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        DEEP SPACE NINE: "Blaze... " - REV. 03/21/97 - ACT ONE        7.
                            ACT ONE                             

	FADE IN:

	(NOTE: Episode credits fall over opening scenes)

8    EXT. SPACE - DEEP SPACE NINE (OPTICAL)

	The Defiant docks at the station.

9    INT. OPS

	DAX and WORF ENTER from the turbolift, where they're 
	met by Sisko.

					SISKO 
			Report.

	Worf and Dax fill Sisko in as they walk toward the Ops 
	table where O'BRIEN is running a diagnostic.

					DAX 
			Do the words "needle in a 
			haystack" mean anything to you?

					WORF
			We spent over fifty hours 
			searching the Badlands for signs 
			of the Maquis missiles. Without 
			success.

					DAX
			We would've stayed longer, but we 
			had a hard time avoiding Jem'Hadar 
			patrols.

					O'BRIEN 
			Let me guess... they homed in on 
			your plasma wake.

					DAX 
				(nods) 
			Even though we were cloaked, they 
			were still able to track us.

					O'BRIEN 
				(to Sisko) 
			The Defiant's warp engines are too 
			powerful. They ionize the nebular 
			gases in the Badlands.