SMST: Deep Space Moon! – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: SM, R1/2, ST and other genres belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Special Note: This story takes place during Seasons 1 through 3 of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". "The Ranma Trek Chronicles" takes place during Seasons 4 through 7.
Author's Note: This story is designed to be short, and will focus mostly on Sailor Moon, though Ranma Saotome (of "Ranma ½") will make a cameo from time-to-time. As always, C&C are welcomed.
Part 7
It's been a week since the crisis concerning the attempts by the Khon-Ma, a Bajoran separatist group, to destroy the Bajoran Wormhole. Due to its religious significance amongst the Bajoran people, the Khon-Ma was promptly discredited and shunned. Unfortunately, this was just the start of very old wounds, brought on by the Cardassian Occupation, popping up now and again…
"Counselor, I need for you to investigate an incident concerning the death of Ibudan Tal," Sisko said, as he hands Usagi her PADD.
"Wasn't Ibudan the guy that got into it with Odo, over something the Bajoran smuggler did back during the occupation?" Usagi said, as she glanced at the data on her pad.
"Yes. Unfortunately, he was found dead this morning in one of Quark's holosuites."
"Oh. Sir, I thank you for this vote of confidence, but I'm a counselor, not an investigator."
"But you were a Federation Marshal at one point in time, correct?"
"Yeah, about two hundred years ago, I have been."
"Then use your life experience as a start."
"Yes, sir," Usagi blanched, as she gets up. "Do you want me to represent Odo, too? Because, I had been a Judge Advocate General officer once before, you know."
"Don't get cute, councilor. The Bajoran Provisional Government will handle the legal proceedings once an investigation had been concluded."
"Okay, okay," Usagi said, as she gives up her protest. "I'm on it…"
Twenty minutes later…
"So this is actual police work?" Dr. Bashir asked, as Usagi performed her spectral analysis with Bashir's help. The two were collecting forensic evidence at the scene of the crime.
"Yes, doctor, it is," Usagi said, as she painstakingly examined the area grid-by-grid in the holosuite. "However, this is nothing more than solving a riddle with a missing line."
"Then how do you suppose we fine this…'missing line'?"
"You look at the patterns that the first part of the poetry is alluding to, and then seek what is being alluding to…"
Usagi's scanner picks up some genetic material.
"Hello, there," Usagi said, as she detects something odd.
"What is it?" Bashir said, as he gets out a sampling kit from his medical bag.
"I'm detecting two genetic materials: Ibudan's and Odo's."
"This…is bad," Bashir said, as collects the genetic material. "Right?"
"Always look at any evidence collected as 'prima facie'," Usagi said with a smile.
"Meaning…?"
"Meaning that we will continue to collect more evidence before making a final pronouncement, of course…"
Later, while Bashir examines the collected genetic material with Science Office Jadzia Dax, Usagi goes on to the next phase of her assignment.
"YOU are interrogating ME?" Odo asked incredulously. He had been put on administrative leave, pending Usagi's report submission…
"Of course," Usagi said, as she slowly walks around a seated Odo. "Now, state your name…"
"Odo," Odo scoffed. "You know, if I was Ibudan's murderer, what makes you think I will comply?"
"If you were the murderer, you could easily hide from scrutiny, giving your knowledge of the station," Usagi said, as she sits down in front of the Station Constable. "So, I read your file on Ibudan Tal, and how you gave him grief for allowing a Bajoran girl die, in order to protect his supply."
Pause.
"Why do you care? You didn't exactly help the Bajoran people in their time of need…"
Odo fidgets a bit, before looking directly at Usagi.
"Do I have your word not to say anything outside this room?" Odo asked.
"Am I an investigator or counselor to you?"
"Which one protects my confidentiality?"
"I can be your counselor, if you want me to be 'off the record'."
"Then I chose that," Odo said.
"Very well, you may proceed," Usagi said, after she turns off her recorder.
"During the occupation, I allowed three innocent Bajorans die, because I didn't want to have the local Bajoran Resistance cell compromised," Odo said with a sigh. "I swore to myself that I would never stand by and allow another Bajoran to suffer idly."
"I see…"
"So when Ibudan allowed that girl to die, I waited for the opportunity to bring the man to justice, although it took the murder of a Cardassian officer to do so. Needless to say, I didn't exactly win friends over that incident."
