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February 24, 1997
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45 minutes
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130
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2024-09-13 19:10:18
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SUMMARY
Stardate: Unknown. Dr. Bashir is selected to be the model for the next-generation of Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH). But he balks when his parents are invited to the station to be interviewed by the EMH programmer, Dr. Zimmerman. There is a dark secret in his family that he's afraid that his parents will reveal.
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TRANSCRIPT
[Quark]
LEETA: (at the dabo table) Okay, that's twelve spins and not a single dabo so far. The pot is growing and someone's going to be a big winner.
(We pull away as she gives a little wave to Rom at the bar.)
ROM: Today's the day, brother. I'm really going to do it this time.
QUARK: You've been saying that for weeks.
ROM: I've been waiting for the right moment. And this is it.
QUARK: Now?
ROM: It's perfect. She's about to go on her break, and when she does, she'll come over here to say hi, to me like she always does, and that's when I'll do it.
QUARK: Okay, let's hear it.
ROM: I, er, Leeta, would you like, maybe, to one night, soon, to maybe?
QUARK: Rom, you're a regular poet.
ROM: I can do better.
QUARK: Prove it.
LEETA: Hi, Rom.
(She stands close, knees slightly bent so they can look straight into each others eyes better.)
ROM: Hello, Leeta. Bye.
LEETA: I must be doing something wrong.
QUARK: I don't know, Leeta. Maybe he's just not interested in you.
LEETA: Well, I know he likes me.
QUARK: Likes you, yes. But he's an engineer, a problem solver. He needs a woman with a body and brains.
LEETA: I have brains.
QUARK: Of course you do, honey. That's why I hired you. Now eat up and then take those brains back to the dabo wheel where the customers can get a good long look at them.
BASHIR: Triple twenty! He's back in the zone today.
O'BRIEN: I never really left it. Just been giving you a chance to get even.
BASHIR: Thank you, but I don't need your charity. Another game?
O'BRIEN: Maybe one. I promised Molly I'd do some colouring with her this afternoon. With all this attention focused on the baby, I don't want her to start feeling that we've forgotten about her.
BASHIR: A father's work is never done.
O'BRIEN: You said it. Still, it's worth it. You should give it a try sometime.
BASHIR: Me? No.
O'BRIEN: Why not? I bet you'd make a great father.
BASHIR: I'm not exactly the family type.
ZIMMERMAN: Doctor Bashir, I presume?
(Everyone say Hi! to Robert Picardo, this time playing the creator of the Voyager EMH.)
BASHIR: That's me.
ZIMMERMAN: I'm Louis Zimmerman, Director of Holographic Imaging and Programming at the Jupiter Research Station. And I'm here to make you immortal.
[Captain's office]
(A ship that looks very like Voyager is leaving the station.)
ZIMMERMAN: You're familiar, of course, with the Emergency Medical Holographic Programme?
SISKO: I've heard of it. It's a hologram designed to provide assistance during emergencies in Sickbay.
ZIMMERMAN: It does much more than provide assistance.
BASHIR: A holographic doctor can literally replace a starship's medical officer during an emergency.
ZIMMERMAN: I'm surprised you don't have one on the station.
SISKO: The station facilities are Cardassian in origin. Most of our equipment is incompatible with Federation technology.
ZIMMERMAN: How unfortunate for you. In any case, the original EMH was designed for short-term use only. But now Starfleet has requested a programme designed to operate as full-time doctor.
SISKO: Full time? You're not talking about replacing real doctors?
ZIMMERMAN: No, no, of course not. Why is everyone so worried about holograms taking over the universe?
BASHIR: There are many situations where a holo-doctor could be more beneficial than a humanoid. Research outposts, subspace communication stations, long-range exploratory vessels.
ZIMMERMAN: In short, anywhere that life-support or living space is at a premium and where the primary mission does not require the doctor to leave Sickbay.
SISKO: I see. And they want to model this new EMH programme after Doctor Bashir.
ZIMMERMAN: Technically, it is a LMH. Long-term Medical Holographic Programme. And yes, Starfleet Medical has selected Doctor Bashir to provide the template.
SISKO: Who was the template for the EMH?
ZIMMERMAN: Me. It was my programme after all. It only seemed logical to use myself as a model.
