209:[1,#b]
    DS9: "You Are Cordially Invited... " - REV. 9/23/97 - ACT TWO    30.

18A  CONTINUED:

	With great effort and strain, Dax carefully lowers the 
	braziers onto two short Klingon columns that have been 
	placed to either side of Dax. Sirella is watching her 
	complete the ceremony with an unimpressed expression. 
	Dax flexes her arms gratefully and examines her hands 
	for blisters while Sirella inspects the placement of 
	the braziers on the columns.

					SIRELLA 
			Again.

					DAX
			I've done it three times already.

					SIRELLA 
			You continue to rush through the 
			ceremony, your body position is 
			poor and the placement of the 
			braziers on their pedestals is 
			sloppy.

					DAX
			Do you know how heavy those 
			things are?

					SIRELLA 
			A Klingon woman would not complain.

					DAX
			You wouldn't make a Klingon woman 
			do it three times in a row.

					SIRELLA 
			I wouldn't have to. She would've 
			done it correctly the first time. 
				(beat) 
			End this now, Jadzia. Go back to 
			your own people. They will 
			tolerate your failings and your 
			weaknesses in a way that a Klingon 
			family never will. In our House, 
			you would always be an alien... 
			an outsider... at best, you'd be 
			an object of pity. But you'd 
			never be accepted... never an 
			equal... because you can never 
			truly be one of us.

	A deep, cold anger builds in Dax's heart as she glares 
	at this woman. With barely restrained fury, she stands 
	between the two columns again and starts the ritual 
	once more.