(Quark is taking Odo upstairs to deal with an awkward customer.)
QUARK: He only paid for one hour. He's been in there for three, fighting the Battle of Klachdachbrach or some such thing over and over.
ODO: The Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt was a legendary Klingon victory over the Romulans almost a century ago.
QUARK: Well, he's been losing it all afternoon and he says he's not coming out until he wins. I banged on the door, he sealed himself in. I threatened to shut off the power, he threatened to kill me.

[Outside the holosuite]

(Loud sounds of battle roars and clashing of metal on metal)
ODO: Since when did you add ancient Klingon battles to your holosuite programs?
QUARK: The Captain of the last Klingon ship that went through the wormhole sold some to me. I know, I know. It's brutal, it's violent, it's bloody, but to the Klingons, it's entertainment.
ODO: Shut off the power.
QUARK: He'll kill you.
ODO: No, he said he'll kill you. Shut it off.
(Silence)
KOR [OC]: chay'pen Aha'bA?
(The door is forced open from inside and a drunken warrior staggers out. John Colicos is under that forehead, everyone.)
KOR: Ar got k'nel d'kulluh marg rah low! You dare interrupt the Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt, you Ferengi k'pekt!
(Odo takes the bottle from him.)
ODO: The battle has been won. The people are waiting to celebrate your victory.
KOR: They are? Lead the way then!

[Security office]

(Kor is snoring in a cell according to the monitor when Odo realises someone is standing in the doorway)
ODO: How did you get in here?
KOLOTH: I am Koloth.
(William Campbell himself. Just don't challenge him to a duel.)
ODO: That doesn't answer my question.
KOLOTH: Yes. It does. What are the charges against him?
ODO: Charges? No charges. He's today's guest of honour.
KOLOTH: You must be a very brave man to attempt humour at the expense of a Klingon Dahar Master.
ODO: I apologise. No offence intended.

[Holding cell]

KOLOTH: Kor!
ODO: Sir, if you'll wake up, I'll release you into your friend's custody.
KOR: Koloth! wIj jup My old friend. I knew you'd be here.
KOLOTH: You disgrace yourself and our purpose. I do not go into battle with one whose honour is washed away in breshtanti ale. Keep him!

[Ops]

ODO: Security reassignments, Major. Sorry it took so long. It's been a Klingon afternoon.
KIRA: A Klingon afternoon?
ODO: Every time Klingons come to the station, I wind up with a Klingon afternoon. But this was definitely one I'll cherish forever. There's a drunk Klingon in my holding cell, must be a hundred years old, singing battle songs. Even his best friend who's probably a hundred and fifty years old won't have anything to do with him, so I get the pleasure of listening to his repertoire. Kor, Dahar Master of the Klingons.
DAX: Did you say Kor?
ODO: That's what he announced right after winning the Battle of Klach D'kel Brakt at Quark's.
DAX: What is he doing here? Did you get his friend's name? Was it Kang?
ODO: No, it was
DAX + ODO: Koloth.
DAX: Come with me, Odo.

[Holding cell]

KOR: B'aski't Kor, B'askr'ip Kor, KoHmanati, B'aski't Kor.
DAX: Hello, Kor.
KOR: I'm thirsty.
DAX: Let him out.
ODO: Lieutenant.
DAX: I'll take responsibility.
KOR: I am very thirsty.
DAX: Kor, do you remember Curzon Dax?
KOR: Curzon? My dear friend Curzon? I lift my ghoptu to Curzon Dax!
DAX: And I, who was Curzon Dax lift my ghoptu to you. Scorcher burn on your fourteenth rib, and your left QiVon aches every time your ship hits warp eight.
KOR: Dax! My Curzon? After eighty-one years I find you a kyamo-looking woman. Kiss me!
DAX: How about just a great big hug.
KOR: Curzon, my beloved old friend!
DAX: I'm Jadzia now.
KOR: Well, Jadzia, my beloved old friend.
DAX: Come on, Kor, let's go find Koloth.
KOR: Koloth's here?

