ACT TWO

FADE IN:

12 INT. JANIR MONASTERY

Picking up from Ro’s revelation to Raiq. The Ascendant woman doesn’t know what to say...

KIRA
I didn’t know this part.

RO
Lieutenant Candlewood translated
it, using Shar’s program.

Ro pulls out a padd, works it for a moment, then hands it to Raiq, who takes it cautiously.

RO
Press the green button.

Unsure what to expect, Raiq does. VEXH's voice issues from the padd, a recording from 11x07 “In Love and War.”

VEXH (comm)
Hear me, brothers and sisters. If
you are there, hear my words. I am
here, I received your call. I came
as swift as I was able. But I was
far from the Hearth, and my vessel
is wounded. Have you yet to arrive?
Or have you arrived already, and
continued the Quest without me?
(pause)
Is it true that the Fire came to
us at last? And that the Final
Ascension approaches?
(pause)
Hear my words, I beg. I am Vexh,
Archquester of the Ascendancy.
Without guidance, I await you,
here at the Hearth. Answer me,
my brothers and sisters, if you
are able. Is there no-one?

They all absorb that. Kira tries to be encouraging.

KIRA
That’s amazing. Raiq, this is
exactly what you’ve wanted all
along. You’re not the last of
the Ascendants anymore.

Raiq doesn’t seem to hear her - she’s still processing.

KIRA
It’s even a male. You could start
all over again.
(still no response)
Raiq?

RAIQ
(quiet)
He does not know of the Ascension.

RO
No. It sounds like he got there too
late. He doesn’t even know he’s
the last. Or the second last.

RAIQ
He must know. The vessel keeps us
always in contact with each other.

RO
He said his vessel was damaged.

RAIQ
Kira... I am not alone.

KIRA
(warm)
No. You’re not.

RAIQ
Ro. If you will not take me to
Axno’s vessel, will you take me
to Vexh? Or did you come here
to offer this before me and then
snatch it away again?

RO
I was never going to take this away
from you, Raiq. I came here hoping
you’d ask me to take you. I want to
take you.

KIRA
He said he was at the Hearth. You
mentioned that to me before, Raiq.

RAIQ
It is a sacred place. Where we
gather to continue the species,
where we assembled before the
Quest. Where the Fire came to us.

KIRA
Can you find your way back there?

RAIQ
I am not certain. Without my own
vessel, I too am without guidance.

RO
Luckily, I brought a guide along.
The nearest thing we have to an
expert on the Gamma Quadrant.

Okay then. They’re really going to do this.

13 INT. RUNABOUT - COCKPIT

Still parked on the planet’s surface. The trees and hills of Bajor show through the windows. Cenn sits at the front panels, alone, with GENERAL LENARIS on the screen.

CENN
I’m really not happy about this,
General. One Ascendant on Bajor
was bad enough. Now they want
to go find another one? And
another ship, too?

LENARIS (screen)
I can see Commander Ro’s point,
Major. This Raiq does deserve to
know she’s not the last of her
species. But your points are very
well taken too, I assure you.

CENN
What do you want me to do?

LENARIS (screen)
Go along with it. This is a fact
finding mission if nothing else.
But just remember that you’re
an officer in the Bajoran Militia,
Major, not in Starfleet.

CENN
I’m very much aware of that, sir.

Pif’s perky head pops in through the still-open hatch.

PIF
They’re coming back!

Then Pif is gone again. Cenn turns back to Lenaris.

CENN
I’d better go, General.

LENARIS (screen)
One last thing, Major.

14 EXT. BAJOR - SURFACE

Ro, Kira and Raiq walk across the grass towards the ship.

KIRA
Oh, umm... just to warn you, Ro’s
guide is a bit unusual. He’s not
humanoid, for a start.

RAIQ
You think Ascendants care about
the physical form of others? Such
concerns are senseless. What is
in the heart is all that matters.
Faithful, heretic... or godless.

At the sight of Raiq, Pif is no longer his effervescent self. He sits, watching her closely. Kira heads into the ship first, followed by Raiq. Ro hovers back.

RO
You alright?

Pif just gives a low growl, then heads inside. Ro follows.

15 INT. RUNABOUT - COCKPIT

Ro enters the cockpit to see Kira and Raiq heading into the back. Cenn turns to her as she enters.

