ACT FOUR
FADE IN:
22 INT. ALJULI APARTMENTS - RO’S QUARTERS
Bashir still has jaw dropped with amazement, dumbstruck...
BASHIR
You... how...
RO
I think you’d better sit, Doctor.
BASHIR
Yes... sit...
Bashir takes the chair at Ro’s desk. Still processing...
RO
I suspected something ever since
Commander Deel came to see me...
FLASHBACK - 14x01 “SIREN”
Ro introduces Bashir to the Betazoid intelligence agent...
BACK TO SCENE
BASHIR
Deel... Sarina told me she was...
RO
...in Vaughn’s anti Section 31
group, yes. So am I, in case you
forgot. I thought you were too.
FLASHBACK - 10x19 “RESET”
Bashir and Vaughn argue over what to do with L’Haan...
BACK TO SCENE
BASHIR
I told him I wanted out... that
saving lives was more important.
RO
I don’t think it works that way,
Julian. Once you’re in, you’re in.
So then when Sarina came to
me three months ago -
BASHIR
Three months? That must have been -
RO
Just after she told you - and you
didn’t take it so well.
FLASHBACK - 14x14 “FRAGMENTS”
Bashir flinches back from Sarina, hugging his teddy bear...
BACK TO SCENE
RO
So she came to me instead. Gave
me all the right code words. Proved
she was who she said she was.
BASHIR
There are code words? Why didn’t
I know there were code words?
RO
I thought you wanted out?
Bashir clams up again at Ro’s pointed question.
RO
So then it was all three of us
searching for the sabotage. My
advanced tactical training...
BASHIR
...Sarina’s intelligence skills...
RO
...And Rwogo’s years of experience
as a Ferengi crime inspector.
BASHIR
But you didn’t find anything.
RO
Which, being arrogant, suggests
there was nothing to find.
BASHIR
At least, not until just before
the Typhon Pact tried to sneak
back through the wormhole.
RO
Which gives us a time frame.
Bashir is getting into it now, figuring things through...
BASHIR
Does Rwogo know? About Sarina?
RO
Not at first. But just last week,
she told me she’d been thinking...
FLASHBACK - 14x17 “INTO THE LION’S DEN”
Rwogo and Ro head into her office from the situation desk, and turn on the translucent privacy glass...
CUT TO:
23 INT. BAJORAN CONTROL CENTRE - CAPTAIN’S OFFICE
Immediately following that moment, RWOGO sits in Ro’s guest chair opposite the captain...
RWOGO
It occurs to me, Captain, that if
there is another conflict with the
Typhon Pact brewing, and we don’t
know for sure that an agent of the
Pact isn’t among us as we speak...
it might be prudent to bring that
particular bit of business to a
close before we proceed further.
RO
You could be right. But how? We’ve
both tried - for months before and
months after. It still happened.
Rwogo has no immediate answers...
RO (v.o.)
So, I brought Sarina in...
A smooth CUT with a simple change of angle, revealing...
24 INT. BAJORAN CONTROL CENTRE - CAPTAIN’S OFFICE
...that SARINA now sits in the office with them. The three women talk MOS, not entirely harmoniously...
RO (v.o.)
(continuing)
...and told Rwogo all about her.
CUT TO:
25 INT. ALJULI APARTMENTS - RO’S QUARTERS
Back to Bashir absorbing Ro’s story...
BASHIR
I can’t imagine that went over well.
RO
Finding out that her own deputy was
a double agent all along, and I knew
it, after I’d been the one accusing
her of being dishonest? No, I can’t
say it did. I had to do some pretty
serious grovelling. Luckily, that’s a
language Rwogo understands. And
between us, we came up with a plan.
BASHIR
To use Sarina as a decoy.
RO
It was her idea.
FLASHBACK - EARLIER
Rwogo arrests Sarina in front of all Quark’s customers...
RO (v.o.)
If Rwogo arrested Sarina for the
destruction of the station, made
as big a spectacle as possible...
BACK TO SCENE
RO
(continuing)
...then hopefully the real culprit
would relax, let their guard down.
BASHIR
That’s a pretty thin thread to hang
your hopes on. Just because some-
one else is arrested doesn’t mean
the real saboteur will start dropping
clues left right and centre.
RO
Maybe not. But nothing else had
worked, so it was worth a shot.
Especially since it might lead to
someone like L’Haan showing up and
dropping some clues of her own.
