Disclaimer: (This is getting tedious) I have no rights to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and I'm not making a penny off it.
Pronunciation guide: "ei" as in vein; "ai" as in aisle; "y" as in yes; "u" as in tune; "zh" like the "s" in treasure; "i" like the English ee.
Chapter 14
The Federation science vessel U.S.S. Tereshkova had been on a stellar cartography mission in the Beta Quadrant for several months. Chief Science Officer Nawi Sal still wasn't tired of the scenery...though he could have used a vacation from the crew.
"We're approaching the Oktran System," Captain Tast announced in what, to Sal, sounded like extreme bordom. Tast was a good captain, and a polite and tolerant conversationalist. Basically, the only complaint Sal had against him was that he was Vulcan, as typically Vulcan as they came: nonconfrontational, yet persuasive, and as exciting as steamed vegetables.
The Oktran System consisted of gas giants revolving around a red dwarf. No class-M planets, but the spectral analysis showed some unusual mineralogical readings in one of its three asteroid belts that the captain decided were worth investigating.
"Definitely some heavy elements that couldn't have formed in this system. Even widespread dilithium deposits," said Morion Jiang, a cadet spending her year of field training on the Tereshkova. Her instructors had hinted that she was a hot-tempered, conceited prima donna tolerated only for her brilliance. After some initial skepticism, Sal decided that description was fairly accurate...though he wished they'd added how beautiful she was when angry. She was a short, thin human with bluish-grey eyes, wavy black hair that she usually wore in a long braid, and raw sienna skin with cheeks that flushed to deep rose during her frequent tantrums. He'd decided early on that it wouldn't be worth pursuing a romance with her, as her only pleasures seemed to be science (of any kind) and belittling her crewmates.
"I'm picking up some anomalous reading on long-range sensors," said Ensign Fohgzirin, a Bolian who unfortunately lacked the typical Bolian virtues of pleasantness and patience. It wasn't that he was actively hostile, like Morion; he was just dour, taciturn when not on duty, and the most pessimistic individual Sal had ever met. He would, Sal often thought, make a good chief of security.
"Onscreen," the captain recommended.
What they saw was an object with no warp signature, but far too much symmetry to be naturally occurring. It was smaller than their ship, metallic, and oval.
"There's nothing like this in our databases," said Tast. "Do you have any ideas regarding what it might be, Commander Sal?"
Nawi couldn't think of anything. He consulted his worm (recalling the human adage that two heads are better than one), but the Sal symbiont sent back the mental version of a shrug. Nawi wasn't surprised: he was Sal's first host, so the Trill didn't have any past lives from which to draw wisdom and inspiration.
"It could be an unknown alien vessel," Fohgzirin stated. "Shouldn't we raise shields?"
Sal spoke up. "What makes you think it's a ship? It doesn't seem to have any nacelles, viewers, sensors..."
"None that we can detect," Morion said in an awed whisper. "But look at it! Have you ever seen anything so aerodynamic?"
"It seems to have been built by a technologically advanced civilization," Captain Tast noted. "Hail them."
Lieutenant Luke Patel, the human communications officer whose excessive friendliness Sal had originally enjoyed, but had recently grown irritated by, immediately complied. "They're not responding," he said almost cheerfully.
"It's approaching," said Fohgzirin. "We should assume it's hostile."
Morion seemed to take personal exception to that suggestion. She turned to Fohgzirin with a scowl that anyone who didn't know her would think was murderous (which anyone who did know her would recognize as "stage one"). "You would provoke a possible battle and at the very least sabotage a first contact after one failed hail?" she snarled.
"Their ship doesn't look damaged," Sal said, knowing he would regret it. "The most likely conclusion is that they're choosing not to respond."
Morion turned her chair to look at him. (He was frequently surprised by how effectively the shortest person on the ship could look down her nose at anyone else). "Has it even occurred to you that they might not use subspace to communicate? If they don't use impulse engines to travel, they might very well have different communication technology." Her tone rendered it unnecessary to add "duh." Tast would quietly chastise her for her attitude later, but that happened so often she probably wouldn't even notice.
"There are two other ships decloaking," Fohgzirin announced.
The viewscreen revealed a Romulan Warbird and a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. Both immediately raised their shields and powered up their weapons.
"Raise shields," Tast instructed, knowing fully that the order was nothing more than a formality.
"We are going to defend them?" Morion practically screamed.
