Home > Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Children of Time

Captain's Log, Stardate 50814.2.

The Defiant is returning to Deep Space 9

after a week-long reconnaissance mission

in the Gamma Quadrant.

I can't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed.

The bunks on this ship are so uncomfortable.

You know what I could use?

A weekend at the Golian spa.

Mmm... maybe you and Shakaar can slip away when we get back.

We're not seeing each other anymore.

When did this happen?

Last week.

No wonder you've been so down lately.

I miss him.

But the last time we were on Bajor, we went to the Kenda shrine and we asked the Prophets if we were meant to walk the same path.

And? We're not.

DAX: You make it sound so cut-and-dry.

Well, the way I see it, people are either meant to be together or they're not.

I guess I'd rather believe that any relationship can work as long as both people really want it to.

I'm not sure I have an opinion on the subject.

Excuse me. I need to regenerate.

Is he all right? You know Odo.

This sort of talk makes him uncomfortable.

No, thanks. I'm trying to cut down.

O'BRIEN: I'm making Molly a dollhouse for her birthday.

Oh. Thank you.

The house itself was easy, but the furniture-- even with a microlathe, I'm not sure I'm going to get it all finished in time.

I guess her dolls are going to have to rough it for a while.

Interesting.

I'm getting some unusual readings from a nearby solar system.

What kind of readings?

There's some sort of energy barrier surrounding the fourth planet.

It's hard to tell from the interference, but there could be life-forms on the surface.

If there are, I'd be interested to see how they've adapted to the quantum fluctuations in the barrier.

O'BRIEN: Can't we check it out the next time we come this way?

It'll be too late.

At the rate the interference is intensifying, in a few weeks, we won't even be able to send a probe through it.

Dax...

I know everyone wants to go home, but if we're going to take a look at this planet, it'll be our only chance.

Are you sure it's safe to pass through the interference?

A few shield modifications, and it should be smooth sailing.

All right, we'll make a quick survey, but if all we detect is some fungus, we're not beaming down.

What if it's smart fungus?

We're approaching the barrier.

All right, old man, take us in.

( alarm beeping )

Adjusting shield harmonics to compensate.

Quantum fluctuations are intensifying.

( gasping )

We're through.

Are you all right? I think so.

Dr. Bashir to the Bridge. No, I'm fine.

The inertial dampers are off-line and the gyromagnetic stabilizers are depolarized.

We're going to be here for a few days.

Smooth sailing.

WORF: Sir, we are being hailed from the surface.

There are several scattered settlements across the southern peninsula.

I am reading approximately... 8,000 inhabitants.

They appear to be human.

On screen.

Welcome to Gaia, Captain Sisko.

You know my name? We've been expecting you.

It's a long story, Benjamin. Why don't you come down and we'll talk about it over some raktajino?

Oh, I forgot.

You're trying to cut down.

( whoosh of active transport)

Miranda O'Brien.

Yedrin...

Yedrin Dax.

What a coincidence.

Would one of you mind telling us what's going on?

MIRANDA: This settlement was founded by the crew of a Starfleet vessel that crashed on this planet two centuries ago.

I realize this is going to be hard for you to accept, but that ship was the Defiant.

Two days from now, when you leave here and try to pass through the energy barrier, you will be thrown back in time 200 years.

You'll be stranded here and become the founders of this settlement.

We... are your descendants.

YEDRIN: Go ahead, Jadzia, scan me.

You'll find the Dax symbiont right here.

It's true.

YEDRIN: The symbiont has been passed down to Jadzia's descendants for three generations.

I remember all of you like it was yesterday.

If you scan Miranda, you'll find that her DNA is substantially similar to that of the Chief's.

She's an O'Brien, all right.

And a Tannenbaum, too.

You mean Ensign Tannenbaum?

From Engineering?

You and Rita were married ten years after the Defiant crashed.

You were trapped here, Miles, 200 years in the past.

There was no going home. There was no chance of ever seeing your family again.

You were the last to give up hope but, eventually, you had to make a new life for yourself here.

Mm-hmm.

I know that face, Benjamin.

You're still not convinced that we're telling you the truth.

All right, if you want,

I could tell you something that only Curzon would know.

Do you remember that dancer that you met on Pelios Station?

The one that...? That... that'll do.

Thank you.

Are you the son of Mogh?

Yes, I am.

Is it true you can kill someone just by looking at them?

Only when I am angry.

( crowd chuckles )

MIRANDA: Why don't we go inside?

You can meet some of the others later.

