DRAGON'S TEETH
Episode 127
Part B

 

The away team, after beaming down, are using wrist-beacons in the dark underground artificially-constructed chamber. It is the room leading to the control room where Gedrin and Jisa, nearly 900 years ago, climbed into their bio-pods.

Janeway: "These walls have been reinforced with tritonium. They built this place to last." Tuvok: "Most of the power relays are still active." Janeway: "Not bad after nine centuries." Seven: "The main reactor is drawing energy from the planet's geothermal core. Efficient."

Janeway wipes away the dirt from a cylindrical piece of equipment.

She sees the face of a humanoid. She does not know it, but this is Gedrin.

Tuvok: "Some kind of stasis pod."

Seven, reporting tricorder readings: "This display indicates that there are more chambers behind these walls. Some of them have failed."
Janeway: "It's amazing they survived at all. Let's see what else we can find."

But Seven believes she knows how to obtain information more efficiently. She locates the bio-pod's control panel and presses buttons.

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Janeway: "Seven, what are you doing?" Seven: "I've activated the re-animation sequence. He may be able to provide us with answers." Tuvok: "We don't know anything about this species. They could be hostile."

Seven: "Most humanoid cultures are."

Janeway to Seven: "Remind me to re-acquaint you with away mission protocols."

The re-animation sequence finishes and Gedrin awakes.

Gedrin: "Who-?" His voice is hoarse. He has not used it in nearly 900 years. Janeway: "It's alright. We're not your enemy. We're from a starship. We discovered this chamber and revived you." Gedrin: "How long was I....?" Janeway: "In stasis? Close to nine hundred years."

Gedrin: "Nine hundred? Jisa." He scrambles up, and goes over to her bio-pod. "Help her, please." Seven activates the re-animation sequence. But when the bio-pod opens, Jisa is dead. "No. Jisa." To his rescuers, he explains: "She was my wife."

Later, in Sickbay, Gedrin wakes with a start and sits bolt upright. He looks round at the unfamiliar surroundings. The Doctor approaches and scans him with a medical tricorder. Gedrin flinches away. Doctor: "I won't hurt you."

Gedrin: "I was drifting in and out of consciousness when they brought me here, but I thought I saw you appear out of thin air."
Doctor: "I'm a computer program, a hologram."
Gedrin touches his arm curiously. Janeway and Seven enter. "And the others?"
Doctor: "Flesh and blood, like yourself."
Gedrin to Janeway: "You're the ones that took me out of stasis. I don't recognise your species."
Janeway: "Human. Our home planet is halfway across the galaxy."
Gedrin: "And you've expanded your territory into this space?"
Janeway: "Our ship was brought here by accident. We're trying to get home."

Gedrin points at Seven: "You're Borg." Seven: "How do you know that?" Gedrin: "Don't you recognise my people - the Vaadwaur?" Seven: "The Collective's memory from 900 years ago is fragmentary." Gedrin: "I've had many encounters with your kind." Doctor: "And lived to tell about them? Impressive."

Gedrin: "How did you find us?" Janeway: "We needed some place to hide from the Turei after they found us in one of their subspace corridors." Gedrin: "'Their' corridors." Janeway: "So they claimed." Gedrin: "The corridors were ours. It took centuries to map them. We were the envy of a hundred species, including the Turei."

Janeway: "Are they responsible for what happened to your planet?" Gedrin: "The Turei and a dozen others. What one couldn't accomplish the others finally did. I would like to look at what's left of my world."

Gedrin and Janeway stand by the window in the Messhall. Outside they can plainly see the ruins of the city. Gedrin: "We made our final stand there." Janeway: "I've scanned the cavern. You've got a thousand more stasis pods down there, most of them still active, hundreds of ships, land vehicles, weapons." Gedrin: "A single battalion and their families. We'd planned to come out of stasis after five years. We believed that by then, the Alliance would have been at each other's throats."

Janeway: "You were going to rebuild."
Gedrin: "No, not here. We knew this planet would be poisoned for centuries. We were planning to go to another world, start a colony, hope to find new allies, learn from them."
Janeway: "Your power core is still functioning. It was the controls that were damaged in the attack. That's why you never came out of stasis."

Gedrin: "Jisa and I lived there, in the old quarter. We had a garden overlooking the street below."

