Star Trek: Deep Space Nine s03e15 Episode Script

Station log, stardate 48543.
2.
A team of Cardassian scientists|is coming to assist us deploying a subspace relay|in the Gamma Quadrant.
lt will allow communication|through the wormhole for the first time.
l've assigned these quarters to the|senior Cardassian scientist, Ulani.
Her colleague, Gilora,|has the adjacent room.
lt's warm here.
You've reset|the environmental controls? l also had O'Brien reprogramme the|replicators to provide Cardassian food.
Security measures? - We're following them at all times.
|- Fine, but keep a distance.
The Cardassians should feel|like guests, not prisoners.
There are still elements|opposed to the peace treaty between Cardassia and Bajor.
|We have to be prepared for trouble.
While the Cardassians are here, l want|the Bajorans to get used to seeing them walking on the Promenade|and eating from their restaurants, getting to know them as something|other than brutal overseers.
l have an update from the Cardassians|on their communications transceiver.
- How does it look?|- l'm not convinced it will work.
- The Cardassians seem sure it will.
|- l hope they're right.
Whose quarters are these?|Gilora's or Ulani's? Ulani's.
|And how do you know their names? - l was just informed an hour ago.
|- Odo, please.
l have a bottle of kanar|for each of them, along with a personal invitation|to Quark's.
- Where did you get real kanar?|- l've had it since the occupation.
There hasn't been much call for it|the past few years, but that's about to change.
Only two Cardassians are coming.
|How much kanar can they drink? Two for now, but there'll be more|thanks to the peace treaty.
As the 34th Rule of Acquisition states,|''Peace is good for business''.
- That's the 35th Rule.
|- You're right.
What's the 34th? ''War is good for business.
''|lt's easy to get them confused.
lt won't be long before there's a|permanent Cardassian presence here.
- Scientists, diplomats, spies.
|- And they'll all be welcome at Quark's.
As long as they can pay.
Rumour has it that the shop next door|to mine is going out of business.
l want to rent it and set up a few|Cardassian gaming concessions.
There'll be no live vole fights|on the Promenade, Quark.
l would never be party to anything|so cruel and inhumane.
But, of course, if some Cardassians|happened to bring their voles along and they happened to get into a fight,|l could hardly be held responsible for - Oh, yes you could.
|- And you will be.
Fine.
Forget the vole fights.
But good kanar is hard to find|and l have three cases of it.
But that's just the beginning.
Soon, Quark's will be the best place|for Cardassian food and drink.
l'll set up daily shipments|from Cardassia.
l may even need to buy|my own transport ship.
- Quark, this kanar has gone bad.
|- What? l suggest you take your bottles|and leave, before l have you arrested|for attempting to poison our guests.
Vedek Yarka wants to see you.
|He says it's urgent.
- Thank you for seeing me, Emissary.
|- What can l do for you? l'm here with a warning|from the Prophets.
Don't let the Cardassians|board this station.
lf you do,|you'll bring destruction on us all.
Are you making some sort of threat? No, this was foretold|in the ancient texts.
You mean a prophecy? Trakor's Third, when he first|encountered the Orb of Change.
- l don't know it.
|- You should study the texts, child.
Was the arrival|of the Cardassian scientists foretold in a Bajoran Prophecy? Exactly.
Trakor's words are clear.
''When the river wakes,|stirred once more to Janir's side, ''three vipers will return|to their nest in the sky.
'' The river has awoken, Emissary.
The Qui'al Dam was just put back|into operation to divert water to the city.
Just as Trakor prophesied|over 3,000 years ago.
Even now the vipers are approaching.
You think the vipers|are the Cardassian scientists? Yes.
And this station|is their nest in the sky.
And how exactly will their presence|here bring destruction on us all? Trakor said, ''When the vipers|try to peer through the Temple gates, ''a Sword of Stars will appear|in the heavens, ''the Temple will burn ''and the gates will open.
'' Don't allow the Cardassians here.
lf you let them violate|the Celestial Temple, they'll destroy it.
Bajor will be cut off|from the Prophets forever.
Slow down.
|Let me get this straight.
