Path: news2.delphi.com!news.delphi.com!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!zip.eecs.umich.edu!caen!msunews!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!nntp.brisnet.org.au!softtech!au!org!brisnet!closer!willi From: William.Gracie@closer.brisnet.org.au (William Gracie) Date: 08 Jan 95 20:12:04 Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: DS9 story (shadow arc-(1)): Doorway (Kira) Message-ID: X-FTN-To: All Organization: Soft-Tech +61-7-869-1131 Lines: 132 DOORWAY by Raymond N. Cooper It took Major Kira Nerys twenty five minutes to get ready for duty. She threw off her bedclothes, dived into the sonic shower, dressed quickly, and headed for the nearest turbolift while eating breakfast. The turbolift door was open, several Bajoran children were waiting in it. They waited until she was right up close to the door, then they let it shut. "Kira to Ops, commander, those kids have delayed me again." "Why don't you try getting to work early for a change instead of getting here on time?" the commander asked. Kira could imagine the smile on his face. Finally, the lift doors opened again. Inside was a human female of about seventeen years of age, with brown hair, dressed in a red Starfleet uniform. Must be scraping the bottom of the barrel, Kira thought as she entered. I didn't know Starfleet was recruiting so young. The girl smiled at Kira, who gave a sarcastic smile in return, designed to give the receiver a warning. The girl didn't take it. "Well, hello there Major Kira!" the girl said brightly. "Do you mind if I call you Nerys? Of course you don't, I can get away with anything. Not much you can do about it is there?" Kira stood, speechless. This brat was calling her by her first name - that was real arrogance. "In case you're wondering, I have good reason to be arrogant. And, anyway, it depends on your point of view. I knew someone who once said, `Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to in life depend greatly on our point of view.' He was wise, that old jerk. He was dead when he said it, though. Sounds right, doesn't it, Ben?" The girl cocked her head to one side, as if listening to someone. Kira couldn't help trying to listen herself. "This makes a good change, I suppose, even if I am here for a reason. You'd love where I come from - there's lots and lots of Borg, that sort of thing." The turbolift arrived at Ops. Kira exited, wondering how the girl could have security clearance to this area - she couldn't be in Starfleet! No one else seemed to notice the extra passenger at all. "Good morning, Major," Chief of Operations, Miles O'Brien greeted her cheerfully, then moved around her, not laying eyes on the girl. "Kira, I'd like to see you in my office," a voice from above her said. Looking up, the Major could see a dark skinned man standing over her. "Yes, commander." As she climbed the steps to the office, she remembered the old Cardassian Prefect of Bajor, Gul Dukat, and his treatment of her in his office. Once upon a time, long ago. Involuntarily, she shivered. Once inside his office, Sisko offered the Major a seat. He paced around the office, staring out at the stars. Finally, he sat. His entire body said he didn't want to say this at all. Maybe just because who he had to talk to was Kira, maybe because it was such a sore point. "Major, I have need of your services," Sisko muttered in Kira's direction. "Recently, we discovered a form of energy radiating from somewhere near here. About twenty kilometres, that is." Mentally, Kira converted the distance into Bajoran terms. Not far, she concluded, giving up. "This form of energy has only been detected once before." "But you just said it had just been discovered -" Kira broke off, realising Sisko was just about to tell her what he had meant. "Exactly. The form we are tracking here seems to be vastly different to that which I've encountered before. This ... has different delta and omicron wavelengths. Dax assures me that that means the difference is purely perceptional. I wouldn't know, personally. But I trust Dax. "The last time I found energy like this was at Wolf 359, just before the Saratoga was destroyed." Sisko felt a pang of loss again, even though it had been six years since the battle, since he lost Jennifer, and it still hurt. "I have informed Starfleet command, and they want me to look into it as long as the energy is here. A science vessel of Vulcans is being returned from the Gamma Quadrant. Until then, it's just going to be me, you, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir and