1:[3,#B],154:[8,#I],181:[6,#I],203:[2,#I],206:[5,#I],245:[8,#I]@1“The Wire” (DS9)@2(No stardate given). Deep Space 9 medical officer Julian Bashir observes that station resident Elim Garak appears to be in serious pain, although Garak refuses to be examined and declines offers of help. Investigation by Bashir reveals the fact that Garak had been using a neural implant device to subject himself to abnormally high concentrations of certain endorphins, producing a powerful narcotic effect. A malfunction of the neural implant is found to be causing severe withdrawal symptoms in Garak. Bashir is successful in obtaining Cardassian biomedical information from Garak’s former associate, Enabran Tain, to allow treatment of Garak.
• Cardassian colonists living near the Demilitarized Zone attack and destroy a Juhrya freighter. The Cardassian government deplores the incident, but it is difficult to control because of similar attacks by Federation civilians who call themselves the Maquis. Both Cardassian and Federation authorities fear the situation may deteriorate into large-scale armed hostilities.
Less than a week before “Preemptive Strike” (TNG).
• Keiko O’Brien returns to station Deep Space 9 after having attended a hydroponics conference on planet Rigel IV.
A week after “The Wire” (DS9).
• Lieutenant Ro Laren, having completed Starfleet’s Advanced Tactical Training program, returns to duty aboard the Starship Enterprise -D.
Prior to “Preemptive Strike” (TNG).
• On planet Bajor, the political scene heats up with the upcoming election to replace Kai Opaka. Among the leading candidates to become the next kai are Vedek Tolena, Vedek Winn, and Vedek Bareil.
A few weeks prior to “The Collaborator” (DS9).
~1:[3,#B],83:[2,#I],166:[4,#I]@1“Preemptive Strike” (TNG)@2Stardate 47941.7. Admiral Necheyev assigns Lieutenant Ro to a covert mission to infiltrate the Maquis near the Demilitarized Zone. Ro poses as a fugitive from Starfleet who is wanted for killing a Cardassian soldier and is subsequently invited to join a Maquis cell near the Demilitarized Zone. Ro learns of an impending Maquis preemptive strike against a rumored shipment of Cardassian biogenic weapons. Ro attempts to demonstrate her trustworthiness to her Maquis comrades by conducting a raid on the Starship Enterprise -D to secure badly needed medical supplies. The ploy is successful, and Ro is subsequently assigned to lure a Maquis force into a trap so that they can be captured. At the last moment, Ro feels remorse at betraying her new friends. She aborts the operation, escaping with her Maquis comrades, effectively ending her Starfleet career.
• Deep Space 9 officers Kira and Bashir travel to the New Bajor colony in the Gamma Quadrant to assist with opening the colony’s hospital.
Prior to “Crossover” (DS9).
~1:[2,#B],173:[7,#I]@1“Crossover” (DS9)@2(No stardate given). Returning from the Gamma Quadrant a runabout piloted by Kira and Bashir suffers a partially collapsed warp field while in the Bajoran wormhole. The malfunction transposes the ship into a mirror universe, the same alternate reality visited by Captain James Kirk and members of his crew a little over a century ago
In the mirror universe, Kira and Bashir are captured by agents of the Alliance of the Cardassians and the Klingons that overthrew the Terran Empire many decades ago and enslaved humanity. They are taken to station Terok Nor, still orbiting Bajor in the mirror reality, where they escape with the aid of Terran slaves, the mirror versions of Benjamin Sisko and Miles O’Brien. Kira and Bashir’s presence in the mirror universe helps the mirror Sisko and O’Brien realize that they can fight for human freedom.
• Lieutenant Worf and Counselor Deanna Troi spend an evening sharing a holodeck simulation of the Black Sea at night. It looks like a romantic relationship may finally be blooming.
Moments prior to “All Good Things...” (TNG).
~1:[4,#B],7:[1,#I],172:[12,#I],189:[17,#I],243:[6,#I]@1“All Good Things...” (TNG)@2Stardate 47988.1. Enterprise -D captain Jean-Luc Picard reports that he has experienced time shifts between the present day, seven years in the past, and twenty-five years in the future. According to Picard, the time shifts were caused by Q, who did so to give Picard the opportunity to stop a temporal anomaly from destroying all life on Earth. Picard further indicates that he had evidently been directly responsible for creating this anomaly, but this was in fact the work of the Q continuum, rendering a verdict in the trial begun seven years ago. Nevertheless, Picard credits Q with having lent a helping hand, making it possible to save humanity from total annihilation. Picard, believing that normal prohibitions against altering the timeline do not apply in this case, informs his friends of their possible futures, giving them an opportunity to shape their own destinies.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard joins the ship’s weekly poker game for the first time. Dealing to his friends, he observes that “The sky’s the limit.”