So the vipers - the Cardassians -|are going to destroy the wormhole? This communications relay you hope|to create is part of the Prophecy.
lt will allow the vipers to peer|through the Temple gates - the wormhole, as you call it.
And if|they do, the Temple will be destroyed.
Even if we accept|that the Cardassians are the vipers, there are only two of them coming,|not three.
Could there be mistakes in|your interpretation of the Prophecy? There will be three vipers.
Do you know what this communications|relay could mean for Bajor? We'd be able to stay in contact|with ships in the Gamma Quadrant.
lt will facilitate exploration,|help us monitor Dominion activity, give us warning in case of an attack.
None of that matters.
You must listen to me.
l know it's difficult for you to accept|because you are not Bajoran.
l've studied the Prophecies all my life.
|We are on the verge of a great disaster.
- The Bajoran Assembly knows this?|- Yes, as is the Kai herself.
Yet they want us to proceed|with the establishment of the relay.
They have chosen to ignore the signs.
That's why l came to you, Emissary.
|l have faith in you.
l know you'll do|what must be done.
Vedek, l have the utmost respect|for your beliefs, but l have no intention|of calling this project off.
l hope that you will reconsider,|Emissary.
My followers and l will remain aboard|and pray that you change your mind.
You're free to do that, of course.
Have Odo find out everything he can|about Vedek Yarka and his followers.
l don't want them making any trouble|while the Cardassians are here.
l'm Commander Benjamin Sisko and on behalf of the United Federation|of Planets and Starfleet Command, l'd like to welcome you|to Deep Space 9.
- Thank you.
l'm Dr Ulani Belor.
|- Gilora Rejal.
The Cardassian Government|wishes to express its gratitude to the Federation for agreeing|to work together on this project.
lt's our hope that it's the first of many|such projects between our peoples.
That's a hope we share.
This is my First Officer, Major Kira.
On behalf of the Bajoran Government,|l'd like to welcome you.
This project is the beginning of a new|era of peace for Bajor and Cardassia.
Thank you, Major.
Well, now that we've gotten|the formalities out of the way - How was your trip?|- Exhausting.
We spent most of it rehearsing|what we would say when we got here.
- We're scientists, not diplomats.
|- You did very well.
Feel free to let|the Central Command know that.
l've recently been contacted by Guls|l haven't even heard of.
They all emphasised|how important this mission is.
l know.
Starfleet Command called me|three times this morning.
Major, l want to thank you personally|for allowing us to come here.
Me? You're the ranking Bajoran officer here.
We wouldn't be here if you had|been opposed to working with us.
l'll work with anyone for peace.
l'm glad we have|so much in common.
Why don't l show you|to your quarters? The signalling platform is intended|to be positioned at this point, two kilometres from the wormhole.
Our transceiver has been configured|to fit inside it, and use its existing power grid.
A similar transceiver will be put|in place here on Terok Nor on Deep Space 9.
Ulani, l've looked over|your design specifications.
l'm not clear what carrier wave you'll|use to cut through the interference.
We're planning to test|various types of soliton pulses.
One of them should maintain|signal integrity.
We tried something similar|without success.
The Bajoran Government|made your data available to us.
The phase variance in your coils|was the problem.
l configured those coils myself.
|The variance was less than 0.
01 %.
Which was unacceptably high.
Our|design has less than half that variance.
- You don't mind if l look at the specs?|- lf you think it's necessary.
We'll need to make a few adjustments|to the station's signalling array so that it can accommodate|our transmissions.
Chief O'Brien can assist you with that.
|And when you're ready, we'll take the Defiant|to the Gamma Quadrant, deploy the communications relay,|and start running tests.
Excellent.
Well, it's been a long day.
We'd like to get some rest.
- We'll show you your quarters.
|- That won't be necessary.
Thank you.
Those were the two friendliest vipers|l've ever met.
l'll explain later.
l almost forgot, a colleague of ours,|Dejar, will be arriving later today.
- l'll arrange quarters.
|- Thank you.
So, we need to discuss|what we're going to do about What is it, Major? - There are going to be three of them.
|- Yes.
Three vipers just like in the Prophecy.
Yarka is no longer a Vedek.
He was|stripped of his title two months ago.
Why? Officially, for teachings not in keeping|with the Bajoran faith.