Gedrin: "It's a shame she didn't show more courage at the end." Janeway: "Given the circumstances...." Gedrin: "That's no excuse." Janeway: "Pardon me for saying this, but that seems a bit heartless." Gedrin: "When it rains, do you run from doorway to doorway trying to stay dry, getting wet all the while, or do you just accept the fact that it's raining, and walk with dignity?" Janeway: "Rain's one thing. Plasma bombs are something else." Gedrin: "But the principle is the same."

Janeway: "I'd bring an umbrella."

Gedrin smiles. He turns to her: "Maybe it's not too late to meet a new ally and learn from her."

They head toward the serving area as Neelix emerges from the Galley bearing a dish laden with a variety of foods. Neelix to Gedrin: "I took the liberty of preparing a large assortment of Delta Quadrant dishes. Hopefully, there's something here that you'll like."

Gedrin: "You're Talax-ilzay." Neelix: "Talaxian, but you're right. My ancestors referred to themselves as Talax-ilzay in the Old Tongue." Gedrin: "The Old Tongue was new when I met your race." Janeway: "You travelled all the way to Talaxia?" Gedrin: "And farther. Our corridors took us to many worlds. I'm curious. Have you heard of us, the Vaadwaur?" Neelix: "Oh, I'm afraid there aren't many records from that period, but vaadwaur is a word in the Old Tongue. It means 'foolish'. I'm er sure that it's just a coincidence, of course. I didn't mean to be rude."

Gedrin: "Your ancestors were wise. Only fools would let this," gesturing toward the view of the city ruins, "happen to them."

Suddenly a plasma bomb lands and there is a large explosion. The com. signal sounds. Via comms: "Chakotay to Captain Janeway." Janeway, via comms: "Go ahead." Chakotay, via comms: "Looks like our friends in orbit have found us." Janeway, via comms: "We're on our way." She and Gedrin hurry out of the port-side door.

Janeway: "Report."
Chakotay: "Six Turei vessels are in orbit, all firing plasma charges."
Tuvok: "That was 2,000 metres to starboard."

As the ship lurches, Gedrin is thrown off-balance and finds himself sitting down.

Kim: "Looks like they can't get an exact fix on our position. The radiogenic atmosphere must be disrupting their targetting."
Tuvok: "900 metres."
Paris: "They're getting closer."
Janeway: "Can we return fire?"
Chakotay: "We have the same problem. Our torpedoes won't lock on."
There is an impact on the shields.
Tuvok: "Direct hit. Aft shields down to 18 per cent."

Gedrin: "Captain? Can you transmit a signal through this atmosphere?" Janeway: "We've already tried talking to them." Gedrin: "I have no intention of speaking with the Turei. We put a sentry satellite in orbit directly above the city. You could use its sensors to help guide your torpedoes."

Tuvok checks the sensors. "It's there, intact and functional."
As she stops herself from overbalancing when the Turei fire another volley, Janeway turns expectantly to Gedrin.
Gedrin: "Open a channel."

He goes over to Kim at Ops. "I'll give you the activation code." He looks at the unfamiliar control interface. "I'm a few centuries out of date."

Kim: "You can enter the activation code here." He shows him a group of touch-controls.

Gedrin presses several of them. Kim reports: "It's processing our telemetry."

Janeway: "Triangulate. Fire." Tuvok: "Direct hit. The lead ship has lost shields. Its propulsion is down." Gedrin: "One more torpedo will finish them."

Chakotay: "The other ships are retreating."

Gedrin: "Captain, why don't you keep firing?" Janeway turns sharply. Gedrin wants her to kill the Turei in the crippled ship. "We've scared them off. That's enough for now." Gedrin: "But they'll come back with twice as many ships." Janeway: "With any luck, our warp drive will be back online by then." Gedrin: "The Turei may be cowards, but their technology has become much more advanced than ours. If you leave us, we will be slaughtered again."

Chakotay: "What do you propose?" Gedrin: "Help us off this planet, and we will show you subspace corridors known to nobody else. You will be free from the Turei, and you will be a thousand light years closer to your home." Janeway: "Let's wake up your battalion."

Back in the underground chambers, accompanied by Janeway and Chakotay, Gedrin opens the entrance to the central chamber.

The lights come on group by group, revealing a vast array of Vaadwaur fighter starships.

Chakotay: "Dragon's teeth."

Janeway: "Dragon's teeth?" Chakotay: "An old Greek myth. After a dragon was killed in a war, its teeth were spread out over the battlefield. They took root and warriors sprung from the ground to continue the fighting."