[Replimat]

KOR: Look at him. He practices cuts and thrusts even with his food. Little children do that.
KOLOTH: A sharp knife is nothing without a sharp eye.
KOR: It's been forty years since even his good eye was sharp. It is luck when you hit the plate.
KOLOTH: I see the Federation insults us by sending a Lieutenant to greet us.
DAX: You never had much use for the Federation, did you, Koloth. I used to call you D'akturak, Ice man, because no proposal, no matter how reasonable, no matter how much it favoured the Klingon Empire would satisfy you. You were the toughest man I ever faced across the negotiations table.
KOR: Do you not recognise our old friend Dax?
KOLOTH: Dax?
DAX: Curzon's dead, but Dax is alive as part of me.
KOLOTH: This is a mistake. Kang must not have known.
KOR: Ah, but what a beautiful mistake.
DAX: Is Kang coming?
KOR: Of course he's coming. He's brought the four of us back together after eighty one years.
DAX: Could it possibly mean that he's
KANG: Yes. That is exactly what it means. I have found the Albino.
(And Michael Ansara. We have the original three all in one place.)

[Dax's quarters]

(Four drinks are replicated, but only Kor takes a glass.)
DAX: Kang, do you remember the first time we sat together over bahgol? It was the Korvat colony. The Federation and the Klingon Empire were still enemies.
KANG: I have never sat with you before today.
DAX: I am Dax, godfather of your son.
KOLOTH: You are no one's godfather.
DAX: I am Dax, godfather of your son
. KANG: So, you are the same Dax who took a blood oath with us to seek vengeance?
DAX: Don't mistake a new face for a new soul, Kang. I still feel at one with your family just as I did eight decades ago. I hope one day you will embrace me as a brother again.
KOLOTH: Brother! Ha!
KOR: Brother, sister, what's the difference. We're here now. Speak to us, Kang. Where is he? Where did you find the Albino?
KANG: Seven years ago, on Dayos Four, I met one of the Albino's discarded wives. I fed and clothed her. I told her the story of our sons. She still feared him and told me nothing. Three months ago, she died. A week afterwards, an amulet she wore around her neck was delivered to me by messenger. In it was the location of the Albino's sanctuary.
KOLOTH: Are you certain that he's still there?
KANG: I have confirmed it with traders who supply him. It is on the fourth planet in the Secarus System. He has been hiding there for nearly a quarter of a century.
KOR: Hiding from us, no doubt.
KANG: I have been told he only has forty men in his compound. Evidently he has become very lax in his waning years.
KOR: The fool.
DAX: I wouldn't count on information from traders. The Albino might have told them what to say if anyone asked questions.
KOLOTH: She's right. The traders may already have warned him that we are coming.
KANG: They will never warn anyone ever again. This time, we will reach the Albino. And when we do, I will cut his heart out and eat it while he watches me with his dying breath.

[Promenade - upper level]

KANG: I did not know, of course.
DAX: About Curzon?
KANG: I did not want to risk contacting you by subspace.
DAX: I don't blame you. That's how the Albino learned we were coming to Galdonterre.
KANG: His ears that reach across the galaxy. I don't know how. Tell me about my friend Curzon. Did he die an honourable death?
DAX: He died in a hospital room yelling at doctors and friends who were trying to keep him alive for one more miserable day.
KANG: That's a pity. He was a good man. He deserved to die in battle. It pains me that I will never see him again in this life.
DAX: Curzon was decorated many times for his diplomatic achievements, but no honour touched him as deeply as yours. For a Klingon to choose a Federation official to be the godfather of his son.
KANG: Curzon Dax opened the door to peace. He was the first Federation diplomat I ever met who truly seemed to understand the Klingon nature.
DAX: Well, there was always a bit of the Klingon nature in Curzon. His blood oath with you was very important to him.
KANG: Would you eat from the heart of the Albino, Jadzia Dax? I know about the Trills during my long friendship with Curzon. And I know that each new host has no obligation to past commitments.
DAX: And I know that a Klingon blood oath can never be broken.
KANG: The old Klingon ways are passing. There was a time, when I was a young man, the mere mention of the Klingon Empire made worlds tremble. Now, our warriors are opening restaurants and serving racht to the grandchildren of men I slaughtered in battle. Things are not what they used to be, not even a blood oath.
DAX: I know you, Kang. You don't believe that.
KANG: What I believe is no longer relevant. You are released from Curzon's oath. You owe nothing to any of us.

