ACT THREE
FADE IN:
17 INT. DS9 – HABITAT RING CORRIDOR
Taran’atar walks down the corridor, alone. He turns a corner...
...and sees Sevak standing at attention at the far end of the corridor, watching him approach. Taran’atar tenses, a little indignant, but doesn’t comment.
He stops at the door to his quarters, opens the door...
18 INT. DS9 – TARAN’ATAR’S QUARTERS
...and walks into his quarters, alone. Once he’s inside and the door has closed, he jerks to a stop, surprised...
ANGLE
...because L’Haan is stood right in front of him.
L’HAAN
I was under the impression Jem’Hadar
were strong. You should be ashamed
of yourself.
Taran’atar turns away, trying to ignore her. She follows.
L’HAAN (cont)
Do you now run to Starfleet
for help with every problem? Is
that the new order of things?
He spins on her and aims a fatal PUNCH for her chest...
ANGLE
...except that now she’s behind him.
L’HAAN
I am curious. Jem’Hadar are not
by nature an emotional race.
They are disciplined, focused
on the mission above all else.
And yet you... your emotions
appear to be in great need
of a Vulcan’s control.
TARAN’ATAR
Because of you! You constantly
whisper in my ear and drive me
to distraction!
L’HAAN
And is that how you wish to
appear to the entire station?
Unable to control yourself?
Because that is what will happen
if you go to the Infirmary.
Everyone will know.
TARAN’ATAR
I must go. Kira told me to.
L’HAAN
You don’t have to do anything
she says. Your only loyalty is
to the Founder, isn’t that so?
ANGLE
Stood alone, panting hard with frustration... he considers her words. Is she right?
19 INT. DS9 – RO’S QUARTERS
The door slides open. Ro stands in the doorway, having got herself under control from earlier. She’s blocking the way for Vaughn, who stands out in the hall.
RO
(wary)
Who are you?
VAUGHN
Elias Vaughn. I’m the First
Officer here.
RO
Are you my “friend” too?
VAUGHN
I prefer to think of myself as
a mentor. But to be honest we
haven’t spent much time together.
RO
Well, at least you’re honest.
Come on in. Everyone else has.
She slouches back into the room, letting him enter.
VAUGHN
Do you need anything?
RO
A new brain would be nice. Or
maybe a new face. I’ve been
staring at myself in the mirror,
trying to figure out when the
teenager I remember got so old.
Vaughn laughs out loud, which only annoys Ro.
VAUGHN
Old? Please. You’re not even
forty yet.
(beat)
So things are coming back?
RO
Yeah. I wish they weren’t, but
I’ve been told there’s not much
I can do about that.
She picks up the padd, stares balefully at its screen.
RO (cont)
According to this, I’m just at
the point where I screw it all
up. Which is something I seem
to do a lot, apparently.
Vaughn takes a seat, making sure to give Ro her space.
VAUGHN
I’ve followed your career with
some interest, Lieutenant. I’m
willing to help if I can.
RO
Really. Then maybe you can
explain why I had a promising
career as a Starfleet officer
and threw it away by disobeying
orders and getting eight of my
away team killed on Garon Two.
(re padd)
Because this sure as fire
doesn’t explain it.
She slumps down. Vaughn is careful not to say too much.
VAUGHN
I know some things. But I’d be
more interested to hear your
perspective. The official
record is rather one-sided.
RO
I’m not even sure how I ended
up in Starfleet at all. How
does a runaway scrat like me
get into the academy?
VAUGHN
As I recall, that was down to LJ
Akaar. Bajor wasn’t a Federation
world at the time, you see, so
you would have needed a good word
from a command-level officer. He
was passing on the favour, after
Hikaru Sulu did the same for him.
He must have been very impressed
with you to have done that.
RO
Akaar... the name does sound familiar...
She racks her brain for memories again, and we go into...
FLASHBACK
20 INT. STARFLEET JAG OFFICE
Beginning on AKAAR, as a newly minted admiral. He’s sat at the centre of a row of three Starfleet judges, staring at the accused with loathing and very personal disappointment.
That accused being Ro, 10 years previously. She’s in a red TNG season 1 era Starfleet uniform, accessorized with the red headband she always wore and a pair of handcuffs.
AKAAR
Does the accused have anything
further to say in her defence?
Ro stares into the middle distance, a million miles away. She pulls her eyes up to meet his...
WADE (v.o.)
(ghostly, distant)
Ro! Get down!
CUT TO:
21 EXT. PLANET SURFACE
Ro is pushed sideways, out of the way of a screaming phaser shot, by a leaping Commander WADE (male human, red uniform, in his 40s). The pair of them land hard on stony ground as the phaser shot goes over their heads.
From the ground, they watch another officer in blue catch another phaser shot full in the chest. He goes down dead.
WADE
Connors!
Wade grabs his own phaser and fires back at the assailant – a SERAPHAMI, a mostly humanoid alien with grey-blue skin and a face that’s a blend of dinosaur and gorilla.
WADE
Everyone fall back! Head for
the med facility!
Wade and Ro scramble to their feet, dodging more phasers...
WIDE ANGLE
A rocky canyon, deep but narrow. A dozen Starfleet officers (early TNG uniforms, various colours) dash along the base of it as fast as they can, avoiding shots from above. Alien snipers shoot from ridges high above. Ro and Wade shoot back as they run. A security female – CAPUTO – shouts out.
