Siinoga Dreams

 Episode Name:  Siinoga Dreams

   Written By:  Belgarath

         Cast:  Edwards, Lightfoot, Malloy, Mira, Surek, T'val and Tahlandi.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Belgarath

     Aired On:  Sun Nov 10 01:28:53 2002

     Stardate:  52768.6

Time: Sat Nov 09 20:26:28 2002

Stardate: 52768

S'ral's condition has steadily degraded in the time that he has been kept at Station 419, waiting for the trip to Siinoga. Instead of returning him, it has been decided that Vulcan scientists should study S'ral and determine whether he can be returned to his normal Vulcan self or not. To keep him from realizing what is going on, he was told that he would be taken to the Aegis for transportation when he was actually taken to the Aegis holodeck, making it seem like he was en route to Siinoga the whole time. S'ral has been on the holodeck for a while now, with "problems" that kept delaying the ship in order to stall S'ral. The three Vulcan scientists have just arrived, and will be reviewing S'ral's condition from the bridge of the Aegis. The science console shows S'ral on the holodeck, sitting in a holographic brig. The medical station shows readouts of the Vulcan/Siinogan hybrid.

Edwards stands up from the main command chair and wanders toward the science station, so he can look over people's shoulders, although he makes sure to stay out of anyone's way. "I feel sorry for the poor guy. He's half a bug and being deceived," he comments idly.

Tahlandi sits down at Ops.

Tahlandi glances over her shoulder from her position at Ops. "I don't think any of us like it, Commander, but it's not like we have many other options right now, given the circumstances."

Lightfoot stays back out of the action and nods to Malloy as he enters.

Malloy would be one of the people at the medical station, rather heading there, nodding to Lightfoot in return. Not saying a word, he first tries to take the whole situation in.

Mira remains in her chair, her dark eyes following Lt. Commander Edwards, but she remains fixed in her place, concientious to stay out of the way for now.

The turbolift doors slide open, then shut, as the three Vulcan scientists step onto the bridge. The one in front is a female dressed in simple garments. A male and a female Vulcan follow behind her. An ensign, who was escorting the three to the bridge, stands off to the side.

Edwards makes his way over to the Vulcan delegation when they arrive. "T'val, I presume." He looks to the one in the forefront, "I'm Leftenant Commander Michael Edwards, First Officer of Four-One-Nine."

Tahlandi turns back to face her console as Edwards heads off to meet the delegation, her attention returned to her work.

Malloy looks at Lightfoot rather questioningly, raising his left eyebrow, then nods slightly to the delegation.

Lightfoot hangs back from the rest. He tries to fade into the background.

Mira keeps her vigil at her station, her eyes drifting to the new arrivals.

"I am," T'val confirms. "These are my associates, Doctors Sotak and T'lan," she half turns to gesture at the two behind her. "Is the subject prepared for observation?"

"Yes, he is." Edwards replies, stepping back toward the science station and motioning for the Vulcans to follow. As he goes, he points to the officers about the bridge, introducing them in turn, "That's Leftenant Tahlandi, our Chief of Operations, Doctor Lightfoot, Ensign Malloy, a medic, and Counselor Mira." Those introductions made, he gestures toward the screen that shows S'ral on the holodeck, "And that is the only Vulcan/Siinogan half-breed in existence, I hope. Ambassador S'ral."

Tahlandi turns halfway from her console to incline her head politely to the Vulcan scientists, and just as quickly turns back to her work.

Malloy is torn between snapping to attention and saluting and half-bowing it seems, then finally decides to simply give an acknowledging, respectful half-bow from the waist.

Lightfoot nods to the scientists and tries the hand thing. He manages it alright.

Mira watches the proceedings with an unsual seriousness, her eyes tracing over the expression of each man and woman surrounding the Lt. Commander.

On the screen, S'ral's head perks up and he begins looking around his surroundings as if alarmed.

T'val watches the video output as she asks, "Has his condition changed since the medical files on him were sent to us?"

Sotak approaches Lightfoot. "I am curious, Doctor. Has the new insectoid bodyparts served S'ral to any level of usefulness?"

Giving a greeting nod to Mira, T'lan asks, "Have you noticed any psychological aberrations in S'ral, Counselor?"

Edwards umms, "A little." He walks over to the medical station, so he can call up all the medical files on S'ral. "That's everything we know." he states.

