1:[4,#b],5:[3,#i]@1“If Wishes Were Horses”@2Deep Space 9 episode #16
Teleplay by Nell McCue Crawford & William L. Crawford and Michael Piller
Story by Nell McCue Crawford & William L. Crawford
Directed by Robert Legato
Stardate 46853.2
First aired in 1993
GUEST STARS
Keiko ROSALIND CHAO
Buck Bokai KEONE YOUNG
Rumpelstiltskin MICHAEL JOHN ANDERSON
When members of the station find their fantasies coming to life, it becomes the prelude to a very real danger which threatens everyone.
While Sisko, Kira, and Dax investigate readings of unusually high thoron emissions coming from the plasma field in their area of space, O’Brien reads his daughter Molly a bedtime story about Rumpelstiltskin, after which the mystical dwarf actually appears in her bedroom. Shocked, O’Brien discovers that not only does he seem real, he doesn’t disappear when his name is spoken as in the fairy tale. He calls Sisko on his combadge, but Sisko has become otherwise preoccupied when he finds himself face-to-face with Buck Bokai, a long-dead baseball player who has come to life from Jake’s holosuite game. An even more shocking surprise greets Bashir, when he is awakened in his quarters by the caress of Dax’s hand, then finds her trying to uncharacteristically smother him with affection. The senior officers are then summoned to Ops, where they are joined by Rumpelstiltskin and Bokai. Sisko asks Dax if this phenomenon could be connected to the thoron emissions, but she seems confused by the question. Suddenly, the officers hear a voice from behind, and turn to see . . . another Dax!
Bashir’s tricorder analysis confirms that the three newcomers are definitely not holograms, but quite real. Sisko surmises that all of them were born of imagination, the thought of which makes the new Dax even more flirtatious with the embarrassed Bashir. Suddenly, Odo’s voice breaks through to tell them that it is snowing on the Promenade, while in Ops the three fantasy characters mysteriously disappear one by one. Dax’s analysis of the plasma field then reveals that its wave fronts are converging toward a single point; whatever falls in there just disappears. While Sisko orders a probe prepared to investigate, Odo finds the snow gone, but now an alien animal is running loose, and Quark is walking with his arms around two affectionate, scantily-clad women. The Ferengi is quite happy, until he sees his patrons are fulfilling their fantasies by winning big at the dabo table. Dax and Bashir, now in the science lab, learn the wormhole is helping to make the rupture in space larger – and the tension between the two is increasing as well, especially after the new Dax appears to taunt the original. All this stops, however, when the computer discovers that a similar rupture formed in the Hanoli star system in the twenty-third century – and Dax recalls that when the rupture exploded, that system was destroyed.
The probe is launched, but while the officers work to gather data, O’Brien is annoyed by Rumpelstiltskin’s return, and the dwarf strikes a raw nerve by hinting at a threat toward O’Brien’s daughter. The probe’s analysis from the center of the anomaly reveals that it’s getting larger. While they deal with this new development, Sisko finds himself cultivating a more personal rapport with Bokai. Later, the three products of the imagination meet privately, with Rumpelstiltskin and the new Dax baffled as to why they are being rejected by those who first thought of them. But Bokai reveals that he has found a soft spot in Sisko, and that because of this, they should continue to stay – for as long as it takes.
Sisko, Kira, O’Brien, Dax, and Bashir have a meeting and decide to prepare a pulse wave torpedo for the purpose of trying to seal the rupture, even though that tactic was unsuccessful when a Vulcan science mission attempted the same thing in the Hanoli system. O’Brien is betting the more sophisticated version they can use now might be able to contain the internal reaction. Sisko sets O’Brien to the task – but if the plan fails, the entire Bajoran system could be destroyed. Preparing for the worst, Kira goes to coordinate evacuation of the pylons, but encounters a section on fire, from which emerges a man ablaze, who comes toward her but then disappears. Meanwhile, Odo tries vainly to control the situation on the Promenade, and finds brief satisfaction when his imagination conjures an image of Quark in jail, while Jake tries to resist Bokai’s temptation to desert his homework and play ball. In Ops, Dax reveals that the rupture has expanded dramatically, and the rate of expansion is increasing. She puts an image of the rift on the viewscreen, and everyone – including the three fantasy constructs – watches as the phenomenon sucks in space matter all around it.
