STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
"The Alternate"
#40512-432
Story by
Jim Trombetta and Bill Dial
Teleplay by
Bill Dial
Directed by
David Carson
THE WRITING CREDITS MAY NOT BE FINAL AND SHOULD NOT BE USED
FOR PUBLICITY OR ADVERTISING PURPOSES WITHOUT FIRST CHECKING
WITH THE TELEVISION LEGAL DEPARTMENT.
Copyright 1993 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights
Reserved. This script is not for publication or
reproduction. No one is authorized to dispose of same. If
lost or destroyed, please notify the Script Department.
Return to Script Department FINAL DRAFT
PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION
October 27, 1993
STAR TREK: DS9 "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - CAST
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
"The Alternate"
CAST
SISKO MORA
KIRA WELD
ODO SECURITY OFFICER'S
QUARK COM VOICE
BASHIR KLINGON TENOR
DAX (ON SPEAKER)
O'BRIEN
JAKE
COMPUTER VOICE
Non-Speaking Non-Speaking
N.D. SUPERNUMERARIES N.D FERENGI
STAR TREK: DS9 - "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - SETS
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
"The Alternate"
SETS
INTERIORS EXTERIORS
DEEP SPACE NINE DEEP SPACE NINE
QUARK'S
PROMENADE WORMHOLE
RUNABOUT
OPS PLANET SURFACE
SURGERY
SCIENCE LAB RUNABOUT
CORRIDOR (OUTSIDE SCIENCE LAB)
DARK CONDUIT
SECURITY OFFICE
INFIRMARY
SISKO'S QUARTERS
JAKE'S BEDROOM
STAR TREK: DS9 - "The Alternate" - 11/12/93 - PRONUNCIATION
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
"The Alternate"
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
BAJOR BAY-Jor
BAJORAN bah-JOR-an
DEKA TEA DEE-kuh tea
KHOSLA KOH-slah
MORA POL MAW-ra POHL
PLEGG PLEHGG
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - TEASER 1.
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
"The Alternate"
TEASER
FADE IN:
1 INT. QUARK'S
We begin with a close angle on a small, iridescent disc in
Quark's hand. He turns it over and over as he talks.
QUARK (O.S.)
I am merely a businessman. It would
take an orator with the skills of
the late, great Plegg himself, to
sing the praises of the late, great
Plegg.
We widen to see that QUARK is in the midst of a sales pitch
to a curious fellow Ferengi at the bar. The disc he is
holding is a Ferengi "Memorial Disc." Near him is a
ceremonially decorated box full of these discs. Perhaps
there are two or three others gathered to watch this.
QUARK
(continuing)
What Ferengi could resist the honor
of owning a small piece of the man
who took a computer chip and turned
it into the modular holosuite
industry... a small piece of the man
who brought holographic entertainment
to the most remote parts of this
quadrant, creating profit centers
from societies that could barely
afford to feed their own people...
ODO arrives quietly joining the sales pitch...
ODO
(re: the disc)
How much are you asking?
Quark reacts, knowing Odo is here to screw up his pitch...
QUARK
As I was about to tell my good friend
here, a mere three strips of
latinum...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - TEASER 2.
1 CONTINUED:
The Ferengi hears the price and immediately walks...
calling after him...
QUARK
And I'd be taking a loss at that
price... okay, for you, two strips...
(sighs, he's lost
him, to odo)
Thank you very much.
ODO
Three strips? That's a fair price
for Plegg.
QUARK
(reacts)
I suppose you're interested.
ODO
Humanoid death rituals are an interest
of mine.
QUARK
Death rituals.
ODO
Everybody needs a hobby.
QUARK
(dubious)
Uh huh...
ODO
Some species burn their dead, others
pack them in blocks of ice... some
even surround themselves with the
company of family corpses. But the
Ferengi ritual of chopping up their
loved ones and selling them... I
find that... irresistible.
QUARK
(not buying)
I'm very busy here.
ODO
(pursuing him)
What a fitting and dignified way to
honor the memory of great Ferengi
entrepreneurs. I'm thinking of
starting a collection.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - TEASER 3.
1 CONTINUED: (2)
ODO
Putting up a display case in my
office. There'll be a special space
reserved for you in there, Quark.
QUARK
I'm sure.
Odo puts three strips of latinum on the bartop... and that
really stops Quark.
QUARK
You're serious?
ODO
Have you ever known me not to be?
Quark's waiting for the payoff to the gag... he hesitantly
takes the money and begins to slide the disc across the bar
to Odo...
ODO
Oh, there is one thing I was curious
about...
QUARK
(knows something's
coming)
And what's that...
ODO
How do I know it's Plegg?
QUARK
It says so on the label.
ODO
Isn't there some sort of letter of
authenticity?
QUARK
(pointing)
The Ferengi Seal of Dismemberment is
right there. What more do you want?
ODO
I want Plegg.
QUARK
You've got him!
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/12/93 - TEASER 4.
1 CONTINUED: (3)
ODO
Not if he's still alive...
QUARK
(a beat)
Still alive?
ODO
Still alive.
QUARK
(aghast)
Plegg?
ODO
When I tracked him down on Khosla
Two and told him about your little
scheme, he was quite amused. I'm
not.
Odo takes back his latinum strips.
QUARK
Odo, I'm a victim here. I bought
these discs in good faith. I have
five thousand pieces of Plegg in my
storeroom.
ODO
Not Plegg.
QUARK
Then who?
ODO
Good question.
QUARK
I demand an investigation...
ODO
You'll get one. I promise you.
MORA (O.S.)
Odo...
Odo turns to the voice and reacts as he sees...
2 ANGLE
Doctor MORA POL, standing there, smiling at him.
ODO
(surprised)
Doctor Mora...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - TEASER 5.
2 CONTINUED:
MORA
It's been too long.
He sticks his hand out and Odo shakes it, definitely
uncomfortable... especially with Quark there to observe.
MORA
You're looking well. Yes, coming
along nicely.
ODO
Why didn't you let me know you were
coming?
MORA
It was a last minute arrangement.
ODO
The trip from Bajor takes five hours.
QUARK
(terribly curious)
Ah, can I get you something... Doctor
"Mora" was it?
MORA
Yes. Some Deka tea would be nice...
Quark goes to work...
MORA
(in studying Odo)
You haven't quite managed the ears,
yet, have you? But, they're
difficult. Is the suit a suit, or
part of you? And what about the
boots?
Quark arrives with tea...
QUARK
There we are... nice and hot...
MORA
Thank you...
Quark lingers, Odo waits for him to leave... but Quark can't
resist...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - TEASER 6.
2 CONTINUED: (2)
QUARK
So...
(beat)
You two seem to be old friends...
ODO
(getting it over with)
Doctor Mora is the Bajoran scientist
who was assigned to me after I was
found.
MORA
(with pride)
I was personally responsible for his
development during his formative
years.
QUARK
Then, this is a family reunion! I
had a hunch... well, Odo's dad is
always welcome in Quark's... the tea
is on the house...
MORA ODO
Well, actually... He isn't my...
