Sailor Trek: Deep Space 9 "I guess we're going to have to find a way to blend in." -Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax Chapter 6 - Surveillance "Captain's Log, Stardate... unknown. Repairs to the Defiant have been completed and we have settled into a close orbit of Earth while remaining cloaked. We have implemented Major Kira's plan to protect the Sailor Moon, and to this end several members of our crew are maintaining a discrete watch on her and the other two Scouts. Constable Odo has been making use of his unique abilities as well by mimicking various objects and animals in the vicinity... though I have noticed that, for reasons that elude me, he's developed a dislike for ravens. "Needless to say, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars were unhappy that I have refused their request to be part of the surveillance effort. I can understand how they feel, but in my opinion, it is best to keep them in reserve for the moment. Sailor Pluto has demurred, in my opinion reluctantly, from any involvement in the event below, citing the potential for drastic changes to the timeline. Given her intimate knowledge in matters of a temporal nature, I cannot fault her for that." Jeddite half smiled as he stood before Queen Beryl and watched Neflyte's sudden discomfort. Beryl had started this audience by congratulating Neflyte on his capture of the Changeling and the surviving Jem'Hadar soldiers, but the smug look on his face suddenly vanished when she began to berate him on the loss of all three alien spacecraft... And for his failure to capture or destroy the other, unknown ship. Perhaps her anger at Neflyte's performance would be enough that she would forget the events surrounding his latest encounter with the Sailor Scouts. "...and as for you, Jeddite..." Any trace of a smile vanished from his face as he shuddered inwardly at the iciness in her tone. Beryl hadn't forgotten and worse, she evidently hadn't expunged all of her anger upon Neflyte. In fact, she seemed even angrier than before. This could be much worse than he had feared. "Once again you've encountered the Sailor Scouts..." Her grew loud and shrill, "... and failed miserably! Neflyte's failure is bad enough, but your bungling has become intolerable!" She leaned forward, and her voice became low and menacing. "Can you give me a reason I shouldn't condemn you to Eternal Sleep at once?" Jeddite bowed low, striving to give the appearance of calm despite the fear he felt grip his soul. "I apologize for my failings, Queen Beryl," he said, "But I do have a plan..." His mind raced as he strove to come up with a plan, ANY plan, that would appease the Negaverse monarch. And incidently save his neck. "...which should result in the destruction of the Sailor Scouts." "Indeed," Beryl all but purred. Her voice may have taken on a pleasant tone, but her expression still promised a fate worse than death. "You have made such claims in the past. Why should this time be any different?" Jeddite noticed a gloating look on Neflyte's face as Beryl spoke. Evidently the other General thought that whatever plan Jeddite came up with would be doomed to fail. How he wished he could just wipe the smile of his rival's face... Inspiration struck him like a thunderbolt. As calmly as he could he addressed Beryl, "Because this time we have the shapeshifter as an asset." Jeddite's statement drew a sharp look from Neflyte, pleasing him to no end. Evidently the other General had his own plans for the shapeshifter... plans which Jeddite had no qualms about upsetting. "I see." Queen Beryl regarded him coolly for several moments. "Tell me more Jeddite. If this plan has potential, you may yet redeem yourself." Neflyte grimaced as he heard Jeddite outline his plan. If it hadn't been for the interference of that other ship, the Defiant, then he might have replaced Jeddite. But now it seemed that the General had pulled another proverbial rabbit out of the hat, for it seemed that Beryl was going to approve of his plan. In his mind, her went over what had gone wrong with his operation. One of his constellation avatars should have been enough to destroy that ship, even with their advanced weapons. Two should have torn it apart in seconds, and would have... Had there not been those Sailor Scouts on it. This was the most puzzling aspect of it. Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury were clearly busy on Earth foiling Jeddite's latest scheme, yet he had seen them on the Defiant through the Centaurus' eyes. How had they managed to be in both places at once? And then there was the mystery Scout that had dealt with Aquila. Where had she come from? And who was she? Whatever the answer, he dare not reveal this information to Queen Beryl. The appearance of each new Scout had irritated her greatly. The news that there were now three more could send her into a rage -- and he no doubt would end up paying the price. "Captain's Personal Log, supplemental. If the alternate timeline is any indication, the forces of the Negaverse will strike today. I just hope our combined forces are enough to keep this day from turning into a disaster a second time." Pluto eyed the monitor display from her seat at the science station. "And so it begins," she said softly. Sisko left the command chair and moved to the forward part of the bridge to stand beside her. Since Pluto knew best what to look for, he had her examining Earthside communications for some sign the Negaverse was going to proceed with their plan. "You've got something?" "Yes, Captain," she replied. "There have been accounts in the Tokyo media of several disappearances at the baseball stadium. Just as it was before. No doubt Luna will see it and have the Scouts investigate." She turned to face Sisko. "It will happen today." "Very well," Sisko replied grimly. "It's nearly dawn down there. We'll have to initiate phase one immediately." Mars raced down the corridor with Bashir close on her heels and stopped after rounding a corner. "Damn!" she exclaimed at seeing the empty corridor in front of her. "He's not here!" Bashir opened a tricorder with one hand, the other holding onto a Bajoran style phaser. The small device began scanning automatically. "The emergency forcefields are still up on the corridor junction and on the ventilation ducts," he said while examining the readouts. He looked to the door on their right while putting the tricorder away. "There's only one way he could have gone." Mars nodded, and tapped the Bajoran comm badge she was wearing. "Mars to Mercury. We've chased him to the engine room." "The Chief and I have just gotten to the starboard side entrance," came her reply. "It's sealed, so he couldn't have gotten out this way." Mars gave a grim smile of satisfaction, "Then we've got him cornered." She started for the door. "Watch it," Bashir warned her as he placed himself to one side of the door. "We may have him cornered, but we haven't got him yet." Mars