Sailor Trek: Deep Space 9



"Time for a less subtle approach"

-Major Kira Nerys

Chapter 2 - D Point Revisited

Sisko tapped a finger impatiently on the arm of his chair as he

waited for confirmation that Kira and her team were safely away. After

what seemed like an eternity, there was a beep from the engineering

station. "Transport complete, sir," O'Brien reported.

'Finally,' Sisko though as he straightened himself in the command

chair, instinctively tugging at the bottom of his shirt. He looked to

the helm station in front of him where Bashir had taken Dax's place.

The doctor looked slightly uncomfortable there, but Sisko knew he would

substitute there admirably, as he had done so in the past. "Doctor, lay

in a course for that distress signal and engage at maximum impulse."

"Aye, sir," Bashir answered and began working the helm. Responding

to the his commands, the Defiant accelerated around Earth and headed for

the Moon.

As soon as they cleared the planet, O'Brien began scanning the

location they had for the distress call. "Looks like we're too late,"

he reported. "I'm reading debris and an expanding cloud of ionized

plasma at the signal location." He shook his head sadly. "It looks

like their warp core was breached. From the energy decay, I'd say it

blew just about the time we lost the signal."

"Any life signs, Chief?"

"No, sir. Whoever it was, it looks like she was lost with all

hands." O'Brien shook his head sadly, observing, "The poor devils never

had a chance."

Sisko frowned, but tried to put aside any other feelings. There

may be nothing he could do for the other crew, but he still had to be

sure that his own was safe. "Any sign of their attackers?"

O'Brien checked the sensors again. "Nothing. But the plasma

field could be interfering with the sensors. But I am picking up the

signal from the log buoy."

"Very well," said Sisko. "Maneuver us closer so that we can beam

it aboard. At least we'll be able to find out who they were... and who

attacked them. Maintain cloak, and put all decks on yellow alert."

"Hold it!"

Venus stopped in her tracks and looked back to her friend. "What

is it, Mercury?"

The other girl had her visor deployed and was looking around the

area. "I'm detecting several lifeforms closing in on us."

Jupiter tensed herself for a fight and glanced around, as did the

others. They were on a relatively flat part of the icepack, and there

was very little an enemy could use for concealment out to a distance of

fifty meters. Nevertheless, she saw nothing around. "Are you sure? I

don't see anything."

"They're there," Mercury insisted. She brought her computer out,

using it to supplement the visor. "But for some reason I can't get an

accurate reading on their distance from us. My best guess is that

they're no more than twenty meters away. One... maybe two dozen in all."

They all looked about the area, trying to spot what it was Mercury

had detected. "I still don't see anything," Jupiter remarked.

"I don't see them, but I can sense them around us," Mars said.

"They must be invisible."

"Yes," Mercury concurred. "They've got some sort of field about

them, serving as camouflage. And it's preventing me from getting an

accurate scan on them."

"Luna, Artemis, get to cover," Venus ordered. "Everyone else, get

back to back." The two cats moved quickly, while the Scouts formed a

defensive square.

"Ten meters," Mercury said, just as the first of the Jem'Hadar

uncloaked himself and fired, followed by several others. The Scouts

scattered to avoid their weapons fire. The next moment, the area echoed

with their attack cries.

Kira took in the area surrounding the away team's beam down point,

thankful for the cold weather gear they were wearing. That she, Dax and

Worf were wearing, she mentally corrected herself. Odo of course had no

need for such protection against the climate, thanks to his unique

physiology. Again she dubiously eyed the black hole in the icefield.

"That's a portal to another universe?"

"More like another dimension, one that's slightly offset from this

one," Dax corrected her while operating a tricorder. The Trill science

officer was studiously scanning the area, while Kira and Worf were on

the watch for possible threats with phasers drawn. Odo was on the look

out as well, but had no weapon. "And from these readings, I'd say that

it was artificially formed centuries... no, millennia ago."

Kira nodded, somewhat impressed. "The portal? Impressive, but

we've seen things like this before."

"No, not the portal," Dax replied. "The other dimension."

"What?" Kira found that hard to swallow. She could believe that

the Celestial Temple -- the wormhole -- was artificial in nature, but

that something could create a whole other reality? That was something

else altogether.

A rumble of what sounded like thunder in the distance brought her

back to the present. Dax made some quick adjustments on her tricorder,

broadening the field of it's scan. "I'm picking up large energy

discharges, along with what appears to be weapons fire. Range: just

over one kilometer."

