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February 3, 1997
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45 minutes
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SUMMARY
Stardate: 50485.2. When the traitorous Eddington returns, Sisko will go to any lengths to capture him.
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TRANSCRIPT
Captain's log, stardate 50485.2. I've come to Marva Four, a planet near the Badlands, to rendezvous with an informer who claims to have information on the whereabouts of the Maquis leader and former Starfleet officer Michael Eddington.
[Refugee camp]
(A sorry bunch of people are living in a cave lit by florescent tubes. Sisko enters in civilian clothes.
SISKO: Looking for a friend of mine. His name is Cing'ta.
(A man looks up from his welding and points to a curtained off area.)
[Chamber]
(Rough furniture but no person visible.)
SISKO: Cing'ta?
(Sisko reaches for his phaser, but a disrupter is put to his head.)
EDDINGTON: Throw it on the ground. Turn around. Hello, Captain.
SISKO: Eddington.
EDDINGTON: Mister Cing'ta won't be joining us. His shuttle had an accident on the way to this rendezvous.
SISKO: Is he dead?
EDDINGTON: You just don't understand the Maquis, do you, Captain? We're not killers. Mister Cing'ta's accident has marooned him on a particularly nasty planet in the Badlands, but I assure you he's very much alive.
SISKO: How merciful. You condemned him to a slow death.
EDDINGTON: It's more than he deserved. He was going to sell us out to you. He betrayed us.
SISKO: Now there's a subject you know a lot about.
EDDINGTON: You've been on my tail for eight months and now that we're face-to-face that's all you have to say to me?
SISKO: I will say the rest at your court-martial.
EDDINGTON: Tell me, Captain. What is it that bothers you more? The fact that I left Starfleet to fight for a higher cause, or the fact that it happened on your watch?
SISKO: You didn't leave Starfleet. If you had, I wouldn't be here. You betrayed Starfleet. You used your position as security chief to feed the Maquis information about us. And at the same time, you misled us with false information about them. There is a word for that. Treason.
EDDINGTON: Look out there.
(Sisko looks out into the main cave again.)
EDDINGTON: Those people, They were colonists on Salva Two. They had farms, and shops, and homes, and schools, and then one day the Federation signed a treaty and handed their world over to the Cardassians. Just like that. They made these people refugees overnight.
SISKO: It's not that simple and you know it. These people don't have to live here like this. We've offered them resettlement.
EDDINGTON: They don't want to be resettled. They want to go home to the lives they built. How would you feel if the Federation gave your father's home to the Cardassians?
SISKO: I'm not here to debate Federation policy with
EDDINGTON: I didn't tell you to turn around. Look at them, Captain. They're humans, just like you and me, and Starfleet took everything away from them. Remember that the next time you put on that uniform. There's a war out there and you're on the wrong side.
SISKO: You know what I see out there, Mister Eddington? I see victims, but not of Cardassia or the Federation. Victims of you, the Maquis. You sold these people on the dream that one day they could go back to those farms, and schools, and homes, but you know they never can. And the longer you keep that hope alive, the longer these people will suffer. Go ahead, shoot me.
EDDINGTON: Someday I may take you up on that. For now, let me leave you with one piece of advice. Don't come after me. You'll regret it.
(Eddington beams out, and Sisko taps his comm. badge.)
SISKO: Sisko to Defiant. Eddington just beamed out. Trace his transporter signal.
KIRA [OC]: We've got it, Captain. He's on a Maquis raider. They're breaking orbit and heading out of the system.
SISKO: Beam me aboard and lay in a pursuit course. All hands to battle stations.
KIRA [OC]: Aye, sir.
[Bridge]
KIRA: He's headed for the Badlands, all right. Course is zero mark two one three.
SISKO: Commander.
DAX: Changing course now to zero mark two one three. We're on his tail, Captain.
SISKO: Maximum warp. How long until we're in firing range?
WORF: Twenty two minutes.
SISKO: Major?
KIRA: Not good enough. He'll reach the plasma fields two minutes before we're in range.
SISKO: We need some help. What's the position of the starship Malinche?
WORF: They're on patrol in the DMZ, near the Gamma seven outpost.
SISKO: Perfect. Is the new holo-communicator ready?
KIRA: The Chief's had it online for six hours now. I think he's eager to have someone give it a try.
SISKO: Always like to please the Chief. Open a channel to Captain Sanders on the Malinche.
