ACT FIVE
FADE IN:
75 INT. WORMHOLE
Defiant struggling to hold position in the angry red mouth of the whiplashing Tzenkethi wormhole...
Vetruvis trying to drag the Defiant out of the way using a tractor beam, so they can go home...
The Bajoran wormhole reacting around them all, twisting and warping in ways it never has before...
The runabout Styx flying through the wormhole, buffeted by the growing distortions as it nears the intersection...
We can see Vedek KIRA through the front window - she stands from her pilot seat to gaze out of the window in horror...
76 INT. RUNABOUT - COCKPIT (INTERCUT)
...at the huge, menacing Romulan warbird looming over the much smaller Starfleet ship caught in its tractor beam...
...and all against the horrifying violation of her beloved Celestial Temple created by the Typhon Pact.
She has to do something about it. Works the consoles...
KIRA
Benjamin’s over there...
FLASHBACK - 14x13 “FRAGMENTS”
Kay running down the Manhattan street, Benny Russell almost lost in the crowds, the bright sunset in her eyes...
BACK TO SCENE
KIRA
Can’t risk firing weapons in the
wormhole... tractor beam from
this little thing wouldn’t even
budge a Romulan warbird...
77 INT. WORMHOLE
The ARBAZAN VULTURE that is Odo flying through the wormhole from the other direction...
...seeing the same view from the other side, Defiant versus Vetruvis against the red whirlpool in the blue river...
...gravitational distortions HIT the large bird, making the CHANGELING matter of which it is made RIPPLE and DISTORT...
78 INT. VANADWAN MONASTERY - COMMISSARY
REBECCA inside the forcefield... the sounds of destruction and the death of her home planet muffled through the energy bubble that is surrounding her, her family and friends...
RAIQ struggling to hold the forcefield together, to protect these people left in her care by Kira...
The other grown-ups - Kasidy, Jake, Rena, O’Brien, Keiko, Sibias, Ransel - breathing hard and gritting their teeth as their own strength bolsters the forcefield...
The energy shell WAVERING, the stone floor beneath their feet RUMBLING as more distortions hit...
The other kids - Molly, Kirayoshi, Arios, Mireh - looking to their struggling parents, worried for them...
Molly and Yoshi rush to join their mummy and daddy, holding their hands, joining the circle... Arios and Mireh do the same, on either side of their father Sibias...
With the extra power, the forcefield STRENGTHENS, firms up against the distortions, even GROWS...
79 INT. VANADWAN MONASTERY - HOSPICE ROOM (INTERCUT)
The forcefield passes through the room, a WAVE OF ENERGY from the core of the monastery, PASSING THROUGH Opaka and the unconscious Vaughn, to the outer walls...
...and leaving the previously trembling, rain-lashed, wind-buffeted room oddly quiet. Opaka looks around, confused...
80 EXT. VANADWAN MONASTERY (INTERCUT)
And now the ENERGY BUBBLE surrounds the entire monastery, a tiny ball of protected space on the mountaintop, while the rest of the world continues to crumble around it...
81 REBECCA
The only one not holding someone’s hand now, stood alone in the centre of the circle, carrying Aniq the Ascendant baby, the others all concentrating on holding the forcefield...
82 INT. DEFIANT - BRIDGE
As the ship WHINES and SHUDDERS around them, SISKO searches desperately for any way to beat the Romulans...
SISKO
Try using the deflectors!
NOG
Use the deflectors how?
Sisko gets up, strides to the engineering station...
SISKO
Try concentrating a narrow beam
deflector burst. Maybe if we can
throw an unexpected punch,
that might break us free.
Nog starts working on that, meanwhile Candlewood shouts...
CANDLEWOOD
Captain! There’s a runabout in the
wormhole, it’s approaching...
Sisko is totally confused by that, but then...
NOG
Attempting deflector burst...
Sisko turns to the viewscreen...
VIEWSCREEN
...where a BLUE BOLT of power fires out at the Romulan ship... which quivers... but does not disengage.
BACK TO SCENE
ALECO
Minimal effect.
SISKO
Try it with more power.
NOG
That might blow out the deflector.
SISKO
Then blow it out!
Nog works his consoles again...
83 INT. WORMHOLE
And Defiant shoots a larger BLUE BOLT from its deflector...
84 INT. VANADWAN MONASTERY - COMMISSARY
Even though they’re safe inside, Rebecca can feel the ever more violent shudders and tremors outside...
In her arms, the Ascendant baby’s compound eyes GLOW... the baby’s little grey hand reaches out for something to hold on to... and CLOSES around Rebecca’s own fingers, gripping tight... it just wants comfort and safety, the same as her.
Rebecca looks at Raiq, silver hand held in her mommy’s...
FLASHBACK - 11x22 “PENITENCE”
That same hand around Rebecca’s throat, burning...