Odo. No one else can be spared." "I didn't think you could spare O'Brien. He seems to be doing some good around here for the first time in a long time." Kira's smile was sugar, but her voice was acid. Sisko inwardly groaned. This wasn't going well. He had to order his second in command around. Again. It seemed to be the only way of getting Kira to do something. Maybe one day... wishful thinking. "You are going to have some leave, Major." "I don't want any...!" Kira wasn't stupid; she thought she knew what Sisko wanted her to do. "You have two weeks on the surface of Bajor. Make the most of it." Kira was right. Sisko wanted her to take time to talk to her connections. Two could play at that game. "I don't understand, commander. What do you want me to do? There's no one there for me." "The Vedeks have reported a contact - they call it communion with the Prophets - with a higher being. This could be related to this energy. I want you to use your contacts in the Provisional Government and the Kai - even Bareil, if it'll get you anywhere -" Sisko smiled wickedly, "but find out what they say. No one will talk to me. Not being Bajoran doesn't help when you ask them about the possibility of talking to your Gods." 'The next thing', Kira thought sourly, 'is that he'll order me to go...' "You will take some time off, Major. This is all off the records. I don't want to hear about it until you get back - unless you hear something substantial." He picked up a padd from his desk. "Define substantial." Sisko threw the padd at the Bajoran. Kira ducked out of the room, and headed for the turbolift. "Major, I wouldn't use that," O'Brien called. "We've been having trouble with it today. Strange energy and all that. I think the commander just told you about it." "Oh, we talked, Chief." O'Brien smiled. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Major." "Don't count on it," Kira muttered. The girl stepped in the Major's way. "I can't protect you if you go in there." Something in the girl's voice chilled Kira to the heart of her pah. She stopped. "What?" "They'll get you if you in there." That was it. Kira pushed the girl out of her way, and stalked into the lift. The girl followed. "I might not be able to protect you, but I can accompany you." The lift slid down into the main structure of the station, heading for the Promenade. The terminal was near Quark's, Kira needed a drink before even thinking of leaving. She also had to find out if Quark knew anything more than the commander did. The Ferengi barkeep often did. It wasn't that hard. The turbolift stopped at the Promenade. Rubble lay everywhere, pylons had smashed down from the ceiling, pipes had ruptured in the floor, wires hung out of the walls. And dead bodies lay on the floor. Julian Bashir, the station's doctor, moved among the bodies, trying to help where he could. He gave painless deaths to some, others he had moved to Quark's. Kira ran out to him lightly. "What happened, doctor?" The devestation was a little too much for her. "We've been moving the injured here." Bashir moved to another patient, then another patient. A thought struck him. "Why aren't you fighting?" "Fighting?" The girl next to Kira filled in the details. Path: news1.delphi.com!news.delphi.com!news2.near.net!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!uhog.mit.edu!news.mtholyoke.edu!hopper.acm.org!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uwm.edu!msunews!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!nntp.brisnet.org.au!so From: William.Gracie@closer.brisnet.org.au (William Gracie) Date: 09 Jan 95 11:44:44 Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: DS9 story (shadow arc) Doorway (pt 2) Message-ID: X-FTN-To: All Organization: Soft-Tech +61-7-869-1131 Lines: 137 DOORWAY (part II) by Raymond N. Cooper "The Borg have attacked DS9. This is a part of your future. You're seeing parts of your life that haven't even happened yet. This is an alternate world. This one is your future. You're being here will alter the rest of your future - in this world - in some way." "I don't believe this... I must have been drugged and dragged into one of Quark's holosuites. Either that, or this is some play acting." Kira stomped off to Quark's. The little Ferengi was hunched over even more than usual. Looking closer, Kira could see that was because his lower left arm had been reduced to a bloody stump. "Profits," he was muttering, "I thought there might actually be something to this station, even before the wormhole opened. Even the Grand Nagus told me there was. But he's dead now. Every one on Fereng is. No one's alive, everyone's dead." He looked up at Kira, and jumped backwards. "But you're dead, too! You saved my life. You're dead! I saw! And Nog and Rom, there's no hope for them. But you saved them. "YOU'RE DEAD!