DIRECTED BY
AIRED ON
February 26, 1996
RUNTIME
45 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
211
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-13 04:05:54
PAGE VERSION
Version 2
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0
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0
SUMMARY
Stardate: Unknown. A man claiming to be the emissary comes through the wormhole. Sisko is happy to give up his position. Meanwhile Keiko returns and O'Brien stops spending time with Bashir.
STORY
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BEHIND THE SCENES
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QUOTES
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TOPICS
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REVIEWS
Best episode so far
Written by
Pike on 2018-03-11
★
★
★
★
SIMPLY THE BEST
This episode, with its excellent concept, is my favorite episode of the show so far.
PSYCHOLOGY
I simply loved the way the relationship between Rick and his daughter was approached here.
DIE HARD
Funny enough, when the episode starts, you would never imagine that Rick as a pickle would actually have such an elaborate and action packed adventure! This episode is like a crossover between Rick and Morty and Die Hard! It felt great and the gore scenes were adding a kind of originality to it all.
EPILOGUE
Finally, it may seem like nothing, and the post-credits scene was very short, but I really, I mean really loved it. Rick and Morty stucked in a grand piano, waiting for their death just before Jaguar arrives. It was just grandiose. It could have easily been an episode on its own. Imagine this, a dark melomaniac killing his victims in his instruments. Just insanely great.
SUMMARY
One of my favourite episodes of Rick and Morty. I give it 8 out of 10.
TRANSCRIPT
[O'Brien's quarters]
(The Battle of Britain has been won again, but the room is a total pit)
BASHIR: I thought you said you'd started straightening this place up.
O'BRIEN: You should've seen it before.
BASHIR: Keiko's shuttle will be here before we know it. We should have left the holosuite hours ago.
O'BRIEN: What, and let the Jerries cross the channel? Never.
BASHIR: It is sort of a shame to pack all this stuff away
O'BRIEN: I wish we didn't have to.
BASHIR: It's like sculpture. A monument to your year as a bachelor.
O'BRIEN: I suppose it is.
BASHIR: Who are we to dismantle this piece of art?
O'BRIEN: I don't know. But if we don't, Keiko will dismantle me.
[Airlock]
(The transport has unloaded)
MOLLY: Daddy!
O'BRIEN: Hi, sweetie!
KEIKO: Hi.
(Molly gets a hug, Keiko gets a long, lingering kiss.)
KEIKO: The one good thing about going away is coming home.
O'BRIEN: I never want to be apart like that again.
MOLLY: Daddy! Daddy! I have a little brother!
O'BRIEN: Really? Is that him?
(O'Brien points to Molly's doll. Molly points to Keiko's tummy.)
MOLLY: No. He's in there.
KEIKO: Surprise.
O'BRIEN: A baby?
KEIKO: Yeah. I thought you'd be happy. I mean, we talked about it and decided we'd start trying.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I know. But your last visit, you were only here the one night. I thought it'd take a couple of nights. To be honest, a lot more nights.
KEIKO: I guess we just got lucky this time.
O'BRIEN: I guess so.
[Ops]
(An impressive old man comes up on the turbolift with a man and woman.)
KIRA: Vedek Porta.
PORTA: Nerys. So this is where you are when you're not at the Temple. Very impressive.
KIRA: Haven't you ever been to Ops?
PORTA: What business would an old monk have here except maybe helping a young couple to meet the Emissary. Are you sure this is a good time?
KIRA: I think he'll be able to fit you in.
LATARA: (the bride) Thank you so much for doing this, Major.
KIRA: Oh, I'm glad to.
[Captain's office]
SISKO: They can take the Rubicon.
(Doorbell)
SISKO: Come in.
KIRA: Vedek Porta's here with a young couple that just got married. They're hoping to get the Emissary's blessing.
SISKO: Bring them in.
DAX: You remember the words?
SISKO: The marriage blessing? I think so.
LATARA: Emissary. We're very grateful to you for seeing us.
SISKO: Not at all. Now, if you'll just join hands. Zhia'kala, tareh anu suur. Tevon akalu rez kavor. Matana kel.
LATARA: Thank you. Thank you very much.
(The couple leave.)
PORTA: Your accent is getting much better, Emissary.
SISKO: I'm glad to hear it.
(Kira and Porta leave.)
DAX: It isn't that bad, is it, being the Emissary? A few ceremonies, an occasional blessing.
