorf: Constable.\nOdo: Good morning.\nSisko: Starfleet Intelligence is ready when you are.\nDax: Did you see the look on Odo's face? I'm telling you, something happened.\nTraidy: I talked to Draim. The woman asked to make a deal. She gives us the crystal, Draim lets her go.\nSorm: So we don't have to kill her.\nTraidy: Don't be stupid. As soon as we've got the crystal, she dies.\nSorm: Oh. Makes sense.\nOdo: You can release the Talarian as soon as he's sober, but tell him to stay away from raktajino. It obviously doesn't agree with him. I'll be in science lab four.\nOdo: Can I help you?\nIdanian: You're Security Chief Odo?\nOdo: Yes.\nIdanian: I'm here about the communication you sent to the Idanian government.\nOdo: Go on.\nIdanian: Where's Arissa? Is she safe?\nOdo: You know her?\nIdanian: Better than she knows herself.\nOdo: What does that mean?\nIdanian: She's not who she seems to be. She's an intelligence agent with my government. She was sent to infiltrate Draim's organization.\nOdo: That's impossible. She would have told me.\nIdanian: She doesn't know.\nOdo: I don't understand.\nIdanian: We gave her a new identity before we sent her in. All her previous memories were removed and stored on the datacrystal. If you take me to her, I'll explain the rest.\nOdo: Chief, are you all right?\nIdanian: The datacrystal, where is it?\nOdo: Forget about the crystal. We have to find Arissa.\nIdanian: That crystal is Arissa.\nO'Brien: She took the crystal. I don't know where she went.\nIdanian: It generates a distinctive signal. We might be able to track it.\nArissa: Is anyone here?\nTraidy: Just me.\nOdo: What's wrong?\nIdanian: I've lost it. The crystal's quantum signature starts to fade after a few minutes.\nTraidy: Do you have it?\nArissa: Maybe.\nTraidy: I thought we had a deal. Your life for the crystal.\nArissa: I just want to make sure that you live up to your end.\nTraidy: Your turn.\nArissa: Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to come here with a weapon?\nTraidy: Indulge me.\nTraidy: Very smart.\nTraidy: Do you have any idea what's on this?\nArissa: No. You're going to have to figure that out for yourself.\nTraidy: Oh, don't go yet. You haven't met my associate.\nArissa: How are you?\nSorm: Fine, thank you.\nArissa: Draim and I had a deal.\nTraidy: He was in a very emotional state when he agreed to it. The truth is, you really hurt his feelings when you left.\nSorm: He liked you. Maybe you should close your eyes.\nTraidy: You were supposed to secure the doors!\nSorm: I did.\nIdanian: Don't move.\nOdo: Are you all right?\nArissa: Yes. I just wish I knew what this is all about.\nBashir: The memory transfer will take a few minutes.\nSisko: How long was she undercover?\nIdanian: She volunteered for the operation two years ago. After we altered her memories, we placed her on Finnea. She woke up the next morning believing she was a different person.\nSisko: With no memory of her former life as an intelligence agent?\nIdanian: That was crucial to the plan. Draim employs telepaths to scan everyone who works for him. It was the only way to get past them. We left her in place long enough to become a trusted member of Draim's organization. When we were ready to recall her, we had Tauvid make contact. We'd imprinted a trace memory designed to make her feel she could trust him. That way, she'd agree to meet. With what she knows about Draim, we're going to be able to cripple his entire organization. As soon as she's debriefed, we plan to issue the indictments.\nOdo: You make it sound as if it all went according to plan. She was nearly killed.\nIdanian: She knew the risks when she volunteered. We did everything we could to minimize them. Every stage of this operation was meticulously planned.\nOdo: Including what just happened in the cargo bay?\nSisko: Why didn't you tell us what was going on when you found out Tauvid had been killed?\nIdanian: If Draim's people had monitored the transmission, it would have compromised the entire operation. We couldn't risk it. All that matters is that she's safe and that Draim is going to prison for a long time.\nBashir: The transfer's complete. I'm going to take her to surgery.\nOdo: Yes.\nOdo: Arissa? That's not even your name, is it?\nArissa: There's something you need to know. I'm married. I have a husband.\nOdo: I see.\nArissa: I'm so sorry.\nOdo: Don't be. You didn't know. It's not your fault. I fell in love with a woman who never really existed.\nArissa: She did exist. She was real. And she loved you. In a way, she still does.\nOdo: Will I ever see you again?\nArissa: I don't know. I'll never forget you, Odo. Never."}
{"text": "Dax: I risk eight strips, with a purchase at six and a sale of ten.\nDax: Quark, it's your move.\nQuark: Just a moment. I can't believe it.\nDax: You beg me to play tongo with you, and then you don't pay attention to the game.\nQuark: I'll be right there.\nDax: Let me put it another way. If you don't finish this hand, I'm going to call it a night.\nQuark: Okay, okay! Who'd have dreamed they'd strike feldomite on Parsion Three? The Sepian Commodities Exchange is in chaos. Everybody's selling, prices falling. Evade.\nDax: Are you sure?\nQuark: You heard me, evade!\nDax: Okay. Confront. You owe me fifteen strips of latinum.\nQuark: Take it. That's all I've got left. My antimonium options, my quadrotriticale futures, my powdered newt supplements all wiped out. That's it, I'm finished.\nDax: It can't be as bad as all that.\nQuark: It can and it is. I'm up to my lobes in debt. I put the bar up as collateral to three different brokers. The loans are due in a week. If I don't come up with the latinum there'll be nothing left of me but a greasy spot on the Promenade.\nQuark: Here? Now? Tell him I'm gone.\nGaila: If that's the best lie you can come up with, no wonder you're broke.\nQuark: Gaila! What a pleasant surprise.\nGaila: I doubt it. A clothed female. How titillating.\nDax: Isn't this the cousin that tried to kill you?\nGaila: I see you've heard of me. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to my dear cousin. Alone.\nQuark: If you've come for your latinum you've come a long way for nothing, because that's all I can give you. Nothing.\nGaila: Spare me the sad story. I'm well aware of your financial situation and I'm here to help.\nQuark: What are you going to do, loan me some exploding latinum?\nGaila: I can understand your skepticism, but I know a way that can help the both of us. I'm offering you a job.\nQuark: You'd defy the FCA ban on doing business with me?\nGaila: What's family for? Besides, I won't tell if you don't.\nQuark: You want me to sell weapons, don't you?\nGaila: That's what I do. Now I know you've had reservations about entering this lucrative field. It's dangerous, it's too technical, it's not a people business. But let me tell you something, cousin. Nothing could be further from the truth.\nQuark: I've told you before, I can't smuggle weapons through this station. Odo would be on to me in a second.\nGaila: Who said anything about bringing weapons here?\nQuark: Then what do you need me for?\nGaila: I need you, Quark, to do the things you do best. Public relations, showing our clients a good time, providing an atmosphere conducive to closing deals.\nQuark: I can do that.\nGaila: Of course you can. And you'll earn five percent off every sale.\nQuark: Ten.\nGaila: You'll take five.\nQuark: I had no idea.\nGaila: Weapons is a growth industry. In a month, all your debts will be paid. In six months, the Ferengi Commerce Authority will be begging to reinstate you. In a year, you'll have your own moon.\nQuark: My own moon.\nGaila: Success or failure? What's it going to be, cousin?\nQuark: What have I got to lose?\nO'Brien: Come in.\nJake: Morning, Chief.\nO'Brien: Shh. Quiet. You'll wake him. He only dropped off about an hour ago.\nJake: You look terrible.\nO'Brien: I didn't get much sleep. He woke up every hour or two. Every time I tried to put him back in his crib he started crying again. He misses his mother.\nJake: When is Professor O'Brien due back from Bajor?\nO'Brien: I don't know. A week, maybe two. However long it takes to get that blight under control.\nJake: That long?\nO'Brien: On top of that, Annel had some kind of family emergency, so I'm stuck without a babysitter.\nJake: Don't worry about it, Chief. Everything's going to be fine. I'll take care of Yoshi.\nO'Brien: Huh?\nJake: Absolutely.\nO'Brien: You sure you're up to it?\nJake: Absolutely. I've babysat Ensign Pran's hatchlings a couple of times, made sure their little wings didn't get tangled.\nO'Brien: Kirayoshi doesn't have wings.\nJake: Even better.\nO'Brien: I think he's worn himself out. He should sleep now. If he wakes up, give him one of his bottles. There's diapers in the bag over there.\nJake: Don't worry, Chief, I know the drill. Now go to work. You need the rest.\nO'Brien: I'll be fine. I went through the same thing with Molly. It's just a phase. He'll grow out of it sooner or later. Gently now.\nJake: You see, no problem.\nO'Brien: I'll check in with you at lunch. If you need me, I'm just a comm-line away.\nJake: He, he\nO'Brien: Give him to me. Shh. There, there, there. Shh, shh, shh.\nJake: You're good.\nO'Brien: He feels safe with me. Give me the bag. I'm taking him with me.\nJake: To work?\nO'Brien: What choice do I have?\nGaila: Would you stop doing that!\nQuark: Shh. Just being careful. Odo could be anywhere or anything.\nGaila: Quark, we saw him walk down the Promenade five minutes ago.\nQuark: He's very tricky.\nGaila: There he is.\nQuark: Where?\nGaila: How good to see you again.\nHagath: The pleasure's all mine.\nGaila: Quark, this is my associate, Hagath.\nHagath: Quark. And my companion, Talura. Your cousin speaks very highly of you.\nQuark: I've always said my cousin is an excellent judge of character.\nHagath: I admire confidence in a man. In fact, I demand it of my salesmen. But in business, one must be careful not to grow too confident.\nQuark: That can be a fatal mistake.\nHagath: I believe the phrase you used to bring me here was an opportunity of a lifetime.\nGaila: An accurate description.\nHagath: Show me.\nHagath: Very nice.\nHagath: Its weight and balance appears just right.\nQuark: We have a wide range of targets for you to choose from.\nHagath: That won't be necessary.\nHagath: A perfect replica. It even pulls a little to the right, just like the real ones.\nQuark: These are the finest holosuites in the sector.\nHagath: I believe it. Remember we sold a hundred and fifty thousand of these to the Manchovites.\nGaila: And we sold another hundred thousand to the other side. Now there was a beautiful little war.\nHagath: Too bad about the armistice.\nGaila: Well, all good things must come to an end.\nQuark: You sell weapons to opposing sides?\nHagath: On occasion. It's very dangerous. If either side realizes what you're doing, it could be most unpleasant.\nGaila: But as they say, the riskier the road, the greater the profit.\nHagath: True. Well, I'm glad I came. This solves many of our problems.\nGaila: It certainly does. No actual weapons coming in or out, so we don't break any local laws. All shipping happens outside Federation space, so Starfleet can't touch us. And since all we're demonstrating are holograms, we can even show off the specialty items.\nHagath: Gaila, well done.\nGaila: It was all Quark's idea.\nHagath: Quark. You really are a find. I'm sure we're going to accomplish great things together.\nQuark: I can't wait.\nHagath: Just one thing. Don't cross me, Quark. Don't ever cross me. Understood?\nQuark: Completely.\nHagath: Right. Now, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see my quarters.\nGaila: If he were a bit shorter and his teeth were a little sharper, he'd make a perfect Ferengi.\nQuark: Why'd you tell him this was my idea?\nGaila: I want him to like you.\nQuark: The Breen CRM one-fourteen works equally well against moving vessels or surface emplacements. It's guaranteed to cut through reactive armor in the six to fifteen centimeter range, and shields to four point six gigajoules.\nCustomer: It's light.\nCustomer: Nice.\nQuark: The quick recharge is one of its most popular features.\nCustomer: I'll take two thousand.\nQuark: It's a pleasure doing business with someone who appreciates a fine weapon.\nQuark: How'd I do?\nHagath: You're a natural salesman.\nQuark: I am, aren't I? It's no different than selling sandwiches.\nGaila: What did I tell you?\nHagath: I always like to celebrate a job well done. To Quark.\nGaila: Quark.\nQuark: I'm going to like doing this job.\nQuark: You wanted to see me?\nHagath: Just a moment. Who would have thought that so much money can be made from Andarian glass beads. How did things go with the Proxcinians?\nQuark: He purchased seven thousand tritanium plated assault skimmers.\nHagath: Good. And he'll be back for more. The Proxcinian war is just heating up.\nQuark: Lucky us.\nHagath: I suppose you're wondering when you'll start seeing your share of the profits.\nQuark: It had crossed my mind.\nHagath: I'm afraid it won't be soon.\nQuark: I don't understand.\nHagath: I took the liberty of transferring your earnings directly to your creditors. You'll be happy to know they were most appreciative.\nQuark: I would have paid them their money.\nHagath: I don't doubt your intentions, but money does strange things to people and I can't afford to have an associate distracted with financial difficulties. So, until your debt is paid, you won't be seeing any profit.\nQuark: And once my debts are paid?\nHagath: Your earnings will be yours to do with as you will, as long as you remain solvent. Quark, do forgive me. You see, my associates are like family to me and I feel it's my duty to keep them from getting into trouble, and to shower them with affection. Go on, open it.\nQuark: Andarian glass beads. These must be worth\nHagath: An absolute fortune. A small token of my esteem.\nQuark: Look!\nBashir: Go ahead. Beat that, Chief!\nO'Brien: Come on, Yoshi. It may not seem fair forcing the good Doctor to throw from farther away, but he is genetically engineered.\nBashir: Chief, don't you think you should put the baby down?\nO'Brien: I haven't put Yoshi down for a week. If I can carry him at work, I can carry him here.\nBashir: There must be some babysitter on the station that can pacify him.\nO'Brien: You want to bet?\nBashir: But you can't hold him forever. You've already got one bad shoulder.\nO'Brien: Okay. You want me to put the baby down? Fine. I'll put the baby down.\nO'Brien: Happy?\nBashir: That's amazing.\nO'Brien: No, this is amazing.\nO'Brien: Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's my throw.\nQuark: That's right, keep going. Ah ha. Don't stop until you see smoke.\nQuark: Ahhh. Come in.\nOdo: I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I believe you know the way to the Security Office.\nQuark: None of these charges are going to stick. I haven't broken any laws. I have a license to run holosuites.\nOdo: But you don't have a license to sell weapons, do you?\nQuark: I defy you to prove that I brought a single weapon onto the station.\nOdo: It's a mere technicality. We both know what you're doing. And I promise you, you're going to face the consequences.\nSisko: Not today, he isn't.\nSisko: Let him go.\nOdo: Let him go?\nSisko: Major, tell the Constable what you told me.\nKira: The Bajoran government insists that Deep Space Nine not interfere with the lawful transactions of Hagath or his associates. Hagath supplied arms to the Resistance. Without him, or people like him, we'd all be dead. The Cardassians would still be in power. We owe him.\nOdo: Captain!\nSisko: I don't like it any more than you do.\nQuark: Better luck next time.\nSisko: You better hope there isn't a next time, mister. I have cut you a lot of slack in the past. I even looked away once or twice when I could have come down hard on you. But those days are over. Now, we may not be able to get you for selling weapons but you so much as litter on the Promenade and I will nail you to the wall.\nKira: Something to look forward to.\nGaila: I'll never forget how many people told us we were making a mistake. Sell weapons to the Bajorans?\nHagath: What chance do they have? Invest in a winner, sell to the Cardassians.\nQuark: But why did you sell weapons to the Bajorans? They couldn't have had much money.\nHagath: My dear Quark, not every deal is about making money. Sometimes, you have to look at the big picture, and at times gaining a friend is more important than making profit.\nGaila: I admit it's not the Ferengi way, but it's good business nonetheless.\nHagath: I knew the Cardassians would eventually lose, and you know why?\nQuark: Because they were overly confident.\nHagath: Exactly. They underestimated the Bajoran thirst for freedom. I didn't.\nGaila: You want me to handle this?\nHagath: No. Come in.\nHagath: Ah, Farrakk. How nice of you to join us.\nFarrakk: What was so important that you had to see me in person? I was about to close that deal with the Verillians.\nHagath: Oh really? I heard they had no longer any need of our services.\nFarrakk: Since when?\nHagath: Since they signed an agreement with Metron Consortium. I also heard that you hadn't even opened negotiations with the Verillians.\nFarrakk: That's a lie.\nHagath: And that instead of doing your job, you were off enjoying yourself on Risa.\nFarrakk: I can explain.\nHagath: I don't want any explanations. I put my faith in you and you let me down. As from now, our relationship is terminated.\nFarrakk: Hagath, can't we just talk this over? I made a mistake.\nHagath: An expensive mistake. Goodbye.\nHagath: Are you still there?\nHagath: Now, that was a most unpleasant experience. Shall we get back to what we were talking about?\nGaila: Evening, cousin. Business always this good?\nQuark: I haven't had a single Starfleet customer all day. Come to think of it, nobody from the Federation has come through those doors. I must be off limits.\nGaila: Quark, as long as we keep the holosuite busy, you've got nothing to worry about. Which reminds me, we have a very special client arriving next week. The Regent of Palamar.\nQuark: Never heard of him.\nGaila: He's very, very wealthy.\nQuark: Can't wait to meet him.\nGaila: He's also very particular about how he's treated.\nQuark: As well he should be. After all, he's a Regent.\nGaila: I have to say, cousin, you've done well. And it couldn't have come at a better time for both of us.\nQuark: Why's that?\nGaila: I'm thinking about stepping back, taking it easy for a change. You could take my place, run things with Hagath. You'd be earning a bigger share of the profit.\nQuark: Have you spoken to Hagath about that?\nGaila: He likes you, Quark.\nQuark: And I like him. I'd also like a bigger share of the profits.\nGaila: Then everyone's happy. Except for Farrakk.\nQuark: What about Farrakk?\nGaila: Didn't you hear? His ship blew up shortly after he left the station. Warp core breach. That Hagath, what a temper.\nQuark: Are you saying Hagath killed him?\nGaila: You heard what he said, cousin. He doesn't like to be crossed. Just make sure you don't forget that.\nQuark: Double snail juice, extra smooth. Good morning, Commander. Mind if I join you?\nDax: Actually, I do.\nQuark: That's okay, I won't take it personally.\nDax: Quark, I'm busy.\nQuark: I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed in you. I thought you, of all people, would understand.\nDax: Understand what? That you've finally shown how despicable you truly are? That you don't care how many people die as long as you make a profit.\nQuark: Who said anything about people dying? The weapons I sell are strictly defensive. To be well armed is a deterrent to war. Don't you know anything about the balance of power?\nDax: Quark, you don't really believe any of that, do you?\nQuark: Jadzia, there was nothing else I could do. I was drowning. The waters were closing over my head and just as my lungs were about to burst, my cousin threw me a lifeline. How could I possibly refuse?\nDax: Feeling a little guilty, Quark?\nQuark: Guilty? Me? I don't have anything to feel guilty about.\nDax: Then why come to me asking for forgiveness?\nBashir: I've got good news, Chief. Your son is fine.\nO'Brien: Except that he cries constantly unless I'm holding him.\nBashir: I've given him every imaginable test. Eyes, ears, digestive, pulmonary and nervous systems. There's nothing medically wrong with him.\nO'Brien: What are you telling me, my baby's just sad?\nBashir: Perhaps he's become prematurely aware of life's existential isolation.\nO'Brien: You sure it's not a rash?\nBashir: Look on the bright side. He'll probably be a great poet. There's nothing I can do for you, Chief.\nO'Brien: Yes, there is.\nBashir: What's wrong?\nO'Brien: My neck.\nBashir: Hold on, I'll get a neural modulator.\nQuark: Palamarian sea urchin, lightly sautéed in garlic and moon grass. Matopin rock fungi tossed on a bed of tartoc and seasoned with clavisoa berries. And for the main course, stuffed Wentlian condor snake. All the Regent's favorite dishes. I obtained the recipes through his palace chefs in exchange for a small gratuity.\nHagath: Quark, may I ask you a question?\nQuark: Go ahead.\nHagath: Are you trying to ruin me on purpose, or is this sheer incompetence?\nQuark: Ruin you? I don't want to ruin you.\nHagath: Here we are, about to open negotiations with an important new client and this is the welcome you're prepared to give him?\nQuark: They told me he'd like it.\nHagath: This? He's going to like this?\nQuark: Yes.\nHagath: Well, he should. It's delicious. We had you going there, didn't we?\nGaila: Oh, you had him, you definitely had him.\nHagath: Quark, I love you. It's magnificent, all of it.\nQuark: So glad you approve.\nHagath: Well, that's enough fun for now. The Regent will be here shortly, and tonight we are going to make some money.\nRegent: Nassuc was the best officer I ever had. I took her out of the ranks and made her a general. In time, she would have inherited my entire empire. And how did she pay me back? By declaring independence for her homeworld.\nHagath: Betrayal. It's the one unforgivable sin. Especially when it's committed by someone you trusted implicitly.\nRegent: Most arms dealers wouldn't understand such considerations. They have no ideals, no passions except for lining their own pockets. I always felt you were a man of honor. You're all men of honor.\nGaila: How very perceptive of you, Regent.\nQuark: Now, how can we help you?\nRegent: I want to make an example of Nassuc and her followers. I intend to eradicate her entire city.\nGaila: What kind of casualties are you looking for?\nRegent: Seven or eight million.\nHagath: We can help you there.\nRegent: But that's just the beginning. Over the next couple of months, I would like the death toll to rise slowly but steadily.\nGaila: Can you give us a figure?\nRegent: About twenty million.\nHagath: Now, what would be most effective? Prions?\nGaila: Either that or a mutagenic retrovirus. What do you think, Quark?\nQuark: Twenty eight million dead? Can't we just wound some of them?\nRegent: I am here to buy weapons. Are you here to sell them?\nHagath: Absolutely. Quark was just trying to make a little joke, but unfortunately Ferengi humor doesn't translate too well. So let's forgo any further attempts at jocularity, shall we? And get down to the business!\nGaila: Quark, maybe I didn't make myself clear. I've been in the weapons business forty years. I want to retire.\nQuark: I don't blame you.\nGaila: But I'm not going to be able to retire if my hand-picked successor can't control his conscience.\nQuark: The Regent is insane.\nGaila: Stop being so judgmental. It's his bank account, not his mental health you should be concerned with.\nQuark: But twenty eight million people. That just seems wrong.\nGaila: If Hagath heard you talk that way he would toss you out the nearest airlock. Look out there. Millions and millions of stars, millions upon millions of worlds. And right now, half of them are fanatically dedicated to destroying the other half. Now, do you think if one of those twinkling little lights suddenly went out, anybody would notice? Suppose I offered you ten million bars of gold pressed latinum to help turn out one of those lights, would you really tell me to keep my money?\nSisko: Hello, Quark.\nQuark: You don't look so good.\nSisko: That's because I'm dead.\nJake: Way to go, Quark. I had my whole life ahead of me.\nQuark: I didn't do anything.\nDax: You killed us all.\nQuark: Now hold on. You can't blame me.\nKira: Deny it all you want. You're responsible.\nSisko: I hope it was worth it.\nDax: How much latinum did they pay you?\nKira: Enough to buy a new conscience?\nO'Brien: Why, Quark? Why did you kill my baby?\nQuark: This isn't my fault.\nSisko: You lose.\nQuark: No, no, no!\nQuark: What have I done?\nSisko: Chief, why is the baby in the pit?\nO'Brien: It's kind of hard to explain, sir.\nSisko: Try.\nO'Brien: As soon as I took him down there with me, he fell asleep. Could be the pattern of the lights, the hum of the optronic emitters, the vibrations of the ODN relays, I'm not sure. But the point is, he's not crying.\nSisko: Yes. Chief, why don't you take off for a few days off until Keiko gets back? I think we can manage without you for that long.\nO'Brien: That won't be necessary, sir. I have the situation well in hand.\nSisko: What I'm trying say is that keeping Kirayoshi in the pit is not an acceptable solution. Find another one.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. Sir?\nSisko: Yes, Chief?\nO'Brien: Could we wait till he wakes up before we move him? He only just dropped off.\nSisko: Very well. And then I want him out of there.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Don't you people have work to do?\nDax: What the hell are you doing in here?\nQuark: I want you to have this.\nDax: You broke into my quarters to give me a tongo wheel? Get out before I call Security.\nQuark: I'm going.\nDax: And take that thing with you.\nQuark: I can't. It's a gift.\nDax: Think you can buy back my friendship?\nQuark: It's not a bribe. Chances are I won't be needing it anymore. Goodbye, Dax.\nDax: Don't let the door hit you on the way out.\nQuark: Don't you want to know where it is I'm going?\nDax: Not really.\nQuark: What if I said it was dangerous?\nQuark: Figures. Doesn't matter. Where I'm going you can't follow. What I have to do, I have to do alone. One man who's had enough, who's going to stand up and say\nDax: Goodbye, Quark.\nQuark: Nervous? The worst Hagath can do is kill you. What's one life compared to the lives of twenty eight million people?\nHagath: What do you mean you can't get your hands on the mutagenic retrovirus?\nQuark: Our supplier sold all he had to the Minnobia for their war against the Vek.\nHagath: This isn't good. I've just been telling the Regent that his shipment will be delivered within a week. He's leaving right now. He is not going to be happy, Quark.\nQuark: I know. He'll be stuck with twenty eight million people and no way to kill them.\nHagath: I'm glad you're amused, Quark.\nQuark: Lucky for us, I can get hold of some Varaxian LM Seven.\nHagath: Never heard of it.\nQuark: It's a new biogenic weapon, still in the experimental stage.\nHagath: Is it effective?\nQuark: They'll be dropping like flies. Only trouble is, I don't know how much of it I can get. You think the Regent would be satisfied with only seventeen million people killed?\nHagath: Well, seventeen million, it's better than nothing.\nQuark: Then what you have to do is tell him there's been a change of plans. Tell him we have something new to show him. It might take a little longer to get the results he wants, but we'll give him a twenty percent diskount. In the meantime, I'll have a sample of Varaxian LM Seven sent here and we'll arrange for a small demonstration. We'll find a planet with some low-level lifeforms on it nobody will miss.\nHagath: I'll speak to the Regent, try to keep him from leaving. You make sure you get this sample here as soon as possible. Don't fail me, Quark.\nQuark: Believe me, I want this deal to go through more than anybody. I'm finally out of debt. These are the first profits I get to keep.\nHagath: Get going.\nQuark: Stop looking so unhappy. The dabo tables will still be there when you get back.\nGaila: But I was winning. What could be more important than that?\nQuark: I told you there's somebody I want you to meet.\nQuark: Gaila, meet General Nassuc, head of the Palamarian Freedom Brigade.\nGaila: Pleased to meet you. We need to talk.\nQuark: Will you excuse us for just a moment?\nGaila: What is that female doing on the station?\nQuark: I invited her.\nGaila: Are you crazy? She's the Regent's mortal enemy. Does he know she's here? Does Hagath?\nQuark: Of course not.\nGaila: You are scaring me, cousin.\nQuark: Relax. I know selling weapons to opposing sides is dangerous, but as you said yourself, The riskier the road.\nGaila: Don't quote The Rules of Acquisition to me. If Hagath finds out we're doing this behind his back, we'll wind up as dead as Farrakk.\nQuark: Only if we fail, and we're not going to fail. we're going to sell Varaxian LM Seven to both the Regent and the General.\nGaila: Is she interested?\nQuark: Oh, she jumped at the chance. She's as crazy as the Regent. Both sides will poison each other, we'll double our profits, and Hagath will be very happy.\nGaila: But what if they see one another, realize what we're doing?\nQuark: It's a busy station. We'll keep them far apart. Just think of all that latinum.\nGaila: What do you want me to do?\nQuark: Keep the General occupied for twenty minutes, then take her to cargo bay five. I'll meet you there.\nRegent: Open it.\nHagath: You heard him.\nQuark: That's odd.\nRegent: What's wrong?\nHagath: Nothing. Right, Quark?\nQuark: The code sequencer isn't working.\nHagath: Then fix it.\nQuark: Right away. I just need to get a descrambler. And then while I'm at it, I'll get a bottle of champagne to celebrate.\nHagath: Forget the champagne. Just get here as quickly as possible.\nQuark: Whatever you say.\nHagath: He'll be back shortly.\nGaila: Quark, where are you going?\nQuark: I'll be right back. I just have to get a descrambler.\nGaila: After you.\nRegent: Hagath, what's she doing here?\nMale: It's a trap!\nOdo: Attention all personnel. There are reports of phaser fire in cargo bay five. Seal the area.\nSecurity: You're with me. Double time!\nO'Brien: Good afternoon, Commander.\nWorf: Chief, my schedule shows you were supposed to begin modifying the deflector array aboard the Defiant today.\nO'Brien: I'm sorry, sir. The Captain thought I could use a few days leave so I decided to take him up on it.\nWorf: To care for your son.\nO'Brien: Looking after a baby can be a full time job. Here, do me a favor. Just hold him for a minute. I have to get his bottle. He may cry for a bit, but it's okay, there's nothing wrong with him.\nWorf: Chief, I need to\nO'Brien: Just be a minute.\nWorf: What is the matter?\nO'Brien: The baby. He's not crying. He's not crying!\nO'Brien: Here.\nWorf: I never saw my son when he was this age. It is something I will always regret. You are a fortunate man. Chief. Chief?\nSisko: You're facing some serious charges here, Quark. Incitement to riot, endangering the public safety, disregard\nQuark: How was I supposed to know everyone was going to start shooting? I just wanted them to cross paths so that the deal would fall through.\nSisko: It fell through, all right. Hagath and Gaila barely managed to get off the station alive.\nQuark: I hear General Nassuc sent a purification squad after them.\nSisko: I wouldn't count on seeing your former business partners again.\nQuark: I can live with that.\nSisko: What about the Regent's death?\nQuark: The Regent's dead?\nSisko: A purification squad caught up with him this morning.\nQuark: I can live with that, too. And I can think of twenty eight million other people who won't mind either.\nSisko: Twenty eight million and one.\nQuark: So, about those charges. Surely we can come up with some sort of accommodation?\nSisko: That depends.\nQuark: On what?\nSisko: This is what it's going to cost to repair the cargo bay.\nQuark: That much?\nSisko: That much.\nQuark: Well, maybe we could come up with some sort of installlment plan?\nSisko: Works for me.\nDax: Retreat.\nQuark: Acquire.\nDax: Confront.\nQuark: Evade.\nQuark: The risk is at ten, with a purchase of seven and a sale of fourteen.\nDax: Nice move. But then you always had a knack for getting out of tight spots.\nQuark: It's a gift. Now, about my tongo wheel.\nDax: It's not your tongo wheel. You gave it to me, remember?\nQuark: I know that I gave it to you, but at the time\nDax: I'm not giving it back, and that's final. Confront.\nQuark: Retreat."}
{"text": "Kira: Now remember, I want him treated like a visiting head of state. Full communications and computer access, any assistance he may need from the station's crew.\nDax: You should have told us know he was coming sooner. I think we have a red carpet in storage somewhere.\nKira: Dax, this is important. Tekeny Ghemor led the dissident movement against Cardassia's Central Command. And now that Dukat and the Dominion have taken over, there is no one better qualified to lead the opposition.\nDax: Besides, he's practically your father.\nWorf: Your father? Ghemor is a Cardassian.\nKira: It's a long story.\nDax: The Cardassians once kidnapped Kira and surgically altered her to look like Ghemor's missing daughter.\nKira: It was part of a plan to expose him as the leader of the dissident movement.\nWorf: Cardassian politics are very complex.\nDax: I think they like it that way.\nKira: Ghemor may be the only hope left for Cardassia. He deserves our help.\nGhemor: That's a lot of faith to put in one man.\nGhemor: I hope I won't prove too great a disappointment.\nKira: Legate Ghemor. It's good to see you.\nGhemor: How many times must I tell you, Nerys? If you won't call me father, Tekeny will do.\nKira: Welcome to Deep Space Nine, Tekeny. This is our science officer, Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax, and our strategic operations officer, Lieutenant Commander Worf.\nGhemor: That's quite a reception for an old man. Ah, I see you're wearing the bracelet I gave you.\nKira: Not exactly permitted under the uniform code, but\nGhemor: It looks good on you. It was a pleasure meeting both of you, but if you don't mind, I'm afraid the journey here was a little draining.\nKira: Oh, I'll show you to your quarters.\nWorf: Major Kira, friends with a Cardassian. It seems wrong.\nDax: You should've known her five years ago. Back then, I never thought she'd be friends with anyone.\nKira: I've had the replicator programd with a complete Cardassian menu. You've got twenty six hour a day computer access, a private subspace comm. channel, and if there is anything else you need, you just ask me.\nGhemor: I wish I had your energy.\nKira: I am sorry. I just wanted you to feel at home.\nGhemor: You've been very kind.\nKira: I thought you should know. I checked with Bajoran Security. There are still no leads on your daughter.\nGhemor: She's dead, isn't she?\nKira: We don't know that. Now, if Iliana is still alive, she's been undercover on Bajor for over a decade now. It's very hard to find someone who's been hiding that long.\nGhemor: I know you're trying to keep my hopes up, but it's time I faced the facts. I'm alone. You're the closest thing to family that I have left.\nKira: Bajoran Security has not given up hope. Neither should you. You just have to be patient.\nGhemor: I'm afraid patience is for the young. But what about you, Nerys? How is life treating you?\nKira: Oh, I've got no complaints. Now, did you read the proposal I sent you?\nGhemor: It was very ambitious, but I'm afraid you'll have to find another person to lead the effort.\nKira: No, you are the perfect person for the job. You're still popular on Cardassia. The people respect you. They'll listen to you.\nGhemor: It's not that simple.\nKira: We can make it work. We'll set up a government in exile here on the station. You could make regular transmissions into Cardassia, issue corrections to their propaganda, mobilize your old friends in the dissident movement.\nGhemor: Nerys, it's a good plan, but I can't help you.\nKira: Why?\nGhemor: I have Yarim Fel syndrome. It's terminal, Nerys. I'm dying.\nBashir: I'm afraid the prognosis isn't good. The disease has already spread throughout your digestive tract, your circulatory and respiratory systems, and your cartilaginous tissue.\nGhemor: How much time do I have left?\nBashir: I'm not sure. There are still some treatments we can try. Hexadrin therapy or neuroregeneration procedures.\nGhemor: I appreciate anything you can do. I'm sorry, Nerys. I'm afraid this isn't going the way you planned.\nKira: Oh, don't worry about me. The important thing is to get you well.\nSisko: Begin Captain's log, stardate\nO'Brien: Ops to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: You've got an incoming\nO'Brien: Message from Cardassia. It's from Gul Dukat.\nO'Brien: He's demanding to speak to you.\nSisko: Put him through.\nDukat: Ah, Captain Sisko. Always a pleasure.\nSisko: Still calling yourself Gul? I'm surprised you haven't promoted yourself back to Legate by now.\nDukat: I prefer the title Gul. So much more hands-on than Legate. And less pretentious than the other alternatives, President, Emperor, First Minister, Emissary.\nSisko: How about Dominion Puppet?\nDukat: Captain, such comments only reveal a deep misunderstanding of the intricacies of the Dominion political system. Under our new administration, Cardassia enjoys unparalleled autonomy and\nSisko: You can justify yourself later, Dukat. I'm a busy man.\nDukat: Very well. We have reason to believe you have one of our citizens aboard your station. A certain Tekeny Ghemor, formerly a Legate in the Cardassian Central Command.\nSisko: And if we do?\nDukat: Well, we want him back. To put it mildly, he has a lot to answer for.\nSisko: I will take your request under advisement. But considering the Federation doesn't recognize your government, and that Cardassia has never agreed to an extradition treaty with Bajor or the Federation, you shouldn't get your hopes up.\nGhemor: What a beautiful baby you are. Yes. You must be very proud.\nKira: He's Miles and Keiko's baby. I just carried him to term for them.\nGhemor: Maybe you'd better?\nKira: Yeah. Are you?\nGhemor: It'll pass. It's silly, but I almost feel like a grandfather. After all, you're the closest thing I have to a daughter.\nKira: Yoshi's the closest thing I have to a son. You'd make a terrific grandfather.\nGhemor: And what about you, Nerys? Have you ever thought about having one of your own? Maybe with that Shakaar fellow of yours?\nKira: You know about me and Shakaar?\nGhemor: I've been keeping an eye on you. It made me feel like I still had family.\nKira: What did you do, hire someone to follow me around?\nGhemor: Credit an old man with some restraint. I just had people let me know when they heard anything about you. Like it or not, you're a public figure, Nerys. First officer of one of the most important military installlations in the quadrant. Your feud with Kai Winn has become already something of a legend. Did you know that you have your own section in the Cardassian Central Archives? You've made an impression on people, Nerys. A good one. You should be proud of everything you've accomplished. I am.\nKira: You know, I've kept my ears open for news about you too. I was worried about you. Opposing the Cardassian government is dangerous business.\nGhemor: I enjoyed it, while it lasted. I have a fondness for hopeless causes. It runs in the family.\nKira: Dukat called the station. He wants you extradited to Cardassia.\nGhemor: I'm not surprised. He knows that as long as I'm alive, I'm a threat to him.\nKira: We won't let him get his hands on you.\nGhemor: Nerys, I know more about the Cardassian government than anyone alive. Names, alliances, plots. Things that could do a lot of good in the right hands. There's a Cardassian tradition, shri-tal. The dying give their secrets to their family to use against their enemies. But I have no one left to carry my secrets. No one but you.\nKira: Me?\nGhemor: Be my daughter one last time, Nerys. Hear what I know and use it as you see fit.\nSisko: I hate to sound callous, but we have a tremendous opportunity here. Ghemor is basically volunteering to give us more intelligence on Cardassia than we've been able to gather in five years.\nKira: That's exactly what he's doing.\nSisko: It's quite a responsibility he's handing you.\nKira: I know. I can't help wondering if he's chosen the right person. What if I get too involved or I don't ask the right questions? Maybe I can convince Ghemor to talk to a counselor or Constable Odo. I mean, he questions people every day.\nSisko: Maybe. But Ghemor just doesn't want to be debriefed. He wants someone to talk to. Someone to be with until the end.\nKira: And that someone is me.\nFurel: Nerys!\nKira: Father. Father, can you hear me?\nSisko: Are you up to it?\nKira: I have no choice. I'm all he's got.\nBashir: If Ghemor's pain gets too severe, push this. It'll administer a small dose of triptacedrine. If you want to replenish the medication, be sure and turn this valve, diskonnect it from here, and replace it with a new supply. If you don't want to do it yourself, you can always call for a nurse to help.\nKira: I can manage.\nBashir: I hope you're right. Looking with someone with a terminal condition isn't easy, especially in this case where you'll be acting as Ghemor's only source of emotional support.\nKira: I know what I'm getting myself into.\nBashir: I'm sure you do. Well, let me know if you need anything.\nKira: Tekeny.\nGhemor: Nerys.\nKira: No, don't try to move.\nGhemor: Mouth's dry.\nKira: I'll get you some water. Careful.\nKira: Oh, damn it. I'm sorry.\nGhemor: It's all right. You're doing fine. Maybe we should get started.\nKira: Session one, stardate 50712.5. Whenever you're ready.\nGhemor: Probably Dukat's most powerful enemy is Gul Trepar, the head of the Fourth Order. He's\nKira: What is it?\nGhemor: Button.\nKira: Better? You know, maybe I can ask Doctor Bashir to get you something stronger.\nGhemor: No. Anything stronger and I'd be unconscious. And you and I have a lot to talk about. Where were we?\nKira: Trepar.\nGhemor: Trepar. Trepar used to outrank Dukat and he's not happy to be taking orders from one of his former subordinates. Trepar's aide is a man named Glinn Borven, a political opportunist with all the loyalty of a\nKira: Medic! We need a medic! What the hell's taking them so long!\nTaban: Nerys! Nerys, don't leave me. I was such a fool. When the Cardassians started setting fire to the village, I tried to talk to them, to reason with them. Look what they've done to me.\nKira: I'm going to make them pay for this, I promise you.\nTaban: They burnt my garden, set fire to everything. I worked for years planting it, caring for it, and now it's gone.\nKira: We'll plant another one, together, you and I.\nTaban: I wish I had your strength, Nerys, your confidence. I'm so afraid.\nKira: Where's that damn medic?\nTaban: Don't go. Stay with me. The medic can wait. I don't want to be alone.\nKira: The subject is asleep. I'm concluding the interview for the day.\nGhemor: Cold, cold.\nSisko: It's a good start. Starfleet Intelligence will be very pleased.\nKira: There's more where that came from. Ghemor seems to know every politician and bureaucrat on Cardassia.\nSisko: You look tired.\nKira: I've been up for thirty hours straight.\nSisko: You should get some rest.\nBashir: Bashir to Major Kira.\nKira: Go ahead.\nBashir: Please report to Ghemor's quarters immediately.\nBashir: He's not responding to the hexadrin therapy anymore.\nGhemor: Nerys.\nKira: I'm here.\nGhemor: Ask me questions, Nerys. We don't have much time.\nKira: You were talking about the Supreme Tribunal.\nSisko: Status report.\nWorf: A Jem'Hadar battleship is approaching the station.\nDax: Its weapons are armed and its targeting systems are active.\nSisko: Red Alert. All crewmembers report to battle stations.\nO'Brien: They're hailing us.\nSisko: On screen.\nDukat: Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Gul Dukat. What's the meaning of this?\nDukat: You said you'd take my request for Ghemor's extradition under advisement.\nO'Brien: They've locked weapons on the station.\nDukat: I eagerly await your decision.\nDukat: Captain Sisko. Thank you for the kind invitation. This is one of my Dominion advisors, Weyoun.\nSisko: We've met. I saw you die.\nWeyoun: That wasn't me. At least not exactly.\nDukat: The Vorta are experts at cloning.\nWeyoun: It tends to mitigate the risk involved in so much of our work. My predecessor was the fourth incarnation of our noble progenitor. I am the fifth.\nSisko: Immortality.\nWeyoun: Of a sort. Interested?\nSisko: Dukat, you said you wanted to talk to me. Now is your chance.\nDukat: Then I'll make it simple, Captain. Tekeny Ghemor is not a well man. He would be better off under the care of his own people. We want him to know he can come home.\nSisko: To attend his own execution.\nDukat: No, not at all. Ghemor's case has been reviewed by the new judicial system and he's been cleared of any wrongdoing.\nWeyoun: Dominion courts are renowned for their honesty and equanimity.\nDukat: So, as you can see, there's no reason Ghemor can't return to Cardassia.\nSisko: I don't think he would agree with you.\nWeyoun: Perhaps we should find out.\nGhemor: Dukat, I have a week to live, maybe less. Do you really expect me to trade my silence for a few short days under the Cardassian sun?\nDukat: It is where you belong, Ghemor.\nGhemor: And it's where I'd be this very moment if you hadn't betrayed our people to the Dominion. Good day, Dukat.\nWeyoun: He doesn't seem to like you very much. We're going to have to do something about your public image.\nKira: Gentlemen.\nDukat: You haven't heard my entire offer. We do have something else I think might interest you. Your daughter, Iliana.\nGhemor: Iliana? I\nKira: Don't listen to him.\nDukat: Your daughter is alive. I know where to find her.\nGhemor: I want to believe you, Dukat, but even if I did, let's just say I don't like the company you're keeping. You and I might have come to an agreement, one Cardassian to another. But now dealing with you means dealing with them, and that makes the price too high.\nKira: All right, you have your answer.\nDukat: My ship will be docked here few days longer.\nWeyoun: In case you change your mind.\nGhemor: I won't.\nQuark: What can I get for you, Major? A frosty Bajoran ale perhaps? Or something stronger? How about a Black Hole?\nKira: Whatever.\nQuark: You look terrible. Not that I mind. I like my women a little rumpled.\nKira: Quark, just get me my drink.\nQuark: I know just the thing. Warm Enyak's milk. It'll help you sleep.\nKira: Come in.\nDukat: Major. Sorry to disturb you.\nKira: Sorry enough to leave?\nDukat: Your defense of Ghemor is admirable. But did it ever occur to you, you may be fighting the wrong battle? Do you recall the massacre at the Kiessa Monastery?\nKira: Kiessa. What's that got to do with Ghemor?\nDukat: See for yourself. That is his official military record. You can verify anything on there with Bajoran Intelligence if you like.\nKira: You are really enjoying this, aren't you? Huh? All your sick little games.\nDukat: I must admit, I do get a certain perverse pleasure out of it. Read it or not, it's up to you.\nKira: I promise you, Dukat, I will make you pay for all of this one day.\nDukat: Maybe. But not today.\nGhemor: Nerys.\nKira: I'll be right there.\nKira: Now what?\nGhemor: I was thirsty.\nKira: Just sit back. You're all tangled up.\nGhemor: I'm sorry.\nKira: It's a little late for that now, isn't it?\nGhemor: Nerys, is something wrong?\nKira: Yes there's something's wrong. You lied to me.\nGhemor: About what?\nKira: About everything. But let's start with Kiessa Monastery.\nGhemor: Kiessa.\nKira: You were there, weren't you?\nGhemor: Dukat told you.\nKira: The Cardassian army burned Kiessa to the ground. Seventeen monks were killed.\nGhemor: But they were hiding weapons for the Resistance. Weapons that were being used to kill my friends. It was war. It was easy to despise you. But you weren't the monsters, we were. I wish I'd never joined the military, never volunteered for duty on Bajor. But I did. And I can't change that, no matter how much I might want to.\nKira: So instead you hid the truth from me.\nGhemor: No, Nerys. I didn't want you to hate me.\nKira: It's what you deserve.\nGhemor: Nerys!\nWeyoun: Dabo! That is dabo, isn't it?\nDukat: I don't know why you insist on playing this ridiculous game.\nWeyoun: I like games.\nDukat: Ah, Captain. Can I help you?\nSisko: I thought we should talk. I realize I haven't been much of a host.\nSisko: Here, have some kanar.\nDukat: No, thank you. I'm not particularly thirsty right now.\nSisko: I insist.\nDukat: I said no thank you. I never touch Kanar on an empty stomach, Captain. It's bad for the digestion.\nSisko: In this case, that's something of an understatement. Because in that bottle is enough voraxna poison to kill at least a dozen Cardassians. It was delivered to Tekeny Ghemor less than twenty minutes ago.\nDukat: Fascinating.\nSisko: What's wrong, Dukat? Are you afraid Ghemor's going to say something that might undermine your cozy new position?\nDukat: Tread with care, Captain. You're coming dangerously close to accusing the head of the Cardassian government of attempted murder.\nSisko: Is that what I'm doing?\nWeyoun: How delightful. The mysterious plots, the subtle innuendos, the veiled threats. It's all so entertaining.\nDukat: What?\nWeyoun: Oh, my. That is quite toxic, isn't it?\nDukat: Are you insane?\nWeyoun: Vorta are immune to most forms of poison. Comes in handy when you're a diplomat.\nSisko: Especially when you're working with the Cardassians. You can keep the kanar, Dukat. Ghemor won't be drinking it.\nOdo: It's a little late for services, Major.\nKira: I needed a quiet place to think. If you've got something to say to me, Constable, say it.\nOdo: I understand you've stopped visiting Ghemor.\nKira: He lied to me. I thought he was different, but he's just like the rest of them.\nOdo: Is he? Really. I've seen his file, too, Major. He was nineteen when Kiessa was destroyed. He'd been in the military for less than a year and was only one of four hundred soldiers at the monastery. There's no way of knowing if he even fired a shot.\nKira: He shouldn't have been there at all.\nOdo: This isn't about Ghemor's war record. If it really mattered, you wouldn't have waited for Dukat to hand it to you. You would have looked it up yourself.\nKira: What are you trying to say? That I should go back down there?\nOdo: Ah. No, I wasn't saying that at all. Are you?\nKira: Father? Father. Father, hold still. You'll tear your bandages.\nTaban: My garden. They burned my garden.\nKira: I know. I know.\nTaban: I can hear the Prophets calling me, Nerys. I can feel my pagh slipping away.\nFurel: Nerys. We found them. It's a Cardassian heavy weapons unit. Third assault group, ninth order.\nKira: Hold on. I'll be right back. How far?\nFurel: Just outside of Tempasa.\nKira: I'll go with you.\nFurel: Are you sure?\nKira: I know the area.\nFurel: So does Gantt.\nKira: They didn't shoot Gantt's father. They shot mine.\nFurel: All right. Go.\nKira: We found the soldiers that did this to you. I'm going to make them pay, just like I promised.\nTaban: The others. Let them. You don't have to go.\nKira: Yes, I do. Yes, I do. I won't be long. Let's go!\nKira: Come in.\nBashir: I thought you should know that Ghemor's condition has deteriorated. He'll be dead within the hour.\nKira: Thank you for the information, Doctor.\nBashir: Is that it? Thank you for the information? Ghemor is dying.\nKira: I heard you.\nBashir: Major, he wants to see you.\nKira: Well, I don't want to see him.\nBashir: Major, please, it's almost over. There's no more questions to ask, no more work to be done. Just go to his quarters and sit with him.\nKira: I said no. Don't ask me again.\nBashir: Fine. You must do what you want. But I think you're making a mistake. Regardless of what Ghemor's done in the past, he doesn't deserve to die alone. Nobody does.\nFurel: All four mortar rounds right in the central compound. And the way they ran, it was like kicking over a mound of barrowbugs.\nKira: What was the count?\nFurel: Five skimmers, and at least, at least fifteen Cardassian dead. Now that's not a bad day's work. We should celebrate.\nKira: Yeah. They kill us, we kill them. It's nothing worth celebrating.\nGantt: Nerys. Your father.\nGantt: He died calling your name.\nKira: Get another raiding party together. I want to hit those Cardassians again as soon as we have a chance.\nFurel: Would you like me to call everyone together? Have Prylar Quen say a few words?\nKira: There's nothing left to say.\nGhemor: I didn't think you would come.\nKira: Well, for a while there, neither did I.\nBashir: Cause of death was CNS failure brought on by Yarim Fel syndrome. One witness was present, a Major Kira Nerys of the Bajoran Militia. Witness's statement is attached. Major, we're done here.\nKira: That's it? A quick postmortem, a statement from the witness and a little paperwork. It seems so straightforward.\nBashir: It never is.\nKira: He got so quiet toward the end. I could hear him whispering things. His wife's name, Iliana's, even mine. Then the pain just got too much for him and he just lay there, breathing. And at the end of every exhale, there was this pause, and I thought that's it. It's over. Then he'd force another breath, and another. I started counting them. One hundred, two hundred, three hundred. He was fought for every last second. I don't even think he knew I was there.\nBashir: He knew. You gave him what he needed. He didn't die alone.\nKira: Maybe he gave me something I needed. I missed my father's death by less than an hour. Did you know that? Less than an hour. I always told myself that it was bad luck, bad timing, the will of the Prophets. But the truth is, I didn't have to go when I did. I could have stayed a while longer. I saw my chance to get out and I took it. I saw so much death during the occupation, I felt so much pain. But my father, he was my strength, and I couldn't stand to see that strength slipping away. So I ran.\nBashir: Just like you tried to run from Ghemor.\nKira: He reminded me so much of my father. Going through it again, I just couldn't face it.\nBashir: But in the end, you did. You were there for Ghemor.\nKira: I owed it to him. I owed it to my father to get it right this time.\nSisko: You wanted to see me?\nDukat: Yes. I understand Legate Ghemor has passed away.\nSisko: You must be very relieved.\nDukat: Oh Captain, such cynicism does not suit you. All of Cardassia will mourn the passing of Tekeny Ghemor. He was a great man.\nSisko: I'm surprised to hear you say that.\nDukat: Not at all. It takes a great man to admit he's wrong, and that's what Ghemor did. I'm speaking of his last minute change of heart. His deathbed decision to embrace the new Dominion government.\nSisko: That's very moving, except for one small problem. It never happened.\nWeyoun: As you said, it's a small problem.\nDukat: I would like his body transferred to my ship. We'll take him home and bury him with full state honors.\nSisko: I'm afraid that's going to be impossible. Legate Ghemor's funeral arrangements have already been taken care of."}
{"text": "Voices: Over this way.\nDax: Who's winning the war?\nQuark: It's too early to tell.\nDax: It's been three days.\nQuark: Don't remind me. They found a nest.\nDax: That's good.\nQuark: It's not the main nest.\nDax: That's not so good. I thought Chief O'Brien trapped the last vole on the station months ago.\nQuark: Well, obviously he missed a couple. A married couple. They breed like tribbles.\nDax: But they're not as cute.\nQuark: They're disgusting, hairy little creatures with ravenous appetites and I want them gone.\nDax: Oh, Quark.\nQuark: I know, I know. This is just a temporary setback. The bar will open again and I can get back to my life.\nDax: I'm glad you realize that.\nQuark: The only trouble is, I hate my life.\nQuark: Come in.\nRom: Hello, brother.\nQuark: What do you want?\nRom: You have every right to be depressed, brother. Ever since you were blacklisted by the Ferengi Commerce Authority it's been one thing after another. But I have some news that's going to cheer you up.\nQuark: I doubt it.\nRom: Trust me on this one, brother. I'm about to make you very, very happy.\nQuark: Really?\nRom: Really. Come on in.\nQuark: What's she doing here?\nRom: We're getting married.\nQuark: Oh, I wish I was dead.\nRom: He's been a little depressed lately.\nQuark: I don't want to live.\nLeeta: I think you need someone to talk to, someone to pamper you.\nQuark: I think I need to be alone.\nRom: You know who I talk to when I'm feeling a little low?\nQuark: Yeah, me.\nRom: Not when it's something really important.\nQuark: Let me guess. Chief O'Brien?\nRom: That's not a bad guess.\nQuark: Rom, just tell me who it is, then you can leave and I can go back to my brooding.\nRom: There's only one person in my life who's always there for me, who's never too busy to listen, who reassures me when I'm scared, comforts me when I'm sad, and who showers me with endless love without ever asking anything in return.\nLeeta: I'd like to meet this person.\nQuark: So would I.\nRom: You already know her. And she'll always be there for you, brother, with open arms.\nIshka: Quark?\nQuark: Mother?\nQuark: Moogie, hold me.\nRom: Of all the Bajoran Prophecies, I think my favorite is Horran's Seventh. The one that starts, He will come to the palace, carrying a chalice.\nDax: Bearing no malice.\nRom: Overflowing with sweet Spring wine.\nO'Brien: Someone's been studying the Ancient Texts.\nRom: It's important to Leeta. She wants a traditional Bajoran wedding.\nDax: And you've agreed to it? Oh, that's very sweet, Rom.\nO'Brien: Is she doing the same for you? I mean, learning to be a Ferengi woman? Memorizing the Rules of Acquisition and\nDax: Not likely. Leeta's not the type of woman to quit her job, stop wearing clothes, and never go out in public again.\nRom: That's okay. I just want her to be happy.\nDax: That's a very enlightened attitude, Rom.\nO'Brien: Rom is not your traditional Ferengi male.\nRom: I guess not.\nDax: You're probably the least Ferengi-like Ferengi I've ever met.\nRom: I guess so.\nDax: Oh, that's not a bad thing, Rom. No traditional Ferengi male could ever marry a non-Ferengi and be happy. He could never trust her.\nQuark: So you see, Moogie, the voles aren't the real problem. They're just a symbol for everything that's gone wrong in my life.\nIshka: You've had a tough year, Quark.\nQuark: That's an understatement. I see all these great opportunities out there and I can't do anything about them. Without a Ferengi Business License it's like I don't exist.\nIshka: I understand why you felt the need to escape for a while, but why come here?\nQuark: I had no place else to go.\nIshka: Are you sure about that? Oh, now don't give me that look. You and I both know we've never really gotten along. You disapprove of me, Quark. You always have. Moogie, stop wearing clothes. Moogie, stop earning profit.\nQuark: You have stopped, haven't you? I mean earning profit. Wearing clothes is bad enough, but profit.\nIshka: You see what I mean?\nQuark: I know the two of us living under the same roof isn't going to be easy. But you're my mother and I love you.\nIshka: And I love you too, Quark. But when you say living together what are we talking about? A day? A week? Two weeks?\nQuark: I don't know. I guess until I start feeling better. Unless, of course, you don't want me.\nIshka: You're my son. How could I refuse you?\nQuark: Then you'll remove all that unnecessary clothing?\nIshka: Don't push your luck. Where are you going?\nQuark: To my room. I'm exhausted.\nIshka: What you need is some of your mother's cooking. Some nice, juicy tube grubs.\nQuark: I never liked your tube grubs.\nIshka: I'll pre-chew them for you.\nQuark: Maybe later.\nQuark: Hello, room. Where's all my stuff? If she's thrown out my Marauder Mo action figures.\nQuark: Grand Nagus?\nZek: Quark, what are you doing here?\nQuark: I'm visiting my mother.\nZek: That's no excuse. You've been banned by the FCA. You must leave Ferenginar at once.\nQuark: Got to go. The Nagus, he knows I'm here. Wait a minute. What's the Nagus doing in my closet?\nIshka: The Nagus?\nQuark: Moogie?\nIshka: Zekkie! You might as well come out.\nQuark: Zekkie? What's going on?\nIshka: The next time you visit, I'd really appreciate it if you called first.\nQuark: That doesn't answer my question.\nZek: Sometimes, the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer.\nQuark: Rule of Acquisition two oh eight. You're in trouble again, aren't you? What have you done now? Whatever it is, I had nothing to do with it. Tell him, Moogie. Tell him I'm innocent.\nIshka: Relax, Quark. I'm not in any trouble.\nQuark: You're not?\nZek: Why would she be in trouble?\nQuark: I don't know. I just thought since you were here. I don't know what I thought. I'm so confused.\nZek: About what? It's all really quite simple. You see, Quark, your mother and I are in love.\nQuark: How did you two meet?\nIshka: We met at the Global Tongo Championships.\nZek: That's right. I was playing in the Golden Masters Division.\nIshka: And I was tucked away in the sub-basement playing in the Female Division. Anyway, word leaked down to us that the Grand Nagus was having a little difficulty with his game.\nZek: For some reason my purchases kept exceeding my sales.\nIshka: So I wrote him a note offering some helpful pointers on to firm up his play.\nZek: And they worked! I made a spectacular comeback and won the tournament for the twenty seventh year in a row.\nIshka: Zekkie sent me a very nice thank you note. Before I knew it, we were corresponding regularly.\nZek: Your mother's letters became the highlight of each day. It was clear we had to meet.\nIshka: Imagine his surprise when he found out I was a female and your mother, no less.\nZek: I almost had a stroke. But I recovered.\nIshka: And we've been seeing each other ever since.\nQuark: Does anybody know about this?\nZek: Of course no one knows. And you're going to keep it that way.\nQuark: My lips are sealed.\nZek: They'd better be.\nIshka: Jellied gree worms? Maihar'du, you are too good to me. He treats me like a queen.\nZek: That's because you deserve no less.\nIshka: Zekkie, they don't come sweeter than you.\nQuark: I don't believe it.\nZek: What's that, Quark?\nQuark: Nothing. I've never seen you looking happier.\nZek: That's because I've never felt happier. Well, my dear, time to get back to running the empire. Try not to miss me too much.\nIshka: I miss you already.\nZek: That's my girl.\nIshka: Oh, Lobekins. Don't forget your appointment calendar.\nZek: Thank you, my prize. Your mother is a rare jewel, Quark. Worship her as I do.\nQuark: Incredible.\nIshka: Quark, if you're going to give me a hard time about this.\nQuark: Give you a hard time? You and the Nagus? I couldn't be happier for all of us.\nO'Brien: No sign of a single vole. I think we got them all.\nRom: Chief, is it all right if I take a slightly longer lunch than usual? I need Leeta to sign this.\nO'Brien: The Waiver of Property and Profit?\nRom: Ferengi females aren't allowed to own property or earn profit. The WP and P states that in the event the marriage ends, the female gives up all claim to her husband's estate.\nO'Brien: And you expect Leeta to agree to this?\nRom: I agreed to wear the earring. So either Leeta signs this or the wedding's off. I may not be a traditional Ferengi but I'm still a Ferengi.\nO'Brien: It's your life, but I think you're making a big mistake.\nRom: I think I'd be making a bigger mistake if I didn't. Besides, Leeta loves me. You'll see, Chief. She'll sign it.\nLeeta: Are you crazy? I'm not going to sign this.\nRom: Why not?\nLeeta: Because a marriage is about sharing everything, including money.\nRom: Not on Ferenginar.\nLeeta: We're not on Ferenginar.\nRom: But I'm a Ferengi.\nLeeta: And I'm not.\nRom: Females and finances don't mix. Rule of Acquisition ninety four.\nLeeta: That's a stupid rule.\nRom: It's true. You're just like her. You're after my money.\nLeeta: Like who?\nRom: My first wife. Pretending that you care about me but all the time it's my profits that you really care about.\nLeeta: Rom, I love you, not your latinum.\nRom: Then prove it. Sign the WP and P.\nLeeta: Never.\nRom: Then the marriage is off.\nLeeta: You bet it is.\nZek: My dear, you reek of tube grubs.\nIshka: So do you, lobekins.\nZek: Are your ears tingling? Mine, too.\nQuark: So tell me, Nagus, how was your day?\nZek: Oh, you know how it is. Arcybite ore futures are continuing to increase, and the Bolians have finally agreed to allow the Ferengi Gaming Commission to take over their gambling emporiums, and er, er, oh, I have decided to allocate extra funds for research on a new breed of Hupyrian beetles. Those little fellows are going to revolutionize the entire beetle snuff industry.\nIshka: Now that's what I call a busy and productive day.\nQuark: No wonder the Ferengi economy is growing at a record pace. Costs are down, profits are up.\nZek: And opportunity is around every corner.\nIshka: Zekkie, you've done quite a job.\nQuark: And your people love you for it. Your business acumen, your negotiating skills, your kindness and generosity.\nZek: Forget it, Quark. I'm not going to reverse the FCA's decision. They revoked your Business License and they're the one's who are going to have to reinstate it.\nQuark: But you're the most powerful man on Ferenginar. You can do whatever you want.\nZek: True, but contracts are the very basis of our society and you broke a contract with another Ferengi. If I were to intervene on your behalf, I would be encouraging others to violate the law! And that, I will not do!\nQuark: Moogie, talk to him.\nIshka: He makes a very good point, Quark. What you did was wrong.\nQuark: Thanks. I knew I could count on you.\nZek: And I'd watch my tone of voice if I were you. Well, my dear, shall we take a stroll in your garden? Oh, and Quark, will you do me a favor? Help Maihar'du clear the table. He's not as young as he used to be.\nBrunt: Brunt, FCA.\nQuark: What are you doing in my closet?\nBrunt: Conducting official FCA business.\nQuark: In my closet?\nBrunt: I didn't want the happy couple to see me.\nQuark: Happy couple?\nBrunt: Don't play innocent with me. I know all about their perverted little love affair.\nQuark: I had nothing to do with it. They met playing tongo. I only found out about it today.\nBrunt: She's your mother, Quark, and that makes you responsible. And right now, she's endangering the very foundation of Ferengi society. I can see her, whispering in the Nagus' ear, contaminating his thoughts with her twisted, female philosophies. I'm telling you, Quark, if we don't put an end to their relationship, you're going to see clothed females walking down the streets of Ferenginar in broad daylight. If I had my way, I'd climb to the top of the Tower of Commerce and denounce your mother to the crowd below. But we must spare the Nagus even a hint of public disgrace. We've got to put an end to their relationship, but privately. Quietly.\nQuark: So what are you going to do?\nBrunt: I'm not going to do anything. You are.\nQuark: Me?\nBrunt: Who else? She's your mother and the Nagus, for reasons that elude me completely, likes you. You're in the perfect position to poison their relationship.\nQuark: Why should I help you? You revoked my business license.\nBrunt: I'll give you a new one.\nQuark: You've got a deal.\nLeck: Once again, Nagus, you have proven that you have the wisest lobes in all of Ferenginar.\nZek: That's what they pay me for.\nQuark: I need to speak to the Nagus. It's a personal matter. Nothing for you to worry about.\nZek: What do you want, Quark?\nQuark: I just dropped by to pay my respects.\nZek: Well, in that case, pay them.\nZek: Feel better? Now go.\nQuark: Before I do, I just want to say how proud I am that you consider my home your home. My mother is a very lucky woman.\nZek: And I am a very lucky man. I guess the only one around here who isn't lucky is you, Quark.\nQuark: I just think it's great that she's found someone who cares for her so deeply that he can ignore all those vicious rumors about her.\nZek: You mean the rumors about her earning profit? I know that whole story. The FCA made her give up every strip of latinum she made.\nQuark: I'm talking about the other rumors. The ones that say she hasn't given it all back.\nZek: Nonsense.\nQuark: Of course it is. And the wildest rumor has to be about what she plans to do with her fortune. That she's going to fund a political revolution to end the male domination on Ferenginar.\nZek: You mean equal rights for females?\nQuark: It's crazy, isn't it? I mean, so what if she wears clothing, or that she's managed to worm her way into the heart of the most influential Ferengi alive. Those aren't crimes, are they?\nZek: Absolutely not.\nQuark: And what if she's as cunning and ruthless as any male. That doesn't mean that she's not to be trusted, does it? The important thing is that she loves you and that you're not some pawn in her plans for world domination.\nZek: World domination? By a female?\nQuark: It's a horrifying thought. Luckily, they're just rumors.\nZek: Rumors.\nQuark: Well, time to go. I'll see you tonight, Nagus. I know Moogie can hardly wait.\nZek: For what?\nQuark: For you to get home.\nZek: Now that he mentions it, she really has no business wearing clothes in front of her Nagus.\nIshka: I should start dinner. Zekkie'll be here any minute. What do you say to some nice slug steaks?\nQuark: I'm not hungry.\nIshka: Quark, the power cells are empty.\nQuark: I must've been too depressed to notice.\nIshka: It's the FCA ban, isn't it?\nQuark: It's awful. You don't know what it's like to be denied the opportunity to earn profit.\nIshka: Oh, yes I do. I know exactly what it's like.\nQuark: It's worse for a male.\nIshka: Is it?\nQuark: Moogie, I'm in no mood to argue politics right now. I'm too distressed.\nIshka: All right, Quark. I'll talk to the Nagus. I'll see if I can convince him to intercede on your behalf.\nQuark: Oh, Moogie.\nIshka: You're a manipulative, self-centerd, conniver.\nQuark: Thank you.\nIshka: Zek'll be here any minute.\nQuark: I'll make myself scarce. Good luck. I'm counting on you.\nOdo: Commander, I'm sorry if the Klingons are unhappy, but station rules are station rules.\nWorf: I am well aware of station rules, but General Martok is a great warrior and he has no business being in a holding cell.\nOdo: He threw one of his men off that crossway.\nWorf: That was a diskiplinary measure. Besides, K'retok was not injured. He was barely shaken up.\nOdo: As opposed to the Bolian Ambassador. K'retok only missed her by a centimeter.\nWorf: But he did miss her.\nSisko: Constable, release General Martok.\nOdo: Sir.\nSisko: Mister Worf, tell the General that this is not a Klingon space station. If he can't abide by the regulations, I'm sure Chancellor Gowron will send us someone who can.\nWorf: Understood.\nSisko: Constable?\nOdo: Understood.\nSisko: Do you hear that?\nSisko: Rom, are you all right?\nRom: I'm fine, Captain. Thanks for asking.\nOdo: The wedding is off.\nSisko: I'm sorry.\nRom: Don't be, Captain. These are tears of joy.\nSisko: Carry on.\nLeeta: I hate him.\nKira: No, you don't.\nLeeta: All he loves is latinum.\nKira: No, he doesn't.\nLeeta: Canceling that wedding was the best thing that ever happened to me.\nKira: No, it isn't.\nLeeta: I am so glad he's out of my life.\nKira: No, you're not.\nLeeta: Major, you haven't been listening to me.\nKira: Yes I have. That's how I know you love him.\nQuark: Moogie, I'm home. So, how'd it go? Am I reinstated? What's wrong? Did the Nagus say no?\nIshka: Don't you think about anyone but yourself?\nQuark: Of course I do. I just think about myself first. Now tell me, what's wrong?\nIshka: He left me. All I asked him was to reinstate your license, and the next thing I know he's accusing me of plotting to overthrow the government.\nQuark: That's ridiculous.\nIshka: He said I didn't really love him, that I was just using him. That I was a scheming, profit-hungry female who couldn't keep her clothes off.\nQuark: The nerve.\nIshka: Oh, Quark. I don't know what I'm going to do without him. I don't know what he's going to do without me.\nQuark: Moogie, I'm sorry, but these things happen. It's probably better this way.\nIshka: No, it isn't. It's a disaster, for all of us.\nBrunt: Brunt, FCA.\nQuark: I hope you've had a productive day. I certainly have.\nBrunt: You're smiling, Quark. Therefore, I assume you mother is not.\nQuark: It's hard to smile when you have a broken heart. Now, about my business license.\nBrunt: As of this moment, it's as valid as my own. Congratulations, Quark. You're a Ferengi again.\nQuark: I always was.\nQuark: Breakfast.\nIshka: I'm not hungry.\nQuark: Moogie, you have to eat something.\nIshka: Why?\nQuark: Because life goes on. There are other slugs in the sea.\nIshka: You're leaving, aren't you? You're going back to Deep Space Nine.\nQuark: How did you know that?\nIshka: You spent all morning jellying gree worms, which tells me that your conscience is bothering you. You feel guilty about leaving me alone. Well, don't. I don't need you. I don't need anyone.\nQuark: Okay. Then I'll go pack.\nQuark: Who could that be?\nZek: Hello, Rom.\nQuark: It's Quark.\nZek: Quark, that's what I said. I want to see you in the Tower of Commerce right away. Don't keep me waiting.\nIshka: Why is the Nagus calling you?\nQuark: I have no idea.\nIshka: I bet it's about me.\nQuark: I doubt it. But then, it could be. Either way, I'll do all I can to straighten things out between the two of you. That's a promise.\nQuark: You want me to be First Clerk to the Nagus?\nZek: That's right, Quark. My own personal financial assistant. What do you say?\nQuark: Why me?\nZek: Consider it a reward for saving me from that wretched mother of yours.\nQuark: What about my bar?\nZek: You want to be a bartender all your life? I'm offering you something more. A chance to participate in the major decisions that shape this glorious financial empire of ours.\nQuark: Well, when you put it that way.\nZek: Good. Now you can start by briefing me on today's petitioners.\nQuark: I need your access code.\nZek: Three, seven, four, slash, one, five, five.\nQuark: It's not working.\nZek: You must have put them in wrong.\nQuark: Three, seven, four, slash, one, five, five. Nope.\nZek: Maybe it's one, five, four.\nQuark: No, that isn't it either.\nZek: But I don't understand. What did I say those first numbers were?\nQuark: Three, seven, four.\nZek: Three, seven, four. Are those right? You're confusing me.\nQuark: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.\nQuark: Oh, it was a six.\nZek: What was?\nQuark: The last number.\nZek: Well isn't that what I just said? A lifetime of numbers. You can't blame me for forgetting a few. Let's get down to business who's the first petitioner?\nQuark: DaiMon Igel. He wants to know whether he should sell his duranium interests on the open market or on the Futures Exchange.\nZek: An interesting question. Well, don't just stand there. Let's see how duranium's been doing.\nQuark: Over the last three trading cycles there's been an increase of seven and three quarters, a decrease of two and an eighth, and another increase of eleven and three eighths.\nZek: Oh. That's a gain of eighteen points.\nQuark: Actually, that's seventeen.\nZek: What are you talking about? Seven and three quarters minus two and one ninth is seven. Oh, who cares about duranium anyway?\nQuark: DaiMon Igel.\nZek: DaiMon Igel? Who's he? Do I like him?\nRom: Come in. Hello, Chief.\nO'Brien: I need that phase calibrator I lent you the other day.\nRom: It's in my tool kit by the door.\nO'Brien: Rom, what are you doing?\nRom: These are my profits, Chief. My entire fortune. It may be small but it's mine.\nO'Brien: Why the two piles?\nRom: I'm thinking of giving this pile to Leeta. That way maybe she'll sign the WP and P.\nO'Brien: You're offering her a bribe?\nRom: Bribes can be very effective.\nO'Brien: But if she signs the waiver she can't own anything, so she'd have to give it all back to you.\nRom: Right. That's not going to work, is it?\nO'Brien: Rom, I don't think there's any way you're going to convince Leeta to sign that waiver.\nRom: Have you ever looked at latinum? I mean really looked at it. It's so beautiful. Not to mention smooth to the touch.\nO'Brien: Do you want Leeta back or not?\nRom: Latinum lasts longer than lust. Rule of Acquisition two twenty nine.\nO'Brien: Maybe, but lust can be a lot more fun. Now answer the question. Do you want her back or not?\nRom: I'd give anything to hold her in my arms again.\nO'Brien: Anything?\nRom: One jumja stick, please.\nLeeta: What flavor?\nRom: Actually, I don't like jumja sticks.\nLeeta: Then what do you want, Rom?\nRom: I want you to marry me.\nLeeta: I'm not signing that waiver.\nRom: You don't have to, not anymore. I don't have any profit left to protect.\nLeeta: I don't understand.\nRom: I gave all my latinum to Major Kira for the Bajoran War Orphans Fund. She kissed me.\nLeeta: Oh, Rom. You did that for me?\nRom: I did it for us. Now we have nothing but our love.\nLeeta: That's all we need. That and my salary from Quark's.\nBashir: Well done, Chief. Or should I call you Cupid?\nO'Brien: What can I say? I'm just an incurable romantic.\nIshka: Quark, where have you been all day?\nQuark: With the Nagus. He made me his First Clerk.\nIshka: I see. Well then you've had a miserable day, haven't you?\nQuark: The worst day of my life. How did you know?\nIshka: The market exchange is down a hundred and ninety nine points.\nQuark: I don't know if I should tell you this but I have to tell someone. The Nagus, he isn't\nIshka: I know. His memory isn't what it used to be. Did you try stroking his lobes?\nQuark: No, I didn't stroke his lobes!\nIshka: It helps focus him. It's also not a bad idea if you repeat what you say to him. Sometimes it takes two, even three times before he'll retain it.\nQuark: You two weren't just lovers, you were helping him run things. You're the power behind the throne?\nIshka: Well, I wouldn't go that far. I just helped him a little, guided him. A leveraged buyout here, some momentum investing there.\nQuark: Why didn't you tell me? If I'd known what was going on, I never would have\nIshka: Never would have what? Oh, Quark. You turned Zek against me, didn't you? You filled his head with all those lies about me.\nQuark: I didn't know.\nIshka: Who put you up to this?\nQuark: Who do you think?\nIshka: Brunt. What did he offer you? Your business license back?\nQuark: A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all. You taught me that.\nIshka: The Rules of Acquisition aren't going to help you now, Quark.\nQuark: A hundred and ninety nine point slide.\nIshka: And that's just the beginning. Congratulations, Quark. You've not only destroyed my life and Zek's life, you may have triggered the destruction of the entire Ferengi economy. I hope it was worth it.\nBrunt: My, aren't we early today. But I suppose, after yesterday's fiasco, we have no alternative. A hundred and ninety nine point plummet. Haven't seen that steep a market slide since Grand Nagus Smeet. And you know what happened to him?\nQuark: The only Grand Nagus to be assassinated while in office.\nBrunt: What was the name of his First Clerk? I believe they buried them together.\nQuark: I'm sure we'll do better today.\nBrunt: No, you won't. The Market Exchange will remain closed today. The FCA Board of Liquidators has called an emergency meeting with the Grand Nagus. We have some questions to ask him. And by the time we're through you'll both be out of a job.\nQuark: Why are you picking on me? I've done everything you've asked, haven't I?\nBrunt: Everything.\nBrunt: Grand Nagus Brunt. Daddy will be so proud.\nQuark: You knew the truth about the Nagus all along, didn't you?\nBrunt: You mean about Zek's failing memory? Let me think. Well, you know, now that you mention it, yes, I did.\nQuark: That's why you wanted to destroy his relationship with my mother, not to protect him, but to expose him.\nBrunt: I couldn't have done it without you. I feel almost grateful. Which is why I'm going to let you keep your new business license. Now, put down those PADDS, pack your things, and scurry on back to that little bar of yours.\nIshka: So how come you're still here, Quark? After all, Brunt is right. You should be back on Deep Space Nine, celebrating your victory. You've proven yourself a true Ferengi. You've betrayed friends and family for personal gain.\nQuark: It sounds so good when you say it.\nIshka: But?\nQuark: I think I've been hanging around humans too long. I think I'm developing a\nIshka: Conscience?\nQuark: It's been coming for a long time. I've fought against it, I really have. But living with those people day in and day out, being exposed to their ethics, their morality. It's like I've been brainwashed.\nIshka: You poor boy.\nQuark: Moogie, I'm serious!\nIshka: Oh, I know you are. And I know how important your problems are to you. But frankly, Quark, right now I don't give a damn about them! We've got much bigger problems to deal with. Do you want Brunt to become Nagus?\nQuark: Of course not. He was willing to throw our entire economy into chaos just so he could grab power.\nIshka: Sounds like a true Ferengi to me.\nQuark: A Ferengi, maybe, but not a Nagus. A Nagus has to be better than that. His personal greed has to reflect the public's greed.\nIshka: Like Zek.\nQuark: Exactly.\nIshka: So what are we going to do about it?\nZek: Did you see their faces? They thought they had me, but we showed them. I answered all their questions, didn't I?\nQuark: You certainly did.\nZek: The state of the trade negotiations with the Breen, why I dumped our lokar bean investments, why I insisted we buy up every bit of jevonite we could get our hands on.\nQuark: You were brilliant. You know, for a moment there I actually thought that Brunt's head was going to explode with frustration.\nZek: By the time I'm finished with him, he'll wish it had. Blam! Blam! He underestimated me. And he underestimated you, too.\nQuark: Me? I did nothing.\nZek: Nonsense. I might have fooled those Liquidators, but I'm not fooling myself. I'm becoming forgetful. At times my memory betrays me.\nQuark: I hear the Vulcans have been very successful at treating memory loss.\nZek: Vulcans? Never liked them. No appreciation of profit. But they do make good doctors, don't they. Make an appointment for me. I'll never forget what you did for me, Rom.\nQuark: It's Quark.\nZek: Gotcha! I may have lost my memory, but not my sense of humor. As far as I'm concerned, you're still my First Clerk.\nQuark: I'm honored, oh, shrewd one, but I'm afraid your confidence in me is misplaced. Maihar'du?\nZek: Quark, I must say I find your newfound modesty very annoying. I need a financial advisor, and you're it.\nQuark: If you insist. But first, let me introduce to you my financial advisor.\nZek: Don't tell me.\nIshka: Zekkie.\nZek: Why'd you bring that female here?\nQuark: Because the Nagus deserves to have the best financial advisor there is, and that's my Moogie. All the advice I gave you today came from her.\nIshka: I'm not going to lie to you, Zekkie. I believe in equal rights for females. And someday, I hope you will too. But I'd never do anything to hurt you.\nZek: But what about all those rumors that Quark told me?\nIshka: They were lies. Tell him, Quark.\nQuark: I guess I stretched the truth here and there.\nZek: Quark, you're fired! Now the question is, what am I going to do with you?\nIshka: Anything you want.\nZek: What man could resist an offer like that?\nIshka: Let's go home and I'll make dinner.\nZek: No, you won't. Maihar'du will make dinner. I've got other plans for you.\nIshka: Oh, Zekkie.\nIshka: Quark, dinner's on the table.\nQuark: I'll be right there.\nIshka: Leave some room.\nQuark: For what?\nIshka: For these.\nQuark: Oh, my Marauder Mo action figures. I thought you'd thrown these out.\nIshka: All these years I've been keeping them in storage for you. I figured you'd want to take them back to Deep Space Nine with you.\nQuark: I sure do. Do you have any idea how much these are worth?\nIshka: Not as much as if you'd kept them in the original packaging, which is what I told you at the time.\nQuark: Even then you were handing out sound financial advice. Thanks, Moogie.\nIshka: No. Thank you, Quark.\nBrunt: Brunt, FCA.\nQuark: But for how much longer?\nBrunt: Don't worry about me, Quark. I'm a survivor. So, the happy couple are back together. If the people only knew.\nQuark: But they don't, and you're not going to tell them.\nBrunt: Really? Why shouldn't I?\nQuark: Because the Nagus is ready for you. If you go against him you'll lose and you know it.\nBrunt: I hate losing.\nQuark: What Ferengi doesn't?\nBrunt: I may not be able to destroy the Nagus but you are a different story.\nQuark: You're going to revoke my license? I don't think the Nagus will like that.\nBrunt: On the contrary. I want you back in business. It gives me an opportunity to keep my eye on you, because one day you are going to make a mistake, and on that day you're going to lose more than your license.\nQuark: But that day is not today. Now, back in the closet where you belong.\nBrunt: It's not over, Quark.\nQuark: Don't make me come in there after you.\nIshka: Quark, your tube grubs are getting warm.\nQuark: Coming, Moogie."}
{"text": "Bashir: Another three centimeters to the right and you would've severed the brachial artery. Autosuture, please. And if that had happened, you would have bled to death right there in the holosuite.\nMartok: The human fascination with what might have been is tiresome, doctor. The artery was not severed and I am not dead.\nBashir: Oh, well, forgive me for boring you. Let me get straight to the point. You're acting like a fool.\nMartok: Your observation is noted. But spending two years in a Dominion prison camp has dulled my reflexes. This only proves that I need further training.\nBashir: Turning off the holosuite safety protocols during a battle simulation is at best dubious. For a man with only one eye it's positively idiotic. Now, if you would consider ocular\nMartok: I do not want an artificial eye!\nBashir: Then you must accept the fact that you have a disability and stop acting like\nMartok: There are limits as to how far I will indulge you, Doctor.\nCrewwoman: General Martok, there is a priority message for you from the Klingon High Council.\nBashir: We're done here.\nMartok: Route the message to my quarters.\nCrewwoman: Acknowledged.\nMartok: Doctor, thank you.\nBashir: If you really want to thank me, don't walk in here dripping blood anymore. It takes days to get it out of the carpet.\nWorf: Check it now.\nNog: Still no increase in phaser relay efficiency, sir. The throughput reading is steady at one four eight point seven.\nWorf: Have you initialized the interface program?\nNog: Yes, and then I charged the prefire chamber and recalibrated the emitter stage. This thing just doesn't work! Sir.\nWorf: Very well. We'll start over. Go to the Engine Room and download the operating system into the computer core, but this time do it one file at a time.\nNog: Aye, sir.\nNog: Good evening, General.\nMartok: Cadet.\nWorf: General. I did not expect you until twenty two hundred hours.\nMartok: I must cancel our appointment. I've received new orders from the High Council, a mission of some importance. I must prepare.\nWorf: Of course. May glory and honor follow you on your journey.\nNog: Excuse me, sirs? Could I just slip by?\nWorf: How is the shoulder?\nMartok: Oh, Doctor Bashir made the necessary repairs. I told him it was a holosuite accident. He would not understand the need to draw blood in a warrior's training exercise.\nWorf: Few humans would. However, I do apologize again for the inconvenience. I did not intend to cause so much damage.\nMartok: I was the one who did not parry the blow in time. A simple, foolish mistake. One that I would not have made two years ago.\nWorf: Can you discuss the mission?\nMartok: Three days ago, the battle cruiser B'Moth began a patrol along the Cardassian border. They have not been heard from since. They are now reported as missing.\nWorf: It is possible she was destroyed by the Dominion. The Jem'Hadar attacked a Federation starship near the border less than a week ago.\nMartok: That is our assumption as well, but we must be sure. So I have been given command of a Bird of Prey, the Rotarran, to conduct a search for the B'Moth. This is the first time I will have led troops in the field since my confinement by the Dominion.\nWorf: It must be an exciting prospect.\nMartok: I tell you, Worf, without shame, there were days in that prison camp when the thought that I would never again set foot in a Klingon vessel made me weep like an old woman.\nWorf: I envy you the days ahead. It will be a glorious adventure.\nMartok: An adventure that we could share, my friend. I need someone I can trust at my side. Someone whose loyalty I can count on. Worf, son of Mogh, I ask you to join me on this mission as my friend and as my First Officer.\nSisko: I told the General that I'm inclined to grant his request for your services, Commander. I can certainly understand why he wants you along. You're a fine officer. But I'm not sure why you want to go on this mission.\nWorf: It is a great honor to be asked to serve under General Martok. And he saved my life in the Dominion prison camp.\nSisko: Oh? You didn't put that in your mission report.\nWorf: It was a personal matter, not something that belongs in an official report.\nSisko: Go on.\nWorf: You know that I was forced to fight the Jem'Hadar guards in the camp. Each day they would call me to the ring and each day I would fight. But, then there came a day when I wavered.\nSisko: You mean you didn't want to go back into the ring.\nWorf: No. I mean I considered letting them kill me. It seemed like the only way out. Just before I went into the ring, Martok turned to wish me success and then he saw what I was planning. He saw it in my eyes. It was a moment of tova'dok.\nSisko: Of what?\nWorf: There is no human word for it. It is a moment of clarity between two warriors on the field of battle. Much is said without the need for words. In that moment, he knew what was in my mind. Once I realized that he saw my intention to give up, I could no longer go through with it. I went back into the ring and fought once more. He had given me his warrior's heart. Perhaps it is something a human cannot understand.\nSisko: As of this moment you are be relieved of all Starfleet obligations and placed on detached service to the Imperial Klingon Defense Forces.\nWorf: Thank you, sir.\nSisko: Mister Worf. Q'apla!\nWorf: Q'apla!\nKira: The revised duty roster. Read it and weep.\nO'Brien: Small arms recalibration? Does that mean all the small arms on the station?\nKira: Afraid so. And I need an experienced combat officer to do it. Worf has already set up the parameters. All you need to do is make sure it gets done.\nBashir: I'm the new Intelligence officer?\nKira: It has to be a Starfleet officer with a level four security clearance. That means either you or Dax, and I need Dax to take over as Fleet Liaison Officer.\nO'Brien: Beats retuning phaser rifles.\nBashir: Well, I certainly hope Worf's enjoying himself while we're stuck here taking over his duties.\nDax: Julian, have you ever been on a Klingon ship? If you think the Defiant is cramped and uncomfortable, try spending a week on a bird of prey. Worf isn't exactly taking a luxury cruise.\nO'Brien: Serving on a Klingon ship is like being with a gang of ancient sea pirates. You advance in rank by killing the people above you, so everywhere you turn you're surrounded by potential assassins.\nKira: but that's crazy. How can a ship function like that?\nDax: It's not quite that chaotic. The social and military hierarchy of a Klingon vessel's very strictly enforced. A subordinate can only challenge his direct superior and only under certain conditions.\nBashir: What sort of conditions?\nDax: Dereliction of duty, dishonorable conduct, cowardice.\nO'Brien: Cowardice? A Klingon?\nDax: It's been known to happen. The Klingons are as diverse a people as any. Some of them are strong, and some of them are weak.\nBashir: I'd say that those two definitely fall into the strong category.\nKira: Trouble?\nOdo: Not yet.\nKira: I can see why they caught your attention.\nO'Brien: Are they off Martok's new ship?\nOdo: Just docked.\nO'Brien: They seem quiet enough.\nOdo: For the moment, maybe. But do you see the one on the left wearing the necklace?\nBashir: Yes.\nOdo: Those are neck bones. Cardassian neck bones.\nDax: Decided not to wear the sash after all?\nWorf: Officially, there is no House of Mogh in the Empire, so I saw little point in wearing its emblem on a Klingon ship.\nDax: How do you think the crew's going to feel about serving under a man without a House?\nWorf: How they feel is unimportant. All I require from them is obedience. DAX Spoken like an uncaring, hard-nosed, autocrat. The quintessential First Officer.\nWorf: I do not wish to have a lengthy goodbye.\nDax: I wasn't planning on having one.\nWorf: Good.\nWorf: Jadzia.\nDax: Yes.\nWorf: I think it would be better to part company here on the station.\nDax: Oh, I'm coming with you.\nWorf: What?\nDax: The Rotarran is short-handed and I still have four month's leave coming. I've already cleared it with Martok and Benjamin. I'm your new Science Officer.\nWorf: Why did you not tell me?\nDax: It's more fun this way. And after getting a good look at a couple members of the Rotarran's crew, I don't think we're going to be having a lot of fun on this mission.\nDax: Boo!\nTavana: Ros-te-ka cha'Domak ootha Trill?\nTavana: I am Tavana, Engineering Officer.\nDax: I'm Jadzia Dax, Science Officer.\nTavana: Dax? Are you related to the great Curzon Dax?\nDax: Curzon was the last host for my symbiont. I carry his memories.\nTavana: My mother met the great Curzon on the Homeworld once. She said he was very taken with her.\nDax: Curzon was very taken with many people.\nTavana: So was my mother.\nWorf: I am Worf, son of Mogh. I now take my place as First Officer. I serve the Captain, but I stand for the crew. Who brings the record of battle for this ship?\nKornan: I, Kornan son of Shovak, weapons officer of the ship Rotarran, present the glorious record of our honor and hope that you may find us worthy of your leadership.\nLeskit: If you're looking for our victories, you won't find any. Not for the last seven months.\nWorf: I do not need help recognizing a list of failures. It is clear to me that none of you are worthy of my blood or my life. But I will stand for you and together we will restore honor to this ship and bring glory to the Empire.\nWorf: I have accepted the crew's battle records, and on their behalf I pledge you our lives and ask you that you lead us as commander of this ship.\nMartok: I accept your lives into my hands. De-lak DOH!\nWorf: Clear all moorings. Release docking clamps.\nLeskit: Docking clamps released.\nWorf: Bow thrusters ahead one half.\nLeskit: We have cleared the docking ring.\nMartok: Ahead one quarter impulse.\nWorf: Helmsman, plot a direct course to the last known position of the B'Moth, maximum warp.\nMartok: No. That would take us into the Tong Beak Nebula. I want to go around the nebula.\nWorf: General, that will add a full day to our journey.\nMartok: I'm aware of that. There are reports of the Dominion operating ships in the Nebula. I would like to avoid a fight with the Jem'Hadar.\nLeskit: You wish to avoid a fight?\nMartok: Your tone does not sit well with me, helmsman. Our mission is to find the B'Moth, not satisfy your warrior's pride.\nLeskit: My apologies, sir. I meant no disrespect.\nWorf: Then carry out your orders and lay in the course. Maximum warp.\nLeskit: Yes, Commander. Maximum warp. Around the Nebula. Helm ready.\nMartok: Mahk-cha.\nWorf: Qoy qeylIs puqloD. Qoy puqbe'pu'. yoHbogh matlhbogh je SuvwI' WORF + DAX +\nLeskit: Say'moHchu' may' 'Iw.\nAll: maSuv manong 'ej maHoHchu'. nI'be' yInmaj 'ach wovqu'. batlh maHeghbej 'ej yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv. pa' reH maSuvtaHqu'. mamevQo'. maSuvtaH. ma'ov.\nDax: Maybe you didn't read the crew roster, but my name is Dax, and I'm the new science officer on this garbage scow. You were in my seat. I'm glad we understand each other. Now get down to the other end where you belong.\nTavana: Stewed bok-rat liver?\nDax: It's not very fresh. With a little bloodwine, it might be acceptable.\nLeskit: There's been no bloodwine on this ship for six months.\nDax: Really? Then I'm glad I brought three barrels aboard before we left Deep Space Nine.\nKornan: Three barrels?\nMartok: Dishonorable conduct. Dereliction of duty. Inattention to orders. Unmotivated. Insufficiently aggressive. These personnel reports read like prison records.\nWorf: We should remember that the Rotarran has been beaten again and again by the Jem'Hadar. It is not surprising that crew morale has suffered.\nMartok: It's more than a case of low morale, Worf. This crew has been beaten so many times they expect defeat. And that is dangerous.\nWorf: They need a victory. One decisive battle against the Jem'Hadar would do much to lift their spirits.\nMartok: And mine. No one hungers for a victory over the Jem'Hadar more than I do. No one. But we must be cautious. We cannot risk taking this crew into combat before they're ready.\nWorf: They will be ready. I will see to that.\nMartok: I know you will, my friend. Together we will make the Rotarran an honorable ship again. A ship worthy of the Empire. You may return to your station.\nTavana: The Cardassians were trapped between us and the asteroid field. It was perfect. Their power was failing, they had no other ships nearby and our weapons were fully charged.\nKornan: And we were still denied a victory.\nTavana: Three Jem'Hadar ships appeared from out of the asteroid field.\nDax: Three to one are long odds. I'd say you did well just getting away with your ship in one piece.\nLeskit: Getting away is something we've become very good at. The Rotarran can run away from battle faster than any ship in the quadrant.\nTavana: You never could handle your bloodwine, Leskit. You sound like a sniveling Ferengi crying about lost profit.\nLeskit: That's supposed to wound my pride, but Tavana has forgotten that no one serving on the Rotarran has any pride left.\nDax: Does that include me?\nLeskit: I do not wish to insult someone who brought me wine, but one does wonder why the successor to the great Curzon Dax would consent to serve on a ship like this.\nOrtakin: It's no mystery. She's the parMach'kai of our new First Officer. I heard it on the space station before we left.\nDax: Worf is only part of the reason I'm here. I think it is an honor to serve under General Martok.\nLeskit: You mean the one-eyed giant?\nDax: I wouldn't let him hear you say that.\nLeskit: He won't. Unless Worf is not the only one you're sharing a bed this trip.\nDax: On this trip, my bed is as empty as yours, Leskit. Except mine is empty by choice.\nTavana: Now that is a sound I haven't heard on this ship for a long time.\nKornan: It won't last. This ship is made for tears, not laughter.\nDax: You're really not much fun at parties are you, Kornan?\nKornan: Make your jokes. Hold off fate for another day if you can, but this ship and all the souls within its hull are cursed. Death and dishonor walk these corridors like members of the crew.\nTavana: You talk too much, Kornan.\nKornan: Tell me you don't believe it too.\nLeskit: We've cloaked.\nWorf: Alert status one. A Jem'Hadar patrol ship is directly ahead. Prepare for combat operations.\nKornan: Now you will see. Either death or dishonor will visit us this day and there will be nothing that you or I or any of us can do about it.\nMartok: What are they doing here, this far from the Cardassian border?\nDax: They're conducting active polaron scans of this sector. It's likely they're on some kind of reconnaissance mission.\nMartok: Can their scans penetrate our cloak?\nDax: I'd say there's less than a three percent chance of detection.\nMartok: What's our weapons status?\nKornan: Torpedo bays are loaded, warheads are armed. Disruptors are locked on target.\nLeskit: They've increased speed. They're beginning to pull away. Shall I match velocity?\nMartok: No. Take us back to our original course.\nLeskit: Forgive this unworthy officer's poor hearing, but what was your order?\nMartok: Take us back to our original course. Our priority is to find the B'Moth.\nWorf: Sir, we have them in our sights. They cannot escape\nMartok: No, Worf.\nWorf: But letting the ship go\nMartok: Do not question me! Is the course laid in?\nLeskit: Yes, Captain. I await your next command.\nMartok: Engage. Stand down from Alert Status. You have the bridge.\nDax: Commander.\nDax: That was a mistake. We shouldn't have let them go.\nWorf: Our orders are to find the B'Moth, not seek combat. It was a prudent decision.\nDax: To hell with prudence. This isn't a Federation starship, this is a Klingon bird of prey. We could have had an easy victory, and in case you haven't noticed, this crew could use a victory.\nWorf: Enough. You may be my parMach'kai, but that does not give you the right\nDax: I am an officer on this ship and I am trying to warn my superior that a dangerous situation is developing, and that he'd better do something about it.\nWorf: What do you mean, dangerous?\nDax: Take a good look around you, Commander. Maybe it's just me, but I think we're in trouble.\nMartok: I brought you here to support me, not to undermine my authority!\nWorf: I am simply trying to point out that we had an opportunity to destroy an enemy ship with little risk to ourselves.\nMartok: Little risk. What if they had gotten off a distress call before we destroyed them? They could have given away our position, called in reinforcements. We would have spent the next three days avoiding Jem'Hadar ships instead of carrying out our mission! No, my friend, no. This was not the right time for battle. You question my judgment in this matter?\nWorf: No.\nMartok: Good. Without your support I cannot command this ship. Tell me that I have not made an mistake in making you my First Officer.\nWorf: You have my full support, General.\nMartok: I knew you would not fail me, Worf. And you can rest assured I will not fail you.\nLeskit: Two years I spent on the Cardassian border. Two years fighting Guls and Legates and Glinns. They were cunning enemies. Always had us chasing holo-projections and sensor ghosts. Everything was a game with them. Always had a plan within a plan within a plan leading into a trap. It was an honor to kill them.\nOrtakin: The Cardassians.\nLeskit: Ah, but you can respect a Cardassian because he fights for his people and he follows a code just like we do. But not the soldiers of the Dominion. Not the Jem'Hadar. No, they don't fight for anything. They fight because they're designed that way, because they're programd to fight.\nOrtakin: They have no honor.\nLeskit: You're right. That's why they're better than us.\nDax: That's enough. You're on duty in an hour and you should\nLeskit: The Trill doesn't want you to know the truth, my young friend, but you deserve to know the Jem'Hadar are smarter, they're faster, and they're stronger than we are!\nOrtakin: How can you say these things?\nDax: He's drunk, ignore him.\nLeskit: No! Listen! Listen and maybe learn something. The Jem'Hadar are the future!\nDax: Shut up, Leskit!\nLeskit: You know why? Because they can break any of us. Just like they broke Martok.\nDax: That's enough!\nLeskit: She doesn't want you to hear the truth. Martok fears them! That's why we didn't attack them! Martok fears them!\nWorf: Dax. Dax! What happened? Are you all right?\nDax: I had to take Ortakin to surgery. Kornan almost killed him.\nWorf: Why?\nDax: Because Leskit was drunk.\nWorf: I do not understand.\nDax: No, you don't understand because you're too busy worrying about Martok while the crew is falling apart! Kornan needed to attack someone and he lost control. But this is only the beginning. This crew has lost half a dozen separate actions to the Jem'Hadar. The casualty list is as long as my arm. And now they're serving under a man who seems to have left behind more than just an eye in that prison camp.\nWorf: Do not speak of the Captain in that manner, not while I am First Officer.\nDax: Look, I like Martok, but this crew needs a leader. Someone who'll remind them of their duty as soldiers of the Empire. And they need that leader right now, or I promise you they will explode.\nWorf: It will not come to that. I know Martok. He is a great man. He will not fail us, but we must give him time.\nDax: Time may be the one thing we don't have, Worf. What happened in that mess hall could happen all over this ship. And if you think the blood looks bad on my uniform, wait until the decks are dripping with it.\nDax: Commander, I'm picking up a Klingon distress call. It's very faint but I might be able to. It's the B'Moth. They were attacked by the Jem'Hadar and lost main power. Heavy casualties, at least thirty survivors. In need of assistance. Emergency power's failing. The message repeats.\nWorf: Location?\nDax: The signal is coming from zero five five mark three four two. Distance at least seven light years.\nWorf: Helm, alter course to zero five five mark three four two.\nLeskit: Understood.\nWorf: I will inform the General. Engineer, you have the bridge.\nTavana: I want to thank you for what you did in the mess hall.\nDax: Is Ortakin your parMach'kai?\nTavana: Things are coming to a head on this ship. When the fighting breaks out, stay with me. I'll protect you.\nDax: I was still hoping there wasn't going to be any fighting.\nTavana: Station! Station!\nMartok: Something is wrong here, Worf. I can feel it. If the B'Moth was attacked by the Jem'Hadar, why would there be survivors?\nWorf: Since we do not know any details of the battles it is difficult to speculate.\nMartok: We both know the Jem'Hadar do not leave a task half-finished. If they left the ship intact and part of the crew alive, they did it for a reason.\nWorf: There could be many explanations. The B'Moth could have inflicted heavy damage on the Jem'Hadar vessels, forcing them to withdraw. The Jem'Hadar ships could have been recalled during\nMartok: How is it I have only one eye, but I can see more clearly than anyone around me? They deliberately left survivors on that ship. Why? Because they want someone to try to rescue them. Oh, do not take this personally, my friend. I spent two years with the Jem'Hadar. I do not expect you to have the same insight into them that I do. They're soulless creatures, Worf, fighting for no goal, no purpose except to serve the Founders. They take no pleasure in what they do. Nothing is glorified, nothing affirmed. To the Jem'Hadar, we are nothing more than targets to be destroyed. I must not allow them to destroy us, Worf. I must not\nWorf: With all due respect, General, we do not know the tactical situation of the B'Moth yet. We should guard against making any premature judgments.\nMartok: Of course. Dismissed.\nWorf: Rotarran combat log. The fifty third day in the year of Kahless nine ninety nine. We have reached the Cardassian border and begun our search for the B'Moth.\nMartok: Helm, keep us at least five million kellicams from the border.\nLeskit: Understood.\nDax: I think I've got something. It's hard to make out through all the interference, but the thermal signature looks like a ship. It's bearing direct to starboard at an elevation of twenty five degrees. It's coming into visual range.\nWorf: On screen.\nTavana: The B'Moth.\nDax: Confirmed.\nWorf: Helm, lay in a course to bring us alongside.\nTavana: Bridge to Medical Ward, prepare to receive casualties.\nWorf: Assemble an armed boarding party in transporter room one. Make a complete search of all the habitable areas\nMartok: Hold! Commander Dax, what side of the border are they on?\nDax: They're five hundred thousand kellicams inside Cardassian territory, sir. They must have drifted across a couple of days ago.\nMartok: There are probably five Jem'Hadar warships out there right now just waiting for us to cross the border.\nWorf: General, if they are nearby, they do not care what side of the border we are on. They will simply attack.\nMartok: I have explicit orders from the High Council not to enter Cardassian territory.\nWorf: I am certain the Council will not object under these circumstances. There are survivors still aboard the B'Moth.\nMartok: We do not know that. All that we know is there is an automated distress call. They could all be dead by now.\nWorf: And if they are not?\nMartok: Then there is nothing we can do for them.\nTavana: General, you don't intend to just leave them there?\nMartok: I will not throw away the lives of this crew in a futile rescue attempt.\nWorf: They are Klingon warriors, we just cannot\nMartok: I have made my decision! We will not cross the border! From this moment, anyone who questions that, anyone, will be charged with treasonable disobedience. Worf, you have the Bridge.\nWorf: Stations! Stations!\nDax: We can't just leave those men out there to die.\nWorf: No.\nDax: So what are you going to do?\nWorf: The only thing I can do. Challenge Martok for command of this ship.\nDax: I agree. But you realize he may not step aside willingly.\nWorf: I know. But if the General will not step aside I will have to kill him.\nKornan: Martok must die.\nWorf: That is not your decision.\nLeskit: He is a coward. While he commands, he dishonors us all.\nWorf: I shed no tears for your dishonor, Leskit.\nLeskit: Today would be a bad day to die, son of Mogh. Take your Trill and go.\nWorf: Unlikely.\nLeskit: I was hoping you would say something like that.\nWorf: Alert status one. All hands to battle stations. We are going to rescue the B'Moth survivors.\nMartok: Who gave the order to? What's going on here?\nWorf: As First Officer, I say that you are unfit to serve as Captain.\nMartok: You what?\nWorf: You are a coward and I challenge you for command of this ship.\nMartok: I never would have expected this from you, Worf.\nCrew: Martok! Martok! Martok! Martok! Martok!\nTavana: Tactical alert! Tactical alert! There is a Jem'Hadar warship bearing one eight zero mark two one five. They will be within weapons range in nine minutes.\nMartok: The Jem'Hadar will soon learn to regret this day. Who is with me?\nDax: Sometimes I think I know why I love you. Let's go to the Medical Ward.\nKornan: Shields and weapons ready.\nWorf: Wait.\nLeskit: Intercept course laid in. TAVANA +\nAll: Qoy qeylIs puqloD. Qoy puqbe'pu'. yoHbogh matlhbogh je SuvwI' Say'moHchu' may' 'Iw. maSuv manong 'ej maHoHchu'.\nMartok: Mahk-Cha!\nAll: nI'be' yInmaj 'ach wovqu'. batlh maHeghbej 'ej yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv. pa' reH maSuvtaHqu'. mamevQo'. maSuvtaH. ma'ov.\nDax: Now, we go below.\nAll: Qoy qeylIs puqloD. Qoy puqbe'pu'. yoHbogh matlhbogh je SuvwI' Say'moHchu' may' 'Iw. maSuv manong 'ej maHoHchu'. nI'be' yInmaj 'ach wovqu'. batlh maHeghbej 'ej yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv. pa' reH maSuvtaHqu'. mamevQo'. maSuvtaH. ma'ov.\nO'Brien: How's the Intelligence business?\nBashir: Oh, I can't talk about it. All I can do is read these fascinating reports and analyzes, and analyzes of analyzes, and then keep it all to myself. Because no one else has a need to know. So I have to walk around this station feeling like I, er. You don't really care, do you?\nO'Brien: No. A vessel's decloaking fifteen kilometers off the station. It's the Rotarran.\nKira: Martok's ship.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir. And there's an incoming transmission.\nKira: On screen.\nMartok: Major, we've rescued thirty five survivors of a disabled Klingon battle cruiser. Request permission to beam them directly to your Infirmary.\nKira: Permission granted, General. You're also cleared to dock at bay four.\nMartok: We'll need an engineering team to repair our battle damage. And one other thing. Arrange to have fifteen barrels of bloodwine waiting for us in the airlock so we can celebrate the first victory of the Rotarran over the Jem'Hadar!\nMartok: Worf.\nWorf: General.\nMartok: The High Council has issued a commendation for the entire crew of the Rotarran. It would seem that you were right. They view the destruction of a Jem'Hadar ship and the rescue of thirty five warriors as ample justification for crossing the Cardassian border. Your actions on the Rotarran, at the time I thought they were disloyal, but I have come to realize that your intention was to remind me of my duty as a soldier of the Empire and as a warrior. For that I am grateful.\nWorf: You did the same for me once.\nMartok: Worf. On the bridge during the fight, when you dropped your guard. How did you know I would not kill you?\nWorf: I did not know.\nMartok: I see you're still wearing the crest of the House of Mogh.\nWorf: Yes. Jadzia calls it a sentimental gesture.\nMartok: Ah. Perhaps you would consider replacing sentiment with the symbol of a new beginning.\nMartok: The House of Martok would be honored to welcome the Son of Mogh into our family as a warrior and a brother. WORF +\nMartok: Q'apla!"}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's log, stardate 50814.2. The Defiant is returning to Deep Space Nine after a weeklong reconnaissance mission in the Gamma Quadrant.\nDax: I can't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed. The bunks on this ship are so uncomfortable.\nKira: You know what I could use? A weekend at the Golian Spa.\nDax: Maybe you and Shakaar can slip away when we get back.\nKira: We're not seeing each other anymore.\nOdo: When did this happen?\nKira: Last week.\nDax: No wonder you've been so down lately.\nKira: I miss him. But last time we were on Bajor, we went to the Kenda Shrine and we asked the Prophets if we were meant to walk the same path.\nDax: And?\nKira: We're not.\nDax: You make it sound so cut and dry.\nKira: The way I see it, people are either meant to be together or they're not.\nDax: I guess I'd rather believe that any relationship can work as long as both people really want it to.\nOdo: I'm not sure I have an opinion on the subject. Excuse me. I need to regenerate.\nKira: Is he all right?\nDax: You know Odo. This sort of talk makes him uncomfortable.\nSisko: No, thanks. I'm trying to cut down.\nO'Brien: I'm making Molly a dollhouse for her birthday. Thank you. The house itself was easy, but the furniture? Even with a microlathe, I'm not sure I'm going to get it all finished in time.\nKira: I guess her dolls are going to have to rough it for a while.\nDax: Interesting. I'm getting some unusual readings from a nearby solar system.\nWorf: What kind of readings?\nDax: There's some sort of energy barrier surrounding the fourth planet.\nKira: It's hard to tell from the interference, but there could be lifeforms on the surface.\nDax: If there are, I'd be interested to see how they've adapted to the quantum fluctuations in the barrier.\nO'Brien: Can't we check it out the next time we come this way?\nDax: It'll be too late. At the rate the interference is intensifying, in few weeks we won't even be able to send a probe through it.\nSisko: Dax.\nDax: I know everyone wants to go home, but if we're going to take a look at this planet, it'll be our only chance.\nSisko: Are you sure it's safe to pass through the interference?\nDax: A few shield modifications and it should be smooth sailing.\nSisko: All right, we'll make a quick survey. But if all we detect is some fungus, we're not beaming down.\nDax: What if it's smart fungus?\nKira: We're approaching the barrier.\nSisko: All right, old man, take us in.\nDax: Adjusting shield harmonics to compensate.\nO'Brien: Quantum fluctuations are intensifying.\nDax: We're through.\nSisko: Are you all right?\nKira: I think so.\nSisko: Doctor Bashir to the Bridge.\nKira: Oh, no, I'm fine.\nO'Brien: The inertial dampers are offline, and the gyromagnetic stabilizers are depolarized. We're going to be here for a few days.\nSisko: Smooth sailing.\nWorf: Sir, we are being hailed from the surface. There are several scattered settlements across the southern peninsula. I am reading approximately eight thousand inhabitants. They appear to be human.\nSisko: On screen.\nMiranda: Welcome to Gaia, Captain Sisko.\nSisko: You know my name.\nMiranda: We've been expecting you.\nYedrin: It's a long story, Benjamin. Why don't you come down and we'll talk about it over some raktajino. Oh, I forgot. You're trying to cut down.\nMiranda: Miranda O'Brien.\nYedrin: Yedrin. Yedrin Dax.\nDax: What a coincidence.\nSisko: Would one of you mind telling us what's going on?\nMiranda: This settlement was founded by the crew of a Starfleet vessel that crashed on this planet two centuries ago. I realize this is going to be hard for you to accept but that ship was the Defiant. Two days from now, when you leave here and try to pass through the energy barrier, you'll be thrown back in time two hundred years. You'll be stranded here and become the founders of this settlement. We are your descendents.\nYedrin: Go ahead, Jadzia, scan me. You'll find the Dax symbiont right here.\nDax: It's true.\nYedrin: The symbiont has been passed down to Jadzia's descendents for three generations. I remember all of you like it was yesterday. If you scan Miranda, you'll find that her DNA is substantially similar to that of the Chief's.\nDax: She's an O'Brien, all right.\nMiranda: And a Tannenbaum, too.\nO'Brien: You mean Ensign Tannenbaum? From Engineering?\nYedrin: You and Rita were married ten years after the Defiant crashed. You were trapped here, Miles, two hundred years in the past. There was no going home. There was no chance of ever seeing your family again. You were the last to give up hope, but eventually you had to make a new life for yourself here. I know that face, Benjamin. You're still not convinced that we're telling you the truth. All right. If you want, I could tell you something that only Curzon would know. Do you remember that dancer that you met on Pelios station? The one who\nSisko: The one? That'll do. Thank you.\nGabriel: Are you the son of Mogh?\nWorf: I am.\nGabriel: Is it true you can kill someone just by looking at them?\nWorf: Only when I am angry.\nMiranda: Why don't we go inside? You can meet some of the others later. We still have a lot to talk about.\nQuark: Ready for the next problem? Say you have twenty seven tessipates of land you want to plant with nice juicy yelg melons.\nMiranda: This is our meeting hall, which as you can see, we sometimes use as a schoolroom.\nQuark: If each melon needs one square kerripate to grow in, what is the total number of melons you can plant? Let me know as soon as you have an answer.\nYedrin: Jadzia designed it as an educational program. She took Quark's image from the security logs of the Defiant. I've always thought that Quark would make a great math teacher. He's so good with numbers.\nDax: I like your spots.\nLisa: Most people don't have them because our ancestors were mostly human. My mom says they make me special.\nMolly: It's just genetics, Lisa. Like Torvin's ridges.\nLisa: You're just jealous, Molly.\nO'Brien: Molly?\nYedrin: Oh yes. You'll find a lot of them here. The name has been passed down through the O'Brien line.\nMiranda: Molly, this is your grandfather's great great great grandfather.\nMolly: Hello.\nO'Brien: Hi. How much were we, were you able to salvage from the Defiant?\nYedrin: A portable generator, a replicator, a few phasers, tricorders. Things of that sort.\nWorf: Did anybody ever try to send out a distress signal?\nYedrin: To who? It was two hundred years ago. The wormhole hadn't even been diskovered yet. There was no way back to the Alpha Quadrant.\nLisa: Our ancestors decided to make this their new home.\nMolly: And they needed a shelter quickly before the winter came.\nLisa: This is it. This is the oldest building there is. At first, everyone had to sleep here. All forty eight of them.\nSisko: Forty eight?\nYedrin: Um. Kira died a few weeks after the crash. The energy diskharge that struck her on the Bridge damaged her neural pathways. The Defiant didn't have the medical equipment that Julian needed to treat her.\nLisa: You want to see where she was buried?\nDax: Maybe later.\nMiranda: Girls, why don't you run along and help your parents? It's almost time for planting and there's a lot of work to be done.\nLisa: Bye.\nMolly: Bye.\nSisko: Obviously we need to get Kira back to the station for treatment as soon as we can repair the Defiant.\nYedrin: Of course.\nSisko: I don't quite know how to say this, but now that we know about the accident that sent the ship back in time, we should be able to avoid it.\nWorf: But if we do that, your timeline will collapse and everything here will cease to exist.\nYedrin: Not necessarily. I have a plan, and the key is what happened to Kira on the Bridge. This energy diskharge caused a subspace doubling effect. For an instant, every molecule in her body had a corresponding quantum duplicate. There were literally two Kiras.\nSisko: Go on.\nYedrin: If we make certain modifications to the Defiant's systems, we should be able to amplify this doubling effect and create a quantum duplicate of the entire ship. When you encounter the temporal anomaly, the duplicate will be thrown back into the past, and the original, you, will pass through the barrier unaffected.\nO'Brien: So you're saying we go home, and your timeline is preserved.\nYedrin: Exactly.\nSisko: What do you think?\nDax: It might work.\nYedrin: According to the logs I retrieved from the wreckage, the Defiant encountered the anomaly thirty nine hours after it arrived in orbit.\nWorf: If your plan is to work, we must do the same.\nYedrin: There are almost eight thousand people living on this planet. This is the only chance they have.\nSisko: Dax, I want a full evaluation as soon as possible. If the plan is sound, start making the modifications immediately.\nYedrin: Thank you, Benjamin.\nSisko: Anything for you, old man.\nBashir: Apparently the planet is crawling with Bashirs.\nKira: Maybe I'll stay up here. How's Odo?\nBashir: He's resting comfortably. He can't hold his shape because of the quantum fluctuations inside the barrier.\nBashir: Sweet dreams, Odo. But he'll be as right as rain as soon as we leave orbit. You, on the other hand, are going to have to undergo a complete neural pathway induction as soon as we get back to the station.\nKira: If you say so. I feel fine.\nBashir: That's because your neural tissue hasn't begun to deteriorate yet. But rest assured, you'll be on my operating table eventually.\nKira: Hey. Where are you off to?\nBashir: I have to get down there, meet some of those Bashirs.\nOdo: Hello, Nerys.\nKira: Odo?\nOdo: I came up from the surface as soon as I heard you were here.\nKira: How are you holding your shape? I thought\nOdo: I learned to counter the barrier's effects a long time ago. It's good to see you.\nKira: You look different.\nOdo: I've gotten better at shape-shifting over the years. You're as beautiful as I remember. You can't know how I've longed to hear your voice, see your smile.\nKira: Odo, what's gotten into you?\nOdo: There's something I want you to know. Something I've wanted to tell you for two hundred years. I love you, Nerys. I've always loved you.\nKira: What do you mean, you love me?\nOdo: Is it so hard to believe?\nKira: I never knew you felt that way about me.\nOdo: I did everything I could to make sure you wouldn't find out.\nKira: It worked. Why didn't you ever say anything?\nOdo: I didn't think you could possibly care for me the way I care for you. I suppose I was afraid of ruining what we had. Our friendship meant everything to me. It still does. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.\nKira: It's not that. I was just thinking about all the times I came to you for advice about Shakaar and Bareil. It must have been very hard for you to listen to me go on about another man.\nOdo: No, I can't say I enjoyed it, but I wanted to be a good friend to you.\nKira: You were.\nOdo: Nerys, I didn't come here expecting you to throw yourself in my arms. But you're leaving here in two days. I'm never going to see you again. All I'm asking is that you spend some time with me. Gaia is a very beautiful place. I'd love to show it to you.\nKira: I'd like that.\nMiranda: He has your eyes.\nSisko: You think so? You think so?\nDax: Dax to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nDax: Good news, Benjamin.\nDax: I've gone over the sensor logs from the crash. It looks like Yedrin's plan to create a duplicate Defiant is going to work.\nSisko: Did you hear that? Yes. Everything's going to be all right.\nYedrin: Sounds like you have your hands full down there, Benjamin.\nSisko: Oh, yes, you could say that.\nDax: We'll keep you posted.\nBashir: Thirsty?\nWorf: The captain asked me to make a survey of the settlement's infrastructure so we can leave behind the appropriate supplies.\nBashir: I've just been doing the same thing at the clinic. I met one of my descendents there. My great great great great granddaughter, the doctor. She made quite a fuss over me. Apparently my healing touch is something of a legend around here.\nGabriel: They're here! They're here!\nWorf: Who?\nGabriel: The Klingons!\nBrota: Q'apla.\nWorf: Q'apla.\nBrota: We are the Sons of Mogh.\nWorf: You are my descendents.\nBrota: Some by blood, some by choice. Our hearts are Klingon. We live as warriors, just as you taught our ancestors long ago.\nGabriel: I'm going to be one of them someday. I'll ride a wild torga and go hunting, and only come to the settlement to trade furs for the things I need.\nParell: When you're older, you'll have the chance to prove yourself. If you are worthy, you can take a Klingon name and live among us.\nBrota: The Sons of Mogh are gathering to celebrate your return. It would honor us greatly if you would feast with us tonight.\nWorf: I look forward to it.\nBrota: We'll come for you at nightfall.\nBashir: Well, it would appear I'm not the only legend around here.\nDax: Once the emitter array is recalibrated, we can start synchronizing the shield generators.\nYedrin: Oh, good. We're ahead of schedule.\nDax: What? Tell me.\nYedrin: You just reminded me of something. The summer after the crash, it was so hot Jadzia cut her hair short. Worf hated it. I remember promising to grow it back in time for the wedding.\nDax: We got married?\nYedrin: The next fall. Benjamin performed the ceremony. I'll never forget Worf's voice as he said the vows. It was shaking.\nDax: Were we happy together?\nYedrin: He's a good man, Jadzia.\nDax: I know. It's just, sometimes, he's so hard to get along with.\nYedrin: Don't worry. You'll learn to handle him.\nBashir: Did I mention she was a doctor?\nO'Brien: Twice.\nBashir: She showed me pictures of the family going all the way back to me. You know who I ended up with after the crash? Angie Kirby.\nO'Brien: Who's that?\nBashir: Yes, that's what I said. Apparently she transferred aboard last week, but she's gorgeous.\nO'Brien: Congratulations.\nBashir: I think I'm going to ask her out when we get back. We obviously got along well here. So, you and Rita Tannenbaum.\nO'Brien: I don't want to hear about it, Julian. I have a wife and kids back home.\nBashir: Sorry. I didn't mean anything. You know, I'm going to let you get back on with your work.\nKira: Praying over your own grave. That's got to be a new one.\nOdo: If the Prophets were listening, they're probably very confused.\nKira: Well, I wouldn't blame them. I've got to tell you that this whole quantum duplicate two Defiants thing has me feeling a little strange.\nOdo: Why? Thanks to Yedrin's plan our timeline is being preserved. You're going back to the station for the treatment you need.\nKira: I know. It's just that I've always believed that we're all given one destiny, one path, and now we're using technology to get around that. I'm not sure how it makes me feel.\nOdo: I know exactly how it makes me feel. You can't know how much it means to me to know you're going home, Nerys. It won't change anything for me. I lost you two hundred years ago. But for the other Odo, up on the ship, it changes everything. He doesn't have to lose you. And somehow, knowing that makes me feel better. Does that make any sense?\nKira: You've changed so much, Odo. I don't just mean the way you look. You used to be so closed off.\nOdo: I have changed. And the Odo you know will change too, if you're patient with him.\nKira: Why don't we head back?\nSisko: Nice catch. Dax.\nDax: We need to talk. I was going over the sensor logs from the crash and I came across something odd. The quantum fluctuations in the barrier factored out to zero. The chances of that must be a billion to one.\nSisko: What are you getting at?\nDax: That Yedrin faked the logs.\nSisko: Why would he do that?\nDax: So we'd think his plan was going to work. It's not. There was never going to be a duplicate Defiant. Just one. And Yedrin wanted to make sure it went back in time.\nSisko: So that history would repeat itself.\nDax: If I hadn't realized what he had done, we would have ended up stranded here and Kira would have died.\nDax: You betrayed us. You betrayed me! You call yourself Yedrin Dax, but I don't recognize you.\nYedrin: Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?\nSisko: What do you think?\nYedrin: Damn it, Ben. If you don't take the Defiant back in time, the eight thousand people on this planet will cease to exist.\nSisko: You think I don't care? Oh, come on, you know me better than that. What am I supposed to do, recreate the accident and deliberately maroon my crew?\nYedrin: It's what would have happened. Who's to say it's not what's supposed to happen?\nSisko: I'm not going to stand here and argue philosophy with you. I have a duty to protect my people.\nYedrin: Look around you, Benjamin. Think of the things that you've seen since you got here. This is what your crew and their descendents will build if you let history play itself out. I'm not saying that it won't be hard at first, but they will have good lives here. Happy lives.\nDax: What about Kira? If we don't get her back to the station, she'll die.\nYedrin: Is one life too much to ask if it saves eight thousand?\nSisko: Who are you to decide who lives or dies? Who are you to make that call?\nYedrin: I have to make that call because I'm responsible for what happened here! Jadzia knows what I'm talking about. She's the one who insisted that the Defiant investigate this planet. You know as well as I do that you should have been more careful. You should have seen that the barrier was unstable when you scanned it.\nDax: But I didn't. I was so bent on making some great diskovery that I missed it.\nYedrin: And because of you, because of me, Kira died and forty eight people were stranded here. You don't know what it was like to live with that. For years, Benjamin, every time I looked at you all I could think of was Jake and how because of me, he would never see his father again. Eventually I had to accept the fact there was nothing I could do to change things. I couldn't bring Kira back. All I could do was look to the future, Benjamin, and make sure that we survived here no matter what. This community is my responsibility. For two centuries, I have watched it grow into something to be proud of. For generations these people have worked to make a life for themselves here. They deserve a chance to hang on to it.\nSisko: I'm not denying that. I wish there was a way we could help you, but my people have the right to go home to their families. And I will not ask Kira to sacrifice her life for eight thousand people, for eight million. No one has the right to ask that. I'm sorry, old man, but there is nothing I can do.\nKira: Look at them. They have no idea what's going to happen.\nWorf: It is for the best. They are children. They would not understand.\nKira: I'm not sure I understand. Eight thousand people, Worf. They have to die because I have to go back to the station to be treated for some condition I can't even tell I have.\nWorf: That is not the only reason we are going back. Do not blame yourself, Major.\nKira: I'm going up to the ship.\nMiranda: It would've been a good crop this year. Spring came so early.\nGabriel: Miranda, is something wrong? Everyone's so quiet.\nMiranda: It's nothing you need to worry about.\nParell: We came to tell you. There will be no feast tonight.\nWorf: I understand. This is not a time for celebration.\nBrota: Tomorrow we will see the sun rise again, but no one here will see it set.\nWorf: Join me. There is something I wish to say. It is a great honor to know that my legacy has thrived on your world for so long. I can see the Klingon heart beats strong here.\nBrota: You honor us with your words. We have tried to live as you taught us to.\nParell: We've never plowed fields or milked chattel. We've lived as warriors, hunters.\nBrota: Last year, I slew a yarbear three meters tall. Your mek'leth was my only weapon. The beast maimed me, and for a time it seemed I would die from my wounds. Now I wish I had. It would have been a warrior's death.\nParell: He could have taken his place among the honored dead in Sto'Vo'Kor.\nWorf: Perhaps he will yet.\nBrota: No. Ceasing to exist because my parents were never born? That is not a death worthy of Sto'Vo'Kor. Kill me, Worf. I have no enemies to fight, no glory to be won. Give me an honorable death.\nParell: Don't make us wait for the end like farm animals waiting for slaughter.\nWorf: I will come to you tomorrow and do what you ask.\nOdo: Why did you want to come back here?\nKira: I had to see it again so I could be sure.\nOdo: Sure about what?\nKira: That this is where I belong. The path the Prophets laid out for me ends here.\nOdo: But not this time, Nerys. The Captain's taking you back to DS Nine.\nKira: I can't let him do that. Not if it's going to cost eight thousand lives. No, we have to let history take its course, even if it means I have to die here.\nO'Brien: What? Have you lost your mind?\nBashir: Kira, if we don't go back to the station you'll die within a few weeks. There's nothing I can do for you here.\nKira: I know that, Julian. I've accepted it. We've got to take the Defiant back in time, otherwise we're cheating fate.\nO'Brien: Yeah, well, I wouldn't mind cheating fate all the way home to the station.\nDax: Neither would I. But if we go home, eight thousand people are going to cease to exist.\nO'Brien: I don't know those people. But I have a wife and kids back home who need me.\nKira: Your family will be fine, Miles. The Prophets will take care of them.\nO'Brien: No offense, but I don't believe in your Prophets.\nWorf: All Major Kira is saying is our families will survive no matter what we do. The colonists will not. If she is willing to sacrifice her life to save them, I am willing to remain here.\nO'Brien: That's easy for you to say. You hardly see your son.\nWorf: And you are afraid to face your destiny.\nO'Brien: We can sit here arguing destiny until we're blue in the face, but the bottom line is, nobody has the right to tell me I can't go home to my family.\nSisko: I want to go home as much as you do, Chief. I'm just listening to what everyone has to say.\nO'Brien: So we're not actually considering this?\nSisko: No, we're not.\nKira: Captain.\nSisko: Major, you've made your position clear. All right, people. Dismissed.\nWorf: By sunset this will all be gone.\nDax: Taking a last look around?\nSisko: Whoa. Gabriel, where are you going in such a hurry?\nGabriel: To the fields. It's time for planting.\nMiranda: Come on, Gabriel, there isn't much time. Put some of this on your face. The sun's strong today.\nYedrin: Planting day has always been important here. It brings everyone together. Somehow it feels right to see it through.\nMiranda: Here's one for you. Molly, take that from the bottom.\nMolly: Thank you.\nBashir: Thank you.\nO'Brien: The status report you asked for, sir. The repairs are finished. The Defiant's ready to leave orbit.\nMolly: Aren't you going to help?\nO'Brien: I'm busy.\nMolly: You don't look busy.\nSisko: She's an O'Brien, all right. Better get to it, Chief.\nBrota: You said there was an enemy for us to fight.\nWorf: They are attempting to plant their fields before the sun sets. Time is their enemy. We should help them defeat it.\nBrota: Bring the others.\nO'Brien: Ah, great. You know, I have a little girl named Molly, too.\nMolly: Really? Can I meet her?\nO'Brien: We'll see.\nMolly: By summer, this plant will be taller than you. After the harvested, I'll help my mother make gelm bread with it.\nWoman: Molly?\nSisko: Is something wrong?\nO'Brien: We can't do it.\nSisko: What?\nO'Brien: We can't let these people die.\nYedrin: The navigational logs from the original crash. Download them into the ship's autopilot and it'll match the original trajectory. That should send the Defiant back to the right point in time.\nMiranda: I don't know how to thank you for what you're doing.\nDax: We'd better go, Benjamin. There isn't much time.\nOdo: You can't do this.\nKira: Please don't make it any harder than it already is.\nOdo: You have to go home, Nerys. You have to.\nKira: This isn't about me. This is about the eight thousand people down on that planet, and their children and grandchildren.\nOdo: What about the children who'll never be born because the Defiant doesn't return to DS Nine?\nKira: They don't exist yet. These people do.\nOdo: Nerys, just tell me one thing. If you'd known how I felt about you, if I'd said something years ago, do you think things might have been different?\nKira: Maybe.\nSisko: Has everyone had a chance to record a message to their families?\nO'Brien: I've downloaded the recordings into a class four probe. It'll start transmitting a location signal as soon as it clears the barrier.\nSisko: Launch the probe, Chief.\nKira: It's time.\nSisko: Transfer helm control to autopilot.\nDax: Autopilot engaged.\nSisko: Raise shields.\nDax: Aye, sir.\nWorf: We are breaking orbit.\nDax: Coming around to four two mark seven.\nO'Brien: I'm picking up an unusual temporal signature.\nKira: It's the anomaly. We're headed straight for it.\nDax: Ten seconds to impact. Eight, seven, six, five, four\nKira: We're veering away from the anomaly!\nSisko: Try to override the autopilot.\nDax: I can't.\nO'Brien: We're clearing the barrier.\nSisko: What happened?\nO'Brien: Someone changed our flight plan. It wasn't me.\nSisko: Scan the surface.\nKira: No sign of the settlement or the inhabitants. Everything's gone.\nSisko: Whoever changed our flight plan knew their way around the computer system. They bypassed our security protocols without leaving a trace.\nDax: It must have been someone from the crew.\nSisko: Or someone who used to be.\nDax: Yedrin? But all he cared about was the settlement. What could have changed his mind?\nSisko: Seeing us again. Perhaps he decided he couldn't let us go through with it.\nDax: Everyone we met, they never existed.\nSisko: They existed. As long as we remember them, they always will.\nKira: Come in. Odo.\nOdo: There's something you should know. The other Odo, the one from the planet, came to Sickbay before he left the ship.\nKira: Oh?\nOdo: He linked with me. Now I know everything that happened.\nKira: The other day, when I told you about Shakaar and me not seeing each other anymore, you seemed so uncomfortable.\nOdo: I'd come to accept the fact that you were involved with someone else, then suddenly everything changed.\nKira: I don't know what to say. I'm still trying to sort everything out.\nOdo: So am I. I think we both need time. There's something else the other Odo wanted you to know. He was responsible for changing the Defiant's flight plan.\nKira: Why?\nOdo: So that you wouldn't have to die.\nKira: I can't believe it. Eight thousand people!\nOdo: He did it for you, Nerys. He loved you.\nKira: That makes it right?\nOdo: I don't know. He thought so. I'll see you in the morning."}
{"text": "Nog: Squid. My favorite human food. Mmm. Delicious, sir.\nJake: Terrific as always, Dad.\nSisko: I'm glad you like it.\nNog: Sir, if I may say so, this sauce tastes very familiar.\nSisko: Well it should. It's puree of tube grubs.\nJake: Tube grubs?\nSisko: I figured if Nog is willing to eat squid, it's only fair that we try tube grubs. Besides, you said it was terrific.\nJake: That was before I knew what it was.\nSisko: Eat. You need more meat on your bones. So, tell me, Nog. How do you like working security?\nNog: It's very interesting, sir.\nJake: That's not what you told me.\nNog: Jake.\nSisko: Something wrong?\nNog: No, sir. Everything's quite satisfactory. Thank you, sir.\nJake: Could've fooled me.\nSisko: Cadet, if there's a problem, I want to hear about it.\nNog: Well, sir, it's the Klingons, sir.\nSisko: What about them?\nNog: It's their attitude, sir. It's bad.\nSisko: Bad?\nNog: They're loud, obnoxious, and if I may say so, sir, generally intoxicated. They walk around the station like they own the place, and whenever a station security officer tries to talk to them, say to ask them to keep the noise level down on the Promenade, they ignore him.\nJake: You mean they ignore you.\nNog: They never look me in the eye when I try to talk to them, sir. They just stare over my head and pretend I'm not even there. I hate it when they do that.\nSisko: I can see how that might be annoying.\nJake: Not as annoying as listening to him complain about it all the time.\nSisko: Here is what I suggest, Cadet. The next time the Klingons refuse to acknowledge your presence, do what a Klingon would do. Confront them about it. If you stand up to them, you'll earn their respect.\nJake: Or get your butt kicked. One or the other.\nSisko: Either way, they'll never ignore you again.\nSisko: Enter.\nMartok: Captain, I need to speak to you. Alone.\nNog: That does it.\nSisko: Not now, Nog.\nNog: But sir.\nJake: Come on, Nog, let's go.\nMartok: Captain, my crew and I were patrolling the Cardassian border. We intercepted a very disturbing message.\nSisko: This is a Maquis code.\nMartok: I was as surprised as you. I thought the Maquis were wiped out by Cardassia and their new Dominion allies, but it would appear I was mistaken.\nSisko: Were you able to decode it?\nRebecca: Michael, I hope you get this message. We've launched the missiles. They should reach Cardassia in thirteen days. It may not bring back our dead, but at least they'll have a lot of company.\nSisko: Did you detect any missiles?\nMartok: No. But that proves nothing. A few months ago, the Klingon High Council decided to aid the Maquis in their fight against Cardassia. We provided them with thirty class four cloaking devices. It was our understanding they would use them on their ships.\nSisko: But they could have been mounted on the missiles instead.\nMartok: You see the problem.\nSisko: The Maquis had access to tricobalt explosives, biogenic weapons, antimatter warheads.\nMartok: The death toll could be in the millions.\nSisko: I knew the Maquis were desperate, but I didn't believe that they would resort to something like this.\nMartok: A saber bear is most deadly when it is trapped with no hope of escape.\nSisko: Cardassia is under Dominion protection. If millions of their citizens are killed by human terrorists, they'll demand revenge.\nMartok: And their Dominion allies will see that they get it. They'll launch a counterstrike against the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the entire Alpha Quadrant.\nSisko: And start a war that could destroy us all.\nSisko: Report.\nDax: Do the words needle in a haystack mean anything to you?\nWorf: We spent over fifty hours searching the Badlands for signs of the Maquis missiles, without success.\nDax: We would have stayed longer, but we had a hard time avoiding the Jem'Hadar patrols.\nO'Brien: Let me guess. They homed in on your plasma wake.\nDax: Even though we were cloaked, they were still able to track us.\nO'Brien: The Defiant's warp engines are too powerful. They ionize the nebular gasses in the Badlands.\nDax: It's like a Ligorian mastodon moving through the forest. You may not be able to see it, but it definitely makes the leaves rustle.\nSisko: I need answers, people. If those missiles do exist, they're only eleven days from their target. I want to know where they are and how to stop them.\nWorf: We need more information, a way to narrow our search.\nSisko: I think I know someone who can help.\nSisko: Eddington, wake up.\nEddington: I'm dreaming, right? This is a nightmare.\nSisko: This is a nightmare, all right, but you are wide awake.\nEddington: I was wondering when you'd show up. I expected to see you here weeks ago.\nSisko: I've been busy.\nEddington: But now you're here. So enjoy yourself. Savor the moment. I know you've been wanting to gloat over my defeat for a long time.\nSisko: I'm not here to gloat.\nEddington: You deserve to. You won. I betrayed Starfleet by joining the Maquis. You swore you'd track me down and you did. You got your revenge.\nSisko: Actually, that's what I'm here to talk to you about. Revenge.\nEddington: One of my favorite topics.\nSisko: I believe that was intended for you.\nRebecca: Michael, I hope you get this message. We've launched the missiles. They should reach Carda\nSisko: Don't you want to hear the rest of it?\nEddington: Why should I? It has nothing to do with me. Michael is a very common name.\nSisko: True. But somehow I think you're the right one.\nEddington: Guess again.\nSisko: If those missiles hit Cardassia, it could start a war. Billions of people will be killed.\nEddington: If you expect me to shed a tear, you're going to be disappointed. I used up all my tears when the Dominion slaughtered the Maquis. I sat here in this cell for three days and listened to the reports as they came in. In those three days, everyone and everything I cared about was wiped out.\nSisko: I heard the same reports. It was a tragedy.\nEddington: Your generosity of spirit touches me. But you don't give a damn about what happened to us, and I don't give a damn about what happens to you.\nSisko: You may have taken off the uniform, but you're still a Starfleet officer. And you don't want a war between the Federation and the Dominion any more than I do.\nEddington: What you want and what I want doesn't really matter. There's nothing you can do to stop those missiles from hitting their targets. They're cloaked, highly maneuverable, programd to change course at random. You'll never find them.\nSisko: Maybe we can't locate the missiles, but that doesn't mean we can't stop them. You must have programd in an abort code, some way to deactivate the missiles by remote.\nEddington: Even if there was such a thing, you'd have to transmit it from the launch site. And I don't think you're going to find that either. No code, no launch site. I'm afraid you're out of luck, Captain. Looks like everyone's out of luck.\nSisko: That's it? You're just going to lie there and do nothing.\nEddington: That's what you do when you're in prison. Nothing. Just sit back and wait for the next counseling session, the next psychological evaluation, the next rehabilitation seminar.\nSisko: What if I could get you out of here? Arrange a pardon in exchange for your helping me?\nEddington: You like this, don't you, Ben? You like deciding the fate of others. It makes you feel important.\nSisko: It's not about me. Do you want your freedom or not?\nEddington: Freedom, huh? Tell me. If they did release me, where would I go? What would I do?\nSisko: Anything you want.\nEddington: What about bringing the Maquis back from the dead? Can I do that? Can you? Can anyone? No, I didn't think so. In that case, I'll tell you what I want. I want to lie here until the Jem'Hadar blow this place to pieces and me along with it.\nQuark: Careful, that hurts.\nBashir: I haven't done anything yet.\nQuark: Well, what are you waiting for? I told you it hurts.\nOdo: You'll survive.\nQuark: Did you catch him?\nOdo: We caught him. Or rather I should say Major Kira caught him.\nKira: I didn't really do anything. I was in the Bajoran shrine, meditating, and he burst in stark naked, and fell to his knees crying out to the Prophets for protection.\nBashir: Morn, of all people. Who would have thought he'd just snap like that?\nOdo: Certainly not me. Which makes me wonder what could've pushed him over the edge?\nQuark: Why are you looking at me? I'm the victim here. He hit me with a barstool.\nKira: Why did he hit you?\nQuark: I don't have the faintest idea.\nKira: Think harder.\nOdo: Witnesses say you were talking to him right up to the second he went berserk.\nQuark: Of course I was talking to him. That's what bartenders are supposed to do, talk to their customers.\nKira: What exactly was it that you were talking to him about?\nQuark: All I said was that the military personnel on this station were starting to look a little nervous. When they get nervous, I get nervous.\nOdo: And that's all you said?\nQuark: Basically. I might've done a little harmless theorizing.\nBashir: About what?\nQuark: Oh, something like it was only a matter of time before the Dominion launched a full-scale assault against the Federation and when that happened the station would undoubtedly be their first target. And I might've idly suggested that there wasn't a chance in hell that any of us would get out of here alive.\nOdo: And that's when Morn hit you with a barstool and ran out onto the Promenade screaming, 'We're all doomed.'\nQuark: Some people just don't react well to stress. Ow!\nDax: Ops to Major Kira.\nKira: Go ahead.\nDax: There's an incoming transmission from Captain Sisko.\nKira: I'll be right there. Probably wants to warn us that the first wave of Jem'Hadar is on the way.\nQuark: Ha, ha, ha. Very funny. She's joking, right?\nBashir: Hold still.\nSisko: My plan is to go into the Badlands, find the launch site, and deactivate those missiles.\nKira: You make it sound so easy. You sure you don't want me to send the Defiant.\nSisko: The Defiant would just attract unwanted attention.\nKira: Maybe, but I'd feel a hell of a lot better if you weren't out there alone.\nSisko: Don't worry, Major. I'm not alone.\nSisko: Dinner.\nEddington: What about these?\nSisko: What about them?\nEddington: It makes it a little difficult to eat.\nSisko: You'll manage.\nEddington: Replicator entrée number one oh three. Curried chicken and rice with a side order of carrots. Or at least that's what they want us to believe. But you and I both know what we're really eating. Replicated protein molecules and textured carbohydrates.\nSisko: It's not that bad.\nEddington: It may look like chicken, but it still tastes like replicated protein molecules to me.\nSisko: If you don't want it, don't eat it.\nEddington: Remember that Thanksgiving dinner you cooked for the senior staff last year? How many months did it take you to grow all those vegetables in the hydroponic garden? Every ingredient fresh, real. Though you did put too much tarragon in the stuffing.\nSisko: I wasn't aware that you were a food critic.\nEddington: I wasn't, until I joined the Maquis and started eating real food. Food that I'd grown with my own hands. Fresh corn, sweet as a baby's smile. And tomatoes. Do you know how hard it is to grow tomatoes? There's always too much rain or not enough. It's too hot, it's too cold. I wonder what happened to those tomato plants? Probably burned to the ground along with everything else.\nSisko: If we don't stop those missiles, a lot of things are going to burn to the ground. And not just on Cardassia.\nEddington: You never give up, do you, Ben? Here we are, having a pleasant conversation about food, and all you're thinking about is the mission and how to get me to cooperate. You're wasting your breath. As far as I'm concerned my life is over. I'm dead.\nSisko: For a dead man, you talk a lot.\nEddington: Then why didn't you leave me in prison?\nSisko: Because I have a job to do and I can't do it without you.\nEddington: You're going to have to. I told you when you dragged me out of my cell that I wasn't going to help you. I meant it then and I mean it now.\nSisko: I am trying to prevent a war.\nEddington: You're the one who set the ground rules when you came after me, Ben. You're the one who made it personal. You could've looked the other way. You could've left the Maquis alone, but you didn't do it. You hunted us, hounded us, fought us every chance you got. And in the end, you set us up for the slaughter. I expected better of you than that. So did a lot of people. People like Cal Hudson. I bet you haven't heard that name in a while.\nSisko: You're right about that.\nEddington: He told me the two of your were friends at the Academy.\nSisko: And a long time after.\nEddington: Until he joined the Maquis.\nSisko: He betrayed his oath to Starfleet.\nEddington: If it makes you feel any better, he paid for his sins. He was killed in a skirmish with the Cardassians.\nSisko: He was a good man.\nEddington: He felt the same about you. He thought you were wrong about the Maquis, but he forgave you, which is ironic considering you never forgave him. You can't forgive any of us. And not because we betrayed Starfleet or the Federation, but because we betrayed you. That's what this is all about. Your ego. Where Benjamin Sisko leads, all must follow.\nSisko: Is that what you really believe?\nEddington: It's the truth, isn't it? The Maquis were never much of a threat to the Federation, but we were a threat to you. We were a stain on your record and you couldn't have that. Not when you were so busy measuring yourself for an admiral's uniform.\nSisko: You want to blame me for what happened to the Maquis? Fine. Go ahead, blame me. Blame Starfleet. Blame the Federation. Blame everyone except Michael Eddington.\nEddington: The Maquis won its greatest victories under my leadership.\nSisko: Your leadership. Your shining moment of glory. Michael Eddington gets to take off his gold uniform and play hero. That's what you always wanted, to lead troops in a glorious cause. Well, you had your chance and look where you led them. Right into their graves.\nEddington: They died because I wasn't there when they needed me most. Because you put me in jail.\nSisko: They died because you filled their heads with false hopes. Sold them dreams of a military victory when what they needed was a negotiated peace.\nEddington: We had the Cardassians on the run.\nSisko: And they ran right into the arms of the Dominion. End of story.\nEddington: Not quite the end.\nSisko: That's right. A few survivors of your noble crusade have decided to launch a pointless retaliatory strike against Cardassia.\nEddington: It's not so pointless. If you can't have victory, sometimes you just have to settle for revenge.\nSisko: Is that what you want? To be remembered as the man who helped bring about the worst war in Federation history?\nEddington: Not quite the legacy I had in mind, but I can live with it.\nSisko: Can you?\nMartok: No, no, no. You can do better than that. You're barely making contact. Again! More wine!\nJake: I don't care what anyone says. That's got to hurt.\nNog: They're at sixty five decibels. Loud, but not loud enough.\nJake: What are you talking about?\nNog: Five more decibels and they'll be legally disturbing the peace.\nJake: And then what?\nNog: And then I'm going to escort them to a holding cell.\nJake: You're going to arrest General Martok for disturbing the peace?\nNog: I am.\nJake: Aren't you going to at least call for backup?\nNog: Jake, you heard what your father said. They won't respect me until I stand up to them, alone.\nJake: Personally, I think respect is overrated.\nNog: That's it. Seventy decibels. They're mine.\nNog: Whoaaa!\nJake: You okay?\nNog: I'm fine. Just tell me when everyone leaves.\nJake: Why?\nNog: Because I'm not getting up until they do.\nSisko: Eddington.\nEddington: Are we there yet?\nSisko: Where?\nEddington: That's the question, isn't it?\nSisko: There's something here I want you to see.\nEddington: I'll pass, thanks.\nSisko: Suit yourself. Maybe it's nothing. It is hard to get an accurate sensor reading in the Badlands. But unless I'm mistaken, two Jem'Hadar warships are headed our way.\nEddington: Yeah, those are Jem'Hadar warships all right. You've got a problem.\nSisko: We both do. They're getting closer. One AU away. Point nine AU. You said you wanted to be blown to bits by the Jem'Hadar? Well, it looks like you're going to get your wish.\nEddington: I have faith in you, Captain. You'll get us out of this.\nSisko: Not me, Mister Eddington. I don't know the Badlands that well. But you do.\nEddington: Where are you going?\nSisko: To get a raktajino.\nEddington: Now?\nSisko: Throat's a little dry. One raktajino.\nEddington: You're crazy. They're almost on top of us.\nSisko: One thing I will say about these replicators. They sure know how to make Klingon coffee.\nEddington: They're scanning us.\nSisko: They should be in firing range any minute now.\nEddington: Very clever, Captain, but it's not going to work. I am not going to take the helm.\nSisko: Suit yourself.\nEddington: That is what you're trying to do, isn't it?\nSisko: I'm trying to see how serious your death wish really is. I'm betting that it doesn't even exist. Just like I'm betting you won't be able to sit back and let your friends start a war that could destroy the Alpha Quadrant.\nEddington: That's an awfully big bet.\nSisko: I don't think so. Point seven AU.\nSisko: Can you lose them?\nEddington: I plotted a spiral course around a plasma filament. It should dissipate our warp signature.\nSisko: Very fancy.\nEddington: You can take over now.\nSisko: No, I don't think so.\nEddington: Let's get one thing straight, Captain. I'll get you to the launch site and I'll help you deactivate those missiles. But then you and I are going to have it out once and for all.\nSisko: You want a fight, mister? I will give you one.\nEddington: I don't intend to fight you, Captain. I intend to kill you.\nEddington: Captain, when I joined the Maquis, I left some personal items behind on the station.\nSisko: As far as I know, all your things were put in storage.\nEddington: You didn't happen to see an old Earth coin, about this big with a bird on the front?\nSisko: A bird?\nEddington: A loon, actually. My lucky looney. It's an old Canadian coin. Been in the family for over two hundred years.\nSisko: It's probably in some locker in the Assay Office, along with the rest of your things.\nEddington: I hope so. I'd hate to think I'd lost it.\nSisko: Speaking of things you thought you'd lost.\nEddington: There's no way those Jem'Hadar ships could have tracked us.\nSisko: Obviously there is. Can we lose them again?\nEddington: Dissipating our warp signature didn't work.\nSisko: Don't tell me the Maquis didn't have plan B.\nEddington: You're not going to like it.\nSisko: Half an AU and closing. If you do have a plan, I guarantee I'll learn to love it.\nEddington: We're going to have to realign the impulse flow regulators.\nSisko: You mean shut down the engines? They'd be on us in a second.\nEddington: Who said anything about shutting down the engines?\nSisko: You're thinking about realigning the emitter while the engines are engaged? One wrong move and the flow regulators will blow up in your face.\nEddington: You mean, in your face. I'll be piloting the ship. When you finish, we can use the impulse exhaust to detonate the plasma field behind us. Even if the Jem'Hadar survive the blast, the shockwave should wipe out any trace of our ion wake. Point four AU and closing. You'd better get started.\nSisko: All right. But hold the ship steady. I don't want any accidents.\nEddington: I'll do my best.\nSisko: Hmm.\nComputer: Warning. Attempting to access impulse flow regulators while engines are engaged is not recommended.\nSisko: Tell me something I don't know. Disengage safeties. Authorisation Sisko A four seven one.\nComputer: Acknowledged. Safeties disengaged.\nSisko: Damn it, Eddington, I told you to hold this ship steady.\nEddington: Sorry, captain. We ran into a pocket of boron gas.\nSisko: Don't do it again.\nEddington: You still there, Captain?\nSisko: Disappointed?\nEddington: Just checking. Captain, I hate to rush you\nEddington: But things are going to get very unpleasant if we don't get out of here soon.\nSisko: I'm aware of the problem. Eddington!\nEddington: That wasn't me. They're firing at us.\nSisko: In that case, let her rip.\nEddington: Well, that got the adrenaline pumping. No sign of the Jem'Hadar. Looks like we lost them, Captain. Captain? Computer, locate Captain Sisko.\nComputer: Internal sensors are offline.\nEddington: Of course they are.\nSisko: I told you to keep the ship steady.\nEddington: You're alive. What a pleasant surprise.\nSisko: I'm sure. Now, get us to the launch site!\nJake: I understand, but all I'm saying, Nog, is next time you know I have a girl over, just call me before you come home.\nNog: The two of you were only talking.\nJake: Well, you never know.\nNog: Jake, I know your track record. You never get past talking.\nJake: Now that's a scurrilous lie.\nNog: Scurrilous? Is that worse than a regular lie?\nJake: Look, I don't know what the big deal is. Just check before you come home, okay?\nNog: Okay. And you do the same.\nJake: Nog, you haven't had a date since you left the Academy. Unless you're counting holosuites.\nNog: Now who's being scurrilous?\nNog: I don't believe this.\nJake: What's wrong?\nNog: They're loitering on the Promenade in our old spot.\nJake: I guess they know a good view when they see one.\nNog: Jake, don't you get it? They know I'm territorial about that spot. They're purposely doing this to insult me.\nJake: Nog, you are definitely getting stranger as you get older.\nNog: I can't let them do this to me. Stay back, Jake. This could get ugly.\nNog: All right, it's time for you to move along.\nMartok: We will decide when it is time to move.\nNog: Station regulation eight two slash seven B clearly states that loitering on the Promenade is prohibited.\nMartok: Is that so?\nNog: It is. Now either move or I'm going to have to place you under arrest.\nMartok: You are either very brave or very stupid, Ferengi.\nNog: Probably a little of both.\nMartok: Indeed. Courage comes in all sizes. But don't tempt fate. Khi-gosH.\nJake: Nog, I'm impressed.\nNog: Klingons. You just have to know how to handle them.\nEddington: Next stop Athos Four, a grim little fogbound piece of rock in the middle of nowhere.\nSisko: What better place to hide a missile launching site?\nEddington: We thought so.\nSisko: The sensors aren't detecting anything.\nEddington: That's the general idea. There's too much interference to detect anything, but it's there.\nSisko: We'll never get a transporter through all this static.\nEddington: We don't need to. There's a shuttle pad not far from the launch site.\nSisko: Then take us down.\nSisko: How far?\nEddington: A few kilometers. This tunnel will take us most of the way.\nSisko: These tunnels are man-made.\nEddington: I know. I helped dig them myself.\nSisko: Now where?\nEddington: Give me a minute to get my bearings. It's been a while.\nSisko: You hear something?\nSisko: These barrels are made of duridium. That should hold them off for a while. I thought you said the Jem'Hadar would never find this place.\nEddington: I didn't think they would. I was wrong. I say we rush them. In this fog, they'll have as much chance of hitting each other as hitting us.\nSisko: Too risky.\nEddington: You never would've made it in the Maquis with that kind of attitude.\nSisko: It's not me that I'm worried about, it's you. If you get killed, there'll be no way to stop those missiles.\nSisko: Take this. I'll go around and try to draw their fire. You should be able to catch them off guard when they come after me.\nEddington: I can barely see two meters in front of me. How will I know what I'm aiming at?\nSisko: I'll be the one holding the pipe.\nEddington: Attacking two Jem'Hadar soldiers with a pipe? That's a brilliant plan.\nSisko: It could be worse.\nEddington: I know. It could be me holding the pipe.\nSisko: Exactly.\nSisko: You've got sharp eyes.\nEddington: Not really. I just waited to see which of you was knocked down first, and then I shot the one still standing.\nSisko: Thank you for your vote of confidence.\nEddington: Now help me drag these bodies over to the well. Maybe that way the other Jem'Hadar will look for their friends and not us.\nSisko: In a couple of minutes this entire settlement is going to be crawling with Jem'Hadar. I suggest you get us to the launch site now.\nEddington: That way.\nSisko: Are you sure?\nEddington: Reasonably.\nEddington: We're close.\nSisko: Then let's keep moving.\nSisko: Wait.\nEddington: Vance.\nSisko: You knew him?\nEddington: He was a shuttle pilot, and a friend.\nSisko: There are more.\nEddington: This wasn't supposed to happen. We were winning. The Cardassian Empire was falling into chaos. The Maquis colonies were going to declare themselves an independent nation.\nSisko: Eddington, listen to me. This is not the time.\nEddington: It's over.\nSisko: It's not over. We still have to stop those missiles.\nEddington: That's all you care about? The missiles?\nSisko: It's too late for us to help these people. But if we don't stop the missiles, this'll just be the beginning.\nEddington: I was their leader. I was responsible for them and I failed. I failed them all.\nSisko: Maybe we all failed them. Maybe we could've prevented this from happening. I don't know. It's going to take a long time and a lot of soul-searching before I find the answer, but right now we have a mission to complete.\nEddington: I wish I knew for certain that killing you would make me feel better. But I suppose that can wait for another time.\nEddington: That's it.\nSisko: You're sure.\nEddington: You want to stand here and argue about it? Come on. It looks clear.\nSisko: Wait.\nEddington: I'm glad one of us remembered they can do that.\nEddington: No, wait. I don't want to damage any of the equipment. Let me try something.\nRebecca: Michael, I wondered when you'd get here.\nEddington: I came as soon as I could. Captain Sisko, I'd like you to meet Rebecca Sullivan. My wife. All right, we're getting out of here. We've got a runabout hidden at the landing site. We can still access the tunnels through the old well. Stick together. Try not to lose each other in the fog.\nSisko: Wait a minute. What about disarming the missiles?\nEddington: Look around you, Ben. Does this look like a launch site?\nSisko: Eddington, I want the truth. Now.\nRebecca: There never were any missiles, no retaliatory strike against Cardassia. It was all a ploy, a way to let Michael know that we'd made it here.\nEddington: This was our fall back position. But I needed your help to evacuate these people.\nSisko: What would you have done if I hadn't forced you to come with me?\nEddington: I would have volunteered. You should be smiling, Ben. That Dominion counterstrike you were so worried about, it's not going to happen.\nSisko: Yes, you're right. That is good news. But I still don't like being lied to.\nEddington: I hope you're ready to finish what you started.\nRebecca: Michael, we don't have time for this.\nEddington: We'll finish this later.\nRebecca: All right, you heard what Michael said. Stick together.\nSisko: You should've told me the truth. If I had known the Jem'Hadar were going to be here, I would have brought more men.\nEddington: The Jem'Hadar weren't supposed to be here. No one knew about this base but us.\nRebecca: They landed three days ago. We tried to fight.\nEddington: I know. I saw the bodies. I thought for a while there\nRebecca: I didn't think I'd make it either, but they kept all the leaders alive. They were going to make a present of us to the Cardassian government. Now I guess we'll end up in a Federation prison.\nEddington: No, we're not going to prison. Not if I have anything to say about it.\nSisko: Right now, I suggest you concentrate on getting off this planet. We can worry about the rest later.\nEddington: There's nothing to worry about. You're not going to put us in prison. Not this time.\nSisko: Damn it, you never give up, do you, Mister Eddington?\nEddington: Never.\nSisko: Move!\nEddington: Go. Whatever happens, don't stop until you get to the runabout. You, too.\nRebecca: I'm staying with you.\nEddington: I'll be right behind you. Now get going.\nSisko: I didn't know you were married.\nEddington: We held the ceremony two weeks before you captured me.\nSisko: Not much of a honeymoon. I suggest we fall back now.\nEddington: For once, you'll get no argument from me.\nSisko: Go!\nEddington: You'd better get to the runabout.\nSisko: What about you?\nEddington: I'd only slow you down. Just get Rebecca and the others to safety.\nSisko: I'm not going to let you just\nEddington: Go!\nSisko: Mister Eddington, you are one stubborn, headstrong son\nEddington: I told you only one of us would be coming back from this mission.\nRebecca: Where's Michael?\nSisko: He's not coming.\nRebecca: What do you mean, he's not coming?\nSisko: Rebecca, we have to go. Now.\nEddington: Okay, Crenshaw, Yuen, circle around to the left. Try to hit 'em from behind. Stiles, Dimitris, watch our right flank. Right. Seems like a perfect time for a song. Wish I could think of one. Does anyone know a good song? Something rousing? Too bad.\nEddington: Rebecca.\nNog: Major.\nKira: My earring clip. Where'd you find it?\nNog: In maintenance conduit thirty three A. I guess it fell off when you were doing the deflector grid inspection.\nKira: You must've searched every crawlspace in the central core.\nNog: Just doing my job.\nKira: And doing it with style.\nNog: Glad to be of help.\nMartok: Cadet.\nNog: General. Now that's better.\nKira: What was that all about?\nNog: Respect.\nDax: I'll say this for him, he was a complicated man. If you ask me, Eddington couldn't have picked a better way to go, at least from his point of view. He was a romantic, and what is more romantic than a glorious death in defense of a lost cause.\nSisko: He died fighting for what he believed in. I called him a traitor once, but in a way he was the most loyal man I ever met. He was a Maquis, right up to the bitter end.\nDax: Is that what this is? The end of the Maquis?\nSisko: Who knows? There could still be more of them out there, hiding from the Dominion, biding their time.\nDax: You almost sound hopeful.\nSisko: There is something attractive about a lost cause.\nDax: Maybe you have more in common with Eddington than you want to admit.\nSisko: Maybe.\nDax: Good night, Benjamin. Get some rest."}
{"text": "O'Brien: Did you hear about the Tian An Men? She was reported missing last night bear the Cardassian border.\nKira: That's three in the last three weeks.\nBashir: At this rate we're going to run out of ships.\nKira: Well that's not funny.\nBashir: It wasn't meant to be. Unless Starfleet Command actually starts doing something about the Dominion threat, the situation's only going to get worse.\nKira: What do you want, Julian, a war?\nSisko: What I want is to talk about something else. Chief, what about Kirayoshi? Is he walking yet?\nO'Brien: No, not yet. No.\nSisko: Odo, I understand you're going to Bajor next week. Do you plan to see Doctor Mora?\nOdo: Actually, I've canceled my trip. There's been a seventy five percent jump in the theft of medical supplies and food rations on DS Nine. I haven't seen such an increase since\nO'Brien: Since?\nOdo: Since just before the Cardassians were forced to abandon the station.\nBashir: On that note, I think I'll turn in.\nO'Brien: Me, too. Thank you for dinner, Captain. It was wonderful.\nSisko: It was my pleasure.\nOdo: Sir.\nSisko: Goodnight, everyone.\nSisko: Mister Worf? You've been paroled. The party's over.\nWorf: Thank you, sir. Goodnight.\nSisko: Don't bother. I'll clean up the rest up later. I want to be alone for a while. Go on.\nJake: Okay\nNog: Goodnight, sir.\nCrewwoman: Ops to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nCrewwoman: We just received a message from Bajor, Sir. Kai Winn will be coming to the station tomorrow morning and she'd like to meet with you.\nSisko: Acknowledged.\nNog: Thanks for the invitation, Jake. That was a lot of fun.\nJake: Did you see how down my dad was? He tried to hide it, but I could tell he was depressed.\nNog: He's not the only one. Look around. There's something in the air. People are scared.\nJake: Yeah, but he's usually the one who tries to lift everyone's spirits. I mean, people go to him for encouragement. Where does he go when he needs it?\nQuark: I hope I'll be seeing the two of you tomorrow at twelve hundred hours.\nNog: Why?\nQuark: Why? Haven't you heard? There's going to be an auction of some of the galaxy's rarest and most valuable antiquities. Here. Find something you like and make a bid with all that latinum you've got stashed under your bed.\nNog: Shh!\nQuark: Oh, Nog. You don't really keep it under your bed?\nNog: No, of course not.\nJake: Where'd you get all this stuff, Quark?\nQuark: I'm just conducting the auction, for a modest commission. The items up for sale were all aboard an old derelict freighter that the Bajorans found adrift about a light year from here. The cargo hold was crammed with valuable items of every description. Antiques, paintings, vehicles.\nNog: It's all a bunch of junk. Listen to some of this stuff. A mid twenty fourth century ceramic Romulan water basin, slightly cracked. A pair of Tellarite shoes, date unknown. A mid-twentieth century human baseball card. A Tholian pedestal of\nJake: A baseball card? A mint condition nineteen fifty one Willie Mays rookie card! Nog, this is it!\nNog: What do you mean?\nJake: It's perfect. This is how I can cheer up my Dad. You know how much he loves baseball. He'll go nuts when he sees this.\nQuark: Tell him to be here at twelve hundred hours and he can bid along with everyone else.\nJake: No. I'm going to bid on this. He's always doing things for me, I want to do something for him for a change. And this is it. All I have to do is get him this card. How hard can that be?\nJake: Come on, Nog.\nNog: No.\nJake: Why not?\nNog: It's my money, Jake. If you want to bid at the auction, use your own money.\nJake: I'm human, I don't have any money.\nNog: It's not my fault that your species decided to abandon currency-based economics in favor of some philosophy of self-enhancement.\nJake: Hey, watch it. There's nothing wrong with our philosophy. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.\nNog: What does that mean exactly?\nJake: It means. It means we don't need money.\nNog: Well if you don't need money, then you certainly don't need mine.\nJake: How much latinum do you have? How much?\nNog: Five bars.\nJake: Five bars!\nNog: Look, it's taken me a lifetime to save up that much money, and I'm not going to just throw it away for some baseball card.\nJake: Not even for my father, the man who made it possible for you to enter Starfleet Academy.\nNog: Oh no, that's not fair.\nJake: The man who believed in you when no one else would.\nNog: Oh, this is so low.\nJake: I can't believe you would rather keep your filthy money locked away in a box under a bed than use it to give him endless moments of happiness.\nNog: Argh! All right, all right. I'll do it.\nJake: That's very generous, Nog. I'm proud of you. Now let's get that money.\nNog: Humans.\nSisko: Come in.\nSisko: Welcome back to Deep Space Nine, your Eminence.\nWinn: Thank you, Emissary. You may go now, child.\nKira: Thank you.\nWinn: Why don't we take a walk?\nSisko: A walk?\nWinn: Yes. Would you mind?\nSisko: Something wrong, Eminence?\nWinn: No, nothing wrong, but there was a shop down there as I recall. A woman who sold Bajoran tapestries and antiques.\nSisko: Ah. Kandra Vilk.\nWinn: Yes.\nSisko: I believe she moved to a neutral world near the Coridan system about two months ago.\nWinn: So many people have left Deep Space Nine in the last few months. I'm sure there are times when you must feel as if you're being abandoned here.\nSisko: Forgive me Eminence, but I have a very busy day ahead of me.\nWinn: I'm here to meet with a representative of the Dominion.\nSisko: To what end?\nWinn: I don't know. This meeting is being held at their request. You disapprove?\nSisko: I'm concerned. The Dominion is notorious for its political intrigue.\nWinn: I have some experience in that area as well. This is a delicate moment for Bajor. This conflict between the Federation and the Dominion could escalate into open warfare at any moment. A misstep now could result in the destruction of our world.\nSisko: For once I am in complete agreement with you. You have my word I will do whatever it takes to safeguard Bajor.\nWinn: Walk with the Prophets.\nQuark: the bid is to you, sir one bar, three strips. Don't let the lady steal this fine example of post-eventualistic, pre-Matoian, bronze and triptin sculpture for such a pittance.\nQuark: One bar, three strips. One bar four strips, and it's all yours. An honorable addition to any Klingon household. Remember, all the proceeds from this auction go to the Bajoran War Orphans' Fund, minus a modest commission. Think of those poor, lonely children and how much your latinum will mean to them. Looks like the kids'll have to make do with one bar, three strips Sold to the blue man in the good shoes.\nQuark: Lot forty-eight. An Andorian chest containing a pre-Surak Vulcan bracelet, a sixth century Bajoran mandala, a twenty-third century ion transtator, a Willie Mays baseball card from Earth dated nineteen fifty one. Who'll start the bidding with one bar of gold-pressed latinum?\nJake: One bar.\nQuark: One bar. Do I hear one bar, five strips?\nQuark: One bar, five strips. Do I hear one bar, ten?\nNog: Don't worry. He'll drop out at two bars.\nJake: How do you know that?\nNog: I'm still a Ferengi. One bar, ten.\nQuark: One bar, ten. One, fifteen? One, fifteen. One, twenty? One, twenty. One, twenty-five?\nGiger: Two bars.\nQuark: The bid is two bars. Do I hear two bars five? Vedek, are you in?\nNog: I told you.\nQuark: Two bars, five.\nGiger: Three bars.\nJake: Four bars!\nNog: Jake!\nGiger: Ten bars.\nQuark: The bid is ten bars of gold-pressed latinum. Is there another bid?\nJake: What do we do now?\nNog: Nothing. We're out of money.\nQuark: Jake? Do you want to make another bid? Sold to the gentleman sitting in the aisle.\nQuark: Lot forty nine. A rare example of a twentieth century human art form, acrylic on black velvet. This image was the inspiration for the flag of the Martian colonies in the twenty second\nNog: I know you wanted that card, but we lost it, okay? So let's come up with something else to cheer up your dad. Like a new pair of shoes.\nJake: Shoes?\nNog: What's wrong with shoes?\nJake: Nothing, except it's stupid. I want to give my dad something that'll bring a little joy into his life. Something special. I'm telling you, that baseball card is the answer. It's kismet.\nNog: Kiss you?\nJake: Kismet. Fate, destiny. I was meant to give that card to my father.\nNog: Jake, I think you're taking this whole baseball card thing way too seriously.\nJake: It's not the card, it's my dad. This is very important to me. My father has never let me down. He's always been there for me when I needed him. And right now he needs me. I don't want to let him down. Nog, please, let's get that card.\nNog: All right. What do you want to do?\nNog: Sir.\nJake: Excuse me, sir. Could we talk to you for a minute?\nGiger: Who sent you?\nJake: No one.\nNog: We wish to discuss a business transaction.\nGiger: Not interested.\nJake: You don't even know what it is yet.\nNog: We just want to buy the baseball card.\nGiger: Listen to me. I haven't done anything wrong and I won't be hounded by you and your soulless minions of orthodoxy. I haven't broken any laws, except perhaps the laws of nature. So stay away from me. Habitat ring.\nWeyoun: Captain Sisko, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you again.\nSisko: I wish I could say the same.\nWeyoun: How delightful. You feel comfortable enough around me to make jokes. I'm so pleased to see our relationship evolving beyond the stale adversarial stage.\nSisko: No it's not. But before you twist that into a compliment, let me be blunt. I don't like the Dominion, I don't like what it stands for, and I don't like you. So let's dispense with the hollow pleasantries and stick to business.\nWeyoun: I can't tell you how it pains me to hear you say that, Captain. You see, I really like Deep Space Nine and I like you. And after this meeting with Kai Winn, I think you and I will be seeing a lot more of each other.\nNog: Jake! Jake! He wants to see us!\nJake: Who?\nNog: Doctor Giger, the man who bought the baseball card. He wants us to come to his quarters, He says he's willing to make a deal.\nJake: You're kidding.\nNog: No. He left a message for us about an hour ago. It said to meet him at eighteen hundred hours.\nJake: That's in ten minutes. Let's go!\nNog: Remember let me do the talking.\nJake: You?\nNog: You had your chance on the Promenade. Now stand aside and let a professional handle this.\nGiger: Step out of the doorway, please. And don't touch anything. This is very sensitive equipment. I did some checking on you two. It turns out that you are the station commander's son and you are the nephew of the man who owns the bar.\nNog: That's right.\nGiger: Since you are not, in fact, working for the soulless minions of orthodoxy that have hounded my work and plagued my existence, I have decided to open negotiations regarding the sale of a mint condition nineteen fifty one Willie Mays rookie card, without the original packaging or chewing gum.\nNog: Excellent. We would like to open the negotiations with a bid of\nGiger: The card is not for sale.\nJake: What?\nNog: But you just said that\nGiger: I am willing to trade the card in exchange for the following items.\nJake: Two liters of anaerobic metabolites suspended in a hydrosaline solution? A neodymium power cell? Where are we supposed to get all this stuff?\nGiger: Surely the station commander's son and a promising young cadet have access to a wide variety of equipment and supplies that would not be available to someone like myself.\nJake: It's a very long list. It'll take some doing.\nNog: Wait a minute. What are you planning to do with these things?\nJake: Nog?\nNog: Look, we can't start delivering equipment and medical supplies to you without knowing what you're going to do with them.\nGiger: Very well, young man. Let me ask you both a simple question. Do you want to die?\nNog: No.\nJake: Not really.\nGiger: Of course you don't, so why should you? Why should any of us end up as putrefying corpses in wooden boxes stuck in the ground, or vaporized into subatomic particles and vented into the cosmos like a bad case of gas? No reason that I can think of. I have devoted my life to the study of death, and do you know what I found? Death is nothing more than the result of cellular boredom.\nJake: Boredom?\nGiger: Think about it. The cells in your body have been doing the same job, the same dull monotonous routine, every day since you were conceived. Metabolize, divide, metabolize, divide. Wouldn't you get bored? Of course you would. So at some point, the cells just say, 'that's it', and you, the unwary victim of cellular ennui, are quite literally bored to death.\nNog: I never thought about it that way.\nGiger: Doctor Bathkin of Andros Three was the first to come up with the answer to solving the puzzle of death. Keep the cells energized. Keep them in the game by teaching them new mitochondrial tricks. Unfortunately, before he could finish his work, Doctor Bathkin died in a shuttle accident. Or so they say. And while the soulless minions of orthodoxy refuse to follow up on his important research, I could hear the clarion call of destiny ringing in my ears. And now, after fifteen years of tireless effort, after being laughed at and hounded out of the halls of the scientific establishment, after begging and scrounging for materials across half the galaxy, I have nearly completed work on this. The Cellular Regeneration and Entertainment Chamber.\nJake: What does it do?\nGiger: I'm glad you asked. It is specially designed to transmit biogenic energy on a chromoelectric wavelength and send uplifting and entertaining messages to the nuclei of every cell in your body. Spend eight hours a day in this machine and your cells will never get bored. You will never grow old, and most important, you will never die. That is the goal of my work, nothing less than immortality itself.\nJake: Excuse us for a moment.\nGiger: Of course.\nJake: What do you think?\nNog: I don't know. I'm no expert in cellular chemistry but his theory sounds a little odd to me.\nJake: He had me going there for a minute, but a Cellular Entertainment Machine?\nNog: He's crazy, isn't he?\nJake: Completely. But he does have the baseball card.\nNog: So?\nJake: So that means we've got to help him.\nNog: I'm not so sure this is such a good idea.\nJake: Nog, I can't let my father down.\nNog: Let him down? Your father doesn't even know this card exists. I don't know which of you is crazier.\nJake: I'm not crazy. I'm just a little obsessed.\nNog: A little?\nJake: Okay, Doctor. We're in.\nGiger: Do you know how many germs are transmitted by a handshake? You want to kill me? Just nod if we have a deal. Him too.\nJake: Hey, Chief, we need a neodynium power cell from a Cardassian phase coil inverter. You think you could help us out?\nO'Brien: That's an unusual piece of equipment. What do you need that for?\nNog: We have to trade it for a\nJake: It's kind of a secret.\nO'Brien: I'm sure there's an old cell lying around here somewhere, but I don't have time to scrounge around for it at the moment.\nNog: What's the matter with you? Just tell him you're trying to give your father a gift.\nJake: No. I want it to be a surprise. You know you can't keep a secret on this station. If I tell the Chief, he tells Keiko, Keiko tells Dax\nNog: But you're not giving him any reason to help us. Okay. Let me show you a little something about incentive-based economics. Chief, may I ask you a question? Wouldn't you rather be doing something else right now?\nO'Brien: Almost anything.\nNog: But isn't there something specific you'd rather be doing? Like going to the holosuites, maybe?\nO'Brien: Sure.\nNog: I bet you'd rather be kayaking right now, wouldn't you? You probably haven't shot those rapids in weeks. No interruptions, no maintenance schedules. Just you and the river.\nO'Brien: That's what I'd be doing right now if Decker hadn't gotten sick. But I have to recalibrate all these EPS regulators so they don't interfere with the station's artificial gravity grid.\nNog: What if someone else recalibrated the regulators for you? Someone like us?\nO'Brien: You'd do that for me?\nJake: Absolutely.\nNog: Don't give it a second thought. Just go shoot those rapids.\nO'Brien: Thanks. Thanks a lot. I owe you one.\nNog: Our pleasure. And Chief? About that power cell?\nO'Brien: Oh, yeah. I think I know where there's one. I'll have it sent up to your quarters.\nJake: Thanks, Chief.\nNog: Come on. You calibrate, I'll scan.\nBashir: Five liters of anaerobic metabolites suspended in hydrosaline solution? What could you possibly want with that?\nNog: We can't tell you. It's a surprise for someone.\nBashir: They're not going to drink it, are they?\nJake: Oh, no. At least, I don't know. Is he?\nBashir: I don't have time for this.\nJake: Can I ask you one question? Wouldn't you rather be doing something else right now?\nBashir: No.\nJake: No?\nBashir: No. This is the first chance I've had to get any research done on my prion project in five months. You couldn't drag me away from here.\nJake: Oh.\nNog: What Jake is trying to say is that you seem unhappy.\nBashir: I suppose I have been feeling a little down, now that you come to mention it.\nNog: Just out of curiosity. If you had to name one thing that would make you happy right now, what would it be?\nBashir: I don't know.\nNog: Humor me. One thing. Anything at all.\nBashir: Kukalaka.\nJake: Excuse me?\nBashir: That's what I want. Leeta borrowed him, said he was cute, but she never brought him back.\nNog: Kuka-what?\nBashir: Kukalaka. You bring him to me and you'll have earned yourselves five liters of anaerobic metabolites suspended in hydrosaline solution.\nJake: Done. Just one thing, Doctor. What's a Kukalaka?\nWinn: Weyoun has made a startling proposal. The Dominion wishes to sign a non-aggression treaty with Bajor.\nSisko: They're trying to split Bajor from the Federation.\nWinn: Forgive me, Emissary, but you've already done that. It was your advice six months ago that kept Bajor out of the Federation. How did you put it? Bajor must stand alone. Well, we are very much alone now.\nSisko: Even though you're not a member of the Federation, Starfleet is committed to the protection of your world. We're not going to stand idly by and watch the Dominion conquer Bajor.\nWinn: Can you promise me that you will not let one Jem'Hadar soldier set foot on Bajor? Can you promise me that you will use your entire fleet to protect our planet, even if it means sacrificing other worlds like Vulcan or Andor or Berengaria, or perhaps Earth itself?\nSisko: I can't make that kind of promise.\nWinn: I wouldn't believe you if you did. So you see my predicament. If we ally ourselves with the Federation against the Dominion, we risk becoming the first casualty of the next war.\nSisko: And if you ally yourselves with the Dominion, you risk becoming the next conquered world.\nWinn: A most unhappy choice. I have asked the Prophets to guide me, but they have not answered my prayers. I even consulted the Orb of Wisdom before coming here and it has told me nothing. So I come to you, Emissary. You have heard the voice of the Prophets. You were sent here to guide us through troubled times. Tell me what to do and I will do it. How can I save Bajor?\nSisko: You want my advice? Then this is it. Stall. Tell Weyoun you have to consult with the Council of Ministers, or that you have to meditate on your response. Anything you want, but you have to stall for time.\nWinn: Time for what?\nSisko: I don't know. But I do know the moment of crisis isn't here yet, and until that moment arrives we have to keep Bajor's options open. I'm aware that this is difficult for you, given our past, but this time you have to trust me.\nWinn: Very well, Emissary. We put ourselves in your hands. May we all walk with the Prophets.\nGiger: Refreshed, regenerated, mildly entertained. I still get a little bored after the first five hours.\nJake: I've got half the things you wanted.\nGiger: Good. Good. Where's the hydrosaline solution?\nJake: We should have it soon. Nog just got the bear. Don't ask.\nGiger: You know what that is? It's the sound of immortality.\nWeyoun: What's going on down there?\nJake: Nog! Turn that down! Nog! I'm working out here!\nNog: So am I! I have to listen to all of Worf's opera recordings and filter out the sub-harmonic distortions!\nJake: Can you turn that down? I'm trying to add a little humor to Kira's speech to the Agricultural Delegation.\nNog: No! I have to listen at precisely eighty two decibels because that's the volume Worf listens at! Of course, if I could've simply told him why I needed two meters of electro-plasma conduit from the Defiant, he probably would've just given it to me and things would be a lot quieter around here!\nJake: We can't tell anybody, Nog! Now, listen to this for a second. Thank you for that kind introduction, and thank you for inviting me to address you here today. I've always thought it odd that the topic of water reclamation was usually treated as such a dry subject. Is that funny?\nNog: No.\nJake: I didn't think so either.\nJake: Would you watch it with that thing.\nNog: Try staying out of the way.\nNog: He's probably sleeping inside his Cellular Entertainment thing again. It's not locked.\nOdo: No, there is no record of a Doctor Giger being assigned to those quarters.\nJake: He was there, Odo.\nNog: Maybe the soulless minions of orthodoxy finally caught up with him.\nOdo: The who?\nJake: We don't know who they are, but they were after Doctor Giger's Cellular Regeneration and Entertainment Chamber.\nOdo: His what?\nJake: It's a device used to keep the cells in your body from getting bored. You see, he was going to transmit messages to people's cells to keep them entertained so they wouldn't die off and as a result these people would live forever.\nNog: Do you think he's really going to charge us with filing false reports, obstructing justice and being public nuisances? I can't have that on my Academy record.\nJake: I think he was just trying to scare us. Nog, look.\nNog: It's Kai Winn.\nJake: Do you see who she's talking to? That's the Vedek who was bidding against us at the auction.\nNog: Jake, I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm sure I'm not going to like it.\nJake: Don't you see? The Vedek was bidding on that lot because there was an old Bajoran mandala in it. He must have been working for the Kai. When they lost, the Kai must have gotten angry. And we all know how dangerous she is when she's angry.\nNog: What are you saying? That in order to get the mandala she kidnapped Giger?\nJake: It all makes sense now.\nNog: Jake, I'm really starting to worry about you.\nJake: Come on.\nNog: Where're we going?\nJake: Let me introduce you to a new human expression. We're going to beard the lion in its den.\nNog: Lions, Gigers, bears.\nJake: Oh my.\nWeyoun: I hope you've found our talks as rewarding as I have, your Eminence. May I enquire if you plan on giving the First Minister a positive recommendation regarding the non-aggression pact?\nWinn: I'm afraid I cannot reveal my recommendations to the First Minister. You understand.\nWeyoun: Of course, of course. Forgive me for even asking. It is enough to know that you and I have found so many common interests. I feel that we are very much alike.\nWinn: No. We are nothing alike. Nothing at all.\nWinn: What is it, my children?\nJake: We need to talk.\nSisko: You accused the Kai of burglary and kidnapping?\nJake: We didn't really accuse her of anything.\nSisko: Oh, I see. You just implied it.\nNog: Exactly.\nSisko: Are you trying to be funny, Cadet? Because I'm not laughing.\nNog: No, sir.\nSisko: I want an explanation and I want it now.\nNog: Well, sir, it all began in my uncle Quark's bar when we saw this list of various\nJake: We were in the bar and I guess we got a little drunk.\nNog: Jake!\nJake: It won't do any good to lie about it, Nog.\nNog: What? Captain, I would like to separate myself from\nSisko: As you were, Cadet! Drunk. I see that my faith in the two of you has sadly been misplaced. You both are confined to quarters until further notice. Dismissed!\nNog: What did you say that for?\nJake: I didn't want him to know about the baseball card.\nNog: Of course not. If you tell him about the card, he might forgive us. He might even be grateful for all the effort we've gone through just to make him happy. And we certainly wouldn't want that. Habitat ring.\nJake: Once we get the card, everything'll be fine.\nNog: Jake, as your friend, I think I should tell you that you're starting to go over the edge. You need some perspective on all this. You need to get away, clear your head.\nNog: This isn't what I had in mind.\nWeyoun: Do you think I'm a fool? Let's start at the beginning. What is the nature of your relationship with Doctor Elias Giger?\nJake: We barely know him. He had a baseball card that I wanted to give to my father to cheer him up. My father's the Station Commander, by the way.\nWeyoun: I know who your father is. Go on.\nJake: That's it. We wanted the card, and so we agreed to help him get a few things for his research. We got all the equipment, but he disappeared about three hours ago and we haven't seen him since.\nWeyoun: Do you really expect me to believe that everything you've been doing for the last twenty two hours has been perfectly innocent? That it was merely a coincidence that Doctor Giger has been running experiments with highly charged polaric particles directly below my quarters? I suppose there's also an innocent explanation to the secret meetings you've been having with virtually the entire senior staff of Deep Space Nine, or that Kai Winn met with you immediately after leaving me? I suggest that you stop playing games with me and tell me the truth. Quickly.\nJake: This is all just a misunderstanding. Nothing's going on, and we're certainly not involved in some secret plot against\nGiger: You betrayed me. You turned me over to these soulless minions of orthodoxy. Well, they won't diskover the secret of my work without a\nGiger: Fight.\nWeyoun: So, there are secrets after all. There shouldn't be any secrets between friends, Jake. I do want to be your friend.\nNog: Do something.\nJake: All right. We'll tell you the truth.\nWeyoun: I'm listening.\nJake: We weren't supposed to divulge this, but since you left us no choice. We're working for Starfleet Intelligence.\nNog: Oh, no.\nJake: Forget about it, Nog. We have to tell him. We've been investigating the man whose picture is in your hand right now. Until yesterday, that man, one Willie Mays, did not exist in any historical documents. Then, in the blink of an eye, that card appeared on the station, and at that same moment a bust of Willie Mays appeared at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. There's only one explanation. We suspect that this man is from the future.\nWeyoun: A time traveler?\nJake: That's right. And so far that card is the only link we have to him. We must to find out what he's planning to do in the past, or what he may have done already. We need that card. The entire future of the galaxy may depend on us tracking down Willie Mays and stopping him.\nWeyoun: I believe you.\nNog: You do?\nWeyoun: Yes. That is, I believe your first story. That you're two innocent boys trying to give a gift to Captain Sisko.\nJake: You are very wise.\nWeyoun: Which still leaves the question of what you were doing beneath my quarters.\nNog: He's harmless. He's just working on a way to become immortal.\nWeyoun: Really? I have a background in, shall we say, creative genetics. I'd be most interested in hearing your theories.\nGiger: Well, it may take some time to explain. Let me ask you a simple question. Do you want to die?\nNog: Excuse me? Can we go?\nWeyoun: Of course.\nNog: Thank you.\nWeyoun: Aren't you forgetting something? Captain's log, stardate 50929.4. Two days ago, this station felt like a tomb. I'd never seen so many of my crew depressed at the same time. But for some reason, it now seems as though a new spirit has swept through the station, as if someone had opened a door and let a gust of fresh air blow through a musty old house. Why this is happening, frankly, is a mystery to me. After all, nothing has really changed. The Dominion is still a threat, the Cardassians are still threatening to take the station, and I can still see the clouds of war gathering on the horizon. So why do I sense a new-found optimism in the air? But maybe I'm over-thinking this. Maybe the real explanation is as simple as something my father taught me a long time ago. Even in the darkest moments, you can always find something that'll make you smile."}
