soton@aol.com (Soton)
Sailor Trek DS9 - Part 1
Standard Questionably Useful Disclaimer:


Sailor Moon and all related characters were created by Naoko Takeuchi;
and are copyright to Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, DIC and whoever else.


Star Trek Deep Space Nine was created by Rick Berman and Michael Pillar; 
and is owned and copyrighted by Paramount Pictures.
Based upon Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.


This story (such as it is) is MINE!!!
This fanfic is intended solely for entertainment purposes and no 
violation of said copyrights is intended or implied.  Permission granted 
to copy this to other web pages as long as this disclaimer is attached, 
and the text of the story is unmodified.


Timeline note: Takes place in the middle part of season four of "Star 
Trek: Deep Space Nine" (shortly after the episode "Paradise Lost"), and 
during season one of "Sailor Moon".



Prologue:

     Komentac'lan, the Jem'Hadar First for this attack ship, watched 
calmly as the Vorta, Fiden, glanced over the bridge, examining each 
station carefully.  He was confident that all was as it should be, but 
it was the role of the Vorta to command the Jem'Hadar.  This was as it 
should be, as it was ordained by the Founders.
     It was, after all, the order of things.
     And Fiden's excessive caution was warranted on this trip... 
considering who their passenger was.  The life of a Founder was not one 
to be trifled with.
     "What is our ETA to the nebula?" he asked of his Second, 
Boretkat'lyn.  As he understood it, they were to rendezvous with a 
freighter in the nebula and the Founder would transfer to it.  Where it 
would go after that he had no idea, nor was it his place to ask, but he 
supposed that it would be bound for the Alpha Quadrant.
     "We should get there within eighteen hours," Boretkat'lyn replied 
promptly.  Fiden nodded, apparently satisfied, but before he could add 
anything the ship trembled under them and the lights flickered 
momentarily.
     "Report!" snapped the First.
     "We seem to have encountered an unknown spatial phenomena," came 
the answer.  "One that affected all three ships of our group."
     "What kind of phenomena?" the Vorta asked.  "A wormhole?"
     "Possibly," the Second said, but his voice was doubtful.  "We seem 
to have shifted through space."
     The First concentrated on his viewer and looked around the ship.  
Outside he could see a blue-green world nearby, apparently inhabited.  
It's one visible moon could be seen in the distance.  As the nearest 
inhabited planet had been several light years from their location, there 
was no doubt they had moved a great distance through space.  It only 
remained a question of how far.  "What is our current location?"
     The navigator looked up from his console.  "The Terran system, sir."
     "We moved right into the heart of the Federation," Fiden commented, 
blatantly stating the obvious.  "If it's a stable wormhole, it could 
prove to be of immense use to us."
     The Second interrupted his musings.  "I'm not sure it was a 
wormhole."
     "Explain," the First ordered.
     "While we are in the Terran system, I can detect no signs of 
Federation installations.  No orbital stations, no lunar colonies, no 
shipyards of any type... no signs of inhabitation at all... except on 
Earth itself."
     The First digested this news silently, while Fiden closely examined 
the world below them in his own viewer.  "Then... where *are* we?"

     "Where *are* they?" the Klingon growled.
     Worf stood on the bridge of the Defiant, scowling as he peered over 
O'Brien's shoulder.  They had been monitoring the three Dominion ships 
for several hours when they had mysteriously vanished from their sensors.  
As there hadn't been any previous indication that the Dominion possessed 
cloaking technology, this was a cause for concern for the Klingon officer.  
If the Dominion had managed to salvage a cloaking device or two from the 
Cardassian/Romulan fleet they destroyed, then their one true advantage 
(however slim) they had over the Gamma Quadrant power could be gone.
     Eventually the Chief shook his head.  "It's no good, sir.  They've 
vanished into thin air."
     "Did they cloak?" Worf asked.
     "No sir," O'Brien replied emphatically.  "If they had, I would've 
seen a phase shift in their warp fields."  He paused and stared at the 
monitor.  "It's as if they just up and left the universe entirely."
     "Very well," the Klingon rumbled, obviously dissatisfied.  "Log all 
pertinent data and transmit it to the station for Commander Dax to 
analyze later."  He turned to the helmsman.  "Lay in a course for the 
wormhole."

     Fiden paced impatiently across the bridge.  For two hours now they, 
and the other two attack ships, had been trying to determine what had 
happened.  Unfortunately, while Jem'Hadar made excellent soldiers, they 
were not very good at scientific analysis.  That being the case, it came 
down to the Vorta to arrive at an answer.
     But the answers were not being very forthcoming.  This seemed to be 
Earth, but much more primitive than it should be.  It was possible that 
they had traveled through time as well, but there were several historical 
inconsistencies with their observations of Earth.
     It was as if they had moved to another reality altogether.  But 
that was impossible.
     Wasn't it?
     Komentac'lan stepped in front of him, forcing him to stop.  "It is 
time for the White," he insisted.
     Fiden frowned, quickly going over his options in his mind.  If they 
were stranded without any avenue of returning to the Dominion (and 
therefore of resupplying themselves with Ketracel White), then it was 
only a matter of time before their current supply ran out and his hold 
over the Jem'Hadar vanished.  But if he withheld what they needed, their 
performance would be impaired by withdrawal...  After a moment, he 
decided that it might be prudent to give them what they required now.  
He would decide on what course of action to take later.  "Of course."  
Opening the case that contained the White, he asked the ritual question: 
"First Komentac'lan, can you vouch for the loyalty of your men?"
     As always, Komentac'lan responded, "We pledge ourselves to the 
Founders.  From now and until death."
     Fiden removed the required vials and handed them to Komentac'lan.  
"Then receive this gift of the Founders.  May it keep you strong."
     The First was still distributing the White to his unit when the 
Founder, having assumed a humanoid form, entered the room.  This was not 
too shocking to Fiden and the Jem'Hadar as the Founder could go where 
it willed, but the sight of another humanoid with him, one with long, 
reddish brown hair and dressed in an unfamiliar gray uniform, was not 
something they would expect.  Automatically, the Jem'Hadar readied their 
weapons, but any further action on their part was forestalled when the 
Founder raised a hand.  "There's no need for concern.  This one here is 
a friend."  The Changeling turned to the unknown alien.  "Isn't that 
right, Neflyte?"
     "Of course," the alien responded silkily.  The Changeling turned 
back to the Jem'Hadar soldiers and smiled benevolently at them.
     Komentac'lan had been alive for nearly seven years, two of them 
serving as First for his unit.  He was a veteran of countless campaigns 
in the service of the Founders and had battled on dozens of different 
worlds.  But seeing the Founders's eyes gleam red made him, for the first 
time in his life, know fear.

     Jeddite grimaced as he stood before Queen Beryl.  Yes, the monarch 
of the Negaverse was smiling, and yes, she was complimenting someone on 
a job well done.  But she wasn't addressing him.  Instead she was 
congratulating Neflyte on his capture of the Changeling and the Jem'Hadar 
soldiers.  He glared once more at his rival General.  It was only a 
matter of time before Queen Beryl turned her attention to his latest 
encounter with the Sailor Scouts.  And given the way things went at that 
amusement park, she wasn't going to be pleased with the results.
     "...and now, Jeddite..."
     He shuddered inwardly at the false pleasantry in her tone.  It was 
going to be worse than he feared.
     "Once again you've encountered the Sailor Scouts..."  Her tone 
became icy.  "... and failed miserably!  Can you give me a reason I 
shouldn't destroy you at once?"
     Jeddite bowed low, striving to give the appearance of calm.  "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.  "Which should result in the 
destruction of the Sailor Scouts."
     "Indeed," Beryl all but purred.  "You have made such claims in the 
past.  Why should this time be any different?"
     Jeddite saw 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."

     Pluto knew the instant she returned to the Gateway of Time that 
the situation had deteriorated.  Things were far worse than when she 
had first feared.  Of course there was no telling how long she had been 
gone.  Time had little meaning here, and even less so where she had 
been.
     There was a burst of light accompanied by a ripple of sound, and a 
slightly balding man in a Starfleet captain's uniform appeared next to 
her.  "I thought you weren't supposed to leave here."
     "That's not entirely true.  I can leave it unguarded for short 
periods.  Besides Q, the situation demanded it," she replied.  She 
returned her gaze to the area surrounding the Gateway.  "But I see that 
things have changed for the worse."
     "Yes, that's certainly true," the entity agreed, glancing around 
himself.  Sighing he added, "Well, I tried to warn them.  But trust 
Picard to be too stubborn to listen."
     "You've garnered a bad reputation among them, Q," said Pluto.  "If 
you would be more civil with them, they might heed your warnings more 
often."
     "Moi?  Civil?"  Q looked shocked. "That's no fun."  He shrugged 
after Pluto gave him a sardonic look.  "Well, enough frivolity.  You've 
a temporal tangle to unravel.  I suppose you have a plan to fix your 
precious timestream."
     "You know I have," she replied.  "And I've already spoken to others 
about putting it into motion.  Besides... if I didn't you wouldn't be 
able to have anymore fun with Picard."
     "Hmmm..."  Q considered this, then nodded.  "You've got a point.  
What good is a universe without Jean-Luc to pester?  Or Worf, for that 
matter."  Then what Pluto had said sunk in, and the looked puzzled. 
"Wait a minute... others?  Which others?"
     "The Bajorans call them the Prophets," she replied knowingly.
     Realization dawned on Q's face.  "Oh, the wormhole dwellers.  A 
rather boring bunch, if you ask me.  All they do is hide out in that 
space-time conduit, not even bothering to understand linear time."
     "Q..."  Pluto took a deep breath.  While Q's nature was by very 
definition irritating, there were times when he could be most 
exasperating.  "If you're not going to help, then I would appreciate it 
if you would keep your comments to yourself.  The rift in time is 
threatening two universes right now, and I'm going to need all the help 
I can get to correct it."
     A hurt expression briefly flickered over the entity's face.  "I'd 
help if I could.  But you are well aware of the... restrictions my 
fellow Q have placed on me.  Especially since they were placed on me 
after my thankfully brief stint as a human... which you played some 
part in."
     "I didn't have much choice in that, Q.  You were becoming too wild, 
too out of control."  Q snorted in response.  "Q was right.  You needed 
to learn restraint."
     "Well, I hope your pleased with the results," Q replied sullenly.  
"Before I could have helped rectify this situation with a wave of my 
hand.  Now I'm forced to go along with the will of the Continuum: 'Those 
corporeal beings caused it, and they'll have to be the ones to repair 
it.'"  He shot a scornful look skyward.
     Pluto stood contemplatively for a moment.  "I'm afraid the end of 
this conversation will have to wait until later.  Time," her lips curled 
upward slightly at the irony of her statement, "grows short.  In the 
meantime, could you do me a favor and keep on eye on things here while 
I'm away?"  Q nodded silently and with that, she vanished.
     Q watched the space where she had stood, his expression unreadable, 
then turned his attention to the temporal turmoil surrounding the 
Gateway.  "Good luck, Pluto.
     "You're going to need it."



Sailor Trek: Deep Space Nine
A Sailor Paradox
by Bill Harris
(soton@aol.com)

"I hate temporal mechanics..."
     -Chief Miles Edward O'Brien



Chapter 1 - The Call of the Prophets...

     Kira looked up from her station in Ops to the captain's office, 
concern evident on her face.  He had been in conference longer than she 
thought he would be.  Perhaps...
     She shook her head and tried to focus on her duties.  Sisko had 
shown many times that he was quite adept at handling...  Her train of 
thought was broken by the door opening.
     "...the answer is still no!" Sisko was saying loudly as he left 
his office.  Stormed out would be more like it.
     Quark followed him out.  "Why not?  Advertising is a perfectly 
legitimate business practice."
     "What would you know about legitimate business?" Kira remarked.  A 
part of her absently noted Dax entering the room and making her way over 
to the station's Strategic Operations Officer, Worf.
     Sisko broke in before Quark could retort.  "Those monitors are 
for official station use."
     The Ferengi raced around Sisko and stood in his path, forcing him 
to stop.  "They won't interfere with the official functions.  I'll only 
use the monitors in public places, such as the replimat, and then only 
during normal business hours."  When Sisko shook his head and tried to 
move past him he added, "If they're needed, the advertisements can be 
overridden so the monitors can be used for 'official' functions."
     Behind her, Kira could hear Dax talking to Worf about the three 
Dominion ships that had mysteriously vanished from the Defiant's sensors 
during it's last patrol in the Gamma Quadrant, noting that it bore a 
resemblance to a phenomena witnessed by the Enterprise D, Worf's 
previous posting, some four years previous.  Kira felt her indignation 
rising at the bartender for keeping her from hearing this information as 
soon as possible.  Anything new that the Dominion could do would be a 
serious threat to the security of Bajor.  And anything that threatened 
that was something she wanted to know about right away, not listen to 
some Ferengi toad ramble on about how he could increase his profits.
     Not that Quark needed to do much of anything to get her riled at 
him.  The Ferengi bartender really knew how to be a royal pain in the...  
She skewered the bartender with an intense glare and snapped, "Which 
part of 'no' don't you understand?"
     "The part that says I can't do this!" Quark replied indignantly.
     Kira was forming a sharp retort but it died aborning when a sensor 
alert sounded behind her.  Turning, she saw Dax looking up from her 
console with a worried expression.  "Benjamin, I'm reading massive 
emissions of neutrinos, tetryons and chronotons from the wormhole.  It 
looks like a subspace rift might be forming inside it."  She bent back 
to the science station, intent on analyzing the readings it was giving 
her.
     "Let's see it, Chief.  On screen," Sisko ordered.  The viewer 
flickered to show the wormhole wide open and apparently staying that way.  
But in this instance it had a shimmering look to it, as if they were 
viewing it through a heat distortion.  It's color was also different, 
for along with the normal blues and whites it was tinged with red, giving 
the wormhole a slightly demonic appearance.
     "It looks like it's... on fire," Kira remarked.  
     "I'm reading gravimetric distortions from it as well," O'Brien 
reported.
     "Confirmed," Dax added.  "It looks as if it's entering the first 
stages of a structural collapse.  But I don't know what could be causing 
it."
     A look of concern came over Quark's face, "Collapse?  That could 
really be bad for profits."  At Sisko's glare he added, "I can see you're 
busy.  We'll talk later."  He headed rapidly to the lift, muttering to 
himself as he went.
     Sisko put the bartender from his mind and returned his attention to 
Dax.  "Could this be caused artificially, Dax?"
     "You mean by something like the Dominion?" the Trill asked.  "It's 
possible.  But there's nothing on this side that could account for it, 
and the readings I'm getting from the Gamma Quadrant listening posts 
aren't indicating anything there either.  Ultimately, I can't be sure 
what *is* the cause without doing a detailed scan of the inside.  We'll 
have to launch a probe."
     "I wouldn't try it," O'Brien responded.  "Those gravimetric 
distortions inside the wormhole that are strong enough to tear apart any 
probe we send in.  A runabout might survive passage through it to the 
Gamma Quadrant... but I doubt it would make it back in one piece."
     Sisko eyed the ailing anomaly.  If a probe or a runabout couldn't 
survive passage through the wormhole, that left only one option for them.  
"What about the Defiant, Chief?"
     O'Brien glanced at the sensor readouts again, mentally comparing 
them to his knowledge of the Defiant's structure.  "I think so.  But 
we'll probably have to run the structural integrity field at maximum, 
and we may have to supplement it with power from the warp engines.  In 
any event, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
     "Then let's get moving people."  Sisko walked over to the lift, and 
the other members of the command staff followed him.  "Sisko to Odo.  
Meet us on the Defiant, Constable."

     Sisko glanced up as Odo made his way onto the bridge.  "Welcome 
aboard, Constable.  I hope we don't need your help, but if there's even 
the slightest possibility of Dominion involvement..."
     "...then you might need a Changeling along," Odo finished, making 
his way to the rear of the bridge.  "I understand.  I'm not sure how 
much help I can be, but I'll do whatever I can."
     "Thank you, Odo,"  Sisko said, taking a quick glance around the 
bridge.  "Status, Chief?"
     "All systems ready," reported O'Brien.
     "Ops has given us clearance for departure, Captain," Kira added.
     "Release docking latches," ordered Sisko.  "Take us out, old man."
     "Docking latches released," Dax confirmed.  "Thrusters back one 
quarter."  The station receded on the viewscreen as the Defiant backed 
slowly away from the station, slowing when it was one hundred meters 
off.  "We're clear of the station, sir."
     "Set course for the wormhole, maximum impulse," the captain ordered.  
"Engage!"
     Dax's hands played quickly over the helm console and the small 
starship responded, spinning on it's axis and moving for the wormhole, 
accelerating rapidly as it entered the spatial anomaly.  The ship 
buffeted as it moved through it, as the gravimetric distortions made for 
a much bumpier ride than usual.  Sisko kept his attention on the 
viewscreen and tried to focus on the incoming reports from his crew, 
when suddenly...
     ...it all vanished.

     "He is here."
     Sisko turned towards the source of the voice.  He appeared to be in 
Ops on the station, and the person speaking seemed to be Kira.  But he 
knew better from previous experience.
     He was speaking with the wormhole aliens.  With the prophets.
     But why?
     Quark was standing in front of him also, nodding.  "It is the Sisko."
     Sisko blinked as the scene suddenly shifted to the infirmary with 
Dr.Bashir.  "She said he would come."
     "She?" he asked, puzzled.  "Who is she?  And why am I here?"
     Again he shifted locations, this time to the security office.  
"Time has shifted," Odo replied, apparently ignoring his first question 
for the moment.  "What you call the past is now fluid.  It threatens us."
     "I'm not sure I follow," Sisko said.  "Are you saying that the 
wormhole is being destabilized in the past?"
     Suddenly he found himself standing on the Defiant.  "He does not 
understand," Worf said.
     "He is linear," reminded Dax.  "The anomaly does not appear to them 
as it does to us."
     "Anomaly?" Sisko echoed.
     Now he was standing in his quarters.  "It is of your own creation," 
Jake told him.  "She needs your help to correct it."
     "Who is this person you keep referring to?  And why?"  Sisko 
suddenly found himself back in Ops.
     "That would be me," came a voice from behind him.  "And they 
brought you here because I asked them to."
     Sisko turned to face the unfamiliar voice and stopped short.  The 
wormhole aliens usually appear to be people he was familiar with, his 
co-workers on the station: Kira, Dax, Worf, Odo, Jake... even Quark.  
But he was completely unfamiliar with the person he was facing now, 
though there was something oddly familiar with her outfit.  She was 
dressed in a odd version of a sailor outfit: white leotard, dark 
miniskirt, bows on the front and back... also dark colored.  She was 
carrying a staff that faintly resembled a key of some sort.
     And her hair... long, dark colored as well, but tinged with green.  
Sisko didn't think he would easily forget someone with hair matching 
that description.  "Who are you?"
     "I am Sailor Pluto," she answered.  "We will meet again, Captain 
Sisko.  Very soon."

     Sisko blinked, disoriented at suddenly finding himself back in his 
command chair, and tried to listen to the barrage of reports coming his 
way.
     Bashir was scanning the crew with his medical tricorder.  "Is 
everyone alright?  I felt dizzy for a second there."
     O'Brien chimed in, "There was a massive surge of chronoton radiation 
when we exited the wormhole."
     "We've lost communications with the station," reported Kira.
     Dax was doing a quick analysis of the navigational readouts.  
"According to the navigational sensors, we're nowhere near the Gamma 
Quadrant."
     "Where are we, Dax?" Sisko asked.
     "Earth," she answered, "We're in orbit.  But..."  She looked again 
at the sensor readout and shook her head.  "Wait a minute...  According 
to the astrometric sensors, the year... is 1992."
     Her sudden announcement stilled all activity on the bridge.  After 
a moment, Sisko was able to find his voice.  "1992?  You mean to say 
we've traveled back in time, old man?"
     Dax swiveled her seat to face him, a sad smile on her face.  "It 
certainly appears that way."
     "It... would explain the chronoton emissions," O'Brien hesitantly 
added.
     "Reverse course," Sisko ordered, without much hope.  "See if you 
can take us back through the wormhole."
     "It wouldn't matter, Benjamin," said Dax, shaking her head.  "It's 
vanished.  It's as if it was never there."
     Sisko grimaced, but decided to confront that later.  First he had 
to make sure that Earth of the past wouldn't be able to detect his ship.  
"Activate the cloak.  I don't want anyone down there picking us up."  
The bridge lights dimmed as the cloaking field activated.

     Beryl stared in her crystal ball as the unknown starship faded from 
view, then cursed loudly.  "Malachite!"
     The white haired general materialized nearby, "Yes, My Queen?"
     "A starship has been spotted near the anomaly.  I want you to prepare 
the alien warriors and their space craft.  If it reappears, or any other 
appears in the area, they are attack at once... and destroy them!  We 
can't afford to have anything go wrong now.  Not when we're so close!"
     Malachite bowed low.  "As you wish, Your Majesty."

     "What the hell is going on?" asked a frustrated Kira.
     Sisko could certainly understand the Major's feelings.  But unlike 
her, he did have some insight into who was behind the detour the wormhole 
had sent them on... though he was still in the dark as to the why.  
"Whatever it is Major, I think the Prophets wanted us to be here," he 
answered her.  In short order, he told the crew of his experience during 
the wormhole passage.  Worf and O'Brien exchanged uncertain looks as he 
described the meeting he had with 'Sailor Pluto'.
     "Sailor Pluto?" Worf asked after he finished. "Are you certain that 
is what she said, Captain?"
     Sisko spun his chair to face the Klingon.  "You have an idea who she 
was, Commander?"
     "The description of her outfit sounds familiar, and the name 
certainly fits," O'Brien answered before Worf could.  "But it doesn't 
match any of the Sailor Scouts we met on the Enterprise."
     "Sailor Scouts?" said Kira, her voice slightly disbelieving.  
"Sounds like some sort of kid's group."
     Worf scowled at her, clearly irritated.  "You would not say that if 
you had seen them fight the Borg."
     This jogged Sisko's memory, as he noted the look of respect that 
was now on Kira's face.  He recalled reading Picard's reports about the 
encounter the crew of the Enterprise D had with the Sailor Scouts, and 
the subsequent battle they had fought together against a Borg ship.  
However, he had been deeply immersed in the Defiant project at the time 
and had given the report only a cursory reading.  "Dax, gather all the 
sensor information you can about the area.  See if you can find any 
information about this anomaly the wormhole aliens referred to."  Sisko 
spun his command chair around to face the two officers that had once 
served on the now destroyed Enterprise D.  "Mr. Worf, Chief... I want 
you both to tell me all you can about these Sailor Scouts."

     Artemis paused before leaping onto Mina's bed.  He hated to wake 
her, given the series of tough battles they had fought over the last two 
weeks since joining up with the others, but what choice had he?  He 
placed a paw on her shoulder and shook the blonde.  "Mina!"
     The result wasn't exactly what he had in mind.  Instead of waking up 
and being instantly alert, she mumbled something incoherent and rolled 
over.  Artemis was hardpressed to avoid being pinned under her arm.  He 
took a moment to consider his options, then...
     "OW!!"  Mina bolted upright, instinctively throwing away what had 
pained her.  There was a muffled thud as Artemis hit the wall.  "Artemis!  
What are you doing?!"
     The white feline slid to the floor and shook his head in an effort 
to clear it.  "Waking you up.  And without causing myself a mortal wound 
in the process."  He took a moment to assess his own condition.  "And it 
seems I was successful."
     "Don't bet on it," she growled, examining the finger that Artemis 
had bit.  It was red, but the skin wasn't broken and the pain was already
diminishing.  "A bucket of cold water would've worked just as well,
Artemis...
And it would've been less painful."
     Despite the limitations of his feline form, Artemis did a fairly 
convincing imitation of raising one eyebrow.  "And just how am I 
supposed to handle a bucket of water?"
     "Oh, right."  After a moment she asked, "So what's so important?"
     "I just got word from Luna.  She and Amy have located a portal to 
the Negaverse."
     "I see," she said.  After mulling this over she added, "What do you 
think our chances are, Artemis?"
     "Are you kidding?  You four will kick Beryl's butt," he answered 
more confidently than he felt.
     "That's a nice thought," Mina said with a smile.  "Now, what do you 
think our chances really are?"
     Artemis sighed.  He should've known by now that he couldn't fool 
her... at least not when it came to matters such as this.  They'd been 
working together for too long.  "I know it doesn't look good, Mina.  
After all, you'll probably be going up against both Malachite and Zoisite 
at the same time.  But what choice do we have?  We can't just sit here 
while Beryl unleashes the Negaforce."
     "Don't worry, Artemis. We'll find a way.  We always do, right?" she 
answered, some optimism returning to her voice.  Artemis nodded to 
himself, heartened by this.  This was more like the Mina he knew.  
"Anyway, it's time to contact Raye and Lita."

     "JUPITER POWER!"
     The magic enveloped Lita, giving that feeling of power as it 
transformed her into Sailor Jupiter.  She paused for a moment, savoring 
the sensation, then raced off to meet the others.
     A lot had happened since that fateful day she had become a Sailor 
Scout.  Or realized that she was one, depending on how you looked at it.  
Either way, she had been following that boy (What was his name?  So much 
had happened in the interim, she had forgotten it.) when Zoisite had 
attacked him, pulling the Rainbow crystal from him and transforming him 
that youma.  Mars and Mercury had happened upon them at that point, but 
the battle had been evenly matched until Luna had given her the 
transformation pen, and she was able to become Sailor Jupiter.
     They still hadn't been able to save him, though... or any of the 
other carriers of the Rainbow Crystals, for that matter.  Even with 
Neflyte's help, and with Tuxedo Mask cropping up again, they were only 
able to defeat the transformed humans by killing them.  Jupiter vowed 
silently to make Zoisite pay for each and every one of them.
     And Malachite as well.  He had set a trap for them a couple of 
weeks ago, one that had very nearly worked.  Thank's to Venus' timely 
arrival, they had gotten away, but not before Darien had been captured... 
and Neflyte was killed.
     Jupiter pushed aside her thoughts, trying instead to focus on the 
task at hand as she raced on into the night.

     Raye calmly returned the communicator to it's usual hiding place 
and regarded the sacred flame.  Given her abilities, she had felt that 
the pivotal battle with the Negaverse was fast approaching, but it had 
come much sooner than she had expected.  She wasn't far from the 
rendezvous point, so she decided to take a chance she could glean 
something useful from it. Concentrating her attention on the flame, she 
tried to make it give her the information they would need to triumph, 
once and for all, over Beryl and her minions.
     At first the flame held steady, reluctant to give her what she 
needed.  Then it yielded to her persistence,  revealing what it could in 
a flurry of images.  A spacecraft, compact yet seeming to radiate power.  
A black man, whose demeanor demanded respect.  A woman in a red uniform 
and a seemingly crinkled nose, who seemed as confident as the man.  A rush 
of other images in people in similar uniforms to the man, each seeming to 
be more or less human.  It ended in a glimpse of a man, who's face seemed 
to be unfinished in some way and in a uniform that seemed similar to the 
woman's.  She watched him for what seemed to be several seconds before 
his features blurred, shifting to some gelatinous state.
     Raye felt her hackles rise at this sight and a surge of adrenalin 
as well, causing the fire reading to be disrupted.  But she allowed 
herself no regret at this, for the information that one of these 
creatures would be seen again was very valuable to her.
    'So, Beryl was going to use another one of those... things against 
us,' she thought while transforming.  'Well, it won't work.  We'll handle 
whatever she throws at us.'  She rushed out of the temple, making for 
the restaurant where she would meet the others.  'This time we'll be 
ready for that creature, Beryl.  And we'll deal with that thing... and 
then you.'

     Amy stood just outside the darkened restaurant, waiting for the 
others.  It shouldn't be much longer before they arrived.  Once more she 
glanced at her computer, scanning for any sign of Negaverse activity.  So 
far it appeared they had managed to go undetected, but that wouldn't last 
for long.
     She grimaced.  They way things had gone lately, it wouldn't surprise 
her if Malachite appeared right in front of them the moment they entered 
the tunnel.
     "Amy?"
     Jumping slightly, the blue haired Scout looked down.  "Yes, Luna?"
     "Are you OK?" the feline asked, concern evident in her voice.
     "I'm fine.  I was just scanning to be sure we haven't been detected."
     "I don't think that was all.  You seemed very concerned about 
something."  Luna paused, trying to marshall her thought.  "I know the 
situation looks grim, but..."
     "Thirty two point seven percent."
     Luna blinked, surprised.  "What?"
     "Thirty two point seven percent," Amy repeated.  "Those are our 
chances of winning.  I've computed the odds."
     "Thirty two point..."  Luna's voice trailed off.  "Is that *all*?"
     "Do you want me to take you the whole series of calculations?" Amy 
asked.
     "No thank you," Luna replied.  They were silent again, waiting for 
the others.  Then, "Well, if it's that bad, then before we go, I should 
thank you."
     Amy looked down at her, mystified.  "Thank me?  For what?"
     "For taking me in.  I know I could have stayed at Serena's, but I 
just could bear to go back there.  Not after..."  Luna's voice trailed 
of again, this time choked with emotion.
     "I know," Amy said gently.  "I miss her too."
     Further discussion was interrupted by Jupiter's arrival, followed 
shortly by Venus.  "Sorry I took so long," Jupiter said.
     "Actually, you got here sooner than I expected," Amy replied, 
pulling out her transformation pen.  "MERCURY POWER!"
     "Well, as soon as Raye gets here, we can get going," Venus said 
after Amy had finished transforming into Sailor Mercury.  She looked 
around, puzzled.  "I wonder what's taking her so long?  She lives closer 
to here than me, so I'd thought she'd be here already."
     "I'm not that late," Mars answered rather testily, coming up behind 
the blonde.  "I just took a moment for a last minute fire reading."
     "Did you get anything useful out of it?" asked Artemis.
     "I'm not sure.  I got a series of images, but I'm not sure how to 
interpret them.  The only thing I really recognized a shapeshifter."
     "You mean...?" Mercury breathed.
     Mars nodded.  "Yep.  I think we'll be facing another one of those, 
Mercury."
     Jupiter and Venus shared a look.  Neither had been around when the 
other two had faced the creature Mars had described, but they had heard 
enough about it from them to know just how dangerous it could be.  "We'll 
just have to keep our eyes open," Venus said.  "Let's get going, people.  
Next stop: the Negaverse!"