SISKO: I didn't say it was that bad. It's just hard getting used to being a religious icon.
DAX: Really? I think I'd like it.
KIRA [OC]: Kira to Sisko.
SISKO: Go ahead.
KIRA [OC]: You'd better get out here. There's something coming through the wormhole.
[Ops]
(A battered solar sail ship, like the one Sisko built, is arriving.)
SISKO: A lightship.
KIRA: I don't know where it came from. According to remote sensors it never entered the wormhole.
DAX: From these readings I'd say that ship's about three hundred years old.
SISKO: Lifesigns?
DAX: There's someone on board. A Bajoran.
SISKO: Try hailing them.
KIRA: No response.
DAX: Whoever's in there could be injured.
SISKO: Tractor the ship into transporter range and beam the passenger directly to the infirmary.
[Infirmary]
(A middle-aged man with a goatee beard and drab clothes is lying on a bed.)
BASHIR: He's a little disoriented.
SISKO: I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko. You're aboard a Federation Space Station near Bajor. This is Kira Nerys, my First Officer.
KIRA: Who are you?
AKOREM: I am the Emissary.
(After the credits)
AKOREM: I was headed back to Bajor. My lightship was caught in an ion storm. It nearly tore it apart. A girder came loose from the bulkhead and impaled me through the shoulder here. I remember thinking I was going to die, alone in space, when a strange opening appeared in the sky. I was terrified at first, and then I realised what was happening. The Prophets were opening the gates of the Celestial Temple and drawing me to them.
SISKO: What happened then?
AKOREM: It's difficult to describe. They took the form of people that I know, my grandfather, my brother, so that they could communicate with me.
SISKO: You spoke to them?
AKOREM: I didn't have to. I could sense their understanding, their grace. I've never felt such bliss. And then they healed me. A light washed over me and then my wound was gone. They gave me back my life. I felt reborn.
SISKO: When exactly did you leave Bajor?
AKOREM: Oh, it couldn't have been more than a few days ago.
SISKO: What was the year?
AKOREM: Ninety one seventy four.
KIRA: That was over two hundred years ago.
AKOREM: Two hundred years? My wife, my parents, they're gone.
BASHIR: If you give us your name, maybe we can contact your descendants, let them know you're alive.
AKOREM: Akorem. Akorem Laan. But I have no descendants. My brother died last winter and my wife and I never had children.
KIRA: Akorem Laan, the poet?
AKOREM: I'm a poet, yes.
KIRA: You wrote Kitara's Song and The Call of the Prophets.
AKOREM: You know my work?
KIRA: You're considered one of the greatest poets of Bajor. Every schoolchild can recite Gaudaal's Lament from memory.
AKOREM: People still read my work after all this time? Perhaps that's part of the Prophets' plan for me.
SISKO: Their plan?
AKOREM: It's not clear to me yet why they made me their Emissary, but I know that they gave me back my life for a reason.
SISKO: Akorem, a great deal has happened since you've been gone. Maybe Major Kira can spend some time filling you in.
AKOREM: Major Kira?
KIRA: That's right.
AKOREM: But your family would be part of the artist D'jarra.
BASHIR: D'jarra?
KIRA: Bajor used to have a strict caste system. A person's work was dictated by what family they were born into.
AKOREM: You no longer follow your D'jarras?
KIRA: When the Cardassians occupied Bajor we gave up the D'jarras so that we could fight them. We all became soldiers.
AKOREM: The Cardassians occupied Bajor?
KIRA: For over fifty years.
AKOREM: It seems you're right, Captain. A great deal has happened since I've been gone.
[Captain's office]
SISKO: If you look at the prophecies about the Emissary, a lot of them make more sense with Akorem in the picture.
DAX: Really?
SISKO: Every text I've read says the Prophets will name their Emissary by calling him to them, that he would find the Celestial Temple, that there the Prophets would give him back his life.
DAX: Go on.
SISKO: They didn't give me back my life.
DAX: Not literally, but they did help you get your life back together.
SISKO: True enough. But I wasn't the first one to find the wormhole, or to meet the Prophets. Akorem was.
DAX: Benjamin, I thought you didn't believe in the prophecies.
SISKO: I don't.
DAX: Then why are you using them to justify giving up your position?
SISKO: I guess I was looking for something to convince me that I was making the right decision.
DAX: So your mind's made up. You're going to step aside.