{"text": "Rom: What do you think?\nLeeta: I don't know. What do you think?\nRom: I like it. Don't you?\nLeeta: Rom, it's two handkerchiefs and a loincloth.\nRom: I suppose we could lose the handkerchiefs.\nLeeta: Ferengi tradition or no Ferengi tradition, I am not going to be naked at my wedding.\nRom: Who said anything about naked? You'll still have the loincloth.\nLeeta: Please show us something else.\nGarak: There is nothing else. I've shown you one hundred and fifty three different wedding dresses, from Tellarite modern to Risian traditional, and you've hated them all.\nLeeta: I liked number thirty eight.\nRom: Number thirty eight? It had more layers than a Baduvian tapestry.\nLeeta: It was elegant.\nRom: It was bulky.\nZiyal: I like sixty four.\nLeeta: Sixty four?\nRom: Eeeesh.\nGarak: Well, at least they agree on something.\nZiyal: Why don't you just let Garak design a dress on his own? You know whatever he comes up with will be beautiful.\nGarak: My dear, I find your blind adoration both flattering and disturbing, but she does have a point.\nQuark: Leeta, that fifteen minute break you asked for was up an hour ago.\nRom: Brother, what do you think of this dress?\nQuark: I don't want to think about it. All I know is that any marriage where the female is allowed to speak and wear clothing is doomed to failure. Your dabo table awaits.\nLeeta: There he is. Let's talk to him.\nRom: Now?\nLeeta: Now, Rom.\nO'Brien: Keiko and the kids will be a lot safer on Earth than they are here. They've only been gone two days and I miss them already.\nSisko: Still, don't you feel better knowing they're out of harm's way? I wish I could convince Jake to visit Earth for a while.\nLeeta: Captain, can we speak to you for a moment?\nRom: If you're not too busy.\nSisko: Oh. Go ahead.\nRom: Would you marry me? I mean, us. I mean, would you perform our wedding ceremony?\nLeeta: It would be a great honor to be married by the Emissary.\nRom: It's not for another two weeks, so you'll have plenty of time to get ready.\nSisko: I guess I'll have to start brushing up on my Bajoran.\nRom: Me, too.\nO'Brien: Captain.\nSisko: If you'll excuse me.\nO'Brien: Maybe they're not coming.\nSisko: That would be a nice surprise.\nSisko: I'll say one thing for the Dominion, they're punctual.\nO'Brien: That's the fifth convoy headed to Cardassia in the last five weeks. I can only imagine how many Jem'Hadar soldiers are stationed there by now.\nSisko: Too many.\nO'Brien: I wish they'd just attack and get it over with.\nSisko: I have the feeling you're going to get your wish.\nJake: Thanks for the invite, Dad. I haven't had a home-cooked meal since\nSisko: Since the last time you were here.\nJake: Sounds about right. So, what's for dinner?\nJake: Ah. Can I get some salsa with that?\nSisko: Read the headline.\nJake: Bajorans continue negotiations with Dominion.\nSisko: Go on.\nJake: Station Commander opposes non-aggression pact.\nSisko: And the byline.\nJake: By Jake Sisko.\nSisko: You should've warned me.\nJake: I was waiting for the right moment.\nSisko: The right moment was before you published the article.\nJake: I know. I'm sorry. But aren't you glad I got a job?\nSisko: You mean this isn't a one-time thing?\nJake: Nope. I'm now an official correspondent for the Starfleet News Service.\nSisko: What about your novel?\nJake: I'm not giving up on it. But this way I get to see my work in print.\nSisko: And apparently I get to see everything I say in print too.\nJake: You're a public figure, Dad. You're the Captain of the most important space station in the entire Federation. You're news.\nSisko: Don't remind me. I guess I can't stop you from doing your job.\nJake: Can I quote you on that? I guess not.\nKira: Yamok sauce. Who'd bother to smuggle in ten thousand wrappages of Cardassian yamok sauce? Oh. Quark. That little worm, he thinks the Cardassians are going to retake the station.\nDax: He's a Ferengi. You can't blame him for hedging his bets. But it is a lot of yamok sauce. What is a yamok, anyway?\nOdo: What would you like me to do with it?\nDax: Major?\nKira: I don't care. You decide.\nDax: Dump it.\nOdo: Very good.\nDax: Would you mind telling me what's going on?\nKira: What do you mean?\nDax: You and Odo. You've been avoiding each other for weeks.\nKira: Ah, it's a long story.\nDax: Those are the best kind.\nKira: Odo has feelings for me.\nDax: What kind of feelings?\nKira: The kind that aren't easy to talk about.\nDax: Since when?\nKira: Since I don't know. Years. I just found out about it last month.\nDax: That explains a lot.\nKira: It does?\nDax: Not really. It just seemed like the right thing to say. I had no idea.\nKira: Neither did I.\nNog: Sixty degrees Celsius. Just the way you like it. Sir, is it true what they're saying about the Romulans?\nSisko: What do they say?\nNog: There were some Orion free traders in Quark's last night, and they heard from a Vulcan diplomat that the Romulans signed a non-aggression pact with the Dominion.\nSisko: A lot of rumors float around at a time like this, Cadet. Just don't forget the one hundred ninetieth Rule of Acquisition.\nNog: Hear all, trust nothing. Good advice, sir.\nSisko: The Romulans. Sisko to Dax.\nDax: Dax here.\nSisko: Put me through to Starfleet Intelligence.\nWorf: The Romulans! I always knew they were without honor. Now they have proven it.\nBashir: When did they sign the treaty?\nSisko: Yesterday.\nO'Brien: They must be desperate to side with the Dominion.\nSisko: Technically they're not siding with anyone. It's a non-aggression pact.\nKira: Which means if the Dominion attacks, they just sit by and do nothing.\nOdo: The Romulans, the Miradorn, the Tholians. The Dominion is making impressive inroads in the Alpha Quadrant.\nDax: And the Bajorans are still talking to them?\nKira: My people will never sign that treaty, or any other agreement with the Dominion.\nO'Brien: Meanwhile, more Jem'Hadar ships come through the wormhole every week.\nWorf: It must stop.\nSisko: It's going to stop. I've talked to Starfleet Command. They've agreed that no more Dominion ships can be allowed into the Alpha Quadrant.\nO'Brien: How do we keep them out?\nSisko: We're going to mine the entrance to the wormhole, prevent the Dominion from bringing any more reinforcements to Cardassia.\nOdo: If we try to stop those convoys, it may very well start a war.\nSisko: Maybe so. But one thing is certain. We're losing the peace, which means a war could be our only hope.\nO'Brien: What about pulse mines? We could equip them with variable geometry detonators.\nDax: Not good enough. Dominion ships can wait at the mouth of the wormhole and pick them off one by one.\nO'Brien: What if we cloaked them?\nDax: Cloaking doesn't always work against the Dominion.\nO'Brien: Maybe cloaked ships don't, but I'm thinking a lot smaller. Each mine no more than a meter across.\nDax: Mines that small don't have a lot of power. It would take dozens of them to disable a warship. We'd run out of mines before they ran out of ships. Rom, are you here?\nRom: Cloak. Small. Dozens. I heard every word.\nO'Brien: Well, something's wrong. You haven't touched your food.\nRom: It's my stomach. Ever since Captain Sisko agreed to officiate at our wedding, I haven't had much of an appetite.\nO'Brien: I thought you wanted Captain Sisko to marry you.\nRom: I did. But now that he's said yes, it's become so real. I'm going to get married!\nDax: Not for another two weeks. And in the meantime, we have work to do.\nRom: But what if Leeta turns out to be just like Nog's mother? What if I can't make her happy? What if this is the biggest mistake of my life? What if\nO'Brien: Rom.\nRom: Self-replication. That's the only answer.\nDax: Self-replication?\nRom: If the mines are going to be small, we'll need a lot of them. And we'll need a way to replace them quickly if the Jem'Hadar try to blast their way through. And, uh-oh. I forgot to request new quarters. Mine are too small. Where are Leeta and I going to live?\nDax: Rom, I think you're on to something.\nRom: I know I am. I've measured them three times. There's nowhere to put her prayer mandala.\nO'Brien: We could equip each mine with a replicator unit.\nDax: No matter how many the Jem'Hadar destroy, there'd always be more.\nO'Brien: We'll program them to swarm detonate. Twenty or thirty mines to each ship.\nRom: The only problem is you'll have to wait until the entire minefield is deployed before you activate it. Otherwise the proximity sensors could cause premature detonation. Where's Leeta going to put all her clothes? I don't have enough closet space.\nDax: I'd better go talk to Sisko.\nO'Brien: I'll go draw up some specs.\nRom: I've got to go to waste extraction.\nKira: What did Starfleet Command say?\nWorf: How many reinforcements will they be sending us?\nKira: And how soon will they get here?\nSisko: We're not getting any reinforcements. We'll have to make due with what we've got.\nKira: What we've got isn't enough.\nWorf: Sir, as Strategic Operations Officer, I cannot guarantee the safety of this station if a Dominion fleet attacks.\nSisko: Your concerns are noted, Commander.\nKira: What's Starfleet thinking? They must have given you a reason for denying your request.\nSisko: They did.\nKira: And?\nSisko: And I'm not at liberty to discuss it. Let's just say Starfleet's resources will be needed elsewhere.\nKira: What could be more important than defending this station?\nWorf: That is not for us to decide. What are our orders, Captain?\nSisko: Deploy the minefield and prepare for a Dominion attack.\nKira: And when the attack comes?\nSisko: Then we are to defend the station until the mines are in position and the field has been activated.\nWorf: The Defiant will be unable to raise shields or cloak while deploying the mines. She will be an easy target.\nSisko: Then it's up to DS9 to defend her. If the Dominion wants to stop the Defiant, they'll have to come through us.\nKira: You wanted to see me, Constable?\nOdo: Major, I'd like your permission to terminate all outgoing subspace communications.\nKira: You really think that's necessary?\nOdo: This is no time for security leaks. I've prepared a number of false messages we can transmit at random intervals so there won't be any noticeable drop in our outgoing subspace traffic.\nKira: I'll see what I can do.\nOdo: I'd appreciate that. Major, there's something you ought to know.\nKira: What's that?\nOdo: I've been thinking about asking out you to dinner.\nKira: I've been expecting something like this.\nOdo: I could tell. You've looked a little uncomfortable around me lately.\nKira: You've looked a little uncomfortable yourself.\nOdo: Which is why I wanted you to know I'm not going to do it. No dinner invitations, no flowers, no attempts at changing the nature of our relationship. Until the current crisis has passed, we both need our minds to be clear, to be free of any unnecessary distractions.\nKira: That's probably a good idea. So, for now, all we need to concern ourselves with is deploying the minefield, maintaining station security and preparing ourselves for a possible invasion.\nOdo: Well, I don't know about you, but I feel more comfortable already. Captain's log, stardate 50975.2. The next Jem'Hadar convoy is due in five days, but our efforts to mine the wormhole have already provoked a response from the Dominion, who have sent their Vorta Ambassador, Weyoun, to speak with me.\nSisko: What can I do for you, Weyoun?\nWeyoun: Captain Sisko. I'll make this brief. We know all about the minefield.\nSisko: I assumed you'd find out sooner or later.\nWeyoun: As I see it, you have two choices. Either you remove the mines or we will take this station from you and remove them ourselves.\nSisko: I appreciate your directness. Now let me be direct with you. The mines stay. I will not allow any more Dominion reinforcements through the wormhole.\nWeyoun: You will not allow?\nSisko: You heard me.\nWeyoun: I can see how that might be your first reaction. But you and I are reasonable men, and surely reasonable men can come to some sort of mutually acceptable compromise.\nSisko: I didn't think the Dominion believed in compromise.\nWeyoun: It saddens me to see how deeply you misunderstand us. All the Dominion wants is to peacefully co-exist with its neighbors.\nSisko: Then why the continued military buildup? Why the weekly convoys of troops and ships from the Gamma Quadrant?\nWeyoun: It's the Cardassians. Don't get me wrong. I'm pleased to call them allies, but as you know they've just been though a terrible war with the Klingons. I'm afraid it's left them somewhat jittery. So they're understandably concerned with insuring the sovereignty of their borders. And since they're now members of the Dominion, their concerns have become our concerns.\nSisko: I would think by now you have more than enough ships to defend Cardassia.\nWeyoun: You may think that, and I may think that, but the Cardassians\nSisko: Oh, yes, I know. They're jittery.\nWeyoun: You see our dilemma.\nSisko: I'm beginning to.\nWeyoun: What if we agreed to limit our convoys to cargo ships, construction units, civilian aid? Things that will help them get their economy back on its feet. Did you know when we arrived, children were starving on Cardassia Prime? It was heartbreaking.\nSisko: I had no idea things were so bad.\nWeyoun: The Cardassians are a very proud people. They don't want to admit to outsiders how dire their situation really is. So, are we agreed? You remove the mines and we restrict our convoys to medical and economic assistance.\nSisko: That sounds reasonable. I'd have to discuss it with Starfleet first, of course.\nWeyoun: I'm sure they'll do whatever Benjamin Sisko recommends. For my part, I will personally speak to the Founders to secure our end of the bargain.\nSisko: What about Gul Dukat?\nWeyoun: Ah. He'll be furious, at first. But we've developed a fine working relationship, and I'm sure I can help him to see the wisdom of our decision.\nSisko: I will leave it in your capable hands.\nWeyoun: You won't be disappointed. This is a momentous day. You and I have just taken the first step towards insuring peace between our peoples.\nSisko: They're going to attack.\nBashir: Are you sure?\nSisko: I am positive. The moment I mentioned that we weren't going to remove the mines, we both knew there'd be war. Everything else was just words, a feeble attempt to lull the other side into a false sense of security. I didn't buy it, and I'm sure Weyoun didn't either.\nWorf: How soon?\nSisko: As soon as they can get their fleet from Cardassia. I'd say as early as tomorrow. Which means we have to finish the minefield today.\nDax: We need more time.\nSisko: You don't have it.\nDax: We'll do all we can. Dax out.\nSisko: General, take your ship and patrol the border. At the first sight of the Dominion ships\nMartok: I will sound the alarm.\nSisko: Don't engage the enemy. Get back to the station as soon as you can. We're going to need you here.\nMartok: Captain, fighting at the border or fighting them here at the station makes no difference to me.\nBashir: You don't think Starfleet could be persuaded to send us a few more ships? Say fifty?\nSisko: I'm afraid not, Doctor. We're on our own.\nBashir: In that case, I'd better go and get the Infirmary ready.\nSisko: Mister Worf, see to the weapons array and issue combat assignments.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Major.\nKira: I'll contact the Bajoran Militia, see if they can spare a few ships.\nSisko: Forget the Militia. I need you to contact the Council of Ministers. Tell them I need to meet with them immediately.\nKira: As a Starfleet Captain or as the Emissary of the Prophets?\nSisko: Both.\nKira: That'll get their attention.\nSisko: Remember the non-aggression pact the Dominion offered Bajor a few weeks ago?\nKira: They're still debating it in the Council of Ministers. It'll never pass.\nSisko: It'll pass if the Emissary endorses it.\nKira: You want Bajor to sign a treaty with the Dominion? Why?\nSisko: Major, when I came here, my orders were to protect Bajor and help your people rebuild from the Occupation.\nKira: We've succeeded.\nSisko: And I refuse to see everything we've accomplished torn down again. The sad truth is, Major, if there is a war now, the Federation can't guarantee the safety of Bajor. Which means Bajor must be kept out of the fighting. I don't like this any more than you do, Major, but it's Bajor's only chance for survival. Captain's log, supplemental. Bajor has signed the non-aggression pact with the Dominion. All Bajoran personnel have been ordered to evacuate the station. As someone once said, these are the times that try men's souls.\nZiyal: You're sure you won't come with me?\nGarak: I don't think I'd be very welcome on Bajor.\nZiyal: I'm not going to be very popular there, either.\nGarak: My dear, you're half-Bajoran, so at least half of you is going to be accepted. I'm sure that Major Kira's friends will take good care of you.\nZiyal: Well, what's going to happen to you?\nGarak: Well, let me tell you a story. I once knew a Cardassian, a dashing, handsome young man with a promising career. But one day, through no fault of his own, he found himself exiled and alone, with nowhere to turn. But did he give up? No. He struck upon a brilliant plan. Rather than fleeing for the rest of his life, he sought shelter in the one place no one expected him to go. In a stronghold of his people's most hated enemies. There, surrounded by hostile strangers, he built a life, and there, against all odds, against the merciless logic of the Universe itself, he thrived.\nZiyal: By becoming the greatest tailor in the galaxy.\nGarak: And the moral of the story, my dear, is to never underestimate my gift for survival.\nSisko: Boray pree hadokee. Tolata impara boresh. Preeya Rom, preeya Leeta. Abrem varo atel. You may kiss the bride.\nNog: Congratulations, Father! Moogie.\nLeeta: Thank you, Nog.\nSisko: Well, if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to.\nQuark: Well, that was the most pathetic excuse for a wedding ceremony I've ever seen. No bridal auction, no latinum dances, and the bride? The bride was severely overdressed.\nRom: Nevertheless, you're very happy for us, aren't you, brother.\nQuark: Overjoyed. I give it two months.\nLeeta: Oh, Rom!\nRom: No time for that. Nog, are Leeta's bags packed?\nNog: They're already on the shuttle.\nLeeta: You mean, we're leaving?\nRom: No. You're leaving. First Minister Shakaar was very clear. All Bajorans must leave the station for their own safety.\nLeeta: But what about you?\nRom: My job is here with Chief O'Brien.\nLeeta: Then I'm not going either.\nRom: You see that, Nog. We've barely finished saying our vows and we're already having our first fight. We're really married! You've got to go, Leeta. The problems of two newlyweds are but a small thread in the tapestry of galactic events. You might not understand that today, or even tomorrow, but some day you will. So get on that shuttle and don't look back. Nog, take your Moogie to the docking ring.\nNog: Nice speech, Dad.\nRom: I thought so.\nSisko: Computer, what's the status of program Sisko one nine seven?\nComputer: All necessary modifications have been completed. Program Sisko one nine seven ready for implementation on your command.\nNog: Ops to Captain Sisko. Sir, we're receiving a message from the Cardassian border. It's General Martok.\nSisko: On screen.\nNog: Aye, sir.\nMartok: Captain, we just detected a large force of Dominion ships headed your way. They should be there within the hour.\nWorf: Someone is jamming his transmission.\nDamar: Contact established.\nDukat: Captain Sisko. I don't suppose you would like to surrender and avoid unnecessary bloodshed.\nSisko: Absolutely not.\nDukat: I was hoping you'd say that.\nSisko: Battle stations.\nSisko: How much longer?\nWorf: The Dominion fleet should be in weapons range in twenty minutes.\nSisko: Are all the Bajorans off the station?\nNog: The last transport just left.\nSisko: Let's hope the Dominion honors the non-aggression pact. Cadet, put me through to the Defiant.\nNog: Yes, sir. On screen.\nDax: Benjamin\nDax: I know what you're going to say, but we've got at least another hour of work before we can activate the minefield.\nSisko: You don't have an hour, old man. The Dominion is going to be here in less than twenty minutes. You're going to be a sitting duck.\nDax: Then I hope you can buy us some more time. Dax out. Dax to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: I know, I know. Work faster.\nJake: Medical tricorder, hypospray, dermal regenerator and battlefield trauma kit. Medical tricorder, hypospray, dermal regenerator and battlefield trauma kit.\nJake: That's everyone. Now what?\nBashir: Now we wait until the casualties start coming in. Are you sure you're all right?\nJake: I'll be fine. Besides, my father won't let me stay in Ops and I promised the Federation News Service a first-hand account of the battle.\nBashir: You'll get it. Just remember, Bashir is spelled with an I.\nGarak: I must say, Constable, I admire your composure. You're an island of tranquility in a sea of chaos.\nOdo: What I am is useless. My entire staff has been evacuated to Bajor.\nGarak: I'm not feeling too terribly useful myself at this moment, but if it'd make you feel any better, you could always deputize me.\nOdo: Ha. I'm sure if the Jem'Hadar board the station, you'll make yourself useful.\nGarak: It's ironic. When the Klingons attacked the station, Gul Dukat and I were fighting side by side. At one point he turned his back to me, and I must to admit that, for a moment, he made a very tempting target.\nOdo: You'd shoot a man in the back?\nGarak: Well, it's the safest way, isn't it? But then I thought, 'oh, no, I can't fight all these Klingons by myself.' So I let him live.\nOdo: And now you regret it.\nGarak: Ah, my dear Constable, before this day is over everyone on this station is going to regret it.\nQuark: Rom, I always said you were an idiot, but I never believed it more than I do at this moment.\nRom: Brother, if you want to insult me, it's going to have to wait till later. I'm busy.\nQuark: Busy doing what?\nRom: Preparing perimeter defenses for the attack.\nQuark: There are dozens of engineers that could be doing that. Starfleet engineers. Humans. You should be on Bajor with your new wife.\nRom: That's what Leeta said.\nQuark: Well, she's right. This is not your fight.\nRom: It's not your fight either, but I don't see you leaving.\nQuark: I have to look out for my bar.\nRom: And I have to look out for you.\nQuark: Me?\nRom: You're my brother. Whatever happens, we belong together.\nQuark: Well, like I said, you're an idiot.\nNog: On screen, Captain.\nSisko: General Martok, take a defensive position near the Defiant. They have to finish deploying those mines no matter the cost.\nMartok: And they will. You have my word on it, Captain.\nSisko: Mister Worf, activate the weapons array.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nKira: Captain, as a Major in the Bajoran Militia, I must officially protest Starfleet's refusal to turn over this station to my government.\nSisko: Your protest is duly noted.\nKira: Good. Now that that's over with, Kira Nerys reporting for duty.\nDamar: Weapons range in one minute.\nDukat: I've been waiting for this moment for five years.\nDamar: First, we reclaim Terok Nor, then on to Bajor.\nWeyoun: Let's not get ahead of ourselves, or must I remind you the Dominion just signed a non-aggression pact with Bajor.\nDukat: The Dominion might've. I never did.\nWeyoun: The Dominion will honor its treaty. And as a member of the Dominion, you will honor it as well.\nDukat: Where the Dominion leads, I will follow.\nWeyoun: I never doubted it.\nDukat: Attack wings one through five head for the Defiant. Remaining ships, target the station.\nDamar: We're within weapons range.\nDukat: Well, then by all means, fire.\nSisko: Mister Worf, all weapons fire at will.\nNog: Enemy ships are closing on the Defiant.\nSisko: Mister Worf?\nWorf: Got them.\nDamar: Sir, the station's shields are holding.\nWeyoun: Impossible. Federation shields have always proven useless against our weapons.\nDukat: I've found it wise to never underestimate the Federation's technical skill or Captain Sisko's resourcefulness. Damar, bring us around for another pass.\nDax: Chief? How much longer?\nO'Brien: Just another couple of minutes.\nO'Brien: Take us to our final set of coordinates.\nDax: Helm, set course\nDax: Chief, I'm going to have to take evasive\nDax: Maneuvers.\nO'Brien: If you do, you risk setting off every mine on this ship.\nDax: And if I don't, we may not have a ship left.\nMartok: You may continue your work, Commander. I will handle the Jem'Hadar.\nDax: Who says there's never a Klingon around when you need one?\nNog: Shields at thirty-five percent.\nKira: They're preparing for another attack.\nSisko: Mister Worf, make every shot count.\nDukat: Attack wings and batteries, concentrate your fire on section seventeen of the outer docking ring. We have to penetrate their shields.\nNog: We've lost main power to the shields.\nWorf: Switching to auxiliary power. But I do not know how long it will hold.\nDax: Defiant to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Dax, go ahead.\nDax: We've set the last mine.\nSisko: Activate the field and return to the station.\nDax: Yes, sir. Dax out.\nDamar: Sir, the minefields\nDukat: I have eyes, Damar.\nWeyoun: This isn't turning out quite the way I'd planned.\nDukat: It's a minor setback, Weyoun. Once we take the station, we'll be able to dismantle the minefield without interference.\nWeyoun: Let's both hope your confidence is justified.\nDukat: Damar, signal the reserves to prepare for a final assault.\nKira: The Dominion fleet is regrouping. And I'm detecting another wave of enemy ships entering Bajoran space.\nWorf: What are your orders, Captain?\nSisko: We've done all we can here. Notify all remaining Starfleet personnel. We're evacuating the station.\nMan: Report to the staging area.\nDax: Worf.\nWorf: Jadzia. You should be on the Defiant.\nDax: I heard you're not coming with us. That you've been assigned to Martok's ship.\nWorf: It might be some time before we see each other again.\nDax: Worf, we might never see each other again.\nWorf: This is war. We must put aside our personal feelings and focus on the task at hand.\nDax: I've been through my share of wars. I know what I have to do. But before you leave, I want you to know that the answer is yes.\nWorf: Yes? Yes to what?\nDax: Yes, I will marry you. That's what you've wanted from the very beginning, isn't it?\nWorf: Yes. Yes it is.\nDax: Then as soon as this is over, we'll get married. And if that doesn't give you a reason to survive, I don't know what will.\nSisko: When I first took command of this post, all I wanted was to be somewhere else, anywhere but here. But now, five years later, this has become my home and you have become my family. And leaving this station, leaving you, is one of the hardest things I've ever\nSisko: Had to do. But this war isn't over yet. I want you to know while we were keeping the Dominion occupied, a Starfleet-Klingon task force crossed the border into Cardassia\nSisko: and destroyed the Dominion shipyards on Torros Three. Your sacrifices, our sacrifices, made that victory possible. But no victory can make this moment any easier for me. And I promise I will not rest until I stand with you again, here, on this place where I belong. Sisko to Defiant.\nO'Brien: Standing by, sir.\nSisko: One to beam aboard.\nO'Brien: Aye, Captain.\nSisko: Are we ready?\nO'Brien: As soon as you give the word, sir.\nSisko: Mister Garak?\nGarak: I'd like to come along, if you don't mind. You never know when you might need a good tailor. And the simple fact is, I have nowhere else to go.\nSisko: Welcome aboard.\nDax: Dax to Sisko. The Dominion fleet is coming around for another attack.\nSisko: Release docking clamps. Prepare for departure.\nOdo: The Defiant's away.\nKira: Contact the Dominion fleet. Tell them the Bajoran government welcomes them to Deep Space Nine.\nOdo: Message acknowledged.\nKira: Good. That's the last message this station will be sending out for a while. Computer, initiate program Sisko one nine seven.\nComputer: Program initiated.\nKira: Dukat wanted the station back, he can have it.\nQuark: I don't want to see a drop of root beer left in this place. Break out the kanar and find me some yamok sauce.\nRom: Rom, Assistant Manager for Policy and Clientele, reporting for work, brother.\nQuark: What, did you think you could just walk back in here and get your old job back?\nRom: Actually, I'm a spy working for Starfleet, but don't tell anyone.\nQuark: The Federation's more desperate than I thought. I knew one day you'd come crawling back to me. Now get to work.\nRom: Yes, brother.\nRom: Jake? Aren't you supposed to be on the Defiant?\nJake: I changed my mind. There's a war going on and I'm a reporter. This is where I belong.\nRom: But you're not safe here.\nJake: The Dominion knows I'm the Emissary's son. If they hurt me they risk alienating their new friends, the Bajorans.\nRom: I hope you're right.\nJake: So do I.\nSisko: What the hell is Jake thinking?\nO'Brien: Do we go back for him?\nSisko: I can't risk the entire crew for one man, even though he is my son. Whether I like it or not, he is a man, capable of making his own choices. Maintain current course.\nDax: Aye, Captain. We should rendezvous with the Federation task force in forty eight hours.\nBashir: And then what?\nNog: And then we make the Dominion sorry they ever set foot in the Alpha Quadrant.\nSisko: Cadet, you took the words right out of my mouth.\nDamar: This is a great victory for Cardassia.\nDukat: And the Dominion.\nWeyoun: Over fifty ships lost, our spacedocks on Torros Three destroyed. A victory perhaps, but a costly one.\nDukat: We'll discuss the repercussions later. Right now, I'm going to enjoy this moment.\nKira: Gentlemen. On behalf of the Bajoran government\nQuark: And the Promenade Merchants' Association\nKira: I officially welcome you to Deep Space Nine.\nDukat: You mean Terok Nor, don't you?\nWeyoun: Founder, we're honored by your decision to remain with us.\nOdo: I'm not here as a Founder. I'm the station's Chief of Security.\nWeyoun: Whatever you say. Nevertheless, having a god walk amongst us is most gratifying.\nDukat: I agree. You, me, the Major, together again. It should be most interesting. Now if you'll excuse me. I'll be in my office.\nWeyoun: It would appear Captain Sisko was most efficient in disabling the station.\nDukat: It can be repaired. And it will be.\nWeyoun: But your first priority is to dismantle that minefield. Until we can bring in reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant, our position here is vulnerable.\nDukat: I'll deal with the minefields.\nWeyoun: I assume Captain Sisko removed or destroyed everything of value?\nDukat: Not everything.\nWeyoun: What is that?\nDukat: A message from Sisko.\nWeyoun: I don't understand.\nDukat: He's letting me know he'll be back."}
{"text": "O'Brien: More Jem'Hadar ships come through the wormhole every week.\nWorf: It must stop.\nSisko: It's going to stop.\nO'Brien: How do we keep them out?\nSisko: We're going to mine the entrance to the wormhole, prevent the Dominion from bringing any more reinforcements to Cardassia.\nWeyoun: Either you remove the mines or we will take this station from you and remove them ourselves.\nSisko: Mister Worf, all weapons fire at will.\nDukat: I've been waiting for this moment for five years.\nNog: We've lost main power to the shields.\nWorf: What are your orders, Captain?\nSisko: We've done all we can here. Notify all remaining Starfleet personnel. We're evacuating the station.\nDax: I heard you're not coming with us. That you've been assigned to Martok's ship.\nWorf: It might be some time before we see each other again.\nDax: Worf, we might never see each other again.\nKira: Dukat wanted the station back, he can have it. And now, the continuation.\nSisko: Cadet.\nNog: Long range scanners show no sign of Jem'Hadar ships. Looks like they've broken off their pursuit.\nO'Brien: I guess they got tired of looking at our backs. Three months of bloody slaughter and what have we got to show for it? Not a damn thing. Engage, retreat, engage, retreat. Just once I would've liked to have gotten a look at their backs.\nSisko: Chief, that's enough.\nO'Brien: Sorry, sir. Nothing a little sleep won't cure.\nDax: We could all use some sleep. What has it been, seventy eight hours?\nNog: Shouldn't we have heard something from the Seventh Fleet by now?\nDax: I wouldn't worry just yet. The Tyra system is far enough away that it'll be a day or two before we get any message.\nNog: You think they can stop the Dominion?\nO'Brien: Damn right they can. Somebody has to.\nGarak: Ah, there you are. I'd just about given up hope, Doctor. I would think that all those lunches we've shared would've entitled me to preferential treatment.\nBashir: Look, I have twelve wounded officers and crewmen out there, all of whom are in a lot worse shape than you, Garak.\nGarak: Well, if you're trying to cheer me up, it's working. I feel better already.\nBashir: What happened?\nGarak: I was studying some star charts for Captain Sisko during the last assault when I had a sudden and rather violent encounter with a bulkhead.\nBashir: You'll live.\nGarak: I wish I shared your confidence. I'm sure my head will heal, but the way this war is going I wouldn't bet on any of us living to a ripe old age.\nBashir: I admit the odds are not good, but they could be worse.\nGarak: Let me guess. You've used that genetically enhanced brain of yours to calculate our chances of survival.\nBashir: It really wasn't that difficult. I simply started with a binomial\nGarak: I'm really not interested, Doctor. Ever since it's become public knowledge that you're genetically engineered, you've used every opportunity to show off.\nBashir: I have nothing to hide anymore. I might as well use what I have.\nGarak: Well, what are our chances? Over fifty percent?\nBashir: Thirty two point seven.\nGarak: I'm sorry I asked. You're certain about that figure?\nBashir: Do you want me to take you through the entire set of calculations?\nGarak: Not really. Genetically engineered, indeed.\nBashir: Excuse me?\nGarak: Well look at you. You act as if you haven't a care in the world. It's exactly that kind of smug, superior attitude that makes people like you so unpopular.\nBashir: Are you trying to insulting me?\nGarak: A thirty two point seven percent chance of survival. I call that insulting.\nBashir: Don't take it so personally, Garak. It's strictly a matter of mathematics.\nGarak: No, it's strictly a matter of our lives. You're not genetically engineered. You're a Vulcan.\nBashir: If I'm a Vulcan, then how do you explain my boyish smile?\nGarak: Not so boyish anymore, Doctor.\nDax: So where do you think Starfleet will be sending us next?\nSisko: I don't know. But if I have anything to say about the matter, we'll be going right back to the front lines.\nMartok: Well said, Captain. And my ship will be at your side.\nDax: Worf!\nMartok: Tell her.\nDax: Tell me what?\nWorf: It can wait.\nMartok: No, it cannot. Raktajino. It's been weighing heavily on his mind.\nDax: What is it, Worf? What's wrong?\nWorf: It is about our wedding.\nDax: You're getting cold feet?\nWorf: You have scheduled the ritual sacrifice of the targ to occur after the wedding feast has been served.\nDax: We haven't seen each other for five weeks and that's the first thing you say to me?\nWorf: We agreed it would be a traditional ceremony.\nDax: Okay, have it your way. First we'll shed blood and then we'll feast.\nWorf: As it should be.\nMartok: He has been unable to talk about anything else for days.\nDax: He's such a worrier.\nSisko: Take my advice, old man. A small wedding is the way to go.\nDax: You get married the way you want, and I'll get married the way I want. I'll see you later, Captain\nSisko: Try not to break any bones.\nMartok: Now that that's settled, I'm going to take care of this. Klingons make great warriors but terrible doctors.\nBashir: Captain.\nMartok: Just the man I wanted to see.\nBashir: We've been ordered to report to Starbase three seven five for reassignment.\nSisko: Something else, Doctor?\nBashir: I have news of the Seventh Fleet.\nSisko: Go on.\nBashir: Only fourteen ships made it back to our lines.\nMartok: Fourteen out of a hundred and twelve.\nBashir: We can't keep taking these kinds of losses, sir, not if we expect to win this\nSisko: Thank you, Doctor. That will be all.\nBashir: I'll take a look at that arm now. Permanent Documentation File, Dukat, SG. Each day brings reports of new victories. The war continues to go well. The enemy is retreating on almost all fronts. It's only a matter of time before the Federation collapses and Earth becomes another conquered planet under Dominion rule. All in all, it's a good time for Cardassia, and the Dominion.\nWeyoun: My dear Major Kira, you have no idea how it pleases me to hear you say that. Dukat, the Major has just given me the most wonderful news. Bajorans are returning to the station.\nDukat: I'm well aware of it.\nWeyoun: Then I'm sure you share my delight in knowing that life here is returning to normal. The shops are reopening, the Promenade is abuzz with activity once again. The Habitat ring echoes with the laughter of happy children.\nDamar: I've doubled security patrols throughout the station.\nWeyoun: Are such precautions really necessary?\nDukat: I've found that one can't be too careful when dealing with the Bajorans.\nKira: What's wrong, Dukat? Afraid we'll take the station away from you again?\nDamar: You're welcome to try.\nWeyoun: Come now, come now, there's no need for this petty bickering. We're all friends here.\nKira: Are we.\nWeyoun: Of course we are. And if you have any suggestions, Major, feel free to bring them to me at any time.\nKira: Fine. We'd like the station's Bajoran security force reinstated.\nDamar: I suppose you want us to give them back their weapons as well.\nKira: That's right.\nDukat: The station no longer requires a Bajoran security force. Our troops can handle any problems that might arise.\nKira: The Federation and Bajor always shared equal responsibility for station security. I thought you said that we would have the same arrangement with the Dominion. After all, we are all friends here, aren't we?\nWeyoun: Perhaps you should reconsider your decision.\nDukat: The order stands. You may trust the Bajorans, but I don't. And until they earn my trust, I prefer to keep them unarmed. And if you were in my position, Major, you would do exactly the same thing.\nWeyoun: Perhaps it would be best to let the matter rest for a while. I'm sure in time, We'll be able to resolve all these minor problems to our mutual satisfaction.\nKira: I'll remember you said that.\nWeyoun: I'm sure you will. One last thing. Odo.\nKira: What about him?\nWeyoun: Is he aware that I'm doing everything I can to strengthen the bond between the Dominion and the Bajoran people?\nKira: Why don't you ask him yourself?\nWeyoun: No, no, I wouldn't want to bother him. Good day, Major.\nDukat: She's a fascinating woman, isn't she?\nWeyoun: I wouldn't know. But I do know we need her as an ally.\nDamar: The Bajorans will never be our allies.\nWeyoun: Out. Don't look at him. I'm telling you to leave. Now!\nDukat: I find him useful.\nWeyoun: In the future, it might be prudent for you to include me in all decisions relating to station policy. Now, what about the wormhole? You assured me that you would be able to dismantle the minefield within a month. That was two months ago.\nDukat: Well, I admit the work is proceeding more slowly than expected, but as you know, these are not ordinary mines. Every time we deactivate or destroy one of them, its neighbor replicates a new one.\nWeyoun: We have to take down that minefield and reopen the wormhole.\nDukat: And we will. But there's no need for panic. We are winning the war.\nWeyoun: For the moment, yes. But to defeat the Federation, we're going to need reinforcements and new supplies of ketracel-white. Soon.\nDukat: Weyoun, I said I will deal with the minefield, and I will.\nQuark: Good evening, gentlemen. Once again I see you're at your usual table. It's amazing how many of my customers think of Quark's as their second home. I only wish I had a holo-imager so I could preserve this warm and wonderful moment of camaraderie. Something you could hang on the wall of your barracks. Have you tried the dabo tables? I'm sure one of my lovely hostesses would be happy to teach you the game. I know. A complimentary hour in one of our state-of-the-art holosuites? Whatever your desires, I'm sure we can satisfy them. Perhaps another time. Enjoy the evening.\nQuark: Tough crowd.\nKira: I'm telling you, Odo, Dukat has only one thing on his mind, and that's revenge. He can't stand the thought that Bajor defeated Cardassia.\nOdo: You think he wants to reopen the labor camps?\nKira: Eventually.\nOdo: Well then, I suppose we should be grateful that he has Weyoun looking over his shoulder.\nKira: Maybe. Weyoun's a hard one to figure out. I don't really trust him but I trust him more than Dukat.\nOdo: Weyoun knows that it's in the Dominion's best interest to honor its treaty with Bajor. They want to prove to the rest of the Alpha Quadrant that they're true to their word.\nKira: Weyoun asked me about you. He seemed very concerned about what you thought of him.\nOdo: I try not to think of him.\nKira: He'd be hurt to hear you said that. I'll have to mention it to him.\nOdo: I'm glad you can still smile.\nKira: Only when I'm with you.\nOdo: That's kind of you to say.\nKira: No, it's true. When I talk to you, things don't seem as bad. When I think of Dukat in the Captain's office, or the fact that the Federation seems to be losing this war and we're here doing nothing.\nOdo: I share your frustration, Major, but right now there's really nothing we can do but bide our time. It's like Captain Sisko said. Bajor must be kept out of the fighting.\nKira: And who am I to argue with the Emissary.\nQuark: Thanks for waiting. Things have been a little busier than expected. This one's on the house.\nKira: What do you want, Quark?\nQuark: The usual. Peace, love and understanding. Not to mention a generous profit margin, which I'm happy to say is looking more and more likely. You know, I never expected to say this, but as occupations go, this one's not so bad.\nKira: No, I suppose that's true if all you're worried about is a monthly balance sheet.\nQuark: I'm not just concerned with profit, Major. Look around. Do you see any ghetto fences dividing the Promenade? Or exhausted Bajoran slave laborers sprawled on the ground after a grueling day in the Ore Processing Center? Do you hear the cries of starving children? I don't. Now don't get me wrong, I miss the Federation too. All I'm saying is, things could be a lot worse.\nOdo: I hate to say this, but he's right. The Dominion seems determined to prove that it can be a friend to Bajor.\nKira: If it's such a good friend, why are no Bajoran security officers on the station?\nRoss: I'm glad to see you made it back in one piece, Ben.\nSisko: I was lucky. We lost a lot of good people.\nRoss: Yes, we did. And we're going to lose a lot more before this is over. I hope you'll find this office satisfactory.\nSisko: Office? I wasn't aware I'd be needing an office. I thought I was here for an assignment briefing.\nRoss: I'm afraid you're going to be here longer than you think, Captain. As of right now, you're no longer in command of the Defiant.\nDax: Relieved of command? Why?\nSisko: Admiral Ross didn't say. He did say we'll be getting our new assignment at sixteen hundred hours.\nDax: Well at least the crew's staying together. We are staying together, aren't we?\nSisko: You can count on it.\nDax: So what do you plan on doing the next couple of hours?\nSisko: I hadn't given it much thought.\nDax: Maybe now would be a good time to contact your father.\nSisko: Maybe.\nDax: Benjamin, you haven't spoken to him for months. And Jake is his grandson.\nSisko: How do I explain that I evacuated every Federation citizen off Deep Space Nine except his grandson.\nDax: You'll think of something. You always do.\nJoseph: You did what?\nSisko: Dad, it's not quite as bad as it sounds.\nJoseph: You mean you didn't leave my grandson at the mercy of a vicious, bloodthirsty enemy?\nSisko: Well, no, I did.\nJoseph: Then it's certainly just as bad as it sounds.\nSisko: Dad, it was not my decision. It was Jake's choice to stay behind.\nJoseph: Oh, so now you're going to blame this on Jake.\nSisko: I'm not blaming Jake. But he's not a child anymore. He's responsible for his own actions.\nJoseph: I don't care who's responsible. It's wrong and I want him back.\nSisko: And so do I.\nJoseph: You think he's all right?\nSisko: I hope so. I'll bring him back, Dad. I promise.\nJoseph: When?\nSisko: That I don't know. It might be a while. I'm about to be given new orders, and I don't know where they're going to send me.\nJoseph: Tell them you want to go get your son.\nSisko: It's wartime. It's not up to me. I go where I'm sent. How's the restaurant doing?\nJoseph: All right. It's been three weeks since I've poisoned anyone. Are things really as bad as the news service claims?\nSisko: Maybe worse.\nJoseph: Well you certainly know how to comfort a frightened old man.\nSisko: You didn't raise me to be a liar.\nJoseph: I raised you to be a chef, for all the good it did me. You know, there's something I just don't understand. You're always telling me that space is big, that it's an endless frontier filled with infinite wonders.\nSisko: It's true.\nJoseph: Well if that's the case, you would think it would be more than enough room to allow people to leave each other alone.\nSisko: It just doesn't work that way. It should, but it doesn't.\nJoseph: I'd better be going. The lunch crowd's coming in. You watch yourself, Ben. And bring me back my grandson.\nSisko: I will.\nJoseph: I love you.\nSisko: I love you too.\nWeyoun: Hello.\nJake: Excuse me, Mister Weyoun.\nWeyoun: Oh, please. I prefer just Weyoun.\nJake: That's the kind of detail people like to know. Would this be a good time?\nWeyoun: For what?\nJake: For the interview we talked about. You know, for the Federation News Service.\nWeyoun: Oh, I'm afraid that will be quite impossible.\nJake: Why?\nWeyoun: Because I've read your previous articles and they left me with one inescapable conclusion. You are biased against the Dominion.\nJake: What gave you that idea?\nWeyoun: You keep referring to us as the station's, quote, occupying force, unquote.\nJake: What's wrong with that?\nWeyoun: It has a negative connotation. All your articles are filled with pejorative terminology, which is why I've been forced to withhold their transmission.\nJake: Are you telling me that no one in the Federation read my reports?\nWeyoun: If I don't send them, they don't read them.\nJake: What about freedom of the press?\nWeyoun: Please tell me you're not that naive.\nJake: The only reason I stayed here was to report on the occupation.\nWeyoun: You see, there you go again. This is not an occupation. This is a Cardassian station, Jake, and I'm sure you're aware that there are no Dominion troops on Bajor. And why should there be? We have a treaty with them. They're our friends.\nJake: All right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it.\nWeyoun: If you want me to send your articles to the Federation, you're going to have to provide a more balanced perspective.\nJake: I won't write Dominion propaganda.\nWeyoun: I would never dream of asking you to. All I want is for you to keep an open mind.\nJake: All right, my mind is open. Now can we do the interview?\nWeyoun: All in good time. You keep writing, I'll keep reading. Let's leave it at that for now. Good day, Jake.\nRoss: Starfleet Intelligence has diskovered what we believe to be their main storage facility for ketracel-white in the Alpha Quadrant. Right here.\nRoss: Deep in Cardassian space. We need to destroy it.\nBashir: Without the White to sustain them, the Jem'Hadar won't be able to function.\nRoss: Without the White, the Jem'Hadar will die.\nDax: I won't shed any tears, not if it helps end this war.\nRoss: It may be our only way we can end this war, short of surrendering.\nBashir: How do you expect us to infiltrate Cardassian territory without the Defiant and its cloaking abilities?\nSisko: I was wondering the same thing.\nRoss: You won't need a cloaking device. We have something even better.\nDax: It's a Jem'Hadar attack ship.\nRoss: It's the one you captured last year, Captain. Now you get a chance to see what it can do.\nBashir: Do you even know how to fly that thing?\nSisko: Not yet. But I intend to learn.\nDax: Guidance matrix, check. Aft parabolic thrusters, check. Sensor feed, check. Chief.\nO'Brien: Reactor core, check. Induction stabilizers, check. Phaser coils, check.\nDax: Nog.\nNog: Resonance emitters, check. Subspace field grid, check. Signal subprocessors, check. I think.\nO'Brien: You think? We've been training on this ship for two weeks now.\nNog: I would like to put a Jem'Hadar soldier on the Defiant and see how well he does after two weeks. These controls are very different. They take time to get used to.\nO'Brien: We don't have any more time. We're about to take this ship into enemy territory. We don't want any slipups.\nNog: I don't intend to make any, Chief.\nO'Brien: Good.\nNog: I still don't see why we couldn't installl a few chairs on the bridge.\nO'Brien: Because this ship wasn't designed for chairs.\nNog: Well, my feet aren't designed to stand for long periods of time. They get tired.\nO'Brien: Maybe we should leave you behind.\nNog: My feet might like that, but I wouldn't.\nO'Brien: It's not your feet that you need to worry about, it's your stomach. Have you noticed? There isn't a single food replicator anywhere on this ship.\nNog: That shouldn't be a problem. Captain Sisko says there'll be plenty of field rations.\nO'Brien: Try eating nothing but field rations for three weeks and then tell me it isn't a problem.\nDax: You want to know what is a problem? No viewscreen. Who builds a bridge without a window?\nBashir: The same people who build a ship without an Infirmary. Here's a list of all the medical supplies I brought on board. They're in my quarters, for want of a better place.\nDax: Don't worry, we'll try not to have any medical emergencies while you're sleeping.\nBashir: I'm so glad that you find the lack of proper medical facilities amusing. But if trouble breaks out, it's not a viewscreen or a chair or even a sandwich you'll be wanting. It's a bio-bed with a surgical tissue regenerator.\nDax: Maybe. But right now I would settle for a viewscreen.\nNog: Or a chair.\nO'Brien: Or a sandwich.\nSisko: All right, people. Prepare for departure.\nDax: All systems ready, sir.\nBashir: Garak, come to see us off?\nGarak: Not quite.\nSisko: I invited Mister Garak to join us. Considering we're heading into Cardassian territory, I thought he might prove useful.\nGarak: Well, it's been known to happen.\nO'Brien: Pull up a chair.\nNog: We're cleared for departure, sir.\nSisko: Take us out, old man.\nDax: Aye, Captain. Aft thrusters at one half.\nSisko: Bring us about.\nDax: Just wanted to make sure everyone was awake.\nSisko: We are now. Just take it nice and easy, all right?\nDax: I can try.\nSisko: Set a course for the Cardassian border, heading zero five four mark zero nine three. Warp six.\nDax: Yes, sir.\nDukat: Come in.\nKira: You wanted to see me?\nDukat: I always want to see you, Major. And therein lies the problem. It's been three months since my return to this station and you and I have barely spent any time with one another. Oh, I know you can point out the various meetings we've attended together, but they never seem to offer us the opportunity to venture beyond station business.\nKira: I don't have time for this.\nDukat: Major! I haven't dismissed you yet.\nKira: What do you want from me, Dukat?\nDukat: Come now, Major. Have the last three months been that bad?\nKira: Is that what you want? Is that why I'm here? To flatter you? To tell you know what a good job you've doing and how happy we all are to have you back?\nDukat: Sarcasm doesn't become you, Major. It's your directness that I've always found most appealing.\nKira: Dukat, I've got better things to do than to stand here and help you play out one of your little fantasies.\nDukat: You feel I've betrayed you.\nKira: Not just me, everyone. Even your own people.\nDukat: Cardassia was on the edge of an abyss, Major. The war with the Klingons left us into a third-rate power. My people had lost their way. I've made them strong again.\nKira: At what price? You sold Cardassia to the Dominion.\nDukat: Yes, a high price, to be sure. But look what we're getting in return. The Alpha Quadrant itself.\nKira: We'll see about that.\nDukat: Yes, we will. Oh, I could make things very pleasant for you here, Kira.\nKira: You could start by doing something about your breath.\nDukat: I'm a patient man. I can wait.\nKira: Wait for what? What do you think is going to happen here, Dukat? That you're going to wear me down with your charming personality? That I'm going to be swept off my feet by that insincere smile? Are you really so deluded that you actually believe that we're going to have some kind of intimate relationship?\nDukat: Oh, we already do. Good day, Major. I have work to do.\nBashir: There. I wish I had had more time to study the side effects of wearing that headset.\nSisko: At least we know one side effect. Headaches.\nBashir: Well, the headsets were designed to be worn by the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar, not humans.\nGarak: Captain, may I make a suggestion?\nSisko: Only if you talk softly.\nGarak: We saw Dukat wearing one of these headsets during the attack on Deep Space Nine. Perhaps Cardassian physiology is more compatible.\nSisko: Are you volunteering?\nGarak: I suppose I am. This ship is equipped with two of them. If I wore one, then you wouldn't have to. At least, not all the time.\nBashir: I agree with Garak, Captain. The less you wear it, the better.\nSisko: Garak.\nGarak: It's like having a viewscreen inside your brain.\nNog: Sir, there's a Federation ship off our starboard bow, bearing one five seven mark zero nine five. It's the USS Centaur.\nSisko: That's Charlie Reynolds' ship.\nGarak: I see it.\nSisko: Cadet, open a channel to the Centaur.\nNog: I can't. Our comm. system's down.\nGarak: Perhaps we should consider returning fire.\nBashir: We can't do that. They're Starfleet.\nGarak: Well, you tell them, not us.\nO'Brien: We better do something.\nSisko: Dax, get us across the border, maximum warp. I hope Charlie Reynolds knows better than to follow us into Dominion territory.\nSisko: How long before we cross the border?\nDax: We just did.\nNog: The Centaur's still with us.\nSisko: Charlie never did know when to quit.\nO'Brien: I hope he knows what he's doing.\nGarak: The question is, do we know what we're doing?\nDax: Captain, that last hit damaged one of our guidance thrusters.\nSisko: Drop us out of warp. Come about. Prepare to return fire.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nDax: The Centaur has followed us out of warp.\nSisko: Target their weapons array. Avoid their engines. I don't want to leave Charlie out here stranded on the wrong side of the border.\nDax: We're coming about for another pass.\nSisko: Charlie likes to swing for the fences so stay in tight. Attack pattern Omega.\nDax: The Centaur is going to warp. It's heading back to Federation space.\nNog: Yes!\nGarak: Nice work, Chief.\nO'Brien: I didn't know I'd scored a direct hit.\nDax: Maybe you didn't. I'm picking up three Jem'Hadar ships headed this way.\nSisko: He must have seen them.\nNog: They went right by us.\nDax: Without even bothering to say hello.\nO'Brien: They're too busy chasing the Centaur.\nBashir: You think Reynolds will outrun them?\nSisko: Charlie's been in tight spots before. He'll make it.\nDax: I wish we could help.\nSisko: We can't. Chief, get our comm. system back online. Return to course. Warp seven.\nDax: Yes, sir.\nKira: You should have seen the arrogant, smug look on his face. He was in control and there was nothing that I could do about it. The war isn't over yet, but as far as Dukat is concerned, he's already won. I'd love to show him he's wrong.\nOdo: For the moment at least, I'm afraid he has won. Look at me. I don't know why I bother to sit here every day. I don't even have a security force to patrol the Promenade.\nKira: Then ask for one. Demand that they reinstate your Bajoran deputies.\nOdo: Dukat will never agree to that.\nKira: Forget about Dukat. Go to Weyoun. He'll listen to you. As far as he's concerned you're a god, and that gives you power. But what good is power if you're not willing to use it?\nJem'Hadar: We pledge our loyalty to the Founders from now until death.\nWeyoun: Then receive this reward from the Founders. May it keep you strong.\nDukat: You enjoy that, don't you? That constant reminder that you're their master.\nWeyoun: The Founders are the masters. I am merely their servant, as are the Jem'Hadar. And you.\nDukat: That may be. But even amongst servants, someone has to be in charge.\nWeyoun: That is exactly the kind of observation I've come to expect from you, Dukat. Interesting, yet somewhat petty.\nDamar: Forgive the interruption, but he insisted on seeing you immediately.\nWeyoun: Founder, I'm honored by your visit. Is there someway I can be of service?\nOdo: I want my Bajoran security officers reinstated.\nWeyoun: Consider it done.\nOdo: From now on, they'll be responsible for security on the Promenade.\nWeyoun: I don't see any problem with that.\nDukat: I do.\nWeyoun: This is between me and Odo. I'll thank you to keep out of it.\nOdo: I'll have my officers report to the armory within the hour.\nWeyoun: Now that I've done something for you, perhaps there's something you'd consent to do for me.\nKira: A member of the station's Ruling Council. You?\nOdo: Along with Weyoun and Dukat. Now I'll have a voice in station policy.\nKira: You're sure this is a good idea?\nOdo: Dukat thought it was a terrible idea. You should have seen his face when Weyoun offered me the position.\nKira: Don't you see that Weyoun's using you? Your presence on the Council validates the Dominion control of the station.\nOdo: I thought we were using him. I know the danger, Major. I've had to walk this line before during the Cardassian occupation. I can do it again, but this time I won't be alone. I'll have you to help me.\nKira: That's right, you will.\nOdo: Then this is a victory after all.\nKira: I suppose it is. But for some reason, it just doesn't feel like one.\nGarak: The ship ahead just transmitted a message to the asteroid storage facility. They're requesting to be resupplied with ketracel-white.\nDax: Looks like we've come to the right place.\nGarak: The ship beamed down a hundred and ten empty canisters. Mow the storage facility is beaming up a hundred and ten full ones.\nSisko: Everything ready, Chief?\nO'Brien: I've got eighty three empty canisters standing by, and one not so empty.\nO'Brien: Ninety isotons of enriched ultritium should take out the entire storage facility and everything else within eight hundred kilometers.\nSisko: Which means we have to be nine hundred kilometers away before the bomb goes off.\nGarak: The other ship is leaving orbit.\nSisko: Dax?\nDax: The entire exchange took ninety two point three seconds.\nGarak: I've asked for eighty four canisters of ketracel-white. Excellent. They're acknowledging my request.\nSisko: Chief, set the detonator for three minutes.\nO'Brien: Detonator set.\nBashir: Three minutes? If it takes us ninety two point three seconds to make the exchange that doesn't give us much time, sir.\nSisko: That doesn't give the Jem'Hadar much time to detect the explosive either. Commander, beam down the canisters.\nDax: Canisters away.\nNog: I hope whoever's in charge down there hasn't taken a lunch break.\nBashir: The Jem'Hadar don't eat, Nog.\nNog: That's good. How do we know they're Jem'Hadar?\nDax: Relax, Cadet, everything's on schedule. They've just beamed eighty four canisters of White into our cargo hold.\nGarak: I've acknowledged receipt and requested clearance for departure.\nSisko: Good. Prepare to go to warp.\nDax: Standing by.\nGarak: Captain, I think we have a problem. They've just raised the security net.\nSisko: Repeat our request for clearance.\nGarak: They're not responding.\nBashir: If they don't drop the net before the bomb goes off, we don't stand a chance.\nDax: One minute and thirty seconds to detonation.\nNog: Do you think they found the bomb?\nO'Brien: I doubt it. Not this fast.\nBashir: Then why aren't they letting us go?\nSisko: That's a good question.\nGarak: Captain, they're responding. They're ordering us to stand by.\nSisko: For what?\nGarak: They're not saying.\nDax: One minute fifteen seconds.\nSisko: Chief, can we punch a hole in the security net?\nO'Brien: Sure. It'll take a couple of minutes.\nSisko: We don't have a couple of minutes. What if we disable the net's power generator?\nNog: The explosion will do that.\nGarak: Well that won't do us much good.\nDax: One minute.\nSisko: Maybe it will. When the generator's destroyed, the net'll come down. All we have to do is to time it so that we're moving fast enough at the moment of detonation to avoid getting caught in the explosion.\nDax: But not so fast that we smash into the net before it's deactivated.\nO'Brien: It's tricky.\nSisko: Not if we time it right.\nDax: Let's see. A radial geodesic in a thirty nine Cochrane warp field contracts normal space at a rate of\nBashir: We have to go to full impulse one point three seconds before the bomb detonates.\nSisko: Dax?\nDax: The computer agrees with Julian.\nGarak: Of course it does. They think alike.\nDax: Turning over piloting controls to the main computer. Set.\nSisko: Time?\nDax: Twenty two seconds until the explosion.\nNog: Twenty-two seconds. That's plenty of time.\nO'Brien: See, Cadet? There was nothing to worry about.\nO'Brien: It must've gone off early.\nSisko: Dax, get us out of here!\nGarak: Well, not quite according to plan, but I'm sure Starfleet will be quite satisfied with the results.\nSisko: I agree, Mister Garak. Well done, old man. How bad is it, Chief?\nO'Brien: It doesn't look good. I'm going to have to switch to auxiliary life support. Deflectors are down, guidance system's shot, and\nSisko: And what?\nO'Brien: The core matrix is fried. We don't have warp drive.\nGarak: Forgive my ignorance, but if we don't have warp drive, how long is it going to take us to reach the closest Federation starbase?\nSisko: A long time, Mister Garak.\nGarak: How long?\nBashir: Seventeen years, two months, and three days. Give or take an hour."}
{"text": "Sisko: Sisko to Dax.\nDax: Yes, Captain.\nSisko: We arrive at Starbase three seven five in five minutes.\nDax: I'll meet you in the transporter room. Dax out. Oh, now that's what I call really bad timing. I have to go.\nWorf: Jadzia, there is just one more thing\nDax: As long as it's not about the wedding.\nWorf: When we exchange vows, you must remember to present your d'k tahg to General Martok as a formal request for him to accept you into our House.\nDax: But I don't want to join his House.\nWorf: What?\nDax: I don't want to get caught up in all those blood feuds. Every time a member of the House of Martok gets dishonored or killed, I'll have to drop whatever I'm doing and rush off on some quest for vengeance. It's boring, Worf.\nWorf: If you refuse, it will be a grave dishonor. General Martok will not understand.\nDax: Worf, I'm joking.\nWorf: So you will join our House?\nDax: Of course I will.\nWorf: I can see our lives together will not be easy.\nDax: True. But they'll be fun.\nMartok: This is General Martok of the IKS. Rotarran, requesting permission to dock.\nStarfleet: General, you're cleared for docking at bay eleven.\nBashir: Thank God.\nO'Brien: I never thought I'd miss Starfleet field rations. Give me some freeze-dried peaches, or some powdered carrots, anything so long as it isn't moving.\nBashir: It's not the food, it's the singing.\nO'Brien: Till all hours of the night.\nBashir: If I'd have to listen to another ballad about the honored dead, I'll go stark raving mad.\nStarfleet: Captain Sisko, Admiral Ross extends his compliments for a job well done and requests that you and your senior staff beam to his conference room for debriefing immediately.\nSisko: Tell the Admiral we're on our way.\nStarfleet: Starbase out.\nSisko: Once again, thank you for rescuing us, General.\nMartok: Try not to get too comfortable lounging around the starbase. We need you back in the fight.\nSisko: Are you a betting man, General?\nMartok: One of my many pleasures.\nSisko: Then a barrel of bloodwine says that I set foot on Deep Space Nine before you do.\nMartok: Done.\nWorf: General, I've just received word the reinforcements from the Vor'nak are here.\nMartok: Good. Look at this. Barely moving. I'd give my good eye for a plate of fresh gagh. How many replacements?\nWorf: Five.\nMartok: Five? I requested fifteen.\nWorf: General Tanas could only give us five.\nMartok: We keep falling back. The Dominion keeps pushing forward. I tell you, Worf, war is much more fun when you're winning. Defeats make my wounds ache. Ah, the replacements.\nMartok: I am General Martok. Welcome to the Rotarran. May you prove worthy of this ship and bring honor to her name. This is a glorious moment in the history of the Empire, a chapter that will be written with your blood. Fight well, and our people will sing your praises for a thousand years. Fail, and there will be no more songs, no more honor, no more Empire. Who among you hears the cry of the warrior calling you to glory?\nAll: Qapla'!\nWorf: Who offers their life for the Empire?\nN'Garen: N'Garen, daughter of Tse'Dek!\nKatogh: Katogh, son of Ch'Pok!\nKoth: Koth, son of Larna!\nDoran: Doran, daughter of W'Mar!\nAlexander: Alexander Rozhenko.\nWorf: Alexander.\nMartok: Rozhenko? Of what house is Rozhenko?\nAlexander: Of no House, sir. My honor will be my own.\nMartok: Well, there will be plenty of honor for the taking on this ship. Enough for all of you. I accept your lives into my hands. Glory to you and to the Empire!\nWorf: Yih-Ghom-HAH!\nMartok: This Alexander Rozhenko, you know him?\nWorf: He is my son.\nKira: The next thing we need is a secure way to communicate with our contacts on Bajor.\nOdo: The Cardassians are extremely adept at locating the source of any illicit subspace transmission.\nKira: Well, we'll just have to be smarter than they are.\nJake: Hi. Mind if I join you?\nOdo: You already have.\nJake: I want in.\nOdo: In on what?\nJake: Your resistance cell.\nKira: What cell?\nJake: Come on, Major. I have my sources.\nOdo: How reassuring.\nJake: I can help.\nOdo: How?\nJake: As a reporter, I hear things. People talk to me.\nKira: About what?\nJake: Major, all I'm asking for is a chance.\nQuark: It's time, Major.\nKira: Already?\nQuark: Fourteen fifty seven hours. The shuttle will be docking in three minutes.\nKira: I better get going. Don't want to keep him waiting.\nJake: I see Gul Dukat's still having you meet him every time he returns to the station. Like I said, I hear things.\nQuark: Shouldn't you be wearing your dress uniform? You look lovely just the way you are.\nJake: So, am I in or not?\nQuark: You don't want to get involved in this, but if you are looking for something to do, I could use another waiter.\nDukat: Ah, Major Kira. So good to see you again.\nDamar: You're out of uniform, Major. Bajorans could use a lesson in respect.\nDukat: Damar, please. This is a happy occasion. Let's not spoil it. I have a surprise for you.\nZiyal: Nerys! KIRA Ziyal!\nZiyal: I am so glad to see you.\nKira: What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on Bajor.\nDukat: I talked her into taking a little sabbatical from the university.\nKira: Talked her into it?\nZiyal: It didn't take much convincing. Why don't you and I have dinner tonight, and I'll tell you all about it.\nKira: All right.\nDukat: Splendid! We'll dine in my quarters at twenty two hundred hours.\nKira: Wait a minute, I didn't\nZiyal: I can't tell you how much I've missed you.\nDukat: Come along, Ziyal.\nZiyal: I'll see you tonight.\nKira: All right.\nWorf: You sent for me, General.\nMartok: Orders at last. We are to escort a convoy to Donatu Five.\nWorf: The last three convoys that were sent there were destroyed by the Jem'Hadar.\nMartok: Which is why this one must get through.\nWorf: How many ships will form the escort?\nMartok: The Rotarran is all the High Council can spare. A vital mission, impossible odds and a ruthless enemy. What more could we ask for? I tell you Worf, I feel young again. Here is the briefing. Start battle drills immediately. Train them hard.\nWorf: By the time we join the convoy, they will have the reflexes of a Norpin falcon.\nMartok: I expect nothing less. Worf, one moment.\nMartok: We have shed blood together, escaped from a Jem'Hadar prison together. You have pledged yourself and your life to my House. Yet in all this time, you have never once mentioned that you had a son.\nWorf: It is a difficult subject to discuss.\nMartok: That much is obvious.\nWorf: Alexander and I were never close. His mother was only half-Klingon and was disdainful of our ways.\nMartok: I see. So you allowed her to raise the boy.\nWorf: No, General. She was killed when he was very young. He spent a short time with me aboard the Enterprise, but after that I sent him to live with my foster parents on Earth.\nMartok: Why?\nWorf: He showed no interest in becoming a warrior. It was difficult, but I learned to accept it and, in time, encouraged him to follow his own path.\nMartok: Then why has he joined the Klingon Defense Forces?\nWorf: I do not know. I have not spoken with him.\nMartok: This is not good, my friend. When a father and son do not speak, it means there's trouble between them.\nWorf: General, I prefer to handle this my own way.\nMartok: Then do so.\nWorf: Enter.\nAlexander: Bekk Alexander Rozhenko reporting as ordered, sir.\nWorf: You have grown.\nAlexander: So I've been told.\nWorf: How are your grandparents?\nAlexander: Your parents were in good health when I last saw them.\nWorf: Do they know you are here?\nAlexander: They weren't pleased about my decision, but when they realized I was determined to enlist they supported me as they always have.\nWorf: I know we have not seen each other for some time, but let us talk as father and son.\nAlexander: I am not here to call you father. I am here to serve the Empire.\nWorf: Serving the Empire was not one of your priorities when last we spoke.\nAlexander: As you say, that was some time ago.\nWorf: Did you think enlisting would please me?\nAlexander: Pleasing you did not enter into my decision. With all due respect, sir , does this conversation have any bearing on my duties aboard this ship?\nWorf: Stop pretending to be a warrior. We both know you do not belong here. You heard what I expect from the rest of the crew. Twice that I expect from you. Do we understand each other?\nAlexander: Perfectly.\nWorf: You may go.\nZiyal: Come in. Nerys, you're early. I've just started the ramufta.\nKira: Ziyal, I'm not having dinner with you tonight.\nZiyal: Oh. It's because of my father, isn't it?\nKira: That's right.\nZiyal: I thought you might change your mind. I was hoping I was wrong.\nKira: Ziyal, what are you doing back on the station?\nZiyal: Please don't be upset with me. I know how hard you worked to arrange things for me on Bajor. I tried, I really tried.\nKira: I'm not upset with you. I'm a little confused. What happened?\nZiyal: It wasn't any one thing. The students at the university, everybody was polite. But then I'd see them whispering in the hallways, staring at me. I'm the daughter of Gul Dukat. My father is leading a war against the Emissary of the Prophets. I don't know what made me think I belonged there. This station is the closest thing I have to a home. You're here. My father is here.\nKira: But the last time you defied him, he left you here to die.\nZiyal: We talked about that. He admits he overreacted, but family loyalty is important to my father and he felt I betrayed him.\nKira: You betrayed him? I think it's the other way around.\nZiyal: He misses me, and I've missed him. I have to give him a chance. He's all I have except for you. I was hoping you would have dinner with us tonight because there's something special I wanted to share with both of you. But I guess that's impossible.\nKira: All right, I'll be here. But I won't guarantee it's going to be any fun.\nZiyal: I promise my father will behave.\nAlexander: Is this seat taken?\nCh'Targh: Alexander Rozhenko. We were holding it just for you.\nAlexander: I am honored.\nCh'Targh: The honor is ours. Please. Bregit lung. An excellent choice. Would you care for some grapok sauce?\nAlexander: No, thank you.\nCh'Targh: Oh, you must try some. It brings out the flavor.\nAlexander: That's enough, thank you.\nCh'Targh: Some bloodwine to wash it down?\nAlexander: Why are you laughing?\nCh'Targh: Or perhaps the son of our illustrious First Officer would prefer an Earth beverage. A glass of root beer with a lump of ice cream?\nAlexander: Are you mocking me?\nCh'Targh: Now why would I mock you, son of Worf?\nAlexander: I am called Rozhenko.\nCh'Targh: I will call you whatever I please and you will learn to like it.\nCh'Targh: Does the son of Starfleet's finest think he is too good to eat with us?\nAlexander: No. Have some lung.\nCh'Targh: I do not like your smile. Perhaps I will cut you a new one.\nCh'Targh: He fights like a Ferengi.\nCh'Targh: Shakk-TAH!\nCh'Targh: Your combat training has been sadly neglected, little one. I will teach you a new lesson. One you will not soon forget.\nWorf: Enough.\nAlexander: You have no right to interfere!\nWorf: You will both report to the medical ward immediately. And when they have finished with you, you will remain in quarters until your next watch. The rest of you, back to your stations. Now!\nCh'Targh: Are you going to fight the Jem'Hadar for him as well?\nZiyal: Vedek Nane taught me to focus intently on the image that I want to evoke, to allow it to fully form in my mind before I even pick up the brush. Well, what do you think?\nKira: They're very good.\nZiyal: You think so?\nKira: They remind me of Vedek Topek's early work.\nDukat: How ironic. I was about to say that they're similar in style to Nanpart Malor, the founder of the Valonnan school on Cardassia.\nZiyal: The director of the Cardassian Institute of Art said the same thing.\nDukat: You spoke with the director?\nZiyal: I sent him some of my drawings.\nDukat: You should have told me, Ziyal. I could have arranged for you to meet him in person.\nZiyal: I know. I wanted to do this on my own. He said I have a real gift. The Institute is having an exhibition of new artists next month. He might want to include my work.\nDukat: Wonderful!\nZiyal: It's a chance to show that both Bajorans and Cardassians look at the universe the same way. That's what I want to do with my work, bring people together. I guess it sounds a little silly.\nDukat: On the contrary, my dear. You're quite eloquent.\nZiyal: Are you ready for dessert?\nDukat: Yes.\nKira: I'm not going anywhere.\nZiyal: Good.\nKira: I don't believe the change. I have never seen her so\nDukat: Happy? Neither have I, Major.\nKira: She's finally found something, a talent, a direction.\nDukat: I'm reluctant to admit it but you were right to send her to Bajor.\nKira: I'm glad it worked out.\nDukat: We seldom see eye to eye, Major, but I know you care about my daughter, and for that, I'm grateful.\nMartok: There's only one thing I hate about convoy duty. It's the waiting. You'd think after all these years I'd be used to it. But nothing breaks the tension better than a tankard of warnog. Except maybe a good brawl.\nWorf: You heard about the fight in the mess hall.\nMartok: Yes, but not from my First Officer. I lost him the moment his son stepped aboard this ship.\nWorf: You think I acted improperly.\nMartok: It is not an easy thing to stand aside and watch someone injure your son.\nWorf: Alexander was no match for Ch'Targh. He would have killed the boy.\nMartok: Ch'Targh might have cut him a little and maybe broken a few bones, but nothing more. You told me Alexander never wanted to be a warrior. Clearly he has changed his mind. Worf, you are his First Officer. Teach him to survive. The Jem'Hadar will be less forgiving than Ch'Targh.\nComm: Battle stations. Alert status one. Captain to the bridge.\nMartok: Report.\nAlexander: Jem'Hadar attack ship bearing one seven zero mark zero four five. Estimated weapons range in twenty two seconds.\nMartok: On screen. Where is it?\nN'Garen: I have no target on my sensors. Switching to manual.\nWorf: Reroute primary sensors to weapons control.\nAlexander: Aye, sir. The Jem'Hadar has launched two torpedoes.\nWorf: At us or the convoy?\nAlexander: At us. Impact in ten seconds.\nMartok: Drop cloak, raise shields. Evasive action.\nAlexander: Torpedoes still locked onto us. They will hit in four seconds. Three.\nMartok: Brace for impact.\nAlexander: Two, one.\nWorf: Reinitialize primary sensors.\nAlexander: Sensors reinitialized. The Jem'Hadar ship is gone!\nWorf: Of course it is gone. You forgot to erase the battle simulation program from the sensor display.\nMartok: Stand down from alert status. Resume course. Reactivate cloak.\nCh'Targh: Keep a close watch. There may be more hostile simulation programs out there.\nMartok: Wait. He'll never make that mistake again. It's better that we should be too ready than not ready enough.\nCh'Targh: At least you're keeping us on our toes.\nMartok: You see, they have accepted him.\nWorf: They have accepted him as the ship's fool.\nDukat: In closing, let me emphasize again that Cardassia's gift of fifteen industrial replicators to Bajor ushers in a new age of cooperation and understanding between our two peoples. Hand in hand, we'll march into a new era of peace and prosperity as Dominion allies. Thank you, thank you. That will be all. Ah, Major Kira, may I have a word with you, please? Have you heard? The Cardassian Institute of Art has decided to exhibit three of Ziyal's drawings.\nKira: Really? Oh, that's wonderful. She must be excited.\nDukat: I'm hosting a celebration for her in my quarters tonight. I hope you'll join us.\nKira: What time?\nDukat: Twenty one thirty. Unless I'm unavoidably delayed.\nKira: Ah, the busy life of an interstellar despot.\nWorf: This is a kar'takin, a weapon favored by the Jem'Hadar. Defend yourself.\nWorf: No, that is not the proper grip. The thumbs must be opposed so that twisting motions will not\nAlexander: I understand.\nWorf: Then proceed.\nWorf: No. Do not try to shove my blade away. Deflect it and then use your momentum to counter.\nAlexander: I know.\nWorf: Then do it.\nWorf: No. Do not try to fight force with force. You will lose every time.\nWorf: What did I tell you? Well, pick it up! If you had kept practicing what I taught you when you were a boy this would be second nature to you by now.\nWorf: What is wrong with you?\nAlexander: I knew it would be like this.\nWorf: Like what?\nAlexander: You must be pleased. Now you can tell me what a failure I am as a Klingon.\nWorf: Alexander\nAlexander: Or are you just going to send me away again?\nWorf: We are not playing in holosuites now. This is war. The Jem'Hadar will cut you to pieces.\nAlexander: Then I will be dead and you will be happy. Now leave me alone!\nKira: Come in.\nKira: What do you want?\nDamar: From Gul Dukat. For some reason he thought you would enjoy having me deliver it to you.\nKira: What is it?\nDamar: A gift. For the party tonight.\nKira: What the hell am I doing?\nDukat: Come in. Ah, Major Kira, what a pleasant surprise. Come in, come in.\nDukat: You don't like the dress?\nKira: The dress is fine. I don't like you.\nDukat: Major, that's just not true. There's a bond between us.\nKira: No. Only in your mind. You're an opportunistic, power hungry dictator and I want nothing more to do with you.\nDukat: Ziyal would be very disappointed to hear you say that.\nKira: She'll get over it.\nDukat: Please, Nerys, let's sit down, We'll talk about it.\nKira: No, we won't.\nDukat: Nerys. Nerys!\nZiyal: Who was that?\nDukat: A delivery. It's a little something for you to wear to the party tonight. Do you like it?\nZiyal: It's beautiful! You can be so thoughtful.\nDukat: I try.\nMartok: Continue.\nMartok: Fine blade, well balanced. But in the end, it is only as good as the warrior who wields it.\nAlexander: I need more practice.\nMartok: Tell me, Alexander Rozhenko. Why are you on my ship?\nAlexander: To serve the Empire, General.\nMartok: That is a slogan, not an answer. Say what is in your heart.\nAlexander: Do you ask every new crewman this question?\nMartok: I have no need to. I look in their faces and I know why they are here. They are Klingon warriors. They have answered the call of Kahless.\nAlexander: Well, so have I.\nMartok: Lie to yourself if you must, but not to me. You do not hear the warriors' call. I ask again, why are you here?\nAlexander: I'd rather not say.\nMartok: What?\nAlexander: It's a private matter.\nMartok: You're as tight lipped as your father.\nAlexander: I am nothing like him.\nMartok: Both stubborn, tiresome qu'vatlh. The only difference is I need him. I do not need you.\nAlexander: All I ask is a chance to prove myself.\nMartok: I just gave you one and you failed. Your father has requested that you be transferred off this ship.\nAlexander: He has no right.\nMartok: He has every right, both as your superior officer and as your father. At twenty three seventeen, you will transport to the cargo vessel Par'tok. Collect your gear. Now.\nWorf: You are fortunate that I am your father. If you had challenged anyone else in that manner, you would be dead right now.\nAlexander: If you want me off this ship you're going to have to kill me.\nWorf: Alexander, I do not want to hurt you. I want to help you.\nAlexander: By getting rid of me? All you've ever done my whole life is send me away.\nWorf: I am a Klingon warrior. I lead a warrior's life. That is not the path for you. You told me this yourself. And I have come to accept it.\nAlexander: You call yourself my father but you haven't tried to see me or talk to me in five years. I wasn't the kind of son you wanted so you pretended that you had no son. You never accepted me. You abandoned me.\nMartok: Battle stations. Alert status one.\nAlexander: Aft thruster compartment fire now contained. Shields at sixty percent.\nN'Garen: ELN and TRC offline.\nMartok: And the Jem'Hadar?\nAlexander: Which one, sir?\nWorf: The one shooting at us!\nAlexander: His aft shields are down to twenty-five, no twenty percent and he's losing antiprotons from his starboard nacelle.\nMartok: Weapons, lock onto that nacelle. Fire at will. Full pattern.\nN'Garen: We've lost target lock. Switching to manual.\nMartok: Helm, bring us to three one seven mark zero four five. Weapons, can you hit him?\nN'Garen: Negative. He's out of range.\nAlexander: We've lost internal communications.\nMartok: Come to course zero two zero mark seven\nAlexander: There's plasma venting from the primary impulse injector on deck five. Subspace transceiver array offline.\nMartok: Worf, get that plasma leak under control before we lose that entire deck!\nMartok: Status.\nN'Garen: Impulse injector temperature approaching critical. Injector breach imminent.\nAlexander: I can seal the leak. I'm of no use to you here.\nCh'Targh: I will go with him. It will take at least two of us to secure the injector before it explodes.\nWorf: Go.\nMartok: Engineering, reroute all auxiliary power to the disrupters. Disengage overload suppressor. Worf, put us off the Jem'Hadar's starboard quarter. Weapons, continue to target his damaged nacelle.\nMartok: Helm, on my command, reduce impulse power to one third. Bring us to course three five five mark zero nine zero. Weapons, be ready for him to pass in front of us.\nWorf: Course laid in.\nN'Garen: Weapons standing by.\nMartok: Now.\nMartok: Well done.\nWorf: Captain. Permission to leave the bridge.\nMartok: Go. Stand down from alert status. N'Garen, take the helm.\nWorf: Report.\nCh'Targh: We sealed the impulse injector, Commander.\nWorf: Where's my son?\nCh'Targh: Trapped in that corridor, sir. After we secured the injector, I sent him in there to put away the tools and somehow he tripped the emergency lockdown. We are trying to override it now.\nWorf: You locked yourself in?\nAlexander: Yes, sir.\nWorf: Come.\nZiyal: Nerys. You didn't come to the party last night.\nKira: I'm sorry. I couldn't. I think you know why.\nZiyal: Please don't ask me to choose between you.\nKira: I'm not. There's no choice. He's your father.\nWorf: I cannot change the mistakes I have made, but from this day forward, I promise will stand with you.\nAlexander: We'll see if you mean It.\nWorf: Yes, we will. What you are about to do entails a grave obligation. Do not accept it lightly.\nAlexander: I understand and I accept.\nWorf: Good. I will teach you what you need to know to be a warrior, and you will teach me what I need to know to be a father. Come.\nMartok: Martok degh, to-Duj degh, bat-LEH degh, mat-LEH degh. MARTOK +\nWorf: Martok degh.\nWorf: Alexander, vih-nob dok-tog.\nAlexander: Mat-LEH gih-Hegh.\nMartok: DAH!\nMartok: Welcome to the House of Martok, Alexander, son of Worf."}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's log, supplemental. O'Brien needed three days to restore main power to our commandeered Dominion ship, but he's not going to get them. Sensors have detected two Jem'Hadar fighters heading our way, and without main power our chances of survival are slim to none.\nO'Brien: Try it now. Re-route the damned gyrodyne to the damned thruster array.\nNog: Got it.\nSisko: Garak, where are those ships now?\nGarak: Bearing three one zero mark two one five. Still closing.\nO'Brien: Nog, did you re-route the damned gyrodyne?\nNog: I'm trying, but the damned thruster array won't take the input.\nO'Brien: Try the lateral impulse thrusters and watch your mouth. Access the auxiliary core through the starboard engineering console.\nDax: I've already tried that. Still no power to weapons or shields.\nSisko: Dax, there's a dark matter nebula sixty degrees above the bow. Can we reach it?\nDax: Yes. But that nebula's never been charted. We don't know what's in there.\nGarak: The Jem'Hadar ships are entering weapons' range.\nSisko: Dax, get us into the nebula. Full impulse!\nSisko: Sisko to Bashir. Medical emergency.\nO'Brien: Helm control's gone.\nBashir: Okay, all right. You'll be feeling better any second now. She's got a puncture of the right abdominal cavity. It looks as though the symbiont may have been injured.\nO'Brien: Sensors are gone. Impulse engines offline. In fact, everything's offline. Emergency power's holding for now.\nSisko: Mister Garak, take a look outside.\nGarak: Just a moment.\nSisko: Chief, what happened?\nO'Brien: I don't know. We must have been hit by some kind of gravitational spike in the\nGarak: Oh, no.\nSisko: Mister Garak?\nGarak: Hold on!\nLimara'Son: We have established a defense perimeter around the entrance to the cavern. I have sent out two patrols to reconnoiter the shoreline in both directions. The Vorta's condition has worsened. He will die soon.\nRemata'Klan: What about the First and the Second?\nLimara'Son: I vaporized their bodies myself, and redistributed their equipment to the rest of the men. You are now the First.\nRemata'Klan: No. I questioned the Vorta's orders. He will not forget that. As long as he lives, I will remain Third.\nLimara'Son: You were right to question him. If he had not ordered us into the nebula two days ago we would not have crashed.\nRemata'Klan: It was not my place. Remember, Obedience Brings Victory.\nLimara'Son: And Victory is Life.\nRemata'Klan: Until we re-establish communications, we will hold this world for the Dominion.\nLimara'Son: And if we cannot re-establish communications?\nRemata'Klan: Then we will hold this world for the Dominion until we die.\nGarak: Cadet, this is no time to lie down on the job.\nSisko: Heave! One more now. Heave! All right. How is she?\nBashir: She's stable for now. Garak! I need a hand.\nO'Brien: Oh, no.\nSisko: What?\nO'Brien: I don't believe it!\nSisko: What?\nO'Brien: I tore my pants.\nSisko: You tore your pants?\nO'Brien: Yeah, I tore my pants. I guess, I guess I'm really in trouble now, huh?\nComputer: The time is zero five hundred hours. (Kira gets up and dressed. The turbolift to work is full of Jem'Hadar and Cardassians.\nKira: Thank you, Mavek.\nKeevan: This must be quite gratifying for you. But I've decided not to give you the pleasure of watching me die in this foul-smelling cavern. I intend to live.\nRemata'Klan: I understand.\nKeevan: How long until we re-establish communications?\nRemata'Klan: Seventh Yak'Talon estimates that it will take at least ten days before we can attempt a low-power test.\nKeevan: Ten days.\nRemata'Klan: It is time for the White.\nKeevan: Third Remata'Klan, can you vouch for the loyalty of your men?\nRemata'Klan: We pledge our loyalty to the Founders from now until death.\nKeevan: Then receive this reward from the Founders. May it keep you strong.\nLimara'Son: Only one?\nRemata'Klan: Keep your place.\nKeevan: This case of White must last until we're rescued. At least ten days, possibly more. I will ration the supply. Don't worry. I am the Vorta. I will take care of you all.\nGarak: Lucky for you, it ripped on the seam.\nO'Brien: Can you fix it?\nGarak: Unlucky for you, my sewing kit went down with the ship.\nNeeley: Maybe someone could go get it? The ship's only about five hundred meters below the surface by now.\nO'Brien: How long can you hold your breath, Cadet?\nSisko: Madam, your pants are ready. Your boots and vest will take a little longer. While you wait, I might suggest that you browse through the hotel's gift shop.\nDax: No, thank you. But I would like to lodge a complaint. This bed is as hard as a rock.\nSisko: I will make a note of that. What's the prognosis?\nBashir: Guarded, but good. The bleeding's stopped and I've repaired all the internal injuries. The damage to the symbiont is a little harder to diagnose. Given enough rest, I think they'll both make a full recovery.\nDax: In other words, I'm going to be staring at this cave ceiling for the rest of my stay.\nSisko: Lucky for you they have twenty four hour room service.\nSisko: I will get you out of here, old man. I promise.\nDax: I'm going to hold you to that one, Benjamin.\nGarak: What are you doing?\nNog: Following orders. The Captain told us to scan the area for fresh water and vegetation\nGarak: You know precisely what I mean. You're deliberately staying behind me and I want to know why. Does this have anything to do with that unfortunate business between you and me last year?\nNog: You tied me up and threatened to kill me.\nGarak: There were extenuating circumstances.\nNog: It happened. So you can either stay in front of me or walk beside me, but I won't turn my back on you again.\nGarak: Cadet, there may be hope for you yet.\nNog: What is it?\nGarak: I'm not sure but\nGarak: Now I'm sure.\nKeevan: How many others are there in your unit?\nNog: Nog. Cadet Third Class. Serial Number CX dash nine three seven dash\nGarak: Shut up. As I tried to explain to your men, my name is Kamar and I'm a member of the Cardassian Intelligence Bureau, what used to called the Obsidian Order. A week ago, as I was performing my duties in the glorious service of the Founders, I was captured by the USS Centaur. I was held aboard one of their shuttles when we were forced\nKeevan: Excuse me, Mister Kamar, if that's really your name, but if you're one of our allies, why were you wearing this?\nGarak: Ah. I was hoping you weren't going to ask me about that.\nKeevan: I only have one further question for you. Is there a doctor in your unit?\nGarak: Yes.\nNog: Garak!\nKeevan: Don't be too hard on him, young man. He just saved your life. Take them to a secure area. Third, I have a mission for you. I want you to find the Starfleet unit. But do not engage them. Locate them, assess their strength, and then report back to me.\nRemata'Klan: I understand.\nKeevan: No, you don't. But that's all right. It's not important that you understand, only that you carry out my instructions precisely.\nRemata'Klan: Obedience Brings Victory.\nKeevan: Yes. Yes, it does. Go.\nJake: I understand that a decision's been made to send four thousand Dominion facilitators down to Bajor. Would you care to elaborate?\nKira: It's only four hundred and how did you hear about that? The official announcement isn't scheduled until tomorrow.\nJake: I hear things. So could you elaborate? My readers want to know what's going on.\nOdo: You don't have any readers. Weyoun is still blocking the transmission of your stories.\nJake: For now. But what if he changes his mind? Don't you want to explain what's going on here to the outside world?\nKira: Ever since the war started, Bajor's been completely cut off from all outside trade. We've had nowhere to turn for things like spare parts or medical supplies. Nowhere, except the Dominion. So a group of Facilitators is going to Bajor for a few months to provide some technical assistance.\nJake: How do you respond to critics like Vedek Yassim who say that by welcoming a group of Vorta to Bajor you're taking the first step toward Dominion occupation?\nOdo: I have been assured that the Facilitators will be unarmed and unaccompanied by any Jem'Hadar soldiers.\nJake: Odo, do you have any concerns that by joining the Ruling Council here on the station, you're validating the occupation?\nOdo: The Dominion doesn't need my validation. They're here and they're not leaving. Not without a fight, at least.\nKira: Are you finished?\nJake: Almost, almost. Will either of you be attending the demonstration tomorrow?\nKira: The what?\nJake: Vedek Yassim has organized a demonstration on the Promenade tomorrow afternoon to protest the Dominion occupation of the station.\nOdo: That's all the excuse Dukat will need to order a new security crackdown.\nKira: I'll talk to Yassim.\nJake: So, you're going to abolish the right to protest here on the station? Hey, I'm not trying to accuse you personally of anything. I'm just asking questions.\nKira: I think this interview is over.\nOdo: I couldn't agree more.\nJake: Wrong question, Jake.\nO'Brien: I might be able to hardwire one of our comm. badges into this sensor array. That would give us a crude transmitter, but no power source.\nSisko: What about draining one of our phasers?\nO'Brien: I thought about that, but I'd need a converter to bridge the two power cells, and I can't build a converter without an ion exchange matrix.\nGordon: Captain, I think we may have a problem. Garak and Nog haven't reported in yet and they're not answering my hails.\nNeeley: Captain, there's a group of lifeforms up on the cliffs. Range seventy five meters, elevation thirty meters.\nSisko: That's where I'd be. Are they Jem'Hadar?\nNeeley: I think so.\nSisko: Well, let's not make it easy for them. Tell the Chief to head for that large outcropping of rocks at ten o'clock. Walk, not run.\nNeeley: Chief, we need to make for those rocks up ahead.\nLimara'Son: I can't take it.\nRemata'Klan: Terminate fire! Terminate!\nLimara'Son: You have been ordered to stop firing!\nRemata'Klan: Your orders were clear. You were not to engage the enemy. Who fired first?\nLimara'Son: I did.\nRemata'Klan: You are reduced to Sixth. You will shroud and return to base camp.\nLimara'Son: I am no longer able to shroud myself.\nRemata'Klan: You, you. Provide suppression fire as we withdraw.\nLimara'Son: Understood.\nRemata'Klan: Withdraw!\nLimara'Son: Remata'Klan, I regret my disobedience.\nO'Brien: Are they pulling out?\nSisko: Looks that way.\nO'Brien: Why aren't they camouflaged?\nSisko: That's a good question. Let's hope the answer is something in our favor. Cease fire.\nKeevan: Why were my orders disobeyed?\nRemata'Klan: Lack of White produces anxiety among us. One man could not restrain himself when he saw the enemy.\nKeevan: Which man?\nRemata'Klan: I have dealt with the matter.\nKeevan: I asked for his name.\nRemata'Klan: He is my responsibility.\nKeevan: His name!\nRemata'Klan: I may not be First, but I am the unit leader. You can diskipline me, but only I diskipline the men. That is the order of things.\nKeevan: Very well. I'll leave him to you.\nRemata'Klan: Dismissed.\nKeevan: You've done well, Third. You may yet become First. Now, I have a new task for you.\nYassim: The Dominion is evil, and the Prophets tell us that evil must be opposed.\nKira: You'll get no argument from me there, Vedek. But protests and demonstrations aren't going to change anything. They're just going to cause trouble for everyone.\nYassim: Then what would you have us do to oppose the Dominion?\nKira: I don't think there's anything you or the other Vedeks can do right now.\nYassim: I see. Then as a Bajoran liaison officer, what will you be doing to fight the Dominion?\nKira: Fighting isn't an option. This is different than the Cardassian occupation.\nYassim: Is it? The Cardassians are in control of this station. Bajoran freedoms are being curtailed one by one. And soon the first wave of alien troops will be landing on our world.\nKira: We're talking about unarmed Vorta facilitators. They come in, they do their job, and they're gone.\nYassim: Can't you see what is happening to you? You're becoming an apologist for them, a defender of evil. What will it take to make you act, Kira? To stop accepting them and start fighting back?\nKira: Vedek, you just don't understand.\nYassim: You are right. I don't. Maybe tomorrow we will both understand.\nSisko: We'll set up three defensive positions. You and Ensign Gordon on the south ridge, Lieutenant Neeley near the lava tube, Bashir and I are in the dunes.\nDax: I'll stay here and guard my clothes.\nNeeley: Neeley to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nNeeley: A Jem'Hadar soldier has just approached my position, sir. He says he wants to talk to you, alone.\nNeeley: Sir?\nSisko: I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko.\nRemata'Klan: Third Remata'Klan. Two members of your unit are being held at our base camp. We'll exchange them for you and your doctor.\nSisko: Why do you need a doctor?\nRemata'Klan: The Vorta has been severely wounded.\nSisko: And why me?\nRemata'Klan: The Vorta wishes to speak with you.\nSisko: Sounds like he wants to trade two low-ranking prisoners for two more valuable ones. Would you make a deal like that?\nRemata'Klan: No.\nSisko: Then why should I?\nRemata'Klan: You shouldn't.\nSisko: You're not a very good negotiator, are you.\nRemata'Klan: I was not sent to negotiate. I was instructed only to deliver the terms.\nSisko: I see. Well then, I want to talk to someone who can negotiate. I want to speak with your First.\nRemata'Klan: There is no First.\nSisko: I take it there's no Second either.\nRemata'Klan: I command the unit.\nSisko: Under the Vorta. It must be hard for a soldier to take orders from a Vorta.\nRemata'Klan: The Vorta command the Jem'Hadar. That is the order of things.\nSisko: Obedience Brings Victory. I was on a mission with the Jem'Hadar once. Before the war, of course. They were good. Tough, professional. It was an honor to serve with them. But their Vorta, he was something different. Manipulative, treacherous, trusted by neither side. In the end, he was killed by the Jem'Hadar First. Surprised?\nRemata'Klan: Such things have been known to happen. But they are rare and only occur in units that have lost diskipline.\nSisko: Oh, you mean like a unit marooned on the shores of a deserted planet?\nRemata'Klan: The Vorta has instructed me to give you his assurance that neither you nor your Doctor will be harmed and you'll both be free to leave at the end of your meeting. What is your response?\nSisko: The word of a Vorta carries very little weight with me. Can I have your assurance that we'll be free to go, Remata'Klan?\nRemata'Klan: I have been ordered to let you go free after your meeting. You can be assured that I will obey that order.\nSisko: Very well. We'll make the trade in one hour.\nRemata'Klan: Agreed.\nDax: Sounded like you were actually getting through to him for a minute there.\nSisko: You can't break through all that Dominion conditioning in just one conversation.\nDax: Do you really think you can turn him against his Vorta?\nSisko: I don't know. But there were at least seven Jem'Hadar soldiers up on that ridge this morning. Say at least two more at their base camp guarding the prisoners and their Vorta. Without Nog and Mister Garak on our side, that gives them almost a two to one advantage.\nDax: I think I'd like to check out now.\nSisko: So would I, old man.\nRemata'Klan: You may go.\nGarak: Now don't get too far ahead, Nog. We don't want to startle anyone. Ah, good afternoon, Captain. Doctor.\nSisko: Are you two all right?\nGarak: Perfect. How are you?\nBashir: I've felt better.\nKira: Anything yet?\nOdo: Not yet. There are two Vedeks inside, but we've seen no indication they intend to leave the shrine.\nKira: What about Yassim?\nOdo: She hasn't shown up.\nKira: Let's hope she doesn't. The last thing I want to do is start arresting Bajoran civilians here on the Promenade.\nKira: I don't think there's going to be any story here for you today, Jake.\nJake: You sure? I got a message from Vedek Yassim saying the protest was starting at exactly fourteen hundred.\nKira: Well, it certainly doesn't look like it.\nMan: What's she doing?\nYassim: Evil must be opposed.\nKeevan: Captain Sisko, my name is Keevan. We have a lot to talk about.\nBashir: Not for a while, you don't. He needs immediate surgery.\nSisko: Now?\nBashir: I don't think I have any choice.\nBashir: I am a doctor. I'm not going to harm him.\nKeevan: They're not here to protect me. They've just never seen what the inside of a Vorta looks like.\nComputer: The time is zero five hundred hours.\nKira: Thank you, Mavek.\nSisko: How was the show?\nRemata'Klan: Informative.\nKeevan: Ah, I am alive.\nBashir: No self-diagnoses, please. I'm the doctor here. Your internal hemorrhaging has stopped, your free collagen levels are dropping, tissue growth factors have stabilized nicely and there's a fifty percent rise in cell oxygenation. You are alive. Careful. Your insides are being held together by cellular micro-sutures and a lot of hope.\nKeevan: Leave us, and take your men with you.\nKeevan: May I have that case, please?\nKeevan: There are ten Jem'Hadar soldiers on this planet, Captain.\nKeevan: And that is the only vial of Ketracel White we have left. When it's gone, my hold over them will be broken and they'll become nothing more than senseless, violent animals. They'll kill everyone they can. Me, you, the rest of your men, and finally turn on each other.\nSisko: Why are you telling us this?\nKeevan: I'm ordering the Jem'Hadar to attack your base camp in the morning. But I will provide you with their precise plan of attack. You should be able to kill them all.\nBashir: They're your own men.\nKeevan: Yes.\nSisko: You still haven't answered my question. Why are you doing this?\nKeevan: That's a communications system. It needs repair, but I'm willing to bet that you've brought one of those famed Starfleet engineers who can turn rocks into replicators. He should have a lot more success at repairing it than a Jem'Hadar suffering from withdrawal. Once you've take care of the Jem'Hadar, I'll give you the comm. system and surrender to you as a prisoner of war.\nBashir: And you spend the war resting comfortably as a Starfleet POW while your men lie rotting on this planet.\nKeevan: I see we understand each other. I'm going to order the Jem'Hadar to attack your position tomorrow regardless of whether you agree to my terms or not. So you can either kill them or they'll kill you. Either way, they're coming.\nSisko: And when they've reached this point, we'll have them in a crossfire.\nGordon: They won't have a chance.\nGarak: That is the point. In case, you've forgotten we're in a war.\nO'Brien: There are rules, Garak, even in a war.\nGarak: Correction. Humans have rules in war. Rules that tend to make victory a little harder to achieve, in my opinion.\nGordon: So we just shoot them down?\nNeeley: They wouldn't hesitate if the situation was reversed.\nNog: But we're not the Jem'Hadar. It is our duty to\nSisko: This isn't a vote. The decision's mine. And Mister Garak is right. We are at war. Given the choice between us or them, there is no choice. Let's move out.\nDax: I'd say good luck, but I don't think you're going to need it.\nSisko: Say it anyway, old man. I'm still hoping there's another way out of this.\nDax: In that case, good luck, Benjamin.\nOdo: Damar has been trying to contact you for the past five hours.\nKira: I keep going over it and over it in my mind, and I can't believe that I stood down there ready to use force to stop a protest against the Dominion. Me. When I was in the Resistance I despised people like me. I'm a collaborator, Odo.\nOdo: That's not true. You're doing exactly what Captain Sisko wanted you and the rest of Bajor to do. Remain neutral and stay out of the fighting.\nKira: We used to have a saying in the Resistance. If you're not fighting them, you're helping them. Half the Alpha Quadrant is out there right now, fighting for my freedom, but not me. What am I doing? Eating a full meal every day, sleeping in a soft bed, I even write reports for the murderers who run this station.\nOdo: This are difficult times for everyone. Do you think it's easy for me to sit down with Dukat and Weyoun every day while they plot the destruction of the Federation?\nKira: Odo, I'm not pointing a finger at you. I'm the one who told you to get more involved in the first place. No, this is about me. This is about being able get up in the morning and look in the mirror every morning and not feel nauseated by what I see. Yassim was right. I have to do something. I have to start to fight back.\nOdo: That would be a mistake. Active resistance will trigger a crackdown.\nKira: Odo, I don't want to end up fighting you, too, but if I have to, I will.\nOdo: All right. But let's find a more diskreet place to plan the new resistance.\nSisko: Remata'Klan! I want to talk!\nRemata'Klan: Agreed! Hold this position. Do not fire unless they do.\nLimara'Son: Understood.\nSisko: There's no way out of this canyon and we have phasers locked on every one of you.\nRemata'Klan: It appears you have a decisive advantage.\nSisko: To fight a battle under these circumstances would serve no purpose. I'm prepared to offer terms. Hear me out. I know that need more Ketracel White. My doctor can sedate your men and keep them alive until we're rescued. After that, we can put you into medical stasis until we secure a new supply.\nRemata'Klan: The Vorta did not give me the option to surrender.\nSisko: Keevan's betrayed you! He gave us your entire plan of attack last night.\nRemata'Klan: It was obvious that approaching your position from this canyon was a deliberate tactical error on his part.\nSisko: You knew?\nRemata'Klan: I suspected. Despite what Keevan may think, the Jem'Hadar are often one step ahead of the Vorta.\nSisko: You can still stay one step ahead. Surrender.\nRemata'Klan: I have my orders.\nSisko: Keevan doesn't deserve the unwavering loyalty you're giving him.\nRemata'Klan: He does not have to earn my loyalty, Captain. He has had it from the moment I was conceived. I am a Jem'Hadar. He is a Vorta. It is the order of things.\nSisko: Do you really want to give up your life for the order of things?\nRemata'Klan: It is not my life to give up, Captain. And it never was.\nO'Brien: What did he say?\nSisko: All the wrong things.\nRemata'Klan: Our death is glory to the Founders.)\nO'Brien: Captain?\nKeevan: You know, Captain, if I'd had just two more vials of White you never would have had a chance.\nSisko: Chief, get this. Take him back to base camp and then get to work on that comm. system.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Lieutenant Neeley.\nNeeley: Sir?\nSisko: Form a burial detail.\nNeeley: Aye, sir."}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's log, stardate 51145.3. The Defiant has been operating out of Starbase three seven five, conducting forays into Dominion controlled space. While the missions have taken a toll on my people, they remain determined to do whatever it takes to win this war, as do I.\nNog: Here you are.\nSisko: Where did you get your hands on Saurian Brandy?\nBashir: In the middle of a war, no less.\nNog: It's a busy Starbase. I may be a Cadet, but I'm still a Ferengi.\nDax: Lucky for us.\nO'Brien: Excuse me, Captain. The power cell from the phaser array. We used it up on the last mission.\nSisko: Take a good look at this, people. It says something about this ship. It says that we will fight and we will keep on fighting until we can't fight anymore.\nAll: Yes, sir!\nSisko: You don't just throw something like this away.\nAll: No, sir!\nNog: Admiral on deck.\nRoss: As you were. Ben.\nSisko: Admiral.\nRoss: Let's take a walk.\nRoss: What was going on in there?\nSisko: Just a little ritual we fell into. Kind of helps the crew unwind.\nRoss: Well, they deserve it. They did a hell of a job.\nSisko: Thank you, sir. But you didn't come here to tell me that, did you?\nRoss: No, I didn't. Ever since this war began, the Dominion's been able to outmaneuver us at every turn. No matter where we send our ships, they seem to be there waiting for us.\nSisko: I've noticed that.\nRoss: It's enough to make you think they were smarter than we are. But they're not. They just had an edge that we didn't know about until yesterday. Starfleet Intelligence located a massive sensor array hidden on the periphery of the Argolis cluster. Damn thing's capable of monitoring ship movements over five sectors.\nSisko: That's how they've managed to stay one step ahead of us.\nRoss: They've had an enormous tactical advantage. I want you to take it away from them.\nSisko: Gladly, sir.\nRoss: It won't be easy. The array is heavily defended. This is the intelligence report. Look it over. I want an attack plan on my desk by oh eight hundred.\nSisko: You'll have it.\nRom: There he is.\nKira: Damar's a creature of habit, all right. After a hard day at work, he deserves his glass of kanar. Why are the Jem'Hadar always in here, he asks himself. They don't drink, they don't eat, they don't gamble. All they do is take up space. Damar asks his bartender if he found a PADD he was working on the other day.\nRom: My brother tells the truth. He hasn't seen it.\nKira: Damar doesn't like that. The PADD contained a draft copy of a secret memorandum he was working on concerning the shortage of White. In it he speculates that without the drug, the Jem'Hadar will run amok, killing everyone and everything in their path. Damar recommends that if the Cardassians can't bring down the minefield and re-open the supply line from the Gamma Quadrant, they should poison the last ration of White, eliminating the Jem'Hadar before it's too late. How did you get a hold of Damar's PADD anyway?\nRom: I'm good with my hands. Here we go. They've seen him.\nKira: The missing PADD.\nDamar: Where'd you find that?\nKira: Damar accuses them of stealing it.\nRom: They say they found it outside their quarters, right where I left it.\nDamar: Have your whole race thrown off this station!\nKira: I knew this was going to work. The Cardassians and Jem'Hadar can pretend to be allies, but they hate each other.\nDamar: Get out of my way!\nRom: Ow.\nJem'Hadar: That's not true!\nDamar: I confronted them, they attacked me.\nDukat: I don't care what they did. You should never have let this situation get out of hand. Get out!\nWeyoun: How could Damar have been so stupid as to leave such an inflammatory document lying around for anyone to find?\nDukat: Your men stole it from him.\nWeyoun: Jem'Hadar are not thieves.\nDukat: And Damar is not a liar.\nWeyoun: Keep your voice down. Our men need to see that we're still allies. Smile. Dukat.\nDukat: I'm smiling.\nOdo: Gentlemen, I suggest we get everyone out of here as soon as possible.\nWeyoun: Odo's right. Tell your men they're confined to quarters pending diskiplinary hearings. I'll do the same. And keep smiling. Come.\nSisko: according to Intelligence, the array is capable of detecting cloaked ships as far away as two light years. By the time the Defiant goes around the Argolis Cluster, the Dominion will already know we were coming.\nRoss: You'll have a dozen Jem'Hadar ships on you before you even got close.\nSisko: That's why we need to have the element of surprise on our side. It's the only way.\nRoss: What are you suggesting?\nSisko: That I take the Defiant through the Argolis.\nRoss: You can't take a ship through there. You'd be cut to pieces by the gravimetric shear.\nSisko: That's exactly what the Dominion thinks. But if we come at them from the Argolis, they wouldn't know what hit them.\nRoss: What makes you think you can get through?\nSisko: Dax says she can navigate around the gravimetric distortions. She's studied proto-star clusters, she knows what to look for. It's a gamble, but it's one I'm willing to take.\nRoss: All right. Let's give it a shot. When can you leave?\nSisko: As soon as we finished repairs on the Defiant.\nRoss: Keep me posted, Captain.\nKira: You wanted to see me?\nOdo: Well? Don't you have something to say to me?\nKira: About what happened at Quark's? It worked better than I expected.\nOdo: I knew you were behind it.\nKira: Of course you did. We discussed it at our last resistance meeting.\nOdo: And I said it was a bad idea.\nKira: Yes, you did. And then you walked out of the room like there was nothing left to say. But Rom and Jake stayed and we discussed it, and you know what? I decided it was a good idea.\nOdo: So you went ahead and did it behind my back?\nKira: Why are you taking it so personally?\nOdo: How do you expect me to take it? I spend my days sitting on the Council with Dukat and Weyoun, doing whatever I can to make sure Bajor survives this war intact. The last thing I need is to have you running around causing mayhem. Do you have any idea what Dukat would do if he found out you were behind it? It's all the excuse he would need to throw every Bajoran off this station.\nKira: The Federation is losing this war. We can't sit by and do nothing.\nOdo: There are limits to what we can do.\nKira: I'm beginning to think you shouldn't have agreed to sit on that Council. It's as if you're so invested in making sure the station runs smoothly, you've forgotten there's a war going on.\nOdo: Are you questioning my loyalties, Major?\nKira: I need you, Odo. The resistance needs you.\nOdo: Answer me. Are you questioning my loyalties?\nKira: No, of course not. That's not what this is about.\nFounder: Hello, Odo. It's good to see you again. Leave us. I need to speak with Odo.\nKira: Do you?\nOdo: It's all right, Nerys. I may as well hear what she has to say.\nKira: Are you sure?\nFounder: You called her Nerys.\nOdo: What of it?\nFounder: Well, you used to call her Major. Using the name of a solid denotes intimacy.\nOdo: You're a long way from home. Here to keep an eye on the war effort?\nFounder: I'm content to leave the details of the war to the Vorta.\nOdo: Then what brings you to Deep Space Nine?\nFounder: You. I was trapped in the Alpha Quadrant when Captain Sisko mined the entrance to the wormhole. I have spent too much time with solids. I came because I felt the need to be with one of my own.\nOdo: Well, that's ironic, considering what happened the last time we crossed paths.\nFounder: You caused the death of a fellow changeling, Odo. Turning you into a solid was the only punishment severe enough for your crime.\nOdo: And now that I'm a changeling again, you come here as if nothing ever happened?\nFounder: We have forgiven you.\nOdo: Well, I haven't forgiven you.\nFounder: It is time to put the past behind us, Odo.\nOdo: What about the present? You're waging a war against my home.\nFounder: This is not your home. You belong with your own kind, as part of the Great Link.\nOdo: I'm quite content here, thank you.\nFounder: You say that because you don't know what you're capable of becoming. Perhaps if we spend some time together, you might begin to understand.\nSisko: Admiral, you wanted to see me?\nRoss: I just got word. Captain Bennet's promotion has come through. At my recommendation, Starfleet's putting her in charge of Seventh Tactical Wing. She's one of the best adjutants I've ever had, strong grasp of strategy and an ability to see the big picture.\nSisko: Sounds like it's not going to be easy to find someone to take her place.\nRoss: I already have. You.\nSisko: Sir?\nRoss: I've been very impressed with you these last few weeks. I think we would make a good team.\nSisko: Thank you, sir.\nRoss: Your new assignment is effective immediately.\nSisko: Immediately, sir? What about the Argolis mission?\nRoss: Commander Dax will captain the Defiant. She is up to it, isn't she?\nSisko: Oh, absolutely, sir. I guess I'd just gotten used to the idea of commanding the mission myself.\nRoss: Look over these tactical reports. I want your thoughts on the Bolian operation. We'll meet here at oh six hundred. Ben? Congratulations.\nDukat: Legate Krim will be arriving in the morning.\nOdo: I'll have a security detail escort him to your office. Now, if that's all.\nWeyoun: Founder, you honor us with your presence.\nFounder: I understand the war is going well.\nWeyoun: Only because I've followed the plan the Founders laid out for me.\nDukat: Welcome to Terok Nor. I'm glad we're finally getting a chance to meet. As leaders of our respective worlds, you and I will be taking our people into a future that I'm quite confident\nFounder: What about the minefield? Why hasn't it been deactivated?\nWeyoun: Yes, Dukat. This delay is intolerable. There are thousands of Jem'Hadar ships stranded on the other side of the wormhole, waiting to come through and join the war effort.\nDukat: Maybe you haven't read the latest reports, but even without those ships, I'm still winning this war.\nWeyoun: You're winning? I assure you I'm intimately involved in all military decisions.\nFounder: See to it the minefield is brought down.\nWeyoun: Of course. We've imposed our presence on you long enough.\nDukat: If you need you anything while you're here, please let me know.\nFounder: Do they always compete with each other like that?\nOdo: As a matter of fact, they do.\nFounder: You have to interact with them often. It must be trying for you.\nOdo: It hasn't been easy. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do in my quarters.\nFounder: May I walk with you?\nOdo: To become a thing, is to know a thing.\nFounder: To assume its form is to begin to understand its existence.\nOdo: You tried to teach me that when I visited our homeworld.\nFounder: I remember.\nOdo: I didn't understand what you meant by it at first, so when I returned the station, I got rid of all the furniture I used to have in my quarters and replaced it with these objects. I've assumed every shape in this room. I suppose if it weren't for you, I never would have known the simple pleasure spending time existing as a stone or a branch.\nFounder: I'm glad you learned something from your visit. Your arrival was a time of great joy for the Link, and your departure a time of great sadness. If only you'd stayed with us, Odo.\nOdo: I couldn't.\nFounder: You chose the solids.\nOdo: And I haven't regretted it.\nFounder: Not even a little?\nOdo: I do think about the Link from time to time.\nFounder: It's there for you.\nOdo: I can't.\nFounder: Why? Because of Kira? You still have feelings for her, don't you? But she doesn't share them. I'm sorry.\nOdo: Aren't you going to tell me I shouldn't waste my time with a solid?\nFounder: You love her.\nOdo: I wish I didn't. I'm so vulnerable to her. All she has to do is smile at me and I'm happy beyond reason. A minor disagreement between us and I'm devastated. It's absurd. Sometimes I wish I could reach inside myself and tear out my feelings for her. But I can't.\nFounder: Poor Odo.\nOdo: I don't want your pity.\nFounder: I'm not offering pity.\nOdo: What I need is some peace.\nFounder: What you need is clarity. I can give you that.\nFounder: Do you want me to stop?\nDamar: That'll be all.\nKira: What are you doing here, Damar? Did Dukat demote you to security detail?\nDamar: What can I do for you, Major?\nKira: I'm looking for Odo.\nDamar: Well, he's not here.\nKira: Do you know where he is?\nDamar: Yes.\nKira: That's good. It's good to know where your boss is.\nDamar: He's in his quarters. With the other shape-shifter. Jealous, Major?\nKira: Try to stay out of trouble, Damar. You don't want to end up on sanitation duty.\nOdo: Come in.\nKira: Odo?\nOdo: Nerys.\nKira: I dropped by your office and Damar told me you were here with her.\nOdo: She was here but she's gone now.\nKira: You all right? What did she want?\nOdo: She didn't want anything.\nKira: Then what was she doing here?\nOdo: I know how you feel about her, Major, but there's no reason to be concerned.\nKira: You don't know how much I wish I could believe that. You didn't Link with her, did you?\nOdo: Actually, I did.\nKira: You did? What were you thinking?\nOdo: She didn't find out about the resistance, if that's why you're worried.\nKira: It's not.\nOdo: The Link isn't about exchanging information. It's about merging thought and form, idea and sensation.\nKira: It sounds like a perfect way to manipulate someone.\nOdo: She's not manipulating me.\nKira: Ever since the day you two crossed paths, she has lied to you, tricked you, stood in judgment of you. I don't trust her. I don't understand how you can.\nOdo: I Linked with her. If she had some hidden motive, I would have sensed it. She's just trying to teach me about myself, about what I'm capable of becoming.\nKira: An Intergalactic Warlord, maybe? Because that's what she is.\nOdo: Who knows? By Linking with her I might be able to make her understand that the Federation doesn't pose a threat to her people.\nKira: You believe you can convince her to call off the war?\nOdo: If you could experience the Link, you'd understand the effect it has on my people. You'd realize that anything is possible. I'm only beginning to understand it all myself. I still have so many questions. Now that she's here, I have a chance to find some answers.\nKira: Odo, this isn't the time to go off on some kind personal quest. There's too much at stake. After the war is over, do whatever you need to do. If you feel you need to go and join the Great Link, I'm not going to stop you. But for right now, I need you here, focused. Please promise me that you're not going to Link with her again. Not until this is over.\nOdo: All right. I won't. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to work. I'll see you at the resistance meeting.\nDax: Are you two ever going to be finished?\nNog: Just a few more minutes, Commander.\nO'Brien: That's Captain. It's an old naval tradition. Whoever's in command of a ship, regardless of rank, is referred to as Captain.\nNog: You mean if I had to take command, I would be called Captain too?\nO'Brien: Cadet, by the time you took command, there'd be nobody left to call you anything.\nNog: Good point.\nDax: Come to take a last look around?\nSisko: Not a last look, I hope. How are the repairs coming?\nDax: Almost done.\nSisko: I wouldn't get too comfortable in that chair, old man. When this war is over, I'm going to want my ship back.\nDax: Fine. When this war is over, I'm going on a honeymoon.\nO'Brien: All done here, Captain.\nSisko: Very good.\nDax: All right. Plot a course to the Argolis Cluster and prepare to depart.\nCrewwoman: Aye, Captain.\nDax: Benjamin? I wish you were coming with us.\nSisko: You'll do fine.\nQuark: Pardon our appearance. We're renovating.\nDamar: Kanar.\nDamar: Not that one. The twenty seven.\nQuark: Twenty seven? Expensive.\nDamar: I can afford it on a Gul's salary.\nQuark: Wait a minute. You started a fight in my bar and now you're getting a promotion? What kind of way is that to run an army?\nDamar: Dukat wasn't happy about what happened. I had to find a way to make it up to him.\nQuark: I hope it was something big.\nDamar: Let's just say it will change the course of history.\nQuark: As a businessman, I'm very interested in the course of history. This one's on me.\nDamar: That's very kind of you, Quark, but I can't talk about it.\nQuark: Of course. I understand. Here, let me pour you another.\nJake: There's obviously a lot of bad blood between the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar. It wouldn't take much to get them to go at each other again.\nKira: I'm not sure we want to do that.\nRom: But it worked so well.\nKira: What do you think, Odo?\nOdo: I'm not sure it's a good idea.\nKira: Then we'll do something else.\nJake: Major.\nKira: Something that we can all agree on.\nRom: Who could that be?\nKira: We're just sitting here enjoying each other's company.\nRom: Right.\nKira: Come in.\nRom: Brother, are you all right?\nQuark: No, I am not all right. I just shared a bottle of kanar with Damar. That rhymes.\nJake: You're drunk.\nQuark: Of course I'm drunk. I wouldn't risk coming in here and associating myself with your little resistance cell if I wasn't drunk.\nKira: Well, then maybe you'd better leave before someone sees you.\nQuark: I tried. I tried my best to run my establishment under this occupation. But you know what? It's no fun. I don't like Cardassians. They're mean and arrogant. And I can't stand the Jem'Hadar. They're creepy. They just stand there like statues, staring at you. That's it. I don't want to spend the rest of my life doing business with these people. I want the Federation back. I want to sell root beer again.\nKira: All right, you made your point. Relax.\nQuark: How can I relax when there are thousands of Jem'Hadar ships are sitting on the other side of the wormhole, waiting to come through?\nJake: Don't worry about it. They're stuck there.\nQuark: Not if what Damar told me is true.\nKira: What are you talking about?\nQuark: He said he came up with a way to deactivate the mines. Dukat wants him to start field tests right away.\nKira: Come on, Quark, think. Did Damar say anything about how he was planning to deactivate the mines?\nQuark: Yes. He said something about the station's defector.\nOdo: Defector?\nKira: That's impossible. The only person on the station who knows anything about the mines work is\nRom: Me.\nQuark: Defector. That doesn't sound right. Maybe it was deflector? Yeah, that's it. He said something about using the station's deflector array.\nKira: What do you think, Rom?\nRom: I'm glad it wasn't me.\nKira: About the deflector array. Is there any way to use it to deactivate the mines?\nRom: No. I designed the mines to be self-replicating. The only way to keep them from replacing themselves is to isolate them in an anti-graviton beam. The deflector array can't do that. Unless you reconfigure the field generators and re-focused the emitters which would turn the deflector array into one big anti-graviton beam.\nQuark: Why didn't you think of that when you set up the minefield?\nRom: I don't know.\nQuark: He doesn't know.\nKira: Quark. How can we disable the deflector array?\nRom: All you have to do to is access the EPS feed and overload the waveguide.\nKira: Let's do it.\nRom: But there's no way to get to the EPS feed. It's in a secured conduit rigged with alarms.\nKira: Odo, can you disable those alarms?\nOdo: I can take them offline for about five minutes if I run a security diagnostic.\nKira: Will that give you enough time?\nRom: I think so.\nOdo: I'll run the diagnostic as soon as I get to my office in the morning.\nKira: All right. You and I will meet here. At exactly oh eight hundred, you will begin the diagnostic.\nWorf: Has there been any news, sir?\nSisko: None.\nWorf: The Defiant has been gone over sixteen hours.\nSisko: Mister Worf, I know this is difficult for you.\nWorf: Yes, sir. But I sense it is more difficult for you. The Defiant is your ship.\nSisko: Dax'll bring her home. Besides, there's no way she's going to miss her own wedding.\nWorf: No, I suppose not.\nSisko: As soon as I hear something, I'll let you know.\nWorf: Thank you, sir. Captain, you should get some rest.\nSisko: Not tonight, Mister Worf. Not tonight.\nRoss: Ben?\nSisko: Admiral.\nRoss: It's late.\nSisko: I know. I was just waiting to see if there is any news.\nRoss: Ben, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. I want to nail down the details on the Bolian operation. I need you focused.\nSisko: I will be.\nRoss: I know how you feel about your crew, but you and I are responsible for an entire tactical wing. Thousands of lives depend on the decisions we make tomorrow. You can't afford to be awake all night worrying about one ship.\nSisko: Admiral, you can order me to my quarters, but there's no way I'm going to sleep. Not as long as the Defiant is out there.\nRoss: All right, as you wish. But you should understand one thing. With any luck, we'll be sending the Defiant on a lot of missions, and you're going to have to get used to it. Good night.\nOdo: Have our people always been shape-shifters, or was there a time when we were like the solids?\nFounder: Eons ago we were like them, limited to one form, but then we evolved.\nOdo: On the homeworld, are you always in the Link, or do you sometimes take solid form?\nFounder: We prefer the Link, but on occasion it is interesting to exist as something else. A tree perhaps, or a cloud in the sky.\nOdo: A cloud. How many of us are there?\nFounder: Oh. So many questions, Odo.\nOdo: I'm sorry. But there's still so much that isn't clear to me yet.\nFounder: If you Link with me again, everything will be made clear to you.\nOdo: You have to understand that the Link is very overwhelming for me. Right now, it's easier to talk.\nFounder: But words are so clumsy, so imprecise.\nOdo: Even so.\nFounder: As you wish.\nOdo: You haven't told me your name.\nFounder: What use would I have for a name?\nOdo: To differentiate yourself from the others.\nFounder: I don't.\nOdo: But you are a separate being, aren't you?\nFounder: In a sense.\nOdo: When you return to the Link, what will happen to the entity I'm talking to right now?\nFounder: The drop becomes the ocean.\nOdo: And if you choose to take solid form again?\nFounder: The ocean becomes a drop.\nOdo: Ah, yes. I think I'm beginning to understand.\nFounder: Then you can answer your own question. How many of us are there?\nOdo: One. And many. It depends on how you look at it.\nFounder: Very good. You are beginning to understand. But there's so much you don't know.\nOdo: Tell me.\nFounder: Words would be insufficient. Link with me again. It is the only way I can give you the understanding that you seek.\nOdo: I can't.\nFounder: Why not?\nOdo: I promised Kira.\nFounder: She is a solid. This has nothing to do with her. This is about you, about what you want.\nRom: Am I early?\nKira: A little. I hope there's more than just fruit in that basket.\nRom: I needed a place to hide my tools. In case anybody asks, I'm making a delivery.\nKira: Right.\nRom: Here's your fruit!\nKira: I didn't order any fruit. Oh, your brother sent this, didn't he?\nRom: Er.\nKira: If he is trying to win me over, tell him it's just not going to work. Better yet, I'll tell him myself.\nKira: Odo should be in his office by now. Now remember, he's going to interrupt the sensor alarms at exactly eight hundred hours.\nRom: I'll be ready.\nKira: If there's a problem I'll contact you. Good luck with your delivery.\nRom: Computer, time.\nComputer: Seven hundred hours fifty eight minutes.\nRom: Two minutes to go.\nKira: Odo! Kira to Odo. Please respond.\nKira: Kira to Odo. Odo, answer me.\nKira: Computer, time.\nComputer: Seven hundred hours fifty nine minutes.\nDamar: Hello, Major. Just the person I was looking for.\nKira: Congratulations on your promotion, but we'll have to discuss the personnel report some other time.\nDamar: We'll discuss it now.\nKira: I don't think so.\nKira: Kira to Rom. Don't open that hatch.\nRom: I already did.\nKira: Get out of there!\nDamar: Intruder alert. Come with me.\nDamar: Well, well. What do we have here? Captain's log, tactical update stardate 51149.5. The Defiant has returned to Starbase three seven five after its successful attack on the Dominion sensor array. Admiral Ross and I have recommended that Commander Dax and the entire Defiant crew be cited for exceptional performance of their duties.\nNog: Admiral on deck!\nRoss: Carry on.\nDax: Nog, Saurian brandy for the brass.\nBashir: Dax, could you tell Ensign Kirby how I took over the conn when Lieutenant Haj was injured? She doesn't believe me.\nDax: Frankly, I'm not sure I believe it happened myself.\nBashir: Sir. Sir.\nRoss: Congratulations, Captain.\nDax: Thank you, sir. Will you excuse me a minute. Julian needs me.\nRoss: Certainly.\nNog: Here you are.\nSisko: Don't ask where he got it.\nRoss: Don't worry. I don't want to know.\nO'Brien: Here's another one, Captain.\nDax: Take a good look because this says something about us. That we're willing to fight and that we'll keep on fighting until we can't fight anymore.\nAll: Yes, sir!\nDax: You don't throw something like this away.\nAll: No, sir!\nRoss: They're a good crew.\nSisko: The best.\nRoss: What do you say we get back to work?\nKira: What the hell happened? Why didn't you disable that alarm?\nOdo: It's difficult to explain.\nKira: Rom is sitting in a holding cell being interrogated! He was counting on you. I was counting on you!\nOdo: I know.\nKira: You know? Do you realize what you just did? You just handed the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion.\nOdo: I was in the Link.\nKira: Are you saying you forgot?\nOdo: I didn't forget. It just didn't seem to matter.\nKira: A lot of people are going to die. Don't you care?\nOdo: It has nothing to do with me.\nKira: How can you say that?\nOdo: If you could experience the Link, you'd know why nothing else matters.\nKira: The last five years, your life here, our friendship, none of that matters?\nOdo: It did once. I wish I could make you understand. But you can't. You're not a changeling.\nKira: That's right. I'm a solid.\nFounder: You look troubled, Odo. Did she upset you?\nOdo: No, not really.\nFounder: Ah."}
{"text": "Dax: Cadet.\nNog: Continuing to emit distress signals on all frequencies, sir.\nDax: Chief?\nO'Brien: We're still venting plasma. Any ship within a hundred million kilometers will know we're here and that we're not going anywhere.\nNog: We have company, Captain. Two Dominion ships heading this way, bearing one nine seven mark one three five.\nO'Brien: They'll have us in weapons range in twenty two seconds.\nDax: Shields?\nNog: Shields at thirty percent.\nDax: Phaser banks?\nO'Brien: The entire weapons array is offline.\nDax: Now we find something to hold onto.\nNog: Shields are down to twenty percent.\nO'Brien: Now?\nDax: Now. Shields up. Engines at full impulse. Power to main phasers.\nO'Brien: Target locked.\nDax: Fire.\nDax: Cadet, are there any other Dominion ships out there?\nNog: None that I can see.\nDax: This is the Captain speaking. All hands, stand down. Good job, people.\nNog: We're being hailed by the Rotarran. Commander Worf wants to speak to you.\nDax: On screen.\nWorf: Well done, Captain. You were a very effective decoy.\nDax: How about next time we switch roles? That way I can rescue you.\nO'Brien: You may have to wait a while, Captain. We've just received orders from Starfleet Command. All ships in this sector are to fall back to Starbase three seven five.\nDax: Fall back again.\nO'Brien: Engage, retreat, engage, retreat. I tell you, that's becoming our favorite tune.\nBashir: Well, we'd better think of a new tune fast or the only song we're going to be singing is Hail the Conquering Dominion.\nDax: I wouldn't start learning those lyrics just yet, Doctor. Worf, we'll see you at Starbase three seven five.\nWorf: I will be waiting.\nDax: Set a course for these coordinates. Warp seven.\nDax: I don't know what all you brass hats in Starfleet Command are thinking, but take it from a simple field officer, we're not going to win this war by running away from the enemy.\nSisko: I know that.\nDax: Benjamin, troop morale is at an all-time low. Even the Klingons are starting to wonder if we can defeat the Dominion. We need a victory, a big victory, and we need it soon.\nSisko: I couldn't agree with you more.\nDax: Then do something about it.\nSisko: I already have. In fact, I'm presenting a plan to Starfleet Command at oh eight hundred tomorrow.\nDax: What plan?\nSisko: We're going to retake Deep Space Nine.\nBashir: Everything seems to be perfectly normal. I'm sorry, Garak.\nGarak: Keep looking, Doctor. Whatever Starfleet put in there is very well hidden.\nO'Brien: Ridiculous!\nGarak: That's easy for you to say, Chief. You don't know them as well as I do. These are desperate people.\nDax: Garak, you're not going to get any of us to believe that Starfleet Intelligence has implanted some kind of neural transponder in your brain to monitor your thoughts.\nGarak: I would have, if I were them. In fact, when I was conducting interrogations for the Obsidian Order, I did a lot worse.\nBashir: I'm sure you did.\nWorf: They're not interrogating you, Mister Garak, they are debriefing. There is a difference.\nGarak: Not from where I'm sitting.\nDax: Oh, I'll have a raktajino, Julian.\nBashir: And a raktajino.\nO'Brien: Look, Garak we are at war with the Dominion. Cardassia is part of the Dominion. You are a Cardassian. And at one time, a fairly important one. Of course Starfleet Intelligence is going to press you for specifics. They need to know everything you know.\nWorf: Any small detail could prove extremely important.\nGarak: Well, take it from me, it's a lot more fun asking questions than answering them. All things considered, I'd rather be on the Defiant with all of you.\nO'Brien: Oh, believe me, you haven't been missing much.\nDax: Hopefully, all of that's about to change.\nBashir: You think Starfleet Command will approve Sisko's plan?\nDax: We'll find out soon enough. He's in there presenting it now.\nO'Brien: Here's to retaking the castle.\nBashir: And planting our flag on its battlements once again.\nDax: You two spent too much time in the holosuites.\nSisko: By putting together a task force comprised of elements from the Second, Fifth and Ninth fleets, I believe that we can retake Deep Space Nine, the most important piece of real estate in the quadrant.\nSitak: Your plan, Captain Sisko, is not without merit. However, I remain skeptical. The Dominion will undoubtedly send a large fleet to stop you.\nSisko: And it will divert their forces and slow their advance into Federation territory.\nRoss: As well as leave their flank vulnerable.\nSisko: Which will give us a chance to be on the offensive for a change.\nCoburn: There's one thing that still concerns me.\nSisko: What's that, Admiral?\nCoburn: Earth. You've left it a very tempting target.\nRoss: Earth will still be defended by the Third Fleet.\nCoburn: But what if you're wrong, and the Dominion doesn't commit its forces to protect Deep Space Nine? What if instead they launch a full-scale assault on Earth? If we follow the plan you're proposing, we'll never be able to get reinforcements there in time.\nSisko: The Dominion won't attack Earth.\nSitak: How can you be sure?\nSisko: Because Earth isn't the key to the Alpha Quadrant. The wormhole is. And whoever controls Deep Space Nine controls the wormhole.\nQuark: Unbelievable. Amazing. What nerve. Morn, you do have a problem, but lucky for you the solution is simple. You're a grown man. If you don't want to attend your mother's birthday party, you don't have to. And if she keeps whining about it, just remind her there's a war on and you have things to do. Another ale?\nQuark: Here, it's on the house.\nQuark: Major, you ready?\nKira: Now?\nQuark: Right now.\nKira: All right, but I don't think it'll do any good.\nQuark: I keep telling myself that Odo never meant to have Rom to get arrested. It was all a mistake. Bad timing, bad luck.\nKira: I thought that too, at first.\nQuark: I have known Odo a long time. He's not a collaborator.\nKira: Then why is your brother still in a holding cell?\nQuark: We're here to see Odo.\nJem'Hadar: The Founders are not to be disturbed.\nQuark: Odo will make an exception for us.\nJem'Hadar: There are no exceptions.\nKira: I'd like to hear that from Odo.\nBajoran: I'm sorry, Major, but you're wasting your time. His orders were quite clear. He doesn't want to see anyone. Not until his guest has left.\nKira: And how long has his guest been visiting?\nBajoran: As far as I know, the female changeling has not left his quarters for three days.\nJem'Hadar: Step away from the door, Ferengi.\nKira: Hey! hey!\nBajoran: Perhaps it would be best if you left. My colleague over here takes his duties very seriously. I promise to tell Odo you were here.\nKira: Let's go, Quark.\nFounder: So, that is how solids experience intimacy.\nOdo: Not all solids. Humans, Bajorans.\nFounder: I really must thank you, Odo.\nOdo: For what?\nFounder: For giving me new insight into the solids.\nOdo: And what have you learned?\nFounder: That what they consider intimacy is only a shadow of what we experience in the Great Link. You don't agree?\nOdo: I didn't say that.\nFounder: You've done this before?\nOdo: Not often.\nFounder: But when you have, you enjoyed it?\nOdo: Yes.\nFounder: And you regret not having experienced it with Major Kira.\nOdo: I'd rather not discuss Major Kira.\nFounder: I don't see why not. When we link, your feelings for her are made very clear.\nOdo: Then why do you insist that we talk about it?\nFounder: Because talking is still very important to you. But one day it won't be. One day, the Link will be all you need. And that day is coming soon.\nOdo: Is it?\nFounder: It's amazing that you have survived this long without it. It's only now, after I've been away from the Great Link myself, that I understand how painful it must have been for you.\nOdo: It hasn't always been easy.\nFounder: Odo, you never have to be alone again.\nOdo: Well, I'd better be going. There's a meeting of the station's Ruling Council. Dukat and Weyoun are expecting me.\nFounder: That meeting was held three days ago.\nOdo: Three days? Three days. How could I have lost track of that much time?\nFounder: Does that bother you?\nOdo: Yes, it does.\nFounder: Well, don't let it. You've been living with the solids' concept of time for too long. Let them worry about their meetings, their schedules, their obligations. None of that has anything to do with you. You are a changeling. You're timeless. As am I.\nWeyoun: You asked to see me, Major?\nKira: That's right. I\nWeyoun: First, tell me something. What do you think of this?\nKira: It's one of Ziyal's paintings.\nWeyoun: I know who the artist is. Her father gave it to me. He claims it won some sort of prize on Cardassia.\nKira: Gul Dukat must be very proud.\nWeyoun: I suppose. Is it any good?\nKira: I think so. Why, don't you?\nWeyoun: I don't know how to judge it. You see, my people lack a sense of esthetics.\nKira: That's too bad.\nWeyoun: I sometimes think so as well. But if esthetics were truly important, the Founders would have included it in our genetic makeup.\nKira: Or they made a mistake.\nWeyoun: Gods don't make mistakes. Though sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to carry a tune. So, what can I do for you, Major?\nKira: It's about Rom.\nWeyoun: Oh yes, the Ferengi saboteur.\nKira: He has been in a holding cell for over a week.\nWeyoun: Has it really been that long?\nKira: And I was hoping you would consider releasing him.\nWeyoun: Impossible. You can't release a man and then execute him. It makes no sense.\nKira: Execute Rom?\nWeyoun: He committed an act of terrorism against the Dominion. Not only did he try to interfere with our efforts to take down the minefield, but, as I understand it, he was also the diabolical genius who came up with the idea of self-replicating mines in the first place. I'm afraid there's no getting around it, Major. He must be made an example so that others think twice before they act against us.\nKira: He is married to a Bajoran citizen.\nWeyoun: I'm well aware of that. And I'm willing to believe, for now, his wife is not a co-conspirator. Otherwise, treaty or no treaty, she would share her husband's fate. I'm sorry, Major. The Dominion takes a dim view of terrorism. Your friend must pay the price for his crime.\nKira: We'll see what the Bajoran government has to say about that.\nWeyoun: I'm afraid their pleas will fall on deaf ears. Major. Would this be more esthetically pleasing if it were blue?\nRom: I'm going to die.\nLeeta: Stop saying that.\nRom: I didn't say it, he did.\nQuark: What I said is, they're planning to execute you. It's not the same thing.\nRom: It is to me.\nLeeta: Rom, we are not going to let them hurt you. Kira has gone to the Bajoran Council of Ministers. She's asking them to lodge an official protest.\nRom: That's sweet, but I doubt it'll do any good.\nQuark: And I've talked to Grand Nagus Zek himself and he has offered to buy your freedom from the Dominion.\nRom: I don't think Weyoun cares much for latinum. I'm a dead man.\nQuark: Will you stop upsetting Leeta?\nRom: Sorry.\nQuark: Besides, you think your big brother will let anything happen to you?\nRom: What can you do?\nQuark: I'm not sure. But I'll think of something. No matter what it takes, no matter what I have to do, I'm going to get you out of here.\nLeeta: You do that and I'll work your dabo tables for free.\nQuark: For how long?\nLeeta: An entire year.\nQuark: Make it two.\nRom: Brother!\nQuark: Shh. Isn't your life worth two years? Now, sit tight and trust your older brother.\nRom: But I don't want you to try to save me.\nLeeta: What are you talking about? They must have done something to his mind.\nQuark: What mind?\nRom: I'm serious. Brother, you have more important things to worry about.\nQuark: The bar's doing fine, but thanks for caring.\nRom: I'm not talking about the bar.\nLeeta: What could be more important than your life?\nRom: Destroying the anti-graviton beam to prevent the Dominion from taking down the minefield. You've got to finish what I started. The fate of the entire Alpha Quadrant rests in your hands. Billions and billions of people are counting on you.\nQuark: Boy, are they going to be disappointed.\nRom: Brother, you can do this. You have to do this. You will do this.\nQuark: What happens if I get caught?\nRom: Then we'll die together. Side by side, heads held high, knowing we did our best.\nLeeta: Oh, Rom.\nQuark: But I don't want to die.\nRom: If that's what's written, then that's what's written. Now get going, brother. You have a lot of work to do.\nRom: So, tell me, Leeta what else is new? Have they fixed the sonic shower in our quarters yet?\nKira: Ziyal.\nZiyal: Nerys. I haven't seen you in weeks.\nKira: Do you have a minute?\nZiyal: Sit down.\nKira: I need you to talk to your father for me.\nZiyal: About what?\nKira: Rom.\nZiyal: Father.\nDukat: Ah.\nZiyal: I need to talk to you.\nDukat: Is something wrong, my dear?\nZiyal: Nothing that you can't fix.\nDukat: Name it.\nZiyal: I want you to free Rom.\nDukat: You're joking.\nZiyal: Not at all.\nDukat: I can't free Rom, Ziyal. He's been sentenced to death by the Dominion.\nZiyal: You can pardon him. Don't you see, Father, this is your chance to show the Bajoran people, to show Major Kira who you really are. A forgiving, compassionate man. A great man.\nDukat: Tell me something, Ziyal. Were you involved in any way with the plans to sabotage this station?\nZiyal: No, I wasn't involved.\nDukat: You're sure of that? I can't help you unless you tell me the truth.\nZiyal: I am telling you the truth. The question is, have you been telling me the truth.\nDukat: About what?\nZiyal: That the Bajorans are wrong about you. That you regret the horrible things you had to do during the occupation.\nDukat: I do regret them, Ziyal. Deeply.\nZiyal: Then this is your chance to prove it to everyone, including me. Show us that you're capable of mercy.\nDukat: Rom is an enemy of the state, and enemies of the state do not deserve mercy.\nZiyal: Spoken like a true Cardassian.\nDukat: I am a Cardassian. And so are you.\nZiyal: No, I'm not! I could never be like you.\nDukat: Ziyal.\nKira: You can't trust them.\nQuark: I trust latinum, and so do they. Five bars will buy me five Nausicaans, a fast ship and very few questions. Breaking Rom out of the holding cell will be child's play compared to the things they're used to doing.\nKira: Forget about it, Quark. Freeing your brother's going to take careful, precise planning. It's not the Nausicaan way. They're thugs. They'll come strutting onto the station, look at a Jem'Hadar the wrong way and before you know it there's blood on the Promenade.\nQuark: Think I can get my money back?\nDamar: Major, a freighter loaded with Tammeron grain is due within the hour. See to it that Cargo bay five is ready to receive it.\nKira: I'll take care of it. I'll have a\nDamar: Yes, you will. Now. That attitude of yours, Major, it won't be tolerated forever.\nKira: You don't like my attitude, Damar? You're welcome to try to change it.\nDamar: I don't know what Dukat sees in that woman.\nQuark: Then you need to get your eyes examined. One kanar. Want me to leave the bottle?\nDamar: Maybe I should have you taste it first. Make sure it isn't poisoned.\nQuark: Poisoning customers is bad for business.\nDamar: True. But some people may place a brother's revenge above business.\nQuark: Not this Ferengi.\nDamar: You're a credit to your race, Quark. Unlike your brother, you've chosen to back the winning side.\nQuark: All right, are you going to tell me or do you want me to guess?\nDamar: Tell you what?\nQuark: Oh, don't be coy with me. Either someone you don't like has died or your promotion came through.\nDamar: It's better than that.\nDamar: It's about the minefield.\nQuark: What about it?\nDamar: It's coming down.\nQuark: Oh, I've heard that before.\nDamar: Remember those field tests I was telling you about? They were successful. We've begun to deactivate the mines.\nQuark: Well, you've got your work cut out for you. What's it going to take a couple of months? A year?\nDamar: One week.\nQuark: A week?\nDamar: That's right. One week, and the Alpha Quadrant is ours.\nSisko: Gentlemen, this mission cannot succeed without the involvement of the Klingon Defense Forces.\nWorf: We agree, Captain. Chancellor Gowron does not.\nSisko: Then you will have to change his mind.\nMartok: The Chancellor is reluctant to commit such a large fleet to a single engagement.\nWorf: He believes it would leave the Empire vulnerable.\nSisko: Starfleet Command had the same concerns about Earth. But after careful consideration, they decided it was worth the risk.\nWorf: General, perhaps you should return to Kronos and make your plea in person. The Chancellor has great respect for you. If you cannot persuade him, no one can.\nMartok: I will go see Gowron and you will come with me.\nWorf: No. The Chancellor no longer considers me a friend.\nMartok: I know. But what could be better? An ally and an enemy both telling him the same thing. He'll have no other choice but to agree.\nSisko: Gentlemen, I need those ships.\nWorf: And you shall have them.\nKira: A week? Are you sure about that?\nQuark: That's what he said. Believe me, this was no idle boast.\nKira: We have to stop them.\nQuark: And end up in a holding cell with my brother? No, thanks. If we could only get to Odo, make him see what's going on. Then maybe he could help us.\nKira: Forget about Odo. First, we can't get to him. Second, even if we did he wouldn't help us.\nQuark: Then what we have to do is warn Starfleet.\nKira: And how do you suggest we get a message to them?\nQuark: You're asking me? You're the terrorist, I'm just a bartender.\nJake: There you are. From the look on your faces I can see you haven't had much luck getting Rom out of jail.\nQuark: And the news just keeps getting worse.\nJake: It's not all bad.\nKira: Trust us, Jake, it is.\nJake: Not for me. I'm getting a message out to my Dad.\nKira: How?\nJake: I'm a reporter. I have my ways.\nKira: Come on, Jake, this is no time for games.\nKira: Morn?\nJake: He's going home for his mother's birthday or something. He has an encrypted message for my Dad in one of her presents.\nRoss: Are you sure this is reliable?\nSisko: I've known the courier for five years. I trust him.\nRoss: Then we have a problem. According to this, the minefield's coming down in three days. The Ninth Fleet won't be here for at least four.\nSisko: Then I suggest we go without them.\nRoss: What about the Klingons?\nSisko: Looks like we go without them too. We've run out of time, Admiral.\nRoss: If those Dominion reinforcements come through the wormhole we'll have lost everything.\nSisko: We take the ships we have, fight our way to Deep Space Nine and destroy that anti-graviton emitter. It's our only hope.\nRoss: Do it.\nDukat: There.\nWeyoun: Where?\nDukat: Over there. That flash of light was the anti-graviton beam hitting a mine.\nWeyoun: And disabling its replication unit.\nDukat: Exactly. Didn't you see it?\nWeyoun: I'm afraid not.\nDukat: For months you've been demanding that I take down those mines and now that it's finally happening, you can't even see it?\nWeyoun: Weak eyes.\nDukat: Excuse me?\nWeyoun: My people have poor eyesight. It's something we've learned to live with. Jem'Hadar, on the other hand, excellent vision. I suppose they need it more than we do.\nDukat: Ah, there's another one.\nWeyoun: I'll have to take your word for it.\nDukat: Once we disable the replication units in all the mines, we can detonate the entire minefield. And I guarantee you, weak eyes or not, that explosion you will see.\nWeyoun: When will you be ready to proceed?\nDukat: Approximately seventy eight hours. Three more days and we can start to bring the Jem'Hadar reinforcements through the wormhole.\nWeyoun: Excellent. I knew you could do it, Dukat.\nDukat: Did you?\nWeyoun: I never doubted you for a moment.\nDamar: Sir, I have new information on enemy fleet movements.\nDukat: Go ahead.\nDamar: The Second Fleet has fallen back past the Kotanka System, while the Fifth Fleet has pulled out of the fighting along the Vulcan border. Both fleets have converged here, Starbase three seven five.\nDukat: Isn't that where Captain Sisko is stationed?\nDamar: He's been made an adjutant to Admiral Ross.\nWeyoun: Good for him. Now why have those fleets gathered there?\nDamar: I'm not sure.\nWeyoun: You're not sure? Two large enemy fleets break off from the front lines and rendezvous at a starbase and you have no idea why?\nDukat: Well, we'll have to find out, won't we?\nWeyoun: See that you do.\nDamar: He should speak to you with greater respect.\nDukat: Some day, I'll let you teach him that lesson. But right now, there's something more pressing I need you to do. It's of a personal nature, a matter of some delicacy. It's about my daughter.\nDamar: Ziyal?\nDukat: We've had a misunderstanding. I want you to go and convince her to speak with me.\nDamar: Sir, I really feel I would be more valuable tracking the enemy fleet.\nDukat: I've given you an order, Damar. We're on the verge of a great victory, and when it comes I want my daughter at my side. Is that understood?\nZiyal: I really believed my father had changed. That he wanted to be a man of peace.\nKira: I think he believes that too, when it suits his purpose.\nZiyal: Everything he's ever said to me has been a lie\nKira: Not everything. He really does care about you.\nZiyal: I don't care. I am not going back to him. You don't believe me, do you?\nKira: Right now you're angry and hurt, but that's going to pass. And then you'll have to decide what to do.\nDamar: Ziyal, I need to speak to you.\nZiyal: You and I have nothing to talk about.\nDamar: Maybe not, but you and your father do. He wants to see you.\nZiyal: Well I don't want to see him.\nKira: You heard her.\nDamar: Stay out of this, Major. Ziyal, listen. Your father is a great man, a man of destiny, but he also carries great burdens. He knows our alliance with the Dominion is a dangerous one. If we show any sign of weakness, our allies will turn on us. That's why we must all help him remain strong. So I ask you to be a true daughter of Cardassia and stand beside him.\nZiyal: It should be obvious, even to you, Damar, that I am not a true daughter of Cardassia.\nDamar: What's obvious to me is that your father should have left you to rot in that Breen prison camp. But he didn't. He took pity on you and it's your duty to repay him. Now come with me.\nKira: Let her go.\nDamar: And if I don't, what happens then?\nKira: I was hoping you'd ask.\nZiyal: Did you kill him?\nKira: No, but I thought about it.\nZiyal: What are you going to do when he wakes up?\nKira: That's up to him.\nRoss: I just came to wish you luck.\nSisko: Thank you. My father says you can never have too much good luck.\nRoss: Your father sounds like a wise man.\nSisko: And he makes a fierce jambalaya.\nRoss: What's this?\nSisko: Ancient Bajoran texts.\nRoss: The Emissary looks for guidance on the eve of battle.\nSisko: Guidance, insights, loopholes. I'll take anything I can get.\nRoss: And what do the Prophets tell you?\nSisko: That I have a long way to go before I can make any sense of their prophecies.\nRoss: Maybe when this war is over you can look at them closer.\nSisko: That would be a change. Spend a week or two down on Bajor. Visit the Dakeen Monastery.\nRoss: I've never been on Bajor. I hear it's quite nice.\nSisko: Nice? That hardly describes it at all. There are parts of the Eastern Province that are like Eden itself. Lush green valleys covered in wild flowers that seem to spring up overnight. Hundreds of small, crystal clear ponds interconnected by waterfalls.\nRoss: All right, all right, I'm convinced. I'm already planning my next R and R down there. You know, it sounds like when your assignment on Deep Space Nine is over and Bajor is welcomed into the Federation, you're going to have a tough time saying goodbye.\nSisko: I don't plan to say goodbye. I plan to build a house on Bajor.\nRoss: And what if Starfleet assigns you to a different sector?\nSisko: I will go wherever they send me, but when I go home, it will be to Bajor.\nNog: Chief, I was just coming to see you. Can you believe it? They made me an Ensign.\nO'Brien: I hadn't realized things were going so bad.\nNog: Scary, isn't it? If my classmates at the Academy could only see me now.\nO'Brien: They'd be surprised, would they?\nNog: Amazed is more like it.\nO'Brien: What do they know.\nNog: Anyway, I just want to say thanks for all your help.\nO'Brien: My help?\nNog: I've learned a lot from you and not just about engineering. You've shown me what it takes to be a good soldier.\nO'Brien: Don't let that uniform go to your head. You've got a lot to learn yet. And you will. Congratulations, Ensign. Wear it with pride.\nNog: I intend to, Chief.\nNog: Captain on the Bridge.\nDax: I've kept it warm for you, Ben.\nSisko: Ensign, alert all ships. We're moving out.\nNog: Aye, sir.\nDukat: Our initial intelligence reports have been verified. The Federation fleet is on the move.\nWeyoun: Do we know their destination?\nDukat: Yes. It appears they're headed here.\nWeyoun: Here? Oh. He knows we're taking down the minefield. Someone must've got a message out.\nDukat: So it would seem.\nWeyoun: No matter. We'll crush them.\nDukat: Yes. Yes, we will. But in order to do that, I'm going to have to pull a significant number of our ships off the front lines.\nWeyoun: Do it.\nDukat: Come in.\nWeyoun: Once the minefield comes down we'll have more than enough ships to take their place.\nDukat: I understand. One moment, please.\nDamar: I want your permission to arrest Major Kira.\nDukat: Kira? What about Ziyal? Did you talk to her?\nDamar: She doesn't want to see you. When I insisted, the Major objected.\nDukat: What did you do to Ziyal?\nDamar: I did nothing to her.\nDukat: Then why did the Major attack you? You must have done something, threatened my daughter in some way. Damar, I told you to be tactful.\nWeyoun: Excuse me. Don't you think resolving family squabbles can wait until after we've won this war? Weak eyes, good ears.\nDukat: Yes, of course. You're quite right.\nWeyoun: Then you're clear on what must be done.\nDukat: I'm going to call back enough ships to destroy the Federation fleet and hold this station.\nDamar: The Federation is moving against us?\nDukat: That's right. Now I want to know exactly what went on between you and Ziyal.\nOdo: It's odd. I've stood here countless times, and yet somehow it all looks different.\nFounder: It's the solids. They look small, don't they? Insignificant.\nOdo: It's not their fault.\nFounder: I'm not placing blame.\nOdo: They're trapped.\nFounder: Confined to a single shape.\nOdo: A single perspective.\nFounder: It's so limiting.\nOdo: I feel sorry for them.\nFounder: They need our guidance, Odo, not our pity.\nOdo: They cherish their freedom.\nFounder: We'll have to break them of that.\nOdo: Break them?\nFounder: In a manner of speaking. Oh, this language of the solids. It's so imprecise.\nOdo: What exactly do you plan to do?\nFounder: The solids are no longer your concern, Odo. What must be done, will be done. It's as simple as that.\nWeyoun: Forgive me for intruding but I have important news about the war.\nFounder: Why don't you return to your quarters, Odo. I'll join you there shortly. Don't worry. Everything will be fine. I promise.\nWeyoun: I must say, you're doing a wonderful job with Odo.\nFounder: Meaning what?\nWeyoun: Meaning that he's always posed a potential threat to our plans, but you seem to have neutralized him quite nicely.\nFounder: Neutralize Odo? Is that why you think I'm here? Odo is a changeling. Bringing him home, returning him to the Great Link, means more to us than the Alpha Quadrant itself. Is that clear?\nWeyoun: I meant no disrespect.\nFounder: Well of course you didn't. You are what you are, a loyal subject of the Dominion. Come, walk with me. You said you had important news.\nOdo: Major!\nOdo: Kira. Kira, wait, please.\nKira: I have nothing to say to you.\nOdo: I understand that you're angry.\nKira: Oh, you bet I am angry. Do you have any idea what's going on?\nOdo: Yes, somewhat. I've been occupied.\nKira: Dukat is bringing down the minefield, the Federation is about to be overrun by Dominion reinforcements and Weyoun has ordered Rom's execution and you have been occupied.\nOdo: This is so difficult to explain.\nKira: If you're going to talk me about the Link, don't bother. I'm a solid, remember? I won't understand.\nOdo: Nerys. I'm sorry.\nKira: Sorry? That's what you wanted to tell me? You're sorry?\nOdo: Yes.\nKira: Well let me tell you something, Odo. We are way, way past sorry.\nO'Brien: Sir, incoming message from the Cortez. They're still having trouble stabilizing the guidance thrusters on their port nacelle.\nSisko: Tell them to drop back and make repairs. Bring up the Sarek to take its place.\nO'Brien: Will do.\nGarak: That's the eleventh ship to fall out of formation.\nDax: Nice of you to keep track, Garak.\nBashir: He can't help being negative. It's in his nature.\nGarak: On the contrary. I always hope for the best. Experience, unfortunately, has taught me to expect the worst.\nO'Brien: I'm picking something up. It's a large Dominion fleet bearing zero zero four mark zero zero nine.\nSisko: How large?\nO'Brien: Twelve hundred and fifty four ships.\nBashir: They outnumber us two to one.\nGarak: Now who's being negative.\nSisko: Ensign, on screen. Maximum magnification.\nNog: Aye, sir.\nSisko: To all ships, this is Captain Sisko. Assume attack formation Delta two. There's an old saying, fortune favors the bold. Well, I guess we're about to find out. To Be Continued..."}
{"text": "Sisko: The Dominion won't attack Earth.\nSitak: How can you be sure?\nSisko: Because Earth isn't the key to the Alpha Quadrant. The wormhole is. And whoever controls Deep Space Nine controls the wormhole.\nO'Brien: Target locked.\nDax: Fire.\nKira: Execute Rom?\nWeyoun: He committed an act of terrorism against the Dominion.\nRom: You've got to finish what I started. The fate of the entire Alpha Quadrant rests in your hands.\nQuark: What happens if I get caught?\nRoss: If those Dominion reinforcements come through the wormhole we'll have lost everything.\nSisko: We take the ships we have, fight our way to Deep Space Nine and destroy that anti-graviton emitter. It's our only hope.\nKira: Dukat is bringing down the minefield, the Federation is about to be overrun by Dominion reinforcements and Weyoun has ordered Rom's execution.\nOdo: I'm sorry.\nKira: We are way, way past sorry.\nO'Brien: It's a large Dominion fleet. Twelve hundred and fifty four ships.\nBashir: They outnumber us two to one.\nSisko: There's an old saying, fortune favors the bold. Well, I guess we're about to find out. And now the conclusion.\nSisko: Sisko to all ships. Cruiser and Galaxy wings, drop to half impulse. You too, Commander.\nDax: Half impulse.\nGarak: I feel sorry for the Klingons. They're going to miss a very interesting fight.\nO'Brien: I have a feeling we're going to miss having them.\nSisko: Forget the Klingons. Our job is to get to Deep Space Nine and prevent the Dominion reinforcements from coming through the wormhole, and that's what we're going to do. Attack fighters, tactical pattern Theta. Concentrate your fire on the Cardassian ships, and then split off into squadrons and run like hell.\nNog: Why is he only targeting the Cardassian ships?\nGarak: He's hoping to get them to break formation and so they'll after the Federation fighters. He knows the Jem'Hadar will stand their ground, but the Cardassians just might get angry enough to take the bait.\nNog: Which would open a hole we can punch through.\nGarak: You're getting quite an education.\nNog: Attack fighters in Theta formation. Cruiser and Galaxy wings at half impulse.\nSisko: Sisko to attack fighters. Prepare to engage on my command.\nCrewman: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: Cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them, cannon in front of them, volley'd and thunder'd.\nBashir: Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well into the jaws of death. Into the mouth of hell rode the six hundred.\nNog: Whatever it is you two are reciting, I wish you'd stop.\nO'Brien: Steady, Ensign. It's just a poem.\nNog: It's not the poem that's bothering me.\nO'Brien: Stop worrying about those ships. Focus on your work. That's what I do.\nBashir: You should listen to him, Ensign. He's a professional.\nSisko: Attack fighters full impulse. Fire at will.\nO'Brien: They're not taking the bait.\nSisko: Ensign, send in the second wave. Tell them to keep targeting the Cardassians.\nNog: Aye, sir. Second wave on its way. Third and fourth waves on hot standby.\nSisko: Mister O'Brien, have Destroyer units two and six move in closer. They need more cover fire. And tell Captains Diego and Reynolds to stay alert. They may try to outflank us.\nDukat: It's very clever strategy. But I'd expect nothing less from Captain Sisko.\nWeyoun: The Captain is a very clever man.\nDukat: You do see it, don't you?\nWeyoun: Of course I do.\nDukat: Well then, perhaps you'd like to explain Captain Sisko's strategy to the Founder yourself.\nWeyoun: I could never hope to match your eloquence.\nDukat: True. Sisko is trying to provoke us into opening a hole in our lines. He's determined to get here and stop us from taking down this minefield. Now I plan to give Sisko his opening and then close it on him.\nWeyoun: What about the minefield? Are we still on schedule?\nDukat: We should be able to detonate the mines in eight hours.\nFounder: Good.\nWeyoun: Eight hours. I'll hold you to that, Dukat.\nDamar: I'd like to toss that smug little Vorta out the nearest airlock. And his Founder with him.\nDukat: Now, now, Damar, that's no way to talk about our valued allies. Not until this war is over, anyway.\nDamar: Sir, there is one other thing.\nDukat: Make it brief.\nDamar: I'm concerned about further attempts to sabotage this station. The enemy knows if they don't act soon, it'll be too late.\nDukat: By enemy, I assume you're referring to Rom's associates?\nDamar: I doubt he was working alone when he tried to sabotage the station. He must've had help. His wife Leeta, Jake Sisko, Major Kira.\nDukat: What are you proposing?\nDamar: That we arrest them. Keep them in custody, at least until the wormhole is reopened.\nDukat: It's a wise precaution. But our Bajoran allies might object to an arrest without cause. If anyone asks, we're merely holding them for questioning. And Damar, make sure they're not harmed in any way. Major Kira is important to my daughter. And to me.\nDamar: Sir, about your daughter. Perhaps it would be better, for her own sake, if Ziyal were confined to quarters.\nDukat: For what reason?\nDamar: To be perfectly honest, sir, I don't completely trust her. And neither should you.\nDukat: Are you accusing my daughter of being a saboteur?\nDamar: I'm not accusing her of anything. But she is quite friendly with Major Kira.\nDukat: That will be all, Damar.\nDamar: She doesn't appreciate what it means to be Cardassian or to be your daughter.\nDukat: But she is my daughter. That may mean nothing to you, but it means everything to me.\nLeeta: I heard the Federation fleet has been ambushed.\nQuark: I heard two Cardassian soldiers saying the fleet was completely destroyed.\nJake: Don't believe everything you hear.\nKira: Jake's right. Sisko'll get here. The question is, will he get here soon enough?\nQuark: He's only got seven hours before they detonate the minefield and start bringing the reinforcements through the wormhole.\nJake: We've got to stop them.\nLeeta: How?\nKira: What if we cut off the power supply to the main computer? Shut down the whole station.\nQuark: Oh great. That would put me out of business altogether.\nJake: It would also keep them from detonating the mines.\nQuark: Okay, so we shut down the main computer. How?\nKira: A bomb.\nQuark: A bomb? What kind of bomb?\nKira: Leave that to me. It'll be crude, but effective.\nQuark: The main computer is in the central core. It's too heavily guarded. You'll never be able to smuggle a bomb into there.\nKira: I'll plant the bomb. All we need to do is distract the guards.\nDamar: In here. Secure the doors.\nDamar: Ah, Major, here you are. How nice of you to gather your friends for us.\nKira: I'm off duty, Damar. What do you want?\nDamar: I want you to come with us. All three of you.\nKira: Where?\nDamar: To the security office. We have to ask you a few questions.\nJake: What kind of questions?\nDamar: You'll find out when we get there. Go ahead, Major, try something. Nothing would make me happier.\nKira: Don't worry. It'll be all right.\nDamar: Of course it will. You have nothing to hide, do you? You certainly don't.\nDamar: I'll say this for Captain Sisko, he is persistent. That's the ninth wave of Federation fighters he's sent against us.\nDukat: Well, his persistence is about to pay off. Let's give him his reward, shall we? Have a half dozen squadrons break formation and go after those fighters.\nDamar: Yes, sir.\nO'Brien: Captain, two squadrons of Cardassian attack ships are breaking formation. They're going after our fighters.\nGarak: They're taking the bait. We've opened a hole in their lines.\nSisko: Have we?\nDax: Sir, do you see those Galor class destroyers?\nSisko: I see them.\nBashir: It's a trap.\nSisko: It is also an opportunity and we may not get another one. Ensign, have Galaxy wings nine one and nine three engage those destroyers. All other ships, head for that opening. Anyone who gets through doesn't stop until they reach Deep Space Nine.\nGarak: Congratulations, Captain. You wanted them angry, they're angry.\nSisko: The Magellan and the Venture are supposed to be protecting our starboard flanks. They're in too tight. Ensign, tell fighter squadrons six, seven and eight to\nNog: Sir, I can't get through to anybody. Communications are down.\nO'Brien: They're jamming our signals by generating a rotating EM pulse.\nSisko: Can you clear it?\nO'Brien: I'm trying.\nDukat: War is such thirsty work. Don't you agree?\nWeyoun: Perhaps if you didn't talk so much, your throat wouldn't get so dry.\nDukat: Cardassians do like to talk. I suppose it can be a failing at times.\nWeyoun: No.\nDukat: To the conquerors of the Federation.\nWeyoun: Aren't you being a bit premature?\nDukat: I don't think so. Not with twenty eight hundred Dominion ships waiting to come through that wormhole.\nWeyoun: Those ships aren't going to be here for another five hours, and need I remind you a lot can happen in that amount of time.\nDukat: Tell me, Weyoun, have you ever been diagnosed as anhedonic?\nWeyoun: You think I'm incapable of experiencing joy just because I'm cautious?\nDukat: We didn't defeat the Federation by being cautious.\nWeyoun: We haven't defeated it yet. And even if we do, it's only the beginning. Holding on to a prize as vast as the Federation isn't going to be easy. It's going to require an enormous number of ships, a massive occupation army and constant vigilance.\nDukat: I look forward to it.\nWeyoun: I'm sure you also looked forward to occupying Bajor and we all know what a disappointment that was.\nDukat: On Bajor I merely implemented policy, I didn't make it. If I had, things would have turned out quite differently.\nWeyoun: If you ask me, the key to holding the Federation is Earth. If there's going to be an organized resistance against us, its birthplace will be there.\nDukat: You could be right.\nWeyoun: Then our first step is be to eradicate its population. It's the only way.\nDukat: You can't do that.\nWeyoun: Why not?\nDukat: Because! A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness.\nWeyoun: Then you kill them?\nDukat: Only if it's necessary.\nWeyoun: I had no idea.\nDukat: Perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life is that the Bajoran people still refuse to appreciate how lucky they were to have me as their liberator. I protected them in so many ways, cared for them as if they were my own children. But to this day, is there a single statue of me on Bajor?\nWeyoun: I would guess not.\nDukat: And you'd be right. Take Captain Sisko, an otherwise intelligent, perceptive man. Even he refuses to grant me the respect I deserve.\nDukat: You find that amusing?\nWeyoun: Not at all. I find it fascinating.\nDukat: Laugh all you want. History will prove me right.\nFounder: I have news, Odo. Our battle with the Federation fleet is going well.\nOdo: There are people out there fighting, dying. People who used to be my friends.\nFounder: They're solids, Odo. You must remember that.\nOdo: I know, but they still mean something to me.\nFounder: The Link means more.\nOdo: That's what I keep telling myself, but somehow I can't quite believe it.\nFounder: You asked me for clarity, Odo. I gave it to you. Now you must accept it. It's Major Kira, isn't it? You still have strong feelings for her. She doesn't deserve your loyalty, Odo. You cannot allow a solid to deny you your rightful place in the Great Link. I couldn't permit it.\nOdo: What are you saying?\nFounder: The Major has been arrested.\nOdo: On what charge?\nFounder: That hardly matters. What matters is she will be found guilty and sentenced to death.\nOdo: No!\nFounder: Her death is be your salvation. Link with me. Embrace the clarity. It is the only thing that will give you peace.\nOdo: No.\nFounder: You cannot help her, Odo. You cannot help any of the solids, no matter how much you may want to. It's too late for them.\nDax: Sir, we've just lost the Sitak and the Majestic. We're on our own, Ben.\nO'Brien: Comm's back online.\nNog: Four enemy ships directly ahead.\nSisko: Evasive maneuvers, pattern Omega. We're going through.\nDax: That's one down.\nSisko: Can you shake the other three?\nDax: I'm trying.\nBashir: We've lost aft shields. Forward shields are down to fifteen percent.\nGarak: Wouldn't this be a good time to cloak?\nO'Brien: The cloaking system's fried.\nSisko: Auxiliary power to weapons. We're going to fight our way out of this.\nNog: It's the Klingons, sir. They're here. We're being hailed by Commander Worf.\nSisko: On screen.\nWorf: Captain, I am sorry we were late. It was not easy to convince Chancellor Gowron to spare us any ships.\nSisko: I'm just glad you could join us, Commander.\nO'Brien: Captain, the Klingons have broken a hole in the Dominion lines.\nSisko: Dax, can you get us through?\nDax: I'd love to try.\nSisko: Any other ships make it?\nNog: No, sir.\nSisko: We only have three hours before the minefields are detonated. Set a course for Deep Space Nine. Maximum warp.\nDamar: The Defiant has broken through all our lines. It's on its way here. Shall I order a pursuit?\nWeyoun: At once.\nDukat: The Defiant is no match for this station. If Sisko wants to commit suicide, I say we let him.\nQuark: Don't scream. I won't going to hurt you.\nQuark: I just have one question.\nZiyal: What's that?\nQuark: Do you know how to make hasperat soufflé?\nQuark: Lunch for Major Kira.\nCardassian: Major Kira has already been fed.\nQuark: And I can only imagine the slop you served her. What I have here is hasperat soufflé, just the way the Major likes it.\nCardassian: This is a jail, not a hotel. The Major will eat what the other prisoners eat.\nZiyal: Do you know who I am?\nCardassian: Gul Dukat's daughter.\nZiyal: That's right. Now I suggest you allow us to deliver this food.\nCardassian: I can't do that. However, I will take the tray to her. After I examine it.\nQuark: Er, is that really necessary?\nCardassian: Lift the lid.\nQuark: If you insist. You see? Hasperat soufflé, just as I said. Stop poking it. It's very delicate.\nQuark: Now you've ruined it.\nRom: How much longer before they detonate the minefield?\nKira: I wish you'd stop asking that.\nRom: Sorry.\nJake: I'd say about ninety minutes.\nRom: My time grows short.\nLeeta: Don't say that.\nRom: The only reason they haven't killed me yet is that I'm part of their victory celebration. Seven o'clock, Dukat makes a speech. Eight thirty, cake and raktajino. Eight forty five, execute the Ferengi.\nQuark: All right, no one move!\nRom: Brother! I knew you would come.\nQuark: It's a surprise to me. Now, just keep calm and stay where you are. Understand? Don't move. You, open the holding cells. I said, open the holding cells.\nZiyal: You just told them not to move.\nQuark: Right. Nobody moves except you. Now open the cells.\nKira: Quark.\nQuark: Yes?\nKira: Take down the forcefields.\nQuark: Forcefields?\nKira: I'd kiss you, Quark, but there isn't time. We have to find a way to shut down the power to the main computer.\nRom: I can do that.\nLeeta: Oh, Rom.\nRom: That is, if we can make it to the central computer core without being killed.\nKira: Right, Rom, you're with me. The rest of you, find someplace to stay out of sight.\nJake: Will do.\nFounder: I know you're confused, Odo, but you don't have to be. All the answers you seek are in the Link.\nOdo: Come in.\nWeyoun: Forgive the intrusion, but Major Kira, the Ferengi saboteur and the rest of their terrorist group have escaped from the holding cells. For your own protection, I must ask you to come with me.\nFounder: I want them caught.\nWeyoun: They will be. But in the meantime, you'd both be safer in Ops.\nFounder: Very well. Odo?\nOdo: I'll be fine here.\nFounder: You're sure?\nOdo: Yes.\nKira: Get out of here.\nRom: Do you hear that? That's Bajoran phaser fire.\nKira: Why would Dominion troops be using Bajoran weapons?\nOdo: Never underestimate the element of surprise.\nOdo: You have less than forty minutes to shut down the main computer.\nRom: I hope that's enough time.\nKira: It'll have to be. Can you keep the Dominion patrols off our backs?\nOdo: I'll head down to Security, create enough false alarms to keep them occupied. Any questions?\nKira: I could ask why.\nOdo: I don't think there's time to explain it. Besides, I think you know the answer.\nKira: What about the Link?\nOdo: The Link was paradise. But it appears I'm not ready for paradise. Good luck.\nKira: You too.\nSisko: Dax, what's our ETA?\nDax: Eleven minutes.\nO'Brien: That's cutting it close.\nKira: How's it going, Rom?\nRom: I wish you'd stop asking that.\nKira: Sorry, sorry.\nRom: I'm not going to make it.\nKira: All right then, concentrate on cutting off the power to the station's weapons array. Without weapons they won't be able to detonate the minefield.\nRom: Not for a while anyway.\nDamar: Sir, the Klingons have outflanked us. Our lines are beginning to crumble.\nDukat: There's nothing to worry about. In exactly four minutes, thousands of Dominion ships will come pouring through that wormhole. I just hope the Defiant gets here in time for Sisko to see it.\nDax: Ben, if I were you, I'd start coming up with a plan B.\nRom: Almost there. I just need to decouple the ODN relays.\nDamar: The last mines have been neutralized. We're ready to detonate the minefield, sir.\nDukat: Fire.\nRom: Done.\nRom: Uh-oh.\nKira: What is it?\nRom: We were too late.\nDax: What do we do now, Captain?\nSisko: Take us into the wormhole.\nO'Brien: What the hell. We're only going to meet a couple of thousand Dominion ships.\nDax: One ship against an entire fleet? That's a hell of a plan B.\nGarak: Chief, how does that poem end?\nO'Brien: You don't want to know.\nFounder: Send a message to our listening posts in the Gamma Quadrant. Tell the reinforcements that the Alpha Quadrant awaits them.\nDamar: Sir, the Defiant. It's heading for the wormhole.\nWeyoun: Destroy it.\nDukat: What's wrong, Damar?\nDamar: Our weapons, they're offline. They've been sabotaged.\nWeyoun: How can that be?\nDukat: Major Kira.\nSisko: Full stop. Chief, divert all power to forward shields and weapons.\nDax: Captain, I'm reading multiple warp signatures ahead.\nSisko: On screen. Maximum magnification.\nSisko: Lock phasers. Prepare to launch quantum torpedoes.\nSisko: Why have you brought me here? Show yourselves. What do you want?\nOdo: The Sisko has returned to us.\nJake: He arrives with questions.\nKira: There are always questions.\nSisko: I didn't ask to come here.\nDukat: You desire to end the game.\nSisko: What game? I don't understand.\nWeyoun: You seek to shed your corporeal existence.\nDamar: That cannot be allowed.\nOdo: The game must not end.\nSisko: The game? You mean my life? Is that what this is about? You don't want me to die?\nDukat: The game must continue.\nWeyoun: You are the Sisko.\nSisko: Believe me, I don't want to die, but I have to do everything I can to prevent the Dominion from conquering the Alpha Quadrant. If that means sacrificing my life and the life of my crew, so be it.\nJake: We do not agree.\nKira: We find your reasoning flawed.\nOdo: Insufficient.\nSisko: I'm flattered you feel that way, but it doesn't change anything. Now send me back to my ship.\nSisko: This isn't what I meant. I want to return to my reality.\nDamar: You are the Sisko.\nSisko: I am also a Starfleet captain. I have a job to do and I intend to do it.\nWeyoun: The Sisko is belligerent.\nDukat: Aggressive.\nDamar: Adversarial.\nSisko: You're damn right I'm adversarial. You have no right to interfere with my life.\nKira: We have every right.\nSisko: Fine. You want to interfere, then interfere. Do something about those Dominion reinforcements.\nOdo: That is a corporeal matter.\nDukat: Corporeal matters do not concern us.\nSisko: The hell they don't. What about Bajor? You can't tell me Bajor doesn't concern you. You've sent the Bajorans orbs and Emissaries. You've even encouraged them to create an entire religion around you. You even told me once that you were of Bajor. So don't you tell me you're not concerned with corporeal matters. I don't want to see Bajor destroyed. Neither do you. But we all know that's exactly what's going to happen if the Dominion takes over the Alpha Quadrant. You say you don't want me to sacrifice my life? Well, fine, neither do I. You want to be gods, then be gods. I need a miracle. Bajor needs a miracle. Stop those ships.\nWeyoun: We are of Bajor.\nDamar: But what of the Sisko?\nOdo: He is intrusive.\nDukat: He tries to control the game.\nJake: A penance must be exacted.\nWeyoun: It is agreed.\nDukat: The Sisko is of Bajor, but he will find no rest there.\nKira: His pagh will follow another path.\nSisko: What path is that?\nO'Brien: Phaser banks fully charged.\nNog: Forward shields at a hundred percent.\nO'Brien: Torpedoes ready. Targets locked.\nDax: Here they come.\nSisko: Fire on my command.\nNog: There must be thousands of them.\nGarak: And half of them have locked targets on us.\nSisko: Steady, people. Make every shot count.\nDax: Benjamin.\nO'Brien: They've cloaked.\nDax: I'm not picking up any neutrino emissions.\nGarak: Then where did they go?\nSisko: Wherever they went, I don't think they're coming back.\nDamar: Sir, the wormhole is opening.\nDamar: The Defiant.\nDukat: Our reinforcements must be right behind.\nDamar: No, sir. There's no sign of them.\nWeyoun: That's impossible. Check our listening posts in the Gamma Quadrant.\nDamar: They're not there either.\nDukat: But they entered the wormhole. Where are they?\nDamar: I don't know.\nDamar: The Defiant has opened fire on us.\nWeyoun: Obviously.\nDukat: Can you get our weapons back online?\nDamar: Not for a while. Sir, two hundred enemy ships have broken through our lines. They're headed this way.\nWeyoun: Time to start packing.\nFounder: Contact our forces in the Alpha Quadrant. Tell them to fall back to Cardassian territory. It appears this war is going to take longer than expected.\nWeyoun: We'll meet you at airlock five.\nDamar: Sir?\nDukat: Victory was within our grasp.\nDamar: We have to evacuate the station, sir.\nDukat: Bajor, the Federation, the Alpha Quadrant, all lost.\nDamar: We have to go now, sir.\nDukat: Go?\nDamar: The Federation ships, they'll be here soon. We have to get back to Cardassia.\nDukat: I have to find my daughter.\nDamar: I'll send someone for her.\nDukat: That won't be necessary.\nDamar: You're wasting your time.\nDukat: Promenade.\nDamar: She won't go with you.\nO'Brien: Sir, the Dominion forces are leaving the station.\nSisko: Let them go. We're in no shape to stop them.\nBashir: Captain, we're getting a message from the Cortez. The Dominion fleet has broken off the fight. They're in retreat.\nSisko: Tell the Cortez and the rest of our fleet to rendezvous at Deep Space Nine.\nComputer: All Dominion personnel proceed to airlocks four, seven and twelve for evacuation. This is a first priority order. Repeat. All Dominion personnel proceed to airlocks four, seven and twelve for evacuation.\nComputer: This is a first priority order.\nWeyoun: Out of the way, out of the way. Step aside. Make way for the Founder. What about Odo? Is he coming with us?\nFounder: No. But he will join us one day. It's only a matter of time.\nZiyal: Father!\nDukat: Ah, Ziyal.\nZiyal: I've been looking for you. I heard about the evacuation.\nDukat: You're all I have, all I care about.\nZiyal: No matter how much I try to hate you, I can't.\nDukat: I couldn't live with myself if you hated me. Come, we'll talk on the way home.\nZiyal: Home?\nDukat: Cardassia. We have to leave here, Ziyal, before the Federation arrives.\nZiyal: I'm not leaving.\nDukat: These people are our enemies.\nZiyal: They're not my enemies. I'm one of them.\nDukat: That's not true.\nZiyal: Father, I helped Major Kira and the others escape from the holding cells.\nDukat: Do you know what you're saying?\nZiyal: Yes, I do. I belong here. Goodbye, Father. I love you.\nDukat: No!\nDamar: You heard her. She's a traitor.\nDukat: Ziyal, it's all right, it's all right, it's all right. Ziyal, I forgive you. It's all right.\nDamar: We're out of time, sir. The last ship is waiting for us.\nDukat: Ziyal, please hear me. I love you. I love you, Ziyal.\nDukat: No! No! Ziyal.\nSisko: Jake-o.\nOdo: Welcome back, Captain.\nSisko: Good to see you, Constable. It's good to see you all.\nMartok: Captain, it would appear I owe you a barrel of bloodwine.\nSisko: We'll drink it together.\nDax: Worf!\nWorf: Jadzia.\nDax: I guess the wedding's still on.\nO'Brien: Quark, are the holosuites still working?\nQuark: Ready and waiting, Chief.\nO'Brien: Julian, did you hear that?\nBashir: The Battle of Britain. I'll meet you there in an hour.\nRom: You've been promoted?\nNog: I'm an engineer.\nRom: We'll be working together.\nNog: Actually, you'll be working for me.\nJake: I really missed you. It's good to have you back, Dad.\nSisko: So, where's Major Kira?\nJake: She's in the Infirmary, with Ziyal.\nKira: She loved you.\nGarak: I could never figure out why. I guess I never will.\nDukat: We'll go back to Cardassia, Ziyal. We'll be safe there. You'll live with me. Everything will be fine.\nSisko: Maybe Doctor Bashir can do something for him.\nDukat: We'll both be very happy together. I know you forgive me. After all, I am your father and I forgive you.\nDukat: My precious girl.\nOdo: Easy. Easy now.\nDukat: I forgive you, too."}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's personal log, stardate 51247.5. It's been a week since our return to Deep Space Nine, but the mood of celebration continues. We're still at war, and the station's been designated Headquarters for the Ninth Fleet. That, plus our strategic position guarding the wormhole, makes DS Nine one of the most tempting targets in the entire quadrant. But for now at least, the war seems very far away.\nSisko: Morning. Good morning. Morning, Major.\nKira: Good morning, Captain.\nSisko: Do you know how much I missed hearing you say that.\nKira: Do you know how much I hated saying, Good morning, Dukat.\nSisko: I can imagine. What's on the agenda?\nKira: USS Potemkin has completed her repairs and is rejoining the fleet later today. Exeter, Sutherland and Akagi have submitted resupply requests, and there are about a thousand messages from Starfleet Command awaiting your eyes only attention.\nSisko: Anything else?\nKira: General Martok is waiting in your office.\nSisko: Ah. I'll start with the General.\nKira: Thought you would.\nSisko: Have I mentioned that it's good to be home?\nKira: Once or twice.\nMartok: You knew about this, didn't you?\nSisko: I had a pretty good idea.\nMartok: And you did nothing to stop it?\nSisko: No. In fact, I recommended you for the position myself. Allow me to offer my congratulations to the new Supreme Commander of the Ninth Fleet.\nMartok: Do you have any idea how much paperwork a Supreme Commander has to do?\nSisko: You're welcome. May I arrange quarters for you on the station?\nMartok: No, I'll keep my flag aboard the Rotarran. It may be cramped, but at least I'll feel like I'm still in the war. By the way, I'd like Worf to continue functioning as my principal Intelligence Officer.\nSisko: I don't see any problem with that. He's the only officer I know who can never get enough work.\nMartok: At least if he's busy he'll stop going on about this wedding of his. There were times aboard the Rotarran he nearly drove me mad. Until his son arrived, it was all he could talk about. Then Alexander became all he could talk about. The man is nothing if not single-minded.\nSisko: I haven't met Worf's son yet. What's he like?\nMartok: He's a fine boy. Dedicated, eager. He has the heart of his father, but he's not the best soldier I've ever seen.\nAlexander: But when he ordered me to bring the system back online I thought he was still talking about the hydrostatic system, so\nDax: You didn't engage the pumps while the check valves were open?\nWorf: He did.\nAlexander: I flooded the entire deck with superheated hydraulic fluid. It took me three days to clean it up, but I swear it still smells like burnt dog hair in there.\nDax: Remind me to keep you away from the Defiant. You're a menace.\nAlexander: The Rotarran's crew actually thinks of me as a good luck charm. You know, the more mistakes I make, the safer they feel. I hope the Ya'Vang's crew feels the same way.\nWorf: The Ya'Vang?\nAlexander: I got new orders this morning. The battle cruiser Ya'Vang took heavy losses in their last engagement so most of the Rotarran's crew are being transferred there at the end of the week, including me. More bloodwine?\nDax: Why not?\nWorf: No, not for me.\nQuark: Handsome young man. He must get his looks from his mother's side.\nWorf: What do you want?\nQuark: Have you had a chance to reconsider my offer?\nWorf: We are not getting married in this bar. The ceremony will take place on the Klingon homeworld after the war.\nDax: Worf, let's do it here. This week, before Alexander leaves.\nQuark: Perfect. I'll handle all the arrangements.\nWorf: Wait. I thought we had agreed.\nDax: We did, but I would hate for Alexander to miss his father's wedding. It would mean so much to him, and besides, it may be a long time before you see him again.\nAlexander: What's going on?\nWorf: Our wedding plans have changed. We are getting married here on Deep Space Nine. And I want you to be my Tawi'Yan.\nDax: Sword-bearer. It's sort of like a best man.\nAlexander: Me? Really? Oh, that's great!\nQuark: I'll put that on your tab.\nDax: it doesn't leave much time to make all the arrangements, but fortunately there isn't that much left to do. Worf's been planning the ceremony for the last three months. He has everything figured out, right down to the color of my shoes.\nKira: No offense, Jadzia, but it seems like this wedding is all about what Worf wants. Habitat ring, section fifty one gamma. What about you?\nDax: A traditional Klingon wedding with all the trimmings is something Worf's been thinking about since he was a boy. It probably has something to do with being raised by human parents. In any case, when it comes to Klingon tradition, Worf is very sentimental.\nKira: Worf?\nDax: All men are sentimental. They just cover it up with scowls and clenched jaws. There are times when Worf literally gets misty-eyed talking about Klingon rituals.\nKira: So that's why you're letting him make the plans for the wedding?\nDax: Mostly, but the truth is, I've gone through five Trill ceremonies three as a bride, two as a groom, and I'm a little bored with it.\nDax: Is it my imagination, or did Odo just try and avoid us?\nKira: I didn't notice. We've been avoiding each other ever since the Dominion left the station. I think we're both afraid of talking about what happened during the occupation.\nDax: What do you mean?\nKira: To tell you the truth, it's nothing I want to talk about right now either.\nWorf: Thank you for coming. As you probably know by now, Jadzia and I will be married here on the station in six days.\nBashir: There's nothing more romantic than a wedding on DS Nine in springtime.\nO'Brien: When the neutrinos are in bloom.\nWorf: By tradition, the Klingon man spends the four nights before his wedding on a mental and spiritual journey. It is called Kal'Hyah, the path of clarity. And he is accompanied by his closest male friends.\nMartok: You cannot imagine the experience that awaits us. Four long nights filled with song and fellowship. A time of unbridled pleasures.\nO'Brien: Are we talking about a bachelor party?\nWorf: It is a similar ritual.\nBashir: That's good enough for me.\nO'Brien: Me too.\nSisko: Count me in.\nWorf: We will meet in the holosuite tomorrow night at twenty one hundred hours.\nMartok: I advise you all to get plenty of rest.\nBashir: Four nights at a Klingon bachelor party. Just think of the possibilities.\nO'Brien: Thank God Keiko's not here.\nSisko: I wonder what Dax will be doing while we're traveling down Kal'Hyah?\nMartok: She will be taking a different journey with my wife.\nSisko: Your wife?\nMartok: By marrying Worf, Dax will be joining the House of Martok. Since the Mistress of a Great House must approve all marriages, Sirella will spend the next four days evaluating Jadzia.\nMartok: My Lady.\nSirella: You've put on weight and your hair is going gray.\nMartok: My deterioration is proceeding apace.\nSirella: I thought you would be in your grave by now.\nMartok: I shall endeavor to die this year, if possible. Allow me to present Captain Benjamin Sisko, Commander of Deep Space Nine. Captain, may I present the Mistress of the House of Martok, my wife and the mother of my children, Sirella, daughter of Linkasa.\nSisko: Welcome to Deep Space Nine.\nSirella: Thank you, Captain. Where is she?\nMartok: Jadzia's quarters are in the Habitat ring, section twenty five alpha. Shall I escort you? It's quite far away.\nSirella: I'll find my way. If you'll excuse me.\nMartok: Magnificent, isn't she?\nWorf: Are these real var'Hama candles?\nDax: Yes, Worf. I traveled to Kronos, I captured three targs in the Hamar Mountains, made the ritual sacrifice at dawn, came back to the station, asked Quark to boil their shoulders into tallow. Then I spent two days molding them into candles with my own hands.\nWorf: I was just asking.\nDax: You were criticizing. Again. Relax. She's not going to reject a prospective daughter because the var'Hama candles in her welcoming display were replicated.\nDax: Come in.\nDax: Tuq son bosh mok A'Beh Sirella koh. E'Gagh vet moh.\nSirella: What is he doing here?\nWorf: I meant no disrespect.\nSirella: Then leave.\nSirella: Your worthiness to join our House will now be judged according to the traditions of my family.\nDax: I am prepared, my lady.\nSirella: I doubt that. A Klingon woman would find it difficult to gain my favor. For an alien, it will most likely be impossible.\nDax: I like a challenge.\nSirella: I will not have my authority challenged by you.\nDax: That's not what I meant.\nSirella: If you cannot say what you mean, say nothing at all. The evaluation will begin tomorrow morning. Have the traditional meal prepared before I arrive. And in the future, if you cannot trouble yourself to make real var'Hama candles, try not to use such obvious fakes.\nWorf: You never told me that your wife was opposed to this marriage.\nMartok: Sirella is a woman of strong convictions. She believes that by bringing aliens into our families we risk losing our identity as Klingons.\nWorf: That is a prejudiced, xenophobic view.\nMartok: We are Klingons, Worf. We don't embrace other cultures, we conquer them. If someone wishes to join us, they must honor our traditions and prove themselves worthy of wearing the crest of a great House.\nWorf: Jadzia is worthy.\nMartok: Of course she is. She is an honorable woman and a formidable warrior.\nWorf: You should say that to Sirella.\nMartok: That's not such a good idea. I don't want her to think that I'm interfering in her domain.\nWorf: Perhaps I should speak with her. Coming from me, it would not seem like a challenge to her authority.\nMartok: I wouldn't do that if I were you.\nWorf: Why?\nMartok: Well, the truth is, she doesn't like you that much either.\nWorf: Me.\nMartok: Don't let that bother you I had every right to bring you into the family and she's accepted the fact that there's nothing she can do about it.\nWorf: How comforting.\nMartok: And they say that you have no sense of humor.\nBashir: I could do without the heat. I can't say much for the decor either.\nO'Brien: Well, it can't be all fun and games. I'm sure there has to be some sort of ritual we have to go through before the party begins. There is going to be a party, isn't there?\nAlexander: You're asking me? I can barely say my name in Klingon.\nMartok: Prepare yourselves, my friends, for a journey you won't soon forget.\nWorf: These are Ma'Stakas.\nBashir: What do we do with them?\nMartok: At the conclusion of the wedding ceremony, you will use them to attack Worf and Dax.\nO'Brien: Obviously. Don't you know anything?\nWorf: The tradition dates back to the wedding of Kahless and Lukara, who were nearly killed by Molor's troops moments after they were married. Until the ceremony, you should keep them with you at all times.\nSisko: I trust that this combat is non-lethal?\nMartok: It is a symbolic attack only.\nWorf: The food is not to be eaten.\nAlexander: Then what is it for?\nWorf: It is here to tempt us into breaking our fast.\nSisko: Fast?\nWorf: There are six trials we must face on the path to Kal'Hyah. This is the first, deprivation. We now begin a fast that will continue until the day of the wedding.\nBashir: That's four days away.\nMartok: It is a short time, I know, but we must make the best of it.\nSisko: What are the other five trials?\nWorf: Blood, pain, sacrifice, anguish and death.\nBashir: Sounds like marriage all right.\nO'Brien: How would you know?\nWorf: It is time to begin.\nQuark: More flowers up the banister.\nFerengi: We're ready with the banner, boss.\nQuark: Raise it. You're up early. I thought writers slept late.\nJake: Not always. I sold my first book today.\nQuark: Really? How much did you get for it?\nJake: It's just a figure of speech. The Federation News Service is going to publish a book of my stories about life on the station under Dominion rule.\nQuark: And they're not paying you?\nJake: No.\nQuark: Well then, you have my sympathies and the first round of drinks is on the house.\nJake: Really?\nQuark: No. It's a figure of speech.\nJake: Look, I want to tell my Dad about the book. Is he still in the holosuite?\nQuark: Oh, yeah, they're still up there.\nJake: What are they doing?\nQuark: It's a Klingon bachelor party. You're a writer, use your imagination.\nBashir: Alexander?\nAlexander: Grandma?\nBashir: Guess again.\nAlexander: We're still on the\nBashir: The road to Kal'Hyah, day five hundred.\nO'Brien: Maybe we should turn down the heat, you know, for Alexander's sake.\nAlexander: No, it's okay. I just need some water.\nBashir: Now you don't want to push yourself too hard. You know, turning down the heat might be a good idea.\nMartok: The whole point is to push yourself to the limits of your endurance.\nAlexander: I will. I want to travel the entire path to Kal'Hyah. Stoke the fire again!\nWorf: As you wish.\nMartok: Of course, we cannot expect you non-Klingons to have the same stamina as we do. If you wish to quit, no one will think any less of you.\nBashir: Who said anything about quitting?\nSisko: Not me.\nO'Brien: I like the heat.\nMartok: That's the spirit! Kavek ko lee ko MARTOK +\nWorf: Eh to che mah lo Tah oo-wah kah esh to pah deh ah re! Yah bosh-ah! Yah bosh-ah!, Yah bosh tomah!\nDax: Al'Qoch mensah t'lang cho.\nSirella: Again.\nDax: I've done it three times already.\nSirella: You continue to rush through the ceremony, your body position is poor and the placement of the braziers on their pedestals is sloppy.\nDax: Do you know how heavy those things are?\nSirella: A Klingon woman would not complain.\nDax: You wouldn't make a Klingon woman do it three times in a row.\nSirella: I wouldn't have to. She'd have done it correctly the first time. End this now, Jadzia. Go back to your own people. They will tolerate your weaknesses and your failings in a way that a Klingon family never will. In our House, you would always be an alien, an outsider. At best, you'd be an object of pity. But you'd never be accepted, never an equal, because you can never truly be one of us.\nDax: Ko'ma tlang'goS ak-bay. Hava'dak croosh tovah. Ko'ma Kahless. Ko'ma Kahless. Ko'ma Kahless.\nDax: But the second Dynasty ended when General K'Trelan assassinated Emperor Reclaw. For the next ten years, the Empire was ruled by a Council elected by the people. Modern-day Klingon historians refer to this as The Dark Time, but it's interesting to note that this first and only experiment in Klingon democracy actually produced several reforms that\nSirella: You are straying from the saga.\nDax: Am I?\nSirella: Your task is to recite the complete chronicle of the women in my family.\nDax: I just thought I'd provide you with a broader historical perspective along the way.\nSirella: I am familiar with Klingon history. Now, return to the story of my twenty third maternal grandmother, Shenara, daughter of Emperor Reclaw in the Second Dynasty.\nDax: Well, that's where we run into a little bit of a problem. You see, I did some research and when Emperor Reclaw was killed all the members of the Imperial Family were also put to death. Including Shenara. When the Third Dynasty was founded ten years later, a new group of Klingons were given the titles and the names of the original Imperial Family to create the illusion of an unbroken line. So the woman that you think of as your twenty third maternal grandmother isn't related to you at all. Your real ancestor's name was Karana, a concubine living outside the Imperial stables.\nSirella: My grandmother's name was Shenara.\nDax: That may be what's been passed down from generation to generation, but it has no basis in fact. But who cares about facts? The chronicle says that you have imperial blood in your veins and that's exactly what we'll telling everyone.\nSirella: Continue with the saga.\nDax: My pleasure.\nJake: Hey, Major. Is it true Dax is having a party tomorrow night?\nKira: News travels fast.\nJake: Well, is it by invitation or?\nKira: I'm sure you're welcome, and you can tell Nog the same goes for him too.\nJake: Great.\nKira: Oh, I understand congratulations are in order to our newest published author.\nJake: Thank you.\nJake: What was all that about?\nKira: Nothing. There they go.\nKira: They look so serious.\nJake: It's all an act. They don't want the rest of us to know what kind of debauchery they're up to.\nKira: Like what?\nJake: It's a Klingon bachelor party. Use your imagination.\nWorf: Now begins the trial of blood.\nMartok: Let rivers flow from our veins.\nWorf: Who will be the first?\nWorf: I did not expect it to be you, Doctor.\nBashir: Neither did I.\nWorf: Do not worry. The pain will last for only a moment.\nKira: Isn't that great?\nKira: He's unbelievable!\nWoman: He's something.\nDax: Lieutenant Manuele Atoa from the starship Sutherland!\nRom: I've never seen anything like that.\nLeeta: Neither have I.\nRom: Let's get something to eat.\nJake: A woman of many talents.\nQuark: It's a shame she's about to waste them all on that walking frown she calls a fiancé. She's too good for him. I've said that from the beginning.\nJake: Are you jealous?\nQuark: There's no profit in jealousy.\nJake: That's not a denial.\nQuark: It's not to be quoted either.\nJake: Don't worry. So when did you first realize you had these feelings for Dax? Quark, wait.\nBashir: Miles?\nO'Brien: Yeah?\nBashir: It's working. I've had a vision about the future. I can see it so clearly.\nO'Brien: What is it?\nBashir: I'm going to kill Worf. I'm going to kill Worf. That's what I'm going to do. I can see it clearly now. I'm going to kill him. Kill him.\nO'Brien: Kill Worf. Kill Worf.\nOdo: I have been getting complaints about the noise. Someone even mentioned a fight?\nKira: Oh, there was a scuffle between Morn and one of the Bolians, but they worked it out.\nOdo: How long will this party continue?\nKira: This party will continue until further notice, on the personal authority of the station's First Officer, who just happens to be me.\nOdo: You're in a good mood.\nKira: Yeah, well, it's a good party.\nOdo: Well.\nKira: Odo. Odo, I think we have a lot to talk about.\nOdo: I agree.\nKira: So let's talk.\nOdo: Now?\nKira: Don't you think we've put it off long enough?\nOdo: Enjoy yourselves.\nKira: Let's find someplace a little quieter.\nDax: Thanks for the show.\nAtoa: Thanks for getting me the day off.\nDax: Captain Shelby owed me a favor. Actually, he owed me several. In fact, how would you like to have another two days off?\nAtoa: Two? What do I have to do?\nDax: Not much. Just give me something fun to look at for the rest of the evening.\nAtoa: Anything else?\nDax: I'll let you know.\nSirella: You! Leave her or I'll cut your head off and hang it from my belt.\nDax: I'll take care of this. You weren't invited.\nSirella: It is time for the Bre'Nan ritual.\nDax: I'm busy.\nSirella: Busy acting like a Risian slut.\nDax: I'm only going to ask you to leave once.\nSirella: You will come with me now and perform the Bre'Nan ritual to my satisfaction or I will cancel your wedding.\nDax: Toruk-DOH!\nNog: Ladies, please!\nSirella: Mok'Ta vor, kash a'VEH!\nDax: Why is everyone standing around? The party's just getting started. Play something.\nDax: Double raktajino, extra sweet.\nAtoa: What time is it?\nDax: Ten thirty hours.\nAtoa: Come on.\nDax: Wrong door.\nAtoa: Excuse me, sir.\nWorf: Jadzia, we need to\nDax: You're mad.\nWorf: I am concerned.\nDax: Yeah, well, I'm hung over. Can we talk later?\nWorf: We have a very serious problem. Sirella has canceled the wedding.\nDax: She doesn't waste any time, does she?\nWorf: She said you attacked her.\nDax: She pulled a knife.\nWorf: You are forbidden to join the House of Martok.\nDax: So I won't get invited to the family picnics. I'll live.\nWorf: I cannot believe how you're taking this so lightly.\nDax: Do you hear that?\nWorf: What?\nDax: It sounds like voices.\nKira: Hi.\nDax: Hi.\nOdo: Is the party over?\nDax: You could say that. It's ten thirty.\nKira: In the morning? I'm on duty.\nOdo: So am I.\nKira: It was a great party.\nDax: Thanks.\nWorf: We must deal with the situation now.\nDax: Stop yelling. My head hurts.\nWorf: You must go to Sirella and beg her forgiveness.\nDax: I don't beg.\nWorf: You are allowing your pride blind you.\nDax: Look who's talking. You want me to go crawling to some old hag just so you can have your traditional Klingon wedding.\nWorf: This is about more than just tradition. You and I have embarked on a spiritual journey, one that will bind us together through this life and into the next. You cannot turn back now.\nDax: Maybe you're on a spiritual journey, Worf, but I just want to get married. So why don't you go back to sweating and bleeding with your friends in the holosuite and when you're done, meet me in Benjamin's office and he'll perform the ceremony.\nWorf: If that is your attitude, perhaps Sirella was right about you. There should be no wedding.\nDax: That's fine with me.\nBashir: What's going on?\nQuark: Haven't you heard? The wedding's off.\nO'Brien: Off? Why?\nQuark: She says it's because he's a pigheaded, stubborn man who puts tradition before everything else. He says it's because she's a frivolous, emotional woman who refuses to take him or his culture seriously. You can see the problem.\nO'Brien: They're both right.\nQuark: Exactly.\nBashir: Well, there's only one thing for it.\nO'Brien: Dinner.\nQuark: I'll get the menu.\nWorf: Enter.\nMartok: Worf, you've made a grave error.\nWorf: Perhaps.\nMartok: Do you still love her?\nWorf: Of course. However, in this case, that may not be enough. Anyone can see that we are hopelessly mismatched. She is a Trill, I am a Klingon. She has had five marriages, this would be my first. When she is laughing, I am somber. When I am happy, she is crying. She plays tongo with the Ferengi bartender. I can barely stand him. She mocks everything, while I take everything seriously. She is nothing like the woman I thought I would marry.\nMartok: We are not accorded the luxury of choosing the women we fall in love with. Do you think Sirella is anything like the woman I thought that I'd marry? She is a prideful, arrogant, mercurial woman who shares my bed far too infrequently for my taste. And yet I love her deeply. We Klingons often tout our prowess in battle, our desire for honor and glory above all else. But how hollow is the sound of victory without someone to share it with. Honor gives little comfort to a man alone in his home and in his heart.\nQuark: One steak with mushrooms, baked potato, sour cream and chives.\nO'Brien: I should've had that.\nQuark: One double Altair sandwich, no mustard, two bowls of linguini, Bajoran shrimp and extra cheese. One loaf of mapa bread.\nBashir: Quark, where's the kava juice?\nQuark: They're still squeezing the roots. Unless you want replicated?\nBashir: We'll wait.\nSisko: What do you think you're doing?\nO'Brien: The wedding's been called off.\nSisko: It's back on.\nMartok: Worf is apologizing to Jadzia at this very moment.\nSisko: Quark, take it all away. No food for those on the path to Kal'Hyah.\nQuark: No refunds for those on the path to Kal'Hyah as well. Sorry.\nAlexander: Father, what happened?\nWorf: She refused to not change her mind. The wedding is still off.\nSisko: Where is she?\nWorf: In her quarters.\nSisko: I'll go talk to her. Just keep them away from the food.\nDax: Come in. Save your breath. Worf went too far and now it's over. Do you know what he wanted me to do? He wanted me to go crawling on my hands and knees to Sirella to beg her forgiveness. Beg her! Me! I was once the Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire. I negotiated the Khitomer Accords before Worf was even born.\nSisko: Curzon negotiated the Accords. And I've got news for you, old man. You're not Curzon anymore.\nDax: And what the hell is that supposed to mean?\nSisko: It means that you can't expect Sirella to treat you like Curzon just because you carry his memories. To her, you're just a young woman who decided to marry into her family. If it means you have to bow down and kiss her boots, that's exactly what you have to do. And you knew that. The moment you decided to marry Worf, you knew that sooner or later you'd have to bow down and show her the respect that she's due.\nDax: This is Worf's fault. Worf and his traditional Klingon wedding.\nSisko: Well, he may have let this wedding business go to his head, but you are three hundred fifty six years old. Compared to you, Worf is just a kid. And if you can't abide by Klingon traditions, then you never should have let yourself fall in love with him in the first place. And you are in love with him.\nDax: I wasn't looking to fall in love. I was perfectly happy by myself. I had friends, a career, adventure. Then one day this Klingon with a bad attitude walked into my life and the next thing I know, I'm getting married. After three hundred fifty six years and seven lifetimes, I still lead with my heart.\nSisko: You know, that is what I have always loved about you. And I think that's why Worf loves you, too.\nDax: Whatever happened to that young, callow Ensign I used to know? The one who used to turn to me for advice all the time? You know, the one with hair?\nSisko: I grew up.\nDax: I guess it's time I grew up, too.\nSirella: With fire and steel did the gods forge the Klingon heart. So fiercely did it beat, so loud was the sound, that the gods cried out, 'On this day we have brought forth the strongest heart in all the heavens. None can stand before it without trembling at its strength.' But then the Klingon heart weakened, its steady rhythm faltered and the gods said, 'Why have you weakened so? We have made you the strongest in all of creation. And the heart said\nWorf: I am alone.\nSirella: And the gods knew that they had erred. So they went back to their forge and brought forth another heart.\nSirella: But the second heart beat stronger than the first, and the first was jealous of its power.\nSirella: Fortunately, the second heart was tempered by wisdom.\nDax: If we join together, no force can stop us.\nSirella: And when the two hearts began to beat together, they filled the heavens with a terrible sound. For the first time, the gods knew fear. They tried to flee, but it was too late. The Klingon hearts destroyed the gods who created them and turned the heavens to ashes. To this very day, no one can oppose the beating of two Klingon hearts. Not even me. Worf, son of Mogh, does your heart beat only for this woman?\nWorf: Yes.\nSirella: And will you swear to join with her and stand with her against all who oppose you?\nWorf: I swear.\nSirella: Jadzia, daughter of Kela, does your heart beat only for this man?\nDax: Yes.\nSirella: And do you swear to join with him and stand with him against all who would oppose you?\nDax: I swear.\nSirella: Then let all present here today know that this man and this woman are married.\nBashir: Now?\nMartok: Not yet.\nBashir: Now?\nMartok: Patience.\nDax: My lady.\nSirella: Welcome to the House of Martok, my daughter.\nMartok: Now, Doctor!"}