(A hologram of Sanders appears inside a marked area behind the Captain's chair.)
SANDERS: Are you receiving my image, Captain?
SISKO: Yes. And you?
SANDERS: You appear to be sitting on my bridge. It may take me a while to get used to this. I'm not fond of uninvited guests.
SISKO: I'll try not to overstay my welcome but at the moment I need your help. We're in pursuit of a Maquis raider headed for the Badlands. Can you intercept?
SANDERS: You seem pretty eager, Captain. What did this Maquis raider do?
SISKO: It's not what they did, it's who's in command. Michael Eddington.
SANDERS: Everyone's favourite traitor.
SISKO: Captain, if you don't mind.
SANDERS: You want him in your brig. We'll cut him off, you can grab him. Sanders out.
(Transmission ends.)
KIRA: The Malinche is moving to intercept.
SISKO: Prepare to target the Maquis ship. I want to disable them but I want them alive.
WORF: Understood.
SISKO: Send a security detachment to the Transporter room. Have them prepared to receive prisoners.
DAX: Captain, Eddington's dropped out of warp.
SISKO: Go to impulse. Raise shields.
KIRA: What is he doing?
DAX: He's changed course. Now he's headed directly for us.
WORF: He has locked his weapons on us.
KIRA: He's no match for the Defiant. Is this some kind of suicide run?
SISKO: Not Eddington. He's up to something. Let's not give him a chance to make his move. Mister Worf, fire phasers.
(And everything shuts down.)
SISKO: Report.
KIRA: We've got a massive computer failure. Every computer system is down. And all the backups. We're losing control over everything.
DAX: Weapons, navigation, helm, propulsion.
SISKO: Bridge to Engine room. Commander, get down there. Find out what's going on.
(Worf leaves)
SISKO: Try to route the auxiliary controls through the
(A hologram appears)
EDDINGTON: Before you waste a lot of time running around trying to restore computer control, let me save you some trouble. You can't. You'll find that your memory cores are completely wiped and will have to be reprogrammed from scratch. These work remarkably well. Glad we were able to procure one.
SISKO: You left a cascade virus in the Defiant's computers.
EDDINGTON: Sounds simple, doesn't it? But I assure you, it took a great deal of time to devise one that wouldn't be detected by Odo or Chief O'Brien. I'm really quite proud of it.
SISKO: I'll add it to the list of charges against you.
EDDINGTON: Well, as long as you're making a list, why don't you add this.
(And the raider attacks. BOOM, BANG)
EDDINGTON: You know what your problem is, Captain? You've made this personal. It didn't have to be. It wasn't with me. I have no animosity, no harsh feelings toward you.
SISKO: I wish I could say the same.
EDDINGTON: Does it really pay to risk yourself, your ship, your crew, on a personal vendetta? And would Starfleet approve?
SISKO: I don't need any lectures about Starfleet from you. And no matter what happens here today it's not over between us.
EDDINGTON: I'm the one in control here, Captain. Your ship is defenceless. I could destroy you right now, but I won't. Like I said, the Maquis aren't killers. Our quarrel is with the Cardassians, not you. Leave us alone and we'll leave you alone. Cease fire.
SISKO: Am I supposed to thank you?
EDDINGTON: No. I'm not going to make you grovel for your life. Unlike you, Captain, I know when to walk away. Maybe you should think about that on your long trip home.
Captain's log, stardate 50488.2. The Defiant has returned to the station, but not under its own power. The starship Malinche had to tow us home.
[Ops]
O'BRIEN: We've got our work cut out for us. Eddington's cascade virus disabled every memory circuit on the Defiant. We have to reload and reprogramme the entire database.
[Captain's office]
SISKO: How long?
O'BRIEN: Well, if we were at a shipyard with a spacedock and a crew
SISKO: We're not. How long?
O'BRIEN: Two weeks. And that's working with three shifts round the clock.
SISKO: Get started. If there's any way you can speed things up.
O'BRIEN: I'll do what I can.
(O'Brien leaves)
ODO: I've removed two similar cascade viruses hidden on the station's main computer. By transmitting a signal, Eddington could have disabled our entire defence system.
SISKO: How long until you've eliminated all of Eddington's handiwork?
ODO: It's a good question. I can't guarantee we've found all of them. Eddington was DS9's chief of Starfleet security for eighteen months. He had the opportunity to infiltrate and compromise every system on the station.