acknowledge the warning with a swift nod and the two of them moved swiftly into the engine room, the door snapping shut behind them. At nearly the same instant, the far doorway opened, allowing Mercury and Chief O'Brien entrance into the room. "He's definitely in here," Mars said, looking about the room and noting that Mercury's visor was already deployed. "I can sense it." Mercury scanned about the room while the two Starfleet officers swept the various surfaces with low power phaser beams. "You're right, Mars," she said. "I'm getting indications of his presence, but I can't get any firm readings of him." "Keep your eyes open," O'Brien advised, still firing. "He's got to show himself sometime." Mars nodded as she moved to one side of the door, still looking about. She heard Bashir suddenly cry out, "Behind you!" just as she felt a light touch on her right shoulder. "You're dead," Odo advised her. She turned to the changeling, who was half formed with the rest of him still clinging to the wall, then glared at O'Brien. "I thought you swept that wall!" "I did!" he said defensively. "He did," Odo confirmed. "In fact, he missed me by only two millimeters." "Two millimeters!" Mars sagged back against the wall as Odo fully reformed himself. O'Brien and Bashir exchanged rueful looks while Mercury sighed and retracted her visor. "I take it the Constable won again?" a voice inquired from above. They look above them to the terrace level in the engine room fore and saw Sisko standing there with Pluto beside him, having entered through the door there. "Winner and still champion," Bashir confirmed. "This isn't a game, Doctor," Odo said disapprovingly. "These training exercises are necessary if you're going to be ready to deal with the Founder the Negaverse is controlling." "Yeah, we know. But it still would be nice to catch you once in a while," Mars shot back. "We've done this eight times now and you've been able to 'kill' one of us each time." "Don't feel too bad about it," O'Brien reassured her. "Odo always wins at 'Chase the Changeling'." A loud snort was the Constable's only response. "I'd like to give you a chance for a rematch, but I'm afraid were running short on time." Sisko looked at Sailor Mars, "Meet Dax in the transporter room. It's time to implement phase one. And Chief... Meet me when you get done down here. I've got an assignment for you as well." "Aye, sir," O'Brien said. Mars nodded her thanks and headed for the door. As she was exiting Mercury asked, "Captain, have you heard anything from Luna?" "No," he admitted. "But I wouldn't worry. I'm sure Luna knows how to take care of herself. And it's not as if she's alone down there." At that moment, Luna was literally up a tree just outside the Tsukino residence. For a cat, it was an ideal vantage point for keeping an eye on Serena's bedroom. But even a feline would find many hours staying still in a tree uncomfortable. Luna shifted her position so that she could stretch her muscles as she had done several times during her vigil. She grimaced at the sight of her forepaws, with the fur covering them now as yellow as was the rest of her fur. Being disguised was a condition Sisko had set down for her to be able to participate in the surveillance they were keeping on Serena and as her various abilities didn't function well with her crescent moon symbol covered, altering the color of her fur to match it was the best Bashir could do. Despite the necessity, she hated it. Hopefully this would be over soon and she could go back to her natural black. A slight tremor in the tree brought her back to the present. She looked around for the source, and found herself face to face with... herself. Suddenly she was very glad for her disguise. "All right," her past counterpart demanded. "I don't know who you are, but you've been in this tree for the last two nights. Now, I want to know what it is you're up to." Luna blinked, unsure what to do for a moment before deciding that now was not the time to reveal herself. Instead, she silently bounded out of the tree and ran across the yard, heading over to where she knew Kira was positioned. Luna's eyes narrowed as she watched the strange cat race off. 'There's something very familiar about that cat,' she thought. She got down from the tree and prowled about the yard to satisfy herself that all was well in the area before heading back into Serena's room. Settling back down next to her charge she contemplated the recent events. 'Something odd is going on around here. And I'm going to have to find out what.' The only question was how. Luna leapt onto Kira's shoulder after making her way to the Major's concealed vantage point. "What happened?" she asked in a whisper. "Let's just say I had a close encounter of the temporal kind," Luna replied, keeping her voice equally low. Kira arched an eyebrow. "Oh, your counterpart found you?" The formerly black cat sighed. "I'm afraid so. And I must say, I found it quite unsettling." "I know the feeling," Kira replied, thinking back to her encounter with the Intendant Kira Nerys in the alternate universe. "I had something similar happen to me once." Mercury watched as Bashir put together a medkit for possible use during the upcoming away mission. Odo had the drills, deciding that any further exercises wouldn't be needed as the main action was in the very near future. She hoped that things went better in the real thing than they did during the drills. "Doctor, could you answer a question?" she asked after a time. "Certainly," he answered as he examined a tricorder modified to have a Bajoran look. "Ask away." "I understand the need for you to use civilian clothing on the away missions, but could you tell me why you are using Bajoran style weapons, comm badges and..." She indicated the medkit, "...the medical equipment?" "Well, as you are well aware, the Scouts will have later encounters with Kirk's Enterprise, and then later Picard's. So while we have to do everything we can to eliminate this temporal paradox..." "... you don't want to create another in the process," she finished. "And any foreknowledge of Starfleet's existence could create changes in the timeline." "Exactly," Bashir commented, putting away a dermal regenerator. "This way they'll be none the wiser when they do encounter the Enterprise D." He hesitated, then looked at her, "We hope." Dawn was just breaking at the Hikawa shrine as Raye tended to the sacred fire. It was a task she attended to daily before she went to school. She was concentrating on her task, but not so intently that she missed someone approach from outside. She went for the door and opened it, "I'm sorry, but..." Her voice trailed off as she got a good look at those who were standing outside. One was a tall female with a strange tatoo pattern on both sides of her forehead and extending down the sides of her neck, but it was the other that unsettled her. The other person was her. Another Raye Hino. "Who are you?" she finally managed to breathe out. "I'm Jadzia Dax," the taller one said. "And this is..." "I think she knows who I am, Jadzia," her double said. Raye walked over to her counterpart and then circled her, studying her intently. