There was some sort of hullaballoo going on upstairs with the Deep Space Nine character, but it didn't much interest Surindar. He had never really gotten into that show. He finished his hourly check of the propulsion systems and ordered a routine system scan. Spending several months as an engineering sublieutenant was not too steep a price to pay for being able to show Dr. Crusher the real Picard maneuver. Say what you will about the wait, they had a nice computer system for him to play with.

Somewhere above his head, a panel clanked, and he looked up.

--

I'm going to wake up soon, but no!
First I'm going to kiss some part of you.
Into the flames we'll fall and then
You'll see what I can do for you!

I've got this down…

Bashir scaled down the pipes which flowed from below the ducts down onto the lower level of the engineering deck. Above him, the other agent lost her balance and slipped; he caught her effortlessly and set her on her feet, feeling the warmth of her body pressed against his. The music in his head caught fire and blazed; he struggled not to think against its beat.

I know I'll find another way
There's so much more to know
Tell me I'll die another day,
It's not my time to go!

All around them, voices were coming into focus. "Hey, what going on?" "Isn't that Bashir? What's he doing here?" "Hey, you guys, what do you think you're doing?" "Stop!" They were sensible and unforced, and he tried to pretend they were not. It would have been better if they had been brandishing weapons instead of equipment requisitions.

To fall in love with a beautiful stranger…

Now some of the engineers were starting to pull out phasers. Gratefully, Bashir spun around to face them. He knew what to do now.

I'm going to break the cycle.
I'm going to shake up the system.
I'm going to destroy my ego…. yes, that's it.
Tomorrow never dies, and so

He flung his own useless weapon at a surprised lieutenant. The technician, completely taken aback, dropped his own as he tried to catch what had been thrown at him. With reflexes he never knew he possessed, Bashir dived for the tumbling phaser and caught it as it hit the floor.

I'm going to embrace the clichés.
I'm going to suspend my senses now.
I've got to see with new eyes.
I've got to live and let die…

Now the guards were here, and their words fed effortlessly into the throbbing rhythm. "It's them! They're here! Get them!" That was better. He caught up the beautiful agent in his arms—desperately trying to ignore the fact that she was not particularly attractive—and swung her up onto the balcony, forcing himself not to measure the height or the strength of his arms. He ducked behind a pillar to shield himself from the phaser fire and scanned the room for a possible escape.

For your eyes only is this game
I see your golden eyes through the flames
I know your heart, you know my name, and so
You know that I have license to—

He whirled around and fired at the guards encircling them. He noticed for the first time that a number of the guards were men, and this made him feel safer for some reason. Phaser beams crisscrossed through the air. Again and again his shots scattered his would-be captors, and again they regrouped and recouped for another assault.

A stray beam lanced through the ceiling, bringing down plating and wires in a hiss of smoke. The guards sprang aside to avoid the crackling cables, but Bashir, with a serpent's grace, leapt over the live ends and began to climb upwards. More phaser fire sizzled past his face as his lovely partner extended a hand to pull him up. No shots could touch him as he climbed, no danger could destroy his perfect cool, but no sooner had the agent caught him by the shoulder and pulled him upwards than both their footings gave way, and he collapsed under the railing, falling over her supple body as they rolled to the floor.

For every sin, I'll have to pay
In this risky game we've come to play.
The world is not enough, I know.
But it's not my time to go.

She turned her face away before he could kiss her. He pulled her to her feet, and she demanded, "How do we get out of here?"

Below them, guards and engineers sighted up at them with murderous eyes. Already, many of them were ascending the lower rungs of the ladders that would bring them up to the circle where Bashir and his partner were trapped. Instinct took hold of Bashir's arms, and he grabbed the cable as if to swing from it. His beautiful counterpart was at his side in an instant, recognizing where his mind was taking him.

Behind them, the guards closed in. In front of them, the warp core glowed with an eerie blue light. A sheer drop extended down that way.

I think I see another way…
Forget the rules and just flow with me.
I swear I'll die another day,
It's not my time to—

He couldn't help it. He looked.

"My god," breathed Dr. Bashir. "What on earth is that?"

In the heart of the warp core was something. A break, a fissure, an impossible glimpse of something invisible and unbearable. This was the source of the eye-watering glow, this anomaly whose light spun so painfully he could not bear to look at it. As the vertigo set in, he tried to remember where he had seen this watery dark light before. His mind rebelled in agony, and he looked away.

The agent was also looking away, one side of her face cradled in a trembling hand. But as the guards closed in, she threw up her head with a look of determination Bashir had never seen before.

"Bashir! Jump!"

--

They landed on their feet on the loading deck just outside the main shuttle bay. The music was gone now, and Bashir felt weak and hung over. His whole body ached as if it had been stretched out of shape; the searing light of the thing they had fallen through seemed permanently etched onto the back of his eyeballs. He leaned against a wall and took several deep breaths.

Agent Bianca's worried eyes were on his face, but this did nothing for his heartbeat or his imagination. Good. "I'll be all right," he assured her. "Just give me a moment." She looked away respectfully, and he was grateful for the reprieve.

"What on earth was that?" he asked her at last, when the world had stopped spinning around his head. "I think I've seen it elsewhere on this ship, but every time I try to think about it, it seems impossible and I have to stop."

Bianca smiled, in spite of herself. She'd known what the fissure was as soon as they laid eyes on it. A dark spinning light, beautiful and mind-altering and utterly impossible.

"A plot hole," she told him sweetly. "Don't let it get to you."