{"text": "Dax: What about Captain Boday?\nKira: Captain Boday? You want me to bring Captain Boday to your quarters for dinner?\nDax: It's just a suggestion.\nKira: It's a bad suggestion. Number one, you used to go out with Captain Boday. Number two, Worf hates him. And number three, and we have discussed many times, Captain Boday has a transparent skull.\nDax: And you don't like to see a man's brains.\nKira: Ops.\nDax: What about Doctor Trag'tok? He's intelligent, he has a good physique, and he has a very opaque cranium.\nKira: True. But his eye bothers me.\nDax: Which one?\nKira: The middle one.\nDax: Really, you are obsessed with appearances.\nKira: And sometimes your taste in men frightens me.\nDax: I'll make sure to tell Worf you said so.\nWorf: Tell me what?\nDax: Don't be so nosy. You can always invite Odo.\nKira: I'm not ready for that. Odo's not ready for that. Let's just forget that you brought that one up. Two raktajinos, extra strong, and a kava roll. I'm coming to dinner alone, got it?\nDax: I got it. Three place settings.\nKira: I'll bring the wine.\nO'Brien: Captain, you'd better get out here.\nSisko: What is it?\nO'Brien: I'm showing a power buildup in the transporter buffer.\nDax: Someone's attempting to beam into Ops.\nSisko: From where?\nDax: I don't know. There are no ships within transporter range.\nKira: Are you hurt?\nBareil: No, but you'll be unless you do exactly what I say.\nKira: It can't be.\nSisko: What do you want?\nBareil: A fast ship would be nice.\nSisko: Security, we have a hostage situation. Clear a path to landing pad A. Authorisation Sisko seven one green.\nOdo: Seven one green acknowledged, Captain.\nSisko: Your runabout's waiting.\nBareil: Let's go.\nSisko: If you hurt her you will never leave this station, I promise you that.\nBareil: Follow me and she dies. I promise you that.\nBareil: Hold it.\nBareil: Not the turbolift. Someone might cut the power and we'd be trapped inside.\nKira: Then we walk.\nBareil: Your uniform, I've never seen one like it. You're not with the Alliance, are you?\nKira: There is no Alliance here.\nBareil: Then I have crossed to the alternate universe. Tell you one thing, the food's better.\nKira: So I take it you're running from the Alliance.\nBareil: Now you know the story of my life.\nKira: So once you get your ship, what then?\nBareil: Believe me, wherever I end up is going to be a lot better than where I've been.\nKira: I can believe that. I've spent some time in your universe.\nBareil: I'll bet you were glad to leave it. Now which way?\nKira: That way.\nBareil: How many levels before we reach the landing pad?\nKira: Fifty seven.\nBareil: Oh.\nKira: Here we are. Landing pad A.\nBareil: Open it.\nKira: I've got a better idea. Why don't you hand over that disruptor?\nBareil: Oh, you've been so cooperative up to now. I'd hate to have to kill you.\nKira: You're not going to kill me.\nBareil: Oh, you sure of that?\nKira: You're not going to kill anyone. Not with that disruptor. Power cell's cracked.\nBareil: How long have you known?\nKira: Since we left Ops.\nBareil: Then why did you come with me?\nKira: I needed the exercise.\nBareil: And I have to get away.\nOdo: Are you all right, Major?\nKira: I'm fine.\nOdo: The resemblance to Vedek Bareil is remarkable.\nBareil: This is the cleanest interrogation chamber I've ever been in, and believe me, I've been in quite a few.\nKira: I'm glad you're comfortable. Now, you mind telling me where you got hold of this?\nBareil: A Terran rebel gave it to me.\nKira: A multidimensional transporter device. Nice gift.\nBareil: We were very close. So, when do I get to meet myself?\nKira: Meaning what?\nBareil: Well, this is the alternate universe, correct? Everything's the same but different. Which means there's another Bareil Antos here.\nKira: There was.\nBareil: Was?\nKira: He's dead.\nBareil: You knew him, didn't you? Then that's why you seemed to recognize me. What was he like?\nKira: Does that matter?\nBareil: He was someone you cared about. Major, I know I have no right to ask this but you could do me a big favor. Destroy that device.\nKira: Why?\nBareil: Because then they can't send me back.\nKira: Sorry, I can't do that.\nBareil: Please, Major. You've been there. You know what it's like. Put me in prison, in a labor camp, whatever you want. Just let me stay.\nSisko: Now let me get this straight, Major. You're refusing to press charges.\nKira: That's right. I don't think Bareil ever intended to hurt me.\nSisko: I suppose we should just send him back where he came from.\nKira: No. He doesn't want to go back to that universe and I don't blame him.\nSisko: I know what you're going through, Major. When I met the other Jennifer Sisko it was very confusing, to say the least. I knew she wasn't my wife, but sometimes she would smile at me a certain way and then the light would hit her eyes, and it was my Jennifer. At least, that's what I wanted to believe.\nKira: Captain, I know this man is not Vedek Bareil. He doesn't talk like him, he doesn't act like him. He's a totally different person.\nSisko: But you still feel this connection with him that you can't explain, don't you?\nKira: It's not a problem.\nSisko: Good. Just make sure it doesn't become one.\nBareil: Major. I just wanted to say thank you for putting in a good word for me.\nKira: What are you going to do now?\nBareil: I'm not sure. I've been reading up on your world, and it's very different from the Bajor I know.\nKira: Is that where you intend to go?\nBareil: Well, I'm thinking about it. Did you see that? People keep staring at me.\nKira: It's because the man that you look like was loved and respected by a lot of people. He was a Vedek.\nBareil: A Vedek?\nKira: A religious leader.\nBareil: Imagine me a religious leader\nKira: Glad you find it funny. I'm going to be late for services.\nBareil: Wait. I didn't mean to offend you. It's just the kind of life I've led hasn't been very spiritual. In fact, I don't think I've ever been inside a temple.\nKira: Well, now's your chance. You're welcome to join me.\nBareil: In there? I don't think so. Besides, if I go in there, people are going to start believing I really am Vedek Bareil. That's something I'd like to avoid.\nKira: I can understand that.\nKira: What are you doing here?\nBareil: I figured I could use a little spiritual guidance.\nKira: That's not funny.\nBareil: It wasn't meant to be. I plan on making a new life for myself here. I'm going to need all the help I can get.\nOssan: Tolata impara no takash. With humility and gratitude, we accept this gift.\nOssan: Veshanoo yavar ha iktasho.\nBareil: What's in the box?\nKira: The Orb of Prophecy and Change.\nBareil: Orb?\nKira: A gift from the Prophets. It can foresee the future, or a possible future anyway.\nBareil: Who are the Prophets?\nKira: Our gods. You do have gods, don't you?\nBareil: Of course we do.\nKira: You don't sound too sure.\nBareil: That's because I leave them alone, they leave me alone.\nKira: So, what did you think?\nBareil: I'm not sure. It was an interesting ceremony, but\nKira: But what?\nBareil: Everyone seemed to take it so seriously.\nKira: What's wrong with that?\nBareil: I suppose it must be nice to have that kind of faith. I've always preferred to believe in nothing. That way I'm never disappointed.\nKira: That doesn't sound like much of a life.\nBareil: Maybe not, but it's all mine. Anyway, I'm glad I had this chance to see you again. It was very enlightening. Thank you, Major.\nKira: Bareil. Do you like Klingon food?\nBareil: An hour later, the Klingon guard returns to my cell. He puts down what's supposed to be my last meal, I slip his mek'leth out of its scabbard and hide it in my shirt. That night, I used the blade to deactivate the sensor alarm, my earring to open the cell door. By the time they realized I was gone, I was halfway to the Ventar system.\nDax: That's one hell of a story.\nWorf: And that is all it is, a story.\nBareil: Excuse me?\nWorf: It was well told but there was no truth to any of it.\nBareil: Oh, you're sure of that?\nWorf: You want us to believe that you stole a mek'leth from a Klingon warrior.\nDax: Worf, it's not polite to accuse a guest of lying.\nBareil: No, it's all right. Obviously, I was exaggerating.\nDax: Would you like to do the honors?\nBareil: Allow me.\nBareil: I believe this is yours?\nKira: What do you think now, Worf?\nWorf: Obviously Bareil is a better thief than I gave him credit for. More bloodwine.\nBareil: Why not.\nBareil: You are a lucky woman.\nKira: Why is that?\nBareil: You have good friends.\nKira: They liked you.\nBareil: You think so?\nKira: Why do you sound so surprised? You must have had friends back home.\nBareil: I can think of one.\nKira: If you'd rather not to talk about it.\nBareil: There's not much to say. She died.\nKira: I'm sorry.\nBareil: It's all right. Happened a long time ago.\nKira: This is home. I'm sorry the evening has to end on such a sad note. Would you like to come in? Have a raktajino?\nBareil: Her name was Lisea. I first saw her on the street in Ilvia. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She had the most attractive little money sack hanging from her waist.\nKira: Don't tell me you stole it?\nBareil: She should've known better than to carry her money so carelessly in Ilvia. It's a very dangerous place. Turns out she'd just arrived from one of the mining camps in the hills of Dahkur Province.\nKira: I come from Dahkur Province, only here it's all farmland.\nBareil: When I met her she was working in an Ilvian pleasure center.\nKira: And you decided to take her away from all that.\nBareil: I taught her how to be a thief. The funny thing is, she was so grateful. She felt I saved her life.\nKira: Maybe you did.\nBareil: If anyone was saved it was me. We were having dinner in a bar one night. A fight broke out. A drunken Cardassian pulled out a disruptor and started firing. We were together five years, and in all that time I never told her how much she meant to me.\nKira: I know what it's like to lose someone.\nBareil: When I activated that transporter device I had no idea where I'd end up. I never thought I'd be sitting here with you.\nKira: Two days ago, all I wanted was to be alone.\nBareil: Major.\nKira: Don't you think it's time you called me Nerys?\nBareil: What did you say these are called?\nKira: Alvas. They grow all over Bajor.\nBareil: Not my Bajor.\nKira: I can't believe you're still hungry. After a big Klingon meal, I usually don't eat for two days.\nBareil: Ever since I got here I can't stop eating. What is it?\nKira: Nothing.\nBareil: This must be very strange for you. You and I here together, me looking like him.\nKira: Fortunately, you're not anything like him.\nBareil: You mean he didn't eat in bed?\nKira: Antos was very diskiplined. He had a strict routine he never deviated from. He only ate two meals a day. Simple food. He used to say, when you overindulge the body\nBareil: You starve the soul.\nKira: How did you know that?\nBareil: I did a little research. Enough to know that when he died, Bajor suffered a great loss.\nKira: I would've given my life to save his. But all I could do was stand there and watch his slip away.\nBareil: Are you tired?\nKira: Not any more.\nBareil: Want to get an early breakfast?\nKira: Sounds good.\nBashir: My medical requisitions.\nDax: Why didn't you just download them into the computer?\nBashir: I don't know. Thought I might stretch my legs, see what was happening in Ops.\nDax: Kira hasn't shown up yet.\nBashir: Kira?\nDax: You are so transparent.\nBashir: What are you talking about?\nWorf: Your guilt is quite clear, Doctor.\nBashir: Guilt? About what? About medical requisitions? Don't be ridiculous.\nDax: Julian, Kira's personal life is her own. We're her friends. We should respect her privacy.\nDax: Good morning, Nerys. How'd it go last night?\nKira: You mean dinner? We had a great time. Why?\nBashir: She means after dinner, but you don't have to answer that because we don't want to invade your privacy.\nDax: But if you want to tell us about it, we'll listen.\nKira: It went well.\nDax: I told you.\nWorf: I never doubted it.\nBashir: Well, I think I should be getting back to the Infirmary. Unless there are any more details forthcoming.\nKira: Goodbye, Doctor.\nBashir: Goodbye.\nKira: Worf, any news from General Martok's scout ships?\nWorf: They report no Dominion activity along the border.\nKira: Let's hope it stays that way.\nDax: Are you seeing him tonight?\nKira: At the Bajoran Shrine.\nDax: That doesn't sound very romantic.\nKira: He's going to have his first Orb experience.\nDax: Your idea, I suppose?\nKira: No, actually it was his. He's curious about Bajoran spirituality. It's a new concept for him.\nDax: Well, it's not a midnight swim in the holosuites, but if it makes you happy.\nBareil: So where is this Vedek?\nKira: He'll be here. Now stop pacing. This is an Orb experience, not an execution.\nBareil: I just don't want to disappoint anybody.\nKira: That's sweet, but I'm not going to judge you.\nBareil: I know that. I meant the Prophets. What do I say to them?\nKira: You don't have to say or do anything.\nBareil: I just stare into the Orb.\nKira: Actually, it's more like the Orb stares into you.\nOssan: Welcome, my child. Are you ready to proceed?\nBareil: Yes.\nOssan: Your pagh is strong. You are ready to face the will of the Prophets. Come.\nBareil: Thank you. Not hungry.\nKira: Well that's a change.\nBareil: When you had your first Orb experience, did you understand it?\nKira: I don't know that anyone fully understands an Orb experience. Not at first, anyway. You have to live with it for a while, absorb it.\nBareil: And then?\nKira: And then one day it becomes a part of you. A part of who you are.\nBareil: I thought I would get a glimpse of the future. It was more than that. It changes you. There were so many images I couldn't track of them all. He was there, Vedek Bareil. We were together, talking, but it was all mixed up. I was him, he was me. It's all very confusing.\nKira: I don't think we should be talking about this.\nBareil: If I can't tell you about it, who can I tell?\nKira: No one. An Orb experience isn't meant to be shared.\nBareil: I feel as if I could sleep for days.\nKira: That's a very common reaction. Why don't you get some rest.\nBareil: I will. Nerys?\nKira: It's all right. I'll see you tomorrow.\nIntendant: I was wondering when you'd get back.\nBareil: What are you doing here?\nIntendant: I know, I'm early. But my curiosity got the better of me. Besides, the thought of you pining away for me was too much to bear. Now, tell me. How's our little plan progressing?\nBareil: Couldn't be better. Right on schedule.\nIntendant: That's just what I was hoping to hear.\nIntendant: Now, tell me everything that's happened since you got here.\nBareil: Later. I'm too tired. Right now all I want to do is go to bed.\nIntendant: Even better.\nBareil: I said I was tired.\nIntendant: You've never been tired before.\nBareil: It's been a long day.\nIntendant: I don't think you're pleased to see me. It's her, isn't it? The Major's gotten to you.\nBareil: Don't be stupid.\nIntendant: Oh, I'd be very disappointed if you didn't find the Major intoxicating. I mean, after all, she is me, or the next best thing to me. So, what do you think of her?\nBareil: You're crazy.\nIntendant: Oh, we know what I'm like. What about her?\nBareil: I am not going to discuss this.\nIntendant: Oh, please, please. I really want to know.\nBareil: She's wonderful.\nIntendant: I knew it. She's too good for you. We both are. I mean, you're nothing but a petty thief.\nBareil: I know what I am.\nIntendant: That's it? That's all you have to say?\nBareil: I said I was tired.\nIntendant: Oh? Major Kira must be very\nBareil: This has nothing to do with the Major. I looked into the Orb today.\nIntendant: You did? How very exciting. So, how soon can we get our hands on it?\nBareil: The Vedeks are holding a twenty six hour vigil in the Shrine. Now, I cannot get near the place until tomorrow night. The Orb is behind a forcefield keyed to a decryption matrix.\nIntendant: Which you can bypass.\nBareil: That's what thieves do.\nIntendant: Today you're a thief, but tomorrow, once we bring our prize home, you'll be Bearer of the Orb. The holy man who unites the Bajoran people in a war against the Alliance.\nBareil: Just call me Vedek Bareil.\nIntendant: Think of it, the wealth, the power. You'll be like a god.\nBareil: You're putting a lot of faith in that Orb.\nIntendant: So will every other Bajoran. We're going to have such fun. I can hardly wait. You do look tired. You should get some rest. And tomorrow when you see the Major give her that from me. Sleep well.\nBareil: One more.\nQuark: Coming right up.\nBareil: What are you two staring at? Same goes for the rest of you. I am not Vedek Bareil. I just want to be left alone.\nQuark: You heard the man. Now leave him be. Sorry about that. People can be so rude. You know, I used to see the Vedek all the time, walking down the Promenade with Major Kira. Never came in here, though. I guess dabo wasn't his game. It's an amazing resemblance. Put you in a Vedek's robe and nobody would know the difference.\nBareil: Believe me, there's a difference.\nQuark: But not to the paying public.\nBareil: You have a business proposition for me? Spit it out.\nQuark: Picture this. You seated here wearing robes. A long line of Bajorans waiting patiently to pay good money just to meet Vedek Bareil, maybe touch his hand.\nBareil: Like I said, I'm not Vedek Bareil.\nQuark: A mere technicality. You're the closest thing to Vedek Bareil they're ever going to see. Which is why they're going to love you.\nBareil: I wouldn't know what to say.\nQuark: The less, the better. Just nod every once in a while and smile benignly. It's very simple. Later on, once you get the hang of it, you might even throw in a blessing or two. What do you think?\nBareil: I've known people like you my whole life. Nasty, greedy little minds willing to do whatever it takes to make money. I know just how you think.\nQuark: That's because you think the same way.\nBareil: I suppose I am a lot more like you than I'll ever be like Vedek Bareil.\nQuark: Perfect. Then we have a deal?\nBareil: I'm afraid not.\nQuark: Why?\nBareil: Because right now I don't like either one of us.\nQuark: It's a shame to see such a perfect opportunity go to waste.\nQuark: Major, any idea where they put my shipment of Saurian brandy?\nKira: Over there.\nQuark: You heard her. Your new boyfriend came into my bar today.\nKira: Did he?\nQuark: He's a little different, isn't he.\nKira: From what?\nQuark: From some of your previous choices. Don't get me wrong, I had nothing against Vedek Bareil or Shakaar, but they were a little too controlled, a little too controlling. They lacked fire, excitement. But this Bareil? He's different. He's full of surprises.\nKira: So I take it that you like him.\nQuark: Let's just say I like the idea of you with him. But let me tell you something, Major. You'd better brace yourself. You're in for a rough ride.\nKira: What are you talking about?\nQuark: I've been a bartender for a long time. I've seen all sorts of customers. Sad ones, happy ones, complicated ones.\nKira: And Bareil, where does he fit in?\nQuark: He's one of the tormented ones.\nKira: Tormented? No, I don't think so. Quark, you've had an Orb experience. You know what it's like.\nQuark: He had an Orb experience? Interesting.\nKira: Meaning what?\nQuark: After he left the bar, I saw him hanging around the Bajoran Shrine. He must've been there a couple of hours.\nKira: He has a lot on his mind. He probably went there to think things over.\nQuark: Either that or he was figuring out a way to rob the place. What's this, a union meeting? Let's get going. Nice chatting with you, Major. I hope you two are very happy together.\nIntendant: Well, what do you think?\nBareil: Even I'd have trouble telling you apart.\nIntendant: Wearing the Major's clothes, it feels so intimate. Oh, admit it. You've never found me more exciting. It's like having the best of both worlds.\nBareil: Let's try to stay focused, all right? We both have jobs to do.\nIntendant: You're right, we'll celebrate later. Did you get the comm. badges? Oh what nimble fingers. Contact me the minute you have the Orb.\nBareil: Right.\nIntendant: You're going to look so good wearing a crown.\nIntendant: Everything quiet?\nSecurity: Yes, Major.\nIntendant: Good.\nSecurity: I'm sorry, I need your level six authorisation code.\nIntendant: Oh, is that really necessary?\nSecurity: It's the new protocol. The war.\nIntendant: Of course.\nSecurity: Is everything all right?\nIntendant: I must have pulled a muscle exercising in the holosuites. It's been bothering me all day. Would you mind massaging my shoulders for me? I could make it an order.\nIntendant: A little harder, please. Oh, such strong hands. If only we had some warm Somata oil. That would be nice, wouldn't it?\nSecurity: I guess.\nIntendant: You have a lot to learn about giving a massage.\nKira: What's that old saying? Once a thief?\nBareil: What are you doing here?\nKira: The question is, what are you doing here?\nBareil: Nerys. How did you know?\nKira: I didn't. You had me completely fooled. The thief in search of redemption, who could resist that? Obviously not me. Luckily, Quark didn't fall for your little act. Now step away from the altar.\nBareil: I wish I could, but I can't. I've come too far.\nKira: Then you came a long way for nothing.\nIntendant: Nerys! Oh, you look as beautiful as ever.\nKira: You're just full of surprises, aren't you?\nIntendant: It's only fair. You had your Bareil, I have mine.\nBareil: You're suppose to wait for me at the transporter pad.\nIntendant: Don't worry, I have the transporter keyed to this control. All I have to do is tap this key and we're on our way home. Besides, I couldn't leave without saying hello to myself. The transporter sensors showed that you weren't alone in the shrine and I was hoping it was you, Nerys. Bareil's smart but you're smarter. We really are alike, aren't we?\nKira: You can't let her have the Orb. It's too dangerous.\nIntendant: Will you stop wasting your breath. Antos and I are a team. We're destined to do great things together.\nBareil: If we're going, let's go.\nKira: You don't have to do this.\nIntendant: Isn't that sweet? She is still trying to save your soul. Of course, you don't have one.\nBareil: She's right. I'm not worth saving.\nKira: You sound pretty certain of that.\nIntendant: Look at him. Really, look at him. It's important that you see him for what he truly is.\nKira: I do. So you were just using me to get to the Orb? Is that what I'm supposed to believe?\nBareil: Believe anything you want.\nIntendant: Please, Nerys, don't embarrass yourself. You made a mistake. You let Bareil make a fool of you. That's bad enough. Don't make it worse by denying what happened. Just accept it and move on.\nKira: Why should I? It's not true. You know that as well as I do. You may have come here for the Orb, but you found something else.\nIntendant: And people say that I have a large ego. Tell her, Antos. Tell her how you were using her, that everything you told her was a lie. That every time you touched her all you could think about was me.\nBareil: When she wakes up, I'll have a lot of explaining to do.\nKira: And if you don't have the Orb, she'll kill you.\nBareil: Maybe. That will certainly be her first reaction, but I've talked my way back into her good graces before. I'll be all right.\nKira: I guess this is goodbye.\nBareil: It's for the best. You know what I saw when I looked into that Orb? You and me, together on Bajor. We had a life, a family.\nKira: What's wrong with that?\nBareil: Nothing. It might even work, for a while. But eventually I'd find some way to ruin it. I'm a thief. I belong with her.\nKira: Then you should go."}
{"text": "Jack: No. No. It's not fair. Am I alone here? Is that it? Am I the only one who sees. And what is that incessant noise?\nLoews: Calm down.\nJack: Why? Am I talking too fast, Doctor? Having trouble keeping up?\nLoews: I just don't want you to get upset.\nPatrick: Please don't leave us here, Karen. Please.\nLoews: It's only for a few weeks, Patrick.\nJack: You know why they brought us here, don't you? Why they carted us halfway across the quadrant? They're going to experiment on us.\nLoews: Stop it, Jack.\nJack: They want to find out what makes our genetically engineered brains tick. They're going to cut our heads open and see what comes out!\nLoews: He's just trying to scare you. Don't listen to him. I told you why I brought you here, remember? To meet that doctor, Doctor Bashir?\nLauren: You know, the handsome one.\nLoews: He was genetically enhanced when he was a boy, just like all of you.\nJack: No, no. He's not like us. I never saw him at the Institute. He wasn't locked away for being too smart. He's passed himself off as normal. He's Mister Normal Starfleet man. Mister Productive Member of Society. Well, maybe we can learn to be just like him. Wear little uniforms. Yes, sir. No, sir. Thank you, sir.\nPatrick: I don't like it here.\nLoews: It's going to be all right. Doctor Bashir is going to work with you for a while, that's all. Just think of it as a little vacation from the Institute.\nJack: No. No. This isn't happening.\nLoews: It is happening, Jack, and you're going to have to try to make the best of it.\nLauren: I'm going to make the best of it. See the way he's looking at me? He's in love with me already.\nJack: Give me that!\nPatrick: I want to go home.\nLauren: It's him.\nJack: See that? That's what I'm going to do to your boyfriend.\nLoews: Give me the PADD.\nJack: Sorry.\nLoews: You're not sorry, we both know that. You did it on purpose because you're upset. But there are better ways of dealing with being upset.\nJack: I'll work on it.\nLoews: All right. Well, I'll see you all in a few weeks.\nLoews: Patrick, it's fine, it's fine. Go on.\nLoews: Bye, Sarina.\nBashir: You all right?\nLoews: It's nothing. Just another run in with Jack. Like I said in my report, don't turn your back on him.\nBashir: Well, we'd better get you down to the Infirmary.\nLowes: I'm fine. Go on in. They're about as ready to meet you as they'll ever be. I just hope you have better luck getting through to them than I've had.\nBashir: Hello?\nJack: Funny. He doesn't look like a mutant.\nBashir: Is that you, Jack?\nJack: He knows me. He knows my name. I didn't tell him my name.\nBashir: It's all right. I just read Doctor Loews's report, that's all.\nJack: I knew that.\nBashir: Hello, Sarina.\nJack: What is he talking to her for? He read the reports. She won't answer. Didn't you read the reports?\nBashir: Would anyone mind if I turned on the lights?\nJack: Would anyone mind if he turned on some lights? Go ahead. We're not mole people, you know.\nBashir: Computer, lights.\nLauren: Hello.\nBashir: Lauren.\nLauren: I know what you're thinking, Julian, but I'm not that kind of girl.\nJack: Bashir, was it? Rings a bell. Bashir, Bashir, Bashir, Bashir. Ah ha, got it! Fifteenth century poet Singh el Bashir. Any relation?\nBashir: Yes, actually.\nJack: His work was totally derivative. He was a plagiarist. You knew that. You had to know. Yet you came in here bragging about it anyway. Why?\nBashir: You're the one who brought it up.\nJack: What was I supposed to do, just let you get away with it? That noise!\nLauren: Tell me, Doctor, what kind of enhancements did your parents have done to you?\nBashir: Mental abilities, mostly. But they had my hand eye coordination, reflexes and vision improved as well.\nJack: Can you do that?\nBashir: I doubt it.\nJack: What happened? Your parents couldn't afford the full overhaul?\nLauren: He turned out all right.\nJack: You're not exactly known for being very diskriminating.\nLauren: I turned you down, didn't I?\nJack: And you're still regretting it. The cube root of three hundred twenty nine. What is it?\nBashir: Six point nine zero three.\nLauren: Very good. And you didn't even use your fingers. He's a mutant, just like the rest of us.\nJack: No, no, no. He is not like us. No. He passed as normal.\nPatrick: Is that true? Did you passed as normal? Is that true?\nBashir: My genetic status was diskovered a year ago.\nLauren: How'd you manage to hide it for so long?\nBashir: I did my best not to exploit my abilities.\nJack: So no one would suspect. Very clever. I'm impressed. That's not right. There are reasons why DNA resequencing is illegal. There are reasons why people like us are barred from serving in Starfleet. We have an advantage. Normal people can't compete. It's not fair.\nBashir: Maybe you're right. Maybe I should have said something sooner.\nJack: There are rules. Don't talk with your mouth full. Don't open an airlock when somebody's inside it. And don't lie about your genetic status. No, no, no. You did, you lied. And then, when you got caught, you cut a deal with Starfleet. You got yourself off the hook.\nPatrick: If you'd told the truth, you could have lived with us at the Institute.\nJack: He's right, you know. Then they would have put you away.\nBashir: They don't put people away for being genetically engineered.\nJack: No, no, no, no they just won't let us do anything that's worth doing. No, no. They are afraid that people like us are going to take over.\nBashir: It happened before. People like us did try and take over.\nJack: Oh, no, no. I knew you were going to do that. I knew you were going to trot out the Eugenics Wars.\nBashir: I'm not trotting anything out. All I'm saying is there's a reason we've been barred from certain professions. But that doesn't mean we can't be productive members of society.\nJack: Here it comes. The we can still contribute speech. No. No, no, no, no. I will not forget what was done to me. I will not be part of a society that put me away for being too smart. No, no.\nBashir: All right, then. Since then you have all the answers already, I'll spare you the speech. I'm having dinner with some friends.\nJack: What, you think we don't eat? We eat. We're going to eat right now. Yum yum.\nPatrick: I'll go set the table.\nJack: Don't worry about us, we'll be fine.\nLauren: Thanks for scaring him off.\nBashir: All I kept thinking was, there but for the grace of God go I.\nDax: How do you mean?\nBashir: My parents managed to find a decent doctor to perform the DNA resequencing on me. These four weren't so lucky. They all suffered unintended side effects. By the time they were five or six, their parents were forced to come forward and admit that they'd broken the law so that their children could get treatment.\nSisko: Perhaps they waited too long.\nBashir: There was nothing the doctors at the Institute could do for them. These cases are so rare there's no standard treatment.\nKira: I can't imagine it was a very stimulating environment for them.\nBashir: That's what Doctor Loews thought when she first came to the Institute. She got permission to separate them from the other residents so that she could work with them.\nOdo: Why did she bring them here?\nBashir: She thought they might respond to meeting someone like them, who was living a normal life. She was also hoping that one day they might be able to live on their own and be productive.\nO'Brien: Well, let's hope they don't become too productive. Might make the rest of us look bad.\nWorf: It is not a laughing matter. If people like them are allowed to compete freely, then parents would feel pressured to have their children enhanced so that they could keep up.\nOdo: That's precisely what prompted the ban on DNA resequencing in the first place.\nBashir: Giving them a chance to contribute doesn't necessarily mean sanctioning what was done to them. They didn't ask to have their DNA tampered with. They were only children. And why should they be excluded just because their parents broke the law?\nSisko: You're right. It's not quite fair. But even so, it seemed like a good way to diskourage genetic tampering.\nO'Brien: Besides, it's not as if we're trying to exclude them from anything. We're just talking about limiting what they're allowed to do.\nBashir: Like joining Starfleet.\nWorf: Exactly.\nBashir: Are you saying that I shouldn't be allowed to wear this uniform?\nWorf: Well, you are an exception.\nBashir: An exception. I should be used to that, I've been one all my life. First because of the DNA resequencing, and now because I've been allowed to join Starfleet.\nWorf: Perhaps I should not have said anything.\nBashir: No, it's all right.\nSisko: Well, does anyone care to speculate about what Gul Damar is going to say in his speech?\nO'Brien: Nothing we're going to like, I'll bet.\nKira: It should be starting any minute.\nDax: If he's going to announce another new battle offensive, it's going to spoil dessert.\nJack: Can you hear me? Hello? Calling Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Jack.\nJack: Hello? Anybody there?\nKira: Did you give them access to the comm. system?\nJack: Hello? Hello? Doctor Bashir?\nBashir: No, they must've broken in somehow. I'd love to stay and chat about our impending doom, but\nJack: I can't take it! Would you do something about that noise!\nBashir: What noise?\nJack: What kind of sick game are you people playing?\nBashir: What are you talking about?\nJack: Can't you hear it?\nLauren: We complained and two very cute Engineers came by and said there was nothing wrong.\nBashir: Wait. Is it a kind of a high pitched whine?\nJack: Yes. Thank god! See, I told you we weren't crazy. You are a mutant. You are. Now, do something about that noise or I will snap her neck.\nBashir: I called Chief O'Brien. Now let her go.\nJack: Maybe I'll wait till he gets here.\nBashir: If you don't let her go, I'll tell the Chief the noise went away by itself.\nJack: You think I want to be doing this? I'm just making sure things get done.\nJack: Unbelievable. This is the thanks I get.\nBashir: Are you all right?\nBashir: Come in. Miles, I wonder if you could find out what's making that noise? I know you can't hear it, but it's there. Probably a sympathetic vibration in a power coupling or something.\nO'Brien: What do you know? You're right.\nJack: Well, why don't you fix it, dear fellow, dear fellow, well why don't you fix it before I go mad.\nBashir: He's married.\nLauren: Too bad.\nPatrick: Sounds like the plasma flow's out of sync.\nO'Brien: You're right.\nPatrick: Better realign it.\nO'Brien: I was thinking that.\nBashir: It's about to start.\nO'Brien: Almost finished. There.\nJack: Finally.\nBashir: Much better. Thank you, Chief.\nDamar: Fellow citizens, these are great days for Cardassia. Together with our Dominion allies, we have given our enemies cause to fear us once more.\nO'Brien: Can't argue with that.\nLauren: Who's he?\nBashir: It's Damar, the new head of the Cardassian government.\nDamar: The war with the Federation accomplished of our goals. Cardassia is strong again, an empire to be feared. We are safe behind secure borders, and no one will ever dare attack us again.\nJack: Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.\nPatrick: He's sad.\nLauren: Ashamed is more like it.\nBashir: Why do you say that?\nO'Brien: Shh.\nDamar: From this position of strength, we are poised to take another bold step to insure our future. Peace.\nLauren: Looks like a man who doesn't sleep.\nDamar: It is time to bring an end to this war with the Federation. It is time for us to rebuild on the foundation of strength we have laid. The sons of Cardassia shed\nJack: Methought I heard a voice cry, Sleep no more! Damar does murder sleep!\nPatrick: He's killed someone.\nLauren: Someone close to him.\nO'Brien: How could they know that?\nDamar: Their blood to defend their home. Their sacrifice must not be in vain. The peace we seek will honor their memory, and preserve the gains for which they gave their lives. I challenge the Federation to answer my call for peace. I am ready at any time to meet with its representatives to discuss how we can bring an end to hostilities. As your leader, I pledge that I will do everything in my power\nJack: Pretender! You don't belong on that throne and you know it.\nDamar: To protect Cardassia and allow us to\nPatrick: Someone's making him say all this. He doesn't want to.\nDamar: Move forward into a new era. This I vow with my life's blood for my sons, for all our sons.\nBashir: Did any of you know who Damar was before today?\nJack: No, no, no, but it's obvious who he is. The Pretender who killed the king and seized the throne.\nLauren: Not the king. He's still alive.\nPatrick: The queen, maybe, or a princess.\nBashir: Yes, Ziyal. That's Gul Dukat's daughter.\nJack: And now the Pretender finds himself in league with a, a Dark Knight that he can't control.\nO'Brien: Weyoun?\nJack: It's not a bad story. Epic, really. What else can you tell us?\nBashir: It was amazing. They pieced together the entire story of how Damar came to power. Weyoun is the Dark Prince, Gul Dukat is the deposed King, Damar is the Pretender to the throne, and Ziyal is the innocent Princess he murdered. And now the Pretender is wracked with guilt over what he's done.\nKira: And they got all this just from watching Damar's speech?\nBashir: Well, they were fascinated by the whole thing. They kept bombarding me with questions about Cardassia and the war. I've never seen them so engaged.\nDax: And you want to keep them engaged.\nBashir: I'd like to try. I'm just running out of material.\nKira: What do you mean?\nBashir: They've already gone through everything the computer has on Cardassia and the Dominion.\nSisko: Roll out the red carpet.\nDax: Visitors?\nSisko: Starfleet has decided to listen to what Damar has to say. He and Weyoun will be arriving in the morning. I am the lucky one who gets the chance to sit across the table from them.\nBashir: That's great.\nKira: It's hard to believe that the Dominion really wants peace. I wouldn't be surprised if they were just stalling for time in order to regroup.\nBashir: Sir, is there any chance I can get a transcript of the negotiations?\nSisko: You can do better than that. The Dominion has insisted on recording the proceedings so that everyone can see that their desire for peace is sincere.\nBashir: Perfect.\nDax: You shouldn't have agreed to that, Benjamin. Now you'll have to be on your best behavior.\nJack: So the Pretender and his Dark Knight are coming to the station?\nPatrick: The story's not over.\nLauren: Peace talks. Could be interesting.\nBashir: I'd say so. And the best part is, we're going to have ringside seats.\nWeyoun: Ah, Major.\nKira: Welcome to Deep Space Nine.\nWeyoun: How nice to see you again.\nKira: Can I give you a word of advice, Weyoun?\nWeyoun: By all means.\nKira: You're welcome to play your little 'we're all friends here' act with me, but I wouldn't try it with Captain Sisko. He's not in the mood.\nDamar: We're on a mission of peace, Major. Maybe he should get in the mood.\nDamar: This is the border as it existed before hostilities broke out. This is the border we are now proposing.\nWeyoun: This arrangement would award disputed star systems to the side that already has effective control over them. On the balance, we're giving up more than you.\nDamar: As you can see\nJack: Computer, freeze program. Computer. Hi. Er, listen. Go to native language mode and replay time code seven six one through seven six nine.\nWeyoun: Eee ja maa'na hoo'va baa'li jen'ku'rada sen'to.\nJack: Got you. Did you hear that? He used the passive voice transitive.\nBashir: Since when could you speak Dominionese?\nJack: Since this morning. That phrasing is only used to make a request, not a statement. They are up to something.\nBashir: What is it, Patrick? Did you see something? You can tell us.\nPatrick: They want the Kabrel system.\nBashir: How do you know?\nPatrick: They kept avoiding it with their eyes.\nBashir: You're sure?\nPatrick: They kept avoiding it.\nJack: Told you they were up to something.\nBashir: End program.\nBashir: All right, they want the Kabrel system. But why?\nLauren: I don't know, but they're willing to give up a lot to get it. The mizinite deposits on Holna Four alone are enough to keep their shipyards running for years.\nJack: Yes, yes, yes. That's a typical Dominion strategy. They offer to give up something valuable in order to hide the fact that they want something even more valuable in the long term. See, that's how they think. Big picture. They don't worry about what's going to happen tomorrow, no, no, no, they're thinking long term. They're thinking what's going to happen a year from now, a decade, a century. Yes, yes.\nBashir: There must be something special about the Kabrel system.\nLauren: Nothing on the first planet but some simple protozoids and trinucleic fungi. The second planet has some cormaline deposits, but they're common enough.\nJack: Okay, okay, okay. Maybe there's another reason. Does it have any strategic value?\nLauren: Not that I can see. They wouldn't want to build a base there.\nJack: Why not? Why not? Seems perfectly suitable.\nLauren: It's not an optimum situation. It's a binary system, there's a lot of ionic interference.\nJack: All right, forget that.\nBashir: Does this have anything to do with what we're talking about, Sarina? Can we take it?\nJack: Think, think. Any evidence that Kabrel used to support an advanced civilisation? Maybe they're looking to excavate something valuable like an ancient technology.\nLauren: There's no evidence of anything like that.\nBashir: Any idea what this might mean?\nSisko: Chemistry was never my strong suit. What is it?\nBashir: It shows how you can break down tri-nucleic fungus to make yridium bicantizine, one of the active ingredients in Ketracel White. That's why the Dominion wants the Kabrel system, so that they can manufacture the drug right here in the Alpha Quadrant. According to our calculations, they'll be able to make enough White to supply the Jem'Hadar indefinitely.\nSisko: I was going to recommend that the Federation accept the proposed border. It could have cost us the Alpha Quadrant.\nBashir: Actually, sir, we should give them Kabrel.\nSisko: Why is that?\nBashir: If we don't, the Dominion will be forced to attack before their stockpile of White runs out. Here are the casualty projections. As you can see, an attack would result in devastating casualties for both sides.\nSisko: You're suggesting we stall?\nBashir: It'll buy us time to rebuild our defenses and bring the Romulans into the alliance.\nSisko: The Romulans?\nBashir: According to our analyzes, there it is, they'll vote to abandon their non-aggression pact with the Dominion at next year's plenary session. By which time, internal pressures between the Cardassians and the Dominion will have erupted, and after three years six months and twenty seven days, we predict that\nSisko: Hang on a minute, Doctor. How'd you come up with all this? Two days ago you said these people were impossible to deal with, now they're turning out projections that it would take Starfleet Intelligence months to come up with.\nBashir: We're mutants. I know, we're not exactly qualified for this kind of work and it could be said that it is beyond the limits of what people like us should be allowed to do. But I think if you allow me to walk you through our analyzes, you'll be impressed.\nSisko: All right, Doctor. Go ahead.\nBashir: Thank you, sir. The way our statistical analysis works, the farther into the future you go, the more accurate the projection. It's based on a kind of non-linear dynamics, whereby small fluctuations tend to factor out over time. The net result is\nSisko: Just a minute, Doctor. Why don't we go back to the beginning and take me through this step by step, nice and easy.\nBashir: Gladly, sir.\nBashir: Captain Sisko said he would take our analyzes to Starfleet Command right away.\nJack: Imagine that, Starfleet Command.\nLauren: All those admirals.\nPatrick: It's a party!\nBashir: It is now.\nLauren: We need music.\nBashir: Computer, music. Make it grand.\nLauren: A waltz.\nLauren: Care to dance?\nLauren: Coward.\nBashir: He tried.\nLauren: I meant her.\nBashir: Come in. Chief, what a pleasant surprise.\nO'Brien: I, er, I need to replace that power coupling.\nBashir: Don't mind us.\nO'Brien: Hi.\nO'Brien: No, thanks.\nPatrick: It's a party.\nO'Brien: No. I need to get to work.\nO'Brien: I didn't mean to. It's just that I need to get this coupling replaced.\nBashir: What did you do, Chief?\nO'Brien: Nothing.\nBashir: What's the matter, Patrick?\nPatrick: He doesn't like me.\nO'Brien: Sure I do. See?\nLauren: The Chief doesn't like any of us, do you Chief?\nO'Brien: Julian, I\nJack: He's just jealous you're spending so much time with us.\nLauren: His wife's away. He misses his friend.\nO'Brien: I do not.\nLauren: It's all right, Julian, go play with your friend. We'll be fine.\nBashir: You want me to play with you, do you, Chief?\nO'Brien: No!\nLauren: Yes, you do.\nBashir: Come on. Let's go to Quark's.\nO'Brien: I'm going to need those.\nPatrick: No, you don't. There's nothing wrong with that power coupling.\nO'Brien: Well, it's going to have to be replaced sometime.\nBashir: Ready?\nO'Brien: Ready, yeah.\nO'Brien: I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was upset them.\nBashir: It's all right. The only reason Patrick gets so emotional is because he likes you.\nO'Brien: He does?\nBashir: Yeah, they all do.\nO'Brien: What, because I got rid of that noise?\nBashir: No, no, it's not just that. They fell comfortable be around you. What was the word Jack used? Uncomplicated.\nO'Brien: Uncomplicated.\nBashir: Oh, yes, they're amazingly insightful. They have ways of seeing things other people don't.\nO'Brien: And saying things other people don't.\nBashir: They are pretty candid, aren't they.\nO'Brien: They sure are.\nBashir: Funny thing is, I'm actually beginning to enjoy their company.\nO'Brien: Hey, what are you doing? Get back.\nBashir: You know, I was thinking Starfleet Command might do all right to take them on as a team of advisors.\nO'Brien: Oh, I don't know. I can't imagine them in a room with a bunch of admirals, unless they're going to teach them how to dance.\nBashir: We were celebrating.\nO'Brien: Yeah, whatever.\nBashir: They really are quite brilliant, though. I mean, once we actually started working, it was incredible. We were all on the same wavelength, talking in shorthand, finishing each other's sentences. I've never had that with anyone else.\nO'Brien: After being with them, I can see how the rest of us must seem a little uncomplicated.\nBashir: I wouldn't say that, exactly. More like slow.\nO'Brien: Ha, ha. Must very be frustrating for you.\nBashir: I don't mind. Makes me feel superior.\nO'Brien: Glad to be of service.\nBashir: I appreciate it. It's not always easy walking amongst the common people.\nO'Brien: Yes, it's probably best to keep your expectations low.\nO'Brien: That way we can surprise you now and then. Another game?\nBashir: Sure. But do I have to stand so far back?\nO'Brien: I make one lucky throw and you're ready to come down to my level?\nBashir: I like to win, just like the next man.\nO'Brien: Get back there. Come on.\nBashir: I've got good news. Starfleet Command was so impressed with our analysis, they've agreed to let us have access to classified information regarding Starfleet's battle readiness. Is something wrong?\nJack: We have new long term projections. You'd better take a look.\nLauren: You're not going to like it\nJack: Well?\nBashir: Everything checks out.\nLauren: I was hoping you were going to find a flaw.\nBashir: No.\nJack: So then you agree with our conclusion?\nBashir: It's inescapable. There's no way the Federation is going to be able beat the Dominion. We have no choice. We're going to have to surrender.\nSisko: Surrender to the Dominion. Not on my watch.\nBashir: Sir, I understand how you feel. I don't like it any more than you do, but it's the best option. We've run dozens of different scenarios. Even if something unlikely were to happen tilting the scales in our favor, such as an anti-Dominion coup on Cardassia, we'll still lose this war.\nSisko: But that doesn't mean we should just give up and roll over.\nBashir: If we fight, there will be over nine hundred billion casualties. If we surrender, no one dies. Either way we're in for five generations of Dominion rule. Eventually a rebellion will form, centring on Earth. It'll spread, and within another generation, they'll succeed in conquering the Dominion. The Alpha Quadrant will unite and a new, stronger Federation will rule for thousands of years. Since we can't win this war, why don't we save as many lives as we can? I know it's difficult to accept.\nSisko: I don't accept it. Your entire argument is based on a series of statistical probabilities and assumptions.\nBashir: They're not just assumptions. If you want me to take you through the equations, I will.\nSisko: Even if I knew with a hundred percent certainty what was going to happen, I wouldn't ask an entire generation of people to voluntarily give up their freedom.\nBashir: Not even to save over nine hundred billion lives?\nSisko: Surrender is not an option. Now I'm happy to hear your group's advice on how to win this war, but I don't need your advice on how to lose it.\nBashir: We can't win this war.\nSisko: I don't care if the odds are against us. If we're going to lose, then we're going to go down fighting so that when our descendents some day rise up against the Dominion someday, they'll know what they're made of.\nBashir: With all due respect, sir, aren't you letting your pride get in your way?\nSisko: All right, Doctor. You've made your recommendation. I'll pass it on to Starfleet Command.\nBashir: Without add your voice to it, they'll dismiss it out of hand.\nSisko: I'm counting on it.\nBashir: So we go down fighting. How terribly courageous of us.\nBashir: What do you think?\nO'Brien: It's pretty grim.\nBashir: It's not just grim, it's hopeless. We can't beat them, Miles.\nO'Brien: No, it doesn't look like it, does it?\nBashir: We have to avoid a long, drawn out war.\nO'Brien: You mean surrender?\nBashir: I know, it's an ugly word, but facts are facts.\nO'Brien: I don't know, Julian.\nBashir: Don't tell me you agree with the Captain.\nO'Brien: I suppose I do.\nBashir: Is there some part of the analysis you didn't understand, because if there is I'd be happy to explain.\nO'Brien: I understood it perfectly. Believe it or not.\nBashir: That's not what I meant. All I'm saying is that you have to look at the bigger picture.\nO'Brien: I'm trying. Maybe I'm too uncomplicated to see it.\nBashir: I didn't say that.\nO'Brien: You don't have to. The way you're acting, you'd think nobody with half a brain could possibly disagree with you.\nBashir: Frankly, I don't see how they can.\nO'Brien: I can see two possible explanations for it. Either I'm more feebleminded than you ever realized, or you're not as smart as you think you are.\nVoices: Dabo!\nQuark: Looks like your lucky day.\nBashir: Please. You and I both know these games of chance are no such thing. The odds are in the house's favor.\nQuark: Shh. Don't say that. People are trying to have fun.\nBashir: Sooner or later, no matter how perfectly I play, no matter how well I hedge my bets, I'm going to lose.\nQuark: Why are you trying to spoil everyone's good time? Look around, these people are enjoying themselves. Half of them know the odds are against them, but they don't care. They're here because they want to believe they can win. Is that so bad?\nBashir: They're fools.\nQuark: Why don't you just take your winnings and call it a day?\nBashir: Because I'm trying to prove a point. There is no way to win.\nQuark: Stop saying that.\nBashir: There, you see? We're all as good as dead.\nQuark: Doctor, take it easy. It's just a game.\nBashir: You're right. It's not as if nine hundred billion lives were at stake.\nBashir: I just got word. Starfleet rejected our recommendations.\nJack: I knew it.\nLauren: It's kind of a relief, in a way. I mean, who wants to wave a white flag?\nJack: They're the cowards! They don't have the courage to see the truth.\nBashir: You may be right, but there's nothing we can do.\nJack: No, no, no. We can't just take this lying down. The stakes are too high. We've got to take matters into our own hands.\nPatrick: How, Jack? What can we do?\nBashir: We can't force Starfleet to surrender.\nJack: If we can't head off the war, then there might be a way to make it a lot less bloody.\nLauren: How?\nJack: Look at this. Starfleet battle plans, fleet deployments. Do you know what the Dominion could do with this information?\nLauren: They could take the Alpha Quadrant in a matter of weeks.\nJack: With a lot fewer Federation casualties than in a drawn out war.\nLauren: There wouldn't be more than two billion casualties.\nJack: That's a lot better than nine hundred billion.\nBashir: Wait a minute! It's one thing for us to try and avert a war, but it's quite another for us to take it on ourselves to trigger an invasion that's going to get a lot of people killed. It's not our place to decide who lives and who dies. We're not gods.\nJack: Maybe not, but we're the next best thing.\nBashir: Can you hear yourself? That's precisely the kind of thinking that makes people afraid of us.\nJack: I don't care. I'm willing to make this decision.\nBashir: It's not ours to make. We presented our case to Starfleet Command. They rejected it. Case closed.\nJack: Not closed! We're going through with this.\nBashir: I'm not going to be a party to treason.\nJack: Call it what you want, but I am willing to do it if it means saving billions of lives. So are you with us?\nBashir: No. Haven't you been listening?\nJack: Fine.\nLauren: So how do we contact the Dominion?\nWeyoun: Still at it, I see.\nDamar: I've been looking over Sisko's latest counter-proposal. We don't seem to be getting anywhere with him.\nWeyoun: Not very encouraging, is it?\nDamar: I don't know why you had me call for peace talks in the first place.\nWeyoun: My, my, how quickly you've taken to your new role. And to think only a short time ago you were nothing more than Gul Dukat's adjutant.\nDamar: I appreciate the faith you've shown in me.\nWeyoun: Then show some faith in me. Don't be like your predecessor, second guessing my every move. It should be clear to you by now that no one is irreplaceable. Now, I just received a very interesting message from an unidentified party claiming to have some information that could be very beneficial to us.\nDamar: What sort of information?\nWeyoun: I don't know but we're going to find out.\nBashir: Computer. Computer, respond.\nBashir: Sarina, where is everyone? Did they arrange a meeting with the Dominion? Listen, we have to stop them before it's too late. Untie me. Please, Sarina. You don't want the deaths of so many people on your hands. It's Jack, isn't it? Are you worried what he'll think? I've seen the way you look at him when you think no one's watching. I know how much you care, but if you don't let me stop them, you know what's going to happen? They're going to be arrested and charged with treason and you're never going to see any of them again. You're never going to see Jack again.\nPatrick: I'm Patrick.\nJack: Patrick! Come on.\nBashir: Hello, everyone.\nPatrick: He's not supposed to be here.\nJack: No, no, no he's not. I don't understand.\nBashir: Well, why don't we all go back to your quarters and I will explain it to you.\nJack: No, we've got to do this. Lives are at stake.\nLauren: Don't interfere, Julian.\nJack: You have no right.\nBashir: You're in enough trouble already, Jack. Don't make it any worse. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's up to you.\nDamar: Where are they?\nWeyoun: They'll be here.\nDamar: This is ridiculous. Sneaking into a storage bay for a secret meeting. I'm not some agent of the Obsidian Order, I'm the leader of the Cardassian Empire.\nWeyoun: Don't let it go to your head. You serve only at the Dominion's pleasure. Besides, I think it's exciting.\nWeyoun: They're here. Odo?\nOdo: Yes, I know. I honor you with my presence.\nWeyoun: We seem to have gotten ourselves lost.\nOdo: They're not coming.\nDamar: Who's not coming?\nOdo: I had a feeling you were going to say that. Shall I escort you to your quarters?\nBashir: Captain Sisko has decided not to press charges. You won't be going to prison.\nPatrick: What are they going to do to us?\nBashir: Nothing bad. You'll be going back to the Institute together.\nJack: It doesn't matter what happens to us. Don't you realize what you've done?\nBashir: I kept you from committing treason.\nLauren: Are we supposed to thank you? Nine hundred billion people are going to die.\nBashir: We don't know that.\nJack: Didn't you sit here and go through the projections with us? Didn't you?\nPatrick: He was here, Jack. I remember.\nBashir: Maybe our projections were wrong.\nJack: How can you say that? We factored in every contingency, every variable. The equations don't lie. You. You ruined everything.\nBashir: What do you make of that, Jack? Why didn't you anticipate that? Why didn't you factor her into your equation? Because you thought you knew everything, but you didn't even know what was going to happen in this room. One person derailed your plans. One person changed the course of history. Now, I don't know about you, but that makes me think that maybe, just maybe, things may not turn out the way we thought.\nO'Brien: I heard what happened. It was a pretty close call.\nBashir: Yeah. Luckily I managed to intercept them in time.\nO'Brien: No, that's not what I meant. I was talking about when you had to decide whether or not to meet with the Dominion. Can't have been easy for you. I know you wanted to try to save as many lives as possible. It's probably what makes you such a good doctor.\nBashir: Fortunately this doctor is also a Starfleet Officer. We thought we were so smart. We thought we could predict the future. It's my fault, not theirs. I should never have let things go so far. If I hadn't been so bent on trying to prove to the world that they had something to contribute.\nO'Brien: They did contribute. It seems to me we've become far too complacent about the Dominion. We may have driven them back into Cardassian space, but we've haven't beaten them yet.\nBashir: We can only hope.\nO'Brien: Well, the odds are stacked against us. All we can do is give it our best shot.\nQuark: You're not going to cause any more trouble, are you?\nBashir: Not this time. I'll double down.\nQuark: Risky.\nBashir: Maybe there's a better bet, but sometimes when the odds are so stacked against you, you've just got to take a chance.\nQuark: I admire your courage.\nCrowd: Dabo!\nQuark: Well, what do you know. We have a winner.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Bashir.\nBashir: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: You wanted to know when a certain transport was leaving.\nBashir: Oh, thanks.\nO'Brien: There is one problem, though. We've got some passengers that are refusing to board unless you come see them.\nBashir: I didn't think you'd want to see me again.\nLauren: Believe me, I wouldn't mind if our predictions turned out to be wrong. Jack's still furious, but I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye.\nPatrick: Will you come visit us?\nBashir: What? Oh, yes, I'd like that. You did the right thing, you know. One of these day he'll understand that. So, you ready to go?\nJack: Not so fast. There's one thing I need to know, Doctor. If we can come up with a way to beat the Dominion, will you listen?\nBashir: I can't think of anything I'd like better.\nJack: Good, good, good. Let's go then. Let's go.\nBashir: Bashir to O'Brien. Four to beam out."}
{"text": "Quark: Just set them on the bar. Morn, no touching. You know what this is? Three cases of syrup of squill.\nLeeta: I love syrup of squill on my groatcakes, but I haven't seen a jar in over a year.\nQuark: No one has.\nOdo: Does that mean the drought on Balancar is over?\nQuark: There never was a drought on Balancar. It was all a ploy by their Agricultural Consortium. They've been stockpiling squill so they could drive the price up.\nLeeta: That's dishonest.\nQuark: I couldn't agree more. You see, I once did business with the nephew of the cousin of the stepsister of a friend of the secretary to the Consortium's chief accountant. Nephew, cousin, stepsister, friend. Yeah, that's right. And he told me, in passing, that the accountant had bought himself a very nice pair of Ferengi rain slippers.\nOdo: And if there was a drought, he wouldn't need rain slippers.\nQuark: My thoughts exactly. So I set up a meeting with this accountant and I told him that he either provide me with a shipment of syrup, or I would expose their deception to the entire quadrant. Tomorrow morning, we are having a special on groatcakes, topped with syrup of squill. That is, for everyone who can afford it. What are you standing around for? Get these crates in the storeroom. This stuff is worth its weight in latinum. Which reminds me of another little economic episode of mine. It happened, say, oh, eleven or twelve years ago, shortly before I came on the station\nLeeta: Dax, Julian! You're back! I was so worried.\nDax: I told you we'd be okay.\nLeeta: Then why all the secrecy about your mission?\nO'Brien: We weren't supposed to talk about it.\nBashir: But now it's okay. The mission's over, we've been debriefed. We took the Defiant behind enemy lines.\nO'Brien: We're the first reconnaissance mission into Cardassian space since the Dominion's retreat. The first one to make it back, anyway.\nDax: And if that isn't reason to celebrate, I don't know what is.\nO'Brien: Three synthales.\nLeeta: Coming right up.\nOdo: Something wrong, Quark?\nQuark: Yes, something's wrong. A bunch of self-satisfied Starfleet officers just stole my audience.\nOdo: They're not just Starfleet officers, they're heroes. Let's face it, Quark, there's nothing heroic about earning profit.\nQuark: There is on Ferenginar.\nOdo: We're not on Ferenginar.\nQuark: The Nagus calling me now? He must have found out about the squill. I have to send him a jar. No, better make it a dozen. He loves squill.\nQuark: Oh, there you are. I've been looking all over the station for you.\nRom: Well, you found me. Now you go hide and I'll search for you.\nQuark: Rom, brace yourself. I have bad news. Our mother's been taken prisoner by the Dominion.\nRom: Moogie? A prisoner?\nQuark: It gets worse. The Nagus wants me to rescue her.\nRom: You? Rescue Moogie? From the Dominion?\nQuark: Yeah.\nRom: Uh oh.\nQuark: Uh oh is right.\nRom: So, how do you plan on rescuing Moogie?\nQuark: You mean, how do we plan on rescuing Moogie.\nRom: I don't recall you saying the Nagus wanted me to go along.\nQuark: Maybe he doesn't, but I do. Besides, Ishka's your mother too.\nRom: And I love her. But I can't go with you. I'm a married man. I have responsibilities. And my responsibilities don't want me to die.\nQuark: I don't want to die either. So let's just concentrate on the reward the Nagus is offering.\nRom: Reward?\nQuark: Fifty bars of gold pressed latinum.\nRom: Fifty bars! Ow.\nQuark: Which I'm willing to share with you.\nRom: An even split?\nQuark: Absolutely. Thirty bars for me and twenty for you.\nRom: That's not even.\nQuark: It is when you include my finder's fee.\nRom: Right.\nRom: There's one thing I still don't understand. How did the Dominion get a hold of Moogie?\nQuark: They captured the transport ship she was on.\nRom: But she's a female. They're forbidden to travel off of Ferenginar.\nQuark: Moogie's an exception. The Nagus gave her special dispensation to travel to Vulcan for her operation.\nRom: What operation?\nQuark: She wanted to have her ears raised.\nRom: I had no idea.\nQuark: That she was so vain?\nRom: That the Nagus could be so generous.\nQuark: He certainly is.\nRom: But why is he being so good to Moogie?\nQuark: Brother, there's something I need to tell you\nRom: You mean that ten bars of latinum is an overly generous finder's fee? I already know that.\nQuark: It's about the Nagus and Moogie.\nRom: What about them?\nQuark: They're lovers.\nRom: No.\nQuark: It's been going on for over a year.\nRom: No.\nQuark: She's his secret financial advisor. She helps him run the entire Ferengi Alliance.\nRom: No!\nQuark: Would you stop saying that.\nSisko: May I help you, gentlemen?\nRom: I was following you.\nQuark: We must have taken a wrong turn.\nSisko: It looks that way.\nQuark: Much better.\nRom: You know, brother I've been thinking. We can't rescue Moogie from a Dominion internment center. Not alone, anyway.\nQuark: You're right. We're going to need help.\nRom: We could put together a commando team. Gather the toughest mercenaries we can find. Nausicaans, Breen, Klingons.\nQuark: Shh. We don't need Nausicaans, Breen or Klingon.\nRom: Humans?\nQuark: We'll just use Ferengi.\nRom: Then we'll all die.\nQuark: No, we won't. Ferengi can be just as tough as Klingons.\nRom: They can?\nQuark: Of course they can. They just need the opportunity, the training, and a couple of bars of latinum as incentive.\nRom: Coming out of my share, I suppose.\nQuark: No, we'll split the reward with whoever joins us. All twenty bars of it.\nRom: But the Nagus offered fifty.\nQuark: As far as anyone else is concerned, he said twenty.\nRom: Twenty it is then.\nQuark: Now the only question is, who's our first recruit?\nNog: Not me.\nRom: But Nog, Moogie needs you!\nQuark: Not to mention your Nagus.\nRom: They need you, we need you. Say you'll join us. Please.\nNog: I'm a Starfleet officer. I can't go running off with you on some half baked rescue mission. I have duties to perform.\nRom: But you know how to fire a phaser.\nQuark: Forget it, Rom. Don't beg. Too bad, though. We were going to make you Strategic Operations officer.\nNog: You mean like Commander Worf?\nQuark: Exactly like Commander Worf. Think of it, Nog. You'll devise the tactics, come up with a plan of action.\nRom: You can be the team's drill instructor. Put us through our paces. Prepare us for combat.\nQuark: Turn us into soldiers.\nNog: That's a big job.\nQuark: That's why we need you.\nNog: How big is the team?\nQuark: Right now?\nQuark: Now remember, Leck is not your typical Ferengi. His priorities are different than ours.\nRom: I understand, brother.\nQuark: No you don't, but you will.\nLeck: I hope this is a secure channel.\nQuark: I followed your instructions to the letter.\nLeck: Very good. Who do you want eliminated?\nQuark: It's not that kind of job.\nLeck: Then why call an eliminator?\nRom: What's an eliminator?\nQuark: Shh. I'm putting together a little rescue mission and I'd like you to be part of my team.\nLeck: I work alone.\nQuark: You'll be paid in latinum.\nLeck: I don't care about latinum.\nRom: You're right. His priorities are different.\nQuark: All right, forget the latinum. I've been told you like the opportunity to test your abilities.\nLeck: I enjoy a challenge.\nQuark: Then you should know this. that the person we're going to rescue is being held by the Dominion.\nLeck: The Dominion?\nQuark: Should be quite a challenge.\nQuark: How the mighty have fallen.\nGaila: Cousin Quark.\nQuark: I hear you were arrested on Thalos Six for vagrancy.\nGaila: And it's all your fault. I was a thriving weapons merchant until I went into business with you. You ruined me. If I ever get out of here, cousin, I'll make you pay for what you did to me.\nQuark: Lower the forcefield. Now what exactly is it you're going to do to me?\nGaila: I don't understand.\nRom: Quark paid your fine. You're a free man.\nGaila: What do I have to do in return?\nQuark: Earn some latinum.\nGaila: Tell me more.\nNog: On the bar, you will find a PADD with a schematic of a Dominion internment center. You may now examine the schematic.\nLeck: How can we be sure these schematics are accurate?\nNog: Sir.\nLeck: No need to stand on formality here. Just call me Leck.\nNog: No, I meant you should call me sir.\nLeck: Don't be ridiculous.\nNog: You mean, don't be ridiculous, sir.\nQuark: Gentleman, please. Let's not squabble. We're a team, Nog.\nRom: We're a team, sir.\nQuark: Stay out of this. Listen to me, Nog.\nNog: That's it, I quit.\nQuark: You can't quit. This is not a game.\nGaila: How are we supposed to get to this internment center anyway?\nRom: By ship.\nGaila: Do we have a ship?\nQuark: We'll get one.\nLeck: We don't have a ship?\nQuark: I said we'll get one.\nNog: How?\nQuark: We'll find one.\nLeck: Where?\nQuark: I don't know. Think of it as a challenge.\nRom: Liquidator Brunt.\nBrunt: That's ex-liquidator Brunt. Thanks to your brother, I'm no longer with the Ferengi Commerce Authority. A child, a moron, a failure and a psychopath. Quite a little team you've put together.\nQuark: What do you want, Brunt?\nBrunt: I'm here to sign up. I'm going to help you rescue your mother.\nQuark: What?\nRom: How did you know about Moogie?\nBrunt: I know a lot of things.\nQuark: You think if you help save my mother, the Nagus will give you your old job back.\nBrunt: When do we leave?\nQuark: We're not leaving. Not with you.\nRom: That's one thing we can all agree on.\nLeck: No one likes Liquidators.\nNog: Or even ex-liquidators.\nQuark: The team has spoken.\nGaila: Besides, there's a twenty bar reward to consider.\nNog: Better to split it five ways than six.\nBrunt: Fine. I'll just get in my ship and leave.\nLeck: Did you say ship?\nBrunt: That's right. Why?\nRom: Now we are six.\nQuark: Don't move! You're surrounded.\nBrunt: Don't shoot! I surrender!\nNog: No, no, no! Computer, freeze program. Reset Jem'Hadar.\nRom: I think we're getting better.\nNog: No, you're not. This is the eighth run through and you haven't been able to hit a single Jem'Hadar. And you shot Moogie.\nLeck: I saw we weren't going to rescue her so I put her out of her misery.\nGaila: Who invited him along?\nBrunt: Maybe we should start off with something easier.\nNog: Like what?\nBrunt: Like ambushing a couple of Bolians.\nNog: You couldn't ambush a Bolian if he was blindfolded and tied to a tree.\nQuark: That's enough! Get out of here, all of you. You heard me. Go.\nRom: But, Brother, don't you want to keep practicing?\nQuark: We're wasting our time, Rom. We couldn't get anywhere near Moogie, let alone rescue her.\nRom: I guess we're not cut out to be heroes after all.\nQuark: And to think, just a few short days ago I was sitting on top of the world. The king of squill. You should've been there, brother. It was a very delicate negotiation. It could've gone either way. But I took my time, picked my moment, then went in for the kill. It was beautiful to behold.\nRom: Brother, I think we've been going about this the wrong way. We're not commandos, we're negotiators. We make deals. That's what we're good at. The Dominion has something we want, so we need to find something they want.\nQuark: And then we make a trade. That way, everyone goes home happy.\nRom: Happy and alive. Now, what do we have to trade?\nQuark: Captain, I can't thank you enough for all your help.\nSisko: Don't thank me, thank Major Kira. She's the one that convinced me to talk to Starfleet on your behalf.\nKira: Consider it payback, Quark, for rescuing me from the Dominion.\nSisko: Breaking you out of the station's holding cell is one thing. What you're planning to do is considerably more dangerous.\nQuark: Every negotiation has its share of danger, Captain.\nSisko: If you say so.\nQuark: I guess it's time for me to pick up my prisoner.\nKira: Just be careful you don't turn your back on him, Quark. He's not to be trusted.\nQuark: Neither am I.\nGaila: Excuse me.\nRom: Sorry.\nLeck: This isn't a ship, it's a closet.\nBrunt: You don't like it here, leave.\nGaila: I'll go. That way there'll be more room for the rest of you. Besides, this isn't a rescue mission anymore, it's a simple prisoner exchange. I don't know why Quark needs any of us.\nLeck: Because he doesn't trust the Dominion. And neither do I.\nBrunt: Why would the Dominion pick a deserted Cardassian space station to make the trade?\nNog: They didn't pick it, Quark did. I've been there. It's the same design as Deep Space Nine, so we know the layout.\nLeck: Well, you have nothing to worry about. You'll have plenty of places to run and hide.\nQuark: Everyone, this is Keevan. We're going to trade him for Ishka.\nRom: Hi. I'm Rom. This is Nog, that's Brunt.\nQuark: Rom, he doesn't care.\nKeevan: Truer words have never been spoken. I'll advise you all to send final messages to your loved ones and make sure your wills are in order.\nRom: Why?\nKeevan: Because the moment we leave this station, you'll have signed your death warrants. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap.\nNog: All clear!\nQuark: Are you sure?\nNog: Tricorder indicates no other lifeforms on the station.\nNog: All right, let's head for base camp.\nGaila: Base camp?\nQuark: He means the Infirmary. It's right over there.\nNog: Come on, let's move it. On the double. Well, what are you waiting for?\nQuark: Two slips of latinum for the first man who makes it to the Infirmary. I mean base camp.\nNog: You don't pay your soldiers to do their duty.\nQuark: You do if they're Ferengi.\nLeck: Great, another closet.\nNog: We've chosen this spot for a reason. For one thing, it's a confined area with only two ways in or out. This one, and the one in there. Secondly, it's near the airlock which gives us access to our ship. And third, it's on the Promenade where the prisoner exchange will take place. Don't touch that.\nRom: Some of this medical equipment is still functioning.\nGaila: Anything for an upset stomach?\nLeck: What you need is a new backbone.\nGaila: Hey, I'm a weapons dealer, not a soldier.\nQuark: Cousin!\nNog: Sir, may I suggest we set up our defense perimeter?\nQuark: Good idea. How much is this going to cost me?\nNog: Don't worry, no charge.\nQuark: Starfleet has really corrupted you, hasn't it? You could start by getting the external sensors back online. I want to know the minute a Dominion ship gets within ten million kilometers of this station.\nRom: I'll set up a transport jamming signal. That way, the Dominion won't be able to beam our prisoner away without our say so.\nKeevan: We certainly wouldn't want that to happen, would we?\nLeck: You don't seem to be too happy at the prospect of being rejoining your people.\nKeevan: Believe me when I tell you I have nothing to be happy about. Vorta are supposed to commit suicide when they're captured. I failed to follow that rather harsh policy.\nRom: They're going to execute you?\nKeevan: After what is surely going to be a most unpleasant debriefing.\nQuark: I'm sorry to hear about that, but it's not my problem. All I want is my Moogie back.\nKeevan: By the time the Dominion is done with you, all you'll want is a quick death.\nQuark: Take him in the next room and see that he stays there.\nNog: We'll post a guard on him at all times. Four hour shifts.\nLeck: You heard him, move. Perhaps you can help me clarify something. What's the most vulnerable part of a Jem'Hadar's body?\nNog: All right, you have your orders. Let's get to work.\nRom: My son the soldier.\nQuark: They've ruined him.\nQuark: What was that?\nNog: Who's screaming?\nLeck: It's Gaila!\nQuark: The Vorta, where is he?\nGaila: I don't know.\nNog: What do you mean, you don't know?\nBrunt: You were guarding him.\nGaila: He must've slipped away while I was sleeping.\nRom: Sleeping? Who said you could sleep?\nGaila: I couldn't help it. I was tired. I couldn't get any rest on the ship.\nQuark: The ship!\nNog: If Keevan gets away, we're finished.\nQuark: Going someplace?\nKeevan: Apparently not. I couldn't get the impulse engines online.\nQuark: That's because I had Rom disengage the induction matrix.\nKeevan: Then why did you bother chasing me?\nQuark: Because sometimes my brother gets things wrong.\nQuark: All right, everyone relax. No harm done. We still have our prisoner.\nGaila: What's that?\nNog: It's the alarm I set up. It means a Dominion ship is approaching.\nQuark: To the Infirmary!\nNog: Let's go!\nNog: Now what?\nBrunt: Someone turned the alarm off.\nGaila: Maybe it went off by itself.\nRom: Do you hear something?\nGaila: Someone's out there.\nBrunt: One of us should go check to make sure. I nominate Quark.\nQuark: Me?\nNog: I'll go.\nJem'Hadar: Firing line, take aim.\nQuark: Anybody there?\nNog: You could say that.\nRom: I wonder what they're doing out there.\nQuark: Shh.\nGaila: I don't hear anything.\nQuark: Quiet.\nNog: Why are we hiding?\nGaila: There are Jem'Hadar out there.\nNog: Of course they're out there. We asked them to come.\nBrunt: He's right. Everything's going according to plan. Now all you have to do, Quark, is negotiate the prisoner exchange. Remember, be firm, strong.\nGaila: But don't get them angry.\nRom: Good luck, brother. Say, hi to Moogie for me.\nQuark: What if it's a trap?\nKeevan: Of course it's a trap. They're not here to negotiate. They're here to kill us all.\nQuark: You think?\nBrunt: Don't listen to him. He's just trying to save his own neck.\nKeevan: I'm trying to save all our necks.\nYelgrun: Ferengi. Show yourself. We're here to trade.\nKeevan: Don't go out there. We must get back to the ship. Our only hope is to escape.\nNog: We're not going anywhere, not without Moogie. Right, uncle?\nQuark: Right.\nYelgrun: Ferengi, I don't like to be kept waiting.\nQuark: I'm coming. I'm coming! And you two are coming with me.\nRom: I was afraid he was going to say that.\nQuark: Rom.\nRom: Moogie!\nIshka: My boys. I knew you'd come.\nRom: You look beautiful.\nIshka: My lobes haven't been this firm in over a century.\nQuark: I guess that makes this all worthwhile.\nIshka: Don't you start with me, Quark.\nYelgrun: What a touching and heartfelt reunion. I'm glad I was here to witness it. Now, where's Keevan? I wish to conclude this transaction.\nQuark: All in good time. But first, I need some assurances.\nYelgrun: What kind of assurances?\nQuark: Well, for one thing, I don't want any Jem'Hadar soldiers on this station.\nYelgrun: That would leave me in a very vulnerable position. One Vorta against six Ferengi.\nQuark: If it makes you feel better, these two can stay.\nYelgrun: I feel safer already. Now where's Keevan?\nQuark: Hold on, I'm not done yet. Then you're going to tell your helmsman to head back to Dominion territory, warp nine.\nYelgrun: That would leave me stranded here.\nQuark: For a few days.\nYelgrun: I see. And by the time they return, you'll be long gone.\nQuark: That's the idea.\nYelgrun: On the other hand, I could have my Jem'Hadar storm the Infirmary and kill you all.\nRom: I like our plan better.\nQuark: You attack the Infirmary and Keevan will be the first to die.\nYelgrun: Keevan's fate has already been sealed.\nQuark: Maybe. But before he dies, I'll bet you'll want to know what Dominion secrets he's revealed to the Federation.\nIshka: He's got you there, Yelgrun.\nYelgrun: Your people have a reputation for cunning. I see that it's well earned. Perhaps one day the Ferengi will take their place as valued members of the Dominion.\nQuark: Anything's possible.\nYelgrun: I will begin to evacuate the Jem'Hadar at once.\nQuark: We can exchange the prisoners in let's say, half an hour?\nYelgrun: We'll be waiting.\nNog: One more thing. How do we know that's really Moogie and not a changeling?\nIshka: I think that uniform is too tight on you, Nog. It's cutting off circulation to your brain.\nRom: Sounds like Moogie.\nNog: Only one way to find out.\nYelgrun: Wait. This should be interesting.\nIshka: Oww!\nQuark: Yeah, that's blood all right.\nRom: I knew it was Moogie.\nIshka: Now let's see if you're a changeling.\nNog: Oww!\nRom: That's no way to tell if he's a changeling.\nIshka: You're right. Give me that knife.\nQuark: I don't think so. Family. You understand.\nYelgrun: Not really. I was cloned.\nRom: No parents? That explains a lot.\nIshka: No parents, no sweetheart, no investment portfolio.\nYelgrun: And no patience. We'll meet back here in one half hour. Don't be late.\nIshka: You heard him, Quark. Rom, I'm counting on you. Remember, Moogie loves you.\nRom: You should've seen my brother. He was brilliant!\nNog: In a half hour we'll have Moogie back and we can all go home.\nGaila: Home to the torrential rains of Ferenginar.\nBrunt: You know what I miss most? The rotting vegetation.\nQuark: Yep.\nRom: And the dampness.\nLeck: Oh, to stand once more in those rivers of muck.\nKeevan: I only wish I could be there with you.\nRom: I can't believe it. We're actually going to get the reward money. Fifty bars of gold pressed latinum.\nBrunt: Fifty bars? You said the reward was twenty.\nQuark: That's what Rom said, twenty.\nLeck: He said fifty.\nRom: I thought you said you didn't care about latinum?\nLeck: I don't. I just don't to be cheated.\nNog: Everyone calm down.\nGaila: Calm down? When my dear cousin is trying to cheat me?\nQuark: I'm not trying to cheat anyone.\nBrunt: Then what about the other thirty bars?\nNog: There are no other thirty bars. Are there?\nRom: I, I, no, not really.\nLeck: He's lying. They're in it together.\nBrunt: You're not going to get away with this, Quark.\nGaila: I come here, risk my life and for what? You've had this coming for a long time, cousin.\nNog: No!\nRom: Look out!\nKeevan: I hate Ferengi.\nLeck: You idiot.\nRom: What are we going to do? We can't have a prisoner exchange without a prisoner.\nBrunt: If they find out Keevan's dead they're going to kill us.\nQuark: Will you stop saying that.\nGaila: Maybe if we surrender, they won't hurt us.\nBrunt: I have a better idea. Let's sneak back to my ship and try to escape.\nRom: It's a big station, easy to get lost in. If we hide, maybe they won't find us.\nQuark: No one's hiding and no one's escaping, and no one's surrendering. What's wrong with you people? Have you forgotten the Battle of Prexnak?\nRom: Who could forget the most important battle in Ferengi history?\nQuark: Ten Ferengi stood alone against two hundred and seventy three Lytasians.\nGaila: As I recall, all ten Ferengi were slaughtered.\nQuark: The point is, we Ferengi are just as tough as anybody in the galaxy. And this is our chance to prove it once and for all.\nLeck: Quark's right. Let's do it for Ishka. Let's do it for the Grand Nagus. Let's do it for Ferengis everywhere.\nBrunt: Let's do it for equal shares of fifty bars of gold pressed latinum.\nQuark: It always comes down to profit with you people, doesn't it.\nGaila: We're Ferengi.\nQuark: And that's why I love you. Fifty bars it is, minus my usual finder's fee.\nNog: Well, there's no doubt about it. According to these readings, this man is dead.\nQuark: Thank you, Doctor Nog.\nNog: I just wanted to be sure. I thought maybe we could revive him but I guess not.\nGaila: He's alive!\nNog: No, he isn't. It's just the neural stimulator. It caused a reflexive impulse in his cerebellum.\nRom: I never knew you studied medicine at the Academy.\nNog: I didn't, but if you think about it, medicine isn't that different from engineering. It's all about keeping things running, fixing broken parts.\nQuark: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?\nNog: Find me more neural stimulators.\nYelgrun: It's time, Ferengi. Bring out your prisoner.\nNog: Stall them, Uncle.\nQuark: I'll try.\nYelgrun: I've done as you asked. The Jem'Hadar are on their way back to Dominion territory. We are alone on the station.\nQuark: Wonderful.\nYelgrun: Now bring out Keevan and we can conclude our business.\nQuark: Keevan. Right. Absolutely.\nYelgrun: I'm waiting.\nQuark: He'll be right out. But first my brother has to run some sensor scans to make sure the Jem'Hadar have really left.\nYelgrun: That is unnecessary. The Jem'Hadar are gone. Now bring me Keevan.\nQuark: I will, in a few minutes.\nYelgrun: No, not in a few minutes, now! Or maybe you've changed your mind and you don't want your mother back. Kill her.\nQuark: No!\nIshka: Give them what they want, Quark.\nQuark: I intend to.\nYelgrun: Excellent.\nQuark: As soon as my brother completes his sensor scans.\nYelgrun: And I thought the Breen were annoying. Very well, five minutes. But I will not tolerate any more delays.\nIshka: Neither will I.\nQuark: That goes for me, too. You see, we're all in agreement. One more thing.\nYelgrun: Why am I not surprised?\nQuark: The prisoner exchange. I'd like for it to take place outside airlock three.\nYelgrun: What's wrong with the Promenade?\nQuark: Nothing, except my ship is docked at airlock three. You understand.\nYelgrun: Only too well. But I must say your lack of trust saddens me.\nQuark: Ah, well, a sign of the times.\nQuark: Nog, you've got five minutes.\nNog: All right, here we go.\nYelgrun: Seventy five hundred lots of hipicate futures?\nIshka: The hipicate root is very versatile. It's used in certain medicines, defractive optics, and even some beauty supplies. Here, feel how smooth my head is. Cream of hipicate. I apply it twice a day. You see, a diversified financial portfolio can mean greater profits and healthier looking skin.\nYelgrun: Fascinating. I'd love to hear more, but if your son doesn't show up soon I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you.\nQuark: Yelgrun, you ready?\nYelgrun: I've been ready for hours.\nQuark: On a count of three, we release our prisoners. Agreed?\nYelgrun: Agreed.\nQuark: One, two three.\nYelgrun: What have they done to him?\nQuark: Straighten him out, straighten him out.\nNog: I'm trying.\nYelgrun: Stop them! A bulkhead opens and Leck downs a Jem'Hadar with a thrown knife. Yelgrun drops to his knees, Rom shoots the other Jem'Hadar and Keevan keeps bumping.)\nQuark: Would you please turn him off?\nNog: I can't. The transceiver is jammed.\nIshka: Oh Quark, the Grand Nagus is going to be so proud of you. I know I am.\nRom: Moogie.\nBrunt: What do we do with this one?\nQuark: We'll take him with us. He'll be our gift to Starfleet. They gave us a Vorta, we'll give them one.\nYelgrun: Ferengi.\nQuark: I know, I know. You hate us.\nGaila: All right you, get moving.\nLeck: This is the sloppiest, most amateurish operation I've ever seen. If you ever do something like this again, count me in.\nQuark: You'll be the first one I call. If I even think about doing something like this again, shoot me.\nRom: So, Brother, how does it feel to be a hero?\nQuark: You tell me.\nRom: It feels good?\nQuark: You bet it does."}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's log, stardate 51408.6. I've been aboard the Honshu for two days now and I still haven't spoken to him, although the doctors have assured me that he's made a full recovery. Maybe that's what I'm afraid of. Maybe I prefer to think of him as a crazy man, a broken man. He'd be less dangerous that way. As terrible as it sounds, there's a part of me that wishes he were dead. But that's a thought unworthy of a Starfleet officer. He lost an empire, he lost his daughter, and he nearly lost his mind. Whatever his crimes isn't that enough punishment for one lifetime?\nDukat: I heard you were aboard. I was wondering if you'd make an appearance.\nSisko: How are you?\nDukat: Better. The doctors tell me I've made a remarkable recovery.\nSisko: They told me the same thing.\nDukat: Good. I'd hate to think they were patronizing me. So I'm a war criminal.\nSisko: In the Federation, you're innocent till proven guilty.\nDukat: So I'm told. Do you believe I'm guilty, Benjamin?\nSisko: I haven't seen all the charges.\nDukat: It's not like you to equivocate.\nSisko: I'm trying to be fair. You won't be tried until the war is over. Your appearance before the special jury is just a formality.\nDukat: And you'll be testifying for the prosecution.\nSisko: I will tell them what I know.\nDukat: Care to elaborate?\nSisko: Not really.\nDukat: I see.\nSisko: I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I am about Ziyal.\nDukat: Do I detect the fine hand of Doctor Cox at work once again?\nSisko: I told him I wanted to offer my condolences.\nDukat: I'm sorry. The good doctor encourages me to talk about Ziyal whenever possible, since it was her death that brought on my momentary instability. I shouldn't be so suspicious.\nSisko: It's all right. Well, we should be arriving at Starbase six two one by noon tomorrow. I'll see you at the arraignment.\nDukat: Benjamin. About my daughter. You and Major Kira took care of her for almost a year. I wanted to thank you for that. It was very generous.\nSisko: Ziyal was a very special young woman. It was a pleasure to have her with us, even if it was only a short time.\nDukat: A short time is all she ever had.\nSisko: Is there anything I can get for you?\nDukat: A bottle of kanar and an Orion slave girl would be nice.\nSisko: I'll see what I can do.\nCrewman: Battle stations! Damage control teams report to level five J.\nKira: It's confirmed. USS Honshu was destroyed this morning at ten thirty hours by an attack wing of Cardassian destroyers. Starfleet has picked up the distress beacons from three escape pods and one shuttlecraft, so there are survivors.\nOdo: The signals are coming from this area. The last reported position of the Honshu was here, which means there could be survivors in any of these adjacent star systems.\nO'Brien: That's a pretty large area. How many ships are in the search party?\nOdo: Two. The Constellation and the Defiant.\nDax: Two? It could take days.\nKira: With all the Dominion activity along the border, it's all Starfleet can spare at the moment. And the Defiant has another appointment. In fifty two hours you need to be at this rendezvous point outside the Badlands. You are the escort for a Federation troop convoy.\nWorf: It will take twelve hours just to arrive at the coordinates where the Honshu was destroyed.\nKira: And twelve more to reach the Badlands, I know. But this convoy is completely unprotected. They've been using the plasma fields in the Badlands to hide their movements, and when they emerge they're helpless without the Defiant.\nBashir: Can't they delay the convoy? I mean, if Captain Sisko is still alive, we have to give him every chance to\nKira: I raised the same objection myself and the orders still stand. Now, every minute spent arguing here is one less minute spent searching for the captain.\nWorf: Prepare for immediate departure.\nKira: Worf, there are over thirty thousand Federation troops in that convoy. You have fifty two hours, not one second longer. Understood?\nWorf: Understood. Defiant.\nDukat: Benjamin, can you hear me?\nSisko: Dukat?\nDukat: Yes. Everything's all right, but don't try to move too quickly. The left side of your body is covered with plasma burns.\nSisko: We were in the brig and the ship went to Red Alert.\nDukat: We were attacked by a wing of Cardassian ships, ironically.\nSisko: I was heading to Engineering.\nDukat: You didn't get very far. A plasma conduit exploded before you got fifteen meters down the corridor. That's where Lieutenant McConnell and I found you when the order came to abandon ship.\nSisko: Where's McConnell?\nDukat: Dead. A piece of shrapnel hit him in the head just as we were carrying you into the shuttle.\nSisko: Any other survivors?\nDukat: I saw a few escape pods leaving the ship just before it exploded, but I had my hands full just trying to keep us in one piece. The engines were damaged from the shockwaves and I set us down here, wherever here is. But that shuttle's never going to reach orbit again. The shuttle's distress beacon was damaged, but I think I managed to repair it.\nDukat: So now we have to do is wait for someone to pick up our signal.\nSisko: Whose signal are you transmitting? Starfleet or the Dominion?\nDukat: It's a general distress call, Benjamin. Whoever gets here first will find one comrade in arms and one prisoner. That's fair, isn't it?\nSisko: Fair enough. Did you do this?\nDukat: You shattered most of the bones in your arm. There was a bone regenerator in the medkit, but I'm afraid I'm not much of a doctor, so I just put on the cast.\nSisko: You did plenty. Thank you.\nDukat: We have enough field rations to last us a few weeks, but I'd feel better if I could locate another source of food and water. The surface is inhospitable to say the least, but I did manage to find some firewood and kindling, so there's a good chance there's edible vegetation out there. I just have to find it.\nSisko: You could have left me behind. Why didn't you?\nDukat: I didn't want to. I'll be back within the hour.\nWeyoun: What are you planning to do with him?\nDukat: The Captain and I have a lot to talk about.\nWeyoun: Such as?\nDukat: It's of a personal nature.\nWeyoun: I see. You're going to share your feelings of loneliness and sorrow with your longtime adversary. Doctor Cox'd be so proud.\nDukat: Go away.\nWeyoun: You should kill him now, while you still can.\nDukat: That won't be necessary. He's in no condition to challenge me. I can afford to be patient.\nWeyoun: You should kill him.\nDukat: I don't care for your tone.\nWeyoun: Spare me your endless posturing. You're lucky I speak to you at all after that pathetic display back at the hospital.\nDukat: That's enough.\nWeyoun: Oh, I see. It's a sensitive topic. I wonder what Captain Sisko would think if he'd seen you curled up in a ball, crying yourself to sleep every night?\nDukat: Stop it!\nWeyoun: I doubt held still have the same respect for you if he'd heard you screaming and screaming and screaming like a madman till the nurses came and the doctors had to sedate you!\nDukat: No!\nSisko: Is that breakfast?\nDukat: Possibly. Good morning.\nSisko: Morning. What's it like outside?\nDukat: The wind has died down and the temperature's gone up twenty degrees. I rather like it, but I think you'll be more comfortable in here where it's cooler.\nSisko: Too much.\nDukat: I'm doing the cooking here, thank you.\nSisko: Pardon me.\nDukat: You're not the only officer who learned how to cook. How are you feeling?\nSisko: A little better.\nDukat: Good. After last night, I was beginning to get worried.\nSisko: Last night?\nDukat: You don't remember?\nSisko: Now that you mention it I remember waking up and I was feeling a little dizzy.\nDukat: You had a bout of nausea. Not exactly a little bout.\nSisko: Oh, I'm sorry.\nDukat: That's all right. I've had to clean up a lot worse in my time. Once, when I was a newly minted glinn on the Kornaire, I had to help clean up a compartment where three men had gone through an explosive decompression. I didn't sleep for a week after that.\nSisko: Let's change the subject.\nDukat: The Emissary has spoken. Oh, come on, Benjamin. Have a sense of humor about all this.\nSisko: I'm not in much of a joking mood.\nDukat: Well that's a shame, because there's so much to laugh about. You don't see it, do you? Benjamin, just a few hours ago I was a prisoner on my way to trial and you were my old friend come to visit me in my cell. Now look at us. I'm free and you're a prisoner of your own battered body, and there's a good chance we'll be rescued by the Dominion. You've got to laugh at a universe that allows such radical shifts in fortune, Benjamin.\nSisko: I will laugh when a Federation starship arrives and puts you back in a cell.\nDukat: Whatever you say.\nSisko: What?\nDukat: Nothing. it's probably just the wind.\nDukat: How is it?\nSisko: Needs salt. There's probably some in one of the ration packs.\nDukat: You know, we didn't get much of a chance to catch up before the attack. How is everyone on what I'm sure you're once again calling Deep Space Nine? Odo, Kira, Quark?\nSisko: They're all fine. And no, they don't miss you.\nDukat: Perhaps not. They never really did give me much of a chance. They were too busy plotting my downfall.\nSisko: Pepper. If you only want me to tell you what you want to hear, just say so.\nDukat: Well I hope they at least told you that my policies toward the Bajorans were most generous this time.\nSisko: They told me Weyoun didn't give you much of a choice.\nDukat: Major Kira knows full well I made every effort to heal the wounds between Cardassia and Bajor. Since the very beginning it was my intention to rectify the mistakes of the past and begin a new chapter in our relations.\nSisko: Are you going to put that in my soup?\nDukat: Well?\nSisko: Better.\nDukat: You're not going to give me the benefit of the doubt, are you, Benjamin?\nSisko: Do you really care what I think?\nDukat: Don't you care what your old friends think of you?\nSisko: Dukat, we're not old friends. You saved my life and I'm grateful, but that's as far as it goes.\nSisko: You keep hearing something. Are you sure there's nothing out there?\nDukat: It's just the wind, I'm certain, but I'm going to double check just to make sure.\nDukat: No. I won't do it. Not yet.\nDamar: You're wasting time.\nDukat: It's my time to waste, Damar. Remember your place.\nDamar: I mean no disrespect, you know that. But without you the war will be lost and Cardassia will lie in ruins. Don't let this one man stand in the way of your final triumph.\nDukat: I have to know that he respects me. I think I've earned it.\nDamar: Of course you have. He's just trying to deny you the satisfaction of hearing him say it. You know in your heart he secretly admires you. Isn't that enough? Kill him and be done with it.\nDamar: Think of it. The leader of Cardassia bringing the dead body of the Emissary back to the Bajoran people. They'll take it as a sign that the Prophets have abandoned them. The Shakaar government will be overthrown and the Federation position on Terok Nor will become untenable.\nDukat: Very tempting thought.\nDukat: You've make some good points, Damar, but there will be time for all of that later. It's all right. I know you have my best interests at heart.\nSisko: I wanted to get some water out of the kit.\nDukat: Ah. Here.\nSisko: Thanks. Anything out there?\nDukat: Hmm? No, no. Some rocks slid down the cliff.\nSisko: I think something's wrong with the comm. system.\nDukat: Oh?\nSisko: It was beeping a second ago. It might need recalibrating.\nDukat: I'll check. Everything's fine. The unit's still online.\nSisko: If you open up the casing, you'll be able to run a full diagnostic. Better safe than sorry.\nDukat: You're right.\nDukat: Nothing to worry about. It's working fine.\nSisko: That's all I wanted to know. Ship's log, supplemental. We have picked up a total of twelve Honshu survivors so far, but there is still no sign of Captain Sisko. We have less than twelve hours before we must abandon the search.\nSisko: Damn.\nO'Brien: Commander, I'm picking up a distress signal.\nDukat: Good evening. Pleasant dreams, I hope.\nSisko: I don't remember. Is it still dark out?\nDukat: I do apologize for bringing you to such a gloomy latitude. The nights seem to last eighteen hours, the days less than five. Sit up.\nSisko: Looks like you're planning on a long stay.\nDukat: No, not at all. Someone's bound to pick up our signal any time now. But I see no reason why we shouldn't be comfortable in the meantime. How's that?\nSisko: Just fine, thank you.\nDukat: Good. Ah, much better. You know, when I was out there in the shuttle just now, it occurred to me that the Bajorans would be very confused if they could see us here, sharing the same food, the same hardships. What do you think they would say if they knew the Emissary of the Prophets and the evil Gul Dukat were sitting here together, getting along like the two old friends that they really are? Oh, I forgot. You don't think of me as your old friend, do you, Benjamin. It's all right. There's no one here. Just the two of us. No one to impress, no one to judge what you say. We can be honest with one another. So tell me. What you really think of me?\nKira: I'll tell you what I think. You're an evil, sadistic man who should've been tried as a war criminal years ago, put up against a wall and shot.\nDukat: You probably agree with Major Kira, don't you, Benjamin? I am the former Prefect of Bajor. An evil man who sent thousands of Bajorans to their deaths to satisfy his own sadistic desires.\nKira: Of course he agrees with me. And it was millions.\nSisko: I don't think there's any point in discussing this.\nDukat: I do. My name and reputation have been slandered and twisted ever since the end of the occupation of Bajor. I have been vilified by ignorant, small minded people throughout the quadrant for the past six years. I just want to know if you're one of them, Benjamin.\nSisko: I wasn't there during the occupation. I didn't see all the things you had to struggle with day after day. I don't think I can pass judgment.\nKira: He's just doesn't want to anger you. He really thinks you're a vicious, cold blooded killer, Dukat, and so do I.\nDukat: I don't care what you think so I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself. I don't think you're being entirely honest with me, Benjamin. You're not a man who hesitates to make snap judgments when the situation calls for it. It's one of the signs of a good commander. Now I'm asking for your opinion of me and I find it hard to believe you don't have one.\nSisko: All right. I think you're right. You have been judged unfairly. I've judged you unfairly. But I think you probably had good reasons for everything you did on Bajor.\nDukat: Yes. Yes, that's it exactly. I had good reasons. Some of the harsher actions I took were forced on me by Central Command. I wanted to use entirely different tactics with the Bajorans. I wanted to rule with a softer hand, but my superiors didn't see it that way.\nSisko: You were a soldier and you had to carry out your orders.\nDukat: Precisely.\nKira: You are such a fool.\nDukat: Leave us alone! This doesn't concern you!\nKira: He's patronizing you. You were a soldier and you had to carry out your orders. He doesn't believe that lame excuse any more than I do.\nDukat: This is growing tiresome.\nSisko: Dukat. Dukat! I thought you wanted to talk to me.\nDukat: Yes, but Nerys won't leave well enough alone. She's always interfering, always trying to upset me.\nSisko: Maybe we should just ignore her. Let's pretend that the Major's not even here.\nDax: I'm picking up two humanoid lifeforms on the surface.\nWorf: Bridge to transporter room.\nSisko: There's no reason to get upset. We're just talking. Two old soldiers talking around a campfire.\nKira: I'm going to enjoy watching this. He's going to beat you, Dukat. He's going to escape and go back to DS Nine and his friends and we're all going to have a good, long laugh at your expense.\nDukat: Enough!\nO'Brien: I've locked onto them.\nO'Brien: Transporter room to bridge. We have the survivors on board. Two women.\nO'Brien: An Ensign and a Lieutenant. Doctor Bashir is checking them now.\nDukat: That must have been very uncomfortable, Benjamin. Look at that. One of the tines is missing. Now did that happened? Did you break it off? But why would you want a small thin piece of metal? Unless you needed a tool.\nDukat: I see you've been busy. A little repair work while I was gone. Very thoughtful.\nDax: Worf.\nWorf: What is it?\nDax: I thought I picked up another distress signal but now it's gone.\nDukat: You know, Benjamin, I thought we had established a level of trust between us, but I was wrong. If there's one thing I can't abide, it's betrayal.\nWorf: Our rescue effort has been delayed. If we could just have a few more hours?\nKira: The troop convoy will be completely unprotected when they emerge from the plasma fields. They're under strict radio silence. No way they can acknowledge our signal even if. Sorry, Worf, but you're going to have to\nO'Brien: I'm sorry, Captain. There's some kind of subspace interference between us and the station. I'll keep trying.\nBashir: I couldn't understand a word Kira said. Too much interference. Looks to me like we're on our own.\nDax: I could understood what she was trying to say.\nBashir: What about you, Chief? Did you understand?\nO'Brien: No, I couldn't understand a word.\nDax: Well it doesn't really matter what we think. Commander Worf is captain here.\nWorf: We all know what Major Kira's orders were. It would be dishonorable to ignore them.\nBashir: You will forgive me if I don't consider your honor to be worth Captain Sisko's life.\nWorf: You may leave the bridge, Doctor.\nWorf: Helm, lay in a course for the third planet.\nDax: Aye, Captain.\nDukat: You brought it on yourself, you know.\nSisko: Just like all your victims.\nDukat: All my victims. It always comes back to that, doesn't it? All my crimes. I'm such a monster, such an evil man. Behold Benjamin Sisko, supreme arbiter of right and wrong in the universe. A man of such high moral caliber that he can sit in judgment on all the rest of us.\nSisko: What the hell do you want from me? My approval? Is that what this is all about? You want me to give you my permission to cause more suffering and death? Well, if that's what you're after, you might as well pull out that phaser and end this right now because I will never give it to you!\nDukat: Good! Good, I like this. No more pretense, no games. Just you, me and the truth.\nSisko: What do you know about the truth? You bend the truth into whatever shape suits you.\nDukat: Judge Sisko hands down another ruling. But where's his evidence?\nSisko: All right. You really want to do this? Here? Now?\nDukat: Yes.\nSisko: Okay. Okay, let's do it. You were Prefect of Bajor during the occupation. True or false?\nDukat: True.\nSisko: And you were responsible for everything that happened under your command. True or false?\nDukat: True.\nSisko: So that means that you are responsible for the murder of over five million Bajorans on your watch. True or false!\nDukat: False. I tried to save lives during my administration.\nSisko: Evidence?\nDukat: Evidence? He wants evidence. By the time I became Prefect, the occupation had been going on for almost forty years, but the planet still wasn't ready for full scale colonization. Central Command wanted the situation resolved and they didn't care how it was done. I was convinced that a gentler hand was required to deal with the Bajorans.\nDamar: It was a noble, if misguided, vision.\nDukat: So in my first official act as Prefect, I ordered all labor camp commanders to reduce their output quotas by fifty percent fifty percent. Then I reorganized the camps themselves. Child labor was abolished. Medical care was improved. Food rations were increased. At the end of one month of my administration, the death rate had dropped by twenty percent. Now how did the Bajorans react to all this? On my one month anniversary they blew up an orbital dry-dock, killing over two hundred Cardassian soldiers and workers.\nKira: We didn't want a reconciliation. We wanted to destroy you.\nDukat: So I had to order a response. But even then it was a carefully tempered one. I ordered two hundred suspected members of the Resistance rounded up and executed. Two hundred lives for two hundred lives. That's justice, not malevolence. Justice.\nWeyoun: The Dominion would never have been so generous.\nDukat: But did I give up my efforts to reach out to the Bajorans? No. I tried again. And what did I get for my troubles? An assassination attempt on my own space station! Another round of executions followed once again, courtesy of the Bajoran resistance.\nKira: We never wanted peace. We hated you. We hated all of you.\nDukat: On and on it went, year after blood-soaked year. Time and again I would reach out with the open hand of friendship, and time and again they would slap it away.\nDamar: The Bajorans understand a clenched fist, not an open hand.\nKira: Being reasonable only made us bolder.\nWeyoun: The Dominion would have killed every man, woman and child on Bajor long ago.\nDukat: I hope you're listening to all this.\nSisko: Oh believe me, you have my undivided attention. Now let me get this straight. You're not responsible for what happened during the occupation, the Bajorans are.\nDukat: Yes, yes, exactly.\nSisko: So, why do you think they didn't appreciate this rare opportunity you were offering them?\nDukat: Because they were blind, ignorant fools. If only they had cooperated with us, we could have turned their world into a paradise. From the moment we arrived on Bajor, it was clear that we were the superior race. But they couldn't accept that. They wanted to be treated as equals when they most certainly were not. Militarily, technologically, culturally, we were almost a century ahead of them in every way. We did not choose to be the superior race. Fate handed us our role. And it would've been so much easier on everyone if the Bajorans had simply accepted their role. But no, day after day they clustered in their temples and prayed for deliverance, and night after night they planted bombs outside of our homes. Pride. Stubborn, unyielding pride. From the servant girl that cleaned my quarters to the condemned man toiling in a labor camp to the terrorist skulking through the hills of Dahkur Province. They all wore their pride like some twisted badge of honor.\nSisko: And you hated them for it.\nDukat: Of course I hated them! I hated everything about them! Their superstitions and their cries for sympathy, their treachery and their lies, their smug superiority and their stiff necked obstinacy, their earrings and their broken wrinkled noses.\nSisko: You should have killed them all.\nDukat: Yes! Yes! That's right, isn't it? I knew it! I've always known it! I should have killed every last one of them. I should have turned their planet into a graveyard the likes of which the galaxy had never seen! I should have killed them all.\nSisko: And that is why you're not an evil man.\nSisko: Do it!\nDukat: I'm so glad we had this time together, Benjamin, because we won't be seeing each other for a while. I have unfinished business on Bajor. They thought I was their enemy? They don't know what it is to be my enemy, but they will. From this day forward, Bajor is dead. All of Bajor. And this time, even their Emissary won't be able to save them.\nDax: It's time.\nWorf: Plot a course out of the system, full impulse. Once we've cleared the outer planets, head for the rendezvous coordinates, maximum warp.\nDax: Course laid in. Engaging impulse engines.\nO'Brien: Captain. I'm picking up a signal. It's from Gul Dukat. Ship's log, stardate 51413.6. We have rescued Captain Sisko, but we did not have time to locate Gul Dukat's shuttle. We are now en route to our rendezvous with the troop convoy near the Badlands, and the Captain is recovering in sickbay.\nDax: Benjamin? I've notified Starfleet of Dukat's last known position. They'll find him.\nSisko: No, they won't. You know, old man, sometimes life seems so complicated. Nothing is truly good or truly evil. Everything seems to be a shade of gray. And then you spend some time with a man like Dukat and you realize that there is really such a thing as truly evil.\nDax: To realize that is one thing. To do something about it is another. So what are you going to do?\nSisko: I'll tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to let him destroy Bajor. I fear no evil. From now on, it's him or me."}
{"text": "Odo: Morn, if you're not too busy, I'd appreciate it if you did something about that shipment of Livanian beets you have sitting in Cargo Bay Three. It's been there for over two weeks. It's starting to rot.\nOdo: Morn.\nQuark: It's a hologram. Morn's been away on business for the last two weeks. You're slipping, Odo. You should've caught on a lot sooner.\nOdo: You replaced Morn with a hologram? Why?\nO'Brien: Evening.\nBashir: Hello, Morn.\nQuark: That's why. People love him. He's like a mascot. Everyone who comes in here expects to see him, and if they don't, it doesn't feel like home to them.\nOdo: And that's not good for business.\nQuark: The last time he went away, my sales dropped almost five percent.\nOdo: Why doesn't it talk?\nQuark: Do you have any idea how much an interactive holoprojector costs? Besides, it's a relief not to have to listen to him go on. You know Morn. He never shuts up. I'd trade this for the real thing any day.\nOdo: I'm sure Morn would be very touched to hear you say that.\nDax: Morn!\nOdo: It's just a hologram.\nQuark: You look like you saw a ghost.\nSisko: Turn it off.\nQuark: Why?\nSisko: We just got word. Morn's cargo ship was caught in an ion storm.\nBashir: Is he all right?\nO'Brien: Was he rescued?\nDax: He's dead.\nBashir: Did you bring anything?\nO'Brien: Huh?\nBashir: To the memorial service.\nO'Brien: I didn't know I was supposed to.\nBashir: Well, it's Lurian custom to bring gifts of food and drink for the deceased so they have something to sustain them in the afterlife.\nO'Brien: Oh. Maybe I can get something in Quark's. I hate to think of the big fellow going without.\nWorf: Morn was an excellent sparring partner. I will miss our weekly combat in the holosuites.\nDax: I can't believe he's really gone.\nWorf: I did not realize he was such a close friend.\nDax: Well, I used to have a little crush on him.\nWorf: Morn?\nDax: It was before we met. Besides, he wasn't interested.\nWorf: What do you mean, he wasn't interested?\nDax: Forget I mentioned it.\nKira: Is that a bottle opener?\nOdo: For Morn. I thought it might come in handy.\nKira: Very thoughtful.\nQuark: This is unbelievable. Look at all these people. If you see anyone empty-handed sell them a bottle of Yridian ale. Tell them it was Morn's favorite.\nBashir: Very kind of you to do this, Quark.\nO'Brien: I'm sure Morn would have appreciated it.\nQuark: It's the least I could do. I'll miss him. Sorry.\nO'Brien: Can I get you anything?\nQuark: I don't ordinarily imbibe on the job, but maybe a Yridian ale. It was Morn's favorite.\nO'Brien: Oh. Perfect.\nQuark: What are you looking at?\nOdo: Your respect for the dead is heart-warming.\nQuark: I'll have you know that Morn died without paying this month's tab.\nOdo: Oh, how inconsiderate of him.\nQuark: We're talking about a lot of money. The man had quite an appetite. You know he had two stomachs to fill. Ever watch him eat? It was a beautiful thing.\nOdo: Well, sometimes you don't truly appreciate what you have until it's gone.\nQuark: It's nice to know you're so worried about my welfare.\nOdo: You should be worried, too. Now that your mascot's gone, business will suffer.\nQuark: We'll see. You might be surprised.\nWorf: Jadzia.\nDax: Can we please drop this?\nQuark: Everyone. Thank you all for coming. It means a great deal to me to see so many people cared about Morn as much as I did. I'll never forget the first time he walked in here and sat down on that very stool. It must have been almost ten years ago. He still had his hair then. I thought he was just another customer passing through. Little did I know he'd become such an important figure in my life, in all our lives. Morn was always someone we could count on for a cheerful smile and an entertaining story. Some of you might be thinking this place won't be the same without him. And it won't. But this was his home. And wherever he is, I'm sure he'd want to know that his favorite bar still echoed with the laughter of his dear friends. This was his chair and I think the greatest tribute we could ever pay him would be to make sure that it's never empty.\nQuark: Keep it warm. For Morn.\nKira: Every now and then, Quark really surprises me.\nOdo: Me, too.\nSisko: Excuse me, Quark.\nQuark: Not now.\nSisko: I'm sorry to intrude, but I thought you should know. I unsealed Morn's will. He left everything to you.\nQuark: Me? He left everything to me?\nSisko: That's right.\nQuark: Morn. Dear, sweet Morn.\nOdo: The poor fool actually believed you cared about him.\nQuark: I did. I was up for hours last night thinking about him.\nOdo: Calculating his net worth, no doubt.\nQuark: We spent a lot of time together, Odo. We were obviously a lot closer than I ever realized.\nOdo: His financial records.\nQuark: Is this some kind of joke?\nOdo: What do you mean?\nQuark: According to this, he was broke.\nOdo: No.\nQuark: How can that be? He paid his bar bill at the end of every month. That kind of money must have come from somewhere.\nOdo: Well, he did have his shipping business. Maybe all his assets are tied up in inventory?\nQuark: Of course. Inventory.\nQuark: I'll unload everything and use the profits to Pooh! What's that smell?\nOdo: Your inheritance. Livanian beets. Very ripe.\nQuark: What's in the rest of these?\nOdo: More beets.\nQuark: That's it? That's all he had?\nOdo: I'm afraid so. Except for the contents of his quarters. Maybe he spent all his money on furnishings and works of art.\nQuark: Objets d'art. Of course.\nOdo: Objets d'art, of course.\nQuark: I'll hold an auction. People will pay a premium to own something that used to be Morn's.\nQuark: You sure these are the right quarters?\nOdo: I'm sure.\nQuark: Figures. What's that?\nOdo: That, I believe, is a matador.\nQuark: No, that.\nOdo: That's Morn's bed.\nQuark: Morn slept in mud?\nOdo: I'm told it's excellent for the skin.\nQuark: Thanks, Morn. Just what I always wanted.\nQuark: What are you doing in my mud?\nLarell: Oh, I couldn't resist. Morny and I had so many happy times here, I just had to slip in. I'm sorry if I startled you. I heard you coming in and I thought I'd better hide.\nQuark: Who are you?\nLarell: Larell. Morn's wife. Ex-wife.\nQuark: Morn was married? To you?\nLarell: For two wonderful years. You must be Quark. Morny and I kept in touch after we were separated. He talked about you all the time.\nQuark: That's nice.\nLarell: He told me that if anything ever happened to him, he wanted you to have everything that was ever his.\nQuark: Everything?\nLarell: Everything.\nQuark: I'm glad you came by, because Morny didn't leave me much of anything else.\nLarell: I find that hard to believe.\nQuark: I'm as disappointed as you are.\nLarell: I happen to know that he had quite a substantial retirement fund. One that could make two people very comfortable.\nQuark: If you're partial to mud, it's comfortable all right.\nLarell: I'm talking about the thousand bricks of gold pressed latinum that he won in the Lissepian lottery.\nQuark: A thousand bricks?\nLarell: Now that he's gone, it's all ours.\nLarell: What are you doing?\nQuark: What do you think? I'm looking for the latinum.\nLarell: You must know where he kept it.\nQuark: I didn't even know it existed until you told me.\nLarell: Well, I'm sure it's somewhere on the station.\nQuark: How do we know he didn't spend it already?\nLarell: I told you, it was for his retirement. Poor Morn. He never got a chance to enjoy it. But that doesn't mean we can't.\nQuark: I know what you're doing.\nLarell: What am I doing?\nQuark: Just so we're clear, the latinum's mine.\nLarell: He may have left everything to you, but I was his wife. I could contest the will and tie you up in court for years.\nQuark: Maybe.\nLarell: But there's no reason it has to come to that. After all, a thousand bricks is plenty for both of us.\nQuark: It is a lot of money.\nLarell: And as soon as we find it, we'll take a nice long vacation together.\nQuark: Morn would have wanted it that way.\nLarell: Of course he would have.\nQuark: The latinum's not on the station. I looked everywhere. Evade. I even had my brother scan for it with the internal sensors.\nDax: Well, at least you have the painting.\nQuark: Oh, forget the painting. I want that latinum.\nDax: If you think it'll make you happy. Confront.\nQuark: Believe me, it will. This is the break I've been waiting for, and it's been a long time in coming. I want Morn's money, I need Morn's money, I deserve Morn's money.\nDax: Your move.\nQuark: Beautiful, isn't it? And the way it picks up the light I wonder who came up with the idea of suspending liquid latinum inside worthless bits of gold?\nDax: Probably somebody who got tired of making change with an eyedropper. Are you going to play or not?\nQuark: Where do you think Morn put it all?\nDax: If you find it, are you really going to share it with this woman?\nQuark: I agreed to pay her ten percent so she wouldn't tie me up in court.\nDax: That's a hundred bricks.\nQuark: What could I do? Retreat.\nDax: I don't know, but there's something's I don't like about this whole thing. I don't trust this woman.\nQuark: Neither do I. But that doesn't mean I'm going to keep her away from my lobes.\nDax: Just keep your eyes open. Don't be fooled by a pretty face.\nQuark: Not me.\nDax: Of course not. Acquire.\nQuark: What a pleasant surprise. Computer, lights.\nKrit: Tell me, you like surprises, Quark?\nQuark: Only pleasant ones.\nKrit: I like to think I'm pleasant. You think I'm pleasant?\nNahsk: Absolutely.\nKrit: Then I guess this qualifies as a pleasant surprise.\nQuark: What are you doing in my quarters?\nNahsk: Waiting for you.\nKrit: My brother and I were business associates of Morn's.\nQuark: If you've come for the memorial service, it was yesterday.\nNahsk: Really? Was it nice?\nQuark: It was lovely.\nKrit: I understand you inherited Morn's estate.\nQuark: That's right.\nNahsk: We're business associates of Morn's.\nQuark: Your brother mentioned that.\nKrit: He borrowed some money from us, and we'd like the estate to repay the loan.\nQuark: How much money are we talking about?\nKrit: One thousand bricks of gold pressed latinum.\nQuark: I had a feeling you were going to say that. I need to see some documentation regarding this loan.\nKrit: We shook hands.\nNahsk: We trusted Morn.\nKrit: And I'm sure he'd want you to honor his word.\nQuark: I'm sure he would. But you have to understand, Morn's assets are all tied up in various enterprises.\nKrit: I hope you're not saying you don't have the money.\nNahsk: That wouldn't be good.\nQuark: All I meant was that it'll take me a little while to get it.\nKrit: So you do know where it is.\nQuark: Of course. You're not the first creditors to make a claim against his estate.\nKrit: We're not?\nQuark: Morn was expanding his business interests when he died. His resources were stretched somewhat thin. As a result, the claims against the estate are greater than its assets. Obviously you can't expect full repayment.\nKrit: What can we expect?\nQuark: A percentage.\nKrit: What sort of percentage?\nQuark: Twenty.\nKrit: We can't accept less than eighty.\nQuark: I'll make it thirty, and I'll throw in a shipment of Livanian beets.\nNahsk: I don't like beets.\nKrit: We'll take seventy.\nQuark: Forty, and because I can see you both have fine taste, I'm willing to part with this. One of Morn's most treasured possession. Beautiful, isn't it?\nNahsk: Very nice.\nKrit: We can't take less than sixty.\nQuark: Forty's the best I can do.\nKrit: Fifty.\nQuark: Sorry.\nQuark: Fifty it is.\nKrit: I'm glad we were able to come to an understanding.\nQuark: Me too.\nKrit: We'll be watching you, Quark. Don't try anything.\nQuark: Me? Don't be ridiculous.\nQuark: What do we have here?\nQuark: Computer, what is this?\nComputer: A claim slip for storage locker one three seven located in the station Assay Office.\nQuark: A storage locker! Thank you, computer. You've been very helpful. Morn, wherever you are, I love you!\nQuark: What do you mean I have to open it in here?\nOdo: Regulations. The contents of a deceased person's storage locker have to be inspected by station security.\nQuark: There's no such regulation. You just want to know what's inside. You are so transparent. I can't wait to see your face when your deputies wheel in my thousand bricks of latinum.\nOdo: Ah, here we are. Thank you.\nQuark: That can't be it.\nOdo: Storage locker one thirty seven.\nQuark: Well, sometimes good things come in small packages.\nOdo: Will that be enough to cover Morn's bar tab?\nQuark: It's covered. There's more where this came from.\nOdo: What makes you say that?\nQuark: Take a look. On the bottom. Recognize Morn's handwriting?\nOdo: The rest is in the Bank of Bolias.\nQuark: Account number CJ5-74-36.\nOdo: This wasn't in Morn's financial records.\nQuark: Who cares? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to contact the bank and let them know Morn's legal heir would like his latinum delivered as soon as possible.\nQuark: Larell.\nLarell: I've been looking all over for you.\nQuark: I'm a busy man.\nLarell: Not too busy to look for a certain something, I hope?\nQuark: Actually, I haven't had much luck with that.\nLarell: Sounds like you need a little motivation.\nQuark: Oh, I'm motivated, believe me. It's just that it's going to take some time to locate, that's all. I have an idea. Why don't you go back to wherever you come from and I'll contact you as soon as I find it.\nLarell: I think I'd rather wait here with you.\nQuark: This is not a good time for oo-mox.\nLarell: Why, don't you like it?\nQuark: It's not that, it's just that the sooner I find that certain something, the sooner we can take our little trip together.\nLarell: You're so diligent. Most men don't know how to defer gratification.\nQuark: You don't make it easy.\nQuark: Good morning. Level seventeen.\nQuark: You're good. But I'm the only one the bank's going to give the money to. CJ5-74-36. CJ5-74\nQuark: This is my stop.\nKrit: What's your hurry? My brother has something he wants to say to you.\nNahsk: I'm sorry. About the painting.\nKrit: He feels terrible.\nQuark: No hard feelings.\nKrit: That's nice of you to be so forgiving, Quark.\nQuark: Don't mention it.\nKrit: My brother has a nasty temper.\nNahsk: I get upset.\nKrit: It comes out when things don't go our way.\nQuark: I noticed.\nKrit: That's why I'm hoping things start to go our way soon. Do you understand what I'm saying, Quark?\nQuark: I think I do, yes.\nNahsk: I don't like to get upset.\nQuark: Don't worry, things are going to go your way soon.\nKrit: That's good to hear.\nQuark: I'll keep in touch.\nNahsk: I really am sorry about the painting.\nQuark: CJ5-74-36. CJ5-74-36. Bank of Bolias.\nHain: Making a withdrawal, Quark? Let me guess. A thousand bricks of gold pressed latinum. Put your hands on your head. Turn around.\nQuark: All right, how much do you want? And don't ask for the full thousand bricks, I already gave away more than half of it.\nHain: Attempted bribery. That should add a few years to your sentence.\nQuark: What are you talking about?\nHain: Let's go.\nQuark: Go? Where? Who are you?\nHain: Lurian security. I have a signed extradition order for your arrest. As soon as your station's security chief approves it, we'll be on our way.\nQuark: What did I do? What's the charge?\nHain: Conspiracy to intercept government property.\nQuark: Government property?\nHain: A thousand bricks of gold pressed latinum.\nQuark: Wait a minute. Morn won that latinum in the Lissepian lottery. He didn't?\nHain: It was his bequest from the Royal family of Luria.\nQuark: Why would the Royal family of Luria give Morn that kind of money?\nHain: He was the Crown Prince.\nQuark: Morn was a prince?\nHain: You didn't know?\nQuark: Morn was a prince?\nHain: That's what I'm saying.\nQuark: Morn was a prince.\nHain: Yes. But he renounced the throne when he came of age.\nQuark: Well I always knew he was an idiot.\nHain: His family bequeathed him the latinum when he abdicated. Now that he's deceased, it's legally theirs again.\nQuark: He left it to me.\nHain: That will has already been nullified. He signed an agreement to return the latinum in the event of his death.\nQuark: Oh. Do me a favor. Don't tell his ex-wife. I'm going to need a little oo-mox later.\nHain: His ex-wife?\nQuark: Larell.\nHain: She's here?\nQuark: I just saw her. Is something wrong?\nHain: Quiet! Let me think. Listen and listen carefully. Larell has been trying to get her hands on the Prince's latinum for years. She's tried blackmail, extortion, I wouldn't be surprised if she was behind his death.\nQuark: She's always been nice to me.\nHain: The Royal family would like nothing better than to see her behind bars. If you help me apprehend her, there'll be a substantial reward.\nQuark: What do I have to do?\nHain: When are you going to see her again?\nQuark: She'll turn up sooner or later. If not her, then those two brothers.\nHain: Brothers?\nQuark: They said they were Morn's business partners. They claimed he owed them money. Something tells me they were not exactly above board.\nHain: Whoever these brothers are, I promise you, I won't let them get between the Royal family and its latinum.\nQuark: And I won't let anything get between me and my reward.\nHain: Then we have an understanding. If I'm going to put these people away, I have to catch them trying to get their hands on the latinum. Call the Bank. Tell them to deliver it here.\nQuark: Then what?\nHain: You stay out of sight and leave the rest to me.\nBashir: What are you up to?\nO'Brien: Trying to fix this optronic relay.\nBashir: Wouldn't you be better off working in a lab?\nO'Brien: I'm keeping Morn's chair warm.\nBashir: Ah, good man. Where's Quark? I'm in the mood for one of his famous Til'amin froths.\nO'Brien: You'll have to settle for something else. He's in the back. And from what Broik says, he's not coming out.\nBashir: Sounds like he's taking Morn's death pretty hard.\nO'Brien: He loved the guy. Well, I'd better go test this.\nBashir: I'll take over.\nO'Brien: Oh. Good man.\nQuark: Anybody here?\nQuark: What a surprise.\nLarell: You've got to help me, Quark. Someone's following me.\nQuark: Who?\nLarell: Two men.\nQuark: Brothers?\nLarell: How should I know?\nQuark: That could be them.\nLarell: Don't answer it.\nQuark: Believe me, I'm not planning to. Sounds like they're trying to bypass the lock. Come on. Computer, dim the lights. Remind me to invest in a better lock.\nQuark: Stay here.\nQuark: Gentlemen.\nKrit: Quark. We've been looking all over for you.\nQuark: The latinum's on its way. It'll be here tomorrow.\nKrit: That's good news. We were getting worried.\nKrit: Expecting anyone?\nQuark: You never know who's going to drop by.\nKrit: Don't answer it.\nQuark: Sounds like they're coming in anyway.\nNahsk: You should invest in a better lock.\nKrit: Whoever it is, get rid of them. We'll be over there.\nQuark: You'd be more comfortable in there.\nNahsk: We'll be back there.\nHain: Why didn't you answer the door?\nQuark: I dozed off. It's been one of those days.\nHain: We need to talk.\nQuark: What would we have need to talk about?\nHain: Are you all right?\nQuark: What makes you ask that?\nHain: Well, you keep craning your neck.\nKrit: Well look what we have here.\nQuark: I'll bet the Royal family sleeps soundly knowing you're on the job.\nKrit: Royal family? What kind of lies you been telling him, Hain?\nHain: The usual.\nQuark: You know each other.\nHain: It's been a long time.\nKrit: Nine years.\nNahsk: You know, it must be nine years.\nHain: I see you're still a step behind everyone else.\nLarell: Leave him alone, Hain.\nNahsk: Hey, it's Larell.\nKrit: I can see that.\nQuark: What's going on here?\nLarell: We're having a little reunion. We used to work together. With Morn.\nQuark: I guess that means he wasn't a Prince after all. And you're not a security agent. And you're not really his ex-wife. Please, please don't tell me Morn didn't have any latinum.\nHain: Oh, he had latinum, all right.\nQuark: At least that part is true.\nHain: Ever hear of the Lissepian Mother's Day heist?\nQuark: Who hasn't? While the whole planet was celebrating, someone broke into the Central Bank and made off with one thousand bricks of gold pressed latinum. Wait a minute. You expect me to believe that the four of you pulled that off?\nNahsk: There was five of us. Morn helped.\nKrit: Yes, but then he ran off with the latinum.\nQuark: Why did you take so long to come after him?\nHain: Because we knew he'd stashed it away somewhere to wait for the statute of limitations to expire.\nLarell: And it did, two weeks ago.\nNahsk: You see, we can't be prosecuted anymore.\nLarell: So here we are. The latinum's en route. Maybe we should just split it up and go our separate ways.\nQuark: The voice of reason.\nKrit: Not you, us.\nHain: Krit's right, we don't need him anymore.\nLarell: So, what do we do with him?\nKrit: It should look like an accident. We don't want anyone asking questions.\nQuark: Wait a minute. You can't kill me. I'm the only one who can take delivery of the latinum. You need my thumbprint.\nNahsk: If you stand still this won't hurt as much.\nHain: Wait a minute. What do you propose, Nahsk? That we walk into the cargo bay with his bloody thumb and ask for the latinum? We need him. The only question is what happens after he takes delivery?\nQuark: We could split the latinum five ways. That's what you would've gotten if Morn was still alive.\nLarell: That's true.\nQuark: Think of me as Morn. I can't believe I just said that.\nNahsk: This isn't fair. We stole it. He had nothing to do with it.\nQuark: Maybe not, but the bottom line is you need me.\nHain: A thousand bricks of latinum split five ways. What do you think?\nKrit: It's still a lot of latinum.\nNahsk: That's two hundred and fifty bricks each.\nQuark: So, do we have a deal?\nHain: All right.\nQuark: Okay. The Bolian transport arrives tomorrow at sixteen hundred. We'll meet at the cargo bay.\nHain: We're staying together until it gets here.\nQuark: We are?\nHain: I don't trust you, and I certainly don't trust them.\nQuark: I see your point. But I have a bar to run.\nHain: All right.\nHain: To your hospitality.\nQuark: Don't mention it.\nLarell: So this was Morn's favorite place?\nQuark: He used to sit right there.\nNahsk: That's not very smart, sitting with your back to the door.\nQuark: He was the trusting type.\nHain: Which one of you killed him, anyway?\nKrit: It wasn't us.\nLarell: Me neither.\nQuark: Don't look at me.\nHain: Then it really was an accident.\nLarell: Poor Morny. He always had such bad luck.\nHain: Get rid of him.\nQuark: We're closed.\nOdo: At this hour?\nQuark: Friends of Morn. We're commiserating.\nOdo: I see. And how long are you going to be closed?\nQuark: Oh, until about sixteen hundred hours tomorrow. We have a lot to commiserate about.\nOdo: I see.\nQuark: Where were we?\nQuark: There it is, right on time. I believe that's for me.\nHain: Open it.\nQuark: I'll count it\nQuark: All right, somebody else count it.\nKrit: Put it down, Hain. My brother may be slow, but if you pull that trigger, he'll kill you.\nNahsk: I'm not slow.\nKrit: Nahsk? What are you doing?\nKrit: We're family. Just put the gun down.\nQuark: Go ahead, kill each other.\nOdo: Security! Drop your weapons! This is your last warning. I said drop them.\nLarell: I surrender.\nOdo: Take her to a holding cell. Get the rest of them to the Infirmary.\nOdo: Ah, there you are.\nQuark: Are they gone?\nOdo: From now on, you'll be commiserating alone. All your friends are going to prison.\nQuark: For how long?\nOdo: Assault with intent to kill? Long enough.\nQuark: Then it's mine, all mine.\nQuark: What you're about to hear is the most beautiful sound in the galaxy.\nQuark: That can't be! There's no latinum in these bricks!\nOdo: What?\nQuark: Someone's extracted all the latinum. There's nothing here but worthless gold.\nOdo: And it's all yours.\nQuark: No! No! No!\nOdo: Quark. Quark!\nQuark: What? What do you want?\nOdo: There's someone here to see you.\nQuark: I thought you said they were all going to prison.\nOdo: You'd better sit down.\nQuark: Morn?\nOdo: Alive and well. Apparently, he faked his own death. I'll let him tell you all about it.\nQuark: Well? No! I don't want to hear it. Not one word. You set me up. You left the latinum to me because you knew I would do whatever it would take to get my hands on it. You figured I could keep the four of them off balance long enough for them to turn on themselves. This whole thing was a scam to get them off your back, wasn't it.\nQuark: I could have been killed, you know. And I thought we were friends. I have to admit, I didn't suspect for a minute. To tell you the truth, I didn't think you had it in you to pull off something like this. I just have one question for you. What happened to the latinum?\nQuark: Of course. Your second stomach. You've been keeping it in your second stomach all these years? That's a lot of latinum. No wonder your hair fell out.\nQuark: For me? That must be a hundred bricks worth. I don't know what to say. Thanks. Not that I didn't earn it after all you put me through. If you ever want to set me up again, feel free. You know, you and I should consider doing business together. Two enterprising gentlemen like us could do all right for ourselves. Take that gold dust of yours. It doesn't have to be a total loss. I hear there're some primitive cultures who consider it quite valuable."}
{"text": "Scene: Captain's log, stardate 51474.2. The Defiant has been ordered to investigate a rare subspace compression phenomenon recently diskovered in Federation space. This scientific assignment is a welcome change from months of combat duty against the Dominion. Three of my officers are taking a runabout into the anomaly's vortex. The runabout and it's crew will be subjected to severe spatial distortion, so we have activated a tractor beam to minimize the effect.\nKira: So, how small are they?\nNog: The miniaturization process won't begin until the runabout reaches the edge of the accretion disk.\nKira: I see. And then they'll begin to shrink?\nNog: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Major, are you laughing at our investigation of this subspace anomaly?\nKira: No, sir.\nWorf: The data collected here could provide Starfleet with the key to creating transwarp corridors through space. It could give us a substantial tactical advantage over the Dominion.\nKira: It's very important research. What? I'm not laughing. Just because we are shrinking three people to the size of coffee cups.\nNog: Smaller, actually.\nWorf: I do not see what is so humorous about being small.\nNog: Neither do I.\nSisko: On screen.\nNog: Their visual signal's degrading, Captain. We have audio only.\nSisko: Go ahead, Rubicon.\nDax: We're about to enter the accretion disk.\nSisko: I wish were with you, old man.\nDax: I'll send you a postcard. Tell Worf I look forward to hearing his poem. I'll bet it'll be inspiring. We'll talk to you again once we've left the accretion disk and reversed the effects of the compression. Rubicon out.\nSisko: Good luck, Rubicon.\nNog: We've lost their signal, Captain.\nSisko: Thank you, Ensign. Mister Worf. Poem?\nWorf: It is an ancient Klingon tradition to commemorate an important event with a poem. Jadzia asked me to compose one for this occasion.\nSisko: Well, what have you got so far?\nNog: They've penetrated the accretion disk.\nKira: Now is it my imagination, or did the kid just cover for him?\nSisko: This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.\nWorf: They are getting smaller.\nNog: Even the space within their subatomic structure is shrinking.\nKira: I wonder what it feels like.\nO'Brien: I don't feel any smaller.\nBashir: Well, believe it or not, you're about a meter tall and shrinking fast. In a few minutes, you're going to be half the size of a comm. badge.\nO'Brien: There's a comforting thought.\nBashir: The gamma ray flux is increasing. We should close the blast shutters.\nDax: Take a last look. We're on sensors from here on.\nO'Brien: Now you're certain we'll return to normal size once we clear the anomaly?\nDax: Our probes did. You saw the data. Something wrong?\nO'Brien: No, I'm fine. I'm just not in love with the idea of being small. What are you smirking at? You're as small as I am.\nBashir: Actually, you're sitting one point one four meters closer to the focal point of the anomaly, which means you've shrunk point zero four percent more than I have.\nDax: What was that?\nO'Brien: The tractor beam's fluctuating. Something's wrong.\nWorf: The Jem'Hadar are coming around for another pass.\nKira: Radiation from the vortex must have masked their warp signature.\nSisko: Return fire, Mister Worf. Ensign, pull the Rubicon out of there.\nWorf: Phasers are offline.\nKira: We're a sitting duck as long as we're tethered to the runabout.\nSisko: I'm not going to leave them in there if I can help it. Mister Worf, go down to auxiliary control and target the phasers manually.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nNog: I'm losing the Rubicon, sir!\nDax: If we're going to get out of here, I need warp power now!\nO'Brien: I'm on it.\nSisko: Report.\nKira: Shield generators and impulse engines are offline, sir. Warp engines, too.\nIxtana'Rax: Surrender or you will all be killed.\nDax: Chief, you okay?\nO'Brien: I think so.\nDax: Julian?\nBashir: I'm fine, but you're not.\nDax: Oh, that's better.\nO'Brien: That was the easy part.\nDax: Well, the good news is we're alive, so we must have escaped the anomaly.\nO'Brien: The bad news is the external sensors and the comm. system are down. I can patch around most of the damage, but it'll take time.\nDax: Better add the blast shutters to your list. I can't get them open.\nBashir: There you go. Good as new.\nDax: I don't suppose that thing'll work on our communications system?\nO'Brien: I'm picking up the Defiant's transponder signal. We can home in on that.\nDax: Going to one quarter impulse. Chief, either open these shutters or give me external sensors, whichever's quicker. I need to see where we're going.\nIxtana'Rax: The bridge is secure.\nKudak'Etan: Tactical report.\nIxtana'Rax: The bridge officers are confined in the mess hall, other survivors in the cargo bay. We will have impulse power back online in thirty minutes, but it will take several hours to restore warp capability.\nKudak'Etan: It must be gratifying for an Elder to end his career with a victory. I feel privileged to be here with you at such a moment.\nIxtana'Rax: There is still much to do before we declare victory. Until we leave Federation space, we are vulnerable\nKudak'Etan: I am First. And I have declared victory.\nIxtana'Rax: It is, of course, your prerogative.\nKudak'Etan: Open a channel to the Vorta.\nJem'Hadar: Yes, First.\nJem'Hadar: We have the boarding party.\nGelnon: Ah, First. Your report?\nKudak'Etan: The Defiant is ours.\nGelnon: Good. Very, very good. I must admit, I was initially quite skeptical about you and the other new Jem'Hadar bred in this quadrant, but this is a most impressive debut. Wouldn't you agree, Elder?\nIxtana'Rax: The takeover of the ship was competently executed.\nGelnon: Do I detect a note of jealousy in your voice? I'm sure it must be difficult for you to watch a new race of Jem'Hadar beginning to supplant you and the other members of the old guard.\nIxtana'Rax: I serve the Founders. If it is their will to create a new race, then that is the order of things.\nGelnon: But?\nIxtana'Rax: But the Jem'Hadar bred here in the Alpha Quadrant have not proven themselves superior to those from the Gamma Quadrant. At least not yet.\nKudak'Etan: Not yet? It was the Alphas who made this victory possible. If it were not for us, you would never\nGelnon: You two can argue about this on your own time. First, how long until you restore warp power?\nKudak'Etan: I will make a complete survey of the ship and give you a report in one hour.\nGelnon: Very well. I await your report.\nKudak'Etan: Bring me Captain Sisko.\nIxtana'Rax: I would suggest that his execution can wait until we have completed repairs to the ship.\nKudak'Etan: I'm not going to execute him. Are you about to question my order, Second?\nIxtana'Rax: No. Obedience brings Victory.\nKudak'Etan: And Victory is Life.\nKudak'Etan: Find the ship's transponder and shut it down. I don't want anyone tracking us.\nJem'Hadar: Yes, First.\nKudak'Etan: And get these chairs off the bridge.\nKira: Thanks. That's enough.\nWorf: I should have foreseen this. I should have sent out reconnaissance probes to scan for enemy ships. Or a shuttle. Or recalibrated our sensors. If I had, Jadzia\nNog: None of that would've done any good. The Jem'Hadar approached us from the anterior angle of the anomaly. Their warp signatures\nKira: He's just trying to tell you\nWorf: I do not need him to tell me anything.\nSisko: Everybody settle. First of all, we don't know what happened to the Rubicon. For all we know they got out of the anomaly on their own. If they did, they're headed home and in much better shape than we are. So let's hold off on analyzing our mistakes for now.\nKira: If they restore warp power, we'll be analyzing them from inside a Dominion prison camp.\nSisko: Restoring warp power might not be so simple for them. It took us a week just to learn how to pilot one of their ships. We might have a chance to retake the Defiant, but we can't do anything unless we can get out of this room. Suggestions?\nIxtana'Rax: Captain Sisko, come with me.\nSisko: Everybody sit tight. I'll be back.\nBashir: We've lost the Defiant's transponder signal.\nDax: Coming to full stop.\nO'Brien: The problem isn't at this end. They must have stopped transmitting.\nDax: I can't keep flying blind, Chief.\nO'Brien: Try the shutters.\nDax: Nice work.\nO'Brien: Ask and ye shall receive.\nO'Brien: What the hell is that?\nDax: Some kind of wall?\nO'Brien: In the middle of nowhere?\nBashir: Wait a minute, there's a symbol up there. It looks like a large black circle.\nDax: Anything else?\nBashir: Hold on. Chief, you're not going to like this.\nO'Brien: I thought you said we'd return to our normal size once we left the anomaly.\nBashir: We should have.\nDax: We didn't leave the anomaly by the same path at which we entered it.\nBashir: So the process failed to reverse itself.\nO'Brien: Are you telling me that I'm going to be this bloody tall for the rest of my life?\nBashir: This bloody tall, actually. But don't worry. All we have to do to regain our original size is re-enter the anomaly and follow our original trajectory back out.\nO'Brien: In theory.\nBashir: In theory.\nDax: I'll tell you what isn't a theory. We're going to need the Defiant's help to re-enter the anomaly.\nBashir: With communications out, how do we get their attention?\nDax: Fly up to a window and knock?\nO'Brien: Wait. If we're this big, that means the Rubicon is what, this big?\nBashir: More or less.\nO'Brien: And the Defiant's aft plasma vent is this big?\nDax: Are you suggesting that we take the Rubicon inside the Defiant?\nO'Brien: Why not? Getting past the anti-backflow valve might be tricky, but once we're inside we've a better chance of attracting someone's attention than we do sitting out here.\nDax: I love it. Let's go.\nLamat'Ukan: The engineering team reports that we can restart the impulse engines in twelve minutes.\nKudak'Etan: Good. Captain Benjamin Sisko. The one the Bajorans call the Emissary. I am First Kudak'Etan. In a strange way, you are the reason I exist. If you had not eliminated our fleet in the wormhole, there would have been no need to breed Alpha Quadrant Jem'Hadar.\nSisko: You didn't bring me here to say thank you.\nKudak'Etan: No. The impulse engines sustained only minor damage in our attack, but the warp drive was severely damaged. I need your technical expertise in order to repair it. Bring Captain to the engine room so he may begin necessary repairs.\nIxtana'Rax: It's a mistake. Giving him access to the engine room will only give him an opportunity to retake the ship. In fact, he's working on a plan at this very moment.\nKudak'Etan: I was not aware that telepathy was a Gamma characteristic.\nIxtana'Rax: I know what he's thinking because it's exactly what I would be doing in his position. You should kill him now, before he has a chance to put his plan into motion.\nKudak'Etan: You are the Second. I am the First. Do not presume to tell me what to do.\nSisko: I'm glad the two of you worked that out. Now, what makes you think I'm going to help you?\nKudak'Etan: Your choice is to repair the warp drive or watch me execute your crew one at a time. Have Sixth Duran'Adar select one of the prisoners for execution and bring him to the bridge!\nSisko: I can't do this job alone. I'm going to need some of my crew.\nKudak'Etan: How many?\nIxtana'Rax: I strongly suggest that you refuse this request.\nSisko: You have the weapons. Are you afraid you can't handle a few unarmed prisoners?\nIxtana'Rax: I won't be baited by a prisoner, and neither should you.\nSisko: Okay. I'm in no hurry to reach a Dominion prison camp. if you want me to teach your men how to repair the warp drive, that's fine with me. We'll begin with primary command and control systems. That should take about six hours. Then we will move up to basic engineering theory for a class seven warp drive. Then\nIxtana'Rax: Enough.\nKudak'Etan: You may have the three other Bridge officers, but that is all. And I am not interested in any more of your suggestions. Now take him to the engine room.\nDax: Where are we, Chief?\nO'Brien: We've just about reached the bi-polar flow junction, I think.\nBashir: You think?\nO'Brien: I'm not used to seeing things from this perspective. Once we reach the flow junction we should be able to go up into the secondary warp plasma feed and then exit via the diagnostic panel.\nBashir: This conduit's filthy, Chief. Don't you ever clean up in here?\nDax: All right, all right. Let's not badger the Chief.\nO'Brien: Thank you.\nBashir: I'm sorry. It was very small of me.\nIxtana'Rax: Whatever it is you're planning, don't. I'll be watching you, and at the first sign of treachery I will kill all your bridge officers.\nSisko: I'm a prisoner. I have no intention\nIxtana'Rax: The First may be a fool, but I am not.\nSisko: Then it is a pity for you that you are not the First.\nIxtana'Rax: I was, until two days ago. If we had captured you while I was in command we wouldn't be having this conversation. Deck two, section five.\nSisko: What happened?\nIxtana'Rax: He is an Alpha, I am a Gamma. His DNA and psychological profile are specifically designed for combat in this quadrant. The Founders believe that makes him a better leader.\nSisko: What do you believe?\nIxtana'Rax: I believe I've given you enough information already.\nKudak'Etan: We have restored impulse power, and the warp drive will be operational in five hours.\nGelnon: Excellent. It's good to see my faith in you has not been misplaced. The Founders will be pleased. If you require no more assistance, I will resume our mission to Coridan. Let's hope the Federation's dilithium miners will be as surprised to see us as the Defiant's crew was.\nKudak'Etan: Victory is Life.\nGelnon: Indeed.\nKudak'Etan: Set course for the closest Dominion outpost. Engage impulse engines.\nO'Brien: Uh oh.\nDax: What is it?\nO'Brien: The magnetic plasma guides are heating up.\nDax: They must have initiated the impulse prestart sequence.\nBashir: What does that mean, then?\nDax: It means this entire conduit is about to be filled with superheated plasma.\nBashir: When you say superheated?\nO'Brien: If I can't find another way out of here, we'll be vaporized. Is that clear?\nBashir: Crystal.\nO'Brien: There's a distribution manifold coming up. Take the left conduit, then make a quick right into the relays.\nDax: Left, then right.\nBashir: I hope you know where you're going, Chief.\nO'Brien: So do I. Through the relays. There's an inspection hatch coming up on the right. If we can figure out a way to open the hatch\nDax: We're out of time.\nBashir: What about the hatch?\nDax: We'll have to open it the old-fashioned way.\nBashir: Let's not do that again.\nDax: No promises. So where are we, Chief?\nO'Brien: We should be in the engine room near, the warp core.\nDax: Right. There's the core. Looks like the warp drive is offline.\nBashir: Quite a mess. I wonder what happened?\nIxtana'Rax: What are you doing?\nKira: Realigning the dilithium articulation frame.\nIxtana'Rax: Instruct him on how to complete the realignment.\nKira: It'll take longer to explain, than just to do it my\nIxtana'Rax: Then explain it quickly. Give him the tool.\nKira: All right. Start by decoupling the lateral microbrace.\nDax: That's not good.\nDax: Chief, I need visual sensors as fast as you can give them to me.\nO'Brien: Right. Julian, give me a hand down here.\nO'Brien: Okay, you should have visual sensors now. The comm. system's back online.\nDax: They're forcing our crew to repair the warp drive.\nBashir: Why's the Captain going along with this?\nDax: Good question. But if I know Benjamin, he's up to something. Can you give me a tight shot on the operations display?\nO'Brien: I think so.\nDax: Do you see what I see?\nO'Brien: Very clever.\nDax: Problem is, it's never going to work.\nO'Brien: The bridge control lockouts.\nDax: The security codes are hardwired through the encryption circuitry.\nBashir: Will someone please let me in on this conversation?\nO'Brien: The Captain's trying to take control of the ship from Engineering. Kira is the only one actually working on the warp drive, and it doesn't look like she's in any hurry to get it done.\nDax: I think Worf's trying to cover their tracks. It looks like he's sending false signals through the computer system.\nO'Brien: Nog is the key. He's trying to override the bridge control lockout so he can release the command codes. If he can do that, the Captain can control the entire ship from the operations console. Nog's a smart kid, but it's going to take him weeks to release the codes from here.\nBashir: Can we do anything to help him?\nO'Brien: Not from engineering. If we could get to the bridge, we could release the codes from there.\nBashir: How?\nDax: Wait a minute. One thing at a time. First we need to get out of the engine room without getting caught.\nIxtana'Rax: Why is the Klingon working on the plasma display subsystem?\nSisko: Because I told him to.\nIxtana'Rax: That system has nothing to do with warp drive operation.\nSisko: Maybe not on Dominion ships, but I'll need to use the display to monitor warp plasma stability. Pardon me.\nKira: Until I tell you to stop.\nJem'Hadar: Yes, Major.\nO'Brien: Now what?\nDax: Now we wait until someone walks out that door.\nIxtana'Rax: Sixth!\nSixth: Yes, Second.\nIxtana'Rax: Relieve the Klingon. Take over the repair of the display subsystem.\nSixth: Immediately, Second.\nIxtana'Rax: Give the Klingon another task.\nSisko: Why?\nIxtana'Rax: Because I said so.\nKudak'Etan: Why is the warp drive not online yet?\nIxtana'Rax: He's stalling.\nSisko: Stalling? Your Second is the one who's slowing down the work. He countermands my orders, arbitrarily reassigns my crew. I can't get any work done in here.\nKudak'Etan: You were told to watch them, not to interfere with them.\nIxtana'Rax: You're playing right into his hands. Don't you see that?\nKudak'Etan: Captain Sisko, you have thirty minutes to restore warp power, or I will kill her, and another of your crew every fifteen minutes until you do. And you, Second, will no longer interfere with their work.\nDax: Get ready. When he activates the door sensor, we'll\nBashir: Nice bit of piloting.\nDax: If you liked that, you're going to love what's coming up next.\nSisko: Any luck, Ensign?\nNog: Not yet, sir. The system's always three steps ahead of me. Every time I get past the primary security net, the secondary always kicks me back out and the codes are all reset, and I have to start all over again. Like that. Do you have a backup plan in case this doesn't work?\nSisko: Yes. I'll destroy the ship.\nNog: There are still a few algorithms I haven't tried yet.\nKira: Thanks. All right, I'm ready to connect the deuterium injector. Go to the plasma relay and power it up, but slowly just like I showed you.\nKira: I'm about ten minutes away from initiating the prestart sequence on the warp drive. How's Nog doing?\nSisko: Not good. You'll have to find another problem.\nKira: Too fast! Reinitialize the system and start again, but do it at about half the speed this time. He's not stupid. He's already got the entire command and control system committed to memory. I can't keep him fooled forever.\nSisko: In a battle of wits between you and him, I'll bet on you every time.\nKira: What kind of odds are you giving?\nLamat'Ukan: First? I've realigned the targeting sensors. There were errors in the tracking subroutines.\nKudak'Etan: You were not ordered to check the targeting sensors.\nLamat'Ukan: Well, I thought it a wise precaution in case we encountered an enemy ship on our way home.\nKudak'Etan: Your initiative pleases me. It's a trait that the Gammas lack.\nLamat'Ukan: Well, the Gammas have many flaws.\nKudak'Etan: When we return from this mission there will be need for a new Second. I will recommend you to the Vorta.\nLamat'Ukan: You will not be disappointed.\nKudak'Etan: I'm sure that I won't. It'll be Alphas like us that determine the future of this quadrant. That will be the new order of things.\nO'Brien: Looks like we need another ticket into the bridge.\nBashir: So how long do we wait for someone to open the door?\nDax: We don't.\nWorf: I cannot access the autodestruct system without drawing attention.\nSisko: Plant a computer virus in the warp plasma subprocessor. Set it to cause a core breach once the ship reaches warp one.\nWorf: Understood.\nO'Brien: Don't hit it too hard. It could shatter the control panel.\nDax: Don't worry. I have a light touch.\nBashir: Not according to Worf. What?\nO'Brien: Well we certainly can't release the control lock while the First has his hand on it.\nDax: Can we bypass it?\nO'Brien: I suppose I could reroute the encryption subprocessors manually.\nDax: But?\nO'Brien: But I'd have to leave the ship to do it. And I have to say I'm not fond of the idea. I can think of about a thousand ways a one centimeter man could get fried walking around inside a circuit housing.\nBashir: Relax, Miles. You wouldn't be able go out there even if you wanted to. You wouldn't be able to breathe. The oxygen molecules outside are almost two thousand times larger than anything your hemoglobin could assimilate. You'd suffocate.\nO'Brien: Well, that takes care of that idea.\nDax: Unless. Circuit housings are airtight. I could beam a bubble of compressed air ahead of you and it would expand to fill the housing.\nBashir: It should work. The air would be thin, but you'd be able to breathe for about twenty minutes.\nO'Brien: And then?\nBashir: You'd pass out.\nO'Brien: We'd pass out. You're coming with me.\nO'Brien: This might take longer than I thought.\nO'Brien: All right. If we beamed into the primary safeties junction, we should see a cluster of heuristic subprocessors next to a rectilinear expansion module. The question is, what does a rectilinear expansion module look like when you're one centimeter tall?\nBashir: What? I haven't the faintest idea, but it's amazing. It's like we're in the middle of an optronic forest.\nO'Brien: Looks like we need to go. Julian, stop!\nO'Brien: That chip behind you is carrying twenty microamps of electric current. Now, that's not very much\nBashir: But it's enough to fry every synapse in my tiny body. Thanks for the tip.\nO'Brien: All right, stay right behind me. And don't touch anything without asking.\nBashir: Believe me, I won't.\nLamat'Ukan: The White.\nKudak'Etan: It is time.\nDax: How's it coming, Chief?\nBashir: We're making progress. Aren't we, Chief?\nO'Brien: I'm still trying to locate the security protocol interlink. Shouldn't take much longer.\nDax: Well\nDax: The sooner the better. Things are getting a little crowded up here.\nLamat'Ukan: We pledge our loyalties to the Founders from this\nKudak'Etan: Pah. We're all Alphas here. Our loyalty is demonstrated by our actions, not our words.\nO'Brien: All right. Now\nBashir: Miles, we're lost, aren't we?\nO'Brien: Yes, we're lost! I can draw these circuits in my sleep. I've just never seen them from this perspective.\nBashir: Disorientation is one of the effects of hypoxia, lack of oxygen. Need to focus on a landmark. There. That large isolinear chip, number five eight nine six six stroke delta. What is it?\nO'Brien: Julian, there are two dozen six six delta's in the asymmetric encryption circuits alone.\nBashir: All right, then what's this here at it's base?\nO'Brien: That's a four way interlink shunt.\nBashir: So that would mean that this chip is?\nO'Brien: I don't know. I told you, they all look the same to me.\nBashir: All right, don't look at it.\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: Close your eyes, use your memory. Okay. There's a four way shunt at the base of a eight five nine six six stroke delta isolinear chip, which is where?\nO'Brien: The only four way shunt near a six six delta is at the base of the master differential relay. That's got to be it.\nBashir: So the interlink we want has to be?\nO'Brien: That way.\nSisko: We've got trouble. They're cross-checking the diagnostic protocols.\nKira: Has Nog made any progress?\nSisko: Not yet.\nBashir: It's stuck.\nBashir: Which one?\nO'Brien: That one. No, no, no. That one.\nBashir: You sure?\nO'Brien: Again. Julian.\nO'Brien: Rubicon. Mission complete.\nNog: Oh, I am good.\nJem'Hadar: Come with me.\nIxtana'Rax: All of you, step away from the consoles. Right now!\nNog: Captain. I did it. I don't know how, but I released the command codes.\nSisko: Well done. What we need now is a diversion before they go to warp.\nIxtana'Rax: Silence!\nO'Brien: All the Defiant's command functions have been transferred to Engineering. But nothing's happening.\nBashir: Maybe the Captain doesn't realize he has control of the ship yet.\nDax: Or maybe he's in trouble. The First was called to the engine room a few minutes ago.\nKudak'Etan: How long has the warp drive been repaired?\nIxtana'Rax: At least one hour, maybe longer.\nKudak'Etan: And they managed to conceal it from you?\nIxtana'Rax: You ordered me not to interfere with them.\nKudak'Etan: I also told you to watch them carefully.\nIxtana'Rax: If we had assigned Jem'Hadar to do the repair, as I said\nKudak'Etan: I am not interested in your excuses. Bring the warp drive online.\nIxtana'Rax: Wait! Before we activate the warp drive we should check the entire system for possible sabotage.\nKudak'Etan: That would take hours. Every minute we spend in Federation space exposes us to detection and attack. And I would hate for your last mission to end in failure, Elder. Do it. And when you have sufficient engine power available, bring us to warp four.\nKira: At least we're going to take them with us.\nKudak'Etan: Secure these four with the other prisoners.\nO'Brien: Dax, upper rail.\nDax: I've got him.\nDax: This guy's really starting to get on my nerves.\nBashir: I have got torpedo lock.\nDax: Fire!\nSisko: I'm flooding all compartments except the engine room with anesthesine gas. Major, get that virus out of the computer before somebody on the bridge engages the warp drive.\nKira: Aye, sir.\nSisko: He should've listened to you and killed me when he had the chance.\nIxtana'Rax: He was a First. They don't need to listen. Obedience brings Victory and Victory is\nSisko: Mister Worf, I think your wife is here. Captain's log, supplemental. After completing repairs, we were able to return to the anomaly and successfully restore our runabout and its crew to their normal size. The surviving Jem'Hadar have been transferred to a Federation POW camp.\nDax: Is that your poem?\nWorf: Yes. Bloodwine.\nDax: Can I hear it?\nWorf: It is not finished yet.\nDax: Please, just the first line?\nWorf: All right. But it is my first poem.\nDax: I understand.\nWorf: And I have worked very hard and very long on this.\nDax: I know.\nWorf: And I do not wish to be ridiculed.\nDax: I promise.\nWorf: Very well. This is the story of a little ship that took a little trip. What do you think?\nDax: It's, er, well, it rhymes. There's nothing on this PADD!\nBashir: We were just minding our own business when suddenly, right there in front of us, was this immense Jem'Hadar.\nO'Brien: He looked as tall as a Seltan carnosaur. We were so close, you could see the veins throbbing in his eyeballs. We swung around and ducked behind the operations console. I knew we had to do was get our sensors back online if we were going to be any help to the Captain and the others. So I said to Julian\nBashir: Is there something wrong?\nOdo: Are you sure you've returned to your normal size?\nO'Brien: Of course.\nBashir: Why?\nOdo: Well, you both appear to be a couple of centimeters shorter than you were the last time I saw you. A changeling notices that sort of thing.\nQuark: I didn't want to say anything, but you do look a little on the petite side.\nBashir: Infirmary.\nQuark: And they say you don't have a sense of humor."}
{"text": "Kira: The Defiant searched the area for almost six hours. We couldn't find any sign of survivors.\nSisko: The Cortez was a fine ship.\nKira: You knew Captain Swofford a long time.\nSisko: I introduced him to his wife.\nKira: Patrolling the Cardassian borders is getting more and more dangerous. You never know when you're going to run into a squadron of Jem'Hadar fighters.\nSisko: I guess we popped the champagne cork too soon, hey? Everyone thought the war was over when we retook the station and pushed the Dominion back into Cardassian space.\nKira: I never believed that and neither did you.\nSisko: A lot of good that did the four hundred people on the Cortez.\nKira: Ah, Mister Sisko. How do you like our station so far?\nJoseph: Well, it certainly is big.\nJoseph: I heard about Quentin Swofford. I'm sorry.\nSisko: Look, Dad, I know I haven't been very good company the last few days.\nJoseph: I didn't come here to be entertained. I came to see you and Jake.\nSisko: Well, you certainly picked an interesting time to take your first trip away from Earth.\nJoseph: Well, I figured it was now or never. Besides, I've been worried about you. Last couple of times we've talked it seemed like you were carrying the weight of the entire Alpha Quadrant on your shoulders.\nSisko: Sometimes it certainly feels that way. Dad\nJoseph: Just say it, son.\nSisko: I don't know how much more I can take. I don't know how many more friends I can lose. Every time I achieve a real victory, something like this happens and everything seems to turn to ashes.\nJoseph: So what do you want to do?\nSisko: Maybe it's time for me to step down, let someone else make the tough calls.\nJoseph: I see. No one is indispensable, son. Not even you. Whatever decision you make, I'll support. Of course, if Quentin Swofford was here I'd bet he'd have a few things to say to you.\nSisko: But he's not here, and that's the whole point.\nJoseph: I'd say you have some thinking to do, and I've got a dinner date with my grandson, so you'd better get to it.\nSisko: Who was that?\nSisko: Where'd he go?\nJoseph: Who?\nSisko: The man who just walked by my door.\nDax: I didn't see anyone.\nSisko: I could've sworn.\nKasidy: I don't know what you're so worried about, Ben. I'm not taking my ship anywhere near the Cardassian border.\nSisko: I realize that, but the Dominion is getting bolder and bolder, and your freighter is no match for a Jem'Hadar attack ship.\nKasidy: Ah, they've got to catch me first.\nSisko: You're really not worried, are you?\nKasidy: No. I'm fearless, and you know that. That's why you love me.\nSisko: I think I follow that logic.\nWillie: Hey, Benny.\nWillie: Catch the game?\nSisko: What? Who was that?\nKasidy: Who was who?\nKasidy: Ben, where are you going?\nWoman: Someone help him. Call an ambulance.\nBashir: He's awake now.\nKasidy: Ben, are you all right?\nSisko: I think so.\nJoseph: Thank God.\nJake: Hey, Dad, you scared us there for a minute.\nSisko: What happened?\nBashir: I don't know. I'm reading some unusual synaptic potentials. Your neural patterns are similar to those you experienced last year.\nSisko: You mean when I was having those visions about Bajor?\nJoseph: Visions? Does this have something to do with those Prophets you're always telling me about?\nKasidy: He's not going to need surgery again, is he?\nBashir: I'm not sure yet, so I'd like you to remain overnight for observation.\nSisko: Is that absolutely necessary?\nBashir: Take a look at these readings.\nVendor: Are you going to buy that or not? Personally, I don't see the attraction. Spaceships, flying saucers, men from Mars.\nBenny: What's wrong with men from Mars?\nVendor: Nothing, except it's all make believe. Me, I like war stories. Did you see From Here to Eternity? Burt Lancaster standing there in the middle of Pearl Harbor, machine gun blazing, shooting down those Zeros. If it had been flying saucers, forget about it. So you going to buy that or not?\nAlbert: Benny.\nBenny: Hello, Albert.\nAlbert: I thought you might be going to the office.\nBenny: We could walk there together.\nAlbert: Exactly.\nAlbert: Oh, there they are. You're looking at the Galaxy, I see.\nVendor: Paper here. Paper.\nKay: Voila. A pitcher of plain water instantly becomes a pitcher of iced tea.\nJulius: Incredible. White Rose Redi Tea. What an appallling concept.\nKay: Oh, H. G. Wells would've liked it.\nJulius: I doubt that. No self respecting Englishman would.\nHerbert: Pabst! Pabst! Get out here.\nPabst: What's wrong now, Herb?\nHerbert: I'll give you one guess.\nKay: The battle of the doughnuts, round twenty eight.\nPabst: That's it? That's what you called me out here for, to complain about the doughnuts?\nHerbert: They're stale again.\nPabst: Delicious.\nHerbert: Delicious, my eye. These are two days old and you know it.\nPabst: I have been eating doughnuts my whole life. These weren't baked more than six hours ago.\nHerbert: That's it, I quit. I'm going over to Galaxy.\nPabst: Ha! Galaxy, that rag?\nHerbert: I bet that rag knows the difference between a doughnut and a doorstop.\nBenny: Who's winning?\nKay: A draw, same as always.\nPabst: You want to write Galaxy, go ahead, but they're not going to pay you four cents a word for your stories.\nJulius: You're paying him four cents a word?\nAlbert: Did you see where I put the er?\nBenny: The matches? I gave them to you.\nJulius: If he's getting four, Kay and I should at least get three.\nHerbert: For that fantasy crap you write, you're lucky to be getting two.\nJulius: I beg your pardon?\nKay: What's that?\nJulius: The latest Galaxy.\nKay: Benny has the new issue of Galaxy.\nHerbert: Let me see that. Heinlein, Bradbury, Sturgeon. Quite a lineup. Add Herbert Rossoff to them and it'd be complete.\nPabst: What if I promise you fresh doughnuts tomorrow?\nHerbert: Why should I believe you?\nPabst: I'll even throw in a couple of crullers.\nHerbert: Okay, I'll stay.\nJulius: Don't do us any favors.\nPabst: Good. Now that we've finished with the old business, onto the new. Time to hand out next month's story assignments. Ritterhouse! We're waiting.\nRoy: Okay, friends and neighbors. Let's see what Uncle Roy has for you today.\nPabst: All right, I've titled this one 'Please, Take Me With You.' Who wants it?\nKay: Hmm, what do you think, Jules?\nJulius: I think we can do something with that.\nHerbert: Oh, I bet you can. I can see it now, the lonely little girl befriended by empathetic aliens who teach her how to smile. It's enough to make you go out and buy a television set. Next.\nRoy: This is Mister Pabst's favorite. Honeymoon on Andoras.\nKay: Oh, you've got to be kidding.\nRoy: What? So I had too much sauerkraut on my franks that night. What can I say?\nHerbert: Be that as it may, that is the worst piece of garbage I have ever seen.\nRoy: Thank you.\nHerbert: I'll take it.\nJulius: Of course you will. You have an affinity for garbage, don't you?\nHerbert: The picture may be garbage, but the story? The story will be art.\nPabst: All right, I haven't got a title for this one yet. Anybody got any ideas?\nBenny: I'll think of something.\nPabst: All right, next order of business. Some of our readers have been writing in wanting to know what you people look like.\nKay: Write back and tell them we look like writers. Poor, needy and incredibly attractive.\nPabst: Well our publisher has a better idea. Mister Stone has decided to run a picture of you in next month's issue.\nAlbert: Is this absolutely\nPabst: Necessary? I'm afraid it is. Kay, you can sleep late that day.\nKay: Of course I can. God forbid that the public ever finds out K.C. Hunter is a woman.\nBenny: I suppose I'm sleeping late that day, too.\nPabst: It's not personal, Benny, but as far as our readers are concerned, Benny Russell is as white as they are. Let's just keep it that way.\nHerbert: Oh yes, if the world's not ready for a woman writer, imagine what would happen if it learned about a Negro with a typewriter. Run for the hills! It's the end of civilisation.\nBenny: What about W E B du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright? Did you ever heard of Native Son?\nPabst: That's literature for liberals and intellectuals. The average reader's not going to spend his hard earned cash on stories written by Negroes.\nHerbert: Would someone please shoot me and put me out of my misery?\nJulius: How I long for a gun.\nPabst: I'm sorry, Benny. I wish things were different, but they're not.\nBenny: Wishing never changed a damn thing.\nPabst: Come on, Benny. It's just a photo.\nBenny: I'll try to remember that.\nHerbert: You're a dog.\nPabst: All right, enough standing around. Get back to work.\nRyan: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. What's the hurry?\nBenny: That's my drawing.\nRyan: Is that so?\nMulkahey: Nice suit. Where'd you get it?\nBenny: I bought it. Can I have my drawing back?\nRyan: Hey boy, I'd watch that tone of voice if I were you.\nMulkahey: What are you doing around here?\nBenny: I work here.\nRyan: Yeah? Where?\nBenny: In there.\nRyan: What are you, the janitor?\nMulkahey: Awfully well dressed for a janitor.\nRyan: How do we know that picture's yours?\nBenny: It's the drawing of a space station.\nRyan: Space station?\nMulkahey: Hey, hey, hey, hey. Well, get off it already.\nRyan: Okay.\nBenny: See? It's not worth anything except to me.\nRyan: I say we run him in, check him for priors.\nMulkahey: Nah. We've got to be uptown in fifteen minutes. Take your drawing and get out of here.\nRyan: Hey, hey. You're getting off with a warning this time. Next time, not so lucky. Now get out of here.\nMulkahey: You heard him, move on.\nRyan: I don't know, Kevin. Whole city's going to hell in a handbasket, huh?\nMulkahey: Damn shame.\nRyan: Come on.\nPreacher: And he said to me, 'These words are trustworthy and true.' And the Lord, God of the spirits of the Prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place. Praise the Lord. Open their eyes. Help them to see.\nBenny: Are you talking to me?\nPreacher: Oh, that my words were now written. Oh, that they were printed in a book. Write those words, Brother Benny. Let them see the glory of what lies ahead.\nBenny: Benny? How do you know my name?\nPreacher: Go now and write the truth that's in your heart. The truth that shall set them free! Praise be the word of the Lord. Praise to the word of the Prophets.\nCassie: Hey, baby. Have a seat. The usual?\nBenny: How about scrambling those eggs today?\nCassie: Oh my, aren't we feeling adventurous.\nBenny: I have just written the best story of my life.\nCassie: That's great, baby. I got some good news, too. I talked to Mrs Jackson last night and she's serious about retiring in the next couple of years. I asked her about selling this place to us and she said that she would be willing.\nBenny: Cassie, we have been over this. I have a job. I am a writer.\nCassie: And how much money have you earned doing that?\nBenny: I've only been working at it for a few years.\nCassie: A few years? More like fifteen, if you count all those stories you wrote in the Navy.\nBenny: That was amateur stuff.\nCassie: Oh, baby, neither one of us is getting any younger. Can't you see? This is our chance. We can make some money, we can get married. You're always talking about writing for the future. Well, look around you. This is our future.\nWillie: Cassie, hear the game last night? Went two for four, robbed Snider of a tater. Should have heard the crowd yelling and carrying on.\nBenny: Sure they were yelling. They want to know why the Giants are in fifth place.\nWillie: Would you please tell this fool to take his business someplace else?\nCassie: Well, I've thought about it. Trouble is, if he did leave, he'd take my heart with him.\nWillie: Suit yourself. But if you ask me, it's a waste of a very pretty heart.\nCassie: I don't think so.\nBenny: Strike three. You're out.\nWillie: That's all right, I'll get another turn at bat. How about some steak and eggs?\nCassie: Coming right up. But tell me something. How come you still living uptown? I mean, s famous ballplayer like you, you can live anywhere you want.\nWillie: The hell I can. They can hardly get used to the idea of me playing alongside them. Living next to them? That's a whole other story. Besides, around here, when people look at me, it's 'cause they admire me. There, I'm just another colored boy who can hit a curve ball. Now, if you will excuse me, my public awaits.\nWillie: Ladies. Oh, hi guys.\nCassie: I'll see about those eggs.\nJimmy: Hey, Benny. You wanna buy a watch?\nBenny: How did you get that?\nJimmy: I found it. Nice, huh?\nBenny: Jimmy, you got to turn this around or one days you're going to find yourself in some serious trouble.\nJimmy: Anything I can get into, I can get out of.\nBenny: You keep thinking that way and watch what happens.\nJimmy: Man, why you always trying to lecture me?\nBenny: I'm not trying to lecture you, Jimmy, I'm just trying to help.\nJimmy: You want to help me, you can buy this watch. I can use the cash.\nBenny: Why don't you get a job?\nJimmy: As what? A delivery boy or a dishwasher? No, thanks. I like being my own boss, setting my own hours.\nBenny: Sounds like a great life.\nJimmy: Yours ain't no better. Writing stories about a bunch of white people living on the moon. Who cares about that?\nBenny: I'm not doing that anymore. I'm writing about us.\nJimmy: What, colored people on the moon?\nBenny: Check out next month's issue.\nJimmy: Colored people on the moon. I just might do that. But first, I'm gonna need to raise me some cash.\nDarlene: She's got a worm in her belly. Oh, that's disgusting. That's interesting, but that's disgusting.\nAlbert: And you are, if you don't mind me asking, you are?\nDarlene: I'm Mister Pabst's new secretary. Darlene Kursky. Which one of you's wrote this?\nBenny: I did.\nDarlene: You?\nBenny: Surprised?\nDarlene: It's just it's the best thing I've read since The Puppet Masters. I read a lot of science fiction.\nHerbert: Bless you, my child.\nKay: The world needs more people like you.\nAlbert: The story is really, it's, how should I put it? It's very\nDarlene: Impressive?\nAlbert: Yes.\nHerbert: It's a damn fine piece of writing is what it is. And Deep Space Nine is a very intriguing title.\nJulius: Very admirable.\nHerbert: The master of understatement. What he really means is he wishes he had half your talent.\nKira: You know what, Benny? I like this Major of yours. She's a tough cookie.\nKay: Science fiction needs more strong women characters. I'm always saying that, aren't I, Jules?\nJulius: Ad nauseam, dear.\nRoy: These Cardassians, I like the way you describe them, especially the neck ridges. I'm going to do some sketches for you to take a look at. Make a nice cover.\nPabst: Don't waste your time. You, back to work.\nDarlene: Right away, Mister Pabst.\nPabst: You too, Roy.\nHerbert: Douglas, you're not going to stand there and tell us you don't like this story.\nPabst: Oh, I like it all right. It's good. It's very good. But you know I can't print it.\nBenny: Why not?\nPabst: Oh, come on, Benny. Your hero's a Negro captain. The head of a space station, for Christ's sake.\nBenny: What's wrong with that?\nPabst: People won't accept it. It's not believable.\nHerbert: And men from Mars are?\nPabst: Stay out of this, Herb. Look, Benny, I'm a magazine editor, I am not a crusader. I am not here to change the world, I'm here to put out a magazine. Now, that's my job. That means I have to answer to the publisher, the national distributors, the wholesalers and none of them are going to want to put this story on the newsstand. For all we know, it could cause a race riot.\nHerbert: Congratulations, Douglas. That's the most imbecilic attempt to rationalize personal cowardice that I've ever heard.\nKay: Uh oh, he's angry now.\nPabst: Herb's been angry ever since Joseph Stalin died.\nHerbert: What's that supposed to mean?\nPabst: You know exactly what it means.\nHerbert: You calling me a red?\nBenny: Easy, easy.\nJulius: Calm down, dear boy. We're writers, not Vikings.\nHerbert: I'm not going to stand here and let some craven fascist call me a pinko and get away with it.\nAlbert: Douglas, what did you think of, of my story?\nPabst: I loved it. You see, Albert's got the right idea. He's not interested in Negroes or whites. He writes about robots.\nHerbert: That's because he is a robot. No offense, Albert.\nAlbert: I like robots. They're very efficient.\nPabst: Here, write me a novella based on this picture. I'll print it in next month's issue. You do a good job, you might even get the cover.\nBenny: What about my story?\nPabst: The way I see it, you can either burn it or you can stick it in a drawer for fifty years or however long it takes the human race to become color-blind.\nBenny: I want people to read it now.\nPabst: Fine. You want me to print it? Make the captain white.\nBenny: That's not what I wrote.\nPabst: It's your call.\nCassie: I'm sorry they didn't buy your story, baby. Really I am.\nJimmy: I told you you were wasting your time. A colored captain. The only reason they'll ever let us in space is if they need someone to shine their shoes. Ain't that right, Cassie?\nCassie: I don't know, and to be honest I don't much care what happens a hundred years from now. It's today that matters.\nJimmy: Well, I've got news for you. Today or a hundred years from now, it don't make a bit of difference. As far as they're concerned, we'll always be niggers.\nBenny: Things are going to change. They have to.\nJimmy: You keep telling yourself that.\nCassie: Maybe all this is happening for a reason.\nBenny: You mean maybe it's God's way of telling me that I should quit writing and go into the restaurant business?\nCassie: Hey, it's possible. Baby, I know we can make this work for us. We could be happy. Besides, you don't have to give up writing altogether. Maybe you could write something for the Amsterdam News or some other Negro newspapers.\nBenny: I'm not a reporter, I'm a writer. I write fiction and the Amsterdam News is not going to publish stories about a space station four hundred years into the future.\nWorf: Hear the game last night?\nWillie: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. You don't look so good. You sick or something?\nBenny: Oh, no, I'm fine.\nCassie: You want to lie down in the back?\nBenny: No, no, no, I just need some air.\nCassie: Are we still on for tonight?\nBenny: I'll pick you up about ten.\nWillie: What are you doing till ten?\nCassie: Whatever it is, I won't be doing it with you.\nPreacher: Hello, Brother Benny.\nBenny: You again. I don't understand what you want from me.\nPreacher: To follow the path of the Prophets. Walk with the Prophets, Brother Benny. Show us the way.\nBenny: What way? I don't know what you're talking about.\nPreacher: Write the words, Brother Benny. The words that will lead us out of the darkness onto the path of righteousness.\nPreacher: Write the words, Brother Benny. Write the words.\nCassie: Hey, baby. You forgot all about our date.\nBenny: Our date? I'm sorry. I was working.\nCassie: Ben Sisko? Isn't that your colored captain? Why are you writing another one of those stories. You couldn't sell the last one. What makes you think this one'll be any different?\nBenny: It probably won't be, but it doesn't matter. It's what I've got to do.\nCassie: Right now, what you've got to do is eat.\nBenny: I'm not hungry. What time is it anyway?\nCassie: It's after midnight. I should be getting home to bed. But before I go, what do you say we take a spin on the dance floor.\nBenny: Okay.\nCassie: Mmm. Feels good, doesn't it?\nBenny: I could stay like this forever.\nKasidy: Me, too. It's times like these that I wish we'd never heard of the Dominion.\nBenny: The Dominion?\nCassie: What do you mean? You said something about the Dominion\nKasidy: What is it, Ben? What's wrong?\nBenny: I don't know. I think I'm losing my mind.\nCassie: Tell me. Tell me what's wrong.\nBenny: I'm starting to see things things from my story. It's as if I'm becoming this Captain Sisko.\nCassie: Okay, baby, you just need to get some rest. It's all right, it's all right. I'm with you. I'm with you, baby. Just take it easy. Shh.\nPabst: Have you lost your mind?\nBenny: Lately, I've been asking myself the same question.\nPabst: I give you a novella to write. I even offer you a shot at the cover. Three weeks later, instead of a novella, you come back with six stories. Six sequels to a story I refused to publish in the first place. So I guess the answer to the question we've both been asking is yes, you are certifiable!\nJulius: I think you should print your own stories. You know, through a private publishing house. A nice, elegant, little volume. Fifty to a hundred copies.\nPabst: That's a great idea.\nKay: Might as well write it in chalk on the sidewalk. More people would read them that way.\nAlbert: I've got an idea. Why not make them, you know, a dream?\nBenny: What's that?\nAlbert: Just make the ending of your first story, Deep Space Nine, a dream.\nBenny: Would that make a difference?\nPabst: That depends.\nKay: On what?\nPabst: On who's doing the dreaming.\nKay: Well, obviously someone, er, someone without a lot of hope. A shoeshine boy, a convict, someone dreaming of a better future.\nPabst: A Negro.\nDarlene: Yeah well, I suppose he'd have to be if he was dreaming about a Negro captain.\nHerbert: Hold on. Making it a dream guts the story.\nPabst: Shut up, Herb.\nJulius: I think it makes it more poignant.\nHerbert: What about the other Sisko stories? You can't make them all dreams.\nKay: Let him get this one published first, then he can worry about the others.\nJulius: What do you think, Benny?\nBenny: I think it's better than chalk on the sidewalk.\nBenny: Can I play? Hey, Jimmy, I got great news. We're headed for the stars.\nJimmy: Yeah, sure, whatever.\nBenny: Come on, I'll buy you lunch. I'll tell you all about it.\nJimmy: Later. I got some business to take care of.\nBenny: What kind of business?\nJimmy: Big time. That's all I've got to say.\nBenny: Hey, hey, hey, hold it, hold it. What are you talking about?\nJimmy: Don't worry about it. It's cool, man. I got it under control. I'll see you around.\nWillie: Bottom of seventh, I'm up again. Oh two fastball, ham, into the left field bleachers. Had to be four hundred feet.\nCassie: I know all about it, Willie. I read the newspaper.\nWillie: Oh, but you got to admit, they don't tell like I tell it.\nBenny: Hey, Cassie.\nWillie: Hey, man, did you hear the game last night? I went two for four.\nBenny: Yeah, Willie, that's great. But I just hit a grand slam. They are publishing one of my Sisko stories at three cents a word. Three cents a word!\nCassie: Good for you, baby.\nBenny: That means tonight we are celebrating. Dancing, the works.\nCassie: I'll wear my red dress.\nBenny: You're damn right you will. Three cents a word. Three cents a word.\nBenny: There you are.\nCassie: Oh, my poor feet. Baby, you better marry me soon. I'm not getting any younger.\nBenny: Yes, but you are getting more and more beautiful day by day. I'd be happy just to spend my life waiting on your beck and call.\nPreacher: Brother Benny.\nBenny: I was hoping I'd see you again. I did it. My story's getting published.\nPreacher: The light of the Lord is in his path. But, Brother Benny, this is only the beginning of your journey, not the ending. And the path of the Prophets sometimes leads into darkness and pain.\nCassie: Benny, what is he talking about? Who are you?\nPreacher: I speak with the voice of the Prophets.\nPreacher: And in their words, hope and despair walk arm in arm.\nCassie: Did you understand any of that?\nCassie: Is that gunfire?\nMulkahey: Hey! Whoa! Whoa!\nRyan: Get back.\nBenny: What happened?\nMulkahey: What's it to you?\nBenny: I know him.\nRyan: Yeah? Then maybe you can explain what he was doing trying to break into this car here.\nBenny: Is that why you shot him? Because he was breaking into a car?\nMulkahey: He had a weapon.\nBenny: A crowbar!\nRyan: Yes, now step back.\nMulkahey: Let's go.\nCassie: Stop it! Stop it! Let him go! Stop it, please! Get off of me! Stop it! They're going to kill him. Look, you're going to kill him. Stop it!\nCassie: I'm telling you, baby, you've been cooped up in this apartment for weeks. Going down to the office will do you good.\nBenny: I suppose you're right. I should be there when the first copies of this month's issue are delivered.\nCassie: Absolutely. After all that work you did, you deserve to see your story in print. Just no jumping up and down with excitement. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.\nBenny: I will restrict myself to a proud grin.\nCassie: You're not having any more of those hallucinations, are you?\nBenny: I'm fine.\nKay: What about, It Came From Outer Space.\nJulius: It's a smashing title. Wish I'd thought of it.\nHerbert: Hey, Benny. Long time no see.\nBenny: Is it here?\nJulius: Not yet. Pabst is still at the printers.\nKay: We're waiting for his return with baited breath.\nAlbert: We heard that you were\nKay: We heard they beat the hell out of you.\nBenny: I'm okay.\nAlbert: Glad to see that you're, you know, up and about.\nDarlene: Tell him the good news, Albert.\nAlbert: Oh, it's nothing.\nKay: Nothing? He sells a novel to Gnome Press and he says it's nothing.\nBenny: A novel. Albert, congratulations!\nAlbert: Thank you.\nBenny: Robots?\nAlbert: What else?\nJulius: It's about time.\nHerbert: Douglas? Magazine?\nPabst: There isn't any magazine. Not this month anyway. Mister Stone had the entire run pulped.\nBenny: He can't do that.\nPabst: Oh, he can and he did. He believes, quote, this issue did not live up to our usual high standards, unquote.\nBenny: What's that supposed to mean?\nPabst: It means he didn't like it. Which means the public will simply going to have to get along without any Incredible Tales this month.\nBenny: What exactly is it that he did not like? The artwork, the layout? What high standards is he talking about?\nKay: Take it easy, Benny.\nBenny: No, it's about my story, isn't it? That's what this is all about. He didn't want to publish my story and we all know why. Because my hero is a colored man.\nPabst: Hey! This magazine belongs to Mister Stone. If he doesn't want to publish this month, we don't publish this month. End of story.\nBenny: That doesn't make it right and you know it.\nPabst: Don't tell me what I know. Besides, it's not about what's right, it's about what is. And I'm afraid I've got some more bad news for you, Benny. Mister Stone has decided that your services are no longer required here.\nHerbert: What!\nBenny: You're firing me?\nPabst: I have no choice, Benny. It's his decision.\nBenny: Well, you can't fire me. I quit. To hell with you, and to hell with Stone.\nJulius: Try to stay calm, Benny.\nBenny: No. I'm tired of being calm. Calm never gotten me a damn thing.\nPabst: I'm warning you, Benny. If you don't stop this I'm going to call the police.\nBenny: You go ahead! Call them! Call anybody you want. They can't do anything to me. Not anymore. And nor can any of you. I am a human being, damn it. You can deny me all you want but you cannot deny Ben Sisko. He exists! That future, that space station, all those people, they exist in here. In my mind, I created it. And every one of you know it. You read it. It's here. You hear what I'm telling you? You can pulp a story but you cannot destroy an idea. Don't you understand? That's ancient knowledge. You cannot destroy an idea. That future, I created it, and it's real. Don't you understand? It is real! I created it and it's real! It's real! Oh, God. (Benny collapses, sobbing.\nAmbulance Man: Easy.\nAmbulance Man: One, two three.\nPreacher: Rest easy, Brother Benny. You have walked in the path of the Prophets. There is no greater glory.\nBenny: Tell me, please. Who am I?\nPreacher: Don't you know?\nBenny: Tell me.\nPreacher: You're the dreamer and the dream.\nKasidy: Ben? Ben.\nSisko: How long was I out?\nBashir: Only for a few minutes.\nJoseph: Seemed like forever to me.\nBashir: That's odd. Somehow, your neural patterns have returned to normal.\nJake: That's good, isn't it?\nBashir: Oh, it's very good. I just don't understand how it happened.\nJoseph: How're you feeling, son?\nSisko: I'm okay.\nJoseph: I'm done packing. Transport leaves at eight in the morning.\nSisko: I wish you could stay longer.\nJoseph: I've got to get back to the restaurant. My customers have never gone this long without me. The question is, what are you going to do?\nSisko: The only thing I can do. Stay here and finish the job I started. And if I fail\nJoseph: I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.\nSisko: I've never known you to quote from the Bible.\nJoseph: I'm full of surprises, aren't I? And so are you. Sounds like that dream you had helped you sort things out.\nSisko: I suppose it did. But I have begun to wonder. What if it wasn't a dream? What if this life we're leading, all of this, you and me, everything. What if all this is the illusion?\nJoseph: That's a scary thought.\nSisko: I know, I know. But maybe, just maybe, Benny isn't the dream, we are. Maybe we're nothing more than figments of his imagination. For all we know, at this very moment, somewhere far beyond all those distant stars, Benny Russell is dreaming of us."}