But according to my sources,|he was defrocked because he led a series of protests|against the Vedek Assembly when they endorsed the peace treaty|with Cardassia.
So Yarka may be using this Prophecy|to scuttle the peace treaty.
That seems to be his agenda.
lt colours his view of the Prophecy,|just as yours colours how you see it.
l don't have an agenda, Odo.
l want this project to succeed because|l want the peace treaty to succeed.
lf l thought that the communications|relay could damage the wormhole, l'd stop it right now.
That's not the agenda l was referring to.
Oh? l meant your desire to distance yourself|from the title of Emissary.
lt's just an observation, of course.
But you've never seemed|to be comfortable with it.
l can't deny that.
Are you suggesting that l'm dismissing|this Prophecy too easily because l don't want|to be the Emissary? l'm not suggesting anything.
But it's been my experience|that all humanoids have an agenda, and this can influence them|without their even realising it.
Morn came by the lnfirmary.
He had|an acute case of food poisoning.
l thought nothing could make him sick.
He had a bad glass of kanar|at Quark's.
- He should ask for a refund.
|- Apparently, it was on the house.
- Major, may l have a word with you?|- l'll see you later.
What can l do for you? Have you convinced the Emissary|to reconsider his decision? - l haven't tried and l'm not planning to.
|- But you must.
- lf not, the Temple will be destroyed.
|- l'm not convinced that will happen.
- Don't you believe in the Prophecies?|- Yes.
Don't you believe|that Sisko is the Emissary? You have to understand my position.
Commander Sisko is my superior.
|l must deal with him on that basis first.
So you do believe he's the Emissary.
|You just don't want him to know that.
l understand.
You want him to know|that he can count on you as an officer.
You want to keep work|and faith separate.
- Yes, and for three years now l have.
|- That's no longer possible.
The Prophets have chosen you to help|the Emissary make this decision, which has profound implications|for all of Bajor.
Convince him to make the Cardassians|leave before the Sword of Stars shows.
lf you're asking me to lt is the Prophets who are asking.
lf you turn your back on them now,|you're abandoning your faith.
And without your faith, Nerys what do you have left? l prefer the Serialist Poets|from the First Republic.
Like lloja of Prim.
He's easily|my favourite Cardassian writer.
lt's so rare to meet a non-Cardassian|who appreciates our literature.
- l took an interest because l met lloja.
|- You knew him? One of my previous hosts, Tobin, met|him when he was in exile on Vulcan.
- As l recall, he had quite a temper.
|- Really? - This is the party you're looking for.
|- Dejar.
May l introduce|Jadzia Dax and Miles O'Brien.
- Our colleague, Dejar.
|- We weren't expecting you so soon.
l was able to arrange|special transportation.
l'm sure you were.
l took the liberty of preparing a few|of our special Cardassian delicacies.
- Tojal in yamok sauce.
|- Regova eggs.
All fresh, not replicated.
Well, enjoy.
ls something wrong? lt's just l don't really care|for Cardassian cuisine.
We try to avoid it whenever possible.
Fortunately, the Science Ministry|is provided with various off-world foods.
Yes, we're actually quite spoiled.
Some of us even think of ourselves|as better than the average Cardassian.
The main switching relays are in here.
We should hook your transceiver|to the ODN interface - What happened to these couplings?|- What? l made some modifications.
These relays don't have|enough carrying capacity.
They can't handle the signal load.
ln order to bring the system up|to Starfleet Code, l had to take out the couplings|to make room for a secondary backup.
Starfleet Code|requires a second backup? ln case the first one fails.
What are the chances that both|a primary system and its backup fail? lt's very unlikely, but l wouldn't want|to be caught without a second backup.
Well, what's done is done.
l'll try to figure out|what we should do next.
- Our best bet would be to|- Just give me a moment to think.
Fine.
l'll just sit here quietly.
Ah.
ln that case, could you get me|a cup of red leaf tea? Why not? We've loaded the relay|into the Defiant's cargo bay.
How are O'Brien and Gilora doing? The transceiver should be on line|in about four hours.
- We won't be ready before that.
|- We've received clearance from ops.
Release docking clamps,|and set a course for the wormhole.