But Quark doesn't hear their denials beginning... he blows
through it... continuing...
QUARK
(to Mora)
I know he wouldn't tell you himself.
But Odo is doing a wonderful job
here on the station if I may say
so...
MORA
Is he...
QUARK
Absolutely. As a matter of fact,
when you came in, he was just
beginning a fraud investiga...
ODO
(interrupting)
Quark!
(Quark turns to him)
Excuse us.
He pulls Mora away from the bar.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - TEASER 7.
2 CONTINUED: (2)
QUARK
(calling after them)
Of course. You two have a lot of
catching up to do. If there's
anything I can help you with, Doctor,
don't hesitate to call on me.
Odo and Mora EXIT.
2A INT. PROMENADE
Mora is studying Odo carefully, picks up none of the
discomfort that Odo is feeling. But it is important to note
that Mora is extremely likeable in every casual way possible.
He has a warm sense of humor, is outgoing with people and
even with Odo, he is comfortable in a superficial way. But
there is no intimacy from him toward Odo. No personal
relationship. More of what you'd expect from a business
relationship. In fact, he is a scientist. And Odo is his
specimen.
MORA
That was uncalled for.
ODO
You don't know Quark.
MORA
I know he was trying very hard to
present you in a positive light to
someone he thought was important to
you and you responded with...
ODO
("don't lecture me"
implied)
Please...
MORA
Still having trouble with social
integration... ?
ODO
I integrate as much as I want to.
MORA
Define "as much as I want to."
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - TEASER 7A.
2A CONTINUED:
ODO
"As much as I want to" means as much
as I want to.
(already tired of
this, a last defense)
Quark is a thief, a con man, nobody
you want to know...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - TEASER 8.
2A CONTINUED: (2)
Mora studies him, gives a scientific "hmmm"... if we had
pipes in this universe, he'd puff on one... They sit at the
Replimat.
MORA
So how is this police thing you got
yourself into working out?
ODO
I enjoy my work as chief of security.
MORA
(casual, not realizing
the pain this causes)
"Chief of security." At a weigh
station in space.
As a shape-shifter, Odo probably shrinks a little at hearing
this... Mora smiles at him...
MORA
Don't you miss it, Odo?
ODO
What.
MORA
Our work.
ODO
Never.
MORA
I don't believe it. I know you too
well. You were unhappy in the lab.
I couldn't blame you for that. But
the work, Odo. The exploration of
you. What you are. Where you came
from. That's never far from your
mind, is it. Tell me the truth.
ODO
That part of it... is true.
MORA
Good. Because I came here counting
on that.
Off Odo's curious expression...
FADE OUT.
END OF TEASER
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT ONE 9.
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
(NOTE: Episode credits fall over opening scenes)
3 INT. SISKO'S QUARTERS
SISKO is working at his computer as JAKE starts to exit...
JAKE
See you later, Dad...
It takes Sisko a beat to react...
SISKO
Hey... hey... hold on...
JAKE
I'm late...
SISKO
For what?
JAKE
For Nog.
SISKO
Your homework...
JAKE
It's done...
SISKO
You've studied that whole Klingon
opera for your music test Friday?...
JAKE
I'm gonna ace the test, Dad, I
promise...
SISKO
That isn't what I asked...
JAKE
It's not until Friday...
SISKO
This isn't about tests, Jake. This
is about learning.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT ONE 10.
3 CONTINUED:
SISKO
You can't learn to appreciate Klingon
opera by just cramming the night
before an exam.
JAKE
I'm never gonna learn to appreciate
Klingon opera. It's a waste of time.
SISKO
Being with Nog is not a waste of
time but Klingon opera is?
JAKE
Yeah!
(beat)
What am I ever going to use Klingon
opera for?
SISKO
First of all, you don't know what
you'll be when you grow up... you
may discover along the way you want
to be a musician or you may wind up
around Klingons in some job
somewhere...
JAKE
Dad, even if I do, they won't be
going around singing operas...
SISKO
It helps to understand their
culture...
JAKE
When was the last time you listened
to a Klingon opera?
SISKO
(beat, knowing that
he's getting sucked
in)
When I was your age.
JAKE
There, you see?
SISKO
Yes. Do you?
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - ACT ONE 11.
3 CONTINUED: (2)
JAKE
Dad, just because you had to suffer
through all that doesn't mean I have
to.
SISKO
(smiles)
Yes. It does.
A chime at the door...
SISKO
Come in...
Odo is at the door as it opens...
JAKE
Dad...
SISKO
(the perfect solution)
Nog has the same test. Why don't
you invite him over to listen to the
Klingon opera together?
Jake looks at him incredulously, laughs at the impossible
notion and walks morosely back to his room.
SISKO
Sit down, Odo.
They sit.
ODO
Commander, I'd like to request the
use of a runabout.
SISKO
Of course. What's up?
ODO
Doctor Mora Pol from the Bajoran
Institute of Science asked me to
help him secure one from the
Federation.
SISKO
Why did he come to you?
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT ONE 12.
3 CONTINUED: (3)
ODO
Doctor Mora was the scientist who
was assigned to me in my first years
here... if he went to the Board of
Ministers to request permission to
approach you, it would take months.
And he's very anxious to investigate
something in the Gamma Quadrant.
And may I say, Commander, so am I.
SISKO
You've got me curious, Constable.
Is it a secret?
ODO
No, but there isn't much to tell.
One of the Bajoran science probes
recently scanned a planet about six
light years from the wormhole. It
picked up some very unique and
familiar DNA patterns. Patterns
very much like my own, Commander.
(beat)
Doctor Mora thinks he may have found
the origin of my people... of...
me...
Off Sisko's reaction...
4 EXT. SPACE - THE WORMHOLE
The Federation runabout comes out of it into the Gamma
Quadrant... the wormhole closes...
5 INT. RUNABOUT
DAX is the pilot. Doctor Mora sits in the co-pilot seat.
Odo and a second Bajoran scientist are in the background.
We'll get to know this other scientist as DOCTOR WELD RAM.
MORA
(to Dax)
As a scientist yourself, Lieutenant,
you can appreciate the difficulty of
our dilemma, and the elegance of the
solution. When Odo was first found,
no one knew who, or indeed, what we
were dealing with.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT ONE 13.
5 CONTINUED:
MORA
A shapeless, viscous mass of fluid,
a veritable organic broth. That was
our Odo in the beginning.
DAX
When did you realize you were dealing
with a sentient lifeform?
ODO
He didn't. I had to teach him that
myself.
MORA
(laughs)
That's true. That's very true.
Tell her.
ODO
It was a dilemma for me. I'd never
seen anything like these creatures
either.
MORA
"Seen" isn't really an appropriate
description. He had no eyes per
se...
ODO
I was only trying to describe it in
simple terms...
MORA
(ignoring that)
He had never perceived anything like
us before... go on...
ODO
And I knew I had to find some way to
communicate with them. So I
transformed myself into...
