Here's chapter four. Enjoy!
Chapter Four: After Effects
It was a slow day at Quark's. For most of the morning many of his customers had been marvelling at the strange blue box standing in the Promenade. It had secretly been transported into Cargo Bay 5 at noon but a pesky resident had found out and soon nearly all customers were piled up in the cargo bay. Even some were trying to buy it, something Quark didn't think was a bad idea, since its owner was walking into the bar right now.
The Doctor took a seat at the bar. "Just water, please," he requested. Quark poured his drink. Now was the time to ask. His plan was to buy the box, then sell it for twice what it's worth.
"Say… about your box…"
"It's not for sale, if that's what you're thinking," the Doctor said firmly.
Quark was horrified. "But… I can give you…"
"It's mine and I'm keeping it. So here's all you're getting." The Doctor placed a few slips of gold-pressed latinum on the bench to pay for the water.
Quark scooped up the latinum slips when he thought of something. "Say, Mister…"
"Doctor."
"…Doctor, how about a little…" Quark held up a bottle of blue liquid, "…Romulan Ale?"
"That's illegal."
"How do you know? I've heard you come from a different universe…"
"I've been to this universe before. Twice, actually. Well, at least twice... Anyway, I made the mistake of drinking that stuff once and I ended up in jail because they thought I was selling it! Or maybe I was selling it? Oh, I can't remember. Anyway, I'd better be off. Hopefully the security chief has cleared Cargo Bay 5, I need to do something in the TARDIS." With that, the Doctor left the bar, leaving Quark to ponder what the word 'TARDIS' meant.
As the Doctor walked through the Promenade he saw Constable Odo and a few security officers hustling a whole group of people away from the cargo area.
"Now, now, you'll all have a chance to look at the box… later," Odo said to the group, "but for now, Cargo Bay 5 is off limits." He noticed the Doctor and said to him, "It seems your 'TARDIS' has become quite a tourist attraction. And they haven't even seen the inside."
The Doctor simply smiled and made his way towards Cargo Bay 5. Meanwhile, Odo entered Quark's and took a seat at the bar.
"The usual, Odo?" Quark asked.
"Nothing."
"The usual."
"What is so interesting about a blue box?" Odo asked.
"Well, it, uh… appeared out of thin air, and it has a design none of these people have ever seen before."
"All I see is a lump of wood. It's what's inside that intrigues me."
"And… what is inside?"
"That is classified," Odo stated strongly.
Suddenly the station shook violently; glasses and bottles smashed on the ground. Quark, along with a few customers, was thrown off his feet, but Odo remained seated on his stool.
"Oh, what now?" Odo said, frustrated.
Meanwhile in Ops, Sisko was struggling to stay on his feet.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Benjamin," said Dax, "we were hit by a shockwave of this… artron energy, coming from the wormhole."
"Is it anything to do with the earlier rift?"
Dax was about to reply when O'Brien interrupted. "Sir, we're being hailed."
Sisko was surprised. "Who's hailing us?"
"An unknown craft in Cargo Bay 5."
The Doctor.
Sisko turned to face the screen. "On screen."
The Doctor's face appeared. Sisko recognised the background as the interior of the Doctor's 'TARDIS'. "Sorry, no time to join you in Ops, I just forgot to tell you about the after effects…"
"What after effects?"
"The after effects of the rift! What else? There will be a few shockwaves of artron energy coming from the wormhole. They'll shake the station around a bit, but there shouldn't be any damage or injuries. You'll have some broken china, though. If you have any china, that is. Not exactly been very fond of china, it breaks too easily. Anyway, the shockwaves should stop soon; it's just the location of the rift disposing of excess artron energy. Usually does that with artificially stabilised rifts."
Just as he finished speaking, another shockwave shook the station. But this time it was a lot stronger, as sparks flew from the consoles and several areas were damaged.
"Oh." The Doctor was puzzled. "That's not supposed to happen."
"I thought you said no damage!" O'Brien remarked.
The Doctor was worried. "This is not good. This is very not good."
"What's going on?" Sisko asked.
"Something from my universe is coming through the shockwaves," the Doctor said before darting around the TARDIS console (and off the screen in Ops) flicking switches. "It's ripping a hole in the fabric of reality!"
Another shockwave rocked the station; it was stronger this time, as some metal beams were dislodged from the ceiling. One beam fell directly upon Sisko, knocking him down and crushing his ribcage. He had hit his head against a console, so he passed out as blood streaked from his cranium.
"Commander!" Major Kira rushed over to him and ordered O'Brien (who had a few cuts and bruises himself) to beam him to sickbay immediately. O'Brien pressed a button and in a shimmering flash the injured body of Sisko dematerialised.