Worf nodded. "The Sailor Scouts," he announced. "No doubt they

are battling the Jem'Hadar we spotted from orbit."

"The weapons signature does appear to be typical of Jem'Hadar

armaments," Dax confirmed.

"Then let's go," Kira said firmly. "They're going to need our

help against the Jem'Hadar. Odo, scout ahead."

"Right, Major." The changeling shifted his form into that of a

Corvallian snow hawk and flew off. The others followed along the

icepack as fast as they were able.

"I do not believe that the Scouts will require our assistance,

Major," Worf commented.

"I hope you're right, Worf."

"I am," the Klingon responded confidently. Silence came over the

three of them as they concentrated on making their way to the sight of

the battle. Again and again, the sounds of thunder punctuated the

silence, though the time between rumbles was becoming longer as they

approached. No doubt because the number of Jem'Hadar standing was

getting fewer, Worf speculated.

"They should be just over this rise," Dax said, still operating

her tricorder. "Just over one hundred met... Wait a minute!" Dax ran

a rapid sequence of commands into the instrument as she tried to make

sense of the data it was spewing out. "There's some sort of spatial

anomaly forming."

"My, my, what have we here?" The three spun around to face the

source of the voice, which materialized amid a swirl of cherry blossoms

into a blonde humanoid in a gray uniform, hovering impossibly three

meters above them. "You three are certainly out of place."

"Zoisite," Worf muttered answering the unspoken question.

"Have we met?" Zoisite asked. "I doubt it, since it appears that

at least two of you aren't from this planet. Especially the ugly one

over there," she said, indicating Worf. The Klingon snarled at her, but

it was Dax who responded verbally.

"You're hardly one to talk, lady... if that's what you really are."

"What?!" Zoisite all but screeched.

"You heard me. For a female impersonator, you leave alot to be

desired." This caused Zoisite to clench her teeth, and she started

turning a dark shade of red. Kira gave Dax an odd look, but was careful

to keep an eye on the Negaverse general.

"What are you talking about, Dax?"

"Can't you tell?" the Trill asked. "I've seen alot of females in

three hundred years, and that hardly qualifies."

Kira looked back to Zoisite. "Seems reasonably female to me."

Dax shook her head. "Worf?"

"I have no opinion on the subject."

"Give me a break you two," Dax said. "If that's supposed to

be a female, then she's lacking in... certain areas."

Zoisite glowered at them and snarled in rage. "Why you... you...

you'll pay for that! ZOI!!!" She flung her hand in their direction,

sending dozens of crystal shards flying at them. The three officers

dodged the incoming blast, each heading in a separate direction.

Drawing on reflexes honed by years in the Bajoran resistance, Kira

rolled on the ground, then aimed and fired her phaser in one smooth

motion. The energy beam caught Zoisite full on, and she reeled from

the blast. Worf and Dax quickly followed with phaser shots of their

own. The Negaverse general staggered under the impact of multiple phaser

hits, then vanished in much the same way she had appeared.

"That was easy," Dax observed.

"Easy?" Kira exclaimed. "Our phasers were at setting eight. That

should've killed her!"

"Mine was at sixteen," Worf said, drawing a stunned look from the

other two.

"Sixteen!" Kira shook her head. A phaser at that high a setting

was capable of vaporizing several cubic meters of rock.

"We were fortunate that we were able to surprise her," Worf said.

"We should not count on being able to do so again. Next time she'll be

ready for our weapons."

Kira nodded. "Let's get out of here. If she teleported to where

the Sailor Scouts are fighting the Jem'Hadar, Odo's going to need help.

A lot of help." They took off in a run, all thoughts of how cold it

was forgotten.

Sisko watched the debris field slowly move past on the viewscreen

as the Defiant crept through it. He turned impatiently to O'Brien.

"Well, Chief?"

The chief looked apologetically back at him. "Sorry, sir. It's

hard to get a lock on the buoy in this plasma field. And being cloaked

doesn't make it any easier." He broke off as a sensor chimed at him

and he uttered an old Irish curse. "I was afraid of this. The plasma

field is interfering with the cloaking device. We're going to have to

shut it down before it overloads."

Sisko briefly pondered the situation. While decloaking would leave

them open to attack, by the same token it would also enable to respond

that much faster to an aggressor. "Very well. Deactivate the cloak."

