While Sisko uses the Borg device to try to stop the transmission of Starfleet data, the rest of the crew rescues Latty from the Brokers. Can they safely get everyone back to the Defiant before Sisko is lost to the device? Find out in Deep Space Nine: The Dog of War #5 from IDW Publishing!

Previously in Deep Space Nine: The Dog of War: A group of mercenaries known as the Brokers steal the Borg device – and Latinum, the Corgi. Sisko and a small team take the Defiant with a plan to recover both. Kira takes out the first Broker, finding a com unit and a bit of fur on him. The first part of the heist, grabbing the Borg device and substituting it with a replica, goes smoothly. Using the device, Sisko is able to gain control of the ship’s systems and locate the dog. In fact, he can tap into the Brokers’ entire system. He finds the stolen Starfleet data but finds it in transmission. If he stays connected, perhaps he can stop it!

NO ONE LEFT BEHIND

Deep Space Nine: The Dog of War #5 opens as Sisko continues to try to stop the transmission from the Brokers to the Dominion. Kira and Dax have Latinum but are under heavy weapons fire. O’Brien cannot beam them out. Bashir thinks he can encourage the little dog, but that means leaving Sisko unattended. The Captain orders him to go while he clears a path for him and stops the transmission.

But the transmission speeds up. Sisko knows he can control everything, if only he becomes one with the device. Everything would be so easy at that point. Bashir reaches Kira and Dax but can no longer reach the Captain on coms. Bashir concentrates his attention on Latty, reminding him of the day he was with them in the holosuite simulation and was the hero of their game. Latty remembers, leaps through the flames, and is safe.

They cannot raise the Captain on coms. The ship is damaged, and a warp core breach is imminent. Any remaining Brokers are fleeing. They must disable the shields. They quickly find Sisko, but he is down. They cannot risk simply shutting off the device because it could damage his neural pathways. But they also cannot get the Captain to respond to them. And none of the rest of them have any idea where the controls are.

Latty goes over to the Captain and licks him on the face. This penetrates his mind, and Sisko wakes up and realizes what he needs to do. He deactivates the shields and the interface. They escape just before the ship explodes.

Afterward, Sisko discusses his experience with Worf. This was just a small amount of power, and it was still far too much for one person to contain safely. Starfleet wants to inspect the device, but it is too dangerous. He orders Worf to tell Starfleet the interface was damaged and then destroy it.

That is one problem out of the way, but there is still a poacher on the way who is owed a purebred Corgi. Can anyone figure a way out of this conundrum? Dr. Bashir comes up with a way to splice an insignificant gene into the dog, not enough to alter him, but just enough to make him no longer the coveted purebred. With a little theatrics from the crew, they deflect the poacher. But now they do need to figure out who is now going to be responsible for a little dog.

LATTY SAVES THE DAY

I like the way the art of Deep Space Nine #5 is used to reflect the Captain’s use of the Borg device. While using it, he is not mobile, so, as a way to reflect what he is doing and keep it visually interesting, we see a variety of representation of that data. As the story goes on, we see the data with more motion blur which communicates how fast everything is moving. Then we only need to rely on Sisko’s dialogue to understand how it is pulling him further in.

Latty remains a central hero of the story. He is smart enough not to run through fire, but with his tongue out and his tail up, he has a delightfully goofy canine countenance. I had wondered about the earlier video game sequence, but it was a cute sequence to use to get Latty to trust Bashir. His true moment of heroism, when he licks Sisko on the face, is subtle, which is very sweet. Still, any dog owners among readers will understand the power of a surprise tongue, which is right up there with the cold nose. I also like how the Latty storyline helps balance out the dramatic tension overall.

BOTTOM LINE: EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH DOGS

Deep Space Nine: The Dog of War #5 finishes up the story arc quite neatly. Not only does the dog survive, but he also brings out a fun side to so many of the characters which makes it a delight to read.

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