SISKO: Akorem will make a far better Emissary than I ever was. He's Bajoran, he's a revered poet, and he wants the job. Besides, Starfleet will be thrilled. They never liked the idea that the Bajorans saw me as a religious figure.
DAX: How do you know the Bajorans will accept Akorem as their new Emissary?
SISKO: I talked to Vedek Porta. He seemed to think that as long as I make it clear that I'm stepping aside voluntarily, they will.
DAX: So you're off the hook. How does it feel?
SISKO: It feels good. No more ceremonies to attend, no more blessings to give, no more prophecies to fulfill. I'm just a Starfleet officer again. All I have to worry about are the Klingons, the Dominion and the Maquis. I feel like I'm on vacation.
[Promenade]
BASHIR: Chief! Congratulations, dad.
O'BRIEN: You heard.
BASHIR: Great news, my friend. Come and have a drink. Celebrate.
O'BRIEN: I really should be getting home.
BASHIR: Oh, just one.
O'BRIEN: All right.
[Quark's]
BASHIR: Quark, did you hear? Chief O'Brien is having a baby.
QUARK: I thought your females carried your young.
O'BRIEN: My wife. My wife is having the baby.
QUARK: Congratulations. I remember when my nephew Nog was a baby. Cutest thing you ever saw. You know babies. Every little thing they pick up goes straight into their ears. I used to love reading to him. You know, See Brak acquire. Acquire, Brak, acquire.
(Quark hands over a mug of ale.)
BASHIR: Just think, soon there'll be two little O'Briens scampering about underfoot.
O'BRIEN: Hard to believe, isn't it.
BASHIR: Mind you, they do say the second one is easier. Since you've already been through the diapers and the endless crying and the sleepless nights.
O'BRIEN: Yeah.
BASHIR: Cheers.
O'BRIEN: Oh, cheers.
BASHIR: Something wrong, Chief?
O'BRIEN: No. Nothing at all. Couldn't be happier.
QUARK: Did you hear? Keiko's going to have another baby.
WORF: Now?
O'BRIEN: No, seven months.
WORF: I see.
O'BRIEN: Worf delivered Molly, you know.
BASHIR: Really?
O'BRIEN: The Enterprise was damaged. Keiko and he were trapped together when her time came.
BASHIR: Oh, well I'll be sure and call you when she's ready to deliver. You can lend a hand.
WORF: Seven months? Unfortunately, I will be away from the station at that time. Far away. Visiting my parents. On Earth. Excuse me.
(Worf leaves)
BASHIR: I don't know who's more anxious about this baby, you or Worf.
O'BRIEN: The thing is, Julian, now that Molly's a little older, I was hoping to being able to spend some time with Keiko again. I thought we could, I don't know, go out at night. Don't get me wrong, I know once I'm hold my little baby in my arms I'll be the happiest man in the world, but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. How about a game of darts?
BASHIR: Don't you have to get home?
O'BRIEN: Yeah.
[Promenade - upper level]
ODO: Major. Come to see Akorem speak?
KIRA: The Emissary's first public appearance? I wouldn't miss it.
ODO: I'm surprised to hear you call him that.
KIRA: Why? Akorem Laan was, is a great man. He's been with the Prophets for over two hundred years, and now they've sent him back to us.
ODO: Yes, but two days ago you believed Captain Sisko was the Emissary.
KIRA: Well, he made it clear he wants to step aside.
ODO: Does that mean he never really was the Emissary?
KIRA: No.
ODO: But they can't both be.
KIRA: I don't know. What do you want from me, Odo?
ODO: Forgive me, Major, I don't mean to be difficult, but your faith seems to have led you to something of a contradiction.
KIRA: I don't see it as a contradiction.
ODO: I don't understand.
KIRA: That's the thing about faith. If you don't have it, you can't understand it, and if you do, no explanation is necessary.
(Akorem and Porta come out of the Temple below, to a lectern set up for the occasion.)
AKOREM: Ever since the Prophets returned me to my people, I've asked myself the same questions over and over again. Why did they keep me with them for so long? Why did they return me to my
[Captain' office]
AKOREM [on monitor} People now? I now know the answers. Bajor suffered a great wound while I was with the Prophets. The Cardassian occupation. The Bajor I have returned to has lost its way. People no longer follow the path the Prophets have laid out for them. They no longer follow their D'jarras. Artists have become soldiers. Priests have become merchants. Farmers have become politicians.
