1:[1,#B],2:[3,#I]@1“Sanctuary”@2Deep Space Nine episode # 30
Teleplay by Frederick Rappaport
Story by Gabe Essoe & Kelley Miles
Directed by Les Landau
Stardate 47391.2
First aired in 1993
GUEST STARS
Varani WILLIAM SCHALLERT
Tumak ANDREW KOENIG
Nog ARON EISENBERG
General Hazar MICHAEL DURRELL
Vayna BETTY McGUIRE
Vedek Sorad ROBERT CURTIS-BROWN
Rozahn KITTY SWINK
and Haneek DEBORAH MAY
Kira is torn when a displaced alien race arrives on Deep Space Nine and claims Bajor as its people’s legendary homeland.
When a ramshackle alien vessel is detected making its way through the wormhole, the ship’s four passengers are transported to Deep Space Nine. The humanoid aliens, led by a female named Haneek, are unable to communicate with the crew since the Universal Translator has trouble with their language, but they instinctively trust Kira. Because of this, she leads the group to the Infirmary, reassures them as Bashir treats their wounds, and shows them to their quarters. There, the Translator begins making sense of Haneek’s words, and Kira discovers that Haneek’s people, the Skrreeans, need help immediately. With Kira’s encouragement, Haneek communicates that there are three million of them on the other side of the wormhole who must be brought through.
Haneek meets with the crew to discuss her problem, and is surprised to see men in positions of authority – all Skrreean leaders are women. She explains that, while she is just a farmer, she is the first of her people to find the legendary “Eye” (the wormhole) that supposedly leads to Kentanna, the mythical home of her race. Most of her leaders were killed by the T-Rogorans, who conquered their people and have since been conquered by The Dominion. Sisko promises to help the displaced Skrreeans find a homeland, and soon afterward, Kira informs Haneek that several Skrreean ships have been located. She suggests that, as the first through the wormhole, Haneek should greet them, and the visitor welcomes a large group of refugees who soon overrun the Promenade, enjoying their first taste of freedom.
While her son Tumak is taunted by Nog, Haneek is made leader of the search by her grateful people, but privately tells Kira she fears that she will not find Kentanna. However, her confidence soon strengthens, and she requests a map of the sector to help locate her homeland. Later, Nog attempts to apologize to Tumak, but he starts a fight that Quark breaks up, making disparaging remarks about the Skrreeans that obviously hurt Tumak. Luckily, Sisko has found a planet, Draylon Two, that will make a good home for the aliens. He, Kira, and Dax break the good news to Haneek, but she has news of her own – she has found her Kentanna, and it is Bajor.
Sisko and Kira meet with Haneek and Bajoran officials Minister Rozahn and Vedek Sorad, and Rozahn tells Haneek that the Skrreeans’ request for immigration has been turned down. She cites Bajor’s own problems as a reason, but Haneek pleads with her, promising that her people only wish to settle in a deserted area and transform it into farmland – something that could help Bajor, which is in the midst of a famine. Still, Rozahn is afraid of being forced to “take care of” the refugees, and when Haneek asks Kira for support, she is shocked that Kira agrees with Rozahn. Later, Kira attempts to explain herself, but Haneek refuses to forgive her. Their tense meeting is interrupted by a summons from Sisko – Tumak has taken a ship and is headed for Bajor.
Sisko tells Haneek that Tumak’s ship has a dangerous radiation leak, but Tumak will not respond to their hails. Haneek attempts to communicate with her son just as two Bajoran ships detect the Skrreean vessel. Kira begs them to let Tumak land, pointing out that he is only a boy, but the Bajorans refuse, saying they have strict orders to refuse access to all Skrreean ships. Sisko hails Bajoran General Hazar, who agrees to tow Tumak if he turns off his engines. But as Haneek again implores her son to do so, he fires on the Bajorans. They return fire before Hazar gives the order to refrain, and while their phasers miss the Skrreean vessel, the fire interacts with the radiation leak and the ship explodes. Later, as the Skrreeans begin to relocate to Draylon Two, Kira meets with Haneek again. Hurt and angry, Haneek tells Kira that the Bajorans have made a mistake based on fear and suspicion. As she leaves the station behind, Kira is left wondering if perhaps she is right.