Pause.
"And, when the Cardassian Union left, Ibudan was released, as a part of a general amnesty. But I still think he should have paid for the death of that girl."
"Well, I'm glad to hear about this, since it'll make it easier to file my report."
"You're not going to re-tell my story, are you?"
"No, but now I can prolong the investigation to investigate Ibudan," Usagi said. "I find it odd that Ibudan would want to get into it with you in the first place. And considering the fact that the man has a medical background, I wouldn't be surprised if Ibudan used that same background to set you up. You did touch Ibudan at any time, correct?"
"Yes, when I, unfortunately, got into an altercations with Ibudan hours before his demise," Odo said. "He scratched me, but I feel fine."
"If he scratched you, then he got a hold of your genetic material," Usagi said. "I have a bad feeling that there is something more to Ibudan than meets the eye…"
Later, in the Sickbay, Dax makes a discovery…
"Take a look at this," Dax said, as she shows Usagi and Dr. Bashir her report on the monitors. "This is a comparison spectrograph between what was recorded from Ibudan's last medical scans, and the scans of the sample providing through your forensic evidence gathering. You see any difference?"
"It appears that the new sample appear to match the old sample, but with one key difference," Dax said, as she focuses on a particular set of DNA strands. "You see what's happening?"
"A clone," Usagi said with astonishment. "The body found in the holosuite is a clone."
"Precisely, based upon these artificial genetic markers," Bashir said, as he points this out.
"If…that's the case, then where is the real Ibudan?" Usagi asked.
"If Ibudan is around, I can get Miles to recalibrate the scanners," Dax replied.
"Well, we better find Ibudan Tal now," said Major Kira Nerys, as she enters the medical ward.
"What's going on?" Usagi asked.
"The Bajoran residents here on the station are up in arms over what Odo might have done, and are confronting him in Holding," Kira said.
"Why can't you do something about it?" Bashir asked.
"Why do you THINK?" Kira said with a perturbed look on her face.
"Ah, Bajoran solidarity."
"Not quite, but I don't want to jeopardize my own personal standing."
"How brave of you," Dax said.
"Now, Jadzia, Kira is only trying to stay above the fray after what happened to the Khon-Ma," Usagi said, as she turns towards her old friend. "We need to prevent a lynch mob from getting to the constable. I don't want an innocent man to pay for a crime he did not commit…"
Later, after it was learned that the real Ibudan—found in one of the abandoned cargo bays while hiding, thanks to Chief O'Brien's efforts, killed his clone to implicate Odo, Commander Sisko concludes the case against his chief law enforcement agent.
"Good job, counselor," Sisko said, as he finishes reading Usagi's report.
"Thank you, sir," Usagi said. "I just didn't want to see injustice done."
"I, as well. At any rate, you're dismissed…"
Back downstairs, in the promenade area, in Usagi's office, Usagi prepares her next appointment, when a familiar face enters the room.
"Oh, Constable Odo," Usagi said, as she looks up. "I'm surprised to see you here."
"I apologize for interrupting your schedule, but I was wondering if I could…see you again," Odo said, as he looks around.
"As a counselor?"
"As a friend, as well. I've never had the opportunity to speak candidly about my past and all."
"Well, I can set up a slot for you-"
"If you don't mind, but could it be a non-scheduled appointment? You know, between times when you don't have a scheduled on."
"I can do that, Constable Odo."
"Please, just call me 'Odo'."
"Odo it is, then."
And, with that, a special friendship is formed between a solid and a liquid, one that will have an impact on two quadrants…
A week later…
"Do you know what's happened to Miles?" Bashir asked Keiko.
"I…I don't know," Keiko O'Brien, wife of the Chief of Station Operations, said with concern. "He mentioned a headache, then he began to speak nonsense, and then he fell down unconscious."
"Sounds like 'aphasia'," Bashir said, as he went about examining the chief. "But aphasia is an illness that only occurs as a mental defect, not something that could be caught in later stages-"
"Doctor, we have problem," Kira said, as she and others began to be brought into Sick Bay. "Whatever Miles got, it's spreading."
"So NOW can you do something?" Keiko asked.
"Quite right," Bashir said. "We will have to back track the source-"
"Doctor, we have a problem," Dax said, as she enters the room in a hurry.