We still have a lot to talk about.

Ready for the next problem?

Say you have 27 tessipates of land you want to plant with nice, juicy yelg melons.

This is our meeting hall which, as you can see, we sometimes use as a schoolroom.

...needs one square kerripate of land to grow in what is the total number of melons you can plant?

Let me know as soon as you have an answer.

Jadzia designed it as an educational program.

She took Quark's image from the security logs of the Defiant.

I've always thought that Quark would make a great math teacher.

He's so good with numbers.

I like your spots.

Most people don't have them because our ancestors were mostly human.

My mom says they make me special.

It's just genetics, Lisa, like... Torvin's ridges.

You're just jealous, Molly.

Molly?

Oh, yes, you'll find a lot of them here.

The name has been passed down through the O'Brien line.

Molly, this is your grandfather's great-great-great-grandfather.

Hello.

Hi.

How much were we... were you able to salvage from the Defiant?

A portable generator, a replicator a few phasers, tricorders, things of that sort.

Did anybody ever try to send out a distress signal?

To who? It was 200 years ago.

The wormhole hadn't even been discovered yet.

There was no way back to the Alpha Quadrant.

Our ancestors decided to make this their new home.

And they needed a shelter quickly before winter came.

This is it. This is the oldest building there is.

At first, everyone had to sleep here-- all 48 of them.

Forty-eight?

Ah...

Kira died a few weeks after the crash.

The energy discharge that struck her on the Bridge damaged her neural pathways.

The Defiant didn't have the medical equipment that Julian needed to treat her.

You want to see where she was buried?

Maybe later.

Girls, why don't you run along and help your parents?

It's almost time for planting, and there's a lot of work to be done.

Bye.

Bye.

Obviously, we need to get Kira back to the station for treatment as soon as we can repair the Defiant. Of course.

I don't quite know how to say this, but now that we know about the accident that sent the ship back in time, we should be able to avoid it.

WORF: Well, if we do that your timeline will collapse and everything here will cease to exist.

Not necessarily.

I have a plan.

And the key is what happened to Kira on the Bridge.

This energy discharge caused a subspace doubling effect.

For an instant, every molecule in her body had a corresponding quantum duplicate.

There were literally two Kiras.

Go on.

If we make certain modifications to the Defiant's systems, we should be able to amplify this doubling effect and create a quantum duplicate of the entire ship.

When you encounter the temporal anomaly the duplicate will be thrown back into the past, and the original-- you-- will pass through the barrier unaffected.

O'BRIEN: So you're saying we go home, and your timeline is preserved.

Exactly.

What do you think?

It might work.

YEDRIN: Now, according to the logs

I retrieved from the wreckage, the Defiant encountered the anomaly 39 hours after it arrived in orbit.

If your plan is to work, we must do the same.

There are almost 8,000 people living on this planet.

This is the only chance they have.

Dax, I want a full evaluation as soon as possible.

If the plan is sound, start making the modifications immediately.

Thank you, Benjamin.

Anything for you... old man.

Apparently, the planet is crawling with Bashirs.

Maybe I'll stay up here. ( laughs )

How's Odo? He's resting comfortably.

He can't hold his shape because of the quantum fluctuations inside the barrier.

Sweet dreams, Odo.

But he'll be as right as rain as soon as we leave orbit.

You, on the other hand... are going to have to undergo a complete neural pathway induction as soon as we get back to the station.

If you say so. I feel fine.

That's because your neural tissue hasn't begun to deteriorate yet, but rest assured, you'll be on my operating table eventually.

Hey... where you off to?

I have to get down there, meet some of those Bashirs.

Hello, Nerys.

Odo?

I came up from the surface as soon as I heard you were here.

How... how are you holding your shape?

I... I thought...

I learned to counter the barrier's effects a long time ago.

It's good to see you.

You look different.

I've gotten better at shape-shifting over the years.

You're as beautiful as I remember.

You can't know how I've longed to hear your voice, see your smile.

Odo... what's gotten into you?

There's something I want you to know, something I've wanted to tell you for 200 years.

I love you, Nerys.

I've always loved you.

What do you mean, you love me?

Is it so hard to believe?

I never knew you felt that way about me.

I did everything I could to make sure you wouldn't find out.

Uh... it worked.

Why didn't you ever say anything?

I didn't think you could possibly care for me the way I care for you.

I suppose I was afraid of ruining what we had.

Our friendship meant everything to me. It still does.

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.

It's not that.

I was just thinking about all the times

I came to you for advice about Shakaar and Bareil.