[Promenade]
AKOREM: We must heal the wounds of the occupation. We must return to our D'jarras. We must reclaim what we were and follow the path the Prophets have laid out for us. It is their will that the farmers return to their land, painters to their canvasses, priests to their temples. If we do this, if we follow our D'jarras, then Bajor will flourish again and become the green and peaceful land I remember. It will be as if the occupation never happened. By returning to our D'jarras, we will have erased it forever.
(He gets polite applause, but there are many unhappy faces, including Kira and Sisko.)
[Wardroom]
SISKO: I wanted to talk to you before you left for Bajor.
AKOREM: Of course.
SISKO: I was surprised by your speech. I had no idea you were going to advocate change on such a massive scale.
AKOREM: It's what the Prophets want for Bajor. It's why they sent me.
SISKO: Are you sure of that?
AKOREM: Absolutely.
PORTA: The Emissary knows that what he's proposing will be difficult for some people to accept. He doesn't expect things to change overnight.
SISKO: So, you're going to ask First Minister Shakaar to step down and go back to farming?
AKOREM: No, of course not. But, frankly, by the next election, I doubt very many people will left on Bajor who would elect a farmer to political office.
PORTA: We hope that eventually the people will support enforcement of the D'jarras by legal sanction.
SISKO: So if someone defies their caste?
AKOREM: Society will have appropriate remedies at it's disposal, such as deportation.
SISKO: You realise that caste-based discrimination goes against the Federation charter. If Bajor returns to the D'jarra system, I have no doubt that its petition to join the Federation will be rejected.
AKOREM: Kai Winn and I have already discussed it. We're willing to make that sacrifice in order to follow the will of the Prophets.
SISKO: I had a feeling Winn would see it that way.
PORTA: Well, the Emissary's transport leaves shortly.
SISKO: As a Starfleet Officer, I am bound by oath not to interfere with Bajoran affairs. But, as a friend to Bajor, I have to say giving up Federation membership would be a mistake.
(Akorem takes hold of Sisko's right ear)
AKOREM: Your pagh is strong. I see now why Kai Opaka believed you were the Emissary, and why Winn fears you. Goodbye, Captain.
SISKO: Goodbye Emissary.
[Replimat]
(All the seats are taken.)
SISKO: Morning.
KIRA: I guess I'll have to take my raktajino with me.
(A Bajoran woman stands up.)
JIA: Please, sit here.
KIRA: You're not finished.
JIA: I'll find someplace else to sit.
KIRA: You don't have to get up for me.
JIA: You're Ih'valla. I'm Te'nari.
(And she leaves.)
SISKO: It's been going on all morning whenever someone with a higher ranking D'jarra comes in.
KIRA: I guess I'll have to start getting used to being treated like that.
SISKO: I remember when I got promoted to lieutenant. It took me a while to get used to being called sir by my friends who were still ensigns.
KIRA: That's different. You'd earned the right to be treated with respect. I haven't done anything.
SISKO: Sounds like you have some reservations about bringing back the D'jarras.
KIRA: I have some questions, sure. The Emissary is asking something very difficult of us, but we have to have faith that he's guiding us toward something.
SISKO: Even if what he's guiding you towards doesn't include the Federation?
KIRA: It's not our place to question the Emissary.
SISKO: No matter what?
KIRA: Maybe you never realised this, Captain, but we would've tried to do whatever you asked of us when you were Emissary, no matter how difficult it seemed. I'd better get to Ops.
[Sisko's quarters]
(Sisko wakes from a bad dream.)
[Promenade]
(Everywhere is closed and quiet. There's the sound of a wind then it goes dark.)
OPAKA: Who are you?
SISKO: Kai Opaka.
OPAKA: Who are you?
SISKO: What are you doing here? How did you
(Now she's behind him)
OPAKA: Who are you?
SISKO: Don't you know me?
(Behind him again.)
OPAKA: Know you? How can I know someone who doesn't know himself?
(She vanishes and the lights come back on.)
[Infirmary]
BASHIR: I think you had what the Bajorans call an Orb Shadow. Sometimes people who've been exposed to the Orbs of the Prophets experience hallucinations weeks, even months later.
SISKO: What triggers them?
BASHIR: An excess of neuropeptides. I can give you an inhibitor to make sure it never happens again. Of course, if I do, you risk never finding out.
SISKO: Finding out what?
BASHIR: The Bajorans believe you only have a Shadow experience when you ignore what the Prophets have been trying to tell you during an Orb encounter.
