"Perhaps today *is* a good day to die..."

-Lt. Commander Worf

"I tell you Worf, war is more fun when you're winning!"

-General Martok

Chapter 3 - Day of Disaster

Out of the corner of his eye, Sisko could see Kira stride forcefully

onto the bridge. "Rough trip, Major?"

"You could say that," she answered. "Worf's taken our guests to

the medical bay, but there's a big problem to deal with on Earth. All

hell's broken loose down there. Literally."

"I know, Major," the captain replied softly, indicating the

viewscreen. Puzzled, Kira turned to face the forward part of the bridge

and gasped at the image that was displayed.

"May the Prophets save us..."

"We shouldn't be here," Mars was saying as Worf led them to the

medical bay. She paused a moment to glare back at Odo, who was trailing

behind them. "We should be back on Earth trying to stop Beryl."

"Your attitude is commendable, but such an attempt would be

foolish," Worf responded. "The two of you do not possess the power to

confront Beryl on your own, let alone the Negaforce. Any attempt for you

to do so would be a useless, though honorable, gesture." Mars looked as

if she were about to object for a moment, then subsided. She hated to

admit it, but Worf was right... She and Mercury didn't have the power

needed to defeat Beryl, at least not without the Silver Crystal. And

with the Negaforce loose, there was very little hope that they would be

able to get their hands on the Rainbow Crystals and use them to recreate

it. Entering the medical bay, she sighed. Things hadn't seemed this

bleak to her since...

The raven haired Scout stopped short upon entering. There were two

beds in the Defiant's small medical bay, and a man, evidently the doctor,

was working at one. The other had a still figure on it, one that was

covered with a sheet. "No..." she breathed, staring at it in shock.

After a moment, Mercury moved passed her and hesitantly lifted it up,

revealing Sailor Venus.

"She died a few minutes ago," a voice came from behind them.

Turning, they faced Bashir. In a voice laced with regret he continued,

"I'm sorry, but there wasn't anything I could do for her... for any of

them, really. The damage from... whatever caused it, was simply too

extensive, going right down to the cellular level."

"Artemis?" Luna asked from her perch on Mercury's shoulder.

"If you're referring to the white cat, then I'm afraid he was dead

on arrival."

"And... Sailor Jupiter?" Mercury asked in a quiet voice.

Bashir opened his mouth to answer, but another spoke up before he

did, saying in a weak voice, "I'm still here... for a little longer,

anyway." The other two looked to Bashir, hoping that he'd have something

more positive to say, but he simply nodded in silent agreement. Mercury

automatically produced her computer and scanned Jupiter but quickly saw

that the doctor was right. The tall Scout didn't have long to live.

"No!" Mars protested and moved over the Jupiter's side. "That can't

be true! She's going to be OK..."

"Raye." The use of her name brought her up short. She blinked, and

gazed down at the tall Scout, who was staring firmly at her. "Don't lie

to yourself. Doctor Bashir already told me how bad off I am." She

flicked her eyes over to the doctor. "It's too bad I won't be sticking

around. He looks just like my old boyfriend." Her statement obviously

caught Bashir off guard, and he blinked in surprise.

"Oh, Lita..." Mars said in a whisper. A part of her sensed Mercury

move beside her and Luna bound down onto the biobed beside Jupiter.

"Hey, you can't worry about me," Jupiter said. She grimaced slightly

and Bashir moved to administer a hypo, but she waved him off. "You still

have to take care of Beryl. Wish I could help, but at least me and Venus

took care of Malachite for you."

"We'll try of course," Mercury said. "But I don't know if we have

the power to do so..."

"You have to," Jupiter insisted. Another wave of pain washed over

her, and she gripped Mars' arm tightly. "Just promise me this," she said,

looking intently first at Luna, then Mercury, and finally Mars. "Promise

me that no matter what it takes, no matter what you have to do, you'll

stop Beryl. Otherwise it'll all have been for nothing. And after

everything we've gone through, it's gotta mean something..."

