The Forsaken

In Quarks, Bashir has been tasked with babysitting three Ambassadors who are on a fact finding mission about the Gamma Quadrant. Lojal is a Vulcan male, Bolian male Vadosia and Taxco who is a female Arbazan. They all give Bashir a hard time.

Suddenly there is shriek from Lwaxanna Troi at the dabo table, her broach has been stolen. Odo enters and with Mrs Troi’s help, he identifies the thief. She’s smitten with him.

In Ops, O’Brien struggles to gain efficiency from the main fusion reactor, which is 13% below normal – Cardassian acceptable standards. And while trying to improve the performance manually, the computer overrides him.

Honing Scotty, Miles says that the computer has a bad personality and he mentions to Sisko that he needs to rebuild the entire system – it’ll only take 3 or 4 years!

Bashir shows the Ambassadors to Ops, and Sisko tries in vain to avoid them. Thankfully, the wormhole opens and allows him to focus on a probe that has come through. Dax struggles to interface with it, so they tow it closer. And despite objections from Vadosia, Bashir escorts them to a viewport to get a closer view.

In the Security office, Mrs Troi enters and starts to chat up Odo. The Shapeshifter is confused but tries to brush her off. Back in ops, the computer – rather cooperatively – accesses the probe and begins to isolate the probes language. Odo races in and to Sisko’s office… he tells her that he has a problem with her, and Sisko tries hard not to laugh.

He heads back to the promenade trying to avoid her, but she catches him as he tries to get into a turbolift. They both enter and head to an upper pylon, but the turbolift fails… and when Dax tries to beam them out, the transporters go down too. Odo is stuck in the lift with Mrs Troi! Dax calls for O’Brien to return to Ops.

Once he’s back, Miles can’t find anything wrong with either system… but neither of them are working. O’Brien sets about rerouting the EPS flow, while Odo is warned that he can’t shapeshift his way out.

In Sisko’s office, Bashir complains about his assignment… but Sisko explains that the joy of being in command means he can give these assignments to junior officers, and Bashir just has to grin and bear it.

O’Brien calls for Sisko to listen to the computer, who’s personality has changed… it’s very cooperative and it is probably a result of interacting with the probe. Miles notes that everytime he leaves, something breaks – like the turbolifts and transporters and now the comm. They assume that the probe has infected the station with a non biological lifeform.

Back in the turbolift, Odo is struggling to hold his shape and he begins to let his guard down to Lwaxana. In Ops, they begin to reroute all of the computer functions, but a plasma explosion creates another problem. Bashir and the Ambassadors are down there and struggle to beat the raging inferno. Sisko, Kira and a rescue crew try to break through a blast door.

In Ops, O’Brien notes that it’s probably like a puppy… and having tumbled through space for god knows how long, it’s no wonder it doesn’t want to leave. Miles thinks that creating a seperate program, isolated from every other system, should contain it and return functions to normal. So he sets about creating the dog house.

In the turbolift, Odo lets his final guard down and returns to his liquid state in Mrs Troi’s lap. Back in ops, the subprogram works and all controls return to normal. Sisko and Kira get into the burnt corridor, to discover no one around… when suddenly a grate is kicked out from the wall to reveal Bashir and all three Ambassadors, they will recommend him for a commendation. And Odo and Troi make it back to the promenade as well.

Sisko commends O’Brien’s work, who suggests leaving the program in there… and we never hear another word about it for the rest of the series.