Disclaimer: The people, places, and things are not mine, with a few already-mentioned exceptions.

Epilogue

"You struck a deal with him?" Zimmerman demanded incredulously.

"What are you upset about? You're back where on Meezan IV, he's off to the twenty-third century where he belongs, and I'm going home to DS9 where I belong."

"You had no right to tell him everything that you did! Time travel is a carefully guarded secret."

Bashir sniffed derisively. "It seems like every crew in the Fleet has traveled back in time at least once. It's not that much of a secret. Besides, the Botany Bay's engines will be almost completely fried once they complete the time loop around the Mutaran sun. They'll make a crash landing back on Ceti Alpha V, with no additional resources to repair the damage. Then they'll wait there for a very long time as its orbit shifts it into a desert, and the crew of the USS Reliant will find them as they are supposed to."

"So, what was that 'anomaly' thing?" Alice Freeman asked, approaching the bickering duo.

"Oh, right before the beam hit the Botany Bay, there was a slight ripple in space, that looked suspiciously like a cloaked Klingon ship about to fire. Or, at least, an old-style ship. It was probably an experimental weapon of theirs; there used to be a research facility in the area, but it was recently destroyed by the Dominion, so we won't ever be able to say for sure."

A descending Runabout caught his attention. "If that's all, I think my ride has arrived. Garak!" He acknowledged the pilot with some surprise. "Why are you here?"

"And this is the thanks I get for coming to rescue you?" He sighed regretfully then examined Bashir. "You know, I think you need to see a doctor."

"Not funny." He paused. "Do I really look that bad?"

"Worse."

"Okay, let's just get on the shuttle and go back to the station."

"The shuttle!" Alice suddenly exclaimed. "Khan still has ours!"

"He does?" A number of horrible implications started to sink in until he saw Alice grin at him.

"Just kidding, Doctor. I don't believe you were that gullible."

"Believe it," Garak offered sympathetically.

Putting a hand on the Cardassian's arm, Julian pushed him back into the Runabout. "Be good. I found a nice new enclosed space that I can stick you in when you get out of hand."

"That might sound somewhat threatening if I knew that you'd actually do it. But you won't." Garak suddenly switched topics and assumed the tone of a cheerful attendant. "Would you like me to carry anything for you, Doctor?"

"No, I'm fine, thanks. Just let me stay be alone for a while."

"Anything to help," he replied cheerily, starting the preflight.

Julian, meanwhile, dropped his travel bag onto the floor and removed a red leather-bound book filled with Sanskrit characters.

"I can't accept this," Julian had said at first, staring resolutely into Khan's eyes.

"You say that because you do not want to accept our similarities. At least some of these words rang true with you and your own life, I am quite sure. Even if you can not accept that you are superior by nature, read this to take comfort in the fact that you are not inferior either. I'm sure that's hard to remember in your Federation."

"It has been," he admitted. "You're probably right about that one, but… it's something that'll take time to sink in."

"You'll have all the time you need, I'm sure, Julian."

With that last word, Dr. Julian Bashir was ushered out of the Botany Bay and back into the real world, a world which would take some re-adjusting to. Despite what Khan had said, it might have taken a lifetime to grow comfortable with…

"Are you done sulking?" Garak teased. "We're about halfway to the station, and I was wondering if you'd tell me about the experience. I heard most of it by intercepting communications from Meezan IV to Starfleet headquarters."

"There's really nothing to say. They came, they saw, they went back home to conquer."

"Well, isn't that dull?"

Julian nodded unenthusiastically.

"But you must have more to say than that," his friend pressed. "From what I heard, Khan and his boys were the original genetically enhanced crew… But I suppose you knew that. Tell me, did you have anything in common with them?" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I can see that's a bad question."

Julian sighed. "No… It's a fine question. I just don't have a good answer for you. Sometime I hope to figure it out. But until then… I'll just say that he and I are a little too close for comfort."

"Ah. Well, I won't be worried until you start to take over the galaxy… If you'll excuse me, I have a ship to run."

Once the Cardassian had disappeared again, Julian flipped open the book and idly re-read the entry dated September 12, 1988. It was the first entry, in which a very young Khan Noonian Singh had poured out his happiest moments to date as well as his aspirations and dreams.

One sentence, though, appeared more prominently than the rest to Bashir. Near the bottom of the second page, Khan had been listing various ways he was considering to utilize his talents. A wry smile crept onto Julian's features as he flipped the book shut and softly quoted, "'Perhaps I should become a doctor…'"