O’Brien launches his altered photon torpedoes into the rupture, and the rift swallows up the detonation. Their instruments show they aren’t getting a controlled collapse; readings inside the rupture are off the scale. Suddenly, an intense flash, then a massive hit throws everyone to the floor, including the fantasy Dax, who hits her head in the fall. The sensors are knocked out, and while O’Brien attempts repairs, Bashir tends to the new Dax, who can’t stay conscious. When the sensors come back on line, they reveal the torpedoes have had no effect. Then, Rumpelstiltskin pipes in with a suggestion – he’ll close the rift in exchange for O’Brien’s daughter. The suggestion infuriates O’Brien, who grabs the dwarf. But Sisko has finally put together the pieces of the puzzle – the entire rupture is a product of their imaginations, and he drills that thought into his officers. True to his belief, the rift vanishes, as well as the three fantasy beings. Later, the danger gone, Sisko sits alone in his office, when Bokai reappears, and reveals that he and his companions are beings on an extended mission exploring the galaxy. They traveled through the wormhole recently, observing, gaining understanding, and explains that only the powerful imaginations on the station placed everyone into inadvertent jeopardy. Then, Buck mysteriously disappears before he tells Sisko where they came from ...
~1:[2,#B],3:[3,#I]@1“Improbable Cause”@2Deep Space Nine episode #65
Garak’s shop mysteriously explodes, launching Odo on an investigation to determine who is trying to kill the Cardassian exile – and why.
A peaceful afternoon is shattered when Garak’s shop is destroyed by an explosion. Although the blast initially appears to be accidental, further investigation reveals that the explosion was, in fact, rigged to look like an accident. Sisko and Odo ask Garak who might want him dead, but the Cardassian is, as always, secretive. However, Odo learns that the blast was triggered by a sensor favored by Flaxian assassins, and realizes a Flaxian named Retaya arrived that morning.
Questioning Retaya reveals nothing, and Odo allows him to leave, then cancels Garak’s security escort, hoping this will coerce Garak into sharing what he may know about the assassination attempt. Later, when Odo boards a Runabout to follow Retaya, Garak awaits him. Odo reluctantly agrees to let him go along as he follows the suspect. Unfortunately, they learn little about Retaya’s motives – his ship explodes just as he goes into warp.
An analysis reveals that the Romulans were behind the explosion. Odo surmises that they hired Retaya to kill Garak – but why? Odo learns from an informant that the Romulans may be planning to invade Cardassia. He is also told that five former Obsidian Order operatives “coincidentally” died the day Garak’s shop exploded. Odo shows Garak the list of dead men, then confronts him with the deduction that Garak blew up his own shop just to get Odo involved. Garak finally admits that he and the deceased were all associates of Enabran Tain, the past leader of the Obsidian Order. Realizing Tain might also be in danger, Garak attempts to contact him, and upon learning his former boss left mysteriously the day before, sets off with Odo to find him.
Garak instructs Odo to head for a planet near the Cardassian border where Tain has a safe house. Before they arrive, however, they are intercepted by a Romulan War bird and captured. inside the ship, they are brought before Tain, who shocks them with the news that he ordered the attempt on Garak’s life.
Tain tells the pair that the Romulan Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order have joined forces, preparing to take a fleet of Romulan and Cardassian warships into the Gamma Quadrant. Their mission is to destroy the Dominion by eliminating the Founders, after which Tain plans to resume his post as head of the Order. Hence, the reason why he ordered the deaths of Garak and anyone else with information that could be used against him. However, now that Garak is on board, Tain offers his protege a chance to work with him again. Despite Odo’s warnings not to trust Tain, Garak says yes, leaving Odo to face the Romulans and an uncertain fate.
