ACT ONE

FADE IN

4 EXT. DEEP SPACE NINE

A new morning... 

5 INT. DS9 - COMMANDER’S OFFICE

Ro HUGS Etana in excitement. 

RO
Congratulations! Of course I’ll be
in your wedding. But, ah... what
does “give you away” mean?

ETANA
Oh, that’s a human thing. We’re
going to do a mostly traditional
Bajoran wedding, but I am marrying
a human, so she gets to have some
things her way too. It just means
you have to hand me over to her.

RO
What, like - I don’t own you
anymore, now she owns you? 

ETANA
Basically.

RO
Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever
understand humans.

Ro turns away, hiding an expression on her face. 

ETANA
...What? I know that face. There’s
something you’re not saying. 

RO
It’s nothing. I’m just happy for
you, that’s all.

ETANA
Laren, I thought we were friends.
Say it, for Prophets’ sake. 

RO
Okay, but don’t hate me. I’m just
worried that you’re doing this for
the wrong reasons. 

ETANA
Like what? 

RO
Like because there’s a real-life
apocalypse bearing down on us. 

ETANA
We talked about that. Spent most
of the night talking about it, in
fact. But we’re not doing it just
because we might all die soon.
We would have got married
eventually anyway - we just
didn’t want to miss our chance.

RO
Then I’d be honoured to “give you
away”, Kol. Besides, a big party
might be just what the station
needs right now. 

6 INT. DS9 - INFIRMARY

BASHIR regards Richter with delighted surprise. 

BASHIR
Kristen, I’d be delighted! But...
shouldn’t your parents be the
ones to give you away? 

RICHTER
Well, they would. But given that
they live back on Proxima, and
that’s a good two weeks away... I
mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not
saying you’re my second choice - 

BASHIR
Kristen! I’m privileged to be any
kind of choice at all. Although I
was already feeling my age, and
me acting as your father figure
doesn’t exactly help with that...

RICHTER
Then don’t think of yourself as my
father. You can be my cool younger
uncle, or a fun boss, or - 

BASHIR
Please stop, I’m begging you. I
appreciate the honour. So you’re
having the ceremony straight away? 

RICHTER
No time to waste, not to put
too fine a point on it. 

7 INT. DS9 - CANDLEWOOD’S QUARTERS

HETIK is making the bed in the morning. CANDLEWOOD shouts from off screen, his voice muffled as if mid-ablutions. 

CANDLEWOOD (o.s.)
So I promised Nog I’d go through
these readings the Aventine sent
in with him. This isn’t exactly the
most science-heavy post in the
fleet. I should take the chance
to strut my stuff while I can. 

HETIK
Sounds like a good idea. 

Hetik pauses and looks at the freshly made bed, as if seeing it for the first time. He turns and looks around at his boyfriend’s quarters - the books, the computers, the picture frame of the two of them, the mezuzah by the door. 

When Candlewood comes out of the bathroom, he finds Hetik sitting on the bed and waiting for him. 

CANDLEWOOD
Uh-oh. That’s serious face. 

HETIK
I was just thinking about how I do
this every morning. Tidying up the
place like it’s my own quarters. 

CANDLEWOOD
Well, you do spend practically
every night here. You’re just
being a polite house guest. An
admirable quality in a man. 

HETIK
What if I were more than just a
house guest? What if... what if
these were my quarters too? 

CANDLEWOOD
(taken aback)
You want to move in with me? Why?

HETIK
Because I love you, stupid. 

Candlewood’s confused amazement turns to bashful joy. 

HETIK
What do you think? 

CANDLEWOOD
I mean, we’d have to figure out
the logistics, find somewhere to
put your prayer mandala, but your
work clothes don’t exactly take
up a lot of space in my closet... 

HETIK
(laughs)
So is that a yes? 

CANDLEWOOD
I’ve... never actually lived with any-
one. Even my Academy roommate
seemed to find any excuse to be
out. And I kinda want you to keep
liking me. So let’s talk about it
tonight, after work? 

Hetik nods his agreement. After a quick kiss, Candlewood bounces back towards the bathroom, doing the “I am so awesome” dance and singing along tunelessly... 

CANDLEWOOD
I’ve got a boyfriend, he wants to
live with me, I am so awesome... 

Hetik chuckles, glad that that went as well as it did. 

8 INT. DS9 - QUARK’S BAR

QUARK brandishes a padd in Ro’s face, as the morning set-up goes on around them. 