     "You're right, Chief," Sisko said, examining again the visual record 
of the Sailor Scouts taken from logs of the Enterprise D.  The faces were 
blurred in some fashion, but their outfits on the other hand were clearly 
distinguishable.  Another visual record was shown beside it, this one of 
the Scouts in untransformed state in Ten Forward, giving a clear look at 
their faces.  "Whoever I saw during the wormhole passage, she wasn't one 
of these Scouts.  But from her name and style of dress, she must have some 
association with them."
     "As I remember, they did mention meeting a Sailor Pluto," said Worf.  
"Though I never did see a visual record of her.  Had she not given you 
her name, my best guess would have been that she was a Sailor Scout 
representing one of the outer planets of the solar system... Saturn, 
Uranus, Neptune... or Pluto."
     "Why not one for Earth?" asked Sisko.  "There's no mention of a 
Sailor Scout for that planet."
     "I asked Luna about that during her stay on the Enterprise," 
replied the Klingon.
     "That's the black feline?" Sisko asked, indicating the display.
     "Yes, sir.  For whatever reason, there was no Sailor Scout for 
Earth, though Darien, also known as Tuxedo Mask, could be considered the 
representative of Earth."
     Sisko nodded, and moved back towards the center of the bridge.  
"Anything new, Dax?"
     "Plenty," she replied.  "Though, I'm not sure if it's related to 
our situation... or what any of it means.  We're reading the buildup of 
a large negative energy field centered in the arctic regions."  The Trill 
touched a control and a graphic appeared on the main viewscreen, 
detailing the energy field she had mentioned.  "It's causing massive 
disruption throughout the system; earthquakes, unusual weather, even 
accelerated sunspot activity."
     O'Brien had been watching from his engineering station while Dax 
was gave her report.  He took a moment to access the computer then said, 
"It sounds like the conditions just before the Sailor Scouts had their 
final confrontation with Queen Beryl."
     "If that's the case, then it's probably not the anomaly the 
Prophets were referring to," Dax said.
     "How do you know that, Chief?" Sisko asked.
     "When they were on the Enterprise, Mercury downloaded a record of 
their activities into the Enterprise main computer.  As a precaution 
against accidental interference with their timeline from other starships."  
The Chief touch a control, bringing up another graphic on the main 
viewscreen beside the one Dax had displayed.  Sisko noted that it was 
similar, though not identical to the one already displayed. "I've 
extrapolated this from those records.  The energy field Dax has scanned 
is almost exactly like these conditions observed just before Beryl tried 
to release the Negaforce.  Except..."
     "Except what?"
     A look of frustration came across O'Brien's face.  "It's too bloody 
soon!  It's nearly a month till the Scouts go to the North Pole.  That 
energy field shouldn't be anywhere near as powerful as it is." 
     "Could this be some sort of alternate universe, Chief?" Dax asked.
     O'Brien shook his head.  "No, I already checked that.  The quantum 
signature of this universe matches the one visited by the Enterprise... 
Both of them, in fact.  It's the same universe alright."
     "Could our presence have caused a disruption on the timeline?" 
Sisko asked.
     "I don't see how, " Dax answered.  "We were only visible for a few 
moments."  A sensor alert sounded, prompting her to forgo any further 
speculation.  "Hold on a minute, Benjamin.  Sensors are picking up life 
forms in the arctic regions, near the source of the energy field."  She 
paused to check the readout on the type of lifeform detected.  When she 
spoke next, her voice sounded stunned, "They're Jem'Hadar."
     "Jem'Hadar?" Bashir exclaimed.  "What are they doing on Earth?  
Especially on an alternate version of it."
     "That's a good question, Doctor," Sisko answered.  "One that I'd 
like an answer to."
     "It's an answer that might have to wait, Captain," Odo said.  The 
Constable had occupied a station on the far side of the bridge and was 
monitoring communications.  "We're picking up a subspace signal... and 
it sounds like a distress call."  Odo touched a control and the signal 
came over the bridge speakers, heavily laced with static.
     "...Mayday... under attack.... This is the USS... immediate 
assistance..."  the signal terminated abruptly.
     "The signal source is just on the other side of Earth, sir.  Not 
far from the Moon," O'Brien reported.
     Sisko quickly considered his options.  The appearance of the 
Jem'Hadar on Earth still needed to be checked out, but he also had a 
responsibility to answer that distress call.  As much as he hated to do 
it, he saw no other option but to split his forces.  "Major, take an away 
team down there.  Be ready to handle a Jem'Hadar strike force.  I'll be 
taking the Defiant to check out this distress call, so you'll be on your 
own for a while."
     Kira nodded.  "We'll be ready."

     "There's an exit up ahead!" Luna exclaimed.
     "About time," Venus grumbled.  "I was beginning to think they would 
never end."  The others nodded in agreement.  They had been following 
the tunnels for what seemed like hours, but it looked like they had 
finally managed to find the exit.  The four girls and two cats stood 
breathlessly at the mouth of the tunnel and looked out over the arctic 
expanse.
     "Hey, what gives?  I though this was supposed to go right to the 
Negaverse," asked Jupiter.  Mercury frowned and activated her visor.
     "Maybe we took a wrong turn?"
     Venus scowled at her feline companion.  "There's nothing wrong with my
sense of direction!"
     "I didn't say there was," Artemis replied defensively.
    "Never mind that you two," Luna said.  "We have to hurry.  If we 
can get the Rainbow crystals before the Negaverse can use them to form the
Silver Crystal, we may still have a chance."
     Artemis snorted.  "If they haven't figured out how to form it by 
now, I don't think they ever will."
     "Can we afford to take that chance?"
     The white cat grimaced.  "Not really.  Especially when they're about 
to set the Negaforce loose."
     "I'm getting a signal," Mercury said.  "There's another portal, 
much bigger than the one we found in Tokyo.  It's that way!"  She 
pointed across the ice field.
     "What are we waiting for?  Let's go!"  With that Venus charged 
forward, followed shortly by her companions.

Next time:  The Defiant checks out the distress call, the Scouts battle 
the Jem'Hadar and Kira meets up with the Scouts.  Plus the Great Zoisite 
Gender Debate in Chapter 2, "D Point Revisited".

Notes: Quark's advertising scheme is a lead in to the trick he pulled in 
the beginning of a late fourth season episode, "The Quickening".

Bill Harris
Go Orioles!!! Umm... maybe next year?
Sci-Fi quote of the month:
"And then we'll make the Dominion sorry they ever set foot in the Alpha
 Quadrant!"
"Cadet, you took the words right out of my mouth." - Nog & Sisko in DS9's
"Call
 to Arms"

Sailor Trek: Deep Space 9

<soton@aol.com>

"Time for a less subtle approach"
     -Major Kira Nerys

Chapter 2 - D Point Revisited
     Sisko tapped a finger impatiently on the arm of his chair as he 
waited for confirmation that Kira and her team were safely away.  After 
what seemed like an eternity, there was a beep from the engineering 
station.  "Transport complete, sir," O'Brien reported.
     'Finally,' Sisko though as he straightened himself in the command 
chair, instinctively tugging at the bottom of his shirt.  He looked to 
the helm station in front of him where Bashir had taken Dax's place.  
The doctor looked slightly uncomfortable there, but Sisko knew he would 
substitute there admirably, as he had done so in the past.  "Doctor, lay 
in a course for that distress signal and engage at maximum impulse."
     "Aye, sir," Bashir answered and began working the helm.  Responding 
to the his commands, the Defiant accelerated around Earth and headed for 
the Moon.
     As soon as they cleared the planet, O'Brien began scanning the 
location they had for the distress call.  "Looks like we're too late," 
he reported.  "I'm reading debris and an expanding cloud of ionized 
plasma at the signal location."  He shook his head sadly.  "It looks 
like their warp core was breached.  From the energy decay, I'd say it 
blew just about the time we lost the signal."
     "Any life signs, Chief?"
     "No, sir.  Whoever it was, it looks like she was lost with all 
hands."  O'Brien shook his head sadly, observing, "The poor devils never 
had a chance."
     Sisko frowned, but tried to put aside any other feelings.  There 
may be nothing he could do for the other crew, but he still had to be 
sure that his own was safe.  "Any sign of their attackers?"
     O'Brien checked the sensors again.  "Nothing.  But the plasma 
field could be interfering with the sensors.  But I am picking up the 
signal from the log buoy."
     "Very well," said Sisko.  "Maneuver us closer so that we can beam 
it aboard.  At least we'll be able to find out who they were... and who 
attacked them.  Maintain cloak, and put all decks on yellow alert."

     "Hold it!"
     Venus stopped in her tracks and looked back to her friend.  "What 
is it, Mercury?"
     The other girl had her visor deployed and was looking around the 
area.  "I'm detecting several lifeforms closing in on us."
     Jupiter tensed herself for a fight and glanced around, as did the 
others.  They were on a relatively flat part of the icepack, and there 
was very little an enemy could use for concealment out to a distance of 
fifty meters.  Nevertheless, she saw nothing around.  "Are you sure?  I 
don't see anything."
     "They're there," Mercury insisted.  She brought her computer out, 
using it to supplement the visor.  "But for some reason I can't get an 
accurate reading on their distance from us.  My best guess is that 
they're no more than twenty meters away.  One... maybe two dozen in all."
     They all looked about the area, trying to spot what it was Mercury 
had detected.  "I still don't see anything," Jupiter remarked.
     "I don't see them, but I can sense them around us," Mars said.  
"They must be invisible."
     "Yes," Mercury concurred.  "They've got some sort of field about 
them, serving as camouflage.  And it's preventing me from getting an 
accurate scan on them."
     "Luna, Artemis, get to cover," Venus ordered.  "Everyone else, get 
back to back."  The two cats moved quickly, while the Scouts formed a 
defensive square.
     "Ten meters," Mercury said, just as the first of the Jem'Hadar 
uncloaked himself and fired, followed by several others.  The Scouts 
scattered to avoid their weapons fire.  The next moment, the area echoed 
with their attack cries.

     Kira took in the area surrounding the away team's beam down point, 
thankful for the cold weather gear they were wearing.  That she, Dax and 
Worf were wearing, she mentally corrected herself.  Odo of course had no 
need for such protection against the climate, thanks to his unique 
physiology.  Again she dubiously eyed the black hole in the icefield.  
"That's a portal to another universe?"
     "More like another dimension, one that's slightly offset from this 
one," Dax corrected her while operating a tricorder.  The Trill science 
officer was studiously scanning the area, while Kira and Worf were on 
the watch for possible threats with phasers drawn.  Odo was on the look 
out as well, but had no weapon.  "And from these readings, I'd say that 
it was artificially formed centuries... no, millennia ago."
     Kira nodded, somewhat impressed.  "The portal?  Impressive, but 
we've seen things like this before."
     "No, not the portal," Dax replied.  "The other dimension."
     "What?"  Kira found that hard to swallow.  She could believe that 
the Celestial Temple -- the wormhole -- was artificial in nature, but 
that something could create a whole other reality?  That was something 
else altogether.
     A rumble of what sounded like thunder in the distance brought her 
back to the present.  Dax made some quick adjustments on her tricorder, 
broadening the field of it's scan.  "I'm picking up large energy 
discharges, along with what appears to be weapons fire.  Range: just 
over one kilometer."
     Worf nodded.  "The Sailor Scouts," he announced.  "No doubt they 
are battling the Jem'Hadar we spotted from orbit."
     "The weapons signature does appear to be typical of Jem'Hadar 
armaments," Dax confirmed.
     "Then let's go," Kira said firmly.  "They're going to need our 
help against the Jem'Hadar.  Odo, scout ahead."
     "Right, Major."  The changeling shifted his form into that of a 
Corvallian snow hawk and flew off.  The others followed along the 
icepack as fast as they were able.
     "I do not believe that the Scouts will require our assistance, 
Major," Worf commented.
     "I hope you're right, Worf."
     "I am," the Klingon responded confidently.  Silence came over the 
three of them as they concentrated on making their way to the sight of 
the battle.  Again and again, the sounds of thunder punctuated the 
silence, though the time between rumbles was becoming longer as they 
approached.  No doubt because the number of Jem'Hadar standing was 
getting fewer, Worf speculated.
     "They should be just over this rise," Dax said, still operating 
her tricorder.  "Just over one hundred met... Wait a minute!"  Dax ran 
a rapid sequence of commands into the instrument as she tried to make 
sense of the data it was spewing out.  "There's some sort of spatial 
anomaly forming."
     "My, my, what have we here?"  The three spun around to face the 
source of the voice, which materialized amid a swirl of cherry blossoms 
into a blonde humanoid in a gray uniform, hovering impossibly three 
meters above them.  "You three are certainly out of place."
     "Zoisite," Worf muttered answering the unspoken question.
     "Have we met?" Zoisite asked.  "I doubt it, since it appears that 
at least two of you aren't from this planet.  Especially the ugly one 
over there," she said, indicating Worf.  The Klingon snarled at her, but 
it was Dax who responded verbally.
     "You're hardly one to talk, lady... if that's what you really are."
     "What?!" Zoisite all but screeched.
     "You heard me.  For a female impersonator, you leave alot to be 
desired."  This caused Zoisite to clench her teeth, and she started 
turning a dark shade of red.  Kira gave Dax an odd look, but was careful 
to keep an eye on the Negaverse general.
     "What are you talking about, Dax?"
     "Can't you tell?" the Trill asked.  "I've seen alot of females in 
three hundred years, and that hardly qualifies."
     Kira looked back to Zoisite.  "Seems reasonably female to me."
     Dax shook her head.  "Worf?"
     "I have no opinion on the subject."
     "Give me a break you two," Dax said.  "If that's supposed to 
be a female, then she's lacking in... certain areas."
     Zoisite glowered at them and snarled in rage.  "Why you... you... 
you'll pay for that!  ZOI!!!"  She flung her hand in their direction, 
sending dozens of crystal shards flying at them.  The three officers 
dodged the incoming blast, each heading in a separate direction.
     Drawing on reflexes honed by years in the Bajoran resistance, Kira 
rolled on the ground, then aimed and fired her phaser in one smooth 
motion.  The energy beam caught Zoisite full on, and she reeled from 
the blast.  Worf and Dax quickly followed with phaser shots of their 
own.  The Negaverse general staggered under the impact of multiple phaser 
hits, then vanished in much the same way she had appeared.
     "That was easy," Dax observed.
     "Easy?" Kira exclaimed.  "Our phasers were at setting eight.  That 
should've killed her!"
     "Mine was at sixteen," Worf said, drawing a stunned look from the 
other two.
     "Sixteen!"  Kira shook her head.  A phaser at that high a setting 
was capable of vaporizing several cubic meters of rock.
     "We were fortunate that we were able to surprise her," Worf said.  
"We should not count on being able to do so again.  Next time she'll be 
ready for our weapons."
     Kira nodded.  "Let's get out of here.  If she teleported to where 
the Sailor Scouts are fighting the Jem'Hadar, Odo's going to need help.  
A lot of help."  They took off in a run, all thoughts of how cold it 
was forgotten.

     Sisko watched the debris field slowly move past on the viewscreen 
as the Defiant crept through it.   He turned impatiently to O'Brien.  
"Well, Chief?"
     The chief looked apologetically back at him.  "Sorry, sir.  It's 
hard to get a lock on the buoy in this plasma field.  And being cloaked 
doesn't make it any easier."  He broke off as a sensor chimed at him 
and he uttered an old Irish curse.  "I was afraid of this.  The plasma 
field is interfering with the cloaking device.  We're going to have to 
shut it down before it overloads."
     Sisko briefly pondered the situation.  While decloaking would leave 
them open to attack, by the same token it would also enable to respond 
that much faster to an aggressor.  "Very well.  Deactivate the cloak."  
The lights in the room brightened as the cloaking device was shut down.
     After a moment, O'Brien nodded in satisfaction.  "Got it.  Beaming 
it aboard now."
     "Good.  Helm, take us out of this plasma field.  I want to be able 
to recloak as soon as possible."
     "Aye, sir," Bashir responded.
     Sisko turned to the engineer.  "Chief, are there any indications 
what type of ship this used to be?"
     O'Brien took a moment to analyze the debris around them.  "From the 
materials present, it looks like the outer hull was composed of a 
tritanium alloy... it was a definitely Starfleet ship of some sort."  
Alarm bells began going off in Sisko's head.  He had a bad feeling he knew 
what the identity of the other ship was.  "Say something about the size of 
a Miranda class... or maybe a Constellation class.  Definitely too small 
for an Excelsior type.  I'm running an energy decay match now to see if I 
can identify the weapons the attacker used."  He swore softly once more 
when the results appeared on the monitor.  He was somewhat expecting the 
results, but seeing it confirmed was something else altogether.  "It 
looks like the attackers were using a phased polaron beam."
     Sisko nodded.  "The Dominion."  Given the fact that they had 
detected Jem'Hadar life signs on Earth, this didn't come as much of a 
surprise to Sisko, nor to anyone else on the bridge.  But it did serve 
to complicate matters.
     "Yes sir," the Chief responded.  As if on cue, another sensor alert 
sounded at the tactical station.
     The tactical officer looked to her captain.  "Sir, we've just 
detected two Jem'Hadar attack ships on an intercept course.  They must 
have been on the other side of the plasma field when we approached."
     "Battle stations," Sisko said automatically.  Around them the alert 
lights flashed, supplemented by the warning klaxon.  "Chief, can we 
recloak before they reach us?"
     "No, sir," replied the engineer.  "They'll intercept us just before 
we can clear the plasma field."
     Sisko frowned, even though he had been expecting that as an answer.  
"Then we'll make a stand here.  Head right for them, full impulse."  The 
Defiant shot forward as the overpowered impulse engines kicked into high 
gear.  The small starship turned towards the Jem'Hadar ships, twisting 
in response to Bashir's commands to evade incoming fire.  "Lock phasers on 
the lead ship.  Fire!"  Several bursts were fired from the pulse phasers,
striking the lead Jem'Hadar ship.  The first few were absorbed by the 
shields, but the next penetrated and ruptured the hull.  The Dominion 
vessel became a large ball of expanding gas.
     The bridge shook and several panels showered sparks as the 
remaining vessel fired shot after shot at the Defiant.  As always the 
Dominion weaponry cut right through their shields, impacting directly on 
the ship's hull.  "Evasive, pattern delta!" Sisko ordered.  As Bashir 
endeavored to comply, he continued, "Damage report!"
     "The ablative armor's down thirty percent," responded O'Brien, 
raising his voice over the din.  "And we've got a ruptured plasma conduit 
on deck three."
     "Helm, hard about," Sisko ordered.  "Take us back through the 
plasma field, maximum impulse."  The Defiant executed a tight turn, and 
sped back through the wall of energized gas.  The Jem'Hadar vessel 
followed, still firing.
     The viewscreen started to flicker.  "Sir, at this speed, we'll lose 
sensors momentarily," O'Brien stated, trying to warn his captain.  "We'll 
be blind as a Tiberian bat."
     Sisko nodded  "And so will they.  *After* we pass through," he 
responded.  O'Brien grinned as he comprehended what the captain was 
planning just before the viewscreen became a haze of static as the 
interference became too much for the computer to compensate for.  
"Doctor, once we're clear of the plasma field, bring us hard about and 
to a full stop.  Stand by quantum torpedoes."
     At Bashir's urgings, the Defiant executed another tight turn and 
stopped.  The Jem'Hadar ship, blind for the moment, continued on their 
previous heading.
     "Fire!" Sisko ordered.
     Two quantum torpedoes were launched and sped at the enemy ship.  
Detecting the incoming fire at the last minute, it attempted to evade 
the incoming fire but it was far too late react.  The weapons struck 
home, and the Dominion ship exploded.
     Sisko felt a grim feeling of satisfaction and looked to his 
engineering officer.  "Is the cloaking device operational?"
     "Yes, sir," O'Brien responded after making a quick check.
     "Good.  Activate the cloak and take us a position where we can be 
ready to beam the away team back."  The Earth grew quickly larger on 
the screen as Bashir made the necessary course adjustments.  "Chief, as 
soon as repairs are complete, I want you to start the analysis on that 
log buoy."

     "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH"  Venus cried out, unleashing her attack 
for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last few minutes, and the 
Jem'Hadar she was aiming at dropped.  All around the Scouts, bodies of 
the warriors of the Dominion were strewn about, numbering nearly two 
dozen in all.  Only one other remained standing, and he took aim at 
Jupiter and fired.
     The tall Scout ducked and dodged to her right, avoiding this energy 
blast as she had all the others.  The smell of ozone was discernable as 
she called upon her powers, "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!"  Her aim was true 
and the last Jem'Hadar fell.
     They stood there, trying to catch their breath while looking about 
for any other enemies.  Seeing that the area was clear for now, the two 
cats came out of cover.  "Are you OK, Mars?" Artemis asked.  They all 
had minor injuries of a sort, mostly from the Jem'Hadar's fists, but 
Mars had been hit in the shoulder by a weapon discharge.
     "Yeah, I'm fine.  It's not that..."  Her voice began a hiss of pain 
as Mercury gently probed the wound.
     "Sure you are," the blue haired Scout said, "I barely touched it.  
Now keep still while I try to staunch the bleeding."  Mars nodded, and 
Mercury concentrated on the wound while the others stood guard.  She 
noted with relief that no major arteries had been hit, but it was still 
bleeding freely.  A part of her wondered at that, since an energy weapon 
like that should cauterize the wound.  Thrusting that back to the back of 
her mind, she concentrated on forming a makeshift bandage.  Fortunately 
with all the bodies lying around, there was no shortage of material to 
form one, presuming that the uniforms were reasonably clean.  A quick 
scan showed that was indeed the case and she tore several strips from 
one.
     Mars tried to keep still to allow Mercury to finish, but it wasn't 
easy with the injury throbbing as it was.  But Mercury made good progress, 
and she was nearly done when Mars felt a warning buzz inside her head.  
Snapping her head about, she alerted the others, "Something's coming!"
     Malachite materialized within seconds of her alarm, but he seemed to 
take no notice of the Scouts.  Instead he was gazing about at the fallen 
Jem'Hadar.  "Pity.  I'd have thought they'd do better than this."
     "Wrong again, bleachhead," Mars hissed, as Mercury quickly tied off 
the bandage.  "You're next!"
       The white haired General turned and regard the four Scouts 
stoically.  "I think not."
     "Let's get him, Jupiter!" Venus cried.  "VENUS CRESCENT BEAM..."
     "JUPITER THUNDER..."
     "SMASH!"
     "CRASH!"
     The two attacks combine into one, heading straight at Malachite.  
He regarded the incoming fire with an arrogant sneer on his face.  One 
that was justified as it ricocheted off his forcefield.
     Mars moved to bring her own powers to bear on the Negaverse General, 
but something impacted her from the side, knocking her down.  "What 
the...?"  She looked over at what had hit her and was surprised to see a 
large bird beside her with one of Zoisite's crystal knives embedded in 
it's wing.
     "Stupid bird!" she heard Zoisite curse.  "You ruined my shot..."  
Zoisite's voice trailed off in confusion, and the battle froze 
momentarily as everyone got a look at what amazed her.
     The 'bird' had become a large gelatinous mass and shifted form, 
eventually becoming a humanoid male dressed in a brown uniform.  "My 
pleasure," he said calmly, dropping the crystal shard to the ice.
     Mars' tried to keep her jaw from dropping.  The man was the 
shapeshifter she had seen in her vision.
     For her part, Zoisite was shaking with rage.  First there was those 
three aliens that had humiliated her and forced her to withdraw.  Now 
this shapeshifter had appeared out of nowhere, ruining a perfectly good 
ambush shot she had on Mars.  "Enjoy it while you can, shapeshifter.  It's 
the last one you'll ever have.  ZOI!"  Odo automatically relaxed his body 
back into it's natural gelatinous state again, but the force of the blast 
was still enough to hurl him backwards several meters, slamming him deep 
into a snowbank.  Zoisite grinned and laughed aloud.  "Well, I guess 
that put him on ice."
     "And I can do the same for you!" a voice cried from below and behind 
her.  Zoisite spun around just as it cried out, "MERCURY ICE BUBBLES... 
FREEZE!"  A wave of supercold energy gripped Zoisite and she grimaced in 
pain.  Ordinarily she could withstand an attack such as this, but she was 
still weakened by the alien's energy weapons.  Her only recourse was to 
flee.  A swirl of cherry blossoms surrounded her as she prepared to 
teleport away.
     "Oh, no you don't!" Mars growled.  "MARS FIREBIRD... STRIKE!"  The 
bird of flame enveloped the Negaverse General, the fierce heat it 
generated overwhelming her defenses and she screamed in agony.
     It was a short lived scream.
     "ZOISITE!"  Malachite spun in her direction, but it was already far 
too late.  All that remained of Zoisite was a puff of ash blowing in the 
wind.  "You'll pay for that!" he roared. Flinging his arms wide, he fired 
two powerful energy blasts at the nearest Scouts to him; Sailor Venus and 
Sailor Jupiter.  The two Scouts were slammed into the icepack, and lay 
unmoving.
     "MINA!"  With a howl of pain, Artemis unthinkingly hurled himself 
at Malachite.  The Negaverse general snarled and mercilessly blasted the 
white cat.  Artemis fell onto the ground beside Venus.
     "NO!"  Mars hurled a powerful bolt of fire at Malachite, but it 
simply splashed off his forcefield, as did Mercury's ice blast.
     "Two down, two to go.  Goodbye, Sailor Scouts!"  Malachite gathered 
up the energy for a final blast.  But before he could do so, the ice 
beneath him began shaking.  Suddenly, the ground split open, and a rock 
emerged.  It shot forward and landed atop Malachite, forcing the General 
to the ground.  Odo shifted forms again, morphing from a Horta back to 
his normal humanoid appearance.  However, he kept his arms gelatinous, 
wrapping them around Malachite.
     "It seems Neflyte must have lied, when he said there was only 
one shapeshifter," Malachite said in a almost conversational tone.
     "You've seen others like me?  And who's Neflyte?" Odo demanded.
     "I'll send you to meet him," Malachite flatly replied, sending a 
charge of energy into Odo, staggering him and forcing him to release 
his hold on the General.  Malachite raised his arms and send another 
blast into Odo, this time catching the Constable full on.  Odo went 
flying once more and ended up crashing into Mars and Mercury.  
Malachite slowly picked himself off the ice, eyes blazing with anger.  
"Now you die, Sailor Scouts."  He was about to unleash a barrage at 
them when a hand grabbed his wrist.
     "Wrong," Jupiter said weakly.  A tingling of ozone was percievable 
as she summoned all of her power, "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!"  The tall 
Scout and the General both screamed as the energy of Jupiter's attack 
raced through him, while she was caught in the backlash of her own powers.  
Jupiter fell to the ground unconscious, while Malachite dropped to his 
knees, obviously staggered.
     "Lita!"  Mars struggled to free herself from Odo, as did Mercury, 
but it was like trying to wade out of a pool of molasses and it didn't 
help matters that Odo was trying to collect himself both literally and 
figuratively.  If she could get loose before Malachite could recover, 
she'd have a chance to take him out of the fight.
     All too soon, however, Malachite recovered, getting shakily to his 
feet.  He glared down at the fallen Jupiter.  "Nice try, girl," he rasped, 
"but not good enough."
     "If at first you don't succeed, blast the bad guy again."  Malachite 
turned to the source of the voice and was surprise to find Venus standing 
next to him, her index finger pointed at his head.
     Mina struggled to stay on her feet and conscious.  The pain from her 
injuries was nearly overwhelming, but she felt she had enough left in her 
for one good shot.  One good enough to take out Malachite, she hoped, 
because she wasn't going to of help to Mars and Mercury for much longer.  
She had to finish him here and now, to give them a chance to get at Beryl.  
Nothing else mattered.
     Venus leaned forward before Malachite could react, touching the tip 
of her index finger to his forehead.  "Hasta la vista, pretty boy!  
VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!"
     The backflare from her attack blinded those watching for a second, 
but when it cleared they only saw Venus sprawled on the ground.  No 
trace of Malachite remained, except for a wisp of dust.
     Mercury struggled to her feet, helped in part by the fact that Odo 
was finally able to reform himself.  But before she could move to either 
of the two injured Scouts, a woman she had never seen before ran up to 
them and knelt down.
     Mars watched intently as Dax began utilizing her tricorder.  "What's 
she doing?"
     "I think she's scanning them.  But I've never seen a device like 
that before."
     Mars had further questions, but they were quickly forgotten as she 
noticed two other new arrivals.  Both had features which denoted them 
as not human, but that wasn't what startled her.  Each of them, including 
the shapeshifter and the woman attending Venus and Jupiter, had appeared 
in her last fire reading.  But what did it mean?  Were they allies?  Or 
new enemies?
     Kira helped Odo to his feet.  "Are you OK, Odo?"
     The Constable nodded.  "A little shaken, but otherwise I'm fine, 
Major.  The... opposition was a little tougher than I had anticipated."
     "Zoicite?" Kira asked.
     "And Malachite," Odo confirmed.  "Ultimately, these two dealt with 
her, while they," he indicated the injured Scouts, "where able to 
dispatch him."  Kira nodded, but what she was going to say died in her 
throat as she got her first good look around the battlefield and at the 
bodies of two dozen Jem'Hadar lying amidst the ice and snow.
     Worf noticed the look of astonishment on her face.  "Do you still 
think they need our help against the Jem'Hadar, Major?"
     "Kira!" Dax called out before she could respond.  Kira turned and 
saw Dax picking up an unconscious cat.  She had taken off her jacket, 
using it in an attempt to keep the injured Venus warm.  "These two are 
badly injured.  If they're going to have any chance, we've got to get 
them to the Defiant."  She shivered, adding, "And before I freeze to 
death."
     "Go," Kira ordered.
     "Wait a minute!" Mars exclaimed.  "Go where?"
     "We've got a starship in orbit," Dax tried to explain, then 
shrugged.  "It's a long story, and they don't have the time for it.."  
Tapping on her comm badge, "Dax to Defiant."
     "Go ahead," Sisko's voice responded.
     "Medical emergency.  Four to beam directly to the medical bay."  
A second later, a blue-white haze enveloped the four, and they 
disappeared.
     Kira turned to the remaining Scouts.  "OK, quick introductions.  
I'm Major Kira Nerys, that's Lt. Commander Worf, and you've met Odo.  
Now, maybe you two could give us an idea what's going on around here."
     Mars responded sharply, "I think you're the ones who ought to 
explain what you're up to.  And what you're doing here with him!"  She 
turned and leveled an accusing finger at Odo.
     "What have you got against Odo?" asked a baffled Kira.
     Mars didn't respond, other than to continue glaring at the 
Constable.  For his part Odo returned her gaze measure for measure.  
After a few moments he said, "You're welcome."
     The raven haired Scout was taken aback.  "Huh?"
     "For saving your life."
     "He's right, Mars," Mercury put in.  "If it weren't for him, 
Zoisite would've killed us."
     "Yeah, that's true," Mars sullenly agreed.
     Odo snorted.  "Your gratitude is overwhelming."
     Mercury put a restraining hand on her friend.  "Not now, Mars."  
She waited until Mars' temper subsided a bit, then turned to Odo.  
"Please try to understand, but you're not the first shapeshifter we've 
encountered, and that was not... pleasant for either of us.  A good 
friend of ours was killed by it."
     "You mean you've met other Changelings before?" Odo asked.  
"Malachite said something about another one."
     "Oh, is that what you call yourselves?" Mercury asked, making an 
entry onto her palmtop.  "Yes we did, several months ago.  I've always 
wondered if there were any others around... and I'm glad to see that 
you're not all like that one."
     "I'm not like others of my people," Odo said.
     "That's good to know."  She looked up from the computer, "Do you 
know anything about your evolution?"
     Before Odo could say that he knew very little about how 
Changelings evolved, Kira interjected, "This may be very interesting, 
but I'd like to know just what the hell is going on around here!"  She 
eyed the two of them critically, as if noticing their outfits for the 
first time. "And why the hell aren't you freezing in that getup?!?"
     "The effects of the transformation protects us from climatic 
extremes," Mercury answered automatically.
     "We haven't got time for this," Luna said.  "We have to stop Beryl
from
unleashing the Negaforce.  We'll try to answer your questions later,
Major." 
If there is a later, she added silently.
     "Luna's right," Mars said.  "Come on, Mercury.  It's up to us now."  
The two remaining Scouts and Luna ran towards the dimensional portal.  
The away team glanced at each other, then followed. They had only gone a 
few paces when a figure appeared in front of them, barring their way.  
He was dressed in black and silver armor, complete with a cape, and he 
had a sword in hand.  "I knew those two would fail in their efforts to 
stop you.  But make no mistake about it, Sailor Scouts... You're not 
getting past me."
     "Who is it this time?" a frustrated Kira asked Worf.
     Mars answered before the Klingon could.  "Darien," she breathed.
     Confusion showed on his face.  "Who's Darien?  My name is Prince 
Darien."
     "Oh, yes," Odo said, rolling his eyes.  "There is a big difference.  
I can see how you might become confused."

     Sisko stared apprehensively at the viewscreen as all around him 
various sensor alarms were sounding.  The energy field in the arctic that 
they had been monitoring had started growing exponentially in the last 
few minutes, threatening to result in a dimensional crossover.  Very 
shortly, forces from the Negaverse would be able to cross over to Earth 
at will.  He shuddered to think of the destruction that would result, 
given the resistance that they had demonstrated to Starfleet weapons in 
the past.  An Earth with only twentieth century weapons wouldn't stand a 
chance.
     O'Brien also glanced at the screen from his engineering position, 
but he was less worried.  After all, he had seen the Scouts defeat the 
Borg and they *had* handled Beryl before their trip to the Enterprise D, 
so they should be able to do so now... he hoped.  "Sailor Moon should 
cut loose with the Silver Crystal any minute now."
     "I don't think so, Chief."  The two of them looked to starboard 
side door, where Dax was entering the bridge.  She made her way over to 
the helm, where she relieved the officer that had replaced Bashir.  The 
doctor had raced to the Defiant's small Sickbay the moment Dax had called 
in the medical emergency.  "I only saw four of the Scouts while I was 
down there.  And Sailor Moon wasn't one of them."
     "What the..." O'Brien sputtered, aghast.  "She's got to be there!"
     "She wasn't."
     "Correct me if I'm wrong, but if Sailor Moon isn't there, then that 
means no Silver Crystal," Sisko said.
     "Yes.  And without that, they have no way to beat Beryl," Dax added.
     Sisko frowned.  "If that's the case, it looks like it's up to us."
     O'Brien looked at his captain as if he had lost his mind.  "Us?!?"
     Dax looked none to optimistic herself.  "Benjamin, I don't know how 
much we can realistically do to stop them."
     "I'm aware of that, old man.  But I'm not about to sit up here and 
just watch while Earth, any Earth, is overwhelmed.  I need you to find 
me a way to prevent the dimensional crossover... and fast!"