Editors’ Note: “All Good Things...” (TNG) was the last television episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, although the adventures of Jean-Luc Picard and his crew continued the following year in the feature film Star Trek: Generations.
• Vedek Bareil, campaigning to become the next kai, takes three days off to visit Kira Nerys at station Deep Space 9. Although Bareil is favored to win, Vedek Winn continues to campaign hard.
Three days before “The Collaborator” (DS9).
~1:[3,#B],93:[123,#I]@1“The Collaborator” (DS9)@2(No stardate given). On the eve of Bajor’s election to determine the next kai, Vedek Winn quietly reveals allegations that Vedek Bareil had, years ago, been a Cardassian collaborator. Winn accuses Bareil of having been the informer who caused the infamous Kendra Valley massacre in which 42 Bajorans were killed, including the son of then-Kai Opaka. Preliminary investigation supports these charges. Although Winn has publicized neither the accusations nor the investigation, Bareil withdraws from the election.
Winn is elected kai, becoming the new spiritual leader of the Bajoran people.
Editors’ note: Bareil’s appearance of guilt in “The Collaborator” (DS9) was because he was remaining silent to protect Kai Opaka, who had in fact allowed the massacre (and the death of her son), to save the lives of over a thousand other Bajorans. Only Bareil and Kira (and probably Winn) knew of Opaka’s role in the tragedy, but they were likely to keep the secret, so it’s likely that neither the Federation nor the Bajoran public learned the truth. The Kendra Valley massacre happened several years in the past, probably less than ten because Kubus was on the station at the same time as Dukat. Nevertheless, we don’t really know enough to hazard a reliable guess as to when the massacre took place.
~1:[2,#B],146:[3,#I],167:[5,#I]@1“Tribunal” (DS9)@2Stardate 47944.2. Miles and Keiko O’Brien depart station Deep Space 9 for a much-needed vacation. While en route via runabout, Miles O’Brien is abducted by a Cardassian patrol ship and taken to Cardassia to stand public trial for alleged involvement in illegal arms shipments to the Maquis. As is normal in the Cardassian system of justice, O’Brien’s being brought to trial means that he has already been found guilty by the government; the trial merely serves as public confirmation of that guilt. Nevertheless, investigation by DS9 security chief Odo reveals that O’Brien had, in fact been framed by Cardassian operatives seeking to link Starfleet with Maquis terrorist acts. Unwilling to permit public disclosure of this evidence, the Cardassian government, in an almost unprecedented move, sets aside the verdict and orders O’Brien released.
• Miles and Keiko O’Brien finally get to take their vacation.
After “Tribunal” (DS9).
• Jake Sisko begins work on a science project to determine root growth of different Bajoran katterpod hybrids.
Prior to “The Jem’Hadar” (DS9).
~1:[3,#B],97:[2,#I],122:[1,#I],124:[1,#I],127:[1,#I],148:[1,#I],221:[4,#I],278:[24,#I]@1“The Jem’Hadar” (DS9)@2(No stardate given). Commander Ben Sisko, Jake Sisko, Quark, and Quark’s nephew, Nog, on a camping expedition to a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, are captured by Jem’Hadar soldiers, the first known direct Federation contact with members of the Dominion.
Shortly thereafter, a Jem’Hadar vessel arrives at station Deep Space 9, demanding an end to all traffic through the wormhole, threatening to destroy any Federation ship in the Gamma Quadrant. The threat is emphasized by the destruction of several Alpha Quadrant ships and the massacre of colonists at the New Bajor colony.
The Starship Odyssey, commanded by Captain Keogh, docks at station Deep Space 9 to confer with station personnel regarding the Jem’Hadar threat. Deep Space 9 runabouts Mekong and Orinoco accompany the Odyssey into the Gamma Quadrant to investigate the situation. Although the runabout crews are successful in rescuing Sisko and company, the Odyssey is destroyed in a Jem’Hadar attack, resulting in the loss of all hands. It is subsequently learned that the entire Jem’Hadar offensive had been an attempt to plant a spy in Federation territory, although the spy escapes upon being discovered.
• Commander Benjamin Sisko files a request with Starfleet Command for additional equipment to protect Deep Space 9 and the Bajor Sector in the event of a Dominion incursion through the wormhole.
After “The Jem’Hadar” (DS9).
• Kai Winn invites Vedek Bariel to become one of her principal advisors. Bariel accepts, believing that Winn’s new responsibilities have changed her. Bariel works behind the scenes with Legate Turrel to pave the way for talks with the Cardassian Central Command that could lead to a peace settlement between Bajor and Cardassia.