SISKO: Then check every system on the station.
ODO: I intend to. Sir, have you ever reminded Starfleet command that they stationed Eddington here because they didn't trust me?
SISKO: No.
ODO: Please do.
(Odo leaves.)
SISKO: What word do you have from Starfleet Intelligence?
WORF: Two Bolian freighters have disappeared near the Badlands. They believe the Maquis are responsible.
SISKO: What were the freighters carrying?
WORF: Several thousand tons of selenium and rhodium nitrite.
SISKO: That's not very valuable cargo. What would they want with it?
WORF: Commander Dax is analysing the possibilities.
SISKO: Good. In the meantime, help Chief O'Brien get the Defiant back online. I want to get out there as soon as possible.
(Sisko gestures Sanders to come in)
WORF: Aye, sir.
(Worf leaves)
SISKO: What can I do for you, Captain?
SANDERS: I don't know quite how to tell you this so I'll just say it. Starfleet Command has given me a new assignment. They want me to bring in Eddington.
SISKO: Oh, you mean you've been ordered to help me bring him in, don't you?
SANDERS: No. Your mission orders have changed. Eddington is no longer your responsibility.
SISKO: Did they give you a reason?
SANDERS: You've been after him for eight months. Not to put too fine a point on it, but you haven't gotten the job done. Look, Captain, I understand how you feel. If one of my officers had fooled me the way Eddington fooled you, I'd take it personally, too. Bad choice of words, I didn't mean fooled.
SISKO: No, you're exactly right. I was fooled. But it won't happen again.
SANDERS: That's not the issue. Starfleet also believes that where Eddington is concerned, you're vulnerable. He just knows you too well, Captain. So maybe it's time for someone he doesn't know to go after him.
SISKO: Good hunting.
SANDERS: Thank you, Captain.
[Holosuite]
(Sisko is taking his frustration out on a punch bag.)
DAX: The good news is Starfleet Intelligence is making progress breaking the Maquis communication codes.
SISKO: The bad news is it won't do us any good. We're out of the game. But what the hell, right? You win some, you lose some.
DAX: You always had problems with the lose some part of that.
SISKO: What can I say, old man? In twenty five years of duty, I have never been taken off an assignment until now.
DAX: Right. This is about being taken off the assignment. It has nothing to do with a certain ex-security officer we both know.
SISKO: He worked under me for a year and a half. I saw him almost every day, read his reports, had him for dinner. I even took him to a baseball game in the holosuite once. And I never saw it. It's my job to be a good judge of character and what did I do? Not only did I not see it, I put him up for a promotion.
DAX: He played his hand well.
SISKO: He played me all right, and what is my excuse? Is he a changeling? No. Is he a being with seven lifetimes of experience? No. Is he a wormhole alien? No. He's just a man, like me. And he beat me!
DAX: It's good.
SISKO: Good?
DAX: It's good you're working it out on the bag, Benjamin. Because you're going to have to let go of this one. Eddington is someone else's problem now, and you're going to have to live with that.
KIRA [OC]: Ops to Captain Sisko.
SISKO: What is it, Major?
KIRA [OC]: Sir, you'd better get up here. There's news and it's about Eddington.
[Ops]
SISKO: Report.
KIRA: Eddington just upped the ante. He attacked the Cardassian colony on Veloz Prime with a biogenic weapon.
SISKO: What?
WORF: He launched three stratospheric torpedoes at the planet and spread cobalt diselenide throughout the biosphere.
DAX: A nerve agent that is harmless to most humanoids but it is deadly to Cardassians.
WORF: The Cardassians are already evacuating. And Eddington has announced that the Maquis intend to reclaim the planet once they are gone.
KIRA: What I don't understand is where the Maquis got the materials to make a biogenic weapon.
DAX: I do. I should've seen it earlier. The selenium and rhodium nitrites they hijacked can be reformulated, and with some work, synthesised to produce cobalt diselenide.
SISKO: Where's the Malinche?
KIRA: On the other side of the Badlands. They're headed for Veloz Prime now, but by the time they get there.
SISKO: Eddington will be long gone.
KIRA: Given the amount of chemical compounds Eddington stole, how many of these weapons will he be able to make?
SISKO: Enough to poison every Cardassian colony in the DMZ.
