ACT TWO
FADE IN:
26 EXT. SPACE - CARBON PLANET - ORBIT
Robinson in orbit of the dusty red planet...
27 EXT. CARBON PLANET - SURFACE - DAY
The field of debris is surrounded by a fleet of Starfleet activity - two runabouts and a half dozen smaller shuttles parked on the dusty red-black ground, and several dozen enviro-suited FIGURES stomping about carefully, trying to take forensic readings without disturbing the crash site.
SISKO (v.o.)
Captain’s log, supplemental. It
seems the Eletrix has been lost...
with all hands. My crew is making
a painstaking analysis of the crash
site, although the difficult terrain
is making progress slow.
CLOSE IN on one of the runabouts, with an enviro-suited FIGURE striding over the dusty red-black towards it...
SISKO (v.o.)
But I’m willing to take the time.
I want to be able to make a full
report to Starfleet... and as for
its effect on peace between the
Khitomer Accords and the Typhon
Pact... we’ll just wait and see.
28 INT. RUNABOUT - COCKPIT
The hatch OPENS, and the suited figure passes through a FORCEFIELD that keeps the planet’s toxic atmosphere out. Once the hatch is closed, the figure twists off its helmet, revealing ROGEIRO. Sisko stands to greet his surprised XO.
ROGEIRO
Captain - you didn’t need to come
down yourself.
SISKO
Yes... I did. Report, Commander.
Rogeiro moves to a wall computer, taps the tricorder built into his suit’s arm, feeding its data and readings to the computer, then demonstrates them for Sisko’s benefit...
ROGEIRO
It’s as we thought. No life signs,
no escape pods in the area. There
is abundant biological residue,
nothing immediately identifiable,
but consistent with a crew the
size of the Eletrix’s... after a
high velocity crash.
Sisko turns away, absorbing that darkly. He stares out of the window at the destruction beyond.
SISKO
Any clues as to what caused it?
ROGEIRO
Relkdahz and Corala can explain
it better than me. But in short,
it looks like they were trying to
eject the singularity core, but
instead of it shutting down, it
suddenly accelerated them to
warp speed... right into the planet.
Sisko hangs his head at the horror of it all.
ROGEIRO
They wouldn’t have had chance to
reach escape pods. But they would
not have felt anything either. It
would have been over in a moment.
SISKO
Thank you, Anxo. Continue your
analysis. I’ll be on Robinson.
Rogeiro is surprised Sisko used his first name - they have always been formal up to now - but he nods his obedience...
29 EXT. SPACE - OVERNE III - ORBIT
Focusing on one of the Jem’Hadar ships as it keeps watch over the planet below, looming threateningly...
30 INT. DOMINION FACTORY
Thot Trok continues to stomp as quietly as his heavy boots will allow around the Dominion factory. He holds a scanner in one hand, not needing to look down at it because...
31 INT. TROK’S SUIT (INTERCUT)
...its readings are automatically transmitted to the HEADS-UP DISPLAY inside his suit helmet. The green outlines of machines and devices, with quickly shifting BREEN SYMBOLS.
The angle of this view changes as Trok looks upwards...
32 INT. DOMINION FACTORY (INTERCUT)
...gazing at the ceiling overhead, knowing that there are dozens of Jem’Hadar ships ready to catch him and kill him. He shakes himself out of the dark mood, and proceeds to walk around the factory in almost complete darkness.
Finally he comes to one particularly enormous machine, as big as a house, and waves his scanner over it. A moment to absorb the results. He scans the machine again, just to make sure. Absorbs the results again. Finally...
THOT TROK
Thot Trok to Ren Fejin.
BELD (comm)
This is Beld. Are you finished
already?
THOT TROK
Already?! This is the seventh
building I’ve checked, Beld. And
I’ve been expecting a polaron beam
to blast me to pieces, or a troop
of Jem’Hadar to suddenly transport
in and surround me the whole time.
KINN (comm)
I keep telling you, Thot Trok, the
cloak is functioning as well as we
could expect. We are safe here.
THOT TROK
I’ll agree to that when we’re back
in Breen space, Kinn. To answer
your question, Beld, I am finished
- because I’ve found what we need.
A moment, then Beld asks, as if he can’t quite believe...
BELD (comm)
Repeat that, Thot Trok.
THOT TROK
I have found the machines that the
Dominion use to manufacture their
structural integrity technology.
Another moment of silence...
...then another BLINDING LIGHT shines in the darkness, the BLUE-GREEN ENERGY forming gradually into Master BELD. He stomps across the factory floor to stand beside Trok.
