STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE -- THE WAY OF HARMONY
This story takes place shortly before the episode, "The Nagus." Please send comments to cream@applelink.apple.com.
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
THE WAY OF HARMONY
Cold and dark, but oh, so much fun.
"Here it is- my hideout."
"Oh, wow, cool... I- ouch..."
"Watch it."
"How'd you find a way in here? This whole deck has been sealed off since the Cardassians left."
"Ah, but remember I've been here since way before that. I had the access ducts and vents figured out through the whole station. I used to come down here when it was a communications relay room. My uncle would pay me to eavesdrop sometimes."
"Give me a hand down. When my father saw how badly the Cardassians wrecked these lower decks he decided they weren't worth repairing, and just sealed them off."
"He overlooked one way in. As long as he doesn't know about it, it's our secret. Swear to keep it?"
"Swear."
"Okay! I'm glad you're here. I've been needing some help."
"Help doing what?"
"Smashing things!" Nog picks up a loose circuit module box and heaves it past Jake. Optical chips shatter satisfyingly as it hits the wall and pour in bits out of the box.
Jake giggles, picks up a heavy piece of duranium-composite concrete, and drops it on a sophisticated-looking flat panel display laying on the floor, exploding it merrily and crushing the casing.
An hour later. Boys at play.
"TIE fighters at two o'clock! Hard about!" Jake is sitting at the remains of a control station, wearing tattered gloves and belt from a Cardassian uniform, shoving a joystick back and forth.
"RRRROOOWWWR! Just missed! One stealth drone will take care of them all." Nog sits beside him, similarly dressed, the cracked casing of a disruptor jammed in his belt.
"Drone away! Multiple targets locked on."
"One got through-- what now, Commander?"
"Arm proton torpedoes..."
"Too late! Incoming!" He grabs a long metal bar and swings it near Jake's head, bashing in the display panel in front of him and showering him with glassine shards.
"Abandon ship! Man the escape pods!" He kicks Nog's stool out from under him, and both fall to the floor laughing.
Jake's arm hits a floor level panel, which pops open and disgorges a canteloupe-sized silver metal device, whirring and blinking.
"Hey! What's this?"
"It's still got power! I've never been able to find anything down here that still had any juice. Cardassian batteries are so cheap. No resale value."
"I wonder what it does?" The device is made up of several independently rotating sections, which Jake twists on their axis.
"Hmm... state-of-the-art Cardassian technology. I can't wait to bring it to school and show it. And then, the black market!"
"We should try to understand how it works first."
"Dont break it! Stop fooling with it! What if it's a weapon? We'll just make up something to tell people it does. That's why it's so great hanging out with you. You can come up with something so confusing that they'll never figure it out until we have "We should bring it to my Dad. It's pretty..." With a tiny flash of light, Jake blits out of existence. The device drops to the floor, still blinking and whirring.
"Jake! Jake!"
Suddenly it's nothing but cold and dark again. Nog grabs the device like an enemy. He becomes aware of the lonely weight of the space and silence around him, and begins to cry.
U.S.S. Enterprise. Captain's Log: Stardate 34804.4; Captain Xander Coerforam recording. The probe we encountered three hours ago while enroute to Outpost 23 still appears to be of completely alien origin. We have been unable to translate or even parame
Captain Coerforam swings in his chair to the bridge science station. "Number One, status report."
"Sir, the signal is completely alien. It does not correspond to any known Romulan code or encryption, or resemble anything encountered before."
"Is the signal repeating?"
"It hasn't in the past three hours."
Coerforam kneads his chin, perhaps a few moments too long. "We can't let ourselves be led off the mark here. It might be coincidence that we find this thing so close to the Neutral Zone; or it may be a decoy. In either case we have to rededicate our se "I remind the Captain that one of our primary missions is scientific discovery. Whatever the probe is, I believe the wisest course is complete investigation of it."
"Continue your analysis, Commander."
"Aye, Sir...but we may not have long, regardless."
"What do you mean?"
"The probe's power source is showing signs of instability. Signal coherence is breaking up. The decision to fully analyze it may soon be taken out of our hands."
"Helm, move us back to 500 kilometers from the object. I don't want to be caught in a catastrophic failure. Don't raise shields until I signal. Sisko, how long do we have?"
"Maybe minutes, maybe hours."
"Assume minutes. I don't want to come out of this empty-handed, Ben. Come up with something."
"I will, Sir. Alright, team, one more time. What haven't we tried?"
Science Officer: "I'm out of ideas, Commander. We've gone through the whole book on this one. None of the Universal Translator precode templates gave us anything but noise ."
"There's got to be a way to extract meaning out of this signal. I want you to configure the sensors in a fast fourier transform array, across the entire frequency range. Rotate each frequency channel independently in phase space and give me every meani "Calculating. No intelligible result."
"Damn! Okay, forget discrete channels. We need more resolution. I want a continuously differentiated analysis distribution curve."
"The computer's not set up for that. I don't know if it's been tried before in the field. It'll take a few minutes to set up."
"We don't have a few minutes. The probe is building up a power surge. Guess the curve shape and trace it in by hand. Quickly, man."
Science Officer: "I'm on it."
Helm: "Probe detonation imminent."
Captain: "Raise shields."
Sisko: "Not yet! I'm tying in a subspace attenuation filter."
Captain: "Anything?"
Sisko: "No! What is this thing?"
Captain: "Time to wrap this up. We're needed elsewhere. Helm, raise shields. Sorry, Ben."
Helm: "Shields up. Main sensors offline."
The viewscreen fills with a blinding flash, and Ben Sisko gets an unaccustomed taste of disappointment.
"So, how do you think I did? Honest. Give me the chicken salad."
"As well as any of your other command exercises. I'll take the pilaf."
"I don't know. I have a feeling it was more than a routine command exercise."
"Nothing out of the ordinary happened- except that probe. But that was a complete dead end, believe me. I did everything but go out to it with a can opener. I think they just wanted to see how long you'd allocate time to the problem and when you'd cut "There was something out of square in the set-up. The way they let me pick all my own bridge crew, gave me extra time to prepare. When we went into the simulator the proctors were looking at me strangely, like they were expecting something special. Do "Why on Earth would you say that?"
"They don't always use the same scenario for the test. You never know when it will come or what form it will take. I've heard some officers say it took them years after graduation to figure out exactly what it was."
"It would have to be the blandest KM test I've ever heard of."
"Well, you know what they say; you have to find the plate before you can take your turn at bat. There might have been some whole dimension to the test I completely missed."
"Now you're being paranoid. There's no way Xander Coerforam would get lost on the way to a challenge. Besides, isn't sophomore year a little early to face the test?"
"Sophomore year is ending, and we have to choose our career specialty paths."
"We've already said we wanted command, one hundred percent of the way. You're not shagging out on me, are you?"
"No, of course not. I... look, here comes Lt. Chang."
"As you were, cadets. Please, sit down. Eat. I just wanted to tell you, Mr. Coerforam, you were graded well in your latest exercise."
"I'm glad to hear it, Sir."
"You attracted attention as well, Mr. Sisko. Some of the moves you made trying to decode that signal were very clever. You have a talent for scientific thinking. Tell me, did you think of trying a multi-modal sort of the signal across the subspace doma "Well, Sir, a multi-modal sort wouldn't have told us anything about the actual signal, just the carrier wave. I agree that's part of a thorough analysis, but we didn't have the time for that. I decided that finding intelligent content was the top prior "A sound assessment. Have you considered the science career specialty? They need innovative thinkers who can take initiative as much as the red suits."
"Sorry Sir, but I'm foursquare for command. It's what I've wanted all my life."
"Excellent! I look forward to working with you both next semester. The juniors tell me that multi-modal statistics is one of their hardest courses. You might want to bone up on it in advance during your summer break."
"We will, Sir. Count on it."
"Very good. Carry on."
"Wow! What was that? Officers almost never sit with underclassmen in common areas."
"See, I told you all was well. He's taking us under his wing, giving us advice- he wants to be our mentor."
"I guess you're right. But everything Lt. Chang says is like a zen puzzle. You're never sure what he really means."
"Would you relax? We'll be among the stars before you know it, friend."
Alright. Multi-modal sorting. If I pull an all-nighter I should be able to get the computer to teach me enough to do an analysis on that probe's signal. Xander was right, you can't get Chang's words out of your head. Besides, I want to have an intellig Hours of work. Ah, here we go. A power curve profile. Let's see. Anything interesting at all?
Hello, what's this? A shifting resonance pattern. That's interesting. The probe seems to have been trying to get a frequency phase lock with our sensor beam. A neat clue to their technology. Maybe Memory Beta will have records of a culture that used th And here's where it got the lock. Hmm, same time it started showing instability in it's power source. Coincidence? Or something more? We shall learn all. Maybe it couldn't handle the extra resonant power influx. Yes, here we go. The resonant power buil Oh, no. I blew up the probe. I got so caught up in the theoretical puzzle that I lost sight of the fact that it was a real object, and fried it. I fought the wrong battle and lost the war.
I was so sure I could crack that code, so sure that was the only important thing. I should have realized in the first twenty minutes that the signal was indecipherable and started looking for other approaches, but I was too full of myself. Stopping a r Stupid! Stupid! A commander is responsible for everything: just because MM stats is a junior-level course is no excuse...a commander has to have the resources to bring whatever is needed to a situation... it's his job to find the real battlefield and n It wasn't Xander's Kobayashi Maru test: it was yours! Yours, Ben Sisko, yours!
"Oh, no!" Ben grips his head in his big hands and cries in anguish.
Station Log: Stardate 46601.7. My son has been missing for two days. Constable Odo has conducted several searches of the station; repeated sensor scans for his life signs have turned up nothing. Chief O'Brien, who has just returned from Earth, checked all
"Commander Sisko, this is Quark."
"Yes, Quark, what is it?"
"I have something I need to discuss with you. In private."
"Come to my office. I can only give you a few minutes."
"It might be better if you came down to the canteen."
"I'm very busy right now, Quark. I can't get free just now..."
"It's a matter of the utmost personal concern for you, Commander. I really think you ought to come down. Now."
"I'm on my way... Kira, you have Ops. I'm going to get a drink."
"Alright, Quark. what is it?"
"Rom, get in here and draw the curtain. Now tell the Commander what you were telling me."
"You are looking very well, Commander. Do...do you find your drink satisfactory?"
"Rom!"
"Alright! My boy is a good boy, you know, Commander. Sometimes subject to high spirits, but you know what it's like to be a father to a young boy."
"Rom, I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me what you brought me down here for."
"For the past two days Nog has been moping about our quarters. He's hardly eaten- hardly said anything, although even normally far be it for him to have a conversation with his own old man. Why, I..."
"Stick to the subject, brother."
"Quark, we've already asked Nog several times if he knew anything about Jake's whereabouts, and he said he had no idea. Are you withholding something? Do you expect some kind of ransom or reward?"
Quark: "Not this time, Commander, though I wouldn't want to say I was above it. This time I have all our interests in mind. You see, Nog came home in better spirits today, and he was wearing...a new set of clothes."
"Is there supposed to be something sinister in that?"
"Commander, like every Ferengi father, I've tried to raise my boy right. Give him standards; pass down some wisdom. We tell our children, when you're suffering from a guilty conscience, whistle a happy tune and try to find a way to profit from what you "We have another saying: you covet what's under your eyes. Now Nog wouldn't ordinarily buy himself new clothes with a fresh batch of cash, unless he were in a clothing shop. I know the smell of the other dealers on this station, and I know that Cardass "That's all we know, Sisko. Fair warning. I'm just acting to protect my own skin. I certainly wouldn't want to be in yours."
"Thanks for coming over, Nog."
"What did you want, Mr. Sisko? Is there any news about Jake?"
"No, but I'm sure he'll turn up. He's a pretty tough kid. I was just wondering if you'd do me a favor until he gets back."
"What?"
"This is his baseball glove. It's made of what we call cowhide, something that used to be made from animal skin. It's got to be used every day to maintain its suppleness and its shape, or it'll get stiff and hard to play with. It can take months to bre "Well, why don't you do it?"
"My hand is too big. See, here's my glove. You're just the right size. Will you do it for me?"
"S...sure."
"Let's toss a couple around; I'll show you how it's done. My wife would never let Jake and me throw the ball in the house, but I think now we can get away with a few."