The lights in the room brightened as the cloaking device was shut down.

After a moment, O'Brien nodded in satisfaction. "Got it. Beaming

it aboard now."

"Good. Helm, take us out of this plasma field. I want to be able

to recloak as soon as possible."

"Aye, sir," Bashir responded.

Sisko turned to the engineer. "Chief, are there any indications

what type of ship this used to be?"

O'Brien took a moment to analyze the debris around them. "From the

materials present, it looks like the outer hull was composed of a

tritanium alloy... it was a definitely Starfleet ship of some sort."

Alarm bells began going off in Sisko's head. He had a bad feeling he knew

what the identity of the other ship was. "Say something about the size of

a Miranda class... or maybe a Constellation class. Definitely too small

for an Excelsior type. I'm running an energy decay match now to see if I

can identify the weapons the attacker used." He swore softly once more

when the results appeared on the monitor. He was somewhat expecting the

results, but seeing it confirmed was something else altogether. "It

looks like the attackers were using a phased polaron beam."

Sisko nodded. "The Dominion." Given the fact that they had

detected Jem'Hadar life signs on Earth, this didn't come as much of a

surprise to Sisko, nor to anyone else on the bridge. But it did serve

to complicate matters.

"Yes sir," the Chief responded. As if on cue, another sensor alert

sounded at the tactical station.

The tactical officer looked to her captain. "Sir, we've just

detected two Jem'Hadar attack ships on an intercept course. They must

have been on the other side of the plasma field when we approached."

"Battle stations," Sisko said automatically. Around them the alert

lights flashed, supplemented by the warning klaxon. "Chief, can we

recloak before they reach us?"

"No, sir," replied the engineer. "They'll intercept us just before

we can clear the plasma field."

Sisko frowned, even though he had been expecting that as an answer.

"Then we'll make a stand here. Head right for them, full impulse." The

Defiant shot forward as the overpowered impulse engines kicked into high

gear. The small starship turned towards the Jem'Hadar ships, twisting

in response to Bashir's commands to evade incoming fire. "Lock phasers on

the lead ship. Fire!" Several bursts were fired from the pulse phasers,

striking the lead Jem'Hadar ship. The first few were absorbed by the

shields, but the next penetrated and ruptured the hull. The Dominion

vessel became a large ball of expanding gas.

The bridge shook and several panels showered sparks as the

remaining vessel fired shot after shot at the Defiant. As always the

Dominion weaponry cut right through their shields, impacting directly on

the ship's hull. "Evasive, pattern delta!" Sisko ordered. As Bashir

endeavored to comply, he continued, "Damage report!"

"The ablative armor's down thirty percent," responded O'Brien,

raising his voice over the din. "And we've got a ruptured plasma conduit

on deck three."

"Helm, hard about," Sisko ordered. "Take us back through the

plasma field, maximum impulse." The Defiant executed a tight turn, and

sped back through the wall of energized gas. The Jem'Hadar vessel

followed, still firing.

The viewscreen started to flicker. "Sir, at this speed, we'll lose

sensors momentarily," O'Brien stated, trying to warn his captain. "We'll

be blind as a Tiberian bat."

Sisko nodded "And so will they. *After* we pass through," he

responded. O'Brien grinned as he comprehended what the captain was

planning just before the viewscreen became a haze of static as the

interference became too much for the computer to compensate for.

"Doctor, once we're clear of the plasma field, bring us hard about and

to a full stop. Stand by quantum torpedoes."

At Bashir's urgings, the Defiant executed another tight turn and

stopped. The Jem'Hadar ship, blind for the moment, continued on their

previous heading.

"Fire!" Sisko ordered.

Two quantum torpedoes were launched and sped at the enemy ship.

Detecting the incoming fire at the last minute, it attempted to evade

the incoming fire but it was far too late react. The weapons struck

home, and the Dominion ship exploded.

Sisko felt a grim feeling of satisfaction and looked to his

engineering officer. "Is the cloaking device operational?"

"Yes, sir," O'Brien responded after making a quick check.

"Good. Activate the cloak and take us a position where we can be

ready to beam the away team back." The Earth grew quickly larger on

the screen as Bashir made the necessary course adjustments. "Chief, as

soon as repairs are complete, I want you to start the analysis on that

log buoy."

