Disclaimer: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine belongs to Paramount Pictures. Any copyright infringements were not intended. This story was written for entertainment and not for profit.

Spoilers and Timing: Takes place after "The Dogs of War".

Summary: When the Defiant is transported into the future, the crew runs into a stranger who turns out to be a very familiar friend.

*****

The Defiant lurched under Captain Benjamin Sisko's feet. He easily kept his footing after years of practice. "Report!"

We've run into some sort of anomaly, sir," Ensign Nog reported from the helm. "It just appeared out of nowhere!"

"What sort of anomaly?" Sisko questioned.

"Not sure," Chief Miles O'Brien replied. "The sensors can't make heads or tails of it."

The ship lurched again, knocking Sisko back into his chair. "Shields are down to 30% and dropping," O'Brien reported. "It's not going to hold for long."

"Ensign, get us out of here!"

"I'm trying, sir!" Nog assured him. "The anomaly won't let us go."

On the view screen, Sisko could see several bright, violet-colored tendrils of energy criss-crossing inside a grayish mist. The anomaly had appeared out of nowhere - sensors hadn't even detected it until the Defiant was trapped within it, and now it was putting up quite a fight to keep them there. The tendril-like energy ribbons encircled the ship, striking against its shields periodically, damaging the shields more and more with each contact.

The ship bucked again. "Shields down to 15%!" O'Brien called, alarmed.

A huge tendril collided with the starboard side. The entire ship leaned thirty degrees to port, throwing crewmembers on the right flying while sending those seated on the left smashing into their consoles.

Something exploded, sending sparks flying. Captain Sisko heard a scream. He had trouble seeing through the smoke to the source. "Dax!" he called. "Ensign Kolbar!"

Someone grabbed a fire extinguisher and started putting out the flames. The smoke finally cleared as Nog righted the ship. Ensign Koblar and Ezri Dax lay on the ground, unconscious or dead.

Dr. Julian Bashir reached them in an instant. The ship shook again. "Ensign Nog!"

"We're getting clear, sir!" Nog reported. "The anomaly is letting us go!"

Sisko watched as the ferengi maneuvered the ship around the last of the tendrils. Empty space opened up before them, and the next minute, they were flying clear of the anomaly.

"How are they, doctor?" Sisko asked Bashir.

"They're both going to be fine," the doctor answered. He pressed something to Dax's and the Ensign's necks.

Sisko let out a relieved breath. "Is everyone else all right?" There were affirmatives all around. "Chief, how's the Defiant?"

"Shields are still down, sir," O'Brien reported. "Damage was mostly given to the hull and the bridge."

"Captain, there is a ship approaching, unidentified," Worf reported.

"On screen."

The image of a shuttlecraft appeared on the view screen. It appeared to be a Federation ship, although Sisko had never seen its particular design before.

He heard the distinctive hum of a transporter beam behind him and whirled around. Worf already had his phaser ready. Neither of them were quite prepared for who they saw when the transport was complete.

The intruder was male with black hair and ice blue eyes. The dark spots running down either side of his face marked him as a Trill. He wore civilian clothes and had a bag slung over one shoulder.

His eyes met Sisko's. The Trill smiled. "Hello, Benjamin. Long time no see."

*****

The Trill had everyone's attention. "Do I know you?" Sisko asked.

"The name's Rizon," the male Trill replied. "I'm Dax's twelfth host."

"'Twelfth'?" Julian repeated, disbelieving.

Rizon Dax smiled sadly at Julian. "Sorry, Jules, but it's true." Julian started. Only Ezri called him that.

Rizon stepped forward. "Excuse me, Worf. I'd stop and chat, but there isn't much time."

"What do you mean?" Sisko asked, glancing from the unconscious Ezri to Rizon.

Rizon glanced down at Ezri for a moment before stepping carefully over her to sit down in her chair. "You've traveled forward through time. I can get you back, but I have to work fast. In only a few minutes, the anomaly will disappear and you won't be able to get back."

He removed a device from his bag. "What is that?" O'Brien questioned.

"It's a cyberoptic-er, I really shouldn't tell you, Miles. Sorry. I'm going to be in enough trouble with Temporal Investigations as it is."

He ran the device over the damaged console. He placed another device over one of the undamaged parts and pressed a button on its base. The device lit up and began to hum.

Rizon moved across the room to Mile's engineering console. "What are you doing?" Miles demanded as Rizon opened a panel off to the side of the console. The Trill played around with a few of the wires in it with yet another strange device.

"I do hope you know what you're doing, old man," Sisko said.

"Stop worrying, Benjamin." The joined trill replaced the panel. "There, that should do it." He turned around and head over to Nog's console. "'Scuse me, Nog." He pressed several buttons on the console's surface and ran a scanner-like device over it. When he finally stepped back, he removed the device from Ezri's station and put all of his tools back in his bag. "I've reconfigured the ship's shields and sensors enough to get you back through the anomaly safely. I've also programmed it so that any alterations I've made will be wiped from the ship's memory once you're back in your own time. Just go back through the anomaly and you should be back in your present." He glanced down at Ezri. His predecessor was still unconscious. "She's lucky," he said wistfully. "She's got a crew of fine people she can call friends. I haven't had so many loyal friends since." He smiled at all of them. "It was good to see you all again. Make sure Ezri gets the message I left her in her console. I've got to go now. See you when I wake up!"

A pre-programmed transporter beam-out formed around him. Rizon Dax, twelfth host to the Dax symbiont, disappeared.

O'Brien sat down at his console. "Shields are up to 130%," he reported, impressed.

Nog reported, "Captain, he's reprogrammed the sensors to read the anomaly. He's made it possible to move safely back through!"

They heard a groan. Ezri was waking up. She sat up and looked around. Everyone was staring at her. "What?" she asked.

Everyone relaxed. "It's a long story, old man," Sisko told her. "I'll tell it to you when we get back to our own time."

"'Back to our own time'?" Ezri repeated. She stood up. "The anomaly was a temporal one?"

"It would appear so," Worf replied.

"Ensign Nog, take us back through the anomaly," Sisko ordered.

"Aye, sir."