Chief Medical Officer's log, Julian Bashir recording. Chief O'Brien and I were on our way back to Deep Space Nine from the Bajoran colony on Meret when the Orinoco hit a sudden plasma storm and we have crashed on an uninhabited planet in the Crestus system. The Chief is working to figureo ut if we can get the runabout flying again.
Julian Bashir, personal log. It was good working on Meret. Miles and I have helped design the blueprints that will get that colony back on its feet after a year of drought followed by a flash flood when the rains finally came. It makes me feel a lot better about the state of the universe and my part in it when I can see such a change for the better in people's lives based on my efforts. The Chief, I know, just wants to get back to the station and see his family.
"I've got bad news and worse news Doctor, which do you want first?"
Bashir looked up from the comm-panel he was using to record his logs, O'Brien's expression was tired and very serious. "Start with the bad, Chief."
"We're not going anywhere. The Orinoco needs the station to fix it. And while this plasma storm lasts we can't call for help."
Bashir's eyebrows rose, "If that's the bad news, what on earth could be the worse?"
"We aren't alone here on the planet."
Bashir jumped up, "But Chief that's good news! We can ask them for help. They might..."
O'Brien interrupted, "Doctor, they're Cardassian."
Bashir blinked, "The war's over, Chief, has been for a while."
O'Brien shook his head, "Doesn't matter. Cardassians are Cardassians. If they know we're here, they will assume we're spies and kill us. We cannot let them know we are here."
Bashir let out a long sigh, "Chief, no-one lives on this planet. They probably got caught in the plasma storm and crashed like we did - we could work together to get off this planet. You could get home!"
"Or I could get shot."
Bashir tried a different tack, "How many life-signs did the scan pick up?"
"Five, but the plasma storm is messing up the reliability, so there could be more."
Bashir shook his head, "When it comes to fixing the run-about or surviving on this planet, I acede to your experience, Chief. But this time I have to insist. Those Cardassians could need our help and we have to give it. That's an order," he finished sharply.
O'Brien flinched slightly at Bashir's tone but nodded. He looked at the sky, "Well if we try to go over there now we'll get lost and probably drown in a bog. We need to wait until morning."
Bashir wasn't happy with the delay but accepted the truth of what O'Brien was saying and he was keen to allow O'Brien to feel some control in the situation. He nodded, "All right. At first light."
"Aye, sir."
* * *
O'Brien waited for Bashir's breathing to grow deep and steady. He crept over to Bashir's cot and checked that he was asleep. He looks so peaceful O'Brien thought. O'Brien steeled his nerve and turned away from the sleeping doctor. Picking up a phaser and a tri-corder he left the runabout.
O'Brien carefully made his way through the dense forest that covered the planet. He had told the truth to Bashir - if he did get lost he could easily fall into the boggy swamps that were everywhere hidden in the trees. What he didn't tell Bashir was that there was a ridge of high ground between their runabout and the Cardassian camp that should be traversable with care.
Even with the tri-corder displaying the route, O'Brien had to pull himself out of two knee-high pools of stagnant water. Muttering and swearing O'Brien continued his trek until he found a burned trail, very similar to the one the Orinoco had left.
"Okay Julian, you were right about the crash," he said to himself, "But that's just going to make 'em angry."
He followed the trail, but kept within the treeline. The size of the burn trail showed that the ship was about the same size as the Orinoco but had come in on a shallower trajectory. Maybe there were only the five of them O'Brien thought.
O'Brien slowly made his way through the undergrowth and the trees until he got sight of the crash site. His heart stopped as he looked at the Cardassians. Two of them were laid out on beds and obviously badly injured, the other three - two men and one woman - moved between them and the shuttle. Even from the distance he was watching from, O'Brien could see they were close to panic, unable to cope with the situation.
They aren't soldiers, and Oh God they're so young, O'Brien watched them and saw Molly in his mind. Molly running up to the doors of the runabout pad airlock to meet him whenever he returned to the station. Her delighted laughter as he swept her up and threw her up onto his shoulder. O'Brien closed his eyes and sent up a prayer that he wasn't about to make a huge mistake. He stood up, packed away the phaser and stepped out of the tree line.