SISKO: Interesting.
BASHIR: So, any idea what they might have been trying to tell you?
SISKO: Sure. That I have too many neuropeptides rolling around in my head.
[Kira's quarters]
(Kira is exploring her artistic side, but the result is not satisfactory and she takes out her frustration on the hapless piece of clay, which then takes its place on the table with a load of other misshapen lumps.)
[Promenade]
PORTA: A bird is a difficult thing to sculpt. Maybe you should have started with something simpler. Come in, come in. Services are about to begin.
KIRA: But I can tell I have no aptitude for it.
PORTA: That's because you didn't give yourself over to what you were doing.
KIRA: How can you say that? I was up half the night. I have a flock of flightless birds in my quarters.
PORTA: But you're still wearing that uniform. You're still clinging to a false life. You must do what the Emissary has asked and follow your D'jarra with all your heart. Because if you give yourself over to the Prophets, they will guide you along the path they've chosen for you. And you'll know more joy than you ever thought possible.
[O'Brien's quarters]
(Miles and Molly are playing magnetic darts.)
O'BRIEN: Attagirl! Good shot, Molly.
MOLLY: Did I win?
O'BRIEN: We're just practicing. We'll play a game later. Try another one.
(Keiko enters with Mile's Irish warrior costume.)
KEIKO: Miles?
O'BRIEN: Oh. That's mine. Don't worry, I only wear it in the holosuites.
KEIKO: I suppose Julian has one, too. You two certainly spent a lot of time in the holosuites.
O'BRIEN: Well, you should be glad. It kept me out of trouble.
KEIKO: Remind me to thank Julian next time I see him.
O'BRIEN: Want to try for twins?
KEIKO: I don't think it works that way. You'd better brush up on your biology.
O'BRIEN: Teach me.
MOLLY: Look, I drew a pony.
O'BRIEN: Oh, let's see. Does your pony have a name?
MOLLY: I don't know.
KEIKO: Miles, I still have a lot of specimens I've got to catalogue for the survey.
O'BRIEN: Go ahead. I'll play with Molly.
KEIKO: Oh, Miles, it's good to be home.
O'BRIEN: Come on, Molly. Let's play darts. Now, remember what I said about the right way to stand? Let's try again.
MOLLY: I don't want to.
O'BRIEN: Can daddy colour, too?
MOLLY: I'm colouring.
(O'Brien looks at his Irish warrior costume with sadness and longing.)
[Captain's office]
KIRA: The four-shift rotation also seems to be improving performance. Less mistakes due to fatigue.
SISKO: Fine, let's make the change permanent. Anything else?
KIRA: I was wondering if in the next few days you would have the time to meet with Major Jatarn.
SISKO: Sure.
KIRA: Is something wrong, sir?
SISKO: I'm sorry. I just received a communiqué from Starfleet Command responding to my report on the Bajoran situation.
KIRA: That bad?
SISKO: Not yet. But I can read between the lines. I was sent here to help bring Bajor into the Federation. That doesn't look like much of a possibility anymore. As far as Starfleet is concerned, I have failed my mission.
KIRA: That's not fair. It's not your fault.
SISKO: It is from where they're sitting. The irony is Starfleet was always trying to get me to distance myself from this Emissary business. And now that I have
KIRA: Maybe I could talk to First Minister Shakaar about sending Starfleet a communiqué explaining
SISKO: Thanks, it'll blow over. It's not that. I guess I'm just feeling I did fail.
KIRA: Sir.
SISKO: Anyway, why did you want me to meet Jatarn?
KIRA: We can talk about that another time.
SISKO: What is it, Major?
KIRA: I think he'd make an excellent First Officer. As soon as you find someone to take my post, I'm going to resign my commission.
SISKO: To follow your D'jarra.
KIRA: I'm planning to move back to the Dahkur province, There are a lot of artists who live in the capital and I have a friend there who's willing to apprentice me. I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is add to your problems, but this is something I have to do. If you don't hit it off with Major Jatarn, I can think of a few other people. It shouldn't be that hard to find someone to replace me.
SISKO: I don't doubt I can find someone to fill your post. But to replace you?
[Promenade]
O'BRIEN: Computer, time.
COMPUTER: Nineteen twenty-one hours.
O'BRIEN: Where's Doctor Bashir?
COMPUTER: Doctor Bashir is in Quark's bar.