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find anything about her that would indicate that she was a fake. All her senses, both physical and psychic, were telling her that this was another version of herself. "This is impossible." Her doppleganger shook her head. "Not when you use time travel." "Time travel?" "Yep. I came on her ship," she said, indicating Dax. Raye turned her attention to the other woman. "OK, so were are you from?" "I'm from the future too, but from another planet also. My people are called Trill." Raye shook her head. People from another planet, time travelers... This day was getting very weird, and it had just started. "OK, assuming for the moment that everything you've said is the truth, why are you here? Why travel back in time?" "Because something went gravely wrong in my past," her counterpart explained. "It's going to happen in your very near future, today in fact, and it involves Serena." "Serena? What'd that meatballhead do now?" Raye snapped. Her counterpart glowered at her. "She *died*." It was nearly an hour later that a very troubled Raye Hino watched as her future counterpart and the woman named Dax walked off the temple grounds. Soon after they had gotten out of sight, she turned to the burning fire and began the ritual of a fire reading. While the bulk of her mind was concentrating on the flame, the remainder was going over what Dax and her double had told her: that Luna would lead them to investigate what seemed to be another Negaverse operation, similar to the amusement park scheme that they had tried. But this time, it was simply a trap designed to lure the Scouts there and kill them. But they would only succeed in killing Serena. Just thinking about it scared Raye more than she would care to admit. However, while they were able to give her a vague warning, they had been very limited in the details they gave her. "You have to understand," Dax had told her, "We have to be very careful in what we tell you. Our objective is to prevent Sailor Moon from being killed today. But if we give you too much information, we could upset the timeline even more." "Why don't you at least tell me what this shapeshifter will be hiding as?" she demanded. Her counterpart shook her head. "Wouldn't do any good. As someone pointed out to me, the changeling could be literally anything or anyone. I only know what it was imitating just before it struck." "Besides, we've already made some alterations in the timeline," Dax added. "So events from here on will be different that what happened previously." "The best thing to do is to keep you eyes on everything." Raye groaned. "Everything?!?" "And everyone." Her counterpart gave her a mournful smile. "Sorry, but it's the best advice we can give." "Don't worry," Dax added trying to reassure her, "We've got others that will be along watching for it. And they'll be keeping an eye on Serena as well. So don't think that everything depends on you. All we need you to do is to stay alert and be ready for when the time comes." All during her talk with them, Raye had been concentrating on both women intently, trying to get something on how truthful they were being. Hoping that there was some fabrication to their tale. Unfortunately all her senses could tell her was that everything they had told her had been truthful, she reflected as she concentrated on the fire, even if they weren't telling her *everything*. She returned her full attention to the flame. After several more minutes, an image formed amid the flames in response to her prodding. Raye recoiled upon seeing it, horrified. It was an image of Death. Dax tapped on her comm badge after they were some distance from the temple. "Dax to Kira. We're on our way." "Acknowledged," she heard the Major reply, "Take your time. We've got a while before she heads for school. So take your time getting here. Kira out." Dax and Raye continued in silence for a while before Raye asked, "How do you think that went?" Dax shrugged. "Pretty well, I think. But she is you. How do you think she took it?" "About as good as can be expected," she responded. "She's frustrated we can't tell her more, but understands our reasons. I think she'll be ready for that shapeshifter." "I hope so," Dax said. "According to Kira, it wasn't easy getting Benjamin to go along with this idea." "Absolutely not!" Sisko exclaimed. Raye instinctively winced at his tone, but Kira held her ground. Emissary or no, she had these type of confrontations with him before and was still wiling to stand her ground. "Captain, I think you should reconsider." "Major have you lost your mind?" Sisko moved around the desk and confronted the Bajoran directly. "Having Raye meet up with her past self would be a direct violation of --" "To hell with the time travel directives!" Kira snapped. "They don't apply to this situation." She spared a glance at Pluto, who had been standing to one side and had yet to say anything, though she was watching their discussion with great interest. "Captain, those directives are designed for preserving the timeline. But in this case we're talking about changing this timeline deliberately, and along a very specific path. We're going to need all the help we can get." "Like you two have been saying," Raye said to both Sisko and Pluto, "We're only going to get one chance at this. Alerting one of the Scouts from this time frame could be the edge we need to keep things from going awry." "Those are good points," Sisko said. "But I don't think --" "They're right, Captain," Pluto interrupted him. Sisko stared at her. "I would have thought you'd be the last person to endorse this plan." "Ordinarily, I wouldn't... but as Major Kira pointed out, this is not the usual type of time travel situation." She paused and looked sternly at Raye. "Of course, she should make sure the she divulges nothing to her counterpart beyond the events of that day." "Don't worry," Raye promised. "I don't want to do anything to make things worse." Sisko paced the length of the room, considering. "Wouldn't Luna be a better choice?" he finally asked. "No," Raye replied, shaking her head. "Luna would never be able to keep something like this from Serena, and if she found out it would really cause problems. Besides, we have no easy way of contacting her alone. The same goes for Amy. On the other hand, if we do it early enough in the day, my double should be alone for long enough to talk to her." "Very well," Sisko said, agreeing reluctantly. "I'm not sure I like the idea, but since our resident expert on time agrees, I'll go along." "It's getting pretty late," Dax noted as they were nearing Serena's house. "Shouldn't Kira have called to let us know Serena was on her way to school by now?" Raye