~1:[4,#B],5:[3,#I]@1“The Search, Part I”@2Deep Space Nine episode #47
Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore
Story by Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Directed by Kim Friedman
Stardate 48212.4
First aired in 1994
GUEST STARS
Female Alien SALOME JENS
T’Rul MARTHA HACKETT
Ornithar JOHN FLECK
Eddington KENNETH MARSHALL
Hoping to avert an invasion, Sisko takes his officers into the Gamma Quadrant on a dangerous mission to find the mysterious leaders of the Dominion.
Preparing for possible invasion by the Jem’Hadar, the soldiers of the Dominion, Kira determines that Deep Space Nine lacks the firepower to defend Itself – until Sisko arrives in an experimental vessel called the Defiant, a warship originally designed to fight the Borg. His plan is to travel with his officers into the Gamma Quadrant and locate the “Founders”, the unseen leaders of the Dominion, with the purpose of demonstrating the Federation’s peaceful intent. If this is impossible, the presence of the Defiant with all of its weaponry will show Sisko’s determination to defend against an invasion. Along for the mission is T’Rul, a Romulan with a cloaking device, which will render the Defiant invisible from the Jem’Hadar during the search. Guarding the device is Lt. Commander Eddington of Starfleet Security, who has been ordered to assume Odo’s duties. Realizing he is being relieved, an angry Odo resigns.
Meanwhile, Sisko coerces Quark into joining the mission because of his past dealings with the Karemma, a race that lives under Dominion rule. Odo also comes aboard the Defiant at the request of the Bajoran government, but shows to be more edgy than normal. After entering the Gamma Quadrant, T’Rul engages the cloaking device, allowing the Defiant to barely escape detection from two Jem’Hadar ships.
Ornithar, a Karemma official, is brought aboard the Defiant and reveals to Quark and Sisko that a race called the Vorta has ordered all communications for the Dominion directed to a relay station on Callinon Seven. Odo’s curiosity draws him strangely toward star charts of the sector, specifically those of the Omarion Nebula. Quark then disembarks while the Defiant heads for the Callinon system. Once there, Dax and O’Brien transport to the unmanned facility. But just as Dax notices that most of the outgoing transmissions are being sent to specific coordinates, her communications to Sisko are cut off. With Jem’Hadar ships on the way, he reluctantly leaves the two behind and orders a course set for the coordinates.
Kira confronts Odo in his quarters to discuss his odd behavior. He confides to her about feeling a mysterious compulsion to travel to the Omarion Nebula – and is convinced that he must go there immediately. Kira tries to make sense of this, but they are interrupted when the Defiant is attacked by three Jem’Hadar vessels.
The Defiant is pummeled by the onslaught, and is boarded by Jem’Hadar soldiers, who overwhelm the bridge crew. Kira and Odo defend themselves, but Kira is shot and falls unconscious. She awakens aboard a shuttlecraft with Odo, who has left the Defiant dead in space. His course – for the Omarion Nebula.
~1:[4,#B],5:[3,#I]@1“The Search, Part II”@2Deep Space Nine episode #48
Teleplay by Ira Steven Behr
Story by Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Directed by Jonathan Frakes
No stardate given
First aired in 1994
GUEST STARS
Female Shape Shifter SALOME JENS
Garak ANDREW ROBINSON
Admiral Necheyev NATALIJA NOGULICH
T’Rul MARTHA HACKETT
Eddington KENNETH MARSHALL
Male Shape Shifter WILLIAM FRANKFATHER
and as Borath DENNIS CHRISTOPHER
While Odo struggles to learn the ways of his people, Sisko discovers that the price of peace with the Dominion may be too high.