The Cardassians froze as soon as they saw him, darting glances at each other trying to work out what to do now.
O'Brien raised his hands and called out, "I'm from a crashed ship back that way. We have a doctor. Do you need help?"
He carried on walking as he spoke and when he asked the question he was close enough to hear them all breathe a huge sigh of relief.
The closest - the woman - spoke, "Yes sir. We need your help. We're students, our two instructors were injured in the crash." She swallowed, "we don't know what to do."
"First things first," said O'Brien taking charge, "What's the state of your ship? Do you have power?"
One of the men spoke hesitantly, "Yes sir. The piloting controls are wrecked but we think everything else is working. But we... we weren't sure so we moved outside."
O'Brien nodded, "Good thinking, son. Always put safety first. Do you have transporters? I'm an engineer. If they work, I can bring the doctor here quickly. It wasn't an easy trip I made to get here."
"Yes sir, umm... come this way, the transport is back this way."
O'Brien followed the young Cardassian into the shuttle. The other two students were visibly relaxing now they had someone to show them what to do.
Inside the shuttle, O'Brien saw that the man's assessment was correct, the piloting console had exploded but the systems at the back of the ship were untouched.
O'Brien pushed up his sleeves, "Okay, show me the transporters."
The Cardassian systems weren't so strange since he had someone to translate the information. After a few minutes of running diagnostics, O'Brien was happy that the transporter would run. He looked up.
"What's your name, son? I'm o'Brien."
"Minnor, sir."
"And the others?"
"Gebret's the girl and Palear."
O'Brien nodded, "Good to know. Right then, let's see if I can wake up the doctor." O'Brien tapped his comm-badge, he should still be in range of the Orinoco's communications relay.
"O'Brien to Bashir."
* * *
O'Brien to Bashir
Bashir tapped his badge to respond before he was even properly awake.
"Bashir here, what's... " he looked around, "where are you, Chief?"
I'm... ahh... I'm at the Cardassian camp, Doctor. I wanted to make sure everything was as you thought it would be. You were right, there are injured here. They need your help. Their transporters are operational. I want to transport you here.
Bashir heard the hesitation in O'Brien's voice and guessed that he didn't want to talk about his own view of what the situation with the Cardassians was going to be like. Bashir left that subject alone, and simply replied, "Give me just a minute to get my medical case."
Bashir grabbed his medical case, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and tapped his comm-badge again, "Okay Chief, bring me over."
* * *
While Bashir worked with Palear to stabilise the two instructors, O'Brien transported back to the Orinoco to get his equipment and worked with Minnor and Gebret to get the piloting console functional again. The Cardassian shuttle was much less damaged than the Orinoco so it was possible for him to make the fixes with the equipment he had.
He was just finishing up when Bashir came in to the cabin with Palear. "How's it going, Chief?" Bashir asked.
O'Brien wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm, "Good, we've just finished. She won't go set any speed records but this ship's safe to get airborne and out of the badlands."
Bashir grinned, "Great because Palear has just offered us a ride back to the station!"
O'Brien smiled ruefully and shook his head, "This will definitely get them talking." He turned to Minnor, "Right then, son, let's get that take-off check-list started."
* * *
Bashir watched as O'Brien moved about the cabin checking the wiring on his various fixes, making sure everything had survived the bumpy take-off. O'Brien sensed Bashir's gaze, looked over and grinned. He crossed the cabin and sat down beside Bashir.
"You know, this is a pretty unorthodox ride, when we get back to the station there's going to be a lot of questions about how we managed it." O'Brien paused and looked at his hands, "I just want to see Keiko and Molly, I don't want to be stuck in Ops having to explain to Major Kira that these were civilian scientists and no-one was in any danger." He chuckled softly, then his face grew serious and he looked over to Bashir. "Julian, could you answer all the questions for me. Let me sneak off back to my quarters. Anything technical, I can sort out tomorrow - I just want to go home."