{"text": "Flith: Raimus isn't going to be happy about this.\nKrole: What are you going to do?\nBilby: I don't know. And don't you mean what are we going to do?\nKrole: Raimus told you to get the merchandise.\nBilby: I'll figure something out.\nFlith: You'd better.\nBilby: I said I'll figure it out. I'm hungry.\nFlith: Let's have Krellan food.\nBilby: No. Last time that gave me heartburn.\nFlith: That's because you eat too fast.\nBilby: I eat when I'm hungry. And when I'm hungry, I eat fast.\nFlith: If you're not careful that appetite of yours is going to kill you someday.\nBilby: Don't get your hopes up.\nBilby: Hey, we're using that comm. booth. Go. Order some nozala sandwiches.\nComputer: Computer accessed.\nBilby: Get them to deliver some extra vilm sauce.\nKrole: Who should I bill this time?\nBilby: I don't care who pays for it, just so as long as it isn't us.\nFlith: How about the police?\nKrole: No, we billed them for last night's dinner.\nFlith: Municipal Sanitation. Do you have their account code?\nKrole: I will, in a minute.\nBilby: Krole!\nO'Brien: Don't! Don't touch him. He's being spiked.\nBilby: You all right? They spiked him. They spiked him over a free lunch. What's this city coming to?\nKrole: Look at this. Fused.\nO'Brien: Too bad. That's an expensive piece of hardware.\nFlith: What are we going to do?\nBilby: Don't you mean what is Krole going to do?\nKrole: I can't go to Raimus and ask him to pay for a replacement.\nO'Brien: Well, it might not be as bad as it seems.\nBilby: Are you saying you can fix it?\nO'Brien: It depends.\nBilby: On what?\nO'Brien: How much you're willing to pay.\nBilby: Do you know who I am?\nO'Brien: No.\nBilby: Well if you did, you wouldn't ask that.\nO'Brien: All right. Who are you?\nBilby: Listen, Mister?\nO'Brien: Connelly.\nBilby: I've seen you around here these last few weeks. You're always in here, tinkering around with one piece of junk or another, which tells me that things are not going too well for you. Now, here's my advice to you. Give them to me. You take these. You bring them back tomorrow morning fixed and polished.\nO'Brien: Tomorrow morning it is.\nO'Brien: Bilby asked me to fix these for him.\nChadwick: I'm impressed. I don't think anyone's managed to make contact with the Orion Syndicate so quickly. How'd you do it?\nO'Brien: I spiked one of his men while he was interfacing.\nChadwick: That was a risky thing to do.\nO'Brien: Well, maybe. But I had to get noticed. I want to get this mission over with and go home.\nChadwick: I realize you didn't exactly volunteer for this. Believe me, I wish we hadn't been forced to turn to someone outside Starfleet Intelligence for help.\nO'Brien: Me, too.\nChadwick: The Syndicate killed another one of our undercover operatives last week.\nO'Brien: That makes five in the last year.\nChadwick: We need you to find out who their informant in Starfleet is. Once you give me the name, I'll put you on the next transport home.\nO'Brien: So, what do you want me to do now?\nChadwick: Bilby's going to check into your background. Whatever he finds will confirm that you're a fix-it man down on your luck. Stick to that cover. The Syndicate is always looking for people with your skills. If Bilby offers you more work, take it. Get as close to him as possible.\nO'Brien: Right.\nChadwick: O'Brien. Don't take any more unnecessary risks. These are dangerous men. If they find out who you are, they'll kill you.\nQuark: Major, I'm sorry\nOdo: Excuse me, Major ODO + Odo: Go ahead.\nQuark: There's something wrong with\nOdo: I need a\nKira: All right. You first, then you.\nOdo: I need an engineering crew to run a diagnostic on the internal security sensors. There's been an unusual number of false alarms lately.\nKira: I'll have someone take a look as soon as possible. Now, Quark.\nQuark: There's something wrong with the fire suppression system in the bar. Every time I serve a flaming cocktail, the system engages and snuffs it out.\nKira: I'll put it on the list.\nQuark: Please do. You have no idea what people are willing to pay for a glass of burning alcohol.\nBashir: Excuse me. Major?\nKira: Oh, let me guess. There's a malfunction in the Infirmary.\nBashir: How did you know?\nWorf: Major, there is something wrong with the turbolift.\nKira: I can see that.\nDax: We seem to be having a lot of system glitches.\nKira: It happens every time Chief O'Brien goes away.\nWorf: I do not understand why his staff cannot keep the station running in his absence.\nQuark: He must have left my idiot brother in charge.\nKira: The engineering crew are doing the best they can.\nDax: The problem is no one knows how the Chief keeps all this Federation and Cardassian technology working together.\nQuark: We've got to do something. This can't go on.\nSisko: Sorry, I can't discuss the Chief's whereabouts.\nBashir: I understand that, sir, but it's getting ridiculous, isn't it? How much longer are we supposed to put up with these malfunctions?\nSisko: You know, I wouldn't surprise me if Major Kira or Commander Worf came in here demanding answers. But you? It's not your style.\nBashir: Apparently it is. Here I am.\nSisko: I'm not buying it, Doctor. You didn't come in here to complain. You came in here because you are worried about your friend and you want me to set your mind at ease. I wish I could. But if it helps, I will tell you this. The Chief can take care of himself about as well as anyone I know.\nBashir: You're right about that, sir. You're right about that.\nBilby: Did you fix it?\nKrole: Any feedback?\nBilby: Feedback gives him a headache.\nO'Brien: No, there's no feedback.\nKrole: Well, we'll see, won't we?\nO'Brien: I told you.\nBilby: Very impressive. You know, if I was a suspicious man I might ask myself how a tinkerer living in one room on Jinami Street managed to fix such a complicated piece of hardware so quickly.\nFlith: Good question.\nO'Brien: How do you know where I live?\nBilby: I know a lot about you. Maybe more than you want me to. Come with me.\nO'Brien: Where are we going?\nBilby: For a walk.\nBilby: Have a seat. Not there.\nBilby: Chester doesn't like people sitting in his chair. Don't touch anything.\nBilby: Something wrong?\nO'Brien: You tell me.\nBilby: Did you think I brought you here to kill you? Why would I kill somebody that can fix things for me? I guess a man that's been knocked around as much as you have is always expecting the worst, huh?\nO'Brien: Well, I've pretty much had to get used to the idea that I've got bad luck.\nBilby: Yeah, that was a tough break on Dayos Four. Two years for dealing in stolen goods?\nO'Brien: I didn't know they were stolen. I guess I should've asked the guy I bought it from, huh?\nBilby: Who's to say he'd have told you the truth. Take this, for example. My employer asked me to get three Klingon disruptors for him. Did the man I bought them from tell me they didn't work? No, he did not. Have a look.\nO'Brien: The induction coil is burned out.\nBilby: Can you fix it?\nO'Brien: Sure.\nBilby: I'm glad to hear it. It's going to make my employer very happy.\nO'Brien: What does he want with Klingon disruptors?\nBilby: I didn't ask him. When Raimus tells you to do something, you just do it. You hungry?\nO'Brien: A little.\nBilby: Have some cake. My wife sent it.\nO'Brien: No, thanks.\nBilby: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: It's good.\nBilby: Yeah, she makes it herself. This is her. These are my children.\nO'Brien: Oh, great. Where are they?\nBilby: They're in New Sydney. I'd love to have them here on Farius, but considering the business I'm in, it's not a good idea. You got a family?\nO'Brien: No.\nBilby: You should. It's the most important thing. I send them everything. I pay my fare to Raimus, the rest goes straight to my wife.\nO'Brien: Your fare?\nBilby: Yeah, to Raimus, every month. That's the way it works. He's above me in the organization. You do know what organization I'm referring to, don't you.\nO'Brien: I think so.\nBilby: Good. Krole and Flith, the gentlemen you met earlier, they're below me.\nO'Brien: Lucky them.\nBilby: If you fix these disruptors for me, you could be lucky, too.\nO'Brien: That's good to know.\nBilby: Don't misunderstand. I'm not promising anything. I just need to be sure I can trust you first. Have some more cake.\nO'Brien: No, thanks.\nBilby: I thought you said you were hungry.\nO'Brien: I'm all right.\nBilby: What's the matter? Don't you like my wife's cake?\nO'Brien: I didn't say that.\nBilby: So answer me. Do you like my wife's cake?\nO'Brien: To tell you the truth, it's a little dry.\nBilby: You're right. It is. Had you wondering which way to jump, didn't I? You know, Krole and Flith, they always act as if it's the best thing they ever tasted. Hey, what do you make of that, Chester? I've found me an honest man. Must be my lucky day.\nChadwick: The induction coils you asked for, courtesy of the Klingon Ambassador to Farius.\nO'Brien: There's a Klingon Ambassador here? Gowron mustn't like him too much.\nChadwick: Do you have any idea why Raimus wants these disruptors?\nO'Brien: No. Bilby doesn't even know. Listen, is there any way I could talk to my wife and let her know I'm all right?\nChadwick: We can't risk it. I'm sorry.\nO'Brien: I'd better be going.\nKrole: Flith, go stand over there.\nFlith: Why?\nKrole: I want to see if he really fixed this.\nFlith: Very funny.\nBilby: Contact Raimus. Tell him we have the disruptors. Good job.\nFlith: I'm curious about something. How did you get a hold of replacement parts? Klingon technology isn't easy to come by.\nO'Brien: Ah, you know, you have to know who to go to.\nFlith: Why don't you enlighten us in case we need to procure something else?\nO'Brien: I've got a better idea. Why don't you stay out of my business?\nBilby: Tell us where you got the parts. We can always use a good contact.\nO'Brien: I can't.\nBilby: Why not?\nO'Brien: Well, my supplier would rather remain anonymous.\nBilby: I don't care about your supplier. I'm asking the question.\nO'Brien: I told him I wouldn't.\nBilby: Where did you get the parts!\nO'Brien: I stole them.\nBilby: You stole them?\nO'Brien: Yeah. From a warehouse down on Degora Street.\nBilby: Why didn't you just say so?\nO'Brien: I thought it was better if you didn't know, you know, in case the police caught up with me.\nBilby: You lied to me because you didn't want me to be implicated?\nO'Brien: Yeah. I'm sorry.\nBilby: Did you hear that? He's willing to protect me if he gets caught. Try hard as I may, I can't imagine either of you willing to do that. Hey, you know something? I think it's time we did something about the way you look.\nBilby: Now that's more like it. I think you look great, Connolly. What do you think, Krole?\nKrole: He looks fine.\nBilby: What are you talking about? I took him to the same tailor that I use.\nKrole: You look fine, too.\nO'Brien: Nice handkerchief.\nYint: I understand you've been looking for me.\nBilby: That's right.\nYint: I take it you're in the market for something.\nBilby: Well if I was, I wouldn't buy anything from a man that sold me three useless disruptors.\nYint: You know me better than that.\nBilby: I thought I did.\nYint: Those disruptors were working fine when I gave them to you. What happened after that, I don't know. Perhaps you dropped them?\nBilby: I want my money back.\nYint: You know I can't do that. You took delivery.\nBilby: Let me get something straight. You're telling me there was nothing wrong with this when you sold it to me?\nYint: That's correct.\nBilby: Well, maybe I just don't know how to work it.\nYint: That must be it.\nBilby: What do you know? I figured it out.\nO'Brien: Bilby!\nBilby: Do you know what would've happened if I'd given Raimus three useless disruptors? He'd have killed me.\nYint: If you want your money back, you can have it.\nBilby: Why would I want my money back? It works fine now.\nBilby: No one takes me for a fool. I'll do whatever it takes to protect what I have. This life, it isn't for everyone. Sometimes I wish I could just get away from it all. But what would I do with myself? I'm too old to start over. Besides, who am I to complain? The organization's given me opportunities I never thought I'd have. Once you're part of it, once you're accepted, there's no limit to what you can do if you're smart about it.\nO'Brien: Smart and careful.\nBilby: Glad you're paying attention. I mean, we've got people everywhere. Even on Earth. Hell, we've even got a man in Starfleet.\nO'Brien: Come on. Starfleet?\nBilby: That's correct. Hey, would you do me a favor? Would you remind me to pick up a present for my daughter tomorrow? She's got a birthday coming up.\nO'Brien: Sure thing.\nBilby: I want to be there. Sure hope I can make it.\nO'Brien: How did you get to someone in Starfleet?\nBilby: It wasn't me, it was Raimus. Hey, do you want to come to New Sydney with me? Meet my family?\nO'Brien: If you go, yeah. How did he do it?\nBilby: What's with all the questions?\nO'Brien: Nothing. I just find it hard to believe that someone in Starfleet could be bought. Makes me wonder if he's a double-agent.\nBilby: A double-agent? Then why would he have given us the names of all their undercover operatives? Don't worry, he's the real thing. Raimus met him when he was vacationing on Risa last year. Mister Starfleet was in charge of the weather control system. Raimus offered him a very substantial amount of money to make it stop raining.\nO'Brien: Well, everyone has their price, I guess.\nBilby: It's Krole. Raimus wants to see me.\nO'Brien: What, in the middle of the night?\nRaimus: Bilby.\nBilby: Raimus.\nRaimus: I've brought someone here to meet you.\nVorta: I hope I didn't get you gentlemen out of bed.\nRaimus: Bilby, who is this?\nBilby: He's someone I know.\nRaimus: I've never seen him before. How well do you know him?\nBilby: I know him.\nRaimus: Then it's settled.\nVorta: Is that the extent of your security precautions?\nRaimus: Bilby witnessed for him. That's all that's necessary.\nVorta: If you say so. So, this is Bilby. He seems capable enough.\nRaimus: I told you.\nVorta: I wanted to see for myself. You procured the disruptors for us.\nBilby: That's right.\nVorta: We're going to ask you to do something else. Something very important.\nBilby: You can count on me.\nVorta: I hope so. We'll contact you when it's time.\nRaimus: Don't let me down.\nBilby: I won't.\nVorta: Raimus.\nRaimus: My love to your family.\nBilby: Do you know what I just did for you?\nO'Brien: I think so.\nBilby: I witnessed for you. If anything happens, I'm accountable.\nO'Brien: I understand.\nBilby: Good.\nChadwick: Nice suit.\nO'Brien: Bilby got it for me.\nChadwick: That was generous.\nO'Brien: He's like that. I found out who the informer is. Bilby told me he was in charge of the weather control system on Risa about a year ago.\nChadwick: It should be easy enough to figure out who that was.\nO'Brien: Yeah.\nChadwick: Something wrong?\nO'Brien: Raimus brought someone to meet with Bilby. A Vorta.\nChadwick: You're telling me that the Orion Syndicate is working for the Dominion?\nO'Brien: Opens up a lot of possibilities, doesn't it?\nChadwick: None of them very pleasant.\nO'Brien: So do I get to go home now?\nChadwick: Not until you find out what's going on.\nO'Brien: I was afraid you were going to say that.\nKrole: All right. I've accessed the bank's data files.\nO'Brien: I'm reading a three tier security protocol.\nKrole: I see it.\nO'Brien: It looks like an isolation matrix is protecting the data. You'll have to bypass the encryption lockouts.\nKrole: You make it sound so easy.\nO'Brien: Watch out for recursive dataloops. You don't want to get diverted into a backflow.\nKrole: I'm past the lockouts.\nO'Brien: Sweep the matrix. Give me an access point.\nKrole: Stand by. Go.\nO'Brien: Initiating data transfer.\nKrole: Faster.\nO'Brien: I'm trying.\nKrole: I can't hold the matrix open much longer.\nFlith: Hurry!\nO'Brien: Got it. Get us out, Krole. Faster. They're tracing you.\nKrole: The lockouts are closing.\nO'Brien: Move.\nBilby: Come on!\nKrole: I'm out.\nO'Brien: We did it.\nFlith: Gentlemen, we just robbed the Bank of Bolias.\nBilby: I was thinking about opening an account there.\nO'Brien: Maybe you should go with a different bank.\nBilby: One with better security.\nBilby: What do you think?\nO'Brien: Very nice, but, er\nBilby: But what?\nO'Brien: I don't want to, you know\nBilby: What do you mean, you don't want to? I brought her here for you.\nO'Brien: I appreciate that, but, but\nBilby: But what? Don't tell me you don't like girls?\nO'Brien: I have a girlfriend.\nBilby: Since when?\nO'Brien: A few days. A week. I don't know.\nBilby: That's great. Why didn't you say anything?\nO'Brien: I don't know. It didn't come up.\nBilby: Listen, I understand. But that's no reason to hurt this girl's feelings.\nO'Brien: Er, we've got some business to discuss so why don't you go on ahead home and I'll call you in a couple of days. Okay?\nO'Brien: Thanks for coming over. It was really nice to meet you.\nBilby: So who is she? This new girl?\nO'Brien: Her name's Kimiko.\nBilby: Where'd you meet her?\nO'Brien: She works in a flower shop. Arranging flowers.\nBilby: Well, bring her by sometime. I'd like to meet her.\nO'Brien: Yeah, I will.\nBilby: A man your age, you should settle down and have a family. It's the most important thing.\nO'Brien: I don't know if it's that serious yet.\nBilby: You let me talk to her for three minutes, I'll let you know if she's the marrying kind. I can read people right away. What's in their hearts. You, for instance. I saw through you the first time I laid eyes on you.\nO'Brien: Oh, yeah?\nBilby: I don't think I've ever seen anyone so alone in my entire life. I said to myself, that man, he doesn't have a friend in the quadrant. Flith and Krole, they thought you were a snake.\nO'Brien: Really?\nBilby: But I knew better. When you came back the next day with that dataport repaired, that's when I knew we're going to do great things together. I'm about to take a step up in the organization. Raimus is giving me an opportunity and I'm going to make the best of it. Everything's changing. I can feel it. It all started when you came along. You changed my luck.\nO'Brien: I thought you changed mine.\nBilby: I'm going to take care of you. I don't forget my friends, because friends, they're like family. Nothing's more important. Nothing.\nChadwick: You're late. I was beginning to worry.\nO'Brien: Sorry.\nChadwick: That's all right. I imagine the Dominion is keeping you busy.\nO'Brien: Nah, nothing's happened with that yet. I was just doing something with Bilby.\nChadwick: Anything worth reporting?\nO'Brien: We went to the races. We came out ahead.\nChadwick: Oh, I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying your assignment.\nO'Brien: Well, you told me to get close to him. He wanted to go, so I went with him.\nChadwick: No need to explain. I've been under cover.\nO'Brien: Bilby's witnessed for me.\nChadwick: Sounds like you've really got your hooks in him.\nO'Brien: What's going to happen to him when you pull me out?\nChadwick: That's nothing that you need to think about.\nO'Brien: They're going to kill him, aren't they.\nChadwick: Listen. Bilby chose this life. Whatever happens to him is his fault, not yours. Besides, if he's lucky we'll get to him before they do. He'll be safe in a Federation prison. Just help us build a good case against him.\nO'Brien: All right.\nBilby: Good morning, Graife.\nBilby: Raimus. I didn't know you were coming.\nRaimus: I can see that.\nBilby: Well, let me get you something. Graife, make us a strong pot of\nRaimus: Bilby, not right now. This isn't a social visit.\nVorta: Which one is it? Wait. Don't tell me. Let me see if I can guess. They say you can tell a traitor by looking in his eyes. Do you think that's true, Bilby?\nBilby: I wouldn't know. Raimus, what's this all about?\nRaimus: What does it look like?\nVorta: If you ask me, none of them look particularly trustworthy.\nBilby: Raimus.\nRaimus: Not now.\nBilby: But.\nRaimus: I said not now.\nVorta: Him.\nFlith: I've been saying so all along.\nBilby: Raimus, this is crazy. He doesn't know what he's talking about.\nVorta: He was going to be my second guess.\nO'Brien: What did he do?\nRaimus: Let's just say he conducted some business on the side and neglected to pay his fare.\nO'Brien: I see.\nRaimus: It's a good thing you never witnessed for him or you'd be lying there too, Bilby.\nBilby: Yeah.\nVorta: Well, now that that's out of the way, shall we discuss the matter at hand?\nRaimus: We mentioned we might ask you to do something for us.\nBilby: Yeah, whatever you need.\nVorta: So accommodating. He reminds me of a Jem'Hadar.\nRaimus: We want you to assassinate the Klingon Ambassador to Farius.\nBilby: All right.\nVorta: And you'll use the disruptors you procured earlier.\nO'Brien: You want it to look like he was killed by a rival House?\nBilby: Connelly!\nVorta: It's all right. Very astute. Do you know much about political affairs?\nO'Brien: Not really.\nVorta: Well then, allow me to enlighten you. The Ambassador has been advocating that the Klingons break off their alliance with the Federation and concentrate on defending the Empire against the Dominion. Chancellor Gowron, on the other hand, is adamantly committed to the alliance.\nO'Brien: You're going to make it look like Gowron ordered the assassination.\nVorta: Exactly. The Ambassador will be seen as a martyr and his cause will gain strength. If all goes well, the Klingons will retreat into their own territory and then all we'll have to deal with is the Federation.\nO'Brien: Makes sense.\nVorta: I'm glad you think so. Needless to say, it is very important that the Dominion's part in this remain secret.\nRaimus: If something goes wrong and you're captured, you never met our friend here.\nBilby: I understand.\nRaimus: I knew I could count on you.\nVorta: I never realized how much the Dominion and the Orion Syndicate have in common. It seems that in both organizations, loyalty is everything.\nChadwick: How are they planning to get past the Embassy's security?\nO'Brien: Bilby asked me the same thing. I figured out a way to interrupt the power grid for a few seconds. Bilby and his men will be able to beam in before the backup generator kicks in.\nChadwick: When is this supposed to happen?\nO'Brien: Tonight.\nChadwick: I'll contact the Klingons so they can be ready for them.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about? If the Klingons get their hands on Bilby and his men, they'll kill them.\nChadwick: That's not really our business, is it?\nO'Brien: You're setting them up to be murdered?\nChadwick: You have things backwards. Bilby and his friends are the ones that murder people. Not us.\nO'Brien: Oh yeah, we just get Klingons to do it for us.\nChadwick: All I'm doing is following procedures and warning our allies about a possible assassination attempt. What happens after that is not my concern. But believe me, if the Klingons go after Raimus and the Orion Syndicate, I won't shed any tears.\nO'Brien: I'm sure you won't.\nChadwick: Miles, listen to me. You've lost perspective. You're starting to sympathize with these people. It's good that we're pulling you out.\nO'Brien: Pulling me out?\nChadwick: We're putting you on the next transport home. Your assignment's over.\nO'Brien: You told me we were going to make a case against Bilby. You told me he was going to prison!\nChadwick: I'm sorry. I didn't want to mislead you, but you were starting to waver. I needed to keep you on track. Come on. Let's get you home.\nO'Brien: Chadwick.\nBilby: Here you go, Chester.\nBilby: Who could that be?\nBilby: Did you come to see me off?\nO'Brien: We need to talk.\nBilby: Have to wait. I was just leaving.\nO'Brien: You can't go.\nBilby: What are you talking about?\nO'Brien: Look, just trust me. You can't go.\nBilby: Why not?\nO'Brien: It's a trap. Listen to me. The Klingons know what you're planning to do.\nBilby: That's impossible.\nO'Brien: Someone traced my signal when I accessed the power grid.\nBilby: I saw you access the grid. You cut off the trace.\nO'Brien: No, they just made me think I had.\nBilby: You're panicking. Try not to worry so much.\nO'Brien: You're the one who should be worried. Do you have any idea what the Klingons will do to you when they catch you?\nBilby: They're not going to catch me.\nO'Brien: Yes, they will! Starfleet Intelligence will warn them you're coming.\nBilby: How do you know that? I suppose you work for them.\nO'Brien: What if I said I did.\nBilby: Very good. You had me. I mean, just for a minute there I actually thought you were working for Starfleet.\nO'Brien: I am.\nBilby: Come on, That's enough. You had me. I admit it.\nO'Brien: I am working for Starfleet.\nBilby: That's enough! I don't want to hear it. Do you understand me? I don't want to hear it. Why'd you have to come here? Why'd you have to tell me that?\nO'Brien: I couldn't just let you go. The Klingons will kill you.\nBilby: I'm dead already. Can't you see that? I witnessed for you. Do you have any idea what that means?\nO'Brien: What if I can get you off Farius, find you a place to hide?\nBilby: There's no hiding from the Syndicate. You know that.\nO'Brien: Well then, turn yourself in. You'll be safe in prison.\nBilby: No! They'd go after my family. They'd make an example of me. Raimus may leave them alone if he thinks that I died not knowing about you.\nO'Brien: But you can't just let them kill you.\nBilby: What choice do I have? How did I let this happen? I should have known. You were too good to be true. I wanted so much to believe that my luck had changed, I didn't see it. I didn't see it.\nO'Brien: I never meant for this to happen. I wasn't after you. I was just trying to find out how the Syndicate compromised Starfleet.\nBilby: I wasn't even your target. I suppose I'm not important enough. I've always known something like this might happen. The smart thing would be to kill you, but I guess I've already proved I'm not too smart.\nO'Brien: I'm sorry, Bilby.\nBilby: You'll never know how little comfort that is. If it's not too much trouble, will you make sure Chester is looked after? Be good. Mind I ask you something? Back home, wherever that is, do you have a family?\nO'Brien: Yeah.\nBilby: Good. It's the most important thing.\nO'Brien: I'll never forget the look on his face when he found out who I really was.\nBashir: Well, you took an enormous risk by telling him. He could have killed you.\nO'Brien: I knew he wouldn't.\nBashir: Well, all I can say is that you're lucky Chadwick decided not to put everything in his report.\nO'Brien: Julian, don't you understand what I'm trying to tell you. Bilby trusted me. He put his life in my hands and I killed him just as surely as if I'd pulled the trigger myself.\nBashir: That's not fair and you know it. You did what you had to do. Your duty.\nO'Brien: Is that what I'm supposed to tell myself?\nBashir: It is the truth. Look, I'm sorry that I don't have all the answers. All I know for sure is that I'm glad you're back."}
{"text": "Dax: Sell at twenty.\nQuark: Is that a joke?\nDax: Do I look like I'm joking?\nQuark: Evade.\nDax: Exchange at fifteen.\nWorf: She has him.\nO'Brien: She's down fifty strips.\nWorf: Not for long.\nO'Brien: What makes you so sure?\nWorf: Jadzia is playing a very deep game. Her strategy will become apparent any moment now.\nO'Brien: I see. You have absolutely no idea how this game is played, do you?\nWorf: No. But I have developed a new appreciation for it.\nO'Brien: Since when?\nWorf: Since I married a tongo player. But one thing I am certain about, she will defeat the Ferengi bartender.\nO'Brien: I don't know about that. Quark's on a roll. In the last month, he's won two hundred and six straight games.\nWorf: Would you care to make a wager on the outcome?\nO'Brien: I wouldn't want to bet against a man's wife.\nWorf: If you are afraid, I\nO'Brien: Name your stakes.\nWorf: One bottle of bloodwine against one bottle of scotch whiskey.\nO'Brien: Done.\nDax: A sale at fifty and a purchase at one hundred.\nQuark: Pretty big talk for a woman who's lost fifty strips.\nDax: Are you afraid I can't cover my bets?\nQuark: Perish the thought. I just hate to kick somebody when they're down. I'll buy at a hundred and confront.\nDax: Well, if you're going to kick me, I'm going to have to kick back.\nQuark: Unbelievable!\nWorf: Eshta, par'machkai. I like my bloodwine very young and very sweet.\nQuark: Is he a friend of yours?\nDax: Just a fan.\nQuark: I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint all your fans.\nDax: A full consortium?\nO'Brien: Two hundred and seven. A single malt, preferably something from the Highlands.\nWorf: I will need some time.\nO'Brien: Oh, your credit's good. Two hundred and seven straight.\nQuark: Thirty six strips of gold pressed latinum.\nDax: Did you just lose a bet?\nWorf: It is of no consequence.\nDax: I'm sorry about that.\nWorf: I would rather lose a bet on you than win on someone else.\nDax: Ooo, good response.\nDax: Are you still running that drill tomorrow afternoon?\nWorf: I was planning to. Why?\nDax: Because I wanted to recalibrate the external sensors before the nightwatch comes on duty.\nWorf: We should be done by sixteen hundred.\nDax: I think that'll work. Oh, the Sutherland is going to be here the day after tomorrow and\nWorf: What were you saying?\nDax: Nothing.\nDax: I don't feel like talking anymore.\nKira: Kira to Worf.\nWorf: Worf here.\nKira: Sorry to bother you, Commander, but I need to see you and Jadzia in the Captain's office immediately.\nWorf: We're on our way.\nWorf: Jadzia, get up.\nDax: I'm coming.\nDax: Hey!\nKira: We don't have a lot of time, so I'll get right to it. For the last two months, Starfleet has been receiving military intelligence from a Cardassian operative. That operative has now sent an emergency signal indicating he needs to speak to someone in a face to face conversation. In thirteen hours, he'll beam an encrypted subspace transmission to these coordinates in the Badlands.\nDax: Who is the operative?\nKira: Intelligence told me that his name is Lasaran, but that's all they'd say about him. They did emphasize several times that he's very important to them and we should send someone to the Badlands as soon as possible. So, with the Defiant gone and most of the runabouts off on exercises with the Ninth Fleet\nDax: We just volunteered to take a trip to the Badlands.\nKira: Afraid so. The Shenandoah is prepped and ready to go on landing pad A. Good luck.\nDax: No.\nWorf: No?\nDax: No. I'm not going to spend two weeks hiking across Vulcan's Forge in the middle of their summer.\nWorf: I thought you always wanted to see the Forge.\nDax: See it, yes. Honeymoon there, no.\nWorf: Well, there's a mountain climbing expedition on Andor that caught my attention.\nDax: Worf, my love. Let me make this very clear. I do not want to spend my honeymoon climbing, hiking, sweating, bleeding or suffering in any way.\nWorf: All right, what do you want?\nDax: Room service.\nWorf: Room service?\nDax: Room service. I want to be pampered. I want a staff to cater to our every whim. I want to be embarrassed by the size of our room. I want a balcony with a view that would make you want to break down and cry from the sheer beauty of it all. And I don't want to spend one moment of our honeymoon suffering from anything except guilt about our complete self-indulgence.\nWorf: Risa.\nDax: Not this time. Welcome to Casperia Prime. The vacation capital of the Horvian Cluster.\nWorf: You have been planning this all along.\nDax: Seemed fair. You did plan the wedding.\nWorf: Very well. Room service.\nDax: Really?\nWorf: Really.\nDax: Well that was easy.\nWorf: Did you want to fight over it?\nDax: No. It's just I didn't expect you to surrender so quickly.\nWorf: Surrender?\nDax: Bad word.\nWorf: Very bad.\nDax: Okay. But you have to admit you've been unusually accommodating lately.\nWorf: What is wrong with that?\nDax: Nothing. It's just unusual. Are you feeling all right?\nWorf: I'm a married man. I have to make certain adjustments to my lifestyle.\nDax: Adjustments? Worf, you're practically easygoing. What's next, a sense of humor?\nWorf: I have a sense of humor. On the Enterprise, I was considered to be quite amusing.\nDax: That must've been one dull ship.\nWorf: That is a joke. I get it. It is not funny, but I get it.\nDax: I don't know if I can get used to the new you. It's kind of eerie.\nWorf: Your problem is you cannot accept change.\nDax: I can't accept change?\nWorf: That is correct.\nDax: Oh, you've got to be kidding. I've changed bodies six times, Worf.\nWorf: Yes, but you are still very set in your ways.\nDax: And look who's talking.\nWorf: Well, I do not have to sleep on the same side of the bed every night, or brush my hair exactly fifty strokes every night, or eat the same thing for breakfast every day, or read the last page of a book before the beginning, or lift up the\nDax: I get the point. I don't know how you can live with someone so monotonous.\nWorf: It is not easy. That was a joke.\nDax: This is going to be a very, very long trip.\nO'Brien: Come in.\nBashir: You're not dressed.\nO'Brien: Is it time?\nBashir: Seventeen hundred on the dot. We have a holosuite for the next three hours and we're going to need every minute of it. Three British agents have disappeared in West Berlin. Now, MI5 suspect the Soviets were involved, of course, however Americans have intercepted a. Er, what are you doing with a tongo wheel?\nO'Brien: I'm brushing up on my game.\nBashir: You play tongo?\nO'Brien: Sure. Well, I used to. That is, I played a game once, a long time ago with a Ferengi privateer and a Romulan mercenary.\nBashir: Fascinating. Anyway, the Americans have intercepted a series of messages from Istanbul to a remote island in the South Pacific which might indicate that\nO'Brien: Let's play a hand.\nBashir: Miles.\nO'Brien: Just one hand.\nBashir: Why?\nO'Brien: I need the practice. I want to beat Quark.\nBashir: Good luck.\nO'Brien: Luck has nothing to do with it. Tongo is a game of strategy and calculated risk.\nBashir: I don't even know the rules.\nO'Brien: Here.\nBashir: All right, let's play.\nO'Brien: I'll deal.\nWorf: Shenandoah log, stardate 51597.2. We have arrived at the designated coordinates near the Badlands and are awaiting the transmission from Lasaran.\nDax: This is it.\nWorf: A very sophisticated encryption matrix.\nDax: Whoever he is, he's good.\nLasaran: Who are you?\nWorf: I am Commander Worf, this is Commander Dax. Starfleet Intelligence has sent us here to receive your transmission.\nLasaran: A Klingon. Why did they have to send a Klingon?\nDax: I'm a Trill. Does that make you feel any better?\nLasaran: Are you trying to be funny?\nDax: Not at all. He's the funny one.\nWorf: What is it you want?\nLasaran: We'll get to that in a moment. First, I have something that you want badly. Information about the Founders. I know how many of them there are in the Alpha Quadrant, where they are and what they're doing.\nDax: We're listening.\nLasaran: I'm sure you are. Now let's talk about what I want. I want out. Now.\nDax: You want to defect.\nLasaran: The Vorta advisor here is getting suspicious, asking questions, making a lot of routine security checks in my section. I can't stay here any longer.\nWorf: Very well. We will relay your message to Starfleet Intelligence and they will arrange to bring you out.\nLasaran: I can't wait for them to make arrangements. In fifteen minutes I am leaving here for the Dominion base on Soukara, and I have a feeling this is going to be the last time that they let me leave Cardassia Prime, so I need to take advantage of this opportunity.\nWorf: Soukara is inside Dominion controlled space. It will not be easy to make a rendezvous near that planet without being detected.\nLasaran: Don't work your brain too hard, Klingon, I've taken care of everything. Three days from now, at exactly seventeen thirty hours local time, I will leave the base and walk into the jungle. It'll be at least two days before they know I'm missing. All you have to do is get me off the planet. Now, there are transporter scramblers protecting Soukara, so you can't beam me aboard your ship. You're going to have to land and meet me at a rendezvous point on foot. I'm sending you all the information you'll need to avoid the Dominion sensors on the ground. Follow my instructions, meet me at the rendezvous point and have a ship waiting.\nDax: We've got the information. It looks pretty thorough.\nWorf: We will need time to study these plans.\nLasaran: You haven't been listening. I don't have time. Once I leave here, I can't contact you again. I have to know if you're going to be there or not, and I have to know now.\nWorf: We will be there.\nLasaran: How far I've fallen, risking my life on the word of a Klingon. Three days. Don't be late.\nO'Brien: All right. I'll buy at thirty with sales at thirty five.\nBashir: Buy at thirty five, sell at one fifty, and index the margin at ten percent.\nO'Brien: Index the margin?\nBashir: Miles, give it up. This just isn't your game.\nO'Brien: We'll see about that. Evade. Do you realize that Quark has won two hundred and seven straight games of tongo?\nBashir: So?\nO'Brien: So someone has to beat him.\nBashir: And that someone is you?\nO'Brien: Why not?\nBashir: Well, for one thing, you can't play tongo. Confront.\nO'Brien: Oh damn.\nBashir: Had enough?\nO'Brien: Not by a long shot.\nBashir: Miles, at this rate it's going to take you another twenty years to be ready to take on Quark.\nO'Brien: One more.\nBashir: Why are you so determined to beat him?\nO'Brien: It's the challenge.\nBashir: The challenge?\nO'Brien: Isn't it enough? Why do you think I became an engineer? The challenge. What do you think has kept me kayaking down the same river week after week for the last seven years? The challenge. Why would I keep playing darts against someone with a genetically engineered hand-eye coordination?\nBashir: The challenge.\nO'Brien: Exactly. I have to do something to keep my mind off the fact that Keiko's been away for six months. Hold on. Maybe I can't beat Quark, but you can. You and that genetically engineered brain of yours.\nBashir: Me? I've only just learned to play the game.\nO'Brien: Yeah, in about ten seconds flat. We can do it, Julian. We can beat him.\nBashir: We? You're talking about me.\nO'Brien: Yeah, well, you're good at calculation, but a little weak on strategy. I'll be your coach.\nBashir: No, thank you.\nO'Brien: Think of it as a challenge.\nBashir: That's your obsession, Miles, not mine.\nO'Brien: Do it for the latinum.\nBashir: Nice try.\nO'Brien: Do it for the satisfaction of the look on Quark's face when he's beaten at a game of tongo to a lowly human.\nBashir: Deal the cards.\nWorf: We are approaching the Soukara system.\nDax: Stand by to bring us out of warp. Now.\nWorf: There is an asteroid field directly ahead.\nDax: That's what we want. The Dominion sensor grid in this system has three gaps and they're all in that asteroid field.\nDax: Want me to slow down?\nWorf: No. Unless you think you should?\nDax: Not at all. In fact I could go faster.\nWorf: By all means.\nDax: Ooo. A man after my own heart.\nWorf: Most impressive.\nDax: Nothing that any three hundred year old pilot couldn't do.\nWorf: We are being scanned from the surface.\nDax: Taking evasive maneuvers Did they get a fix on us?\nWorf: I do not think so.\nDax: Good. We've come too long a way just to get shot down. If you take the helm, I'll scan the surface for a landing site.\nDax: There's the base, the rendezvous point, and the Dominion sensor perimeter. There's a valley about twenty kilometers north of the rendezvous point. It's a long way to go on foot in the jungle, but I don't think we can risk taking the ship any closer to their sensors.\nWorf: Agreed.\nWorf: We have less than two days to reach the rendezvous point\nDax: About ten kilometers a day. That shouldn't be too bad.\nWorf: Do not underestimate the task ahead. We still have to penetrate the sensor grid and avoid the Dominion patrols.\nDax: I know. Find a man in the middle of an alien jungle, and then walk him out without getting caught. Piece of cake.\nWorf: Ready?\nDax: After you.\nDax: Okay, go to twenty five joules.\nWorf: Twenty five joules. Done.\nDax: That's it, we're linked. Here, check my work.\nWorf: Dominion encryption lockouts are bypassed, tricorder linked to their sensor grid, lifesigns masked. Nicely done.\nDax: Thank you.\nWorf: Of course, our tricorders will be useless from now on.\nDax: There you go again, looking for the cloud in the silver lining.\nWorf: I am not complaining. I look forward to walking through the jungle without a map and no idea of what lies ahead.\nDax: Well the funny thing is, you probably are.\nQuark: This is a Ferengi only game, gentlemen.\nO'Brien: You let Dax play.\nQuark: She's an exception. The only exception.\nBashir: You're afraid I'll clean you out.\nQuark: I'm afraid you'll embarrass yourself and ruin the game for the rest of us.\nBashir: I think I can keep up. The question is, can you keep up with me?\nQuark: Don't try and scare me with that genetically engineered intellect of yours, Doctor. Tongo is more than just number crunching. They have yet to create the computer that can master this game.\nBashir: Then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.\nQuark: You realize we're not playing for drinks. This is a high stakes game.\nO'Brien: We came to play.\nQuark: Gentlemen? All right. The buy in is five strips, and you're dealing.\nO'Brien: You better get off to a fast start.\nBashir: They won't know what hit them.\nBashir: Buy at three hundred, sell at three fifty.\nQuark: You're a quick study, Doctor, I'll give you that.\nBashir: You mean quick for a human, don't you, Quark?\nQuark: I would never say something so distasteful during a game.\nBashir: You'd wait until it was over.\nQuark: Of course. Evade. Dax was a quick study too. She told me it only took her two weeks to win her first match. That's practically unheard of.\nBashir: Dax specializes in the unexpected. Still buying at three hundred, selling at four hundred. I'd like to index the margin at twenty percent.\nQuark: Interesting. She certainly did the unexpected when she married Commander Boring.\nBashir: That's for sure.\nQuark: When they first started seeing each other, I thought this can't last. I give it two months. I'll buy at four hundred and sell at five.\nBashir: I had the same thought, although to tell you the truth, I only gave it a month. Confront.\nQuark: She's a real heartbreaker, that one.\nBashir: That she is.\nQuark: Leverage the buy in and sell at five fifty. You know, you go through a lot of ups and downs in my business. There are days when the profits are down and the customers are scarce and you think you'll never see another strip of latinum again. And then Jadzia comes in and flashes that smile of hers. Suddenly things don't seem so bad after all.\nBashir: I know exactly what you mean exactly. You know, sometimes she walks past the Infirmary and all she has to do is wink and somehow that makes my whole day look a little brighter.\nO'Brien: Focus, Julian, focus.\nQuark: Shh.\nBashir: I'll buy that five fifty and index the exchange at ten.\nQuark: And now she's married.\nBashir: Married.\nQuark: Out of reach. I'm converting my reserves and selling at six hundred. You know what's really sad, what really keeps me awake at night? She's out of reach because we let her go.\nBashir: I suppose so. But some things just weren't meant to be. Evade.\nO'Brien: Julian, are you sure you want to\nQuark: Chief, please. You know the rules. No coaching during a round. You're probably right. But what if that's a convenient rationalization? What if deep down in our heart of hearts we both know she's something unique, something we may never see again. A chance at true happiness and we let her slip through our fingers. What if fifty years from now we each look back and say, what a fool I was. Confront. Doctor?\nBashir: Hmm?\nQuark: Confront.\nBashir: Oh. Sorry. Full consortium.\nQuark: Total monopoly.\nBashir: What?\nQuark: You seem to be out of money.\nBashir: Miles?\nO'Brien: We're busted.\nQuark: Thanks for the game. Welcome back anytime.\nBashir: Wait. Quark, did you really mean all that? About Dax being my one last chance for true happiness?\nQuark: Doctor, you don't expect me to show you all my cards, do you?\nO'Brien: You lost.\nBashir: Whatever happened to we?\nO'Brien: We weren't mooning over lost love with a Ferengi holding a total monopoly.\nBashir: You mean all that about Dax was meant to distract me?\nO'Brien: Obviously.\nBashir: I can't believe I let him get to me.\nO'Brien: Not your fault. Genetically engineered or not, you're still human.\nBashir: I guess.\nO'Brien: Let's go get a drink.\nDax: Let's not stand on pride, shall we? Trills don't like the heat, and Klingons don't like the cold. There's no shame in admitting it.\nWorf: Thank you.\nDax: You're welcome. So, how are you enjoying your honeymoon? Are you suffering enough?\nWorf: Almost.\nDax: Is there anything I can get for you?\nWorf: More pain, less cold.\nDax: I don't know why that's funny, but it is.\nDax: Mating call?\nWorf: Five hundred meters that way.\nDax: That didn't take long.\nWorf: Less than three hundred meters.\nDax: Another happy couple.\nWorf: When I was a boy, my father used to take my brother and me on camping trips in the Ural mountains. Every night we would listen to the wolves howling in the distance. Nikolai was afraid of them, but I would lay in my tent for hours just listening. I remember being seized by the urge to just strip off my clothes and run into the night to live in the forest and become something wild.\nDax: He must have been rejected, he's moving away. She's not happy. What? They're getting farther away, aren't they?\nWorf: Yes, but it's because something is coming. And it is close.\nWorf: Jadzia?\nWorf: Lie still.\nDax: I think I can do that.\nDax: Can I have the good news first?\nWorf: No vital organs were damaged.\nDax: Now the bad news?\nWorf: The disruptor burst left an anti-coagulant in your system.\nDax: So you can't stop the bleeding.\nWorf: No.\nDax: Well, I must not have taken the whole burst. I'm not hemorrhaging that bad yet. Just keep me pumped full of painkillers and let's be on our way.\nWorf: Moving could make the bleeding worse.\nDax: Staying here isn't an option. Someone's going to come looking for them when they don't check in. I'd rather take my chances on foot. You ready? You ready?\nWorf: Ready.\nDax: Let's go.\nWorf: We are still twelve kilometers from the rendezvous point.\nDax: And only twenty hours left. Well, I guess it's time we stop having so much fun and pick up the pace, huh? Oh, more plasma? No, thanks. I'm full.\nWorf: Your blood pressure has dropped another twenty percent.\nDax: Love that bedside manner. You know, you should have been a doctor.\nWorf: Your bandage will need to be changed soon.\nDax: I think I'd like a blue chiffon bandage this time. Maybe some rhinestones. Something with a little pizzazz.\nWorf: This is no joking matter. You are seriously injured and we have a great deal of terrain to cover.\nDax: Just trying to lighten the mood.\nWorf: This is neither the time nor the place.\nDax: What happened to that new Worf? You know, the one with the sense of humor?\nWorf: That was a mistake.\nDax: What is that supposed to mean?\nWorf: It means if I had not been joking with you, I would not have allowed the Jem'Hadar to get so close.\nDax: So this is all my fault.\nWorf: No. It is mine. I was trying to be something I am not. By letting down my guard, by ignoring my duty, I allowed my wife to be injured and I put the entire mission in jeopardy. It will not happen again.\nDax: That's not what happened. Without our tricorders there's no way\nWorf: I do not wish to debate this. We have a long way to go and very little time.\nDax: Fine. Let's go.\nWorf: Ready?\nDax: Hypo. There. Good as new.\nWorf: I have to change your dressing.\nDax: That's four bandages in two hours. That's got to be some kind of record. Oh, sorry. I forgot the new rules. Nothing funny. Got to be serious. Life and death. We've got a job to do.\nWorf: Jadzia, I know you are tired, but we have to cover three kilometers before nightfall. Can you do it?\nDax: As long as you got those painkillers, I'll follow you through the gates of hell, sir. That was almost a smile.\nWorf: When this mission is over, I will smile all you want.\nDax: Oh, you promise?\nWorf: I promise.\nDax: Then let's finish the mission and get out of here. Whoa. It's all right, I can stand. Just help me get my balance. I got my balance. Maybe not.\nDax: Let me guess. Things aren't looking up.\nWorf: There has been another drop in your blood pressure and your neural EDL readings are erratic.\nDax: So what's your prescription, Doc?\nWorf: Surgery. At a Starbase.\nDax: Can I get a second opinion? Worf, you have to go on without me and I know that. I understand.\nWorf: My duty requires that I complete the mission regardless of my personal feelings.\nDax: Absolutely. You're a Starfleet officer. So am I. I understand.\nWorf: The information Lasaran has could be potentially invaluable to the war effort.\nDax: You don't have to explain yourself. I'm hurt, you're not. And there's a job to do.\nWorf: I will be back tomorrow night.\nDax: Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.\nWorf: I can have you in the stasis chamber on the runabout in forty five hours.\nDax: No problem.\nWorf: I will leave the medkit. Scan yourself with the tricorder every half hour. The plasma hypospray will be set\nDax: I took basic first aid. I know what I have to do. Worf, it's been a great two months, hasn't it?\nWorf: Yes. Jadzia, I just want to tell you how\nDax: Just kiss me and go.\nSisko: What's the word?\nWorf: She is still in surgery, but Doctor Bashir is hopeful she will make a full recovery.\nSisko: Lasaran's dead. Starfleet Intelligence intercepted a transmission saying that he'd been killed trying to re-enter the base at Soukara. Could you have made the rendezvous?\nWorf: Yes.\nSisko: Yet you turned back to save Jadzia?\nWorf: Yes.\nSisko: Were you aware that the information that man had could have saved millions of lives?\nWorf: Yes.\nSisko: So what happened?\nWorf: You may not understand.\nSisko: Try me, sir.\nWorf: You were at my wedding. You heard the story of the first two Klingon hearts and how nothing could stand against them, and how they even destroyed the gods that created them. I have heard that story since I was a boy but I never understood it, I mean really understood it, until I was standing in the jungle with my heart pounding in my chest and I found that even I could not stand against my own heart. I had to go back and it did not matter what Starfleet thought or what the consequences were. She was my wife and I could not leave her.\nSisko: As your captain, it is my duty to tell you that you made the wrong choice. I don't think Starfleet will file any formal charges. Even a secret court martial would run the risk of revealing too much about their intelligence operations. But this will go into your service record, and to be completely honest, you probably won't be offered a command on your own after this.\nWorf: I understand.\nSisko: I have also issued new orders. You and Jadzia are not to be assigned to a mission on your own ever again. And one last thing. As a man who had a wife, if Jennifer had been lying in that clearing I wouldn't have left her either.\nDax: Hey, I know you.\nWorf: We have met.\nDax: Ah, you're joking again. That's a good sign. Did you make the rendezvous?\nWorf: No. I could not leave you there. Not for Lasaran, not for the mission, not for anything else.\nDax: Lasaran?\nWorf: Dead.\nDax: Are you in trouble?\nWorf: I have been in trouble before.\nDax: I'm sorry. I should've kept going.\nWorf: You have nothing to be sorry about.\nDax: I know how much your career means to you.\nWorf: You come first. Before career, before duty, before anything. I do not regret what I did. And I would do it again.\nDax: I don't know what to say.\nWorf: You could say, thank you for saving my life.\nDax: Thank you for saving my life.\nWorf: And you could say, I would do the same for you, Worf.\nDax: Well, I'd have to think about that. My career is very important to me, you know.\nWorf: And you could say I love you.\nDax: I love you.\nWorf: And I love you."}
{"text": "Dax: The Saratoga put in this morning.\nWorf: We are not having another party.\nDax: I promise, not more than fifty or sixty\nWorf: I can see it now. Two hundred people jammed into our quarters, eating, drinking, laughing.\nDax: Sounds awful. What if I promise absolutely no laughing? No, I mean it. You won't see a single smile the entire evening. It'll be the grimmest party you've ever been to.\nWorf: When do you want to have this party?\nDax: Next week. And I was thinking maybe this evening should have a theme.\nWorf: What kind of theme?\nDax: What if everyone came as their favorite Klingon? Bad idea.\nQuark: Commander, your holosuite is ready.\nWorf: Good.\nDax: Have fun exercising.\nQuark: No party?\nDax: I came this close.\nKira: Thank you, Quark.\nQuark: Don't mention it, Major. Glad to be of help.\nDax: Bajoran lilacs. Is there something going on between the two of you that I don't know about?\nKira: Don't be disgusting.\nKira: I ordered them for myself.\nDax: Well that's nice. I thought you didn't like flowers.\nKira: I don't.\nDax: I'm confused.\nKira: Jadzia, there's such a thing as privacy.\nDax: Not between friends.\nKira: It's my mother's birthday. She would've been sixty today, and my father always said that these were her favorite.\nDax: That's a nice way to remember your mother.\nKira: I wish I did remember her. I was only three when she died at the refugee center.\nDax: Well, I'd bet she'd be proud of you and what you've done with your life.\nKira: I'd like to think so. I've always been proud of her. My father always said she was the bravest woman he ever met.\nComputer: Major Kira. You have an incoming transmission.\nKira: From whom?\nComputer: Unable to identify.\nKira: Put it through.\nDukat: Ah, Major, there you are. I'm sorry to wake you.\nKira: What the hell do you want, Dukat?\nDukat: Oh, don't bother, Major. I guarantee you won't be able to trace this transmission.\nKira: Then why don't you just tell me where you are?\nDukat: Because that's not why I called. I want to help you, Major, the way Captain Sisko helped me.\nKira: I have no idea what you're talking about.\nDukat: Captain Sisko gave me the clarity to see beyond the lies, the self-deceptions that were controlling my life. He helped me see to the truth about myself. And now I'm going to do the same for you. And what better day to do it than on your mother's birthday.\nKira: Is that suppose to upset me, that you know it's my mother's birthday?\nDukat: She was a striking woman, your mother. Although when we first met, she was very self-conscious about that scar along the side of her face. She used to try to cover it up with a strand of hair.\nKira: Nice try, Dukat. But you never knew my mother. She died in the\nDukat: Singha refugee center? I'm afraid not, Major. That was something your father told you because he couldn't bear to face the truth.\nKira: What truth?\nDukat: That your mother left him to be with me.\nKira: You're lying.\nDukat: Your mother and I were lovers almost from the moment we met, and we remained lovers until the day she died.\nKira: I've had enough of this.\nDukat: I see you have lilacs on your nightstand. Your mother would have been touched. She loved Bajoran lilacs. There. I told you the truth was liberating, Major. Now don't you feel better? I do.\nKira: Computer, locate Cardassian occupation file, Singha refugee center. Find and display Bajoran identity profile Kira Meru.\nO'Brien: You're just going to have to take my word for it. The battle of the Alamo would make a hell of a holosuite program.\nBashir: All right, all right, let me get this straight. There are two hundred of us trapped inside some crumbling old mission or whatever, surrounded by two thousand enemy troops, is that right?\nO'Brien: That's right.\nBashir: Do we win?\nO'Brien: No, we lose.\nBashir: Why do you want to play a program where we lose?\nO'Brien: You're missing the point. There's nothing more noble than a heroic defeat, especially against overwhelming odds.\nBashir: In life, maybe, but not in the holosuite.\nKira: Chief, you were suppose to have finished recalibrating those induction modulators yesterday.\nO'Brien: Yeah, we had a bit of a problem replacing some of the coil brackets.\nKira: Save the excuses. I want it done within the hour. Doctor, is there a reason for your visit?\nBashir: What? Actually, Miles and I were chatting\nKira: I thought not. We're on duty here, if you don't mind.\nBashir: I don't want to interfere.\nKira: All right, everyone. We're not at the Replimat. We're not here to drink raktajinos and catch up on the latest gossip. Let's get to work.\nKira: Odo, I've just been informed of the increased criminal activity on the Promenade.\nOdo: It's not as bad as it sounds, Major. We're talking about a few incidents of petty theft. I've already assigned two deputies.\nKira: I'd prefer that you handle the matter yourself.\nOdo: If you think it's necessary.\nKira: I do. And make sure that you keep me informed of your progress.\nOdo: Of course. Is there something else on your mind?\nKira: Meaning what?\nOdo: Meaning I talked with Doctor Bashir. He told me that you seemed irritable. I see he's not exaggerating. Would you care to tell me what's bothering you?\nKira: I appreciate the offer, Odo, but I don't think talking about it is going to help.\nOdo: Sounds serious.\nKira: It is.\nOdo: Well, if you won't talk about it, perhaps you should consider doing something about it.\nSisko: A transmission from Dukat? This is the first I've heard of it.\nKira: That's because I didn't report it.\nSisko: Why not?\nKira: It was of a personal nature. I tried to trace the signal, but\nSisko: What did he want?\nKira: He said he knew my mother, that they were lovers.\nSisko: You don't believe him, do you?\nKira: He knew certain things about her. Personal things.\nSisko: Well, Gul Dukat is a very resourceful man. I'm sure he knows a lot about your family, about all of our families.\nKira: I keep trying to tell myself that, but I need to know.\nSisko: That may not be possible. Major.\nKira: There is a way. I can visit the Temple of Iponu on Bajor and consult the Orb of Time.\nSisko: Excuse me?\nKira: I need to know the truth.\nSisko: Let me get this straight. You want to travel back in time to see if Dukat and your mother were lovers?\nKira: That's right.\nSisko: Major, the Federation has very strict regulations\nKira: This has nothing to do with the Federation. I need your help as the Emissary, not as Starfleet captain. The Emissary can see to it that I am allowed access to the orb. After that, it's up to the Prophets. If they feel that my request is worthy, they'll send me where I need to go. If not, I've made a trip to Bajor for nothing.\nSisko: And if they do send you back, what then? What makes you so sure you won't interfere with the timeline?\nKira: The Prophets will be guiding me. Nothing will happen without their blessings. Please, Emissary, please, let me seek the will of the Prophets.\nTaban: Meru, I found Nerys.\nMeru: Where was she?\nTaban: Wandering over there, scrounging for food.\nMeru: Come here, sweetie, beside me. Here.\nTaban: That's all? It's barely half a cup.\nMeru: They've cut everyone's rations.\nTaban: It's not enough. How do they expect us to survive?\nMeru: The Cardassians don't care whether or not we survive. They won't be happy until we're all dead. Come here, sweetie, come here. Have some soup.\nMan: Excuse me. That soup. It's ours.\nTaban: What are you talking about? My wife stood in line all day to get it. If you think you can just\nMan: Just what?\nMeru: It's for the children. They're hungry.\nMan: We are all hungry.\nKira: That's right, we are. And hunger can make people do stupid things.\nMan: Like what you're doing now?\nKira: Cardassians are the enemy. We shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves. We should be trying to help each other.\nMan: That's what we were doing. Helping ourselves to some soup.\nKira: Hey, you want soup, you go stand in line like everyone else.\nMan: We may have to take orders from the spoonheads, but we don't have to take them from you.\nTaban: Thank you. I wish we could repay your kindness somehow, but we have so little food.\nKira: That's all right. I'm not hungry.\nMeru: I can't remember the last time I met a Bajoran who wasn't hungry. I'm Kira Meru.\nKira: I'm just glad I could help.\nMeru: And this is my husband, Taban. My son Reon, my son Pohl, and my daughter Nerys.\nKira: They're beautiful.\nNerys: Mommy, mommy.\nMeru: What is it, honey? What is it? Tell me. She wants to know what your name is.\nKira: Me? I'm Luma Rahl. It's nice to meet you, Nerys.\nBasso: Attention! The new Cardassian Ore Processing Center orbiting Bajor is nearing completion. The Cardassian troops stationed there will require comfort women to make their tour of duty less stressful. Her.\nChild: No!\nBasso: From now on you'll receive extra rations of food and medicine, courtesy of our Prefect, Gul Dukat. Her.\nTaban: No!\nBasso: And her.\nMeru: But my children!\nBasso: Your children will eat better than they have any right to.\nTaban: Meru!\nReon: Mommy!\nMeru: I love you. Don't let them forget me.\nTaban: Oh, no, no.\nCardassian: I said go!\nBasso: Ladies, can I have your attention please. You will find food in your quarters. Eat as much as you want and make sure you get a good night's rest. You'll want to look your best tomorrow. Oh, and feel free to linger as long as you want in the sonic showers. Cardassians value cleanliness.\nKira: Meru, listen to me. I know things look bad, but don't give up just yet. We'll find a way to get out of here.\nMeru: How?\nKira: There must be a resistance cell operating here on the station. We'll contact them. They'll help us get away.\nMeru: I don't believe this.\nMeru: Fresh moba. Do you know how long it's been since I've seen fresh moba?\nKira: Nice.\nMeru: Nice? Look at this. Katterpod beans, hasperat, veklava, a pot of deka tea. We could live on this for a year!\nKira: Easy, easy. You don't want to make yourself sick.\nMeru: Sick from too much food? That would be a change. If only Taban and the children were here. The Cardassians said they would take care of them, so maybe they will.\nKira: Don't count on it. We need to find a way to get off this station. Once we do, we'll figure out a way to free your family.\nMeru: Then what?\nKira: We'll hide in the hills, we'll join the Resistance.\nMeru: I suppose that's possible.\nKira: Of course it is. Till then, we just need to bide our I'm sorry.\nMeru: I failed to show a Cardassian soldier the proper respect.\nKira: We all have scars of one kind or another.\nMeru: Maybe. But most aren't quite so evident.\nKira: It's not so bad.\nMeru: Why do you keep doing that?\nKira: What?\nMeru: Helping me. First at the refugee center and now here.\nKira: I don't have many friends.\nMeru: Well, you have one now.\nBasso: Well done. I can hardly believe that you're the same women I met yesterday. In fact, you're not. Your old lives have ended. Your pasts have been erased. You have one purpose and one purpose only. To provide comfort and care to the Cardassian officers stationed here. Do that well, and you'll want for nothing. Fail, and you and your family will be sent to a labor camp. Now remember, ladies, you're all easily replaceable. Make one mistake and I won't hesitate to\nDukat: Basso! That's enough. Welcome to Terok Nor. I hope your stay here will be a pleasant one. I assure you, I will do everything possible to make it so. I suspect that many of you must be feeling a bit uneasy right now. I'm well aware that among the Bajoran population there is a perception that all Cardassians are to be feared, that we are a cruel and heartless people. I hope to change that. Not with words, but with actions, in the hope that you will come to appreciate the better part of our nature. I assure you we are capable of great kindness.\nMeru: What of our families? Are they all right?\nBasso: Who said you could speak? Guards!\nDukat: Stay where you are. Your families will be well taken care of. That, I promise you.\nDukat: What is this?\nMeru: I\nDukat: Basso.\nBasso: Forgive me, Prefect. I didn't notice the imperfection. I'll have her removed at once.\nDukat: Get me a dermal regenerator.\nBasso: But\nDukat: Now. I'm afraid to ask how you came by such a mark.\nMeru: It's nothing.\nDukat: On the contrary, it's an unfortunate reminder of the gulf that exists between our two peoples. It must be removed immediately. Just relax. It's all right. Relax.\nDukat: There. Beautiful. Carry on.\nBasso: Well, I'd say congratulations are in order. You've all passed your first test.\nKira: Mind telling me what you're smiling about?\nMeru: The Prophets. I never realized they had such a sense of humor. When I was a child, I dreamed of having enough food to eat and pretty clothes to wear and now look at me. I have everything I ever wanted and I feel horrible.\nKira: It is kind of funny in a horrible way.\nMeru: I suppose if I can survive starvation, I could survive this. After all, we Bajorans can survive anything.\nGul: You! Think you can stand there hiding in a corner all night?\nLegate: I don't remember seeing you before.\nKira: I just arrived yesterday.\nLegate: And I bet I know what you're thinking. You'd like nothing better than to get us all drunk so you could kill us in our sleep.\nKira: Are you sure you're not part Betazoid?\nLegate: Come. Sit on my lap and tell me how much you hate Cardassians. You Bajoran women, you're all so bony.\nKira: That's because you Cardassians eat all our food.\nLegate: You know, I could have you executed for that kind of insolence.\nKira: And that's one of the reasons we hate you so much.\nLegate: Clever girl. Now pour me some more of that kanar and let's see if we can't work out our differences.\nDukat: Let her go. I said, let her go.\nGul: All I said to her was\nDukat: I don't care what you were saying. I don't like what you were doing. Now get away from her. Are you all right? Basso, escort this woman back to her quarters and see that her privacy is respected.\nBasso: She will not be disturbed.\nLegate: I only hope you won't condemn us all for the boorish behavior of one man.\nDukat: I only hope you won't condemn us all for the boorish behavior of one man.\nKira: How did you know he was going to say that?\nLegate: Let's just say this is not the first performance I've seen of this little melodrama. That woman should consider herself fortunate. She's caught the Prefect's eye. As of now, she's off limits to the rest of us. As for you\nKira: I know, I know. More kanar.\nKira: Now, one foot in front of another.\nLegate: Don't tell me what to do. I'll put my feet wherever I want. I'm a Cardassian.\nKira: Whatever you say. Just try not to stumble out of any airlocks on your way home.\nLegate: I'm not going home. I'm coming in with you.\nKira: No you're not. You're going back to your quarters and you're going to sleep.\nLegate: I want comfort and I want it now. You are a comfort woman, aren't you? You're dressed like one.\nKira: Don't let appearances fool you.\nLegate: That mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble someday. Now, let's go get some sleep.\nKira: I have a better idea. You go sleep in your quarters, I'll go sleep in mine, and tomorrow\nLegate: Tomorrow you'll be all mine to do with as I please.\nKira: I can hardly wait.\nKira: Meru, I'm back. I'm going to have to shower for a week to get the smell of that legate off me.\nBasso: I'll be sure to tell him you said that.\nKira: What are you doing here? Where's Meru?\nBasso: Looks like you're going to have these quarters all to yourself, at least for a little while.\nKira: I said where's Meru?\nBasso: She's moving up in the world. Your friend must have hidden talents I wasn't aware of. Our beloved Prefect has invited her to share his quarters.\nKira: I want to see her.\nBasso: Do you?\nKira: I said take me to her.\nHalb: So tell me, how's work going on the ore processing center?\nKira: You ought to join the work detail sometime, find out for yourself.\nHalb: All in good time. Once the center is up and running, we'll all be slaving away down there.\nHalb: I have news for you.\nKira: About my friend?\nHalb: I know why you haven't heard from her in the last few weeks. She hasn't been on the station.\nKira: What are you talking about?\nHalb: Word has it she's been off on a little vacation with Gul Dukat. They just got back today. Why is that woman so important to you? She is nothing but a collaborator.\nKira: She is not a collaborator.\nHalb: She's a comfort woman for the spoonheads, isn't she?\nKira: So was I.\nHalb: For a day. But I've been watching you. You have no love for the spoonheads.\nKira: Neither does my friend. Look, I told you already, I don't want to join your resistance cell. Just leave me alone.\nHalb: I will, I promise. But first I need for you to draw a map for me.\nKira: A map of what?\nHalb: The Cardy side of the station.\nKira: Well, like you said, I was only there one day.\nHalb: Anything you remember will help. Quarters, corridors, meeting rooms.\nKira: Why? What are you planning?\nHalb: It doesn't concern you. Now are you going to help us or not?\nBasso: You. Follow me.\nBasso: You may enter.\nMeru: Luma.\nKira: Are you all right? I've been worried about you since the night they took you.\nMeru: I know. I wanted to get a message to you.\nKira: Has he hurt you?\nMeru: Who?\nKira: Dukat.\nMeru: Hurt me? No, he hasn't hurt me. I wish I knew how to explain to you these past few weeks, make you understand.\nKira: Understand what?\nDukat: That I'm not the monster you think I am.\nDukat: You see? I told you I'd find a big enough vase. What do you think?\nMeru: They're beautiful.\nDukat: I don't think your friend approves of the flowers, or of me. Meru, are you sure this is the woman you want as your companion?\nMeru: Yes.\nDukat: As you wish. The fact is, I've treated Meru with nothing but kindness and consideration. If you don't believe me, ask her. I'll be back as soon as this meeting is finished.\nMeru: It's true. He's very different from what I expected.\nKira: Don't let that smile fool you. He's still the enemy.\nMeru: It's not that simple.\nKira: Yes, it is. Meru, listen to me. While you're in here playing parlor games, he's busy carrying out the extermination of our people.\nMeru: That's not true. He's written to Central Command urging them to rethink their policy toward Bajor.\nKira: I don't care if he played you a holo-recording of him on his hands and knees begging Central Command to end the occupation. It would still be a lie. Like that first night, when he saved you from that Gul? That wasn't real. He set the whole thing up to win you over.\nMeru: He told me. He tells me everything. You just don't know him.\nKira: I don't need to know him. I know the things he's done. Look what he did to you. He took you away from your family, from your children.\nMeru: He's promised to help them. He's going to send them food and medical supplies.\nKira: That still doesn't make it right. What about your husband? Taban loves you. How can you forget him so quickly?\nMeru: I have not forgotten him. What do you expect me to do? Kick and bite every time Dukat comes near me? How would that help Taban or the children?\nKira: Is that what you tell yourself? That you're doing it for the children? The clothes, the food, the easy living, that you're doing it all for them? Are you that deluded? It's not for them, it's for you. You like it here. You enjoy playing house with that murderer. Don't you see what you are, what you've allowed yourself to become? You're a collaborator.\nMeru: A collaborator? Because I share Dukat's bed?\nKira: Nom because you like sharing his bed. Because you've fallen in love with him.\nMeru: Where're you going?\nKira: Back where I belong.\nHalb: It's composed of ultritium resin which means it's doubtful the Cardassian sensors will pick it up. Of course, there's always a chance.\nKira: You let me worry about that.\nHalb: You sound like you've done this before.\nKira: You'd be surprised.\nHalb: Remember, the bomb is set to go off three minutes after it's been activated. And once it's activated, it cannot be disarmed. So make sure you have enough time to get away.\nKira: How large of a blast radius are we talking about?\nHalb: Twenty meters. I suggest you plant it somewhere in Dukat's quarters.\nKira: I'll pick the right spot for it.\nHalb: What about that Bajoran mistress of his?\nKira: What about her?\nHalb: You cannot risk telling her what you're doing, not even to save her life.\nKira: Why would I do that? Like you said, she's a collaborator. She deserves whatever she gets.\nBasso: I'm beginning to find you very tiresome.\nKira: Yeah, I don't like you much either. Now I need you to take me to see Kira Meru.\nBasso: I have better things to do than to shuttle you around this station. It's time you decided which side of this gate you want to be on.\nKira: I have. Now take me to Kira so that I can apologize to her.\nBasso: Guard. A wise decision.\nMeru: I didn't expect to see you again.\nKira: I came because I owe you an apology. The things I said, they were unfair. I'd like us to be friends again.\nMeru: So would I.\nDukat: Whatever makes you happy, my dear.\nMeru: Can I get you something?\nKira: Maybe later.\nMeru: All right. First thing we do is get you some new quarters. Something close by.\nKira: Sounds good.\nBasso: I have a copy of that transmission you requested.\nDukat: Thank you, Basso. That'll be all.\nBasso: What about her?\nDukat: Don't concern yourself with Luma. She's not going to cause us any more trouble, are you?\nKira: That's not what I'm here for.\nDukat: No, it isn't. Well, Basso, you heard. Find her some quarters.\nBasso: Right away.\nDukat: This is for you. I think you'll find it very interesting. I'll be in my study if you need me.\nKira: I'll see to my quarters.\nMeru: Okay, Luma.\nTaban: Meru, I hope the Cardassians aren't lying to me and that they really will send this message to you. I know it's only been a few weeks that we've been back home, but you should see the children. It's like they've been transformed. Reon and Pohl are laughing and playing together, they've never been happier. And I swear, little Nerys must have gained five pounds. Of course, they keep asking for you. I've told them that you're still at the refugee center. I think that's best, at least for the time being. I can't believe how much I miss you. I think about you all the time. You've saved all our lives. I hope you realize that. Never forget it, not even for an instant. Every day I pray to the Prophets that you'll find some peace in this new life of yours. I believe that even in the worst of times, we can still find moments of joy and kindness. If you can find that kindness, hold on to it. And remember, no matter what happens, I love you, Meru. I'll always love you.\nKira: Come on, we've got to get out of here.\nMeru: Why?\nKira: Dukat, get out here now! Go!\nDukat: What?\nKira: There's a bomb.\nDukat: Meru!\nDukat: Get out of the way!\nDukat: Meru, Meru.\nKira: I've always hated collaborators. I mean, what could be worse than betraying your own people? During the occupation, if I ever had doubt about what their fate should be all I would think of my mother, how she gave her life for Bajor. She was a hero, they were traitors. It was that simple. Or so I thought.\nSisko: She did what she had to do to save her family. To save you.\nKira: It doesn't make it right.\nSisko: Maybe not, but it was her decision to make.\nKira: I did some checking. She died in a Cardassian hospital seven years after she met Dukat. Seven years. Do you know how many Bajorans died in labor camps during that time? Died, while my mother sat sipping kanar with Dukat.\nSisko: Tell me something, Nerys. If you hate her that much, why did you save her life?\nKira: Believe me, there's a part of me that wishes that I hadn't. But the fact is, no matter what she did, she was still my mother."}
{"text": "Sisko: Captain's personal log, stardate five one seven, er, five one seven four? Computer, what day is it?\nComputer: Stardate 51721.3.\nSisko: It's only been two weeks. I need to talk about this. I have to justify what's happened, what I've done, at least to myself. I can't talk to anyone else. Not even to Dax. Maybe if I just lay it all out in my log, it'll finally make sense. I can see where it all went wrong. Where I went wrong. I suppose it started two weeks ago,\nSisko: While I was posting the weekly casualty list in the wardroom. Every Friday morning for the past three months, I've posted the official list of Starfleet personnel killed, wounded or missing in the war.\nSisko: It's become something of a grim ritual around here. Not a week goes by that someone doesn't find the name of a loved one, a friend or an acquaintance on that damned list.\nSisko: I've grown to hate Fridays.\nSisko: Who is it, Dax?\nDax: Leslie Wong.\nSisko: The skipper of the Cairo?\nDax: She was an instructor at the Academy when I was a sophomore.\nBashir: Do you know what happened to the Cairo?\nSisko: Just that she disappeared on patrol in the Romulan neutral zone. I'll look into it.\nDax: Don't bother. I'm sure it's the same old story. The Jem'Hadar crossed the Romulan border and caught them by surprise. It's only about the hundredth time it's happened.\nBashir: I can't believe the Romulans allow them to violate their territory so brazenly. Why do they get away with it?\nSisko: The Romulans have a treaty of non-aggression and friendship with the Dominion, so they're willing to turn a blind eye to almost anything in the name of friendship.\nBashir: What we need is to bring the Romulans into the war on our side. With the combined forces of the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans we could finally go on the offensive.\nDax: That's the last thing the Romulans want. Think about it. They're in the perfect position. They get to sit back and watch as their biggest rivals slug it out in a long, bloody war. No one's threatening their interests. Why should they risk their necks? There's simply no reason for them to get involved in our war. No reason at all.\nSisko: That was the moment I made the decision. It was like I had stepped through a door and locked it behind me. I was going to bring the Romulans into the war.\nSisko: It's in their own best interest to join the war, that's the key. That's the reason the Romulans will finally take action. Not to do us any favors, but to protect themselves from the Dominion.\nDax: Okay. Let's say I'm the Romulan Proconsul. From where I'm sitting, the Dominion isn't a threat to me. I have a non-aggression pact with them. They're my allies.\nSisko: You're not going to put your faith in some piece of paper, are you?\nDax: Not at all. I've been watching them very closely since the beginning of the war, and so far, they've kept their part of the bargain.\nSisko: They're violating your territory almost every day. What kind of an ally is that?\nDax: So they're crossing my backyard to give the Federation a bloody nose. I can't say that makes me very sad.\nSisko: You can't be naive enough to think that the Dominion is going to stop with the Federation. When they're finished with us, they're be coming after you.\nDax: That's speculation.\nSisko: The Founders see it as their sacred duty to bring order to the galaxy. Their order. Do you think they'll sit idly by while you keep your chaotic empire right next to their perfect order? No. If you watch us go under, then what you're really doing is signing your own death warrant.\nDax: But before I plunge my people into a conflict that will kill millions of loyal Romulan citizens, I need something more concrete than the self-serving argument of a Starfleet officer. I need proof of Dominion duplicity. Not more words, proof.\nSisko: Very good, old man. You would have made a decent Romulan.\nDax: I prefer the spots to the pointed ears.\nSisko: Okay, you've convinced me. They're going to need evidence. But if there is evidence of a Dominion plan to attack Romulus, it's probably buried deep in the bowels of their headquarters on Cardassia Prime.\nDax: Not exactly the most accessible place in the galaxy.\nSisko: Not for us, maybe. But there is someone on this station who specializes in gaining access to places where he is not welcome.\nGarak: I must say I'm flattered, Captain. I had no idea you held such a lofty opinion of me. Your faith in my ability to retrieve classified information from my former homeland is most gratifying.\nSisko: Mister Garak, let's dispense with the usual repartee and concentrate on the issue at hand. Can you do it or not?\nGarak: No one wants to see the Dominion destroyed more than I do, but to go to Cardassia Prime, penetrate one of the most heavily guarded facilities in the quadrant, steal top secret war plans and then return them safely to you is not just another job. It's more like a suicide mission. And that is well outside my field of expertise.\nSisko: I didn't say you had to go there yourself. I have to believe that a man like you still has a few contacts at home. A colleague from the Obsidian Order, an old friend, a reliable informant. Someone who might owe you a favor.\nGarak: Perhaps.\nSisko: Then I'd say it's time to call in a favor.\nGarak: It would mean calling in all my favors, Captain. To do what you're asking would use up every resource I have left on Cardassia. And it may be a very messy, very bloody business. Are you prepared for that?\nSisko: I posted my fourteenth casualty list this morning. I'm already involved in a very messy, very bloody business. And the only way I can see to end it is to bring the Romulans into the war. I am prepared to do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal, but I can't do it alone. I need help. Now, are you in or out?\nGarak: I'm in.\nSisko: My father used to say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.\nSisko: I laid the first stone right there. I'd committed myself. I'd pay any price, go to any lengths, because my cause was righteous. My intentions were good. In the beginning, that seemed like enough.\nSisko: If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that bad news invariably comes in the middle of the night.\nKira: Kira to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Major.\nKira: We just received a priority one communication from Starfleet Command. The Dominion has invaded Betazed.\nSisko: According to initial reports, the invasion force must have come from somewhere in the Calandra Sector.\nDax: Did Starfleet Intelligence know anything about the buildup?\nWorf: No. They believed Calandra was too far from the Dominion supply lines to be a threat.\nSisko: There's plenty of blame to go around. The Tenth Fleet was supposed to be protecting Betazed and its outlying colonies, but it was caught out of position on a training exercise. What's worse, Betazed's own defense systems are obsolete and undermanned. The planet was theirs in less than ten hours.\nKira: With Betazed in the hands of the Jem'Hadar, the Dominion is in a position to threaten Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, Alpha Centauri.\nDax: If we ever needed a new ally, it's right now.\nSisko: Mister Garak, it's been three days. Have you made any progress?\nGarak: Well I suppose that depends on how you look at it.\nSisko: This is how I look at it is. Betazed has just fallen to the Dominion and we need to get this operation underway.\nGarak: I share your desire for swift action, Captain. In fact, after our last conversation, I made a few diskreet inquiries among my former associates still living on Cardassia. As I anticipated, they shared my loathing for the current government and were willing to take on an assignment aimed at its destruction.\nSisko: That sounds like progress to me.\nGarak: Doesn't it? Unfortunately, they're all dead now.\nSisko: What?\nGarak: Yes. All killed within one day of speaking with me. I suppose that's a testament to the effectiveness of Dominion security. One should admire such efficiency.\nSisko: I'm sorry.\nGarak: I hope you're not giving up that easily. After all, the stakes are much higher than a few dead operatives. The fate of the entire quadrant hangs in the balance. Or at least that's the case you made to me.\nSisko: Do you have another plan?\nGarak: As a matter of fact, I do. But I suspect you won't like it.\nSisko: Try me.\nGarak: If you want to guarantee that we obtain evidence of a Dominion plan to attack the Romulans, I suggest that we manufacture that evidence ourselves.\nSisko: Maybe I should have put a stop to it right there. Maybe I should have said, thank you very much for your input, Mister Garak. I will take your suggestion under advisement, and gone back to my office and forgotten about the whole thing. But I didn't. Because in my heart, I knew what he was saying made sense.\nGarak: His name is Vreenak. He's been a key member of the Romulan Senate for the past fourteen years. He's Secretary of the War Plans Council, Vice Chairman of the Tal Shiar, and one of the most trusted advisors to Proconsul Neral.\nSisko: He's also the man that negotiated the non-aggression pact with the Dominion.\nGarak: Since you're familiar with him, I'll skip the rest of his biography. What's important is that he continues to be one of the most ardently pro-Dominion voices in the Senate. If we can convince him that the Dominion is a threat, the rest of the Senate will follow.\nSisko: All right, how?\nGarak: Ten days from now, Senator Vreenak will be making a trip to Soukara for a diplomatic meeting with Weyoun. I am certain that he can be persuaded to make a secret detour to DS Nine if he were invited by one Captain Benjamin Sisko.\nSisko: How do you know he'll be visiting Soukara?\nGarak: There are some things I'd rather not discuss. May I continue?\nSisko: Please.\nGarak: When Senator Vreenak arrives, you will show him a holographic recording of a secret meeting held at the highest level of the Dominion in which the planned invasion of Romulus is being discussed. You will tell the Senator that this information was obtained through various covert means at great cost to the Federation. At least ten good men lost their lives bringing it across the line, that sort of thing. He will immediately suspect it's a forgery, but you will assure him that such a thing would be impossible. You see, Senator, this is an official Cardassian transcript. It was recorded on a one time optolythic data rod used for official record keeping. These rods are manufactured only as needed on Cardassia Prime. Information can only be transcribed on them once, and then cannot be altered.\nSisko: He'll want to examine it.\nGarak: Of course. And he will diskover to his amazement that it's completely genuine. At least, so it will appear.\nSisko: But in reality?\nGarak: You will have handed him a genuine optolythic data rod, but it will contain one of the most perfect forgeries ever fashioned. I'm still working on obtaining the data rod, but I have located the man who will create the holorecording.\nSisko: You realize I can't authorize a thing like this on my own. I'll have to clear it with Starfleet Command.\nGarak: Of course. But I suspect that with the fall of Betazed, they'll be ready to do whatever it takes to bring the Romulans into the war.\nSisko: I'll let you know.\nGarak: One last thing, Captain. The man we need to forge this holoprogram is currently sitting in a Klingon prison awaiting execution. To save time and incidentally his life, I thought that perhaps you could contact Chancellor Gowron today and arrange a pardon.\nSisko: What's his name?\nGarak: Grathon Tolar.\nTolar: I cannot tell you how grateful I am, Captain. The Klingons were going to execute me tomorrow. Of course, they say that every day. It's one of the little games they like to play.\nSisko: You do understand the terms of your parole?\nTolar: Oh, yes. I have to promise to stay away from the Klingon Empire. That'll be tough. And I have to create some kind of a special holoprogram for you. I can hardy wait. I've never worked for Starfleet before.\nSisko: Let's be very clear about this. You're not working for Starfleet. This entire matter is off the record. As far as you're concerned, you're working for me.\nTolar: Oh. A personal matter. Something special for your eyes only. Something with, perhaps, five or six Orion slave girls and\nSisko: Mister Tolar, I suggest you go wait in your quarters. Mister Garak will provide you with all the information you need.\nTolar: Garak is here?\nSisko: That's right.\nTolar: Oh. Oh. Well, that's different. I'll wait in my quarters.\nSisko: Why I didn't listen to the voice in the back of my mind telling me not to believe a word he said, I'll never know.\nSisko: But it didn't take long for me to come face to face with the fact that I'd made a mistake.\nOdo: Odo to the Captain.\nSisko: Go ahead, Constable.\nOdo: I'm sorry to disturb you, but do you know a man named Grathon Tolar?\nSisko: Yes. Why do you ask?\nOdo: Because he just tried to kill Quark.\nBashir: Sit still, Quark. You'll be fine.\nOdo: All right, keep an eye on him.\nSisko: What happened?\nOdo: As I understand it, Mister Tolar over there came in about two hours ago and ordered a bottle of Whelan Bitters. Fifteen minutes later, he ordered a second bottle, then a third. Halfway through his fourth bottle he decided to dance with M'Pella. She was otherwise engaged running the dabo wheel and declined his invitation. He decided to force the issue. A brief struggle ensued and Quark, in an uncharacteristic display of chivalry, attempted to intervene, so Tolar stabbed him. Normally, he'd be sitting in a holding cell, but he claims he's a friend of yours.\nSisko: He's no friend of mine, but he is working for me. It's an extremely sensitive matter concerning Federation security. I can't have any record of him being on the station.\nOdo: I see. I am certainly aware of the need for special security measures during wartime, but as a matter of law, if Quark chooses to press charges against Tolar, I have no choice but to make an arrest.\nSisko: May I speak to Quark.\nSisko: How is he?\nQuark: How do I look? I'm a man who just had a brush with death.\nBashir: He'll be fine. His ribs deflected the knife from his major organs. The bleeding was superficial.\nQuark: Superficial? Do you know how much this shirt cost?\nSisko: Will you excuse us for a moment, Doctor?\nBashir: I'll check on you tomorrow.\nSisko: Do you intend to press charges?\nQuark: You bet I do.\nSisko: What will it take, er, to, er, convince you otherwise?\nQuark: Are you offering me a bribe? I knew it. Captain, I've always liked you. I suspected that somewhere deep down in your heart of hearts there was a tiny bit of Ferengi just waiting to get out.\nSisko: What's your price?\nQuark: Well, let's start with replacing my clothes and M'Pella's clothes.\nSisko: All right.\nQuark: I'm not finished. I think I should be compensated for the loss of business I suffered today, which I calculate as no less than five bars of gold pressed latinum.\nSisko: Done.\nQuark: I'm also having a problem with station security. They're holding some cargo containers which I've been waiting for because of some missing import license or something.\nSisko: I'll handle it. Anything else?\nQuark: No. I think we can call it a bribe. And thank you, Captain. Thank you for restoring my faith in the ninety eighth Rule of Acquisition. Every man has his price.\nSisko: That was my first moment of real doubt, when I started to wonder if this whole thing was a mistake. So then I went back to my office and there was a new casualty list waiting for me. People are dying out there every day. Entire worlds are struggling for their freedom and here I am still worrying about the finer points of morality. No, I had to keep my eye on the ball. Win the war, stop the bloodshed. Those were the priorities!\nSisko: So I pushed on. And every time another doubt appeared before me, I just found another way to shove it aside.\nGarak: Mind if I join you?\nSisko: Be my guest.\nSisko: Ops.\nGarak: Hold. The less I'm seen parading through Ops, the better.\nSisko: I couldn't agree more.\nGarak: You seem angry.\nSisko: Who's watching Tolar?\nGarak: I've locked him in his quarters. I've also left him with the distinct impression that if he attempts to force the door open, it may explode.\nSisko: I hope that's just an impression.\nGarak: It's best not to dwell on such minutiae. In any case, we have far more important matters to discuss. I've located a gentleman willing to sell us a genuine optolythic data rod.\nSisko: How do you know it's genuine?\nGarak: I trust the source, but rest assured I will confirm the rod's authenticity before I make payment. Which brings me to you.\nSisko: How much does he want?\nGarak: I'm afraid he's not interested in latinum. The gentleman in question has requested to be compensated with two hundred liters of biomimetic gel.\nSisko: What?\nGarak: I don't know why, exactly. One would assume it has something to do with genetic experimentation.\nSisko: Offer him something else.\nGarak: Believe me, I wouldn't be relaying this request if I thought he'd take anything else.\nSisko: Biomimetic gel is strictly controlled by the Federation and not for sale at any price. Find someone else who's willing sell us a rod.\nGarak: I wasn't exaggerating when I told you about the near impossibility of obtaining a genuine Cardassian data rod. It's something of a minor miracle that I was able to locate this one source, I'm virtually certain I won't find another. I'm afraid we either give him what he wants or forget the whole enterprise.\nSisko: Then let's forget about it. Ops. Hold. Two hundred liters is out of the question. There's not that much gel in the entire sector.\nGarak: I believe the quantity is open to negotiation.\nSisko: Ops.\nBashir: Captain, biomimetic gel is an extremely dangerous compound, as you know. I can't release it without at least some idea of where it's going. In the wrong hands, it could be used to make biogenic weapons, or for illegal replication experiments, or to develop organic explosives\nSisko: Perhaps I didn't make myself clear, Doctor. This is not a request, it's an order. You will package eighty five liters of biomimetic gel for interstellar transport and deliver them to cargo bay three. Is that understood?\nBashir: Yes. I'd like this order in writing, please, sir.\nSisko: I thought you might.\nBashir: You should know that I shall note this in my log and file an official protest with Starfleet Medical.\nSisko: That is your right. But I want the gel by the end of the day. Dismissed.\nWeyoun: The Founders have decided to implement stage two ahead of schedule.\nDamar: The invasion of Romulus? It's too soon. We're engaged in heavy fighting all along the border with the Federation. The Klingons are preparing to go on the offensive and\nWeyoun: Fortunately, the Founders have better vision than you do. They can see the opportunities before us even when you cannot. Consider. The Romulans don't expect an attack from Cardassia. The bulk of the Romulan fleet is still deployed along the Neutral Zone with the Federation. The Founders estimate that we could be on Romulus itself in less than three weeks.\nDamar: Three weeks? I heard the same kind of estimates before we attacked the Federation.\nWeyoun: Those plans were ruined by the incompetency of your predecessor.\nDamar: Gul Dukat is a great man.\nWeyoun: Gul Dukat is a preening egotist and a fool. We offered him unchallenged control of the Alpha Quadrant and all he could think about was his daughter. Now, shall we get back to the business at hand?\nGarak: That's it. Freeze program. That's all the new material. The rest of the program plays exactly as you saw it before. What do you think?\nSisko: It's better. They seem more real.\nGarak: Yes, and all I had to do was add a little petty bickering and mutual loathing.\nTolar: So, you are happy?\nSisko: It's satisfactory.\nGarak: You may record the program onto the data rod now.\nSisko: I've received a message. Senator Vreenak is on the way.\nGarak: Excellent.\nTolar: Done. Who gets it?\nGarak: Just put it in the case.\nTolar: Well. It has been a pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen. Call me again if you ever need\nSisko: You're not going anywhere.\nTolar: What? What do you mean?\nSisko: I mean you're not leaving until your work is accepted by our client.\nTolar: That isn't fair. You can't keep me here against my will! I haven't done anything wrong. We had an agreement.\nSisko: I'm making a new agreement. If that program passes inspection, you walk free, but if there's even the slightest flaw, the I will send you back to that Klingon prison and tell Gowron to take his time while he executes you.\nTolar: All right. It will pass. You'll see. It will pass.\nGarak: I sincerely hope so. Now why don't you go back to your quarters. I'll be along shortly to say hello.\nSisko: Maybe I was under more pressure than I realized. Maybe it really was starting to get to me. But I was off the hook. Starfleet Command had given the plan their blessing and I thought that would make things easier. But I was the one who had to make it happen. I was the one who had to look Senator Vreenak in his eye and convince him that a lie was the truth.\nGarak: So while you're entertaining the Senator in the wardroom, I'll take the opportunity to make a quick search of his ship's database.\nSisko: For what?\nGarak: For any intelligence information he may have picked up on the Dominion in Soukara.\nSisko: What if you get caught?\nGarak: Oh, I think that's highly unlikely. I doubt the senator will be traveling with more than four bodyguards at the most. Two will stand watch outside the wardroom and two will stay in the landing bay. I assure you, they'll never know I was even near their ship.\nSisko: Just make sure you don't get caught.\nSisko: Report.\nWorf: Sections fifty two Baker through sixty two Baker have been secured. I have posted armed guards at every entry points and I have personally scanned all compartments for signs of surveillance equipment.\nSisko: Very good, Commander. Maintain current security measures until further notice. No one is to enter this area except for Mister Garak and myself.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nGarak: Always a pleasure to see you, Mister Worf.\nKira: Ops to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Major.\nKira: We've just received the coded subspace signal you were waiting for. Should I reply?\nSisko: No reply, Major. Sisko out.\nGarak: I'll take my leave of you now, Captain. Oh, and one last thing. Vreenak believes he's on the winning side, so until you can prove otherwise, you may have to put up with a certain acerbic attitude.\nSisko: Mister Garak, after having spent a week with you, I have developed a very, very thick skin.\nGarak: Good luck.\nSisko: Welcome aboard, Senator. I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko.\nVreenak: So, you're the Commander of Deep Space Nine, and the Emissary to the Prophets, decorated combat officer, widower, father, mentor, and oh yes, the man who started the war with the Dominion. Somehow I thought you'd be taller.\nSisko: Sorry to disappoint you.\nVreenak: To be honest, my opinion of Starfleet officers is so low that you'd have to work very hard indeed to disappoint me.\nSisko: If you'll come with me, I'll show you to your quarters.\nVreenak: I look forward to seeing your station, while it's still here, that is. The way the war's going with the Federation, it may not be around much longer.\nVreenak: A fair approximation. Somewhat lacking in aroma. Real kali-fal should forcibly open one's sinuses well before the first sip.\nSisko: We don't have much experience in replicating Romulan beverages. Of course, all of that would change if we became allies instead of cold warriors.\nVreenak: You are persistent, Captain, I'll grant you that, but dogged determination isn't enough to change the reality of your situation. Time is definitely not on your side. The Dominion shipyards are working at one hundred percent capacity. Yours are still being rebuilt. The Dominion is breeding legions of Jem'Hadar soldiers every day. You're experiencing a manpower shortage. But most important, the Dominion is resolved to win the war at any cost. You and I both know the Federation has already put out peace feelers. Now, in all candor, if you were in my position, which side would you choose?\nSisko: I'd pick the side most likely to leave us in peace when the dust settles. Maybe you're right. Maybe the Dominion will win in the end. Then the Founders will control what we now call Cardassia, the Klingon Empire and the Federation. So, instead of facing three separate opponents with three separate agendas, you'll find yourselves facing the same opponent on every side. There's a word for that. Surrounded.\nVreenak: It really is a good replica. The aroma's starting to grow on me. For a moment there I almost forgot that it wasn't the real thing, but only for a moment. You make some very good points, Captain, but it's still all speculation and theory. Nothing that would warrant abrogating our treaty and plunging the Empire into war.\nSisko: What if I told you that the Dominion is planning a sneak attack on the Romulan Empire at this very moment?\nVreenak: I'd want proof.\nWeyoun: And with the Cardassian Fourth Order protecting their flank, the Twenty third Jem'Hadar division will begin its thrust across the Glintara Sector. They should begin the invasion of Romulus itself on the following day. Once we've taken the homeworld, organized resistance will crumble when outlying systems and colonies begin looking out for themselves. Consolidation of the entire Empire will take three months at most.\nDamar: What if the Romulan fleet reacts faster than you're anticipating? What if they pull all of their forces away from the Federation border at the first sign of our attack?\nWeyoun: I place my faith in the Founders. They say that the Romulans are not ready for war and will not react fast enough once it begins. Now, do you wish to dispute their judgment?\nDamar: No, of course not. I serve the Founders.\nWeyoun: As do we all. Meeting adjourned.\nVreenak: I'd like to examine that data rod.\nSisko: So all I could do was wait and see how masterful Tolar's forgery really was. So I waited. Tried to catch up on my paperwork. But I found it very difficult to focus on criminal activity reports, or cargo manifests, do I went back to pacing and staring out of the window. I'm not an impatient man. I'm not one to agonize over decisions once they're made. I got that from my father. He always says worry and doubt are the greatest enemies of a great chef. The soufflé will either rise or it won't. There's not a damn thing you can do about it, so you might as well just sit back and wait and see what happens. But this time the cost of failure was so high I found it difficult to follow his advice.\nSisko: If Vreenak diskovered that the data rod was a forgery, if he realized that we were trying to trick them into war, it could push the Romulans even farther into the enemy camp. They could start to openly help the Dominion. If worse came to worst, they could actually join the war against us. I had the distinct feeling that victory or defeat would be decided in the next few minutes.\nVreenak: It's a fake!\nSisko: So it blew up in my face. And all the lies and the compromises, the inner doubts and rationalizations, all for nothing. Vreenak was furious. I can't say I blamed him. I'd have reacted the same way. After telling me in no uncertain terms that he would expose this vile deception to the entire Alpha Quadrant, he got back in his shuttle and headed home. There didn't seem to be anything more to do.\nSisko: So I went back to work. Two days later, I got the news.\nBashir: No one for me today.\nDax: I had one. Maria Tatalia, wounded in action.\nBashir: Friend?\nDax: Friend of a friend. I actually only met her once. I don't think she'd remember me.\nBashir: A friend of a friend between the two of us. Well, I know it sounds a bit strange, but I'd say we're off to a pretty good start today.\nWorf: Captain, we just received word from Starfleet Intelligence that a Romulan shuttlecraft carrying a high ranking senator has just been destroyed.\nSisko: Which Senator?\nWorf: Senator Vreenak. He was returning to Romulus from a diplomatic mission to Soukara when his shuttle exploded. The Tal Shiar are investigating, but preliminary report points to sabotage. They believe that the Dominion is responsible.\nDax: The Dominion assassinated a Romulan Senator.\nBashir: On a diplomatic mission.\nWorf: That changes everything. It could even bring the Romulans into the war.\nSisko: Excuse me.\nSisko: Get up. You killed him.\nGarak: That's right.\nSisko: That's what you planned to do all along, isn't it. You knew the data rod wouldn't hold up to scrutiny. You just wanted to get him on the station so you could plant a bomb on his shuttle.\nGarak: It wasn't quite that simple. I did have hopes that the rod would somehow pass inspection, but I suspected that Tolar may not have been up to the task.\nSisko: And what about Tolar? Did you kill him too?\nGarak: Think of them both as tragic victims of war.\nGarak: If you can allow your anger to subside for a moment, you'll see that they did not die in vain. The Romulans will enter the war.\nSisko: There's no guarantee of that.\nGarak: Oh, but I think that there is. You see, when the Tal Shiar finishes examining the wreckage of Vreenak's shuttle, they'll find the burnt remnants of a Cardassian optolythic data rod which somehow miraculously survived the explosion. After painstaking forensic examination, they'll diskover that the rod contains a recording of a high level Dominion meeting at which the invasion of Romulus was being planned.\nSisko: And then they'll diskover that it is a fraud!\nGarak: No, I don't think they will, because any imperfections in the forgery will appear to be a result of the explosion. So, with a seemingly legitimate rod in one hand and a dead senator in the other, I ask you, Captain, what conclusion would you draw?\nSisko: That Vreenak obtained the rod on Soukara and that the Dominion killed him to prevent him from returning to Romulus with it.\nGarak: Precisely. And the more the Dominion protests their innocence, the more the Romulans will believe they're guilty because it's exactly what the Romulans would have done in their place. That's why you came to me, isn't it, Captain? Because you knew I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing. Well, it worked. And you'll get what you want, a war between the Romulans and the Dominion. And if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant and all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer. I don't know about you, but I'd call that a bargain.\nSisko: At oh eight hundred hours, station time, the Romulan Empire formally declared war against the Dominion. They have already struck fifteen bases along the Cardassian border. So, this is a huge victory for the good guys. This may even be the turning point of the entire war. There's even a 'Welcome to the Fight' party tonight in the wardroom. So I lied, I cheated, I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But most damning thing of all, I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. Garak was right about one thing. A guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant, so I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I can live with it. Computer, erase that entire personal log."}
{"text": "Vic: Thank you. Hey, it's been four hundred years but that little number still works for me.\nBashir: Isn't he terrific?\nWorf: I prefer Klingon opera.\nBashir: Come on, I'll introduce you.\nKira: To a hologram?\nOdo: Doctor, is this really necessary?\nBashir: Trust me, he's no ordinary hologram. Vic. You're terrific. Great.\nVic: Thanks, Doc.\nO'Brien: Wonderful.\nKira: Very nice.\nVic: I know what you're thinking. He has pretty sweet pipes for a light bulb.\nDax: Light bulb?\nVic: That's what I am, right? A collection of photons and forcefields. You know, your basic heuristic, fully interactive hologram.\nO'Brien: He knows he's a hologram?\nBashir: Felix designed him that way. He thought it gave him the right attitude for the era.\nVic: If you're going to work Vegas in the sixties, you'd better know the score. otherwise, you're going to look like a Clyde.\nKira: A Clyde?\nVic: A Harvey, you know.\nWorf: Harvey?\nVic: A square. You know what a square is, right?\nO'Brien: It's one side of a cube.\nVic: Well, I guess that answers my question. Where are your manners, Julian? Aren't you going to introduce me to your entourage?\nBashir: I am so sorry. Commanders Dax and Worf, this is Vic Fontaine.\nVic: How long you kids been married?\nWorf: How did you know we were married?\nVic: When you sing in as many joints as I have, you become a student of the human heart. Don't beat yourself up, pallie. Just because you miss your wife, doesn't mean you've gone blind.\nO'Brien: What's that supposed to mean?\nVic: It means there's a lot of very attractive ladies in the room and it's all right to look at them as long as you don't touch.\nO'Brien: He's good.\nVic: And as for you two.\nOdo: Yes?\nVic: Never mind. Forget I brought it up. You have time for another song?\nBashir: Oh no, we've got to split, Vic.\nVic: Well, you know where to find me. By the way, this is a high class joint. That means coat and ties for the gents, dresses for the ladies. You guys look like a trapeze act.\nBashir: Catch you later, baby.\nO'Brien: Come on, Julian. You told him about Keiko.\nBashir: I didn't say a word. So, why don't we all meet here tomorrow night at twenty one hundred? We can listen to Vic's whole set, then maybe hit the casinos, play a little blackjack, roulette.\nDax: We'll be there. Right?\nWorf: I still prefer Klingon operas.\nKira: Well count me out. I'm leaving for Bajor in the morning.\nDax: Oh, that's right. I forgot. Say hi to Shakaar for me. Sorry. I forgot. Pretend you didn't hear that. She doesn't want anyone to know that she's visiting the First Minister.\nBashir: Business or pleasure?\nKira: Now you see what you started?\nDax: I said I was sorry.\nBashir: So, what do you think?\nO'Brien: About what?\nBashir: About Vic. Clever, isn't he?\nO'Brien: Too clever.\nBashir: I tell you, I owe the man, Miles. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be dating Ensign Walker.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about?\nBashir: She turned down three dinner invitations. I talked to Vic, he gave me a few pointers and voila.\nO'Brien: Julian, are you telling me that you discussed your love life with a hologram?\nBashir: He's not an ordinary hologram, Miles. He knows about life, love, women.\nO'Brien: Three things you know nothing about.\nBashir: Now that's a little unfair.\nO'Brien: Well then, why are you asking for advice from a light bulb?\nQuark: I don't know why you're so surprised. What did you expect was going to happen?\nOdo: I wasn't expecting anything.\nQuark: I see. How long has it been since Shakaar and Major Kira broke up?\nOdo: I don't know. About a year.\nQuark: It's been over a year. You've had plenty of time to arrange a merger with Kira. But in all that time, have you even tried to open negotiations? No.\nOdo: It's not that simple.\nQuark: Odo, the woman waited a year for you to make an offer, any kind of an offer. Face it, you've had plenty of opportunities and you've let them all slip away.\nOdo: Who asked for your opinion?\nQuark: You did. I came here to talk about a missing shipment of groat clusters. You're the one that started talking about the Major. You want my advice?\nOdo: No.\nQuark: Make it easy on both of us. Forget all about her.\nOdo: Is that the best you can do?\nQuark: I'd like to see someone do better.\nOdo: So would I.\nQuark: You're not exactly the most lovable person in the galaxy. You're not even the most lovable person in this sector, or on the station. Or even in this room. You're cold, rigid, remote. Can I leave now?\nOdo: Please do. Wait.\nQuark: Odo, make up your mind.\nOdo: I need a favor from you. It's about Doctor Bashir's new holosuite program.\nQuark: You're up late, Doctor.\nBashir: Yeah, can't sleep. Feeling a bit tense, actually.\nQuark: I've got just the thing. One Warp Core Breach coming right up.\nQuark: A few sips of this and you'll be relaxd for the next three days.\nBashir: I'm not that tense, Quark. Look, I think I'll just go up to the holosuite for a bit and\nQuark: The holosuite?\nBashir: Yes. If you could hand me my new program\nQuark: Sorry, Doctor, all the holosuites are in use.\nBashir: At this hour?\nQuark: It's been that kind of a night. I'm afraid there won't be one available for the rest of this evening.\nBashir: That's unfortunate. Maybe I'll go wake up Miles, play a little tongo.\nVic: I remember back in must've been fifty eight, I was playing the Sands. One night, Frank and Dean dropped by. We ended up taking over one of the blackjack tables. Between the three of us, we must've dropped fifteen big ones and believe me, back then that wasn't chump change. So, Frank goes over to the pit boss. What was his name?\nOdo: Look, Mister Fontaine, I\nVic: Vic.\nOdo: Vic. These stories are all very interesting, but I didn't come here to reminisce about your past. Yesterday, when my friends and I were here, you seemed to know things.\nVic: I've been around the block a couple of times.\nOdo: You seem to know specific things. For instance, Dax and Worf are married, the Chief missed his wife.\nVic: You don't have to be an Einstein to clue into any of that.\nOdo: At one point, you were going to make an observation about Major Kira and myself.\nVic: I thought about it but I didn't want to embarrass anyone you know, give away any secrets.\nOdo: Exactly what secrets are you talking about?\nVic: C'mon, do I really have to connect the dots? You're crazy about the broad but you're afraid to do anything about it. And she? Well, you know.\nOdo: No. Go on.\nVic: It's the oldest story in the book. She thinks of you as a friend.\nOdo: I wouldn't call that a secret.\nVic: But women have been known to change their minds. You just have to give them a reason.\nOdo: You make it sound so easy.\nVic: That's because it's not that hard. The girl already likes you. That means you're halfway home.\nOdo: She's aware of my feelings toward her, but the truth is she prefers Shakaar.\nVic: Who?\nOdo: The First Minister of Bajor. He's a leader, a hero, a man with great charisma.\nVic: I don't care if he's JFK. It's not the other guy you have to worry about, it's you.\nOdo: Me?\nVic: That's right. I mean, for starters you've got to lose this whole Nanook of the North thing.\nOdo: I don't understand.\nVic: Well, you've got about as much personality as an icicle. Cool is one thing, but you're frozen solid.\nOdo: You think I have no emotions. Believe me, I do. I just don't always show them.\nVic: And therein lies the problem. Come with me.\nOdo: Where to?\nVic: Look, pallie, if you want to win the girl, we got to thaw you out a little bit. You know, turn up the heat, get those emotions you claim to have bubbling to the surface. It's time to have some fun.\nOdo: What does fun have to do with Major Kira?\nVic: I'll pretend I didn't hear that. First, let's lose those threads. I mean, here's nothing like a tuxedo to make you feel like a million bucks.\nOdo: You mean something like this?\nVic: Very sharp. After you.\nOdo: Oh, I don't sing.\nVic: Glad to hear it. I don't need the competition. What I do need is someone to handle the black and whites. My piano player just threw ten sevens in a row at the craps table and took off for Reno. So have a seat, my friend, the crowd's getting restless.\nOdo: What crowd?\nVic: That one.\nVic: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Vic Fontaine. And tonight is going to be a gas. Hit it, Nanook.\nOdo: No, I don't play the piano.\nVic: You want to bet?\nVic: Stay with me, pallie.\nOdo: You don't need me. The piano's doing all the work.\nVic: That's not the point. You've got to sell it. Style, baby, style. Make 'em believe.\nOdo: Style.\nOdo: No, it's nothing. Cool!\nVic: Bottoms up.\nOdo: No, I don't drink.\nVic: Why am I not surprised? It's not real booze. You're in a holosuite, remember? How'd you like being in the spotlight?\nOdo: Very bright.\nVic: That's all you've got to say?\nOdo: The lights kept me from seeing the audience. I suppose that's why I wasn't nervous.\nVic: Nothing to be nervous about. You were too busy having fun.\nOdo: I suppose I was. I'm just grateful none of my friends saw me.\nVic: There you go, tensing up again. Look at you. I mean, you're standing there like a statue. I mean, the only things you're going to attract are pigeons. Sit down. Relax. Take a couple of deep breaths. You do that and everything you want will come to you.\nOdo: That's all it takes?\nVic: Try it. Go on.\nVic: See?\nOdo: Are you expecting someone?\nVic: Let's find out.\nGinger: Surprise!\nVic: Well for crying out loud. What are you two lovely ladies doing here?\nMelissa: You invited us, remember?\nVic: Oh, that's right. Come on in. Odo, we've got company.\nGinger: Look, it's the piano player. We saw you perform tonight. Melissa thinks you're adorable.\nMelissa: Would you mind if I looked at your hands?\nVic: Show her your hands.\nMelissa: I knew it. They're so artistic.\nGinger: You know, I once played on the same bill with Liberace. He has the sweetest dimples.\nMelissa: Are you classically trained?\nOdo: No, actually I. Vic taught me everything I know.\nMelissa: Is he a good student?\nVic: Head of his class.\nMelissa: Maybe I can help you get your diploma.\nVic: All right, ladies. The night is young and I have a table waiting for us at the Dunes.\nGinger: We're going to see Shecky?\nMelissa: Shecky.\nOdo: Shecky who?\nMelissa: Oh, you didn't tell me he had a sense of humor.\nGinger: He plays the piano and he's funny. Kind of like Victor Borge.\nOdo: Who?\nMelissa: I think I'm in love.\nVic: After you, ladies.\nOdo: I don't think\nVic: What are you worried about? Melissa's a very nice girl.\nOdo: Oh, I'm sure she is. It's just she's not Kira.\nVic: Tell me something, how do you get to Carnegie Hall?\nOdo: I have no idea.\nVic: Practice, practice, practice. Get it?\nOdo: No.\nVic: Think of this evening as a trial run. Trust me, you're going to do great.\nOdo: Captain, here's the report on that smuggling ring you requested. Should I forward the information to the Zevian authorities?\nSisko: I'll let you know in a minute.\nOdo: No, no, they can't take that away from me. The way your smile just beams.\nOdo: Yes, Captain?\nSisko: Oh, don't stop on my account.\nOdo: Stop what?\nSisko: You were singing.\nOdo: I was singing?\nSisko: No, no, they can't take that away from me.\nOdo: You're right. I was singing. They can't take that away from me. SISKO +\nOdo: We may never, never meet again on that bumpy road to love.\nCrewman: Dax.\nDax: Julian.\nBashir: Morning.\nDax: Ops. I wonder, should you ask Kira about Shakaar or should I?\nBashir: Why don't you do the honors. But you'll have to wait. She's staying on Bajor for two more days.\nDax: She and Shakaar must be having a good time.\nBashir: That'd be my guess.\nDax: Poor Odo.\nBashir: Odo? What's he got to do with it?\nDax: Not a thing. That's the problem.\nQuark: Have fun.\nVic: Thank you. Thank you for that kind applause. Keep clapping. There's a fly buzzing the room and one of you is bound to nail him. Why the long face, buddy boy?\nOdo: You still haven't told me what I'm supposed to do about Kira and Shakaar.\nVic: Shakaar? Forget about that fink. I'll bet he doesn't look half as good in a tux as you do.\nOdo: What difference does that make?\nVic: You've been coming here every night for a week. Have I steered you wrong?\nOdo: No.\nVic: Then trust your Uncle Vic. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very special surprise for you tonight. If this babe doesn't raise your temperature, you'd better check the obituary column, because chances are you're in it, pallie. Let's have a nice warm round of applause for Miss Lola Crystal.\nVic: Remind you of anyone?\nVic: Don't look now, but I think she likes you.\nVic: A toast. As Georgie Jessel once said, 'To whatever makes you happy.'\nLola: My thoughts exactly.\nVic: I'm going to turn in. You two lovebirds can live without me, I trust?\nLola: We'll manage.\nOdo: You have a beautiful voice.\nLola: And you have beautiful hands.\nOdo: So I've been told.\nLola: They feel good, too.\nOdo: So do you. I've been waiting to hold you like this for as long as I can remember.\nLola: We just met tonight.\nOdo: I must have a short memory.\nLola: You're funny.\nOdo: Kind of like Victor Borge?\nLola: How'd you know?\nOdo: I can't. I can't do this.\nLola: Why not?\nOdo: I'm sorry, it has nothing to do with you. Vic! Vic!\nVic: What's wrong?\nOdo: This isn't working.\nVic: I thought you two were getting along just fine.\nOdo: Of course we are. You programd her to find me irresistible. I could read her a criminal activities report, she'd think it was poetry.\nVic: You want me to reprogram her, make her play hard to get?\nOdo: She's nothing like Kira.\nLola: Who's Kira?\nVic: Of course she's not Kira. She's a hologram.\nLola: A what?\nVic: Sweetheart, please. Stay out of this. Do you know how difficult it was for me to get a holographic image of Major Kira? Lucky for you, Julian used her image in one of his spy programs, though it did take me an hour to get rid of the Russian accent.\nOdo: Look, I appreciate what you've done for me, but I'm afraid it's all been in vain. I may be Romeo in the holosuite, but I know the first time I see the real Kira, I'm going to turn back into Nanook of the North.\nVic: At least you're starting to talk the talk.\nOdo: I was hoping for a bit more than that.\nVic: Wait. Wait a minute. You can't give up now.\nOdo: I'm sorry, but I am tired of discussing my feelings with a hologram.\nLola: You're a hologram too?\nKira: Odo, hello.\nOdo: Major.\nKira: Anything interesting happen while I was gone?\nOdo: Interesting? No, no, nothing at all. As a matter of fact, it's been rather dull.\nKira: I'm sorry to hear that.\nOdo: Well, I'd better get back to work.\nVic: Hey, doll face. You asleep?\nKira: How the hell did you get in here?\nVic: I'm performing next door for Dax and Worf. I'm between sets, so I transferred my matrix from that holosuite to this one. Now, I don't have much time.\nKira: What do you want?\nVic: We have to talk.\nKira: About what?\nVic: Odo, what else?\nKira: Odo.\nVic: Come on, Major, don't be coy. We both know he's nuts about you.\nKira: He told you that?\nVic: He tells me everything. We've been spending a lot of time together.\nKira: Odo spending time in a holosuite?\nVic: And loving it.\nKira: I'm sorry. That's just not the Odo I know.\nVic: Which tells you what? You don't know him as well as you think you do. He's not the same stick in the mud anymore. The cat can swing.\nKira: Are we're talking about the same Odo?\nVic: The one and only. But let me tell you, the only chick he wants to swing with is you.\nKira: I take it that's a good thing.\nVic: It's love, baby. Nothing better than that.\nKira: How did you get in here again?\nVic: Don't try to change the subject. We're talking about you and Odo.\nKira: No, that's what you're talking about. I'm trying to meditate.\nVic: And I don't mean to interrupt.\nKira: Good. Then leave.\nVic: Talk about your cranky aliens. You two really are made for each other. Which is why you've got to come to the holosuite tonight.\nKira: What for?\nVic: So you and Odo can have dinner together.\nKira: If Odo wants to have dinner with me, then why doesn't he ask me himself?\nVic: Because I'm asking you for him, and neither one of us will take no for an answer.\nKira: Then I better say yes.\nVic: Crazy.\nVic: Odo? Can you hear me?\nOdo: Vic? What are you doing on the comm. line?\nVic: I need to talk to you. I want you to come to the holosuite tonight.\nOdo: Why?\nVic: I've done a complete overhaul on the Lola hologram or should I say the Kira hologram? I'm telling you, Odo, you're going to think she's the real thing. She walks like Kira, she talks like Kira.\nOdo: Really? How did you manage to accomplish that?\nVic: I don't have time to explain now. I'll see you tonight, nine o'clock. That's twenty one hundred to you.\nOdo: I know.\nVic: I'll see you then, pallie.\nVic: I believe you two know each other.\nOdo: You look lovely.\nKira: Thank you. So do you.\nVic: Mademoiselle. I'll be your server this evening. I'll try not to spill anything. To begin, a little Dom Perignon fifty five and some oysters Rockefeller. To be followed by Caesar salad, chateaubriand, and cherries jubilee.\nKira: This is all very interesting, but don't you feel a little silly being here in a holosuite?\nOdo: A bit.\nVic: Let me know when you're ready for the salad.\nOdo: Bon appétit. It's French, an Earth language. It means enjoy your meal.\nKira: I didn't know you spoke French.\nOdo: I don't. It's something I learned from Vic. French is ze language of love.\nKira: Vic's a fountain of information.\nOdo: He's certainly a man of many talents. But we're really not here to talk about Vic, are we?\nKira: I'm certainly not.\nOdo: I always wondered what this would be like.\nKira: The two of us having dinner together?\nOdo: It's certainly not the way I pictured it would be.\nKira: It is a bit unusual.\nOdo: Is something wrong? You haven't touched your food.\nKira: No, it looks delicious. I'm not hungry. The truth is, I'm a little nervous.\nOdo: You? Nervous?\nKira: A bit. It is our first date, right?\nOdo: Right. Well, there's nothing wrong with being a little nervous as long it doesn't get in the way.\nKira: Of what?\nOdo: Of enjoying yourself.\nKira: I thought the only thing you enjoy is your work.\nOdo: How'd you know that?\nKira: You told me yourself.\nOdo: Well done, Vic.\nKira: Vic?\nOdo: Never mind. I do enjoy my work, but I'm afraid I've used it as an excuse to avoid the rest of my life.\nKira: I know the feeling.\nKira: It's a pretty song.\nOdo: It is, isn't it? You're sure you're not hungry?\nKira: Sure. What do we do now?\nOdo: Only one thing we can do. Dance with me.\nKira: I'm not sure I know how to dance to this kind of music.\nOdo: Just stay close.\nKira: Sorry.\nOdo: No, that's good.\nKira: I had no idea you could dance.\nOdo: It's amazing what you can learn in a holosuite.\nKira: I can't believe we're having our first date in a holosuite. I understand that you wouldn't feel comfortable at Quark's, but I know one or two out of the way restaurants on the station.\nOdo: I don't think that's possible.\nKira: Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?\nOdo: No, no, I meant it would be difficult for you to leave the holosuite.\nKira: Why?\nOdo: It's complicated.\nKira: Complicated to leave a holosuite? You make it sound like I'm a hologram.\nOdo: Aren't you?\nKira: Is that what you think?\nOdo: Maybe you'd better tell her.\nVic: There's nothing to tell. I'm good, pallie, but I'm not that good. You've been dancing with the real McCoy.\nOdo: You tricked me.\nKira: And me.\nVic: Hey, I brought you two lovebirds together. That was the whole idea, wasn't it?\nOdo: Nerys. Kira. Major.\nVic: Don't say it. Computer end program.\nVic: Odo? Are you there?\nOdo: I have nothing to say to you.\nVic: Look, I know you think I sold you down the river.\nOdo: You lied to me.\nVic: It was for your own good. It was time for you to stop playing around with holograms and start playing around with the real thing.\nOdo: You should have told me it was really Kira.\nVic: Would you have shown up if I had? I don't hear an answer, pallie. If you think about it, there's not much to be mad about. I saw the way she looked at you while the two of you were dancing. The lady digs you big time.\nOdo: She digs Shakaar. I can only imagine what she thinks of me. I kept insisting she was a hologram.\nVic: Odo, listen to me.\nOdo: No, I'm done listening to you. Computer, end transmission.\nDax: Are you going to tell me what's wrong?\nKira: Oh, there's nothing's wrong. Have you ever had a moment of pure clarity? A moment where the truth just seems to leap up and grab you by the throat?\nDax: I bet this has something to do with your visit with Shakaar.\nKira: This has nothing to do with Shakaar. Now tell me, have you ever had a moment like that?\nDax: One or two. Of course, that's over a span of seven lifetimes.\nKira: Only two moments of clarity in seven lifetimes?\nDax: Nerys, total clarity is a very rare thing.\nKira: I guess so.\nDax: And when it comes to you, it's important that you act on it, because believe me, confusion and doubt will take over before you know it.\nOdo: Check this out.\nKira: You're absolutely right. It makes perfect sense.\nDax: Don't tell me you're having another moment of clarity?\nKira: That's two in two days.\nDax: That's amazing.\nKira: Odo, wait.\nOdo: Major, if you don't mind, I'd like to forget all about the last night.\nKira: No, I don't think that's a good idea. We need to talk about what happened.\nOdo: Very well. We can meet in my office in an hour.\nKira: No, let's discuss it over dinner.\nOdo: Dinner?\nKira: You can choose the restaurant. Anywhere but a holosuite.\nOdo: What about Shakaar? Do you think he'll approve?\nKira: I don't care if he approves or not. Shakaar and I are friends. That's all, friends. The First Minister asked me to update him on the war with the Dominion. My visit was strictly business. Now, are we going to have dinner together or not?\nOdo: And if we do, then what?\nKira: I don't know. Maybe we could go dancing.\nOdo: And after that I suppose you'll expect me to kiss you.\nKira: Well, it's possible.\nOdo: Then who needs dinner? Why don't I get it over with and kiss you right now?\nKira: Well why don't you?\nKira: You're right. Who needs dinner?\nVic: Cos I've got you under my skin. Cos I've got you under my skin.\nVic: Here in Vegas, there's only one way to make sure you don't lose any money. The moment you step off the plane, you walk right into the propellers. See you in a few minutes, folks. Odo. Hey, long time no see.\nOdo: Well, I've been busy.\nVic: So I hear. Julian tells me that you and the Major are quite an item.\nOdo: Well, for the moment. Who knows how long it'll last.\nVic: That's my Odo. Always ready to turn victory into defeat.\nOdo: I wanted to thank you for all your help.\nVic: Anytime, pallie, anytime. Hey, you feel like sitting in on a number?\nOdo: Some other time.\nVic: Say hi to the Major for me.\nVic: Hey, do me a favor? Leave the program running for a few minutes after you leave. I feel like singing.\nOdo: Whatever makes you happy."}
{"text": "Sisko: The Dominion has solidified its hold on the Kalandra Sector. They're trying to establish a supply line running through Betazoid space into the Argolis Cluster.\nWorf: If they succeed, they will be able to launch an attack against Vulcan.\nSisko: Starfleet's going to try to cut them off near the Tibor Nebula. The Seventh Fleet will be engaging the enemy in the morning.\nDax: The Seventh Fleet is still at half-strength. They took heavy losses at Sybaron.\nSisko: Well let's just hope they can get the job done. On a happier note, I do have a bit of good news.\nBashir: That makes a welcome change.\nSisko: The Romulans have forced the Dominion to retreat from the Benzite system.\nOdo: That is good news. The question is, will the Romulans be willing to leave Benzar after the war is over? Once they capture territory, they very rarely give it up.\nSisko: Right now, we need to concentrate on beating the Dominion. We'll worry about the Romulans later. As some of you already know, Major Kira, Jake and I will be leaving for Bajor at twenty two hundred.\nDax: There's a war on. This is no time for a vacation.\nKira: The archeologists excavating B'hala have found something they want the Emissary to see.\nSisko: We'll be returning tomorrow night. That's all, people.\nKira: Will the Romulans leave Benzar? You love to bring up the worst-case scenario in these meetings, don't you?\nOdo: Somebody has to. Besides, everyone expects me to be dour and suspicious. I don't want to disappoint them.\nKira: If they only knew the real you.\nOdo: That is the real me. At least as far as everyone else is concerned.\nKoral: I can't tell you how pleased we are by your visit, Emissary.\nSisko: Glad to be here, Ranjen.\nKoral: Oh, there's no need to keep calling me Ranjen. I'm a simple monk. My order is quite informal.\nSisko: You've certainly been busy. The last time I visited the ruins, none of these tunnels had been cut yet.\nKoral: It's been a great deal of work, but we do it gladly. Excavating the Holy City is a privilege. Our efforts are an expression of our faith in the Prophets and in the Emissary.\nSisko: It's very inspiring to see.\nKira: Something wrong, Jake?\nJake: No. It's just that Dad seems to be taking his role as Emissary very seriously these days.\nKira: You say that like you think it's a bad thing.\nJake: You have to admit, I mean, it's a long way to come to see some old ruins.\nKira: They may have found some very important religious artifacts in these old ruins.\nJake: Yeah, I hope so, otherwise I don't have a story.\nKira: Hey, try to look like you're enjoying yourself. Your father needs this. It's good for him not to have to think about the Dominion for a few hours.\nKoral: Oh, don't let the bats bother you.\nKira: Don't worry, they rarely bite.\nJake: Rarely?\nKoral: We're directly below the Temple of B'hala. These walls predate the ancient city by ten thousand years.\nJake: Who built this place?\nKoral: We don't know much about the original inhabitants, but it appears they abandoned this site some twenty five thousand years ago. Over time, sediment buried the ruins.\nJake: And then B'hala was built on top of them.\nKoral: Precisely. In here.\nKoral: It's over thirty thousand years old.\nSisko: These inscriptions. They look like ancient Bajoran, but I can't quite make it out.\nKoral: Neither can we, though we've been able to piece together a few of the translations. The syntax is unusual, but all forms of Bajoran share certain root ideograms. You may recognize this one.\nSisko: Welcome.\nKoral: Here's where it gets interesting.\nKoral: I see you recognize it.\nJake: What? I don't.\nKira: It says, Welcome, Emissary.\nKoral: Now you know why I asked you here.\nKoral: The Sisko has come.\nKira: The circle is complete.\nJake: The reckoning must begin.\nSisko: The reckoning?\nKira: Much will depend on the Sisko.\nKoral: He is corporeal.\nJake: Limited.\nKira: He is the Sisko. He will not waver.\nJake: He is of Bajor.\nKira: He will bring the reckoning.\nSisko: What is it you expect of me?\nKoral: It will be the end.\nJake: Or the beginning.\nSisko: I don't understand.\nKira: The Sisko will know.\nJake: Dad, are you okay?\nSisko: Yeah, right. The Prophets. They were here. They spoke to me.\nKoral: You had a vision, Emissary? We saw nothing.\nKira: What did they say?\nSisko: They mentioned something about a reckoning. Is that part of some prophecy?\nKoral: Not one that I know of.\nJake: Let's get out of here.\nSisko: It's all right, Jake. We'll be leaving soon. I have got to find out what these inscriptions say.\nKoral: I wish we could translate them more quickly, but we don't have the resources.\nSisko: Fortunately, we do.\nDax: I had a pretty good idea what this was the minute I laid eyes on it. That confirms it. It's a slab of stone with some writing on it.\nSisko: Dax.\nDax: What do you want me to say, Benjamin? I'm not picking up any residual energy readings, certainly nothing that would explain how it threw you across the room.\nSisko: I want you to translate the inscriptions.\nDax: I was afraid you were going to say that.\nSisko: The Ranjen's translation program. It's not complete, but at least it's a start. Good luck.\nPriest: Services are about to begin. Captain, services are about to begin.\nWorf: Ops to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nWorf: We just received a communication from Bajor.\nWorf: Kai Winn is on her way to the station.\nSisko: Welcome to Deep Space Nine, your Eminence.\nWinn: Thank you, Emissary.\nSisko: What brings you to the station?\nWinn: I should think that would be clear. You removed an artifact from an archeological site without consulting the Vedek Assembly.\nSisko: I meant no disrespect.\nWinn: You can understand how we would be sensitive to such matters. During the occupation, the Cardassians plundered Bajor's historical treasures as if it were their right. I never imagined that you would behave in the same manner.\nSisko: I assure you that the artifact will be returned as soon as I've finished studying it.\nWinn: I was not aware that you had expertise in Bajoran history.\nSisko: I don't.\nWinn: Then why not leave the artifact in the hands of those who do? There are scholars on Bajor who have devoted their lives to the study of such things.\nSisko: I understand, but I brought it here because I believe that's what the Prophets want.\nWinn: I see. Then I take it this has something to do with your vision?\nSisko: Exactly.\nWinn: Forgive me. I didn't realize that the Prophets told you to bring the relic here.\nSisko: Well, they didn't. Not in so many words.\nWinn: I see. Then exactly what did they say?\nSisko: It's difficult to explain. The Prophets aren't always clear.\nWinn: Since they have never spoken to me, I'll have to take your word for it.\nSisko: All I know is, for now it belongs here.\nWinn: Who am I to argue with the Emissary of the Prophets?\nSisko: And then she contacted Starfleet and lodged a formal protest.\nDax: Is that why Admiral Ross wanted to talk to you? Well, how'd it go?\nSisko: He told me to stop meddling in Bajoran affairs and return the damn tablet.\nDax: You know how Starfleet feels about this Emissary thing. It makes them very uncomfortable that you've allowed the Bajorans to view you as a religious icon. It used to make you uncomfortable, too.\nSisko: Not anymore. I guess the Prophets have spoken to me one too many times.\nDax: I remember when you used to call them wormhole Aliens.\nSisko: Wormhole aliens or Prophets, it really doesn't matter. The fact is, they exist out of time, and over the centuries they've given the Bajorans glimpses of the future. Glimpses that the Bajorans have written down to help them guide succeeding generations. If whatever is written here can help me avoid mistakes, can help me make the right decisions, then I'd be a fool to ignore it.\nDax: Fair enough. But if you don't mind, I'm going to continue to think of them as wormhole aliens.\nSisko: All I know is that they have a relationship with Bajor that stretches back over a thousand years. They care about what happens to the Bajorans. They proved that when they kept the Dominion fleet from coming through the wormhole.\nDax: Didn't you have to talk them into it? Didn't they say they would exact some kind of penance for helping you?\nSisko: Yes, but they listened, and they saved Bajor and the rest of the Alpha Quadrant. Now they're asking me for something in return. I don't know what it is yet, but I'm not going to return the tablet until I do. It's the key. I can feel it.\nDax: I hope you're wrong about that, Benjamin.\nSisko: What have you got?\nDax: The computer has translated part of the inscription. It probably lacks the eloquence of the original passage, but you'll get the gist of it. Here it is in modern Bajoran.\nSisko: The time of reckoning is at hand. The Prophets will weep. Their sorrow will consume the Gateway to the Temple.\nDax: Tell me I'm wrong, but isn't the Gateway to the Temple Deep Space Nine?\nWorf: I was just telling you what the translation said. I did not say I believed it.\nBashir: Well, I'm not worried. If you look hard enough, you'll find a Bajoran prophecy for just about anything. The Ancient Texts are a tangle of vague contradictions.\nOdo: This one is anything but vague, and Bajoran prophecies have an odd way of coming true.\nBashir: Don't say me you believe in this stuff, too?\nQuark: Odo believes in preparing for the worst.\nOdo: True.\nQuark: He's as bad as the Bajorans. Business hasn't been this slow since the Dominion was here. You know, I feel I have a civic duty to do something about all this doom and gloom, which is why I want to tell you that I've extended happy hour.\nBashir: Extended it?\nQuark: From now on, every hour is happy hour. At least until business picks up. Eat, drink and be merry.\nBashir: For tomorrow we die.\nOdo: So, what does the Captain say about this?\nWorf: He's reserving judgment until the computer has finished the translation.\nBashir: Who knows? The rest of the tablet probably says go to Quark's. It's happy hour.\nQuark: I like the way you think, Doctor.\nBashir: Oh, this is ridiculous. Nothing's going to happen. Someday we're going to look back on this and laugh.\nOdo: What was that?\nBashir: How did that Prophecy go again?\nKira: You don't have to do this, you know.\nOdo: Don't have to do what?\nKira: Sit here, watch me eat.\nOdo: I don't mind. In fact, I rather enjoy it. You eat with such gusto. Most of the time.\nKira: Not today. I just wish that we knew more about the reckoning. It'd give us a better idea of what the Prophets want from us.\nOdo: It seems to me that if the Prophets want the Bajoran people to follow a given path, they should provide more specific directions.\nKira: It doesn't work like that.\nOdo: Maybe it should.\nKira: The Kai would say that you lack faith.\nOdo: And you would agree.\nKira: I just don't know how people make it through the day without it.\nOdo: We manage. Besides, I do have faith in some things.\nKira: Such as?\nOdo: You.\nKira: I'll try not to disappoint you.\nWinn: No doubt you've heard the latest news from Bajor.\nSisko: About the flooding in Rakantha Province, yes.\nWinn: There was also an earthquake in the Kendra Valley last night. This morning a tornado struck Tamulna.\nSisko: Our sensors indicate that Bajor has been affected by the instability of the wormhole.\nWinn: How comforting. Tell me, do your sensors have an explanation for the instability itself?\nSisko: No.\nWinn: Then I'll give you one. You've angered the Prophets by taking the tablet from Bajor. As the spiritual leader of the Bajoran people, I'm asking you to return it.\nSisko: And as Emissary of the Prophets, I will ask you to give me more time to study it. I believe it is the will of the Prophets.\nWinn: Well I disagree. This is a formal request from the First Minister for you to turn over the relic to me.\nSisko: You must have been very persuasive. This is the first time you and Shakaar have agreed on anything.\nWinn: If you deny his request, I promise you it will damage relations between Bajor and the Federation.\nSisko: The tablet will be on its way to Bajor on the morning transport.\nWinn: As will I.\nDax: You're sending it back? And I was just starting to have fun.\nSisko: You're not off the hook, old man. I need these inscriptions translated.\nDax: I can work off the holo-recordings I took yesterday.\nSisko: Have you made any more progress? Good news or bad?\nDax: That depends.\nSisko: On what?\nDax: What this ideogram means. The computer has given me two possibilities.\nSisko: They are?\nDax: During the reckoning, the Bajorans will either suffer horribly or eat fruit.\nSisko: Eat fruit?\nDax: Given the tone of the rest of the inscriptions, I would bet on horrible suffering.\nSisko: What else do you have?\nDax: You'll love this. It's about you. Once the reckoning begins, the Emissary will\nSisko: Go on.\nDax: I was hoping you could tell me. The rest of the inscription's damaged.\nSisko: That figures.\nDax: Oh, I wish the wormhole would stop doing that.\nSisko: So do I. Keep at it, old man.\nDax: Just do me one favor. If you talk to the Prophets again, ask for a dictionary. Please.\nSisko: I'll see what I can do.\nDax: Thank you.\nKira: Captain, I have a message for you from General Martok.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nKira: He's dispatched three Klingon attack cruisers to bolster the defense perimeter around the Dorala System.\nSisko: Good. I just hope they can hold out until Starfleet sends in reinforcements.\nKira: The Klingons will hold out. Martok will see to it. Long day?\nSisko: They seem to get longer.\nKira: You'll feel better in the morning. Once the Kai is off the station.\nSisko: She may be the spiritual leader of millions of Bajorans, but she is not an easy woman to like.\nKira: Well, if it's any comfort, I don't think she likes you either.\nSisko: I've known that for a while. I guess I should have consulted her before I brought the artifact up to the station.\nKira: She would've tried to stop you.\nSisko: Ah. That's why I didn't ask her.\nKira: In a way, I feel sorry for her. She spends her whole life in service to the Prophets. Then one day, after years of self-sacrifice and commitment, she's gets her reward. She's elected Kai. It should have been the greatest moment of her life.\nSisko: But my being the Emissary spoiled it for her.\nKira: The Kai has always been the spiritual leader of Bajor, but Winn has to share that role with you. And to make matters worse, you're an outsider, a non-Bajoran. That's something she can never forgive you for.\nSisko: I guess that's why she made such an issue of the whole thing.\nKira: She's jealous of you and of your relationship with the Prophets. I'm a little envious myself.\nSisko: Why?\nKira: You speak with the Prophets. They listen to you. That's a rare gift.\nSisko: It's certainly nothing I asked for.\nKira: I guess that's why I don't resent you, but the Kai does.\nSisko: I'll keep that in mind.\nKira: Is something wrong, Eminence?\nWinn: What makes you say that, child?\nKira: You seem troubled.\nWinn: Not at all. I am quite relieved the Emissary has decided to do the right thing.\nKira: You didn't leave him much choice, did you.\nWinn: I suppose you think I enjoyed forcing his hand. I assure you I did not. I wish the situation had been resolved more amicably. Perhaps the next time we have a disagreement, he'll consider my wishes more thoughtfully.\nKira: The next time? You're anticipating more disagreements?\nWinn: I merely meant to express my hope that in the future, we can work together for the good of Bajor.\nKira: Of course. After all, you are on the same side, aren't you?\nWinn: Naturally. We both serve the Prophets. There is no higher calling.\nSisko: Yes. Jake-o.\nJake: You're up late.\nSisko: So are you. What's on your mind?\nJake: I don't know. I guess I just wanted to see if you're all right.\nSisko: I'm fine. Since when did you become a worrier?\nJake: I don't know. It's this Emissary stuff. It scares me a little. Twice now, twice in one year, Doctor Bashir's called me down to the Infirmary to tell me something was wrong with you. And there you were, lying unconscious on a biobed, having visions or something. And all I could do was stand there and wonder if you were going to wake up.\nSisko: I know it hasn't been easy, Jake.\nJake: I don't want it to happen again.\nSisko: You know, I didn't ask to be the Emissary. But for better or worse, I guess that's what I am. Except for being your dad.\nSisko: Why do you always have to be so damn mysterious? Answer me. I am tired of your riddles. If you need me to do something, say so.\nDax: Let me guess. You accidentally knocked it over.\nSisko: Not exactly.\nDax: I didn't think so.\nOdo: So what did happen?\nSisko: I just had this uncontrollable urge to smash the tablet.\nDax: Oh, I get those urges all the time. Of course, I never act on them. I'm not reading any residual energy signatures.\nSisko: That's impossible. Check the station's internal sensors.\nOdo: Nothing.\nSisko: I tell you, I saw something.\nOdo: We believe you, Captain.\nSisko: Oh, please, Constable, don't patronize me.\nSisko: Sisko to Ops. Report.\nWorf: We just experienced a stationwide power drain. We are attempting to determine the source.\nSisko: Keep me informed.\nWorf: Aye, Sir.\nOdo: It's possible the power drain is related to this energy diskharge you saw.\nDax: I'm starting to think the same thing.\nDax: Benjamin, you're not getting another urge, are you?\nSisko: No. I've done what I needed to do. I know this might sound strange, but I think the Prophets wanted me to shatter the tablet.\nDax: Try explaining that to Kai Winn.\nWinn: I can't believe that you'd be so petty as to destroy the artifact rather than turn it over to me.\nSisko: That's not why I did it.\nWinn: You expect me to believe that the Prophets wanted you to destroy a priceless piece of Bajor's history?\nSisko: That's exactly what you have to believe.\nWinn: And why would they do that?\nSisko: I wish I had an answer for you.\nWinn: Well I'm sure you'll come up with something.\nSisko: You and I haven't always seen things eye to eye, but we have one thing in common. We both believe that the Prophets have a plan for Bajor. Sometimes it's not easy to see the path they've laid out for us. Right now, I don't know what they want from me, but I'm willing to take a leap of faith and trust that they're guiding me, and I'm asking you to take that leap with me.\nWinn: There's no need for a leap of faith, Emissary. The Prophets have made it quite clear. Two thirds of the Rakantha wheat harvest has been destroyed by floods. Earthquakes have devastated Kendra Province, leaving hundreds homeless. Bajorans are suffering because of you. They're paying the price for your act of sacrilege.\nOdo: Odo to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nOdo: You'd better come down to the Promenade, sir.\nSisko: Is there a problem?\nOdo: I'll let you be the judge of that.\nOdo: I think we've found the source of the power fluctuations. When I tried to talk to her, she ignored me.\nKira: You are the Sisko.\nSisko: Keep your hands off your weapons. It's a Prophet. Why have you taken this woman's body?\nKira: This vessel is willing. The reckoning. It is time.\nSisko: The reckoning, what is it?\nKira: The end. Or the beginning.\nSisko: I don't understand.\nKira: I await Kosst Amojan.\nWinn: The Evil One. A Pah-wraith banished from the Celestial Temple.\nSisko: You're saying a Pah-wraith will take corporeal form as well?\nKira: The battle will be joined.\nSisko: This battle, is it to be fought here?\nKira: Bajor will be reborn.\nWinn: Shabren's Fifth Prophecy. The rebirth. If the Evil One is destroyed, it will bring a thousand years of peace. The Golden Age of Bajor.\nSisko: If it is destroyed?\nWinn: Who will prevail is not known.\nSisko: What do you want from me? Am I supposed to help you in some way?\nKira: The Sisko has completed his task.\nWinn: Forgive my blindness.\nWinn: Prophet, hear me. I am the Kai of Bajor. I offer myself to you as your humble servant,\nKira: I await their vessel.\nWinn: Speak to me. Tell me what I should do.\nSisko: We're evacuating.\nBashir: You can't be serious.\nSisko: This battle could destroy the station.\nDax: Then don't let it be fought here.\nSisko: I don't have any choice.\nDax: Yes, you do. We can flood the Promenade with chroniton radiation.\nWinn: Are you that suggesting we kill a Prophet?\nSisko: I won't do that.\nBashir: You don't have to. If you ramp up the chroniton levels slowly, it'll give the wormhole alien a chance to leave Kira's body without getting hurt.\nDax: We have everything rigged and ready to go. Just say the word.\nSisko: No.\nDax: Benjamin.\nWorf: Deep Space Nine is critical to the defense of the Federation. We cannot risk destroying it.\nSisko: When the Dominion fleet was about to come through the wormhole, I asked the Prophets for their help. They gave it to me. Now they're asking for my help. They need to fight this battle here, now. I'm not going to jeopardize my crew, but I'm not going to stand in the way of the Prophets either.\nBashir: What if the Prophets lose? Are you willing to sacrifice Kira?\nSisko: The Prophet said she was willing to be their instrument.\nWorf: And you believe that?\nOdo: I do. I know how important her faith is to her and I have no doubt that she would allow the Prophets to use her as their instrument.\nSisko: I'll notify Starfleet that we're abandoning the station. Begin the evacuation immediately.\nOdo: Hurry along now, hurry along.\nWorf: Is this transport full?\nOdo: There's room. I'm going to check the Promenade for stragglers.\nWorf: Odo, you should have helped us persuade the Captain to end this.\nOdo: I had to respect Kira's wishes.\nWorf: If it were Dax, I am not sure I could have done the same.\nOdo: Just be grateful you didn't have to make that choice.\nWorf: For your sake, I hope the Prophets are victorious.\nOdo: They will be, if Kira has anything to do with it.\nWorf: Come on.\nSisko: Report.\nDax: We expect to be down to a skeleton crew within the hour.\nSisko: Very well.\nDax: What did Starfleet have to say?\nSisko: I managed to convince them that we couldn't afford to defy the Prophets.\nWorf: They are the only thing that's keeping the Dominion from coming through the wormhole.\nDax: The only problem is, there's no guarantee the Prophets will win this battle.\nOdo: Odo to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Constable.\nOdo: Captain, there's a group of Bajorans on the Promenade who are refusing to leave.\nWinn: Teradak embah ihsehelm ran embrah.\nAll: Daram tameen.\nWinn: Teradak ihsehelm ran embrah.\nAll: Daram tameen.\nOdo: The last transports are standing by.\nWinn: Teradak ihsehelm ran embrah.\nAll: Daram tameen.\nSisko: Eminence.\nWinn: Emissary.\nSisko: These people have to go.\nWinn: We are offering prayers for the Prophet's victory.\nSisko: The Prophets will hear your prayers wherever you are. It isn't safe here.\nWinn: Then why are you still here, Emissary? The Prophet told you your task was done.\nSisko: I am Captain of this station and I will do everything in my power to save it. Now, are you going to tell these people to go, or shall I?\nWinn: My children, the Prophets have heard your prayers. You must go.\nSisko: Take them to the transports.\nOdo: All right, this way.\nWinn: Congratulations, Emissary. Thanks to you, the Prophets' victory is at hand.\nSisko: I hope you're right.\nWinn: Where is your faith, Emissary? You don't think the Evil One will be victorious, do you? Rest assured, the Golden Age is upon us. The Prophets and the people will be as one. Think of it. There will be no need for Vedeks or Kais or even Emissaries.\nKira: Kosst Amojan has chosen its vessel.\nJake: Let it begin.\nSisko: Leave my son and take me instead.\nJake: Your Emissary offers himself to us. His faith wavers.\nWinn: Emissary, we must go.\nDax: Benjamin! Worf is standing by in Ops. He can trigger the chroniton generator at your command. You can still end this, Ben.\nSisko: No, I've got to play this thing out.\nDax: That is your son out there!\nSisko: Don't you think I know that? The Prophets will protect him.\nDax: They're trying to kill him.\nSisko: No, they're trying to destroy the Pah-wraith. The Prophets will not let anything happen to him.\nDax: How do you know that?\nSisko: I know.\nDax: We've got to get out of here. According to the sensors, the energy building between them could explode any second.\nSisko: I'm not going to leave Jake here.\nWinn: We must go, Emissary.\nDax: Benjamin.\nSisko: Get out of here. Get off the station, both of you! That's an order.\nWinn: Come, child. We must go.\nDax: Dax to Worf.\nWorf: Go ahead.\nDax: Go on ahead. Airlock eight is down to the right.\nMan: This way. Move quickly. Let's go. Come on.\nMan: Hurry up.\nDax: It's okay, it's okay.\nKira: No!\nComputer: Chroniton levels at thirty seven percent and rising.\nWinn: May the Prophets forgive me.\nSisko: Jake. Captain's log, supplemental. The station's population has returned and repairs are underway. Major Kira has recovered from her experience but my son is still in the Infirmary.\nSisko: Jake?\nBashir: He'll be laid up for a few days, but he'll all right.\nSisko: May I see him?\nBashir: Oh, yes.\nSisko: Jake.\nJake: Dad.\nSisko: How are you feeling?\nJake: Could be worse.\nSisko: You'll be up and about in no time. I don't know what to say.\nJake: Say you're happy to see me.\nSisko: You know I am. Jake, I wish I. I want to explain what happened, but I'm not sure that I can.\nJake: You don't have to explain. When the Pah-wraith was inside me, I could feel its hatred and I knew that no matter what, it couldn't be allowed to win. Even if it meant I had to die. You did the right thing.\nOdo: How was the prayer service?\nKira: To tell you the truth, I didn't pay that much attention. I'm still trying to make sense of everything that happened. Of all the people on this station, the Prophets chose me. I'm not sure I know why I deserve that honor.\nOdo: Perhaps that's why you were chosen. You have faith and humility.\nKira: I heard that you told the Captain that I was willing to give my life to serve the Prophets. I appreciate that you respect my beliefs.\nOdo: Just the same, I wouldn't have minded if the Prophets had chosen someone else.\nKira: I have to go. I'll drop by Security after I take the Kai to her shuttle.\nWinn: The Emissary couldn't escort me himself?\nKira: He's with his son.\nWinn: I would think he'd want to thank me.\nKira: For what?\nWinn: I prevented the destruction of this station. I saved the Emissary's life and the life of his son.\nKira: Don't pretend you did it for the Captain.\nWinn: I did it for Bajor. If you haven't heard, the floodwaters have receded and the earthquakes have stopped.\nKira: And you're going to take the credit for that?\nWinn: I take it as a sign I did the right thing.\nKira: You defied the will of the Prophets, and you did it because you couldn't stand the fact that a human, an infidel, had a stronger faith than you. The Emissary was willing to sacrifice his own son to serve the Prophets.\nWinn: My faith is as pure as the Emissary's.\nKira: I think you're confusing faith with ambition.\nWinn: I'm not confusing anything, child. You are. The Prophets chose you as their instrument. That doesn't mean you can speak for them.\nKira: Because of your interference, the reckoning was stopped. The Evil still exists, And I'm not sure if even the Prophets know what that will mean for Bajor."}
{"text": "Woman: Can I have some service please? How long does it take? I've been waiting forever.\nMan: Quark, this isn't what I wanted.\nOdo: Having a bad day?\nQuark: Like you care. Fizz, froth, flip, finial, foam and flare. What's going on at that table, anyway?\nOdo: I take it there's a problem with your drink replicator?\nQuark: A problem? No. Can't be. If there were a problem, I would have submitted an emergency maintenance request this morning. And if I had done that, Chief O'Brien would have assured me that Rom would fix it right away. Then, of course, Rom would have then promised me that Nog would fix it before the end of the day. And since this is the end of the day and there is no Nog in sight, we can only draw one conclusion. That I don't have a problem.\nDax: Is your drink replicator broken?\nQuark: You're quick today.\nDax: Do you want me to fix it or not?\nQuark: You?\nDax: That's right. Nog had a chance to take a trip to Ferenginar and I told him that I would cover for him while he was away.\nQuark: Why?\nDax: Because he did a favor for me last week, so I owe him.\nQuark: But that's work for a mechanic, a repairman, a lowly engineer.\nDax: I'll tell Chief O'Brien you said that.\nQuark: A Supernova and a silven surprise. She can't do this.\nOdo: Why not?\nQuark: It's not right. She's above this sort of thing. Those hands weren't meant to be poking around inside a filthy drink replicator.\nQuark: They were meant for higher pursuits.\nOdo: You're in love.\nQuark: That is the most ridiculous thing you've said this last year.\nOdo: Really?\nQuark: Really.\nOdo: It must kill you that she's married to Worf.\nQuark: I don't know what you're talking about. And since you're not going to order something, would you please step aside so that I can do my job.\nOdo: Of course. By the way, that's not a Silven surprise, it's a Silken sunrise.\nJake: Is that it?\nNog: That's right.\nJake: Can I see it?\nNog: No.\nJake: Nog.\nNog: No. It's an official diplomatic message from the Federation Council to the Grand Nagus. It's for his eyes only.\nJake: Yeah, but you know what's in it.\nNog: Maybe.\nJake: It's a proposal for an alliance, isn't it? I mean, the Federation sends the only Ferengi in Starfleet to personally deliver a diplomatic message to the Grand Nagus? Something big is up.\nNog: You told me you weren't coming on this trip as a reporter.\nJake: I'm not. I came to see Ferenginar. I've heard a lot about it. I can't wait to see all the rain and the muck\nNog: Good. Because while I'm delivering the message to the Grand Nagus, you'll have plenty of time to play tourist.\nStarbase: Shenandoah, this is Starbase two five seven. You've been cleared to leave our defense perimeter. Remain at one half impulse until you've passed the outer marker.\nNog: Acknowledged.\nJake: I don't get to see the Nagus?\nNog: Now why would you want to see the Nagus?\nJake: My father told me to say hello and to give the Nagus his best wishes.\nNog: You're going to have to do better than that.\nJake: And because I told the editor of the Federation News Service that I could get an exclusive interview with Zek.\nNog: Jake, you promised me you weren't coming along as a reporter!\nJake: I didn't promise, okay? I just sort of, you know. Okay, I promised, but this could be a really big story, Nog. The people have a right to know!\nNog: Forget it. You're not getting anywhere near the Grand Nagus. I have no further comments.\nJake: What's it?\nNog: I'm not sure. I'm having trouble with our long range scanners. Looks like our sensors are being jammed.\nNog: Uh oh.\nNog: Hang on!\nJake: Where did they come from?\nNog: I don't know, but it looks like they're heading for the starbase.\nJake: We're not sticking around are we?\nNog: Not in a runabout we're not. We're no match for a wing of Jem'Hadar fighters.\nNog: See if you can open a channel to Deep Space Nine.\nJake: Something's wrong. I think they're jamming our comm. system. Now why would they do that?\nNog: Because one of them's turned around and now he's coming after us.\nJake: You do realize you're taking us deeper and deeper into Dominion held space.\nNog: We don't have much choice. Every time I try to change course, they gain on us.\nJake: They're gaining on us anyway. We might as well try and head for the Federation. If we keep going in this direction, we'll run into Cardassia Prime, and that won't be much fun at all.\nComputer: Warning. We are within range of enemy weapons.\nJake: Thanks for the warning.\nNog: All right. When I go to impulse, raise the forward shields and transfer auxiliary power to the phasers.\nJake: We're dropping out of warp?\nNog: If we have to fight, I'd rather do it at impulse. At least we'd have an edge in maneuverability.\nJake: You're a Ferengi, why don't you try making a deal or something?\nNog: It doesn't seem they're very interested in talking. Stand by. Here they come.\nJake: Shields down thirty percent!\nNog: I see it.\nJake: We're losing main power!\nNog: Keep the weapons online. Everything else is expendable, including life support.\nJake: There's another ship coming in, bearing one seven zero mark two one five.\nNog: Jem'Hadar or Cardassian?\nJake: It's er, it's the Defiant!\nNog: What?\nNog: It's not the Defiant. This ship's registry number is NCC seven four two one zero. USS Valiant.\nJake: Valiant? Great name. I hope they tear that Jem'Hadar ship apart piece by\nNog: Jake! Jake!\nCollins: Are you all right, sir?\nJake: Yes. It's nothing serious, Cadet er, Chief?\nCollins: Acting Chief Petty Officer Dorian Collins. The Captain's asked me to escort you both to the bridge. If you'll follow me?\nFarris: Main power holding. Auxiliary power on standby. Shields holding at eighty four percent.\nWatters: Helm, bring us about to course two one five mark three one zero.\nShepard: Two one five mark three one zero, aye sir.\nWatters: Set quantum torpedo warheads to maximum yield, full spread.\nFarris: Maximum yield, full spread, aye sir.\nWatters: Helm, initiate attack pattern sierra four.\nShepard: Sierra four, aye, sir.\nFarris: Shields now at seventy eight percent.\nWatters: Transfer auxiliary power to shields.\nNog: This is Red Squad.\nJake: Red Squad?\nNog: It was a group of elite cadets at the Academy. They were the best of the best. Red Squad received special training, special quarters, special everything.\nJake: They have their own ship?\nNog: I've heard of Cadets getting command of a runabout or a shuttle, but not a starship.\nWatters: Fire!\nWatters: As you were. This is the Captain. Stand down from Red Alert. All stations submit damage and casualty reports to the first officer. Glad to see you made it in one piece. I'm Tim Watters, Commanding Officer. Welcome aboard.\nNog: Thank you. Sir?\nWatters: Sir, is correct, ensign. I was given a battlefield commission and command of this vessel by the late Captain Ramirez. Using that authority, I have commissioned and promoted other members of Red Squad as needed.\nNog: I see. Well. I'm Ensign Nog and this is Jake Sisko. We're from Deep Space Nine.\nWatters: Sisko? You're Benjamin Sisko's son.\nJake: That's right.\nWatters: I've heard a lot about your father. I see you're not following in his footsteps.\nJake: No. I'm a reporter.\nWatters: You should really get that looked at. Chief?\nCollins: Sir.\nWatters: Escort Mister Sisko to Sickbay.\nCollins: Aye, Captain. This way, sir.\nFarris: Preliminary damage report, sir.\nWatters: Oh, thank you. Ensign Nog, Commander Karen Farris, our first officer.\nNog: Commander.\nFarris: Ensign. Sir, the Engine Room also reports that we still have power spikes cropping up all through the deuterium injector startup routine.\nWatters: I thought we had that under control.\nFarris: I did too, sir.\nNog: Have you recalibrated the lateral impulse control system?\nFarris: No. What does that have to do with the injectors?\nNog: Well, the impulse system shares some of the same power relays used in the injector startup routine.\nWatters: We'll try it. Mister Nog, why don't you wait in my ready room.\nNog: Yes, sir.\nCollins: The training cruise was supposed to last three months. We had seven regular officers and a crew of thirty five cadets. The plan was for the cadets to run the ship while the officers observed and critiqued our performance.\nJake: So this was a training ship. Like the other one, the, er, the Republic.\nCollins: Not quite. The Republic's an old ship. I don't think she's left the Terran system in fifty years. The Valiant's a state of the art warship. Our mission was to circumnavigate the entire Federation before returning home.\nJake: The entire Federation? With a ship of cadets?\nCollins: Not just cadets, Mister Sisko.\nWatters: We were transiting the Kepla Sector when the war broke out. As you probably know, a Dominion invasion force swept through that sector on the first day.\nNog: So you were caught behind enemy lines.\nWatters: Correct. We were trying to make our way back to Federation held space when we encountered a Cardassian battle cruiser near El Gatark. That was our first taste of combat. In the first fifteen minutes, four regular officers were killed. Three others were critically wounded including Captain Ramirez.\nNog: Is that when you took command?\nWatters: No. When I got to the bridge, the Captain was in pretty bad shape, but he was lucid and he refused to go to Sickbay. We had lost main power and we were adrift, but the Cardassian cruiser was no better off. So it was a race against the clock. The ship that got main power back online first would have a decisive advantage. The Captain, he was amazing. He directed the entire damage control effort with a punctured lung and massive internal injuries. He was a great man.\nNog: And he won the race.\nWatters: We got weapons and impulse engines back online in three hours. And then we destroyed that Cardie ship. The next day, just before he died, the Captain ordered me to take command of the Valiant.\nNog: It's unbelievable. You've spent eight months behind enemy lines.\nWatters: I didn't do it alone. The crew deserves the real credit. We have cadets here as young as seventeen who are doing the jobs of officers twice their age. But we're also seriously undermanned. I could use another officer.\nNog: I'd be happy to do whatever I can, sir.\nWatters: I see you're familiar with the operations of a class seven warp drive.\nNog: Very familiar, sir. The Defiant has an identical engine.\nWatters: Excellent. As of this moment, you are Chief Engineer. Congratulations.\nNog: Chief Engineer?\nWatters: With rank of Lieutenant Commander. Your first assignment is to figure out why we can't go above warp three point two. Mister Parton believes it's\nNog: Excuse me, sir. I, I don't think I'm ready for this.\nWatters: None of us were ready for the responsibility thrust upon us, Commander. But each of us found a way to rise to the occasion, do the job that had to be done. Ready or not, you are Chief Engineer. You can do this, Mister Nog. Just have faith in yourself, faith in your shipmates, and everything will be fine.\nNog: Yes, sir. I will, sir.\nWatters: Good man. That's what I want to hear. Now if you can just fix our warp drive problems, we can get on with our mission.\nNog: Our mission? I don't understand.\nWatters: My orders are to collect technical data on a new Dominion battleship operating in this sector. We keep picking up their comm. traffic, so we know they're in the area, but because we can't go faster than warp three point two, we're unable to get within sensor range.\nNog: And Starfleet knows you're in command of the Valiant.\nWatters: No. We've had to maintain strict radio silence ever since the war began. The orders were addressed to Captain Ramirez, but since he's dead, the mission's now mine. Make no mistake, I will carry out that mission. Or die trying. Dismissed.\nCollins: Coffee?\nJake: Raktajino, please.\nCollins: Here you go.\nJake: Thanks. So, where are you from?\nCollins: Me? Tycho City.\nJake: Oh, a Lunar Schooner.\nCollins: I haven't heard that in a long time.\nJake: I picked it up from my granddad. Of course, he still calls Luna the moon like it's the only one or something.\nCollins: Well, nobody who's ever lived on the moon calls it Luna, either. That's just something they say on Earth.\nJake: So what's it like?\nCollins: You're from Earth aren't you? You've never been to the moon?\nJake: Just never got around to it. Tell me about it.\nCollins: Well, people say it's so barren and harsh, but it's not. it's beautiful. I mean Tycho City's just a city, but outside where the gravity is still low and there's no air. You know, the sun only comes up once a month on the moon. Every lunar morning, my father and I would put on suits, hike out across the Sea of Clouds. We'd stop at this collection of boulders on the western rim and just wait for the sun to come up. Dawn is so shocking on the moon. One minute you're in the darkest night you can imagine, and the next instant, the sun lifts up and this glorious, pure light just explodes across the surface. I felt like I met God every morning. I'm on duty. Excuse me.\nWatters: What's your solution, Commander?\nNog: I've taken the safeties off the plasma intercooler, the flux moderator and the pressure control system. That should solve the problem.\nFarris: You do realize you're violating about fifty safety regulations?\nNog: Yes, sir, I do. But I also know that Chief O'Brien made the same changes to the Defiant. She never had a problem.\nFarris: I don't know, Captain. This seems kind of risky to me.\nWatters: Mister Parton?\nParton: After spending seven months plodding along at warp three point two, I'm willing to try anything, sir.\nWatters: Watters to Bridge. Prepare for warp speed.\nShepard: Aye, sir.\nWatters: All right, Mister Nog. Take us to warp four.\nCollins: Can I help you, sir?\nWatters: No. No, I've got it. Any problems with Sisko's arm?\nCollins: No, sir.\nWatters: You got a problem, Chief?\nCollins: No, sir.\nWatters: Have you been crying?\nCollins: A little.\nWatters: About what?\nCollins: I was just thinking about home.\nWatters: Come in. Chief, I think you can go now.\nCollins: Thank you, sir.\nFarris: Well, Mister Sisko. It sounds like you and the Chief had quite a conversation this afternoon. Home and family and the glories of dawn on the moon. Does that just about cover it?\nJake: That's about it. What's going on?\nFarris: What's going on, Mister Sisko, in case you haven't noticed, is that we are in the middle of a war. We can't afford to have young cadets thinking about mommy and daddy when they need to be concentrating on their duties.\nJake: All I did was ask about her home.\nFarris: All you did was plunge a member of this crew into emotional turmoil.\nWatters: Jake. May I call you Jake? You're a reporter. Your job is to watch the way events unfold, not participate in them. Right now, you need to stand back. Take a look at where you are and what's going on around you. You're right in the middle of a great story. Maybe one of the greatest stories in the entire Dominion War. This ship is special, Jake. This crew is special. And whatever fates guide this universe, they've have chosen us to achieve some purpose in this conflict. I know that. Just as surely as I know your presence on this ship is no coincidence. You're here to write the story, to tell people of the Valiant and her crew. Don't interfere with the story, Jake. Don't become a part of it. Just let it unfold around you. Observe, listen, and then write it down. May I have your word you'll stay away from Chief Collins?\nJake: Okay.\nWatters: Thank you, Jake. You're dismissed.\nFarris: I'm not sure we can trust him.\nWatters: We'll keep an eye on him.\nFarris: What about Mister Nog?\nWatters: Mister Nog wears the uniform. He'll do his duty. All right, that'll be all, Commander. I'll see you at eighteen hundred hours.\nFarris: Yes, sir. Captain, are you all right?\nWatters: Yes. Why?\nFarris: I heard you were on the bridge during the midwatch again last night. You haven't been getting much sleep lately, sir.\nWatters: None of us have, Commander.\nFarris: No, sir. I suppose not.\nWatters: Thank you for your concern, Karen, but I'm fine. Really.\nFarris: Yes, sir. I'm sorry I even brought it up.\nWatters: That's all right.\nJake: Where've you been?\nNog: Engine Room. I solved their warp problem.\nJake: What's that?\nNog: My Red Squad insignia. Oh, and in case you haven't noticed, this would be my new rank. Lieutenant Commander Nog, Chief Engineer. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?\nJake: You joined the crew?\nNog: Something wrong with that?\nJake: It's a little fast. We just got here and Watters puts you in charge of the Engine Room?\nNog: Captain Watters is used to making quick decisions. He felt I was the right man for the job, so he promoted me.\nFarris: Red Alert. All hands to battle stations. I repeat, all hands to battle stations.\nShepard: Range, one point three two light years. Speed, warp four point seven.\nNog: What's going on?\nFarris: We've found our battleship.\nShepard: Their course is one seven zero mark one three five. Speed warp three point nine seven.\nCrewwoman: Bridge to phaser control, you've got a spike in your 3L subsystem. Take care of it.\nCrewwoman 2: Sensors show a drop in gamma radiation.\nFarris: Phaser reserve is losing power.\nNog: I'll reroute it through the auxiliary power interface.\nShepard: They've changed course.\nWatters: Any sign they've detected us?\nFarris: Negative. I think we're still outside their sensor range.\nWatters: Maintain your distance, helm. Match their course and speed.\nShepard: Aye, sir.\nWatters: Prepare a class three probe for launch.\nFarris: Aye, sir.\nJake: What happens now?\nNog: We're going to launch a sensor probe to scan the battleship. That way, the Valiant won't be picked up on their scanners.\nJake: Won't they detect the probe?\nNog: Class three probes are designed to be virtually undetectable. There's almost no chance of it being spotted.\nJake: Almost?\nFarris: I don't remember anyone inviting you to the bridge. Captain's log, stardate 51825.4. We've been shadowing the Dominion battleship for three hours. The data our probe has gathered so far has not only been interesting but it may have given us a golden opportunity to strike a blow for the Federation.\nShepard: Attention on deck!\nWatters: Stand at ease. It's been a long eight months. A lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice. Now we've accomplished our mission. We found the battleship and obtained a complete scan without being detected, and we're free to go home. But that ship out there is a direct threat to every Federation outpost and colony within fifty light years. That ship must be destroyed. It can be destroyed. Commander?\nFarris: We've found a flaw in the design of their antimatter storage system. The primary support braces are made of viterium.\nWatters: It's a very strong, very resilient metal alloy which just happens to become extremely unstable when exposed to delta radiation.\nFarris: A single torpedo rigged with a radiogenic warhead could reduce those braces to the consistency of wet pasta.\nWatters: And as a result, the entire antimatter storage system would tear itself apart. Commander Nog, you don't seem convinced.\nNog: Well, sir, in order to rig a torpedo to yield a delta radiation burst I'll have to remove most of the guidance systems. We'll have to target it manually.\nFarris: We've trained for that possibility. It shouldn't be a problem.\nNog: We'll also have to get very close to the target.\nWatters: How close?\nNog: Within three hundred meters.\nWatters: It's dangerous, there's no disputing that. And no one would think any less of us if we just turn around and go home. But that means that some other ship with some other crew would be asked to finish the job that we started. I think we can do it. I think we should do it.\nJake: Can I say something?\nFarris: You are not a member of this crew.\nWatters: Let him speak.\nJake: You all probably know who my father is. Benjamin Sisko. So you know I'm not exaggerating when I say that he's considered to be one of the best combat officers in the fleet. And I'm telling you right now that even with the entire crew of the Defiant with him, my father would never try to pull off something like this. And if he can't do it, it can't be done.\nWatters: We're Red Squad and we can do anything.\nAll: Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad! Red Squad!\nJake: This is suicide.\nNog: No, it's not.\nJake: Nog, listen to me. We're in way over our heads here. Now someone told me that ship out there is twice the size of a Galaxy class starship and three times as strong.\nNog: That's accurate.\nJake: And you really think we can go up against a ship like that?\nNog: I think that Captain Watters\nJake: Oh, really? Well, did you know that Watters has been taking cordafin stimulants for the past two months?\nNog: Where did you hear that?\nJake: Dorian told me.\nNog: You were ordered to stay away from her!\nJake: Will you forget about obeying orders for just a minute!\nWatters: Watters to Shepard. Please report to my Ready room, Lieutenant.\nNog: That's not the way we do things in Starfleet.\nJake: I can't believe you're buying everything that Watters is selling.\nNog: He's not selling anything. He's reminding us of our duty.\nJake: I feel like I'm having a conversation with one of the bulkheads.\nNog: You don't understand because you've never put on one of these uniforms. You don't know anything about sacrifice or honor or duty or any of the things that make up a soldier's life. I'm part of something larger than myself. All you care about is you.\nJake: That's right. All I care about is Jake Sisko and whether or not he's going to be killed by a bunch of delusional fanatics looking for martyrdom.\nNog: Get out.\nJake: I don't even know who you are anymore.\nNog: I'm the Chief Engineer of the starship Valiant.\nJake: I'll have them put that on your tombstone.\nShepard: Mister Sisko. I'm afraid you'll have to miss all the fun. You're going to spend the rest of this mission in the brig.\nFarris: All decks report ready, sir.\nWatters: This is the Captain. We are about to engage the enemy. For eight months, I've told you to stay focused on one thing. Your duty. But now I want you to step back from your duty.\nWatters: Take a look around. And I don't mean look at the walls. I want you to look at this moment\nWatters: In your life. Take it in. Appreciate the fact that you are on this ship, with this group of people, at this point in history.\nWatters: But understand one thing above all else.\nWatters: This moment will never come again. Hold on to it. Savor it far as long as you can. You're Starfleet, you're Red Squad.\nWatters: And you're the best. Now, let's get that battleship and we can all go home. Captain out. Take us to warp six, Mister Nog.\nNog: Warp six, aye.\nFarris: They've spotted us. They're dropping out of warp.\nWatters: Helm, go to impulse.\nShepard: Aye, sir.\nFarris: We are in visual range.\nWatters: On screen.\nWatters: Lay in a strafing course along their superstructure and make it close. That way they won't get a weapons lock on us. I want to scrape some of the paint off their hull, Lieutenant.\nShepard: Aye, sir.\nWatters: Raise shields, charge phasers. Fire at any targets of opportunity as we pass.\nFarris: Aye, sir.\nWatters: Torpedo status?\nNog: Torpedoes ready, sir.\nFarris: Defense system, ready.\nShepard: Helm ready.\nWatters: All right, Mister Shepard. Take us in.\nFarris: Shields holding.\nShepard: Course stable.\nWatters: Fire at will!\nWatters: Helm, hard about! Tactical, get a target lock on those braces!\nNog: Impulse engines at full thrust.\nFarris: They're trying to jam our sensors.\nWatters: Mister Nog, initiate countermeasures.\nNog: I'm on it!\nFarris: I've acquired the target. Torpedoes locked.\nWatters: Full power to the forward shields. Helm, plot an escape course down the z axis.\nShepard: Ready.\nWatters: Engage.\nShepard: They're turning to port.\nWatters: Match them, helm. Keep us on track.\nShepard: Aye, sir.\nCollins: Hull breach on deck two. Emergency forcefields are in place.\nFarris: Steady our course, helm. I can't maintain targeting lock.\nWatters: Karen, it's all yours. Fire when ready.\nFarris: Understood. Just a little closer.\nShepard: We're losing our port shields.\nFarris: Steady as she goes. Torpedoes away!\nWatters: Aft view, on screen.\nWatters: Did we miss the target?\nFarris: No, sir. It was a direct hit. It just, it didn't work.\nShepard: Orders, Captain?\nWatters: Lay in a new course one two seven mark three\nCollins: Hull breach on deck two. Deck three, deck four.\nFarris: Evasive maneuvers! Bring us about to course one two seven mark three two zero.\nShepard: I've lost helm control.\nNog: Main power's offline! I'm rerouting the\nCollins: Auxiliary power's offline. But I still have phaser control. Shall I return fire? Sir?\nNog: No, it's over.\nCollins: The Captain wanted us to\nNog: The Captain is dead, Chief. They're all dead. The ship is lost. There's no need for us to die here too.\nComputer: Abandon ship. Abandon ship. This is not a drill. All hands proceed to emergency escape pods.\nJake: Help! Somebody let me out of here! Help!\nNog: Jake! Jake!\nJake: What happened?\nNog: We failed. (The first two are shot down. Two more set off then Valiant goes KaBOOM destroying one of them. Number four heads off.)\nKira: Captain, I'm picking up a Starfleet distress signal, bearing three one eight mark zero zero five. Range, ten light years.\nWorf: That location is inside Dominion held space.\nSisko: Can you identify the ship sending the distress call?\nKira: Looks like it's from an escape pod. USS Valiant.\nWorf: The Valiant was reported lost over eight months ago. It could be a Dominion ruse to lure us into their territory.\nSisko: Then again it may be genuine. We have to find out. Cloak the ship and lay in a course.\nKira: Aye, sir.\nSisko: We scanned the area for any other escape pods, but it doesn't look like anyone else made it.\nJake: It was a long shot. I just thought maybe\nSisko: How is she, Doctor?\nBashir: I've managed to repair her fractured skull, and with a little rest she should be fine.\nSisko: And Nog?\nBashir: Oh, a few bumps and bruises, but he's going to be fine as well.\nJake: Can I talk to him?\nBashir: I don't see why not.\nJake: Are you okay?\nNog: Yeah. You going to write a story about all this?\nJake: Probably.\nNog: What are you going to say?\nJake: What do you think I should say?\nNog: That it was a good ship with a good crew that made a mistake. We let ourselves blindly follow Captain Watters and he led us over a cliff.\nCollins: That's not true. Captain Watters was a great man.\nJake: Dorian, he got everyone killed.\nCollins: If he failed it's because we failed him.\nNog: Put that in your story too. Let people read it and decide for themselves.\nNog: He may have been a hero. He may even have been a great man. But in the end he was a bad captain."}