Slap!
"Good catch. Don't close your eyes, though.
Slap! "Whoa! A little wild, but OK. Here's another.
Slap! "How's school coming?"
"Okay, I guess."
Slap! "Jake and you study together a lot?"
Slap! "Sometimes."
Slap! "Mmm, smell that leather oil when you make a good catch. Always makes me think of Jake. Know what I mean?"
"Yes."
Slap! "Where's Jake, Nog?"
Nog throws down the glove. "He's DEAD, okay?! Dead!"
"Kira, Odo, Dax - O'Brien, meet Lt. Primmin of Starfleet Security - here's the situation: the Ferengi boy Nog reports witnessing my son disintegrated by a new and unknown Cardassian weapon in one of the off-limits sectors of the station. He smuggled th Primmin: "My condolences on the loss of your son, but let me suggest that it may be in the best interests of the Federation's security to let this transaction go through without the Cardassians knowing that we ever learned about it, and get the thing o "Thank you for your condolence, but I haven't accepted that my son is dead. We have to make a thorough examination of what this item is and does in order to find out exactly what happened. Chief O'Brien...."
"With respect Sir, that's exactly what we can't afford to do. If this is a new Cardassian technology, it's a state secret which we have to respect."
Odo: "That's a strange attitude for an intelligence agent."
"Commander Sisko, I know you want to do right, but you know the political situation here. It's incredibly volatile. Bajor is at the outermost pickets of the Federation's territory, but it's near the breast of some of Cardassia's most vital interests. "That's what I'm here for. For every formal protocol of a treaty there are a thousand unwritten ones. If the Cardassians get the impression that we're combing the wreckage of this station for military secrets, they'll go ballistic. I think your son, r Kira: "I don't agree, Commander. If the Cardassians go back to war, it won't be for rational reasons. We'd be fools not to exploit every advantage that comes our way."
Sisko folds his hands before him, then unfolds them, then folds them again. He scans each face at the table, lingers at the end on Dax's eyes. He brushes back his almost nonexistent hair.
"Alright, here it is. Cardassia is a long way away. Earth is even farther. I don't give a damn about war, I don't give a damn about military advantage. This station is my command, and I am responsible for it and everything on it. It is my responsibili "Commander, that's unbelievably reckless."
"That's command, Primmin, what I've been trained and tempered for. O'Brien, you will go into my office, take the object and subject it to a complete analysis."
"Yes, Sir."
"Odo, you will apprehend Garek and quarantine him. We will attempt to learn what the Cardassians know and prevent them from learning anything more."
Odo dips his head in his gesture of submission. "Computer, locate the Cardassian civilian Garek."
"Garak is not aboard the station."
"Where is he?"
"Ship manifest records indicate he was on the 0800 passenger liner headed for the Malenka sector."
"Bloody Hell. Well Primmin, welcome to Deep Shit Nine."
"No? What do you mean, no?"
"I mean, I love you Ben, but I don't want to marry you."
"But Jennifer, I love you too, more than I've ever loved anything in my life. It seems to me that when two people love each other getting married is the obvious thing to do."
"Oh Ben. If I were interested in marriage, I might marry you. But it would be a dull world if the only thing worth committing yourself to was another person. I'm an artist, Ben. You said that's one of the things that attracted you to me. But you have t "And you prefer to dedicate your life to making pots?"
"You make it sound like they're just holders for bean dip. You know better. Look at this Japanese piece. It has *wabi*, the wildness of the struggle for existence. It's bowl is bits of flimsy something trying to keep a purchase on the nothing it surrou "How can you negotiate the terms of your existence with the universe when you've never been off Earth? Come with me, I'll acquaint you with the universe. You can't imagine the adventure..."
"Ben, let's be realistic. In the year since I've met you, we've really hardly seen each other. You can only get a furlough every few months. The correspondence we've had has been wonderful, but I hardly think we're ready to get married. What do we real "You can take me to dinner later if you want. But right now I've got to teach my class. I'll see you later."
Ben Sisko clutches the tiny box containing the ring. He sits on a bench and hangs his head low. He stares at the ochre color of his jumpsuit sleeves and feels real despair.
"Excuse me, Mr. Sisko?"
"Hmm...uh, what?"
"Sorry, Sir. I'm Alan Ruck, I'm in Miss Jennifer's pottery class. I was hoping to talk with you because, well, you're the only Starfleet officer I know. Do you have a minute?"
"Sure. Sure, I guess I do have a minute."
"See Sir, I want to apply to Starfleet Academy. But my parents don't want me to go into the service, and the Academy says I have to get their permission before my application is considered. I was hoping you could give me some advice, and maybe talk to "Yeah, well, I've got news for you kid...."
"Jennifer keeps saying everyone has the right to follow their own path. I figured you feel the same way, being her boyfriend and all."
"Did she tell you to come talk to me?"
"No, I haven't mentioned this to her yet."
"In that case, come here. Yes, okay. I have a plan. If you really want to get into the Academy, you'll do what I say. Now...listen carefully - here's what I want you to do."
Ben learns that despair is just hope with bad lighting.
"Is there any change in the sensor readings?"
Kira: "No Commander, the unidentified ship is still heading straight toward us at high warp."
"Chief, we're running out of time. What do you have for me?"
"I think I understand what the device does, Sir. But I won't know for sure until I activate it. If I'm right, you get your son back. If I'm wrong, he's either already dead or we kill him here. I wanted to wait for your go-ahead before I tried anything. "If you haven't figured this thing out, we may all be dead shortly anyway. Do it."
"Aye, Sir." O'Brien picks the device up from the cart parked by his station, fingers its controls, and with the concentration of a Rubik's Cube master, twists.
A faint blit of light, and Jake appears on the deck.
"Whoa! That light's bright. Hi guys! Is this Ops? How'd I get here?"
"Jake, boy! How are you?"
"Oof. I'm fine, Dad. Boy, I'm hungry. Did I miss dinner?"
"Doctor..."
"Let me have a look at you, Jake."
"Dad, what's going on?"
"You've been missing for the last two days. We're just now figuring out what happened ourselves. O'Brien, can you tell us exactly where he's been?"
"It's fascinating, Sir. As you know, the idea of the “pocket transporter,' a portable device that you can carry around with you, is science fiction. All our science tells us that you have to have annular confinement field rings completely outside and i Sisko: "The Cardassians have invented a pocket transporter? That's incredible... they're a generation behind us in scientific advancement."
Dax: "Cultures don't always progress scientifically in a parallel manner. The Coridan people had a mature warp field theory before they'd even invented internal combustion."
"It's not a transporter, Sir. It's just a first step. There's still no way to translate the confinement field anywhere."
Kira: "So you're just stuck floating in subspace? Why would the Cardassians have an infant, non-functional technology aboard this space station? And why would they leave it behind?"
Dax: "They probably thought they'd destroyed it, or lost track of it in the destruction they wreaked when moving out. Even as it is it could have great military value. With no outside sustaining apparatus, the field and everything in it would be comple O'Brien: "Yes, and untouchable to boot. You could take your prefix codes and a dataPADD with you, and your opponent could never completely knock out your command and control, no matter how much damage you took."
"You're in fine shape, my boy, just dehydrated and low in blood sugar. This injection will help until you can get a decent meal into you. Sir, as near as I can tell, Jake has spent the last two days in nearly total sensory deprivation. He probably lost "Extended daydreaming would be nothing new for him."
"Dad..."
"Son, we're having some difficulties here. I want you to go to our quarters and stay there until you hear from me."
"Oh, alright."
"Status on the incoming object."
Dax: "Unchanged. Entering the Bajoran system at Warp Seven. Still no response to hails."
"This is sovereign Bajoran Space Station Federation Designation Deep Space Nine. I am Commander Benjamin Sisko, Starfleet administration chief. You are entering Bajoran space. Identify yourself and state your destination."
Dax: "No response. They'll be here in minutes."
Kira: "There's no sense trying to talk to them. You know who they are. We're on killing ground now."
"Any response from our distress signals?"
Dax: "The Wei-lin is on its way, but it's a day out."
"Uh, it looks like I'd better get to the Infirmary."
"Stay here, Doctor."
"Decoding transponder signal now. It's listed as a privateer, not officially part of the Cardassian fleet. Commanded by a Gul Kanaan."
Kira spits,"Kanaan..."
"Benjamin, it's headed directly for us, on an attack profile."
Primmin: "This is it; it's beginning. They're sending an unofficial agent to make the first strike and still preserve deniability...by destroying us they keep their technology out of Federation hands and remove our most strategic outpost."
Kira: "We have to start evacuation of the station, Commander. They're here to slaughter us."
"No! We need to stay focused. They have the advantage if we let the situation descend to chaos."
"You're looking for advantage? We're defenseless!"
"Forty thousand kilometers now. They're dropping out of warp."
"This is Commander Benjamin Sisko, speaking for the Government of Bajor. We demand..."
In two steps Kira is directly behind Sisko. She swings him around by the shoulder and lets loose with a roundhouse that drops him to the deck like a sack of potatoes.
She stabs the open comm button viciously. "Kanaan, you piece of shit! I recognized your stink. Finally found a target worthy of your abilities?"
Silence.
"How's your wife? Did she ever find her face after we blew it off? I was on the team that planted that bomb, you know. I still laugh when I think of your baby flying through the air like that."
"They're powering up their main phasers..."
"Come on! That's it! Do the job right! Blow me to hell! I've been waiting for it! Just make it a close pass so my *voorha* can hitch a ride and torture your dreams for the rest of your life!"
The comm receive light goes on. "Mr. Sisko. Curious you let your dogs use your radio. You Humans have the strangest eccentricities. Nevertheless, I thank you: I had considered this a distasteful errand. It is now a distinct pleasure."
"Phasers firing. Point blank range..."
"Keiko."
Kira punches another button on the console, just before she is rocked off her feet.
"Ben? Jennifer. Are you still talking to me?"
"Yes, Jen, I'm still talking to you."
"Good. I need your help on behalf of a friend. I hope you won't begrudge it."
"Please, Jennifer. I am an adult."
"One of my students has a personal problem that he's asked my advice about. He wants to get into Starfleet Academy, but his parents are blocking his way. I want to help him but I'm not sure how to do it."
"You want to help somebody get into Starfleet Academy?"
"He has the right to follow his dream, whatever it is, regardless of his age. It's in my interest to help him... without dreams an artist is out of business."
"Well, all I can do is advise him on application procedures."
"That's not the problem, Ben. We have to get his parents to assent."
"How on Earth are we supposed to do that? This is a bad week for me when it comes to persuasion."
"Ben, you're just not trying. We have to be able to come up with something. Use some creativity. Maybe you should come over and we can brainstorm. Besides, my mother wants to see you."
"Oh, alright. I can be there in half an hour."
"OK, “bye."
"“Bye."
After several phaser volleys, the Cardassian ship ceases its fruitless firing. Through the smoke and sprays of leaking coolant, Kira drags herself up and finds the comm open light still on.
"Kanaan, you slimy taspad! Firing blanks, are you? I knew you wouldn't have the carapace to pull this off. Why so limp?"
Silence.
"Kanaan, I'm going to come over there and wipe up your bridge with your ass! You'll be begging to lick my boots! I'm going to make you the woman you've always wanted to be!"
A roar, then the comm link light goes off.
"That's it! Somebody cracked a smile on his bridge... he'll reimpose discipline violently, if I know Cardassians. We have a few minutes."
Sisko is sitting on the floor, gingerly touching the bruise over his left eye. "We're still alive! Not to say I'm not delighted, but how did you manage it, Major?"
"Contrary to what you may think, Commander, the Cardassians don't build their warships for the purpose of destroying defenseless, immobile space stations run by pacifist Humans. They're designed for long-range engagements in deep space, against other w "They still should have been plenty powerful enough to rip the station apart."
"I executed a program that used the tractor warp field coils to project a sort of sub-space prism. But I had to draw them in as close as possible to give it a chance of working"
Dax: "Yes, the variations in the permittivity of free space caused by the fields would bend and dissipate the beams, like light going through a glass of water. A fascinating defense! You had this program all set in advance and ready to go?"
"Believe me, Lieutenant, I lay in bed nights dreaming of ways to humiliate the Cardassians. You haven't seen anything yet. Odo! Start evacuation of the station, NOW!"
