Game was 4/2/20.

As dinner continues, Jessa remains uncharacteristically silent, as she is embarrassed about the hallucinations. Thal’tirian keeps pumping Zug for more information, while Shan’taar and Threy’shaan keep a wary eye on the captain. Armina remains calm while K’tral surveys the room. Fal listens as he starts mentally cataloging the information they’ve accumulated so far, while Mel chats pleasantly with Zivan. Phillip remains silent, but Ssleestak is curious about these ravagers Zivan warned them about. The implication is that the main force of these ravagers won’t be here for a decade, so he mentally adds them to his enemies list and asks Zug what they know about them.

Grateful to get away from the Andorian’s stream of questions, Zug quietly admits everything they know is second- or third-hand at best. There are no first-hand accounts as these ravagers don’t leave survivors, but from what the Tizit have been able to ascertain from N’Dari stories and Dai’Loq sensor scans, the ravagers are warp-capable but not especially fast. Their ships are so saturated with radiation that accurate sensor readings of their life-signs and technology are impossible. Ssleestak realizes these ravagers are like the Borg to the Federation; the Tizit – and presumably, the other local species – subconsciously treat them as an unknown boogeyman.

K’tral also picks up on this undercurrent of fear and she realizes the Tizit are desperate for this alliance. She also hears the faint hum of machinery from under the table, so she drops her fork and crouches down to retrieve it. Zug moves to help her, but Thal’tirian pounces with more questions. K’tral sees a slim box attached to the underside of the table and suspects its communications equipment but wants another set of eyes. She reaches out and gently pokes the closest person’s leg with the fork. Phillip looks down suddenly, and K’tral crooks her finger and says, “I dropped my fork and then knocked it your way. Can you get it for me?”

Confused beyond measure, Phillip crouches down to retrieve the fork while K’tral gets to her feet. Phillip sees the equipment and realizes it is a communications hub, with a transceiver and a holo-matrix. He gets up and passes the fork back to K’tral; she eyes him with a penetrating stare and declares, “Thank you, ensign.” Phillip nods, which K’tral takes as confirmation of her theory, and sits back down.

As this is happening, the server is clearing the dinner plates and soon returns with dessert, a collection of round orange pastries with a drizzled glaze, and glasses of pink wine. Zivan proudly announces, “This is koril, a native dish. Quite the delicacy.” Phillip and K’tral abstain, while Jessa skips the wine but tries the pastry. Fal digs in unabashedly while Mel samples both. Shan’taar, Thal’tirian, and Armina sample both while Threy’shaan also abstains. Ssleestak grabs a pastry to chew and dig out one mill-worm stuck squirming in his teeth. The Starfleet crew finds the pastry is light, with a sweet-citrus taste, and resembles a Terran cinnamon bun. The wine is heavier, with a sweet taste and a higher alcohol content. Mel mentally classifies it as a dessert wine and sips it carefully.

Zivan’s demeanor changes instantly and she starts flirting with several officers, especially Fal and Phillip – the latter because he’s inadvertently presented himself as a challenge. Phillip does his best not to respond, but Fal returns the flirting but doesn’t go further. Zug suddenly blurts out, “Captain Deline, I have a question about your ship, NCC-72409 USS Solstice.” Zivan shoots her son a murderous glare, but surprisingly he doesn’t notice. Mel replies, “Well, I suppose you’ve earned one question, for being so attentive. What do you want to know?” Zug looks uncertain, but asks, “Uh, where is it going?”

Mel’s smile turns brittle as she says, “Excuse me?” They then hear the reverberations and look up to the sunroof to see their ship zip over the mansion, heading for orbit! Mel jabs her combadge and practically snarls, “Deline to Saval.” Static mars the reply, but Saval states – through the Vulcan equivalent of gritted teeth – “4A in progress. Stand by.” Mel frowns as she trues to recall whatever a 4A is, while K’tral and Ssleestak have utterly no idea. However, Shan’taar groans as he immediately remembers his rule 4A: If Ensign Kras’s eyes are a swirling blue when she’s staring intently at something, find the nearest Bajoran and smack him or her upside the head. It won’t solve the immediate problem, but it is cathartic.