Bashir watched his friend, and sensed the turmoil within him, so he just smiled and said, "Sure Miles. I know Keiko will be worried about you. You head on home. I can write the reports."
O'Brien nodded, "Thanks Juilian." He stood up, "Well I'd better keep an eye on Minnor, make sure he doesn't burn out those couplings." He started to walk back to the cockpit, then turned, "Hey - fancy darts and a beer in Quarks tomorrow?"
Bashir grinned, "For definite."
Bashir watched O'Brien walk back to the co-pilot's seat. You went there expecting me to be wrong, didn't you Miles? he thought You thought you'd be walking into a firefight. Why did you go at night? Were you trying to protect me?
* * *
It was late in the evening when O'Brien finally made it back to his quarters. Even with leaving Bashir to do all the debriefing he still had to answer some questions. He stepped up to the door and waited while it opened. He loved this feeling of stepping over the threshold into home, his sanctuary. No matter whether it was on Earth, the Enterprise or here on Deep Space Nine, it was always home.
He walked through the doorway, and looked around. Keiko came running out of the kitchen and enveloped him in a hug. O'Brien held her tight.
"Oh, it is good to make it home," he whispered, "Is Molly asleep?"
"Yes, when we got the word from Commander Sisko that you were on your way back, she wanted to stay up but I knew it'd be late before you made it so I promised her you'd stay for a nice, long breakfast tomorrow."
O'Brien smiled, "That I promise. The station can fall apart, I will stay for breakfast! Let me just take a look at her now."
O'Brien carefully opened the door to Molly's bedroom, and watched her from the doorway as she slept peacefully, her hands moving slightly as she dreamed.
* * *
Personal log, Miles O'Brien recording. I was watching Molly sleep, she always looks so peaceful. Julian looked the same way when he was asleep. I guess that comes from being certain you're on the side of the angels. I don't think I've had that certainty for a long time, not since the first Cardassian War. The fighting at Setlik 3 took me to a very dark place. I thought I'd left it behind, I was wrong. My reaction to those Cardassians has shown that to me. So what do I do now? Can I ever get past it? Hmm... Maybe I should hang around with Julian more, his attitude to life might rub off on me. Ah, maybe not but it'll fun to beat him at darts.
Julian Bashir, personal log. It was good working on Meret. Miles and I have helped design the blueprints that will get that colony back on its feet after a year of drought followed by a flash flood when the rains finally came. It makes me feel a lot better about the state of the universe and my part in it when I can see such a change for the better in people's lives based on my efforts. The Chief, I know, just wants to get back to the station and see his family.
"I've got bad news and worse news Doctor, which do you want first?"
Bashir looked up from the comm-panel he was using to record his logs, O'Brien's expression was tired and very serious. "Start with the bad, Chief."
"We're not going anywhere. The Orinoco needs the station to fix it. And while this plasma storm lasts we can't call for help."
Bashir's eyebrows rose, "If that's the bad news, what on earth could be the worse?"
"We aren't alone here on the planet."
Bashir jumped up, "But Chief that's good news! We can ask them for help. They might..."
O'Brien interrupted, "Doctor, they're Cardassian."
Bashir blinked, "The war's over, Chief, has been for a while."
O'Brien shook his head, "Doesn't matter. Cardassians are Cardassians. If they know we're here, they will assume we're spies and kill us. We cannot let them know we are here."
Bashir let out a long sigh, "Chief, no-one lives on this planet. They probably got caught in the plasma storm and crashed like we did - we could work together to get off this planet. You could get home!"
"Or I could get shot."
Bashir tried a different tack, "How many life-signs did the scan pick up?"
"Five, but the plasma storm is messing up the reliability, so there could be more."
Bashir shook his head, "When it comes to fixing the run-about or surviving on this planet, I acede to your experience, Chief. But this time I have to insist. Those Cardassians could need our help and we have to give it. That's an order," he finished sharply.
O'Brien flinched slightly at Bashir's tone but nodded. He looked at the sky, "Well if we try to go over there now we'll get lost and probably drown in a bog. We need to wait until morning."