"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH" Venus cried out, unleashing her attack

for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last few minutes, and the

Jem'Hadar she was aiming at dropped. All around the Scouts, bodies of

the warriors of the Dominion were strewn about, numbering nearly two

dozen in all. Only one other remained standing, and he took aim at

Jupiter and fired.

The tall Scout ducked and dodged to her right, avoiding this energy

blast as she had all the others. The smell of ozone was discernable as

she called upon her powers, "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" Her aim was true

and the last Jem'Hadar fell.

They stood there, trying to catch their breath while looking about

for any other enemies. Seeing that the area was clear for now, the two

cats came out of cover. "Are you OK, Mars?" Artemis asked. They all

had minor injuries of a sort, mostly from the Jem'Hadar's fists, but

Mars had been hit in the shoulder by a weapon discharge.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not that..." Her voice began a hiss of pain

as Mercury gently probed the wound.

"Sure you are," the blue haired Scout said, "I barely touched it.

Now keep still while I try to staunch the bleeding." Mars nodded, and

Mercury concentrated on the wound while the others stood guard. She

noted with relief that no major arteries had been hit, but it was still

bleeding freely. A part of her wondered at that, since an energy weapon

like that should cauterize the wound. Thrusting that back to the back of

her mind, she concentrated on forming a makeshift bandage. Fortunately

with all the bodies lying around, there was no shortage of material to

form one, presuming that the uniforms were reasonably clean. A quick

scan showed that was indeed the case and she tore several strips from

one.

Mars tried to keep still to allow Mercury to finish, but it wasn't

easy with the injury throbbing as it was. But Mercury made good progress,

and she was nearly done when Mars felt a warning buzz inside her head.

Snapping her head about, she alerted the others, "Something's coming!"

Malachite materialized within seconds of her alarm, but he seemed to

take no notice of the Scouts. Instead he was gazing about at the fallen

Jem'Hadar. "Pity. I'd have thought they'd do better than this."

"Wrong again, bleachhead," Mars hissed, as Mercury quickly tied off

the bandage. "You're next!"

The white haired General turned and regard the four Scouts

stoically. "I think not."

"Let's get him, Jupiter!" Venus cried. "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM..."

"JUPITER THUNDER..."

"SMASH!"

"CRASH!"

The two attacks combine into one, heading straight at Malachite.

He regarded the incoming fire with an arrogant sneer on his face. One

that was justified as it ricocheted off his forcefield.

Mars moved to bring her own powers to bear on the Negaverse General,

but something impacted her from the side, knocking her down. "What

the...?" She looked over at what had hit her and was surprised to see a

large bird beside her with one of Zoisite's crystal knives embedded in

it's wing.

"Stupid bird!" she heard Zoisite curse. "You ruined my shot..."

Zoisite's voice trailed off in confusion, and the battle froze

momentarily as everyone got a look at what amazed her.

The 'bird' had become a large gelatinous mass and shifted form,

eventually becoming a humanoid male dressed in a brown uniform. "My

pleasure," he said calmly, dropping the crystal shard to the ice.

Mars' tried to keep her jaw from dropping. The man was the

shapeshifter she had seen in her vision.

For her part, Zoisite was shaking with rage. First there was those

three aliens that had humiliated her and forced her to withdraw. Now

this shapeshifter had appeared out of nowhere, ruining a perfectly good

ambush shot she had on Mars. "Enjoy it while you can, shapeshifter. It's

the last one you'll ever have. ZOI!" Odo automatically relaxed his body

back into it's natural gelatinous state again, but the force of the blast

was still enough to hurl him backwards several meters, slamming him deep

into a snowbank. Zoisite grinned and laughed aloud. "Well, I guess

that put him on ice."

"And I can do the same for you!" a voice cried from below and behind

her. Zoisite spun around just as it cried out, "MERCURY ICE BUBBLES...

FREEZE!" A wave of supercold energy gripped Zoisite and she grimaced in

pain. Ordinarily she could withstand an attack such as this, but she was

still weakened by the alien's energy weapons. Her only recourse was to

flee. A swirl of cherry blossoms surrounded her as she prepared to

teleport away.

"Oh, no you don't!" Mars growled. "MARS FIREBIRD... STRIKE!" The

bird of flame enveloped the Negaverse General, the fierce heat it

generated overwhelming her defenses and she screamed in agony.