"Both the Klingons and the Romulans are technically our allies," Fohgzirin reminded her.
"But they're obviously rogue elements. Have you ever seen a Klingon and Romulan working together? What possible motive do they have to attack an unknown vessel!"
Sal was afraid (illogically, he knew) that the cadet's insistence on the course of action she thought best would drive the captain to do the opposite just to show who was in charge. "Captain," he said quickly, "these could be the ships that attacked Deep Space Three a few months ago."
"One-hundred sixty-two days ago, to be specific. I did have the same thought, Commander. Hail the Romulan and Klingon vessels."
"No response," said Patel.
Tast nodded. He expected that. The small Federation science vessel was no match for two warships, but he didn't want to stand by and do nothing while the unknown vessel was vaporized. Besides, if these were the ships that attacked DS3, they might be next. "Cadet Jiang, we need to find a way to divert them without engaging them."
She cringed. The captain was the only person on the ship who could call her by her surname without repercussions. As she explained through clenched teeth to the first unfortunate crewman to call her Jiang, she hated her surname because it came from an ancient Earth culture in which women were considered inferior to men, and in fact were for a portion of its history forbidden from learning to read. But she quickly squelched her anger and concentrated on the scientific challenge. "If we vaporize some of the asteroids containing dilithium and propel them toward the ships, we could flood their sensors with tetryon particles, which would effectively render their targeting systems useless."
"We don't have time. By the time we put the asteroids on the proper trajectory, the ship will already be destroyed," said Fohgzirin. Sal had to agree.
The captain took less than a second to decide. "Nevertheless, we will proceed with that course of action in the hope that the unknown vessel's shields are strong enough to withstand the combined attacks of Klingon and Romulan weapons. Please use the interim to devise alternate solutions."
The asteroids were selected and tractored into the appropriate trajectory in a matter of seconds.
But it looked like they would indeed be too late. The attacking ships simultaneously fired on the smaller vessel. Almost instantantly, it was gone. The Klingon and Romulan ships then cloaked.
The bridge crew gaped in silence. Though there wasn't much they could have done, they still felt the tragic loss of the alien ship. Patel looked like he would start crying at any moment.
Sal spotted something unusual on Morion's screen. "That's odd," he said, drawing attention to it. "There's no debris."
They all crowded around the console. "He's right," Morion confirmed. "They may have cloaked a millisecond before being hit. We might be able to confirm it by reviewing the sensor data."
A burst of static crackled on the subspace receiver. Patel snapped his head towards the screen. "What the..." He looked up at Captain Tast. "I've never seen readings like this before. Never. It's more complex than any subspace field we can generate."
The science officers exchanged silent glances. Everyone sensed that something significant had just happened, but no one was quite sure what.
"We should report this to Starfleet immediately," Fohgzirin recommended.
Tast wasn't so sure. He had been briefed about the nairait crisis several months earlier, then updates on it had slowed to a halt. He wasn't sure if that was because it was now a classified matter, or if someone in the upper levels didn't want information on it disseminated. Tast was logical enough to know that he was not the one to make that decision.
"Lieutenant Patel, send our sensor readings on a secure channel to Captain Kira Nerys."
Kira went to the Infirmary after work, which was becoming a habit. She didn't see Bashir, so she decided to wait for a few minutes.
Three stasis chambers were occupied. Dr. Grek, whom she never met, was in one. Her long-time friend Dax occupied another. In the third was her first officer, Elias Vaughn. It had been over five months since he was infected, five months since Kira had ordered her station into quarantine. In that time, no new infections had been found. The quarantine was inconveniencing everyone (especially Quark, which gave Kira some consolation). It had been nearly nine months since she sent a distress signal to an unknown planet in the Beta Quadrant.
"Still no way to destroy the nairait that isn't fatal to the patient," Bashir apologized as he entered from his lab.
Kira turned away from the stasis pods. "I received a message from the science ship Tereshkova today. They encountered an unidentified vessel being attacked by a Klingon and Romulan ship together."
"The nairait-infected crews," he surmised.
"That's what they thought. They're not sure if the ship was destroyed or not. They sent the data they got of the battle. I passed it on to Captain Sisko, on a secure channel."
Bashir noted how, even though she had taken command of Deep Space Nine over a year and a half before, Kira still deferred to Sisko whenever she was unsure of something. She wasn't exactly the natural leader that Sisko was, and she knew he was much more adept at handling Federation politics, but Bashir figured the main reason was that she saw Sisko as the Emissary, and therefore divinely guided.
