Field of Fire (episode)

After several crew members are murdered, Ezri summons the memories and personality of Joran Dax to help her find the murderer.

Teaser
Several of the senior staff are gathered in Quark's, toasting one young Lieutenant Hector Ilario for his excellent performance at the USS Defiant (2370)'s helm in a recent battle. They laugh and drink, toasting to Ilario's accomplishments until the wee hours. At around 0300 hours, the party winds down and only Kira Nerys and Ezri Dax are left, having one last drink with the lieutenant. Ilario can barely get up and tumbles from being drunk, so Ezri offers to escort him back, as his quarters are close to hers. When they get back to Ilario's quarters, he shows Ezri a picture of him and his two Starfleet companions, saying he wished they could have been there when he maneuvered the Defiant into battle. After looking at the picture and helping Ilario settle, Ezri wishes him a good night and leaves.

At 0600 hours she receives her usual wake up call. As she gets ready and prepares her routine, she hears voices in the corridor. Everyone is running around nervously, talking about initiating a security alert. Ezri soon discovers what the commotion is all about: Ilario has been found dead in his quarters, having been shot right through the heart.

Act One
Perplexedly, there is no evidence of a forced entry, nor of any entry at all. Even more mysterious is the fact that he was killed, at close range, with a projectile weapon rather than a directed energy weapon such as a phaser or disruptor. The tritanium bullet is matched to a Federation prototype TR-116 rifle, which was never mass-produced, having been abandoned in favor of regenerative phasers. However, this does not mean that the killer did not have access to the weapon's replication pattern. Chief O'Brien points out that only Starfleet officers have access to those files; a thought Sisko finds very disturbing. Drawing on his knowledge of 20th century crime novels, Odo notes that there are no gun-powder burns on the body, suggesting that the shot was fired from a longer range, even though it appears as if Ilario was shot point blank at close range.

All the while the officers are discussing the murder weapon, Ezri is standing in the corner, still in disbelief over what happened. She is disturbed to find out that Ilario was shot only ten minutes after she left his quarters. Sisko wants everyone to find out everything they can about Ilario. The officers mention that there was not much, as he has only been on the station for ten days and in that time was known to be intelligent, dedicated and eager to please. Sisko wants answers, however, and whoever is responsible for this caught as soon as possible.

At Quark's, Doctor Bashir, the Chief and Ezri remember Ilario. The men feel bad about not having taken him to the holosuite with them as he had wanted, while Ezri wishes she had stayed around a bit longer, so that maybe he would be alive now. She feels pretty disheveled about the whole situation and just cannot believe that Ilario has been murdered like this.

The same night, she has a conversation with Dr. Bashir who tells her that the whole concept of someone killing another person in cold blood seems incomprehensible. Ezri replies that to her, it is not a very foreign concept, as she knows exactly what it feels like to have the urge to take a life. She points to the sixth host of the Dax symbiont, Joran, who killed three people. She says she tries not to think about Joran and suppress the memories of him, just like Jadzia before her. However, the thought of someone like Joran even being on Deep Space 9 really irks her. She decides to get some rest.

Later that night, Ezri has a nightmare about the murdered lieutenant and Joran. In her dream, Joran tells her to stop being afraid of him as if he was a stranger. He points out that after all, the "worm" in her belly used to be in him, which means he is a part of her just as she is a part of him. He tells her to perform the Rite of Emergence already and simply ask him to help her if she wants to find the killer. She is resistant and says that she wants nothing to do with him after what he did, but Joran is smug, saying that there is nowhere else for him to go as he is within her all the time. He beckons her to let him out, saying that he can help because he knows how a murderer thinks. Upon awakening, she is summoned to the site of another murder...

Act Two
This time the victim is Greta Vanderweg, a science officer. Similarly to Ilario, she was killed by a tritanium bullet, apparently fired at close range but without leaving any gun-powder burns. Sisko is still puzzled at the motive. He wonders if there is a pattern to this madness or if someone is just killing these officers at random. Odo points out that there are over 900 Starfleet officers on the Station and that they need to narrow the field of suspects. Sisko assigns Ezri to assist Odo with her forensic psychology training.

At the Replimat, Bashir and O'Brien discuss the issue further. They wonder why use a rifle at all if you are going to shoot somebody at close range. Davy Crockett's attachment to a particular weapon comes up, and as Bashir tells an old story about Davy Crockett using frying pans to perform a trick shot, the Chief has an epiphany about how the killer has fired from close range without leaving powder burns: displaced targeting. He believes the killer set up an alternate bullet trajectory which did not require a direct line of sight between him and the victim.

