Standard Questionably Useful Disclaimer:
Sailor Moon and all related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi;
and are copyright to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DIC and whoever
else.
Star Trek Deep Space Nine was created by Rick Berman and Michael Pillar;
and is owned and copyrighted by Paramount Pictures. Based upon Star
Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.
This story (such as it is) is MINE!!! This fanfic is intended solely for
entertainment purposes and no violation of said copyrights is intended
or implied. Permission granted to copy this to other web pages as long
as this disclaimer is attached, and the text of the story is unmodified.
Timeline note: Takes place in the middle part of season four of "Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine" (shortly after the episode "Paradise Lost"), and
during season one of "Sailor Moon".
Rating: PG
Prologue:
Komentac'lan, the Jem'Hadar First for this attack ship, watched
calmly as the Vorta, Fiden, glanced over the Bridge, examining each
station carefully. He was confident that all was as it should be, but
it was the role of the Vorta to command the Jem'Hadar. This was as it
should be, as it was ordained by the Founders.
It was, after all, the order of things.
And Fiden's excessive caution was warranted on this trip...
considering who their passenger was. The life of a Founder was not one
to be trifled with.
"What is our ETA to the nebula?" he asked of his Second,
Boretkat'lyn. As he understood it, they were to rendezvous with a
freighter in the nebula and the Founder would transfer to it. Where it
would go after that he had no idea, nor was it his place to ask, but he
supposed that it would be bound for the Alpha Quadrant.
"We should get there within eighteen hours," Boretkat'lyn replied
promptly. Fiden nodded, apparently satisfied, but before he could add
anything the ship trembled under them and the lights flickered
momentarily.
"Report!" snapped the First.
"We seem to have encountered an unknown spatial phenomena," came
the answer. "One that affected all three ships of our group."
"What kind of phenomena?" the Vorta asked. "A wormhole?"
"Possibly," the Second said, but his voice was doubtful. "We seem
to have shifted through space."
The First concentrated on his viewer and looked around the ship.
Outside he could see a blue-green world nearby, apparently inhabited.
It's one visible moon could be seen in the distance. As the nearest
inhabited planet had been several light years from their location, there
was no doubt they had moved a great distance through space. It only
remained a question of how far. "What is our current location?"
The navigator looked up from his console. "The Terran system,
sir."
"We moved right into the heart of the Federation," Fiden commented,
blatantly stating the obvious. "If it's a stable wormhole, it could
prove to be of immense use to us."
The Second interrupted his musings. "I'm not sure it was a
wormhole."
"Explain," the First ordered.
"While we are in the Terran system, I can detect no signs of
Federation installations. No orbital stations, no Lunar colonies, no
shipyards of any type... no signs of inhabitation at all... except on
Earth itself."
The First digested this news silently, while Fiden closely examined
the world below them in his own viewer. "Then... where *are* we?"
"Where *are* they?" the Klingon growled.
Worf stood on the Bridge of the Defiant, scowling as he peered over
O'Brien's shoulder. They had been monitoring the three Dominion ships
for several hours when they had mysteriously vanished from their
sensors. As there hadn't been any previous indication that the Dominion
possessed cloaking technology, this was a cause for concern for the
Klingon officer. If the Dominion had managed to salvage a cloaking
device or two from the Cardassian/Romulan fleet they destroyed, then
their one true advantage (however slim) they had over the Gamma Quadrant
power could be gone.
Eventually the Chief shook his head. "It's no good, sir. They've
vanished into thin air."
"Did they cloak?" Worf asked.
"No sir," O'Brien replied emphatically. "If they had, I would've
seen a phase shift in their warp fields." He paused and stared at the
monitor. "It's as if they just up and left the universe entirely."
"Very well," the Klingon rumbled, obviously dissatisfied. "Log all
pertinent data and transmit it to the station for Commander Dax to
analyze later." He turned to the helmsman. "Lay in a course for the
wormhole."
Fiden paced impatiently across the Bridge. For two hours now they,
and the other two attack ships, had been trying to determine what had
happened. Unfortunately, while Jem'Hadar made excellent soldiers, they
were not very good at scientific analysis. That being the case, it came
down to the Vorta to arrive at an answer.
But the answers were not being very forthcoming. This seemed to be
Earth, but much more primitive than it should be. It was possible that
they had traveled through time as well, but there were several
historical inconsistencies with their observations of Earth.
It was as if they had moved to another reality altogether. But
that was impossible.
Wasn't it?
Komentac'lan stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop. "It is
time for the White," he insisted.
Fiden frowned, quickly going over his options in his mind. If they
were stranded without any avenue of returning to the Dominion (and
therefore of resupplying themselves with Ketracel White), then it was
only a matter of time before their current supply ran out and his hold
over the Jem'Hadar vanished. But if he withheld what they needed, their
performance would be impaired by withdrawal... After a moment, he
decided that it might be prudent to give them what they required now.
He would decide on what course of action to take later. "Of course."
Opening the case that contained the White, he asked the ritual question,
"First Komentac'lan, can you vouch for the loyalty of your men?"
As always, Komentac'lan responded, "We pledge ourselves to the
Founders. From now and until death."
Fiden removed the required vials and handed them to Komentac'lan.
"Then receive this gift of the Founders. May it keep you strong."
The First was still distributing the White to his unit when the
Founder, having assumed a humanoid form, entered the room. This was not
too shocking to Fiden and the Jem'Hadar as the Founder could go where it
willed, but the sight of another humanoid with him, one with long,
reddish brown hair and dressed in an unfamiliar gray uniform, was not
something they would expect. Automatically, the Jem'Hadar readied their
weapons, but any further action on their part was forestalled when the
Founder raised a hand. "There's no need for concern. This one here is
a friend." The Changeling turned to the unknown alien. "Isn't that
right, Nephrite?"
"Of course," the alien responded silkily. The Changeling turned
back to the Jem'Hadar soldiers and smiled benevolently at them.
Komentac'lan had been alive for nearly seven years, two of them
serving as First for his unit. He was a veteran of countless campaigns
in the service of the Founders and had battled on dozens of different
worlds. But seeing the Founders' eyes gleam red made him, for the first
time in his life, know fear.
Jadeite grimaced as he stood before Queen Beryl. Yes, the monarch
of the Negaverse was smiling, and yes, she was complimenting someone on
a job well done. But she wasn't addressing him. Instead she was
congratulating Nephrite on his capture of the Changeling and the
Jem'Hadar soldiers. He glared once more at his rival General. It was
only a matter of time before Queen Beryl turned her attention to his
latest encounter with the Sailor Scouts. And given the way things went
at that amusement park, she wasn't going to be pleased with the results.
"...and now, Jadeite..."
He shuddered inwardly at the false pleasantry in her tone. It was
going to be worse than he feared.
"Once again you've encountered the Sailor Scouts..." Her tone
became icy. "... and failed miserably! Can you give me a reason I
shouldn't destroy you at once?"
Jadeite bowed low, striving to give the appearance of calm. "I
apologize for my failings, Queen Beryl," he said, "But I do have a
plan..." His mind raced as he strove to come up with a plan, ANY plan,
that would appease the Negaverse monarch. "Which should result in the
destruction of the Sailor Scouts."
"Indeed," Beryl all but purred, "You have made such claims in the
past. Why should this time be any different?"
Jadeite saw a gloating look on Nephrite's face as Beryl spoke.
Evidently the other General thought that whatever plan Jadeite came up
with would be doomed to fail. How he wished he could just wipe the
smile of his rival's face...
Inspiration struck him like a thunderbolt. As calmly as he could
he addressed Beryl, "Because this time we have the shapeshifter as an
asset." Jadeite's statement drew a sharp look from Nephrite, pleasing
him to no end. Evidently the other General had his own plans for the
shapeshifter... plans which Jadeite had no qualms about upsetting.
"I see." Queen Beryl regarded him coolly for several moments.
"Tell me more, Jadeite. If this plan has potential, you may yet redeem
yourself."
Pluto knew the instant she returned to the Gateway of Time that the
situation had deteriorated. Things were far worse than when she had
first feared. Of course there was no telling how long she had been
gone. Time had little meaning here, and even less so where she had
been.
There was a burst of light accompanied by a ripple of sound, and a
slightly balding man in a Starfleet captain's uniform appeared next to
her. "I thought you weren't supposed to leave here."
"That's not entirely true. I can leave it unguarded for short
periods. Besides Q, the situation demanded it," she replied. She
returned her gaze to the area surrounding the Gateway. "But I see that
things have changed for the worse."
"Yes, that's certainly true," the entity agreed, glancing around
himself. Sighing he added, "Well, I tried to warn them. But trust
Picard to be too stubborn to listen."
"You've garnered a bad reputation among them, Q," said Pluto. "If
you would be more civil with them, they might heed your warnings more
often."
"Moi? Civil?" Q looked shocked. "That's no fun." He shrugged
after Pluto gave him a sardonic look. "Well, enough frivolity. You've
a temporal tangle to unravel. I suppose you have a plan to fix your
precious timestream."
"You know I have," she replied. "And I've already spoken to others
about putting it into motion. Besides... if I didn't you wouldn't be
able to have anymore fun with Picard."
"Hmmm..." Q considered this, then nodded. "You've got a point.
What good is a universe without Jean-Luc to pester? Or Worf, for that
matter." Then what Pluto had said sunk in, and the looked puzzled.
"Wait a minute... others? Which others?"
"The Bajorans call them the Prophets," she replied knowingly.
Realization dawned on Q's face. "Oh, the wormhole dwellers. A
rather boring bunch, if you ask me. All they do is hide out in that
space-time conduit, not even bothering to understand linear time."
"Q..." Pluto took a deep breath. While Q's nature was by very
definition irritating, there were times when he could be most
exasperating. "If you're not going to help, then I would appreciate it
if you would keep your comments to yourself. The rift in time is
threatening two universes right now, and I'm going to need all the help
I can get to correct it."
A hurt expression briefly flickered over the entity's face. "I'd
help if I could. But you are well aware of the... restrictions my
fellow Q have placed on me. Especially since they were placed on me
after my thankfully brief stint as a human... which you played some part
in."
"I didn't have much choice in that, Q. You were becoming too wild,
too out of control." Q snorted in response. "Q was right. You needed
to learn restraint."
"Well, I hope your pleased with the results," Q replied sullenly.
"Before I could have helped rectify this situation with a wave of my
hand. Now I'm forced to go along with the will of the Continuum: 'Those
corporeal beings caused it, and they'll have to be the ones to repair
it.'" He shot a scornful look skyward.
Pluto stood contemplatively for a moment. "I'm afraid the end of
this conversation will have to wait until later. Time," her lips curled
upward slightly at the irony of her statement, "grows short. In the
meantime, could you do me a favor and keep on eye on things here while
I'm away?" Q nodded silently and with that, she vanished.
Q watched the space where she had stood, his expression unreadable,
then turned his attention to the temporal turmoil surrounding the
Gateway. "Good luck, Pluto.
"You're going to need it."
Sailor Trek: Deep Space Nine
A Sailor Paradox
by Bill Harris
(soton@aol.com)
"I hate temporal mechanics..."
-Chief Miles Edward O'Brien
Chapter 1 - The Call of the Prophets...
Kira looked up from her station in Ops to the Captain's office,
concern evident on her face. He had been in conference longer than she
thought he would be. Perhaps...
She shook her head and tried to focus on her duties. Sisko had
shown many times that he was quite adept at handling... Her train of
thought was broken by the door opening.
"...the answer is still no!" Sisko was saying loudly as he left his
office. Stormed out would be more like it.
Quark followed him out. "Why not? Advertising is a perfectly
legitimate business practice."
"What would you know about legitimate business?" Kira remarked. A
part of her absently noted Dax entering the room and making her way over
to the station's Strategic Operations Officer, Worf.
Sisko broke in before Quark could retort. "Those monitors are for
official station use."
The Ferengi raced around Sisko and stood in his path, forcing him
to stop. "They won't interfere with the official functions. I'll only
use the monitors in public places, such as the replimat, and then only
during normal business hours." When Sisko shook his head and tried to
move past him he added, "If they're needed, the advertisements can be
overridden so the monitors can be used for 'official' functions."
Behind her, Kira could hear Dax talking to Worf about the three
Dominion ships that had mysteriously vanished from the Defiant's sensors
during its last patrol in the Gamma Quadrant, noting that it bore a
resemblance to a phenomena witnessed by the Enterprise D, Worf's
previous posting, some four years previous. Kira felt her indignation
rising at the bartender for keeping her from hearing this information as
soon as possible. Anything new that the Dominion could do would be a
serious threat to the security of Bajor. And anything that threatened
that was something she wanted to know about right away, not listen to
some Ferengi toad ramble on about how he could increase his profits.
Not that Quark needed to do much of anything to get her riled at
him. The Ferengi bartender really knew how to be a royal pain in the...
She skewered the bartender with an intense glare and snapped, "Which
part of 'no' don't you understand?"
"The part that says I can't do this!" Quark replied indignantly.
Kira was forming a sharp retort but it died aborning when a sensor
alert sounded behind her. Turning, she saw Dax looking up from her
console with a worried expression. "Benjamin, I'm reading massive
emissions of neutrinos, tetryons, and chronotons from the wormhole. It
looks like a subspace rift might be forming inside it." She bent back
to the science station, intent on analyzing the readings it was giving
her.
"Let's see it, Chief. On screen," Sisko ordered. The viewer
flickered to show the wormhole wide open and apparently staying that
way. But in this instance it had a shimmering look to it, as if they
were viewing it through a heat distortion. Its color was also
different, for along with the normal blues and whites it was tinged with
red, giving the wormhole a slightly demonic appearance.
"It looks like it's... on fire," Kira remarked.
"I'm reading gravimetric distortions from it as well," O'Brien
reported.
"Confirmed," Dax added. "It looks as if it's entering the first
stages of a structural collapse. But I don't know what could be causing
it."
A look of concern came over Quark's face, "Collapse? That could
really be bad for profits." At Sisko's glare he added, "I can see
you're busy. We'll talk later." He headed rapidly to the lift,
muttering to himself as he went.
Sisko put the bartender from his mind and returned his attention to
Dax. "Could this be caused artificially, Dax?"
"You mean by something like the Dominion?" the Trill asked. "It's
possible. But there's nothing on this side that could account for it,
and the readings I'm getting from the Gamma Quadrant listening posts
aren't indicating anything there either. Ultimately, I can't be sure
what *is* the cause without doing a detailed scan of the inside. We'll
have to launch a probe."
"I wouldn't try it," O'Brien responded. "Those gravimetric
distortions inside the wormhole that are strong enough to tear apart any
probe we send in. A runabout might survive passage through it to the
Gamma Quadrant... but I doubt it would make it back in one piece."
Sisko eyed the ailing anomaly. If a probe or a runabout couldn't
survive passage through the wormhole, that left only one option for
them. "What about the Defiant, Chief?"
O'Brien glanced at the sensor readouts again, mentally comparing
them to his knowledge of the Defiant's structure. "I think so. But
we'll probably have to run the structural integrity field at maximum,
and we may have to supplement it with power from the warp engines. In
any event, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
"Then let's get moving, people." Sisko walked over to the lift,
and the other members of the command staff followed him. "Sisko to Odo.
Meet us on the Defiant, Constable."
Sisko glanced up as Odo made his way onto the Bridge. "Welcome
aboard, Constable. I hope we don't need your help, but if there's even
the slightest possibility of Dominion involvement..."
"...then you might need a Changeling along," Odo finished, making
his way to the rear of the Bridge. "I understand. I'm not sure how
much help I can be, but I'll do whatever I can."
"Thank you, Odo," Sisko said, taking a quick glance around the
bridge. "Status, Chief?"
"All systems ready," reported O'Brien.
"Ops has given us clearance for departure, Captain," Kira added.
"Release docking latches," ordered Sisko. "Take us out, Old Man."
"Docking latches released," Dax confirmed. "Thrusters back one
quarter." The station receded on the viewscreen as the Defiant backed
slowly away from the station, slowing when it was one hundred meters
off. "We're clear of the station, sir."
"Set course for the wormhole, maximum impulse," the Captain
ordered. "Engage!"
Dax's hands played quickly over the helm console and the small
starship responded, spinning on its axis and moving for the wormhole,
accelerating rapidly as it entered the spatial anomaly. The ship
buffeted as it moved through it, as the gravimetric distortions made for
a much bumpier ride than usual. Sisko kept his attention on the
viewscreen and tried to focus on the incoming reports from his crew,
when suddenly...
...it all vanished.
"He is here."
Sisko turned towards the source of the voice. He appeared to be in
Ops on the station, and the person speaking seemed to be Kira. But he
knew better from previous experience.
He was speaking with the wormhole aliens. With the prophets.
But why?
Quark was standing in front of him also, nodding. "It is the
Sisko."
Sisko blinked as the scene suddenly shifted to the infirmary with
Dr. Bashir. "She said he would come."
"She?" he asked, puzzled. "Who is she? And why am I here?"
Again he shifted locations, this time to the Security Office.
"Time has shifted," Odo replied, apparently ignoring his first question
for the moment. "What you call the past is now fluid. It threatens
us."
"I'm not sure I follow," Sisko said. "Are you saying that the
wormhole is being destabilized in the past?"
Suddenly he found himself standing on the Defiant. "He does not
understand," Worf said.
"He is linear," reminded Dax. "The anomaly does not appear to them
as it does to us."
"Anomaly?" Sisko echoed.
Now he was standing in his quarters. "It is of your own creation,"
Jake told him. "She needs your help to correct it."
"Who is this person you keep referring to? And why?" Sisko
suddenly found himself back in Ops.
"That would be me," came a voice from behind him. "And they
brought you here because I asked them to."
Sisko turned to face the unfamiliar voice and stopped short. The
wormhole aliens usually appear to be people he was familiar with, his
co-workers on the station: Kira, Dax, Worf, Odo, Jake... even Quark.
But he was completely unfamiliar with the person he was facing now,
though there was something oddly familiar with her outfit. She was
dressed in a odd version of a sailor outfit: white leotard, dark
miniskirt, bows on the front and back... also dark colored. She was
carrying a staff that faintly resembled a key of some sort.
And her hair... long, dark colored as well, but tinged with green.
Sisko didn't think he would easily forget someone with hair matching
that description. "Who are you?"
"I am Sailor Pluto," she answered. "We will meet again, Captain
Sisko. Very soon."
Sisko blinked, disoriented at suddenly finding himself back in his
command chair, and tried to listen to the barrage of reports coming his
way.
Bashir was scanning the crew with his medical tricorder. "Is
everyone all right? I felt dizzy for a second there."
O'Brien chimed in, "There was a massive surge of chronoton
radiation when we exited the wormhole."
"We've lost communications with the station," reported Kira.
Dax was doing a quick analysis of the navigational readouts.
"According to the navigational sensors, we're nowhere near the Gamma
Quadrant."
"Where are we, Dax?" Sisko asked.
"Earth," she answered, "We're in orbit. But..." She looked again
at the sensor readout and shook her head. "Wait a minute... According
to the astrometric sensors, the year... is 1992."
Her sudden announcement stilled all activity on the Bridge. After
a moment, Sisko was able to find his voice. "1992? You mean to say
we've traveled back in time, Old Man?"
Dax swiveled her seat to face him, a sad smile on her face. "It
certainly appears that way."
"It... would explain the chronoton emissions," O'Brien hesitantly
added.
"Reverse course," Sisko ordered, without much hope. "See if you
can take us back through the wormhole."
"It wouldn't matter, Benjamin," said Dax, shaking her head. "It's
vanished. It's as if it was never there."
Sisko grimaced, but decided to confront that later. First he had
to make sure that Earth of the past wouldn't be able to detect his ship.
"Activate the cloak. I don't want anyone down there picking us up." The
bridge lights dimmed as the cloaking field activated.
Beryl stared in her crystal ball as the unknown starship faded from
view, then cursed loudly. "Malachite!"
The white haired General materialized nearby, "Yes, My Queen?"
"A starship has been spotted near the anomaly. I want you to
prepare the alien warriors and their spacecraft. If it reappears, or
any other appears in the area, they are attack at once... and destroy
them! We can't afford to have anything go wrong now. Not when we're so
close!"
Malachite bowed low. "As you wish, Your Majesty."
"What the hell is going on?" asked a frustrated Kira.
Sisko could certainly understand the Major's feelings. But unlike
her, he did have some insight into who was behind the detour the
wormhole had sent them on... though he was still in the dark as to the
why. "Whatever it is, Major, I think the Prophets wanted us to be
here," he answered her. In short order, he told the crew of his
experience during the wormhole passage. Worf and O'Brien exchanged
uncertain looks as he described the meeting he had with 'Sailor Pluto'.
"Sailor Pluto?" Worf asked after he finished. "Are you certain that
is what she said, Captain?"
Sisko spun his chair to face the Klingon. "You have an idea who
she was, Commander?"
"The description of her outfit sounds familiar, and the name
certainly fits," O'Brien answered before Worf could. "But it doesn't
match any of the Sailor Scouts we met on the Enterprise."
"Sailor Scouts?" said Kira, her voice slightly disbelieving.
"Sounds like some sort of kid's group."
Worf scowled at her, clearly irritated. "You would not say that if
you had seen them fight the Borg."
This jogged Sisko's memory, as he noted the look of respect that
was now on Kira's face. He recalled reading Picard's reports about the
encounter the crew of the Enterprise D had with the Sailor Scouts, and
the subsequent battle they had fought together against a Borg ship.
However, he had been deeply immersed in the Defiant project at the time
and had given the report only a cursory reading. "Dax, gather all the
sensor information you can about the area. See if you can find any
information about this anomaly the wormhole aliens referred to." Sisko
spun his command chair around to face the two officers that had once
served on the now destroyed Enterprise D. "Mr. Worf, Chief... I want
you both to tell me all you can about these Sailor Scouts."
Artemis paused before leaping onto Mina's bed. He hated to wake
her, given the series of tough battles they had fought over the last two
weeks since joining up with the others, but what choice had he? He
placed a paw on her shoulder and shook the blonde. "Mina!"
The result wasn't exactly what he had in mind. Instead of waking
up and being instantly alert, she mumbled something incoherent and
rolled over. Artemis was hardpressed to avoid being pinned under her
arm. He took a moment to consider his options, then...
"OW!!" Mina bolted upright, instinctively throwing away what had
pained her. There was a muffled thud as Artemis hit the wall.
"Artemis! What are you doing?!"
The white feline slid to the floor and shook his head in an effort
to clear it. "Waking you up. And without causing myself a mortal wound
in the process." He took a moment to assess his own condition. "And it
seems I was successful."
"Don't bet on it," she growled, examining the finger that Artemis
had bit. It was red, but the skin wasn't broken and the pain was
already diminishing. "A bucket of cold water would've worked just as
well, Artemis... And it would've been less painful."
Despite the limitations of his feline form, Artemis did a fairly
convincing imitation of raising one eyebrow. "And just how am I
supposed to handle a bucket of water?"
"Oh, right." After a moment she asked, "So what's so important?"
"I just got word from Luna. She and Amy have located a portal to
the Negaverse."
"I see," she said. After mulling this over she added, "What do you
think our chances are, Artemis?"
"Are you kidding? You four will kick Beryl's butt," he answered
more confidently than he felt.
"That's a nice thought," Mina said with a smile. "Now, what do you
think our chances really are?"
Artemis sighed. He should've known by now that he couldn't fool
her... at least not when it came to matters such as this. They'd been
working together for too long. "I know it doesn't look good, Mina.
After all, you'll probably be going up against both Malachite and
Zoisite at the same time. But what choice do we have? We can't just
sit here while Beryl unleashes the Negaforce."
"Don't worry, Artemis. We'll find a way. We always do, right?" she
answered, some optimism returning to her voice. Artemis nodded to
himself, heartened by this. This was more like the Mina he knew.
"Anyway, it's time to contact Raye and Lita."
"JUPITER POWER!"
The magic enveloped Lita, giving that feeling of power as it
transformed her into Sailor Jupiter. She paused for a moment, savoring
the sensation, then raced off to meet the others.
A lot had happened since that fateful day she had become a Sailor
Scout. Or realized that she was one, depending on how you looked at it.
Either way, she had been following that boy (What was his name? So much
had happened in the interim, she had forgotten it.) when Zoisite had
attacked him, pulling the Rainbow Crystal from him and transforming him
that youma. Mars and Mercury had happened upon them at that point, but
the battle had been evenly matched until Luna had given her the
transformation pen, and she was able to become Sailor Jupiter.
They still hadn't been able to save him, though... or any of the
other carriers of the Rainbow Crystals, for that matter. Even with
Nephrite's help, and with Tuxedo Mask cropping up again, they were only
able to defeat the transformed humans by killing them. Jupiter vowed
silently to make Zoisite pay for each and every one of them.
And Malachite as well. He had set a trap for them a couple of
weeks ago, one that had very nearly worked. Thanks to Venus' timely
arrival, they had gotten away, but not before Darien had been
captured... and Nephrite was killed.
Jupiter pushed aside her thoughts, trying instead to focus on the
task at hand as she raced on into the night.
Raye calmly returned the communicator to its usual hiding place and
regarded the sacred flame. Given her abilities, she had felt that the
pivotal battle with the Negaverse was fast approaching, but it had come
much sooner than she had expected. She wasn't far from the rendezvous
point, so she decided to take a chance she could glean something useful
from it. Concentrating her attention on the flame, she tried to make it
give her the information they would need to triumph, once and for all,
over Beryl and her minions.
At first the flame held steady, reluctant to give her what she
needed. Then it yielded to her persistence, revealing what it could in
a flurry of images. A spacecraft, compact yet seeming to radiate power.
A black man, whose demeanor demanded respect. A woman in a red uniform
and a seemingly crinkled nose, who seemed as confident as the man. A
rush of other images in people in similar uniforms to the man, each
seeming to be more or less human. It ended in a glimpse of a man, whose
face seemed to be unfinished in some way and in a uniform that seemed
similar to the woman's. She watched him for what seemed to be several
seconds before his features blurred, shifting to some gelatinous state.
Raye felt her hackles rise at this sight and a surge of adrenaline
as well, causing the fire reading to be disrupted. But she allowed
herself no regret at this, for the information that one of these
creatures would be seen again was very valuable to her.
'So, Beryl was going to use another one of those... things against
us,' she thought while transforming. 'Well, it won't work. We'll
handle whatever she throws at us.' She rushed out of the temple, making
for the restaurant where she would meet the others. 'This time we'll be
ready for that creature, Beryl. And we'll deal with that thing... and
then you.'
Amy stood just outside the darkened restaurant, waiting for the
others. It shouldn't be much longer before they arrived. Once more she
glanced at her computer, scanning for any sign of Negaverse activity.
So far it appeared they had managed to go undetected, but that wouldn't
last for long.
She grimaced. They way things had gone lately, it wouldn't
surprise her if Malachite appeared right in front of them the moment
they entered the tunnel.
"Amy?"
Jumping slightly, the blue haired Scout looked down. "Yes, Luna?"
"Are you OK?" the feline asked, concern evident in her voice.
"I'm fine. I was just scanning to be sure we haven't been
detected."
"I don't think that was all. You seemed very concerned about
something." Luna paused, trying to marshall her thoughts. "I know the
situation looks grim, but..."
"Thirty two point seven percent."
Luna blinked, surprised. "What?"
"Thirty two point seven percent," Amy repeated. "Those are our
chances of winning. I've computed the odds."
"Thirty two point..." Luna's voice trailed off. "Is that *all*?"
"Do you want me to take you the whole series of calculations?" Amy
asked.
"No thank you," Luna replied. They were silent again, waiting for
the others. Then, "Well, if it's that bad, then before we go, I should
thank you."
Amy looked down at her, mystified. "Thank me? For what?"
"For taking me in. I know I could have stayed at Serena's, but I
just could bear to go back there. Not after..." Luna's voice trailed
of again, this time choked with emotion.
"I know," Amy said gently. "I miss her too."
Further discussion was interrupted by Jupiter's arrival, followed
shortly by Venus. "Sorry I took so long," Jupiter said.
"Actually, you got here sooner than I expected," Amy replied,
pulling out her transformation pen. "MERCURY POWER!"
"Well, as soon as Raye gets here, we can get going," Venus said
after Amy had finished transforming into Sailor Mercury. She looked
around, puzzled. "I wonder what's taking her so long? She lives closer
to here than me, so I'd thought she'd be here already."
"I'm not that late," Mars answered rather testily, coming up behind
the blonde. "I just took a moment for a last minute fire reading."
"Did you get anything useful out of it?" asked Artemis.
"I'm not sure. I got a series of images, but I'm not sure how to
interpret them. The only thing I really recognized a shapeshifter."
"You mean...?" Mercury breathed.
Mars nodded. "Yep. I think we'll be facing another one of those,
Mercury."
Jupiter and Venus shared a look. Neither had been around when the
other two had faced the creature Mars had described, but they had heard
enough about it from them to know just how dangerous it could be.
"We'll just have to keep our eyes open," Venus said. "Let's get going,
people. Next stop: the Negaverse!"
"You're right, Chief," Sisko said, examining again the visual
record of the Sailor Scouts taken from logs of the Enterprise D. The
faces were blurred in some fashion, but their outfits, on the other
hand, were clearly distinguishable. Another visual record was shown
beside it, this one of the Scouts in untransformed state in Ten Forward,
giving a clear look at their faces. "Whoever I saw during the wormhole
passage, she wasn't one of these Scouts. But from her name and style of
dress, she must have some association with them."
"As I remember, they did mention meeting a Sailor Pluto," said
Worf. "Though I never did see a visual record of her. Had she not
given you her name, my best guess would have been that she was a Sailor
Scout representing one of the outer planets of the solar system...
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune... or Pluto."
"Why not one for Earth?" asked Sisko. "There's no mention of a
Sailor Scout for that planet."
"I asked Luna about that during her stay on the Enterprise,"
replied the Klingon.
"That's the black feline?" Sisko asked, indicating the display.
"Yes, sir. For whatever reason, there was no Sailor Scout for
Earth, though Darien, also known as Tuxedo Mask, could be considered the
representative of Earth."
Sisko nodded, and moved back towards the center of the Bridge.
"Anything new, Dax?"
"Plenty," she replied. "Though, I'm not sure if it's related to
our situation... or what any of it means. We're reading the buildup of
a large negative energy field centered in the arctic regions." The
Trill touched a control and a graphic appeared on the main viewscreen,
detailing the energy field she had mentioned. "It's causing massive
disruption throughout the system; earthquakes, unusual weather, even
accelerated sunspot activity."
O'Brien had been watching from his engineering station while Dax
was gave her report. He took a moment to access the computer then said,
"It sounds like the conditions just before the Sailor Scouts had their
final confrontation with Queen Beryl."
"If that's the case, then it's probably not the anomaly the
Prophets were referring to," Dax said.
"How do you know that, Chief?" Sisko asked.
"When they were on the Enterprise, Mercury downloaded a record of
their activities into the Enterprise main computer. As a precaution
against accidental interference with their timeline from other
starships." The Chief touch a control, bringing up another graphic on
the main viewscreen beside the one Dax had displayed. Sisko noted that
it was similar, though not identical to the one already displayed. "I've
extrapolated this from those records. The energy field Dax has scanned
is almost exactly like these conditions observed just before Beryl tried
to release the Negaforce. Except..."
"Except what?"
A look of frustration came across O'Brien's face. "It's too bloody
soon! It's nearly a month till the Scouts go to the North Pole. That
energy field shouldn't be anywhere near as powerful as it is."
"Could this be some sort of alternate universe, Chief?" Dax asked.
O'Brien shook his head. "No, I already checked that. The quantum
signature of this universe matches the one visited by the Enterprise...
Both of them, in fact. It's the same universe all right."
"Could our presence have caused a disruption on the timeline?"
Sisko asked.
"I don't see how," Dax answered. "We were only visible for a few
moments." A sensor alert sounded, prompting her to forgo any further
speculation. "Hold on a minute, Benjamin. Sensors are picking up
lifeforms in the arctic regions, near the source of the energy field."
She paused to check the readout on the type of lifeform detected. When
she spoke next, her voice sounded stunned, "They're Jem'Hadar."
"Jem'Hadar?" Bashir exclaimed. "What are they doing on Earth?
Especially on an alternate version of it."
"That's a good question, Doctor," Sisko answered. "One that I'd
like an answer to."
"It's an answer that might have to wait, Captain," Odo said. The
Constable had occupied a station on the far side of the Bridge and was
monitoring communications. "We're picking up a subspace signal... and
it sounds like a distress call." Odo touched a control and the signal
came over the Bridge speakers, heavily laced with static.
"...Mayday... under attack.... This is the USS... immediate
assistance..." the signal terminated abruptly.
"The signal source is just on the other side of Earth, sir. Not
far from the Moon," O'Brien reported.
Sisko quickly considered his options. The appearance of the
Jem'Hadar on Earth still needed to be checked out, but he also had a
responsibility to answer that distress call. As much as he hated to do
it, he saw no other option but to split his forces. "Major, take an
away team down there. Be ready to handle a Jem'Hadar strike force.
I'll be taking the Defiant to check out this distress call, so you'll be
on your own for a while."
Kira nodded. "We'll be ready."
"There's an exit up ahead!" Luna exclaimed.
"About time," Venus grumbled. "I was beginning to think they would
never end." The others nodded in agreement. They had been following
the tunnels for what seemed like hours, but it looked like they had
finally managed to find the exit. The four girls and two cats stood
breathlessly at the mouth of the tunnel and looked out over the arctic
expanse.
"Hey, what gives? I though this was supposed to go right to the
Negaverse," asked Jupiter. Mercury frowned and activated her visor.
"Maybe we took a wrong turn?"
Venus scowled at her feline companion. "There's nothing wrong with
my sense of direction!"
"I didn't say there was," Artemis replied defensively.
"Never mind that you two," Luna said. "We have to hurry. If we
can get the Rainbow Crystals before the Negaverse can use them to form
the Silver Crystal, we may still have a chance."
Artemis snorted. "If they haven't figured out how to form it by
now, I don't think they ever will."
"Can we afford to take that chance?"
The white cat grimaced. "Not really. Especially when they're
about to set the Negaforce loose."
"I'm getting a signal," Mercury said. "There's another portal,
much bigger than the one we found in Tokyo. It's that way!" She
pointed across the ice field.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" With that Venus charged
forward, followed shortly by her companions.
Notes: Quark's advertising scheme is a lead in to the trick he pulled in
the beginning of a late fourth season episode, "The Quickening".
"Time for a less subtle approach"
-Major Kira Nerys
Chapter 2 - D Point Revisited
Sisko tapped a finger impatiently on the arm of his chair as he
waited for confirmation that Kira and her team were safely away. After
what seemed like an eternity, there was a beep from the engineering
station. "Transport complete, sir," O'Brien reported.
'Finally,' Sisko thought as he straightened himself in the command
chair, instinctively tugging at the bottom of his shirt. He looked to
the helm station in front of him where Bashir had taken Dax's place.
The Doctor looked slightly uncomfortable there, but Sisko knew he would
substitute there admirably, as he had done so in the past. "Doctor, lay
in a course for that distress signal and engage at maximum impulse."
"Aye, sir," Bashir answered and began working the helm. Responding
to the his commands, the Defiant accelerated around Earth and headed for
the Moon.
As soon as they cleared the planet, O'Brien began scanning the
location they had for the distress call. "Looks like we're too late,"
he reported. "I'm reading debris and an expanding cloud of ionized
plasma at the signal location." He shook his head sadly. "It looks
like their warp core was breached. From the energy decay, I'd say it
blew just about the time we lost the signal."
"Any life signs, Chief?"
"No, sir. Whoever it was, it looks like she was lost with all
hands." O'Brien shook his head sadly, observing, "The poor devils never
had a chance."
Sisko frowned, but tried to put aside any other feelings. There
may be nothing he could do for the other crew, but he still had to be
sure that his own was safe. "Any sign of their attackers?"
O'Brien checked the sensors again. "Nothing. But the plasma field
could be interfering with the sensors. But I am picking up the signal
from the log buoy."