DAX: There must be something we can do. Worf, are there any other starships near Veloz Prime?
WORF: The Malinche is our only ship in the sector.
KIRA: So unless they stop Eddington, the Maquis have turned the tide.
SISKO: There is another ship in the area. It's moored at docking bay three.
(They all step onto the turbolift.)
SISKO: Defiant.
[Engine room]
O'BRIEN: It's going to be tricky, Captain. Only half the systems are back online and most of those are not operating at full capacity.
SISKO: What about the warp drive?
O'BRIEN: We can go to warp six, but the inertial dampers haven't been fully repaired so don't expect a smooth ride.
DAX: The weapons are also online but the targeting scanners have to be manually calibrated. We can shoot, but God knows what we'll hit.
SISKO: What about communications?
O'BRIEN: The Defiant's comm. system is fried. And I do mean fried.
DAX: Well, we still have our comm. badges.
O'BRIEN: I'm afraid not. They won't work either, not with all the interference from the unshielded EPS conduits.
DAX: Well, what do we use? Cups and a long string?
O'BRIEN: We'll have to improvise. Let me introduce you to your new comm. system. Cadet.
NOG: Cadet Nog, reporting as ordered, sir.
SISKO: Stand easy.
O'BRIEN: With most of the bridge control functions offline, all orders to Engineering have to be relayed. In the interests of clarity I thought it best that those messages be relayed with one voice, Mister Academy here. I figured you'd want someone who could hear you while the bridge is exploding all around you.
NOG: Exploding?
SISKO: We may be going into a combat situation. Do think you're ready for that, Cadet?
NOG: Sir. Yes, sir. Absolutely, sir.
SISKO: I'm glad to hear it. Report to the bridge.
NOG: Aye, sir. (as he leaves) Exploding?
O'BRIEN: Let me give you all the bad news at once, sir. We have no cloak, no transporters, no replicators, and the stabilising gyros are at only fifty percent. So don't ask for any sharp turns, unless you want to end up doing barrel rolls.
DAX: That could be fun.
SISKO: Do you have any good news, Chief?
O'BRIEN: The new holo-communicator I installed it works perfectly.
SISKO: Let's be thankful for small favours. Prepare for departure.
[Corridor]
SISKO: All right, say it.
DAX: What?
SISKO: That I have lost all perspective. That I'm turning this into a vendetta between me and Eddington, and that I'm putting the ship, the crew and my entire career at risk, and if I had any brains at all I'd go back to my office, sit down and read Odo's crime reports.
DAX: I wasn't going to say that.
SISKO: But that's what you were thinking, right?
DAX: No. Actually, what I was thinking is, you're becoming more like Curzon all the time.
SISKO: I don't know how to take that.
DAX: Consider it a compliment. And the next time I go off half-cocked on some wild-eyed adventure, think back to this moment and be a little more understanding.
[Bridge]
WORF: Recalibrate phaser banks one and two.
DAX: Initialise starboard and port thrusters.
(Nog gets a message over his special hand-held communicator.)
NOG: Captain. Ops has cleared us for departure.
SISKO: Very well. Engine Room, stand by impulse power.
NOG: Engine Room, Bridge.
[Engine room]
NOG [OC]: Stand by impulse power.
O'BRIEN: Stand by impulse power. Stand by to increase deuterium injection rate. Configure driver coils for impulse speed. Set EPS taps at level three.
[Bridge]
SISKO: Ops, seal the airlock and release docking clamps.
KIRA: Close exterior hatches, depressurise the airlock. Detach umbilicals, clear all moorings.
SISKO: Thrusters at station keeping.
DAX: Initialise deflector field.
KIRA: Docking clamps released.
SISKO: Helm, ease us out.
DAX: Port and starboard thrusters at one quarter. Bearing one eight zero mark zero.
KIRA: Distance from docking ring, fifty metres. Sixty, seventy, eighty.
SISKO: Bring us about, old man.
DAX: Hard to port. Ten degrees pitch. Minimal power to the aft thrusters. Let the momentum bring us around.
(Defiant does a one-eighty but keeps turning to a three sixty.)
DAX: Hold at five degrees pitch.
KIRA: We're coming around too fast.
DAX: I see it. Ease off on the port thrusters. Pitch back to zero degrees.
KIRA: We're starting to roll.
DAX: Pulse the starboard thrusters. Point five second bursts.