     "You're not getting past me," Darien repeated, ignoring Odo's 
sarcasm.
     "We shall see," Worf replied, raising his phaser and firing.  And 
he might have hit him, too, had Mars not deflected his arm.
     "No!  Don't hurt him!"
     Worf glowered at her.  "My phaser was set on stun!  He would not 
have been harmed!"  He aimed his weapon again, only to discover a black 
rose embedded in it.
     Darien smiled, leveling his sword at Worf.  "As I said, you're not 
getting past me."
     Worf threw the useless weapon away and moved into close range, 
drawing his mek'leth.  Darien took a swipe at him, but the Klingon was 
able to parry it and respond with an attack of his own.
     "You three get going," Kira ordered as they watched the two 
exchange blows.  "We'll keep him busy so you can do whatever it is 
you're supposed to be doing."  She and Odo moved around the two 
combatants, looking for an opportunity to aid Worf.
     "Right," Luna responded.  "Let's go!"  She ran off to the portal, 
followed by the two remaining Scouts.
     They had only gone a few paces when black energy erupted from the 
portal, cutting off all light from the sun.  In a matter of seconds, the 
light level around them had fallen to that of nautical twilight.  In the 
same moment, Queen Beryl appeared before them, with a large, demonic 
figure appearing behind her.
     "We're too late," Luna whispered in a horrified tone.
     "Well, Sailor Scouts, you have failed utterly.  Despite your efforts, 
the Negaforce is free at last!  And now the world -- and soon the 
universe -- will be mine!" She threw her head back and laughed.
     Kira had looked back at the moment of Beryl's appearance, and saw 
the mad monarch's glee.  "I really don't like her," Kira muttered.  
"She reminds me of a Cardassian."
     "I think your being too hard on the Cardassians," Odo said.
     "You haven't won yet, Beryl!  Not while we're still alive!" Mars 
cried defiantly.
     "That can be easily rectified, Sailor Mars" Beryl gloated.
     Worf took advantage of Darien's distraction at Beryl's appearance 
by deflecting his blade downward with the mek'leth, then following it by 
striking a blow to Darien's chin with the heel of his right palm.  
Darien staggered backwards and Worf was about to press his advantage 
when he was tackled by Odo.  The Constable's reason came abundantly clear 
as a bolt of energy tore through the space the Klingon had occupied.  
Worf nodded his thanks to Odo.  "Where is Prince Darien?"
     "Telported away somehow," Odo responded as they got back to their 
feet.
     Beryl growled at this small setback.  "Destroy them!  Destroy them 
now!"  There was a loud demonic howl as the Negaforce charged at them.  
Kira fired her phaser at the onrushing entity, but it had no obvious 
effect.  She slapped desperately at her comm badge.  "Kira to Defiant!  
Emergency transport, seven to beam up!  NOW!!"
     "We tried our best, Mars."
     "Not good enough, Mercury.  But thanks anyway."  The blue haired 
scout nodded as the two Scouts readied themselves for a last stand.
     At that moment the transporter beam gripped the assembled group as 
the Defiant reclaimed her own.

Next time: Things go from bad to worse in Chapter 3, "Day of Disaster".

Author's note: Don't know what a Horta is?  See the Classic Trek episode, 
"The Devil in the Dark".
<soton@aol.com>

"Perhaps today *is* a good day to die..."
     -Lt. Commander Worf

"I tell you Worf, war is more fun when you're winning!"
     -General Martok

Chapter 3 - Day of Disaster 
     Out of the corner of his eye, Sisko could see Kira stride forcefully 
onto the bridge.  "Rough trip, Major?"
     "You could say that," she answered.  "Worf's taken our guests to 
the medical bay, but there's a big problem to deal with on Earth.  All 
hell's broken loose down there.  Literally."
     "I know, Major," the captain replied softly, indicating the 
viewscreen.  Puzzled, Kira turned to face the forward part of the bridge 
and gasped at the image that was displayed.
     "May the Prophets save us..."

     "We shouldn't be here," Mars was saying as Worf led them to the 
medical bay.  She paused a moment to glare back at Odo, who was trailing 
behind them.  "We should be back on Earth trying to stop Beryl."
     "Your attitude is commendable, but such an attempt would be 
foolish," Worf responded.  "The two of you do not possess the power to 
confront Beryl on your own, let alone the Negaforce.  Any attempt for you 
to do so would be a useless, though honorable, gesture."  Mars looked as 
if she were about to object for a moment, then subsided.  She hated to 
admit it, but Worf was right... She and Mercury didn't have the power 
needed to defeat Beryl, at least not without the Silver Crystal.  And 
with the Negaforce loose, there was very little hope that they would be 
able to get their hands on the Rainbow Crystals and use them to recreate 
it.  Entering the medical bay, she sighed.  Things hadn't seemed this 
bleak to her since...
     The raven haired Scout stopped short upon entering.  There were two 
beds in the Defiant's small medical bay, and a man, evidently the doctor, 
was working at one.  The other had a still figure on it, one that was 
covered with a sheet.  "No..." she breathed, staring at it in shock.  
After a moment, Mercury moved passed her and hesitantly lifted it up, 
revealing Sailor Venus.
     "She died a few minutes ago," a voice came from behind them.  
Turning, they faced Bashir.  In a voice laced with regret he continued, 
"I'm sorry, but there wasn't anything I could do for her... for any of 
them, really.  The damage from... whatever caused it, was simply too 
extensive, going right down to the cellular level."
     "Artemis?" Luna asked from her perch on Mercury's shoulder.
     "If you're referring to the white cat, then I'm afraid he was dead 
on arrival."
     "And... Sailor Jupiter?" Mercury asked in a quiet voice.
     Bashir opened his mouth to answer, but another spoke up before he 
did, saying in a weak voice, "I'm still here... for a little longer, 
anyway."  The other two looked to Bashir, hoping that he'd have something 
more positive to say, but he simply nodded in silent agreement.  Mercury 
automatically produced her computer and scanned Jupiter but quickly saw 
that the doctor was right.  The tall Scout didn't have long to live.
     "No!" Mars protested and moved over the Jupiter's side.  "That can't 
be true! She's going to be OK..."
     "Raye."  The use of her name brought her up short.  She blinked, and 
gazed down at the tall Scout, who was staring firmly at her.  "Don't lie 
to yourself.  Doctor Bashir already told me how bad off I am."  She 
flicked her eyes over to the doctor.  "It's too bad I won't be sticking 
around.  He looks just like my old boyfriend."  Her statement obviously 
caught Bashir off guard, and he blinked in surprise.
     "Oh, Lita..." Mars said in a whisper.  A part of her sensed Mercury 
move beside her and Luna bound down onto the biobed beside Jupiter.
     "Hey, you can't worry about me," Jupiter said.  She grimaced slightly 
and Bashir moved to administer a hypo, but she waved him off.  "You still 
have to take care of Beryl.  Wish I could help, but at least me and Venus 
took care of Malachite for you."
     "We'll try of course," Mercury said.  "But I don't know if we have 
the power to do so..."
     "You have to," Jupiter insisted.  Another wave of pain washed over 
her, and she gripped Mars' arm tightly.  "Just promise me this," she said, 
looking intently first at Luna, then Mercury, and finally Mars.  "Promise 
me that no matter what it takes, no matter what you have to do, you'll 
stop Beryl.  Otherwise it'll all have been for nothing.  And after 
everything we've gone through, it's gotta mean something..."
     "We'll do it," Luna said.  The other two simply nodded, not 
trusting themselves to speak without breaking into tears.
     "Good," Jupiter said and then she caught sight of Worf standing 
behind them.  A puzzled frown formed on her face.  "Strange... somehow I 
feel I know you.  But that can't be since I've never seen anyone like 
you..."  Her voice trailed off as the life ebbed from her body.
     The only sound in the room was the shrill whine coming from the 
biomonitors, which Bashir silenced with a touch on the controls.  He was 
about express his condolences to the trio when a low rumbling sound 
brought him up short.  He had just figured out it was coming from Worf 
when the Klingon threw back his head and let out an earsplitting howl.

     Muniz looked up from the torpedo he and O'Brien were working on.  
"What was that?"
     "You mean that howling sound?" the Chief inquired, his attention 
still on the torpedo.  After Muniz nodded he added, "That was Commander 
Worf doing the Klingon Death Howl."
     "Klingon Death Howl?"
     "That's right."  O'Brien looked at Muniz, his expression deadly 
serious.  "It's a tradition that some Klingons observe at the moment of 
death for their fellows.  It's a warning to the dead:  Beware, a warrior 
comes among you."

     The occupants of the medical bay stared at Worf, obviously shaken by 
his howl.  Even with his unique physiology, Odo seemed disturbed by it 
also.  "Why did you do that?" Mercury asked.
     That was a question Bashir and Odo wanted answered as well, but each 
could see that Worf was reluctant to elaborate.  "It is a long story," was 
all the Klingon would say.
     In truth, Worf wasn't quite sure how to explain it at the moment, 
given the twists in time this mission had presented them.  During the 
Scouts stay on the Enterprise, he had developed a great deal of respect 
for Lita Kino, AKA Sailor Jupiter... enough respect that he had with her 
consent, adopted her into the House of Mogh.  In his head he knew that the 
Lita before him had never experienced that timeline but in his heart he 
felt that he still had an obligation for her... even though the House of 
Mogh had been disbanded and disgraced by Chancellor Gowron almost 
eighteen months previously.
     "That's it?" Mars exclaimed somewhat incredulously.  "That's all 
you've got to say after nearly rupturing our eardrums?  'It's a long 
story'?"
     Worf was saved from deciding on what to say by a summons from the 
comm system.  "Sisko to Worf.  Report to the bridge."
     "On my way, Captain."  Worf was proceeding to the exit when Mars 
grabbed his arm.
     "Wait a minute.  We're going with you."
     "You should have your injuries treated first," Bashir objected.  
"Both of you."
     Worf stared at Mars intently and saw the determination in her eyes.  
Though no word were spoken between the two, much was communicated between 
the two.  In that brief span of time, Worf understood her reasons 
instantly.  She had to accompany him, so that they could fulfill the 
promise had made to the dying Jupiter.  For her part, Mars understood 
that Worf would do all he could to see that they were able to keep their 
word to Lita.  Without turning from the raven haired Scout, Worf asked, 
"Are their injuries life threatening?"
     "Well... no," Bashir admitted.  "But they should be treated as soon 
as possible.  Especially her shoulder."
     "Then they will be... but *after* they speak with the captain."  Worf 
nodded to the two Scouts and cat and they followed him out of the medical 
bay.
     Bashir sighed and began the process of placing the bodies in stasis.  
It wasn't that mind-consuming a task, so a large part of his mind was 
brooding over the loss of the two young lives, and the cat as well.  
'Perhaps,' he speculated, 'if I had the resources available in the 
infirmary at DS9, or even if this were a proper sickbay as opposed to 
this miniaturized excuse for one, I might have been able to save them.  
Perhaps even Artemis...'
     With a start he realized that Odo had remained behind, and had 
been quietly watching him.  "I'm sorry, Odo.  Is there something I can do 
for you?" Bashir asked.
     "I'm not sure," the Constable admitted reluctantly.  "I've been 
feeling.. odd since the battle with Malachite."
     "Well, let's see what I can do for you," Bashir stated with false 
joviality.  He opened up a medical tricorder and began scanning the 
changeling with it.  "Hmmm... there are some mild instabilities in your 
morphogenic matrix."
     "Instabilities?" Odo asked, clearly worried.
     Bashir smiled.  "There's no need for concern, Constable.  There's 
nothing that won't be cleared up by your taking a few hours of rest to 
regenerate."
     Odo nodded, clearly relieved.  "Thank you, Doctor.  I think I'll go 
to my quarters and do that."
     "You're quite welcome," Bashir said.  His expression became more 
serious when he looked back to the bodies in the stasis chambers.  "I'm 
just glad I could be of some help to somebody today."
     Odo watched him carefully for a moment.  "It's not your fault, 
Doctor."
     Bashir smiled ruefully.  "Oh, I'm aware of that, Odo... at least 
intellectually.  However, I can't help feeling that if I had the 
resources I had back at the station, or even if this were a proper 
sickbay, that I could have done more for them."
     "Perhaps," Odo said noncommittally.  "But I don't see any reason to 
dwell on what might have been."
     "Then perhaps I should speculate on other things," Bashir answered.  
"I noticed that Mars, and to a lesser extent Mercury, shot a couple of 
nasty glares your way on the way out.  Now, why is that?"
     Odo snorted.  "You hardly need to speculate about that, Doctor.  
Mercury informed me that they've met another changeling previously, and 
that it was responsible for a friend's death."
     "That would tend to make them a bit hostile about changelings in 
general.  And it would tend to color thier opinions about you."
     Odo nodded.  "Indeed.  Especially if that friend is Sailor Moon."
     "More speculation, Odo?"
     "Deduction, Doctor, not speculation.  One, Sailor Moon is missing 
from a battle that she has a pivotal role in.  Two, according to Worf, 
the Sailor Scouts were all close friends.  When you add in Mercury's 
revelation, it leads one to this conclusion."
     The doctor frowned.  "That does seem to fit."
     "I'm glad you concur," Odo replied with some sarcasm.  "Perhaps 
you should consult with me on medical matters as well."
     Bashir smiled.  "Don't worry Odo.  I won't make a habit of it."
     "I should hope not."
     "If that accounts for all the Sailor Scouts, I wonder what happened 
to that Tuxedo Mask character Worf talked about."
     "He was there," Odo confirmed.  Briefly the constable relayed the 
events that occurred at the Arctic battlefield.
     Bashir was suitably impressed by what he heard.  "It's a pity you 
weren't able to capture him.  I might have been able to do something for 
Darien to reverse his amnesia."
     Odo snorted.  "Don't you mean Prince Darien?"
     A puzzled expression formed on the doctor's face.  "What's the 
difference?"
     "None that I can see," Odo responded.  "No, Doctor.  Beryl wasn't 
about to let her... 'prize' get away that easily.  Besides, we have no way 
of knowing if a stun setting would have any effect on him.  And I don't 
blame Mars for interfering with Worf's shot, she didn't know the phaser was 
on stun... and she's quite clearly in love with this Darien."
     "Love?" a mystified Bashir asked.  "How do you know that?"
     "I'm a detective, Doctor.  And I've been observing you humanoids 
carefully over the years.  The signs are obvious if you know where to 
look.  Now if you'll excuse me."  The Constable nodded to Bashir and 
departed for his quarters.  At least he wouldn't have to share them with 
Quark on this trip.

     The bridge was a proverbial beehive of activity when Worf and the 
Scouts entered.  The Klingon noted that several of the stations were 
manned by reserve personnel and that, aside from the captain, Kira was 
the only senior officer on the bridge.  The Major was working furiously 
at the tactical station, directing the activity of those around her.
     By contrast, Sisko was standing rock still by his command chair, 
staring intently at the viewscreen.  Presently he barked out, "Chief, 
where the hell are those torpedoes?"
     A disembodied voice answered him.  "Almost ready, Captain.  We're 
modifying the last two now."
     "Good."  He turned to Worf.  "Take weapons control and check the 
firing program, Mr. Worf.  Kira will brief you on the plan."  The Klingon 
nodded and moved to the station, Kira got out of her seat and began 
outlining the plan Dax and O'Brien had come up with.  Curious, Mercury 
followed to listen in.
     Luna jumped onto the command chair console.  "Not that we're 
ungrateful, but who ARE you people?  And what are you trying to do?"
     Sisko regarded the cat for a brief period.  Even though he had 
been briefed on their existence, he still found himself taken aback at 
meeting a talking cat face to face.  "I'm sorry... Luna, isn't it?"  After 
the startled cat nodded he continued, "We haven't got time for lengthy 
introductions right now, but  I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko, commanding the 
Federation starship Defiant.  At the moment, we're trying to seal off the 
link between Earth and the Negaverse."  His gaze returned to the
viewscreen, 
"Before it's too late."  Mars and Luna did likewise, and gasped.  A large 
part of the northern hemisphere was covered in a writhing dark mass that 
was growing visibly.  Fully one third of the planet had been enveloped.
     "What it that?" asked Mars, her voice low.
     "Our sensors identify it as a negative energy field, but it's like 
nothing we've ever encountered before," Sisko replied.  "All we really 
know for certain is that we're reading massive destruction inside the 
field.  Whole cities are being destroyed.  Even outside the field, it as 
if nature has gone bezerk: earthquakes, volcanos erupting, tornadoes... 
virtually every kind of natural disaster is going on."
     "It's the Negaforce's doing," Luna said.  "It's remaking the surface 
of the Earth in the image of the Negaverse."  The black cat shook her 
head sadly.  "We've failed."
     Sisko shook his head.  "Not yet, we haven't," he insisted firmly.  
"There may be two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but thanks to Dax and 
Chief O'Brien, we still have one more chance at bat."
     Mars hoped he was right, but in her mind she could almost hear the 
screams of the people trapped inside the dark mass below.  "Do... do you 
have any idea about casualties below?"
     The captain grimaced.  "High," he admitted.  "Our sensor readings 
inside the field are limited, but it appears the it's several thousand at 
least.  Considering that several major cities lie inside it, it may well 
be in the millions.  But we can't concern ourselves with that at the 
moment."
     "What?!" Mars hissed.  She was dimly aware that several of the crew 
turned to stare at her, Worf and Kira in particular, but she plunged on 
regardless.  "How can you have a cold blooded attitude like..."
     "Because I have to be more concerned with saving those millions that 
are still alive," Sisko retorted, interrupting her forcefully.  "We'll 
mourn for the dead later... after the current crisis is over."  The two 
of them glared at each other, each of the iron willed individuals 
unwilling to give an inch.  Finally Sisko added in a gentler tone, "That 
includes those who've died up here on the Defiant.  You all have my
condolences on the deaths of your friends, and I think I can safely speak
for
my crew when I say they feel similarly.  I know from personal experience
what
it's like to lose someone close to you that suddenly."
     Mars sensed the sincerity behind Sisko's words and her expression 
softened, but before she could respond the starboard door hissed open to 
admit Dax, followed by Chief O'Brien.  The Trill science officer looked 
tired as she made her way to the helm.  "We're ready, sir," she said.  
"All the torpedoes have been modified and loaded in the launch tubes."
     "I hope your calculations are right, old man..." Sisko began quietly, 
now taking his own seat.  "Because if they're not..."
     "If they're not, I don't think there'll be much of an Earth left 
to save," Dax finished in the same tone.
     Luna looked oddly at Dax, then to Sisko, "Old man?   You need your 
eyes checked."
     Sisko raised an eyebrow, while Dax smiled broadly.  "It's a long 
story, Luna," she said.  "I'll be happy to tell you all about it when we 
finish here."
     In the meantime, Mars went over to where Mercury was standing just 
behind Worf at the tactical station.  She could see the both he and Kira 
were feverishly setting up some last details on the firing program.  In a 
low voice she asked her fellow Scout, "What are they trying to do?  And 
can it actually work?"
     The blue haired Scout tapped on her computer for a moment before 
answering.  "They've modified several of their weapons to cause a 
subspace inversion field."  At Raye's dubious look, she smiled.  "Don't 
worry, I'm not sure I understand it either.  As for it working... Well, 
it's possible. The subspace physics they're using are quite advanced 
beyond anything that exists on Earth, but the theory seems sound.  
Assuming everything goes as planned, the explosions will set up an 
inversion field causing a cascade reaction within the dimensional portal 
between Earth and the Negaverse, thereby severing the dimensional link.  
At the very least, this should by us some time."
     Mars looked dubiously back at the screen.  It seemed like a long 
shot, but what else could they try?
     Worf turned to Sisko, "Firing program loaded and ready, sir."
     "Very well.  Deactivate the cloak and fire when ready, Mr. Worf," 
Sisko ordered.
     "Aye, sir."  Worf touched a control on his monitor, activating the 
firing program.  Outside, the Defiant became visible once more and 
immediately launched a staggered volley of photon and quantum torpedoes.  
Those on the bridge watched anxiously as the orange and white weapons 
raced towards Earth, disappearing into the dark mass above D point.
     Dax monitored the sensors for reaction.  "Detonation of all 
torpedoes confirmed.  Subspace field inversion proceeding."
     "It's working..." Mercury breathed.  The Scouts and the crew held 
their collective breath as the growth of the dark field slowed and 
finally seemed to stop.
     An alarm sounded from Dax's panel.  Hurriedly she checked the 
sensor readouts.  "Hold on.  Something's interfering with the cascade 
reaction," she announced.
     "The Negaforce," Luna observed sadly.
     Dax looked horrified at the sensor readings.  "The subspace 
inversion field has been completely negated.  The portal's not 
collapsing... it's tearing wide open."  On the viewscreen, the black 
mass began expanding at a greatly accelerated rate and covered the 
planet within a matter of seconds.  The assembled group stared at the 
image in stunned silence, that was interrupted by an alert from the 
tactical station.
     "Captain, incoming fire!" Worf cried.  Several massive bolts of 
energy emerged from the darkness over D point, heading straight for the 
Defiant.
     "Evasive!" Sisko ordered, "Shields to maximum!"  While Dax was able 
to evade some of the incoming fire, a good many of the bolts impacted on 
the small starship, sending it tumbling.  Inside, several panels exploded 
as a result of the power surges and the crew hung on for dear life as the 
deck pitched under them.  Mercury and Mars hung on to the back of Worf's 
seat, while Luna dug her claws into the armrest of Sisko's chair.
     "Shields gone!" Worf reported.
     "Warp drive is out too," O'Brien shouted over the noise.  "And the 
entire weapons array is offline!"
     Sisko began calling out orders.  "Dax, get us back under control!  
Activate the cloaking device."  Dax worked to steady the ship while moving 
it into another orbit.  Outside, the Defiant ceased it's spinning motion 
and faded from view just as another energy bolt shot up and passed 
through where the ship had been.  Still more bolts emerged from below, 
bracketing the starship.
     Kira spoke up, "Those shots are coming too close for comfort.  I 
think they're tracking us somehow!"
     "While we're cloaked?" asked O'Brien in disbelief.
     "They had several Jem'Hadar under their control, so they probably 
had access Dominion technology at the same time.  Including their method 
for penetrating cloaks," Dax theorized.
     "Whatever it is, we're not sticking around to find out," Sisko said.  
"Move us out of the system, Dax.  Best speed."  The Trill officer nodded 
and made the necessary adjustments to the helm.  The image of Earth on 
the viewscreen grew smaller as the Defiant moved off on impulse power, 
the groundfire becoming more sporadic when it passed beyond lunar orbit.
     Mars looked at the shrinking image of the enshrouded Earth on the 
viewscreen, then glanced at the monitor of conditions within the 
blackness.  She couldn't understand all of it, but the ramifications of 
total devastation being wrought below were perfectly clear.
     Negaverse victory.  All their efforts had come to naught.
     Each of the Defiant's bridge crew had an expression of uncertainty, 
as they were unsure what to do next.  Mars finally settled her gaze on 
Sisko, who had a similar expression on his face.  "Well?!?" she demanded.  
"Now what?"
     Sisko continued to stare at the enshrouded Earth.  "Strike three," 
he said quietly.
     Mars couldn't believe it.  The determination she had felt when 
leaving the medical bay went out of her like air from a popped balloon.  
"It was all for nothing.  Everything we've gone through... everyone we've 
lost... Serena..."  Worf looked at her sharply at this, but said nothing.  
"Lita... Mina... Artemis... all for NOTHING!"  She collapsed into an 
empty chair, too emotionally spent even for tears.  Mercury went over 
and tried to comfort her friend, but Raye seemed only dimly aware of her.
     Sisko turned to Kira.  "Major, our guest still have injuries that 
need attention.  Please escort them to the medical bay, then assign them 
quarters," he said in a still quiet voice.
     "Yes, sir," the Major responded.  Gently she asked the Scouts to 
come with her, Mars doing so almost mechanically.
     After they left, Sisko turned to the helm.  "Dax, take another look 
at the situation.  Find another method to severe the dimensional link.  
And make it work this time."
     "Benjamin, I don't think..." she broke off at the stern look on 
Sisko's face which brooked no argument, instead saying quietly, "Yes, 
sir."  She moved over to one of the science stations and began working.
     An uncomfortable silence descended on the bridge, broken only by a 
loud thud and a cracking of glass as Sisko slammed his fist on his 
console in frustration.

     "There," Bashir said, putting down the tissue regenerator.  He 
picked up a medical tricorder and passed it over Mars' shoulder.  "Good 
as new."
     Mars flexed her left arm experimentally.  There was no pain at all 
from the wound the Jem'Hadar weapon had inflicted.  In fact, it was as if 
she had never been injured at all.  "Thanks."
     "All part of the friendly service," the doctor answered, moving over 
to the biobed Mercury was seated on.  "Though you should thank whomever 
bandaged that in the first place."
     "That would be me," Mercury said, turning slightly red.
     "Oh?"  Bashir began scanning Mercury's injuries, noting with relief 
that they were relatively minor.  "I don't see why you're embarrassed.  
You did a first rate job with that makeshift bandage.  I doubt I could've 
done better under the circumstances."
     "Thank you, doctor."
     He glanced up from the tricorder.  "Have you considered a career in 
medicine?  You've certainly got an aptitude for it."
     "I... I did want to be a doctor," the blue haired girl replied, 
suddenly downcast.  "But I doubt that's possible now."  Bashir mentally 
kicked himself, and from the look Kira was giving him, she was more than 
willing to do it physically.  All he had wanted to do was try to cheer 
them up, but what he had ended up doing instead was to remind them of the 
devastation that was being wrought on Earth.
     Kira went over and put a comforting hand on Mars' shoulder.  "Don't 
give up hope yet.  If there's anyway to push Beryl off your world, 
Captain Sisko will find it."
     Mars shot a glare at the Major, who returned it measure for measure.  
"Who are you to talk about not giving up?  Your world wasn't taken over 
by alien invaders!"
     "Oh yes it was," Kira responded, her voice taking on a hard edge to 
it.  "Bajor, my homeworld, was invaded and occupied by the Cardassians.  
We were no threat to them, but they still came and stripped out world of 
it's resources, put us into labor camps...  murdered us... you name it, 
the Cardassians did it.  But we didn't give up.  We formed a resistance 
movement and fought back against the Cardassians.  It may have taken us 
fifty years, but we managed to force them off our world.  And the same 
thing can work on Earth."
     "A resistance movement?  Against the Negaverse?" Luna said, doubt 
evident in her voice.  Mercury and Mars looked equally skeptical.
     Kira nodded.  "It's one option."
     "No offense, Major," Bashir interjected, "But forming a resistance 
against the Cardassians was one thing.  From what I've heard, their 
opponents are in another class entirely."
     "You got that right," Mars remarked.
     "It's just one possible solution," Kira said.  "My point is that no 
situation is entirely hopeless.  And Captain Sisko will find a way to 
resolve this -- whether it's forming a resistance movement and supplying 
it with weapons from the Defiant's armory... Or something else altogether."
     "You really believe in him, don't you?" Mercury asked.
     "Absolutely," Kira affirmed.  "After all, he is the Emissary."

     Several hours later, Dax reluctantly pressed the door chime at 
Sisko's quarters and heard him respond softly, "Come in."  The door opened 
to admit her to Sisko's temporary home on the Defiant.  Sisko was seated 
on the lower bunk, a somber expression on his face.  In fact, she didn't 
think she had seen her old friend look this depressed since Jennifer's 
death at Wolf 359, a little over five years ago.  Those were back in the 
days of Curzon Dax, before the Dax symbiote had passed to Jadzia, but the 
memories were still vivid.
     Sisko stood up slowly and faced her.  "I could sure use some good 
news right now, old man."
     "Unfortunately, I don't have any," she answered.  "O'Brien and I 
have been over it a dozen times, from just as many different angles.  
There's just no way we can sever the link between this universe and the 
Negaverse."
     Sisko sagged back against the bunk bed, feeling very weary.  "You're 
sure?"
     She nodded.  "I've tried everything I could think of, even a couple 
things that violate the laws of physics.  The link is just too strong to 
sever with our current resources."  Sisko turned away from her, facing the 
far wall.  "And it doesn't help matters any that it's being artificially 
maintained by the Negaforce."
     Sisko stood silently for several moments, digesting her report, then 
slammed his fist into the cabin wall.  "Damn it!"
     Despite the situation, an amused expression came across Dax's face.  
"You never could keep your temper in check, Ben.  Feel any better?"
     "A little," he admitted.  "I just hate feeling this helpless, Dax.  
We didn't just stumble across this situation, we were brought here!  The 
wormhole was deliberately diverted to bring us to this time and place to 
do something.  But there doesn't seem to be anything we can do to help 
this situation."  He heaved a sigh of frustration and placed his hands on 
his hips.  "This problem is too big for us to handle, even with the help 
of the Sailor Scouts."
     Dax's brow furrowed.  "Perhaps we're looking at this the wrong way."
     Sisko turned to face her.  "What do you mean?"
     "Like you said, this is too big for us.  So maybe the wormhole aliens 
had another reason for sending us here."
     "Such as?"
     Dax shrugged.  "I don't know.  Those pieces of the puzzle is still 
missing."
     Sisko turned and paced across the room a few times, pondering what 
she said. "Then it's time we found those missing pieces, old man," he 
said, several moments later, feeling a new sense of purpose fill him.  
"The Prophets mentioned an 'anomaly'... and now that I have time to think 
about it, there's a very good chance they were talking about a temporal 
anomaly.  And I'd bet my baseball that it has some connection to the 
changes in the timeline that we've observed here as well."
     "No bet," Dax said.  "I think you're onto something, Benjamin.  I'll 
get on the sensors and start scanning for temporal anomalies."
     "Search for any spatial anomalies as well, Dax.  We can't afford to 
leave any stone unturned.  And have Chief O'Brien get to work on that log 
buoy again.  Now that there's time to give it a good lookover, there may 
be a few answers there as well."
     "Yes, sir" she answered and left the room.
     "Sisko to Worf," the captain said, prompting the computer to activate 
the intercom system.  "I have an assignment for you."

     "Muniz!"  The younger man looked up from a console to see O'Brien 
entering the engine room.
     "Yes, Chief?"
     "The captain wants us to take a look at that log buoy we salvaged," 
the Chief answered.  "Hopefully it'll give us some clue as to what the 
hell's going on around here.  Besides, now that most of the damage has 
been repaired, you need something to do, right?"  The two engineers moved 
over to the damaged buoy, which had been placed in a corner of the 
Defiant's engine room.  With all the recent activity, neither had been 
able to make the time to attempt to extract useful information from it.
     "It'll be a miracle if we get anything out of this mess," Muniz 
remarked, shaking his head.
     "We won't know until we try," O'Brien stated.  "Besides, you're 
not afraid of a little hard work, are you Muniz?"
     "No, sir," Muniz answered with a smile.
     "Don't call me sir," the Chief groused, "Unless you *really* want 
a transfer to Waste Extraction."  They both chuckled and began work by 
removing an inspection plate form the buoy.  After much effort they 
managed to get it off, and stared in stunned silence as they got a good 
look at the buoy's inner workings.
     "I don't believe it!" Muniz remarked.  "I thought they stopped 
using stuff like this a hundred years ago!"
     O'Brien shook himself and tried to focus on the task at hand.  "They 
did, but it doesn't change our job any.  Captain Sisko wants answers, and 
that means he wants us to find them."