[Quark's]
(Julian is playing darts with Morn.)
BASHIR: Well, I'm chasing a triple seventeen and a bull, Morn. You've got some catching up to do. Chief! Excuse me.
O'BRIEN: Julian.
BASHIR: How've you been?
O'BRIEN: Not bad. You?
BASHIR: Oh, you know. All right.
O'BRIEN: I was heading home, thought I'd stop in for a quick pint.
BASHIR: It's been a while, eh?
O'BRIEN: Seems like weeks. I see you found someone to play darts with. I've set up a board in my quarters so Molly and I can play.
BASHIR: Well, Morn's er, he's pretty good.
O'BRIEN: So's Molly.
BASHIR + O'BRIEN: It's not the same.
O'BRIEN: I mean, Molly's just a kid. We've been playing with magnets.
BASHIR: Morn couldn't hit a Yridian yak at five paces.
O'BRIEN: You and I were evenly matched.
BASHIR: We had a good rivalry going on.
O'BRIEN: Kept us sharp.
BASHIR: Exactly.
QUARK: You're late.
O'BRIEN: What do you mean?
QUARK: It's Thursday. I've got your usual holosuite reserved.
O'BRIEN: Didn't you cancel?
BASHIR: Actually, I was hoping maybe
O'BRIEN: No, no, I've got to get home.
QUARK: What about you, Doctor? The Battle of Britain awaits. And you know my policy on cancellations. No refunds.
O'BRIEN: Go ahead. Maybe Morn's better in the cockpit of a spitfire than he is at darts.
BASHIR: Wouldn't be the same.
O'BRIEN: You're right. Morn probably doesn't even know where England is. I'll see you.
[Captain's office]
ODO [OC]: Odo to Sisko.
SISKO: Go ahead.
ODO [OC]: You'd better get down to the Promenade. Someone's been killed.
[Promenade]
SISKO: What happened?
KIRA: I don't know yet.
(A monk is lying on the ground.)
ODO: He fell from the second level. His neck was broken on impact.
SISKO: Did anyone see it happen?
PORTA: I did.
ODO: Was it an accident?
PORTA: I pushed him. His family name is Imutta. Their D'jarra is unclean.
KIRA: They prepare the dead for burial.
PORTA: I asked him to set the proper example and resign from our order. He refused.
SISKO: You killed him because of his D'jarra?
PORTA: I had to. If a Vedek can't do what the Emissary has asked of us, how can we expect anyone else to?
SISKO: Get him out of here.
[Wardroom]
AKOREM: I regret what happened here today as much as you do, but change is never easy, and the road that the Prophets have asked us to walk won't always be a smooth one.
SISKO: And forcing people to follow their D'jarras won't make it any smoother. What happened on the Promenade was just the beginning.
AKOREM: Must I remind you, Captain? I am merely fulfilling the will of the Prophets.
SISKO: How do you know that?
AKOREM: I'm the Emissary.
SISKO: And what you've done with the position has made me wish I had never given it up.
AKOREM: But you did, and it was the right decision. You never truly accepted the role in the first place.
SISKO: I'm willing to accept it now.
AKOREM: You're challenging my claim?
SISKO: You've left me no choice.
AKOREM: If we went to the people and asked them to choose between us, it would be chaos.
SISKO: I don't want to divide Bajor any more than you do.
AKOREM: It wouldn't be divided for long. because in the end the people would choose me. My claim was foretold in the ancient texts. I was the first to find the wormhole. I was the first to be with the Prophets. They gave me back my life.
SISKO: We're not going to settle this by arguing over ancient texts.
AKOREM: Then how?
SISKO: There's only one way to be sure which one of us is the Emissary. We have to go to the wormhole and ask the Prophets.
[Runabout]
(WHOOSH into the wormhole)
SISKO: Going to half thrusters.
AKOREM: Now what?
SISKO: We wait.
(Time passes, then they go into the white Limbo)
[Infirmary]
KIRA: You are the Sisko.
BASHIR: This is the one that was injured.
AKOREM: Yes, I was. And you gave me back my life, just as the texts foretold.
[Wardroom]
PORTA: Why are you here?
AKOREM: To prove to this nonbeliever that you sent me to put Bajor back on the right path. Please, tell him you chose me to be the Emissary.
[Infirmary]
AKOREM: Tell him that I fulfilled the ancient Prophecies. That I was the first to find the Celestial temple. I was the first to meet with you. He came to you centuries later.
