Guru Brak

Second Mission: The Delivery (Part 2.5 – Persons of Interest) #Amalgaverse With all hands sheltered in the shielded core, the baryon sweep rolls across the Enterprise, a red glow moving section by section from the nacelles to the engineering hull, then finally up and over the saucer.  The subspace organisms burn and flake away into space, and the hull comes up clean. But the sweep has scorched the warp coils.  “Cooked,”says Scotty, “like a Burns Night haggis.”  He starts repairs while the Enterprise limps on through the corridor at reduced warp.  The margin on Zax’s delivery is shrinking by the hour. With the ship out of danger for the moment, the crew turns its attention to the passengers. Thor volunteers to ask Zax what makes him worth all this trouble.  Zax is delighted to tell him, launching into a series of personal reflections that provide absolutely no insight into his current circumstances but paint an excruciatingly detailed portrait of his childhood on Rigel and his strong opinions on Andorian theater.  Two hours in, Thor raises a hand and says: “Stop talking.”  Zax falls silent, mid-sentence.  “Thank you,”says Thor.  He leaves, later reporting: “I learned nothing.  Except that Andorian theater is apparently very derivative.” Aeryn Sun takes a seat across from Lucinda in Ten Forward and attempts to engage her in conversation.  But Lucinda neither confirms nor denies anything, and politely turns every question back on Aeryn. “She never sits with her back to the door,”notes Aeryn, “and always keeps her right hand free.  Clocks anyone who comes within three metras of her.  She’s ex-military.  I’d know.” Daniel shares a meal with Milo, expecting small talk, and ends up deep in a debate about the Ancients. “He made a couple of great points about ascension I’d never even considered,”marvels Daniel.  “And I’ve actually ascended!” G’Kar, no stranger to diplomats, finds Robespierre happy to discuss his distinguished career, including the three promotions he was unfairly denied.  Every question about the mission, however, meets a polite and immovable wall. “He reminds me of a Centauri I know,”says G’Kar.  “All smiles, and a vault of secrets behind them.” Then Carter calls you to engineering.  She and Data have been piecing together data recovered from Dunsel, who trundles nearby, cheerfully greeting the same wall panel for the third time. When the cruiser’s engines failed, Dunsel apparently ran a diagnostic and logged his findings before anyone could stop him.  The failure was no accident.  Someone sabotaged the engines and forced the cruiser out of warp, which is how the mercs knew exactly where to find it.  Then they tried to bury the evidence by wiping Dunsel’s memory stores.  The wipe damaged his neural network, which explains his odd behavior. Someone aboard that cruiser sabotaged their own ship.  And that someone is now aboard the Enterprise. What do you do first? A) Search the guest quarters.  Fast and direct, but a careful mole will have hidden anything worth finding, and you’ll have tipped your hand.  Also, a diplomat’s quarters are off limits, and Robespierre will make sure Starfleet hears about it. B) Request background checks from Starfleet Command.  They’ll be thorough but slow, and the answers may not arrive before the delivery. C) Surreptitiously question them about their whereabouts in the hour the cruiser was sabotaged, but don't tip your hand. D) Confront them.  Gather all four passengers, announce there’s a saboteur among them, and watch how each one reacts.  It might shake something loose, or it might drive the mole to ground. E) Use Dunsel as bait.  Let word slip that his memory can be fully restored, and watch who comes for him.  It could catch the mole in the act, but Dunsel may not survive a second attempt. Choose! [END OF ACT TWO] Recruit a crewmate. Share this with a fellow fan! Then TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS so that you don't miss a step on this mission! See below for our Previously On recap - or check out the glorious Amalagaverse website: amalgaverse.link/index.html by @ugorur

Just completed season one of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. My thoughts... Like most ambitious 20+ episode/season 90s SF shows, its debut season was an uneven mix. It was packed with intriguing concepts that weren't always fully realized, but clearly showed a series slowly finding its footing. Overall, a strong premise buoyed by memorable characters and strong performances - even if some episodes were occasionally hampered by flat direction, awkward staging, and alien guest costumes that bordered on comically camp. I really enjoyed the gritty political and cultural backdrop, though I was less enamored of the more esoteric elements, specifically the Bajoran spiritual mysticism. Characters I loved: Garak, Odo and, surprisingly, Quark who I thought would be annoyingly goofy but really grew on me. Characters I liked (and I expect I'll grow to love): Dax, Bashir, and O'Brien. Characters that have me on the fence: Sisko is considered by many their favorite Trek commander/captain, but I find him exasperatingly humorless. Kira is constantly aggrieved and combative which grew tiresome after a while. But maybe I'll warm up to these two as the series progresses. Characters that didn't do it for me: A few of the supporting players who felt fairly one-note - Jake, Keiko, Nog. Favorite guest star: Tie between Brian Keith as the delightfully curmudgeonly Bajoran farmer Mullibok in "Progress", and Harris Yulin's tour-de-force performance as the tortured "Aamin Marritza". Favorite episode: "Duet". 10/10 character work and dramatic pacing. Least favorite episode: I was tempted to go with the silly, low-stakes "Move Along Home", but "The Storyteller" edges it out for giving us Bajoran lore AND an awkward sub-plot involving a smitten Jake and Nog. All in all, a throughly enjoyable watch. There's a lived-in warmth to the station and its ensemble that makes it hard not to roll right into season 2. But... I'm switching over to the first season of Babylon 5 now, and look forward to circling back to season 2 of DS9 once I'm done.