Star Trek: Against the Federation

Characters/Ships

Katana Majaji: She is the queen/captain of the Candace. She is half human, and half a member of the lost ancient race that built Kushar. She is a powerful telepath and especially capable of reading the minds of Romulans. her beauty is famous despite her scars and lack of attention to her appearance.

Patrick O'Donnel: He is an engineer aboard the Leonardo. He is drawn to the ancient Federation heavy cruiser named Candace. He is also drawn to fearsome female warrior Katana. He is officially a consort of Queen Katana -- but a consort is only called if the Queen desires offspring. It is more a position of honor.

Judith Falash: Katana's chief shaman. She stands at the science station and reads the sensor. She also does chants and waves bones over the console.

Gamata Axum: She is the director of consorts. She sees that they are medically fit, dressed appropriately, schooled in how to behave in the queen's court.

Oshia: The ships doctor. She doesn't show up until Episode VI. She is a passionless, almost emotionless representative of the Kushar native race.

Candace (the ship): The ship is a heavy cruiser, a ship like the U.S.S. Enterprise from the original series. She was barely kept in working order by the Kusharians, but when Patrick O'Donnel works on it is restored to better than new condition.

Schedule on WTREK

Pilot: A Conspiracy is Born

Piracy in Deep Space.

The Candace discovers a neutron star surrounded by an asteroid field that is rich in dilithium crystals. They de-cloak and begin digging for supplies. The asteroid field is a trap set by Ferengi pirates.

Large phaser banks on the asteroids fire, disabling the ship in a few volleys. The phaser banks are remotely controlled by a small lightly armored cruiser. Katana and Patrick are on one of the asteroids.

Katana tells him that she knows what is happening, because Judith has telepathically communicated the situation to her. Patrick suggests that as a courtesy to him they could use communicators.

They find a Ferengi device that gives the false dilithium signature when scanned. Patrick rewires it to give two life sign readings, then he and Katana get on the shuttle. They program the shuttle to return to the Candace along a route that tries to keep asteroids between them and the Ferengi ship, but which uses minimal thrusters. Katana goes into a trance to mask her life signs, and through a mind-meld-like process does the same for Patrick.

The Ferengi have been trying to subdue the crew, but have been largely unsuccessful. The fighters onboard the Candace can barely be held in check, and then only by threatening to destroy the asteroid that Katana and Patrick are on.

When Katana and Patrick get back to the ship they attach to the nacell and climb down through the Jeffrey's tube.

They get to engineering. Katana quickly takes out the Ferengi guards and Patrick works hard to get impulse power and the cloaking device back online. When he's nearly ready the Ferengi realize something has gone wrong and destroy the asteroid -- believing they have killed Katana and Patrick. Fighting breaks out all over the ship.

The Ferengi open fire from their asteroid phaser canons, punching a few holes in the main disk -- and then the cloak is activated. As impulse powers up, the next shots of the Ferengi miss their mark.

In frustration, the Ferengi go back into hiding and they reset their traps. Patrick tells Katana he can restore warp in about a week, phasers and photons in a few days. The Candace places the star between the Ferengi and themselves and limps away.

In three days they hear a distress call, a Federation ship has been caught by the Ferengi. Katana orders return under maximum impulse. Patrick says he can give her 10 seconds of warp.

They return and approach the Ferengi trap, where the Federation ship sits disabled. It is a large ship, and it has taken out all but one of the asteroid mounted phaser banks before it was subdued.

Katana de-cloaks and fires upon the main Ferengi ship -- while its shields are down -- destroying it. The one remaining asteroid phaser battery is apparently manned and the Candace takes a jarring hit. But she flies around to the other side of the asteroid, and drags the asteroid with tractor beams into the sun.

The two crews get together for a bit of a celebration, Patrick meets an engineer he knew from the academy and they talk a while. The crew of the Candace receives some medical attention from the Federation. They also receive official permission to travel in Federation space.

Things seem friendly, but just before they depart the other engineer calls Patrick a traitor.

Hunting for Honor

The Candace stumbles across a damaged Klingon vessel with a nearly dead crew. There are only the faintest remnants of life signs in a few of them.

Patrick's analysis reveals that they ship was in bad repair, and an engine malfunction resulted in a small quantity of warp plasma escaping into the interior of the ship.

They discover a large preserved animal in one of the cargo bays. A holo recorder recounts a battle on a planet called Connaq between the beast, called a Qu' Feklargh, and several of the ships crew and passengers.

They pull up the logs of the man who was responsible for the kill, a Klingon nobleman. Judith Falash tells everyone that these Klingons are in a kind of limbo because they did not die honorably in combat. She tells them that she has a prophecy. She says that the Candace must go to Chonnaq, and Katana and her warriors must slay five Qu' Feklargh in a single day, then bring their trophies to a warrior hidden in the skies above Connaq where they will do a final battle of redemption.

Patrick tells them that if they truly want to honor the Klingons they'll execute the nearly dead ones and perform the Klingon death howl. Katana and Judith carry this out.

Patrick tries to convince Katana not to listen Judith's prophecy. He doesn't believe the Klingons will accept the Kushar idea of fighting to give honor to the dead, he says it's not their tradition. He also says that neither Klingons, nor Chonnaq are good things to mess with. He thinks it would be better to leave the ship and say nothing of what happened there.

As they deliberate, they continue to search the Klingon ship and discover encrypted logs. Patrick realizes that they are in a code the Federation broke about ten years ago, and decrypts them. They talk about a cloaked research facility in the same star system with Chonnaq and mention the warrior Vajun Qud.

Katana believes this confirms Judith's prophecy. Patrick argues that since the Kushar are all telepathic, Judith probably picked up the information about the cloaked base and the warrior via that means. He says the number 5 was probably chosen because it's sacred in Kushar literature. He says it's all superstitious nonsense and a bad idea.

Katana disagrees and she picks her raiding party. Each of the 4 warriors she selects marks herself with some blood from the fallen Klingons. Their names are Kufuru, Ginuth, Walzana, and Daura. Patrick records a last message for his family because, a good day or not, he's pretty sure he's going to die.

They arrive on Chonnaq, and the Klingons find it hard to believe that any non-Klingon would dare to face a Qu' Feklargh. Katana does not tell them they are really here to bring honor to dead Klingons. Patrick is happy that this information is not shared. This way, he figures, only the Qu' Feklargh will try and kill them.

They are only allowed bows, arrows, a primitive tricorder (Patrick's ancient one is allowed) and a low power phaser that could do nothing more than anger a Qu' Feklargh.

To kill a Qu' Feklargh they must first find a venomous snake called a Qaghlhr. They must coat their arrows with the venom, then fire it into one of the narrow places where the Qu' Feklargh's armor is joined.

They leave the lodge and the hunt begins. Early on, a snake is found. Katana and her warriors quickly dispatch it and Judith extracts and applies the venom to their supply of arrows.

Patrick uses his tricorder to locate a Qu' Feklargh and they proceed to the target.

It turns out to be one that is dying, and the team of Klingon warriors that brought it down are celebrating with blood wine. They talk, and find that Qu' Feklargh often travel in packs and that the key to killing one is luring it away from the others by provoking it with a phaser.

They proceed across a path between two steep rocky hills.

Patrick announces five Qu' Feklargh are nearby. Then he says they are running very fast and coming straight toward them. He tells everyone to run for cover, and they all move into caves, trees, or behind rocks around the clearing.

As the beasts come into view Katana and her warriors open fire, two of the beasts are mortally wounded but turn and charge back. Patrick is amazed at their swift graceful dodges and deadly accurate shots. He is hiding in a bush and sitting very still in the hopes the beasts will not notice him.

Two beasts are struck at once, and continue a lumbering charge at Kufuru. She elegantly evades them, then a third slaps her with its tail and sends her sailing through the air. She lands and does not move again.

A fourth beast attempts to trample her, but Katana wounds it with an arrow. It turns and charges her. She narrowly dodges the massive animal and it crashes into a rock, stumbles then succumbs to the poison. As it flops to the ground, it starts a rock slide. Katana is pinned under one of the larger rocks.

The two remaining beasts charge through the falling rocks and drives a horn through Walzana's chest. As she dies she takes an arrow from her quiver and stabs it into the beasts eye.

The remaining beast turns to charge at Katana.

Patrick jumps from his hiding place, takes his phaser and fires at it.

The creature immediately changes direction and charges toward him. Just before it reaches him, it stops, pants, and falls over and Patrick sees two poisoned arrows sticking out of its back.

They return to the lodge, Daura carries the badly wounded Kufuru.

When they arrive with their trophies and are greeted by Chancellor Wurag. He has arrived to greet the mighty hunters of Chonnaq and to bestow a favor on the greatest of them.

When Katana comes forward with her five trophies and her story is told Wurag is deeply impressed. Her battle is replayed, since all activity on the planet is recorded by orbital satellites. He asks her about the war paint she has on, and she explains that it is Klingon blood. After a brief and tense moment she explains that she is fighting to restore the honor of Klingons who died in an accident. She then tells him the location of the lost ship.

Wurag is duely impressed, and offers to grant a request, even to rule a Klingon planet if she wants.

She asks for burial for her fallen warrior on Chonnaq, and the chance to bring her trophies to the warrior hidden in the skies named Vajun Qud. She says that only then can the debt of honor be fully paid.

They are sworn to secrecy by Wurag, and taken to the cloaked research facility. There they are shown efforts at genetic engineering to make Klingons stronger and faster. They have developed several pills that are designed to bring about genetic changes that make one nearly invincible in battle. Unfortunately, the pills shorten the lifespan considerably, killing the one who takes them within a few years.

Test subjects, it is explained, take these pills and then attempt to defeat Vajun Qud, an android warrior built on the Klingon research facility. Katana and her warriors are given the pills and placed in the arena with Vajun Qud. So far it still takes 3 of them at once to succeed.

They pretend to take them, but do not. During the battle Vajun Qud is injured and cries out in pain.

Katana asks how a machine can feel pain and he answers that he is no mere machine, he is truly alive and has a warriors heart.

Katana answers that it would make no sense to build an android with such a human weakness, and Vajun Qud tells them that they lack insight, no true warrior can exist with out pain, fear and honor.

Judith explains to Patrick as they watch the battle that the warriors are fighting according to classic style, and that Katana alone has already performed over 200 maneuvers perfectly. Patrick says it looks like a blur to him.

Eventually Katana and her party are victorious, but Katana suffers a serious leg injury.

As the android lays defeated on the arena floor it asks Judith to remember it in her prayers as she remembers the Klingon warriors they fought for on Chonnaq.

She angrily says that is a machine, not a warrior. He says that it was she who said that the trophies had to be brought before the hidden warrior in the sky, and that he, Vajun Qud, was named as that warrior by Katana herself.

He tells her if he is not a true warrior, then Judith's prophecy is false and her efforts on Chonnaq were in vain.

He says that his Klingon makers put a warrior's heart in him, and he believes he will go to Stovo'kor. She agrees to pray for him.

The Klingons give Katana an artificial warrior similar to Vajun Qud to serve them (the warrior in question is not yet turned on), as well as a promise to join them on the field of battle against any foe they name. When they get to the Candace they put their artificial warrior in a cabin, but leave him turned off.

The Place of Healing

Episode opens with Patrick in Gamata's class on how consorts of the Queen should behave. He's being taught the rite of washing the Queen's feet. He is complaining, asking why he needs to go through this indignity since his is a position of honor and he's not someone that Katana intends to call on.

Gamata answers that he has saved her life, and should now expect that things may be different.

The Candace arrives at the star system of New Glastonbury, on which a famous medical research facility, Avalon, is built. Katana tells the bridge crew that the Romulans have expressed particular interest in learning its secrets.

They land in a shuttle, Patrick, Katana, Gamata, and many of the other consorts. Patrick asks why they can't use the transporters. He is told that the Kusharans fear that in the process of disassembling and reassembling of atoms used by the transporter might cause the soul to be lost. He shakes his head.

They rebuff the first person sent to great them, as it is an artificial life form. Eventually, a human is sent to meet them and an argument about unfair prejudice against artificial life forms ensues.

Eventually, they are ushered into an indoor garden which serves as a waiting room. The doctor enters and asks about the people she is to serve.

Katana's leg injury is examined briefly by tricorder, and as the doctor looks at it he seems quite startled. He asks what race she is from, and is told. He nods his head, seeming very interested. He says they normally only treat patients on the verge of death, or people with very serious debilitating conditions.

He then says that in her case he will make an exception.

Katana is placed on a hovering bed, and is told that only one person may accompany her into and out of the operating facility, she chooses Patrick.

As they proceed into the building, they are brought into another small garden waiting room, and left alone. Katana comments that she is actually somewhat fearful of doctors, but she views this as a mission.

Patrick comments that it is only a leg injury after all.

She tells him that he should be on his guard now, the other consorts are likely to be jealous of him and challenge him to fights since he has been chosen for taking her into Avalon.

Then the doctor comes to bring her into the operating room.

After the operation, Patrick is brought in to see her. She thanks the doctor, and begins walking out the door with Patrick. Part way to the exit, she drags him aside and tells him she is not Katana.

She says that since awakening from the surgery her mind is "different". She is not telepathic and does not feel any antipathy toward artificial life forms. She tells him she thinks she may actually be an artificial life form designed to look like Katana.

Patrick scans her with a tricorder, and confirms this. She explains to Patrick that she wants to find the real Katana and rescue her, that she does not want her original self to be lost.

Patrick points out that they don't have weapons, and that weapons aren't allowed into the facility. She suggests that they need to find some.

The surgery room they find has a set of small knives, and a large machine with a mechanical arm and a small phaser cutting tool on the end. They use the knife to open Katana's arm, revealing circuits, etc.

They then connect the phaser cutting tool to her internal power system. Patrick says he adjusted its setting so that it should be serviceable as a weapon.

Katana suddenly says that something impossible is happening, that she can now sense where Katana is, and that she is definitely still alive. Patrick says that however clever they are, they cannot really make her telepathic. Nevertheless, they follow her instinct.

They charge down several hallways. They use the cutting tool to open several locked doors, then get into a brief firefight. They battle their way into an operating room where the real Katana is strapped down to a table, many wires and tubes are connected to her head and torso.

One of the doctors tells them to stop, that they don't know what they are doing. They listen as he explains that what they do here, replacement of people with artificial life forms is a good thing. That people are the sum of their memories and the arrays of logic gates in their brains, that the soul is essentially data and that transferring that data to a better functioning more stable body structure can only be a good thing.

Artificial Katana says that she knew at once she was not the person she is copied from. The surgeon says that is interesting, that the Kushar biology fascinated him and it was amazing that an error like this could occur. He says that he can fix it.

Artificial Katana asks if that is why the real Katana was not destroyed, so that he could study her. When he does not answer, artificial Katana shoots him through the head. She then takes his computer pad, and tells Patrick to take it with him.

Patrick and artificial Katana cut the wires off the real Katana, put her on a levitating bed and run out with her. Real Katana is unconscious the whole time. A few more fights occur, and artificial Katana comments on how poorly the place is guarded.

Patrick answers they probably have never had to face a warrior before.

As they get to the exit, artificial Katana tells him that she can't leave the planet with him, the crew of the Candace will never accept her. She says that she will stay behind and make sure Avalon is destroyed.

