ACT FIVE

FADE IN:

48 INT. VANADWAN MONASTERY - HOSPICE ROOM - EVENING

Ezri Dax looks at the stunned faces arrayed around Vaughn’s hospice bed. None of them can quite believe it...

SISKO
Dax... are you saying that you and
Vaughn framed the Romulans for
the murder of thousands of people?

DAX
No. Starfleet had been planning
this for months. Algeron Three was
emptied out long before Vokar got
there - the records show thousands
of names, yes, but fewer than a
dozen people actually died. And
they were all Romulans.

RO
So there was no terrorist attack
on Algeron. You just made it look
like there was...

BASHIR
...to help solidify the alliance with
the Klingons...

KIRA
...and force the Romulans to back
down from a war they couldn’t win.

DAX
That’s what your father did, Prynn.
He stopped a war before it started.
He saved lives - the Federation’s,
the Klingons’ and the Romulans’.

TENMEI
(quiet)
But he had to kill to do it.

DAX
Yes. He took his wounds, bore his
scars... for the greater good.

KIRA
And you know Elias. If anybody had
to do the hard work... he’d rather
it be him than the ones he loved.

RO
But Kamemor still knew the truth...

DAX
Yes. And two months later, when
she presented me and the Klingons
with the non-negotiable Treaty of
Algeron... she asked to speak
with me in private first.

Off Ezri...

49 INT. KHITOMER CONFERENCE ROOM

...to Curzon, sitting across a table from KAMEMOR. He is nervous what she will say, if she will blow it all open...

KAMEMOR
So, Dax... was any of it true?

CURZON
All of it. You know as well as I
do that Vokar couldn’t be allowed
to start the war he’d longed for.

KAMEMOR
So your wish that I pull him back
from the edge was never meant to
succeed. It was merely so that he
would lower the Tomed’s shields...

CURZON
You did it in good conscience. And
many lives were saved as a result.
Including your wife and son’s.

Kamemor carefully considers Curzon’s words...

50 INT. KHITOMER CONFERENCE ROOM

Later. Curzon, Kamemor and the KLINGON AMBASSADOR stand equally around a table, each in turn pressing their thumbs to the padd in the centre, observed by aides. Over this:

DAX (v.o.)
So she went ahead and did it. Even
knowing what we’d done, she signed
the treaty that isolated her people
to keep them safe, in return for us
banning isolytic weapons or cloaks,
neither of which we ever seriously
considered developing anyway.

Signatures all placed, Kamemor draws herself up...

KAMEMOR
It seems we will not be enjoying
that drink on Risa after all.

...then she turns and walks out.

KAMEMOR (v.o.)
The admiral has served in the
Imperial Fleet for a long time...

51 SCREEN

KAMEMOR, now older and wearing her praetor’s robes, appears on the screen, talking directly to camera.

KAMEMOR (screen)
(continuing)
As its leader, he has commanded
ably. But he believes it is time
to take responsibility for these
failures and step down.

52 INT. PALAIS - PRESIDENT’S OFFICE - NIGHT

BACCO and AKAAR stand watching this screen on the wall of her office - she with arms folded unimpressed, he ramrod straight as always and paying rapt attention.

KAMEMOR (screen)
The choice of successor to Admiral
Devix is an important one. I have
a number of candidates in mind
already, but I’d appreciate your
opinion. To that end, we should
meet. You know how to contact me.

With that, the Praetor signs off. Bacco harrumphs...

BACCO
That’s it? After all that fuss, the
damn thing wasn’t even meant
for me.

AKAAR
I believe the message was very
much intended for you, ma’am.

BACCO
She didn’t mention my name once.

AKAAR
She mentioned the Federation and
events in the Bajor system in her
very first sentence. Perhaps she
avoided saying your name only in
case the message was intercepted.

Bacco paces away, considering that...

BACCO
So it’s like Slask said. She wants
to talk, but without upsetting her
friends who’d rather fight.

AKAAR
And she informed us of a change at
the very top of the Imperial Fleet
- intelligence it might otherwise
have taken us months to acquire
- to demonstrate her good faith.

BACCO
You could be right. She’s been
playing the game for a long time
- she knows how to play it well.

AKAAR
Then the only remaining question
is... what is your next move?

Bacco smiles tightly, appreciating what passes for humour with Akaar. She considers her response...

BACCO
Send a message to Tezrene. Tell
her we have Proconsul Tomalak...
and we intend to prosecute him
to the fullest extent of the law.

Akaar pauses, absorbing that - a risky strategy. But...

