Field of Fire (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

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Star Trek: DS9 episode
"Field of Fire"
Episode no. 161
Prod. code 563
Airdate February 10, 1999
Writer(s) Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Director Tony Dow
Year 2375
Stardate unknown
Episode chronology
Previous "The Emperor's New Cloak"
Next "Chimera"

"Field of Fire" is an episode from the seventh season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The production code of the episode is 563. First aired February 10, 1999. It was written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe. Directed by Tony Dow.

Contents

[edit] Plot

After a night of heavy drinking, Ezri Dax accompanies Ilario, a fellow DS9 crewmember, back to his quarters. The next morning Ilario is found dead there.

Julian Bashir determines that Ilario was killed by a tritanium bullet fired at close range. The weapon is determined to be a TR-116, a prototype designed by Starfleet for use in environments where a phaser would be ineffective. But Odo is puzzled, because that kind of weapon usually leaves powder marks on the victim when fired at close range.

Joran Dax, the most violent of the former Dax hosts, surfaces from Ezri's subconscious. Joran tells Ezri he can help her find Ilario's killer. Ezri summons him to the foreground of her consciousness with a Trill ritual.

Demonstrating on a melon, Miles O'Brien shows Odo and Dax how the killer gave the bullet a close range trajectory without being in the same room as the victim - a micro-sized transporter had been fitted to the weapon, enabling it to shoot through walls or any other obstacle.

A 37-year-old female human, and later a male Bolian, both turn up dead with tritanium bullet wounds. The only pattern appears to be that the killer is targeting Starfleet officers, until Ezri notices that each of three murder victims had photographs in their quarters that show people laughing.

With Joran's help, Ezri narrows the list of suspects down to 48 Vulcans. Riding in a turbolift with Chu'lak, one of the suspects, Joran becomes convinced Chu'lak is the killer. Ezri uses a TR-116 to shoot Chu'lak at the same time Chu'lak shoots at her. The bullet for Ezri misses by a narrow margin, but the bullet for Chu'lak hits its target.

Chu'lak is revealed to have been a crewmember on the Starfleet vessel USS Grissom, which experienced severe casualties during the Dominion War. Chu'lak was one of the ship's few surviving crewmembers, and the emotional shock of the experience drove him to target any Starfleet officer showing happiness. While being questioned, Chu'lak attempts to justify his actions by saying "Because logic demanded it."

[edit] Notes

This episode shows a different Trill zhian'tara ritual from that shown in the episode "Facets." In that episode, the zhian'tara is used to temporarily transfer former hosts into the bodies of friends of the current host.

The male Bolian is described as being survived by a wife and co-husband. Some fans took this to mean that same-sex marriages were given legal recognition in the future. It could also refer to polyandry (more than one man being married to the same woman).

[edit] Guest stars

  • Art Chudabala as Ilario
  • Leigh McCloskey as Joran Dax
  • Marty Rackham as Chu'lak

[edit] External links


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Star Trek: Balance of Terror | Amok Time | Journey to Babel | The Immunity Syndrome | The Enterprise Incident | Star Trek: The Motion Picture | Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | Star Trek III: The Search for Spock | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Sarek | Data's Day | Unification | Gambit | Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Take Me Out to the Holosuite | Field of Fire
Star Trek: Voyager: Learning Curve | Meld | Innocence | Tuvix | Flashback | Alter Ego | Blood Fever | Random Thoughts | Infinite Regress | Counterpoint | Gravity | Juggernaut | Riddles | Unimatrix Zero | Repression
Star Trek: Enterprise: Broken Bow | The Andorian Incident | Breaking the Ice | Shadows of P'Jem | Fusion | Fallen Hero | Carbon Creek | The Seventh | Stigma | Cease Fire | Bounty | The Expanse | Impulse | Harbinger | Damage | | Home | The Forge | Awakening | Kir'Shara | Babel One | Affliction | Demons | Terra Prime | These Are the Voyages...
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