SISKO: Engine Room. Helm control is sluggish. Re-align the navigational gyros.
NOG: Engine Room, bridge. Helm control is sluggish. Re-align the navigational gyros.
DAX: Port thruster, two second burst. Double pulse port thruster two second burst.
SISKO: Helm, I hope you see that pylon.
DAX: Bow thrusters, pitch up sixteen degrees. Full power to port thrusters. Half roll, now!
(Defiant scrapes past the lower pylon and heads out.)
SISKO: Engine Room. One quarter impulse power.
NOG: Engine Room, bridge. One quarter impulse power.
SISKO: Helm, lay in a course for the Badlands. Engine Room. Stand by for warp speed.
DAX: Set intermix to point zero one. Initialise warp chamber on my mark. Three, two, one, mark.
KIRA: Warp one, sir.
SISKO: Engine Room, increase speed to warp six as soon as possible.
NOG: Engine Room, increase speed to warp six as soon as possible. Sir, Engine room reports we could go to warp seven.
SISKO: Well done, people. Mister Worf, I think we should start running battle drills.
WORF: Aye, sir.
Captain's log, supplemental. After completing a series of readiness drills, we've entered the plasma fields of the Badlands and begun our search for Eddington.
[Bridge]
(Sisko walks around the various stations.)
DAX: Steady as she goes. Watch those gyros.
WORF: Check the status of torpedoes three and four. We have an energy variance reading on the plasma warheads. Transfer power
KIRA: Forward scanners are still not functioning. Engine room, where are those field stabilisers?
NOG: Engine Room, bridge. Where are those field stabilisers? Major, Engine room reports field stabilisers should be online in fifteen minutes.
KIRA: I've got something. It's a small neutrino signature, bearing two one eight mark one three five. Distance approximately nine hundred kilometres. It's moving. It's a Maquis raider.
SISKO: Helm, set intercept course. Engine room, three quarter impulse.
NOG: Engine Room, three quarter impulse.
KIRA: Incoming transmission from the Maquis raider. It's Eddington.
SISKO: Put him through. Well, well, Mister Eddington.
EDDINGTON: (hologram) You just couldn't resist the temptation to come after me, could you, Captain.
SISKO: I like to finish what I start.
EDDINGTON: Well, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed, again. You won't get me, Captain. But I do have a consolation prize for you. Actually it's more of a gift.
KIRA: Incoming transmission. Sending over a document.
EDDINGTON: It's a book. One of my favourites. Les Miserables.
SISKO: Thank you, but I've read it.
EDDINGTON: Recently? If not, you should read it again. Pay close attention to the character of Inspector Javert, the French policeman who spends twenty years chasing a man for stealing a loaf of bread. Sound like anyone you know?
SISKO: Why don't you beam over and we'll discuss it.
KIRA: Captain, closing on the Maquis ship. Seven hundred kilometres.
SISKO: Ready weapons.
WORF: Phaser banks charged.
SISKO: Lock target.
WORF: Locked.
SISKO: It's over, Eddington. Why don't you surrender your vessel and prepare to be boarded.
EDDINGTON: It's a tempting offer, but I have other plans. Enjoy the book.
(Transmission ends)
KIRA: Sir, the neutrino readings are dissipating. It's not a ship. It's an unmanned probe set to transmit a false warp signature.
SISKO: He wanted to lure us here. Why?
KIRA: He's up to something outside the plasma fields.
SISKO: Helm, bring us about. Get us out of here. Engines at full impulse.
NOG: Engine Room, bridge. Engines to full impulse.
DAX: Hard to port. Full thrusters. Course one eight zero mark zero.
NOG: Sir, Chief O'Brien doesn't recommend increasing velocity through the plasma fields.
SISKO: Objection noted. Now get me more speed!
NOG: Engine Room, bridge. More speed.
(Out of the plasma streams into clear space)
KIRA: Sir, picking up a distress call. It's the starship Malinche. They've been ambushed by the Maquis. It's dead in space.
(Later, at the Malinche, Sanders' hologram has definitely been in the wars. )
SISKO: How can we help you, Captain?
SANDERS: Our warp core matrix compositor is fused, our navigational systems are disabled. If you could spare some micro-power relays, we should have the engines back online in a day or two.
SISKO: Engine room, beam a damage control team to the Malinche. Tell them to take along a dozen micro-power relays.