BACK TO SCENE
Rebecca steels herself... steps forward... Kasidy sees her coming, confused... Rebecca pushes her way in between Raiq and Kasidy... reaches up and insinuates her hand between the two older women’s... Raiq looks down in surprise...
At Rebecca’s intense look, Raiq lets go of Kasidy’s hand to hold Rebecca’s instead... Kasidy lays her spare hand on her daughter’s shoulder... Rebecca looks up at her mommy...
KASIDY (v.o.)
Are you sure, honey?
REBECCA (v.o.)
Yes mommy, I’m sure...
Rebecca turns back, concentrates... and the WHITE ENERGY blooms out of the little girl’s chest, fills the room...
85 EXT. VANADWAN MONASTERY
The ENERGY BUBBLE grows even bigger, spreading out from the monastery to cover the entire mountain range...
85 INT. BAJORAN CONTROL CENTRE
The viewscreen shows the WAVE OF ENERGY expanding from the Relliketh mountains, spreading over the entire planet...
RO watches the screen, no idea what’s going on....
...the WAVE comes through the Control Centre itself, from the far end of the large room towards Ro, she doesn’t know if it’s good or bad, but nothing she can do either way...
...and as the WAVE passes through her body, through the screen, through the wall and out again... the SILENCE that follows is deafening. No rumbles, no rain, no wind.
She looks at the viewscreen, and in the wake of the energy wave, all the RED CIRCLES showing disasters are vanishing.
86 CENN and SLAINE
watch the swarm of locusts pushed away by the forcefield rushing across the small village in Jo’kala...
87 HETIK and TREIR
look around in amazement as the forcefield covers the land, and the tremors tearing apart Suramil calm and stop...
88 PERMENTER and K’UHLLO
watch from inside the shuttle as the forcefield snuffs out the forest fire more effectively than they ever could...
89 QUARK and RWOGO
watch in amazement as the flood waters pushing their way into the bar reverse course and flow back outside...
90 MATTHIAS and SARINA
look out the runabout windows as the sand is blown away and the green vegetation of the vineyard reappears...
91 EXT. SPACE - BAJOR
The world of BAJOR... against the backdrop of stars... and a FORCEFIELD SURROUNDS THE ENTIRE PLANET, keeping it safe.
92 INT. VANADWAN MONASTERY - COMMISSARY
Rebecca’s eyes GLOW WHITE... Kasidy watches her baby girl, scared and confused and proud...
93 INT. VANADWAN MONASTERY - HOSPICE ROOM
Opaka stands at the window, looking out at the calm blue sky, the quiet countryside, no storms or rain or tremors...
She turns back, and GASPS...
...because VAUGHN’S EYES ARE OPEN.
94 INT. RUNABOUT - COCKPIT
KIRA at helm, grimly determined, no other choice...
...and she sets course.
95 INT. WORMHOLE
The runabout increases speed, pushing through the wormhole towards the larger ships, fighting over the intersection...
96 INT. VETRUVIS - BRIDGE
Vetruvis straining to pull the Defiant out of its way...
TROP SAR
The smaller Starfleet vessel is
moving above us.
KOZIK
Ignore it! We’re almost there.
MORAD
What... what is that?
The Cardassian points to the viewscreen...
VIEWSCREEN
...which shows a strange CREATURE flapping towards them inside the wormhole - the Arbazan vulture.
97 INT. WORMHOLE (INTERCUT)
The vulture circles the battlefield like its namesake, then a WAVE of DISTORTIONS hit it, causing it to MORPH...
...and reform into ODO’s recognisable human shape, swimming through the wormhole itself. He stares in amazement...
...as the runabout flies UP over the Romulan warbird...
98 ODO’S POV (INTERCUT)
...Kira visible inside the ship, driving it forwards, never giving up...
99 INT. RUNABOUT - COCKPIT (INTERCUT)
Job done, course laid in, Kira turns and RUNS for the rear cabin, hoping to escape before it’s too late...
100 ODO (INTERCUT)
Eyes wide with horror, he realises what is about to happen, unable to shout a warning to the woman he loves...
101 SISKO (INTERCUT)
Staring equally appalled at what he sees on the screen...
SISKO
No! Don’t -
102 INT. WORMHOLE (INTERCUT)
...and the runabout CRASHES into the warbird, right on the neck connecting the birdlike head to the body. EXPLOSIONS rock the larger ship, and its tractor beam disengages...
103 INT. DEFIANT - BRIDGE (INTERCUT)
Sisko reacts immediately...
SISKO
Quick! Move us away -
...a massive EXPLOSION from the screen blinds the crew...
104 INT. WORMHOLE (INTERCUT)
EXPLOSIONS blast the Vetruvis into pieces, SEVERING the head and sending it tumbling into the angry biting MOUTH of the Tzenkethi’s unstable wormhole...