"We'll do it," Luna said. The other two simply nodded, not

trusting themselves to speak without breaking into tears.

"Good," Jupiter said and then she caught sight of Worf standing

behind them. A puzzled frown formed on her face. "Strange... somehow I

feel I know you. But that can't be since I've never seen anyone like

you..." Her voice trailed off as the life ebbed from her body.

The only sound in the room was the shrill whine coming from the

biomonitors, which Bashir silenced with a touch on the controls. He was

about express his condolences to the trio when a low rumbling sound

brought him up short. He had just figured out it was coming from Worf

when the Klingon threw back his head and let out an earsplitting howl.

Muniz looked up from the torpedo he and O'Brien were working on.

"What was that?"

"You mean that howling sound?" the Chief inquired, his attention

still on the torpedo. After Muniz nodded he added, "That was Commander

Worf doing the Klingon Death Howl."

"Klingon Death Howl?"

"That's right." O'Brien looked at Muniz, his expression deadly

serious. "It's a tradition that some Klingons observe at the moment of

death for their fellows. It's a warning to the dead: Beware, a warrior

comes among you."

The occupants of the medical bay stared at Worf, obviously shaken by

his howl. Even with his unique physiology, Odo seemed disturbed by it

also. "Why did you do that?" Mercury asked.

That was a question Bashir and Odo wanted answered as well, but each

could see that Worf was reluctant to elaborate. "It is a long story," was

all the Klingon would say.

In truth, Worf wasn't quite sure how to explain it at the moment,

given the twists in time this mission had presented them. During the

Scouts stay on the Enterprise, he had developed a great deal of respect

for Lita Kino, AKA Sailor Jupiter... enough respect that he had with her

consent, adopted her into the House of Mogh. In his head he knew that the

Lita before him had never experienced that timeline but in his heart he

felt that he still had an obligation for her... even though the House of

Mogh had been disbanded and disgraced by Chancellor Gowron almost

eighteen months previously.

"That's it?" Mars exclaimed somewhat incredulously. "That's all

you've got to say after nearly rupturing our eardrums? 'It's a long

story'?"

Worf was saved from deciding on what to say by a summons from the

comm system. "Sisko to Worf. Report to the bridge."

"On my way, Captain." Worf was proceeding to the exit when Mars

grabbed his arm.

"Wait a minute. We're going with you."

"You should have your injuries treated first," Bashir objected.

"Both of you."

Worf stared at Mars intently and saw the determination in her eyes.

Though no word were spoken between the two, much was communicated between

the two. In that brief span of time, Worf understood her reasons

instantly. She had to accompany him, so that they could fulfill the

promise had made to the dying Jupiter. For her part, Mars understood

that Worf would do all he could to see that they were able to keep their

word to Lita. Without turning from the raven haired Scout, Worf asked,

"Are their injuries life threatening?"

"Well... no," Bashir admitted. "But they should be treated as soon

as possible. Especially her shoulder."

"Then they will be... but *after* they speak with the captain." Worf

nodded to the two Scouts and cat and they followed him out of the medical

bay.

Bashir sighed and began the process of placing the bodies in stasis.

It wasn't that mind-consuming a task, so a large part of his mind was

brooding over the loss of the two young lives, and the cat as well.

'Perhaps,' he speculated, 'if I had the resources available in the

infirmary at DS9, or even if this were a proper sickbay as opposed to

this miniaturized excuse for one, I might have been able to save them.

Perhaps even Artemis...'

With a start he realized that Odo had remained behind, and had

been quietly watching him. "I'm sorry, Odo. Is there something I can do

for you?" Bashir asked.

"I'm not sure," the Constable admitted reluctantly. "I've been

feeling.. odd since the battle with Malachite."

"Well, let's see what I can do for you," Bashir stated with false

joviality. He opened up a medical tricorder and began scanning the

changeling with it. "Hmmm... there are some mild instabilities in your

morphogenic matrix."

"Instabilities?" Odo asked, clearly worried.

