Jadommie's screen image said, "The Klingonean ships are withdrawing."
"Do they still have weapons lock?" Bendylan asked.
"Yes…" Roar'De said. "They've halted just outside weapons range."
"Very well." Bendylan rubbed his face. "Tyworrf wouldn't give up a good position like that, not unless something else had his attention."
"I may be able to shed some light on that," Bashir said as he crossed the bridge to stand in front of his captain. "Captain, sir, I regret to inform you…" He trailed off. "I don't know quite how to say this."
Bendylan stood. "We've known each other a long time, Julian. You should know there isn't any subject you can't broach with me."
"That's just it, sir," Bashir said stiffly. "We haven't known each other a long time. As a matter of fact, you didn't exist until a few minutes ago."
"What?" Bendylan gasped.
"It's true," Quark said.
"Ok!" Bekyra said as she got up from the pilot's couch. "Joke over. Guys, this isn't the time or the place." She poked herself with her thumb. "Me Bekyra Norentine," she said pugnaciously. "Me always has been Bekyra Norentine, and me realizes you guys are just having some fun to lighten the tension because Tyrworrf has come back to kill us. But guys, this is not the time or the place. So drop it, or me, the once and future Bekyra Norentine, will kick your butts!"
"I'm not so sure," Bendylan said.
"Please," Bekyra said. "This is a badly timed joke. Not everything is weird-" She broke off and turned to Guinance. The mysterious woman was holding her abdomen in pain. "Guinance?" Bekyra asked her former crew member . "Are you all right?"
"I don't..." Guinance managed. "…Bekyra, I…."
Guinance suddenly threw back her head and gold flame erupted from her eyes and mouth. As the flame congealed into a sphere near the ceiling, the black stripes on Guinance's face expanded, making her skin completely black, and her clothes rippled and changed.
The flames stopped. Guinance(?) sank to the deck as the sphere floated down next to her and collapsed into a gold-skinned woman with red dreadlocks and a low-cut red one-piece uniform.
"Guinance?" Bekyra asked.
"Guinan," the black woman said as she and the gold-skinned woman helped each other get up.
"And I'm Trance," the gold skinned woman said. "You have to listen to us, Captain. Two universes have been smashed together."
"And if we can't figure out how to reverse it," Guinan said, "everything will be destroyed."
"Ok," Bekyra said, "maybe there is some weirdness going on after all."
"Or maybe we just pulled the biggest hoax in the history of all time," Quark said, "but if I were you, I wouldn't bet hard currency on it."
Bendylan sat in his chair. "Rax, keep an eye on the Klingonean ships." He turned to Trance and Guinan. "All right, ladies, you have my complete attention. I'm listening…"