SANDERS: Wee got a distress signal from a Cardassian freighter.
NOG: (underneath) Engine Room, bridge. Transport a damage control team to the Malinche with twelve micro-power relays.
SANDERS: They'd just been attacked by the Maquis. Suffered some casualties. Our sensors confirmed what we were being told, but when we lowered our shields to transport the wounded
SISKO: The sensor readings had been faked.
SANDERS: There were no Cardassians on that freighter. The Maquis had rigged it with a focused particle beam that punched through our gyro shielding and we lost helm control, and by the time we got back on our feet again, three Maquis raiders came out from the plasma field. Well, it seems I couldn't get the job done either, Captain.
SISKO: It's not over.
SANDERS: I figured you'd be going after him. We have something that might be useful to you. We intercepted a coded message from one of Eddington's raiders. Maybe you can decode it. Our computers are still down.
SISKO: I appreciate it.
SANDERS: Do me a favour?
SISKO: Of course.
SANDERS: Save me a seat at his court-martial.
SISKO: Count on it.
SANDERS: Good hunting, Captain.
Captain's log, supplemental. With the Defiant's computers still not fully operational, we're relying on Odo back at Deep Space Nine, to decipher the Maquis message. In the meantime, we're combing the DMZ in the hopes of a chance encounter with Eddington. But with each passing hour, our hopes are fading.
[Bridge]
KIRA: Sir, incoming transmission. It's Odo.
ODO: (hologram) Captain.
SISKO: Odo, we need some good news around here. Tell me that you have some.
ODO: Possibly. I've analysed the Maquis message.
SISKO: And?
ODO: It appears to be a simple Breen nursery rhyme. A heterophonic, five line verse. Quite a catchy one, too.
(Odo plays the song.)
SISKO: What's it mean?
ODO: Metrical analysis shows an alternating tetrameter and pentameter structure, but the computer could find no meaningful pattern in the words. They appear to be just what they are, nonsensical phrases strung together because they rhyme. At least, to the Breen.
SISKO: And the music?
ODO: It's written on a Lyxian scale. I ran it through the computer too. No meaningful pattern.
SISKO: So we're nowhere?
ODO: I wouldn't say that. You see, I remembered something that Eddington once said to me. The best place to hide something is in plain sight. And since this is a Breen nursery rhyme
SISKO: So you think that Eddington is using the music as a signal for a rendezvous in the Breen system?
ODO: Or a Breen settlement like the one on Portas Five, which isn't far from the DMZ. The biogenic components of the weapons Eddington's been using are very bulky and very unstable. They need to be kept in a large, sophisticated cold storage unit.
SISKO: And if anyone knows how to keep things cold, it's the Breen. Thank you, Odo.
ODO: Captain.
(Transmission ends.)
SISKO: Mister Worf, do we have a series of sensor relays near Portas Five?
WORF: Yes, sir. Two class five intelligence drones.
SISKO: Pull their sensor logs. I want to see who's been visiting the Breen system.
Captain's log, supplemental. Odo's hunch has proven accurate. Our intelligence drones detected a Maquis freighter entering Portas Five three hours ago. The freighter was last seen headed into the Dorvan sector of the DMZ.
[Bridge]
DAX: Considering the freighter's range, velocity, and heading Eddington's next target is one of four Cardassian colonies. But these targets are unlikely.
WORF: Their defence systems were recently upgraded by the Cardassians.
SISKO: Eddington isn't looking for a fight. That leaves only Quatal and Panora.
WORF: Quatal has a lucrative mining operation and their weapon systems are in the process of being upgraded, but they're not fully operational.
SISKO: A tempting target.
DAX: Not as tempting as Panora. The Maquis attacked them two months ago and most of their defence systems were severely damaged. They're almost helpless.
KIRA: And there are constant ion storms in that system. Good places to hide if you want to mount a surprise attack.
WORF: A tactic Eddington knows well. Panora is a more logical target than Quatal.
SISKO: Then Eddington will attack Quatal.
WORF: Sir?
SISKO: He likes being unpredictable.
(Later)
DAX: Approaching Quatal Prime
SISKO: Slow to impulse power. Full scan.
NOG: Engine Room, bridge. Slow to impulse.
KIRA: Activate parabolic sensor array. Initiate lateral scanners. We're too late, Captain. Eddington's detonated his weapon. The nerve agent is already spreading through the planet's atmosphere.