SISKO: Of course. This must be quite an honour.
BASHIR: Yes, it is quite a feather in my cap, sir.
ZIMMERMAN: It is nothing less than a shot at immortality. The original EMH programme will probably still be in use for decades to come. The LMH will undoubtedly last far longer than that. That is, if I can work out certain technical problems. Now, I'll need to remain here for at least three weeks. I'll need quarters, access to your main computer, a technician to install my equipment, a high-speed data link with my lab.
SISKO: Doctor, my first officer, Major Kira, will see to all your needs. Congratulations, Doctor. I know I speak for everyone on the station when I say we're really very proud of you.
BASHIR: Thank you, sir. Thank you.
ZIMMERMAN: Let's go.
[Infirmary]
(O'Brien is up a ladder, putting holo-projectors in the ceiling.)
BASHIR: This is a long questionnaire.
ZIMMERMAN: I pride myself on my attention to detail.
BASHIR: Let's see. Compare and contrast your eating habits at age five with those at ages ten, fifteen, twenty, and twenty five?
ZIMMERMAN: It will be necessary for the holo doctor to interact naturally with patients for weeks, possibly even months. The doctor will be expected to share amusing anecdotes, extend sympathy, swap dirty jokes and even have culinary opinions formed by experience.
O'BRIEN: You mean this programme is going to have all of his personal likes and dislikes?
ZIMMERMAN: That is why we bother to choose a human template in the first place.
O'BRIEN: Wow, think of it, Julian. If this thing works, you'll be able to irritate hundreds of people you've never even met.
ZIMMERMAN: If you two could suspend your oh so amusing banter for the moment, I'd like to begin the optical parameter scans.
BASHIR: What do you want me to do?
ZIMMERMAN: Just stand there and look like a doctor. If you can.
[Quark's cafe]
(Looking down at the dabo wheel, and Leeta's 'brains'.)
LEETA: Dabo!
ZIMMERMAN: We don't have anything like this on Jupiter Station. Or like her.
BASHIR: She's beautiful, isn't she?
ZIMMERMAN: Who is she?
BASHIR: Her name's Leeta. My ex-girlfriend.
ZIMMERMAN: Who broke it off?
BASHIR: She did.
ZIMMERMAN: Oh, I like her already.
(Leeta looks up, sees Zimmerman looking down and smiles.)
ZIMMERMAN: I think I'll have to add her name to my list of interviews.
BASHIR: Interviews?
ZIMMERMAN: I'll be conducting in-depth interviews with your friends, colleagues, family members, in order to build a more rounded psychological profile for the LMH.
BASHIR: I see. Well, regarding my family members, would you could refrain from
ODO: Excuse me for interrupting, Doctor, Doctor. The Antidean transport wishes to leave the station a day early. Their cargo is still under quarantine. If you could issue a health certificate.
BASHIR: Now?
ODO: It would expedite matters.
BASHIR: All right. I'll meet you in cargo bay three in ten minutes.
ODO: Thank you, Doctor. Doctor.
(Odo leaves.)
BASHIR: Well, duty calls. I wonder if you could do a favour and consider not interviewing my parents?
ZIMMERMAN: Why?
BASHIR: Well, to be blunt, we're not close, we haven't been for many years, and I would consider it a personal favour if you would er, sort of, leave my parents out of it.
ZIMMERMAN: I see. Well, I certainly understand.
BASHIR: Well, thank you. I'll see you tomorrow.
(Bashir leaves.)
ZIMMERMAN: Note. Contact subject's parents immediately.
[Infirmary]
ZIMMERMAN: Computer, activate LMH test program one. Does it meet with your approval?
BASHIR: Yeah, it looks all right. Except for the eyes. They seem a little dead. They don't have that certain sparkle, that zest for life that greets me in the mirror every morning.
ZIMMERMAN: This is a test run. I can assure you that the final product will be zesty.
BASHIR: Does it talk?
ZIMMERMAN: Not yet. First I have to load the LMH with the basic database and software configurations of the original programme. Computer, activate the EMH.
EMH: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
ZIMMERMAN: This is a level three diagnostic.
EMH: I understand.