"Belay that! Nobody's going anywhere. That ship is not just here to destroy the station: it's here to wipe us out, and make sure their device accompanies us to Hell. I won't allow our people to hang helpless out in space- the Cardassians would systemat "A few would make it- we owe it to the ones who will get through to try."
"That's not the plan."
"This is it, isn't it. I never thought you'd actually do it. I'd heard about the chances your kind has thrown away in the past, the horrors you've tolerated, but actually seeing you, working with you, I couldn't imagine that some sort of last-ditch sen Sisko grabs Kira's lapels and shakes her once, not hard, but with an authority that makes her drop her hold. "You listen. The only fight that matters is the one that's going on in our heads, mine and Kanaan's. The only battlefield we need concern ourse "You're insane. I never realized it until just this minute, but you're clearly insane."
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave Ops now, Major."
"Me? I'm the only reason we're not dead already. How can you possibly claim a right to call the shots here?"
"You wouldn't have been here if I hadn't picked you for my team. The fact that you saved us doesn't invalidate my leadership, it reaffirms it.
"Should I call security to remove her, Sir?"
"No, Chief. Security is Bajoran. They won't follow my order to remove her. She'll go. Or we really will all be dead."
"Oh, we are dead. But I'll go. Suddenly the idea of dying alongside you fills me with disgust."
"Doctor, come here. Look at this eye."
"Oh, yes. Quite a shiner.I can fix it right up, for what it's worth."
"No no no. I want you to make it worse."
"Come again?"
"Tear up my face. I want Kanaan to think I've been through hell. Hurry."
"Whatever you say, Sir."
"Just don't do anything you can't put back."
O'Brian: "Sir, their ship's systems are powering up again. It looks like they've been running diagnostics... probably ensuring there are no weapons malfunctions."
"Gul Kanaan, this is Sisko. We have to talk."
"Their weapons systems are coming on line."
"Kanaan, we have it. We have the object."
"Forward phaser array charging."
"We have the object- and we've made the obvious improvement."
"They're ready to fire."
"Kanaan, we're at war. If we have what I say we have it spells a decisive technological advantage for the Federation. If you destroy the station without verifying whether I'm telling the truth, your masters will hang you from the highest yardarm."
"Weapons systems static. They're hailing."
"Are you finished, Julian?"
"Yes. But I feel as though I'm in a Starfleet Medical training holo running in reverse."
"Visual."
"Commander Sisko at last. Where's your Bajoran dog?"
"Major Kira is dead. Good shooting."
"Your scorn is wasted on me, Commander. I'm still your executioner. You've only bought yourself a few minutes. Let me see it."
"See what?"
"Don't waste my time. I know the Starfleet reputation for trickery. I won't allow you to catch me unawares again. If this takes longer than a few minutes I'll destroy you summarily and take my chances with my superiors."
"Well now, I find myself in a curious predicament. The improvement we've made in your crude technology has such provocative implications that I may consider it worthwhile to sacrifice this station to keep it from falling into Cardassian hands. It certa "You bore me Sisko. I know full well that Starfleet values lives over tactical advantage. You won't let me kill thousands while you hold that thing in your hands. No, you'll hand it over graciously and thank me for the extra five minutes of life the ex "It's still in prototype form. You'd never be able to figure it out as it is. If you and your senior officers will board us, we'll give you a demonstration here."
"Don't treat me like a fool. I'm not giving you any opportunities for treachery."
"Very well then, I'll use it to beam over to your ship. If you'll drop your shields..."
"If we detect transport activity of any kind there I'll blow you to cinders instantly. I will give you instructions and you will follow them precisely- any deviation and we will terminate you."
"I have no choice but to assent. What are your instructions?"
"You will personally carry the device to me. You will not use any powered vehicle. Your crew will seal you into an empty probe or torpedo casing and eject you by atmospheric decompression into space. We will use our tractor beams to bring you on board. "I agree."
"No! If we put him in a probe casing we'll have to fill it with a pure oxygen enviroment... it'll be agony on his wounds! For God's sake, can't you be civilized about this? What could we possibly do?"
"Easy, Doctor."
"Don't misunderstand me Sisko. I still intend to destroy your station. The only question is what are you willing to undergo to forestall me. I give you sixteen minutes."
"I'm on my way. Sisko out."
Bashir: "You can't be serious, Commander. You can't deliver yourselves to them- they'll murder you the second you hand it over."
"A high stakes bet always looks crazy. The chess master Alekhine said, “all gambits test badly in the laboratory.' You said you wanted to experience the frontier, Julian. Knowing when to play a gambit is exactly what life on the frontier is all about.
A door chime.
"What?!"
"Nerys, can I come in?"
"Come in, go out. I can't believe you're still observing social niceties! The blade is on its way down to our necks."
Dax enters, holding a tray laden with little balls and cubes of food, Bajoran treats. "Does the idea of dying frighten you?"
"I've been living on borrowed time since I was a toddler. I'm surprised I made it this far. What are you doing here?"
Dax sits and puts the tray between them. To Kira's surprise, Dax doesn't offer her any of the snacks, but instead picks one up herself and munches on it absently. "I know how hard it is for you to be away from the center of the action. I just wanted to "Next move? This should be good. Exactly what is it?"
"Actually, I don't know."
"Good epitaph."
"If I were you I wouldn't be so quick to lay down. We may yet find a way out of this."
"Well, I suppose you're the expert in putting yourself in the place of another. But after your long life and experience, don't you want to go out with a little panache, instead of squirming?"
"To be honest, I don't really expect to be going out at all. In my time I've seen some pretty amazing things pulled off by Humans like Benjamin. I'm older than the Federation, after all. And at the beginning I have to tell you this whole Federation ide "Yes, surrendering at the first sign of trouble is unique."
"You know that's unfair. You're seeing only part of the picture. Let's see, how do I explain it? I remember reading about a certain Human philosophy when I was first trying to familiarize myself with their culture. It caught my eye because its Earth na "Basically, it teaches an alternative way of looking at conflict; not in terms of attack and defense, victory and defeat, but in terms of balance and imbalance. In order to attack someone, you have to reach out violently with intent to do harm, and tha "That's why all Starfleet ships have a standing order not to fire unless fired upon: not because we're goody two-shoes flower power types, but because letting an opponent make the first move insures the greatest chance of prevailing in an encounter. It' "Make no mistake, the process involves violence. Humans have always had an instinct for violence, nobody's better at it. They never lost it, they just overcame it by letting it evolve to a higher level. No race can achieve greatness if it loses touch w "Benjamin will find us a way out of this, Nerys. I taught him everything I know about harmony."
Kira is silent for a moment, then grabs the tray and pulls it to her side of the table. She stuffs a sweetmeat into her mouth and chews morosely.
"Dad, it's for you!"
"Who is it, Alan?"
"It's Granddad on audio from the Moon."
"Okay, I've got it. Hi, Pop, what's..."
"Marvin, you schmuck! What's this I hear about keeping Alan out of Starfleet Academy?"
"What? What?"
"You heard me!"
"Pop, he's my son, and I don't want him running around space. Only deranged people sign up for Starfleet... ever since the neighbors found out they've been sending over their condolences!"
"When are you going to let the boy grow up?"
"He can grow up on good old Terra Firma. There's nothing he needs that's not right here. People in Starfleet think they're missing something where they're born and spend their lives chasing dustballs. It's embarrassing!"
"Now listen here, Sonny Boy, a Starfleeter saved my life once. You wouldn't be here now if..."
"I know, I know, if Lt. Jimson hadn't pulled you out of that depressurizing airlock when you were a kid."
"Let's get this straight, son. I want great-grandchildren. And great-great-grandchildren! It's never going to happen if you keep Alan's balls in your top drawer with your socks. Don't you go and disappoint me by foundering the Ruck family genetic poten "Dad, you're clearly not in a mood to be rational. As usual. I'll talk to you later when you think you can afford to spring for a video signal to your own family."
"Marvin! I'm not finished with..."
Audio Link Broken appears on Ben's screen. Jennifer lets out her barely suppressed laughter, and the two exchange gleeful high signs.
"Boy, what a morning. Give me a triple synth-martini. Fresh olives today?"
"Right off this morning's shuttle from Macedonia. Get the once-over from the boss?"
"Nah. Chewed out by my old man. Can you believe it? What's the lunch special today?"
"Ah, imagine if you will... fresh off the replicator pad- succulent clams livornese. Cradled on a bed of nice chewy Napa cabbage, dripping with clam sauce rendered with a few precious centiliters of “22 Montrachet; and thanks to a crate of tomatoes tra "And garnish with a few sprigs of Arcturan basil."
"I beg your pardon?"
A beautiful chocolate brown girl swivels around on the next stool over. Her deep black pupils enfold the universe. "Arcturan basil. Have you ever bitten into a fresh sprig? Sucking that perfume through your teeth, it's a life-changing experience. It wa Marvin Ruck realizes that his arm is frozen midway up from the bar, the first sip aborted when she started to speak. He wills it back to life and plunks down his glass. "No, it's rare to find Arcturan basil on Earth. I don't frequent the markets that c "Yes, but everything grown here is meant for us. It's expected and welcomed by our taste buds. Even the most exotic fruits say “Earth' when you bite in. Now the swamp mushrooms of Rigel Three, there's no way your senses can anticipate the rush of ancie "I... I don't think I've ever seen those. What market do you get them at?"
"You can't get them at a market. A man brings them to me from outer space. He shows up at my door with strange gifts from different worlds, and I can't help but let him inside. I hope one day you'll be lucky enough to know someone who'll do you that ki If asked later, Marvin Ruck would swear he said, "“Bye" in response. But the bartender would in all honesty have to testify that all he did was mouth the word silently.
"London-San Francisco evening shuttle, now boarding."
"Ugh... skuze me... pardon... hurm... is this seat free?"
"Yes indeedy it is! Pull yourself up some real estate."
"Ooof! Thanks."
"Wow! You look like you spent the day getting whacked by sacks of spam."
"I just can't figure people out. Now you're a young fellow, uh..."
"Ben... Ben Urkel."
"Marvin. Do you have any desire at all to go into outer space?"
"You mean like an Alpha Centauri vacation cruise?"
"No, like way out. Uncharted space. Delta Quadrant."
"Delta Quadrant? Who'd want to go there? There's nothing out there but dust clouds!"
"What would you say to a friend who said he wanted to explore space?"
"I'd say one thing... four thousand satellite holovid channels. How could you leave that behind?"
"You find life here on Earth fulfilling, don't you?"
"Oh, heck yes! I've already worked my way up to fifth level sub-accountant to the undersecretary of vital records. And I can expect to make it to fourth level sub-accountant with several more years of hard work. Think of the responsibility! I already f "And you have other interests besides work, of course."
"Sure! I love to strap on my accordian and play for the family. We dance and laugh, and dance and sing- it fills my young heart with joy. Except..."
"Except what?"
"There is a black spot on my soul. An unrequited love. I've tried everything to win my beautiful Laura, but to no avail. Her heart seems immune to the romantic trill of the accordian. What is a man to do? Maybe if I made her jealous. Do you have a daug
"Torpedo casing secure in cargo bay."
"Detail, surround the casing and arm your weapons. At my command, release the seals. Gul Kanaan, we have instituted full security measures and stand ready to take custody of the device."
"Bring the Human and the device directly to me on the Bridge."
"Yes, Sir. Glin Tajor out. Release the seals and open the casing. Bring all weapons to bear."
The casing opens to reveal a pathetic-looking occupant, clutching his bandaged face and shivering in pain.
"Human, you are a prisoner of the Cardassian Empire. Get on your feet. Help him up."
The figure in the casing arrogantly shrugs off the hands that go to grab him and struggles to his feet under his own power, clutching the device.
"You are to be taken to the Bridge. Glin Beres, take custody of the Human's possession."
Glin Beres reaches for the object, the holder up and cuffs him on the jaw. The Cardassian reels back in shock at his presumption. Fingers tighten on weapons.
"You are reckless with your life, prisoner. Give over that thing now or we will incinerate you and take it from your ashes."
"My deal is with Gul Kanaan alone," the figure rasps, "and I will deliver it to him alone. You have no orders to take it from me."
"I am not a fool. We will give you no opportunity for trickery. Take it from him."
