Title: To See You Again
Summary: Set somewhere around the end of season 4, not interfering with any storyline. Dax is up for an adventure when a stranger strands on DS9, harboring the dark secret of a tragedy that happened in another lifetime but yet hits close to home.
Disclaimer: Big surprise, I don't own Star Trek: Deep Space Nine or any of its characters and I guess no one cares enough about my original characters to bother stealing them.
Author's note: I really like DS9 but I'm not too big on the whole Star Trek thing otherwise so please don't kill me if I got some things wrong or screwed up details. Don't hesitate to point out any mistake though, preferably in a constructive way. That being said, enjoy!
Part 1
I.
Phaser fire cut through the air, its orange beams momentarily lighting up the inside of the cave. Cowering behind a rock and clenching her teeth, the woman forced herself to keep her head down and wait. She was trapped. With the only exit being blocked, there was no going back or forth and she cursed herself again for being so thoughtless. But when the attack had started and people around her had dropped to the ground by the dozen her only concern had been to take cover somewhere. This cave had been her best shot and she had sighed in relief when she had reached its inside without being hit. Now she didn't feel so lucky anymore.
At least she wasn't unarmed, she thought when the fire ceased for a moment, and she risked leaving the safety of her cover just long enough to discharge the disrupter she had grabbed while fleeing from the scene. She had lost her own phaser when a tall Bajoran had collapsed on top of her. She could still feel his blood on her cheek but couldn't bring herself to wipe it away.
She had taken cover again and although she was under heavy fire she could hear the screams from outside where people were being slaughtered. She had to get out of here. Clenching her teeth she came up from behind her rock once more and fired three quick bursts towards the position of her attackers. She heard someone wince and wanted to fire again but the only thing leaving the disrupter was the sound of an empty battery cell. She didn't waste time cursing but ducked down immediately.
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Sitting at her console in Ops, Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax tried to focus on the sensor recalibrations she had been working on for the last three hours. It was about time Chief O'Brien got back from his vacation. She had no idea how he put up with these Cardassian systems and their self-will day after day.
"So, can I win you over for dinner at the new Bolian place on the promenade?"
"I'm sorry, Julian," Dax answered without looking up, "But I just feel like getting to my quarters and rest."
"And you're not just saying that because you're planning to join Quark's tongo table after hours?" Bashir teased.
"Since you're usually long asleep by the time we play that wouldn't keep me from having dinner with you first," she countered and glanced up to see the fake hurt expression on Julian's face. "But I was actually really looking forward to some peace and quiet tonight. Kira gave me this compilation of Bajoran poetry and –"
The sound coming from her console made her stop midways through the sentence and she quickly checked what was going on.
"Something's coming through the worm hole."
She put it on screen and they watched the marvellous sight of the worm hole building up and unfolding seemingly out of nowhere and then spitting out a single ship into the alpha quadrant before disappearing again. Dax quickly worked the scanners, then opened a channel to Sisko's office.
"Benjamin, you better get out here."
"What is it, old man?" Sisko asked as soon as he had joined them in Ops.
"A ship just came through the worm hole. The scanners detect major damage to primary and secondary systems, structural integrity is critical."
"Open a channel."
"No response."
"Try all frequencies," Sisko ordered and looked expectantly at the screen but Dax shook her head.
"Still not responding."
Sisko furrowed his brows. "How long until they lose structural integrity?"
Dax let her fingers run over the console, gathering all the information the scanners would provide. "Hull breach is imminent," she reported then.
"Can we beam the crew aboard?"
"That's weird," Dax murmured, prompting Sisko to give her a questioning look. "The sensors can lock on the ship and scan its structure and status, warp drive, weapons, shields…but I'm not getting any readings on life signs, transporters or communication."
"No life signs? You mean there's no one on board this ship?"
"No, I mean I'm not getting any readings on it. Something's blocking the scanners."