QUARK
What the frinx is this, Laren? I
host the weddings around here.

RO
Etana wanted a traditional Bajoran
ceremony, Quark. It’s going to be
in the shrine, and Kira’s going to
officiate. Besides, you should be
glad - seven hours is no time to
pull a wedding together.

QUARK
Laren... this is all I can do.

RO
Look further down the list. 

Quark pauses, reads the padd further. Then he sees what she wanted him to see. He keeps a dignified air, not wanting to seem relieved. Ro sees right through him. 

QUARK
Well, okay then. You’d just better
get ready for the best afterparty
this station has ever seen.

RO
Are you sure? It’s not much time. 

QUARK
Are you doubting my last-minute
catering skills? 

RO
Perish the thought.

QUARK
(faux casual)
Heard anything from Dax?

RO
We heard from her this morning. 

Ro wills him not to ask any further - some things she can’t tell him. He understands. But at least Dax is still alive.

QUARK
Okay. Good to know. 
(re padd)
I’ll get to work on this. 

He walks away to get to work. Ro watches him go. 

9 INT. SUBSPACE TUNNEL

USS Aventine shoots through the blue-white vortex of energy, moving comparatively smoothly.

10 INT. AVENTINE - BRIDGE

Captain EZRI DAX instinctively grabs the armrests of her command chair as she watches the pulses of blue-white energy zoom past on the gigantic main viewscreen. They have no idea where they’re going, or where they will end up.

Suddenly the curtain of blue-white BREAKS OPEN on the screen and normal space appears beyond... 

11 EXT. SPACE

The subspace tunnel SPITS the Vesta-class ship out into space, the rip in space-time sealing itself up behind.

12 INT. AVENTINE - BRIDGE

The ship SHUDDERS around them as they slam back to normal speed from the impossible speeds of the subspace tunnel. Dax catches her breath and forces her hands to let go. 

DAX
Confirm position. 

The current helm officer, MAVROIDIS (Ullian female) works her consoles, and reads the results.

MAVROIDIS
Delta Quadrant, between the
Perseus and Carina arms. 

First officer SAM BOWERS leans forward in his chair. 

BOWERS
Distance from the Azure Nebula? 

MAVROIDIS
Sixty-four thousand, five hundred
and ninety-two light years.

Restless, Dax gets up and approaches the science station, where HELKARA (Zakdorn male) works with singular focus.

DAX
Gruhn - what’s the word on the
subspace tunnel? Do both ends
open to the same frequency? 

HELKARA
Negative. It seems to need a
unique frequency pulse for each
aperture. That’ll likely be true
for all the tunnels. 

BOWERS
Any sign of the Borg out there?
This is the Delta Quadrant... 

KEDAIR (Takaran female) replies from the tactical console. 

KEDAIR
Also negative. But we’re picking
up a massive debris field bearing
three-three-one mark one-five.
Lots of refined metals - duranium,
rodinium, terminium, and semi-
rigid poly-duranide. 

DAX
Enough mass to suggest a starship? 

KEDAIR
More like a thousand starships.
It’s an entire ring of pulverised
metal orbiting the nearest star. 

DAX
Range? 

KEDAIR
Just under a light year. 

MAVROIDIS
At top speed, we could reach the
ring in about an hour. 

BOWERS
I don’t think we can afford the
distraction. We should hold station
while Commander Helkara works
out the aperture frequency for
the return trip.

HELKARA
Don’t hang around on my account.
This’ll take a few hours at least. 

Decision made, Dax returns to her command chair. 

DAX
Mavroidis, set a course for the
debris field. I want to check it out. 

BOWERS
(leans in, quiet)
Captain, if something did destroy
thousands of ships, are they
really somebody we want to
meet right now? 

DAX
Depends whose side they’re on.
Still, a little caution never hurts.
Kedair, scan the region for
subspace radio activity or
any other artificial signals. 

KEDAIR
Aye, Captain.

MAVROIDIS
Course laid in, Captain. 

KEDAIR
No short-range signal activity,
Captain. Minimal subspace radio
traffic at long range. No sign of
transwarp signatures or other
vessels. 

DAX
Glad to hear it. Helm, engage. 

Mavroidis works her helm controls... 

13 EXT. SPACE

...and the Aventine ramps up to warp, jumping away into the distance. 

FADE OUT

END OF ACT ONE