"Do you have any idea what power this represents? The man who holds it can take his pick of destinies. Your Gul will not suffer it to fall into any of his lackey's hands. Look around you. Which of these is your Gul's man? If you take this out of my han The guards studiously avoid Glin Tajor's gaze, redoubling their concentration along the barrels of their weapons.
"Detail, to the bridge, double time."
"Sisko at last. Helm, get up. Let him sit."
"I'll... I'll stand."
From the viewscreen behind him, Bashir says, "Commander Sisko! Did you make it all right?" He weakly waves for Bashir to stand at ease.
"Your last act, Sisko, will be to demonstrate the truth of your claim. You will transport yourself back to your station and leave the device behind."
"And then you'll leave peacefully?"
"And then we will destroy you, the first objective in the Second Cardassian-Federation War."
"Let it be recorded that my last act as Commander is to preserve life, if only for a few more moments."
"Do it. Now."
He dips his head in a gesture of submission, clutches the instrument, and twists the appropriate controls.
A whine grows along with a point of piercing bright light. The light becomes blinding and the whine deafening, and the human figure within dissolves. The instrument hovers and twists for a moment in mid-air, then drops to the deck.
"Kanaan." Sisko steps into the viewscreen field, barely standing with the aid of a console. Bashir rushes up to examine his dressings; Sisko pushes him away.
Kanaan rushes forward and scoops up the instrument in triumph, drawing and brandishing his sidearm. He waves his helmsman away from his station and mans the weapons console himself. "Your actions will be honored, Sisko. When you're dead you'll be procl "Kanaan, wait."
"Nothing will save you now, Human.Welcome your new place in history."
"Don't fire your phasers. The consequences could be disastrous."
"Of course, of course. Goodbye, Sisko." He raises his finger above the weapons console.
"Kanaan, do you know what... corbomite... is?"
"What is it?" The phaser arm light goes on.
"It's a rare gaseous element we discovered in the Gamma Quadrant. It has the effect of draining concentrated power sources, like phaser batteries. I clandestinely released a vial of it while I was on your ship. Your phasers are useless."
Kanaan ignores him. His finger traverses the six inches to the fire button, and presses.
Nothing.
Kanaan's face explodes in disbelief and rage. He stabs the fire button over and over.
"Now Gul Kanaan, we'll discuss the terms of your withdrawal from Bajoran space."
Kanaan is in a frenzy, bashing on the helm console and screaming at his crew.
" Kanaan, listen to me!"
Sisko sees an explosion at the rear of the Cardassian bridge. Gul Kanaan looks behind him at the shower of sparks. Rendered dumb by fury, he turns to the viewscreen and shakes his fist at Sisko, just as another explosion terminates the video link.
"Odo, no! Get the ship back on."
"Sorry, Sir. Signal cut off at the source."
"Exterior view."
"External sensors inoperative."
Sisko slams down his fist. He runs out of Ops to the nearest corridor with a porthole facing the ship. Dax follows him.
Out the porthole, the ship appears, listing in space. A plume of smoke and flame jets out from its bridge. "Damn! Now how are we supposed to retrieve you, Odo?"
"The damage appears confined to the command center. The ship is immobilized but intact. But everyone on the bridge is probably dead."
"My solution to the problem was imperfect, Old Man. No one was supposed to be killed. I'm sorry... it seems I haven't yet mastered the way of harmony."
"Tractor beam disengaged. Airlock pressurized."
Sisko opens the airlock hatch. Inside is a perfect silver sphere, barely fitting within the airlock. "Odo. Odo, it's okay now. You're back in the station. Odo?"
"I've known Odo a long time, Commander. I've never seen him like this."
"Have you ever known him to float free in space like that?"
"No. Could it be some kind of survival mechanism?"
"There's no way to know. Can you think of some way to reach him?"
"On Bajor if someone was dazed or disoriented, we'd just give his *pa* a touch to bring him back to earth. But I don't even know if Odo has a *pa*."
"It's worth a try."
"Hmm. An earlobe would've been a help." Kira stretches out her arms and puts her palms flat on the sphere's surface. The silver skin shivers, and Kira jumps back.
"Good work."
"I'm not sure I did anything."
Odo coalesces back into his familiar form, flat on his face on the deck. Sisko and Kira help him to his feet; he politely but firmly shrugs off their grip and takes a step back toward the airlock porthole.
"Constable, are you injured?"
"I'm alright, Commander. I was just... mesmerized."
"By what?"
"Open space. The purity, the peace, the balance... the perfect justice of the physical laws that animate it. I felt quite at home."
"Speaking of justice, killing the Cardassian command crew was not the plan. I wanted this resolved without bloodshed."
"With all due respect, they were in violation of not only interstellar law, but Cardassian law as well. I acted well within my authority to stop them from harming innocent people. I couldn't have kept them immobilized indefinitely, and I certainly wasn
"Lt. Primmin, have you ever met a Cardassian face to face?"
"Well, no."
"Neither had I before I set foot on this station. If Odo had represented himself to me that day approximating the form of a Cardassian, especially with his face bandaged, I probably would have taken him at his word. Especially in a crisis situation. I "That's amazing! And you had that entire plan laid out when you asked me to duff over your face?"
"No, not at all. All I knew at that time was that he'd hurt me, and the more badly hurt I could make him think I was, the better my chances of catching him off balance. From that point on I just started improvising like hell."
Primmin: "The political repercussions will still be severe."
"True, but now the Cardassians know their breakthrough military secret is known to us, and that the only sample device in our possession was blown up. Stalemate. And with the militant factions humiliated by their inability to take out even our most vul
"So you see Commander Dax, that's how I got Jennifer to really fall in love with me. Alan called later that evening and told us that his father had given him permission to apply to the Academy. Jen was so exhilarated by the experience that I had to tea "Don't you dare tell her a thing."
"What?"
"Have you lost your mind? You did exactly what you had to do. All true lovers create their own world... It was a fantasy you gave her, not a lie. If you've really gotten her to fall in love with you, then there's no philosophy or moral system in the un "What am I doing here? What do you mean?"
"You Humans! Out in space! You're so charmingly blind to your own motivations. All great loves are born in common struggle... just look at Starfleet. Such a fantastic enterprise can only lead to fantastic loves. You're gluttons for love! No other race "So you're saying I shouldn't tell her anything?"
"You created a world of love. She's made a free choice to inhabit that world. To destroy it now would be unspeakably cruel. Think of it as a Prime Directive of the heart. Now what's that thing in your hand?"
"Oh, well, I finally got up the courage to finish my application to Command Graduate School. I think I'm really ready now. I need your signature on it."
"It's about time. Give it here. Of course you're ready. Nobody belongs in red more than you do. Time to get that awful green thing off your back."
"Dad! You're home! Is everything okay?"
"Yes, everything's fine. See out there? You can just see the Tellarian tug towing the Cardassian ship away."
"Oh, yeah."
"You have many years of homework in front of you. I need to take a load off. Ooooooooom."
"Dad, um, how would you feel about me going back Earth and going to a boarding school?"
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Oh, here's your glove. I worked on it while you were away."
"I'm serious, Dad. This was a little too intense for me. I don't see why I really need to be here. It doesn't seem like a good place for kids... maybe in a couple of years..."
"Not a good place for Human kids, but fine for Bajoran kids who don't have anywhere else to go?"
"That's not what I meant. I mean, well, I... I don't think Mom would want us to die in space the way she did. I think she'd be pretty mad if we let that happen to us."
"Don't leave me out. I'd be pretty ticked off myself. You can go back to Earth if you want to. But you're going to have to face dying, and your fear of dying, eventually, no matter where you are. In my experience, when death brushes close by you, you d "But you were thinking for a long time about just staying on Earth and retiring, weren't you?"
"Yes I was. I spent a lot of time thinking about Mom, and about when we fell in love. When you really fall in love with someone, you know it because the other person hands you the missing part of yourself. And for a long time I thought it would be an i "You can go live on Earth if you want. But Mom never regretted going into space with me. And the best part of her is in you."
"Now come along, let's go get a drink. Just wait till you see what I have planned for your bachelor party."
We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel;
But it is on the space where there is nothing that
the utility of the wheel depends.
We turn clay to make a vessel;
But it is on the space where there is nothing that
the utility of the vessel depends.
We pierce doors and windows to make a house;
and it is on these spaces where there is nothing that
the utility of the house depends.
Therefore, just as we take advantage of what is,
we should recognize the utility of what is not.
LAO TSE
ESSAY:
There is a certain set of themes that make Star Trek unique and make it much more interesting than standard space adventure. But it seems to me that those themes are being lost sight of more and more with so much Star Trek product coming out; and with sti In order to do this, its necessary to articulate those themes and be conscious of them. So to raise consciousness I've written down what I think are the essential themes of Star Trek. In my view, to the extent that a story embodies these ideas, it's St
Kobayashi Maru: Life is a no-win scenario. Death is inevitable. How you face that fact is a test of character. Your character is revealed in the passion and tenacity with which you fight to ensure survival, doing what you have to do to turn certain death In "Gambit," when the buccaneer captain gives the order to destroy a Starfleet science outpost, Picard has a plan ready to save them. When it falls through, he has another one to fall back on, and another still when that one fails. This was a KM test,
Enterprise: More than a ship, an idea. In one episode Picard questions to Troi the wisdom of having families and children on board. After all, he argues, the Enterprise is liable to be ordered into the Neutral Zone on a moment's notice, or any number of o Safety and danger, like everything else in the universe, are yin and yang, opposites which interpenetrate. It's a fundamental mistake to think you can find lasting safety by building walls and hiding behind them. Danger will find its way through, aroun Conversely, when faced with real peril, the only way to survive it is to realize that the key to safety lies at the heart of the danger, and you must find a way to plunge into it as deeply as you can. This is enterprise, Star Trek's key concept. If you Hence, "The Immunity Syndrome," "The Doomsday Machine," "Return To Tomorrow," "Obsession," "Spectre Of The Gun," "Time Squared," "Best Of Both Worlds," "Redemption," "A Matter Of Time," and practically every other episode to some degree. The single mos
Way of Harmony: This is the translation of *Aikido,* the name of the Japanese martial art. Aikido is unique in that it teaches no offensive moves. In its perspective, conflict is not viewed in terms of attack and defense, victory and defeat, but in terms This of course is the final revelation of the episode "Gambit;" the ancient Vulcan weapon is useless against those who take a nonviolent posture. It was also the secret to survival in "Arena" and "Spectre of the Gun." Time after time Kirk rejects the l Sisko also illustrates the point through his actions in "Armageddon Game." He's facing destruction in a virtually defenseless runabout from an alien ship that is far stronger and faster. He devises an escape that *exploits a weakness inherent in the ag
Personal Truth. This is likely the trickiest point to get across, but may bear the most fruit. In "The First Duty," Picard says that an officer's first duty is to the truth; scientific truth, historical truth, personal truth. In "The Drumhead," he says, " Later I realized that he was expressing the gnostic viewpoint. "Gnostic" is a term used to describe a variety of religious sects and beliefs from ancient Egypt through the Middle Ages. But I mean it to describe a world view shared by all these groups; The opposite of this view might be called the "authoritarian" viewpoint. An authoritarian, by contrast, believes that the individual's first allegiance is to the state, and a small group of experts has the right to decide what is right and restrict ac Gnostic undercurrents have survived to the present day to influence western civilization, and have given western society (which is, like all civilizations, primarily authoritarian) much of its unique character. Trial by jury is a completely gnostic ide What does this have to do with Star Trek? Well, dedication to truth is an essential theme of Star Trek, but in order to really understand how that works dramatically it's important to understand how dedication to truth can be an expression of a communi Many of the differences between our society and what we see of the 24th century make sense if we presuppose this new Age. Starfleet is obviously an authoritarian organization, but it is dedicated to upholding gnostic values; truth, scientific knowledge When Picard, in "Measure of a Man," argued that Data must have the freedom to discover for himself whether or not he has a soul, he perfectly summed up the gnostic philosophy, and its motivating consequences in the universe of Star Trek. The fact that
Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations: The glory of creation lies in its infinite diversity, and in the ways our differences combine to create meaning and beauty.
These themes are Star Trek for me, and a good story is one that explores one or more of them. Each one sets the stage for debate on how to improve the circumstances of human existence. This debate to me is what makes Star Trek unique. None of these themes
"A man either lives his life as it happens to him; meets it head on and licks it, or he begins to wither away and die"
-Dr. Phillip Boyce, *The Cage*
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
THE WAY OF HARMONY
Cold and dark, but oh, so much fun.