ZIMMERMAN: Diagnostics look good. Beginning data transferral.
EMH: Data transferral? Am I being replaced?
ZIMMERMAN: You're being supplemented by a new long-term programme.
EMH: By him?
ZIMMERMAN: There. Transfer's complete.
HOLO-BASHIR: Please state the nature of the medical emergency.
EMH: Oh, that's original. He doesn't even look old enough to be a doctor.
HOLO-BASHIR: If you'd like my advice, you should delete this programme. Now that I'm here, why would you need an archaic piece of software like him?
EMH: Archaic?
ZIMMERMAN: We can discuss this at another time.
EMH: Listen.
(EMH is deactivated.)
BASHIR: He doesn't sound like much me.
ZIMMERMAN: I'm sorry. Too zesty for you?
BASHIR: Actually, he sounds more like you.
ZIMMERMAN: As I said, I've loaded the LMH with the basic EMH software package. We'll have to build a new set of algorithms based on your scintillating personality.
HOLO-BASHIR: I hope you're more interesting than you seem. I'd hate to be boring.
ZIMMERMAN: There may be no preventing that. But we'll see what his friends have to say.
[Wardroom]
ZIMMERMAN [OC]: What were your initial impressions of Doctor Bashir? Good and bad.
SISKO: Young, eager, ambitious. He was fresh out of medical school, looking forward to his first taste of frontier medicine. Sometimes he let that natural impulse override his sense of decorum.
ZIMMERMAN [OC]: You mean he was difficult.
JAKE: No. But sometimes he could give you way too much information.
ZIMMERMAN [OC]: Could you elaborate on that?
KIRA: Sometimes he just didn't know when to shut up.
ZIMMERMAN [OC]: Are you implying that he harassed you with unwanted advances?
DAX: No. But he was very persistent.
ZIMMERMAN [OC]: I see. Could you be more specific?
(Morn shrugs.)
ZIMMERMAN [OC]: You're not being very helpful.
WORF: I do not like doctors. Any doctors.
ZIMMERMAN [OC]: You can rest assured that I will keep anything you say in the strictest confidence.
O'BRIEN: You're sure about that? I wouldn't want this to get back to Julian.
ZIMMERMAN [OC]: You have my word.
O'BRIEN: Well, the truth is he's an extraordinary person. A real sense of honour and integrity, great sense of humour, warm, caring. You're sure he's not going to read this?
ZIMMERMAN [OC]: Positive.
LEETA: So, is that all?
(Louis is gazing into Leeta's eyes)
ZIMMERMAN: There is one other thing. Would you have dinner with me this evening?
[Quark's]
(Down in the bar, Rom sees Louis and Leeta up on the next level. He aims his lobes at their table.)
VOICES: Oh, I'm not going to tell you. Well, I think you should know. Sometimes I think I'm the happiest person. Stroll along the Promenade, maybe have a little.
LEETA: You want a real game, try dom-jot. If I ran this place, we'd have three dom-jot tables and two prayko alleys. And I'd make sure the customers had a lot more fun. Quark is a lot of things, but he's not fun. I'm fun.
ZIMMERMAN: I bet you are. You're a fascinating woman, Leeta.
LEETA: For a dabo girl.
ZIMMERMAN: Not at all. You're charming, intelligent
[Quark's cafe]
ZIMMERMAN: Witty and extraordinarily beautiful.
LEETA: Thank you.
ROM: Excuse me. I need to talk to you. It's very important.
LEETA: All right. Will you excuse me?
ZIMMERMAN: Of course.
(Rom and Leeta move away for some privacy.)
LEETA: What is it, Rom?
ROM: I want to ask you if. I want to. I, oh, I wanted to ask if tomorrow morning would be good time for me to fix your replicator.
LEETA: Oh. Sure. That would be fine.
ROM: Okay. Tomorrow morning then. Enjoy the rest of your evening.
LEETA: Thanks.
[Captain's office]
BASHIR: I'm a little concerned about the amount of argonite that's been seeping into the station's air supply.
SISKO: Seventeen parts per million. That's well within safety margins.
BASHIR: Yes. But it's on the rise and I'd like to
(Dax enters)
DAX: I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but there are a couple of visitors here looking for Julian, and I thought he might want to see them right away.
