The Pied Piper (Juneau)

Teaser

After successfully concluding the peace process between the Caglan and the Zik, the Juneau sets course for nebula DE-678912 - dubbed the Dirty Elbow Nebulae by the locals - after receiving a distress call from an old Cardassian listening post, claiming Nauscican pirates are targeting transport vessels in one of the most prominent trading routes in the Aavaro Wilds.

Plot Summary

Part 1

En route to the Dirty Elbow Nebulae, Captain Oddas calls Intelligence Officer Williams, Tactical Officer Tito and Science Officer Falt to the Observation Lounge to discuss their tactics once they arrive at their destination.

Meanwhile in Sickbay, doctor Indobri starts the important task of upgrading the ship’s biobeds. She’s helped by Operations Officer Qinn and Ensign R’Kala.

Back on the Bridge, First Officer T’Lea is suffering from a headache and orders doctor Sival to the Bridge to perform a medical check-up. Realizing she needs some well-deserved downtime, she invites the doctor, Counselor Trovek and Lieutenant Kendrick to join her in a holodeck adventure.

In the JAC Labs on Deck 8, the Kelpien Science officer Essa starts cataloging the various gifts the ship received from the Caglan delegation after the peace talks. One of the artifacts is some sort of pan flute. Intrigued by the strange musical instrument, Essa picks it up and to his own surprise is able to play it.

Part 2

As the crew go about their daily routines, they suddenly find themselves confronted with ghosts from their past.

Down at the Clanhouse the Captain has an encounter with her dead Fiancé, Ijo Alea, while Lieutenant JG Tito has to deal with his dead family. Ensign Falt has a vision of a childhood friend named Enni, a girl who died years ago. Commander Williams is fortunate enough to see a manifestation of his spouse, Femi Cattan.

Meanwhile down at the Holodeck, Commander T’Lea, doctor Sival, Counsellor Trovek and Lieutenant Kendrick are engaged in a holonovel, playing the four musketeers in 17th century France, when suddenly they too see strange visions. Doctor Sival has to deal with his dead wife Emily while Trovek is confronted with one of her former patients, an angry soon-to-be Klingon mother named Kaala. T’Lea on the other hand hallucinates about a Vole, taunting her, trying to expose her worst fears. Still traumatized by the death of Martuf, John manages to control his hallucinations.

In Sickbay doctor Indobri suddenly finds herself standing face to face with a Cardassian Gul named Varlek, the man responsible for the death of her father. Commander Qinn reconnects with her dead sister, named Kalia.

Part 3

As they try to leave the Clanhouse, the crew has to focus on what is real and what is not as their own minds are setting up obstacles - like environmental failures - to keep them inside the Clanhouse.

Down on the Holodeck, commander T’Lea shuts down the program, hoping that what they saw was nothing more but a glitch, a malfunction. Unfortunately when the little Vole reappears again, they realize that something else is terribly wrong. Just then an Ensign storms onto the Holodeck, panicking and screaming they are under attack by the Borg.

Meanwhile the Captain and her team are able to get back to the Bridge.

Realizing how important it is to get the ship back under control, T’Lea and her team head down to Engineering, only to find that it’s empty. At least that’s what they think. Suddenly Lieutenant Deveaux runs up to them, still suffering from a hallucination. As they manage to calm her down, the Lieutenant and T’Lea start working on restoring the ship’s systems to normal parameters. Counsellor Trovek has an encounter with an Ensign named Riekel who is also hallucinating and throws himself into the ship’s warp core.