It must have been very hard for you to listen to me go on about another man.

No, I can't say I enjoyed it.

But I wanted to be a good friend to you.

You were.

Nerys, I didn't come here expecting you to throw yourself into my arms.

But you're leaving here in two days.

I'm never going to see you again.

All I'm asking is that you spend some time with me.

Gaia is a very beautiful place.

I'd love to show it to you.

I'd like that.

He has your eyes.

Do you think so? You think so?

Dax to Sisko. Go ahead.

Good news, Benjamin.

I've gone over the sensor logs from the crash.

It looks like Yedrin's plan to create a duplicate Defiant is going to work.

Di-di-did you hear that?

Yes, everything's going to be all right.

Yes, yes... ( baby cooing )

Sounds like you have your hands full down there, Benjamin.

Yes, you could say that.

DAX: We'll keep you posted.

Thirsty?

The Captain asked me to make a survey of the settlement's infrastructure so we can leave behind the appropriate supplies.

I've just been doing the same thing at the clinic.

I met one of my descendants there-- my great-great-great- great-granddaughter.

The doctor. She made quite a fuss over me.

Apparently, my healing touch is something of a legend around here.

They're here! They're here!

Who?

The Klingons.

Qapla'.

Qapla'.

We are the Sons of Mogh.

You are my descendants.

Some by blood, some by choice.

Our hearts are Klingon. We live as warriors, just as you taught our ancestors long ago.

I'm going to be one of them someday.

I'll ride a wild torga and go hunting and only come to the settlement to trade furs for the things I need.

When you're older, you'll have the chance to prove yourself. If you are worthy, you can take a Klingon name and live among us.

The Sons of Mogh are gathering to celebrate your return.

It would honor us greatly if you would feast with us tonight.

I look forward to it.

We'll come for you at nightfall.

Well, it would appear that I'm not the only legend around here.

Once the emitter array is recalibrated, we can start synchronizing the shield generators.

Oh, good. We're ahead of schedule.

( chuckling ) What?

Tell me.

You just reminded me of something.

The summer after the crash, it was so hot, Jadzia cut her hair short.

Worf hated it.

I remember promising to grow it back in time for the wedding.

We got married?

Mm-hmm.

The next fall.

Benjamin performed the ceremony.

I'll never forget Worf's voice as he said his vows.

It was shaking.

( laughs )

Were we happy together?

Mm-hmm.

He's a good man, Jadzia.

I know.

It's just, sometimes... he's so hard to get along with.

Don't worry. You'll learn to handle him.

BASHIR: Did I mention she was a doctor?

Twice.

Well, she showed me pictures of the family going all the way back to me.

You know who I ended up with after the crash?

Angie Kirby.

Who's that? Yeah, that's what I said.

Apparently, she transferred aboard last week. But she's gorgeous.

Congratulations. You know what?

I think I'm going to ask her out when we get back.

We obviously got along well here.

So, you and, uh...

Rita Tannenbaum.

I don't want to hear about it, Julian.

I have a wife and kids back home.

Sorry. I didn't mean anything.

You know, I'm going to let you get back on with your work.

( giggling )

( sighs )

Praying over your own grave.

That's got to be a new one.

Yeah.

If the Prophets were listening, they're probably very confused.

Well, I wouldn't blame them.

I've got to tell you, that... this whole quantum duplicate, two Defiants thing has me feeling a little strange.

Why? Thanks to Yedrin's plan, our timeline is being preserved.

You're going back to the station for the treatment you need.

I know. It... it's just that I've always believed that we're all given one destiny-- one path-- and now we're using technology to get around that.

I'm not sure how it makes me feel.

I know exactly how it makes me feel.

You can't know how much it means to me to know you're going home, Nerys.

No, it won't change anything for me.

I lost you 200 years ago.

But for the other Odo, up on the ship, it changes everything.

He doesn't have to lose you.

And somehow... knowing that... makes me feel better.

Does that make any sense?

You've changed so much, Odo.

I don't just mean the way you look.

You used to be so closed off.

I have changed.

And the Odo you know will change, too.

If you're patient with him.

Why don't we head back?

Ah.

Nice catch.

Dax.

We need to talk.

Uh-huh.

I was going over the sensor logs from the crash, and I came across something odd.

The quantum fluctuations in the barrier factored out to zero.

The chances of that must be a billion to one.

What are you getting at?

That Yedrin faked the logs.

Why would he do that?

So we'd think his plan was going to work.