Quickly arranging a demonstration, O'Brien shows how a micro-transporter could be attached to the muzzle of a TR-116 rifle to beam the bullet close to the target, where it continues its trajectory. With an exographic targeting sensor, the murderer could have scanned through bulkheads, meaning he or she could be firing from anywhere on the station, at anyone. Unfortunately, the micro-transporter does not leave enough of a transporter signature to track back.

Ezri redoubles her efforts to find a connection between the two murder victims, but gets nowhere. Alone on the Promenade she runs into Worf who appears to have followed her out of concern, even though he does not admit it. He asks her about the investigation and if he can be of assistance. She says that there is actually someone who could help, but that she does not want to ask him. Worf insists that if that person can help, she should consider it, no matter how unpleasant. He knows that accomplishing a task until it is finished is "Dax's way" after all.

Hoping to draw on the memories of Joran, Ezri performs the Trill Rite of Emergence to extract and personify Joran; to interact with him so she can trace the killer's thoughts, actions, motives and drive. At first she has a bit of a hard time getting through to him, but he finally emerges, telling her that she won't regret having summoned him - the forgotten host, the outcast, the murderer. It seems strange for her to see him separated from all the others, standing in front of her but Joran says he has a lot to offer and that Jadzia and Curzon were wrong to deny him all this time.

Ezri is eager to get to work to expose the murderer, so Joran suggests starting with the killer's choice of weapons. Even though Ezri knows what the killer used, Joran says that it means nothing until she herself holds the weapon, looks through its tracking display, picks a target, feels the power when she locks its sensors to the unexpecting prey. Joran encourages her to think like a killer so she can catch him. This thought deeply disturbs Ezri but she is determined.

Act Three
Ezri takes the TR-116 rifle out of its casing while Joran admires its aesthetic qualities, design and the power as well as sense of danger it conveys. He asks her to hold it in her hands so she feels what the killer felt. She puts on the targeting display and holds the weapon as if she was going to use it. He tells her to move to the Habitat Ring with her display so she can put herself in the killer's mind. Then, layer by layer, they intrude into peoples' lives.

When she finds and targets a young Starfleet officer in his quarters, Joran wants to know how she feels. Ezri replies that she feels powerful and in control, like the killer would. The killing is done from a distance, remarks Joran; it is cold and methodical, implying that either a doctor or a scientist are behind it. Ezri wants to know why choose a victim like this instead of just going to the Promenade or to Quark's. Joran suggests that she find out by pulling the trigger. Ezri is close and tempted, but at the last moment, pulls herself back together and puts down the rifle. After she puts the weapon down, Joran remarks that the gun wasn't loaded and that he asked her to pull the trigger so she can learn something about the killer. Ezri is irritated.

In Quark's, Ezri is still shaken from her experience. Joran apologizes for having pushed her but insists that it was necessary. When Quark approaches Ezri, offering her something to drink, Joran remarks how he would love to slip a knife between Quark's ribs. Ezri pretends she didn't hear that and upon the suggestion of Joran, she decides to go check out the victims' quarters to see if she can find any clues there. She looks around, but she simply cannot get anywhere. In Vanderweg's quarters she notices an animated picture of Vanderweg with her husband, laughing. She compares the two victims and realizes that besides the uniform, they both have absolutely nothing in common. She is frustrated.

Later at Quark's, Ezri is deep in thought and Joran knows that she is thinking about giving up. Joran tells her that she is the problem because she refuses to see with the killer's eyes, feel with his hands and think with his mind. She thinks that Joran wants to turn her to a killer, to himself, when he again reminds her that she is him. Suddenly, they find themselves in the middle of a chase: a young Starfleet officer is being chased by the security team. Believing him to be the killer, Ezri jumps on him and, encouraged by Joran, nearly stabs the man in a violent rage.

Act Four
It turns out the man, (Ensign Bertram), was being pursued by security for accessing the TR-116 replicator pattern. However, he has turned out to be a mere weapons collector with a tight alibi: he was on Bajor at the time of the first murder. Sisko cannot believe that she was about to stab the man and wonders what is going on. He almost takes Ezri off the case, but gives her another chance when she assures him that she can find the killer if she has a little more time. On their way out, Joran remarks that he could never understand what Curzon and Jadzia saw in Sisko, as he finds him to be "insufferable and so Starfleet". He jokes, wondering why the killer hasn't targeted him yet. Ezri has enough, however, and attempts to reverse the ritual to rebury Joran's memories, realizing that he is just too dangerous of an influence to be around. But she is interrupted by news of another murder: Zim Brott, a Bolian petty officer, has been found dead, by the same method.

