Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999): Season 4, Episode 23 - The Quickening - full transcript

Looks like he used
some kind of encryption program

to bypass the access protocols.

Unbelievable.

The nerve.

Major?

You wanted to see me.

Now don't pretend you don't
know what this is about.

Oh, well, maybe this'll
jog your memory.

Engage monitor.

Come to Quark's,
Quark's is fun

Come right now,
don't walk, run!



Oh, I love the part where
my name rotates around.

Tampering with
the station's com system

is a class-3 offense.

It's just
a little advertisement.

I didn't post one in Ops.

I'm sure the magistrate

will take that
into consideration

when he calculates
your fine.

You!

As you can see, we're very busy
here-- station business.

How did you do it?

Do what?

I ordered
a glass of prune juice

from the replicator
in the Defiant's mess.



This is what it came in.

Come to Quark's,
Quark's is fun...

If all your little
advertisements

aren't purged from our systems

by the time I get back
from the Gamma Quadrant

I will come to Quark's

and believe me...

I will have fun.

Uh, let me help
you with that, Chief.

According to Chief O'Brien

the scan resolution
on the new sensors is amazing.

We could practically do

the entire bio-survey
from orbit.

Suits me-- the sooner we get

out of the Gamma Quadrant,
the better.

How can you say that?

Those little points
of light out there--

the great unknown,
beckoning to us.

I wish I could visit every one.

You might want to skip the ones
with Jem'Hadar bases on them.

Is it my imagination

or are the stars
a little brighter

in the Gamma Quadrant?

Is it my imagination

or has Julian lost his mind?

Setting course
for the Gavara system.

I'm picking up some kind
of emergency signal.

It's fragmented.

They say their homeworld's
been attacked...

massive destruction,
heavy casualties.

They're asking any passing
vessel for assistance.

Looks like the signal's

coming from somewhere
in the Teplan system.

That's just outside
Dominion space.

Well, let's hope
the Jem'Hadar know that.

Setting new course.

What happened here?

H-Help me.

Don't let me die here.

Take me to Trevean.

Trevean?

Hospital...

I'll try to find out
where it is.

I'm going to give you
something for the pain.

You're not from this world.

No.

The blight's quickened in her.

There's nothing you can do.

You should leave here, now.

Go back to where you came from

and forget about this place.

The painkiller I gave her
isn't having much effect.

But their physiology is
so different from ours.

I doubt the blight will
be any danger to us.

I got us transportation
to the hospital.

How did you manage that?

These aren't exactly
the friendliest people

I've ever met.

I gave her my hair clip.

Is everything all right?

This is a hospital?

She's quickened.

Take her to Trevean.

You're from another world.

Yes.

Well, don't worry.

We'll take care of her now.

I haven't seen a single person

that doesn't have
lesions on their face.

His look inflamed.

So do that woman's over there.

Like the woman we brought in.

Trevean.

Thank you...

for this.

You deserve nothing less.

Yesterday, when I woke up

I... saw that
it had finally happened.

I'd quickened.

I always thought I'd be afraid

but I wasn't...

because I knew
I could come here.

Last night, I slept in a bed

for the first time in my life.

I fell asleep
listening to music.

This morning,
I bathed in hot water

dressed in clean clothes.

And now, I'm here with
my friends and family.

Thank you, Trevean...

for making this day everything
I dreamed it could be.

You brought Norva here?

How is she?

It was too late for her.

If only she'd come sooner,
I could've helped.

Then there is a treatment
for the blight.

There is no cure--
it's always fatal.

I'm sorry.
I don't understand.

I thought you said you
could've helped her.

Why are you here?

We received a distress call.

We're here to help
in any way we can.

I'm a doctor.

And I have access

to sophisticated
diagnostic equipment.

We had sophisticated
equipment once.

You think our world
was always this way?

Two centuries ago,
we were no different from you.

We built vast cities

traveled to neighboring worlds.

We believed nothing
was beyond our abilities.

We even thought we could resist
the Dominion.

I see you've heard of them.

Then take care not to defy them

or your people will pay
the same price we did.

The Jem'Hadar
destroyed our world

as an example to others.

Bring me Milani's child.

More than anything,
the Dominion wanted my people

to bear the mark
of their defiance.

So...

they brought us the blight.

We're all born with it...

we all die from it.

When the blight quickens,
the lesions turn red.

Death soon follows--

some in childhood

most before they can have
children of their own.

Only a few live to be my age.