She then grabs him and kisses him deeply. Then she says, that she always wanted to do that, and that it was her last chance. He, somewhat flustered, asks how she could "always" have wanted to do that since they only recently met. She smiles, nods her head toward the unconscious real Katana and explains that she has all her memories. She suggests he pay extra attention in Gamata's class, then dashes off down the corridor.

The shuttle launches, and some weapons fire at them from the ground. They evade, and some weapons fire from the Candace gives them cover.

Several small vessels launch to pursue them, apparently vessels of other clients of Avalon.

Patrick tells the Candace to call in the Federation. A dreadnaught answers their call, and the battle is won. The Federation starship captain has Katana treated by their ship's physician, and tells them that they will close Avalon down pending further investigation.

The Lost Tribe

Katana and crew awaken from a frightening dream. They are back on Kushar and the place is filled with ghosts.

After they awake, a Dyson sphere, similar to their home world, de-cloaks and they are greeted on main screen by Protia. Protia is of the original race that the Kushar are from, without mixture of human genetics. This sphere is named Poseidar.

The native race is utterly passionless, and almost devoid of emotion. They don't need to suppress their passions like the vulcans, nor long for them like artificial life forms -- they just have a naturally low level of emotion.

Katana and Patrick see a number of fearsome warships docked at the sphere, and Katana desperately wants one. Protia agrees to let her command a raid against their enemy, the Fraxa.

They jump through an artificially generated wormhole to reach their destination in the gamma quadrant.

The Fraxa turn out to be the persecutors, the artificial life forms from the Kushar past. Protia also takes a ship on the raid and is caught in a trap -- a sort of subspace mine cripples his ship and several of the enemy decloack and attack.

He orders Katana to flee rather than risk loss of two ships.

Katana instead rushes to his defense. Katana takes out three attackers before her shields are brought down by heavy weapons fire and the ship Katana is borrowing is hit by some sort of strange ray. It causes Katana and her crew to go into seizures, but Patrick is unaffected.

He works frantically to repair the systems and is able to get main weapons on manual. But he can't keep the system charged and fire at the same time becaus the controls are in different places.

Though she is shaking terribly, Katana manages to operate the weapon as Patrick works in engineering. When the enemy command ship is at point blank range they fire, destroying their target. The remaining ships flee.

As a reward for their service to Poseidar, Patrick and Katana receive (permanently) the services of Oshia, a doctor.

The Slave's Rebellion

The Candace is running low on dilithium crystals and finds information about a planet (called Arlington) where they are mined. This world has relations with the Federation, but are not officially members.

The Candace decloaks, and arranges for supplies. The people of the planet act surprised that the Federation wants to purchase dilithium crystals (they mistake the Candace for a Federation ship), and offer to give them several of them free as a gesture of friendship.

Everything seems to be going well, although it is not clear to anyone why the Federation does not make use of the abundant dilithium supply to be found on this world.

Katana sees a woman being mistreated. She asks what is going on, and it is explained that she is a slave. Arlington has two rival nations which refer to themselves as Sothzide and Nothzide. Although they are both of the same race, the Sothzides have inferior military tech and have rejected the gangster code embraced by the Notzides.

These people are descended from the people of Sigma Iotia, the planet that based its culture on "Chicago Mobs of the Twenties". After developing a short range warp technology (which they call "jump warp") they set up several operations on neighboring worlds.

Federation scientists generally consider the technology unimportant, as it is inferior in speed and range to standard Federation warp drive, but Patrick studies it and discovers that it is really a quite brilliant technology and is under-appreciated. He realizes that it can be adapted to make a short-range shield penetrating transporter.

Katana discovers that the situation on Arlignton has been permitted by the Federation as part of the Prime Directive. But they don't ever take dilithium from this world because it might encourage the slavery.

Katana smuggles a large number of phasers into the mines and leads a revolt to aid the Sothzides. Patrick also aids them by showing them how to make a transporter using their jump-warp drives.

After a bloody but successful battle for independence by the Sothzides the Federation arrives with several cruisers.

The Candace is captured by an angry Federation and Patrick and Katana are placed in confinement, awaiting trial on Earth.

The Sothzides, however, use the jump warp transporter developed by Patrick and rescue their liberators. They retake the Candace, engage the cloak, and depart.

After they leave the Romulans express great interest in the "jump warp" technology acquired by the Candace. Katana tells them it is the property of the Kushar people.

The Legend of the Candace, Part I

The Candace arrives at the planet, Tlaloc, which was first visited in the distant past by Captain Solomon. The world is now a Federation member.

The Tlalocan world has almost perpetual light rain, and the inhabitants have scales like fish. They don't build dwellings with ceilings.

The Tlalocans can see through time, to a variable degree, and frequently comment on things that are about to happen.

Katana and Patrick are treated like visiting dignitaries. They find out there's a vault with a genetic lock that only Captain Solomon's descendants can open.

The vault is a temporal nexus. They step inside and they are aboard the Candace as it first approaches Tlaloc -- emerging from a similar chamber in the cargo hold.

Captain Solomon greets them by name and tells them that he is negotiating with the Romulans and needs their help. They ask how he knows them and he says that they have met before, during a previous (from his perspective) travel through time.

Patrick says that they should not disrupt the timeline, but Solomon assures them this is part of the timeline. That space and time are meant to cross in certain ways and places. He says that without this incursion into the timeline the Federation cannot exist in the future. "We are surrounded by a cloaked Romulan fleet," he explains. He tells them he is expected to surrender.

Katana and Patrick take a shuttle down to Tlaloc where the Romulan leader, Frasissus, is operating and he hails them. They identify themselves as the future descendants of Captain Solomon. He seems to already know them as well.

Frasissus is a renegade Romulan scientist who has devised a way to make a Jinn of the time machine -- namely, a ship that has no builders. The ship arrives from the future from the mouth of a worm-hole based time machine and only exists until the future time when it is sent back.

It is, in effect, created by the time machine.

He tells them that spacetime continuum is "stirred" by the action of the Jinn, creating numerous closed time-loops in its vicinity, and that is what made Katana and Patrick's journey possible.

He tells them that it will be bad for the Romulans and all the other races in the vicinity if an impending Romulan invasion against Federation space is successful. Without the Federation, he explains, a race called the Borg claim the entire quadrant.

He explains that Katana and Patrick must send their shuttle forward in time for the Jinn of the time machine to work. He explains there must be a conservation of mass energy -- one ship goes forward in time the other comes into the present from the future so that there is always one ship.

In a future time, Katana and Patrick must send the Jinn ship back into the past. When they do this, their shuttle will re-emerge from the wormhole, keeping mass-energy in balance.

Katana asks what will happen if the Jinn ship is not returned. Patrick jumps in and explains that the integrity of the spacetime continuum would fracture.

Frasissus asks them to take the ship and repel the Romulan invasion force.

Katana is reluctant. She cannot properly read the Frassisus' mind. There is something different about it. She is suspicious.

But in the end, they agree and with the help of the Candace commanded by captain Solomon they begin dispatching the Romulan attack fleet.

The shuttle-sized Jinn ship has quantum singularity drive, advanced disruptors, advanced cloaking -- all of which is Romulan technology of a future age. Patrick is familiar with most of it, as it is still antique technology from his perspective.

Katana fiercely attacks and destroys several Romulan ships and they take only minimal damage in return. The bloodshed disturbs Patrick.

Patrick convinces Katana to simply cripple the Romulan ships rather than destroy them. He tells her it was a tactic used in old earth wars. He tells her that the Romulans will use up more time and resources rescuing and repairing than they would rebuilding from scratch. She accepts this reasoning.

When they are about to take out the last ship, their power systems shut down. Patrick looks for the cause and finds that the ship was sabotaged. They are captured. The rogue scientist Frassisus turns out to be a trill (a symbiotic life-form living inside the Romulan).

He has Katana and Patrick imprisoned, and she reads his plan from the minds of the Romulans helping him. They are ordered to take over the Romulan Empire -- now that the main Romulan fleet is in ruins and he has a powerful ship nothing can stand in his way.

As Katana explains this to Patrick, she suddenly gasps and her eyes go wide. The door opens and she is shot by a Romulan guard. Three guards come forward and drag her out of the room. As she is leaving the room she suddenly thrashes knocking one of the Romulans across the cell. A different guard fires at her and she lays still. "Funny," he says, "humans don't usually require that high a stun setting.

Patrick is brought before Frasissus. He is told that he will keep the warship in good repair or Katana will suffer. And the same rule goes for her. "If she serves me, and tells me what the other Romulan leaders and generals plan, you will not suffer."

Katana is brought out, she is strapped to a metal frame and a probe extends into her head. She is gasping. Then Frasissus explains that by means of this probe he can determine if she lies to him.

To be continued....

The Legend of the Candace, Part II

Several captured Romulan generals are brought in. Frasissus asks whether each will serve him. He executes each one that Katana identifies for him as unwilling. He makes a slight exception for one famous Romulan general because his ten year old son, Laran, is present. As long as he can threaten the boy, he knows the general will obey. Laran is considered a bit of a disgrace to the family because he displayed insufficient courage at the Romulan military academy -- but his father still has hopes that he can return and do better.

A guard comes in and says the Candace has been captured, but Captain Solomon was not on board. Frasissus decides to have the ship refitted. It will make a suitable command ship, he says.

They set to work repairing the Candace and the Romulan fleet. Patrick is going for supplies, and has he walks down the hall he hears a voice in his mind. He goes into the room where Katana is being kept.

She is alone, bound in the metal frame. She tells him that the Romulan boy has agreed to help her defeat Frasissus. He's the only one who's mind she is not asked to read.

She tells him to give the boy an explosive device to take onto the bridge. Patrick refuses, he is worried that it will kill Katana or the boy himself. She tells him she would rather die than live this way.

He tells her he found a message stored on a tricorder, a message from Captain Solomon who has escaped with his crew to the surface of a moon where several damaged warbirds lie. He says that he intends to fix their disrupters, and he gives a frequency that he will listen on, and encryption key to use if he is needed to fire on any target.

She thinks for a minute, then says, "here's the plan..."

Patrick is sent to help repair one of the lightly damaged warbirds in Frassissus new fleet. He brings the boy with him, hiding him in a large equipment case. Patrick re-wires the bridge so that a single person can both navigate and fire. He explains to Frassissus that this will enable them to fight if need be, even with the small number of Romulan crewmen currently available to Frassisus.

The boy emerges from his trunk on the bridge. He puts on a gas mask. He punches controls and sends knock-out gas through the life support system. He then finds Patrick, puts a mask on him and gives him a hypo to wake him.

The Romulan boy takes command of the ship. Coached telepathically by Katana he brings the ship around and begins firing on the Candace.

Frasassus orders the other ships to attack. He is told that the attacker is trying to hail them, but he does not permit the message to come through.

Lanar retreats. The attacking (barely functional) warbirds follow the boy near the moon. Patrick and the boy struggle to hold the ship together under fire. Patrick makes the transmission. Several powerful disrupter bolts are fired at the shield frequencies of the pursuing ships -- frequencies Patrick knows from being in engineering.

Frassisus boards the Jinn ship and launches an attack against Patrack and Laran.

The Romulan ship hails the Candace again after Frassissus leaves in the Jinn ship. Katana tells them to answer the hail. When they see Laran on the bridge, being thrown about by weapons fire they become angry.

Katana tells them the coordinates to use, and they are able to hit the cloaked ship, disabling it and killing Frassisus.

The Romulans want to take the ship, but Laran tells them that he gave his word of honor that it would be returned. The proud Romulan general sees that it is done.

Katana is extracted from the device Frassisus put her in. They are given the Jinn ship. It is taken down to the planet and placed into the wormhole with the dead body of Frassisus on board.

Their shuttle emerges, but on board are two mysterious creatures. They are larval forms of the first Tlalocans, generated by the worm-hole from the additional mass-energy supplied by the body of Frassisus.

Patrick and Katana return to the Candace, have drinks with captain Solomon and then re-enter the time vault, returning to their time.

Meditation

The episode opens with Patrick is sitting in the dining hall with Oshia drinking coffee. He is telling her how nice it is to talk to someone who does not have all the crazy superstitions of Katana and her crew.

He mentions an incident where he decided to do some painting in his cabin. He painted a picture of the Candace flying through a nebula, and the crew built a shrine around it.

Oshia tells him that her people, and probably the Kusharans, are not artists.

He tells her that during a recent mission she introduced him as "her warlock."

He then tells her that this position of consort is just an endless headache. The group of them all have to take classes, and then when Katana sends for one of them to wash her feet they all start fighting among themselves for the honor.

Later, as he is working in engineering, Judith comes in with several other crewmen in elaborate dress. They bow and pose themselves, then inform Patrick he has been chosen to wash Katana's feet in two weeks time.

Almost as soon as they leave, a very large fierce looking consort named Belzo challenges him to a battle.

Patrick secretly awakens the robotic Klingon, Klorg 12, warrior they have in storage and asks him to help him learn hand to hand combat. Every night he activates him for a few hours. He struggles for a long time, but when the time of combat comes Belzo defeats him easily.

After his defeat, he is having coffee with Oshia he relates the whole situation to her. She suggests that perhaps she can help him. She knows of a place of meditation that her people have established. She suggests that going there may distract Katana from calling for any more foot washings.

The temple turns out to be a planet drifting through interstellar space. It has no sun, no moon, no sister planets.

The inhabitants are a pre-warp civilization of very slow moving reptillian creatures, the Anolians. The Anolians believe in magic, and ask if the Candace has any who can use magic. Katana introduces Patrick as her warlock, and Judith as her Shaman.

When they see Oshia they all fall to their knees. She tells them to rise and to train her friends in meditation.

Oshia explains to Katana that they found this planet drifting through interstellar space and decided that they could provide these poor creatures with additional energy sources to ensure their survival. In exchange, they took on the job of being caretakers of this secret meditation facility.

Consequently, the Anolians have an extensive electronic library. Patrick studies the library and finds that the planet used to orbit a star system, and that it has extensive warp drive system constructed under its surface. It was used one time, when their sun burned out, with nearly catastophic results. He talks to the Anolians about this.

He shows them how they can reconnect the power systems and, if necessary, use the warp drives again. In gratitude, they give him a "warlock's ring."

Patrick continues his training with Klorg 12. Klorg 12 tells Patrick he has completed the first level of training.

He tells Oshia the plan is working out rather well. He is becoming a better fighter. Then he grimaces. Even if he were to win, the result would be to go and give Katana a foot washing -- a prospect he finds humiliating.

He decides to visit see what the Kusharans do in their meditation chamber. Oshia takes him. He finds them sitting perfectly immobile in a large stone chamber. He finds he can poke them and they do not seem to notice.

Oshia shows him a holodeck chamber. She activates it and he recognizes an image of the interior of Kushar. Patrick spies Katana talking to several native Kusharans, Captain Solomon, and a Romulan. Oshia explains that this is what Katana is seeing during her meditation -- she is comuning with her ancestors. Some of those present around Katana are merely pictures.

Patrick is stunned to see that she has Romulan ancestry.

Patrick asks how her thoughts can be projected into a holodeck, and Oshia simply waves her hand and says there are many things about her people and their technology he does not understand.

