Author's Note: This is try number two for this chapter. Somehow, my document became corrupted and I lost everything I'd written! Grr.

6

The infirmary seemed busier than it had ever been when Sisko had been there. There seemed to be people milling about, some of them getting cared for, some of them there for no obvious reason. At the moment, he was lying on a biobed, having his shoulder treated. As far as he understood, it was Bashir who was doing the treatment, but not Bashir to whom he was speaking.

Commander Shannon Tanner was on an exam bed beside him. Sisko still wasn't certain what her role in all of this had been, nor how she had known where to find Ezri. He was suspicious that he would never know the whole truth. Some things were the result of serendipity, but he didn't think that was entirely the case here.

"All right, who are you?", he asked.

"We do not have names, or a name. This host informs us that you call him 'Julian'. That will suffice."

"All right, Julian, I want to know where you're from, how you got here, and what the hell is going on," Sisko ordered.

"Most recently, we come from a star in a system not far from here. We live in the corona of that star."

"Of course!", Tanner said, slipping nimbly from the bed. "That's why the star was so hot! It had nothing to do with the star itself, it was you!"

Bashir looked over his shoulder at her.

"This host informs us that you should remain seated. He does not wish you to become unwell."

"Of course he doesn't," Tanner said offhandedly, but regained her seat anyway.

"You are correct," Bashir continued, nodding at her.

"Then how did you get here?", Sisko pressed.

"We are non-corporeal beings. We cannot travel through space without a host, as you cannot travel through space without inanimate vessels. We came in the mind of a host named Ezri Dax."

"So you just take over someone's mind and ride around with them until they drop you at the nearest star?", Sisko demanded, irate over what had happened to Ezri. He could still remember the sound of her voice issuing orders that would result in Bashir's death if not followed.

Bashir looked startled.

"No!", he exclaimed. "We always obtain the permission of our hosts. We have Julian's permission to be here, otherwise, we would have found another host."

"Then what happened to Ezri?", Sisko asked.

"We became mired in her mind. We chose her because she was similar to the previous host we had chosen, the one you call Raza. But she was unprepared for us. We could not become cohesive enough to obtain her permission, let alone alert her to our presence. We attempted to separate ourselves, but we could not. We could not explain to her what was happening."

"Wait," Sisko said. "If you had Raza's permission to travel with him, why didn't he say anything to us about you?"

There was another pause and Bashir looked pensive.

"This host informs us that Raza suffered a memory loss after the disaster on his vessel. It is entirely possible that he simply does not remember our existence."

Sisko nodded slowly. It didn't seem that Bashir was suffering any ill effects from the entities in his mind. And he could easily understand how this would have unintentionally overwhelmed Ezri's mind. She was still adjusting to the Dax symbiont. Piling on another set of minds had been a disaster.

"Why not Commander Tanner?", Sisko asked.

"Her mind was also unsuitable," Bashir replied. "She is too well trained mentally to allow us the space we require. She would have been fighting constantly with us. We understand this can destroy an individual, and significantly weaken us."

"So you've left your star. Now what?"

Again, Bashir looked surprised.

"We have not left," he said.

"But you're here."

"Yes, and we are still there. And in the coronal layers of countless other stars across the galaxy. We are not individuals as you are. We are one, and many. We share one consciousness, one identity, but can exist in more than one place in time."

Sisko nodded slowly. He thought he could at least grasp the idea.

"But now what?", he asked.

"We wish to find a new home. Each voyage expands our experience."

"We can't put you in this system's star," Tanner said. "Not without destroying the inhabitable zone here, and the station. How do you chose where you're going to live?"

"We do not live in systems where any life has formed," Bashir said firmly. "The system in which you found us was chosen specifically because it was unable to support any life. But Julian informs us you are at war, and are unable to embark on any scientific missions."

"That's right," Sisko said. "How long do you intend to stay in Julian's mind?"

"Only as long as necessary," Bashir assured him. "This host informs us there is an area nearby called the Badlands. We have analyzed what Julian and Shannon know about the Badlands and have concluded that it is an ideal place for us. In addition to being the right environment, it is large enough for us to move freely without relying on corporeal hosts. We request that you take us to the Badlands."

Sisko thought about this for a minute. Then he nodded slowly.

"I think we could do that," he agreed.

From the other bed, Tanner raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Sir, do you think that's safe?", she asked.

"If we use the Defiant, we should be all right," Sisko said. Then he sighed. "Besides, I would rather lead a mission that doesn't involve patrolling for Jem'Hadar and Cardassians, or escorting a convoy."

"We are grateful," Bashir said. "Julian informs us that you are well enough to leave."

"Thank him– thank you, Julian."

"You are welcome."

