The Regent's tactical officer noticed the incoming vessel on his monitor.
"Bird-of-Prey closing on intercept, sir. Sensors indicate it's the I.K.S.
Marcus."
"Kruge's ship!" Worf growled. Just then a volley of photon torpedoes came from
the Marcus, which Kruge had named after the Terran rebel of an earlier era.
"Our sensors are being disrupted!" the tactical officer continued as the
Negh'Var shook. "Our warp fields are destabilizing!"
"The p'tahk!" Worf uttered as the Negh'Var and other Alliance ships were forced
to drop out of warp by the Marcus' graviton burst. Kruge's ship continued
firing at the other vessels. The others returned fire.
"Today is a good day to die, Kruge—for you!" the Regent said out loud. The
Marcus' shields were on maximum, but they wouldn't hold for very long. But they
didn't need to.
On the Marcus, Kruge agreed it was a good day to die. "When I get to the gates
of Sto-Vo-Kor I will sing of your battles, of your courage and honor Marcus," he
said as if David was in the room. "I'll be your cha'Dich."
Dax and Bashir, who also felt the graviton's effect, witnessed the battle at the
edge of their sensors. The Marcus was taking heavy fire and its shields were
finally collapsing. A final shot from the Negh'Var's disruptor batteries
finished it. The Alliance fleet would soon be able to resume warp. But Kruge
had bought them enough time. They were ready to generate the warp shadow
decoys.
Smiley met up with Dax and Bashir after their ships docked at Terok Nor. Tuvok
joined them. Dax briefed them on Kruge. Together they'd bought enough time to
drive off the Alliance fleet. "So I guess this would qualify as winning the
victory he wanted?" O'Brien asked.
Dax nodded. "I think so."
"I'd have to admit though that like most Terrans I've never really felt we have
souls," O'Brien said.
"Vulcans call them katras," Tuvok said. "We are able to place them into another
person just before we die, if someone is present at the time."
"Of course two centuries ago your people encouraged the belief that the rest of
us didn't have souls, or katras," Dax reminded him, "because the rest of us
can't do that."
"Unfortunately that is true," Tuvok admitted. "Many Bajorans also believe in a
'soul' or 'katra'. They refer to it as one's pagh, or boryha." Bajor's vedeks
and prylars had sheltered a number of people on the station from the Alliance at
one time or another, often at great risk to their own lives.
"Of course I have a new life every time I'm placed in a new host," Dax pointed
out. "Whether that qualifies as a kind of life after death I can't say."
The topic got Smiley thinking about something Dax said earlier when they first
met Kruge. "Was Spock able to place his katra into anyone?"
"He was," Tuvok answered. "What is not widely known is that they used a device
Spock had obtained from the first crossover to take him to the other side,
because Mt. Seleya was under Earth control following the coup."
They noticed Captain Sisko and his son off to the side, looking very tired. "We
lost Professor Sisko," Tuvok explained. The others looked down.
"I'm going to miss her," O'Brien said.
"I just hope they're at peace. Especially David," Dax said. "What happened
wasn't his fault."
"Bird-of-Prey closing on intercept, sir. Sensors indicate it's the I.K.S.
Marcus."
"Kruge's ship!" Worf growled. Just then a volley of photon torpedoes came from
the Marcus, which Kruge had named after the Terran rebel of an earlier era.
"Our sensors are being disrupted!" the tactical officer continued as the
Negh'Var shook. "Our warp fields are destabilizing!"
"The p'tahk!" Worf uttered as the Negh'Var and other Alliance ships were forced
to drop out of warp by the Marcus' graviton burst. Kruge's ship continued
firing at the other vessels. The others returned fire.
"Today is a good day to die, Kruge—for you!" the Regent said out loud. The
Marcus' shields were on maximum, but they wouldn't hold for very long. But they
didn't need to.
On the Marcus, Kruge agreed it was a good day to die. "When I get to the gates
of Sto-Vo-Kor I will sing of your battles, of your courage and honor Marcus," he
said as if David was in the room. "I'll be your cha'Dich."
Dax and Bashir, who also felt the graviton's effect, witnessed the battle at the
edge of their sensors. The Marcus was taking heavy fire and its shields were
finally collapsing. A final shot from the Negh'Var's disruptor batteries
finished it. The Alliance fleet would soon be able to resume warp. But Kruge
had bought them enough time. They were ready to generate the warp shadow
decoys.
Smiley met up with Dax and Bashir after their ships docked at Terok Nor. Tuvok
joined them. Dax briefed them on Kruge. Together they'd bought enough time to
drive off the Alliance fleet. "So I guess this would qualify as winning the
victory he wanted?" O'Brien asked.
Dax nodded. "I think so."
"I'd have to admit though that like most Terrans I've never really felt we have
souls," O'Brien said.
"Vulcans call them katras," Tuvok said. "We are able to place them into another
person just before we die, if someone is present at the time."
"Of course two centuries ago your people encouraged the belief that the rest of
us didn't have souls, or katras," Dax reminded him, "because the rest of us
can't do that."
"Unfortunately that is true," Tuvok admitted. "Many Bajorans also believe in a
'soul' or 'katra'. They refer to it as one's pagh, or boryha." Bajor's vedeks
and prylars had sheltered a number of people on the station from the Alliance at
one time or another, often at great risk to their own lives.
"Of course I have a new life every time I'm placed in a new host," Dax pointed
out. "Whether that qualifies as a kind of life after death I can't say."
The topic got Smiley thinking about something Dax said earlier when they first
met Kruge. "Was Spock able to place his katra into anyone?"
"He was," Tuvok answered. "What is not widely known is that they used a device
Spock had obtained from the first crossover to take him to the other side,
because Mt. Seleya was under Earth control following the coup."
They noticed Captain Sisko and his son off to the side, looking very tired. "We
lost Professor Sisko," Tuvok explained. The others looked down.
"I'm going to miss her," O'Brien said.
"I just hope they're at peace. Especially David," Dax said. "What happened
wasn't his fault."