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The following story takes place a few days after "A Great Adventure"

Home Again

Written by Chris Stephenson

Prologue

The Starbase Deep Space Nine, or "Terek Nor" as it had been christened by the Cardassians at the time of it's construction, had, all things considered, weathered the recent troubles in the Federation quite well. Orbiting the sun of the planet Bajor, and having been at the forefront of the Cardassian wars, it still bore the scars of great battles. So too bore most of its inhabitants, those that had lived through the constant attacks from Cardassians, Klingons, and other aggressors.
Its newest visitors, the Federation starship Maximillian, also bore scars from battle. Not from an enemy as great as a malevolent race, though those that served on it would heartily disagree, rather from a plant-like creature that had ravaged the ship, punching holes throughout the decks and the hull, ravaging several sections, including Engineering, and causing a temporary evacuation of the vessel, and it's near destruction. Damaged, but not destroyed, the Maximillian had limped to DS9, the closest base, for the much needed repairs.
The crew of the "Mighty Max" had largely stayed on their home, having heard the rumors of the fights and troubles on the station, largely due to the actions of the Ferengi that ran the promenade. Others chose to brave it, and see the unique sights. So it was that Lieutenant Commanders Critch Starblade, Jaydin, Skrit, Ensign Overload Soong-Maddox, and the diminutive pocket-sized android Databit came to be sitting, overlooking the main promenade, the central area of the large space station.
As Critch drank a vile-looking liquid, he glanced at Jaydin, the Medical Officer of the Maximillian. "How's it feel to be home?" He broke the silence gingerly.
Jaydin glanced back at him. "This isn't home. Last time I was on Bajor, all this was Cardassian-owned." She kept a wary eye on her surroundings, expecting an enemy to suddenly spring from behind any post. "I've never been here."
"Hm. Still, it's a nice place! The monkey was nice to me! Wanted me to play a game!" The hyperactive Overload spoke up.
"Monkey?" Skrit, the holographic energy-being chief of Security, made corporeal only by strategically placed emitters throughout his uniform, raised an eyebrow, then looked over at the Ferengi barkeep. Making the connection, he blinked, and then returned to watching the conversation.
"A game?" Jaydin asked, and Overload suddenly smiled even brighter.
"Yeah! And I won…THIS!" From under the table, she produced several strips of a gold material. Critch picked up one from her and scanned it, muttering to himself.
"It can't be…" He glanced at the Ferengi, who glanced in the tables direction, and appeared to be scowling, either angry at them, himself, or some combination of the two. Critch looked back at her. "This…is Gold pressed Latinum!"
"ANNNND It's Shiny! So give it back!"
"You gambled with that shyster…and won?" Skrit asked, surprised. Overload had just joined the Maximillian, indeed, just joined Starfleet.
"It was easy! Gimme!" She swiped her gold strip back from Critch, and held on to it tightly with one hand, holding Databit with the other. The rest of them shook their heads, and hoped that trouble wasn't starting from this, or from anything else, for that matter.

On the opposite side of the promenade, a lift door opened, and four red robed figures, their heads covered, emerged from it. Together, they scanned the area, until they saw their targets. Slowly, they began to walk around.

"Do we know anything else about those plant-things, Jaydin?" Skrit asked, trying desperately to get the subject off of gambling wins.
Jaydin shook her head. "Kelvok's working on it, but so far, there's not much…most of the plants disintegrated when the mother creature was destroyed. Apparently they can't survive without the mother."
"Lucky for us." Critch said softly. "Even with the modified phasers, we still would've had a hard time of it clearing out the rest of the ship if they acted on their own. I'm curious about that planet, myself. If the things were born there, or if they got there somehow…and if they did, there might be more of them somewhere…"

The figures split into two, half on each side of the circular level. One drew ahead of the others, and reached into his cloak…

"I wonder what was…" Skrit was cut off by the appearance of the cloaked group, having reunited and moved towards their table. Critch stood up as the front man of the group spoke, appearing to stare at Jaydin. "Jaydin of Bajor?"
"Yes…?" She asked, questioningly, confused.
The figures began to pull their hands out of their cloaks, and Critch's hand quickly moved to his phaser. To his surprise, they pulled nothing out, and moved their hands up to lower their hoods. They wore the ceremonial earrings and jewelry of their culture, quite obviously Bajoran.
As one they moved to their knees, and bowed their heads, touching the floor simultaneously, bowing to Jaydin.
As her friends looked on, incredulously, the robed figures began to chant.
"Behold the Lady Jaydin…"
"Behold Bajor's Salvation…"