SISKO: Well, send them in.
(Enter a man and a woman of clearly Middle Eastern heritage.)
BASHIR: Oh, my God.
AMSHA: Hello, Jules
(They embrace a stunned Bashir.)
BASHIR: Er, Captain, allow me to introduce Amsha and Richard Bashir, my parents.
SISKO: I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko. Welcome to Deep Space Nine.
AMSHA: Thank you, Captain. It's a pleasure to finally see where Jules works.
RICHARD: (British accent) We wanted to come before, but my schedule's been so busy up until now. I'm sure you know what it's like.
SISKO: All too well, I'm afraid.
DAX: What is it you do, Mister Bashir?
RICHARD: Oh, I've done many things. At the moment, I'm involved in landscape architecture, designing public spaces, parks mostly. I love the idea of working on projects that thousands of people will enjoy long after I'm gone. They're my legacy, my gift to succeeding generations. Aside from Jules here, of course.
SISKO: You must be very proud of your son.
AMSHA: Oh, yes.
RICHARD: He's a very gifted young man. I hope you're putting all his talents to good use, Captain.
SISKO: We try.
RICHARD: Well, sometimes you have to push him a little. It took quite a while to talk him into taking up medicine, but he did.
DAX: So you're the reason he went to Medical School.
RICHARD: That's right. He wanted to become
AMSHA: Perhaps we should save that until another time, Richard. I'm sure the Captain is a very busy man.
RICHARD: Oh. Of course. Maybe after our interviews are over.
BASHIR: Interviews?
RICHARD: Yes, with Doctor er, Zimmerman. Didn't he tell you?
BASHIR: No, he didn't.
AMSHA: He said it was urgent. That the two of you were working together on a very important project and that we had to come here right away.
BASHIR: Yes, well, why don't I see if I can find you some accommodation for this evening.
RICHARD: Yeah.
SISKO: It was a pleasure to meet you both.
DAX: I hope we get a chance to see you again. I can't wait to hear some stories about Julian as a little boy.
RICHARD: Oh Lord, there are so many. You know, from the time he was this high we knew he was destined for greatness.
BASHIR: The Captain, father, is a very busy man.
RICHARD: We'll talk later. (wink)
[Infirmary]
(Holo-Bashir keeps walking into walls, and O'Brien is chuckling. Bashir enters.)
O'BRIEN: We're just working out a few bugs.
(He switches off the hologram.)
BASHIR: Chief, if you'll excuse us, I'd like a moment or two alone with Doctor Zimmerman.
O'BRIEN: Of course.
(O'Brien leaves.)
BASHIR: You brought my parents to this station against my explicit wishes that you keep them out of this project.
ZIMMERMAN: I'm sorry it upsets you, but their input is
BASHIR: You had no right to bring them here.
ZIMMERMAN: I did not bring them here. I simply issued an invitation.
BASHIR: You said it was urgent.
ZIMMERMAN: It is urgent, to me. Like it or not, they're an important part of your background and I need to interview them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a delivery to make.
[Leeta's quarters]
(Doorbell rings just as Leeta has got out of the shower.)
ZIMMERMAN: Have I caught you at a bad time?
LEETA: It's never a bad time for flowers. Come on in. Could you find a place for those while I change?
ZIMMERMAN: Of course.
LEETA: By the way, if you're trying to impress me, you've succeeded.
ZIMMERMAN: I spoke to some of my colleagues at the Jupiter Station this morning. It seems that the manager of our station cafe has decided to quit.
LEETA [OC]: Really.
ZIMMERMAN: They're still looking for a new manager. Someone with experience in both food service and entertainment. Someone like you.
LEETA: Me?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes. I've already taken the liberty of speaking to our station's commanding officer and she's amenable to the idea. The cafe is yours if you want it.
LEETA: My own cafe? (she's naked) Oh. Sorry.
ZIMMERMAN: Not at all.
(Leeta takes the bouquet and retreats to the bedroom again.)
ZIMMERMAN: It's not very big. Less than half the size of Quark's.
LEETA [OC]: Really?
ZIMMERMAN: But here's room for a couple of dom-jot tables.
LEETA: (dressed) But I've never run a restaurant or any kind of business. I barely even know how to tend bar.