"What did he say about it?"
"He decided it's time to end the quarantine. He wants to borrow the Defiant, and he specifically asked that you and I go with him."
"Do you think this is connected to your vision from the Prophets?" Bashir asked.
"I'm not sure," she admitted.
"Then I suggest we not get our hopes up."
Kira didn't reply. She looked back at the stasis chambers, and had to admit to herself that hope was all they had to go on.
Though the quarantine had not been nearly as bad for Nshevalth's business as it was for Quark's, she was still glad that it was over, if only for the new faces that she saw in her establishment.
It was now late in the artificial night, and there were only a few regulars in the café. A hush fell over them. Nshevalth looked up from wiping the counter to see Benjamin Sisko walk in.
"Nice place," he said.
"Captain Sisko, it's good to see you again."
"I'm not a captain of anything anymore." He took a seat at the counter.
"But you still have the official rank. Besides, I followed you're exploits during the Dominion War, and I'll always think of you as a captain."
Sisko scanned the menu, which was posted in scrolling letters on a screen on the wall. "Shfileiu tea! Where did you learn to make Shfileiu tea!"
"It's kind of a funny story," she said shyly. "The first novel I ever wrote, while I was still living on Tzenketh, was about an alien who crash landed on Tzenketh in pre-warp times and eventually became the apprentice of a komvit—a drink-maker, kind of a wandering bartender that doubled as an apothecary and messenger in ancient Tzenketh society. The alien became successful by making drinks from all the planets he'd been to, using ingredients he found on Tzenketh. I did a lot of research for that novel, and even experimented with creating my own teas. Unfortunately, the Autocracy decided my book 'promoted xenophilia' and destroyed every single copy of it."
Sisko thought she looked sad at that memory. He assumed it was the writer's sorrow at the loss of a book, but it was actually the Tzenkethi expatriate's sorrow at the state of her homeworld.
"Could I get shfileiu tea?" he asked. "I haven't had it in years."
The negotiations were becoming frustrating.
They were taking a break, which Kalaran had requested, citing the demands of a solid body, though the real reason was that she could tell as well as Odo that the peace talks were quickly slipping out of their control. Odo, Kalaran, and First Rinak'vaka took the opportunity to discuss their options.
"If we could convince his Vorta and Jem'hadar to support our cause, he would be forced to accept our conditions," Rinak'vaka stated.
"That's unlikely. His slaves already know everything we have to offer them, and they still choose to support Laas."
"Kalaran's right," Odo agreed. He had contacted Laas to try to deescalate the cold war that had polarized the Dominion. He offered him a plan for sharing power, but there was one issue Laas would not even consider: the reengineering of the Jem'hadar and Vorta to free them of their genetic allegiance to the Founders. Odo was no diplomat. He'd insisted on including Kalaran and Rinak'vaka in the negotiations, but Laas refused to listen to anything the solids had to say.
Rinak'vaka was deep in thought. "There is one thing his servants don't know," he said. "Perhaps if you told them the changelings will eventually die out, they will be more willing to free themselves from their dependence on them."
Odo considered the idea. The fact that changelings couldn't reproduce, and so were doomed to extinction, was one of the most carefully guarded secrets of the Founders. Odo himself hadn't learned of it until several months after joining the Great Link.
"That won't be enough," Kalaran argued. "You and Laas are the only changelings willing and able to lead the Dominion right now. The Jem'hadar only have the two of you to choose between. No matter how oppressive and incompetent Laas might be, you're the only changeling to ever kill another, and you fought against the Founders in the war, and that makes a lot of Jem'hadar and Vorta hate you too much to support you no matter how right you are."
"That may be true," Rinak'vaka nodded, "but they should still know all the facts before being asked to make that choice."
Kalaran looked uncertain, but turned to Odo to make the decision. He nodded slowly. Though he had no idea what the consequences of that revelation might be, it could at least help to convince the Dominion that the Founders weren't gods.
They returned to the conference room and sat across the table from Laas. He was flanked by two Vorta, one male and one female, but they didn't speak. The only Jem'hadar he brought stood at the far wall. They were only there, he claimed, for his protection. After all, Odo had killed one Founder; why wouldn't he kill another?
"I'm happy to see you haven't abandoned us, Odo," Laas said with a smirk. "Have you reconsidered your terms?"