"Very well," said Sisko. "Maneuver us closer so that we can beam
it aboard. At least we'll be able to find out who they were... and who
attacked them. Maintain cloak, and put all decks on yellow alert."
"Hold it!"
Venus stopped in her tracks and looked back to her friend. "What
is it, Mercury?"
The other girl had her visor deployed and was looking around the
area. "I'm detecting several lifeforms closing in on us."
Jupiter tensed herself for a fight and glanced around, as did the
others. They were on a relatively flat part of the icepack, and there
was very little an enemy could use for concealment out to a distance of
fifty meters. Nevertheless, she saw nothing around. "Are you sure? I
don't see anything."
"They're there," Mercury insisted. She brought her computer out,
using it to supplement the visor. "But for some reason I can't get an
accurate reading on their distance from us. My best guess is that
they're no more than twenty meters away. One... maybe two dozen in
all."
They all looked about the area, trying to spot what it was Mercury
had detected. "I still don't see anything," Jupiter remarked.
"I don't see them, but I can sense them around us," Mars said.
"They must be invisible."
"Yes," Mercury concurred. "They've got some sort of field about
them, serving as camouflage. And it's preventing me from getting an
accurate scan on them."
"Luna, Artemis, get to cover," Venus ordered. "Everyone else, get
back to back." The two cats moved quickly, while the Scouts formed a
defensive square.
"Ten meters," Mercury said, just as the first of the Jem'Hadar
uncloaked himself and fired, followed by several others. The Scouts
scattered to avoid their weapons fire. The next moment, the area echoed
with their attack cries.
Kira took in the area surrounding the away team's beamdown point,
thankful for the cold weather gear they were wearing. That she, Dax,
and Worf were wearing, she mentally corrected herself. Odo of course
had no need for such protection against the climate, thanks to his
unique physiology. Again she dubiously eyed the black hole in the
icefield. "That's a portal to another universe?"
"More like another dimension, one that's slightly offset from this
one," Dax corrected her while operating a tricorder. The Trill science
officer was studiously scanning the area, while Kira and Worf were on
the watch for possible threats with phasers drawn. Odo was on the look
out as well, but had no weapon. "And from these readings, I'd say that
it was artificially formed centuries... no, millennia ago."
Kira nodded, somewhat impressed. "The portal? Impressive, but
we've seen things like this before."
"No, not the portal," Dax replied. "The other dimension."
"What?" Kira found that hard to swallow. She could believe that
the Celestial Temple -- the wormhole -- was artificial in nature, but
that something could create a whole other reality? That was something
else altogether.
A rumble of what sounded like thunder in the distance brought her
back to the present. Dax made some quick adjustments on her tricorder,
broadening the field of its scan. "I'm picking up large energy
discharges, along with what appears to be weapons fire. Range: just
over one kilometer."
Worf nodded. "The Sailor Scouts," he announced. "No doubt they
are battling the Jem'Hadar we spotted from orbit."
"The weapons signature does appear to be typical of Jem'Hadar
armaments," Dax confirmed.
"Then let's go," Kira said firmly. "They're going to need our help
against the Jem'Hadar. Odo, scout ahead."
"Right, Major." The changeling shifted his form into that of a
Corvallian snow hawk and flew off. The others followed along the
icepack as fast as they were able.
"I do not believe that the Scouts will require our assistance,
Major," Worf commented.
"I hope you're right, Worf."
"I am," the Klingon responded confidently. Silence came over the
three of them as they concentrated on making their way to the site of
the battle. Again and again, the sounds of thunder punctuated the
silence, though the time between rumbles was becoming longer as they
approached. No doubt because the number of Jem'Hadar standing was
getting fewer, Worf speculated.
"They should be just over this rise," Dax said, still operating her
tricorder. "Just over one hundred met... Wait a minute!" Dax ran a
rapid sequence of commands into the instrument as she tried to make
sense of the data it was spewing out. "There's some sort of spatial
anomaly forming."
"My, my, what have we here?" The three spun around to face the
source of the voice, which materialized amid a swirl of cherry blossoms
into a blonde humanoid in a gray uniform, hovering impossibly three
meters above them. "You three are certainly out of place."
"Zoisite," Worf muttered answering the unspoken question.
"Have we met?" Zoisite asked. "I doubt it, since it appears that
at least two of you aren't from this planet. Especially the ugly one
over there," she said, indicating Worf. The Klingon snarled at her, but
it was Dax who responded verbally.
"You're hardly one to talk, lady... if that's what you really are."
"What?!" Zoisite all but screeched.
"You heard me. For a female impersonator, you leave a lot to be
desired." This caused Zoisite to clench her teeth, and she started
turning a dark shade of red. Kira gave Dax an odd look, but was careful
to keep an eye on the Negaverse general.
"What are you talking about, Dax?"
"Can't you tell?" the Trill asked. "I've seen a lot of females in
three hundred years, and that hardly qualifies."
Kira looked back to Zoisite. "Seems reasonably female to me."
Dax shook her head. "Worf?"
"I have no opinion on the subject."
"Give me a break, you two," Dax said. "If that's supposed to be a
female, then she's lacking in... certain areas."
Zoisite glowered at them and snarled in rage. "Why you... you...
you'll pay for that! ZOI!!!" She flung her hand in their direction,
sending dozens of crystal shards flying at them. The three officers
dodged the incoming blast, each heading in a separate direction.
Drawing on reflexes honed by years in the Bajoran resistance, Kira
rolled on the ground, then aimed and fired her phaser in one smooth
motion. The energy beam caught Zoisite full on, and she reeled from the
blast. Worf and Dax quickly followed with phaser shots of their own.
The Negaverse General staggered under the impact of multiple phaser
hits, then vanished in much the same way she had appeared.
"That was easy," Dax observed.
"Easy?" Kira exclaimed. "Our phasers were at setting eight. That
should've killed her!"
"Mine was at sixteen," Worf said, drawing a stunned look from the
other two.
"Sixteen!" Kira shook her head. A phaser at that high a setting
was capable of vaporizing several cubic meters of rock.
"We were fortunate that we were able to surprise her," Worf said.
"We should not count on being able to do so again. Next time she'll be
ready for our weapons."
Kira nodded. "Let's get out of here. If she teleported to where
the Sailor Scouts are fighting the Jem'Hadar, Odo's going to need help.
A lot of help." They took off in a run, all thoughts of how cold it was
forgotten.
Sisko watched the debris field slowly move past on the viewscreen
as the Defiant crept through it. He turned impatiently to O'Brien.
"Well, Chief?"
The chief looked apologetically back at him. "Sorry, sir. It's
hard to get a lock on the buoy in this plasma field. And being cloaked
doesn't make it any easier." He broke off as a sensor chimed at him and
he uttered an old Irish curse. "I was afraid of this. The plasma field
is interfering with the cloaking device. We're going to have to shut it
down before it overloads."
Sisko briefly pondered the situation. While decloaking would leave
them open to attack, by the same token it would also enable to respond
that much faster to an aggressor. "Very well. Deactivate the cloak."
The lights in the room brightened as the cloaking device was shut down.
After a moment, O'Brien nodded in satisfaction. "Got it. Beaming
it aboard now."
"Good. Helm, take us out of this plasma field. I want to be able
to recloak as soon as possible."
"Aye, sir," Bashir responded.
Sisko turned to the engineer. "Chief, are there any indications
what type of ship this used to be?"
O'Brien took a moment to analyze the debris around them. "From the
materials present, it looks like the outer hull was composed of a
tritanium alloy... it was a definitely Starfleet ship of some sort."
Alarm bells began going off in Sisko's head. He had a bad feeling he
knew what the identity of the other ship was. "Say something about the
size of a Miranda class... or maybe a Constellation class. Definitely
too small for an Excelsior type. I'm running an energy decay match now
to see if I can identify the weapons the attacker used." He swore
softly once more when the results appeared on the monitor. He was
somewhat expecting the results, but seeing it confirmed was something
else altogether. "It looks like the attackers were using a phased
polaron beam."
Sisko nodded. "The Dominion." Given the fact that they had
detected Jem'Hadar life signs on Earth, this didn't come as much of a
surprise to Sisko, nor to anyone else on the Bridge. But it did serve
to complicate matters.
"Yes sir," the Chief responded. As if on cue, another sensor alert
sounded at the tactical station.
The tactical officer looked to her captain. "Sir, we've just
detected two Jem'Hadar attack ships on an intercept course. They must
have been on the other side of the plasma field when we approached."
"Battle stations," Sisko said automatically. Around them the alert
lights flashed, supplemented by the warning klaxon. "Chief, can we
recloak before they reach us?"
"No, sir," replied the engineer. "They'll intercept us just before
we can clear the plasma field."
Sisko frowned, even though he had been expecting that as an answer.
"Then we'll make a stand here. Head right for them, full impulse." The
Defiant shot forward as the overpowered impulse engines kicked into high
gear. The small starship turned towards the Jem'Hadar ships, twisting
in response to Bashir's commands to evade incoming fire. "Lock phasers
on the lead ship. Fire!" Several bursts were fired from the pulse
phasers, striking the lead Jem'Hadar ship. The first few were absorbed
by the shields, but the next penetrated and ruptured the hull. The
Dominion vessel became a large ball of expanding gas.
The Bridge shook and several panels showered sparks as the
remaining vessel fired shot after shot at the Defiant. As always the
Dominion weaponry cut right through their shields, impacting directly on
the ship's hull. "Evasive, pattern delta!" Sisko ordered. As Bashir
endeavored to comply, he continued, "Damage report!"
"The ablative armor's down thirty percent," responded O'Brien,
raising his voice over the din. "And we've got a ruptured plasma
conduit on deck three."
"Helm, hard about," Sisko ordered. "Take us back through the
plasma field, maximum impulse." The Defiant executed a tight turn, and
sped back through the wall of energized gas. The Jem'Hadar vessel
followed, still firing.
The viewscreen started to flicker. "Sir, at this speed, we'll lose
sensors momentarily," O'Brien stated, trying to warn his captain.
"We'll be blind as a Tiberian bat."
Sisko nodded "And so will they. *After* we pass through," he
responded. O'Brien grinned as he comprehended what the Captain was
planning just before the viewscreen became a haze of static as the
interference became too much for the computer to compensate for.
"Doctor, once we're clear of the plasma field, bring us hard about and
to a full stop. Stand by quantum torpedoes."
At Bashir's urgings, the Defiant executed another tight turn and
stopped. The Jem'Hadar ship, blind for the moment, continued on their
previous heading.
"Fire!" Sisko ordered.
Two quantum torpedoes were launched and sped at the enemy ship.
Detecting the incoming fire at the last minute, it attempted to evade
the incoming fire but it was far too late to react. The weapons struck
home, and the Dominion ship exploded.
Sisko felt a grim feeling of satisfaction and looked to his
engineering officer. "Is the cloaking device operational?"
"Yes, sir," O'Brien responded after making a quick check.
"Good. Activate the cloak and take us a position where we can be
ready to beam the away team back." The Earth grew quickly larger on the
screen as Bashir made the necessary course adjustments. "Chief, as soon
as repairs are complete, I want you to start the analysis on that log
buoy."
"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!" Venus cried out, unleashing her attack
for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last few minutes, and the
Jem'Hadar she was aiming at dropped. All around the Scouts, bodies of
the warriors of the Dominion were strewn about, numbering nearly two
dozen in all. Only one other remained standing, and he took aim at
Jupiter and fired.
The tall Scout ducked and dodged to her right, avoiding this energy
blast as she had all the others. The smell of ozone was discernible as
she called upon her powers, "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" Her aim was true
and the last Jem'Hadar fell.
They stood there, trying to catch their breath while looking about
for any other enemies. Seeing that the area was clear for now, the two
cats came out of cover. "Are you OK, Mars?" Artemis asked. They all
had minor injuries of a sort, mostly from the Jem'Hadar's fists, but
Mars had been hit in the shoulder by a weapon discharge.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not that..." Her voice began a hiss of pain
as Mercury gently probed the wound.
"Sure you are," the blue haired Scout said, "I barely touched it.
Now keep still while I try to staunch the bleeding." Mars nodded, and
Mercury concentrated on the wound while the others stood guard. She
noted with relief that no major arteries had been hit, but it was still
bleeding freely. A part of her wondered at that, since an energy weapon
like that should cauterize the wound. Thrusting that back to the back
of her mind, she concentrated on forming a makeshift bandage.
Fortunately with all the bodies lying around, there was no shortage of
material to form one, presuming that the uniforms were reasonably clean.
A quick scan showed that was indeed the case and she tore several strips
from one.
Mars tried to keep still to allow Mercury to finish, but it wasn't
easy with the injury throbbing as it was. But Mercury made good
progress, and she was nearly done when Mars felt a warning buzz inside
her head. Snapping her head about, she alerted the others, "Something's
coming!"
Malachite materialized within seconds of her alarm, but he seemed
to take no notice of the Scouts. Instead he was gazing about at the
fallen Jem'Hadar. "Pity. I'd have thought they'd do better than this."
"Wrong again, Bleachhead," Mars hissed, as Mercury quickly tied off
the bandage. "You're next!"
The white haired General turned and regarded the four Scouts
stoically. "I think not."
"Let's get him, Jupiter!" Venus cried. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM..."
"JUPITER THUNDER..."
"SMASH!"
"CRASH!"
The two attacks combine into one, heading straight at Malachite.
He regarded the incoming fire with an arrogant sneer on his face. One
that was justified as it ricocheted off his forcefield.
Mars moved to bring her own powers to bear on the Negaverse
General, but something impacted her from the side, knocking her down.
"What the...?" She looked over at what had hit her and was surprised to
see a large bird beside her with one of Zoisite's crystal knives
embedded in its wing.
"Stupid bird!" she heard Zoisite curse. "You ruined my shot..."
Zoisite's voice trailed off in confusion, and the battle froze
momentarily as everyone got a look at what amazed her.
The 'bird' had become a large gelatinous mass and shifted form,
eventually becoming a humanoid male dressed in a brown uniform. "My
pleasure," he said calmly, dropping the crystal shard to the ice.
Mars tried to keep her jaw from dropping. The man was the
shapeshifter she had seen in her vision.
For her part, Zoisite was shaking with rage. First there was those
three aliens that had humiliated her and forced her to withdraw. Now
this shapeshifter had appeared out of nowhere, ruining a perfectly good
ambush shot she had on Mars. "Enjoy it while you can, shapeshifter.
It's the last one you'll ever have. ZOI!" Odo automatically relaxed
his body back into its natural gelatinous state again, but the force of
the blast was still enough to hurl him backwards several meters,
slamming him deep into a snowbank. Zoisite grinned and laughed aloud.
"Well, I guess that put him on ice."
"And I can do the same for you!" a voice cried from below and
behind her. Zoisite spun around just as it cried out, "MERCURY ICE
BUBBLES... FREEZE!" A wave of supercold energy gripped Zoisite and she
grimaced in pain. Ordinarily she could withstand an attack such as
this, but she was still weakened by the alien's energy weapons. Her
only recourse was to flee. A swirl of cherry blossoms surrounded her as
she prepared to teleport away.
"Oh, no you don't!" Mars growled. "MARS FIREBIRD... STRIKE!" The
bird of flame enveloped the Negaverse General, the fierce heat it
generated overwhelming her defenses and she screamed in agony.
It was a short lived scream.
"ZOISITE!" Malachite spun in her direction, but it was already far
too late. All that remained of Zoisite was a puff of ash blowing in the
wind. "You'll pay for that!" he roared. Flinging his arms wide, he
fired two powerful energy blasts at the nearest Scouts to him; Sailor
Venus and Sailor Jupiter. The two Scouts were slammed into the icepack,
and lay unmoving.
"MINA!" With a howl of pain, Artemis unthinkingly hurled himself
at Malachite. The Negaverse General snarled and mercilessly blasted the
white cat. Artemis fell onto the ground beside Venus.
"NO!" Mars hurled a powerful bolt of fire at Malachite, but it
simply splashed off his forcefield, as did Mercury's ice blast.
"Two down, two to go. Good-bye, Sailor Scouts!" Malachite
gathered up the energy for a final blast. But before he could do so,
the ice beneath him began shaking. Suddenly, the ground split open, and
a rock emerged. It shot forward and landed atop Malachite, forcing the
General to the ground. Odo shifted forms again, morphing from a Horta
back to his normal humanoid appearance. However, he kept his arms
gelatinous, wrapping them around Malachite.
"It seems Nephrite must have lied, when he said there was only one
shapeshifter," Malachite said in a almost conversational tone.
"You've seen others like me? And who's Nephrite?" Odo demanded.
"I'll send you to meet him," Malachite flatly replied, sending a
charge of energy into Odo, staggering him and forcing him to release his
hold on the General. Malachite raised his arms and send another blast
into Odo, this time catching the Constable full on. Odo went flying
once more and ended up crashing into Mars and Mercury. Malachite slowly
picked himself off the ice, eyes blazing with anger. "Now you die,
Sailor Scouts." He was about to unleash a barrage at them when a hand
grabbed his wrist.
"Wrong," Jupiter said weakly. A tingling of ozone was perceivable
as she summoned all of her power, "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" The tall
Scout and the General both screamed as the energy of Jupiter's attack
raced through him, while she was caught in the backlash of her own
powers. Jupiter fell to the ground unconscious, while Malachite dropped
to his knees, obviously staggered.
"Lita!" Mars struggled to free herself from Odo, as did Mercury,
but it was like trying to wade out of a pool of molasses and it didn't
help matters that Odo was trying to collect himself both literally and
figuratively. If she could get loose before Malachite could recover,
she'd have a chance to take him out of the fight.
All too soon, however, Malachite recovered, getting shakily to his
feet. He glared down at the fallen Jupiter. "Nice try, girl," he
rasped, "but not good enough."
"If at first you don't succeed, blast the bad guy again." Malachite
turned to the source of the voice and was surprise to find Venus
standing next to him, her index finger pointed at his head.
Mina struggled to stay on her feet and conscious. The pain from
her injuries was nearly overwhelming, but she felt she had enough left
in her for one good shot. One good enough to take out Malachite, she
hoped, because she wasn't going to of help to Mars and Mercury for much
longer. She had to finish him here and now, to give them a chance to
get at Beryl. Nothing else mattered.
Venus leaned forward before Malachite could react, touching the tip
of her index finger to his forehead. "Hasta la vista, pretty boy! VENUS
CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"
The backflare from her attack blinded those watching for a second,
but when it cleared they only saw Venus sprawled on the ground. No
trace of Malachite remained, except for a wisp of dust.
Mercury struggled to her feet, helped in part by the fact that Odo
was finally able to reform himself. But before she could move to either
of the two injured Scouts, a woman she had never seen before ran up to
them and knelt down.
Mars watched intently as Dax began utilizing her tricorder.
"What's she doing?"
"I think she's scanning them. But I've never seen a device like
that before."
Mars had further questions, but they were quickly forgotten as she
noticed two other new arrivals. Both had features which denoted them as
not human, but that wasn't what startled her. Each of them, including
the shapeshifter and the woman attending Venus and Jupiter, had appeared
in her last fire reading. But what did it mean? Were they allies? Or
new enemies?
Kira helped Odo to his feet. "Are you OK, Odo?"
The Constable nodded. "A little shaken, but otherwise I'm fine,
Major. The... opposition was a little tougher than I had anticipated."
"Zoisite?" Kira asked.
"And Malachite," Odo confirmed. "Ultimately, these two dealt with
her, while they," he indicated the injured Scouts, "where able to
dispatch him." Kira nodded, but what she was going to say died in her
throat as she got her first good look around the battlefield and at the
bodies of two dozen Jem'Hadar lying amidst the ice and snow.
Worf noticed the look of astonishment on her face. "Do you still
think they need our help against the Jem'Hadar, Major?"
"Kira!" Dax called out before she could respond. Kira turned and
saw Dax picking up an unconscious cat. She had taken off her jacket,
using it in an attempt to keep the injured Venus warm. "These two are
badly injured. If they're going to have any chance, we've got to get
them to the Defiant." She shivered, adding, "And before I freeze to
death."
"Go," Kira ordered.
"Wait a minute!" Mars exclaimed. "Go where?"
"We've got a starship in orbit," Dax tried to explain, then
shrugged. "It's a long story, and they don't have the time for it.."
Tapping on her comm. badge, "Dax to Defiant."
"Go ahead," Sisko's voice responded.
"Medical emergency. Four to beam directly to the medical bay." A
second later, a blue-white haze enveloped the four, and they
disappeared.
Kira turned to the remaining Scouts. "OK, quick introductions.
I'm Major Kira Nerys, that's Lt. Commander Worf, and you've met Odo.
Now, maybe you two could give us an idea what's going on around here."
Mars responded sharply, "I think you're the ones who ought to
explain what you're up to. And what you're doing here with him!" She
turned and leveled an accusing finger at Odo.
"What have you got against Odo?" asked a baffled Kira.
Mars didn't respond, other than to continue glaring at the
Constable. For his part Odo returned her gaze measure for measure.
After a few moments he said, "You're welcome."
The raven haired Scout was taken aback. "Huh?"
"For saving your life."
"He's right, Mars," Mercury put in. "If it weren't for him,
Zoisite would've killed us."
"Yeah, that's true," Mars sullenly agreed.
Odo snorted. "Your gratitude is overwhelming."
Mercury put a restraining hand on her friend. "Not now, Mars." She
waited until Mars' temper subsided a bit, then turned to Odo. "Please
try to understand, but you're not the first shapeshifter we've
encountered, and that was not... pleasant for either of us. A good
friend of ours was killed by it."
"You mean you've met other Changelings before?" Odo asked.
"Malachite said something about another one."
"Oh, is that what you call yourselves?" Mercury asked, making an
entry onto her palmtop. "Yes we did, several months ago. I've always
wondered if there were any others around... and I'm glad to see that
you're not all like that one."
"I'm not like others of my people," Odo said.
"That's good to know." She looked up from the computer, "Do you
know anything about your evolution?"
Before Odo could say that he knew very little about how Changelings
evolved, Kira interjected, "This may be very interesting, but I'd like
to know just what the hell is going on around here!" She eyed the two
of them critically, as if noticing their outfits for the first time.
"And why the hell aren't you freezing in that getup?!?"
"The effects of the transformation protects us from climatic
extremes," Mercury answered automatically.
"We haven't got time for this," Luna said. "We have to stop Beryl
from unleashing the Negaforce. We'll try to answer your questions
later, Major." 'If there is a later,' she added silently.
"Luna's right," Mars said. "Come on, Mercury. It's up to us now."
The two remaining Scouts and Luna ran towards the dimensional portal.
The away team glanced at each other, then followed. They had only gone a
few paces when a figure appeared in front of them, barring their way.
He was dressed in black and silver armor, complete with a cape, and he
had a sword in hand. "I knew those two would fail in their efforts to
stop you. But make no mistake about it, Sailor Scouts... You're not
getting past me."
"Who is it this time?" a frustrated Kira asked Worf.
Mars answered before the Klingon could. "Darien," she breathed.
Confusion showed on his face. "Who's Darien? My name is Prince
Darien."
"Oh, yes," Odo said, rolling his eyes. "There is a big difference.
I can see how you might become confused."
Sisko stared apprehensively at the viewscreen as all around him
various sensor alarms were sounding. The energy field in the arctic
that they had been monitoring had started growing exponentially in the
last few minutes, threatening to result in a dimensional crossover.
Very shortly, forces from the Negaverse would be able to cross over to
Earth at will. He shuddered to think of the destruction that would
result, given the resistance that they had demonstrated to Starfleet
weapons in the past. An Earth with only twentieth century weapons
wouldn't stand a chance.
O'Brien also glanced at the screen from his engineering position,
but he was less worried. After all, he had seen the Scouts defeat the
Borg and they *had* handled Beryl before their trip to the Enterprise D,
so they should be able to do so now... he hoped. "Sailor Moon should
cut loose with the Silver Crystal any minute now."
"I don't think so, Chief." The two of them looked to starboard
side door, where Dax was entering the Bridge. She made her way over to
the helm, where she relieved the officer that had replaced Bashir. The
Doctor had raced to the Defiant's small Sickbay the moment Dax had
called in the medical emergency. "I only saw four of the Scouts while I
was down there. And Sailor Moon wasn't one of them."
"What the..." O'Brien sputtered, aghast. "She's got to be there!"
"She wasn't."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but if Sailor Moon isn't there, then that
means no Silver Crystal," Sisko said.
"Yes. And without that, they have no way to beat Beryl," Dax
added.
Sisko frowned. "If that's the case, it looks like it's up to us."
O'Brien looked at his captain as if he had lost his mind. "Us?!?"
Dax looked none to optimistic herself. "Benjamin, I don't know how
much we can realistically do to stop them."
"I'm aware of that, Old Man. But I'm not about to sit up here and
just watch while Earth, any Earth, is overwhelmed. I need you to find
me a way to prevent the dimensional crossover... and fast!"
"You're not getting past me," Darien repeated, ignoring Odo's
sarcasm.
"We shall see," Worf replied, raising his phaser and firing. And
he might have hit him, too, had Mars not deflected his arm.
"No! Don't hurt him!"
Worf glowered at her. "My phaser was set on stun! He would not
have been harmed!" He aimed his weapon again, only to discover a black
rose embedded in it.
Darien smiled, leveling his sword at Worf. "As I said, you're not
getting past me."
Worf threw the useless weapon away and moved into close range,
drawing his mek'leth. Darien took a swipe at him, but the Klingon was
able to parry it and respond with an attack of his own.
"You three get going," Kira ordered as they watched the two
exchange blows. "We'll keep him busy so you can do whatever it is
you're supposed to be doing." She and Odo moved around the two
combatants, looking for an opportunity to aid Worf.
"Right," Luna responded. "Let's go!" She ran off to the portal,
followed by the two remaining Scouts.
They had only gone a few paces when black energy erupted from the
portal, cutting off all light from the sun. In a matter of seconds, the
light level around them had fallen to that of nautical twilight. In the
same moment, Queen Beryl appeared before them, with a large, demonic
figure appearing behind her.
"We're too late," Luna whispered in a horrified tone.
"Well, Sailor Scouts, you have failed utterly. Despite your
efforts, the Negaforce is free at last! And now the world -- and soon
the universe -- will be mine!" She threw her head back and laughed.
Kira had looked back at the moment of Beryl's appearance, and saw
the mad monarch's glee. "I really don't like her," Kira muttered. "She
reminds me of a Cardassian."
"I think your being too hard on the Cardassians," Odo said.
"You haven't won yet, Beryl! Not while we're still alive!" Mars
cried defiantly.
"That can be easily rectified, Sailor Mars," Beryl gloated.
Worf took advantage of Darien's distraction at Beryl's appearance
by deflecting his blade downward with the mek'leth, then following it by
striking a blow to Darien's chin with the heel of his right palm.
Darien staggered backwards and Worf was about to press his advantage
when he was tackled by Odo. The Constable's reason came abundantly
clear as a bolt of energy tore through the space the Klingon had
occupied. Worf nodded his thanks to Odo. "Where is Prince Darien?"
"Telported away somehow," Odo responded as they got back to their
feet.
Beryl growled at this small setback. "Destroy them! Destroy them
now!" There was a loud demonic howl as the Negaforce charged at them.
Kira fired her phaser at the onrushing entity, but it had no obvious
effect. She slapped desperately at her comm. badge. "Kira to Defiant!
Emergency transport, seven to beam up! NOW!!"
"We tried our best, Mars."
"Not good enough, Mercury. But thanks anyway." The blue haired
Scout nodded as the two Scouts readied themselves for a last stand.
At that moment the transporter beam gripped the assembled group as
the Defiant reclaimed her own.
Author's note: Don't know what a Horta is? See the Classic Trek
episode, "The Devil in the Dark".
"Perhaps today *is* a good day to die..."
-Lt. Commander Worf
"I tell you, Worf, war is more fun when you're winning!"
-General Martok
Chapter 3 - Day of Disaster
Out of the corner of his eye, Sisko could see Kira stride
forcefully onto the Bridge. "Rough trip, Major?"
"You could say that," she answered. "Worf's taken our guests to
the Medical Bay, but there's a big problem to deal with on Earth. All
hell's broken loose down there. Literally."
"I know, Major," the Captain replied softly, indicating the
viewscreen. Puzzled, Kira turned to face the forward part of the Bridge
and gasped at the image that was displayed.
"May the Prophets save us..."
"We shouldn't be here," Mars was saying as Worf led them to the
Medical Bay. She paused a moment to glare back at Odo, who was trailing
behind them. "We should be back on Earth trying to stop Beryl."
"Your attitude is commendable, but such an attempt would be
foolish," Worf responded. "The two of you do not possess the power to
confront Beryl on your own, let alone the Negaforce. Any attempt for
you to do so would be a useless, though honorable, gesture." Mars
looked as if she were about to object for a moment, then subsided. She
hated to admit it, but Worf was right... She and Mercury didn't have the
power needed to defeat Beryl, at least not without the Silver Crystal.
And with the Negaforce loose, there was very little hope that they would
be able to get their hands on the Rainbow Crystals and use them to
recreate it. Entering the Medical Bay, she sighed. Things hadn't
seemed this bleak to her since...
The raven haired Scout stopped short upon entering. There were two
beds in the Defiant's small Medical Bay, and a man, evidently the
doctor, was working at one. The other had a still figure on it, one
that was covered with a sheet. "No..." she breathed, staring at it in
shock. After a moment, Mercury moved passed her and hesitantly lifted
it up, revealing Sailor Venus.
"She died a few minutes ago," a voice came from behind them.
Turning, they faced Bashir. In a voice laced with regret, he continued,
"I'm sorry, but there wasn't anything I could do for her... for any of
them, really. The damage from... whatever caused it, was simply too
extensive, going right down to the cellular level."
"Artemis?" Luna asked from her perch on Mercury's shoulder.
"If you're referring to the white cat, then I'm afraid he was dead
on arrival."
"And... Sailor Jupiter?" Mercury asked in a quiet voice.
Bashir opened his mouth to answer, but another spoke up before he
did, saying in a weak voice, "I'm still here... for a little longer,
anyway." The other two looked to Bashir, hoping that he'd have
something more positive to say, but he simply nodded in silent
agreement. Mercury automatically produced her computer and scanned
Jupiter but quickly saw that the doctor was right. The tall Scout
didn't have long to live.
"No!" Mars protested and moved over the Jupiter's side. "That
can't be true! She's going to be OK..."
"Raye." The use of her name brought her up short. She blinked,
and gazed down at the tall Scout, who was staring firmly at her. "Don't
lie to yourself. Doctor Bashir already told me how bad off I am." She
flicked her eyes over to the doctor. "It's too bad I won't be sticking
around. He looks just like my old boyfriend." Her statement obviously
caught Bashir off-guard, and he blinked in surprise.
"Oh, Lita..." Mars said in a whisper. A part of her sensed Mercury
move beside her and Luna bound down onto the biobed beside Jupiter.
"Hey, you can't worry about me," Jupiter said. She grimaced
slightly and Bashir moved to administer a hypo, but she waved him off.
"You still have to take care of Beryl. Wish I could help, but at least
me and Venus took care of Malachite for you."
"We'll try of course," Mercury said. "But I don't know if we have
the power to do so..."
"You have to," Jupiter insisted. Another wave of pain washed over
her, and she gripped Mars' arm tightly. "Just promise me this," she
said, looking intently first at Luna, then Mercury, and finally Mars.
"Promise me that no matter what it takes, no matter what you have to do,
you'll stop Beryl. Otherwise it'll all have been for nothing. And
after everything we've gone through, it's gotta mean something..."
"We'll do it," Luna said. The other two simply nodded, not
trusting themselves to speak without breaking into tears.
"Good," Jupiter said and then she caught sight of Worf standing
behind them. A puzzled frown formed on her face. "Strange... somehow I
feel I know you. But that can't be since I've never seen anyone like
you..." Her voice trailed off as the life ebbed from her body.
The only sound in the room was the shrill whine coming from the
biomonitors, which Bashir silenced with a touch on the controls. He was
about express his condolences to the trio when a low rumbling sound
brought him up short. He had just figured out it was coming from Worf
when the Klingon threw back his head and let out an earsplitting howl.
Muniz looked up from the torpedo he and O'Brien were working on.
"What was that?"
"You mean that howling sound?" the Chief inquired, his attention
still on the torpedo. After Muniz nodded he added, "That was Commander
Worf doing the Klingon Death Howl."
"Klingon Death Howl?"
"That's right." O'Brien looked at Muniz, his expression deadly
serious. "It's a tradition that some Klingons observe at the moment of
death for their fellows. It's a warning to the dead: Beware, a warrior
comes among you."
The occupants of the Medical Bay stared at Worf, obviously shaken
by his howl. Even with his unique physiology, Odo seemed disturbed by
it also. "Why did you do that?" Mercury asked.
That was a question Bashir and Odo wanted answered as well, but
each could see that Worf was reluctant to elaborate. "It is a long
story," was all the Klingon would say.
In truth, Worf wasn't quite sure how to explain it at the moment,
given the twists in time this mission had presented them. During the
Scouts stay on the Enterprise, he had developed a great deal of respect
for Lita Kino, AKA Sailor Jupiter... enough respect that he had with her
consent, adopted her into the House of Mogh. In his head he knew that
the Lita before him had never experienced that timeline but in his heart
he felt that he still had an obligation for her... even though the House
of Mogh had been disbanded and disgraced by Chancellor Gowron almost
eighteen months previously.
"That's it?" Mars exclaimed somewhat incredulously. "That's all
you've got to say after nearly rupturing our eardrums? 'It's a long
story'?"
Worf was saved from deciding on what to say by a summons from the
comm. system. "Sisko to Worf. Report to the Bridge."
"On my way, Captain." Worf was proceeding to the exit when Mars
grabbed his arm.
"Wait a minute. We're going with you."
"You should have your injuries treated first," Bashir objected.
"Both of you."
Worf stared at Mars intently and saw the determination in her eyes.
Though no word were spoken between the two, much was communicated
between the two. In that brief span of time, Worf understood her
reasons instantly. She had to accompany him, so that they could fulfill
the promise had made to the dying Jupiter. For her part, Mars
understood that Worf would do all he could to see that they were able to
keep their word to Lita. Without turning from the raven haired Scout,
Worf asked, "Are their injuries life threatening?"
"Well... no," Bashir admitted. "But they should be treated as soon
as possible. Especially her shoulder."
"Then they will be... but *after* they speak with the Captain."
Worf nodded to the two Scouts and cat and they followed him out of the
Medical Bay.
Bashir sighed and began the process of placing the bodies in
stasis. It wasn't that mind-consuming a task, so a large part of his
mind was brooding over the loss of the two young lives, and the cat as
well. 'Perhaps,' he speculated, 'if I had the resources available in
the infirmary at DS9, or even if this were a proper sickbay as opposed
to this miniaturized excuse for one, I might have been able to save
them. Perhaps even Artemis...'
With a start he realized that Odo had remained behind, and had been
quietly watching him. "I'm sorry, Odo. Is there something I can do for
you?" Bashir asked.
"I'm not sure," the Constable admitted reluctantly. "I've been
feeling... odd since the battle with Malachite."
"Well, let's see what I can do for you," Bashir stated with false
joviality. He opened up a medical tricorder and began scanning the
changeling with it. "Hmmm... there are some mild instabilities in your
morphogenic matrix."
"Instabilities?" Odo asked, clearly worried.
Bashir smiled. "There's no need for concern, Constable. There's
nothing that won't be cleared up by your taking a few hours of rest to
regenerate."
Odo nodded, clearly relieved. "Thank you, Doctor. I think I'll go
to my quarters and do that."
"You're quite welcome," Bashir said. His expression became more
serious when he looked back to the bodies in the stasis chambers. "I'm
just glad I could be of some help to somebody today."
Odo watched him carefully for a moment. "It's not your fault,
Doctor."
Bashir smiled ruefully. "Oh, I'm aware of that, Odo... at least
intellectually. However, I can't help feeling that if I had the
resources I had back at the station, or even if this were a proper
sickbay, that I could have done more for them."