~1:[6,#b],7:[3,#i]@1“In the Hands of the Prophets”@2Deep Space Nine episode #20
Directed by David Livingston
Written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe
No stardate given
First aired in 1993
GUEST STARS
Keiko O’Brien ROSALIND CHAO
Neela ROBIN CHRISTOPHER
Vedek Bareil PHILIP ANGLIM
Vedek Winn LOUISE FLETCHER
When a Bajoran spiritual leader objects to Keiko’s secular teachings, she threatens to destroy the alliance between Bajor and the Federation.
While Keiko O’Brien is teaching her students about the scientific aspects of the wormhole, a Bajoran woman in religious garb, Vedek Winn, observes the class and calmly objects to Keiko’s secular methods of instruction. According to Winn, it is not science that guides ships safely through the wormhole, but “the hands of the prophets,” and Keiko’s words are a blasphemy the Bajoran cannot allow to continue. In Ops, Sisko listens to Keiko’s concerns, but Kira expresses her support for Winn, suggesting to the defensive teacher that informing Bajoran children only about the science of the wormhole without placing it into a spiritual context is akin to imposing a philosophy on them. Sisko talks with Winn in the station’s Bajoran shrine, and although she is honored to meet the “Emissary” to the prophets, Winn refuses to step back from her stance, warning that she won’t be responsible for any consequences that result if Keiko continues her teachings.
O’Brien, working with his young Bajoran apprentice, Neela, is concerned when he cannot locate one of his tools, one which can be used to access every critical system on the station. When it turns out Ensign Aquino is also missing, they make a search, finding the melted remains of the instrument in a large power conduit – plus traces of organic material, which prove to be human remains. Apparently, Aquino went to fix an irregularity in the conduit, and accidentally got caught in the power flow and killed. Later, O’Brien and Keiko find to their dismay that some Bajorans are treating her with contempt. In front of the school, the O’Briens find Bajoran parents and the students, including Jake, listening to Winn, who asks Keiko to stop teaching about the wormhole altogether if she will not instruct the children about the spiritual aspects. When Keiko refuses, Winn leads away the Bajorans in silent protest. O’Brien comforts his saddened wife.
O’Brien is still puzzled by Aquino’s death, and Sisko asks Odo to investigate further. Jake then approaches his father about the school situation, and Sisko explains to him the importance of respecting the beliefs of others. Realizing the growing uneasiness on the station, Sisko seeks help on Bajor from Vedek Bareil, a spiritual leader who is the leading candidate to become the planet’s next Kai. Although his ideology is quite different than Winn’s, Bareil will not risk his growing status to help Sisko get an audience with the Vedek Assembly. Frustrated, Sisko returns to the station and finds that three Bajoran crew members failed to report for duty due to “illness,” according to Kira. Tension builds between the two as Sisko grows tired of these games, but Odo and Bashir interject with the results of their investigation – Aquino was really killed by a phaser blast.
The officers discuss the murder, and Odo reveals that, according to Turbolift records, the ensign’s true destination that fateful night was Runabout pad C. While O’Brien and Neela investigate the area, Odo goes to the Promenade just as more Bajorans, members of an orthodox spiritual order, arrive on the station to support Winn. O’Brien finds Odo and reports something most unusual – a security bypass module was placed at Runabout pad A. Odo deduces that Aquino must have interrupted someone planning to steal a Runabout from pad C. The ensign was killed, and the culprit went to pad A to escape later detection. Odo and O’Brien suddenly hear an explosion, and rush to find Keiko’s school engulfed in flames.