AKAAR
Thank you, Madam President.

...and EXITS. Bacco stares at the Romulan logo on screen...

SISKO (v.o.)
...and though we are not now that
strength that in old days moved
Heaven and Earth...

53 INT. VANADWAN MONASTERY - HOSPICE ROOM - NIGHT

On SISKO, as he stands and reads from a book of poetry...

SISKO
(continuing)
...that which we are, we are.

Kira and Ro each holding tight to Tenmei’s hands, steadying her in support as she watches...

...Bashir and Dax silently working on her father’s life support machines, powering them down one by one.

SISKO
(continuing)
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
made weak by time and fate, but
strong in will. To strive, to seek,
to find... and not to yield.

Bashir turns off the last machine, its gentle beep silenced at last. Tenmei quivers, wipes a tear, holds it together.

KIRA
That was a beautiful poem. Thank
you for reading it, Benjamin.

DAX
Ulysses, by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

BASHIR
Don’t tell me - you knew him.

DAX
(smile)
No. But I’ve been around the block
enough to hear it once or twice.

TENMEI
It’s a bit of a cliché, I know. But
it just seemed to fit him so well.
The old hero, been through some
stuff... but longing for one last
adventure before he goes.

Bashir steps out from behind the machines, approaches...

BASHIR
It won’t be long now, Prynn. I’ve
administered an anodyne, so his
last few days will be peaceful.

TENMEI
Thank you, Julian. That was your
gift - like Ro’s whisky or Sisko’s
model or Dax’s story. You brought
him peace. I’ll treasure that too.

Bashir pauses, moved to tears by her perception of his actions... then moves on, gripping Dax’s hand for comfort.

TENMEI
Thank you, all of you, for coming.
You all meant a lot to him.

RO
And he meant a lot to us, Prynn.
He could be difficult, no doubt. But
he loved his family, he loved his
friends, he loved the Federation...
and he was willing to do the work
to protect them. He’ll be missed.

KIRA
We’ll leave you alone now.

Tenmei grabs Kira’s hand before she can go...

TENMEI
Nerys... please don’t think I’m not
grateful for your gift as well. You
took him in, looked after him when
he needed it... and I don’t just mean
since the invasion. Thank you.

KIRA
You’re welcome, Prynn.

Quietly, they start to withdraw. First Kira, then Ro...

RO
Take a few days off, Prynn. The
Defiant can manage without you.

Tenmei nods, grateful. Next go Bashir and Dax, muttering between themselves...

BASHIR
How did you know all that stuff?
You weren’t there for half of it.

DAX
(shrug)
Debriefings. That last talk with
Kamemor. And that was hardly the
last time Curzon dealt with Vaughn
or T’Prynn. You should remind me
to tell you about the Betreka
Nebula Incident some time...

And finally Sisko, who pauses to connect with Tenmei...

SISKO
Your father was very important to
me, Prynn. He was there for me,
during some difficult times. And
I feel... I feel like his spirit will
always be with me.

TENMEI
Thank you, Captain. Good night.

...and they’ve all gone. Tenmei is alone now.

She sits, takes her father’s hand. Feels the skin, the scar on his palm where the Romulan stabbed him with her knife.

TENMEI
He bore his scars... for the greater
good.

The door CREAKS open again, Tenmei looks up...

...and OPAKA is gently re-entering the room.

OPAKA
Good evening, Prynn. Nerys told
me it was done...?

TENMEI
Yes. It’s done. Please, Sulan - sit.

Opaka gently takes the other seat, as they were at the top of the episode. Opaka strokes the hair from his forehead...

TENMEI
You know he cared for you a lot.

OPAKA
And I care for him. A lot.

TENMEI
(no accusation)
So why haven’t you said anything?
I mean... you haven’t raised any
objections this whole time.

OPAKA
It’s not my place. You’re his next
of kin.

TENMEI
But... you’re the one who told me
he was still in there. That the
Prophets still had work for him.

OPAKA
Prynn... to those of us who serve,
there is no limit on that service -
and we do not seek one. Helping
others is how we find meaning,
even virtue in our lives.
(beat)
I do believe the Prophets will call
for your father when they’re ready,
not before. I have no doubt he will
find a way to help us, to save us
all one last time, before the end.

Tenmei absorbs that... and finds she quite likes the idea.

OPAKA
I’ll leave you be.

TENMEI
No, please... stay.

Smiling quietly, Opaka settles back down...

...and they watch over Vaughn together.

FADE OUT

END OF SHOW