The Evil That Men Do (episode)

USS Pegasus is enroute to border conflicts with the Romulans, when she picks up a signal of exactly that origin - but aging hundreds of years. Arriving at the source of this signal, the crew finds a ship wreck, which holds many mysteries...

Prologue
Angst, sicherlich ein urmenschliche Regung, die einem das Leben retten kann. Aber sie ist ein heimtückischer Verbündeter, der sich als Freund ausgibt, aber in Wirklichkeit ein falsches Spiel spielt. Sie lässt die Welt finsterer erscheinen, als sie es tatsächlich ist, sät Misstrauen und kommt nicht selten mit ihrer Bande von Freunden einher: Hass, Wut, Rachlust. Und das hinterhältigste ist, dass sie durch die Hintertür einfallen und jedem vorgaukeln gute Absichten zu haben.

Act One
The episode begins with Lt. Aziz struggling to write a message to Petty Officer Zhukov's parents addressing her death. He rethinks his own role in her demise, but is unable to finish the letter. At the same time, is reviewing a news report about new sanctions regarding ship traffic with Cardassian territory. This traffic is to be restricted to official authorization by Starfleet and the Foreign Ministry to ensure no goods that might violate Federation interests are transported to Cardassia. After finishing the news report, speaks with the Captain of Pegasus, trying to convince her that  - after saving his away team on  - deserves to be sent home. McNemerra disagrees and therefore sents him along with the remaining survivors not part of the Pegasus crew to Starbase 512.

The crew goes about its business, Subaltern Sovek, is analyzing data - as a V'shar exchange officer, onboard Pegasus to help handle any possible Romulan threat. Lt. Aziz is engaged in scientific duties. To the crew's disapointment, Starfleet reroutes Pegasus to ensure the safety of the Federation border due to a territorial conflict with. Three colonies inhabited by Andorians and Humans outside of Federation territory had been invaded by Cardassians during the Dominion War, but freed by the Romulans. However even after the war the Romulans decided not to leave these planets, Henrak VI, Jaris Major and Alpha Caltoris, presumably for their protection. En route to the Federation territory, however, Pegasus detects a faint and unstable system of possibly Vulcan origin. Fearing it might be connected to the present crisis, Cpt. McNemerra has a course set for the origin of this signal, the Gamma Oreonis system.

Once there the crew finds the source of the signal to be on the southern hemisphere of the second planet, a Class M world. Sensor scans reveal the source to be an old ship wreck of Vulcan origin, partly sticking in the sea bed of a coastline. Under the leadership of Lt. Aziz an away team consisting of Lt. Rell, Sovek and two Vulcan crewmembers is sent down to investigate. Initial tricorder scans reveal the ship to be approximately 2000 years old and largely decayed. But apparently the bridge is still somewhat stable - likely due to the fact that for safety it is constructed more heavily than other parts of the ship. Once there the crew finds further evidence about the ship's history, including its name: Jel'raka. Also on the bridge the crew finds somekind of map, engraved in a plastic plaque, showing the coastline of the red sea the ship is submerged in and further areas, yet unknown to the team. One spot in particular is marked by ancient Vulcan words for "secret" or "hiding place" and one further phrase: Mevan The'Har, which the Vulcan crewmembers assume to be a name and not a word per se.

As no more findings can be made, the away team returns to the ship for briefing the Captain and remaining senior staff about their discoveries. Due to the urgent matter of Pegasus' relief mission at the Federation border and the fact that this is an interesting find but not an urgent one, McNemerra orders the ship to resume its previous course, leaving the system. Moments before entering warp, however Lt. Aziz detects Romulan transporter signals sent to the planet's surface.

The crew investigates further about the meaning of Mevan The'Har. They uncover that Jel'raka was once a major Vulcan city, namesake for a ship full of fanatics that fled Vulcan during the Romulan exodus and that Mevan The'Har is a weapon of unidentified function, which likely uses psionic powers for killing on a large scale. Alarmed by the Romulan presence, Cpt. McNemerra orders returning to the planet and capture of the possible weapon.

Once in the Gamma Oreonis system, the crew hails the Romulan ship, which is revealed to be a light starbird of the T'rasus-class, named Kilraan and under the command of Commander Ilvaz Veraka. Without revealing each other's goal, the contact is ended and McNemerra decides to send to teams to the planet's surface. One away team, led by Cmdr. Illathir, will patrol the Romulan positions and recon their activities while the second away team's mission is to reach the area marked on the map and possibly find the Mevan The'Har. Lt. Cmdr. Vren is selected to lead the away team and he takes Lt. Rell, Aziz and Subaltern Sovek along.