Sisko slipped down from the bed and gave his shoulder an experimental rotation. It seemed fine; the mobility was normal and it didn't hurt. He was grateful for that; he knew Ezri would have enough guilt on her plate once she had recovered. But he knew Dax well enough to know she would never have done this under normal circumstances.

"Kira and I will get started immediately on departure plans," Sisko said to the doctor.

Bashir gave a curt nod, and the corners of his lips turned up in a small smile that lit his eyes.

"We do appreciate that, Captain," he said. "Thank you."

"Come in!", a voice from the other side of the door said, and the door slid open at the invitation. Hesitantly, Ezri Dax crossed the threshold from the corridor of the Defiant into Bashir's small crew quarters.

It was the first time she had summoned the courage to see him since being released for the infirmary. Even that had felt strange, knowing the man treating her was and wasn't her old friend. Now, she understood what had happened. She had been debriefed by Sisko, Odo, and el Naser, but she had yet to face Bashir.

There were questions that needed answering.

"Ah, Ezri Dax. Please, come in," Bashir said, standing. She did so, and kept her calm with some effort as the door hissed shut behind her.

"Hello– Julian?"

"Yes, you should call us Julian," Bashir assured her. "He is here as well, and speaking with us."

"I–", she started, and then felt at a sudden loss for words. "I wanted to thank you for helping me."

"It was our duty," Bashir replied. "You suffered because of us."

"I mean Julian, by himself," she said. "He didn't have to give himself up, or put up with me threatening to shoot him."

Bashir was silent for a moment.

"Julian says that it is the least he would do for a friend."

Ezri nodded, still feeling uncertain and guilty. She could remember everything that had happened, all the demands to remove the Dax symbiont, the threats, the anger.

"There's something else I want to know."

"Yes?"

"Who is Hin'Adri?"

A puzzled expression crossed Bashir's face. Then he brightened slightly, nodding.

"Ah. Yes. She was one of our previous hosts. She was an engineer."

"From what race?", Ezri asked.

"We do not remember," Bashir admitted.

"But I had– have some of her memories!", Ezri protested. "You must know something about her!"

"It is likely that whatever you know is all that we know. We are not Hin'Adri, Ezri, no more than we were you, or Raza. We leave only memory in our hosts, and they leave some memories with us. We can remember Hin'Adri, and what she looked like, but little more, for she left little more."

"Will I always have these other memories?"

"We believe so. But they are simply memories now, and not fueled by our presence. They should not harm you."

"Do you remember when Hin'Adri was your host?"

"We do not understand time as you do. Nor do all species measure it as you do. We could not say anything that would be of any use."

Ezri nodded. She hadn't expected any more than that.

"What about Tanner?", she asked. "How did she know where to find me, or what to do?"

There was another pause.

"We are sorry. Our host instructs us that we cannot answer that question. Nor will he answer it once we are gone."

Ezri nodded again. She hadn't really expected an answer to that, either. There were things she wasn't meant to know, but they were not things that would bother her, either. Tanner had helped her, and that was enough.

"How is Julian?", she asked.

There was another pause, then a bright smile that Ezri recognized as her friend's.

"I'm fine, Ezri," he replied. "Don't worry about me. I'm actually rather enjoying this."

At that, Ezri relaxed into a grin of her own.

"Good," she said. "I'm glad they found someone who could help them and appreciate them."

Bashir smiled again, and she knew it was still really him, not the entities speaking through him.

"So am I."

The small bridge of the Defiant was full as the ship was eased into the Badlands. The pilot at the helm was an expert at ignoring the goings on around her if necessary, and was navigating them around plasma flares and subspace eddies with practiced ease. Sisko sat in the captain's chair, accompanied by his senior staff and Commander Shannon Tanner. She had requested to come along on this mission, and he had found he could not in good conscience say no. After all, she was Bashir's friend and she had carried the entities in her mind, however briefly.

Bashir stood beside her, watching the viewscreen with interest. Ezri was at Jadzia's old science post, but using it only as a seat, not as a work station. Kira was monitoring communications, O'Brien monitoring the ship with Nog's help, and Worf was scanning for enemy ships.

"No sign of Dominion or Cardassian vessels, sir," the Klingon rumbled from beside Sisko.

"Good," the captain said. "Helm, full stop when it's safe to do so."

"Aye, sir," the ensign replied and Sisko felt his ship slow and come to a gradual halt. Around them, plasma danced and flared, causing small, short lived vortices in the firey spacescape. They all watched the dangerous, alien beauty for a moment, then Sisko turned to Bashir.

"Are you sure about this, Julian?", he asked.

Bashir nodded.

"We are," he replied.

Sisko nodded in return.

"Whenever you're ready then," he said.

"Yes, thank you," he replied. There was a pause, and Bashir gave him a brilliant smile. "Goodbye."