Palladium

Hi. I just finished another DS9 story entitled Palladium. It is Bashir/Dax. The
summary is:
When Bashir and Dax return from the Gammma quadrant, a transporter accident
threatens the total loss of the symbiont’s memories forever. I rate it PG-13.
Enjoy.
Kristen Jones

Disclaimer: All these characters belong to Paramount productions and were used
without permission. The story, however, is mine, and may not be used without
my consent.
Palladium

By. Kristen Jones

“Well, Jadzia, it looks as if it’s smooth sailing, uh, flying, ahead,” Dr.
Julian Bashir joked as the runabout lifted from it’s docking port on Jetid 3 in the
Gamma Quadrant. He and Jadzia Dax, resident science officer, were returning to
the station after helping cure a plague that was infesting neighboring Batika
settlements.
“Don’t speak too soon; it’s bad luck,” she cautioned him, glaring fondly.
Then she laughed. “But I sure do hope you’re right.”
It had been a few months since the Verad incident on the station. Jadzia
was slowly but surely recovering her dignity and Julian no longer felt sorry for
the medical “attention” from the incident. Everything was finally getting back to
normal.
“Dax,” Julian started, “I was wondering, what did Curzon tell Benjamin to
do when he took him out for that drink?”
“Oh, yeah, I never did finish telling you, did I?” Jadzia had been
recounting the time when Curzon had taken Captain Sisko out for his first
“party.” “Well, he told him that it was just a few friends- ,”
“Yeah, right,” Julian smirked. He knew enough about Curzon to know
that was a lie. “Well, he did,” she said defensively. “But you’re right. It
was a lie.” They both laughed and Jadzia finished telling him the story.
“Curzon got so drunk that when Ben tried to make him stop drinking the Saurian
brandy, he told him to-,” what following was a string of such cursing, Julian didn’t
think Dax had it in her.
He whistled. “Some story-Hey!” he cried as the runabout suddenly shook,
as if attacked. He turned to his console. “Sensors reading a Jem ‘Hadar ship
approaching bearing 211 mark 74. They’re firing on us.”
“Try hailing them,” Jadzia said, as she frantically tried an evasive
maneuvering pattern. “No response,” Julian said, as the runabout was
shaken again with another blow. “I’m reading shields at 40 percent. Another
couple of hits and we’re done for.” “The wormhole’s just ahead. If we can
make it-,” Jadzia said, her face taking on a look of pure calm characteristic of all
Trills. They waited tensely and before they knew it, the wormhole was
blossoming open before them.
“We’re safe,” Julian said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Not yet,” Jadzia
countered, reading a pattern of images drawn onscreen. “The Jem ‘Hadar have
followed us in. Let’s just hope they can’t reach us before we get out of here.”
It was a tense few minutes that awaited the two science officers. There
was nothing they could do but wait and hope that when they reached the end of
the wormhole, the Jem ‘Hadar would break off pursuit. Their hope,
unfortunately, was in vain.
“Chief!” Jadzia cried as they shot out of the wormhole towards the station.
“Yes, Commander,” he said in his calm, Irish brogue.
“Beam us out!” She yelled. “We’ve taken a direct hit and the runabout’s
going to explode.” “Hold on,” he said, as they tried to steer in to the station.
The Jem ‘Hadar had seen their destination and had broken off pursuit coming
through the wormhole. Jadzia felt an odd tingle and knew that the
transporter was working its magic. Suddenly, she felt a blast of pain and she
knew nothing.

“Chief, did you get them off?” Captain Benjamin Sisko said, staring in
horror as the runabout, Concerto, blew to pieces on the viewscreen.
“I’m checking,” he replied, staring tensely at his monitors. “Yes,” he said,
breathing an audible sigh of relief, “they’re safe.”
“I’m going to the infirmary. Major, you’re with me.” Major Kira
nodded, grateful to him. Jadzia Dax was one of her best friends. She wanted to
know if she was all right.