Bashir smiled. "There's no need for concern, Constable. There's

nothing that won't be cleared up by your taking a few hours of rest to

regenerate."

Odo nodded, clearly relieved. "Thank you, Doctor. I think I'll go

to my quarters and do that."

"You're quite welcome," Bashir said. His expression became more

serious when he looked back to the bodies in the stasis chambers. "I'm

just glad I could be of some help to somebody today."

Odo watched him carefully for a moment. "It's not your fault,

Doctor."

Bashir smiled ruefully. "Oh, I'm aware of that, Odo... at least

intellectually. However, I can't help feeling that if I had the

resources I had back at the station, or even if this were a proper

sickbay, that I could have done more for them."

"Perhaps," Odo said noncommittally. "But I don't see any reason to

dwell on what might have been."

"Then perhaps I should speculate on other things," Bashir answered.

"I noticed that Mars, and to a lesser extent Mercury, shot a couple of

nasty glares your way on the way out. Now, why is that?"

Odo snorted. "You hardly need to speculate about that, Doctor.

Mercury informed me that they've met another changeling previously, and

that it was responsible for a friend's death."

"That would tend to make them a bit hostile about changelings in

general. And it would tend to color thier opinions about you."

Odo nodded. "Indeed. Especially if that friend is Sailor Moon."

"More speculation, Odo?"

"Deduction, Doctor, not speculation. One, Sailor Moon is missing

from a battle that she has a pivotal role in. Two, according to Worf,

the Sailor Scouts were all close friends. When you add in Mercury's

revelation, it leads one to this conclusion."

The doctor frowned. "That does seem to fit."

"I'm glad you concur," Odo replied with some sarcasm. "Perhaps

you should consult with me on medical matters as well."

Bashir smiled. "Don't worry Odo. I won't make a habit of it."

"I should hope not."

"If that accounts for all the Sailor Scouts, I wonder what happened

to that Tuxedo Mask character Worf talked about."

"He was there," Odo confirmed. Briefly the constable relayed the

events that occurred at the Arctic battlefield.

Bashir was suitably impressed by what he heard. "It's a pity you

weren't able to capture him. I might have been able to do something for

Darien to reverse his amnesia."

Odo snorted. "Don't you mean Prince Darien?"

A puzzled expression formed on the doctor's face. "What's the

difference?"

"None that I can see," Odo responded. "No, Doctor. Beryl wasn't

about to let her... 'prize' get away that easily. Besides, we have no way

of knowing if a stun setting would have any effect on him. And I don't

blame Mars for interfering with Worf's shot, she didn't know the phaser was

on stun... and she's quite clearly in love with this Darien."

"Love?" a mystified Bashir asked. "How do you know that?"

"I'm a detective, Doctor. And I've been observing you humanoids

carefully over the years. The signs are obvious if you know where to

look. Now if you'll excuse me." The Constable nodded to Bashir and

departed for his quarters. At least he wouldn't have to share them with

Quark on this trip.

The bridge was a proverbial beehive of activity when Worf and the

Scouts entered. The Klingon noted that several of the stations were

manned by reserve personnel and that, aside from the captain, Kira was

the only senior officer on the bridge. The Major was working furiously

at the tactical station, directing the activity of those around her.

By contrast, Sisko was standing rock still by his command chair,

staring intently at the viewscreen. Presently he barked out, "Chief,

where the hell are those torpedoes?"

A disembodied voice answered him. "Almost ready, Captain. We're

modifying the last two now."

"Good." He turned to Worf. "Take weapons control and check the

firing program, Mr. Worf. Kira will brief you on the plan." The Klingon

nodded and moved to the station, Kira got out of her seat and began

outlining the plan Dax and O'Brien had come up with. Curious, Mercury

followed to listen in.

Luna jumped onto the command chair console. "Not that we're

ungrateful, but who ARE you people? And what are you trying to do?"