Bashir wasn't happy with the delay but accepted the truth of what O'Brien was saying and he was keen to allow O'Brien to feel some control in the situation. He nodded, "All right. At first light."
"Aye, sir."
* * *
O'Brien waited for Bashir's breathing to grow deep and steady. He crept over to Bashir's cot and checked that he was asleep. He looks so peaceful O'Brien thought. O'Brien steeled his nerve and turned away from the sleeping doctor. Picking up a phaser and a tri-corder he left the runabout.
O'Brien carefully made his way through the dense forest that covered the planet. He had told the truth to Bashir - if he did get lost he could easily fall into the boggy swamps that were everywhere hidden in the trees. What he didn't tell Bashir was that there was a ridge of high ground between their runabout and the Cardassian camp that should be traversable with care.
Even with the tri-corder displaying the route, O'Brien had to pull himself out of two knee-high pools of stagnant water. Muttering and swearing O'Brien continued his trek until he found a burned trail, very similar to the one the Orinoco had left.
"Okay Julian, you were right about the crash," he said to himself, "But that's just going to make 'em angry."
He followed the trail, but kept within the treeline. The size of the burn trail showed that the ship was about the same size as the Orinoco but had come in on a shallower trajectory. Maybe there were only the five of them O'Brien thought.
O'Brien slowly made his way through the undergrowth and the trees until he got sight of the crash site. His heart stopped as he looked at the Cardassians. Two of them were laid out on beds and obviously badly injured, the other three - two men and one woman - moved between them and the shuttle. Even from the distance he was watching from, O'Brien could see they were close to panic, unable to cope with the situation.
They aren't soldiers, and Oh God they're so young, O'Brien watched them and saw Molly in his mind. Molly running up to the doors of the runabout pad airlock to meet him whenever he returned to the station. Her delighted laughter as he swept her up and threw her up onto his shoulder. O'Brien closed his eyes and sent up a prayer that he wasn't about to make a huge mistake. He stood up, packed away the phaser and stepped out of the tree line.
The Cardassians froze as soon as they saw him, darting glances at each other trying to work out what to do now.
O'Brien raised his hands and called out, "I'm from a crashed ship back that way. We have a doctor. Do you need help?"
He carried on walking as he spoke and when he asked the question he was close enough to hear them all breathe a huge sigh of relief.
The closest - the woman - spoke, "Yes sir. We need your help. We're students, our two instructors were injured in the crash." She swallowed, "we don't know what to do."
"First things first," said O'Brien taking charge, "What's the state of your ship? Do you have power?"
One of the men spoke hesitantly, "Yes sir. The piloting controls are wrecked but we think everything else is working. But we... we weren't sure so we moved outside."
O'Brien nodded, "Good thinking, son. Always put safety first. Do you have transporters? I'm an engineer. If they work, I can bring the doctor here quickly. It wasn't an easy trip I made to get here."
"Yes sir, umm... come this way, the transport is back this way."
O'Brien followed the young Cardassian into the shuttle. The other two students were visibly relaxing now they had someone to show them what to do.
Inside the shuttle, O'Brien saw that the man's assessment was correct, the piloting console had exploded but the systems at the back of the ship were untouched.
O'Brien pushed up his sleeves, "Okay, show me the transporters."
The Cardassian systems weren't so strange since he had someone to translate the information. After a few minutes of running diagnostics, O'Brien was happy that the transporter would run. He looked up.
"What's your name, son? I'm o'Brien."
"Minnor, sir."
"And the others?"
"Gebret's the girl and Palear."
O'Brien nodded, "Good to know. Right then, let's see if I can wake up the doctor." O'Brien tapped his comm-badge, he should still be in range of the Orinoco's communications relay.
"O'Brien to Bashir."
* * *
O'Brien to Bashir
Bashir tapped his badge to respond before he was even properly awake.
"Bashir here, what's... " he looked around, "where are you, Chief?"
I'm... ahh... I'm at the Cardassian camp, Doctor. I wanted to make sure everything was as you thought it would be. You were right, there are injured here. They need your help. Their transporters are operational. I want to transport you here.