It's not. There was never going to be a duplicate Defiant-- just one-- and Yedrin wanted to make sure it went back in time.

So that history would repeat itself.

If I hadn't realized what he had done, we would have ended up stranded here and Kira would have died.

You betrayed us.

You betrayed me.

You call yourself Yedrin Dax, but I don't recognize you.

Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?

What do you think? Oh, damn it, Ben!

If you don't take the Defiant back in time, the 8,000 people on this planet will cease to exist!

You think I don't care?

Oh, come on, you know me better than that.

What am I supposed to do?

Recreate the accident and deliberately maroon my crew?

That's what would have happened. Who's to say that's not what's supposed to happen?

I'm not going to stand here and argue philosophy with you.

I have a duty to protect my people.

Look around you, Benjamin.

Think of the things that you've seen since you got here.

This is what your crew and their descendants will build if you let history play itself out.

I'm not saying that it won't be hard at first, but they will have good lives here, happy lives.

What about Kira? If we don't get her back to the station, she'll die.

Is one life too much to ask if it saves 8,000?

Who are you to decide who lives or dies?

Who are you to make that call?!

I have to make that call because I'm responsible for what happened here.

Jadzia knows what I'm talking about.

She's the one who insisted that the Defiant investigate this planet.

You know as well as I do that you should have been more careful-- you should have seen that the barrier was unstable when you scanned it.

But I didn't.

I was so bent on making some great discovery... that I missed it.

And because of you, because of me,

Kira died and 48 people were stranded here.

You don't know what it was like to live with that.

For years, Benjamin, every time I looked at you, all I could think about was Jake and how, because of me, he would never see his father again.

Eventually, I had to accept the fact there was nothing I could do to change things.

I couldn't bring Kira back.

All I could do was look to the future, Benjamin, and make sure that we survived here... no matter what.

This community... is my responsibility.

For two centuries, I have watched it grow into something to be proud of.

For generations, these people have worked to make a life for themselves here.

They deserve a chance to hang on to it.

I'm not denying that!

I wish there was a way we could help you, but my people have the right to return home to their families, and I will not ask Kira to sacrifice her life for 8,000 people-- for eight million!

No one has the right to ask that.

I'm sorry, old man, but there is nothing I can do.

Look at them.

They have no idea what's going to happen.

It is for the best. They are children.

They would not understand.

I'm not sure I understand.

8,000 people, Worf-- they have to die because I've got to go back to the station to be treated for some condition I can't even tell I have.

That is not the only reason we are going back.

Do not blame yourself, Major.

I'm going up to the ship.

It would have been a good crop this year.

Spring came so early.

Miranda... is something wrong?

Everyone's so quiet.

It's nothing you need to worry about.

WOMAN: We came to tell you there will be no feast tonight.

I understand.

This is not a time for celebration.

MAN: Tomorrow, we will see the sun rise again... but no one here will see it set.

Join me. There is something

I wish to say.

It is... a great honor to know that my legacy has thrived on your world for so long.

I can see the Klingon heart beats strong here.

You honor us with your words.

We have tried to live as you taught us to.

We've never plowed fields or milked chattel.

We've lived as warriors, hunters.

Last year, I slew a yar-bear three meters tall.

Your mek'leth was my only weapon.

The beast maimed me, and for a time, it seemed I would die from my wounds.

Now I wish I had.

It would have been a warrior's death.

He could have taken his place among the honored dead in Sto-Vo-Kor.

Perhaps he will yet.

No. Ceasing to exist because my parents were never born?

That is not a death worthy of Sto-Vo-Kor.

Kill me, Worf.

I have no enemies to fight, no glory to be won.

Give me an honorable death.

Don't make us wait for the end like farm animals waiting for slaughter.

I will come to you tomorrow... and do what you ask.

Why did you want to come back here?

I had to see it again, so I could be sure.

Sure about what?

That this is where I belong.

The path the Prophets laid out for me ends here.

Well, not this time, Nerys.

The Captain's taking you back to DS9.

I can't let him do that-- not if it's going to cost 8,000 lives.

No, we have to let history take its course, even if it means I have to die here.

What? Have you lost your mind?

Kira, if we don't go back to the station, you'll die within a few weeks.

There's nothing I can do for you here.

I know that, Julian, I've accepted it.

We've got to take the Defiant back in time.

Otherwise, we're cheating fate.

Well, I wouldn't mind cheating fate all the way home to the station.

DAX: Neither would I, but if we go home, 8,000 people are going to cease to exist.

