Captain's log supplemental: We have transported two away teams to the
surface after picking up readings of Earth species. Both teams have
discovered what appear to be Earth animals on the surface. Dr Bashir has
transported one up to analyze it in an attempt to decipher this mystery.
In the Defiant's sickbay, Bashir stood over a biobed upon which the otter stood. The creature watched with fascination and curiosity as he scanned it with a medical tricorder.
"Fascinating," he said in a rather enthusiastic tone.
"What is it Doctor?" A female nurse asked.
"His DNA and cellular structure appear to be in the final stage of some sort of flux,"
"Flux?" the nurse, asked.
"It appears that his DNA was rewritten and cellular structure altered to conform to it. It appears to be in the final stages of stabilizing in its new form." Scanning the otter's head for nearly thirty seconds, his face almost lit up. "Remarkable, his brain patterns indicate very high intelligence, far higher then what would be expected for this species. I think there's a high degree of probability that he is sentient."
"Could he be one of the people from the transport? Could whomever did this have someone changed them into animals?"
Bashir might have thought the idea was absurd, but given the readings he was seeing, he had little choice but to agree with her, especially when the otter appeared to nod his head at the suggestion.
"I think there is a very good chance of that," scanning him further, he look a bit upset. "Unfortunately, if we don't find a way to reverse this process soon, say within the next 48 hours, it could begin to affect his mind. The same likely goes for the others."
The otter did not like the sound of that and growled for several seconds.
"If there were only a way we could communicate with him directly," the nurse said.
Bashir petted the otter's head to calm him; it seemed to work for the time being.
"Perhaps there is. If his mind is still intact then it might be possible," tapping his combadge he asked for Lt. Sonata, asking him to come down to sickbay, also summoning Sisko.
A few minutes later, the two were standing behind Bashir and the otter.
"What have you learned Doctor?" Sisko asked.
"I have evidence that these animals are not natural members of their species. It appears as though someone transformed them. Neural scans indicate their minds are intact and have intelligence well beyond the norm for their species. We need a more direct way to communicate with him to confirm this," Bashir answered.
"Captain, I believe this is why the Doctor summoned me," Sonata, a Vulcan started. "I believe he wishes me to mind meld with his creature in order to establish communication with it."
"I know it sounds unusual but it may be the only hope of restoring these people to their rightful forms. I can monitor both of you and break the connection of anything goes wrong," Bashir pleaded.
Sonata thought about it for a minute before deciding.
"Very well Doctor, I will require time to mediate to prepare," he said.
"We'll be ready when you are," Bashir answered.
"Good luck gentlemen," Sisko started before a communication for him altered him. "Go ahead," he said, tapping his combadge.
"Captain, one of those ships is heading directly for us, they may have detected us," the disembodied voice said.
"Ready evasive maneuvers. I'll be right there," Sisko answered.
"Yes sir," the voice said, sounding urgent.
The port rear door of the Defiant opened just before Sisko walked in and took his set at the center of the bridge.
"Report!" he ordered.
"Captain, the vessel matching the warp signature of the one that attacked the transport is heading directly for us. The transports logs identify it as the Li'Vek, commanded by a commander Ji'Vek. Their weapons are fully charged," Worf reported.
"We need to buy the Doctor time. Ensign Burke, take us out of orbit but keep us within transporter range of the away teams. Hopefully we can evade them long enough," Sisko ordered.
Burke complied, slowly taking the Defiant out of its Southern polar orbit.
"Evasive maneuvers pattern Beta-6-7, take us to 500 kp/h. Try to keep us within transporter range of the away team so we can beam them up if necessary," Sisko ordered.
"Aye sir, answering 500 kp/h," Burke replied.
"The vessel does not appear to have detected us. They are running intensive scans of the southern polar region. I recommend running on thrusters only, they may be able to track the emissions from our impulse engines," Worf suggested.
"Ensign, switch to thrusters, alter course to 148 mark 263," Sisko ordered, the ensign complying.
