Scanning the habitat, Bashir's expression was of fascination and confusion.
"These are Earth animals, there's no doubt about it. I'd like to take one of them up to the Defiant to examine it, an examination may yield clues to where they came from," he said.
"How are we going to do that? If we take one of these animals, they'll will know it's missing," Kira asked.
Bashir looked at Odo and then back into the habitat.
"The constable could take the form of one of them to lure one here. He could also take its place while we're gone. It could fool the guards long enough to get proper readings," he said, turning to face Odo, "that's if you're willing."
"No problem Doctor, I welcome the chance to try out a new form," he replied.
Bashir and Kira looked around and when the coast was clear, they gave the go ahead for Odo to go to work. Walking towards the railing, he shifted into his liquid form and oozed between the bars, eventually oozing towards the artificial lake and reforming into the shape of an otter. Solidifying, he dove into the water.
Swimming under the water, he couldn't help but enjoy the form. The sensation of flowing water against waterproof fur was unlike anything he had ever experienced. For a few minutes, he found himself diving and enjoying the sensation as the other otters swam up to him to investigate this new arrival. Surfacing, he waited for them to do the same. Once they did, they all chittered and squeaked at him.
He turned to one of them, squeaking and chittering at it before swimming back in the direction of Bashir and Kira. Curious, the otter followed him, wondering who he was and what was going on. It followed him all the way back to shore and up to the fence.
It watched as the otter before it assumed a more gelatinous form, slowly standing on its hind legs before growing to humanoid size. It had seen this before and wanted to be afraid and run. Something inside of it told it to stand its ground however.
Once Odo has reassumed his normal humanoid form, he bent down to pick the otter up. The otter looked at him, fear in his eyes. Odo, one to respect all forms of life, did his best to assure the creature.
"It's all right, we won't hurt you, we simply want to know where you came from" he said.
The otter decided to stand his ground. Odo slowly picked him up, handing him to Bashir, who held the dripping wet weasel like creature against his chest with both arms.
"I've never seen one of these guys this close," he said, unable to hold back a smile. He managed to tap his combadge to contact the Defiant. "Bashir to Defiant, I'm beaming up with an otter we've found down here. I want to examine him for clues as to where they came from."
"Aye sir, stand by," the transporter operator said.
"Hopefully we'll be able to solve at least one mystery today," he said before the transporter beam activated and he and the otter dematerialized before them.
Odo could hear someone coming and altered Kira.
"They might notice one of their animals missing. Maybe you should," Kira started Odo knowing what she was getting at. Slowly he morphed back onto otter form, looking at Kira through otter eyes when he was done. "Try not to have too much fun in there," she said with a smile. He nodded and slowly slid into the cool water, diving under it.
Minutes later, a tall man walked up behind Kira, he stood tall enough that the top of her head only reached midway up his chest. The brown uniform he wore covered much of his body, leaving only the light red skin on his slightly rigged face exposed.
"Welcome to our facility," he said.
"Thank you. I was wondering where you acquired these creatures from," she said. Since the information on the plaque was written in script she couldn't translate without the help of a tricorder or translator, she had hoped to use that as an excuse to gather more information on just where the creatures came from.
"They originate from a planet called Earth nearly 3600 light years from here. We acquired them as part of a species exchange. They are fascinating creatures. The earthlings call them river otters and beavers. They say are semi aquatic, able to function equally well on land as they do in the water," the man said, his voice deep and all four of his arms moving excitedly as he spoke.
Kira had never heard of a species exchange with this planet, let alone this person's species. Something about this whole situation wasn't right. She wanted to ask him further questions but given the stealth nature of their mission, she couldn't risk giving herself away. She would have to wait until the doctor completed his scans.
---
On the other side of the zoo like facility, the second away team was busy with discoveries of their own. Throughout the zoo were species from all over the Alpha and Beta quadrants.
Their tricorders beeped when they read something interesting. There was a habitat before them with lions and leopards! The team walked over to the habitat, using their tricorders to confirm the animals were Earth in origin.
Peterson looked at the habitat in fascination, smiling as he watched the graceful creatures moving about.
"I've never seen them live before, only in pictures and videos," he said.
"They're similar to a jungle species on Trill, except four legs instead of six and two eyes instead of three," Jadzia said, smiling. Her tricorder beeped several times when she scanned a group of lions. "This is odd."
"What is it?" Peterson asked.
"I'm picking up very strange readings in their DNA and cellular structure. It's appears to be in the final stages of some kind of flux."