"We will persist in our efforts to free the Jem'hadar of their dependence on the White and of their genetic allegiance, but we are willing to…give you a say in any genetic alterations beyond that." Odo didn't like that provision, but he didn't know what else he could offer to convince Laas to capitulate.
"There will be no genetic alterations. That is nonnegotiable. We've already conceded to allowing a limited number of Alpha Quadrant ships through the wormhole for exploration and commerce. Frankly, you're agreement to give me control of the military doesn't go far enough to pay for that, even if I didn't require your prior approval for any military action." He spoke calmly, but his eyes were dangerously intense. He had a taste of power, and he found that he liked it. "Either give up your plans to weaken the Jem'hadar, or these negotiations will end right here."
Odo took a moment to mentally prepare himself for the dive he was taking. "Tell me, Founder, what will happen to the Jem'hadar when the last changeling dies?"
Laas visibly stiffened. "What are you talking about?"
"We're a dying race. We both know it. Changelings can't reproduce, we've never been successfully cloned. Unless we find a way, we'll be gone in a few thousand years. What will happen to the Jem'hadar then?"
"If such a terrible scenario comes to pass, the loyal Jem'hadar will join their gods in death. Naturally. So will with Vorta."
"You would condemn two species to extinction?" Odo said accusingly.
The Jem'hadar and Vorta behind Laas remained silent, but they were beginning to act nervous, glancing at each other and at Laas, as though waiting for someone to deny Odo's claim.
"They are ours to condemn," Laas replied.
Odo stared at him, sickened. That was the same attitude the Cardassians had for the Bajorans during the occupation, and it was as wrong now as it was then. "Not if I can help it," he vowed.
Laas exhaled a puff of air that was almost a laugh. "He won't listen to reason." He spoke to the Jem'hadar. "Kill them. All of them. Even the traitor Odo."
The Jem'hadar had been prepared for that possibility, but they still found the order difficult to follow. They aimed first at Rinak'vaka and Kalaran.
"Get down!" Odo shot out golden tendrils that threw his companions to the floor, then turned into a thick mist to blind the attackers.
"Tsk tsk, Odo," said Laas. "You stole that trick from me." He reached into the fog, linked with it, and forced it to assume a liquid from.
Meanwhile, both Rinak'vaka and Kalaran pulled out weapons (which they weren't supposed to have brought) and fired at the approaching enemy soldiers.
"Aim for Odo, you fools!" Laas commanded as he struggled to impose his will on the less-experienced changeling. "Destroy Odo and you destroy them all!"
Two of Laas's most loyal soldiers took aim at the gelatinous pool Odo had become, but before they could fire, Rinak'vaka threw himself between them.
"No!" Kalaran shouted. She leaped from her protective crouch, tackled Laas, and held her phaser to him. "Desist or he dies!" she yelled. She whispered to Laas, "Move and you die."
The Jam'hadar froze. Odo shifted into his humanoid shape.
"You would kill your god?" Laas asked incredulously.
"I have no god, and I serve only Odo. No, I serve only freedom."
A tentacle suddenly sprouted from Laas's head and covered Kalaran's eyes. She fired and leaped back. Laas convulsed in the energy beam.
"Run!" she shouted to Odo and Rinak'vaka.
"Not without you. Come on." Odo grabbed her arm, and together they retreated to the door. Rinak'vaka and Kalaran both kept their weapons trained on the weakened Founder.
As soon as they reached the door, they turned and ran down the corridor toward the airlock. A phaser beam shot from behind them and tore into Rinak'vaka. The only sound he made was the thump of hitting the floor.
"Rinak'vaka!" Kalaran halted and dove for him.
Odo's features twisted in anguish. He didn't want to abandon his loyal friend, but there was nothing they could do for him, and if he and Kalaran didn't reach their ship…
"Help me," Kalaran pleaded as she struggled to lift the heavy Jem'hadar off the floor.
The order to abandon him was on the tip of Odo's tongue, but the look of dual desperation and determination in Kalaran's eyes wouldn't let him utter it. Without consciously directing his body to do so, he stooped and helped lift Rinak'vaka up. They then ran as fast as they could while supporting him between them. Phaser fire danced around them as they fled.
"This is the place their heading would have brought them," Kira announced.
"Slow to impulse."
Kira found it a little strange to not be in the captain's chair, but she had no regrets about asking Sisko to captain the Defiant on this mysterious errand.
"How will we know when they show up?" Nog asked from the engineering console.