smirked. "You guys have been watching her for two days and you still don't know her very well. Just remember: all during the time I knew her, Serena was never on time for anything." Then a sorrowed look came over her face, "Except for her own funeral. She was way too early for that." Dax patted her on the shoulder. "That's what were here to change, remember?" Raye nodded, but before she could reply a loud cry came from up the street in the direction of the Tsukino residence. Guessing what would follow, Raye moved Dax off to one side safely out of the way and out of sight, just before a blonde blur came racing by them. Peering out, they saw Serena racing for school, Luna right beside her. "Serena," she said softly, and a rush of emotions swept through her at the sight of seeing her alive. She shook her head and blinked away the tears that had been forming. There wasn't any time for that. Unnoticed by her, the disguised Luna approached them, "Come on, Dax. It'll be hard enough to keep up with them as it is." "Where's Kira?" Dax inquired. "Back there," the cat answered. "Now let's move!" She raced off in pursuit of Serena and Dax followed her. Raye moved up the street in the opposite direction and found Kira extricating herself rather painfully from a rose bush. Kira glared at her after her slightly less than successful attempt to stifle a giggle. "Oh, I'm sure it's very funny," she commented, her tone indicating she thought otherwise. "Depends on your point of view, Major." Raye's smile grew broader as she thought of what Sisko's reaction would be when he heard about this. Kira was thinking along the same lines. "Don't mention this -- OW!" Kira winced as she tried to put her weight on her right foot. Evidently she had sprained her ankle as well. "...to anyone," she finished. "That's an order." Raye moved over to give her a hand. "Too bad.. you're not my commanding officer," she retorted as they made their way to a secluded spot. "I could always have Odo throw you in the brig," Kira threatened, but Raye could tell she wasn't serious. "Kira to Defiant... two to beam up." Raye felt the now familiar sensation of the transporter beam gripping them and Tokyo faded from view, to be replaced by the Defiant's transporter room. She heard Kira groan softly as they both saw that Sisko was waiting there to meet them. Sisko raised an eyebrow at the sight of Kira's tattered clothing as Raye helped her off the platform. "What happened to you?" he asked somewhat rhetorically, a slight smile coming to his face. "Serena," she said with a grimace, consigning herself to the inevitable. "Since it was getting so late, I figured she was staying home sick from school. Then I hear a shriek, so loud it would startle the Prophets, yelling something about being late. Less than a minute later, this blonde blur comes racing out the door, onto the street and bowls me over." Sisko chuckled, as did Raye, much to Kira's discomfort. "I don't think it's very funny." "Indeed? As I recall, you thought is was extremely funny yesterday... when a similar event happened to me." "Yes, sir," she said simply. Sisko allowed himself to savor the moment before getting back to business. "Let's forget it for now. I take it Serena made it to school safely." "She's on her way," Raye put in. "Luna -- that is, our Luna -- is following her, with Dax tailing her as well. They should be there soon." "Good. We'll have Odo take up the watch in a couple of hours, while we get ready. If we're right, the critical time will be this afternoon." Sisko dismissed them with a gesture, and Raye help Kira on her way to the medical bay. "Everything looks as it should," Dax commented. She and Luna were looking around the area of Crossroads Junior High after making sure that Serena had arrived safely, if a bit tardy. "So far," Luna observed, trying to stifle a catlike yawn. "You must be exhausted," Dax observed. "Odo should be here in a couple of hours to relieve you. You should get some rest then." "You won't get any argument from me," the feline said. Dax nodded. "OK, I've got to get back to the ship. I'll see you up there." Luna nodded before leaping from Dax's shoulder to find a good observation post. Dax was about to go on her way to the beam out point when she heard, "I thought it was just Meatballhead. Or do all cat owners talk to their pets as if they expect and answer?" The science officer turned to face her questioner, but she already knew who it was. Worf and Mercury had been most thorough in their briefings, covering everything from appearances to voices of the people around here. So she was not surprised to find herself facing Darien. One of the aft bridges doors snapped open to admit O'Brien. "Here you are, sir." He looked strange dressed in civilian clothing while standing on the bridge, but it was understandable given the nature of the assignment Sisko had given him. "Tickets to the ball game for all of us... Except for Luna and Odo, of course." A smile creased Sisko's face as he took the tickets in hand. "Good work, Chief." "You didn't have any trouble with your funny money, did you Miles?" Bashir asked. "Funny money?" Amy looked troubled. "You mean it was counterfeit?" "Well, not exactly. I mean, it wasn't real money, but there's no way you could tell it wasn't." O'Brien shrugged. "Since we used a replicator, it practically *is* the real thing." "I just wish we could take the time to actually see the game," Sisko said regretfully. "And it's too bad this didn't happen in North America. It would have been nice to see some of the contemporary Major League players in action... Cal Ripken, for example." "Or Nolan Ryan?" Kira suggested. Sisko grinned. "You've been studying, Major. But I'm afraid you're a few years too late for him." Everything seemed to be going according to plan, Raye observed as she walked down the corridor. The mess hall door opened automatically to admit her and she went over to the replicator. She noted that Dax and Worf were seated at one table, uncharacteristically silent. Something told her that they had been talking, but had stopped the moment she entered. Picking up the raktajino she ordered, she wandered over to them. "You know, I'm actually beginning to like this stuff," she commented. "I've always liked it," Dax said, raising her own mug. Raye noted that Worf was drinking usual tall glass of prune juice, and repressed a shudder as she sat down. "So, are you two going to tell me what it was you were talking about when I came in?" "Who says we were talking about anything?" Dax asked. "Come on. You are hardly the silent type, Jadzia. And I got the feeling you two were in the middle of something when I came in." Raye leaned back in her chair and regarded the two Starfleet officers. "You were talking about Darien, weren't you?" Surprise registered on Dax's face, but Raye only saw a gleam of satisfaction on Worf's. "I told you she was perceptive," he said. "Well, there wasn't anything psychic about