"I know, it's about this mysterious, and possible virus-"
"I know that, but…whatever has affected them is affecting Usagi differently."
"Oh?"
Meanwhile, Usagi was stomping towards Garak's shop, while removing her clothes off.
"I refuse to wear these…peasant clothes any longer," said Usagi, as she walked down the promenade nude. "I, the Queen of Hearts, shall find more suited clothing to wear."
As Usagi walks by Quark's, Quark sees Usagi.
"Counselor," Quark said.
"Barkeep," Usagi replied, as she continued on her merry way.
"Sometimes, I don't understand the customs of these hu-mons," Quark said, as he turns towards his brother Rom.
"Rom, did you get all that?"
"Indeed, brother," Rom said, as he held up the holographic film recorder. "We have an addition to our holo-suite library."
"That's good to know," Quark said with a smirk.
Eventually, Usagi, as the so-called Queen of Hearts, tried to stage a coup on the station, thanks to the bio-engineered virus. It turned out that the virus was a decades old trap by a pair of Bajoran scientists for the Cardassians. Unfortunately, while Miles was repairing the replicators, the trap was sprung. Thanks to Kira's efforts, she contacts one of the scientists, retrieves him, and gets him to assist Dr. Bashir in developing a cure for everyone. As to why certain crewmembers were spared: Usagi was infected, but her body reacted differently while it fought off the virus. Odo wasn't infected at all, due to his unique physiology. Bajorans were not infected for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, the crisis was resolved before serious damage could occur.
A week later…
As a part of the deal to free an escaped slave, Usagi volunteers to become the Hunters' new prey. The Hunters were from the Gamma Quadrant, and had pursued their prey, a lizardman named "Tosk", into the Alpha Quadrant. And due to the usual diplomatic protocols, Tosk received asylum. That is, until the Hunters came. Now, with lives hanging in the balance, Usagi revealed her xenomorphic background, which prompted a wager: if she fails to avoid being captured, then she and Tosk will go back to Gamma Quadrant with the Hunters. Naturally, there were some objections to this. However, Dax was supported of Usagi's decision to put herself on the line. Thus, while using the unincorporated section of Deep Space Nine as the proving ground, the hunt for the Bunny…begins…
"I have to say, Old Man, that I don't appreciate one of my officers being hunted like common prey," Sisko said, as he looked at the grid from Operations.
"Don't sell Usagi short, Benjamin," Dax said. "She can protect herself."
"And how do you know if the counselor can even do THAT?" Kira asked.
"Just watched the grid," Dax said, as she points at the dots that represented the Hunters.
Suddenly, one dot, representing Usagi, appears out of nowhere, and is on a direct intercept to one of the hunters…
Alpha uses his tracking device to pick up Usagi's movements. He twirls around to aim his weapon, but finds nothing.
"Damn it," Alpha said, as he looks at his scanners. "I'm getting soft…"
Steeling his resolve, he heads for the last tracked position that his prey was located. He switches to flame thrower mode, and shots flames down the corridor.
Nothing.
And then, his scanner detects movement. Something fast was approaching his position, but he could see anything.
"Come out of here!" Alpha said, now sacred.
A shadowy figure drops from the ceiling, behind Alpha, quietly. At the last minute, Alpha turns around…
Thirty seconds later, his team-mates coming running down the hall, and sees Alpha's dropped equipment.
"He was here," said Beta, as he scanned the area for any residue that might have been left behind by their prey.
"How is this female able to pick us off?" Gamma said. "We're hunters!"
"It may be that the hunter has become the prey, and vice-versa," Beta said grimly. "We better widen our search pattern…"
And the pair move out, Usagi looks at her prey, while she clings to the ceiling above. Having xenomorphic tendencies has allowed her to camouflage her presence. Her eyes were now clored silver-greenish, as she moved not a inch of her body, as she prepared to take down the final obstacles.
Later, after the crisis has been resolved, Usagi would take time off to get her perspective back in order. The last thing she wants is to become the very alien that caused her to become a monster in the first place…
Tbc.
Next Time: Usagi meets her REAL father…the infamous Q. Also, Dax is charged with a crime that she did not commit, and Usagi helps mount a rescue of a mind-controlled Bashir during her day off. See you then!