It was quite a sight when they got to the infirmary. Julian was sitting on a
biobed, looking dazed, but none the worse for wear. Benjamin walked over to
him. “Doctor, how is Jadzia?”
Julian only looked at him with glazed eyes. Apparently, he and Jadzia had
been transported off at the moment of the blast and he was feeling the effects of
the transporter. “Jadzia?” he muttered, looking around for her. “Jadzia,” he said
again, jumping off the table while a nurse struggled to catch his sleeve and
failed.
All three of them walked over to her bed. She, too, was sitting up, also
looking dazed. “Julian?” she whispered. “Julian, where am I?”

“As near as I can tell,” Julian said to Sisko, “the transporter malfunctioned
because of a faulty reactant compressor stabilizer. The resulting transport
blocked the Dax symbiont from Jadzia. Apparently, she can only remember
things when the symbiont wasn’t in her body.” He thought back to Verad and
shuddered.
“But we were all there when you took the symbiont out. She should still
remember us, right?” Sisko asked.
“Not necessarily,” he replied. “Jadzia lost consciousness just after I took
the symbiont out. So, in theory, the last face she saw when Dax was out was
mine.” Sisko mulled this over. “It would certainly attribute to her only
recognizing you. How can she be cured?”
At this, Julian lowered his head. “I’m not sure she can,” he said quietly.
“She may remain this way for the rest of her life.”
“Well, dammit, you’re a doctor, you have to do something!” Sisko shouted.
He’d be damned if he was going to let Dax sit there with amnesia until she died.
Then he stopped and looked at the doctor. Julian was obviously trying very hard
not to lose what little self-control he had and burst into hysterics. He couldn’t
think about how he was going to help Jadzia. As far as he knew, no Trill had ever
had this kind of problem before. There was simply nothing he could do about it
and it scared him. Sisko decided to leave. “Let me know if you find
anything,” he said softly and exited the room. Julian was worried. Jadzia
knew the station but she recognized nothing and no one else there. He didn’t
know what to do except see how much the damage had been to her other senses
as well.
“Jadzia, would you like to go out for dinner?” Julian asked as he showed
up at her door a few minutes later.
“I don’t know,” she said doubtfully. She had been racking her brain since
Julian had explained the situation to try and remember. “Do you think I’m
ready?” “You’re always ready,” he responded, a little miffed. “C’mon, I’ll
reintroduce you to Quark.” He laughed. “You’ll like him.”
She agreed and a moment later, they were headed to Quark’s.
Chief O’Brien looked hard at the terminal he was seated at, pouring over
the data records to try and determine the exact frequency the transporter beam
had been set on during the accident. He sighed in frustration. This was more for
Julian than for his peace of mind. He could tell the doctor felt helpless. “If I can
just figure this out,” he muttered.
“Miles?” his wife, Keiko, said from the door to Ops. “Come on, honey,
Molly says it’s time for her story.”
Miles sighed. He hated leaving like this, but he knew that being with his
family was more important now that he realized what could happen to one of
them. He only wished Julian had that luxury.
It was an exciting walk in Jadzia’s point of view to Quark’s. Most of the
station’s inhabitant’s knew of Jadzia’s predicament and were only too willing to
be reintroduced to her. Julian found himself talking with Odo, Kira, Quark, and
several Bajoran and Starfleet members. He was thoroughly exhausted when he
got to the bar.
“I want a drink,” he muttered.
“Don’t you have a surgery in the morning?” Jadzia asked, sounding a little
like her old self. He grimaced. “Uh huh. Too bad, or I’d be having an Earth
bourbon on the rocks.” He was too tired to lie. He couldn’t have lied to her if
he’d wanted anyway. She looked at him sympathetically. She remembered him
and who he was, but there were certain things about him that were missing.
“Who are your parents?” she asked him. “Richard and Amsha Bashir,” he
replied, a little shortly. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope, I’m an only child.”
“When did you go to Starfleet?” she asked again.
“Four years ago.”
“Sorry, I’m just really curious about these sorts of things,” she apologized.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault you can’t remember all these things,” he
returned. She started eating, seemingly upset about the conversation.
“I’m sorry,” Julian whispered, now visibly upset himself about the
conversation. She laughed. Julian grinned. It was good to hear her laugh.
Maybe she isn’t too far gone after all, he thought.