[Ops]

KIRA: Are you still reading a plasma leak in lower pylon one? I can't seem to find it now.
DAX: It's been intermittent. Let me do a high-resolution scan. Kira?
KIRA: Uh huh?
DAX: How many people did you kill?
KIRA: What?
DAX: While you were in the underground.
KIRA: Too many.
DAX: Were they all faceless Cardassians or did you know who you were killing?
KIRA: Why are we talking about this?
DAX: If it bothers you, we can stop.
KIRA: It bothers me.
DAX: I'm sorry.
KIRA: Why, are you thinking about killing somebody?
DAX: Me?
KIRA: Tell me.
DAX: I don't know what you're talking about.
KIRA: Tell me.
DAX: Eighty years ago, there was a band of depredators, led by an Albino, raiding Klingon colonies. Three Klingon warships were sent to stop him. One of the captains was a close friend of Curzon's. The mission was successful. Most of them were captured. But the Albino escaped. In his last message to the Klingons, he promised to take his revenge on the firstborn of each of the three captains. A few years later, he kept his word. Somehow, he infected three innocent children with a genetic virus that killed them. One of them was my godson.
KIRA: I'm sorry. But Jadzia, that was Curzon's godson.
DAX: I took a blood oath to revenge his death.
KIRA: Curzon took a blood oath.
DAX: I can still remember the boy's funeral. He was named Dax for me.
KIRA: You've found this Albino?
DAX: We know where he is. The three Klingons came here to tell me.
KIRA: Look, you've said yourself every new life for a Trill has to be a new life. If not, you'd wind up paying off old debts forever. These Klingons can't possibly expect you to keep this oath.
DAX: No, they don't. That's just it. They say I have no obligation to them. But I do. I know it, I feel it. If not to them, I owe it to Curzon.
KIRA: Jadzia. Your questions about my experience with killing. If you're wondering what it's like. When you take someone's life, you lose a part of your own as well.

[Quark's]

(Kor is drunk, and carousing with a pair of dabo girls)
KOR: I need another arm. Or am I doomed to choose between perfection and palate.
DAX: Let me spare you that decision.
(Dax lifts his tankard to his lips.)
KOR: majQa'! To the rescue. Dax, may I present these two students of Klingon history.
DAX: Would you excuse us for a minute?
KOR: Only a minute, my students.
(The girls leave them)
KOR: Well, you certainly don't share Curzon's priorities.
DAX: About going after the Albino, I do. Kang and Koloth don't want me to come with you.
KOR: Kang thinks too much. Koloth doesn't feel enough.
DAX: And where do you stand?
KOR: Of course you should come! The splendour of fighting and killing. A bloodbath in the cause of vengeance. Who wouldn't want to come?
DAX: Will you speak to them for me? It means far more to me than I realised.
KOR: Koloth spends all his time practicing in the holosuite. He listens to no one. And if Kang's made up his mind, there's nothing I can do.
DAX: And you call yourself a history teacher? What of your own history? You are Kor, Dahar Master. They cheered you at Klach D'kel Brakt. Your voice weighed heavily on the course of Klingon events.
KOR: You shame me.
DAX: No, please don't feel that.
KOR: The only weight I carry now, dear comrade, is my own bulbous body. I was once, if you remember, far less than you see, and far more than I have become. I'm sorry.
DAX: My memories are still of Kor, a great warrior.
(Dax leaves him at the bar.)
KOR: Quark, you devious little Ha'DIbaH. Bring wine.