     The sound of the door chime startle Amy, almost causing her to drop 
the padd she had been studying.  She and Raye were in the small, though 
spartan, quarters that Major Kira had assigned them.  Upon transforming 
back, Raye had opted to get some sleep, but Amy found that she couldn't 
contain her curiosity about their hosts and accessed the computer.  
Besides, she doubted she could sleep very well at the moment.  Any sleep 
she got right now would no doubt be tainted by nightmares of recent 
events... Mina's death... Lita's... the Negaverse overrunning Earth... 
and Serena's death.  It had been months since that had happened, but the 
events of that day still plagued her at night.  Again she wondered how 
Raye was able to put these things aside and get to sleep so easily.  
Probably something in her training as a Shinto priestess, she decided.
     Downloading the data into a padd, she decided to start with the 
history of the Defiant and the crew she had met, and had gotten as far as 
the recent history of Bajor before she was interrupted.
     Getting out of the lower bunk, she looked at Raye.  The other girl 
was eyeing the door rather groggily.  "What now?" she asked in a rather 
irritated voice as the door chimed again.  Amy could swear that it had 
taken on an impatient tone.
     "One way to find out."  She was about to admit whoever was at the 
door when Raye put a restraining hand on her.
     "Hold on.  Let's transform first."
     "I hardly think maintaining a secret identity is necessary now, 
Raye."
     "Maybe not," the other girl admitted.  "And I think these people 
can be trusted... at least Worf can be.  But's lets be on the safe side, 
OK?"
     Amy considered what she said and nodded.  "OK."  Two transformation 
phrases (and three door chimes) later she said, "Come in."
     The door opened and a rather impatient (but trying not to show it) 
Worf entered.  He looked first at Mercury, then at Mars eyeing him from 
the upper bunk.  He noted that the small tears in their clothing had 
disappeared.  "Am I disturbing you?"
     "Not at all," Mars replied, the sarcasm sharply evident in her 
voice.  "I was only sleeping."  Worf repressed the instinctive urge to 
snarl.  This was Mars, alright.  She was just as sharp tongued as during 
her trip to the Enterprise D.
     "Mars!"Mercury chided her.  Turning to Worf, "Well, I wasn't 
sleeping, though I was doing some research into the history of your 
world.  It sounds like an interesting place."
     "It is," he agreed.  "Hopefully we will be able to return there once 
this matter is resolved."
     Mars looked confused.  "Can't you just use the same way you got 
here?"
     "No," the Klingon replied.  "We were investigating an anomaly in 
the wormhole.  For some reason, it led us here and then vanished."
     Mercury nodded in understanding.  "Yes, the wormhole between the 
Alpha and Gamma Quadrants."  Then she frowned as what Worf said sank in.  
"It led you here?  It shouldn't have done that."
     "We do not understand it either," Worf agreed.  "Our current theory 
is that the wormhole aliens routed us here for some reason.  And that is 
the reason for my visit."
     "How so?" Mars asked.
     "We believe that a temporal anomaly occurred, altering the history 
of your world.  Captain Sisko asked me to talk with you three..."  His 
voice trailed off and he glanced about the room.   "Where is Luna?"
     "She said something about exploring the ship.  She should be back 
soon," Mercury answered.  "You were saying?"
     "Yes.  The captain asked me to talk with you three to see if I 
could determine the crucial event that altered the flow of your history."
    "You mean something happened to change the way things should have 
gone for us?" Mercury asked.
     "That is our current theory, yes."
     "But why you?" Mars asked.  "I mean, isn't Dax the scientist?"
     "She is," Worf admitted, "But I have greater knowledge of your 
true history from my earlier meeting with you on the Enterprise."
     Mercury looked puzzled.  "Meeting?"
     "We've never met you before," Mars added.  "And believe me, we'd 
definitely remember meeting someone like you."
     "Of course not," Worf said, ignoring Mars' barb.  "That event took 
place later in your history, and in the true timeline.  You can confirm 
what I've said by accessing the logs of the Enterprise D."  He added a 
range of stardates for good measure.
     Mercury picked up the padd and quickly manipulated the controls, 
calling up the relevant data.  It only took her a moment to skim over the 
log entries, "He's right Mars.  All five of the Sailor Scouts visited 
there... and Tuxedo Mask as well."  She read on for a moment and gasped.  
"Our names are listed here!  Our real ones!"
     "You spent over a month on the Enterprise and as we are from 
different universes, there was no need to conceal who and what you were," 
Worf said, trying to reassure her.  "But in order to preserve that 
timeline, we need to know how things changed.  I need you to tell me 
everything that has happened.  Form the moment you became Sailor Scouts 
to Sailor Moon's death... and what has happened since."

Next time: Dax and O'Brien conduct their own searches for some answers to 
this temporal quandary, and each yield some surprising results.  
Meanwhile, Mercury and Mars explain to Worf just what went wrong in 
"A moonless world"
soton@aol.com

"The last thing I want is a visit from Temporal Investigations when we 
get home..."
     -Captain Benjamin Sisko

Sailor Trek: Deep Space 9

Chapter 4 - A moonless world
     Dax nodded to Kira as she made her way to the science station.  
"So you're the lucky one who got the night shift, Kira?"
     "Not originally," she remarked.  "Worf had the duty, but Captain 
Sisko had a job for him, so I got called in.  Not that there was anyone 
else available, mind you."
     "Oh, I don't know," Dax said with a shrug.  "I think I could handle 
the center seat for a while."
     "That's true," Kira said with a laugh.  "But not right now, you 
can't.  You're still too busy trying to find a way to push this Queen 
Beryl back where she belongs."
     The science officer shook her head.  "Not anymore."
     It took Kira a moment to realize what Dax had said.  She swiveled 
the command chair to face the science officer, disbelief clearly written 
on her face.  "What do you mean?  Captain Sisko can't be thinking about 
giving up!"
     "Relax, Kira," Dax reassured her.  "We're just trying another angle.  
We've theorized that the Prophets were referring to a temporal anomaly 
when they talked to Benjamin during our last trip through the wormhole.  
So," she gestured to the science station, "now I'm up here looking for 
temporal anomalies."
     "I see," Kira said, understanding dawning.  "So, if we can find this 
temporal anomaly, maybe we can use it somehow... to keep this whole mess 
from happening in the first place?"
     "That's essentially the idea," Dax said.  Leaning forward, she set 
about the task of remodulating the sensors.  "So, anything exciting 
happening up here?"
     "Not much," Kira admitted.  "The situation on Earth seems to have 
stabilized, but we're still cloaked and maintaining a distance of two 
hundred million kilometers.  But every now and then we get a threatening 
message from her majesty, Queen Beryl."  Sarcasm was practically dripping 
from Kira's voice as she said "her majesty."
     Now it was Dax's turn to show disbelief.  "She's sending direct 
messages to us?  This far away... while we're cloaked?"
     "No, no directly," Kira reassured her.  "She's just sending out 
general broadband transmissions allover the place, using old style radio 
waves.  And it's just the usual kind of threats I'd expect from someone 
like her.  You know, how she's going to have her vengeance on us and 
wherever we came from for daring interfere with her plans, and the like.  
The Cardassians made the same kind of threats to us during the Occupation."
     "Sounds charming," Dax remarked, her tone indicating she found Beryl 
anything but.  "Maybe we should invite her to the next Bajoran Gratitude 
Festival?"
     Kira shuddered at the thought.  "No thanks.  I'd rather invite Gul 
Dukat."  She sighed and added, "But I will say this about Beryl: she loves 
the sound of her voice even more than Dukat does."

     Down in the Defiant's mess hall, Worf took his drink from the 
replicator and sat down at a nearby table with Mars and Mercury.  Both of 
them were eying his drink dubiously, but it was Mars who finally asked 
the obvious question.  "Prune juice?"
     "Yes."  Worf had long since grown used to the reaction people had 
upon hearing of his beverage of choice.  Rather than explain it yet again, 
he glanced at the padd in front of him.  "Your depiction of the battle at 
the amusement park seems consistent with the original timeline.  What 
happened afterwards?"
     "Afterwards?" Mars asked, then paused.  When she continued, her 
voice was hoarse and bitter, "That's when thing went horribly wrong."

     Serena looked around in disbelief.  "The Negaverse is going to 
strike here next?  At a *baseball* stadium?!?  Luna, I think you've 
finally gone whacko on me."
     The cat stuck her head out from the handbag she was hiding in.  "If 
I have gone insane, it's only because you've driven me over the edge."
     "Oooohhh!"  Unable to think of a suitable retort, Serena settled for 
sticking her tongue out at the black feline.
     "And besides," Luna continued, ignoring Serena's antics, "There've 
been reports of people disappearing from here over the last couple of 
days. That fits with their previous activities."
     "There's one thing I find odd about this," Amy spoke up.
     "Only one?" Serena asked.
     Amy smiled and continued, "It's that they've decided to strike again 
so soon.  After all, it's only been three days since we broke up their 
operation at the amusement park."
     "Maybe they're getting desperate," Raye theorized.  "They know they 
have to face three of us now, so maybe they're trying for a quick strike, 
hoping to catch us off guard."  She paused and looked around the concourse. 

"Besides, I think Luna's right.  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 
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.
     "Grouch?!?"
     "We can meet back her in an hour," Amy said and she took the bag 
containing Luna from Serena and moved off.
     The other two glared at each other for a moment before they finally 
started off on their own search.  "I can't believe Amy did it to me this 
time," Serena grumbled.
     "Quit complaining, meatballhead," Raye retorted.
     Serena stopped momentarily and fumed, allowing Raye to pull 
slightly ahead of her.  "STOP CALLING ME MEATBALLHEAD!" the blonde yelled 
as she followed Raye.
     An uneasy silence descended over the two as they made their way 
through the concourse.  Soon, however, Serena's mood brightened as she 
eyed the various offering at the concessions.  The only thing stopping 
her from sampling at each one was the fact that her monetary supply was 
so limited.  But that didn't prevent her from irritating Raye.
     "Come on, Serena," she finally said, "We're supposed to be here on 
Sailor business, remember?"
     "Give it a rest, Raye.  There's no reason we can't do that and 
have a good time, too."  Here eyes goggled as she espied a booth just 
coming into view.  "Oh, look!  That place has hot dogs, way super cheap!  
I can afford those!"
     Raye suppressed a groan as Serena raced over to the concession, 
then resignedly followed her over.
     The concession was extremely crowded when they took their place in 
line, but that wasn't surprising given the cut rate prices it was 
offering.  But the moment they approached it, Raye's bad feeling 
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.
     Seeing that Raye was obviously worried about something, Serena asked 
in a whisper, "What's wrong?" 
     "I sense something."
     "Here?  You've got to be kidding, Raye.  I --"  Serena stopped in 
midsentence, for at that moment a man several places in front of them 
groaned and sagged to his knees.  Several others soon followed suit.  
Strangely enough though, those passing by the booth didn't pay the 
commotion any mind.  "Uh oh."
     Raye's attention was immediately drawn to the attendant, as he was 
grinning ear to ear as more people collapsed.  Instinctively she knew 
that he was the cause of this.  He had to be from the Negaverse!  Feeling 
a slight sense of weakness come over her, Raye acted.  She raced through 
the crowd for the booth, the white paper of one of her spirit wards held 
tightly in her right hand.  As she approached she chanted in a low voice, 
empowering the ward, then leapt for the attendant and planted it firmly 
on his forehead.  "EVIL SPIRIT, BEGONE!"
     The effect was immediate and the attendant begin to change.  His 
skin took on a grayish tone, and several ridges formed on his face and 
shoulders with features that resembled reptilian scales.  However, the 
most prominent feature was a slight protrusion from his forehead that bore 
a distinct likeness to a spoon.  "A youma!" Serena exclaimed.
     "Rybite!" it hissed along with several other incomprehensible 
utterings, confirming it's origins for them.
     Pandemonium immediately broke out as people, suddenly recovered when 
Raye's ward broke the energy drain spell, ran in panic from the monster.  
The two girls took cover around a corner and Raye gave Serena a satisfied 
look.  "Well?"
     "OK, you're right this time.  But even a broken clock is right twice 
a day... MOON PRISM POWER!"
     Raye glared, but decided to save any replies until after the fight 
was done.  "MARS POWER!"
     Rybite had pinned two bystanders to the ground and was trying to 
drain their energy off when a voice cried out, "Hold it!"  Rybite pivoted 
and found itself confronted by Sailor Mars and Sailor Moon.  Taking a 
step forward, Sailor Moon leveled an accusing finger at the youma, "A 
ballpark is a place for people to enjoy themselves, not be attacked by 
Negasleaze like you!  In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
     The youma's only response was to hiss and then spit at the two 
Scouts.  Both leapt aside and the large glob hit the girder between 
them.  Sailor Moon looked on in shock as it began eating into the metal.  
"Eeww...  That stuff's nasty!"
     "Not as nasty as I'm going to get!" Mars said.  "MARS..."  Before 
she could finish the attack phrase though, Rybite spat again at her, 
forcing her to dodge.
     The battle continued in that manner for some time.  The youma would 
spit a glob of it's corrosive venom at each of them before they could 
bring their attacks to bear, forcing the Scouts to dodge.  On the other 
hand, the Scouts themselves proved too agile for him to hit.  It seemed 
the battle would remain a stalemate, until...
     "MERCURY BUBBLES... BLAST!"
     A thick layer of fog encased the area around them, and Rybite 
looked around trying to espy it's foes.  It uttered several more 
incomprehensible phrases in obvious frustration as Mercury's fog 
inhibited it's visibility to near zero. Sailor Moon looked up happily at 
her friend's approach.  "Thanks for the save, Sailor Mercury!"
     "Sorry I wasn't here sooner," she replied.  "But my computer didn't 
detect the youma's power emanations until a few minutes ago.  It must 
have been generating some sort of concealment field."
     "That must be why no one reacted to everyone collapsing earlier," 
Mars added.
     "We can theorize later.  Quickly you two," Luna urged Sailor Mars 
and Sailor Moon, "While it's confused!"
     "Right, Luna," Sailor Moon replied.  She reached to her forehead.  
"MOON TIARA..."
     "MARS FIRE..."
     "MAGIC!"
     "IGNITE!"
     Too late the youma saw the fire encased tiara racing for it, and 
it barely had time for a loud scream before the combined attack cut 
through it.  It's last cry of despair was just about the most 
understandable thing the creature had said since it's manifestation.
     "Moondusted!" Sailor Moon cried happily as Rybite disintegrated.  
Within seconds all that remained of the incomprehensible creature was a 
pile of dust, which quickly faded away as well.  She turned to give Mars 
a high five, but the other girl was staring dumbfounded.  "Mars?  What's 
wrong?"
     She didn't reply, except by moving to one side of Sailor Moon a 
split second later, taking aim at something behind her.  Moments before, 
it had seemed to be an ordinary trash can, but Mars had seen it shift 
from, becoming a writhing, gelatinous blob that seemed very much alive to 
her.  She didn't know what the shapeshifting creature was, but was sure 
that it didn't mean them any good.  "MARS FIRE..."
     At the same moment Mars spoke, a gelatinous tentacle emerged from 
the mass and shot forth at inhuman speed, wrapping itself around Sailor 
Moon's neck.
     "IGNITE!"  Mars saw two additional tentacles emerge, heading in the 
direction of herself and Sailor Mercury.  But they never got to them, as 
her flame arrived first and struck dead center in the gelatinous ooze.  A 
loud, inhuman scream came from it as her attack flared, leaving behind 
only a pile of black dust when it faded.  "Got it!" she cried 
triumphantly, but it suddenly felt hollow to her as she caught sight of 
Sailor Moon sprawled out on the ground.  The unnatural stillness in her 
form caused a cold lump of fear to form in her stomach.
     Mercury moved rapidly to the fallen Scout's side as did Luna, but 
each saw immediately it was too late.  Serena's head was canted at an 
odd angle, and her half open eyes were dull and lifeless.  Mercury looked 
to her fellow Scout, and saw that Mars was staring wide eyed in shock at 
the sight.  "No," she said, shaking her head in denial.  "It can't be..."
     "I'm afraid it is, Raye," Mercury said shakily.  Taking a deep 
breath, she forced herself to say the unthinkable through the tears that 
were forming.  "Serena's dead."

     "What about Tuxedo Mask?" Worf asked.  "I was under the impression 
he was usually there whenever she was in danger."
     "He was there," Mars replied softly.  "He was just a little too late 
that time."

     Mars watched the tableau before her in shock.  Mercury was kneeling 
beside Sailor Moon, where she had been moments before when she told Raye 
she was dead.  Around them, Raye could sense a crowd of silent onlookers 
forming, but she didn't care.  How could this have happened? How could it 
have gone so wrong, so quickly?
     *How could I let this happen?* she thought.  It had only been a 
second at most between the time she had seen the creature change and the 
time she had acted.  Could she have stopped it if she had acted sooner?
     She sensed a presence nearby.  Looking up, she saw Tuxedo Mask 
standing among the stadium gridwork above them.  He said nothing, just 
staring at the scene below him, a look of deep sadness on his face.  
Raye watched him for several seconds, but then he vanished in the 
literal blink of an eye.

     "It wasn't until just before Zoicite started looking for the rainbow 
crystals that we saw him again."  Mars closed her eyes against the tears 
that were forming there and added quietly, "It's my fault."
     "What is your fault?" Worf asked.
     Mars slammed her fist onto the table, jarring the various beverage 
containers there.  Mercury jumped slightly, but Worf didn't react.  The 
Klingon merely crossed his arms and regarded the hot tempered Scout 
stoically.  "It's my fault that Serena is dead!  If I hadn't hesitated... 
if I hadn't been standing there like an *idiot* with my mouth open while 
that thing was shapeshifting, I could have stopped it before it killed 
her!"
     Mercury sighed and bowed her head, telling Worf that this was an 
old argument between the two.  Before she could say anything though, 
Worf spoke, "That is foolishness."
     "Oh, really?" she retorted, making no effort now to hold back the 
tears.
     "Yes," Worf replied evenly.  "The changeling struck fast and 
without warning.  You had no idea what it was, or anything about it's 
capabilities.  That you were able to strike as quick as you did speaks 
well of you."
     "That's easy for..." Mars halted in midsentence as she hastily 
rethought what she was about to say.  She had already made that mistake 
with Major Kira, and she had a feeling that in this instance she would 
be wrong about Worf as well.
     The Klingon nodded, confirming her suspicions.  "Yes," he rumbled, 
"I understand something of what you have gone through.  I, too, have 
endured the loss of a loved one."
     They stared at one another, their expressions each communicating 
to the other far more than mere words could.  "Who was she?" Mars 
finally asked.
     Worf said nothing at first, only a slight hardening in his eyes 
betraying any of the emotion he felt.  Then, "Her name was K'Ehleyr.  
She was my mate... and the mother of my son.  She was murdered on board 
the Enterprise, on which I chief of security."  He waited a beat, then 
added, "I do not waste time pondering what might have been, on if there 
was anything I could have done differently to prevent her death.  I know 
in my heart I did my duty that day... that there was nothing more I could 
do without foreknowledge to prevent her death.  And you must accept the 
same of yourself.  Given the circumstances, you did all you could hope to 
do to prevent it."
     Mercury slid a box of tissues she had just replicated in front of 
Mars, "I hope you listen to him, Raye.  I've been telling you the same 
thing for months."
     Worf paused to consider Mars' tale in silence... and to give her a 
chance to compose herself.  It had answered some questions, but raised 
several others.  A changeling had been responsible for Sailor Moon's 
death, but how had it gotten to this world?  Four years ago, the 
Enterprise had sealed off the quantum flux that joined the two universes, 
which should have cut off passage between them.  Even if the Dominion 
had managed to reopen the flux, it would have led to a point in time a 
hundred years later.  But why would the Dominion make the effort to do 
so?  It didn't fit their usual method of operation.  Their interests to 
date had been entirely with the Alpha Quadrant.
     He decided to pursue those particular questions later.  "Please 
continue.  There are several other things I would like to know.  Such as 
how the two of you gained your increased abilities."
     "That's not too hard to answer," Mercury said, "Since it happened in 
the days following Serena's murder.  Raye gained her increased abilities 
first, only a few days later when..."

     Raye leaned heavily on the deckrail and gazed out over the water.  
"This was a terrible idea," she muttered.  Turning to her companion she 
added, "I don't know why I even bothered to enter that contest in the 
first place.  This cruise has turned out to be an utter bust."
     "It seemed like a good idea at the time," Amy said.  "And after... 
what happened a few days ago, we needed something to lift our spirits."
     "Don't you mean after I screwed up and got Serena killed?" Raye 
said.
     "Stop it, Raye!  You can't go on blaming yourself like this!"
     "Why not?" she retorted.  Frustrated, she began pacing along the 
railing.  "I hesitated.  If I had reacted the moment I saw that thing 
start to shapeshift, she'd be alive right now."
     "You don't know that.  Ignoring the fact that you hesitated for 
maybe one second at most, neither one of us knows what would have happened 
had either one of us reacted sooner.  Serena may have died in any event.  
Or maybe one of us would be --"  Amy stopped as she spotted a certain 
black feline bounding in their direction.  "Luna!  What are you doing 
here?"
     "Did you two really think I'd let you out of my sight?" the cat 
said breathlessly.  "Besides, we've got trouble."
     "What kind of trouble?" Raye asked, even though she already had a 
good idea what Luna was talking about.
     "Negaverse trouble!  They've got something brewing in the ball room.  
Come on!"  Luna ran off, and the two girls followed close behind her.  
Soon they reached the entrance to the large room and they cautiously 
peered inside.  All round, they could see people collapsed on the floor -- 
all save for two at the front of the room.
     Raye didn't need to be a psychic to know who they where, and what 
they represented.  "Negasleaze!"  She smiled grimly as she produced her 
transformation pen.  "Good. I've been wanting a rematch with these 
creeps."
     "Excellent work, Titus," Jeddite said.  "We've managed to collect a 
great deal of energy this day."
     The youma smiled.  "I am happy to serve, Jeddite."
     Jeddite gazed up at the collector speculatively.  "With this amount 
of energy, Queen Beryl may even forgive the loss of the shapeshifter."
     "Too bad you're not going to be able to deliver it!" a voice rang 
out.
     Jeddite whirled.  "Who?!?"
     "I am Sailor Mars!  And I won't tolerate those who would interrupt 
a romantic cruise!  In the name of Mars..."
     "...and Mercury..."
     "We'll punish you!" they concluded simultaneously.
     "The Sailor Scouts," Jeddite snarled.  "Just my luck, even on a 
ship at sea I can't escape your interference.  Titus, destroy them!"
     "My pleasure," the female youma replied.  At a gesture from her, 
the crew in the room transforming into a humanoid form made of 
quicksilver.  Obeying Titus' mental command, they went after the two 
Scouts.
     "You're going to do better than that!" Mercury exclaimed.  
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"  A thick layer of fog descended over the room, 
and the Negaverse operatives hesitated, confused by the sudden loss of 
visibility and the drop in temperature.
     "Nice setup, Mercury.  Now I'll finish them off.  MARS FIRE IGNITE!"  
In an instant the fire swept over the area, reducing the quicksilver 
beings to piles of dust.
     Titus was hardly finished with them, however.  She leapt at the two 
and slammed into them, driving them back onto the deck.  Mars managed to 
get back to her feet just in time to see Titus standing by the railing, 
her back to the ocean.  "MARS FIRE IGNITE!"
     The firebolt ran straight at the youma, but Titus gestured and two 
large geysers of water shot into the air.  A jet of water emerged from 
one and intercepted Mars' attack, dousing the flame.  "Seems you're not 
such hot stuff, Mars.  Just like your friend, Sailor Moon."
     "Why you --" Mars began, but was cut off by Mercury as she began 
her attack.  She reasoned that if she was able to blind Titus, Mars' 
flame might be able to get through and finish the youma off.  She may 
have been right, but Titus acted first as she sent another blast of water 
at the blue haired Scout.  Mercury gasped as the waterspout drove her 
into the bulkhead.  She stood there trying to get her bearings, obviously 
dazed.
     "Now to finish you off," Titus gloated.
     "NO!" Mars cried and sent forth another blast of flame, only to have 
this one doused as well.  Titus drew back her hand to launch the attack 
that would surely finish off Mercury, while Mars desperately tried to 
think of something to do.  Anger and rage shot through her at her
ineffectiveness in this battle, and she prepared to strike again.  She 
was NOT going to let another friend die if she could help it!
     A mental connection was forged within her mind as she drew upon all 
her strength, tapping into as yet unknown reserves.  Instinctively the 
new phrase came to her and she cried out, "MARS FIREBIRD STRIKE!"
     The youma looked on in alarm as the bird of flame soared at her and 
she tried to douse this attack as she had with the previous ones.  
However, this time the water blast was seriously ineffective as the 
firebird cut through it and struck her full on.  Titus barely had time 
to scream before the firebird overwhelmed her.
     Mercury turned rather shakily from where the youma had been and 
faced Mars.  "How did you do that?"
     "I don't know," the other Scout confessed, "I just did.  All I knew 
was that I couldn't let it kill you."  She went over and helped Mercury 
to her feet. "Are you OK?"
     "I think so," she responded.  "Thanks, Mars."
     "Very touching," another voice interrupted.  They turned to the 
source of the voice to see Jeddite hovering nearby.  "I thought Titus 
would be powerful enough to destroy you, but I seem to have underestimated 
you two.  But now I will finish you off myself!"
     "Give it your best shot, creep!" Mars challenged him.  But before 
the youma General could do anything, he vanished without a trace.  She 
blinked, surprised at his sudden retreat.  "Where'd he go?"
     Mercury glanced around the area with her visor.  "He's nowhere 
around.  He's gone."
     "He'll be back," Mars said grimly.  "But next time we'll take care of 
him for good."

     Mercury turned to her fellow Scout.  "Thanks again for saving my 
life, Raye."
     "You repaid the favor a couple of days later.  Besides, we've done 
the same for each other ever since," she responded, then added sullenly, 
"I just wish I'd been able to do the same for Serena."
     Now it was Mercury's turn to pound on the table, hard enough to make 
even Worf blink in surprise.  He hadn't known her to be prone to such 
outbursts on the Enterprise.  "Raye!" Mercury chided her.  "Didn't you 
listen to what Worf just said?  Or anything I've told you over the months 
since?  It wasn't your fault!!"  She took a deep breath to calm herself.  
"There wasn't anything you or I could do to save Serena that day, as much 
as either one of us may wish otherwise."
     "That's what makes it so hard," Mars answered.  Getting up, she 
walked over to the replicator.  Glancing back at Worf she asked, "How do 
you work this thing?"
     "Simply tell it what it is you wish.  Though usually it is best to 
use the word 'Computer' first."
     "OK," she said.  "Computer: a mug of hot tea, please."
     "There are two thousand three hundred forty seven different varieties 
of tea on record," the computer responded.  "Please specify."  A display 
of the various types promptly appeared listing both human and alien 
variants, and the computer began scrolling through them.
     "Urk!"  Mars' mind boggled at the size of the list.  "Any 
suggestions?" she asked Worf uncertainly.
     The Klingon frowned, considering.  He was unsure how to reply, for 
despite the number of years he had lived among them, he still found 
human tastes odd.  "I've been told that Earl Grey is an excellent 
variant."
     Shrugging she said, "Make it Earl Grey tea.  You want anything, Amy?"
     "Mmm... A hot chocolate, please."
     Mars nodded.  "And a hot chocolate."  The requested beverages 
materialized and she return to the table with them, muttering, "Sure, 
there are umpteen different kinds of tea, but only one hot chocolate.  
Computers!"
     Mercury forbode comment, choosing instead to simply thank her 
friend.  "Where was I?  Oh, yes.  Well, a few days after the battle on 
the ship, Jeddite challenged us to meet him in open combat at the airport.  
We knew it was a trap but we couldn't ignore it, since he had threatened 
to destroy Tokyo if we didn't show up."
     "He left you very little choice," Worf agreed.  "But I hope you at 
least took some precautions."
     "We went in with our eyes open, if that's what you mean," Mars said.  
"Once we got to the airport, we transformed."
     Mercury took up the tale, "And after we got inside the perimeter, 
several guards began chasing us.  Except that when I scanned them, I saw 
that they weren't guards at all, they were just animated clay!  Well, Mars 
let loose a Firebird attack and that took care of them.  Then Jeddite made 
his appearance..."

     "Very impressive, Sailor Mars," the General sneered as he examined 
her handiwork, "but you'll still meet the same fate as your pathetic 
friend, Sailor Moon."
     Mars bristled at this taunt.  "You're going to be the one dying 
today, Jeddite!"
     "Brave words.  Now let's see if you can back them up!"  Jeddite 
stretched out his hands, and the two Scouts tensed, preparing to dodge 
whatever attack he sent their way.  But Jeddite had another strategy in 
mind, instead animating several of the nearby jets.  Slowly the lumbering 
behemoths moved towards them, accelerating rapidly.
     "No problem," Raye said.  "One fire blast should take care of them!"
     "No!" Luna cried.  "If you bow up a jet, it will take your allowance 
for the next ten thousand years to pay for it!"
     The two Scouts looked uncertainly at each other, then did the only 
thing they could: run.  But even with their speed enhanced in their 
Sailor forms, the best they could do was maintain their distance.  "Split 
up!" Mars yelled.  Mercury nodded and ran to the right, while Mars 
veered left.
     Jeddite chuckled, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle in front of him.  
This was turning out to be far easier than he had imagined.  How could he 
have let these two defeat him before?  Clearly he had been overestimating 
them... they must have been more lucky than good.  After a moments 
consideration he decided that Mars was clearly the more dangerous of the 
two, so he sent the jets after her.  Once he eliminated her, he could 
deal with Mercury at his leisure.
     Mercury slowed upon seeing that none of the aircraft were following 
her.  Quickly she looked around for Sailor Mars, and her heart froze.  
Somehow, the aircraft had boxed her in and were closing on her.  Raye 
was looking urgently around, trying to find a direction to run.
     Jeddite materialized next to her.  "Too bad, Sailor Mercury.  Despite 
all your efforts, another one of your friends is going to die."
     "NO!"
     Jeddite sneered.  "There's nothing you can do.  How are you going to 
stop those jets, hmmm?  With your pathetic bubbles?"
     Stung by Jeddite's taunts, Amy summoned all of her power, trying to 
gather all her strength in one blast.  Suddenly, she felt a rush of 
energy, more than she had ever felt before.  The words came 
instinctively, "MERCURY ICE BUBBLES..."
     Jeddite frowned.  That wasn't the correct phrasing.
     "FREEZE!!"
     A wave of cold energy swept over the landing gear of two of the 
jets, freezing them instantly.  Suddenly more brittle than glass, the 
gear snapped under the weight above them, and the jets skidded to a halt, 
stirring up a huge cloud of dusk in their wake.  *Oh, dear,* Luna thought 
upon seeing the extant of the wreckage, *I hope they're insured.*
     Jeddite clenched his fists in rage while Mercury, visor deployed, 
looked for Mars amid the swirling dust.  "Not bad, little Mercury, but 
too late to save your friend.  Now it's your turn!"
     Mercury turned to him, but instead of cringing in fear as he 
expected, she simply smile slightly.  "We'll see about that!" she said 
in a defiant tone.  Jeddite snarled and drew his hand back, ready to blast 
her out of existence, then hesitated.  She showed no signs of preparing 
to run, just standing there staring resolutely at him.  What was she up 
to?
     Jeddite shook off his doubts.  It didn't matter.  He started to bring 
his hand forward just as he sensed something land behind him. But before 
he could turn around, there was a light touch on his back.  "EVIL SPIRIT... 
BEGONE!" Mars cried, planting the ward.
     "NOOO!" Jeddite howled as he felt himself paralyzed.  Mars leapt past 
him and joined up with Sailor Mercury.  The Negaverse general struggled 
against the power binding him.  They may have the advantage for now, but 
he would soon break free, and then...
     Wait a minute...  What was that shadow looming over him?
     Jeddite cried out again, this time in horror, as the realization of 
his situation hit him.  Still intent on following Mars, the last jet 
continued lumbering towards her... heading straight for Jeddite.  "This 
is for Sailor Moon, Jeddite!"  There was a brief scream as the airliner 
ran over him, then silence as the jet ground to a halt.  No sign of 
Jeddite remained.
     A safe distance away, Mercury and Mars exchanged a high five.  
"Scratch one Negacreep."