Act Two
Reaching the planet about 5 km from the final target - to throw off any Romulan surveillance - the team heads to the coordinates that have been revealed by on orbit scans to hold some kind of rectangular structure. With little time for scientific exploration, the crew is eventually ambushed by a Romulan away team, which demands to know what happened to their comrades.

Ignorant of the meaning of that demand, Cmdr. Vren explains their recent arrival and can prove that with the help of Tricorder data. Satisfied the Romulans realize that the away team is not responsible for the vanishing of their comrades and leave.

Finally the away team reaches the pyramid structure, which they observed from orbit. Its walls are covered by plants, many have crumbled. Apparently some kind of forcefield protects the entrance, which prevents them from entering. Above the entrance an ancient writing, with old Vulcan letters, states: "Strength of the mind: The more of it around you, the less you see". Lt. Aziz correctly suggests that the answer is to think "darkness" - this opens the forcefield and the away team enters the temple. Tricorder scans reveal that the majority of the structure is under ground. Entering the temple-like building with mixed but negative feelings, the away team encounters dark corridors, mostly devastated. Only small channels direct light into the structure, letters are hardly visible, mostly decayed. In a spiral the hallway leads the officers down, deeper into the structure.

Soon it becomes clear that they are not alone and while Lt. Rell covers the small team, mostly Lt. Aziz repeatedly sees a silhouette of a figure in front of the team, shrouded in darkness. Eventually a Romulan officer attacks him in a surprise moment, yelling about being followed by Jem'Hadar, before disappearing in darkness again. Even further scans reveal no presence of other life signs, but there is a lingering feeling of threat for all team members, except Subaltern Sovek.

Apparent presences are visible more and more and eventually Lt. Aziz is attacked by a creature resembling Petty Officer Zhukov, who died during the first mission of the Pegasus. Shortly afterwards a Cardassian 'Zombie' attacks Cmdr. Vren only to disappear moments later.

Eventually the away team meets two more Romulan soldiers and Cmdr. Vren is able to calm down the situation and agrees to escort the Romulans out of the structure, persuading them that they were not responsible for what happened.

Far away from the Gamma Oreonis System, the shuttle transporting the survivors from Redfield is still within deep space, when Petty Officer Sterres succumbs to apparently the same illness as the rest of the outpost's crew and in a violent rage attacks the shuttle pilot.

Act Three
The away team enters finally a large hall, with depictions of the planet's history, revealing that the Romulans have subjugated the natives, which after some time have rebelled. Using the Mevan The'Har the Romulans broke the rebellion.

Following the hallway further the away team finds another hall, sphere shaped with pillars at the walls. Two statues dominate the room, which scans reveal to be armed robots. Each guards a container, protected by a force field. While investigating the hall, Sovek activates a primitive, two-dimensional hologram, which explains that the two guards protect the Mevan The'Har and the knowing are allowed to take it away. It further explains that they are allowed to ask one question to both guards and that one of them always speaks the truth, the other lies.

The away team uses logic to overcome this obstacle, asking one of the robots what the other one would choose as the right container - and then select the opposite one. With the Mevan The'Har in their possession, the security systems of the temple power down and the crew can return to Pegasus, not without revealing the position of the Romulan missing crew to the Kilraan.

Back onboard, Sovek is charged with stowing the psionic weapon, until it can be transferred to a safer location and Cpt. McNemerra informs her officers that the border situation has relaxed. Also USS Endurance will take over exploring the system so that Pegasus can resume her investigation of the Labyrinth. Surprisingly, the shuttle which was supposed to transport the survivors from Redfield to Starbase 512, did not arrive and vanished. Among themselves, Illathir and McNemerra wonder, how the Romulans found the Gamma Oreonis system in the first place and question whether or not this was mere accident. Also the Captain regrets her hatred towards Erek Varr and for having imprisoned him, even though he had helped her crew on Redfield. Eventually Lt. Aziz finishes his letter to Zhukov's parents, thanking her for giving him the opportunity to continue to do what he loves: Explore.

Epilogue
Mut bedeutet nicht, keine Angst zu haben. Mut bedeutet etwas zu tun, obwohl man Angst hat. Furcht sollte nicht der Berater für unsere Taten sein, sondern nur als Warnung dienen. Aber sie sollte uns nicht davon abhalten das Richtige zu tun, für die Dinge und Menschen einzutreten, die uns wichtig sind. Dann kann Angst beflügeln und sich in Tatkraft wandeln.

Open Questions

 * Was the Romulan presence in the Gamma Oreonis System a mere accident?
 * What will happen with the Mevan The'Har, given that it is so dangerous?

Narrator Section
How did the Romulans learn from the planet?...