[Holosuite]

(In red-lit caves, Koloth is practising moves with his bat'leth, ending with the blade a centimetre from Dax's forehead.)
DAX: Nice of you to stop. I'm coming with you.
KOLOTH: Curzon Dax was a politician. It was a diplomatic ploy for him to bond himself to us in a blood oath.
DAX: That's a lie.
KOLOTH: Are you? (pause) I am practicing here. Leave while you can.
DAX: When you agree that I can fulfill my part of the oath.
KOLOTH: You? Your presence will jeopardise the rest of us. Leave me!
DAX: Computer. I want a Klingon bat'leth, tip to tip one hundred and sixteen centimetres, weight five point three kilos with an exterior handgripping diameter of five centimetres. Blades composite baakonite.
KOLOTH: Ah, a warrior's configuration. Now what are you going to do with it?
DAX: I'm going to fight you.
KOLOTH: And if my hand should slip, and you should die?
DAX: Your hand would never slip, unless you've become old and feeble.
(They fight with much twirling of blades and clashing of metal, Koloth one-handed, Dax using both hands.)
DAX: Come now, Koloth. Surely you can take me down.
(Kang and Kor enter to watch. The two lock blades in a power struggle.)
KOR: There is tension on your face, Koloth. You ought to drink more.
(Dax finally ends up on her back.)
KOLOTH: Stand up. Your presence against the Albino will do honour to our cause.
KOR: Well, that's a surprise from the great stoneface.
KANG: Releasing you from Curzon's oath was not enough. I can see that now.
KOR: It is agreed then!
KANG: No! I tell you now you will not be a part of this quest.

[Quark's cafe]

KOR: Why do you dismiss her like some useless t'ooho'mIrah?
KANG: We cannot go into an enemy stronghold with your sickly chest announcing us.
KOR: There is nothing (cough) nothing wrong with my chest.
KOLOTH: Nothing that won't get us all killed before we reach battle. Come.
KOR: I need no nurse's hand.
(Kor and Koloth leave. Dax joins Kang at a table.)
DAX: You can't deny my right for vengeance.
KANG: You try to speak as a Klingon but the words do not fit in your mouth.
DAX: You said that to me before, Kang. Do you remember?
KANG: I do not care to discuss it any further.
DAX: The Korvat colony. First day of negotiations. I walked out on you right in the middle of that long-winded speech of yours. You should have seen the look on your face. Nobody ever had the kajunpak't to show their back to the great Kang before Curzon did.
KANG: I almost killed Curzon that day.
DAX: I knew I had to get you very, very angry or my mission wouldn't succeed. Getting you angry at me was the only way to begin to create a bond between us.
KANG: Curzon understood Klingons.
DAX: And he understood what he was doing when he took a Klingon blood oath. You can't expect me to stay here and not avenge my own godson's murder. You can't ask me to live with that kind of dishonour.
KANG: I cannot dishonour myself by permitting you to die in Curzon's place.
DAX: Who's talking about dying? I have no intention of dying. You dishonour yourself already, Kang, by placing your own honour above mine. No Klingon warrior would leave a comrade behind while he goes off to battle. Perhaps you're right. Klingon honour isn't what it used to be.
KANG: Are you trying to anger me again? Do you think the same trick would work twice?!
DAX: I understand Klingons.
KANG: All right, then! It worked! Come fight with us. Come and be damned.

[Dax's quarters]

(Dax is packing when the doorbell rings)
DAX: Come in.
(Sisko enters)
DAX: I was just about to come see you.
SISKO: No.
DAX: No what?
SISKO: No leave of absence.
DAX: Kira shouldn't have told you.
SISKO: Kira is my First Officer.
DAX: I don't have to tell you what this oath meant to Curzon.
SISKO: Jadzia Dax took an oath too, when she joined Starfleet. You're subject to orders, Lieutenant.
DAX: Don't do it, Benjamin. Don't make me disobey a direct order.
SISKO: I never understood this. I mean, whatever else Curzon was, he did have a fundamental morality. He wouldn't condone murder any more than I would, and yet he swore to kill this Albino and now you plan to go out and kill in his name. What about the laws of the Federation?
DAX: The Klingons have their own set of laws. This is justice to them.
SISKO: And to you?
DAX: I've chosen to respect their codes of honour in this matter, yes.
SISKO: You really think you're capable of doing this?
DAX: I don't know. There's only one way to find out, isn't there.
SISKO: Let's say you are. Let's say you even survive this insanity. You expect to just come back here and resume your duties as though nothing's happened?
DAX: I guess that'll be up to you.