"Here it is- my hideout."
"Oh, wow, cool... I- ouch..."
"Watch it."
"How'd you find a way in here? This whole deck has been sealed off since the Cardassians left."
"Ah, but remember I've been here since way before that. I had the access ducts and vents figured out through the whole station. I used to come down here when it was a communications relay room. My uncle would pay me to eavesdrop sometimes."
"Give me a hand down. When my father saw how badly the Cardassians wrecked these lower decks he decided they weren't worth repairing, and just sealed them off."
"He overlooked one way in. As long as he doesn't know about it, it's our secret. Swear to keep it?"
"Swear."
"Okay! I'm glad you're here. I've been needing some help."
"Help doing what?"
"Smashing things!" Nog picks up a loose circuit module box and heaves it past Jake. Optical chips shatter satisfyingly as it hits the wall and pour in bits out of the box.
Jake giggles, picks up a heavy piece of duranium-composite concrete, and drops it on a sophisticated-looking flat panel display laying on the floor, exploding it merrily and crushing the casing.
An hour later. Boys at play.
"TIE fighters at two o'clock! Hard about!" Jake is sitting at the remains of a control station, wearing tattered gloves and belt from a Cardassian uniform, shoving a joystick back and forth.
"RRRROOOWWWR! Just missed! One stealth drone will take care of them all." Nog sits beside him, similarly dressed, the cracked casing of a disruptor jammed in his belt.
"Drone away! Multiple targets locked on."
"One got through-- what now, Commander?"
"Arm proton torpedoes..."
"Too late! Incoming!" He grabs a long metal bar and swings it near Jake's head, bashing in the display panel in front of him and showering him with glassine shards.
"Abandon ship! Man the escape pods!" He kicks Nog's stool out from under him, and both fall to the floor laughing.
Jake's arm hits a floor level panel, which pops open and disgorges a canteloupe-sized silver metal device, whirring and blinking.
"Hey! What's this?"
"It's still got power! I've never been able to find anything down here that still had any juice. Cardassian batteries are so cheap. No resale value."
"I wonder what it does?" The device is made up of several independently rotating sections, which Jake twists on their axis.
"Hmm... state-of-the-art Cardassian technology. I can't wait to bring it to school and show it. And then, the black market!"
"We should try to understand how it works first."
"Dont break it! Stop fooling with it! What if it's a weapon? We'll just make up something to tell people it does. That's why it's so great hanging out with you. You can come up with something so confusing that they'll never figure it out until we have "We should bring it to my Dad. It's pretty..." With a tiny flash of light, Jake blits out of existence. The device drops to the floor, still blinking and whirring.
"Jake! Jake!"
Suddenly it's nothing but cold and dark again. Nog grabs the device like an enemy. He becomes aware of the lonely weight of the space and silence around him, and begins to cry.
U.S.S. Enterprise. Captain's Log: Stardate 34804.4; Captain Xander Coerforam recording. The probe we encountered three hours ago while enroute to Outpost 23 still appears to be of completely alien origin. We have been unable to translate or even parame
Captain Coerforam swings in his chair to the bridge science station. "Number One, status report."
"Sir, the signal is completely alien. It does not correspond to any known Romulan code or encryption, or resemble anything encountered before."
"Is the signal repeating?"
"It hasn't in the past three hours."
Coerforam kneads his chin, perhaps a few moments too long. "We can't let ourselves be led off the mark here. It might be coincidence that we find this thing so close to the Neutral Zone; or it may be a decoy. In either case we have to rededicate our se "I remind the Captain that one of our primary missions is scientific discovery. Whatever the probe is, I believe the wisest course is complete investigation of it."
"Continue your analysis, Commander."
"Aye, Sir...but we may not have long, regardless."
"What do you mean?"
"The probe's power source is showing signs of instability. Signal coherence is breaking up. The decision to fully analyze it may soon be taken out of our hands."
"Helm, move us back to 500 kilometers from the object. I don't want to be caught in a catastrophic failure. Don't raise shields until I signal. Sisko, how long do we have?"
"Maybe minutes, maybe hours."
"Assume minutes. I don't want to come out of this empty-handed, Ben. Come up with something."
"I will, Sir. Alright, team, one more time. What haven't we tried?"
Science Officer: "I'm out of ideas, Commander. We've gone through the whole book on this one. None of the Universal Translator precode templates gave us anything but noise ."
"There's got to be a way to extract meaning out of this signal. I want you to configure the sensors in a fast fourier transform array, across the entire frequency range. Rotate each frequency channel independently in phase space and give me every meani "Calculating. No intelligible result."
"Damn! Okay, forget discrete channels. We need more resolution. I want a continuously differentiated analysis distribution curve."
"The computer's not set up for that. I don't know if it's been tried before in the field. It'll take a few minutes to set up."
"We don't have a few minutes. The probe is building up a power surge. Guess the curve shape and trace it in by hand. Quickly, man."
Science Officer: "I'm on it."
Helm: "Probe detonation imminent."
Captain: "Raise shields."
Sisko: "Not yet! I'm tying in a subspace attenuation filter."
Captain: "Anything?"
Sisko: "No! What is this thing?"
Captain: "Time to wrap this up. We're needed elsewhere. Helm, raise shields. Sorry, Ben."
Helm: "Shields up. Main sensors offline."
The viewscreen fills with a blinding flash, and Ben Sisko gets an unaccustomed taste of disappointment.
"So, how do you think I did? Honest. Give me the chicken salad."
"As well as any of your other command exercises. I'll take the pilaf."
"I don't know. I have a feeling it was more than a routine command exercise."
"Nothing out of the ordinary happened- except that probe. But that was a complete dead end, believe me. I did everything but go out to it with a can opener. I think they just wanted to see how long you'd allocate time to the problem and when you'd cut "There was something out of square in the set-up. The way they let me pick all my own bridge crew, gave me extra time to prepare. When we went into the simulator the proctors were looking at me strangely, like they were expecting something special. Do "Why on Earth would you say that?"
"They don't always use the same scenario for the test. You never know when it will come or what form it will take. I've heard some officers say it took them years after graduation to figure out exactly what it was."
"It would have to be the blandest KM test I've ever heard of."
"Well, you know what they say; you have to find the plate before you can take your turn at bat. There might have been some whole dimension to the test I completely missed."
"Now you're being paranoid. There's no way Xander Coerforam would get lost on the way to a challenge. Besides, isn't sophomore year a little early to face the test?"
"Sophomore year is ending, and we have to choose our career specialty paths."
"We've already said we wanted command, one hundred percent of the way. You're not shagging out on me, are you?"
"No, of course not. I... look, here comes Lt. Chang."
"As you were, cadets. Please, sit down. Eat. I just wanted to tell you, Mr. Coerforam, you were graded well in your latest exercise."
"I'm glad to hear it, Sir."
"You attracted attention as well, Mr. Sisko. Some of the moves you made trying to decode that signal were very clever. You have a talent for scientific thinking. Tell me, did you think of trying a multi-modal sort of the signal across the subspace doma "Well, Sir, a multi-modal sort wouldn't have told us anything about the actual signal, just the carrier wave. I agree that's part of a thorough analysis, but we didn't have the time for that. I decided that finding intelligent content was the top prior "A sound assessment. Have you considered the science career specialty? They need innovative thinkers who can take initiative as much as the red suits."
"Sorry Sir, but I'm foursquare for command. It's what I've wanted all my life."
"Excellent! I look forward to working with you both next semester. The juniors tell me that multi-modal statistics is one of their hardest courses. You might want to bone up on it in advance during your summer break."
"We will, Sir. Count on it."
"Very good. Carry on."
"Wow! What was that? Officers almost never sit with underclassmen in common areas."
"See, I told you all was well. He's taking us under his wing, giving us advice- he wants to be our mentor."
"I guess you're right. But everything Lt. Chang says is like a zen puzzle. You're never sure what he really means."
"Would you relax? We'll be among the stars before you know it, friend."
Alright. Multi-modal sorting. If I pull an all-nighter I should be able to get the computer to teach me enough to do an analysis on that probe's signal. Xander was right, you can't get Chang's words out of your head. Besides, I want to have an intellig Hours of work. Ah, here we go. A power curve profile. Let's see. Anything interesting at all?
Hello, what's this? A shifting resonance pattern. That's interesting. The probe seems to have been trying to get a frequency phase lock with our sensor beam. A neat clue to their technology. Maybe Memory Beta will have records of a culture that used th And here's where it got the lock. Hmm, same time it started showing instability in it's power source. Coincidence? Or something more? We shall learn all. Maybe it couldn't handle the extra resonant power influx. Yes, here we go. The resonant power buil Oh, no. I blew up the probe. I got so caught up in the theoretical puzzle that I lost sight of the fact that it was a real object, and fried it. I fought the wrong battle and lost the war.
I was so sure I could crack that code, so sure that was the only important thing. I should have realized in the first twenty minutes that the signal was indecipherable and started looking for other approaches, but I was too full of myself. Stopping a r Stupid! Stupid! A commander is responsible for everything: just because MM stats is a junior-level course is no excuse...a commander has to have the resources to bring whatever is needed to a situation... it's his job to find the real battlefield and n It wasn't Xander's Kobayashi Maru test: it was yours! Yours, Ben Sisko, yours!
"Oh, no!" Ben grips his head in his big hands and cries in anguish.
Station Log: Stardate 46601.7. My son has been missing for two days. Constable Odo has conducted several searches of the station; repeated sensor scans for his life signs have turned up nothing. Chief O'Brien, who has just returned from Earth, checked all
"Commander Sisko, this is Quark."
"Yes, Quark, what is it?"
"I have something I need to discuss with you. In private."
"Come to my office. I can only give you a few minutes."
"It might be better if you came down to the canteen."
"I'm very busy right now, Quark. I can't get free just now..."
"It's a matter of the utmost personal concern for you, Commander. I really think you ought to come down. Now."
"I'm on my way... Kira, you have Ops. I'm going to get a drink."
"Alright, Quark. what is it?"
"Rom, get in here and draw the curtain. Now tell the Commander what you were telling me."
"You are looking very well, Commander. Do...do you find your drink satisfactory?"
"Rom!"
"Alright! My boy is a good boy, you know, Commander. Sometimes subject to high spirits, but you know what it's like to be a father to a young boy."
"Rom, I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me what you brought me down here for."
"For the past two days Nog has been moping about our quarters. He's hardly eaten- hardly said anything, although even normally far be it for him to have a conversation with his own old man. Why, I..."
"Stick to the subject, brother."
"Quark, we've already asked Nog several times if he knew anything about Jake's whereabouts, and he said he had no idea. Are you withholding something? Do you expect some kind of ransom or reward?"
Quark: "Not this time, Commander, though I wouldn't want to say I was above it. This time I have all our interests in mind. You see, Nog came home in better spirits today, and he was wearing...a new set of clothes."
"Is there supposed to be something sinister in that?"
"Commander, like every Ferengi father, I've tried to raise my boy right. Give him standards; pass down some wisdom. We tell our children, when you're suffering from a guilty conscience, whistle a happy tune and try to find a way to profit from what you "We have another saying: you covet what's under your eyes. Now Nog wouldn't ordinarily buy himself new clothes with a fresh batch of cash, unless he were in a clothing shop. I know the smell of the other dealers on this station, and I know that Cardass "That's all we know, Sisko. Fair warning. I'm just acting to protect my own skin. I certainly wouldn't want to be in yours."
"Thanks for coming over, Nog."
"What did you want, Mr. Sisko? Is there any news about Jake?"
"No, but I'm sure he'll turn up. He's a pretty tough kid. I was just wondering if you'd do me a favor until he gets back."
"What?"
"This is his baseball glove. It's made of what we call cowhide, something that used to be made from animal skin. It's got to be used every day to maintain its suppleness and its shape, or it'll get stiff and hard to play with. It can take months to bre "Well, why don't you do it?"
"My hand is too big. See, here's my glove. You're just the right size. Will you do it for me?"
"S...sure."
"Let's toss a couple around; I'll show you how it's done. My wife would never let Jake and me throw the ball in the house, but I think now we can get away with a few."
Slap!
"Good catch. Don't close your eyes, though.