Odo and Kira have landed on a lone planet in the Omarion Nebula, which they have discovered is Odo’s homeworld. A female shape shifter encourages him to begin the slow process of learning who he is, and discovering the bond they share, known as the “great link”. Odo is pleased to be reunited with his people, but they don’t like Kira because she is a “solid” life form. Meanwhile, forced to abandon the Defiant during the Jem’Hadar attack days before, Sisko and Bashir are traveling alone in a shuttle when O’Brien and Dax, who have met the Founders, rescue them. Upon returning to the space station, Sisko learns that the Federation is negotiating a peace treaty with the Dominion, represented by one of the Founders, Borath.
When Sisko finds out that the Romulans have been excluded from the peace talks, he expresses his concern to Admiral Necheyev, but she dismisses his fears. On the other side of the wormhole, Kira is unable to contact Sisko because of interference from a hidden power source, while Odo struggles with his “lessons” at shape shifting. Later, the female shape shifter tells Odo that they came to this secret planet a long time ago, as a result of persecution at the hands of the Solids, then reveals he was sent as an infant to explore the galaxy, then return home.
While looking for Odo, Kira discovers a locked door – something for which shape shifters would have no use. This arouses her curiosity. Back on the space station, a fight erupts between O’Brien and a Jem’Hadar soldier because the newcomers have been given free reign. Sisko then discovers that the Federation has signed the treaty, agreeing to give control of the Bajoran sector – including the station and the wormhole – to the Dominion. Over Sisko’s objections, he and his crew will be reassigned.
A happy Odo tells Kira he has decided to remain with his people, but Kira asks him to help her get to the hidden power source before she departs. He is intrigued when Kira reveals it is behind the locked door she has found. Meanwhile, Jem’Hadar soldiers shoot Romulan officer T’Rul in cold blood, then attack an outraged Sisko. Deciding that matters have gotten out-of-hand, Sisko then bands with Garak, Dax, Bashir, and O’Brien on a suicide mission to steal a Runabout, collapse the wormhole, and keep the Dominion on its side of the galaxy forever.
Garak is killed while Sisko and the others escape. Once aboard the Runabout, they fire on the wormhole, collapsing it in a blinding explosion. Meanwhile, Odo unlocks the mysterious door, where he and Kira find Jem’Hadar soldiers waiting. The two are taken to an interrogation room where Sisko and the Defiant crew sit with their eyes closed, devices attached to their heads. Borath is there, revealing that he is really a Vorta, experimenting on the crew to determine how much they will sacrifice to avoid war with the Dominion. The female shape shifter then arrives, disclosing that her people are the mysterious Founders. Saddened that his own race is responsible for so much death and misery, Odo demands that his friends be released, then chooses to return with them. Surprised that their experiences since the Defiant attack didn’t really happen, Sisko and the crew head back to the station. Knowing the truth about his people, Odo realizes now that, even though he may feel like an outsider, his place is with his friends.
~1:[2,#B],3:[3,#I]@1“Second Sight”@2Deep Space Nine episode #29
Teleplay by Mark Gehred-O’Connell and Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Story by Mark Gehred-O’Connell
Directed by Alexander Singer
Stardate 47329.4
First aired in 1993
GUEST STAR
Fenna/Nidell SALLI ELISE RICHARDSON
SPECIAL GUEST STAR
Seyetik RICHARD KILEY
Sisko falls in love for the first time since his wife’s death, but the object of his affections may not be all that she seems.
On the fourth anniversary of his wife’s death, Sisko takes a melancholy late night stroll along the Promenade, where a lovely alien woman named Fenna engages him in conversation. Strangely, however, Fenna disappears almost as quickly as she appeared. The next day, Sisko and Dax meet with Professor Seyetik, an expert in bringing dead planets back to life, who has come to re-ignite the dead sun of solar system Epsilon One-Nineteen. Sisko and Dax discuss the upcoming mission over dinner, but Dax notices that Sisko is strangely distracted. Once the meal is over, he wanders back to the spot where he met Fenna, and is delighted when she suddenly reappears. They make plans for a picnic the next day, but when he asks her to tell him about herself, she runs away without warning.