"Perhaps," Odo said noncommittally. "But I don't see any reason to
dwell on what might have been."
"Then perhaps I should speculate on other things," Bashir answered.
"I noticed that Mars, and to a lesser extent Mercury, shot a couple of
nasty glares your way on the way out. Now, why is that?"
Odo snorted. "You hardly need to speculate about that, Doctor.
Mercury informed me that they've met another Changeling previously, and
that it was responsible for a friend's death."
"That would tend to make them a bit hostile about Changelings in
general. And it would tend to color their opinions about you."
Odo nodded. "Indeed. Especially if that friend is Sailor Moon."
"More speculation, Odo?"
"Deduction, Doctor, not speculation. One, Sailor Moon is missing
from a battle that she has a pivotal role in. Two, according to Worf,
the Sailor Scouts were all close friends. When you add in Mercury's
revelation, it leads one to this conclusion."
The doctor frowned. "That does seem to fit."
"I'm glad you concur," Odo replied with some sarcasm. "Perhaps you
should consult with me on medical matters as well."
Bashir smiled. "Don't worry, Odo. I won't make a habit of it."
"I should hope not."
"If that accounts for all the Sailor Scouts, I wonder what happened
to that Tuxedo Mask character Worf talked about."
"He was there," Odo confirmed. Briefly the constable relayed the
events that occurred at the Arctic battlefield.
Bashir was suitably impressed by what he heard. "It's a pity you
weren't able to capture him. I might have been able to do something for
Darien to reverse his amnesia."
Odo snorted. "Don't you mean Prince Darien?"
A puzzled expression formed on the doctor's face. "What's the
difference?"
"None that I can see," Odo responded. "No, Doctor. Beryl wasn't
about to let her... 'prize' get away that easily. Besides, we have no
way of knowing if a stun setting would have any effect on him. And I
don't blame Mars for interfering with Worf's shot, she didn't know the
phaser was on stun... and she's quite clearly in love with this Darien."
"Love?" a mystified Bashir asked. "How do you know that?"
"I'm a detective, Doctor. And I've been observing you humanoids
carefully over the years. The signs are obvious if you know where to
look. Now if you'll excuse me." The Constable nodded to Bashir and
departed for his quarters. At least he wouldn't have to share them with
Quark on this trip.
The Bridge was a proverbial beehive of activity when Worf and the
Scouts entered. The Klingon noted that several of the stations were
manned by reserve personnel and that, aside from the Captain, Kira was
the only senior officer on the Bridge. The Major was working furiously
at the tactical station, directing the activity of those around her.
By contrast, Sisko was standing rock still by his command chair,
staring intently at the viewscreen. Presently he barked out, "Chief,
where the hell are those torpedoes?"
A disembodied voice answered him. "Almost ready, Captain. We're
modifying the last two now."
"Good." He turned to Worf. "Take weapons control and check the
firing program, Mr. Worf. Kira will brief you on the plan." The
Klingon nodded and moved to the station, Kira got out of her seat and
began outlining the plan Dax and O'Brien had come up with. Curious,
Mercury followed to listen in.
Luna jumped onto the command chair console. "Not that we're
ungrateful, but who ARE you people? And what are you trying to do?"
Sisko regarded the cat for a brief period. Even though he had been
briefed on their existence, he still found himself taken aback at
meeting a talking cat face to face. "I'm sorry... Luna, isn't it?"
After the startled cat nodded he continued, "We haven't got time for
lengthy introductions right now, but I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko,
commanding the Federation starship Defiant. At the moment, we're trying
to seal off the link between Earth and the Negaverse." His gaze
returned to the viewscreen, "Before it's too late." Mars and Luna did
likewise, and gasped. A large part of the northern hemisphere was
covered in a writhing dark mass that was growing visibly. Fully one
third of the planet had been enveloped.
"What it that?" asked Mars, her voice low.
"Our sensors identify it as a negative energy field, but it's like
nothing we've ever encountered before," Sisko replied. "All we really
know for certain is that we're reading massive destruction inside the
field. Whole cities are being destroyed. Even outside the field, it as
if nature has gone bezerk: earthquakes, volcanoes erupting, tornadoes...
virtually every kind of natural disaster is going on."
"It's the Negaforce's doing," Luna said. "It's remaking the
surface of the Earth in the image of the Negaverse." The black cat
shook her head sadly. "We've failed."
Sisko shook his head. "Not yet, we haven't," he insisted firmly.
"There may be two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but thanks to Dax and
Chief O'Brien, we still have one more chance at bat."
Mars hoped he was right, but in her mind she could almost hear the
screams of the people trapped inside the dark mass below. "Do... do you
have any idea about casualties below?"
The Captain grimaced. "High," he admitted. "Our sensor readings
inside the field are limited, but it appears the it's several thousand
at least. Considering that several major cities lie inside it, it may
well be in the millions. But we can't concern ourselves with that at
the moment."
"What?!" Mars hissed. She was dimly aware that several of the crew
turned to stare at her, Worf and Kira in particular, but she plunged on
regardless. "How can you have a cold blooded attitude like..."
"Because I have to be more concerned with saving those millions
that are still alive," Sisko retorted, interrupting her forcefully.
"We'll mourn for the dead later... after the current crisis is over."
The two of them glared at each other, each of the iron willed
individuals unwilling to give an inch. Finally Sisko added in a gentler
tone, "That includes those who've died up here on the Defiant. You all
have my condolences on the deaths of your friends, and I think I can
safely speak for my crew when I say they feel similarly. I know from
personal experience what it's like to lose someone close to you that
suddenly."
Mars sensed the sincerity behind Sisko's words and her expression
softened, but before she could respond the starboard door hissed open to
admit Dax, followed by Chief O'Brien. The Trill science officer looked
tired as she made her way to the helm. "We're ready, sir," she said.
"All the torpedoes have been modified and loaded in the launch tubes."
"I hope your calculations are right, Old Man..." Sisko began
quietly, now taking his own seat. "Because if they're not..."
"If they're not, I don't think there'll be much of an Earth left to
save," Dax finished in the same tone.
Luna looked oddly at Dax, then to Sisko, "Old man? You need your
eyes checked."
Sisko raised an eyebrow, while Dax smiled broadly. "It's a long
story, Luna," she said. "I'll be happy to tell you all about it when we
finish here."
In the meantime, Mars went over to where Mercury was standing just
behind Worf at the tactical station. She could see the both he and Kira
were feverishly setting up some last details on the firing program. In
a low voice she asked her fellow Scout, "What are they trying to do? And
can it actually work?"
The blue haired Scout tapped on her computer for a moment before
answering. "They've modified several of their weapons to cause a
subspace inversion field." At Raye's dubious look, she smiled. "Don't
worry, I'm not sure I understand it either. As for it working... Well,
it's possible. The subspace physics they're using are quite advanced
beyond anything that exists on Earth, but the theory seems sound.
Assuming everything goes as planned, the explosions will set up an
inversion field causing a cascade reaction within the dimensional portal
between Earth and the Negaverse, thereby severing the dimensional link.
At the very least, this should by us some time."
Mars looked dubiously back at the screen. It seemed like a long
shot, but what else could they try?
Worf turned to Sisko, "Firing program loaded and ready, sir."
"Very well. Deactivate the cloak and fire when ready, Mr. Worf,"
Sisko ordered.
"Aye, sir." Worf touched a control on his monitor, activating the
firing program. Outside, the Defiant became visible once more and
immediately launched a staggered volley of photon and quantum torpedoes.
Those on the Bridge watched anxiously as the orange and white weapons
raced towards Earth, disappearing into the dark mass above D point.
Dax monitored the sensors for reaction. "Detonation of all
torpedoes confirmed. Subspace field inversion proceeding."
"It's working..." Mercury breathed. The Scouts and the crew held
their collective breath as the growth of the dark field slowed and
finally seemed to stop.
An alarm sounded from Dax's panel. Hurriedly she checked the
sensor readouts. "Hold on. Something's interfering with the cascade
reaction," she announced.
"The Negaforce," Luna observed sadly.
Dax looked horrified at the sensor readings. "The subspace
inversion field has been completely negated. The portal's not
collapsing... it's tearing wide open." On the viewscreen, the black
mass began expanding at a greatly accelerated rate and covered the
planet within a matter of seconds. The assembled group stared at the
image in stunned silence, that was interrupted by an alert from the
tactical station.
"Captain, incoming fire!" Worf cried. Several massive bolts of
energy emerged from the darkness over D point, heading straight for the
Defiant.
"Evasive!" Sisko ordered, "Shields to maximum!" While Dax was able
to evade some of the incoming fire, a good many of the bolts impacted on
the small starship, sending it tumbling. Inside, several panels
exploded as a result of the power surges and the crew hung on for dear
life as the deck pitched under them. Mercury and Mars hung on to the
back of Worf's seat, while Luna dug her claws into the armrest of
Sisko's chair.
"Shields gone!" Worf reported.
"Warp drive is out too," O'Brien shouted over the noise. "And the
entire weapons array is off-line!"
Sisko began calling out orders. "Dax, get us back under control!
Activate the cloaking device." Dax worked to steady the ship while
moving it into another orbit. Outside, the Defiant ceased its spinning
motion and faded from view just as another energy bolt shot up and
passed through where the ship had been. Still more bolts emerged from
below, bracketing the starship.
Kira spoke up, "Those shots are coming too close for comfort. I
think they're tracking us somehow!"
"While we're cloaked?" asked O'Brien in disbelief.
"They had several Jem'Hadar under their control, so they probably
had access Dominion technology at the same time. Including their method
for penetrating cloaks," Dax theorized.
"Whatever it is, we're not sticking around to find out," Sisko
said. "Move us out of the system, Dax. Best speed." The Trill officer
nodded and made the necessary adjustments to the helm. The image of
Earth on the viewscreen grew smaller as the Defiant moved off on impulse
power, the groundfire becoming more sporadic when it passed beyond lunar
orbit.
Mars looked at the shrinking image of the enshrouded Earth on the
viewscreen, then glanced at the monitor of conditions within the
blackness. She couldn't understand all of it, but the ramifications of
total devastation being wrought below were perfectly clear.
Negaverse victory. All their efforts had come to naught.
Each of the Defiant's bridge crew had an expression of uncertainty,
as they were unsure what to do next. Mars finally settled her gaze on
Sisko, who had a similar expression on his face. "Well?!?" she
demanded. "Now what?"
Sisko continued to stare at the enshrouded Earth. "Strike three,"
he said quietly.
Mars couldn't believe it. The determination she had felt when
leaving the Medical Bay went out of her like air from a popped balloon.
"It was all for nothing. Everything we've gone through... everyone
we've lost... Serena..." Worf looked at her sharply at this, but said
nothing. "Lita... Mina... Artemis... all for NOTHING!" She collapsed
into an empty chair, too emotionally spent even for tears. Mercury went
over and tried to comfort her friend, but Raye seemed only dimly aware
of her.
Sisko turned to Kira. "Major, our guests still have injuries that
need attention. Please escort them to the Medical Bay, then assign them
quarters," he said in a still quiet voice.
"Yes, sir," the Major responded. Gently she asked the Scouts to
come with her, Mars doing so almost mechanically.
After they left, Sisko turned to the helm. "Dax, take another look
at the situation. Find another method to sever the dimensional link.
And make it work this time."
"Benjamin, I don't think..." she broke off at the stern look on
Sisko's face which brooked no argument, instead saying quietly, "Yes,
sir." She moved over to one of the science stations and began working.
An uncomfortable silence descended on the Bridge, broken only by a
loud thud and a cracking of glass as Sisko slammed his fist on his
console in frustration.
"There," Bashir said, putting down the tissue regenerator. He
picked up a medical tricorder and passed it over Mars' shoulder. "Good
as new."
Mars flexed her left arm experimentally. There was no pain at all
from the wound the Jem'Hadar weapon had inflicted. In fact, it was as
if she had never been injured at all. "Thanks."
"All part of the friendly service," the Doctor answered, moving
over to the biobed Mercury was seated on. "Though you should thank
whomever bandaged that in the first place."
"That would be me," Mercury said, turning slightly red.
"Oh?" Bashir began scanning Mercury's injuries, noting with relief
that they were relatively minor. "I don't see why you're embarrassed.
You did a first rate job with that makeshift bandage. I doubt I
could've done better under the circumstances."
"Thank you, Doctor."
He glanced up from the tricorder. "Have you considered a career in
medicine? You've certainly got an aptitude for it."
"I... I did want to be a doctor," the blue haired girl replied,
suddenly downcast. "But I doubt that's possible now." Bashir mentally
kicked himself, and from the look Kira was giving him, she was more than
willing to do it physically. All he had wanted to do was try to cheer
them up, but what he had ended up doing instead was to remind them of
the devastation that was being wrought on Earth.
Kira went over and put a comforting hand on Mars' shoulder. "Don't
give up hope yet. If there's anyway to push Beryl off your world,
Captain Sisko will find it."
Mars shot a glare at the Major, who returned it measure for
measure. "Who are you to talk about not giving up? Your world wasn't
taken over by alien invaders!"
"Oh yes it was," Kira responded, her voice taking on a hard edge to
it. "Bajor, my homeworld, was invaded and occupied by the Cardassians.
We were no threat to them, but they still came and stripped out world of
its resources, put us into labor camps... murdered us... you name it,
the Cardassians did it. But we didn't give up. We formed a resistance
movement and fought back against the Cardassians. It may have taken us
fifty years, but we managed to force them off our world. And the same
thing can work on Earth."
"A resistance movement? Against the Negaverse?" Luna said, doubt
evident in her voice. Mercury and Mars looked equally skeptical.
Kira nodded. "It's one option."
"No offense, Major," Bashir interjected, "But forming a resistance
against the Cardassians was one thing. From what I've heard, their
opponents are in another class entirely."
"You got that right," Mars remarked.
"It's just one possible solution," Kira said. "My point is that no
situation is entirely hopeless. And Captain Sisko will find a way to
resolve this -- whether it's forming a resistance movement and supplying
it with weapons from the Defiant's armory... Or something else
altogether."
"You really believe in him, don't you?" Mercury asked.
"Absolutely," Kira affirmed, "After all, he is the Emissary."
Several hours later, Dax reluctantly pressed the door chime at
Sisko's quarters and heard him respond softly, "Come in." The door
opened to admit her to Sisko's temporary home on the Defiant. Sisko was
seated on the lower bunk, a somber expression on his face. In fact, she
didn't think she had seen her old friend look this depressed since
Jennifer's death at Wolf 359, a little over five years ago. Those were
back in the days of Curzon Dax, before the Dax symbiote had passed to
Jadzia, but the memories were still vivid.
Sisko stood up slowly and faced her. "I could sure use some good
news right now, Old Man."
"Unfortunately, I don't have any," she answered. "O'Brien and I
have been over it a dozen times, from just as many different angles.
There's just no way we can sever the link between this universe and the
Negaverse."
Sisko sagged back against the bunk bed, feeling very weary.
"You're sure?"
She nodded. "I've tried everything I could think of, even a couple
things that violate the laws of physics. The link is just too strong to
sever with our current resources." Sisko turned away from her, facing
the far wall. "And it doesn't help matters any that it's being
artificially maintained by the Negaforce."
Sisko stood silently for several moments, digesting her report,
then slammed his fist into the cabin wall. "Damn it!"
Despite the situation, an amused expression came across Dax's face.
"You never could keep your temper in check, Ben. Feel any better?"
"A little," he admitted. "I just hate feeling this helpless, Dax.
We didn't just stumble across this situation, we were brought here! The
wormhole was deliberately diverted to bring us to this time and place to
do something. But there doesn't seem to be anything we can do to help
this situation." He heaved a sigh of frustration and placed his hands
on his hips. "This problem is too big for us to handle, even with the
help of the Sailor Scouts."
Dax's brow furrowed. "Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong
way."
Sisko turned to face her. "What do you mean?"
"Like you said, this is too big for us. So maybe the wormhole
aliens had another reason for sending us here."
"Such as?"
Dax shrugged. "I don't know. Those pieces of the puzzle is still
missing."
Sisko turned and paced across the room a few times, pondering what
she said. "Then it's time we found those missing pieces, Old Man," he
said, several moments later, feeling a new sense of purpose fill him.
"The Prophets mentioned an 'anomaly'... and now that I have time to
think about it, there's a very good chance they were talking about a
temporal anomaly. And I'd bet my baseball that it has some connection
to the changes in the timeline that we've observed here as well."
"No bet," Dax said. "I think you're onto something, Benjamin.
I'll get on the sensors and start scanning for temporal anomalies."
"Search for any spatial anomalies as well, Dax. We can't afford to
leave any stone unturned. And have Chief O'Brien get to work on that
log buoy again. Now that there's time to give it a good lookover, there
may be a few answers there as well."
"Yes, sir," she answered and left the room.
"Sisko to Worf," the Captain said, prompting the computer to
activate the intercom system. "I have an assignment for you."
"Muniz!" The younger man looked up from a console to see O'Brien
entering the Engine Room.
"Yes, Chief?"
"The Captain wants us to take a look at that log buoy we salvaged,"
the Chief answered. "Hopefully it'll give us some clue as to what the
hell's going on around here. Besides, now that most of the damage has
been repaired, you need something to do, right?" The two engineers
moved over to the damaged buoy, which had been placed in a corner of the
Defiant's engine room. With all the recent activity, neither had been
able to make the time to attempt to extract useful information from it.
"It'll be a miracle if we get anything out of this mess," Muniz
remarked, shaking his head.
"We won't know until we try," O'Brien stated. "Besides, you're not
afraid of a little hard work, are you Muniz?"
"No, sir," Muniz answered with a smile.
"Don't call me sir," the Chief groused, "Unless you *really* want a
transfer to Waste Extraction." They both chuckled and began work by
removing an inspection plate form the buoy. After much effort they
managed to get it off, and stared in stunned silence as they got a good
look at the buoy's inner workings.
"I don't believe it!" Muniz remarked. "I thought they stopped
using stuff like this a hundred years ago!"
O'Brien shook himself and tried to focus on the task at hand.
"They did, but it doesn't change our job any. Captain Sisko wants
answers, and that means he wants us to find them."
The sound of the door chime startled Amy, almost causing her to
drop the PADD she had been studying. She and Raye were in the small,
though Spartan, quarters that Major Kira had assigned them. Upon
transforming back, Raye had opted to get some sleep, but Amy found that
she couldn't contain her curiosity about their hosts and accessed the
computer. Besides, she doubted she could sleep very well at the moment.
Any sleep she got right now would no doubt be tainted by nightmares of
recent events... Mina's death... Lita's... the Negaverse overrunning
Earth... and Serena's death. It had been months since that had
happened, but the events of that day still plagued her at night. Again
she wondered how Raye was able to put these things aside and get to
sleep so easily. Probably something in her training as a Shinto
priestess, she decided.
Downloading the data into a PADD, she decided to start with the
history of the Defiant and the crew she had met, and had gotten as far
as the recent history of Bajor before she was interrupted.
Getting out of the lower bunk, she looked at Raye. The other girl
was eyeing the door rather groggily. "What now?" she asked in a rather
irritated voice as the door chimed again. Amy could swear that it had
taken on an impatient tone.
"One way to find out." She was about to admit whoever was at the
door when Raye put a restraining hand on her.
"Hold on. Let's transform first."
"I hardly think maintaining a secret identity is necessary now,
Raye."
"Maybe not," the other girl admitted. "And I think these people
can be trusted... at least Worf can be. But let's be on the safe side,
OK?"
Amy considered what she said and nodded. "OK." Two transformation
phrases (and three door chimes) later she said, "Come in."
The door opened and a rather impatient (but trying not to show it)
Worf entered. He looked first at Mercury, then at Mars eyeing him from
the upper bunk. He noted that the small tears in their clothing had
disappeared. "Am I disturbing you?"
"Not at all," Mars replied, the sarcasm sharply evident in her
voice. "I was only sleeping." Worf repressed the instinctive urge to
snarl. This was Mars, all right. She was just as sharp tongued as
during her trip to the Enterprise D.
"Mars!" Mercury chided her. Turning to Worf, "Well, I wasn't
sleeping, though I was doing some research into the history of your
world. It sounds like an interesting place."
"It is," he agreed. "Hopefully we will be able to return there
once this matter is resolved."
Mars looked confused. "Can't you just use the same way you got
here?"
"No," the Klingon replied. "We were investigating an anomaly in
the wormhole. For some reason, it led us here and then vanished."
Mercury nodded in understanding. "Yes, the wormhole between the
Alpha and Gamma Quadrants." Then she frowned as what Worf said sank in.
"It led you here? It shouldn't have done that."
"We do not understand it either," Worf agreed. "Our current theory
is that the wormhole aliens routed us here for some reason. And that is
the reason for my visit."
"How so?" Mars asked.
"We believe that a temporal anomaly occurred, altering the history
of your world. Captain Sisko asked me to talk with you three..." His
voice trailed off and he glanced about the room. "Where is Luna?"
"She said something about exploring the ship. She should be back
soon," Mercury answered. "You were saying?"
"Yes. The Captain asked me to talk with you three to see if I
could determine the crucial event that altered the flow of your
history."
"You mean something happened to change the way things should have
gone for us?" Mercury asked.
"That is our current theory, yes."
"But why you?" Mars asked. "I mean, isn't Dax the scientist?"
"She is," Worf admitted, "But I have greater knowledge of your true
history from my earlier meeting with you on the Enterprise."
Mercury looked puzzled. "Meeting?"
"We've never met you before," Mars added. "And believe me, we'd
definitely remember meeting someone like you."
"Of course not," Worf said, ignoring Mars' barb. "That event took
place later in your history, and in the true timeline. You can confirm
what I've said by accessing the logs of the Enterprise D." He added a
range of stardates for good measure.
Mercury picked up the PADD and quickly manipulated the controls,
calling up the relevant data. It only took her a moment to skim over
the log entries, "He's right Mars. All five of the Sailor Scouts
visited there... and Tuxedo Mask as well." She read on for a moment and
gasped. "Our names are listed here! Our real ones!"
"You spent over a month on the Enterprise and as we are from
different universes, there was no need to conceal who and what you
were," Worf said, trying to reassure her. "But in order to preserve
that timeline, we need to know how things changed. I need you to tell
me everything that has happened. Form the moment you became Sailor
Scouts to Sailor Moon's death... and what has happened since."
"The last thing I want is a visit from Temporal Investigations when we
get home..."
-Captain Benjamin Sisko
Chapter 4 - A Moonless World
Dax nodded to Kira as she made her way to the science station. "So
you're the lucky one who got the night shift, Kira?"
"Not originally," she remarked. "Worf had the duty, but Captain
Sisko had a job for him, so I got called in. Not that there was anyone
else available, mind you."
"Oh, I don't know," Dax said with a shrug. "I think I could handle
the center seat for a while."
"That's true," Kira said with a laugh. "But not right now, you
can't. You're still too busy trying to find a way to push this Queen
Beryl back where she belongs."
The Science Officer shook her head. "Not anymore."
It took Kira a moment to realize what Dax had said. She swiveled
the command chair to face the Science Officer, disbelief clearly written
on her face. "What do you mean? Captain Sisko can't be thinking about
giving up!"
"Relax, Kira," Dax reassured her. "We're just trying another
angle. We've theorized that the Prophets were referring to a temporal
anomaly when they talked to Benjamin during our last trip through the
wormhole. So," she gestured to the science station, "now I'm up here
looking for temporal anomalies."
"I see," Kira said, understanding dawning. "So, if we can find
this temporal anomaly, maybe we can use it somehow... to keep this whole
mess from happening in the first place?"
"That's essentially the idea," Dax said. Leaning forward, she set
about the task of remodulating the sensors. "So, anything exciting
happening up here?"
"Not much," Kira admitted. "The situation on Earth seems to have
stabilized, but we're still cloaked and maintaining a distance of two
hundred million kilometers. But every now and then we get a threatening
message from Her Majesty, Queen Beryl." Sarcasm was practically
dripping from Kira's voice as she said "Her Majesty."
Now it was Dax's turn to show disbelief. "She's sending direct
messages to us? This far away... while we're cloaked?"
"No, no directly," Kira reassured her. "She's just sending out
general broadband transmissions all over the place, using old style
radiowaves. And it's just the usual kind of threats I'd expect from
someone like her. You know, how she's going to have her vengeance on us
and wherever we came from for daring interfere with her plans, and the
like. The Cardassians made the same kind of threats to us during the
Occupation."
"Sounds charming," Dax remarked, her tone indicating she found
Beryl anything but. "Maybe we should invite her to the next Bajoran
Gratitude Festival?"
Kira shuddered at the thought. "No thanks. I'd rather invite Gul
Dukat." She sighed and added, "But I will say this about Beryl: she
loves the sound of her voice even more than Dukat does."
Down in the Defiant's Mess Hall, Worf took his drink from the
replicator and sat down at a nearby table with Mars and Mercury. Both
of them were eyeing his drink dubiously, but it was Mars who finally
asked the obvious question. "Prune juice?"
"Yes." Worf had long since grown used to the reaction people had
upon hearing of his beverage of choice. Rather than explain it yet
again, he glanced at the PADD in front of him. "Your depiction of the
battle at the amusement park seems consistent with the original
timeline. What happened afterwards?"
"Afterwards?" Mars asked, then paused. When she continued, her
voice was hoarse and bitter, "That's when things went horribly wrong."
Serena looked around in disbelief. "The Negaverse is going to
strike here next? At a *baseball* stadium?!? Luna, I think you've
finally gone whacko on me."
The cat stuck her head out from the handbag she was hiding in. "If
I have gone insane, it's only because you've driven me over the edge."
"Oooohhh!" Unable to think of a suitable retort, Serena settled
for sticking her tongue out at the black feline.
"And besides," Luna continued, ignoring Serena's antics, "There've
been reports of people disappearing from here over the last couple of
days. That fits with their previous activities."
"There's one thing I find odd about this," Amy spoke up.
"Only one?" Serena asked.
Amy smiled and continued, "It's that they've decided to strike
again so soon. After all, it's only been three days since we broke up
their operation at the amusement park."
"Maybe they're getting desperate," Raye theorized. "They know they
have to face three of us now, so maybe they're trying for a quick
strike, hoping to catch us off-guard." She paused and looked around the
concourse. "Besides, I think Luna's right. I've been having a bad
feeling about this place the moment we went through the gate."
"This from a girl who decided *I* was evil and slapped a spirit
ward on my forehead just minutes after meeting me?" Serena quipped.
"That doesn't make me feel any better about having to spend a good chunk
of my allowance for a ticket."
Raye's eyes narrowed, but Amy intervened before she could say
anything. "We should split up to cover more ground. Luna and I will go
this way and you two can check out the other direction."
"Wait a minute! I want to go with you, Amy. Luna can go with the
grouch!" Serena complained.
"Grouch?!?"
"We can meet back her in an hour," Amy said and she took the bag
containing Luna from Serena and moved off.
The other two glared at each other for a moment before they finally
started off on their own search. "I can't believe Amy did it to me this
time," Serena grumbled.
"Quit complaining, Meatball Head," Raye retorted.
Serena stopped momentarily and fumed, allowing Raye to pull
slightly ahead of her. "STOP CALLING ME MEATBALL HEAD!" the blonde
yelled as she followed Raye.
An uneasy silence descended over the two as they made their way
through the concourse. Soon, however, Serena's mood brightened as she
eyed the various offerings at the concessions. The only thing stopping
her from sampling at each one was the fact that her monetary supply was
so limited. But that didn't prevent her from irritating Raye.
"Come on, Serena," she finally said, "We're supposed to be here on
Sailor business, remember?"
"Give it a rest, Raye. There's no reason we can't do that and have
a good time, too." Here eyes goggled as she espied a booth just coming
into view. "Oh, look! That place has hot dogs, way super cheap! I can
afford those!"
Raye suppressed a groan as Serena raced over to the concession,
then resignedly followed her over.
The concession was extremely crowded when they took their place in
line, but that wasn't surprising given the cut rate prices it was
offering. But the moment they approached it, Raye's bad feeling
intensified dramatically. There was definitely something evil nearby.
Her eyes narrowed and she flitted her gaze back and forth over the
throng in an attempt to localize it.
Seeing that Raye was obviously worried about something, Serena
asked in a whisper, "What's wrong?"
"I sense something."
"Here? You've got to be kidding, Raye. I --" Serena stopped in
midsentence, for at that moment a man several places in front of them
groaned and sagged to his knees. Several others soon followed suit.
Strangely enough though, those passing by the booth didn't pay the
commotion any mind. "Uh oh."
Raye's attention was immediately drawn to the attendant, as he was
grinning ear to ear as more people collapsed. Instinctively, she knew
that he was the cause of this. He had to be from the Negaverse! Feeling
a slight sense of weakness come over her, Raye acted. She raced through
the crowd for the booth, the white paper of one of her spirit wards held
tightly in her right hand. As she approached she chanted in a low
voice, empowering the ward, then leapt for the attendant and planted it
firmly on his forehead. "EVIL SPIRIT, BEGONE!"
The effect was immediate and the attendant begin to change. His
skin took on a grayish tone, and several ridges formed on his face and
shoulders with features that resembled reptilian scales. However, the
most prominent feature was a slight protrusion from his forehead that
bore a distinct likeness to a spoon. "A youma!" Serena exclaimed.
"Rybite!" it hissed along with several other incomprehensible
utterings, confirming its origins for them.
Pandemonium immediately broke out as people, suddenly recovered
when Raye's ward broke the energy drain spell, ran in panic from the
monster. The two girls took cover around a corner and Raye gave Serena
a satisfied look. "Well?"
"OK, you're right this time. But even a broken clock is right
twice a day... MOON PRISM POWER!"
Raye glared, but decided to save any replies until after the fight
was done. "MARS POWER!"
Rybite had pinned two bystanders to the ground and was trying to
drain their energy off when a voice cried out, "Hold it!" Rybite
pivoted and found itself confronted by Sailor Mars and Sailor Moon.
Taking a step forward, Sailor Moon leveled an accusing finger at the
youma, "A ballpark is a place for people to enjoy themselves, not be
attacked by Negasleaze like you! In the name of the Moon, I'll punish
you!"
The youma's only response was to hiss and then spit at the two
Scouts. Both leapt aside and the large glob hit the girder between
them. Sailor Moon looked on in shock as it began eating into the metal.
"Eeww... That stuff's nasty!"
"Not as nasty as I'm going to get!" Mars said. "MARS..." Before
she could finish the attack phrase though, Rybite spat again at her,
forcing her to dodge.
The battle continued in that manner for some time. The youma would
spit a glob of its corrosive venom at each of them before they could
bring their attacks to bear, forcing the Scouts to dodge. On the other
hand, the Scouts themselves proved too agile for him to hit. It seemed
the battle would remain a stalemate, until...
"MERCURY BUBBLES... BLAST!"
A thick layer of fog encased the area around them, and Rybite
looked around trying to espy its foes. It uttered several more
incomprehensible phrases in obvious frustration as Mercury's fog
inhibited its visibility to near zero. Sailor Moon looked up happily at
her friend's approach. "Thanks for the save, Sailor Mercury!"
"Sorry I wasn't here sooner," she replied. "But my computer didn't
detect the youma's power emanations until a few minutes ago. It must
have been generating some sort of concealment field."
"That must be why no one reacted to everyone collapsing earlier,"
Mars added.
"We can theorize later. Quickly you two," Luna urged Sailor Mars
and Sailor Moon, "While it's confused!"
"Right, Luna," Sailor Moon replied. She reached to her forehead.
"MOON TIARA..."
"MARS FIRE..."
"MAGIC!"
"IGNITE!"
Too late the youma saw the fire encased tiara racing for it, and it
barely had time for a loud scream before the combined attack cut through
it. Its last cry of despair was just about the most understandable
thing the creature had said since its manifestation.
"Moondusted!" Sailor Moon cried happily as Rybite disintegrated.
Within seconds all that remained of the incomprehensible creature was a
pile of dust, which quickly faded away as well. She turned to give Mars
a high five, but the other girl was staring dumbfounded. "Mars? What's
wrong?"
She didn't reply, except by moving to one side of Sailor Moon a
split-second later, taking aim at something behind her. Moments before,
it had seemed to be an ordinary trash can, but Mars had seen it shift
from, becoming a writhing, gelatinous blob that seemed very much alive
to her. She didn't know what the shapeshifting creature was, but was
sure that it didn't mean them any good. "MARS FIRE..."
At the same moment Mars spoke, a gelatinous tentacle emerged from
the mass and shot forth at inhuman speed, wrapping itself around Sailor
Moon's neck.
"IGNITE!" Mars saw two additional tentacles emerge, heading in the
direction of herself and Sailor Mercury. But they never got to them, as
her flame arrived first and struck dead center in the gelatinous ooze.
A loud, inhuman scream came from it as her attack flared, leaving behind
only a pile of black dust when it faded. "Got it!" she cried
triumphantly, but it suddenly felt hollow to her as she caught sight of
Sailor Moon sprawled out on the ground. The unnatural stillness in her
form caused a cold lump of fear to form in her stomach.
Mercury moved rapidly to the fallen Scout's side as did Luna, but
each saw immediately it was too late. Serena's head was canted at an
odd angle, and her half open eyes were dull and lifeless. Mercury
looked to her fellow Scout, and saw that Mars was staring wide eyed in
shock at the sight. "No," she said, shaking her head in denial. "It
can't be..."
"I'm afraid it is, Raye," Mercury said shakily. Taking a deep
breath, she forced herself to say the unthinkable through the tears that
were forming. "Serena's dead."
"What about Tuxedo Mask?" Worf asked. "I was under the impression
he was usually there whenever she was in danger."
"He was there," Mars replied softly. "He was just a little too
late that time."
Mars watched the tableau before her in shock. Mercury was kneeling
beside Sailor Moon, where she had been moments before when she told Raye
she was dead. Around them, Raye could sense a crowd of silent onlookers
forming, but she didn't care. How could this have happened? How could
it have gone so wrong, so quickly?
*How could I let this happen?* she thought. It had only been a
second at most between the time she had seen the creature change and the
time she had acted. Could she have stopped it if she had acted sooner?
She sensed a presence nearby. Looking up, she saw Tuxedo Mask
standing among the stadium gridwork above them. He said nothing, just
staring at the scene below him, a look of deep sadness on his face.
Raye watched him for several seconds, but then he vanished in the
literal blink of an eye.
"It wasn't until just before Zoisite started looking for the
Rainbow Crystals that we saw him again." Mars closed her eyes against
the tears that were forming there and added quietly, "It's my fault."
"What is your fault?" Worf asked.
Mars slammed her fist onto the table, jarring the various beverage
containers there. Mercury jumped slightly, but Worf didn't react. The
Klingon merely crossed his arms and regarded the hot tempered Scout
stoically. "It's my fault that Serena is dead! If I hadn't
hesitated... If I hadn't been standing there like an *idiot* with my
mouth open while that thing was shapeshifting, I could have stopped it
before it killed her!"
Mercury sighed and bowed her head, telling Worf that this was an
old argument between the two. Before she could say anything though,
Worf spoke, "That is foolishness."
"Oh, really?" she retorted, making no effort now to hold back the
tears.
"Yes," Worf replied evenly. "The changeling struck fast and
without warning. You had no idea what it was, or anything about its
capabilities. That you were able to strike as quick as you did speaks
well of you."
"That's easy for..." Mars halted in midsentence as she hastily
rethought what she was about to say. She had already made that mistake
with Major Kira, and she had a feeling that in this instance she would
be wrong about Worf as well.
The Klingon nodded, confirming her suspicions. "Yes," he rumbled,
"I understand something of what you have gone through. I, too, have
endured the loss of a loved one."
They stared at one another, their expressions each communicating to
the other far more than mere words could. "Who was she?" Mars finally
asked.
Worf said nothing at first, only a slight hardening in his eyes
betraying any of the emotion he felt. Then, "Her name was K'Ehleyr.