It was a short lived scream.

"ZOISITE!" Malachite spun in her direction, but it was already far

too late. All that remained of Zoisite was a puff of ash blowing in the

wind. "You'll pay for that!" he roared. Flinging his arms wide, he fired

two powerful energy blasts at the nearest Scouts to him; Sailor Venus and

Sailor Jupiter. The two Scouts were slammed into the icepack, and lay

unmoving.

"MINA!" With a howl of pain, Artemis unthinkingly hurled himself

at Malachite. The Negaverse general snarled and mercilessly blasted the

white cat. Artemis fell onto the ground beside Venus.

"NO!" Mars hurled a powerful bolt of fire at Malachite, but it

simply splashed off his forcefield, as did Mercury's ice blast.

"Two down, two to go. Goodbye, Sailor Scouts!" Malachite gathered

up the energy for a final blast. But before he could do so, the ice

beneath him began shaking. Suddenly, the ground split open, and a rock

emerged. It shot forward and landed atop Malachite, forcing the General

to the ground. Odo shifted forms again, morphing from a Horta back to

his normal humanoid appearance. However, he kept his arms gelatinous,

wrapping them around Malachite.

"It seems Neflyte must have lied, when he said there was only

one shapeshifter," Malachite said in a almost conversational tone.

"You've seen others like me? And who's Neflyte?" Odo demanded.

"I'll send you to meet him," Malachite flatly replied, sending a

charge of energy into Odo, staggering him and forcing him to release

his hold on the General. Malachite raised his arms and send another

blast into Odo, this time catching the Constable full on. Odo went

flying once more and ended up crashing into Mars and Mercury.

Malachite slowly picked himself off the ice, eyes blazing with anger.

"Now you die, Sailor Scouts." He was about to unleash a barrage at

them when a hand grabbed his wrist.

"Wrong," Jupiter said weakly. A tingling of ozone was percievable

as she summoned all of her power, "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" The tall

Scout and the General both screamed as the energy of Jupiter's attack

raced through him, while she was caught in the backlash of her own powers.

Jupiter fell to the ground unconscious, while Malachite dropped to his

knees, obviously staggered.

"Lita!" Mars struggled to free herself from Odo, as did Mercury,

but it was like trying to wade out of a pool of molasses and it didn't

help matters that Odo was trying to collect himself both literally and

figuratively. If she could get loose before Malachite could recover,

she'd have a chance to take him out of the fight.

All too soon, however, Malachite recovered, getting shakily to his

feet. He glared down at the fallen Jupiter. "Nice try, girl," he rasped,

"but not good enough."

"If at first you don't succeed, blast the bad guy again." Malachite

turned to the source of the voice and was surprise to find Venus standing

next to him, her index finger pointed at his head.

Mina struggled to stay on her feet and conscious. The pain from her

injuries was nearly overwhelming, but she felt she had enough left in her

for one good shot. One good enough to take out Malachite, she hoped,

because she wasn't going to of help to Mars and Mercury for much longer.

She had to finish him here and now, to give them a chance to get at Beryl.

Nothing else mattered.

Venus leaned forward before Malachite could react, touching the tip

of her index finger to his forehead. "Hasta la vista, pretty boy!

VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"

The backflare from her attack blinded those watching for a second,

but when it cleared they only saw Venus sprawled on the ground. No

trace of Malachite remained, except for a wisp of dust.

Mercury struggled to her feet, helped in part by the fact that Odo

was finally able to reform himself. But before she could move to either

of the two injured Scouts, a woman she had never seen before ran up to

them and knelt down.

Mars watched intently as Dax began utilizing her tricorder. "What's

she doing?"

"I think she's scanning them. But I've never seen a device like

that before."

Mars had further questions, but they were quickly forgotten as she

noticed two other new arrivals. Both had features which denoted them

as not human, but that wasn't what startled her. Each of them, including

the shapeshifter and the woman attending Venus and Jupiter, had appeared

in her last fire reading. But what did it mean? Were they allies? Or

new enemies?

Kira helped Odo to his feet. "Are you OK, Odo?"

The Constable nodded. "A little shaken, but otherwise I'm fine,

Major. The... opposition was a little tougher than I had anticipated."

"Zoicite?" Kira asked.