Full scan.
No sign of Dominion activity.
|No other ships in the area.
Take us into position.
|Stand by to deploy - Wait a minute.
|- What is it? A mass of ice and ionised gas entering|sensor range bearing 21 5, mark 3.
- lt looks like a rogue comet.
|- Put it on screen.
lt's beautiful.
lts core contains high concentrations of|silithium.
That's why its tail is so bright.
The Sword of Stars.
That's a very colourful way|to describe a comet, Major.
lt's just a figure of speech.
Your Sword of Stars is going|to pass near the wormhole, but not close enough|to interfere with our plans.
- We're in position, Benjamin.
|- Begin a final check on the relay.
l want to deploy it within the hour.
Major, can l have a word with you? The Sword of Stars? - lt certainly looked like that to me.
|- That's open to debate.
But it's not debatable that|this Prophecy has no place here, especially in front of the Cardassians.
They are not aware of it|and l want to keep it that way.
You're right.
|lt won't happen again.
l take it that you believe|the Prophecy is coming true? Yes, l do.
- Should l call this mission off?|- Look at what's happened already.
The river has returned to Janir, the|three vipers, now the Sword of Stars Each of them predicted|by Trakor's Prophecy.
And then there's you the Emissary.
You're here.
You have a decision|to make just like in the Prophecy.
Do you really believe|that l'm the Emissary? l guess l always have.
l never wanted to admit it to myself.
lt's hard to work for someone|who's a religious icon.
l hope l don't offend your beliefs, but l don't see myself as an icon,|religious or otherwise.
l'm a Starfleet Officer|and l have a mission to accomplish.
lf l call it off,|it has to be for a concrete reason, something solid,|something Starfleet.
All right.
How about this? The Prophets, the aliens who live|in the wormhole, as you call them, exist outside of linear time.
|They know the past, present and future.
Agreed.
They could have communicated|their knowledge of the future to a Bajoran named Trakor.
He wrote|it down in the form of a Prophecy.
And now, 3,000 years later,|we're seeing those events unfold.
To me, that reasoning sounds concrete,|solid, l'd even call it Starfleet.
But that all hinges on how you interpret|an ancient text that's been translated|and re-translated over the centuries.
Words that were couched|in metaphor to begin with.
l'm sorry, Major.
But where you see|a Sword of Stars, l see a comet.
Where you see vipers,|l see three scientists.
And where you see the Emissary,|l see a Starfleet Officer.
- Dax to Sisko.
|- Go ahead.
We're ready to deploy the relay.
On my way.
Now, we shunt the ODN line|through the secondary field coils.
- We can't do that.
|- Why not? Those coils aren't configured|to handle ODN output.
Why not? Did you modify them, too? Actually l replaced them.
|They were always shorting out on us.
Frankly, l don't see how this station|kept running during the occupation.
Why didn't you tell me|you'd replaced the field coils? lf you had told me what you were|planning to do, l would have.
l don't have time to explain everything.
You think|l won't be able to understand? lt has been my experience that What? That humans aren't good engineers? - No, not humans.
Males.
|- l beg your pardon? Men don't have a head for this.
That's why women|dominate the sciences.
Maybe on Cardassia.
But on this|station, this man is Chief of Operations.
l know more about these systems|than anyone.
l think l know what the problem is.
So if you want to get|that transceiver on line, hand me the laser torch|and give me some room.
- Are we ready?|- Almost.
l'm about to activate|the transmission array.
Dejar? Standing by.
l'm receiving the relay's test signal.
Target the array toward the wormhole and initiate a carrier wave|in the delta band frequency.
lnitiating it.
lf the station receives it, they'll send|a signal on the same frequency.
- l'm not receiving anything.
|- Then we assume it didn't work.
- Let's try the theta band frequency.
|- lnitiating carrier wave.
Something's wrong.
l'm picking up|a neutrino surge from the wormhole.
- Report.
|- The wave opened the wormhole.
lts gravity well has increased|by a factor of three.
Terminate the carrier wave.
- Gravimetric fields are back to normal.
|- What happened? The carrier wave shouldn't|have affected the wormhole.
- ls the relay damaged?|- No.
l'm still receiving the test signal.