“Dr. Bashir, have you been able to determine what this is or if anything
similar has happened before?” Sisko asked at the senior officers meeting.
“No, captain. I traced any and all possibilities of this condition and found
nothing. I’ve decided to call it Palladium for lack of a better term.” He replied.
“What does that mean?” Sisko said, genuinely curious. “A palladium
is a catalyst for some kinds of chemical reactions. In this case, the Palladium is
catalyzing the hormonal imbalance that is keeping the symbiont’s memories from
reaching Jadzia. I’ve researched and the closest thing I could find that even
resembled this slightly was a case about two hundred years ago to a man named
Orion Fitzgibbons, a human. He was involved in a transporter accident also,
which caused his memory loss.”
“When did he regain his memories?” Sisko pressed anxiously. “That’s
just it, sir; he never did.” Julian looked at him dully. It was obvious that he’d
spent every waking hour trying to find the cause of the ailment. Apparently,
nothing was working. Sisko blanched. He couldn’t believe that Dax, no
Jadzia, was going to be like this for the rest of her life. He began to feel angry
towards the doctor. “Try harder!” he yelled at him. Julian looked at him
in shock, looking a little scared of Sisko. “Yes, sir,” he managed to whisper and
fled the briefing room.
“Captain, you didn’t have to do that,” Kira muttered. Sisko knew
she was right and sighed. “I know, I know. I’m just so worried about Jadzia-,”
“Is it really Jadzia you’re worried about or Dax?” Kira asked stubbornly.
Sisko glared. He didn’t want to respond, knowing she was right, and
instead stood up and left. Kira sighed. “I hope you don’t do anything stupid,
Captain. I really hope not.”
Julian ran a ways down the corridor until he realized where he was.
Quark’s. He walked inside. “Quark, I need a stiff drink,” he said when the little
Ferengi came over. Quark looked at him. “Dr. Bashir, you know I’d turn a
profit any day of the week, but are you sure you should? I mean, you’re the
doctor and-,”
“Just do it, Quark,” he snapped. Quark looked at him. “One double malt
scotch, coming up.” Julian sighed. He wished that everyone would stop seeing
him as a doctor for once and start taking his feelings seriously. “I’m still human,”
he thought as Quark came back over with the drink. “Here you go, doctor,”
he said. “Say, I was wondering, how is Jadzia?” Quark was genuinely
concerned. He’d had– still had–a crush on the Lt. Commander since she’d first
arrived to the station. Julian knew it.
“A little better, I guess, but she hasn’t recovered any memories if that’s
what you’re wondering.” Quark looked down. “Well, tell her I said hi, would
you?” Then, before the astonished doctor could say a word, he hurried off to wait
on some more customers. “Well, I’ll be,” he muttered. “Will wonders never
cease?” In this case, he hoped not. He’d need a miracle in order to save Jadzia
from the Palladium.

Jadzia sat in her quarters. She had been trying again to remember her
lives but so far, all she could see was Julian’s face leaning over her and telling
her everything would be all right. “I just want to know who I am,” she whispered
to herself and quietly cried herself to sleep.
“Julian, I think I may have a way to bring Dax back,” Miles said as they
met in Ops the next day. Julian had been steering clear of Sisko and now was
starting to regret even getting out of bed this morning.
“What is it, Miles?” he asked tiredly. All he wanted to do was get some
rest. “Well, it seems to me that if the polarity fields were enhanced on the
transporter rays, then retransporting Jadzia to a given set of coordinates may
erase the effects of the Palladium.” Julian looked at him. “Miles, old boy,
sometimes I really feel like worshipping the ground you walk on.” Seeing his
smirk, he added, “But don’t hold your breath.” “Yeah, yeah. Come on,
we’ve got work to do,” he said and the two hurried out of ops.

“Well, Jadzia, this is it,” Julian whispered. She grinned. “I hope so. I
can’t wait to start remembering again.”
“Julian, come on, get in the runabout,” Miles snapped. They complied.
“All right, just give me one minute…Okay, ready to transport.”
Julian felt the familiar tingle surround him and just before his conscious
atoms broke apart, he felt a blinding flash of pain and then nothing.

