Warchild

Introduction
From the back cover: A message left behind by the Kai Opaka gives Commander Benjamin Sisko a fateful mission: Find a young Bajoran girl destined to be a great healer who could bring together the warring factions of Bajor. While Lt. Dax tries to find the healer, Dr. Bashir goes planetside to treat a rare disease that is killing the children in Bajor's resettlement camps.

Surrounded by thousands of dying children, Bashir goes A.W.O.L. from Deep Space Nine, vowing not to return until the plague has been stopped. But by the time Dax finds the girl from the Kai's prophecy the child has fallen victim to the plague. Now, with the fate of the entire planet at stake, Commander Sisko must find Dr. Bashir in time to save the child who may be Bajor's last chance for peace....

Prologue
Ensign Munson is piloting a runabout to Deep Space Nine. Onboard the runabout are two Bajorans, a monk and a vedek. The long silence is broken when the monk replies to the vedek, saying he has come to DS9 because of the dying children.

Chapter 1
The monk from the runabout, Taren Gis, comes to Commander Sisko's office. There, Taren tells Sisko about a sickness that is spreading through the refugee camps on Bajor. One village, Lacroya, is already dead. Sisko agrees to send medical aid, but refuses to send Dr. Bashir on the grounds that if there were an emergency aboard the station, they would need Bashir there.

Chapter 2
The vedek from the runabout, Torin of the Na-melis Order, takes Commander Sisko to the station's temple, to discuss something secret. There he produces a scroll containing a prophecy written by Kai Opaka. The prophecy states that a child destined to become a great healer will be found in the village of Bennikar. However, Bennikar was destroyed in the Occupation of Bajor, after the Kai wrote the prophecy. Vedek Torin tells Sisko that the child must be presented to the Dessin-ka, who believe the child is a sword-bearer rather than a healer, at the time of Berajin, leaving very little time to find the child.

Chapter 3
When Commander Sisko leaves the station's temple, he sees Brother Gis at the entrance. At first, Sisko suspects the monk of eavesdropping, however, he informs Sisko that Vedek Torin told him of the prophecy aboard the runabout. Sisko decides to send both Lt. Dax and Dr. Bashir to the refugee camp to find a cure for the disease. However, Sisko tells Brother Gis in confidence that Dax's true mission will be to find the child from the prophecy. Sisko later briefs both Bashir and Dax about the epidemic; when he dismisses Bashir he asks Dax to stay, which heightens Bashir's curiousity.

Chapter 4
Chief O'Brien and Ensign McCormick are working to fix the transporters aboard a runabout. When they are finished, McCormick takes the Ganges into orbit above the Pride of Mintak on Bajor and tests the transporter, trying to beam Ensign Goodman out of a crowded area. In addition, there are plenty of inanimate objects to test, such as bottles of kis. It is discovered that the transporters work fine, but the sensors cannot maintain a lock, so the coordinates of the subject must be read to the transporter chief. Goodman then reads off his coordinates and beams onto the Ganges. When the Ganges returns to DS9, a drunken Goodman and a case of kis are brought off the runabout. Dr. Bashir, Ensign Kahrimanis, Lt. Dax, and Brother Taren Gis then board the Ganges, now piloted by Trulli.

Chapter 5
Dr. Bashir leaves his tent in the refugee camp and goes to the "infirmary", nothing more than an old granary or storehouse. There he finds a Bajoran woman nursing her baby, who won't feed. He then burps the baby to relieve its stomach pain. Bashir tells the mother to take her baby out of the infirmary, because that is where the strongest population of fever patients is located. Brother Gis then introduces Bashir to Belem, his new assistant. Bashir and Belem go to the building with the supplies from DS9 and begin to unpack. Bashir then tells Belem to take some blood samples of the patients. Before taking the samples, Belem tells Bashir that he lost his family name when he and his brothers left their farm.

Chapter 6
Dax, Bashir, and Kahrimanis share a communal meal with the monks in the square. Soon, Bashir and Brother Talissin get into a heated argument, and both storm off in opposite directions. Two days later, Dax enters the laboratory shack to find Bashir concentrating on a sample in the microscanner. Bashir informs Dax that he believes he has isolated the organism responsible for the fever. Dax then tells Bashir to get some sleep and pushes him out of the lab. She then begins working on an antibody. Despite being told to get some rest, Bashir goes to the infirmary and helps out by giving the patients sponge baths. While washing a girl's face, Bashir falls to the ground, unconcious.

Chapter 7
Bashir awakes to find two children patting him with a damp warm cloth. He learns that the boy is Talis Cedra, and the girl is his sister, Talis Dejana. He also finds out that Dejana managed to recover from the fever on her own. Cedra soon becomes Bashir's new assistant. Dax then develops a vaccine for the fever, and injects the fever victims. While administering the injections, Dax discretely tries to discover information about children from Bennikar. One of the men she injects is Mullibok, who became a farmer in the camp, and is now very content with his new life. After administering the injections, Dax goes to the infirmary to see how Bashir's doing. There, she tries to coax some more information out of the patients. She is then approached by Cedra and is introduced to Dejana, who reveals that they are from Bennikar.