The gravitational surge|altered the course of the comet.
- lt's heading toward the wormhole.
|- lf the comet enters the wormhole, the silithium in its core|will cause a cascade reaction And will collapse|the wormhole permanently.
Commander's log.
|Supplemental.
With less than five hours before|the comet reaches the wormhole, l've convened a meeting|of the entire science team.
The carrier wave created|a subspace inversion in the wormhole.
That's what caused|the gravity well to form.
That possibility was predicted|in one of our computer models.
That wasn't in the data you sent us.
Such a probability was less than 2%.
|Well within safety limits.
We saw no reason to include it|in the data.
Our scientific methodologies|differ slightly.
We examine all possibilities|before we proceed with field tests.
We would prefer to operate|that way as well.
However, the Science Ministry|operates under military rules.
One of them is not to make projects|look dangerous.
We'll keep that in mind|when we resume work on the relay.
That is an extremely unlikely possibility.
The Ministry will wish to assemble|a new team before proceeding further.
That is, of course,|an internal Cardassian matter.
Chief, Dax feels we can't risk using|tractor beams to deflect the comet.
lt would break into pieces|and we'd have a bigger mess.
The same as if you tried|to destroy it with a phaser beam.
Not necessarily.
l could modify the phaser array|to encompass the entire comet.
Vaporising it evenly|so it won't break up.
- How long would the modifications take?|- Three hours.
Get on it.
|We'll be cutting this one pretty close.
l've accessed|the Defiant's primary phaser relay.
l'm going to try shunting it|through the warp drive.
- Won't that overload the relay?|- Not if we bypass the plasma emitter.
l hadn't thought of that.
The emitter coupling is over there.
What are you doing now? l'm decoupling the servos|so they don't lock up.
You have very steady hands.
Well, they get the job done, l guess.
And right now, the most important|job is bypassing the plasma emitter.
l assure you l'mquite fertile.
l could provide you|with many healthy children.
But l think you're getting|a little ahead of yourself.
Children?|What are you talking about? l already have a child, and a wife.
- You're married?|- Yes, happily.
Then why have you been leading me|to believe that you wanted me? l haven't.
All we've done|since we've met is argue.
l took your overt irritability as a signal that you wish to pursue|some physical relationship.
Of course.
|That's how Cardassians do things.
Oh, my! l'm afraid this is a case|of cross-cultural misunderstanding.
l think so.
|l'm not remotely interested in you.
That's not what l meant You are very attractive|and l'm flattered, of course Please, Mr O'Brien,|there's no need to continue.
You've made your feelings clear.
Gilora, we have to finish this.
l'm sure you can complete the job|on your own.
O'Brien said the modifications to the|Defiant's phasers would be ready soon.
- Half an hour ahead of schedule.
|- The Chief is a born engineer.
He always gives himself a comfortable|margin with his repair estimates.
You're reading up on Bajoran|Prophecies concerning the Emissary.
There are hundreds of them.
Most of them are vague.
|Some are contradictory.
But there's just enough truth|in a few of them to make me wonder.
- Have some of them come true?|- Depending on your interpretion, yes.
So now you're wondering if Trakor's|Prophecy is coming true as well.
l have to admit|it's getting harder to ignore.
There's every reason to believe|we'll destroy the comet.
l know.
|But l'm more and more concerned that if l don't send the Cardassians|home, something else will go wrong.
''The gates of heaven will burn|and be cast open.
'' lf you'd never heard Trakor's Prophecy,|what would you do? l'd continue working|on the communications relay.
Then it seems to me you have a choice.
You can either make|your own decisions or you can let these Prophecies|make them for you.
As soon as the Defiant is ready, have|the Cardassians meet us on board.
Yes, sir.
The comet's directly ahead.
|Distance: 200 kilometres.
Bring us to within ten kilometres.
Chief, are your|phaser modifications on line? Phasers are locked on target.
Holding position at ten kilometres.
Shields up.
|Go to Red Alert.
Fire! - Chief, what the hell happened?|- l don't know, sir.
The weapons' relay just blew.
|All defensive systems are down.
The sensors show that|the phasers never came on line.
Our burst shattered the comet|instead of vaporising it.