ZIMMERMAN: That puts you one step ahead of our last bartender.
LEETA: But where would I stay? I don't even know anybody there.
ZIMMERMAN: You know me, and I was hoping you would consider staying with me.
LEETA: But Louis, I just met you. I mean, I like you
ZIMMERMAN: You see? You're warming up to me already. Given time, you might begin to feel more. Just as I do. Besides, you said you liked cerebral men, and at the risk of sounding immodest, I have a towering intellect. Come with me, Leeta, please. I promise that you won't regret it. I know I won't.
LEETA: I need to think about that.
ZIMMERMAN: Take all the time you need.
[Guest quarters]
(Family dinner, and you can cut the atmosphere with a blunt knife)
AMSHA: Captain Sisko seems like a very nice man, Jules.
RICHARD: Not like the captain of the transport that brought us here. I've never met a ruder, more abrasive man in my life. I tell you, when I used to run shuttles, I never would have tolerated that kind of behaviour toward my passengers.
BASHIR: Dad, you're talking to me now. You were a third class steward for all of six months.
RICHARD: That's right, and I was required to have daily contact with the passengers. And you can bet that if I even looked at them the wrong way, I would've been discharged on the spot.
BASHIR: I thought you were.
RICHARD: No. I resigned.
AMSHA: Are you still doing research, Jules?
BASHIR: Yes. Right now I'm working on two studies of prion replication in ganglionic cell clusters.
RICHARD: You could've done research back on Earth. I told you that five years ago. But you insisted on taking this assignment because you wanted to work in frontier medicine.
BASHIR: On DS Nine, I can do both. So, you're doing landscape architecture now.
AMSHA: It's all he can talk about. You should see the stacks of drawings in our house. It's like living in a drafting studio.
RICHARD: Some very important people have expressed interest in my park designs. I have some very good prospects on the horizon.
BASHIR: You always had good prospects, and they were always just over that horizon.
AMSHA: Maybe you should tell us about the interviews we're doing tomorrow, Jules. What kind of questions will they ask?
BASHIR: Well, Doctor Zimmerman, as I understand it, is trying to build a complete psychological profile of me. He's going to be asking you all sorts of questions. Try to keep your answers as brief and to the point as you can. You don't want to give him any openings to probe into any awkward areas.
RICHARD: I'm sure we can handle it.
BASHIR: Try not to take this too lightly. He's going to be asking detailed questions about my childhood and if you're not careful
RICHARD: You don't trust us?
AMSHA: He didn't say that, Richard.
RICHARD: No, but that's what he meant, isn't it? You think we're going to slip up, say the wrong thing, get us all in trouble.
BASHIR: Look, I've got a lot at stake here. My whole career could be destroyed if Doctor Zimmerman gets wind of our little secret.
RICHARD: You've got a lot at stake? Well what about us? We could go to prison, Jules. Have you ever thought about that?
BASHIR: Of course I've thought about that! That's why I want you to take this seriously.
RICHARD: Oh, so now we're not taking it seriously. We're not as bright as he is. We don't have your gifted intellect so we can't see the perfectly obvious.
BASHIR: This is exactly why I haven't been home in three years.
AMSHA: Jules, please.
RICHARD: No, let him go. He can barely stand to be in the same room with us!
[Replimat]
LEETA: I haven't made up my mind yet. I mean, this could be a big opportunity, but that's no reason to rush into anything. What do you think I should do?
ROM: I, I, I don't know.
LEETA: If I had a reason to stay, I'd stay. Do I have a reason to stay?
ROM: I, I don't know.
LEETA: Well, I guess I'd better take the job.
ROM: Great.
LEETA: Is that all you can say?
ROM: I, I, I
LEETA: You don't know. Thanks. Rom. You've been a big help.
ROM: You're welcome.
[Infirmary]
BASHIR: Is there something I can do for you?
AMSHA: Your father has something he wants to say. Richard?
RICHARD: It's a stressful time for all of us and maybe I said some things I shouldn't have.
AMSHA: What he's trying to say is, we would never do anything to jeopardise your career.
RICHARD: And just so there's no misunderstanding, I give you my word that at no time in our interview with Doctor Zimmerman will we ever mention or even hint at the fact that you were genetically enhanced as a child.