"What does that mean?" Peterson asked as O'Brien's tricorder reported it had located something.
"I'm not sure. If we could get a blood sample from one of them, we could analyze it and find out," Jadzia replied.
"How are we going to get a blood sample from a lion or leopard? I doubt they're willing to just stand there and let us take one."
O'Brien was reading his tricorders readings, looking a bit shocked.
"These aren't the only Earth species here; I'm reading what appear to be seals and dolphins," he said.
"What the heck is going on? How could they get these animals without anyone knowing?" Peterson asked.
"We'd better contact the Defiant and report our findings," O'Brien said as he tapped his communicator.
Sisko told them about the beavers and otters and that Bashir had taken an otter onboard to scan it in hopes of figuring out what was going on. As of yet, there was no sign of the transports crew or passengers. He told them to stand by when Jadzia suggested getting a blood sample from a lion while they figured out how to go about doing that.
Looking at the animals, Peterson looked disturbed.
"What is it?" O'Brien asked.
"I know this is going to sound crazy but what if these animals are the people we're looking for?"
"Peterson, there has to be another explanation. Why would whomever did this turn 150 people into animals and then send them to a zoo 3500 light years away? Assuming this was even possible, what could they gain from it?" O'Brien asked.
"Maybe whoever operates this place doesn't know the truth? Maybe they paid them for each animal? A lot of people would never think to look for their missing comrades here, certainly not as animals. I know it sounds insane but what if it's true?"
"It might explain the cellular and DNA readings. Hopefully a complete scan will give us the answers we need," Jadzia responded.
"Until then, we should keep the speculation to a minimum, we don't want to alarm anyone," O'Brien asked.
Peterson nodded.
---
High above the planet, imperial cruiser Li'Vek orbited. Minutes ago, it detected suspicious readings. Commander Ji'Vek sat in his chair on the bridge, waiting for the results of the scans.
"We have confirmed that a signal was sent towards the southern polar region. We have analyzed the language and carrier wave of the signal, it matches the signal sent by the transport," an officer reported.
"Then it seems someone has come looking for their people. It looks like they're using a cloaking device to mask themselves,"
"Yes sir," the officer replied.
"Very well then. Lay in an intercept course, we can't risk them learning the truth," Ji'Vek ordered.
Slowly, the massive ship turned and started on its way to the Defiant's location.
"These are Earth animals, there's no doubt about it. I'd like to take one of them up to the Defiant to examine it, an examination may yield clues to where they came from," he said.
"How are we going to do that? If we take one of these animals, they'll will know it's missing," Kira asked.
Bashir looked at Odo and then back into the habitat.
"The constable could take the form of one of them to lure one here. He could also take its place while we're gone. It could fool the guards long enough to get proper readings," he said, turning to face Odo, "that's if you're willing."
"No problem Doctor, I welcome the chance to try out a new form," he replied.
Bashir and Kira looked around and when the coast was clear, they gave the go ahead for Odo to go to work. Walking towards the railing, he shifted into his liquid form and oozed between the bars, eventually oozing towards the artificial lake and reforming into the shape of an otter. Solidifying, he dove into the water.
Swimming under the water, he couldn't help but enjoy the form. The sensation of flowing water against waterproof fur was unlike anything he had ever experienced. For a few minutes, he found himself diving and enjoying the sensation as the other otters swam up to him to investigate this new arrival. Surfacing, he waited for them to do the same. Once they did, they all chittered and squeaked at him.
He turned to one of them, squeaking and chittering at it before swimming back in the direction of Bashir and Kira. Curious, the otter followed him, wondering who he was and what was going on. It followed him all the way back to shore and up to the fence.
It watched as the otter before it assumed a more gelatinous form, slowly standing on its hind legs before growing to humanoid size. It had seen this before and wanted to be afraid and run. Something inside of it told it to stand its ground however.
Once Odo has reassumed his normal humanoid form, he bent down to pick the otter up. The otter looked at him, fear in his eyes. Odo, one to respect all forms of life, did his best to assure the creature.
"It's all right, we won't hurt you, we simply want to know where you came from" he said.
The otter decided to stand his ground. Odo slowly picked him up, handing him to Bashir, who held the dripping wet weasel like creature against his chest with both arms.
"I've never seen one of these guys this close," he said, unable to hold back a smile. He managed to tap his combadge to contact the Defiant. "Bashir to Defiant, I'm beaming up with an otter we've found down here. I want to examine him for clues as to where they came from."
"Aye sir, stand by," the transporter operator said.