BASHIR
And you couldn’t let me in on it
because you needed my reactions
to look real for anyone watching.
RO
Sorry. If it helps, you put on a
very convincing performance.
BASHIR
So what now?
RO
Well, did L’Haan give you anything
useful?
BASHIR
Not really. She just insisted that
Sarina was innocent, and that it
was up to me to find out who the
real guilty party was. She did
suggest a way to entrap someone
else... but I have no intention of
going through with it.
Ro looks at him - can they really afford such scruples?
26 EST. ALJULI TOWN - MORNING
The next morning, business as usual on Aljuli’s streets...
27 INT. BAJORAN CONTROL CENTRE - DOCTOR’S OFFICE
Back in the medical suite, with the walls still translucent for privacy - only it’s Ensign TH’SHANT on the bio-bed, and Sgt ETANA, the Bajoran nurse, is on duty alongside Bashir.
Bashir holds up a DEVICE to the Andorian ensign, designed to go in his mouth, with a bulb of RED GEL at the end.
BASHIR
Breathe into this, Ensign. Let’s
check out your lung function.
th’Shant looks at the device uncertainly...
TH’SHANT
I don’t remember this test.
BASHIR
That’s because you’ve never done
it before. But the captain wanted
it added to everyone’s physical.
TH’SHANT
The captain’s dictating medical
policy? That seems... odd.
BASHIR
It’s not just a whim. A number of
crew spent hours trapped in small,
enclosed spaces in the aftermath
of the explosion. Myself included.
Some of those sections didn’t stay
completely pressurised, so there
could be some lung damage.
TH’SHANT
I wasn’t in the wreckage. I was
on a runabout.
BASHIR
Yes, but medical tests have to be
standardised, you know that. Now
come on, we don’t have all day.
th’Shant’s Andorian antennae shift from an expression of confusion to one of suspicion... but he submits anyway, and allows Bashir to place the device into his mouth.
BASHIR
Normal breaths, Ensign. About half
a dozen.
th’Shant does, eyes flicking anxiously between Bashir, who is observing the device, and Etana, who is preparing the next test. After the breaths, Bashir draws the device back and moves off to enter its readings into the computer.
TH’SHANT
Sergeant Etana... I thought you
were assigned to the recruitment
centre in Musilla. Like K’Uhllo.
The Bajoran nurse hands the next device to Bashir, smiles reassuringly at th’Shant...
ETANA
I was. But Doctor Bashir asked for
my help with the physicals.
TH’SHANT
(looks away)
Didn’t need any help with Prynn.
ETANA
No, but it’ll get done faster with
the extra pair of hands, won’t it?
BASHIR
Hmm... that’s strange...
th’Shant immediately tenses. Bashir is pondering curiously at his computer screens...
TH’SHANT
What is?
BASHIR
Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing. These
results aren’t showing any damage
from a loss of pressurisation.
TH’SHANT
Then what’s the problem?
Bashir turns to him with a soothing smile...
BASHIR
When you breathe, you’re obviously
inhaling the nearby atmosphere.
There’s a gas exchange in the
pulmonary alveoli -
TH’SHANT
(impatient)
Yes, I understand how respiration
works, Doctor. What’s the problem?
BASHIR
There are certain substances that,
if airborne, can become lodged in
the alveoli during that exchange.
Your lung test is showing that.
TH’SHANT
Is it serious? Can it be treated?
BASHIR
Most of the time, yes. It depends
on what the foreign substance is.
TH’SHANT
So what is it?
BASHIR
Not quite sure yet. I’ve got the
computer analysing it now.
The computer BEEPS, Bashir smiles, th’Shant tenses...
BASHIR
And there we go. Just a moment...
Bashir turns back to his computer, pulls up the results...
Etana is just getting on with her work in the background...
th’Shant keeps a close, nervous eye on them both...
BASHIR
Hmm... not heard of it. Apparently
it’s something called...
(to th’Shant,
confused)
...revitrite?
th’Shant LEAPS off the bio-bed in a split second, PUNCHES Bashir in the chest with the heel of his fist...
Bashir goes FLYING back, CRASHES into the computer console, head CRACKS against the glass, equipment CLATTERS...
As he slumps, Bashir looks groggily up, sees Etana pull a PHASER out of nowhere and FIRE it, the weapon SCREECHING...
Muddy sounds of SHOUTS, SCREAMS, more PHASER fire...
...and then Bashir slips into unconsciousness.
BLACK OUT
END OF ACT FOUR