Sisko asks Odo to look for Fenna, and is then approached by Dax, who questions him about the woman she saw him with the previous evening. Since he knows almost nothing, there isn’t much to tell. That night, he, Dax and the rest of the senior staff join Seyetik on the science vessel Prometheus for dinner, where the professor bores them all with endless accounts of his intellectual escapades. Finally, he introduces his wife, Nidell – and Sisko and Dax are shocked that the woman looks exactly like Fenna. Strangely, she doesn’t seem to recognize Sisko at all.
After the meal, Sisko tells Dax that he is almost certain the shy Nidell is the same outgoing Fenna he met on the Promenade the day before. He casually mentions the meeting to Nidell, but she claims to have never seen Sisko before. However, she is visibly disturbed when he mentions the name Fenna. Back on Deep Space Nine, Sisko tells Odo to call off the search for Fenna since he found her on the Prometheus. Odo replies that this is impossible since no one but Seyetik has been off the vessel since it docked at the station. Frustrated, Sisko heads back to his quarters and finds Fenna waiting for him. When he tells her about Nidell, she obviously has no idea what he is talking about. Sisko continues to press Fenna, asking where she came from, and she tells him that she came to the station to find him. Fenna kisses him passionately, but after he returns the kiss, she disappears – right before his eyes.
While Dax prepares for her mission with Seyetik, Sisko announces that he is coming along, hoping this will help him unravel the Fenna mystery. Soon, the Prometheus is headed toward Epsilon One-Nineteen, with Seyetik prattling on in his usual fashion. He finally tells the story of how he met Nidell when he brought her planet, New Halana, back to life. Hoping this is a clue, Sisko visits Nidell in her quarters, but she says she is too sick to see him. Sisko returns to his guest quarters, where Fenna is waiting for him. Immediately, Sisko summons Dax, who scans her with a tricorder and announces that Fenna is made of pure energy. Sisko then leads Fenna back to Seyetik’s quarters where Nidell is on the floor, unconscious. A panicked Seyetik begs him to help, and much to Sisko’s surprise, recognizes Fenna.
Seyetik explains that Nidell is a psycho-projective telepath and that Fenna is just one of many images she has created. Sisko asks Seyetik why this is killing her, and the professor explains that Halanans lose control of this ability while under stress. He sadly admits that he is probably the cause of that stress, but adds that since Halanans mate for life, Nidell can never leave him. When Fenna realizes she truly has no past to tell Sisko about, it becomes clear that Seyetik’s story is true. Realizing that their love is only a dream, Fenna kisses Sisko good-bye and prepares to return to Nidell to save her life. At that moment, Dax summons Sisko to the Bridge – Seyetik has taken a shuttlepod and is heading toward the dead sun. Realizing the professor means to kill himself, Sisko tries to stop him, but Seyetik insists that he wants to set Nidell free. His ship explodes on impact, the sun is brought back to life, and Fenna slowly disappears. Back on Deep Space Nine, Nidell recovers, but because she cannot remember her “life” as Fenna, her feelings for him are gone. She leaves the station to return to New Halana, and Sisko is left to cope with the pain of another lost love.
~1:[2,#B],3:[3,#I]@1“Second Skin”@2Deep Space Nine episode #51
Written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Directed by Les Landau
No stardate given
First aired in 1994
GUEST STARS
Garak ANDREW ROBINSON
Entek GREGORY SIERRA
Yeln TONY PAPENFUSS
Yteppa CINDY KATZ
and as Ghemor LAWRENCE PRESSMAN
Kira is kidnapped by the Cardassians, who try to prove to her that she is really one of their people.
Kira is surprised when she sees records indicating that she was incarcerated at Elemspur, a Cardassian prison, ten years ago. Certain she was never at the prison, Kira tracks down a man listed as her one surviving cellmate. The stranger claims to remember Kira, but she has no idea who he is and decides to learn the truth. Kira departs for Bajor, but is kidnapped, waking up on Cardassia, where an official named Entek tells her she has been brought home. Looking in a mirror, Kira is horrified to see that she now looks like a Cardassian.