She was my mate... and the mother of my son. She was murdered on board
the Enterprise, on which I Chief of Security." He waited a beat, then
added, "I do not waste time pondering what might have been, on if there
was anything I could have done differently to prevent her death. I know
in my heart I did my duty that day... that there was nothing more I
could do without foreknowledge to prevent her death. And you must
accept the same of yourself. Given the circumstances, you did all you
could hope to do to prevent it."
Mercury slid a box of tissues she had just replicated in front of
Mars, "I hope you listen to him, Raye. I've been telling you the same
thing for months."
Worf paused to consider Mars' tale in silence... and to give her a
chance to compose herself. It had answered some questions, but raised
several others. A changeling had been responsible for Sailor Moon's
death, but how had it gotten to this world? Four years ago, the
Enterprise had sealed off the quantum flux that joined the two
universes, which should have cut off passage between them. Even if the
Dominion had managed to reopen the flux, it would have led to a point in
time a hundred years later. But why would the Dominion make the effort
to do so? It didn't fit their usual method of operation. Their
interests to date had been entirely with the Alpha Quadrant.
He decided to pursue those particular questions later. "Please
continue. There are several other things I would like to know. Such as
how the two of you gained your increased abilities."
"That's not too hard to answer," Mercury said, "Since it happened
in the days following Serena's murder. Raye gained her increased
abilities first, only a few days later when..."
Raye leaned heavily on the deckrail and gazed out over the water.
"This was a terrible idea," she muttered. Turning to her companion she
added, "I don't know why I even bothered to enter that contest in the
first place. This cruise has turned out to be an utter bust."
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Amy said. "And after...
what happened a few days ago, we needed something to lift our spirits."
"Don't you mean after I screwed up and got Serena killed?" Raye
said.
"Stop it, Raye! You can't go on blaming yourself like this!"
"Why not?" she retorted. Frustrated, she began pacing along the
railing. "I hesitated. If I had reacted the moment I saw that thing
start to shapeshift, she'd be alive right now."
"You don't know that. Ignoring the fact that you hesitated for
maybe one second at most, neither one of us knows what would have
happened had either one of us reacted sooner. Serena may have died in
any event. Or maybe one of us would be --" Amy stopped as she spotted
a certain black feline bounding in their direction. "Luna! What are
you doing here?"
"Did you two really think I'd let you out of my sight?" the cat
said breathlessly. "Besides, we've got trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Raye asked, even though she already had a
good idea what Luna was talking about.
"Negaverse trouble! They've got something brewing in the ball
room. Come on!" Luna ran off, and the two girls followed close behind
her. Soon they reached the entrance to the large room and they
cautiously peered inside. All round, they could see people collapsed on
the floor -- all save for two at the front of the room.
Raye didn't need to be a psychic to know who they where, and what
they represented. "Negasleaze!" She smiled grimly as she produced her
transformation pen. "Good. I've been wanting a rematch with these
creeps."
"Excellent work, Titus," Jadeite said. "We've managed to collect a
great deal of energy this day."
The youma smiled. "I am happy to serve, Jadeite."
Jadeite gazed up at the collector speculatively. "With this amount
of energy, Queen Beryl may even forgive the loss of the shapeshifter."
"Too bad you're not going to be able to deliver it!" a voice rang
out.
Jadeite whirled. "Who?!?"
"I am Sailor Mars! And I won't tolerate those who would interrupt
a romantic cruise! In the name of Mars..."
"...and Mercury..."
"We'll punish you!" they concluded simultaneously.
"The Sailor Scouts," Jadeite snarled. "Just my luck, even on a
ship at sea I can't escape your interference. Titus, destroy them!"
"My pleasure," the female youma replied. At a gesture from her,
the crew in the room transforming into a humanoid form made of
quicksilver. Obeying Titus' mental command, they went after the two
Scouts.
"You're going to do better than that!" Mercury exclaimed. "MERCURY
BUBBLES BLAST!" A thick layer of fog descended over the room, and the
Negaverse operatives hesitated, confused by the sudden loss of
visibility and the drop in temperature.
"Nice setup, Mercury. Now I'll finish them off. MARS FIRE
IGNITE!" In an instant the fire swept over the area, reducing the
quicksilver beings to piles of dust.
Titus was hardly finished with them, however. She leapt at the two
and slammed into them, driving them back onto the deck. Mars managed to
get back to her feet just in time to see Titus standing by the railing,
her back to the ocean. "MARS FIRE IGNITE!"
The firebolt ran straight at the youma, but Titus gestured and two
large geysers of water shot into the air. A jet of water emerged from
one and intercepted Mars' attack, dousing the flame. "Seems you're not
such hot stuff, Mars. Just like your friend, Sailor Moon."
"Why you --" Mars began, but was cut off by Mercury as she began
her attack. She reasoned that if she was able to blind Titus, Mars'
flame might be able to get through and finish the youma off. She may
have been right, but Titus acted first as she sent another blast of
water at the blue haired Scout. Mercury gasped as the waterspout drove
her into the bulkhead. She stood there trying to get her bearings,
obviously dazed.
"Now to finish you off," Titus gloated.
"NO!" Mars cried and sent forth another blast of flame, only to
have this one doused as well. Titus drew back her hand to launch the
attack that would surely finish off Mercury, while Mars desperately
tried to think of something to do. Anger and rage shot through her at
her ineffectiveness in this battle, and she prepared to strike again.
She was NOT going to let another friend die if she could help it!
A mental connection was forged within her mind as she drew upon all
her strength, tapping into as yet unknown reserves. Instinctively the
new phrase came to her and she cried out, "MARS FIREBIRD STRIKE!"
The youma looked on in alarm as the bird of flame soared at her and
she tried to douse this attack as she had with the previous ones.
However, this time the water blast was seriously ineffective as the
firebird cut through it and struck her full on. Titus barely had time
to scream before the firebird overwhelmed her.
Mercury turned rather shakily from where the youma had been and
faced Mars. "How did you do that?"
"I don't know," the other Scout confessed, "I just did. All I knew
was that I couldn't let it kill you." She went over and helped Mercury
to her feet. "Are you OK?"
"I think so," she responded. "Thanks, Mars."
"Very touching," another voice interrupted. They turned to the
source of the voice to see Jadeite hovering nearby. "I thought Titus
would be powerful enough to destroy you, but I seem to have
underestimated you two. But now I will finish you off myself!"
"Give it your best shot, creep!" Mars challenged him. But before
the youma General could do anything, he vanished without a trace. She
blinked, surprised at his sudden retreat. "Where'd he go?"
Mercury glanced around the area with her visor. "He's nowhere
around. He's gone."
"He'll be back," Mars said grimly. "But next time we'll take care
of him for good."
Mercury turned to her fellow Scout. "Thanks again for saving my
life, Raye."
"You repaid the favor a couple of days later. Besides, we've done
the same for each other ever since," she responded, then added sullenly,
"I just wish I'd been able to do the same for Serena."
Now it was Mercury's turn to pound on the table, hard enough to
make even Worf blink in surprise. He hadn't known her to be prone to
such outbursts on the Enterprise. "Raye!" Mercury chided her. "Didn't
you listen to what Worf just said? Or anything I've told you over the
months since? It wasn't your fault!!" She took a deep breath to calm
herself. "There wasn't anything you or I could do to save Serena that
day, as much as either one of us may wish otherwise."
"That's what makes it so hard," Mars answered. Getting up, she
walked over to the replicator. Glancing back at Worf she asked, "How do
you work this thing?"
"Simply tell it what it is you wish. Though usually it is best to
use the word 'Computer' first."
"OK," she said. "Computer: a mug of hot tea, please."
"There are two thousand three hundred forty seven different
varieties of tea on record," the computer responded. "Please specify."
A display of the various types promptly appeared listing both human and
alien variants, and the computer began scrolling through them.
"Urk!" Mars' mind boggled at the size of the list. "Any
suggestions?" she asked Worf uncertainly.
The Klingon frowned, considering. He was unsure how to reply, for
despite the number of years he had lived among them, he still found
human tastes odd. "I've been told that Earl Grey is an excellent
variant."
Shrugging she said, "Make it Earl Grey tea. You want anything,
Amy?"
"Mmm... A hot chocolate, please."
Mars nodded. "And a hot chocolate." The requested beverages
materialized and she return to the table with them, muttering, "Sure,
there are umpteen different kinds of tea, but only one hot chocolate.
Computers!"
Mercury forbade comment, choosing instead to simply thank her
friend. "Where was I? Oh, yes. Well, a few days after the battle on
the ship, Jadeite challenged us to meet him in open combat at the
airport. We knew it was a trap but we couldn't ignore it, since he had
threatened to destroy Tokyo if we didn't show up."
"He left you very little choice," Worf agreed. "But I hope you at
least took some precautions."
"We went in with our eyes open, if that's what you mean," Mars
said. "Once we got to the airport, we transformed."
Mercury took up the tale, "And after we got inside the perimeter,
several guards began chasing us. Except that when I scanned them, I saw
that they weren't guards at all, they were just animated clay! Well,
Mars let loose a firebird attack and that took care of them. Then
Jadeite made his appearance..."
"Very impressive, Sailor Mars," the General sneered as he examined
her handiwork, "but you'll still meet the same fate as your pathetic
friend, Sailor Moon."
Mars bristled at this taunt. "You're going to be the one dying
today, Jadeite!"
"Brave words. Now let's see if you can back them up!" Jadeite
stretched out his hands, and the two Scouts tensed, preparing to dodge
whatever attack he sent their way. But Jadeite had another strategy in
mind, instead animating several of the nearby jets. Slowly the
lumbering behemoths moved towards them, accelerating rapidly.
"No problem," Raye said. "One fire blast should take care of
them!"
"No!" Luna cried. "If you bow up a jet, it will take your
allowance for the next ten thousand years to pay for it!"
The two Scouts looked uncertainly at each other, then did the only
thing they could: run. But even with their speed enhanced in their
Sailor forms, the best they could do was maintain their distance.
"Split up!" Mars yelled. Mercury nodded and ran to the right, while
Mars veered left.
Jadeite chuckled, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle in front of
him. This was turning out to be far easier than he had imagined. How
could he have let these two defeat him before? Clearly he had been
overestimating them... they must have been more lucky than good. After
a moments consideration he decided that Mars was clearly the more
dangerous of the two, so he sent the jets after her. Once he eliminated
her, he could deal with Mercury at his leisure.
Mercury slowed upon seeing that none of the aircraft were following
her. Quickly she looked around for Sailor Mars, and her heart froze.
Somehow, the aircraft had boxed her in and were closing on her. Raye
was looking urgently around, trying to find a direction to run.
Jadeite materialized next to her. "Too bad, Sailor Mercury.
Despite all your efforts, another one of your friends is going to die."
"NO!"
Jadeite sneered. "There's nothing you can do. How are you going
to stop those jets, hmmm? With your pathetic bubbles?"
Stung by Jadeite's taunts, Amy summoned all of her power, trying to
gather all her strength in one blast. Suddenly, she felt a rush of
energy, more than she had ever felt before. The words came
instinctively, "MERCURY ICE BUBBLES..."
Jadeite frowned. That wasn't the correct phrasing.
"FREEZE!!"
A wave of cold energy swept over the landing gear of two of the
jets, freezing them instantly. Suddenly more brittle than glass, the
gear snapped under the weight above them, and the jets skidded to a
halt, stirring up a huge cloud of dusk in their wake. *Oh, dear,* Luna
thought upon seeing the extant of the wreckage, *I hope they're
insured.*
Jadeite clenched his fists in rage while Mercury, visor deployed,
looked for Mars amid the swirling dust. "Not bad, little Mercury, but
too late to save your friend. Now it's your turn!"
Mercury turned to him, but instead of cringing in fear as he
expected, she simply smile slightly. "We'll see about that!" she said
in a defiant tone. Jadeite snarled and drew his hand back, ready to
blast her out of existence, then hesitated. She showed no signs of
preparing to run, just standing there staring resolutely at him. What
was she up to?
Jadeite shook off his doubts. It didn't matter. He started to
bring his hand forward just as he sensed something land behind him. But
before he could turn around, there was a light touch on his back. "EVIL
SPIRIT... BEGONE!" Mars cried, planting the ward.
"NOOO!" Jadeite howled as he felt himself paralyzed. Mars leapt
past him and joined up with Sailor Mercury. The Negaverse General
struggled against the power binding him. They may have the advantage
for now, but he would soon break free, and then...
Wait a minute... What was that shadow looming over him?
Jadeite cried out again, this time in horror, as the realization of
his situation hit him. Still intent on following Mars, the last jet
continued lumbering towards her... heading straight for Jadeite. "This
is for Sailor Moon, Jadeite!" There was a brief scream as the airliner
ran over him, then silence as the jet ground to a halt. No sign of
Jadeite remained.
A safe distance away, Mercury and Mars exchanged a high five.
"Scratch one Negacreep."
Dax uttered a couple of choice Klingon curses that Curzon had
favored in his day and leaned back in her chair. "I take it you're not
having any luck?" Kira asked unnecessarily.
"You could say that. I've conducted almost every type of scan I
can imagine, but there isn't even a *hint* of a temporal anomaly
anywhere in this system."
Kira's brow furrowed. "There's got to be something! Otherwise,
how could the timeline here have gotten so skewed?"
"I don't know," Dax replied with a sigh. She stared at the monitor,
then leaned forward and began manipulating the sensor controls again.
"Trying a new scan?"
"Yes, but this time I'm just looking for spatial anomalies. Maybe
the change of pace will give me another idea." Within a matter of
seconds the sensors beeped, indicating the detection of what Dax had
been scanning for. "Well, that was simple enough. Still, the only
anomalies detected are the quantum fluxes..." The Science Officer did a
double take, both her eyebrows shooting upward. "Wait a minute... *Two*
quantum fluxes?!?"
"What's so unusual about that? Isn't that how the original
Enterprise got here in the first place?"
"It did... but their scans, *and* those of the Enterprise D,
indicated only one in this solar system." She pointed to the monitor
screen. "That quantum flux leads to a point near the Romulan Neutral
Zone in the twenty-third century. But this one," she indicated the
second flux located midway between the orbit of Earth and Mars, "I have
no idea where it came from or where it goes." A contemplative look came
over her face. "Unless..."
Kira watched her intently, then finally asked, "Unless what?"
"I think I know where it goes. And if I'm right, I have a good
idea how history was changed." Dax moved over to the nearby engineering
station and began working furiously. "I'm going to program a probe to
send through the second flux and return. Then I'll know for certain."
Dax's tone sounded extremely apprehensive to Kira. And anything
that could make someone with seven lifetimes of experience anxious made
her feel almost terrified. "And if you are?"
Dax paused, then look over at Kira. "Then I hope the Prophets are
watching over us."
O'Brien uttered a curse and looked menacingly at the log buoy.
"I'd like to wring the neck of your designer. If you were half as
indestructible as they claim, we'd have finished by now!"
"Tell me about it," Muniz added. The other engineer looked as
frustrated as O'Brien. "The entire buoy recorder interface system is
fried."
The Chief took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. A
little bit, anyway. "Well, to be charitable the buoy did survive a warp
core explosion more or less intact. But we're going to have to fashion
a replacement interface to hook the memory bank directly into the main
computer."
"With this?" Muniz looked doubtful.
"What's the matter?" asked O'Brien, putting a light hearted tone in
his voice. "Can't handle a challenge?"
"A challenge is one thing... but this is near impossible! We're
talking about ancient electronics here!"
"And here I thought you were an engineer." O'Brien tried to sound
disappointed. "Well, if you can't handle it..."
"I didn't say that," Muniz interrupted the Chief. He stared at the
disassembled recorder, running through several possible scenarios in his
mind. "Well... we might be able to fashion a replacement interface port
and then hook it up to tricorder and use it to link to the main
computer."
"Good lad," O'Brien said. "You get about making the new port, and
I'll get on with modifying the tricorder." The two engineers set about
their respective tasks in silence.
Muniz had just begun installing the new dataport when a distant
clanging sound made him look up. "Did you hear that?" he asked O'Brien.
He nodded uncertainly. "Yeah. It sounded like it came from the
Jeffries tube." The two of them went over to the access panel. O'Brien
bent down to the panel, then warned Muniz, "Be ready. The last time I
heard something banging around in here, there was a changeling running
around the ship a couple of days later." Muniz nodded, drawing out his
phaser. O'Brien removed the access panel and looked inside. Seeing
nothing dangerous at first glance he cautiously moved into the tube, his
own weapon drawn. Nothing that way...
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Chief," came a voice from behind
him. Startled, he turned rapidly towards the voice.
Or rather, he tried to. A loud thud echoed through the Jeffries
tube. "OW!"
"Oh, dear. Did I startle you?" Luna asked apologetically.
O'Brien rubbed his head painfully and glared at the black cat.
"You could say that. What the hell are you doing in here, Luna?"
"I thought I'd walk around the ship while I did some thinking.
Unfortunately, I got so wrapped up in thinking that I seem to be..." She
paused, seemingly embarrassed. "...lost."
Despite his aching head, O'Brien chuckled. "That's not hard to do
in here, even a ship as small as the Defiant. These conduits look a lot
alike. It takes a while to get to know your way around them." He
backed out of the tube entrance, allowing Luna to enter the Engine Room.
"We're a little busy at the moment, but if you don't mind waiting I can
take you wherever you need to go."
"Thank you, Chief."
Muniz looked confused. "Chief?"
O'Brien had to grin. He had pretty much felt the same the first
time he saw one of the Sailor Scouts feline friends. "Not to worry
Muniz. She's a friendly cat. Luna, this is Enrique Muniz, one of my
engineers."
"Hello, Mr. Muniz. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Um... yeah, thanks... Uh, Luna," the engineer stammered. Trying
to recover, he continued, "Sorry, but a talking cat is not something I
ever expected to see."
"Well you better get used to seeing the unexpected, mister,"
O'Brien told him. "That is, if you really want to make a career for
yourself in Starfleet."
"It's quite all right, Chief. I get that reaction quite often."
Luna looked at the scorched log buoy with interest. "What are you doing
here?"
"Well, we're trying to access the log recordings on this buoy," he
responded, turning back to his work. "We already know the Jem'Hadar
destroyed this ship, but it'd be nice to know who it was they attacked.
Captain Sisko thinks this might give us some clue as to what's going
on." Muniz snapped the new port into place, while O'Brien attached and
activated the tricorder. "There! Now, if we did this right..."
He activated the controls on his panel to link up the buoy with the
Defiant's main computer. "Access confirmed," the computer's voice said.
O'Brien cried out triumphantly and shared a congratulatory glance
with Muniz. "Computer: access last log entry and playback." There was
a pause while the computer retrieved the requested data from the buoy.
Soon the screen showed the Bridge of a starship from a bird's eye view.
Unfortunately, both visual and audio were filled with static.
"What's wrong with the recording?" Luna asked.
"Good question. Muniz?"
He glanced at the tricorder readouts. "The dataflow looks clean.
There must have been damage to the memory banks as well."
"Well, let's just hope it wasn't too bad," O'Brien replied, turning
back to the control panel. "Computer: run a level one data enhancement
/ noise suppression routine on the requested log entry." The computer
chirped an affirmative as it ran the requested programs. "Replay from
the beginning." The screen cleared somewhat and the audio became
discernible. "Better," he observed.
"The date is consistent with the electronics," Muniz added,
indicating one of the readouts. "Stardate 5046.7. Just about a little
over one hundred years ago."
O'Brien replied by way of a nod as he eyed the Bridge layout
critically, "Looks like a Constitution class, too."
"A what?" asked a puzzled cat.
O'Brien ignored her for now, paying close attention to the events
unfolding before him. The ship was rocking heavily under the attack,
making it hard to hear the crew. The static still present didn't make
it any easier.
"Shields are ineffective," he heard the Science Officer report.
"The enemy vessels are utilizing a phased polaron beam." Another
readout displayed the viewscreen image, showing clearly a Jem'Hadar
attack ship. O'Brien felt a twinge sympathy for the other crew.
Dominion weaponry was still giving research scientists at Starfleet
Tactical fits. Current models of starships were barely a match for
Jem'Hadar ships... one from a hundred years ago wouldn't have a chance.
"Stand by phasers and photon torpedoes," ordered the Captain.
"Weapons ready," said the helmsman. "Locked on target."
"FIRE!"
The Bridge lights dimmed as the weapons were discharged. "Got
him!" exclaimed the navigator.
"Direct hit," the Science Officer said calmly despite the chaos
surrounding him. "Target has been destroyed." The Bridge shook again
and several panels exploded in a shower of sparks as the ship was hit by
incoming fire. When the screen cleared again, several crew could be
seen lying prone on the deck, including the helmsman.
"Uhura, send out a distress signal. Priority One." The Captain
could be seen toggling the intercom switch on his command chair, while
the Science Officer ran over to take the helm. "Sickbay, medical
emergency on the Bridge."
"Where the hell isn't there one?!" came the exasperated reply.
"Jim, I've got casualty reports coming on from all over --"
The intercom whistled, overriding the signal from Sickbay. "Scott
to Bridge. Captain, we're losing antimatter containment! Ejection
systems off-line!" O'Brien blinked. Scott? That couldn't possibly be
-- ? No, it was impossible!
"All hands, abandon ship! Repeat --" The bridge view was cut off
suddenly, indicating to the two engineers that the recorder pod had been
automatically jettisoned. It was replaced by an external view of a
Constitution class ship receding in the distance. The once immaculate
white hull was blackened in several places by weapons fire, and several
energy discharges could be seen coruscating over several hull breaches.
Less than a second later, the starship exploded in a blinding display,
then the terminal went blank as the recording ended.
O'Brien stared at the terminal in shock, as did Muniz. "Oh my God.
That ship's service number... it can't be!"
"What's wrong?" the cat asked, mystified.
"That ship... it's a ship from over a hundred years in our past.
But the stardate given in the log was almost twenty years before it was
destroyed! Unless..." He took his tricorder and scanned the log buoy.
The sinking feeling that had developed in his gut grew worse as he saw
the results. "O'Brien to Sisko."
"Go ahead, Chief."
"We've got a problem, Captain. An even bigger problem than we
thought."
Worf sat back and tried to take in all that Mars and Mercury had
told him. Some of what they had said was similar to the past that Luna
had related to him on the Enterprise, but there were some significant
differences. In this timeline, the two Scouts had been able to save
Nephrite. Afterwards, the defecting General in turn helped the Scouts,
joined soon afterward by Jupiter, in the search for the Rainbow
Crystals. Until, that is, he died heroically, saving the Scouts from a
trap Malachite had laid for them in a bid to gain those they had.
Venus' timely arrival that day had prevented Malachite and Zoisite from
getting their hands on them that day.
Another difference was that apparently the relationship between
Mars and Darien, whom they discovered later to be Tuxedo Mask, was much
stronger than in the original timeline. At least as far as she had been
concerned. Worf was pondering whether or not to reveal the truth about
Darien and Serena to her when the intercom beeped. "Sisko to Worf."
"Worf here," he answered.
"Report to the Bridge, Commander. And bring the Sailor Scouts with
you."
Worf nodded. "We are on our way. Worf out."
Mars looked quizzically at Worf. "What's going on?" she asked as
they rose from the table.
"I'm not sure," he answered, leading them out of the Mess Hall.
Turning down the corridor to the Bridge, he continued, "Most likely
Commander Dax or Chief O'Brien have uncovered something pertinent in
their investigations that should be made known to the entire crew. But
we will find out when we get there."
The trio arrived on the Bridge, arriving shortly after Bashir did.
Worf saw that most of the other senior officers were already present,
with only Chief O'Brien yet to arrive. "Worf, where's Luna?" Dax asked.
The Klingon shifted slightly, uncomfortable at having to admit
ignorance. Presently he said, "She took a walk."
"If you need her here, Mars and I could go looking for her,"
Mercury volunteered.
At that moment O'Brien entered the Bridge with Luna riding on his
shoulder, thus rendering the point moot.
"New friend, Chief?" Dax asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You'd better be careful," Kira advised, her tone light. "Keiko
could get jealous if she finds out."
Several good natured smiles were exchanged as the Chief sputtered
denials, while Luna settled for glaring at Kira. Sisko allowed the good
mood to progress at its own pace. After all, things had been tense on
the ship for quite some time and they all needed a chance to laugh at
something. "Chief, it's your show."
"Yes, sir," he replied. He glanced uncomfortably around the room.
The information he had clearly disturbed him far more than Kira's
bantering had. "I analyzed the log recorder we picked up from the ship
the Jem'Hadar destroyed. I was able to reconstruct the last log entry,
and to identify it. It was a Starfleet ship, Constitution class." He
touched a control and the image of the unfortunate starship appeared on
the main viewscreen. He tapped several others, enlarging and enhancing
a particular area of one of the warp engine nacelles. The computer
quickly cleared any distortion from the image and the ship's service
number became clear for all to see.
NCC-1701.
"It's..." Dax began in a stunned voice.
"...the Enterprise," concluded Sisko. He had been half expecting
this since the moment O'Brien had scanned the debris field, but it still
came as a shock to him. "The original, captained by James T. Kirk. And
from its appearance, this was before the refit that was done after the
five year mission was completed."
"That can't be right!" Bashir objected after several moments of
shocked silence. "It was nearly twenty years after the refit before
that particular Enterprise was destroyed."
"In our timeline, Julian," Dax said. "Chief, did you check the
quantum signature of the recorder?"
He was nodding before she finished asking the question. "Yes.
It's definitely from our timeline, not any alternate one."
"Then, if Kirk's ship was destroyed by the Jem'Hadar, that would
mean it's not just the Scouts timeline that's been changed," Odo said.
"Correct, Constable." Sisko eyed the image of the Enterprise. "It
means our own past has been altered as well. And now, even if we do
find a way back to our universe, we haven't got a home to return to."
"The Sisko is aware of the nature of the problem."
Pluto nodded. "Good," she said. "Now we can get on with a
solution. Though I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to
see the full scope of the situation."
*Did you really expect more of them?* a voice intoned in her head.
*For someone as long lived as yourself, you should realize how plodding
and pedantic these Starfleet people can be.*
"You're supposed to be watching the Gateway, Q," she replied, her
tone indicating she was more than slightly annoyed. "I am more
concerned with results, not how stylish they go about accomplishing
them."
*Humph. Sometimes you can be absolutely no fun at all, my dear.*
Pluto tried to ignore Q and returned attention to the Prophet she
was dealing with, but she found herself gazing once more at sights she
never thought to see again.. As is their wont, the Prophet had shifted
form without warning, assuming the appearance of Queen Serenity and the
background had shifted to that of the Silver Millennium.
It was a rare occurrence indeed when Pluto found herself thrown for
a loop.
"Our existence is at risk," the Prophet said, bringing the Sailor
Scout out of her reverie. All around them, the background lighting began
to take on a reddish hue. "The Sisko must succeed."
"I know," Pluto said, growing more concerned. The changes to the
environment around them was an indication that the situation was
becoming more dire. Time, at least as it was measured by corporeal
beings, was growing short. "And not just for you. For the sake of two
universes, Captain Sisko must reverse the damage done to the timelines,
and soon. But now he is aware of what must be done to resolve the
paradox."
"To preserve their past, Sailor Moon must live."
Chapter 5 - Return to Yesterday...
Luna hopped down from O'Brien's shoulder onto the top of Sisko's
chair. "Now, let me see if I've got this straight," she said. "Three
ships from what you call the Dominion were accidentally transported to
our universe nine months ago our time. They were then somehow captured
and controlled by the Negaverse. They used the changeling in an
attempt to kill all three Scouts, but only were successful in kill... in
killing Sailor Moon." Her voice broke at the last, and she paused as
the memories of that terrible day raced through her mind. After a time,
she was able to control the emotions that had inevitably risen up from
them. "Still, that was more than enough to alter the course of events
for our world. Then yesterday, as Queen Beryl was about to mount her
main attack and the Sailor Scouts went to face her; this ship," she
nodded to the main viewscreen which still displayed an image of the
unfortunate starship, "the Enterprise, crossed over from your past to
our universe. It was subsequently attacked by the Dominion ships and
destroyed, thus altering your past."
"That about sums it up," Dax replied. "About the only thing you
missed was the fact that there are now two quantum fluxes in this
system, where there should be only one."
"How can I leave something out if I don't know about it?" the black
cat wanted to know.
Dax smiled. "Sorry."
"Do you have any information about that second flux, Dax?" Sisko
asked.
"You could say that." She pulled up a sensor schematic on the main
viewer. "I sent a probe through the second flux and programmed it to
return after taking some sensor readings. The exit point is in the
Gamma Quadrant. The probe's astrometric readings indicated that it's
been several months since we left DS9."
"Months?" O'Brien exclaimed.
Dax nodded. "That's right. And the coordinates that the flux
emerges into the Gamma Quadrant are identical to where the Defiant
observed three Jem'Hadar ships vanish a few days before we left the
station." She paused. "The thing of it is, I had just come to that
conclusion, that they had gone through a quantum flux, just before the
wormhole began acting up."
"But you have no idea where the second flux came from?" Sisko
asked.
"Not a clue," the science officer admitted.
"It's a moot point anyway," Sisko said. "Without a method to
travel back in time, we have no way to correct the timelines."
"Great," Mars mumbled. "So we're back to square one."
"I'm afraid so," the Captain agreed.
Dax bent down to check an alert that had just started flashing on
her screen. "I'm picking up a large neutrino emission..." She looked
up, surprise evident on her face. "Benjamin, it's the wormhole!"
"On screen," Sisko ordered.
On command, the image of the now open wormhole appeared on the main
viewer. Sisko noted that it still had a shimmering appearance, as well
as the red coloration.
"That's incredible," Mercury said, awe evident in her tone.
"Yes," Luna agreed, "it is."
Mars would ordinarily agree as well, but she was perceiving
something else entirely from the phenomena. Her eyes narrowed as she
tried to sort out the impressions she was getting. "There's something
wrong with it, isn't there?"
"Yes," Kira said. "It doesn't look anything like it normally
would."
Bashir voiced a question that each member of the Defiant crew were
asking themselves. "We've been stationary here for hours. Why would it
open up now?"
Sisko could only think of one reason. "It's an invitation from the
wormhole aliens." He seated himself in the command chair and faced the
viewscreen. "And I intend to take them up on it. Dax, decloak the ship
and take us into the wormhole."
"Yes, sir," Dax said, moving to the helm.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Captain," Luna said uneasily
from her perch just behind Sisko's head.
"We'll find out soon enough," Sisko answered her just as the
Defiant entered the wormhole. At once the ship began rocking as it was
buffeted by the gravimetric distortions that were still echoing through
the spatial corridor. All present on the Bridge immediately took a seat
or grabbed onto a firm handhold to avoid being tossed about.
"All stop," Sisko ordered soon after they entered. Dax touched a
control on the helm and the Defiant slowed to a halt within the
wormhole. But even at rest, the ship was pitching about as if on a
heavy sea.
"Can't you do something about that?" Mars asked, starting to turn a
light shade of green.
"I'm trying," O'Brien replied. "But the gravimetric waves are
strong enough that the inertial dampeners are having a hard time..."
The ship vanished around them.
"... compensating for it," O'Brien uncertainly finished his
statement as he took in his new surroundings. The others looked about
themselves feeling an equal sense of astonishment. To all appearances,
they were back in Ops on Deep Space Nine.
Sisko knew instantly that they had been brought to the reality of
the wormhole aliens. It seemed that he was correct about being given an
invitation. One that seemed to extend to his crew and the Sailor Scouts
as well.
The Scouts and Luna were more puzzled than any of the crew. Mars
was casting about the place, trying to sense something about it, while
Mercury deployed her visor and then frowned. "I don't understand. I'm
not getting any readings."
"Don't be worried about that," Dax told her. "If I'm right, we're
not in our own reality at all."
"Then were are we?" Luna asked.
"In the realm of the Prophets," Kira answered in a hushed, reverent
tone.
"That is correct," a new voice said. They all turned to the
entrance of Sisko's office. Standing there was a woman Sisko recognized
from the last transit through the wormhole -- Sailor Pluto. "You are in
the realm of the Prophets. However, at the moment they can't greet you
personally at the moment, as they are otherwise occupied."
"Occupied?" Kira asked.
"Yes," she replied, stepping down the steps into the lower level of
Ops. "You see, you are not the only ones affected by the turmoil in the
timelines. The Prophets themselves are in danger. Mortal danger."
Kira's jaw dropped, but before she could say more Mars asked, "Hold
on a minute. Who are you?!?"
"I can answer that," Sisko said. "Everyone, meet Sailor Pluto."
"Pluto?" Luna gasped. "The guardian of the Gate of Time?"
"That's correct, Luna," she replied.
"You know her?" Mercury demanded of the cat.
"She does," Pluto said, "But it has been a long time since we last
met. During the days of the Silver Millennium, to be precise. And the
long time she spent in the cold sleep capsule undoubtedly affected her
memory."
"I'm glad to finally meet you," Sisko said, walking up to Pluto.
"But just what did you mean when you said the Prophets are in danger?"
The background scenery then changed, disorienting the Defiant crew.
But the new backdrop was a very familiar sight to Mars, Mercury, and
Luna, as it was the temple Raye lived and worked at -- the Hikawa
Shrine. But Pluto answered Sisko as if nothing had changed, "Exactly
what I said, Captain. But it will take some explaining."
"You see, Beryl won't be content with just Earth... or even just
this universe. Her lust for power and conquest is nearly unlimited.
She will send her forces through the second quantum flux Commander Dax
discovered, invading your Gamma Quadrant. Empowered by the Negaforce,
her troops will overrun the Dominion in short order." The Defiant
crewmembers seemed stunned by this announcement. To them, the forces of
the Dominion seemed nearly unstoppable. The fact that Beryl's troops
could conquer the Gamma Quadrant power that quickly seemed incredible to
them. Pluto continued, "And still she will hunger for more... And she
will send her forces through the wormhole into the Alpha Quadrant."
"The Federation will fight them," Worf stated firmly.
"They cannot," Pluto said. "Because in this timeline, there is
*no* Federation."
"No Federation?" Even the usually unflappable Odo seemed shocked
by this announcement.
"I see what she's getting at," Sisko said. "Without the Enterprise
returning from its five year mission, there'll be no one to confront
Vejur shortly afterwards."
Pluto nodded. "Correct, Captain. The advanced probe will reduce
the core worlds of the Federation to lifeless husks before it leaves;
rendering what is left of the Federation easy prey to a concerted
Romulan/Klingon attack."
Again the background changed, forming into one of the briefing
rooms on Deep Space Nine. Each of them was seated at the table, save
for Pluto. She moved around the table still speaking, "In this altered
Alpha Quadrant, three main powers vie for supremacy: the Klingons, the
Romulans, and the Cardassians. Nothing remains of the Federation, save
for a few isolated colony worlds."
Kira leaned anxiously forward, "What about Bajor?"
Pluto cast a sympathetic look to her. "I'm afraid it's still
dominated by the Cardassians." In a blink of an eye, they found
themselves on the Promenade. "This is the station as it appears in what
you would call the present." Sisko, Kira, and the others looked about,
but there was not a Starfleet uniform to be seen. Nor were any uniforms
of the Bajoran militia visible. All they could see were Cardassians
troops... and Bajoran slave laborers shuffling to and from the station's
ore processing facilities. "Of course, it is still called Terok Nor."
Kira looked horrified. "May the Prophets save us."
"They cannot," Pluto replied evenly. "Now it is up to you to save
them from the Negaforce." The Hikawa Shrine reformed about them, but
Kira seemed oblivious to the changes. She walked up to Pluto and stared
evenly at the mysterious Sailor Scout.
When she spoke, her voice was low and tense, "How can the Prophets
be in danger from the Negaforce?"
Mercury spoke up, "When Beryl sent her forces into the Alpha
Quadrant through the wormhole, she sent the Negaforce as well," she
theorized.
"Correct," Pluto confirmed. "And it was during its passage through
that it came into conflict with the Prophets." She cast a sympathetic
gaze to Kira. "Their power may be great, Major, but even they have
their limits. And the Negaforce surpasses them. They *are* fighting
the Negaforce... But it is a fight they are slowly losing."