Sisko regarded the cat for a brief period. Even though he had

been briefed on their existence, he still found himself taken aback at

meeting a talking cat face to face. "I'm sorry... Luna, isn't it?" After

the startled cat nodded he continued, "We haven't got time for lengthy

introductions right now, but I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko, commanding the

Federation starship Defiant. At the moment, we're trying to seal off the

link between Earth and the Negaverse." His gaze returned to the viewscreen,

"Before it's too late." Mars and Luna did likewise, and gasped. A large

part of the northern hemisphere was covered in a writhing dark mass that

was growing visibly. Fully one third of the planet had been enveloped.

"What it that?" asked Mars, her voice low.

"Our sensors identify it as a negative energy field, but it's like

nothing we've ever encountered before," Sisko replied. "All we really

know for certain is that we're reading massive destruction inside the

field. Whole cities are being destroyed. Even outside the field, it as

if nature has gone bezerk: earthquakes, volcanos erupting, tornadoes...

virtually every kind of natural disaster is going on."

"It's the Negaforce's doing," Luna said. "It's remaking the surface

of the Earth in the image of the Negaverse." The black cat shook her

head sadly. "We've failed."

Sisko shook his head. "Not yet, we haven't," he insisted firmly.

"There may be two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but thanks to Dax and

Chief O'Brien, we still have one more chance at bat."

Mars hoped he was right, but in her mind she could almost hear the

screams of the people trapped inside the dark mass below. "Do... do you

have any idea about casualties below?"

The captain grimaced. "High," he admitted. "Our sensor readings

inside the field are limited, but it appears the it's several thousand at

least. Considering that several major cities lie inside it, it may well

be in the millions. But we can't concern ourselves with that at the

moment."

"What?!" Mars hissed. She was dimly aware that several of the crew

turned to stare at her, Worf and Kira in particular, but she plunged on

regardless. "How can you have a cold blooded attitude like..."

"Because I have to be more concerned with saving those millions that

are still alive," Sisko retorted, interrupting her forcefully. "We'll

mourn for the dead later... after the current crisis is over." The two

of them glared at each other, each of the iron willed individuals

unwilling to give an inch. Finally Sisko added in a gentler tone, "That

includes those who've died up here on the Defiant. You all have my

condolences on the deaths of your friends, and I think I can safely speak for

my crew when I say they feel similarly. I know from personal experience what

it's like to lose someone close to you that suddenly."

Mars sensed the sincerity behind Sisko's words and her expression

softened, but before she could respond the starboard door hissed open to

admit Dax, followed by Chief O'Brien. The Trill science officer looked

tired as she made her way to the helm. "We're ready, sir," she said.

"All the torpedoes have been modified and loaded in the launch tubes."

"I hope your calculations are right, old man..." Sisko began quietly,

now taking his own seat. "Because if they're not..."

"If they're not, I don't think there'll be much of an Earth left

to save," Dax finished in the same tone.

Luna looked oddly at Dax, then to Sisko, "Old man? You need your

eyes checked."

Sisko raised an eyebrow, while Dax smiled broadly. "It's a long

story, Luna," she said. "I'll be happy to tell you all about it when we

finish here."

In the meantime, Mars went over to where Mercury was standing just

behind Worf at the tactical station. She could see the both he and Kira

were feverishly setting up some last details on the firing program. In a

low voice she asked her fellow Scout, "What are they trying to do? And

can it actually work?"

The blue haired Scout tapped on her computer for a moment before

answering. "They've modified several of their weapons to cause a

subspace inversion field." At Raye's dubious look, she smiled. "Don't

worry, I'm not sure I understand it either. As for it working... Well,

it's possible. The subspace physics they're using are quite advanced

beyond anything that exists on Earth, but the theory seems sound.

Assuming everything goes as planned, the explosions will set up an

inversion field causing a cascade reaction within the dimensional portal

between Earth and the Negaverse, thereby severing the dimensional link.

At the very least, this should by us some time."

Mars looked dubiously back at the screen. It seemed like a long

shot, but what else could they try?

Worf turned to Sisko, "Firing program loaded and ready, sir."