Work's console beeped, a shocked expression appearing on his face when he saw why.
"Captain, I'm picking up a transmission from that ship to the surface. It appears directed in the vicinity of our away teams."
"They may have teams on the surface,"
"If we attempt to send them a signal, it may give away our position," Worf warned.
Sisko slammed his right fist into the arm wrest, cursing under his breath.
"We can't just leave them down there without some sort of warning. I needed suggestions,"
"Captain, I'm picking up several dozen satellites in orbit. It may be possible to relay a signal between several of them. It should confuse them long enough for us to move to a new position," a lieutenant stationed at the communications console suggested.
"Do it," Sisko ordered.
--
On the surface, Kira was still watching Odo when her communicator chirped. The transmission was not high quality and included a lot of static but she was able to understand it.
"Major, our sensors have detected a transmission from the ship that attacked the transport. They directed the transmission to someone in your vicinity. There may be guards altered to your presence. We can't beam you up at the moment," Sisko informed her.
"No problem. I'll keep a look out. Thanks for the warning," Kira responded.
"We'll let you know when we're able to initiate transport. Sisko out."
Since they had appeared to have been 'caught', there seemed little point in Odo masquerading as one of the otters anymore. Leaning over the railing, Kira called his name, making sure no one could see what she was doing.
She saw the otter that was Odo swim out of the water and walk up towards her. Unfortunately, she was distracted just long enough as not to hear the two guards walking up behind her. They were of the same species as the guard that had talked to her earlier.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me," one of them said.
Kira turned around to see them. Hoping to play coy, she quickly thought of something to distract them.
"Have I done something to offend you? I was just visiting here; to my knowledge, I haven't committed any crimes."
The guards looked at each other before pulling pistol like weapons from holsters on their right hips with their lower right arms.
"Perhaps I'm not making myself clear, surrender to us!" the guard on her right angrily demanded.
It seemed her plan was not going to work and she'd have to act fast. Turning around, she leaned against the railing watching Odo (in otter form) slowly approaching her.
"All right, you win," she said, slowly reaching into her coat and covertly pulling out a phaser. Not giving them a chance to react, she quickly turned around and stunned the guard on the right. The beam hit him directly in the chest and he immediately fell onto his back out cold.
The other guard frowned at her before pointing his weapon. She was about to stun him as well when he fired at the phaser, knocking it out of her hand. The blast hurt her hand and she held it from the pain. The guards smirked, pointing the weapon at her chest. Reacting quickly, Kira kicked the weapon out of his hand. As it fell to the ground with a clanging sound, the guard lunged at her. He swung at her with all four of his hands, making contact with the upper two on Kira's head.
Stunned slightly, she dodged to her right, the guard turning to match her move. She punched him in the chest multiple times, hitting him in the head impossible with their size difference. Unfortunately, it had little effect.
Moving so his back would be facing the habitat, she looked up at him. Knowing exactly what she was doing, she did everything in her power not to make it evident she noticed Odo oozing between the bars behind the guard.
Odo moved quickly, assuming a slightly larger then normal humanoid form tall enough to be at level with the guard. The guard, oblivious to Odo's presence looked down at Kira, looking rather angry.
"What are you waiting for? Go ahead and hit me!" he dared her.
"I don't have to!" Kira yelled.
"And why is that?" The guard asked.
Odo smirked before tapping him on the right shoulder. The guard turned around to find himself face to face with Odo, who promptly decked him across the face with enough to force to render him unconscious. He soon feel forward onto the pavement.
"Thanks," Kira said.
"No problem Major," Odo replied.
"Come on, we need to find the other team. If the Defiant's been detected then we need to hold them off long enough for them to get us out of here."
Odo nodded and they made their way towards the other team's life sign readings.
--
O'Brien's team had received the same message Kira had. Jadzia was busy working with her tricorder in an attempt to mask the team's life signs so they could hide from the guards.
"I'm picking up four of them closing on our position, 500 meters," Peterson reported.