While searching the latest victim's quarters for clues, Joran looks at a picture, wondering cynically how someone could be so happy with such unattractive children. And that is when it finally dawns on Ezri: she realizes that the only commonality between the victims is the pictures of them laughing and that therefore, the killer is someone who hates laughter, who hates emotion, such as a Vulcan maybe. Joran notes that all Vulcans dislike emotion but that they don't go out killing people for smiling, but Ezri reasons that a Vulcan, sufficiently traumatized, might see the pictures as an unbearable, frozen display of emotion. When he looks through the targeting sensor and sees those pictures, so Ezri, the laughter seems to mock him. Joran is pleased that she is thinking like the killer now. They find out that there are currently 48 Vulcans serving on DS9 and realize that they need to narrow their list, Joran notes they need to eliminate 47 of them.

She comes up with a short list of suspects who fit what she has deduced. In the turbolift and on her way to review her list and shorten it further, she and Joran run into a Vulcan who seems to fit the killer's profile. Joran knows right away that it's him, but Ezri needs further proof.

Act Five
Checking his personnel file, she discovers that he is a science officer and that his name is Chu'lak. She further discovers that he has indeed suffered a recent emotional trauma: the ship he served on for ten years was destroyed by the Jem'Hadar and he was one of the only six crew members out of 1250, to survive. That is a painful loss, even for a Vulcan. Ezri has doubts still, however, but Joran urges her to listen to her instincts, to listen to him.

Using the TR-116 and exographic scanner, she goes after Chu'lak and finds out that he is looking at her personnel file. She is even more mortified when she sees him retrieve the TR-116 rifle and scanner, aiming it at her. Although Joran encourages her to shoot the Vulcan, she hesitates slightly and then only wounds him non-fatally, rushing to his quarters. Joran says he is proud of her. Entering the Vulcan's quarters, Ezri confronts him, wanting to know why he did it. All the while she is aiming the rifle directly at him with Joran breathing on her neck, encouraging her to finish him off. He keeps telling her that she should just do it, knowing that he deserves to die; and even though Ezri is tempted, once again, at the last moment, she pulls herself together and cools down, much to Joran's dismay.

Finally, having solved the murders and come to terms with her memories of Joran, she begins the process of sending him back. As she recites her incantation, Joran tells her that from now on she will not be able to forget him and bury him as deeply as Curzon and Jadzia did. He tells her that he is a part of her now, as much as all the other hosts. Ezri understands the change that has taken place and the place Joran will take in her psyche from now. She slowly watches him vanish, knowing that he will never really be gone.

Memorable quotes
"How can anyone be so happy with such unattractive children?"
 * - Joran Dax

Story and script

 * The working title of this episode was "The Killer in Dax". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion - A Series Guide and Script Library)
 * With David Weddle, Bradley Thompson and Ronald D. Moore all busy trying to salvage, with Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler working on , and with René Echevarria working on , Ira Behr found himself in a situation where he needed an episode, and had no-one to write it. As such, he contacted his old writing partner Robert Hewitt Wolfe and pitched an idea about a serial killer sniper being loose on the station. When Wolfe agreed to do the script, Behr foresaw the episode as an Odo show, but as Wolfe explains, "I felt we'd seen the constable investigate this kind of thing before. I wanted to use a character whom we hadn't seen spearhead an investigation. That gave me a chance to do something with Ezri." Wolfe decided that if Ezri was investigating a murderer, it might bring out her memories of Joran, and she comes to realize that if she embraces these memories, they may help her stop the killer. As such, in Wolfe's first draft, Ezri creates a hologram of Joran, but he quickly realized that this limited the character, and so he decided to go what he refers to as "the Trill mumbo-jumbo route." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, pp. 648-649)
 * According to Wolfe, a Vulcan serial killer was chosen in order to shock viewers. He commented, "What would be the biggest surprise to a regular Star Trek fan? No one's going to be surprised if a Bajoran or a Cardassian or a Romulan is the killer. But a Vulcan serial killer? That'll make you sit up and take notice. I wanted to show the psychological strains of the War are far-reaching. If you've got a Vulcan who's cracking under the battle, that says something." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 651)