"Major," Dax said, "there is an unidentified vessel emerging from the wormhole… in fact, from the source of the shockwaves themselves…"
"Life signs?" Kira asked.
"I'm reading one."
"The vessel's hailing us," O'Brien said.
"On screen," ordered Kira.
"I can only get audio, though."
The message was crackled but audible. "Please, my ship is badly damaged. You must let me dock and grant me asylum."
"For now, you may dock," Kira replied, "we'll do our best to repair your ship, although we may need to repair our own station beforehand."
"Thank you. You help is very much appreciated." The voice faded out, and for one brief moment, Kira could have sworn she could hear faint, sinister laughing before the end of the message.
Dax turned her gaze from the console to Kira and looked surprised. "I don't believe it… the shockwaves have ceased."
The Doctor was still on the screen. "That'd be me. We'll, either me or the gap between dimensions closed after the ship came through. It might have been both. Anyway, that voice…"
"The one on the message?" Kira asked.
"Yes. I know that voice. I definitely know that voice. But I just can't pinpoint who it is…"
"Well, I can't help you there," Kira commented.
"Sure you can't, you're not from my universe. Where's the commander?"
"In the infirmary. He was injured during one of the shockwaves."
"I'll go check on him for you. The Doctor out."
The image of the Doctor on the screen disappeared.
"Kira to Odo."
As Odo came to he found himself pinned to the ground by a dislodged beam. He remembered that he was about to leave Quark's at the time of the accident that caused the beam to fall on top of him. He tried to reach his badge but was unable to, so he melted into his true form, a viscous liquid, to escape. He morphed back into his humanoid form and saw Quark lying unconscious on the other side of the bench.
"Kira to Odo, please respond."
Odo vaulted over the bench and tapped his badge. "Odo here. I'm at Quark's; there are multiple injuries at the bar, including Quark himself." He bent over to pick up Quark, who was coming to.
"Do you know for certain how many?"
"No, but…" Odo was cut off by a loud shout.
"BROTHER!" Rom was running across the bar towards Odo, who rolled his eyes and sighed. "Is he alright?" he asked Odo.
"He is injured, but he will survive. Here, take him to sickbay while I help the others." Odo put Quark's arm around Rom's shoulder.
"But what if…"
"Now, Rom. That's an order."
Without a word, Rom carried his brother out of the bar. Odo walked over to a Dabo table and saw many of the players groaning in pain. He turned to see a plump Lurian he knew all too well shuffling towards him.
"Morn, are you alright?"
Morn nodded.
"Can you help me get these people to sickbay?"
Morn nodded again and turned to help up an injured Dabo girl. Odo just hoped the infirmary was unaffected, or all these efforts would be for nothing.
Luckily the infirmary was unaffected, and so was the station's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Julian Bashir. He was treating Commander Sisko, who was beginning to come to, when a strange, young man with a bow tie came into the infirmary.
"Hello," the man said, "I've come to check on the commander. Is he OK?"
"He's badly injured, but he should be fine soon. But may I ask who you are?"
"I'm the Doctor."
Bashir was puzzled. "No, I think you'll find I'm the doctor on this station. Your name?"
"The Doctor."
"Just… the Doctor?"
"Just the Doctor."
Sisko had fully awoken and saw the Doctor. "Doctor…" he said faintly.
"How do you feel," both doctors said simultaneously, glaring at each other afterwards.
"My whole body hurts…" Sisko said, "what happened?"
Dr. Bashir explained. "Kira told me you were hit by a dislodged beam during one of the shockwaves. O'Brien beamed you here."
Suddenly a whole group of people (including Rom, Odo and Morn) piled into sickbay carrying those wounded at Quark's.
"It looks like this is going to take some time," Bashir said, frustrated.
Meanwhile the ship that had come from the Doctor's universe had docked into Deep Space 9. Two security guards stood outside where it docked. The man who came out wore shabby, black attire and a hood that darkened his face. He had a smile on his face that the guards thought looked a bit sinister.
"Welcome to DS9," one guard said.
"We hope you enjoy your stay," said the other.
"Gullible fools," the stranger muttered.
"I'm sorry?" the first guard asked.
"To allow yourselves to be manipulated by a simple lie…"
"Please explain," the second guard demanded.
"Oh, I'll explain," the stranger said, removing his hood to reveal bleach-blonde hair. "My name… is the Master!"
He lifted his hands and blasted blue artron energy at both guards, who collapsed in agony. He laughed maniacally as his skull became visible for a split second. He stopped firing and stepped over the dead bodies of the guards.
Now the Master is on Deep Space 9. What will happen next? Find out next chapter.
It may be a while before I post again simply because I haven't written chapter 5 yet, but hopefully I'll have enough time over the week to write it.
Many thanks to my followers: Evenmoor, denise3, Drachasor, BenJonBroad and Antt1995.