Trevean, if you tell us
what you know about the blight

we may be able to help.

No.

You should go.

If the Jem'Hadar
find you here...

We're willing
to take that risk.

Don't.

Make some room.

I'm a doctor.

Leave him alone.

You don't understand.

Can't you see he's dying?

Of course, he's dying--
he came here to die.

People come to me
when they quicken.

I help them leave
this world peacefully--

surrounded by their families
and friends.

What are you saying?

The herbs I give them
causes death within minutes.

You poison them.

The blight kills slowly.

No one wants
to suffer needlessly--

not like that woman
you brought me.

You killed her?

I did what she asked.

I thought this was a hospital

and that you were a healer.

I am.

I take away pain.

Now you've disrupted
Tamar's death.

I'll going to have
to ask you to leave.

I found the distress beacon

in an abandoned building
not far from here.

It has its own power source.

My guess is it's been
repeating the same message

for over 200 years.

Well, there's nothing
for us to do here.

We should go.

Are you really a doctor?

Yes.

I've never met a doctor before.

They say there's a woman
in Nykalia who makes a medicine

that helps people withstand
the pain of quickening

so... so they can live longer.

I'd go there

but Nykalia's so far away.

When are you due?

Not for another two months.

That's not very long.

We never know
when the quickening will come.

I'm Julian.

What's your name?

Ekoria.

I'm Jadzia.

Did you come here to help us?

Well, nobody around here
seems to want our help.

I do.

And I know others
who would welcome it, too.

Kira to away team.

Go ahead.

The sensors just picked up

two Jem'Hadar ships
headed this way.

The Jem'Hadar are leaving
the Kendi system

and it looks like
they're heading

for the Obatta cluster.

Sounds like they're
on a patrol route

which means this system
is probably next.

We'd better go.

Stand by to get underway.

Hold on, Major.

We can't just leave
these people.

They need our help.

And they'll get it.

As soon as we get back,
we'll notify Starfleet

so they can put together
a relief mission.

But that could take weeks

maybe even months.

We're here, now.

Remember the plague
on Boranis Ill?

People were dying
by the thousands

and nobody there knew why.

It took us one hour
to identify the pathogen

and three days
to dose the water table

and inoculate
the entire population.

We might be able to do
the same thing here.

All right, it's worth a try.

We can't risk the Jem'Hadar
detecting the runabout.

I'll take it
to the Jenkata nebula.

Come back for us in a week.

With any luck,
we'll have a cure by then.

They're here.

They're coming.

Thanks.

Go, go, go on.

Um...

I'm sorry I can't
offer you more space.

Oh, don't be.
This is fine.

Um, can I use this table
to set up my equipment?

Whatever you need.

Did you do this?

My husband did.

He died last winter.

It's what he imagined
our world used to be like.

He painted a mural
similar to that

on a building near here--

traded a good pair of boots
for the paint he needed.

He wanted to show people
the way things were--

thought it might give them
something to work toward.

Well, maybe later,
you can take us to see it.

All right.

Well, it looks like we
have ourselves a clinic.

The first thing I have to do
is run a complete

bio-spectral analysis
on an asymptomatic individual.

Loosely translated

that means he needs a volunteer.

Great.

Now, if you'll just have a seat

the doctor will be
with you in a moment.

They love to keep you waiting.

It, uh, makes them
feel important.

How would you like to see
a picture of your baby?

There it is.

Let me see.

Wh-What's happened?

We've isolated the virus.

Is that a good thing?

It means we can start analyzing

its molecular structure--
Iook for binding sites

so we can tailor an antigen.

In other words, yes.

It's a very good thing.

I'm going to start
mapping nucleotides.

Can you run a protein sequencer?

I think so.

I... I hope you two are hungry.

Starving.

Good.

That looks like a feast.

It was supposed to be.

What do you mean?

Nothing.

Do you like Takana root tea?

Ekoria...

where did you get all this food?

I've been saving it
for the hospital...

for my death.

But something tells me

I'm not going to need it
anymore.

Well, thanks anyway.

She's not interested either.

I hope Dax
is having better luck.

I don't understand
why you need people

who've quickened
to make your cure.

Well, I need to chart
the progress of the viral--

I'm sorry.

Oh, you're still here.

Yes.

Well, I see the blight
has spared you.

Maybe it doesn't like
the taste of your blood.

Unfortunately,
it seems to like yours.

Well, I'd invite you to my death

but we don't know
each other that well.

