"No, no no," said Molly. "You move the ship there." She pointed toward a spot on the game board labelled Platonius.
"Been there already," protested little Mara, trying to move her piece to Deneva.
"The rules say you have to go there." Molly insisted, and Mara reluctently moved her piece to Platonius.
While Terisne watched them, Molly and Mara were playing a game called The Footsteps of Captain Kirk. It consisted of moving gaming pieces by a complicated pattern of spinner and cards to various planets visited by the legendary Starfleet captain, then listening to descriptions of what happened there. Molly knew a lot about Kirk's missions, which Terisne thought to be the game's educational value.
Liset wasn't interested in playing it. Instead she was interested it picking up the playing cards and carrying them away. Molly did not exactly share her joy in this.
Mara reluctently put the card down and moved her piece to Platonius. Liset promptly ran off with the card. Molly gave chase, and Mara took advantage of the distraction to move her piece to Scalos.
When Molly came back, she crossly moved the piece back to Platonius and picked up the speaker.
Then she screamed and dropped it. Terisne ran to her side, and Lelti and Genin both ran into the room.
The speaker lay innocently on the floor, but Molly's hand was covered with a third-degree burn.
"How'd she get this?" demanded Lelti.
"I just touched the speaker." whimpered Molly.
"Don't touch that!" Lelti pulled Mara away from the speaker. "Terisne, take her to the infirmery."
"You stay away from that too," she commanded Neutrino as he hopped over to the speaker and sniffed it. Ternisne led Molly out of thier quarters.
"Is it the pah-wraiths?" Molly asked when they were out of earshot.
"I don't know," said Terisne. They entered the turbolift. "Infirmery."
Julian Bashir ran the tricorder over his wife. He nodded. "Pregnent. About a month already. Try moving your knee again."
Jadzia tried. Her knee would just not move. "Great, how am I supposed to walk?"
"The muscle failures last an average of about half a minute. Keep trying."
"And exactly how long to they go on?" Jadzia tried again, and was able to stand.
"They vary from Trill to Trill...I'm afraid joined Trills suffer from them longer. Trying to carry two things in your abdomen just isn't a good idea."
"And how long does the pregnency go on again?" Her ankle abruptly gave way, and she tumbled to the floor.
Julian caught her. "About thirteen months. You've got a year to go."
"Oh no," she was half-upset, half-laughing. She tried to pull herself up, but her ankle still wouldn't work. Then finally it did, and she stood just as Ival Terisne and Molly O'Brien entered the Infirmery.
"Whoa!" said Julian when he saw Molly's hand. "How'd you get that?"
"She touched a speaker that was part of board game, and it burnt her," answered Terisne.
"Same thing that happened to Miles," noted Jadzia.
"Father? Something happened to him?"
"He got a bad burn touching one of his pads." Julian answered. "The pad lost it's information as well." He ran the dermal regenerator over Molly's hand as he spoke. "All better."
"Thanks." Terisne hastily pulled Molly out of the Infirmery. As soon as they were out of earshot they looked at each other and said together, "Pah-wraithes."
Lelti tapped the console again and wondered why it kept refusing to work. This time(the sixth time-or was it the eighth?) it finally came to life. "Begin recording message. Edon, Well, we're planning to write often, so here I go. The girls are just starting to settle in. Terisne's being a big help." Here she hesitated. Should she tell Terisne's secret? No, better not. "But Genin's hostile to me. I was warned she had a strong pagh, and with it a strong will, but I didn't except her to be like this. But Mara will make a fine pupil."
"I intend to come back down to Bajor in a few more days. Mrs. O'Brien and I will be traveling together. There's been too many delays, and I know the Dominion's making feeble attempts at negoiating, but they're only that-feeble attempts. I hope they will be long feeble attempts. I don't care if feeble attempts aren't usually long." she added on an afterthought.
"I think of you a lot, too. Actually, "a lot" is an understatement. But you know what I mean." Here she paused for a long while. Though she was very skilled with her tongue when it came to jesting and putting people down, Lelti had no idea how to write a love letter. Then she decided to finish up. "So when I do come down, you better make sure you..." damn, she still couldn't think of what to say. "are ready for me. With plently of love, Lelti. End recording." The computer beeped.
Well, at least she finally got the thing recorded. "Computer, send message."
"There has been no message recorded."
Lelti hit the console in frustration. Then she felt an intense heat in her hand. She tried to pull it away, but it wouldn't move. Blistering pain began to build up. She screamed.
Hearing a scream, the four girls woke up with a start. Liset began to cry with fear. Terisne quickly took charge. "Genin, calm her down. All of you stay here." She bolted out the bedroom.
She saw red light as she ran, and indentified its source quickly. There was no time to run for Molly. She would have to do this on her own. But where was Neutrino? Could she transform without him in close proximity?