Chapter 8
In Brother Gis's office, Dax reports to Sisko, via communicator, that she believes Talis Dejana to be the Nekor. Sisko tells her that since the fever has been cured they can prepare to leave soon. Kahrimanis then informs Bashir that they will be leaving soon, but Bashir is reluctant to leave because there are other camps, and hill fighters, in the Kaladrys Valley that may be infected with the fever. Since Bashir never received a direct order to depart, he takes some supplies and leaves for the other camps. Before Bashir leaves the camp, Cedra finds out what he is up to and gives him some food, water, and a map of the valley. Some ways from the camp, Cedra catches up with Bashir and gives him a verdanis to ride. While riding, Bashir feels the shoulder strap of the portable replicator working its way under his communicator, but chooses to ignore it. Sometime later, Dax and Kahrimanis are following Bashir's trail, but lose it when the ground turns to solid rock. Dax tries to raise Bashir on her communicator but receives no response. Kahrimanis hears something nearby, a faint echoing sound. Both go to investigate and find Bashir's combadge.

Chapter 9
Major Kira and Vedek Torin arrive in the camp via runabout. They head for the infirmary to see the Nekor. At the entrance to the infirmary, they find Brother Talissin lying on the ground bleeding from a head wound. As Dax attends to Talissin, Kira makes her way into the infirmary. Cedra then drops from the rafters and tells Kira that Dejana was taken. Cedra then runs through the camp with Kira in tow until they reach a small lean-to hut. Cedra tells Kira that he saw Remis Jobar kidnapped Dejana and Kahrimanis, and then followed them to the hut. Kira decides to try to talk Jobar into letting the hostages go. Jobar tells Kira that he is going to use Dejana to get his land back. He is very angry with the government for forgetting about the people in the camps. As Jobar moves out of the hut, a phaser beam, from the direction where Kira left Cedra, strikes him. A Bajoran man named Kejan Ulli steps into sight and presents himself as a representative of the Dessin-ka. Cedra then runs into the hut to untie Dejana and Kahrimanis, and emerges with his sister riding on his back. Kahrimanis then attends to the stunned Jobar. Kira does not trust Kejan so she calls Munson and has herself, Cedra, and Dejana beamed aboard the runabout.

Chapter 10
Back aboard DS9, Sisko briefs the senior officers about the situation with the Nekor. Sisko puts Odo in charge of Dejana's safety. Bashir still has not been located so Sisko tells O'Brien to give the station's malfunctioning sensors top priority. Sisko decides to let Cedra stay in his quarters, but for the moment Dejana will stay in the infirmary. Jake and Nog then meet Cedra at the Replimat, where Nog insults Dejana causing Cedra to pin him to the ground. Nog apologizes and Cedra tells him to buy some food for them. Soon, the three are having a (stolen) picnic in a holosuite, where Cedra learns about holotechnology. The three decide to have some fun by reprogramming the holographic systems throughout the station. Shortly after, they are questioned by Odo, but Odo agrees to let them go if Cedra helps O'Brien repair the altered holograms. Later, Jake arrives at his quarters to find Cedra lying in bed. Jake gives Cedra some pajamas and tells him to change, but Cedra decides he is no longer tired and wants to eat.

Main

 * Benjamin Sisko
 * Kira Nerys
 * Jadzia Dax
 * Julian Bashir
 * Miles O'Brien
 * Odo
 * Quark
 * Jake Sisko

Recurring

 * Elim Garak
 * Nog
 * Keiko O'Brien

Other

 * Talis Cedara
 * Torin
 * McCormick
 * Goodman
 * Munson
 * Taren Gis
 * Kahrimanis
 * Trulli
 * Belem
 * Talissin
 * Mor
 * Talis Dejana
 * Mullibok
 * Remis Jobar
 * Kejan Ulli

Referenced
Molly O'Brien | Opaka Sulan | Rom | Selok | Kova Dilvan | Jin | Narel | Calin | Rhakh-tem | Lika | Remis Cathlys

Starships

 * USS Ganges
 * USS Keppler (24th century)
 * USS Keppler (24th century)

Locations
Referenced: Pride of Mintak | Dublin | Earth | Vulcan | Invaria II
 * Bajor
 * Kaladrys Valley
 * Lacroya
 * Bennikar
 * Jabelon
 * Deep Space 9
 * Operations center
 * Promenade
 * Quark's

Species
Referenced Cheshire cat | Klingon | Romulan | Vulcan
 * Bajoran
 * Cardassian
 * Changeling/Founder
 * Ferengi
 * Human
 * Trill

States and Organisations

 * Bajoran Militia
 * Dessin-ka
 * Na-melis Order
 * Starfleet
 * United Federation of Planets

Other

 * Alice in Wonderland
 * Bajoran prophecy
 * Bajoran religion
 * Berajin
 * Casey at the Bat
 * Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
 * gragol
 * Holosuite
 * hyurin
 * Islam
 * jeskla
 * Kai
 * kata-bunny
 * katterpod
 * Kis
 * Klingon Women and Romulan Ale
 * Latinum
 * nanadekh
 * Nekor
 * Occupation of Bajor
 * Romulan ale
 * satai
 * Taxman's Delights
 * The Valiant Little Tailor
 * Tossi
 * verdanis