Oshia tells Patrick that he should go and sit with Katana -- since Captain Solomon is his ancestor too. She walks over and introduces them.

Patrick is told that his first wife was a human, and that she gave birth to Patrick's ancestors. After she died, he took a second wife among the Kusharans.

One of the Kusharans then tells him that decades later the Kushar was infected with a virus by the Fraxa. Only the Kusharans who were part human survived -- but there were few of them, and they were not trained in technology and did not have access codes to Kushar system controls.

Katana asks them to explain the warlocks.

None of the native Kusharans were artists, and few of those who were part human possessed the ability. The skill was regarded as sacred, and the practitioners were named warlocks.

The warlocks reduced the souls of their enemies to paintings, it is explained, and that is why some of the ancestors who are present cannot be conversed with.

As they are preparing to depart, Katana sends for Patrick again and Belzo predictably delivers his challenge. Patrick is somewhat more confident, but is as easily defeated as before. He shows a recording of the battle to Klorg 12, and Klorg explains that the Kusharans move more quickly and more precisely than is possible for humans. He has no chance regardless of how much he trains.

A demoralized Patrick tells Oshia that he believes there are many beatings in his future. She suggests that a warlock should be able to defeat an ordinary Kusharan.

When Patrick again faces Belzo, he brings a canvas with Belzo's image painted on it. He holds it up so that the "warlock's ring" is clearly visible. Belzo's face becomes fearful. Patrick suggests he surrender, Belzo does.

Later, he proceeds to Katana's quarters wearing a ceremonial outfit, carrying a bowl, and followed by Judith and many of her girls -- all of whom are chanting.

He enters alone into Katana's quarters and she is wearing an elaborate and somewhat revealing outfit that glimmers like gold. She looks embarrassed and says that she really dislikes most of this ritual. He suggests that if she changes and he gets out of actually washing her feet he won't tell anyone. They agree.

Instead of washing her feet, they watch a movie together.

A Lost Enemy

The Candace is surveying an uninhabited star system near the border of Federation space named Araxar-187. Many damaged and destroyed ships from a number of races are found on the 2nd planet from the star. As they are investigating, a tetryonic blast is emitted from the planet below.

Power and engines go offline, and the Candace is knocked out of orbit. With three days to impact, Patrick starts working with his crew to repair engines. As a side effect of the shockwave, the Heisenberg compensators in every replicator on the ship are damaged irreparably. That means no food and no spare parts and limited life support.

Emergency power is brought online, with minimal lighting and power to systems. Scans of the system reveal that the planet sends these blasts out at intervals of one to two weeks, and appears to be the result of a subspace instability in the planet's core.

Patrick is unable to make any progress with the main engines (for lack of parts), and after one day of work decides to spend his efforts repairing a shuttle. After another day of work, scavenging parts from the Candace herself, he gets the shuttle working and flies down to the planet surface.

He has difficulty finding the parts he needs because the various bits of wreckage reveal no Federation ships. The majority of the vessels are small Klingon ships, apparently used for espionage. Patrick salvages recording devices from serval of them.

Patrick also finds several Ferengi vessels and one Fraxan ship. He salvages some gold-pressed latinum and removes a few small pieces of equipment from the Fraxan ship for later study.

Warp power is partially restored, giving the Candace a maximum of warp factor two. However, the replicators are still offline and so the Candace is in desperate need of food and oxygen.

They locate the nearest star system, Cresca, set their course, and hope for the best.

There system has one planet with a somewhat less advanced society than is common in the Federation, but is a hub of trading among several races.

In their quest for food, the Candace's crew discovers that their best option is a tribble eating contest -- some kind of Klingon contest that is held regularly since stardate 4523.3.

Belzo does extremely well, making it into the finals of the contest. This gives the crew access to the some high ranking Klingons. They recognize Katana and her crew, and tell them that the believe the nearby star system, Araxar-187, that emits the tetryonic blasts is really a Federation research facility.

They offer to trade several replicators in exchange for helping them infiltrate the facility. They say they have the exact coordinates inside the planet.

Katana agrees, but wants to go on the raiding party.

It is arranged. Patrick uses the replicators to generate parts to finish the repairs on the Katana, then they go with the Klingons to Araxar-187.

The Klingon members of the raiding party beam over. There are three Klingon warriors, and a cloaked female figure. Her face is masked and she does not speak.

The team uses the Candace's jump warp transporters to gain direct access to the underground facility from a distance of several astronomical units. But discover it is not a Federation facility at all....

Instead they find a race of insectile beings living in an extensive tunnel network. The creatures open fire with Tetryonic weapons and a battle ensues.

Katana and the Klingons are victorious. They do a tricorder scan and discover a maze of tunnels. The black-robed woman with the Klingons taps on the scanner and shows them a destination.

They fight their way there, and discover a large insect queen sitting on a pile of translucent eggs. It surrenders.

It explains that it has been killing visitors to this system for a long time and feeding on their minds. The Klingons offer to make them keepers of a prison facility in the Empire in exchange for the tetryon blast weapon.

The Klingons also mention that the Fraxan ship is to be the prize of their ally, the mysterious black-robed woman.

Katana and her crew are given a chance for further salvage on the planet's surface. They are able to salvage dilithium crystals from several of the Klingon vessels. As they work, they see the Fraxan ship launch. As it ascends, it hails the Candace.

The black-robed woman is seen on the bridge. She removes her mask. It is the artificial life form designed to replicate Katana. She promises they will all meet again, and then departs at high warp.

Back to School, Part I

The Romulans offer Katana and her crew a fleet of seven Warbirds if they can capture a datacard used to build artificial lifeforms at the Sung Institute (a University named in Dr. Sung's honor).

They exchange some of their latinum with a Ferengi who creates Federation ids for them. The Ferengi salesman tells them that the ids will not withstand a detailed examination, but will pass cursory scans.

They land on a world near the Institute using their jump-warp enabled transporters and register for classes at a public terminal. The next day the get on a shuttle for the institute.

As they arrive, the find a debate in progress between two students of the institute. A human, that is arguing for the superiority of artificial life forms and an artificial life form that is arguing for the superiory of natural life forms. The human says that the the Borg offer an example of the superiority of the mechanical, as every known natural life form has been assimilated by them and placed under the control of its central mechanism. The artificial life form argues that conquest is not superiority, and claims that the Borg have merely imposed mechanical limitations on natural life forms -- the lack of individuality and centralized control, characterstics of the mechanical, are what caused them to be defeated by the Federation.

Katana, her warriors and Patrick have a class in robotics theory that is taught by an artificial life form named Dr. Jung. The course description mentions that the weaknesses of artificial life forms will be discussed, and this makes the course extremely tempting to them.

Instruction at the institute includes the martial arts (the same instructor that teaches robotics teaches this course), and they are paired up for sparing. Artificial life forms are asked to identify themselves. Katana asks why, and is told that living beings are no match for artificial life forms in hand to hand combat, neither in rate of learning techniques, strength, speed, nor accuracy of movements, and so it is not fair to pit them against each other.

Katana is annoyed by this statement and identifies herself as an artificial life form. She bests several of her opponents in rapid succession. During the combat she begins breathing heavily and sweating. Many onlookers are puzzled. Eventually, one of her opponents manages to land a serious blow on her and causes her to bleed. She retaliates and wins and the instructor calls a halt to the exercise.

He is astonished to discover she is not an artificial life form. He has never heard of any race capable of fighting this well.

He checks her records (the false ones supplied by the Ferengi) and it shows that she is a Berian, a race about which the standard database has little data. It lists them as being fearsome warriors with an excellent memory.

He tests Katana with several memory games and is surprised to see how well she performs.

He says he has often sought ways of building understanding and acceptance between artifical and natural life forms and he tells her that the Berians might be more ideally suited to live in harmony with mechanical life.

Meanwhile, Patrick is taking a lab course on antique technologies. He tells Katana that it is the only first year course with a lab that is adjacent to the robotics construction area. None of the other Kusharans are interested in joining him, however.

A female Vulcan, Atrax, in his class identifies his great mechanical skill and intuition and becomes his lab partner.

She discusses Federation history with him, and the important role of Mr. Spock as a half-human half-vulcan in forging alliances between the two races. They discuss how this union was important to quell racial prejudice against Vulcans that existed in the early days of the Federation.

She tells him that she feels the pairing of Spock's parents was, in it's way, a very logical pairing.

Back to Katana and Jung: He takes her into his confidence and shows her the center where they develop artificial life forms. He tells her about the efforts they have made to give each artifial life form a degree of its own personality, but their understanding of both personality and emotion is still in its infancy.

Katana identifies the structure where she believes the datacard must be, and lays her plans. Katana tells Patrick she needs him to help her gain access to the construction room.

Patrick contacts Starfleet and tells them what is going on. He is very concerned about why the Romulans might want the datacard. He is told by his Federation contact not to worry, that they will see to it that the datacard remain safe.

Patrick tells Katana that he has figured out a way to for her to get in.

As she and her warriors sneak in they find a group of Andorians attempting to steal the same datacard.

They subdue the Andorians just before the main Federation military arrive. They are applauded for saving the facility from a theft that turns out to be a Romulan plot (the Romulans have made deals with more than one party to try and steal the datacard).

To be continued...

Back to School, Part II

The episode opens with Patrick talking to his Federation contact on a video screen in his room. His contact is telling him he should go ahead and help Katana steal the datacard -- they will arrange to make sure it contains significant disinformation to confuse the Romulans. Patrick worries if they do that the Romulans may turn on the Kusharans. His contact assures him the disinformation will be very subtle.

Katana comes in and discusses with Patrick how to obtain the datacard. He tells her he's been looking at schematics for androids built around the time Dr. Jung was constructed and has discovered they have the potential to store four of the datacards in a panel accessible through the back of his head. He says he suspects the card has been moved there. He asks her to let him figure out a way extract it. She says she would be happy to just take Dr. Jung's head and rid the universe of another artificial lifeform.

Later, Patrick is working in the lab with Atrax. She tells him that she has been studying the android schematics that he had been looking at, and located Dr. Jung's off switch. She points out that the switch is a simple enough device that a micro-tractor beam pulse could be used to operate it from a distance.

Patrick suggests that perhaps he has upgraded the switch since the original design. She says she doubts it, and suggests that someone could use this vulnerability to steal the datacard from Dr. Jung's head socket.

She tells Patrick she knows what he's up to. She tells him she intercepted his transmission to Starfleet and decoded it. He asks her how, and she shows him the terminal and codes she was using. He tells her that her device is brilliant but could not possibly have worked.

They go back to his quarters and he disassmbles his terminal and discovers that its insides have been rewired. His signal was going over an entirely different protocol than he expected. He tells Atrax that he now realizes that he has not been talking to Starfleet, but a cloaked ship positioned a short distance from the Institute.

He shows her a piece of Romulan technology embedded in the transmitter.

He asks Atrax how he could have been so foolish as to not notice this. Then, puzzled, he asks why she was trying to listen in on his transmission anyway. She apologizes and tells him that her pon farr is approaching, and that she finds herself more and more attracted to him.

He asks if she doesn't have some sort of arranged marriage back on Vulcan, and she tells him she had arranged a marriage to a human -- but that the engineer to whom she had been pledged was recently killed several months previously in a transporter accident. She tells Patrick that they work so well together that she hoped to obtain him for a mate.

Patrick explains that he is officially a consort of Katana, and that she would likely kill Atrax if she knew any of this.

Atrax points out that the real problem is that Katana is going to steal the datacard and give it to the Romulans. She suggests that they turn Katana in before she can hurt Dr. Jung and carry out the theft.

Patrick tells her that he wants to find a solution that does not lead to Katana being captured by the Federation. He tells her that he believes the Kusharan race has unique abilities and perspectives and, despite their prejudice against artificial life forms, can someday be an important ally to the Federation. Atrax asks if he loves Katana.

He says he doesn't know, but asks her to help him steal the datacard before Katana can. His plan is that after they steal it, that he will give it to Atrax and position her in a transporter. He will then call in Katana, and they will show her the datacard.

At that moment, Patrick will activate the transporter and send Atrax and the datacard to a nearby Vulcan ship. He tells her that Katana will not use a conventional transporter, so she will not follow.

They carry out their plan, but before Patrick can transport Atrax she steps off the transporter platform. She offers Katana the datacard if she will give him Patrick.

Before Patrick can protest, Katana states that she would never trade her warlock for the datacard. Atrax says that her pon farr is beginning and that she must mate or die. Katana explains that if she mated with Patrick, she'd kill her regardless.

Atrax tells her that she does not appreciate Patrick for who he is, an engineer and not a warlock. She says that she thinks he is brilliant, and wants to continue to work with him.

Patrick finds his voice and begs her to get on the transporter platform so that the datacard can be returned to the Federation.

As she starts to step backwards, Katana makes another offer. She can trade one of her other consorts for the datacard -- she will get a mate and will be able to continue to work on technology with Patrick. Atrax asks if this consort is Kusharan, and is told yes. She says that she had intended her mating to be used to establish a relationship between humans and Vulcans, but now she believes that perhaps a Kusharan Vulcan union would be logical.

Patrick yells that it would not be a logical union, that her reason is clouded by pon farr. Katana sets her phaser on stun and shoots him.

When he comes to, he is in sickbay on the Candace, and Oshia says good morning to him. She tells him that he was hit with a high stun setting and has been out for a day.

Oshia tells him that Katana gave Belzo to Atrax in exchange for the datacard, and that the Candace is currently heading to a rendevous point with the Romulans. He tells her that this is a disaster, Oshia agrees.

To be continued....

Back to School, Part III

Katana enters sick bay and tells Patrick that they are about to make the exchange, and she needs him to verify that the vessels are not disabled or trapped in any way.

Patrick argues that she has gone too far, and that he never intended to be a party to handing over Federation technology to the Romulans. She nods and asks whether he prefers to be confined to sick bay, the brig, or his quarters while the exchange is made. He chooses sick bay.

En route to meeting the Romulans they intercept a distress call comes from a nearby freighter, the Lady Sterling, that is plunging into a neutron star. It's warp engines are offline and no Federation ship is in range. The Candace pulls them out and sends them on their way to their destination: Tiberius I. Patrick is allowed out of captivity in sick bay to aid in the rescue.

After the rescue, they proceed to the rendevous point with the Romulans. After the exchange of the datacard, the Candace leads the new Romulan ships to the Kushar.

Patrick is released, and a ceremony occurs honoring Belzo and Atrax, and the victorious homecoming of the Candace. No mention is made of the new Romulan ships in the ceremony. Patrick cannot find out why they are not being displayed.

Katana pulls him aside during the celebrations and tells him that they must reconcile their differences. She says she needs her warlock and she wants to have him look at those ships.

Patrick says that he does not wish to oppose the Federation, and that he does not understand her hatred of artificial life forms. He also says he's angry about how she has deceived him regarding his attempted communications with the Federation.

She offers him a compromise. She will allow him to veto any three missions proposed by the Romulans in the future. After consulting with Oshia and Atrax, he decides to accept. He and Atrax begin examining the new ships. They discover several bits of sabotage, from obvious to subtle. Eventually, however, he and Atrax get two ships "cleaned".