"And Malachite," Odo confirmed. "Ultimately, these two dealt with

her, while they," he indicated the injured Scouts, "where able to

dispatch him." Kira nodded, but what she was going to say died in her

throat as she got her first good look around the battlefield and at the

bodies of two dozen Jem'Hadar lying amidst the ice and snow.

Worf noticed the look of astonishment on her face. "Do you still

think they need our help against the Jem'Hadar, Major?"

"Kira!" Dax called out before she could respond. Kira turned and

saw Dax picking up an unconscious cat. She had taken off her jacket,

using it in an attempt to keep the injured Venus warm. "These two are

badly injured. If they're going to have any chance, we've got to get

them to the Defiant." She shivered, adding, "And before I freeze to

death."

"Go," Kira ordered.

"Wait a minute!" Mars exclaimed. "Go where?"

"We've got a starship in orbit," Dax tried to explain, then

shrugged. "It's a long story, and they don't have the time for it.."

Tapping on her comm badge, "Dax to Defiant."

"Go ahead," Sisko's voice responded.

"Medical emergency. Four to beam directly to the medical bay."

A second later, a blue-white haze enveloped the four, and they

disappeared.

Kira turned to the remaining Scouts. "OK, quick introductions.

I'm Major Kira Nerys, that's Lt. Commander Worf, and you've met Odo.

Now, maybe you two could give us an idea what's going on around here."

Mars responded sharply, "I think you're the ones who ought to

explain what you're up to. And what you're doing here with him!" She

turned and leveled an accusing finger at Odo.

"What have you got against Odo?" asked a baffled Kira.

Mars didn't respond, other than to continue glaring at the

Constable. For his part Odo returned her gaze measure for measure.

After a few moments he said, "You're welcome."

The raven haired Scout was taken aback. "Huh?"

"For saving your life."

"He's right, Mars," Mercury put in. "If it weren't for him,

Zoisite would've killed us."

"Yeah, that's true," Mars sullenly agreed.

Odo snorted. "Your gratitude is overwhelming."

Mercury put a restraining hand on her friend. "Not now, Mars."

She waited until Mars' temper subsided a bit, then turned to Odo.

"Please try to understand, but you're not the first shapeshifter we've

encountered, and that was not... pleasant for either of us. A good

friend of ours was killed by it."

"You mean you've met other Changelings before?" Odo asked.

"Malachite said something about another one."

"Oh, is that what you call yourselves?" Mercury asked, making an

entry onto her palmtop. "Yes we did, several months ago. I've always

wondered if there were any others around... and I'm glad to see that

you're not all like that one."

"I'm not like others of my people," Odo said.

"That's good to know." She looked up from the computer, "Do you

know anything about your evolution?"

Before Odo could say that he knew very little about how

Changelings evolved, Kira interjected, "This may be very interesting,

but I'd like to know just what the hell is going on around here!" She

eyed the two of them critically, as if noticing their outfits for the

first time. "And why the hell aren't you freezing in that getup?!?"

"The effects of the transformation protects us from climatic

extremes," Mercury answered automatically.

"We haven't got time for this," Luna said. "We have to stop Beryl from

unleashing the Negaforce. We'll try to answer your questions later, Major."

If there is a later, she added silently.

"Luna's right," Mars said. "Come on, Mercury. It's up to us now."

The two remaining Scouts and Luna ran towards the dimensional portal.

The away team glanced at each other, then followed. They had only gone a

few paces when a figure appeared in front of them, barring their way.

He was dressed in black and silver armor, complete with a cape, and he

had a sword in hand. "I knew those two would fail in their efforts to

stop you. But make no mistake about it, Sailor Scouts... You're not

getting past me."

"Who is it this time?" a frustrated Kira asked Worf.

Mars answered before the Klingon could. "Darien," she breathed.

Confusion showed on his face. "Who's Darien? My name is Prince

Darien."

"Oh, yes," Odo said, rolling his eyes. "There is a big difference.

I can see how you might become confused."

Sisko stared apprehensively at the viewscreen as all around him

various sensor alarms were sounding. The energy field in the arctic that

they had been monitoring had started growing exponentially in the last

few minutes, threatening to result in a dimensional crossover. Very

shortly, forces from the Negaverse would be able to cross over to Earth

at will. He shuddered to think of the destruction that would result,

given the resistance that they had demonstrated to Starfleet weapons in

the past. An Earth with only twentieth century weapons wouldn't stand a

chance.