Malloy makes room for Edwards, taking a few steps to the side so he can peruse the terminal at his own pleasure. He definitely looks as if he'd be feeling uneasy in the presence of his senior.

Lightfoot nods. "Somewhat. When I first encountered the Ambassador he was able to move along the ceiling. He also has antennae. Though we're still unsure what function they perform for the ambassador Dr."

Mira responds softly to T'Lan, "S'ral is demonstrating a variety of atypical behaviors. He has become impulsive, unpredictable, his emotions controlling his thoughts. Most disturbingly, there is a strong well of anger within him."

On the screen, S'ral's head swivels around more jerkily now and his antennae begin sweeping the room. "What is this? Where have you put me!?"

T'val's does not look at the new information that Edwards has offered, but rather her attention is fixated on S'ral. "Has he acted like this before?"

Sotak says, "His appendages have adhesive abilities? Have you discovered the source?"

T'lan's attention is also directed at the screen now.

Edwards likewise regards the display of S'ral, frowning somewhat. "Believe me, erratic behavior is pretty normal for him. But this is the first time he's indicated that he might know he's been tricked..." he comments, "This can't be good."

Malloy tries to fade a bit in the background, leaning somewhere where he is not in the way, and, preferrably, a bit out of view, in turn though trying to get to see and hear as much as he can without being too obvious.

Lightfoot nods. "Yes. Apparently he now secretes an adhesive chemical from glands he has developed in his limbs."

Mira turns her attention to the screen as well, her brow furrowing as she studies this new development.

On the screen, S'ral starts pounding on the shield erected over the holographic brig. "What have you done? I will get you for thisss, Sss'trik!"

Arching an eyebrow, T'val says, "Indeed, it appears that he has." She goes over to the new scan readouts on S'ral and quickly looks over them.

Sotak heads over to the medical station and looks at the current medical scans of S'ral. "Much of these readings are far from the Vulcan norm."

Returning to Mira, T'lan says, "I see. Would you presume that the causes of such changes are induced by his changing biology or from his surroundings?"

Edwards steps back, letting the Vulcans do their work, "Hopefully it won't matter. He shouldn't be able to get out. But I can't imagine it'll do much for his disposition."

Tahlandi taps away at her console, monitoring the readout in silence.

Malloy links his hands behind his back, remembering that when in doubt, parade rest always worked at the academy. Kinda.

Mira continues to watch the screen carefully as she responds to T'Lan, "Until this point, we had believed he was unaware of the entirety of his circumstances. It is only supposition, but if I had to guess I suspect that the change in his physiology is impairing his mental facilities, at least his Vulcan training and discipline. The trauma of such a transformation on a man's psyche is almost unimaginable."

On the screen, S'ral stops hitting the forcefield. His antennae swing around a bit more, and he draws in a deep breath of air. Deflating his chest in a forceful motion, a spray of liquid flies into one corner of the brig. The holographic grid starts breaking down at that point.

T'val says, "It seems certain organs have completely developed since we last received the files. I have not seen such rapid maturation without technological supplementation."

Sotak scrutinizes the medical readouts as some of the bars jump up and go into the red zone. "Doctor, their appears to be a change in the patient."

T'lan says, "Indeed, it most certainly would." She watches the screen, "Most curious."

Edwards spins around, so he can look to Tahlandi at her station near the front of the bridge, "Scan the holodeck and tell me what in the hell he just did, Leftenant."

<CONTEST> Tahlandi contests her Shipboard Systems (Sensors) skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

Tahlandi doesn't look up, but her hands quickly accelerate from their leisurely tapping into a flurry of motion. "It... apparently, he's somehow... spraying acid everywhere. It's damaging the grid."

Malloy arcs an eyebrow, moving back to the medical terminal, taking a thorough look at it.

Lightfoot moves over to a scanner to begin seeing just what it is hes spraying.

Mira jumps to her feet with surprise, "I think his patience has ended." she says, unintentionally stating the obvious, "He must be angry, frustrated and scared. He's lashing out, trying to escape."

On th screen, S'ral continues to spray the area with liquid until he runs out of his supply. Everywhere that is hit by the liquid begins flickering, showing the holodeck behind, with the affected areas beginning to grow.

"Doctor T'lan, check over these files and see if you can determine anything from it," T'val orders. "Medic," she says to Malloy, "what medical skills do you have that can help us?"

Sotak's face stays unchanged as he reads what the medical station shows. "Adrenaline level appears to have increased a thousandfold? How is that possible?" He starts playing with the console to bring up other readings.