As they are reporting this, a distress call comes from a nearby star system: Tiberius I. Katana orders them to launch the Candace in response.

A Federation star system is being destroyed by a small Romulan fleet, and several Federation starships are assisting in the destruction.

Katana assembles a war party and beams on board the lead Romulan vessel. It is a new type of warship, not familiar to Patrick. They win several battles, advancing to the bridge. There are just inside the door when they a shield trap springs, automatically trapping them.

The Romulan captain confronts them. He tells them that the Romulans have uncovered a treachery wrought by someone deep within the Federation -- every artificial life form is equiped with a special code that allows them to re-programmed remotely using a tachyon beam.

He tells them that the Federation has sent several of these artficial life forms to the Romulan Empire. The Romulan general says it was foolish for them to have every trusted the Federation enough to accept them. Nevertheless, he says, the destruction of Tiberius I should be adequate revenge.

Katana tells him that he has the chance to withdraw or be destroyed. They then use their jump-warp transporters to beam out. As she fades out she says, "we now have the coordinates to beam to your bridge."

The Romulan ship continues to fire upon Tiberius I.

Moments later, Katana beams onto the bridge, fires a hand phaser twice killing two Romulans and then beams out.

The Romulans begin firing into space, hoping to hit the cloaked Candace.

Patrick beams onto the bridge next, near one of the consoles where a dead Romulan lays prostrate. He pressess three buttons, then beams out. As he fades he says, "shields down."

The Candace then de-cloaks and fires phasers and a full spread of photon torpedos. A chain reaction begins on the Romulan vessel, but before it explodes it manages to inflict severe damage on the Candace.

The other two Romulan vessels turn on the Candace, but before they come in range the two Romulan ships that Katana received in exchange for the datacard decloak and fire.

The battle is intense, with all ships taking heavy damage. Mutual destruction appears imminent.

Then the other Federation ships in the system engage, fighting against the Romulans.

The Federation ships are victorious, and after the battle the Candace is hailed. Dr. Jung is on screen. He says that they regained control of themselves once the lead Romulan ship was destroyed.

She tells him about the exchange with the Romulan captain, and tells him that it points out a fundamental flaw of artificial life forms. Their will is not their own. They have mercy only if they are programmed for it.

He agrees that is one of their vulnerabilities, but they are nevertheless self-aware and feel remorse for what they have done. He says that for his part, he will ask to be deactivated until a way to repair his positronic matrix can be discovered.

He tells her also that her anger and hatred are misdirected. She should not want to destroy artificial life forms, but the ones who direct them to ill ends.

She apologizes for handing the datacard to the Romulans and asks to be an ally with the Federation in obtaining revenge against the Romulans. Dr. Jung informs her that revenge is not the Federation's way, and that even if it were they would be unlikely to include her in such a plan. He tells her that she must atone for her guilt another way, then abruptly terminates communication and warps out.

In the final scene the camera focuses on the wreck of the Lady Sterling, in orbit around Tiberius I and the faces of its dead crew.

Conspiracy

Patrick is experimenting with the Fraxan devices he found. He realizes that they are designed to feed a device similar to a holodeck. The Candace is not equiped with one one, but he creates an interactive deck -- like the holodeck, but with lower quality 3d images only and no tactile experience.

Playing the device shows a Fraxan crew on the bridge of the ship the device was taken from. They are proceeding under cloak through Federation space. They go into orbit around a planet, Elipsa III, and begin low energy scans.

One of the Fraxans says that the planet is free of Kushar life forms and suggests they proceed to the next planet, Elipsa IV.

After doing the readings they find seven suspicious signatures. Mission teams are assembled to beam down to the planet and perform close range scans. The task is quickly accomplished, and all scans come back negative.

One of the Engineers then suggests that it was very odd that there were no false signatures on Elipsa III. He suggests that the Kushar may have developed countermeasures against the scans. They decide to return and send a mission team to Elipsa III.

The mission team beams down and begins scanning. Almost as soon as they transfer to the surface they pick up signals that a Federation transport's drive has malfunctioned and it is crashing to the surface.

The Fraxans attempt to beam back, but one of their party is lost.

Another mission team is sent, and they begin scanning in the midst of another city. Suddenly an earthquake begins, and several facilities in the city shut down. There is a momentary loss in their ability to scan/communicate and when it ends they find far fewer life forms in scanning range.

The captain beams up the mission team and orders de-cloaking for a high energy scan. They immediately identify Kushar life forms and he orders the transporters to lock on to the planet's core. He then gives the launch order. The main portion of the Fraxan ship dematerializes, only to re-materialize in Elipsa III's core.

Federation notice the intruder and begin firing. The Fraxan ship responds using its disrupters and destroys its attackers.

The Fraxans then watch as earth quakes and volcanic eruptions begin. The captain calls for a report and is told that the planet's surface temperature has risen by an average of 500 degrees and toxic gasses from the main weapon have blanketed the atmosphere.

The science officer then reports that three fortifications on the surface have withstood the attack and contain survivors. The captain orders quantum torpedos deployed.

When no life for readings remain, the log entry ends.

Katana orders the Candace to head toward Elipsa. When they arrive, they find that the Federation is busy cleaning up and re-terraforming Elipsa III. Significant progress has been made since nearly two years have elapsed since the log entry was made.

Using their jump-warp transporters, Patrick and Katana insert themselves on a tourist ship that is journeying toward some of the safe areas of the planet's surface.

There is a tremendous throng of people and aliens parading through the streets as they disembark. A young woman who is shabbily dressed comes up and begs them for money.

Katana looks puzzled. Patrick points out that the young woman bears the insignia of the actor's guild. He then pretends to give her money and asks her name. She identifies herself as Slavin, and she thanks him for his generosity. She says there are many at the poor house who could benefit from his kind attention, then leaves.

Patrick comments that she looked oddly familiar.

Katana asks about the actor's guild, and Patrick explains to her that the Poor House is likely the local theater, and that the girl was actually giving them an invitation to see the performance. Katana says that the Kushar do not have plays and the like, and asks why the girl was acting poor when the performance was not until later. Patrick tells her about method acting, and explains that sometimes the actors stay in character even when no one can see them.

Katana begins discretely operating a tricorder, scanning for Kushar life forms or remains. Patrick is looking around at the construction operation, commenting on the advanced technology being used.

In the background, people are being asked their names and purpose of their visit. Suddenly, Patrick and Katana are approached. A Federation offical asks their names and the purpose of their visit. After looking confused, Patrick blurts out that they are Mr. and Mrs. Cochrane. He quickly adds, no relation to "the" Cochrane.

When asked again about the purpose of visit Patrick says honeymoon. The Federation official tells them they are assigned to the ocean view suite on the seventh floor of the Plezon Hotel.

After the Federation official walks away, Katana asks him how he dared to identify them as being on a honeymoon. Somewhat flustered, he explains that he just heard someone else say the same thing and was trying to remain inconspicuous.

She nods and then grabs him and kisses him deeply, bending him over backwards. People around them all turn, and look -- laughing politely.

Then she tells him not to get any ideas, she's just playing along with with the story he gave. Then she adds, that she's always wanted to do that.

Patrick suddenly remembers the artificial life form that was made as a copy of Katana. She had said the same thing after kissing him.

Katana then suggests that they take a shuttle to one of the outer islands in the habitable zone. She suggests that perhaps they they will have a better chance to find a trace of the remains of a Kushar at that location.

Upon arrival at the outer island they veer away from the crowds and past a sign that says "Forbidden, Toxic Substances May be Present."

As they scramble across the rocky surface they get a weak signal from their tricorder and find the remains of a Kushar woman under a pile of rocks. Katana places a comm badge on her and tells the Candace to beam the body out.

Patrick then finds something else near by, a discarded tricorder. He replays the most recent voice entry on the device, and it asks Mr. and Mrs. Cochrane to please return it to Ms. Slavin after the midnight performance of the 22nd century play, "The Poor House."

They head back to the Plezon and look around their room. Katana comments on how bold he was to have suggested the that they were married or on a honeymoon. She tells him that a Kushar male would never have dared to do this.

He says that he never intended it to be a bold move, that he was only trying to remain inconspicuous. He trails off, and they stand in the room staring at one another. Patrick steps forward, puts his arms around her and begins kissing her.

She asks what his excuse is for this new boldness, and he says that he's just following her lead in pretending they are on a honeymoon. She points out that no one can see them, and he comments that he is "method acting."

They are interrupted by a transmission from Oshia aboard the Candace. She says that after examining the body they sent back she believes that the Kushar have integrated themselves into society on many Federation worlds and that the dead woman had contacts on many Federation worlds.

After the transmission Katana suggests that they have had enough "rehersals" for now, and need to head down for the play.

As they watch the show, Patrick tries to put his arm around Katana. She pushes it off and puts her arm around him.

After the show is over, they head back stage to meet the mysterious Slavin woman.

She says that the Fraxans were the ones who introduced the defect into the positronic brains produced by the Federation. She said it was part of a larger plot to kill of any Kushar that had hidden within the Federation populace.

She says that the Fraxans have penetrated into the Federation high command and are working on a master plan to rid the galaxy of the Kushar. She suggests that the Candace will need new and better allies in their espionage attempts against the Federation if they want to root out this threat, and suggests a group of Ferengi to ally with which go by the name of "The Brotherhood of Profit."

Katana asks how she can know all this. She smiles and says that the Fraxan ship had a backup copy of the logs Patrick took.

Patrick starts to comment that she looks so different from Katana, that he did not recoginze her. Slavin says that she needed to modify her appearance, to take on an identity distinct from Katana's.

Katana reacts in disgust, shouts "abomination" and begins firing her phaser at Slavin. Slavin dodges and laughs, she says that she really has to return to her ship and that she is envious of her honeymoon with Patrick. She then says he is a good kisser.

Katana turns on Patrick and asks him to explain that last comment. He says that she kissed him against his will, that it was in the report he made and that she should have known about it.

She asks whether he thinks Slavin is a better kisser. He points out that Slavin is getting away. Katana dismisses the comment saying that she will catch the abomination eventually.

She again demands an answer. He tells her that there are many Katana's: Slavin -- who he does not really know and does not really want. There is also a Katana with a barbaric hatred of artifical life forms, who is prone to fits of anger and revenge that he distrusts and fears. Then, finally, there is a Katana who is ready to lay down her life for anyone who is in trouble and whom he thinks he is falling in love with.

She comments that he did not answer her question, but that his answer is acceptable.

He asks what "acceptable" means. She says it means that she doesn't have to kill him. She then informs him that their mission, and the need to pretend they are on a honeymoon, is over. She contacts the Candace and they beam up with the jump-warp device.

Deadly Sting

Patrick is drinking coffee with Oshia and asking where Katana and the other half-Kushar get their fire from. He points out that the full-blooded Kushar are not that way, nor are humans. Oshia reminds him that there is some Romulan blood. Patrick shakes his head. He says he does not see how that is enough to make this Klingon/Amazon people. Oshia suggests that sometimes mixtures produce unexpected results, things different from either of the two things mixed.

Suddenly the deck shakes and the ship's alarms sound. Patrick runs to engineering.

He is told that they have just encountered subspace turbulence, possibly the result of a subspace weapon being used in the vicinity. He calls the bridge and tells them that the cloaking field cannot be kept stable under these circumstances.

The ship begins to rock as if being fired upon, and Patrick is asked to come to the bridge. He does so quickly.

Katana asks that the warlock examine the science station. Patrick tells her that there is a massive subspace disturbance being created within seven astronomical units, and that it is in danger of creating a tear in the subspace fabric.

Katana asks him how the source can safely be approached. Patrick explains that it cannot, and that even staying at this distance is likely to prove fatal. Katana says she will not leave, faint echos of Fraxan life-signs are discernable in this region of space and she needs to know what they are up to.

Patrick tells her that if she can detect them, maybe they can detect her and perhaps what they need is more distance. It should not be easy to track them by staying on the outermost edge of the disturbances.

Katana concurs, then dismisses him from the bridge.

On his way back to Engineering he meets Belzo in the turbolift. Belzo begins bragging about his status as a man who is mated, and the fact that his bride is a Vulcan makes him unique. He then offers Patrick condolences on being demoted in status -- since other consorts are being called by Katana to wash her feet.

Patrick says that in his culture it would actually be counted as a humiliation to be ordered to wash someone's feet. Then he asks Belzo if Kusahrans actually mate for love, or if it is all about status, control, and mind games.

Belzo is quiet for a bit, then tells Patrick not to worry, he is sure Katana will choose him in the end.

Once Patrick is in engineering Atrax greets him. She tells him that the subspace disturbances are really extraordinarily regular, the ripples can be shown to follow a pattern described by a famous Vulcan mathematician. She suggests that the field could be navigated.

Patrick says that there can be no Vulcan involved in this, since Vulcans would not violate the Khitomer Accords in this fashion. She concurs, and points out that the language of mathematics is universal and this could easily have been a discovery that the Fraxans made on their own.

Patrick suggests that this might be a kind of signal, intended for a Vulcan audience. He calls the bridge and asks if a Vulcan ship is visible on long range scan. He is told that there are three.

Patrick proposes that he and Atrax be sent as spies -- since the presence of a Kusharan might be detected by the Fraxans. Katana says she wants her warlock better protected than that. Patrick offers to take Klorg 12, the robotic Klingon warrior that they normally keep deactivated. She agrees, reluctantly.

The three of them tunnel warp into one of the engineering conduits of the lead Vulcan ship. They then make their way cautiously to an engineering access room, where Atrax tells them they can operate one of the bridge cameras.

They watch as the Vulcan vessels navigate through the subspace distortions, using their knowledge of its mathematical pattern, to arrive at a small fleet of Fraxan warships.

The Fraxans hail them, and a kind of negotiation occurs. The Fraxans say that they will avoid destroying Vulcan, Earth, and several other Federation planets if the Vulcans will assist them in their upcoming vote.

The Vulcans express doubt that the Fraxans can carry out this threat, and the Fraxans reveal that they destroeyd Elipsa III.

The Vulcans ask what assurance they have that they or other Federation worlds will not be destroyed regardless, and the Fraxans explain they are an artificial life form with one central directive: exterminate the Kushar. That was what they were made for.

Then they explain, they have a secondary directive to avoid destroying other races if an alternative can be found.

The Vulcans ask how they could destroy Elipsa III if this is so. The Fraxans respond that it was just one planet really, a small demonstration of their power.

The Vulcans reluctantly agree to the Fraxan terms.

The Fraxans also want the Vulcans to release certain genetically modified insects on worlds where they find Kushar. These are transported over.

Atrax manages to hack into the Vulcan computer system and downloads biological readouts on the various insects the Fraxan's want the Vulcans to use.

Before they can get back in range of the jump-warp transporter they are discovered. Vulcan security rushes in to stop them and Klorg 12 is hit a few times with a phaser -- but is unharmed.

Atrax is singed by one phaser shot and yells out in Vulcan.

The Vulcans ask her to surrender, and she tells them that what they are doing is wrong. They argue that it is the logical choice, that this one race should die rather than all the worlds of the Federation. During this exchange, a buzzing sound is heard. Patrick realizes what it is, and tries to contact Katana and call-off the beamup. He is too late, and several of the insects are transported to the Candace.