O'Brien also glanced at the screen from his engineering position,

but he was less worried. After all, he had seen the Scouts defeat the

Borg and they *had* handled Beryl before their trip to the Enterprise D,

so they should be able to do so now... he hoped. "Sailor Moon should

cut loose with the Silver Crystal any minute now."

"I don't think so, Chief." The two of them looked to starboard

side door, where Dax was entering the bridge. She made her way over to

the helm, where she relieved the officer that had replaced Bashir. The

doctor had raced to the Defiant's small Sickbay the moment Dax had called

in the medical emergency. "I only saw four of the Scouts while I was

down there. And Sailor Moon wasn't one of them."

"What the..." O'Brien sputtered, aghast. "She's got to be there!"

"She wasn't."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but if Sailor Moon isn't there, then that

means no Silver Crystal," Sisko said.

"Yes. And without that, they have no way to beat Beryl," Dax added.

Sisko frowned. "If that's the case, it looks like it's up to us."

O'Brien looked at his captain as if he had lost his mind. "Us?!?"

Dax looked none to optimistic herself. "Benjamin, I don't know how

much we can realistically do to stop them."

"I'm aware of that, old man. But I'm not about to sit up here and

just watch while Earth, any Earth, is overwhelmed. I need you to find

me a way to prevent the dimensional crossover... and fast!"

"You're not getting past me," Darien repeated, ignoring Odo's

sarcasm.

"We shall see," Worf replied, raising his phaser and firing. And

he might have hit him, too, had Mars not deflected his arm.

"No! Don't hurt him!"

Worf glowered at her. "My phaser was set on stun! He would not

have been harmed!" He aimed his weapon again, only to discover a black

rose embedded in it.

Darien smiled, leveling his sword at Worf. "As I said, you're not

getting past me."

Worf threw the useless weapon away and moved into close range,

drawing his mek'leth. Darien took a swipe at him, but the Klingon was

able to parry it and respond with an attack of his own.

"You three get going," Kira ordered as they watched the two

exchange blows. "We'll keep him busy so you can do whatever it is

you're supposed to be doing." She and Odo moved around the two

combatants, looking for an opportunity to aid Worf.

"Right," Luna responded. "Let's go!" She ran off to the portal,

followed by the two remaining Scouts.

They had only gone a few paces when black energy erupted from the

portal, cutting off all light from the sun. In a matter of seconds, the

light level around them had fallen to that of nautical twilight. In the

same moment, Queen Beryl appeared before them, with a large, demonic

figure appearing behind her.

"We're too late," Luna whispered in a horrified tone.

"Well, Sailor Scouts, you have failed utterly. Despite your efforts,

the Negaforce is free at last! And now the world -- and soon the

universe -- will be mine!" She threw her head back and laughed.

Kira had looked back at the moment of Beryl's appearance, and saw

the mad monarch's glee. "I really don't like her," Kira muttered.

"She reminds me of a Cardassian."

"I think your being too hard on the Cardassians," Odo said.

"You haven't won yet, Beryl! Not while we're still alive!" Mars

cried defiantly.

"That can be easily rectified, Sailor Mars" Beryl gloated.

Worf took advantage of Darien's distraction at Beryl's appearance

by deflecting his blade downward with the mek'leth, then following it by

striking a blow to Darien's chin with the heel of his right palm.

Darien staggered backwards and Worf was about to press his advantage

when he was tackled by Odo. The Constable's reason came abundantly clear

as a bolt of energy tore through the space the Klingon had occupied.

Worf nodded his thanks to Odo. "Where is Prince Darien?"

"Telported away somehow," Odo responded as they got back to their

feet.

Beryl growled at this small setback. "Destroy them! Destroy them

now!" There was a loud demonic howl as the Negaforce charged at them.

Kira fired her phaser at the onrushing entity, but it had no obvious

effect. She slapped desperately at her comm badge. "Kira to Defiant!

Emergency transport, seven to beam up! NOW!!"

"We tried our best, Mars."

"Not good enough, Mercury. But thanks anyway." The blue haired

scout nodded as the two Scouts readied themselves for a last stand.

At that moment the transporter beam gripped the assembled group as

the Defiant reclaimed her own.

Next time: Things go from bad to worse in Chapter 3, "Day of Disaster".

Author's note: Don't know what a Horta is? See the Classic Trek episode,

"The Devil in the Dark".