Slap! "Whoa! A little wild, but OK. Here's another.
Slap! "How's school coming?"
"Okay, I guess."
Slap! "Jake and you study together a lot?"
Slap! "Sometimes."
Slap! "Mmm, smell that leather oil when you make a good catch. Always makes me think of Jake. Know what I mean?"
"Yes."
Slap! "Where's Jake, Nog?"
Nog throws down the glove. "He's DEAD, okay?! Dead!"
"Kira, Odo, Dax - O'Brien, meet Lt. Primmin of Starfleet Security - here's the situation: the Ferengi boy Nog reports witnessing my son disintegrated by a new and unknown Cardassian weapon in one of the off-limits sectors of the station. He smuggled th Primmin: "My condolences on the loss of your son, but let me suggest that it may be in the best interests of the Federation's security to let this transaction go through without the Cardassians knowing that we ever learned about it, and get the thing o "Thank you for your condolence, but I haven't accepted that my son is dead. We have to make a thorough examination of what this item is and does in order to find out exactly what happened. Chief O'Brien...."
"With respect Sir, that's exactly what we can't afford to do. If this is a new Cardassian technology, it's a state secret which we have to respect."
Odo: "That's a strange attitude for an intelligence agent."
"Commander Sisko, I know you want to do right, but you know the political situation here. It's incredibly volatile. Bajor is at the outermost pickets of the Federation's territory, but it's near the breast of some of Cardassia's most vital interests. "That's what I'm here for. For every formal protocol of a treaty there are a thousand unwritten ones. If the Cardassians get the impression that we're combing the wreckage of this station for military secrets, they'll go ballistic. I think your son, r Kira: "I don't agree, Commander. If the Cardassians go back to war, it won't be for rational reasons. We'd be fools not to exploit every advantage that comes our way."
Sisko folds his hands before him, then unfolds them, then folds them again. He scans each face at the table, lingers at the end on Dax's eyes. He brushes back his almost nonexistent hair.
"Alright, here it is. Cardassia is a long way away. Earth is even farther. I don't give a damn about war, I don't give a damn about military advantage. This station is my command, and I am responsible for it and everything on it. It is my responsibili "Commander, that's unbelievably reckless."
"That's command, Primmin, what I've been trained and tempered for. O'Brien, you will go into my office, take the object and subject it to a complete analysis."
"Yes, Sir."
"Odo, you will apprehend Garek and quarantine him. We will attempt to learn what the Cardassians know and prevent them from learning anything more."
Odo dips his head in his gesture of submission. "Computer, locate the Cardassian civilian Garek."
"Garak is not aboard the station."
"Where is he?"
"Ship manifest records indicate he was on the 0800 passenger liner headed for the Malenka sector."
"Bloody Hell. Well Primmin, welcome to Deep Shit Nine."
"No? What do you mean, no?"
"I mean, I love you Ben, but I don't want to marry you."
"But Jennifer, I love you too, more than I've ever loved anything in my life. It seems to me that when two people love each other getting married is the obvious thing to do."
"Oh Ben. If I were interested in marriage, I might marry you. But it would be a dull world if the only thing worth committing yourself to was another person. I'm an artist, Ben. You said that's one of the things that attracted you to me. But you have t "And you prefer to dedicate your life to making pots?"
"You make it sound like they're just holders for bean dip. You know better. Look at this Japanese piece. It has *wabi*, the wildness of the struggle for existence. It's bowl is bits of flimsy something trying to keep a purchase on the nothing it surrou "How can you negotiate the terms of your existence with the universe when you've never been off Earth? Come with me, I'll acquaint you with the universe. You can't imagine the adventure..."
"Ben, let's be realistic. In the year since I've met you, we've really hardly seen each other. You can only get a furlough every few months. The correspondence we've had has been wonderful, but I hardly think we're ready to get married. What do we real "You can take me to dinner later if you want. But right now I've got to teach my class. I'll see you later."
Ben Sisko clutches the tiny box containing the ring. He sits on a bench and hangs his head low. He stares at the ochre color of his jumpsuit sleeves and feels real despair.
"Excuse me, Mr. Sisko?"
"Hmm...uh, what?"
"Sorry, Sir. I'm Alan Ruck, I'm in Miss Jennifer's pottery class. I was hoping to talk with you because, well, you're the only Starfleet officer I know. Do you have a minute?"
"Sure. Sure, I guess I do have a minute."
"See Sir, I want to apply to Starfleet Academy. But my parents don't want me to go into the service, and the Academy says I have to get their permission before my application is considered. I was hoping you could give me some advice, and maybe talk to "Yeah, well, I've got news for you kid...."
"Jennifer keeps saying everyone has the right to follow their own path. I figured you feel the same way, being her boyfriend and all."
"Did she tell you to come talk to me?"
"No, I haven't mentioned this to her yet."
"In that case, come here. Yes, okay. I have a plan. If you really want to get into the Academy, you'll do what I say. Now...listen carefully - here's what I want you to do."
Ben learns that despair is just hope with bad lighting.
"Is there any change in the sensor readings?"
Kira: "No Commander, the unidentified ship is still heading straight toward us at high warp."
"Chief, we're running out of time. What do you have for me?"
"I think I understand what the device does, Sir. But I won't know for sure until I activate it. If I'm right, you get your son back. If I'm wrong, he's either already dead or we kill him here. I wanted to wait for your go-ahead before I tried anything. "If you haven't figured this thing out, we may all be dead shortly anyway. Do it."
"Aye, Sir." O'Brien picks the device up from the cart parked by his station, fingers its controls, and with the concentration of a Rubik's Cube master, twists.
A faint blit of light, and Jake appears on the deck.
"Whoa! That light's bright. Hi guys! Is this Ops? How'd I get here?"
"Jake, boy! How are you?"
"Oof. I'm fine, Dad. Boy, I'm hungry. Did I miss dinner?"
"Doctor..."
"Let me have a look at you, Jake."
"Dad, what's going on?"
"You've been missing for the last two days. We're just now figuring out what happened ourselves. O'Brien, can you tell us exactly where he's been?"
"It's fascinating, Sir. As you know, the idea of the “pocket transporter,' a portable device that you can carry around with you, is science fiction. All our science tells us that you have to have annular confinement field rings completely outside and i Sisko: "The Cardassians have invented a pocket transporter? That's incredible... they're a generation behind us in scientific advancement."
Dax: "Cultures don't always progress scientifically in a parallel manner. The Coridan people had a mature warp field theory before they'd even invented internal combustion."
"It's not a transporter, Sir. It's just a first step. There's still no way to translate the confinement field anywhere."
Kira: "So you're just stuck floating in subspace? Why would the Cardassians have an infant, non-functional technology aboard this space station? And why would they leave it behind?"
Dax: "They probably thought they'd destroyed it, or lost track of it in the destruction they wreaked when moving out. Even as it is it could have great military value. With no outside sustaining apparatus, the field and everything in it would be comple O'Brien: "Yes, and untouchable to boot. You could take your prefix codes and a dataPADD with you, and your opponent could never completely knock out your command and control, no matter how much damage you took."
"You're in fine shape, my boy, just dehydrated and low in blood sugar. This injection will help until you can get a decent meal into you. Sir, as near as I can tell, Jake has spent the last two days in nearly total sensory deprivation. He probably lost "Extended daydreaming would be nothing new for him."
"Dad..."
"Son, we're having some difficulties here. I want you to go to our quarters and stay there until you hear from me."
"Oh, alright."
"Status on the incoming object."
Dax: "Unchanged. Entering the Bajoran system at Warp Seven. Still no response to hails."
"This is sovereign Bajoran Space Station Federation Designation Deep Space Nine. I am Commander Benjamin Sisko, Starfleet administration chief. You are entering Bajoran space. Identify yourself and state your destination."
Dax: "No response. They'll be here in minutes."
Kira: "There's no sense trying to talk to them. You know who they are. We're on killing ground now."
"Any response from our distress signals?"
Dax: "The Wei-lin is on its way, but it's a day out."
"Uh, it looks like I'd better get to the Infirmary."
"Stay here, Doctor."
"Decoding transponder signal now. It's listed as a privateer, not officially part of the Cardassian fleet. Commanded by a Gul Kanaan."
Kira spits,"Kanaan..."
"Benjamin, it's headed directly for us, on an attack profile."
Primmin: "This is it; it's beginning. They're sending an unofficial agent to make the first strike and still preserve deniability...by destroying us they keep their technology out of Federation hands and remove our most strategic outpost."
Kira: "We have to start evacuation of the station, Commander. They're here to slaughter us."
"No! We need to stay focused. They have the advantage if we let the situation descend to chaos."
"You're looking for advantage? We're defenseless!"
"Forty thousand kilometers now. They're dropping out of warp."
"This is Commander Benjamin Sisko, speaking for the Government of Bajor. We demand..."
In two steps Kira is directly behind Sisko. She swings him around by the shoulder and lets loose with a roundhouse that drops him to the deck like a sack of potatoes.
She stabs the open comm button viciously. "Kanaan, you piece of shit! I recognized your stink. Finally found a target worthy of your abilities?"
Silence.
"How's your wife? Did she ever find her face after we blew it off? I was on the team that planted that bomb, you know. I still laugh when I think of your baby flying through the air like that."
"They're powering up their main phasers..."
"Come on! That's it! Do the job right! Blow me to hell! I've been waiting for it! Just make it a close pass so my *voorha* can hitch a ride and torture your dreams for the rest of your life!"
The comm receive light goes on. "Mr. Sisko. Curious you let your dogs use your radio. You Humans have the strangest eccentricities. Nevertheless, I thank you: I had considered this a distasteful errand. It is now a distinct pleasure."
"Phasers firing. Point blank range..."
"Keiko."
Kira punches another button on the console, just before she is rocked off her feet.
"Ben? Jennifer. Are you still talking to me?"
"Yes, Jen, I'm still talking to you."
"Good. I need your help on behalf of a friend. I hope you won't begrudge it."
"Please, Jennifer. I am an adult."
"One of my students has a personal problem that he's asked my advice about. He wants to get into Starfleet Academy, but his parents are blocking his way. I want to help him but I'm not sure how to do it."
"You want to help somebody get into Starfleet Academy?"
"He has the right to follow his dream, whatever it is, regardless of his age. It's in my interest to help him... without dreams an artist is out of business."
"Well, all I can do is advise him on application procedures."
"That's not the problem, Ben. We have to get his parents to assent."
"How on Earth are we supposed to do that? This is a bad week for me when it comes to persuasion."
"Ben, you're just not trying. We have to be able to come up with something. Use some creativity. Maybe you should come over and we can brainstorm. Besides, my mother wants to see you."
"Oh, alright. I can be there in half an hour."
"OK, “bye."
"“Bye."
After several phaser volleys, the Cardassian ship ceases its fruitless firing. Through the smoke and sprays of leaking coolant, Kira drags herself up and finds the comm open light still on.
"Kanaan, you slimy taspad! Firing blanks, are you? I knew you wouldn't have the carapace to pull this off. Why so limp?"
Silence.
"Kanaan, I'm going to come over there and wipe up your bridge with your ass! You'll be begging to lick my boots! I'm going to make you the woman you've always wanted to be!"
A roar, then the comm link light goes off.
"That's it! Somebody cracked a smile on his bridge... he'll reimpose discipline violently, if I know Cardassians. We have a few minutes."
Sisko is sitting on the floor, gingerly touching the bruise over his left eye. "We're still alive! Not to say I'm not delighted, but how did you manage it, Major?"
"Contrary to what you may think, Commander, the Cardassians don't build their warships for the purpose of destroying defenseless, immobile space stations run by pacifist Humans. They're designed for long-range engagements in deep space, against other w "They still should have been plenty powerful enough to rip the station apart."
"I executed a program that used the tractor warp field coils to project a sort of sub-space prism. But I had to draw them in as close as possible to give it a chance of working"
Dax: "Yes, the variations in the permittivity of free space caused by the fields would bend and dissipate the beams, like light going through a glass of water. A fascinating defense! You had this program all set in advance and ready to go?"
"Believe me, Lieutenant, I lay in bed nights dreaming of ways to humiliate the Cardassians. You haven't seen anything yet. Odo! Start evacuation of the station, NOW!"