"Very well. Deactivate the cloak and fire when ready, Mr. Worf,"

Sisko ordered.

"Aye, sir." Worf touched a control on his monitor, activating the

firing program. Outside, the Defiant became visible once more and

immediately launched a staggered volley of photon and quantum torpedoes.

Those on the bridge watched anxiously as the orange and white weapons

raced towards Earth, disappearing into the dark mass above D point.

Dax monitored the sensors for reaction. "Detonation of all

torpedoes confirmed. Subspace field inversion proceeding."

"It's working..." Mercury breathed. The Scouts and the crew held

their collective breath as the growth of the dark field slowed and

finally seemed to stop.

An alarm sounded from Dax's panel. Hurriedly she checked the

sensor readouts. "Hold on. Something's interfering with the cascade

reaction," she announced.

"The Negaforce," Luna observed sadly.

Dax looked horrified at the sensor readings. "The subspace

inversion field has been completely negated. The portal's not

collapsing... it's tearing wide open." On the viewscreen, the black

mass began expanding at a greatly accelerated rate and covered the

planet within a matter of seconds. The assembled group stared at the

image in stunned silence, that was interrupted by an alert from the

tactical station.

"Captain, incoming fire!" Worf cried. Several massive bolts of

energy emerged from the darkness over D point, heading straight for the

Defiant.

"Evasive!" Sisko ordered, "Shields to maximum!" While Dax was able

to evade some of the incoming fire, a good many of the bolts impacted on

the small starship, sending it tumbling. Inside, several panels exploded

as a result of the power surges and the crew hung on for dear life as the

deck pitched under them. Mercury and Mars hung on to the back of Worf's

seat, while Luna dug her claws into the armrest of Sisko's chair.

"Shields gone!" Worf reported.

"Warp drive is out too," O'Brien shouted over the noise. "And the

entire weapons array is offline!"

Sisko began calling out orders. "Dax, get us back under control!

Activate the cloaking device." Dax worked to steady the ship while moving

it into another orbit. Outside, the Defiant ceased it's spinning motion

and faded from view just as another energy bolt shot up and passed

through where the ship had been. Still more bolts emerged from below,

bracketing the starship.

Kira spoke up, "Those shots are coming too close for comfort. I

think they're tracking us somehow!"

"While we're cloaked?" asked O'Brien in disbelief.

"They had several Jem'Hadar under their control, so they probably

had access Dominion technology at the same time. Including their method

for penetrating cloaks," Dax theorized.

"Whatever it is, we're not sticking around to find out," Sisko said.

"Move us out of the system, Dax. Best speed." The Trill officer nodded

and made the necessary adjustments to the helm. The image of Earth on

the viewscreen grew smaller as the Defiant moved off on impulse power,

the groundfire becoming more sporadic when it passed beyond lunar orbit.

Mars looked at the shrinking image of the enshrouded Earth on the

viewscreen, then glanced at the monitor of conditions within the

blackness. She couldn't understand all of it, but the ramifications of

total devastation being wrought below were perfectly clear.

Negaverse victory. All their efforts had come to naught.

Each of the Defiant's bridge crew had an expression of uncertainty,

as they were unsure what to do next. Mars finally settled her gaze on

Sisko, who had a similar expression on his face. "Well?!?" she demanded.

"Now what?"

Sisko continued to stare at the enshrouded Earth. "Strike three,"

he said quietly.

Mars couldn't believe it. The determination she had felt when

leaving the medical bay went out of her like air from a popped balloon.

"It was all for nothing. Everything we've gone through... everyone we've

lost... Serena..." Worf looked at her sharply at this, but said nothing.

"Lita... Mina... Artemis... all for NOTHING!" She collapsed into an

empty chair, too emotionally spent even for tears. Mercury went over

and tried to comfort her friend, but Raye seemed only dimly aware of her.

Sisko turned to Kira. "Major, our guest still have injuries that

need attention. Please escort them to the medical bay, then assign them

quarters," he said in a still quiet voice.