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Kira said, "What do you mean, I'm dead?" Bashir entered behind her, bringing in the last of the wounded. He placed the person down - Morn, Kira noted - then pulled a phaser out on her. "I'm sorry about this, who ever you are, but you're under arrest. Impersonating a senior officer is a Starfleet offense. Odo, take her." A quivering orange blob on the floor bubbled almost menacingly. "This is Odo? What happened? Is he resting or something?" Kira asked. "No, the Borg got him, did something to him. And now he can't change. My God, I'm forgetting things, I can't do this, I never will be able to..." Bashir nearly burst into tears. Kira had never seen him like this: he had blood running down his face and hands, some his, some not; his hair stood at right angles to the rest of his body; his uniform, usually so immaculate, now hung ripped and dirty off his shoulders. And his body...! His once strong, relatively well-toned and strong body was now wasted, gaunt, empty. He hardly filled his uniform. His hands were thin, his eyes pale, all the sparkle of life gone from them. Even his caramel coloured skin had faded considerably. Kira took the phaser from the doctor's hands almost gently, then helped him into a chair. Moving to grab herself a chair, she stole a glance at Quark, who had bustled off somewhere. He was making up drinks. Seeing her curious gaze, he said, "Customers'll be here soon. Don't want to disappoint!" The Bajoran woman turned back to Bashir. The girl materialized next to Kira. "What's going on?" the Major asked, confused and fustrated. The girl paused a while, then answered. "The Borg have invaded from the Gamma Quadrant. What's happened to the Dominion is anyone's guess. I know, but I'm not telling. Virtually everyone who is able to is fighting the Borg. They want assimilants, and they need them desperately. They've dispatched a small scout cube to Bajor, and the Federation and the Cardassian Union have banded together to fight them. The Borg don't want to destory this station, as it can be used as an advance base into the Alpha Quadrant, for when they're ready to invade here again. You... that is, the Major Kira Nerys that resides here, was supposedly killed about an hour ago. Your Bajoran body, however, is more resiliant than a humans, and your doctor thought that you had... passed on." Bashir's head flicked up. "You mean she isn't dead?" "Not yet," the girl answered softly. "You can still save her, and get her gratitude..." Bashir hurried off, new life in his body. It seemed to Kira that it swelled with new purpose. Perhaps it did. Kira was seeing things differently. "What's wrong with him?" she asked, turning back to the girl. "His mind is only just clinging to sanity. He has had command thrown on him, the commander having had the nerve to die in the first volleys between the opposing forces. Julian has been working non stop for three days, on and off in thirteen hour shifts, including doubles, for the last six." "He can't last much longer," Kira murmured. "I'll help him. I've got to do something. I can't just sit here and wait for the Borg. I should be out there, fighting, as he said earlier. I should -" "Do that, and you'll die. You can die here, just as easily as you could in your own reality. Here, you saved the Ferengi. Rom and Nog are running around avoiding the Borg, making their way to a ship. They'll launch as soon as there is some kind of break in the fighting. Your friend is going to try to save your life. The least you can do is try to help him do it!" Kira got up from her chair, and moved over to Bashir. He was busy opening 'Kira's' uniform, trying to hear if she had a heartbeat. There was no pulse in her neck, nor her wrist. This was a last resort. He took a deep breath, and placed his ear on 'Kira's' left breast. "I hope you don't mind," he whispered, almost to himself. "I'm sure I don't," Kira muttered back at him. Then she softened. "Can she be saved?" "I can't hear a heartbeat, nor find a pulse. There's no pupil dillation, no observable respiration, even the tricorder can't find a thing. There could be mental activity, but... with the Infirmary on the other side of the Borg lines, I can't tell." Kira pushed him gently away from her otherworld counterpart, and reached a hand around under the left arm. She pushed in slightly, until she could feel the artery. There was a soft pump, a long pause, then another. 