DAX: Which means the Cardassians don't have much time to get away. Eddington's always one step ahead of us.
KIRA: Maybe not this time. I'm reading residual neutrino levels. Looks like one maybe two Maquis raiders behind the fourth moon. They're on the run.
SISKO: Go after them. Full impulse.
NOG: Engine Room, Bridge. Full impulse.
DAX: Onscreen. Shields up. Charge phaser banks.
CREWWOMAN: Aye, sir.
(Two raiders appear on the viewscreen.)
SISKO: How long to intercept?
KIRA: Fifteen seconds.
SISKO: Prepare to lock targets.
WORF: Targeting sequence online.
(The two ships split up.)
SISKO: Hard to port. Stick with this one, old man.
DAX: Full power to aft thrusters.
KIRA: They've locked phasers on us.
SISKO: Power to forward shields.
KIRA: Forward shields online.
WORF: At maximum.
(BOOM)
DAX: Restabilise port and starboard
SISKO: Lock target.
WORF: Targeting scanners synchronised.
SISKO: Fire!
(Ka-BOOM!)
SISKO: Helm, bring us about. One more to go.
KIRA: Sir, this one's making another run for the planet. I don't get it. They've already poisoned the atmosphere.
SISKO: More speed.
NOG: Engine Room, bridge. More speed.
KIRA: They've locked phasers on one of the transport ships evacuating the Cardassians.
(The Maquis fire.)
KIRA: They've disabled the transport. It's losing power. It's going down.
SISKO: Can we beam the crew off?
KIRA: We're out of transporter range. Incoming transmission.
EDDINGTON: (hologram) Well, Javert, let's see how deep your obsession with me is. You've got me. I can't outrun or outfight the Defiant. But, if you come after me you'll have to pay a price. You'll have to let all those helpless Cardassians spiral down to their deaths. The choice is yours.
SISKO: How long do they have?
KIRA: Two minutes to impact.
EDDINGTON: Not much time. Probably take you at least a minute to get back to the planet. They're just Cardassians.
SISKO: Helm, bring us about. Prepare to engage tractor beam.
WORF: Initialising tractor beam. Aligning induction field.
CREWWOMAN: Alignment complete.
[Mess hall]
(Miserable Sisko is reading a PADD.)
DAX: We've towed the transport ship out of the planet's gravitational pull.
SISKO: Once our repair team is back onboard, release the tractor beam. The Cardassians can limp their way home in a day or two.
DAX: Les Miserables.
SISKO: You know it?
DAX: I can't stand Victor Hugo. I tried reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but I couldn't get through it. It was so melodramatic and his heroines are so two dimensional.
SISKO: Eddington compares me to one of the characters, Inspector Javert. A policeman who relentlessly pursues a man named Valjean, guilty of a trivial offence, and in the end Javert's own inflexibility destroys him. He commits suicide.
DAX: You can't believe that description fits you. Eddington is just trying to get under your skin.
SISKO: He did that eight months ago. What strikes me about this book is that Eddington said that it's one of his favourites.
DAX: There's no accounting for taste.
SISKO: Let's think about it. A Starfleet security officer is fascinated by a nineteenth century French melodrama, and now he's a leader of the Maquis, a resistance group fighting the noble battle against the evil Cardassians.
DAX: It sounds like he's living out his own fantasy.
SISKO: Exactly. And you know what? Les Miserables isn't about the policeman. It's about Valjean, the victim of a monstrous injustice who spends his entire life helping people, making noble sacrifices for others. That's how Eddington sees himself. He's Valjean, he's Robin Hood, he's a romantic, dashing figure, fighting the good fight against insurmountable odds.
DAX: The secret life of Michael Eddington. How does it help us?
SISKO: Eddington is the hero of his own story. That makes me the villain. And what is it that every hero wants to do?
DAX: Kill the bad guy.
SISKO: That's part of it. Heroes only kill when they have to. Eddington could have killed me back in the refugee camp or when he disabled the Defiant, but in the best melodramas the villain creates a situation where the hero is forced to sacrifice himself for the people, for the cause. One final grand gesture.
DAX: What are you getting at, Benjamin?
SISKO: I think it's time for me to become the villain.
[Bridge]
SISKO: Commander, prepare two quantum torpedoes. Have engineering attach a cargo pod with two hundred kilograms of trilithium to each torpedo.
