Lapse


Summary 
On the advice of Constable Odo, Commander Benjamin Sisko orders that a number of training drills be carried out to test the security measures aboard the station. The aim of the drill will be for the station personnel to track down Odo who will be hiding somewhere aboard the station, but to even the odds the station's sensors will be deactivated.

However before the drill can begin, Doctor Julian Bashir comes up to Ops and insists that the command crew be vaccinated against a strain of virulent Bajoran flu that has broken out on the station. Odo initially refuses to be vaccinated because as a Changeling, he doesn't have a respiratory system  However, a direct order for Commander Sisko forces Odo to receive his shot.

Soon after the drill begins, and Odo soon starts to have feelings of extreme paranoia and memory loss. As the stricken Odo wonders the corridors of DS9 he soon bumps into Dr. Bashir and knocks him to the ground, unconscious. After coming around, Bashir informs the command crew of Odo's actions and a simple security drill turns into the real thing. Lieutenant Jadzia Dax reactivates the station's sensors and is able to locate Odo, and prepares to beam him to Ops with a security field surrounding the transporter pad.

However when the transport is completed, Quark is standing on the pad and Dax immediately lowers the security field. This proves to be a mistake as Quark changes back into Odo and he systematically attacks the command crew, before escaping into the depths of the station once more. After recovering from the attack, Sisko orders Dax and O'Brien to come up with a method of stopping Odo, while Major Kira sets out to find Odo and attempt to ascertain what has happened to him.

Eventually, Kira succeeds in locating Odo and begins to have success in talking him around, when O'Brien tests a device known as the O-Zone to capture Odo. Unfortunately, Odo manages to escape from the O-Zone and once again flees his friends. However, his condition continues to deteriorate and he soon heads to the infirmary as a place of sanctuary. He is later discovered there in his natural state by Dr. Bashir.

While in his natural state, Odo begins to have visions of his life and soon becomes the recognize the people who have been trying to help him, and soon wakes up in the infirmary. Realizing that these events wouldn't have occurred had he submitted to medical tests he allows Bashir to conduct his tests on the condition that there will be no shots.

Background information

Creators 
 Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry 
 Writer: Charles Marshall
 Artists: 
 Leonard Kirk (pencil art, interior and cover)
 Bruce McCorkindale (inking)
 Moose Baumann (color design, cover color design)
 'Bu Tones (color seps)
 Patrick Owsley (letter art)
 Terry Pallot (cover inking)
 Dennis DeLarosa (cover inking assist)
 Scott Cattanach (cover colors)
 Editor: Mark Paniccia

Characters

Regular and recurring characters 

 Benjamin Sisko  Commanding officer of Deep Space 9.
 Kira Nerys  First officer aboard Deep Space 9, and Bajoran liaison to Starfleet.
 Julian Bashir  Chief medical officer aboard DS9.
 Odo  Changeling chief of security aboard DS9.
 Jadzia Dax  Trill science officer aboard DS9.
 Miles O'Brien  Chief of operations aboard DS9.
 Quark  Ferengi businessman and owner of Quark's located on the station's Promenade.

References 
 Bajoran flu  A virulent virus that often struck down Bajorans during the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor. As a child, Major Kira saw many of her friends die from the flu. During this story the station suffered an outbreak of the virus which led to Dr. Bashir vaccinating all station personnel.

External link 
 

Comics