Then she felt something pulse within her chest. What is was she didn't know, but she had the feeling it would let her transform. "Wormhole Warp Power, Make Up!"
It was the second time she had transformed, yet the surge of exhilaration was just as powerful. She strode confidently to the door. When it didn't open, she waved her arm at it, "Wormhole Plasma Wave!"
The plasma cut through the door, leaving a gaping hole. But before Sailor Wormhole could take another step, she was nearly knocked down by the force of energy that barreled out of the hole she had just made. It ran over her, nearly smoothering her.
For a second she was locked within the mind of the Pah-wraiths. She couldn't hear any thoughts. But she could sense hatred. It was pure hatred, and for a moment, it overwhelmed her. She had fought the Pah-wraithes once before, but that had been from a distance.
Then she heard a scream, and she angrily pulled herself up, standing as best she could. "I don't care how much you hate anyone! You can't terrorize an innocent woman like this, especially if she's my mother! I won't forgive you! I'll punish you in the name of the wormhole! Womrhole Pasma Wave!"
But even as she held the pah-wraithes back, she was quick to realize that she wasn't a match for them alone. What do I have to do, give my life? I can only do that once anyway! Indeed, Sailor Wormhole told herself, that was out of the question. But how-
"Terra Silk Flyout!" Where had Sailor Terra come from? It didn't matter much to Wormhole, she wasn't about question backup. The pah-wraithes retreated still further, and Wormhole charged after them, struggling to get through the door. Suddenly a staff cut in front of her, and the pah- wraithes were driven back still further, as Sailor Bajor arrived on the scene.
It was enough to get through the door, and there she saw Lelti curled up on the floor, clutching her burnt arm. She was too in pain to even look up at the pah-wraithes dancing around her.
"Wormhole Plas-" before Sailor Wormhole could finish, she was knocked over again. A bit of silk flew in front of her, and a bit of staff, but it wasn't enough. She crawled out of the room.
"Don't flee!" Neutrino. "You need to defeat them."
"I can't!" she croaked, and Sailors Terra and Bajor landed on top of her.
"Combine your powers!"
"What do you think we've been doing?!"
"Maybe if we focused our three attacks together-" suggested Sailor Bajor.
The other two got the idea. The symbol of Bajor and Sailor Wormhole's plasma-filled hands fell apon the top of Sailor Terra's staff.
"That's it!" yelled Neutrino. "Now yell, 'Sailor Triple Blast'!"
"SAILOR TRIPLE BLAST!"
A huge beam of golden light shot from the three of them. There was a very odd, almost musical sound, and the pah-wraiths were gone. Neutrino bounced happily into the room. "That did it!"
"Uuuuggghhh," Sailor Terra moaned. "I can't mooovvve." Silently, Sailor Wormhole agreed.
"Oh dear," Neutrino stopped bouncing. "Sailor Bajor, could you try to fire up your staff?"
Bajor held her staff up. "By the fire of Bajor, ignite!" Nothing happened.
"Is that bad?" asked Sailor Terra.
"Yes, it's very bad," answered Neutrino. "You won't be able to do that again for a long while. You'll need another senshi."
"And where," wondered Sailor Wormhole, "are we going to get that?"
"We'll figure something out," sighed Bajor. "I'm going." And she was gone.
"Do you need someone to walk you back to your quarters?" Lelti had recovered, and she asked Sailor Terra this.
"No thank you, I'll be fine." She took off.
As she detransformed, Terisne felt the pulse in her chest again. "Is there something in my chest?" she asked Neutrino.
"Yes, actually," answered the tribble. "There's a crystal embedded in it, has been since you were born, that allows you to transform."
"A crystal in my chest. How come I've never noticed it?"
"Because you were born with it, and you've always been used to it's being there. You only feel it now because it's been activated."
"I see." She walked back into the bedroom, Lelti calling goodnight behind her. Liset had stopped crying, and Genin was rocking her to sleep. Mara looked asleep too.
"Everything allright?" she asked.
"Everything's fine." answered Genin. "What happened out there? We heard a really big ruckus. You were shouting a lot."
"Really bad nightmare." answered Terisne. "I had to yell a lot to wake her up." Earlier, Terisne, Lelti, and Neutrino had all agreed that it was best Genin, Mara, and Liset not know the truth for the time being. Neutrino was especially suspicious about Genin, saying he felt something about her. It was probably just her pagh, though. Nor had Molly's parents been told.
"Will this happen very often?" asked Genin as Terisne climbed into her bunk and pulled the covers over her.
"I don't know," Terisne answered, honestly in fact. She released a prayer to the Prophets that it wouldn't, only to remember she couldn't now that they proved not only to not be Gods, but to need her protection. Yes, it was best her sisters be able to keep thier faith, and their sense of safety.
As for her, all she could do was get some sleep.