T'lan heads to where the newer files on S'ral are and reads it over carefully.

<CONTEST> Lightfoot contests his Medical Sciences skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Succeeds!

"Yeah, I think we guessed that already, Counselor." Edwards remarks, returning his attention to the screen, "Can you tell if that acid can eat through the bulkhead, Tahlandi?"

<CONTEST> Tahlandi contests her Life Sciences skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Tahlandi shakes her head rapidly. "Sensors don't indicate any damage to the bulkhead itself, but they could be damaged by the acid already. I can't tell for certain."

Malloy turns around to T'val, furrowing his brow. "Right now, I guess Exobiology might be one of the most important things I know. Other than that, the usual Medical knowledge and surgical experience, which we hopefully shouldn't need, along with the necessary knowledge of the medical shipboard systems and equipment. If bad comes to worse I can take him down and restrain him. Hopefully"

Lightfoot looks up from his screen. "Sir. The patient has developed the ability to shoot acid from his mouth. I'm trying to evaluate just how he does it now."

Mira locks her eyes on the screen, "I don't think we should attempt to physically restrain him. He's still a sentient being, just angry, frightened, and confused. We should try communicating with him."

On the flickering screen, the entire scene can be seen fading out, slowly being replaced by the actual walls and floor of the holodeck. S'ral charges the door and starts pounding on that.

"Help Doctor T'lan determine any new developments on S'ral," T'val says to Malloy. To Edwards, "Will you be able to detain him should he escape?"

Sotak reports to no one in particular, "Judging from these readouts, S'ral is many times stronger than a Vulcan." He now looks up and turns around to face Edwards, "I would not recommend entering into a physical confrontation."

T'lan continues looking through the file while saying to Mira, "That is the preferable route. However, logic would dictate that he should be neutralized before he brings harm to others."

"We saw that, Doctor." Edwards comments, flashing a look at Lightfoot. "We should be able to detain him." he replies to T'val, as he steps toward the tactical console, "Just in case, I'm going to erect forcefields around the section of the corridor the holodeck is in. If all else fails, we can send a security team after him. Just as long as he can't pilot a ship, we should be okay, since we are in the middle of space attached to a space station."

Tahlandi glances over her shoulder at Edwards. "If the threat worsens much more, Commander, we may want to consider undocking, to limit his potential for damage."

Malloy moves over to the Vulcan Doctor. "Well, Sir. What do you say, should we conduct a few elaborate scans and cross reference them to what we have on the two species involved and maybe other entities on the respective planets? Maybe something like a degeneration to previous stages or dormant dna strands were started with the symbiosis."

Lightfoot frowns at Edwards' rebuke and returns to his screen.

Mira continues to watch the screen, "Sir, perhaps we should try talking to him, over the comm system, see if he will talk to us? If nothing else, it will buy the Engineering and Security teams time to formulate a restraint system."

On the flickering screen, S'ral is making visible progress at punching through the door, as deep indentations are forming on the surface. "I musss get to Sssiinogaaaaa!"

T'val brings up another file at the science console at the same time as she watches the events on the screen. "Do it," she says to Edwards, despite knowing that he already will.

Sotak, once again back to reading the medical information, says, "Something is happening. His body appears to be shutting down." To Lightfoot, "Doctor, is this usual for him or to Siinogans in general?" The medical bars showing S'ral's condition begin dropping, some rapidly, some gradually.

T'lan's eyebrows furrow as she reviews the files Edwards opened up for T'val. She then looks up as Malloy speaks to her, and nods her approval. "Please do so, Ensign. I am detecting an oddity in these files and wish to compare them with a current scan."

Edwards enters the commands to erect the forcefields. "I don't know if that'd be possible, Counselor. He wants to go to Siinoga. Nothing else is important to him, and we're not prepared to let him go yet." he remarks.

<CONTEST> Malloy contests his Shipboard Systems (Medical) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Malloy taps feverishly on the terminal, then looks at the screen, rather intently. Furrowing his brow, he shakes his head, slowly but noticeably. "Alright, so much for that ambitioned idea. Back to the drawing board. Would a combination of force fields to hold him and a stasis field maybe help to keep him...uhhh..stable?" he volunteers, to no one in particular.

Lightfoot turns to Sotak. "No this is definetly not usual for Siinogans. Ah...He does seem intent on going to Siinoga."