"Yes, sir," the Major responded. Gently she asked the Scouts to

come with her, Mars doing so almost mechanically.

After they left, Sisko turned to the helm. "Dax, take another look

at the situation. Find another method to severe the dimensional link.

And make it work this time."

"Benjamin, I don't think..." she broke off at the stern look on

Sisko's face which brooked no argument, instead saying quietly, "Yes,

sir." She moved over to one of the science stations and began working.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the bridge, broken only by a

loud thud and a cracking of glass as Sisko slammed his fist on his

console in frustration.

"There," Bashir said, putting down the tissue regenerator. He

picked up a medical tricorder and passed it over Mars' shoulder. "Good

as new."

Mars flexed her left arm experimentally. There was no pain at all

from the wound the Jem'Hadar weapon had inflicted. In fact, it was as if

she had never been injured at all. "Thanks."

"All part of the friendly service," the doctor answered, moving over

to the biobed Mercury was seated on. "Though you should thank whomever

bandaged that in the first place."

"That would be me," Mercury said, turning slightly red.

"Oh?" Bashir began scanning Mercury's injuries, noting with relief

that they were relatively minor. "I don't see why you're embarrassed.

You did a first rate job with that makeshift bandage. I doubt I could've

done better under the circumstances."

"Thank you, doctor."

He glanced up from the tricorder. "Have you considered a career in

medicine? You've certainly got an aptitude for it."

"I... I did want to be a doctor," the blue haired girl replied,

suddenly downcast. "But I doubt that's possible now." Bashir mentally

kicked himself, and from the look Kira was giving him, she was more than

willing to do it physically. All he had wanted to do was try to cheer

them up, but what he had ended up doing instead was to remind them of the

devastation that was being wrought on Earth.

Kira went over and put a comforting hand on Mars' shoulder. "Don't

give up hope yet. If there's anyway to push Beryl off your world,

Captain Sisko will find it."

Mars shot a glare at the Major, who returned it measure for measure.

"Who are you to talk about not giving up? Your world wasn't taken over

by alien invaders!"

"Oh yes it was," Kira responded, her voice taking on a hard edge to

it. "Bajor, my homeworld, was invaded and occupied by the Cardassians.

We were no threat to them, but they still came and stripped out world of

it's resources, put us into labor camps... murdered us... you name it,

the Cardassians did it. But we didn't give up. We formed a resistance

movement and fought back against the Cardassians. It may have taken us

fifty years, but we managed to force them off our world. And the same

thing can work on Earth."

"A resistance movement? Against the Negaverse?" Luna said, doubt

evident in her voice. Mercury and Mars looked equally skeptical.

Kira nodded. "It's one option."

"No offense, Major," Bashir interjected, "But forming a resistance

against the Cardassians was one thing. From what I've heard, their

opponents are in another class entirely."

"You got that right," Mars remarked.

"It's just one possible solution," Kira said. "My point is that no

situation is entirely hopeless. And Captain Sisko will find a way to

resolve this -- whether it's forming a resistance movement and supplying

it with weapons from the Defiant's armory... Or something else altogether."

"You really believe in him, don't you?" Mercury asked.

"Absolutely," Kira affirmed. "After all, he is the Emissary."

Several hours later, Dax reluctantly pressed the door chime at

Sisko's quarters and heard him respond softly, "Come in." The door opened

to admit her to Sisko's temporary home on the Defiant. Sisko was seated

on the lower bunk, a somber expression on his face. In fact, she didn't

think she had seen her old friend look this depressed since Jennifer's

death at Wolf 359, a little over five years ago. Those were back in the

days of Curzon Dax, before the Dax symbiote had passed to Jadzia, but the

memories were still vivid.

Sisko stood up slowly and faced her. "I could sure use some good

news right now, old man."

"Unfortunately, I don't have any," she answered. "O'Brien and I

have been over it a dozen times, from just as many different angles.

There's just no way we can sever the link between this universe and the

Negaverse."