"Or if," Bashir added.
"I don't know," Sisko answered honestly. He then added with his characteristic confidence, "But we will."
Bashir cleared his throat before broaching his concern. "Even if they did survive the attack from the nairait ships, what makes us think they're the aliens Kira tried to contact? A subspace signal couldn't have made it back here in such short a time. I can't think of any way a ship could have."
"I can think of a few ways," Kira responded. "Wormholes, Iconian gateways, even time travel."
"You would think of those, since you have personal experience with all of them," Captain Sisko chuckled. "But I don't think any of those are the answer this time."
"What do you think, Sir?" It was Nog who asked the question.
"The Tereshkova picked up an unexplained burst of subspace noise right after the alien ship disappeared. I think they have the technology to convert their entire ship and crew into a subspace signal."
"Is that even possible?" asked Kira.
"It's possible."
Bashir looked confused. "That would enable them to travel much faster than maximum warp, but in order to keep from colliding with stars, planets, and other matter, they would either only be able to travel through charted space, or drop out of subspace periodically to chart their course."
"I'm hoping it's the latter," Sisko said. "And I'm hoping they spot us when they do."
"Which should be…" Bashir did some quick calculations in his head, "in about eight minutes."
"Let's hope they weren't early."
They waited. Eight minutes passed uneventfully. Then ten. Then fifteen. Everyone was becoming visibly nervous, except for Sisko, who calmly watched the viewer.
Suddenly and without fanfare, a small, silvery ship slipped into normal space within viewing range.
"Hail them," Sisko ordered.
"No response."
"They might not use subspace for communication," Bashir suggested. "But what else could they use?"
"Captain, I'm picking up some strange radio waves emanating from that ship," said the ensign at the helm.
"Radio waves?" Bashir repeated. "Why would they be emanating radio waves?"
Everyone pondered that question. Bashir suddenly remembered something he learned in one of his holosuite programs: before humans had subspace technology, radio waves were used to carry signals. But before he could make the suggestion, the ensign at comm made an announcement.
"They're hailing us."
"By all means, let's answer them," Sisko said as he stood and stepped toward the viewer.
A female alien with tightly-braided white hair appeared on the screen. "Unidentified ship, I am Dr. Vo'xa of the BYSEV. I apologize for not answering your hails earlier, but we don't use subspace to communicate, and it took us a while to make our communication system compatible with yours."
"I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko of the Federation. I have a lot of questions."
"You are not the one who sent the distress signal to the BYSEV," Vo'xa observed, her voice lightly sprinkled with suspicion.
Kira stood up and moved into her line of sight. "I sent that signal. Nairait is threatening this quadrant. I hoped you could help us."
Vo'xa looked at her with unblinking azure blue eyes which were larger in proportion to her face than most humanoids' and had vertical slits for pupils. "I have several questions for you, as well," she announced. "Would you permit my crew to board your ship and search it for nairait?"
"How many are in your crew?" Sisko asked.
"Five."
"We'll beam you over."
Someone behind Vo'xa said something. She turned to listen, then locked her unblinking eyes on Sisko. "We'll use our own transporters. We want to make sure our weapons arrive intact."
"Agreed."
A moment later, the five aliens appeared on the bridge. To the crew's surprise, each one was clearly a different species. They also had no uniform: each one wore a different style of clothing.
"Allow me to introduce my crew," Vo'xa said. "This is our exobiologist, Ia Zh." She put her hand on the shoulder of a humanoid male. His long black hair was plaited in such a way as to resemble a fin along the top of his head, his eyes were silvery grey, his skin had a translucent quality, and he was dressed in a silky violet toga. Kira recognized him as a Yniln.
"This is our navigator and stellar cartographer, Gicu." This one resembled a giant greenish-brown lizard wearing a loincloth. He nodded to them in greeting.
"Our geologist, Uyiy." Uyiy was a giant worm, nearly six meters long. It had no apparent eyes, nose, mouth, or limbs, but it had two long antennae coming out of what was presumably its head. Its coloration was a poisonous-looking shiny black with bright red lateral stripes. It moved by means of vertical undulation, and wore no clothes at all.
"And our exosociologist, Tairis." Tairis was humanoid, but significantly taller than Vo'xa and Ia Zh. She was undeniably beautiful, with chin-length black hair that curved inward, large brown eyes, and pearlescent milky skin. She wore a form-fitting dark blue outfit with a dark red belt, from which hung a sleek, wiry gadget that was clearly some kind of energy weapon. She appeared to be the only one armed, and had a wary look in her eyes that Kira recognized.