A red alert klaxon was blaring. “O’Brien to Sisko, I need you down here.
The transporter’s malfunctioned. Get everyone off of the Promenade. We may
have a shield breech in a minute.” O’Brien turned to Julian and Jadzia who had
rematerialized only moments earlier. Both were unconscious and lying still, very
pale. Miles walked over to Julian. “Bashir, wake up!” he yelled. Julian stirred,
but stopped moving.
“He’s not breathing!” Miles yelled. Sisko ran over and they quickly began
CPR. Jadzia was unconscious, but alive.
“One, two, three, four, five,” Sisko said and Miles breathed into Julian’s
mouth. He checked his pulse and shook his head. They repeated the procedure
four more times and then Julian sucked in a lung full of air and started to cough.
Miles picked his head up and sat him upright so he could breathe. He opened his
eyes. “What happened?” he whispered.
“Transporter accident,” Sisko said.
“Jadzia,” he whispered.
“She’s fine. Rest now,” Miles said to him. Bashir closed his eyes and sank into
welcome oblivion.

Julian awoke and before the nurses could stop him, he was up and looking around
for more solutions to the problem. “Lie down,” Jabara yelled at him and
struggled to pull him back to the bed. “No!” he countered and lunged backward
into his small office and shut the door. “Thank God,” he muttered as Jabara
called for Sisko.
“Bashir, what the hell do you think you’re doing up?” Sisko said. “Gee, think
about it, captain,” he said and turned away to the view monitor. Suddenly, Sisko
saw his eyes widen and for a second, he thought Bashir was having a seizure of
some sort. “Lieutenant, what’s wrong?” he yelled.
“Captain,” he replied, his voice hoarse, “We have got to get Jadzia into surgery,
now!” Jabara took note of his tone and yelled to the other nurse, Johnson, to prep
her for the surgery. “What’s wrong?” Sisko asked, alarmed.
Julian stormed out of the office, breaking into a run to get to the medical supply
cabinets. “It’s not a chemical imbalance, sir,” he said.
“What is it?” Sisko was thoroughly confused.
“It’s an alien.”
“What the hell do you mean, ‘It’s an alien’?”
“Exactly what I said. I took a note of her condition and there’s something beside
the symbiont that shouldn’t be there. It’s gotten bigger, sir.”
Sisko looked at the monitor. “It’s a parasite,” he deduced. “Yes, sir, and if we
don’t operate on her immediately, it’s going to get so big it will rip her apart
trying to get out.”
He ran over to Jadzia and gave her a dose of anesthetics. “I hope I can get it out
in time,” he whispered.

“He’s been in there for a long time,” Sisko muttered as he and Miles sat
helplessly in the infirmary waiting area.
“I hope he can help her. I don’t want this to become another Verad
situation,” Miles said. “Here he comes!” Sisko jumped up and hurried to
the tired doctor who sat down with a heavy sigh in his recently vacated seat.
“So,” he prompted, waiting for an answer.
“So I got it out,” he sighed. “It’s still alive, whatever it is. I suppose she
picked it up in the Gamma quadrant while we were there. I have it in a
containment field for observation.” “Will she remember us?” Sisko asked
impatiently.
“Yes, she’ll wake up in a few hours and know everyone around her. I’m
not sure if she’ll remember this or not.” He sighed.