I don't know those people, but I have a wife and kids back home who need me.

Your family will be fine, Miles.

The Prophets will take care of them.

No offense, but I don't believe in your Prophets.

All Major Kira is saying is our families will survive no matter what we do. The colonists will not.

If she is willing to sacrifice her life to save them,

I am willing to remain here.

Well, that's easy for you to say.

You hardly ever see your son.

And you are afraid to face your destiny.

Look, we can sit here and argue about destiny till we're blue in the face, but the bottom line is, nobody has the right to tell me I can't go home to my family.

I want to go home as much as you do, Chief.

I'm just listening to what everyone has to say.

So we're not actually considering this?

No, we're not.

Captain?!

Major, you've made your position clear.

All right, people, dismissed.

By sunset, this will all be gone.

Taking a last look around?

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Gabriel, where are you going in such a hurry?

To the fields. It's time for planting.

Come on, Gabriel.

There isn't much time.

Put some of this on your face.

The sun is strong today.

Planting day has always been important here.

It brings everyone together.

Somehow it feels right to see it through.

Oh, here's one for you. Thanks.

Molly, take that from the bottom.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The status report you asked for, sir.

The repairs are finished.

The Defiant's ready to leave orbit.

Aren't you going to help?

I'm busy.

You don't look busy.

( laughing )

She's an O'Brien, all right.

Better get to it, Chief.

( laughing )

You said there was an enemy for us to fight.

They are attempting to plant their fields before the sun sets.

Time is their enemy.

We should help them defeat it.

Bring the others.

Oh, great.

You know...

I have a little girl named Molly, too.

Really? Mm-hmm.

Can I meet her?

We'll see.

By summer, this plant will be taller than you.

After the harvest, I'll help my mother make gelm bread with it.

WOMAN: Molly.

Something wrong?

We can't do it. What?

We can't let these people die.

( children laughing )

You're it.

The navigational logs from the original crash-- download them into the ship's autopilot and it'll match the original trajectory.

That should send the Defiant back to the right point in time.

I don't know... how to thank you for what you're doing.

We'd better go, Benjamin.

There isn't much time.

You can't do this.

Please don't make this any harder than it already is.

You have to go home, Nerys-- you have to. This isn't about me.

This is about the 8,000 people down on that planet, their children and their grandchildren.

What about the children who'll never be born because the Defiant doesn't return to DS9?

They don't exist yet.

These people do.

Nerys, just tell me one thing.

If you'd known how I felt about you, if I'd said something years ago, do you think things might have been different?

Maybe.

Has everyone had a chance to record a message to their families?

I've downloaded the recordings into a class-4 probe.

It'll start transmitting a location signal as soon as it clears the barrier.

Launch the probe, Chief.

It's time.

SISKO: Transfer helm control to autopilot.

Autopilot engaged.

Raise shields.

DAX: Aye, sir.

WORF: We are breaking orbit.

Coming around to 42 mark seven.

I'm picking up an unusual temporal signature.

It's the anomaly. We're headed straight for it.

Ten seconds to impact.

Eight... seven... six... five... four...

We're veering away from the anomaly.

Try to override the autopilot.

I can't.

We're clearing the barrier.

What happened?

Someone changed our flight plan.

It wasn't me.

Scan the surface.

No sign of the settlement... or the inhabitants.

Everything's gone.

Whoever changed our flight plan knew their way around the computer system.

They bypassed our security protocols without leaving a trace.

It must have been someone from the crew.

Or someone who used to be.

Yedrin? Hmm.

But all he cared about was the settlement.

What could have changed his mind?

Seeing us again.

Perhaps he decided he couldn't let us go through with it.

Everyone we met... they never existed.

They existed.

As long as we remember them... they always will.

( door chimes )

Come in.

Odo.

There's something you should know.

The other Odo, the one from the planet... came to Sick Bay before he left the ship.

Oh?

He linked with me.

( clears throat )

Now... I know everything that happened.

The, uh... other day, when I told you about Shakaar and... me not seeing each other anymore... you seemed so uncomfortable.

I had come to accept the fact that you were involved with someone else.

Then suddenly everything changed.

I don't know what to say.

I'm still trying to sort everything out.

So am I.

I think we both need some time.

There's something else the other Odo wanted you to know.

He was responsible for changing the Defiant's flight plan.

Why?

So that you wouldn't have to die.

I can't believe it.

8,000 people.

He did it for you, Nerys.

He loved you.

That makes it right?!

I don't know.

He thought so.

I'll see you in the morning.