it," Raye admitted. "It was just a good guess." "A very good guess," Dax said. "But you were right, we were talking about him. I bumped into him during my away mission." "I wish I could go on those," Ray grumbled. "Soon," Worf said. "According to Pluto, the Negaverse is starting to move. The battle will take place today." Raye nodded, but turned back to Dax. "So, what were you saying about him." Dax grimaced. "I was just noting that he seemed... aloof." "It comes from the fact that he was an orphan. Being raised in an orphanage, he finds it hard to deal with people. So he keeps them at a distance." Raye paused, remembering her times with him. "Once you get to know him, he's easier to deal with." "Maybe it's just me," Dax said, "But I don't know what you saw in him... Or what Serena will see in him." "It has as much to do with the fact that he does not know who and what he is," Worf rumbled. "I met him well after he regained those memories. It was clear to me that he loved her deeply." Raye wasn't sure what Dax was up to, but the Trill smiled and winked at her. "Worf, you're a romantic," she teased him. "I am not," the Klingon denied. It might have gone on for some time, but there was a beep form the comm system. "Attention all away party members. Report to the transporter room. It's time to begin phase two." Sisko, with Major Kira beside him, peered through the bushes and watched Amy and Raye's past selves from his vantage point on the temple grounds. Amy was sitting calmly on the porch steps, reading a book, while Raye was pacing back and forth. She was obviously impatient about something. She wasn't the only one. He glanced up to Luna. "Where is she? I though you said Serena would be here by now?" Luna peered down from the tree branches, her current gold coloring standing out somewhat. "No, I said she *should* be here by now. With Serena, there's a big difference." "Well, where *is* she?" Kira snapped. "Everything hinges on keeping her safe!" "Probably on her way here," the cat responded calmly. "Don't worry, Odo said he'd keep a close eye on her. And from what I've seen, he's very good at that." She grimaced at the thought of how the Constable had gone about informing her. They had been lingering outside Serena's school for most of the day when Odo had come up to her, doing a very good imitation of herself! ('He may not be able to handle humanoids, but he's pretty good with animals,' she thought.) Luna had almost had a heart failure thinking that her counterpart had managed to come up to her without her sensing it. But she had fainted when Odo spoke to her from that form, using his own voice. "If there had been any problems, I'm sure he would have called." Sisko was not the only one concerned over Serena's tardiness. "She should be here soon," Raye reassured the large human next to her. She watched her past self pace impatiently back and forth, then glanced back to the equally impatient man. "Don't worry Worf, we still have time before the attack." The disguised Klingon frowned. "I would not use your memories of the past as a guide to the future here. We have already made some alterations to the timeline. The destruction of the Jem'Hadar ships by the Defiant will have some ripples in the course of events." "I know that," she snapped. There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before she asked, "Worf, do you think the changes that've been made are enough to keep the Enterprise from being destroyed?" "At least initially," he answered. "But without Sailor Moon's presence, I don't think they will survive their entire encounter with Beryl's forces." "Well, Jeddite never found out our ID's, so she should be alright, as long as she doesn't transform first." Worf grunted noncommittally and they resumed their vigil in silence. Again Raye broke it, "Worf, can I ask you a question?" "Of course." "Amy found out about the Klingon Death Howl and she told me about it. But Lita wasn't a Klingon. So why the howling after she died?" Worf frowned and pondered not answering her question, but that seemed dishonorable to him. "It was a... family matter." Raye seemed puzzled. "I don't understand." "When the Scouts visited the Enterprise D, I became friends with her. And it was a very close connection. Not in a romantic sense, but more along the lines of a brother and sister. So before they left, I decided to formalize it, and I accepted Lita into my family. She became a member of the House of Mogh." Worf decided to leave out how the House of Mogh had become dishonored recently by his opposing the actions of Chancellor Gowron. He could explain that later. "But the Lita I knew never went to the Enterprise. So why..." "It does not matter," Worf interrupted her. "The principle remains the same. *I* knew about it, and that is what mattered. And it extends to your pledge to her as well." "What?" "Lita requested that you stop Beryl, and you promised to do so. And by restoring the timeline to it's original state, it will be done. And as leader of the House of Mogh, her last request is binding on me also. Thus I must make sure that we are successful, no matter what the cost." "Even if it kills us." Worf nodded. "It is a good day to die." "You Klingons are a fatalistic bunch." Raye gave Worf another lookover. "It's still strange to see you looking like that, Worf. I'd just gotten used to your usual looks." Worf scowled at her, remembering. "It was your doing." "Hey, it was Amy's idea," she pointed out. "You had a hand in it." They had been assembled in the mess hall, while Kira outlined the plan they had come to for protecting Sailor Moon. As it became clear that the entire senior staff would be involved, Worf shifted slightly. Sisko asked, "What's wrong, Mr. Worf?" "It is the thought of undergoing cosmetic surgery to appear as a human, sir." He crossed his arms and grimaced. "It is not a prospect I relish, but I am willing to endure it if the mission requires." "I'm sorry, Mr. Worf," Sisko replied, "But with the possibility of Jem'Hadar soldiers being present, we're going to need our best people available. And you are undoubtably one of the better close combat experts I have on hand." "Aye, sir," the Klingon responded. Amy looked thoughtful. "I have a solution," she said. She handed Worf a odd looking device that was shaped rather like a pen. "We've used this in the past to disguise ourselves." Raye nodded approvingly. "Good idea, Amy." Worf took the proffered device and eyed it dubiously. He had heard about this it, but had never seen it in action. "How does it work?" Raye answered, "Just say "Disguise Power," then tell it what you want to be disguised as." "You've got to be kidding." Raye grinned. "Nope." "Give it a try, Commander," Sisko said. Worf grimaced, obviously more uncomfortable than before. "Aye, sir. Disguise power, make me look like a... human." He just about choked out the last word. The magic of the disguise pen flowed outward and enveloped Worf, obscuring