'Kira' was still alive; at least, for the moment. She looked up at Julian. "I think I can get you to the Infirmary. Do you think you can carry... her?" The doctor nodded. "Good, I'll lead you. We'll make it," she added, more for her own benefit than Bashir's. Bashir bent, picked up 'Kira's' body, and followed Kira when she left the room. Quark called out, "If you see my customers, tell them drinks are on the house!" It was a desperate move, Quark reflected. They had probably found another bar. He had to get them back. The girl in the Starfleet uniform turned. She knew a Borg was getting closer. She knew that Quark had only minutes to live. She gave him one last wish: with a wave of her hand, the dead rose, temporarily restored to life. Quark moved about them busily, handing out drinks, giving advice, and the customers were paying heaps for it. Quark had his customers, and he had his money. He was happy. He looked up at the girl. "Do you want a drink?" he asked. The girl looked down at his arm. That was something she could do something about. It became whole. "No, thank you Quark. Be... happy. Live long and prosper." She turned and ran, not wanting to see the cheerful Ferengi die. "I will!" Quark called after her. Please note that, while some of the characters may be copyrighted to Paramount, Sasha Wren and the events portrayed in this story are copyrighted (c) to Raymond N. Cooper. This story may be sent around the world or even to the Gamma Quadrant for all I care, as long as it is not copied without my name, address, and copyright stuff. If you would like to write to me (and I can't see why), my address is: R. N. Cooper 17 Belton Court BEERWAH QLD 4519 Australia (You know, that country nearly the size of the USA?) Path: news1.delphi.com!news.delphi.com!news2.near.net!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!uhog.mit.edu!news.mtholyoke.edu!hopper.acm.org!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uwm.edu!msunews!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!nntp.brisnet.org.au!so From: William.Gracie@closer.brisnet.org.au (William Gracie) Date: 09 Jan 95 11:45:42 Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative Subject: DS9 story (shadow arc) Doorway (pt 3) Message-ID: Organization: Soft-Tech +61-7-869-1131 Lines: 141 DOORWAY (part III) by Raymond N. Cooper Meanwhile, Kira was leading Bashir through the littered sections of the Promenade. Bashir was staring at Kira's back, and something clicked. "You look just like Kira... but I've got Kira on my shoulder," he said finally. "I'm... her twin sister," the Bajoran muttered back at him. "Oh." That was one mystery solved. A Borg stepped out of a door. "Halt," it said, raising some kind of gun arm. Kira raised the phaser she'd taken off Bashir, and blasted it down. She quickly changed the frequency to 556.9 megahertz. "That's been used already, they'll have adapted to it," Bashir said over her shoulder. Kira changed the frequency, until Bashir was happy with it. They reached the Infirmary without further interuption. Bashir dumped 'Kira' down on a bed, while Kira waited just inside the door. When she turned around, she saw the girl standing next to the bed. "They'll get out, the girl said quietly. Your future has been assured, but the people who brought you here have what they were after. I think you'll go back now." "I don't want to go back yet! I've been dragged here, forced to take part in events that haven't happened yet, and now I want to see how it all ends. "I'm staying." "You won't have a choice," the girl grumbled. Bashir hooked up some piece of medical apparatus that Kira had never seen before. He attached electrodes to 'Kira's' head, then slid in a data disk. The machine hummed while Bashir apologised. "I'm sorry, but your twin may die. This machine had only just been developed when the Borg attacked. It hadn't been tested in the field - in fact, it was brought up from Bajor the day before the Borg arrived for testing." "What does it do?" Kira asked, understanding correctly that the implied connection to Bajor was the fact that it had been designed there. "It rebuilds the body from DNA and RNA disks. It virtually recreates a new body, and regenerates the mind. Sort of like a computer undeleting files, that sort of thing. The body could be compared to... a new version of software, or perhaps a new version of a weapon?" The machine stopped its work. "She'll need time to recover, I'm afraid. The device can't induce consciousness." Bashir checked all the connections, busying himself in the machine, while Kira paced the room, knowing that at any moment - if the girl was right - she could disappear from this world. 