Some time after “The Collaborator” (DS9), but before “Fascination” (DS9). Preliminary talks with Turrel established as having begun five months before “Life Support’ (DS9).
• The god-like life-form known to the Ocampa people as the Caretaker falls ill and is near death. The Caretaker had created an underground city for the Ocampa and had provided it with power for the past millennium. Realizing that they cannot survive without him, he seeks to find a genetically compatible life-form with whom he can procreate so that his offspring can continue to care for the Ocampa. The Caretaker searches the galaxy, but is unsuccessful in his quest. In desperation, he begins to increase the power that he provides to the underground Ocampa city so that they may have a few years’ worth of reserves after his death.
“Caretaker” (VGR). Several months prior to the episode.
• El-Aurian scientist Dr. Tolian Soran engages the assistance of Lursa and B’Etor to steal quantities of trilithium compound from the Romulans. In exchange, Soran promises to provide technical information to the Duras sisters that will permit the construction of a trilithium-based weapon. Soran is currently working at the Amargosa solar observatory, where he has been secretly constructing a solar probe designed to deliver trilithium, a nuclear inhibitor, into the Amargosa star. Soran has also placed a second probe launcher on the surface of planet Veridian III.
Some time prior to Star Trek: Generations.
• Commander Benjamin Sisko returns to Earth, where he spends several weeks debriefing Starfleet Command on the Dominion and Jem’Hadar situation. Sisko pleads for the means to defend the Bajor Sector in the event of a Jem’Hadar invasion. Another topic of discussion is Starfleet’s discomfort with Deep Space 9 security chief Odo. Although Sisko defends his officer, Odo’s unorthodox style has been a source of irritation to headquarters, and Sisko is ordered to accept a Starfleet security officer on the station.
Sisko’s son, Jake, accompanies him on the trip to Earth.
Two months before “The Search, Part I” (DS9).
• Starfleet Command once again orders a change in the Starfleet emblem. The new design features a rounded rectangular bar behind the arrowhead.
Date is conjecture, but we saw the Next Generation-style of communicator badges used through the end of the previous season, and the new version was introduced at the beginning of this season.
Editors’ Note: This version of the Starfleet emblem was first seen in “The Search, Part I” (DS9), although it was designed for the Enterprise -D crew in Star Trek: Generations.
• The United Federation of Planets concludes an agreement with the Romulan Star Empire, under which the Romulans will provide a cloaking device to the Federation’s Starfleet for the purpose of defending the Alpha Quadrant against the Jem’Hadar and the Dominion. The loaned cloaking device is installed into Starfleet’s experimental U.S.S. Defiant, which is being assigned to Deep Space 9 at Sisko’s request. This is the first treaty between Romulus and the Federation in many years.
Prior to “The Search, Part I” (DS9).
• Ben Sisko, just prior to departing for Deep Space 9, has his personal belongings, including his treasured African art collection, taken out of storage on Earth and shipped out to the station.
“Last Thursday” before “The Search, Part I” (DS9).
• While en route from Earth to Deep Space 9, Benjamin Sisko meets with Ferengi Grand Nagus Zek. The Nagus agrees that peaceful contact with the Founders of the Dominion is essential to maintaining business opportunities. Zek therefore agrees to grant Sisko the authority to order Quark to accompany Sisko on a mission into Dominion space for the purpose of making contact with the Founders.
Deep Space 9 personnel conduct simulations to determine defense strategies in the event of a Jem’Hadar attack of the Bajor Sector. The studies conclude that the station cannot last more than two hours without significant additional reinforcements.
Prior to “The Search, Part I” (DS9).
~1:[5,#B],9:[2,#I],51:[1,#I],81:[1,#I],111:[1,#I],122:[1,#I],180:[7,#I]@1“The Search, Part I” (DS9)@2Stardate 47212.4. The Starship Defiant, newly assigned to defend the Bajor Sector, arrives at Deep Space 9, commanded by Benjamin Sisko. Also assigned to the Defiant is Subcommander T’Rul, a Romulan officer in charge of the cloaking device on loan from the Romulan government.
The Defiant’s first mission is to travel to the Karemma system in the Gamma Quadrant to locate the reclusive Founders of the Dominion. Based on information obtained from the Karemma, the Defiant then proceeds to Callinon VII, location of a subspace relay station used, indirectly, for messages from the Founders. While attempting to obtain information from the Callinon VII station, the Defiant and her crew are captured by the Jem’Hadar.
