The Explorer



It was morning, and the Promenade was beginning to stir. Garak's reopened tailor shop was bright and warm and wonderfully spotless. Bashir was looking forward to his day off; Garak could tell by the look on his face.

"So tell me about this holoprogram that you're so enthused about, Doctor," Garak mumbled. "Oh, this one is *much* more adventurous and suspenseful than the jet-set spy program," Bashir crowed. "In this new program, I play an FBI agent exploring paranormal phenomena, and my partner is a cool, analytical, yet luscious brunette with a Ph.D. in forensic biology." He handed Garak a padd with a picture of the woman.

Garak nodded at Bashir.

"Are you *sure* that *you* wouldn't like to be my partner?" Bashir asked.

"Oh, I'll be busy all afternoon," Garak growled.

Bashir looked up at the ceiling. In all the years he'd known the tailor-cum-spy, he still didn't understand why Cardassians had to flirt this way. Brusqueness and hostility were alluring to Cardassians but repellent to other races.

A pair of round, liquid-brown eyes gleamed from behind a rack of tailored suits. There was a small tremble as Garak approached, and then a pair of feet inched along the floor.

Garak sifted through the rack and the feet disappeared upward, into a curtain of pinstripes and houndstooth.

As Garak brought a simple gray ensemble to the doctor, a small droplet, like golden honey, peered out of one of the sleeves, then crept back in.

Bashir examined himself in the mirror.

"The gray looks drab and nondescript enough," Garak pouted. "Wouldn't you at least like a more attractive tie?"

Bashir studied his steel-colored cravat. "Um, no. As an FBI agent, I'm supposed to look inconspicuous."

"A suggestion for enhancing your credibility then," Garak suggested. "Lose the accent."

Bashir glared at him.



Shannon crept behind the glittering evening gowns and chiffon sundresses. She heard some quarreling off on the other side of the shop. She recognized one voice as Dr. Julian Bashir's. She knew him because he came to check on her once a week. She was a little afraid that he would not recognize her, so she didn't step out from behind the rack.

Too bad the science lab had no mirrors. She couldn't find out if she'd gotten her face and body right. She slipped into the fitting room and looked at her image, reflected again and again from all angles. She blinked twice. She still needed to get used to blinking. It didn't seem important to her, but humanoids did it all the time, so she figured that she should, too.

Shannon smiled at her reflection. She was very proud of the way she looked. Her hair was black and curly and her skin was the color of hot cocoa. Her eyes were unusually deep-set and her complexion oddly smooth, as if someone had tried to make her skin so flawless as to close off the pores. Her nose was wide and neatly ridged; she stood close to the mirror and decided that she would have the same number of ridges every day. She wore a blue dress and a blue ribbon in her hair. She did not wear shoes. She was still figuring out how to morph shoes.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps and, like a humanoid, she slowly swerved her eyes to the right.

Garak swung the curtain open and a mockingbird shot out of the fitting room. He ducked before it poked him in the eye and then stared in astonishment as it soared out of the shop.

"How in the world did *that* get in here?" Garak wondered.

"Someone needs to secure the biology research labs more carefully," Bashir replied.



The round-faced gray tabby cat peeked between the railing overlooking the lower Promenade. Her head swung back and forth as she studied the humanoids below.

She saw about six Bajorans, all of them wearing bright red robes. In front of them stood a handsome, middle-aged blond woman. She wore a white and gold robe and a serene, haughty look on her face.

Captain Sisko greeted the blond woman. Shannon knew that this was Captain Sisko because he had come into the lab a few times and everyone called him Captain Sisko. She did not know who the Bajorans in red were and she did not know who the blond woman was. However, Sisko called her "Your Eminence" and his tone of voice indicated that Your Eminence was a very important person indeed.

"Gggrrrrrrrr! ROW ROW ROW!"

Shannon spun around. A very angry-looking dog stood behind her. Looking up, Shannon could see a kind-looking human lady restraining the dog by a leash.

"Muffin! Leave the kitty cat alone!"

"ROW ROW ROW!" Captain Sisko, Your Eminence, and the Bajorans in red all looked up. Shannon slunk back in embarassment and fright. What had she done to make the dog angry, anyway?

The dog dove at her, the human lady yanked the leash, and Shannon sprinted down the Promenade.

She ducked into Moogie's Home Cooking and slid under a table.