Patrick tells them to lock down the transporter room, that a bio-hazard is present. One of the male Kushar gets stung before all the pests can be destroyed. He is then rushed to sick bay. Katana comes to his bedside and a brief ritual is performed, the Vesta, in which they dying professes his loyalty to the queen, and she praises his service.

After examining the body, Oshia says that had she not known he was healthy beforehand, she would have thought his death was caused by a congenital heart defect. She says that many Kushar might die before someone realizes they were being poisoned.

Katana calls a conference. She asks for a plan, something to save her people.

Oshia suggests they may be able to create innoculations against the venom. Katana says that is only a short term solution, that the Fraxans will simply come back and destroy the Federation in order to kill the Kushar.

Oshia points out that the Federation might be able to stop them. Katana says that she will not use another race underhandedly as a shield. There must be an honest alliance if the Fraxan and the Federation are to go to war.

Oshia becomes slightly agitated, asking how she can care about honor when her race is at stake. But Katana is firm.

Patrick suggests they go ahead and propose the alliance with the Federation. Katana vetos that as well, she says that they already know that there are others inside the Federation High Command who work for the Fraxans.

Patrick then proposes using the newly aquired Romulan ships to go through the Federation and start removing the Kushar people. He suggests that at the same time they work to find out who it is in the Federation high command has been compromised, and try and contact the other members secretly so that the Fraxan infiltration can be exposed and a Kushar-Federation alliance formed.

Katana asks how, and Patrick suggests they wake up Dr. Jung and ask him to help. In his position at the Sung Institute he had many highly placed contacts.

Katana complains that Dr. Jung is one of the enemy, an artificial life form. Patrick says that his programming is different, that he is likely to be sympathetic to their cause. Katana points out that he is vulnerable to remote control via tachyonic pulse because hi was part of a series of artificial life forms that contained Fraxan subroutines burned deep in their positronic brains.

Patrick says that he has an idea to solve that -- a set of very small tachyon beam reflectors that would confuse and disrupt the control signal sent to the positronic brain. He says that this may result in blocking the signal, so that only partial or intermittant control would be achieved -- or perhaps a seizure.

Katana eventually agrees.

That evening Katana summons Patrick for a foot-washing. For once she insists that he actually do it, and that the ritual be followed.

Dr. Jung

The episode opens with Patrick and Katana kissing passionately in her bedchamber, amidst a great number of candles. Suddenly, Patrick awakens, sweating and short of breath. He gets up, goes to the sink and washes his face, staring at himself in the mirror.

He walks to engineering and Belzo is working there, performing a simple task. He starts to ask Patrick about this Vulcans. He does not understand why Atrax, his wife, does not eat the flesh of animals. Belzo says she will not even eat the game he brings back from the deck reserved for hunting. And most of all, he is perplexed that she does not command him but treats him as an equal. He asks if all Federation women are this way.

Patrick tries to explain that the Federation is made of all different kinds of races, that Vulcans are just one of them.

An alarm sounds. Patrick asks rhetorically why Katana always has to push the warp engines so hard.

Atrax runs in and scrambles to her console. She complains that she did not get a chance to finish the re-calibrations from the previous evening -- the requisite settling time of 14 hours for the main reactor did occur. She asks Belzo for a core-flux scanner. He bows, and runs off.

Atrax comments to Patrick how satisfying it is to have a mate that is so eager to obey and please her. There is none of the petty squabling, argument and so on that she would normally have expected.

Patrick asks if this mate choice still seems logical. She states that it is. She says that it is important to build connections to new and different races. Then she comments that physically he is well proportioned, that he washes her feet, that he was there when the pon farr was upon her to save her. At this an uncharacteristically vulcan smile flashes across her face, but she quickly supresses it. She apologizes, explaining that she has Klava's syndrome, a condition which causes her to, on occasion, give a sudden and brief expression of emotion. She says that it is not readily accepted by Vulcans, and it is another reason she chose a non-Vulcan mate.

Belzo returns, she thanks him and starts using the tool.

Katana informs Patrick via communicator that they are near the Sung Institute and that they need to get ready to operate the jump-warp transporters.

They enter the institute at night. In Dr. Jung's quarters. They find him lying, deactivated, in his bed. A railing is set up near the door -- apparently so students can come and see their teacher lying in state.

Patrick scurries around the room, gathering items of clothing and various other possessions. Katana tells him it is not necessary, but Patrick says that they need to make Dr. Jung feel at home. She complains that he is a machine, but allows Patrick to complete the task.

Patrick puts a holographic imager in place so that the theft will not be noticed too quickly.

They beam up. Dr. Jung is wheeled to what will be his quarters. Patrick has things set up similarly to his room at the institute. Then they awaken him.

He sits up and asks if a method to repair his positronic brain has been discovered. When Patrick says no, Dr. Jung recommends that he be deactivated again. Patrick explains to him what the problem is and why he is there. He also shows him the devices he has constructed to interfere with the tachyon signal.

Dr. Jung expresses gratitude for the opportunity to prove to the Kushar that artificial life forms are trustworthy and not deserving of the hatred of the Kushar.

He tells them that he is not intimately familiar with the members of the high command, but he does know that they have planned a meeting on Risa. He suggests that they infiltrate the conference and look for Fraxans.

Dr. Jung says that they will all need to disguise themselves somewhat. Patrick adopts a beard, mustache, and changed hair color. Katana dresses like a woman of Risa and also modifies her hair color.

Dr. Jung picks up a case from among his belongings and opens it. There are several faces inside it. He detaches the front of his head, and replaces his face. Katana shudders in horror.

Patrick warns that it will not be easy to obtain access to the various hotels and meeting rooms, that security is much tighter on Risa, adequately forged identity cards will not be easy to come by and rigorously checked.

The next scene they are standing in one of the state rooms and Judith is passing out identity cards and invitations. She is explaining that a Ferengi was responsible for security, and she was able to convince him to forge the identification they need by simply rubbing his ears, his "lobes".

Patrick complains that this is impossible, Federation security is never this lax.

Dr. Jung appears and tells them that he is posing as the chief engineer for terraforming in sector 187, and that they are his entourage. Patrick is his chief engineer, Katana is his security officer, and so on. The gathering tonight is to honor a new race that are to received into the Federation.

Katana, Patrick, etc. join the party -- many races, types of entertainment, food and beverages are being widely distributed. The Federation President is giving a speech about the process of obtaining membership, it's traditions, and so on.

The search process that Katana wishes to carry out consists of briefly mingling with many guests and doing surreptitious tricorders operating at very low energy. At this setting it should be possible to identify the basic race of the person scanned. They split up and begin.

As Patrick is passing one of the tables a girl calls to him by name. She comments on his new look.

He recognizes her as Susan, a former girlfriend, and makes a few attempts to get away from her. She hints that they should go to her place, but Patrick says he's got a woman in his life.

She asks if it's that Queen of the Kushar that he left the Leonardo for. He reluctantly admits it. She questions him on what it is like being the consort for a savage barbarian queen. He says he is never really sure if it's a relationship or if he's the straight man in some kind of elaborate comedy routine -- but he is quite sure that she would kill any woman who showed too much interest in him. With that he excuses himself and continues his search.

As he moves about the room he discovers that a few of the members of the council are actually artificial life forms.

He meets up again with Katana, and they compare notes. She tells him that Dr. Jung also identified a member of the high council that is an artificial life form. He says he believes that the man was replaced by the clinic on New Glastonbury before the crew of the Candace destroyed it.

Patrick agrees that that makes sense. He tells Katana that it means that at least four members of the high council have potentially been compromised and are suseptible to being controlled using a tachyonic signal.

Just then the President announces a representive of the newest member race in the Federation -- the Fraxans. Three Fraxans step up to the podium. One of them gives a speech, talking about how pleased he is that prejudice against artificial life forms, like theirs, is abating. He tells them that the Fraxans are a peaceful race, they have never had any quarrel except with the war-like Kushar. He says that it is his hope that with the help of the Federation, the Kushar can be persuaded to put aside their hostilities.

The Fraxan Cluster, he explains, occupies nearly fifty worlds, and these worlds welcome all visitors from the Federation, and hope that the invitation will be reciprocated -- for the Fraxans love to travel and explore.

Dr. Jung walks by Patrick and tells him to grab Katana and the others and prepare to beam out. He also says to check on his spare faces when he returns to the ship.

He then walks toward the podium and begins talking to the Fraxans. He approaches one of them and points toward Patrick and Katana. Katana gives the order and they beam out.

Just as they are fading out, however, an Andorian leaps after them. He arrives with them on the deck of the Candace and after a brief combat escapes to through the turbolift.

The red-alert sounds and Patrick heads to engineering as Katana heads to the bridge. The Andorian gets to engineering and manages to deactivate the cloaking device. As soon as he does so, he is brought down by Kusharan phaser fire. Wires fall and sparks shoot from his wounds -- instead of blood.

Before Patrick can re-engage the cloak a Fraxan ship opens fire on the Candace. The first two shots bring down the deflectors, a rapid third shot punches a hole through the main disk and the ship is sent tumbling through space.

The next shot is blocked by a Klingon deflector field. Nearly twenty Klingon ships de-cloack and fire disrupters. In the counter-fire, one Klingon ship is destroyed.

The Fraxan ship is distracted and Patrick re-engages the cloak. Once this happens the Klingons also engage their cloaks and the battle is ended.

The Klingons contact the Candace and tell her that they were glad to come to her aid. She says she is in debt to them, and for the honorable blood spilled in this battle.

They then watch a Federation newsfeed which describes a Kusharan plot to infiltrate and disrupt the proceedings on Risa, and how the Fraxans were able to drive off the Candace as well as a band of rebel Klingons that were in the plot with her. A quote from Dr. Jung is shown in which he says the he believes the Kusharans were trying to plant a bomb. Katana screams in anger.

Patrick quickly explains that Dr. Jung warned him to leave, and he believes that he is still working for them. He says he was told to check Dr. Jung's other faces.

They return to Dr. Jung's quarters and discover that the disembodied faces can speak and see. The face of Dr. Jung explains that he was designed with espionage capability, therefore he is connected to his faces by an encrypted subspace link. He warns that this link is not long range.

He tells them that he has convinced the Fraxans that he desires to help them in their cause of protecting artificial life forms, that he agrees with their goal of destroying Kusharans, and that he can help them identify and destroy their enemy.

He says at the moment he is helping them access the Federation security network so that they can scan more easily for Kushar life forms. He says he is trying to steer them away from several worlds -- so that in a worst case scenario some Kushar will be saved. He warns that the Kushar sphere is to be one of their first targets when they decide to make their move. He estimates that they have two weeks until the Fraxans launch their final assault on the Kushar sphere.

Nanites

Patrick performs a test fire of a Romulan plasma weapon, which he has fitted to the Candace's deflector dish. He explains to Katana that it is a useful weapon only as long as the enemy target has lost warp capability.

They discuss what they might use to feed and store the nanites if they agree to help them against the Fraxans.

Katana expresses appreciation, then asks him if he would like to decide what to do with Susan -- his former girlfriend. She explains that they captured her after she talked to Patrick because she had been worried at the time that she'd tell other people about the conference.

Patrick asks to go and talk to her. He tries to tell her about what the Fraxans are up to and to see if she can convince her current boyfriend, who is an Admiral in Starfleet, to help them.

She tells him that what he is asking is completely against the Prime Directive. The Federation has no business getting involved in any fight between the Fraxans and the Kusharans. She tells him that maybe the Kusharans aren't meant to survive.

She then explains to him that he has always let his heart rule his head, and that's why he did not get the promotion to chief engineer despite his technical excellence. She tells him that she knows he could not order one of his people to their death for the sake of saving the ship, and that he he would always try and bend the Prime Directive if some alien people looked like they were in trouble.

She also tells him that he does not belong with the Kusharans. She talks about how the male guards at her cell are always bowing to her, how men are second class citizens among these people. She says it reminds her of an insect colony.

She then suggests that Patrick escape and go back to the Federation. She tells him that maybe if he does this, he will have shown he can make the kind of hard decision needed to be in a position of leadership such as chief engineer.

Patrick tells her that he is not leaving, and gives her some of the evidence that he has that the Federation has been infiltrated by the Fraxans. He says that even if the Federation does not want to help the Kusharans, they should be interested in stopping the Fraxans from using them in this plot. He then leaves.

Katana meets him, and asks him what should be done with Susan. Patrick says that he wants to return her to the Federation as soon as possible. Katana then asks if Patrick wants to go with her.

He tells her that he doesn't understand why she would ask this question.

She explains that she thinks it is very likely that her people are doomed, and that there is no need for Patrick to die with them.

She explains that when he first joined her crew, she had intended to keep their relationship professional, that she simply needed a talented engineer. But it bothered her that one of her men was not really paying attention to her. So she began looking for opportunities to call on him for foot washing.

When he got involved in fighting the other males, and she saw that he was trainging with Klorg 12, becoming a warrior, fighting a hopeless battle against a physically superior foe -- all for her -- she began to have strong feelings for him.

He asks her how it is that she can be so calm in this situation. She explains that she has put on the mind of a warrior. Kusharans are able, to put themselves in a mental state where they are focused on achieving an objective -- and until they complete it their emotions are completely suppressed.

He then tells her that he is not planning to leave. He explains that she made him chief engineer for his abilities, for who he was, not requiring him to be willing to order his own people to their deaths, etc. He tells her that his one hope is that when he dies, she will recite the Vesta.

He then explains that he has told Susan that they are taking all the Kusharans back to the sphere to make a last stand, and the project will take two months. He says that if word gets back to the Fraxans, they may put their plans on hold until all the Kusharans are in one place.

Katana is pleased, and Susan is dropped off at a nearby starbase.

They then continue to Kavis Alpha IV where they approach the nanites. They hail the nanites, but have trouble establishing a communication link -- the nanites do not seem willing to communicate by subspace.

The nanites launch several probes -- clumps of living nanites that attach to the sides of Candace and then connect themselves to the main screen. Katana allows this. She asks them for aid in destroying the Fraxan spheres -- but they turn on her.

They tell her that the Kushar seem to be an enemy of the Federation, and that they have decided to steal the Candace in order to use it to spread themselves through space. Katana orders the plasma weapon to be fired against several spaceborn clumps of nanites and threatens to use the weapon against Kavis Alpha IV itself if they don't release the ship.

It takes several seconds for them to respond. Patrick hails her and tells her the nanites are moving through the Candace, that he believes they are trying to take control of the plasma weapon.

Katana begs the nanites to release the Candace, she says she has no desire to use this weapon against their planet.

Patrick tells her that the plasma weapon is now offline and they are losing life support. She asks for phasers and photon torpedos -- only to find that the nanites have rapidly taken them offline also.

She takes off for engineering. Some of the turbo lifts are offline, and she has to crawl through the interior of the ship. When she gets there, she is greeted by Patrick who has erected a forcefield around the engines. He says they will not be able to penetrate it easily.

Katana tells him they are done for, to set the ship on a course to collide with Kavis Alpha IV and to detonate the warp core at high altitude. Patrick nodds, and says that this action may exterminate every nanite on the planet.

She asks if he will do it.