AMSHA: Jules, you can trust us. Your father and I have kept the secret of your DNA resequencing for almost twenty five years and we're not going to let it out now.
RICHARD: But I would just add that, despite what the authorities would like us to believe, genetic engineering is nothing to be ashamed of. You're not any less human than anyone else. In fact, you're a little more.
AMSHA: We didn't come here to start another fight. Let's just try to get through this, all right?
BASHIR: All right.
(Amsha kisses him then she and Richard leave. Zimmerman and O'Brien come in from another room)
BASHIR: Who were those people?
(O'Brien switches the hologram off.)
[Bashir's quarters]
BASHIR: I can't believe you set them up like that!
O'BRIEN: We didn't set them up. They just happened to walk in when the programme was running. Zimmerman thought it would be a idea to test the programme's ability to cope with an unexpected situation.
BASHIR: And you let it go on? You let them stand there and make fools of themselves while the two of you sat in the back room and laughed?
O'BRIEN: Look, I'm sorry about this. I wish it had never happened, but it has and now we've got a problem.
BASHIR: I don't want to talk about it.
O'BRIEN: Julian, Zimmerman is going to file a report saying that Doctor Bashir is unsuitable for computer modelling because of his suspected genetically enhanced background. Do you know what's going to happen when that report gets back to Starfleet Medical?
BASHIR: There's going to be a formal investigation which will lead to my eventual dismissal from the service.
O'BRIEN: Then it's true? You're
BASHIR: The word you're looking for is unnatural, meaning not from nature. Freak or monster would also be acceptable. I was six. Small for my age, a bit awkward physically, not very bright. In the first grade, while the other children were learning how to read and write and use the computer, I was still trying to tell a dog from a cat, a tree from a house. I didn't really understand what was happening. I knew that I wasn't doing as well as my classmates. There were so many concepts that they took for granted that I couldn't begin to master and I didn't know why. All I knew was that I was a great disappointment to my parents. I don't remember when they made the decision, but just before my seventh birthday we left Earth for Adigeon Prime. At first, I remember being really excited at seeing all the aliens in the hospital. Then they gave me a room and began the treatments, and my entire world began to change.
O'BRIEN: What were the treatments? Some kind of DNA recoding?
BASHIR: The technical term is 'accelerated critical neural pathway formation.' Over the course of the next two months, my genetic structure was manipulated to accelerate the growth of neuronal networks in my cerebral cortex, and a whole new Julian Bashir was born.
O'BRIEN: In what way did they change you?
BASHIR: Well, my mental abilities were the top priority, of course. My IQ jumped five points a day for over two weeks. Followed by improvements in my hand-eye coordination, stamina, vision, reflexes, weight, height. In the end, everything but my name was altered in some way. When we returned to Earth, we even moved to a different city, I was enrolled in a new school using falsified records my parents obtained somewhere. Instead of being the slowest learner, I was the star pupil.
O'BRIEN: And no one ever suspected?
BASHIR: Oh, there's no stigma attached to success, Chief. After the treatments, I never looked back. But the truth is I'm a fraud.
O'BRIEN: You're not a fraud. I don't care what enhancements your parents may have had done. Genetic recoding can't give you ambition, or a personality, or compassion or any of the things that make a person truly human.
BASHIR: Starfleet Medical won't see it that way. DNA resequencing for any reason other than repairing serious birth defects is illegal. Any genetically enhanced human being is barred from serving in Starfleet or practising medicine.
O'BRIEN: I don't there's been a case dealing with any of this in a hundred years. You can't be sure how they'll react.
BASHIR: Oh, I am sure. Once the truth comes out I'll be cashiered from the service. It's that simple.
O'BRIEN: There must be something we can do. We can't just give up.
BASHIR: There is something I can do. Resign before Doctor Zimmerman files his report.
O'BRIEN: Oh, Julian.
BASHIR: It's over, Miles. I always knew this could happen. Now it has. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be alone.
[Quark's]
(After hours, Rom is nursing a drink and Quark is clearing up.)
ROM: I should have told her how I felt.