Mira grows silent as she watches, waiting for something, anything, to show a way of helping this poor man.

On the flickering screen, S'ral slows down and begins hitting softer until he simply leans against the door, huffing. "My Queeeen..."

T'val continues working on the science station.

Sotak's eyes are glued to the medical status readouts, "He is going into shock."

T'lan says to Malloy, "It may be difficult to get him into an area where we can effectively trap him."

Edwards returns his attention to the display at the science station, "Looks like he won't be running anywhere. You don't suppose he's playing possum, do you, Doctors?"

Tahlandi continues to monitor the situation, her hands dancing over the controls.

Malloy shakes his head slightly. "There are mobile forcefield generators. We could, well, drive him maybe to the place we want to have him at..."

Lightfoot shrugs. "Its kind of hard to tell sir. His physiology is constantly changing. He could be faking it. Or he could be going into shock."

Mira lifts a brow, "Queen? Sir, is it possible that he is becoming more insectoid, adopting a colonial mindset, becoming a drone? Could the instinct to serve the colony be carried in the biological changes he is undergoing?"

On the flickering screen, S'ral drops, collapsing into a heap on the floor.

T'val begins conducting scans from the science station.

Sotak says, "Playing possum, Lieutenant Commander Edwards?"

T'lan says, "We should not agitate his condition any further." Returning to the files, she says, "I believe that he may be dying, and that this has been going on for a while now. But I cannot be certain without a more updated, intensive scan."

<CONTEST> T'val contests his Shipboard Systems (Medical) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Edwards shrugs at Mira's question, "I don't know, I'm not an exobiologist. Can you sense any deceit from him, Counselor?" Without waiting for a response, he looks to the Vulcans, "Playing possum means that maybe he's tricking us, so we'll go check on him and give him a way to escape. And speaking of, don't you think we should do something, if he really is dying?"

<CONTEST> Mira (claiming disadvantage) contests her Receptive Empathy skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Malloy frowns, turning to T'lan. "If we can assume that he is dying from the changes, we really should stop the changes first, then analyze the situation more to come up with means of reversal, with all due respect, Doctor. Maybe we do not have the time for detailed analysis."

Lightfoot looks to T'lan. "Sir. I don't know if this has been thought of. But have you considered all the alternatives thoroughly?"

Mira shakes her head and frowns, "I can't get a reading on him, sir. His mind is so. . .perplexing. It's barely humanoid."

On the flickering screen, S'ral does not move.

T'val shakes her head slightly. "I can't determine his condition."

Sotak, after double-checking the medical readout, says, "According to these readings, his condition is very real. I do not know whether Siinogans can fake their conditions or not."

T'lan says to Malloy, "That may be a wise course of action. However, how do you propose we do that?" To Lightfoot, "That seems the most apparent so far. If I can get more data, I may be able to determine other possibilities."

Edwards frowns severely as he listens to everyone speak. "Lightfoot, Malloy, try to get a scan from up here. You both have one more chance. If that fails, I'm calling a security team and we're going down there. He's not dying on us, not after the hell he's put us through." he states.

<CONTEST> Malloy (claiming advantage) contests his Shipboard Systems (Medical) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

GAME: Malloy spends a courage point.

Malloy taps furiously a few keys on the console, looks at the display, then bellows his frustration out. "Nothing whatsoever, Sir. I'm afraid I don't get it adjusted properly. If you send the team, I'd like to accompany it, maybe THERE I can be of some use." He does sound rather frustrated.

<CONTEST> Lightfoot contests his Shipboard Systems (Medical) skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Lightfoot lets go a breath and speaks to T'lan again. "On my world we teach that a Dr. should do no harm to a patient." He motions to the screen. "Yet here we are."

GAME: Mira spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Mira contests her Receptive Telepathy skill vs a difficulty of Routine and Fails!

Mira narrows her eyes and furrows her brow, trying desperately to make some sense of that mind, "It's just too. . .alien." Clearly the effort to navigate such a tormented psyche is disturbing, almost painful, "I. . .I'm sorry, sir."

T'lan nods to Lightfoot, "We must find a way to prevent further harm to him." The three Vulcans congregate to discuss.

Edwards shakes his head when he sees that the scans have failed. "It's okay, Counselor." he remarks, before looking to Tahlandi, "Leftenant, call for a security team and head down there. Try to get some tricorder scans to relay up here. And be careful, S'ral is potentially very dangerous."