Jadzia woke slowly, feeling a slight pain in her abdomen and she looked
down, checking for the symbiont. She breathed a sigh of relief. “I remember,”
she whispered and lay back, feeling content for the first time in a long while.
She called out suddenly, having an urge for company. “Julian?” she called,
her voice slightly hoarse.
He was there immediately, tricorder out, checking her over for any
complications. He broke into a relieved smile. “You’ll be okay,” he said. She
smiled, then noticed his eyes. The usual tawny-hazel color was gone, replaced
by a dark, nearly black shade that he only got when he worried. “What’s
wrong?” she asked, immediately in tune to what was going on. He hesitated
before answering. “The Palladium-do you remember it?” She nodded, seeing
every detail clearly. He continued. “It wasn’t a chemical imbalance, it was a
parasite. I removed it before it caused Dax any damage,” he added quickly,
seeing her worried expression. “Is it still alive?” When he nodded, she said,
“I want to see it.” He raised an eyebrow, but she was physically okay, so he
knew he had to let her go. “All right, but don’t overdo it,” he cautioned, forever
the doctor.
She following him into the adjacent science portion of the infirmary and
stared down at the alien being. It was at least two feet long and growing rapidly.
“What is it?” she asked Julian. “What was growing inside you,” he
responded quietly.
She looked at him with a horror filled gaze. “You mean that thing was
what was blocking my memories?” she asked him, mouth open.
He nodded. “It’s growing,” he said, just as a hiss sounded behind him and
he jumped back, seeing something behind Jadzia. “Dax,” he whispered, “Run!”
She turned and saw the alien creature, now about four feet tall, starting toward
her. She shrieked and she and Julian ran out of the infirmary.
“What do we have?” Sisko asked, as all the senior staff assembled in the
infirmary. “We have an alien creature, whose growth rate suggests that it will
become full grown within the next two hours. It is carnivorous by human
standards, hunting and killing for food. It will attack without provocation,
similar to wounded animals in ancient earth history. This entire station is in
danger, sir. I suggest we evacuate all non-essential personnel immediately,”
Julian said. Sisko looked at him. “So this could get very bad,” he mused,
almost to himself. He turned to Dax. “How big is this thing going to get, old
man?”
“Somewhere in the range of seven feet before growth rate stops. But we
don’t know its intelligence. It could have problem solving skills, and anything
we throw at it could be batted away. I agree with Julian. Civilians have got to
leave while there’s still time.” The infirmary had been locked down, but
the creature had been banging into it every minute. The force field was
beginning to weaken and Bajoran and Starfleet alike were starting to panic.
“All right, we’ll evacuate. Chief, give the codes. I want runabouts
Orinoco, Rio Grande, Ganges, and Acropolis on the way to Bajor in two hours.”
Sisko was very matter-of-fact about it. O’Brien nodded.
“Aye, captain. No need to worry.” And he was gone, hurrying away to
start evacuation procedures.
Sisko turned back to the rest of the crew. “I understand if you want to
leave. This is the time to be with your families, not fighting some unknown alien
that could easily kill everyone here. Do you want to go?”
The question almost didn’t need to be answered. Kira, Odo, Bashir, and
Dax all looked at one another. Then, they all simultaneously shook their heads
no. “We’re staying,” Julian said, as if it had settled everything.
“All right. As it stands, we’ll have just the senior staff up here fighting
this thing. I want you all fitted in combat wear. We just don’t know how bad
this is going to get.” Sisko looked at them all pointedly. “No arguments. If we
have to abandon the station to save lives, we will.” No one argued. They didn’t
know how bad it was going to get.

“Julian, I’m sorry,” Jadzia whispered to him as they stepped out into the
corridor. The station had been evacuated an hour ago and teams were circling
certain parts of the station to try to find the alien, or Palladium, as Julian called
it. Dax and Bashir were paired, as were Sisko and Kira and Odo and O’Brien.
“For what?” he asked.
“For bringing that thing back with us, for endangering the station and for
hurting a lot of people,” she shook her head in misery.
He leaned over to her and gave her a good hard shake. “Now you listen
here, Jadzia Dax,” he hissed. “None of this is your fault. If anyone’s to blame,
it’s me for not checking either of us before we left Jetid 3. But I’m not going to
blame myself because it won’t do any good. What we have to focus on right now
is getting this thing before it wrecks the station. Then it won’t be the alien
coming after us, it’ll be Chief O’Brien.”
She grinned at his attempt at humor. “Thanks, I needed that.” “No
problem. Now let’s keep moving.”