{"text": "Quark: I am truly impressed. And I'm not easily impressed. In all my years as proprietor of Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade, I have never seen such a glowing employee performance report. I mean, look at this. In three months, no customer has filed a single complaint against you. You haven't spilled a drink, mixed up a food order or short-changed a bill.\nAluura: I take my job very seriously.\nQuark: And yet you always manage to wear a friendly smile.\nAluura: That's because I like my work. I'm happy to be here.\nQuark: And it shows. The customers love you. Your fellow dabo girls love you. Even the Ferengi waiters sing your praises. And you know why? Because you're nice.\nAluura: I try to be.\nQuark: You're nice to the customers. You're nice to the dabo girls. You're nice to the Ferengi waiters. You're nice to everyone. Almost everyone.\nAluura: You mean I've offended someone?\nQuark: Look closely, Aluura. Can't you see the pain in my eyes?\nAluura: But I'm always nice to you.\nQuark: I think you could be nicer.\nAluura: How much nicer?\nAluura: Oo-mox for Fun and Profit?\nQuark: It's a quick read.\nAluura: Oh. You want me to be nice.\nQuark: Let's face it. The customers, the dabo girls, the Ferengi waiters, they didn't hire you. And they can't fire you.\nAluura: You wouldn't. Would you?\nQuark: Read the book.\nRom: Brother. We need to talk.\nQuark: Go away. I'm in the middle of a meeting.\nRom: But it's important.\nQuark: So is this meeting.\nRom: It's about our mother.\nQuark: How many times have I told you not to mention Moogie when I'm working.\nRom: Sorry. But I tried contacting her this morning and I couldn't get through.\nQuark: She's probably off visiting the Grand Nagus.\nRom: I tried the Tower of Commerce. There was no answer there either.\nQuark: They're probably on vacation. Now leave me alone. I'm trying to concentrate.\nRom: Brother, you don't understand. I can't get a hold of anyone on Ferenginar. Not Cousin Gaila, not Lek. I tell you, something's very wrong.\nQuark: All right. We will continue this later. In the meantime, you have some reading to do.\nRom: Hello, Aluura. She's so nice.\nQuark: We'll see.\nSisko: A Dominion invasion of Ferenginar?\nRom: Think of the terrible repercussions to the Alpha Quadrant.\nWorf: I cannot think of any.\nKira: How could the Dominion invade Ferenginar without first conquering the surrounding systems like Clarus and Irtok?\nRom: Brother, did you hear that? They've captured Irtok as well.\nKira: That's not what I said.\nWorf: There are no reports of Dominion activity anywhere near that sector.\nQuark: Why can't we get through to Ferenginar?\nRom: Moogie, the Nagus, Cousin Gaila. They're all dead.\nQuark: We don't know that, Rom. But something is definitely wrong on Ferenginar.\nSisko: We'll see what we can find out.\nDax: Captain, a Ferengi ship is approaching the station requesting permission to dock. It's Grand Nagus Zek. And your mother's with him.\nRom: They're alive! Nice work.\nZek: Quark! Rom! It's good to see you, boys.\nQuark: It's good to see you too, Nagus.\nZek: Come along, my dear.\nRom: Moogie! I was so worried.\nIshka: You're a good son.\nQuark: I was worried, too.\nIshka: And you're a good liar.\nRom: Moogie, do you think it's a good idea to be wearing clothes in public?\nQuark: He's right. What if one of my Ferengi waiters sees you?\nIshka: I hope they do. Tell them, Zekkie.\nZek: No, you go right ahead, my dear.\nIshka: It should really come from you.\nQuark: Would somebody please tell me what's going on?\nIshka: It's one of those good news bad news type of things. Give them the good news first.\nZek: If you insist. Three days ago, I added a new amendment to the Ferengi Bill of Opportunities giving females the right to wear clothes.\nRom: In public?\nIshka: Anywhere we want.\nQuark: That can't be the good news. If Ferengi females can wear clothes in public, then they can leave their homes. If they can leave their homes, they can go to work. If they can go to work, they can make profit.\nIshka: What's the matter, Quark? Afraid of a little competition?\nQuark: You're sure that's the good news?\nRom: It sounds good to me.\nIshka: Oh, now you see why I like him best.\nZek: Face it, Quark. It's good business. For thousands of years, Ferenginar has allowed a valuable resource to go to waste.\nQuark: Females? A valuable resource?\nZek: They make up fifty three point five percent of the population and contribute virtually nothing to gross planetary income. I say it's time they started pulling their own weight.\nQuark: Better tell me the bad news. It might cheer me up.\nIshka: I doubt it.\nZek: The moment fully clothed females started appearing on the streets of Ferenginar, financial chaos erupted all over the planet.\nRom: That explains the communications blackout.\nZek: There was so much buying and selling throughout the Alliance that the entire planetary communications grid shut down.\nQuark: If there's trouble on Ferenginar, what are you doing here?\nZek: I've been deposed. I'm no longer Grand Nagus.\nQuark: Then who is?\nIshka: Who do you think?\nQuark: Brunt.\nRom: Grand Nagus Brunt?\nZek: Acting Grand Nagus Brunt.\nRom: Brother, we're in trouble now. Brunt hates us.\nIshka: Well, don't start panicking. The Ferengi Commerce Authority hasn't confirmed him yet.\nZek: And they won't for three more days. Boys, together we're going to reconquer an empire or die in the attempt.\nIshka: What lovely quarters you have, Quark. Small, but lovely.\nZek: As of this moment, I declare this site to be the headquarters of the sole legitimate government of Ferenginar.\nQuark: I still can't believe it. Brunt is the new Nagus?\nZek: Acting Nagus.\nQuark: For three more days. Then it becomes official.\nZek: I'm not worried. I have a secret weapon. Your mother. Now here's the plan. One, we contact every FCA Commissioner and invite them to the station for a meeting. Two, Ishka runs the meeting.\nQuark: Oh, they'll love that.\nZek: Maybe not at first, but she'll win them over. Using her vast financial knowledge and her keen instinct for profit, she'll prove once and for all that allowing females to wear clothing is the first step toward a healthier and more prosperous Ferengi economy. And three. What was three again, my dear?\nIshka: The FCA Commissioners reinstate you as Nagus.\nZek: And who can ask for a happier ending than that.\nIshka: But that's only the beginning, lobekins. I predict that one day, a female will enter the Tower of Commerce, climb the forty flights of stairs to the Chamber of Opportunity, and take her rightful place as Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance.\nQuark: Don't look at me. It was your amendment.\nRom: Nagus, you remember my son, Nog, don't you? He's the first Ferengi to join Starfleet.\nZek: I'll try not to hold that against him.\nRom: And this is my wife, Leeta.\nLeeta: I've heard so much about you.\nZek: Would you like to hear more?\nIshka: Remember, she's Rom's wife.\nZek: Meaning what?\nIshka: Meaning she's broke.\nZek: She doesn't look broke to me.\nIshka: Zekkie.\nZek: Just having a little harmless fun, my sweet. Now Quark, you and your brother get rid of some of this furniture. And you, get three subspace transceivers off my ship and set them up in here. And where's my beetle snuff?\nZek: Grand Nagus Brunt.\nQuark: Good afternoon, I'm calling on behalf of Grand Nagus Zek.\nRom: The Nagus summons you to a meeting here on Deep Space Nine.\nNog: He's counting on your support.\nQuark: You'll be presented with some very interesting financial data.\nRom: There's profit to be earned.\nNog: And the Nagus wants you to share in these lucrative opportunities.\nRom: Yes, I'm talking about the Grand Nagus.\nQuark: No, not Brunt.\nNog: Grand Nagus Zek.\nQuark: Who said he was dead?\nRom: Wait. Don't end the transmission.\nNog: Hello? Hello? Where'd he go?\nQuark: I know all about the ninety fourth Rule of Acquisition.\nNog: I know. Females and finances don't mix. But that can be interpreted in many different ways.\nQuark: Hello? Hello?\nRom: That's not a very nice thing to say about the Nagus.\nQuark: I beg your pardon?\nNog: There's no need to be insulting.\nRom: Hello? Hello?\nQuark: That female happens to be my mother! Hello?\nZek: Are you sure you contacted every Commissioner on this list?\nQuark: All four hundred and thirty two of them.\nZek: And you could only convince one of them to attend the meeting?\nRom: Maybe if we made some follow up calls.\nZek: I helped every one of those people earn a fortune, and this is how they repay me?\nNog: What a bunch of ingrates.\nIshka: Well, the news isn't all bad. The Commissioner who's agreed to come. It's Nilva.\nQuark: The Chairman of Slug-o-Cola.\nIshka: He's a very powerful and influential voice within the FCA.\nZek: Unfortunately, he's a influential voice for the status quo.\nRom: I don't think Slug-o-Cola has changed it's advertising slogan in three hundred years. Drink Slug-o-Cola.\nAll: The slimiest cola in the galaxy.\nQuark: Why would Nilva agree to come to the meeting?\nIshka: I don't know. But if I can convince him to support Zek, other Commissioners will follow.\nZek: Well, it's a start, at least.\nIshka: See? I told you it was too early to panic.\nBrunt: Care to place a wager on that?\nRom: Grand Nagus Brunt.\nZek: Acting Grand Nagus Brunt.\nIshka: Now you can panic.\nBrunt: I'll take an Eelwasser. No ice.\nZek: What are you doing here, Brunt?\nBrunt: That's Grand Nagus Brunt.\nIshka: Acting Grand Nagus.\nBrunt: Would someone please tell that female to take off those clothes. It's disgusting.\nIshka: Get used to it, limp lobes. This is the future.\nBrunt: Over my dead body.\nZek: If that's what it takes.\nRom: I don't suppose you're here to reminisce about the time you helped my brother and me rescue Moogie from the Dominion.\nBrunt: You're right. That's not why I'm here. Though I find it ironic that helping to rescue your mother was the first step on my road to becoming Nagus.\nIshka: Don't remind me.\nZek: I never should have given you your job back with the FCA.\nBrunt: But you did. And as a Liquidator, I was able to bribe my way back into a position of power.\nRom: That is ironic.\nBrunt: Face it, Zek, it's over. You're finished. Bankrupt. I'm going to liquidate you. Cancel that Eelwasser and get me a Slug-o-Cola instead. On second thought, I'll just wait till Chairman Nilva gets here. I'm sure he'll be happy to provide his new Nagus with all the Slug-o-Cola I can drink.\nRom: How did you know Nilva was coming here?\nBrunt: Because it's my business to know. Go on, have your little meeting. Whatever you offer Nilva, I'll double it.\nQuark: That's it. Get out of my bar.\nBrunt: You dare threaten your Nagus?\nQuark: Acting Nagus. You may liquidate us tomorrow, but right now this is still my establishment. Now get out before I kick you out.\nBrunt: I'm going to make you a pauper. Uri'lash, we're leaving. Say goodbye to these poor people.\nQuark: Out.\nZek: My boy, I'm proud of you.\nIshka: So am I.\nRom: Me too.\nQuark: I just kicked the Grand Nagus out of my bar.\nAll: Acting Grand Nagus.\nQuark: Whatever. I need to lie down.\nIshka: You busy, Quark?\nQuark: Busy? Me? Nah. I'm just lying here wondering if it's not too late for me to start a new life somewhere.\nIshka: Oh, Quark, there's nothing wrong with your life.\nQuark: I'm sorry. I stand corrected.\nIshka: You're overreacting.\nQuark: Whatever you say.\nIshka: Reminds me of when you were a lobeling. You were always such a miserable child.\nQuark: Moogie, leave me alone.\nIshka: I'm your mother, I can't leave you alone.\nQuark: Try.\nIshka: Come on, on your feet. Zekkie's waiting for you in the bar.\nQuark: Now what?\nIshka: He feels like playing a game of tongo.\nQuark: We're all facing banishment from Ferengi society and he wants to play tongo?\nIshka: He wants to play tongo, I want to have a late night snack, you want to lie here feeling sorry for yourself. We all deal with stress in different ways. Any fresh tube grubs around?\nQuark: How can you eat at a time like this?\nIshka: It's simple. You put one end of the tube grub between your front teeth, and you suck 'em right up.\nQuark: You want tube grubs? Fine. Enjoy.\nIshka: These are minced. I wanted fresh.\nQuark: You know, this is all your fault.\nIshka: It's my fault you don't have fresh tube grubs?\nQuark: I'm not talking about tube grubs. I'm talking about Ferengi females wearing clothes and earning profit. I'm talking about Grand Nagus Brunt.\nIshka: Acting Grand Nagus Brunt.\nQuark: You're not fooling me, Moogie. You've been plotting this all along. Ever since you met Zek, you've been working on him, manipulating him, whispering things in his ear. Things like equality for females.\nIshka: What's wrong with that?\nQuark: I'll tell you what's wrong with that. You've ruined Zek's life, your life, Rom's life.\nIshka: As if you cared about any of us. It's your life you're worried about.\nQuark: You bet I'm worried. Nobody else seems to care what happens to me. You come here to my station, take over my quarters, make me a part of your subversive schemes.\nIshka: What's the matter, Quark? Are you afraid you picked the wrong side? You can always go crawling to Brunt, beg his forgiveness.\nQuark: I don't want anything to do with Brunt. I want my old Nagus back.\nIshka: Do you.\nQuark: I want Zek to be the way he used to be, before he met you, before you twisted his thinking with your feminine wiles.\nIshka: Before he met me, Zek was a lonely, unhappy man.\nQuark: But he was rich. He was the most powerful Ferengi alive. Now what is he? A puppet. And you're the one pulling the strings, making him dance to your evil, feminist tune. You're the worst thing that ever happened to Zek. You're the worst thing that ever happened to me. In fact, you're the worst thing that ever happened to the entire Ferengi Alliance.\nIshka: Maybe I am, but at least I'm not like you. A selfish, spineless, ungrateful\nQuark: Don't forget miserable.\nIshka: Miserable excuse for a son!\nQuark: Is that the best you can do?\nIshka: I haven't even begun. You should be ashamed of yourself. Why, you are nothing but a. Why, you are, you\nQuark: Go ahead. Say it.\nIshka: You're a\nQuark: I'm still waiting.\nIshka: You're a. You're a. You're a\nQuark: A what!\nQuark: Moogie. Moogie? Moogie! Moogie. Moogie. Moogie!\nRom: Moogie, please don't die.\nQuark: She's not going to die. She's going to get better.\nZek: I hope so, for my sake, for her sake, for the sake of the entire Ferengi Alliance. And most of all I hope she gets better for your sake, Quark. Because if she doesn't\nQuark: What did I do?\nZek: That's exactly the question I keep asking myself. What did you do to her?\nQuark: I told you. She said she was hungry. I gave her some tube grubs. She thanked me, and then she collapsed. I wish you'd stop making me relive it.\nRom: Are you sure you didn't do or say anything that might have upset her?\nQuark: I don't want to talk about it anymore.\nZek: What's wrong, Quark? Your conscience bothering you?\nQuark: I haven't done anything wrong!\nBashir: That's not what your mother says.\nRom: Doctor, how's Moogie?\nQuark: Will she live?\nBashir: Oh yes, she'll live. She needed a new heart and it's functioning normally. But she's going to need a few days complete rest. And she'll need to be kept far away from him.\nZek: And why is that, Doctor?\nBashir: I'm not sure exactly. All I do know is that she keeps repeating the same phrase over and over. It's all Quark's fault. It's all Quark's fault.\nQuark: I wonder what she means by that?\nQuark: And then I accused her of being the worst thing that ever happened to the Ferengi Alliance and she clutched her chest and collapsed. Moogie and I argue all the time. It's our way of showing affection.\nZek: Well, if you ask me, Quark, the worst thing that ever happened to the Ferengi Alliance is you.\nQuark: I'm sorry.\nRom: Well I suppose we should contact Nilva and tell him the meeting has to be postponed.\nZek: We can't postpone the meeting! In two days, the FCA is going to confirm Brunt as the new Grand Nagus.\nRom: Boy, when things go wrong.\nBrunt: The only thing to do is get down on your knees and beg for mercy. Who knows? You might find me in a charitable mood.\nZek: By the time I get through with you, you're the one who's going to need charity.\nBrunt: Such brave words, yet so empty. I was very relieved to hear your mother is going to be all right. Of course, it doesn't do you much good. Nilva will be arriving tonight expecting to meet a brilliant Ferengi female. Do you know any? I mean, besides Ishka? I certainly don't.\nBrunt: How pitiful. One day you're the Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance, and the next you're nothing but a common barroom brawler. You see what happens when you put your faith in a female?\nRom: What about Leeta?\nQuark: What about her?\nRom: Maybe she can meet with Nilva. She handles my finances and she's a female.\nZek: And a very beautiful one at that. But Nilva's expecting to meet with a Ferengi female.\nQuark: We'll never get one here in time.\nRom: We're doomed.\nZek: No, we're not. You think if Ishka were here she'd give up?\nRom: If she were here, we wouldn't have a problem.\nZek: That's not my point. Your mother would never accept defeat. If she couldn't find another female, she'd, she'd, she'd\nRom: She'd what?\nZek: She'd make one.\nQuark: You mean a hologram?\nZek: Better than a hologram.\nQuark: What could be better than a hologram?\nZek: You.\nRom: Doctor Bashir certainly did a wonderful job on you. I'd call the operation a complete success.\nLeeta: It must have been a very delicate procedure.\nQuark: Tell me about it.\nLeeta: There.\nQuark: Well, how do I look?\nLeeta: You look nice.\nQuark: Nice? That's all?\nRom: Very nice.\nZek: You may look like a female but you have to do something about that voice.\nQuark: I'm trying! I mean, I'm trying.\nZek: Well, try harder.\nLeeta: And stop looking down.\nQuark: I need to see what I look like. Someone get me a mirror.\nRom: You see, brother? You look lovely.\nLeeta: There go his hormones.\nRom: You mean, her hormones.\nQuark: Take it away, take it away. I'm sorry. I just feel so different.\nLeeta: Would you stop staring at your chest.\nQuark: I'm not staring at my chest, I'm staring at my hips. Aren't they too big?\nZek: Your hips are fine. Now let's get down to business. These are your mother's notes for her meeting with Nilva. Study them carefully.\nQuark: Female apparel for a new source of latinum for a new Ferenginar. Hypicate cream for smooth skin and healthier profits. All these facts and figures. They're too much for me to remember.\nZek: Oh, nonsense. You just need a little time to practice your presentation.\nLeeta: And while you're at it, we need to practice your walk.\nQuark: What's wrong with my walk?\nLeeta: You're lumbering.\nQuark: This is never going to work.\nRom: Don't cry, Brother. Here, let me show you. Watch carefully. You see? It's more of a glide.\nLeeta: That's good.\nRom: And when you sit, make sure your knees are touching. And don't forget to relax your shoulders, but keep your bottom tight.\nRom: What?\nQuark: He's the one who should be wearing the dress.\nRom: Why me?\nLeeta: You're so adorable, and complicated.\nQuark: Maybe it's not too late. Come on, brother, I'll take you to Doctor Bashir.\nZek: Forget it, Quark. Rom may make a better female than you, but when it comes to business, you're the better Ferengi.\nQuark: Looks like your stupidity has saved you again.\nRom: It comes in handy sometimes.\nQuark: I can do this. Its only one meeting. I can be a female for one meeting, can't I?\nLeeta: Not if you're lumbering.\nQuark: I'll conduct the meeting sitting down.\nRom: Tighten your bottom.\nZek: I think you're doing wonderfully, my dear. I'm proud of you. I'm sorry. You know, you may walk like a man, but you make a very attractive female. Confusing, isn't it?\nQuark: Not to me.\nNog: He's here. He's on the station.\nZek: Who is?\nNog: Nilva.\nQuark: But he's not supposed to arrive until tomorrow.\nZek: That Nilva, he's a tricky one. But he makes a good cola.\nRom: What do we do?\nQuark: I can't meet Nilva now, I'm still lumbering.\nNog: You look very nice.\nZek: Nog, I want you to escort the chairman to his quarters. Tell him I'll meet him for dinner tonight.\nNog: What if he asks about Ishka?\nZek: Tell him that Ishka is sick, but that tomorrow he'll be meeting with my other female financial advisor, er, er, Lumba.\nNog: Right.\nQuark: Lumba?\nZek: You'd better start memorizing those notes.\nLeeta: First, we need to practice your walking.\nRom: And your sitting.\nZek: And you'd better work on that voice.\nQuark: Any other comments?\nZek: Has anyone ever told you that you have lovely eyes?\nNilva: Here, have a Slug-o-Cola.\nNog: Thank you. Welcome to Deep Space Nine, Chairman Nilva.\nNilva: You drink Slug-o-Cola, don't you?\nNog: The slimiest cola in the galaxy? Doesn't everybody?\nNilva: Good boy. Now, take me to Zek.\nNog: Zek wanted me to take you to\nNilva: Don't argue with me. Drink your cola and lead the way.\nNog: You're sure you don't want to stop by your quarters and freshen up?\nNilva: Not before I meet this female advisor of Zek's.\nBrunt: Nilva! How nice to see you again.\nNilva: Grand Nagus Brunt.\nNog: Acting Grand Nagus Brunt.\nNilva: Well, I had a feeling I might find you here.\nBrunt: I thought after your meeting with Zek, we could have a little chat.\nNilva: Oh of course. But I've really come to meet this Ishka female.\nBrunt: Haven't you heard? Ishka's in the Infirmary. She's in no position to meet anyone.\nNog: Which is why you'll be meeting with another one of Zek's financial advisors. Her name is Lumba.\nBrunt: Never heard of her.\nNilva: Oh, Zek has two female advisors?\nBrunt: I didn't know there were two Ferengi females on the station.\nNilva: Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go meet this other female.\nNog: You're sure you wouldn't like me to show you around the station first?\nNilva: I want to meet Lumba.\nBrunt: Lumba?\nLeeta: Let's try it again.\nQuark: My name is Lumba. You must be Chairman Nilva. Zek has told me so much about you. Ow.\nLeeta: What's wrong now?\nQuark: It's these earrings. They're killing me. Do I have to wear them?\nRom: No woman is complete without earrings. Why does everyone keep looking at me?\nQuark: I'm going to bed.\nZek: Now?\nQuark: I'm exhausted. If I don't get any sleep I'll never make it through tomorrow's meeting.\nLeeta: Who could that be?\nRom: Come in.\nZek: Nilva!\nNilva: Zek. Here, have a Slug-o-Cola. Don't worry, I brought enough for everyone.\nNog: He insisted on seeing you immediately.\nNilva: Why, you must be Lunga.\nQuark: Lumba.\nNilva: Oh, a clothed Ferengi female. And with your approval, no less. Either you've been inhaling too much beetle snuff or you're the greatest visionary ever to sit atop the Tower of Commerce.\nZek: Well, why don't you and I have dinner tonight and try to figure it out. We can go to Quark's and get some nice, juicy snail steaks. You can meet with Lumba tomorrow.\nNilva: I'm afraid that's not possible. You see, I have to leave first thing in the morning. I'm due back on Ferenginar for an important stockholders meeting. Oh, but those snail steaks do sound tempting. I know. Why don't I have dinner with Lumba?\nQuark: With me?\nZek: Won't you feel uncomfortable being seen in public with a clothed female?\nNilva: Well of course I will, but you and I have made a lot of latinum together over the years. That should be worth some small diskomfort. But Lumba better be all you claim she is, or I'll have to liquidate you myself. Let's eat.\nRom: Have fun.\nNilva: Two snail steaks, lightly seared. Now, tell me something. Doesn't wearing all those clothes make you feel like a deviant?\nQuark: Not really. And I'll tell you why. Because under all these clothes, I know I'm totally naked.\nNilva: I'll try to remember that. Now, you'd better explain to me how allowing females to wear clothing is going to make me richer than I already am.\nQuark: I was hoping you were going to ask me that. You see this dress I'm wearing? Have you any idea how much it would sell for on Ferenginar?\nLeeta: Would someone please tell me what they're saying. ZEK+ROM+\nNog: Shh.\nNilva: Let me see if I understand. Giving females the right to wear clothes allows them to have pockets. Once they have pockets, they're going to want to fill them with latinum.\nQuark: Which means they're going to need jobs.\nNilva: And once they start earning latinum, they're going to want to spend it.\nQuark: Which means Ferenginar will be expanding its work force and its consumer base at the same time.\nNilva: There will be plenty of profit for everyone.\nQuark: When it comes to profit, I'm your girl. And I'm sure you could use some extra latinum.\nNilva: Meaning what?\nQuark: I read the beverage trades. Sales of Slug-o-Cola have flattened out and Eelwasser had a very impressive third quarter.\nNilva: They were lucky, that's all.\nQuark: I know a way you can increase sales of Slug-o-Cola by fifty to sixty percent.\nNilva: I'm all ears.\nQuark: Target the new female consumer. Make Slug-o-Cola her drink.\nNilva: Nothing's stopping her from drinking it now.\nQuark: But you're not encouraging her either. The slimiest cola in the galaxy. That kind of slogan doesn't appeal to women.\nNilva: Well, what would?\nQuark: Let me see. Slug-o-Cola contains forty three percent live algae, right?\nNilva: In every bottle.\nQuark: Well, how about something like, Drink Slug-o-Cola and keep your teeth a sparkling shade of green.\nNilva: Oh, Zek was right about you. You're very intelligent.\nQuark: For a female?\nNilva: I think it's time for dessert now.\nQuark: Good idea. I thought we were going to have dessert?\nNilva: Oh, we are. In my quarters.\nNilva: I never ever thought I'd find a clothed female so enticing.\nQuark: Enticing? Me? Don't be silly.\nNilva: It's so good to finally be alone. Without all those people staring at us.\nNilva: Although I must admit, I did find it someone stimulating.\nQuark: Maybe a little too stimulating.\nNilva: Can I help it if my lobes burn for you? If you don't believe me, just touch them. Touch them.\nQuark: I'll take your word for it.\nNilva: You said you'd do anything for me.\nQuark: I lied.\nNilva: Come to me, my little love slave.\nQuark: Stay away! Stay away!\nNilva: Marry me!\nQuark: I don't think your wife would approve.\nNilva: Who cares? She hasn't touched my lobes in months.\nQuark: I can tell.\nNilva: Oh, I need you.\nQuark: What you need is a cold shower.\nNilva: What a good idea. Why, you can scrub my back.\nQuark: What if\nNilva: Yes?\nQuark: I told you\nNilva: Yes?\nQuark: I hate Slug-o-Cola.\nNilva: So do I.\nNilva: Oh, you torture me.\nQuark: Stay away.\nNilva: Stay away or what?\nQuark: Or I'll jump.\nNilva: I'll catch you.\nBrunt: Let go of that man!\nQuark: I'm trying.\nNilva: Would you please leave. You're making Lumba nervous.\nBrunt: His name's not Lumba, it's Quark, and he's a male.\nNilva: A male?\nBrunt: How pitiful. Zek must be truly desperate.\nNilva: Is this true? You're a man?\nQuark: Do I look like a man?\nBrunt: Nice try, Quark, but it's not going to work. He's the station's bartender.\nQuark: Don't listen to him, hot lobes. I'm as female as they come and I'll prove it to you.\nQuark: Well?\nNilva: Well, I'm not sure.\nQuark: Oh, all right.\nQuark: Now are you sure?\nNilva: Oh, completely.\nBrunt: I tell you that is not a female.\nNilva: Well, she's close enough for me. Come, my dear. Let's go tell Zek that I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he remains Grand Nagus.\nBrunt: But why?\nNilva: Because that's what Lumba wants.\nBrunt: His name's Quark!\nOdo: Interesting ring.\nQuark: It was a gift. Poor Nilva. Such a lovely man, but so lonely.\nOdo: Really?\nQuark: There was a sweetness to him, and also a strength. Sometimes he'd get this little glint in his eye. You know what I mean.\nOdo: Not really, but I'm glad you had a pleasant evening.\nQuark: You're mocking me, aren't you?\nOdo: And you're being a little overly sensitive.\nQuark: I've only been a male again for six hours. My hormones must still be out of balance. My emotions are raging out of control.\nOdo: Is there anything I can do?\nQuark: Would you mind giving me a hug?\nOdo: A hug?\nQuark: Just a small one.\nQuark: Thank you.\nZek: I hope we're not interrupting anything.\nOdo: Excuse me.\nZek: We just wanted to say goodbye before we go back to Ferenginar.\nIshka: Where the rivers run with muck and the streets are swarming with happy females.\nZek: And where, if all goes according to plan, the FCA commissioners will once again proclaim me Grand Nagus.\nRom: That would be nice, but Brunt's going to fight you at every turn.\nZek: I wouldn't have it any other way.\nIshka: I'm glad we have Nilva on our side. And we have you to thank for that, Quark.\nQuark: Will you forgive me, Moogie?\nIshka: Of course I do. You may be a lousy son, but you made a wonderful daughter. I hope the experience taught you something.\nQuark: It made me more compassionate, more empathetic, more nurturing. I feel like I'm trapped in my worst nightmare.\nZek: Don't worry. I'm sure it won't last. You'll be back to your old self in no time.\nRom: You are so lucky. No man ever gave me a ring.\nAluura: Quark?\nQuark: Aluura.\nAluura: I read the book.\nQuark: What book?\nAluura: You know, Oo-mox for Fun and\nQuark: You shouldn't be wasting your time reading that kind of trash.\nAluura: But you told me to.\nQuark: Forget what I told you. It was wrong and I apologize. You are a wonderful employee and I'm lucky to have you working for me. In fact, as of today, I'm giving you a raise. Another two slips of latinum a week.\nAluura: Really?\nQuark: It's the least I can do.\nAluura: That's too bad.\nQuark: All right, make it three.\nAluura: No, it's not that.\nQuark: Then what?\nAluura: It's just that Oo-mox sounded like fun. The tympanic tickle, the eustachian tube rub, the auditory nerve nibble. But if that's the way you feel about it.\nQuark: That is exactly the way I feel about it.\nQuark: What am I saying? Aluura? Wait."}
{"text": "Molly: Wake up, it's time to go.\nKeiko: Hi, honey.\nMolly: It's almost seven. Time to get ready.\nO'Brien: Time to get ready for what?\nMolly: The picnic!\nO'Brien: What picnic? Is that today?\nMolly: Yes. Don't you remember?\nO'Brien: Oh, well, we'd better get going then.\nMolly: I'm going to wear my blue jumper.\nKeiko: Oh, good idea, sweetie.\nO'Brien: I can't believe how much she's grown since I saw her last.\nKeiko: Look who's talking.\nO'Brien: What?\nKeiko: What have you been eating since we've been gone?\nO'Brien: The usual.\nKeiko: Well, say goodbye to the usual. I'm back and you're going to start eating right.\nO'Brien: Can't it wait until after the picnic?\nKeiko: No.\nMolly: Mommy, can you help me put this on?\nKeiko: Of course, sweetie.\nO'Brien: Where's the sunscreen?\nKeiko: I've already packed it.\nMolly: This is where we're going, Yoshi. See?\nMolly: Last time we went to Golana, you were inside Mommy's tummy.\nO'Brien: Better get down to the airlock. The shuttle leaves in twenty minutes.\nMolly: Can we bring Chester?\nKeiko: I don't think that would a good idea, sweetie.\nO'Brien: He might get lost.\nKeiko: On second thought. All right, let's go.\nMolly: Come on, Lupi.\nO'Brien: No sausages?\nMolly: I know what I'm going to be when I grow up.\nO'Brien: You do?\nMolly: Mm hm. I'm going to be an exobologist.\nO'Brien: An exobologist? What's that?\nMolly: Someone who studies animals from other planets.\nKeiko: Like Chester.\nMolly: Daddy, if you send us away again, can we take Chester?\nO'Brien: Honey, I'm not going to send you away again.\nMolly: You're not?\nO'Brien: No, I'm not. I only did it because it wasn't safe for you to be on the station.\nMolly: I know.\nO'Brien: We're never going to be apart again.\nMolly: Promise?\nO'Brien: I promise.\nMolly: You want to see me do some cartwheels?\nO'Brien: You bet.\nO'Brien: Wow.\nKeiko: Yay, good one.\nO'Brien: And what about you, little fellow? What do you say?\nO'Brien: I couldn't have said it better myself. Real sunshine, fresh air, you and the kids. Life doesn't get any better than this.\nKeiko: That was a pretty big promise you made, Miles, just a second ago.\nO'Brien: I meant it.\nKeiko: What if the war heats up again and the station isn't safe anymore?\nO'Brien: I'll put in for a transfer. I never want us to be apart again.\nKeiko: Molly?\nO'Brien: Molly? Molly!\nO'Brien: Molly! Molly!\nKeiko: Molly?\nMolly: Daddy, help!\nKeiko: Molly!\nMolly: Daddy, help!\nO'Brien: Molly, I'm coming.\nMolly: Daddy!\nO'Brien: Hold on, Molly. Hold on. Daddy's coming. Come on.\nMolly: Daddy, help.\nO'Brien: Take my hand. Come on, just take my hand.\nKira: Keiko.\nKira: Have you figured out what this thing is yet?\nDax: It's some sort of time portal. From the chroniton signature, we think it sent Molly about three hundred years into the past.\nKira: I wonder what this place was like three centuries ago.\nDax: Odo contacted the Bajoran Archeological Institute to see what he could find out.\nKira: How do we get Molly back?\nDax: Well, first we have to find a way to reactivate the portal. It's been abandoned a long time and it was destabilized when Molly fell through. The problem is, we're not sure how this technology works.\nKira: Well, something tells me the Chief isn't going to stop until he figures it out.\nDax: Something tells me you're right.\nKira: Assuming you can get this back online, what then?\nDax: We punch a transport scanning beam through the portal and then we try to lock on to Molly's DNA signature.\nKira: And pull her back into the present.\nDax: That's the idea.\nO'Brien: Oh, bollocks!\nKeiko: It's all right, sweetie. Shh, it's all right.\nO'Brien: Maybe you should take him up to the Defiant. It might be too cold in here for him.\nKeiko: I'm not going anywhere.\nKira: I'll take him. Come on.\nO'Brien: It's going to be all right, Yoshi. It's going to be all right.\nKeiko: You're okay, sweetie.\nKira: Come on.\nO'Brien: Give me a hand here. Okay.\nKira: Yes, yes I know.\nOdo: You're very good with him.\nKira: He knows me. I had him inside of me for five months. Oh, I know. I think I might want to have one of my own someday.\nOdo: According to the archeologists I talked to, the portal was built by a civilization that vanished two thousand years ago. Which means if Molly survived the fall, she would have found herself all alone.\nKira: You're saying that the planet was uninhabited three hundred years ago?\nOdo: The first Bajoran colonists didn't arrive till the turn of the century.\nKira: An eight year old girl stranded alone on a deserted planet. Poor Molly.\nOdo: With any luck, the Chief will be able to beam her out a few minutes after she fell. She'll hardly know she was gone.\nKeiko: Miles, I'm getting scared. You've been at it all day. Just tell me you're getting closer.\nO'Brien: I think I've found a way to modulate the temporal field generators. If it works, Molly'll be home in a few hours.\nKeiko: She's just been looking forward to coming out here ever since I told her we were coming back to the station. Where's our baby?\nO'Brien: Shh. Dear, come on, come on. We're going to get her back. Everything's going to be all right\nDax: Dax to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Go ahead.\nDax: The power convertor you asked me to reconfigure? It's ready to go online.\nKeiko: What? What does that mean?\nO'Brien: It means Molly's coming home. Come on.\nO'Brien: Transporter interface link.\nDax: Synchronized.\nO'Brien: DNA acquisition sensors.\nBashir: Locked in.\nDax: We're as ready as we're ever going to be, Chief.\nO'Brien: Okay, let's do it.\nDax: The field's destabilizing.\nO'Brien: We're losing power.\nDax: Temporal field established.\nBashir: We've got a DNA lock. It's her.\nKeiko: Molly?\nO'Brien: It's all right. There's no need to be afraid.\nBashir: Well, there's no doubt about it. The DNA sequences match. This is definitely Molly. My readings suggest that she's eighteen years old.\nO'Brien: We pulled her out ten years too late.\nBashir: It's a miracle you managed to get her back at all, Miles.\nKeiko: Maybe if you tried again you could pull her out when she was still a little girl.\nBashir: If you do that, there'll be no one to grow up and become this Molly. You'd be erasing her existence.\nO'Brien: Yes, but we'll have our Molly back.\nKeiko: Miles, this is our Molly. Just because we missed the last ten years of her life doesn't give us the right to take those ten years away from her.\nBashir: She's been deprived of human contact for a long time. It's not going to be easy for her to reassimilate. Her language skills are rusty. In fact, you two are the best hope we have of helping her recover them.\nKeiko: She doesn't remember us.\nO'Brien: She was so scared I doubt she even got a good look at us.\nBashir: It's possible that she's blocked out all memories of her earlier life in order to cope with her isolation.\nKeiko: So what do we do?\nBashir: I'm going to keep her under sedation until we get back to Deep Space Nine. I've asked Captain Sisko to create a safe environment for her. He's having one of the cargo bays converted. I want you two to be there with her when she wakes up.\nKeiko: What happens then?\nBashir: A case like this, there are no rules. We'll just have to feel our way through the process.\nDax: Hi. We have a little visitor. Come here.\nWorf: And what exactly is this infant doing in my home?\nDax: Well, I offered to watch him so that the O'Briens could spend time with Molly.\nWorf: I thought you said you were going to be working tonight.\nDax: I was going to run a spectral scan of that comet that's passing through the Denorias belt. But if I did that, who'd watch you?\nWorf: Me.\nDax: That's all right. I want to stay with him.\nWorf: Jadzia, you have been waiting for this comet to come into sensor range for weeks.\nDax: There'll be other comets.\nWorf: Go. I will take care of Yoshi.\nDax: Worf, that's very sweet, but let's face it. You're not very good with babies.\nWorf: I raised Alexander.\nDax: That's different. He was four years old when he moved in with you. You didn't have to change diapers. Babies are a handful. I should know, I've had nine of them.\nWorf: I know. Five as a mother, four as a father. I can handle a fourteen month old child.\nDax: I didn't say you can't.\nWorf: Fine. Go run your sensor scans.\nDax: You're holding him wrong.\nWorf: Leave us.\nDax: All right, all right. I'm leaving.\nWorf: AbomBhay mish! AbomBhay mish!\nKeiko: Hello, Molly.\nO'Brien: It's all right, Molly. We're not going to hurt you.\nO'Brien: Would you like something to eat? I bet you're hungry. Golana melon. Mmm, it's delicious. It's for you.\nO'Brien: It's good, isn't it?\nKeiko: Hi, Molly. Remember me? Mommy.\nKeiko: What is she doing?\nO'Brien: I think she's trying to figure out who we are. Maybe she remembers looking up at us when she was little.\nMolly 2: Ma. Ma.\nO'Brien: That's right. Mommy and Daddy.\nMolly 2: Ma. Ma.\nO'Brien: Show it to her.\nKeiko: I brought you something. It's Lupi. She used to sleep right next to you on your pillow every night. She's missed you. Go on, take her.\nKeiko: You remember Lupi, don't you?\nO'Brien: This is a ball, Molly.\nKeiko: May I have the ball?\nKeiko: Would you like the ball, Molly?\nO'Brien: Molly, give me the ball.\nKeiko: Julian said it would take a while.\nO'Brien: Yeah, well I hope she catches on soon. We're running out.\nKeiko: This is a ball, Molly.\nO'Brien: Would you like the ball? I'll give you the ball, then you give me the ball, huh?\nO'Brien: Give me the ball, Molly. Molly, give me the ball. Please?\nO'Brien: Yes, that's it!\nKeiko: Good girl!\nO'Brien: That's it. That's my girl. That's my Molly.\nDax: Is he all right?\nWorf: He is fine. He just will not go to sleep.\nDax: Did you change him?\nWorf: I changed him.\nDax: Did you feed him?\nWorf: I fed him.\nDax: Did you read him a story?\nWorf: I read him a story.\nDax: Did you sing to him?\nWorf: Until my throat was raw.\nDax: Sounds like you tried everything. I'll take over from here.\nWorf: That is not necessary.\nDax: Worf, you're exhausted. Get some sleep.\nWorf: No. I am a Klingon warrior and a Starfleet officer. I have piloted starships through Dominion minefields. I have stood in battle against Kelvans twice my size. I courted and won the heart of the magnificent Jadzia Dax. If I can do these things, I can make this child go to sleep.\nDax: Talk about losing perspective. Listen to yourself. Why is this baby-sitting thing so important all of a sudden?\nWorf: It is not important to me. It is important to you.\nDax: What are you talking about?\nWorf: You are judging me on my fitness to be a parent. Don't deny it, Jadzia. I can see it in your eyes. I have proven myself to be a worthy husband to you, but you are not convinced I would be a good parent to your children.\nDax: Who said anything about having children?\nWorf: Go to sleep. I have work to do.\nKeiko: Sorry I'm late.\nO'Brien: Oh, hi. She went to sleep a couple of hours ago.\nKeiko: How does she keep from falling?\nO'Brien: You got me.\nKeiko: Dax said she'll look after Yoshi until your shift's over.\nO'Brien: Good. I've fallen behind on my repair schedule the last couple of days.\nKeiko: Miles.\nKeiko: Do you want the brush, Molly? You can have it.\nO'Brien: More and more when I look at her, I can see the little girl she used to be.\nBashir: Has she spoken yet?\nO'Brien: No, but I can tell she understands what we're saying.\nBashir: Has she responded to her name?\nO'Brien: Oh, absolutely. Look at this.\nBashir: Interesting.\nO'Brien: She drew it. Not bad, eh?\nBashir: She's anthropomorphised the landscape.\nO'Brien: Yeah, she loves to draw. Oh, did I tell you? She began eating with a spoon. At this rate, she'll be reading and writing in a few weeks.\nBashir: Well, just be careful not to push her too hard. If she gets frustrated, she might withdraw and relapse into her old behavior patterns.\nO'Brien: Ah, don't worry. I'm not going to push her. I don't have to. She's doing fine on her own.\nWorf: Waq Kor do goH Ya. Gung gung gung.\nBashir: Gung gung gung?\nWorf: I was instructing your son in hehh DUHPP.\nBashir: Hehh DUHPP?\nWorf: It's a Klingon exercise designed to teach children hand eye coordination, so they will grow to become warriors.\nBashir: Oh, I get it. The rattle is like the baby's first bat'leth kind of thing.\nO'Brien: How'd he do?\nWorf: He acquitted himself well.\nO'Brien: Thanks for watching him.\nBashir: Oh, Worf, you might want to leave the rattle just in case Yoshi wants to practice his hehh DUHPPing.\nKeiko: Molly, come on. Molly, Molly please.\nO'Brien: What's going on?\nKeiko: She's been like this for over an hour.\nO'Brien: I'll try to calm her down.\nKeiko: I have to go. I have to pick up Yoshi and take him home.\nMolly 2: Ho muh.\nO'Brien: Did you hear that?\nMolly 2: Home.\nKeiko: Molly? What are you trying to say?\nMolly 2: Home.\nO'Brien: Home?\nMolly 2: Home. Molly.\nKeiko: That's right. Molly.\nMolly 2: Molly home.\nO'Brien: You want us to take you home with us?\nMolly 2: Daddy home Molly.\nKeiko: All right, we'll take you home.\nMolly 2: Mommy home Molly.\nO'Brien: Mommy and Daddy are going to take you home. Yes.\nO'Brien: Home, Molly. This is home.\nMolly 2: Starry stars.\nKeiko: They're pretty, aren't they?\nMolly 2: Home?\nO'Brien: That's right. Would you like to see your room?\nKeiko: Molly, Molly.\nMolly 2: Home!\nMolly 2: Home.\nO'Brien: No, this is your home.\nMolly 2: Home.\nKeiko: Miles.\nO'Brien: Look, I know. You lived there a long time, but this is home too.\nMolly 2: Molly home.\nKeiko: I know, sweetie. We can't go there right now.\nO'Brien: Maybe we can.\nKeiko: Look, Miles, she's so happy.\nO'Brien: She has no idea it's a holosuite.\nKeiko: It must be confusing to her. One minute she's on a space station, the next minute she's running around outside.\nO'Brien: Well there's no reason we can't take her here for an hour or two every day. I'll talk to Quark about scheduling some regular time.\nMolly 2: Mummy, Mummy, Daddy.\nO'Brien: That's my girl!\nO'Brien: I'll be right back.\nKeiko: Okay. Ooo, look at this.\nQuark: Sorry to interrupt, Chief, but your time is up. These gentlemen have a reservation.\nO'Brien: I'll pay for their time if they can wait another half hour.\nQuark: They seem to have their hearts set on some afternoon carnage now.\nO'Brien: All right. Give me a minute.\nQuark: Let me buy you gentlemen a drink.\nKeiko: Oh, pretty Molly.\nO'Brien: Molly, honey, we've got to go. Molly.\nO'Brien: Computer, end program. We'll come back tomorrow.\nMolly 2: Home!\nKeiko: We have to go, honey.\nO'Brien: It's okay, it's okay.\nKeiko: Sweetie, we'll come back another day. I promise.\nQuark: I'm sorry, little lady.\nO'Brien: Molly!\nO'Brien: Molly!\nOdo: On stun.\nKeiko: Molly!\nOdo: Odo to Doctor Bashir. We have a medical emergency in Quark's.\nSisko: The Tarkalean she attacked is recovering in the Infirmary. Doctor Bashir tells me he should be on his feet in a few days.\nOdo: He's filed charges against her. Assault with a deadly weapon.\nO'Brien: She wasn't trying to hurt him, she was just trying to get away.\nOdo: I tried to tell him that but he wasn't interested in hearing excuses. As far as he's concerned, she's dangerous and should be incarcerated.\nO'Brien: Incarcerated?\nSisko: I've talked to the Federation magistrate and explained the situation. She wants Molly taken to a special care center on Dalvos Prime for evaluation.\nO'Brien: They're going to keep her there, aren't they?\nSisko: We might be looking at a long term situation, yes. But it's the best facility of its kind.\nO'Brien: Molly belongs with Keiko and me. If she's going to make a connection with anybody it's going to be us, not some therapist she doesn't even know.\nSisko: I'm sorry, Chief. I wish there were another way.\nO'Brien: Captain, please. Don't let them take her away.\nBashir: Her body's flooded with adrenalin. I'm not sure how long she can tolerate being confined like this. It might send her into shock. We have to find a way to calm her down.\nO'Brien: Molly. Molly.\nMolly 2: Daddy, home.\nO'Brien: Molly, don't.\nO'Brien: No!\nKeiko: Miles!\nO'Brien: Turn it off, damn it!\nO'Brien: Molly, Molly.\nMolly 2: Home.\nKeiko: What are we going to do?\nBashir: It won't do any good to keep sedating her like this. The bottom line is, she needs open spaces and plenty of it.\nO'Brien: She's not going to get that at a special care center.\nBashir: I'll talk to the Captain about putting her back in a holosuite for the time being.\nO'Brien: But what happens when they put her on a transport? What happens then?\nDax: Oh, what a day. I can't wait to get out of my uniform. Where's Kirayoshi? I thought you were going to watch him this afternoon. Worf, what's wrong?\nBashir: Kirayoshi took a little fall.\nDax: Is he all right?\nBashir: Oh, yes. Just a small bump on the forehead. Happens all the time, children his age. A little sleep, he'll be as right as rain.\nDax: Thanks.\nBashir: Well, I've got to get back to the Infirmary.\nDax: You want to tell me what happened?\nWorf: We were playing. I was pretending to be a grint hound and chased him. He was laughing so hard he did not look to see where he was going and fell against the edge of the table.\nDax: It was an accident. It could have happened to anyone.\nWorf: I was too rough with him. I was careless. You were right to question my fitness as a father.\nDax: Worf, I never questioned your fitness as a father. Don't put words into my mouth.\nWorf: I failed Alexander, I failed Kirayoshi, and I would have failed our children as well.\nDax: Where are you going?\nWorf: I should not be here when he wakes up.\nDax: Worf.\nWorf: Jadzia, I'm sorry I've failed to prove myself to you.\nKeiko: We've got to do something. We can't let them take her away.\nO'Brien: We don't have any choice. We just have to hope Molly can adjust.\nKeiko: How can you say that? How can you just give up? You're planning something.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about?\nKeiko: Miles, I've known you a long time. You are planning something and you want to keep me out if it.\nO'Brien: The less you know, the better.\nKeiko: Why?\nO'Brien: Because there's going to be consequences.\nKeiko: So we'll face them together. She's my daughter too.\nO'Brien: Keiko, listen to me.\nKeiko: Don't argue with me. I am as stubborn as you. Now, what are we going to do?\nO'Brien: We're going to steal a runabout and take Molly back to Golana.\nKeiko: But that's the first place they'll look for her. They'll find her, unless. Unless we send her back through the portal into the past.\nO'Brien: Yeah. Once she's through we can destroy it. That way no one will ever find her.\nKeiko: But we'll never see her again.\nO'Brien: I wish there were some other way. Golana's been her home for ten years. She knows how to survive there. She'll be all right.\nO'Brien: How is she?\nPinar: Doctor Bashir said she'd be unconscious for a few more hours. We'll transfer her to a holosuite before she wakes up.\nO'Brien: There are no holosuites available. Odo said we should move her back to the cargo bay.\nPinar: He didn't mention it to me.\nO'Brien: Well, check the log. He said he made a note of it.\nO'Brien: Did you get everything?\nKeiko: It's all in here.\nJones: Chief. Jones to Security. I've found them.\nJones: They were trying to steal a runabout.\nOdo: Find out if Deputy Pinar has regained consciousness. I'm going to need his statement.\nO'Brien: Odo, please let us go.\nKeiko: If you put her back in a holding cell, she'll die.\nOdo: I'm disappointed in you, Chief. If anyone could break a prisoner out of a holding cell and get them off the station, I'd have thought it would have been you.\nOdo: On your way.\nKeiko: Thank you.\nKeiko: Thank you.\nOdo: Go.\nKeiko: There's a knife and a blanket.\nMolly 2: Lupi.\nKeiko: Yes, that's right, sweetie.\nO'Brien: Everything's ready to go. I've recalibrated the temporal field generator. We should be able to put her back at the same point in time when we took her out. Molly, honey, Can I show you something?\nO'Brien: You're going home now, Molly. Home is right through there.\nMolly 2: Home?\nKeiko: Mommy loves you, sweetie.\nO'Brien: I love you, too. Go on, honey. Home.\nMolly 2: Stars. Your home.\nO'Brien: That's right. When you look up at the stars, that's where we'll be, watching you. Go on, honey.\nMolly 2: Molly loves you.\nMolly 2: Molly?\nMolly: I want my mommy and daddy.\nMolly 2: There.\nMolly 2: Mommy, Daddy there.\nMolly 2: Molly home.\nKeiko: Molly?\nMolly: Mommy.\nO'Brien: Oh, look at you. You okay?\nDax: Hi. You can come in, he's gone. I dropped him off at the O'Briens a few minutes ago. Oh, you should've seen his face when he saw his sister again.\nWorf: Did you apologize to them for me?\nDax: Yes, and they said not to worry about it. It isn't the first time he's bumped his head. They invited us for dinner tonight to thank us for watching him.\nWorf: What did you tell them?\nDax: Well, I told them that we had a holosuite reservation, and that I'd check you. By the way, what does gung gung gung mean?\nWorf: Why do you ask?\nDax: Well, it was the strangest thing. I was taking Yoshi home and he kept shaking his rattle, saying gung gung gung.\nWorf: He did?\nDax: He seemed to get a bit kick out of it. So what does it mean?\nWorf: That is between Yoshi and me.\nDax: Oh, I see. Well, you made a big impression on him. Maybe you're not as bad with children as you thought.\nWorf: Or as you thought.\nDax: All right, maybe I had my doubts. But I've never been happier to be proven wrong. Oh, we'd better get going if we're going to make that holosuite reservation.\nWorf: Holosuite? And insult the O'Briens?\nDax: We wouldn't want to do that.\nWorf: He really said gung gung gung?\nDax: Over and over again.\nO'Brien: The Captain's volunteered to represent me at the hearing.\nKeiko: If anyone can make Starfleet understand what you did, it's him.\nMolly: Mommy?\nKeiko: Yes, sweetie?\nMolly: The girl who found me, can I see her again?\nKeiko: Not for a while, honey.\nMolly: She was so nice.\nO'Brien: According to Dax, the recalibration didn't hold, so the portal sent her back to the same point in time it sent little Molly.\nKeiko: I wonder if she realized that the little girl she was looking at was herself.\nO'Brien: I hope so. And I hope she realized that in a way she was going home too.\nMolly: Look. It's where we had the picnic.\nMolly: Don't you like it?\nO'Brien: It's beautiful.\nKeiko: Ah, sweetie, it's lovely, just lovely."}
{"text": "Odo: All right, these barstools will have to be removed.\nQuark: Do you know how much they cost?\nOdo: No, and I can't say I'm interested in learning. Station regulation twenty five sixty two, paragraph four. All furniture intended for use on the Promenade must not pose a danger to public safety.\nQuark: What danger?\nOdo: Without a back on the stool, Morn could tumble from his perch at any moment, shattering his upper vertebrae or puncturing three or four of his lungs.\nQuark: Nonsense. His body weight is perfectly distributed across the seat. He's also better able to enjoy the view of the lovely dabo girls than he was before. And should he require another drink he need only spin back.\nOdo: Which points out another danger. Vertigo.\nQuark: This isn't going to give anybody vertigo.\nOdo: Your appeal has been heard and rejected. I want the barstools removed by the end of the day. Now, it's come to my attention that your dabo wheel is in violation of station regulation forty seven twenty one, which states\nKira: Odo?\nOdo: Nerys.\nKira: You busy?\nOdo: Not at all.\nKira: Then can I interest you in some lunch?\nOdo: Where shall we go?\nKira: I was thinking about the Klingon restaurant. I haven't been there for ages and I have a craving for broiled krada legs.\nJake: Too bad about the barstools. I kind of liked them.\nQuark: Did you notice how he changed the minute she walked in the room?\nJake: They're in love.\nQuark: And what's love?\nJake: Well, it's a\nQuark: Love's a distraction. And a distracted policeman is an opportunity. Captain's log, stardate 51948.3. With the safe arrival of convoy PQ One in the Vegan System, our escort duties are now complete and I've set course for home.\nKasidy: Well, my first and hopefully last, mission report for Starfleet Command. You know, when I first agreed to be convoy liaison officer, I thought sure, why not? I know most of the freighter captains in the convoy, should be a piece of cake. I didn't know I'd be making twenty log entries a day and filling out formal reports every night.\nSisko: Looks like you did a pretty good job.\nKasidy: Well, if you're going to do something, do it right. That's what my father used to say.\nSisko: Every father says that. Even I say that.\nKasidy: That's why you're a good parent. You know all the clichés by heart. Well, hello stranger. Haven't seen you in days.\nBashir: I've been filling out reports for Starfleet Medical.\nKasidy: I knew there was a reason why I didn't join Starfleet. I couldn't do this paperwork.\nBashir: Smart.\nKasidy: There was a time when you couldn't get him to shut up.\nSisko: I think I like him better this way.\nKasidy: That's mean.\nSisko: I was just kidding.\nKasidy: No, you weren't.\nWorf: Worf to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Sisko here.\nWorf: Sir, can you come to the bridge? We have picked up a distress call.\nSisko: On my way.\nWorf: We have been unable to establish two way communication so far, but we have determined that the signal is coming from somewhere in the Rutharian sector.\nSisko: Let's hear it, Chief.\nLisa: and Commander Gatsby is dead too. I didn't see any other escape pods leave before the ship was destroyed so I may be the only survivor. My pod was torn open on impact and the rain is pouring in. I'll take the radio and a survival kit with me, but the environmental suits were damaged in the crash, so I'll have to rough it. This is an L class world and the atmosphere is barely breathable out there. Repeat. This is a general distress call. I am a citizen of the United Federation of Planets and a Starfleet officer. If you can hear me, please respond. My government will reward you for any assistance you can offer, and most of all, you'll be my personal heroes. Repeat. This is a general\nSisko: That's enough. How long will it take us to reach her?\nWorf: At maximum warp, six days.\nSisko: Any other ships closer to that sector?\nWorf: No, sir.\nSisko: Mister Worf, turn us around and set a course for the Rutharian sector.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Chief, I want you to establish a two way comm. link with this woman. And when you do, tell her, tell her her heroes are on the way. Captain's log, supplemental. The marooned Starfleet officer, whose name we've learned is Lisa, continues to transmit her call for help, but so far Chief O'Brien has been unable to establish two way communications.\nBashir: How's it going?\nO'Brien: Slow. For some reason, she's transmitting on a rotating subspace frequency. I'm having a problem finding a way to send a return signal.\nLisa: Barely edible.\nBashir: Do you have to keep that on all the time?\nO'Brien: No, not really, but she is all alone. The least I can do is try and listen to her.\nLisa: This is a general distress call\nBashir: She doesn't know you're listening, Miles. You're not comforting her by keeping the channels open and driving yourself crazy.\nO'Brien: It doesn't bother me. Sometimes it feels like she's actually talking to me.\nLisa: or any assistance you can offer.\nO'Brien: It's true. Especially when she starts talking about her family or her home. She reminds me of my cousin.\nLisa: Oh, no. I don't believe it. It's raining again. How can there be so much water and so little life out there?\nBashir: I think I'll leave you two alone.\nLisa: I'm really starting to hate this place.\nLisa: Repeat. This is a general distress call. Hello? Is anyone paying attention? I know you're out there. I know you can hear me. So just answer me. Tell me you're on your way. Tell me I'm going to be rescued. Tell me I'm not going to die alone.\nQuark: I hope you're satisfied. I'm sure nothing gives you more pleasure than stifling my creativity.\nOdo: Only you would consider barstools to be a form of artistic expression.\nQuark: Oh yeah? Let's see how creative you are. Have you picked out the Major's gift yet?\nOdo: Gift?\nQuark: For this Saturday. You do know what Saturday is, right?\nOdo: Saturday?\nQuark: Yes. It's the one month anniversary of your first date with Major Kira.\nOdo: Oh. I suppose it is.\nQuark: And you haven't picked out a gift.\nOdo: Why should I?\nQuark: The man's experienced unrequited love for the better part of three years and now that he finally has her, he wants to know why he should celebrate their anniversary.\nOdo: Whatever you're trying to sell me, it won't work.\nQuark: You think I'm going to get involved? No, thank you. The last thing I want to deal with is a panicked lover looking for a gift at the last minute. There's a whole Promenade of shopkeepers out there if you want to buy a gift.\nOdo: A one month anniversary gift. Did you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?\nJake: Okay, so now you have him looking for a gift. What are you up to?\nQuark: I tell you, you write it down, the next thing I know I'm in a holding cell.\nJake: I won't write a word, I promise. This is just character research.\nQuark: Right.\nJake: Quark, listen. I'm working on a crime novel but I've hit a wall in my writing. It's not truthful anymore. Phony, artificial. I'm having trouble creating real, flesh and blood characters, especially nefarious ones. If you could just let me just watch and listen as you pull off whatever it is you're going to pull off, it could really help me out. You could give me insight. I could even model my lead character after you.\nQuark: Lesson number one. No one involved in an extralegal activity thinks of themselves as nefarious.\nJake: Sorry.\nQuark: I'm a businessman, okay? Now, if you're interested in learning more about my business, I think that could be arranged.\nJake: Great.\nQuark: But nothing you see or hear turns up in print. And none of it, none of it gets back to your father, understand?\nJake: Completely.\nLisa: So there is a sun after all. Of course, now that the sun's up, I can see how truly ugly my new little home is. There's nothing out there but dirt, some rocks, some more dirt and some more rocks.\nKasidy: Chief? Can I ask you a personal question?\nO'Brien: Sure.\nKasidy: Are you uncomfortable having me aboard the Defiant?\nO'Brien: No. Why should I be?\nKasidy: I'm a civilian. Isn't it awkward having me aboard a warship?\nO'Brien: We've had civilians aboard before. It doesn't bother me.\nKasidy: I was afraid you were going to say that.\nLisa: I can hear you!\nO'Brien: I'm sorry?\nLisa: Hello?\nKasidy: Don't worry about it.\nO'Brien: Hold on a minute.\nLisa: This is Lisa Cusak receiving your transmission. Can you hear me? Hello? Hello? I could hear you two talking! Can you hear me?\nO'Brien: Yes! Yes, we can hear you!\nLisa: Thank God!! Whoever you are, I love you!\nLisa: My name's Lisa Cusak. Until a couple of days ago, I was the commanding officer of the Olympia.\nSisko: The Olympia.\nLisa: We left the Federation over eight years ago for a long range exploration of the Beta Quadrant.\nSisko: What happened to your ship, Captain?\nLisa: We were finally heading home, if you can believe that, then we picked up some strange energy readings in a nearby star system, and I decided to stop and investigate. We found an energy barrier around the fourth planet that was unlike anything we'd ever seen, and when we probed it with our scanners it triggered a quantum reaction. There was an enormous surge of metrion radiation that disabled our engines. The next thing I knew, we were spiraling in toward the surface. I gave the order to abandon ship and the last thing I remember is a console exploding in my face. I woke up in an escape pod on the surface and I've spent the last day and a half sitting in this cave trying to raise someone on subspace.\nBashir: Captain, Doctor Bashir, Chief Medical Officer. Your message said that you were on a L class planet. Are you sure?\nLisa: Positive. And to answer your next question, yes, I've been giving myself fifteen cc's of triox every four hours to compensate for the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Just like it says in my medical tricorder.\nBashir: How much triox do you have left?\nLisa: One hundred and fifty milliliters.\nBashir: Will you to decrease the dosage, Captain, to eight cc's every six hours. We need to stretch your supply as long as possible.\nKasidy: What happens when she runs out of the drug?\nLisa: That's a good question, Doctor. What happens then?\nBashir: You will begin to experience the effects of hypoxia. But before that happens, the triox compound will have strengthened your cardiopulmonary system, allowing you to better withstand the effects.\nLisa: Better withstand the effects. In other words, I'm going to be gasping for air and turning different shades of blue by the time you get here.\nBashir: Yes, I'm afraid so.\nLisa: Thanks for brightening my day.\nKasidy: Is there anything we can do?\nLisa: There is, actually. I can't sleep. I think the injections are keeping me awake and I haven't had anyone to talk to for two days.\nSisko: We'll be able to help you with that, Captain. I'll have one of my officers stay on the comm. line with you at all times.\nLisa: And order them to enjoy it, too.\nSisko: Done.\nLisa: So, who's first?\nSisko: I think I'd better start.\nLisa: Sounds good to me.\nSisko: A lot has happened since you left, Captain.\nSisko: The Second Fleet hit the Dominion forces occupying Betazed three times in the last month, but they keep sending in reinforcements and fortifying their positions on the surface so we find it\nLisa: Okay, okay, that's it. Please, no more war news. You're depressing me.\nSisko: Oh, sorry.\nLisa: No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for you and me and everyone in the Federation. I can't believe we're at war. Let's change the subject. How about some good news. Tell me there's still something to look forward to when I get home. Tell me people still fall in love and get married and raise families.\nSisko: They do.\nLisa: Good. And what about you? Are you married?\nSisko: No.\nLisa: Seeing anyone? I mean I hate to pry, but I'd like to think that there's still something positive in the life of a starship captain these days.\nSisko: I am seeing someone.\nLisa: Now we're talking. Tell me about her. What's her name?\nSisko: Kasidy Yates.\nLisa: Kasidy? Is she the same Kasidy I spoke to earlier?\nSisko: That's her.\nLisa: She one of your officers?\nSisko: No, civilian. Freighter captain.\nLisa: Uh, oh. Sounds like you're having problems.\nSisko: Why would you say something like that?\nLisa: There's no joy in that voice of yours, Ben. In fact, the tension level went up when you said her name. You sounded more relaxd when you were telling me about the war. Ben, are you still there?\nSisko: Yes. Yes, I'm still here. You just caught me off guard, a little.\nLisa: I can tell. You know, back when I was a junior officer, I dated a civilian for six years. Want to hear about it? Sure you do. Why? Because it's a funny story and one of us needs to cheer up. So we met on Andor. I was assigned to the Federation Embassy as an attaché and he was working in the Andorian Agricultural Ministry. Now at first I didn't want anything to do with him. He kept pointing his antennae at me whenever I walked through his office and I found that sort of rude.\nQuark: Excuse me, coming through. Excuse me. Excuse me. Odo?\nOdo: Well, this is it.\nQuark: Can I see it?\nQuark: Oh, very nice. The Major's going to love it. How are going to give it to her? What sort of evening do you have planned?\nOdo: I don't have anything planned.\nQuark: Fortunately for you, there's still time. Pick one.\nOdo: A holosuite program?\nQuark: It's your anniversary. You have to do something special.\nOdo: I bought her a gift.\nQuark: Have it your way, but if it was me and I had found true love after a lifetime of searching, every month would be worth celebrating.\nOdo: All right. Let me look at those programs. Come on.\nQuark: Looks like the Constable's going to be busy Saturday night. I guess that means he won't be following me around the station, or watching the airlocks for wanted criminals, or monitoring the cargo bays for illegal transactions.\nJake: He has deputies.\nQuark: Deputies I can handle. With Odo out of the way my biggest problem will be deciding what to do with all the money I'm about to make!\nLisa: Both my sisters are teachers. I don't know how they can do it. Personally, I can't stand children.\nBashir: Ah ha.\nLisa: I know, I know everyone loves children. Not me.\nBashir: Yeah.\nLisa: What about you? You like children?\nBashir: Oh yeah.\nLisa: Really?\nBashir: Yeah.\nLisa: You know, Doctor, I'm starting to think that maybe, just maybe, you're not really paying attention to. Wait a minute. What's that? There's something moving out there. It's getting closer.\nBashir: What?\nLisa: Stay back. No, don't hurt me.\nBashir: Captain, what's going on?\nLisa: Please, stay back. No, don't! No!\nBashir: Captain Cusak, can you hear me? Hello? Hello? God.\nVoice: She's gone.\nBashir: Who is this? What have you done?\nVoice: I have eaten her.\nBashir: What?\nVoice: I've eaten her! What difference does it make to you? You weren't even listening to her!\nBashir: You have my sincere apologies. I was carried away with my work.\nLisa: I'm a patient, aren't I? Doesn't that make me part of your work?\nBashir: You're right. You're absolutely right. I don't know what I was thinking. You now have my complete attention.\nLisa: Well, I've got news for you, Doc. I'm all talked out. It's time for you to cheer up one of your patients and take her mind off her impending doom.\nBashir: You're not doomed.\nLisa: I feel better already. See how easy that was? Now keep going.\nBashir: Oh, what should I talk about?\nLisa: How did they let you out of medical school with this kind of bedside manner? Are you sure you're a doctor?\nBashir: I graduated second in my class in fact.\nLisa: Oh, and we're especially proud of that, aren't we?\nBashir: I get the feeling it's going to take me some hours to crawl out of this rather sizeable hole I've dug for myself.\nLisa: Not at all. It'll take you days.\nQuark: You have my personal assurance they're high quality crystals. And you won't get them at this price anywhere else in the quadrant.\nQuark: Five days, cargo bay three. See you then.\nOdo: I'll take this one.\nQuark: Ah. Paris, Nineteen twenty eight. Nice choice. Say what you will about humans today, their past was certainly romantic.\nOdo: Book us four hours starting at twenty one hundred on Sunday night.\nQuark: You mean Saturday.\nOdo: I mean Sunday.\nQuark: But Saturday's the anniversary of your first date.\nOdo: Yes, but our first date ended badly. It's not something I want to commemorate, so I've decided to celebrate the anniversary of our first kiss.\nQuark: Your first kiss?\nOdo: Romantic, isn't it?\nQuark: Come on. Come on.\nJake: What's going on?\nQuark: My partner. I can't get him on the channel. He's changed his comm. system protocols.\nJake: Already? You just talked to him.\nQuark: He's a wanted man, Jake. He has to be very careful about how often he uses subspace. The authorities might try and trace his signal. I have no way of contacting him until he gets here Saturday night.\nJake: Can't you just explain to him that he'll have to wait a day.\nQuark: Haven't you been paying attention? If he even sets foot on the station while Odo's on duty, we'll both be in a holding cell faster than you can say criminal conspiracy.\nJake: What are you going to do?\nQuark: I think my best option is panic.\nO'Brien: When the fighting first broke out, I thought to myself, all right, O'Brien, you've done this before. Keep your head down, focus on the job, you'll get through this just like you did in the last war. But this war's different. Maybe I'm different. I have this growing sense of isolation. I see people, I talk to them, I laugh with them, and. But part of me is always saying they may not be here tomorrow. Don't get too close. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be putting this all on your shoulders, Captain.\nLisa: No, no, it's all right, Miles. I don't mind. It sounds like you really need to talk with someone about this.\nO'Brien: I'm sure it's the last thing you need to hear. I should be cheering you up.\nLisa: Forget about me. You're the one who needs cheering up.\nO'Brien: Now there's a sad state of affairs.\nLisa: Look, you've seen a lot of combat in the last year. That's a heavy burden to carry around.\nO'Brien: You sure you're a Captain, not a counselor?\nLisa: Oh, I'm sure. I'll let you in on a little secret, Miles. I dislike the whole concept of a ship's counselor.\nO'Brien: Me, too. I mean, I like some of them personally, but\nLisa: But sometimes they just get in the way.\nO'Brien: That's exactly how I feel. But saying it out loud is almost heresy. And there's this assumption nowadays that only someone with a diploma can listen to your problems or give you advice.\nLisa: Sometimes all you need are good friends.\nO'Brien: Exactly.\nLisa: So where are they?\nO'Brien: Excuse me?\nLisa: Where are your friends, Miles? Why aren't they helping you through this?\nO'Brien: Well, we, er, I haven't spoken to them about any of this. You know, it's not the kind of thing you talk about.\nLisa: Well, if you can't talk to your friends and you can't talk to your wife, you know who that leaves? O'BRIEN +\nLisa: A ship's counselor.\nBashir: Excuse me, but it's eighteen hundred hours.\nO'Brien: Already?\nBashir: Afraid so.\nO'Brien: But we're still talking.\nLisa: Boys, boys, don't fight over me.\nLisa: Miles, I'll talk to you in the morning. Think about what I said.\nO'Brien: All right. And I will. Good night, Captain.\nLisa: Good night.\nLisa: Well, Julian, don't let me keep you from your work. I know how busy you are.\nBashir: No work tonight.\nLisa: Oh, so you've decided to spend your valuable time conversing with your patient again. That's three days in a row. You must be swamped with paperwork by now. I feel awful keeping you from your duties like this.\nBashir: I managed to catch up with all my paperwork this afternoon, thank you very much.\nLisa: Let me guess. Thanks to your amazing, genetically engineered brain, you not only did your work, you did the work of ten other doctors at the same time.\nBashir: Well, you've answered the next question I was going to ask you, which is, how are you feeling? I can hear that you're in your usual acerbic good mood.\nLisa: Wrong again, my superhuman friend. As a matter of fact I'm not feeling well at all.\nBashir: Tell me.\nLisa: The last injection didn't do the trick. I feel this heavy weight on my chest. It's getting harder to breathe and every time I move my head, the cave starts spinning.\nSisko: Come in.\nSisko: What is it?\nBashir: Captain Cusak's run out of triox. She's beginning to feel the effects of CO2 poisoning.\nSisko: Already? I thought she had at least a day's worth of injections.\nBashir: So did I, but it apparently the last vial was tainted somehow, probably in the crash.\nSisko: How long does she have?\nBashir: No more than two days.\nSisko: That's not good. We're still three days away.\nBashir: We need more speed.\nO'Brien: Speed's not the problem. I could increase the warp plasma ninety seven gigahertz. That would increase our velocity to warp nine point five and save us almost a full day.\nWorf: The problem on the Defiant is how to maintain structural integrity when we go above warp nine.\nO'Brien: Exactly. At those kinds of speed the ship literally starts tearing herself apart.\nSisko: Is there any way to strengthen the structural integrity field?\nO'Brien: Not without bleeding power from some other source.\nSisko: Such as?\nO'Brien: The phaser reserves.\nWorf: That would be unwise. If we empty the defense reserve, we could find ourselves at an extreme disadvantage should we encounter a Dominion ship.\nBashir: We're a long way from the front lines out here, Worf. The chances of meeting a Dominion ship are negligible.\nWorf: We should not take that risk.\nBashir: She'll die if we do not get to her faster.\nSisko: Use the phaser reserve, Chief. Give us all the speed you can.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir. Thank you, sir.\nKasidy: How's it going?\nSisko: We're increasing speed. The Captain's condition is worsening.\nKasidy: I see. Is there anything I can do?\nSisko: I don't think so.\nKasidy: Well. I guess I'll see you later.\nSisko: Right.\nKasidy: Right.\nSisko: Are you sure you want to hear about this?\nLisa: Trust me Ben, I'd much rather be worrying about your love life than about my own problems right now.\nSisko: Well, when Kasidy came to the bridge last night, all I wanted her to do was leave. And I couldn't tell you why.\nLisa: She doesn't belong there Ben, that's why. She doesn't belong in that part of your life and you know it. Off duty, I'm sure Kasidy is exactly what you need. But on the Defiant, she's a random element, a piece that doesn't fit anywhere in the puzzle.\nSisko: She was the Convoy Liaison Officer on our last mission, and a damned good one too.\nLisa: This isn't about her. This is about you. You're having trouble doing your job when she's on the Defiant and that's a problem. It's also affecting your relationship, and that's another problem. Don't take it so hard. So you can't mix your personal life and your professional life. Most people can't. I certainly can't. I once served on the same starbase as my sister. Oh, what a nightmare that was.\nSisko: I looking forward to meeting you, Lisa. And I know I'm not the only one around here who feels the same way.\nLisa: If you ask me, everyone on that ship could use some R and R.\nQuark: Beautiful, aren't they?\nJake: Gorgeous.\nQuark: Do you know how much I was going to get for these? Almost two hundred bars.\nJake: That's a lot.\nQuark: No kidding that's a lot. Now, they're just a crate full of junk.\nJake: You know there's still a chance that Odo won't find out about any of this.\nQuark: No, he'll find out. Odo would love nothing more than to see me in jail. And after all I did for him.\nJake: Like what?\nQuark: Like helping him find true love. That's right. If it wasn't for me, he and Major Kira would've never gotten together in the first place. I was there for him during all the heartache and lonely nights when he was wallowing in misery because she was still seeing Shakaar. I told him to make his move. I told him not to give up. I was there for him. And what did I get out of it? Nothing. He still spies on me, he still bothers me about minor infractions of the law, and he still can't wait for the opportunity to send me to prison. I should have remembered the two hundred and eighty fifth Rule of Acquisition. No good deed ever goes unpunished.\nQuark: To failure.\nJake: I'm not drinking to that.\nQuark: Jake, in ten minutes my business partner's ship will dock. In fifteen minutes, Odo will arrest him. In twenty minutes, my name will come up, and in twenty five minutes Odo will walk in here with a warrant. I think you should humor me on this one.\nOdo: Quark. I'd like that holosuite now after all.\nQuark: You would?\nOdo: That's right. It turns out Nerys agrees with you. She wants to celebrate the anniversary of our first date, not our first kiss, so here we are. Is the holosuite still available?\nQuark: It's, er, it's all yours.\nOdo: The program?\nQuark: Odo, have a good time.\nOdo: Thank you, Quark. I'm sure we will.\nQuark: I don't believe it.\nJake: Neither do I.\nQuark: I'm going to win this one, Jake. You know what the best part is? I beat Odo. I finally beat him. Jake, I did it. I beat him.\nKira: Well, he looks happy.\nOdo: He should be. He's about to make his biggest profit of the year.\nKira: I don't know, Odo. You sure you want to let him get away with smuggling Denevan crystals?\nOdo: I owe him one, so he'll get this one. But just this one.\nKira: Why is it every time I think I have you figured out you do something to surprise me? Like tonight. Where did you get the idea to celebrate our one month anniversary in Paris?\nOdo: Well, some mysteries are better left unsolved.\nSisko: I want a complete scan of that barrier, but use passive sensors only, gentlemen. An active scan is what triggered the destruction of the Olympia.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nWorf: It appears to be an exogenic field generated by the unstable elements in the planet's core.\nBashir: Captain Cusak just lost consciousness. She's in the last stages of CO2 poisoning. If she's got any chance at all, we have to get her to Sickbay in the next forty five minutes.\nO'Brien: Captain, there's no way the Defiant can penetrate the barrier. The energy's composed of subspace metrion radiation. If we get anywhere near it, the dilithium matrix in the warp core will collapse and we'll be pulled down onto the planet surface just like the Olympia.\nSisko: Options?\nBashir: Could we beam through it?\nO'Brien: No. We can't get close enough to the barrier to initiate transport.\nSisko: What about a shuttle pod? Their impulse engines don't use antimatter.\nWorf: It is unlikely that a shuttle could withstand the gravimetric stresses that are within the barrier.\nBashir: Unlikely, but not impossible.\nSisko: I didn't come all this way to give up. I'll take the risk. Doctor, Mister O'Brien, you're with me. Mister Worf, you have the bridge.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Sisko to Defiant. We're preparing to enter the barrier.\nWorf: Acknowledged. Good luck, Captain.\nSisko: Thank you, Commander.\nO'Brien: Shields down to seventy three percent.\nSisko: Primary power grid offline. Switching to backups.\nO'Brien: Shields at fifty percent.\nSisko: We're losing the navigational computer.\nBashir: Secondary navcomp online.\nO'Brien: We're coming out of it.\nSisko: Damage report.\nO'Brien: Some buckling in the starboard hull plating but otherwise, we're fine.\nSisko: Scan the planet, Doctor.\nBashir: I'm not showing any lifesign. Wait, I've found the crash site and the cave.\nSisko: Is there somewhere we can set down nearby?\nBashir: Yes.\nO'Brien: How are we for time?\nBashir: It's going to be tight. We've to get her in the shuttle and back on the ship in twenty minutes.\nBashir: Still no life readings.\nSisko: This has to be the only direction she could have been headed in.\nBashir: Over here.\nBashir: It was a human female. Fifty one years of age at the time of death. Cause of death, carbon dioxide poisoning.\nSisko: It can't be Lisa. That woman's been dead for years.\nBashir: Three years and two months. But all the evidence fits. Age, rank, the way she died.\nSisko: If she's been dead for three years, how has she been talking to us?\nO'Brien: It must have something to do with the energy barrier. When her subspace radio signal passed through the metrion radiation in the barrier, the signal somehow time shifted into the future.\nBashir: Then when you sent the return signal?\nO'Brien: It went through the barrier and traveled back in time in the same way.\nSisko: We've been talking to someone from the past?\nBashir: So what do we do now?\nO'Brien: We should bury her.\nSisko: No, not here. Not alone in this cave. We'll take her back with us. Give her a proper burial among friends.\nDax: It's called an Irish wake. It's a way to memorialize a death and celebrate life at the same time.\nWorf: What are we supposed to do?\nDax: Well, drink, sing songs, laugh, cry, talk about the deceased.\nWorf: It sounds almost Klingon.\nSisko: Hey.\nKasidy: Hey, yourself.\nSisko: When this is over, I want to talk to you about something. Something that's been on my mind.\nKasidy: Okay. Is it about me?\nSisko: Well, it's about me, actually.\nKasidy: Ah, that's a relief.\nSisko: I want to try to explain about my behavior lately.\nKasidy: Sounds good to me. But we'll talk about it over dinner. You cook.\nSisko: That's a deal.\nBashir: I just wanted to say that although I only spoke with her for a very short time, I really admired Lisa Cusak. I cared about her and I'll miss her. And another thing. Contrary to public opinion, I am not the arrogant, self absorbed, god like doctor that I appear to be on occasion. Why don't I hear anybody objecting to that statement?\nO'Brien: Well, I will if you insist.\nBashir: I insist.\nO'Brien: Then I object.\nBashir: Thank you, Miles Edward O'Brien. No, I have a heart, and I really care about all of you, even if sometimes it would appear that I care more about my work. To the woman that taught me that it is sometimes necessary to say these things. Lisa Cusak.\nAll: To Lisa.\nO'Brien: I never shook her hand and I never saw her face, but she made me laugh and she made me weep. She was all by herself and I was surrounded by my friends, yet I felt more alone than she did. We've grown apart, the lot of us. We didn't mean for it to happen but it did. The war changed us, pulled us apart. Lisa Cusak was my friend. But you are also my friends, and I want my friends in my life because someday we're going to wake up and we're going to find that someone is missing from this circle, and on that day we're going to mourn, and we shouldn't have to mourn alone. To Lisa and the sweet sound of her voice."}
{"text": "Sahgi: Peldor joi, Emissary.\nSisko: Peldor joi to you, too. Well, it looks like the festival was a big success.\nKira: Oh, everyone seemed to enjoy it. Thank you, Captain.\nSisko: For what?\nKira: For insisting that the festival take place in spite of the fact that we're in the middle of a war.\nSisko: War or no war, we have a lot to be grateful for, and we must remember that.\nKira: Yes, we must. Shouldn't you be heading over to the wardroom for the ceremony?\nSisko: On my way. Let's go.\nSahgi: Come on, you guys. Mommy, look. Isn't it pretty?\nOdo: Captain. Nerys, I've been looking for you.\nKira: Yeah, well I don't really feel like talking to you right now.\nOdo: Don't you want to hear my side of the story?\nKira: No.\nOdo: Somebody has to maintain order on the Promenade.\nKira: You arrested a Vedek.\nOdo: I'd hardly call it an arrest. He wasn't in the holding cell for more than an hour. Besides, he broke the law. Fundraising on the Promenade without a license is strictly forbidden. Station regulation fifteen twenty six, paragraph seven.\nKira: Vedek Solis was raising funds for Bajoran flood victims.\nOdo: A very worthy cause. Nevertheless, station regulations are quite clear.\nKira: I don't care about station regulations.\nOdo: Is that the Orb of Contemplation?\nKira: Goodbye, Odo.\nRoss: To Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, in recognition of your remarkable leadership and meritorious conduct against the enemy, and in particular for personal acts of bravery displayed during the battle to retake Deep Space Nine, Starfleet Command is proud to present you the Christopher Pike Medal of Valor. Congratulations, Ben.\nSisko: Thank you, Admiral.\nDax: To think I knew him when he was just a callow youth.\nO'Brien: Oh, I bet even then he showed signs of greatness.\nJake: I'm proud of you, Dad.\nRoss: Now if you would all excuse us, I'd like a word with the Captain.\nRoss: Good news, Ben. Starfleet Command has decided we've been waging a defensive war long enough. They figure we're never going to win this thing unless we take the fight into Dominion territory. Now, I know. I know you've been saying that since the Romulans opened a second front with the Dominion. It took a while, but your message finally got through.\nSisko: When do we go?\nRoss: That all depends on you.\nSisko: Me?\nRoss: That's right, Ben. Starfleet has chosen you to plan the invasion of Cardassia.\nBashir: Oh, finally. I've been waiting twenty minutes for you two to get out of that holosuite.\nDax: I'm sorry, Julian. We lost track of time.\nBashir: Doing what? You were supposed to be up there exercising. I don't see any sweat. Where are all the bruises, the broken bones, the blood?\nWorf: We were talking.\nQuark: For an hour and forty five minutes?\nWorf: It is a private matter.\nDax: We're thinking about having a baby.\nWorf: It was a private matter.\nKira: Kira to Worf. Report to Ops immediately.\nWorf: Acknowledged.\nDax: Well you two are awfully quiet.\nBashir: Look, I don't want to dampen your spirits, Jadzia, but I told you before you were married that from a medical point of view it wouldn't be easy for a Trill and a Klingon to have a child.\nQuark: And I'm worried the kid'll end up looking like his father.\nDax: Well I hope she does.\nBashir: A baby?\nQuark: It's bad enough she married that Klingon psychopath.\nBashir: A baby. Do you have any idea what that means?\nQuark: That their marriage is going to last a lot longer than we thought.\nSisko: Five squadrons of Jem'Hadar attack ships. At the moment, that's the entire Dominion fleet protecting the Chin'toka system.\nMartok: Only five squadrons. It appears you've found the weak spot we've been looking for.\nSisko: Now all we have to do is to convince the Romulans to join us.\nMartok: That will not be an easy task. They're an arrogant and untrustworthy people.\nRoss: Without their help, we have little chance of success.\nMartok: We will succeed! Mark my words. By this time next year, the three of us will drink bloodwine in the halls of Cardassia's Central Command.\nDamar: You're worrying about nothing.\nWeyoun: Am I? It's a mistake to underestimate our enemy, Damar. You're spreading our forces too thinly.\nDamar: Until we find a way to bring reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant, we have to make due with what we have. Besides, we needed new ships on the Romulan front, so I sent them.\nWeyoun: And in doing so, you left the Chin'toka system vulnerable.\nDamar: Not as vulnerable as you think. We don't need starships to protect Chin'toka. Not anymore. These are our new unmanned orbital weapon platforms. Their hulls are protected by regenerative forcefields and their arsenals consist of a thousand plasma torpedoes.\nWeyoun: I like them.\nDamar: I thought you would. I've already ordered their deployment.\nGlinn: Legate Damar, excuse the interruption but we have a problem.\nDamar: What kind of a problem?\nDukat: Me. Well, isn't anyone going to welcome me home?\nWeyoun: Heroes get welcomed home, Dukat, not failures. Or have you forgotten that under your leadership the Dominion nearly lost this war?\nDukat: As I recall, Weyoun, you were standing right by my side agreeing with every decision I made.\nDamar: If you're here because of what happened to your daughter.\nDukat: Damar, you disappoint me. I would have thought you, of all people, would be glad to see your old mentor. I don't hold you responsible for Ziyal's death. You may have fired the phaser, but it was Benjamin Sisko who forced your hand. And that's why I'm here. The time has come for me to take my revenge against the good captain.\nWeyoun: We're in the middle of a life and death struggle for control of the entire Alpha Quadrant, and all you care about is quenching your petty thirst for revenge. You haven't changed a bit, have you?\nDukat: On the contrary, I'm a new man. I no longer have a need for conquest or power. I'm far beyond all that. I exist in a state of complete clarity. A clarity I intend to share with the universe.\nWeyoun: You're right, Dukat, you have changed. You've gone from being a self important egotist to a self deluded madman. I hardly call that an improvement. I don't have time for this. Remove him.\nDamar: Wait. Why did you come?\nDukat: Isn't that obvious? To give you what you desire above all else. The Alpha Quadrant. All I need is a certain Bajoran artifact. One of the many the Cardassians appropriated during the occupation.\nWeyoun: And how is this artifact going to help us?\nDukat: Let's just say it will make it possible for Dominion reinforcements to come through that wormhole and destroy Captain Sisko and the Federation once and for all.\nLetant: Really, Captain, I see no reason why I should sit here and allow this Klingon jackal to call me a coward.\nMartok: Apparently, this jackal has more courage than the entire Romulan Senate.\nLetant: You see my point?\nWorf: General, you must try to remain calm.\nMartok: This is not the time for calm. It's time to strike the enemy and strike them hard.\nSisko: We found their weak point. Now we need to exploit it.\nMartok: But this p'tagh would rather sit home and count his dead.\nLetant: If we invade Cardassia now, all we'll do is count our dead.\nSisko: Gentlemen, please. We're allies, remember that.\nMartok: What good is an ally who'll stab you in the back?\nLetant: Notice the primitive rage in his eye, the uncontrolled brutality. Klingons can be quite entertaining, can't they? Every Romulan zoo should have a pair.\nSisko: Sit down, General! Save your anger for the Dominion. Senator, you've studied our invasion plans.\nLetant: Yes, I have. And I continue to find them premature. Let the Dominion continue to send its fleets against us and we will annihilate them one by one.\nRoss: And they'll continue to rebuild their ships and send more.\nWorf: The Dominion breed Jem'Hadar faster than we can destroy them.\nSisko: The only way to achieve a lasting victory is to demolish their shipyards, their weapon plants, to force them to retreat deeper and deeper into their own territory until our ships can surround their headquarters on Cardassia Prime and they will have no choice but to surrender. I know it won't be easy. I know that we will pay a heavy price for every system we take from them. But in the end, that's the only way to drive the Dominion out of the Alpha Quadrant, and that is a goal we all share. Klingons, humans and Romulans.\nBashir: That was great, Vic.\nVic: It's not one of the most requested songs in my repertoire, but I'm glad you liked it. So, why the long face, pallie?\nBashir: It's a long story, friend.\nVic: This wouldn't be about Dax's baby, would it?\nQuark: What is he, a telepath?\nVic: No, I'm a hologram.\nBashir: Yeah, a very smart one.\nVic: It's simple. You take one beautiful, happily married filly, add the possibility of her giving birth to a foal, and what's that leave you? A couple of lovesick stallions that never got out of the starting gate.\nQuark: You have any idea what he's talking about?\nVic: Hey, I've got news for you guys. It's time to move onto greener pastures.\nBashir: It's tough to lose a woman like Dax.\nVic: I hate to break it to you, pallie, but you lost her a long time ago. You both did. But lucky for you, space is big. There are a lot of other nice girls out there, with or without spots. Capisce?\nQuark: That's it? That's supposed to cheer us up?\nVic: The truth shall set you free.\nQuark: You feel any better?\nBashir: A little. How about you?\nQuark: I guess.\nVic: Good, because you were starting to depress the band.\nBashir: Well, thanks, Vic. We appreciate the advice.\nQuark: I like this place. I may drop by more often.\nVic: Anytime, pallie, anytime.\nVic: Nice guys, but absolutely clueless.\nJake: So, when do we leave?\nSisko: We?\nJake: I'm a journalist, Dad. Remember?\nSisko: That may be true, but you're not going, Jake.\nJake: But, Dad, we're talking about the invasion of Cardassia. A savage thrust into the very heart of the Dominion. That's not how I would write it.\nSisko: That's a relief. But you're still not going, son.\nJake: I have to go. It's my job. Now if you don't want me on the Defiant, fine. I'll go with General Martok. Get the story from a Klingon perspective.\nSisko: All right, Jake, the Defiant it is.\nJake: So when do we leave?\nSisko: Just keep your bags packed.\nJake: Yes, sir.\nJake: Don't worry, Dad. We'll watch out for each other.\nWorf: The Sisko is of Bajor.\nMartok: It is where he belongs.\nRoss: It is where he is meant to be.\nSisko: Are you telling me not to go to Cardassia?\nRoss: The Sisko is of Bajor.\nMartok: It is dangerous to walk a different path.\nSisko: Dangerous? In what way?\nRoss: The Sisko must not leave the chosen path.\nWorf: The Sisko is of Bajor.\nLetant: It is where he belongs.\nSisko: Why is it dangerous to leave? And how will it affect Bajor? You have to tell me.\nRoss: The Cardassians call them orbital weapon platforms. Intelligence reports indicate the Dominion has placed hundreds of them throughout the Chin'toka system.\nSisko: Are they operational?\nRoss: No, not yet.\nMartok: How much time do we have before they are?\nRoss: Two, maybe three days.\nLetant: So, it would appear that your weak spot is about to become much stronger.\nMartok: Leave it to a Romulan to run at the first sign of trouble.\nLetant: And leave it to a Klingon to leap to the wrong conclusion. The Romulan Empire has agreed to join the invasion of Cardassia and we live up to our agreements. The only question is, can the invasion be launched before the defensive grid is activated?\nMartok: We'll have to leave first thing in the morning.\nRoss: Then it's settled. Good luck, gentlemen. Good luck to us all.\nLetant: Romulans don't believe in luck.\nMartok: All the better. It leaves more for the rest of us.\nRoss: You've been quiet, Ben. Those weapon platforms have you worried?\nSisko: It's not about that, sir. It's about the Prophets, the wormhole aliens. They spoke to me last night.\nRoss: I hope they gave the mission their blessing.\nSisko: They told me not to go to Cardassia. That I should stay here.\nRoss: Did they give you a reason?\nSisko: Nothing concrete. Just that it's too dangerous.\nRoss: In what way? Dangerous to you, to the mission, to Bajor?\nSisko: I'm not sure.\nRoss: What is it you're telling me, Ben? You want permission to stay behind?\nSisko: It's not about what I want. It's about what the Prophets want.\nRoss: That's not a good enough answer, not from a Starfleet captain.\nSisko: The Prophets don't see me as a Starfleet captain. They see me as their Emissary.\nRoss: That's the problem, isn't it? For the past six years you've tried to be both, and up to now I've been patient. I've indulged you, I've gone out on a limb for you many times, but this is it. You've got to make a decision. You are either the Emissary or a Starfleet captain. You can't be both.\nSisko: I'll be on the Defiant bridge at oh five hundred.\nDamar: A combined fleet at Deep Space Nine?\nWeyoun: Composed of Federation, Klingon and Romulan ships.\nDamar: You think they'll head for the Chin'toka system?\nWeyoun: I would.\nDamar: Well then, we have nothing to worry about. The weapon platforms will be operational in time to greet them.\nWeyoun: That's a very comforting thought, if it's accurate.\nDamar: I'll make sure that it is.\nDukat: Gentlemen. I hope I'm not interrupting.\nWeyoun: What is it now, Dukat?\nDukat: I've found it. Behold, the key to victory.\nDukat: Oh, I see you remain skeptical. Well, you won't be for long. Over the past few months, I've immersed myself in the study of the Bajoran Ancient Texts.\nDukat: And I've come to realize that the wormhole is much more than the gateway to the Gamma Quadrant. It's the Temple of the Prophets. It's from there that they smile benevolently down on Bajor. It's from there that they protect that world and its people. The sad truth is, we wasted our time fighting the Bajorans when we should've been fighting their gods.\nDamar: How do you fight a god?\nDukat: I'll show you. You see, we have an ally we never knew we had. You may want to step back. Dorrah tolka bretri pah'rahn, meedor. Dorrah tolka ullkess pah'rahn.\nDamar: Dukat!\nDukat: Your concern is touching, but unnecessary.\nKira: Busy?\nOdo: A little.\nKira: I'm leaving with the task force first thing in the morning.\nOdo: I heard.\nKira: And?\nOdo: And I'm sorry I arrested him. I was simply trying to do my duty, but I can see how it might have seemed excessive.\nKira: What are you talking about?\nOdo: Vedek Solis. That's why you're here, isn't it?\nKira: No, but now I know why you've been avoiding me for the past few days.\nOdo: I haven't been avoiding you. I've been helping you to avoid me.\nKira: Why would I want to do that?\nOdo: Because you don't want us to be together anymore?\nKira: Is that what you've been thinking? Odo, we had an argument. People have them all the time. Look at Dax and Worf. They love each other, but they fight all the time.\nOdo: Are you saying that you love me?\nKira: Don't change the subject.\nOdo: Which is?\nKira: I don't even know anymore.\nOdo: But you're no longer angry at me?\nKira: No. But you were wrong to arrest the Vedek.\nOdo: I see.\nKira: And I thought that we could spend my last night on the station together.\nOdo: That's a wonderful idea.\nKira: Then I will see you later.\nOdo: I look forward to that.\nKira: Good.\nOdo: You know, Nerys, observing humanoid relationships and being in one are very different things.\nKira: Like night and day.\nO'Brien: If you ask me, it's an ungodly hour to go to war. You can quote me on that.\nJake: I will.\nO'Brien: Oh, Jadzia? Will you look in on Keiko and the kids while I'm gone?\nDax: You can count on it.\nO'Brien: And try to keep Julian out of trouble.\nDax: Now that's pushing.\nSisko: It's your station, old man.\nDax: I'll take good care of her.\nDax: Give my best to the Jem'Hadar. Oh, I'll do that. I said a prayer at the shrine last night for the two of you.\nDax: About having a baby?\nKira: The Prophets can be helpful in such matters.\nDax: I hope they're listening.\nDax: Did you hear that? We have the Prophets on our side.\nWorf: According to Doctor Bashir, we need all the help we can get.\nDax: Just remember, when you get back, we have a lot of work to do.\nWorf: I don't consider that work.\nDax: I wish I was going with you.\nWorf: You are. In here.\nDax: I love it when you get romantic.\nNog: Captain on the Bridge.\nSisko: As you were.\nO'Brien: You got here early.\nGarak: This is a momentous occasion. It's not every day I embark on a journey to liberate my homeworld.\nO'Brien: That's one way to put it.\nMartok: This is General Martok to all ships. Assume tactical formation. We are moving out.\nSisko: Take us to Cardassia, Mister Nog.\nNog: Aye, sir.\nDamar: The enemy fleet is approaching the Chin'toka system.\nWeyoun: What's the status of our weapon platforms?\nDamar: Still offline.\nWeyoun: It pains me to say this, but you Cardassians are proving to be quite a disappointment.\nDamar: I'll remind you that you said that.\nO'Brien: Looks like we're in luck, Captain. The defensive grid's still offline.\nKira: Jem'Hadar fighters approaching, bearing zero five nine mark zero three one.\nNog: They must know they don't stand a chance against a fleet this size.\nWorf: That will not matter to the Jem'Hadar.\nSisko: Sit down, Jake.\nJake: All right.\nMartok: Martok to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nMartok: My attack wing is closest to those Jem'Hadar fighters. Preparing to engage.\nSisko: Good luck, General.\nNog: I always thought the Jem'Hadar were crazy.\nGarak: There's method to their madness. They're inflicting considerable damage on the Klingons.\nWorf: And buying time to get their weapon platforms operational.\nSisko: Sisko to Martok.\nMartok: The Jem'Hadar have managed to cripple or destroy fifteen of my ships.\nSisko: Do you need any assistance?\nMartok: That won't be necessary. Commence firing on the weapon platforms.\nDamar: I believe you owe me an apology.\nWeyoun: I believe you're right.\nDamar: Now, if Dukat can get our reinforcements through the wormhole\nWeyoun: I'm not sure how much faith I have in this, what did he call it?\nDamar: A Pah wraith.\nWeyoun: Pah wraiths and Prophets. All this talk of gods strikes me as nothing more than superstitious nonsense.\nDamar: You believe that the Founders are gods, don't you?\nWeyoun: That's different.\nDamar: In what way?\nWeyoun: The Founders are gods.\nWorf: We are unable to penetrate their forcefields.\nGarak: Captain, I've just noticed something odd about those platforms.\nSisko: Don't keep it to yourself, Mister Garak.\nGarak: Not one of them seem to have a power generator on board.\nO'Brien: He's right. Each one seems to be getting its power from a central source.\nKira: We've got to find that source and destroy it.\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: I'm on it.\nBashir: According to the DNA scans I did this morning, the ovarian resequencing enzymes I gave you appear to be working.\nDax: You mean Worf and I can have a baby?\nBashir: It certainly looks that way. I must say, I didn't expect such positive results so early. It's quite amazing, actually.\nDax: Oh, thank you, Julian.\nBashir: It's all part of being a doctor.\nDax: Oh no, it's more than that. You're a good friend. You always have been.\nBashir: And I always will be.\nDax: I'd better get back to work. But first I'm going to stop by the Bajoran shrine.\nBashir: What for?\nDax: Kira said a prayer for me and Worf last night. She told the Prophets how much we wanted a baby.\nBashir: I'd say they'd been listening. That is, if you believe in Prophets.\nDax: Oh, well I do today.\nDax: I'm not sure if I'm doing this correctly. I don't come here a lot. And to be perfectly honest, I feel more comfortable thinking of you as wormhole # aliens, but Kira believes you're much more than that. Maybe she's right, I don't know. But if you are Prophets, and you're listening, I just want to say\nDax: Dukat.\nJake: Dad, what is it?\nKira: Captain?\nSisko: I'm not sure. I think I felt the Prophets reaching out to me. Something's wrong.\nO'Brien: Sir, I found it. There's a subspace power generator on a small moon orbiting the far planet. It's transmitting energy to the weapon platforms. Captain?\nKira: Take us there, Mister Nog.\nNog: Aye, sir.\nKira: Get him back to his quarters. Don't worry, Captain. We'll get the job done.\nDukat: I know this is small comfort, but I never intended you any harm.\nNog: Approaching the target.\nKira: On screen.\nWorf: Target locked.\nKira: Fire.\nWorf: We are unable to penetrate the moon's defensive grid.\nO'Brien: Sir, I have an idea.\nKira: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: Maybe we can't destroy that power generator, but I bet those weapon platforms could.\nKira: Why would they fire on their own power source?\nGarak: We'd have to fool the platforms' targeting systems into thinking the generator's an enemy ship.\nO'Brien: We can use our deflector array to imprint a Federation warp signature on the generator's energy matrix.\nWorf: It is worth a try.\nKira: Evasive maneuvers, Mister Nog. Pattern Theta.\nO'Brien: Induction stabilizers set. Booster modulators synchronized. Ready to activate deflector.\nKira: Do it.\nNog: Yes! We did it!\nMartok: Martok to the Defiant.\nKira: Go ahead, General.\nMartok: Well done, Major. We will begin transporting ground troops to both planets immediately.\nO'Brien: Major, we're receiving a priority one transmission from Deep Space Nine. It's from Julian.\nWeyoun: This is a disaster. Federation soldiers have landed on Cardassian soil and now you're telling me the wormhole is gone and with it any chance of getting reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant.\nDukat: I'm well aware things didn't turn out quite the way I planned, but I assure you we still achieved a great victory.\nWeyoun: Forgive me if I don't share your euphoria.\nDukat: Well you should. The Bajoran people have been cut off from their gods, perhaps forever.\nDamar: How does that help us?\nDukat: Because Sisko has been cut off from the Prophets as well. And without the Prophets, he's just another Starfleet captain.\nWeyoun: And that's supposed to make me feel better?\nDukat: Oh, believe me, it will.\nCrowd: Emissary, Emissary.\nSahgi: Emissary! My mother says all the Orbs are dark, that the Prophets have abandoned us. You have to find them, Emissary. You have to ask them to come back.\nSisko: I will try.\nBashir: I managed to save the Dax symbiont. We have to get it to Trill as soon as possible. There was nothing I could do for Jadzia.\nDax: I'm sorry.\nWorf: Save your strength.\nDax: Our baby would have been so beautiful.\nWorf: neH taH Kronos. Hegh bat'lhqu Hoch nej maH. neH taH Kronos. yay je bat'lh manob Hegh.\nSisko: The funeral service is due to begin in a few minutes, Jadzia but I need to talk to you one last time. When I first met you, you told me that my relationship with Jadzia Dax wouldn't be any different than the one I had with Curzon Dax. Things didn't work out that way. I had a hell of a lot of fun with both of you, but Curzon was my mentor. You, you were my friend and I am going to miss you. I should have listened to the Prophets and not gone to Cardassia. Then maybe you'd still be alive. Damn it! Why aren't you still here, Jadzia? I need you to help me sort things out. Something's happened to the Prophets, something that's made them turn their backs on Bajor and I'm responsible. And I don't know what to do about it, how to make it right again. I've failed as the Emissary, and for the first time in my life I've failed in my duty as a Starfleet officer. I need time to think, clear my head, but I can't do it here. Not on the station, not now. I need to get away and find a way to figure out how to make things right again. I have to make things right again, Jadzia. I have to.\nSisko: The station's all yours, Major.\nKira: She'll be here when you get back.\nBashir: This leave of absence you're taking, sir. How long do you think you'll be gone?\nSisko: I don't know exactly.\nOdo: We'll be waiting.\nO'Brien: Good luck, sir.\nSisko: Thanks, Chief. My thanks to all of you. Let's go home, Jake. Landing pad C.\nKira: I was afraid of that. He's not sure he's coming back.\nOdo: What makes you say that?\nKira: His baseball. He took it with him.\nJake: Dad Grandpa's ready to close up the restaurant. He wants to know when you're coming in.\nSisko: In a little while."}
{"text": "Ross: Starfleet has chosen you to plan the invasion of Cardassia.\nBashir: I managed to save the Dax symbiont. There was nothing I could do for Jadzia.\nWeyoun: Federation soldiers have landed on Cardassian soil and now you're telling me the wormhole is gone and with it any chance of getting reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant.\nSisko: Why aren't you still here, Jadzia? I need you to help me sort things out. Something's happened to the Prophets, something that's made them turn their backs on Bajor and I'm responsible. And I don't know what to do about it, how to make it right again. I've failed as the Emissary, and for the first time in my life I've failed in my duty as a Starfleet officer.\nSisko: The station's all yours, Major.\nKira: She'll be here when you get back.\nSisko: Let's go home, Jake. And now, the continuation.\nOdo: Colonel.\nKira: I wish you'd stop doing that.\nOdo: Doing what?\nKira: Calling me by my rank. I was promoted two months ago. Besides, it sounds so formal.\nOdo: Well, has Admiral Ross, or should I say Bill, arrived yet?\nKira: The admiral's ship is due in three hours, and I wish I knew what he wanted to talk to me about.\nOdo: Maybe he's bringing good news. We could certainly use it.\nKira: Yeah, well don't get your hopes up. There was something about the tone of his voice.\nOdo: Something ominous?\nKira: Something pleasant. It was like he was going out of his way to be nice.\nOdo: I see.\nKira: Well, whatever he wants to tell me, he knows I'm not going to like it.\nOdo: How can you be so sure?\nKira: It comes with the job. No, I'm serious. Sitting in the Captain's chair, having that kind of responsibility, it focuses you.\nOdo: Well, I'll take your word for it.\nKira: How long have they been there?\nOdo: Three days.\nKira: I remember when the cult of the Pah wraiths was a joke. Now those red armbands are appearing all over Bajor. It's like everyone's gone crazy.\nOdo: A lot of people feel abandoned by the Prophets.\nKira: Believe me, I know how they feel. That's no excuse to turn to hate and fear.\nOdo: In times of trouble, some people find comfort in hate and fear. If you'd like, I can charge them with loitering and have them removed from the station.\nKira: Oh, what good would that do? I keep thinking if the Emissary were here, things might be different.\nOdo: I would have thought we would have heard from Captain Sisko by now.\nKira: Not a word in three months.\nOdo: Nerys. I realize that things may seem bleak at the moment, but there's always hope.\nKira: When did you turn into an optimist?\nOdo: Must have been that day in front of Quark's, when we kissed for the first time.\nKira: That was some kiss, wasn't it?\nOdo: Changed my life.\nO'Brien: Gentlemen, we are home.\nBashir: There should be a law against convoy duty lasting more than ten days.\nNog: I'll say one thing for guarding convoys, it's usually a lot safer than being on the front lines.\nWorf: Is that the reason you joined Starfleet, Ensign? To be safe?\nNog: I didn't mean that the way it sounded, sir.\nWorf: In wartime, it is the duty of every soldier fight.\nNog: Yes, sir.\nWorf: The invasion of Cardassia has ground to a halt while our casualties continue to mount. It is a time for warriors to do great deeds, to triumph in glorious battle, not waste away protecting a shipment of stembolts.\nNog: I hope Commander Worf doesn't think I'm afraid to fight.\nO'Brien: Relax, don't take it so personally. Worf is just going through a bad time at the moment.\nBashir: I think he needs to focus on something other than Jadzia, and I hate to admit it but a little combat duty just might do the trick.\nO'Brien: Pretty soon the Defiant will be going into battle, Worf will be happy and the rest of us will be miserable.\nNog: It's not that I'm afraid to fight, I just don't want to die. I wish Captain Sisko were here.\nO'Brien: So do I, Ensign. So do I.\nJoseph: If I were you, I'd order the crawfish etoufee. And if it's good enough for you, it's good enough for him. I think table five is ready to order.\nJake: He's been at that piano since seven o'clock this morning.\nJoseph: Customers seem to like it.\nJake: Grandpa.\nJoseph: Look, I'm worried too, but he's got something to work out. Best we leave him alone.\nJake: We've left him alone for three months. He said he came here to figure out a way to contact the Prophets, to make things right. So far he hasn't even left the restaurant.\nJake: Dad? What's wrong? Dad?\nSisko: I had a vision from the Prophets. I was on Tiree, in the desert, digging in the sand, and I uncovered a face. The face of a woman.\nJake: And?\nSisko: And that's all.\nJake: Who was she?\nSisko: I've never seen her before, but now I know why I came back here, Jake. I have to find her. I have to.\nRoss: Colonel, I really don't see anything for you to be concerned about. I've met Senator Cretak and found her to be very cooperative.\nKira: For a Romulan.\nRoss: Cretak's a strong supporter of the Alliance and we're going to need that kind of support if we're going to win this war.\nKira: I wouldn't care if the Romulans were the only thing standing between us and total annihilation. I would still think twice before allowing them to establish a military presence here on the station.\nRoss: We're just talking about a few offices for the senator and her staff.\nKira: And a contingent of personal guards.\nRoss: A dozen people at most. Besides, it's just a temporary arrangement until the end of the war.\nKira: And when will that be?\nRoss: Let's get one thing straight, Colonel. I came here as a courtesy to you. This decision has already been made.\nKira: And I have to live with it.\nRoss: That's right. You've done a fine job taking over for Captain Sisko.\nKira: I'm just keeping his seat warm.\nRoss: You still think he's coming back?\nKira: Don't you?\nRoss: I'll be in touch.\nDamar: As you can see, we've halted the Klingon advance against Monac Four. We estimate their casualties to be at least thirty percent.\nWeyoun: They should've been higher. Nevertheless, congratulations, Damar. The enemy remains bottled up in the Chin'toka system and that's where they'll stay until we destroy them.\nDamar: I'd offer you a glass, but I know how much you dislike kanar.\nWeyoun: I'm beginning to think you like it too much.\nDamar: I wouldn't trust a Cardassian that didn't enjoy a glass of kanar every once in a while.\nWeyoun: Tell me, Damar, when you're alone, do you even bother with a glass, or do you just drink that swill directly from the bottle?\nDamar: Depends on my mood. And right now, I feel like celebrating. We owe Gul Dukat a debt of gratitude.\nWeyoun: Unfortunately, I agree. Somehow, releasing that Pah wraith into the wormhole has shifted the momentum of the war into our favor.\nDamar: Do you ever wonder what goes on? Inside the wormhole, I mean.\nWeyoun: Not really.\nDamar: The Prophets and the Pah wraiths locked in some form of celestial battle. It's fascinating.\nWeyoun: I never realized you had such a vivid imagination.\nDamar: There's a lot about me you don't know.\nWeyoun: Just remember, too much imagination can be dangerous.\nJake: Dad, Grandpa and I are going to Armstrong Park to listen to some music. You want to come?\nSisko: You two go ahead.\nJake: What's that?\nSisko: The woman in my vision. I don't want to forget her face. I'll see you in the morning.\nJake: Hey, I've seen her before.\nSisko: Where?\nJake: In a photograph. I'll be right back.\nJake: Here she is. I knew it. It's her, isn't it?\nSisko: She's with Grandpa. I don't understand. Who is she?\nJake: Why don't you ask Grandpa?\nJoseph: Ask me what?\nSisko: This woman.\nJoseph: Where'd you get that?\nJake: I found it last week when I was cleaning out the storage room. I meant to ask you about it.\nSisko: So who is she, Dad?\nJoseph: No one at all, you hear me? She's no one at all.\nVic: Hey, pallie, where you been keeping yourself?\nWorf: Convoy duty.\nVic: Doesn't sound very exciting.\nWorf: It was not.\nVic: Well, if you're looking for some action, you've come to the right place. What do you say we hit the craps tables, huh? Or maybe some blackjack to get the blood pumping?\nWorf: Sing the song.\nVic: I don't think that's such a good idea.\nWorf: Sing the song.\nVic: C'mon, pallie, why rub salt in an open wound?\nWorf: You are a hologram. You are programd to do as I say. Sing the song.\nVic: It's your dime. Park it right there. And don't say I didn't warn you. Which reminds me of a story Joey once told me\nWorf: Sing!\nVic: Son of a gun, I think he means it. Hey, you heard the man.\nCretak: This monitor is still offline. I want it operational within the hour. I hope all the chairs on this station aren't this uncomfortable.\nKira: I'm afraid they are. But don't worry, you'll get used to them.\nCretak: I'm sure I will. You must be Colonel Kira.\nKira: I'm sorry I wasn't at the airlock to greet you when you arrived, but I was\nCretak: No need to explain, Colonel. You must be quite busy.\nKira: I hope you find your accommodations satisfactory. Other than the chairs, of course.\nCretak: I'm sure we'll be quite comfortable here. I trust that won't be a problem for you.\nKira: Meaning what?\nCretak: My people have a reputation for arrogance. I'm afraid it's well earned.\nKira: But you're different. Or so Admiral Ross tells me.\nCretak: The admiral and I have a good working relationship. I hope to have a similar one with you.\nKira: I'd like nothing more.\nCretak: Then I look forward to working with you toward our common goal, the destruction of the Dominion.\nBashir: Worf did this?\nVic: With his own two hands. And it's not the first time he's busted up the joint. I don't care how much he threatens me, that's the last time I ever sing 'All the Way.' If he wants to hear it again, let him buy a Sinatra album.\nBashir: All the Way. That was Jadzia's favorite song. I'm sorry, Vic, but you're going to have to forgive him. He's having a hard time accepting her death.\nQuark: So am I, but you don't see me busting up the joint.\nBashir: She wasn't your wife.\nQuark: She should have been.\nBashir: There is something wrong.\nVic: That's what I've been telling you.\nBashir: Klingons usually have a shorter mourning period than humans. They accept death more readily than we do.\nVic: Well, something is driving Worf cuckoo. Your buddy needs to get some serious help and soon. The band is threatening to quit.\nQuark: They can't quit. They're holograms.\nVic: They don't know that.\nBashir: I'll see what I can do.\nVic: Hang in there, pallie.\nBashir: I'll try, but I think Jadzia's death has made us all a little cuckoo.\nSisko: Dad?\nJoseph: You should be in bed.\nSisko: Not until you tell me what I need to know.\nJoseph: I already told you. She's no one.\nSisko: You're going to have to do better than that.\nJoseph: Leave it be, Ben.\nSisko: I can't. I saw her. The vision the Prophets sent me. She was the woman in the desert.\nJoseph: That's impossible.\nSisko: I'm telling you, I saw her.\nJoseph: You couldn't have.\nSisko: Dad, please. Who is she?\nJoseph: I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about it.\nSisko: Dad.\nJoseph: No!\nSisko: You have to tell me. I need to know who she is!\nJoseph: Her name was Sarah. I met her in June of '31. It was in Jackson Square. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Two months later, we were married.\nSisko: Married? You had a wife before Mum?\nJoseph: It's a little bit more complicated than that, Ben. You see, Sarah was your mother.\nJoseph: Sarah and I were married for two years. She seemed very happy. I certainly was. Two days after your first birthday, she disappeared.\nSisko: What do you mean she disappeared?\nJoseph: She left me.\nSisko: Why?\nJoseph: I've asked myself that question a thousand times. I never did come up with the answer.\nSisko: And you never found out what happened to her?\nJoseph: It took me three years, but I found out. She was living in Australia working as a holo-photographer.\nSisko: Well, I have to speak with her.\nJoseph: You can't.\nSisko: Damn it, Dad, I have to.\nJoseph: She's dead. She died in a hovercraft accident about a month before I tracked her down. I loved that woman and she loved me. I know she did.\nSisko: Why didn't you tell me about her?\nJoseph: I wanted to, many times. But you were so young when she left.\nSisko: I grew up.\nJoseph: I thought that might make it easier, but it didn't.\nSisko: That's no excuse.\nJoseph: I know. I'm sorry. But you see, you and your stepmother were so close. She made you laugh like nobody else, and I didn't want anything to get in the way of that.\nSisko: I loved Momma. Nothing would've changed that.\nJoseph: She said the same thing.\nSisko: You should have listened to her.\nJoseph: Life is full of choices. You make them and hope for the best. Sometimes you're right, and sometimes you're not. I made a mistake.\nSisko: Yeah, you did.\nJoseph: I still don't understand why the Prophets would send you a vision of Sarah.\nSisko: I came back here to clear my head, to try to figure out what to do next. Maybe learning the truth about my mother is the first step of this journey.\nJoseph: Well, from here on out, I hope the Prophets keep their noses out of my business.\nSisko: Are there any other secrets I should know about?\nJoseph: Just my gumbo recipe, but I'm taking that to my grave.\nCretak: Colonel, I was just coming to see you. What is it?\nKira: Nothing. I just never thought I'd see a Romulan eating a jumja stick.\nCretak: I was curious.\nKira: And?\nCretak: It has a distinct flavor.\nKira: Personally, I can't stand them. Too sweet.\nCretak: Then you should try a Romulan osol twist. Very tart.\nKira: I'll do that.\nCretak: I wanted to let you know that a squadron of warbirds will be arriving at the station tomorrow morning for refitting.\nKira: I'll tell Chief O'Brien to start replicating Romulan system modules.\nCretak: Excellent. I had no idea Bajorans were so efficient.\nKira: Coming from a Romulan, that's quite a compliment.\nCretak: Oh, one more thing. It's about Bajor's fourth moon.\nKira: Derna?\nCretak: It's uninhabited, correct?\nKira: Last time I checked.\nCretak: Do you think your government would allow us to set up a hospital facility there? Too many of our wounded are dying on the long journey back to Romulus.\nKira: I'll ask the Council of Ministers.\nCretak: I'd appreciate anything you can do.\nBashir: You've got to get him talking. But whatever you do, don't mention Jadzia. Let him do that.\nO'Brien: I don't think Worf wants to talk about her.\nBashir: He may not want to but he needs to, I think. Given the right circumstances, he will.\nO'Brien: Well, we have one circumstance in our favor. Twenty three oh one. A very good year for bloodwine.\nBashir: I'll let you do your work. You sure one bottle's going to be enough?\nO'Brien: Good bye, Julian.\nWorf: Chief.\nO'Brien: Can I come in?\nWorf: Why?\nO'Brien: Well, because it's been a long time since we shared one of these.\nO'Brien: Got any glasses?\nWorf: None that are clean.\nO'Brien: Oh well, who needs glasses, hey? Cheers. Mmm. Warm the cockles.\nWorf: Very smooth. Good night, Chief.\nO'Brien: Hold on. You call that a visit?\nWorf: I enjoyed it.\nO'Brien: Come on, Worf. I came to talk.\nWorf: About what?\nO'Brien: Anything you want. Old friends, the Enterprise. Remember what's his name, Lieutenant Barclay?\nWorf: Who can forget him?\nO'Brien: Those holosuite programs of his.\nWorf: The Three Musketeers.\nO'Brien: Geordi waving that sword around.\nO'Brien: Ah, that's better.\nQuark: So, what did you find out?\nO'Brien: That you should never try to match drinks with a Klingon.\nQuark: Yeah, yeah, but what did you and Worf talk about?\nBashir: Why do you care?\nQuark: Because some day that crazy Klingon may get tired of smashing up a holosuite bar and decide to come down here and smash up a real one.\nBashir: What did you talk about?\nO'Brien: A lot of things. His son, Alexander. Growing up in Russia. The proper way to eat gagh.\nQuark: What does any of that have to do with Jadzia?\nO'Brien: Nothing. It wasn't until about oh four hundred, when we were polishing off the third bottle of bloodwine that he even mentioned Jadzia. You know, this could be a little sweeter.\nBashir: Miles, what did he say about her?\nO'Brien: She's not in Sto-vo-kor.\nQuark: You mean Klingon heaven? What would she be doing there? She wasn't a Klingon.\nO'Brien: As far as Worf is concerned, she was. She did join the House of Martok.\nBashir: Then what makes him think she's not in Sto-vo-kor?\nO'Brien: For one thing, she never ate the heart of one of her enemies.\nQuark: She always was a little squeamish.\nO'Brien: And secondly, she didn't die in glorious battle.\nQuark: You mean being murdered by a Pah wraith in cold blood doesn't count?\nO'Brien: Do you want to know what's bothering Worf or not?\nBashir: There's more?\nO'Brien: Apparently there is a way for Worf to ensure that Jadzia gets into Sto-vo-kor. He has to win a great battle in her name.\nQuark: I could let him beat me at tongo.\nO'Brien: Not good enough. Unless he has to carve his way through a hundred Jem'Hadar to get to the table.\nQuark: Why does everything with Klingons have to involve bloodshed?\nBashir: No wonder he's been so frustrated with convoy duty. Maybe we should talk to Admiral Ross.\nO'Brien: Oh, yeah, I can see it now. Admiral, could you please send the Defiant on the most dangerous mission you can think of? Jadzia needs to get into Sto-vo-kor.\nQuark: Sounds good to me.\nBashir: Then you ask him.\nO'Brien: What about General Martok? He's due to arrive on the station tomorrow morning.\nBashir: Good thinking. Who better than a Klingon to help a Klingon?\nJoseph: Beautiful night, isn't it?\nSisko: I'm sure you're right.\nJoseph: You thinking about Sarah?\nSisko: Actually, I was thinking about Jadzia. She always used to be here to help me sort things out. I miss her.\nJoseph: I know you do. I came out to give you this. It was Sarah's. I want you to have it. I think she would have, too.\nSisko: Thanks, Dad.\nJoseph: There's some kind of writing on the back.\nJoseph: What's the matter?\nSisko: This writing. It's ancient Bajoran.\nJoseph: What does it say?\nSisko: I don't know. But I intend to find out.\nJoseph: I still don't understand why Sarah would have a locket with Bajoran writing on it. I don't recall her ever mentioning Bajor to me.\nJake: Maybe she didn't know it was Bajoran. Maybe it was a gift from someone.\nSisko: Finally, some progress.\nJoseph: What is it?\nSisko: The inscription. It says Orb of the Emissary.\nJake: I never knew there was an Orb of the Emissary.\nSisko: I've never heard of it either. At least, there's no mention of it in the Bajoran Ancient Texts.\nJoseph: Sounds like you've reached a dead end.\nSisko: Not necessarily. What if the Orb does exist? What if it didn't go dark like all the others when the wormhole disappeared?\nJake: If you can find it, maybe you can find a way to contact the Prophets.\nSisko: Oh, I'm going to find it.\nJoseph: But it could be anywhere. Where do you begin to look?\nSisko: Tiree.\nJake: Why there?\nSisko: Because that's where I was in the vision the Prophets sent me.\nCretak: Are these the latest casualty reports?\nKira: From the Dominion counterattack in the Chin'toka system. I'm afraid that your people took the brunt of the assault.\nCretak: What matters is that we held our position. As for our casualties, at least we now have the hospital complex on Derna to care for the wounded. And we have you to thank, Colonel.\nKira: Oh, no. All I did was put in your request to the Council of Ministers. They made the decision.\nCretak: Under your advisement, I'm sure. All of Romulus owes you a debt of gratitude.\nKira: I'll keep that in mind.\nOdo: Do you have a moment?\nKira: I do for you.\nOdo: This morning, a Starfleet transport filled with wounded was denied permission to dock at the Romulan hospital complex on Derna.\nKira: Well, the hospital may not be equipped to treat other species.\nOdo: I thought the same thing myself, until I noticed that most of the wounded were Vulcans. Vulcans and Romulans share a common physiology.\nKira: And a mutual distrust of one another. That doesn't change just because they're allies against the Dominion.\nOdo: True. But how do you explain these sensor readings?\nKira: High concentrations of trilithium isotopes.\nOdo: Which indicates the presence of Romulan plasma torpedoes.\nKira: I'll look into it.\nMartok: Defend yourself, Worf.\nMartok: So, how do you like convoy duty?\nWorf: I don't.\nMartok: Good. I was afraid you might be getting soft. I need a first officer for a dangerous mission.\nWorf: How dangerous?\nMartok: Dangerous enough to assure Jadzia a place in Sto-vo-kor.\nWorf: In that case, you have found your first officer.\nMartok: Excellent. It will be a great victory.\nWorf: I will make sure of it.\nJake: How many clams do you think you've cleaned since we got here?\nSisko: A lot. That was going to be my last batch, but then I got to thinking. Maybe I'll take a couple of sacks along with me tomorrow on the runabout, give me something to do on the way to Tiree.\nJake: You're kidding, right?\nSisko: Jake, if I never see another clam\nBoth: It'll be too soon.\nSisko: Can I help you?\nBajoran: Emissary, I've come a long way to see you. This moment is sacred, one that will be long remembered. Meeh rak Dorah Pah wran. Ee toi Velah slah. Pah wran amar. Pah wran Evak to.\nSisko: That's ancient Bajoran.\nBajoran: The Emissary is wise.\nSisko: Thank you, but right now the Emissary has to get back to work.\nBajoran: Your work is finished. The Orb you are seeking, the Orb of the Emissary?\nSisko: What did you say?\nBajoran: You're never going to find it.\nJake: Grandpa! Grandpa!\nJoseph: Today's special is shrimp creole. Ah, actually, it's barbecued shrimp.\nJoseph: Excuse me. Where were you? They told me you were released from the hospital two hours ago.\nSisko: I had to give a report to Starfleet Security.\nJoseph: And the Bajoran that attacked you, who was he?\nSisko: He was a member of a cult that worships the Pah wraiths. They believe that the disappearance of the Prophets will herald a new era for Bajor.\nJoseph: I don't suppose I can talk you out of going to Tiree.\nSisko: If you're worried about the cult\nJoseph: I figure you can handle them. But if the cult knows you're looking for the Orb of the Emissary, chances are the Pah wraiths do as well. And that does worry me.\nO'Brien: Well, here's to Worf and the success of his mission.\nBashir: Qapla'.\nQuark: I don't see why you two are so happy. An entire Klingon fleet failed to destroy the Dominion shipyards at Monac Four. What makes you think one ship will do any better?\nBashir: The element of surprise?\nQuark: If you ask me, it's not a mission, it's suicide.\nBashir: You're beginning to depress me, Quark.\nQuark: Why? You're not going.\nO'Brien: You can't be serious.\nBashir: I've never been more serious in my life. I'm going to help Jadzia get into Sto-vo-kor.\nQuark: What makes you think she wants to spend eternity there? I know I certainly wouldn't. Imagine what it must be like, hoards of rampaging Klingons fighting and singing, sweating and belching.\nBashir: Sounds like this place on a Saturday night.\nQuark: Would you want to spend eternity here?\nO'Brien: That's a good point. What if Jadzia would prefer to go to, you know, wherever it is that Trills go when their time is up.\nBashir: Miles, you don't understand. You weren't as close to her as I was. This gives me a chance to honor her memory and I'm going to take it. And that, my friend, is my final word on the subject.\nO'Brien: You know what this means, don't you?\nBashir: Yes. That I'm risking my life for a very dubious cause.\nO'Brien: No, it means I'm going to risk my life for a friend who's risking his life for a very dubious cause.\nQuark: You're going with him?\nO'Brien: Well somebody has to make sure he comes back in one piece.\nBashir: Miles, I don't know what to say. I'm touched.\nQuark: You're both touched. You want to get Jadzia into Sto-vo-kor? Fine, fine, I'm all for it. But can't you do something more sensible? Make a donation in her name or bribe someone?\nBashir: It doesn't work that way, Quark.\nO'Brien: Be nice if it did.\nRoss: Third fleet has requested two more attack wings of Romulan warbirds.\nCretak: That shouldn't be a problem.\nRoss: Now, if we\nKira: Senator, I have a message for you from the Bajoran Council of Ministers.\nRoss: We're in the middle of a meeting here, Colonel.\nKira: Sorry, sir, this can't wait.\nCretak: Apparently, we're no longer welcome on Derna.\nRoss: They want to close down the hospital?\nKira: The hospital isn't the problem.\nRoss: Then what is?\nKira: The seven thousand plasma torpedoes the Romulans have secretly deployed there.\nRoss: Is this true, Senator?\nCretak: The weapons are for defensive purposes only.\nKira: Well my government doesn't agree. You're to begin an immediate evacuation.\nCretak: I'm afraid that's impossible.\nRoss: Let's try to stay calm. I'm sure we can reach some sort of compromise.\nKira: Not this time, Admiral. My government considers the Romulan presence on Derna to be a direct threat to Bajor.\nCretak: This is ridiculous. I regret not informing your government about our weapon emplacements, but I didn't think it was necessary. We're your ally.\nKira: Then remove the weapons.\nCretak: That would leave the hospital unprotected.\nKira: Bajor will guarantee its safety.\nCretak: I'm afraid that's not acceptable.\nKira: Either you remove those weapons, or we will.\nDamar: See that Gul Yaltar of the Third Order receives this immediately.\nWeyoun: Have you heard? The Romulans have taken over a Bajoran moon and heavily fortified it.\nDamar: My guess is that the Bajorans aren't happy about that.\nWeyoun: Would you be? This is the sort of unfortunate situation that could destroy an alliance.\nDamar: That would be a pity.\nWeyoun: Romulans. They're so predictably treacherous.\nSisko: What's going on? Why is the restaurant closed?\nJoseph: I am going on vacation. To Tiree.\nJake: We're coming with you, Dad.\nSisko: Are you both lost your minds?\nJoseph: Apparently it runs in the family.\nSisko: You've obviously already packed your bags.\nJake: Yes. I even brought my toothbrush.\nJoseph: Oh, nothing I hate more than turning away a customer.\nJoseph: I'm sorry, we're closed.\nEzri: That's all right, Mister Sisko, I'm not hungry. I'm here to see Ben.\nJoseph: Oh, you're in luck. Five more minutes and he'd have been gone.\nEzri: Hello, Benjamin.\nSisko: Do I know you?\nEzri: It's me. Dax."}
{"text": "Bashir: I managed to save the Dax symbiont. There was nothing I could do for Jadzia.\nWeyoun: Federation soldiers have landed on Cardassian soil and now you're telling me the wormhole is gone and with it any chance of getting reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant.\nSisko: The station's all yours, Major. Let's go home, Jake.\nMartok: I need a first officer for a dangerous mission.\nWorf: How dangerous?\nMartok: Dangerous enough to assure Jadzia a place in Sto-vo-kor.\nSisko: I had a vision from the Prophets. I was on Tiree, in the desert, and I uncovered a face. The face of a woman.\nSisko: You had a wife before Mum?\nJoseph: Sarah was your mother.\nKira: You're to begin an immediate evacuation.\nCretak: I'm afraid that's impossible.\nKira: Either you remove those weapons, or we will.\nEzri: Hello, Benjamin.\nSisko: Do I know you?\nEzri: It's me. Dax. And now, the continuation.\nSisko: Dax? I can't believe it.\nEzri: I can hardly believe it myself. But I'm Dax. I mean, I'm not Jadzia Dax. I'm Ezri Dax. But I have all of Jadzia's memories. Not to mention Lela's, Tobin's, Emony's, Audrid's, Joran's, Curzon's. Am I forgetting anyone?\nSisko: Torias.\nEzri: Right. You're probably asking yourself who is this person? How did she get the symbiont? Do I even want another Dax in my life? Does she always talk this much? These are all very good questions and I wish I had good answers for you.\nSisko: The answers can wait. Right now, I'm just glad to see you.\nEzri: Really? That is so nice of you to say. I'm not usually this emotional. It must be the Emony in me. At least I think it's Emony Hi, Jake.\nJake: Hi.\nEzri: You seem taller. Or am I shorter? You know, none of this was my idea. I never wanted to be joined.\nJake: Then how did you get the symbiont?\nEzri: It was an accident.\nJoseph: Some accident.\nEzri: I was on the Destiny when they brought the Dax symbiont aboard to be taken back to Trill. Halfway through the trip, the symbiont took a turn for the worse and needed to be placed in a host immediately.\nSisko: And you were the only Trill on board.\nEzri: I laid down on that operating table one person and I woke up a completely different person. Well, I should say eight different people. I was not prepared for this at all. I mean, you're supposed to get years of training and preparation before you get joined, and all I got was a fifteen minute lecture from the ship's surgeon and he wasn't even a Trill.\nSisko: I'm starting to see the problem. Please.\nEzri: You don't how much better I feel just being here with you, Ben.\nSisko: What about the Symbiosis Institute? Weren't they able to do anything for you?\nEzri: I did meet with the Evaluation Board several times.\nSisko: And?\nEzri: They gave me some books to read, some counseling, but once a host and symbiont are joined, there's really not very much they can do. My parents, my friends, my crewmates, it's like they don't even know me anymore. Which is understandable since I hardly even know myself. That's why I took a leave of absence to come here. I knew that if there is anyone who can help me through this, it would be you.\nSisko: I'll do all I can, but the truth is, we're leaving for Tiree.\nEzri: Fine. I'll come with you.\nJake: You don't even know why we're going.\nEzri: It doesn't matter. When do we leave?\nSisko: Today.\nEzri: Great. It'll be just like old times. Except different.\nWorf: Jadzia Dax Vond Shoo vwee Dun Mahh kekh HuhKo Vahm Jeh Yin Moj Mah Mukh. Sto-vo-kor Pah Dahkh tin Baht leh el eegh cha yay moj.\nQuark: Quark, son of Keldar. Did I come at a bad time?\nO'Brien: What's he doing here?\nQuark: Same thing you are. I'm volunteering for this mission.\nMartok: Why? You're a bartender, not a warrior.\nQuark: True, but I loved Jadzia as much as anyone in this room. With maybe one or two exceptions. And I am willing to pledge my life to see that she gets into Sto-vo-kor.\nMartok: Perhaps there is some Klingon in you after all.\nQuark: I wouldn't go that far. So why all the cutlery?\nMartok: We shed our blood to prove we are not frightened of death.\nQuark: Can't you just take my word for it?\nQuark: Oww! That hurts.\nO'Brien: It's supposed to hurt.\nWorf: YuWee modge. Baht leh modge. Yay Dodge.\nEzri: This is so embarrassing.\nSisko: Don't worry, it's not your fault.\nEzri: I'm a trained Starfleet officer. I've no business getting space sick. But ever since I was given the symbiont, warp speed does make me a little queasy.\nJake: A little queasy?\nJoseph: The main thing is the control panel's all cleaned up, so if one of you would like to get back into the pilot's seat, it would sure make me feel better. Not that I don't trust the computer.\nJake: You just prefer the human touch.\nJoseph: Do you need to lie down?\nEzri: No, I'm fine, really.\nJoseph: Well, it's time for my nap.\nJake: You're sure you're okay?\nEzri: But I just wish I could stop thinking about Torias.\nJake: Torias Dax? He was one of the previous hosts, wasn't he?\nEzri: He died in a shuttle accident. I still remember the last few seconds before the crash. Maybe I don't belong in Starfleet anymore. Aren't you glad you brought me along?\nJake: Actually, I am. My dad seems a lot happier ever since you showed up.\nEzri: One iced raktajino. I know you've been worried about your father, Jake, but he's going to be all right.\nJake: What makes you so sure?\nEzri: Because I've known him a long time. Besides, it's my job to know these things. I'm a ship's counselor. Well, actually, an assistant ship's counselor.\nJake: You're a therapist?\nEzri: Is it that surprising?\nJake: A little.\nEzri: You know, I wasn't always this confused. Before I was joined I was considered to be a very promising young officer. That is horrible. I hate raktajino.\nJake: Then why'd you order it?\nEzri: Because Curzon liked it.\nJake: So did Jadzia.\nEzri: Well, I don't. I have to learn to control some of these urges.\nRoss: I want you to know, Colonel, that I'm as outraged as you are. The Romulans have no business placing weapons on Derna.\nKira: I'm glad we're in agreement. What are we going to do about it?\nRoss: The Federation has already sent a formal protest to the Romulan Senate condemning their actions.\nKira: Well that's a start. What happens next?\nRoss: They've already sent a protest of our protest. Politics.\nKira: You still haven't answered my question.\nRoss: I don't know, Colonel. Eventually, the Romulans will remove the weapons.\nKira: When? Are we talking about days, weeks, months?\nRoss: I don't know but it will happen.\nKira: Now you sound like a politician, Admiral.\nRoss: Maybe so. But facts are facts, Colonel. And there's no way the Bajorans can drive the Romulans off Derna, not without help anyway, and the Federation isn't going to provide that help. Not now. Is that clear?\nKira: We're just not as important to the war effort as the Romulans.\nRoss: That's a harsh way to put it.\nKira: The truth often is.\nRoss: Colonel, I would like to help you, but my hands are tied.\nKira: Well, luckily, mine aren't.\nRoss: Meaning what?\nKira: Our scans show that the weapons aren't fully operational yet. They're still missing launch sequencers. I'm going to make sure that those sequencers never reach Derna.\nRoss: How?\nKira: I'm going to set up a blockade.\nRoss: If you do that, Colonel, you'll have a fight on your hands. A fight you can't win.\nSisko: We're entering orbit. Prepare to beam down.\nJake: Why don't we use the ship's scanners to find the Orb?\nEzri: There's too much ionization in the atmosphere. It'll interfere with our sensors.\nSisko: You sure you don't want to stay here and wait for us?\nJoseph: And miss all the excitement? Not a chance.\nSisko: All right. Well sure you're carrying plenty of water packs. That goes for both of you, too. It's dry down there.\nNurse: Doctor Wykoff, please report to Isolation Ward Four. Doctor Wykoff, please report to Isolation Ward Four.\nSisko: Did you hear that?\nEzri: Hear what?\nSisko: Forget it.\nEzri: If there is an Orb buried around here, my tricorder's not picking it up.\nSisko: I know it's out there someplace. That's why the Prophets sent me here.\nEzri: Did they give you any hint which way to go?\nSisko: That way.\nJake: The Prophets have spoken.\nEzri: I hope he heard them right.\nO'Brien: Once we're close enough, we can fire an EM pulse at the sun.\nQuark: The sun? I thought we were trying to destroy a shipyard.\nO'Brien: We are.\nQuark: Do you understand what he's talking about?\nBashir: Always.\nQuark: Fine, then you explain it.\nWorf: We are going to fly toward the molten heart of the sun, so close that our ship will glow like a flaming comet.\nBashir: Hopefully not that close.\nO'Brien: Just close enough to trigger a solar plasma ejection. The explosion should be enough to incinerate everything within a hundred million kilometers.\nMartok: Including the shipyard.\nWorf: It will be a glorious firestorm that will illuminate the gates of Sto-vo-kor itself and provide a fitting welcome for Jadzia.\nQuark: The things we do for love. Did you see that?\nO'Brien: See what?\nQuark: The way he glared at me.\nBashir: He always glares at you.\nQuark: Well I'm sick of it. We're risking our lives to help Jadzia get into Sto-vo-kor. The very least Worf could do is show us some appreciation. Is it so hard to say thank you?\nBashir: Thank you.\nQuark: Nice try, Doctor, but I want to hear it from him.\nO'Brien: Don't do this, Quark.\nQuark: Do what? All I'm asking for is two little words.\nWorf: Be quiet.\nQuark: That's two words all right. Just not the two I was hoping for.\nWorf: Why should I feel any gratitude toward you? I owe you nothing. You are not here to help Jadzia get into Sto-vo-kor. You are here because you wish to convince yourselves that you were worthy of her. But the truth is, none of you could ever hope to be worthy of her or even understand the kind of woman she was. It is you who should be thanking me, Ferengi, for allowing you to come on this mission and pay honor to her memory.\nEzri: Think we're getting close?\nSisko: I have no idea.\nEzri: But we're headed in the right direction?\nSisko: I hope so.\nEzri: Audrid loved to walk. Of course, she preferred the woods. Nice shady glens, cool breezes, cold streams.\nSisko: Dax, what are you trying to say?\nEzri: We've been keeping a pretty fast pace. It might be a good idea to give your father and Jake a chance to rest.\nSisko: If anyone wants to take a break, they can go back to the runabout.\nEzri: I think we should stick together.\nSisko: Hey, Dad? How're you doing back there?\nJoseph: Never better.\nDamar: It's only a matter of time until we break through enemy lines. When that happens, we can drive the Federation Romulan Alliance out of Cardassian territory. A bit more kanar?\nSiana: Please.\nDamar: To victory. On all fronts.\nWeyoun: Damar, have you\nDamar: Weyoun, this is Siana. We met at the dinner last night honoring Legate Hovas.\nWeyoun: Damar, you and I have things to discuss. Things that your guest doesn't want to hear.\nDamar: And why is that?\nWeyoun: Because if she does, I'll be forced to have her executed.\nSiana: I really should be going.\nDamar: Until tonight.\nWeyoun: What a pleasant woman. Now, it's imperative we increase production at the Monac shipyard. We need more assault ships to retake the Chin'toka system. Damar, are you listening to me?\nDamar: Increase production. Yes, I heard you. By how much?\nWeyoun: Fifteen percent would be ideal.\nDamar: That won't be easy.\nWeyoun: Oh, I'm sure you'll find a way. You're very resourceful.\nOdo: A blockade? How many ships are we talking about?\nKira: Twelve impulse ships. That's all the Council of Ministers could spare right now.\nOdo: And how effective do you think those twelve ships are going to be against even one Romulan warbird?\nKira: You sound like Admiral Ross.\nOdo: Well, I was hoping our relationship was going to be a long and happy one, but I suppose I'm willing to settle for short and exciting.\nKira: What's that supposed to mean?\nOdo: I take it you're going to be commanding the blockade?\nKira: That's right.\nOdo: Then I'm going to be there with you.\nKira: You don't have to do that.\nOdo: Yes, I do.\nKira: Well, I wouldn't start writing our epitaphs just yet.\nOdo: All right, I'll wait until the first wave of Romulan ships decide to run the blockade.\nKira: Don't worry, I've no intention of getting into a firefight with a squadron of Romulan warbirds.\nOdo: You mean you're bluffing?\nKira: If the Romulans fire on us, they jeopardize their Alliance with the Federation, and I'm hoping that's a risk they don't want to take.\nOdo: And I'm hoping they don't call your bluff.\nJake: Grandpa, you sure you don't want to go back up to the runabout?\nJoseph: We started this together and we'll finish it together. I owe it to Ben.\nJake: I got you.\nJake: Let's go.\nNurse: Doctor Wykoff, please come to Isolation Ward Four immediately. To Isolation Ward Four. Doctor Wykoff. Doctor Wykoff. Please come to Isolation Ward Four immediately.\nEzri: Benjamin? Benjamin. Is this it?\nSisko: I think so.\nEzri: You're not sure? Ben, that's not good enough. Ben.\nEzri: Are you listening to me?\nSisko: There.\nEzri: Where?\nSisko: That's where we start digging.\nEzri: Why there? I wasn't even aiming at anything. Ben, maybe my memories are playing tricks on me but have you gotten stranger?\nKira: Ship's log, stardate 52152.6. We've set up a blockade around Derna. So far, no Romulan ships have tried to challenge us.\nKira: Kiss Me Deadly. Interesting title.\nOdo: And the book isn't bad either. I think you'll enjoy it.\nKira: I'm sure I will, but is this really the right time to start reading a book?\nOdo: Maybe not, but I know how much you hate all this waiting and Mike Hammer has certain qualities I think you'll appreciate.\nKira: Such as?\nOdo: He's as tough as they come and he hates waiting almost as much as you do.\nKira: Oh, I like him already.\nCrewman: Colonel, there's a priority one transmission from Deep Space Nine. It's Admiral Ross.\nKira: Put him through.\nRoss: Colonel Senator Cretak has just informed me that fourteen Romulan warbirds are on their way to Derna.\nCretak: They'll be arriving in eight hours with much needed medical supplies for the hospital complex.\nKira: Since when did the Romulans start using warbirds to deliver medical supplies?\nCretak: We want to make sure they arrive safely.\nKira: Well, if they try to get through the blockade, they're not going to make it at all.\nRoss: That kind of talk isn't going to help matters, Colonel. I'd think you'd want to avoid a confrontation, not provoke one.\nKira: I wouldn't call those Romulan ships a peace offering.\nRoss: I wasn't exactly happy to hear about that either, but we only have a few hours to reach some kind of a compromise. After that, people are going to start dying.\nKira: You can talk about compromise all you want. Any ship attempting to break through that blockade will be fired on.\nCretak: Colonel, do you seriously believe that your antiquated collection of impulse ships stand a chance against our warbirds?\nKira: We'll find out soon enough, won't we? End transmission. How'd I do?\nOdo: Mike Hammer would have been proud.\nCretak: You're concerned.\nRoss: Aren't you?\nCretak: Not really. The Colonel is brave woman, but she's not stupid. She's bluffing.\nJake: Right over there in the shade.\nEzri: Here.\nJake: There you go, Grandpa.\nNurse: Doctor Wykoff, please come to Isolation Ward Four. Doctor Wykoff to Isolation Ward Four.\nSisko: I wish he'd get there.\nEzri: Who?\nSisko: Doctor Wykoff. They're waiting for him in the isolation ward.\nEzri: You have definitely gotten stranger.\nMartok: What about me, Worf? Would you rather I hadn't come on this mission either?\nWorf: That is not what I am saying. With you, it is different. You are a Klingon and Jadzia was a member of your House.\nMartok: And these men were her friends. They honor her with their presence.\nQuark: I don't believe it. Gagh for breakfast, gagh for lunch, gagh for dinner. Am I the only one who thinks Klingon menus need to have more variety?\nO'Brien: You want to complain about the gagh, that's fine with me. But don't complain about it when we're in the mess hall sitting at a table surrounded by a dozen Klingons.\nQuark: All right, all right, I get the point.\nBashir: Good.\nQuark: But I'm telling you, I think some of those Klingons agreed with me.\nBashir: Look, Worf, if this has anything to do with what just happened in the mess hall.\nWorf: No, no, it does not.\nQuark: What's the matter? Come up with a few more insults to throw at us?\nWorf: I wish to apologize.\nQuark: I'm listening.\nWorf: I know Jadzia meant a great deal to all of you, and you meant a great deal to her. Many times, when we discussed our day, she would repeat something amusing that you had told her, or describe in endless details the intricacies of some new scheme of yours. She often talked about all of you. It seemed as though that even when we were alone, one of you was always with us.\nQuark: I get it. You were jealous because she liked us better than you.\nBashir: Quark, would you please keep quiet.\nWorf: She was my wife, my par'machkai. I did not like having to share her affections.\nO'Brien: That's why you didn't want us on this mission with you. You wanted to get her into Sto-vo-kor without our help.\nWorf: I wanted it to be my gift to her.\nQuark: Go on.\nWorf: There is nothing more to say. Except that I am pleased you're here.\nO'Brien: I have never heard Worf apologize to anyone.\nQuark: I don't know about you, but I was hoping for something a little more intriguing.\nBashir: Such as?\nQuark: You know, like Jadzia used to call my name out when she slept, or wanted to name her first child after me.\nMartok: Chief. The Monac shipyard.\nO'Brien: Impressive.\nMartok: Display our target.\nQuark: How close do we have to get to that?\nMartok: Too close.\nWorf: Perfect.\nJake: What is it, Dad? Have you found something?\nSisko: Stay back.\nSisko: The Orb of the Emissary.\nEzri: What are you going to do?\nSisko: Open it.\nWykoff: Mister Russell.\nWykoff: Mister Russell, put it down.\nEzri: Benjamin what's wrong? Benjamin.\nWykoff: I said, put down the pencil. Put it down, Mister Russell.\nBenny: But I haven't finished my story yet. Captain Sisko has found the Orb of the Emissary. But he hasn't opened it yet.\nWykoff: Mister Russell, you promised not to write on the walls.\nBenny: No one will give me any paper.\nWykoff: I thought we agreed that you weren't going to write at all. That you needed to rest.\nBenny: No, I don't need to rest. I need to tell my stories.\nWykoff: You were doing so well, Benny. Making real progress. We were all so proud of you.\nBenny: I need to go home. I don't belong here.\nWykoff: We're going to send you home as soon as you're well.\nBenny: I'm fine.\nWykoff: But you're not fine. People who are fine don't write on walls.\nBenny: Then get me a typewriter.\nWykoff: You're not listening. The stories have got to stop, Benny. They're too dangerous.\nBenny: Too dangerous to whom?\nWykoff: To you. This world you've created, this Deep Space Nine. Captain Sisko and Kira and the others. None of it is real.\nBenny: Oh, it is to me. If I don't finish my story, if Captain Sisko doesn't open the Orb box, then he cannot contact the Prophets.\nWykoff: It doesn't matter, Benny. The Prophets don't exist either. They're all figments of your imagination. Get rid of them. It's the only way that you're going to get well. Now give me the pencil, Benny.\nBenny: But my story!\nWykoff: It's over. Just let it go.\nEzri: Benjamin, what are you waiting for? Open it. That's why we're here, right?\nJake: He can't hear you.\nEzri: Jake! Jake, are you all right?\nJake: Yeah.\nKira: Ship's log, supplemental. Senator Cretak said that the Romulan warbirds would be here in eight hours. She was wrong. They're two hours early.\nOdo: They'll be in weapons range in eight minutes.\nKira: Open a channel.\nCrewman: Go ahead.\nKira: This is Colonel Kira of the Bajoran Militia. Any ship traveling within transporter range of Derna will be considered hostile and fired upon.\nOdo: They're not responding.\nKira: Kira to all Bajoran ships. Prepare to engage.\nCrewman: Sir, Admiral Ross is asking to speak to you.\nKira: Put him through.\nRoss: Colonel, I'm appealing to you one last time to end this blockade.\nKira: You know I can't do that, Admiral.\nCretak: Be aware that I'm authorized to use whatever force is necessary to see that our medical supplies reach their destination. However, I'm also authorized to seek a negotiated settlement.\nKira: My government has made its position quite clear. There are to be no negotiations as long as there are Romulan weapons on Derna.\nRoss: Damn it, Colonel. If you open fire on those ships, we all lose. The only way to beat the Dominion is to keep our Alliance intact.\nCretak: Besides, I would hate to see you throw your life away.\nKira: Your concern is touching, Senator. But I'm not dead yet. End transmission.\nOdo: At least not for another six minutes.\nRoss: You still think she's going to back down?\nCretak: She has to, because I won't.\nQuark: Take me out of the oven, Moogie. I'm cooked.\nO'Brien: General, I've found it. A magnetic instability near the sun's equator.\nBashir: Excellent. Now, let's trigger that solar ejection and get out of here.\nO'Brien: I'm afraid it's not that simple. We have to make sure the ejection has the right trajectory to destroy the shipyard.\nMartok: Well, how do we do that?\nWorf: We have to get closer. Much closer.\nO'Brien: He's right.\nQuark: Sto-vo-kor, here we come.\nWykoff: Take it, Benny.\nBenny: What for?\nWykoff: I'm offering you an opportunity few people ever get. You can wipe away all your mistakes.\nBenny: You want me to paint over my story?\nWykoff: They're only words. Meaningless words that no one cares about. Get rid of them and you can walk out of here a free man.\nWykoff: Go ahead. Save yourself.\nEzri: Ben?\nSisko: Got to cover it up. Bury it.\nEzri: Ben, what are you doing?\nWykoff: It's for your own good, Benny. Wipe away the words. Destroy them before they destroy you.\nEzri: Ben, stop.\nOdo: The Romulans have powered their weapons. I think they're calling your bluff.\nKira: Auxiliary power to forward shields. Kira to all ships. Hold your positions.\nOdo: Nerys, if you're going to end this, I suggest you do it now.\nRoss: Time to fold, Colonel.\nO'Brien: Damn it. We're ready, General.\nMartok: Decloak and prepare to fire on Worf's command.\nWorf: Fire!\nMartok: It didn't work.\nQuark: Oh well, we tried. Time to go.\nWorf: No. Not until we complete our mission.\nO'Brien: We'll have to increase the magnetic gradient. I'll recalibrate the deflector.\nBashir: We might not have time. There are three Jem'Hadar ships are approaching bearing zero zero five mark one nine zero.\nMartok: I suggest you work quickly, Chief.\nEzri: No!\nSisko: Get out of my way.\nEzri: Ben, you came here to find the Prophets, remember?\nSisko: Move!\nEzri: No, listen to me. You promised Jadzia you would make things right. Well now is your chance. Open the box, Ben.\nWykoff: No!\nScene: (Sisko watches the energy shoots past DS9 and\nWHOOSH! the wormhole reopens.)\nOdo: Do we stand down, Colonel?\nCrewman: Sir, we're getting a transmission from Deep Space Nine. The wormhole. It's back!\nKira: On screen.\nOdo: Nerys?\nKira: Open a channel to all Bajoran ships. Hold your position and prepare to fire on my command. Lock targets.\nCrewman: Targets locked.\nKira: Still glad you came along?\nOdo: I wouldn't have missed it for anything.\nCretak: I'm afraid the Colonel has run out of time.\nMartok: Well, Worf, did I not promise you a glorious battle?\nWorf: It is everything I hoped for.\nO'Brien: EM pulse ready, General.\nQuark: Then what are you waiting for? Fire!\nMartok: By all means, Chief. Fire!\nBashir: It's working.\nQuark: Great. Now can we leave?\nWorf: Full impulse.\nMartok: Qapla'!\nQuark: I hope Jadzia appreciates all this.\nBashir: I'm sure she does.\nWorf: Lohm Ict lihj. posh Machh lodge Sto-vo-kor Jadzia Dax pailodge pah dock Lih Dun. Shoo vwee vahm baht leh paolodge. Pailodge Poh Hokh Vahd Sto-vo-kor.\nOdo: Nerys, they're pulling back.\nCrewman: Colonel, Admiral Ross would like to speak with you.\nKira: Put him through.\nRoss: You can blink now, Colonel. You've won. Senator Cretak has agreed to remove the weapons from Derna.\nKira: What changed her mind?\nRoss: I told her if she didn't remove them, I would.\nKira: And what changed your mind?\nRoss: You did. Remind me never to play poker with you.\nSisko: Show yourselves. I've come to speak with you.\nSarah: The Sisko has completed his task.\nSisko: Sarah?\nSarah: The Kosst Amojan no longer threatens us.\nSisko: You mean the Pah wraith? It's no longer in the wormhole?\nSarah: I have cast it out.\nSisko: Is that why the Prophets sent me to Tiree? To release you from the Orb?\nSarah: The Kosst Amojan tried to stop you with a false vision. But you did not waver. You fulfillled your destiny.\nSisko: My destiny? You talk as if my life was over.\nSarah: The Sisko must still face many tasks.\nSisko: I don't suppose you'll tell me what they are.\nSarah: The Emissary is corporeal. Linear.\nSisko: Linear or not, I need some answers.\nSarah: The Sisko is intrusive.\nSisko: Are you Sarah Sisko? Are you my mother?\nSarah: Sarah Sisko was corporeal. For a time, I shared her existence.\nSisko: You took over her body, made sure she married my father so that she'd give birth to me.\nSarah: The Sisko is necessary.\nSisko: And once you didn't need her anymore, you left her. No wonder she walked out on my father. She didn't chose him, you did.\nSarah: The Sisko would prefer different answers.\nSisko: What you're telling me isn't easy to accept. You arranged my birth. I exist because of you?\nSarah: The Sisko's path is a difficult one.\nSisko: But why me? Why did it have to be me?\nSarah: Because it could be no one else.\nEzri: Benjamin? That must have been some Orb experience.\nSisko: I'll tell you about it someday.\nWorf: Welcome back, Captain.\nO'Brien: We missed you, sir.\nKira: Thank you for bringing the Prophets back to us.\nSisko: I heard you've all been pretty busy yourselves.\nEzri: Odo! Nerys! Julian! It's so good to see you. Worf, we need to talk.\nBashir: Who's that?\nJake: It's Dax.\nWorf: Dax?\nJake: That's right, Ezri Dax. Incredible, isn't it?\nWorf: It cannot be.\nQuark: She's so much shorter.\nOdo: Just when you thought things couldn't get more interesting."}
{"text": "Ezri: It's funny. Before yesterday, I'd never set foot on this station but it's as familiar to me as the back of my hand. Isn't that odd?\nEzri: You have no idea who I am, do you?\nEzri: I didn't think so. Thanks for listening anyway..\nEzri: I was killed here. I mean, Jadzia was.\nKira: I try not to think about that. If I did, I'm not sure that I could come back here.\nEzri: It's a strange sensation, dying. No matter how many times it happens to you, you never get used to it. It must be a little diskoncerting for you, knowing that I have Jadzia's memories. No wonder you're uncomfortable.\nKira: It's a lot to get used to.\nEzri: Tell me about it. Well, I'll let you get to your prayers.\nEzri: Bloodwine.\nQuark: That's the good stuff. Same vintage I served when you and Worf got married.\nEzri: It smells awful.\nQuark: It used to be your favorite.\nEzri: I used to be right handed, too. A lot of things have changed since I was joined.\nQuark: I can imagine. Seven lifetimes worth of memories would mix up anyone. Or is it eight?\nEzri: Who knows anymore?\nQuark: It'll be a lot easier once you get settled in. Have you picked out your quarters yet?\nEzri: I'm not staying. I'm going back to the Destiny to be an assistant counselor.\nQuark: You're a therapist?\nEzri: Why does everyone sound so surprised when they hear that?\nQuark: Oh, it's just you're so young. Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Why not stay for a while and get to know your old friends again.\nEzri: I don't want to force things. People need time to get over losing Jadzia. You know something, Quark? Besides Benjamin, you're the only one of Jadzia's friends who doesn't seem uncomfortable around me.\nQuark: She and I were close, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't be close too. Remember all those late night tongo games?\nEzri: Who could forget? Wait a minute. You owe me ten slips of latinum from our last game.\nQuark: I don't think so.\nEzri: I won with a Full Consortium. I remember.\nQuark: Your memory's playing tricks on you.\nEzri: Don't say that, Quark. I'm confused enough as it is.\nQuark: Look who's here.\nQuark: I bet the two of you have a lot to talk about.\nSisko: Come in.\nSisko: Dax.\nEzri: Are you alone?\nSisko: Why are you sneaking in this way?\nEzri: I didn't want to go through Ops in case Worf was there. We bumped into each other last night in Quark's.\nSisko: It didn't go well, I take it? You weren't expecting him to accept you right away, were you?\nEzri: Of course not. But he wouldn't even talk to me.\nSisko: Perhaps he was just trying to respect your customs. He knows that the joined Trill aren't supposed to get involved with people who were married to their previous hosts.\nEzri: But that doesn't mean we can't talk to each other. Worf knows that.\nSisko: Are you sure?\nEzri: I told him all about Trill traditions. Jadzia did. We discussed them. They discussed them.\nSisko: I understand.\nEzri: These pronouns are going to drive me crazy.\nEzri: Look at him, Benjamin. He's in pain.\nSisko: How can you tell?\nEzri: I was his wife. I can tell. I don't want to put him through any more heartache than he's already going through. It's a good thing I'm going back to the Destiny.\nSisko: You're still planning on leaving.\nEzri: I can't stay. I couldn't do that to him. Besides, I think it might be easier for me on the Destiny. There are too many memories here.\nSisko: I'm going to miss you, old man.\nEzri: I'm going to miss you too, Benjamin.\nBashir: If you feel that strongly, Miles, you can be Crockett. I'll be Travis.\nOdo: And who am I going to be again?\nBashir: General Santa Anna.\nOdo: Santa Anna.\nBashir: When can our costumes be ready?\nBashir: Garak?\nGarak: Hmm?\nBashir: Our holosuite costumes. When can they be ready?\nGarak: Oh, I'm afraid you're going to have to find them from somewhere else. The shop's closed.\nO'Brien: Still?\nGarak: Well, Starfleet Intelligence is keeping me quite busy these days.\nBashir: What if we let you be Crockett?\nO'Brien: Hey.\nGarak: Even if I was interested, I don't have the time. Do you have any idea how long it takes to decode a Cardassian military transmission? I mean, I invented some of the basic encryption protocols when I was with the Obsidian Order, but it still takes me several days to decipher the simplest sentence.\nBashir: You've got to take a break sometime.\nGarak: Well I intend to. Just as soon as the Dominion is driven off Cardassia. Must you stand so close?\nBashir: That was a bit harsh.\nGarak: Well, I don't like people looming over me. I have to get back to work. Thank you for your company, gentlemen.\nOdo: Starfleet intercepted another Cardassian military transmission. Are you all right? Garak?\nGarak: I can't breathe.\nOdo: Garak! Odo to the Infirmary. We have a medical emergency. Garak.\nOdo: He had a claustrophobic attack in his shop.\nSisko: His shop? I don't understand. That's a good sized space.\nGarak: I know. I've been claustrophobic for as long as I can remember, but lately it seems to have gotten worse. Rooms that I once found completely tolerable now suddenly feel alarmingly cramped.\nBashir: I wish I had an explanation, but I don't. He checks out fine.\nGarak: Well, I don't feel fine. Would you gentlemen mind terribly if we continued this conversation on the Promenade?\nOdo: Better?\nGarak: A little.\nSisko: Mister Garak, as much as I appreciate with your situation, I'm not sure why you asked to see me.\nGarak: I was hoping you'd be kind enough to express my regrets to Starfleet Intelligence. When I get this way, my concentration isn't what it should be. I'm afraid I won't be decoding any transmissions for a while.\nSisko: Can I tell them when to expect you back on the job?\nGarak: I wish I could say. Believe me, I'm not happy about this either. I want to see an end to this war just as much as you. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hem some pants. For some reason, sewing seems to calm me down.\nOdo: Sewing?\nSisko: We can't afford to lose Mister Garak right now. Is there anything you can do for him?\nBashir: To be blunt, our friend Garak needs to have his head examined.\nEzri: Me? You want me to work with Garak?\nSisko: You're a counselor, aren't you?\nEzri: Assistant counselor. I'm still in training.\nSisko: Oh, come on, Dax. What are you going to learn in the next few months that you haven't already learned in the last three hundred years?\nEzri: Oh, how to keep from breaking into tears for no reason. How to resist the urge to stand on my head. Things like that.\nSisko: Why are you standing on your head, by the way?\nEzri: Emony used to do it.\nSisko: The gymnast?\nEzri: She found it relaxing.\nSisko: Do you?\nEzri: Actually, it's giving me a headache.\nEzri: Why can't Julian work with Garak?\nSisko: Julian's a good doctor, but he's no counselor. Not even an assistant counselor. And besides, he doesn't have eight lifetimes worth of experience under his belt.\nEzri: I bet he doesn't stand on his head for no reason, either.\nSisko: That's a good point. Come on, old man, you can do this.\nEzri: All right, I'll try. I just wish I had as much confidence in me as you do.\nQuark: So what do you think?\nBashir: About what?\nQuark: About her.\nBashir: About who?\nQuark: Dax.\nBashir: Oh, Ezri. She seems nice.\nQuark: Meaning what?\nBashir: Meaning nice.\nQuark: Oh, come on, Doctor. I know the way you felt about Jadzia.\nBashir: She's not Jadzia.\nQuark: She's the next best thing. So, are you interested?\nBashir: Sounds to me like you're the one who's interested, Quark.\nQuark: It's not every day you get a second chance with a woman.\nBashir: It's not the same woman.\nQuark: She's still Dax, isn't she?\nBashir: More or less.\nQuark: Well, that's good enough for me. Ready for a little competition?\nBashir: You're insane.\nQuark: And you are going to lose.\nEzri: Am I interrupting?\nGarak: Ah. You must be Ezri Dax. The Captain told me that you'd be dropping by to counsel me.\nEzri: Is that all right?\nGarak: Oh, it all depends on what it involves. I'm a very private person.\nEzri: I understand. So is it helping? The sewing. Is it making you feel better?\nGarak: Thankfully, yes.\nEzri: You're lucky, nothing helps me.\nGarak: Are you claustrophobic too?\nEzri: Why would you say that?\nGarak: You just said\nEzri: No, I get spacesick. Ever since I was joined. I'm very sensitive to motion. I can even feel the station spinning.\nGarak: Really?\nEzri: It's because of what happened to Torias. He was killed in a shuttle accident.\nGarak: But why would that make you spacesick?\nEzri: Because I blame myself for what happened.\nGarak: You were piloting?\nEzri: Yes. No. Depends on how you look at it. Torias was my fifth host. Didn't I say that?\nGarak: No.\nEzri: Well, he was. And I think the reason that his death has stayed with me for so long is because I just can't seem to forgive him for getting himself killed.\nGarak: But you said it was an accident. So if he's not to blame, then you're not to blame, either.\nEzri: I know. But somehow I can't help but punish myself for it.\nGarak: By getting spacesick.\nEzri: Exactly.\nGarak: Don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds to me as if you're the one that needs to see a counselor.\nEzri: You're probably right. But I didn't come here to talk about myself, I came to talk about you.\nGarak: So you did.\nEzri: Do you remember anything traumatic happening to you when you were young. Something involving getting trapped in a confined space.\nGarak: If I had been that careless, my father would have left me there to teach me a lesson.\nEzri: Sounds like he was strict.\nGarak: He didn't get to be the head of the Obsidian Order without a sense of diskipline.\nEzri: Did he diskipline you?\nGarak: He punished me when I misbehaved. What father wouldn't?\nEzri: Tobin.\nGarak: My second host. He could not bring himself to diskipline his children, no matter what they did. But that's another story. How did you say that your father punished you?\nGarak: He'd lock me in a closet.\nEzri: Why didn't you mention that when I asked if you'd ever been trapped in a confined space.\nGarak: I wasn't trapped. I knew he'd let me out as soon as I learned my lesson.\nEzri: Learned your lesson? Did you think you deserved to be locked in that closet?\nGarak: I could be very stubborn.\nEzri: You blame yourself. Just like I blame myself for that shuttle accident. Maybe you get claustrophobic for the same reason that I get spacesick. We're both punishing ourselves for things that weren't our fault. That's it. Don't you see? We both have to let go of all this misplaced guilt.\nGarak: And if we do, our problems will simply disappear?\nEzri: Not overnight, but it's a step in the right direction.\nGarak: Well, I'll certainly give your advice some thought.\nEzri: Me too. Are you all right?\nGarak: To tell the truth, I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic.\nEzri: Probably because we've been talking about it. Actually, I'm starting to feel a little spacesick myself.\nGarak: If it's all the same to you, I think I'll go back to my sewing.\nEzri: Good idea.\nGarak: Thank you for stopping by.\nEzri: My pleasure.\nEzri: Hello, Worf.\nWorf: Ensign.\nEzri: Ensign? That's all you have to say to me?\nWorf: What more is there to say?\nEzri: I was your wife.\nWorf: You are not Jadzia. Jadzia died and went to Sto-vo-kor. I do not know you. Nor do I wish to know you.\nEzri: Come in.\nSisko: Dax?\nEzri: Do you think the Chief could adjust the inertial dampers so the station would spin a little slower?\nSisko: I don't know. Why?\nEzri: Never mind. To what do I owe the pleasure?\nSisko: I'm not going to say I told you so, but Garak stopped by Odo's office this morning to pick up the latest Cardassian transmissions for decoding.\nEzri: Really?\nSisko: It looks like Garak's claustrophobia is under control.\nEzri: I guess our talk helped him.\nSisko: I told you so.\nEzri: I thought you said you weren't going to say that.\nSisko: I couldn't resist.\nSisko: Are you all right?\nEzri: I talked with Worf. He doesn't want to have anything to do with me.\nSisko: Perhaps I should have a talk with him.\nEzri: Absolutely not. You intimidate him.\nSisko: Me?\nEzri: Don't tell him I told you.\nSisko: I intimidate Worf, huh?\nEzri: You like that, don't you?\nSisko: Of course not.\nEzri: Come on. I've been a man, I know.\nSisko: Look, we're not talking about me and Worf, we're talking about you and Worf. Now, I sympathize with what he's going through, but as far as I'm concerned, you have as much right to be here as he does.\nEzri: What are you getting at, Benjamin?\nSisko: The war certainly has not been good for morale around here. I've been thinking the station could use a good counselor. I can't think of anyone better suited for the job.\nEzri: Thanks for saying that. But even if Worf wasn't an issue, I'm still just an assistant counselor.\nSisko: I took the liberty of talking to Starfleet Medical. They're willing to waive the rest of your training and give you a commission as a full counselor with the rank of lieutenant.\nEzri: How'd you talk them into that?\nSisko: I asked them what they thought you might learn in the next few months\nEzri: That I haven't already learned in the last three hundred years.\nSisko: They saw my point. I hope you do, too.\nEzri: It means a lot to me that you want me to stay, but I can't.\nSisko: Because of Worf?\nEzri: Mostly.\nSisko: Well, you just say the word and I will intimidate him for you.\nEzri: Idanian spice pudding. No, cancel that. I'll have a kilm steak, rare. No, Tobin was a vegetarian. Give me\nBashir: Two Fanalian toddies, hot.\nEzri: How'd you know?\nBashir: Lucky guess. Care to join me?\nEzri: Sure.\nBashir: So here we are.\nEzri: What was that?\nBashir: What was what?\nEzri: That look.\nBashir: This might be the last thing you want to hear, but you have Jadzia's eyes. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything.\nEzri: Don't flirt with me, Julian. Please.\nBashir: I'm not.\nEzri: I remember the way you used to flirt with Jadzia.\nBashir: It was just an observation.\nEzri: Good. Because I'm not like her. She knew how to handle it. Actually, she quite enjoyed it.\nBashir: Really?\nEzri: You didn't know?\nBashir: I always suspected.\nEzri: You can be very charming. You want to know something? If Worf hadn't come along, it would have been you.\nEzri: You really miss her, don't you?\nBashir: Yes, I suppose I always will. But somehow, talking to you seems to help.\nTalpet: Deputy Talpet to Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Go ahead.\nTalpet: We have a medical emergency in airlock seven. It's Garak, sir.\nBashir: I'm on my way.\nBashir: Garak! What's he doing in there?\nEzri: Garak, open the door.\nGarak: Let me out! Let me out!\nEzri: Breathe in, and out. In and out. Better? It's beautiful, isn't it? Look at that sky. It just goes on and on.\nGarak: But it doesn't. It's an illusion. There's a holosuite wall not ten meters in front of us.\nEzri: But you can't see it.\nGarak: I can feel it.\nEzri: We could call up another program.\nGarak: I can't believe the way I humiliated myself back there. I just wanted to get out. I couldn't breathe.\nEzri: If you were looking for fresh air, you sure were knocking on the wrong door.\nGarak: I have to get this situation under control. If I don't, I'm going to be forced to leave the station, and then where will I go? I can't go back to Cardassia. I doubt if I'd be welcome on Bajor.\nEzri: You're not going to have to leave the station. I'll talk to Quark and tell him to leave this holosuite available to you twenty six hours a day. So the next time you feel like jumping out the nearest airlock, come here instead. It's going to be all right. We're going to get this under control. I promise.\nGarak: If you don't mind, I'd like to sit here and be alone for a while.\nEzri: I'll come and check in on you later.\nBashir: Hold still. I think I've got something.\nQuark: I knew it. Never get a tympanic tickle from an amateur.\nBashir: Tympanic tickle?\nQuark: It's\nBashir: Never mind. I don't want to know. Hold still. I'm going to get you some antibiotics.\nWorf: We need to talk.\nBashir: About what?\nWorf: Do not toy with me, Doctor. I know how you felt about Jadzia.\nBashir: That was a long time ago.\nWorf: I saw you with her.\nBashir: Jadzia?\nWorf: You know who I'm talking about.\nBashir: No, you've got it all wrong.\nWorf: Stay away from her.\nBashir: Now wait just a minute. You have no right to tell me who I can be friends with.\nWorf: If you dishonor Jadzia's memory, you will regret it. And that goes for you too, Ferengi.\nQuark: What did I do?\nEzri: Garak? I thought you were going to stay in the holosuite for a while.\nGarak: I got tired of staring at a fake landscape, pretending I was outside. No, no, no, work is the answer. My father always used to say that people should throw themselves into their work. Do your chores, Elim. I told you to do your chores.\nEzri: And if you didn't? What would he do to you?\nGarak: Oh, no, no, no. Please, don't start. Spare me your insipid psychobabble. I'm not some quivering neurotic who feels sorry for himself because his daddy wasn't nice. You couldn't begin to understand me.\nEzri: I'd like to try.\nGarak: Oh, I'm sure you would. You'd like nothing more than to pry into my personal affairs. Well, I'm not interested in dissecting my childhood. I only want to save my people from the Dominion. I don't need someone to walk in here and hold my hand. I want someone to help me get back to work. And you, my dear, aren't up to this task. I mean, look at you. You're pathetic. A confused child trying to live up to a legacy left by her predecessors. You're not worthy of the name Dax. I knew Jadzia. She was vital, alive. She owned herself. And you? You don't even know who you are. How dare you presume to help me? You can't even help yourself. Now get out of here before I say something unkind.\nSisko: What's this all about?\nEzri: What does it look like? I'm resigning from Starfleet.\nSisko: Why?\nEzri: Because I can't do my job. Garak was right. How can I help other people when I can't even help myself?\nSisko: I know this has been a hard time for you, old man, but you see\nEzri: Don't call me that! I'm not the old man. I'm not Curzon. Or Jadzia.\nSisko: No, you're Ezri. Ezri Dax. And you've been given eight lifetimes worth of experience. Now I know this is confusing for you right now, but in time you'll see it's a wonderful gift.\nEzri: It's a gift I don't deserve.\nSisko: If that's the way you feel, then go back to Trill. Talk to the Symbiosis Commission. Maybe you can convince them to take the symbiont out of you.\nEzri: I wish they could. But removing the symbiont would kill me, you know that.\nSisko: Well, if you're leaving Starfleet, you'll have to find something to do. Let's see. Maybe you could be one of the people who takes care of the symbiont pools? It's quiet in those caves. No one around. No one expecting great things from you. You could spend the rest of your life underground, in the dark, stirring mud. Eighty or ninety years of that might be just what you need. And as for Dax? That symbiont had eight amazing lives. So what if the ninth was a waste.\nEzri: Stop it, Benjamin. I thought you of all people would understand.\nSisko: I do understand. And you were right. You don't deserve the Dax symbiont. Quite frankly, you don't deserve to wear that uniform. I'll pass this on to Starfleet Command. Dismissed.\nWorf: Enter.\nWorf: Oh, no. Not again.\nO'Brien: Compliments of Doctor Bashir.\nWorf: He sent you?\nO'Brien: No, that was my idea. Now, if you want to skip the drinking and get right down to the talking, I'm game.\nWorf: What do you wish to discuss?\nO'Brien: Julian swears there's nothing going on between him and Ezri. There's no reason for you to be jealous.\nWorf: This has nothing to do with jealousy! I know that Doctor Bashir cared for Jadzia, but this woman is not Jadzia, and treating her as if she were dishonors her memory.\nO'Brien: Wrong. Treating Ezri like a stranger dishonors Jadzia's memory.\nWorf: It doesn't make sense. She is not Jadzia, yet she is. How can I honor the memory of the woman I loved when she is not really dead?\nO'Brien: I don't have an answer for you, Worf. Let me ask you this. How do you think Jadzia would wanted you to treat Ezri?\nWorf: There's no way to know.\nO'Brien: Yes, there is. And the person who can tell you is the person you've been avoiding ever since she got here.\nGarak: Well, I didn't think you'd darken my doorstep again.\nEzri: I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I wish I'd been able to help you.\nGarak: So do I.\nEzri: Well, you don't have to worry about me bothering you anymore. I'll be leaving in the morning.\nGarak: Yes, I'd heard that the Destiny was going to arrive tomorrow.\nEzri: They're putting in for supplies before they head to the front. But I won't be going with them. I've decided to go back to Trill.\nGarak: How nice for you.\nEzri: Actually, the Destiny's going to be joining the Seventh Fleet at Kalandra.\nGarak: Kalandra?\nEzri: Those transmissions you decoded last week must have convinced Starfleet that it's a good place to launch a new offensive.\nGarak: Yes, the transmissions did indicate that it was somewhat vulnerable.\nEzri: If the offensive goes well, Starfleet will have you to thank for it.\nGarak: That's most gratifying.\nEzri: I just thought you should know.\nEzri: Are you all right?\nGarak: Yes, of course I'm all right. That's very good news about Kalandra.\nEzri: Let's just hope it goes well. The Cardassians will put up a strong fight.\nGarak: Oh, indeed they will. But in the end, they'll lose.\nEzri: How can you be so sure?\nGarak: Because they won't be expecting an attack. Because they have no idea that I broke their code. All those Cardassians are going to die because of me.\nEzri: I suppose that's one way of looking at it.\nGarak: What other way is there?\nEzri: That by helping to end the war, you'll be saving lives.\nGarak: Saving lives? And what lives would I be saving? Human? Klingon? Romulan?\nEzri: And Cardassian.\nGarak: No, not Cardassians. They're going to fight to the bitter end. The Dominion will see to that. Don't you understand? Don't you see? I wanted to believe that I was helping my people, liberating them, but all I've done is to pave the way for their annihilation. I'm a traitor! I've betrayed every\nEzri: Dax to Infirmary, I need a medical team.\nEzri: How are you feeling?\nGarak: Well I'm breathing much better now.\nEzri: At least we found out what's been triggering these claustrophobic attacks you've been having.\nGarak: You know, when I first agreed to help Starfleet, I was convinced it was the right thing to do. I didn't allow myself to doubt it, even for an instant. I never realized how much it was gnawing at me. I suppose I was looking for a way out and the claustrophobia gave me an excuse to stop fighting my people.\nEzri: Now that you know that, what are you going to do?\nGarak: Get back to work. What else can I do? The Dominion must be stopped. Even if it does mean the destruction of Cardassia.\nEzri: The Captain will be glad to hear that you're back on the job.\nGarak: Well, he has you to thank for it. And so do I. And what about you? Are you still planning to go back to Trill?\nEzri: No. I'm going to stay in Starfleet.\nGarak: I'm sure the Captain will be glad to hear that as well.\nEzri: The Captain!\nSisko: What now?\nEzri: It's my request to be reinstated into Starfleet.\nSisko: I can't send this to Starfleet Command.\nEzri: Why not?\nSisko: Because I never submitted your resignation.\nEzri: I had a feeling you didn't mean all those things you said to me. You were just trying to rattle my cage.\nSisko: You've done it to me often enough. I'm glad it worked. Mister Garak has asked that the latest Cardassian transmissions be sent to the Infirmary. Well done.\nEzri: Thanks. Somehow I thought you'd be happier that I was staying in Starfleet.\nSisko: I'd be happier if you would stay here at DS Nine.\nEzri: Me, too. But you know I can't.\nSisko: I hope Captain Raymer knows how lucky she is. She's getting one hell of a counselor.\nEzri: Yes?\nWorf: May I come in?\nEzri: Of course.\nWorf: I understand that you are leaving in the morning.\nEzri: That's right.\nWorf: I am not certain that I have treated you the way that Jadzia would have wanted.\nEzri: You'll get no argument from me there.\nWorf: I loved her with all my heart.\nEzri: And she loved you.\nWorf: Part of me is glad to know that she is not gone forever. But in some ways it would be easier if she were.\nEzri: I know.\nWorf: I have heard that the Captain offered you a position as station counselor. I would not want you to decline on my account.\nEzri: Worf, I can't stay. I couldn't do that to you.\nWorf: Do you wish to stay?\nEzri: Very much.\nWorf: Then do. Jadzia would not have wanted you to leave because of me.\nEzri: Thank you.\nWorf: It will be a long time before I can accept what has happened. Until then\nEzri: You need your breathing room. I understand.\nSisko: Congratulations, Lieutenant. I want you to take a good look around. You have just agreed to take responsibility for the mental health of everyone in this room. You have your work cut out for you.\nBashir: Well, I'm glad they made you a lieutenant. It would have been hard taking advice from an ensign.\nO'Brien: Since when did you take advice from anyone?\nOdo: Why don't you join us for dinner tonight?\nEzri: I don't want to put you out.\nKira: Oh, no, please come. It'll take the pressure off me. All he does is sit there and counts how many times I chew.\nEzri: I'll be there.\nJake: She is cute.\nSisko: She's also about three hundred years too old for you.\nQuark: I took the liberty of putting together a plate for you.\nEzri: Thanks, Quark. Worf isn't here, is he?\nQuark: Good question. Excuse me.\nGarak: It's quite a nice turnout. Congratulations.\nEzri: I hope it isn't too crowded for you.\nGarak: Oh, not at all."}
{"text": "Kira: Kira to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead, Colonel.\nKira: Captain Solok of the Starship T'Kumbra is here to see you.\nSisko: Send him in.\nSisko: Welcome to Deep Space Nine, Captain.\nSolok: Your welcome is acknowledged.\nSisko: Have a seat. It's been a long time.\nSolok: Ten years, two months, five days.\nSisko: You mean you don't know it to the minute?\nSolok: Of course I do. But humans are often irked by such precision. Especially the more emotional humans. Our repair list. I understand you were recently honored with the Christopher Pike Medal for Valor. Congratulations.\nSisko: Thank you. And congratulations to you. I heard you received your Medal last month.\nSolok: My second, actually. The T'Kumbra has been in combat for over six months. Spending time behind the lines will be a welcome change.\nSisko: This isn't exactly a safe harbor. We have seen our share of action.\nSolok: Of course you have.\nSisko: We can upgrade your inertial dampers by the end of the day, but to begin to overhaul your warp core would take at least a week.\nSolok: That is most inefficient.\nSisko: War's an inefficient business.\nSolok: A somewhat unprofessional attitude. However, I have come to expect a lack of professionalism and efficiency on starbases run by human officers.\nSisko: You're welcome to take your ship to a Vulcan station. I think there's one about fifty light years away. If you're planning to stay here with us behind the lines, my Chief of Operations will see to your requests.\nSolok: Very well. There is another matter not listed on the formal report. I need use of a holosuite. The T'Kumbra holodecks are currently under repair.\nSisko: To arrange holosuite time you have to go through Quark. He owns the only ones on the station.\nSolok: Then I will speak to Quark. I have created a special program for my senior staff and they are quite eager to resume using it.\nSisko: Really?\nSolok: Yes. In fact, you may find the program of some interest. It is based on an Earth game.\nSisko: And what game would that be?\nSisko: Colonel, assemble the senior staff in the wardroom. Now.\nSisko: As you probably know, the Starship T'Kumbra is docked at our station. What you may not know is that their Captain considers his crew, an all Vulcan crew by the way, to be the finest in the fleet. I happen to think the people sitting at this table comprise the finest crew in the quadrant.\nEzri: You're not going to get much of an argument from this group.\nSisko: I didn't think so. Which is why when their Captain challenged us to a contest of courage, teamwork and sacrifice, I accepted on your behalf.\nWorf: We will destroy them.\nSisko: I was hoping for that reaction.\nBashir: So, when is this clash of the titans?\nSisko: Two weeks, in holosuite five.\nKira: What's the contest?\nSisko: Baseball.\nKira: Chapter twenty five. The infield fly rule is invoked in instances where, with both first base and second base occupied, or with first, second and third base occupied\nWorf: What if there is a runner at home?\nNog: There's never a runner at home.\nKira: Okay. And fewer than two outs, the batter hits a high fly.\nWorf: Fly. The term for a batted ball while it is in the air.\nKira: Oh, right. Er, fewer than two out, the batter hits a high fly which in the judgment of the umpire can readily be caught by an infielder or the pitcher or catcher inside fair ground. The batter is then called out regardless of whether the ball is subsequently caught or not.\nNog: That seems simple enough.\nKira: An attempt to bunt, however, under the conditions noted above, which results in a fair fly shall not be regarded an infield fly. What's a bunt?\nBashir: A bunt. A ball which has been deliberately tapped into the area between the pitcher and the catcher by the batter in order to force the fielding side to throw out the batter and allow a runner to advance.\nEzri: Right. Chief, what's a grand slam?\nO'Brien: Er, a home run hit when the bases are crowded.\nEzri: Right, except it's bases loaded. Now, what's a Fancy Dan?\nO'Brien: A what?\nBashir: You're making that up.\nEzri: I most certainly am not.\nLeeta: Hi. Jake told us about the game against the Vulcans. It sounds really exciting.\nEzri: You should come watch.\nBashir: Fancy Dan. A fielder who puts an extra flourish on his movements while making a play in hopes of gaining the approval of the spectators.\nLeeta: Actually we were thinking of doing more than watching.\nRom: If we can. That is, if there's still room for other potential players to possibly try and\nLeeta: We want to try out.\nRom: Nog always talks about how Captain Sisko and Jake play baseball and how it brings them closer together. Since Nog and I haven't seen much of each other lately, I thought this might be a good way of spending some time together.\nLeeta: And I decided to make it a complete family outing.\nEzri: That is so sweet.\nLeeta: Isn't it?\nQuark: Idiotic, is what it is. You're going to make a fool out of yourself.\nRom: I will not.\nQuark: And you can barely spin a dabo wheel, much less kick a ball around a field.\nLeeta: Shows how much you know. You don't kick the ball. Do you?\nQuark: You won't make the team.\nRom: At least we're trying out. What about you?\nQuark: I don't have the slightest interest in this human game.\nLeeta: You know why? Jake said it's a game that takes heart, and you sold yours a long time ago. Come on, Rom.\nQuark: What time are tryouts?\nO'Brien: Thirteen hundred. Holosuite four.\nSisko: Hey, hey! All right. Yes. First day of practice! And it's an exciting time. Am I right?\nAll: Oh, yeah.\nSisko: Yeah, there we go, there we go! That's the spirit! Now, first let me introduce you to our pitcher and our secret weapon, Jake The Slider Sisko.\nBashir: Good luck, Jake.\nWorf: Very nice.\nSisko: Now, all of the other positions are open for tryouts. Every one of you here today has seen at least one baseball game with me in a holosuite. Now I know it looks simple. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. But it is not that easy. It's a difficult game. It was a difficult game to play even for seasoned professionals who spent their lifetime practicing, and now we have less than two weeks to build a team and face the opponent. Now, I know what some of you are thinking. How can we beat the Logicians? They're all Vulcans. They're stronger and faster than any one of us, except for Worf and our genetically enhanced doctor. But there is more to baseball than physical strength. It's about courage, and it's also about faith, and it is also about heart. And if there's one thing our Vulcan friends lack, it's heart. I think we can beat them. I know we can beat them.\nJake: Yeah.\nSisko: We are going to beat them. Am I right?\nAll: Yeah.\nSisko: I can't hear you.\nAll: Yeah. Yes, sir!\nSisko: I can't hear you. Are we going to beat the Vulcans?\nAll: Yes, sir!\nSisko: All right then, let's play some baseball! First I want you to pair off. Spread yourselves about ten meters apart and play some catch. Just a little throw and catch, nice and easy.\nEzri: You almost had it.\nBashir: Don't throw it to her. You've got to throw it to someone who's looking at you.\nO'Brien: Oh, come on, Quark.\nJake: This is going to be two long, hard weeks.\nSisko: Jake, I don't care how hard and these two weeks are, but I'm not going to lose to Solok in a baseball game. We're going to win.\nOdo: Umpire?\nSisko: That's right. Will you do it?\nOdo: Well, wouldn't a holographic umpire be more accurate?\nSisko: I don't want a computer program calling a baseball game. That's something Solok would do. I want a real person behind the plate, not just some collection of photons and magnetic fields. I also want a person who can be completely impartial, and I can't think of anyone I'd trust more.\nOdo: Well, that's very flattering.\nSisko: It's the truth. Will you do it?\nOdo: All right.\nSisko: Outstanding. Here are the rules. If you have any questions, I'll be with the team in the Infirmary.\nOdo: The Infirmary?\nSisko: We had a few problems at practice today. Remember, the game is in less than two weeks, so you better start to work on your moves.\nOdo: My moves?\nEzri: I can't believe this. I used to be an athlete. At least I remember being an athlete. My third host Emony was an Olympic gymnast. I keep expecting my legs to react like hers did, but I fell all over myself. It's like I don't know my own body anymore.\nQuark: I don't know what you're complaining about. At least you didn't require major surgery.\nKira: Knitting together a couple of bones is not major surgery, Quark.\nQuark: It is if the bones are in the back of your skull. I hope you've learned your lesson.\nRom: Always look behind you before swinging a bat.\nSisko: So, how are my casualties doing?\nKira: We'll live.\nEzri: If you believe Julian. Personally, I'm not sure I'm going to make it.\nSisko: That's the spirit, old man. Don't lose your sense of humor.\nJake: How's the shoulder, Chief?\nBashir: He's out, I'm afraid. His rotator cuff was badly torn.\nSisko: Can't you repair the damage? I need him on third and he's anchoring the second half of the lineup.\nBashir: I've repaired the rotator cuff, but the ligaments need time to knit together with the clavicular joint. I can't let him to play.\nSisko: Damn!\nO'Brien: I'm sorry, sir. I was really looking forward to the game.\nSisko: Well, there's an old saying. Those who can't, coach. As for now, you are batting, pitching and first base coach.\nO'Brien: Great. Which one was first base?\nSisko: We'll go over that again later. All right, practice tomorrow morning at oh seven thirty. Don't be late.\nO'Brien: We'll be there.\nBashir: Well, excuse me, I still have to realign Worf's zygomatic bone.\nRom: Tell him I'm sorry.\nJake: We can move Ezri over to third\nSisko: No, no, no. I need her in center. Oh, I know who we can get. I'll have to pull a some strings, but I think I can do it.\nJake: Who?\nSisko: Welcome home.\nKasidy: Oh, music to my ears. Does this mean you missed me?\nSisko: Like a piece of my heart was missing.\nKasidy: Sweet words and flowers too? Are you feeling all right?\nSisko: Now that you're back, I feel outstanding.\nKasidy: I could get used to this.\nSisko: Well, you should. Are you going to be here long?\nKasidy: As a matter of fact, my next three cargo runs have been reassigned.\nSisko: Really.\nKasidy: Bureaucrats. Who knows why they do anything?\nSisko: Who knows?\nKasidy: So, what are we going to do with all my time off?\nSisko: I have a few ideas.\nKasidy: I bet you do.\nSisko: So tell me, how's your throwing arm holding up?\nSisko: There you go, Kas! That's what I'm talking about. All right, heads up, people. There's a runner on first and one away.\nRom: I got it! I got it! I got it!\nSisko: How many is that?\nNog: Today? I think he's missed ten.\nSisko: Damn. All right, batting practice.\nLeeta: What's he doing here?\nSisko: He's scouting us.\nWorf: If he is taking the time to conduct reconnaissance, he must be worried.\nSisko: He should be. Next week on this field, that man is going to get a painful lesson in humility.\nNog: Batter up!\nRom: Today I'm going to hit the ball. You just watch.\nSisko: All right, Rom, remember what we talked about. Keep your eye on the ball. Follow the ball from the pitcher's hand all the way to the bat.\nLeeta: Oh.\nRom: Sorry.\nLeeta: You can do it!\nBashir: Hang in there, Rom!\nSisko: All right, Rom.)\nRom: Uh oh. Sorry.\nSisko: That's it. You're done.\nRom: I'll do better tomorrow, Captain.\nSisko: No, you won't. You are finished, gone, off the team.\nNog: Sir, can't you give him another chance?\nSisko: Is anyone talking to you, Ensign?\nRom: I can't play?\nSisko: That's the smartest thing you've said all week. You can't play! Now get your gear. Get out of here! Worf, you're up!\nRom: Captain Sisko hates me.\nLeeta: He doesn't hate you, Rom.\nQuark: Sisko was just blowing off steam. He'll get over it.\nNog: That's right. I'll go talk with him in the morning. Maybe he'll change his mind.\nRom: No! I don't want him to kick you off the team too.\nNog: I don't care about the team. If you can't play, I won't either.\nLeeta: Oh, that goes for me too.\nQuark: And me.\nO'Brien: And us.\nEzri: Benjamin was way out of line today, Rom.\nO'Brien: Yeah, this game is supposed to be fun, not a life or death struggle.\nBashir: So we've decided to quit unless he reinstates you immediately.\nRom: No! Please!\nKira: Rom, we're on your side.\nRom: I don't want to make the team like this. I had my chance but I wasn't good enough. Let's face it, the Captain's right. I'm hopeless. I don't deserve to be on the team. You play. You've earned it.\nNog: Playing baseball doesn't mean anything to me.\nRom: But it should. You're good at it. So are you, and I want to see you play. I want to see all of you play. I want to see our team beat the Vulcans, even if I'm only watching from the, the er\nNog: The stands?\nRom: Right. Please?\nKira: If that's the way you feel about it.\nLeeta: Rom, there are moments when I know exactly why I married you.\nBashir: What are you eating?\nO'Brien: I'm not eating, I'm chewing.\nBashir: Chewing what?\nO'Brien: Gum. It's traditional. I had the replicator create me some.\nBashir: They just chewed it?\nO'Brien: No, they infused the gum with flavor.\nBashir: What did you infuse it with?\nO'Brien: Scotch. Here, try some.\nBashir: Mmmm.\nSisko: All right, you got a runner on first, you got a runner on second, one away. Ground ball hit to the second baseman. Kira, what do you do?\nKira: I go for the double play, unless the runner on third is already on his way home, in which case\nKasidy: Okay, relax. Keep your weight on the balls of your feet. Back elbow up. Yeah, good.\nQuark: Faster! Come on, come on! Faster! Come on. Faster. Oh, yeah, good.\nEzri: I got it!\nBashir: Mine!\nBashir: Well don't look at me. You called it. I was out of position!\nEzri: That was yours all the way! Oh, come on, Julian!\nOdo: Safe!\nOdo: Safe! You're out! You're out!\nKasidy: Oh, that's quite a knot. Your back is like a minefield of bruised muscles.\nSisko: Yeah, you tell me something I don't know.\nKasidy: Okay. You're lifting your foot at the plate.\nSisko: What?\nKasidy: Okay, take a swing.\nKasidy: Stop! Right there. Look. You're lifting your foot in the backswing. It's been messing up your whole rhythm. Not that bad. I know that look. It's the 'I'd really like to smash something but she'll think I'm crazy' look. Well, don't let me stop you. They're your quarters. Smash away if it'll make you feel better.\nSisko: The only way I'll feel better is to beat Solok tomorrow.\nKasidy: So, do I get to hear the Solok story now? And before you say no you'd better consider the fact that if you don't tell me, you won't have a third baseman.\nSisko: We were in the same class at the Academy. One weekend I was with some friends at a bar off campus, the Launching Pad. and Solok came in with some Vulcan cadets. He said they were doing research on illogical human bonding rituals. We didn't take kindly to that.\nKasidy: And you'd had a few drinks\nSisko: One or two. We got into a debate. Solok said that Vulcans were naturally superior to humans and other emotionally handicapped species. Of course I took the opposite position. So there I am, drunk and debating logic versus emotion with a smug and very sober Vulcan. Well, to make a long story short, I decided the best way to prove that humans were every bit the equal of Vulcans was to challenge him to a wrestling match.\nKasidy: Wrestling?\nSisko: All I wanted to do was to wipe that arrogant look off his face, so in the heat of the moment I challenged him.\nKasidy: And?\nSisko: I ended up in the Infirmary with a separated shoulder, two cracked ribs and a very bruised ego.\nKasidy: Oh, Ben, I don't mean to laugh, but what did you expect? A Vulcan has three times the strength of a human.\nSisko: And they're faster too. But you're right. I got what I deserved. And if it had ended right there, it would have been fine. But it didn't. Solok took every opportunity to remind me of the match. He used to point me out whenever I walked across the campus. In fact he wrote five psychology papers about our match. I became the living embodiment of why Vulcans were inherently superior to humans.\nKasidy: You don't mean he was gloating? A Vulcan?\nSisko: That's exactly what I mean. He may have hidden it beneath that Vulcan calm, but he loved every minute of it. And you'd think that once we graduated it would have stopped, but it didn't. Over the years, Solok wrote over a dozen papers on Vulcan human comparative profiles and in the beginning of every paper is an analysis of that damned wrestling match!\nKasidy: And now he comes to your station and announces that he's put together a baseball team.\nSisko: He doesn't care about baseball. All he wants to do is rub my nose in it one more time. But now he is using my game. My game!\nKasidy: You should tell that to the Niners. They don't understand why you're so caught up in this.\nSisko: Oh, no. I'd rather they think I'm just caught up in some baseball game than pursuing an adolescent rivalry.\nKasidy: Just tell them the truth. They'll understand. They need to know how personal this is to you.\nSisko: Oh, no. No. I mean it. And you can't tell them either. I want you to promise me.\nKasidy: All right, I promise.\nKasidy: He made me promise not to tell you, so you have to keep this under your hats.\nEzri: Curzon and Jadzia always wondered why Benjamin hated Solok but he'd never talk about it.\nKasidy: Well, he's embarrassed. He's calling it an adolescent rivalry, but Solok's the one that's kept this thing going.\nO'Brien: And now he's trying to beat the Captain at his own game.\nWorf: It is a dishonorable motive.\nNog: I'm beginning to hate him myself.\nQuark: So, what are we going to do about it?\nKira: I'll tell you what we do. We go out there tomorrow and we put that Vulcan in his place. We win it for the Captain.\nBashir: And for all our emotionally handicapped races.\nO'Brien: Now there's something worth fighting for. Right?\nKasidy: Niners.\nAll: Niners!\nO'Brien: Okay, Niners, let's go, let's go, come on. Show these guys.\nSisko: Let's dispense with the crowd. My team has never played in front of people before.\nSolok: If you wish. Computer, eliminate the spectators.\nOdo: Play ball!\nOdo: Batter up!\nSisko: All right, Niners, let's hear some chatter.\nKasidy: Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter.\nLeeta: Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter.\nWorf: Death to the opposition.\nKasidy: Strike him out.\nSisko: Lucky swing. All right.\nNog: Hey, don't worry, you'll get the next one. Okay? Okay?\nJake: Okay.\nNog: All right.\nSisko: All right. You're making mental errors out there. Stupid mistakes! You have to start thinking about what you're doing. Colonel, you have to charge the ball, don't wait for it to come to you. Ezri, you're playing too deep. They rattled you.\nJake: Yeah. They're pretty good.\nSisko: What are you talking about, they're pretty good? You'd better stop admiring them and start striking them out!\nOdo: Batter up.\nSisko: Let's play ball.\nOdo: Strike three.\nOdo: Strike three.\nOdo: Strike three.\nSisko: Let's go. (In the fourth, the scoreboard reads - Logicians 4 1 1 1 - 7 runs, 9 hits, 0 errors. Niners 0 0 0 0 - 0 runs, 2 hits, 3 errors.)\nOdo: Out!\nKira: You want to try that again?\nSisko: Hey, hey, hey. Colonel, stay cool! Don't do anything to get yourself thrown out.\nKira: I wouldn't dream of it, Captain. You're out, by the way.\nSisko: Play ball.\nNog: Was that slide at second legal?\nKasidy: Afraid so.\nBashir: Doesn't seem very sporting.\nJake: These guys are playing to win. Sporting doesn't enter into it.\nOdo: Safe!\nSisko: It's about time!\nOdo: Strike one.\nSisko: If you're not there, let it go, all right? Don't reach for it.\nOdo: Ball one.\nSisko: Hey, now. Good eye, Worf, good eye.\nOdo: Ball two.\nSisko: Remember what we talked about. Keep your eye on the ball.\nOdo: Foul ball. Strike two.\nSisko: Big stick. Good eye, Worf. Good eye.\nOdo: Ball three.\nWorf: Time.\nOdo: Time.\nOdo: Let's go, batter.\nWorf: Do not rush me.\nOdo: Strike three!\nWorf: What? What are you talking about? That ball was at least half a meter! How could you call it a strike! Reverse the call! Reverse the call!\nSisko: That was low and outside.\nWorf: That was clearly outside.\nSisko: What the hell were you looking about? You can't tell me that ball was over the plate. What were you doing, regenerating?\nOdo: It caught the outside corner.\nWorf: The outside corner?\nSisko: Outside corner, my foot. That was a ball and you know it. We have two men on! Two men on! Two men on!\nOdo: Gentlemen, you are trying my patience.\nSisko: No way, no way. You stole the run from us. You stole it just as if you'd reached up and tore it off the scoreboard!\nOdo: You. You're out of here!\nSisko: What?\nOdo: No player shall at any time make contact with the umpire in any manner. The prescribed penalty for the violation is immediate ejection from the game. Rule number four point zero six, subsection a, paragraph four. Look it up, but do it in the stands. You're gone.\nSisko: It was a ball. It was no strike. I know it was a ball.\nBashir: Chief?\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: I think that means you're in charge now.\nO'Brien: You're right. What are you standing around for? You never seen a man thrown out of a game? Come on, get your gloves and get on that field. Let's go! Come on. Quark, wake up, you're in right. Julian, you're on second, Leeta, you're in left. Come on, let's go, let's go! We got a game to play. Come on, move it.\nOdo: Play ball. Ball one.\nOdo: Strike one.\nLeeta: Grab it, Ezri.\nSisko: All right!\nEzri: Yeah.\nBashir: Now that is a Fancy Dan!\nRom: All right!\nOdo: Batter up.\nKasidy: Home, Worf! Bring it home!\nNog: What's wrong?\nO'Brien: He didn't touch home, Nog.\nNog: Is that true? What do I do?\nWorf: Find him and kill him!\nO'Brien: Just tag him out! Jake, cover home!\nNog: Which one?\nSisko: Tag 'em all!\nJake: Come on, Nog. Hurry up!\nRom: No. Tag the next one.\nNog: Jake!\nOdo: You're out!\nO'Brien: Yay! Nog, well done.\nNog: Great catch.\nSisko: He's out. Did you see that? That's what I love about this game. You never know what's going to happen next. Every situation is different.\nRom: It looks like a lot of fun.\nSisko: Rom, come here. Let's go.\nRom: Where're we going? (9th innings, Logicians 10 runs, 14 hits, 0 errors. Niners 0 runs, 6 hits, 4 errors).\nOdo: Safe.\nSisko: Chief? Chief, Chief, call time out.\nO'Brien: Why?\nSisko: You're making a substitution.\nO'Brien: What?\nO'Brien: Time!\nOdo: Time!\nO'Brien: You're up, Rom.\nQuark: Oh, you've got to be kidding. We've got a man on third. We could score.\nO'Brien: Sit down, Quark. Go ahead, Rom.\nLeeta: You can do it.\nNog: All right, Dad. Come on, you can do it.\nKasidy: Okay, let's play ball.\nSisko: Computer.\nAll: Come on, Rom.\nAnnouncer: Your attention, please. Now pinch hitting for Jake Sisko, number thirteen Rom.\nNog: Come on, Dad you can do it. I hope.\nOdo: Strike one.\nNog: Come on, Dad.\nLeeta: You can do it. Come on, Rom.\nOdo: Strike two!\nLeeta: It's okay, Rom.\nO'Brien: Julian. What was that thing called, you know, when you just tap the ball down the baseline?\nBashir: A bunt?\nO'Brien: That's it, a bunt. We've to give him the sign. Rom!\nRom: What? What?\nAll: Go!\nOdo: Safe!\nEzri: Rom, you did it!\nSolok: Umpire, this is completely improper. The game is not over.\nOdo: You're gone!\nSisko: Hey, Jake that was a hell of a game! A hell of a game!\nJake: I gave up ten runs.\nSisko: They're Vulcans. If they were humans you'd have held them to just two or three.\nJake: When you put it that way.\nSisko: Yes. Now, pardon me. I owe you an apology.\nRom: No. Unless you really want to.\nSisko: I'm sorry.\nRom: Apology accepted.\nSisko: If you have some time one day, maybe you can teach me how to bunt.\nRom: Sure. What's a bunt?\nNog: That's my dad.\nSolok: I fail to see why you are celebrating. The Ferengi's bunt was an accident. And you still lost the game.\nSisko: You are absolutely right. And I couldn't be happier. Quark, a round of drinks for the house on my tab.\nQuark: I'm way ahead of you, Captain.\nSolok: You are attempting to manufacture a triumph where none exists.\nKasidy: I'd say he succeeded.\nBashir: To manufactured triumphs.\nSisko: Manufactured triumph. Hear, hear!\nNiners: Hear, hear!\nSolok: This is a typical human reaction, based on emotionalism and illogic.\nSisko: Did I hear irritation in that voice?\nSolok: Certainly not.\nBashir: That sounded positively defensive to me.\nO'Brien: With a hint of anger.\nQuark: And just a touch of jealousy.\nKasidy: And a lot of bitterness.\nEzri: Are you always this emotional?\nSolok: I refuse to engage in this human game of taunting.\nEzri: Human? Did I forget to wear my spots today?\nQuark: All that intelligence and he still doesn't know what a human looks like.\nKira: Captain. Here's something else for your desk.\nSisko: Well, will you look at that. Would you like to sign it?\nSisko: No."}