QUARK: Thank the Nagus that you didn't. Remember what happened with Nog's mother? Yeah, don't want to think about her, do you. Let me refresh your memory. You signed a standard five year marriage contract with Prinadora's father because you wanted to have a child. A simple everyday business deal. But then you fell in love with your wife and wanted to extend the contract. And you were so in love that you never bothered to read the extension before signing it. So in the end, her father swindled you out of all your money. Prinadora left you for a richer man and you got stuck with Nog. Hooray for romance.
ROM: Leeta is not Prinadora.
QUARK: She's a female, Rom. And the one constant in the universe is, females are trouble. Look, if you're lonely I've got a new holosuite programme. Vulcan Love Slave part two, The Revenge. Give it a try. After a couple of hours you'll forget all about Leeta.
[Bashir's quarters]
RICHARD: We're not going to just take this lying down, that's for sure. I'll arrange for legal counsel. We're going to fight this all the way to the Federation Supreme Court.
BASHIR: We can't fight this.
RICHARD: You'd better change that attitude right now if you want to hang on to your career.
AMSHA: Jules, listen to your father. He's trying to help you.
BASHIR: Neither of you is listening to me. I don't want to drag this through the courts.
RICHARD: We're a little beyond worrying about your wants, Jules. We have a serious problem here. We have to stop the whining and concentrate on coming up with a new plan.
BASHIR: A new plan. Yes, let's come up with a new plan. That's the way we do things in this family, isn't it? We don't face our problems, we come up with new plans. Don't like your job? Well move along to the next one. Don't like the law? Well, find a way to get around it. But whatever you do, do not accept responsibility.
RICHARD: All those gifts, all those accomplishments, and you still want to behave like a spoiled child. Well you'd better grow up right now or you're going to lose everything!
BASHIR: You mean you're going to lose everything. You're going to lose your only real accomplishment in this life. Me. You said before, I'm your legacy, your proud gift to the world. Well, father, your gift is about to be revealed as a fraud, just like you.
RICHARD: I'm still your father, Jules, and I will not have you talk to me like that.
BASHIR: No, you used to be my father. Now, you're my architect. The man who designed a better son to replace the defective one he was given. Well, your design has a built-in flaw. It's illegal.
RICHARD: You're so smart. You know so much that you can stand there and judge us. But you're still not smart enough to see that we saved you from a lifetime of remedial education and underachievement!
BASHIR: You don't know that. You didn't give me a chance.
RICHARD: You were falling behind.
BASHIR: I was six years old. You decided I was a failure in the first grade.
RICHARD: You don't understand, Jules. You never did.
BASHIR: No, you don't understand. I stopped calling myself Jules when I was fifteen and I'd found out what you'd done to me. I'm Julian.
RICHARD: What difference does that make?
BASHIR: It makes every difference, because I'm different! Can't you see that? Jules Bashir died in that hospital because you couldn't live with the shame of having a son who didn't measure up!
AMSHA: That's not true! We were never ashamed of you. Never.
BASHIR: I'm sorry, mother, but the truth is
AMSHA: You don't know. You've never had a child. You don't know what it's like to watch your son. To watch him fall a little further behind every day. You know he's trying, but something's holding him back. You don't know what it's like to stay up every night worrying that maybe it's your fault. Maybe you did something wrong during the pregnancy, maybe you weren't careful enough, or maybe there's something wrong with you. Maybe you passed on a genetic defect without even knowing it.
RICHARD: Amsha
AMSHA: No, this is important. You can condemn us for what we did. You can say it's illegal or immoral or whatever you want to say, but you have to understand that we didn't do it because we were ashamed, but because you were our son and we loved you.
(Bashir and Amsha hug.)
AMSHA: What do you want us to do?
BASHIR: Nothing. I'm going to visit Captain Sisko in the morning to explain the situation to him and tender my Starfleet resignation.
AMSHA: Are you certain this is what you want?
BASHIR: Yes. I just want to leave the station quietly.
[Captain's office]
(Bashir enters to join his parents and an Admiral on the holo-comm.)
SISKO: Come in, Doctor. We were just talking about you. Admiral, allow me to introduce Doctor Julian Bashir. Doctor, this is Rear Admiral Bennett, Judge Advocate General.
BASHIR: Admiral.