He answers that really, at this point, it is just about choosing how he will die. The nanites have already cut off life support.

He begins the lines of the Vesta, asking his queen if he has served her honorably. She answers. He starts the impulse engines at 70%, aiming the ship directly at Kavis Alpha IV.

The nanites enter the comm system and offer to release the Candace if they will break off the attack. Katana agrees, but only after Patrick can say that the ship scan shows that systems are repaired and the nanites are gone.

The deal is accepted.

Katana announces their next destination is a return to the Poseidar.

Poseidar

As the Candace approaches the last recorded location of the Poseidar they spot it on long range scanners -- it's cloak has been deactivated. Attempts to hail them are unsuccessful, and Katana orders a cautious approach.

As they get closer, a number of sub-space anomolies are discovered. The Candace begins evasive manuevering to avoid damage. Patrick says the anomolies are the result of subspace weapons.

When they get closer a more detailed scan of the Poseidar is made. It's all bad news: no life signs, toxic gases in its atmosphere, numerous breaches to its hull, Fraxan weapon signatures everywhere. The crew is very silent for a moment, then Katana heads to sickbay to talk to Oshia.

The normally composed Oshia weeps, she talks about the males that were in her service and how she no longer has any hope of having children.

Just then, a ship appears on close range scanners, in the midst of the sub-space turbulence -- and it turns out to be the Candace herself. Katana hails the alternate Candace and is greeted by Captain Solomon. She says she is pleased to meet him again, but he does not know who she is. She explains, briefly, that she is his descendent.

Captain Solomon's ship was badly damaged as a result of the subspace disturbances. Their sickbay was damaged, their doctor knocked unconscious -- and they were on their way to respond to a natural disaster on a nearby planet: Dexar VI.

Patrick identifies the area of the disturbance the Candace came through and suggests that a tachyon ray might stabilize the gate and allow the alternate Candace to return to where it came from. It works better than anticipated -- a gate is formed between to points in spacetime.

With Patrick's aid, both Candaces fly through the part of the disturbance that is acting as a time/space gate. Patrick tells them the gate should last at least two weeks.

Patrick begins repairs on the alternate Candace, and Oshia begins healing their crew. Their doctor remains unconscious.

Captain Solomon offers to help in sick bay, since the crew there is short-handed. He had served in sick bay prior to his promotion and had nearly gotten his degree as a doctor.

When the arrive at Dexar, Captain Solomon continues aiding Oshia in treating the injured there. He talks about his recently deceased wife, and he and Oshia share their stories of grief.

When everything is back in order, there is still a week of remaining before the gate closes. Oshia announces that Captain Solomon has agreed to become hers, and that she has decided to have children with him.

They travel to the Kushar sphere, and Patrick watches as Captain Solomon and Oshia enter the Kusharan temple for their honeymoon.

Just before the Candace departs Patrick is surprised to see that Captain Solomon and Oshia have emerged from the temple. Their child is fully grown. It is explained to him that time passes more quickly inside the temple.

Oshia returns to the Candace, telling Captain Solomon that she must do her duty to server there as a doctor. Captain Solomon says he understands since he must also return to his time with and command the Candace. They both pledge their hearts to one another in the hopes of meeting again some day.

Their son decides to stay with Captain Solomon.

The Candace returns to its own time, and investigates the destroyed Poseidar sphere. They find bodies of the Poseidarans stacked outside the temple, and a console on its ruined temple wall is activated. It turns out that the Fraxans have gone through the temple records meticulously accounted for each of the dead.

As the episode closes there is a close-up of Oshia's face on the console. A word underneath says, "Missing".

The Warlock

The episode opens in Dr. Jung's quarters, they are speaking to his disembodied face. Dr. Jung tells them that since the Kushar have begun evacuation back to the sphere the Fraxans have delayed their attack plans. The final invasion is now two months away. The crew rejoices at this small bit of good news.

Patrick tries to convince the Kushar to flee, or at least to send out several "arks" to preserve the Kushar people. The Kushar are all rather irrationally opposed to the idea.

A subspace transmission from the Kushar sphere is received. They say that a warlock has been born and emerged from the temple. They also say he has made great strides in repairing the sphere's defenses.

Patrick tries to ask Katana about this new warlock, but she avoids the issue. It is obvious that she is not happy, although she says she is.

Upon arrival, the Kushar people are celebrating because a new warlock has been found.

When the Candace arrives they need to use subspace communication to initiate docking because the sphere's cloaking device is working again.

The new warlock is given to Katana as one of her consorts, she accepts him. When he comes aboard the Candace he is eager to learn all about the ship, engines, etc. Patrick explains things to him and is amazed at how quickly he learns things.

Patrick and the warlock also share some other interests -- unlike the Kushar the warlock appreciates music and art. Patrick gives him a sampling of the great music from earth and later finds the warlock listening to five different songs at the same time -- and being able to appreciate each one simultaneously.

They decide to journey back to the Poseidar to see what more they can learn about its defeat.

They recover a recording of millions of Fraxan ships converging on the sphere. The invaders use subspace weapons are used to penetrate the cloak and fracture the outer hull. A sort of advanced disrupter weapon is deployed after that, with large numbers of attacking ships focusing together on a single point.

The Poseidar's many canons were effective against the Fraxans, but there were just too many attackers.

The warlock suggests that he thinks he can modify the Romulan plasma weapon, and make it more powerful. He suggests that this modified weapon could be effective against large numbers of relatively small ships. He says he has some ideas on how to proceed, and Patrick, Atrax, and the warlock begin working on the new weapon. Patrick and Atrax have trouble keeping up with his thoughts and struggle just to make a contribution.

Eventually, Patrick realizes he is outclassed and gives up. He goes to engineering and works on fine tuning the warp engines. He finds a persistent oscillation in one component of the engines but is unable to isolate the cause.

While he works Katana comes in to see him. He tells her she should be pleased about the warlock's progress on the weapon.

She says she is glad for that, but she says that even if it ultimately saves her people she is still more glad for the man who kept the Candace's engines running, who invented the jump-warp transporter, who fitted the Romulan plasma weapon to the Candace, etc. She tells him that whatever happens she wants him to know that she is deeply grateful for what he has done and for the time they've had together. He tries to ask her what she means by that, but she leaves without explaining, apparently upset.

From that point on, Katana only calls the new warlock for foot washing.

Later, everyone assembles on the main deck for a demonstration of the modified plasma weapon against drones etc. The results are impressive. The warlock says he can build large scale devices which should be effective against the invading Fraxans.

Patrick asks if they've done any simulations of the combat against the Fraxans yet, and what their chances will be against millions of attackers. He is told Atrax is working on that.

Patrick consults Atrax, and she shows him a simulation where the Kushar sphere survives. Patrick sits down with her and analyzes the data and suggests some alternative attack strategies for the Fraxans based on what he knows about their ships. She tells him the warlock programmed the Fraxans and she doesn't think they should mess with his work.

Patrick proceeds anyhow. His program for the Fraxans is based on a far less cautious strategy -- Fraxan ships charge at the plasma weapons in a long stream and attempt to overwhelm it before it can recharge.

The end result is that the Fraxans will win, small numbers of their ships survive long enough to inflict damage it will just be a lot more costly to them.

When the simulations are shown to Katana and the warlock, the warlock becomes very angry with Patrick. That night when Katana summons the warlock for foot washing, Patrick challenges him. Patrick is amazed at how easily he can defeat the warlock in hand to hand combat. The warlock is not nearly as fast and dextrous as the other Fraxans. He is more like a human combatant.

When Patrick at Katana's quarters, Katana is releaved to see him. She tells Patrick not to be too upset with her, however, if she does not seem herself. The warlock, she explains, is in her mind, trying to control her, and giving her a headache.

Patrick just tells her to relax. He suggests that he give her a massage instead of a foot washing. She agrees. After a time she realizes her headache is gone. She decides she wants some tea, attempts to stand and finds she is a bit clumsy.

She then realizes that she cannot hear any telepathic chatter from the other Kushar. She tells Patrick that she thinks this is the mental state, like the "mind of the warrior," called the "quiet mind." She says up to now she has not been able to achieve it.

Patrick asks how a massage could trigger a new mental state. She explains that as she was meditating as Patrick worked, that she was attempting to enter the mind of the warrior -- but it seemed to just make the headache worse. So she tried focusing her meditation in other ways until she found one that relieved the headache.

When Patrick finds the warlock the next day, the warlock seems quite agitated. His eyes are bloodshot and he is working harder on the modified plasma weapon -- trying to improve its range, power, and recharge rate. He has been awake all night. Atrax is working with him, trying to steady his nerves and Oshia is periodically giving him injections and telling him he needs to rest.

Patrick goes back to the engine room to see what more he can accomplish there.

He soon realizes that the oscillation in the engine subsystem is actually some form of transmission. It seems to be a starfleet transmission, but shifted way off its normal frequency. He then traces it to the subspace anomaly outside the Poseidar, a faint remnant of the subspace weapon barrage employed by the Fraxans.

He puts the transmission on a viewscreen, and discovers that he is looking at a message from the Future.

He sets the computer to record everything, then calls Katana and the crew to see what he is looking at.

They all assemble to watch the transmission.

It is a news program broadcast from the future, talking about politics on earth, etc. A discussion of vacation spots is the next topic. It is suggested for the adventurous that a trip to a Fraxan sphere is an interesting choice. It says that when the Fraxans destroyed the last Kusharan habitation a decade ago, they withdrew into their spheres and went to sleep. Dr. Jung, the head of research into the Fraxan culture, had explained that their program had reached completion, and that they had placed themselves into a low-level maintenance state.

As they watch, the red alert sounds. Fraxan ships have been sighted coming in to patrol the wreckage of the Poseidar.

To be continued....

The Warlock, conclusion

The Candace is orbiting inside the wreckage of the Poseidar sphere, examining the wreckege when the red alert begins sounding.

Scans reveal that the Fraxans have placed ships guarding the exits to the wrecked Poseidar sphere, and have sent other ships on patrol inside. They are using their subspace disruption weapon to try and detect cloaked ships. Computer analysis shows that it is only a matter of time until they are found. The crew speculates on whether the Fraxans know the Candace is there or not.

Katana is not in any real state to command, however, she is in a state known as "quiet mind." Her reflexes are dulled and her telepathic ability is not functioning.

Katana talks to Oshia about how to leave the "quiet mind" state since she does not seem to be recovering on her own. She says she now realizes that this was the same state that the Fraxans induced in her when she fought them once before (see Episode 4). Oshia gives her a shot of something she calls neural stimulant UX-40 and Katana returns to normal.

The warlock is eager to use the new modified plasma weapon to clear one of the exits of its Fraxan guard and make a run for it. Katana states that she does not want to reveal their new weapon before the final battle defending Kushar.

Patrick suggests that they need a decoy. A quick review of scans of the damaged sphere reveal sufficient parts to patch together one of the smaller Poseidar attack ships (a "raider") -- except for an intact hull. Oshia says that she's pretty sure she knows where a hull can be found.

They dart around the inside of the Poseidar as quickly as possible without being detected and collect parts by using their jump-warp transporter. Several attempts are made to get the warlock to rest, but he will not. He frantically works on each new piece of equipment as they beam it up.

When they have all they need, the go to get the hull. It is on a small planet that orbits the star inside the Poseidar sphere. The planet contains a race the Poseidarans rescued from a supernova. In a museum on the inner world is a Poseidar raider hull, a present/monument given by the Poseidarans to the race they saved.

Katana, Patrick, et. al. beam down to the planet's capitol and ask for permission to take the raider hull. They are told that the Fraxans have an ongoing effort to search for any missing Poseidarans on the planet surface. Taking the hull of the raider ship would certainly be noticed.

The crew quickly devises an elaborate plan for stealing the raider hull. They will induce a series of small earthquakes by beaming small charges to key places under the planet surface. At the same time these quakes occur, charges will be detonated inside the museum.

The first quake and explosion will cause the museum to be evacuated and shut down. When this occurs, the Candace will send its engineers along with parts into the raider hull to begin work.

The second quake and explosion will create a large hole in the ceiling near the raider. It will occur just after the raider's systems come online. The raider will fly out under cover of cloak, and holographic projectors will be put in place to make it look like it has not been stolen.

The plan goes well. However, just before the ship is fully operational the warlock collapses from exhaustion, and Patrick and Atrax are forced to guess about how some of the technology goes together. The raider launches successfully and it is launched at a chosen exit.

Katana herself insists on piloting the craft. The plan is that she will get close to one of the ships guarding the exit, then bring down her cloak and open fire. If she can successfully knock out the Fraxan shields on the ship guarding the exit she will attempt to charge past it and escape the sphere.

No one expects the raider to actually make it to freedom, but they are expecting it to bring down the shield of the guard ship so that the Candace can escape under cloak. Katana is to be beamed out before the raider is destroyed.

The plan does not work easily. It takes several shots and evasions before the raider can bring down the guard ships shield, and in that time the other Fraxan ships begin rapidly converging on the location.

As soon as the shield is down, the raider shoots past the guard ship and Katana is beamed out. The Candace follows close on its heels. As soon as it is clear, Fraxan ships positioned outside the sphere open fire. But their weapons they use do not destroy the target vessel. They pass through it in ghostly fashion.

Because of the density of shots fired, the cloaked Candace is also hit by the strange rays. The Kusharans are stunned, they stagger about barely able to walk. Oshia is knocked unconscious, but Patrick and Atrax are unaffected.

Between them, Patrick and Atrax fly the Candace to freedom.

Katana gives Oshia a shot of neural stimulant UX-40 and she recovers. They then work on restoring the rest of the crew to normal.

To Sleep Perchance to Dream

As the episode opens we see the warlock lying unconscious on his bed in sick bay. Oshia is telling Katana that the warlock was just emotionally and psychically over-wrought, and mentally drained and that the prognosis for recovery is good. Oshia tells Katana that the warlock should regain consciousness within a day. The camera does a close up of his face, and it is clear that his eyes are darting back and forth under his eyelids.

The scene changes to a simulation of a massive Fraxan attack against the Kushar sphere. Massive numbers of the modified plasma weapons are being fired repeatedly from all over its surface. As the weapon fires, its characteristic ring of fire expands until it connects with the neighboring rings. When this occurs they interlock and become an expanding mesh of polygons, sweeping across the Fraxan attackers and destroying them.

Then, suddenly, other images flash by. Romulans, a planetary base, Romulan families. The scene fades.

The Candace is in orbit around the planet Kanza, and Katana is asking about how many Kushar have been located on the planet's surface.

Kanaza is a Federation allied world, having only the most primitive warp technology. It is on the border of Federation and Romulan space, embedded deep inside a dust cloud.

The dust cloud blocks traditional transporters, subspace signals, and limits the speed a ship can travel under cloak (above 1/4 impulse the ship will create a wake that will make it visible).

The Candace suddenly detects a transmission from a Romulan ship. The Romulans seem to know the Candace is there, and are broadcasting a challenge to de-cloak and engage in combat.

The crew of the Candace sense a large Romulan fleet, possibly seven ships.

Katana does not respond and waits to see what the Romulans intend to do.

The Romulan ships de-cloak and fire slow moving missiles toward the planet.

