All our best characters are introduced here, the out of place changeling Odo, the in-your-face Kira Nerys, level and yet sometime quite deep Miles O'Brien, his wife Keiko and daughter little Molly, The Ferengi - Quark, Nog and the un-named Rom, Gul Dukat and Kai Opaka. Sisko has trouble getting used to his aged friend Curzon being in the host body of Jadzia, a beautiful young woman - who still treats him as the paternal Dax did!

And enter Doctor Julian Bashir, whom everyone seems to take turns trying to deflate, as he eagerly rejoices at being 'where it's at - the frontier of space!'

We get to see the beginnings of a very special friendship, that of Jake and Nog. They are both children in this novel, the only children of similar age and they see past each others differences to become friends.

Nog was terribly afraid of getting caught, (he steals minerals, cookies and gold in this story, and gets caught each time) of being stupid and disappointing Uncle Quark once again, of being a failure as a Ferengi.

Keiko - "I don't need busy work, Miles. I have a career on the Enterprise." Here is all the background stuff if you want to set up a split between Keiko and Miles. Thus freeing up O'Brien for, say, Julian!

Bashir - After all, he saw no virtue in false modesty; he believed in honesty, even if it made him seem arrogant. All through the Academy, he had told himself that his isolation didn't matter. Once he made it through, got his degree, and finished his training, he would find a place where he'd fit in, where his intelligence and abilities would be appreciated. He had thought DS9 would be such a place. Aii! The pain, poor kid. L

Dax is seen 'thinking' separately to 'her' host. Yep, Dax is female, and in love with the young Doctor, but has the patience to wait until he is old enough to...er, no, um, non of this is in the book. Oops. Sorry. (Go away, muse, I'm working!)

Odo found Bashirs youthful exuberance quite taxing. Odo also finds Dax intriguing and relates to her uniqueness and the way others react to it. So - he must relate more to Julian too, later on when his enhancement is revealed.

Sisko finds the wormhole and the station gets attacked by some Cardassians.

"Did I mention doctor," she (Kira) said, "that heroes often die young?" Needling the poor guy again. Thought it was Cardi's that flirt that way!

Jake - He glanced up at a tug on his sleeve; Nog was looking at him with an odd mixture of impatience and compassion. "Come on, Jake. We have to go."

Jake and Nog both show great courage by rescuing Rom, who gets caught under a stair in a burning bar room.

When trying to save a woman, Odo feels helpless, not knowing what to do, till Julian turns up. Odo tries to slip away, but...Bashir grasped his hand again and said, in a tone so commanding it would have rendered Major Kira docile: "Hold it there." Odo gets the first inkling that there might be more to Julians 'arrogance' than wishful thinking.

Ben Sisko decides to stay and help Bajor, but first he asks his son if he wants to stay "Well...I'd have to leave Nog...I mean, I've hardly had any time to get to know him..."

As a side plot, Doctor Bashir tries to save the terminally ill child of one of the missionaries, but is refused permission to do so because of their faith. And Quark tries to buy the station.

Miles wants to call his first born son Elvis. Julian uses words like 'cad', and is described as being 'chivalrous to women'. <gak>

Odo - But it didn't make him less of a freak. Just a smug, self-righteous, self-confident freak. Just how Julian feels about being enhanced!

The murderer is seen turning into a puddle, making him a changeling like Odo - or is he? The rival metamorph (he's never referred to as a changeling) is red when in liquid state, but then, so is Odo, in this book.

When faced by the sick child's angry father, and hoisted into the air by same - Bashir said the first thing that occurred to him: "Don't hurt my hands." He's then rescued by Odo.

Odo then decides that Julian is the only person on station he can confide his hopes to for finding out about his people from the metamorph. They get a call from level eight - "I have a unfortunate feeling that you're going to be needed, Doctor." "I have the unfortunate feeling ...that I'm going to be too late."

Julian saves Quark from the metamorph, at risk to himself - and his hands. He finds the Ferengi in a sex holosuite with naked cavorting images of Nerys and Jadzia. He makes the barkeep promise to erase them. Quark does, smiling inside that Julian doesn't know about his other program, XXX-5. Hmm, now who does he have on that tape, do you wonder? :)

Nog has a holovid that shows two naked Orion women doing things to each other that one apparently wouldn't imagine two individuals doing to each other, let alone two women. Purchased because of his first curious steps into same sex love, perhaps?

Don't like the way they had Julian suffer for wanting to save the child. Even worse was when he finds his nurses severed head with their secret pass word written in blood on the wall above - kiss me you fool. Nobody comforted him after! What's the point of a hurt scene like that, if there is no comfort! Aaargh!

Loved Roms poem - "Oh baby, oh baby, now, you might think its quite queer! You say you want to visit the Big Dipper, but I got your Big Dipper right here! Oh..."