"We can't risk getting into a shootout here, there's too great a chance of an innocent person getting hurt." O'Brien said.
"I think I can mask our life signs with my tricorder, I'm also picking up a structure 100 meters North of here. We may be able to use it to hide," Jadzia said, looking at a picture of a booth her tricorder was displaying.
"Sir, they're moving very fast, already within 475 meters," Peterson added.
"Let's move it then!" O'Brien yelled, the trio sprinting towards the structure as fast as they could while puzzled onlookers watched.
------
The cloaked Defiant slowly made its way around the planet, making sure to avoid any other ships. The last thing her crew wanted was a firefight in which an innocent ship would end up struck.
Lieutenant Sonata walked into sickbay, ready for the mind meld. Bashir had a biobed with a chair ready, the otter sitting on the bed and the chair for Sonata.
"I am ready to initiate the meld," he said.
"Excellent," Bashir responded, motioning Sonata to sit in the seat provided. Once Sonata sat down, Bashir put a monitor on Sonata's forehead as well as one on the otters. "I will monitor both of your vital signs and brain activity. If anything appears to be going wrong, I'll break the meld."
Kneeling down, he looked at and gently petted the otter.
"Try and stay relaxed. The lieutenant is going to mind meld with you so he can better communicate with you. I hope that everything will work out and you'll be able to explain to him exactly what is going on. Don't worry, I'll be keeping an eye on both of you. If anything goes wrong, I can break the meld." Looking at Sonata, he nodded. "You may proceed."
Gently touching the otter's head with his right index and middle finger, Sonata closed his eyes.
"My mind to your mind, your thought to my thoughts," he said, the classic phrase to begin the bridging of minds.
Both quickly lost consciousness and Sonata found himself standing in a deep forest. It was cool and windy. Above him, a storm was brewing.
"Fascinating," he said as he began to walk in search of someone to speak to.
He didn't have to walk long before he heard a rustling to his left. Stopping he turned to see a human male standing before him. The man looked confused.
"Lieutenant Sonata?" he asked.
"Yes, the meld appears to have been successful. How may I address you?" Sonata asked.
"My name is Richard," the man answered.
In the Defiant's sickbay, Bashir stood over a biobed upon which the otter stood. The creature watched with fascination and curiosity as he scanned it with a medical tricorder.
"Fascinating," he said in a rather enthusiastic tone.
"What is it Doctor?" A female nurse asked.
"His DNA and cellular structure appear to be in the final stage of some sort of flux,"
"Flux?" the nurse, asked.
"It appears that his DNA was rewritten and cellular structure altered to conform to it. It appears to be in the final stages of stabilizing in its new form." Scanning the otter's head for nearly thirty seconds, his face almost lit up. "Remarkable, his brain patterns indicate very high intelligence, far higher then what would be expected for this species. I think there's a high degree of probability that he is sentient."
"Could he be one of the people from the transport? Could whomever did this have someone changed them into animals?"
Bashir might have thought the idea was absurd, but given the readings he was seeing, he had little choice but to agree with her, especially when the otter appeared to nod his head at the suggestion.
"I think there is a very good chance of that," scanning him further, he look a bit upset. "Unfortunately, if we don't find a way to reverse this process soon, say within the next 48 hours, it could begin to affect his mind. The same likely goes for the others."
The otter did not like the sound of that and growled for several seconds.
"If there were only a way we could communicate with him directly," the nurse said.
Bashir petted the otter's head to calm him; it seemed to work for the time being.
"Perhaps there is. If his mind is still intact then it might be possible," tapping his combadge he asked for Lt. Sonata, asking him to come down to sickbay, also summoning Sisko.
A few minutes later, the two were standing behind Bashir and the otter.
"What have you learned Doctor?" Sisko asked.
"I have evidence that these animals are not natural members of their species. It appears as though someone transformed them. Neural scans indicate their minds are intact and have intelligence well beyond the norm for their species. We need a more direct way to communicate with him to confirm this," Bashir answered.