The wreckage is examined, revealing the school was destroyed by a homemade bomb. Winn approaches the area, and an angry Sisko lets her know that, despite this terrorist act, the majority of Bajorans do not feel the contempt she does for the Federation. As he leaves, Winn is surrounded by her supporters, and silently acknowledges Neela in the crowd. Then, in the Bajoran shrine, Neela reveals privately to Winn that the officers know about the Runabout, leaving Neela with no mode of escape, but Winn insists their secret plan must be carried out – it is “the will of the prophets.” Later, Sisko is pleased as Bareil arrives at the station to survey the situation, and while they move through the huge crowd of Bajoran well-wishers with Kira, O’Brien finds an unknown file in the computer, which turns out to be a series of force field overrides to Runabout pad A – an escape route from the Promenade. While Bareil and Winn together go to the remains of the school, O’Brien suspects the weapons detectors are disabled, and urgently tells Sisko only Neela – the last person to repair that unit – could have done it. Sisko spots Neela in the crowd, calmly pulling out a phaser, and he knocks her to the ground, making Neela miss her target – Bareil. It is discovered Winn started the religious controversy as a ruse to have Bareil assassinated before he could be made Kai. But in the end, it only serves to strengthen the alliance between Sisko and Kira.
~1:[1,#B],2:[3,#I]@1“Indiscretion”@2Deep Space Nine episode #77
Story by Toni Marberry & Jack Trevino
Teleplay by Nicholas Corea
Directed by LeVar Burton
No stardate given
First aired in 1995
GUEST STARS
Kasidy Yates PENNY JOHNSON
Dukat MARC ALAIMO
Razka ROY BROCKSMITH
Forced to bring along Dukat on a personal mission, Kira discovers the real reason her nemesis wants to accompany her.
A Bajoran smuggler tells Kira he has recovered a piece of metal that might be from the Ravinok, a Cardassian ship that disappeared six years ago with a group of Bajoran prisoners. A friend of Kira’s was among those lost, and she makes immediate plans to investigate, but learns a Cardassian representative wants to accompany her. Kira reluctantly agrees, then discovers that the representative is her nemesis, Dukat. The two take a Runabout, meet the smuggler, and authenticate the metal fragment, which was found in the Dozaria system. They then land on a desert planet in that system and encounter the wreckage of the Ravinok.
Kira and Dukat notice twelve graves near the site, but since several more people were on the ship, they realize some survivors may still be alive. First, however, Dukat opens the graves in order to identify bodies, and is overcome with grief when he finds the remains of a Bajoran woman who was his mistress. surprise turns to hope when it turns out that her friend was not among the dead. They soon set off on foot, scanning the planet for survivors. While setting up camp, Dukat reveals that he had a daughter with his mistress, Tora Ziyal, a girl who is one of the possible survivors. Unfortunately, if he finds her alive, he’ll have to kill her.
Kira tells Dukat she won’t allow him to kill Ziyal. But he insists that if her existence is revealed, he’ll lose his wife, his family, and his unstable position in Cardassian government. Soon, Kira and Dukat discover a mining operation of Bajoran and Cardassian prisoners, supervised by members of a race known as the Breen. Dukat sees his half-Cardassian, half-Bajoran daughter among the prisoners.
Kira and Dukat, disguised as Breen, overcome the guards and round up the prisoners. Kira Is crushed to learn that her friend died two years earlier, but Dukat is only Interested in finding his daughter. When more Breen guards attack, Dukat escapes from gaze and runs off after Ziyal. When he finds her, she instantly recognizes her father, thrilled to see him despite the fact that he is aiming a phaser rifle at her. Kira arrives and tries to stop him, and the little girl realizes what is happening. Still, Ziyal refuses to run, telling her father she’d rather die if she can’t go with him. She hugs him affectionately, and Dukat, shaken with emotion, decides to take Ziyal home – even if it costs him everything he has.
~1:[2,#B],3:[3,#I]@1“Invasive Procedures”@2Deep Space Nine episode #24
Teleplay by John Whelpley and Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Story by John Whelpley
Directed by Les Landau
Stardate 47182.1
First aired in 1993
GUEST STARS
Verad JOHN GLOVER
Mareel MEGAN GALLAGHER
T’Kar TIM RUSS
Yeto STEVE RANKIN
The crew must fight for Jadzia’s life when a desperate Trill takes the group hostage and steals the Dax symbiont.
