It was a quiet day in Ops. But that did not mean that nothing was happening. The Bajoran security forces were pursuing the terrorists that were responsible for the bombing in the capital. Reporters stated that what is believed to be their hideout has been found, and security forces were raiding it as they spoke. It had been four hours now. Kira's eyes were glued to the viewscreen. Any news, anything at all…

The comm beeped. Dax checked the computer.

"Colonel, we have a Minister Cetrane on the line for you."

Kira was surprised. Why was the chief of Bajoran Planetary Security contacting her? There was only one way to find out.

"On screen."

The viewscreen lit up, revealing a young and energetic-looking Bajoran woman. Cetrane Visia was the youngest person, and the first woman, to be elected Minister of Internal Security since the end of the Occupation. She was a firebrand.

"Colonel, good day."

"Minister Cetrane. What can I do for you?"

"I need your help with something. Is Captain Dax available?"

Dax walked over to join Kira.

"This is Captain Dax."

"We have a bit of a bizarre situation on our hands right now. Two hours ago the raid on the terrorist hideout was completed. Every terrorist was arrested and the cave is secure."

Kira interrupted. "Why didn't I hear anything about this on the news?"

"That's why I'm calling you. As we were clearing the cave the terrorists shouted curses at us, that we were going to be destroyed by their liege, the true gods of the galaxy. We just thought that they were just another Pah-wraith cult, until we finished clearing their hideout. We found some bizarre ruins there, thousands of years old, that are not Bajoran in origin."

"Fascinating."

"I understand that, before you were promoted to captain, you were one of the most capable science officers in the service. And decorated many times for that service."

Dax blushed. "I did my duty."

"Well, we are in need of your skills. I ask that you beam down to the cave hideout — coordinates to be transmitted — and take a look at what we've found."

Dax was curious. "I'm on my way."

As she walked to the Ops transporter, Kira turned to her.

"Bajoran history goes back over a million years. I have no recollection of any other aliens ever colonizing our planet. If there were, there'd be mention of it in the records."

"Same conclusion I made."

"Well, this should prove interesting."

"I look forward to briefing you." She took her place on the transporter pad. "Energize."

Dax materialized into a damp cave. Portable lighting units were erected, chasing away the dark. A Bajoran ran up to her.

"Captain Dax, I'm Minister Cetrane. I'm glad you could come."

"Where are we?"

"Deep below the Kentara mountain range."

"Interesting."

"This cave complex was completely sealed off from the surface. We only found it when a resource extraction team was drilling into the mountain, and they came upon a collapsed corridor."

"Hm."

"The ruins I want you to look at are this way."

With that, Dax and Cetrane set off deeper into the cave. They went down a set of ancient carved stairs and reached the interior of what looked like a temple. Dax was immediately drawn towards the markings covering the walls. They were most decidedly not Bajoran writing. Dax scanned it with her tricorder to match the symbols; it came back as Linear A script, from Earth. Bizarre.

Dax walked to the center of the temple, up onto a raised platform. At the center of the platform was a strange circular device. It was embedded into the floor so that the bottom of the interior of the circle was exactly level with the ground. Around the circumference was an inner ring that had unknown symbols carved into it at regular intervals. Around the outer ring were seven small sculptures made of a different material, a hard gold resin of some sort.

Dax checked her tricorder. The resin sculptures were a kind of light bulb, but the rest of the object defied analysis. It was made of a hard metal that the tricorder could not identify. Scans indicated that it had been installed here for over three million years. Dax turned to Minister Cetrane.

"I understand Bajoran history is extremely protracted. Three million years ago, who inhabited these regions?"

"No one. Our history is long, but it is not that long. This artifact predates the evolution of sentient life on Bajor by at least 1.5 million years."

Dax then scanned the platform they were standing on. "Radiocarbon analysis indicates that the stone in this platform was carved approximately 3,500 years ago. Who inhabited the area then?"

"That would be towards the end of the Twenty-Ninth Nomadic Period. Bajoran civilization at that time was composed of nomadic clan-groups, scattered across the surface of Bajor. I believe this area was claimed by the Ou'arra clan, which was noted for being militaristic and proud."

"Interesting. Regarding the writing on the walls here…"

"Yes, we were not able to identify the symbols. Far too simple marks to be Bajoran pictographs."

"Those aren't pictographs. I don't understand why, but the tricorder states they are identical to an ancient alphabet from Earth called Linear A. Earth historians were never able to translate Linear A."

"How would an alphabet from an Earth culture end up here on Bajor?"

"That's the mystery. Unfortunately, from what I can tell, so is everything else here. This entire cave will have to be filed under the completely unexplained. I can find no underlying logic behind any of this. It is a big question mark. It'll make for a fascinating article in the Federation Journal of Xenoarchaeology, though."

"I see. Well, I'm sorry for drawing you away from your work for nothing."

"Don't worry about it. It's not often I see something this completely alien."