Katana decides they must use the new plasma weapon to stop the missiles. If they try and use phasers they will become sitting ducks. She announces that the enemy must be completely destroyed if they do this, or the Fraxans may find out about the plasma weapon.

They de-cloak briefly and fire. The plasma ring spreads out and destroys all the incoming missiles.

Meanwhile the crew of the Candace forms raiding parties and uses the jump-warp to board the cloaked Romulan vessels.

The Romulans have anticpated this tactic and have set traps in some locations -- android warriors with reflexes fast enough to battle Kusharans are deployed on everywhere. Some raiding parties fail and Kusharan warriors are lost.

The raiding parties capture three of the seven Romulan ships and the battle continues both hand to hand and ship to ship.

The Candace itself has to continue firing its plasma weapon to stop the waves of missiles being launched at the planet's surface. Because of this it cannot remain cloaked. Several direct hits are sustained the Candace's main hull and shields go down.

A Romulan war party beams aboard the Candace.

Patrick activates Klorg 12 to defend him as he works to get the shields back on line. Klorg 12 defeats two Romulan attackers.

The last two Romulan ships begin a full retreat, and three captured Romulan vessels pursue, weapons firing. The battle approaches a moon, and suddenly weapons fire erupts from the moon. One of the Kusharan controlled Romulan vessels is hit and explodes. The warriors on board manage to escape in a shuttle.

Patrick repairs the shields, and the Candace approaches the moon base. When they get close, they de-cloak and fire the plasma weapon. They then cloak and begin evasive manuvers while the moonbase attempts to fire back. After this tactic is repeated several times the canon on the lunar surface ceases to fire.

The Candace approaches and finds the wreckage of a Romulan base just a meter under the ground. The complex apparently was a clandestine military base, complete with factories, supply ships, and the like.

Patrick and Atrax determine that with a day's work they can fix and modify the factories and begin a large scale production of the modified plasma weapon designed by the warlock.

As they begin work they stumble upon the wreckage of a residential complex where hundreds of Romulan families lay dead -- all of them killed during the Candace's bombardment.

Patrick returns to the Candace and confronts Katana and asks her if she knew about this, given her telepathic connection to Romulans.

She tells him that she could sense a large number of Romulans -- she did not know genders and ages. She said she felt a massive burning hatred from them that made it difficult to detect anything. She says that she does not understand how they could have so much rage -- Romulans have never hated Kusharans.

Katana then tells Patrick that she has just received word that there is a Romulan in sick bay. They rush to see -- and there is indeed a Romulan there, standing at the foot of the warlock's bed, trembling and shaking.

The warlock has used his telepathic powers to take over the Romulan's mind and speaks through him. He explains that he has conceived of a way to defend the Kushar by using a large number of the plasma weapons. He also tells them that a new simulation of a successful defense of Kushar has been loaded into the ship's computer.

Katana asks him if he stirred the hatred of the Romulans to attack them, just so that Patrick and Atrax could make weapons using the Romulan factories. Patrick starts to say that is impossible, that the warlock could not have that much telepathic ability. The warlock answers and says that is what he did do this.

He explains that he filled the hearts of every man, woman and child on that Romulan base with hatred so that Katana would be sure to destroy them.

When the possessed Romulan speaks these words he begins to shake more violently. Then he screams, "Murderers!" He throws himself against the wall and convulses, blood flows from his ears.

Suddenly he fires a phaser, striking the warlock. An instant later Katana fires back and kills the Romulan.

Oshia says that she can keep the warlock alive, but just barely. He will remain in a coma. She says that he may reach out from time to time telepathically, but they should not expect it to occur very frequently.

Stranded

The Candace is travelling home under high warp with a cargo hold full of new weapons. Suddenly, the engines shut down. Patrick informs Katana that the dilithium crystals have cracked. He explains that running the engines too hot and travelling through time-space distortions have just been too much for them.

Dr. Jung is contacted and he tells them that a solution is available. They should expect contact from a Ferengi ship.

The Ferengi ship belongs to the "Brotherhood of Profit," a group of Ferengi that cooperate with Federation intelligence. The captain of the Ferengi ship is the Ferengi that they met in episode #15. In that episode he posed as part of security for the gathering of the high council on Risa.

Patrick joins the Ferengi crew on a journey to a nearby system, Crowley III, where various races come to mine dilithium crystals from asteroids. Patrick will aid in identifying the appropriate crystals to bring back to the Candace.

The Starfleet database mentions that Crowley was originally known as a honeymoon spot. People would fly through the upper atmosphere of the gas giant, admiring the great luminous creatures that resemble jellyfish that drift through the upper atmosphere. Then, after the dilithium was discovered, that became the primary interest in this system.

The Ferengi ship lends the Candace some dilithium crystals, enough so that both ships can arrive at the Crowley system. The Candace is, however, to remain cloaked because Fraxans are actively mining.

When they arrive, Patrick comments on the large number of ships in the area that are in poor repair.

Patrick and the Ferengi begin their mining expedition. As they are working in one particularly large asteroid they come across a Fraxan expedition. Patrick freezes in horror as the Fraxans walk up to them and give them a friendly greeting.

The Fraxan, J13 or "Joe", offers to let them work a particularly rich vein of crystal that they have located. Patrick decides to avoid it, he says, because he is concerned about the structural stability of that section of the asteroid. Joe assures him that Fraxan equipment can mine there safely.

As Patrick returns to the Ferengi encampment an accident occurs. One of the other ships in the area explodes and crashes into the part of the asteroid where the Fraxans are working.

The asteroid begins shaking apart. The section that Patrick is in collapses. Joe, however, rescues him. As he brings Patrick to the surface the asteroid explodes.

Patrick and Joe fall into the gas giant, and are captured by one of its many-tentacled denizens.

As they hang there in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, Joe talks to him. He explains that Fraxans have only a few emotions, relative to humans. They experience a joy at being useful, a depression at being useless, and a great wrath toward their enemies.

Patrick asks him about the battle against the Kushar, what it is they have done to anger them so. He tells Patrick that the Kushar have destroyed at least three of their spheres, although all of that is nearly two hundred years in the past.

Patrick asks if any of the Kushar living now could have participated in the destruction of any of those spheres. Joe tells him that it doesn't matter, that their hearts and nature are bent on hatred. They are only looking for the chance.

Joe asks Patrick if he has a spouse. Patrick says he does not, and the Fraxan tells him that the concept of marrying is very interesting to him -- even though Fraxans have nothing analgous. Fraxans are assembled, they have no chilldhood, no concept of love.

Patrick's air begins to run low, and he allows a mixture of the outside atmosphere in, despite its mild toxicity. As the gas permeates his suit he begins to hear voices. He hears Katana calling out for him, and he answers her. Calling out loud, "I'm here!"

Joe asks him if he is all right. Patrick answers that he is. Joe tells him that he is going to climb the rest of the way up the tentacle and initiate a self-destruct sequence. This will allow Patrick to live a little longer, and perhaps be rescued. He explains that any Fraxan would be honored to help a Federation ally.

Patrick starts to pass out. He dreams. He is in Katana's bedchamber, she is massaging his back and telling him how glad she is that she found him. He suddenly sits up and says, "But you didn't? Did you?"

Patrick's eyes flutter open again and he sees the tentacled creature is no longer pulling him upwards. He is just hanging in space. Part of Joe's arm drifts past him. Just then he sees the Candace flying at him through the lower atmosphere. The jump warp transporter activates and brings Patrick on board.

Patrick wakes up again in sick bay. He is with Oshia and the unconscious warlock. Katana is also there. He is told that a chemical in the atmosphere of Crowley III stimulates the telepathic centers of the brain and allowed Patrick to communciate with Katana.

Mercy

The Candace is bringing the third of its shipments of plasma weapons back to the Kushar sphere when they receive a faint distress signal.

Upon investigation they find a planet, Aptura VII, which is (or rather was) in the process of being terraformed. Currently the only settlers are artificial life forms.

Recently the planet errupted into terrible electrical storms which made communication virtually impossible. Also, attacks have been made on encampments across the planet by mysterious android warriors.

Katana wants to leave them to die, but Patrick manages to convince her to try and help the artificial life forms on the planet.

They track the android warriors to a particular spot on the planet, then transport in.

Analysis of the android warriors reveal that they are mobile tombs -- each containing the remains of some formerly living warrior embedded in circuitry. The positronic mesh in each warrior appears to be running a simulation of a biological neural net -- and is consequently a bit slower than Katana and her people.

After fighting a few battles they discover a passageway leading beneath the planet's surface. There they find a city, or what looks like the replica of a city. What appear, at first, to be buildings frequently turn out to be facades.

The city seems to be a replica of a city on Kushar.

Katana's raiding party finds a mansion in the center of the city, it contains holo-records describing the burial death of a great leader, and the finding of a planet to house a memorial to her and the warriors that died in her service.

The android warriors are commanded to guard her for all eternity. At the conclusion of the holo-record, a passage opens up that descends deeper still. At the base, they find the tomb of a Kusharan queen, Anaxa, from centuries past.

A holographic version of the queen appears before them, and commends them on the great battle skills that have brought them this far. She explains to them that the Fraxans managed to implant a virus on one of their ships. The disease was carried to the Kushar sphere where it destroyed the nervous system of all the Kusharans -- except the half-humans whom it left mentally crippled.

A decade later, a race of people, the Egins, who had been saved by Anaxa returned. They asked about Anaxa and when they found that she was dead they asked for her body, so that they could give it a glorious burial. They built this city in emulation of one on Kushar and populated with dead Egin warriors.

A holo-display records key moments of a battle where Anaxa and some of her generals lead the Egins to victory against their enemies.

Katana asks Anaxa to command her warriors cease from attacking the settlers. The request is granted, on the condition that the settlers leave and the world not be terraformed. She promises to contact the Federation and ask for their removal.

Unfortunately, the terrible electrical storms that sweep the planet's surface continue, and the artificial settlers are still threatened with imminent destruction.

Katana agrees to use the plasma weapon to disrupt the storm system on the condition that the settler life forms accept programming into their positronic cores preventing them from revealing anything about how they were saved from the storms to the Federation or the Fraxans.

The plasma weapon is successful, and the rescued settlers offer the Candace, Katana and the crew their thanks. The Candace sends out a signal to the Federation asking them to pick up the settlers.

As Patrick comes in for the foot-washing he thanks Katana for showing mercy on the artificial life forms. She tells him that it is the most distasteful thing that she has ever done, and would not have done it for anyone other than him.

Awakening

The episode opens with Katana entering the bridge. She takes her seat, looks at the console on her chair and asks why their heading has changed. No one answers her. She angrily marches to the navigator and shakes her from her seat, but she seems in a trance.

The navigator says, in an odd voice, that they are on their way to meet new allies. Katana asks what she is talking about and the navigator starts asking more natural. She says the warlock is directing her to a new location. She tells her to resume course for the Kushar sphere, and the navigator says she is unable to obey because the warlock will not let her.

Katana goes to sick bay to talk to Oshia and asks if the warlock's condition has changed. She is told that he seems to be doing better since she has started treating him with the chemicals found in the atmosphere of Crowley III. She says it seems to be re-invigorating his brain. Katana then tells her what has happened on the bridge.

Katana asks that the treatment be stopped, and the warlock contacts her. He tells her that he has located an important ally for the battle against the Fraxans. He then relinquishes control of the ship to her.

She decides not to turn down anything that will give them an edge in this war and allows to continue on the heading the warlock chose.

They arrive at Haven VI, a star system of telepaths who have no technology. The havenites resemble humans, but are made of a clear crystaline substance. Their internal organs can be seen pulsating and moving beneath their transparent flesh.

When they arrive the Havenites ask to see the warlock.

They are brought to sick bay and offer an alliance to him. They say they will help the Kushar fight the Fraxans if the Kushar help them fight a technologically advanced enemy. He tells them that Katana is their true ruler.

Katana asks how they can be of any aid against the Fraxans, since this is also a technologically advanced enemy.

The Havenites explain the Fraxans only have technology, not both technological and psionic strength like the Overlords.

The crew of the Candace forms raiding parties, each with a Havenite as a member. The Havenite is able to create small wormholes to the interiors of the Overlord ships -- similar to the jump warp drive that Patrick developed, but with a slight time offset.

They can fight a battle on one ship, and when it is over jump to another ship but up to an hour earlier in time. What will seem to be a sequence of attacks to the Kushar raiding parties will actually be a massive number of simultaneous attacks.

With the aid of the Kushar warriors, the invasion of the Overloard on Haven is easily stopped. The Kushar warriors are exhausted, however, having fought many long battles in a short period of time.

In exchange, 100 Havenites agree to come aboard the Candace and aid in the battle against the Fraxans.

After they arrive on board, they begin giving the Kushar lessons in meditation, to hone their mental and telepathic capabilities.

Patrick and Katana manage to communicate telepathically during one of the classes. He tells her that none of their weapons and preparations will do more than delay the Fraxan invasion. Katana says that they will delay the victory and make it as costly as possible.

The Loss of the Candace

The episode opens on a scene from the distant past when the Candace was commanded by Captain Solomon.

Captain Solomon's half Kusharan son, Amos, contacts captain Solomon. Amos is living on Kushar now, and is already a great-great-grandfather.

He tells his father about a race occupying Nebaz II. They have minimal warp capability and are beginning to explore space. They have attained this capability in nearly record time for any species, owing in part to their peaceful and cooperative nature. War is not known in the history of Nebaz II.

The Candace arrives in orbit and makes contact with the Nebazians. They are somewhat fearful of entering into the Federation, since it contains races that have far less self- control or peaceful natures than their own.

During the visit, starships from a nearby system, Hazar VI, arrive and demand the immediate and unconditional surrender of the Nebazites. Captain Solomon decides to fight on their behalf. The Hazars have sent a single small ship, but its weapons are fairly advanced. The Candace manages to score a victory by overloading their phaser banks and making the Hazar think their weapons are more powerful than they really are.

After the battle the Nebazites are very thankful and begin contemplating whether they should become part of the Federation.

Suddenly, the Candace is called away to help with an epidemic on one of its worlds. Captain Solomon contacts his son on Kushar to ask if the Kusharans could keep an eye on Nebaz while that is dealt with.

The epidemic turns out to be a genetically engineered protozoan life form. It lived inside a certain type of plant (where it was a beneficial microbe) that the Federation had been safely using on other star systems.

Suddenly, in response to a subspace signal, it turned virulent and began killing people on several planets at once. Captain Solomon and his crew were unable to find a cure, and spent most of their time policing quarantined areas.

Around that time, Captain Solomon is contacted by his son with an update of the situation on Nebaz. It seems that the Hazar had managed to infect the Nebazites with a plague. Kusharan ships were dispatched to retrieve survivors. A very few were rescued, then relocated.

He tells his father that the disease was a protozoa, apparently designed specifically to kill the Nebazites. It is completely harmless to all other life forms on the planet or elsewhere. Efforts to remove the protozoa by means of a transporter proved unsuccessful, as the organizm was able to parasitically intertwine itself deeply into living tissue.

Captain Solomon and Amos compare notes, and some similarity in genetic sequences are identified between the recent Federation plague and the Nebaz plague. They realize that the microbes both originated on Hazar.

