Cerulean Stars - Chapter 70

Cerulean Stars - Chapter 70

Stardate 48220.6 - March 22, 2371 - 12:27:00

Benjamin Sisko hadn't been sure what they would find upon landing, his theories had ranged from a hopeful 'telepathic first contact with a friendly species’ to the pessimistic 'three dead senior officers and no idea what happened’.

What he hadn't expected was his normal dour Chief of Station Security acting like Jake after a dabo girl gave him a pretty smile, his head of Sector Security out cold after mind melding with an ocean sized hive mind, and his normally rock steady second in command so completely lost that she had nearly hugged Doctor Bashir.

“Well, Doctor?” He inquired as the man closed up the medical tricorder he had been running over their erstwhile Lieutenant Commander.

“Sleeping off what looks like a rather severe case of sensory overload.” Bashir put forward with an almost amused look down at the Asari. “Reminds me a bit of when we learned about lysergic acid diethylamide in Starfleet Medical Academy.”

Sisko wracked his memory, trying to figure out why that chemical name sounded so familiar before turning a bemused look to the unconscious blue woman on the shuttle's floor.

“Are you saying she was having a psychedelic experience?”

“Something that caused somewhat similar brain responses at the very least.” Bashir agreed with a nod. “If I were to guess from what I've read about mind-melds, I'd say there were just too many minds in this Great Link for her own mind to handle.”

“That's pretty much what Iris suggested.” Kira confirmed. “Though she wasn't nearly so pleasant in her thoughts of what that might mean for Brooks.”

“That would be the woman the Great Link put forward as its spokesbeing?” Sisko asked, something about this whole situation just rubbing him wrong.

“That's what Brooks called her before passing out at least.” Kira offered with a shrug as Sisko let out a sigh, fully aware that Brooks had been known to give beings names of her own recognizance.

“And what did Odo say when you called her that?” Sisko pressed, the Security Chief having been almost entirely focused on trying to figure out what it meant to ‘be’ a bird during the brief conversation they had had with him after landing.

“He said she felt more gray than purple.” Kira confessed with a shrug that suggested she didn't get it either.

“It may have been a mental interpretation. “ Bashir said in an intrigued tone. “So what Odo's mind associated with gray, Brooks mind associated with purple.”

“That would certainly explain why she said blue was the best color.” Kira mused with a wry grin.

Sisko really wished he had more to go on at this point given how delicate encounters like this could be, but the female changeling had disappeared before they had arrived, and when questioned about it neither Odo nor Kira had seemed to know when she might return. Which just left…

“Would it be safe to wake her up?” Sisko inquired as he returned his gaze to where Doctor Bashir was crouching next to Brooks.

“I can give her something to stabilize her neurotransmitter levels.” Bashir returned as he removed a hypospray from his medical kit and began adjusting the dispenser settings. “At that point two cc’s of dalaphaline should be enough to bring her back around.”

“Do it.” Sisko ordered.

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Raine woke feeling slightly fuzzy headed from an odd dream involving her attempting to direct an all Vorta reproduction of The History of the World, to see the concerned face of Doctor Bashir staring down at her as Commander Sisko and Major Kira stood slightly off to the side in the recognizable interior of their type-9 shuttlecraft.

“Are you back with us, Brooks?” Bashir inquired as he held up his index finger and waved it back and forth across Raine's vision.

“I feel like I just woke up from a wild night on Risa.” Raine confessed awkwardly, not sure how else to describe the odd series of feelings.

“The fun nightclub parts, not the relaxing health spa parts.” She clarified upon seeing Sisko and Bashir exchange an uncertain glance.

“I've never been to either.” Kira offered with an apologetic shrug, reminding the Asari once again that she really needed to try and get the Bajoran woman to go out and see the universe a little.

“So, is it safe for me to sit up?” Raine prodded Bashir, experience with hangovers and the like having taught her that sometimes it was in fact not.

“Oh!” Bashir exclaimed with an embarrassed flush. “Yes, I don’t see why not.”

“Great.” Raine returned, pulling herself up into a sitting position before massaging her fins to try and get the pinched feeling from laying on them funny out.

“So what did I miss?” She tried lamely, looking to Sisko and really hoping he wouldn’t be mad about her skipping to the back end of the first contact booklet’s permissible options.

“We’ll save the full debriefing for later, Commander.” Sisko returned, giving the Asari an unamused stare. “But for now, what are we looking at?”

That… Wasn’t really an easy question for Raine to answer given she still wasn’t entirely sure what she had experienced when melding with the Great Link. And even if she had been, trying to put a lot of what she experienced into words would be like trying to explain color to a blind man.

“Purple wants control.” Raine finally began, not sure how much sense this would make to them. “Green doesn’t trust. Yellow is happy/sad. Orange wants to be things. Red’s driven to do. And Blue wants to know.”

“Also they both are and aren't the Founders of the Dominion.” She added in, because even though purple and green had tried to mute that intrinsic part of their identity, the rest hadn't.

A number of conflicted emotions flashed across Sisko's face at her pronouncement before settling on an almost tired resignation.

“This is one of those Telepathy 101 things, isn't it?”

Raine made a so-so motion with one of her hands.

“Okay.” She went on, trying to figure out a better way to explain it. “Think of it like this, there are a bunch of different Changelings in the Great Link, and each one of those Changelings is a different color. But all those different colors are arranged into six primary colors, only instead of colors we're actually talking about ways the various changeling’s personality aspects lean.”