Sisko sagged back against the bunk bed, feeling very weary. "You're

sure?"

She nodded. "I've tried everything I could think of, even a couple

things that violate the laws of physics. The link is just too strong to

sever with our current resources." Sisko turned away from her, facing the

far wall. "And it doesn't help matters any that it's being artificially

maintained by the Negaforce."

Sisko stood silently for several moments, digesting her report, then

slammed his fist into the cabin wall. "Damn it!"

Despite the situation, an amused expression came across Dax's face.

"You never could keep your temper in check, Ben. Feel any better?"

"A little," he admitted. "I just hate feeling this helpless, Dax.

We didn't just stumble across this situation, we were brought here! The

wormhole was deliberately diverted to bring us to this time and place to

do something. But there doesn't seem to be anything we can do to help

this situation." He heaved a sigh of frustration and placed his hands on

his hips. "This problem is too big for us to handle, even with the help

of the Sailor Scouts."

Dax's brow furrowed. "Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way."

Sisko turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

"Like you said, this is too big for us. So maybe the wormhole aliens

had another reason for sending us here."

"Such as?"

Dax shrugged. "I don't know. Those pieces of the puzzle is still

missing."

Sisko turned and paced across the room a few times, pondering what

she said. "Then it's time we found those missing pieces, old man," he

said, several moments later, feeling a new sense of purpose fill him.

"The Prophets mentioned an 'anomaly'... and now that I have time to think

about it, there's a very good chance they were talking about a temporal

anomaly. And I'd bet my baseball that it has some connection to the

changes in the timeline that we've observed here as well."

"No bet," Dax said. "I think you're onto something, Benjamin. I'll

get on the sensors and start scanning for temporal anomalies."

"Search for any spatial anomalies as well, Dax. We can't afford to

leave any stone unturned. And have Chief O'Brien get to work on that log

buoy again. Now that there's time to give it a good lookover, there may

be a few answers there as well."

"Yes, sir" she answered and left the room.

"Sisko to Worf," the captain said, prompting the computer to activate

the intercom system. "I have an assignment for you."

"Muniz!" The younger man looked up from a console to see O'Brien

entering the engine room.

"Yes, Chief?"

"The captain wants us to take a look at that log buoy we salvaged,"

the Chief answered. "Hopefully it'll give us some clue as to what the

hell's going on around here. Besides, now that most of the damage has

been repaired, you need something to do, right?" The two engineers moved

over to the damaged buoy, which had been placed in a corner of the

Defiant's engine room. With all the recent activity, neither had been

able to make the time to attempt to extract useful information from it.

"It'll be a miracle if we get anything out of this mess," Muniz

remarked, shaking his head.

"We won't know until we try," O'Brien stated. "Besides, you're

not afraid of a little hard work, are you Muniz?"

"No, sir," Muniz answered with a smile.

"Don't call me sir," the Chief groused, "Unless you *really* want

a transfer to Waste Extraction." They both chuckled and began work by

removing an inspection plate form the buoy. After much effort they

managed to get it off, and stared in stunned silence as they got a good

look at the buoy's inner workings.

"I don't believe it!" Muniz remarked. "I thought they stopped

using stuff like this a hundred years ago!"

O'Brien shook himself and tried to focus on the task at hand. "They

did, but it doesn't change our job any. Captain Sisko wants answers, and

that means he wants us to find them."

The sound of the door chime startle Amy, almost causing her to drop

the padd she had been studying. She and Raye were in the small, though

spartan, quarters that Major Kira had assigned them. Upon transforming

back, Raye had opted to get some sleep, but Amy found that she couldn't

contain her curiosity about their hosts and accessed the computer.

Besides, she doubted she could sleep very well at the moment. Any sleep

she got right now would no doubt be tainted by nightmares of recent

events... Mina's death... Lita's... the Negaverse overrunning Earth...

and Serena's death. It had been months since that had happened, but the

events of that day still plagued her at night. Again she wondered how

Raye was able to put these things aside and get to sleep so easily.

