The Banshees had landed their planes at one of the Federation forward supply bases after their successful run against the enemy munitions dumps and were awaiting further orders. Sam, Max and Kimmie were whittling away the time sitting around a small makeshift table playing cards, although no one had been able to beat Max yet. Jo was off puttering around with her fighter, and Carter was inside one of the temporary plastiform shelters getting updates on the war's progress.
The news she'd been hearing was mostly good. It looked like the Mullurans were just about out of time; the next Federation / G'kar offensive should decide the conflict. She stood in the center of the shelter in front of a large wall screen reading the data when one particular bit of intelligence caught her eye. She stuck her head out the door and called Max's name.
Max looked up from her cards, then back at Sam and Kim and smiled. "Duty calls," she said, putting the cards face-down on the tabletop and standing to leave.
"What?" exclaimed Kim. "No fair! I had your hand beat this time!"
"Dream on, kid," said Max smugly, and walked away. Behind her, Sam and Kim looked at each other for a split second, then scrambled for her discarded cards to see what they were. "I knew it!" cried Kim to her retreating back.
"What's up, Commander?" she said on entering the shelter.
Gesturing toward the big screen, Carter said, "Take a look at this."
After a moment of reading, an evil glint entered Max's eye and she said, "Interesting...."
"Yeah. Let's go see, shall we?" Max nodded in agreement. Together, they exited the shelter and headed across the field toward another cluster of shelters. Sam and Kim looked up from their cards -- Kim was trying to teach Sam the rules to fizzbin -- noticed Max's expression, and immediately dropped what they were doing. Quickly falling into step, the four of them continued.
The second cluster of shelters were guarded by half a dozen grim-looking Marines. They held their phaser rifles at the ready as the women approached, but when Commander Carter identified herself, they stepped aside and allowed the women to enter the low door.
Inside it was dark. The room they had entered was lit only by a portable lantern hanging from the ceiling above a small table in the center, around which were huddled a group of Starfleet officers and Marines deep in discussion. Carter recognized Colonel Tarik at the head of the table, and he noticed her in return. Straightening up, he said to her, "Nice work on the munitions dumps, Commander. Is there something I can do you and your team?"
"As a matter of fact Colonel, there is," she replied. "We'd like to see the prisoners. The ones that were just delivered from the third dump site."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Commander. That bunch was the most violent and out-of-control we've captured so far. We had to put them under alpha-wave inducers or they would've hurt themselves or someone else."
"Well, that fits our experience with them. They're the ones that took pot shots at us with primitive projectile weapons."
Tarik walked out from behind the table and motioned for Carter and her team to follow. They went down a short hallway and stopped at the doorway to another room. Inside, Carter could see a row of cots, each bent under the weight of a sleeping enemy soldier. They all had alpha-wave inducers on their foreheads keeping them unconscious; nevertheless, an armed and armored Marine guard stood at each corner of the room.
"I see," said Carter, sounding disappointed. "I'd hoped to be able to talk to them. Maybe find out what possessed them to attack shielded space fighters with six-shooters and bullets."
Tarik shrugged. "Desperation maybe. Once we get them to more secure facilities we'll be able to interrogate them."
"I guess that'll have to do," said Carter. She turned and followed Tarik back down the hallway. Sam and Kim stuck their heads through the vacated doorway to get a peek for themselves, but Sam jumped back almost immediately, a look of alarm on her face. She seemed to be gagging.
"What is it?" said Kim. She grasped Sam's shoulders to help steady her, worry creasing her forehead. "Lee!" she called down the hallway, not knowing what else to do. Sam convulsed violently once, but then the fit seemed to pass as quickly as it came. Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead and she leaned heavily on the wall. Kim kept her hold on her shoulders just in case. Carter and Max skidded to a halt beside them, and Carter demanded, "What's going on?!"
"I don't know," exclaimed Kim. "All of a sudden she turned kinda green and looked like she was gonna hurl or something."
Carter grimaced at Kim's picturesque description, then turned to Sam and said, "Are you all right? What happened?"
"I.... I'm not sure," said Sam, somewhat unsteadily. She shoved off from the wall and stood on her own two feet again. Kim let go of her and stood back, but kept a wary eye on her friend as Sam continued, "My olfactory system was overloaded when I entered the prisoners' room. It was almost too much for me." After a moment during which Carter knew she was running an internal diagnostic, she said, "Everything seems back to normal now."
"I didn't smell anything," said Kim. "And the guards in there seem fine."
Sam favored Kim with a brief explanation: "My olfactory systems are a thousand times more sensitive than your nose, Kimmie," but returned her attention to Carter and said, "What puzzles me though is why my systems reacted the way they did. They should have filtered out anything that would harm me."
Carter came to a quick decision. "You should probably go outside and get some fresh air. Kim, you go with her. Max and I will check it out."
Sam and Kim waited impatiently just outside the shelter as Carter and Max searched for clues inside. It didn't take long. A few short minutes later they emerged from the low doorway. Max was gingerly holding one of the Mulluran's helmets in her hands, as far from herself as she could, a particularly disgusted expression scrunching her face into the very caricature of revulsion.
Sam was careful to stay downwind, but Kim went to see, morbidly curious to find out what could break Max's iron facade. She peered down into the helmet and her heart fell. "Not again...," she sighed.
"Again," said Carter.
Still wrinkling her nose in distaste, Max said darkly, "Smelly Jelly."