CAPUTO
Where did they come from? There
were no life signs!
A second officer is unlucky – he goes down.
22 INT. STARFLEET BASECAMP
Little more than the shattered shell of an old building. Walls and roof crumbling, barely any coverage at all. The remaining Starfleet officers rush in and dive for cover.
Ro looks carefully back out at the canyon. She can see the two dead Starfleet bodies on the ground. She looks up to the ridges where the Seraphami are hiding. One of them fires – the phaser beam comes dangerously close.
WADE
(taps combadge)
Commander Wade to the Wellington.
We need a beam-up right now!
No response. The rest of the away team begin to fire from concealment. As they continue urgently exchanging fire...
WADE
Repeat – Wade to Wellington! Do
you hear me? Damn it!
RO
We’re surrounded, outnumbered
too probably. Given time, they
have the power to kill us all.
WADE
Ro’s right. So we need to do
something they won’t expect.
CAPUTO
Like what?
WADE
A flanking manoeuvre. Oldest
trick in the book, but I doubt
the Seraphami have too many
military historians.
RO
What’s to stop them taking this
position, and the colonists?
WADE
You are, Ensign. You and Caputo
stay here, and give them the
impression that we’re all still
holed up. Think you can do it?
RO
Do you have any doubt?
WADE
Good answer. Let’s go!
Wade scrambles towards a rear exit out of the camp, and all but Ro and Caputo follow him. Both women dash back and forth, keeping up a constant fire.
23 EXT. PLANET SURFACE
Some of the Seraphami are moving down into the canyon now, firing more directly at the Starfleet hiding place. Phaser shots come back from that direction, hitting a couple.
24 INT. STARFLEET BASECAMP
Suddenly the shots from the Seraphami stop. After a few more shots of their own, Ro and Caputo notice the quiet.
RO
Huh. They’re awfully quiet all
of a sudden.
Wary, Caputo pulls out a tricorder, takes readings...
CAPUTO
Unless this tricorder’s haywire,
I’d say they’ve gone into their
hibernation mode.
RO
That healing trance thing? We
didn’t hit them that bad.
CAPUTO
I guess we did better than we
thought. Pretty fragile for
terrorists, if you ask me.
Ro reacts uncomfortably to the T word...
CAPUTO (cont)
But in that state, they’re even
more vulnerable. Even just a
glancing blow from a phaser on
stun could kill them.
Ro realizes the problem. She looks out at the canyon, sees the Seraphami slumped over as if asleep...
RO
And Wade won’t hesitate to shoot
first and ask questions later.
CAPUTO
He could slaughter them all.
They turn back into the hideout, crouch against the walls.
RO
What can we do? The combadges
aren’t working.
Still racking their brains for a solution... Ro looks back out onto the canyon...
25 EXT. PLANET SURFACE
Up on an even higher ridge than the Seraphami, Wade creeps into place. He nods right and left – at other crew – and takes aim at the aliens further down.
26 INT. STARFLEET BASECAMP
Ro watches this...
RO
I can’t let him do it...
And she makes her decision. She runs out of the shelter...
27 EXT. PLANET SURFACE
...She raises her phaser... and shoots.
WADE
...takes the shot in the chest and oomphs in pain. He tumbles forward, down the ravine...
CAPUTO
No!
Instantly, the Seraphami, who had been slumped over as if asleep, jerk back awake again and shoot at Ro.
Caputo runs out of the shelter, grabs for Ro, pulls her down, saving her from the shot...
CAPUTO
Damn it, Ensign! It was a trick!
But the Seraphami have already got Wade. One grabs his broken body and lifts it over his head, roaring with satisfaction. The rest turn to where Wade had been and begin firing.
It’s a bloodbath for the Starfleet team.
Caputo grabs Ro and drags her back to the shelter...
28 INT. STARFLEET BASECAMP
Caputo throws Ro to the ground, furious.
CAPUTO
They were faking it to lure us
out of hiding! And now we’re
all dead, thanks to you!
Ro stares, dumbfounded. She knows Caputo is right.
29 INT. STARFLEET JAG OFFICE
As Akaar glares down at Ro, in the docks...
RO
(quiet, withdrawn)
No. I have nothing to say.
AKAAR
(sneer)
Very well. Since the accused has
chosen not to defend herself, I
have no hesitation in passing
sentence.
RO (v.o.)
What could I say? I was guilty.
30 INT. DS9 – RO’S QUARTERS
As Ro relates this tale to Vaughn...
RO
Akaar didn’t want to hear it
anyway. He was merciless.
VAUGHN
(quiet, gentle)
You broke his heart.
RO
He doesn’t have one.
VAUGHN
(encouraging)
But you came through it. If
not Akaar, you found other
people willing to believe in
you. Kira, Picard... me.
Ro looks up at him, grateful. But it doesn’t really help all that much.
VAUGHN
If nothing else, it’s good
that you’re getting more of
your memory back.
RO
Doesn’t even feel like my memory.
VAUGHN
(curious)
What do you mean?
RO
I mean, it’s not me. It’s like
it’s a whole different person
forcing her way into my head.
And I’m not sure I even know
who she is.
Something about that strikes Vaughn as... interesting. He stops to ponder it for a moment, frowning, an idea slowly forming in his mind...
VAUGHN
Lieutenant... excuse me, please.
I have some research to do.
And he gets up from the couch and exits without another word. Ro is left wondering what just happened...
FADE OUT:
END OF ACT THREE
.