him from sight for several seconds. When it cleared, Worf looked very much like a human. A rather large human. But human, nevertheless. Dax smiled. "Looks good on you." Worf only responded with a glare. The sound of a loud crash brought Worf back to the present. Both he and Raye looked concernedly in the direction of the nearby sound, but they relaxed upon hearing Dax's voice over the now open comm line. "Benjamin, we've located Serena." Amusement was clearly heard in her voice. "Julian just... ran into her." "Serena strikes again," Raye observed quietly, prompting a nod of agreement from Worf. Dax looked on, bemused as Bashir and Serena picked themselves up off the ground. A very familiar black cat sat beside them, a seemingly downcast expression on her face. "I'm sorry!" Serena said for what must have been the fifth time in a slightly panicked voice. "It's alright," Julian painfully reassured her yet again. In truth, he had heard her long before she had arrived, but revealing that might have given away his genetically enhanced status. Unfortunately, he had misjudged just how fast she was moving, thus resulting in the collision. "No permanent damage done. Are you OK, um...?" His voice trailed off as he feigned ignorance. "Oh, my name's Serena," she answered. "Bashir. Julian Bashir," the doctor replied smoothly. "If I may inquire, why are you in such a hurry?" "Oh, I'm on my way to meet some friends," she said in an offhand manner. "I got to school late today, so I got detention, and I just got out and now I'm way late to meet them and Raye can be *so* touchy..." Bashir nodded sympathetically. "Yes, I've noticed," he said quietly. "Huh?" Serena stared at him, genuinely puzzled. How could he know that? "You know Raye?" A slow smile crept over her face and then she said in a sly tone, "Oh, are you her boyfriend?" It was rare that Dax found herself struck speechless. She wasn't the only one. But Raye wasn't one to remain speechless for long. "Boyfriend?!?" she nearly shrieked just after there was an audible click indicating somebody had closed the open comm channel. "Him?" "I suggest you keep your voice down," Worf advised her. His expression remained stern, but his eyes glinted with amusement. "We do not want to attract any unnecessary attention." Raye turned from him and glowered, arms crossed, at a nearby tree. She continued to grumble, but her volume was much lower. "That little meatballhead..." Bashir sputtered momentarily, "No, she's not." He decided that changing the subject to cover his misstep would be the best strategy. "Who might your four legged friend be?" Serena glanced down to where Luna was looking impatiently back up at her. "This is my cat... her name's Luna." Bashir crouched down and gave Luna an obligatory scratch. "She seems intelligent..." Luna started to preen, "For a cat, that is." Luna stood stock still, and glared at the doctor. "For a cat?" Serena asked, not sure if she should be offended. "Yes, though I really can't be sure... I'm more of a dog person myself." Luna turned from Bashir, and marched over to Serena, batting a paw on her knee for attention. Serena eyed the cat, then her own eyes grew wide. "Oh, no... The time!" She began running up the path, then stopped and turned back to them. "See you later. Bye." After giving a last wave, she raced up the path to the shrine, the cat following her. Moments later a small black dog emerged from behind a nearby tree and, after giving the two Starfleet officers an ironic glance, followed her up the path. "It's hard to believe the fate of this Earth, and that of the Federation, depends on her," Bashir commented as he watched her enter. Dax tapped her comm badge to reopen the comm channel, then went up to Bashir. A keen observer would note a mischievous glint in her eyes. "So, you and Raye are an item now?" "Jadzia!" "You don't think she's attractive?" "Of course she is!" he exclaimed. "It's just that --" He stopped in midsentence as he realized just what Dax was up to. "Just that what?" a voice over the comm channel dangerously asked before he could form a suitable retort, causing Bashir to pale. It wasn't wise to offend, even accidentally, someone who literally could command fire. Fortunately, he was saved from further embarrassment. "Let's keep our minds on the business at hand, people," Sisko admonished them. "Dax?" "Serena's on her way, sir," she reported, now all business. "Odo's in position, as planned." "Good. Everyone keep your eyes open. Things are going to start happening in a hurry from here on." Raye confronted Serena the moment she arrived, hands planted on her hips. "It's about time you got here! What you do, stop at every ice cream shop along the way?" Amy looked questioningly at her, as did Luna. Certainly Raye had a history of snapping at people, Serena in particular, but she was acting much tenser than usual. The answer was that Raye had been sensing the watchers around the temple. But as she hadn't an accompanying sense of evil with it, she reasoned it was the others mention by Dax and her future self. This meant that the danger they mentioned was getting closer, and the added tension was driving her crazy. "As if," Serena replied. "I'll have you know I came straight here! Though I did bump into this really cute guy..." Her eyes narrowed and she looked at Raye speculatively, "By the way, he seemed to know you... is he by any chance your boyfriend?" "Huh? Who are you talking about? I don't have a boyfriend!" Raye instantly regretted saying that. "Oh, so no wonder you're so cranky," Serena quipped Raye was trying to frame a proper retort when something in Serena's bag caught her eye. She reached into it and pulled out the comic in there. "Oh, sure you came straight here! AFTER you hit the comic book shop!" "Raye, give that back! It's mine!" Raye felt a lump form in her throat as she watched the ongoing argument between Serena and her counterpart. She had forgotten just much she missed those all too frequent arguments she had with Serena. Once again she found herself blinking back the tears that were forming, and her face settled into a mask of determination. There was no way in hell she was going to let Serena die this time. O'Brien looked around the concourse from a secluded alcove. He and Amy had been among the first people allowed inside, and several of the vendors were still setting things up. "Seems peaceful enough," he commented to his companion. She glanced down at her half hidden computer. "I'm afraid that's not going to last." "You picking up something?" he asked. He did a quick scan with a tricorder, trying to keep it concealed as well, "Because I'm not detecting anything." "That's because your tricorder isn't as sensitive to Negaverse activities as my computer." Amy stared pointedly at the stand that would be the source of the trouble to come. "Now that I know what to scan for, I can detect their activities." She grimaced, "The youma's activities, that is. I still don't have a clue where the shapeshifter is." "All right," O'Brien said. "Nothing for it but to wait." He glanced above and saw that there were several spots amid the rafters that someone could use to keep watch without being easily seen. And since the Scouts would meet him later, he needed to keep out of their sight. "You stay here. I'll find a secluded place and have the ship beam me up there." Raye and Serena found their argument interrupted when a small, black dog came up to them and began barking. It was about a half meter in length, with jet black fur and a small nub where it's tail should be. "Oh, you're cute," Serena giggled, motioning the canine to come closer. It did so, sniffing at her tentatively. She began petting it on the head, and it wagged it's excuse of a tail happily in response then stood on it's hind legs and placed it's forepaws on her knee as it begged for further attention. Raye's eyes narrowed as she examined the canine closely. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about the dog seemed *wrong* to her. Still, she didn't sense anything evil about it. Could this be associated with the watchers Dax had mentioned earlier? She shook her head and tried to relax. She'd be glad when this day was over. All this worrying was going to giver her an ulcer... And she was much too young for that! "Odo seems to be enjoying this assignment," Sisko observed wryly. "He'd never admit it," Kira replied. "He'll just say that he was playing his part." "To the hilt." "Serena, leave that dog alone!" Luna insisted. "We've got Sailor business to attend to!" Serena shot a glare at the black cat, who was trying to keep Amy in between herself and the dog. "Stop being such a 'fraidycat, Luna! And what makes you think the Negaverse is going to try something? We just trashed them at Dreamland." "Oh,right," Raye snapped. "Like they're going to do nothing after that, Meatballhead?" Serena glared at Raye and was about to snap at her when Amy spoke up. "Luna might be right. They could be ready to try something again." "I think they *are* trying something," Luna said. "I found a report in a the newspaper this morning about people disappearing in the vicinity of the baseball stadium." "Oh, not again," Serena mumbled. Luna nodded. "I'm afraid so, Serena. We should go inves-- Now cut that out!" She directed the last at the dog, which had begun sniffing at her. "Oh, I hate dogs!" Odo inwardly nodded to himself, satisfied that this is Luna. So far there was no indication the changeling was present. It would most likely appear at the ballpark, as before. Meanwhile, the three girls had started to giggle at the sight. "I'm glad you all think this is so amusing," Luna said, her tone clearly indicating otherwise. "Now, come on!" She turned to leave, and the three girls followed her. Sensing something else following, Luna turned and saw the dog happily tagging along. "Oh, no you don't! Serena, tell that dog to stay here!" Serena sighed. "You heard her, girl. Stay!" The dog looked at her with sad eyes, and began to whimper and whine. "I don't think she want to stay, Luna." "We can't take her with us," Amy said. "It could be dangerous." "I've got an idea." Raye ran back inside and returned a few minutes later with a length of rope. She quickly tied the dog to a nearby tree, ignoring it's whining with difficulty. "There, that should hold her!" The three girls and cat left on their way, the dog watching them until they were out of sight. When they had gotten out of sight, the flesh of it's neck altered into a caramel colored gelatinous substance, and oozed it's way around the rope. It fell limply to the ground, and the dog raced after the scouts. Raye's counterpart nodded to Worf. "There they go." She tapped her comm badge as they followed at a distance. "Mars to Sisko. They're on their way." "We see it. Everyone else, go on ahead to the ballpark. Kira and I will follow them along the way." Pluto stood by the comm station on the bridge, monitoring the away teams transmission. So far everything seemed to be going as planned. But the critical time was yet to come. And there was still one detail to attend to here. The crew had been more concerned with saving Sailor Moon so they had ignored what to do with the extra quantum flux. It would have to be dealt with, else the Enterprise detect an extra one when it appeared here in a few months time. Fortunately, she and Q had discussed this before. She moved towards the engineering station. "Mr. Muniz..." The engineer turned to her. "Yes?" "I have a task for you to perform." She handed him a data padd. "I need you to modify a quantum torpedo along these parameters." Muniz examined the readout, then looked to Lt. Glynn, who had the conn. As the captain had instructed them to cooperate fully with Sailor Pluto, he nodded. Muniz got up. "OK. I'll get right on it." "What's wrong, Luna?" Serena asked worriedly. The black cat had halted as they were nearing the stadium and was looking about, her expression one of puzzlement. If fact, she had been looking around them all during the trek here, she reflected. "I'm not sure," she answered. "But I sense something odd around here. It's as if we're being followed." Raye frowned. She still had the feeling of being watched but it still felt like it had at the temple. Nothing about it felt evil or wrong, so it was probably still the others mentioned by Dax and her counterpart. Briefly she toyed with the idea of alerting Serena and Amy to what had happened that morning, but discarded it at once. Dax had been very clear that she should allow events to proceed normally, or else the Negaverse could back out of their current plan and start again, this time without Dax's people being aware of where things would happen. "Are you sure Luna? I don't sense anything evil," she said aloud. "Well, that settles it," Serena said. "Luna's going paranoid on us." "I am not!" the cat snapped. "There *is* something amiss around here. I just can't put my paw on it right now." "As if," Serena retorted. "First you come up with this idea that the Negaverse is going to strike at a *baseball stadium*, of all places, and now you're getting odd feelings that even Raye isn't having. Luna, you're going totally whacko on me." Luna glared at the blonde girl. "If I have gone insane, it's only because you've driven me over the edge, Serena," she said before going on her way. "Hey!" Serena cried before following her. "Luna, it's bad enough that buying a ticket into here will use almost all of my allowance! I don't need you needling me like that!" "If you'd stop buying all these comic books, you'd have more of your allowance available, meatballhead!" Raye snapped. "Oh, you're a fine one to talk about not buying comic books!" Serena retorted. Amy sighed. It was going to be a *long* day. Sisko glanced up from the program he had obtained. The three Sailor Scouts were nearby, close enough so that he could hear them talking. "I