Entek gently tells her she is Iliana Ghemor, a field operative of the Obsidian Order who volunteered for an undercover assignment on Bajor a decade ago. The Cardassians captured the real Kira, gave her memories and appearance to Iliana, then sent the replacement back to Bajor to infiltrate the resistance. Entek leaves, giving the disbelieving Kira a data rod containing a personal message Iliana recorded before she left. Soon afterward, Legate and Central Command member Tekeny Ghemor arrives, claiming he is her father and they are in his home. Kira dismisses him, and is surprised when he seems genuinely hurt that his daughter’s suppressed memories haven’t yet returned.
Back on Deep Space Nine, Garak reveals that Kira may be held by the Obsidian Order. Sisko decides to go to Cardassia and find her, forcing Garak to join him and Odo. On Cardassia, Ghemor tries desperately to jar Kira’s memory of her life as his daughter, but she refuses to either believe him or trust his intentions. Entek attempts to interrogate Kira, saying they need information from Iliana’s mission, but is frustrated that her memory is not resurfacing. Entek then shows her a younger Kira’s dead body, which has been cryogenically preserved, looking just like it did in the prison record.
Kira believes the body to be a fake, but Entek then speaks of experiences she has never told another person. For the first time, Kira begins to doubt herself, but she doesn’t give up and decides to escape, only to have Ghemor catch her. Later, Entek returns and begins to interrogate her yet again. An angry Ghemor comes in and dismisses Entek, invoking his status with the Central Command, then tells Kira that, even though it will break his heart, he will get her away from Cardassia.
As the final arrangements are made, Ghemor reveals that he is a dissident. This puts the pieces of the puzzle together for Kira. She realizes that Entek is not really after her, but is only using her resemblance to Ghemor’s daughter to get him to betray the Central Command. Entek then enters with two Obsidian Order agents who surround Kira and Ghemor. But Sisko, Garak, and Odo appear and stop them, with Garak killing Entek in the process. Ghemor returns with Kira to Deep Space Nine, where tests prove she is Bajoran. Ghemor vows to find his real daughter, but also tells Kira that, until then, she is the closest thing to family he has.
~1:[1,#b],2:[3,#i]@1“Shadowplay”@2Deep Space Nine episode # 36
Written by Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Directed by Robert Sheerer
Stardate 47603.3
First aired in 1994
GUEST STARS
Colyus KENNETH MARS
Rurigan KENNETH TOBEY
Taya NOLEY THORNTON
and as Vedek Bareil PHILIP ANGLIM
Odo and Dax try to solve the mystery of an alien planet whose inhabitants are disappearing without explanation.
In the Gamma Quadrant, Dax and Odo detect an unusual particle field on the surface of an unexplored planet. Transporting to the source, they find an alien village and some kind of reactor emitting the particle field. They are then taken prisoner by Colyus, Protector of an Yaderan colony which settled in a valley there. He explains that Dax and Odo’s arrival coincides with the mysterious disappearances of twenty-two people. Odo and Dax are sympathetic to Colyus’s plight and offer their help in solving the mystery. They meet Rurigan, an elderly man whose daughter is the most recent victim, and Odo questions Rurigan’s young granddaughter, Taya, the last person to see her mother before she vanished.
The next day, Odo tries to establish a rapport with the shy Taya, and she opens up to him and talks about her life and her mother. Odo is surprised when she explains that the Yaderans never leave their valley, and reveals Rurigan thinks her mother will never return, but Odo vows to bring back the missing woman.
Odo learns from Rurigan that he is one of the founding members of the village, the oldest one remaining, and that he is dying. He also assures Odo that searching away from the valley for the missing people would be futile. Still, Odo is determined to investigate, and goes with Dax and Taya to the edge of the valley. As Dax and Odo pass some bushes, the Yaderan sensing device Dax is carrying disappears. Then Taya reaches past the bushes, but her arm disappears up to the elbow, then rematerializes as she pulls it back closer to her face.
