Masquerade

Hiding in the Neutral Zone, the damaged Protostar needs repairs, and Okona steers the crew to Noble Isle, a lawless haven reached by a space elevator. Dal, already jealous of the charming smuggler, is shaken when the geneticist Dr Jago reveals that he is a genetically engineered augment carrying DNA from 26 species, and calls his genes unremarkable. Jago offers an implant to unlock his potential, and Dal secretly accepts it. When Romulan Tal Shiar agents hunt the crew down, the implant gives Dal new powers but also unpredictable alien features he cannot control. Murf proves a formidable fighter, Okona abandons the young crew, and they escape back to the Protostar, where Zero and Rok remove the implant and Dal returns to normal. Meanwhile, aboard the Dauntless, Ensign Asencia activates Drednok and reveals her true form: she is a Vau N'Akat like the Diviner, and was also sent back in time to find the ship.