A violent plasma storm leads to the evacuation of Deep Space Nine, leaving a skeleton crew behind to maintain the station. Odo Is suspicious when he learns that Quark is hiding in an airlock, but can pin nothing on the Ferengi. The crew picks up a distress signal from a cargo ship that has been damaged and needs assistance. O’Brien and Odo meet the ship at a docking bay, where the “victims”, a humanoid female named Mareel, Klingon mercenaries T’Kar and Yeto, and a nervous male Trill named Verad, pull weapons on the pair and force Odo to assume liquid form and get into a small box. The group then forces Bashir to put Odo In stasis, and finally winds up In Ops, taking everyone hostage. O’Brien deduces that Quark is connected to their plight, unaware that, at that very moment, Yeto is revealing to the Ferengi that, what Quark thought was commerce, was really a trick to get the group aboard. T’Kar reveals the reason for the takeover – the timid Verad is actually the leader and has come to steal Jadzia’s symbiont.
Unable to look Dax in the eyes, Verad says he has spent his whole life trying to qualify for symbiosis, but has been deemed an unacceptable candidate. Tired of his mediocre life, he has decided to take Dax’s symbiont and escape into the Gamma Quadrant. Dax urges him to reconsider, reminding him that most Trills are not chosen for symbiosis, and that improper joining can cause psychological damage to both symbiont and host. But Verad threatens to kill the rest of the crew if Dax refuses, and she agrees to go through with the procedure that will surely kill her. Mareel gives Verad a tender kiss good-bye, and Bashir reluctantly performs the operation, solemnly removing the symbiont. Back in Ops, Mareel tells Kira about her love and devotion to Verad when Sisko jumps in, warning her that Verad Is sure to be greatly changed after the surgery, becoming a mixture of Verad, Dax and all of Dax’s previous hosts. Mareel replies that she will always love him, just as a far more confident Verad walks In, but he is now Verad Dax.
While Bashir desperately tries to hold on to Jadzia’s life, Sisko talks with Verad, tapping into the lifelong friendship he and the Dax symbiont have shared. Verad reminisces about old times until the memories begin to involve Jadzia, who, Sisko reminds him, is currently dying because of Verad. Sisko urges Verad to give the symbiont back to Jadzia, but Verad is unwilling to part with it, explaining that another joining so soon may destroy the symbiont. Sisko, willing to take that risk, walks out, saying that their friendship is over.
Unable to convince Verad Dax, Sisko turns his attention back to Mareel, urging her to talk with Verad and see for herself how much he has changed. She refuses, claiming to want to let him rest, but Sisko’s words are getting to her. Meanwhile, Quark, trying to atone for what he’s done, jumps T’Kar and is immediately injured. Verad Dax and Mareel make their plans to escape, and Verad tells her he will leave first and she is to meet him at a designated rendezvous point. Despite his assurances, Mareel is hesitant, realizing that Verad has, in fact, changed. Back in surgery, Bashir knocks Yeto unconscious with a hypospray and then he and Quark release Odo from stasis. Soon afterward, Verad attempts to contact Yeto and realizes that Odo must have been freed. He decides to leave Immediately with T’Kar, taking Kira along as a hostage and leaving the dying Jadzia behind.
With Verad Dax gone, Sisko turns back to Mareel, who reveals that Verad has lied to her for the first time and that she fears he will not meet her as planned. Sisko takes advantage of her sadness, reminding her that the old Verad still cares about her, and that by saving Jadzia, Verad will be saved as well. Meanwhile, Verad arrives in the airlock to discover that his ship is not there. Odo suddenly appears, morphing out of a tool cart, and tells him that he released the docking clamps. Kira then attacks T’Kar and a struggle ensues, but Verad escapes to a Runabout airlock just as Sisko appears and pulls a phaser on him. Verad tells Sisko he doubts his old friend will fire and risk killing the Dax symbiont. But Sisko does fire, and Verad soon wakes up in surgery. Although Mareel professes her undying love for him, he is inconsolable over the loss of the symbiont. Dax, however, is back to normal, with the addition of all of Verad’s memories and feelings.