“And the female changeling from earlier was purple.” Kira put forward, seeming to at least somewhat get her explanation.

“Exactly.” Raine confirmed with a happy smile. “Purple and Green are the biggest, but not by a lot. Yellow and Orange are close behind them, but mostly go along with Purple and Green. While Red and Blue are the smallest, with them both basically being all over the place.”

“It's funny.” She continued with an amused laugh as a thought hit her. “They think Odo is Purple, but I'd bet ten bars of latinum that he's really Red.”

“Just to be sure.” Sisko began after seeming to take a moment to digest what Raine had said. “This isn't a Locutus of Borg situation, right?”

“No.” Raine immediately reassured the man, knowing how traumatic that associate likely was for him. “They're more like the Medusans. Only, a lot less friendly to anyone who can't connect with them on the same level.”

“Which is why you tried to mind-meld with them.” Sisko muttered in a tone that suggested he finally had an answer to a question that had been bothering him.

“Yes.” Raine agreed with a nod, glad he understood, only to let out a sigh at the knowledge that it likely hadn't worked. “But I think only Blue was really excited about me pulling it off.”

“Quite an astute observation for a solid.” The female changeling offered as she walked up the shuttle's ramp.

“Iris.” Raine greeted, waving glibly from her position sitting on the shuttle's floor.

That wasn't actually that specific female changelings name as for a Raine knew, but it was the color impression the Asari had felt in reference to the Changeling in question. And well, if the Changeling in question didn't like it, she could tell them what she actually wanted to be called.

“This would have been so much simpler if you had failed.” Iris idly mused as she looked down at Raine before turning her gaze to the now defensibly positioned Commander Sisko.

“Commander.” She acknowledged with a slight tilt of her head. “With your ship hidden in orbit it seems we are at what I believe your people would call a problematic stalemate.”

Huh, Raine mused to herself, guess she owed T'Rel that bottle of Saurian brandy, because the Romulan engineers modifications must have actually been effective if the Defiant was able to make it into orbit.

“I suppose you could look at it that way.” Sisko returned, noticeably relaxing now that he knew the Changeling was here to talk. “But I prefer to see it as giving our two peoples a chance to have a proper conversation.”

“There is no conversation to have.” The female changeling returned with a bemused shake of her head. “Amusing as young Brooks’s efforts may have been to some in the Great Link, they have not overly affected what we know needs to be done.”

“And that would be?” Odo asked from behind her.

“Help them of course.” The female changeling answered, disregarding Sisko and turning to give Odo a mild smile. “Many years ago we set ourselves the task of imposing order on a chaotic universe. Oh, the things the Solids would get up too without our guiding hand.”

“Is New Bajor what the Dominion calls a guiding hand?” Kira interjected with a glare towards the female changelings back. “Because I call it murder.”

“What you call it is no concern of ours.” The female changeling responded with a glance over her shoulder to the Bajoran woman.

“You’re the Founders.” Odo muttered, looking at the female changeling as several facts seemed to slot themselves together in his head. “But why… How do you justify the deaths of so many people?”

“The Solids have always been a threat to us.” The female changeling answered, giving Odo a pitying look that suggested he would understand some day. “That's the only justification we need.”

“Under that logic we’d be justified in having the Defiant vaporize every changeling on the planet.” Raine pointed out, pulling herself back to her feet so she could better look the Changeling in the eye. “But that’s not what Starfleet or the Federation does.”

“In fact.” She continued after a momentary dramatic pause. “We’re the people who go around trying to stop others from doing things like that.”

“Which at best makes you a rare exception in an uncaring galaxy.” The female changeling shot back in a tone that suggested to Raine that she didn’t particularly believe they were.

“It’s true.” Odo confirmed, glancing across each of the Starfleet officers with a look of grudging respect on his face. “They travel the galaxy in order to get to know others and expand their knowledge, just as you once did.”

“But in the end they are not truly like us.” The female changeling said to Odo in a pitying tone, and Raine could tell from the tired resignation that settled onto his face that that was the moment she lost him. For as much as Odo might complain, anyone that actually knew him would know he had an almost Federation-like respect for others.

“No, I suppose they're not.” Odo told her. “But then, neither am I. Because I've devoted my life to the pursuit of justice, but justice means nothing to you, does it?”

“It's not justice you desire, Odo, but order.” The female changeling patiently tried to explain as she set a consoling hand on Odo’s shoulder. “The same as we do. And we can help you satisfy that desire in ways the Solids never could. This will all become clear to you once you've taken your place in the Great Link.”

It wasn’t, and it wouldn’t Raine knew. That just wasn’t the type of person Odo was. But the Asari wasn’t going to interrupt the female changeling when she was making such an obvious mistake. 

“No.” Odo refused, shrugging off the female changeling's hand. “I admit the idea of the Great Link is appealing. But experience has taught me I can’t just stick my head in the sand and ignore what else is going on in the galaxy. And that’s really what you’re asking me to do by staying here.”

“I see.” The female changeling said sadly before turning to Sisko. “Commander, you and your people are free to leave our space. The Jem’Hadar will not stop you. However, be aware that the next time, I promise you, we will not be so generous.”

“And Odo.” She continued as she stepped out of the shuttle. “Know that when the day eventually comes, we will welcome your return.”

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Author’s Notes: Some things end not with a bang, but with a whimper. Though the full after action report of this is sure to be interesting.

Also, the next chapter of this is likely to be Monday, because I have a busy weekend planned.