     Dax uttered a couple of choice Klingon curses that Curzon had favored 
in his day and leaned back in her chair.  "I take it you're not having any 
luck?" Kira asked unnecessarily.
     "You could say that.  I've conducted almost every type of scan I can 
imagine, but there isn't even a *hint* of a temporal anomaly anywhere in 
this system."
     Kira's brow furrowed.  "There's got to be something!  Otherwise, 
how could the timeline here have gotten so skewed?"
     "I don't know," Dax replied with a sigh. She stared at the monitor, 
then leaned forward and began manipulating the sensor controls again.
     "Trying a new scan?"
     "Yes, but this time I'm just looking for spatial anomalies.  Maybe 
the change of pace will give me another idea."  Within a matter of seconds 
the sensors beeped, indicating the detection of what Dax had been scanning 
for.  "Well, that was simple enough.  Still, the only anomalies detected 
are the quantum fluxes..."  The science officer did a double take, both 
her eyebrows shooting upward.  "Wait a minute... *Two* quantum fluxes?!?"
     "What's so unusual about that?  Isn't that how the original 
Enterprise got here in the first place?"
     "It did... but their scans, *and* those of the Enterprise D, 
indicated only one in this solar system."  She pointed to the monitor 
screen.  "That quantum flux leads to a point near the Romulan Neutral Zone 
in the twenty third century.  But this one," she indicated the second flux
located midway between the orbit of Earth and Mars, "I have no idea where 
it came from or where it goes."  A contemplative look came over her face.  
"Unless..."
     Kira watched her intently, then finally asked, "Unless what?"
     "I think I know where it goes.  And if I'm right, I have a good idea 
how history was changed."  Dax moved over to the nearby engineering station 
and began working furiously.  "I'm going to program a probe to send through 
the second flux and return.  Then I'll know for certain."
     Dax's tone sounded extremely apprehensive to Kira.  And anything 
that could make someone with seven lifetimes of experience anxious made 
her feel almost terrified.  "And if you are?"
     Dax paused, then look over at Kira.  "Then I hope the Prophets are 
watching over us."

     O'Brien uttered a curse and looked menacingly at the log buoy.  "I'd 
like to wring the neck of your designer.  If you were half as 
indestructible as they claim, we'd have finished by now!"
     "Tell me about it," Muniz added.  The other engineer looked as 
frustrated as O'Brien.  "The entire buoy recorder interface system is 
fried."
     The Chief took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.  A 
little bit, anyway.  "Well, to be charitable the buoy did survive a warp 
core explosion more or less intact.  But we're going to have to fashion a 
replacement interface to hook the memory bank directly into the main 
computer."
     "With this?"  Muniz looked doubtful.
     "What's the matter?" asked O'Brien, putting a light hearted tone in 
his voice.  "Can't handle a challenge?"
     "A challenge is one thing... but this is near impossible!  We're 
talking about ancient electronics here!"
     "And here I thought you were an engineer."  O'Brien tried to sound 
disappointed.  "Well, if you can't handle it..."
     "I didn't say that," Muniz interrupted the Chief.  He stared at 
the disassembled recorder , running through several possible scenarios in 
his mind.  "Well... we might be able to fashion a replacement interface 
port and then hook it up to tricorder and use it to link to the main 
computer."
     "Good lad," O'Brien said.  "You get about making the new port, and 
I'll get on with modifying the tricorder."  The two engineers set about 
their respective tasks in silence.
     Muniz had just begun installing the new dataport when a distant 
clanging sound made him look up.  "Did you hear that?" he asked O'Brien.
     He nodded uncertainly.  "Yeah.  It sounded like it came from the 
Jeffries tube."  The two of them went over to the access panel.  O'Brien 
bent down to the panel, then warned Muniz, "Be ready.  The last time I 
heard something banging around in here, there was a changeling running 
around the ship a couple of days later."  Muniz nodded, drawing out his 
phaser.  O'Brien removed the access panel and looked inside.  Seeing 
nothing dangerous at first glance he cautiously moved into the tube, his 
own weapon drawn.  Nothing that way...
     "I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Chief," came a voice from behind him.  
Startled, he turned rapidly towards the voice.
     Or rather, he tried to.  A loud thud echoed through the Jeffries 
tube.  "OW!"
     "Oh, dear.  Did I startle you?" Luna asked apologetically.
     O'Brien rubbed his head painfully and glared at the black cat.  
"You could say that.  What the hell are you doing in here, Luna?"
     "I thought I'd walk around the ship while I did some thinking.  
Unfortunately, I got so wrapped up in thinking that I seem to be..."  
She paused, seemingly embarrassed. "...lost."
     Despite his aching head, O'Brien chuckled.  "That's not hard to do 
in here, even a ship as small as the Defiant.  These conduits look a lot 
alike.  It takes a while to get to know your way around them."  He backed 
out of the tube entrance, allowing Luna to enter the engine room.  "We're 
a little busy at the moment, but if you don't mind waiting I can take you 
wherever you need to go."
     "Thank you, Chief."
     Muniz looked confused.  "Chief?"
     O'Brien had to grin.  He had pretty much felt the same the first time 
he saw one of the Sailor Scouts feline friends.  "Not to worry Muniz.  
She's a friendly cat.  Luna, this is Enrique Muniz, one of my engineers."
     "Hello, Mr. Muniz.  It's a pleasure to meet you."
     "Um... yeah, thanks... Uh, Luna," the engineer stammered.  Trying to 
recover, he continued, "Sorry, but a talking cat is not something I ever 
expected to see."
     "Well you better get used to seeing the unexpected, mister," O'Brien 
told him.  "That is, if you really want to make a career for yourself in 
Starfleet."
     "It's quite alright, Chief.  I get that reaction quite often."  Luna 
looked at the scorched log buoy with interest.  "What are you doing here?"
     "Well, we're trying to access the log recordings on this buoy," he 
responded, turning back to his work.  "We already know the Jem'Hadar 
destroyed this ship, but it'd be nice to know who it was they attacked.  
Captain Sisko thinks this might give us some clue as to what's going on."  
Muniz snapped the new port into place, while O'Brien attached and 
activated the tricorder.  "There!  Now, if we did this right..."
     He activated the controls on his panel to link up the buoy with the 
Defiant's main computer.  "Access confirmed," the computer's voice said.
     O'Brien cried out triumphantly and shared a congratulatory glance 
with Muniz.  "Computer: access last log entry and playback."  There was 
a pause while the computer retrieved the requested data from the buoy.  
Soon the screen showed the bridge of a starship from a bird's eye view.  
Unfortunately, both visual and audio were filled with static.
     "What's wrong with the recording?" Luna asked.
     "Good question.  Muniz?"
     He glanced at the tricorder readouts.  "The dataflow looks clean.  
There must have been damage to the memory banks as well."
     "Well, let's just hope it wasn't too bad," O'Brien replied, turning 
back to the control panel.  "Computer: run a level one data enhancement /
noise suppression routine on the requested log entry."  The computer 
chirped an affirmative as it ran the requested programs.  "Replay from 
the beginning."  The screen cleared somewhat and the audio became 
discernable.  "Better," he observed.
     "The date is consistent with the electronics," Muniz added, 
indicating one of the readouts.  "Stardate 5046.7.  Just about a little 
over one hundred years ago."
     O'Brien replied by way of a nod as he eyed the bridge layout 
critically, "Looks like a Constitution class, too."
     "A what?" asked a puzzled cat.
     O'Brien ignored her for now, paying close attention to the events 
unfolding before him.  The ship was rocking heavily under the attack, 
making it hard to hear the crew.  The static still present didn't make 
it any easier.
     "Shields are ineffective," he heard the science officer report.  
"The enemy vessels are utilizing a phased polaron beam."  Another 
readout displayed the viewscreen image, showing clearly a Jem'Hadar 
attack ship.  O'Brien felt a twinge sympathy for the other crew.  
Dominion weaponry was still giving research scientists at Starfleet 
Tactical fits.  Current models of starships were barely a match for 
Jem'Hadar ships... one from a hundred years ago wouldn't have a chance.
     "Stand by phasers and photon torpedoes," ordered the captain.
     "Weapons ready," said the helmsman.  "Locked on target."
     "FIRE!"
     The bridge lights dimmed as the weapons were discharged.  "Got him!" 
exclaimed the navigator.
     "Direct hit," the science officer said calmly despite the chaos 
surrounding him.  "Target has been destroyed."  The bridge shook again 
and several panels exploded in a shower of sparks as the ship was hit 
by incoming fire.  When the screen cleared again, several crew could be 
seen lying prone on the deck, including the helmsman.
     "Uhura, send out a distress signal.  Priority One."  The captain 
could be seen toggling the intercom switch on his command chair, while 
the science officer ran over to take the helm.  "Sickbay, medical 
emergency on the bridge."
     "Where the hell isn't there one?!" came the exasperated reply.  
"Jim, I've got casualty reports coming on from all over --"
     The intercom whistled, overriding the signal from Sickbay.  "Scott 
to bridge.  Captain, we're losing antimatter containment!  Ejection 
systems offline!"  O'Brien blinked.  Scott?  That couldn't possibly 
be -- ?  No, it was impossible!
     "All hands, abandon ship!  Repeat --"  The bridge view was cut 
off suddenly, indicating to the two engineers that the recorder pod 
had been automatically jettisoned.  It was replaced by an external view 
of a Constitution class ship receding in the distance.  The once 
immaculate white hull was blackened in several places by weapons fire, 
and several energy discharges could be seen coruscating over several 
hull breaches.  Less than a second later, the starship exploded in a 
blinding display, then the terminal went blank as the recording ended.
     O'Brien stared at the terminal in shock, as did Muniz.  "Oh my God.  
That ship's service number... it can't be!"
     "What's wrong?" the cat asked, mystified.
     "That ship... it's a ship from over a hundred years in our past.  But 
the stardate given in the log was almost twenty years before it was 
destroyed!  Unless..."  He took his tricorder and scanned the log buoy.  
The sinking feeling that had developed in his gut grew worse as he saw the 
results.  "O'Brien to Sisko."
     "Go ahead, Chief."
     "We've got a problem, Captain.  An even bigger problem than we
thought."

     Worf sat back and tried to take in all that Mars and Mercury had told 
him.  Some of what they had said was similar to the past that Luna had 
related to him on the Enterprise, but there were some significant 
differences.  In this timeline, the two Scouts had been able to save 
Neflyte.  Afterwards, the defecting General in turn helped the Scouts, 
joined soon afterward by Jupiter, in the search for the Rainbow Crystals.  
Until, that is, he died heroically, saving the Scouts from a trap Malachite 
had laid for them in a bid to gain those they had.  Venus' timely arrival 
that day had prevented Malachite and Zoisite from getting their hands on 
them that day.
     Another difference was that apparently the relationship between Mars 
and Darien, whom they discovered later to be Tuxedo Mask, was much stronger 
than in the original timeline.  At least as far as she had been concerned.  
Worf was pondering whether or not to reveal the truth about Darien and 
Serena to her when the intercom beeped.  "Sisko to Worf."
     "Worf here," he answered.
     "Report to the bridge, Commander.  And bring the Sailor Scouts with 
you."
     Worf nodded.  "We are on our way.  Worf out."
     Mars looked quizzically at Worf.  "What's going on?" she asked as 
they rose from the table.
     "I'm not sure," he answered, leading them out of the mess hall.  
Turning down the corridor to the bridge he continued, "Most likely 
Commander Dax or Chief O'Brien have uncovered something pertinent in 
their investigations that should be made known to the entire crew.  But 
we will find out when we get there."

     The trio arrived on the bridge, arriving shortly after Bashir did.  
Worf saw that most of the other senior officers were already present, 
with only Chief O'Brien yet to arrive.  "Worf, where's Luna?" Dax asked.
     The Klingon shifted slightly, uncomfortable at having to admit 
ignorance.  Presently he said, "She took a walk."
     "If you need her here, Mars and I could go looking for her," 
Mercury volunteered.
     At that moment O'Brien entered the bridge with Luna riding on his 
shoulder, thus rendering the point moot.
     "New friend, Chief?" Dax asked, raising an eyebrow.
     "You'd better be careful," Kira advised, her tone light.  "Keiko 
could get jealous if she finds out."
     Several good natured smiles were exchanged as the Chief sputtered 
denials, while Luna settled for glaring at Kira.  Sisko allowed the good 
mood to progress at it's own pace.  After all, things had been tense on 
the ship for quite some time and they all needed a chance to laugh at 
something.  "Chief, it's your show."
     "Yes, sir," he replied.  He glanced uncomfortably around the room.  
The information he had clearly disturbed him far more than Kira's 
bantering had.  "I analyzed the log recorder we picked up from the ship 
the Jem'Hadar destroyed.  I was able to reconstruct the last log entry, 
and to identify it.  It was a Starfleet ship, Constitution class."  He 
touched a control and the image of the unfortunate starship appeared on 
the main viewscreen.  He tapped several others, enlarging and enhancing 
a particular area of one of the warp engine nacelles.  The computer 
quickly cleared any distortion from the image and the ship's service 
number became clear for all to see.
     NCC-1701.
     "It's..." Dax began in a stunned voice.
     "...the Enterprise," concluded Sisko.  He had been half expecting 
this since the moment O'Brien had scanned the debris field, but it still 
came as a shock to him.  "The original, captained by James T. Kirk.  And 
from it's appearance, this was before the refit that was done after the 
five year mission was completed."
     "That can't be right!" Bashir objected after several moments of 
shocked silence.  "It was nearly twenty years after the refit before that 
particular Enterprise was destroyed."
     "In our timeline, Julian," Dax said.  "Chief, did you check the 
quantum signature of the recorder?"
     He was nodding before she finished asking the question.  "Yes.  
It's definitely from our timeline, not any alternate one."
     "Then, if Kirk's ship was destroyed by the Jem'Hadar, that would 
mean it's not just the Scouts timeline that's been changed," Odo said.
     "Correct, Constable."  Sisko eyed the image of the Enterprise.  "It 
means our own past has been altered as well.  And now, even if we do 
find a way back to our universe, we haven't got a home to return to."

     "The Sisko is aware of the nature of the problem."
     Pluto nodded. "Good," she said.  "Now we can get on with a solution. 
Though I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to see the full 
scope of the situation."
     *Did you really expect more of them?* a voice intoned in her head.  
*For someone as long lived as yourself, you should realize how plodding 
and pedantic these Starfleet people can be.*
     "You're supposed to be watching the Gateway, Q," she replied, her 
tone indicating she was more than slightly annoyed.  "I am more concerned 
with results, not how stylish they go about accomplishing them."
     *Humph.  Sometimes you can be absolutely no fun at all, my dear.*
     Pluto tried to ignore Q and returned attention to the Prophet she 
was dealing with, but she found herself gazing once more at sights she 
never thought to see again..  As is their wont, the Prophet had shifted 
form without warning, assuming the appearance of Queen Serenity and the 
background had shifted to that of the Silver Millennium.
     It was a rare occurrence indeed when Pluto found herself thrown for 
a loop.
     "Our existence is at risk," the Prophet said, bringing the Sailor 
Scout out of her reverie. All around them, the background lighting began 
to take on a reddish hue. "The Sisko must succeed."
     "I know," Pluto said, growing more concerned.  The changes to the 
environment around them was an indication that the situation was becoming 
more dire.  Time, at least as it was measured by corporeal beings, was 
growing short.  "And not just for you.  For the sake of two universes, 
Captain Sisko must reverse the damage done to the timelines, and soon.  
But now he is aware of what must be done to resolve the paradox.
     "To preserve their past, Sailor Moon must live."

Next time: The last pieces of the puzzle fall into place, as Pluto makes 
her presence known to the crew and helps get them on the road to a 
solution to this temporal jumble.   All this and more in Chapter 5, 
"Return to yesterday..."
 Sailor Trek DS9
soton@aol.com (Soton)

Chapter 5 - Return to yesterday...

     Luna hopped down from O'Brien's shoulder onto the top of Sisko's
chair. "Now, let me see if I've got this straight," she said.  "Three ships
from what you call the Dominion were accidently transported to our universe
nine months ago our time.  They were then somehow captured and controlled
by the Negaverse.  They used the changeling in and attempt to kill all
three Scouts, but only were successful in kill... in killing Sailor Moon."

     Her voice broke at the last, and she paused as the memories of that
terrible
day raced through her mind.  After a time, she was able to control the
emotions that
had inevitably risen up from them.  "Still, that was more than enough to
alter the course
of events for our world.  Then yesterday, as Queen Beryl was about to mount
her main
attack and the Sailor Scouts went to face her; this ship," she nodded to
the main
viewscreen which still displayed an image of the unfortunate starship, "the
Enterprise, crossed
over from your past to our universe. It was subsequently attacked by the
Dominion ships and destroyed, thus altering your past."

     "That about sums it up," Dax replied.  "About the only thing you
missed was the fact that there are now two quantum fluxes in this system,
where there should be only one."

     "How can I leave something out if I don't know about it?" the black
cat wanted to know.

     Dax smiled.  "Sorry."

     "Do you have any information about that second flux, Dax?" Sisko
asked.

     "You could say that."  She pulled up a sensor schematic on the main
viewer.  "I sent a probe through the second flux and programmed it to
return after taking some sensor readings.  The exit point is in the Gamma
Quadrant.  The probe's astrometric readings indicated that it's been
several months since we left DS9."

     "Months?" O'Brien exclaimed.

     Dax nodded.  "That's right.  And the coordinates that the flux emerges
into the Gamma Quadrant are identical to where the Defiant observed three
Jem'Hadar ships vanish a few days before we left the station."  She paused. 
"The thing of it is, I had just come to that conclusion, that they had gone
through a quantum flux, just before the wormhole began acting up."

     "But you have no idea where the second flux came from?" Sisko asked.

     "Not a clue," the science officer admitted.

     "It's a moot point anyway," Sisko said.  "Without a method to travel
back in time, we have no way to correct the timelines."

     "Great," Mars mumbled.  "So we're back to square one."

     "I'm afraid so," the captain agreed.

     Dax bent down to check an alert that had just started flashing on her
screen.  "I'm picking up a large neutrino emission..."  She looked up,
surprise evident on her face. "Benjamin, it's the wormhole!"

     "On screen," Sisko ordered.

     On command, the image of the now open wormhole appeared on the main
viewer.  Sisko noted that it still had a shimmering appearance, as well as
the red coloration.

     "That's incredible," Mercury said, awe evident in her tone.

     "Yes," Luna agreed, "it is."

     Mars would ordinarily agree as well, but she was perceiving something
else entirely from the phenomena.  Her eyes narrowed as she tried to sort
out the impressions she was getting.  "There's something wrong with it,
isn't there?"

     "Yes," Kira said.  "It doesn't look anything like it normally would."

     Bashir voiced a question that each member of the Defiant crew were
asking themselves.

"We've been stationary here for hours.  Why would it open up now?"

     Sisko could only think of one reason.  "It's an invitation from the
wormhole aliens."  He seated himself in the command chair and faced the
viewscreen.  "And I intend to take them up on it.  Dax, decloak the ship
and take us into the wormhole."

     "Yes, sir," Dax said, moving to the helm.

     "I hope you know what you're doing, Captain," Luna said uneasily from
her perch just behind Sisko's head.

     "We'll find out soon enough," Sisko answered her just as the Defiant
entered the wormhole.  At once the ship began rocking as it was buffeted by
the gravimetric distortions that were still echoing through the spatial
corridor.  All present on the bridge immediately took a seat or grabbed
onto a firm handhold to avoid being tossed about.

     "All stop," Sisko ordered soon after they entered.  Dax touched a
control on the helm and the Defiant slowed to a halt within the wormhole. 
But even at rest, the ship was pitching about as if on a heavy sea.

     "Can't you do something about that?" Mars asked, starting to turn a
light shade of green.

     "I'm trying," O'Brien replied.  "But the gravimetric waves are strong
enough that the
inertial dampeners are having a hard time..."

     The ship vanished around them.

     "... compensating for it," O'Brien uncertainly finished his statement
as he took in his new
surroundings.  The others looked about themselves feeling an equal sense of
astonishment.
To all appearances, they were back in Ops on Deep Space Nine.

     Sisko knew instantly that they had been brought to the reality of the
wormhole aliens.
It seemed that he was correct about being given an invitation.  One that
seemed to extend to his crew and the Sailor Scouts as well.

     The Scouts and Luna were more puzzled than any of the crew.  Mars was
casting about
the place, trying to sense something about it, while Mercury deployed her
visor and then
frowned.  "I don't understand.  I'm not getting any readings."

     "Don't be worried about that," Dax told her.  "If I'm right, we're not
in our own reality at all."

     "Then were are we?" Luna asked.

     "In the realm of the Prophets," Kira answered in a hushed, reverent
tone.

     "That is correct," a new voice said.  They all turned to the entrance
of Sisko's office.
Standing there was a woman Sisko recognized from the last transit through
the wormhole --
Sailor Pluto.  "You are in the realm of the Prophets.  However, at the
moment they can't
greet you personally at the moment, as they are otherwise occupied."

     "Occupied?" Kira asked.

     "Yes," she replied, stepping down the steps into the lower level of
Ops. "You see, you are
not the only ones affected by the turmoil in the timelines.  The Prophets
themselves are in
danger.   Mortal danger."

     Kira's jaw dropped, but before she could say more Mars asked, "Hold on
a minute.  Who
are you?!?"

     "I can answer that," Sisko said.  "Everyone, meet Sailor Pluto."

     "Pluto?" Luna gasped.  "The guardian of the Gate of Time?"

     "That's correct, Luna," she replied.

     "You know her?" Mercury demanded of the cat.

     "She does," Pluto said, "But it has been a long time since we last
met. During the days of
the Silver Millennium, to be precise.  And the long time she spent in the
cold sleep capsule
undoubtedly affected her memory."

     "I'm glad to finally meet you," Sisko said, walking up to Pluto. "But
just what did you
mean when you said the Prophets are in danger?"

     The background scenery then changed, disorienting the Defiant crew.
But the new backdrop was a very familiar sight to Mars, Mercury and Luna,
as it was the temple Raye lived and worked at -- the Hikawa shrine.  But
Pluto answered Sisko as if nothing had changed, "Exactly what I said,
Captain.  But it will take some explaining.

     "You see, Beryl won't be content with just Earth... or even just this
universe.  Her lust
for power and conquest is nearly unlimited.  She will send her forces
through the second
quantum flux Commander Dax discovered, invading your Gamma Quadrant.
Empowered by the
Negaforce, her troops will overrun the Dominion in short order."  The
Defiant crewmembers
seemed stunned by this announcement.   To them, the forces of the Dominion
seemed nearly
unstoppable.  The fact that Beryl's troops could conquer the Gamma Quadrant
power that
quickly seemed incredible to them.  Pluto continued, "And still she will
hunger for more...
And she will send her forces through the wormhole into the Alpha Quadrant."

     "The Federation will fight them," Worf stated firmly.

     "They cannot," Pluto said.   "Because in this timeline, there is *no*
Federation."

     "No Federation?"  Even the usually unflappable Odo seemed shocked by
this announcement.

     "I see what she's getting at," Sisko said.  "Without the Enterprise
returning from it's
five year mission, there'll be no one to confront Vejur shortly
afterwards."

     Pluto nodded.  "Correct, Captain.  The advanced probe will reduce the
core worlds of the
Federation to lifeless husks before it leaves; rendering what is left of
the Federation easy
prey to a concerted Romulan/Klingon attack."

     Again the background changed, forming into one of the briefing rooms
on Deep Space
Nine.  Each of them was seated at the table, save for Pluto.  She moved
around the table
still speaking, "In this altered Alpha Quadrant, three main powers vie for
supremacy: the Klingons, the Romulans, and the Cardassians.  Nothing
remains of the Federation, save for a few isolated colony worlds."

     Kira leaned anxiously forward, "What about Bajor?"

     Pluto cast a sympathetic look to her.  "I'm afraid it's still
dominated by the
Cardassians."  In a blink of an eye, they found themselves on the
Promenade. "This is the
station as it appears in what you would call the present."  Sisko, Kira and
the others looked
about, but there was not a Starfleet uniform to be seen.  Nor were any
uniforms of the
Bajoran militia visible.  All they could see were Cardassians troops... and
Bajoran slave
laborers shuffling to and from the station's ore processing facilities. 
"Of course, it is still
called Terok Nor."

     Kira looked horrified.  "May the Prophets save us."

     "They cannot," Pluto replied evenly.  "Now it is up to you to save
them from the
Negaforce."  The Hikawa shrine reformed about them, but Kira seemed
oblivious to the
changes.  She walked up to Pluto and stared evenly at the mysterious Sailor
Scout.

     When she spoke, her voice was low and tense.  "How can the Prophets be
in danger from
the Negaforce?"

     Mercury spoke up.  "When Beryl sent her forces into the Alpha Quadrant
through the
wormhole, she sent the Negaforce as well," she theorized.

     "Correct," Pluto confirmed.  "And it was during it's passage through
that it came into
conflict with the Prophets."  She cast a sympathetic gaze to Kira.  "Their
power may be
great, Major, but even they have their limits.  And the Negaforce surpasses
them.  They
*are* fighting the Negaforce... But it is a fight they are slowly losing."

     "Then that's the reason for the wormhole's odd behavior -- and for the
changes in it's
appearance," Dax said.  "It's a result of the struggle between them."

     "Correct," Pluto said again.

     "Since the wormhole aliens exist outside linear time," Dax continued,
more so for Mars',
Mercury's and Luna's benefit than anyone else's, "a struggle between them
and an equally
powerful opponent would have repercussions in all areas of time -- past,
present, future...
It's all the same to them."

     "There's just one thing I'd like to know," Sisko said as they found
themselves once more
in Ops.  "How did all this start?  I know the Jem'Hadar ships coming
through the flux was
the trigger for the changes to the timelines, but where did that second
flux come from?
They don't just appear out of thin air."

     "You're quite correct, Captain.  They don't."  Pluto looked to Worf,
"But if you want to
know how it appeared, you should ask Worf... for he helped bring about it's
creation."

     The Klingon looked confused.  "Me?"  Pluto nodded.

     "Of course," Dax said in sudden realization.  "I should have seen it
before."

     "Seen what before?" Odo asked.

     "This isn't another quantum flux... It's the same one traversed by
both Enterprises.  But
when the Enterprise D attempted to seal it, all the torpedo did was to
relocate the flux
through time and space on both sides of it.  Thus in our universe, one end
of the flux was
relocated to the Gamma Quadrant, while here, the other side was shifted to
a point halfway
between the orbits of Earth and Mars and a point in time a hundred years
earlier."

     "Essentially correct," Pluto confirmed.  "Picard's desire to seal the
flux was well
intentioned, but it led directly to this temporal paradox we find ourselves
in the middle of."

     "My God," muttered O'Brien. "Then Q was right.  Captain Picard is
going to have a fit when
he hears about this."

     Worf grimaced at the thought of Q being right about anything, then
straightened as he
heard laughter echo through his mind, followed by, "I told you so,
Microbrain."

     Pluto frowned.  "Q may lack in several in the area of social graces,"
she said pointedly to
the air above them, "but he does tell the truth... For the most part, at
any rate."

     "You sound as if you know him quite well," Bashir observed.

     "We've been... acquainted with each other for several centuries," she
replied.

     "Centuries?"  O'Brien looked over Pluto closely.  To all appearances,
Pluto seemed to be a
woman no older than her mid-twenties.  "How old are you?"

     Pluto raised an eyebrow and her expression showed slight amusement.
"Really, Chief
O'Brien.  As a married man, I would expect you to know better than to ask a
woman her age."
The scenery shifted to the temple once again while O'Brien tried to avoid
looking too
flustered.   "Ignoring that, what must be done to repair the timeline..."

     "...is to prevent the Negaverse from taking control of the Dominion
ships," Sisko said.
"Failing that, we must prevent them from interrupting the normal flow of
history."

     "In short, keep them from killing Sailor Moon," Mercury added.

     "And either one of you," Worf said.

     "Correct," Pluto said with a nod.

     "OK, so we know what to do," Mars said.  "But there's still the small
problem of time
travel.   Or have you got a way around that?"

     "I can provide a means for several people to travel in time," Pluto
admitted.  "But that
would be of little value to us, for to properly contain the threat you...
*We* will  need the
Defiant.  That would be extremely difficult for me to handle alone."  She
paused and smiled.
"But not when one has the assistance of the Prophets."

     They blinked, disoriented at finding themselves back on the Defiant's
bridge. "We've
emerged from the wormhole," Kira announced after checking her panel
readouts.

     "Chief, get us back under cloak.  Dax, I need a report on out
location... Both spatially and temporally."  Moving to comply with Sisko's
orders, O'Brien tapped the controls
activating the borrowed Romulan cloaking device installed in the Defiant. 
Meanwhile,
Dax consulted with the navigational computer.

     "Spatially, we're still in the Terran system right where the wormhole
opened up on us.
But temporally..."  She paused to recheck the astrometric readouts.  "We've
shifted back in
time just about nine months."

     "Confirmed," Mercury said, checking with her own computer.  "We're now
four days before..."

     "...before Sailor Moon was killed," a voice from the bridge rear said.
Sisko turned, but he
wasn't surprised to see Sailor Pluto standing there.  "But a full day
before the Jem'Hadar
ships emerge from the quantum flux into this universe.  You have that long
to prepare for
them."

     "Very well," Sisko said.  "Now..."

     "Hold on a minute.  There's something I want answered first."  Mars
went up to Pluto and
glared at her.  "You've just about admitted that you could have brought the
Defiant here at
any point  in the timeline."   Her voice became more strident the longer
she spoke.  "What I
want to know is, why the *hell* didn't you bring them before Serena was
killed in the first
place?!?"

     "I think I can answer that," Odo said.  The constable moved over to
the two Scouts.  "So
that there would be no shred of doubt with the Defiant's crew over the
decision to interfere
with events in this universe."

     Mars seemed astounded at this.  "What?!?"

     "I'm afraid Odo is correct," Pluto put in.  "Whenever Starfleet crews
have found
themselves in the past, they are reluctant to take action unless they are
absolutely certain
that action is required."  She turned to Sisko, "Not that this is a bad
thing, you understand."

     "But why..." Mars began.

     "Mars, please try to understand," Pluto said gently.  "If there were
another way to do
this, I would have taken it.  But I must do everything I can to ensure that
the timeline is corrected.  It would have been difficult to convince them
that they should interfere is I had brought them here prior to the
formation of the paradox.  And given that we would have only
one chance to restore the timeline, it was a risk I was unwilling to take."

     "But still..." Mars tried again.

     "Raye..." Pluto stopped for a moment before continuing.  "If Captain
Sisko and his people
are successful, then the events you have lived through since Sailor Moon
was killed; including the deaths of Lita, Mina and Artemis; will have never
happened. All will proceed as it should have before the Dominion ships
arrived.  And your past self will be totally ignorant of what might have
been."

     "And we're going to stop it from happening," Sisko said forcefully.
"But we haven't got
time to waste.   Chief, Dax, Worf: Begin a full systems check of the ship,
and concentrate on
the tactical systems.  We're going to have company in twenty four hours,
and I want to be
ready for them."

     Each of the three officers nodded in affirmation.  But O'Brien added,
"Sir, just so you're
aware; the ablative armor over the aft section was degraded thirty percent
in our last battle.  And there's not much I can do to repair it without the
facilities at DS9, or a starbase."

     "I understand, Chief.  Just do what you can."  He turned to Kira.
"Major, there's a
possibility that they may get past us.  To that end I want you and Odo to
work in coordination with Mercury, Mars and Luna and devise a plan to
protect Sailor Moon on the ground... just in case."

     Kira nodded.  "Yes, sir."

     "And just what are you going to be doing?" Luna inquired.

     "Having a long discussion with our guest over the course of future
events," the captain
answered, giving Pluto a long look.  "Dismissed."