{"text": "Bashir: Miles. Fancy a drink?\nO'Brien: I can't. Keiko and the kids are waiting on me for dinner. Next Thursday. Book a holosuite. They're going to Bajor.\nKira: Hi, Julian.\nBashir: Hi. You going to Vic's?\nKira: Yes.\nBashir: Mind if I join you?\nOdo: Actually, we were looking forward to spending an evening alone.\nBashir: Great. Well, have a great time. I understand.\nBashir: Cheeky virus. You've gone and mutated on me. Well, you can run, but you can't hide. Lights.\nNog: Nog to Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Go ahead.\nNog: You're needed in the Infirmary, sir.\nBashir: It's three in the morning. Isn't Doctor Girani on duty?\nNog: Not anymore. Admiral Patrick threw her out.\nBashir: Admiral who?\nNog: He wants to see you immediately, sir.\nBashir: On my way.\nBashir: What's going on, Ensign?\nNog: Sir, Admiral Patrick and his staff just arrived on the Farragut.\nBashir: What happened to Doctor Girani?\nNog: The Admiral said she was asking too many stupid questions.\nBashir: Doctor Bashir reporting as ordered.\nPatrick: Finally. (It's our trio from Statistical Probabilities in Starfleet uniforms.)\nBashir: Patrick!\nJack: That's Admiral Patrick.\nLauren: Mind your manners, Doctor.\nBashir: What are you doing here?\nPatrick: That's a stupid question.\nBashir: Where did you get these uniforms?\nPatrick: That's a stupid question, too.\nNog: Please excuse the doctor, sir. He just woke up.\nBashir: They're not Starfleet officers, Nog.\nNog: They're not?\nJack: We're mutants.\nLauren: Genetically engineered mutants. Can't you tell?\nBashir: Does anyone at the Institute know you're missing?\nPatrick: That's a stupid question.\nBashir: Will you stop saying that!\nJack: Why are you so upset? You wanted Sarina brought here. Well, here she is!\nBashir: I was considering bringing Sarina here for treatment when I was ready. But I still have to modify my surgical equipment before I can begin the procedure.\nJack: Well don't worry, we'll help you. And when we're through with Sarina, she will be just like us.\nBashir: Do you have any idea how much trouble you could get into for impersonating Starfleet officers?\nPatrick: Jack, you didn't say anything about us getting in trouble.\nJack: We didn't get caught, did we?\nBashir: Didn't anybody question you?\nJack: Of course. But when they did, Patrick would say\nPatrick: That's a stupid\nLauren: You'd be surprised how well it works.\nNog: I'll say.\nPatrick: What are they going to do to us?\nBashir: Oh, it's all right. I'll find a way to straighten this out. Somehow. Hello, Sarina. Remember me?\nJack: Of course she remembers you. She's not an idiot.\nLauren: She's just a little cataleptic.\nPatrick: Are you really going to be able to make her better?\nBashir: I'm going to do everything I can. I promise.\nSisko: They posed as an Admiral and his staff. If you want me to convince Starfleet not to press charges, you're going to have to give me a damn good reason.\nBashir: They wanted to bring Sarina here so that I could help her. They meant well.\nSisko: They meant well? That's the same excuse you gave me when they were caught trying to pass military secrets to the Dominion.\nBashir: They were trying to save lives by\nSisko: Doctor, I appreciate that you feel a connection to them because you're genetically engineered yourself, but they have displayed a consistent disregard for the rules that the rest of society lives by.\nBashir: Maybe that's because they're not allowed to live in society.\nSisko: We are not here to debate Federation policy toward the genetically enhanced. We are here to discuss what to do about these people now that they're aboard.\nBashir: Of course. Well, with your permission, sir, I would like to proceed with Sarina's treatment.\nSisko: Well, I take it the Institute has given the approval to move forward?\nBashir: A copy of the medical protocols I submitted. Doctor Loews, Sarina's legal guardian, has given her consent.\nSisko: It appears that this procedure's never been done before.\nBashir: There's no guarantee that it'll work, of course, but if it does it could change everything for her. There's no reason to think that she's suffering from the same type of behavioral disorders as Jack and the others. Her problem is that she's trapped inside her own mind. This could free her. There are still a few technical issues that I have to work on, but I feel confident that I can iron them all out.\nSisko: You've put in a lot of time on this, haven't you?\nBashir: I owe it to her, sir. I could have ended up the same way as Sarina, but I was lucky. My DNA re sequencing didn't have any unintended side effects.\nSisko: All right, Doctor. I'll take care of Starfleet, you take care of Sarina.\nBashir: Thank you, sir.\nSisko: I'll arrange to have the rest of the people sent back to the Institute.\nBashir: Actually, I was hoping you'd allow let them to stay on for a while.\nSisko: For what reason?\nBashir: Sarina's spent the last fifteen years with them. Now, assuming the procedure works and she comes out of her isolation, I think it would be helpful to have some familiar faces around.\nSisko: Well, we'll arrange for quarters to be set up in a cargo bay.\nBashir: I appreciate it.\nSisko: Just make sure they stay there. I don't want them to get out and cause trouble like they did the last time.\nBashir: I'll see that it doesn't happen again.\nSisko: I'll hold you to that. One thing more. Get them out of those uniforms.\nBashir: Aye, sir.\nLauren: There. Don't you look pretty?\nJack: Why are we doing this, anyway?\nPatrick: Keep going.\nJack: Here?\nPatrick: A little to the left.\nPatrick: That's not where it was last time.\nJack: Oh, what difference does it make?\nLauren: He's right.\nJack: Fine. How's that?\nPatrick: Much better.\nPatrick: Here he is.\nJack: Well, well? What did the Captain say?\nBashir: All systems are go.\nJack: See? See? I told you it was a good idea to bring her here.\nPatrick: That's right, Jack. I remember.\nJack: So, when do we operate?\nBashir: We?\nJack: You're going to need some help.\nLauren: Oh, so you're a surgeon now?\nJack: How hard can it be?\nBashir: Thanks for the offer, but\nJack: Oh, I get it. You want to take all the credit.\nBashir: It's not about credit, it's about what's best for Sarina, I think.\nJack: Fine. I'm busy anyway. New project.\nBashir: Oh, glad to hear it. What are you working on?\nJack: Wouldn't you like to know?\nBashir: Well, I'll leave you to it. But do me a favor and change out of those uniforms. Sarina? I'd like to take you to the Infirmary and run a few tests. Is that all right?\nLauren: She's afraid it's going to hurt.\nBashir: It won't hurt. I promise.\nLauren: You're in good hands. Very good hands. Don't get your hopes up, Julian. It's over between the two of us. I have a new man in my life. That gorgeous little Ferengi.\nBashir: Nog?\nLauren: Jealous? That's so sweet.\nPatrick: Hurry back.\nBashir: Sarina's cerebral cortex was genetically enhanced in order to accelerate the rate at which she can process information. Now, the only problem is, her visual and auditory systems can't channel the stimuli into the cortex fast enough. So because they're out of sync, she can't focus on what's going on around her.\nO'Brien: Well, is there any way to get her sensory processes up to speed?\nBashir: I need to stimulate the growth of new synapses in the thalamus. Which means I have to manipulate neural proteins at a subatomic level.\nO'Brien: Then you've got a problem. This is the most advanced neurocortical probe made, and it's not nearly that accurate.\nBashir: Now you know why I asked you down here.\nO'Brien: I wish I could help you, Julian, but at resolutions that small, quantum fluctuations are impossible to control. And I can't make this thing any more accurate.\nBashir: How can you say that before you've even tried it?\nO'Brien: I'm sorry, Julian. It can't be done. I'm sorry.\nBashir: Well sorry just isn't good enough, Miles. This is Sarina's only chance at living a normal life.\nO'Brien: Julian, I can't break the laws of physics. Nobody can.\nJack: Your friend was right. You can't break the laws of physics.\nAll: But you can bend them!\nJack: We recalibrated the imaging diodes. It is so accurate that you could clip the wings of an angel dancing on the head of a pin. If you wanted to.\nBashir: Anything?\nBashir: Sarina? Now just how am I supposed to know you understand me if you don't give me some sign? Anything. it doesn't matter how small.\nBashir: It's been five days now, and she's as unresponsive as she was before the procedure.\nEzri: I know you're disappointed, Julian, but you did everything that you could.\nBashir: Well, it wasn't enough.\nEzri: I'm sorry. Obviously you want to punish yourself. Do you want help? Because I'm really good at punishing myself. Let's see. If I were you, I'd be kicking myself for making promises I couldn't keep. For getting people's hopes up. For being arrogant enough to think that I could help Sarina even though dozens of other doctors have failed. Should I keep going?\nBashir: No, that just about covers it. Thanks.\nEzri: Glad I could help. What is it?\nBashir: I'm not sure.\nBashir: Excuse me. Sarina? What are you looking at?\nSarina: Everything. You heard me. I thought something and you heard it.\nBashir: Sarina, you spoke.\nBashir: Sarina, come and sit down. I need to run a few tests.\nEzri: What is it?\nSarina: Listen. It's nice.\nBashir: You're right. I hadn't noticed that before. That's a little odd. Her norepinephrine levels are slightly elevated.\nEzri: What's causing it?\nBashir: I'm not sure.\nSarina: It's probably due to limbic overcompensation. The levels should drop when the new thalamic connections stabilize.\nBashir: You're right, I think.\nSarina: I was listening when you were telling the nurses about the procedure. I kept thinking that I wanted to thank you for what you were trying to do for me, and now I finally can. Thank you.\nPatrick: Did you move this?\nJack: Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't.\nLauren: Would you leave him alone. Patrick, it's where it's supposed to be.\nPatrick: Oh.\nSarina: Hello, everyone.\nPatrick: Did you hear what she said? Did you hear that?\nLauren: I don't think I've heard a more beautiful sound in my life.\nJack: It was my idea to bring you here.\nPatrick: We missed you.\nLauren: You look so different.\nJack: Aren't you going to thank me?\nPatrick: Did the surgery hurt?\nSarina: There's so much I want to say to all of you.\nJack: Why are you talking like that?\nLauren: Quiet.\nJack: There's so much I want to say to all of you. There's so much I want to say to all of you.\nBashir: Jack!\nSarina: No, he's right. I can hear the way I sound.\nBashir: Don't worry, it's only temporary. It just takes a little practice.\nJack: Practice! Ah, practice. Good idea. Listen to this, Sarina. Do ray mi fa so la ti do.\nSarina: Do ray mi fa so la ti do.\nJack: Are you tone deaf?\nLauren: You're the one who's tone deaf. Do ray mi fa so la ti do.\nSarina: Do ray mi fa so la ti do.\nLauren: Much better.\nJack: Do ray mi fa so la ti.\nLauren: Do ray mi fa so la ti.\nSarina: Do ray mi fa so la ti.\nPatrick: Do.\nJack: Let's improvise. Lauren.\nLauren: Do ray me do ray me.\nJack: Do ray me do ray me.\nLauren: Fa mi ray\nPatrick: Fa mi ray do.\nSarina: Do ray me do ray me fa\nLauren: Do ray me do ray me fa.\nPatrick: Fa me ray do.\nJack: Fa me ray do.\nJack: Molto allegro.\nBashir: It was amazing. Within a few minutes, Sarina's voice just took off. That kind of improvement usually takes weeks of speech therapy.\nO'Brien: That is amazing. Julian\nBashir: So she was exhausted. I took her back to the Infirmary. I needed to monitor her neural activity anyway while she sleeps. But I still can't get over that transformation. Yesterday, she was silent as a stone. Today, she's singing and laughing. You should've seen her, Miles.\nO'Brien: How could I? I've been sitting here all night.\nBashir: Is it Thursday?\nO'Brien: Why I else would I be sitting here all night?\nBashir: Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot.\nO'Brien: It's all right. Morn caught me up on how his seventeen brothers and sisters are doing. I'd better head off. I've got an early start in the morning.\nBashir: I'm sorry about the mix-up, Miles.\nO'Brien: It's all right. I'm happy for her. I'm happy for both of you.\nBashir: Sarina, what are you doing here? How did you get in?\nSarina: It wasn't hard. Your access code only has six digits.\nBashir: Is something wrong?\nSarina: I couldn't sleep.\nBashir: My nurse could have given you something.\nSarina: I don't want to sleep.\nBashir: Why not?\nSarina: What if I wake up the way I was? What if I can't\nBashir: It's not going to happen. Your life's going to be different now. Your future is full of possibilities. You know, you're going to be doing things that you haven't even dreamed of. There's really no reason to be afraid. Sarina?\nSarina: Good morning.\nBashir: Morning.\nSarina: You didn't account for the L two codon.\nBashir: What?\nSarina: That's why the virus mutated. You need to target the RNA transcriptor. Hungry?\nBashir: The L two codon. Of course. Why didn't I think of that? Sarina, you're amazing. I've been working on this for months.\nSarina: You would've seen it sooner or later.\nBashir: I don't know about that. Thank you.\nSarina: I'm glad I could do something for you. You've done so much for me.\nNurse: Infirmary to Doctor Bashir.\nBashir: Go ahead.\nNurse: Doctor Girani's asking for your assistance in surgery, sir.\nBashir: I'm on my way. Well, it looks like I'm going to be tied up for the next few hours. What would you like to do in the meantime? Would you like a tour of the station? I can ask Ezri to show you around.\nSarina: That's all right. I think I'll go see Jack and the others.\nBashir: All right. I'll have someone take you to the cargo bay. And when I'm finished with surgery, I'll join you there.\nSarina: Oh, wait. You need your breakfast.\nBashir: Thank you.\nJack: The fact is that the universe is going to stop expanding and it is going to collapse in on itself. We've got to do something before it's too late.\nPatrick: How much time do we have left?\nJack: Sixty trillion years, seventy at the most.\nPatrick: Oh, no.\nLauren: Isn't Nog handsome?\nJack: What are you doing? We are running out of time!\nJack: Sarina, thank God! Nobody else around here ever listens to me.\nSarina: What is it, Jack? What's wrong?\nJack: There's too much matter. The universe is too heavy for its own good.\nLauren: You need to lighten the load.\nJack: Yes, yes, yes, exactly. We have to find some way to decrease the mass.\nSarina: Of the entire universe?\nJack: That's the whole point.\nSarina: Is that possible?\nPatrick: That's what we're trying to figure out, Sarina.\nLauren: What if we found a way to manipulate subspace?\nJack: Change the cosmological constant.\nPatrick: That would do the trick.\nSarina: You can't change the cosmological constant.\nJack: You know something, Sarina? We are trying to save existence as we know it, and all you can do is criticize!\nSarina: I'm sorry.\nJack: Thank you. Now, where were we?\nPatrick: Manipulating subspace.\nJack: Right. Right.\nJack: Doctor! Glad you're here.\nBashir: Is she all right?\nJack: Sarina, are you all right? She's fine. Listen, you have to talk to Starfleet for us. We need subspace field generators, lots of them.\nBashir: Can we talk about it later?\nJack: Later? There isn't going to be a later, later. Now, once we get the field generators\nBashir: Sarina?\nSarina: Hi.\nBashir: Is something wrong?\nSarina: No. They're used to my being quiet. It's easier this way.\nLauren: Could be very messy.\nBashir: Some of my friends want to get together a little later on at Quark's, and I was wondering if you'd like to come along.\nSarina: Me?\nBashir: Do you want to?\nJack: When should we be ready?\nBashir: Er.\nLauren: Oh, we're not invited, Jack. Just her.\nJack: Figures.\nPatrick: That doesn't seem fair.\nLauren: It's all right. Come on, Sarina. Let's get you dressed.\nLauren: Sorry to keep you waiting. Come on out. Come on.\nLauren: Am I good, or am I good?\nSarina: Look at all the people.\nEzri: There they are.\nO'Brien: I didn't remember her being so\nOdo: Beautiful?\nBashir: Everyone, this is Sarina. Sarina, this is everyone.\nOdo: Odo.\nKira: Nerys.\nO'Brien: I'm Miles.\nSarina: I remember you. You're Julian's best friend.\nO'Brien: Well, we get on all right.\nBashir: For the most part.\nSarina: Why are you pretending that it's not true?\nEzri: Because they're men. And men have trouble expressing their feelings.\nSarina: You don't.\nKira: Oh, are you kidding? Odo never talks about his feelings.\nSarina: He took your hand. He's showing you his feelings.\nOdo: Thank you.\nO'Brien: Julian, why don't you show everybody how much you love me and order the next round.\nBashir: Hey, Broik.\nSarina: I liked your friends. All of them. If I had to find someone to replace Atlas and hold up the world, it'd be Miles. He'd do it with a smile, too. And Kira, she never doubts herself, which is what Odo finds so fascinating because he doubts everything but her.\nBashir: What about Ezri?\nSarina: The day she realizes she's more than just the sum of her parts, she's really going to be something.\nBashir: I can't believe you saw all that after just a few hours with them. I'm going to have to start putting on my poker face.\nSarina: Too late. You've already given yourself away.\nBashir: Is that right? And how would you describe me?\nSarina: Compassionate. Brilliant. Lonely.\nBashir: Well, two out of three isn't bad.\nSarina: Which two?\nBashir: Now that would be telling. I'm glad you liked my friends. I know they liked you.\nSarina: I felt so comfortable around them. I didn't have to worry that someone was going to throw a tantrum, or break into tears all of a sudden.\nBashir: They only usually do that at staff meetings.\nSarina: Jack's always talking about how we're better than normal people. He says that's why they keep us locked up. But he's wrong. He couldn't get by in the real world. He'd get himself into too much trouble. So would Lauren and Patrick.\nBashir: That's why they belong in the Institute. In fact, Doctor Loews wants me to get them back there as soon as possible.\nSarina: I'm not going with them, am I.\nBashir: You don't belong there. Not anymore.\nSarina: Do they know?\nBashir: Not yet.\nSarina: They've been like a family to me for as long as I can remember.\nBashir: I know how much you care about them.\nSarina: As difficult as they can be sometimes, I'm going to miss them. We had our own little world, just the four of us. So, what's a genetically enhanced girl supposed to do when she wakes up from a long sleep? Point to one of those little specks of light out there, pack her bag, and go make a life for herself?\nBashir: Why does she have to go anywhere at all?\nBashir: Sarina isn't going back to the Institute with you.\nPatrick: She's not?\nBashir: No. She's staying here.\nLauren: Oh really? Huh. How nice for you.\nBashir: I've arranged for her to have her own quarters.\nPatrick: We're never going to see her again.\nJack: You have no right to do this. No right!\nBashir: Look, I know you're going to miss her, but it's the best thing for Sarina.\nJack: We did not help you so you could take her away from us!\nBashir: Stop thinking about yourself for a second, Jack, and think about her. Face it. She doesn't belong with you anymore.\nJack: Why? Because we're not normal? Because we're crazy?\nBashir: Oh, Jack.\nPatrick: Couldn't you make us normal like you did for Sarina, and then we could all stay together.\nLauren: Go on, Julian. Tell him. There's nothing you can do for us. We're too far gone.\nJack: Oh, who wants to be normal anyway? We're better than they are. You don't see any of them trying to save the universe from collapsing, do you? Let's get back to work.\nBashir: Well, they took it rather hard.\nSarina: I should go talk to them.\nBashir: In the morning. Give them a little time to get used to the idea. Come on, I've got just the thing to cheer you up.\nAll: Dabo!\nO'Brien: She's unbelievable!\nBashir: Tell him how you do it. Go on.\nSarina: It has to do with a series of binomial equations and probability factors.\nBashir: Explain how you track the dependent variables.\nSarina: It's really not that interesting.\nAll: Dabo!\nQuark: Well, hasn't this been fun. Why not take a seat and top off the evening with a lovely bottle of spring wine?\nSarina: Should we?\nBashir: He's just wants you to stop playing so he doesn't lose any more money.\nQuark: Did I mention that the wine was on the house?\nEzri: Julian, let's sit down.\nBashir: But she's winning.\nSarina: I've played enough.\nQuark: This way. This way. Excuse me please. Excuse me. Ezri, over here.\nAll: Dabo!\nBashir: Sarina? This way.\nSarina: Julian, would you mind if we left?\nBashir: I'm sorry. I thought you were having a good time.\nSarina: Oh, I was. But there was so much commotion. Maybe I'm just tired.\nBashir: I'll tell you what. Tomorrow night why don't we have a nice quiet dinner in my quarters. I have a week's leave coming up. I thought we might go to Risa together, get away from all the distractions around here, spend a little time alone.\nSarina: All right.\nBashir: I'll let you get some rest then.\nBashir: She's wonderful, Miles. I've never met anyone like her. She's brilliant, sweet, everything's new to her. Being with her is so refreshing. She takes such delight in what she's experiencing. It makes me appreciate things I usually take for granted.\nO'Brien: Like hot coffee?\nBashir: Like coffee. Music. The way the stars shine.\nO'Brien: What is wrong with this thing?\nBashir: Are you listening to me?\nO'Brien: Yes. Yeah. Coffee, music, stars.\nBashir: Well, don't you have anything to say?\nO'Brien: As a matter of fact, I do, Julian. I haven't seen you like this for a long time, and I'm really happy for you. But don't you think it's all happening a little fast?\nBashir: We're genetically engineered. We do everything fast.\nO'Brien: Julian, she's your patient.\nBashir: Not anymore. I've asked Doctor Girani to take over her care. Miles, I don't think you understand what this means to me. All these years I've had to hide the fact that my DNA had been resequenced. I'd listen to people talk about the genetically engineered, saying they were all misfits. I used to fantasize about meeting someone who was like me, who could live a normal life. But it never happened. Until Sarina. Don't you see? She's the woman I've been waiting for all my life.\nO'Brien: Good luck.\nBashir: Computer, music. Something romantic.\nBashir: Computer, locate Sarina Douglas.\nComputer: Sarina Douglas is in her quarters on the Habitat ring corridor H six section twenty seven epsilon.\nBashir: Sarina, it's me. Computer, override door locks. Authorization Bashir delta five seven alpha.\nBashir: I've been waiting in my quarters for you. Sarina? Is something wrong? Sarina.\nBashir: Apparently the thalamic pathways I generated are still functioning, but Doctor Girani's not detected any neural activity in them.\nEzri: Do you have any idea what's wrong?\nBashir: Not a clue. It's as if she were just slipping away and there's nothing I can do but wait and hope she pulls out of it.\nGirani: You can go in now.\nBashir: Sarina? Don't be afraid. Everything's going to be all right. I'm not going to give up on you. Ever.\nBashir: I don't know what's wrong with her. I need your help.\nJack: Why should we help you? You just want to steal her away from us.\nBashir: Look at her. Do you really want her to spend the rest of her life like this? I've been trying to find a way to reach her, but I can't. Maybe there isn't one. All I'm asking is that you try. The three of you know her better than anyone else. Please. I don't want to lose her.\nLauren: All right, Julian. Leave her here with us for a while. We'll see what we can do.\nBashir: Thank you.\nJack: Are you sure?\nPatrick: I'm sure.\nLauren: We have to tell him.\nJack: Why? This way we can all stay together.\nLauren: Let's go.\nJack: This way.\nLauren: That way.\nPatrick: I think we passed it.\nOfficer: Can I help you?\nPatrick: That's a stupid question.\nBashir: Come in.\nLauren: We have to talk to you.\nBashir: About Sarina?\nJack: Tell him.\nPatrick: She can still talk, it's just that she's afraid to.\nBashir: I don't understand. What's she afraid of?\nLauren: We don't know.\nJack: But we think it has something to do with you.\nBashir: I'm going to go talk to her. Stay here.\nBashir: Sarina, talk to me. Please. I know you can. What's wrong? Is it me? If it is, don't be afraid. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make it right because I love you. I want us to be together. Tell me, do you love me?\nSarina: I don't know. I don't even understand what love is. I don't understand anything.\nBashir: Sarina.\nSarina: What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to feel? Tell me. I want to make you happy. I owe you everything.\nBashir: Shh. No, you don't owe me. You don't owe me anything.\nSarina: I'm sorry. I wish I could be the woman you want me to be.\nBashir: Shh.\nO'Brien: Morning. Is she gone?\nBashir: Her shuttle leaves in a few minutes.\nO'Brien: What about the others?\nBashir: They left for the Institute this morning.\nO'Brien: I understand you've arranged a position for Sarina at the Corgal Research Center.\nBashir: Yeah, an internship. She's going to work under one of the scientists there, live with his family.\nO'Brien: You okay?\nBashir: How could I have been so blind? What was I thinking trying to move things along so fast? She needed time. I didn't give it to her. I came this close to driving her back inside herself. I'm supposed to be a doctor. I'm supposed to put my patient's needs above my own.\nO'Brien: You didn't want to be lonely anymore. Nobody does. I have to go to work. Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? Keiko's making tempura.\nBashir: No thanks.\nBashir: So here you are, on your way to one of those tiny little specks of light out there.\nSarina: I guess that's what a genetically enhanced girl should do when she wakes up from her sleep. Go make a life for herself. I'm going to miss you.\nBashir: I'm going to miss you.\nSarina: You won't forget me?\nBashir: Forget you? Never.\nComputer: Final boarding call.\nSarina: Well, I'd better go."}
{"text": "Kira: A little lower. Lower. Lower.\nOdo: How's that?\nOdo: I hope this taught you a lesson.\nKira: What's that?\nOdo: Never play springball against a changeling.\nKira: Just for that, next time I'm not going to let you win a single game.\nOdo: Then you'd better work on your backhand.\nKira: Right now, all I want to do is sleep for two or three days.\nOdo: Go right ahead, I should be back by the time you wake up.\nKira: Back? From where?\nOdo: I received a coded message from Gul Russol this morning.\nKira: Gul Russol? I thought he was executed when Cardassia joined the Dominion.\nOdo: So did I, but apparently we were wrong. The message says he wants to meet with me.\nKira: Why?\nOdo: I don't know, but he's my most reliable Cardassian informant.\nKira: You mean he was. What if Russol is dead and this is just a trap?\nOdo: I've thought about that, but I have to be sure. I owe him that much.\nKira: Want me to come with you?\nOdo: Russol insists I come alone. Don't worry, Nerys. I'll be careful.\nKira: Worried? Ha. This just gives me more time to work on my backhand.\nQuark: Chief, how much longer is the Promenade going to be closed? My bar is empty, my waiters are bored and I'm losing money.\nO'Brien: Leave me alone, Quark or I'll feed you to one of those plasma conductors.\nQuark: Are you threatening me?\nNog: We're working as fast as we can.\nQuark: As spokesman for the Promenade Merchant's Association, I'm going to file an official protest with Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Put it in writing, Quark.\nQuark: I'll go find a PADD.\nSisko: So, how much longer, Chief?\nO'Brien: Well, we should be through here by the end of the day, sir.\nSisko: Oh, I'm not talking about the Promenade, I'm talking about the Defiant. When is the gravity net going to be repaired? The last time I stepped onto the bridge, I felt ten kilos heavier.\nO'Brien: I'm afraid it's going to take some time.\nSisko: How much time?\nO'Brien: About three weeks. We have to replace the graviton stabilizer.\nSisko: You have three days. I'm going to take the Defiant back out on patrol and I don't want my crew getting queasy because the gravity keeps fluctuating.\nO'Brien: But sir, the sector quartermaster said it would take three weeks to get us a new stabilizer.\nSisko: That is your problem, Chief. Now, I'm leaving for Bajor for a conference and I want that stabilizer replaced by the time I get back. Do I make myself clear?\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nNog: I don't want to sound negative, but I don't see how you're going to get the Defiant ready in three days.\nO'Brien: Neither do I.\nNog: This quartermaster you've been dealing with, what's his name?\nO'Brien: Chief, Chief, Chief Willoughby.\nNog: I mean his first name.\nO'Brien: I don't know.\nNog: Is he married?\nO'Brien: Married? What does that have to do with getting us a graviton stabilizer?\nNog: Everything. This Chief Willoughby must get hundreds of supply requisitions every day. He can't possibly fill them all, so he puts everyone on a waiting list.\nO'Brien: I know how he feels. I do the same thing.\nNog: Well, the secret is getting him to put you at the top of that list. The best way to do that is to form a relationship with him. Get to know the name of his wife, his children, find out what he likes to eat\nO'Brien: I don't have time to form a relationship with Willoughby.\nNog: I do. I can get you that stabilizer, Chief.\nO'Brien: In three days?\nNog: Leave everything to me.\nO'Brien: All right, butt don't do anything I wouldn't do.\nNog: Chief, I can't operate under those kinds of restrictions.\nO'Brien: At least promise me you won't do anything to get us court-martialed.\nNog: I'll try.\nO'Brien: Nog!\nNog: Just kidding, Chief.\nOdo: Russol? Russol.\nWeyoun: I'm afraid he couldn't be here.\nOdo: Weyoun.\nWeyoun: Founder. It is an honor to stand in your presence once again.\nOdo: Where's Gul Russol?\nWeyoun: I'm afraid the Cardassian Central Command had him put to death almost a year ago. I regret having to deceive you, but it was the only way I could think of to get you here.\nOdo: Well, I'm here. What do you want?\nWeyoun: To serve you. I no longer consider myself a member of the Dominion.\nOdo: You're defecting?\nWeyoun: Do with me as you wish. I place my fate entirely in your hands.\nWeyoun: You don't believe me, do you?\nOdo: I believe Gul Russol is dead. You say you're defecting from the Dominion. Why?\nWeyoun: Founder, please.\nOdo: I've told you before I'm not a Founder.\nWeyoun: As you wish. Odo, I'll tell you everything you want to know but first, we really should get aboard your runabout. The Jem'Hadar are already hunting for me and if I'm found\nOdo: You haven't answered my question. Why did you decide to defect?\nWeyoun: I realized my place is with you.\nOdo: You can do better than that.\nWeyoun: Then let's just say I left Cardassia because my life was in danger.\nOdo: From whom?\nWeyoun: Everyone.\nOdo: Aren't you being a little paranoid?\nWeyoun: Of course I'm paranoid. Everyone's trying to kill me.\nOdo: Why?\nWeyoun: Because this war with the Federation was supposed to have been won months ago.\nOdo: Well, things don't always turn out as planned.\nWeyoun: Quite true. And when things go wrong, someone has to take the blame. And this time, it's me. Now we really should be going. Think about it, Odo. The information I possess could help the Federation win this war.\nOdo: And you're willing to share that information?\nWeyoun: All you have to do is ask.\nOdo: We've heard rumors that the Dominion has established a new Ketracel White storage facility somewhere in Sector five zero seven.\nWeyoun: The facility's located in the Pelosa system. I can supply you with the exact coordinates.\nOdo: Odo to the Rio Grande. Two to beam up.\nOdo: Sit here where I can keep an eye on you.\nWeyoun: If it makes you feel better. But you should know I would never harm a god.\nOdo: I'm not a god, I'm a security officer. As far as I'm concerned, you're just another prisoner.\nWeyoun: You have no idea how much it hurts me to hear you say that.\nNog: I spoke to Edgar.\nO'Brien: Edgar who?\nNog: Your new best friend, Chief Edgar Willoughby. He wanted me to thank you for that bottle of Gamzian wine you sent him.\nO'Brien: I didn't send him any wine.\nNog: I took the liberty of sending it for you. By the way, his wife's name is Cynthia. They have a daughter, Melissa, age eight and a son, Edgar junior, aged five.\nO'Brien: Did you get the stabilizer?\nNog: Not quite.\nO'Brien: What do you mean, not quite?\nNog: Unfortunately, he's out of stabilizers and won't be getting a new shipment for another week.\nO'Brien: That's it. I'm doomed.\nNog: Not necessarily. Eddie told me the USS Sentinel has an extra stabilizer.\nO'Brien: What makes you think they're going to give it to us?\nNog: I didn't say they were going to give it to us. But they might be willing to trade for it.\nO'Brien: Trade? For what?\nNog: Depends on what they need and what we have.\nO'Brien: Well, I suppose it doesn't hurt to try. But remember, be diskreet.\nNog: Rule of Acquisition one sixty eight, whisper your way to success.\nO'Brien: Words to live by.\nNog: Chief, one more thing. I need your authorisation code.\nO'Brien: What for?\nNog: The shipping orders.\nO'Brien: Bring them to me and I'll authorize them.\nNog: I just thought it would save time. When did you say the Captain was going to be back?\nNog: Stop looking so worried, Chief. I've got it all under control.\nO'Brien: I sure hope so.\nOdo: I wish you'd stop doing that.\nWeyoun: Doing what?\nOdo: Staring at me.\nWeyoun: Was I? I didn't mean to.\nOdo: You've been doing it for the last ten hours.\nWeyoun: I'm sorry. It's just such an honor to be sitting here with a security officer.\nOdo: We're being hailed.\nWeyoun: Don't respond.\nOdo: It's a Cardassian transmission.\nWeyoun: Scramble the comm. frequencies so they can't lock onto us.\nOdo: I'm trying.\nWeyoun7: Founder. It's an honor to speak with you once again. You look surprised to see me, Odo.\nOdo: I'm well aware the Vorta are all clones, but I'm not sure the universe is ready for two Weyouns.\nWeyoun7: I couldn't agree more.\nOdo: So which of you is the Weyoun I've had the misfortune of dealing with over the past few years?\nWeyoun: Actually, neither of us.\nWeyoun7: That was Weyoun Five. Our illustrious predecessor was killed a month ago.\nWeyoun: And I had the honor of replacing him.\nWeyoun7: What a sad day that was\nWeyoun7: For the Dominion. Weyoun Five was a great man. A true patriot. His death in a transporter accident was most unfortunate.\nWeyoun: And still under investigation.\nDamar: A very thorough investigation that has found no evidence of foul play.\nOdo: Interesting, So if you're Weyoun Six, you must be Seven.\nDamar: Clones. Keeping track of them is a full time job.\nOdo: And why were you activated if he's still alive?\nWeyoun7: Normally I wouldn't have been, but when a clone is found to be defective\nWeyoun: I'm not defective!\nWeyoun7: Of course\nWeyoun7: You are. What other explanation is there for your behavior? Leaving your post. Defecting to the enemy.\nWeyoun: Are you calling Odo your enemy?\nWeyoun7: Absolutely not.\nWeyoun7: I was referring to the Federation, as you're well aware.\nDamar: Enough bickering. Order him to trigger his implant.\nWeyoun7: I was getting to that.\nOdo: What implant?\nWeyoun: Like all Vorta, I have a termination implant in my brain stem.\nWeyoun7: Prove your loyalty to the Founders. Activate it.\nWeyoun: The only Founder I'm loyal to is Odo, and he wants me alive.\nDamar: I told you it was a waste of time to try to reason with him. You're a dead man, whether you activate that implant or not. That ship will never make it back to Deep Space Nine.\nWeyoun7: Founder, there's really no need for you to be involved in this petty dispute. If you'll just hold your position until one of our ships can reach you\nOdo: I have no intention of releasing my prisoner to you.\nWeyoun7: If you don't, I can't be responsible for the consequences.\nWeyoun: That's an empty threat. He wouldn't dare harm a Founder.\nDamar: Maybe he won't, but I will. Think it over, Shape shifter. One of our attack ships is on the way.\nWeyoun: Forgive me, Odo I should've told you the truth about myself.\nOdo: Well, it's not too late to start. Why did you defect?\nWeyoun: It's simple really. From the moment I was activated, I felt this war was wrong. Please don't misunderstand me, I still worship the Founders, but I believe their obsession with conquering the Alpha Quadrant is misguided. It's time they learned to live in peace with the Solids. I know it's not my place to question the Founders. Maybe Weyoun Seven is right. I am defective.\nOdo: On the contrary. What you're saying about the war, about the Founders, makes perfect sense.\nWeyoun: I want to thank you, Odo, for the way you stood up for me, protected me.\nOdo: Well don't let it go to your head. I'd do the same for any prisoner.\nWeyoun: Of course you would. You're a god.\nWeyoun7: To think a Weyoun could be capable of such treachery.\nDamar: I knew there was something wrong with him from the moment we met. He lacked your appetite for cruelty.\nWeyoun7: He's a disgrace to me and all Vorta. Though I suppose he can't be held completely responsible for his behavior. The Vorta cloning process is a very delicate one. Every once in a while a clone is found to be defective. It's never happened to a Weyoun before, but it does happen. And speaking of treachery, there is still the little matter of the death of Weyoun Five.\nDamar: You really believe I had something to do with that?\nWeyoun7: You were supposed to be on that transporter pad with him.\nDamar: I was called away. An urgent meeting with the Central Command.\nWeyoun7: How convenient.\nDamar: I always was lucky. Are you sure I can't interest you in a glass of kanar?\nWeyoun7: I'm afraid our problems won't be washed away quite that easily.\nDamar: I don't know what you're so concerned about. Odo couldn't possibly hope to outrun a Jem'Hadar attack ship.\nWeyoun7: But what if he refuses to hand over his prisoner?\nDamar: Then he'll die.\nWeyoun7: He will not. We can't kill a Founder. I forbid it.\nDamar: Unless we stop them, Odo is going to take your predecessor back to the Federation, where he will undoubtedly reveal all he knows, all you know, about our strategic operations. You know what that means, don't you?\nWeyoun7: It means we could lose the war.\nDamar: That's right. And I will not allow that to happen. Cardassia has risked too much, suffered too much. I will not stand by and let all of our plans, all of our dreams for the future, end in defeat just to spare the life of one Shape shifter.\nWeyoun7: I don't believe the Jem'Hadar would want to fire on Odo, even if they were ordered to.\nDamar: They don't need to know he's on board. You simply order them to destroy the runabout.\nWeyoun7: I suppose it could work. But if the Founders ever found out that we were responsible for Odo's death.\nDamar: Who's going to tell them?\nWeyoun7: Odo doesn't even consider himself a Founder.\nDamar: Then we agree. The runabout must be destroyed. Excellent. Now I really think you should try a little kanar.\nO'Brien: Morning, Lieutenant.\nEzri: I'd make myself scarce if I were you.\nO'Brien: Why?\nKira: Chief! In here now.\nEzri: I tried to warn you.\nKira: Do you mind explaining this?\nO'Brien: Where's the Captain's desk?\nKira: Oh, you don't know? This is your authorisation code, isn't it?\nO'Brien: Nog.\nKira: What about him?\nO'Brien: Well, he must have traded the Captain's desk for the graviton stabilizer.\nKira: Excuse me?\nO'Brien: Don't worry, Colonel. I will get the desk back.\nKira: You're damn right you will. The Captain is returning from Bajor in two days, and when he does, I want his desk sitting right here where it belongs.\nNog: Don't worry, Chief. I didn't give away the Captain's desk. I just loaned it to someone.\nO'Brien: Who?\nNog: Al Lorenzo.\nO'Brien: Who's Al Lorenzo?\nNog: The Chief of Operations on Decos Prime.\nO'Brien: What does he want with the Captain's desk?\nNog: He wants to take a picture of it.\nO'Brien: Why?\nNog: He likes to collect holophotos of himself sitting behind the desks of famous Starfleet captains. Usually he just sneaks into their offices, but with the war on it's been hard for him to get away.\nO'Brien: Ha. Well that makes sense.\nNog: He's got quite a collection. Captain DeSoto's desk, Captain Picard's desk.\nO'Brien: Okay, fine. So once he has his picture, he's going to send us the graviton stabilizer?\nNog: No. He's giving us an induction modulator.\nO'Brien: But we don't need an induction modulator.\nNog: But the USS Musashi does.\nO'Brien: Ah. So the Musashi's going to send us the stabilizer.\nNog: No, they're giving us a phaser emitter.\nO'Brien: We don't need a phaser emitter.\nNog: I know, but the USS Sentinel does, and they have the extra stabilizer.\nO'Brien: And they're willing to give it up for a phaser emitter?\nNog: That's the rumor.\nO'Brien: Rumor? You've made all of these deals based on a rumor?\nNog: From a very reliable source.\nO'Brien: But what if it turns out not to be true?\nNog: You have to have faith, Chief.\nO'Brien: In a rumor?\nNog: No, in the Great Material Continuum.\nO'Brien: Who are they?\nNog: It's not a they, it's the force that binds the universe together.\nO'Brien: I must have missed that class in Engineering School.\nNog: On Ferenginar, we learn about the Continuum while we still have our first set of ears.\nO'Brien: This is no time for Ferengi fairy tales.\nNog: The Continuum is real. You see, there are millions upon millions of worlds in the universe, each one filled with too much of one thing and not enough of another. And the Great Continuum flows through them all like a mighty river, from have to want and back again. And if we navigate the Continuum with skill and grace, our ship will be filled with everything our hearts desire.\nO'Brien: Right now, I'd settle for a stabilizer and the Captain's desk.\nNog: The river will provide.\nO'Brien: If it doesn't sink us first.\nWeyoun: Odo?\nOdo: What's wrong?\nWeyoun: I think I was dreaming.\nOdo: Sounded more like a nightmare.\nWeyoun: I was on Earth, Starfleet Headquarters. I was supposed to report for my debriefing, but I couldn't find the right office. Then I started calling your name, but you didn't answer. And then suddenly I was being chased by some Jem'Hadar. Or were they Klingons? Silly, isn't it?\nOdo: Not at all. It isn't easy to turn your back on your own people. Believe me, I know.\nWeyoun: Odo, do you think Starfleet would allow you to conduct my debriefing?\nOdo: Possibly.\nWeyoun: It would make it much easier.\nWeyoun: What is it?\nOdo: Trouble.\nWeyoun: I can't believe they're firing on us.\nOdo: Trust me, they are.\nWeyoun: But the Jem'Hadar would never obey an order to harm a Founder.\nOdo: Maybe they finally got it through their head that I'm not a Founder.\nWeyoun: Or they don't know who they're firing at. We've got to let them know you're on board.\nOdo: They're jamming all the frequencies. I can't get through.\nWeyoun: They've been ordered not to communicate with us.\nOdo: Damar said he was determined not to let us get back to the station.\nWeyoun: See if you can get above them.\nOdo: Why?\nWeyoun: I'll explain later. Just do it.\nOdo: What now?\nWeyoun: Lock phasers on their dorsal field junction. Their shields are weakest there.\nOdo: Well, congratulations. You just saved our lives.\nWeyoun: And murdered loyal servants of the Dominion. May the Founders forgive me.\nOdo: Has it ever occurred to you that the reason you believe the Founders are gods is because that's what they want you to believe? That they built that into your genetic code?\nWeyoun: Of course they did. That's what gods do. After all, why be a god if there's no one to worship you?\nO'Brien: Rom, where's Nog?\nRom: I don't know, Chief. Nog left the station a couple of hours ago in a runabout.\nO'Brien: Who gave him permission to use a runabout?\nRom: You did.\nO'Brien: I never should've given him my authorisation code. Did he say when he'd be back?\nRom: Not to me.\nO'Brien: How could he do this to me? How could he leave me adrift, mid-river without a paddle?\nRom: What river would that be?\nO'Brien: You know, the Great Material Continuum.\nRom: Oh. That river. It can be very treacherous.\nO'Brien: Tell me about it. I suppose the good news is with Nog gone, nothing else can go missing.\nMartok: Where are my cases of bloodwine!\nWorf: I do not know, General. But I promise you I will find out.\nDamar: I don't understand it. How could a runabout destroy a Jem'Hadar fighter?\nWeyoun7: Isn't it obvious? My predecessor must have helped Odo get past the ship's defenses.\nDamar: Then how do we stop them?\nWeyoun7: How else? Send more ships. Send a whole battalion if necessary, from our base at Olmerak.\nDamar: Consider it done.\nWeyoun7: Remember to tell them to fire on sight.\nFounder: Fire at whom?\nWeyoun7: Founder, how may I serve you?\nFounder: By answering my question.\nDamar: We spotted a Federation runabout spying on our base in the Olmerak system.\nFounder: Surely one ship shouldn't be much of a threat.\nWeyoun7: We'll have it destroyed within the hour.\nDamar: Are you feeling all right?\nFounder: Why do you ask?\nDamar: Your face.\nFounder: I'm fine. But from now on, I want the temperature in these rooms lowered by fifteen degrees. I do not share the Cardassians' love of heat.\nWeyoun7: Nor do I. Lower the temperature.\nDamar: As you wish.\nWeyoun7: Is there anything else I can do for you?\nFounder: Have you located Weyoun Six?\nWeyoun7: It's only a matter of time.\nFounder: So you keep saying.\nWeyoun7: I assure you, Founder. He will be dealt with.\nDamar: Did you notice her face? How parched it looked?\nWeyoun7: You heard her. These rooms are too hot.\nDamar: I wonder. I'm telling you she's not well.\nWeyoun7: She's not the Founder you should be worried about. Contact Olmerak and order those ships to intercept the runabout.\nWeyoun: That was filling.\nOdo: I would hope so. You sampled the replicator's entire menu.\nWeyoun: I enjoyed the different textures.\nOdo: You mean tastes, don't you?\nWeyoun: Not at all. The Vorta sense of taste is quite limited. About the only foods we really enjoy are kava nuts and rippleberries.\nOdo: Ah. I take it this is also a result of your genetic programming?\nWeyoun: It's the Founders' way of making sure we remember our past. You must know the story of how the Founders created the Vorta?\nOdo: No, but I have the feeling you're going to tell me all about it.\nWeyoun: The Vorta used to be quite different from what we are today. We were forest dwellers. Small, timid, ape-like creatures living in hollowed out trees.\nOdo: Eating nuts and berries.\nWeyoun: And living in fear of the many predators that would hunt us for food. One day, a wounded changeling came stumbling through the forest fleeing from a mob of angry solids.\nOdo: Why were they chasing him?\nWeyoun: What does it matter? Solids have always feared and distrusted shape-shifters, you know that. Well, a family of Vorta hid the changeling from his pursuers. And in return for saving his life, the changeling promised the Vorta that one day we would be transformed into powerful beings. That we would become an important part of a great new empire that would stretch across the Galaxy.\nOdo: And the changeling kept his word.\nWeyoun: That's right. Imagine, Odo. My people were once little more than apes, and look at us now. Look at what you've done for us.\nOdo: If the story were true, it would at least prove that my people are capable of generosity and kindness.\nWeyoun: You care about your people very much, don't you, Odo? In spite of all that's happened between you.\nOdo: Maybe I do, but that doesn't change the fact that they're responsible for a war that's killed millions.\nWeyoun: Odo, there's something you need to know. A sickness has spread throughout the Great Link. The Founders are dying. I was summoned to a meeting by the female changeling. She wanted to discuss troop deployments with me, and suddenly her hands began to shrivel. It lasted only a second or two, but over the last few weeks, it's happened a number of times. It's like she's withering.\nOdo: And you're sure the other changelings are also infected?\nWeyoun: She said the entire Link is suffering from the disease.\nOdo: Everyone but me.\nWeyoun: If they're unable to find a cure, you'll be the last of your kind.\nOdo: Why didn't you tell me this earlier?\nWeyoun: Because I knew how much it would hurt you. I'm sorry to bring you such sad news. But at least you're not infected. The Dominion will survive.\nOdo: Meaning what?\nWeyoun: Think about it, Odo. You have an opportunity to rectify the mistakes your people have made. To build a new Dominion based on cooperation, not conquest. On peace, not war. A new order under your leadership.\nOdo: And what's your role going to be in this new order?\nWeyoun: Whatever you want it to be. I wish only to serve you.\nOdo: All right, and you can start by telling me how one runabout is going to survive an assault by four Jem'Hadar ships.\nWeyoun: I'm sure you'll think of something.\nOdo: There's a Kuiper Belt not far from here. We might be able to hide among the comet fragments. But we don't have much time. They're closing fast.\nWeyoun: These comet fragments are nothing but huge chunks of ice. The Jem'Hadar will have no trouble finding us.\nOdo: Not if we become the ice.\nOdo: Well, with the power off and the runabout in thermal contact with the ice, we won't generate enough of an energy signature for their sensors to read.\nWeyoun: We become the ice. Only a god could think of such a thing.\nOdo: Well let's just hope the Jem'Hadar give up their search before we freeze to death.\nWeyoun: My faith will keep me warm.\nOdo: Perhaps. But in an hour you may want to trade in that faith for a thermal blanket.\nO'Brien: What do you think?\nBashir: It's white.\nO'Brien: I know it's white. I'm going to paint it.\nBashir: It's the wrong shape, it's the wrong height, the wrong width. Other than that, it's perfect. The Captain will never suspect you switched desks on him.\nO'Brien: Julian, I need help, not sarcasm.\nBashir: I'm afraid Nog's the only one who can help you now.\nO'Brien: If he gets back to the station before the Captain does.\nBashir: Maybe he's not coming back. Maybe he'd decided to make a run for it.\nKira: That isn't the Captain's desk.\nBashir: He's going to paint it.\nKira: Get it out of here.\nKira: Can I help you, General?\nMartok: No. But he can.\nO'Brien: Bloodwine?\nMartok: Sixteen cases, sent to me by my wife. Now where are they?\nO'Brien: How should I know?\nWorf: You authorized their removal. That is your authorisation code, is it not?\nO'Brien: Nog.\nMartok: Chief, I want that bloodwine back here by tomorrow. Understood?\nWeyoun: Odo, when you said you were cutting power to all systems did that include life support?\nOdo: I'm afraid so.\nWeyoun: Ah. That explains it.\nOdo: Explains what?\nWeyoun: Why I'm having trouble breathing.\nOdo: We should have enough oxygen left for another three hours. Of course, by then we'll have probably frozen to death.\nWeyoun: But you can't die. You have to survive to rebuild the Dominion.\nWeyoun: They've found us.\nWeyoun: What do we do now?\nOdo: We can't stay here.\nWeyoun: You're not going to try to outrun those ships, are you?\nOdo: What choice do we have?\nWeyoun: We're on fire.\nOdo: There's an extinguisher behind you. What are you waiting for?\nWeyoun: I live only to serve you.\nOdo: What are you doing? Why'd you activate the comm. system?\nWeyoun: All right, call off those ships.\nWeyoun7: Why should I?\nWeyoun: Because you don't need them anymore. Weyoun Six places his index finger behind his ear and his thumb under his chin, then applies pressure. He collapses.\nWeyoun: I'm glad to see you've come to your senses.\nOdo: What have you done?\nWeyoun7: I've saved your life and the Dominion's as well.\nWeyoun: He's activated his termination implant and proven himself to be a worthy Vorta at last.\nWeyoun7: I obey the Founders in all things. Now call off those ships!\nDamar: We don't know what he told Odo. He may have revealed important tactical\nWeyoun7: That's a risk we'll just have to take. I've ordered the Jem'Hadar to break off the attack. I see your runabout has suffered some battle damage. Will you require\nWeyoun7: Any further assistance?\nOdo: I think you've done enough.\nWeyoun7: I sincerely regret any inconvenience we may have caused you, Odo. Please have a safe and pleasant journey back to Deep Space Nine.\nWeyoun: They say voluntary termination is quick and painless. I'm afraid it's not true.\nOdo: I'll get you a pain suppressor.\nWeyoun: That won't be necessary but there is one thing you can do for me.\nOdo: What's that?\nWeyoun: Give me your blessing.\nOdo: I can't.\nWeyoun: Please, Odo. Tell me that I haven't failed, that I've served you well.\nOdo: You have. And for that you have my gratitude, and my blessing.\nBashir: Miles, the Captain's back.\nO'Brien: I know. He sent for me.\nBashir: Good luck.\nO'Brien: Thanks.\nSisko: Ah, Chief.\nO'Brien: Captain, your desk\nSisko: Yes, it looks nice, doesn't it? I came in this morning and found Ensign Nog polishing it.\nNog: It was looking a little dull.\nSisko: Well, here is the maintenance request from the Gettysburg. It should be docking here later today. That'll be all.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Oh, about the stabilizer.\nO'Brien: Captain, I can explain.\nSisko: Don't bother. Ensign Nog told me you were able to get hold of one this morning.\nO'Brien: I was? I mean I was.\nSisko: How long before you can have it online?\nO'Brien: Er, eight hours.\nSisko: I plan to take the Defiant out on patrol in two.\nO'Brien: Two it is, sir.\nO'Brien: I don't know how you did it, Nog\nNog: I never lost faith in the Great Material Continuum.\nO'Brien: Like you say, the river will provide.\nMartok: Chief!\nO'Brien: The waters just got choppy again.\nMartok: I wanted you to have this. Consider it an apology.\nO'Brien: You found the bloodwine.\nWorf: Not exactly. Ensign Nog returned from his trip with sixteen cases of twenty three oh nine. A very good year.\nMartok: An even better vintage than the one my wife sent me.\nO'Brien: Well, I'm glad you approve.\nNog: And remember, anytime you're shopping for wines or spirits, my cousin Gant is the man to see.\nWorf: We will keep that in mind.\nO'Brien: Your cousin Gant?\nNog: Just another sailor on the Great River. By the way, Gant mentioned that he's got ten cases of Saurian brandy. It's the Captain's favorite, you know.\nO'Brien: Level Five. What does he want for them?\nOdo: I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face when he died. He seemed so content.\nKira: The last thing he saw was one of his gods smiling at him. If you ask me, he was a lucky man.\nOdo: Nerys, please.\nKira: No, listen to me. I know to Starfleet the Prophets are nothing more than wormhole aliens, but to me they're gods. I can't prove it, but then again, I don't have tom because my faith in them is enough. Just as Weyoun's faith in you was enough for him.\nOdo: Well, now it appears that the Vorta may have to learn to get along without their gods.\nKira: I'm sorry. You're worried about your people.\nOdo: The changelings are dying and I can't help them. They're the enemy.\nKira: A very dangerous enemy, now more than ever, because they're also desperate. This isn't easy for you, but you have to remember they started this war, not you.\nOdo: That's true. But I know now that whichever side wins, one thing is certain. I'm going to lose."}
{"text": "O'Brien: Come on. Santa Anna didn't care about the rules of war. If he'd executed Davy Crockett at the Alamo he would have considered it a point of pride.\nBashir: All right. Put it this way. In eighteen thirty six Davy Crockett was what, forty nine? Quite old for the standards of the time. His days as an Indian fighter were well behind him. He was just an ex-Congressman, all reputation. Now this is not a man who was about to fight till his last breath, Miles. The situation was hopeless, he was out of ammunition, the Mexican army was swarming the Alamo's battlements. He would have surrendered. It's as logical as that. Simple.\nO'Brien: I'm not saying it couldn't have happened. I'm just saying there's no proof.\nWorf: You are both wrong. The only real question is whether you believe in the legend of Davy Crockett or not. If you do, then there should be no doubt in your mind that he died the death of a hero. If you do not believe in the legend, then he was just a man and it does not matter how he died.\nBashir: Well, I guess that settles that.\nO'Brien: I guess so.\nWorf: Enter. Kor?\nKor: Nuq'nuh, Worf. It's good to see you, my friend.\nWorf: I welcome you to my home. May I offer you some refreshment?\nKor: I would be honored to share a bottle of bloodwine with the Son of Mogh. I heard the news about Jadzia.\nWorf: She died a warrior.\nKor: I expected nothing less. To absent comrades. Twenty three oh nine. Very good.\nWorf: Sit.\nKor: The war goes well for you, Worf? A long list of victories to your credit, I trust?\nWorf: I have been fortunate.\nKor: The way of the warrior is not a humble path. Show some pride in your accomplishments! You've earned it.\nWorf: I will try. And does the war go well for you, Kor?\nKor: No, Worf. It does not go well for me. It seems my services are not required in the present conflict.\nWorf: But you are Kor, a Dahar Master, the man who held the Korma Pass against T'nag. Your reputation alone should have assured you a command.\nKor: I also have a reputation for a certain ruthless quality toward those who would stand in my way. Mind you, it is not entirely undeserved. In truth, I rather enjoy being feared by my fellow officers. However, there's a price to be paid for such singled-minded devotion to one's ambition. I made enemies. Perhaps more than were necessary. I have no influence left in the Empire. Even as our entire race grapples with the Dominion there's no place for an old man with too many enemies and not enough friends. That's why I've come here tonight. It is not easy for me to beg you for help, but I have nowhere else to turn. Help me fight again, Worf. Help me end my life as I've lived it. As a warrior.\nMartok: How many more reports does the High Council require?\nDarok: As many as last time. And Starfleet is still waiting for your signature on these repair requests.\nMartok: There will come a day, Darok, when your services as my aide may no longer be required.\nDarok: I look forward to that day with great anticipation. Until then\nMartok: Ah, Worf, good to see you. Thank you, Darok.\nMartok: It's a pity Captain Sisko frowns on summary executions. What can I do for you?\nWorf: Kor, the Dahar Master, came to see me last night. He has been unable to find a command and I\nMartok: Tell me you're not going to ask me to give that man a ship!\nWorf: Well, I had hoped that\nMartok: Then your hopes are in vain. That man is not welcome in my house and I will certainly not have him commanding a ship in my fleet.\nWorf: General, Kor is a friend and I have already\nMartok: Not another word! Do you hear? Not a word! Now get out of here before I forget we are brothers.\nMartok: I plan to attack the Trelka Five starbase, then push deeper into Cardassian territory. I'll hit the Manora shipyards, the Jem'Hadar breeding facility on Sheva Two, the supply depots in the Borias Cluster.\nSisko: It would take half the Ninth Fleet just to destroy Trelka Five.\nMartok: I don't intend to destroy the base, just damage it. Throw them off balance and then move on to the next target. Imagine the chaos we'll cause once we're in behind their lines.\nSisko: A cavalry raid. Ancient Earth soldiers mounted on horseback. They had the speed to charge behind enemy lines to stir up trouble, and the mobility to keep from being caught. How many ships will you take?\nMartok: Five birds of prey. Battle cruisers are too slow, too unwieldy for a mission like this.\nSisko: Do you want to take the Defiant?\nMartok: Perhaps the Defiant should remain here, just in case the Jem'Hadar try their own cavalry raid. But it may be prudent for the Defiant and a dozen or so other starships to be waiting for us when we return.\nSisko: You mean you might be bringing company back with you?\nMartok: I'm sure you'll be ready to welcome them.\nSisko: With phasers charged.\nKolana: Our disruptor targeting sensors need to be replaced as well as our guidance system relays.\nMartok: Make a note of that for Chief O'Brien. He should give the Ch'Tang first priority. So, if you have something to ask me do it now before Darok buries me under more paperwork.\nWorf: I wish to speak with you about Kor. Now I know that you have strong feelings about this\nMartok: Clear the bridge!\nMartok: I did not expect to hear anything further on this subject from you.\nWorf: And I did not expect to be forbidden to speak with you on any subject. Have I become a shuVak to be ordered about like Darok?\nMartok: No, of course not. Very well. Talk and be done with it.\nWorf: Kor came to see me, asking my help as a friend. He is an old man with no family and no influence left in the Empire. He asked nothing except for the chance to fight and die as a Klingon warrior. I told him I would speak with you about finding him a command in the fleet.\nMartok: I would not give that man the gnawed bones of my last meal, much less command of a ship.\nWorf: But why? There is no blood feud between our Houses, and Kor has said he has not even met you.\nMartok: You can wound a man without ever seeing his face. When I was a boy, my family still lived in the lowlands of Ketha Province. We had very little, but it didn't matter. We were a family of warriors. Fifteen generations had served as soldiers of the Empire, but my father had higher hopes for me. He wanted his son to become an officer. It took a great deal of effort, but eventually he found someone willing to sponsor me. I passed my entrance exam on my first attempt and all that remained was final approval by the oversight council. A simple formality. My application was rejected by one member of that council. Kor.\nWorf: Why?\nMartok: Why? Kor's family descends from the Imperial Court itself. Kor is of the blood, born to rule by the divine will of Kahless! And what was I? A boy from the Ketha lowlands. He could not bear the thought of someone like me joining the elite officer ranks. And so, to my father's embarrassment and my everlasting shame, my application was denied. And with the mark of Kor on my record I could not join even as a common soldier. I spent five years as a civilian laborer aboard General ShiVang's flagship. Then, as fortune would have it, the Romulans made a foolhardy attempt to board our ship. I earned a battlefield commission. Unfortunately, my father did not live to see that glorious day. And if Kor had had his way, I would still be a civilian on that ship, cleaning the officers' mess.\nWorf: I understand. But I must tell you that using my own authority, I appointed Kor an officer in the Ninth Fleet.\nMartok: Made him an officer, just like that. That's the difference between his name and mine. His opens doors, mine closes them.\nWorf: I did not anticipate that\nMartok: It's done. Your apology is not sought. But know this, Worf. Kor is your responsibility. I want nothing to do with him.\nKor: Do you remember breaking into the Duke's harem on Renavi?\nEzri: How could I forget that? That is one of Curzon's favorite memories. Hi.\nWorf: Hello.\nKor: Come and join us, my friend.\nEzri: I am on duty. I'll see you later. It's good to see you again, Kor.\nKor: Still the same old Dax, and yet not.\nWorf: General Martok will not give you a command.\nKor: Kesh!\nWorf: He says that you struck his name from an officers list because his family comes from the Ketha lowlands.\nKor: Did I? I don't recall. Of course, there were so many officer lists. I suppose it's possible.\nWorf: It is an unworthy reason to bar a man from serving the Empire.\nKor: Worf, you've been living among this democratic rabble for too long. I know your bloodline. We both come from noble Houses. Among our people that still counts for something. If Martok is a true Klingon, he should appreciate that.\nWorf: He does not.\nKor: Did he revoke my commission?\nWorf: No. You will serve aboard the Ch'Tang as Third Officer.\nKor: Third? Oh, well, no matter. I've overcome greater obstacles. Thank you, Worf. You're a true friend.\nWorf: You will report aboard at oh seven hundred. And stay out of Martok's way.\nKor: He will not even know I am there. Worf. What was the name of the ship?\nWorf: The Ch'Tang.\nKor: Ch'Tang! Of course. I'll see you there.\nKolana: All decks report ready. Defense systems online. Engine room standing by. Transporter room reports that our last crewmembers have beamed aboard.\nMartok: Very well. Signal the squadron. Prepare to get underway. Stand by to cloak.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nMartok: Helm, set course three two five, mark zero zero three. Full impulse till we clear the outer marker, then go to\nKor: Third Officer Kor reporting for duty.\nSynon: The Dahar Master.\nWorf: Take your station.\nMartok: Return to your duties or I'll find a crew that can! Helmsman! I gave you an order.\nSynon: Chah Veh!\nDarok: Kor, here, on our ship.\nMartok: Don't you have something to do?\nDarok: No.\nMartok: Then find something.\nDarok: It's an honor to have you aboard.\nKor: Thank you very much.\nKolana: Welcome, Dahar Master.\nKira: So what did Kor say when he met you?\nEzri: The usual. I have the same conversation over and over again. Everyone's shocked at first, then they start scanning my face for signs of the person they knew as Dax. It can't be. Is it really you? Oh, I do see a little Jadzia in the eyes, a little Curzon in the smile.\nKira: Isn't there a period of adjustment that joined Trills have to go through where people are comparing them to previous hosts? I'm sure it'll pass.\nEzri: You're right. The last five Dax hosts went through this. That wasn't bad. You'd make a pretty good counselor. You want to trade jobs?\nKira: Oh, yeah, people would love bringing their problems to me. You dreamed about what? You're crazy. Now get out of my office. Next patient!\nEzri: Funny you should mention dreams. Ever since my conversation with Kor, I've had the most intense dreams about him.\nKira: Like what?\nEzri: Being on a Klingon bridge together, going off into battle, drinking bloodwine, which still makes me gag by the way, singing songs. A part of me wants to be out there with him now. I hope he's all right. I mean, I know I'm sort of contradicting what I just said about wanting to set myself apart from my previous hosts, but the memories I have of being with him are so vivid, I can't bear the thought of losing him. I'd give almost anything for the chance to be together one more time. The two of us, side by side, just like it used to be.\nKira: Do you need something?\nQuark: No. Nothing.\nEzri: So, what's your professional opinion?\nKira: You're crazy.\nEzri: Next patient!\nOdo: What's the matter with you? Someone forget to leave a tip?\nQuark: It's Ezri. She, she, I can't even say it.\nOdo: Try.\nQuark: She wants to get back together with Worf.\nMartok: And before the Cardassians realized we were even there, we destroyed the entire camp and the relay station!\nKolana: To General Martok, victor of Felton Prime!\nAll: Qapla'!\nKolana: Let me have the honor to welcome the Dahar Master to the humble mess hall of the Ch'Tang.\nKor: Sit, sit. You do me too much honor. On this voyage I am but the Third Officer. I expect no special treatment.\nWorf: Have you settled on an attack plan for the starbase on Trelka Five?\nMartok: I'm going to send the Malpara and Ning'tao in ahead of the rest of the squadron. They'll make a single strafing run on the base and then head out of the system. When the enemy sends out their repair crews to assess the damage, then the rest of the squadron will decloak. With any luck, we'll catch them not only unprepared but with their entire damage control effort underway.\nKor: Excellent! An excellent plan, General.\nMartok: I'm glad you approve.\nKor: Of course. It's the same tactic Kang and I used against the Federation in the battle of Caleb Four.\nKolana: You were at Caleb Four?\nDarok: Of course he was! Forgive the ignorance of these children.\nKor: I was a young officer once. I know how irrelevant the past can seem.\nKolana: We would be honored if you would tell us about Caleb Four.\nDarok: Tell the tale.\nSynon: Yes, tell us!\nKor: Well, there's not much to tell really. The battle was over almost before the Federation knew it had begun. I commanded the first division from the Klothos, one of the old D Five cruisers. Kang commanded the second division. Now, you must remember that in those days, the cloaking device was a new piece of technology. There were only a handful of engineers in the Imperial Fleet who knew how to operate them. Before we left Chronos, I spent three days in the engine room taking the device apart with my bare hands and then putting it back together again. Now this would come in handy later in the battle, as you'll see.\nWorf: It is not the fault of the crew. They are not used to serving with a legendary figure like Kor.\nKolana: Bridge to General Martok.\nMartok: Yes?\nKolana: We are approaching Trelka Five.\nMartok: Set defense condition one.\nKolana: Defense Condition One. All hands to battle stations. Repeat, all hands to battle stations.\nKor: I'm supposed to be somewhere.\nSynon: Dahar Master.\nKor: Where are you going, Lieutenant?\nSynon: To the bridge. We're approaching Trelka Five.\nKor: The bridge!\nSynon: Are you all right?\nKor: Of course. What are you waiting for? Report to your station!\nSynon: Chah Veh!\nKor: Concentrate.\nKolana: Their shields are down to sixty five percent. Three Cardassian cruisers are in spacedock, orbiting the far side of the planet. Two of them are getting underway. The Malpara and the Ning'tao have completed their attack.\nKolana: The Malpara is gone. No survivors. Ning'tao is heading out of the system. The Cardassians are pursuing.\nMartok: Leaving their base unprotected. Helm, take us in. Bring us to a hover three hundred meters above the base. Stand by to decloak on my command.\nSynon: Holding at three hundred meters.\nMartok: Scan the base.\nKolana: They've dispatched damage control teams. Two defense batteries are out and they've just dropped their primary shield grid.\nMartok: Decloak the ship and open fire.\nKolana: Shields are down to eighty five percent!\nWorf: Reroute emergency power to the secondary shield emitters.\nMartok: Fire torpedoes! Helm, lay in an escape course.\nSynon: Aye, sir!\nKor: Continue firing! Target their primary reactors!\nKolana: Chah Veh!\nKor: And bring us around for another pass!\nSynon: Coming about!\nMartok: No, only one pass. Leave the system!\nKor: Do not worry, my friend. All is well.\nMartok: You old fool.\nKolana: The Orantho reports their captain and first officer are dead. They have a hull breach on their port quarter.\nKor: Instruct them to continue firing, and open a channel to Kang.\nKolana: To Kang?\nKor: Tell him we've succeeded, and that the Federation outpost on Caleb Four will be taken within an hour!\nKolana: Sir, Kang has been dead for years.\nKor: Prepare a boarding party. We're going to take the base.\nSynon: But sir, they have a garrison of ten thousand!\nMartok: By the hand of Kahless, get us out of here!\nKor: Victory is ours. The Federation will rue the day they dared to challenge the might of the Klingon Empire. We will take Caleb Four and raise our banner over the smoking ruins of their outpost.\nWorf: Escape course. Now!\nMartok: Engage cloaks.\nKolana: Orantho and Slivin have cloaked. No pursuit from Trelka Five.\nMartok: No time to waste. Proceed, proceed to the rendezvous then on to the Manora shipyards. Warp seven.\nWorf: Medical team to the bridge.\nMartok: Worf, get that man out of here.\nEzri: Hi. I think I'm in the mood for\nQuark: Wait. I have something to say. Now, you may think this is none of my business, but someone has to speak up and I've decided that someone is me. So here it is. I'll just say it.\nEzri: Okay.\nQuark: You're making a mistake by pursuing another relationship with Worf.\nEzri: Excuse me?\nQuark: You heard me. I know how Jadzia felt about Worf, but that was her life, not yours. You're Ezri Dax. You need to give yourself a chance to explore other relationships. You're young and beautiful and full of life. Why go after a man who's only a memory to you? I've had my problems with Worf, I'll admit that, but this is not about me or my feelings. This is about you. Worf has done nothing and I mean nothing to deserve you. Shouldn't you try and find someone who's willing to win your heart, not just inherit it? You deserve better. There. I've said my piece.\nEzri: Can I say something now? I'm not interested in having another relationship with Worf. I care about him and I probably always will, but he's moved on with his life and so have I.\nQuark: Oh. Well, good.\nEzri: And I'd also like to say that what you just did was one of the kindest, dearest and for you, one of the most embarrassing things that I have ever heard. You're a real sweetheart. Can I order now? A Moscow mule.\nQuark: Coming right up.\nQuark: Did you hear that? She called me sweetheart.\nJake: Yeah. So?\nQuark: She loves me.\nJake: What?\nQuark: Sweetheart.\nJake: You're certifiable, you do realize that?\nQuark: She loves me.\nMartok: And find out what is wrong with the Ning'tao. I know Captain Lurkan is young, but he must realize the importance the importance of keeping formation. I've been thinking about our next objective. Perhaps we should go after a bigger target, something more threatening to our forces. Now, what about the base on Caleb Four?\nDarok: If you'll excuse me, I have duties to attend to.\nMartok: Your duties are right here. Someone was just telling me about the defenses on Caleb Four. Who was that?\nSynon: I believe it was our Third Officer, General.\nMartok: That's right. Third officer! Tell us about Caleb Four. Is it manned by Jem'Hadar or Cardassian troops?\nKolana: I thought it was a Federation outpost.\nMartok: But how can that be? The Federation is our ally. Surely Kor is aware of that.\nSynon: Perhaps he's confused.\nMartok: Confused? The Dahar Master? Surely not. We must be the ones who are confused. Enlighten us. Who mans the base on Caleb Four? Dominion or Federation?\nKolana: I think he's forgotten.\nSynon: I think he's asleep.\nMartok: Stop it, both of you. Don't you have any respect for one of the greatest heroes of the Empire? He's thinking it over. Give him time. The last son of the House of Kor should not be rushed.\nKolana: How long should we wait?\nSynon: Perhaps we should ask Kang.\nMartok: Well, say something, old man. Or have you lost your tongue as well as your mind?\nKor: Savor the fruit of life, my young friends. It has a sweet taste when it 'is fresh from the vine. But don't live too long. The taste turns bitter after a time.\nWorf: The new personnel roster.\nMartok: You've removed Kor from active duty.\nWorf: I saw no other choice.\nMartok: Still, you're his friend. It must have been difficult for you.\nWorf: A friend would not have put him in that position in the first place.\nMartok: I've hated his name for almost thirty years. I've dreamt of the moment when I would finally see him stripped of his rank and title, when he would suddenly find himself without a friend in the world, without the power of his birthright. Well, I've had that moment now. And I took no joy from it. Have you thought about what will become of him when we return to Deep Space Nine?\nWorf: I plan to speak with Chancellor Gowron to try and find Kor some assignment on the homeworld.\nMartok: I'll have a word with Gowron as well.\nKolana: Bridge to General Martok.\nMartok: Yes?\nKolana: Pardon the interruption, sir. Our sensors have detected a large body of enemy ships.\nMartok: On my way.\nMartok: Where are they?\nKolana: Their warp signatures are bearing directly astern. They're Jem'Hadar fighters and they appear to be pursuing us.\nMartok: How can that be?\nWorf: The lead ship is using some kind of long range tachyon scanner to penetrate our cloaks.\nSynon: Does the Dominion possess such a device?\nMartok: They do now.\nWorf: How many ships?\nKolana: I've identified ten vessels so far, and they're gaining on us.\nWorf: How long before we are within their weapons range?\nKolana: Two hours, twelve minutes.\nMartok: Helm, have you located the Defiant?\nSynon: Yes, sir. They're waiting for us in the Kalandra sector, with seven Federation starships. It will take us three hours, forty five minutes to reach them.\nWorf: If the Jem'Hadar could be forced to drop out of warp for only ten minutes, they would not have time to catch up with us before we rendezvous with the Defiant.\nMartok: A fine theory, but how do we execute it?\nWorf: We could disrupt their warp fields with an inverse graviton burst. It would force them to drop to impulse until the gravitons dissipated.\nKolana: We would need to generate a massive burst to disrupt the warp fields of a fleet that size.\nWorf: A single bird of prey could do it by diverting warp power to the main deflector.\nMartok: How long would that delay them?\nKolana: They could reinitialize their warp cores in less than two minutes.\nWorf: If I could engage them in battle while they're still at impulse, that would delay them even longer. I know I could do it.\nMartok: What do you mean, you could do it?\nWorf: The Orantho's Captain and First Officer are dead, and the Slivin's deflector is damaged. It cannot generate a graviton burst. And the Ning'tao's Captain is too young and inexperienced. I am the logical choice.\nMartok: But Worf, this means that you'd be sacrificing the entire crew of the Ning'tao.\nWorf: I have thought about that. We could beam most of the crew over before I take command. I would only need six volunteers.\nMartok: Signal the Ning'tao. Tell them to prepare for a change in command.\nKor: Yes?\nKor: I am not hungry.\nDarok: The food is for me. I haven't eaten in hours. Men of our generation never stood on ceremony. We ate when we were hungry, we fought when we were angered. Oh, I miss the simplicity of those days.\nKor: I miss a great deal about those days.\nDarok: The warriors on this ship, they don't know what they've missed. But such is the way with children. They often let the promise of the future obscure the glories of the past.\nKor: Is there a point to this nostalgic indulgence?\nDarok: Only that they are children. Even Martok who, for all his flaws, is a great man, even Martok is but a child compared to you or me. They are quick to judge and slow to forgive. They still have much to learn. We are being pursued by a Jem'Hadar fleet. Worf believes he can stop them with a single ship.\nKor: How?\nDarok: It's a good plan, but it has one flaw. It depends entirely on Worf successfully engaging the whole enemy fleet, if only for a short time.\nKor: It can be done. The key is to confuse their sensors in the opening moments with a spread of torpedoes.\nDarok: Perhaps. But it would take a man with three times his experience to accomplish such a feat. And such a man would have to be certain of his abilities.\nKor: Such a man would not take the job unless he were certain.\nDarok: It has been an honor serving with you, Kor, son of Rynar.\nKor: Worf! Leaving for the Ning'tao, I take it?\nWorf: Yes.\nKor: I wanted to wish you well. I look forward to seeing you at the gates to Sto'Vo'Kor.\nWorf: As do I.\nKor: Do you have any message you want me to convey to Jadzia?\nKor: When I reach the halls of the hallowed dead, I will find your beloved and remind her that her husband is a noble warrior, and that he still loves no one but her. Goodbye, my friend. Live well.\nKor: Long live the Empire!\nMartok: On the bridge?\nDarok: If they succeed, you can drink to their courage, and if they fail, you can still drink to their courage.\nKolana: The Ning'tao is closing on the enemy. She's initiated the graviton burst. Their warp fields are destabilizing, They're dropping to impulse.\nMartok: By Kahless's hand, how many?\nKolana: All of them. The Ning'tao has dropped out of warp. She's engaging the enemy.\nMartok: Die well, Worf.\nWorf: Today was not my day to die.\nMartok: Worf! But then who? Kor!\nWorf: He surprised me outside the transporter room with a hypospray.\nMartok: I hope that old fool understands what he's doing. How goes the battle?\nKolana: We're approaching the limit of our sensor range, but it appears that the enemy formation has collapsed. The Ning'tao is maneuvering rapidly. She's taking heavy fire from the Jem'Hadar. I've lost contact.\nMartok: One ship against ten. It doesn't seem possible.\nWorf: He will succeed. He is Kor, the Dahar Master.\nKolana: He's done it. The Jem'Hadar are out of time. They can no longer overtake us before we reach the Defiant.\nMartok: How? How did that pompous old man hold off an entire Jem'Hadar fleet with only one ship?\nWorf: Does it matter?\nMartok: Darok, give me that bottle.\nMartok: To Kor. A Dahar Master and noble warrior to the end.\nDarok: Mi' qul qar'a, 'ej Do' QI'la'.\nKolana: QI'do' Sum, garI' do' QI'la. ALL except Martok: Sutem pa' rI' tlho' Mara' 'e' qor. rI'qa' rI'qa' rI'qa' DaSo' pa gareh QI' ro'qa' ro'qa' ro'qa' ro'qa."}
{"text": "Rom: So, what do you think?\nVic: Not bad, but the lady is a tramp, not a scamp.\nRom: Tramp, right. So, do I get the gig?\nVic: Sorry, pallie.\nRom: But Doctor Bashir said you're looking for an opening act and I love to sing.\nVic: I can tell. But two singers on the same bill, that's a one way ticket to Deadsville. I need someone to warm up the audience for me. You know, a comic.\nRom: A comic?\nVic: A comedian. Someone who can make people laugh.\nRom: I can do that. My brother tells me people are always laughing at me.\nVic: Well, that may be true, but this is a holosuite program, capisce?\nRom: So?\nVic: So you're not a hologram.\nRom: Life can be so unfair.\nBashir: Vic, you got a minute?\nRom: Forget it. He's not hiring.\nBashir: What's wrong with him?\nVic: Showbiz. It can break your heart. So what can I do for you, pallie?\nBashir: Did you get a chance to make those audio recordings for me?\nVic: All your favorite hits.\nBashir: That's great. Thanks, Vic.\nVic: My pleasure. These songs are four hundred years old. You sure the troops on the front lines want to hear them?\nBashir: The songs may be old, but when you sing them, they sound brand new.\nVic: Hey, when you put it that way, I wish I was going on the supply run with you. I could make some personal appearances. Sing a few songs, tell a few jokes. You know, put together a regular USO show.\nBashir: I'm afraid there are no holosuites where we're going.\nVic: Rom's right. Life can be unfair. You know, pallie, sometimes being a hologram can be a real pain in the asometric photons.\nBashir: I'll see you when I get back.\nVic: You know where to find me.\nOdo: I thought I might find you here. The new security protocols you requested.\nSisko: I think that's what I'm going to remember most about this war. Looking through casualty reports. Sometimes it feels like that's all I do. Stare at the names of the dead. When the war started, I read every name. I felt it was the least I could do to honor their sacrifices. But now the names have begun to blur together.\nOdo: Well, that's understandable.\nSisko: Maybe.\nKira: Ops to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nKira: The Defiant is ready for departure.\nSisko: On my way.\nQuark: Why me? Why did he have to send me? I'm like a son to him.\nEzri: Quark, you're mumbling again.\nQuark: I'm sorry. It's just not fair. I have responsibilities of my own. Customers who depend on me.\nEzri: But the Grand Nagus picked you for this assignment.\nQuark: Some assignment. A fact finding mission to the front lines. Zek's already inundated with Starfleet intelligence reports. What can I tell him that he doesn't know?\nEzri: Maybe he wants to hear things from a Ferengi perspective.\nQuark: Then let him ask Nog.\nEzri: The Nagus trusts you.\nQuark: What are you trying to do, cheer me up?\nEzri: It's my job. Remember the thirty fourth Rule of Acquisition. War is good for business.\nQuark: Only from a distance. The closer you are to the front lines, the less profitable it gets.\nQuark: What is that?\nEzri: Stay here.\nQuark: Wait. Don't leave.\nWorf: This is no time to be wandering the corridors.\nQuark: I thought the Chin'toka system was in Federation hands.\nWorf: It is, but the Dominion is determined to take back their territory. The whole system's a battleground.\nQuark: Thank you. I should probably write this down.\nSisko: Mister O'Brien, keep an eye out for more Jem'Hadar ships.\nO'Brien: Aye, sir.\nNog: What are you doing here, uncle?\nQuark: I'm, er, visiting.\nNog: I'm working.\nSisko: Quark, is there something we can do for you?\nQuark: Not really. I just came by to say hello to my nephew.\nSisko: All right, you've just said hello.\nQuark: Anybody here who'd like to join me in the mess hall for a raktajino?\nSisko: Quark!\nQuark: I'm just leaving.\nNog: Sir, I assure you that won't happen again.\nEzri: Nog, your uncle's just a little nervous. He's not used to being in a combat situation.\nNog: That's no excuse.\nBashir: Captain, the supplies are ready for transport.\nWorf: AR five five eight has acknowledged your message. They are expecting you.\nSisko: Away team, you're with me. Mister Worf, she's all yours.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nQuark: Not much to look at, is it?\nSisko: Those are Federation phasers. Hold your fire! I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko of the USS Defiant.\nLarkin: You heard him! Cease fire, damn it!\nSisko: We're coming out.\nLarkin: Who told you to open fire?\nVargas: I saw movement. I thought it was the Jem'Hadar.\nLarkin: They look like Jem'Hadar to you? I gave the word to hold your fire. That Starfleet officers were beaming down with supplies.\nVargas: Well nobody told me.\nLarkin: Sorry, Captain. A little breakdown in communications.\nSisko: No harm was done. Where's Captain Loomis?\nLarkin: He was killed ten days ago. So was Commander Parker.\nSisko: Who's in command?\nLarkin: I am. Lieutenant Nadia Larkin.\nSisko: Ben Sisko. Where do you want your supplies?\nLarkin: Vargas can show you.\nVargas: Supplies. That's great. Don't they know we need to get off this rock?\nReese: Take it easy, Vargas.\nVargas: Take it easy? I would love to take it easy. Get me out of this vole hole and I promise you for the rest of my life all I'll do is take it easy! According to Starfleet regulations we're suppose to be rotated off the front lines after ninety days. Ninety days! We've been stuck on this rock for five months, Captain. Take it easy.\nLarkin: Welcome to paradise, Captain.\nLarkin: There it is. The only reason anyone gives a damn about this place. It's the largest Dominion communications array in the sector.\nSisko: If we can figure out how it works, we should be able to tap into their entire comm. system.\nLarkin: One thing's for sure, they're determined to get it back.\nSisko: We can't let that happen.\nLarkin: I know our orders, Captain. But maybe Starfleet Command isn't aware of our situation. We've been holding this place for five months. That's five months of fighting off repeated Jem'Hadar attempts to get it back. When we landed here, there was a hundred and fifty of us. We're down to forty three.\nSisko: I appreciate what you've gone through, and I will make sure that Starfleet understands your situation. But from what I hear, our forces are spread pretty thin in this system. Chances are, you're going to be stuck here for a while longer.\nLarkin: Lucky us.\nKellin: Someone hand me a duonetic coupler. Thanks.\nEzri: Your frequency diskriminator seems to be drifting. You might want to reset it.\nKellin: You an engineer?\nEzri: No, but Tobin, one of my previous hosts, was.\nKellin: Close enough. Grab a microdyne coupler and start recalibrating that transtator.\nQuark: Nog, shouldn't you be helping Doctor Bashir unload the supplies?\nNog: We're pretty much finished.\nQuark: Good. The sooner we get out of here, the better.\nNog: That soldier over there. You see his necklace? Those are Ketracel white tubes.\nQuark: So?\nNog: You know how he got them?\nQuark: Mail order?\nNog: He took them off the bodies of dead Jem'Hadar. Jem'Hadar that he killed. It's his way of keeping score.\nQuark: And you find that impressive?\nNog: Isn't it?\nQuark: I don't think so. Take a look around you, Nog. This isn't the Starfleet you know.\nNog: Sure it is. It's just that these people have been through a lot. They've been holed up here for a long time, seen two thirds of their unit killed, but they haven't surrendered. Do you know why? Because they're heroes.\nQuark: Maybe, but I still don't want you anywhere near them. Let me tell you something about humans, nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time, and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces. Look in their eyes. You know I'm right, don't you? Well? Aren't you going to say something?\nNog: I feel sorry for the Jem'Hadar.\nBashir: This is twenty cc's of numinol tetraminothen. That'll take care of the fever and the chest congestion. And this will get rid of the dermal irritation on your back. Better?\nVargas: Are you kidding? I haven't felt this good since the day I landed on this rock.\nBashir: Good. Now I'd like to take a look at this arm.\nVargas: What the hell are you doing? You keep your hands off this bandage.\nBashir: I need to treat your wound.\nVargas: Nobody touches this bandage. Is that understood?\nBashir: Why is that?\nVargas: I asked you if you understood.\nBashir: Yes.\nVargas: McGreevey put this bandage on me. He ripped up his own uniform to make it.\nBashir: He sounds like a good friend.\nVargas: He was a jerk. I couldn't stand the guy. He wouldn't shut up. Yap, yap, yap, yap. He thought he was the world's greatest authority on everything. I know, he's dead and I should have more respect, but God I hated him. One moment he's tying the bandage around my arm, talking his head off, and the next minute he's lying flat on his back with a hole in his chest. And I just sat there and I looked at him. That was so great. He was so quiet. One time in his life he's quiet.\nBashir: I still need to treat your wound.\nSisko: I think you've set up a solid defense perimeter, but you need to tighten this flank.\nBashir: Captain, can I have a minute?\nBashir: These people's physical and mental health is precarious at best. They need more than a few food replicators and medical supplies. They need to be shipped out of here.\nSisko: I understand, but right now there's nothing I can do about that.\nLarkin: Damn it!\nNog: I saw it happen. He was walking along\nSisko: You must've swept the compound for anti-personnel mines.\nLarkin: A hundred times. It doesn't help, not with Houdinis.\nBashir: Houdinis?\nReese: Find one and you disappear.\nLarkin: They hide in subspace and appear at random.\nVargas: You can walk by the same spot a hundred times and nothing happens. And then bang.\nReese: You're wasting your breath, Vargas. It's not the Captain's problem. He's leaving.\nSisko: I wish I could tell you that things were going to get easier for you.\nLarkin: Don't worry about us, Captain.\nWorf: Defiant to Captain Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nWorf: Sir, we're being attacked by two Jem'Hadar ships. We have locked on your coordinates. Are you ready for transport?\nSisko: Stand by, Mister Worf.\nO'Brien: Captain, sensors show\nO'Brien: Jem'Hadar troops landing nine kilometers from your position.\nWorf: Sir, we must beam you aboard now. We have to break orbit.\nSisko: Take evasive action, Mister Worf. We're staying here.\nWorf: Captain, I must ask you to reconsider I do not know when we'll be able to come back for you.\nSisko: You have your orders, Commander.\nWorf: Aye, sir. Good luck.\nSisko: What are you looking at? We have work to do.\nLarkin: Yes, sir. You heard the Captain. Sir, what are your orders?\nSisko: There's only one order, Lieutenant. We hold.\nSisko: We need to find out how many Jem'Hadar troops landed and where they are.\nLarkin: Well, you're not going to learn anything with a tricorder. We jam their sensors, they jam ours. That's how it works. Except they have an advantage. They know where we are.\nSisko: But that's all they know. They don't know our defense positions or how many of us there are.\nLarkin: All things considered, I'd still rather be in their shoes.\nSisko: Hear anything, Ensign?\nNog: Plenty. I can hear Vargas's stomach grumbling and Ezri tuning a phase amplifier with a coil spanner in the communications bunker.\nSisko: What about the Jem'Hadar?\nNog: Not a sound. If they're out there, they're very quiet.\nReese: They're out there.\nSisko: Keep your ears open, Ensign.\nNog: I will, sir.\nSisko: See anything?\nNog: That knife you're working on. It's not Starfleet issue. Can I see it?\nReese: You're supposed to be listening for the Jem'Hadar.\nNog: I know.\nReese: Then shut up and listen.\nLarkin: Here they come.\nReese: There's something wrong. They're not firing.\nSisko: Hold your fire!\nVargas: Where'd they go?\nSisko: They weren't here to begin with.\nReese: Holograms.\nNog: I don't understand.\nSisko: It was a way for them to see what they were up against, determine our numbers.\nReese: And pinpoint our positions.\nLarkin: Without risking any casualties. Smart.\nVargas: They're smart all right and we're as good as dead!\nSisko: Not yet we aren't.\nQuark: Is it over?\nSisko: For now. But next time they won't send holograms.\nLarkin: Get a stretcher. Let's get him to the infirmary.\nMan: Right away.\nEzri: Does that mean we stop working on the communications array?\nSisko: They'll have to get along without you for a while. We have to find the Houdinis and disarm them.\nEzri: I'm all for that. These mines are a nasty piece of engineering.\nKellin: They're also impossible to detect. I'm sorry, Captain, but I'm an engineer, not a magician.\nSisko: Larkin says you like a challenge.\nKellin: I thought I did. But after banging my head against that communications array for the last few of months, I'm not so sure anymore.\nEzri: He's just being modest, Captain. Chief O'Brien would be proud to have him on his crew.\nSisko: I can't think of higher praise.\nKellin: Now what?\nEzri: Now we get to pull a rabbit out of our hat.\nQuark: Here. You need to keep your strength up.\nNog: Thanks, uncle, but I can get my own food.\nQuark: What's the matter? Afraid of looking weak in front of the humans?\nNog: I want to earn their respect, if that's what you mean.\nQuark: At the price of your soul? Look at you. You hold that phaser rifle as if it were made of pure latinum.\nNog: We're in the middle of a war and this rifle can keep me alive. I'm a Starfleet officer.\nQuark: You're a Ferengi and I wish you'd start acting like one.\nNog: You mean hiding under a rock every time trouble starts?\nQuark: I'll tell you one thing, nephew. If the Federation had listened to the Ferengi Alliance there never would have been a war.\nNog: Because we would have surrendered a long time ago.\nQuark: No, we would have reached an accommodation. We would have sat across the negotiation table and hammered out a peace treaty. One that both sides could lived with.\nNog: You make it sound so simple.\nQuark: Rule of Acquisition one twenty five. You can't make a deal if you're dead.\nSisko: Nog. I'm sending you, Larkin and Reese out on a scouting patrol.\nNog: Yes, sir.\nSisko: I need to know what I'm up against. How many Jem'Hadar are out there, where they're camped, and what kind of weapons they have with them.\nNog: When do we leave?\nLarkin: Right away.\nQuark: Hold on a minute. Why Nog, when you have all these veterans to choose from?\nReese: No one asked your opinion.\nSisko: Our tricorders aren't working.\nNog: But my hearing is.\nSisko: Exactly.\nNog: You can count on me, sir. I'll find the Jem'Hadar.\nLarkin: Let's go.\nQuark: Nog, wait a minute.\nSisko: He has his orders, Quark.\nQuark: That is so easy for you to say, but I bet you wouldn't send Jake out there.\nSisko: Jake is not a Starfleet officer.\nKellin: You did it.\nEzri: Actually, I'm not sure it was me. It could've been Tobin or Jadzia.\nKellin: It doesn't matter. The point is you managed to cut through the jamming signals.\nEzri: Unfortunately, I can't extend its range past a hundred meters.\nKellin: That's enough to scan the entire compound. Now the question is, how do we calibrate the tricorder to locate the mines in subspace?\nEzri: Maybe we should try cross linking the optronic and isodyne relays.\nKellin: You sure you're not an engineer?\nEzri: In nine lives I've been a little of everything.\nKellin: Doesn't that get confusing?\nEzri: You have no idea.\nKellin: Really.\nEzri: I'll give you an example. This is my first time on the front lines.\nKellin: You're talking about Ezri now.\nEzri: Right. But Torias, Curzon, and Jadzia, they were in battle many times, and I can remember what that felt like. I remember the fear, and the anger, and the adrenaline surge.\nKellin: Having someone else's memories of being in combat is one thing. Living through it yourself is another.\nEzri: I suppose I'm going to find out.\nKellin: You'll do fine.\nLarkin: This is close enough, Nog.\nNog: What is it? What's going on?\nLarkin: It's time to go.\nReese: Right.\nLarkin: Let's go.\nVargas: Someone's coming.\nReese: Don't shoot. It's me, Reese!\nSisko: Stretcher!\nQuark: Nog! What happened?\nReese: Jem'Hadar patrol.\nSisko: Larkin?\nReese: She's dead.\nSisko: Damn.\nReese: The Ferengi found the encampment. It's three kilometers south of here.\nSisko: How many troops?\nReese: Two columns.\nVargas: How are we going to be able to hold off two columns?\nSisko: We'll have to even out the odds.\nReese: Any ideas?\nSisko: I'm working on it.\nReese: Captain. The kid did all right.\nQuark: The doctor doesn't want anybody in there.\nSisko: Well how's Nog?\nQuark: It's a little late for you to care about that, isn't it?\nSisko: Quark.\nQuark: He's going to lose his leg. Does that answer your question?\nQuark: Now what happens? You will be able to replace the leg, won't you?\nBashir: As soon as we can get him to a hospital, he can be fitted with a biosynthetic limb. Unfortunately, there may be complications.\nQuark: What's that supposed to mean?\nBashir: Nog suffered severe thermal damage to his femoral motor nerves. I'm not sure they'll be able to stimulate artificial muscle tissue. In fact, there's no way to know until after the operation has been performed. I have to get inside.\nQuark: We've got to get Nog to a hospital.\nSisko: We will, as soon as we can.\nQuark: That's not good enough.\nSisko: I'm sorry.\nQuark: Sorry? If you really cared about Nog you would never have sent him out on that patrol.\nSisko: Now you listen to me, Quark, because I'm only going to say this one time. I care about Nog and every soldier under my command. Understood? Every single one.\nNog: Captain.\nSisko: At ease, Ensign.\nNog: I'm sorry, sir.\nSisko: About what?\nNog: About Larkin. I led her right into a trap.\nSisko: You found the Jem'Hadar camp.\nNog: I heard them coming, but it was too late. There was all this phaser fire and I went down, and before I could\nSisko: Nog, listen to me. You followed orders. You did what you were trained to do. I'm proud of you.\nNog: Thank you, sir.\nNog: It doesn't hurt. You'd think it would, but it doesn't.\nSisko: I'm glad.\nNog: I'm going to be fine. Captain. The communications array. It's worth it, right?\nSisko: I hope to God it is.\nEzri: Benjamin, sorry to interrupt. We're ready.\nSisko: Remember, no one moves until I say so. Go ahead, Lieutenant.\nKellin: Now all we have to do is figure out how to disarm them.\nSisko: We're not going to disarm them. We're going to use them.\nReese: This is their camp. This is ours. There are mountains to the east and west which means they have to come through this ravine to get to us.\nSisko: Then that's where we'll relocate the mines.\nKellin: Moving them shouldn't be too difficult. Delicate, but not difficult.\nSisko: I also want you to reprogram them so that they're triggered by movement.\nReese: Make sure it's lots of movement. We want that ravine full of Jem'Hadar when those Houdinis start to go off.\nKellin: I think we can manage that.\nReese: That should take out a third of their forces.\nSisko: What's the matter, old man? Don't you think it'll work?\nEzri: It's not that. It's just that a few hours ago, we thought of these mines as the kind of ruthless weapon only the Dominion would use. But now\nReese: They've become a whole lot friendlier.\nSisko: Sooner or later, the Jem'Hadar are going to come through those barricades and when they do, the fewer there are, the better our chances of survival. You have your orders.\nReese: Power packs.\nVargas: Did you hear that?\nEzri: I didn't hear anything.\nReese: Relax. When they get here, you'll know it.\nReese: Power packs.\nKellin: Sorry. My thumb got a little nervous.\nSisko: I know how you feel.\nKellin: I wonder if the Jem'Hadar get jittery before a battle.\nSisko: I wouldn't count on it.\nVargas: What the hell is that?\nEzri: Shh. Listen.\nEzri: Your idea?\nBashir: Yeah. I thought we could all use some Vic Fontaine right about now.\nEzri: How's Nog?\nBashir: There isn't much I can do for him until I get back to the station. I take it you were able to move the mines?\nEzri: Put it this way, I wouldn't go for a stroll through that ravine tonight.\nBashir: I wasn't planning on it. Then again, I wasn't planning on being here.\nVargas: I can see you've done that before.\nBashir: Too many times. Funny. I joined Starfleet to save lives.\nVargas: Maybe they're not coming. Maybe they're turning back. Maybe we got them all.\nSisko: Fire!\nEzri: Kellin? Kellin?\nReese: You alive? Captain, are you with us?\nSisko: I think so.\nSisko: We held.\nReese: Those were our orders, sir.\nWorf: Captain.\nSisko: Yes, Mister Worf.\nWorf: The USS Veracruz has entered orbit. They are beaming down troop replacements and an engineering crew.\nSisko: What about our people?\nWorf: Doctor Bashir is aboard the Veracruz with Nog and the rest of the wounded. They will be taken to a hospital on Starbase three seven one.\nSisko: Good. I'll return to the Defiant shortly.\nWorf: This was a great victory. One worthy of story and song.\nSisko: It cost enough.\nReese: Children.\nSisko: Not for long. Ready?\nReese: Let's go.\nSisko: Sisko to Defiant. Three to beam up.\nKira: Sir, the latest casualty reports have just been posted.\nSisko: How many this time?\nKira: Including the troops lost at AR five five eight, seventeen hundred and thirty.\nSisko: Seventeen hundred thirty.\nKira: That's a lot of names.\nSisko: They're not just names. It's important we remember that. We have to remember."}
{"text": "Quark: What can I get for you?\nEzri: A Til'amin froth for me.\nBashir: Romulan ale, Quark.\nOdo: A glass of springwine.\nQuark: Since when do you drink springwine, or anything else, for that matter?\nOdo: It's for Kira. She should be getting out of services any minute now.\nBashir: Well, here she is.\nOdo: How was it?\nKira: Beautiful. Ranjen Telna gave a very moving sermon.\nEzri: What was it about?\nKira: About how important it is to forgive the people who've wronged you.\nOdo: Two hours on forgiveness?\nBashir: It's a complicated subject, Odo.\nKira: What's wrong?\nOdo: Nothing. It's just that you spend so much time in services that sometimes it makes me wish I were a believer so that we could go together.\nEzri: That's so sweet.\nKira: I would love for you to come with me, but I don't think you'll get much out of it if you don't believe in the Prophets.\nOdo: Perhaps if I had an Orb experience?\nKira: It doesn't work like that. Faith has to come first.\nOdo: That's too bad. I have a feeling it must be very comforting to believe in something more powerful than yourself.\nBashir: If you really feel that way, there are other faiths.\nEzri: Would it bother you if Odo believed in Klingon religion?\nKira: Not if he got something out of it.\nBashir: He'd get to eat the hearts of his enemies.\nEzri: And go to Sto'Vo'Kor when he dies.\nBashir: You can go on a vision quest.\nOdo: But then I wouldn't get to go to services with Kira, would I. That's the whole point.\nEzri: That really is so sweet.\nKira: Yes. Vedek Fala.\nFala: Nerys.\nKira: What a surprise. What are you doing here?\nFala: Well, I came to see you.\nKira: Well come in, sit down. Let me get you some tea. When I contacted the University they told you were on a spiritual retreat.\nFala: Ah, you know me, always searching for answers.\nKira: That's what makes you different from all the other vedeks I known. To you, faith is a journey.\nFala: Thank you. And one that never ends. Oh, you're a Colonel now. It seems like only yesterday you were just a little girl, squirming in your chair during instruction.\nKira: Chair? We didn't have any chairs at the camp. We sat on the floor.\nFala: Which was good for diskipline and made me seem more imposing.\nKira: Oh, as if you needed the help. Nerys, what are the three keys to enlightenment?\nFala: And the answer?\nKira: Charity, humility and faith.\nFala: You remember.\nKira: You were a good teacher. Without you, I'm not sure I would have survived that camp.\nFala: I brought you something.\nKira: What is it?\nBrin: Welcome to Empok Nor.\nKira: Empok Nor? That's impossible.\nBrin: I know it's a long way from Deep Space Nine, but this transponder allowed us to beam you here.\nKira: Those red armbands. You're members of the Pah wraith cult?\nBrin: We worship the True Prophets, yes.\nKira: Why did you bring me here?\nBrin: That is a question best answered by the Master.\nKira: And who exactly is the Master?\nDukat: I am.\nKira: Dukat. You? You're the leader of the Pah wraith cult?\nDukat: I'm sure you have many questions, Nerys, and I intend to answer them all. Leave us, please. First of all, let me apologize for bringing you here without your permission.\nKira: Oh, it's all right, I always wanted to see Empok Nor. Is the Dominion aware that you've set up a temple here?\nDukat: Oh, this station has been abandoned a long time. There's no reason why they'd object to us putting it to use. Your hair. You changed it.\nKira: Your ear. You pierced it.\nDukat: A symbol of the Covenant I've made with my new family.\nKira: Your new family. Well, it makes sense that these people would choose you as their leader. They worship evil.\nDukat: The Pah wraiths are not what you think, Nerys, and neither am I. Let me ask you something. Have you ever wondered why the Prophets stood by and did nothing when Cardassia took over Bajor? Have you ever asked yourself how they could allow your people to suffer as they did?\nKira: The Prophets have a plan for us. It's not always easy to see what it is.\nDukat: Even as you speak those words, you must know how hollow they sound. No, there's a much better explanation. One that makes perfect sense. The Prophets are not the true gods of Bajor, the Pah wraiths are. They were cast from the Celestial Temple because they wanted to take an active role in Bajoran life. Their only crime was that they cared about your people. But they were not allowed to help you because they'd lost the battle for heaven and were forced to flee.\nKira: So I guess the ancient texts just had it all wrong, then.\nDukat: Oh, come now, Nerys. You know as well as I do that history is written by the victors. But rest assured, there will be another chapter. The Pah wraiths are determined to reclaim their place in heaven.\nKira: And how would you know that?\nDukat: They speak to me in visions. I am their Emissary.\nKira: I don't know whether you believe what you're saying, or if you're faking it, or if you're just insane.\nDukat: I have touched by the hand of a god. I'm a changed man. Oh, I admit that when I first allowed myself to become a vessel for the Pah wraith, it was purely out of self-serving reasons. All I wanted was to help it enter the wormhole so it could force the Prophets out. It was nothing more than a way to exact vengeance on Sisko. But I had no idea the effect it would have on me. It was only inside of me for a very short time, but it opened my heart.\nKira: Would that be before or after you killed Jadzia?\nDukat: That was most unfortunate, but it couldn't be helped. The Celestial Temple itself was at stake and she was in the way. Ah, Nerys, Nerys. I wish I had the words to describe what it was like to have the Pah wraith within me. I could feel its love, for me and for the Bajoran people. It made me realize I still have a role to play in Bajor's destiny.\nKira: You mean besides overseeing an occupation that killed tens of millions?\nDukat: You have no idea how much it pains me to know that I caused so much suffering. But I am not responsible for the occupation, the Prophets are.\nKira: You have no right to say that.\nDukat: They abandoned Bajor. I was simply walking the path they laid out for me. Now I walk with the true Prophets. I'm building a community here, Nerys. I brought these people to Empok Nor so that we could purify ourselves in preparation for the day the Pah wraiths reclaim the Celestial Temple.\nKira: And what's supposed to happen when that day comes?\nDukat: The Pah wraiths have a plan. When the time is right, they will reveal it to me.\nKira: Something tells me their plan involves you being ruler of Bajor again.\nDukat: You're still so full of anger toward me. I can only hope that one day you'll let it go. I brought you here because I want you to be a part of our community. I want you to share in the love these people have for one other. In the love they have for me.\nKira: Oh, they don't love you. You have some kind of a hold over them, but they don't love you.\nDukat: Nerys, open your heart to me. We're bound together by destiny. You belong at my side.\nSisko: Chief. When did you realize she was missing?\nOdo: This morning. She usually comes by my office before going to Ops.\nSisko: Did you check the entry log?\nOdo: She had a visitor sometime after nineteen hundred hours. Whoever it was only stayed about ten minutes.\nSisko: Anything, Mister Worf?\nWorf: According to the Ops report, only one ship has left the station since last night. The morning transport to Bajor. Kira was not aboard.\nO'Brien: Sir, I'm picking up traces of tachyon energy.\nOdo: A transporter beam?\nO'Brien: With a Dominion signature.\nOdo: Any chance of tracing it?\nO'Brien: Afraid not. The signal's already dissipated.\nSisko: Their transporters operate over longer distances than ours. What's their maximum range?\nWorf: If the homing transponder was in place, up to three light years.\nO'Brien: There was a homing transponder, all right. It was wrapped in this.\nOdo: Three light years. For all we know, she could be deep inside Dominion space by now.\nKira: I had a feeling you'd turn up sooner or later.\nFala: I know you're angry with me.\nKira: Angry? I feel sorry for you. Letting yourself be duped by Dukat into joining this cult.\nFala: I was a member of this cult, as you call it, long before Dukat. I came to it toward the end of the occupation. It's helped me make sense of the suffering we all had to endure.\nKira: In the camp, you kept us together. It was your faith in the Prophets that got us through. How could you of all people would turn your back on them?\nFala: They turned their backs on us long ago.\nKira: The path the Prophets laid out for us isn't always easy, but that's no reason to turn to hate and fear.\nFala: Hate and fear. You know how often I've heard those words used to describe us? Nothing could be further from the truth.\nKira: The Pah wraith cult tried to kill the Emissary.\nFala: Dukat had nothing to do with that. The boy who attacked Captain Sisko was acting out of his own misguided beliefs. We're a peaceful people.\nKira: Then prove it. Let me go.\nFala: Nerys, the Master brought you here because he cares about your spiritual well being.\nKira: The Master. He's using you. He's taking your beliefs and twisting them to suit his own purpose.\nFala: You're so stubborn. That's always been your problem.\nKira: Your problem is you're too trusting.\nFala: When Dukat first came to us, I didn't want to accept him. But I came to realize the Pah wraiths had taken this man of evil and washed him clean. What could be more wondrous than that?\nKira: How can you forget all the friends we lost during the occupation? How can you forget all the millions Dukat murdered?\nFala: You disappoint me, Nerys. Of all the things I tried to teach you, the most important is the need to forgive.\nKira: Some things can't be forgiven.\nFala: Let me show you how we live. I want you to see the community we're building here so you'll know you have nothing to fear from Dukat, or from us.\nFala: Only one of the fusion generators is operational, so we don't have power for things like replicators.\nKira: Where do you get your food?\nFala: We've turned several of the lower levels into hydroponic bays.\nKira: What about things like medical supplies? Do you bring them from Bajor?\nFala: We have a few cargo shuttles. We're well aware that you may try and leave us, so you should know that the docking bays are being guarded, as is the transporter we used to bring you here.\nKira: As long as we're on the subject, am I free to move around, talk to people?\nFala: Of course. It's the Master's hope that you will come to see this as your home. Mika, this is Nerys.\nMika: Welcome.\nKira: You're getting close.\nMika: It could be any time now.\nFala: Mika and her husband have the honor of being the first to receive the Master's blessing to bear children.\nKira: You have to get permission from Dukat to have a baby?\nFala: Vows of abstinence are part of our covenant with him. Exceptions are granted only when he sees that a husband and wife have demonstrated a true spiritual bond.\nKira: Oh, I see.\nFala: But you don't approve. In ancient times, Bajorans understood the value of denying worldly pleasures. Ironic, isn't it, that a Cardassian would be the one to lead us back to the old ways?\nKira: Especially a Cardassian whose appetite for worldly pleasures is legendary.\nFala: That was a long time ago, before he felt the kiss of the Pah wraith.\nKira: That was some kiss.\nFala: Striking, isn't it? Benyan is Mika's husband.\nKira: Oh, congratulations. I understand it isn't easy to get permission to have a baby.\nBenyan: The Master told us you wouldn't approve of our ways. He said we should be patient with you.\nKira: Don't go out of your way.\nBenyan: I don't understand why he brought you here.\nFala: Benyan.\nKira: No, it's all right.\nBenyan: We all work very hard for what we have. We don't need you or anyone else to approve of us.\nKira: Fair enough.\nBenyan: Don't misunderstand. I hope you come to feel the love of the Pah wraiths. But if you don't, it's your loss. No offense.\nKira: None taken. In fact, I've always found that when people try to convince others of their beliefs it's because they're really just trying to convince themselves.\nBenyan: I know what I believe.\nKira: And that's what scares me. No offense.\nAll: ba'ja kor'ek, no'la ba'lani, pah'nom ko'se plusso ma'kora. Ba'ja kor'ek, no'la ba'lani, pah'nom ko'se plusso ma'kora.\nDukat: Kosst no'valt Amojan, my children.\nAll: Kosst no'valt Amojan.\nDukat: Let us open our hearts and pray.\nAll: Ba'ja kor'ek, no'la ba'lani, pah'nom ko'se plusso ma'kora. Ba'ja kor'ek, no'la ba'lani, pah'nom ko'se plusso ma'kora.\nKira: Don't. Dukat. Stay where you are. The rest of you get down on the floor. I said down on the floor!\nKira: Step aside.\nBenyan: No.\nFala: Enough, Nerys, unless you're willing to kill us all.\nDukat: Now do you understand how much they love me?\nDukat: Careful, no sudden moves.\nDukat: I removed it so I could tend to your bruise. I had a meal prepared for you. Come now, Nerys, you haven't eaten anything since you arrived. I know what you're thinking. But really, what good would it do to try to kill me? Even if you succeeded, it wouldn't get you off Empok Nor. You'd only make a martyr of me.\nKira: You're right. I don't want anything to happen to you. Not until your followers have a chance to see what a fraud you are.\nDukat: I love these people, Nerys. And they love me. I should think that after what just happened in the temple, you'd realize that.\nKira: It always comes back to that, doesn't it, Dukat? Your desperate need to win the love of the Bajoran people. You just never understood why we didn't appreciate you.\nDukat: If it hadn't been for me, the occupation would've been much worse.\nKira: And you want a thank you? You were working people to death in the ore processing center, but that didn't stop you from strutting around Terok Nor, picking out Bajoran women to take to your bed and actually believing that they wanted to be there.\nDukat: Your mother did want to be there.\nKira: You took her away from her children. She did what she had to so that we could survive.\nDukat: She loved me.\nKira: Maybe she convinced herself that she did, which is a very different thing.\nDukat: Perhaps you're right. And if I did indeed cause your mother any pain, I deeply regret it. Just as I regret many things I did in those years. That's why I'm so glad the Pah wraiths have given me an opportunity to redeem myself in the eyes of your people.\nKira: How? By recreating some kind of idealized version of the occupation? Because that's what you've done here. You have your station back, Bajorans to serve your every whim. And the best part is, this time they really do love you. As misguided as that is, they love you.\nDukat: I'm so glad you're here, Nerys. You embody everything I admire most about the Bajoran people. Your passion, your spirit. I can see now why the Pah wraiths want you at my side.\nKira: And why's that?\nDukat: Because if I can open your heart to them, then surely I can open the heart of any Bajoran. Your anger is a challenge. I welcome it. Because in the end, it will only help me better serve the Pah wraiths.\nDukat: Yes.\nBrin: It's Mika. She's gone into labor.\nDukat: Come, Nerys. I want you to be a witness at this blessed event.\nDukat: Ah, this is a great day for us, Benyan. You should be honored to have fathered the first child born to our community.\nBenyan: I only hope that Mika and I can live up to the faith you've shown in us.\nDukat: I have no doubt that you will. Your family will be the first of many. Think of it. Someday, Empok Nor will ring with the laughter of children.\nFala: You don't approve, Nerys.\nKira: Not of children being raised to follow the Pah wraiths. You can bet that I don't approve.\nFala: This is a special moment. I'm not going to ruin it by arguing with you. You believe the Prophets are the true gods of Bajor, I believe the Pah wraiths are. Let's just leave it at that.\nKira: I'd be happy to. There's just one thing. We can't both be right.\nDukat: The Pah wraiths! They've sent us a sign. My children, good news. Something wondrous has happened. This infant, born of the love between Benyan and Mika, was transformed in her womb into a living symbol of the covenant I made with you. Oh, what a blessed day this is. There can no longer be any doubt that the Pah wraiths are smiling upon us. Let us give thanks and praise.\nAll: Ka'li bor'ek, no'ma ten'su, fah jah nori bentu'sa. Ka'li bor'ek, no'ma ten'su, fah jah nori bentu'sa. Ka'li bor'ek, no'ma ten'su, fah jah nori bentu'sa. Ka'li bor'ek,\nKira: Fala, I don't understand this. You're an intelligent man. How can you believe Dukat's story? It's obvious he's the child's father.\nFala: What's obvious is you hate him so much, you can't even entertain the possibility that a miracle has occurred.\nKira: Are you so blind that you will just believe anything he says?\nFala: I have faith. I would think you'd understand what that means. Nerys, is it beyond the realm of possibility that the Pah wraiths have sent us this child as a sign? They have powers beyond our understanding. Your Prophets made an entire fleet of Dominion ships vanish into thin air. What's one child compared to a miracle like that?\nKira: You know to know what the miracle is? That Mika didn't breaking into tears in front of her husband. She was terrified he wasn't going to believe Dukat's little performance. I could see it in her eyes.\nFala: You saw what you wanted to see.\nKira: If you believe that this really is a miracle, then you'll let me talk to the happy couple. What's wrong? Afraid of finding out the truth?\nFala: I know the truth. I just don't want you making unfounded accusations.\nKira: I'll be diskreet.\nFala: It's coming along nicely.\nKira: Maybe you should make one of the children half Cardassian. To commemorate what happened.\nBenyan: If I'd known, I would have.\nKira: It must be quite an honor to be part of such a miraculous event.\nBenyan: It is.\nKira: Obviously Dukat did the right thing in giving his permission for you to have a baby.\nBenyan: We prayed together many times. He wanted to be sure.\nKira: Did you ever pray with him alone?\nBenyan: Yes.\nKira: Did Mika?\nBenyan: Yes.\nFala: Nerys, let's let Benyan get back to work.\nKira: I want to find Mika.\nFala: When we do, I trust you'll be more diskreet than you were with Benyan.\nMika: I'm sorry.\nDukat: Why didn't you tell me the baby was mine?\nMika: I didn't know. I was hoping it wasn't.\nDukat: Mika, I'm so sorry about what happened that night. I was weak and you were so beautiful.\nMika: I've forgiven you. You know that.\nDukat: Have you told anyone?\nMika: No.\nDukat: Not even Benyan?\nMika: He wants to believe it was a miracle, but I know he has doubts. If he ever asks me, I don't know if I can lie to him.\nKira: Thank you. He said Mika went this way.\nDukat: Don't worry. Everything is going to be all right. Wait here until I'm gone, then go back to you quarters and pray for strength.\nKira: Mika? Mika?\nKira: Mika.\nMidwife: You got to her just in time.\nDukat: How is she?\nMidwife: The depressurization caused swelling in her meningeal tissues. I'm going to keep her sedated until morning.\nDukat: But she will recover?\nMidwife: She'll be fine.\nDukat: Brin. Seal the docking ring. Check all the airlocks. Let's make sure we never have another accident like this again.\nKira: An accident? What happened, Dukat? Was Mika going to tell everyone that you're the father of her child?\nFala: Kira.\nKira: Is that why you tried to kill her?\nFala: Enough.\nDukat: Fala, it's all right. Nerys is obviously upset. She doesn't know what she's saying.\nKira: Mika isn't going to lie for you anymore.\nDukat: Take her to her quarters. She needs to rest.\nKira: Keep him away from her.\nDukat: Let us pray for Mika's recovery. Ka'la mo'sek, teru benso, Kosst Amojan\nDukat: I failed you. Forgive my weakness. Forgive me for letting temptation obscure the path you've laid out for me. When Mika awakes, and I pray she does, your children will learn the truth. They will turn away from me. They will turn away from you. The covenant will be broken. Don't let that happen. Tell me what to do. Please. Please.\nMidwife: It's not time for services.\nBenyan: I'll stay with her if you want to go.\nMidwife: No. You go.\nDukat: Kosst no'valt Amojan, my children.\nAll: Kosst no'valt Amojan.\nDukat: Tonight, as I prayed, the Pah wraiths sent me a vision. They told me it would be the last I'd ever receive from them. There's a reason. A wondrous reason. My children, the Pah wraiths have asked us to join them\nDukat: In their Holy quest to reclaim the Celestial Temple. To become warriors in this great battle\nDukat: We must transform ourselves.\nDukat: Our corporeal bodies are not suitable for the task, so we must leave them behind. In a few hours, at the beginning of a new day, we will gather together here for the last time. We will shed the flesh that ties us to this world and deliver ourselves\nDukat: Into the waiting arms of the Pah wraiths.\nFala: Ka'li bor'ek, no'ma ten'su, fah jah nori bentu'sa.\nAll: Ka'li bor'ek, no'ma ten'su, fah jah nori bentu'sa.\nAll: Ka'li bor'ek, no'ma ten'su, fah jah nori bentu'sa. Ka'li bor'ek, no'ma ten'su, fah jah nori bentu'sa.\nDukat: I've sent a message to Deep Space Nine. They should be able to get someone here for you within a day or so.\nKira: I know you're desperate to keep your followers from turning against you. I'm not surprised you'd kill them. But I can't believe you'd be willing to die yourself.\nDukat: You just don't understand, Nerys. The Pah wraiths are calling me home. You should be happy.\nKira: Happy? Fifty people are going to die.\nDukat: I assure you, our deaths will be painless.\nDukat: Promazine. Developed by the Obsidian Order for its operatives to use in case of capture. Not only is death swift, but it reduces the body to dust within hours, making it unidentifiable to the enemy. Dust. That's all that will remain of my passage through this misbegotten universe, Nerys. But it doesn't bother me because I know I'm going to be with the Pah wraiths.\nKira: You really believe that.\nDukat: Goodbye, Nerys.\nDukat: My children, the time has come for us to leave this world behind us.\nDukat: As we embark on this journey, our hearts are not heavy, but joyful. Because we know we'll be together in the holy light of the Pah wraiths.\nDukat: This is a great day for us. We have proven ourselves worthy of the Pah wraiths\nDukat: And they are calling us home. This is the means of our deliverance.\nDukat: Kosst no'valt Amojan, my children.\nAll: Kosst no'valt Amojan.\nDukat: Be not afraid. I love you all.\nKira: Dukat!\nMan: Stop her!\nKira: Don't you see why he's doing this? He doesn't want you to find out the truth!\nFala: Are you all right? Everyone, please. Let us not allow anything to disturb this holy moment.\nKira: What's wrong, Dukat? Take it. They're all the same, aren't they?\nDukat: My children, listen to me.\nKira: Tell them, Dukat. Tell them you never had any intention of dying with them.\nDukat: My time here is not finished. The Pah wraiths want me to continue bringing others into their light.\nBenyan: This is his child. That's why you tried to kill Mika.\nDukat: The Pah wraiths have forgiven my sins. They've given me their absolution. Who are you to presume they're wrong? Who are you to judge me? Then it's done. Our covenant is broken.\nDukat: None of you will ever know the love of the Pah wraiths. None of you!\nBenyan: False gods!\nKira: Fala, no! Why?\nFala: Faith, Nerys. Faith.\nOdo: I'm sorry about Vedek Fala.\nKira: I keep going over what he said when he died and I don't know if he was trying to tell me if he never lost his faith or that he felt betrayed by it.\nOdo: I suppose you'll never know. But one thing is certain. These people have been betrayed and now they have to find a way to pick up the pieces and move on.\nKira: I thought Dukat was just claiming to share their faith because he wanted them to love him. But it was more than that. He's changed.\nOdo: If you hadn't stopped him, he would've killed them all, and no one would have known his body wasn't among the remains. That sounds like the same old Dukat to me.\nKira: I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think Dukat convinced himself that he was doing what the Pah wraiths wanted.\nOdo: Who knows? Maybe he was.\nKira: Either way, he believes. And that makes him more dangerous than ever."}
{"text": "Rom: What if I say something dumb? Something that makes him uncomfortable?\nEzri: Like what?\nRom: Like how's your new leg?\nEzri: I think he's probably expecting a few questions.\nRom: I just don't want to say the wrong thing.\nLeeta: You'll be fine. But maybe I shouldn't be there when he arrives.\nEzri: Why?\nLeeta: Well, when he was in the hospital, he didn't answer any of my letters. That's okay. I'm only his stepmother. But he's going through something so personal maybe he only wants his real family around.\nRom: You are real family.\nEzri: That's right. And you should both just relax. Yes, Nog has lost a leg and that's a traumatic experience, but nothing you do or say or do is going to be worse than what he's already gone through. Just be happy to see him and tell him you love him. For today, that'll be enough.\nKira: They've docked.\nSisko: Colonel, are you sure this is the right transport?\nKira: I checked the passenger list this morning. He definitely boarded at\nLeeta: Here he comes. Nog!\nKira: Welcome back, Nog.\nEzri: Welcome back.\nRom: Hello.\nLeeta: Welcome home, Nog.\nNog: Thank you. It's good to be back. My orders, Captain.\nSisko: Medical leave? How could that be?\nO'Brien: Sounds like an excuse to loaf around while the rest of us work.\nBashir: Hard work and plenty of it, that's what I prescribe.\nOdo: Captain, maybe he forged those orders.\nSisko: I'm afraid they're genuine. Ensign Nog has no duties until further notice. Except to attend a welcome home party in the wardroom.\nNog: If it's all the same to you, sir, I'm rather tired. I'd rather just go to my quarters. Is that all right?\nEzri: Absolutely. We can celebrate once you've settled in.\nNog: Great.\nJake: I can carry your bag.\nNog: I've got it. Well, if you'll all excuse me.\nEzri: And Julian and Miles have become even more obsessed with their Alamo program, if you can believe it. I half expect Miles to start wearing a coonskin cap to work. You see, Davy Crockett wore this cap made of a raccoon skin and\nNog: I know the program.\nEzri: Oh. Well, I think we've covered just about everything you missed while you were away. Is there anything you want to talk about?\nNog: Not particularly. Here it comes.\nEzri: What?\nNog: The cane problem. You're about to ask me why I need to walk with the cane since Doctor Benbasset told you my biosynthetic leg works perfectly. He also told you the problem's all in my head. That I'm crazy.\nEzri: He didn't say that.\nNog: It's what he thinks.\nEzri: Forget what he thinks. What do you think? Why do you need the cane?\nNog: My leg hurts. And if I put my full weight on it, it hurts more. So I have to limp. And that means I need to walk with a cane.\nEzri: Sounds reasonable to me.\nNog: Good. Look, can I be perfectly honest with you? I've spent the last three weeks talking about my feelings with the counselors on Starbase two three five and to tell you the truth, I'm a little sick of it. I just want to be left alone for a while.\nEzri: I understand. I think we've done enough for today. I'll see you tomorrow.\nNog: Computer what time is it?\nComputer: The time is nine thirty two hours.\nSisko: Jake says he's sleeping over eighteen hours a day and Julian says he's missed his last two physical therapy appointments.\nEzri: And his counseling sessions have been going nowhere. In his words, he's sick of talking about his feelings. I can't say I blame him. He's been under constant psychiatric care for almost two months now.\nSisko: What should do we do?\nEzri: I'm not sure. For now, I think our best bet is to simply watch and wait.\nSisko: Not my first choice.\nEzri: I know. But sometimes a patient can help guide his own treatment. Let's see what Nog does next.\nJake: Nog, I am trying to be understanding and I want to be your friend, but enough is enough. You've been playing that same stupid song for three days. I can't take it anymore. Aren't you going to say anything? You've barely said three words to me since you came home.\nNog: Maybe I don't have anything to say.\nJake: I'm trying to help you here, Nog, but you're not making it easy.\nNog: You want to help me? Fine. Leave me alone.\nJake: All right. Okay. But if you want to hear that song again, go rent a holosuite.\nComputer: Program is running. You may enter when ready.\nVic: Hi there, pallie. It's good to see you. Vic Fontaine.\nNog: I know. I'm Nog.\nVic: You're Rom's kid, right?\nNog: Right.\nVic: He's really proud of you. He's always in here bragging about his son, the soldier boy.\nNog: Yeah.\nVic: What can I do for you?\nNog: I want to hear 'I'll Be Seeing You'.\nVic: Sure thing, kiddo. Any other requests?\nNog: No. Just 'I'll Be Seeing You.'\nVic: Sounds like a special tune.\nNog: It is. It helped me once when I was unhappy.\nVic: What more can you ask from a song? I'll be seeing you, from the top.\nNog: Doctor?\nBashir: Yes?\nNog: What is that?\nBashir: It's a song that I had Vic Fontaine record for me.\nNog: Vic?\nBashir: Yes, he's a character in a holosuite program of mine. I thought it might take our minds off our troubles. Is it bothering you?\nNog: No. It's kind of nice.\nVic: Thank you. Take five, fellas. Okay, kid, I know fifteen different arrangements of that tune and you've heard 'em all. Now, which one's your favorite?\nNog: The first.\nVic: Somehow, I knew you were going to say that. So let me guess. Julian played it for you, right?\nNog: Right.\nVic: If I had him as a publicist, I'd be bigger than Elvis.\nNog: Who?\nVic: Never mind. So, how's the new leg?\nNog: You know about that?\nVic: People talk.\nNog: If you really want to know, it hurts.\nVic: Can they give you something for that?\nNog: No. They say it's all in my head. According to my tricorder, the pain receptors in your leg aren't being stimulated, Nog. You must be imagining it. I don't care what they say. It hurts all the time.\nVic: I believe you.\nNog: You're the only one.\nVic: So what else can I do for you? Sing it again?\nNog: No.\nVic: Good. To tell you the truth, I was starting to get a little sick of it myself. How about something else?\nNog: No. I just want to go to bed.\nVic: Okay, kid. Catch you later, huh?\nNog: Yeah.\nVic: Something wrong?\nNog: I don't want to go back to my quarters. Actually, I don't want to go back to my life. Vic, where do you live? In the program, I mean. Do you have a house or?\nVic: I have a suite here in the hotel.\nNog: Do you have an extra room?\nVic: Sure. You want to stay with me tonight?\nNog: Maybe more than just tonight. Officially, I'm on medical leave, and according to regulations I can choose my rehabilitation facility.\nVic: You want to choose a holosuite program for your rehab?\nNog: Why not?\nVic: Okay, kid. If that's the way you want it, from now on you're staying with me.\nNog: Great.\nVic: Crazy.\nRom: My son is insane.\nEzri: Rom.\nRom: He's a one-legged crazy man!\nEzri: He is not crazy.\nSisko: But he is living in a holosuite.\nEzri: At first, it struck me as a little peculiar. But after I thought it over, I began to think that this might be a good sign after all.\nQuark: How can hiding in one of Julian's adolescent programs be a good sign?\nBashir: Hey.\nJake: It could be worse. He could be hiding in the Alamo program.\nLeeta: Or that ridiculous secret agent program.\nBashir: Hey.\nRom: Or that stupid Viking program.\nBashir: Hey!\nSisko: All right. Are you sure this is in Nog's best interest?\nEzri: No, I'm not sure. But I think Nog might be subconsciously trying to seek out his own form of therapy.\nJake: I'm sorry, but moving into a holosuite isn't my idea of therapy.\nEzri: Okay, it sounds a little odd.\nQuark: It sounds ridiculous.\nBashir: Not really. I'm inclined to agree with Ezri on this one. The mind has a strong natural instinct for survival. Now, for whatever reason, Nog's mind has chosen to take shelter in the world of Vic Fontaine.\nEzri: I think we should wait and see how this plays out.\nSisko: Then someone should talk to Vic, make him aware of Nog's emotional and physical condition.\nEzri: I'll do it.\nQuark: And who's going to pay for all this holosuite time? I guess I am.\nSisko: And it's very generous of you. Keep me informed.\nVic: I get it. He's got some healing to do. I could spot that the moment he walked in here.\nEzri: Great. Do you have any questions?\nVic: You sure he doesn't need the cane, because he's pretty sure he does.\nEzri: I'm positive. It's a psychological need, not a physical one.\nVic: Well, then I have got some ideas on how to wean him off the stick.\nEzri: Okay, but don't push it.\nVic: Do I seem pushy to you?\nEzri: No. Well, you know how to reach me if you have any problems.\nVic: I got your number.\nLadd: So you're Jack Wilson.\nPalance: What's that mean to you, Shane.\nVic: Hey, kid.\nLadd: I've heard about you.\nNog: Hey, Vic. Have you seen this movie?\nVic: Oh, yeah.\nPalance: What have you heard, Shane?\nLadd: I've heard that you're a low down Yankee liar.\nDewilde: Shane, look out!\nVic: From these books I can't tell if I'm rich as Rockefeller or as poor as a church mouse.\nNog: It's not real money, Vic. Don't worry about it.\nVic: Hey, it's real to me, kid.\nNog: I can have the computer put some money in your account.\nVic: No, thanks. I'll figure it out.\nLadd: I got to be going on.\nDewilde: Why, Shane?\nNog: Didn't he just get shot a minute ago?\nVic: Yeah. He took one in the arm.\nNog: He's not bleeding. He's not even in pain.\nVic: Noggles, take it easy. It's only a movie.\nDewilde: Shane! Come back!\nNog: I like The Searchers better.\nVic: Yeah, who doesn't? Oh, son of a gun. I got to get ready for the show.\nNog: Show? I thought we were hanging in.\nVic: Hanging out. And we are, except I have a gig to do.\nNog: Cancel it.\nVic: I can't do that.\nNog: Why not?\nVic: It would be unprofessional. Besides, performing is my life. It's what I do. I got to get out there and swing otherwise I'm just another clyde in a tux. You coming to the show?\nNog: Sure.\nVic: Good. Then may I suggest you carry something with a little more style.\nVic: Now this is a cane. It's a replica of the one Errol Flynn used to have, only his was a little taller.\nNog: It's beautiful. It reminds me of the Grand Nagus's staff.\nVic: And it has a little secret. Push that button at the back of the head.\nNog: Great. But what's it for?\nVic: You never know when a lady's going to need a light. Now be careful with that stick, it's fragile. It might not hold your whole weight.\nNog: Actually, I don't need to put my whole weight on it.\nVic: Good. Now let's get dressed.\nNog: Tuxedoes?\nVic: You're catching on.\nJake: Hi there. Nog, let me introduce you to\nMan: Down in the front!\nJake: Sorry. Nog, this is Kesha. Kesha, Nog.\nKesha: Nice to meet you.\nNog: Welcome to Las Vegas.\nKesha: Thanks.\nVic: Thank you, thank you. You're too kind. I guess that's the response you get when you pack the house with relatives.\nJake: So, what have you been doing?\nNog: Hanging out.\nKesha: Out of what?\nNog: It's an expression.\nJake: There's a lot of old Earth slang in this program. Right, Daddy-o?\nNog: Right.\nJake: Why don't I get us some drinks? Kesha, what'll you have?\nKesha: A makara fizz.\nNog: They don't serve that here.\nKesha: Oh. Well, what are you having?\nNog: Martini. Two olives.\nKesha: I'll have the same.\nJake: Okay. I'll be right back.\nKesha: Jake says you're going to be the first Ferengi captain in Starfleet.\nNog: We'll see.\nKesha: He also says you're quite a hero.\nNog: I'm not a hero.\nKesha: Don't be so modest. Jake's not the only one. Everyone on the station\nNog: I said, I'm not a hero.\nKesha: Okay.\nNog: Which one?\nKesha: What?\nNog: That's what you're wondering, right? Which leg is it?\nKesha: No, I wasn't wondering about that\nNog: About what?\nKesha: About your, you know.\nNog: My new leg? Can't you say it?\nKesha: No. Yes. I mean, I'm not trying to say anything\nNog: Then maybe you should just keep quiet.\nJake: Okay, here we go. Three martinis.\nKesha: I think we should leave, Jake.\nNog: Sounds like a good idea.\nJake: What's going on?\nKesha: It's all my fault. I didn't mean to stare.\nJake: At what?\nNog: What do you think?\nJake: Oh.\nKesha: I'm really sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Nog.\nNog: Wonderful. Goodbye.\nJake: Hold on. She said she was sorry.\nNog: I heard her. Now you can go.\nJake: Nog, what's wrong with you?\nNog: I said get out.\nJake: Nog.\nNog: Let me put it another way.\nVic: Hey, hey, hey. Break it up. You all right?\nJake: Yeah, I'm fine.\nVic: And you, take a hike.\nNog: What?\nVic: You heard me. You don't come into my club and start hitting customers. Now get out before I throw you out.\nVic: You're still up?\nNog: I couldn't sleep.\nVic: Do you mind? What a night.\nNog: I'm sorry about what happened.\nVic: Don't apologize to me. I'm not the one you belted.\nNog: I'll settle things with Jake.\nVic: And his girl.\nNog: Absolutely. Can I go back to the club tomorrow night?\nVic: I can't have you hitting the customers. It's not good for business.\nNog: I promise it'll never happen again.\nVic: What got into you, anyway?\nNog: I don't know. She started calling me a hero and things just of went downhill from there.\nVic: She called you a hero? And for that you slugged your best friend? Remind me never to give you a compliments. You know, I'm beat. That's never happened to me.\nNog: What?\nVic: Being tired. My program's never run this long. Usually people come in, they ask for a song or two, sometimes a night on the town, but I never have to put in a full day.\nNog: Maybe you should go to bed.\nVic: I got work to do. If I don't get these books in order, Uncle Sam's going to come down on me like a ton of bricks.\nNog: Sounds like my uncle. Is there anything I can do?\nVic: You know anything about bookkeeping?\nNog: I'm a Ferengi. It's in our blood.\nVic: Be my guest.\nNog: Where's your computer?\nVic: Right here. It's nineteen sixty two. What do you want from me?\nNog: It's all right. I can do it this way.\nVic: I'm going to hit the sack.\nNog: Can I ask you a question, Vic?\nVic: Sure.\nNog: When you sleep, do you dream?\nVic: Goodnight, kid.\nNog: Goodnight, Vic.\nVic: but this time he's switched all the robes in the steam room. So when Dino goes to pick up his robe, he doesn't realize that across the back, Frank has printed in big bold letters. I'll finish the story later. Hi, doll face.\nEzri: Hi. Where's Nog?\nVic: Up in the room, still working on the receipts from sixty one. That's kid's a hell of an accountant. He said the government owes me money. Can you believe that?\nEzri: I need to talk to him.\nVic: Can it wait?\nEzri: I'm afraid not.\nVic: It's about that thing with Jake, right? Is he pressing charges?\nEzri: No. But I do think that it's time for Nog to leave the holosuite.\nVic: Wait a minute, wait a minute. You know, he likes it here. He's making progress. Okay, he lost his cool, but I don't think that'll happen again.\nEzri: Vic, he can't hide in here forever. He has to face reality sometime.\nVic: The kid's had too much reality lately, if you ask me. He's lost a leg, he's watched good friends die. Like you said, we shouldn't push him. He needs time to heal.\nEzri: No offense, but you're just a hologram and I am his counselor. I outrank you and I feel that it's time for him to go.\nVic: He's on medical leave. And according to Starfleet regulations, he can spend it wherever he chooses.\nEzri: How do you know that?\nNog: I told him. And if you try to force me to leave, I'll resign my commission.\nEzri: Wait a minute. Let's slow down here. No one's talking about forcing anyone to do anything.\nNog: Good. Because Vic and I have big plans.\nVic: We do?\nNog: I've been going over your books, and this place is a latinum mine and you don't even know it. In my opinion, it's time to expand the business.\nEzri: Nog, this is a holosuite.\nNog: Of course it's a holosuite. That doesn't mean we can't build a new casino.\nVic: A new casino? How much money do I have?\nNog: If you'll excuse us, Counselor, we have business to conduct.\nNog: Go easy on the garnishes. People order a drink, they don't want a fruit bowl in their glass. We'll talk about this later.\nWaitress: Good evening.\nNog: I'll take care of them. Hey, long time, no see.\nRom: Hi.\nLeeta: Oh, Nog!\nNog: Right this way.\nLeeta: So, how are you?\nNog: Couldn't be better. Business is booming. We're making money hand over fist. I can hardly keep up with all the profits.\nRom: Those are holographic profits, right?\nNog: Yeah. So, what's new with you?\nLeeta: Well, Rom got a promotion.\nRom: Maintenance Engineer, First Class.\nNog: That's great! Congratulations, Dad!\nRom: Thanks.\nNog: We should celebrate. We'll close the lounge, have a private party.\nLeeta: Actually, Chief O'Brien threw him a party last night.\nNog: Oh.\nLeeta: It was a spur of the moment thing. No invitations or anything.\nNog: Don't worry about it. I probably couldn't have gotten away. Last night was really busy. Oh. A big player just walked in. Excuse me a minute. I need to go schmooze.\nRom: Okay. See you later.\nLeeta: Bye.\nVic: Hey, I hope you're still talking to me.\nEzri: Of course I am. I got to hand it to you, Vic, you've done a great job with him. He seems like a new man.\nVic: He just needed a little time, that's all.\nEzri: Heals all wounds, right? Giving him that cane was a great idea. I haven't seen him limp in days.\nVic: It gets better. Yesterday we drove out to see the architect who's designing the new casino. I saw him actually run up a flight of stairs.\nEzri: No kidding.\nVic: Would I kid a kidder?\nEzri: So, what's next for you two?\nVic: We don't break ground on the casino for about a week, so I thought we'd fly up to Tahoe for a couple of days. Sammy's going to be performing at the Cal Neva and I thought I'd introduce the kid to him.\nEzri: Sammy's a friend of yours?\nVic: We're tight.\nEzri: I see. You're going to get Sammy convince him that it's time to leave the holosuite?\nVic: Well, no.\nEzri: Forget it. I should know better by now than to ask you to give away your secrets. You probably have the whole thing all mapped out. I mean, what am I thinking? That this new casino is anything more than a ploy? That you'd actually let him live out the rest of his life in a holosuite?\nVic: No, of course not, I mean. The casino's just a ploy, like you said, you know.\nEzri: They'll be so glad to have him back.\nVic: Yeah. He is better, isn't he.\nEzri: It's like you said. He just needed a break from reality. Now all that's left is to decide when he's ready to go back. But I'll leave that up to you. See you around.\nVic: See you.\nNog: Great set tonight, Vic.\nVic: Thanks. Lot of familiar faces in the crowd. Did I see Rom and Leeta out there?\nNog: They came for a while. What do you think about moving the crap tables over to the south wing and expanding the slot machines out into here?\nVic: Good idea. I'll think it over.\nNog: But we're supposed to meet with the architect tomorrow morning.\nVic: Not anymore. It's time for you to go, kid.\nNog: Go where?\nVic: You know where. It's time to end the program.\nNog: But we've got work to do. We have a casino to build.\nVic: No, we don't. This is just a fantasy. It's not real.\nNog: It's real to me and it's real to you, and don't say it isn't. I know better.\nVic: You're right, it's very real to me. But I'm a hologram, Nog. I'm not a person. Until you came along, I'd never been on for more than six or seven hours straight.\nNog: I know. And now you're running all the time. Isn't it great?\nVic: It's incredible. Since you've been here, I've slept in a bed every night, gone to work every day, had time to read the paper, play cards with the boys. I've had a life. And I have to tell you, it's a precious thing. I had no idea how much it means to just live. Now I'm going to return the favor and give you your life back.\nNog: But I don't want that life anymore, Vic. I'm perfectly happy here.\nVic: What here? There is no here. Don't you get it? This is nowhere. It's an illusion and so am I. In fact, the only thing in this entire program that is not an illusion is you.\nNog: Okay. You're right. But I'm not ready to go back yet. I need more time. So let's just sleep on this and talk about it tomorrow.\nVic: Kid, I hate to do this to you, but you're not giving me any choice. Computer\nNog: No, don't!\nVic: End program.\nO'Brien: Oh. Hi, Nog.\nNog: Chief. Something wrong?\nO'Brien: No, no. I was running a diagnostic in Ops and I noticed a magnetic flux anomaly in the holosuite transilluminator circuits. I didn't realize it was you.\nNog: Sorry. I'm just having trouble getting the Las Vegas program to run.\nO'Brien: You know, Vic's matrix is a little different than your standard photokinetic hologram. He can turn himself off. And if he doesn't want to appear, he doesn't appear.\nNog: You mean he has free will?\nO'Brien: I'm an engineer, not a philosopher. All I know is that when Vic turns himself off, he's off, and ripping out the guts of the holosuite isn't going to change that. Anything else I can do for you?\nNog: No.\nO'Brien: Oh, we, er, we all miss you in Ops.\nNog: Yeah.\nVic: So, now that the Chief's told you I'm smarter than the average bear, will you stop messing around with my holosuite?\nNog: If you'll turn the program back on.\nVic: What is it I'm not making clear to you, Charlie? You got to go.\nNog: Don't you get it? I can't go out there.\nVic: Why not?\nNog: I'm scared, okay? I'm scared. When the war began, I wasn't happy or anything, but I was eager. I wanted to test myself. I wanted to prove I had what it took to be a soldier. And I saw a lot of combat. I saw a lot of people get hurt. I saw a lot of people die, but I didn't think anything was going to happen to me. And then suddenly Doctor Bashir is telling me he has to cut my leg off. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. If I can get shot, if I can lose my leg, anything could happen to me, Vic. I could die tomorrow. I don't know if I'm ready to face that. If I stay here, at least I know what the future is going to be like.\nVic: You stay here, you're going to die. Not all at once, but little by little. Eventually you'll become as hollow as I am.\nNog: You don't seem hollow to me.\nVic: Compared to you, I'm hollow as a snare drum. Look, kid, I don't know what's going to happen to you out there. All I can tell you is that you've got to play the cards life deals you. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but at least you're in the game.\nVic: Crazy.\nRom: He seemed happy.\nLeeta: And he's stopped limping.\nQuark: You're joking.\nLeeta: No. He's a new man. You should go see him.\nQuark: I don't think I'll need to.\nNog: Hi.\nRom: Hi.\nLeeta: Are you okay?\nNog: No. But I will be.\nNog: Computer, run program Bashir sixty two.\nVic: Hi, kid. Hey, nice threads.\nNog: Thanks.\nVic: You back at work?\nNog: Limited duty. Just a couple of hours a day.\nVic: How's it feel?\nNog: Different. I feel older.\nVic: Happens to the best of us.\nNog: I want to thank you for all that you did for me.\nVic: That's not necessary. You did something for me too. You gave me a chance to see what it's like to have a life.\nNog: Well you're going to have that chance again. I've made arrangements with my uncle Quark to keep your program running twenty six hours a day from now on.\nVic: What?\nNog: It's my gift to you.\nVic: Kid, I don't know what to say.\nNog: Just put it there, pallie, and tell me you'll always save me a seat up front.\nVic: It's a deal. And you can take that to the bank.\nNog: Got to go. I'm buying Jake and Kesha dinner tonight.\nVic: Hey. Try not to overturn the furniture.\nNog: I'll try.\nVic: Twenty six hours a day. I've got the world on a string, Sitting on a rainbow. Got the string around my finger.\nVic: What a world, what a life. I'm in love."}
{"text": "Odo: By the way, your gagh has arrived.\nEzri: My what? Oh, no.\nOdo: Oh yes, and it's waiting for you in cargo bay two.\nKira: Your gagh?\nEzri: Jadzia ordered it. She was planning a party for Martok's birthday next week.\nKira: How much gagh did she order?\nOdo: Fifty one cases.\nEzri: Each containing a different variety.\nKira: There are varieties of gagh?\nEzri: Oh, yes. I can remember what each one tastes like, and the way they feel when you swallow them. Torgud gagh wiggles. Filden gagh squirms. Meshta gagh jumps.\nBashir: Are you all right?\nKira: Are you all right?\nBashir: Me?\nKira: Well, you've barely said three words. Something on your mind?\nBashir: Oh, no. I just can't wait to see Miles, that's all.\nKira: Oh, let me guess. You have a holosuite appointment? Defending the Alamo again?\nBashir: You know me too well.\nKira: When does his transport arrive?\nBashir: Half an hour.\nEzri: Bithool gagh has feet. Flush it out the airlock. All of it.\nOdo: Environmental regulations.\nKira: Why don't you just give it to Martok?\nEzri: He'd insist on sharing it with me as a point of honor. Wistan gagh is packed in targ blood. I have to go now. See you later.\nBashir: I think I'd better go too.\nOdo: Give my regards to Santa Anna.\nSisko: What?\nBashir: Miles asked me not to say anything, but I haven't heard from him in three days and since he wasn't on this morning's transport, I think something might have happened to him.\nSisko: He told me he was going home to visit his father.\nBashir: He may have implied that he was going to visit his father, but he didn't actually say\nSisko: Doctor, please.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nSisko: So where is he?\nBashir: The last message I received from him said that he was still in New Sydney, and that he was following up on some promising leads.\nSisko: He's not a detective. He's an engineer. He is my Chief Engineer and now he's missing! So, who is this woman he's supposed to be looking for.\nBashir: She's the widow of Liam Bilby.\nSisko: Bilby, Bilby. The man he befriended during that undercover operation last year?\nBashir: Yes, sir. Miles still feels responsible for his death and has been in touch with his widow ever since. And when she dropped out of sight three weeks ago he got worried and decided to go find her.\nSisko: And now they're both missing. Perfect.\nBashir: In his defense sir, he did try and go through the official channels, but the authorities on New Sydney weren't very cooperative, to say the least, and since it isn't a Federation world, Starfleet doesn't have any jurisdiction.\nSisko: So he decided to turn into a one man police force.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nSisko: New Sydney. It's in the Sappora System, right?\nBashir: Right.\nSisko: I want a written report, detailing everything you know about this woman, O'Brien's plan to find her, and everything else you neglected to mention to me.\nBashir: Aye, sir. May I ask what you're going to do?\nSisko: No, you may not, and I want that report on my desk within the hour.\nSisko: And since your family still lives in the Sappora System, I thought they might have a few contacts on New Sydney.\nEzri: I'm sure they do. My mother's one of the more important business leaders in the system.\nSisko: Your personnel file says she owns the fifth largest pergium mining facility in the entire sector.\nEzri: Actually, it's the sixth now. The Ferengi diskovered a large deposit on Timor Two a few years ago. My mother nearly had a heart attack when she found out we'd been knocked out of the top five.\nSisko: Please. Do you think she'd be willing to intervene with the local authorities to look into what happened to the Chief?\nEzri: Oh, I'm sure she would.\nSisko: That's the first good news I've heard all day. Something wrong?\nEzri: No. Yes. I don't know. I haven't talked to my mother in almost six months.\nSisko: Oh.\nEzri: The last time I saw her was just after I was joined. She came to visit me on Trill and I was still a little confused. When she walked into my room, I put on a big smile, looked her straight in the eye and said, 'Hi, Mom, it's me, Curzon. Things kinda went downhill from there.\nSisko: I'm sure she understood what you were going through. You weren't prepared to be joined. She couldn't blame you for being confused.\nEzri: She didn't. Not really. But she did want me to come home to recuperate, and we had a disagreement.\nSisko: Not for the first time?\nEzri: No, not for the first time.\nSisko: If there was any other way, I wouldn't ask you to do this.\nEzri: No, that's all right. I mean, my family problems aren't as important as finding the Chief. I'll call my mother right away.\nSisko: Thanks, old man.\nEzri: Anytime.\nYanas: We've been worried about you.\nEzri: I'm all right. Really. And I'm a lot more sure of who I am than the last time you saw me.\nYanas: Well that's a relief. I'd hate to have to start calling you Curzon.\nEzri: I've been promoted.\nYanas: Oh?\nEzri: Lieutenant junior grade Ezri Dax at your service.\nYanas: Ezri Dax.\nEzri: The symbiont name always replaces the family name of the new host. It's traditional.\nYanas: Of course it is. I haven't been away from Trill that long. The important thing is you're doing well.\nEzri: Mother, I'm calling because I need your help. One of our officers, Miles O'Brien, went to New Sydney three weeks ago and now he's missing. Captain Sisko was wondering if maybe you could\nYanas: I'll do everything I can.\nEzri: Thank you.\nYanas: Now. When are you coming home?\nEzri: I'm not sure when I can get away.\nYanas: Ezri, you haven't been home in three years.\nEzri: I know, but with the war on and everything\nYanas: Ezri Tigan. Dax. You tell your commanding officer that your mother is a very difficult woman, and that she refuses to help look for Mister O'Brien unless you're allowed to return home right away.\nEzri: Mother, no. Please don't put me in this\nYanas: Ezri, goodbye. I'll see you when you get here.\nBashir: Here. Use twenty milligrams at the first sign of spacesickness. If you don't, you'll regret it.\nEzri: So will the other passengers.\nBashir: Everything Starfleet knows on Bilby and his widow.\nEzri: Where's your report?\nBashir: Oh, it's in there. It's the one with Captain Sisko's bootprints all over it.\nEzri: Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be out of the doghouse by the time I get back.\nBashir: I hope so.\nBashir: Would it help if I said that as someone who isn't especially close to his parents, I sympathize.\nEzri: I'm about to present my family with a whole new Ezri. And to tell you the truth, they didn't really know what to make of the old one. But thanks for trying, Julian. I'll let you know as soon as I find out anything about Miles.\nBashir: Well, have a safe trip.\nNorvo: Zee!\nEzri: Norvo.\nNorvo: I cannot believe you're really here.\nEzri: Neither can I.\nNorvo: You cut your hair.\nEzri: Oh, yeah. It kept getting in my eyes. Do you like it?\nNorvo: It'll take a some getting used to.\nEzri: I think you've just summed up my entire visit. Is this yours?\nNorvo: Mom insisted on hanging it in here. I hate it.\nEzri: Why?\nNorvo: Well, the composition is puerile and obvious. The colors belong on a child's toy and the technique is laughable.\nEzri: But other than that\nNorvo: It's perfect.\nJanel: Welcome home, little girl.\nEzri: Hi, Janel.\nJanel: Do I have to take a sonic shower before I get a hug?\nEzri: It's good to see you.\nJanel: You too. What happened here?\nNorvo: She cut it. I think it brings out her eyes, gives her more of a classic look.\nJanel: It's cute. Mom's on her way. She said to give you the preliminary police report on your friend.\nEzri: Have they found out anything?\nJanel: Not yet.\nJanel: But they have a few leads. I hope you appreciate all the trouble she's going to. She called in a lot of favors from the New Sydney police.\nEzri: Of course I appreciate it.\nNorvo: So how long are you staying?\nEzri: I'm not sure yet.\nJanel: She's not going to be here a minute longer than she has to. You know that.\nEzri: We're in the middle of a war, Janel. I have responsibilities back on DS Nine.\nJanel: There's always something.\nEzri: Hello, Mother.\nYanas: I hate your hair. Have you eaten?\nEzri: No, not yet.\nYanas: Good. Because I've got Korella working on a very special dinner. Have you taken care of Lorkin?\nJanel: I was just going to contact him.\nYanas: I want him paid and gone before dinner's ready.\nJanel: Yes, ma'am.\nYanas: And what about that third quarter review I asked you for?\nNorvo: I'm still working on it.\nYanas: You've been working on it for a week now.\nNorvo: I miscalculated some of the revenues. I have to redo them.\nYanas: I know you don't like doing the bookkeeping, but I really need that review as soon as possible, all right? Good. I want to show you the new solarium. I had these tiles all brought in from Andoria and then hand painted by a very charming old man I met on a trip to the Hovarian cluster.\nJanel: Have Mister Lorkin report to the main house.\nMan: Yes, sir.\nNorvo: Why are you getting rid of Lorkin?\nJanel: That broken waveguide in fourteen three A is going to cost us a thousand bars of latinum a day. Mother thinks it's a result of sloppy maintenance.\nNorvo: What do you think?\nJanel: I think a brand new waveguide doesn't just break.\nNorvo: You mean Bokar was behind it?\nJanel: He's trying to send us a message. The Orion Syndicate doesn't take no for an answer.\nNorvo: Maybe we should tell Mother.\nJanel: No. I can deal with Bokar.\nNorvo: I don't know.\nJanel: Relax. Everything's going to be all right.\nEzri: Jadzia considered Kira one of her best friends, and I'm starting to think of her the same way. We spend a lot of time together.\nJanel: She didn't have any trouble adjusting to having a new Dax in her life?\nEzri: Well, no more than anyone else. I don't really think any of them were expecting another Dax to walk into their lives.\nNorvo: Did any of them wonder if you\nYanas: Whatever happened to that young man you were interested in on the Destiny? Lieutenant, er, something?\nEzri: Brinner Finok.\nYanas: Yes.\nEzri: He was an Ensign. I did talk to him after I was joined, once. I don't think we're really right for each other anymore. He reminds me too much of my son Gran. It makes me a little uncomfortable being around him now. Sorry. Audrid's son Gran. I'm still sorting out my pronouns.\nNorvo: I'm sure all joined Trills go through this.\nEzri: No, just me. Nothing simple for Ezri. There's times when the computer asks me to identify myself and I have to think about what to say. Or worse yet, there're days when I wake up and I don't even know if I'm a man or a woman until I pull back the covers. I also have an unfortunate tendency to ramble.\nYanas: Don't be embarrassed, dear. It's not your fault. You should've gone through years of training to receive a symbiont. It wasn't fair of them to join you to Dax just because you happened to be the only Trill on board. It's no surprise to me you're having trouble sorting out eight lifetimes of memories and experiences.\nEzri: It can be a little overwhelming at times.\nYanas: I'm sure. But don't you worry. We'll take care of you, won't we?\nNorvo: Absolutely.\nJanel: Of course.\nEzri: That's nice to know. But I think I've got things under control now.\nYanas: Ezri, you always were too proud for your own good.\nNorvo: Come in, Zee.\nEzri: How'd you know it was me?\nNorvo: No one else would bother with the chime.\nEzri: Hmm. I see some things never change.\nNorvo: Here, have a seat.\nEzri: How many of these are yours?\nNorvo: All the bad ones.\nEzri: When did you become such a harsh critic of your work?\nNorvo: Just being realistic. It's amateurish. I know that. It says so right there. Saurian brandy?\nEzri: Sure.\nNorvo: Oh. I should probably get a clean one.\nEzri: I don't care. Norvo, this doesn't mean that\nNorvo: To my sister. A shining angel in a dark sky.\nEzri: All right. The Andorian Academy rejected your application. That doesn't mean your work is amateurish. There are other art schools.\nNorvo: It's the best.\nEzri: So? You shouldn't just quit.\nNorvo: I'm not very good, Zee. I never was. All this, it's an indulgence. Just like my other hobbies, poetry, music. I can't concentrate. My mind wanders. I don't have the diskipline it takes to succeed.\nEzri: Those are Mother's words. I know because I've heard them too. She wasn't right about me and she's not right about you, either.\nNorvo: I'm fine with the way things have turned out, really. Besides, they need me here.\nEzri: To do what, the family bookkeeping? Norvo, you could do so much more. I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I just want you to know that I still believe in you.\nNorvo: Thanks. Thank you.\nEzri: Good night.\nNorvo: Good night.\nYanas: I hope you're satisfied. Have you seen Norvo today?\nEzri: No.\nYanas: Well maybe you should. He's lying in bed with a hangover. When I woke up this morning I found him passed out in the entry room. Evidently he spent most of the night doing this. You think it's funny?\nEzri: I think it's funny you think he did this because of me. He's not happy here, Mother. Can't you see that?\nYanas: That's nonsense.\nEzri: Mother, he's defacing his own artwork. Work that you insisted on displaying even after he objected.\nYanas: I'm proud of him. I'm trying to encourage him.\nEzri: But what you've done is made him feel trapped and powerless.\nYanas: You've barely spent one night in this house and you think you can analyze our entire family? You don't know your brother anymore, Ezri. He's is a fragile young man who needs to be cared for.\nEzri: He is a grown man who needs his freedom. You're smothering him.\nYanas: How dare you come in here and tell me how to be a mother! What do you know about raising children?\nEzri: Actually I have three, no, four lifetimes worth of memories about raising children.\nYanas: I have worked and sacrificed for each one of you for over thirty years.\nYanas: Not now!\nJanel: Sorry to interrupt, but\nEzri: Miles!\nO'Brien: Ezri? What are you doing here?\nEzri: This is my home. This is where I live. My mother.\nYanas: I'm pleased to meet you, Mister O'Brien. Can you?\nFuchida: He wasn't very friendly when we located him.\nO'Brien: Neither were you.\nJanel: If you'll excuse me, we're having a problem with the drill down in twenty four B.\nEzri: Did you do this to him?\nFuchida: Just the one on the jaw. The rest he got thanks to the Orion Syndicate.\nEzri: Did you find anything on Bilby's wife?\nO'Brien: I found her. She's dead.\nO'Brien: Thanks. The DNA scan confirmed that the body was Morica's. She'd been dead at least six weeks.\nEzri: Do you have any idea of cause of death?\nFuchida: No.\nO'Brien: The cause of death was the Orion Syndicate.\nFuchida: There's no evidence of that. It could have been an accident.\nO'Brien: Oh yeah. She accidently hit herself in the head and accidently threw herself in the river, huh?\nFuchida: We pull a dozen bodies a month out of that river. You think they're all Syndicate murders?\nO'Brien: If they're anything like this, yes. And if you hadn't interfered, I might have proved she was murdered.\nFuchida: If we hadn't interfered, you'd be dead. When your mother called us, we already had word that a Starfleet Intelligence operative was trying to infiltrate the Syndicate. It didn't take long to realize that it was your friend. We found him being beaten up by a pair of Nausicaans.\nO'Brien: They were just trying to scare me.\nEzri: Why?\nO'Brien: Exactly! Why were they trying to scare me? Because I had found the body of Morica Bilby and they didn't want me to trace the murder back to them.\nFuchida: The Syndicate would never kill the widow of an operative. The only thing holding them together is this loyalty they show to operatives and their families.\nO'Brien: They may not be as loyal as you think.\nFuchida: Mrs Tigan, please contact us if there's anything else we can do for you.\nYanas: Thank you. I will.\nYanas: Ezri, why don't you show Mister O'Brien to one of out guest rooms. Let him clean up and have something to eat.\nO'Brien: Thanks.\nO'Brien: So that tip led me to the river. I searched the south bank for about three hours before I found her. The organic solvents in the water had partially decomposed the body, but it was her.\nEzri: I'm sorry, Chief. I wish there was something more I could do.\nO'Brien: Maybe you could put in a good word for me with Captain Sisko.\nEzri: It may take a lot of good words, but I'll talk to him.\nYanas: Mister O'Brien, how are you feeling?\nO'Brien: Fine, thank you. I've eaten enough for a week.\nYanas: Glad to hear it. I understand that you're an engineer.\nO'Brien: That's right.\nJanel: He's not a mining engineer.\nYanas: We have a problem with a trans-sonic drill that no one on my staff seems capable of fixing, and I would appreciate it very much if you would be kind enough to take a look at it.\nEzri: Now? Mother, he needs some rest.\nYanas: How much rest do you require, Mister O'Brien?\nO'Brien: Actually, I feel fine\nYanas: Thank you. I'll see you at dinner.\nEzri: I'm sorry about this. Our mother's a force of nature.\nO'Brien: It's all right. It'll be good to get my hands on a problem I can solve for a change. Lead on.\nNorvo: Good morning.\nEzri: Good afternoon.\nNorvo: Oh. Mother is not going to be happy about this.\nEzri: Don't worry. You're out of the line of fire for the moment. She's too busy torturing Janel and Miles.\nNorvo: Miles? Oh, your friend. They found him?\nEzri: He's fine.\nNorvo: Great. That's great, Zee. Does that mean you're leaving?\nEzri: Not right away. Let's talk about you. More specifically, about what you did last night.\nNorvo: What can I say? When I get drunk, I become an art critic.\nEzri: Do you regret what you did?\nNorvo: Not really. I never liked those pieces anyway.\nEzri: So, what are you feeling?\nNorvo: I'm feeling like I don't want to be analyzed by my sister.\nEzri: Sorry. It's what I do.\nNorvo: The situation is not that complex, Zee. I am wallowing in self pity and acting out my frustrations by throwing tantrums.\nEzri: All right, Doctor Norvo. If that's your diagnosis, what's your prescription?\nNorvo: Mother disapproves of suicide. All that blood on the carpets.\nEzri: Not funny.\nNorvo: Best I can do with a hangover.\nEzri: Norvo, what would happen if you left with me tomorrow?\nNorvo: What do you mean?\nEzri: I mean, what would happen if you went back to Deep Space Nine with me?\nNorvo: Mother would go insane.\nEzri: Forget about her for the moment.\nNorvo: I can't just pick up and leave.\nEzri: Well, it doesn't have to be a permanent move. Think of it as a vacation, a break from all of this. Some time to clear your head, that's all.\nNorvo: I don't know if I can leave all this on Janel's shoulders.\nEzri: Janel can handle it.\nNorvo: It's not that simple. There are some things going on that are complicated.\nEzri: Like what?\nNorvo: Things with the company.\nEzri: No offense, Norvo, but you're not exactly holding the company together. Mother can pay a real accountant to do the work she's given you.\nNorvo: I don't know, Zee.\nEzri: Well think about it.\nO'Brien: You're right. The problem's definitely in the secondary input transtator.\nJanel: But the transtator checks out perfectly.\nO'Brien: I'm sure it does, but it's the wrong transtator for this drill.\nJanel: What?\nO'Brien: You need a fifty two J, this is a fifty two L.\nJanel: It says fifty two J.\nO'Brien: I know. But it's definitely an L. It must've been accidently mislabeled.\nJanel: Or deliberately.\nBokar: Another equipment failure? Perhaps if you hadn't dismissed Mister Lorkin, this wouldn't have happened.\nJanel: He was dismissed on my Mother's personal order.\nBokar: Then we'll have to find a way of changing her mind, won't we. Who's your new mechanic, Janel?\nJanel: This is Mister O'Brien. He's a friend of the family.\nBokar: That wouldn't be Chief O'Brien, would it?\nO'Brien: How did you know that?\nBokar: I have several friends in the New Sydney Police. I heard they recently rescued a Starfleet Chief named O'Brien from an unpleasant situation.\nO'Brien: That's me. I don't believe I caught your name.\nBokar: Thadial Bokar. I'm a commodities broker, attempting to establish business ties with the illustrious Tigan family.\nJanel: Will you excuse us for a moment, Chief? Mister Bokar and I have some business to discuss. Thank you for your help. I'll have a new transtator installled right away.\nO'Brien: Glad to do it.\nJanel: Sabotaging our drills isn't going to convince me to do more business with the Orion Syndicate.\nBokar: We'll argue about that later. We have more immediate concerns. O'Brien is with Starfleet Intelligence.\nJanel: No, he isn't. He works with my sister on Deep Space Nine.\nBokar: That may be what he wants you to think. But why was he on New Sydney trying to infiltrate the Syndicate?\nJanel: He was looking for some woman.\nBokar: Some woman. Do you know the name of this woman?\nJanel: No.\nBokar: Well I do. Her name was Morica Bilby.\nJanel: What?\nBokar: Now, of course, I haven't heard from Morica Bilby in quite some time. Tumor has it that she's dead, but I wouldn't know anything about that. What I do know is that Chief O'Brien should leave this system, quickly, before something happens to him.\nJanel: So, you're not leaving until tomorrow?\nO'Brien: Probably. It really depends on Ezri.\nJanel: Why?\nO'Brien: Well, she's my superior officer. I go when she goes. Besides, I'm not looking forward to seeing Captain Sisko. He has a boot with my name on it.\nJanel: This isn't a good time for guests. There's a lot of work to do. The quicker you're on your way, the better.\nO'Brien: Your brother seems eager to get rid of us.\nEzri: Oh, don't mind him. He's been under a lot of pressure.\nO'Brien: Do you know a man named Thadial Bokar? Says he's a commodities broker.\nEzri: No. But I make it a point to know as little as possible about the family business. Why?\nO'Brien: Well, he came to the mine to talk with Janel while I was working on the drill. There was something about him reminded me of when I was working undercover with the Orion Syndicate. You know, something about the way they dealt with civilians.\nEzri: You think this Mister Bokar is a member of the Syndicate?\nO'Brien: It's just a feeling. A pretty strong feeling.\nEzri: We should tell Janel.\nO'Brien: I think Janel already knows. I know I'm not offering you any hard evidence here, Lieutenant, but your brother seems like a man who's being pressured by the Syndicate. He's experiencing sudden equipment breakdowns, work stoppages, mysterious accidents. That's the way the Syndicate extorts money from legitimate companies. 'Do business with us or we'll ruin you.'\nEzri: Janel is not someone who is easily intimidated. And my mother? She would burn this place to the ground before she did business with the Syndicate.\nO'Brien: Well, there's one way to find out. Do you have access to the company's financial records?\nYanas: What would you do on Deep Space Nine?\nNorvo: Take a vacation. Clear my head.\nYanas: Clear your head of what?\nNorvo: I don't know.\nYanas: Then why do you need a vacation?\nNorvo: I guess I don't, really. I just. But it'd be nice to spend some time with Ezri\nYanas: You're spending time with her right now, aren't you?\nNorvo: Yes.\nJanel: We're ready to open twenty five beta.\nYanas: I'll be right there. Norvo, this is a very bad time for you to take a vacation. We have far too much work to do. Have you finished the review?\nNorvo: Almost.\nYanas: Well then, maybe you should get to it.\nNorvo: Yes, ma'am.\nYanas: Let's go.\nEzri: Now I remember why I never went into the family business. All these contracts and invoices, balance sheets and shipping orders. I feel like I'm trapped in some kind of Ferengi nightmare. What? What is it?\nO'Brien: I don't know. What's going on here?\nEzri: What do you mean?\nO'Brien: Did you come here to find me or to prevent me finding out the truth?\nEzri: I don't know what you're talking about, so maybe you should just tell me, Chief.\nO'Brien: The connection between the Orion Syndicate and your family is Morica Bilby. She was on the company's payroll when she died. Did you know about this?\nEzri: No. Of course not.\nO'Brien: Someone in your family did, and since they didn't mention it they obviously don't want us to know.\nEzri: Are you suggesting\nO'Brien: I'm not suggesting anything, but you have to face the possibility that somebody in your family may have been involved in her death.\nO'Brien: There. Nine months ago, Morica Bilby shows up on the payroll as a shipping consultant.\nEzri: Five bars of latinum a week for services rendered. What services? There's no cross reference. No indication of what she was doing for the company.\nO'Brien: Whatever it was, she must have been good at the job. Look here. Her salary increases to ten bars a week, then twenty, then thirty.\nEzri: The last payment entry was six weeks ago.\nO'Brien: The day before she was killed. Who's in charge of the payroll?\nEzri: My mother, ultimately. But she's turned over most of the day to day operations to Janel, and Norvo's been doing the bookkeeping. Any one of them could know about Morica's payments. Or all of them.\nO'Brien: Lieutenant, we have to show this to the authorities on New Sydney.\nEzri: Not yet. Not until I find out what's happened. That's an order.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nYanas: Why was this woman on our payroll?\nJanel: We were returning a favor.\nYanas: To whom?\nJanel: To the Orion Syndicate.\nYanas: And what favor did they do for us?\nJanel: Remember when the Ferengis opened up the Timor Two mine and there was a ten point drop in the price of pergium? Well, that came at a bad moment. We were overextended on some loans, our cash reserves were depleted, and a Jem'Hadar raid destroyed an entire shipment before it reached the refinery on Rigel Four.\nEzri: So you turned to the Syndicate?\nJanel: They came to me! They offered us a way out and I took it. I did what I had to do. And I don't remember you asking a lot of questions when our cash problems were resolved overnight.\nYanas: Because I trusted you. Obviously it was a mistake.\nEzri: What about Morica?\nJanel: About a month after Bokar arranged the loan, he came to me and said it was time to return the favor. There was a woman who needed a job with a salary, but without any actual work involved. He said she was the widow of one of their associates and they needed to take care of her. I didn't feel like I was in a position to say no. So I started making the payments. No one would've been the wiser if Norvo had altered the payroll records like I asked him.\nYanas: You dragged your little brother into this?\nJanel: You're the one who says there's nothing more important than the company. Well, that's all I was thinking about. The company. You dumped it in my lap and I saved it, so don't start complaining now. if it weren't for me, we would have been finished.\nYanas: Don't you rationalize what you've done.\nEzri: All right! All right! We can talk about who saved what later. Right now, we have to concentrate on what happened to Morica. The payroll records show a steady increase in her payments. Why?\nJanel: She wasn't happy with her salary. She said the Syndicate had promised her a comfortable living and she wasn't comfortable on what we were paying her.\nEzri: How did she die?\nJanel: I don't know.\nYanas: Janel, if you have anything to do with this, now is the time to speak.\nJanel: What are you saying? That I had her killed?\nYanas: I'm asking.\nNorvo: Mother, he wouldn't have killed her.\nYanas: You stay out of this. Listen to me. I will get you the very best solicitor on New Sydney, but you must tell me the truth.\nJanel: I didn't kill her.\nYanas: Oh, Janel, why don't I believe you? Why don't I believe that this woman just happened to die at the exact moment she was pressuring you for more money?\nNorvo: Why won't you listen to him? He didn't do it.\nJanel: I may not have shed any tears when I found out she was dead, but I didn't kill her.\nYanas: Then who did?\nJanel: The police said it was an accident!\nEzri: Norvo, you don't know what happened to Morica, do you?\nNorvo: I'm the idiot brother. How would I know?\nEzri: Tell me you don't know anything about this.\nNorvo: I tried to reason with her, but she was very angry. Angry at the Syndicate, angry at us. Even angry at her husband for getting himself killed. I didn't go there to kill her, Zee. I really didn't. But she wouldn't listen to me. She started yelling, said that our family was just as bad as the Syndicate. That we were all liars and cheats. And then suddenly I realized that if she were dead all of our problems would go away.\nYanas: Oh, Norvo.\nNorvo: I took care of it. You always said that I was too weak to handle the tough ones. I'm not. I proved it. I handled a problem that you couldn't. I handled it.\nJanel: I need to inspect the ore samples from fifty three C. We have to make a decision on whether to open up a new\nEzri: Janel, forget about the mine. It doesn't matter. I want you to listen to me. After Norvo's trial is over, you need to go.\nJanel: Go where?\nEzri: It doesn't matter. Just go. Find another life for yourself. Trust me. You'll be happier.\nEzri: They've taken Norvo. I'm going to stay on New Sydney for the trial and then I'm going to head back to Deep Space Nine.\nYanas: This isn't my fault, is it, Ezri? I didn't do this, did I?\nO'Brien: Mind if I join you? When'd you get back?\nEzri: Last night. Norvo was sentenced to thirty years.\nO'Brien: I wish I could say I'm sorry, but considering what he did he got off easy.\nEzri: I understand why you feel that way. But you didn't know him, Miles. Norvo was very gifted. When we were young he had so much potential. Norvo was always the one that we all thought would be something special. And I don't know what happened. I don't know how my brother turned into. You know, I guess I just spent so many years dreaming of ways to get out of that house that I didn't see what was really going on inside, what was happening to Norvo. The endless humiliation, the constant drumbeat of criticism, the way his heart was carved up into little pieces. I should have seen it. I should have tried to stop it.\nO'Brien: You can't blame yourself. You're not responsible for that.\nEzri: But I am, don't you see? I should have gone home a long time ago."}
