Episode 15 Farther from Home pt. 2

*"That's a nice third pip you have on your collar there, commander. I certainly hope you get to keep that."*
—**Nallas Rhee**

## **Plot Synopsis**

### **Brief Overview**

The Vorta introduces himself as Nadran, and tells Sull he's a big fan of their work taking down the Orion Crime Syndicate. Sull begins to lose control of their pheromones. Skrag leaves, and Nadran begins to explain that he's here to pick up a Founder who had infiltrated the Orion Crime Syndicate during the war, but tensions are high and Admiral Mestis postpones the meeting. He leaves in anger to confer with Starfleet.

Sull and EXEO beam back to the USS *Ross* and Sull calls Admiral Rhee. Rhee confirms the orders, but says he didn't know they've be given to the Ross. He orders them to complete the mission in secret, and threatens to demote Sull and EXEO when they express dissatisfaction.

In sickbay, Wellix arrives to speak with M'Qrell, and she can tell he is deteriorating quickly. He requests M'Qrell return him to his Romulan form, and asks for her permission to use the holodeck, to help him remember who he is. After he leaves, Theq enters, and tells M'Qrell that somethings going on with the captain. M'Qrell asks for his help in keeping Wellix alive.

In 10 Forward Lakat and Vrenn try to get information out of Prahl, but he only says that he doesn't have much to tell them. Lakat returns to her quarters to find Azzmi. Azzmi gives her a data pad with information on Theq's brother, as Lakat had requested, and Lakat gives her a Bajoran lilac, one of the many plants she has in her room, in thanks.

Later, Sull and EXEO discuss the days events, including how they're going to tell the crew. EXEO blips to sickbay to ask M'Qrell about Wellix, and they take him to the holodeck to speak with Sull. In the holodeck, Sull and Wellix make a deal; he helps them find the schematics to the chip in his head, and he gets to plan the mission to retrieve the schematics.

### **Pre-Break**

The episode opens where "Farther from Home pt. 1" left off. The Vorta and two Jem'Hadar have just transported onto Starbase 105 in ADM Mestis' ready room. At the sight of them, CAPT Sull recalls that the orders for USS *Ross* were signed by ADM Janeway. Sull's instincts tell them that it doesn't make sense that Janeway would order a covert operation far outside of her area of command. Sull is unable to control their mental state, and begins exuding pheromones of hostility.

Mestis tells the Dominion representatives that they are present in Federation space in violation of the Treaty of Bajor. The Vorta deflects, suggesting that introductions happen first, as a matter of courtesy. There is a long moment of silence, before he introduces himself as Nadran. The Jem'Hadar are First Il'kat Et'lan and Second Ven'it Rex (First and Second are titles of the Jem'Hadar). Mestis coldly stares at Nadran, and says that he likely knows all of their names already. Nadran spots Sull and gasps. He tells them that he is a great fan of Sull's work with Starfleet Intelligence taking down the Orion Crime Syndicate; he says the Dominion studies their work as an example of tactical genius. Sull glares at him, and replies that they greatly enjoyed rooting out Changeling infiltrators. Skrag interrupts the discussion, and demands his payment. Nadran tells him that the Dominion will cover the payment; he clearly finds Skrag quite unpleasant. Skrag excuses himself, but flirts with CDR EXEO before leaving. EXEO shoots him down, and he transports away. A moment passes, and then Nadran looks directly at Sull. He says "does anyone else feel that?", clearly referencing their pheromonal output. He suggests they give Sull a moment to calm down. Sull states that they should continue.

Nadran begins to explain the situation. During the Dominion War, the Dominion had a Founder (the term the Dominion use for Changelings) infiltrate the Orion Crime Syndicate. The Dominion has been out of contact with the Founder since the end of the war, and Nadran is here to get them. He says this mission is a historic opportunity to build trust between the Federation and the Dominion. Mestis and Sull make eye contact; Mestis is clearly not buying it. EXEO stares at Nadran, but is unable to get a read on his motivations. She is standing impossibly still while her program attempts to read him, and Nadran notices. He asks if she is feeling well, and again suggests delaying the negotiations until his "hosts" are feeling better. EXEO replies that they are not his "hosts", and he corrects her, saying he is present at the invitation of Starfleet. Mestis ends the meeting so he can confer with Starfleet command. He orders Nadran and the Jem'Hadar to remain. He and the crew of USS Ross leave, and he posts guards at the door.

