ACT ONE

FADE IN:

2 EXT. DEEP SPACE NINE - ESTABLISHING

Establishing. As well as the Defiant, a small Sabre-class ship, the USS Musgrave, is docked at a lower pylon.

3 INT. DS9 – MAIN OPS CENTRE

A normal day. Vaughn rises into Ops on the turbolift, a calm and relaxed smile on his face.

As Vaughn takes his bearings and strolls towards the captain’s office, BOWERS nods a greeting from tactical.

BOWERS
Welcome back, Commander.

VAUGHN
Thank you, Lieutenant. Good to
be back.

Vaughn carries on, and the door to the office opens...

4 INT. DS9 – CAPTAIN’S OFFICE (CONTINUOUS)

RO LAREN stands to one side of the desk, noticeably not sitting behind it. She looks almost guilty when Vaughn walks in. He shakes her hand, warm and friendly.

RO
Commander Vaughn.

VAUGHN
Commander Ro. Congratulations.
And I’ve told you before to call
me Elias, at least in private.

RO
(re desk)
I, uh... guess this is yours now.

VAUGHN
Why do you assume that?

RO
I was only given the promotion
because you weren’t here. Or Sisko
or Kira or Dax. Now you’re back,
I'm quite happy to hand the desk
back to you.

Vaughn strolls around to the back of the desk, and stands leaning on the back of the chair.

VAUGHN
(chuckle)
I have no doubt it will be all yours
again soon enough. But as it
happens, for now you’re right. I
just came from a subspace briefing
with Admiral Batanides, and...

He pulls out a single rank pip from his pocket, and places it onto the desk.

VAUGHN
I have been officially promoted to
captain and assigned as the new
commanding officer of Deep Space Nine.

RO
Congratulations, Captain.

VAUGHN
Thank you. Take a seat.

He sits into the commander’s chair, while Ro settles into the guest chair.

VAUGHN
So, what did I miss?

RO
You know about Kira?

VAUGHN
Yes, that took me by surprise,
rather. In some ways, at least.
In others it seemed practically
inevitable. I had a brief moment
to chat with her down on Bajor.

RO
She’s not the only one who’s gone.
Ezri went back to join the Starfleet
contingent on Trill while she waits
for a new assignment. Shar did
the same – he’s gone back to Andor
to be with his family. Seems like
everyone’s going home.

VAUGHN
Is that so surprising? After all,
isn’t it exactly what you’ve done?
You’re Bajoran, and here you are
on a station in the Bajor system.

RO
(small chuckle)
I never thought of it that way.
But I guess you’re right.

VAUGHN
What about Taran’atar?

Awkward pause.

RO
He’s, ah... he’s just gone.

VAUGHN
I'm sorry, Laren. I know you had
your difficulties...

RO
It’s okay. Kira says he went the
way he would have wanted to.

VAUGHN
So that leaves us with some
vacancies to fill. If I'm the captain,
I'm going to need a first officer
I can rely on.

RO
I'm sure whoever you choose will
be excellent.

VAUGHN
I certainly hope so. I'm looking
at her.

Ro blinks. And blinks again.

RO
Umm... are you sure? I mean, I was
only in command for two weeks and
the place kind of fell apart. When
Admiral Batanides put me in charge,
I told myself I could do it. But
actually doing it...

VAUGHN
Do you think any command officer
gets it right straight out of the gate?

RO
Once I heard you were back I resigned
myself to going back to security. I was
kinda relieved, actually.

VAUGHN
Well, you’re not getting out of it
that easily. Commander Ro Laren,
I am officially inviting you to be
first officer of Deep Space Nine.

RO
(deep breath)
Thank you, Captain. I accept.

VAUGHN
Good. Now, we’ll need a new chief
security officer to replace you.
Unless you’re happy to leave Major
Cenn in the role. You know him
better than I do.

RO
He’s complained more than once
about not having time to do his
Liaison Officer stuff if he’s busy
with security stuff. We’d be
better off with somebody new.

VAUGHN
(devil’s advocate)
You don’t trust him?

RO
I just know how much work that job
can be. Whoever’s doing it needs
to be able to concentrate on it full
time, or else things will slip through.

VAUGHN
(satisfied)
Wise decision. I’ll put in a request.
Now – science officer.

RO
There, I’d been thinking about
promoting from inside. We have
plenty of good junior science
officers on the station, we
should give them a chance.

VAUGHN
Why not do that with security?

RO
Our security force is mostly made
of non-coms and untested ensigns.
The chief needs to be someone with
more experience. Science can
muddle through.

VAUGHN
Spoken like a true tactical specialist.
(Ro protests)
Don’t be offended, I happen to
agree with you. I can think of
plenty of captains who wouldn’t
agree, but they don’t know DS-Nine
like you and I do. I think you’ve
made the correct choices for the
unique challenges of this post. You’re
off to a fine start, Commander.