MORA
(taking the story
away)
It was remarkable. I'd been coming
into the lab every morning, and every
morning Odo was still in his liquid
form, resting in a Krokan petri
beaker. Well... one morning, Odo
wasn't there. The beaker was empty,
and beside it: an identical beaker
that had not been there before.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT ONE 14.
5 CONTINUED: (2)
MORA
A perfect replica in every way. It
was amazing.
(a look back at Odo)
It hasn't been the same since you
left, Odo. Working with you was the
most rewarding part of my career.
Odo doesn't acknowledge.
DAX
We're approaching the planet.
We hear the engines disengage...
DAX
(continuing)
Preparing to enter standard orbit...
planet designated L-S-Six.
WELD
Initiating scans.
6 EXT. SPACE - THE RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
moves into orbit around a planet...
7 INT. RUNABOUT
DAX
There's a lot of seismic activity
down there... possibly volcanic in
origin...
MORA
That's consistent with the probe's
analysis of the area...
ODO
Perhaps that's why the changelings
had to leave this world...
MORA
"Changelings?" That's a new one.
ODO
I've met people from the Gamma
quadrant who've heard stories of a
lifeform...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - ACT ONE 15.
7 CONTINUED:
MORA
(laughs, interrupting,
victorious)
And you said you weren't interested
in our work anymore...
ODO
That's not what I said...
WELD
I think I've located the area where
the probe identified the trace
elements... I'm picking up the same
DNA traces... entering coordinates...
DAX
Moving into synchronous orbit.
WELD
(off sensors)
Look at these readings, Doctor... I
believe there's some kind of
artificial structure on the surface...
MORA
(smiles, in
anticipation)
Is it safe to go down, Lieutenant?
DAX
Surface disturbances are minor...
for the moment anyway...
MORA
Let's do it.
As they begin to move...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/04/93 - ACT ONE 16.
8 EXT. PLANET SURFACE - AMID THE RUINS (OPTICAL)
Dax, Mora, Odo and Weld beam to the surface. There are minor
tremors throughout. Dax and Weld have science cases to
collect and preserve specimens. Mora consults a tricorder.
As they move through the ruins, we see Weld taking samples
away from the main group... he eventually wanders out of
view...
9 WITH ODO AND MORA
As they move through shattered, stone ruins. Followed by
Dax, they approach the center of the ruins.
10 A CEREMONIAL STELE
a truncated, white stone pillar standing at the center of
the ruins. There are raised letter shapes in the surface of
the pillar.
11 ODO
As he approaches the stele, studies it with an intensity...
could the answer to his mystery be on this artifact... ? He
reaches out, almost reverently, to touch it.
MORA
Do the letters mean anything to you?
Mora and Dax have approached the stele and are near Odo as
he studies it.
ODO
No. I don't think so.
MORA
Well, judging by its position in the
ruins, I think it's fair to say this
pillar represented something important
to the people who lived here.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/04/93 - ACT ONE 17.
11 CONTINUED:
DAX
Why don't we take it with us... our
computer back on the station might
be able to decipher the inscription...
Mora acknowledges. She begins to set small rods around the
stele...
MORA
Where's Doctor Weld gone to?
Weld?
WELD (O.S.)
Over here.
12 WITH WELD
some distance away as he gathers specimens among the broken
stones. Mora and Odo cross to him.
13 ANGLE DOWN
As Weld takes a sample of a very strange looking tiny lifeform
and puts it in a containment case.
WELD
I may have found what we're looking
for.
MORA
Is it carbon based?
WELD
(checking a reading)
No. Silicate, but vegetative, and
very much alive.
Odo studies it with a real intensity... Mora glances at him,
grins...
MORA
Odo Junior, perhaps?
Odo doesn't acknowledge him. In the background, WE HEAR the
effect of the transport field enhancers ZAPPING into
operation...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/04/93 - ACT ONE 18.
14 WITH DAX (OPTICAL)
DAX
Computer, begin transport.
The pillar DEMATERIALIZES... and as Dax begins to gather the
rods... the others return and there is a low rumbling, then
a tremor, small at first, but gathering intensity. Dax
reacts, and this all happens very fast --
DAX
(urgent)
Computer, realign transporter...
lock on to our combadges...
COMPUTER VOICE
Stand by...
15 AT THE BLUFF
The ground is shaking more intensely... Mora, Odo and Weld
move for shelter... there is a deafening roar. A sudden
jolt and loud cracking noise. The air is suddenly filled
with gas escaping from unseen fissures.
16 OMITTED
17 DAX, MORA, AND WELD (OPTICAL)
Covered by the dust and gas reel back from it toward the
bluff.
COMPUTER VOICE
Ready for transport...
But by now, the three humanoids are severely affected and
fall to the ground, coughing and trembling. The shaking
continues. Mora seems almost paralyzed by the effects of
the gas. Dax is choking as Odo kneels to help her. Weld is
doubled over in a fetal position. Mora is unconscious and
not moving. Odo hits his combadge...
ODO
Computer, energize!
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/29/93 - ACT ONE 19.
17 CONTINUED:
All DEMATERIALIZE. Just as the last traces of them fade
away, more gas comes up...
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT ONE
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT TWO 20.
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
18 EXT. SPACE - THE WORMHOLE
As the Runabout flashes through and the wormhole closes behind
it in the Alpha Quadrant.
INT. RUNABOUT
19
A worried Odo pilots the ship. Behind him we can see Doctor
Mora, Doctor Weld and Dax, all very ill.
ODO
(to com)
Deep Space Nine... this is the Rio
Grande. I have seriously injured
personnel on board. Request emergency
action.
20 INT. OPS
KIRA, and O'BRIEN react to Odo's message. Sisko ENTERS from
his office and crosses down to them.
KIRA
(on communicator to
Odo)
We read you, Odo. Who's injured?
ODO'S COM VOICE
Dax, Doctor Mora, and Doctor Weld.
There was some kind of volcanic gas...
O'BRIEN
(to com)
When you get within transporter range,
I'll beam them directly to the
Infirmary.
SISKO
(to Kira)
Alert Doctor Bashir.
Sisko EXITS, on his way to the Infirmary.
21 EXT. SPACE - THE RUNABOUT (OPTICAL)
hurries home.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT TWO 21.
22 INT. SURGERY - LATER
BASHIR is hard at work stabilizing and checking out his
patients, Dax, Doctor Mora, and Doctor Weld, who are all in
bunks. Mora and Weld are unconscious, using respirator masks.
Dax is resting, but breathing normally. Odo is sitting,
fully dressed on a bed. Bashir talks to Sisko as he works...
BASHIR
They're stable for now. Dax is in
fair condition, the Bajorans seem to
be more seriously affected. Perhaps
they were exposed to more of the
gas, or there may be something about
Trill physiology... I'm not sure
yet...
SISKO
And Odo?
ODO
I'm fine.
BASHIR
The paralyzing action occurred when
the gas was taken into the respiratory
system. Since Odo doesn't have a
respiratory system as we know it, he
apparently wasn't affected at all.
SISKO
O'Brien's off-loaded the cargo they
brought back. He's set up everything
in the Science Lab. I understand
there are some organic specimens
from that planet. Maybe there's
something that can help you figure
this out.