BENNETT: Doctor.
BASHIR: May I ask what's going on?
SISKO: Your parents came to me this morning. They explained the situation about your genetic background. I contacted Admiral Bennett a short time ago.
BENNETT: We've just reached an agreement that will allow you to retain both your commission and your medical practice.
RICHARD: I'm going to prison.
BASHIR: What?
RICHARD: Two years. It's a minimum security penal colony in New Zealand.
BASHIR: You can't do this.
BENNETT: It was your father's suggestion, Doctor. He pleads guilty to illegal genetic engineering and in exchange you stay in the service.
BASHIR: Well, I want no part of it. I'm not going to just stand by while my father
RICHARD: Jules. Julian. Listen to me. This is my decision. I'm the one who took you to Adigeon Prime. I'm the one who should take responsibility for it.
AMSHA: Let him do this, Julian.
BASHIR: Two years? Isn't that a bit harsh?
BENNETT: I don't think so. Two hundred years ago we tried to improve the species through DNA resequencing, and what did we get for our trouble? The Eugenics Wars. For every Julian Bashir that can be created, there's a Khan Singh waiting in the wings. A superhuman whose ambition and thirst for power have been enhanced along with his intellect. The law against genetic engineering provides a firewall against such men and it's my job to keep that firewall intact. I've made my offer. Do you accept?
RICHARD: Yes.
BENNETT: Then report to my office at Starfleet Headquarters once you arrive on Earth.
(Transmission ends.)
SISKO: Take your time.
(Sisko leaves the family alone.)
[Airlock]
AMSHA: Goodbye, Julian.
BASHIR: Goodbye, Mother.
RICHARD: I guess I'll see you in a couple of years.
BASHIR: I'm sure they have visiting hours at your facility. Maybe I could
RICHARD: That would be most welcome.
BASHIR: Father. Thank you.
RICHARD: Here, just think. I may usher in a new renaissance in landscape architecture. I'll certainly have time to work on my designs.
(The Bashirs leave as Zimmerman and Leeta get off the turbolift.)
ZIMMERMAN: Do you hear that?
LEETA: What is that?
ZIMMERMAN: It's getting closer.
ROM: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit! Wait.
ZIMMERMAN: We heard you the first time.
ROM: Leeta, don't go.
LEETA: Why not?
ROM: Because I love you, and I want you to stay.
LEETA: I love you too, Rom. (they kiss) Oh. Doctor, I'm sorry.
ZIMMERMAN: No, don't be. True love should always win. I'm happy for you. Really.
LEETA: You're a sweet, wonderful, and brilliant man. There's someone out there for you, Doctor. I know it.
ZIMMERMAN: I don't think so. Perhaps I'm better suited to a life of solitary research.
(An alien lady walks past, taking his eyes with her.)
ZIMMERMAN: and dedication to my chosen field of study. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Goodbye.
LEETA: Bye.
ZIMMERMAN: (to alien, going through the airlock) Excuse me are you familiar with the ancient text known as the Kama Sutra? You remind me of an etching
[Quark's]
(Rom and Leeta are at the wheel.)
CROWD: Dabo!
(The never ending darts tournament continues.)
BASHIR: Not my day.
O'BRIEN: Not your week.
BASHIR: You know what, Chief? I never got a chance to thank you for what you said when
O'BRIEN: Uh-uh. None of that. Especially not in the middle of a game. Ooo, yes!
BASHIR: Looks like it's your game again.
O'BRIEN: What's that, five in a row?
BASHIR: At least.
O'BRIEN: Wait a minute. You haven't been letting me win, have you?
BASHIR: What makes you think that?
O'BRIEN: You said your hand-eye coordination had been genetically enhanced.
BASHIR: Well, maybe I have been letting you win a little bit.
O'BRIEN: I don't believe it. I don't need you to patronise me. I can play at your level.
BASHIR: I never said you couldn't.
O'BRIEN: Well play then. Really play.
(Bashir throws three quick bull's-eyes. O'Brien collects the darts and takes Bashir back to double the ockey distance.)
O'BRIEN: All right. From now on you play from over here. I play from up here. And if that doesn't work, we'll try a blindfold.
2024-09-13 19:10:18 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