[Bird of Prey Bridge]

(Looking over plans. There are no crew visible.)
KANG: The compound is constructed of riddinite. There are several walls that separate the main house from the rest of the grounds. The main power source is here. There is an armoury there.
KOLOTH: Any information about the position of the sentries?
KANG: They are posted at standing intervals, seventy-five metres apart along the perimeter.
DAX: Standing? No patrols?
KANG: That's what I'm told.
KOR: Perhaps he thinks we're already dead and have stopped chasing him.
DAX: Or perhaps he has made his defences look weak for our benefit.
KOLOTH: She may be right.
DAX: We have to assume the guards patrol the perimeter. At seventy-five metres apart, they're out of eye contact with each other
KOR: He wouldn't be that stupid. We must expect them to be no farther than fifty metres apart.
KANG: Fine. It makes no difference.
DAX: Doesn't it? If we assume he has adequate defences, a minimum of fifty guards, then we should use a N'yengoren strategy.
KANG: No! I will not sneak into his bedroom and murder him like a kah'plakt. I want him to see us coming. I say we make a direct attack boldly through the threshold. The guards will be too scattered to defend against us. We will overwhelm them to glorious victory.
KOLOTH: Or to a glorious death.
KOR: It is a good day to die.
DAX: It is a good day to die.
KOLOTH: Come on, old comrade. For the last time, let's sharpen our blades.
(Kor and Koloth leave)
DAX: So, we talk about dying again.
KANG: A Klingon warrior is always prepared to die.
DAX: Yes, but to invite death with a direct assault against a superior force? Kang, what are you doing? What's really going on here? Loyalty blinds Kor and Koloth, but not me. This is not a plan for battle, it's a plan for suicide. If it were someone else, I might think you were paid to lure us here.
KANG: How could you say that? I took a blood oath with you.
DAX: Is this why you didn't want me to come? Because you knew you were coming to die?
KANG: When the amulet arrived with the location of the Albino, I went to the Secarus system to see if it was true. Somehow, the instant I arrived the Albino knew I was there. He contacted me. He sent an invitation to one last glorious battle. He said he is tired of this lifelong pursuit. He swore to send forty of his strongest and most skilled men against us in honourable combat. And I agreed.
DAX: But why?
KANG: Because this is our last chance. If we cannot reach the Albino, we can at least die an honourable death trying to reach him. A death a Klingon Dahar Master deserves.
DAX: You know what, Kang? I think you Klingons embrace death too easily. You treat death like a lover. I think living is a lot more attractive. I think an honourable victory is better than an honourable defeat.
KANG: I know the Albino's defences. There is no chance of victory here.
DAX: What if they had no phasers? That might make the odds a little better, don't you think?
KANG: How do you intend to disarm them all?
DAX: When we establish a low orbit, we modulate your disruptor banks to bombard the compound with tetryon particles. Every directed energy weapon will be neutralised.
KANG: You're certain such a thing could be done?
DAX: If Curzon were here, you'd be out of luck, but Jadzia Dax is a science officer.
KANG: We would also be unable to use our disruptors. But who among them could match our skills with the bat'leth?
DAX: Not many. We're about forty minutes away from the Secarus System. I think we should cloak and then you and I, old friend, should sharpen our blades too.
KANG: Perhaps it is a good day to live!

[Forest]

(The compound is a castle, with battlements and revetments. Dax has been using her tricorder.)
DAX: You say they promised you an honourable battle. Hand to hand combat at the main threshold.
KANG: That's right.
DAX: Take a look at this. This indicates a gravitic mine buried at the main threshold.
KOLOTH: Yes, and he plans to detonate it the moment we enter the compound.
KOR: That's what you get for making a deal with the devil, Kang.
DAX: On the other hand, this gives us an advantage we wouldn't otherwise have. He's expecting us at the front door.
KOR: How do we know that he's even inside?
DAX: Good question.
KOLOTH: Wait here.
KOR: Where are you going?
KOLOTH: I'm going to find out if he's inside.
KOR: How do you intend to do that?
KOLOTH: I'll ask somebody.
(Koloth marches off)
KANG: We would be wise to shut down his sensor array before we attack. It's controlled from this power station.
KOR: Yes, but a power failure will signal our presence. At the same time that you shut down the sensors, I'll create a diversion at the armoury to misdirect their response.
DAX: A good strategy. But whoever creates the diversion will have to run across this field to escape. With all due respect, none of you are as quick as you once were. I'll volunteer for that job.
KANG: Agreed.
(Koloth finds a lookout amongst the bushes.)
(Meanwhile, the main party has moved forward.)
KANG: It seems this is best place for entry right here.
KOLOTH: I encountered a helpful lookout. The Albino is inside.
KOR: His overconfidence will be the death of him.
KOLOTH: He's in there now, but the moment we attack, he will move to a secured command post here.
KANG: It will be midday in one hour. Can you create the diversion in the armoury by then?
DAX: I think so.
KANG: We will be in position at the powerhouse
KANG: May Kahless guide us on this day of vengeance.