WORF: Yes, sir, but
SISKO: But what?
WORF: The extra mass of the cargo pods will make the torpedo less effective. Maquis Raiders are small and manoeuvrable.
SISKO: I'm not planning to fire at any ships, Mister Worf. Major, what is the nearest Maquis colony.
KIRA: Solosos Three. Less than an hour away.
SISKO: Helm, set a course for Solosos Three.
DAX: Aye, sir.
SISKO: Major, I want you to send the following message on all Maquis frequencies. To all the members of the Maquis resistance. This is Captain Sisko of the USS Defiant. In response to the Maquis's use of biogenic weapons in their recent attacks, I am about to take the following action. In exactly one hour, I will detonate two quantum torpedoes that will scatter trilithium resin in the atmosphere of Solosos Three. I thereby will make the planet uninhabitable to all human life for the next fifty years. I suggest evacuation plans begin immediately. What are you waiting for, people? Carry out your orders.
(Later, orbiting Solosos Three.)
WORF: Set torpedo targets to fifty kilometres above ground level.
CREWWOMAN: Aye, sir.
WORF: Lock. Ready, Captain.
SISKO: Time?
KIRA: One minute left. And still no transport ship activity or any other sign that they're beginning to evacuate.
SISKO: Commander Worf, prepare to fire torpedoes on my mark.
WORF: Detach safeties on torpedoes one and two.
KIRA: Incoming message. It's Eddington.
EDDINGTON: (hologram) What are you really up to, Javert? Do you expect me to believe that a decorated Starfleet officer, the pride of the service, is going to poison an entire planet?
SISKO: That's exactly what I'm going to do.
EDDINGTON: You're bluffing.
SISKO: Am I? Commander, launch torpedoes. Commander, I said launch torpedoes!
WORF: Aye, sir.
(Two lights impact the atmosphere, and it starts turning yellow.)
KIRA: The trilithium resin is dissipating throughout the biosphere. The Maquis are scrambling their transport ships. They're starting to evacuate.
EDDINGTON: Do you realise what you've done?
SISKO: I've only just begun. I'm going to eliminate every Maquis colony in the DMZ.
EDDINGTON: You're talking about turning hundreds of thousands of people into homeless refugees.
SISKO: That's right. When you attacked the Malinche you proved one thing, that the Maquis have become an intolerable threat to the security of the Federation, and I am going intend to eliminate that threat.
EDDINGTON: But think about those people you saw in the caves, huddled and starving. They didn't attack the Malinche.
SISKO: You should have thought about that before you attacked a Federation starship.
(Sisko turns his back on the Eddington hologram)
SISKO: Helm, lay in a course for Tracken Two, warp six. Commander, prepare two more torpedoes.
NOG: Engine Room, bridge. Warp six.
DAX: Set course zero five zero mark one seven nine.
WORF: Unlock safeties on torpedoes three and four.
EDDINGTON: Can't you see what's happening to you? You're going against everything you claim to believe in, and for what? To satisfy a personal vendetta?
SISKO: You betrayed your uniform!
EDDINGTON: And you're betraying yours right now! The sad part is, you don't even realise it. I feel sorry for you, Captain. This obsession with me, look what it's cost you.
SISKO: Major, shut that thing off! Commander Worf, prepare to launch torpedoes!
EDDINGTON: Wait! If you call off your attack I'll turn over all our biogenic weapons.
SISKO: Not enough.
EDDINGTON: All right, Javert. I'll give you what you want. Me.
(Transmission ends)
Captain's log, supplemental. Resettlement efforts in the DMZ are underway. The Cardassian and Maquis colonists who were forced to abandon their homes will make new lives for themselves on the planets their counterparts evacuated. The balance in the region will be restored, though the situation remains far from stable.
[Airlock]
ODO: Captain. Commander. Welcome home.
SISKO: It's good to be back.
ODO: I gather your trip was productive?
(Eddington is escorted out of the Defiant.)
SISKO: Constable.
ODO: This way.
(Odo takes Eddington away)
DAX: Benjamin, I'm curious. Your plan to poison the Maquis planets. You didn't clear it with Starfleet first, did you.
SISKO: I knew I'd forgotten to do something.
DAX: Big gamble.
SISKO: That's what it takes to be a good villain.
DAX: You know, sometimes I like it when the bad guy wins.
2024-09-13 19:09:16 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