BASHIR: First. Later.
KIRA: They have no meaning to us.
[Promenade]
SISKO: The Bajorans believe you are their Prophets, that you've chosen one of us to be your Emissary.
ODO: We are of Bajor.
SISKO: Go on.
ODO: They are linear.
KIRA: It limits them.
PORTA: They do not understand.
[Infirmary]
SISKO: But we want to understand. That's why we're here. You saved his life. Why?
KIRA: He was injured.
BASHIR: We kept him with us.
[Wardroom]
AKOREM: So that I would be spared the occupation so that I could bring the D'jarras back to Bajor.
SISKO: Is that true? Is that what you want?
PORTA: The D'jarras are part of what the Sisko would call the past.
[Promenade]
KIRA: The Sisko taught us that for you, what was, can never be again.
AKOREM: If the D'jarras belong in the past, why did you send me into the future?
ODO: For the Sisko.
SISKO: For me?
AKOREM: You're saying that he's your Emissary?
BASHIR: He is the Sisko.
AKOREM: Then I've been wrong about everything. You should have let me die.
KIRA: We still can.
PORTA: We can return him to the moment we found him.
ODO: Allow him to die.
SISKO: No. Why not return him to his own time as he is now, uninjured, so that he can get back safely to Bajor?
ODO: He would remember nothing of what has happened.
AKOREM: I could be with my wife my family. I'm ready to go home.
(Akorem vanishes.)
OPAKA: Why? Why do you stay here?
SISKO: Because I still have questions.
OPAKA: We are of Bajor.
SISKO: What does that mean?
OPAKA: You are of Bajor.
[Runabout]
(Sisko is on his own in the middle of the wormhole.)
[O'Brien's quarters]
O'BRIEN: You know, Molly really loves that book Jake gave her. She made me read it to her three times before she fell asleep.
KEIKO: I'm going to be working another few hours.
O'BRIEN: That's okay I'll, er, I'll read.
KEIKO: If you want to go do something
O'BRIEN: No, I'm fine. (big sigh)
KEIKO: Miles, I promised I wouldn't say anything, but it's about Julian.
O'BRIEN: What about him?
KEIKO: I ran into him the other day and he seemed depressed. He'd never admit it, but he really misses you.
O'BRIEN: Poor guy. No family to come home to every night.
KEIKO: Maybe you should go find him, you know, cheer him up a little.
O'BRIEN: Depressed, is he?
KEIKO: Very.
O'BRIEN: Maybe I should go spend an hour with him.
KEIKO: Maybe two.
O'BRIEN: I'm a lucky man.
KEIKO: Keiko to Doctor Bashir.
BASHIR [OC]: Go ahead.
KEIKO: Julian, it's about Miles.
[Infirmary]
KEIKO [OC]: I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, but he's been really depressed lately.
BASHIR: Oh.
[Quark's]
(Kira puts a clay 'bird' on Sisko's table)
KIRA: I want you to have this. It's an original Kira Nerys. Could be very valuable one day.
SISKO: I hear she didn't make many.
KIRA: I thought your speech went very well yesterday. It was the right thing to do.
SISKO: I wanted everyone to know what happened to Akorem, and that the Prophets said nothing about returning to the D'jarras.
KIRA: Just about everyone was relieved to hear it.
(O'Brien and Bashir come down the stairs in Irish warrior costume.)
BASHIR: It's your own fault.
O'BRIEN: I can't believe you didn't cover me.
BASHIR: How was I to know you were going to insult the King of Leinster in his own keep?
SISKO: I was just reading one of Akorem's poems, The Call of the Prophets.
KIRA: Oh, that's one of my favourites. It's a shame he never finished it.
SISKO: He did. Look.
KIRA: This is confusing. The last time I read this poem it ended after the twelfth stanza. If the timeline's been changed, then why do I remember things the way they used to be?
SISKO: The Prophets work in mysterious ways.
ONARA: (a man) Excuse me, sir.
SISKO: Yes?
ONARA: I'm sorry to bother you but tomorrow, after evening services in the Temple we're having my daughter's ih'tanu ceremony. She's turning fourteen.
SISKO: Happy Birthday.
ONARA: We were wondering if there's any chance you could come and give her your blessing. It would mean so much to us.
SISKO: I'd be happy to.
ONARA: Thank you, Emissary.
SISKO: (genuinely) You're welcome.
2024-09-13 04:05:54 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