Vaughn’s previously friendly, open demeanour cools off somewhat. He becomes a bit more intense, worried.

VAUGHN
Speaking of tactical concerns,
I’ll need a full report from
everyone on what happened while
I was away. The Dominion, the
Even Odds, the Ascendants...

RO
Already underway, sir.

VAUGHN
I saw Nog’s crews repairing the
Bajoran shrine on the Promenade.
How has the station’s populace
been reacting?

RO
Vedek Capril is holding services
in an empty cargo bay until the
shrine is back in operation. As
for the people, they all pitched
in to help. You’d be proud.

VAUGHN
Alright. I think that’s everything
for now. But don’t go too far.
I’ll be needing you again soon.

Ro stands, ready to leave. But she pauses, gestures towards the captain’s pip still sitting on the desk.

RO
Aren’t you gonna put that on?

Vaughn looks at the pip, gives it a thorough pondering.

VAUGHN
Yes. Yes, I am.

He picks up the pip and attaches it to his own collar.

RO
Suits you, sir.

She turns to leave, but pauses again with another thought.

RO
Can I ask you something?

VAUGHN
Of course. No secrets anymore.

RO
Didn’t you deliberately stay a
commander instead of taking the
promotion so as to stay beneath
Section 31’s radar? What changed
your mind?

VAUGHN
(shrug)
Turns out Section 31 knew about
me all along. Not an issue anymore.
So I may as well enjoy the perks
of seniority while I can.

RO
And what about all the meetings?

VAUGHN
(grin)
What do you think a first officer is for?

Ro groans, and Vaughn chuckles.

Ro finally turns and leaves. Vaughn stays, looks around his new office. Thinking. Lots of new things to think about. Not all of them good.

5 INT. DS9 – PROMENADE

A normal day. The bar is middling busy, officers and aliens stroll the Promenade, and life goes on as normal.

Except for at the shrine. A cordon surrounds the entrance, stopping the public from getting too close. Security bodies stand watch, making sure. Sounds of work being done issue through the doorway – drills, cutters, spark-welders, and various other high-tech machinery.

6 INT. DS9 – BAJORAN SHRINE

Inside, it’s a total building site. Engineering officers work all over, rebuilding the shrine. Refinishing the bulkheads, attaching delicate carved icons, fixing electrical cables. It’s about half-way done.

NOG is among them, working hard in one corner of the room. After a while, he realises somebody is trying to get his attention over all the noise. He stops working, turns and sees JOHN CANDLEWOOD hovering nervously nearby.

CANDLEWOOD
Lieutenant? Have you got a sec?
I wanted to talk to you about
something.

NOG
Sure, John. What’s up?

CANDLEWOOD
I was going through the updates
before I came on duty, and I saw
the notice about Commander Vaughn
– sorry, Captain Vaughn – taking
applications for the Chief Science
Officer position.

NOG
You thinking of going for it?

CANDLEWOOD
I... think so.

NOG
You think you’re thinking about it?

CANDLEWOOD
I'm just not totally sure I should.

NOG
Why wouldn’t you?

CANDLEWOOD
Do you think I'm capable of it?
I mean, I'm in engineering, not
sciences. Do you think they’d
even consider me?

NOG
They’ll consider everyone. No
matter how inexperienced.

CANDLEWOOD
Oh. Thanks.

NOG
You know what I mean. You’ve got
a great record, you’re a solid and
dependable worker, and you deserve
a promotion. I’d have no problems
recommending you.

CANDLEWOOD
Okay. Good. Thanks.

Nog thinks the conversation is over, but Candlewood hovers.

NOG
What now?

CANDLEWOOD
It’s just... I was worried about
Lieutenant Leishman.

NOG
Mikaela? What about her?

CANDLEWOOD
Just that she’s higher rank than
me. Been here longer than me. Is
it right for me to get promoted to
senior staff before her?

NOG
Well, first of all, you haven’t
even applied yet, so don’t get
carried away. As far as I know
she’s happy being my deputy, she
has no interest in transferring.
And if she does, she can apply
herself and it’ll be up to Ro and
Vaughn. It’s no reason for you
not to apply too.

CANDLEWOOD
You don’t think it’ll upset her?

NOG
That’s her problem. You worry
about you.

CANDLEWOOD
(deep breath)
Alright. I’ll do it.

NOG
Okay. In the meantime, I still need
those new environmental protocols
installing.

CANDLEWOOD
Aye, sir.

Feeling more relaxed and sure of himself, Candlewood turns away and gets back to work. He’s going to go for it.

FADE OUT:

END OF ACT ONE