For the Uniform

Originally Appeared Here

He's harassing Cardassians, and getting bolder in his schemes
Says it's all because of colonists getting sold on a dream
Wipes out the memory banks because dad seeks his surrender
Tabula rasa(1) like Riker on Risa at the end of a week-long bender
Dad's so mad he goes off half-cocked on some wild-eyed adventure
Disobeying orders and risking Starfleet censure
Trying to predict, if you were him, where would you go?
Gleaning insight to his mind from a tale by Victor Hugo
Javert and Valjean chasing through the streets of Paris
Dad's never changing, he's like Chang, as constant as Polaris(2)
Figure out what he means when he's sending out a Breen rhyme
But there ain't enough time to catch him up above Quatal Prime
A choice to save lives or tracking intergalactic malefactors(3)
Captain gives the order to get the transport with the tractors
Like the Maquis are an infection, and he's the penicillin
If Eddington thinks he's Valjean, then it's time to be the villain
All the worlds in his way are where you don't wanna be
When he's determined like Sherman on a march to the sea(4)
The rebel relents, they've found Eddington's limit.(5)
Dax admits sometimes it's nice for the bad guy to win it.

1. Latin for "blank slate", the term was popularized by John Locke in the 17th century to describe the state of the human mind at birth.
2. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, General Chang quotes from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, "I am as constant as the Northern Star". The star Polaris is also known as the North Star because of its position in the sky and use in navigation.
3. From "The Forsaken", Lwaxana Troi refers to Odo's job as "tracking intergalactic malefactors"
4. The Savannah Campaign conducted by General William Tecumseh Sherman in 1864 targeted civillian infrastructure along with military targets, to destroy the Confederacy's capacity for warfare at a psychological, strategic and economic level.
5. The Eddington Limit (or Eddington Luminosity) is the point at which the outward radiation pressure will balance the inward gravitational attraction for an astrophysical body.