Sisko rescues his son with a phaser, just the right angle, and a mirror. Keiko rescues Odo with just a phaser.

As Odo gets sucked into space, he thinks - Dammit, who's going to keep an eye on Quark?

The sick kid is saved but exiled, with his mom. They are now outcasts because Julian convinced her to let him treat the kid. The murderer is revealed as a hired assassin out to kill Quark. He gets killed instead.

Bashir and Major Kira? Nahh...it does explore some of her feelings about him, a kind of matronly disdain : But Bashir relied to much on charm...Stop trying to be friends with the universe, she wanted to tell him, And get on with your job.

Kira gets on Sisko's nerves - a lot. And Julian must convince the Captain to let him go on the mission, which impresses the man: "That," said Sisko, pointing, (at a ball he just gave to Bashir) "is what hardball is played with. Perhaps you'd like to keep it as a little souvenir of our discussion today...I can tell when I've been out gunned."

Sisko also thinks later, when Bashir is caught in the Wormhole, about the time he met the Wormhole aliens : Better if a saint had made his way there...one wise enough not to make promises that wound up broken...now Bashir would be the one to pay for that.

Way to much of the Bajoran fanatics and their shenanigans, but good Odo, O'Brien, Kira and Sisko appearances. And a heroic Doctor, who meets the Wormhole aliens, avoids hurting them, at risk to Kira, and is then rescued by an out of body meditating Kai Opaka : "I saw that you had come to this place, by virtue of your concern for another. What you lack in wisdom - what you have not within you yet - is equaled by that sacrifice. I could not let you suffer alone."

Julian then gets to rescue a hard pressed, but still fighting tooth and nail, Kira. There is the, as it turns out, unnecessary destruction of the quarantine module and the tricking of the Cardassians, then we can all go home.

A tribble makes its appearance on the arm of a poker playing beauty, despite having been hunted to extinction by Klingons at this time. And the Grabnaster that turns up apparently 'eats' tribbles! Hard to do to a non existent critter!

One complaint, the short lesson Odo has at the beginning isn't long enough to follow all the card hands talked about in the story.

Not that it surprised Bashir. He had met Riker twice and had found him to be the kind of man who belonged on the frontier. Rugged, handsome, competent, Riker had a way with the ladies, and an adventure filled Starfleet career. Of course a man like that would be an expert at poker. Julian's got a crush on Will Riker of the Enterprise!

A familiar laugh at the back of the room made Odo stop. ...Dr. Bashir looked out of place in a tux (!) His eyes were wide and his cheeks flushed, as if he had spent a few hours alone in the holosuit. (!!) Odo recognized the look. Bashir wanted to be part of all this. Odo wants him out the tux, and in a private holosuit - with him! (Bad muse, no, no, go away!)

Julian eventually has to leave the game to tend to a medical emergency. This leaves Garak, Odo and The Nagus still in the game, with assorted others.

Garak sighed loudly, ... met Odo's gaze and widened his eyes slightly. This is how the spy warns Odo of a card cheat at the table.

The game is won by Odo. Turns out the bombardment is caused by out of phase spacecows that are being hunted by poachers. The poachers are dealt with.

If the movie Time Bandits got you confused, don't read this book. It follows 2 time lines at once, and kills off everybody but Jake and Molly O'Brien. Then leaves them in limbo.

It has: Kira being jealous of neat Jadzia, getting drunk and being rescued by Odo before she started to dance on tables, or offered to fight any man at the bar, and saying "Haven't you ever been through here Chief?" he says "Only in my dreams."

We find out that Odo put bugs in the holo suites. He originally did so because Bashir asked him to, to protect Kira and Dax from Quark using their images in sexual holograms. (see #2 The Siege) Continuity!

An attack is expected on the promenade and Sisko asks Julian if he wishes to leave the infirmary, but he declines. Benjamin doesn't ask anyone else if they want to go

/God help me, I'm a lover, not a fighter! Husband, father, engineer, amateur magician, raconteur, and three fisted drinker...never a warrior!/ - O'Brien, just before he goes out and starts killing the enemy.

Jadzia - /I wish Trill could be implanted in humans...Benjamin would make a wonderful Trill./

Julian is killed by the invaders, but manages to interrogate them a bit first and get it on tape. Odo and Quark watch as Julian dies. "Terminate play back." Said a subdued Quark. "Somebody should remember him." Odo said. "Doctor Bashir?...I don't remember you two getting along."..."It doesn't matter...nobody should die like that...I want to remember him and I want a copy of that log for evidence."

Nog, Jake and Molly escape from the aliens, but Nog is spotted. He looks at Jake, the look says: goodbye. Then he leads the aliens away from where his friends are hiding. An emotional chapter.

Odo and Quark find out the fate of DS9 from Jake and Molly, but are forced to leave the children behind when they travel back in time to save the station. In the process Odo is turned into a bucket of goo, and can't help the frantic Quark convince the ops crew to do what they must to save the station.