     The others moved off on their appointed tasks, but Dax took Sisko
aside for a moment.
"Benjamin, I don't know if this will have any bearing on the mission, but I
thought you
should know."

     "Know what, Dax?"

     "I scanned Pluto a few moment ago."  She paused momentarily, seeming
uncertain.  "For
the most part the readings from her seemed consistent with those I got from
the other
Scouts, except for one thing."

     "And that is?"

     "The orb atop her staff."  Dax paused again.  "I'm not sure what it
means, but the readings
I got from it are *very* similar to those I've gotten from the Orbs of the
Prophets."

     Sisko considered this.  "Given the nature of her duties as described
by Luna, I can't say I
find that too surprising."

     "This is going to be a *long* night," Kira said after entering the
mess hall.  She went up
to the replicator, "Raktajino, extra strong."  As soon as the mug finished
materializing, she
picked it up, took a sip and sighed gratefully.  "I'll say this much for
the Klingons, they sure
know how to make a good coffee."  Then to the Defiant's guests, "Help
yourselves before we
get started.  We've got a lot of ground to cover."  She didn't bother to
make this suggestion
to Odo... She knew quite well that he didn't require any nourishment, nor
did he ever drink anything, either.

     Mars waited while Mercury got ordered another hot chocolate and a
saucer of cream for
Luna, then she hesitated at the replicator, remembering the multitude of
choices in the
computer for tea.  "Do you have any suggestion for a kind of tea?" she
asked Kira.  "Anything except Earl Grey."

     "Try Tarkalian tea," Odo suggested.  "I've observed it to be a
favorite among humanoids
at DS9."

     After Kira nodded in confirmation, Mars said, "Computer: Tarkalian
tea."
In short order a steaming mug appeared.  She took a cautious sip and her
eyes widened.  "This
is great!"

     "OK, let's get started," Kira said.  "Mercury, why don't you download
all the info
regarding the day Sailor Moon was killed into the Defiant's main computer."
The blue haired
Scout nodded and immediately set to the task.  "Odo, when that's done, make
a review with
Luna about the actual battle itself... Tactical setup, lay of the land...
You know the drill."

     "Right, Major."

     "Meanwhile, the three of us are going to go over the events leading up
to it, so we can
plan to cover Serena and your counterparts."

     "I don't see why we have to go into all this planning," Mars said. 
"We know what the
changeling will masquerade as.  Just let me get one good shot at it, and
I'll kill it before it
can even begin to shapeshift."

     "There are two problems with that," Odo said, looking disturbed by
Mars' statement.
"One, you only know what the changeling was just before it killed Sailor
Moon. It could be
anything else before that point."

     "You've got a point there," Mars said.  "What's the second problem?"

     "I'd like to avoid killing the changeling, if at all possible."

     "What?!?  Sailor Moon's life is way more important!"

     "In regards to the timeline, that is correct," Odo said calmly.
"However, in the history
of my people, no changeling has ever harmed another..."  A shadowed look
came over him. "At least, not until recently."  He shook off the lingering
memory of that day, several months previous in the Defiant's engine room,
when he inadvertently killed another changeling in a struggle.  It hadn't
given him much choice, but it still haunted him that he was responsible for
it's death.  "I don't want to abet in the killing of this one... if it can
be avoided."

     Kira intervened before Mars could object even more vocally than
before. "We'll try, Odo.
After all, the objective is to save Sailor Moon, not kill the changeling."
She looked evenly
at Mars until the hot tempered Scout subsided, then turned back to Odo.
"But Odo, I want
you to understand.  If it comes down to it, if it's a choice between the
changeling and Sailor
Moon..."

     The constable nodded.  "I understand, Major.  Securing the timeline is
of paramount
importance."

     "Good, now that that's settled... Let's get to work."  Kira motioned
to a table and sat
down with the two Scouts.  Meanwhile Odo went over to the monitor and
pulled up a tactical
outlay depicting the sight of Sailor Moon's last battle.  He was startled
to feel something
land on his shoulder, and saw Luna sitting there.

     "Sorry," she said apologetically with a cat-like shrug, "but the view
from the table isn't
that good."

     Before the constable could respond, he heard a burst of laughter from
behind him.  He
turned and saw Kira struggling to keep from laughing uncontrollably. 
Beside her, both Mercury and Mars were smiling as well.  "Is something
funny, Major?"

     "I'm sorry, Odo," she said not so sincerely, "But if you were viewing
it from this angle..."  She stopped, trying to control her mirth.

     "I fail to see what is so amusing," Odo said.

     "Neither do I," Luna added.

     "Well, I can," Mars said.  "Don't you Mercury?"

     "Of course."

     Odo snorted and turned back to the monitor.  "Humanoids!  Sometimes I
can't understand
them at all."

     "I couldn't agree with you more," Luna said.

     Sisko led Pluto into the small and scarcely used captain's ready room.
"Have a seat," he
said, before doing likewise behind his desk.

     "I have a feeling I know what you're planning, Captain," she said as
she did so.  "Don't you think it would be wiser to attack first, rather
than try to negotiate with the Dominion
ships first?"

     "It's not Federation policy to attack on sight, at least outside of a
wartime situation,"
Sisko explained.  "If this can be resolved without bloodshed, then I have
to take the chance."

     "I'm not overly optimistic about the chance of that."

     Sisko grimaced.  "Knowing the Dominion, neither am I.  But what I need
to know from you
is, do I have the chance to even try?"

     "Perhaps," Pluto conceded.  "Originally, the Dominion ships were here
for two hours before the Negaverse made any move against them.  But I would
take great care with using that figure, Captain.  The future is ever in
motion."

     "Don't worry about that," Sisko said, leaning back in his chair.  "I
intend to be ready for
anything."

     Nearly twenty four hours later, Sisko took a quick glance around the
bridge, checking on
the readiness of all systems.  But as usual, his crew was extremely
efficient. The Defiant
was as ready as they could make her.

     He swung his chair around to face the three Sailor Scouts.  "It's
almost time," He said to
them.   "You had better get out of sight before we make contact with them."

     "I hope you know what you're doing, Captain," Mars said to him.  She
had been extremely
vocal when he had informed them of his plan to attempt to talk the
Jem'Hadar back through
the flux first.  "I still think you should attack the first chance you
get."

     "Tactically speaking, you're right.  However, even with the element of
surprise, three to
one odds against Dominion ships aren't odds I like to face.  And a I told
Pluto earlier:  If
there is a chance this can be resolved without bloodshed, then I have to
try to do so."  He
turned toward the main viewscreen.  "But don't worry.  If it comes to a
fight, they'll find us
more than a match for them."

     "Don't worry Mars," Pluto assured her.  "Captain Sisko is more than
aware of the urgency
of this situation.  He'll do what is required."

     A sensor alarm sounded.  "Picking up a tachyon surge," Dax reported.
"They're coming
through."

     Sisko nodded.  "Out of sight, you three.  If the situation does get
nasty, I want you as
aces in the hole."  Silently the three left the bridge as Sisko seated
himself.  "Here we go.
Red alert."  Around the bridge, the alert lights flashed and the klaxon
sounded.  It really
wasn't needed, as the crew were already at their action stations.

     Sisko kept his attention on the screen, which was focussed on the
quantum flux.  There
was a brief burst of light along with a slight ripple effect, and three
Jem'Hadar ships
appeared as if from out of nowhere.  "Right on schedule."

     Worf checked the tactical scanners and frowned.  "Their shields came
up the moment
they passed through the flux.  Also, their main power and weapon systems
are online and
fully active."

     "Both the Enterprise and the Enterprise D suffered severe power drains
during their
passages through the flux," Bashir noted.

     "It seems that's not a problem for the Dominion," O'Brien groused.

     "Considering how different their technologies are, I can't say I'm all
that surprised,"
Kira said.

     Sisko took a deep breath.  "Mr. Worf, decloak the ship.  Major, hail
them."  The two
officers complied, and Sisko noted subconsciously the cloaking field being
lowered.  Within
seconds of Kira's hail, the screen flickered, centered on a Vorta.

     "I am Fiden, lead Vorta for this group."

     "Captain Benjamin Sisko, commanding the Federation starship Defiant."

     The Vorta immediately broke into a wide, and Sisko thought wholly
insincere, smile.
"Captain Sisko!  A pleasure to make your acquaintance.  But I am puzzled by
what you are doing here, so far from Deep Space Nine."

     "We're both a long way from home," Sisko noted.  "A whole universe
away, in fact."

     "Universe?"  Fiden seemed genuinely confused.  "I'm afraid I don't
understand."

     "I can explain, but we had better make it quick."  Sisko paused for
effect.  "That is, if
you want the Founder on board your ship to survive."

     The smug look vanished from the Vorta's face.  "Threats do not become
you, Captain," Fiden noted, with some anger in his voice.

     Sisko raised an eyebrow.  "I wasn't making one.  But I do have some
inside knowledge about this universe... Which you had better listen to."

     Mercury watched Mars pace in the hallway.  "Raye, could please you
stop that?  You're
making me nervous!"

     "I can't help it," Mars replied irritably.  "Whether or not Serena
dies depends on what's
being said in there.  I can't stand being left out of it!"

     Mercury sighed.  "You're not helping matters, either.  Captain Sisko
knows whom he's
dealing with."

     "Mercury is correct," Pluto said.  "I had extensive talks with him
about the timing
involved.   The last time, it was two hours before Neflyte took control of
the shapeshifter.
We should have at least an hour before they mount any move."

     Mars stopped and stared coldly at Pluto.  "And if you're wrong?"

     "Even if she is," Mercury said, intervening, "We should still have
three days before
Serena is in any danger.  And Kira has outlined a good plan to protect
her."

     "I know, I know," Mars said.  "I helped make it, remember?"  She
turned her gaze to the
bridge door.  "I just wish I was in there."

     As if in response, the bridge door snapped open, and Sisko and Odo
exited.
 Each of the three Scouts looked expectedly at him.  "Well?" Mars asked.

     "The Vorta, Fiden, has agreed to meet with me, to see the proof we
have regarding the
situation."  He turned to Pluto, "I'd like you to be there, since you have
first hand knowledge
of how the timeline should go."

     "Very well," she responded reluctantly.  "If you wish it."

     Sisko noted the unhappy look on Mars' face as well.  "Don't worry," he
told the hot
tempered Scout.  "I told Worf to fire on them the moment they do anything
suspicious, or if
they attempt to get closer to Earth.  Since communications with them are
closed, you can
monitor the situation from the bridge if you wish."

     Mars nodded and watched them go.  "I hope this works," she said.  "If
it does, maybe
things will work out better for me and Darien in the real timeline."

     Mercury hesitated on the verge of entering the bridge.  "Raye, about
that..."

     "What?"

     Amy paused again, the began manipulating her computer.  An image
quickly appeared on
the screen.  "I think you should look at this first."

     Raye frowned, but complied with Mercury's request.  But the second she
did so, she
gasped in astonishment.  Though she wasn't aware of it, the image Mercury
showed her came from the logs of the Enterprise D, taken shortly after
Rubeus' Borg ship had been destroyed.  It showed Tuxedo Mask and all five
of the Sailor Scouts. But it wasn't Mars he was embracing.  It was Sailor
Moon.   "What's this about?"

     "I've read a good many of the logs about the Sailor Scouts available
from the Enterprise
and the later Enterprise D," Mercury responded.  "From all of those, it
seems evident that Tuxedo Mask from the original timeline was intimately
involved with Sailor Moon... And not
you."

     Mars shook her head.  She found this hard to believe.  "Why?"

     Amy hesitated.  "Luna, you remember how you always said that one of
our primary
missions was to locate the Moon Princess?"

     The cat nodded.  "Yes, of course I do."

     "Well, we had.  According to the logs of Picard's Enterprise, Serena
was the Moon
Princess."

     "And since Darien was the Prince of Earth, they were involved during
the Silver
Millennium," Raye concluded.  "Somehow, I always knew his heart belonged to
someone else."  She paused and looked at the image again.  "And now I know
why."

     "Raye, I'm sorry..."

     She shook her head.  "It's not your fault, Amy.  It's just what has to
be."  She went through the bridge door, and went directly to Worf.  The
Klingon stared expectedly at her.
"You knew," she said, not phrasing it as a question.

     The other crewmembers exchanged questioning glances, but Worf regarded
her evenly. "Yes."

     "Why didn't you tell me?"

     Worf paused a moment.  "You had to find out for yourself.  After all,
in
your mind, you were his par'mach'ai."  The usually even minded Dax turned
to them, eyebrows
upraised.

     "Uh, could you translate that?"

     "The closest human term would be lover."

     "WHAT?!?" Luna screeched, causing Raye to turn a dark shade of
crimson.

     "We weren't *that* close," she said.  "But I appreciate the sentiment.
But would you
guys stop treating it as if I'm going to lose him?  I mean, my counterpart
on Earth will
never feel the same way if we're successful."  She paused, staring into
space, then added
softly, "Besides, I'd give anything for her to have a chance to live."

     Pluto stood next to the large monitor in the mess hall, doubt evident
in her expression.
"I am uneasy at being present at this meeting, Captain."

     "All I need you for is to confirm what I tell them about what will
happen, to both the
Founder on their ship and to the Dominion."  Sisko half turned to her.
"That is, if it won't
cause any disruption to the time stream."

     Pluto hesitated, considering her answer carefully.  "No, I don't
believe it will."

     "Why are you so uneasy?" Odo asked.  "I thought you knew the future."

     "I have certain knowledge about future events in the proper timeline,
and how things
have progressed in the alternate," she responded.  Sighing she added,
"However, while we
are involved with this process of restoring time, I am as in the dark about
future events as
you are."

     The door opened before Odo could respond, allowing Fiden and
Komentac'lan
to enter the room, escorted by two security officers.  Sisko dismissed them
with a nod
and they quickly departed.  Fiden smiled broadly, "Captain Sisko, it is a
pleasure to finally
meet you face to face."  He turned to Odo and half bowed to him.  "And you
as well, Odo."

     "Do tell," Odo said blandly.

     Fiden straightened himself and approached Pluto.  "And who might this
lovely young
woman be?"  Pluto said nothing, but arched an eyebrow at Fiden's
description of her as
young.  "Her... uniform clearly isn't Bajoran issue, nor is it Starfleet."
He turned to Sisko.
"Unless, of course, you're planning on changing them again?"

     "She's a guest on the Defiant," Sisko explained.  "She's a resident of
this alternate
universe we've entered.  Her name is Sailor Pluto."

     "Sailor... Pluto?"  Fiden looked her over again, puzzled.  "A rather
odd name."

     "Not for a Sailor Scout," Pluto said, addressing the Vorta for the
first time.

     "She's the reason for our being here," Odo said.  "So that we can save
your lives, as well
as the life of the Founder on your ship."

     "You have made that threat before," Komentac'lan snarled.

     "Not a threat," Pluto stated flatly.  "Merely a statement of what will
occur if you do not
return to your own universe."

     Sisko went to the monitor.  "This will help you to understand."  He
tapped a control and
played a visual log, extracted from Mercury's computer, of the battle that
had resulted in Sailor Moon being killed.

     Fiden watched the action for a silent moment.  "Mildly entertaining,
but I fail to see how
this..."  His voice trailed off as the changeling suddenly revealed itself,
and the expression
on his face shifted to sheer horror when Mars was shown destroying it. "It
can't be."

     "It can, and it will."

     "Why are you showing me this obvious fabrication?" he demanded
harshly.

     Pluto took a step towards Fiden, causing Komentac'lan to put his hand
to his weapon.  "It
isn't a fabrication.  This recording is of an event that *will* happen
three days from now,
if you do not return to your own universe."

     "So you say."

     "Yes, I do.  And further, your failure to act will also result in the
utter and complete
destruction of the Dominion itself."

     Fiden stared back at her, appalled.  "Impossible."

     "No, it is a certainty."

     "The Dominion has stood for over two thousand years," Fiden protested.
"And it will
continue to exist long after your civilization crumbles to dust!"

     Pluto heaved an exasperated sigh.  "I should have expected this.  Some
people must be
shown, not simply told."  To Sisko, she added, "We'll be right back."  With
that, she and Fiden
both vanished.

     Komentac'lan drew his weapon and looked wildly about the room.  "What
have you done
with Fiden?" he demanded.

     "We've done nothing to him.  And Pluto said they'd be back."  Sisko
watched as the Jem'Hadar continued to search the room.  "Now put that
weapon away."

     "Why should I?"

     "Because I said to," Odo replied, marching up to Komentac'lan.

     Komentac'lan stared at Odo, indecision evident on his face.  While
Odo's status with the
other Founders may be in doubt, he *was* still a Founder and Komentac'lan
was bound to
obey him.  For now.  Reluctantly he holstered his weapon.

     It was in that moment that Pluto reappeared with Fiden.  The Vorta had
a shocked
expression on his face.  "Unbelievable.  Simply unbelievable."

     "But true nevertheless," Pluto responded.

     Fiden nodded and turned to Captain Sisko.  "I have no choice other
than to believe what
Pluto has shown me.  We will return through the quantum flux."

     In the heart of one of the Dominion ships, the changeling rested in
it's gelatinous state,
oblivious to the discussion going on aboard the Defiant.  The affairs of
the solids were of
no concern to it.  It's only worry was how the current situation was going
to affect the long
range plans of the Dominion. Could this new universe fit into those plans?

     A shimmering in the room interrupted it's planning.  Amidst it
appeared a humanoid
male, dressed in a grey uniform.  Immediately the changeling assumed a
humanoid shape of
it's own.  The appearance of this humanoid was an unknown factor, and that
was troubling to it.  "Who are you?" it demanded.

     "I am Neflyte," he responded, raising a hand that was surrounded by a
glowing aura.  "And your new master!"  The light shot forth from his hand,
surrounding the changeling. Desperately it tried to summon help from the
Jem'Hadar on the ship, but it quickly found it's will suborned.  Within
seconds, Neflyte's spell had brought the changeling completely under his
power.

     Neflyte paused to examine the creature's mind.  'So the creatures on
these three ships
regarded this shapeshifter as a god, hmm?  That could prove useful,' he
thought.  But he also saw that the Defiant was not under it's control.
Indeed, it had proven a formidable adversary in the past.  "Well," he said
with a chuckle, "We'll just have to destroy it.  This shapeshifter should
be more than enough for our purposes." He concentrated a moment, summoning
the power of the stars.  "Centaurus the Centaur and Aquila the Eagle, come
forth!"

     Mars frowned, staring at the three Dominion ships on the viewscreen.
"Something's
wrong.  I'm getting bad vibes from over there."

     Worf glanced at her before returning his attention to the main viewer.
So far the
Jem'Hadar ship hadn't moved, and until they did so, he could take no action
against them.
But Mars had proven herself quite perceptive in the past.  Indeed, in many
ways her abilities
were almost as good as Counselor Troi's.  "Chief?"

     "Nothing," he replied.  "No unusual energy emissions, nothing to
indicate they're going to
attack."

     "I don't care what your sensors show.  Something's up," Mars growled.
"You've got
anything, Mercury?"

     "I thought I detected something a few moments ago, but it's not there
now," she replied.

     Dax found her attention drawn from the conversation around her to the
sensors, which
were indicating a spurious reading.  She tapped the console, refining the
readings for more
detail.  Her eyes widened in alarm when she saw that it was indicating a
spatial anomaly
forming on the bridge.

     Before the science officer could give any warning, a burst of light
announced the arrival
of one of Neflyte's constellation avatars, specifically Centaurus the
centaur. Reacting
first, Worf sprang from the command chair, his hand going for his phaser.
This action was
enough to save his life, for the centaur fired an arrow that passed through
the space the
Klingon's head had been mere moments before.  It impacted on the far side
of the bridge, narrowly missing Sailor Mercury as well.

     Kira reacted next, firing her phaser.  The creature winced at the
beam's impact but little
other effect was evident.  Centaurus cried out loudly and reared back,
lashing out with it's
hooves at the Major.  She ducked below it's attack, and rolled for the far
side of the bridge.

     Mars moved to confront it next, summoning her power.  "MARS..."

     She got no farther, as Centaurus quickly nocked and fired off another
arrow.  Worf again
reacted quickly, shoving her out of the arrows path so the missed her
throat. However, this
action put his left arm in the line of fire.  The Klingon grimaced at the
pain as it embedded
itself in his forearm, but he ignored it as best he could and fired his own
weapon at the
intruder.  His shot met with as little success as Kira's.

     Mars gave Worf a silent look of thanks and gathered herself for
another try.  "MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

     The fireball raced at Centaurus, but it proved to be very agile.  It
shifted to it's left so that Mars' attack missed completely, impacting
instead at the rear bulkhead. The floor and
several nearby consoles were set ablaze, and an alarm instantly sounded.
"Warning: fire
detected on the main bridge," the computer intoned.  Several jets of white
vapor sprayed
out over the flames, further adding to the confusion while simultaneously
suppressing the fire.  "Fire control systems activated."

     Boretkat'lyn stared in amazement at the Founder.  It had just
announced that they were
going to Earth, bypassing the blockading Federation starship.  He found it
hard to believe
that they would be leaving such a threat behind them.  It was unlike a
Founder to make such
an obvious tactical error.  "Why don't we fire?!?" he demanded to know.  He
glared at Neflyte
before addressing the Founder again.  "If it is the destruction of the
Defiant you wish, then
let us bring it about!"

     "Enough!" the Founder exclaimed, glaring at the Second.  Boretkat'lyn
immediately stood
to attention.  "I trust you remember who is in command here?"

     "Of course," Boretkat'lyn immediately responded.  "You are the
Founder."

     "See to it that you remember that," the changeling snarled.
Boretkat'lyn allowed himself
a momentary glance with the Third.  The Founder's behavior seemed to be
most uncharacteristic.  Still, it was not the place of the Jem'Hadar to
object to the wishes of the Founders.

     "As you wish it," Boretkat'lyn stated, adding, "Obedience brings
victory."

     The Founder nodded, seemingly satisfied, "...And victory is life.
Good, you remember the
lessons we instilled in your kind."   It paused for a moment, then smiled
evilly.  "In any
event, do not concern yourself with the state of the Defiant.  It's
destruction has been
assured."  The changeling concluded the statement with a laugh that chilled
Boretkat'lyn to the bone.

     And there were few things in the universe that could frighten a
Jem'Hadar.

     "...as a gesture of good will, Captain, I am willing to give the safe
conduct through the
Gamma Quadrant until you reach the wormhole," Fiden said.

     Given what he already knew about the Dominion, Sisko found that hard
to take at face value.  "I'm gratified to hear that.  However, there's
still the matter of the flux itself.  I
hope you understand that I would like to eliminate any possibility of
anymore ships from
our side from crossing over."

     "Yes, of course," Fiden agreed.  "But I can assure you that the
Founders..."  He broke off in midstatement as the alert klaxon sounded,
alerting the rest of the ship to the fire alarm on
the bridge.  Sisko was in the process of activating his comm badge when a
loud cry resounded through the room.  They turned and saw a large eagle,
measuring a meter and a half tall, standing at the other side of the mess
hall.  Fiden was only able to say, "What is that?" before it leapt to
attack.

     For all it's size the creature was amazingly quick and agile.  It
landed atop of them with
talons extended before any of them could react, it's attention centered on
Captain Sisko. Pluto managed to pull him to one side before it could strike
him but Fiden, being next to Sisko, was savagely slashed by the creature. 
The Vorta had time for a strangled cry before he collapsed.

     Komentac'lan drew out his weapon and fired two quick shots.  Aquila
looked irritably at
him and swept a wing in his direction, throwing the Jem'Hadar down against
Sisko's left
leg.  The captain went down, grimacing at the sudden pain shooting through
his knee.  The
creature advanced towards him again but it's path was blocked by a grim
faced Pluto, her
staff at the ready.

     Before either could do anything more, Odo jumped atop the eagle, his
limbs reverting to
a gelatinous state and wrapping themselves around it.  The eagle cried out
in frustration as
the constable restrained it's wings and claws.

     By this point, Komentac'lan had regained his footing.  Unwilling to
take the chance of
hitting a Founder with weapons fire, he charged into close quarters with
the eagle and hit
it across the beak with all his might.

     Though Odo had restrained it's limbs, it's head was still free to move
and Aquila took
advantage that fact by seizing the Jem'Hadar First within it's beak.  It
swung him to and fro
like a ragdoll, then flung him against the far wall where he collapsed
bonelessly.  It was
obvious to anyone that he was quite dead, his neck having been broken.

     Now Pluto moved in to take action.  She couldn't use her powers on it,
as that would
likely kill Odo, so she chose an alternative course of action.  Instead she
brought the top of
the staff down atop Aquila's head.  Her enhanced strength being greater
than a Jem'Hadar's,
it stood dazed from the blow.  Pluto followed the blow up by grasping the
staff with both
hands and shoving it into the eagle's chest.  The eagle was nearly flung
into the air, striking
the wall in nearly the same spot Komentac'lan had seconds before.  It stood
there shaking
it's head, obviously dazed.  Taking advantage of this, Odo immediately
reverted to his
natural form and oozed away from it, thus giving Pluto a clear shot.

     Lying on the floor, Sisko blinked, trying to clear his mind.  He saw
Pluto confront the
creature and it glared back at her, having regained it's bearings.  It
uttered a loud cry and
flew at the Sailor Scout.  Simultaneously, Pluto swung her staff in front
of her.  In his
dazed state, Sisko wasn't sure, but he thought he heard her whisper
something. But what
followed was impossible for him to miss.

     Dark green energy coalesced along the staff as Pluto swung it along
it's arc.  As it the
midpoint, a sphere of energy of the same color shot out from the staff and
struck the
Negaverse creature.  The flare of Pluto's attack hid it from Sisko's sight,
but he heard it cry
out loudly again, though this time in pain and despair.  When the light
faded, he saw no sign
that the creature had ever been there, other that a pile of rapidly fading
dust.

     Odo reformed himself next to Pluto and nodded approvingly.  "Well
done."

     "Thank you."  She turned Sisko.  "Captain, are you well?"

     "My leg hurts like hell, but I'll live."  He indicated the spot where
Aquila had been
moments before.  "I thought you said it was two hours before the Negaverse
tried anything."

     "I warned you that could change," she reproached him.  "Though I admit
I didn't think they
would move this fast."

     "The presence of the Defiant may have spurred them into almost
immediate reaction,"
Odo theorized.

     "We can guess later," Pluto said.  "But we must make sure the ships
don't reach Earth."

     "Agreed," Sisko said.  "With the Negaverse on the move, the time for
talk is over."  He
tried to get up on his own, but fell back after yelping in pain.  "Help me
to the bridge."
Pluto moved to one side of Sisko while Odo went to the other, and together
they helped the
captain up and out of the mess hall.

     Mars grimaced.  The bridge was too confined for her to use her
firebird attack, along
with the fact the Worf was now grappling with the centaur, despite his
injured arm.  "We
need cover!" she said to her fellow Scout.

     Mercury nodded.  "Coming right up.  MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"

     Instantly the ambient temperature dropped and a thick layer of fog
formed on the bridge.
Dax noted that the creature seemed to lose sight of them, while she (and
presumably the others) could still see it clearly.  "Worf!  Get down!"  The
Klingon immediately released his grip on the Negaverse creature, and fell
back to the bridge fore.  For it's part, the centaur
reared back and unleashed a volley of arrows through the  room.
Fortunately, no one was
hit, thought several of the stations took damage of one sort or other.

     Mars took advantage of a clear shot.  "MARS FIRE IGNITE!"  This time
the flame struck
true and it cried out in pain while it's bow was incinerated.

     "Now!" Kira exclaimed, and five phaser beams converged on the centaur,
staggering it.
"Mercury, Mars... Hit it again!"

     "Right!" Mercury said.  While the bridge was too confined for Mars'
more powerful attack, it was more than wide open enough for hers.  "MERCURY
ICE BUBBLES FREEZE!"

     "MARS FIRE IGNITE!" Mars yelled, striking simultaneously with Mercury.
The twin attacks of fire and ice struck the centaur, and the Defiant
crewmembers maintain their phaser fire as well.  The combined might of all
these attacks was too much for the centaur, and it disintegrated to dust
amid a cry of despair.

     "Dusted!" Mercury exclaimed as the fog lifted.

     Kira turned to Dax.  "Dax, see if there are anymore of these things on
the ship."

     "There was one in the mess hall," a voice came from the starboard
door. Everyone turned
to see Sisko limp in, aided by Odo and Sailor Pluto.  They helped him
towards the command
chair.  "But it's been taken care of."  Sisko grimaced as he seated
himself. His leg was throbbing intensely, there were more important
concerns at the moment.  He could see the
three ships receding on the viewscreen, obviously on their way to Earth.
"Dax--"

     Dax had already taken her place at the helm and was working the
controls. Fortunately,
it had emerge from the recent conflict unscathed.  "I'm already on it,
Captain.  We're on an intercept course at full impulse."

     Bashir spoke up from nearby the tactical station, where he had been
tending to Worf.
"Captain, we should get Worf down to sickbay."  He paused for a quick scan
of Sisko.  "And
yourself as well.  You've got torn ligaments in that knee."

     "I can wait until this is over, Doctor," Sisko responded.  "But you
can get started on
Worf."

     "Sir, I can maintain my post," the Klingon protested, trying to ignore
the pain from his
injured arm.  He turned back to the tactical station but stopped when he
saw the arrow protruding from the panel.  The panels flickered randomly,
indicating the station had been heavily damaged.

     Kira saw it as well, and began working furiously on her console.  "I'm
transferring weapons control to my station."

     "There's nothing more you can do up here, Mr. Worf.  Get that arm
taken care of."  Before
Worf could object further Sisko added, "That's an order."

     "Yes, sir," Worf said reluctantly and left the bridge with Bashir. On
the main viewscreen,
Sisko could see two of the Dominion ships break off and turn to face the
Defiant.

     "Major, the moment they're in weapons range, I want you to open fire."

     "Yes, sir."  Kira kept her attention on the distance indicator,
waiting for the other ships
to enter range.  In a matter of seconds, the distance between them had
closed to a scant
few thousands of kilometers.  "Entering weapon's range -- firing!"

     The Defiant's powerful pulse phaser batteries spoke, sending a barrage
of high energy
bursts on the ship on the right.  The first couple were absorbed by it's
shields but the next penetrated, exploding the Dominion ship.  It's
companion managed banked right and flanked
the Defiant, firing on it all the while.

     On board, the ship rocked under the incoming fire.  Kira retaliated
with the other phaser
batteries mounted on the ship, but these weren't nearly as powerful as the
pulse phasers
and the Jem'Hadar ship was able to absorb these.

     "Dax, do what you can to avoid fire, but keep on that lead ship.
That's the one with the
changeling on it!"  Dax nodded and programmed a series of evasive
maneuvers. But tied as
the Defiant was to an intercept course, it could only avoid a small
fraction of the incoming
fire.  Fortunately, the ablative armor seemed to be holding for the moment.

     "The ablative armor is being degraded.  It's not going to last much
longer!" O'Brien
shouted over the din of battle.  As if in response, the ship shook again.
"That did it.  The aft
ablative armor is gone!"

     "Just keep her together for a few more seconds, Chief," Sisko told
him.

     Mercury came up behind Kira, her computer open.  "Major, according to
my scans their
shields are weakest over their dorsal section.  Concentrate your fire
there," she suggested.
Kira nodded and adjusted her firing pattern.  Her next shot from the upper
phaser array hit the area suggested by Mercury and penetrated the other
ship's shields, damaging it's hull. The Dominion vessel broke off on it's
current attack run and began a series of evasive maneuvers, trying to avoid
other incoming fire.

     "Nice shooting!" Sisko complimented.  He checked the tactical
situation again and noted
the lead ship was nearly in weapons range.  "Kira, prepare a full spread of
quantum torpedoes."

     Kira nodded.  "Torpedoes ready and locked on target."

     "In weapons range!" Dax announced.

     The Defiant rocked again, as the other Jem'Hadar ship made a new run
on it.  "The aft
weapons array just went offline," O'Brien reported.  "We've got damage to
the impulse
engines, too."