RO
Everything ready, Major?

CENN
Yes, sir. Bowers is aware we’ll be
going through the wormhole.

RO
Alright, then. Let’s get this...
quest... underway.

Ro settles into the other seat. Cenn works his panels. The hatch closes, and the ship begins to rise.

16 EXT. BAJOR - SURFACE

The runabout lifts off on thrusters and into the air.

17 EXT. BAJOR - ASHALLA

The usual establishing shot of the Bajoran capital.

18 INT. MONASTERY – KAI’S OFFICE

Last seen in 11x01 “Systems Under Repair.”

Kai SOLIS reaches out to shake the hand of JAKE SISKO.

JAKE
Thank you very much for agreeing
to meet me, Kai Solis.

SOLIS
You’re very welcome, Mister Sisko.
Please, take a seat.

Jake sits in a guest seat; Solis heads behind his desk. Jake gets out a padd, sets it on the table between them, presses a button so it starts recording.

JAKE
I realise it’s not very often that
you give interviews to the press.
But the Federation News Service
was pestering me for an exclusive.

SOLIS
Had it been anyone else, I might
well have refused again. But I
trust your outsider perspective.

JAKE
We’ve actually met before, up
on the station, for the Gratitude
festival. You were raising money
for charity.

SOLIS
Ah yes, for the war orphans fund.
Of course, I remember meeting
the son of the Emissary.

JAKE
(wry)
I’m sure you also remember being
arrested by Constable Odo for not
having the proper permits.

SOLIS
(grin)
Not my first moment of civil
disobedience, I assure you.
And hopefully not my last.

JAKE
Don’t worry, Kira gave him hell
for that.

SOLIS
Kira never did suffer fools. Not
that Constable Odo was a fool. He
was only doing what his conscience
and his position demanded of him.
I bear no grudge. In fact, it taught
me a valuable lesson.

JAKE
And what’s that?

SOLIS
That there are times when it is
necessary to step outside of the
rules to get things done. And
times when it is not necessary.
The trick, naturally, is telling
which is which.

JAKE
It’s been a difficult time for the
church on Bajor, over the last
few years.
(re Solis)
Obviously there’s the Ohalu
movement, but now the Oralian
Way, and Raiq the Ascendant
living with you. Some of the more
traditional among the populace
have had a hard time adjusting.

Solis takes a deep breath. They’re into the meat of the interview now.

SOLIS
It’s true there has been tension.
Bajorans are a passionate people,
no doubt. I would not have it any
other way. But we must be wary
of turning those passions against
each other.

JAKE
Is that what you see happening?
Bajorans turning on each other?

SOLIS
I have my opponents in the Vedek
Assembly, certainly. Those who
claim I have no right to even be
Kai at all. But I have faith that in
time, those opponents will come
to see that we are not a threat.

JAKE
Your opponents - that would be
Vedek Bellis Nemani.

Solis shakes his head, amused. Jake will not catch him out.

SOLIS
I will not speak ill of my fellow
spiritual leaders, young man.
Bellis is far from the only member
of the faithful who has had some
trouble accepting an Ohalavar in
the Apex Chair.

JAKE
I think ‘trouble’ is understating it,
Eminence. From my research,
he’s opposed every single motion
you’ve made before the Assembly
since your election, even if - to an
outsider like myself - it was the
best thing for all Bajorans.

Solis pauses, trying to find a way to explain himself best without getting into trouble in the press.

SOLIS
You must understand, Mister Sisko,
that the function of the Assembly
is to discuss ideas of a spiritual
nature, and come to some consensus
about how best to guide the people
in their search for the Prophets.
More than a hundred individuals,
representing an entire planet’s
worth of people. There have always
been opposing views and there
always will be.

JAKE
Forgive me for saying so, Kai, but
that sounds like an evasion. You
say the Assembly’s job is to find
a consensus. Vedek Bellis seems
determined to make it impossible.

SOLIS
Nothing is impossible. As long as I
remain in the chair, I will work to
find that consensus. And I will
never give up that work.

JAKE
As long as you remain in the chair.

The implication being that Solis might not always be in the chair. As Solis absorbs that possibility...

FADE OUT:

END OF ACT TWO