After some investigation, Dax and Odo share their surprising findings with Colyus. The entire village, including all the people, is an elaborate holographic projection, created by the village reactor that generates the particle field. The reactor is breaking down, causing people to disappear. After the villagers see this for themselves, Colyus convinces them that – real or not – if they are to survive, Dax and Odo must be allowed to shut down the reactor and repair it before it experiences a complete failure. Dax proceeds, and the village vanishes, leaving Dax and Odo standing – with a very real Rurigan.
Rurigan explains that when the Dominion took over Yadera Prime and destroyed his life, he came to this planet and used a holo-generator to recreate the world he had lost. Realizing his illusion may be forever gone, Rurigan reluctantly asks to be taken back to his homeworld. But Dax and Odo have a different view of the situation. They show Rurigan that, if the Yaderans are real enough for him to develop feelings, they are real enough to deserve a chance at survival. Dax and Rurigan repair the reactor, and the entire society reappears, including his missing daughter and the rest of the people who vanished.
~1:[1,#B],2:[3,#I]@1“Shakaar”@2Deep Space Nine episode #70
Written by Gordon Dawson
Directed by Jonathan West
No stardate given
First aired in 1995
GUEST STARS
Shakaar DUNCAN REGEHR
Lupaza DIANE SALINGER
Furel WILLIAM LOCKING
Syvar SHERMAN HOWARD
Lenaris JOHN DOMAN
SPECIAL GUEST STAR
Kai Winn LOUISE FLETCHER
Sent to Bajor on a mission against her former leader in the resistance movement, Kira ends up joining him as a fugitive.
When the First Minister of the Bajoran Provisional Government dies, Kai Winn is appointed to his duties and about to be formally elected. Later, Winn approaches Kira with a special request. A group of farmers in Kira’s home province refuse to return some soil reclamators that Winn needs for Bajor’s recovery efforts in Rakantha Province. Their leader, Shakaar, also led Kira’s resistance cell during the occupation, so Winn wants Kira to convince him to return the property. Kira is reluctant to go up against a friend, but agrees to do it for the good of Bajor.
Kira returns home and finds Shakaar, who calmly tells his side of the story: he only received the reclamators two months before, after a three-year wait, and was told that he and fellow farmers Furel and Lupaza would have their use for a year. But when Winn took over, they were ordered to return them immediately. Since the Rakantha project is geared toward farming products for export, while Shakaar’s farmers are trying to feed their people, he sees his project as far more important. Kira encourages him to meet with Winn, hoping they can compromise.
Kira tells Winn that she has arranged a meeting, to which she agrees. Later, as Kira briefs Shakaar for the discussion, two security officers arrive to arrest him. Infuriated that Winn lied, Kira helps subdue the officers and escapes with Shakaar.
Now fugitives, Shakaar, Kira, and their comrades hide in the mountains where they once eluded the Cardassians. Weeks later, as Bajoran troops close in, Shakaar’s exhausted group realizes there is no option but to stop running and fight. Reluctantly, he and Kira lead them into a canyon to set up an ambush.
Hiding In the canyon, Shakaar and Kira watch as the Bajoran troops enter their trap. But as they see the faces of their “enemies,” the realization hits that they will be shooting former comrades-in-arms. Unwilling to do this, Kira and Shakaar drop their weapons and, after a brief conversation with the leader, Lenaris, a cease-fire is called. Later, Lenaris takes Kira and Shakaar to Winn’s office, where Shakaar informs her that he has decided to enter the election for First Minister. Realizing a competitive election with the popular Shakaar will expose how Winn’s actions brought Bajor to the brink of civil war, Winn decides to step down from the race.
~1:[2,#B],3:[3,#I]@1“The Siege”@2Deep Space Nine episode #23
Written by Michael Piller
Directed by Winrich Kolbe
No stardate given
First aired in 1993
GUEST STARS
Keiko ROSALIND CHAO
Day STEVEN WEBER
Li Nalas RICHARD BEYMER
Krim STEPHEN MACHT
Rom MAX GRODENCHIK
Nog ARON EISENBERG
Vedek Bareil PHILIP ANGLIM
SPECIAL GUEST STAR
Vedek Winn LOUISE FLETCHER
While Sisko leads a daring last stand against the Bajoran takeover forces, Kira and Dax embark on a desperate mission to reveal the truth about the coup.