BASHIR
Good idea.
During the above, Odo has crossed slowly to Mora's bed...
23 AT MORA'S BED
Mora is breathing irregularly, and with some difficulty.
Odo looks at him a long moment. His mentor seems very weak
and small.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/01/93 - ACT TWO 22.
23 CONTINUED:
ODO
(without emotion)
Will he be all right?
BASHIR
The molecule appears to have quite
an unstable structure. That might
mean the effect is temporary.
Odo nods, EXITS. Sisko follows him.
24 INT. PROMENADE - CONTINUOUS
As Sisko and Odo walk together.
SISKO
I know how you feel, Constable.
ODO
Feel? About what?
SISKO
When my father got ill... I remember
thinking how small and weak he looked
lying there in the bed. He'd been
so strong... independent... to me it
always seemed there was nothing he
couldn't do. In the end, I realized
that there was nothing he could do.
And nothing I could do to help him.
ODO
I appreciate your thoughts, Commander.
But Doctor Mora is not my father.
Odo moves off... and as Sisko watches him a beat...
25 INT. SISKO'S QUARTERS
Sisko, his mind still on the scene with Odo, ENTERS to the
sound of a Klingon tenor coming from the speakers... sees
Jake sitting at the computer... trying desperately to follow
the extensive Klingon dramatic text displayed on the screen...
looks up doe-eyed at Sisko as he ENTERS... "Satisfied?" his
eyes seem to say.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/01/93 - ACT TWO 23.
25 CONTINUED:
Sisko smiles softly... moves across the room, pulls up a
chair and sits next to his son, puts one arm around his
shoulder, and points with the other hand to the Klingon
symbols along with the song... after a beat, (if it still
works in this set-up) Jake puts his head on Sisko's shoulder
and follows the text... and it is one of those special father-
son moments that will stay with them to the end of their
lives.
KLINGON TENOR
(on speaker)
Kak-lah... Kak-lah... Kah-pool-AYYY-
do-la-kak-lah... Yoh boo la to dah...
Yoh boo la to da...
Ah... do ro may... do ro may... do
ro may... do ro MAY de lat so
may...
Uh clop-doh... uh gah... Uh clop-
doh uh gah dor... Uh cop-doh... uh
gah... dor ray... dor ray... dor
ray.
26 OMITTED
27 INT. SCIENCE LAB (VPB)
Close on the carved pillar from the planet in the Gamma
Quadrant. Moving to find O'Brien studying the lifeform sample
magnified on a monitor as Odo ENTERS.
28 WIDER ANGLE
There are several worktables with large glass or plastic
cases on them. O'Brien turns to Odo as he crosses to him
and the pillar.
O'BRIEN
The computer's having a hard time
classifying your new lifeform.
ODO
Why?
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT TWO 24.
28 CONTINUED:
O'BRIEN
Whatever it is keeps changing...
somehow it goes through a
metamorphosis every time it
reproduces... and it reproduces like
crazy. Look at this...
He pulls the sample out of the scope... it's in a new larger
container...
O'BRIEN
It's multiplied so much, I had to
change containers... I'll put it in
a level-five security field overnight.
I wish Dax were here to take a look
at it... how's she doing... ?
ODO
Doctor Bashir thinks she'll be fine...
O'Brien acknowledges, pleased. Odo moves to the stele...
studies it...
O'BRIEN
Have any idea what it is?
ODO
I'm hoping it's a key, Mister O'Brien.
A key to my past.
Odo takes a dramatic beat and EXITS... O'Brien thoughtfully
watches him go... turns back and looks at... the mysterious
stele.
29 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
Time passage.
30 INT. SISKO'S QUARTERS
Sisko's asleep in bed when the com line rings... he awakes
gently...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/04/93 - ACT TWO 25.
30 CONTINUED:
KIRA'S COM VOICE
Kira to Sisko.
SISKO
Go ahead, Major...
KIRA'S COM VOICE
Sorry to bother you, Commander. But
we need you up here in the Science
Lab.
Sisko gets up...
SISKO
I'm on my way.
31 OMITTED
32 INT. SCIENCE LAB
Sisko ENTERS. A second later, Odo ENTERS behind him. Kira
is there with O'Brien. They are surrounded by wreckage.
Someone or something has completely trashed the Lab -- tables
are overturned, the glass cases have been smashed. Odo moves
to O'Brien at the table where the lifeform sample was stored.
The cases are smashed. As they look over the damage, we...
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT TWO
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/04/93 - ACT THREE 26.
ACT THREE
FADE IN:
33 INT. SCIENCE LAB - MOMENTS AFTER PREVIOUS SCENE
O'Brien will be taking readings with a tricorder...
SISKO
Any signs of a break-in?
KIRA
Not that we've been able to find...
the security seal on the lab was
still in place when we got here...
O'BRIEN
I can't imagine why anyone would
want to steal that thing anyway...
SISKO
You're suggesting the lifeform itself
did this...
O'BRIEN
I don't know what did this.
Commander. Unless a tornado passed
this way without us hearing it. The
room was locked. It's gone... that's
all I know for now.
Sisko gives an uneasy look toward the mysterious pillar.
SISKO
(to Odo)
Let's go to yellow alert. Get a
Level Three Security Scan of the
entire station underway.
O'BRIEN
Our scanners are probably gonna have
trouble finding this lifeform.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/04/93 - ACT THREE 27.
33 CONTINUED:
O'BRIEN
It has metamorphic qualities that
were confusing the computer. You
better run the sweep two or three
times.
ODO
(acknowledges)
Major, you could help me by reviewing
the security camera records and the
heat sensor readouts for the Lab and
the surrounding areas.
Kira acknowledges, EXITS. O'Brien has found something.
O'BRIEN
Commander, I'm picking up slight
trace elements near the ventilation
intake duct. It looks as though
the lifeform may have taken this way
out.
Dax ENTERS. She's still a bit shaky, but recovered enough
to return to duty. The others are surprised to see her.
SISKO
Doctor Bashir give you permission to
be up and about?
DAX
(as she moves,
examining the damage)
"Doctor Bashir" wouldn't listen to
me and hid my clothes so I wouldn't
leave.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT THREE 28.
33 CONTINUED: (2)
DAX
I had to sneak out to my quarters in
a hospital gown that wouldn't close
in the back... but I met a nice ensign
on the way. What did this...
SISKO
The working theory is that the
lifeform you brought back is somehow
responsible...
DAX
I don't believe it.
SISKO
Good. Find me a better theory.
Dax pauses to study the stele... nods to Sisko thoughtfully,
then remembers.
DAX
Odo, Doctor Mora is awake and wants
to see you.
Odo reacts to this, then EXITS.
34 INT. SURGERY - DARK
Doctor Mora is still lying in bed, better but weak. The
monitoring devices are still hooked up. Odo is standing by
the bed. A night nurse may be visible through the door in
the Infirmary.
MORA
I heard them say something had
happened in the lab.
ODO
The lifeform sample is gone.
MORA
Gone?