"So no beaming," Bashir stated. If the transporter couldn't detect anything there was nothing to beam.
"Other options?" Sisko asked for suggestions and for a moment it was silent.
"At least not off the ship," Dax muttered and moved over to another console.
Bashir and Sisko exchanged glances.
"We can't beam anyone off the ship but I think I found a way to allow us to beam on the ship." "I'm not going to let anyone beam on board of a ship that is close to a hull breach when there's no way to beam back on the station," Sisko exclaimed in a familiar tone of voice, but she had stopped being intimidated by it some time ago. About a life time ago.
"Whatever is blocking our signal doesn't look like a malfunction. It's probably an active program in the main computer. Once I'm on board I can circumvent or deactivate it."
"A program?" Bashir interjected. "I can see why they wouldn't want anyone to just beam on board. But why have a program that lets us see their weapons and shields but not their life signs?"
"Maybe it's their way of deterrence," Dax shrugged.
Watching his science officer reaching for a pad and transferring data Sisko knew she was determined to go no matter what objections he would raise. "We don't even know if anyone's on board that ship," he barked.
"This ship doesn't match any type or specification we've seen but from what I can tell, its weapons, engines, everything is so highly developed, a ship like that doesn't get abandoned. And it's not drifting, someone manoeuvred it through the worm hole."
Sisko gritted his teeth. He wanted to ask Dax why she was so sure she would be able to fix the transporters but he also knew there was no time for long explanations. He either trusted her or not.
"Structural integrity just dropped another two percent."
Where the hell was O'Brien when he needed him? A second opinion wouldn't have hurt. He sighed in frustration.
"Sisko to Security."
¤¤¤
Moments later Dax and Bashir materialized on board the strange ship, accompanied by two members of Starfleet security.
"You know, it's a good thing this ship isn't too big considering we'll have to search it without using the scanners," Bashir joked, taking a sceptical look around. There were minor damages all around them, circuit relays and plasma conduits exposed, cables and wires sticking out and hanging down, and small fires here and there.
"Wow," one of the security officers uttered. "What happened here?"
"Apparently some sort of implosion that ripped through the entire ship," Dax explained, making her way over to one of the computer consoles that seemed still to function. "Check your tricorder, Julian. If I was right it should work just fine now that we're on board."
"And if you were wrong?" Bashir asked but found his tricorder working indeed. "Guess you weren't."
"I'm trying to get the internal sensors up but I haven't figured out yet how the system works."
"You just concentrate on getting us out of here," Julian interjected, modifying his tricorder for a broad spectrum scan for life signs. "We'll go check for survivors."
"Be careful."
Bashir nodded and walked off in one direction after signalling the security officers to head the other way.
He didn't have to go far before picking up a life sign but it was extremely weak and disappeared just as he had found its origin. The man seemed humanoid but didn't belong to any species the doctor had seen before. Taking a last look at the deceased Julian got back on his feet. Where there's one…
"Dax to Bashir. Julian, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear. You found us a way out of here yet?"
"I'm working on it."
Julian suppressed a sigh. He couldn't imagine a situation in which he would hesitate to put his life into Jadzia's hands and he didn't now either, but it wasn't completely off to be a little concerned, was it?
"You found anything yet?" Dax's voice came through his communicator and he refocused.
"Apparently one of the crew members but he didn't make it. I'm almost at the end of the ship now and about to move up to the next level."
"I got it."
Jadzia's excited exclamation made him stop in his moves.
"You got the transporters working?" he asked hopefully.
"I found the program that was blocking our signal and deactivated it. I also got the internal sensors up and I'm detecting one life sign, weak but steady. The only problem is we're running out of time."
"How long?"
"Not long enough," Dax replied, her hands flying over the console she had been working on. "I'm closest so I'll get there myself. Beam back down immediately, Julian. I'll meet you in the infirmary."
"Jadzia, I won't –" he started but she cut him off. There was no time for debate.
"That's an order, doctor."