{"text": "Scene: In memory of Jerome Bixby\nQuark: Have you ever seen anything so disgusting? The way he's undressing her with his eyes. And look at his hands.\nOdo: What about his hands?\nQuark: His gestures. They're obscene. You should arrest him.\nOdo: You're joking.\nQuark: He's pitiful. Doesn't he realize she loves me?\nOdo: I don't think he does. To be honest, I don't think she does either.\nQuark: Thanks for your support.\nRom: Brother! I just talked to Moogie. She says Grand Nagus Zek has disappeared.\nQuark: What do you mean, disappeared?\nRom: He left her a note saying he was going on a business safari to open new territories for financial exploitation.\nQuark: That's our Nagus.\nRom: He said he'd be back in five days. That was twelve days ago!\nQuark: Twelve?\nOdo: Has he done this before?\nRom: Not for this long. Moogie did some checking. No one's heard from him. He could be hurt or even dead. We have to do something!\nQuark: He probably stopped off on Risa. You know, for a little rest and relaxation.\nRom: Risa? With all those gorgeous women? He wouldn't do that to Moogie.\nQuark: Have you looked at our mother lately? She's not getting any younger. Now do us both a favor and stop worrying about Zek. He'll show up.\nRom: Are you sure?\nQuark: Goodbye, Rom. Goodbye. Where'd Ezri go?\nOdo: Oh, she slipped out the back with Bashir.\nQuark: They left together?\nOdo: I think they were holding hands.\nQuark: Oh.\nQuark: Blessed Exchequer, whose greed is eternal. Allow this humble bribe to open your ears and hear this plea from your most devout debtor. Continue to bless my bar with a steady stream of thirsty customers whose pockets are lined with latinum, and whose skills at dabo are shaky at best. And while you're at it, see if you can do something about Doctor Bashir. Don't hurt him or anything, just get him off the station for a couple of months. Oh, and one other thing. I opened negotiations with Ezri three months ago, but I can't seem to close the deal. Anything you can do to help\nQuark: Come in. Ezri.\nEzri: Anyone else here?\nQuark: Just you and me.\nEzri: Is that the bedroom?\nQuark: I owe you. Does it have to be so rough the first time?\nEzri: I don't know what you think is going on here, but think again.\nQuark: Don't tell me. This is some new kind of therapy? Am I suppose to start talking about my childhood or something?\nEzri: I hope not.\nQuark: Good, because I'd rather talk about us. Dax, Dax, you're the most fascinating woman I've ever met. I love you. There. I said it!\nEzri: My name's not Dax.\nQuark: Oh, I get it. Your clothes, the knife, this aggressive attitude. It's all role playing. Call me Shmun.\nEzri: Shmun?\nQuark: Yeah. And I'll call you T'lana. You know, from 'Vulcan Love Slave' Volume Three.\nEzri: You're a very confused man, aren't you? If your friend Zek is depending on you, he's in a lot more trouble than he thinks.\nQuark: Zek? What does he have to do with any of this?\nEzri: I'll let him explain.\nZek: Hello, Quark. It's me, your Grand Nagus. You'll never guess where I am.\nQuark: Risa?\nZek: If you said Risa, guess again. I'm in the alternate universe!\nQuark: You're not my Dax. You're from over there.\nEzri: You're catching on.\nZek: You're probably wondering how I got here well, you're going to have to keep on wondering, because I don't have time to tell you. You see, I'm in a bit of trouble. I'm being held prisoner by the Alliance and I'm going to need you to help me regain my freedom. The Regent said he would send me home in exchange for a ship's cloaking device. They don't have them in this universe. I wish I'd known that before I got here. I could've saved myself a lot of aggravation and made a nice profit at the same time. However, my fate is in your hands, Quark. I need a cloaking device and I need it now. You're the only one I can count on. If you do this for me I promise I'll be eternally grateful. And don't forget to tell your mother I love her. Goodbye.\nQuark: He should've gone to Risa.\nEzri: The Regent wants the cloaking device in three days.\nQuark: That's not much time. Cloaking technology isn't that easy to come by.\nEzri: You'll find a way.\nQuark: And if I don't?\nEzri: The Nagus will die.\nRom: Anyone out there?\nQuark: Not that I can see.\nRom: Then let's do it.\nQuark: All right, together now. Now lift!\nRom: It's heavy.\nQuark: Oh, I noticed.\nQuark: Watch the steps.\nRom: I see them, brother. I told you cloaking the cloaking device was a good idea.\nQuark: Brilliant. But couldn't you have done something about its weight?\nRom: No. But if it makes you feel any better, the cloaking device on the Defiant is a lot heavier.\nQuark: Tell it to my hernia.\nRom: You know what's bothering me? It seems wrong to be stealing a cloaking device for the Alliance.\nQuark: We're not stealing it for them, we're stealing it to save Zek.\nRom: But what about this other Ezri? She's a Trill.\nQuark: So?\nRom: So, shouldn't she be with the rebels fighting against the Alliance?\nQuark: Be sure to point that out when you meet her. Just don't forget, she carries a knife. Shh. Someone's coming. Set it down, quick.\nQuark: Act normal.\nMartok: I'm telling you, Captain, we have to find a way to expand our lines beyond the Kalandra system.\nSisko: I agree. If we don't move soon, the ionic storms will isolate our position.\nMartok: And allow the Dominion to flank us.\nSisko: Something wrong, gentlemen?\nQuark: It's the bulkhead.\nMartok: What about it?\nQuark: Rom's thinking of painting his quarters this color.\nSisko: They're already that color.\nQuark: I told you!\nRom: No wonder I like it. It's a very soothing shade of gray.\nSisko: I'm glad you approve.\nMartok: Captain.\nSisko: Hmm? Carry on.\nSisko: I'll talk to Admiral Ross.\nMartok: I'll talk to Chancellor Gowron as well.\nRom: They're headed for the Klingon ship. What if they diskover the cloaking device is missing?\nQuark: Let's get out of here. Where is it?\nRom: I'm not sure.\nQuark: Well, find it.\nQuark: Oww!\nRom: Good job, brother. But I wouldn't touch those induction coils if I were you.\nQuark: Thanks for the warning.\nRom: Up we go.\nQuark: Come on. Ezri's waiting for us in cargo bay fourteen.\nQuark: One Klingon cloaking device, as requested.\nEzri: As soon as I bring that to the Regent, he'll release Zek.\nQuark: Then what happens?\nEzri: Then you get him back. Would you stop doing that?\nRom: Doing what?\nEzri: Staring at me.\nRom: Sorry. But you look just like our Ezri, except you're a lot taller.\nQuark: What are you talking about? She's exactly the same height.\nRom: I don't think so\nQuark: Don't be an idiot. I'm telling you they're identical, I think.\nEzri: Do I have to throw you off this transport pad?\nRom: One thing's for sure, their personalities aren't identical. How do we know the Regent will keep his word and send Zek back to us?\nEzri: You don't. But there's not much you can do about it, is there?\nRom: Yes, there is. Brother, I think we should go with her.\nEzri: I don't think you'll like it too much on the other side.\nQuark: That, I believe. But my idiot brother is right. We're coming with you.\nMartok: Ferengi! I'll have you hanging by your ears.\nQuark: Well, what are we waiting for?\nRom: It didn't work.\nEzri: Yes it did. We're on Terok Nor.\nRom: It looks like Deep Space Nine to me.\nQuark: I suppose a cargo bay is a cargo bay, no matter what universe you're in.\nRom: But this is an alternate universe. Shouldn't everything be different?\nQuark: It's different enough. Remember what Captain Sisko once told us? In this universe, we're both dead.\nRom: That's so sad. I would've liked to meet myself.\nEzri: We'd better get moving. I've got a ship waiting for us at landing pad C.\nRom: What's the rush?\nEzri: This is a rebel base and we're working for the Alliance.\nRom: Vic?\nVic: I thought you two were dead.\nRom: We are!\nQuark: You're not a hologram.\nVic: A what?\nBashir: Throw put down your phasers, Fontaine!\nVic: I'll see you in hell first.\nQuark: I can't believe it. Julian just shot Vic Fontaine.\nRom: I thought Vic was his favorite singer. No wonder they call it the alternate universe.\nBashir: You, behind the crates come out. You can come out now.\nEzri: Do as he says.\nBashir: Well, well, well. Look who we have here.\nQuark: I'll bet you're surprised to see us, but I can explain.\nBashir: You worthless piece of space trash.\nQuark: Don't hurt her!\nRom: Hey! You're supposed to be the good guys.\nRom: My mistake.\nO'Brien: I'm sorry, Rom. That cloaking device of yours is now the property of the Terran Resistance Forces.\nRom: But you don't understand. You have to give us back the cloaking device. We need it to rescue the Nagus.\nBashir: That's not who you should be worried about right now. Do you know what we do to Alliance sympathizers?\nO'Brien: Give it a rest, Julian.\nBashir: I'll give it a rest just as soon as these three get what's coming to them.\nRom: I don't know about you, but I like our Bashir better.\nO'Brien: You have to forgive him. He's had a rough go of it lately. He lost a close friend in a skirmish with Alliance troops.\nBashir: This has nothing to do with Jadzia. Do you know what would happen to us if the Alliance got hold of a cloaking device?\nO'Brien: It wouldn't be pretty.\nBashir: They'd wipe us out in a matter of weeks. Besides, there's nothing I loathe more than traitors.\nEzri: I'm not a traitor.\nO'Brien: She's right. You have to believe in something before you can betray it.\nEzri: I believe in getting paid for my work, and you still owe me for the last job I did for you.\nO'Brien: We're fighting for our freedom here, for our very lives. All you care about is money?\nEzri: Like you said, you have to have something to believe in.\nBashir: Let me ram those words down her throat.\nO'Brien: You're forgetting something, Julian. The Alliance didn't get the cloaking device, we did. And that gives us the edge. And we have these gentlemen to thank for it.\nBashir: So what do you want to do? Give them medals?\nO'Brien: I don't think their Captain Sisko would be too pleased to know they were over here interfering in our affairs.\nRom: That's why we didn't tell him.\nO'Brien: I thought as much. I say we send them back to where they belong. Let Sisko deal with them.\nQuark: We can't go back. Not without Zek.\nO'Brien: The way I see it, you've got two choices. You can either head back to where you came from or you can head for Alliance territory and try to rescue your friend without the cloaking device. You have till morning to decide.\nBashir: Either way, you're staying with us.\nRom: Tough break.\nEzri: I'll live.\nQuark: You sure?\nEzri: Don't worry about me. Smiley's right about one thing. If you're found in Alliance territory without the cloaking device, you're dead.\nQuark: Are you suggesting we should go back home?\nEzri: It's the smart move.\nQuark: Do we look smart to you?\nZek: You have such nimble fingers, my dear.\nKira: How many times have I heard that?\nZek: I don't think I could survive this incarceration without them.\nKira: I'm glad to be of help.\nZek: I only wish I could return the favor. After all, you've been suffering here for a lot longer than I have.\nKira: It hasn't been too bad. I always find a way of amusing myself. And besides, when your people give the Regent the cloaking device, we'll both be free.\nZek: If Quark and Rom don't screw things up.\nKira: Have a seat, big boy. You said your people could deliver the cloaking device. You guaranteed it!\nZek: Well, so I said, and so they shall.\nKira: Then we have nothing to worry about. Oh, so fragile.\nZek: That's quite a temper you have, my dear.\nKira: It's one of my best features. Now, where were we?\nZek: Mind going back to tugging at my ear hairs?\nKira: Your wish is my command.\nQuark: We have to find a way out of here.\nEzri: And then?\nQuark: And then we get our hands on the cloaking device and finish what we started.\nEzri: All right. Let's say you manage to save this Grand Nagus of yours. Then what?\nQuark: Then we go home. And never come back here again.\nEzri: That's it?\nQuark: Isn't it enough?\nEzri: Quark, don't play dumb with me. You're risking your life for him. There has to be a reason for it.\nQuark: He's the Nagus. The man my mother loves. Not to mention, he's the head of the Ferengi Alliance.\nEzri: In other words, he's rich.\nQuark: They don't come any richer.\nEzri: I see. How much are you expecting to get out of him?\nQuark: Knowing the Nagus, I'd say a pat on the head and a fistful of empty promises.\nEzri: I don't understand.\nQuark: There's nothing to understand. He's my Nagus. And when your Nagus gets in trouble, you're supposed to do something about it.\nEzri: Why?\nQuark: I don't know. Loyalty?\nEzri: You're kidding me, right? You're doing this out of loyalty?\nQuark: Would you stop looking at me like that? You're making me feel like an idiot.\nEzri: I hope so.\nRom: Brother! I just realized something.\nEzri: This should be good.\nRom: This is suppose to be an alternate universe, but their Captain O'Brien seems as nice as our Chief O'Brien.\nQuark: So?\nRom: Don't you see? It doesn't make any sense. It's not alternate.\nQuark: Go back to sleep, Rom.\nRom: Right. But it's all very confusing.\nRom: What was that?\nQuark: How would I know?\nRom: Brother, look out! It's Brunt!\nQuark: I don't think it's our Brunt.\nEzri: What took you so long?\nBrunt: Sorry. Been a little busy. I had to break into the cargo bay, steal back the cloaking device you lost and get it onto our ship. And on top of that\nEzri: Okay. Quit your complaining and get us out of here.\nBrunt: I'm working on it.\nBrunt: You two must be hungry. I've got food and drink waiting for you on the ship.\nRom: He's so nice.\nQuark: Scary, isn't it?\nQuark: What was that?\nEzri: Brunt modified the dilithium matrix to maximize the output.\nQuark: He did, did he?\nEzri: He's a very good engineer.\nRom: He's also a very good cook. These fried tube grubs are delicious.\nQuark: Better hope he didn't poison them.\nRom: Maybe in our universe he'd do something like that, but not over here. Over here, everything's alternate. So he's a nice guy. Which means the tube grubs here should be poisonous, because they're not poisonous on our side. But if Brunt gave us poisonous tube grubs it would mean he wasn't as nice as we think he is. But he has to be nice because our Brunt isn't.\nQuark: Rom, you're driving me crazy.\nRom: It's not me, brother, it's this alternate universe. It just doesn't make any sense.\nBrunt: More tube grubs?\nRom: Yes, please. No. Yes!\nQuark: Oh, no.\nBrunt: In case you get hungry. I put a cup of hot tea by your bunk. You should get some rest.\nEzri: It has been a long day.\nRom: You're telling me.\nEzri: We're not due to rendezvous with the Regent's ship for another forty six hours.\nBrunt: I'll wake you long before that.\nBrunt: I'd like to see the look on Bashir's face when he diskovers we've stolen back the cloaking device.\nQuark: You think he and Smiley will come after us?\nBrunt: Oh, they can't let the Regent get his hands on that technology.\nQuark: Sounds like your sympathies are with the rebels.\nBrunt: I hate the Alliance.\nQuark: Then why help them get the cloaking device?\nBrunt: Ezri and I are partners. More than that. She's the closest friend I've ever had.\nQuark: And how close is that?\nBrunt: Not as close as I'd like.\nQuark: Too bad.\nBrunt: I'm not her type. And I don't think you are either.\nQuark: What makes you say that?\nBrunt: Let's just say that when it comes to men, she's very particular.\nWorf: Interesting. My sinuses are clear for the first time in years. See if this Ferengi has any more of this beetle snuff.\nGarak: Certainly. But first, my Regent, I must talk to you about the Intendant. It's taken us over two years to track down that treacherous wench. We should eliminate her and be done with it.\nWorf: I will deal with the Intendant in my own way and in my own time. But first, I want that cloaking device!\nGarak: Yes.\nWorf: Think of it. With a fleet of cloaked ships I will be able to crush the rebellion once and for all.\nGarak: And then we can kill the Intendant.\nWorf: We will see.\nRom: Big ship.\nQuark: How do we know we can trust the Regent? Once he has the cloaking device, there's nothing to stop him from killing us all.\nBrunt: It's a little late to back out now, Quark.\nEzri: By bringing him the cloaking device, you've proven yourself useful. Believe me, the Regent never gets rid of anyone he finds useful.\nQuark: I hope you're right.\nRom: Me, too.\nWorf: You. Come here. Your Regent needs you.\nWorf: Nice fit.\nGarak: Our visitors from the other universe have arrived, and I'm happy to report they have not come empty handed.\nRom: Look who the Regent is!\nQuark: So?\nRom: So who's president of the Federation, Gul Dukat?\nQuark: They don't have a Federation here.\nWorf: Is there a problem, Ferengi?\nQuark: Just ignore him. Now, if you'll give us the Nagus, we'll be on our way and you can go on with your plans for mass destruction, genocide and all those other good things.\nWorf: Victory is finally in my grasp. I want this operational within the hour.\nGarak: And it will be so, exalted one.\nQuark: We have a deal, right?\nWorf: Do we?\nQuark: Tell him.\nKira: Yes, my dear, why don't you tell him. I knew you wouldn't disappoint me.\nRom: Uh oh.\nQuark: You're not going to give us the Nagus, are you. You. You knew about this all along.\nEzri: What can I say? I'm loyal to my friends.\nKira: Isn't she just the best?\nGarak: I don't understand. You're letting her go?\nWorf: She earned it. Having them bring us the cloaking device was her idea. Get rid of these two.\nBrunt: Is that really necessary? They could come in handy.\nGarak: If the Regent wants your opinion, he'll ask for it.\nWorf: Do not kill them just yet.\nGarak: But your magnificence\nWorf: You heard me. Lock them up.\nGarak: Let's go.\nQuark: I hope you two are very happy together.\nKira: We will be.\nRom: Our Ezri would never betray us, which means\nQuark: Oh, don't start with that again.\nZek: Rom, you're not going to tell your mother about the Intendant and me, are you?\nRom: It would break her heart.\nZek: In a million pieces. You see, she worships me, and I worship her right back. Besides, this is all your fault. If it weren't for you, I never would have been able to get to this universe. Remember the last time you came home to visit your mother? Well, one night while you were sleeping, I got up to get a bite to eat. And there, on the kitchen table, was a Starfleet PADD.\nRom: My engineering notebook? With the schematics for the multi-dimensional transporter that Chief O'Brien gave me to study. You stole it!\nZek: I'm your Nagus. You have no secrets from me.\nQuark: I still don't understand why you'd want to come here in the first place.\nZek: Simple, really. I came to find new financial opportunities for the Ferengi people.\nRom: In the alternate universe?\nZek: Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time/\nQuark: Right now, it would be a good idea for us to find a way out of here.\nBrunt: I just don't feel right about this. Quark and Rom deserve better.\nEzri: Forget about them, all right?\nBrunt: That's just it. I can't. I like them and so do you.\nEzri: Don't tell me who I like.\nBrunt: Talk to the Intendant. She listens to you. Tell her the Ferengi kept their part of the bargain. We should do the same.\nKira: What a novel idea. Now I can't recall the last time I kept my word.\nBrunt: Maybe now's a good time to start.\nEzri: Forget it, Brunt.\nBrunt: No, not this time.\nKira: It's all right. Let him talk, my dear. He obviously feels very passionately about this, and you know how responsive I am to passion. Go on.\nBrunt: What do we gain from their deaths? Nothing. On the other hand, if we let them live, they may come in handy.\nKira: I never thought of that.\nBrunt: The Regent will give them to you. All you have to do is ask.\nKira: Maybe, but why waste a favor on those two little trolls? No, I'm afraid I don't much care for your suggestion. And as a matter of fact, I don't much like for you either.\nEzri: No!\nKira: He was going to betray me. I could see it in his eyes. You wouldn't do that to me, would you? Would you? Oh, no, of course you wouldn't. I've suffered so many disappointments in my life. Brunt, Sisko, Bareil, the list goes on and on. Dispose of that, will you? It depresses me.\nEzri: It's your mess. You clean it up.\nKira: She's not afraid of anyone, is she? Not even me.\nHelmsman: Regent, long range sensors have detected an enemy ship. It's the Defiant.\nWorf: Excellent. It is time to test the cloaking device.\nGarak: I'm afraid it's not yet operational.\nWorf: And why is that?\nGarak: Well, it's a very complicated piece of equipment.\nEzri: One of the Ferengi seemed to know how it worked.\nWorf: Then why is he not here?\nEzri: I'll get him.\nRom: Getting the cloaking device online? That's simple.\nEzri: Good. Lower the forcefield.\nQuark: Hold on a second. Why should we help the Regent, or you for that matter?\nEzri: I'm trying to save your lives.\nZek: That's a very worthy goal.\nQuark: Since when do you care about what happens to us?\nEzri: All right, forget it.\nRom: I don't want to forget it. I'm sorry, brother. Maybe you want to die in this crazy, mixed up universe, but I don't.\nZek: Neither do I! Lower the forcefield.\nQuark: I suppose we have nothing to lose.\nEzri: Where do you think you're going?\nQuark: With him. He needs my help.\nEzri: You're a bartender, Quark. What are you going to do? Mix him a drink?\nRom: Don't worry, brother. I'm not thirsty.\nEzri: I don't expect you to believe this, but I am trying to help you.\nQuark: You're right, I don't believe you.\nRom: Isodine coupler. Does this look like an isodine coupler to you? I don't see how anything gets fixed around here.\nGarak: I'd advise you to watch your tone of voice, Ferengi!\nRom: Or what? You won't let me installl the cloaking device?\nGarak: I'm sorry if I've upset you. Now would you please get back to work.\nRom: Don't mind if I do.\nWorf: Really?\nKira: Absolutely.\nWorf: I have never tried that before.\nKira: Few men have, but I think you'll find it very stimulating.\nWorf: What do you expect in return?\nKira: Terok Nor, of course?\nWorf: I was planning on destroying that station.\nKira: Plans can be changed.\nWorf: I will consider it.\nKira: What more can I ask?\nRom: Er, Mister Regent?\nWorf: What is it?\nRom: Your cloak is ready.\nWorf: Ah.\nGarak: I'll take over from here.\nGarak: It's working.\nEzri: Well done.\nKira: You mean no one can see us? How deliciously deceitful.\nWorf: Are you certain you know how to operate the device?\nGarak: Well, what I don't know, I always can learn.\nRom: It's pretty simple, once you understand the basics. Now, what about my brother and the Nagus?\nWorf: Do we have any further use for them?\nGarak: Not that I can think of.\nWorf: Then get rid of them.\nRom: You mean we're going home?\nGarak: No, he means you're going to die.\nRom: That settles it. I'm never helping you again.\nKira: Or anyone else, for that matter.\nGarak: Come along now.\nRom: I'm really beginning to hate this universe.\nGarak: What we have here, gentlemen, is ten cc's of concentrated Ulcartic virus. It's very deadly and quite painful. It elevates the temperature of your body, heating your internal organs until they literally boil. I was hoping to use this on the Intendant, but I suppose I'll have to settle for the four of you. Now, who would like to go first? I'm waiting.\nQuark: Why don't you give us a couple of days to think it over and we'll get back to you.\nGarak: All right then, I'll pick. Let's see.\nQuark: What an amateur.\nGarak: Excuse me?\nQuark: I mean compared to our Garak. Now that man knows how to conduct an interrogation.\nGarak: I'm not interrogating anyone.\nZek: Why not? Did it ever occur to you that we may know things that you could use to your advantage?\nGarak: Like what?\nRom: We're not going to tell you. Not unless you interrogate us.\nGarak: I don't have time for this. I want to be on the bridge when we destroy the Defiant.\nZek: In our universe, work comes before pleasure.\nQuark: Our Garak would have us hanging by our toenails by now, telling him all our secrets.\nGarak: What secrets?\nRom: That's for us to know and you to find out.\nQuark: If you were smart, you'd cross over to our universe and get some pointers from our Garak. When it comes to torture, assassination and sabotage, you could learn a lot from him.\nGarak: I know all there is to know about sabotage.\nRom: That's not what we hear.\nO'Brien: Something's wrong. We should have caught that Ferengi ship long ago.\nBashir: We'll find them.\nO'Brien: For all we know, the Regent may already have the cloaking device. In fact, he might have us in his sights right now and we wouldn't even know it.\nBashir: Don't start getting paranoid, Smiley. Even if the Regent has the cloaking device, chances are it isn't functional yet.\nO'Brien: I hope you're right.\nWorf: They have no idea that we are behind them.\nKira: There's nothing I enjoy better than a good ambush.\nWorf: It is time.\nGarak: I don't understand. Is this Garak of yours an assassin or a tailor?\nQuark: Assassin.\nRom: Tailor.\nZek: Both.\nGarak: Never mind. I have to be back to the bridge. Now, who's first?\nWorf: Drop the cloak.\nBashir: I hate it when you're right\nSmiley: Evasive action. Now!\nWorf: Fire!\nGarak: What was that?\nRom: Sabotage, what else?\nHelmsman: We've experienced primary systems failure.\nKira: That Ferengi! He did this!\nHelmsman: I'm unable to get anything back online.\nGarak: You taught me something about sabotage. Now I'm going to teach you something about pain.\nQuark: How much is this going to cost us?\nEzri: I'm not doing this for money.\nQuark: Then why?\nEzri: Do you want to get out of here or not?\nZek: Of course we do.\nEzri: Then stop asking questions and let's go.\nBashir: They're not coming after us.\nO'Brien: Why not?\nBashir: They can't. Their power grid's offline.\nO'Brien: Then what do you say we give the Regent a proper greeting?\nBashir: Reversing course.\nWorf: We must raise shields.\nHelmsman: We can't.\nKira: I don't know how much more of this the hull can withstand.\nHelmsman: Captain O'Brien would like to have a word with you.\nO'Brien: That's a nice ship you have, Regent. I'd hate to see it destroyed.\nBashir: But of course, if you insist.\nWorf: What are your terms?\nO'Brien: Oh, a simple unconditional surrender should do the trick.\nKira: I'm afraid you've run out of options.\nWorf: Victory is yours.\nO'Brien: Prepare to be boarded.\nWorf: I have been betrayed. I knew I should have killed those two Ferengi the moment they came aboard.\nKira: What a surprise. I've been looking everywhere for you.\nEzri: Here I am.\nKira: Is that really necessary?\nEzri: I was about to ask you the same question.\nKira: Ah, that's better. You and I have to get to one of the escape shuttles.\nEzri: You go. I'm staying here.\nKira: You can't be serious.\nEzri: You shouldn't have killed Brunt.\nKira: Isn't it a little late to be developing a conscience?\nEzri: I hope not.\nZek: Brunt's dead?\nRom: Sorry, wrong Brunt.\nQuark: We're not going to let her get away, are we?\nEzri: I owe her that much.\nZek: Oh, let her go. There's something about that woman I find intoxicating.\nRom: Glad to be going home?\nZek: You bet I am. But that doesn't mean I won't be coming back.\nRom: Here? What for?\nZek: There's a fortune to be made in the alternate universe. I can feel it in my lobes.\nQuark: Well, don't expect us to come chasing after you again.\nZek: Oh, no, I won't. Next time, I'll bring you along with me.\nEzri: In that case, I won't bother saying goodbye.\nQuark: You know, coming back isn't such a bad idea, if I knew I could see you again.\nEzri: I'm not going anywhere.\nQuark: I should stick around a couple of days. You could show me the station.\nEzri: I don't think that's such a good idea.\nQuark: I could help you work on that conscience of yours.\nEzri: I think I can take it from here.\nLeeta: Excuse me.\nRom: Leeta?\nLeeta: Do I know you?\nRom: We're married.\nLeeta: I don't think so. You're Ezri, right? Captain Smiley wants me to debrief you.\nEzri: Must be my lucky day.\nZek: This is quite a fascinating place, don't you agree?\nRom: I want to go home.\nQuark: Me, too."}
{"text": "Bashir: Listen up. Listen up. To Lieutenant Hector Ilario, living proof that Starfleet Academy produces the finest fighter pilots in the galaxy.\nO'Brien: Hear, hear.\nBashir: I haven't finished.\nKira: Don't ruin it, Julian. That was just what a toast should be. Short and to the point.\nIlario: I wouldn't mind hearing a little more.\nEzri: Now, now. Modesty above all.\nBashir: This is no time to be modesty. This man, this youth, this mere pup still wet behind the ears.\nIlario: I'm twenty two.\nBashir: I was speaking metaphorically. This inspired cherub masterfully piloted the Defiant into battle against a half dozen Jem'Hadar attack ships, and once all the smoke had cleared, only one ship remained intact, and that, ladies and gentlemen, was the USS Defiant.\nO'Brien: The kid's a born helmsman.\nBashir: And so say all of us.\nAll: Hear, hear.\nIlario: Thanks. I'm just glad to be here.\nO'Brien: It's the best posting in the galaxy.\nBashir: If there's anything you want, anything at all, just ask.\nIlario: Well, there is one thing.\nO'Brien: Name it.\nIlario: Next time you two go to the holosuite, I'd like to come along.\nO'Brien: Sorry.\nBashir: Can't be done.\nO'Brien: No, it's out of the question.\nBashir: It's impossible.\nKira: Don't take it personally. They're very serious about their leisure activities.\nBashir: It's a good way to relieve stress.\nO'Brien: Yeah, I highly recommend it.\nBashir: Just not with us.\nO'Brien: No. You know, when you have a holosuite visit, it's sort of a personal experience.\nBashir: He's very particular about anybody seeing him in his coonskin cap. You understand.\nIlario: I suppose.\nQuark: Gentlemen, your holosuite is ready.\nBashir: Terrific. Now if there's anything else you need?\nO'Brien: Just let us know.\nIlario: Have you ever gone to the holosuite with them?\nKira: Me? Never.\nEzri: I know when I'm not wanted.\nIlario: To the class of seventy two. Another round? EZRI +\nKira: No.\nIlario: Time to go?\nKira: It was time to go about an hour ago.\nIlario: Okay.\nKira: Okay, we'll get you home.\nEzri: I'll take him. His quarters are on my way.\nKira: Sure.\nEzri: He won't be the first drunken Ensign I've escorted home. Someday remind me to tell you about a bar on Bolarus and a certain young Mister Sisko. This way.\nIlario: I never had real Saurian brandy before. It's Captain Sisko's favorite.\nEzri: Kind of sneaks up on you, doesn't it?\nIlario: Speaking of sneaking up on you. Here we are. Home sweet home.\nEzri: Are you all right? Do you want some raktajino?\nIlario: I'm fine. I'm fine. I wish they could have been there.\nIlario: They would have loved it. See me fly the Defiant into battle. It was incredible.\nEzri: I should get going. Make sure you get some sleep.\nIlario: You know something, Lieutenant? You're very beautiful.\nEzri: And you're very drunk.\nIlario: True enough. But in the morning, I'll be sober and you'll still be beautiful.\nEzri: Good night, Ilario.\nIlario: Good night, Lieutenant.\nComputer: The time is oh six hundred hours. The time is oh six hundred hours and ten seconds.\nEzri: Yeah, yeah. I'm up.\nEzri: Fanalian tea. Hot.\nMan: I don't know. Full security alert.\nMan 2: Yes, sir.\nEzri: What happened?\nOdo: Lieutenant Ilario has been killed.\nEzri: Killed? How?\nBashir: It appears someone shot him. (After the opening titles, Sisko has arrived and O'Brien is doing the CSI tricorder thing.)\nOdo: He was killed by what appears to have been some kind of chemically propelled projectile weapon.\nSisko: A gun?\nOdo: Doctor Bashir recovered a single tritanium bullet from Ilario's chest.\nBashir: He was shot through the heart.\nO'Brien: You don't see one of those every day.\nOdo: No one uses projectile weapons anymore.\nSisko: You said this is tritanium, right?\nOdo: That's correct.\nSisko: Chief, did you ever hear of a TR one one six rifle?\nO'Brien: It was a prototype. Developed by Starfleet Security to operate in energy dampening fields or radiogenic environments.\nSisko: That's right. Anywhere where a normal phaser would be useless. If I'm not mistaken, the TR one one six rifle fired a chemically propelled tritanium bullet.\nOdo: You say a prototype. Were they ever mass produced?\nO'Brien: No. Starfleet abandoned the TR one one six in favor of regenerative phasers.\nSisko: That doesn't mean the killer couldn't have gotten hold of the rifle's replication patterns.\nO'Brien: But only Starfleet officers have access to those files.\nSisko: Disturbing thought, isn't it?\nBashir: Starfleet officers do not go around murdering other officers.\nOdo: Not usually, anyway.\nO'Brien: Hold on a minute. That's odd. According to these readings, the bullet only traveled eight or nine centimeters.\nSisko: Then the killer must have fired at point blank range.\nOdo: I don't think so. There are no powder burns on the body.\nBashir: What are powder burns?\nOdo: At close range, chemically propelled weapons leave residual combustion products on the skin and clothing of the victims.\nSisko: How did you know that?\nOdo: I read twentieth century crime novels. Raymond Chandler, Mike Hammer, that sort of thing.\nSisko: So, if the killer did fire from close range, why aren't there any powder burns?\nO'Brien: I don't know.\nOdo: But we'll find out.\nEzri: What was the time of death?\nBashir: Oh three seventeen.\nEzri: That's only ten minutes after I left.\nSisko: Was he alone?\nEzri: I didn't see anyone, but I wasn't here for very long.\nSisko: What do we know about Ilario, outside of his service record?\nOdo: Not a great deal. He's only been on the station for ten days.\nEzri: As far as I could tell, he was intelligent, dedicated, eager to please. Everyone liked him.\nSisko: Not everyone. I want to know everything there is to know about him. Who his friends were, if he made any enemies. I also want increased security throughout the station.\nOdo: Yes, sir.\nSisko: And Constable\nOdo: You want whoever did this caught. I understand, Captain.\nBashir: Ilario once told me he came from a big family. Three brothers and two sisters.\nO'Brien: I thought it was two brothers and three sisters.\nBashir: I don't think so.\nO'Brien: You sure?\nBashir: Are you?\nEzri: Don't look at me. We never discussed his family. Mostly he talked about the Academy and about the two of you.\nBashir: Us?\nEzri: He really admired both of you.\nBashir: We should have let him come to the holosuite with us.\nO'Brien: You're right, we should've.\nEzri: I just wish I hadn't left his quarters so quickly. Maybe he'd still be alive.\nBashir: Or you'd be dead right there with him.\nEzri: Odo will catch whoever did this, won't he?\nBashir: If anyone can.\nO'Brien: We really should've let him come to the holosuite with us.\nBashir: Ezri.\nEzri: Shouldn't you be in bed?\nBashir: I was about to ask you the same question.\nEzri: I just couldn't sleep.\nBashir: Me neither. You mustn't blame yourself, you know, for Ilario's death.\nEzri: I don't, not really.\nBashir: Then what is it?\nEzri: It's just knowing that he was murdered.\nBashir: It's difficult to accept. The whole concept of someone killing another person in cold blood, it's almost incomprehensible, isn't it?\nEzri: Not to me.\nBashir: Meaning what?\nEzri: Meaning that I know exactly what it feels like. To feel the urge, the need, to take a life.\nBashir: You're talking about Joran.\nEzri: He killed three people. He was a host to the Dax symbiont, just like me.\nBashir: He was nothing like you.\nEzri: I try not to think about it. Jadzia felt the same way. She tried to bury his memories as deeply as she could. But they're still there. The victims. What they looked like.\nBashir: They weren't your victims.\nEzri: I know. But then something like this happens. Just the thought of someone like him being here right now.\nBashir: You really should get some rest.\nEzri: You're right. Even if it does mean lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling for a few more hours. Goodnight, Julian.\nBashir: Good night.\nOdo: Save your complaints for the magistrate.\nEzri: Is this the one we've been looking for?\nOdo: Ilario's killer. Quite a clever one at that.\nEzri: Why? Why did you do it?\nIlario: You tell me, Counselor.\nEzri: But you're dead.\nIlario: Don't tell me, tell him.\nOdo: I'm sorry, Lieutenant. There's nothing more annoying than a corpse with a mind of its own.\nEzri: What? (Ezri's hands are covered in blood. Suddenly she is in -\nEzri: Dax to Security. Odo? Kira? Anyone there? Security, please answer me. Joran!\nJoran: You recognize me. How nice.\nEzri: What do you want?\nJoran: Respect. Understanding. Love.\nJoran: I wish you'd stop being afraid of me. It's not like we're strangers. That worm in your belly used to be mine. Which means I'm part of you.\nEzri: Joran.\nJoran: And you're part of me.\nEzri: I'm nothing like you.\nJoran: Is that so? You want to find out who killed Ilario, don't you? Then what are you waiting for? Perform the Rite of Emergence and just ask for my help, and then we can get to work.\nEzri: I don't want your help.\nJoran: Maybe not, but you need it.\nEzri: You murdered three people. I don't want anything to do with you. Now me leave me alone!\nJoran: How can I? There's nowhere else for me to go. I'm within you, Ezri. All the time. Use me.\nEzri: No!\nJoran: I can help. I know how he thinks. We can catch him, Ezri, you and me together. And then we'll make him pay.\nSisko: Sisko to Dax. Report to Habitat Ring, level J seventeen.\nEzri: What is it, Ben?\nSisko: There's been another murder.\nSisko: Report.\nOdo: Lieutenant Commander Greta Vanderweg. Science Officer. Human, age thirty seven. Twelve years of service, the last three here on Deep Space Nine.\nBashir: Cause of death, tritanium bullet fired at close range. No powder burns.\nSisko: Did Ilario and Vanderweg know each other?\nOdo: I'll look into to it, but it's doubtful. Ilario was only here for ten days, seven of them he was on the Defiant.\nSisko: But why Ilario? And why Vanderweg? Did someone have a personal grudge against either one of them? Or is someone just killing our officers at random?\nBashir: I still can't believe anyone in Starfleet could be doing this.\nOdo: There are over nine hundred Starfleet officers posted on the station.\nSisko: Odo, we have to narrow the field of suspects.\nOdo: Sir.\nSisko: How well did you do in forensic psychology at the Academy?\nEzri: It wasn't my favorite subject.\nSisko: We have to find out why the killer's doing this.\nEzri: I'll do my best.\nO'Brien: I wonder why he chose a TR one one six?\nBashir: Instead of a phaser?\nO'Brien: Yeah. I mean, why use a rifle if you're going to shoot somebody from close range?\nBashir: I don't know. He or she may have originally intended to kill their victims from a great distance, so they replicated a long-range weapon. Or they had some special connection to this particular rifle. A fetish or psychological obsession, perhaps?\nO'Brien: I suppose so.\nBashir: Did you ever read that biography I gave you on Davy Crockett last month?\nO'Brien: No. But I'll get to it.\nBashir: There was this fascinating section about the mythology that grew up around Crockett and his rifle. There was this notion that a man could have a special relationship with a weapon. Some frontiersmen even went so far as to give their rifles names, female ones at that, thus changing the relationship between owner and object to something resembling man and woman.\nO'Brien: Maybe I'll start calling my tricorder Sally.\nBashir: There's some great tall tales in that book. There's one particular story where Crockett was supposed to have put up a target against a tree and arranged a series of tin frying pans nearby in a complicated pattern. The idea was that he was going to shoot a bullet at one of these pans which would then ricochet to another and then to another and then to another and then to another.\nO'Brien: Wait a minute. That's it. Displaced targeting. That's how he did it.\nBashir: Who?\nO'Brien: The killer. He set up an alternate bullet trajectory, one that didn't require a direct line of sight between him and the victim. Julian, you're a genius.\nBashir: Don't thank me, thank Davy Crockett.\nEzri: What do you think?\nOdo: Nice melon.\nEzri: But what does it have to do with us?\nOdo: I have no idea. All I know is that Chief O'Brien wanted me to bring you here. He said he had something to show us.\nO'Brien: O'Brien to Science Lab.\nOdo: Go ahead, Chief.\nO'Brien: Are you ready?\nEzri: For what?\nO'Brien: You'll see. First put on those goggles that are on the counter in front of you. Now take a step back away from the melon. A little further. I've only done this a couple of times.\nEzri: How's this?\nO'Brien: Good.\nO'Brien: Wow.\nOdo: Are you all right?\nEzri: Better than that melon.\nO'Brien: It worked! I was able to fire a bullet into that melon while standing outside in the corridor.\nEzri: You fired through the wall?\nOdo: I don't see any bullet holes.\nO'Brien: I attached a micro transporter to this TR one one six. When I fired, the bullet was beamed into this room a few centimeters away from the melon.\nOdo: Where it continued its trajectory. So if the killer used a similar transporter device, that would explain the lack of powder burns on the victims.\nO'Brien: And by using an exographic targeting sensor, he was able to scan through the bulkheads.\nOdo: So he could have been firing from anywhere on the station. Can you trace the bullet's transporter signatures back to where the killer was when he fired?\nO'Brien: I'm afraid not. The signature is too weak.\nOdo: It's an ingenious weapon.\nEzri: Whoever he is, he's smart.\nEzri: Nothing. No connection.\nEzri: Who's there? Who is it? Quark? Is that you?\nEzri: This isn't funny.\nEzri: Worf!\nWorf: It is late. You should be in your quarters.\nEzri: Were you following me?\nWorf: It is dangerous for you to be wandering the Promenade alone.\nEzri: You were worried about me?\nWorf: There is a killer on the station. You have no right to endanger yourself this way.\nEzri: You were worried about me. Thank you, Worf. That's sweet.\nWorf: You are a fellow officer. I would have the same concern for Chief O'Brien or Doctor Bashir.\nEzri: Of course. I didn't mean to imply otherwise.\nWorf: Then we understand each other.\nEzri: Perfectly.\nWorf: How is the investigation coming?\nEzri: Slowly.\nWorf: If I can assist you in any way?\nEzri: I appreciate it, but you can't, really. Nobody can. Actually, that's not true. There is someone who could help, but I don't want to ask him,\nWorf: Why?\nEzri: It's complicated.\nWorf: Nevertheless, if he can help?\nEzri: It wouldn't be pleasant.\nWorf: Perhaps not, but I am certain that you will do whatever is necessary to complete your task.\nEzri: And how do you know that?\nWorf: You are Dax. It is your way.\nEzri: I'nora, ja'kala vok 'za Ezri. Zhian'tara rek pora'al Zheem Dax tanas rhem Joran. 'za Ezri tanas rhem Joran. Come on, Joran. Don't make me beg. Joran tanas rhem. Vok Ezri, Joran tanas rhem.\nJoran: You won't regret this, Ezri.\nJoran: I promise. Joran, the forgotten host. The outcast.\nEzri: The murderer.\nJoran: I'm sure you never thought that little character trait would prove useful.\nEzri: It seems so strange separating you from the others, seeing you standing there.\nJoran: But I'm not really standing here, am I? It's all in your mind. At least now I know you're listening me. I've been ignored for far too long. Curzon and Jadzia didn't quite know what to do with me.\nEzri: They buried your memories as deep within them as possible.\nJoran: That was a mistake. I have so much to offer.\nEzri: We'll see about that. Now, let's get to work. We have a killer to catch.\nJoran: Where should we begin?\nEzri: I want to know how he thinks.\nJoran: Then we'll start with his choice of weapons.\nEzri: We already know how he modified the TR one one six.\nJoran: But you haven't held it in your hands, have you? You haven't looked through its tracking display, picked a target, felt the power as you lock its sensors on your unsuspecting prey. If you want to catch a killer, Ezri, you have to learn to think like one.\nJoran: Handsome weapon.\nEzri: If you say so.\nJoran: Even you have to admire the esthetic qualities inherent in its design. It conveys a sense of danger, of power. Just looking from the trigger to the muzzle conjures up images of death. Take it down.\nJoran: I meant hold it in your hands.\nEzri: Why?\nJoran: Because I want you to feel what the killer felt. This isn't going to work if you fight me.\nEzri: I'm holding the gun.\nJoran: Stop placating me. You wanted my help? Now do as I say. Put on the targeting display.\nJoran: Now, hold the weapon as if you're going to use it. Feels good, doesn't it?\nEzri: I've held a rifle before.\nJoran: You mean in combat? It's not the same thing. That kind of killing's too random, too chaotic. This is more controlled. You can savor the moment. Now, tell me, what do you see?\nEzri: I'm moving through different levels of the docking ring.\nJoran: He didn't kill anyone in the docking ring. Remember, you're trying to put yourself in his mind. Move to the habitat ring.\nEzri: I'm there. In one of the corridors.\nJoran: Good. Our killer is a hunter. So start hunting.\nEzri: I see a Bajoran Deputy.\nJoran: You don't want to be in the corridors. Look in the quarters.\nEzri: No one's here.\nEzri: A male Starfleet officer. An engineer, about thirty five.\nJoran: Good. We have a victim. You have him in your sights. How do you feel? Truth now.\nEzri: Powerful. In control\nJoran: That's good. That's what the killer's feeling.\nEzri: I'm not angry or excited.\nJoran: You're calm, relaxd.\nEzri: Detached.\nJoran: Now you're getting it. You do your killing from a distance. You're cold, methodical. Maybe you're a scientist or a doctor?\nEzri: Maybe. But why kill like this? Why not choose a victim on the Promenade or in Quark's?\nJoran: If you want to know the answer, pull the trigger and find out. Don't think about it, do it! Do it!\nEzri: No!\nJoran: Ezri, the gun isn't loaded.\nEzri: Then why did you tell me to pull the trigger?\nJoran: Do you want to know what the killer feels or don't you?\nJoran: I'm sorry, Ezri. I didn't mean to push you so far.\nEzri: I'm not a murderer. I'm not you.\nJoran: Maybe not, but you have my memories. You remember what it was like. The excitement, the passion, the looks on their faces as they realized we were the last thing they'd ever see.\nEzri: That has nothing to do with me. You're the killer.\nQuark: Ezri? I think you need a vacation. You're talking to yourself.\nEzri: I'm just thinking out loud.\nJoran: I don't know what you see in this Ferengi. He's repulsive.\nQuark: Can I get you a drink or something to eat?\nJoran: No, we don't have time. We have work to do.\nEzri: No, thanks. I'm not hungry, really.\nQuark: Well, when you are, you know where to come.\nJoran: How I'd love to slip a knife between his ribs.\nEzri: I have a better idea. Let's get back to work. The sooner we find our killer, the sooner you and I can part company.\nJoran: I thought we were having fun together.\nEzri: Think again.\nJoran: I suppose I'll have to make myself more endearing. Now, I suggest we visit the victims' quarters to see what answers we can find there.\nEzri: What are we looking for?\nJoran: Clues, what else?\nEzri: We don't even know if the killer ever set foot in here.\nJoran: Both victims were in their quarters when they were killed. Is that a coincidence or a connection?\nEzri: I don't know.\nJoran: Think about it. Look around. And remember, whatever you see is what the killer saw. What do we know about these classmates of Ilario's?\nEzri: Odo checked with Starfleet Command. The one on the left was killed in combat five weeks ago. The one in the middle is stationed on the USS Truman. The Truman hasn't come anywhere near Deep Space Nine in months.\nJoran: Pity. Keep looking.\nJoran: Greta was quite a packrat, wasn't she?\nEzri: She was here a long time. This was home.\nJoran: A monument to bad taste. Just an observation.\nEzri: Vanderweg's husband is a micropaleontologist on Mora Five. She was married, Ilario was single. She was on Deep Space Nine for three years, he just got here. She was a mature woman, he was practically a kid. Besides the uniform, they had absolutely nothing in common. Which means they could have just been chosen at random. And if that's the case, then we're wasting our time.\nJoran: You're thinking about giving up, aren't you?\nEzri: I didn't say that.\nJoran: You don't have to. You have failure written all over you.\nEzri: I'm sorry to disappoint you.\nJoran: It's not the lack of clues that's keeping you from finding the killer, it's you.\nEzri: Me?\nJoran: You're holding back, Ezri. You refuse to see with his eyes, feel with his hands, think with his mind.\nEzri: You want to turn me into a killer, make me like you.\nJoran: You are me.\nEzri: You want me to kill someone? What do you say I start with you.\nJoran: That's the spirit.\nSecurity: Hold it! Stop him!\nEzri: They've found him!\nSecurity: Stop that man!\nJoran: A weapon. Over there. Yes. Yes, do it. Do it!\nOdo: That's enough!\nSisko: You mind explaining this? I'm told that if Odo hadn't stopped you, you'd have stabbed Ensign Bertram.\nEzri: I was trying to stop him from getting away, all right? He hit me, I reacted. I guess I overreacted.\nSisko: I'd say so.\nJoran: He could be a little more appreciative, don't you think?\nEzri: I'm sorry things get out of hand, but Bertram killed two people.\nSisko: Bertram didn't kill anyone.\nEzri: Then why was the Security team chasing him?\nSisko: Because a month ago, he accessed the replicator patterns on TR one one six without authorisation.\nJoran: Sounds guilty to me.\nEzri: Why would he replicate a rifle unless he was going to use it?\nSisko: Because he collects weapons. Federation, Klingon, and Cardassian.\nJoran: What a coincidence.\nEzri: That doesn't rule him out as a suspect.\nSisko: True. But the fact that he was on Bajor when the first murder occurred does. You've been under a lot of stress lately, so\nEzri: Ben, please don't give up on me. I can find this murderer. I know I can. I just need more time.\nJoran: I don't know what you and Jadzia and Curzon all see in that man. He's so insufferable, so Starfleet. I'm surprised the killer hasn't targeted him. I'm joking of course. But he did come perilously close to derailing our investigation.\nJoran: And you have to take some of the blame for that.\nEzri: What did I do?\nJoran: It's what you didn't do, really. You should have told him about me.\nEzri: You're kidding. One word about you and he'd have pulled me off the case.\nJoran: Well then, I guess I'll have to remain your little secret and be glad that you're still in his good graces. Not that it matters, really. We would have continued on without Sisko's blessing. Right?\nJoran: What are you doing?\nEzri: What does it look like? I'nora, ja'kala vok.\nJoran: Do you really think you can get rid of me this easily?\nEzri: Zheem Dax nah sass eye ahn\nJoran: Don't you realize we've made Dax whole again?\nEzri: D'za oo bah zheest.\nJoran: Don't back away now.\nEzri: Joran rhee jehr hey dah. Joran rhee jehr hey dah.\nJoran: You won't catch the killer without me.\nOdo: Odo to Lieutenant Dax. Report to the habitat ring on H forty three.\nEzri: I'm on my way.\nOdo: Petty Officer Zim Brott. Bolian. Five years of service on Deep Space Nine.\nEzri: I knew him. Or at least Jadzia did. He has a wife and co-husband on Bolarus.\nO'Brien: So much for the theory that our killer only targets humans.\nBashir: Captain.\nSisko: The bullet pierced his heart?\nBashir: At close range.\nJoran: Why am I not surprised.\nJoran: What happens if we don't catch him? Will he keep shooting Starfleet officers till there are none left on the station? How could anyone be so happy with such unattractive children?\nEzri: What did you say?\nJoran: This photo.\nEzri: That's it. It's the pictures! He's laughing!\nEzri: She's laughing.\nEzri: That's what the victims have in common. Pictures of laughing faces.\nJoran: A killer who hates laughter. Who hates emotion.\nEzri: A Vulcan.\nJoran: All Vulcans distrust emotions, but they don't go around killing people for smiling.\nEzri: This one does. Something happened to him, something so emotionally painful it's making him lose control. When he looks through the targeting sensor and sees those pictures, the laughter seems to mock him.\nJoran: You're thinking like he thinks. Good, Ezri.\nEzri: Computer. How many Vulcan Starfleet Officers are on the station?\nComputer: There are forty eight Vulcans serving on Deep Space Nine.\nJoran: Now all we have to do is eliminate forty seven of them.\nEzri: I should tell Odo.\nJoran: Not until we have proof.\nEzri: Then let's get some.\nEzri: We still have twenty eight suspects. Vulcans who have suffered a personal loss of some kind.\nJoran: We've narrowed the field.\nEzri: Not by enough.\nEzri: There's one thing I don't understand. If he hates laughter, then why doesn't he seek out his victims in Quark's or in a holosuite?\nJoran: Maybe it's not just the laughter.\nEzri: You're right. Maybe it has something to do with the way the photograph freezes the emotion, making it seem like the laughter is going to last forever.\nEzri: Level twelve, central core.\nJoran: So, what do we do now?\nEzri: We go back over our list of suspects, see if we can't narrow it down. Then proof or no proof, we give the list to Odo.\nVulcan: Habitat ring, level K fifty five.\nEzri: What are you doing?\nVulcan: Are you addressing me?\nEzri: Sorry. Never mind.\nJoran: It's him, Ezri. I know it is. We've found our killer. I'm telling you, he's the one we're looking for. Look in his eyes!\nEzri: By the way, I'm Counselor Dax.\nVulcan: I know.\nJoran: What are you doing? He's getting away.\nEzri: We need proof. Something I can take to Odo.\nJoran: And while you're looking for that proof, what do you think the Vulcan will be doing? Let me tell you. He's going to pick another victim.\nEzri: Science Officer Chu'lak. Age ninety seven. Assigned to Deep Space Nine three months ago. Before that, he served aboard the USS Grissom.\nJoran: Why was he transferred?\nEzri: The Grissom was destroyed by the Jem'Hadar in the battle of Ricktor Prime. He was one of only six crewmen to survive.\nJoran: Six survivors out of a crew of twelve hundred and fifty.\nEzri: He served on that ship for ten years. Those people who were killed were his colleagues, his friends.\nJoran: That's a painful loss, even for a Vulcan.\nEzri: That doesn't make him a killer.\nJoran: But your instincts tell you that he is. Listen to your instincts. Listen to me. It's him.\nEzri: Computer. Locate Science Officer Chu'lak.\nComputer: Lieutenant Chu'lak is in his quarters.\nJoran: Seeking out his next victim.\nEzri: Computer. Where are Chu'lak's quarters?\nComputer: Habitat ring, level D twelve.\nJoran: My thought exactly. What do you see?\nEzri: He's studying something on his computer console.\nJoran: Studying what?\nJoran: What is it?\nEzri: Me. My service record.\nJoran: He knows we suspect him.\nEzri: He's going into the next room.\nJoran: What's he doing?\nEzri: He's back. He's carrying something.\nJoran: It's a rifle, isn't it. Isn't it?\nEzri: Yes.\nJoran: Shoot him.\nJoran: Don't think about it, just do it.\nJoran: Kill him!\nJoran: Congratulations.\nJoran: I'm proud of you.\nJoran: Go ahead. Finish what you started.\nEzri: Tell me. Why did you do it?\nVulcan: Because logic demanded it.\nJoran: What are you waiting for? He deserves to die. You know that. Follow your instincts.\nEzri: Dax to Infirmary. I need an Emergency Medical team. Habitat ring D twelve.\nBashir: On our way.\nEzri: Try not to look so disappointed.\nEzri: Chzui vok Ezri sheyhal bashar. I'nora ja'kala vok.\nJoran: I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed our time together.\nEzri: Zheem Dax nah sass eye ahn. D'za oo bah zheest. Joran rhee jehr hey dah\nJoran: You won't be able to forget me or bury me as deeply as Curzon or Jadzia did.\nEzri: I know.\nJoran: I'm part of you now. As much as Audrid, Torias, any of them.\nEzri: I'll have to be careful. Tu Dax noh zhian 'vok j'zui.\nEzri: Joran rhem tanas Ezri."}
{"text": "O'Brien: How long was I asleep?\nOdo: Almost two hours.\nO'Brien: You dropped out of warp. We must be close to home.\nOdo: We entered the Bajoran system a few minutes ago.\nO'Brien: What's that?\nOdo: The shopkeeper I bought it from called it a knick-knack.\nO'Brien: I didn't know you collected knick-knacks.\nOdo: It's a present for Kira.\nO'Brien: Oh.\nOdo: You don't think she'll like it?\nO'Brien: I'm sure she'll like it. It's just I didn't get anything for Keiko.\nOdo: Well, the conference kept you pretty busy.\nO'Brien: You found time to get something.\nO'Brien: Not chocolates as well?\nOdo: Rigelian chocolates. Her favorite.\nO'Brien: I'll buy them from you.\nOdo: I beg your pardon?\nO'Brien: I'll buy them from you. Oh come on, Odo, you don't have to give her two presents. You've only been gone a day.\nOdo: I'm sorry, Miles, but the answer is no.\nO'Brien: There's something behind us.\nOdo: It's gaining on us fast.\nO'Brien: You think it's friendly?\nOdo: I hope so.\nO'Brien: It's certainly taken an interest in us.\nO'Brien: Uh oh.\nOdo: It's gone.\nO'Brien: What?\nOdo: According to the sensors, there's nothing out there.\nO'Brien: Where'd it go?\nOdo: It's a changeling.\nO'Brien: Stay where you are or I'll fire.\nLaas: You. You are a metamorph?\nOdo: I'm a changeling, yes.\nLaas: Tell the monoform to put down its weapon.\nOdo: Why did you board our ship?\nLaas: Because I sensed you were here. I had to see if it was true, if I'd finally found another metamorph.\nOdo: You've never met another shape-shifter?\nLaas: I've been trying to find others of my kind for a long time.\nO'Brien: I told you to stay where you are. How do we know he's not a Founder?\nOdo: He's not. He's one of the hundred.\nLaas: The hundred?\nOdo: Over the centuries, our people sent out one hundred infant changelings out into the galaxy. We were to learn about other species, and eventually return home to share what we'd experienced.\nLaas: That would explain why I was alone on Varala. I didn't even know what I was at first, or that I could assume other forms.\nOdo: I was the same way.\nO'Brien: I hate to interrupt, but shouldn't we get him in a containment field until we're sure he's telling the truth?\nLaas: I will allow myself to be taken prisoner to show my good faith, but only if you vouch for my safety. I do not trust humanoids.\nSisko: So, where is he now?\nOdo: In a holding cell. Captain, he's not a threat to us. He's just a changeling who's traveled a long way to find out where he came from.\nSisko: You believe his story?\nOdo: Yes, sir, I do.\nSisko: How can we be sure he's not a Founder?\nOdo: If he were a Founder, he'd be infected with the same disease that's afflicting the entire Link. I asked Doctor Bashir to scan him. His morphogenic matrix is as stable as mine. Sir, with your permission, I'd like to release him.\nSisko: Well, Constable, I'm sure you can appreciate why I'd have reservations about that. We're still at war with your people. The Founders have deceived us before.\nOdo: I realize that, sir, but he is not a Founder. He's one of the hundred, I'm sure of it. Sir, I'm asking you to trust me on this.\nSisko: All right, Constable. I'll release him into your custody.\nOdo: Thank you, sir.\nOdo: When I found out our people were the leaders of the Dominion, I realized I had no place with them. This war they're fighting is wrong.\nLaas: I can understand their distrust of humanoids, but why try to conquer them? Better to avoid them altogether.\nOdo: You don't much care for humanoids.\nLaas: I know from experience they don't much care for changelings.\nOdo: I think you'll find the people here are different.\nLaas: Oh?\nOdo: They accepted me.\nLaas: Have they? Is that why you've stayed?\nOdo: I told you, I want no part of the Founders.\nLaas: But what about the hundred that were sent out? Haven't you tried to find any of them?\nOdo: No. It's a huge galaxy. They could be anywhere.\nLaas: I found you.\nOdo: I have a life here. I have friends.\nLaas: When did you first assume humanoid form?\nOdo: A little over thirty years ago.\nLaas: So that's it. It's all still so new to you. I spent the first part of my life living among humanoids, as well.\nOdo: How long ago was that?\nLaas: Over two hundred years. I must have been sent out earlier than you.\nOdo: Or it could be that I was adrift for a long time before I was found.\nLaas: Either way, it would explain why you've chosen to stay here. I too was fascinated by humanoid life in the beginning.\nOdo: But you lost interest.\nLaas: I found it limiting. The Varalans never accepted me as one of them, and I was never really able to fully mimic their appearance.\nOdo: Faces aren't easy.\nLaas: No. And humanoids are not very tolerant of difference.\nOdo: Some of them are. There are dozens of species on this station. They tolerate each other's differences very well.\nLaas: He has bumps on his forehead. She has a wrinkled nose. But they're basically alike. They're bipeds that eat, sleep, breathe. You and I are nothing like them.\nOdo: We're changelings. We can be like them when we choose.\nLaas: I choose to be like them as little as possible. That's where we differ.\nOdo: Let me show you where you'll be staying.\nOdo: You haven't told me your name.\nLaas: The Varalans called me Laas. In their language it means changeable. Not very imaginative, is it?\nOdo: At least it's appropriate. My name means unknown sample. The scientist who found me didn't know what I was.\nOdo: These are my quarters. I'll be staying somewhere else. Feel free to shape shift as you please. Some of these forms are quite interesting.\nLaas: This hasn't been used in some time.\nOdo: I've been busy.\nLaas: Who is this?\nOdo: Her name is Kira.\nLaas: Ah. I had a mate once.\nOdo: Oh?\nLaas: On Varala. Not long after I first assumed humanoid form.\nOdo: And? What happened?\nLaas: We couldn't have children. That was important to her. Is it something that matters to this Kira?\nOdo: We've never discussed it.\nLaas: Neither did we, at first. Do our people reproduce?\nOdo: It's more complicated than that. In our natural state, we don't exist as separate entities.\nLaas: I don't understand.\nOdo: Our people spend most of their time in the Link.\nLaas: The Link?\nOdo: It involves a melding into one, a merging of thought and form, idea and sensation.\nLaas: You're speaking in riddles.\nOdo: It's difficult to explain.\nLaas: Then don't. Show me.\nOdo: Of course.\nOdo: Take it.\nLaas: For the first time in my life I understand how I was meant to exist. You've given up a great deal to stay here.\nOdo: Yes. Yes, I have. But I won't have anything to do with the Founders and their war.\nLaas: Odo, we Linked. I know the truth. You stayed here because of Kira. If it weren't for her, you'd be with our people. War or no war, you would be a Founder.\nKira: Hi.\nOdo: Hello, Nerys.\nKira: I can't believe it. Another changeling. What's he like?\nOdo: He's complicated.\nKira: Like you. Are you all right?\nOdo: I'm fine.\nKira: You seem far away.\nOdo: We Linked.\nKira: I see.\nOdo: There's nothing to worry about. He's not a Founder. He's not trying to lure me to the Dominion. The Link is part of what we are. It comes as naturally to us as talking does to humanoids.\nKira: It's a little more personal than talking, isn't it?\nOdo: I suppose.\nKira: So, do I get to meet him?\nOdo: If you like.\nKira: I would.\nOdo: Then I'll arrange it.\nKira: Here they are.\nOdo: This is Laas.\nKira: Nerys.\nBashir: Julian.\nEzri: Ezri.\nO'Brien: Miles.\nLaas: We've met.\nO'Brien: Look, I'm sorry. We didn't know who you were at first. You gave us quite a scare when you rammed the runabout.\nEzri: I've always wondered how it would feel to be able to fly through space like that.\nLaas: It's a shame you're incapable of ever experiencing it.\nEzri: Guess so.\nKira: Tell us about Varala.\nBashir: No Federation ship's ever been there.\nLaas: It's just the same as any other planet overrun with humanoids. Cities and farms everywhere, other lifeforms displaced from their habitats. Once I migrated to the southern continent with a herd of volg. When we returned to our breeding grounds the following summer, they had been fenced off. The herd died out within two generations. It's always that way where humanoids thrive. They disrupt the natural balance.\nQuark: Who ordered the vilm steak?\nBashir: Ah. You'd better keep that warm.\nQuark: Whatever you say.\nLaas: The truth is, I prefer the so-called primitive lifeforms. They exist as they were meant to, by following their instincts. No words get in the way, no lies, no deceptions.\nO'Brien: We're not the ones who can disguise ourselves as anything we want.\nOdo: Meaning?\nLaas: Meaning shape-shifters are not to be trusted.\nO'Brien: I trust Odo.\nLaas: Of course you trust Odo. Look at him. You've convinced him that he is as limited as you are.\nOdo: Laas.\nEzri: You've seen through our evil plan.\nBashir: Foiled again.\nKira: It's not funny.\nLaas: No, I'm very worried for him.\nKira: Odo can take care of himself.\nOdo: Thank you, Colonel. Well, this has been interesting. If you'll excuse us, Colonel, Counselor, Doctor, Chief. Laas.\n0'Brien: Nice to see you again.\nOdo: This way.\nOdo: Was it really necessary to insult my friends?\nLaas: I was merely speaking my mind.\nOdo: You could call it that.\nLaas: Humanoids are such tragic creatures. They've lost the ability to take joy from simply existing, and yet they haven't evolved to the next level where consciousness exists independent of form.\nOdo: You're certainly not afraid to make grand generalizations.\nLaas: I've been many things in my time, Odo. I speak from experience. Enough talk. Link with me.\nOdo: Here?\nLaas: Why not?\nOdo: I don't think that's a good idea.\nLaas: Are you embarrassed?\nOdo: No.\nLaas: You don't want to do anything to remind them that you're not truly a humanoid.\nOdo: I don't go out of my way to point it out, no.\nLaas: Why not? Are you afraid they will reject you?\nOdo: I don't like to confront people with something that might make them uncomfortable.\nLaas: So you deny your true nature in order to fit in.\nOdo: You're reading too much into it.\nLaas: Before I came here, when was the last time you assumed another form? You can't even remember. You've been pretending to be a humanoid for so long, it doesn't even occur to you that you can be anything else.\nOdo: That's not true. I've been involved with other things lately.\nLaas: Like what? Courting Kira? She can't even Link with you.\nOdo: Leave her out of this.\nLaas: It won't last.\nOdo: The fact that your relationship failed doesn't mean that mine will.\nLaas: True. And if you're very lucky, you can watch her grow old and die.\nOdo: I think you should stay out of my affairs.\nLaas: I don't want to see you make the same mistakes I made. You're wasting your time trying to be a humanoid. You're limiting yourself. Let's leave here, Odo. Let's find the others. A hundred were sent away and they're out there somewhere. If we can find even a few of them, we can form a new Link. Think of it, Odo. We can exist the way we were meant to. As changelings.\nKira: I can't believe he actually thought you'd just drop everything and leave with him.\nOdo: He just can't understand why I want to stay here.\nKira: How did he take it when you said no? You did say no, didn't you?\nOdo: I told him I'd think about it. I didn't want to dismiss it out of hand. He would have taken offense. Why do you look at me like that?\nKira: It just bothers me that he thinks you're not happy here. It makes me think he knows something that I don't.\nOdo: What makes you say that?\nKira: He Linked with you. Something about that gave him the impression that you might want to leave here.\nOdo: It's just wishful thinking on his part. The thought of the two of us going off together looking for the others, exploring the galaxy as changelings, it's very alluring. To him.\nKira: Sounds like it's alluring to you, too.\nOdo: I'm happy here.\nKira: I'm sorry I can't Link with you.\nOdo: It doesn't matter, Nerys. I love you.\nOdo: Computer, activate fire suppression sys Laas? I need to talk to you.\nLaas: You didn't realize it was me. Did you even know we could exist as fire? I didn't think so. No matter. Once we're away from here, I'll teach you to become things you've never even dreamed of.\nOdo: I'm not leaving. I'm staying here.\nLaas: Why? So you can keep pretending to be one of them?\nOdo: I'm sorry if you're disappointed.\nLaas: I'll survive. And when I find some of the others, I'll send for you. You'll change your mind. You'll join us.\nOdo: It could take a long time for you find another changeling.\nLaas: Is that supposed to diskourage me?\nOdo: All I'm saying is you don't have to leave right away. I wouldn't mind the company of another changeling. I'm sure you wouldn't mind either.\nLaas: All right, Odo, I won't abandon you to these monoforms. As a favor to you, I'll stay a while.\nOdo: You might as well. If you can't get along with me, what makes you think you can get along with any other changeling?\nLaas: Just remember, I have no interest in monoforms, even if they are your friends.\nOdo: After what happened at Quark's, I don't think you have to worry about an overcrowded social schedule.\nLaas: Good.\nO'Brien: Great. The environmental system's out again.\nBashir: There goes our holosuite reservation.\nO'Brien: I'd better go see what the problem is.\nOdo: Don't bother, Chief. There's nothing wrong with the environmental system.\nO'Brien: Where's this fog coming from?\nOdo: It's not fog, it's Laas.\nO'Brien: Laas?\nBashir: What's he doing?\nOdo: Being fog, what's it look like?\nO'Brien: Can't he be fog somewhere else?\nBashir: Or at night, when no one's around?\nOdo: He's not hurting anyone.\nO'Brien: Still. It's creepy.\nBashir: Careful, Miles. He might hear you.\nO'Brien: Good.\nOdo: Laas. Laas.\nOdo: Congratulations. You managed to disrupt the entire Promenade.\nLaas: I was just relaxing.\nOdo: If you want to relax, do it in private.\nLaas: Did I embarrass you?\nKlingon: Ka'vek! What is this Founder doing here?\nOdo: He's not a Founder. Now move along.\nKlingon: Don't change form in my presence again.\nLaas: I change form where I please. Look at him. Look at the hate in his eyes.\nOdo: Laas.\nKlingon: Your hands are stained with the blood of Klingon warriors.\nLaas: But then, the stench would still be on them.\nKlingon: P'tak!\nLaas: Mine's bigger.\nKlingon: Ke'chaw!\nKlingon: No!\nSisko: Doctor Bashir wasn't able to save the Klingon's life. General Martok has asked that Laas be detained until the Magistrate can determine jurisdiction.\nOdo: Jurisdiction?\nSisko: The Klingons want to extradite him.\nOdo: That's ridiculous. He killed that Klingon in self-defense.\nWorf: That is in dispute.\nOdo: He was about to draw his disruptor.\nWorf: According to the other Klingon, he was reaching for his dagger.\nSisko: Are you saying that's not true?\nOdo: It all happened too fast. But their intentions were obvious. One of them put a knife in his chest.\nSisko: The Klingons are arguing that since Laas knew he couldn't be harmed by a knife, that he wasn't justified in responding with deadly force.\nOdo: Since when do Klingons resort to legal quibbling? They get involved in fights all the time. They never file charges. It isn't honorable.\nSisko: In this case, the Klingons are exercising their rights under the law.\nOdo: Sir, they are only doing this because they distrust changelings.\nWorf: He should not have provoked them.\nOdo: Provoked them? They attacked Laas.\nSisko: They claim that he surrounded them menacingly.\nOdo: They felt menaced by fog?\nSisko: They weren't the only ones. There are twelve other people who filed complaints.\nOdo: Is it a crime to shape-shift on the Promenade?\nSisko: It's not a crime, but obviously it's not a good idea.\nOdo: You're going to allow the Klingons extradite him knowing they won't give him a fair trial.\nSisko: That's not my decision. It's up to the Magistrate.\nOdo: But you'd just as soon be rid of him. You never wanted him on the station in the first place. I practically had to beg you to let him out of that holding cell.\nSisko: That's quite enough, Constable. Now, Martok has expressed concerns about our security arrangements.\nOdo: Meaning?\nSisko: He's not sure it's appropriate that you should be in charge of the prisoner.\nOdo: May I ask why?\nSisko: Because you were a witness to the alleged crime.\nOdo: That's a relief. For a moment I thought you were going to say it's because I'm a changeling.\nQuark: Odo. I heard about your friend. Rumor has it the Klingons want to put him on trial.\nOdo: They're the ones who should be put on trial. If they'd attacked anyone other than a changeling, they would be.\nQuark: You're probably right. That fog episode certainly didn't help matters.\nOdo: Laas was only doing what comes naturally to us.\nQuark: You never pulled a stunt like that. You're smart enough to know that people don't want to be reminded that you're different. Who wants to see somebody turn into goo? I hope you don't do that around Kira.\nOdo: Why shouldn't I?\nQuark: If she's anything like me, she'd rather you didn't. Don't you get it, Odo? We humanoids are a product of millions of years of evolution. Our ancestors learned the hard way that what you don't know might kill you. They wouldn't have survived if they hadn't have jumped back when they encountered a snake coiled in the muck. And now millions of years later, that instinct is still there. It's genetic. Our tolerance to other lifeforms doesn't extend beyond the two arm, two leg variety. I hate to break this to you, but when you're in your natural state, you're more than our poor old genes can handle.\nOdo: So what are you saying, Quark? That the Klingons couldn't help what they did because of their genes?\nQuark: I'm not trying to excuse what they did. I'm only telling you why it happened. Watch your step, Odo. We're at war with your people. This is no time for a changeling pride demonstration on the Promenade.\nDeputy: Constable.\nOdo: I'd like to have a few minutes alone with the prisoner.\nDeputy: Sorry, sir. I have my orders.\nOdo: I don't know what to say.\nLaas: You could say you were wrong. You could say the people here are no different than any other humanoids.\nOdo: Hopefully this will all get straightened out at your hearing.\nLaas: I am sure it will be fair and impartial.\nOdo: Just tell them exactly what happened.\nLaas: My word against a humanoid's? Whom do you think this Magistrate is going to believe?\nOdo: I shouldn't have convinced you to stay. If I had just let you go, none of this would have happened.\nLaas: My only consolation is that this may finally make you understand that you don't belong here. You saw the hatred in that Klingon's eyes. Perhaps now you'll recognize it when you see it hiding in the faces of your so-called friends. They tolerate you, Odo, because you emulate them. What higher flattery is there? I, who can be anything, choose to be like you. But even when you make yourself in their image, they know you are not truly one of them. They know that what you appear to be does not reflect what you really are. It's only a mask. What lies underneath is alien to them, and so they fear it. And that fear can turn to hate in the blink of an eye.\nOdo: They're going to extradite him.\nKira: You don't know that.\nOdo: Yes, I do. And no one is going to do anything to stop it.\nKira: There's not much anyone can do.\nOdo: If he weren't a changeling, the Captain would find a way to intervene.\nKira: Odo, that's unfair.\nOdo: Is it?\nKira: You're starting to sound like Laas.\nOdo: Maybe that's because I'm starting to see things more clearly now.\nKira: What is that supposed to mean?\nOdo: Look at me, Nerys. What do you see?\nKira: I see you.\nOdo: No. No, this is just a form I've borrowed. I could just as easily be someone else or something else.\nKira: I know that. But this is what you have always chosen to be. A man. A good and honest man. A man I fell in love with. Are you trying to tell me that he never really existed?\nOdo: I don't know. I care about you more than anyone I've ever known. These last few months have been the happiest of my life. But even so, part of me wishes that Laas and I were out there right now searching for the others, existing as changelings. Because that's what I am. Not a humanoid. I'm a changeling.\nKira: Well then maybe you're right. Maybe you do belong out there.\nDeputy: Can I help you, Colonel?\nKira: I need to talk to the prisoner. Alone.\nDeputy: Aye, sir.\nKira: Go to the third planet in the Koralis system. You'll find an orbital tether running down to an abandoned mining complex. I'll tell Odo to meet you there.\nLaas: Is this some kind of a trick?\nKira: Do you want to get out of here or not?\nKira: That vent will lead you through some conduits to an airlock.\nLaas: Why?\nKira: I love him.\nSisko: Escaped? How did he get through the containment field?\nKira: I can't explain it. All I can tell you is what I saw. He turned himself into some kind of plasma energy and forced his way through. Before I could stop him, he had disappeared into the air vent.\nWorf: According to the operations log, one of the airlocks was activated shortly after that.\nSisko: If he left the station, why didn't our sensors detect him?\nWorf: A Corvallen freighter was leaving at about the same time. He must have shadowed it to keep from being spotted.\nKira: He could be anywhere by now.\nSisko: General Martok is not going to be happy about this\nWorf: By fleeing, the changeling has demonstrated his guilt.\nOdo: Either that, or his lack of faith in our justice system.\nWorf: He must be apprehended and brought to trial.\nSisko: Mister Worf, have all available runabouts begin a sector wide search.\nWorf: Aye, sir.\nOdo: Good luck\nSisko: Constable, I know it's a long shot, but I'm sure you can agree we should do everything we can to find him.\nOdo: Of course.\nSisko: Dismissed.\nOdo: Level Nine.\nKira: You didn't hide it very well. That you're glad he escaped.\nOdo: I should have known he'd be able to escape. What's a forcefield to a changeling with his abilities?\nKira: You said you wished you were out there with him. Well, it's not too late.\nOdo: I don't understand.\nKira: He's waiting for you at an abandoned mine on Koralis Three.\nOdo: You helped him escape.\nKira: I don't want you to stay here out of some sense of obligation. Good luck. I hope you find what you're looking for.\nOdo: Laas?\nLaas: I knew you would come. This is a new beginning for us, Odo. A new beginning for our people. You and I are about to embark on the adventure of our lives. What's wrong?\nOdo: I'm not going with you.\nLaas: Why are you here?\nOdo: I've came to say goodbye.\nLaas: Don't be a fool. What are you holding on to? Kira? Even she knows that this is what's best for you. Why else would she have helped me to escape?\nOdo: You really don't know, do you? You don't have any idea what it means to love someone enough to let them go.\nLaas: She let you go so that you could find out where you belong.\nOdo: I know where I belong. Laas, humanoids are not the petty, limited creatures you perceive them to be. What Nerys did should prove that even to you.\nLaas: Love conquers all, is that it?\nOdo: I'm sorry you can't understand. You've done many things, been many things, but you've never known love.\nLaas: Compared to the Link, it is a pale shadow, a feeble attempt to compensate for the isolation that monoforms feel because they are trapped within themselves.\nOdo: Maybe the fact that it's not easy is what makes it worthwhile.\nLaas: Odo, the Founders are dying. This could be your last chance to exist the way you were meant to. Don't throw it away.\nOdo: You'd better go. They're looking for you. Good luck.\nLaas: And to you, Odo. You'll need it more than I.\nKira: Watch over him. Help him find his way.\nKira: Yes.\nKira: I didn't think I'd see you again.\nOdo: I couldn't go.\nKira: If I ever made you feel that you can't be yourself with me, I'm sorry. I want to know you the way you really are."}
{"text": "Kira: All right, next item. Item seven. warbird repair and maintenance. Senator?\nCretak: Repairs on our ships have continually been delayed in favor of Klingon and Federation vessels. The Dividices and the Genorex have been waiting almost three weeks while more than a dozen Klingon ships have been given first priority.\nO'Brien: I make up the repair schedule according to my assessment of which ships have the greatest need.\nCretak: Odd that the Klingons seem to always have the greatest need.\nWorf: They are usually more damaged because Klingon warships are relentless in pressing home their attack.\nCretak: Reckless would be another way of putting it.\nWorf: The fight must be taken to the enemy. We cannot win this war if\nKira: All right. We're not here to debate combat tactics. Chief, how soon can you have those warbirds into a docking bay?\nO'Brien: Well, I suppose I could bring them in tomorrow. That would mean delaying repairs to the Hornet and the Rotarran. Somebody's going to have to explain to General Martok why his flagship was bumped.\nKira: Worf, you just volunteered for that assignment.\nOdo: This brings up the question of shore leave. At the moment, we have the crews from two Klingon ships on the station. I'd rather not have that many Klingons and Romulans on the Promenade at the same time.\nCretak: We'll forgo shore leave until the Klingons depart. Our soldiers are professionals. They're here to fight, not to get drunk in Quark's.\nKira: All right, that's it for today then. Same time next week? Oh sorry, Senator, you'll be attending that conference on Romulus, won't you?\nCretak: Yes. But SubCommander Velal will be here in my place.\nKira: Fine. Have a safe trip.\nCretak: Thank you.\nGarak: Ah, yes, Romulus. How well I remember it. You'll find the predominant color to be gray. The buildings, the clothes, the people. Did you know that the Romulan heart itself is gray? It's true. And altogether appropriate for such an unimaginative race.\nBashir: I take it you didn't enjoy your brief stint on Romulus. You were posing as a gardener, weren't you?\nGarak: It was one of the few instances where my cover was more enjoyable than the actual assignment.\nBashir: What was the assignment, anyway?\nGarak: I'm afraid I can't talk about that. Back to the subject at hand. What will your role be at this conference?\nBashir: Well, I'll be giving a talk on Dominion biogenic weapons, chairing a seminar on Ketracel white, and attending a meeting on a proposal to transfer twenty five Federation hospital ships over to Romulan control.\nGarak: How dull.\nBashir: Sorry to disappoint you. Admiral Ross and his staff will be discussing the exciting military issues.\nGarak: I see. I trust that Starfleet Intelligence will be sending someone along to make good use of this opportunity.\nBashir: What do you mean?\nGarak: Isn't it obvious? This is a golden opportunity to gather intelligence on Romulan intentions and military capabilities.\nBashir: They're our allies, Garak. And with any luck, this could be the beginning of a entirely new friendship between our peoples.\nGarak: The eternal optimist.\nBashir: Guilty as charged.\nGarak: How sad. I must tell you I'm disappointed hearing you mouthing the usual platitudes of peace and friendship regarding an implacable foe like the Romulans. But, I live in hope that one day you'll come to see this universe for what it truly is, rather than what you'd wish it to be.\nBashir: Well, I shall endeavor to become more cynical with each passing day, look gift horses squarely in the mouth and find clouds in every silver lining.\nGarak: If only you meant it.\nBashir: Lights.\nBashir: Sloan.\nSloan: Hello, Doctor. It's good to see you. I hope you're well rested. Section Thirty one has an assignment for you.\nBashir: You're taking quite a risk. I could have a security team here in thirty seconds.\nSloan: I suspect you'd be unable to communicate with anyone outside this room.\nBashir: I could scream for help.\nSloan: Possible, but uncharacteristic. Screaming for help, that's too undignified for you. But don't let me stop you. I enjoy being wrong.\nBashir: What do you want?\nSloan: I told you. You have an assignment.\nBashir: I don't work for you.\nSloan: You passed the test. You were accepted into the organization.\nBashir: I didn't ask to be accepted.\nSloan: You were, nevertheless. And now it's time to go to work.\nSloan: I'm sure you're dying to know what your mission is, but you won't give me the satisfaction of admitting it. So, I'll just tell you.\nBashir: Lucky me.\nSloan: Section Thirty one is extremely interested in this conference of yours. However, the Tal'Shiar will be handling the security arrangements, so we have virtually no chance of using any technical assets to gather intelligence. As a result, we'll be forced to rely on organic assets, like you. Your mission is to gather data on the Romulan leadership. In essence, we want you to take the pulse of their government. No pun intended.\nBashir: You want me to spy on an ally.\nSloan: To evaluate an ally. And a temporary ally at that. I say that because when the war is over, the following will happen in short order. The Dominion will be forced back to the Gamma Quadrant, the Cardassian Empire will be occupied, the Klingon Empire will spend the next ten years recovering from the war and won't pose a serious threat to anyone. That leaves two powers to vie for control of the quadrant, the Federation and the Romulans.\nBashir: This war isn't over and you're already planning for the next.\nSloan: Well put. I hope your report is equally succinct.\nBashir: How many times do I have to tell you, Sloan? I don't work for you.\nSloan: You will. It's in your nature. You are a man who loves secrets. Medical, personal, fictional. I am a man of secrets. You want to know what I know, and the only way to do that is to accept the assignment.\nEzri: Whoa! Easy, Julian! What's going on?\nBashir: Odo's checked all the security logs. There's no indication of how Sloan got aboard or where he went.\nSisko: Can't say I'm surprised. From what we've seen of them, Section Thirty one is very meticulous in covering their tracks. I had a conversation with Admiral Ross this afternoon. He and I both agree that the Romulan conference is too important to cancel.\nBashir: What about me?\nSisko: Starfleet Command has promised to send the expert on Dominion biogenic weapons and Ketracel white to the conference. Since that's you, you go. And we want you to carry out your assignment. Make a few diskreet observations on the Romulan leadership and then wait for Sloan to contact you again.\nBashir: Somehow, I don't think giving Sloan any information is a good idea.\nSisko: That was my instinct as well, but after talking to Ross I think we might have an opportunity here we can turn to our advantage. Officially, Starfleet Command has said that they are appallled at the very notion that an organization like Section Thirty one might exist, and that they plan to get to the bottom of this entire business.\nBashir: And unofficially?\nSisko: They have quietly pushed the investigation aside, which means either they don't take Section Thirty one seriously or someone at Starfleet Command is protecting them. Either way, we now have a chance to get someone inside and I think I want to take it.\nBashir: So you want me to play along, pretend that I've decided to work for Sloan after all?\nSisko: Exactly. When he contacts you to find out what you learned at the conference, make it seem like you've reluctantly come around to his way of thinking. Let him believe that he has seduced you into helping him.\nBashir: That shouldn't be too difficult. Sloan thinks I'm already so tempted that I can barely can see straight. Well, listen, I'd better packed. The Bellerophon leaves in three hours.\nSisko: One more thing, Doctor. Remember this isn't a game. Section Thirty one is very dangerous. If Sloan suspects that you are really working for us.\nBashir: I understand.\nSisko: Good hunting.\nCretak: A glass of Romulan ale, Doctor?\nBashir: Thank you, Senator.\nRoss: The trading embargo has been officially lifted, if you were wondering.\nBashir: It hadn't crossed my mind, actually.\nRoss: To one of the many benefits of the Alliance.\nBashir: Need a medical team, sir?\nRoss: No, thank you.\nCretak: Don't tell me this is your first glass of Romulan ale.\nRoss: Well, it was illegal.\nCretak: That never stopped most of your colleagues.\nRoss: I know. I was probably one of the few officers in the fleet who didn't indulge occasionally.\nCretak: Would you like something else?\nRoss: No, no, I'll manage.\nBashir: That's the spirit, sir. Never say die.\nCretak: What an odd expression. What does it mean?\nSloan: It's a line from an old Earth poem. Forgive me for interrupting. I couldn't help overhearing and etymology is one of my hobbies. The phrase 'never say die' is originally from a nineteenth century poem based on Shakespeare's 'Merchant of Venice.' Now, it's since passed into the vernacular as an exhortation never to give up, no matter the cost.\nCretak: Interesting.\nSloan: Wendell Greer, Assistant Director, UFP Department of Cartography.\nRoss: It's a pleasure. Admiral William Ross. Senator Cretak.\nSloan: Admiral. Senator.\nRoss: And Doctor Julian Bashir.\nSloan: Ah. The physician from Deep Space Nine. I was hoping to meet you. I have so many questions about the Bajoran sector, the navigational anomalies, the transport patterns. Could you spare a moment? Unless I'm interrupting?\nRoss: Not at all.\nSloan: Try to play your cards a little closer to your vest, Doctor. You're lucky they didn't see that look of shock on your face.\nBashir: If you've managed to attach yourself to this delegation, why do you need me?\nSloan: All in due time. Now you have a lot of work do before we arrive at Romulus. There's a PADD in your quarters. Read it. I'll join you at twenty two hundred.\nRoss: Well, Mister Greer certainly has his ducks in a row. According to the Department of Cartography, he's been a low level bureaucrat for almost fifteen years.\nBashir: That doesn't surprise me he has a solid cover story, sir. But I think it's too dangerous to allow him to participate in the conference or even set foot on Romulus. We don't know what he's up to.\nRoss: On the other hand, if we move against him now, we lose any hope of penetrating Section Thirty one. His access at this conference will be limited to a few low level briefings and seminars. It shouldn't be hard keeping tabs on him. If Sloan's here it suggests more important than a simple intelligence gathering mission. He's up to something and it's imperative that we know what that something is. We go forward.\nBashir: Next.\nBashir: Neral. Formerly Proconsul and now Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire. Neral's ascension to the top post was confirmed by the Continuing Committee a little over a year ago. His immediate family was killed in a Klingon raid approximately twenty five years ago. His interests include sociology and archeology. His favorite food is Delvan pudding and his pet set'leth's name is Pensho.\nSloan: Very good. Total recall is a useful attribute for an operative. (Next, the familiar sneering features of John Fleck.)\nBashir: Koval. Chairman of the Tal'Shiar. Section Thirty one believes that he was involved in the death of Vice Admiral Fujisaki last year, but there's no proof.\nSloan: The proof is buried somewhere in Koval's personal database, which puts it out of our reach for now. But believe me, Doctor, the Deputy Chief of Starfleet Intelligence doesn't just die of food poisoning. I have to give him credit though. It was a textbook operation. No sign of foul play, and certainly no sign of Romulan involvement. It was very tidy. Koval's political status?\nBashir: Ambiguous. He hasn't been elevated to the Continuing Committee, which is usually a given for the head of the Tal'Shiar. His nomination's probably being held up because of his opposition to the Federation Alliance, which is supported by the majority on the Committee.\nSloan: Which, in turn, opens the door for your friend, Senator Cretak. She's an advocate of the alliance and she's been lobbying for this open seat. There is another rumor about Koval which is not contained in his file. We've heard he's ill. Something called Tuvan Syndrome.\nBashir: I'm familiar with it. It's a neurological disease which affects mainly Romulans, Vulcans and Rigelians. It's degenerative and incurable at present.\nSloan: If Koval is ill, he'll try to hide it. It's a weakness, and one that could hamper his chances of being appointed to the Committee.\nBashir: Is that what I'm here for? A diagnosis? What's the matter Sloan, doesn't Section Thirty one have its own doctors?\nSloan: Our physicians weren't genetically enhanced. They need equipment to make a diagnosis. Equipment that the Romulans won't permit at this conference.\nBashir: I'm incapable of making a diagnosis by simply looking at a man.\nSloan: Your genetically enhanced friends determined that Gul Damar killed a woman just by watching him give a political speech. I'm sure you can do better than that.\nBashir: You're going to make a move against Koval, aren't you? You're going to find a way to use his illness to keep him off the Committee. I suppose it would be naive of me to point out that interfering in the internal affairs of a sovereign power is explicitly forbidden by the Federation charter.\nSloan: Without confirming or denying your speculation, I will say that if Koval comes to power, it'll be a disaster for the Federation. He'll argue for the Romulans to abrogate the alliance and negotiate a separate peace with the Dominion. And I don't think I need to tell you what that would do to the course of the war.\nBashir: You can't justify that by manipulating a\nSloan: Let's make a deal, doctor. I'll spare you the ends justify the means speech and you spare me the we must do what's right speech. You and I are not going to see eye to eye on this subject, so I suggest we stop discussing it. Our mission is reconnaissance. You're not going to be called upon to do anything other than that. Now why don't you get some rest. We'll be in orbit of Romulus by oh six hundred and you will need to have your wits about you.\nBarman: Here you are sir.\nKoval: Doctor Julian Bashir?\nBashir: Yes.\nKoval: I understand you were the officer who first identified the biogenic weapon known as the Quickening.\nBashir: That's right. On Boranis Three, in the Gamma Quadrant. I don't believe we've been introduced.\nKoval: Koval.\nBashir: Ah. It's a pleasure to meet you.\nKoval: Why?\nBashir: Well, you've got me there. It's just a simple form of expression, I suppose.\nKoval: And like most human expressions, completely devoid of meaning. Can the Dominion's Quickening virus be replicated?\nBashir: We've had a little difficulty in recreating the exact RNA sequence of the virus, which why we've been unable to develop a vaccine. However, there are alternate methods of making vaccines which\nKoval: I'm not interested in the vaccine, I'm interested in the virus. Do you know how to introduce the Quickening into a population?\nBashir: Basically.\nKoval: Good. I look forward to hearing your lecture.\nCretak: You're going to make a very fine operative, Doctor.\nBashir: I beg your pardon?\nCretak: The Chairman of the Tal'Shiar rarely speaks with anyone in public, much less someone wearing that uniform. Starfleet Intelligence should recruit you immediately.\nBashir: What makes you think I'm not working for them already?\nCretak: Somehow, it wouldn't surprise me if half the people in this room turned out to be operatives.\nBashir: You are joking?\nCretak: It may be impolitic to say this, but there are those who believe the alliance is merely a momentary truce.\nBashir: Are you one of them?\nCretak: I could ask you the same thing.\nBashir: Well in my case it's a firm no. But you've answered my question with a question.\nCretak: I try not to predict the future.\nBashir: What about Chairman Koval?\nCretak: You tell me. You just spoke with him. That's more than I've done in six months.\nBashir: I take it you two don't get along?\nCretak: We have different views.\nBashir: Which are?\nCretak: State secrets.\nBashir: Naturally.\nBashir: This is an adult female inhabitant of Boranis Three. The markings on the face are typical of a humanoid who's been infected by the disease, but who has not yet entered the terminal stage.\nBashir: In this next photograph, you can tell by the necrotic nature of the lesions the patient has indeed entered the terminal stage of the disease. This is also marked by an increase in leukocyte production.\nRomulan: Thank you, Doctor.\nStarfleet: Excellent.\nBashir: Thank you.\nSloan: Very enlightening. You almost made it comprehensible.\nBashir: Next time I'll do the lecture with hand puppets just for you.\nStarfleet 2: Thank you very much.\nSloan: I'm glad to see you still have your sense of humor. I trust you noticed who was sitting in the front row.\nBashir: Yes. He came to see me this morning between sessions. He wanted to know more about the Quickening. Specifically, if I knew how to replicate the virus and how to introduce it into a population.\nSloan: What did you think of his health?\nBashir: Didn't you hear what I just said?\nSloan: I heard you. Koval wants to get his hands on the Quickening. That's not news to me that the head of the Tal'Shiar is interested in biogenic weapons. Pull your head out of the sand, and take a look around, Doctor. These are not nice people we're dealing with here. Now answer my question.\nBashir: His eyelids were slightly displaced. He had a noticeable weakness in the facial muscles, possibly the result of compromised neuromuscular function. And his respiration was somewhat irregular.\nSloan: Bottom line?\nBashir: He may have Tuvan Syndrome, but if he does, it's in the very early stages.\nSloan: How long does he have?\nBashir: If his case fits the profile, he will start experiencing a loss of motor skills in ten to fifteen years, with a life expectancy in the twenty to twenty five year range.\nSloan: Are there any instances in which the disease accelerates without warning?\nBashir: It happens, but in less than five percent of the cases.\nSloan: Is there anything that could trigger the acceleration?\nBashir: You know, I don't know what you're asking me.\nSloan: Never mind. Thank you, Doctor. You've been very helpful.\nRoss: This is unbelievable. Let's put aside for the moment that he's contemplating the murder of a high ranking official. What in the hell makes him think that the next head of the Tal'Shiar would be any better than Koval?\nBashir: Sloan's more concerned with who gets the empty seat on the Continuing Committee. He's hoping that Cretak gets that.\nRoss: I sort of agree with him there. Cretak, for all her abrasiveness, is at least a patriot.\nBashir: What makes her any different from Koval?\nRoss: If you saw the reports from Starfleet Intelligence that I see, you would never ask that question. Koval would like nothing better than to see the Romulan banner waving over Earth. Believe me, Doctor. Chairman Koval is not someone we want at the Praetor's right hand. I'll have Sloan confined to his quarters immediately, but that may not solve our problem.\nBashir: Sir?\nRoss: Has it occurred to you that you and Sloan may not be the only ones here working for Section Thirty one? For all we know, he has a confederate somewhere in the delegation.\nBashir: Sloan did say that our mission would be strictly reconnaissance and that we wouldn't be called upon to do anything else. That could suggest another operative. Someone whose mission isn't limited to reconnaissance.\nRoss: If that's true, it could be anyone. Even a member of the Bellerophon crew.\nBashir: Or a Romulan.\nRoss: What?\nBashir: Sir, I believe Sloan has an accomplice here, on Romulus.\nRoss: What makes you say that?\nBashir: Two things. First, Sloan has too much information on the inner workings of their government, too many insights into their political process. Second, Sloan's plan is to kill Koval while making it appear to be an accelerated case of Tuvan Syndrome. Now the only way to do that would be to expose Koval to a short burst of nadion radiation. The simplest plan would be to maneuver him near a phaser relay and surreptitiously irradiate him. Now since I doubt very much that Sloan is going to have a chance to do that, it stands to reason someone else is going to have to.\nRoss: A Romulan.\nBashir: Exactly. Sir, Sloan may have already got things underway. We have to warn them.\nRoss: And how am I supposed to explain Section Thirty one to the Romulans? All hell would break loose if they hear that there's a rogue Federation agency is running around plotting assassinations. It could bring the Alliance down. Besides, all we have is speculation at this point.\nBashir: Admiral\nRoss: The answer is no. After I have Sloan arrested, I'll break radio silence and inform Starfleet Command of the situation. Your orders are to sit tight and do nothing until you hear from me.\nBashir: Aye, sir.\nHickam: I don't know. Jepella said she went in to deliver a report and found him slumped over his desk.\nWheeler: Do they have any idea what happened?\nHickam: Doctor Frame said it looked like an aneurysm, but they're still running tests.\nWheeler: An aneurysm. I saw the Admiral this morning. He looked fine.\nHickam: They say that's the way it happens.\nBashir: Which admiral are you talking about?\nHickam: Admiral Ross, sir. He collapsed at his desk.\nBashir: Where is he?\nWheeler: Sickbay.\nSloan: Hey.\nBashir: I can't trust anyone aboard the Bellerophon and I can't contact DS Nine. For security reasons there's been a communications blackout. Senator, I have no one else to turn to. I need your help.\nCretak: To do what?\nBashir: I have reason to believe that Sloan has an accomplice within the Romulan government. Someone who's going to help him carry out this assassination.\nCretak: Koval has been saying that there's a traitor in the Senate, someone working for Starfleet Intelligence\nBashir: Section Thirty one isn't part of Starfleet Intelligence.\nCretak: They are Federation citizens working to advance your interests. That makes them your responsibility.\nBashir: You're absolutely right. That's why I'm doing everything I can to stop them. I'm trying to convince Sloan that Koval doesn't have Tuvan Syndrome. But he may have already asked his accomplice to proceed. So if we want to be sure to stop this assassination we have to find Sloan's Romulan accomplice.\nCretak: And you expect me to find this traitor?\nBashir: Sloan said something about Koval having a personal database. It stands to reason that it contains a list of potential suspects. Is there any possible way you can get me a copy of this database so that I can run an analysis of\nCretak: You are asking me to hand over secret documents!\nBashir: I'm asking you to put aside three centuries of mistrust between our peoples and help me stop a murder. Senator, if we can't reach out and bridge the gulf that is between us, if we can't trust each other, a man will die and we will be partially responsible. I need your help. Please.\nSloan: You wanted to see me, Doctor?\nBashir: Yes. I'm not convinced that Koval is suffering from Tuvan Syndrome. His symptoms could be the result of any number of different health problems.\nSloan: You didn't say that before.\nBashir: I'm not an expert on Romulan physiology. Most of my knowledge of Tuvan Syndrome comes from studies done on Vulcan patients.\nSloan: I thought Vulcans and Romulans were virtually identical.\nBashir: Yes, but there are some important genetic differences. And the more I study the available data on Romulan physiology, the less sure I am that my diagnosis was correct.\nSloan: How could you find out for sure?\nBashir: The best way would be to do an examination, but I hardly think he'll agree to that.\nSloan: What if you obtained a sample of his skin cells? Could you run an analysis?\nBashir: Probably. But how do you propose\nSloan: We'll treat your palm with a microcellular adhesive. The next time you shake his hand, you'll get your sample.\nBashir: All right.\nBashir: Mister Chairman? What a pleasure to see you again.\nBashir: I'd be happy to resume our discussion on the Quickening before this conference is adjourned.\nKoval: I believe you answered all my questions, Doctor.\nBashir: Well then, I'm glad to have been able to help.\nKoval: Doctor. I would like to have a word with you on another matter, in private.\nBashir: Of course. I believe the lecture hall is empty.\nKoval: We have other more comfortable facilities available. If you please.\nKoval: Sit down. I can assure you that you will be sitting in that chair one way or the other, Doctor.\nKoval: Now we'll have our private talk.\nBashir: What shall we talk about?\nKoval: Why you're really on Romulus, who you're working for and, of course, who's helping you. Don't worry. I won't waste your time with pointless questions.\nKoval: This can be painful or not. That's up to you, Doctor. Either way, I will know what you know.\nKoval: It appears that your brain's neurocellular structure is not susceptible to our scanning techniques, evidently a result of the genetic enhancements made to your parietal cortex.\nBashir: Sorry.\nKoval: I do have other methods at my disposal, but it would save everyone a great deal of trouble if you would simply tell me what I want to know.\nBashir: You haven't asked me any questions yet.\nKoval: I think you know what I'm interested in. Who are you working for? Why are you here? Bring him.\nNeral: Doctor Julian Bashir, you are appearing before the Continuing Committee of the Romulan People. Any statements will be made part of the official record. Senator Cretak is charged with attempting to access a Tal'Shiar database without proper authorisation. The Senator has told the Committee a remarkable story. Since you're a key figure in her story, we are most eager to hear your version of the events.\nBashir: What I am about to say may be shocking. It may even damage the relations between our two peoples, but it's the truth. A few days ago, I became aware of a plot to assassinate Chairman Koval. It was conceived of by a man known to me only as Sloan. He works for an organization called Section Thirty one. They see themselves as protecting the interests of the Federation, although they have absolutely no official standing. Once I realized what Sloan was attempting to do, I contacted Senator Cretak in order to enlist her aid in stopping him.\nNeral: Why her?\nBashir: I had no one else to turn to. I was unable to contact Deep Space Nine and I couldn't trust anyone aboard the Bellerophon.\nNeral: But you felt that you could trust a Romulan Senator?\nBashir: Yes. For all our differences, I do respect her.\nNeral: Continue.\nBashir: For reasons that are extremely complicated, I came to believe that there's a traitor in your government working for Section Thirty one. I asked the Senator to obtain the database so that we could expose this person and prevent the assassination.\nNeral: Senator Cretak, why didn't you come to me with this information?\nCretak: I was afraid that if word of this plot got out, it would destroy the Alliance. I decided to keep my own counsel. I regret that decision.\nNeral: As well you should, Kimara.\nKoval: It's an interesting story. But it's not the whole story. if I may be permitted to bring in another witness? Bring in prisoner five two seven.\nKoval: Praetor, this is the man known as Sloan. Unlike the Doctor, his mind is quite susceptible to our data retrieval methods. Under questioning, he has confirmed much of what the Doctor and the Senator have told you, with one important exception. There is no Section Thirty one. Sloan, in fact, works for Starfleet Intelligence. Far from being the master of a rogue agency, he is simply one of many operatives in the employ of the Federation. He's had a long career, most of which is still unknown to us. However, there is one interesting element that we do know. He was the protégé of the late Vice Admiral Fujisaki. Sloan did not take the death of his mentor well. He came to believe he was murdered by the Tal'Shiar. In his eyes, the assassination of a Starfleet admiral was stepping over the line. Isn't that the phrase? After Fujisaki's death, he was confronted with a dilemma. How could he seek vengeance without violating the Federation laws? His answer was to invent Section Thirty one, a rogue organization that answered to no one. If they killed the head of the Tal'Shiar, Starfleet Intelligence would be held blameless. As the Committee knows, I have been diagnosed with Tuvan Syndrome. Sloan became aware of my condition and hoped to make my death look like a sudden acceleration of the disease. To do that, he needed a doctor. Sloan arranged to recruit Doctor Bashir into Section Thirty one. After that, Sloan bided his time, and waited for an opportunity to present itself. He found one when he learned of this conference. He then arranged for Bashir to be invited. Everything was going perfectly, but then he made a fatal mistake. He decided to come to Romulus himself. He was unaware that his identity had become known to us. Once we recognized him in the delegation, we knew immediately that an intelligence operation was underway. What I don't understand is why? Why did you come here and take the risk of being diskovered?\nSloan: I had to make sure nothing went wrong. And I wanted to watch you die.\nKoval: You broke the cardinal rule of our profession. You allowed business to become personal.\nNeral: So there was an assassination plan?\nKoval: Most definitely. As to the involvement of the Doctor and the Senator, Doctor Bashir may have intended to kill me, or he may have intended to save me. There is no way to know for certain. As for Senator Cretak, we all know she's an ambitious woman. It is entirely possible she would welcome my death, especially if it meant her being elevated to the Continuing Committee in my place.\nCretak: That is a lie, Koval. I was trying to save your life.\nKoval: Then you're simply a fool. You let a Starfleet Intelligence officer manipulate you into committing an act of treason.\nNeral: It is the finding of this Committee that Senator Cretak has conspired to commit treason against the State. Sentence to be determined at a later date. Doctor Bashir will be returned to the Bellerophon. Mister Sloan is remanded to the custody of the Tal'Shiar for further interrogation.\nSloan: No!\nRoss: Come in.\nBashir: Admiral.\nRoss: Doctor.\nBashir: Feeling better, sir?\nRoss: Much. Doctor Frame tells me that I should take it easy for a few days, but paperwork waits for no man. What can I do for you?\nBashir: I have a question. Where's Sloan?\nRoss: Sloan's dead.\nBashir: Admiral, where's Sloan?\nRoss: If we're going to have this discussion, then it's off the record.\nRoss: Before I answer your question, answer mine. How did you know?\nBashir: The man Koval described was not the same man who recruited me into Section Thirty one. Anyone clever enough to pull the wool so completely over my eyes wouldn't have been caught by the Romulans so easily. There had to be another explanation. And then I remembered that you were the one who planted the idea in my head that Sloan had an accomplice. You were the one who didn't want to tell the Romulans that there was an assassination plot. You were the one who issued the orders preventing me from contacting Deep Space Nine. And when the time came to arrest Sloan, you conveniently had an aneurysm, leaving me alone with no one to turn to anyone for help except Cretak. And as I realized your involvement, the rest began to fall into place. Where is he?\nRoss: I don't know.\nBashir: But he's alive, isn't he?\nRoss: He was supposed to be beamed away a split second before the phaser beam hit him. Whether it worked or not, I couldn't say.\nBashir: How long has Koval been working for Starfleet?\nRoss: He's been providing the Federation with critical military intelligence for over a year. When he started working with Section Thirty one I don't know.\nBashir: But in any case, we have our mole, working for us at the top levels of Romulan government. Good for us. And what about your friend Senator Cretak? What's going to happen to her?\nRoss: Dismissed from the Senate, definitely. Imprisoned, most likely.\nBashir: Executed?\nRoss: I hope not.\nBashir: You set her up! She was an innocent woman and you let Sloan destroy her! Why? She believed in the Alliance. She was on our side.\nRoss: No, she wasn't. I told you before, Julian, she's a patriot. Which means if it served the interests of the Romulans to negotiate a separate peace with the Dominion, Cretak would push that option. And believe me, the Dominion would like nothing better than to make a deal with the Romulans right now.\nBashir: So Koval becomes your guarantee that that does not happen. As a man who was nearly killed for his anti-Federation activities, his recommendation to stay in the war becomes all the more convincing.\nRoss: That's the general idea.\nBashir: And how long have you worked for Section Thirty One?\nRoss: I don't.\nBashir: Oh. Just a temporary alliance, is it?\nRoss: Something like that.\nBashir: You don't see anything wrong with what happened, do you.\nRoss: I don't like it. But I've spent the last year and a half of my life ordering young men and young women to die. I like that even less.\nBashir: That's a glib answer and a cheap way to avoid the fact that you've trampled on the very thing that those men and women are out there dying to protect! Does that not mean anything to you?\nRoss: Inter arma enim silent leges.\nBashir: In time of war, the law falls silent. Cicero. So is that what we have become? A twenty fourth century Rome driven by nothing more than the certainty that Caesar can do no wrong!\nRoss: This conversation never happened.\nRoss: You're dismissed.\nSloan: Good evening.\nBashir: Are you expecting applause? Have you come to take a bow?\nSloan: I just wanted to say thank you.\nBashir: For what? Allowing you to manipulate me so completely?\nSloan: For being a decent human being. That's why we selected you in the first place, Doctor. We needed somebody who wanted to play the game, but who would only go so far. When the time came, you stood your ground. You did the right thing. You reached out to an enemy, you told her the truth, you tried to stop a murder. The Federation needs men like you, Doctor. Men of conscience, men of principle, men who can sleep at night. You're also the reason Section Thirty one exists. Someone has to protect men like you from a universe that doesn't share your sense of right and wrong.\nBashir: Should I feel sorry for you? Should I be weeping over the burden you're forced to carry in order to protect the rest of us?\nSloan: It is an honor to know you, Doctor. Goodnight.\nBashir: Bashir to Security.\nOdo: Odo here.\nBashir: Never mind. My mistake."}
{"text": "Vic: Sure I remember the Alamo.\nBashir: See? Told you he would.\nVic: Laurence Harvey, Richard Widmark and John Wayne as Davy Crockett. Great battle scenes, nice sets, but way too long.\nO'Brien: We're not talking about a movie.\nBashir: No, we're talking about our holosuite program.\nVic: Oh, that Alamo. What about it?\nBashir: Well, we've got holosuite four reserved for an hour and we were wondering whether you'd like to join us.\nVic: Look fellas, I'm touched by the offer, but I don't know.\nO'Brien: We can transfer your matrix to the Alamo program.\nBashir: You've got to leave of Vegas sometimes, right?\nVic: True, but I'm afraid I have to say no.\nBashir: Why?\nVic: I don't look good in buckskin. Tell you what I'll do though. How about a little tune to get you into a Texas state of mind. Fellas, Alamo. Standing around by the Alamo. Walking around in San Antonio. Looking around for a new kind of love.\nVic: Baby I'm lonesome tonight. History abounds by the famous fort.\nMan: Get him off!\nMan: Come on, step down, ya hack. Oh, honey. Show me, show me!\nVic: What the hell?\nBashir: What is all this?\nVic: Don't ask me.\nO'Brien: Maybe there's a pointer fault in the holosuite's parameter file.\nFrankie: Well, look who's here. The pretty boy singer himself.\nVic: Frankie Eyes. What are you doing in Vegas?\nFrankie: What happened to 'Hello, Frankie, long time no see. Make yourself at home. Can I get you anything?' You believe this guy?\nCicci: No manners.\nFrankie: Were you born in a barn or something?\nBashir: This gentleman a friend of yours?\nVic: We know each other.\nFrankie: We're a long way from South Philly, ain't we, Vic?\nVic: So, are you here on business or pleasure?\nFrankie: Let's just say I'm here to stay, while you, Vicky boy, are about to take a powder.\nVic: I'm not going anywhere.\nFrankie: I got news for you, pal. I just bought this hotel. You're history.\nVic: You can't fire me. I have a contract.\nFrankie: And you can paper your walls with it. You're finished in this town, Vic.\nVic: You're blackballing me?\nFrankie: As of this moment, you couldn't get a job as a singing busboy. Now are you going to walk out of here, or do you have to be carried out? Makes no difference to me.\nO'Brien: Let me handle this. Computer. Delete characters Frankie Eyes and I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.\nCicci: Cicci.\nO'Brien: And Cicci from the holosuite's program.\nCicci: What's a holosuites?\nFrankie: Beats me.\nBashir: They're still here, Chief.\nO'Brien: Computer, freeze program. There must be a little problem in the character deletion algorithm.\nCicci: I'll show you the door.\nVic: Make that a big problem.\nFrankie: What's it going to be, pallie?\nVic: I guess I start packing.\nFrankie: Smart boy. All right, Cicci, come on. Let's check out my casino.\nBashir: So what do we do now?\nVic: Nothing we can do. Frankie's a made man, capisce?\nBashir: I'm not talking about Frankie, I'm talking about fixing the entire program.\nO'Brien: Well, we could shut it down manually and reset it. But that would wipe Vic's memory. He'd forget everything that's happened since we first activated him.\nVic: Oh, hold on, pallie. Nobody's wiping my memory.\nBashir: Of course not. There must be some other way.\nO'Brien: I wish I knew what it was.\nBashir: Better talk to Felix. After all, he was the one who designed this program.\nVic: You do that.\nO'Brien: In the meantime, you stay out of the way of Frankie Eyes.\nVic: You'll get no argument from me.\nNog: I'll tell you one thing, if this Frankie Eyes hurts Vic in any way, he's going to have to answer to me.\nWorf: I do not understand how you could feel such loyalty for a hologram.\nNog: He's not just a hologram, he's my friend.\nO'Brien: Don't you like Vic?\nWorf: As a singer, I find him entertaining. But beyond that, I neither like him nor dislike him. He is a hologram, and therefore he does not exist.\nKira: He does for me.\nBashir: I just talked to Felix. I know what's been affecting Vic's program. It's a jack in the box.\nNog: A what?\nO'Brien: A jack in the box. It's a children's toy on Earth. You wind it up and a figure jumps out and goes Boo!\nBashir: Except this type of jack in the box is different.\nNog: It doesn't go Boo?\nBashir: No, this surprise is buried deep in the holosuite program.\nO'Brien: It's meant to shake things up, you know? Make things interesting.\nNog: I wasn't bored. Were you?\nKira: Not at all. I liked Vic's the way it was.\nBashir: According to Felix, if we get rid of Frankie Eyes, everything resets back to the way it was.\nKira: That's good to know.\nNog: So how do we get rid of Frankie Eyes?\nBashir: That's up to us. But Felix did warn me the program is period specific.\nO'Brien: In other words, if we shoot him, we have to use a forty five automatic and not a phaser.\nBashir: We can't shoot Frankie, it's too dangerous.\nO'Brien: The mob could retaliate against Vic.\nBashir: If anything happens to Vic, his matrix will be eliminated from the program. Permanently.\nNog: The news just keeps getting better, doesn't it?\nSisko: What news?\nKira: Oh, nothing, sir. We're talking about a holosuite program.\nBashir: Vic Fontaine's hotel's just been bought by gangsters.\nSisko: I see. When do you plan on to going back to work?\nO'Brien: Right away, sir.\nNog: Whatever you decide to do, Chief, count me in. I owe Vic. I thought losing my leg was the end of my Starfleet career. He taught me otherwise.\nKira: He changed my life, too. And Odo's.\nBashir: Now all we need is a plan.\nKasidy: Your daddy would be proud.\nSisko: My daddy taught me everything I know.\nKasidy: How nice.\nSisko: So, how was your day?\nKasidy: It's getting better.\nSisko: Something happen?\nKasidy: It's Vic.\nSisko: Vic?\nKasidy: Vic Fontaine. A gangster named Frankie Eyes took over his lounge. The whole place has changed and no one's sure how to change it back. What?\nSisko: Nothing.\nKasidy: I guess this sounds pretty silly to you.\nSisko: A little.\nKasidy: You have to understand, Vic isn't just another holosuite program. He's more like a friend.\nSisko: Kasidy, can we talk about something else?\nKasidy: Sure. How come you've never been to Vic's?\nSisko: Does it matter? You like going there and I don't. Let's leave it at that.\nKasidy: I was only asking.\nSisko: And I gave you my answer.\nKasidy: There are times when I just can't figure you out.\nSisko: Well, maybe that's part of the attraction.\nKasidy: Believe that if you want to.\nVic: Who is it?\nO'Brien: It's Miles and Julian.\nVic: Just a minute.\nVic: You wouldn't happen to have an ice pack on you, would you?\nVic: Hey, pallie, whose side are you on?\nBashir: I'm sorry, but you have three bruised ribs here and your left wrist is sprained. The good news is your skull is still in one piece.\nBashir: Thanks.\nVic: I feel better already. A jack in the box. I can't believe Felix would do that to me.\nBashir: Oh, don't take it personally. He was just trying to do me a favor by not letting things get too boring.\nVic: I thought that was my job.\nBashir: Oh, and you're great at it. You know we love ya.\nO'Brien: So, you going to tell us what happened?\nVic: I slipped in the bathtub.\nO'Brien: And knocked over this furniture looking for a bandage, right?\nVic: Something like that. Frankie sent Tony Cicci to pay me a little visit. He wanted to remind me not to take too long packing.\nO'Brien: What is it with you and Frankie?\nVic: It goes back to the old neighborhood when we were kids. I used to beat him at stickball.\nBashir: And?\nVic: And nothing. We've been rivals ever since.\nO'Brien: That Felix, huh. When he designs a holosuite program, he doesn't fool around.\nVic: Tell me about it.\nBashir: Now you should get some rest. Maybe take a little vacation.\nVic: A vacation? Did you guys take a vacation when the Dominion took over DS Nine?\nO'Brien: It's not the same thing.\nVic: It is to me. This is my life, remember? I don't run at the first sign of trouble.\nBashir: We're not asking you to run anywhere. We just want you to stay out of sight while we come up with a plan.\nVic: What plan?\nO'Brien: How to get rid of Frankie Eyes.\nBashir: Odo and Kira are down in the lounge right now.\nVic: Doing what?\nO'Brien: Checking up on Frankie. We need to find his weak spot.\nVic: I hope you know what you're getting me into. If you guys screw up, I'm the one who winds up buried in the desert.\nKira: Let me guess, you'll look around here while I check out the casino?\nOdo: Oh. Er. If you'd prefer, I'll go and\nKira: Enjoy yourself. Just remember, we have a job to do.\nOdo: Of course.\nCicci: Then I drive him out to the woods. Badda bing badda bang. Three in back of the head, that's the end of little Paulie. So what do you think Frankie says when I report back in? Little Paulie? Nah, I told you to pop Big Paulie! That's the problem with our business, too many guys named Paulie.\nKira: Hit me. I'm done.\nFrankie: Not so fast. What kind of card is that to give such a pretty lady. Hit her again.\nKira: Isn't that against the rules?\nFrankie: Don't worry about it. Double your bet.\nFrankie: Twenty six? What's wrong with you? Again. You're starting to aggravate me, pal. Twenty one, finally. Pay the lady.\nDealer: Yes, sir.\nFrankie: If I were you, I'd quit while I was ahead. The name's Frank Chalmers, but everyone calls me Frankie Eyes.\nKira: Why's that?\nFrankie: Because I don't miss a trick.\nKira: You're very sure of yourself.\nFrankie: Doubt is for losers.\nKira: And quite a philosopher.\nFrankie: Well, I'm thinking of writing a book.\nKira: What's the title?\nFrankie: Well, maybe you can help me think one up.\nKira: My talents lie in other directions.\nFrankie: Good title. Mind if I use it?\nKira: I'd say you already paid for it.\nFrankie: So what do you say we hit the roulette table and see if I can't buy Chapter One.\nCicci: Hey, Max, Max, come over here. I want you to see this.\nCicci: Can you believe it? He did it again. Buddy, I've been hanging out in bars for twenty years. I ain't never seen a stunt like that.\nOdo: There's nothing to it, really.\nCicci: Hear that? The guy's the eighth wonder of the world and he says there's nothing to it. So where you from again?\nOdo: Bajor.\nCicci: That's in Jersey, right?\nOdo: Right.\nCicci: Max, Max, another round for my friend here.\nOdo: Turns out Frankie Eyes was sent to Vegas by a man named Carl Zeemo.\nVic: Looks like Frankie's moving up in the world.\nKira: You know Mister Zeemo?\nVic: Been around forever. Likes to pretend he's a sweet old man, but he's meaner than a junkyard dog. It's is all starting to make sense. I knew Frankie didn't have the money to buy a hotel.\nEzri: But Zeemo does.\nVic: More than enough. This is going to be a pretty sweet deal for him. The casino's bringing in about a million bucks a month. Cash. And out of that, Zeemo expects to be sent a couple of hundred grand.\nOdo: That would be the skim.\nVic: Right off the top. Tax free. Frankie's got nothing to worry about. All he's got to do is send Mister Zeemo his cut.\nKira: According to Frankie, Mister Zeemo's coming into town in about six days to pick up his first payment. He's never been to Vegas and he wants to look over his newest acquisition.\nO'Brien: What would happen to Frankie if he didn't give Zeemo his skim?\nVic: Frankie's not that dumb.\nBashir: Miles, are you thinking what I'm thinking?\nO'Brien: That depends on what you're thinking.\nBashir: All we have to do is see to it that Mister Zeemo doesn't sees a penny of that money.\nEzri: Are you talking about robbing the casino?\nO'Brien: That's what I was thinking.\nKasidy: Isn't that dangerous?\nVic: Stealing from the mob? You bet it is. You get caught and I kiss the world goodbye.\nO'Brien: Then the trick is not to get caught.\nVic: You guys are nuts, you know that? Besides, the money's kept in a safe.\nNog: What kind of safe?\nVic: I don't know. It's in the countroom and there's a guard outside the door twenty four hours a day. And even if you did get past him, there's still that little problem of the two countmen inside.\nKira: I'll get a look at the safe.\nBashir: We'll figure out a way to take out the guard.\nKasidy: And the countmen.\nEzri: And anything else that comes along.\nO'Brien: Then we're agreed?\nBashir: Absolutely.\nKira: I'm in.\nOdo: Me, too.\nKasidy: Sure.\nEzri: Okay.\nNog: Let's do it.\nVic: Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You're going to knock over the casino and swipe a cool million from the mob?\nO'Brien: Vic, you want your lounge back or not?\nVic: Deal me in.\nFrankie: Have you ever seen a prettier shade of green?\nKira: Looks like you had a profitable night.\nFrankie: And the night's not over.\nKira: Is this for me or am I just keeping it warm for you?\nFrankie: It's all yours, baby. And there's more where that came from.\nKira: I'll take your word for it.\nFrankie: What are you looking at?\nAl: Nothing.\nFrankie: Just keep counting. After you, sweetheart.\nKasidy: Are you sure you didn't go to high school in Asheville, North Carolina?\nGuard: Yeah, I'm positive.\nKasidy: That's funny. You look just like the captain of our football team. I had such a crush on him.\nGuard: Well, actually, I did play a little football.\nKasidy: I knew it. You have the body of an athlete.\nCicci: You call this a cheesesteak? I wouldn't feed this to my parole officer.\nOdo: Excuse me, Cicci. Could I have a word with you?\nCicci: Just a second, please. Now I want a cheesesteak and I don't care if you got to fly to Philadelphia to get me one.\nCicci: A guy can starve to death in this town.\nOdo: Ezri, this is Tony Cicci.\nEzri: Nice to meet you.\nCicci: The pleasure is all mine.\nOdo: Ezri's new in town. She needs a job.\nEzri: I'm a very good waitress.\nCicci: Ah. You wouldn't happen to have a slice of pizza on you?\nEzri: No, but I could go the kitchen and get you one.\nCicci: That chef wouldn't know a good pizza if it hit him right in the face. Consider yourself gainfully employed.\nEzri: Really? That's wonderful.\nOdo: Thanks, Cicci. I owe you one.\nCicci: Ah, don't mention it, Stretch. Maybe one of these days you'll show me the\nCicci: I don't believe it.\nVic: Take it easy, pallie. Take it easy. I'm not looking for trouble.\nCicci: That's a relief.\nVic: I'm here to see Frankie. I want to try to work things out with him. You know, let bygones be bygones.\nVic: Frankie, I'm dying here. The Sands, the Dunes, the DI, no one will even return my call.\nFrankie: Tell me something I don't know.\nVic: There's got to be a way for us to bury the hatchet.\nFrankie: I already did. In your head.\nVic: Frankie you want me to beg? I'll beg. Give me a chance to make things right. I know people, people with dough. High rollers. I could bring 'em into the casino.\nFrankie: What? You want to be my shill?\nVic: I'm talking about people who can drop ten, twenty, thirty big ones a night.\nKira: Give him what he wants, Frankie. I can't take much more of his whining.\nFrankie: Bring in a couple of players, then we'll talk.\nVic: That's all I ask. Let me buy you a drink.\nFrankie: I don't drink with losers. Come on, dollface. Let's warm up the poker table.\nCicci: Welcome back.\nSisko: You're in charge of what?\nKasidy: Of distracting the guard so that we can sneak someone into the countroom.\nSisko: Kasidy, I can't believe you're involved in this thing. The whole thing is ridiculous.\nKasidy: I guess that means you're not going to wish me luck.\nSisko: And you're telling me that virtually my entire senior staff is a part of this nonsense?\nKasidy: You're supposed to help your friends when they're in trouble. And Vic, hologram or not, is in trouble. Not that I'd expect you to care.\nSisko: Look, this is not about Vic Fontaine.\nKasidy: Then what is your problem?\nSisko: You want to know? You really want to know what my problem is? I'll tell you. Las Vegas nineteen sixty two, that's my problem. In nineteen sixty two, black people weren't very welcome there. Oh, sure they could be performers or janitors, but customers? Never.\nKasidy: Maybe that's the way it was in the real Vegas, but that is not the way it is at Vic's. I have never felt uncomfortable there and neither has Jake.\nSisko: But don't you see, that's the lie. In nineteen sixty two, the Civil Rights movement was still in its infancy. It wasn't an easy time for our people and I'm not going to pretend that it was.\nKasidy: Baby, I know that Vic's isn't a totally accurate representation of the way things were, but it isn't meant to be. It shows us the way things could have been. The way they should've been.\nSisko: We cannot ignore the truth about the past.\nKasidy: Going to Vic's isn't going to make us forget who we are or where we came from. What it does is it reminds us that we're no longer bound by any limitations, except the ones we impose on ourselves.\nKasidy: What about Worf?\nKira: Oh, he'll never agree to it.\nEzri: There's always Quark.\nOdo: I'm not sure he'd help. He thinks of you as his competition.\nNog: I'll get it.\nO'Brien: Better get this out of sight.\nEzri: There's one little problem. We're still one man short.\nBashir: We need a high roller with Vic at the craps table. Someone to gather a crowd, keep attention away from the countroom.\nO'Brien: Otherwise the whole plan falls apart.\nSisko: And we certainly can't let that happen. Now, exactly what do you need me to do?\nVic: Let's go over it one more time.\nNog: Do we have to? Everyone knows what they have to do, right?\nEzri: It's all pretty simple really.\nVic: Hey, far be it from me to tell Starfleet officers how to do their jobs.\nO'Brien: Robbing casinos isn't part of any Starfleet job description I've ever read.\nKira: We can't afford to make any mistakes.\nSisko: And we're not going to. Take us through it again.\nVic: You got it, pallie. It all begins with you.\nVic: Keeping Frankie Eyes away from the casino and the countroom.\nVic: Meanwhile, the Captain and I will be laying down some heavy bread over at the craps table. Enough to draw a crowd.\nSisko: Where are we going to get that kind of money?\nVic: I put a little away for a rainy day. Now each night, at precisely eleven forty five.\nSisko: Al, one of the countmen, takes a break to call home.\nSisko: He never varies his routine. He's gone for eight minutes every night.\nVic: During those six minutes, Howard, the other countman, has a martini brought in.\nEzri: That's where I come in. But first, I make a stop at poker table three where I hand a drink to Julian.\nBashir: And I slip a few drops of ipecac into Howard's.\nEzri: After which, I continue on to the countroom.\nEzri: I set the tray down and leave.\nVic: Once Ezri's out of the countroom\nKasidy: I go running up to the guard and tell him Chief O'Brien has stolen my chips.\nVic: Do whatever you need to do to keep him distracted. And don't be afraid to turn on the waterworks. And Chief, you play innocent.\nO'Brien: I am innocent! I've never seen this woman before in my life.\nVic: That's the ticket. Now remember, the two of you have to keep that guard away from the door for at least two minutes.\nBashir: Once he takes a sip of his drink, Howard'll come flying out of that countroom at warp speed.\nNog: Which is where I come in.\nVic: You and those fabulous Ferengi ears of yours.\nNog: And once I've opened the safe.\nOdo: you'll need someplace to put all that money.\nVic: You're going to be surprised how much a million bucks weighs.\nOdo: I think I can handle it.\nVic: When you walk into the casino, don't talk to anyone. Don't even look at anyone. And whatever you do, don't run. Just head for the exit and dump the cash in the garbage cans outside. With no money, there's no skim to give to Mister Zeemo, and old Frankie becomes yesterday's news.\nBashir: And everything returns to normal\nBashir: And we pop open the champagne.\nVic: Music to my ears, pallie.\nSisko: Eight minutes. That's how long we have to get into the countroom, open the safe, grab the money, and then get out again.\nBashir: I bet we do it in five.\nNog: When do we pull off the caper?\nKasidy: The sooner, the better.\nEzri: Zeemo's due in two days.\nSisko: Then we have no choice. We go tomorrow night.\nVic: Hey. Crazy.\nO'Brien: That was fast.\nBashir: It has to be.\nEzri: Two minutes, fourteen seconds.\nNog: I've got to do a lot better than that.\nEzri: Right.\nNog: Go.\nKasidy: Better finish getting dressed. It's almost time.\nQuark: I'm telling you, Morn. Something's going on in Vic's that we don't know about.\nFrankie: Looking good, as usual, dollface.\nKira: I'm glad you like what you see.\nFrankie: I only wish I could see more.\nKira: Well you know what they say, good things come to those who wait.\nFrankie: Who are they and how much of you have they seen?\nKira: I never kiss and tell.\nFrankie: I bet you don't.\nKasidy: Oh, nineteen. Let's if see you can beat that.\nKasidy: Twenty three. You're busted.\nBashir: Vodka martini. Stirred, not shaken.\nEzri: Right away, sir.\nRoulette: Winner seventeen black.\nSisko: Ten thousand.\nCroupier: Good luck to you, sir. Make your bets. High low bets.\nVic: A hundred dollars?\nSisko: Too much?\nVic: You're supposed to be a high roller, so start rolling. Make it two thousand.\nSisko: Two thousand.\nFrankie: What do you say we blow some of my money at the crap table?\nKira: Maybe later. Right now, I want you to buy me a drink. We can play footsies under the table.\nFrankie: Footsies? I guess that's a start.\nVic: We have lift off.\nEzri: Oh, I'm so sorry.\nBashir: Don't worry about it. You're too kind.\nCroupier: Coming out now, new shooter.\nSisko: Here's where things get interesting. Come on, seven.\nEzri: You're not Howard.\nCountman: He's out with the flu.\nEzri: Oh. This drink must be yours, then.\nCountman: I'm not thirsty.\nEzri: But\nCountman: Hey, you're making me lose count.\nEzri: Sorry. You mind if I drink that? I've been on my feet for hours and I could really use a little pick me up.\nCountman: That's about the saddest story I ever heard.\nCroupier: Place your bets.\nSisko: Let it ride, let it ride.\nKasidy: You have to help me. That man. That man right there. He stole a stack of my chips.\nGuard: Hey, you! Stop right there!\nO'Brien: Who, me?\nGuard: The lady says you stole her chips.\nO'Brien: I did no such thing.\nKasidy: Liar! I'm telling you, he took them. You're a thief!\nO'Brien: And you're drunk,\nKasidy: I am not.\nGuard: Hey, hey, let's just calm down, okay?\nKasidy: Not until I get my money!\nO'Brien: What money?\nKasidy: The money you stole.\nO'Brien: I told you, I never touched your money.\nKasidy: Liar.\nNog: Uh oh.\nOdo: What do you mean, uh oh. We don't have time for uh oh.\nNog: This safe. It has an auto-relock tumbler. Kira didn't mention anything about an auto-relock tumbler.\nOdo: Well she obviously didn't know about it.\nNog: We're not going to have enough time.\nOdo: Keep working.\nFrankie: This is the hand that shook the hand of Bugsy Siegel, the man that built Las Vegas. I'm telling you, he was a visionary. And is there even one statue of the guy in this town?\nKira: There's no justice.\nFrankie: You can say that again. Sure you don't want to play the tables for a while?\nKira: I'm perfectly content right here.\nFrankie: Who am I to argue with a lady?\nKasidy: What are you standing around for? Arrest him! I told you he took two hundred dollars worth of chips from me.\nO'Brien: How come I've only got five bucks on me?\nKasidy: Don't believe him.\nO'Brien: I'm telling you. This broad ain't playing with a full deck.\nKasidy: And just what is that supposed to mean?\nO'Brien: What do you think it means?\nSisko: Beginner's luck. For the dealers.\nVic: Six minutes.\nSisko: I wonder what's taking them so long.\nAl: I've got to go. I'm running late. This Frankie\nFrankie: You in some kind of hurry?\nKira: Me?\nFrankie: You keep staring at that watch.\nKira: Really? I hadn't noticed.\nFrankie: And your drink. You haven't touched it.\nKira: Oh, well, the night is young. I've got to pace myself.\nFrankie: Pace yourself? For what?\nCicci: Frankie, there's someone here to see you.\nFrankie: I'm busy.\nZeemo: You don't look busy.\nFrankie: Mister Zeemo. We weren't expecting you until tomorrow.\nZeemo: I'm early. Any problem with that?\nFrankie: No, not at all. Sit down, have a drink.\nZeemo: We'll have a drink later. Where's the er, where's the countroom.\nFrankie: Follow me.\nKira: Mister Zeemo. It's a great honor to meet you.\nZeemo: I know.\nKira: Frankie has told me so much about you.\nZeemo: Frankie.\nFrankie: Yeah.\nZeemo: The money, Frankie.\nFrankie: Right this way.\nZeemo: Let's go. Come on.\nOdo: Nog, it's been eight minutes. We're running out of time.\nBashir: I fold. Excuse me. Your name's Al, right?\nAl: Who wants to know?\nBashir: Frankie Eyes.\nAl: Frankie Eyes?\nBashir: He's waiting for you out back.\nAl: For what? I didn't do nothing.\nBashir: Then you have nothing to worry about.\nVic: You gotta be kidding me\nSisko: Now what? Zeemo!\nVic: He's a day early. Keep playing, I'll try to stall them.\nVic: Nina? Nina, is that you?\nZeemo: Who's this?\nFrankie: Nobody. Hey, Vic, take a walk.\nVic: Where you been keeping yourself, baby?\nBlonde: Do I know you?\nVic: Do you know me? Don't you remember that week in Miami? Ever see what she looks like in a bikini? Oh, mamma mia.\nZeemo: When were you in Miami?\nBlonde: I don't know what he's talking about.\nVic: Who's this? Your grandpa?\nZeemo: Frankie.\nFrankie: Cicci!\nCicci: Now you've done it.\nFrankie: Bury him. So long, sucker.\nZeemo: Frankie, I'm waiting for the money.\nFrankie: Yes, all right. Right this way.\nSisko: Tonight everyone's a winner.\nZeemo: What's this? What's going on?\nNog: Piece of cake.\nO'Brien: Can I go now?\nKasidy: You aren't going anywhere! Don't let him leave.\nGuard: Charlie, over here. Take this gentleman to security.\nKasidy: But I wanted you to handle this.\nGuard: I'm afraid I can't leave my post. Charlie, strip search.\nO'Brien: Strip search?\nGuard: There, there, it's not worth all that.\nKasidy: I needed that money to buy a gift for my mother.\nZeemo: Funny way to run a casino.\nKira: What are you waiting for, Frankie? Why don't you show Mister Zeemo to the countroom.\nZeemo: Well you heard the lady.\nFrankie: I'm telling you, Mister Zeemo, buying this casino was the smartest move you ever made. We're making money hand over fist.\nFrankie: I just hope you brought a big enough briefcase.\nZeemo: Where's my money?\nVic: Now that's more like it.\nOdo: Say goodbye to Frankie Eyes.\nKira: You can tell Felix that we shut the lid on his jack in the box.\nBashir: With pleasure.\nVic: Ladies and gentlemen, the bubbly's on me.\nBashir: Thanks. Vic.\nOdo: Hear, hear.\nBashir: Where've you been?\nO'Brien: I don't want to talk about it.\nVic: The next time you two fight the battle of the Alamo, count me in. Coonskin cap and all.\nBashir: You got it, pallie.\nVic: To the best friends a hologram ever had.\nBashir: Hear, hear.\nO'Brien: Cheers.\nVic: I owe you, big time.\nBashir: Cheers, Vic.\nEzri: Cheers.\nVic: Okay, fellas, let's do it. Captain? You'll join me?\nKira: What? Vic and Sisko sing 'The Best is Yet to Come'. Nice.)"}
{"text": "Sisko: There are a few wild moba trees here, and a creek that runs through the meadows and into the forest.\nSisko: Nice spot, huh?\nKasidy: Bajor, right?\nSisko: The Kendra province, just south of the Yolja river. I was there the other day.\nKasidy: I thought you went to a conference in Rakantha.\nSisko: I did. But afterwards Vedek Oram wanted me to visit his monastery. We took a transport across the mountains. The sun was just going down and the entire valley was shimmering in the light. And I said to myself, this is the place. This is where I'm going to build my house.\nKasidy: I've heard you talk that way before.\nSisko: Oh, no, this is not just talk. As of this morning, all of this land belongs to me.\nKasidy: You're serious.\nSisko: Twelve hecapates. I'm going to start building as soon as the war is over. We'll have a place that we can visit any time we want.\nKasidy: Sounds good to me.\nSisko: Maybe someday I'll retire here.\nKasidy: I could see you now, sitting in your rocking chair, watching the sunset over the mountains every night, wondering where you put your teeth.\nSisko: Just like my great-great grandfather, in the glass next to the chair.\nKasidy: It's funny how thing's turn out, isn't it?\nSisko: What do you mean?\nKasidy: Did you ever think that you would become so attached to Bajor that you'd want to spend the rest of your life there?\nSisko: It wasn't part of the master plan, if that's what you mean. But from the moment I set foot on this station, nothing has turned out the way I imagined it. This was supposed to be just a temporary assignment, but it has become much more than that. I guess I was meant to come here. You see, it's almost like my\nKasidy: Destiny.\nSisko: Destiny, yes.\nKasidy: I guess when your mother turns out to be part prophet or part wormhole alien or whatever it is you want to call her, words like destiny begin to mean something.\nSisko: When I look at the picture of this woman with my father, I think to myself, yes, that's Sarah, my mother. But she's not just a woman, she's more than that. And when I look at myself in the mirror\nKasidy: You don't just see a man. You see more than that.\nSisko: Does it bother you?\nKasidy: Do I act like it bothers me?\nSisko: You're not answering my question.\nKasidy: I guess when you first told me about Sarah, I was a little surprised.\nSisko: More than a little.\nKasidy: All right, I was very surprised. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized what an amazing thing it was. Is.\nSisko: I'm glad you think so.\nKasidy: I do. And, part prophet or not, you're still my Benjamin and I love you.\nEzri: I bumped into Captain Boday the other night.\nO'Brien: Captain Boday?\nBashir: The Gallamite. Jadzia dated him.\nO'Brien: Oh. The toothy smile and the transparent skull?\nBashir: That's him.\nO'Brien: What's he doing on the station?\nEzri: The Gallamites are supplying duranium for the war effort.\nBashir: Personally, I don't know what Jadzia ever saw in that man.\nO'Brien: Well, his brains.\nBashir: Did he know who you were?\nEzri: Not at first.\nBashir: But when he found out, I bet he laid on the charm.\nEzri: You could say that.\nBashir: The man's insufferable. He's opinionated and arrogant.\nEzri: And charming.\nBashir: If you say so.\nO'Brien: Something wrong?\nKira: We just got word from the Klingons. The Rotarran and the Koraga were ambushed by a Dominion patrol near the Badlands.\nEzri: Worf was commanding the Koraga.\nKira: It didn't make it. The Rotarran recovered six escape pods. Worf wasn't aboard any of them.\nQuark: Heard anything from the Defiant?\nEzri: I talked to Benjamin this morning. He said that according to the Koraga's crew, Worf was the last one to leave the bridge. No one knows if he made it to the escape pod.\nQuark: My money says he did. We haven't seen the last of that crazy Klingon.\nEzri: They've been searching for three days.\nQuark: They'll find him. It's just going to take a while. You know what it's like in the Badlands, there's a lot of sensor interference.\nEzri: I should have gone with them.\nQuark: And what would you be able to do that they can't?\nEzri: Probably nothing, but it would be easier than just sitting here waiting.\nQuark: He'll be back before you know it.\nEzri: You really think so?\nQuark: Absolutely. The night before he went on patrol, he brought the Koraga's crew in here and bought them three barrels of bloodwine.\nEzri: And?\nQuark: And he didn't pay the tab. Do you really think he'd go to Sto'Vo'Kor owing me money?\nEzri: He doesn't even like you.\nQuark: Exactly. He couldn't enjoy the afterlife knowing I had something on him.\nEzri: Thanks, Quark.\nCrewman: Ops to Lieutenant Dax.\nEzri: Go ahead.\nCrewman: You have an incoming transmission from the Defiant.\nEzri: Patch it through. What is it, Benjamin?\nSisko: I'm afraid we're going to have to call off the search.\nEzri: You're giving up?\nSisko: We don't have any choice. There are a dozen Jem'Hadar ships closing on our position.\nEzri: But what if he's out there somewhere?\nSisko: Let's face it, the odds aren't good. We don't even know if he made it off the Koraga. I'm sorry.\nDamar: The Defiant is returning to Federation space. I'm ordering our ships to pursue.\nWeyoun: No. Divert them to the So'na outpost on Devos Two.\nDamar: Why?\nWeyoun: We need their to help protect the new Ketracel white facility. The Federation has been made aware of its location.\nDamar: Can't the So'na protect it?\nWeyoun: Are you questioning my orders? That would be foolish. I wonder what the Defiant was doing out there?\nDamar: Looking for survivors from the Koraga.\nWeyoun: For that long?\nDamar: Our adversaries don't view their soldiers as expendable. They're not bred in hatcheries like the Jem'Hadar.\nWeyoun: If you have something to say, Damar, say it.\nDamar: Do you have any idea the casualties Cardassia has taken? There's not a single family that hasn't lost someone in this war.\nWeyoun: Their sacrifices won't be in vain. We will be victorious.\nWeyoun: A bit early, isn't it? Even for you.\nDamar: Just something to warm the bones. It's freezing in here.\nWeyoun: The Founder prefers it that way.\nDamar: I don't see why we should suffer. She hasn't been in here for days.\nWeyoun: Feel free to dress warmly.\nDamar: I wonder what she does in her quarters all day? She didn't look well the last time I saw her. I hope she's not ill.\nWeyoun: How can a god be ill?\nDamar: Maybe she's not a god.\nWeyoun: Whether you believe the Founders are gods or not is irrelevant. All they require from you is obedience. Now. The Founder wants a subspace comm. link installled in her quarters.\nDamar: I'll see to it.\nWeyoun: A secure channel, separately encoded and isolated from the main communication array.\nDamar: Why all the secrecy? Who's she going to be talking to?\nWeyoun: That doesn't concern you.\nDamar: No, of course it doesn't.\nEzri: Computer, override locking mechanism.\nComputer: Authorisation?\nEzri: Authorisation Dax nine seven four alpha three.\nComputer: Confirmed.\nWorf: This bat'leth belonged to my father. I would like you to have it, Jadzia. Go. I will take care of Yoshi.\nJadzia: Worf, that's very sweet, but let's face it, you're not good with babies.\nWorf: I am a Klingon warrior. I have stood in battle against Kelvans twice my size. I courted and won the heart of the magnificent Jadzia Dax. If I can do these things, I can make this child go to sleep. You come first. Before career, before duty, before anything.\nJadzia: I love you.\nWorf: And I love you.\nJadzia: Worf, we may never see each other again. But before you leave, I want you to know that the answer is yes.\nWorf: Yes? Yes to what?\nJadzia: Yes, I will marry you.\nWorf: You must go to Sirella and beg her forgiveness.\nJadzia: I don't beg.\nSirella: Jadzia, daughter of Kela, does your heart beat only for this man?\nJadzia: Yes.\nSirella: And do you swear to join with him and stand with him against all who would oppose you?\nJadzia: I swear.\nSirella: And do you swear to join with him and stand with him against all who would oppose you?\nEzri: I swear.\nSisko: Colonel.\nKira: Captain, we have a problem. It's Ezri. She's gone.\nSisko: Gone?\nKira: There's a runabout missing.\nO'Brien: She must've gotten it into her head to go looking for Worf.\nBashir: What could she be thinking?\nSisko: She's a Dax. Sometimes they don't think. They just do.\nEzri: I'm not spacesick, I'm not spacesick, I'm not.\nEzri: Uh oh.\nSisko: Sisko to Ganda. Ganda, respond.\nEzri: Ganda here. Tshh. I'm not reading you very well. There's tshh interference.\nSisko: Dax, turn that ship around and get back here.\nEzri: What was that, Benjamin?\nEzri: Tshh.\nSisko: Cut it out, old man. I'm not buying it.\nEzri: Tshh. Tshh.\nSisko: I gave you an order, Lieutenant.\nEzri: Don't worry, sir. I'll find him.\nKira: We can send the Defiant to bring her back.\nSisko: No. Let her go.\nKira: Captain?\nSisko: Send her a copy of the Defiant's sensor logs. There's no sense in her searching the area we did.\nKira: Aye, sir.\nOdo: Sir, do you think there's any chance she'll be able to find him?\nSisko: I wish I could say yes.\nOdo: Then may I ask why you're letting her do this?\nSisko: Because she needs to. And because she'd never forgive me if I stopped her.\nEzri: Computer, show me the position of the Koraga at the time it was attacked.\nEzri: Which escape pods were recovered?\nComputer: The six starboard pods were recovered.\nEzri: Why none from the port side?\nComputer: Unknown.\nEzri: Assuming someone made it to the port escape pod closest to the bridge, calculate its trajectory. Computer, take us to the coordinates where it would have entered the Badlands.\nComputer: Acknowledged.\nEzri: Computer, cut all engines.\nComputer: Warning. Without maneuvering thrusters, the ship may be swept into areas of plasma flare activity.\nEzri: I know. But with any luck, the currents will take us to the same place they took Worf. Cut the engines.\nKasidy: Ben, what are you doing up?\nSisko: I couldn't sleep.\nKasidy: Oh, it's coming along.\nSisko: I thought if I did some work, it'd take my mind off things.\nKasidy: If Worf is out there, she'll find him.\nSisko: So, what do you think?\nKasidy: It's going to be beautiful.\nSisko: These windows face south, toward the valley.\nKasidy: It'll be a nice view.\nSisko: Did you know there's a running stream on the property, and the soil is perfect for growing kava. I could make my own springwine.\nKasidy: The Emissary's Special Reserve. Could be a big seller.\nSisko: I can't decide whether I should open up this wall or keep the kitchen separate.\nKasidy: Open it up. Who wants to be locked away cooking when you've got guests over?\nSisko: A man needs to concentrate in the kitchen. You can't have people coming in and sticking their fingers in your pots.\nKasidy: It's your house.\nSisko: I want it to be our house. Let's get married.\nKasidy: Do you mean it?\nSisko: I love you.\nSisko: Does that mean yes?\nKasidy: What do you think?\nSisko: If you want to play hard to get. Ah ha.\nKasidy: What a beautiful ring.\nSisko: Kasidy Yates, will you marry me?\nKasidy: Yes. Yes, Mister Sisko. I will.\nComputer: Warning. Plasma flow activity ahead.\nEzri: You're not kidding.\nComputer: Re establishing engine control is recommended.\nEzri: No, let's sit tight. Our only hope of finding that escape pod is to follow the currents. Transfer all available power to the shields.\nComputer: Acknowledged.\nEzri: Computer, hold position. Activate a tractor beam and lock onto that pod.\nEzri: Worf.\nWorf: Ezri.\nEzri: You're hurt.\nWorf: It is nothing.\nWorf: You are alone.\nEzri: The Defiant was forced to call off its search because of the Jem'Hadar.\nWorf: Why would Captain Sisko risk sending a runabout to look for me?\nEzri: He didn't. I came without his permission. You're a fellow officer. I would've done the same for Kira or Julian.\nWorf: Of course.\nWorf: I will do it myself.\nEzri: I'll contact the station and tell them we're on our way back.\nWeyoun: Founder, it is an honor to be summoned to your presence. I trust the new communications system meets your needs?\nFounder: It's adequate.\nWeyoun: I'm glad. If I can be of any further assistance.\nFounder: When the time comes. The vaccine. How is it progressing?\nWeyoun: I regret that it failed to stabilize the latest sample you provided.\nFounder: I see.\nWeyoun: I have a team of Vorta doctors working night and day to find a cure.\nFounder: Have them document their efforts and then eliminate them.\nWeyoun: Founder?\nFounder: Activate their clones and order them to continue their predecessors' work. Perhaps a fresh perspective will speed matters along.\nWeyoun: Of course.\nFounder: The Cardassians. What have you told them?\nWeyoun: They know nothing.\nFounder: Good. The sickness that has infected the Great Link is none of their concern. They may be our allies, but they are not to be trusted. We must not show weakness.\nWeyoun: This unfortunate malady will soon be behind us. I won't rest until a cure is found.\nFounder: See that you don't.\nWeyoun: We'll require another sample.\nFounder: Very well.\nFounder: You may go now.\nSisko: So you approve?\nJake: Approve? I'm the one who set you up with Kasidy in the first place.\nSisko: Yes, so you did.\nJake: Practically had to twist your arm. A freighter captain? You want me to go out with a freighter captain?\nSisko: Ah, well, you have to admit, the job description conjures up a certain image.\nJake: You shouldn't have doubted me. I knew from the first time I met her that she was the woman for you.\nSisko: If you're going to take credit, you're also going to have to take on responsibilities.\nJake: Like what?\nSisko: Like being my best man.\nJake: Are you serious?\nSisko: Absolutely.\nJake: I mean, are you sure you don't want to ask Grandpa or Dax?\nSisko: No. No. So what do you say?\nJake: I'm honored. Best man, huh?\nSisko: Yes.\nJake: That means I get to plan the bachelor party.\nEzri: What are you doing?\nWorf: I am realigning the inertial stabilizers.\nEzri: But didn't you just do that a few hours ago?\nWorf: I want to make sure the systems are running at optimal efficiency.\nEzri: Right. So, what was it like being in that escape pod for so long?\nWorf: Quiet.\nEzri: What'd you do to spend the time?\nWorf: Nothing.\nEzri: Nothing? I bet the acoustics in there were pretty good. What'd you sing? Klingon opera?\nWorf: I did not sing.\nEzri: Which one? Shevok'tah gish?\nWorf: No. Gav'ot toh'va.\nEzri: Ambitious. The solos are for a tenor.\nWorf: As you said, the acoustics were favorable.\nEzri: I remember the first night that you played that for Jadzia. I'm sorry.\nWorf: No need to apologize. Though I would prefer we not discuss her.\nEzri: I understand. What about Alexander?\nWorf: What about him?\nEzri: Is it all right if I ask about the son of Worf? I hear he's been made Weapons Officer of the Ya'Vang.\nWorf: They were shorthanded.\nEzri: You make it sound like he didn't deserve it.\nWorf: That was not my intention.\nEzri: Are you ever going to ease up on him?\nWorf: My relationship with Alexander is not your concern.\nEzri: That's funny, because on our wedding night you told me that. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned our wedding night. I mean, Jadzia's wedding night. This is ridiculous. We can't have a conversation if you refuse to talk about the things that we have in common.\nWorf: Perhaps we should not have a conversation.\nEzri: You have been avoiding me for the past six months now.\nWorf: I did not ask you to come aboard the station.\nEzri: I would have left, but you told me to stay!\nWorf: And I am beginning to regret it.\nEzri: If it wasn't for me, you'd still be drifting around in an escape pod singing Klingon opera.\nWorf: Sensors are detecting two ships closing on our position.\nEzri: They're Jem'Hadar fighters.\nWorf: I'm dropping out of warp.\nEzri: Is that a good idea?\nWorf: We cannot outrun them. The Goralis system is nearby. We might be able to lose them there.\nEzri: They're coming in behind us.\nWorf: Transfer auxiliary power to aft shields.\nEzri: Shields are down to thirty percent.\nWorf: I am taking us into the atmosphere. Their ships are not designed for sub-orbital flight.\nWorf: They are pulling away.\nEzri: Glad to hear it, but that last hit took out our starboard thrusters.\nWorf: We are losing altitude.\nEzri: I can't compensate.\nWorf: We must abandon ship.\nWorf: Energize.\nEzri: That was a good call.\nWorf: We may be here several days. I will reconnoiter the area. Set up a comm. link and try to contact the station.\nEzri: Right. Where's the comm. unit? You didn't take one?\nWorf: I thought you did.\nEzri: No.\nWorf: Now we have no way of contacting the station.\nEzri: Thanks for spelling it out for me. Look on the bright side. We'll have plenty of time to talk.\nSisko: No, I know. What do you say we have Bill Ross to perform the ceremony?\nKasidy: My mother would prefer for her daughter to be married by a minister. But an Admiral's the next best thing.\nSisko: That's good. I'll talk to him.\nKasidy: About the guest list. I wanted to keep it small, just family and friends.\nSisko: That's fine by me. There's only room for thirty or forty people in the wardroom.\nKasidy: That just leaves the menu.\nSisko: You mind if I ask Quark to do the catering?\nKasidy: Just make sure he doesn't overcharge us.\nSisko: I'll make sure I can cut a deal. Kasidy, what else do we need to talk about? I have the feeling we're forgetting something.\nKasidy: You tell me. You're the one who's been married before.\nSisko: That's just it. It felt a lot more complicated before.\nKasidy: People get carried away with weddings. I just want it to be nice and simple.\nSahgi: Excuse me, Emissary.\nSisko: Hello, Sahgi.\nSahgi: I wanted to congratulate both of you.\nKasidy: Well, aren't you sweet.\nSisko: Thank you.\nKasidy: Who told you we were getting married?\nSahgi: Everybody's talking about it. Can I be one of your dais bearers?\nKasidy: My what, honey?\nSahgi: For the bridal procession. I know you can only choose fifty one girls, but it would be such an honor for me.\nKasidy: Well, er\nSahgi: People are saying it's going to be the biggest wedding Bajor's ever seen.\nKasidy: They are?\nSahgi: The Emissary's getting married.\nKasidy: Ben?\nSisko: Kasidy, I think this is going to be a little more complicated than we thought.\nDamar: What I wouldn't give to wipe the smirk off that little Vorta's face.\nDamar: Still, power does have its privileges.\nDamar: Dukat.\nDukat: Leave us.\nDamar: Does Weyoun know you're here?\nDukat: I see he still has you under his thumb.\nDamar: My concern is for you. The last time you saw him, you made certain promises. Promises you weren't able to keep.\nDukat: I may have failed to reopen the wormhole, but I assure you I have no regrets. You see, I've come to know the love of the Pah wraiths.\nDamar: You almost sound as if you believe it.\nDukat: I do.\nDamar: What brings you here?\nDukat: I've come to see you, old friend. I need your help.\nDamar: I'm afraid you have an exaggerated sense of my importance.\nDukat: Damar.\nDamar: But I'll do what I can.\nDukat: I knew you would.\nWorf: Dinner.\nEzri: Why'd you have to kill a defenseless animal. We have plenty of field rations.\nWorf: I have been eating field rations for six days. I am sick of field rations.\nEzri: So you traipsed off into the jungle and phasered yourself something to eat.\nWorf: I did not use a phaser. I used this.\nEzri: Oh, well that makes it all the more sporting.\nWorf: It took me hours to track this animal. And while doing so, I could have easily been attacked by a predator myself.\nEzri: Oh, spare me the one with nature speech.\nWorf: I killed it and now I am going to eat it. If you do not want any, then have some more field rations.\nEzri: Fine.\nWorf: Jadzia would have understood.\nEzri: Oh, I thought we weren't supposed to talk about her.\nWorf: I was merely making an observation. Have you been able to boost the comm. badge signal?\nEzri: Not enough to get a message back to the station. I'll bet Jadzia would've been able to do it. I was merely making an observation.\nWorf: Perhaps we should both refrain from making observations.\nEzri: You're right. Let's just go about our business and exchange as few words as possible. What is it about men? They either don't talk at all, like you, or they talk too much, like Boday.\nWorf: Boday? The Gallamite?\nEzri: We had dinner on the station before I left.\nWorf: I see. If he talks so much, why would you have dinner with him?\nEzri: He's interesting. And he's got a good sense of humor.\nWorf: Tell me. Did Jadzia, did she and Boday?\nEzri: I don't have to answer that question.\nWorf: She did.\nEzri: Worf, she didn't even know you back then.\nWorf: I do not wish to hear your excuses.\nEzri: My excuses? I'm not the one who slept with him.\nWorf: You had dinner with him.\nEzri: Who are you angry with? Me or Jadzia?\nWorf: Both.\nEzri: You know what? You're crazy.\nWorf: You could make anyone crazy.\nEzri: Don't turn your back. Talk to me, you coward.\nWorf: Do not call me a coward.\nEzri: I can't believe I'm stuck here with you.\nWorf: Perhaps you would rather be on the station with Captain Boday, you sli'vak.\nWorf: Ezri?\nEzri: Where are we?\nWorf: I am not certain.\nWorf: Why would the Breen take us prisoner? We are not at war with them.\nEzri: What were they doing on Goralis? That's a long way from Breen space. Ow.\nWorf: You must have gotten hurt when they stunned us.\nEzri: Actually, I think it happened last night.\nWorf: You do not regret what happened last night, do you?\nEzri: Why do you say that?\nWorf: Jadzia explained to me that joined Trill are not supposed to become involved with anyone they were intimate with in a previous life.\nEzri: I bet you've broken a few Klingon rules in your time.\nEzri: What's that?\nWorf: We must be on a Breen ship.\nWeyoun: The Federation has pulled the Sixth Fleet from the Bolian front. What do you suppose they're planning? Damar.\nDamar: Yes?\nWeyoun: What's wrong with you? You're distracted.\nDamar: Am I?\nWeyoun: You've been pacing back and forth all morning.\nDamar: Just trying to keep warm.\nCardassian: Legate Damar, please report to your quarters.\nDamar: Acknowledged. Excuse me.\nWeyoun: If you think I don't know what you're up to, you're a bigger fool than Dukat.\nDamar: Dukat?\nWeyoun: He used to entertain lady friends as well.\nDamar: Guilty as charged.\nDukat: That surgeon you recommended does excellent work. What do you think?\nDamar: Let's hope she does as well when it comes time to reverse the procedure.\nDukat: Believe me, Damar, I have no desire to be a Bajoran the rest of my life. But for now, I'm afraid it's necessary.\nSisko: Personal log, stardate 52576.2. Dax and Worf are four days overdue. Dominion activity at their last known position has prevented us from sending a search team. For the time being, there's nothing to do but wait and hope that they're all right.\nSisko: Why have you brought me here? Show yourselves.\nSarah: You are the Sisko.\nSisko: Sarah?\nSarah: You must accept your destiny.\nSarah: Your path is a difficult one. She can not share it with you.\nSisko: Are you talking about Kasidy?\nSarah: She cannot walk the same path.\nSisko: You don't understand. I love her. We're going to be married.\nSarah: That is not your destiny.\nSisko: My destiny is my own. I'm a man. I have the right to live my life without your interference.\nSarah: I gave you life.\nSisko: Sarah Sisko was my mother, not you.\nSarah: I shared her existence, guided her to your father. So that you would be born.\nSarah: You must walk the path alone.\nSisko: You're not listening to me. I want to spend my life with her.\nSarah: If you do, you will know nothing but sorrow.\nSisko: You don't care about how I feel. All that matters to you is that I do what you want.\nSarah: You are the Sisko. You are part of me.\nSisko: If that's true, if you really do care about me, if you consider me your son, then let me have this.\nSarah: It is not for you to have. There are many tasks still ahead of you. Accept your fate. Your greatest trial is about to begin. Don't be afraid.\nSarah: All will be as it should be.\nSisko: Mother.\nSarah: Stay on the path, Benjamin."}
{"text": "Kira: The Rotarran and the Koraga were ambushed by a Dominion patrol near the Badlands.\nEzri: Worf was commanding the Koraga.\nKira: It didn't make it.\nSisko: Let's get married.\nKasidy: Do you mean it?\nSisko: I love you.\nDamar: Does Weyoun know you're here?\nDukat: I see he still has you under his thumb.\nKira: We have a problem. It's Ezri. There's a runabout missing.\nO'Brien: She must've gotten it into her head to go looking for Worf.\nEzri: They're coming in behind us.\nFounder: The vaccine. How is it progressing?\nWeyoun: I regret that it failed to stabilize the latest sample you provided.\nEzri: I can't believe I'm stuck here with you.\nWorf: Perhaps you would rather be on the station with Captain Boday.\nDukat: That surgeon you recommended does excellent work. What do you think?\nSarah: Your path is a difficult one. She can not share it with you.\nSisko: I want to spend my life with her.\nSarah: If you do, you will know nothing but sorrow. And now, the continuation.\nJake: Did they tell you why you can't marry Kasidy?\nSisko: The Prophets didn't say that I can't, they just said that I shouldn't.\nJake: It's the same thing. I don't see why it's any of their business.\nSisko: Everything I do is their business.\nJake: Have you told Kasidy?\nSisko: No, she's on a cargo run. She won't be back for a couple of days.\nJake: And when she gets back, what are you going to tell her? That some Prophet who says that she's your mother, Sarah, told you not to marry her?\nSisko: Jake, you're not making me feel better.\nKira: Captain Sisko, Kai Winn is here to see you.\nSisko: Send her in. We'll talk later.\nWinn: Emissary, congratulations.\nSisko: Eminence.\nWinn: I'm so happy for you. This wedding is a momentous event for Bajor. I want to be sure the proceedings reflect its importance, so I've come to assist in the preparations.\nSisko: That's very kind of you, but I'm not sure that it's necessary.\nWinn: Well, you don't have to thank me. I'm glad to do it. I understand you've asked Vedek Telna to perform the ceremony. Perhaps you thought I would be unavailable, but since I'm here, I think you'll agree that it would be more appropriate for me to do it. I'll talk to Vedek Telna, and I'm sure he'd be willing to step aside. Well, these are joyful days indeed. You've given the Prophets reason to smile. Is there something wrong, Emissary? You seem troubled.\nSisko: The Prophets came to me in a vision.\nWinn: I see.\nSisko: They warned me that I was going to have to face a great trial.\nWinn: Did they say what it would be?\nSisko: I'm afraid not. The Prophets don't always make themselves clear.\nWinn: I wouldn't know, as they've never spoken to me directly. In any case, you have always been willing to do whatever it is they ask. Well, I pray that they'll give you the strength to face your trial. I sense you're going to need it. Emissary.\nSisko: Eminence.\nKira: May I show you to your quarters?\nWinn: Well, thank you, my child.\nSolbor: Her pagh is strong.\nWinn: Solbor?\nKira: She will serve us well.\nWinn: Prophets. I have waited so long for you to speak to me. How can I serve you?\nSisko: The Sisko has faltered. You must bring the Restoration.\nWinn: The Restoration?\nSolbor: Bajor's fate rests with you.\nWinn: Tell me what to do.\nKira: The Guide will reveal the way.\nWinn: What Guide?\nSisko: He will come to you.\nWinn: How will I know him?\nSolbor: He will have the wisdom of the land.\nWinn: Of the land? I don't understand.\nKira: Only you can bring the Restoration.\nSisko: Bajor's fate rests with you.\nKira: Eminence, are you all right? What happened?\nWinn: The Prophets. They spoke to me.\nWorf: They will be feeding us soon. If we could position ourselves on both sides of the door, we might be able to disarm the first Breen that comes through.\nEzri: Worf, face it. The 'guard, my cellmate is ill' trick didn't work. Neither did your 'I'll make a tool and short circuit the door' idea.\nWorf: We must not give up. The first duty of every captured officer is to attempt escape.\nEzri: What's the special today? Algae paste. My favorite.\nEzri: I wonder what the Breen look like under those helmets?\nWorf: They say no one has ever seen one and lived to speak of it.\nEzri: Maybe they're all furry. It's supposed to be very cold on Breen.\nWorf: One thing is certain.\nEzri: They're horrible cooks?\nWorf: They are dangerous. They do not tolerate incursions into their space. During the Second Empire, Chancellor Mow'ga sent a fleet of Klingon ships to conquer their homeworld, and they were never heard from again. We have been traveling for three days. We could be in Breen space by now.\nEzri: Well, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they saw our shuttle crash and decided to take us back to Deep Space Nine.\nWorf: You are being humorous.\nEzri: Not very, I guess.\nWorf: Jadzia also used humor to lift her spirits.\nEzri: You didn't laugh very much at her jokes, either.\nWorf: You are a lot like her.\nEzri: In some ways.\nWorf: I thought that I had lost her forever, but you and I will have many years together.\nWeyoun: Damar. Damar!\nDamar: What are you doing here?\nWeyoun: Since you're ignoring your comm. system, I decided to wake you myself.\nDamar: I worked late last night.\nWeyoun: Yes, I can see that. Get yourself cleaned up. We're leaving this afternoon.\nDamar: Where are we going?\nWeyoun: You needn't concern yourself with that.\nDamar: Why didn't you tell me that before? I have things to attend to.\nWeyoun: You mean your business with Dukat? Did you really think I didn't know he was here? Masquerading as a Bajoran. What's he up to this time?\nDamar: He wouldn't say.\nWeyoun: Yet you helped him all the same. Such loyalty. It would be impressive if it wasn't so misplaced.\nDukat: Have you arranged my transportation?\nDamar: And your identity documents.\nDukat: Good I knew I could count on you. You don't look well.\nDamar: I'm fine.\nDukat: What happened to that brave officer I served with? The one who stood at my side while we fought the entire Klingon Empire with a single ship?\nDamar: Those were simpler times.\nDukat: Those days might be gone, but the man I served with isn't. He's still within you. Reach in and grab hold of him, Damar. Cardassia needs a leader.\nDamar: You were its leader once. You could be again.\nDukat: The Pah wraiths have shown me that I have different destiny. Good luck, old friend.\nDamar: And to you.\nKasidy: Bajorans consider it good luck for a bride to wear a Navatan shawl. What's the matter? You don't like it?\nSisko: It's lovely.\nKasidy: Then why the long face?\nSisko: We need to talk.\nKasidy: Why do I have the feeling I'm not going to like this?\nSisko: There's something I haven't told you. A few days ago, one of the Prophets came to me in a vision. It was Sarah.\nKasidy: Your mother? What did she want?\nSisko: She said the path that I was meant to walk is for me alone. That you can't walk it with me.\nKasidy: Why?\nSisko: She said I would know nothing but sorrow if I ignored her warning.\nKasidy: That almost sounds like a threat.\nSisko: No, it wasn't anything like that. She was worried for me. Like a mother would be.\nKasidy: What are you going to do?\nSisko: Kasidy, the Prophets see things that we can't. If she was that concerned, it must be for a good reason.\nKasidy: You're not answering my question.\nSisko: Kasidy, I love you and I want to be with you.\nKasidy: Then be with me, Ben.\nSisko: I can't. I can't go against the Prophets. Kasidy, please, try and understand.\nEzri: No! No, no. No!\nWorf: Ezri!\nEzri: No!\nWorf: It is all right. You were having a bad dream.\nEzri: Where are we?\nWorf: We're still aboard the Breen ship.\nEzri: They were chasing me in an ice cave. I was so cold I could barely breathe.\nWorf: Shh. It is over now.\nEzri: I couldn't get away from them. Every time I looked back they were right behind me. And then one of them grabbed me with this huge claw.\nWorf: The Breen do not have claws.\nEzri: How do you know? Besides, it was a dream. Dreams are full of things that don't make sense.\nWorf: That is why it is best to ignore them.\nEzri: How can you say that? Dreams contain valuable insights. Things that don't seem to make sense are actually the key to what your unconscious is trying to tell you. Anyway, I got away from him, but there was nowhere to run. And just when I thought he was about to kill me, he reached up and took off his helmet.\nWorf: And?\nEzri: And it was Julian.\nWorf: Doctor Bashir?\nEzri: Isn't that strange? I wonder what it meant?\nWorf: Doctor Bashir is a Breen.\nEzri: Very funny. The cave could symbolize the womb. Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me that I need to confront emotions that I've repressed since birth. But which one? I've been born nine times.\nWorf: This is ridiculous.\nEzri: I'm a counselor. Analyzing dreams is part of my job.\nWorf: Jadzia never talked about her dreams.\nEzri: Well, I'm not Jadzia, am I?\nEzri: Where are you taking him?\nWinn: Have mercy upon your humble supplicant, and make me worthy of your great task. Grant me the strength not to fail you.\nSolbor: Eminence?\nWinn: Yes?\nSolbor: There's a man here who requests an audience with you.\nWinn: Show him in.\nSolbor: This is Anjohl Tennan, from Relliketh.\nWinn: Welcome, my son.\nDukat: Thank you for seeing me, Eminence.\nWinn: How can I help you?\nDukat: I've come to ask your blessing, so that I may have prosperity in the coming season.\nWinn: What is it you do?\nDukat: I'm just a simple man of the land.\nWinn: Of the land?\nDukat: I'm a farmer. I grow moba and\nWinn: Your pagh is strong, Anjohl. I've been waiting for you.\nDukat: Oh here, let me help you. It's not right that a Ranjen should be serving a common farmer.\nWinn: Please, sit. You're our guest.\nDukat: If I told my neighbors I was having tea with the Kai, they'd never believe me.\nWinn: Thank you, Solbor.\nDukat: Thank you.\nWinn: Tell me about yourself, Anjohl. You came here to pray for prosperity. Have things been difficult for you?\nDukat: Yes. Rogath blight destroyed my entire crop last year.\nWinn: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.\nDukat: Most of the farms in Relliketh fell victim to it.\nWinn: And the land shall be poisoned by a great evil. It's from the ancient texts. Talnot's Prophecy of the Final Days.\nDukat: I see.\nWinn: Well, tell me more about this blight.\nDukat: Unfortunately the only way to eradicate it is to burn your fields at the first sign of contamination.\nWinn: Go on.\nDukat: Then you must let your land lie fallow for a whole season to allow for the restoration of the soil.\nWinn: Restoration?\nDukat: The following year, the fields will be fertile again.\nWinn: The poison must be purged away so the land can be reborn.\nDukat: Eminence?\nWinn: Do you pray to the Prophets, Anjohl?\nDukat: Every day.\nWinn: And have they ever answered you, in a vision, or in your dreams?\nDukat: Oh, there have been times when I've thought I could feel their presence. But spoken to me? No. Surely they'd reserve such a blessing for someone like you.\nWinn: You are right. They have spoken to me, and they told me they were going to send you here.\nDukat: Me?\nWinn: You've been blessed, Anjohl. They've anointed you to be my guide.\nDukat: I don't understand.\nWinn: You are to help me bring about the Restoration of Bajor.\nDukat: But surely the Prophets would have chosen someone more worthy than I?\nWinn: You should have more faith in yourself, Anjohl. And in the Prophets.\nDukat: Of course.\nWinn: But rest assured, they'll reveal what they want from us, and together we will walk the path they've laid out.\nKira: The bottom line is, the Chief won't be able to get to it for a few days.\nSisko: Not good enough. I told General Martok his ships would be repaired by tomorrow.\nKira: We have engineering crews working twenty six hours a day. We're doing the best we can.\nSisko: I know you are. It's just that things are a little complicated for me now.\nKira: I can imagine.\nSisko: Nerys, the Prophets came to me and told me that Kasidy and I are not meant to walk the same path.\nKira: Oh, I see. Well, that explains that. I'm sorry. But the Prophets wouldn't ask you to do something like that without a reason.\nSisko: You would think they would tell me what it is.\nKira: It doesn't work like that, and you know that. Well, what they're asking you to do isn't easy, but they've never led you down the wrong path.\nSisko: Not so far. There's always a first time. To them I'm The Sisko, an instrument to carry out their wishes, but they forget that I am also human, with dreams and wishes of my own. They say that marrying Kasidy is a mistake. Maybe it is, but it's my mistake to make.\nKira: I wouldn't go against the Prophets. You're doing the right thing.\nWeyoun: Founder.\nFounder: When do we reach the rendezvous coordinates?\nWeyoun: Approximately thirty six hours. May I say your plan is brilliant. I'm confident that it will turn the war in our favor.\nFounder: Let's hope that you're right.\nWeyoun: Founder?\nFounder: About Damar. I trust he won't be a problem?\nWeyoun: I'm sure he'll have concerns, but you needn't worry about that. I'll deal with him when the time comes.\nFounder: See that you do. I find him most trying.\nWeyoun: I'll have the temperature lowered. You'll be more comfortable.\nWorf: Fight them! Sto'Vo'Kor!\nEzri: Worf.\nWorf: No! No! I will not dishonor her memory.\nEzri: What have they done to you?\nWorf: Alexander!\nEzri: Worf, wake up. Please.\nWorf: Ezri.\nEzri: Where did they take you?\nWorf: An interrogation chamber. They used some kind of cortical implant to probe my memory.\nEzri: I wonder what they were trying to find out?\nWorf: I do not know. I lost consciousness.\nEzri: That's probably a good thing.\nWorf: I should have tried harder to resist them.\nEzri: Careful.\nWorf: These Breen are without honor.\nEzri: Worf, sit down please. Have something to eat.\nWorf: This is intolerable! They have us caged up like animals!\nEzri: Stop it.\nWorf: A Klingon would rather die than be held captive!\nEzri: What are you going to do? Kill yourself and leave me here alone?\nWorf: This is no time for your jokes!\nEzri: It's no time for Klingon chest-thumping either.\nEzri: Stop it!\nWinn: More springwine?\nDukat: Yes. It's extraordinary. I've never tasted anything like this.\nWinn: It's a rare vintage from before the occupation. I was going to give this bottle to the Emissary as a wedding gift.\nDukat: Well, I'm honored that you would choose to share it with me.\nWinn: Well, I doubt that he would have been able to appreciate it as much, not being a Bajoran.\nDukat: I suppose not. The Prophets may have chosen to speak through him, but he's not really one of us, is he?\nWinn: No. No, he isn't.\nDukat: There are times when I wonder if he truly understands our people. Still, it's not for me to question why the Prophets chose him as their Emissary.\nWinn: You forget the Prophets chose you to be my guide. You must speak your mind freely, Anjohl.\nDukat: The Emissary didn't suffer through the occupation. He has no idea what the Cardassians did to us. Those years left many scars on Bajor's soul. So, how can he help heal what he could never comprehend?\nWinn: I have often asked myself the same question.\nDukat: I survived the occupation purely by chance.\nWinn: Tell me. When the Resistance destroyed the Cardassian outpost in Relliketh, Gul Dukat ordered a hundred Bajorans rounded up. His intention was to send us to the capital for public execution.\nWinn: A hundred from Relliketh. When did that occur?\nDukat: Just before the great famine. By sheer luck, my transport was rerouted to a labor camp. I learned years later that the dispatcher had misread the orders.\nWinn: His name was Prenar. And he didn't misread the orders.\nDukat: How could you know that?\nWinn: I was a Ranjen at that time. I convinced the Vedek who led my order that we needed to take a more active role in the Resistance. He allowed me to remove some gemstones from our tabernacle. I used those to bribe various Cardassians in exchange for some small acts of leniency. Prenar was one of them. I paid him to reroute the transport from Relliketh.\nDukat: You saved my life. Even then our fates were linked.\nSisko: Yes.\nQuark: Sorry to interrupt, but I have something for you. The, er, the item that you ordered.\nQuark: Terellian diamonds aren't that easy to come by, especially with this war on. Needless to say, it was non-refundable.\nSisko: Thank you, Quark.\nQuark: It seems a shame to let something so beautiful go to waste.\nEzri: I'm going to help you through this, Garak. I'm not just saying this because I'm your sister. You have a gift. No more algae paste. I'm not like you. I'm not like you, Joran, I'm not a murderer.\nWorf: Shh. It's all right.\nEzri: I was your wife. Why don't you talk to me? I love you. Kiss me. Kiss me, Julian.\nWinn: Yes?\nSolbor: Forgive me for disturbing you at this hour, Eminence, but Anjohl is here and he insists on seeing you.\nWinn: I'll be right there.\nDukat: Eminence. I hope I didn't wake you.\nWinn: It's all right. You may go, Solbor.\nSolbor: As you wish.\nDukat: Something wondrous has happened. I talked with my brother in Relliketh. He told me that this morning, when he went out to inspect the fields, he found moba saplings sprouting from the soil. But it's impossible. We only planted last week. Tell me, could it be a sign?\nWinn: Yes, it is a sign. A sign from the Prophets. They're telling you that your farm will thrive under your brother's care. They don't want you to go back to Relliketh. They want you at my side.\nDukat: Then this is where I'll stay, Eminence.\nWinn: Adami.\nDukat: Adami. What a beautiful name.\nWinn: It's all right. The Prophets brought us together.\nKasidy: That's the last of it. Tell Kilby to start the final departure check.\nMan: Yes, ma'am.\nSisko: I made a mistake. I don't care what the Prophets want. I want to marry you. We'll worry about the rest later.\nKasidy: Ben, don't do this to me, not if you're going to change your mind again.\nSisko: I won't. I love you. Okay, let's go.\nKasidy: Where?\nSisko: Where do you think?\nO'Brien: Didn't think you were going to make it.\nBashir: I only heard about it twenty minutes ago.\nQuark: Me, too and I'm the caterer. I can't work under these conditions.\nBashir: Too bad Ezri and Worf couldn't be here.\nO'Brien: Well, they probably got held up picking out a wedding gift.\nQuark: Something for you, Nog?\nOdo: Usually, when we come to events like this, you're the one who has to remind me to smile. I wonder why they decided not to have a Bajoran ceremony? I hope the Prophets forgive them.\nKira: So do I.\nJake: You look beautiful.\nKasidy: Thank you.\nOdo: Well done, Nog.\nNog: Considering I only had a few minutes to practice.\nRoss: One of the most pleasant duties of a senior officer is the privilege of joining two people together in matrimony. Today I have the honor to unite Kasidy Danielle Yates and Benjamin Lafayette Sisko in marriage. Kasidy, do you accept this man as your husband, to love and cherish above all others, until death separates you?\nKasidy: I do.\nRoss: Benjamin, do you accept this woman as your wife, to love and cherish her above all others, until death separates you?\nSisko: I do.\nRoss: These rings are a symbol your love for each other, and your promise to abide by the vows you've made today.\nKasidy: With this ring, I thee wed.\nSisko: With this ring\nSarah: This is not meant to be, Benjamin.\nSisko: I've made my decision.\nSarah: Your trial is at hand. You must be strong.\nSisko: Kasidy gives me strength. Why can't you understand that?\nSarah: If you do this, you will know only sorrow.\nSisko: You shared my mother's existence. You must have some idea what love is. You should know that I will never be happy without Kasidy.\nSarah: Your path is a difficult one.\nSarah: I cannot change what is to come.\nSisko: I know.\nSarah: Be careful, my son.\nRoss: Ben?\nSisko: With this ring, I thee wed.\nRoss: By the power invested in me by the United Federation of Planets, I pronounce you husband and wife.\nDamar: I need to talk to you.\nWeyoun: Oh?\nDamar: I demand to know where we are going.\nWeyoun: Of course. In fact, I was just coming to your quarters to discuss the matter.\nDamar: Were you?\nWeyoun: I've kept you in the dark too long, Damar, and for that I apologize. You are the leader of Cardassia and you deserve to know everything we're doing. And I have a feeling you're going to be very pleased.\nEzri: Would you stop that? What's wrong? You haven't said a word to me in hours.\nWorf: I should not have trusted you with my heart.\nEzri: What is that supposed to mean?\nWorf: You dishonor me and yourself.\nEzri: I must've missed something when I was gone.\nWorf: How long have you had these feelings for him?\nEzri: For who?\nWorf: Doctor Bashir!\nEzri: What?\nWorf: When the Breen brought you back, you spoke his name.\nEzri: I did?\nWorf: Yes. You said that you loved him.\nEzri: Julian? I said I loved with Julian?\nWorf: Do not try to deny it.\nEzri: Worf, look, I admit that I find him to be charming. And obviously he is an attractive man. But I'm not\nWorf: You are in love with him!\nEzri: I am not!\nWorf: Then why do you dream about him?\nEzri: You're the one that said dreams don't mean anything.\nWorf: I should have known. Jadzia had feelings for him as well.\nEzri: Would you stop comparing me to her!\nWeyoun: We meet at last.\nWeyoun: Gifts? How thoughtful. You should be honored. You're witnessing an historic moment. The birth of the alliance between the Dominion and the Breen. Changes everything doesn't it?"}
{"text": "Worf: This is intolerable! They have us caged up like animals!\nEzri: Stop it!\nWeyoun: We meet at last.\nWeyoun: Gifts? How thoughtful. You should be honored. You're witnessing an historic moment. The birth of the alliance between the Dominion and the Breen. And now, the continuation.\nWeyoun: We will secure the prisoners below. They will share a cell. They may wish to physically comfort each other during the long trip back to Cardassia. I find inter-species mating rituals fascinating to watch.\nDamar: Interesting device.\nWeyoun: I am so sorry. Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce Legate Damar, head of the Cardassian Union. Thot Gor.\nDamar: Thot. that's the equivalent of a legate, isn't it?\nDamar: What did he say?\nWeyoun: He says you need to get your universal translator adjusted.\nDamar: I would have, if I'd known we were meeting with the Breen.\nFounder: It is a distinct pleasure to finally meet you.\nFounder: Thank you. If our face to face talks are as productive as our subspace communications have been, I'm sure we'll sign the treaty documents within a few days.\nDamar: I haven't even seen this treaty.\nWeyoun: We'll discuss it later.\nFounder: The alliance between the Breen Confederacy and the Dominion will end the destructive war that has torn this quadrant apart. With the Breen at our side, the Federation will not be able to stand against us. They'll be erased from the face of the galaxy.\nDamar: This is outrageous! Have you read this treaty?\nWeyoun: Parts of it.\nDamar: There's a reference to territorial concessions that the Cardassians are to make to the Breen, but it doesn't say what those concessions are.\nWeyoun: Oh, you needn't worry about that. It's all been itemized in a secret protocol between the Dominion and the Breen. All that is required of you is sign the document as the acknowledged leader of the Cardassian Union.\nDamar: I want to see this protocol.\nWeyoun: It wouldn't be much of a secret then, would it?\nDamar: You expect me to agree to territorial concessions when I haven't even seen what they are?\nWeyoun: Damar, you are missing the point. We need the Breen to win this war. When it's over, there will be more than enough territories available to compensate Cardassia for the loss of a few minor planets.\nDamar: There are no minor planets in the Cardassian Union.\nWeyoun: Do you know what I think you should do? Talk to Thot Gor. Express your concerns. He's very reasonable and quite personable once you get to know him.\nDamar: I don't trust him or his people. The Founders should never have agreed to give away Cardassian territory without my consent!\nWeyoun: I'm sorry, I think I misunderstood you. It sounded as if you were implying that Cardassian territory doesn't belong to the Founders. Surely that isn't what you meant?\nDamar: No. Of course not.\nWeyoun: Oh good. I look forward to receiving the signed documents from you within the hour. Is there something else?\nDamar: The Klingons have attacked Septimus Three.\nWeyoun: I'm aware of that.\nDamar: Are you also aware that they've landed fifteen divisions? The Cardassian troops will never survive without reinforcements.\nWeyoun: I assure you the Septimus Three situation will be dealt with. We will not allow your brave soldiers to perish in vain. You have my word.\nMartok: Septimus Three will fall within the week. The Cardassian Eleventh Order. It's a reserve unit. Old men and walking wounded. They don't stand a chance.\nSisko: I think you're right.\nMartok: But enough about the war with the Dominion. I want to hear about the war at home. You just married that freighter captain, didn't you?\nSisko: Yes.\nMartok: Then war has broken out, whether you know it or not. A long, grueling, intoxicating war. I remember the day my beloved Sirella moved into my home. I had a pet targ. Had him since I was a boy. A filthy, mangy beast, but in his bony breast beat the heart of a warrior. Of course, Sirella loathed him. Well, to make a long story short, while she was supervising the unloading of her bags, Sirella accidently left the front door open, and my faithful targ, ever ready to follow the call of the wild, tottered outside on his frail legs and disappeared into the forest. I never laid eyes on him again.\nSisko: Lady Sirella draws the first blood.\nMartok: You see my point. Don't get me wrong, I would not trade Sirella for all the targs on Kronos. And over the course of our marriage I've won more than my fair share of the battles between us. But in the end, I know she will win the war.\nSisko: I'll keep that in mind.\nWinn: You ate all the milaberries.\nDukat: Well then, have Solbor bring us more.\nWinn: And give him another chance to frown disapprovingly?\nDukat: The good Ranjen doesn't much care for me, does he?\nWinn: You'd think he'd be pleased to see his Kai so happy.\nDukat: Are you happy, Adami?\nWinn: More than I've ever been in my life. The Prophets are smiling on us. They've not only brought us together, but they've given us a great task, the Restoration of Bajor.\nDukat: Our world will be reborn. And you will be its leader.\nWinn: It's a sacred responsibility.\nDukat: Yes.\nWinn: I pray that I'll have the strength to do what the Prophets are asking of me.\nDukat: I will be at your side. We won't fail them. But the Restoration will not come without struggle. There will be those who will stand in our way.\nWinn: It is not allowed to interfere with the will of the Prophets.\nDukat: Even those who claim to speak in their name.\nWinn: The Emissary.\nDukat: In your vision, the Prophets said he'd faltered.\nWinn: I can only hope that he doesn't choose to oppose them. Their love is strong, but so is their wrath.\nEzri: I hate to say it, but this is doing wonders for my back.\nWorf: I doubt that is what our captors had in mind.\nEzri: Probably not.\nWorf: We must get back to the station and warn Starfleet about the Breen.\nEzri: You're right. There's just a few problems. We're on a Jem'Hadar ship heading in the wrong direction, hanging upside down and\nWorf: And what?\nEzri: I think I'm getting spacesick.\nSisko: Well, welcome home, Mrs Sisko.\nKasidy: Thank you, Mister Sisko.\nSisko: So, how was your cargo run?\nKasidy: Interesting. It seems my Bajoran crewmembers have decided that serving under the wife of the Emissary is a little different than serving under his girlfriend. I've known some of those people for ten years or more and suddenly they're asking me for advice about their children, their wives, their husbands, their spiritual relationship with the Prophets.\nSisko: Welcome to the club. Which reminds me. Every spring, the Emissary holds a little ceremony to bless the women on the station who want to be mothers.\nKasidy: What does this have to do with me?\nSisko: There's been a request made. Several, in fact, that the new wife of the Emissary perform the ceremony this year. This week, actually.\nKasidy: No.\nSisko: Kasidy.\nKasidy: No. I've got to draw the line somewhere. I married you. I didn't convert. And I'm not going to start acting like I suddenly believe in the Prophets.\nSisko: I wouldn't want you to do anything you're uncomfortable with.\nKasidy: Good. Then it's settled. I'm going to go take a sonic shower.\nSisko: Take your time. Dinner won't be ready for another fifteen minutes.\nSisko: And so the battle begins.\nEzri: Let me try.\nWorf: No. You lack the necessary strength.\nEzri: And your fingers are too fat.\nWorf: Ow.\nEzri: Would you just\nWorf: Wait, I've got it.\nEzri: Ow.\nWorf: Quiet.\nEzri: Ow!\nWorf: Are you hurt?\nEzri: Yes, I'm hurt. You just cut my finger and made me hit my head!\nWorf: It was an accident.\nEzri: I still don't see how getting a pin out of a bunk is going to help us escape.\nWorf: If you would stop interfering and allow me to remove the pin, I would show you. Let me look at your head.\nEzri: No, thank you. The last time you touched me, things got a little out of control.\nWorf: You are right about that. I was seduced and betrayed.\nEzri: Seduced? I seduced you?\nWorf: At least we agree on that point.\nEzri: What?\nWorf: You desired a physical relationship with me from the very start. That much was obvious.\nEzri: You have the biggest ego of any man I've ever known.\nWorf: Considering how many men you have known, that is quite a statement.\nEzri: Am I supposed to be embarrassed because Jadzia had a few lovers before you?\nWorf: A few?\nEzri: You're right. It was more than a few. It was dozens. Hundreds. In fact, I don't think there was anyone aboard DS Nine who wasn't her lover!\nWeyoun: Let me take this opportunity to welcome you both to Cardassia Prime. I trust you've been well-treated for so far? I've been looking over the information you supplied to the Breen during your interrogation, and the results are a bit confusing, as mental probes so often are. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sifting through the data and clarifying certain issues for us.\nEzri: You can't be serious.\nWeyoun: I'm always serious. You see, if you don't do as I ask, I'll have to hand you over to Legate Damar and you know how ruthless the Cardassians can be.\nDamar: It is my duty to inform you that you will be turned over to a Cardassian Tribunal where you will be tried as war criminals.\nEzri: War criminals? What are the charges?\nDamar: That is not necessary for you to know. All you need to know is that you will be found guilty and executed.\nWeyoun: However, if you should decide to help us in our search for a quick end to this miserable war, your sentence will be reduced to life imprisonment.\nEzri: If you want to end the war why don't you convince the Founders to surrender?\nWeyoun: You know, my dear it would be such a shame for you to die without the good Doctor Bashir knowing how you felt about him.\nDamar: Wait!\nDamar: Overconfidence. The hallmark of the Weyouns. Maybe the Founders should eliminate that from your genetic recipe next time. They'll just make another copy of him, you know. You should've killed me. There's only one Damar.\nWorf: I will keep that in mind.\nDamar: I'm sure you will. Consider his offer, Klingon. You die in two days. Pick that up and let's go.\nDukat: There you are.\nWinn: Who are you?\nDukat: What do you mean?\nWinn: I mean, who are you, Anjohl Tennan? I want to know everything about your family, your childhood.\nDukat: It would bore you.\nWinn: Not at all. What might seem trivial to you matters a great deal to me. I need to know more about this guide the Prophets have sent me. This simple farmer, this man who shares my bed.\nSisko: We are of Bajor.\nKira: We await the Restoration.\nWinn: I am ready. I have met the Guide. You need only tell me what to do. I give myself to the Prophets in all things.\nSolbor: She does not understand.\nOdo: She is fearful.\nSisko: There is no other path. She is the chosen one. She must embrace us.\nWinn: I will. I swear it. Give me a chance. Please.\nSisko: Give us your allegiance Kai Winn Adami.\nSolbor: Restore us to our rightful place in the Celestial Temple.\nOdo: Reject the false Prophets.\nKira: Walk our path and embrace your own destiny.\nSisko: Feel our love. The love of the Pah wraiths.\nWinn: No! No!\nDukat: What is it? What's happened?\nWinn: They, they came to me. A vision.\nDukat: Blessed be the Prophets.\nWinn: No! They weren't the Prophets. They were\nDukat: They were what?\nWinn: The Pah wraiths. Find Solbor. Tell him go to the Shrine and bring me the Orb. I must bare my soul to the Prophets and beg their forgiveness.\nDukat: Eminence, are you sure that's wise? What do the Prophets\nWinn: Go! Bring me the Orb!\nDamar: Well hello.\nWeyoun: I'm glad to see you find the death of my predecessor so amusing.\nDamar: Oh, you misjudge me. I miss him deeply. Here. Let's drink to Weyoun Seven.\nWeyoun: When will the prisoners be executed?\nDamar: When the trial is completed. Legal protocol must be observed.\nWeyoun: When?\nDamar: The execution is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, fourteen hundred hours.\nWeyoun: Have they agreed to cooperate?\nDamar: No. Maybe you should talk to Worf again.\nWeyoun: Ah. Welcome to our command center.\nWeyoun: Of course. Go right ahead.\nDamar: Absolutely not! That database is classified\nWeyoun: What Legate Damar means to say is that our entire database is open to you. Feel free to examine it at your leisure.\nDamar: Surely you don't mean that.\nWeyoun: On the contrary, I'm quite sincere.\nDamar: They don't need to know everything about our military operations in order to help us.\nWeyoun: The decision was made by the Founder herself. The Founder's also decided that from now on your military recommendations will be submitted to Thot Gor, and he will pass it on to her.\nDamar: I will not!\nWeyoun: I trust that was simply an unguarded emotional outburst, so I will ignore it this time. Make plans to do exactly as the Founder instructed or you can schedule an execution for yourself as well.\nEzri: Ready.\nWorf: Leave me!\nEzri: Oh, shut up.\nWorf: You never listen\nEzri: Look who's talking.\nO'Brien: Do you have to do that?\nQuark: I do it every day at this time.\nO'Brien: I know, but there's something morbid about it.\nQuark: Morbid? That implies she's not coming back.\nO'Brien: I wasn't implying anything of the kind.\nQuark: One of these days Ezri's going to come walking through those doors again, and this drink is going to be sitting right here waiting for her when she does.\nO'Brien: Yeah, well, in the meantime, all you're doing is reminding us that she's missing.\nQuark: No one's forcing you to sit here.\nBashir: It was the Badlands.\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: What?\nO'Brien: You said something about the Badlands.\nBashir: Oh, Worf. If his escape pod hadn't drifted into the Badlands, the Defiant would have picked him up and Ezri wouldn't have had to go looking for him.\nQuark: I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but I wish the Defiant had found that lumbering Klingon oaf.\nO'Brien: Well we can't do anything to change what's happened, we just have to hope for the best.\nBashir: Funny, I was just starting to.\nO'Brien: Starting to what?\nBashir: I don't know. But there was something, something about her, wasn't there? Something that made me happy, anyway. She was this old soul and yet so young at heart, and, and, I don't know what I'm saying.\nWinn: Where is he?\nDukat: He'll be here any moment. He said there were certain security precautions that had to be observed before the Orb was allowed to leave the Shrine. May I ask what you're planning?\nWinn: No, you may not. This is far beyond your ability to comprehend, Anjohl.\nWinn: Come in.\nSolbor: The Orb of Prophecy.\nWinn: Place it on the table and then go.\nSolbor: How may I serve you?\nWinn: You are not required here, thank you.\nDukat: There's nothing to fear.\nWinn: Of course not. I am the Kai. The Prophets will make everything clear to me.\nWinn: Something's wrong.\nDukat: What?\nWinn: There's nothing. The Prophets show me nothing. They won't speak to me.\nWinn: They have forsaken me because I have been in communion with the evil ones.\nDukat: Adami, I know this may be hard to hear, but you must listen. I've hidden something from you. I didn't come here by chance. I had a vision. The true gods of Bajor came to me and asked me to serve them.\nWinn: The true gods?\nDukat: The Pah wraiths. They led me to you.\nWinn: No.\nDukat: They're not evil. They care about Bajor.\nWinn: No!\nDukat: They want to make Bajor strong.\nWinn: Heretic!\nDukat: Listen to me.\nWinn: Get away!\nDukat: Enough! The Prophets have done nothing for you. During the occupation, they turned their backs and let our people suffer.\nWinn: Let me go.\nDukat: You've sacrificed everything for them, and how have they rewarded you? They've appointed an alien Emissary. They've rejected you at every turn. Even now they won't speak to you.\nWinn: Solbor!\nDukat: Shh. Listen to me, please. The Pah wraiths will give you everything you've ever dreamt of. The power, the adoration of your people. In spite of your protestations of humility, that's what you really want. Admit it. Stop pretending to be something you're not. Take what they're offering you.\nWinn: Get out!\nDukat: Go. Crawl back to your Prophets. Beg their forgiveness. Live the rest of your life in Sisko's shadow.\nWinn: I'll do anything you ask. You need only give the word. Have you nothing to say to me? Am I so offensive to your eyes that I don't exist for you any more? There must be something I can do to prove to you that I'm still worthy of your love.\nKira: Go ahead.\nWinn: This is Kai Winn. I need to speak with you. Would you come to my quarters?\nKira: Of course.\nSolbor: Colonel Kira to see you, Eminence.\nWinn: Come in, my child. Please sit down. Thank you for seeing me at such a late hour.\nKira: What can I do for you?\nWinn: I have often sensed that you don't approve of how I conducted myself as Kai, that you believe I put my own political interests ahead of the spiritual well being of our people. I wish I could disagree with that assessment. I have strayed from the path the Prophets laid down for me.\nKira: Eminence.\nWinn: You don't know. You don't know.\nKira: Eminence, when you told me that the Prophets had spoken to you, I prayed that they would open your heart, that they would change you.\nWinn: I want to change. I'd do anything to earn their forgiveness, nut I'm afraid it's too late.\nKira: It's never too late. The worst of us can be redeemed.\nWinn: How?\nKira: I'm not a Vedek, but it seems to me that you have to set aside the things that led you astray. Ambition, jealousy.\nWinn: Oh yes, I have given in to the temptations of power.\nKira: Turn away from temptation.\nWinn: Yes.\nKira: Give yourself over to the Prophets.\nWinn: I'll do whatever it takes to make myself worthy in their eyes.\nKira: Everything will change once you step down as Kai. You'll see.\nWinn: Step down? I don't understand. Why would I do that? Bajor needs me.\nKira: Eminence, being in power is what led you on the wrong path.\nWinn: I've resolved to change. Don't you see? Once I have regained the Prophets' trust, I'll be better able to serve them if I remain Kai. If the Prophets wanted me to step down, surely they would have told me so.\nKira: They don't always use words to make their wishes known. Sometimes they speak to us by touching our hearts, but only you would know if they had done that.\nWinn: But Bajor needs me.\nKira: Goodnight, Eminence.\nWeyoun: Oh, Damar, there you are. I want you to hear this. Thot Gor had an interesting observation regarding our forces along the Romulan border. In his view, we have failed to take advantage of several weaknesses in their defenses.\nDamar: Is that so.\nWeyoun: For instance, Romulan colony in the Unroth system is ripe for attack. Their long range sensor array is being repaired\nDamar: Septimus Three has fallen.\nWeyoun: Excuse me?\nDamar: Septimus Three. An entire Cardassian Order has been wiped out. Five hundred thousand men!\nWeyoun: Oh, yes. A great tragedy.\nDamar: You promised reinforcements.\nWeyoun: I promised nothing of the kind. I said the situation would be dealt with, and it was.\nDamar: By leaving them to be slaughtered by the Klingons.\nWeyoun: If you will calm down and listen, I will explain. The sacrifice made by the Eleventh Order will not be in vain. They forced the Klingons to commit worthwhile valuable troops and resources to capture a strategically worthless planet.\nWeyoun: I'm glad you agree.\nDamar: Well, I don't. You condemned a half million loyal Cardassians\nWeyoun: If they were truly loyal Cardassian, then they died willingly for the Dominion. There can be no greater sacrifice.\nDamar: How many more sacrifices will my people be asked to make?\nWeyoun: Your people, Damar? We are all one with the Dominion. Vorta, Cardassian, Jem'Hadar, the Breen.\nWeyoun: We all serve the Founders and we will all make whatever sacrifices they deem necessary. Thot Gor, would you mind reiterating your plan for the Unroth System? I seem to have lost my train of thought.\nWeyoun: Yes, I know. It's become increasingly difficult to get a full day's work out of him.\nEzri: The Dax symbiont has lived for over three hundred years. Experienced eight lifetimes. And now it's all going to end with an execution on Cardassia. Ezri Tigan's contribution to the Dax legacy will be to end it.\nWorf: There is no honor in self pity.\nEzri: You know, Worf, I have had just about enough of your little Klingon aphorisms. The only reason I came on this mission was to save your miserable life, so the least you could do is stop acting like such a self righteous targ.\nWorf: Your motives for rescuing me were not honorable.\nEzri: Do you really think that I would disobey orders and risk my life so I could seduce you? I hate to burst your bubble, Worf, but it wasn't that good.\nWorf: Always the barb, always the joke.\nEzri: There was a time when you found my sense of humor to be one of my more endearing qualities.\nWorf: That was Jadzia, not you.\nEzri: Are you angry at me for something that I did or because I'm not Jadzia? Let's cut right to the heart of the matter. Do you love me? Me? Ezri?\nWorf: You are trying to turn this around and make it about me.\nEzri: Answer the question. Do you love me?\nWorf: I have made my feelings clear back on Goralis Three.\nEzri: What is it, Worf? Could it be that you're feeling just a little guilty because you don't have the same feelings for me that you did for Jadzia? If that's true, maybe we both made a mistake back on Goralis. So maybe we both should be forgiven.\nWorf: This night would be better spent preparing ourselves for the next life, instead of rehashing the mistakes of this one.\nWorf: You are right.\nEzri: What?\nWorf: I said you are right. I do not love you as I loved Jadzia.\nEzri: There's no crime in that.\nWorf: I dishonored myself. I know how often I use that word. Maybe too often. But in this case, it is appropriate.\nEzri: Go on. From the first moment you came on the station, I knew you were not Jadzia, and yet I knew that there was a part of Jadzia still alive within you. On Goralis, I allowed myself to see her instead of you.\nEzri: I felt the same way. A part of me, the part that was your wife, wanted very much to be close to you.\nWorf: I realize Jadzia saw physical love very differently than I do. To her it could mean many things, but to me it is a deeply spiritual act. When I made love to you, my motives were not spiritual. It was an unworthy impulse.\nEzri: Worf, we're not gods or prophets. We're people. We make mistakes. There is one other thing I want you to know. I honestly didn't realize how I felt about Julian. I would have never hidden something like that from you.\nWorf: I believe you. And I do not hold any malice toward you or Doctor Bashir.\nEzri: That's good to know. Friends?\nWorf: And more.\nEzri: And more.\nWorf: It appears all we have left to do is to be executed.\nEzri: Sounds like a lazy day to me.\nDamar: It's time.\nDamar: There's a Cardassian patrol ship sitting in launch bay three A, two levels above us. Its computer has all the necessary information to get you past our security checkpoints.\nEzri: Why are you doing this?\nDamar: I want you to give a message to the Federation. Tell them they have an ally on Cardassia.\nWorf: Why should we trust you?\nDamar: You can either trust me or you can stay here and be executed.\nEzri: I vote for option one.\nWeyoun: Escaped? How could this have happened?\nDamar: You're the one that put the Jem'Hadar in charge of the detention area.\nWeyoun: Thank you for reminding me.\nWeyoun: No, I assure you this is not typical of our security procedures. The Founder. She wishes to see me. She has to be told about this.\nDamar: Oh, I'm sure she'll understand. But if she doesn't, I look forward to meeting Weyoun Nine.\nSolbor: Eminence, Anjohl is here. He claims you called for him.\nWinn: Show him in.\nSolbor: As you wish.\nWinn: I remember the first time I saw the Gate of the Celestial Temple. I was on the Promenade. When it burst into view, this whirlpool of color and light, the people around me were in awe. They said they could feel the love of the Prophets washing over them. Do you know what I felt, Anjohl? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But I smiled and pretended I did because it was expected of me. I've never admitted that to anyone.\nDukat: I can understand why.\nWinn: They've never spoken to me. Never offered me guidance. Never trusted me with the fruits of their wisdom. And now, I'm supposed to step down as Kai in order to be blessed by them? No. I have worked too hard, waited too long to give it all up now.\nDukat: You shouldn't have to. Merciful gods don't ask their children to make such sacrifices.\nWinn: The Prophets have turned their backs on me. After all I've done for them, all the pain I've endured for them.\nDukat: They are not worthy of you, Adami.\nWinn: I'm a patient woman. But I have run out of patience. I will no longer serve gods who give me nothing in return. I'm ready to walk the path the Pah wraiths have laid out for me.\nDukat: I'll walk with you, and no one will be able to stand against us.\nWinn: Those who dare to try, the Federation and its Vedek puppets, the false gods and their precious Emissary, they'll all be swept aside like dead leaves before an angry wind."}