"Then that's the reason for the wormhole's odd behavior -- and for
the changes in its appearance," Dax said. "It's a result of the
struggle between them."
"Correct," Pluto said again.
"Since the wormhole aliens exist outside linear time," Dax
continued, more so for Mars', Mercury's and Luna's benefit than anyone
else's, "a struggle between them and an equally powerful opponent would
have repercussions in all areas of time -- past, present, future... It's
all the same to them."
"There's just one thing I'd like to know," Sisko said as they found
themselves once more in Ops. "How did all this start? I know the
Jem'Hadar ships coming through the flux was the trigger for the changes
to the timelines, but where did that second flux come from? They don't
just appear out of thin air."
"You're quite correct, Captain. They don't." Pluto looked to
Worf, "But if you want to know how it appeared, you should ask Worf...
for he helped bring about its creation."
The Klingon looked confused. "Me?" Pluto nodded.
"Of course," Dax said in sudden realization. "I should have seen
it before."
"Seen what before?" Odo asked.
"This isn't another quantum flux... It's the same one traversed by
both Enterprises. But when the Enterprise D attempted to seal it, all
the torpedo did was to relocate the flux through time and space on both
sides of it. Thus in our universe, one end of the flux was relocated to
the Gamma Quadrant, while here, the other side was shifted to a point
halfway between the orbits of Earth and Mars and a point in time a
hundred years earlier."
"Essentially correct," Pluto confirmed. "Picard's desire to seal
the flux was well intentioned, but it led directly to this temporal
paradox we find ourselves in the middle of."
"My God," muttered O'Brien. "Then Q was right. Captain Picard is
going to have a fit when he hears about this."
Worf grimaced at the thought of Q being right about anything, then
straightened as he heard laughter echo through his mind, followed by, "I
told you so, Microbrain."
Pluto frowned. "Q may lack in several in the area of social
graces," she said pointedly to the air above them, "but he does tell the
truth... For the most part, at any rate."
"You sound as if you know him quite well," Bashir observed.
"We've been... acquainted with each other for several centuries,"
she replied.
"Centuries?" O'Brien looked over Pluto closely. To all
appearances, Pluto seemed to be a woman no older than her mid-twenties.
"How old are you?"
Pluto raised an eyebrow and her expression showed slight amusement.
"Really, Chief O'Brien. As a married man, I would expect you to know
better than to ask a woman her age." The scenery shifted to the temple
once again while O'Brien tried to avoid looking to flustered. "Ignoring
that, what must be done to repair the timeline..."
"...is to prevent the Negaverse from taking control of the Dominion
ships," Sisko said. "Failing that, we must prevent them from
interrupting the normal flow of history."
"In short, keep them from killing Sailor Moon," Mercury added.
"And either one of you," Worf said.
"Correct," Pluto said with a nod.
"OK, so we know what to do," Mars said. "But there's still the
small problem of time travel. Or have you got a way around that?"
"I can provide a means for several people to travel in time," Pluto
admitted. "But that would be of little value to us, for to properly
contain the threat you... *We* will need the Defiant. That would be
extremely difficult for me to handle alone." She paused and smiled.
"But not when one has the assistance of the Prophets."
They blinked, disoriented at finding themselves back on the
Defiant's bridge. "We've emerged from the wormhole," Kira announced
after checking her panel readouts.
"Chief, get us back under cloak. Dax, I need a report on out
location... Both spatially and temporally." Moving to comply with
Sisko's orders, O'Brien tapped the controls activating the borrowed
Romulan cloaking device installed in the Defiant. Meanwhile, Dax
consulted with the navigational computer.
"Spatially, we're still in the Terran system right where the
wormhole opened up on us. But temporally..." She paused to recheck the
astrometric readouts. "We've shifted back in time just about nine
months."
"Confirmed," Mercury said, checking with her own computer. "We're
now four days before..."
"...before Sailor Moon was killed," a voice from the Bridge rear
said. Sisko turned, but he wasn't surprised to see Sailor Pluto
standing there. "But a full day before the Jem'Hadar ships emerge from
the quantum flux into this universe. You have that long to prepare for
them."
"Very well," Sisko said. "Now..."
"Hold on a minute. There's something I want answered first." Mars
went up to Pluto and glared at her. "You've just about admitted that
you could have brought the Defiant here at any point in the timeline."
Her voice became more strident the longer she spoke. "What I want to
know is, why the *hell* didn't you bring them before Serena was killed
in the first place?!?"
"I think I can answer that," Odo said. The Constable moved over to
the two Scouts. "So that there would be no shred of doubt with the
Defiant's crew over the decision to interfere with events in this
universe."
Mars seemed astounded at this. "What?!?"
"I'm afraid Odo is correct," Pluto put in. "Whenever Starfleet
crews have found themselves in the past, they are reluctant to take
action unless they are absolutely certain that action is required." She
turned to Sisko, "Not that this is a bad thing, you understand."
"But why..." Mars began.
"Mars, please try to understand," Pluto said gently. "If there
were another way to do this, I would have taken it. But I must do
everything I can to ensure that the timeline is corrected. It would
have been difficult to convince them that they should interfere is I had
brought them here prior to the formation of the paradox. And given that
we would have only one chance to restore the timeline, it was a risk I
was unwilling to take."
"But still..." Mars tried again.
"Raye..." Pluto stopped for a moment before continuing. "If
Captain Sisko and his people are successful, then the events you have
lived through since Sailor Moon was killed; including the deaths of
Lita, Mina, and Artemis; will have never happened. All will proceed as
it should have before the Dominion ships arrived. And your past self
will be totally ignorant of what might have been."
"And we're going to stop it from happening," Sisko said forcefully.
"But we haven't got time to waste. Chief, Dax, Worf: Begin a full
systems check of the ship, and concentrate on the tactical systems.
We're going to have company in twenty-four hours, and I want to be ready
for them."
Each of the three officers nodded in affirmation. But O'Brien
added, "Sir, just so you're aware; the ablative armor over the aft
section was degraded thirty percent in our last battle. And there's not
much I can do to repair it without the facilities at DS9, or a
starbase."
"I understand, Chief. Just do what you can." He turned to Kira.
"Major, there's a possibility that they may get past us. To that end, I
want you and Odo to work in coordination with Mercury, Mars, and Luna
and devise a plan to protect Sailor Moon on the ground... just in case."
Kira nodded. "Yes, sir."
"And just what are you going to be doing?" Luna inquired.
"Having a long discussion with our guest over the course of future
events," the Captain answered, giving Pluto a long look. "Dismissed."
The others moved off on their appointed tasks, but Dax took Sisko
aside for a moment. "Benjamin, I don't know if this will have any
bearing on the mission, but I thought you should know."
"Know what, Dax?"
"I scanned Pluto a few moment ago." She paused momentarily,
seeming uncertain. "For the most part the readings from her seemed
consistent with those I got from the other Scouts, except for one
thing."
"And that is?"
"The orb atop her staff." Dax paused again. "I'm not sure what it
means, but the readings I got from it are *very* similar to those I've
gotten from the Orbs of the Prophets."
Sisko considered this. "Given the nature of her duties as
described by Luna, I can't say I find that too surprising."
"This is going to be a *long* night," Kira said after entering the
Mess Hall. She went up to the replicator, "Raktajino, extra strong." As
soon as the mug finished materializing, she picked it up, took a sip and
sighed gratefully. "I'll say this much for the Klingons, they sure know
how to make a good coffee." Then to the Defiant's guests, "Help
yourselves before we get started. We've got a lot of ground to cover."
She didn't bother to make this suggestion to Odo... She knew quite well
that he didn't require any nourishment, nor did he ever drink anything,
either.
Mars waited while Mercury got ordered another hot chocolate and a
saucer of cream for Luna, then she hesitated at the replicator,
remembering the multitude of choices in the computer for tea. "Do you
have any suggestion for a kind of tea?" she asked Kira. "Anything
except Earl Grey."
"Try Tarkalian tea," Odo suggested. "I've observed it to be a
favorite among humanoids at DS9."
After Kira nodded in confirmation, Mars said, "Computer: Tarkalian
tea." In short order a steaming mug appeared. She took a cautious sip
and her eyes widened. "This is great!"
"OK, let's get started," Kira said. "Mercury, why don't you
download all the info regarding the day Sailor Moon was killed into the
Defiant's main computer." The blue haired Scout nodded and immediately
set to the task. "Odo, when that's done, make a review with Luna about
the actual battle itself... Tactical setup, lay of the land... You know
the drill."
"Right, Major."
"Meanwhile, the three of us are going to go over the events leading
up to it, so we can plan to cover Serena and your counterparts."
"I don't see why we have to go into all this planning," Mars said.
"We know what the changeling will masquerade as. Just let me get one
good shot at it, and I'll kill it before it can even begin to
shapeshift."
"There are two problems with that," Odo said, looking disturbed by
Mars' statement. "One, you only know what the changeling was just
before it killed Sailor Moon. It could be anything else before that
point."
"You've got a point there," Mars said. "What's the second
problem?"
"I'd like to avoid killing the changeling, if at all possible."
"What?!? Sailor Moon's life is way more important!"
"In regards to the timeline, that is correct," Odo said calmly.
"However, in the history of my people, no changeling has ever harmed
another..." A shadowed look came over him. "At least, not until
recently." He shook off the lingering memory of that day, several
months previous in the Defiant's Engine Room, when he inadvertently
killed another changeling in a struggle. It hadn't given him much
choice, but it still haunted him that he was responsible for its death.
"I don't want to abet in the killing of this one... if it can be
avoided."
Kira intervened before Mars could object even more vocally than
before. "We'll try, Odo. After all, the objective is to save Sailor
Moon, not kill the changeling." She looked evenly at Mars until the hot
tempered Scout subsided, then turned back to Odo. "But Odo, I want you
to understand. If it comes down to it, if it's a choice between the
changeling and Sailor Moon..."
The Constable nodded. "I understand, Major. Securing the timeline
is of paramount importance."
"Good, now that that's settled... Let's get to work." Kira
motioned to a table and sat down with the two Scouts. Meanwhile Odo
went over to the monitor and pulled up a tactical outlay depicting the
sight of Sailor Moon's last battle. He was startled to feel something
land on his shoulder, and saw Luna sitting there.
"Sorry," she said apologetically with a cat-like shrug, "but the
view from the table isn't that good."
Before the Constable could respond, he heard a burst of laughter
from behind him. He turned and saw Kira struggling to keep from
laughing uncontrollably. Beside her, both Mercury and Mars were smiling
as well. "Is something funny, Major?"
"I'm sorry, Odo," she said not so sincerely, "But if you were
viewing it from this angle..." She stopped, trying to control her
mirth.
"I fail to see what is so amusing," Odo said.
"Neither do I," Luna added.
"Well, I can," Mars said. "Don't you, Mercury?"
"Of course."
Odo snorted and turned back to the monitor. "Humanoids! Sometimes
I can't understand them at all."
"I couldn't agree with you more," Luna said.
Sisko led Pluto into the small and scarcely used Captain's Ready
Room. "Have a seat," he said, before doing likewise behind his desk.
"I have a feeling I know what you're planning, Captain," she said
as she did so. "Don't you think it would be wiser to attack first,
rather than try to negotiate with the Dominion ships first?"
"It's not Federation policy to attack on sight, at least outside of
a wartime situation," Sisko explained. "If this can be resolved without
bloodshed, then I have to take the chance."
"I'm not overly optimistic about the chance of that."
Sisko grimaced. "Knowing the Dominion, neither am I. But what I
need to know from you is, do I have the chance to even try?"
"Perhaps," Pluto conceded. "Originally, the Dominion ships were
here for two hours before the Negaverse made any move against them. But
I would take great care with using that figure, Captain. The future is
ever in motion."
"Don't worry about that," Sisko said, leaning back in his chair.
"I intend to be ready for anything."
Nearly twenty-four hours later, Sisko took a quick glance around
the Bridge, checking on the readiness of all systems. But as usual, his
crew was extremely efficient. The Defiant was as ready as they could
make her.
He swung his chair around to face the three Sailor Scouts. "It's
almost time," He said to them. "You had better get out of sight before
we make contact with them."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Captain," Mars said to him.
She had been extremely vocal when he had informed them of his plan to
attempt to talk the Jem'Hadar back through the flux first. "I still
think you should attack the first chance you get."
"Tactically speaking, you're right. However, even with the element
of surprise, three to one odds against Dominion ships aren't odds I like
to face. And a I told Pluto earlier: If there is a chance this can be
resolved without bloodshed, then I have to try to do so." He turned
toward the main viewscreen. "But don't worry. If it comes to a fight,
they'll find us more than a match for them."
"Don't worry, Mars," Pluto assured her. "Captain Sisko is more
than aware of the urgency of this situation. He'll do what is
required."
A sensor alarm sounded. "Picking up a tachyon surge," Dax
reported. "They're coming through."
Sisko nodded. "Out of sight, you three. If the situation does get
nasty, I want you as aces in the hole." Silently the three left the
Bridge as Sisko seated himself. "Here we go. Red alert." Around the
Bridge, the alert lights flashed and the klaxon sounded. It really
wasn't needed, as the crew were already at their action stations.
Sisko kept his attention on the screen, which was focused on the
quantum flux. There was a brief burst of light along with a slight
ripple effect, and three Jem'Hadar ships appeared as if from out of
nowhere. "Right on schedule."
Worf checked the tactical scanners and frowned. "Their shields
came up the moment they passed through the flux. Also, their main power
and weapon systems are on-line and fully active."
"Both the Enterprise and the Enterprise D suffered severe power
drains during their passages through the flux," Bashir noted.
"It seems that's not a problem for the Dominion," O'Brien groused.
"Considering how different their technologies are, I can't say I'm
all that surprised," Kira said.
Sisko took a deep breath. "Mr. Worf, decloak the ship. Major,
hail them." The two officers complied, and Sisko noted subconsciously
the cloaking field being lowered. Within seconds of Kira's hail, the
screen flickered, centered on a Vorta.
"I am Fiden, lead Vorta for this group."
"Captain Benjamin Sisko, commanding the Federation starship
Defiant."
The Vorta immediately broke into a wide, and Sisko thought wholly
insincere, smile. "Captain Sisko! A pleasure to make your
acquaintance. But I am puzzled by what you are doing here, so far from
Deep Space Nine."
"We're both a long way from home," Sisko noted. "A whole universe
away, in fact."
"Universe?" Fiden seemed genuinely confused. "I'm afraid I don't
understand."
"I can explain, but we had better make it quick." Sisko paused for
effect. "That is, if you want the Founder on board your ship to
survive."
The smug look vanished from the Vorta's face. "Threats do not
become you, Captain," Fiden noted, with some anger in his voice.
Sisko raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't making one. But I do have some
inside knowledge about this universe... Which you had better listen to."
Mercury watched Mars pace in the hallway. "Raye, could please you
stop that? You're making me nervous!"
"I can't help it," Mars replied irritably. "Whether or not Serena
dies depends on what's being said in there. I can't stand being left
out of it!"
Mercury sighed. "You're not helping matters, either. Captain
Sisko knows whom he's dealing with."
"Mercury is correct," Pluto said. "I had extensive talks with him
about the timing involved. The last time, it was two hours before
Nephrite took control of the shapeshifter. We should have at least an
hour before they mount any move."
Mars stopped and stared coldly at Pluto. "And if you're wrong?"
"Even if she is," Mercury said, intervening, "We should still have
three days before Serena is in any danger. And Kira has outlined a good
plan to protect her."
"I know, I know," Mars said. "I helped make it, remember?" She
turned her gaze to the Bridge door. "I just wish I was in there."
As if in response, the Bridge door snapped open, and Sisko and Odo
exited. Each of the three Scouts looked expectedly at him. "Well?"
Mars asked.
"The Vorta, Fiden, has agreed to meet with me, to see the proof we
have regarding the situation." He turned to Pluto, "I'd like you to be
there, since you have first hand knowledge of how the timeline should
go."
"Very well," she responded reluctantly. "If you wish it."
Sisko noted the unhappy look on Mars' face as well. "Don't worry,"
he told the hot tempered Scout. "I told Worf to fire on them the moment
they do anything suspicious, or if they attempt to get closer to Earth.
Since communications with them are closed, you can monitor the situation
from the Bridge if you wish."
Mars nodded and watched them go. "I hope this works," she said.
"If it does, maybe things will work out better for me and Darien in the
real timeline."
Mercury hesitated on the verge of entering the Bridge. "Raye,
about that..."
"What?"
Amy paused again, the began manipulating her computer. An image
quickly appeared on the screen. "I think you should look at this
first."
Raye frowned, but complied with Mercury's request. But the second
she did so, she gasped in astonishment. Though she wasn't aware of it,
the image Mercury showed her came from the logs of the Enterprise D,
taken shortly after Rubeus' Borg ship had been destroyed. It showed
Tuxedo Mask and all five of the Sailor Scouts. But it wasn't Mars he
was embracing. It was Sailor Moon. "What's this about?"
"I've read a good many of the logs about the Sailor Scouts
available from the Enterprise and the later Enterprise D," Mercury
responded. "From all of those, it seems evident that Tuxedo Mask from
the original timeline was intimately involved with Sailor Moon... And
not you."
Mars shook her head. She found this hard to believe. "Why?"
Amy hesitated. "Luna, you remember how you always said that one of
our primary missions was to locate the Moon Princess?"
The cat nodded. "Yes, of course I do."
"Well, we had. According to the logs of Picard's Enterprise,
Serena was the Moon Princess."
"And since Darien was the Prince of Earth, they were involved
during the Silver Millennium," Raye concluded. "Somehow, I always knew
his heart belonged to someone else." She paused and looked at the image
again. "And now I know why."
"Raye, I'm sorry..."
She shook her head. "It's not your fault, Amy. It's just what has
to be." She went through the Bridge door, and went directly to Worf.
The Klingon stared expectedly at her. "You knew," she said, not
phrasing it as a question.
The other crewmembers exchanged questioning glances, but Worf
regarded her evenly. "Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Worf paused a moment. "You had to find out for yourself. After
all, in your mind, you were his par'mach'ai." The usually even minded
Dax turned to them, eyebrows upraised.
"Uh, could you translate that?"
"The closest human term would be lover."
"WHAT?!?" Luna screeched, causing Raye to turn a dark shade of
crimson.
"We weren't *that* close," she said. "But I appreciate the
sentiment. But would you guys stop treating it as if I'm going to lose
him? I mean, my counterpart on Earth will never feel the same way if
we're successful." She paused, staring into space, then added softly,
"Besides, I'd give anything for her to have a chance to live."
Pluto stood next to the large monitor in the Mess Hall, doubt
evident in her expression. "I am uneasy at being present at this
meeting, Captain."
"All I need you for is to confirm what I tell them about what will
happen, to both the Founder on their ship and to the Dominion." Sisko
half turned to her. "That is, if it won't cause any disruption to the
timestream."
Pluto hesitated, considering her answer carefully. "No, I don't
believe it will."
"Why are you so uneasy?" Odo asked. "I thought you knew the
future."
"I have certain knowledge about future events in the proper
timeline, and how things have progressed in the alternate," she
responded. Sighing she added, "However, while we are involved with this
process of restoring time, I am as in the dark about future events as
you are."
The door opened before Odo could respond, allowing Fiden and
Komentac'lan to enter the room, escorted by two security officers.
Sisko dismissed them with a nod and they quickly departed. Fiden smiled
broadly, "Captain Sisko, it is a pleasure to finally meet you face to
face." He turned to Odo and half bowed to him. "And you as well, Odo."
"Do tell," Odo said blandly.
Fiden straightened himself and approached Pluto. "And who might
this lovely young woman be?" Pluto said nothing, but arched an eyebrow
at Fiden's description of her as young. "Her... uniform clearly isn't
Bajoran issue, nor is it Starfleet." He turned to Sisko. "Unless, of
course, you're planning on changing them again?"
"She's a guest on the Defiant," Sisko explained. "She's a resident
of this alternate universe we've entered. Her name is Sailor Pluto."
"Sailor... Pluto?" Fiden looked her over again, puzzled. "A
rather odd name."
"Not for a Sailor Scout," Pluto said, addressing the Vorta for the
first time.
"She's the reason for our being here," Odo said. "So that we can
save your lives, as well as the life of the Founder on your ship."
"You have made that threat before," Komentac'lan snarled.
"Not a threat," Pluto stated flatly. "Merely a statement of what
will occur if you do not return to your own universe."
Sisko went to the monitor. "This will help you to understand." He
tapped a control and played a visual log, extracted from Mercury's
computer, of the battle that had resulted in Sailor Moon being killed.
Fiden watched the action for a silent moment. "Mildly
entertaining, but I fail to see how this..." His voice trailed off as
the changeling suddenly revealed itself, and the expression on his face
shifted to sheer horror when Mars was shown destroying it. "It can't
be."
"It can, and it will."
"Why are you showing me this obvious fabrication?" he demanded
harshly.
Pluto took a step towards Fiden, causing Komentac'lan to put his
hand to his weapon. "It isn't a fabrication. This recording is of an
event that *will* happen three days from now, if you do not return to
your own universe."
"So you say."
"Yes, I do. And further, your failure to act will also result in
the utter and complete destruction of the Dominion itself."
Fiden stared back at her, appalled. "Impossible."
"No, it is a certainty."
"The Dominion has stood for over two thousand years," Fiden
protested. "And it will continue to exist long after your civilization
crumbles to dust!"
Pluto heaved an exasperated sigh. "I should have expected this.
Some people must be shown, not simply told." To Sisko, she added,
"We'll be right back." With that, she and Fiden both vanished.
Komentac'lan drew his weapon and looked wildly about the room.
"What have you done with Fiden?" he demanded.
"We've done nothing to him. And Pluto said they'd be back." Sisko
watched as the Jem'Hadar continued to search the room. "Now put that
weapon away."
"Why should I?"
"Because I said to," Odo replied, marching up to Komentac'lan.
Komentac'lan stared at Odo, indecision evident on his face. While
Odo's status with the other Founders may be in doubt, he *was* still a
Founder and Komentac'lan was bound to obey him. For now. Reluctantly,
he holstered his weapon.
It was in that moment that Pluto reappeared with Fiden. The Vorta
had a shocked expression on his face. "Unbelievable. Simply
unbelievable."
"But true nevertheless," Pluto responded.
Fiden nodded and turned to Captain Sisko. "I have no choice other
than to believe what Pluto has shown me. We will return through the
quantum flux."
In the heart of one of the Dominion ships, the changeling rested in
its gelatinous state, oblivious to the discussion going on aboard the
Defiant. The affairs of the solids were of no concern to it. Its only
worry was how the current situation was going to affect the long range
plans of the Dominion. Could this new universe fit into those plans?
A shimmering in the room interrupted its planning. Amidst it
appeared a humanoid male, dressed in a gray uniform. Immediately the
changeling assumed a humanoid shape of its own. The appearance of this
humanoid was an unknown factor, and that was troubling to it. "Who are
you?" it demanded.
"I am Nephrite," he responded, raising a hand that was surrounded
by a glowing aura. "And your new master!" The light shot forth from
his hand, surrounding the changeling. Desperately it tried to summon
help from the Jem'Hadar on the ship, but it quickly found its will
suborned. Within seconds, Nephrite's spell had brought the changeling
completely under his power.
Nephrite paused to examine the creature's mind. 'So the creatures
on these three ships regarded this shapeshifter as a god, hmm? That
could prove useful,' he thought. But he also saw that the Defiant was
not under its control. Indeed, it had proven a formidable adversary in
the past. "Well," he said with a chuckle, "We'll just have to destroy
it. This shapeshifter should be more than enough for our purposes." He
concentrated a moment, summoning the power of the stars. "Centaurus the
Centaur and Aquila the Eagle, come forth!"
Mars frowned, staring at the three Dominion ships on the
viewscreen. "Something's wrong. I'm getting bad vibes from over
there."
Worf glanced at her before returning his attention to the main
viewer. So far the Jem'Hadar ship hadn't moved, and until they did so,
he could take no action against them. But Mars had proven herself quite
perceptive in the past. Indeed, in many ways her abilities were almost
as good as Counselor Troi's. "Chief?"
"Nothing," he replied. "No unusual energy emissions, nothing to
indicate they're going to attack."
"I don't care what your sensors show. Something's up," Mars
growled. "You've got anything, Mercury?"
"I thought I detected something a few moments ago, but it's not
there now," she replied.
Dax found her attention drawn from the conversation around her to
the sensors, which were indicating a spurious reading. She tapped the
console, refining the readings for more detail. Her eyes widened in
alarm when she saw that it was indicating a spatial anomaly forming on
the Bridge.
Before the science officer could give any warning, a burst of light
announced the arrival of one of Nephrite's constellation avatars,
specifically Centaurus the centaur. Reacting first, Worf sprang from
the command chair, his hand going for his phaser. This action was
enough to save his life, for the centaur fired an arrow that passed
through the space the Klingon's head had been mere moments before. It
impacted on the far side of the Bridge, narrowly missing Sailor Mercury
as well.
Kira reacted next, firing her phaser. The creature winced at the
beam's impact but little other effect was evident. Centaurus cried out
loudly and reared back, lashing out with its hooves at the Major. She
ducked below its attack, and rolled for the far side of the Bridge.
Mars moved to confront it next, summoning her power. "MARS..."
She got no farther, as Centaurus quickly cocked and fired off
another arrow. Worf again reacted quickly, shoving her out of the
arrows path so the missed her throat. However, this action put his left
arm in the line of fire. The Klingon grimaced at the pain as it
embedded itself in his forearm, but he ignored it as best he could and
fired his own weapon at the intruder. His shot met with as little
success as Kira's.
Mars gave Worf a silent look of thanks and gathered herself for
another try. "MARS FIRE IGNITE!"
The fireball raced at Centaurus, but it proved to be very agile.
It shifted to its left so that Mars' attack missed completely, impacting
instead at the rear bulkhead. The floor and several nearby consoles
were set ablaze, and an alarm instantly sounded. "Warning: fire
detected on the Main Bridge," the computer intoned. Several jets of
white vapor sprayed out over the flames, further adding to the confusion
while simultaneously suppressing the fire. "Fire control systems
activated."
Boretkat'lyn stared in amazement at the Founder. It had just
announced that they were going to Earth, bypassing the blockading
Federation starship. He found it hard to believe that they would be
leaving such a threat behind them. It was unlike a Founder to make such
an obvious tactical error. "Why don't we fire?!?" he demanded to know.
He glared at Nephrite before addressing the Founder again. "If it is
the destruction of the Defiant you wish, then let us bring it about!"
"Enough!" the Founder exclaimed, glaring at the Second.
Boretkat'lyn immediately stood to attention. "I trust you remember who
is in command here?"
"Of course," Boretkat'lyn immediately responded. "You are the
Founder."
"See to it that you remember that," the changeling snarled.
Boretkat'lyn allowed himself a momentary glance with the Third. The
Founder's behavior seemed to be most uncharacteristic. Still, it was
not the place of the Jem'Hadar to object to the wishes of the Founders.
"As you wish it," Boretkat'lyn stated, adding, "Obedience brings
victory."
The Founder nodded, seemingly satisfied, "...And victory is life.
Good, you remember the lessons we instilled in your kind." It paused
for a moment, then smiled evilly. "In any event, do not concern
yourself with the state of the Defiant. Its destruction has been
assured." The changeling concluded the statement with a laugh that
chilled Boretkat'lyn to the bone.
And there were few things in the universe that could frighten a
Jem'Hadar.
"...as a gesture of good will, Captain, I am willing to give the
safe conduct through the Gamma Quadrant until you reach the wormhole,"
Fiden said.
Given what he already knew about the Dominion, Sisko found that
hard to take at face value. "I'm gratified to hear that. However,
there's still the matter of the flux itself. I hope you understand that
I would like to eliminate any possibility of anymore ships from our side
from crossing over."
"Yes, of course," Fiden agreed. "But I can assure you that the
Founders..." He broke off in midstatement as the alert klaxon sounded,
alerting the rest of the ship to the fire alarm on the Bridge. Sisko
was in the process of activating his comm. badge when a loud cry
resounded through the room. They turned and saw a large eagle,
measuring a meter and a half tall, standing at the other side of the
Mess Hall. Fiden was only able to say, "What is that?" before it leapt
to attack.
For all its size the creature was amazingly quick and agile. It
landed atop of them with talons extended before any of them could react,
its attention centered on Captain Sisko. Pluto managed to pull him to
one side before it could strike him but Fiden, being next to Sisko, was
savagely slashed by the creature. The Vorta had time for a strangled
cry before he collapsed.
Komentac'lan drew out his weapon and fired two quick shots. Aquila
looked irritably at him and swept a wing in his direction, throwing the
Jem'Hadar down against Sisko's left leg. The Captain went down,
grimacing at the sudden pain shooting through his knee. The creature
advanced towards him again but its path was blocked by a grim faced
Pluto, her staff at the ready.
Before either could do anything more, Odo jumped atop the eagle,
his limbs reverting to a gelatinous state and wrapping themselves around
it. The eagle cried out in frustration as the Constable restrained its
wings and claws.
By this point, Komentac'lan had regained his footing. Unwilling to
take the chance of hitting a Founder with weapons fire, he charged into
close quarters with the eagle and hit it across the beak with all his
might.
Though Odo had restrained its limbs, its head was still free to
move and Aquila took advantage that fact by seizing the Jem'Hadar First
within its beak. It swung him to and fro like a ragdoll, then flung him
against the far wall where he collapsed bonelessly. It was obvious to
anyone that he was quite dead, his neck having been broken.
Now Pluto moved in to take action. She couldn't use her powers on
it, as that would likely kill Odo, so she chose an alternative course of
action. Instead she brought the top of the staff down atop Aquila's
head. Her enhanced strength being greater than a Jem'Hadar's, it stood
dazed from the blow. Pluto followed the blow up by grasping the staff
with both hands and shoving it into the eagle's chest. The eagle was
nearly flung into the air, striking the wall in nearly the same spot
Komentac'lan had seconds before. It stood there shaking its head,
obviously dazed. Taking advantage of this, Odo immediately reverted to
his natural form and oozed away from it, thus giving Pluto a clear shot.
Lying on the floor, Sisko blinked, trying to clear his mind. He
saw Pluto confront the creature and it glared back at her, having
regained its bearings. It uttered a loud cry and flew at the Sailor
Scout. Simultaneously, Pluto swung her staff in front of her. In his
dazed state, Sisko wasn't sure, but he thought he heard her whisper
something. But what followed was impossible for him to miss.
Dark green energy coalesced along the staff as Pluto swung it along
its arc. As it the midpoint, a sphere of energy of the same color shot
out from the staff and struck the Negaverse creature. The flare of
Pluto's attack hid it from Sisko's sight, but he heard it cry out loudly
again, though this time in pain and despair. When the light faded, he
saw no sign that the creature had ever been there, other that a pile of
rapidly fading dust.
Odo reformed himself next to Pluto and nodded approvingly. "Well
done."
"Thank you." She turned Sisko. "Captain, are you well?"
"My leg hurts like hell, but I'll live." He indicated the spot
where Aquila had been moments before. "I thought you said it was two
hours before the Negaverse tried anything."
"I warned you that could change," she reproached him. "Though I
admit I didn't think they would move this fast."
"The presence of the Defiant may have spurred them into almost
immediate reaction," Odo theorized.
"We can guess later," Pluto said. "But we must make sure the ships
don't reach Earth."
"Agreed," Sisko said. "With the Negaverse on the move, the time
for talk is over." He tried to get up on his own, but fell back after
yelping in pain. "Help me to the Bridge." Pluto moved to one side of
Sisko while Odo went to the other, and together they helped the Captain
up and out of the Mess Hall.
Mars grimaced. The Bridge was too confined for her to use her
firebird attack, along with the fact that Worf was now grappling with
the centaur, despite his injured arm. "We need cover!" she said to her
fellow Scout.
Mercury nodded. "Coming right up. MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"
Instantly the ambient temperature dropped and a thick layer of fog
formed on the Bridge. Dax noted that the creature seemed to lose sight
of them, while she (and presumably the others) could still see it
clearly. "Worf! Get down!" The Klingon immediately released his grip
on the Negaverse creature, and fell back to the Bridge fore. For its
part, the centaur reared back and unleashed a volley of arrows through
the room. Fortunately, no one was hit, thought several of the stations
took damage of one sort or other.
Mars took advantage of a clear shot. "MARS FIRE IGNITE!" This
time the flame struck true and it cried out in pain while its bow was
incinerated.
"Now!" Kira exclaimed, and five phaser beams converged on the
centaur, staggering it. "Mercury, Mars... Hit it again!"
"Right!" Mercury said. While the Bridge was too confined for Mars'
more powerful attack, it was more than wide open enough for hers.
"MERCURY ICE BUBBLES FREEZE!"
"MARS FIRE IGNITE!" Mars yelled, striking simultaneously with
Mercury. The twin attacks of fire and ice struck the centaur, and the
Defiant crewmembers maintain their phaser fire as well. The combined
might of all these attacks was too much for the centaur, and it
disintegrated to dust amid a cry of despair.
"Dusted!" Mercury exclaimed as the fog lifted.
Kira turned to Dax. "Dax, see if there are anymore of these things
on the ship."
"There was one in the Mess Hall," a voice came from the starboard
door. Everyone turned to see Sisko limp in, aided by Odo and Sailor
Pluto. They helped him towards the command chair. "But it's been taken
care of." Sisko grimaced as he seated himself. His leg was throbbing
intensely, there were more important concerns at the moment. He could
see the three ships receding on the viewscreen, obviously on their way
to Earth. "Dax --"
Dax had already taken her place at the helm and was working the
controls. Fortunately, it had emerge from the recent conflict
unscathed. "I'm already on it, Captain. We're on an intercept course
at full impulse."
Bashir spoke up from nearby the tactical station, where he had been
tending to Worf, "Captain, we should get Worf down to Sick Bay." He
paused for a quick scan of Sisko. "And yourself as well. You've got
torn ligaments in that knee."
"I can wait until this is over, Doctor," Sisko responded. "But you
can get started on Worf."
"Sir, I can maintain my post," the Klingon protested, trying to
ignore the pain from his injured arm. He turned back to the tactical
station but stopped when he saw the arrow protruding from the panel.
The panels flickered randomly, indicating the station had been heavily
damaged.
Kira saw it as well, and began working furiously on her console.
"I'm transferring weapons control to my station."
"There's nothing more you can do up here, Mr. Worf. Get that arm
taken care of." Before Worf could object further Sisko added, "That's
an order."
"Yes, sir," Worf said reluctantly and left the Bridge with Bashir.
On the main viewscreen, Sisko could see two of the Dominion ships break
off and turn to face the Defiant.
"Major, the moment they're in weapons range, I want you to open
fire."
"Yes, sir." Kira kept her attention on the distance indicator,
waiting for the other ships to enter range. In a matter of seconds, the
distance between them had closed to a scant few thousands of kilometers.
"Entering weapon's range -- firing!"
The Defiant's powerful pulse phaser batteries spoke, sending a
barrage of high energy bursts on the ship on the right. The first
couple were absorbed by its shields but the next penetrated, exploding
the Dominion ship. Its companion managed banked right and flanked the
Defiant, firing on it all the while.
On board, the ship rocked under the incoming fire. Kira retaliated
with the other phaser batteries mounted on the ship, but these weren't
nearly as powerful as the pulse phasers and the Jem'Hadar ship was able
to absorb these.
"Dax, do what you can to avoid fire, but keep on that lead ship.
That's the one with the changeling on it!" Dax nodded and programmed a
series of evasive maneuvers. But tied as the Defiant was to an
intercept course, it could only avoid a small fraction of the incoming
fire. Fortunately, the ablative armor seemed to be holding for the
moment.
"The ablative armor is being degraded. It's not going to last much
longer!" O'Brien shouted over the din of battle. As if in response, the
ship shook again. "That did it. The aft ablative armor is gone!"
"Just keep her together for a few more seconds, Chief," Sisko told
him.
