After stepping into sickbay to see her away team already looking like fellow Bajorans, Cambil couldn’t help but smirk. Immediately, Cambil went over to her first officer and handed T’Rani the Bajoran earpieces she had replicated only moments ago in her quarters. “The nose wrinkles suit you, commander.”

“Thank you, captain,” T’Rani said with a less pointed set of eyebrows and ears. She took the earpiece and started to attach it to her left ear. 

Forbes approached Cambil. “With your permission, ma’am, I’d like to join the away team.”

“How come?” Cambil questioned as she continued handing out the earpieces. 

Forbes placed his hands behind his back. “In case you find anyone else injured down there.”

“We’ve got field medics from the hazard team,” Cambil stated. 

“Yes, but none of them are knowledgeable about Krenim physiology.” Forbes attempted to justify his presence on the away team.

Cambil wasn’t keen on taking Forbes away from the Themis. She was worried there were still some injured crew. “What about those who are injured here, doctor?”

“Most of them are minor, and Doctor Komara can finish them off,” Forbes answered, mentioning his deputy. “If the Krenim have survived and are injured, well, we need them alive to get us back to our time zone, ma’am.”

“With all due respect, captain, Remi does make a good point,” Lenjir remarked from behind. 

Knowing that Forbes could be insistent, she nodded to his offer. “Be quick, as I want to get down there and track them before they meet any of the locals.”

The intercom whistle went off, followed by the chief engineer’s voice. “Perez to Captain Cambil.”

“Go ahead, Romana,” Cambil answered after tapping her combadge.

“Sorry to give you some bad news, ma’am, but I’ve just had to take the transporter systems offline to avoid further overloads on the power grid,” Perez informed. “In the meantime, I’ve had the Holana prepped and ready to go.” 

Sighing at hearing that news, Cambil knew that Perez couldn’t help the issue with the repairs needed to the ship and that preparing one of their New Atlantic-class runabouts was good of her. “Thank you, commander,” Cambil acknowledged the news and tapped her combadge. 

Runabout Holana, en-route to Bajor

Sitting in the co-pilot’s chair, Cambil was in deep thought as she let T’Rani fly the runabout. Everyone had remained quiet after they had left the Themis only moments ago. All of them were dressed in civilian clothing like her. All of them would easily pass as Bajorans of this period. 

Cambil was wondering just how easy this mission would be. She had considered the possibility that she and the others would be put in harm’s way in preventing the Krenim from changing the timeline. However, what she couldn’t get out of her mind earlier was her reaction to Lenjir on the bridge and then her change of mind when she discussed the same thing with Naprem. Would she really consider stopping the Cardassian invasion? 

“When we approach Bajor, I will place us in a high orbit above the Kendra Province,” T’Rani stated, breaking the quietness.  

“I’ve already modulated our shields to prevent anyone from picking us up,” Lenjir remarked from behind Cambil’s right shoulder.

Thanking them both for their consideration to avoid detection, Cambil snapped herself out of her deep state of reflection.

“Ma’am, is there anything we should be aware of if we encounter any locals?” Samris asked. “My knowledge of Bajoran history before the occupation isn’t great.”

Cambil sat up straighter in her chair and turned it around to look at the Romulan counsellor. Others like Jines and Forbes had all focused on her now as she spoke. “A very different Bajor to what you know from our time,” Cambil answered. “Though others knew of us, Bajor wasn’t involved in local galactic politics. Though the Cardassians had arrived, under the pretence of helping Bajor out ten years ago, the Bajorans of this era kept to themselves.”

“Really? No involvement even with the Federation?” Samris questioned. 

“Bajor’s involvement with the Federation was minimal at best, with some cultural exchanges of our history, arts, and scientific understanding, but nothing more than that,” Cambil stated.

“So how come Bajor didn’t join the Federation before the Cardassians invaded?” Jines probed.

“Bajor wasn’t as united as it was after the occupation,” Cambil explained before she pointed to Jines’ earring. “Our earrings aren’t just a symbol of our faith towards the Prophets, but also represent our D’jarras.”

“D’jarras?” Samris wasn’t aware of that word. 

“It was a caste system that Bajoran society followed, and it depended on what family you were born into, which led to the determination of what type of job you would have,” Cambil clarified. “Caste-based discrimination prevented Bajor from ever being a viable candidate for membership. That said, I’ve read many articles from historians and cultural anthropologists that also state there’s good evidence to prove that many Bajoran leaders of the time had grave concerns over the Federation’s secular culture.”

“No offence to your world, captain, but that hasn’t changed for the Federation since its founding days, and it’s never imposed one particular religion on its citizens or forced any civilisation to give their views up. Why would they have concerns about the Federation’s culture?” Forbes asked.