They shouldn't have misfired.
|l modified the systems myself.
The three fragments are|still on course for the wormhole.
- When will they reach the entrance?|- 26 minutes.
Without weapons,|we have no way of stopping them.
The emitter coupling|has been depolarised.
l must have inverted the power flow|when l modified the phaser array.
l can't believe it.
A first-year student|wouldn't make a mistake like that.
This wasn't your fault, Mr O'Brien.
|And it wasn't an accident.
Gilora Dejar is in the Obsidian Order and|was assigned for security reasons.
l believe she sabotaged this coupling.
The Order has always been opposed|to the peace treaty with Bajor.
They sent you to sabotage the relay|because if the first joint venture between Cardassia and Bajor|was a failure, it would be the last.
This is all speculation.
|You have no proof.
lf it was sabotage, a DNA scan|should reveal who's responsible.
Take her to quarters|and detain her there.
Could the tractor beams deflect|the smaller pieces of the comet? They'd just disintegrate further,|releasing more silithium.
lf we can't stop the fragments can we prevent the silithium|from interacting with the wormhole? Maybe if we could contain it somehow.
A field around the fragments|might contain the silithium.
The warp drive lt could create|a subspace bubble around the ship.
The Defiant can't be manoeuvred|between the fragments.
There's not enough room.
A shuttle pod could go between them,|its warp drive creating a field.
- But it could overload the engines.
|- That's the chance l'll have to take.
Major, you have the bridge.
Take the Defiant to the Alpha Quadrant|once l've cleared the shuttlebay.
Commander l want to go with you.
Not just because|l'm your first officer, but because l believe|l'm here to help the Emissary.
Dax, the bridge is yours.
We've cleared the shuttlebay.
|Signal the Defiant that they can leave.
They're heading for the wormhole.
l'll take us in behind the fragments.
|lt'll be easier to manoeuvre into position.
Hold position here.
|They could be in for a rough ride.
Stand by transporters in case we need|to beam them off the shuttle pod.
We're in position.
- Activate the subspace field.
|- Field engaged.
We'll reach the entrance|to the wormhole in five seconds.
The subspace field is losing integrity.
The silithium is leaking through.
Divert power to the subspace field coils.
We'll let our own inertia carry us|the rest of the way.
That helped.
|We're still losing silithium.
l'm picking up a neutrino surge.
|Something's coming through.
Dax to Sisko.
|Are you all right, Benjamin? There was some silithium leakage|inside the wormhole, but we're fine.
- l don't believe it.
|- What is it, Chief? l'm picking up the test signal|from the relay.
- How is that possible?|- l'm not sure.
A subspace filament leads back|through the wormhole.
lt's acting like a carrier wave.
The comet fragments.
|They must have left a silithium trail.
lt's almost like the wormhole|was wedged open just a crack.
Just enough|to let subspace signals through.
The Prophecy came true|All of it We just misinterpreted Trakor's words.
The three vipers He wasn't talking about the Cardassians.
He meant the three comet fragments.
The communications relay ln a sense we've been trying|to peer through the Temple gates.
The silithium ignited the wormhole,|burning the Temple gates.
So that they'd never close again.
And it's all because the Emissary|used the Sword of Stars.
And Trakor saw it all.
l just want to say that l appreciate|what you did on the Defiant.
l hope it doesn't cause you|too much trouble back in Cardassia.
My superiors in the Science Ministry|will protect me.
Frankly, Dejar is|in much more trouble than l.
The Order doesn't reward failure.
Still, it was a brave thing to do.
l didn't want you to take the blame|for something that wasn't your fault.
l know how proud you are of your work.
Too proud sometimes.
lt's gotten me|into trouble now and again.
- What's your wife's name?|- Keiko.
A lucky woman.
Emissary, l'm sorry l doubted you.
l let my distrust of the Cardassians|blind me to the Prophets' words.
The Prophets want peace|between your two peoples after all.
Perhaps so.
Trakor's Fourth Prophecy|will soon come to pass as well.
- That has something to do with me?|- You, Commander? lt is a Prophecy about the Emissary.
Tell me about it.
lt says that the Emissary will face a fiery|trial and he will be forced to choose