Mercury came up behind Kira, her computer open. "Major, according
to my scans their shields are weakest over their dorsal section.
Concentrate your fire there," she suggested. Kira nodded and adjusted
her firing pattern. Her next shot from the upper phaser array hit the
area suggested by Mercury and penetrated the other ship's shields,
damaging its hull. The Dominion vessel broke off on its current attack
run and began a series of evasive maneuvers, trying to avoid other
incoming fire.
"Nice shooting!" Sisko complimented. He checked the tactical
situation again and noted the lead ship was nearly in weapons range.
"Kira, prepare a full spread of quantum torpedoes."
Kira nodded. "Torpedoes ready and locked on target."
"In weapons range!" Dax announced.
The Defiant rocked again, as the other Jem'Hadar ship made a new
run on it. "The aft weapons array just went off-line," O'Brien
reported. "We've got damage to the impulse engines, too."
Sisko gave no other indication he heard the engineer other than a
curt nod. "FIRE!" The Defiant pitched slightly as four of the powerful
torpedoes were launched. The lead ship dodged at the last moment,
evading two of the torpedoes. But two still struck the Jem'Hadar ship
on its port side. Designed as they were to penetrate the tough shields
employed by the Borg, the torpedoes tore through the attack ship's
shields, shearing off the port warp nacelle. Suddenly unbalanced, it
spun around several times before exploding. "Two down, one to go. Dax,
hard about! Kira, lock phasers and fire when ready."
Free now from their previous constraints, Dax put the small
starship on a tight turn, quickly bringing the Defiant nose to nose with
the remaining ship. Immediately, Kira triggered a burst from the pulse
phasers, scoring several direct hits. The last of the Jem'Hadar ships
became an expanding fireball. "Get us back under cloak, Chief." If we
*can* cloak, he added silently.
"Cloak engaged," O'Brien reported.
"You did it!" Mars cried. "You got them all!"
"I wouldn't start celebrating just yet," Odo said glumly. Lacking
any other function during battle, the Constable had been keeping an eye
on the sensors. "I detected a spatial anomaly forming on the lead ship
just before we destroyed it."
Dax went over and stood behind him and eyed the readings for
herself. Meanwhile, Mercury opened up her computer once again and began
working on it rapidly. "Uh oh," Dax said.
"That doesn't sound good, Old Man."
"It's not good," she responded apprehensively. "I detected a
similar spatial anomaly reading just before Zoisite appeared in front of
us, and another one before that centaur appeared on the Bridge. I think
this is some method of teleportation employed by the Negaverse."
"So some or all of them might have been able to get off before it
was destroyed," O'Brien stated.
"See if you can determine a possible destination, Chief," Sisko
ordered, despite having a sinking feeling where they had gone.
Mercury answered before O'Brien could even begin scanning. "I've
got it. They teleported to the arctic regions." She paused and looked
to Mars. "Specifically, D Point."
"Right to the Negaverse," Dax said.
Kira grimaced at the news. "Damn! I thought we had them."
Mars felt and looked suddenly very tired. "It's going to happen
again... Just like before."
"That must not be allowed to happen," Pluto said. "Otherwise, all
will be lost. The timelines of both universes will forever be in
chaos."
Mars felt someone place a hand on her shoulder and she turned to
see Sisko standing behind her despite his injured leg, determination
etched on his face. "It's not going to happen again, Raye. Not if I
can help it," he resolutely reassured her. "Whatever it takes, no
matter the cost, we're going to prevent history from repeating itself."
"I guess we're going to have to find a way to blend in."
-Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax
Chapter 6 - Surveillance
"Captain's Log, Stardate... unknown. Repairs to the Defiant have
been completed and we have settled into a close orbit of Earth while
remaining cloaked. We have implemented Major Kira's plan to protect the
Sailor Moon, and to this end several members of our crew are maintaining
a discrete watch on her and the other two Scouts. Constable Odo has
been making use of his unique abilities as well by mimicking various
objects and animals in the vicinity... though I have noticed that, for
reasons that elude me, he's developed a dislike for ravens."
"Needless to say, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars were unhappy that
I have refused their request to be part of the surveillance effort. I
can understand how they feel, but in my opinion, it is best to keep them
in reserve for the moment. Sailor Pluto has demurred, in my opinion
reluctantly, from any involvement in the event below, citing the
potential for drastic changes to the timeline. Given her intimate
knowledge in matters of a temporal nature, I cannot fault her for that."
Jadeite half smiled as he stood before Queen Beryl and watched
Nephrite's sudden discomfort. Beryl had started this audience by
congratulating Nephrite on his capture of the Changeling and the
surviving Jem'Hadar soldiers, but the smug look on his face suddenly
vanished when she began to berate him on the loss of all three alien
spacecraft... And for his failure to capture or destroy the other,
unknown ship. Perhaps her anger at Nephrite's performance would be
enough that she would forget the events surrounding his latest encounter
with the Sailor Scouts.
"...and as for you, Jadeite..."
Any trace of a smile vanished from his face as he shuddered
inwardly at the iciness in her tone. Beryl hadn't forgotten and worse,
she evidently hadn't expunged all of her anger upon Nephrite. In fact,
she seemed even angrier than before.
This could be much worse than he had feared.
"Once again you've encountered the Sailor Scouts..." Her grew loud
and shrill, "... and failed miserably! Nephrite's failure is bad
enough, but your bungling has become intolerable!" She leaned forward,
and her voice became low and menacing. "Can you give me a reason I
shouldn't condemn you to Eternal Sleep at once?"
Jadeite bowed low, striving to give the appearance of calm despite
the fear he felt grip his soul. "I apologize for my failings, Queen
Beryl," he said, "But I do have a plan..." His mind raced as he strove
to come up with a plan, ANY plan, that would appease the Negaverse
monarch. And incidentally save his neck. "...which should result in
the destruction of the Sailor Scouts."
"Indeed," Beryl all but purred. Her voice may have taken on a
pleasant tone, but her expression still promised a fate worse than
death. "You have made such claims in the past. Why should this time be
any different?"
Jadeite noticed a gloating look on Nephrite's face as Beryl spoke.
Evidently the other General thought that whatever plan Jadeite came up
with would be doomed to fail. How he wished he could just wipe the
smile of his rival's face...
Inspiration struck him like a thunderbolt. As calmly as he could
he addressed Beryl, "Because this time we have the shapeshifter as an
asset." Jadeite's statement drew a sharp look from Nephrite, pleasing
him to no end. Evidently the other General had his own plans for the
shapeshifter... plans which Jadeite had no qualms about upsetting.
"I see." Queen Beryl regarded him coolly for several moments.
"Tell me more, Jadeite. If this plan has potential, you may yet redeem
yourself."
Nephrite grimaced as he heard Jadeite outline his plan. If it
hadn't been for the interference of that other ship, the Defiant, then
he might have replaced Jadeite. But now it seemed that the General had
pulled another proverbial rabbit out of the hat, for it seemed that
Beryl was going to approve of his plan.
In his mind, her went over what had gone wrong with his operation.
One of his constellation avatars should have been enough to destroy that
ship, even with their advanced weapons. Two should have torn it apart
in seconds, and would have... Had there not been those Sailor Scouts on
it.
This was the most puzzling aspect of it. Sailor Mars and Sailor
Mercury were clearly busy on Earth foiling Jadeite's latest scheme, yet
he had seen them on the Defiant through the Centaurus' eyes. How had
they managed to be in both places at once?
And then there was the mystery Scout that had dealt with Aquila.
Where had she come from? And who was she?
Whatever the answer, he dare not reveal this information to Queen
Beryl. The appearance of each new Scout had irritated her greatly. The
news that there were now three more could send her into a rage -- and he
no doubt would end up paying the price.
"Captain's Personal Log, supplemental. If the alternate timeline
is any indication, the forces of the Negaverse will strike today. I
just hope our combined forces are enough to keep this day from turning
into a disaster a second time."
Pluto eyed the monitor display from her seat at the science
station. "And so it begins," she said softly.
Sisko left the command chair and moved to the forward part of the
Bridge to stand beside her. Since Pluto knew best what to look for, he
had her examining Earthside communications for some sign the Negaverse
was going to proceed with their plan. "You've got something?"
"Yes, Captain," she replied. "There have been accounts in the
Tokyo media of several disappearances at the baseball stadium. Just as
it was before. No doubt Luna will see it and have the Scouts
investigate." She turned to face Sisko. "It will happen today."
"Very well," Sisko replied grimly. "It's nearly dawn down there.
We'll have to initiate Phase One immediately."
Mars raced down the corridor with Bashir close on her heels and
stopped after rounding a corner. "Damn!" she exclaimed at seeing the
empty corridor in front of her. "He's not here!"
Bashir opened a tricorder with one hand, the other holding onto a
Bajoran style phaser. The small device began scanning automatically.
"The emergency forcefields are still up on the corridor junction and on
the ventilation ducts," he said while examining the readouts. He looked
to the door on their right while putting the tricorder away. "There's
only one way he could have gone."
Mars nodded, and tapped the Bajoran comm. badge she was wearing.
"Mars to Mercury. We've chased him to the Engine Room."
"The Chief and I have just gotten to the starboard side entrance,"
came her reply. "It's sealed, so he couldn't have gotten out this way."
Mars gave a grim smile of satisfaction, "Then we've got him
cornered." She started for the door.
"Watch it," Bashir warned her as he placed himself to one side of
the door. "We may have him cornered, but we haven't got him yet." Mars
acknowledged the warning with a swift nod and the two of them moved
swiftly into the engine room, the door snapping shut behind them.
At nearly the same instant, the far doorway opened, allowing
Mercury and Chief O'Brien entrance into the room. "He's definitely in
here," Mars said, looking about the room and noting that Mercury's visor
was already deployed. "I can sense it."
Mercury scanned about the room while the two Starfleet officers
swept the various surfaces with low power phaser beams. "You're right,
Mars," she said. "I'm getting indications of his presence, but I can't
get any firm readings of him."
"Keep your eyes open," O'Brien advised, still firing. "He's got to
show himself sometime."
Mars nodded as she moved to one side of the door, still looking
about. She heard Bashir suddenly cry out, "Behind you!" just as she
felt a light touch on her right shoulder.
"You're dead," Odo advised her.
She turned to the changeling, who was half formed with the rest of
him still clinging to the wall, then glared at O'Brien. "I thought you
swept that wall!"
"I did!" he said defensively.
"He did," Odo confirmed. "In fact, he missed me by only two
millimeters."
"Two millimeters!" Mars sagged back against the wall as Odo fully
reformed himself. O'Brien and Bashir exchanged rueful looks while
Mercury sighed and retracted her visor.
"I take it the Constable won again?" a voice inquired from above.
They look above them to the terrace level in the Engine Room fore and
saw Sisko standing there with Pluto beside him, having entered through
the door there.
"Winner and still champion," Bashir confirmed.
"This isn't a game, Doctor," Odo said disapprovingly. "These
training exercises are necessary if you're going to be ready to deal
with the Founder the Negaverse is controlling."
"Yeah, we know. But it still would be nice to catch you once in a
while," Mars shot back. "We've done this eight times now and you've
been able to 'kill' one of us each time."
"Don't feel too bad about it," O'Brien reassured her. "Odo always
wins at 'Chase the Changeling'." A loud snort was the Constable's only
response.
"I'd like to give you a chance for a rematch, but I'm afraid were
running short on time." Sisko looked at Sailor Mars, "Meet Dax in the
Transporter Room. It's time to implement Phase One. And Chief... Meet
me when you get done down here. I've got an assignment for you as
well."
"Aye, sir," O'Brien said.
Mars nodded her thanks and headed for the door. As she was exiting
Mercury asked, "Captain, have you heard anything from Luna?"
"No," he admitted. "But I wouldn't worry. I'm sure Luna knows how
to take care of herself. And it's not as if she's alone down there."
At that moment, Luna was literally up a tree just outside the
Tsukino residence. For a cat, it was an ideal vantage point for keeping
an eye on Serena's bedroom.
But even a feline would find many hours staying still in a tree
uncomfortable. Luna shifted her position so that she could stretch her
muscles as she had done several times during her vigil. She grimaced at
the sight of her forepaws, with the fur covering them now as yellow as
was the rest of her fur. Being disguised was a condition Sisko had set
down for her to be able to participate in the surveillance they were
keeping on Serena and as her various abilities didn't function well with
her crescent moon symbol covered, altering the color of her fur to match
it was the best Bashir could do. Despite the necessity, she hated it.
Hopefully, this would be over soon and she could go back to her natural
black.
A slight tremor in the tree brought her back to the present. She
looked around for the source, and found herself face to face with...
herself. Suddenly she was very glad for her disguise.
"All right," her past counterpart demanded. "I don't know who you
are, but you've been in this tree for the last two nights. Now, I want
to know what it is you're up to."
Luna blinked, unsure what to do for a moment before deciding that
now was not the time to reveal herself. Instead, she silently bounded
out of the tree and ran across the yard, heading over to where she knew
Kira was positioned.
Luna's eyes narrowed as she watched the strange cat race off.
'There's something very familiar about that cat,' she thought. She got
down from the tree and prowled about the yard to satisfy herself that
all was well in the area before heading back into Serena's room.
Settling back down next to her charge, she contemplated the recent
events. 'Something odd is going on around here. And I'm going to have
to find out what.'
The only question was how.
Luna leapt onto Kira's shoulder after making her way to the Major's
concealed vantage point. "What happened?" she asked in a whisper.
"Let's just say I had a close encounter of the temporal kind," Luna
replied, keeping her voice equally low.
Kira arched an eyebrow. "Oh, your counterpart found you?"
The formerly black cat sighed. "I'm afraid so. And I must say, I
found it quite unsettling."
"I know the feeling," Kira replied, thinking back to her encounter
with the Intendant Kira Nerys in the alternate universe. "I had
something similar happen to me once."
Mercury watched as Bashir put together a medkit for possible use
during the upcoming away mission. Odo had the drills, deciding that any
further exercises wouldn't be needed as the main action was in the very
near future. She hoped that things went better in the real thing than
they did during the drills. "Doctor, could you answer a question?" she
asked after a time.
"Certainly," he answered as he examined a tricorder modified to
have a Bajoran look. "Ask away."
"I understand the need for you to use civilian clothing on the away
missions, but could you tell me why you are using Bajoran style weapons,
comm. badges and..." She indicated the medkit, "...the medical
equipment?"
"Well, as you are well aware, the Scouts will have later encounters
with Kirk's Enterprise, and then later Picard's. So while we have to do
everything we can to eliminate this temporal paradox..."
"... you don't want to create another in the process," she
finished. "And any foreknowledge of Starfleet's existence could create
changes in the timeline."
"Exactly," Bashir commented, putting away a dermal regenerator.
"This way they'll be none the wiser when they do encounter the
Enterprise D." He hesitated, then looked at her, "We hope."
Dawn was just breaking at the Hikawa Shrine as Raye tended to the
sacred fire. It was a task she attended to daily before she went to
school. She was concentrating on her task, but not so intently that she
missed someone approach from outside. She went for the door and opened
it, "I'm sorry, but..." Her voice trailed off as she got a good look at
those who were standing outside. One was a tall female with a strange
tattoo pattern on both sides of her forehead and extending down the
sides of her neck, but it was the other that unsettled her.
The other person was her. Another Raye Hino.
"Who are you?" she finally managed to breathe out.
"I'm Jadzia Dax," the taller one said. "And this is..."
"I think she knows who I am, Jadzia," her double said.
Raye walked over to her counterpart and then circled her, studying
her intently. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find anything
about her that would indicate that she was a fake. All her senses, both
physical and psychic, were telling her that this was another version of
herself. "This is impossible."
Her doppelganger shook her head. "Not when you use time travel."
"Time travel?"
"Yep. I came on her ship," she said, indicating Dax.
Raye turned her attention to the other woman. "OK, so were are you
from?"
"I'm from the future too, but from another planet also. My people
are called Trill."
Raye shook her head. People from another planet, time travelers...
This day was getting very weird, and it had just started. "OK, assuming
for the moment that everything you've said is the truth, why are you
here? Why travel back in time?"
"Because something went gravely wrong in my past," her counterpart
explained. "It's going to happen in your very near future, today in
fact, and it involves Serena."
"Serena? What'd that Meatball Head do now?" Raye snapped.
Her counterpart glowered at her. "She *died*."
It was nearly an hour later that a very troubled Raye Hino watched
as her future counterpart and the woman named Dax walked off the temple
grounds. Soon after they had gotten out of sight, she turned to the
burning fire and began the ritual of a fire reading.
While the bulk of her mind was concentrating on the flame, the
remainder was going over what Dax and her double had told her: that
Luna would lead them to investigate what seemed to be another Negaverse
operation, similar to the amusement park scheme that they had tried.
But this time, it was simply a trap designed to lure the Scouts there
and kill them. But they would only succeed in killing Serena.
Just thinking about it scared Raye more than she would care to
admit.
However, while they were able to give her a vague warning, they had
been very limited in the details they gave her.
"You have to understand," Dax had told her, "We have to be very
careful in what we tell you. Our objective is to prevent Sailor Moon
from being killed today. But if we give you too much information, we
could upset the timeline even more."
"Why don't you at least tell me what this shapeshifter will be
hiding as?" she demanded.
Her counterpart shook her head. "Wouldn't do any good. As someone
pointed out to me, the changeling could be literally anything or anyone.
I only know what it was imitating just before it struck."
"Besides, we've already made some alterations in the timeline," Dax
added. "So events from here on will be different that what happened
previously."
"The best thing to do is to keep you eyes on everything."
Raye groaned. "Everything?!?"
"And everyone." Her counterpart gave her a mournful smile.
"Sorry, but it's the best advice we can give."
"Don't worry," Dax added trying to reassure her, "We've got others
that will be along watching for it. And they'll be keeping an eye on
Serena as well. So don't think that everything depends on you. All we
need you to do is to stay alert and be ready for when the time comes."
All during her talk with them, Raye had been concentrating on both
women intently, trying to get something on how truthful they were being.
Hoping that there was some fabrication to their tale.
Unfortunately, all her senses could tell her was that everything
they had told her had been truthful, she reflected as she concentrated
on the fire, even if they weren't telling her *everything*.
She returned her full attention to the flame. After several more
minutes, an image formed amid the flames in response to her prodding.
Raye recoiled upon seeing it, horrified.
It was an image of Death.
Dax tapped on her comm. badge after they were some distance from
the temple. "Dax to Kira. We're on our way."
"Acknowledged," she heard the Major reply, "Take your time. We've
got a while before she heads for school. So take your time getting
here. Kira out."
Dax and Raye continued in silence for a while before Raye asked,
"How do you think that went?"
Dax shrugged. "Pretty well, I think. But she is you. How do you
think she took it?"
"About as good as can be expected," she responded. "She's
frustrated we can't tell her more, but understands our reasons. I think
she'll be ready for that shapeshifter."
"I hope so," Dax said. "According to Kira, it wasn't easy getting
Benjamin to go along with this idea."
"Absolutely not!" Sisko exclaimed.
Raye instinctively winced at his tone, but Kira held her ground.
Emissary or no, she had these type of confrontations with him before and
was still willing to stand her ground. "Captain, I think you should
reconsider."
"Major have you lost your mind?" Sisko moved around the desk and
confronted the Bajoran directly. "Having Raye meet up with her past
self would be a direct violation of --"
"To hell with the time travel directives!" Kira snapped. "They
don't apply to this situation." She spared a glance at Pluto, who had
been standing to one side and had yet to say anything, though she was
watching their discussion with great interest. "Captain, those
directives are designed for preserving the timeline. But in this case
we're talking about changing this timeline deliberately, and along a
very specific path. We're going to need all the help we can get."
"Like you two have been saying," Raye said to both Sisko and Pluto,
"We're only going to get one chance at this. Alerting one of the Scouts
from this time frame could be the edge we need to keep things from going
awry."
"Those are good points," Sisko said. "But I don't think --"
"They're right, Captain," Pluto interrupted him.
Sisko stared at her. "I would have thought you'd be the last
person to endorse this plan."
"Ordinarily, I wouldn't... but as Major Kira pointed out, this is
not the usual type of time travel situation." She paused and looked
sternly at Raye. "Of course, she should make sure the she divulges
nothing to her counterpart beyond the events of that day."
"Don't worry," Raye promised. "I don't want to do anything to make
things worse."
Sisko paced the length of the room, considering. "Wouldn't Luna be
a better choice?" he finally asked.
"No," Raye replied, shaking her head. "Luna would never be able to
keep something like this from Serena, and if she found out it would
really cause problems. Besides, we have no easy way of contacting her
alone. The same goes for Amy. On the other hand, if we do it early
enough in the day, my double should be alone for long enough to talk to
her."
"Very well," Sisko said, agreeing reluctantly. "I'm not sure I
like the idea, but since our resident expert on time agrees, I'll go
along."
"It's getting pretty late," Dax noted as they were nearing Serena's
house. "Shouldn't Kira have called to let us know Serena was on her way
to school by now?"
Raye smirked. "You guys have been watching her for two days and
you still don't know her very well. Just remember: all during the time
I knew her, Serena was never on time for anything." Then a sorrowed
look came over her face, "Except for her own funeral. She was way too
early for that."
Dax patted her on the shoulder. "That's what were here to change,
remember?"
Raye nodded, but before she could reply a loud cry came from up the
street in the direction of the Tsukino residence. Guessing what would
follow, Raye moved Dax off to one side safely out of the way and out of
sight, just before a blonde blur came racing by them. Peering out, they
saw Serena racing for school, Luna right beside her. "Serena," she said
softly, and a rush of emotions swept through her at the sight of seeing
her alive. She shook her head and blinked away the tears that had been
forming. There wasn't any time for that.
Unnoticed by her, the disguised Luna approached them, "Come on,
Dax. It'll be hard enough to keep up with them as it is."
"Where's Kira?" Dax inquired.
"Back there," the cat answered. "Now let's move!" She raced off
in pursuit of Serena and Dax followed her.
Raye moved up the street in the opposite direction and found Kira
extricating herself rather painfully from a rose bush. Kira glared at
her after her slightly less than successful attempt to stifle a giggle.
"Oh, I'm sure it's very funny," she commented, her tone indicating she
thought otherwise.
"Depends on your point of view, Major." Raye's smile grew broader
as she thought of what Sisko's reaction would be when he heard about
this.
Kira was thinking along the same lines. "Don't mention this --
OW!" Kira winced as she tried to put her weight on her right foot.
Evidently, she had sprained her ankle as well. "...to anyone," she
finished. "That's an order."
Raye moved over to give her a hand. "Too bad.. you're not my
commanding officer," she retorted as they made their way to a secluded
spot.
"I could always have Odo throw you in the Brig," Kira threatened,
but Raye could tell she wasn't serious. "Kira to Defiant... two to beam
up."
Raye felt the now familiar sensation of the transporter beam
gripping them and Tokyo faded from view, to be replaced by the Defiant's
transporter room. She heard Kira groan softly as they both saw that
Sisko was waiting there to meet them.
Sisko raised an eyebrow at the sight of Kira's tattered clothing as
Raye helped her off the platform. "What happened to you?" he asked
somewhat rhetorically, a slight smile coming to his face.
"Serena," she said with a grimace, consigning herself to the
inevitable. "Since it was getting so late, I figured she was staying
home sick from school. Then I hear a shriek, so loud it would startle
the Prophets, yelling something about being late. Less than a minute
later, this blonde blur comes racing out the door, onto the street and
bowls me over." Sisko chuckled, as did Raye, much to Kira's discomfort.
"I don't think it's very funny."
"Indeed? As I recall, you thought is was extremely funny
yesterday... when a similar event happened to me."
"Yes, sir," she said simply.
Sisko allowed himself to savor the moment before getting back to
business. "Let's forget it for now. I take it Serena made it to school
safely."
"She's on her way," Raye put in. "Luna -- that is, our Luna -- is
following her, with Dax tailing her as well. They should be there
soon."
"Good. We'll have Odo take up the watch in a couple of hours,
while we get ready. If we're right, the critical time will be this
afternoon." Sisko dismissed them with a gesture, and Raye help Kira on
her way to the medical bay.
"Everything looks as it should," Dax commented. She and Luna were
looking around the area of Crossroads Junior High after making sure that
Serena had arrived safely, if a bit tardy.
"So far," Luna observed, trying to stifle a catlike yawn.
"You must be exhausted," Dax observed. "Odo should be here in a
couple of hours to relieve you. You should get some rest then."
"You won't get any argument from me," the feline said.
Dax nodded. "OK, I've got to get back to the ship. I'll see you
up there." Luna nodded before leaping from Dax's shoulder to find a
good observation post.
Dax was about to go on her way to the beam out point when she
heard, "I thought it was just Meatball Head. Or do all cat owners talk
to their pets as if they expect an answer?"
The science officer turned to face her questioner, but she already
knew who it was. Worf and Mercury had been most thorough in their
briefings, covering everything from appearances to voices of the people
around here. So she was not surprised to find herself facing Darien.
One of the aft bridge's doors snapped open to admit O'Brien. "Here
you are, sir." He looked strange dressed in civilian clothing while
standing on the Bridge, but it was understandable given the nature of
the assignment Sisko had given him. "Tickets to the ball game for all
of us... Except for Luna and Odo, of course."
A smile creased Sisko's face as he took the tickets in hand. "Good
work, Chief."
"You didn't have any trouble with your funny money, did you Miles?"
Bashir asked.
"Funny money?" Amy looked troubled. "You mean it was
counterfeit?"
"Well, not exactly. I mean, it wasn't real money, but there's no
way you could tell it wasn't." O'Brien shrugged. "Since we used a
replicator, it practically *is* the real thing."
"I just wish we could take the time to actually see the game,"
Sisko said regretfully. "And it's too bad this didn't happen in North
America. It would have been nice to see some of the contemporary Major
League players in action... Cal Ripken, for example."
"Or Nolan Ryan?" Kira suggested.
Sisko grinned. "You've been studying, Major. But I'm afraid
you're a few years too late for him."
Everything seemed to be going according to plan, Raye observed as
she walked down the corridor. The Mess Hall door opened automatically
to admit her and she went over to the replicator. She noted that Dax
and Worf were seated at one table, uncharacteristically silent.
Something told her that they had been talking, but had stopped the
moment she entered. Picking up the raktajino she ordered, she wandered
over to them. "You know, I'm actually beginning to like this stuff,"
she commented.
"I've always liked it," Dax said, raising her own mug. Raye noted
that Worf was drinking usual tall glass of prune juice, and repressed a
shudder as she sat down.
"So, are you two going to tell me what it was you were talking
about when I came in?"
"Who says we were talking about anything?" Dax asked.
"Come on. You are hardly the silent type, Jadzia. And I got the
feeling you two were in the middle of something when I came in." Raye
leaned back in her chair and regarded the two Starfleet officers. "You
were talking about Darien, weren't you?"
Surprise registered on Dax's face, but Raye only saw a gleam of
satisfaction on Worf's. "I told you she was perceptive," he said.
"Well, there wasn't anything psychic about it," Raye admitted. "It
was just a good guess."
"A very good guess," Dax said. "But you were right, we were
talking about him. I bumped into him during my away mission."
"I wish I could go on those," Ray grumbled.
"Soon," Worf said. "According to Pluto, the Negaverse is starting
to move. The battle will take place today."
Raye nodded, but turned back to Dax. "So, what were you saying
about him."
Dax grimaced. "I was just noting that he seemed... aloof."
"It comes from the fact that he was an orphan. Being raised in an
orphanage, he finds it hard to deal with people. So he keeps them at a
distance." Raye paused, remembering her times with him. "Once you get
to know him, he's easier to deal with."
"Maybe it's just me," Dax said, "But I don't know what you saw in
him... Or what Serena will see in him."
"It has as much to do with the fact that he does not know who and
what he is," Worf rumbled. "I met him well after he regained those
memories. It was clear to me that he loved her deeply."
Raye wasn't sure what Dax was up to, but the Trill smiled and
winked at her. "Worf, you're a romantic," she teased him.
"I am not," the Klingon denied.
It might have gone on for some time, but there was a beep form the
comm. system. "Attention all away party members. Report to the
Transporter Room. It's time to begin Phase Two."
Sisko, with Major Kira beside him, peered through the bushes and
watched Amy's and Raye's past selves from his vantage point on the
temple grounds. Amy was sitting calmly on the porch steps, reading a
book, while Raye was pacing back and forth. She was obviously impatient
about something. She wasn't the only one. He glanced up to Luna.
"Where is she? I thought you said Serena would be here by now?"
Luna peered down from the tree branches, her current gold coloring
standing out somewhat. "No, I said she *should* be here by now. With
Serena, there's a big difference."
"Well, where *is* she?" Kira snapped. "Everything hinges on
keeping her safe!"
"Probably on her way here," the cat responded calmly. "Don't
worry, Odo said he'd keep a close eye on her. And from what I've seen,
he's very good at that." She grimaced at the thought of how the
Constable had gone about informing her. They had been lingering outside
Serena's school for most of the day when Odo had come up to her, doing a
very good imitation of herself! ('He may not be able to handle
humanoids, but he's pretty good with animals,' she thought.) Luna had
almost had a heart failure thinking that her counterpart had managed to
come up to her without her sensing it. But she had fainted when Odo
spoke to her from that form, using his own voice. "If there had been
any problems, I'm sure he would have called."
Sisko was not the only one concerned over Serena's tardiness.
"She should be here soon," Raye reassured the large human next to
her. She watched her past self pace impatiently back and forth, then
glanced back to the equally impatient man. "Don't worry Worf, we still
have time before the attack."
The disguised Klingon frowned. "I would not use your memories of
the past as a guide to the future here. We have already made some
alterations to the timeline. The destruction of the Jem'Hadar ships by
the Defiant will have some ripples in the course of events."
"I know that," she snapped. There was an uncomfortable silence for
a moment before she asked, "Worf, do you think the changes that've been
made are enough to keep the Enterprise from being destroyed?"
"At least initially," he answered. "But without Sailor Moon's
presence, I don't think they will survive their entire encounter with
Beryl's forces."
"Well, Jadeite never found out our ID's, so she should be all
right, as long as she doesn't transform first." Worf grunted
noncommittally and they resumed their vigil in silence. Again Raye
broke it, "Worf, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Amy found out about the Klingon Death Howl and she told me about
it. But Lita wasn't a Klingon. So why the howling after she died?"
Worf frowned and pondered not answering her question, but that
seemed dishonorable to him. "It was a... family matter."
Raye seemed puzzled. "I don't understand."
"When the Scouts visited the Enterprise D, I became friends with
her. And it was a very close connection. Not in a romantic sense, but
more along the lines of a brother and sister. So before they left, I
decided to formalize it, and I accepted Lita into my family. She became
a member of the House of Mogh." Worf decided to leave out how the House
of Mogh had become dishonored recently by his opposing the actions of
Chancellor Gowron. He could explain that later.
"But the Lita I knew never went to the Enterprise. So why..."
"It does not matter," Worf interrupted her. "The principle remains
the same. *I* knew about it, and that is what mattered. And it extends
to your pledge to her as well."
"What?"
"Lita requested that you stop Beryl, and you promised to do so.
And by restoring the timeline to its original state, it will be done.
And as leader of the House of Mogh, her last request is binding on me
also. Thus I must make sure that we are successful, no matter what the
cost."
"Even if it kills us."
Worf nodded. "It is a good day to die."
"You Klingons are a fatalistic bunch." Raye gave Worf another
lookover. "It's still strange to see you looking like that, Worf. I'd
just gotten used to your usual looks."
Worf scowled at her, remembering. "It was your doing."
"Hey, it was Amy's idea," she pointed out.
"You had a hand in it."
They had been assembled in the Mess Hall, while Kira outlined the
plan they had come to for protecting Sailor Moon. As it became clear
that the entire senior staff would be involved, Worf shifted slightly.
Sisko asked, "What's wrong, Mr. Worf?"
"It is the thought of undergoing cosmetic surgery to appear as a
human, sir." He crossed his arms and grimaced. "It is not a prospect I
relish, but I am willing to endure it if the mission requires."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Worf," Sisko replied, "But with the possibility of
Jem'Hadar soldiers being present, we're going to need our best people
available. And you are undoubtedly one of the better close combat
experts I have on hand."
"Aye, sir," the Klingon responded.
Amy looked thoughtful. "I have a solution," she said. She handed
Worf a odd looking device that was shaped rather like a pen. "We've
used this in the past to disguise ourselves."
Raye nodded approvingly. "Good idea, Amy."
Worf took the proffered device and eyed it dubiously. He had heard
about this it, but had never seen it in action. "How does it work?"
Raye answered, "Just say 'Disguise Power,' then tell it what you
want to be disguised as."
"You've got to be kidding."
Raye grinned. "Nope."
"Give it a try, Commander," Sisko said.
Worf grimaced, obviously more uncomfortable than before. "Aye,
sir. Disguise power, make me look like a... human." He just about
choked out the last word.
The magic of the Disguise Pen flowed outward and enveloped Worf,
obscuring him from sight for several seconds. When it cleared, Worf
looked very much like a human.
A rather large human. But human, nevertheless.
Dax smiled. "Looks good on you." Worf only responded with a
glare.
The sound of a loud crash brought Worf back to the present. Both he
and Raye looked concernedly in the direction of the nearby sound, but
they relaxed upon hearing Dax's voice over the now open comm. line.
"Benjamin, we've located Serena." Amusement was clearly heard in her
voice. "Julian just... ran into her."
"Serena strikes again," Raye observed quietly, prompting a nod of
agreement from Worf.
Dax looked on, bemused as Bashir and Serena picked themselves up
off the ground. A very familiar black cat sat beside them, a seemingly
downcast expression on her face.
"I'm sorry!" Serena said for what must have been the fifth time in
a slightly panicked voice.
"It's all right," Julian painfully reassured her yet again. In
truth, he had heard her long before she had arrived, but revealing that
might have given away his genetically enhanced status. Unfortunately,
he had misjudged just how fast she was moving, thus resulting in the
collision. "No permanent damage done. Are you OK, um...?" His voice
trailed off as he feigned ignorance.
"Oh, my name's Serena," she answered.
"Bashir. Julian Bashir," the Doctor replied smoothly. "If I may
inquire, why are you in such a hurry?"
"Oh, I'm on my way to meet some friends," she said in an offhand
manner. "I got to school late today, so I got detention, and I just got
out and now I'm way late to meet them and Raye can be *so* touchy..."
Bashir nodded sympathetically. "Yes, I've noticed," he said
quietly.
"Huh?" Serena stared at him, genuinely puzzled. How could he know
that? "You know Raye?" A slow smile crept over her face and then she
said in a sly tone, "Oh, are you her boyfriend?"
It was rare that Dax found herself struck speechless.
She wasn't the only one. But Raye wasn't one to remain speechless
for long.
"Boyfriend?!?" she nearly shrieked just after there was an audible
click indicating somebody had closed the open comm. channel. "Him?"
"I suggest you keep your voice down," Worf advised her. His
expression remained stern, but his eyes glinted with amusement. "We do
not want to attract any unnecessary attention."
Raye turned from him and glowered, arms crossed, at a nearby tree.
She continued to grumble, but her volume was much lower. "That little
Meatball Head..."
Bashir sputtered momentarily, "No, she's not." He decided that
changing the subject to cover his misstep would be the best strategy.
"Who might your four legged friend be?"
Serena glanced down to where Luna was looking impatiently back up
at her. "This is my cat... Her name's Luna."
Bashir crouched down and gave Luna an obligatory scratch. "She
seems intelligent..." Luna started to preen, "For a cat, that is." Luna
stood stock still, and glared at the Doctor.
"For a cat?" Serena asked, not sure if she should be offended.
"Yes, though I really can't be sure... I'm more of a dog person
myself."
Luna turned from Bashir, and marched over to Serena, batting a paw
on her knee for attention.
Serena eyed the cat, then her own eyes grew wide. "Oh, no... The
time!" She began running up the path, then stopped and turned back to
them. "See you later. Bye." After giving a last wave, she raced up
the path to the shrine, the cat following her. Moments later, a small
black dog emerged from behind a nearby tree and, after giving the two
Starfleet officers an ironic glance, followed her up the path.