ODO
We're not sure why or how yet...
Struggling to sit up...
MORA
I want to help...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - ACT THREE 29.
34 CONTINUED:
ODO
Everything is under control...
MORA
I know more about shape-shifters than
anyone in this sector...
ODO
Anyone except me, and I'll be running
the investigation.
Odo easily controls him in the bed... and Mora's hand quite
naturally winds up on his arm... and it's the first physical
contact that is intimate in any way...
ODO
Besides we're not even sure it is a
shape-shifting lifeform...
MORA
Any metamorphic characteristics?
ODO
(acknowledging)
It was changing faster than the
computer could analyze.
Mora's eyes sparkle with enthusiasm.
MORA
Any indication of intelligence...
ODO
Not unless you consider wanton
destruction of the lab an indication
of intelligence...
MORA
It might be... It might be... Don't
dismiss any possibility...
Mora is obviously tired...
MORA
Doctor Weld hasn't regained
consciousness. I feel... responsible.
Odo looks at the inert figure of Weld in the bed...
ODO
I know Doctor Bashir is doing
everything possible.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/04/93 - ACT THREE 30.
34 CONTINUED: (2)
He looks back down at Mora, who is asleep. And as he looks
at him, there is a change somehow... as it always seems in
life, sickbeds bring people closer together. After a beat,
Odo EXITS...
35 OMITTED
36 INT. DARK CONDUIT
As O'Brien climbs in a fairly bare shaft... this is a basic
life support, air flow conduit... we might hear a background
noise of the life support generators humming... O'Brien takes
out a tricorder, takes a reading...
O'BRIEN
The same trace elements are inside
the duct...
As he moves forward...
INTERCUT:
37 INT. SECURITY OFFICE (VPB)
Sisko and Odo looking at monitors conducting Okudagram
scans...
O'BRIEN'S COM VOICE
(continuing)
I'm following the trail, moving toward
Corridor Two-H...
SISKO
(to com)
Nothing's showing up anywhere on the
scanners, Chief.
38 INT. DARK CONDUIT
O'Brien continuing to move... the palm beacon scouring the
forward areas...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/01/93 - ACT THREE 31.
38 CONTINUED:
O'BRIEN
Yeah, I figured as much. Did the
security cameras in the lab give you
anything?
ODO'S COM VOICE
The security cameras stopped operating
for forty-three seconds at zero-three
hundred hours, five minutes... right
when the alarm sounded...
O'BRIEN
Stopped... you mean somebody turned
them off?
39 INT. SECURITY OFFICE (VPB)
Working at panels on the security grid...
SISKO
More likely some kind of power
interruption... It might have affected
the security field around the lifeform
too... We're trying to analyze it
now...
40 INT. DARK CONDUIT
O'Brien moving ahead cautiously... checking his tricorder...
O'BRIEN
Do the heat sensors in the lab show
any thermal deviation at the same
time?
SISKO'S COM VOICE
Almost a six degree increase during
the forty-three seconds...
O'BRIEN
But then back to normal after that.
SISKO'S COM VOICE
Affirmative.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT THREE 32.
41 INT. SECURITY OFFICE (VPB)
O'BRIEN'S COM VOICE
We might be dealing with an entity
that absorbs low frequency R-F
energy... it might be feeding off
our power...
ODO
But an energy drain should be showing
up on our scans...
42 INT. DARK CONDUIT
O'BRIEN
Yeah, that's true, Constable. I
don't get it. Maybe this thermal
deviation was the result of...
He interrupts himself as he hears a strange sound ahead... a
sort of structural groaning, although we might not be able
to identify it as that...
SISKO'S COM VOICE
Chief?
O'BRIEN
Hold on, I hear something.
43 INT. SECURITY OFFICE (VPB)
Sisko and Odo move to the same monitor...
SISKO
We've got your position. Nothing
else is showing up anywhere near
you...
44 INT. DARK CONDUIT
Moving...
O'BRIEN
Well, I definitely hear something
ahead... can you hear it on the comm
line... ?
SISKO'S COM VOICE
No...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT THREE 33.
44 CONTINUED:
O'BRIEN
It almost sounds like... I don't
know how to describe it... I'm moving
in closer...
(beat)
If you run into my wife, don't mention
I did this...
45 INT. SECURITY OFFICE
SISKO
(to Odo)
Move some backup to the nearest
corridor...
ODO
(acknowledges, hits
combadge)
Security to Core Section, Level Four,
Corridor Two-H...
O'BRIEN'S COM VOICE
(overlapping)
I'll come home tonight and she'll
ask me how my day was... and I'll
say, fine, honey, how was yours?...
46 INT. DARK CONDUIT
The strange sound is a little louder now as he gets closer...
O'BRIEN
Sometimes I think she really doesn't
want to know the truth, so I do us
both a favor and...
He's come to the sound... shines the light up at the top of
the conduit... there's a sagging breach at a juncture line...
the sound is of structural distress... O'Brien relaxes...
O'BRIEN
Just a structural breach... we need
to get a maintenance crew up here...
As he examines the breach closer with his hand...
O'BRIEN
Shouldn't be any problem to...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/01/93 - ACT THREE 34.
46 CONTINUED:
Suddenly, as he pulls at the breach just a little, the
sag opens and shockingly the lifeform, a pailfull this time,
cascades over O'Brien, startling him...
O'BRIEN
(startled)
Ahhh!
He starts to swipe at the stuff...
SISKO'S COM VOICE
O'Brien report!
Then quickly realizes it's harmless...
O'BRIEN
I'm okay... I'm fine... I found our
missing lifeform...
With his tricorder...
O'BRIEN
Except it's not a lifeform anymore.
It's dead.
In the Security Office, Sisko and Odo react...
47 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
SISKO (V.O.)
Station log, Stardate 47391.7.
Engineering crews have been working
for over fifteen hours searching
conduits throughout the core section.
There have been no additional
incidents and no further evidence of
the alien lifeform has been found.
Yellow alert has been canceled.
48 INT. INFIRMARY (VPB)
Bashir and Dax are studying the inert sample of the lifeform
on a monitor...
BASHIR
With this kind of cellular structure,
the lifeform would have needed a
higher concentration of carbon dioxide
than our atmosphere provides...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/27/93 - ACT THREE 35.
48 CONTINUED:
DAX
(nods in agreement)
It just couldn't survive out of its
own environment.
BASHIR
That'd be my analysis...
DAX
But with that in mind, do you still
think this lifeform was capable of
destroying the lab?
BASHIR
It's not impossible. The
environmental impact might have taken
some time to set in.
Dax grunts, dubious. Stands, getting ready to leave.
DAX
I really would like Doctor Mora's
opinion on all this...
BASHIR
He's a lot better. He should be up
and around in the morning.
A beat... Dax nods, at the door...
DAX
Feel like a Raktajino before we call
it a night?
BASHIR
(lightly)
My replicator or yours...
DAX
I was thinking of the Promenade.
BASHIR
I knew that. Thanks anyway. I have
a few things to wrap up here.
DAX
Sleep tight, Julian.
