Shadow Stories

Everyone was wondering just why the Commander had requested the Jem'Hadar's presence in the briefing. They didn't have too long to wait. It took about five minutes for Goran'Agar, the leader of the Jem'Hadar onboard the Leviathan to arrive in the briefing room.

"Goran, we've arrived at Bopak III as instructed by Captain Taybar and we've found something unusual." J'ross announced. "There's a group of Jem'Hadar on the ground and they appear to have revived an old Dominion base on the planet. As far as we were aware, Bopak was never a Dominion system. The Jem'Hadar also appear to be scanning the planet's sub-surface looking for something. We were wondering whether you could shed any light on these actions."

"I think I can Commander." The tall Jem'Hadar announced. "If I may have access to your systems."

"By all means." J'ross replied.

Goran stepped over to where Lieutenant Kahfre was standing and accessed the ships database.

"This is as I am all sure you are aware Bopak III." He began. The image of the planet from orbit appeared on the viewscreen, slowly turning along it's axis.

Most of the crew from the Taurus knew the planet all too well. It was where the Taurus had been attacked and almost destroyed by the rogue Jem'Hadar vessel. The vessel had managed to destroy one Jem'Hadar battleship and cause heavy damage to a second, all with little effort. It had been the Taurus's first direct encounter with the rogue Jem'Hadar and no-one was in a hurry to repeat the experience.

Even so, the Leviathan was a very different vessel to the Taurus. Whilst the Taurus was designed to be a fast escort, the Leviathan was a full-blown vessel of war. But lessons had been learnt by the crew of the Taurus, lessons that had now been addressed by the Leviathan. However, for the moment the Leviathan was not one ship and an attack now would not be good for those on the Saucer section.

"What most of you will not know however is that Bopak III was where I was 're-born'." Goran announced.

Everyone looked puzzled, except the Commander and Lieutenant Rahel Kahfre, they already knew the truth about Goran'Agar's past.

"Nearly twenty years ago, the vessel I was serving on crash-landed on Bopak III." Goran continued. "Half the Jem'Hadar were killed in the crash and those that survived, were forced to kill each other when the limited supply of 'Ketracel white' started to run out. The Vorta had been killed in the crash which meant someone had to be strong enough to defend the supply of 'white' whilst remaining objective about surviving. As Second, I was that someone and I was forced to kill all of my 'brothers'. Somehow for reasons that I could not understand at the time I survived and was eventually rescued nine months after the crash."

"I returned to my duties, but the events on Bopak III worried me." Goran said. "Within the Dominion, individual thoughts especially within the Jem'Hadar is not permitted. But I was convinced that something on Bopak III was the reason for my survival, something in the atmosphere or in the ground. So I researched the planet's history, looking for a clue as to what might have happened. Eventually I decided that I needed to return, but it took me four years before I got another chance to return to Bopak III."

"We were on a routine patrol of the sector when we were attacked by an unknown vessel. During the attack our Vorta was severely injured and as First I assumed command of the vessel." Goran continued. "When the Vorta eventually died, I managed to convince my Second and Third that we should go to Bopak III and investigate it further. Both were initially against it, but I saw the opportunity to free us from the 'slavery' we had been 'born' into. So we landed on Bopak III and waited. But soon my men started to suffer from withdrawal and I was forced to 'take-down' a Federation vessel, where I met Doctor Bashir and Chief O'Brien of DS9."

"I've got Doctor Bashir's report in file." Rahel announced. "He also confirmed that the Jem'Hadar soldier Ger'Tax we 'captured' was genetically identical to the DNA sample he took from Goran'Agar during his time on Bopak III. All the Jem'Hadar onboard, including those on the two transports and the one's we rescued from the rogue Jem'Hadar base are the same."

"They are my batch brothers." Goran'Agar said. "We were all created from the same DNA. Jem'Hadar clones are initially created in batches of a thousand, but these clones are usually gestated in much smaller batches of around a hundred. When I was born, the Dominion was in a crisis, fighting a deadly enemy who came from out of nowhere and disappeared just as fast. We were losing Jem'Hadar by the hundreds each day and so more Jem'Hadar were created and the batch sizes increased. Each batch of Jem'Hadar are created from the combination of various previous batches, the Dominion keep a very close record of all Jem'Hadar, alive and dead. DNA from batches of Jem'Hadar who proved to be stronger where added and DNA from those Jem'Hadar who had proved to be weaker were removed."

"A selection process, a forced evolution." Rahel said in amazement. "I'd often wondered why the Jem'Hadar had so many different characteristics for a cloned race."

"Somehow the DNA that was used to create my batch became altered during the initial development and we somehow had the gene that creates Ketracel White naturally in our bodies introduced." Goran continued. "No-one would have known about the 'error' because the usual screening programme had been suspended in favour of creating more Jem'Hadar. About one in ten Jem'Hadar normally never reach full maturity because a problem in their DNA is picked up. We were given the 'White' just like all the others, but our bodies also began to produce their own. This gave us an advantage, because we didn't suffer the withdrawal symptoms other soldiers did, so could go on fighting longer without the need for more White, as well as becoming stronger both physically and mentally."