"It's hard to believe the fate of this Earth, and that of the
Federation, depends on her," Bashir commented as he watched her enter.
Dax tapped her comm. badge to reopen the comm. channel, then went
up to Bashir. A keen observer would note a mischievous glint in her
eyes. "So, you and Raye are an item now?"
"Jadzia!"
"You don't think she's attractive?"
"Of course, she is!" he exclaimed. "It's just that --" He stopped
in midsentence as he realized just what Dax was up to.
"Just that what?" a voice over the comm. channel dangerously asked
before he could form a suitable retort, causing Bashir to pale. It
wasn't wise to offend, even accidentally, someone who literally could
command fire.
Fortunately, he was saved from further embarrassment. "Let's keep
our minds on the business at hand, people," Sisko admonished them.
"Dax?"
"Serena's on her way, sir," she reported, now all business. "Odo's
in position, as planned."
"Good. Everyone keep your eyes open. Things are going to start
happening in a hurry from here on."
Raye confronted Serena the moment she arrived, hands planted on her
hips. "It's about time you got here! What you do, stop at every ice
cream shop along the way?" Amy looked questioningly at her, as did
Luna. Certainly Raye had a history of snapping at people, Serena in
particular, but she was acting much tenser than usual.
The answer was that Raye had been sensing the watchers around the
temple. But as she hadn't an accompanying sense of evil with it, she
reasoned it was the others mention by Dax and her future self. This
meant that the danger they mentioned was getting closer, and the added
tension was driving her crazy.
"As if," Serena replied. "I'll have you know I came straight here!
Though I did bump into this really cute guy..." Her eyes narrowed and
she looked at Raye speculatively, "By the way, he seemed to know you...
is he by any chance your boyfriend?"
"Huh? Who are you talking about? I don't have a boyfriend!" Raye
instantly regretted saying that.
"Oh, so no wonder you're so cranky," Serena quipped
Raye was trying to frame a proper retort when something in Serena's
bag caught her eye. She reached into it and pulled out the comic in
there. "Oh, sure you came straight here! AFTER you hit the comic book
shop!"
"Raye, give that back! It's mine!"
Raye felt a lump form in her throat as she watched the ongoing
argument between Serena and her counterpart. She had forgotten just
much she missed those all too frequent arguments she had with Serena.
Once again, she found herself blinking back the tears that were forming,
and her face settled into a mask of determination.
There was no way in hell she was going to let Serena die this time.
O'Brien looked around the concourse from a secluded alcove. He and
Amy had been among the first people allowed inside, and several of the
vendors were still setting things up. "Seems peaceful enough," he
commented to his companion.
She glanced down at her half hidden computer. "I'm afraid that's
not going to last."
"You picking up something?" he asked. He did a quick scan with a
tricorder, trying to keep it concealed as well, "Because I'm not
detecting anything."
"That's because your tricorder isn't as sensitive to Negaverse
activities as my computer." Amy stared pointedly at the stand that
would be the source of the trouble to come. "Now that I know what to
scan for, I can detect their activities." She grimaced, "The youma's
activities, that is. I still don't have a clue where the shapeshifter
is."
"All right," O'Brien said. "Nothing for it but to wait." He
glanced above and saw that there were several spots amid the rafters
that someone could use to keep watch without being easily seen. And
since the Scouts would meet him later, he needed to keep out of their
sight. "You stay here. I'll find a secluded place and have the ship
beam me up there."
Raye and Serena found their argument interrupted when a small,
black dog came up to them and began barking. It was about a half meter
in length, with jet black fur and a small nub where its tail should be.
"Oh, you're cute," Serena giggled, motioning the canine to come closer.
It did so, sniffing at her tentatively. She began petting it on the
head, and it wagged its excuse of a tail happily in response then stood
on its hind legs and placed its forepaws on her knee as it begged for
further attention.
Raye's eyes narrowed as she examined the canine closely. She
couldn't put her finger on it, but something about the dog seemed
*wrong* to her. Still, she didn't sense anything evil about it. Could
this be associated with the watchers Dax had mentioned earlier?
She shook her head and tried to relax. She'd be glad when this day
was over. All this worrying was going to giver her an ulcer... And she
was much too young for that!
"Odo seems to be enjoying this assignment," Sisko observed wryly.
"He'd never admit it," Kira replied. "He'll just say that he was
playing his part."
"To the hilt."
"Serena, leave that dog alone!" Luna insisted. "We've got Sailor
business to attend to!"
Serena shot a glare at the black cat, who was trying to keep Amy in
between herself and the dog. "Stop being such a 'fraidy cat, Luna! And
what makes you think the Negaverse is going to try something? We just
trashed them at Dreamland."
"Oh, right," Raye snapped. "Like they're going to do nothing after
that, Meatball Head?"
Serena glared at Raye and was about to snap at her when Amy spoke
up, "Luna might be right. They could be ready to try something again."
"I think they *are* trying something," Luna said. "I found a
report in a the newspaper this morning about people disappearing in the
vicinity of the baseball stadium."
"Oh, not again," Serena mumbled.
Luna nodded. "I'm afraid so, Serena. We should go inves-- Now cut
that out!" She directed the last at the dog, which had begun sniffing
at her. "Oh, I hate dogs!"
Odo inwardly nodded to himself, satisfied that this is Luna. So
far there was no indication the changeling was present. It would most
likely appear at the ballpark, as before.
Meanwhile, the three girls had started to giggle at the sight.
"I'm glad you all think this is so amusing," Luna said, her tone clearly
indicating otherwise. "Now, come on!" She turned to leave, and the
three girls followed her. Sensing something else following, Luna turned
and saw the dog happily tagging along. "Oh, no you don't! Serena, tell
that dog to stay here!"
Serena sighed. "You heard her, girl. Stay!" The dog looked at
her with sad eyes, and began to whimper and whine. "I don't think she
want to stay, Luna."
"We can't take her with us," Amy said. "It could be dangerous."
"I've got an idea." Raye ran back inside and returned a few
minutes later with a length of rope. She quickly tied the dog to a
nearby tree, ignoring its whining with difficulty. "There, that should
hold her!"
The three girls and cat left on their way, the dog watching them
until they were out of sight. When they had gotten out of sight, the
flesh of its neck altered into a caramel colored gelatinous substance,
and oozed its way around the rope. It fell limply to the ground, and
the dog raced after the Scouts.
Raye's counterpart nodded to Worf. "There they go." She tapped
her comm. badge as they followed at a distance. "Mars to Sisko.
They're on their way."
"We see it. Everyone else, go on ahead to the ballpark. Kira and
I will follow them along the way."
Pluto stood by the comm. station on the Bridge, monitoring the away
team's transmission. So far everything seemed to be going as planned.
But the critical time was yet to come.
And there was still one detail to attend to here. The crew had
been more concerned with saving Sailor Moon so they had ignored what to
do with the extra quantum flux. It would have to be dealt with, else
the Enterprise detect an extra one when it appeared here in a few months
time. Fortunately, she and Q had discussed this before.
She moved towards the engineering station. "Mr. Muniz..."
The engineer turned to her. "Yes?"
"I have a task for you to perform." She handed him a data PADD.
"I need you to modify a quantum torpedo along these parameters."
Muniz examined the readout, then looked to Lt. Glynn, who had the
conn. As the Captain had instructed them to cooperate fully with Sailor
Pluto, he nodded. Muniz got up. "OK. I'll get right on it."
"What's wrong, Luna?" Serena asked worriedly. The black cat had
halted as they were nearing the stadium and was looking about, her
expression one of puzzlement. If fact, she had been looking around them
all during the trek here, she reflected.
"I'm not sure," she answered. "But I sense something odd around
here. It's as if we're being followed."
Raye frowned. She still had the feeling of being watched but it
still felt like it had at the temple. Nothing about it felt evil or
wrong, so it was probably still the others mentioned by Dax and her
counterpart. Briefly she toyed with the idea of alerting Serena and Amy
to what had happened that morning, but discarded it at once. Dax had
been very clear that she should allow events to proceed normally, or
else the Negaverse could back out of their current plan and start again,
this time without Dax's people being aware of where things would happen.
"Are you sure, Luna? I don't sense anything evil," she said aloud.
"Well, that settles it," Serena said. "Luna's going paranoid on
us."
"I am not!" the cat snapped. "There *is* something amiss around
here. I just can't put my paw on it right now."
"As if," Serena retorted. "First you come up with this idea that
the Negaverse is going to strike at a *baseball stadium*, of all places,
and now you're getting odd feelings that even Raye isn't having. Luna,
you're going totally whacko on me."
Luna glared at the blonde girl. "If I have gone insane, it's only
because you've driven me over the edge, Serena," she said before going
on her way.
"Hey!" Serena cried before following her. "Luna, it's bad enough
that buying a ticket into here will use almost all of my allowance! I
don't need you needling me like that!"
"If you'd stop buying all these comic books, you'd have more of
your allowance available, Meatball Head!" Raye snapped.
"Oh, you're a fine one to talk about not buying comic books!"
Serena retorted.
Amy sighed. It was going to be a *long* day.
Sisko glanced up from the program he had obtained. The three
Sailor Scouts were nearby, close enough so that he could hear them
talking. "I think Luna's right," Raye was saying. "I've been having a
bad feeling about this place the moment we went through the gate."
"This from a girl who decided *I* was evil and slapped a spirit
ward on my forehead just minutes after meeting me?" Serena quipped.
"That still doesn't make me feel any better about having to spend a good
chunk of my allowance for a ticket."
Raye's eyes narrowed, but Amy intervened before she could say
anything. "We should split up to cover more ground. Luna and I will go
this way and you two can check out the other direction."
"Wait a minute! I want to go with you, Amy. Luna can go with the
grouch!" Serena complained.
"It sounds good to me," Raye said, prompting a series of astonished
looks from the others. "Come on, Serena, let's go." Raye smoothly
transferred the bag containing Luna from Serena to Amy, then took the
blonde girl by the arm and began moving her down the concourse.
Luna and Amy were still looking stunned when Sisko and Kira moved
to follow the two girls.
Amy watched from her own vantage point as Serena and Raye moved up
the concourse. As soon as they passed by, she began moving in the
opposite direction, moving to where her own counterpart had gone.
"Here they come," Bashir noted.
Dax nodded, but otherwise did not reply. She and Bashir had taken
up position nearby the concession stand that should be the Negaverse
front (assuming, of course, that things were still proceeding along
those lines), but not so close as to be inside the presumed illusion
field. Raye (present day version) and Serena were approaching, just as
they should be. In the background, she could see Benjamin and Kira
following them, but she had no idea where Worf and Raye were.
It was at that moment that Serena caught sight of the prices, and
she immediately headed for the booth. Raye grabbed her by the arm.
"What do you think you're doing?" Dax heard her ask, her voice low but
still loud enough to carry to Dax's position. "We're here on business
Serena, remember? Besides, it could be dangerous!"
"Dangerous?!?" Serena asked incredulously. "Here? Raye, you're
getting way worse than Luna. Now let go!" With that she tore her arm
free and headed for the line.
Raye seemed about ready to try and stop her again, but she spotted
Dax nearby. The Trill gave her a reassuring nod, indicating to Raye
that help was nearby. She relaxed a bit and followed Serena towards the
booth.
The moment Raye took her place in line, the bad feeling she had
been having the entire day intensified dramatically. There was
definitely something evil nearby. Her eyes narrowed and she flitted her
gaze back and forth over the throng in an attempt to localize it. 'Here
we go,' she thought.
Luna poked her head up from the bag she was concealed in.
"Anything, Amy?"
"Nothing concrete," she replied. She tapped a couple of times on
her palmtop and frowned. "So far there's no indication of Negaverse
activity, but I'm picking up several anomalous readings. Including one
that's --"
"Just about on top of you?" Amy whirled about to confront the
voice from behind her and gasped. Luna found herself similarly stunned.
The girl who had spoken to them was dressed differently from Amy, but
was in all other respects identical to her. "You're computer is picking
up me and my computer as well." She gestured with her own palmtop,
which Amy saw was identical to her own.
"Who are you?" Amy asked as soon as she found her voice.
"I'm you. Almost a year older, but you nevertheless. You can
confirm that with a scan." She paused while Amy started the scanning
process, examining both her double and the computer she held. "The
reason you're not picking any Negaverse activity is because they've
screened themselves behind an illusion field."
"How do you know?" Luna asked.
"Because I've lived this day before, Luna. That's why I'm here --
to make sure it doesn't go wrong again."
Before Luna could ask any more questions, there was a beep from
Amy's computer. "She is me," Amy stated. "Allowing for nine months of
growth, she is in every other respect identical... even down to the DNA.
And her computer is exactly the same as mine."
"Of course," her double replied. "I'm you, just a little older."
She gestured, indicating the direction Raye and Serena had gone. "Now
come on. I'm going to need your help when the trouble starts." She
started, and Amy followed her after a moment.
She ran for a second to catch up. "What do you mean about
trouble?"
"Luna was right about this being a Negaverse operation," her older
self explained. "But it's not quite a standard energy gathering
operation. It's a trap as well. And if we're not careful, Sailor Moon
is going to be killed... again."
O'Brien stared down at the concession booth, fingering his phaser
rifle. All looked normal as far as he could tell, but his tricorder was
giving indications that *something* was up.
Suddenly the illusion field surrounding it collapsed, and O'Brien
could see the chaos that was unfolding below. People were scrambling to
their feet and starting to flee in panic, while the youma (Rybite was
it's name, the Chief recalled) was standing on the counter. "I don't
believe it," O'Brien muttered as he gawked at it. "It *does* look like
a Cardie."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then several motions at the edge of his vision caught his eye.
"What the hell...?"
Both Amy's saw the commotion starting in the distance. "Oh, hell,"
the Amy from the future exclaimed much to her counterpart's
consternation. "It's already starting."
"Then we better get moving," Luna said. The black cat was trying
her best to conceal it, but she had been badly shaken by the other Amy's
tale of what had happened in her past during the next few minutes. "You
two have got to find that shapeshifter."
"I wonder if it could have been that dog," Amy mused as they
hurried.
"No, that was Odo. He's on our side," her double explained. "He
--" A beeping sounded from her computer, accompanied by similar beeping
from Amy's. "Oh, no. They're here," she muttered as she examined the
readings. She tapped a medallion she wore just over her left breast.
"Mizuno to Sisko. I've just detected..."
"We see it," a deep voice responded from the medallion. "Get back
here at once." Amy nodded to herself as she led her counterpart along.
Phase three had begun.
O'Brien watched from his vantage point as three very familiar and
armed shapes shimmered into view on the outskirts of the panicking
crowd. "That's all we bloody well need," he muttered darkly.
"Jem'Hadar!"
Note: Odo was imitating a schipperke (pronounce "skipper key"), which is
a Belgium breed of dog. The reason I picked this breed as opposed to a
more common one is because my brother has one. Why not?
[Author's note -- With all these duplicate Sailors around, it's going to
get a bit confusing. For clarity's sake, the Scouts from the alternate
timeline will be referred to as simply "Mars" and "Mercury"; whereas the
'present day' versions will be referred to as "Sailor Mars" and "Sailor
Mercury".]
"Never underestimate the element of surprise"
- Odo
"It's time for Sailor Moon!"
-Luna
Chapter 7 - "No greater love than this..."
Serena looked around wildly at the Jem'Hadar that had appeared
around the crowd. "Who are these guys?!?" she wailed. "They've got
GUNS!!"
"Look again, Meatball Head. Those aren't any type of guns I've ever
seen," Raye snapped while eyeing the three aliens, noting to herself
that Dax and her counterpart had made no mention at all about them.
Serena went instantly from near terror to anger, and glowered at
Raye, "Stop calling me Meatball Head!"
Now unnoticed by the increasingly panicky crowd, the youma Rybite
still stood atop the counter muttering incomprehensibly. But it seemed
more irritated at the Jem'Hadar for interrupting it's operation than
anything else.
So intent was it at glaring at the warriors from the Dominion that
it missed a figure in a red sailor outfit landing nearby on the
countertop, followed by two others in blue. Mercury gave Rybite a solid
kick to its midsection as she landed, sending the youma flying so that
it landed in a sitting position atop the grill. The youma howled in
pain as it tried franticly to scurry off. It's antics earned it
contemptuous glares from the Jem'Hadar and the nearest one slammed the
butt of it's weapon into the youma's face, rendering it unconscious.
Mars leveled an accusing finger at the alien soldiers. "This is a
place for people to enjoy themselves, not for you to steal their energy!
In the name of Mars..."
"...And Mercury..." the other two cried out in unison.
"...We'll punish you!" they finished together.
"Huh?" Serena looked at the three Scouts, then at Raye standing
beside her, then back again. "Another Sailor Mars? *Two* Sailor
Mercuries? What's going on?!?" Then she realized, "And they're
stealing my lines!"
The Jem'Hadar didn't bother asking questions, as always preferring
action instead. They aimed their weapons at the three Scouts and began
firing. While they dodged the weapons fire, everyone in the crowd
started running for cover. Raye took advantage of the tumult and
grabbed Serena by the arm, dragging her around the corner where Luna
joined them. "What's going on?" Serena demanded again.
Raye ignored her question for the moment as she checked up on the
battle. Her counterpart had already toasted one of the aliens that she
and Dax had so conveniently not mentioned. Or it as more likely they
didn't know they were going to show up, she mused. "I should have
expected Amy's double would be here, too," she muttered. "There's no
sign of that shapeshifter though."
"What was that?" Serena asked. "Raye, do you know something I
don't?"
"A lot of things," she responded automatically. At Serena's glare
she added, "But right now the important thing is that they need our
help," pointing to the fight. Mars had already toasted the first three
Jem'Hadar, but more were appearing out of the woodwork. "There are more
of those creeps."
"Yes," Luna agreed. "Transform now! But be careful. You
especially, Serena."
"Huh?"
Raye raised her transformation pen skyward. "MARS POWER!" When
the transformation was complete, Sailor Mars looked at Serena. "Well,
what are you waiting for?"
"Stop giving me orders," she grumbled.
"Serena!" Luna admonished her.
"All right already... MOON PRISM POWER!"
Sisko put a restraining hand on Kira, who had been getting ready to
fire, "Not yet, Major." Over the comm. he added, "Hold your fire
everyone."
"But sir!" Worf protested.
"That's an order, Mr. Worf. We have to wait until the changeling
reveals itself before we make our move. If we show ourselves too soon,
the changeling will leave and we'll have no idea where or when it will
strike next." He glanced over at the raging battle and grimaced. "I
don't like it any more than you, but Mars and Mercury can take care of
themselves. Besides," he nodded to a small dog that had taken position
near the concession stand, "Odo can help them out in the meantime."
Kira nodded, agreeing reluctantly as a rush of movement caught her
eye. Sailor Moon now stood atop the counter, with another Sailor Mars
beside her. "All right, I don't know who all the extra Sailor Scouts
are, but I am Sailor Moon, the champion of justice! I right wrongs and
triumph over evil!" She pointed at the nearest Jem'Hadar. "And that
means you... oofff!" The Jem'Hadar had not been not impressed with her
entrance, and one of them was in the process of firing at her when Mars
shoved the blonde Scout out of the way and she fell down behind the
counter. The energy bolt impacted harmlessly above her. "Owie..." She
got back to her feet, rubbing her head painfully and glared at both
Sailor Scouts of the red planet. "Thanks a lot, Mars!"
"Sure, blame me!" Sailor Mars retorted.
"Excuse me, I was only SAVING YOUR LIFE!" Mars exclaimed in the
same instant.
Sailor Moon was framing a suitable response when she realized that
the aliens had stopped firing. It became immediately obvious, for a
tall, tuxedo clad figure was standing between her and the Jem'Hadar.
"It's not nice to interrupt a lady," he admonished the aliens, who
seemed uncertain now and were hesitantly retreating.
Sailor Mars looked at Tuxedo Mask but hesitated. She couldn't put
her finger on it, but something was giving her an odd feeling.
Mars frowned. Tuxedo Mask hadn't shown up this early the last
time. That could a result of the changes they'd made, but something
didn't quite feel right.
For her part, Sailor Moon was overjoyed. "Tuxedo Mask! You came!"
He turned and gave her a dazzling smile. "Of course, Sailor Moon."
He was just starting to reach in her direction when a small black dog
jumped up and bit him on the hand. "Huh?"
Sailor Moon was similarly surprised, perhaps even more so. She
wasn't entirely sure, but it certainly appeared to be the same dog that
they had left behind at the temple. But how could it be here? Raye had
tied it up back there!
Hadn't she?
She put that aside for the moment, trying instead to concentrate on
the events before her. "Bad dog!" she yelled, giving it a good solid
swat on the rump. "Tuxedo Mask is our friend!" The dog didn't seem to
react other than by biting down harder and perhaps glaring at her as
well, but before she could do anything else there was a flash of red in
front of her eyes. Sailor Moon jumped backwards a half step and gasped
when she got a good look at the countertop.
There was a red rose embedded in it.
Sisko tensed as Odo moved in on Tuxedo Mask. He knew the Constable
wouldn't make a move unless he sensed something. Perhaps...
"Benjamin!" Dax called over the comm., "Look above you!"
He glanced upward and immediately saw among the rafters what Dax
was talking about.
Sailor Moon looked upwards to where the rose had been thrown from
and gaped. Standing on a girder, cape flowing behind him was Tuxedo
Mask. Another one! She glanced back and forth between the two, now
utterly confused. "Watch yourself, Sailor Moon! I don't know who that
guy is, but he isn't me!"
Odo chose that moment to morph, shifting back to his usual humanoid
form. He had a hand firmly clenched around one of the fake Tuxedo
Mask's wrists. "I would appreciate it if you didn't hit me again," he
told her with out looking back. "I am trying to help." To the fake he
added, "Both of you."
"I don't need your *help*, Odo!" the changeling snarled. Then it
said to the Jem'Hadar, "Kill them!"
"The changeling's out of the bag. Move in!" Sisko ordered as more
Jem'Hadar, nearly a dozen in all, appeared. Half of them fell as the
Defiant crewmembers opened fire on them. For his part, Odo was now
locked in a struggle with the changeling, their forms mingling as they
fought.
Nearby a Jem'Hadar appeared near Sailor Moon, his weapon aimed in
her direction. But before he could take any action, O'Brien snapped off
a shot from his position above and hit him squarely. Despite this, his
weapon still discharged as he fell. A cry of pain was heard that
clearly belonged to Sailor Moon.
"NO!" Mars charged towards where Sailor Moon had fallen, but
Bashir somehow beat her there and vaulted over the counter. Mars peered
over it and saw that the blonde Scout was down on her knees, clutching
her upper left arm.
"Here, let me take a look at that," Bashir said to her, as he
automatically began scanning with the medical tricorder. It confirmed
his initial inspection of the wound. He looked up to Mars. "It's all
right," he told the worried Scout. "It's only a graze." Mars sighed,
clearly relieved.
Kira joined them and moved behind the counter herself. "Go on.
I've got them covered," she told Mars. Mars nodded and rejoined the
fight.
There is an old military adage that says that no battle plan
survives first contact with the enemy, and that was certainly true in
this case. Kira's plan had called for the Defiant crewmembers to fire
on the Jem'Hadar from cover, with Mars and Mercury working in concert
with the other Sailor Scouts. Surprise enabled this plan to work for
all of five seconds, and nearly a dozen of the Dominion soldiers were
strewn around the area, either killed by phaser beams or reduced to
charcoal by Mars and her counterpart.
But the Jem'Hadar were bred for battle, and thus they adjusted to
the circumstances. After the initial barrage, the away team members
found more Jem'Hadar appearing from out of their camouflage fields
nearly on top of them and close order combat became the order of the
day.
Bashir rummaged in the medkit for the dermal regenerator, trying to
ignore the sounds of combat around them. "Don't worry. It's not that
bad," he reassured his patient. He took out the instrument from the
kit, activated it and began running it over the wound. "Just a few
minutes, and you'll be good as new."
Sailor Moon smiled slightly as the pain ebbed, then her eyes
widened in recognition. "You again?"
Bashir smiled. "Yes, me again. Don't worry, I'm a doctor."
Sailor Moon looked doubtful. "I've never seen a doctor use
anything like that before!"
He hesitated before answering. "It... is a rather long story."
"You can tell it later, Doctor," Kira said, ducking from incoming
fire. She got up to return fire but stopped as her target collapsed, a
rose embedded in his throat.
Sailor Moon eyed Kira closely while Bashir continued to work.
There was something familiar about her, but she couldn't place her at
the moment. "What happened to your nose?"
Kira's had reflexively went to the patch she was wearing on her
nose to cover her distinctively Bajoran nose ridges. "Um... I broke my
nose," she said, wincing internally. 'You'd have thought by now I'd
have a better excuse lined up,' she thought.
Sailor Moon frowned. "Hey, if you're such a good doctor, why don't
you fix her nose?" she asked Bashir.
"Well, I could..." Bashir began, but Kira interrupted him.
"Doctor, you even *touch* my nose, I will break yours."
"Understood, Major."
"Gee, she's just as bad tempered as Mars," Sailor Moon observed.
"I am *not* bad tempered!!" came two very loud responses from
somewhere in the middle of the fighting.
Sailor Moon reflexively winced under the verbal barrage. Getting
yelled at by Mars was bad enough, but it was infinitely worse when it
was in stereo.
Luna looked on concernedly as Bashir worked on Sailor Moon and was
soon aware that she wasn't alone. A golden haired cat had joined her
vigil. In fact..."You again!"
The other cat started then glared at her, "You were expecting
someone else?"
Luna blinked, startled to hear her own voice come from the other
cat. However, she soon made a quick deduction. "You're *my*
counterpart, aren't you?"
"Yes," she replied. "I've been helping them keep an eye on
Serena."
"I can understand why. But what happened to your fur? Why change
it to *that* color?"
Her counterpart cringed slightly as she glanced again at her fur,
but before she could answer Bashir spoke up. "Maybe she wanted to find
out if it was true that blondes have more fun," he quipped while
examining his handiwork. He was nodding in satisfaction when a sudden
stab of pain made him yelp and his hand went reflexively to his neck.
It came away tinged with red from the scratches there.
"Physician, heal thyself," the golden haired cat said while
sheathing her claws.
"Nicely done," Luna complimented her counterpart.
Several meters above them, O'Brien aimed carefully once again and
squeezed the trigger and another Jem'Hadar dropped. So far he had been
successful in providing covering fire from his vantagepoint, but as the
combat became more intermixed, he had to be exceedingly selective in his
target selection. Since only the kill settings were effective against
the Jem'Hadar, a friendly fire incident here would be disastrous.
But it wasn't long before the Jem'Hadar became aware that there was
a sniper among the girders. Three of them began firing in his
direction, their weapons firing several energy pulses as they swept the
area. O'Brien hunkered down as best he could, but the incoming fire
somehow triggered a minor explosion that sent him flying off his perch.
And it was a long way down.
Sisko watched helplessly as O'Brien tumbled downward to what surely
would be a fatal landing. When he had reached the halfway point, a
black blur intercepted him in midair. The next thing Sisko knew,
O'Brien had been returned safely to the ground by Tuxedo Mask.
O'Brien blinked, amazed to still be alive. Tuxedo Mask stood next
to him for a moment then went wordlessly back into the fray. "Uh,
thanks," the chief belatedly said, then went to find another spot to
fire from. This time, he told himself, he was keeping his feet on terra
firma.
"Ow!" Mars grimaced as a Jem'Hadar grabbed her long hair. Seeing
her plight, Sisko charged into the Dominion soldier, using his shoulder
to bowl him over as if he were trying to dislodge a catcher blocking
home plate. The Jem'Hadar was forced to release his grip on Mars, but
smoothly rolled back to his feet and aimed his weapon at the Captain.
"MARS FIRE IGNITE!" Sailor Mars cried out, sending a wash of flame
at the Jem'Hadar and turning him into a pile of ash. But before any
thanks could be exchanged, two more appeared in front of the three.
"Where do these guys keep coming from?" Sailor Mars wondered.
"They're all around us, just invisible," Mars explained to her
younger self as the Jem'Hadar were suddenly knocked off their feet by
Tuxedo Mask, who was using his cane to great effect. "Just remember, we
have to keep them from harming Sailor Moon, no matter what!"
Kira watched the battle unfold, firing whenever a Jem'Hadar got too
close to her position. From what she could tell by half listening,
Bashir had all but finished treating Sailor Moon. A part of her wished
he would drag it out. Since her survival was pivotal to the timeline,
it would be easier if she could be kept out of the fighting.
She caught a flash of movement to her left out of the corner of her
eye. Turning rapidly, she saw the youma Rybite staggering to its feet.
It saw her in the same instant and hissed something at her in its
incomprehensible manner.
Except that Kira seemed to understand it. Her eyes widened and she
charged at the youma, vaulting back over the counter to do so. "You
little..." Disregarding her weapon, she slammed the heel of her right
palm into the youma's face and followed it up with a rapid series of
blows that staggered it. Then she grabbed the youma by the hair and
slammed its head repeatedly against the countertop. After about the
sixth or seventh blow, she let it go and it dropped to the ground and
lay unmoving. "Shut up! Just *SHUT UP*!"
Bashir and Sailor Moon peered over the counter and watched this
wide-eyed. "Kira, what did it say?" he asked. "And how did you
understand it?"
"It was speaking a very accented version of Cardassian," she
explained, catching her breath. "And believe me, Doctor, you *don't*
want to know what it said!"
She gave the youma one more kick for good measure, then felt a
surge of pain as a Jem'Hadar shot her from behind. Crying out, she fell
forward from the impact of the blast in her shoulder.
"Kira!" Bashir scrambled towards her, heedless of his own safety.
Indeed, the Jem'Hadar that had shot Kira was now taking aim at him.
However...
"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"
The energy discus flew over the doctor's head and sliced through
the Jem'Hadar, leaving behind only a pile of dust. "You're moondust!"
Worf grappled with one of the Jem'Hadar. As yet, neither warrior
could gain the upper hand, resulting in a stalemate. "You are strong
for a human," the Jem'Hadar conceded. Worf suppressed the automatic
snarl at being mistaken for a human, trying instead to focus himself on
the struggle. "But soon you will fall like the rest of your pathetic
race. And the Negaverse will be triumphant!"
"The Negaverse?" Worf asked tightly. "Don't you mean the
Dominion?"
The Jem'Hadar seemed startled, but that didn't affect his grip.
"How do you know about that?"
"I know many things," Worf snarled. "Among them... is that today
is a good day to die!" As he spoke the last words, Worf brought his
head snapping forward in a savage head butt. The Jem'Hadar was caught
completely off guard and he reeled backwards, stunned.
Worf was moving to finish him off when the Dominion soldier was
struck down by a distant phaser blast. Worf nodded his thanks to
O'Brien before retrieving his own weapon and searching for another
target.
Dax fell to the ground, gasping in pain from the wound in her leg.
Despite the agony, she could see the Jem'Hadar that had shot her lining
up for another shot.
One that it never got a chance at, for Mercury came into view at
that moment and delivered a flying kick to it's head.
Mercury grimaced as the Dominion warrior struggled back to its
feet. Pluto had admonished her and Mars against using their newer
powers (except in case of a dire emergency) least the timeline be
disrupted further. But now Dax was badly wounded and immobile. She
could only...
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!" Sailor Mercury cried out, shrouding the
battlefield in a dense layer of fog. The Jem'Hadar looked around,
suddenly unable to see anything around it. Mercury took advantage of the
opportunity to deliver another flying kick, while her counterpart hit
the alien low. The Jem'Hadar fell to the ground once again and was
struck by a phaser blast as it struggled to rise. Mercury looked back
and saw that Dax had managed to retrieve her weapon. Around them, the
Defiant crew were taking advantage of the Jem'Hadar's sudden inability
to see by phasering as many as they could, and each Sailors Mars did
likewise.
Mercury went over to Dax as soon as she could and scanned her,
Sailor Mercury looking over her shoulder. "How is she?"
"It could be better," Mercury admitted. "She's bleeding badly from
the major artery in her leg."
"You mean the femoral artery?"
"She isn't human, so I don't think those terms apply," Mercury told
Sailor Mercury, who acknowledged this with a nod. Mercury tapped on
Dax's comm. badge, "Mercury to Defiant, one to beam up, medical
emergency." Seconds later, Dax vanished in the transporter beam.
The fog dispersed as the weapons fire ceased. The Defiant away
team and the Sailor Scouts looked around, but all that could be seen
were the motionless forms of the Jem'Hadar soldiers that had fallen.
Sisko judged that there had nearly been two dozen in all. They had been
lucky to have only two of his people wounded. He wasn't sure about
Dax's condition, but Kira was moving about again. Bashir had patched
her shoulder somewhat, but the Major stubbornly resisted his requests
that she return to the ship. He knew better than to try to convince her
himself.
Kira had good reason, as there was at least one aspect of the
struggle that remained unresolved; namely Odo still struggling with the
changeling. At this point it was nigh impossible to tell which one was
which. Unable to do anything else, they watched as the two fought.
Finally, there was a violent upheaval and the changelings separated.
Odo took a moment and reformed into his normal humanoid shape.
A few meters away, Odo reformed into his usual humanoid appearance.
Mars glanced between the two. As far as anyone could see, they
were identical. There was no visible means of discerning one from the
other. "I see what Odo meant when he said it could be anyone."
O'Brien looked at the two Odos from his vantagepoint and felt a
sudden sense of deja vu. "Not again," he groaned. This was too much
like the time in the Defiant's engine room for him. "I hate playing
'Choose the Changeling'!"
Tuxedo Mask glanced between the two changelings. He had a rose at
the ready, but wasn't sure which target to throw it at. "How do you
tell them apart?"
"We're still unable to tell whether or not someone is being
impersonated by a changeling," Sisko admitted. "Let alone tell two of
them apart."
"Great."
Odo glared at his counterpart. "I'm Odo, Captain. He's the
changeling!"
"Don't listen to him, Captain," Odo urged. "I'm Odo."
Mars walked around the two of them, trying to discern anything
distinctive about either changeling. Unfortunately, there was nothing
about them that appeared different from the other. Neither her physical
senses, nor her psychic ones could tell them apart. The changeling had
successfully imitated Odo in every way. A glance at Sailor Mars told
her that she wasn't having any better luck.
Both Mercuries had deployed their visors and were busily scanning.
"I'm picking up some minute differences between them," Sailor Mercury
quietly told Mercury. "But I'm not sure how to determine which is
which. I have no data to base a comparison on."
"Don't worry," Mercury told her, smiling grimly. "I do." To
herself, she added a silent 'I hope.' Several quick taps on the keypad
accessed the data that she had accumulated in previous scans she had
taken of Odo. She linked it with the data she was currently
accumulating and did a quick comparison, hoping that whatever means the
Negaverse was using to control the changeling would leave some
discernable trace that she could use to distinguish Odo from the other
changeling.
The results weren't long in coming. After a moment, she pointed to
the Odo on the right, "You! You're the imposter!"
The changeling's form shifted as it tried to flee but Odo was ready
for that, using his own shapeshifting abilities to first snare the
changeling then merge with it. The changeling struggled mightily, but
Odo held it fast, though his face showed the effort it was taking him.
"Can you hold it, Odo?" Kira asked.
"For a while," he answered, his voice strained. "We have to find a
way to contain it before then."
Sisko tapped on his comm. badge. "Sisko to Defiant, lock onto the
changeling and Odo. Beam them to a security cell."
"We're trying, sir," came the reply moments later, "But we can't
get a lock on either of them. Something's interfering with the
targeting scanners."
Sisko grimaced. There seemed to be only one way remaining to deal
with the changeling. And it was something that Odo was not going to
like. "Odo, when I give the word, I want you to release your hold on
it. At the same time, everyone is to open fire."
"Captain!" Odo protested, "There must be another way!"
"There is." All eyes turned to Mars. "I think I can expel
whatever the Negaverse is using to control the changeling from it."
"Are you sure?" Sisko asked.