Leeta groaned. "Heeeeeeeeere kittykittykitty! C'mon out! We've got a health code to follow, and that means no pussycats in Moogie's!"

She lifted up the tablecloth and peeked inside. The tabby bolted out from under the table and ran for the kitchen. A petite Orion woman emerged from the doorway, a tray in front of her.

"Jalise!" Leeta cried. "Watch your step!"

KA-KLANGALANGLANG! Jalise tripped over the cat and hurtled to the floor.

Angrily, Leeta charged into the kitchen.

"Gaila," she snapped, "did you see a cat come in here?"

A bleary-eyed Ferengi looked up from the stove.

"Cat?" Gaila muttered, the smell of vodka on his breath from last night. "I didn't see any cat." He returned to stirring the eggs for that morning's tubeworm omlettes.

Safely sitting in the air duct above the stove, Shannon remembered that her good friend Kirayoshi O'Brien used to talk about cats all the time. He told her how soft, furry, lovable, and affectionate cats were. He told her that cats got to eat and sleep all they wanted and people beings liked cats because cats chased mice and kept people company and slept on beds and kept people warm. However, it seemed as if being a cat wasn't such a wonderful thing after all.



Kirayoshi looked disappointedly at his Aunt Nerys.

"Where's Shannon? You didn't bring Shannon," he said.

Kira tried to hide the worry that was obviously etched into her face like a chisel's marks. "Shannon is. . .well, Shannon's a little busy right now," she explained.

"Shannon decided to take a little walk," Dax added.

"But Shannon doesn't walk. Shannon is a changeling!" Kirayoshi blurted.

"Well, apparently Shannon *learned* to walk," Dax proclaimed, "because I went to the science lab this morning and POOF! Shannon was gone!"

Kira glared at Dax.

"You mean Shannon got *lost*?" Kirayoshi wailed.

"Um, no. Shannon went exploring," Kira said.

"But we're looking for your friend," Dax concluded. She displayed a tricorder and gestured to a pair of security guards, both of whom had looks on their faces that proclaimed, "Did I attend Starfleet Academy for *this*?"



Quietly, Shannon slid out of the air duct into a room that looked like Molly and Kirayoshi's bedrooms: soft and happy and bright and full of playthings. Wooden wagons, plastic boats, fish sponges, board games, doll houses. But no children in here. There was an elderly Bajoran man behind the counter, but no children. This was strange.

Now back in humanoid form, she pored with wide, eager eyes over the rows of toy animals. She saw a stuffed targ, a stuffed dolphin, a pair of stuffed cats who no doubt would never be chased out if they walked into Moogie's Home Cooking.

In between the throng of toys was a majestic stuffed Tarchalian hawk. She lifted it off the shelf and looked at its yellow, beadlike eyes as she carried it out of the toy shop.

"Ahem. Where are you going, sweetie?"

Shannon stopped and turned around. The elderly Bajoran man gently approached her.

"I was. . .I was taking a walk," Shannon replied.

"With that hawk?" the Bajoran asked her?

Shannon looked down at the toy.

"Um, yes. I guess so," Shannon replied.

"I'm sorry, honey, but you have to pay for that before you can take it out of our store." The Bajoran lifted the stuffed hawk out of Shannon's arms.

Shannon stared at the floor, confused and sad, then turned around and ran.

The first annual convention of the Ferengi Businesswomen's Association had convened on Deep Space 9. Ferengi women poured into Quarks, flirted with Morn, guzzled synthale, played dabo, danced on tables, and tried to sell stocks in all sorts of questionable businesses. A pair of women had taken the stage with Quark's new karaoke machine and were squawking their way through "Hound Dog."

Quark wanted to scream.

At least there was some hope for him and for his lunatic family. Hope in the form of an infant changeling that sat in a jar in front of him--Rom and Leeta's newly adopted child.

"Now, you're officially a part of our family," Quark explained to the changeling. "And *every* single member of our family has been brought up according to the most *important* rules of Ferengi society--the Rules of Acquisition. I'm going to start with Rule 1--Once you have their money, you never give it back. . ."

Shannon padded into the bar and stared the cavorting Ferengis. She saw Quark chatting with a jar of blue gelatin and her eyes widened.

She climbed up onto the stool, propped herself up on her knees, and leaned forward. Quark had gotten to the fifth Rule of Acquisition before he turned to prepare whiskey sours for a pair of Ferengi ingenues.