"Goran does indeed have the missing gene that the Dominion removed from their DNA, which I have managed to verify against the Jerro samples we have in the Starfleet medical database." Rahel added. "It's not the exact same gene, but it does the same job. The gene that Goran has is similar to the Jerro gene, but it has been modified to increase the amount of 'White' produced. The modified gene and therefore any Jem'Hadar possessing it is capable of producing vast amounts of Ketracel White, more than enough to create a thousand doses of White a day. Having reviewed the history of the Jem'Hadar I think that at some point in the past, the Dominion were using Jem'Hadar with this gene fully activated to produce 'White' which they could then use to control other Jem'Hadar. From what I've been able to find our, the process for creating artificial 'White' initially only produced small amounts, to control all the Jem'Hadar, they would have required another source."

"Cows…?" Lieutenant Rhee suddenly announced. "You're talking about the Dominion creating 'Ketracel White' cows."
"Exactly." Rahel replied. "The amount of White the gene could create when fully active would have killed the 'host' within hours if it was not removed artificially. That's more or less what happened to Ger'Tax on the Taurus. When Lieutenant McQueen gave him the 'White', it was of such a pure grade that he effectively died of an overdose. The gene in his systems would have started to react to the withdrawal symptoms he was suffering and started to produce more of the natural 'White'. Once the Dominion could manufacture enough 'White' artificially, their need for the 'cows' diminished. But the gene must have remained in the DNA samples used to create future Jem'Hadar."

"I have heard stories of the farms the Dominion once used and how they 'grew' the producers for 'White'. At the time I regarded them as just ancient myths, stories told to the Jem'Hadar, but now I believe that long ago my people were used in such a manner. That was nearly fifteen hundred years ago, so long in the past…."

"So how did you get mixed up with the rogue Jem'Hadar ?" Lieutenant Rhee asked.

"After I was forced to kill my men, I began to explore the surface of Bopak III. About a thousand years ago, there used to be a Dominion base on the planet and I wanted to find it." Goran continued. "The stories go that the base had been there for over four hundred years and then almost overnight it was wiped off the surface, all the Dominion forces gone leaving just the buildings."

"This base the Jem'Hadar on the surface are using could be this 'lost;' base." J'ross suggested. "Our scans show that the entire area was bombarded with Gamma and Theta radiation about six hundred years ago."

"There are records in the Dominion archives of an expedition that found a strange device hidden deep within the ground of Bopak III. That was about six months before the base was wiped out." Goran stated.

"That could be what these Jem'Hadar are looking for." Ash Kahfre suggested. "What else do you know about this device ?"

"The records speak of a 'gateway' that leads to another world and aliens who can hide in the walls and the floors and emerge from behind." Goran continued. "We began to fight this new enemy, but their superior abilities meant we were forced to use the Dominion's most feared weapon."

"What kind of weapon ?" Lieutenant Commander J'ross asked.

"We call it the annihilator." Goran said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "It is a weapon not of destruction, but of slow death. It is similar to the device that was used on the Teplan system in 2175, but of much greater force. It has only been used three time in the Dominion's history, the first time to eradicate the homeworld of it's creators who we stole the technology from, the second time it was used to destroy our greatest enemy over a millennia ago and the last time on Bopak III."

"What does this weapon do ?" Rhee enquired.

"The device uses nanotechnology enhanced with a retro-virus. Once the virus is introduced into the atmosphere of a planet, it infects everything there and slowly attempts to seek out a weakness, mutating until it has 'evolved' into the ultimate death. Within five years, anything that has been infected by the virus will die. Anyone that comes into contact with the nano-virus will also become infected, effectively isolating the source planet. Within ten years the nanotechnology and the device itself become dormant and can be retrieved safely until next time. The device was sent through the 'gateway' and the tunnels to the surface sealed. We then bombarded the planet's surface with Gamma bombs from space and left Bopak III for ever, there are no records of any Dominion forces returning to retrieve the device."

"Do you have any ideas where these tunnels might be ?" J'ross asked.

"Indeed I do." Goran replied. "During my exploration of the planet after Doctor Bashir had left, I found the start of the tunnels and managed to almost reach the chamber where the 'gateway' was situated. Finally I managed to blast my way into the chamber and found all the equipment intact, including the 'gateway'. That's when I knew that I had to free my people and that's how I came to side with the rogue Jem'Hadar. They provided me with resources and equipment, although they have no idea what it was being used for and I had a chance to contact many of my batch brothers. I thought the Vorta believed in the same thing and we were working towards a common goal. But when I discovered his true aims, to replace the Founders with the Vorta I decided that I had no choice but to plot against him and free as many of my people as I could."

"Commander, we need to get to that 'gateway' before the Jem'Hadar." Rhee suggested. "If what I've just heard is correct, it sounds like there's an Iconian gateway, a fully functioning gateway down there. If the Dominion get their hands on it, who knows what damage they could do."

"I agree." J'ross stated. "Lieutenant Rhee, research all the data we have on the Iconian's and their gateway technology. Colonel Phanan, I think it's time we took this fight to the Jem'Hadar."