"Only one way to find out." Mars approached the struggling
changeling, readying a spirit ward. A part of her was telling her that
she should use her flames and blast the changeling now, to not take the
chance on things going wrong again. However, Odo had saved her life
twice before and it was important to him that they not kill the
changeling. She owed it to him to at least make the attempt. She
placed the ward on the amorphous mass, crying out, "EVIL SPIRIT BEGONE!"
The results were immediate. The Founder uttered a loud, inhuman
cry and an aura of dark energy surrounded it before leaving the
changeling. However, it didn't flee to the air as Mars had anticipated,
but instead traveled through the link to Odo. Now it was the Constable
who cried out and he released his hold on the changeling, which
collapsed into an insensate mass.
"Odo!" Kira exclaimed as she went to her friend. Odo snarled and
lashed out at her, knocking the Major backwards several meters. She
grimaced in pain as she landed on her wounded shoulder.
"No!" Odo exclaimed when he realized what he'd done. Mercury went
over to Kira, who indicated that she was OK, though still shaken. She
got unsteadily to her feet with Mercury's help. "Stay back, everyone,
please... it's trying to make me kill you all. I'm resisting it... for
now..."
"This wasn't what I had in mind," Mars muttered. She leapt for
Odo, trying to land behind him and plant another ward. However, the
constable seemed to anticipate this, and he lashed out at her just
before she landed. Mars impacted hard against a girder, and Sailor Moon
went over to her immediately.
"My turn," Sailor Mars said, readying her own ward. She tensed
herself to race for the possessed changeling, but first..."Cover me,
Mercury!"
"Right!" both Mercuries responded. "MERCURY BUBBLES... BLAST!"
Another layer of fog descended over the area, this one even denser
than the first. Sailor Mars raced forward, taking advantage of the
cover as she charged the ward. Leaping forward for the last few meters,
she planted it firmly on Odo's forehead, "EVIL SPIRIT... BEGONE!"
The Negaverse spirit screamed again as it found itself again forced
from a host body. This time it lacked a conduit to escape through, and
it formed overhead into a dark cloud that loomed menacingly over them
all. "Now, Sailor Moon!" Luna cried.
"Gotcha, Luna," she replied while reaching again for her tiara.
"MOON TIARA... MAGIC!" There was one last cry of despair from the
spirit as the energy disc cut through it, then silence as a pile of dust
formed on the ground.
Kira went over to Odo, who had fallen wearily to his knees. "Odo?"
"I'm fine, Major." He hesitated for a moment, seemingly
embarrassed. "I... hope I didn't injure you."
"Forget it," she reassured him.
Odo nodded, then turned his attention to Sailor Mars and Sailor
Moon, "Thank you." Not waiting for their responses, he lastly addressed
Mars. "And thank you. You didn't have to volunteer to try and save the
changeling." He glanced at it where it still lay motionless. "But I am
glad you did."
"Believe me, part of me wanted to nothing more than blast it. But
I owed you."
"No," Odo corrected her. "Now *I* owe you."
Sisko was surveying the area as Mercury's fog was lifting. There
were the bodies of the fallen Jem'Hadar all over the place, but it
seemed quiet for now. Perhaps it was over.
The same thought was occurring to Mars. She looked again at the
insensate Founder, then at Sailor Moon. "We did it," she said softly,
feeling tears of joy forming. "It didn't kill her. She's alive."
"OK," Sailor Moon began, "Now that it seems like things are over, I
want to know why there are two Sailor Mercuries, two Sailor Mars, why
there were two Tuxedo Masks for a bit (not that I'm complaining about
*that*) and just what they are," she point at Odo and the changeling,
"and who you people are." She took a deep breath, "In short, will
someone please tell me what's going on?!?"
"It's a long story," Sisko answered trying not to smile too
broadly, "But I'll tell you what I can..." He stopped, hearing a
distinctive sound.
The sound of a Jem'Hadar dropping his camouflage field.
Hearing the sound as well, Sailor Moon turned to see the Jem'Hadar
ripple into visibility not more than three meters away, knocking Worf to
the ground in the process.
Its weapon was aimed directly at her.
Pluto stiffened, and grasped her staff tightly. In her mind's eye,
she could see two possible outcomes. Either the future would be
restored to its previous state, or...
She didn't want to think about the alternative.
Sisko spun around to bring his weapon to bear, but he could see
that the Jem'Hadar was already pressing the trigger of his weapon.
"NO!" Odo yelled out. Given his recent exertions, there was little
else he could do. He just hoped that its genetically programmed
obedience to changelings would enable him to stop it verbally. "Put
your weapon down!"
It didn't.
Kira aimed her weapon, but Sailor Moon was between herself and the
Jem'Hadar. She moved as fast as she could, but it would be over before
she could fire.
Tuxedo Mask hurled the rose at the Jem'Hadar's weapon.
Nearby, two Luna's leapt for the Dominion soldier in a desperate
attempt to distract him.
O'Brien saw the Jem'Hadar appear and instantly took aim. He had a
clear shot, all he needed was...
A figure in a security guard's uniform stepped in front of him.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
O'Brien swore violently as only an Irishman could and shoved him to
the ground. "Get out of the way, you bloody idiot!" He brought the
phaser rifle up again and was aiming when he saw that it was already too
late. The barrel of his weapon lowered slowly. "Oh my God."
Sailor Moon stumbled backwards, realizing belatedly that she hadn't
been hit but that someone had interposed themselves between herself and
the Jem'Hadar. Another moment later she realized who it was. "MARS!"
Mars staggered from the impacts, having taken two blasts to her
chest already, but was resolutely staying on her feet. But a third shot
slammed into her and she finally fell just as two cats landed on the
Jem'Hadar's face. But even blinded, he got off another shot. By this
time, Mercury had moved into the line of fire and she was hit in her
side even as she tried to invoke her powers.
The Jem'Hadar never got off another shot, for at that moment his
weapon was hit by a thrown rose and he was hit by four phaser beams. He
fell unmoving to the ground.
Sailor Moon didn't see him fall, nor did she care if he was still
fighting. The only thing she was aware of was that she held a
critically injured Mars in her arms. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars
moved to stand just behind her, each with a look of shock on their face.
"Raye..." Sailor Moon whispered.
Bashir knelt down by them, having already checked on Mercury.
Though seriously wounded herself, she was stable at the moment.
However, he didn't need his tricorder to see that the same couldn't be
said for Mars. As he made the scan, his mind accelerated into high
gear, going over several different avenues of treatment at once to
determine the best one. Mars' eyes flutter open and he suppressed
amazement that she was still conscious, let alone still alive.
Mars looked up. When she saw Sailor Moon, she smiled despite the
pain from her injuries. "Didn't... hesitate... this time..." she
managed to say. There was a hissing sound as Bashir administered a
hypospray, and she felt the pain recede somewhat.
"Why?" said Sailor Moon through her tears.
"I saw you die once," Mars answered, able to talk easier. "That
was enough..."
"What do you mean?" Sailor Moon asked, confusion evident on her
face.
"I mean I'm from the future, Meatball Head," she snapped, almost
sounding like herself. "One where you died. I couldn't let it let it
happen again... No matter what..." Mars slumped as she finally lapsed
into unconsciousness.
"Damn it!" Bashir swore as a low whine came from his tricorder.
"We're losing her. I've got to get her back to the Defiant!"
Sisko nodded and tried to pull Sailor Moon clear. She struggled
and protested against this, but fortunately Sailor Mercury and Sailor
Mars were there to help him out.
"Bashir to Defiant, medical emergency. Three.."
"Make it four," a golden haired Luna said.
"Er, four to beam directly to the Medical Bay." They vanished as
the transporter energized.
Sailor Moon watched the spot where they had been for several
moments before turning to Sisko. From the way the doctor had spoken to
him, it seemed evident that he was the leader of this group. "What's
going on? Who are you people?" she asked tearfully.
"Friends," Sisko said, trying to explain what he could. "From
another world and another time."
"You mean you're from the future? Like M- Mars said?"
"That's right," Odo added. He had taken a position nearby the
unmoving form of the changeling, watching it carefully. "Something
happened which altered the way things were supposed to happen here, in
such a way that it affected our world as well."
Sisko opened his mouth to add something more, but a sudden sound
made him, and everyone else, turn about suddenly, ready for more
fighting. But this time there was no Jem'Hadar appearing out of
nowhere. It was only the youma Rybite moving about, having regained
consciousness.
Kira took a threatening step towards it, looking as if she wanted
to attack it again even with her injured shoulder. "Back for more?" The
youma hissed at her and spat a corrosive glob. Kira dodge to the right
so that it only hit the ground.
Before anyone else could move, a loud cry of "MOON TIARA MAGIC"
echoed through the area once again, leaving behind only a pile of dust
in its wake.
Sisko took another look around the area. There were no signs of
any more Jem'Hadar (not that there ever were), and it looked like
several authority type figures were arriving as well. He also noted
that Tuxedo Mask had departed. He took that as a sign the danger was
over. "I think that about wraps things up."
"Hold on," Sailor Moon said. "Before you go, can you tell me if
Raye will be OK or not?"
"Excuse me, Sailor Moon, but I'm right here!" Sailor Mars
exclaimed. Despite her words, Sisko could tell that she, and Sailor
Mercury, was shaken by the recent events. It was understandable -- you
don't see yourself shot every day.
"I'm not sure," he said, interposing himself verbally in hopes of
avoiding another skirmish between them. "But Dr. Bashir is very skilled
and will do all he can for her."
"Sir, we should be going," Worf said.
Sisko nodded. "I wish we could stay and explain more, but that's
not possible. Good luck, Sailor Moon. To all of you." He activated
his comm. badge. "Sisko to Defiant, beam up away team." They vanished
in a dazzle of light, to be followed seconds later by the bodies of the
Jem'Hadar as they also disappeared in a similar manner.
Beryl tapped the armrest of her throne as she stared at Jadeite.
"So Jadeite," she finally said, "Your vaunted plan has failed. And thus
you have failed." She leaned forward. "*Again.*"
"Only because of the interference of that starship crew," he
protested. "If Nephrite had destroyed it as he should have, it wouldn't
have been in position to do so. Or perhaps if he had informed us of the
Sailor Scouts that were on it and thwarted his plan!" He turned to
glare at the other General.
Nephrite affected an innocent look. "What Sailor Scouts?"
"Where else could they have come from, Nephrite?" he demanded.
"I have no idea what you're babbling about, Jadeite."
"You lying --"
"Enough, both of you!" Beryl snapped. "I don't care what the cause
of your failure was, Jadeite. Only that it *was* a failure. Now,
begone while I consider your fate."
Not daring to say anything more, Jadeite turned and stormed out of
the Throne Room. Once outside, he clenched his fist and shook it at the
air. "I *hate* those Sailor Scouts!"
Pluto met Sisko just outside the Medical Bay. "You did well,
Captain."
"Oh?"
"You were successful in preventing Sailor Moon's death. Thus the
mission has been a complete success."
"I had only a small part in preventing it," Sisko replied a little
more harshly than he intended. "The person most responsible for our
success is in there," he indicated to the Medical Bay door, "and is very
possibly dying even as we speak. And that fact alone doesn't qualify it
as a complete success in my book." He took a step forward and entered
the Medical Bay. Pluto hesitated for a moment before following him in.
Bashir, assisted by Nurse Reilly, was still working feverishly on
Mars at one of the biobeds. Mercury was lying on the other, being
looked after by Dax. The Trill's own wound had already been seen to,
but she still favored the wounded leg whenever she walked.
"If you'll excuse me, Captain, I'll meet you on the Bridge," Pluto
said softly and left the room. Sisko watched her go without comment. He
wasn't entirely sure, but he though he saw a tear on her face as she
exited.
Perhaps he had been too harsh in his words of a few moments before.
Pluto reentered the Bridge, moving to stand by one of the rear
stations.
"Any word on Raye?" she heard someone ask. Kira, perhaps.
"No. Dr. Bashir is still working on her," she replied
automatically. But inwardly she already knew what would happen.
Sisko moved to stand by Dax. "How's it going?" he softly asked
her.
She shook her head. "Not good, Benjamin," she whispered. "She's
on full life support, but even with that..." her voice trailed off.
Sisko watched her carefully as she spoke. Knowing Dax as long as
he had, first as Curzon then later as Jadzia, he had become somewhat
able to read her expressions. And from he saw on her face, "Not good"
seemed to be an understatement.
"Doctor, her synaptic network is starting to break down."
Bashir looked up from his attempts to repair the damage to Mars'
cardiac system and saw that Reilly was correct. "Cordical stimulator,"
he said ordered, readying a hypo. Reilly placed the small devices onto
Raye's forehead while Bashir pressed the hypo to her neck. "Now."
Raye's body jumped under the stimulus. Bashir watched the monitor
carefully. There was a brief surge of brain activity, but it had
already started to decline. He made a quick adjustment to the
stimulators. "Again," he ordered, and once more a pulse was directed
into her brain with similar results. Bashir swore and checked the life
support functions. They at least seemed to be functioning perfectly,
taking over the role of her heart and lungs. The problem now was to
keep her brain from failing. "Increase the power of the stimulators by
fifty percent."
"Doctor we're already at the maximum safe level. If --"
"I know that," he said tightly. "Just do it."
"Yes, Doctor."
Sisko and Dax kept silent as they watched Bashir work, struggling
to revive her even long after it became apparent that it was a hopeless
cause. Finally he sighed in resignation. "Note the time of death in
the log," he told Reilly before heading over to the other bed. "I'm
sorry. She's gone," he told her as he mechanically her began seeing to
her wounds.
Mercury didn't reply, but remained still and stared at Raye. Luna
moved slightly and gave her a comforting nuzzle, to which Mercury
scratched her ears absently. "Captain, did we...?"
"Yes," Sisko replied. "Pluto tells me that the mission was a
success. The timelines of both universes have been restored."
She nodded. "That's something at least." Then a thought occurred
to her, "But if that's true, then our past has been altered. So how can
Luna and I still exist?"
"We understand some things about temporal mechanics, but a lot of
the more subtle aspects of it are still vague to us," Dax said. "At a
guess, I'd say the Prophets shielded you from the changes, just as they
protected us during the whole paradox situation."
"That makes sense," Mercury agreed. "It looks as if we have no
place to go, Luna."
"Oh, we'll think of something," the cat tried to reassure her."
"I can help you in that regard," Sisko said. "There's a place for
both of you of Deep Space Nine. If you want it."
They both looked up at him surprised. "What?" Luna said.
"You can come with us when we return home," Sisko explained. "And
you're both welcome to stay on the station as long as you like. Or you
can go anywhere in the Federation. Or Bajor. It's up to you."
The others looked up expectedly as Sisko and Dax entered the
Bridge, save for Pluto. Kira asked the question they all wanted the
answer to, "Raye?"
Sisko shook his head. "She didn't make it," he replied in a
subdued voice.
The disappointment and sorrow they felt was evident in their varied
reactions. Kira closed her eyes and began speaking softly to herself in
Bajoran. Sisko could just about make out some of the words, but he
heard enough to understand it as a prayer to the Prophets on behalf of
the deceased.
O'Brien had muttered something as well, but it hardly appeared to
be polite. The Chief had seen more than his fair share of death, going
as far back as the Cardassian raids on Setlik Three.
Worf was typically stoic, though he seemed contemplative. His
human upbringing caused him to feel sadness at her death, but his
Klingon heritage wished her spirit well for she had undoubtedly earned a
place among the honored dead.
As usual, Odo was the hardest to read and in fact seemed more
withdrawn than was usual for him. His thoughts were laced with regret
that he wasn't able help Mars at the last, even if it was no fault of
his own. She had put aside her dislike of changelings, and helped him
save the Founder the Negaverse had been controlling. Now it seemed he
would never be able to return the favor.
Sisko turned to Sailor Pluto, noting that she hadn't reacted to the
news... at least not in any obvious way. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd
like to take my people home."
"Of course, Captain," she replied. "I take it Sailor Mercury and
Luna will be accompanying you?"
"That's right. Is that a problem?"
"No. It's not." She smiled slightly, "In fact, you will find both
of them a great asset in events to come."
Sisko frowned. "Just what do you mean by that?"
"Ah, that would be telling. Now, about the wormhole..." her voice
trailed off and she stared at the viewscreen.
"Captain, sensors are detecting a neutrino surge," O'Brien called
out.
"On screen," Sisko ordered, looking to the viewscreen as well. On
it they saw the wormhole opening up. Gone was the red haze that had
dominated it's appearance the last time he saw it, replaced by the
serene blues and whites that normally surrounded the spatial tunnel. He
knew without any lingering doubts that the past of his universe, and
that of the Sailor Scouts, had been fully restored. If at a high price.
"This will take you back to Deep Space Nine moments after you left
it," Pluto told him. "Once you have returned there, it will resume its
normal behavior."
Sisko looked back at her. "What about the quantum flux? Should we
leave it open to the Gamma Quadrant?"
"I had a feeling you'd ask about that." She walked over to the
weapons console, and rapidly entered a series of coordinates. "I took
the liberty of having one of your quantum torpedoes modified while you
were on Earth. If you fire it into the flux along this trajectory, it
should redirect it away from the Gamma Quadrant."
"And just what will happen then?" Sisko asked. "I don't want
someone else to have to go through something like this again."
Pluto arched an eyebrow. "I am... somewhat an expert in temporal
matters, Captain. I assure you that nothing damaging to the timeline of
either universe will occur. But there will be repercussions."
"Such as?"
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss it. Simply consider
it... history fulfilling itself."
Sisko eyed her for a moment, trying to divine the meaning to her
words. But there was really no choice. He didn't want to leave the
flux in its present position, for there was no doubt the Dominion would
send further ships to investigate. And who knew what would happen then.
"Proceed, Mr. Worf." The Klingon officer nodded, and pressed the firing
control. It streaked outward from the Defiant, then vanished as it
entered. Less than a second later, there was a flash from its
detonation inside the flux.
Dax monitored the results. "It's gone. The flux has been
redirected."
"Good luck, Captain," Pluto said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have
to check on something. But I'll be back shortly." With that she
vanished.
"What did she mean by that?" Odo asked.
"I don't know," answered Sisko. "No doubt we'll find out soon
enough."
"So," Kira said after a moment. "We won. Everything's back the
way it should be. Their history is back the way it should be, and so is
ours." She glanced around the Bridge at her fellow officers. "So why
doesn't it feel like we won?" she asked rhetorically in a voice tinged
with sadness.
No one spoke up to answer her. The reason was abundantly clear to
all of them.
Finally, Dax broke the silence. "Shall I lay in a course for the
wormhole, Captain?"
It suddenly occurred to Sisko just what Pluto meant about being
back. "Not yet, Old Man," he replied. He turned to the viewscreen,
still centered on the open wormhole. It was tempting to have the
Defiant proceed through it immediately, but... "There's still one more
thing we need to do here."
"The Third Principle of Sentient Life is its capacity for self
sacrifice. For a cause... A loved one... For a friend."
- Ambassador Delenn from the first season "Babylon 5" episode "A Voice
in the Wilderness, pt. 2"
(Author's Note: I know it's not a Star Trek quote, but it seems to fit
the events of the previous chapter perfectly.)
Epilogue:
There was a brief shimmering in the air just before Pluto
reappeared at the Gateway of Time. "I see that good old Ben and his
merry band managed to pull it off," Q commented without turning.
"Yes, they did," Pluto responded, adding solemnly, "All is as it
was before."
Q turned and regarded her with uncertainly, then sighed. "I should
never have introduced you to the cosmic doughnut all those centuries
ago. Now you're beginning to talk like that so called 'Guardian of
Forever'."
"Really, Q, you must work on your sense of humor," Pluto commented
wryly.
"Moi?" Q replied, seemingly shocked. "Work on *my* sense of humor?
That's rich, coming from you. I've known you since well before the fall
of the Silver Millennium and, counting this, you've cracked maybe a half
dozen jokes."
"I see you're working on your use of hyperbole," Pluto commented,
arching an eyebrow.
"Well... maybe a little," he admitted. He snapped his fingers,
bringing up a view of the Defiant before him. "So, I see a Sailor Scout
is coming over to my side of the fence. This could be interesting."
Q sensed Pluto come up behind him, then felt her tap him on the
shoulder. When he turned to face her, he instinctively drew back in
surprise at seeing not only the anger in her expression, but the Garnet
Orb looming menacingly in his face.
"Leave her alone, Q. She's been through enough, due in no small
part to you."
"And what if I don't?" he retorted automatically.
"Then I will be very... *very*... unhappy."
The staring contest seemed to last an eternity (which is saying
something in this case), but eventually Q sighed. "Oh, very well."
"Thank you," Pluto said, relaxing somewhat.
"But I think you're being somewhat unfair in saddling me with the
blame for her plight. After all, I did warn Picard and Riker not to
fire that torpedo."
"If you hadn't brought the Sailor Scouts to the Enterprise, it
never would have happened," Pluto countered.
"And if you would keep your petty villains on your side of the
cosmos, it never would have been necessary!" Q retorted.
"That is not an area in which I am responsible for, Q. And you
well know it."
"You may be correct," Q admitted. "But you know as well as I that
I had no choice in acting as I did. Otherwise, your precious Crystal
Tokyo would be a Borg colony." Pluto didn't reply directly, but gave a
slight nod in acknowledgement. "Now as much as I would like to continue
this little debate, I must be going." Q smiled, attempting to lighten
the mood somewhat. "Did you know that Jean-Luc has a brand new starship
at his disposal? I'll have to give it a good look over... after I give
him a good dose of 'I told you so!'"
"Would you mind postponing that for a bit?" Pluto asked.
"Why? Can't bear the thought of not having me around?"
Pluto rolled her eyes. "Hardly. But I have some unfinished
business to attend to... on the Defiant."
Q sighed, acting as if this were a major inconvenience. In truth,
he had expected Pluto to make this request. "Oh, very well."
"Thank you," Pluto said and vanished.
Odo entered the almost bare room, the forcefield at the entrance
automatically engaging as soon as he stepped through the doorway. He
regarded the one piece of furniture with some interest. "Are you
comfortable?" he asked it.
The chair flowed, becoming a gelatinous substance and finally
settled into a humanoid form with roughly the same characteristics as
Odo. "For the most part," the changeling said. "Though I find it
uncomfortable being confined like this."
"A necessary precaution, I think you would agree," Odo said.
"Especially given their previous encounters with changelings."
It didn't bother to comment, but moved its limbs about as if
stretching them. "It feels good to be able control my shape once more
and not to have to shift at the behest of that... whatever it was," it
sighed. "I will need some time to recover from this experience, time I
need within the Great Link." It looked at Odo, "Captain Sisko *is*
going to return me to the Dominion?"
"He said he would, after we return to the station," Odo replied,
regarding the changeling with some disbelief. "You'll be ferried to the
Gamma Quadrant, where we'll arrange to meet with a Dominion vessel."
"Good," it said. It seemed to notice that Odo was still looking at
it in disbelief. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes, there is," Odo said. "You seem to have no regard for Sailor
Mars' death."
It shrugged. "They live and they die, Odo. Such is their lot."
Odo snorted, and paced about the room. "I don't believe this," he
muttered. He stopped and glared at the changeling. "You really don't
care, do you? You don't care that two young girls were willing to
sacrifice themselves to set things right for us. That the one who did
so, who may have suffered the most because of you, was willing to put
her hatred aside long enough to save your life?"
"Should it?" The changeling seemed mystified. "After all, Odo,
they're only solids."
Odo stared at the changeling for several moments. Then, disgusted,
he spun and headed for the door. He hesitated momentarily there, then
turned back. "No," he said emphatically. "They're not *just* solids.
And at times like these, I think they're more than we will ever be."
Worf stood silently in the Torpedo Bay, maintaining his silent
vigil over the casings containing the fallen Sailor Scouts. Behind him,
he heard the door his open then felt someone approach and stand beside
him. "Somehow I expected to find you here," Kira said. "It's called
Ak'voh, right?"
"Yes." Worf was mildly surprised that she knew this. It was an
old tradition, where the companions to a fallen warrior kept watch over
the body of a fallen comrade and kept away the predators until the
spirit could make the journey to Sto'vo'kor. The custom was not that
well known outside the Empire and one that was not widely observed these
days. "You are well versed in Klingon traditions, Major."
"I wasn't... at least not before the Klingon invasion of Cardassia.
Since then, Jadzia has been helping me get up to speed on Klingon
culture."
"I see." Worf took the opportunity to glance in her direction,
then faced forward once more. "How is the arm?"
Kira looked down to her left arm, which was secured in a sling, and
flexed her hand experimentally. "It's stiff and hurts like hell. But
Dr. Bashir says it should be fine in a few days." Worf nodded
noncommittally, but made no other comment. After a few silent minutes,
Kira sighed. "You were right."
"About what?"
"When we first entered this universe, you told me that I wouldn't
call them just a 'kid's group' if I had seen them in action. Well, you
were right."
Worf didn't reply immediately. He had made a similar mistake
himself upon his first meeting with the Scouts. Indeed, one could say
his first encounter with Serena was less than pleasant.
Kira spoke before he could say anything though, "If you don't mind,
I'd like to stay here a bit." A small smile came to her face. "Help
keep the predators at bay."
"I don't mind, but... If I may ask... Why?"
"Raye," she replied, "As I got to know her, I saw a lot of things
in her that reminded me of myself."
"How so?"
Kira paused, trying to put her feelings into words. "We had some
things in common, for one. We both lost our mothers at an early age;
both of us had to take up a fight against an alien invader on our
worlds. Plus we both had our spiritual beliefs."
"And you are both short tempered," Worf said.
"Look who's talking," Kira stated. After Worf chose not to reply,
she continued, "But I think most of all, I saw in her qualities that
could have been in my life, had it not been for the Cardassians... If I
hadn't been forced to join the Resistance."
Worf nodded, "I think I understand."
They heard the door hiss open behind them. "Uh... Commander,
Major?" a voice said hesitantly. They turned to face O'Brien. "It's
time."
Raye sat down heavily on the temple steps, "This has been one
helluva day, right from the get go." She heaved a sigh of frustration.
"I'm glad all that's over. Ever since Dax and my counterpart came over,
I've been looking all around for that changeling."
"Oh, so that's why you've been acting so oddly today," Amy
observed.
"'Fraid so." Raye noticed Serena glaring at her. "What?"
"You knew this was going to happen?" she said accusingly.
"Well, not this exactly, but --"
"AND YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING?!?"
Raye's mouth moved several times, but she said nothing, so shocked
she was by Serena's outburst. It was up to Luna to say, "Give her a
chance to explain her side, Serena. I'm sure Raye had a very good
reason for not saying anything."
Serena switched her glare to the black cat. "And what's your
story, Luna? You were acting odd the whole day as well."
"I knew something odd was going on," Luna admitted. "After all, I
did meet my double in the tree the night before. But with her disguise,
I didn't think it was anything more than another cat. All I had to go
on was an odd feeling that something was amiss."
"And in my case, I didn't meet my counterpart until a few minutes
before things started happening," Amy said. "By that time, Luna and I
had already separated from you two. The only thing I could do was try
and get back to where you were."
"All right," Serena said, returning her gaze to Raye, "But --"
"But nothing!" Raye shot back. She stood up and looked Serena
right in the eye. "I didn't say anything to anyone because they told me
not to! Because they said if I did, if things didn't proceed almost
exactly as they should, that changeling wouldn't be there. Then they
wouldn't have any idea where or when it would strike next." Raye paused
and took a deep breath. "Considering how well it imitated Tuxedo Mask,
it could have tried posing as anyone next time. Maybe as me, or Amy, or
even your mother! And then it'd kill you, just like it did in the other
Raye's past."
"I... I hadn't thought of that," Serena stammered.
"Just what were you thinking?" Raye demanded. "Did you think I
didn't say anything because I didn't care if you got hurt? Or killed?
Is that it? Just what kind of person do you think I am?"
"Sorry..." Serena mumbled contritely.
"You'd better be!" Raye continued angrily. "Despite the fact that
you're a ditzy, clumsy brat, I don't want to see you hurt!"
"Well, I... HEY!" Serena shifted emotional gears rapidly, going
instantly to a fuming state. "You take that back!"
"You can't take the truth back," Raye retorted.
Luna sighed as the argument escalated. 'I suppose I'm going to
have to break them up... Again.' Then she noticed that Amy seemed
oblivious to the fight, for she had opened up her computer moments
before and was staring intently at the screen. "What is it, Amy?"
The blue haired girl jumped slightly, startled. "Oh, I got a
message."
"A message?" Luna frowned. Who could know to send a message to
Amy over her computer? "Who from?"
"My counterpart," she replied softly.
Despite how low her voice was, it seemed to penetrate through the
verbal barrage between Raye and Serena. They both turned, and gaped at
her. "From your future self?" Serena asked.
"What's it say, Amy," Raye added.
Amy began to read aloud:
Amy,
(It's really strange to be writing a message to myself!)
I've programmed this to be downloaded into your computer
if our mission was successful. Serena is safe, and you three
can go on with your mission: seeking out the Moon Princess and
battling the forces of the Negaverse.
I calculated a high degree of probability that either
Raye or myself, or both, may not survive this mission. If
this is so, don't grieve for us. Success for us meant the
utter destruction of the world we came from... And very
probably we would cease to exist soon afterwards. That
doesn't matter, for failure would carry too great a price for
us: seeing Serena die again, and the world falling to the
Negaverse without all the Sailor Scouts to battle them.
There are many things I could tell you that would make
your battle easier. Knowledge about other foes from the
Negaverse, where you can find others to help you, among
others. But I've been asked not to provide too much
information to you. So I'm afraid you'll have to learn it the
hard way. But I know you three will win out in the end.
Best of Luck,
Amy
Sailor Mercury
"Now, remember," Bashir was saying as he entered the Bridge
carrying Sailor Mercury, "You've just undergone surgery, so don't do
anything to overexert yourself -- like standing. After all, your
insides are still being held together with microsutures."
"Yes, Doctor," she answered. Satisfied, Bashir moved over to the
Tactical One station and sat her down in the chair. Meanwhile Luna, her
fur now back to its normal black color, bounded over from her perch on
one of Sisko's consoles and leapt into Mercury's arms. In an almost
automatic response, she began scratching the cat behind her ears.
Dax looked up from the helm. "We're in position, Benjamin. One AU
from the Sun, directly opposite from Earth."
"Very well, Dax," Sisko said. "Hold station here." Instead of
sitting in the command chair, he was standing behind it. Lined up in
flanking positions on both sides of him, the other members of the senior
staff were likewise standing, with Bashir hovering near Mercury's chair
like a worried mother hen. Only Dax was at her station and, after
setting the helm to hold their current position, she got up as well and
moved to one side of the Bridge.
"Shipwide speakers online, Captain," Kira said.
Sisko nodded and prepared to speak, but felt and heard a slight
ripple effect behind him. Looking backwards, he wasn't surprised to see
Pluto standing in the Bridge rear. She greeted him silently, but
otherwise didn't say or do anything else.
Facing the viewscreen once more, Sisko took a deep breath, ordering
his thoughts. Though necessary, this was one of the duties of command
he hated the most. "We are gathered here today to pay our final
respects to our honored dead," he began. "To those who have fallen in
battle and have given that last full measure of devotion. "Lita Kino,
better known to us as Sailor Jupiter, Mina Aino, Sailor Venus, and
Artemis. Most of us didn't get a chance to know them. Indeed, some of
us barely met them before they died. But the fact that they fought to
save their world, despite knowing the odds of success were slim, speaks
well of them.
"But it is a different case for Raye Hino, known also as Sailor
Mars. We did get to know her over the last few days. Hot tempered, but
with a passionate love for life... but more so for her friends. She
willingly sacrificed herself to save Sailor Moon... and she wasn't the
only one willing to make such a sacrifice." He took a surreptitious
glance at Mercury out of the corner of his eye. Her face was
expressionless, but the tears and the look in her eyes told her true
feelings. Feelings that were mirrored in the expressions of Luna, and
of the rest of the crew. "In doing so, she secured not only the future
of her world, but the existence of our own. We can never truly repay
the debt we owe her."
Finished, Sisko nodded to Worf. The Klingon touched a control on
the weapons panel, triggering the torpedo launch sequence and the three
caskets bearing the bodies were launched from the torpedo tubes.
Artemis and Venus were in the same casket, at Luna's insistence.
As the caskets faded from view into the Sun's glare, Kira spoke,
"We commit their bodies to the vastness of space and to the fires of
their home star, in the hopes their spirits may find peace. May they
walk with the Prophets." As she finished, the computer ran another
preprogrammed sequence, firing several low power bursts from the pulse
phasers.
Twenty-one in all.
"As you were," Sisko said after several moments. As the crew went
back to their stations while behind them, Pluto bade Mercury and Luna a
silent farewell before vanishing herself.
Sisko sat himself in his command chair then said, "Set course for
the wormhole. One half impulse."
"Course and speed set," Dax replied after making the necessary
adjustments to the helm.
Sisko paused before giving the order to engage and glanced over at
Mercury. She and Luna hadn't moved yet, still watching the viewscreen.
He hoped this would help them start the healing process, and they would
be able to move on with their new lives on Deep Space Nine. But he knew
from personal experience that it wouldn't be easy. It had taken him
years to put Jennifer's death at Wolf 359 fully behind him.
And was he doing them any favors by bringing them to DS9? After
all, it was hardly a peaceful haven; with the problems he was having
with the breakdown of the Klingon alliance, the Maquis, the constant and
ever increasing threat of war with the Dominion and a host of others.
Only the Prophets knew for certain what the future held. All he
really knew was the he and his crew would do everything they could to
help them make the adjustment.
He turned back to the helm, where Dax was patiently awaiting his
orders. "Take us home, Old Man," he said, his voice tired and somber.
"Take us home."
End.
Notes:
Comments, critiques, and questions are welcome. Just email me at
Soton@aol.com.
As before, thanks to Gene Roddenberry and Naoko Takeuchi, for
creating their respective genres. Additional thanks to Rick Berman and
Micheal Piller for creating "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."
I would also like to add a special thank you to Will Wolfshohl, who
has provided a lot of critical commentary along the way (thus sparking
an additional idea or two for me) and for patiently answering my
questions regarding Sailor Pluto.
If you're wondering, the Scouts meetings with the Enterprise and
the Enterprise D are depicted in previously written stories -- "Sailor
Trek" and "Sailor Trek TNG". Both are available at the following fanfic
archive sites:
A Sailor Moon Romance
http://www.ctd.nwu.edu/~aerdnahu/
"Tuxedo" Will's Fanfiction Archive
http://log.on.ca/users/helm/anime/index.htm
The Best Sailor Moon Fanfiction on the Net
http://www3.sympatico.ca/john.hitchens/MAINPAGE.HTM
Next up - the last story of the Sailor Trek Saga: Sailor Trek Voyager -
"Where No Sailor Scout Has Gone Before" -- Something evil lurks in the
Delta Quadrant. And it threatens to overwhelm the crew of the Starship
Voyager. But there is one thing that can save them.
The Sailor Scouts!
Preview snippet:
None of them needed to be told that it was a spacecraft of some
kind. That much was obvious. But it was a large ship, being over one
hundred meters in length. The upper section was an elongated oval
shape, attached to a lower section. And toward the rear were two large
nacelles, set at the same height as the lower section. The landing
strut extending outward from the bottom and the lack of ice debris
around it told them that it had landed on it's own volition and had not
crashed.
"There's some lettering on it, but I can't make any of it out,"
Venus observed.
"Neither can I," Tuxedo Mask added.
"Hold on," Mercury said, deploying her visor. After a moment she
read, "NCC-74656. USS Voyager. United Federation of Planets."
The others goggled. "Federation?" Mars said in a strangled voice.
"It's a Starfleet ship," Tuxedo Mask said, his voice awed.
"Well," Venus said, a slight smile on her face, "Here we go again."
planned:
Highlander Moon - The Scouts meet up with Duncan MacLeod of the clan
MacLeod. (coming soon!)
(
geocities.com/tokyo/courtyard) (
geocities.com/tokyo)