"Belay that! Nobody's going anywhere. That ship is not just here to destroy the station: it's here to wipe us out, and make sure their device accompanies us to Hell. I won't allow our people to hang helpless out in space- the Cardassians would systemat "A few would make it- we owe it to the ones who will get through to try."
"That's not the plan."
"This is it, isn't it. I never thought you'd actually do it. I'd heard about the chances your kind has thrown away in the past, the horrors you've tolerated, but actually seeing you, working with you, I couldn't imagine that some sort of last-ditch sen Sisko grabs Kira's lapels and shakes her once, not hard, but with an authority that makes her drop her hold. "You listen. The only fight that matters is the one that's going on in our heads, mine and Kanaan's. The only battlefield we need concern ourse "You're insane. I never realized it until just this minute, but you're clearly insane."
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave Ops now, Major."
"Me? I'm the only reason we're not dead already. How can you possibly claim a right to call the shots here?"
"You wouldn't have been here if I hadn't picked you for my team. The fact that you saved us doesn't invalidate my leadership, it reaffirms it.
"Should I call security to remove her, Sir?"
"No, Chief. Security is Bajoran. They won't follow my order to remove her. She'll go. Or we really will all be dead."
"Oh, we are dead. But I'll go. Suddenly the idea of dying alongside you fills me with disgust."
"Doctor, come here. Look at this eye."
"Oh, yes. Quite a shiner.I can fix it right up, for what it's worth."
"No no no. I want you to make it worse."
"Come again?"
"Tear up my face. I want Kanaan to think I've been through hell. Hurry."
"Whatever you say, Sir."
"Just don't do anything you can't put back."
O'Brian: "Sir, their ship's systems are powering up again. It looks like they've been running diagnostics... probably ensuring there are no weapons malfunctions."
"Gul Kanaan, this is Sisko. We have to talk."
"Their weapons systems are coming on line."
"Kanaan, we have it. We have the object."
"Forward phaser array charging."
"We have the object- and we've made the obvious improvement."
"They're ready to fire."
"Kanaan, we're at war. If we have what I say we have it spells a decisive technological advantage for the Federation. If you destroy the station without verifying whether I'm telling the truth, your masters will hang you from the highest yardarm."
"Weapons systems static. They're hailing."
"Are you finished, Julian?"
"Yes. But I feel as though I'm in a Starfleet Medical training holo running in reverse."
"Visual."
"Commander Sisko at last. Where's your Bajoran dog?"
"Major Kira is dead. Good shooting."
"Your scorn is wasted on me, Commander. I'm still your executioner. You've only bought yourself a few minutes. Let me see it."
"See what?"
"Don't waste my time. I know the Starfleet reputation for trickery. I won't allow you to catch me unawares again. If this takes longer than a few minutes I'll destroy you summarily and take my chances with my superiors."
"Well now, I find myself in a curious predicament. The improvement we've made in your crude technology has such provocative implications that I may consider it worthwhile to sacrifice this station to keep it from falling into Cardassian hands. It certa "You bore me Sisko. I know full well that Starfleet values lives over tactical advantage. You won't let me kill thousands while you hold that thing in your hands. No, you'll hand it over graciously and thank me for the extra five minutes of life the ex "It's still in prototype form. You'd never be able to figure it out as it is. If you and your senior officers will board us, we'll give you a demonstration here."
"Don't treat me like a fool. I'm not giving you any opportunities for treachery."
"Very well then, I'll use it to beam over to your ship. If you'll drop your shields..."
"If we detect transport activity of any kind there I'll blow you to cinders instantly. I will give you instructions and you will follow them precisely- any deviation and we will terminate you."
"I have no choice but to assent. What are your instructions?"
"You will personally carry the device to me. You will not use any powered vehicle. Your crew will seal you into an empty probe or torpedo casing and eject you by atmospheric decompression into space. We will use our tractor beams to bring you on board. "I agree."
"No! If we put him in a probe casing we'll have to fill it with a pure oxygen enviroment... it'll be agony on his wounds! For God's sake, can't you be civilized about this? What could we possibly do?"
"Easy, Doctor."
"Don't misunderstand me Sisko. I still intend to destroy your station. The only question is what are you willing to undergo to forestall me. I give you sixteen minutes."
"I'm on my way. Sisko out."
Bashir: "You can't be serious, Commander. You can't deliver yourselves to them- they'll murder you the second you hand it over."
"A high stakes bet always looks crazy. The chess master Alekhine said, “all gambits test badly in the laboratory.' You said you wanted to experience the frontier, Julian. Knowing when to play a gambit is exactly what life on the frontier is all about.
A door chime.
"What?!"
"Nerys, can I come in?"
"Come in, go out. I can't believe you're still observing social niceties! The blade is on its way down to our necks."
Dax enters, holding a tray laden with little balls and cubes of food, Bajoran treats. "Does the idea of dying frighten you?"
"I've been living on borrowed time since I was a toddler. I'm surprised I made it this far. What are you doing here?"
Dax sits and puts the tray between them. To Kira's surprise, Dax doesn't offer her any of the snacks, but instead picks one up herself and munches on it absently. "I know how hard it is for you to be away from the center of the action. I just wanted to "Next move? This should be good. Exactly what is it?"
"Actually, I don't know."
"Good epitaph."
"If I were you I wouldn't be so quick to lay down. We may yet find a way out of this."
"Well, I suppose you're the expert in putting yourself in the place of another. But after your long life and experience, don't you want to go out with a little panache, instead of squirming?"
"To be honest, I don't really expect to be going out at all. In my time I've seen some pretty amazing things pulled off by Humans like Benjamin. I'm older than the Federation, after all. And at the beginning I have to tell you this whole Federation ide "Yes, surrendering at the first sign of trouble is unique."
"You know that's unfair. You're seeing only part of the picture. Let's see, how do I explain it? I remember reading about a certain Human philosophy when I was first trying to familiarize myself with their culture. It caught my eye because its Earth na "Basically, it teaches an alternative way of looking at conflict; not in terms of attack and defense, victory and defeat, but in terms of balance and imbalance. In order to attack someone, you have to reach out violently with intent to do harm, and tha "That's why all Starfleet ships have a standing order not to fire unless fired upon: not because we're goody two-shoes flower power types, but because letting an opponent make the first move insures the greatest chance of prevailing in an encounter. It' "Make no mistake, the process involves violence. Humans have always had an instinct for violence, nobody's better at it. They never lost it, they just overcame it by letting it evolve to a higher level. No race can achieve greatness if it loses touch w "Benjamin will find us a way out of this, Nerys. I taught him everything I know about harmony."
Kira is silent for a moment, then grabs the tray and pulls it to her side of the table. She stuffs a sweetmeat into her mouth and chews morosely.
"Dad, it's for you!"
"Who is it, Alan?"
"It's Granddad on audio from the Moon."
"Okay, I've got it. Hi, Pop, what's..."
"Marvin, you schmuck! What's this I hear about keeping Alan out of Starfleet Academy?"
"What? What?"
"You heard me!"
"Pop, he's my son, and I don't want him running around space. Only deranged people sign up for Starfleet... ever since the neighbors found out they've been sending over their condolences!"
"When are you going to let the boy grow up?"
"He can grow up on good old Terra Firma. There's nothing he needs that's not right here. People in Starfleet think they're missing something where they're born and spend their lives chasing dustballs. It's embarrassing!"
"Now listen here, Sonny Boy, a Starfleeter saved my life once. You wouldn't be here now if..."
"I know, I know, if Lt. Jimson hadn't pulled you out of that depressurizing airlock when you were a kid."
"Let's get this straight, son. I want great-grandchildren. And great-great-grandchildren! It's never going to happen if you keep Alan's balls in your top drawer with your socks. Don't you go and disappoint me by foundering the Ruck family genetic poten "Dad, you're clearly not in a mood to be rational. As usual. I'll talk to you later when you think you can afford to spring for a video signal to your own family."
"Marvin! I'm not finished with..."
Audio Link Broken appears on Ben's screen. Jennifer lets out her barely suppressed laughter, and the two exchange gleeful high signs.
"Boy, what a morning. Give me a triple synth-martini. Fresh olives today?"
"Right off this morning's shuttle from Macedonia. Get the once-over from the boss?"
"Nah. Chewed out by my old man. Can you believe it? What's the lunch special today?"
"Ah, imagine if you will... fresh off the replicator pad- succulent clams livornese. Cradled on a bed of nice chewy Napa cabbage, dripping with clam sauce rendered with a few precious centiliters of “22 Montrachet; and thanks to a crate of tomatoes tra "And garnish with a few sprigs of Arcturan basil."
"I beg your pardon?"
A beautiful chocolate brown girl swivels around on the next stool over. Her deep black pupils enfold the universe. "Arcturan basil. Have you ever bitten into a fresh sprig? Sucking that perfume through your teeth, it's a life-changing experience. It wa Marvin Ruck realizes that his arm is frozen midway up from the bar, the first sip aborted when she started to speak. He wills it back to life and plunks down his glass. "No, it's rare to find Arcturan basil on Earth. I don't frequent the markets that c "Yes, but everything grown here is meant for us. It's expected and welcomed by our taste buds. Even the most exotic fruits say “Earth' when you bite in. Now the swamp mushrooms of Rigel Three, there's no way your senses can anticipate the rush of ancie "I... I don't think I've ever seen those. What market do you get them at?"
"You can't get them at a market. A man brings them to me from outer space. He shows up at my door with strange gifts from different worlds, and I can't help but let him inside. I hope one day you'll be lucky enough to know someone who'll do you that ki If asked later, Marvin Ruck would swear he said, "“Bye" in response. But the bartender would in all honesty have to testify that all he did was mouth the word silently.
"London-San Francisco evening shuttle, now boarding."
"Ugh... skuze me... pardon... hurm... is this seat free?"
"Yes indeedy it is! Pull yourself up some real estate."
"Ooof! Thanks."
"Wow! You look like you spent the day getting whacked by sacks of spam."
"I just can't figure people out. Now you're a young fellow, uh..."
"Ben... Ben Urkel."
"Marvin. Do you have any desire at all to go into outer space?"
"You mean like an Alpha Centauri vacation cruise?"
"No, like way out. Uncharted space. Delta Quadrant."
"Delta Quadrant? Who'd want to go there? There's nothing out there but dust clouds!"
"What would you say to a friend who said he wanted to explore space?"
"I'd say one thing... four thousand satellite holovid channels. How could you leave that behind?"
"You find life here on Earth fulfilling, don't you?"
"Oh, heck yes! I've already worked my way up to fifth level sub-accountant to the undersecretary of vital records. And I can expect to make it to fourth level sub-accountant with several more years of hard work. Think of the responsibility! I already f "And you have other interests besides work, of course."
"Sure! I love to strap on my accordian and play for the family. We dance and laugh, and dance and sing- it fills my young heart with joy. Except..."
"Except what?"
"There is a black spot on my soul. An unrequited love. I've tried everything to win my beautiful Laura, but to no avail. Her heart seems immune to the romantic trill of the accordian. What is a man to do? Maybe if I made her jealous. Do you have a daug
"Torpedo casing secure in cargo bay."
"Detail, surround the casing and arm your weapons. At my command, release the seals. Gul Kanaan, we have instituted full security measures and stand ready to take custody of the device."
"Bring the Human and the device directly to me on the Bridge."
"Yes, Sir. Glin Tajor out. Release the seals and open the casing. Bring all weapons to bear."
The casing opens to reveal a pathetic-looking occupant, clutching his bandaged face and shivering in pain.
"Human, you are a prisoner of the Cardassian Empire. Get on your feet. Help him up."
The figure in the casing arrogantly shrugs off the hands that go to grab him and struggles to his feet under his own power, clutching the device.
"You are to be taken to the Bridge. Glin Beres, take custody of the Human's possession."
Glin Beres reaches for the object, the holder up and cuffs him on the jaw. The Cardassian reels back in shock at his presumption. Fingers tighten on weapons.
"You are reckless with your life, prisoner. Give over that thing now or we will incinerate you and take it from your ashes."
"My deal is with Gul Kanaan alone," the figure rasps, "and I will deliver it to him alone. You have no orders to take it from me."
"I am not a fool. We will give you no opportunity for trickery. Take it from him."
"Do you have any idea what power this represents? The man who holds it can take his pick of destinies. Your Gul will not suffer it to fall into any of his lackey's hands. Look around you. Which of these is your Gul's man? If you take this out of my han The guards studiously avoid Glin Tajor's gaze, redoubling their concentration along the barrels of their weapons.