[Compound]

(One guard gets his throat cut. Another gets the direct approach)
DAX: Excuse me. Could you tell me where the tennis courts are? I seem to be lost.
(Then he gets knocked out. Shortly afterwards, KaBOOM! gets the attention of the Albino. Jadzia runs as the guards point their useless weapons at her.)

[Command post]

ALBINO: Report.
GUARD: The armoury's been sabotaged. I've diverted the forward patrols to that area.
ALBINO: Cancel those orders. Move all guards to the inner defence line. Make sure the power station is secure.
GUARD: Go!
GUARD 2: Yes, sir.
GUARD: None of the phasers are functioning
ALBINO: Not functioning?
GUARD: We're running diagnostics now.
ALBINO: Use long range sensors to check for interference from a cloaked ship in orbit. In the meantime, have the guards fix kuttars to their rifles and prepare for hand-to-hand combat.
(the power goes off)

[Compound]

(Dax joins Kang, Koloth and Kor)

[Command post]

GUARD: I can't make contact with the power station.
ALBINO: They must have already broken through the inner defence line. Move the perimeter guards into the house.
GUARD: Sir, without power, we have no communications.
ALBINO: Then get out there and tell them yourself. I don't want that Klingon filth to get in this
(Boom! The doors are blown in and the magnificent four are there)
KANG: Look upon your executioners, killer of children.
ALBINO: (using the guard as a shield) Get them!
(The Albino lets his guards do all the fighting and dying. Then Koloth is wounded)
KOR: Koloth!
(Kor fights through to his friend.)
KOLOTH: I didn't see him coming.
KOR: Even you cannot have eyes in the back of your head, my friend. Quiet now. Rest. I still have work to do.
(Kang is injured as well, and joins Koloth)
KOLOTH: I will not die before you, you thunderous bulk.
KOR: The story of your courage will never die. I will sing the story. The children of all Klingons will know of this day.
(Koloth dies)
(Kang deals with the guard that the Albino is cowering behind.)
ALBINO: You'll die far quicker than your son did, Kang.
(Finally the two old enemies go head to head. Dax finishes off the last guard as Kang breaks his bat'leth against a railing. The Albino stabs him in the stomach.)
ALBINO: No vengeance today, Kang.
(Dax knocks the weapon out of the Albino's hand)
ALBINO: And who are you, girl?
DAX: You knew me as Curzon Dax.
ALBINO: The Trill. Of course. You're far too young and lovely to sport such a deadly weapon. All right, then.
(The Albino puts his neck in the curve of the blade)
ALBINO: Use it, if that's what you came to do. Kill me in cold blood. Run me through the belly and cut out my heart. Isn't that what your blood oath promised? Or have you lost your appetite, my dear.
(Kang stabs the laughing Albino in the back)
KANG: Thank you for saving the death blow for me. You have honoured me one last time, godfather to my son.
(Kor staggers amongst the corpses)
KANG: Where is Koloth?
KOR: He is dead.
KANG: I was right, Dax. It is a good day to die.
(And does so.)
DAX: It's never a good day to lose a friend.
KOR: Ki-naH-naH, lo-maytool. Ki-nah-nah, lo-maytaH.

[Ops]

(Dax enters. Sisko stares at her and goes into his office. Kira looks away.)