...the rest of the Romulan ship BLASTS apart in successive explosions, its powerful engines overloading...
...the force of the explosion HITS the Defiant, sending the Starfleet ship TUMBLING down the length of the wormhole...
...Kira’s runabout is crippled, sparking, adrift...
105 INT. RUNABOUT - COCKPIT
The hull breached, air SCREAMING through the crack in the bulkhead... KIRA grasping for anything to hold onto...
She grabs the back of the seat, looks out of the window...
...she’s right on the edge of the Tzenkethi wormhole, about to fall down the whirlpool herself...
FLASHBACK - 14x13 “FRAGMENTS”
In her little boat on the Hudson, fighting the waves...
BACK TO SCENE
She turns again to run for escape, but STOPS in shock...
...because ELIAS VAUGHN is standing there. As old as ever, but alive with vigour and mischief. He smiles at her...
KIRA
Elias... how did you get here?
Without answering, he GRABS her around the waist, twists, and THROWS her into the air...
106 KIRA
Confused, but somehow not scared... she expects to hit the roof or bulkhead, but there’s nothing... she’s lost in the white light... she accepts it, closes her eyes, content...
WHITE OUT
107 EXT. SPACE
The Vir-Akzelen asteroid laboratory, sending out its RED BEAMS to converge and PUNCH a hole in spacetime, creating the home end of their artificial wormhole...
And nearby, the Aventine drops out of warp, moves straight into an aggressive posture...
108 INT. AVENTINE - BRIDGE
DAX in her command chair, watching the screen in disgust...
HELKARA
That asteroid base is generating
some kind of artificial wormhole.
DAX
I’ll tell you what it’s doing -
it’s defiling Lenara’s memory.
Kedair, target weapons on -
BOWERS
Captain! The wormhole -
They all look at the big IMAX screen...
109 INT. VIR-AKZELEN LABORATORY
NELZIK stares confused at the readings dashing across her screens... it doesn’t make sense...
NELZIK
Velzen, look at these readings...
When the junior scientist doesn’t scuttle to do as he’s told, Nelzik turns to learn why... and sees all her people staring up at the transparent ceiling. She looks herself...
110 EXT. SPACE
The RED WORMHOLE clearly destabilising once and for all... and then something emerges from it...
...it’s the head of the Vetruvis. The birdlike beak of the Romulan warbird plummets out of the wormhole’s mouth...
111 MORAD
The True Way agent on the deck of the Romulan bridge, dead bodies and burning computers all around him, but of course the viewscreen still works... and he can see death coming.
112 NELZIK
looking up at the ceiling, all her dreams of fame and royal recognition dashed...
113 EXT. SPACE
...and the head of the Vetruvis CRASHES right onto the Vir-Akzelen laboratory, destroying both in a massive EXPLOSION.
114 INT. AVENTINE - BRIDGE
Seeing this on the viewscreen, Dax reacts with a sigh...
DAX
Well, alright then. Kedair, stand
down weapons. Helkara, scan for
any remains of that wormhole.
(beat)
Mirren... scan for survivors.
Although it’s already clear there won’t be any...
115 EXT. SPACE
The Robinson holding station...
...and the BAJORAN WORMHOLE bursts into life, the violent and angry version from 10x22 “Ascension”, the power of it BLASTING apart the ring of tachyon buoys...
...and it spits out three objects. The Defiant, tumbling head over heels. The Styx likewise, sparking and crippled. And a third, much smaller object, as yet unidentified...
Then the wormhole COLLAPSES, imploding on itself, sending out a massive WAVE OF ENERGY...
...which knocks the Robinson off its spot as well.
116 INT. ROBINSON - BRIDGE
SIVADEKI at helm, working like mad to bring the ship back under control... ROGEIRO in command... CORALA at science.
ROGEIRO
What the hell was that?
CORALA
I think the wormhole collapsed,
Commander. And it’s sending the
biggest gravitational distortion
yet... sending it right at Bajor.
Off Rogeiro’s worry at that...
117 POV
For a moment we are the distortion wave, zooming through space right towards Bajor itself...
118 RO
watching the progress of this new distortion on her screens towards Bajor, the biggest yet...
RO
Oh Prophets no...
119 EXT. SPACE - BAJOR
The distortion wave HITS... and bounces harmlessly off the energy shield surrounding the planet.
CLOSE-UP on the forcefield over the planet’s surface, we can see the surface of the barrier rippling, swaying under the force of the distortion wave... but not buckling.
120 REBECCA
Eyes aglow, the power of the Prophets running through her, as she helps keep the forcefield strong...
121 EXT. SPACE
The Gamma end of the wormhole COLLAPSES in the same way as the Alpha end did, ejecting the same distortion wave...