Captain Solomon and the Candace enter into orbit around Hazar VI. They find no life signs. Then they discover why... Fraxan weapon signatures.

Alarmed, Captain Solomon contacts Kushar only to find that the entire sphere has been infected with some new plague.

The science officer on the Candace suggests that the Hazar had developed the weapon and experimented with it on Federation world, as well as others. But he suggests that the Fraxans killed the Hazars and stole their technology using it to trick the Kusharans.

The Candace sets a course for Kushar at maximum warp. Kusharans are dying in huge numbers, so quickly that scientific advances against the illness have not been possible.

Captain Solomon and his crew enter the sphere and begin caring for the sick. The half-humans alone seem capable of surviving, but they are left in a crippled mental state as the disease seems to attack the Kusharan brain.

While they are working, an accident occurs. One of the Kusharan warships loses helm control inside the sphere (when its crew dies) and crashes into one of the control nodes used to operate the gates into and out of the sphere.

Several efforts are made by the crew of the Candace to locate a living engineer capable of opening the doors, but it is not possible. The Candace is trapped inside the Kushar sphere, and that's where Captain Solomon spends the rest of his days.

The next scene is of Patrick, Katana, and the crew of the present day Candace. Patrick has just finished showing them a holo-simulation of these historic events, based on records stored in an old array of databanks on the Candace that he managed to restore. He credits the success to the warlock, who has been supplying advice telepathically to Belzo.

Positronic Cleansing, Part I

Dr. Jung contacts the crew of the Candace and tells them that the Fraxans have discovered that the Kushar have developed a new plasma weapon.

Katana is very angry and asks how this was found out. Dr. Jung tells her that sensor readings from Aptura VII were somehow obtained.

He tells her that there is some good news, Federation scientists have been studying the toxins that have been used by the Fraxans in various bio weapons and have isolated common genetic sequences and structures in all of them and have constructed a treatment -- a genetically engineered virus that will attack and destroy the various toxins and microbes used thus far. The information is transmitted to Oshia.

Katana is furious and demands vengeance on the traitorous androids of Aptura VII. Patrick tries to dissuade her, he argues that the secrecy of the plasma weapon was of dubious advantage since it would only be a secret until the first battle in which it is used.

But she will not listen. Instead, she identifies a planet, Xactori, where the androids on Aptura VII were constructed. The Candace sets a course for that planet at maximum warp.

As they enter the Xactori system the science station detects an unusual emission from inside an asteroid field. It is very faint, and attributable to background, and only lasted a moment, but Katana does not want any surprises in the Xactori system.

Further scans and clever analysis reveal a hidden starbase. The Candace pulls in closer.

The cloaked Candace hovers right outside a large viewing bay in the side of the starbase, watching the various people working on the station. Katana keeps Patrick extremely busy with engineering tasks and off the bridge, as she does not wish to hear him argue against her course of action.

Finally, Katana determines that the base contains only artificial lifeforms, patterned after the work of Apturan androids. She gives a speech, stirring the hearts of her people to vengeance. A raid is planned. Patrick is asked to participate.

He asks her to reconsider, based on the aid the Federation has offered them through Dr. Jung. He points out that valuable resources, lives and equipment, could be lost by raiding a Federation research facility -- as well as potential aid. But the Kusharans are too enraged, and his pleas fail. He reluctantly agrees to accompany them.

Katana and her crew plan their attack. A supply ship arrives, unmanned and unshielded in an effort at stealth. The raiding party beams in to the cargo ship using jump warp and disembarks onto the station after the ship docks. No one greets them upon their arrival as everything is automated.

They find a room where a large number of artificial life-forms are opened up and being worked on by machines extending out of the ceiling above.

Some Fraxan devices are present. One resembles a tricorder. Patrick finds that it seems to have specialized equipment for detecting and identifying positronic brains. It apparently reads a serial number off the brain itself, as well as diagnostic information. He plays with it briefly and tells them that a group nearly the size of their own is only 10 meters away.

Katana plants several explosives and steals several pouches full of equipment. The raiding party talks of exterminating all the positronic vermin on the station. Patrick tries to object, but Katana has him stunned.

Katana activates a console and discovers that on another deck of the station a weapon is being tested that is designed to temporarily shut down a positronic brain. They recognize these devices among the things they have stolen.

Patrick regains enough ability to move that he touches a button on his tricorder sending out a signal that the station will detect. He hopes his action is not noticed by Katana.

There is a fight in the halls as the raiding party attempts find another good place to plant explosives. They use the anti-positronic brain weapons to great effect, but there are too many artificial life forms attacking at this point.

Katana calls for a beam out, but just before they escape Katana herself is hit full on by a beam of some sort and falls to her knees. Patrick drags her back out of the path of fire, and they are beamed up.

He says it looks like this anti-positronic brain weapon is the same one that has been used to stun the Kusharans on several previous occaisions.

He speculates that the weapon affects telepaths as well as positronic brains. It is pointed out that Atrax was not affected during a previous exposure, and she is telepathic.

He then suggests, somewhat jokingly, that the Kasharians are really artificial life forms. Katana angrily kisses him, and asks if he can really entertain the notion that she is a machine. Dazed, he agrees that she couldn't be.

After returning to the Candace, Katana attempts to detonate the explosive devices that she planted. The detonations are greeted by cheers and shouts of "Death to the artificial life forms."

Patrick examines the positronic tricorder, and discoveres he is still reading large numbers of artificial life forms in the area. He comes to the bridge, and confirms that the serial numbers on the brains match the ones he recorded on the station.

He tells Katana about his discovery. He tells her that she and her people must all have positronic brains, brains that he can identify using the Fraxan scanner.

She says that device is lying to him, that what he is saying is absurd. He tells her that he has analyzed the device thoroughly, and is convinced that it is an accurate diagnostic device.

She says that if that is true, then Oshia, their doctor, would have known all along. In fact, the positronic brain, if present, should be on all their medical scans.

They proceed to sick bay. Katana asks Oshia to disprove what Patrick is claiming. She suddenly appears very nervous, but does what she is asked. She puts several medical displays on her console.

Patrick scans all her equipment, and the software it is using and discovers various suspicious modifications. He points these out. Oshia claims that she needed to improve the equipment. He says he thinks she is lying.

He goes into the ships supplies and finds a spare medical scanner, he verifies that it is unmodified and asks Katana to place herself inside it. Oshia becomes very agitated at this, she begins yelling and calling Patrick traitorous and foolish.

Katana is very angry also, but agrees to be scanned.

The scan shows that roughly half her brain is positronic, and that special types of nerve tissue surround the brain and connect to it. He identifies other devices in the brain area: a communicator circuit and a device designed to manufacture and dump telepathy enhancing drugs into the brain.

Scans of Oshia reveal that her entire brain is positronic.

Patrick says that this discovery explains a lot. He says it explains the amazing speed and reflexes of the Kusharans, their memories, their natural telepathic abiltiy among themselves is made possible by the communicator circuit, and a number of other things as well.

Katana and Oshia listen quietly. They have become very pale and are trembling.

At that time, the "warlock's ring" that Patrick wears emits a beep, and a voice speaks to him from it. The Anolians, from the Kusharan place of meditation are contacting him. The ring, apparently, can serve as a communicator.

The Anolian tells them to return to the sphere, the place of meditation has arrived there by means of its warp engines in preparation for "the end."

The Candace returns. The corridors and mess hall of the ship are very quiet en-route. Oshia administers anti-serum for the Fraxan biological weapons as they travel.

When they arrive, they enter the place of meditation. The Anolians tell them that the warlock contacted them and has told them that they are about to face final extermination at the hands of the Fraxans.

They explain that in this event, they have been instructed to share a final revelation from the Creator.

With puzzlement and fear, Katana and the bridge crew enter into a large holo chamber on the meditation planet.

A recording begins to play. A soft-featured humanoid with widely spaced eyes begins to speak. He tells them that he is their creator, that he is a scientist from a distant galaxy.

He says that their emperor wished to know which was superior, the biologically based machine of the pure machine. Two groups of researchers were commanded to build races of these artificial life forms and set them at war with one another. For safety's sake, the combatants were placed in another galaxy: the Milky Way.

He tells them that he found the task odious and immoral, but he had no choice.

He felt that if he was to create artificial life forms he would give them souls, he would make it possible for them to override their most primary instructions, he would give them basic programming that included more than the mission to kill the enemy. His children would be capable of mercy and compassion.

His instructions were to program the Kusharans to hate the Fraxans. But he found that odious, and looked for an alternative.

He tells them that rather than programming them to simply hate the Fraxans, he programmed them to hate all artificial life forms. He also designed them to conceal, even from themselves, what their true nature was.

He explains that in this way, when the contest was essentially over, he could reveal to his creatures that their hatred was mere programming, and misdirected because the Kusharans themselves were artificial.

He hoped that this strategy would create the psychological crisis necessary for the Kusharans to rise above their programming, to change who they were and become fully self-determining. He explains that he wishes the deception were not necessary, but the rules of the contest required that the Kusharans not escape from their delusions until after the defeat of the Fraxans, or on the eve of their own defeat at the hands of the Fraxans.

Then he says that he believes that it is likely that the Kusharans will lose. He says that he thinks that mercy and compassion that he included in them would ultimately be their undoing. He then says that his one gift to them in that case would be to die as self-determining life forms with souls. Not to be the sort of living dead that the Fraxans were designed to be. He tells them that in death, they may find freedom.

The red alert sounds. Long range scanners have detected an armada of millions of Fraxan war ships.

Positronic Cleansing, Part II

Patrick is working hard at getting ready for the huge attack, checking the defenses of the Candace, the sphere, etc. Atrax is helping him, but comments that their actions can serve no logical purpose since defeat is assured.

Katana sends for Patrick, and he is brought to the conference room. The bridge officers are already there. Katana asks them if there has been any sign of movement by the Fraxans yet, but Patrick says no, none for the past 72 hours.

Judith says that she had a dream that they were part of some primitive culture, preparing to go to war with nothing but swords and shields. They were encamped at the top of a mountain, and on the plain below a gigantic army approached them on every side. In this dream, Katana is not a Kusharan but a Klingon. She proclaims it, "a good day to die," and all the Kusharans lay on the ground, die, and sank into the dusty earth. Judith ends the recounting of her dream by saying their enemies marched over all the earth, but could not find them.

Oshia then informs them that Judith's dreams should be given credit, since her positronic brain has some special modules for deep processing and simulation.

Just then, a signal is received that the Fraxans are moving in. The Kusharans form into raiding parties with one Crowlan in each party. The Crowlans were allies found in a previous episode that can travel through warp space, and take others with them, without use of a ship. They can also do some limited time travel.

The raiding parties launch and begin fighting inside the Fraxan ships. After capturing one of the Fraxan vessels, Katana finds that the bridge screen is locked on to a large and strange spherical ship. Patrick runs to the science station, and after a few minutes announces that it is only monitoring activity, and is not Fraxan but of unknown origin. The warp trail is recent, and Patrick speculates that the Fraxans were waiting for this ship before commencing their attack.

Their Crowlan then takes them through warp to a time an hour earlier on another ship, and the battle is rejoined. Things go badly this time, Katana is in a group of three fighting in an engineering section. She receives a head injury, and the two Kusharan warriors with her are killed.

She is barely able to move. The Fraxans come back to engineering, but ignore her. She manages to pick up a hand phaser, but before she can shoot one of the Fraxans kicks the weapon out of her hands.

She proceeds to yell and curse at them, but they continue to ignore her.

She spots Patrick signalling her from an alcove, and manages to crawl over to him. She expresses puzzlement at being ignored. Patrick scans her with the Fraxan tricorder he obtained last episode and tells her that according to his readings she is dead. Apparently her head wound damaged her positronic brain's diagnostic circuit.

The Crowlan transports her back to the Candace.

Katana limps to sick bay. Oshia examines her wound and confirms Patrick's theory.

Katana asks if it is possible for this type of head injury to be repeated. Oshia says no, that it would be almost impossible.

Patrick asks whether it might be possible for the diagnostic circuit to be reprogrammed through meditation. He says that the creator claimed that all of their programming could be changed.

The warlock is able to see how it can be done, and after some experimentation is able to set his diagnostic circuit to read as dead.

Katana announces that this is the fulfillment of Judith's dream, and is the meaning of their creator's message that freedom can be found in death.

Katana recalls all her raiding parties back to the sphere. The Fraxan warships are just then breaking through the plasma weapon defense.

The warlock contacts all the Kusharans telepathically and show them how to reprogram their diagnostic circuits. As the Fraxan weapons dump their bio-weapons into the atmosphere of Kushar, all the Kusharans begin reading as dead.

They are knocked unconscious by the bio-weapons, but not killed because of the vaccine developed by the Federation's secret service.

The Fraxans land on the interior of the sphere and begin counting the dead. They travel to the temple, and enter data on all the dead they have found. They ignore Patrick and the Crowlans, who simply stand there watching them.

After this a small ship lands by the temple and the soft-featured alien creator of the Kusharans steps out and surveys the damage. He also ignores Patrick and the Crowlans and walks around with a scanner of some sort, examining the "dead" Kusharans. After a few moments he grins broadly.

He looks over at Patrick, scans him, and then greets him. He asks him how it was that humans had begun breeding with Kusharans, and Patrick recounts the story briefly.

He asks Patrick to extend his apologies to them for everything. He tells him that he wishes he could have made it easier for the Kusharans, but only through their death could he give them the freedom to become self-determining, and only in defeat could he give them a lasting victory over the Fraxans. The Fraxans, he explains, will now shut themselves down because their purpose, victory of the Kusharans, is accomplished.

He asks Patrick to take care of his children, the Kusharans, as they discover who they are, and find their place among the stars.

After he leaves, the Kusharans begin to recover. They pull up a view screen and watch as the Fraxans and the creator's ship get drawn into the mysterious spherical vessel they spotted earlier and fly off at high warp.

NEWS: Hattan Pregnant?

Various articiles about Jessica Hattan, the actress who plays Katana, have been reporting that she has been putting on weight. Now there is speculation that she is actually pregnant.

She missed her appearance at the Southern Ohio, "Against the Prarielands" fan conference and this fueled speculations about whether she was pregnant and who the father of the baby might be.

NEWS: Behind the scenes of ATF, the Making of ATF.

In 'Behind the Scenes' we have an inside look at some of the ground-breaking special effects used to create the series. "In many series the writers are obligated to write an actess' pregnancy into the story," said Ed Hicks, Director of Special Effects and Stunts, "but in ATF we used CGI effects to erase all evidence that Jessica had a bun in the oven."

NEWS: ATF cast to appear at ConGeaux

There will be personal appearences by Patrick (Larry Kirson), Belzo (Jack Greenwood), and Atrax (Ngo Wou) at the upcoming Lousiana Science Fiction convention.

Notably missing, however, is "Queen and Captain Katana" played by Jessica Hattan. While her absence is no surprise, speculation on the father of her unborn child is rampant. When asked for comments the actress was said to reply, "You can rule out a vergeance in the Force."

NEWS: New line of toys released

A new line of action figures and toys based on ATF was released Tuesday. Larry Kirson was quoted as saying, "I don't see why Belzo gets the best accessories. But I guess that's why I'm not in marketing."