She EXITS. He watches her go... turns to his work...
murmuring to himself...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT THREE 36.
48 CONTINUED: (2)
BASHIR
She enjoys it... it gives her some
perverse kind of pleasure. One of
these days, I'll stop chasing her
and then we'll see...
There's a sound from surgery... Bashir reacts, moves into...
49 INT. SURGERY
The room is dark and Bashir doesn't turn on the lights as he
ENTERS. Mora and Weld are both in bed asleep. He looks
around doesn't see anything unusual...
50 ANGLE - HIS BACK TO THE VENTILATION SHAFT
(OPTICAL)
as he wonders to himself what the
noise might have been, we see a vague
figure drop silently from the ceiling
behind him... Bashir doesn't react...
50A ANGLE - NEAR MORA'S BED
as Bashir relaxes, takes the opportunity to check the medical
monitors... and this all happens extraordinarily fast --
suddenly a tentacle wraps around his neck from behind like a
whip and pulls him...
50B ANGLE
as Bashir is pulled down sharply by the unseen creature...
crashing into a medical supply table... which falls over...
50C MORA'S EYES
open... reacting to the noise... just getting his bearings...
50D BASHIR
struggling to breathe... reaches out...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT THREE 36A.
50E HIS HAND (OPTICAL)
finds a laser scalpel from the floor... picks it up... fires
over his shoulder, hitting the creature, which groans with
impact and pulls away...
50F MORA
sits up... tries to see... but all there is...
51 FAVORING HIS POV (OPTICAL)
The barest movement of something disappearing into the
ventilation grill...
52 BASHIR
out of breath and frightened, as he hits his combadge.
BASHIR
Emergency! Emergency! Intruder
alert.
He leans back against the wall, laser scalpel at the ready.
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT THREE
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FOUR 37.
ACT FOUR
FADE IN:
53 INT. SURGERY
A lot of activity. A Starfleet engineer and a science officer
examine the area. O'Brien is up on a ladder shining a palm
beacon into the open ventilator shaft. Dax is using a
tricorder to pick up any organic traces on the floor in the
lab. Bashir is seated nearby. Doctor Mora is dressed now,
stands with Odo and Sisko talking to the shaken Bashir.
Weld is still unconscious in bed.
BASHIR
It happened so quickly. I'm sorry I
can't tell you more about it. It
was behind me, then it was gone.
But it was big. Very big.
SISKO
How badly did you injure it?
BASHIR
I don't know. I don't know if I
injured it at all. I just hit it
once with a laser scalpel on its
arm, or leg, or tentacle... whatever
it was, and it moved up the wall
and... was gone.
MORA
(with scientific
distance)
It appears our lifeform has survived
and grown into something interesting.
ODO
Did you notice anything else about
the room when you entered, Doctor...
anything out of place, anything
unusual...
(Bashir shakes his
head, doesn't think
so)
Was it unusually warm, perhaps?
Mora observes Odo at work...
BASHIR
(beat, thinking)
Now that you mention it, it was a
bit warm in here...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/01/93 - ACT FOUR 38.
53 CONTINUED:
ODO
(to Sisko)
Another thermal distortion... Did
you try the lights, Doctor?
BASHIR
No, I didn't want to disturb the
patients.
ODO
Commander, I suggest we check the R-
F energy flow to the Infirmary... we
might find a power interruption just
as we did in the lab.
Sisko acknowledges. Mora is extremely impressed with Odo's
line of investigation here... Dax crosses to them, checking
her sensor.
DAX
No blood, or any fluid traces. But
I am picking up a very slight trail
of something we didn't see last time.
An organic residue.
SISKO
Enough to test?
DAX
We'll see.
She EXITS.
SISKO
(hits combadge)
Sisko to Ops.KIRA'S COM VOICE Go
ahead.
SISKO
Restrict all nonessential personnel
to their quarters and go to red alert,
Major.
KIRA'S COM VOICE
Understood.
SISKO
(to Odo)
Keep in touch with Dax's progress...
she might give us a way to track
this thing...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/01/93 - ACT FOUR 38A.
53 CONTINUED: (2)
ODO
Until we can, I suggest we close
down the Promenade.
SISKO
(acknowledges)
I'll give the order, Constable.
He EXITS... leaving Mora and Odo together. Mora is still
studying Odo with admiration.
MORA
"Constable."
ODO
It's a nickname that I barely
tolerate.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FOUR 39.
53 CONTINUED: (2)
MORA
It's the expression of affection
that you find uncomfortable.
Odo bristles at being analyzed even if it is accurate...
EXITS... Mora notices his reaction, didn't mean to hurt him,
follows with the intention of "making up"...
54 INT. PROMENADE
As they come out of the Infirmary...
MORA
You know, that was really a remarkable
display back there...
ODO
Display?
MORA
You were careful, attentive...
ODO
I was just doing my job.
MORA
Yes, well, I'm beginning to think
that the scientific method and the
police method have a lot in common.
ODO
I never thought of it that way.
Perhaps they do.
MORA
In science we look for the obvious.
We track in straight lines. If
something looks too good to be true,
it probably isn't true. If there
seems to be more to something than
meets the eye, there usually is
more. We take it step by step.
ODO
That would apply to criminal
investigation also.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/01/93 - ACT FOUR 40.
54 CONTINUED:
MORA
You do it very well.
(beat)
I'm proud of you, Odo. Did you know
that?
Odo just nods, but it's clear that he didn't know that.
They walk a beat in silence...
55 INT. SCIENCE LAB (VPB)
As they ENTER... Dax is examining the traces... checking the
monitor... entering instructions, pressing panels... Mora
stops to study the pillar, which has been moved...
ODO
Anything?
DAX
(shakes her head)
The computer's having trouble breaking
down the DNA chains.
MORA
What about the pillar... has the
computer had any success decoding
the encryption?
DAX
No luck there either. All things
considered, the computer's having a
bad week. We have such a limited
database for the Gamma Quadrant...
ODO
I have to shut down the Promenade...
call me when you have something...
She nods... Odo starts to leave... pauses as he looks again
at the stele, a thought... to Dax --
ODO
Wasn't that pillar over there before?
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FOUR 41.
55 CONTINUED:
DAX
(without looking up
from her work)
I had to have it moved. It was in
my way.
Odo nods, EXITS...
MORA
Have you compared this new organic
sample to the lifeform we brought
back from the planet... ?
DAX
Only enough to be sure that it's not
the same...
MORA
It might be interesting to see if
there are any commonalties at all.
DAX
(nods)
Let me run a cross-tabulation
analysis... it should only take a
couple of minutes...
As she enters the information in the computer... Mora smiles
to himself, shares the thought --
MORA
Do you know Odo well, Lieutenant?
DAX
Not as well as I'd like to. He...
keeps to himself a lot.
MORA
I'm not surprised.
(beat)
I didn't realize... until I actually
saw him...
(a private laugh)
... how much I missed him... we didn't
part on very good terms...
DAX
So I've heard.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/04/93 - ACT FOUR 52.
55 CONTINUED: (2)
MORA
I didn't want him to leave. We still
had so much work to do...