"By 'exosociologist' did you mean 'security officer'?" she asked.
Vo'xa turned her head and regarded Kira curiously. "Tairis is responsible for determining to what extent the beings we encounter are hostile or friendly," she answered simply.
"You're a crew of scientists on an exploratory mission, I presume?" Sisko asked, trying to alleviate Kira's lack of diplomacy.
"We are," Vo'xa answered. "Will you allow Ia Zh to scan your crew for nairoids while we answer each other's questions?"
"Nairoids?"
"That's what we call someone infected with nairait," she explained.
He nodded. "Of course."
Ia Zh pulled out a scanner and waved it over Captain Sisko. "He's uninfected," he determined after several seconds, then he moved on to the next nearest crewman.
"You called yourself 'doctor,'" Sisko observed. "Are you also the captain?"
"Our crew is not organized as yours is. I am responsible for the physical health of the crew and the safety of the ship. We regard one as an extension of the other."
"How did you get to our quadrant so quickly?" Dr. Bashir asked, joining the conversation after Ia Zh gave him a clean bill of health.
"Our explorations had taken us near your quadrant when BYSEV headquarters relayed the distress signal they'd accidentally picked up. One hundred and twenty Beid years ago, I helped the BYSEV solve our own nairait crisis, so I was a logical choice to help you. Also, our crew has a Qwa, Uyiy, and the Qwa are partially resistant to nairait infection."
This raised dozens of questions in Bashir's mind. He picked the first one for clarification. "Even if you were close to our quadrant and traveling at subspace speeds…how would the relayed signal have reached you so fast, especially since you use electromagnetic waves for intership communication?"
"We communicate with headquarters via a device that utilizes quantum entanglement. It is instantaneous, no matter the distance."
"Quantum entanglement!" Bashir gasped. "Scientists in our quadrant have been trying to send information with quantum entanglement for centuries without success."
"The Ecroshim perfected that technology. They are highly intelligent."
"Not to mention insufferably arrogant," Tairis mumbled. She was listening to the exchange while keeping an eye on the Defiant's crew.
Vo'xa shot her a warning look. There was a flash of sadness in her eyes that disappeared before she returned her gaze to Sisko. "The Ecroshim are one of the founding members of the BYSEV, an alliance of planets for the purpose of mutual protection, scientific cooperation, commerce, and diplomatic relations. The other founding members are my homeplanet Beidic, Yns—Ia Zh's homeplanet, Sorono, and Vrathria. Several other civilizations have joined since, including Qwa and Dass, where Gicu is from."
"The Federation is similar to that," Sisko said.
"May I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead."
"You used the word 'nairait' in your message. How did you know what we called it?"
He looked to Kira. She answered nervously, unsure of how accepting these scientists were of spiritual phenomena. "I had a vision, which I believe was sent to me by my people's gods, warning about the nairait."
"Oh I see."
She couldn't tell if Vo'xa believed her or not. Ia Zh glanced at her, but she couldn't tell by his expression what he thought of it.
"If you don't mind my asking," Bashir requested, "how old are you?"
"I'm Two-hundred-fifty-eight Beid years old. I'm not sure that means much to you. What is your planet's distance from its star, and your star's surface gravity?"
"Eight point three light minutes. Twenty-seven point nine gees."
Vo'xa thought for several seconds. "Then I'm approximately one hundred ninety-five of your years old."
Bashir stared in amazement. "How did you make those calculations in your head?"
"I have an implant in my brain that acts as a calculator. It's very convenient; most Beid have one. It also increases memory recall. In fact, those numbers sound familiar. Are you by any chance from a planet called Earth?"
"As a matter of fact, I am."
Vo'xa became visibly excited. "Explorers from our planet visited yours hundreds of years ago. They would be shocked to see the technological state you've achieved: they gave your species three-to-one odds that you'd destroy yourselves within a century."
"We nearly did," Bashir admitted.
Ia Zh was scanning Kira. He looked concerned by something he saw on the display of his scanner. "Vo'xa," he said, "I think you should look at this."
The smile disappeared from Vo'xa's face. She went over and peered at the display screen. Then she gave Tairis a look which caused the exosociologist/security officer to raise her gun and aim it squarely at Kira.
"She's infected," Vo'xa said solemnly.