What if I told you
there was a chance

you didn't have to die?

I'm a doctor.

Don't tell me--
you have a cure.

I'm working on one.

Yeah, what'll it cost me?

A good coat?

A tilo of oil?

It won't cost you anything.

He can help us.

Listen to him.

I need volunteers,
people who have quickened.

What will you do?

See how loud we scream

when the blight
burns through us?

I have medicines
that can dull the pain.

I have equipment unlike
anything on your world.

How would you like me
to fix that arm

so you can play with
your friends over there?

I'm not going to hurt you.

Well, you have a fracture
right here.

I bet it hurts.

Better?

Did you see that?

How did you do that?

Does it matter?

He can find a cure for us

if we help him.

Fixing a broken bone
and curing the blight

are two different things.

I know that.

Others have come here
with promises of a cure.

They stirred up hope,
took food and clothing

in exchange for their elixirs

but their promises
were always lies.

And all those who believed them

came to me in the end,
begging for release.

I just want to do
what I can to help.

I'm not making any promises.

Take care that you don't.

Because we have
dealt with people

who give false hope before.

Believe me--
their deaths make the blight

Iook like a blessing.

What's wrong?

Oh, I've been trying to chart
the life cycle of the virus.

It would be a lot easier if
I'd gotten more tissue samples.

Maybe you should go home.

Maybe my people
don't deserve your help.

Oh, they've just
been suffering so long

they've lost hope
that things can be better.

It's more than that.

We've come to worship death.

I used to wake up
and look at myself in the mirror

and be disappointed
I hadn't quickened in my sleep.

Going to Trevean
seemed so much easier

than going on living.

Yet, you don't feel
that way anymore.

Not since the baby.

My little boy.

Can your machines tell me

what he's going to look like
when he grows up?

Oh, no.

Not really.

Maybe he'll look
like his father.

I...

I want to be here for him...

to hold his hand
when he takes his first step

kiss his knee
when he scrapes it in a fall.

Well, with any luck, you'll see
him have children of his own.

Julian?

There's some people here
who'd like to see you.

I suppose you're
going to want to bleed me.

Oh, um...

a little.

I canceled my death for you.

I was really looking forward
to it.

All right.

Everybody gets three milligrams

including you.

Perfect.

There.
This'll dull the pain.

I like your spots.

You told me that yesterday.

I still like them.

Julian.

Epran has stopped responding
to the cordrazine.

I had to put him
in an inhibitor field.

He's further along
than everyone else.

I'm hoping he'll be

the first to respond
to the antigen.

Think of it.

She may well be holding
the cure in her hands.

Do you think we should tell
her what she's giving them?

She's nervous enough
about using the hypo.

It's better if we wait
till we're positive.

I suppose.

You should take a break.

You've been working
nonstop for days.

Doctor?

Oh...

Dax wanted me to tell you

that Epran's white blood count
is up another 12 percent.

That's great news.

It is?

Trust me.

I do.

I did from the start.

I don't... really know why.

Well, I'd like to think
it's my bedside manner.

Hmm?

Um...

doctors and nurses

are supposed to project
an air of caring competence.

You were doing it in there.

Me?

I was watching you.

You're very good with patients.

Oh, I was just trying
to be kind.

Well, some people don't like
to be around the sick.

It reminds them
of their own mortality.

It doesn't bother you?

Sometimes.

I prefer to confront mortality
rather than hide from it.

When you make someone well

it's like
you're chasing death off--

making him wait for another day.

But death comes
to everyone eventually.

Except Kukalaka.

Kuka... who?

My first patient.

A teddy bear.

What's that?

Oh, it's a sort of, um...

soft puppet.

Anyway, when I was a little boy

I took him everywhere I went

and after a few years,
he became a little threadbare

until eventually his leg tore

and some of the stuffing
fell out.

My mother was all set
to throw him out

but I wouldn't have it because
at the tender age of five

I performed my first surgery.

I restuffed him
and sewed his leg closed.

From that day on,
I did everything I could

to keep Kukalaka in one piece.

You know, I must have
sewn and stitched

and repatched every square inch
of that bear.

Why were you so determined
to keep him together?

Well, I wouldn't be
much of a doctor

if I gave up on a patient,
would l?

Where's Kukalaka now?

Oh, in a closet somewhere.

On a shelf...

in my room.

Julian, something's wrong.

Julian.

Something's causing the virus
to mutate.

Could it be a reaction
to the antigen?