Bashir heard the hesitation in O'Brien's voice and guessed that he didn't want to talk about his own view of what the situation with the Cardassians was going to be like. Bashir left that subject alone, and simply replied, "Give me just a minute to get my medical case."
Bashir grabbed his medical case, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and tapped his comm-badge again, "Okay Chief, bring me over."
* * *
While Bashir worked with Palear to stabilise the two instructors, O'Brien transported back to the Orinoco to get his equipment and worked with Minnor and Gebret to get the piloting console functional again. The Cardassian shuttle was much less damaged than the Orinoco so it was possible for him to make the fixes with the equipment he had.
He was just finishing up when Bashir came in to the cabin with Palear. "How's it going, Chief?" Bashir asked.
O'Brien wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm, "Good, we've just finished. She won't go set any speed records but this ship's safe to get airborne and out of the badlands."
Bashir grinned, "Great because Palear has just offered us a ride back to the station!"
O'Brien smiled ruefully and shook his head, "This will definitely get them talking." He turned to Minnor, "Right then, son, let's get that take-off check-list started."
* * *
Bashir watched as O'Brien moved about the cabin checking the wiring on his various fixes, making sure everything had survived the bumpy take-off. O'Brien sensed Bashir's gaze, looked over and grinned. He crossed the cabin and sat down beside Bashir.
"You know, this is a pretty unorthodox ride, when we get back to the station there's going to be a lot of questions about how we managed it." O'Brien paused and looked at his hands, "I just want to see Keiko and Molly, I don't want to be stuck in Ops having to explain to Major Kira that these were civilian scientists and no-one was in any danger." He chuckled softly, then his face grew serious and he looked over to Bashir. "Julian, could you answer all the questions for me. Let me sneak off back to my quarters. Anything technical, I can sort out tomorrow - I just want to go home."
Bashir watched his friend, and sensed the turmoil within him, so he just smiled and said, "Sure Miles. I know Keiko will be worried about you. You head on home. I can write the reports."
O'Brien nodded, "Thanks Juilian." He stood up, "Well I'd better keep an eye on Minnor, make sure he doesn't burn out those couplings." He started to walk back to the cockpit, then turned, "Hey - fancy darts and a beer in Quarks tomorrow?"
Bashir grinned, "For definite."
Bashir watched O'Brien walk back to the co-pilot's seat. You went there expecting me to be wrong, didn't you Miles? he thought You thought you'd be walking into a firefight. Why did you go at night? Were you trying to protect me?
* * *
It was late in the evening when O'Brien finally made it back to his quarters. Even with leaving Bashir to do all the debriefing he still had to answer some questions. He stepped up to the door and waited while it opened. He loved this feeling of stepping over the threshold into home, his sanctuary. No matter whether it was on Earth, the Enterprise or here on Deep Space Nine, it was always home.
He walked through the doorway, and looked around. Keiko came running out of the kitchen and enveloped him in a hug. O'Brien held her tight.
"Oh, it is good to make it home," he whispered, "Is Molly asleep?"
"Yes, when we got the word from Commander Sisko that you were on your way back, she wanted to stay up but I knew it'd be late before you made it so I promised her you'd stay for a nice, long breakfast tomorrow."
O'Brien smiled, "That I promise. The station can fall apart, I will stay for breakfast! Let me just take a look at her now."
O'Brien carefully opened the door to Molly's bedroom, and watched her from the doorway as she slept peacefully, her hands moving slightly as she dreamed.
* * *
Personal log, Miles O'Brien recording. I was watching Molly sleep, she always looks so peaceful. Julian looked the same way when he was asleep. I guess that comes from being certain you're on the side of the angels. I don't think I've had that certainty for a long time, not since the first Cardassian War. The fighting at Setlik 3 took me to a very dark place. I thought I'd left it behind, I was wrong. My reaction to those Cardassians has shown that to me. So what do I do now? Can I ever get past it? Hmm... Maybe I should hang around with Julian more, his attitude to life might rub off on me. Ah, maybe not but it'll fun to beat him at darts.