'Kira' moaned on the bed, and turned her head. "Consciousness is returning! She's coming out of it!" "Does this mean she'll be alright?" Kira asked, mystified. Bashir nodded so hard, Kira thought his head might fall off if he wasn't careful. "She'll recover bit by bit. Then you'll be able to talk to her." Kira kissed Bashir, happy that this version of herself would live. Then she immediately regretted it. "Don't worry, I'll have your sister up and about in no time," he mumbled, blushing. He still had his innocence, Kira reflected, or what passed for it. Then, the world began to disappear. Slowly at first, then with ever increasing speed, the world turned blue. When the blue faded, Kira found herself in the Infirmary. Bashir leant over her. "Don't worry," he said softly, "You've only had a slight accident. The turbolift disappeared. When it turned up back here, you were unconscious." "The girl," Kira murmured softly, "what happened to the girl?" "There was no girl in the lift with you." A frown troubled the young doctor's face. She had been muttering about a girl even while unconscious. She must have dreamed of something that made an impression on the Major. Sisko entered the room. "I want you to tell me all about it," he said in a low voice. He sat, listening, waiting for Kira to feel up to it enough to talk. "I think I communed with a Prophet..." Sisko's eyebrows shot up. "I got out of bed this morning, and..." Kira recounted the story. Sisko heard about the girl, about the Borg, about Bashir and 'Kira'. He heard about Sisko's death, and about the Cardassian/Federation alliance. She told Sisko everything. It was a kind of release. ****** On a planet far from Bajor, entities sat around a table. They were almost transparent, wore long robes, and had hard faces. <> one spoke. another replied. -Can you be certain?- *We will not have trouble. Begin with the next subject* Julian Bashir's face came up on a screen... ****** On the otherworld Deep Space Nine station, the Borg were being forced back. But she didn't care. For a non-corporeal being, seeing corporeal death was bad enough, but not being able to assist Quark to avoid his death... that hurt. Bad. She sat on the bar, looking down on the dead. Morn's sightless eyes stared up at her, accusing her of non-intervention. A single tear rolled down her cheek. There was one corner she had to force herself to look in. Quark lay there, a tray of smashed drinks near his outstretched arm, latinum pieces scattered around him. He died with a smile on his face. He died rich, all any Ferengi could hope for... Wiping her eyes, the girl got up. Somewhere, in her world, the Borg were killing innocents. She had to get back, but first... But first there were some descendants of hers that needed teaching a lesson. "Sasha Wren," she muttered, "This time, you're going to do something. No more friends of yours are going to die." With a flash of light, she disappeared. And the smile on Quark's face seemed all the more sinister. Not the End... This story begins off a series of short stories that ends up in one. The stories include all the major characters on DS9, and is set somewhere around the begining of season three. I haven't seen any yet, and I'm just going on what I can find on the Net, and what a friend tells me. The next story doesn't have a title as yet, but it's about Bashir. They are all listed here... (1) Doorway (2) The Twin Dilemma (3) Of Two Minds... (4) Repeat Performance (5) Shadow Defense (6) Dark Side Of The Force (7) In The Hands Of The Profits and the eighth story, Once More Unto The Breach. The characters are based loosely on their television counterparts, but Sasha Wren is from my own continuity, where the Federation lost the battle of Wolf 359, and I hope to post some of that story, too. Please note that, while some of the characters may be copyrighted to Paramount, Sasha Wren and the events portrayed in this story are copyrighted (c) to Raymond N. Cooper. This story may be sent around the world or even to the Gamma Quadrant for all I care, as long as it is not copied without my name, address, and copyright stuff. If you would like to write to me (and I can't see why), my address is: R. N. Cooper 17 Belton Court BEERWAH QLD 4519 Australia (You know, that country nearly the size of the USA?) Bye for now!