The quickly move to Mestis' office. Mestis is clearly furious; he is on the border of rage (possibly influenced by Sull's pheromones). He storms into his office, past his alarmed Tellarite assistant. He turns on a security field to prevent listening devices. He tells Sull and EXEO that he has no idea what is going on; Starfleet did not inform him of the Dominion. Sull asks him if his orders came from Janeway, and he shows them a PADD with the message. EXEO asks if she can check if it's a forgery, and she verifies its origin. Sull, assisted by EXEO, does a textual analysis of the message. Sull can't say why, but their instincts tell them that something is wrong; Janeway didn't compose this order. Mestis picks up a paperweight off of his desk and hurls it against the wall, shattering it. Mestis asks Sull if they have a contact at Starfleet Command that they trust implicitly. Sull gives ADM Rhee's name. Mestis gives Sull and EXEO permission to verify the orders. He is going to speak with Nadran.

Sull and EXEO return to USS Ross. In the transporter room, MCPO Theq and CPO Singh greet them. They can tell that something is extremely wrong. Sull orders EXEO to get LTCDR Prahl to setup a secure channel to Rhee. Sull storms off, leaving EXEO behind. Theq asks EXEO if the situation is bad. EXEO says nothing, and leaves angrily. Because Sull didn't take EXEO's ring, she has to walk.

On the bridge, Sull goes straight to their ready room. Olyn picks up a wave of adrenaline-fueled fury coming off of them. Olyn orders Patience to stay and follows Sull. LT Vrenn looks at LTJG Lakat with concern, but she says nothing. Lakat stares at the door to Sull's ready room as the view screen shows Liquidator leaving the Starbase.

On the promenade, EXEO finds Prahl in a rare moment of relaxation. He is reading a physical book with his collar unzipped. Upon seeing EXEO he straightens up, zips up his uniform, and puts down his book. She tells them they need a secure channel to Rhee and he follows her. The crew members seeing EXEO can tell something is wrong, and are a little agitated.

In the ready room, Olyn follows after Sull. Sull asks if they can help Olyn, but Olyn asks if *they* can help *Sull* (implying that they use their empathic abilities to "take" Sull's emotions). Sull suggests that is not a good idea. Olyn and Sull both get increasingly agitated. Olyn is clearly being influenced by Sull's pheromones. Eventually, they both take a breath and manage to calm down. Sull whispers to Olyn, "Vorta". Olyn says they understand why Sull is upset, and Sull offers to order them some ice cream. EXEO and Prahl enter the room. Sull orders him to set up the secure channel, and he leaves to go to his security station on the bridge. The channel opens and Olyn steps out. Rhee's image appears. He asks if everything is alright, and Sull sends him a copy of the orders. Rhee stiffens up, and tells Sull that they are authentic. Sull is incredulous. Rhee repeats that these are USS Ross's orders, and they are to give the Dominion representatives everything needed to find the Changeling and return it to the Dominion. Rhee apologizes, saying that he didn't know that USS Ross would be the ship tasked with this responsibility. He orders the entire crew, including civilians, be sworn to secrecy. Sull asks how this mission was arranged without anyone noticing. Rhee says that he has no answers, and if he knew what was going on he would tell them. EXEO reads into his behavior, and determines that he is lying. EXEO decides to try and shake him. She speaks out of turn, implying that he put Sull's life in danger by sending Jem'Hadar to meet them. Rhee becomes furious. He repeats the order to Sull, and says that he relieve them of command if they do not carry it out. He also threatens to demote EXEO. He ends the call.

### **Post-Break**

The scene moves to sickbay. LTCDR M'Qrell is quietly working when Dr. Wellix walks in. He nearly loses his balance on his way to the medical bed. For a moment, he fails to recognize M'Qrell. She scans him. The scan determines that there is significant degradation in his brain. M'Qrell identifies that the deterioration has allowed the computer to gather more data. The more he decays, the closer she will come to finding a treatment. She tells Wellix that that he needs to start coming to sickbay every day. She needs him to fight for his life. He says that he appreciates how she pretends to be something different in order to help the crew feel better. He requests that she returns him to his true image before he dies. He wishes to be Sorex again; he seems desperate. M'Qrell says that she hasn't lost many patients, and she doesn't plan to add him to the list. She gives him something for the pain, and asks him to keep seeing EXEO. She also requests that he stay mentally active, and he requests limited access to the holodeck. He wants to remember who he was. M'Qrell approves the holodeck access, as long as she or EXEO are present. He contemplates asking EXEO to conduct his therapy on the holodeck. M'Qrell says she will review his programs to ensure they aren't harmful to him.