“All right, it’s a T-junction, which way do we go?” Jadzia asked. “Well,
the only way to be sure is to split up,” he said. “Let’s keep the com lines open so
we can call for help if we have to.” Julian finished and then tapped his com
badge. “Bashir to Sisko.” “Sisko here,”
“Sir, we’ve come to a T-junction and Jadzia and I are going to split up. I
suggest we all keep open com lines until we’re sure it’s not down this way,” he
finished. “Agreed. I’ll tell the others. Good luck. Sisko out.” “Well,
you heard the man. I’ll take left, you head right,” Jadzia said gamely. Julian
nodded. He started forward and crept cautiously down the corridor. “Ah,
whoever designed these things should be shot,” he muttered, finding himself
somewhat lost in the maze of dark corridors along the station. “Bashir, to Dax,”
he said.
“Dax, here, what’s wrong, Julian?”
“Nothing, I’ve just gotten myself turned around in this corridor down here.
Help?” he asked jokingly and she laughed.
“All right, stay where you are. I’ll try to come get you. Start walking,” she
said. “Will do.” He started forward, moving a little more quickly down the hall.
A shadow moved to his left. “Hello?” he asked. “Jadzia, is that you?” No
answer. “Okay,” he whispered to himself. “Jadzia,” he spoke into his combadge.

“Yes?” she answered, sensing the urgency in his voice. “Um, I think
I’ve got movement in my corridor, call the others and-Augh!” his startled cry
abruptly cut off and all that way left was an unearthly silence that seemed to echo
throughout the passageway.
“Julian?” she questioned. “Julian?! Dax to Sisko,”
“Sisko here. What’s wrong?”
“Whatever that thing was, it got Julian.”

“All right, we need a new strategy,” Sisko said quietly as he and the others
assembled in the empty corridor that Julian had disappeared in.
“Well, I could rig up a phase converter that should reveal the alien’s
presence through sound waves,” the chief suggested.
“Do it,” Sisko said.
“One problem, sir, and this is why I didn’t do it beforehand,” he said
hesistantly. “What?”
“The phase converter will give away our presence to the alien as well.
With its accelerated growth patterns, Julian said that it had an extremely
sensitive sense of sound. It’ll hear us coming.” “That’s a chance we’ll just
have to take,” Sisko replied. “Major, I want you and the Constable to work on
getting force fields set up. If we do corner that thing, I don’t want it getting
away.” They both nodded and hurried off to a side panel in the corridor.
“Dax, you’re with me.”

Sisko and Dax headed for turbolift one. “Where did you say he was last?”
Sisko asked her. “Level seven, section A, corridor 12,” she replied.
They headed to that section and when they got there, they stopped. “We’ll
have to split up,” Jadzia said. Sisko looked doubtful, but then nodded.
Jadzia went right, Siko left. She was jittery the entire time she was
walking. “Julian?” she called “Julian, can you hear me?” She stopped suddenly
when she heard a groan. “Julian?” she whispered and rounded the corner. Julian
was sitting up against the side of the wall with his head in his hands.
“Jadzia?” he whispered and moaned again. She looked at him and saw he had a
darkening bruise on his forehead.
“Come on, Julian, you probably have a concussion. Let’s get you to the
infirmary.” She tried not to let her relief show too much. But she felt it just the
same. He shook his head. “No, we’ve got to get to Sisko. The alien is still here,”
he whispered. Jadzia heard the high pitched whine of the phase converter.
“That’s Chief O’Brien. He must have the converter activated,” she told him. He
winced at the sound. She decided to attribute it to his concussion.
“Come on,” she said and called for Sisko. “Sir, I found him.”
“Do you remember what happened?” Sisko asked Bashir as they sat at
OPS. He shook his head. “I just remember being hit. Then I woke up
and Jadzia was standing there.” Sisko sighed. One officer wounded,
probably more to come would make their job that much harder. “Well, we can’t
do much more right now. Chief, keep the phase converter operating and tell me
if you find anything. I’m going to rest for a little while. Jadzia, keep an eye on
Julian. Don’t let him sleep.” Dax nodded.
“So, Julian, where’s the safest spot we can store you until we start again?”
she asked jokingly. He managed a small smile and said, “Well, my quarters are
as good as any. I want to lie down anyway.” She hesitated briefly, an
unwelcome thought flitting through her tired mind but she told herself to shut up.
“All right, let’s go.”