(not entirely convinced
of what he's saying)
But I see him now and I wonder if he
wasn't right to go after all... he's
come such a long way...
DAX
He's an invaluable man around here.
MORA
I never thought he could do it.
Integrate successfully. If you could
have seen him back then, how ill-
prepared he was to be on his own...
(beat)
I was so sure he'd come back. When
he left, I told him he'd come back...
And all these years, I was still
certain that eventually, he'd show
up one day at the lab...
(beat, a loss)
I guess I'd better get used to the
idea that he's not going to.
56 ANGLE (VPB)
Parallel monitors flash up two studies of the two samples...
microscopic pictures with lots of data readouts along the
side...
DAX
Here we are...
Mora has already seen something... moves to one monitor...
MORA
Which one is this?
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/27/93 - ACT FOUR 43.
56 CONTINUED:
DAX
That's the new one from the Infirmary.
(re: the other monitor)
This is the lifeform from the
planet... but remember it went through
several metamorphoses...
MORA
No, it's not the same entity... the
nucleotide sequences are entirely
different...
DAX
Some metachromic similarities...
MORA
Yes... on the most basic level... it
may be a distant cousin at best...
A quiet beep from the computer signals Dax...
DAX
The computer's broken down the DNA
chain on the new sample.
She presses panels and a new Okudagram comes up on the
monitor... Mora moves closer to study it... he recognizes
it, makes a conscious decision not to tell Dax...
DAX
I can run an analysis to see if it
matches up with any other lifeform
in the computer...
MORA
How long will that take?
DAX
Two, three hours, maybe.
Mora nods thoughtfully...
MORA
Let me know.
He EXITS.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 11/01/93 - ACT FOUR 44.
57 INT. SECURITY OFFICE (VPB)
Odo is making a visual check through of all security camera
shots of the station... primarily the Promenade... which is
virtually deserted. Mora ENTERS.
ODO
Doctor Weld has regained
consciousness. It looks like he'll
be fine.
MORA
(preoccupied)
That's a relief.
He sits. Odo reacts to the tension in his voice... his
manner.
ODO
You don't seem relieved.
MORA
(appreciating him
anew)
You can tell that just by observing
me, can't you... the tone of my voice,
my eyes, my body movements...
ODO
Yes.
MORA
You are such a remarkable lifeform,
Odo. But there is so much we still
don't understand about you.
ODO
(impatient with him)
What are you getting at, Doctor... ?
MORA
The computer has broken down the
DNA chain of the organic sample we
found in the Infirmary. Dax is
running an analysis of it now. She'll
have it identified in a couple of
hours. But I already know what it
is. I've seen it before. The organic
sample... it's from you, Odo.
On Odo's reaction...
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT FOUR
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - ACT FIVE 45.
ACT FIVE
FADE IN:
58 INT. SECURITY OFFICE
A few minutes later. Odo is seated, stunned by the news.
Mora is more analytical, making the case that condemns Odo
with scientific detachment. More and more throughout the
scene, the pressure builds on Odo... the claustrophobia of
the Security Office seems to close in on him...
MORA
The destruction in the Science Lab
occurred at zero-three hundred hours,
five minutes. Then the attack in
the Infirmary occurred at nineteen-
thirty-five. Roughly sixteen hours
apart. Is your rejuvenation period
still sixteen hours...
ODO
(acknowledges)
I was in my pail during both attacks.
Mora rises moves around the desk, sits on the desk, subtly
taking a power position, just above Odo...
MORA
But were you... I don't think so.
I think, Odo, that you have been in
the rather ironic position of trying
to track down... yourself.
ODO
(a beat, softly)
How could this be?
MORA
Has anything like this happened
before?
ODO
Of course not.
MORA
Are you certain?
ODO
Of course, I'm certain. There would
have been incidents.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 46.
58 CONTINUED:
MORA
No unsolved crimes on the books?
ODO
There are always unsolved crimes.
MORA
Then, the possibility exists...
ODO
(desperate)
It doesn't. I do not commit
criminal acts. It is not in my
nature.
MORA
(the evidence before
us)
Isn't it?
ODO
(a beat)
The gas. Maybe it was the gas on
the planet. It must have affected
me in some way.
And Mora has already considered this... it's very likely
true... but he doesn't want Odo to be so comfortable with
the explanation. This is his chance. The chance to get Odo
back.
MORA
A possibility.
ODO
That has to be it.
Odo rises, about to leave...
MORA
It's certainly worth investigating.
ODO
Doctor Bashir might be able to...
Mora stops him with --
MORA
Doctor Bashir won't be able to
understand anything about this...
except that you turned into some
kind of out-of-control thing that
almost killed him. Really, Odo.
What do you think they'll do with
you?
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 47.
58 CONTINUED: (2)
ODO
Do?
MORA
They won't know what to do. They'll
put you in some kind of high security
prison, or quarantine you on a
deserted asteroid in the Gamma
Quadrant. Odo, they'll put you in a
zoo.
ODO
I don't believe that. You don't
know them...
MORA
What other humanoid have you ever
been able to trust except me?
ODO
What makes you think I trust you...
MORA
(intense)
I resent that. I really do. After
the time I invested in you. The
education I gave you. The attention
I gave you. You wouldn't be here
today without my guidance. I gave
you more than anyone else in my life.
You were my life. And you walked
away. Now, you don't trust me?
Fine, put yourself in their hands
then. Always had to learn your
lessons the hard way, didn't you...
Odo is really feeling it now... getting a little moist,
turning his back on Mora, leaning his hands on one of the
electronic security consoles...
ODO
(conflicted, soft)
I am not going back to the center
with you...
Now warmer, but zeroing in, give and take "affection" --
MORA
Why? We'll work through this
together. The two of us.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - 10/27/93 - ACT FIVE 48.
58 CONTINUED: (3)
MORA
We'll solve it together. Just as we
used to.
And Odo finally loses it, a fist pounding down on the console
top... with a flat ---
ODO
No.
And suddenly the power in the security consoles begin to
soak into...
59 ODO'S HANDS (OPTICAL)
morphing into something hideous as the electricity from the
console zaps into him...
60 MORA
reacts with horror... as the unseen thing forms in front of
him... he looks up... the sound of the thing lets out a
guttural hiss... Mora runs out...
61 INT. OPS
Kira and O'Brien are at their stations. Sisko stands near
Kira. O'Brien notices something on his computer screen.
O'BRIEN
Commander, I've got a power failure
in Security...
SISKO
Sisko to Odo...
(no response)
Sisko to Odo.
KIRA
(to com)
All deputies report to Security
Office... possible intruder.
O'BRIEN
I'm tracking it...
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 49.
62 ANGLE - MONITOR (VPB)
At O'Brien's station, seeing a vast network of conduits around
the Promenade... moving as systems failures show up... Sisko
comes over to look...
O'BRIEN
(continuing)
We have a power drain in the life
support conduit above the Security
Office. If it's feeding off our
power, we might be able to slow it
down by shutting off the primary
flow to the entire core section...