Shannon pulled the jar over to her and smiled. She stuck her finger into the jar and stirred it lightly with her finger. Yes, yes! It was another changeling, just like her!

She let her finger revert to its natural state; she just wanted to see what it felt like. The changeling swirled a little bit around the finger; it felt odd, like folds of cloth around her. She withdrew the finger and then smiled at the changeling, waving her hand at it.

"Hi!" she chirped. "My name's Shannon! You're the only other changeling I've ever seen since I got here."

The blue fluid stirred.

"Hello there, kiddo!" Quark returned to his nephew (niece?) with a stern look on his face.

"Hi," Shannon replied shyly.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Quark asked her.

"School?"

"Where kids go to learn stuff."

Shannon was perplexed. "I learn lots of stuff in the science lab."

Quark chuckled. "You little kids are just too much. Where are your mom and dad, anyway?"

"I. . .erm. . .don't have a mom and dad."

"Cousin? Uncle? Grandparent?"

"I don't know what those are," Shannon said.

Now Quark was confused. "Um, kid, I'm *really* not supposed to serve alcohol to minors."

"What are minors?" Shannon had never heard of this species before.

Quark decided to ignore her before she confused him even more. "What's more, I can see you're not wearing shoes and I have a rule here at my bar: You need *shoes* and *shirt* to be served here. Those are the health code regulations."

These health code regulations were making it impossible for Shannon to go anywhere!

Quark clamped his hand down on her wrist. "I don't want to scare you, but we're going to the security office. A child like you shouldn't be running around on the Promenade by herself."

Shannon pulled on her wrist, but Quark grasped it tightly. She let her arm liquefy and quickly withdrew it. Then, she raced out of the bar.

"EEEEEEARRRGH! A changeling!" Quark screamed.



Bashir's day off was not going well at all. He'd failed to find the Sasquatch; he'd watched UFOs abduct his partner; and he'd almost been shot by the Tonsillitis Man. Now, he was tending to an unconscious Morn. The barfly had passed out from fright and hit his head on the dabo wheel.

Kira stood in front of the trembling customers, holding the palms of her hands up in a gesture of reassurance. "Everyone calm down," she told them. "This changeling is not a threat. You are in no danger."

Heads shook in disbelief.

Just then, Rom and Leeta strode into Quark's, with cheerful expressions on their faces.

"Hello, brother! Thanks for watching the baby!" Rom chirped.

"How'd it behave?" Leeta asked, lifting the jar of blue gelatin off the counter.

"Splendidly," Quark said, slugging down a glass of squill. "We just had a little scare in here."

"We had a changeling right here in the bar!" an Andorian cried.

Leeta and Rom looked at the jar and then at each other.

"The kid didn't do anything, did it?" Rom asked.

"Kid? What kid?" the Andorian asked.

The blue fluid stirred and rippled in its jar.

"Oh no! ANOTHER ONE!"

Gasps and shrieks filled the bar; customers angrily stomped up to Quark.

"You've had a changeling in here all this time?"

"I want my latinum back!"

"It isn't what you think it is," Quark insisted. "This changeling is my nephew."

"Or niece," Leeta added.

Quark rolled his eyes. "This changeling is completely harmless. It's been sitting here all the time while I read the Rules of Acquisition to it and--"

"You WHAT?!?" Now it was Leeta's turn to snap.

"Leeta, there is nothing wrong with teaching the changeling its heritage."

"I beg your pardon, Quark! First of all, this is *not* a Ferengi child! Second of all, I don't want *my* children spouting *bullshit* like 'Greed is good' and thinking that women belong at home naked! And third of all, I *told* you this *very specifically*!"

"Excuse me for trying to salvage some semblance of traditional Ferengi values in my dysfunctional family," Quark sneered.

"Dysfunctional?" Leeta retorted. "MY family is dysfunctional? MY family--"

The two raged at each other with Rom playing the role of hapless mediator. Patrons filed out of Quark's, grumbling. Kira walked up to Bashir, who'd managed to revive Morn.

"Doctor, when you get a chance, could we stop by sickbay?" Kira asked. "I think I'll need something for a headache."



Molly O'Brien was sketching in the botany lab when a hummingbird appeared from behind a wall of ivy. The hummingbird fluttered up to Molly until it hovered in front of her face. Molly felt a slight fear in her, wondering why the tiny creature had such an interest in her.

Suddenly, the hummingbird backed up a little and dissolved into a waterfall of golden goo. The goo assumed another shape, that of a little girl with a blue dress.