Iron fingers seized Quarks ear, causing an intense thrill down his body. Kira dragged him towards the turbo lift...unaware of the intense orgasmic feelings this caused. "Oooooh," moaned Quark, almost spilling his Odo right there on the deck of Ops. Smirk. He convinces everyone and the station is saved.

The tape version of this is a little easier to follow, I recommend it. And it is read by the guy who plays Odo!

In one attack Garak's shop is bombed and he is injured. Julian treats his wounds. Garak seemed in shock...he kept saying, "I only stepped out for a minute. I was going right back inside. Just one minute. I would have been in there." "It'll be alright." Bashir tried to quite him. "Just hold still." And so the effeminate Garak is born.

Nog is being evacuated with his dad, (smuggling latinum while they are at it). To Jake - "You could come with us...Jake says he can't...I'll remember you, human. Jake." Aww.

Garak is taken in for questioning. - Garak frowned in annoyance and looked down at the polished nails on one hand. "You know what I mean...People are being evacuated...I want to get to my ship before it's to late." ...The Cardassian wrung his hands. "All right, ask your questions!"...Kira turned just as Garak exclaimed shrilly, "You think I'm the one who set off those bombs?...I was a victim...my shop blown up...I was maimed!" his hand went to the nearly healed scar on his face. "I could have been killed!"

Garak is held in custody, preventing him boarding the Cardassian ship. This is a good thing, as the Cardassians were the ones planting the bombs. Odo and O'Brien switch one onto their ship, so they end up blowing themselves up.

The AWOL Cardassian, Berat, is given asylum, after being hidden and made to do repair work by Quark (Berat's an engineer). Julian fixes damage done to the Cardi's hands. He says to Chief O'Brien - "You have good equipment, a good Doctor." "Bashir? I suppose so, when he remembers that he's a doctor and not the latest gift from god." Jealousy is a bitch.

Berat is revealed to be a favorite of Gul Dukat, who turns up to take him back to Cardassia. Berat entered the room uncertainly, but his face lit up when he saw Dukat. "Gul!" ...the two Cardassians clasped each other hard around the upper arms in an emotional greeting. Sisko wondered if they were somehow related. Well, jeez they were obviously once lovers!

All ends well.

Eventually a resistance group in need of a healer kidnaps him. And here the tale goes off. The daughter of the resistance leader assists him in treating the resistant fighters. A 'doe eyed' young woman. Yecch. Not only is she just a pretty nurse (no great intellect hiding here folks) but at no time does she offer to help him escape. She even tries to make him accept his imprisonment. Double yecch. Luckily, Julian is rescued and a political incident involving the prophesized child is averted.

Julian to Jadzia - "What are you doing?" he demanded. "I'm taking you back to your tent and putting you in your cot," she explained. "Well, this is a switch," Julian muttered. "You trying to get me into bed."

"I used to be a pretty fair rider," Julian said to the beast. "Of course, that was horses. Well, let's see." Um, didn't Garak keep falling off his mount that time he went riding with his dad? Julian teaches Garak to ride story alert! Manga girls, where are you?

On the station, the disguised Healer child leads Nog and Jake into trouble. Nog is a little jealous of the new comer, but happily helps disrupt the station by making holo graphic images pop up everywhere. Garak has dancing hyuri on the counter of his tailor shop. The kid is making trouble so O'Brien can't fix the transporters and beam Julian back up. This gives Julian time to keep healing the people of Bajor.

Jake and Healer child - "Pajama's. Or a nightshirt. What did you wear on Bajor?" "Whatever we had on, or nothing, if the weather was good." "You can do that here, too, if you want. Just put a robe on if you get out of bed. Dad's kind of conservative." !!!

Return of swishy Garak - "I can refuse you nothing," the urbane clothier replied and produced a flimsy..."You see, it asks me to bring this to the attention of Commander Sisko," said Garak, peering over Sisko's and Kira's shoulders while trying to squeeze his way between them. "This is such a deplorable business. That poor child." He clucked his tongue.

"Who do you represent, Garak?" "No one but myself, dear lady, and some of the finest fashion designers this side of the wormhole." He wagged a finger at her. "You're starting to sound like my good friend, Dr. Bashir. By the way" - an able tailor, Garak altered his expression from puckish to sincerely concerned - "any word from him?" "You'll be the seventy-third to know." Gritted Major Kira. I doubt that!

Besides from the pathetic romance, and an uncomfortable Mary Sue dream sequence type fix at the end - the gaping cavern floor lined with dangling children, Julian can't save them all, unless he lets one (Miss Doe Eyed wonder) drop and reaches up to the stars (DS9) for help - this is a really nice 'why we love Doctor Bashir' book.