Edwards adds, almost as an afterthought, "And take Malloy with you. I'm assuming a combat medic knows how to defend himself."

Malloy reveals his Type I Phaser.

Tahlandi nods and hops up from her console. "Aye, sir." She quickly strides for the turbolift.

Tahlandi touches the pad beside the turbolift door.

Tahlandi summons the turbolift.

The turbolift doors slide open with a hiss.

Tahlandi boards the turbolift as the double doors slide open.

Tahlandi has left.

Malloy nods, following Tahlandi on her heels. "With your permission, Sir." With that, he rushes off, grabbing his medkit and attaches it to his web belt.

Malloy boards the turbolift.

Malloy has left.

The turbolift doors slide closed.

Lightfoot lets go another deep breath. "Dr. T'lan. It seems to me we are doing what is in our best interests for the patient. Why don't we do what is in his best interests."

Mira brushes her hair back from her face, a frown cast deeply on her lips as all she can do now is watch.

The three Vulcans pause from their conversation. "We are discussing that at the moment, Doctor Foster," T'val answers for the group. After a while, Tahlandi's team reports in that the job is completed and that Malloy will be returning with the readings.

The turbolift doors slide open with a hiss.

Malloy steps out of the turbolift.

Malloy has arrived.

The turbolift doors slide closed.

Edwards turns toward the turbolift when he hears it and looks to the returning Malloy, "Report."

Malloy returns, looking less than pleased with himself. "So much for that." he muses to himself, then looks up and around. Coming to attention in front of Edwards, he reports. "Sir, we managed to detain him without any trouble. The only thing we had a slight issue with was carrying him, his mass is higher than what you'd expect from a Vulcan. No offense intended."

Lightfoot sighs.

The Vulcans break and T'val approaches Edwards. "After reviewing the pertinent data, we have decided that S'ral should be returned to Siinoga as soon as possible. That would be the best course of action for S'ral," she glances in Lightfoot's direction before continuing. "We do not believe, given both his rate of change and his failing condition, that we can aid him before more serious harm can come to him."

Edwards nods at that, "If that's what you think is best, then that's what we'll do." He moves to head down to the lower level of the bridge, so he can take the command station, "Let's get ready to depart, people." Using the controls at his station, he goes about calling up an appropriate crew, so they can depart.

Malloy shakes his head slightly, definitely not happy. With a frown, he returns to the terminal of the medical section, starting to tap key after key, entering and manipulating data of one kind or another.

Lightfoot nods to the Vulcan scientists. "Thank you Dr.'s. I was afraid you were misunderstanding me there for a bit."

Mira slides down into the auxilliary station, looking down at a control panel and allowing her hair to tumble over her shoulders as she reviews the available data.

After hours of traveling, the Aegis reaches the Siinogan system. Sensors read that the planet has recently undergone a massive tectonic movement and that no life is detected on the surface. Meanwhile, reports coming to the bridge show that S'ral's condition has been improving, and that he will be conscious soon.

Edwards waits for the highly unexpected sensor reports to come in once they drop out of warp. "Good Lord. There's nobody on the Siinogan homeworld?" he asks, probably rhetorically since he already knows the answer. "Malloy, take the science station and scan for any warp trails in the vicinity."

<CONTEST> Malloy contests his Shipboard Systems skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Malloy takes the station, tapping a few keys. With a nod to himself, he looks up and reports. "Sir, no recent warp trails whatsoever. I do have a really faint Siinogan warp trail though, a few months old."

Lightfoot frowns. "Perhaps the Siinogans have made a transformation on there homeworld as well?"

Mira studies the reports curiously, "Why would they just leave?"

"Ensign Kunuppel to the bridge," the comm system says. "S'ral has regained consciousness and says that he senses his Queen nearby. We've got him restrained, but he's trying to free himself."

Edwards frowns after the message from Kunuppel. "Malloy, trace the route of the warp trail." he orders, "Ensign Kunuppel, can S'ral tell us anything about where the Queen is exactly?"

<CONTEST> Malloy contests his Shipboard Systems skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Fails!

Malloy taps a few more keys, resulting in a rather negative sounding chirp from the console. "I'm afraid I can't trace the trail, Sir, the residue is too low. Maybe with stronger sensors..." Or a more able person at the controls of the scanners... "But I'm afraid, I can't find anything."

Lightfoot looks to Mira. "Perhaps they're still down there and our sensors just can't pick anything up?" He speculates.