Saval adds dryly, “At least, I think it’s a 4A. Whichever one also involves lightning.” Mel suddenly remembers Shan’taar’s rules as Jessa stands up, leans over, and gently smacks Fal in the head. All three Andorians follow suit, leaving two Tizit, one Vulcan, and one Gorn very confused. Zivan demands, “Captain, what is going on?” Mel says flatly, “There’s an incident occurring on my ship.” Zivan retorts, “Is Kordikar in danger?” Mel frowns as she seriously ponders the question before replying, “Unlikely, in all honesty.” Zivan frowns but settles down and taps a command. The holo-matrix activates, and the Starfleet officers see a 2-D representation of the Solstice as she suddenly engages her impulse engines – while still in Kordikar’s gravity well!

Phillip, K’tral, Ssleestak, and Mel start in shock as the Solstice shoots up through the busty orbital docks, zigging and zagging to avoid everything in their way, but Ssleestak and Fal activate their tricorders and discover their ship is saturated with verteron particles. Ssleestak taps his combadge and orders an emergency beam-out, but Chief Edgly replies frantically, “I can’t get a lock on your position!” Mel swears under her breath, and then realizes in horror her ship is barreling towards a fat-bellied freighter that can’t get out of the way fast enough!

The Starfleet officers can hear Saval order her bridge crew to regain control of the conn by any means necessary, but it’s to late. They watch in shock as the Solstice plows into the freighter – and passes through it unscathed! The freighter ‘ripples’ briefly to reveal a much smaller ship, and Zivan snarls, “A Wabai holo-ship!” She jabs a control panel and howls, “All weapons, target that spy ship!” The Solstice reaches orbit, and then her nacelles flare as she prepares to go to warp! Mel lurches forward as if to try and grab her ship, but they hear Thri’shayn call out, “Commander, some sort of quantum singulari-“ and then the Solstice jumps to warp – and stretches across the entire solar system for a split second! The ship ends her ‘slide’ right at the gravitational eddies that surround the outer reaches of the Koridkar system!

Ssleestak exclaims, “It worked! Captain, it worked! Faster than warp nine-point-nine!” Mel drawls “I’m so happy for you,” but Zug interrupts to inform her, “We are now receiving a visual signal from NCC-72409 USS Solstice.” The 2-D hologram splits to show her bridge and Saval leaning forward as she rasps, “Captain, please inform Lieutenant Ssleestak if he ever does that without proper consideration given to those species aboard with sensitive inner ears, I will not stop the Andorians from stabbing him to death.” Mel notes Thri’shayn also looks ill, but Ssleestak muses, “Well, it was never meant to cross an entire star system. Wow, it crossed an entire star system!”

Jessa edges away from the screen, still embarrassed by her earlier hallucinations, but the others then see Jen Kras steps into view. Her eyes are the swirling blue of the Bajoran wormhole, but now blue corposant dances across her hands and she is backlit by the same light. They suddenly flinch as she lifts her hand and lazily arcs lightning from her fingers to the ops panel! Ensign Aurora Lo’vak cries out, “Commander, the main defector dish! She’s reconfiguring it to… emit charged tachyon particles?” Fal takes a gamble and asks, “Jen, my best friend, are you ok?”

To everyone’s surprise, Jen stops the lighting arc, turns to look Fal directly in the eyes, and utters, “No,” in a sepulchral tone that is her voice – and something else’s. Mel notes her ship’s master system display is riddled with blue, which is definitely not the normal colors. She asks the Prophet bluntly, “Why are you here?” Jen replies, “We are fulfilling the pact.” Mel blinks in surprise as the others try to figure out what’s going on, but she asks tersely, “Has this pact been sworn yet?” Jen cocks her head and stays silent for a few seconds before uttering, “No?” Mel grumbles, “Well, at least I was right,” as she realizes the Prophets don’t comprehend linear time.

Fal begs, “O’ great Prophet, is there anyway to communicate that bypasses my friend Jen Kras? So she remains free of Your touch?” The Prophet replies flatly, “No,” and Fal sighs and mumbles, “Well, I tried.” Mel demands, “So what is this pact?” although she doesn’t really expect an answer. To everyone’s surprise, the Prophet replies, “The price demanded by The Kras to secure her assistance in this. To save one hundred thousand lives first.” The Starfleet officers look to each other is confusion, but Mel concedes dryly, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”