**CONTENT WARNING: Suicide. Click "expand" to see the content.**Wellix asks if she thinks he is still suicidal. She says "no". He jokes that he has spent too much time around the infectious Federation love of life.

As Wellix leaves, Theq and Singh walk in to do "diagnostics". M'Qrell says she doesn't have any diagnostics scheduled. Singh goes to a corner to "diagnose" things, while Theq approaches M'Qrell for a conversation. He says that he saw Sull and EXEO, and things look very bad. M'Qrell says that they will learn in time. She informs Theq about Wellix's condition and her findings. She asks Theq to help her keep Wellix alive, in his brother's name. Theq tells her to transfer the data to his lab and walks out, leaving Singh behind. Singh awkwardly tells M'Qrell that he has nothing to "diagnose", it was just a pretext. He leaves.

The scene moves to the turnover of alpha shift to beta shift. In 10 Forward, the crew is clearly nervous. Lakat walks in, and sees Prahl and Vrenn talking to Solun. Solun is slowly cleaning a glass while Prahl and Vrenn absentmindedly answer their questions, not really paying attention. Lakat walks up and awkwardly directs Prahl and Vrenn to move to a table with her. Lakat orders a water and a glass of Kanar. Solun, clearly happy, pulls out a bottle from under the bar. They begin to describe how good the bottle is, but Lakat interrupts them and leaves. She goes to sit with Prahl and Vrenn. Lakat looks at Prahl, and says he knows something about what's going on. She turns to Vrenn to ask for his best guesses. He suggests Tholians and Romulans, but can't think of a third guess. Lakat turns to Prahl and directly asks him what is going on with Starfleet Command; Prahl replies he cannot tell her. Lakat turns to Vrenn and suggests they play 20 questions, but Prahl isn't falling for it. Prahl says he doesn't know everything anyway. Lakat replies "we'll just have to wait" and stares a Prahl, sipping her Kanar. Prahl turns to Vrenn and says he's handling things well, all things considered. Vrenn says he's used to it. Lakat tells Prahl that she is dying inside. She tells Prahl that, in a past life, she would have left to go find out what is going on, but she won't. Prahl praises her restraint, and tells her that she is a "damn fine science officer." She replies that, when she and Prahl were ambushing the smugglers on Pa'thor, she had the thought that becoming a science officer was a mistake. She thanks him for saying what he did. Prahl stands and abruptly leaves. Lakat grabs Vrenn and starts following him, but he disappears into a turbolift. Vrenn shrugs, and Lakat asks why he's not bothered by what's happening on the ship. She get a sense that he is nervous about something. She tries again to ask him what's going on, but he doesn't know. She turns and starts to leave, but he stops her. With difficulty, he says that he knows she actually listens to him, and that he appreciates it. Lakat says nothing, and walks away. Vrenn goes back into 10 Forward.

When Lakat arrives at her quarters, YEO3 Azzmi is waiting outside. She hands Lakat a data pad, saying she has the Lakat requested. She says that Reku Lynadas knew M'Qrell, and she was with him when she died. Azzmi says some of the information is still classified. Lakat thanks her for the information, and says she owes Azzmi a drink. Azzmi agrees. Lakat tells Azzmi to wait a moment, and disappears into her quarters. Lakat's quarters are spartan, but there are plants everywhere, and one wall is covered with a giant maze for Orwell. In a protected corner, she has some Bajoran lilacs. She picks up a potted lilac and returns to Azzmi. Azzmi gasps when she sees them, and Lakat awkwardly hands the pot to her. Azzmi exclaims that they are exactly like the ones her father used to grow on Bajor, and Lakat falls silent. She asks where Lakat got the flowers, and Lakat answers evasively. Lakat tries to go into her room, but Azzmi stops her Azzmi asks if Lakat is okay; she knows that Lakat is uncomfortable being asked, but she needs to know. Lakat says that she is fine, but Azzmi can tell she is lying. Lakat says she is going to sit in her room and wait until someone tells her what is happening. Azzmi says she is going to go do the same thing. Lakat almost invites her in, but doesn't. Azzmi awkwardly says good night, and Lakat enters her room.