think Luna's right," Raye was saying. "I've been having a bad feeling about this place the moment we went through the gate." "This from a girl who decided *I* was evil and slapped a spirit ward on my forehead just minutes after meeting me?" Serena quipped. "That still doesn't make me feel any better about having to spend a good chunk of my allowance for a ticket." Raye's eyes narrowed, but Amy intervened before she could say anything. "We should split up to cover more ground. Luna and I will go this way and you two can check out the other direction." "Wait a minute! I want to go with you, Amy. Luna can go with the grouch!" Serena complained. "It sounds good to me," Raye said, prompting a series of astonished looks from the others. "Come on, Serena, let's go." Raye smoothly transferred the bag containing Luna from Serena to Amy, then took the blonde girl by the arm and began moving her down the concourse. Luna and Amy were still looking stunned when Sisko and Kira moved to follow the two girls. Amy watched from her own vantage point as Serena and Raye moved up the concourse. As soon as they passed by, she began moving in the opposite direction, moving to where her own counterpart had gone. "Here they come," Bashir noted. Dax nodded, but otherwise did not reply. She and Bashir had taken up position nearby the concession stand that should be the Negaverse front (assuming, of course, that things were still proceeding along those lines), but not so close as to be inside the presumed illusion field. Raye (present day version) and Serena were approaching, just as they should be. In the background she could see Benjamin and Kira following them, but she had no idea where Worf and Raye were. It was at that moment that Serena caught sight of the prices, and she immediately headed for the booth. Raye grabbed her by the arm. "What do you think you're doing?" Dax heard her ask, her voice low but still loud enough to carry to Dax's position. "We're here on business Serena, remember? Besides, it could be dangerous!" "Dangerous?!?" Serena asked incredulously. "Here? Raye, you're getting way worse than Luna. Now let go!" With that she tore her arm free and headed for the line. Raye seemed about ready to try and stope her again, but she spotted Dax nearby. The Trill gave her a reassuring nod, indicating to Raye that help was nearby. She relaxed a bit and followed Serena towards the booth. The moment Raye took her place in line, the bad feeling she had been having the entire day intensified dramatically. There was definitely something evil nearby. Her eyes narrowed and she flitted her gaze back and forth over the throng in an attempt to localize it. 'Here we go,' she thought. Luna poked her head up from the bag she was concealed in. "Anything, Amy?" "Nothing concrete," she replied. She tapped a couple of times on her palmtop and frowned. "So far there's no indication of Negaverse activity, but I'm picking up several anomalous readings. Including one that's --" "Just about on top of you?" Amy whirled about to confront the voice from behind her and gasped. Luna found herself similarly stunned. The girl who had spoken to them was dressed differently from Amy, but was in all other respects identical to her. "You're computer is picking up me and my computer as well." She gestured with her own palmtop, which Amy saw was identical to her own. "Who are you?" Amy asked as soon as she found her voice. "I'm you. Almost a year older, but you nevertheless. You can confirm that with a scan." She paused while Amy started the scanning process, examining both her double and the computer she held. "The reason you're not picking any Negaverse activity is because they've screened themselves behind an illusion field." "How do you know?" Luna asked. "Because I've lived this day before Luna. That's why I'm here -- to make sure it doesn't go wrong again." Before Luna could ask any more questions, there was a beep from Amy's computer. "She is me," Amy stated. "Allowing for nine months of growth, she is in every other respect identical... even down to the DNA. And her computer is exactly the same as mine." "Of course," her double replied. "I'm you, just a little older." She gestured, indicating the direction Raye and Serena had gone. "Now come on. I'm going to need your help when the trouble starts." She started, and Amy followed her after a moment. She ran for a second to catch up. "What do you mean about trouble?" "Luna was right about this being a Negaverse operation," her older self explained. "But it's not quite a standard energy gathering operation. It's a trap as well. And if we're not careful, Sailor Moon is going to be killed... again." O'Brien stared down at the concession booth, fingering his phaser rifle. All looked normal as far as he could tell, but his tricorder was giving indications that *something* was up. Suddenly the illusion field surrounding it collapsed, and O'Brien could see the chaos that was unfolding below. People were scrambling to their feet and starting to flee in panic, while the youma (Rybite was it's name, the Chief recalled) was standing on the counter. "I don't believe it," O'Brien muttered as he gawked at it. "It *does* look like a Cardie." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Then several motions at the edge of his vision caught his eye. "What the hell...?" Both Amy's saw the commotion starting in the distance. "Oh, hell," the Amy from the future exclaimed much to her counterpart's consternation. "It's already starting." "Then we better get moving," Luna said. The black cat was trying her best to conceal it, but she had been badly shaken by the other Amy's tale of what had happened in her past during the next few minutes. "You two have got to find that shapeshifter." "I wonder if it could have been that dog," Amy mused as they hurried. "No, that was Odo. He's on our side," her double explained. "He --" A beeping sounded from her computer, accompanied by similar beeping from Amy's. "Oh, no. They're here," she muttered as she examined the readings. She tapped a medallion she wore just over her left breast. "Mizuno to Sisko. I've just detected..." "We see it," a deep voice responded from the medallion. "Get back here at once." Amy nodded to herself as she led her counterpart along. Phase three had begun. O'Brien watched from his vantage point as three very familiar and armed shapes shimmered into view on the outskirts of the panicking crowd. "That's all we bloody well need," he muttered darkly. "Jem'Hadar!" Next time: The battle for the future of two universes is on! The combined forces of the Defiant's crew and the Sailor Scouts up against the Jem'Hadar. And the Changeling is sure to be somewhere nearby. Be here next time for the finale in Chapter 7. Note: Odo was imitating a schipperke (pronounce "skipper key"), which is a Belgium breed of dog. The reason I picked this breed as opposed to a more common one is because my brother has one. Why not?