SISKO
Do it.
As O'Brien goes to work, the lights go down... Sisko studies
the monitor intently...
SISKO
Where the hell did it come from?
KIRA
(worried)
And where's Odo...
SECURITY OFFICER'S COM VOICE
Security to Ops.
KIRA
Go ahead.
SECURITY OFFICER'S COM VOICE
There's no one down here, Major.
KIRA
No sign of Odo?
SECURITY OFFICER'S COM VOICE
Nossir.
MORA (O.S.)
I can help you with that, Major.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 50.
62 CONTINUED:
They turn to see Mora arriving on the Turbolift... Mora
is quite shaken by this turn of events... feels responsible...
MORA
The creature you're after is Odo.
(reactions)
There must have been... some kind of
metamorphic reaction to the volcanic
gas we encountered on the planet.
SISKO
Is there any way to communicate with
him?
MORA
I don't know. It's not Odo really...
it's separate and independent from
the Odo we know... and yet...
(thoughtful)
At the very least, it is aware... of
me.
KIRA
How can you know that?
MORA
The incident in the Science Lab... I
think it was an attempt to "rescue"
the lifeform I put into containment...
the second encounter was in the
Infirmary where I was sleeping...
the third took place minutes ago
when we were having a... heated
discussion in Security. I think
your... "Constable" himself would
draw the same conclusion from the
evidence... on some instinctual level,
this creature is familiar with me.
SISKO
He might even conclude it has hostile
intentions toward you.
MORA
That has occurred to me.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 51.
62 CONTINUED: (2)
O'BRIEN
(off monitors)
The power shutdown is complete,
Commander. Odo... or whatever it
is... has stopped moving for the
moment.
SISKO
Chief, based on your knowledge of
its behavior, if we can lure him
out, is there any way to set up a
forcefield that can hold him...
O'BRIEN
We could reverse polarity on the
energy fields and it might work...
but that's only a guess.
SISKO
Set it up on the Promenade... I want
a lot of room to operate... Major,
station security teams along the
perimeter...
KIRA
How do we get him to come out of the
conduits?
O'BRIEN
Maybe we can use some R-F energy
bursts to attract him...
MORA
I think there's only one thing that's
going to attract that creature into
your trap. It's me he's after.
63 INT. PROMENADE
Sisko, Kira, and several Security Men accompany Doctor Mora
as they ENTER the area which has been closed down for
security. Mora has a combadge on. It is dark. Starfleet
and Bajoran officers are positioned along the second level...
SISKO
(to com)
Mister O'Brien?
INTERCUT:
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 52.
64 INT. OPS
Also dark...
O'BRIEN
Our plan seems to be working,
Commander. It's following my trail
of energy crumbs right toward you...
65 INT. PROMENADE
SISKO
On my signal, open the conduit and
let him in...
O'BRIEN
Aye, sir...
SISKO
(to Mora)
We can't be sure which vent he'll
come through. Hopefully, it'll be
the first one available to him...
(pointing over security)
... over there... but if not, there
are seventeen others he might choose.
We're not stationing officers near
any of them... we don't want to scare
him away.
MORA
I understand.
SISKO
Just get him to the forcefield.
We'll do the rest.
Sisko nods to him, wishing him good luck... moves away with
Kira...
SISKO
(continuing)
Pass the word that phasers are to be
set on maximum stun... the moment
Doctor Mora appears to be in jeopardy,
I'll open fire. Their orders are to
follow my lead. If maximum stun
doesn't bring him down immediately,
we set phasers to kill.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 53.
65 CONTINUED:
KIRA
Commander...
SISKO
I know, Major. Those are the orders.
As they reach the second level... ready to observe...
SISKO
(hits combadge)
Mister O'Brien, we're ready.
O'BRIEN'S COM VOICE
Releasing the conduit seal.
SISKO
(TO COM)
Doctor Mora, did you hear that?
66 MORA
MORA
Ready and waiting.
And any music cue that's been going on should end right here
as we go to:
67 VARIOUS SHOTS
Mora, Sisko, Kira, Bashir, phasers loaded and ready, Mora
again... listening for a sound, anything... silent... then --
68 MORA
suddenly starts to talk out loud for Odo's sake but not
yelling...
MORA
What are you waiting for? I'm here.
And I'm not going anywhere.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 54.
69 MORE VARIOUS SHOTS OF WAITING IN SILENCE
70 ANGLE (OPTICAL)
Mora is keeping an eye on the vent Sisko pointed out... behind
him, there is a dark movement... he senses it, turns...
suddenly the creature looms...
71 MORA
stumbles back, falls...
72 SISKO
reacts, readies to fire...
73 MORA
scrambles back on the floor away from the advancing
creature... and suddenly...
74 ANGLE (OPTICAL)
The creature hits the field and it comes on, opaque, the
creature stretching to get at Mora through it... its monstrous
figure shaped by the field...
75 MORA
looking up from the floor, beginning to get up... in an even,
regretful tone of voice --
MORA
I've done it to you again, haven't
I, Odo. Made you a prisoner. Dear
God, what have I done.
76 ANGLE (OPTICAL)
The creature struggles another beat and then exhausted...
becomes the figure of Odo again... who then collapses behind
the field...
77 SISKO
reacts, rising from his position... hits the combadge --
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 55.
77 CONTINUED: (2)
SISKO
Mister O'Brien, drop the field.
O'BRIEN'S COM VOICE
Aye, sir.
78 ODO
laying wet and exhausted on his back... no memory of what
occurred... just panic in his eyes. Mora is the first one
there... Odo stares up at him...
MORA
We have a lot to talk about.
And then Mora puts his arms under Odo's limp body and picks
him up like a child... and the crowd that has gathered, parts
as Mora carries him across the Promenade toward the
Infirmary...
79 EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)
80 INT. INFIRMARY
Odo is lying down, stronger... Bashir is checking on readings,
looks encouraged... Mora is observing...
BASHIR
I'm not going to try to explain
exactly what happened to you, Odo...
because I haven't the vaguest idea...
I can tell you with Doctor Mora's
help we've managed to eliminate all
traces of the gas from your cellular
structure... I'll prescribe rest
because it's hard for a doctor to go
wrong with that one... but otherwise,
there's not much more I can do for
you.
ODO
Thank you, Doctor.
Bashir nods, gives the two of them some time alone. After a
beat...
MORA
I'm going home.
DEEP SPACE: "The Alternate" - REV. 10/28/93 - ACT FIVE 56.
80 CONTINUED:
ODO
Doctor Mora, I want to be sure you
know that I had no idea...
MORA
You had to speak in a voice loud
enough for me to hear.
ODO
I'm... sorry.
MORA
I'm sorry it was necessary.
(beat, hard to say)
I would like... in a small way... to
be a part of your life again... your
life on the station. From time to
time, we could talk. About things
that matter to you. To us.
ODO
I'd... like that.
Mora reaches out in a true intimate way and pats Odo on the
hand... Odo grabs his hand and holds it... the two men lock
eyes for a long beat... and as Odo smiles gently...
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT FIVE
THE END