“Okay, I want a tarkalian tea and an iced raktajino,” Jadzia said to the
replicator in Julian’s quarters. There was a quick whirring noise and suddenly,
two mugs appeared. She picked them up and walked over to Julian, who was
sitting on his couch. “Here you go,” she said, handing him the tea.
“Thanks.” He took a sip and closed his eyes, sighing as he leaned carefully back.
He didn’t speak for a moment, so she addressed him.
“So, what would you like to do? You can’t sleep and you’ll get bored
staring at a glass all night.” He thought. “I have no idea.”
They sat in silence, both acutely aware of the other’s presence next to each
other. The silence grew heavier until suddenly, Julian leaned over and kissed
Jadzia. She pulled back slightly, but then she responded, kissing him back.
He wrapped his hands in her hair, lowering her down onto the couch and leaned
over her, kissing her more rapidly. The same nagging voice came back to her
full force, and she knew that it wasn’t right. Not now. She pushed him back and
stood up. “I can’t do this, Julian,” she whispered.
He stood up as well. “I’m sorry.” Then he walked a little toward her.
“You know,” he said seductively, forcing her to back up, lest she come in contact
with him again, “we don’t have to stop.” Suddenly, she found her back against a
wall, literally. He had backed her into a corner of the living room. She wasn’t
afraid, not really, knowing she could easily throw him off with some klingon
martial arts moves if she had to.
He walked up to her pinning her hands against the wall, thus cutting off
her movement. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Her eyes narrowed.
Without warning, she sent a vicious kick to his stomach doubling him over. He
didn’t release her. She came back again, kneeing him in his head, forcing him to
let go and step back. She let loose with a spinning side kick that flung him into
the wall. As his body hit the wall, something strange happened. His eyes
widened and he suddenly became two. The alien being stepped out of his body
and Julian slumped to the floor. The Palladium snarled at her, then ran out of the
room.
She stood for a moment, collecting her thoughts, before she saw Julian.
She realized that he had been possessed, so she ran to him and said, “Julian, are
you all right?” He groaned and opened an eye at her. It was cloudy and
unfocused, so she immediately called Sisko. “Sir, we have a problem….”

“Do you remember anything?” she asked Julian as he sat up in bed and
looked at her. “No. I remember seeing the thing coming at me and that’s
it.” He looked troubled. “You do remember what it did, don’t you?” she said
in a no-nonsense voice. He looked abashed and nodded.
“That wasn’t you, Julian. I don’t hold it against you.” His expression
didn’t change much, but she could tell it made him feel better. “Sisko to
Dax.”
“Go ahead.”
“Chief O’Brien has located the Palladium. We have it sealed by a force
field in level 8, section C, corridor 9.
She and Julian looked at each other. “On our way,” she said and they both
hurried out the door.
They heard the Palladium before they saw it. When they rounded the
corridor, they saw it throwing itself at the force field. Jadzia looked at it hard for
the first time. It was similar to the Jem ‘Hadar. It had green skin, and looked
more like a lizard than anything. It had black strands of hair coming from the
back of its head and it walked on two feet. Unlike humanoids, it only had four
fingers, of which, they were connected by webs.
Jadzia looked at the creature and then at Sisko. “What are we going to do
with it?” Sisko said. “We can’t transport it out, so we’ll have to destroy it.”
Jadzia did not like the prospect, but she nodded. Julian did as well.
“Doctor, you’re the only one who has authorization to sterilize the
corridor.” Julian stepped up and looked at it once more and closed his eyes
while saying, “Computer, begin sterilization process, authorization, Bashir J 3.”
There was a quick crackle of static, and the creature was no more.
“It’s over,” Sisko said.

It had been two days since the incident, and Jadzia had yet to speak with
Julian again about the matter in his quarters. Then, she ran into him on the
Promenade. “Julian, there’s no escaping it. We’ve gotta talk.”
He looked trapped, but then sighed and nodded.
“Julian, that was not your fault-,” she began, but he interrupted her.
“I’m sorry, Jadzia, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have let that thing control
me like it did. I’m so sorry. This never should have happened, none of it-what?”
he said, when he noticed her stony expression.
“There’s only one thing you can do to make this up to me,” she began.
“What?” he asked, suddenly very nervous.
“Shut up and kiss me, doctor.”
He grinned. “Yes ma’am.” They leaned in and shared the best kiss either
of them had ever had.
The End

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