"Captain, I believe this is why the Doctor summoned me," Sonata, a Vulcan started. "I believe he wishes me to mind meld with his creature in order to establish communication with it."
"I know it sounds unusual but it may be the only hope of restoring these people to their rightful forms. I can monitor both of you and break the connection of anything goes wrong," Bashir pleaded.
Sonata thought about it for a minute before deciding.
"Very well Doctor, I will require time to mediate to prepare," he said.
"We'll be ready when you are," Bashir answered.
"Good luck gentlemen," Sisko started before a communication for him altered him. "Go ahead," he said, tapping his combadge.
"Captain, one of those ships is heading directly for us, they may have detected us," the disembodied voice said.
"Ready evasive maneuvers. I'll be right there," Sisko answered.
"Yes sir," the voice said, sounding urgent.
The port rear door of the Defiant opened just before Sisko walked in and took his set at the center of the bridge.
"Report!" he ordered.
"Captain, the vessel matching the warp signature of the one that attacked the transport is heading directly for us. The transports logs identify it as the Li'Vek, commanded by a commander Ji'Vek. Their weapons are fully charged," Worf reported.
"We need to buy the Doctor time. Ensign Burke, take us out of orbit but keep us within transporter range of the away teams. Hopefully we can evade them long enough," Sisko ordered.
Burke complied, slowly taking the Defiant out of its Southern polar orbit.
"Evasive maneuvers pattern Beta-6-7, take us to 500 kp/h. Try to keep us within transporter range of the away team so we can beam them up if necessary," Sisko ordered.
"Aye sir, answering 500 kp/h," Burke replied.
"The vessel does not appear to have detected us. They are running intensive scans of the southern polar region. I recommend running on thrusters only, they may be able to track the emissions from our impulse engines," Worf suggested.
"Ensign, switch to thrusters, alter course to 148 mark 263," Sisko ordered, the ensign complying.
Work's console beeped, a shocked expression appearing on his face when he saw why.
"Captain, I'm picking up a transmission from that ship to the surface. It appears directed in the vicinity of our away teams."
"They may have teams on the surface,"
"If we attempt to send them a signal, it may give away our position," Worf warned.
Sisko slammed his right fist into the arm wrest, cursing under his breath.
"We can't just leave them down there without some sort of warning. I needed suggestions,"
"Captain, I'm picking up several dozen satellites in orbit. It may be possible to relay a signal between several of them. It should confuse them long enough for us to move to a new position," a lieutenant stationed at the communications console suggested.
"Do it," Sisko ordered.
--
On the surface, Kira was still watching Odo when her communicator chirped. The transmission was not high quality and included a lot of static but she was able to understand it.
"Major, our sensors have detected a transmission from the ship that attacked the transport. They directed the transmission to someone in your vicinity. There may be guards altered to your presence. We can't beam you up at the moment," Sisko informed her.
"No problem. I'll keep a look out. Thanks for the warning," Kira responded.
"We'll let you know when we're able to initiate transport. Sisko out."
Since they had appeared to have been 'caught', there seemed little point in Odo masquerading as one of the otters anymore. Leaning over the railing, Kira called his name, making sure no one could see what she was doing.
She saw the otter that was Odo swim out of the water and walk up towards her. Unfortunately, she was distracted just long enough as not to hear the two guards walking up behind her. They were of the same species as the guard that had talked to her earlier.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me," one of them said.
Kira turned around to see them. Hoping to play coy, she quickly thought of something to distract them.
"Have I done something to offend you? I was just visiting here; to my knowledge, I haven't committed any crimes."
The guards looked at each other before pulling pistol like weapons from holsters on their right hips with their lower right arms.
"Perhaps I'm not making myself clear, surrender to us!" the guard on her right angrily demanded.
It seemed her plan was not going to work and she'd have to act fast. Turning around, she leaned against the railing watching Odo (in otter form) slowly approaching her.