Cambil gave out a slight chuckle. She could see where Forbes was coming from and appreciated his attempt to be respectful. “It was a different time, and I suppose you could describe the Bajoran leadership was quite traditional when it came to such things. Our faith in the Prophets has always been strong, and there are records from the Vedek Assembly that some of the more traditional and vocal clerics of the time saw the Federation’s lack of religion as a warning that if Bajor joined it, then Bajor would lose its identity,” she paused. “In fact, in the early years of the occupation, the Cardassians were known to use the D’jarras to pit one Bajoran against another. It took a lot of suffering and stronger voices among the Bajorans who were left to fight to realise that the D’jarras had to go so that every Bajoran could become a soldier. After the occupation ended, we did not need it as it was down to everyone to help rebuild Bajor.”

“We are approaching Bajor,” T’Rani announced.

Turning her seat back around, Cambil took a glance at her homeworld. It certainly looked different from what she was more aware of. It looked more green and had more clouds. “Scan for the Krenim, their ship and the escape pod.” 

“I’ve got them,” Lenjir reported after a moment. “They’re in some woodlands in the Kendra Province. Far from any nearby settlements.”

“Excellent,” Cambil said as she got out of her chair. “Let’s get down there and find out what the situation is like.”

Kendra Province, Bajor

After completing their beam down, the away team only had to move a few meters before encountering the Krenim ship’s crashed remains. It was broken apart into many pieces. There was no way it would fly again. 

“Decter, you and Cline start surveying the remains. See what technology is recoverable and see if we can use it to return to our timeline,” Cambil ordered as she looked at T’Rani, Samris and Forbes, trying to track the Krenim themselves. “Any luck?”

Forbes nodded as he kept looking at his tricorder. “The escape pod is located at least one kilometre north of our current position. I’m detecting three Krenim life signs.”

“It appears they’ve made a clearing with their crash landing,” Samris added.

Clearing her throat, T’Rani took her attention away from her tricorder and placed it on Cambil. “I suggest the Hazard Team is split into half. One half remains here to assist with securing the salvage site, while the others join us in locating the Krenim.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Cambil agreed before moving through the woodlands. 

 Several hundred meters into their walk, Forbes spoke up. “You appear to know where you’re going, captain.”

Cambil smirked. “I played in these woodlands as a child before my parents could get us off from Bajor. However, they weren’t as thick and dense as it is now. My mother told me that in the early days of the occupation, the Cardssians burnt most of these woods to stop resistance fighters from hiding in here.”

T’Rani’s tricorder beeped. “The escape pod is ahead of us,” She motioned in the direction ahead of them.

In a clearing several more meters from them, the Krenim escape vehicle was sat in the middle. It had smashed into the woodland area on its side. Some smoke was pouring from it. The three lifeforms that Forbes had detected earlier were startled at the sudden arrival of the away team. All of the Krenim raised their weapons but weren’t quick enough for the Starfleet officers. 

Cambil fired her phaser on its lowest setting at the nearest Krenim, forcing them to drop their weapon. The others just surrounded the other two with their weapons aimed closely at them.

“Welcome to Bajor,” Cambil said sarcastically. “I would recommend a tour of the Kenda Shrine, a climb to the Fire Caves or even an evening of musical performances at the Jalanda Forum.”

None of the Krenim spoke back. 

“Where’s Doctor Irlina?” Cambil asked, after realising they had not seen the Krenim leader.

Again, none of them answered.

“Captain, look at this,” Forbes said, pointing down at the ground. He had knelt to what appeared to be a lot of mud on the floor. At closer inspection, there were footprints headed back into the thick woods. After looking at them for a second, Cambil realised what could be happening. Again, she turned back to the other Krenim. “Who do these belong to?”

“We won’t tell you. We have a mission to accomplish.” One of the Krenim replied.

“Fine, we have ways of you telling us,” Cambil said as she turned to T’Rani. “Commander, would you mind performing a mind-meld?”

“A mind-what?” The Krenim said, his voice etched with concern.

“A Vulcan mind-meld is a telepathic bond I can create to retrieve information from you,” T’Rani replied.

“It’s extremely invasive,” Cambil lied. “T’Rani’s people have a way of yanking the truth from any mind. For some who undergo it, they rarely recover. Isn’t that right, Doctor Forbes?”

“Oh yes,” Forbes nodded voraciously. “Mental instability can set in, paralysis, you name it; the Vulcans are good at getting what they want from those they meld with, but the consequences are almost life-threatening.”

“They belong to Irlina,” The Krenim admitted. “She decided to go to the nearby settlement to complete half our mission.”

“To complete half your mission?” Samris echoed. His confusion at their use of words stretched to the others on the away team. 

“What does that mean?” Cambil probed. She was now getting desperate to get answers and no more riddles. 

“We came back in time to find your family and stop you from ever existing, Captain Cambil,” The Krenim declared.

“And the other half?” T’Rani asked.

“We were going to stop the Cardassians from invading Bajor.”

Hearing that made Cambil almost want to be sick. Why would they be doing this to her and Bajor? What were their long-term goals here? None of it made sense to her. Whatever they were going to do, she knew she had to stop Irlina.