Probably something in her training as a Shinto priestess, she decided.

Downloading the data into a padd, she decided to start with the

history of the Defiant and the crew she had met, and had gotten as far as

the recent history of Bajor before she was interrupted.

Getting out of the lower bunk, she looked at Raye. The other girl

was eyeing the door rather groggily. "What now?" she asked in a rather

irritated voice as the door chimed again. Amy could swear that it had

taken on an impatient tone.

"One way to find out." She was about to admit whoever was at the

door when Raye put a restraining hand on her.

"Hold on. Let's transform first."

"I hardly think maintaining a secret identity is necessary now,

Raye."

"Maybe not," the other girl admitted. "And I think these people

can be trusted... at least Worf can be. But's lets be on the safe side,

OK?"

Amy considered what she said and nodded. "OK." Two transformation

phrases (and three door chimes) later she said, "Come in."

The door opened and a rather impatient (but trying not to show it)

Worf entered. He looked first at Mercury, then at Mars eyeing him from

the upper bunk. He noted that the small tears in their clothing had

disappeared. "Am I disturbing you?"

"Not at all," Mars replied, the sarcasm sharply evident in her

voice. "I was only sleeping." Worf repressed the instinctive urge to

snarl. This was Mars, alright. She was just as sharp tongued as during

her trip to the Enterprise D.

"Mars!"Mercury chided her. Turning to Worf, "Well, I wasn't

sleeping, though I was doing some research into the history of your

world. It sounds like an interesting place."

"It is," he agreed. "Hopefully we will be able to return there once

this matter is resolved."

Mars looked confused. "Can't you just use the same way you got

here?"

"No," the Klingon replied. "We were investigating an anomaly in

the wormhole. For some reason, it led us here and then vanished."

Mercury nodded in understanding. "Yes, the wormhole between the

Alpha and Gamma Quadrants." Then she frowned as what Worf said sank in.

"It led you here? It shouldn't have done that."

"We do not understand it either," Worf agreed. "Our current theory

is that the wormhole aliens routed us here for some reason. And that is

the reason for my visit."

"How so?" Mars asked.

"We believe that a temporal anomaly occurred, altering the history

of your world. Captain Sisko asked me to talk with you three..." His

voice trailed off and he glanced about the room. "Where is Luna?"

"She said something about exploring the ship. She should be back

soon," Mercury answered. "You were saying?"

"Yes. The captain asked me to talk with you three to see if I

could determine the crucial event that altered the flow of your history."

"You mean something happened to change the way things should have

gone for us?" Mercury asked.

"That is our current theory, yes."

"But why you?" Mars asked. "I mean, isn't Dax the scientist?"

"She is," Worf admitted, "But I have greater knowledge of your

true history from my earlier meeting with you on the Enterprise."

Mercury looked puzzled. "Meeting?"

"We've never met you before," Mars added. "And believe me, we'd

definitely remember meeting someone like you."

"Of course not," Worf said, ignoring Mars' barb. "That event took

place later in your history, and in the true timeline. You can confirm

what I've said by accessing the logs of the Enterprise D." He added a

range of stardates for good measure.

Mercury picked up the padd and quickly manipulated the controls,

calling up the relevant data. It only took her a moment to skim over the

log entries, "He's right Mars. All five of the Sailor Scouts visited

there... and Tuxedo Mask as well." She read on for a moment and gasped.

"Our names are listed here! Our real ones!"

"You spent over a month on the Enterprise and as we are from

different universes, there was no need to conceal who and what you were,"

Worf said, trying to reassure her. "But in order to preserve that

timeline, we need to know how things changed. I need you to tell me

everything that has happened. Form the moment you became Sailor Scouts

to Sailor Moon's death... and what has happened since."

Next time: Dax and O'Brien conduct their own searches for some answers to

this temporal quandary, and each yield some surprising results.

Meanwhile, Mercury and Mars explain to Worf just what went wrong in

"A moonless world"