     Sisko gave no other indication he heard the engineer other than a curt
nod.  "FIRE!"  The
Defiant pitched slightly as four of the powerful torpedoes were launched.
The lead ship dodged at the last moment, evading two of the torpedoes.  But
two still struck the Jem'Hadar ship on it's port side.  Designed as they
were to penetrate the tough shields employed by the Borg, the torpedoes
tore through the attack ship's shields, shearing off the port warp nacelle. 
Suddenly unbalanced, it spun around several times before exploding. "Two
down, one to go.  Dax, hard about!  Kira, lock phasers and fire when
ready."

     Free now from their previous constraints, Dax put the small starship
on a tight turn,
quickly bringing the Defiant nose to nose with the remaining ship.
Immediately, Kira triggered a burst from the pulse phasers, scoring several
direct hits.  The last of the Jem'Hadar ships became an expanding fireball. 
"Get us back under cloak, Chief."  If we *can* cloak, he added silently.

     "Cloak engaged," O'Brien reported.

     "You did it!" Mars cried.  "You got them all!"

     "I wouldn't start celebrating just yet," Odo said glumly.  Lacking any
other function
during battle, the Constable had been keeping an eye on the sensors.  "I
detected a spatial
anomaly forming on the lead ship just before we destroyed it."

     Dax went over and stood behind him and eyed the readings for herself.
Meanwhile,     Mercury opened up her computer once again and began working
on it rapidly.  "Uh oh," Dax said.

     "That doesn't sound good, old man."

     "It's not good," she responded apprehensively.  "I detected a similar
spatial anomaly
reading just before Zoisite appeared in front of us, and another one before
that centaur
appeared on the bridge.  I think this is some method of teleportation
employed by the
Negaverse."

     "So some or all of them might have been able to get off before it was
destroyed," O'Brien
stated.

     "See if you can determine a possible destination, Chief," Sisko
ordered, despite having a
sinking feeling where they had gone.

     Mercury answered before O'Brien could even begin scanning.  "I've got
it. They teleported
to the arctic regions."  She paused and looked to Mars.  "Specifically, D
Point."

     "Right to the Negaverse," Dax said.

     Kira grimaced at the news.  "Damn!  I thought we had them."

     Mars felt and looked suddenly very tired.  "It's going to happen
again... Just like before."

     "That must not be allowed to happen," Pluto said.  "Otherwise, all
will be lost.  The
timelines of both universes will forever be in chaos."

     Mars felt someone place a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see
Sisko standing
behind her despite his injured leg, determination etched on his face. "It's
not going to
happen again, Raye.  Not if I can help it," he resolutely reassured her.
"Whatever it takes, no
matter the cost, we're going to prevent history from repeating itself."

Next time: The Dominion ships have been destroyed, but they still have to
keep the survivors from causing trouble on Earth.  To that end, they begin
to implement Kira's plan to
protect Serena in chapter 6, "Surveillance".

Bill Harris

Sci-Fi quote of the month:
"Arrogance and stupidity all in one package.  How efficient of you." -
Londo
Mollari in "Babylon 5: In the Beginning"
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?
<soton@aol.com>

[Authors note -- With all these duplicate Sailors around, it's going to 
get a bit confusing.  For clarity's sake, the Scouts from the alternate 
timeline will be referred to as simply "Mars" and "Mercury"; whereas the 
'present day' versions will be referred to as "Sailor Mars" and "Sailor 
Mercury".]

"Never underestimate the element of surprise"
     - Odo
"It's time for Sailor Moon!"
     -Luna

Chapter 7 - "No greater love than this..."
     Serena looked around wildly at the Jem'Hadar that had appeared 
around the crowd.  "Who are these guys?!?" she wailed.  "They've got 
GUNS!!"
     "Look again, meatballhead.  Those aren't any type of guns I've ever 
seen," Raye snapped while eying the three aliens, noting to herself that 
Dax and her counterpart had made no mention at all about them.
     Serena went instantly from near terror to anger, and glowered at 
Raye, "Stop calling me MEATBALLHEAD!"
     Now unnoticed by the increasingly panicky crowd, the youma Rybite 
still stood atop the counter muttering incomprehensibly.  But it seemed 
more irritated at the Jem'Hadar for interrupting it's operation than 
anything else.
     So intent was it at glaring at the warriors from the Dominion that 
it missed a figure in a red sailor outfit landing nearby on the 
countertop, followed by two others in blue.  Mercury gave Rybite a solid 
kick to it's midsection as she landed, sending the youma flying so that 
it landed in a sitting position atop the grill.  The youma howled in pain 
as it tried franticly to scurry off.  It's antics earned it contemptuous 
glares from the Jem'Hadar and the nearest one slammed the butt of it's 
weapon into the youma's face, rendering it unconscious.
     Mars leveled an accusing finger at the alien soldiers.  "This is a 
place for people to enjoy themselves, not for you to steal their energy!  
In the name of Mars..."
     "...and Mercury..." the other two cried out in unison.
     "...we'll punish you!" they finished together.
     "Huh?"  Serena looked at the three Scouts, then at Raye standing 
beside her, then back again.  "Another Sailor Mars?  *Two* Sailor 
Mercuries?  What's going on?!?"  Then she realized, "And they're stealing 
my lines!"
     The Jem'Hadar didn't bother asking questions, as always preferring 
action instead.  They aimed their weapons at the three Scouts and began 
firing.  While they dodged the weapons fire, everyone in the crowd 
started running for cover.  Raye took advantage of the tumult and grabbed 
Serena by the arm, dragging her around the corner where Luna joined them.  
"What's going on?" Serena demanded again.
     Raye ignored her question for the moment as she checked up on the 
battle.  Her counterpart had already toasted one of the aliens that she 
and Dax had so conveniently not mentioned.  Or it as more likely they 
didn't know they were going to show up, she mused.  "I should have 
expected Amy's double would be here, too," she muttered.  "There's no 
sign of that shapeshifter though."
     "What was that?" Serena asked.  "Raye, do you know something I 
don't?"
     "A lot of things," she responded automatically.  At Serena's glare 
she added, "But right now the important thing is that they need our 
help," pointing to the fight.  Mars had already toasted the first 
three Jem'Hadar, but more were appearing out of the woodwork.  "There 
are more of those creeps."
     "Yes," Luna agreed.  "Transform now!  But be careful.  You 
especially, Serena."
     "Huh?"
     Raye raised her transformation pen skyward.  "MARS POWER!"  When 
the transformation was complete, Sailor Mars looked at Serena.  "Well, 
what are you waiting for?"
     "Stop giving me orders," she grumbled.
     "Serena!" Luna admonished her.
     "All right already... MOON PRISM POWER!"

     Sisko put a restraining hand on Kira, who had been getting ready to 
fire, "Not yet, Major."  Over the comm he added, "Hold your fire 
everyone."
     "But sir!" Worf protested.
     "That's an order, Mr. Worf.  We have to wait until the changeling 
reveals itself before we make our move.  If we show ourselves too soon, 
the changeling will leave and we'll have no idea where or when it will 
strike next."  He glanced over at the raging battle and grimaced.  "I 
don't like it any more than you, but Mars and Mercury can take care of 
themselves.  Besides," he nodded to a small dog that had taken position 
near the concession stand, "Odo can help them out in the meantime."
     Kira nodded, agreeing reluctantly as a rush of movement caught her 
eye.  Sailor Moon now stood atop the counter, with another Sailor Mars 
beside her.  "All right, I don't know who all the extra Sailor Scouts 
are, but I am Sailor Moon, the champion of justice!  I right wrongs and 
triumph over evil!"  She pointed at the nearest Jem'Hadar.  "And that 
means you...  oofff!"  The Jem'Hadar had not been not impressed with 
her entrance, and one of them was in the process of firing at her when 
Mars shoved the blonde Scout out of the way and she fell down behind 
the counter.  The energy bolt impacted harmlessly above her.  "Owie..."  
She got back to her feet, rubbing her head painfully and glared at both 
Sailor Scouts of the red planet.  "Thanks a lot, Mars!"
     "Sure, blame me!" Sailor Mars retorted.
     "Excuse me, I was only SAVING YOUR LIFE!" Mars exclaimed in the 
same instant.
     Sailor Moon was framing a suitable response when she realized that 
the aliens had stopped firing.  The became immediately obvious, for a 
tall, tuxedo clad figure was standing between her and the Jem'Hadar. 
"It's not nice to interrupt a lady," he admonished the aliens, who 
seemed uncertain now and were hesitantly retreating.
     Sailor Mars looked at Tuxedo Mask, but hesitated.  She couldn't 
put her finger on it, but something was giving her an odd feeling.
     Mars frowned.  Tuxedo Mask hadn't shown up this early the last 
time.  That could a result of the changes they'd made, but something 
didn't quite feel right.
     For her part, Sailor Moon was overjoyed.  "Tuxedo Mask!  You came!"
     He turned and gave her a dazzling smile. "Of course, Sailor Moon."  
He was just starting to reach in her direction when a small black dog 
jumped up and bit him on the hand.  "Huh?"
     Sailor Moon was similarly surprised, perhaps even more so.  She 
wasn't entirely sure, but it certainly appeared to be the same dog that 
they had left behind at the temple.  But how could it be here?  Raye had 
tied it up back there!
     Hadn't she?
     She put that aside for the moment, trying instead to concentrate on 
the events before her.  "Bad dog!" she yelled, giving it a good solid 
swat on the rump.  "Tuxedo Mask is our friend!"  The dog didn't seem to 
react other than by biting down harder and perhaps glaring at her as well, 
but before she could do anything else there was a flash of red in front 
of her eyes.  Sailor Moon jumped backwards a half step and gasped when 
she got a good look at the countertop.
     There was a red rose embedded in it.

     Sisko tensed as Odo moved in on Tuxedo Mask.  He knew the Constable 
wouldn't make a move unless he sensed something.  Perhaps...
     "Benjamin!" Dax called over the comm, "Look above you!"
     He glanced upward and immediately saw among the rafters what Dax was 
talking about.

     Sailor Moon looked upwards to where the rose had been thrown from 
and gaped.  Standing on a girder, cape flowing behind him was Tuxedo 
Mask.  Another one!  She glanced back and forth between the two, now 
utterly confused.  "Watch yourself, Sailor Moon!  I don't know who that 
guy is, but he isn't me!"
     Odo chose that moment to morph, shifting back to his usual humanoid 
form.  He had a  hand firmly clenched around one of the fake Tuxedo 
Mask's wrists.  "I would appreciate it if you didn't hit me again," he 
told her with out looking back.  "I am trying to help."  To the fake he 
added, "Both of you."
     "I don't need your *help*, Odo!" the changeling snarled.  Then it 
said to the Jem'Hadar, "Kill them!"

     "The changeling's out of the bag.  Move in!" Sisko ordered as more 
Jem'Hadar, nearly a dozen in all, appeared.  Half of them fell as the 
Defiant crewmembers opened fire on them.  For his part, Odo was now 
locked in a struggle with the changeling, their forms mingling as they 
fought.
     Nearby a Jem'Hadar appeared near Sailor Moon, his weapon aimed in 
her direction.  But before he could take any action, O'Brien snapped off 
a shot from his position above and hit him squarely.  Despite this, his 
weapon still discharged as he fell.  A cry of pain was heard that 
clearly belonged to Sailor Moon.
     "NO!"  Mars charged towards where Sailor Moon had fallen, but 
Bashir somehow beat her there and vaulted over the counter.  Mars peered 
over it and saw that the blonde Scout was down on her knees, clutching 
her upper left arm.
     "Here, let me take a look at that," Bashir said to her, as he 
automatically began scanning with the medical tricorder.  It confirmed 
his initial inspection of the wound.  He looked up to Mars.  "It's 
alright," he told the worried Scout.  "It's only a graze."  Mars sighed, 
clearly relieved.
     Kira joined them and moved behind the counter herself.  "Go on.  
I've got them covered," she told Mars.  Mars nodded and rejoined the 
fight.

     There is an old military adage that says that no battle plan 
survives first contact with the enemy, and that was certainly true in 
this case.  Kira's plan had called for the Defiant crew members to fire 
on the Jem'Hadar from cover, with Mars and Mercury working in concert 
with the other Sailor Scouts.  Surprise enabled this plan to work for 
all of five seconds, and nearly a dozen of the Dominion soldiers were 
strewn around the area, either killed by phaser beams or reduced to 
charcoal by Mars and her counterpart.
     But the Jem'Hadar were bred for battle, and thus they adjusted to 
the circumstances.  After the initial barrage, the away team members 
found more Jem'Hadar appearing from out of their camouflage fields nearly 
on top of them and close order combat became the order of the day.

     Bashir rummaged in the medkit for the dermal regenerator, trying to 
ignore the sounds of combat around them.  "Don't worry.  It's not that 
bad," he reassured his patient.  He took out the instrument from the kit, 
activated it and began running it over the wound.  "Just a few minutes, 
and you'll be good as new."
     Sailor Moon smiled slightly as the pain ebbed, then her eyes 
widened in recognition.  "You again?"
     Bashir smiled.  "Yes, me again.  Don't worry, I'm a doctor."
     Sailor Moon looked doubtful.  "I've never seen a doctor use 
anything like that before!"
     He hesitated before answering.  "It... is a rather long story."
     "You can tell it later, Doctor," Kira said, ducking from incoming 
fire.  She got up to return fire but stopped as her target collapsed, a 
rose embedded in his throat.
     Sailor Moon eyed Kira closely while Bashir continued to work.  There 
was something familiar about her, but she couldn't place her at the 
moment.  "What happened to your nose?"
     Kira's had reflexively went to the patch she was wearing on her nose 
to cover her distinctively Bajoran nose ridges.  "Um... I broke my nose," 
she said, wincing internally.  'You'd have thought by now I'd have a 
better excuse lined up,' she thought.
     Sailor Moon frowned.  "Hey, if you're such a good doctor, why don't 
you fix her nose?" she asked Bashir.
     "Well, I could..." Bashir began, but Kira interrupted him.
     "Doctor, you even *touch* my nose, I will break yours."
     "Understood, Major."
     "Gee, she's just as bad tempered as Mars," Sailor Moon observed.
     "I am *not* bad tempered!!" came two very loud responses from 
somewhere in the middle of the fighting.
     Sailor Moon reflexively winced under the verbal barrage.  Getting 
yelled at by Mars was bad enough, but it was infinitely worse when it was 
in stereo.

     Luna looked on concernedly as Bashir worked on Sailor Moon and was 
soon aware that she wasn't alone.  A golden haired cat had joined her 
vigil.  In fact...  "You again!"
     The other cat started then glared at her,  "You were expecting 
someone else?"
     Luna blinked, startled to hear her own voice come from the other 
cat.  However, she soon made a quick deduction.  "You're *my* 
counterpart, aren't you?"
     "Yes," she replied.  "I've been helping them keep an eye on 
Serena."
     "I can understand why.  But what happened to your fur?  Why change 
it to *that* color?"
     Her counterpart cringed slightly as she glanced again at her fur, 
but before she could answer Bashir spoke up.  "Maybe she wanted to find 
out if it was true that blondes have more fun," he quipped while 
examining his handiwork.  He was nodding in satisfaction when a sudden 
stab of pain made him yelp and his hand went reflexively to his neck. 
It came away tinged with red from the scratches there.
     "Physician, heal thyself," the golden haired cat said while 
sheathing her claws.
     "Nicely done," Luna complimented her counterpart.

     Several meters above them, O'Brien aimed carefully once again and 
squeezed the trigger and another Jem'Hadar dropped.  So far he had 
been successful in providing covering fire from his vantage point, but 
as the combat became more intermixed, he had to be exceedingly selective 
in his target selection.  Since only the kill settings were effective 
against the Jem'Hadar, a friendly fire incident here would be 
disastrous.
     But it wasn't long before the Jem'Hadar became aware that there was 
a sniper among the girders.  Three of them began firing in his direction, 
their weapons firing several energy pulses as they swept the area.  
O'Brien hunkered down as best he could, but the incoming fire somehow 
triggered a minor explosion that sent him flying off his perch.
     And it was a long way down.

     Sisko watched helplessly as O'Brien tumbled downward to what surely 
would be a fatal landing.  When he had reached the halfway point, a black 
blur intercepted him in midair.  The next thing Sisko knew, O'Brien had 
been returned safely to the ground by Tuxedo Mask.

     O'Brien blinked, amazed to still be alive.  Tuxedo Mask stood next 
to him for a moment, then went wordlessly back into the fray.  "Uh, 
thanks," the chief belatedly said, then went to find another spot to 
fire from.  This time, he told himself, he was keeping his feet on 
terra firma.

     "Ow!" Mars grimaced as a Jem'Hadar grabbed her long hair.  Seeing 
her plight, Sisko charged into the Dominion soldier, using his shoulder 
to bowl him over as if he were trying to dislodge a catcher blocking 
home plate.  The Jem'Hadar was forced to release his grip on Mars, but 
smoothly rolled back to his feet and aimed his weapon at the captain.
     "MARS FIRE IGNITE!" Sailor Mars cried out, sending a wash of flame 
at the Jem'Hadar and turning him into a pile of ash.  But before any 
thanks could be exchanged, two more appeared in front of the three.  
"Where do these guys keep coming from?" Sailor Mars wondered.
     "They're all around us, just invisible," Mars explained to her 
younger self as the Jem'Hadar were suddenly knocked off their feet by 
Tuxedo Mask, who was using his cane to great effect.  "Just remember, 
we have to keep them from harming Sailor Moon, no matter what!"

     Kira watched the battle unfold, firing whenever a Jem'Hadar got too 
close to her position.  From what she could tell by half listening, 
Bashir had all but finished treating Sailor Moon.  A part of her wished 
he would drag it out.  Since her survival was pivotal to the timeline, 
it would be easier if she could be kept out of the fighting.
     She caught a flash of movement to her left out of the corner of her 
eye.  Turning rapidly, she saw the youma Rybite staggering to it's feet.  
It saw her in the same instant and hissed something at her in it's 
incomprehensible manner.
     Except that Kira seemed to understand it.  Her eyes widened and 
she charged at the youma, vaulting back over the counter to do so.  "You 
little..."  Disregarding her weapon, she slammed the heel of her right 
palm into the youma's face and followed it up with a rapid series of 
blows that staggered it.  Then she grabbed the youma by the hair and 
slammed it's head repeatedly against the countertop.  After about the 
sixth or seventh blow, she let it go and it dropped to the ground and 
lay unmoving.  "Shut up!  Just *SHUT UP*!"
     Bashir and Sailor Moon peered over the counter and watched this 
wide eyed.  "Kira, what did it say?" he asked.  "And how did you 
understand it?"
     "It was speaking a very accented version of Cardassian," she 
explained, catching her breath.  "And believe me, Doctor, you *don't* 
want to know what it said!"
     She gave the youma one more kick for good measure, then felt a 
surge of pain as a Jem'Hadar shot her from behind.  Crying out, she 
fell forward from the impact of the blast in her shoulder.
     "Kira!"  Bashir scrambled towards her, heedless of his own 
safety.  Indeed, the Jem'Hadar that had shot Kira was now taking aim at 
him.  However...
     "MOON TIARA MAGIC!"
     The energy discus flew over the doctor's head and sliced through 
the Jem'Hadar, leaving behind only a pile of dust.  "You're moondust!"

     Worf grappled with one of the Jem'Hadar.  As yet, neither warrior 
could gain the upper hand, resulting in a stalemate.  "You are strong 
for a human," the Jem'Hadar conceded.  Worf suppressed the automatic 
snarl at being mistaken for a human, trying instead to focus himself on 
the struggle.  "But soon you will fall like the rest of your pathetic 
race.  And the Negaverse will be triumphant!"
     "The Negaverse?" Worf asked tightly.  "Don't you mean the Dominion?"
     The Jem'Hadar seemed startled, but that didn't affect his grip.  
"How do you know about that?"
     "I know many things," Worf snarled.  "Among them... is that today 
is a good day to die!"   As he spoke the last words, Worf brought his 
head snapping forward in a savage head butt.  The Jem'Hadar was caught 
completely off guard and he reeled backwards, stunned.
     Worf was moving to finish him off when the Dominion soldier was 
struck down by a distant phaser blast.  Worf nodded his thanks to 
O'Brien before retrieving his own weapon and searching for another 
target.

     Dax fell to the ground, gasping in pain from the wound in her 
leg.  Despite the agony, she could see the Jem'Hadar that had shot her 
lining up for another shot.
     One that it never got a chance at, for Mercury came into view at 
that moment and delivered a flying kick to it's head.
     Mercury grimaced as the Dominion warrior struggled back to it's 
feet.  Pluto had admonished her and Mars against using their newer 
powers (except in case of a dire emergency) least the timeline be 
disrupted further.  But now Dax was badly wounded and immobile.  She 
could only...
     "MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!" Sailor Mercury cried out, shrouding the 
battlefield in a dense layer of fog.  The Jem'Hadar looked around, 
suddenly unable to see anything around it. Mercury took advantage of 
the opportunity to deliver another flying kick, while her counterpart 
hit the alien low.  The Jem'Hadar fell to the ground once again and was 
struck by a phaser blast as it struggled to rise.  Mercury looked back 
and saw that Dax had managed to retrieve her weapon.  Around them, the 
Defiant crew were taking advantage of the Jem'Hadar's sudden inability 
to see by phasering as many as they could, and each Sailors Mars did 
likewise.
     Mercury went over to Dax as soon as she could and scanned her, 
Sailor Mercury looking over her shoulder.  "How is she?"
     "It could be better," Mercury admitted. "She's bleeding badly from 
the major artery in her leg."
     "You mean the femoral artery?"
     "She isn't human, so I don't think those terms apply," Mercury 
told Sailor Mercury, who acknowledged this with a nod.  Mercury tapped 
on Dax's comm badge, "Mercury to Defiant, one to beam up, medical 
emergency."  Seconds later, Dax vanished in the transporter beam.

     The fog dispersed as the weapons fire ceased.  The Defiant away 
team and the sailor Scouts looked around, but all that could be seen 
were the motionless forms of the Jem'Hadar soldiers that had fallen.  
Sisko judged that there had nearly been two dozen in all.  They had been 
lucky to have only two of his people wounded.  He wasn't sure about Dax's 
condition, but Kira was moving about again.  Bashir had patched her 
shoulder somewhat, but the Major stubbornly resisted his requests that 
she return to the ship.  He knew better than to try to convince her 
himself.
     Kira had good reason, as there was at least one aspect of the 
struggle that remained unresolved; namely Odo still struggling with the 
changeling.  At this point it was nigh impossible to tell which one was 
which.  Unable to do anything else, they watched as the two fought.  
Finally, there was a violent upheaval and the changelings separated.  Odo 
took a moment and reformed into his normal humanoid shape.
     A few meters away, Odo reformed into his usual humanoid appearance.
     Mars glanced between the two.   As far as anyone could see, they 
were identical.  There was no visible means of discerning one from the 
other.  "I see what Odo meant when he said it could be anyone."

     O'Brien looked at the two Odos from his vantage point and felt a 
sudden sense of deja vu.  "Not again," he groaned.  This was too much 
like the time in the Defiant's engine room for him.  "I hate playing 
'Choose the Changeling'!"

     Tuxedo Mask glanced between the two changelings.  He had a rose at 
the ready, but wasn't sure which target to throw it at.  "How do you 
tell them apart?"
     "We're still unable to tell whether or not someone is being 
impersonated by a changeling," Sisko admitted.  "Let alone tell two of 
them apart."
     "Great."
     Odo glared at his counterpart.  "I'm Odo, Captain.  He's the 
changeling!"
     "Don't listen to him, Captain," Odo urged.  "I'm Odo."
     Mars walked around the two of them, trying to discern anything 
distinctive about either changeling.  Unfortunately, there was nothing 
about them that appeared different from the other.  Neither her physical 
senses, nor her psychic ones could tell them apart.  The changeling had 
successfully imitated Odo in every way.  A glance at Sailor Mars told her 
that she wasn't having any better luck.
     Both Mercuries had deployed their visors and were busily scanning.  
"I'm picking up some minute differences between them," Sailor Mercury 
quietly told Mercury.  "But I'm not sure how to determine which is which.  
I have no data to base a comparison on."
     "Don't worry," Mercury told her, smiling grimly.  "I do."  To 
herself she added a silent 'I hope.'  Several quick taps on the keypad 
accessed the data that she had accumulated in previous scans she had taken 
of Odo.  She linked it with the data she was currently accumulating and 
did a quick comparison, hoping that whatever means the Negaverse was using 
to control the changeling would leave some discernable trace that she 
could use to distinguish Odo from the other changeling.
     The results weren't long in coming.  After a moment, she pointed to 
the Odo on the right, "You!  You're the imposter!"
     The changeling's form shifted as it tried to flee but Odo was ready 
for that, using his own shapeshifting abilities to first snare the 
changeling then merge with it.  The changeling struggled mightily, but 
Odo held it fast, though his face showed the effort it was taking him.
     "Can you hold it, Odo?" Kira asked.
     "For a while," he answered, his voice strained.  "We have to find a 
way to contain it before then."
     Sisko tapped on his comm badge.  "Sisko to Defiant, lock onto the 
changeling and Odo.  Beam them to a security cell."
     "We're trying, sir," came the reply moments later, "But we can't 
get a lock on either of them.  Something's interfering with the targeting 
scanners."
     Sisko grimaced.  There seemed to be only one way remaining to deal 
with the changeling.  And it was something that Odo was not going to 
like.  "Odo, when I give the word, I want you to release your hold on it.  
At the same time, everyone is to open fire."
     "Captain!" Odo protested, "There must be another way!"
     "There is."  All eyes turned to Mars.  "I think I can expel whatever 
the Negaverse is using to control the changeling from it."
     "Are you sure?" Sisko asked.
     "Only one way to find out."  Mars approached the struggling 
changeling, readying a spirit ward.  A part of her was telling her that 
she should use her flames and blast the changeling now, to not take the 
chance on things going wrong again.  However, Odo had saved her life 
twice before and it was important to him that they not kill the 
changeling.  She owed it to him to at least make the attempt.  She placed 
the ward on the amorphous mass, crying out, "EVIL SPIRIT BEGONE!"
     The results were immediate.  The Founder uttered a loud, inhuman cry 
and an aura of dark energy surrounded it before leaving the changeling.  
However, it didn't flee to the air as Mars had anticipated, but instead 
traveled through the link to Odo. Now it was the Constable who cried out 
and he released his hold on the changeling, which collapsed into an 
insensate mass.
     "Odo!" Kira exclaimed as she went to her friend.  Odo snarled and 
lashed out at her, knocking the Major backwards several meters.  She 
grimaced in pain as she landed on her wounded shoulder.
     "No!" Odo exclaimed when he realized what he'd done.  Mercury went 
over to Kira, who indicated that she was OK, though still shaken.  She 
got unsteadily to her feet with Mercury's help.  "Stay back, everyone, 
please... it's trying to make me kill you all.  I'm resisting it... for 
now..."
     "This wasn't what I had in mind," Mars muttered.  She leapt for Odo, 
trying to land behind him and plant another ward.  However, the constable 
seemed to anticipate this, and he lashed out at her just before she 
landed.  Mars impacted hard against a girder, and Sailor Moon went over 
to her immediately.
     "My turn," Sailor Mars said, readying her own ward.  She tensed 
herself to race for the possessed changeling, but first... "Cover me, 
Mercury!"
     "Right!" both Mercuries responded. "MERCURY BUBBLES... BLAST!"
     Another layer of fog descended over the area, this one even denser 
than the first.  Sailor Mars raced forward, taking advantage of the cover 
as she charged the ward.  Leaping forward for the last few meters, she 
planted it firmly on Odo's forehead, "EVIL SPIRIT... BEGONE!"
     The Negaverse spirit screamed again as it found itself again forced 
from a host body. This time it lacked a conduit to escape through, and 
it formed overhead into a dark cloud that loomed menacingly over them 
all.  "Now, Sailor Moon!" Luna cried.
     "Gotcha, Luna," she replied while reaching again for her tiara.  
"MOON TIARA... MAGIC!"  There was one last cry of despair from the spirit 
as the energy disc cut through it, then silence as a pile of dust formed 
on the ground.
     Kira went over to Odo, who had fallen wearily to his knees.  "Odo?"
     "I'm fine, Major."  He hesitated for a moment, seemingly 
embarrassed.  "I... hope I didn't injure you."
     "Forget it," she reassured him.
     Odo nodded, then turned his attention to Sailor Mars and Sailor 
Moon, "Thank you."  Not waiting for their responses, he lastly addressed 
Mars.  "And thank you.  You didn't have to volunteer to try and save the 
changeling."  He glanced at it where it still lay motionless.  "But I am 
glad you did."
     "Believe me, part of me wanted to nothing more than blast it.  But I 
owed you."
     "No," Odo corrected her.  "Now *I* owe you."
     Sisko was surveying the area as Mercury's fog was lifting.  There 
were the bodies of the fallen Jem'Hadar all over the place, but it 
seemed quiet for now.  Perhaps it was over.
     The same thought was occurring to Mars.  She looked again at the 
insensate Founder, then at Sailor Moon.  "We did it," she said softly, 
feeling tears of joy forming.  "It didn't kill her.  She's alive."
     "OK," Sailor Moon began, "Now that it seems like things are over, I 
want to know why there are two Sailor Mercuries, two Sailor Mars, why 
there were two Tuxedo Masks for a bit (not that I'm complaining about 
*that*) and just what they are," she point at Odo and the changeling, "and 
who you people are."  She took a deep breath, "In short, will someone 
please tell me what's going on?!?"
     "It's a long story," Sisko answered trying not to smile too broadly, 
"But I'll tell you what I can..."  He stopped, hearing a distinctive 
sound.
     The sound of a Jem'Hadar dropping his camouflage field.
     Hearing the sound as well, Sailor Moon turned to see the Jem'Hadar 
ripple into visibility not more than three meters away, knocking Worf to 
the ground in the process.
     It's weapon was aimed directly at her.

     Pluto stiffened, and grasped her staff tightly.  In her mind's eye, 
she could see two possible outcomes.  Either the future would be restored 
to it's previous state, or...
     She didn't want to think about the alternative.

     Sisko spun around to bring his weapon to bear, but he could see that 
the Jem'Hadar was already pressing the trigger of his weapon.

     "NO!" Odo yelled out.  Given his recent exertions, there was little 
else he could do.  He just hoped that it's genetically programmed 
obedience to changelings would enable him to stop it verbally.  "Put 
your weapon down!"
     It didn't.

    Kira aimed her weapon, but Sailor Moon was between herself and the 
Jem'Hadar.  She moved as fast as she could, but it would be over before 
she could fire.

     Tuxedo Mask hurled the rose at the Jem'Hadar's weapon.

     Nearby, two Luna's leapt for the Dominion soldier in a desperate 
attempt to distract him.

       O'Brien saw the Jem'Hadar appear and instantly took aim.  He had 
a clear shot, all he needed was...
     A figure in a security guard's uniform stepped in front of him.  
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
     O'Brien swore violently as only an Irishman could and shoved him to 
the ground.  "Get out of the way, you bloody idiot!"  He brought the 
phaser rifle up again and was aiming when he saw that it was already too 
late.  The barrel of his weapon lowered slowly.  "Oh my God."