There was silence for a moment before he confirmed. "Understood. Bashir out."
Relieved Dax entered the last commands and then activated the internal transporter she had just brought online. She'd rather have her transport run through Ops than risking to have her molecules scattered all over the place but the structural integrity field could only be moments away from collapse now and giving her destination to Ops and wait for them to process the coordinates and initiate the transport would take seconds she might not have. Relocating her signal afterwards and beaming her back to the station would on the other hand go much faster so there was something she didn't have to worry about. If she made it that far…
She felt the familiar warm tingling and instinctively closed her eyes until she felt herself materializing again. To her great relief she seemed to be in one piece and with all her body parts where they belonged. Phew…
She caught sight of it right away. About two feet away from her lay a body that had to be the reason for her coming. Quickly kneeling down she hit her communicator badge.
"Dax to Ops. Two to beam out."
¤¤¤
Standing on Ops Sisko held his breath as the ship turned into a glowing fireball and dissolved into a zillion pieces.
"Report," he barked and the Bajoran crewman on duty frantically worked his console.
"The entire team is back on the station," he stated in relief. "Dax and Bashir are in the infirmary with one survivor from the ship."
"Good," Sisko nodded, feeling himself slowly relax as well. Damn you, old man. It had been a close shave.
Down in the infirmary Dax had similar thoughts, but her curiosity about the survivor they had rescued won over her concerns, as usually. She was science officer for a reason.
The survivor was a woman. Humanoid, in fact even terranian looking as far as she could tell, but with all the blood, cuts, and burned flesh there was no way to be sure.
"Her injuries are extensive." Bashir looked up from the console of the medical scanner and stepped closer to his patient. "I don't know what caused the damage we saw on that ship but it's not the only thing that happened to her," he pointed out, mostly talking to Jadzia who was standing at the other side of the table but holding her distance in order to give him some space to work. An alarm went off and he quickly turned back to his scanner.
"20 ccs of dectozine and 30 of letasoline," he ordered one of the nurses. "We need to stabilize her letathaeum levels. I also want a basilar arterial scan to check for nerve damage and a cortical stimulator prepped. We have to monitor activity in the neo cortex."
"Julian," Dax interrupted, noticing the woman seemed to be coming around. And indeed, a few moments later her eyes fluttered open and almost immediately started to search her surroundings at the same time as she took a deep breath, eagerly filling her lungs with air as if she had been on the verge of suffocating. She seemed terrified.
"Alright," Bashir said in his most reassuring voice, "It's alright. You're in the infirmary of a space station where you're getting medical treatment."
But his efforts seemed to be lost on his panic-stricken patient whose gaze flickered through the room like that of a hunted animal. He gave it another try.
"It's okay. You're safe here."
But instead of calming down the woman actually tried to sit up now. He tried to hold her back by placing a hand on her shoulder but she brushed it off.
"20ccs of hyperzine," he ordered and tried again to hold his patient down, this time using both hands. For a moment she fought him but then all of a sudden surrendered. Following her eyes to the new focus of her attention, Bashir found himself looking at Dax.
Jadzia noticed the sudden change in the stranger's face. From one moment to the next all signs of panic and terror seemed to have disappeared and been replaced by an expression of utter disbelief and astonishment and something Dax had a hard time putting her finger on. Relief? Sadness? Pain? Fear? Maybe all of it.
"You're here."
The voice was so weak she could barely hear her. She stepped closer. "It's alright," she repeated the doctor's words in her most reassuring voice.
"She must be hallucinating," Julian whispered.
The woman seemed to calm down a little but then another alarm went off and a moment later the she started ceasing. Not violently, but enough for Bashir to repeat his order of hyperzine.
"Doctor," one of the nurses got his attention and he quickly took the hypo she was already holding out and injected it into the patient's neck. She almost instantly slipped into unconsciousness and a second later her body lay completely still again.
"Where's that cortical stimulator?"