11:[2,#b]
          DEEP SPACE: "Meridian" - REV. 09/22/94 - ACT ONE           8.
                            ACT ONE                             

	FADE IN:

	(NOTE: Episode credits fall over opening scenes)

6    INT. DEFIANT - BRIDGE (VPB, OPTICAL) - CONTINUOUS

	Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir and SUPERNUMERARIES as before.  
	They all look at the viewscreen, still stunned by the 
	appearance of the planet.

					DAX
				(off console)
			The planet seems to have settled 
			into a stable orbit.

					BASHIR
			But where did it come from?

					SISKO
			Could the entire planet have been 
			cloaked?

					O'BRIEN
				(off console)
			If it was, there should be residual 
			ionization traces... but I'm not 
			reading any.

					DAX
				(surprised, off console)
			Commander, we're being scanned.  The 
			beam is coming from a settlement on 
			the southern hemisphere.  I'm reading 
			approximately thirty humanoid 
			inhabitants.
				(continuing to work 
				console)
			They seem to be the only humanoids 
			on the planet.