"Detail, to the bridge, double time."
"Sisko at last. Helm, get up. Let him sit."
"I'll... I'll stand."
From the viewscreen behind him, Bashir says, "Commander Sisko! Did you make it all right?" He weakly waves for Bashir to stand at ease.
"Your last act, Sisko, will be to demonstrate the truth of your claim. You will transport yourself back to your station and leave the device behind."
"And then you'll leave peacefully?"
"And then we will destroy you, the first objective in the Second Cardassian-Federation War."
"Let it be recorded that my last act as Commander is to preserve life, if only for a few more moments."
"Do it. Now."
He dips his head in a gesture of submission, clutches the instrument, and twists the appropriate controls.
A whine grows along with a point of piercing bright light. The light becomes blinding and the whine deafening, and the human figure within dissolves. The instrument hovers and twists for a moment in mid-air, then drops to the deck.
"Kanaan." Sisko steps into the viewscreen field, barely standing with the aid of a console. Bashir rushes up to examine his dressings; Sisko pushes him away.
Kanaan rushes forward and scoops up the instrument in triumph, drawing and brandishing his sidearm. He waves his helmsman away from his station and mans the weapons console himself. "Your actions will be honored, Sisko. When you're dead you'll be procl "Kanaan, wait."
"Nothing will save you now, Human.Welcome your new place in history."
"Don't fire your phasers. The consequences could be disastrous."
"Of course, of course. Goodbye, Sisko." He raises his finger above the weapons console.
"Kanaan, do you know what... corbomite... is?"
"What is it?" The phaser arm light goes on.
"It's a rare gaseous element we discovered in the Gamma Quadrant. It has the effect of draining concentrated power sources, like phaser batteries. I clandestinely released a vial of it while I was on your ship. Your phasers are useless."
Kanaan ignores him. His finger traverses the six inches to the fire button, and presses.
Nothing.
Kanaan's face explodes in disbelief and rage. He stabs the fire button over and over.
"Now Gul Kanaan, we'll discuss the terms of your withdrawal from Bajoran space."
Kanaan is in a frenzy, bashing on the helm console and screaming at his crew.
" Kanaan, listen to me!"
Sisko sees an explosion at the rear of the Cardassian bridge. Gul Kanaan looks behind him at the shower of sparks. Rendered dumb by fury, he turns to the viewscreen and shakes his fist at Sisko, just as another explosion terminates the video link.
"Odo, no! Get the ship back on."
"Sorry, Sir. Signal cut off at the source."
"Exterior view."
"External sensors inoperative."
Sisko slams down his fist. He runs out of Ops to the nearest corridor with a porthole facing the ship. Dax follows him.
Out the porthole, the ship appears, listing in space. A plume of smoke and flame jets out from its bridge. "Damn! Now how are we supposed to retrieve you, Odo?"
"The damage appears confined to the command center. The ship is immobilized but intact. But everyone on the bridge is probably dead."
"My solution to the problem was imperfect, Old Man. No one was supposed to be killed. I'm sorry... it seems I haven't yet mastered the way of harmony."
"Tractor beam disengaged. Airlock pressurized."
Sisko opens the airlock hatch. Inside is a perfect silver sphere, barely fitting within the airlock. "Odo. Odo, it's okay now. You're back in the station. Odo?"
"I've known Odo a long time, Commander. I've never seen him like this."
"Have you ever known him to float free in space like that?"
"No. Could it be some kind of survival mechanism?"
"There's no way to know. Can you think of some way to reach him?"
"On Bajor if someone was dazed or disoriented, we'd just give his *pa* a touch to bring him back to earth. But I don't even know if Odo has a *pa*."
"It's worth a try."
"Hmm. An earlobe would've been a help." Kira stretches out her arms and puts her palms flat on the sphere's surface. The silver skin shivers, and Kira jumps back.
"Good work."
"I'm not sure I did anything."
Odo coalesces back into his familiar form, flat on his face on the deck. Sisko and Kira help him to his feet; he politely but firmly shrugs off their grip and takes a step back toward the airlock porthole.
"Constable, are you injured?"
"I'm alright, Commander. I was just... mesmerized."
"By what?"
"Open space. The purity, the peace, the balance... the perfect justice of the physical laws that animate it. I felt quite at home."
"Speaking of justice, killing the Cardassian command crew was not the plan. I wanted this resolved without bloodshed."
"With all due respect, they were in violation of not only interstellar law, but Cardassian law as well. I acted well within my authority to stop them from harming innocent people. I couldn't have kept them immobilized indefinitely, and I certainly wasn
"Lt. Primmin, have you ever met a Cardassian face to face?"
"Well, no."
"Neither had I before I set foot on this station. If Odo had represented himself to me that day approximating the form of a Cardassian, especially with his face bandaged, I probably would have taken him at his word. Especially in a crisis situation. I "That's amazing! And you had that entire plan laid out when you asked me to duff over your face?"
"No, not at all. All I knew at that time was that he'd hurt me, and the more badly hurt I could make him think I was, the better my chances of catching him off balance. From that point on I just started improvising like hell."
Primmin: "The political repercussions will still be severe."
"True, but now the Cardassians know their breakthrough military secret is known to us, and that the only sample device in our possession was blown up. Stalemate. And with the militant factions humiliated by their inability to take out even our most vul
"So you see Commander Dax, that's how I got Jennifer to really fall in love with me. Alan called later that evening and told us that his father had given him permission to apply to the Academy. Jen was so exhilarated by the experience that I had to tea "Don't you dare tell her a thing."
"What?"
"Have you lost your mind? You did exactly what you had to do. All true lovers create their own world... It was a fantasy you gave her, not a lie. If you've really gotten her to fall in love with you, then there's no philosophy or moral system in the un "What am I doing here? What do you mean?"
"You Humans! Out in space! You're so charmingly blind to your own motivations. All great loves are born in common struggle... just look at Starfleet. Such a fantastic enterprise can only lead to fantastic loves. You're gluttons for love! No other race "So you're saying I shouldn't tell her anything?"
"You created a world of love. She's made a free choice to inhabit that world. To destroy it now would be unspeakably cruel. Think of it as a Prime Directive of the heart. Now what's that thing in your hand?"
"Oh, well, I finally got up the courage to finish my application to Command Graduate School. I think I'm really ready now. I need your signature on it."
"It's about time. Give it here. Of course you're ready. Nobody belongs in red more than you do. Time to get that awful green thing off your back."
"Dad! You're home! Is everything okay?"
"Yes, everything's fine. See out there? You can just see the Tellarian tug towing the Cardassian ship away."
"Oh, yeah."
"You have many years of homework in front of you. I need to take a load off. Ooooooooom."
"Dad, um, how would you feel about me going back Earth and going to a boarding school?"
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Oh, here's your glove. I worked on it while you were away."
"I'm serious, Dad. This was a little too intense for me. I don't see why I really need to be here. It doesn't seem like a good place for kids... maybe in a couple of years..."
"Not a good place for Human kids, but fine for Bajoran kids who don't have anywhere else to go?"
"That's not what I meant. I mean, well, I... I don't think Mom would want us to die in space the way she did. I think she'd be pretty mad if we let that happen to us."
"Don't leave me out. I'd be pretty ticked off myself. You can go back to Earth if you want to. But you're going to have to face dying, and your fear of dying, eventually, no matter where you are. In my experience, when death brushes close by you, you d "But you were thinking for a long time about just staying on Earth and retiring, weren't you?"
"Yes I was. I spent a lot of time thinking about Mom, and about when we fell in love. When you really fall in love with someone, you know it because the other person hands you the missing part of yourself. And for a long time I thought it would be an i "You can go live on Earth if you want. But Mom never regretted going into space with me. And the best part of her is in you."
"Now come along, let's go get a drink. Just wait till you see what I have planned for your bachelor party."
We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel;
But it is on the space where there is nothing that
the utility of the wheel depends.
We turn clay to make a vessel;
But it is on the space where there is nothing that
the utility of the vessel depends.
We pierce doors and windows to make a house;
and it is on these spaces where there is nothing that
the utility of the house depends.
Therefore, just as we take advantage of what is,
we should recognize the utility of what is not.
LAO TSE
ESSAY:
There is a certain set of themes that make Star Trek unique and make it much more interesting than standard space adventure. But it seems to me that those themes are being lost sight of more and more with so much Star Trek product coming out; and with sti In order to do this, its necessary to articulate those themes and be conscious of them. So to raise consciousness I've written down what I think are the essential themes of Star Trek. In my view, to the extent that a story embodies these ideas, it's St
Kobayashi Maru: Life is a no-win scenario. Death is inevitable. How you face that fact is a test of character. Your character is revealed in the passion and tenacity with which you fight to ensure survival, doing what you have to do to turn certain death In "Gambit," when the buccaneer captain gives the order to destroy a Starfleet science outpost, Picard has a plan ready to save them. When it falls through, he has another one to fall back on, and another still when that one fails. This was a KM test,
Enterprise: More than a ship, an idea. In one episode Picard questions to Troi the wisdom of having families and children on board. After all, he argues, the Enterprise is liable to be ordered into the Neutral Zone on a moment's notice, or any number of o Safety and danger, like everything else in the universe, are yin and yang, opposites which interpenetrate. It's a fundamental mistake to think you can find lasting safety by building walls and hiding behind them. Danger will find its way through, aroun Conversely, when faced with real peril, the only way to survive it is to realize that the key to safety lies at the heart of the danger, and you must find a way to plunge into it as deeply as you can. This is enterprise, Star Trek's key concept. If you Hence, "The Immunity Syndrome," "The Doomsday Machine," "Return To Tomorrow," "Obsession," "Spectre Of The Gun," "Time Squared," "Best Of Both Worlds," "Redemption," "A Matter Of Time," and practically every other episode to some degree. The single mos
Way of Harmony: This is the translation of *Aikido,* the name of the Japanese martial art. Aikido is unique in that it teaches no offensive moves. In its perspective, conflict is not viewed in terms of attack and defense, victory and defeat, but in terms This of course is the final revelation of the episode "Gambit;" the ancient Vulcan weapon is useless against those who take a nonviolent posture. It was also the secret to survival in "Arena" and "Spectre of the Gun." Time after time Kirk rejects the l Sisko also illustrates the point through his actions in "Armageddon Game." He's facing destruction in a virtually defenseless runabout from an alien ship that is far stronger and faster. He devises an escape that *exploits a weakness inherent in the ag
Personal Truth. This is likely the trickiest point to get across, but may bear the most fruit. In "The First Duty," Picard says that an officer's first duty is to the truth; scientific truth, historical truth, personal truth. In "The Drumhead," he says, " Later I realized that he was expressing the gnostic viewpoint. "Gnostic" is a term used to describe a variety of religious sects and beliefs from ancient Egypt through the Middle Ages. But I mean it to describe a world view shared by all these groups; The opposite of this view might be called the "authoritarian" viewpoint. An authoritarian, by contrast, believes that the individual's first allegiance is to the state, and a small group of experts has the right to decide what is right and restrict ac Gnostic undercurrents have survived to the present day to influence western civilization, and have given western society (which is, like all civilizations, primarily authoritarian) much of its unique character. Trial by jury is a completely gnostic ide What does this have to do with Star Trek? Well, dedication to truth is an essential theme of Star Trek, but in order to really understand how that works dramatically it's important to understand how dedication to truth can be an expression of a communi Many of the differences between our society and what we see of the 24th century make sense if we presuppose this new Age. Starfleet is obviously an authoritarian organization, but it is dedicated to upholding gnostic values; truth, scientific knowledge When Picard, in "Measure of a Man," argued that Data must have the freedom to discover for himself whether or not he has a soul, he perfectly summed up the gnostic philosophy, and its motivating consequences in the universe of Star Trek. The fact that
Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations: The glory of creation lies in its infinite diversity, and in the ways our differences combine to create meaning and beauty.
These themes are Star Trek for me, and a good story is one that explores one or more of them. Each one sets the stage for debate on how to improve the circumstances of human existence. This debate to me is what makes Star Trek unique. None of these themes
"A man either lives his life as it happens to him; meets it head on and licks it, or he begins to wither away and die"
-Dr. Phillip Boyce, *The Cage*
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