{"text": "O'Brien: Hey! Welcome! Well, I for one never doubted you'd be back.\nBashir: Neither did I.\nO'Brien: Don't believe him. He was Mister Doom and Gloom the entire time you were gone.\nBashir: Well, I must admit I was a bit concerned.\nO'Brien: We were all concerned. Your well being was a constant source of conversation and speculation.\nEzri: You see, I told you they'd miss us. So, who won the betting pool?\nBashir: Morn. He managed to guess the day when you'd be back. Only missed the time of your arrival by two hours.\nO'Brien: He's amazing.\nBashir: I don't know how he does it.\nSisko: Mister Worf.\nWorf: Captain.\nEzri: I know what you're going to say, and the answer is yes, I did leave the station without your permission, and yes, I lost a runabout, but\nSisko: We'll evaluate your actions later, old man. Right now I'd like to know everything you've learned about this Breen Dominion alliance.\nWorf: I'm afraid we have very little information to share with you, Captain.\nEzri: Weyoun and the others were more interested in asking questions than they were answering them.\nSisko: Why do you think Damar decided to help you escape?\nEzri: I'm not sure, but I can tell you one thing. He hates Weyoun.\nWorf: The Cardassians are a proud people, but the Dominion treats them like second class citizens.\nEzri: I think Damar is worried that this new alliance with the Breen is going to weaken Cardassia's status with the Dominion even more. But whatever his reasons, we owe him our lives.\nSisko: Maybe one day you'll be able to return the favor. Doctor, I'd like a complete medical workup on both of them.\nBashir: I can't tell you how glad I am to see you again. Er, both, both, both of you.\nKira: Kira to Sisko.\nSisko: Go ahead.\nKira: We just received a priority one transmission from Starfleet Command. The Breen have attacked Earth.\nSisko: I had a lot of friends in those buildings. Starfleet was able to destroy most of the Breen attack force, but by then most of the damage had been done.\nMartok: We must give the enemy credit. To launch an attack against Starfleet Headquarters. Even my people never attempted that. We've learned one thing about the Breen today, Captain. They're a race of warriors.\nSisko: That's about all we know. Our intelligence reports are sketchy at best.\nMartok: Captain, every species has its weakness. They're no exception.\nSisko: Let's hope you're right. But whatever the weakness is, we'd better find it soon.\nWeyoun: There. Do you see that? The news from Earth keeps getting better. The Federation casualty report are being revised upward once again.\nWeyoun: Well put. The casualties are merely a bonus. What matters is that we have struck fear into the hearts of our enemy and made them feel weak and vulnerable. General, please congratulate your troops for us. They've done a superb job. Don't you agree, Damar?\nDamar: Superb.\nDamar: It's unfortunate that so few of your ships survived the assault.\nWeyoun: Leave it to you, Damar, to point out the one cloud in the sky.\nWeyoun: My thought exactly. It is a very small price for such an important victory. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must make my report to the Founder.\nDamar: By the way, in case Weyoun has neglected to mention it, the Dominion once sang Cardassia's praises as well.\nDamar: It's really quite simple. They expected the war to be over long ago. It's not. For that, they blame us. Now, if the war isn't ended soon, they'll shift the blame to you.\nDamar: Maybe so, but win or lose, I wouldn't turn my back on Weyoun if I were you.\nSisko: Kasidy, what happened?\nKasidy: That's what I'm trying to find out.\nSisko: What are you doing? You don't cook.\nKasidy: I know. I was just making sure.\nSisko: My peppers?\nKasidy: I know how you like roasted peppers in your casserole.\nSisko: It took me three months to grow them. No one touches my peppers.\nKasidy: I'm so sorry. With all the bad news about Earth I wanted to do something nice for you. But from now on, you wear the apron in the family.\nSisko: That's a good idea.\nKasidy: I'm glad you're not mad. I wouldn't want anything to ruin our last few nights together.\nSisko: Our last few nights together?\nKasidy: My cargo run. I leave early next week.\nSisko: No, you're not going anywhere. It's too dangerous.\nKasidy: Ben, the Breen attacked Earth. That's not exactly next door.\nSisko: We don't know where they're going to attack next. I would feel if you were closer to me.\nKasidy: Well, that's sweet. But I'm going anyway.\nSisko: I can't talk you out of it?\nKasidy: Not a chance.\nDamar: Enter.\nRusot: The information you requested.\nDamar: Excellent. Sit down.\nRusot: I'm not sure it's wise for me to stay. What if the Vorta decides to pay you a visit?\nDamar: And what if he does? He'll see me conferring with one of my officers. There's nothing suspicious about that.\nRusot: It doesn't seem right all, this plotting and secrecy. What are we? Romulans?\nDamar: No, we're Cardassians. But right now, Cardassia is an occupied territory. And to defeat an occupying army takes careful planning and secrecy.\nRusot: Can we really hope to defeat the Dominion? With the Breen on their side, they're stronger than ever.\nDamar: But we will be fighting to win back our homes and our freedom, and that will make us even stronger.\nRusot: I remember the day I heard the news that Cardassia had joined the Dominion. Like everyone else, I rejoiced. We were going to be rulers of the entire Alpha Quadrant. Instead, we're a conquered people, servants in our own land.\nDamar: All that will soon end. Now, are you sure we can trust these officers?\nRusot: And the troops under their command. Still, it's not a very long list, is it?\nDamar: It'll get longer. With a victory or two all Cardassia will rise up with us.\nRusot: We'll need to know the exact location of the Dominion weapon emplacements on Rondac Three.\nDamar: Leave that to me. Now, I want you to get a message to every one of these officers.\nSolbor: Regarding your scheduled retreat to the Calash monastery?\nWinn: Cancel it.\nSolbor: Very good. Now, about your appearance before the Vedek Assembly.\nWinn: Cancel that too.\nSolbor: Cancel an appearance before the Vedek Assembly?\nWinn: Just do it. Cancel everything.\nSolbor: As you wish. May I ask what exactly you will be doing?\nWinn: You certainly may not. But if you must know, I'll be devoting most of my time to study and meditation.\nSolbor: I see.\nDukat: Solbor, I'll have my breakfast on the balcony this morning. Eminence, is there anything you would like?\nWinn: I'm not hungry.\nDukat: But you really should eat. After all, Bajor is only as strong as its Kai.\nWinn: I said I'm not hungry. Do as he asks. And please, write a note to the Vedeks expressing my apologies for having to postpone our meeting.\nSolbor: I'll see to it immediately.\nDukat: What a tiresome little man.\nWinn: Sometimes I think you forget your place, Anjohl.\nDukat: Oh, forgive me if I've offended you in any way. I am but a moon made warm by the light of your sun.\nWinn: I hope you're a better farmer than you are a poet.\nDukat: Something is wrong. Tell me, what's bothering you?\nWinn: Everything! The prayers, the rituals, these robes. I can't keep pretending I follow the path of the Prophets.\nDukat: You won't have to. The Pah wraiths are waiting to embrace you.\nWinn: So you keep saying, but when is that going to happen?\nDukat: As soon as we release them from the fire caves.\nWinn: Release them? But the prophecies.\nDukat: What about them?\nWinn: They warn that the release of the Pah wraiths will mean the end of Bajor.\nDukat: The old Bajor, perhaps. But from its ashes a new Bajor will arise and the Restoration will begin.\nWinn: Who will be left to see it?\nDukat: Those the gods find worthy. It will be the dawn of paradise. And you, Adami, are destined to rule it.\nWinn: You're sure of that?\nDukat: It is meant to be.\nWinn: And what will become of you?\nDukat: I will be at your side for as long as you need me. But first, we have to release the Pah wraiths.\nWinn: How do we do that?\nDukat: The answer is in the text of the Kosst Amojan.\nWinn: Oh. It is forbidden for anyone to open that book.\nDukat: Yes. Anyone except the Kai.\nWinn: It is said to contain great evil.\nDukat: You have nothing to fear. I'll be right there with you.\nWinn: Did I say I was afraid?\nBashir: Right here. This palisade in the south wall. If only we could make this part of the compound less vulnerable.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about? The south wall isn't the problem. They came over the north wall, by Travis's position.\nBashir: I know where they came over, Miles. I am Travis, remember? And I say we strengthen the south wall, the north wall, and any other place that helps us keep the enemy out.\nO'Brien: But then it wouldn't be the battle of the Alamo, would it.\nBashir: I don't care. I just want to win, once.\nO'Brien: Be Santa Anna. He wins every time.\nBashir: What if we put cannons along the long barracks like this?\nO'Brien: Hey, hey, what do you think you're doing? Do you know how long it took me to build this thing?\nQuark: I don't believe the two of you. Your homeworld has been attacked, the Breen have joined forces with the Dominion, and here you are calmly playing games.\nBashir: Haven't you ever heard of grace under pressure, Quark?\nQuark: Shouldn't you be doing something more productive?\nO'Brien: I just spent fourteen hours recalibrating the station's weapons array.\nBashir: And I just did a complete run through of the emergency support team protocols.\nQuark: So, you do expect an attack on the station?\nBashir: Anything's possible. What about a moat?\nO'Brien: A moat? Around the Alamo?\nBashir: Yes, here, look, we could widen this stream, maybe make it a little deeper.\nQuark: I say we build a moat around the station.\nWorf: He is a child.\nEzri: Miles does have a certain cherubic quality.\nWorf: I was talking about Doctor Bashir, and you know it. Are you certain he's the one?\nEzri: I'm not certain about anything. But he is handsome.\nWorf: You deserve more than handsome. He gets excited playing with toys.\nEzri: He knows how to have a good time. Besides, it's not exactly a toy. You heard the Chief. He spent hours making that.\nWorf: I see it is hopeless to try to reason with you.\nEzri: I know. Maybe I am in love with him. Do you think I should tell him how I feel?\nWorf: If it will make you happy, yes.\nEzri: You're a good friend, Worf.\nWorf: I know. They are wasting their time. No matter how much planning they do, there is no way that they can defend that mission against an enemy that numbers in the thousands. Not without more men.\nEzri: You know, if you want to go down there and help them. Just a thought.\nWeyoun: Damar. You're up early.\nDamar: Am I?\nWeyoun: Yes, you are. Or you haven't been to bed yet.\nDamar: Actually, I had a very restful sleep.\nWeyoun: Did you? How nice.\nDamar: I had no idea the Breen could mobilize such a large fleet so quickly.\nWeyoun: Our new allies are full of surprises, aren't they? You know those refrigeration suits they wear?\nDamar: What about them?\nWeyoun: I'm sure you've read the intelligence reports that say that their homeworld is a frozen wasteland. Well, it's not. The climate on their planet is quite comfortable.\nDamar: Then why do they wear refrigeration suits?\nWeyoun: They won't say. You see what I mean? They're full of surprises. There's something different about you today, Damar. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's almost as if you're only half dressed.\nDamar: What are you talking about?\nWeyoun: You don't have a bottle in your hand.\nDamar: Don't you have anything better to do than to stand here and\nWeyoun: You've regained your confidence.\nDamar: I wasn't aware that I'd lost it.\nWeyoun: Come now, Damar, you thought you'd backed the wrong side. You thought the Dominion was going to lose this war and drag Cardassia down with it.\nDamar: I must admit, things were looking rather grim.\nWeyoun: Perhaps, for a moment or two, but that's no excuse to lose faith in oneself or one's allies. But now it's as if you've groped your way through a dark tunnel and stepped back out into the light once again. You know what that light's told you? That the Dominion will prevail. That the Federation will be conquered and a new era of peace and prosperity will blanket the Alpha Quadrant.\nDamar: You know me so well.\nWeyoun: Really, Damar, I hope you won't allow that Cardassian sized ego of yours to spoil our victory. And I do mean our victory. Yours, mine.\nDamar: And the Breen.\nWeyoun: Yes, and the Breen.\nDamar: We're just one big, happy family, aren't we?\nWeyoun: I like it so much better when we agree, don't you?\nSolbor: The text of the Kosst Amojan, as you requested\nWinn: Very good. Well? Put it on my desk.\nSolbor: Eminence, may I speak frankly?\nWinn: If you must.\nSolbor: This book has not been removed from the archives, not for seven hundred years.\nWinn: Your point being?\nSolbor: The knowledge it contains about the Pah wraiths, it is said to be very dangerous.\nWinn: Knowledge is never dangerous in the right hands.\nSolbor: There is an old saying. He who studies evil, is studied by evil.\nWinn: I will keep that in mind. Now give me the book.\nDukat: Your concern for her Eminence is appreciated and acknowledged. Nevertheless, you must do as she says. I will see to it that no harm comes to her.\nWinn: There. That should make you feel better.\nSolbor: I wish it could. But this man. One day he comes onto Deep Space Nine and the next, he's become your closest advisor. What do we know of him? Where did he come from? What does he want?\nDukat: I want only to serve the Kai.\nSolbor: This is his idea, isn't it? To study this hateful book.\nWinn: Anjohl was sent to me by the Prophets. That's all I need to know, and that's all anyone needs to know.\nDukat: I have no idea why I was chosen. But who are we to question the ways of the Prophets?\nWinn: Perhaps you should go to the Temple and ask the Prophets forgiveness for questioning their wisdom.\nDukat: Solbor does not approve of me.\nWinn: He has served me well for many years.\nDukat: And he may serve you well for many more if the Pah wraiths find him worthy. Well? Aren't you going to open it? The Pah wraiths are not evil, but they are powerful. And they're willing to share their power with you. The question is, do you want it?\nDukat: Yes.\nDukat: This can't be. This is a trick.\nWinn: It's not a trick.\nDukat: Then Solbor brought the wrong book.\nWinn: He doesn't make those kinds of mistakes. The words are here. They're just hidden, that's all. It's up to us to find them.\nOdo: These are the new security protocols you requested.\nSisko: Very good.\nOdo: Although frankly I'm not sure how effective they'll be against the Breen.\nSisko: Neither am I. I just hope we don't have to find out.\nKasidy: Benjamin! Do you mind explaining this?\nSisko: Constable, do you mind if we use your office a moment?\nOdo: Not at all.\nSisko: Well, it looks like the Bajoran Freight and Shipping Authority wants you to take a vacation.\nKasidy: A month's paid vacation? This is your doing, isn't it? Let me guess. The Emissary asked for a little favor.\nSisko: I never once mentioned the word Emissary.\nKasidy: But you did arrange this!\nSisko: I'm just trying to keep you out of harm's way. Is that such a terrible thing for a husband to do?\nKasidy: I told you, I don't need or want that kind of protection. I want you to call whoever you called and have them put me back on the active list.\nSisko: Kasidy, it's only for a month.\nKasidy: I don't care if it's only for a day. How would you like it if I called Admiral Ross and said, oh do me a favor. Please don't send my husband on any dangerous missions this month.\nSisko: Look, that's not the same thing.\nKasidy: It is from where I'm standing. My job is just as important to me as your job is to you.\nSisko: I know that.\nOdo: What's so funny?\nQuark: Marriage. It changes everything. If you're not careful that could be you and Kira.\nSolbor: Here are the other volumes you wanted.\nWinn: Thank you, Solbor. You can go now.\nSolbor: Eminence. I must inform you that the archivists are very concerned.\nDukat: You heard the Kai. Leave us.\nSolbor: They're wondering why you need to consult so many of these dark texts.\nWinn: You may tell them that their Kai works for the good of Bajor. Now leave me. I have work to do.\nWinn: Why are you still here?\nDukat: What would you like me to do?\nWinn: Go away.\nDukat: I don't understand.\nWinn: I must concentrate.\nDukat: But your Eminence.\nWinn: Not another word.\nDukat: Very well.\nKasidy: They're beautiful.\nSisko: Then you forgive me?\nKasidy: Ah. That depends. Have you talked to Bajoran Freight and Shipping?\nSisko: You're back on the active list.\nKasidy: Then I forgive you. But from here on in\nSisko: I'm not to interfere with your work unless you tell me to. Or it's absolutely necessary. I'm just joking.\nKasidy: You'd better be.\nSisko: What's that for?\nKasidy: The flowers. And for being big enough to admit when you're wrong.\nSisko: Ah, that must be Quark with the necklace.\nKasidy: The necklace?\nSisko: Just in case the flowers didn't work.\nRoss: Ben, the Breen have launched a counteroffensive against our forces in the Chin'toka system.\nSisko: Have they broken through?\nRoss: In two places.\nSisko: When do I leave?\nNog: This is bad. Very bad.\nKira: You say that every time we take the Defiant into battle.\nNog: Impulse manifold purged and clear. If we lose the Chin'toka system, we lose our only foothold in the Dominion territory. I think that qualifies as bad.\nKira: We haven't lost it yet. Initiating impulse pre-start sequence.\nNog: Microfusion generators online. But the Breen, they seem unstoppable. First Earth, now Chin'toka.\nWorf: Ensign, no one is unstoppable. Collimate the nadion emitters.\nNog: Collimation sequence in progress.\nBashir: What more can I say, Miles, but I'm sorry.\nO'Brien: Dilithium matrix is aligned and calibrated. Just be a bit more careful. That's all I ask.\nKira: Opening antimatter injector ports. Trouble in paradise?\nBashir: It was nothing. Emergency life support and damage control systems standing by.\nO'Brien: I wouldn't call it nothing.\nEzri: Autonomous guidance system initialized and active.\nO'Brien: He lost Travis.\nKira: Sounds serious. Verify astrometric database.\nBashir: Miles built this Alamo model, replete with little figures. Quite spectacular, actually. Datasets loaded and verified. Anyway, he was showing it to me in Quark's when we, rather I, misplaced Colonel Travis.\nNog: Phaser safeties engaged. Can't you make another one?\nO'Brien: What, so he can lose it again? Field stabilizers online.\nKira: That's what happens when you share your toys. Synchronizing warp plasma flow.\nO'Brien: It's not a toy. It's a model, built to scale.\nBashir: He really did a fantastic job.\nO'Brien: Nacelles holding at pre-warp threshold.\nBashir: Miles, look.\nWorf: He plays with toys.\nEzri: It's a model.\nWorf: With little figures.\nNog: Captain on the bridge.\nSisko: Commander.\nWorf: The weapons array is online. Phasers are fully charged. Quantum torpedo launchers are loaded and standing by.\nSisko: Colonel, set a course to rendezvous with the Federation assault fleet.\nKira: Course set.\nSisko: Take us out.\nKira: Airlocks are sealed. Releasing docking clamps.\nDukat: Where are you going with those?\nSolbor: I'm returning these books to the archives.\nDukat: On who's authority?\nSolbor: I believe her Eminence has finished.\nDukat: Put them back.\nSolbor: How dare you use that tone with me\nDukat: I'll put them back.\nDukat: Wake up, my love. There's work to be done.\nWinn: Anjohl? I must have dozed off.\nDukat: You're tired. It's understandable.\nWinn: I haven't made much progress.\nDukat: You'll find the answers we're looking for. It's just a matter of time.\nWinn: I'm so glad you're here.\nDukat: I'll see that you're brought something to eat.\nRusot: According to the latest battle reports, it looks as if the Dominion is going to retake Chin'toka.\nDamar: A few months ago, the thought of the Federation being driven from Cardassian soil would have been a cause for celebration. But the Dominion victories are no longer our victories.\nDamar: Now, are our troops in position?\nRusot: They're awaiting your command.\nDamar: Excellent. We attack in seven hours.\nRusot: We're going to lose many fine soldiers.\nDamar: At least they will be dying for Cardassia, and not the Dominion.\nWeyoun: The Federation reinforcements are approaching Chin'toka.\nFounder: The more of them, the better.\nWeyoun: Founder, it concerns me to have you this close to the front.\nFounder: Your concern is noted. But this is one battle I intend to see first hand.\nWeyoun: Yes, it should be quite gratifying.\nVoice: Attack wings three and nine have reached the line of deployment.\nVoice 2: Federation fighter squadrons seven and ten break into sections and stand by to begin reconnaissance.\nMartok: Units assume positions. Attack to contact.\nO'Brien: Sir, they've locked weapons on us.\nSisko: All auxiliary power to forward shields. Colonel, attack pattern Delta.\nKira: Aye, sir.\nSisko: Mister Worf, quantum torpedoes.\nWorf: Target locked.\nSisko: Fire!\nWorf: Target locked. Launchers one and two standing by.\nSisko: Fire.\nO'Brien: What the hell's?\nKira: We've lost power to the helm.\nEzri: The comm's out.\nWorf: So are weapons.\nBashir: Primary computer systems are off line.\nKira: Manual controls are frozen.\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: I can't get anything back online. Somehow they're draining all our power.\nNog: The fire suppression system's offline.\nWorf: Use the manual extinguishers.\nNog: I'm on it.\nEzri: We're venting plasma coolant from over eight separate EPS ruptures. The air's becoming toxic, Captain.\nO'Brien: Sir, the ablative armor is starting to buckle.\nWorf: We have hull breaches on decks three and four.\nO'Brien: Without power for the emergency forcefields, there's no way to seal them.\nSisko: Abandon ship. You heard me. Everyone get to the escape pods now!\nO'Brien: Captain.\nSisko: She's a fine ship.\nO'Brien: No one'll argue with that. But like you say, it's time to go.\nWeyoun: Poor Captain Sisko. I believe he was quite fond of that ship. Founder, I'm happy to report that the Chin'toka System is ours once again.\nFounder: A step in the right direction. Send my compliments to the Breen.\nWeyoun: I'm certain that will please them greatly.\nFounder: Really? I have no idea what would please the Breen nor do I care, as long as they fight and win. I will not tolerate defeat any longer.\nWeyoun: Nor will I. All those escape pods. So small, so vulnerable. I'll order their destruction immediately.\nFounder: No. Let them return to the Federation. Those pods are filled with frightened, demoralized troops.\nWeyoun: Troops that will spread fear throughout the Federation with tales of what happened here today. The Founder is wise.\nDukat: There. Now, don't you feel better?\nWinn: Much. Thank you, Anjohl.\nDukat: I'm here to serve you any way I can.\nSolbor: Get away from her!\nDukat: What?\nSolbor: Eminence, that man is not Anjohl Tennan.\nWinn: What are you talking about?\nSolbor: Anjohl Tennan died nine years ago in the labor camp at Batal. I warned you not to trust him. I had a sample of his DNA sequenced. He's not even a Bajoran. He's a Cardassian.\nDukat: We were brought together for a cause, a great cause. Our destinies are linked.\nSolbor: Don't listen to him. Look at him. Don't you recognize the face of your enemy? It's Gul Dukat.\nWinn: Oh, it can't be.\nSolbor: He lied to you. Used you.\nWinn: It's not true!\nSolbor: I don't know why you wanted to do this, for what evil purpose, but it's not going to work!\nDukat: He doesn't understand, Adami. He couldn't possibly understand the love of the Pah wraiths.\nSolbor: The love of the Pah wraiths? You're trying to release them. That's why you wanted the text of the Kosst Amojan.\nWinn: Solbor, listen to me. All I want is to bring about the Restoration.\nSolbor: You betrayed the Prophets. You betrayed us all!\nWinn: Try to understand. The Pah wraiths, they are the true gods.\nSolbor: You must be stopped.\nWinn: Solbor, I beg you. No!\nDukat: It's going to be all right.\nWinn: Don't touch me. My life is over. The Pah wraiths sent you to destroy me.\nDukat: On the contrary. They sent me to save you.\nWinn: Lies. Nothing but Cardassian lies. To think I let you touch me. The book. I must destroy it!\nDukat: There, you see? The Pah wraiths have judged you and found you worthy. Their secrets are now your secrets to do with as you please. Take their gift and use it. Seize the power they're offering you!\nWinn: What about Solbor?\nDukat: I'll take care of the body.\nSisko: The Defiant was the finest ship I ever commanded. There'll never be another one like her.\nRoss: It may take a little while, Ben, but I'll get you another ship, I promise you that. I just wish I knew how we were going to neutralize the Breen energy dissipaters.\nSisko: We need to buy some time.\nRoss: Time may be the one thing we don't have.\nKira: Captain. We're monitoring a transmission from Cardassian space. I think you're going to find it interesting.\nDamar: And so two years ago, our government signed a treaty with the Dominion. In it, the Dominion promised to extend Cardassia's influence throughout the Alpha Quadrant. In exchange, we pledged ourselves to join the war against the Federation and its allies. Cardassians have never been afraid of war. A fact we've proven time and again over these past two years. Seven million of our brave soldiers have given their lives to fulfilll our part of the agreement. And what has the Dominion done in return? Nothing.\nDamar: We've gained no new territories. In fact, our influence throughout the quadrant has diminished. And to make matters worse, we're no longer masters in our own home. Travel anywhere in Cardassia and what do you find? Jem'Hadar\nDamar: Vorta and now Breen.\nDamar: Instead of the invaders, we have become the invaded. Our allies have conquered us without firing a shot. Well, no longer. This morning, detachments of the Cardassian First, Third, and Ninth Orders attacked Dominion outposts on Rondac Three.\nDamar: This assault marks the first step toward the liberation of our homeland\nSisko: Colonel, see if you can get confirmation on that.\nDamar: From the true oppressors of the Alpha Quadrant.\nDamar: I call upon Cardassians everywhere. Resist! Resist today. Resist tomorrow! Resist till the last Dominion soldier has been driven\nDamar: From our soil.\nWeyoun: It's confirmed. Our cloning facility on Rondac Three have been destroyed. I could be the last Weyoun. That's why he picked that target.\nFounder: I want Damar and the rest of these traitors found and eliminated.\nWeyoun: I'll see to it immediately.\nWeyoun: I don't care how many Cardassians you have to kill. Find Damar. Is that clear?\nWeyoun: I'm going to hold you to that.\nKira: Captain, our listening posts have confirmed the attack on Rondac.\nRoss: Damar may have just bought us some precious time, if the Dominion doesn't track him down too quickly.\nSisko: We need to find a way to help him. Legate Damar may be the key to saving the Alpha Quadrant."}
{"text": "O'Brien: Basically we stumbled onto it by accident. At Chin'toka, our entire fleet was disabled when the Breen engaged their energy dampening weapon. Three hundred and eleven ships, Federation, Romulan, and Klingon, all lost power.\nSisko: But one didn't. A Bird of Prey called the Ki'tang.\nRoss: Why? What was different about the Ki'tang?\nO'Brien: We're not really sure. The only thing we can figure is that just prior to the engagement, their Chief Engineer adjusted the tritium intermix to compensate for a containment problem in the warp core.\nMartok: I've ordered every ship in the Klingon fleet to adjust its reactor the same way.\nRomulan: Our vessels are of a different design. Can this technique be adapted to protect them as well?\nSisko: Unfortunately, no. Your ships are still vulnerable, and so are ours.\nO'Brien: I've sent everything we know about the Breen weapon to the Romulan Ministry of Science and to Starfleet Engineering, but realistically, it's going take be a while before they can figure out a way to protect our ships.\nSisko: Thank you, Mister O'Brien.\nRoss: Well, gentlemen, it seems as if the Klingon fleet is the only thing that stands between us and the Dominion.\nRomulan: What have we come to?\nMartok: By tomorrow, we'll have fifteen hundred Klingon vessels ready for deployment.\nRomulan: With the Breen, the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar, you're still outnumbered twenty to one.\nMartok: I am aware of that, General.\nSisko: Obviously the Klingons can't go head to head with the Dominion, but they may be able to keep them distracted.\nMartok: We'll operate in small battle groups, going in under cloak, engaging the enemy, and trying to provoke them into pursuit.\nSisko: With any luck, they'll be able to keep the Dominion off balance and prevent them from launching an offensive.\nRomulan: For how long? They can't keep them at bay forever.\nSisko: No, they can't. But fortunately we're not the only ones the Dominion has to contend with right now.\nRoss: Damar's resistance movement.\nRomulan: What's left of them. Half his troops were killed in their assault on Rondac.\nSisko: They may have failed to capture Rondac, but their attack sent a message to the Cardassian people. If the rebels can show them that they have a chance of succeeding, their support will grow.\nRomulan: Does the rebellion have a chance of succeeding?\nSisko: Yes, but they have to adjust their tactics. Concentrate on small scale hit and run attacks, sabotaging key facilities.\nRoss: Damar's a by the book soldier. Does he have any experience waging this kind of campaign?\nSisko: No, he doesn't. Which is why we have to send him someone who does.\nKira: You want me to go behind enemy lines and teach a bunch of Cardassians how to be resistance fighters?\nSisko: I'm aware of the irony. But the tactics you used to drive the Cardassians off Bajor are exactly what the situation calls for.\nKira: But to work with Damar? When he killed Ziyal, he murdered an innocent girl that I considered a part of my family.\nSisko: You're going to have to put your personal feelings aside. Whether you like Damar or not is irrelevant. We need him. The Dominion knows they have to stop his rebellion before it spreads, and it's up to you to see that they don't. It's as simple as that.\nKira: Yes, sir. I understand that Damar and his men went into hiding after the attack on Rondac. Any idea how to locate them?\nSisko: I suggest you talk to Mister Garak about that.\nKira: Garak?\nSisko: He still has contacts on Cardassia. If I were you, I'd ask him to join your team. He could be useful.\nKira: Damar and Garak. It should be an interesting mission.\nBashir: It's very difficult to keep a supply of synthetic organs on hand in a battlefield situation. You never know how many livers you're going to need, or how many hearts.\nOdo: I can imagine. But what does that have to do with me?\nBashir: Well, the Holy Grail of organ replacement is to be able to find a way to inject the patient with undifferentiated tissue so that can become whatever organ is needed. The only problem is\nOdo: Doctor, get to the point.\nBashir: I need to borrow a cup of goo.\nOdo: Excuse me?\nBashir: Please? I'll give it back. You see, I need to study your morphogenic matrix so that I can synthesize organic tissue that can change form the way your cells do.\nOdo: To use for organ replacement.\nBashir: Exactly.\nOdo: Can't you just scan me or something?\nBashir: I need a sample. It's for a good cause.\nOdo: All right, Doctor.\nBashir: Just a tad more. Thank you.\nOdo: I'm going to want that back as soon as Kira and I return from our mission.\nBashir: Oh, you're going with her?\nOdo: She thought I might be useful.\nBashir: When do you leave?\nOdo: As soon as Garak can locate Damar.\nWinn: I'm very concerned. It's not like Solbor to disappear this way. Please do whatever it takes to find him.\nSecurity: Yes, Eminence.\nDukat: Well done. I almost believed you myself.\nWinn: How like a Cardassian to find amusement in an old man's death. You don't know how much I regret having to kill him.\nDukat: He was going to expose us. No one can be allowed to stand in our way.\nWinn: Remember your place, Dukat.\nDukat: I thought my place was in your bed.\nWinn: That was before I knew who you were.\nDukat: Adami, I'm not the same man I was during the occupation. The Pah wraiths have changed me.\nWinn: But they can't change what you did. Do you really think I could let myself be touched by a man whose hands are stained with the blood of my people?\nDukat: When we so release the Pah wraiths from the fire caves, your hands will be stained as well.\nWinn: The Pah wraiths will spare those whom they find worthy. The rest are of no consequence.\nDukat: You've been studying that for days. Perhaps I could help?\nWinn: The text of the Kosst Amojan is for my eyes alone.\nDukat: Well, have you learned what we have to do to release the Pah wraiths?\nWinn: Only that it's not a simple matter. Leave me. I've had enough of your distractions.\nRoss: When is Gowron's ship due to arrive?\nSisko: In the morning.\nRoss: Martok seems a little nervous about the ceremony.\nSisko: Chancellor Gowron is traveling all the way from Kronos to induct him into the Order of Kahless. I'd be nervous, too.\nSisko: Come in.\nKira: Good news. Garak was able to contact Damar.\nGarak: He's provided us with his location and has requested assistance as soon as possible.\nKira: So with your permission, I'd like to depart first thing tomorrow.\nSisko: By all means.\nGarak: There is one other thing.\nSisko: Yes, Mister Garak?\nGarak: Damar expressed concern when I told him that Colonel Kira would be leading this mission.\nKira: Well if he wants to defeat the Dominion he's going to have to put his personal feelings aside.\nGarak: He's certainly willing to do that. He knows the value of your skills. Damar is concerned that his men will see your uniform as an affront. We Cardassians are a proud people. Losing Bajor to a ragtag band of terrorists, no offense, was a humiliation. Simply put, taking on a Bajoran officer as an advisor would undermine his authority.\nRoss: I'm sorry, Colonel. We'll have to find someone else to head up the mission.\nSisko: No, sir. Colonel Kira is the best person for the job. There's another way around this problem.\nOdo: I don't know.\nOdo: Do you really think it'll make a difference to the Cardassians that you've been given a Starfleet commission? You're still a Bajoran.\nKira: A Bajoran with the authority to speak on behalf of the Federation.\nGarak: You realize you're going to have to do something about your uniform as well?\nOdo: I was afraid you were going to say that. Well?\nGarak: It's a little drab.\nOdo: This is how I appeared when I worked for the Cardassians.\nGarak: Ah, well, it should put them at ease, anyway. I wonder if Doctor Bashir could help us with that nose of yours?\nKira: I'm only willing to go so far. Damar's men are just going to have to get used to the idea of having me around.\nGarak: Oh, they'll tolerate you, to a point. If I were you, I'd watch my back. I'll see you in the morning.\nRusot: You see the problem.\nDamar: Our food supplies are running low.\nRusot: We'll have to cut back on rations until we get hold of some food replicators.\nDamar: When I spoke to Garak, I told him to bring some.\nRusot: Federation food replicators?\nDamar: We're in no position to turn down help, no matter where it comes from.\nRusot: Taking help from the Federation is bad enough, but having to take it from that Bajoran terrorist.\nDamar: Kira Nerys has certain skills she's willing to teach us. Skills we need if we're going to defeat the Dominion.\nRusot: I can't believe what I'm hearing. When we were stationed on Terok Nor, you used spent hours telling me how much you despised her.\nDamar: I did hate her. But that's a luxury I can no longer afford and neither can you. I need your support in this, my friend.\nSisko: General, Mister Worf.\nSisko: Welcome to Deep Space Nine, Chancellor.\nGowron: It's been too long, Captain.\nSisko: You know Admiral Ross.\nRoss: We met at Khitomer.\nGowron: Admiral, of course. Martok The man I came to honor! The son of Mogh.\nWorf: Chancellor.\nGowron: They say you've made him part of your House.\nMartok: It's true.\nGowron: Then what is past is past. If Martok considers you his brother, that's all I need to know. Come! I've brought a barrel of the finest bloodwine and it must be drunk tonight!\nMartok: The vintage. Twenty three oh nine, I take it?\nSisko: I guess we're not invited.\nBashir: Anyway, I finally tracked her down to Quark's and I asked her flat out, 'Ezri, why are you avoiding me?' She was just about to answer when I got called away.\nO'Brien: I haven't noticed her avoiding you. Are you sure you're not imagining things?\nBashir: Our paths haven't crossed in days.\nO'Brien: Well, it's a big station. The truth is, you want to spend time with her, so it seems that she's never around.\nBashir: There's something going on, and I'm going to find out what it is when she gets here. I told her I'd like to discuss the results of her last medical exam.\nO'Brien: Isn't that unethical, or something?\nBashir: Well.\nO'Brien: Is that Odo?\nBashir: Part of him, anyway.\nO'Brien: Oh, never mind. I don't want to know.\nBashir: Computer, begin a morphogenic enzyme analysis.\nEzri: Hi.\nBashir: Ezri.\nO'Brien: Hi.\nEzri: You wanted to see me?\nBashir: Yes. Come on in.\nO'Brien: It was good running into you. I haven't seen you in days.\nBashir: So.\nEzri: You said something about my test results?\nBashir: Of course. Here it is. You know, we never finished our conversation the other day.\nEzri: Our conversation?\nBashir: Yes, in Quark's. You were telling me why you were avoiding me.\nEzri: Well, I guess now is as good a time as any. Well, it goes back to when Worf and I were held prisoner by the Breen. We spent a lot of time together.\nBashir: Naturally.\nEzri: And you can imagine that it would bring up all sorts of old feelings.\nBashir: Sure.\nEzri: And, well, one thing led to another, and\nBashir: Ezri, you don't have to say any more.\nEzri: But I want to.\nBashir: No, really. I wish you both all the happiness in the world.\nEzri: Who?\nBashir: You and Worf.\nEzri: No, Julian, that's not\nBashir: Ezri, there's no need to explain.\nEzri: No, you don't understand. What I'm trying to tell you is that I'm in love with\nBashir: Oh, my God.\nEzri: What? Julian, what's wrong?\nBashir: I was running a scan on the sample you left when I noticed something unusual.\nOdo: Unusual in what way?\nBashir: The disease that's killing your people. You're infected. My guess is you became infected the last time you Linked with the Female Shape shifter.\nKira: Are you sure about this? He doesn't have any symptoms.\nBashir: So far. But from what I can tell, the virus is replicating quickly and it may not be long before symptoms start to surface.\nKira: We have to get you back to the station.\nOdo: No. We have a mission to accomplish. I intend to see it through.\nKira: Odo.\nBashir: It's all right. At this point there's not much I can do. But I feel confident that's going to change.\nOdo: What do you mean?\nBashir: I'm running a series of tests on the sample that you left me, and I've ask Starfleet Medical to send the results from the tests they ran on you a few years ago. By comparing the results, I might be able to figure out how the virus works, and that may well lead to a cure.\nKira: Thank you, Julian.\nOdo: We should be crossing into Dominion space in just a few minutes.\nGarak: I'd better scan for enemy patrols.\nDukat: What have you been keeping from me, my sweet? What dark secrets?\nWinn: Dukat?\nDukat: Adami, help me.\nWinn: You fool!\nDukat: I can't see.\nWinn: I warned you. The text of the Kosst Amojan is for my eyes alone.\nGowron: Today we honor our brother Martok in the manner Kahless taught us.\nMartok: I accept this honor in the name of the House of Martok and I ask only to be allowed to continue to serve the Empire.\nKlingons: Martok, Martok.\nSisko: We're next.\nKlingons: Martok, Martok, Martok.\nRoss: You're kidding.\nKlingons: Martok, Martok.\nSisko: I wish I were.\nKlingons: Martok, Martok.\nWorf: You have done well.\nMartok: Thank you for the help, my friend.\nRoss: It still stings\nSisko: That's what the bloodwine's for. Congratulations, General.\nGowron: Martok! How does it feel to be the most famous warrior in the Empire?\nMartok: I am grateful for the opportunity to serve.\nGowron: And you've served well. But you've borne the burden of this war for a long time.\nMartok: I do it gladly. And I'll keep on fighting until the victory is ours.\nGowron: No, my friend. I can't ask you to carry this weight forever. It's time for me to take a more active role in this war. As of today, I'm assuming direct command of our forces.\nMartok: Chancellor, I don't understand. Are you unsatisfied with the way I have performed my duties?\nGowron: Would I have given you the Star of Kahless if I was not satisfied? You should be happy you're a warrior again. No more meetings, no more reports to file. You'll be out there, savoring the heat of battle. I envy you. I intend to see an end to this war and soon. The Dominion will rue the day they heard my name!\nBashir: No, I don't want to talk to Lieutenant Douglas. I've already talked to Lieutenant Douglas. I need a copy of these test results. My patient's life is at stake.\nWeldon: I wish I could help, but as I said, the files you requested are classified.\nBashir: Why would Odo's medical records be classified?\nWeldon: They are. That's all I know.\nBashir: I want to talk to your supervising officer.\nWeldon: You did. Lieutenant Douglas.\nBashir: Then I want to talk to her supervising officer, Ensign.\nWeldon: I'll patch you through, but he's going to tell you the same thing.\nHilliard: Commander Hilliard here.\nBashir: Ah, Commander. I was hoping you could sort out this situation for me. I realize that the files I requested are classified, but given the circumstances, I was hoping you would be able to understand the need for some expediency.\nHilliard: Of course. You wouldn't mind answering a few questions?\nBashir: Of course not, if it's necessary.\nHilliard: Now you've requested Security Chief Odo's medical records from Stardate?\nBashir: Four nine four one nine, sir.\nHilliard: And you state that he has contracted the morphogenic virus that's infected the Founders.\nBashir: Correct.\nHilliard: How did he contract it?\nBashir: Presumably when he Linked with one of them, sir.\nHilliard: You're saying that he's been in contact with the enemy?\nBashir: Yes, but not recently. It happened over a year ago.\nHilliard: I assume that you've done your own scans of Odo over the years?\nBashir: Of course.\nHilliard: Then why do you need ours?\nBashir: To use as a point of comparison in hopes of finding a cure, sir.\nHilliard: A cure?\nBashir: That's right. Is there anything else, sir?\nHilliard: No. No, that pretty much covers it.\nBashir: Good. So when can I expect to receive a copy of these files?\nHilliard: I'm afraid those files are classified.\nBashir: But I thought you just asked me all these questions in order to clear me to receive them.\nHilliard: No, no, you misunderstood. I can't release those files to anyone that doesn't have Sigma Nine Clearance.\nBashir: Listen, I don't give a damn about Sigma Nine clearance! All I care about is finding a cure for this disease!\nHilliard: I fail to see why you're so determined to cure a disease that infects our enemy. We're at war, Doctor.\nBashir: The Founders have nothing to do with it. Odo's life is at stake.\nHilliard: Odo, who by your own admission has been known to consort with the enemy.\nBashir: Sir, you have to understand the circumstances.\nHilliard: I don't care about the circumstances. If you find a cure, there's a good chance it'll fall into Dominion hands. That's a risk that Starfleet Medical is not willing to take. Request for the files is denied. Now if I were you, I'd drop this matter, otherwise I'll have to refer it to Starfleet Security.\nO'Brien: Sounds like a typical bureaucrat flexing his muscles.\nBashir: No, it was more than that. He practically accused me of being a traitor. He made it sound like I was in league with the Dominion just because I wanted to help Odo.\nO'Brien: Maybe the attack on Starfleet Headquarters has him spooked. You know, guys like Hilliard are used to sitting behind their desks, not under them.\nBashir: If only I could get a hold of that file. Maybe the Captain could request it?\nO'Brien: Does he have Sigma Nine clearance, whatever that is?\nBashir: For Odo's sake, we'd better hope so.\nDamar: Welcome to the headquarters of the Cardassian Liberation Front. It's been a long time.\nKira: Yes, it has.\nRusot: Did you bring the supplies we requested?\nOdo: Food replicators, weapons. I think you'll find everything you asked for.\nDamar: Excellent. The Cardassian people won't forget the Federation's generosity.\nGarak: How nice. And now that the formalities are over with, let's try to remember that our enemy is the Dominion, and not each other.\nRusot: I don't need to be reminded of who my enemies are.\nKira: A Resistance organization is structured into cells, autonomous groups of ten to twenty people. That way if anyone gets captured, their ability to compromise the organization is limited. They can't be forced to name names that they don't know.\nGarak: The Obsidian Order worked the same way.\nKira: We have to decentralize your operation. Having all your men in one place is just too risky.\nRusot: If we scatter our resources, we won't be able to defend ourselves against a Dominion assault.\nKira: And if you stay in one place, they can wipe out your entire Resistance movement in one attack. Smaller groups are safer. They're harder to track down.\nDamar: I'll have my men investigate possible locations for other bases.\nKira: Good. Now, Odo and Garak have been looking over your intelligence reports and they came up with a list of vulnerable facilities for us to target.\nOdo: The weapons depot on Adarak Prime is protected by only a single garrison and there's a weakness in their perimeter defenses. A small group could infiltrate the compound and\nRusot: Adarak Prime is defended by a Cardassian garrison.\nOdo: That's correct.\nSeskal: You expect us to attack our own people?\nKira: If necessary, yes.\nRusot: That's out of the question.\nDamar: I agree. We'll limit ourselves to targets defended by the Jem'Hadar and the Breen.\nKira: Believe me, I understand how you feel. During the occupation, I didn't want to attack any facility that had a Bajoran working in it. But I did it. Because they were collaborators. They were working with the enemy.\nRusot: We're not Bajorans. We don't kill our own.\nKira: Well then you might as well just give up right now. Because the minute that the Dominion realizes that you will not attack your own people, they will station a Cardassian at every base they have.\nOdo: She's right. The Founders won't hesitate to play your own people against you.\nKira: Anyone who's not fighting with you, is fighting against you.\nDamar: You were saying the Adarak perimeter defenses are vulnerable.\nRusot: Damar.\nDamar: Not another word, Rusot. Continue.\nOdo: We would need to disable the garrison's security protocols.\nGarak: I believe that's where I step in.\nBashir: I'd loved to have seen Hilliard's face when he realized Captain Sisko had Sigma Nine clearance.\nO'Brien: So, is the file worth all the trouble you had to go through?\nBashir: There's more data here than I expected. Starfleet Medical certainly were thorough.\nO'Brien: By the way, what happened with you and Ezri?\nBashir: Don't ask.\nO'Brien: Go on.\nBashir: Actually, she got involved with Worf.\nO'Brien: What? She told you that?\nBashir: Well, not in so many words.\nO'Brien: Julian, I had a drink with Worf the other day. He told me that he and Ezri were just friends. You must have misunderstood her.\nBashir: I suppose it's possible. I mean, she didn't exactly come out and say it.\nO'Brien: Well did you at least find out why she's been avoiding you?\nBashir: No. That's odd.\nO'Brien: What?\nBashir: The dispersal pattern in this resonance scan. I've seen it before.\nO'Brien: What do you mean?\nBashir: When I first came to the station, I had to familiarize myself with Odo's physiology. Doctor Mora was kind enough to share his data with me. This looks like the scan he did when he first found Odo.\nO'Brien: Are you sure? There's a lot of numbers there.\nBashir: I saw it with my own eyes not seven years ago.\nO'Brien: You really are genetically enhanced, aren't you.\nBashir: According to the date, this scan was done when Odo was at Starfleet Medical.\nO'Brien: Two different scans can't have exactly the same dispersal pattern?\nBashir: It's impossible. Someone took Mora's results and built up a phony medical workup around them. This isn't Odo's file. They sent a fake.\nO'Brien: I can't believe Starfleet Medical would actually make up a fake file just to throw you off.\nBashir: You're right. It isn't something Starfleet Medical would do.\nO'Brien: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?\nBashir: Section Thirty One.\nO'Brien: An organization that's prepared to do whatever it takes to protect the Federation wouldn't even blink at doing something like this.\nBashir: They don't want me to find a cure. They're afraid the Founders will get hold of it.\nO'Brien: And to keep that from happening, they're willing to let Odo die.\nMartok: First he gives me a medal, then he takes over my command. It makes no sense.\nWorf: Our people have come to see you as a savior of the Empire. That is something Gowron cannot tolerate. He wants to be its savior.\nMartok: What's he afraid of? That I'm going to challenge his position? I have no interest in politics. I'm a soldier. By the hand of Kahless. I've earned my position. I've risen through the ranks, fought countless battles. What has he done? Schemed and plotted his way to power.\nWorf: His military experience is limited. He is not half the tactician you are.\nMartok: Many brave warriors have given their lives in this war. Whatever Gowron's motives are, it is our duty to help him defeat the Dominion. We owe it to our fallen comrades.\nWorf: I am honored to be part of your House.\nMartok: Well, I had better gather my things. This office belongs to Gowron now.\nOdo: How's the food?\nKira: Replicated.\nSeskal: Are you going to ask him or not?\nGarak: I wouldn't recommend it.\nSeskal: It's a legitimate question, Garak.\nGarak: Maybe. I just don't think it's a proper subject for discussion, not if we're all supposed to be getting along.\nSeskal: Well, if you won't ask him, I will. Odo, when you were the Head of Security on Terok Nor, what did you think was going to happen to the Bajoran prisoners you arrested?\nKira: You don't have to answer that.\nRusot: Why not? It's a legitimate question.\nKira: If you want to provoke an argument.\nGarak: Just as I said.\nOdo: I expected that my prisoners would be dealt with justly, but I soon came to realize that Cardassians had little interest in justice.\nSeskal: Ah. Well then, why didn't you resign in protest?\nKira: What are you getting at?\nOdo: Nerys, don't.\nRusot: I believe you've struck a nerve. Apparently, Commander Kira doesn't like to be reminded that her lover collaborated with her enemies.\nKira: Odo wasn't a collaborator.\nRusot: I suppose that depends on your definition of collaborator.\nOdo: Nerys, it isn't worth it.\nGarak: Odo's right, Commander.\nKira: I guess we have a difference of opinion.\nGarak: You don't know how lucky you are.\nRusot: Oh? Why's that?\nGarak: She would have killed you.\nRusot: I only wish she had tried.\nOdo: I'm glad we're in agreement.\nKira: You want to knock over some supplies, be my guest.\nOdo: You did the right thing, Nerys. The Dominion is our enemy, not Rusot.\nKira: I don't need you to remind me of that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just so hot in here.\nOdo: Cardassians do love the heat.\nKira: I don't. I'm going to go see if I can find a cooling unit.\nOdo: I'll come with you.\nKira: It's all right. I promise I won't hit anyone.\nOdo: I'll hold you to that.\nKira: You're not going to believe this.\nOdo: Believe what?\nKira: Damar actually had a cooling unit waiting for us. What's wrong?\nOdo: Nothing. I was just worried that you might have had another run in with Rusot.\nKira: Don't worry. I'm going to keep a cool head. Assuming of course I can get this thing to work.\nDukat: Adami? Are you there?\nWinn: I'm here. I spoke with the doctor. She said she can find nothing wrong with your eyes.\nDukat: Then she's incompetent! A Cardassian doctor would've cured me by now.\nWinn: You still don't understand, do you? The Pah wraiths have taken your sight in punishment for your arrogance. Only they can give it back to you.\nDukat: I meant them no disrespect. I only wanted to study the book to see if I could help you learn how to release them.\nWinn: You wanted to see if you could do it without me. Well, you can't.\nDukat: Pray with me, Adami. Help me earn the Pah wraiths' forgiveness.\nWinn: I'm afraid you'll have to do that on your own. Door. Deputy Bodan will show you out.\nDukat: Show me out? I don't understand.\nWinn: You need a lesson in humility. I'm going to see that you get it.\nDukat: By putting me out on the street?\nWinn: You'll find the Bajoran people are very kind. A blind beggar will elicit their sympathies, I'm certain. And with any luck, you'll earn enough to eat and perhaps even enough for shelter each night.\nDukat: You're not serious.\nWinn: You may return when you've proved yourself worthy and your sight has been restored. Bodan.\nDukat: Adami, listen. Adami! Adami listen to me, please! Adami!\nGowron: You see?\nGowron: Enter. Come in, come in. I've been studying the strategic situation. I want to share my thoughts with you.\nMartok: Of course.\nGowron: Come. The Dominion is deploying their fleet in preparation for a final offensive. They're destroying our ships one by one.\nWorf: We must hold the line until the Federation and Romulan fleets become operational again.\nGowron: No. Don't you see? That's exactly what the enemy is expecting. The time to act is now.\nMartok: What are you proposing, Chancellor?\nGowron: We're going on the offensive. Starting tomorrow, I'm sending sorties deep into enemy territory to strike at the very heart of the Dominion!\nMartok: But we are barely holding the line as it is.\nWorf: We need every ship we have to defend the border.\nGowron: What's wrong with you two? Don't you understand? We must seize the day!\nMartok: We are outnumbered twenty to one.\nGowron: What of it? The element of surprise will be on our side.\nMartok: Chancellor, in my opinion\nGowron: Did I ask your opinion? Trust me, my friends. I can see it all so clearly. While our allies sit and do nothing, the Klingon Empire will score the final triumph over the Dominion. We'll be the saviors of the Alpha Quadrant. The glory will be ours and ours alone.\nO'Brien: I don't know, Julian. If Section Thirty One is involved in this, maybe we should tell the Captain.\nBashir: We've been over this, Miles. If we tell him, he'll have to report it to Starfleet Command. Thirty One'll certainly get wind of it and once they realize we figured out the files are fake, they'll take steps to make sure we don't find a cure.\nO'Brien: I see your point. What steps do you think they might take?\nBashir: Believe me, we don't want to find out.\nQuark: Excuse me, gentlemen.\nO'Brien: Is that coffee?\nQuark: I figured you were probably working on a way to help Odo. I thought this is the least I could do.\nBashir: How did you know Odo was ill?\nQuark: I hear things.\nO'Brien: Yeah, well keep it under your hat, will you?\nQuark: Why?\nO'Brien: Just do it.\nQuark: All right, all right. Do you still want the coffee?\nO'Brien: Odo would be touched if he knew you were doing this.\nQuark: You're not going to tell him, are you?\nO'Brien: It'll be our little secret.\nQuark: Good luck.\nO'Brien: Here you go.\nBashir: Hang on, hang on, I'm just trying to figure out when Odo became infected. I analyzed the sample he left and mapped out the life cycle of the virus. I'm programming the computer to calculate just how long it took for the virus to achieve its present level of concentration.\nO'Brien: That makes sense. According to that, he was infected over two years ago?\nBashir: More than that. I just don't understand. I assumed he became infected when he Linked with the female shape-shifter.\nO'Brien: But if it happened that long ago, how come he hasn't shown any symptoms before?\nBashir: Good question. Got it. Stardate four nine four one nine.\nO'Brien: Almost three years ago.\nBashir: Wait a minute. Four nine four one nine. That's the day that Odo was at Starfleet Medical.\nO'Brien: You sure?\nBashir: Yes. My god. No wonder Hilliard wouldn't let me see the file. Section Thirty one must have created the virus, infected Odo, and then used him as a carrier.\nO'Brien: So that when he Linked with another changeling, he'd pass it on, and eventually the entire race would be infected.\nBashir: Thirty one isn't just trying to stop us from finding a cure. They're trying to cover up the fact that they set out to commit genocide.\nO'Brien: Well if they gave Odo this disease, then they must have a cure.\nBashir: We have to find a way to get our hands on that cure.\nO'Brien: Before Thirty One gets their hands on us."}
{"text": "Kira: There. Right there. The explosion began at the intercooler matrix, and your men were supposed to plant the bomb here, at the secondary plasma relay.\nRusot: What difference does that make? The ship was destroyed.\nGarak: The intercooler was the obvious choice for sabotage. Their security checks could have found the bomb and disarmed it before the ship left orbit.\nRusot: But they didn't find it.\nKira: That isn't the point. Your men ignored their instructions and their training.\nDamar: Let us not lose sight of the fact that the mission was a success.\nKira: It was a success because the Jem'Hadar security slipped up and we got lucky. Don't use those men again for anything other than routine reconnaissance.\nRusot: They're five of my best men! Bronok is one of the most experienced\nGarak: You've been told before. No names.\nKira: Every cell has to be insulated from the cell above and the cell below. If I know the names of your men and I am captured\nRusot: Yes. I've heard the lecture.\nKira: Well then, you shouldn't have to be reminded.\nDamar: It's been a long day. Why don't we take a break.\nRusot: Good idea. The air in here is getting stale.\nKira: Are you going to do something about him?\nDamar: I am. I'm giving him my support.\nKira: All right.\nGarak: This does not bode well.\nKira: Odo.\nOdo: The raid on the Tevak shipyard was successful. I penetrated the Operations Center, disabled the security protocols. The rest of the team sabotaged the dilithium storage bunkers. An hour after we left, the entire facility was vaporized.\nKira: You should get some rest\nOdo: That sounds good to me.\nKira: Anyone in the bunkroom?\nGarak: No.\nKira: Okay, it's all yours.\nOdo: All right.\nKira: Odo. Good work.\nOdo: Thank you.\nOdo: It's just like you to come sneaking in here without warning.\nGarak: My approach may have been quiet, but I assure you, I had no intention of sneaking up on you. My apologies. If I may ask?\nOdo: Why have I deteriorated so rapidly? I've been assuming dozens of different forms over the past few weeks. Changing shape seems to accelerate the progress of the disease.\nGarak: Perhaps you should stop.\nOdo: And do what? Lie here waiting to die? I came to work and work is what I'm going to do.\nGarak: I take it Commander Kira is unaware of your true condition?\nOdo: That's right. And I prefer that it stays that way.\nGarak: I won't breathe a word.\nOdo: See that you don't. She has enough on her mind without worrying about me. And I don't want her\nGarak: Pity?\nOdo: Is there a reason you came in here?\nGarak: We have need of a contact on Kelvas Five. I remember you telling me that you knew several\nOdo: I may have a few names for you. I'll have to give it some thought.\nGarak: Odo, I hope you know how much I\nOdo: If I don't want pity from the woman I love, why would I want it from you?\nO'Brien: Morning.\nBashir: What time is it?\nO'Brien: Oh six thirty. Another all nighter? That's four in a row. You can't keep this up.\nBashir: I'm beginning to agree with you, and to add insult to injury, I'm not getting anywhere. My DNA integration theory's a blind alley.\nO'Brien: So where does that leave you?\nBashir: Back on square one. Whoever engineered this shape-shifter virus certainly did a good job of covering their tracks.\nO'Brien: Julian, it's time to face facts. You're not going to pull a rabbit out of your medkit. Even the Founders themselves couldn't find a cure and they had the resources of the entire Dominion at their command. Now, I know you don't want to hear this, but the only way we're going to find a cure is to track down whoever created this thing in the first place.\nBashir: Miles\nO'Brien: We have got to find a way to get inside Section Thirty One.\nBashir: We've tried that. We've tried and we tried and all we managed to do was to waste two weeks chasing phantoms from here to Vulcan. You want to face facts? Face this fact. Section Thirty one have managed to stay in the shadows for over three hundred years. They're not going to suddenly come scurrying into the light just because Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir are on the case!\nO'Brien: Which is why I still say we should take this to Captain Sisko and let him contact Starfleet Intelligence. Maybe they can\nBashir: All that will do is alert Section Thirty One to that fact that we're onto them. And you know what they'll do? They'll go deeper into hiding. probably send someone here to destroy whatever headway I've made. No. No more cloak and dagger games. Science is the answer here. Every puzzle has a solution, every disease a cure. It's just a matter of finding it. Now, if you'll kindly get the hell out of here, I have work to do.\nGowron: Martok's attack on Avenal Seven was a disgrace. He had the advantage of surprise. The Dominion wasn't expecting us to take the offensive so soon after the Breen entered the war. Avenal should have been an easy victory for him, but instead he's handed us a shameful defeat.\nSisko: General Martok and I both advised you against attacking a world so deep inside Dominion territory. He was outnumbered six to one at Avenal.\nGowron: Six to one. A good commander finds ways to beat the odds, not hide behind them.\nSisko: He didn't hide behind anything. He fought harder and longer than I would have in his place. Have you read Worf's after-action report? Seven Klingon ships destroyed. Five others severely damaged. General Martok himself in critical condition in the Rotarran Sickbay.\nGowron: He's expected to survive.\nSisko: That's not the point! This whole operation was a waste of resources, men and equipment. The blame lies with the man who ordered the mission in the first place, not with the man who tried to carry it out.\nGowron: That's one of the things I like about you, Captain. Your loyalty to your friends.\nSisko: This has nothing to do with loyalty.\nGowron: Of course not. In any case, you needn't worry. Martok's a popular general with the troops and that counts for something. I won't relieve him of command. Yet.\nWeyoun: As you can see, the Klingon raid on Avenal was easily broken up.\nFounder: I am less concerned about this Klingon attack than I am the Cardassian rebellion. We cannot fight the combined military forces of the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans, and face a full-scale uprising behind the lines.\nWeyoun: I completely agree. However, the situation is well in hand. We still have control over the Cardassian military, while Damar has only a handful of terrorists at his disposal. I can assure you both that this rebellion poses no threat.\nFounder: You are correct. And you also assured us that Damar would never turn against the Dominion.\nWeyoun: That was an error, to be sure, but an understandable one. No one could have foreseen that Damar would become a terrorist. The concept is antithetical to the very nature of Cardassians. They respect authority. They value the rule of law and the security of order, which is exactly what the Dominion offers them.\nFounder: Exactly. If our cloning facilities were operational, I would eliminate this Weyoun immediately. Damar must pay the price for his treason. Redouble your efforts to find his wife and children. Then I want you to begin interrogating Cardassian teachers, scientists, local officials. The population must understand in no uncertain terms that dissent will not be tolerated. Then I want you to begin putting Cardassian civilians in and around Dominion military installlations. If Damar destroys another shipyard, he will have to kill a great many of his countrymen as well. This will help turn the people against him.\nWeyoun: An excellent plan.\nFounder: Your opinion was not solicited. Thot Pran, the sooner we can regain the offensive on the front lines, the better. The installlation of the Breen weapons aboard Dominion ships must be accelerated. Please issue the appropriate orders to your engineers.\nFounder: How long before our cloning facilities are operational again?\nWeyoun: Not for several days, perhaps even weeks.\nFounder: Ah. Well, keep me informed.\nGarak: And according to our new contact on Kelvas Five, the Breen will begin to installl their energy dampening weapons aboard Jem'Hadar fighters within a week.\nDamar: Has the Federation made any progress in counteracting these weapons?\nKira: No. They're still having trouble understanding the underlying technology.\nDamar: Well, why aren't the Klingon ships affected by these Breen weapons?\nKira: We don't know that yet either. But if we could supply the Federation with one, it would give them a chance to come up with a countermeasure.\nGarak: I had the same thought.\nRusot: Our priority should be to free Cardassia from the Dominion, not do Starfleet's dirty work.\nDamar: We're all in this together. By helping Starfleet, we're helping ourselves.\nKira: There's a Cardassian repair facility in the Kelvas system, right?\nGarak: Yes. I take it you have something in mind?\nKira: It won't be easy, but if we can get onto the bridge. All right. We'll take a five man team. The four of us, plus Odo. Garak, I'm going to need everything you have on the Kelvas facility. Is something wrong?\nGarak: Possibly. May I have a few words with the commander?\nKira: What's on your mind?\nGarak: It's about taking Odo on this mission. I'm afraid there's no easy way of putting it. He's been hiding the true extent of his illness from you for some time now. His condition has severely deteriorated. And the more he changes form, the worse it gets.\nKira: I know.\nGarak: You do?\nKira: I love him, Garak. You think I really wouldn't notice?\nGarak: Why the pretense?\nKira: Because I also know that he doesn't want me to find out about it. He wants to put up a brave front and protect me from the truth. Well, fine. If that's what makes this easier for him, if that gives him one last shred of dignity to hold onto, then I'll go on ignoring what's happening to him until the very end. Anything else?\nGarak: No.\nKira: All right. We will need a Cardassian shuttle with the latest security protocols and a schematic of the\nSisko: Sisko to Worf.\nWorf: Worf here.\nSisko: I'd like to see you in my office, Commander.\nWorf: On my way.\nSisko: How's Martok?\nWorf: Doctor Bashir says he will make a full recovery.\nSisko: I'm glad to hear that. Mister Worf, we've got a serious problem on our hands.\nWorf: Gowron.\nSisko: He seems hell bent on continuing these offensives regardless of the cost.\nWorf: He is a stubborn and arrogant man.\nSisko: That may be true, but I hope he's not a fool. He's risking the entire defense posture. Why can't he see that?\nWorf: I suspect the Chancellor cannot see anything at the moment except for one man.\nSisko: You mean Martok?\nWorf: The Chancellor sees him as a political threat. These attacks against the Dominion are designed to humiliate the General in the eyes of the Empire. To force him to endure defeat after defeat.\nSisko: Are you telling me that this is a political vendetta?\nWorf: It would not be the first time that a Klingon Chancellor put his own interests ahead of the greater good.\nSisko: Something has to be done.\nWorf: Agreed. And I do have a solution. But it will not be easy.\nSisko: Do whatever it takes, Mister Worf. Those Klingon ships out there are the only thing between us and the Breen. Gowron is risking the safety of the entire Alpha Quadrant and he has to stop.\nWorf: Understood.\nRusot: My men have secured the shuttle. They'll meet us at those coordinates.\nKira: Good.\nRusot: Are you enjoying yourself? Getting Cardassians to do your bidding must give you great pleasure.\nKira: I'm a little busy right now, Rusot. Why don't you find someone else to play with.\nRusot: You may have fooled Damar into believing that you're here to fight the Dominion, but I know why you're really here.\nKira: Oh, this should be good.\nRusot: You killed hundreds of Cardassians during the occupation and now you're getting a chance to do it again. That's why you're here, isn't it? To hang a few more Cardassian neckbones from your belt? Admit it, Kira. You won't be satisfied until every one of us is dead.\nKira: Oh, I don't have time for this.\nKira: Don't you ever touch me again.\nRusot: I guess I hit a nerve\nKira: No, this is hitting a nerve. Stop pushing me or I'll make you realize just how many nerves you have in that miserable body.\nRusot: When this is all over and the Dominion is defeated\nKira: You won't have any trouble finding me.\nGarak: Oh, you'll have to do something about him long before that, Commander.\nKira: Thanks for all your help.\nGarak: You seemed to have things well under control.\nKira: Did I?\nGarak: Despite his statement to the contrary, Rusot will not wait until the end of the war to make his move. I suggest you don't wait either. Kill him before he kills you.\nMartok: Challenge Gowron? In the middle of a war? It's treasonous.\nWorf: Gowron is leading us all to ruin. It is your duty to challenge him to protect the Empire.\nMartok: You would have me protect the Empire by breaking my oath, by spilling the blood of a Klingon brother while an enemy stands at our door? Where is the honor in that?\nWorf: He is sacrificing our troops for his own petty reasons. Where is the honor in that?\nMartok: The troops are his to command. It is not our place to question him unless he acts with cowardice and there is no proof of that.\nWorf: You are not listening.\nMartok: I've heard every word that you have said. You want me to become Chancellor. Me. Tell me Worf, how do you think the members of the High Council will react when they're asked to follow a common man from the Ketha Lowlands? A man without a drop of noble blood in his veins?\nWorf: Kahless himself was not high-born.\nMartok: Kahless was divine.\nWorf: Your name is revered throughout the Empire. If you seize the leadership, every warrior from here to Kronos would swear an oath to you. And with that kind of support, the High Council will have no choice but to accept you as Chancellor.\nMartok: You begin to sound like a Romulan.\nWorf: You know I am right.\nMartok: I am a loyal soldier of the Empire. I would rather die than dishonor my uniform by raising a hand to my Chancellor in a time of war. I would bring shame to everything that I've fought to protect, everything that I believe in.\nWorf: General.\nMartok: My decision is made. We will not speak of this again.\nOdo: You're staring again.\nKira: Sorry. I'm just worried about you.\nOdo: Well don't. It may be a long time before the first symptoms manifest themselves, and by then I'm sure Doctor Bashir will have found the cure.\nKira: Right. Could you take the helm? I'm going to get a raktajino.\nKira: What's wrong?\nGarak: One of our listening posts picked up a message. The Dominion has succeeded in locating Damar's family.\nDamar: They're dead. They weren't a part of this rebellion. The Dominion knew that, the Founder knew that. Weyoun knew that. To kill her and my son. The casual brutality of it. A waste of life. What kind of state tolerates the murder of innocent women and children? What kind of people give those orders?\nKira: Yeah, Damar, what kind of people give those orders?\nKira: Oh, that was stupid.\nGarak: Not at all. Damar has a certain romanticism about the past. He could use a dose of cold water.\nKira: I could have picked a better time.\nGarak: If he's the man to lead a new Cardassia, if he's the man we hope him to be, then the pain of this news made him more receptive to what you said, not less.\nOdo: We're approaching the rendezvous point.\nOdo: The shuttle is here.\nRusot: Right on time. Just as I promised.\nDamar: Damar to shuttle. Lower your shields and we'll beam aboard.\nMan: Acknowledged.\nDamar: Let's go.\nWorf: And in truth, I understand his position. It is the duty of every soldier to support their leaders in time of war. Asking Martok to stand against Gowron was a foolish error.\nEzri: So what are you going to do?\nWorf: Try to convince Gowron to diskontinue these attacks. You have said very little.\nEzri: Look, I'm just not sure that I should be giving you advice on what to do in this situation. It's a Klingon matter.\nWorf: You are still a member of the House of Martok.\nEzri: This is the first that I've heard of it.\nWorf: The General and I talked about it weeks ago. He likes you. And he considers you an honorable woman, a worthy successor to Jadzia, and so do I.\nEzri: That's very sweet of him.\nWorf: Sweet?\nEzri: Not a very Klingon word, is it?\nWorf: No.\nEzri: It's very honorable.\nWorf: Better, albeit a little obvious. Now, tell me what you think.\nEzri: Okay. But I'm not sure you're going to like it.\nWorf: Tell me.\nEzri: I think that the situation with Gowron is a symptom of a bigger problem. The Klingon Empire is dying. And I think it deserves to die.\nWorf: You are right. I do not like it.\nEzri: Don't get me wrong, I'm very touched that you still consider me to be a member of the House of Martok, but I tend to look at the Empire with a little more skepticism than Curzon or Jadzia did. I see a society that is in deep denial about itself. We're talking about a warrior culture that prides itself on maintaining centuries old traditions of honor and integrity, but in reality it's willing to accept corruption at the highest levels.\nWorf: You are overstating your case.\nEzri: Am I? Who was the last leader of the High Council that you respected? Has there even been one? And how many times have you had to cover up the crimes of Klingon leaders because you were told it was for the good of the Empire? I know this sounds harsh, but the truth is, you have been willing to accept a government that you know is corrupt. Gowron's just the latest example. Worf, you are the most honorable and decent man I've ever met, and if you're willing to tolerate men like Gowron, then what hope is there for the Empire?\nGarak: We have a prisoner for the Vorta who commands of this ship.\nVornar: Everything seems to be in order. But you'll have to leave your weapons here.\nGarak: Why?\nVornar: New orders from Dominion Headquarters. No armed Cardassians allowed aboard Jem'Hadar vessels.\nGarak: Sounds like they don't trust us anymore.\nVornar: So it would seem. I'm sorry, but those are the orders.\nGarak: It's not your fault. Do as he says. The three of us should be able to handle one Bajoran woman.\nVornar: Take them to the bridge.\nVornar: Good luck, Legate Damar.\nLuaran: We'll run the first test firing in two hours, fourteen minutes. Agreed. Coordinate it with Central Operations. What's this?\nGarak: We have a prisoner.\nLuaran: I can see that. Why are you bringing her to me?\nGarak: This is Commander Rota, the deputy intelligence officer for this entire sector. I would think that you'd be interested in interrogating her.\nLuaran: I wasn't informed of this.\nGarak: Perhaps you haven't received the report yet. It's not surprising. We only took the commander prisoner yesterday. We were under a communications blackout\nLuaran: Let me see your orders.\nGarak: Of course.\nLuaran: Founder. You honor us with your presence. I had no idea you were in this sector.\nFounder: My movements are none of your concern.\nLuaran: No.\nFounder: Have you begun the interrogation of this prisoner?\nLuaran: Not yet.\nFounder: Good. I will conduct the questioning myself.\nLuaran: As you wish.\nFounder: Ah. I see the upgraded plasma rifles have been distributed. May I inspect it?\nFounder: A-ha. An excellent weapon. What do you think?\nKira: Secure those hatches.\nOdo: It wasn't necessary to kill them all.\nGarak: We can't afford to be burdened by prisoners.\nKira: We'll argue about this later. Prepare to flood all decks below the bridge with neurazine gas. Bring the warp drive online. Lay in a course for the Federation.\nGarak: Commander. They haven't finished installling the Breen weapon. We can't leave.\nOdo: How long until they finish installling the weapon?\nRusot: We can't wait!\nKira: We're not leaving without that weapon.\nGarak: There are three, no, four Breen working in the engine room. Judging from the diagnostics, I'd say it'll take them thirty to forty five minutes to complete their work.\nRusot: We don't have that much time.\nKira: Yes, we do. No one even knows we're on the bridge. All we have to do is sit tight, give the standard replies to any inquiries and wait for the Breen to do their work.\nRusot: Damar, this is insane. She'll get us all killed.\nGarak: There's an incoming message. They want to speak to the Vorta.\nKira: Disable the visual feed. What was her name? Come on!\nGarak: I'm looking. Ah. Her name was Luaran.\nKira: This is Luaran. No, I can't see you either. We're experiencing difficulties with our comm. system. What do you want? Just a moment. They want the status report on our navigational array.\nOdo: I've got it.\nKira: That data is coming to you. Excellent. We'll be repairing our comm. system for at least the next hour. I'll contact you when we're finished. Luaran out.\nRusot: What if they didn't believe you?\nKira: Then we're dead.\nO'Brien: Hey.\nBashir: Hey.\nO'Brien: Keiko whipped you up some crab rolls. She, we thought you might be hungry.\nBashir: Thanks. To both of you. Er, about the other day.\nO'Brien: Oh, forget it. How's the work going?\nBashir: I'm still firmly entrenched in square one.\nO'Brien: Mind if I ask you a question about Thirty One?\nBashir: Go ahead.\nO'Brien: Well, if you were to find the cure and they got to know about it, what do you think they'd do?\nBashir: Well, I imagine they'd be very concerned. The very existence of a cure would jeopardize their plan to eradicate the Founders. It wouldn't surprised me if Sloan or another operative turned up here on the station to destroy my work. What are you getting at?\nO'Brien: I think you should send a message to Starfleet Medical saying that you have found the cure.\nBashir: You're trying to lure someone from Section Thirty One?\nO'Brien: Yeah. That's right.\nBashir: What happens when this operative gets here?\nO'Brien: We capture him. Then we figure out a way to get some information out of him.\nBashir: He may not know anything about the disease.\nO'Brien: Maybe not, but I bet he knows who does. What do you think?\nBashir: I think it's a plan. A very good plan. When did you get so devious?\nO'Brien: I've been hanging around you too long. Let's just hope this works and we can cure Odo. That's all I care about.\nBashir: Me too, Miles.\nGowron: Our next target, Sarpedion Five.\nMartok: Sarpedion is the headquarters of the entire Twelfth Order.\nGowron: Yes. You'll take fifteen Vorcha class battle cruisers in first to soften their defenses. Then General Chu'vok\nMartok: Chancellor, that world is one of the most heavily fortified positions in the entire Cardassian Empire. Fifteen battle cruisers will barely scratch their defenses.\nGowron: If you lack the courage to fight an uphill battle, then perhaps you should retire to your bed.\nMartok: I will fight any battle, anywhere, for the Empire.\nGowron: Spoken like a true warrior. After Martok has softened their defenses.\nWorf: No. We cannot attack Sarpedion.\nGowron: I decide what can and cannot be done.\nWorf: You rule without wisdom and without honor. The warriors that are gathered here will not say this to you, but I will. You are squandering our ships and our lives on a petty act of vengeance.\nGowron: I should have known better than to trust you again. If you were a true Klingon, I would kill you where you stand. Fortunately for you, that child's uniform shields you from your rightful fate.\nWorf: What I say now, I say as a member of the House of Martok, not a Starfleet officer. You have dishonored yourself and the Empire and you are not worthy to lead the Council.\nGowron: There can be only one answer to that.\nMartok: Worf, this is madness.\nGowron: You will not have this day.\nMartok: Hail Worf. Leader of the Empire! Worf! Worf! Worf!\nAll: Worf! Worf! Worf! Worf!\nWorf: Wait. Hear me. Hear me! What I have done was for the Empire. A new day must dawn for our people. I am not the man to usher in that day. But there is a man here who can.\nMartok: Worf, I do not seek the leadership.\nWorf: Kahless said, 'Great men do not seek power, they have power thrust upon them'.\nWorf: Hail, Martok! Leader of the Empire! Leader of destiny.\nKira: How much longer?\nGarak: I'm not certain. It appears they're having problems connecting the secondary relays.\nKira: Odo, are you all right?\nOdo: Yes. Don't worry, I'm\nOdo: I'm sorry.\nKira: There's nothing to be sorry about. Just stay with me, Odo, stay with me. We're going to get out of here, all right? Just hang on a little while longer.\nRusot: It's over.\nKira: Shut up, Rusot.\nRusot: The shape shifter is useless. The whole plan is coming apart. We have to get out of here now!\nKira: Go back to your post.\nRusot: No. No more. We're leaving now!\nGarak: That would be unwise.\nRusot: You're still a Cardassian, Garak. You're not going to kill one of your own people for a Bajoran woman.\nGarak: How little you understand me.\nDamar: Put your weapons down, both of you!\nRusot: You want her dead too, Damar. I know you do. But you're the leader of the rebellion and don't want to kill someone wearing a Starfleet uniform. Let me do it for you.\nDamar: They've finished installling the dampening weapon.\nKira: Then let's all get the hell out of here.\nRusot: Not you.\nGarak: I'm still here, Rusot.\nRusot: Damar, shoot him. We can kill them both and keep the Breen weapon for ourselves. I believe in you, Damar. I know you're the right man to restore the Empire we loyally served. The Empire we loved. Together we can lead our people to greatness again. Just aim and fire.\nDamar: He was my friend. But his Cardassia's dead, and it won't be coming back.\nKira: Flood all compartments with the gas. Clear all moorings. Bow thrusters ahead full.\nGarak: We've cleared their defense perimeter.\nKira: Take the helm.\nOdo: You're probably angry.\nKira: Why?\nOdo: I hid my true condition.\nKira: Odo, I've known all along. But it's not over. Julian's probably working on a cure right now and\nOdo: Nerys. Nerys, don't. Just stay here with me."}
{"text": "Scene: Chief Medical Officer's log, stardate 52645.7. Colonel Kira, Garak and Odo have returned to the station for treatment. Despite my best efforts, I have yet to make any progress toward finding a cure for Odo's disease.\nOdo: How long do I have?\nBashir: I can't be sure.\nOdo: You can make an educated guess.\nBashir: I could, but first I'd like to talk about slowing down the progress of the disease with a series of nadion bursts.\nOdo: I want a time frame, Doctor.\nBashir: A week. Maybe two with the nadion therapy.\nOdo: Thank you. Now I want to see Kira.\nBashir: Let me emphasize, Odo, that I haven't given up hope and it's very important that you don't give up either.\nOdo: Understood. Now please, let me see Kira.\nKira: How do you feel?\nOdo: Better. This contraption of Julian's seems to alleviate the pain.\nKira: Good.\nOdo: You should be going soon.\nKira: I'm not going anywhere. Damar and Garak can lead the rebellion without me.\nOdo: Damar needs someone who's actually fought with a resistance movement. That's you, not Garak.\nKira: I'm not leaving until I know that you\nOdo: I want you to leave.\nKira: Why?\nOdo: You watched Bariel die in this very room and I know how that's haunted you. I don't want your last memory of me to be witnessing my death.\nKira: Isn't that my choice?\nOdo: Maybe it is. And maybe I'm being selfish telling you all the things I want, but I don't want the last thing I see to be pain in your eyes.\nKira: You'd be surprised how well I can hide my feelings when I need to.\nOdo: Not from me. You have to go, Nerys.\nKira: All right.\nOdo: I can't be a very pleasant sight.\nKira: I don't care how you look.\nKira: I've got so much to say. I don't know where to begin.\nOdo: Just say you love me. That's all I've ever cared about.\nKira: I love you, Odo.\nOdo: I love you, Nerys.\nO'Brien: After I finished the tests I forwarded the schematics of the Breen weapon to Starfleet Engineering. They should have a preliminary report\nKira: Garak and I should be getting underway.\nGarak: The Commander is correct. We have to evade several Jem'Hadar patrols in order to reach Damar's base. If we wait too long, they may alter their patrol routes.\nSisko: Chief, is there anything else before they go?\nO'Brien: No, sir. I think we have all the data we need.\nSisko: Well, then. Good hunting to you both.\nKira: Thank you, sir. Julian.\nBashir: I'll do everything I can.\nSisko: Doctor, is there anything I can do to help? Any additional resources you might want from Starfleet Medical?\nBashir: No, thank you. sir. I have everything I need.\nO'Brien: Sir, we should inform you that research is not the only avenue we've been pursuing.\nBashir: Miles.\nO'Brien: He needs to know.\nSisko: Whatever's going on, I want to know it right now.\nBashir: We're trying to lure someone from Section Thirty One here to the station.\nSisko: Section Thirty One? What do they have to do with this?\nO'Brien: We believe that they are responsible for infecting Odo in the first place.\nSisko: What?\nBashir: We believe that he became infected three years ago when he underwent medical examination at Starfleet Headquarters.\nO'Brien: Evidently, Section Thirty One hoped that Odo would transmit the disease to the other Founders when he linked with them.\nSisko: Genocide. Committed by people who call themselves Federation citizens. Why didn't you come to me earlier with this?\nO'Brien: Sir, we felt that\nBashir: Miles wanted to tell you, sir, but I ordered him not to. It's my fault.\nSisko: I'm still waiting for an answer to my question.\nBashir: We have no proof. Besides I knew that if we told you what we suspected, you'd feel obliged to inform Starfleet Command. And once you did that, Section Thirty One would realize that we were onto them and go even deeper into hiding.\nSisko: What difference did that make?\nBashir: There came a point when I had to admit that my research was going nowhere. I couldn't find a cure here in the lab. So Miles and I decided to look for one within Section Thirty One itself. So a few days ago I sent a false message to Starfleet Medical informing them that I had indeed found a cure.\nO'Brien: The idea is that when Thirty One hears about it, they'll want to destroy Julian's research in order to prevent it falling into the hands of the Dominion.\nSisko: So you're trying to lure one of their operatives to the station. Okay, let's say it works. What then?\nBashir: We capture him or her, find out everything they know about the disease, who's involved, and maybe even where to find the cure.\nSisko: How do you propose to do that? They're not going to be very cooperative.\nBashir: I managed to get my hands on a Romulan memory scanner, sir.\nSisko: Oh. Since they're illegal in the Federation, I'll assume that's another reason you didn't come to me.\nBashir: Yes, sir.\nSisko: Well, setting aside all the legal and ethical issues involved, I still think this is a pretty long shot.\nBashir: I do too. But I'm afraid it's the only shot Odo has.\nO'Brien: Can't sleep?\nBashir: No.\nO'Brien: How'd you get in?\nBashir: The lock isn't that complex. What are you doing up?\nO'Brien: Oh, I was running another power test on the Breen weapon.\nBashir: I was trying to read, but I kept reading the same page over and over again.\nO'Brien: What were you reading?\nBashir: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.\nO'Brien: Tale of Two Cities. My mother's favorite book.\nBashir: I was enjoying it too, except tonight my mind was elsewhere.\nO'Brien: Odo?\nBashir: Section Thirty One I kept thinking just how many people had to be involved in the conspiracy to infect him with the disease. Computer experts, doctors, security officers, admirals, clerks. In the end, I came up with at least seventy three people.\nO'Brien: For a minute there I thought you were going to say seventy thousand.\nBashir: This organization, this thing that's slithered its way into the heart of the Federation, has to be destroyed.\nO'Brien: You won't get any argument from me on that. But for now, the focus has to be Odo. Finding him a cure, that has to be our priority.\nBashir: All right.\nO'Brien: I've had enough. Have you?\nBashir: Sure. Let's sleep lightly tonight. Section Thirty One may still fall for the trap and show up.\nO'Brien: I'll be ready.\nBashir: Lights.\nSloan: Hello, Doctor.\nBashir: I didn't think I'd ever see you again.\nSloan: I have another assignment for you.\nBashir: Really? What a coincidence, because I have an assignment for you.\nSloan: I take it I'm supposed to feel shocked and humbled by your ingenuity.\nBashir: Frankly, I don't care how you feel. Bashir to O'Brien.\nO'Brien: Yeah?\nBashir: Mister Sloan is here. I have him in the containment field.\nO'Brien: I'm on my way.\nBashir: Good. Bashir out.\nSloan: What do you want, Doctor?\nBashir: Why, the same thing you want. The cure to Odo's disease.\nSloan: What are you talking about? You already have the cure. No. No, you don't. Your message to Starfleet Medical was just bait.\nBashir: Which I'm happy to see you swallowed.\nSloan: Well, you've got me. What good do you think is going to come of this? Turning me over to Starfleet Security will be a waste of time. You don't have a shred of evidence.\nBashir: Oh, I'm not interested in turning you over to anyone.\nSloan: What?\nBashir: Hello again.\nSloan: Shooting an unarmed man? That's a little ungallant, isn't it?\nBashir: Somehow I didn't expect you to come here of your own volition.\nSloan: You're probably right. Hello, Chief. How's the family? Everyone okay at home?\nO'Brien: What's that supposed to mean?\nSloan: Nothing. I'd just hate to see anything happen to them.\nBashir: Don't listen to him, Chief. He's just playing games with you.\nSloan: That's easy for him to say. He doesn't have a wife and children to worry about. Trust me, Chief, if something were to happen to me\nBashir: What? They'll be killed? I'm disappointed in you, Sloan. You don't usually wield such a blunt instrument.\nSloan: So, am I supposed to guess what's going on or do I have to lay here in terror waiting for you to tell me?\nBashir: I told you what's going on. I'm going to find a cure for Odo's disease and you're going to help me.\nSloan: What makes you think I know anything about it?\nBashir: You came here because you thought I'd diskovered a cure and you wanted to destroy it. But first you'd have to find it in my lab. And in order to do that you'd have to know exactly what it was you were looking for.\nSloan: You call that reasoning? If I wanted to eliminate your work, all I'd have to do is destroy your lab.\nBashir: Oh, no, no, no, Sloan. That would be too sloppy. You like surgical precision. You came here to destroy the cure, so somewhere in that brain of yours is the information that I want.\nSloan: You really expect me to tell you?\nBashir: No. I expect you to resist to the bitter end.\nO'Brien: We're ready.\nBashir: Remember these? Romulan mind probes. They're not the most pleasant of devices, but they're very efficient.\nSloan: They're also illegal in the Federation.\nBashir: Oh, I hope you can appreciate the irony of that statement.\nSloan: I'm telling you I don't know anything about the cure.\nBashir: Then I won't find anything, will I?\nSloan: If Sisko finds out what you're doing\nO'Brien: The Captain already knows what we're doing. And he's given us his full support.\nSloan: Julian, I'm sorry about Odo, but I can't let you have the cure. I can't take a chance it'll fall into the hands of the Founders.\nBashir: I'm afraid the choice is no longer yours.\nSloan: I misread you. I thought you were just a misguided idealist. But you're a dangerous man. People like you would destroy the Federation if given a chance. Fortunately there are people like me who will die to protect it.\nBashir: Damn!\nO'Brien: What's going on?\nBashir: He's trying to kill himself. He's activated a neuro-depolarizing device in his brain. I have to stabilize him before he does irreversible damage.\nO'Brien: If he dies\nBashir: The cure for Odo dies with him.\nO'Brien: What's the verdict?\nBashir: Well, he's stable for now. But the neuro-depolarizer did damage his brain. Even on full life support, his higher cortical functions will fail within the next hour.\nO'Brien: He committed suicide just to prevent us finding the cure.\nBashir: We had him cornered and he knew it. He just couldn't let one of Section Thirty One's darkest secrets get away from him. The frustrating thing is the cure's still in there somewhere.\nO'Brien: Julian, this might sound a bit morbid, but what if you were to use your Romulan mental probes now?\nBashir: His memory pathways have been scrambled, probably to prevent someone from doing just that. There must be some way to retrieve that data.\nO'Brien: Maybe we should just let him die in peace.\nBashir: Miles, I need a multitronic engrammatic interpreter.\nO'Brien: Or maybe I'll find you a multitronic engrammatic interpreter.\nO'Brien: This is crazy.\nBashir: Oh, it'll work.\nO'Brien: You have me re-routing so many power relays and transfer coils I can't guarantee any of this will work without running a series of diagnostics.\nBashir: I've already done the diagnostics, Miles, in my head.\nBashir: The neural interface will then provide a basic pattern to my hippocampal nuclei.\nO'Brien: I give up. You've explained it to me three times and I still don't get it.\nBashir: You just have to trust me, Chief. I know what I'm doing.\nO'Brien: But even if you can link minds with Sloan, how are you going to find the cure?\nBashir: The entire experience will be processed into images and sounds that my conscious mind can comprehend. In essence, I will see the neuronal pathways in Sloan's brain as literal pathways or streets or corridors or something.\nO'Brien: Oh, so you're just going to wander around these streets looking for a little box labeled The Cure?\nBashir: As strange as it sounds, it may be just that simple. Or it may be a good deal more surrealistic. I may wind up in memories of Sloan's childhood.\nO'Brien: Will he be, you know, aware of what you're doing?\nBashir: I won't know that till I'm in there. We don't know what the conscious mind can perceive this close to brain death.\nO'Brien: How will you get out?\nBashir: One of the advantages to being genetically enhanced is the ability to control my own vital signs. When I find a cure and I want to get out, I'll send my hypothalamus a signal to raise my blood pressure forty percent, and the equipment will automatically break the link.\nO'Brien: What if you get disoriented or lost in some nightmare of Sloan's and he dies while you're still in there?\nBashir: Worst case scenario, I die with him I suppose. But I think that's a manageable risk.\nO'Brien: I'm going with you.\nBashir: What?\nO'Brien: You heard me. And it's not open to debate. If you're determined to go on this lunatic mission inside Sloan's head, then somebody with an ounce of sanity has to be with you.\nBashir: You just want to come because you don't want Captain Sisko to find out what we're doing.\nO'Brien: There's that too.\nBashir: I'd better get another bed.\nO'Brien: How long have we got?\nBashir: Sloan's brain's going to die in about forty three minutes. We have that long to get in, find the cure and get out. The analyzer's online. Are you ready?\nO'Brien: No. But let's do it anyway.\nO'Brien: Julian?\nBashir: Miles.\nO'Brien: Why are we in a turbolift?\nBashir: I'm not sure.\nO'Brien: I don't remember getting in here.\nBashir: We're in Sloan's mind. Remember?\nO'Brien: Sloan. But we're really still in the lab.\nBashir: Yes. This turbolift is just an abstraction.\nO'Brien: Then where are we going?\nBashir: I don't know, but we're not wasting any time getting there.\nBashir: Aren't you glad you came along?\nO'Brien: I wouldn't have missed it for the world.\nBashir: So what do you think?\nO'Brien: I think we've stopped.\nBashir: Are you sure?\nO'Brien: Either that or we're falling very, very slowly.\nBashir: You mean we can let go?\nO'Brien: I don't see why not. Well?\nBashir: Well what? You first.\nO'Brien: Oh, no. This little trip wasn't my idea.\nBashir: All right, we'll let go together.\nO'Brien: On the count of three. BASHIR +\nO'Brien: One, two, three.\nBashir: See? Nothing to worry about.\nO'Brien: I wasn't worried.\nO'Brien: What how?\nBashir: Good question.\nSloan: Doctor. Chief O'Brien. Welcome. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you.\nBashir: Well, we're glad you're happy, Sloan. Now tell us how to cure Odo and we can all be happy.\nSloan: Believe me, Doctor, nothing would give me greater pleasure. But first, there are a few people I'd like you to meet.\nO'Brien: Look, Sloan, we're a little pressed for time.\nSloan: But you just arrived. Ah, I see. You're afraid that if I die while you're still in here you'll die, too. Yes, well we can't let that happen, can we. We'd better hurry.\nBashir: We're not going anywhere till you give us the cure.\nSloan: All right. If you insist. It's a simple nucleotide marking sequence. Radodine, lide-what's-anine, ninoranphew, tardanine.\nO'Brien: Would you mind repeating that?\nSloan: Lide-what's-anine, ninoranphew, tardanine.\nBashir: We're not playing games, Sloan.\nSloan: Believe me, I want to tell you everything you need to know.\nBashir: Then tell us.\nSloan: I can't. Lide-what's-anine, ninoranphew, tardanine. You see? I suppose there's some part of me that doesn't want you to know. Well not until you come to the wardroom.\nO'Brien: Maybe we should do as he says.\nSloan: I don't blame you for being suspicious, but if you want the cure, you're going to have to trust me. And the clock is ticking.\nO'Brien: He's right about that.\nSloan: Follow me.\nSloan: Relax, Doctor. I'm the one dying, not you.\nO'Brien: Why Deep Space Nine?\nSloan: Excuse me?\nO'Brien: I'm just wondering why the inside of your head looks like our space station?\nSloan: I wanted you to feel at home. Comfortable.\nBashir: Why?\nSloan: I thought it was the decent thing to do.\nSloan: Everyone, if I could have your attention, please. Now that we're all here I hope you'll forgive me if I take a moment and say a few words. As I stand here, reunited with my friends and my family for one last time, I want you, the people I love, to know just how sorry I am for all the pain that I've caused you. I dedicated my life to the preservation and the protection of the Federation. This duty, which I carried out to the best of my ability, took precedence over everything else. My parents, my wife, my children. I lived in a world of secrets, of sabotage and deceit. I spent so much time erasing my movements, covering my tracks, that now that I look back at my life, I find nothing. It's as if I never really existed. I cheated you all out of being in my life. And what's more, I cheated myself as well. Now I know a simple apology won't change that. Still, I feel the need to apologize anyway. No tears, please. My death isn't a tragedy, it's a celebration. In death, I can finally step out of the shadows and prove to myself that I existed. That I lived.\nJessica: That was beautiful, Luther.\nSloan: Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my wife, Jessica. This is Doctor Bashir and Chief O'Brien. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here.\nJessica: I'd like to thank you for all you've done for Luther, and me. Frankly, being married to him was a living hell. But thanks to you, that's all changed.\nO'Brien: Congratulations.\nSloan: Doctor, you've been a beacon of light to me. You're living proof that ideology is a poor substitute for kindness and decency, and that at the end of the day, it's our actions, not our beliefs, that define who we are. What we are.\nBashir: Yes. And thank you. I'm very glad to have been helpful. But if you don't mind?\nSloan: You want me to tell you how to cure Odo. Gladly, Doctor. My dear, I need that PADD I gave you for safekeeping.\nJessica: Oh, yes. I think I have it here.\nSloan: Thanks, muffin. Here you go, Doctor.\nSloan: I'm sorry, Doctor, but I can't let you have that.\nO'Brien: Julian.\nBashir: Don't look at me for explanations.\nO'Brien: I knew it.\nBashir: Knew what?\nO'Brien: That this wasn't going to be easy.\nSisko: Do you mind telling me what going on here?\nEzri: I have no idea. The Chief was supposed to come fix my sonic shower this morning, but he never showed up. I asked the computer where he was, and when I came in, this is what I found. Have any idea who this is?\nSisko: Sloan. He works for Section Thirty One.\nEzri: Then I'd guess this isn't some kind of obscure meditation therapy.\nSisko: Definitely not. Sisko to Infirmary.\nMan: Infirmary.\nSisko: Send a medical team to Science Lab four right away.\nMan: Aye, sir.\nO'Brien: I wish I knew how long we've been in here.\nBashir: Twenty three minutes and eleven seconds.\nO'Brien: Show off.\nBashir: That leaves us less than twenty minutes to find a cure and get out.\nO'Brien: Locked. All locked. Sloan could be hiding in any one of these rooms. Or he could've taken that turn off we passed.\nBashir: What's your point, Miles?\nO'Brien: We're not going to find him unless he wants to be found. It's his playing field.\nAgent: You two, stop right there.\nBashir: Now what?\nAgent: You're in a restricted area.\nO'Brien: I thought we were in the cerebellum.\nBashir: We're looking for Sloan.\nAgent: Mister Sloan's not available at the moment.\nBashir: Damn it. We don't have time for this. We need to speak to Sloan!\nO'Brien: You shot him!\nBashir: That really hurt.\nAgent: He was a threat to the Federation.\nO'Brien: You all right?\nBashir: Do I look all right?\nO'Brien: It doesn't make sense. I mean, if none of this is real, why does it hurt so much?\nBashir: Sloan's mind must be sending sensory stimuli into ours, causing us to experience pain, just as we would had we really been shot. Of course, that's just a theory.\nO'Brien: Oh. That makes sense. Maybe this is a good time for you to get us out of here.\nBashir: I can't.\nO'Brien: What do you mean, you can't?\nBashir: I just tried the hypothalamic feedback loop. I must be too weak.\nO'Brien: What do you mean you're too weak? Julian, we have to get out of here!\nBashir: I know that. But I've been shot. At least my body thinks I have.\nO'Brien: Ha. I don't believe this.\nBashir: I'm sorry.\nO'Brien: So, this is it?\nBashir: It does look that way.\nO'Brien: I should've left a note for Keiko to let her what we were planning.\nBashir: Why worry her?\nO'Brien: No, I want her and the kids to understand why I had to do this.\nBashir: She'll understand. She'll know you did it for me.\nO'Brien: That's what'll upset her the most. She always said I liked you more than I liked her.\nBashir: That's ridiculous.\nO'Brien: Right. Yeah.\nBashir: Well maybe you do, a bit more.\nO'Brien: What? Are you crazy? She's my wife. I love her.\nBashir: Of course you love her. She's your wife.\nO'Brien: Yeah.\nBashir: I'm just saying maybe you like me a bit more, that's all.\nO'Brien: I do not.\nBashir: You spend more time with me.\nO'Brien: We work together.\nBashir: We have more in common.\nO'Brien: Julian, you are starting to annoy me.\nBashir: Darts, racquetball, Vic's lounge, the Alamo. Need I go on?\nO'Brien: I love my wife.\nBashir: And I love Ezri. Passionately.\nO'Brien: You do?\nBashir: Yes.\nO'Brien: Have you told her?\nBashir: Not yet. But I will.\nO'Brien: Oh, yeah? When?\nBashir: When I'm ready. It's just that I like you a bit more. See? There, I've admitted it.\nO'Brien: Yeah, well, I love my wife.\nBashir: What's that?\nO'Brien: It's the tunnel!\nBashir: What tunnel?\nO'Brien: You know, the tunnel to the Great Beyond!\nBashir: It is. I must say I'm a bit disappointed. I expected it to be more elaborate.\nO'Brien: No. No, no, no. Come on, we can't just sit here waiting for death. Come on. On your feet, man. Come on, come on. Let's check one more door.\nBashir: What's the point?\nO'Brien: The point is to do our duty right up until the end.\nBashir: Like Travis and Crockett.\nO'Brien: One more door.\nWorf: Doctor Bashir is regaining consciousness, Captain.\nBashir: How's Miles?\nO'Brien: I'm fine.\nSisko: Did you find the information you were looking for?\nBashir: No, I'm afraid not. I'm going to have to go back in.\nSisko: Sloan is dying. We can't risk losing you as well.\nBashir: He can't die. Not yet! Get me cordrazine. Ten milligrams.\nNurse: His alpha waves are attenuating.\nBashir: Cortical stimulator. You're not getting away from me that easily, Sloan. Increase the resonance frequency, ten percent.\nNurse: His neurosynaptic activity is failing.\nBashir: I can see that. Fifteen milligrams neurotropan. Come on, Sloan. Come on back.\nNurse: Complete neural failure.\nBashir: No!\nWorf: Doctor, he is dead. Doctor.\nO'Brien: It's over, Julian. He's gone.\nBashir: And so's any hope of curing Odo.\nBashir: I'm sorry, Odo. I wish I had better news.\nOdo: I understand, Doctor. You've done everything you could, more than I would've thought possible and I appreciate it.\nBashir: Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?\nOdo: Thank you, but right now I'd simply like to be alone.\nBashir: Of course.\nO'Brien: How'd he take it?\nBashir: You know. Better than I would've.\nO'Brien: I need some sleep. So do you. Look, Julian\nBashir: No. I know, I know. I did all I could. But it's small comfort, isn't it.\nBashir: It was the best of times.\nO'Brien: It was the worst of times. It's the first line of the book.\nBashir: That's right. So why is it there on page two hundred and ninety four?\nO'Brien: Must be a misprint. The book starts over again.\nBashir: It can't be. Ezri loaned it to me. And before that it was Jadzia's and I know for a fact that she read it.\nO'Brien: You and Ezri are exchanging books?\nBashir: Oh, forget about that. Don't you see what's going on?\nO'Brien: Yes, she's playing a practical joke on you.\nBashir: No, she isn't. It's Sloan. We're still inside his mind.\nO'Brien: What are you talking about? These are my quarters. Keiko's asleep in that room.\nBashir: No, she isn't. Sloan is drawing on our memories, making us think we're back on the station. That's why the book's incomplete, because I haven't finished reading it.\nO'Brien: And because you don't know what happens after page two ninety four?\nBashir: He couldn't fill in the rest of the story.\nO'Brien: He's trying to stop us finding the cure.\nBashir: We must have been close to finding it.\nO'Brien: That door we were about to open when we woke up. The cure must be in there.\nO'Brien: What's going on?\nBashir: Sloan's dying. His mind's shutting down. We haven't got much time.\nBashir: This is it!\nO'Brien: Are you sure?\nBashir: I can tell.\nBashir: Sloan?\nSloan: Welcome to Section Thirty One, gentlemen.\nBashir: You know exactly why we're here.\nSloan: You don't really expect me to help you.\nSloan: You sure you want to throw that one away?\nBashir: I'm collecting medical information, not surveillance reports.\nSloan: It's not just any report. That's on Jaresh-Inyo.\nBashir: Former President Inyo?\nSloan: The one and only.\nBashir: My God. Thirty One had a man in his cabinet.\nO'Brien: Don't let him distract you.\nSloan: Just one of the little nuggets lying around in this once tidy room. You'd be amazed at what you could find.\nBashir: Current operations on Kronos. Chancellor Martok would love to get his hands on this.\nO'Brien: Julian, look at this.\nBashir: Radodine, lidestolinine, asporanine, adenine. That's it.\nO'Brien: I think it's time we got out of here.\nBashir: Hold on a moment.\nO'Brien: What for?\nBashir: These files, they contain all of Sloan's memories on Section Thirty One. With this information we can destroy the entire organization.\nO'Brien: That'll have to wait.\nSloan: It's not that simple, Chief. There is no building, no room like this in the real world. Section Thirty One has no headquarters. These files, they exist only in the minds of a very select group of people, and I happen to be one of them. If you really want to destroy Section Thirty One, it's now or never.\nBashir: He's right. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We can't pass it up.\nO'Brien: Julian!\nBashir: What?\nO'Brien: Listen to me. He wants us to die with him. If we die, Odo dies too!\nSloan: All my secrets are yours for the taking, Doctor. If you want them badly enough.\nO'Brien: Odo needs you, Julian. He's counting on you.\nSloan: You're making a terrible mistake, Doctor.\nBashir: I don't think so.\nEzri: Julian, are you with us?\nBashir: Ezri, you look beautiful.\nSisko: Did you locate the cure?\nBashir: I think so, but there's only one way to know for sure. Sloan?\nSisko: He died about two minutes ago. He almost took you with him.\nO'Brien: Hey, Julian, next time you take a trip inside someone's mind, you're going on your own.\nBashir: Right.\nBashir: I should warn you, you may feel some diskomfort.\nOdo: If you mean it's going to be painful, just say so.\nBashir: It's going to be painful.\nOdo: All right then. Go ahead.\nO'Brien: So when will Odo be up and around again?\nBashir: His morphogenic matrix needs a little time to heal, but he should be his old self again in a couple of days.\nO'Brien: Ah-ha. Here we go.\nO'Brien: I knew Quark was hoarding a bottle of the good stuff.\nBashir: This is older than I am.\nO'Brien: What? I'm drinking with a child.\nBashir: To aging, gracefully.\nO'Brien: Very funny. To Odo.\nBashir: Wow.\nO'Brien: Wow is right. Tell me something. If you'd had more time to read the data in Sloan's mind, do you think we would have brought down Section Thirty One?\nBashir: We'll never know now, will we. But one thing's for sure. Sloan knew he had the perfect bait, that I wouldn't be able to resist it. There was one thing he failed to consider.\nO'Brien: What's that?\nBashir: You. To Miles Edward O'Brien.\nO'Brien: To friendship. I'd better get home. Keiko's holding dinner for me.\nBashir: This late?\nO'Brien: Yeah, well, she's a hell of a woman.\nBashir: That's why you love her.\nO'Brien: That's right. That's why I love her. You want to come?\nBashir: Sure."}
{"text": "Sisko: Anything yet?\nO'Brien: She'll be here any minute. Running a little late.\nSisko: This is no way to start a relationship.\nBashir: Hi, Ezri.\nEzri: So, how's Odo?\nBashir: Oh, his body shows no signs of the changeling disease. I believe he's cured.\nEzri: Oh, that's great.\nBashir: Yes. In fact I'm going to diskharge him this afternoon.\nEzri: That's, that's really great.\nBashir: Yeah.\nO'Brien: I don't get it. He's interested, she's interested. What's the problem?\nWorf: He is an overgrown child and she is very confused.\nO'Brien: It could still work. She's here.\nSisko: On screen.\nEzri: I didn't know we were getting another Defiant class ship.\nSisko: That's what happens when you miss staff meetings.\nO'Brien: Looks just like her.\nSisko: Let's hope she fights like her.\nRoss: All hands, attention to orders. From Starfleet Headquarters, Office of the Admiralty, to Captain Benjamin L. Sisko. As of this date, you are requested and required to take command of USS Sao Paulo. Signed, Vice Admiral William J. Ross, Stardate 52861.3. Computer, transfer all command codes to Captain Sisko.\nComputer: Command codes transferred.\nSisko: I relieve you, sir.\nRoss: I stand relieved. She's all yours, Ben. You've got a fine ship here.\nSisko: She has some big shoes to fill.\nBashir: I hate the carpet. I do.\nRoss: Oh, by the way, there's something else on that PADD that might interest you.\nSisko: Special dispensation from the Chief of Starfleet Operations to change the name from Sao Paulo to Defiant.\nO'Brien: Yeah, the Breen are going to be in for a surprise when they train their energy dampening weapon on this beauty, huh?\nWorf: The shield generators have been completely reconfigured.\nO'Brien: Let's go look.\nBashir: You know what, I want to check out my sickbay.\nEzri: Well, I'll let you two get acquainted.\nSisko: Hello, ship.\nGarak: Cardassia. It's as beautiful as I remembered.\nDamar: It won't be beautiful to my eyes until the Dominion is gone.\nSeskal: Orbital traffic control is asking for our security clearance.\nGarak: I'll handle it.\nKira: We're taking a big risk coming here. I hope it's worth it.\nDamar: Gul Revok and Legate Goris are ready to bring their troops over to our side. That's over a half a million men. If we can convince Gul Seltan to join us as well, we'll have another hundred thousand. I think that is worth the risk.\nKira: And you're sure you want me around?\nDamar: Before they join us, they'll want assurances that the Federation will support them.\nGarak: We've been cleared for standard orbit.\nDamar: Do you have transport coordinates?\nSeskal: Yes. The transporter room is standing by.\nDamar: The bridge is yours, Seskal.\nSeskal: Good luck.\nVoices: There he is! Is that all of them? Yes, sir! Check the other side of the cave. Inform the First that we have killed all the traitors. Yes, sir\nGarak: How did they know?\nRevok: What do we have here? I told them I could lure them here for you.\nDamar: Gul Revok. He betrayed us.\nKira: Kira to Seskal. Get us out of here.\nSeskal: We're under attack! I can't lower the shields. Lock disruptors and return fire! Transfer the auxiliary power to\nKira: Seskal? Seskal? Seskal? Seskal, do you read me?\nGarak: I don't think they're up there anymore.\nKira: We've got to get out of here. Damar, do you know any place we can go?\nDamar: Everyone I know on Cardassia has either been arrested or killed.\nGarak: I think I know someone who might take us in. That is, if we can get to the capital.\nKira: We can't stay here.\nMila: If you don't mind hiding in a basement, I guess I don't mind having you down here. I don't hear from you for years, and then you show up on my doorstep with these people.\nGarak: I do apologize for the intrusion, but you're the only person on Cardassia I could trust.\nMila: Well don't blame me if you don't have any friends left. Well now, where's that light switch.\nGarak: It's smaller than I remember. I grew up in this house. Did I mention that?\nDamar: I thought you said Enabran Tain used to live here.\nMila: Tain was Garak's father.\nGarak: He was unable to acknowledge it publicly because he was head of the Obsidian Order. Mila was our housekeeper and most trusted confidante.\nMila: I was never much of a cook, but I knew how to keep a secret.\nKira: We need to contact the other resistance cells and warn them about Revok. Is there any way you can get us a comm. unit?\nGarak: If it's not too much of an imposition.\nMila: You shouldn't be involved in this.\nDamar: We're attempting to free our people. Do you want to live under the Dominion for the rest of your life?\nMila: I'm an old woman. I'm long past caring about such things. But I'll get you your comm. unit.\nGarak: Mila. Thank you. I promise we won't stay long.\nMila: Well, you might as well make yourselves useful. This place hasn't been cleaned in years.\nKira: You heard the lady.\nGarak: The glamor of being a revolutionary.\nBashir: Well, everything checks out fine. I'm certifying you fit for duty.\nOdo: Finally. The last time I spoke with Kira, she wanted to know when I'd be rejoining her.\nBashir: Odo, there is something you need to know. When I first diskovered that you'd become infected with the morphogenic virus, I assumed you'd contracted it from the Founders.\nOdo: Didn't I?\nBashir: No. The fact is, it was you who transmitted the disease to them.\nOdo: But how did I get it?\nBashir: You were deliberately infected.\nOdo: By whom?\nBashir: Section Thirty One. They used you as a carrier, hoping you would pass on the disease to the Founders. I'm sure you were never meant to develop symptoms.\nOdo: I don't care whether they meant to kill me or not. The reality is the Federation set out to destroy my people.\nBashir: Section Thirty One aren't part of the Federation> They're a rogue organization that\nOdo: Don't split hairs with me, Doctor. They used me as an instrument to try to commit genocide. Now we may be at war with the Founders, but that's no excuse.\nBashir: I completely agree.\nOdo: And what does Starfleet intend to do about it?\nSisko: The Federation Council considered giving the Founders the cure, then they decided against it.\nOdo: Then they're abetting genocide.\nSisko: I don't condone what Section Thirty One did, but the Founders started this war, not us. Giving them the cure would strengthen their hand. We can't do that. Not when there are still millions of men and women out there putting their lives on the line every day.\nOdo: Well, I can see there's no point protesting. The decision's been made.\nSisko: Odo, I wish I didn't have to say this, but I need to know you're not going to take matters into your own hands.\nOdo: You have my word.\nSisko: That's all I needed to hear.\nOdo: Interesting, isn't it? The Federation claims to abhor Section Thirty One's tactics, but when they need the dirty work done, they look the other way. It's a tidy little arrangement, wouldn't you say?\nRom: Go ahead. What have you got to lose?\nLeeta: Our jobs.\nM'Pella: Let's do it. At this point, I don't care if he fires me.\nRom: That's the spirit. Remember, ask for ten percent, but settle for fifteen.\nLeeta: Okay.\nM'Pella: Quark, we have something to say.\nQuark: Then say it.\nLeeta: We don't think we should have to give you twenty percent of our tips.\nQuark: Uh hmm.\nLeeta: We think ten percent is more than fair and we're not going back to work until this is settled.\nQuark: Ten percent?\nBroik: Quark, there's an incoming transmission from Ferenginar. It's the Grand Nagus!\nQuark: I'll take it in the back.\nLeeta: Well?\nQuark: I'll think about it.\nRom: What'd he say?\nLeeta: He's going to think about it!\nZek: Is that you, ?\nQuark: It's me.\nZek: I can barely see you.\nQuark: It's the static.\nZek: Sorry about the static. It's raining here.\nQuark: It's always raining there.\nZek: Not this kind of rain. There was an accident at the power plant. The contractor used substandard relays, the greedy bastard. There's a toxic electrostatic cloud hanging over the city. What a frigging mess.\nQuark: So, to what do I owe the pleasure?\nZek: The pressure? That's an ungrateful thing . I'm not pressuring you.\nQuark: No, the pleasure.\nZek: You're not making any sense. Now shut up and listen. I'm retiring. Your mother and I are moving to Risa to enjoy our old age and do a lot of , if you know what I mean.\nQuark: Good for you, I guess.\nZek: I'll be coming to Deep Space Nine to name my successor.\nQuark: Why here?\nZek: Why do you think?\nQuark: To get away from the rain?\nZek: No, my boy. I've chosen you to succeed me. You're going to be the new Grand Nagus! Congratulations, !\nEzri: Whoa!\nBashir: Oh, sorry.\nEzri: I'm sorry.\nBashir: I'm sorry, really. Hi.\nEzri: Hi.\nBashir: Your lunch?\nEzri: It's that time.\nBashir: This is ridiculous.\nEzri: I know.\nBashir: Listen, I've been meaning to tell you\nEzri: I have a confession. You go first.\nBashir: No, it's all right.\nEzri: No, really, Julian. You go first.\nBashir: Okay. You know how much I value our friendship.\nBashir: Well, lately I've been wondering if maybe we could be\nEzri: Something more?\nBashir: Yes. Exactly.\nEzri: I've been wondering the same thing.\nBashir: Oh, I thought it was just me.\nEzri: Me too.\nBashir: That's why I've been so awkward around you.\nEzri: I've been trying to tell you, but every time I just couldn't get the words out.\nBashir: I know. What is that? I mean, I'm not usually like this. If I find someone attractive, I just, I just tell them. I don't play these ridiculous games.\nEzri: Neither do I. You know why we might be holding back? The friendship.\nBashir: You're right. Why jeopardize our friendship by trying to turn this into something else?\nEzri: I've made that mistake before.\nBashir: Yes, and once you cross the line\nEzri: You can never go back.\nBashir: And if it doesn't work out, you can never be friends again.\nEzri: I can't bear the thought of losing you as a friend.\nBashir: Neither can I. So that's that.\nEzri: We've figured it out. You know, it takes a certain maturity to not be swept away by the romantic fantasy.\nBashir: That's right. Why let physical attraction overcome good sense?\nEzri: Chemistry isn't everything.\nBashir: Absolutely not. We're adults.\nEzri: I think we should be proud of ourselves.\nBashir: So do I. I feel much better. Friends?\nEzri: Friends.\nQuark: Just think. This time next week I'll be living in the Nagal Residence.\nNog: They say even the waste extraction fixtures are plated with latinum.\nQuark: That's right. Oh, the first thing I'm going to do is rip them out and replace them with solid latinum fixtures.\nLeeta: That's a little indulgent, don't you think?\nQuark: Of course, that's the point. A Nagus has to lead by example. My greed has to be a shining light to everyone. A testament to the rewards of avarice.\nM'Pella: I hope you're not going to be lonely in that great, big Nagal Residence.\nQuark: I've got a room picked out for you already, my dear. With a view of the Tower of Commerce. And there'll be a place for my dear brother, my brave nephew, my lovely sister-in-law.\nRom: Liquidator Brunt.\nQuark: Not him.\nRom: No, he's here.\nQuark: What brings you this time, Brunt?\nBrunt: Ferenginar is rife with rumors. They say the Grand Nagus is coming to DS Nine to name his successor.\nQuark: For once, the rumors are right.\nBrunt: I see.\nBrunt: A thousand congratulations, my Nagus!\nNog: He's not Nagus yet.\nBrunt: It's never too early to suck up to the boss.\nQuark: I think I'm going to like being Nagus. Don't stop.\nWeyoun: And thanks to the heroic efforts of Gul Revok, Damar was lured to Cardassia to meet with five other traitors. But his co-conspirators were killed before they could begin plotting against the people of Cardassia. And Damar himself was killed while trying to penetrate our defense perimeters in a stolen Dominion vessel.\nKira: At least they're not looking for us.\nWeyoun: I'm also pleased to report that just hours ago, acting on information obtained by our intelligence operatives, our brave troops began a coordinated assault on Damar's terrorist bases. From Atbar Prime to Regulak Four, from Simperia to Quinor Seven, our forces have eliminated a total of eighteen rebel bases.\nDamar: All eighteen.\nWeyoun: With the rebellion crushed, nothing can impede our march to final victory. Truly, this is a great day for the Dominion.\nDamar: How could they have compromised our entire organization? We took every precaution, encrypted every transmission, screened every recruit\nKira: It doesn't matter how they did it! It's done! Now, we've got to find a way to get off Cardassia. Garak, can we use that thing to contact the Federation?\nGarak: With a signal that strong the Dominion would trace our location in a matter of seconds.\nKira: Well, we've got to do something! We are not spending the rest of the war in this cellar, are we! Are we?\nQuark: Financial advisor? I don't know.\nBrunt: I do have lots of connections on Ferenginar.\nQuark: I don't need your connections. As Nagus, people will be lining up to do business with me. You missed a spot.\nBrunt: I'm sure there must be something I can do to change your mind.\nQuark: Possibly.\nBrunt: Would forty bricks of gold pressed latinum do the trick?\nQuark: No. But seventy would.\nBrunt: Fifty.\nQuark: Sixty.\nBrunt: Done. If you'll sign this.\nQuark: What is it?\nBrunt: A receipt.\nQuark: For a bribe?\nBrunt: Surely you're aware of the new regulation making all bribes tax deductible.\nQuark: Wait, wait, wait, wait. Did you just use the T word?\nBrunt: You mean tax?\nQuark: Are you telling me there are T's on Ferenginar?\nBrunt: You haven't been keeping up with the latest reforms, have you? Zek instituted progressive income tax three months ago.\nQuark: You call that a reform? Taxs go against the very spirit of free enterprise. That's why they call it free.\nBrunt: The government needed revenues to fund the new social programs. Wage subsidies for the poor, retirement benefits for the aged, health care for\nQuark: Stop, stop, stop! I had no idea things had gotten so bad. This is all Moogie's fault. She's been polluting Zek's mind with notions of equality and compassion. Whatever happened to survival of the fittest? Whatever happened to the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? Whatever happened to pure, unadulterated greed?\nBrunt: Things change.\nQuark: And they're going to change back. The first thing I'm going to do is eliminate these so called reforms, before Ferenginar ends up looking like a Federation planet.\nBrunt: Oh, I'm not sure the Congress of Economic Advisors will approve.\nQuark: I don't care who they are or what they are. As Nagus, I can do what I want.\nBrunt: Not anymore. All regulations proposed by the Nagus have to be ratified by the Congress before they become law. You'll still be a powerful man. I wouldn't be sucking up to you otherwise.\nQuark: Blessed Exchequer, forgive us. Tour children have gone astray.\nMila: If only they could see you now.\nGarak: Who?\nMila: People in the street. Everyone's talking about Damar and his rebels.\nKira: What are they saying? How stupid we were for walking into a Dominion trap?\nDamar: How arrogant we were to think we could beat them in the first place?\nGarak: How glad they are that we're dead?\nMila: Actually, they don't really believe you are dead. Oh, you should hear the stories. Damar is alive. My cousin saw him on Kelvas Prime. He faked his own death. He is plotting a new offensive from his secret mountain hideaway.\nGarak: You never told me you had a secret mountain hideaway.\nDamar: I was going to surprise you.\nKira: I wonder why they refuse to believe you're dead?\nDamar: Oh, they've been lied to so often, they don't trust anything the Dominion says.\nKira: What if it's more than that? What if we had more of an impact than we realized? What if we turned you into a legend?\nDamar: Some legend.\nKira: Don't you see? People want to believe in you. We can use that. Yes, the organized resistance is gone, but there's an entire civilian population out there that is fed up with living under the occupation. And if Damar, the man they couldn't kill, tells the people of Cardassia to rise up against the Dominion\nGarak: Then we might have a revolution on our hands.\nMila: Or you might really get yourselves killed.\nDamar: Anything's better than rotting in this cellar. How do we begin?\nKira: Where's the closest Jem'Hadar barracks?\nFounder: Come in.\nWeyoun: Allow me to present Gul, no, I'm sorry, Legate Broca, the new leader of the Cardassian Union.\nBroca: I serve the Founders in all things.\nFounder: Your service is noted.\nBroca: Thot Pran, I look forward to working with you and the Breen Confederacy.\nWeyoun: Your first task will be to make a formal address to the Cardassian people, assuring them that the Dominion has their best interests at\nFounder: That can wait.\nWeyoun: But it can wait.\nFounder: Now that the rebellion has been crushed, it is time to turn our attention to strategic matters. The enemy has devised a countermeasure to our energy-dampening weapons. Therefore we must alter our tactics. We're falling back.\nFounder: No, I don't mean surrender.\nWeyoun: Perish the thought. The Dominion has never surrendered in battles since its founding ten thousand years ago.\nFounder: I am ordering our troops to retreat to Cardassian space. We will establish a new line of defense along this perimeter. With less territory to defend, we can concentrate our troops and hold off any attack if the enemy attacks at all.\nWeyoun: The Federation is by its very nature timid. When they see we've pulled back, their first impulse will be to leave us alone.\nBroca: But what about the Klingons and the Romulans and I meant no disrespect. I was simply asking a question.\nWeyoun: Without the Federation, the others are no threat to us.\nFounder: Once the new perimeter is established, we will redouble our shipbuilding efforts and increase production of Jem'Hadar troops. Retreat may prolong the war, but in the end, we will emerge stronger, and in a far better position to take the Alpha Quadrant once and for all.\nQuark: Did you know this Congress of Economic Meddlers actually passed legislation making monopolies illegal? What's the point of being in business if you can't corner the market and gouge your customers?\nRom: There's something to be said for keeping prices down by ensuring healthy competition. So what are you going to do with the bar?\nQuark: You can't even dump industrial waste anymore because it might harm the natural habitat. I'm supposed to start worrying about animals now? Look how they live, wallowing in dirt, sleeping in trees. That's not natural.\nRom: I suppose you could argue that Ferenginar's biodiversity is a precious resource that belongs to everyone. So, what are you going to do with the bar?\nQuark: And don't even get me started about this whole labor rights thing. What have we come to if you can't demand sexual favors from people in your employ?\nRom: Unharassed workers are productive workers. So, what are you going to do with the bar?\nQuark: Sell it. What would I want with it anymore?\nRom: I'll give you five thousand bars of latinum and not one slip more.\nQuark: That's reasonable.\nRom: It is?\nQuark: I'm telling you, Rom, our people have lost their way.\nRom: I just happen to have a contract right here.\nQuark: I read a report that over forty percent of the population no longer believes that you have to buy your way into the Divine Treasury when you die.\nRom: Can I have your thumbprint here, please?\nQuark: They don't teach children the Rules of Acquisition anymore.\nRom: And another print here.\nQuark: There's a disease spreading through Ferengi society. It's making us soft.\nRom: The five thousand has been transferred to your account. It was a pleasure doing business with you.\nQuark: Five thousand?\nRom: I thought you were going to hold me up for at least eight.\nQuark: I didn't even haggle with you.\nRom: I know. It really threw me off.\nQuark: What's wrong with me?\nRom: Don't worry, brother. You're going to be so rich, what's a few thousand bars of latinum?\nQuark: I've been infected, too. I haven't raised prices in months. I've even been considering letting the dabo girls keep most of their tips. I've gone soft!\nRom: I kind of like you better this way.\nQuark: I don't. And I'm going to do something about it. This disease has got to be stopped before it destroys everything Ferenginar stands for. If Zek wants me to be Nagus, he's going to have to let me do things my way. Or else, I'll turn down the job!\nRom: Are you serious?\nQuark: You bet I am.\nRom: But being Nagus will make you rich.\nQuark: I don't care. I won't preside over the demise of Ferengi civilisation. Not me. The line has to be drawn here. This far and no further!\nKira: He's been in there too long. Something's wrong.\nJem'Hadar: You there. Stop. Let me see your work order.\nGarak: But I showed it to you on the way in.\nJem'Hadar: This has not been approved by the First.\nGarak: Ah. Yes. I can explain that.\nDamar: How much time?\nKira: The detonator only had a three minute delay. The bomb could go off any second now.\nDamar: Come on, Garak.\nKira: We have to do something.\nGarak: I don't know why you're making such a fuss over this. I have a busy repair schedule and I can't stand here all night arguing with\nJem'Hadar: You will wait here until the First arrives.\nGarak: And how long will that be?\nJem'Hadar: You will wait.\nDamar: You! Jem'Hadar! Who are you to treat a Cardassian citizen like that?\nJem'Hadar: It's him. Damar. Hold him here. Surrender yourself or die.\nDamar: I choose neither.\nDamar: Get back! Get back!\nLonar: It's Damar. It's Damar! He's alive!\nDamar: Citizens of Cardassia, hear me! The Dominion told you that the Rebellion has been crushed. What you have seen here today proves that that is yet another lie. Our fight for freedom continues, but it will take place here, in the streets. I call on Cardassians everywhere to rise up. Rise up and join me. I need you to be my army. If we stand together, nothing can oppose us. Freedom is ours for the taking!\nGarak: Freedom!\nLonar: Freedom!\nCrowd: Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!\nBashir: Good morning.\nEzri: Good morning.\nEzri: What are you smiling at?\nBashir: You know, I was thinking. If it hadn't been for our little talk the other day, we'd probably be just standing here staring at our shoes.\nEzri: Not a chance. I'd have turned and walked the other way as soon as I saw you.\nBashir: I'm glad we've put it all behind us.\nEzri: Me too.\nBashir: Excuse me.\nO'Brien: I guess they worked it out.\nBrunt: It always brings a tear to my eye to see a Nagus pass his staff to his successor. It's a privilege to witness such a historic moment.\nQuark: Just wait and see. It's going to be more historic than you think.\nLeeta: They're here!\nZek: There you are, my boy! I have something for you.\nQuark: Not so fast, Zek. We need to talk.\nIshka: I knew you were going to make this difficult.\nZek: My mind is made up, Quark. Whining and complaining won't do anything.\nQuark: I won't have anything to do with you're doing to our once proud civilisation. A man can only be pushed so far. If you want me to be Nagus, you're going to have to let me do things my way.\nIshka: Who wants you to be Nagus?\nZek: Out of the way, Quark. Congratulations, Rom. You're going to make a fine Nagus.\nRom: I am?\nZek: What's wrong? You seemed so happy when I talked to you the other day.\nRom: I did?\nQuark: That was me!\nZek: You? Ew. I thought I was talking to Rom. It must've been all the static. Glad we cleared that up.\nQuark: This is insane. You actually want Rom to be Nagus?\nIshka: It was my idea.\nQuark: Figures. He's an idiot.\nIshka: You've always underestimated your brother.\nZek: Shh. A new Ferenginar needs a new kind of Nagus. A kinder, gentler Nagus. And that's you, my boy. It's a great responsibility to stand at the bow of the Ferengi ship of state. A Nagus has to navigate the waters of the Great Material Continuum, avoid the shoals of bankruptcy and seek the strong winds of prosperity.\nRom: I'll do the best I can.\nBrunt: May I be the first to offer my congratulations.\nLeeta: Oh, Rom!\nNog: Way to go, Dad!\nQuark: All right, you want Rom? You can have him. In fact, you deserve him. He's perfect for this new worker's paradise of yours! He can save the environment and levy all the taxs he wants.\nZek: He's not taking it very well.\nQuark: In fact, as far as I'm concerned, the Ferenginar that I knew doesn't exist anymore. No, I take that back. It will exist. Right here in this bar. This establishment will be the last outpost of what made Ferenginar great. The unrelenting lust for profit. Broik, water the drinks! M'Pella, rig the dabo table! Rom, I want to buy back the bar.\nRom: That's all right, brother, I'll give it to you.\nQuark: I suppose you're going to let me keep the five thousand bars of latinum too.\nRom: You're my brother.\nQuark: And you're an idiot. But I love you. Congratulations. You're the perfect Nagus for this new Ferenginar.\nZek: Are you sure we picked the right brother?\nIshka: Come, my dear. Risa's waiting.\nZek: Good luck, kid. You're going to need it.\nIshka: I'm proud of you, son. Let's go, Zekkie.\nRom: You know, I could use a financial advisor.\nQuark: No kidding. But it's not going to be me. This Ferengi belongs right here.\nBrunt: I know someone who's available\nRom: Forget it!\nQuark: Not so hasty. Let him give you a pedicure first. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work. There's money to be made.\nBrunt: How can I serve you, my\nRom: Wow.\nRoss: According to our intelligence reports, the Dominion has withdrawn completely from Klingon, Federation and Romulan space. They seem to be forming a new defensive perimeter within Cardassian territory.\nVelal: They must know we've developed a countermeasure to the Breen weapon.\nSisko: That would be my guess.\nMartok: There are advantages to falling back. They shorten their own supply lines while forcing us to lengthen ours.\nRoss: And with a smaller perimeter they're less vulnerable to hit and run attacks. It would take a major offensive to break through their lines.\nVelal: At a cost of thousands of ships. The wiser course would be to simply contain them within their perimeter.\nSisko: That's what they're hoping we'll do, give them time to rebuild their forces.\nMartok: He's right. We have them on the defensive. We should hit them with everything we've got.\nRoss: Break through that line would be a very ugly, very bloody job.\nSisko: If we do nothing, the Dominion could sit behind that perimeter for the next five years rearming themselves. And when they're ready to come out, God help us all.\nMartok: The Klingon Empire votes to attack now before they have time to recover.\nRoss: Considering the alternatives, I'm afraid I have to concur.\nVelal: Very well.\nSisko: Then it's settled. We attack.\nSisko: You're up late. You were waiting for me? What's wrong?\nKasidy: I'm pregnant.\nSisko: Are you sure?\nKasidy: Of course I'm sure.\nSisko: Oh, baby, I didn't mean. A baby. You and me. Wow.\nKasidy: Surprise.\nSisko: Surprise is right. How did? You?\nKasidy: One of us\nSisko: One of us\nKasidy: Forgot our injection last month.\nSisko: Julian reminded me of that. It's just that the way things been going on\nKasidy: You don't have to apologize.\nSisko: I'm not. Are you kidding? This, this is wonderful.\nKasidy: I'm glad you think so.\nSisko: But you don't?\nKasidy: I just keep thinking about the Prophets. They warned you that marrying me would bring you sorrow.\nSisko: Kasidy, we have been through this.\nKasidy: I know we have. And I know that we said we wouldn't let the Prophets run our lives. But that was, that was before this. What if they were trying to tell you something? That something may happen to my baby?\nSisko: Shh. Nothing is going to happen to our baby.\nKasidy: Are you sure?\nSisko: I am the Emissary of the Prophets and I know that nothing is going to happen. Everything is going to be all right.\nKasidy: I hope you're right.\nSisko: We're going to have a baby.\nKasidy: A baby."}
{"text": "Computer: Doctor Bashir. The time is oh five hundred.\nBashir: Yeah, all right.\nEzri: Julian.\nBashir: Yes.\nEzri: We have to get up.\nBashir: Are you sure?\nEzri: It's a big day.\nBashir: It was a big night. It cleared up a lot of unanswered questions.\nEzri: Such as?\nBashir: Such as just how far these spots really go down.\nEzri: I suppose you'll want to tell Miles.\nBashir: Why would I want to do that?\nEzri: Because you tell him everything.\nBashir: True, but you know what? In this case, I'm going to make an exception.\nEzri: Good. Oh, we really should get up. We don't want the Defiant leaving without us.\nBashir: You know, I've never been into battle with someone I've slept with before.\nEzri: There's a first time for everything.\nBashir: Now that we're finally together, it'd be such a shame if something happened to one of us.\nEzri: Let's make a pact. We both come home alive.\nBashir: You've got yourself a deal.\nEzri: I'm holding you to that.\nO'Brien: Oh, and don't forget Kirayoshi has his checkup at oh nine hundred tomorrow.\nKeiko: I've already confirmed the appointment with Nurse Bandee. One more bite\nO'Brien: And don't stay up too late writing that paper on, what those trees are called?\nKeiko: Arfillian Ficus and they're not trees, they're shrubs.\nO'Brien: Yeah, well, try to get some sleep. Oh, and\nKeiko: Honey, we'll be fine. Stop worrying.\nO'Brien: Right. Molly. Please don't touch that.\nMolly: I let you play with my toys.\nO'Brien: Yeah, but you see, this isn't a toy. This is a model.\nKeiko: Maybe it belongs in a museum then.\nO'Brien: I suppose I could give it to Julian.\nKeiko: Sounds good to me. Speaking of Julian. Have you told him about Starfleet's offer yet?\nO'Brien: No, not yet.\nMolly: I knew it.\nO'Brien: What's that supposed to mean?\nMolly: We're not going back to Earth.\nO'Brien: Of course we are. Daddy's going to teach at the Academy, when the war's over.\nMolly: Then why haven't you told Julian?\nKeiko: Out of the mouth of babes.\nO'Brien: I'll tell him, you know, when I think he's ready to hear it.\nSisko: How's that?\nKasidy: Oh, it's doing wonders for my head, but it's my stomach that's bothering me.\nSisko: Well, if it will help, morning sickness ends after the first trimester.\nKasidy: Oh, that's two more months. I don't think I'm going to make it.\nSisko: You're going to make it.\nKasidy: Ben? Promise me something. Promise that you'll come home to us.\nSisko: I promise.\nKasidy: I don't believe it\nSisko: I said I promise.\nKasidy: No, it's not\nSisko: Come in.\nJake: Hey. I thought I'd walk you to the Defiant.\nSisko: I'd like that.\nJake: How's Kas?\nKasidy: Reports of my death have been exaggerated. But not by much.\nJake: Isn't there something she can take to make her feel better?\nSisko: She doesn't like taking medication unless it's absolutely necessary.\nJake: Sounds necessary to me.\nKasidy: Waiting for you to leave only makes me feel worse. If you're going to go, just go.\nSisko: You're sure I can't get you anything?\nKasidy: Just hurry up and come back home.\nOdo: Mind if I walk with you, Commander?\nWorf: Not at all. Captain Sisko informed me that you would be joining us on the mission. I hope that when we reach Cardassia, we find Colonel Kira alive and well.\nOdo: So do I, Commander. So do I.\nNog: Captain on the Bridge.\nSisko: All right people, what do you say we end this war?\nO'Brien: Sounds good to me.\nSisko: Ensign, I believe you know the way to Cardassia.\nNog: If I get lost, I'll just follow the ship in front of us.\nWeyoun: The Federation invasion fleet has left Deep Space Nine. It will reach the Cardassian border by tomorrow night.\nFounder: Our brave Jem'Hadar soldiers have a motto. Victory is Life.\nFounder: I'm glad you're familiar with it. Because today, those words have meaning for us all. The outcome of this battle will determine the outcome of the war. Either we destroy their invasion forces or they destroy us. There is no other option.\nFounder: Fight well today, and Romulus will be yours to do with as you wish.\nFounder: Yes, yes and Earth too.\nFounder: I assure you, the pleasure is all mine.\nFounder: Is something bothering you?\nWeyoun: Apparently, I was under the mistaken impression that all Federation territories would fall under my jurisdiction, including Earth.\nFounder: And so they shall.\nWeyoun: But you promised the Breen.\nFounder: I would promise the Breen the entire Alpha Quadrant if I thought it would help win this war.\nWeyoun: The Founder is wise in all things.\nBroca: Founder. I've heard a disturbing rumor about the traitor Damar.\nWeyoun: What about him?\nBroca: He may be alive.\nFounder: Is this possible?\nWeyoun: I don't see how. We destroyed his ship, his rebel bases.\nFounder: But his body was never found.\nBroca: They say he's here on Cardassia Prime. In the capital, no less.\nFounder: Look into this matter.\nWeyoun: If Damar is alive\nBroca: He won't be for long.\nJem'Hadar: Halt. Step forward. Slowly.\nGarak: I'm sorry, have we done something wrong? We're new to the city and I'm afraid we're lost.\nJem'Hadar: Quiet! You are Legate Damar.\nGarak: I told you you looked like him. I can't tell you how many times my cousin has been mistaken for that traitor.\nJem'Hadar: He will be taken to Dominion Headquarters. You will die here.\nJem'Hadar: I do not understand you.\nGarak: I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but what are you doing here?\nKira: Watching your backs.\nDamar: I thought we decided it would be safer if you stayed out of sight.\nKira: That's what the helmet's for. You should be wearing one too. Every Jem'Hadar and Breen soldier on Cardassia is looking for you.\nDamar: If I'm going to lead this revolt, I can't do it hiding in a cellar. It was necessary for me to attend the gathering tonight.\nKira: Well, fill me in later. If anyone stops us, you're my prisoners.\nGarak: But the vote was unanimous. The work disruptions begin tomorrow.\nDamar: Power, communication and transportation facilities throughout Cardassia will be sabotaged.\nGarak: The Dominion fleet will be cut off from all ground support.\nKira: That way, they'll have to face the invasion force on their own.\nDamar: And once the Dominion is crushed\nMila: All Cardassia will be free again. Oh, when you were a small boy, I was worried about you. Always getting in trouble. So secretive, so full of deceit. Who would have thought those distasteful characteristics would be turned to virtues. More tea?\nGarak: You're too kind.\nSisko: Do you hear that, Chief?\nO'Brien: Sounds like the Doppler compensators are out of phase.\nSisko: Ensign, how's she handling?\nNog: She's not quite as smooth as the old Defiant, sir. Feels a bit sluggish.\nSisko: Chief?\nO'Brien: I'm on it. O'Brien to Engineering.\nEngineer: Engineering.\nO'Brien: Recalibrate the inertial dampers and check the plasma flow regulators while you're at it.\nEngineer: Right away, Chief.\nO'Brien: You'd think someone would have come up with a better inertial control system.\nBashir: What's that, Miles?\nO'Brien: I said I wish you'd wipe that grin off your face. You're not the first person to fall in love, you know.\nBashir: I thought you'd be happy for me.\nO'Brien: I am happy for you. O'Brien to Engineering.\nEngineer: Engineering.\nO'Brien: Now try re-aligning the induction coils.\nEngineer: Will do.\nEzri: You're sure you're not angry?\nWorf: Why should I be angry? I have been asking you to tell the doctor how you feel about him for the past month.\nEzri: Well, now that he knows how I feel.\nWorf: I am happy for you.\nEzri: That's a relief.\nWorf: But I am going to kill him.\nEzri: You're kidding, right?\nWorf: And Jadzia said I did not have a sense of humor.\nO'Brien: Julian, there's something I need to talk to you about.\nBashir: You're getting pressure from Keiko, aren't you?\nO'Brien: How did you know?\nBashir: It's a big decision. I'm surprised it didn't come up sooner.\nO'Brien: Actually, we've been talking about it for quite a while.\nBashir: Well, you can stop talking about it. We'll move the Alamo into my quarters.\nNog: I could still use a little more equalization on the torque buffers.\nO'Brien: Right. I'll try to compensate with the impulse response filters.\nBashir: That way, your quarters won't be so cluttered and you can still use it whenever you want.\nO'Brien: I wasn't talking about the Alamo model. Besides, it's too big for your quarters.\nBashir: You let me worry about that. So, what were you talking about?\nO'Brien: Oh, it's nothing that can't wait. Is that any better, Nog?\nNog: Torque buffers are stable.\nSisko: I wish she were here, too, Constable.\nOdo: If we only knew where Kira was. If we could only be sure that she was all right.\nSisko: The Colonel's a survivor.\nOdo: This war, Captain. It has to end.\nSisko: And it will. Soon. One way or the other.\nSisko: Mother?\nSarah: The Emissary's task is nearing completion.\nSisko: Are you talking about the war?\nSarah: You have walked the path the Prophets laid out for you, Benjamin. Do not falter now.\nSisko: I don't intend to.\nSarah: Know this, my son. Your journey's end lies not before you, but behind you.\nOdo: Captain? Captain?\nSisko: The Prophets came to me in a vision\nOdo: I take it they weren't bringing good news.\nSisko: I'm not sure. Only time will tell.\nDukat: Hello, Adami.\nWinn: You're back.\nDukat: Is that all you have to say to me?\nWinn: I see the Pah wraiths have restored your sight.\nDukat: Yes, they've forgiven me. I was hoping you could find it in your heart to do the same.\nWinn: I don't forgive war criminals. To think I took Gul Dukat to my bed. One of the most hated men in Bajoran history.\nDukat: I've told you how much I regret my actions during the occupation.\nWinn: Of course you do.\nDukat: Have you learned how to release the Pah wraiths?\nWinn: The secrets of the Kosst Amojan have been revealed to me, yes.\nDukat: Then why haven't you gone to the Fire Caves and freed them?\nWinn: I was waiting for you.\nDukat: Then you do forgive me.\nWinn: I need your help, Dukat. It's as simple as that.\nDukat: All you have to do is ask. Together we will release the Pah wraiths so they can lay claim to the Celestial Temple and destroy the Prophets.\nWinn: And their Emissary.\nDukat: No, no, no. Benjamin Sisko will be dealt with by me and me alone.\nWinn: Assuming he survives the invasion of Cardassia.\nDukat: Oh, he'll survive. But I promise you, he'll wish he hadn't.\nVic: You going to sit there all night, Quark?\nQuark: Got any threes?\nVic: Go fish.\nVic: Don't tell me you're quitting?\nQuark: It's just not my game.\nVic: Want to try pinochle again? How about rummy, or gin rummy? Five card stud? Canasta?\nQuark: How about some tongo?\nVic: Did they play tongo in Las Vegas in nineteen sixty two?\nQuark: How could they? It's a Ferengi game.\nVic: Which is why my holographic program can't create it.\nQuark: I know, I know, this place is period specific. For a hologram, you're not very accommodating.\nVic: Oh, is that why you dropped by? To insult me?\nQuark: I dropped by because I had nothing else to do. My bar hasn't had half a dozen customers all day. Everyone's off fighting this stupid war.\nVic: It's not easy staying behind, is it? Knowing that your friends are out there risking their lives.\nQuark: They think they have it rough? They should try leading my life for a day. The hospitality industry isn't for the faint-hearted.\nVic: A bartender's life is a lonely one.\nQuark: That's true, but few people understand that. They think it's one big, happy party. They forget that the person giving the party never has any fun. He's too busy making sure everybody else is having fun. All I do all day long is give, give, give.\nVic: Bartending is a very noble profession. You do it well, under some very difficult circumstances, I might add. You should be proud.\nQuark: You think so?\nVic: I know so, pallie.\nQuark: I just hope Nog and the rest of those heroic idiots come back in one piece.\nGinger: There you are. Vic, sweetie, are you ready? Jimmy and Peter are about to go on.\nVic: Sorry, pallie, got to run. Durante and Lawford are at the Sands. Can't miss that.\nQuark: I thought you said a bartender's life was a lonely one?\nVic: It is. But I'm not a bartender.\nQuark: Go fish.\nDukat: Is it really necessary to rest so often?\nWinn: You don't need to wait for me. Go on ahead. Wander aimlessly through these caves for the rest of your miserable life.\nDukat: I'm in no hurry. During the occupation, my people found the Bajorans' fear of these caves amusing. And yet we never took the time to visit them. And now, here I am. It's ironic, isn't it?\nWinn: I don't care.\nDukat: Excuse me? I just meant\nWinn: I'm sure you have many interesting anecdotes about the occupation, but I don't have any desire to hear them.\nDukat: I meant no disrespect, Adami.\nWinn: And stop calling me Adami. That privilege is no longer yours.\nDukat: How should I address you then?\nWinn: From now on, you will address me as Eminence. Is that clear?\nDukat: Perfectly. Eminence.\nFounder: I see your point. But for two millennia the Jem'Hadar have been the Dominion's first line of defense. It would damage their morale to have to take a back seat to the Breen.\nFounder: Very well. In the spirit of our new alliance, I will inform the Jem'Hadar that the Breen forces will stand alongside them.\nFounder: I'm glad that pleases you.\nWeyoun: I think we have a problem.\nWeyoun: Our lines are spread too thin, especially here, at the center. We need to despatch reinforcements immediately.\nFounder: Do you agree?\nFounder: Notify the Jem'Hadar. Order them to reinforce the center of their lines.\nFounder: Now what?\nComputer: Emergency power engaged.\nBroca: Founder, I'm relieved to see that you're all right.\nWeyoun: Long range communications are down. I can't contact the Jem'Hadar.\nWeyoun: Of course I'll keep trying.\nFounder: What caused the power failure?\nBroca: I'm afraid it was sabotage.\nWeyoun: Almost every Dominion installlation on Cardassia Prime has suffered damage.\nFounder: Damar.\nBroca: We captured some of the terrorists, but they're not soldiers. They're ordinary citizens.\nFounder: Are you telling me the Cardassian people are rising up against us?\nBroca: I'm sure it's only a small number of malcontents.\nFounder: But we have no way of knowing that, do we?\nWeyoun: Founder, may I make a suggestion?\nFounder: Yes, I am sure that Broca would be very happy to hear what you have to say.\nWeyoun: If the Cardassian people are responsible for these acts of terrorism, if Damar and his fanatics have turned them against us, then it's the people who should be punished.\nFounder: Now what do you say to that?\nBroca: Severely punished.\nFounder: Well I'm glad we all agree. See to it.\nDamar: It's been twenty four minutes.\nKira: Not bad.\nGarak: If the Dominion hasn't been able to restore power to the capital, then the entire planet must be in chaos.\nDamar: I hope so.\nMila: I'm afraid I was only able to find two more lightsticks. There's more about the house somewhere but I just couldn't\nGarak: Just stop dawdling and give them to me.\nMila: How well I remember that tone of voice. It reminds me of the demanding and inconsiderate boy you used to be.\nGarak: I haven't changed much, have I?\nDamar: This will send a clear message to the Dominion. The Cardassian people will fight to regain their freedom.\nKira: I hope they realize their fight is just beginning. We're going to have to hit the enemy again and harder this time.\nGarak: That won't be easy. They will have tightened their security.\nKira: That doesn't matter. We can't lose our momentum.\nDamar: The Commander is right. We cannot rest until Cardassia's free. And when it is, we'll have you to thank for it. Without you, this rebellion would have died in its infancy.\nGarak: Ironic, isn't it? The savior of Cardassia a former Bajoran terrorist.\nKira: Don't canonize me just yet.\nDamar: It's been twenty six and a half minutes. Let's see what the Dominion has to say for itself.\nWeyoun: Citizens of Cardassia. This latest wave of vandalism directed against your Dominion allies must stop.\nGarak: I wouldn't count on it.\nWeyoun: We know these disgraceful acts of sabotage were carried out by a mere handful of extremists. But these radicals must come to realize that their disobedience will not be tolerated. That you, the Cardassian people, will suffer the consequences of their cowardly actions. Which is why I must inform you a few moments ago, Dominion troops reduced Lakarian City to ashes. There were no survivors. Two million men, women and children gone in a matter of moments. For each act of sabotage committed against the Dominion, another Cardassian city will be destroyed. I implore you not to let that happen. Let us return to the spirit of friendship and cooperation between our peoples, so that together, we can defeat our common enemies, the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans and all the others that stand against us. Thank you.\nDamar: I should've killed that Vorta jackal when I had the chance.\nKira: You want another one? We'll attack Dominion Headquarters.\nGarak: Chop off a snake's head and the body will die.\nKira: Exactly. Damar, for the past two years you've practically lived in that building.\nDamar: If you're asking me if I know a way in, the answer is no. Not without a valid security protocol.\nKira: We'll use force. We're going to need some kind of explosives.\nGarak: I'll get right on it.\nMila: What you're proposing is suicide.\nGarak: If you don't have anything positive to say, Mila.\nMila: All right, I'll prepare some food. Nobody should die on an empty stomach.\nEzri: Sir, Chancellor Martok would like to speak to you and Admiral Ross.\nSisko: Put them through.\nMartok: Gentlemen, a magnificent victory lies before us.\nRoss: I trust those are prophetic words, Chancellor.\nMartok: They are. And I've not forgotten the promise I made to both of you.\nSisko: That the three of us would share a bottle of bloodwine on Cardassia Prime.\nMartok: A bottle? I brought a barrel of twenty three oh nine. There is no finer vintage.\nRoss: Then I'll meet you two on Cardassia.\nMartok: We'll see who gets there first.\nNog: The Chancellor makes victory sound easy.\nSisko: He knows it won't be. Sisko to all hands. Prepare to engage the enemy.\nNog: I'll say one thing for the Breen. They know how to pilot their ships.\nSisko: So do you, Ensign.\nO'Brien: Stay with him.\nNog: I'm trying. He's slippery.\nSisko: Mister Worf?\nWorf: Unable to lock target.\nOdo: We have two Jem'Hadar ships coming aft of us, bearing one three six mark four.\nSisko: Evasive action, pattern Delta.\nNog: Hang on.\nSisko: Well done, Ensign.\nNog: But I lost the Breen ship we were after.\nSisko: I wouldn't be too worried about it. There are plenty more to choose from.\nMila: You've hardly touched your meal. No wonder you're not looking well.\nGarak: I'm not looking well because I live in a cellar.\nMila: Well, so does Legate Damar.\nGarak: And what about him?\nMila: Well, he's finished everything on his plate. Which explains why he is such a fine, handsome figure of a man.\nGarak: I'm afraid I don't follow you.\nKira: I do. Mila, I believe you're falling in love.\nMila: Oh, I'm old enough to be his mother.\nDamar: Nonsense.\nMila: Politicians.\nGarak: Who could that be?\nMila: I'll go see.\nMila: May I help you?\nDamar: What's taking her so long?\nGarak: I don't know.\nGarak: Mila!\nKira: Garak! Garak, get out of there!\nBashir: I can't look away for a second.\nO'Brien: Just fix the shoulder.\nO'Brien: Careful!\nBashir: Sit still or you'll end up with one arm shorter than the other.\nO'Brien: You'd do anything to beat me at darts.\nBashir: I haven't lost a game to you in months.\nO'Brien: I'm going to miss our games, Julian.\nBashir: What are you talking about? You're going to be fine\nO'Brien: I'm leaving DS Nine, Julian. I'm moving back to Earth.\nBashir: Why?\nO'Brien: I've been offered a position at Starfleet Academy. Professor of Engineering.\nBashir: When?\nO'Brien: When the war's over.\nBashir: Oh. I see.\nO'Brien: Somebody has to teach you officers the difference between a warp matrix flux capacitor and a self sealing stembolt.\nBashir: Of course.\nEzri: Captain, Admiral Ross for you.\nSisko: On screen.\nRoss: The Romulan flagship's been destroyed. Their entire line is collapsing.\nSisko: We'll try to help.\nRoss: With what? Ben, we're losing too many ships. We've got to find a way to turn the Dominion's left flank.\nSisko: It's too well protected, but their lines are spread pretty thin in the middle.\nRoss: You help the Romulans. Martok and I'll hit the center.\nSisko: On my way. Dax, have attack wings sixty four and sixty five follow us.\nEzri: Aye, sir.\nFounder: What's taking so long?\nWeyoun: Our engineers have assured me that our long range communications will be restored momentarily.\nFounder: But you have been saying that for hours. And meantime, there's no way of contacting our ships. No way of knowing how the battle is progressing.\nBroca: Founder, our troops have captured the traitor Damar.\nFounder: Finally, some good news.\nBroca: And there's more. Colonel Kira and Garak have been apprehended with him.\nWeyoun: Even better. Shall I have them brought here?\nFounder: What for? Have them executed immediately.\nWeyoun: With pleasure.\nJem'Hadar: Understood. It will be done at once. On your feet.\nKira: Why?\nJem'Hadar: We prefer our prisoners to be standing when they die.\nGarak: Does anyone have any last words?\nDamar: You may kill us, but Cardassia will never\nJem'Hadar: Enough. Final words are not permitted.\nGarak: How disappointing.\nJem'Hadar: Ready weapons. On my mark.\nEkoor: That's for Lakarian City. Legate Damar, I pledge my life to free Cardassia from the Dominion.\nDamar: With men like you on our side, how can we fail?\nNog: Jem'Hadar ship off the port bow.\nWorf: Shields are down to sixty percent.\nBashir: Miles, this is no good. I'm going to have to get you to Sickbay.\nO'Brien: I'm kind of busy right now.\nBashir: That's an order.\nO'Brien: Look, Julian.\nSisko: You heard him, Chief.\nO'Brien: Yes, sir.\nNog: Another Jem'Hadar to port.\nWorf: Transferring auxiliary power to port shields.\nSisko: Dax, we need some support from our attack fighters.\nEzri: Aye, sir.\nNog: Breen ship off the starboard aft.\nEzri: Sir, most of our fighters are either destroyed or under attack themselves.\nSisko: Ensign, get us out of here.\nNog: I'm trying, sir.\nOdo: Sir, the Cardassians. They're attacking the other Dominion ships.\nEzri: They've switched sides.\nNog: Yes!\nSisko: The timing couldn't be better. Come about and head for the center of their lines. This is our chance to punch through.\nNog: Aye, sir.\nWeyoun: Founder, our long range communications are back online.\nFounder: It's about time.\nWeyoun: I don't believe it.\nFounder: What now?\nWeyoun: The Cardassian fleet has turned against us.\nFounder: Have our forces pull back and regroup at Cardassia Prime.\nWeyoun: But we'll be totally surrounded.\nFounder: There will be no more running.\nFounder: We should have rid ourself of the Cardassians at the first sign of rebellion.\nBroca: If I could talk to the rebels, get them to change their minds.\nWeyoun: Perhaps you could reawaken their patriotic spirit?\nBroca: Exactly.\nWeyoun: On the other hand, they're just as likely to convince you to betray us.\nBroca: Me, betray you? Never!\nFounder: That's right. We are not going to give you that opportunity.\nBroca: Wait! You're making a terrible mistake.\nFounder: I don't think so.\nBroca: But I've done everything you've asked! I tell you I'm loyal. I believe in the Dominion! No! Wait! No!\nWeyoun: I won't miss him.\nFounder: I want the Cardassians exterminated.\nWeyoun: Which ones?\nFounder: All of them. The entire population.\nWeyoun: That will take some time.\nFounder: Then I suggest that you begin at once.\nWorf: Captain, the Dominion forces are retreating toward Cardassia Prime.\nEzri: Sir, Admiral Ross and Chancellor Martok would like to talk to you.\nSisko: On screen.\nRoss: I never thought I'd say this, but thank god for the Cardassians.\nMartok: As I predicted, the day is ours.\nSisko: Not yet it isn't.\nRoss: Ben, we've driven the Dominion back into Cardassia Prime. We can keep them bottled up there indefinitely.\nSisko: What if they use this time to rebuild their fleet?\nMartok: He's right. The Dominion has displayed an ability to build ships at an impressive rate. We should continue the attack.\nRoss: At what cost? We've already lost a third of our fleet.\nMartok: And we must see to it that those soldiers did not die in vain.\nSisko: Admiral, with the Cardassians joining us, we have an opportunity to put an end to this war once and for all.\nRoss: All right, gentlemen. We press on.\nMartok: My friends, songs will be sung about this day.\nSisko: All right, people. You heard the orders. Let's finish what we started.\nDukat: Let me guess. We're here.\nWinn: We've reached the end of one journey and stand ready to begin another. What's the matter, Dukat? You look disappointed.\nDukat: Well, this may sound naive, but I was expecting to see fire. They are called the fire caves.\nWinn: And with good reason.\nWinn: Lano ka'la bo'shar lanu no'vala, pahrom carana mokado ba'jah. Ko'se nusso ma'kora kajani. Lano ka'la Kosst Amojan.\nWinn: Is that better?\nEkoor: According to this map, it's a long way from the cargo door to the briefing room.\nKira: Well, that could be a problem if we get trapped in the corridor.\nKira: What the hell?\nGarak: It's the Jem'Hadar. They're leveling the city building by building.\nKira: All right, we have to go now.\nDamar: Once we get inside the complex, we stop at nothing until we capture the changeling.\nEkoor: Let it be done!\nCardassian: We're with you!\nDamar: For Cardassia.\nCardassians: For Cardassia!\nKira: Garak.\nGarak: All during the years of my exile I imagined what it would be like to come home. I even thought of living in this house again with Mila. But now she's dead, and this house is about to be reduced to a pile of rubble. My Cardassia's gone.\nKira: Then fight for a new Cardassia.\nGarak: I have an even better reason, Commander. Revenge.\nKira: That works too.\nWinn: Oh. I rid myself of the Prophets and shed a lifetime of hypocrisy.\nDukat: I've never seen you look so radiant.\nWinn: I feel like a young woman waiting for my lover to sweep me away.\nDukat: Do you give yourself willingly to the Pah wraiths?\nWinn: With all my heart.\nDukat: Then call to them.\nWinn: Bring me the book. Meek rak dorrah Pah wran Yelim cha ono Kosst Amojan shay ta hel ter rah no'vala de ram\nSisko: Sisko to Bashir. Report.\nBashir: Three dead, eight wounded, four of them critically.\nSisko: Doctor, I need every able-bodied crewman at their post.\nBashir: I won't keep anybody here a second longer than I have to, sir.\nBashir: Put him over here, will you.\nNog: She did pretty well for a first date, don't you think, Captain?\nSisko: I'd say she did fine, Ensign. Mister Worf?\nWorf: Sir, phaser banks are fully charged, but we are down to forty five quantum torpedoes.\nSisko: That'll have to do. How are you holding up, old man?\nEzri: All things considered, I think I'd rather be on Risa.\nSisko: Well, that makes two of us.\nOdo: Have you seen these reports, Captain? The Dominion has begun destroying Cardassian cities. Millions of people are dying.\nNog: Captain, we're approaching the Dominion defense perimeter.\nSisko: Well, let's see what they have waiting for us. On screen.\nSisko: Now we know.\nGarak: We have a problem.\nKira: Just one?\nGarak: I'm afraid it's a rather large problem. The cargo door is made of neutronium.\nKira: Then the explosives we brought aren't even going to make a dent.\nGarak: You see the problem.\nEkoor: What do we do?\nDamar: I don't know, but I'm through hiding in basements. I fail to see what is so funny, Garak.\nGarak: Isn't it obvious? Here we are, ready to storm the castle, willing to sacrifice our lives in a noble effort to slay the Dominion beast in its lair and we can't even get inside the gate.\nKira: Maybe we could go to the door and ask the Jem'Hadar to let us in.\nDamar: Or just have them send the shape-shifter out to us.\nGarak: As I said, we have a problem.\nFounder: But I've come to depend on having you here at my side.\nFounder: Your advice to the Dominion has proven invaluable\nFounder: Very well. If you feel the situation on the front lines demands your presence, I will not stand in your way. Knowing that you'll be leading our troops into battle is very reassuring.\nWeyoun: I still can't help but wonder.\nFounder: Wonder what?\nWeyoun: What's under that helmet?\nFounder: A braver man than you. Though I do find the shrillness of his voice very tiresome.\nWeyoun: Founder, what's wrong?\nFounder: I'm dying, that's what's wrong.\nWeyoun: Perhaps you should rest for a while. Revert to your natural state.\nFounder: I haven't been able to change form in weeks. It's ironic, isn't it, that I should die as a Solid.\nWeyoun: You're not going to die. You're a god.\nFounder: My loyal Weyoun. The only solid I have ever trusted.\nWeyoun: I live only to serve you.\nFounder: And you have served me well. I don't mind dying. It's knowing that my entire race is dying of the same illness and there is nothing I can do about it.\nWeyoun: I would give my life to save yours.\nFounder: If only it were that simple.\nDamar: What if I give myself up? Pretend to be your prisoner.\nKira: They'd kill you on sight.\nGarak: And us along with you.\nEkoor: The cargo door.\nBroca: You're making a terrible mistake. I'm not a traitor! Please, just let me speak to the Founder. No, wait!\nDamar: No!\nEkoor: For Cardassia!\nGarak: Fall back, fall back.\nDamar: Keep\nGarak: He's dead.\nKira: Remember his orders. We stop for nothing.\nGarak: For Cardassia!\nCardassians: For Cardassia!\nWeyoun: We have a security breach.\nFounder: The guards will deal with it. Is there a problem?\nWeyoun: The guards. There're only a handful left in the building. I sent the rest to help eradicate the Cardassians.\nWeyoun: You two, get out there and see that no one gets through that door. You, stay here. In case they fail.\nRoss: We'll launch a three pronged attack. The Romulans and our new Cardassian allies will engage the Jem'Hadar forces. The Klingons will target the Breen and the Federation will take on the orbital weapon platforms. Any questions?\nSisko: When do we go?\nRoss: As soon as everyone's in position.\nMartok: It will be a glorious battle.\nRoss: But a costly one. Estimates project our casualties to be as high as forty percent. There's no telling how much higher they'll go once we send in our ground forces.\nSisko: The Dominion is beaten and they know it, but they're going to make us pay for every kilometer of the planet.\nRoss: Yes, they will.\nSisko: Let's get on with it.\nRoss: Godspeed, everyone.\nMartok: Qapla!\nWeyoun: Founder, perhaps we should consider finding a safer location.\nFounder: And just where would that be?\nWeyoun: Well, Colonel Kira. What a pleasant surprise.\nKira: The pleasure's all mine.\nEkoor: The Federation fleet has surrounded the planet.\nKira: I want you to contact the Jem'Hadar and the Breen, and you order their ships to stand down.\nGarak: And order their troops on Cardassia to do the same.\nFounder: I will do no such thing.\nWeyoun: Tell me, where's my old friend Damar?\nGarak: Damar's dead.\nWeyoun: What a pity.\nGarak: He died trying to free Cardassia.\nWeyoun: What's left of it.\nFounder: I wish you hadn't done that. That was Weyoun's last clone.\nGarak: I was hoping you'd say that.\nKira: This war's over. You lost.\nFounder: Have I? I think you'll find that neither the Jem'Hadar or the Breen will agree with that assessment. They will fight to the last man.\nKira: And what will that accomplish?\nFounder: Isn't it obvious? You may win this war, Commander, but I promise you, when it is over, you will have lost so many ships, so many lives, that your victory will taste as bitter as defeat.\nSisko: We're glad to find you in one piece, Commander.\nOdo: Very glad.\nSisko: What's your status?\nKira: Only three of us made it to the briefing room.\nOdo: What about Damar?\nKira: He's dead.\nSisko: Is your position secure?\nKira: I don't think the Jem'Hadar will attack. They won't risk endangering the Founder. She's in pretty bad shape. She just sits at her desk, deteriorating.\nWorf: If she dies before ordering the Jem'Hadar to surrender\nSisko: Then they will fight to the last man.\nOdo: Captain, I should beam down there. The Founder will speak to me. I can reason with her.\nSisko: You haven't had much success with her in the past.\nOdo: It's worth a try. Think of the lives it could save.\nSisko: Very well. Commander, tell the Founder that Odo is going to pay her a visit.\nWinn: Tarna pur ono ull kess pah ran. Lano ka'la bo'shar lanu.\nWinn: After you.\nDukat: I'm honored.\nDukat: Now you.\nDukat: Why?\nWinn: The Pah wraiths demand a sacrifice. Someone worthy of them. Who better than you?\nDukat: No!\nWinn: I offer you this life as nourishment to feed your hunger, to fuel the fires that will set you free. Kosst Amojan, I am yours now and forever.\nOdo: Nerys.\nKira: It's been a while.\nOdo: Yes.\nKira: Watch yourself. I don't trust her.\nOdo: But you trust me.\nKira: Of course.\nOdo: That's all I need to know.\nGarak: Constable.\nOdo: Garak.\nFounder: You're looking well, Odo.\nOdo: Thank you for seeing me.\nFounder: It's always good to see you. But I have no intention of surrendering my forces. It would be a sign of weakness on my part. An invitation to the solids to cross into the Gamma Quadrant and destroy the Great Link.\nOdo: Believe me, I'm well aware that the Federation has its flaws, but a desire for conquest isn't one of them.\nFounder: And what of the Klingons and the Romulans? Can you make that claim for them too?\nOdo: The Klingon and Romulan Empires are in no shape to wage a war against anyone. Besides, the Federation wouldn't allow it.\nFounder: The Dominion has spent the last two years trying to destroy the Federation, and now you're asking me to put our fate in their hands?\nOdo: Yes.\nFounder: I can't do that, Odo. I don't have your faith in the solids.\nOdo: Perhaps I can change your mind. Link with me.\nKira: Odo, what are you doing?\nFounder: I'm afraid I can't Link with you, Odo. My disease prevents me from changing form.\nOdo: If we Link, I believe I can cure you.\nGarak: That's a very bad idea, Constable.\nKira: I agree.\nOdo: Nerys, I know what I'm doing. Please, take my hand.\nFounder: And if you cure me, what will you ask in return?\nOdo: All I ask is that you Link with me.\nGarak: I'm warning you, Odo.\nOdo: Nerys.\nKira: Garak, put down your weapon.\nGarak: I don't think so.\nKira: I said, put it down.\nGarak: Move aside, Odo.\nOdo: That won't be necessary. Will it?\nFounder: If you will stand aside, I'll order the Jem'Hadar to cease fire.\nGarak: I suggest we secure her in a containment field.\nOdo: Don't worry, Garak. She won't try to escape. She's agreed to stand trial and accept responsibility for what she's done.\nKira: I would have thought she'd insist on going back to the Gamma Quadrant to cure her people.\nOdo: There's no need for that. I'm going in her place.\nKira: For how long?\nOdo: Nerys, it's time I rejoined the Great Link.\nMartok: This is a moment worth savoring. To victory, hard fought and well earned.\nMartok: What's wrong?\nSisko: Suddenly I'm not thirsty.\nRoss: Neither am I.\nMartok: Before you waste too many tears, remember, these are Cardassians lying dead at your feet. Bajorans would call this poetic justice.\nSisko: That doesn't mean I have to drink a toast over their bodies.\nMartok: Humans. Pah. Ka DiJaQ.\nBashir: Eight hundred million dead.\nGarak: And casualty reports still coming in. Well, aren't you going to congratulate me, Doctor? My exile is now officially over. I've returned home. Or rather, to what's left of it.\nBashir: Listen, I know that this must seem bleak\nGarak: Some may say that we've gotten just what we deserved. After all, we're not entirely innocent, are we? And I'm not just speaking of the Bajoran occupation. No, our whole history is one of arrogant aggression. We've collaborated with the Dominion, betrayed the entire Alpha Quadrant. Oh, no, no. There's no doubt about it. We're guilty as charged.\nBashir: You and I both know that the Cardassians are a strong people. They'll survive. Cardassia will survive.\nGarak: Please, Doctor. Spare me your insufferable Federation optimism. Of course it will survive, but as not the Cardassia I knew. We had a rich and ancient culture. Our literature, music, art were second to none. And now, so much of it is lost. So many of our best people, our most gifted minds.\nBashir: I'm sorry, Garak. I didn't mean\nGarak: Oh, it's quite all right, Doctor. You've been such a good friend. I'm going to miss our lunches together.\nBashir: I'm sure we'll see each other again.\nGarak: I'd like to think so, but one can never say. We live in uncertain times.\nFounder: The war between the Dominion and the Federation Alliance is now over.\nRoss: Four hundred years ago, a victorious general spoke the following words at the end of another costly war. Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph. From both we have learned there can be no going back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we've won in war.\nFounder: It's up to you now, Odo.\nEzri: You're coming to Vic's tonight, right?\nWorf: I will be there, but I will not dance.\nEzri: Who's asking?\nSisko: Commander Worf.\nWorf: Captain.\nSisko: Can you spare a moment?\nWorf: Yes, sir.\nMartok: We've been discussing your plans for the future.\nWorf: I was not aware I had any plans.\nRoss: Commander, how would you feel about being named Federation Ambassador to Kronos?\nWorf: I am not a diplomat.\nMartok: And I am not a politician. But sometimes fate plays cruel tricks on us, Worf. Come. Kronos needs you. And what's more, I need you.\nEzri: You helped him become Chancellor. You can't very well turn your back on him now.\nWorf: Well my first loyalty is to you, Captain.\nSisko: Thank you, Mister Worf. I'll probably regret this in the morning, but if it's what you want, then by all means.\nWorf: It has been a great honor serving with you, sir.\nSisko: The honor is mine.\nWorf: I accept.\nMartok: Excellent. An Ambassador who'll go targ hunting with me. Well, perhaps being Chancellor won't be so bad after all.\nEzri: Congratulations, Worf.\nKira: When will you be going?\nOdo: Soon.\nKira: You could come back, you know, once you've cured your people.\nOdo: I could.\nKira: But you're not going to do that.\nOdo: Nerys. You know my feelings for you will never change, but I have to do this. My people need me. They need to know what I know, to learn what I've learned from living among solids. It's the only way they'll ever learn to trust you.\nKira: You don't have to justify your decision, Odo. There's just one thing.\nOdo: Anything.\nKira: I'd like to take you back to your homeworld.\nOdo: I'd like that. I'd like that very much.\nVic: Hey, pallie. If you're here for another game of 'go fish,' I'm a little busy right now.\nQuark: Actually, I'm here for the end of the war goodbye to Chief O'Brien goodbye to Odo goodbye to Worf party.\nVic: At the bar.\nBashir: No, seriously, Miles, I envy you. Going back to Earth, a chance to enjoy paradise again.\nJake: Any idea where you're going to live?\nO'Brien: No. Keiko and I are still mulling over a few possibilities.\nWorf: Have you ever considered Minsk?\nO'Brien: I don't think that's on our list.\nSisko: New Orleans is a gorgeous city.\nKasidy: I've heard great things about Paris.\nWorf: Minsk.\nEzri: Jadzia loved Rio.\nOdo: You've certainly got a lot of choices.\nO'Brien: Yeah. Too many.\nWorf: Minsk.\nBashir: Wherever you decide to go, I'm sure that you and Keiko will be very happy.\nO'Brien: Listen, Julian, I know Earth isn't exactly around the corner, but I still expect you to visit.\nBashir: I intend to.\nO'Brien: Yeah, you and me taking a little trip to Texas.\nBashir: Standing side by side in front of the Alamo.\nO'Brien: The real Alamo. You see? It's going to be great.\nBashir: Absolutely.\nQuark: I don't see how great it would be. Earth's nothing more than a rotating ball of boredom. If you ask me, you'd be better off staying here. And that goes for you and Worf as well.\nKira: Don't tell me you're getting sentimental, Quark.\nQuark: Me? Not a chance. I just don't like change.\nSisko: You'd better get used to it. Things are going to be pretty different around here now. To the best crew any captain ever had. This may be the last time we're all together, but no matter what the future holds, no matter how far we travel, a part of us, a very important part, will always remain here on Deep Space Nine.\nO'Brien: Hear, hear.\nBashir: Cheers.\nVic: Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight is a very special night for some friends of mine. They've been together a long time. But like the man said, nothing lasts forever. So, gang, this one's from the heart.\nWinn: Dorra tolka bre tri pah wran. Kosst Amojan, come to me! I await you.\nWinn: No!\nKasidy: Ben, what's wrong?\nSisko: I understand now.\nKasidy: Understand what?\nSisko: What I have to do. What I was meant to do. Kasidy, I have to go.\nKasidy: Go where?\nSisko: To Bajor. To the fire caves.\nKasidy: I'll go with you.\nSisko: No, I have to do this alone.\nDukat: Did you really think the Pah wraiths would choose you to be their Emissary? Soon the Pah wraiths will burn across Bajor, the Celestial Temple, the Alpha Quadrant. Can you picture it? A entire universe set in flames, to burn for all eternity. The Prophets have sent me a gift. Their beloved Emissary, sent forth like an avenging angel to slay the demon.\nSisko: I should have known the demon would be you.\nDukat: Go on. Kill me if you can.\nDukat: You'll have to do better than that, Captain.\nDukat: This is too easy. That's it. Come closer. That's it.\nDukat: Now bow to me. I said bow.\nSisko: You are pathetic.\nDukat: Then why are you the one on your knees?\nSisko: First the Dominion, now the Pah wraith. You have a talent for picking the losing side.\nDukat: Benjamin, please. We've known each other too long. And since this is the last time we will ever be together, let's try to speak honestly. We've both had victories and our defeats. Now it's time to resolve our differences and face the ultimate truth. I've won, Benjamin. You've lost.\nSisko: The Pah wraith will never conquer anything. Not Bajor. Not the Celestial Temple. And certainly not the Alpha Quadrant.\nDukat: And who's going to stop us?\nSisko: I am.\nDukat: You can't even stand up.\nWinn: Then I'll stop you.\nDukat: Are you still here?\nWinn: Emissary, the book!\nDukat: Farewell, Adami.\nSisko: Sarah? Are you here? What happened?\nSarah: The Emissary has completed his task.\nSisko: But the Pah wraiths.\nSarah: You've returned them to their prison within the fire caves.\nSisko: The book was the key, wasn't it?\nSarah: To a door that can never be opened again.\nSisko: And Dukat? Is he dead?\nSarah: He's where he belongs, with the Pah wraiths. Your time of trial has ended. You need to rest now.\nSisko: I intend to. As soon as I return to Deep Space Nine.\nSarah: That won't be necessary. You're with us now.\nEzri: We found the Captain's runabout orbiting Bajor.\nWorf: But when we scanned the fire caves, there was no sign of him.\nBashir: Tarkalian tea. Soothing.\nEzri: Better keep it coming.\nJake: You're not calling off the search yet, are you?\nOdo: Not until we find your father.\nJake: What about the Kendra Province, where he bought that land. Maybe he went there for some reason.\nWorf: Colonel Kira and Chief O'Brien have completed another scan of the planet. As far as they can tell, he is not there.\nKasidy: Something's happened to Ben. Something bad. I can feel it. The Prophets warned us.\nKasidy: Hello? Is anyone here? Ben? Is that you?\nSisko: Kasidy.\nKasidy: Oh, Ben! I've been so worried about you. Where are we?\nSisko: The Celestial Temple.\nKasidy: This is scaring me. Let's go home.\nSisko: I can't. Not now.\nKasidy: Why not? Oh, God. This is it, isn't it? The sorrow that the Prophets warned us about.\nSisko: It's difficult to explain. It's not linear.\nKasidy: What isn't?\nSisko: My life, my destiny. The Prophets saved me, Kasidy. I'm their Emissary and they still have a great deal for me to do. But first, there is much to learn. Things only the Prophets can teach me.\nKasidy: When will you be back?\nSisko: It's hard to say. Maybe a year, maybe yesterday. But I will be back.\nKasidy: And I will be waiting.\nJake: Kas, can you hear me? You seemed pretty far away for a second.\nKasidy: I was talking to your father.\nScene: (Jake takes a model chair from the house that Sisko built, and remembers when his dad told him they were going to DS9, the hugs, the laughter, the solar-\nwind powered spaceship.)\nKira: You sure you want to leave without saying goodbye?\nOdo: I'm sure. I've never been good at goodbyes.\nKira: There are going to be a lot of people that are disappointed.\nOdo: If they don't know how I feel about them now, a few parting words won't make the difference.\nQuark: Ah ha! I knew it! When I saw the two of you slip out, I said to myself, that no good, misanthropic, cantankerous, changeling is trying to sneak off the station without anyone noticing.\nOdo: That was the idea.\nQuark: Well, it's not going to happen.\nOdo: Apparently not.\nQuark: So, now that I'm here, is there something you want to say to me?\nOdo: Such as?\nQuark: Such as, 'Goodbye, you certainly were a worthy adversary.' Or maybe something with the words mutual respect in it.\nOdo: No.\nQuark: No? What do you mean no?\nOdo: I mean no. I have nothing I want to say to you.\nQuark: You're telling me that after all these years, after all we've been through, you're not even going to say goodbye to me?\nOdo: That's right. Nerys, I'll be on the runabout. Huh.\nKira: Don't take it hard, Quark.\nQuark: Hard? What are you talking about? That man loves me. Couldn't you see? It was written all over his back.\nKira: The Link. It's so different.\nOdo: They're dying.\nKira: You should go to them.\nOdo: Nerys, please tell everyone I'll miss them.\nKira: Even Quark?\nOdo: Even Quark. But most of all\nKira: I know.\nKira: Odo.\nOdo: You always said I looked good in a tuxedo.\nKira: You do.\nOdo: Then this is the way I want you to remember me.\nKira: I'll never forget you.\nOdo: Goodbye, Nerys.\nNog: The duty roster, Colonel.\nKira: Nice work. Congratulations on your promotion, Lieutenant.\nNog: Thank you, sir. I guess putting me in for promotion was one of Captain Sisko's last official acts.\nKira: I'm sure he's very proud of you, Nog.\nNog: I'd like to think so, sir.\nKira: Now about the cargo inventories.\nNog: I'll get right on it.\nBashir: You know, the thing of it is, the apoptosis is really just part of the normal cardiac renewal process. What do you think?\nEzri: I think that after dinner tonight, we should go to Quark's, spend some time in a holosuite.\nBashir: Oh. I'd like a trip to Vegas.\nEzri: Actually, I was thinking about the Alamo.\nBashir: We can't go there.\nEzri: Why not?\nBashir: Because that's what Miles and I did. But I do have a new program. The Battle of Thermopylae. Do you know it? Well, it's about a force of Spartans led by King Leonidas, who defend a mountain pass against a vast army of Persians.\nEzri: What happens then?\nBashir: For two days, the Spartans lead a heroic struggle.\nEzri: Until they're wiped out.\nBashir: Yes. How'd you know?\nEzri: Lucky guess. I take it we'll be the Spartans?\nBashir: Fighting to the last man.\nEzri: Just like the Alamo.\nBashir: Exactly.\nEzri: Have you talked to a counselor about these annihilation fantasies?\nBashir: Do you think I should?\nEzri: I'll set up a session for you tomorrow.\nBashir: What about tonight?\nEzri: Tonight we defend the pass.\nQuark: Don't worry, it's guaranteed to grow hair within a week. Though if you ask me, that dome of yours is hairy enough. Besides, hasn't there been enough change around here already?\nKira: Quark! You mind explaining this?\nQuark: Oh. That's this week's betting pool.\nKira: You're taking bets on who's going to be the new Kai?\nQuark: It's a wide open field. Just between you and me, the smart money is on Vedek Ungtae.\nKira: Well just between you and me, all bets are off.\nQuark: What are you talking about?\nKira: As of this moment, betting pools of any kind are illegal on this station. I catch someone placing a bet, I put you in a holding cell for fifteen days. Is that clear?\nQuark: Fifteen days! Can I bring my own pillow?\nKira: Quark.\nQuark: It's clear. It's clear.\nKira: It better be.\nQuark: It's like I said. The more things change, the more they stay the same."}