"Hopefully we'll be able to solve at least one mystery today," he said before the transporter beam activated and he and the otter dematerialized before them.
Odo could hear someone coming and altered Kira.
"They might notice one of their animals missing. Maybe you should," Kira started Odo knowing what she was getting at. Slowly he morphed back onto otter form, looking at Kira through otter eyes when he was done. "Try not to have too much fun in there," she said with a smile. He nodded and slowly slid into the cool water, diving under it.
Minutes later, a tall man walked up behind Kira, he stood tall enough that the top of her head only reached midway up his chest. The brown uniform he wore covered much of his body, leaving only the light red skin on his slightly rigged face exposed.
"Welcome to our facility," he said.
"Thank you. I was wondering where you acquired these creatures from," she said. Since the information on the plaque was written in script she couldn't translate without the help of a tricorder or translator, she had hoped to use that as an excuse to gather more information on just where the creatures came from.
"They originate from a planet called Earth nearly 3600 light years from here. We acquired them as part of a species exchange. They are fascinating creatures. The earthlings call them river otters and beavers. They say are semi aquatic, able to function equally well on land as they do in the water," the man said, his voice deep and all four of his arms moving excitedly as he spoke.
Kira had never heard of a species exchange with this planet, let alone this person's species. Something about this whole situation wasn't right. She wanted to ask him further questions but given the stealth nature of their mission, she couldn't risk giving herself away. She would have to wait until the doctor completed his scans.
---
On the other side of the zoo like facility, the second away team was busy with discoveries of their own. Throughout the zoo were species from all over the Alpha and Beta quadrants.
Their tricorders beeped when they read something interesting. There was a habitat before them with lions and leopards! The team walked over to the habitat, using their tricorders to confirm the animals were Earth in origin.
Peterson looked at the habitat in fascination, smiling as he watched the graceful creatures moving about.
"I've never seen them live before, only in pictures and videos," he said.
"They're similar to a jungle species on Trill, except four legs instead of six and two eyes instead of three," Jadzia said, smiling. Her tricorder beeped several times when she scanned a group of lions. "This is odd."
"What is it?" Peterson asked.
"I'm picking up very strange readings in their DNA and cellular structure. It's appears to be in the final stages of some kind of flux."
"What does that mean?" Peterson asked as O'Brien's tricorder reported it had located something.
"I'm not sure. If we could get a blood sample from one of them, we could analyze it and find out," Jadzia replied.
"How are we going to get a blood sample from a lion or leopard? I doubt they're willing to just stand there and let us take one."
O'Brien was reading his tricorders readings, looking a bit shocked.
"These aren't the only Earth species here; I'm reading what appear to be seals and dolphins," he said.
"What the heck is going on? How could they get these animals without anyone knowing?" Peterson asked.
"We'd better contact the Defiant and report our findings," O'Brien said as he tapped his communicator.
Sisko told them about the beavers and otters and that Bashir had taken an otter onboard to scan it in hopes of figuring out what was going on. As of yet, there was no sign of the transports crew or passengers. He told them to stand by when Jadzia suggested getting a blood sample from a lion while they figured out how to go about doing that.
Looking at the animals, Peterson looked disturbed.
"What is it?" O'Brien asked.
"I know this is going to sound crazy but what if these animals are the people we're looking for?"
"Peterson, there has to be another explanation. Why would whomever did this turn 150 people into animals and then send them to a zoo 3500 light years away? Assuming this was even possible, what could they gain from it?" O'Brien asked.
"Maybe whoever operates this place doesn't know the truth? Maybe they paid them for each animal? A lot of people would never think to look for their missing comrades here, certainly not as animals. I know it sounds insane but what if it's true?"
"It might explain the cellular and DNA readings. Hopefully a complete scan will give us the answers we need," Jadzia responded.
"Until then, we should keep the speculation to a minimum, we don't want to alarm anyone," O'Brien asked.
Peterson nodded.
---
High above the planet, imperial cruiser Li'Vek orbited. Minutes ago, it detected suspicious readings. Commander Ji'Vek sat in his chair on the bridge, waiting for the results of the scans.
"We have confirmed that a signal was sent towards the southern polar region. We have analyzed the language and carrier wave of the signal, it matches the signal sent by the transport," an officer reported.
"Then it seems someone has come looking for their people. It looks like they're using a cloaking device to mask themselves,"
"Yes sir," the officer replied.
"Very well then. Lay in an intercept course, we can't risk them learning the truth," Ji'Vek ordered.
Slowly, the massive ship turned and started on its way to the Defiant's location.