With less than five hours remaining before Bajoran forces are due to arrive, Sisko continues to evacuate Deep Space Nine. He elects to remain aboard to delay the station takeover, and is pleased when his officers choose to stay with him. Kira maintains that the only real hope of stopping The Circle is to get evidence of the secret Cardassian involvement to Bajor’s Chamber of Ministers. With communications jammed and all Runabouts involved in the evacuation, she and Dax arrange to get taken to the Lunar-Five base, where ancient Bajoran raiders – the only transportation available – await them. Meanwhile, the Promenade is in total chaos with almost everyone, including Bajorans, making attempts to flee. Li is able to convince some of his people to stay, but there are still too many passengers and too few ships. This is because Quark, true to form, has seized the opportunity to make money by selling seats, and has accidentally “overbooked” and sold more seats than are actually available. Luckily, all civilians, including O’Brien’s family and Sisko’s son, are able to escape the coming siege.
Some time later, Bajoran raiders, led by Colonel Day and Over-General Krim, arrive at Deep Space Nine. Seeing no Federation members anywhere, they cautiously assume that the station has been abandoned, not realizing that a small team led by Sisko is hiding. Eventually, however, Krim decides that some people may still be aboard when it’s noticed that the internal security system has been disabled. He reports this to Minister Jaro, who reminds Krim and Day that it is most important they take Li Nalas alive, to seal their victory.
Hidden in the conduits, Sisko and Bashir command two teams of would-be resisters, while Odo spies on the Bajorans. When Odo reports that a six-man team is preparing to search the cargo deck, Bashir and his group successfully intercept the soldiers and take them prisoner. Meanwhile, on one of Bajor’s moons, Kira and Dax locate a dilapidated raider and manage to get it flying, but are soon intercepted by two highly superior Bajoran ships. Kira attempts to fly into Bajor’s atmosphere to evade the attacking vessels, but they are hit and crash onto the planet’s surface.
In an effort to stall the Bajorans, Day is lured into a Holosuite, where he attempts to “capture” holographic images of the crew. The images fade from view and the door locks, giving Sisko, via voice communication, an opportunity to tell Day about the Cardassian plot, and that proof is on the way to Bajor. Day is unimpressed, however, and neglects to tell Krim about the plot after he is released from the suite. Instead, they set about searching the conduits for the Starfleet team.
Amidst the Runabout wreckage, Kira, who is badly hurt, tries to convince Dax to leave her and deliver the evidence to the Chamber of Ministers herself. But Dax refuses to abandon Kira, and the two are soon discovered. Luckily, the Bajorans who found them have been sent by Bareil, who has Kira’s wounds tended to at his monastery and helps disguise her and Dax as monks. Despite Kira’s protests, he insists on accompanying the women to the Chamber of Ministers. Back at the station, Bashir creates a diversion, giving an armed O’Brien, Li, and Sisko access to Krim, who they eventually corner at gun point, forcing him to listen.
On Bajor, a session of the Chamber of Ministers is interrupted by the arrival of Kira, Dax, and Bareil. Jaro immediately recognizes Kira and orders guards to seize her, but she tells the Ministers about how the Cardassians are secretly behind the coup and provides evidence to prove it. Jaro is left in a state of shock, refusing to believe that he has played into the hands of the Cardassians. Vedek Winn quickly sides with Kira and the other Ministers against her one-time ally. The news soon reaches Deep Space Nine, where Krim, realizing that Bajor’s provisional government still stands, recognizes that it is his duty to return the station to Sisko and the Federation and does so. However, Day refuses to give up the fight, and pulls a phaser on Sisko. Li steps in to take the full force of the shot and dies, escaping the responsibility of leadership that he dreaded so much. The next day, the crew, especially Kira, mourns Li’s loss, but their sadness is tempered by the arrival of the evacuees and the realization that life on Deep Space Nine will soon be back to normal.