...and knocking the damaged Dominion Vessel 971 rolling.
122 INT. JEM’HADAR SHIP - BRIDGE
WEYOUN and TARAN’ATAR struggling to hold the ship together.
WEYOUN
(off readings)
The anomaly - it’s gone!
TARAN’ATAR
But, that means... Odo...
WEYOUN
Yes, First. It means the Founder
is trapped in the Alpha Quadrant
- if he made it there safely at all.
TARAN’ATAR
It also means the refugees cannot
escape to sanctuary there.
WEYOUN
(new readings)
That may no longer be an issue,
First. A gravitational wave is
heading straight for the Eav’oq
planet as we speak...
Taran’atar immediately turns to one of the few remaining working consoles, his fingers fly over the controls...
TARAN’ATAR
I am reading an unexplained energy
field surrounding the planet...
123 EXT. SPACE – EAV’OQ HOMEWORLD
The distortion wave HITS Idran... and bounces harmlessly off a forcefield in the same way as it did at Bajor...
124 EXT. EAV’OQ CITY
PIF cowering on the cracked ground...
MEERA contracts from her golden dome changeling form that was shielding the city, MORPHING back into her human girl form, which lands exhausted on the ground next to Pif...
...but the meteorites and storms and tremors have stopped. They look across the plain to where Even Odds landed...
...and the freighter ship is sending out its own SHIELDS.
125 THE WA
ITU the lead Eav’oq stands in the white space, the remains of Ascendant technology, his single eye screwed up in tense concentration... singing his choral TUNE of power...
... while all his various pink ribbony limbs are plugged into the coloured splotches around the Wa, which have also transformed into singing MOUTHS like in 8x23 “Rising Son”. DEZ watches him, confused but enchanted by the song...
126 EXT. SPACE – EAV’OQ HOMEWORLD
The distortion wave fizzles out...
127 EXT. EAV’OQ CITY
The energy shield contracts into the Even Odds...
128 THE WA
Itu slumps, ribbon-limbs flopping out of the mouths, body exhausted by the effort... Dez catches him as he falls...
130 EXT. VANADWAN MONASTERY
The energy shield here contracts as well, back into the ancient monastery...
131 INT. VANADWAN MONASTERY - COMMISSARY
And Rebecca lets go, the glow from her eyes fading, letting go of Raiq’s hand, Kasidy catching her before she can fall to the stone floor with Raiq’s baby still in her arms...
Everyone else collapses to the floor as well, exhausted by the effort. Rebecca looks tiredly back up at her mother, who couldn’t be more proud...
132 INT. VANADWAN MONASTERY - HOSPICE ROOM
One small breath of air... a tiny relieved smile... and ELIAS VAUGHN closes his eyes and passes away.
Opaka watches the monitors all drop to zero, tears of love and gratitude in her own eyes.
133 INT. BAJORAN CONTROL CENTRE
Ro slumps to the ground, leaning against the wall beneath the viewscreen, just as exhausted as all the rest.
134 EXT. SPACE
The Robinson righting itself...
135 INT. ROBINSON - BRIDGE
Rogeiro stands, approaches the viewscreen...
ROGEIRO
Hail the Defiant.
Uteln works his tactical console...
SISKO (comm)
This is Sisko. What’s your status,
Commander?
ROGEIRO
We’re fine, Captain. You?
136 INT. DEFIANT - BRIDGE (INTERCUT)
SISKO looks around at his crew - Tenmei, Candlewood, Aleco, Nog, Bashir, extras - who are picking themselves up from the deck after their violent ejection from the wormhole...
SISKO
Fine, more or less. The wormhole?
ROGEIRO (comm)
I’m sorry, sir, but it seems to
have collapsed.
Sisko sags with renewed defeat at this news.
ROGEIRO (comm)
(continuing)
Have you got Kira?
SISKO
Kira? Why would we have Kira?
ROGEIRO (comm)
She was on that runabout that went
into the wormhole after you. But
it was ejected along with Defiant.
Since there are no life signs on
the runabout, I was hoping...
Sisko looks again at his crew, who have all served under and cared about Kira... he knows how they must feel...
SISKO
No, Commander. We don’t have her.
ROGEIRO (comm)
Understood. There was also that
third object ejected, we haven’t
been able to identify it yet...
Sisko gestures to Candlewood, who is already on it...
CANDLEWOOD
Resolving now... on screen...
They turn to look at the viewscreen...
VIEWSCREEN
...which shows a humanoid figure, just uncurling from the protective ball it had been in...
...and revealing ODO hanging in open space.
SISKO
...feeling a sudden empathy for the Changeling.
137 EXT. SPACE - ODO
The Changeling gazes heartbroken at the place where the wormhole used to be, knowing what happened inside it...
ODO (v.o.)
Nerys...
BLACK OUT
END OF SHOW