Molly's mouth hung open. The girl waved at her.

"Hi, Molly. It's Shannon."

Molly looked at her with surprise and astonishment. She'd always wondered what would happen when the changeling took humanoid form, imagining what it would ultimately look like. She smiled warmly.

"Hello, Shannon. It's. . .great to see you. I've never seen you like this. I've never heard you actually talk before."

Shannon looked up at her.

"Y'know, Shannon, people are looking for you. Aunt Jadzia, Aunt Nerys. . .Kirayoshi was sad that you didn't come over to play."

"Really? All day, people have been chasing me and telling me to leave. I went into all these rooms where there were toys and people eating and playing games and laughing but nobody would let me stay there. There was this man who grabbed me and I got so scared that I ran away."

"Aw, sweetheart," Molly put her arms around the girl. "We're going to the security office and we'll let Aunt Nerys know that you're all right."

"No! I'm not going to the security office! That's where that man who grabbed told me he was going to take me!"

Molly thought a little more and then said, "Tell you what; I'll take you back to my quarters. Dad'll be there and so will Kirayoshi."

With Shannon's hand clasped in hers, Molly walked to the turbolift. Two Ferengis, a Klingon, and a Bolian entered behind them.

"The floor here feels funny," Shannon said.

"That's because this turbolift is moving. It's taking us to the Habitat Ring," Molly explained.

"It doesn't feel like anything's moving. It just feels funny," Shannon replied.

The Bolian chuckled softly.

FOOOOOOMP! The turbolift came to a sharp halt and the cabin went completely black.

Miles O'Brien rushed up to the auxiliary power console, toolkit swinging in one hand.

"Sisko to Engineering! What on Earth happened down there?"

"Someone sabotaged the auxiliary generator core! The entire Habitat Ring is without power!"

Sisko seethed and pounded his desk. "This sounds like True Way. Chief, fix that generator core as quickly as you possibly can!"



The Klingon stood serenely while the Ferengis and the Bolian panicked, pounding on the cabin walls and squealing. Molly grumbled while she covered her ears and pulled Shannon closer to her.

Suddenly, she heard a quiver and a whooshing noise as the changeling disappeared through the ventilation grid in the ceiling.

"Shannon, NO!" Molly cried.



A Starfleet engineer was swinging his flashlight back and forth as he patrolled the hallways. He heard some gentle footfalls and stopped, shining his light in Shannon's face.

"Um, hi," the engineer said awkwardly. "Y'know, it's very dangerous for a little girl like you to be running around here in the dark. You should get back to your quarters."

"I didn't come from any quarters. I came from the turbolift," Shannon replied. "I was riding in the turbolift with some other people, but it stopped and got stuck."

The engineer tapped his combadge. "Laurano to security. Send a rescue team over. We've got a stuck turbolift with passengers aboard."

He then kneeled down and looked into the girl's round, dark eyes. "Show me where this turbolift is, okay?"



Dax and Worf were helping up one very disgruntled Bolian, who kept muttering that this was the worst vacation of his life and that next year he was going to Risa.

Kira plodded up to the badly shaken group and spied a disheveled Molly O'Brien standing next to Shannon.

Molly smiled wearily and declared, "I found our missing changeling."

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to scare anybody or make anybody worried," Shannon said.

"Make anybody worried?" Laurano said with a small grin. "You're the one who told me about those people stuck in the turbolift."

"Will I have to go to the security office?" Shannon asked.

"No," Kira replied. "Actually, Shannon, you may not be staying in the science lab for much longer either."



Two weeks later. . .

Kira was still cursing Starfleet bureaucracy under her breath as she fluffed up the pillows in what had once been her guest room. Shannon stood in the doorway, watching cautiously, curiously.

Kira had to hand it to Sisko. He'd convinced his padd-pushing superiors that, while the security of the Federation was important, the happiness and well-being of its newest citizens were just as important. There would be nincompoops who'd run screaming from them, people who'd refuse to be their friends, people who'd remind them of hideous wars that they'd had no part in. The only thing going for them was the assurance that there were still other, kinder people who were on their side.

Perhaps that was more than enough. Perhaps.

"All right, Shannon. Your bedroom is ready," Kira crowed. The changeling girl entered slowly.

"Oh, and I brought you a present, too." Kira held up a stuffed Tarchalian hawk.

Shannon squeaked with delight and rushed forward.