The scene moves to EXEO and Sull inside Sull's quarters. Mestis has informed them that he has provided quarters for Nadran and the Jem'Hadar on the station. He has invented an "emergency repair" to keep others away from them. Sull leans against the window, their back to the station outside. EXEO stands still in the center of the room. Sull sighs, and EXEO moves closer, until Sull can feel the warmth from her holographic body. EXEO asks Sull how they want her to handle informing the crew. Sull says they should inform senior staff as soon as possible, and the rest of the crew in the morning. Sull says they are concerned about Wellix; EXEO says she will set up a meeting between them. Sull sighs, saying they failed the crew by not maintaining their composure. EXEO tries to convince them otherwise, but Sull points out Mestis' rage. EXEO points out that being lied to by Rhee must have hurt. She continues to work on Sull, until they relent to her unwavering therapy logic. EXEO hands them the ring, and Sull apologizes for making her walk around all day. Sull tells EXEO that the meeting with Wellix needs to be discreet. As EXEO is about to leave, Sull tells her that she did good work. Sull asks if she will keep the physical pip from her promotion ceremony. EXEO takes it off, and asks Sull to hold it for her. EXEO blips to sickbay.

In sickbay, M'Qrell sees EXEO appear. EXEO explains that there is an "urgent security threat", and Sull needs to ensure that Wellix doesn't encounter them. M'Qrell takes the opportunity to forward Wellix's request for holodeck access. EXEO agrees, but suggests they only use verifiable memories, to prevent Wellix from becoming confused. EXEO tells M'Qrell to schedule him an appointment with her in her office, but to take him to holodeck 5, instead. M'Qrell goes to his quarters, and says she will personally escort him to EXEO's office. She leads him to holodeck 5. As Wellix walks in, Sull and EXEO are waiting for him, but the holodeck is off. EXEO walks out, transforming her appearance into Wellix once she is out of sight. She and M'Qrell walk out and head to EXEO's office.

Inside the holodeck, Sull mentions that the two of them haven't had a chance to talk personally yet. Sull asks if they have moved on past the point of veiled threats and verbal sparring. Wellix says he has. Sull says that it's time they get the schematics of the chip that was in his head. Sull adds that they think Wellix knows where they can get the schematics. Sull suggests an exchange; the Federation will use their advanced medical technology to "solve" the problem of the chip, and he can then turn the "improved" chip over to whichever Romulan faction he believes is still worthy of his loyalty. Wellix says that Sela is the Tal Shiar now, and doesn't serve the Romulan people. He will help Sull, but in return he asks that he get to plan the operation. There is a slight gleam in his eye as Sull agrees to the deal.

## **Cast**

* Eric Campbell - Game Master
* Revati Dhomse - Jane Lakat
* Gina De Vivo - EXEO
* Sam de Leve - Azeri Sull
* Aki - Olyn Madzhin-Nil
* Xander Jeanneret - Theq Lynadas
* Bonnie Gordon - M'Qrell

## **Non-Player Characters**

* Mestis
* Nadran
* Il'kat Et'lan
* Ven'it Rex
* Skrag
* Zhyliss Vrenn
* Amandeep Singh
* Yeri Prahl
* Nallas Rhee
* Wellix
* Solun
* Azzmi Shanto

## **Notable Lines**

*"That's a nice third pip you have on your collar there, commander. I certainly hope you get to keep that."*
—**Nallas Rhee**

*"Doctor, what I appreciate about you is, like me ... for the betterment of everyone around you, you pretend to be someone else."*
—**Wellix**

*"I don't want to die not knowing who I am."*
—**Wellix**

*"You cannot let your race define who you are."*
—**M'Qrell**

*"That look was a look of war."*
—**Theq Lynadas**

*"I want you to know I am dying inside right now."*
—**Jane Lakat** about not knowing a secret

*"I didn't hold it together today. I failed them. I can't do that again."*
—**Azeri Sull**

*"I have a full range of emotion, and I intend to use all of them, given the chance."*
—**EXEO**

## **Notes and Trivia**

* The overlay still shows CDR EXEO as a LTCDR.