BELD
Show me.
Trok hands Beld his scanner. Beld works its controls, then looks up as if reading the data transmitted to his helmet.
BELD
These machines are massive.
THOT TROK
They have to be. They produce those
systems whole, before they are
installed on a ship. Vulnerability
is minimised because there is no
in-system integration required.
BELD
Can the machines be disassembled?
THOT TROK
Perhaps, but it would take a full
scale research project to figure
out how. There’s no time for that.
They ponder a moment, the two Breen suits standing together in the dark. Then Beld works the scanner again, hands it back to Trok, who uplinks the data to his helmet HUD.
THOT TROK
What am I looking at?
BELD
Our cargo holds. The Ren Fejin was
assigned to this mission so as to
be inconspicuous to Starfleet, and
in the hope that whatever we found
could be dismantled and stored in
pieces. We might fit one of these
machines, but not all four.
THOT TROK
We need them all. And it’s not as
though we can take one now, then
come back later for the rest.
BELD
No. But that’s why we have a
contingency plan. Follow me.
Beld walks back to where he first appeared. Trok stashes his scanner and follows him. When they reach the beam-in point, Beld calls out...
BELD
Kinn - bring us back.
A moment, then the BLUE-GREEN ENERGY takes them both in another blinding display...
33 INT. REN FEJIN - TRANSPORT ROOM
A construction of articulated metal bars as seen in 14x01, except that this version is onboard the creaky old Breen freighter instead of the top-of-the-line Romulan warbird.
The bars are arranged to fit two humanoids inside their frame, and the same BLUE-GREEN ENERGY forms in the space between, eventually coalescing into Trok and Beld.
Once they have materialised, the bars disengage, allowing the two to walk out. They pass KINN at his console...
BELD
Thank you, Specialist. Join us on
the bridge.
...and exit the room. Kinn purses and follows...
34 INT. REN FEJIN - BRIDGE
BELD stands on his bridge, commanding his crew. The holo-display now shows that they have returned to a high orbit.
BELD
Zelk - encode the message. Append
all data, including the readings of
all the equipment Trok requires
and its precise location.
Zelk works his console. Trok and Kinn stay out of the way - Beld turns to them now.
BELD
I have no wish to stay in Dominion
space any longer than is necessary
- certainly not to tell them what to
look for and where to find it.
ZELK
Your message has been encrypted.
BELD
Kinn - affix your verification.
Kinn doesn’t like being ordered around, but it is the right thing to do. Still pursing, he heads to Zelk’s console...
KINN
This is specialist Joralis Kinn. I
request assistance. Authorisation
code eleth risu t’ren evek norvad.
That done, Kinn returns to Trok’s side. Zelk works...
ZELK
The message has been sent, Master.
BELD
Excellent. Plot the fastest course
out of Dominion space back to the
Idran system. We’ll leave as soon
as we receive the coded response.
THOT TROK
We’re not leaving now?
BELD
Thot Trok, we don’t know exactly
where the ship we just tried to
contact is. Or even if it still
exists at all. We cannot leave
until we receive a response.
THOT TROK
And if that response never comes?
BELD
Then we turn to the tertiary plan.
THOT TROK
Which is?
BELD
None of your concern - not until
it becomes necessary to enact it.
I suggest we all get some rest.
As Kinn turns to exit the bridge again... BOOM.
The ship rocks HARD, a ROAR of crunching metal. Anyone unlucky enough to be standing is THROWN off their feet...
...TROK’s helmeted head hits the deck hard. Dazed, he looks around the suddenly shaking bridge...
...And it is utter chaos and destruction.
35 INT. TROK’S SUIT (INTERCUT)
The green outlines of the familiar bridge are shuddering as the ship is HIT again, the ROAR of weapons fire coming to him through his helmet along with the voices of the crew...
ZELK (comm)
They’re polaron bursts! Shields
are down by sixty-four percent.
KINN (comm)
I don’t think the phase-cloak is
operating anymore...
36 INT. REN FEJIN - BRIDGE
The ship is HIT again, consoles bursting into sparks and flames. The holo-display dissolves into static and dies. TROK rolls around on the deck, struggling to get to his feet but constantly being knocked down again...
BELD (o.s.)
Make evasive manoeuvres! Try to
get the cloak functioning again!
Trok finally rights himself enough to reach up to one of the consoles, using it to lever himself upright...
...until another weapons volley HITS the ship and Trok is thrown back to the deck hard, banging his head again.
He can only lift his head enough to look around the bridge, at the fires and gasses and bodies on the deck, and then...
BLACK OUT
END OF ACT TWO