Production

 * Jeff Magnus McBride, who had portrayed Joran in the third season episode proved unavailable to reprise the role for "Field of Fire". According to director Tony Dow, the casting process was very specific; "Joran is a pretty complex character. The actor had to play him with a sort of crazed unpredictability, but he couldn't be such a jerk that Ezri would just put him back in the bottle. Leigh didn't have the scariness of appearance that we'd initially anticipated, but he's such a terrific actor that it worked out well." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 649)
 * When prepping this episode, Tony Dow was instructed to watch the fifth season episode, as "it had the same sort of mystery feeling, with a renegade who kidnaps Kira. Ira told me that it was really the only other show of this type that they'd done. There isn't much personal violence on this series, so when it does occur, it's something to be reckoned with. My objective was to create an atmosphere of apprehension and a bit of panic about what was going on." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 649)
 * Ian Spelling interviewed Nicole de Boer during the filming of the episode, specifically after the scene where Ezri meets Worf on the Promenade. ("Ezri's Counsel", Star Trek Monthly, issue 49)

Reception

 * Nicole de Boer enjoyed the episode, commenting "It was a risky and dangerous move for her, and one she didn't want to share with the others because of how they might react. But it was certainly an unorthodox way of solving the mystery, and we got to see a more serious side of her - and I got to carry the big gun! It was neat to put the story into the technology side of things, and show that some advances can be pretty scary when you think about them". ("Ezri Dax: One of Nine", Star Trek: Communicator, issue 123)

Trivia

 * Early in the episode, Hector Ilario tells Ezri that she's very beautiful, to which she responds, "And you're very drunk." He then says, "But in the morning, I'll be sober – and you'll still be beautiful."  This is likely a reference to the apocryphal, usually misattributed  conversation with socialite Elizabeth Braddock. When he was criticized for being drunk, he responded with some version of the famous quote "Yes, my dear, and you are ugly.  But in the morning, I shall be sober."
 * Ezri refers to Hector Ilario as an ensign when they are leaving Quark's even though Bashir says he's a lieutenant and he wears the rank insignia of lieutenant JG. However, she doesn't specifically call him an Ensign. She comments that she has escorted many drunken ensigns to their quarters in the past and Ilario is a junior officer.
 * This episode represents the third encounter with Joran. As well as, he also featured in the third season episode , where he was 'embodied' by Sisko.
 * Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) does not appear in this episode.
 * A script for this episode was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay.

Video and DVD releases

 * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 7.7,.
 * As part of the DS9 Season 7 DVD collection.

Starring

 * Avery Brooks as Captain Benjamin Sisko

Also starring

 * Rene Auberjonois as Odo
 * Nicole de Boer as Counselor Ezri Dax
 * Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Commander Worf
 * Colm Meaney as Chief Miles O'Brien
 * Armin Shimerman as Quark
 * Alexander Siddig as Doctor Julian Bashir
 * Nana Visitor as Colonel Kira Nerys

Guest stars

 * Art Chudabala as Hector Ilario
 * Marty Rackham as Chu'lak
 * And
 * Leigh J. McCloskey as Joran Dax

Uncredited co-stars

 * Michael Bailous as a Bajoran security deputy
 * Uriah Carr as a civilian
 * Amy Kate Connolly as a command division officer
 * Brian Demonbreun as a science division officer
 * Kathleen Demor as a operations division officer
 * Judi Durand as Deep Space 9 computer voice
 * Chris Kelly as Zim Brott
 * David B. Levinson as Broik
 * Shauna Lewis as a dabo girl
 * Johnny Martin as Ensign Bertram
 * Angus McClellan as an operations division ensign
 * Dan McGee as
 * Operations division lieutenant
 * Vulcan operations officer
 * Valerie Ann Miller as Greta Vanderweg
 * Chuck Shanks as
 * Bajoran security deputy
 * Operations division officer
 * Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn
 * James Lee Stanley as a Bajoran security deputy
 * Susie Stillwell as a Bajoran security deputy
 * Unknown performers as
 * Alien with wrinkly face
 * Brott's children (photography)
 * Female Vulcan Starfleet officer
 * Kressari
 * Paradan
 * Two classmates of Ilario (photography)
 * Vanderweg's husband (photography)
 * Vulcan on promenade

Stunt doubles

 * Tom Morga as stunt double for Leigh J. McCloskey
 * Unknown stuntwoman as stunt double for Nicole de Boer