I don't see how.

I need a microcellular
scanner.

Help me, Bashir...!

He's going to take care of you.

You're going to be all right.
Okay.

My God!

It's the EM fields
from our instruments!

Shut everything down!
Now!

All right, everything's off.

The mutation rate hasn't slowed.

The effect must be cumulative.

Give everybody four milligrams
of cordrazine.

His heart stopped.

His heart stopped!

Come on.

Breathe.
Breathe.

Breathe.

Julian.

Julian!

Breathe!

Doctor!

What have you done?

Help me!

Trevean, please!

Get out of my way.

Trevean!

She's asking for me.

You have no right to interfere.

Thank you.

-Trevean!
-Trevean.

Trevean, help me.

-Trevean!
-Trevean!

Help me please!

I remember running an hematology
scan on Epran the other day.

There were changes...

in the viral base-pair
sequence...

and I didn't know why.

There's no way
you could have known

it was because
of our instruments.

I should have put it together.

That's not fair.

Isn't it?

I'm going to tell you
a little secret, Jadzia.

I was looking forward
to tomorrow--

to seeing Kira again
and casually asking

"How was the nebula?

"And, oh, by the way

I cured that blight thing
those people had."

It's not a crime to believe
in yourself, Julian.

These people believed in me

and look where it got them.

Trevean was right.

There is no cure.

The Dominion made sure of that.

And I was so arrogant

I thought I could
find one in a week.

Maybe it was arrogant
to think that

but it's even more arrogant
to think there isn't a cure

just because you
couldn't find it.

I'm glad you got a chance
to see it before you left.

Ekoria.

I thought I'd make it.

I really did.

I'm sorry.

Don't be.

You gave me hope.

I haven't felt that
since before my husband died.

Good-bye.

Ekoria...

wait.

You're sure about this?

I can't leave these people.

Not now.

Whenever you're ready,
contact the station.

We'll have a runabout here
within days.

You know what worries me,
Julian?

Is that without me

you won't have anyone
to translate for you.

Good luck.

Major?

What is it?

There isn't a trace
of the antigen I gave you

in your bloodstream.

Your immune system
must have rejected it.

Oh...

Is it bad?

Mm-hmm...

I can give you another hypo

but you have so much cordrazine
in your system already

it might be hard
on the baby's metabolism.

I'll wait.

What is that smell?

I'm making a salve.

Long as I don't
have to drink it.

How do you feel?

I've been better.

Can you sit up?

Breathe.

Again?

Let's see how the baby's doing.

His head's over here now.

I'm not surprised.

Feels like he's
turning somersaults in there.

His heart's getting stronger
every day.

I'd say another six weeks.

I'll never make it that long.

Well, I can induce
labor in two weeks.

The baby'll be old enough
by then.

Two weeks.

Trevean...

am I dead?

Is that what you want?

I can end your suffering.

Your child will have known
nothing but peace.

No.

He deserves a chance to live.

The blight will take him
in the end.

Trevean...

I didn't realize
you made house calls.

I was concerned that she might
be too weak to come to me.

I don't understand...

why you're so
obsessed with death.

From what I've heard

you've lived with the blight
longer than anyone.

Yes...

and I've seen more
suffering than anyone.

Good-bye, Ekoria.

I hope you live long enough
to see your baby.

Trevean means well.

He's a kind man in his own way.

Push!

Good. Good.
Now breathe.

Don't stop breathing.

Don't stop. Breathe.

I can see his head.

And push!

Push!

Yes, push!

Yes! Yes.

My God.

That's why there's no antigen
in your system.

It's all been absorbed
through the placenta.

Ekoria...

he doesn't have any lesions.

He doesn't have the blight.

You found a cure.

It's not a cure.

It's a vaccine.

Every pregnant woman

should be inoculated with
it as soon as possible.

It won't help them

but it will protect
their babies.

Our children
won't have the blight?

The vaccine isn't
difficult to make

but seeing that everybody
gets it will be a huge task.

Oh, not a task...

a privilege.

Can you show me how to make it?

I was hoping you'd ask that.

Nucleotide sequencing complete.

Viral reproduction normal.

Let's try an A-to-C
base-pair reshuffling.

Doctor...

I read your report.

Good work.

Thank you, sir.

Nucleotide sequencing complete.
Viral reproduction normal.

People are still dying
back there.

Yes.

But their children won't.

That's what I keep
telling myself, sir.

Initiate reshuffling sequence.