"All right, you win," she said, slowly reaching into her coat and covertly pulling out a phaser. Not giving them a chance to react, she quickly turned around and stunned the guard on the right. The beam hit him directly in the chest and he immediately fell onto his back out cold.
The other guard frowned at her before pointing his weapon. She was about to stun him as well when he fired at the phaser, knocking it out of her hand. The blast hurt her hand and she held it from the pain. The guards smirked, pointing the weapon at her chest. Reacting quickly, Kira kicked the weapon out of his hand. As it fell to the ground with a clanging sound, the guard lunged at her. He swung at her with all four of his hands, making contact with the upper two on Kira's head.
Stunned slightly, she dodged to her right, the guard turning to match her move. She punched him in the chest multiple times, hitting him in the head impossible with their size difference. Unfortunately, it had little effect.
Moving so his back would be facing the habitat, she looked up at him. Knowing exactly what she was doing, she did everything in her power not to make it evident she noticed Odo oozing between the bars behind the guard.
Odo moved quickly, assuming a slightly larger then normal humanoid form tall enough to be at level with the guard. The guard, oblivious to Odo's presence looked down at Kira, looking rather angry.
"What are you waiting for? Go ahead and hit me!" he dared her.
"I don't have to!" Kira yelled.
"And why is that?" The guard asked.
Odo smirked before tapping him on the right shoulder. The guard turned around to find himself face to face with Odo, who promptly decked him across the face with enough to force to render him unconscious. He soon feel forward onto the pavement.
"Thanks," Kira said.
"No problem Major," Odo replied.
"Come on, we need to find the other team. If the Defiant's been detected then we need to hold them off long enough for them to get us out of here."
Odo nodded and they made their way towards the other team's life sign readings.
--
O'Brien's team had received the same message Kira had. Jadzia was busy working with her tricorder in an attempt to mask the team's life signs so they could hide from the guards.
"I'm picking up four of them closing on our position, 500 meters," Peterson reported.
"We can't risk getting into a shootout here, there's too great a chance of an innocent person getting hurt." O'Brien said.
"I think I can mask our life signs with my tricorder, I'm also picking up a structure 100 meters North of here. We may be able to use it to hide," Jadzia said, looking at a picture of a booth her tricorder was displaying.
"Sir, they're moving very fast, already within 475 meters," Peterson added.
"Let's move it then!" O'Brien yelled, the trio sprinting towards the structure as fast as they could while puzzled onlookers watched.
------
The cloaked Defiant slowly made its way around the planet, making sure to avoid any other ships. The last thing her crew wanted was a firefight in which an innocent ship would end up struck.
Lieutenant Sonata walked into sickbay, ready for the mind meld. Bashir had a biobed with a chair ready, the otter sitting on the bed and the chair for Sonata.
"I am ready to initiate the meld," he said.
"Excellent," Bashir responded, motioning Sonata to sit in the seat provided. Once Sonata sat down, Bashir put a monitor on Sonata's forehead as well as one on the otters. "I will monitor both of your vital signs and brain activity. If anything appears to be going wrong, I'll break the meld."
Kneeling down, he looked at and gently petted the otter.
"Try and stay relaxed. The lieutenant is going to mind meld with you so he can better communicate with you. I hope that everything will work out and you'll be able to explain to him exactly what is going on. Don't worry, I'll be keeping an eye on both of you. If anything goes wrong, I can break the meld." Looking at Sonata, he nodded. "You may proceed."
Gently touching the otter's head with his right index and middle finger, Sonata closed his eyes.
"My mind to your mind, your thought to my thoughts," he said, the classic phrase to begin the bridging of minds.
Both quickly lost consciousness and Sonata found himself standing in a deep forest. It was cool and windy. Above him, a storm was brewing.
"Fascinating," he said as he began to walk in search of someone to speak to.
He didn't have to walk long before he heard a rustling to his left. Stopping he turned to see a human male standing before him. The man looked confused.
"Lieutenant Sonata?" he asked.
"Yes, the meld appears to have been successful. How may I address you?" Sonata asked.
"My name is Richard," the man answered.