GAME: Mira spends a courage point.

<CONTEST> Mira contests her Receptive Telepathy skill vs a difficulty of Moderate and Succeeds!

Mira purses her lips, concentrating as she tries to see if she can pick up anything, "If he can sense her, there must be some kind of telepathic connection. Maybe I can pick up on it." She closes her eyes, "There is a presence down there. But it is strange, alien. I can't get a clear reading."

There is a pause, then through the comm system, Kunuppel says, "He says the Queen, or his Goddess, is on the planet. He's demanding to be released to the planet surface, sir."

Edwards rubs at his chin absently as he considers that. "Tell him to calm down, Kunuppel. We're working on it." he replies to the disembodied voice. "Doctor Lightfoot, could you please try to hail the surface? Maybe something will deign to answer us. And if this doesn't work, do you think we should just turn him loose down there, Doctor T'val?"

Lightfoot presses the buttons and says. "No response sir."

Mira looks to Edwards, her opinion unsolicited so she doesn't offer it, yet. She does, however, watch the conversation with interest.

"Aye sir," the comm system voices. "Kunuppel out."

T'val quickly speaks with her associates before replying, "We should not simply return him to the surface without assurance that he will be capable of surviving down there. Depending on the conditions of the area where he wishes to go to, you may want to send a small security team to keep watch from a distance."

Edwards grunts, "Can you tell me what the atmosphere is like down there, Lightfoot? And is there anything else you can tell me about the, ah, presence down there, Counselor? Rather than the fact that it's weird."

Lightfoot frowns as he looks at the scans. "The atmosphere is mainly sulfur, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. However there are breathable pockets near where we believe the hive entrances are."

Mira closes her eyes again, breathing in slowly and deeply, her brow knitting with frustration and discomfort, "It is too alien, sir. The patterns aren't discernable. I am not even sure if it is a single mind or a communal one."

Edwards nods a little and speaks up, "Bridge to Kunuppel. Ensign, will you please ask S'ral where he specifically wishes to be put on the planet. If you need to, show him our scans of the planet's surface, so he can choose the coordinates he wishes."

Mira opens her eyes and listens to the Lt. Commander's orders, waiting to hear the verdict.

"Aye, sir," comes Kunuppel's response. A moment later, "Transfering coordinates to the bridge now." As the information comes in, it shows the landing pad near the main hive that was used in previous visits by the crew of S419.

Edwards pauses, taking a moment to think, before he says, "Have a security team escort him to the transporter room, Kunuppel, and accompany him to the surface. And have the transporter chief keep a lock on our people, so we can bring them back at a moment's notice." That said, he glances toward Lightfoot and Mira in turn, as he hands out further orders, "Doctor, keep an eye on our people and S'ral with the scanners. Counselor, do the same with your mind, if you can."

. o O Edwards thinks "I better not get these people killed."

Lightfoot turns to his station and begins to work on the sensors.

Mira nods her head slowly and closes her eyes, "Aye, sir."

"Alright, sir," says the ensign's voice. "Kunuppel out."

Edwards crosses his fingers, making sure that nobody can see it, and waits.

And on the surface...

Blue columns of light appear on the landing pad, which now has a large crack down the middle. The surrounding land is disheveled, and large chasms span across the red desert. The sky is darkened by a thick cloud and the air smells of sulfur. Occasionally, a loud rumble and burst of light signals that a volcano has just blown in the far distance. Around the landing pad are a few Siinogan corpses, decaying and half covered in sand. A single bug, resembling a termite, wanders aimlessly with a broken leg.

Immediately upon materialization, S'ral rushes for the hive entrance. Part of it has caved in, but he makes his way around the dark, winding tunnels without problem.

"Kim to the Aegis," the comm system comes to life again. "We've just lost S'ral in the hive. We have no way of tracking him in there."

Edwards shakes his head and replies, "I guess something must be interfering with the scans. He seems to be able to track his Goddess nonetheless. So why don't you return to the ship. He has what he wants, finally."

Lightfoot smiles thinly. "Yeah. There is that."

Mira slowly draws her eyes open. "Maybe now he can be happy." She pauses before adding lightly, "If there really is any he left. I can't help but wonder, did we just send a man back to be with his people or abandon him to being something else?

"Yes, Lieutenant," comes the reply. "Kim out."

Edwards remarks simply, "We gave a man what he wanted. That's good enough for me." That said, he looks to the conn, "Take us home."