A school marmish incarnation is made of Jadzia in this book, but she is freed up by wearing a gold lamè dress by the end of it. She starts out by being surprised at the effect her new, womanly body keeps having on the men. /Quark usually licked his lips and proffered obscene proposals, and Julian Bashir - sweet childish Julian - kept asking her out on dates./ ... "And you're sure all this, jiggling will distract them?" She jiggles, and likes it.

(Oh, but wasn't Dax a woman her first go round, and several times there after? Oopsy!)

Sisko must negotiate with Ferengi for the anti matter, but first they try to bribe him. ...a door opened and five naked Ferengi women strutted in..."No, no!" shouted Sisko. But the naked women were already converging upon him... "What's the matter? Don't you like my women?...You like boy's?...I can arrange that." He clapped his hands. "Maalo, Pixo! Come here!"

Later the Ferengi die at the hands of the Cardassians, after warning Sisko to get to safety.

Back at DS9, Nerys checks on Jake. ...he was in his quarters, getting ready for bed. She also wasn't surprised to find Nog there with him. In troubled times, a good friend was worth his weight in gold-pressed latinum, even if he was a Ferengi.

Actually a depressing book. The rescue team end up on an insect run planet, they dicker with the Ferengi/Bajoran hijackers, Jadzia wears the dress and jiggles, they double cross the hijackers, the insects on the planet (Ferengi like traders) double cross them. They escape with the antimatter, the Ferengi get killed by the Cardassians who are waiting at the Wormhole. They finally make it back, and the ship builder commits suicide right at the end.

Slashers alert. This wonderful passage should be read in full, I've just picked out bits of it. Starts page 127 in the paperback.

Quark serves Julian at the bar, and teases him because Julian only asks for tea. -sometimes Bashir thought he was the only person on DS9 who got prompt and efficient service at Quarks- it seems the Ferengi likes to tease him!

On this occasion he indicates that someone has already paid for Julian's drink, so the young officer looks hopefully round the room, only to spot Garak smiling back at him, ridges curving alarmingly..."Yes," Quark said, "Garak thinks quite well of you." Julian takes the hint and threads his way over to Garaks table. The Cardassian beamed up at him, and gestured to the empty chair. "My dear Julian. Do join me. I've so little time of late to enjoy your company." ... "Thank you for my drink." Garaks smile widened. "My pleasure, I assure you, Julian. It's a very small thing to do for one I consider a friend." Julian asks what he wants. "Why, only to pursue our acquaintance. What else could I want? More would be - most inappropriate." ... "Now your making fun of me." The Cardassian smiled openly this time, an expression so unlike his usual affections that Bashir almost didn't recognize it, but said only, "Not - not in the information, Julian. I do think you will find it useful." Bashir blinked, and the moment vanished. "I'll do what I can." He said, doubtfully, and Garak simpered at him.

Slashy moments taper off at page 132. Darn it all.

Next, we meet the pirate couple - Vilis Mohrlein, a tall, fair man with white blond hair cropped round his face. Odo considers him quite handsome by human standards! - and Keral Tama, shorter, darker, long brown hair streaked with gray in an untidy main to his shoulders. They have been co-erst into helping the pirates by transporting the spare parts and the pirate's agent back to Helios. The pair of free traders name their ship after a character from 'Puss In Boots', a fairy tale! The ship is called Carabas.

Carabas and crew are commandeered by Sisko to take he, Julian and Odo to rescue Miles and Kira from the pirates. Which they do. He (Julian) saw Tama looking at him, a wry smile twisting his wide mouth, and somehow summoned a smile of his own in response. Tama hits his head in the escape. When they get back to the station, the DS9 team race off to see the pirates blow up from ops, and the Carabas disappears into the night. An alternate ending would have Doctor Bashir stay behind to treat the head wound, and being kidnapped by the smugglers

When the alien ship suddenly seizes control of the station, the Cardassians move in to capture it. Sisko must face off against angry claimants, and....ghosts?

When the ship comes through, three people volunteer to beam across to check it out. - Sisko watched the three of them hurry to the transporter platform, Dax moving with calm grace, O'Brien with brisk efficiency, and Bashir with reckless speed, and he sighed.

They reach the ship, Julian scampers in and promptly pushes the first button he finds - waking up the ship. They find the dead crew, some well reasoned out crab/octopus like critters, and the technology that is going to cause so much trouble.

Garak, bless him, does his spy bit for Cardassia, aided by an oblivious Quark.

The ghosts of the alien ship scare a bunch of folks. They turn out to be the ship itself, trying to communicate. The thing became sentient and accidentally killed the crew. After a heap of soul searching, trying to understand death by causing people to kill each other and other shenanigans, it decides it must be killed for the murder of it's crew. Sisko refuses to do this, so the ship tricks itself free and gets itself blown up.

This story makes a good audio tape.