"The Passenger" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The ninth episode of the series in the show's first season, it first aired during the week of 21 February 1993. The episode was written by Morgan Gendel, Robert Hewitt Wolfe and Michael PillerMA and directed by Paul LynchMA.
As Deep Space 9 prepares for the arrival of an important shipment, an alien criminal seeking to hijack it transfers his consciousness into a crewmember.
Summary[]
Vantika attacks Bashir.
Major Kira and Dr. Bashir are returning to Deep Space 9 aboard the Rio Grande when they receive a distress call from a Kobliad transport ship. Bashir treats a Kobliad woman, Ty Kajada who is transporting Rao Vantika, her prisoner. Vantika is dying, but Kajada warns Bashir that Vantika is very dangerous. Vantika grabs Bashir by the throat and says “make me live”. Vantika dies soon after.
Bashir and Kira bring Kajada to DS9, where she elucidates on how dangerous Vantika was. Vantika was obsessed with extending his life span, as the Kobliad species is facing extinction, DS9 was Vantika’s destination before Kajada arrested him, as a shipment of deuridium is soon on the station, the deuridium being able to use for treatment of Kobliad individuals. Kajada is obsessed with making sure that Vantika is really dead.
Starfleet is concerned that Odo’s security team will not be able to protect the shipment, so assign Lieutenant Primmin to oversee security measures, although Sisko is forced to put Odo in charge of joint operations to stop him from resigning. When the station computer is hacked, Kajada warns this is something that Vantika has done before. Vantika may not be dead after all. Quark had been hired by Vantika to procure the services of mercenaries to hijack the shipment and is shocked when he encounters Vantika in the bar. Vantika wants the plans to proceed.
Dax has been studying the possibility of how Vantika could be alive- he could have transferred his consciousness to another person in the way Vulcans transfer their katras. Bashir proposes that Vantika could have transferred his consciousness to Kajada. Kajada herself spies on Quark, but is pushed off one of the bar’s upper levels and is badly injured,
Kajada ends Vantika’s life
Quark and his mercenaries are told by Vantika to meet him on a runabout and he is shocked when they find Bashir waiting for them in the airlock. Vantika had transferred his consciousness into Bashir by means of a microscopic device embedded under a fingernail. Bashir-Vantika uses the Rio Grande to board the freighter carrying the shipment. Dax is able to generate an EM pulse to break Vantika’s hold on Bashir, who is transported back to the station. Sisko is forced to stun Bashir with a phaser when Vantika’s consciousness reasserts itself. Vantika’s consciousness is transferred into a energy containment cell, which Kajada disintegrates with a phaser, ending Vantika’s life once and for all.
References[]
Characters[]
- Julian Bashir • Broik • Graham Davis • Jadzia Dax • Durg • Jones • Ty Kajada • Kira Nerys • Morn • Nalan Bal • Odo • George Primmin • Quark • Benjamin Sisko • Rao Vantika • Yevir Linjarin
Locations[]
- Referenced only
- Gamma Quadrant • Rigel VII
Starships[]
- Norkova (Antares-class freighter) • Reyab (Kobliad starship) • USS Rio Grande (Danube-class runabout)
- Referenced only
- Cardassian freighter
Races and cultures[]
- Referenced only
- Cardassian • Vulcan
States and Organizations[]
- Bajoran Militia • Kobliad Security • Starfleet • Starfleet Security • United Federation of Planets
- Referenced only
- Starfleet Academy • Starfleet Command • Starfleet Medical Academy
Science and technology[]
- alpha wave inducer • anesthesia • brain • combadge • cryogenics • deuridium • fire-suppression system • hull breach • replicator • structural integrity field • subspace • synaptic pattern displacement • tractor beam • transporter • tricorder • waste reclamation
Other references[]
Appendices[]
[]
- "The Passenger" introduces the Kobliad race. Kobliad characters later appear in Star Trek: Titan and the ST video game: Resurgence.
Background[]
Notable cast and crew[]
- Avery Brooks as Benjamin Sisko
- Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys
- Rene Auberjonois as Odo
- Terry Farrell as Jadzia Dax
- Alexander Siddig as Julian Bashir
- Armin Shimerman as Quark
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous episode: Dax |
DS9 episode produced | Next episode: Move Along Home |
| Previous episode: Dax |
DS9 episode aired | Next episode: Move Along Home |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: Birthright, Part 1 |
Next Adventure: Birthright, Part 2 | |
External links[]
- The Passenger article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- The Passenger (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.