     Sailor Moon stumbled backwards, realizing belatedly that she hadn't 
been hit but that someone had interposed themselves between herself and 
the Jem'Hadar.  Another moment later she realized who it was.  "MARS!"
     Mars staggered from the impacts, having taken two blasts to her 
chest already, but was resolutely staying on her feet.  But a third shot 
slammed into her and she finally fell just as two cats landed on the 
Jem'Hadar's face.  But even blinded, he got off another shot.  By this 
time, Mercury had moved into the line of fire and she was hit in her side 
even as she tried to invoke her powers.
     The Jem'Hadar never got off another shot, for at that moment his 
weapon was hit by a thrown rose and he was hit by four phaser beams.  He 
fell unmoving to the ground.
     Sailor Moon didn't see him fall, nor did she care if he was still 
fighting.  The only thing she was aware of was that she held a 
critically injured Mars in her arms.  Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars 
moved to stand just behind her, each with a look of shock on their face.  
"Raye..." Sailor Moon whispered.
     Bashir knelt down by them, having already checked on Mercury.  
Though seriously wounded herself, she was stable at the moment.  However, 
he didn't need his tricorder to see that the same couldn't be said for 
Mars.  As he made the scan, his mind accelerated into high gear, going 
over several different avenues of treatment at once to determine the best 
one.  Mars' eyes flutter open and he suppressed amazement that she was 
still conscious, let alone still alive.
     Mars looked up. When she saw Sailor Moon, she smiled despite the 
pain from her injuries.  "Didn't.. hesitate... this time..." she managed 
to say.  There was a hissing sound as Bashir administered a hypospray, and 
she felt the pain recede somewhat.
     "Why?" said Sailor Moon through her tears.
     "I saw you die once," Mars answered, able to talk easier.  "That was 
enough..."
     "What do you mean?" Sailor Moon asked, confusion evident on her face.
     "I mean I'm from the future, Meatballhead," she snapped, almost 
sounding like herself.  "One where you died.  I couldn't let it let it 
happen again... No matter what..."  Mars slumped as she finally lapsed 
into unconsciousness.
     "Damn it!" Bashir swore as a low whine came from his tricorder.  
"We're losing her.  I've got to get her back to the Defiant!"
     Sisko nodded and tried to pull Sailor Moon clear.  She struggled 
and protested against this, but fortunately Sailor Mercury and Sailor 
Mars were there to help him out.
     "Bashir to Defiant, medical emergency.  Three.."
     "Make it four," a golden haired Luna said.
     "Er, four to beam directly to the medical bay."  They vanished as 
the transporter energized. 
     Sailor Moon watched the spot where they had been for several 
moments before turning to Sisko.  From the way the doctor had spoken to 
him, it seemed evident that he was the leader of this group.  "What's 
going on?  Who are you people?" she asked tearfully.
     "Friends," Sisko said, trying to explain what he could.  "From 
another world and another time."
     "You mean you're from the future?  Like M- Mars said?"
     "That's right," Odo added.  He had taken a position nearby the 
unmoving form of the changeling, watching it carefully.  "Something 
happened which altered the way things were supposed to happen here, in 
such a way that it affected our world as well."
     Sisko opened his mouth to add something more, but a sudden sound 
made him, and everyone else, turn about suddenly, ready for more 
fighting.  But this time there was no Jem'Hadar appearing out of nowhere.  
It was only the youma Rybite moving about, having regained consciousness.
     Kira took a threatening step towards it, looking as if she wanted 
to attack it again even with her injured shoulder.  "Back for more?"  The 
youma hissed at her and spat a corrosive glob.  Kira dodge to the right 
so that it only hit the ground.
     Before anyone else could move, a loud cry of "MOON TIARA MAGIC" 
echoed through the area once again, leaving behind only a pile of dust in 
it's wake.
     Sisko took another look around the area.  There were no signs of any 
more Jem'Hadar (not that there ever were), and it looked like several 
authority type figures were arriving as well.  He also noted that Tuxedo 
Mask had departed.  He took that as a sign the danger was over.  "I think 
that about wraps things up."
     "Hold on," Sailor Moon said.  "Before you go, can you tell me if 
Raye will be OK or not?"
     "Excuse me, Sailor Moon, but I'm right here!" Sailor Mars exclaimed.  
Despite her words, Sisko could tell that she, and Sailor Mercury, was 
shaken by the recent events.  It was understandable -- you don't see 
yourself shot every day.
     "I'm not sure," he said, interposing himself verbally in hopes of 
avoiding another skirmish between them.  "But Dr. Bashir is very skilled 
and will do all he can for her."
     "Sir, we should be going," Worf said.
     Sisko nodded. "I wish we could stay and explain more, but that's 
not possible.  Good luck Sailor Moon.  To all of you."  He activate his 
comm badge.  "Sisko to Defiant, beam up away team."  They vanished in a 
dazzle of light, to be followed seconds later by the bodies of the 
Jem'Hadar as they also disappeared in a similar manner.

     Beryl tapped the armrest of her throne as she stared at Jeddite.  
"So Jeddite," she finally said, "Your vaunted plan has failed.  And thus 
you have failed."  She leaned forward.  "*Again.*"
     "Only because of the interference of that starship crew," he 
protested.  "If Neflyte had destroyed it as he should have, it wouldn't 
have been in position to do so.  Or perhaps if he had informed us of the 
Sailor Scouts that were on it and thwarted his plan!"  He turned to glare 
at the other General.
     Neflyte affected an innocent look.  "What Sailor Scouts?"
     "Where else could they have come from, Neflyte?" he demanded.
     "I have no idea what you're babbling about, Jeddite."
     "You lying --"
     "Enough, both of you!" Beryl snapped.  "I don't care what the cause 
of your failure was, Jeddite.  Only that it *was* a failure.  Now, begone 
while I consider your fate."
     Not daring to say anything more, Jeddite turned and stormed out of 
the throne room.  Once outside, he clenched his fist and shook it at the 
air.  "I *hate* those Sailor Scouts!"

     Pluto met Sisko just outside the medical bay.  "You did well, 
Captain."
     "Oh?"
     "You were successful in preventing Sailor Moon's death.  Thus the 
mission has been a complete success."
     "I had only a small part in preventing it," Sisko replied a little 
more harshly than he intended.  "The person most responsible for our 
success is in there," he indicated to the medical bay door, "and is very 
possibly dying even as we speak.  And that fact alone doesn't qualify it 
as a complete success in my book."  He took a step forward and entered 
the medical bay.  Pluto hesitated for a moment before following him in.
     Bashir, assisted by Nurse Reilly, was still working feverishly on 
Mars at one of the biobeds.  Mercury was lying on the other, being 
looked after by Dax.  The Trill's own wound had already been seen to, but 
she still favored the wounded leg whenever she walked.
     "If you'll excuse me, Captain, I'll meet you on the bridge," Pluto 
said softly and left the room. Sisko watched her go without comment.  He 
wasn't entirely sure, but he though he saw a tear on her face as she 
exited.
     Perhaps he had been too harsh in his words of a few moments before.

     Pluto reentered the bridge, moving to stand by one of the rear 
stations.
     "Any word on Raye?" she heard someone ask.  Kira, perhaps.
     "No.  Dr. Bashir is still working on her," she replied 
automatically.  But inwardly she already knew what would happen.

     Sisko moved to stand by Dax.  "How's it going?" he softly asked her.
     She shook her head.  "Not good, Benjamin," she whispered.  "She's on 
full life support, but even with that..."  Her voice trailed off.
     Sisko watched her carefully as she spoke.  Knowing Dax as long as he 
had, first as Curzon then later as Jadzia, he had become somewhat able to 
read her expressions.  And from he saw on her face, "Not good" seemed to 
be an understatement.

     "Doctor, her synaptic network is starting to break down."
     Bashir looked up from his attempts to repair the damage to Mars' 
cardiac system and saw that Reilly was correct.  "Cordical stimulator," 
he said ordered, readying a hypo.  Reilly placed the small devices onto 
Raye's forehead while Bashir pressed the hypo to her neck.  "Now."  
Raye's body jumped under the stimulus.  Bashir watched the monitor 
carefully.   There was a brief surge of brain activity, but it had 
already started to decline.  He made a quick adjustment to the 
stimulators.  "Again," he ordered, and once more a pulse was directed into 
her brain with similar results.  Bashir swore and checked the life 
support functions.  They at least seemed to be functioning perfectly, 
taking over the role of her heart and lungs.  The problem now was to keep 
her brain from failing.  "Increase the power of the stimulators by 
fifty percent."
     "Doctor we're already at the maximum safe level.  If --"
     "I know that," he said tightly.  "Just do it."
     "Yes, Doctor."

     Sisko and Dax kept silent as they watched Bashir work, struggling 
to revive her even long after it became apparent that it was a hopeless 
cause.  Finally he sighed in resignation.   "Note the time of death in 
the log," he told Reilly before heading over to the other bed.  "I'm 
sorry.  She's gone," he told her as he mechanically her began seeing to 
her wounds.
     Mercury didn't reply, but remained still and stared at Raye.  Luna 
moved slightly and gave her a comforting nuzzle, to which Mercury 
scratched her ears absently.  "Captain, did we...?"
     "Yes," Sisko replied.  "Pluto tells me that the mission was a s
uccess.  The timelines of both universes have been restored."
     She nodded.  "That's something at least."  Then a thought occurred 
to her, "But if that's true, then our past has been altered.  So how can 
Luna and I still exist?"
     "We understand some things about temporal mechanics, but a lot of 
the more subtle aspects of it are still vague to us," Dax said.  "At a 
guess, I'd say the Prophets shielded you from the changes, just as they 
protected us during the whole paradox situation."
     "That makes sense," Mercury agreed.  "It looks as if we have no 
place to go, Luna."
     "Oh, we'll think of something," the cat tried to reassure her."
     "I can help you in that regard," Sisko said.  "There's a place for 
both of you of Deep Space Nine.  If you want it."
     They both looked up at him, surprised.  "What?" Luna said.
     "You can come with us when we return home," Sisko explained.  "And 
you're both welcome to stay on the station as long as you like.  Or you 
can go anywhere in the Federation.  Or Bajor.  It's up to you."

     The others looked up expectedly as Sisko and Dax entered the bridge, 
save for Pluto.  Kira asked the question they all wanted the answer to, 
"Raye?"
     Sisko shook his head.  "She didn't make it," he replied in a subdued 
voice.
     The disappointment and sorrow they felt was evident in their varied 
reactions.  Kira closed her eyes and began speaking softly to herself in 
Bajoran.  SIsko could just about make out some of the words, but he heard 
enough to understand it as a prayer to the Prophets on behalf of the 
deceased.
     O'Brien had muttered something as well, but it hardly appeared to 
be polite.  The chief had seen more than his fair share of death, 
going as far back as the Cardassian raids on Setlik Three. 
     Worf was typically stoic, though he seemed contemplative.  His 
human upbringing caused him to feel sadness at her death, but his 
Klingon heritage wished her spirit well for she had undoubtably earned a 
place among the honored dead.
     As usual, Odo was the hardest to read and in fact seemed more 
withdrawn than was usual for him.  His thoughts were laced with regret 
that he wasn't able help Mars at the last, even if it was no fault of his 
own.  She had put aside her dislike of changelings, and help him save the 
Founder the Negaverse had been controlling.  Now it seemed he would never 
be able to return the favor.
     Sisko turned to Sailor Pluto, noting that she hadn't reacted to the 
news... at least not in any obvious way.  "Now, if you don't mind, I'd 
like to take my people home."
     "Of course, Captain," she replied.  "I take it Sailor Mercury and 
Luna will be accompanying you?"
     "That's right.  Is that a problem?"
     "No.  It's not."  She smiled slightly, "In fact, you will find both 
of them a great asset in events to come."
     Sisko frowned.  "Just what do you mean by that?"
     "Ah, that would be telling.  Now, about the wormhole..."  Her 
voice trailed off and she stared at the viewscreen.
     "Captain, sensors are detecting a neutrino surge," O'Brien called 
out.
     "On screen," Sisko ordered, looking to the viewscreen as well.  On 
it they saw the wormhole opening up.  Gone was the red haze that had 
dominated it's appearance the last time he saw it, replaced by the 
serene blues and whites that normally surrounded the spatial tunnel.  He 
knew without any lingering doubts that the past of his universe, and that 
of the Sailor Scouts, had been fully restored.  If at a high price.
     "This will take you back to Deep Space Nine moments after you left 
it," Pluto told him.  "Once you have returned there, it will resume it's 
normal behavior."
     Sisko looked back at her.  "What about the quantum flux?  Should we 
leave it open to the Gamma Quadrant?"
     "I had a feeling you'd ask about that."  She walked over to the 
weapons console, and rapidly entered a series of coordinates.  "I took 
the liberty of having one of your quantum torpedoes modified while you 
were on Earth.  If you fire it into the flux along this trajectory, it 
should redirect it away from the Gamma Quadrant."
     "And just what will happen then?" Sisko asked.  "I don't want 
someone else to have to go through something like this again."
     Pluto arched an eyebrow.  "I am... somewhat an expert in temporal 
matters, Captain.  I assure you that nothing damaging to the timeline 
of either universe will occur.  But there will be repercussions."
     "Such as?"
     "I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss it.  Simply consider 
it... history fulfilling itself."
     Sisko eyed her for a moment, trying to divine the meaning to her 
words.  But there was really no choice.  He didn't want to leave the 
flux in it's present position, for there was no doubt the Dominion 
would send further ships to investigate.  And who knew what would 
happen then.  "Proceed, Mr. Worf."  The Klingon officer nodded, and 
pressed the firing control.  It streaked outward from the Defiant, 
then vanished as it entered.  Less than a second later, there was a 
flash from it's detonation inside the flux.
     Dax monitored the results,  "It's gone.  The flux has been 
redirected."
     "Good luck, Captain," Pluto said.  "Now if you'll excuse me, I 
have to check on something.  But I'll be back shortly."  With that 
she vanished.
     "What did she mean by that?" Odo asked.
    "I don't know," answered Sisko.  "No doubt we'll find out soon 
enough."
     "So," Kira said after a moment.  "We won.  Everything's back the 
way it should be.  Their history is back the way it should be, and so 
is our's."  She glanced around the bridge at her fellow officers.  "So 
why doesn't it feel like we won?" she asked rhetorically in a voice 
tinged with sadness.
     No one spoke up to answer her.  The reason was abundantly clear to 
all of them.
     Finally, Dax broke the silence.  "Shall I lay in a course for 
the wormhole, Captain?"
     It suddenly occurred to Sisko just what Pluto meant about being 
back. "Not yet, old man," he replied.  He turned to the viewscreen, 
still centered on the open wormhole.  It was tempting to have the 
Defiant proceed through it immediately, but...  "There's still one more 
thing we need to do here."

Next: Wrapping up a few things, a few farewells and the Defiant heads 
for home.
soton@aol.com

     "The Third Principle of Sentient Life is it's capacity for self 
sacrifice.  For a cause... A loved one... For a friend." - Ambassador 
Delenn from the first season "Babylon 5" episode "A Voice in the 
Wilderness, pt. 2"
(Authors Note:  I know it's not a Star Trek quote, but it seems to fit 
the events of the previous chapter perfectly.)

Epilogue: 
     There was a brief shimmering in the air just before Pluto reappeared 
at the Gateway of Time.  "I see that good old Ben and his merry band 
managed to pull it off," Q commented without turning.
     "Yes, they did," Pluto responded, adding solemnly, "All is as it 
was before."
     Q turned and regarded her with uncertainly, then sighed.  "I should 
never have introduced you to the cosmic doughnut all those centuries ago.  
Now you're beginning to talk like that so called 'Guardian of Forever'."
     "Really, Q, you must work on your sense of humor,"  Pluto commented 
wryly.
     "Moi?" Q replied, seemingly shocked.  "Work on *my* sense of humor?  
That's rich, coming from you.  I've known you since well before the fall 
of the Silver Millennium and counting this you've cracked maybe a half 
dozen jokes."
     "I see you're working on your use of hyperbole," Pluto commented, 
arching an eyebrow.
     "Well... maybe a little," he admitted.  He snapped his fingers, 
bringing up a view of the Defiant before him.  "So, I see a Sailor Scout 
is coming over to my side of the fence.  This could be interesting."
     Q sensed Pluto come up behind him, then felt her tap him on the 
shoulder.  When he turned to face her, he instinctively drew back in 
surprise at seeing not only the anger in her expression, but the Garnet 
Orb looming menacingly in his face.
     "Leave her alone, Q.  She's been through enough, due in no small part 
to you."
     "And what if I don't?" he retorted automatically.
     "Then I will be very... *very*... unhappy."
     The staring contest seemed to last an eternity (which is saying 
something in this case), but eventually Q sighed.  "Oh, very well."
     "Thank you," Pluto said, relaxing somewhat.
     "But I think you're being somewhat unfair in saddling me with the 
blame for her plight.  After all, I did warn Picard and Riker not to fire 
that torpedo."
     "If you hadn't brought the Sailor Scouts to the Enterprise, it never 
would have happened," Pluto countered.
     "And if you would keep your petty villains on your side of the cosmos, 
it never would have been necessary!" Q retorted.
     "That is not an area in which I am responsible for, Q.  And you well 
know it."
     "You may be correct," Q admitted.  "But you know as well as I that I 
had no choice in acting as I did.  Otherwise, your precious Crystal Tokyo 
would be a Borg colony."  Pluto didn't reply directly, but gave a slight 
nod in acknowledgement.  "Now as much as I would like to continue this 
little debate, I must be going."  Q smiled, attempting to lighten the 
mood somewhat.  "Did you know that Jean-Luc has a brand new starship at 
his disposal?  I'll have to give it a good look over... after I give him 
a good dose of 'I told you so!'."
     "Would you mind postponing that for a bit?" Pluto asked.
     "Why?  Can't bear the thought of not having me around?"
     Pluto rolled her eyes.  "Hardly.  But I have some unfinished business 
to attend to... on the Defiant."
     Q sighed, acting as if this were a major inconvenience.  In truth, he 
had expected Pluto to make this request.  "Oh, very well."
     "Thank you," Pluto said and vanished.

     Odo entered the almost bare room, the forcefield at the entrance 
automatically engaging as soon as he stepped through the doorway.  He 
regarded the one piece of furniture with some interest.  "Are you 
comfortable?" he asked it.
     The chair flowed, becoming a gelatinous substance and finally 
settled into a humanoid form with roughly the same characteristics as 
Odo.  "For the most part," the changeling said.  "Though I find it 
uncomfortable being confined like this."
     "A necessary precaution, I think you would agree," Odo said.  
"Especially given their previous encounters with changelings."
     It didn't bother to comment, but moved it's limbs about as if 
stretching them.  "It feels good to be able control my shape once more 
and not to have to shift at the behest of that... whatever it was."  It 
sighed.  "I will need some time to recover from this experience, time I 
need within the Great Link."  It looked at Odo, "Captain Sisko *is* going 
to return me to the Dominion?"
     "He said he would, after we return to the station," Odo replied, 
regarding the changeling with some disbelief.  "You'll be ferried to the 
Gamma Quadrant, where we'll arrange to meet with a Dominion vessel."
     "Good," it said.  It seemed to notice that Odo was still looking at 
it in disbelief.  "Is something wrong?"
     "Yes, there is," Odo said.  "You seem to have no regard for Sailor 
Mars' death."
     It shrugged.  "They live and they die, Odo.  Such is their lot."
     Odo snorted, and paced about the room.  "I don't believe this," he 
muttered.  He stopped and glared at the changeling.  "You really don't 
care, do you?  You don't care that two young girls were willing to 
sacrifice themselves to set things right for us.  That the one who did 
so, who may have suffered the most because of you, was willing to put 
her hatred aside long enough to save your life?"
     "Should it?"  The changeling seemed mystified.  "After all Odo, 
they're only solids."
     Odo stared at the changeling for several moments.  Then, disgusted, 
he spun and headed for the door.  He hesitated momentarily there, then 
turned back.  "No," he said emphatically.  "They're not *just* solids.  
And at times like these, I think they're more than we will ever be."

     Worf stood silently in the torpedo bay, maintaining his silent vigil 
over the casings containing the fallen Sailor Scouts.  Behind him, he 
heard the door his open then felt someone approach and stand beside him.  
"Somehow I expected to find you here," Kira said.  "It's called Ak'voh, 
right?"
     "Yes."  Worf was mildly surprised that she knew this.  It was an old 
tradition, where the companions to a fallen warrior kept watch over the 
body of a fallen comrade and kept away the predators until the spirit 
could make the journey to Sto'vo'kor.  The custom was not that well known 
outside the Empire and one that was not widely observed these days.  "You 
are well versed in Klingon traditions, Major."
     "I wasn't... at least not before the Klingon invasion of Cardassia.  
Since then, Jadzia has been helping me get up to speed on Klingon 
culture."
     "I see."  Worf took the opportunity to glance in her direction, 
then faced forward once more.  "How is the arm?"
     Kira looked down to her left arm, which was secured in a sling, and 
flexed her hand experimentally.  "It's stiff and hurts like hell.  But 
Dr. Bashir says it should be fine in a few days."  Worf nodded 
noncommittally, but made no other comment.  After a few silent minutes, 
Kira sighed.  "You were right."
     "About what?"
     "When we first entered this universe, you told me that I wouldn't 
call them  just a 'kids group' if I had seen them in action.  Well, you 
were right."
     Worf didn't reply immediately.  He had made a similar mistake 
himself upon his first meeting with the Scouts.  Indeed, one could say 
his first encounter with Serena was less than pleasant.
     Kira spoke before he could say anything though.  "If you don't mind, 
I'd like to stay here a bit."  A small smile came to her face.  "Help 
keep the predators at bay."
     "I don't mind, but... If I may ask... Why?"
     "Raye," she replied.  "As I got to know her, I saw a lot of things 
in her that reminded me of myself."
     "How so?"
     Kira paused, trying to put her feelings into words.  "We had some 
things in common, for one.  We both lost our mothers at an early age, 
both of us had to take up a fight against an alien invader on our 
worlds.  Plus we both had our spiritual beliefs."
     "And you are both short tempered," Worf said.
     "Look who's talking," Kira stated.  After Worf chose not to reply, 
she continued, "But I think most of all, I saw in her qualities that 
could have been in my life, had it not been for the Cardassians... If 
I hadn't been forced to join the Resistance."
     Worf nodded, "I think I understand."
     They heard the door hiss open behind them.  "Uh... Commander, 
Major?" a voice said hesitantly.  They turned to face O'Brien.  "It's 
time."

     Raye sat down heavily on the temple steps, "This has been one 
helluva day, right from the get go."  She heaved a sigh of frustration.  
"I'm glad all that's over.  Ever since Dax and my counterpart came over, 
I've been looking all around for that changeling."
     "Oh, so that's why you've been acting so oddly today," Amy observed.
     "'Fraid so."  Raye noticed Serena glaring at her.  "What?"
     "You knew this was going to happen?" she said accusingly.
     "Well, not this exactly, but --"
     "AND YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING?!?"
     Raye's mouth moved several times, but she said nothing, so shocked 
she was by Serena's outburst.  It was up to Luna to say, "Give her a 
chance to explain her side, Serena.  I'm sure Raye had a very good reason 
for not saying anything."
     Serena switch her glare to the black cat.  "And what's your story, 
Luna?  You were acting odd the whole day as well."
     "I knew something odd was going on," Luna admitted.  "After all, I 
did meet my double in the tree the night before.  But with her disguise, 
I didn't it was anything more than another cat.  All I had to go on was 
an odd feeling that something was amiss."
     "And in my case, I didn't meet my counterpart until a few minutes 
before things started happening," Amy said.  "By that time, Luna and I 
had already separated from you two.  The only thing I could do was try 
and get back to where you were."
     "All right," Serena said, returning her gaze to Raye, "But --"
     "But nothing!" Raye shot back.  She stood up and looked Serena 
right in the eye.  "I didn't say anything to anyone because they told me 
not to!  Because they said if I did, if things didn't proceed almost 
exactly as they should, that changeling wouldn't be there.  Then they 
wouldn't have any idea where or when it would strike next."  Raye paused 
and took a deep breath.  "Considering how well it imitated Tuxedo Mask, 
it could have tried posing as anyone next time.  Maybe as me, or Amy, or 
even your mother!  And then it'd kill you, just like it did in the other 
Raye's past."
     "I... I hadn't thought of that," Serena stammered.
     "Just what were you thinking?" Raye demanded.  "Did you think I didn't 
say anything because I didn't care if you get hurt?  Or killed?  Is that 
it?  Just what kind of person do you think I am?"
     "Sorry..." Serena mumbled contritely.
     "You'd better be!" Raye continued angrily.  "Despite the fact that 
you're a ditzy, clumsy brat, I don't want to see you hurt!"
     "Well, I... HEY!"  Serena shifted emotional gears rapidly, going 
instantly to a fuming state.  "You take that back!"
     "You can't take the truth back," Raye retorted.
     Luna sighed as the argument escalated.  'I suppose I'm going to have 
to break them up... Again.'  Then she noticed that Amy seemed oblivious to 
the fight, for she had opened up her computer moments before and was 
staring intently at the screen.  "What is it, Amy?"
     The blue haired girl jumped slightly, startled.  "Oh, I got a
message."
     "A message?"  Luna frowned.  Who could know to send a message to Amy 
over her computer?  "Who from?"
     "My counterpart," she replied softly.
     Despite how low her voice was, it seemed to penetrate through the 
verbal barrage between Raye and Serena.  They both turned, and gaped at 
her.  "From your future self?" Serena asked.
     "What's it say, Amy," Raye added.
     Amy began to read aloud:

     Amy,
     (It's really strange to be writing a message to myself!)
     I've programmed this to be downloaded into your computer if our 
mission was successful.  Serena is safe, and you three can go on with 
your mission: seeking out the Moon Princess and battling the forces of 
the Negaverse.
     I calculated a high degree of probability that either Raye or myself, 
or both, may not survive this mission.  If this is so, don't grieve for 
us.  Success for us meant the utter destruction of the world we came 
from... And very probably we would cease to exist soon afterwards.  
That doesn't matter, for failure would carry too great a price for us:  
seeing Serena die again, and the world fall to the Negaverse without all 
the Sailor Scouts to battle them.
     There are many thing I could tell you that would make your battle 
easier.  Knowledge about other foes from the Negaverse, where you can 
find others to help you, among others.  But I've been asked not to provide 
too much information to you.  So I'm afraid you'll have to learn it the 
hard way.  But I know you three will win out in the end.
     Best of Luck,
          Amy
          Sailor Mercury

     "Now, remember," Bashir was saying as he entered the bridge carrying 
Sailor Mercury, "You've just undergone surgery, so don't do anything to 
overexhert yourself -- like standing.  After all, your insides are still 
being held together with microsutures."
     "Yes, Doctor," she answered.  Satisfied, Bashir moved over to the 
Tactical One station and sat her down in the chair.  Meanwhile Luna, her 
fur now back to it's normal black color, bounded over from her perch on 
one of Sisko's consoles and leapt into Mercury's arms.  In an almost 
automatic response, she began scratching the cat behind her ears.
     Dax looked up from the helm.  "We're in position, Benjamin.  One AU 
from the Sun, directly opposite from Earth."
     "Very well, Dax," Sisko said.  "Hold station here."  Instead of 
sitting in the command chair, he was standing behind it.  Lined up in 
flanking positions on both sides of him, the other members of the senior 
staff were likewise standing, with Bashir hovering near Mercury's chair 
like a worried mother hen.  Only Dax was at her station and, after setting 
the helm to hold their current position, she got up as well and moved to 
one side of the bridge.
     "Shipwide speakers online, Captain," Kira said.
     Sisko nodded and prepared to speak, but felt and heard a slight 
ripple effect behind him.  Looking backwards, he wasn't surprised to see 
Pluto standing in the bridge rear.  She greeted him silently, but 
otherwise didn't say or do anything else.
     Facing the viewscreen once more, Sisko took a deep breath, ordering 
his thoughts.  Though necessary, this was one of the duties of command he 
hated the most.  "We are gathered here today to pay our final respects to 
our honored dead," he began.  "To those who have fallen in battle and have 
given that last full measure of devotion.
     "Lita Kino,better known to us as Sailor Jupiter; Mina Aino, Sailor 
Venus, and Artemis.  Most of us didn't get a chance to know them.  Indeed, 
some of us barely met them before they died.  But the fact that they fought 
to save their world, despite knowing the odds of success were slim, speaks 
well of them.
     "But it is a different case for Raye Hino, known also as Sailor Mars.  
We did get to know her over the last few days.  Hot tempered, but with a 
passionate love for life... but more so for her friends.  She willingly 
sacrificed herself to save Sailor Moon... and she wasn't the only one 
willing to make such a sacrifice."  He took a surreptitious glance at 
Mercury out of the corner of his eye.  Her face was expressionless, but 
the tears and the look in her eyes told her true feelings.  Feeling that 
were mirrored in the expressions of Luna, and of the rest of the crew.  
"In doing so, she secured not only the future of her world, but the 
existence of our own.  We can never truly repay the debt we owe her."
    Finished, Sisko nodded to Worf.  The Klingon touched a control on 
the weapons panel, triggering the torpedo launch sequence and the three 
caskets bearing the bodies were launched from the torpedo tubes.
     Artemis and Venus were in the same casket, at Luna's insistence.
     As the caskets faded from view into the Sun's glare, Kira spoke, "We 
commit their bodies to the vastness of space and to the fires of their 
home star, in the hopes their spirits may find peace.  May they walk with 
the Prophets."  As she finished, the computer ran another preprogrammed 
sequence, firing several low power bursts from the pulse phasers.
     Twenty one in all.
     "As you where," Sisko said after several moments.  As the crew went 
back to their stations while behind them, Pluto bade Mercury and Luna a 
silent farewell before vanishing herself.
     Sisko sat himself in his command chair then said, "Set course for 
the wormhole.  One half impulse."
     "Course and speed set," Dax replied after making the necessary 
adjustments to the helm.
     Sisko paused before giving the order to engage and glanced over 
at Mercury.  She and Luna hadn't moved yet, still watching the viewscreen.  
He hoped this would help them start the healing process, and they would 
be able to move on with their new lives on Deep Space Nine.  But he knew 
from personal experience that it wouldn't be easy.  It had taken him years 
to put Jennifer's death at Wolf 359 fully behind him.
     And was he doing them any favors by bringing them to DS9?  After all, 
it was hardly a peaceful haven; with the problems he was having with the 
breakdown of the Klingon alliance, the Maquis, the constant and ever 
increasing threat of war with the Dominion and a host of others.
     Only the Prophets knew for certain what the future held.  All he 
really knew was the he and his crew would do everything they could to 
help them make the adjustment.
     He turned back to the helm, where Dax was patiently awaiting his 
orders.  "Take us home, old man," he said, his voice tired and somber.
     "Take us home."

End.

Notes:
     Comments, critiques and questions are welcome.  Just email me at 
Soton@aol.com.

     As before, thanks to Gene Roddenberry and Naoko Takeuchi, for 
creating their respective genres.  Additional thanks to Rick Berman 
and Micheal Piller for creating "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."
     I would also like to add a special thank you to Will Wolfshohl, 
who has provided a lot of critical commentary along the way (thus sparking 
an additional idea or two for me) and for patiently answering my 
questions regarding Sailor Pluto.

     If you're wondering, the Scouts meetings with the Enterprise and 
the Enterprise D are depicted in previously written stories -- "Sailor 
Trek" and "Sailor Trek TNG".  Both are available at the following 
fanfic archive sites:

A Sailor Moon Romance
http://www.ctd.nwu.edu/~aerdnahu/

"Tuxedo" Will's Fanfiction Archive
http://log.on.ca/users/helm/anime/index.htm

The Best Sailor Moon Fanfiction on the Net
http://www3.sympatico.ca/john.hitchens/

Next up - the last story of the Sailor Trek Saga: Sailor Trek Voyager - 
"Where No Sailor Scout Has Gone Before"  --  Something evil lurks in the 
Delta Quadrant.  And it threatens to overwhelm the crew of the Starship 
Voyager.  But there is one thing that can save them.
     The Sailor Scouts!

Preview snippet:
     None of them needed to be told that it was a space craft of some 
kind.  That much was obvious.  But it was a large ship, being over one 
hundred meters in length.  The upper section was an elongated oval shape, 
attached to a lower section.  And toward the rear were two large nacelles, 
set at the same height as the lower section.  The landing strut extending 
outward from the bottom and the lack of ice debris around it told them 
that it had landed on it's own volition and had not crashed.
     "There's some lettering on it, but I can't make any of it out," 
Venus observed.
     "Neither can I," Tuxedo Mask added.
     "Hold on," Mercury said, deploying her visor.  After a moment she 
read, "NCC-74656.  USS Voyager.  United Federation of Planets."
     The others goggled.  "Federation?" Mars said in a strangled voice.
     "It's a Starfleet ship," Tuxedo Mask said, his voice awed.
     "Well," Venus said, a slight smile on her face, "Here we go again."


planned:
Highlander Moon - The Scouts meet up with Duncan MacLeod of the clan 
MacLeod.  (coming soon!)