The only Defiant crew members to escape are Odo and Kira, who proceed by shuttlecraft to the Omarion Nebula, where Odo believes his species may have originated. In the nebula, Odo finds a rogue Class-M planet, on which he locates a group of shape-shifters like himself.
• A Jem’Hadar child is born. The infant is placed aboard a transport vessel.
About two weeks before “The Abandoned” (DS9).
~1:[5,#B],53:[1,#I],120:[1,#I],127:[93,#I],304:[21,#I],345:[1,#I],389:[7,#I]@1“The Search, Part II” (DS9)@2(No stardate given in episode). Odo, on the shape-shifters’ homeworld in the Omarion Nebula, learns of his past. He finds that he was one of a hundred infants sent out into galaxy in hopes that he would one day return with new knowledge of the stars.
The Defiant command crew is subjected to an experiment that reveals the fact that life-forms in the Alpha Quadrant would vigorously defend against a direct incursion by the Dominion. This experiment is conducted by the Vorta for the Founders of the Dominion. It is learned that the shape-shifters hiding in the Omarion Nebula are, in fact, the reclusive Founders, and it is only through Odo’s intervention that the Defiant personnel are permitted to leave unharmed.
Editors’ Note: The shape-shifters revealed some of their history in “The Search, Part II” (DS9), of a past time when they freely roamed the stars, exploring the galaxy. They told of their persecution by non-shape-shifting “solids,” of their retreat to the Omarion Nebula, of their founding the Dominion for self-preservation, and of their later efforts to explore the stars by sending a hundred infants into the galaxy. Unfortunately, they didn’t give any significant clues as to when any of this happened, so these items don’t appear in the main body of this Chronology.
• Jake Sisko meets Kasidy Yates, a freighter captain. At Quark’s bar on station Deep Space 9, Yates backs Jake in a high-stakes game of dom-jot. Jake is quite taken with Yates, and uses her as the basis of a character in a story he’s writing. Jake also speculates about the possibility of a romantic relationship between Yates and his father, Benjamin Sisko.
Keiko O’Brien is impressed with Jake Sisko’s finished story, and submits it on his behalf to the Pennington School on Earth.
“Explorers” (DS9). Date is conjecture, but we think it was before Keiko closed the school, prior to “House of Quark” (DS9).
• Traffic and commerce at station Deep Space 9 declines noticeably as word spreads throughout the Bajor Sector of the Defiant crew’s confrontation with the Founders. Many Bajoran nationals, fearing for their safety in the event of a war with the Dominion, depart the station for their homeworld.
Keiko O’Brien closes her schoolroom at Deep Space 9 when enrollment drops to only two pupils.
Prior to “The House of Quark” (DS9).
~1:[5,#B],45:[1,#I]@1“The House of Quark” (DS9)@2(No stardate given in episode). Kozak, head of the Klingon House of Kozak, dies in an accident at Quark’s bar on station Deep Space 9. Kozak’s widow, Grilka, believing that Quark had caused her husband’s death, invokes the Klingon brek’tal ritual, making Quark her new mate. Grilka’s highly unusual move is intended to protect her House against the rival House of D’Ghor, which seeks to control the assets of the House of Kozak. The D’Ghor bid is rejected by Klingon High Council leader Gowron after D’Ghor demonstrates a lack of honor in his challenge against the Ferengi, Quark.
~1:[2,#B],51:[199,#I],289:[5,#I],313:[16,#I]@1“Equilibrium” (DS9)@2(No stardate given in episode). Deep Space 9 science officer Jadzia Dax experiences unexplained hallucinations, accompanied with a significant drop in her isoboramine levels. The condition is sufficiently troubling that Dax is returned to the Trill homeworld, where she is treated by specialists at the Trill Symbiosis Commission.
Editors’ Note: On Trill, Deep Space 9 personnel learned that Jadzia Dax was suffering from flashbacks to an earlier host, one whose existence had been suppressed from the Dax symbiont’s memory. They learned that records of the previous host had been erased because that host was an unsuitable candidate, but that he had survived in a joined state for several months. The Trill government feared that if this information became known to the Trill public, it would call into question the general belief that only one Trill in a thousand was suitable for joining. The government believed that such questions would undermine the commission’s control over the selection of host candidates, and was willing to do virtually anything to maintain that control. Accordingly, the Symbiosis Commission was willing to let Jadzia Dax die, rather than reveal this information. After Ben Sisko and Julian Bashir uncovered these facts, Symbiosis Commission officials agreed to save Jadzia’s life in exchange for their promise of silence. We therefore assume that outside of the Trill government, no one except for Sisko, Bashir, and Dax are aware that nearly half of the Trill population could be successfully joined, if only there were enough symbionts available.
• A Jem’Hadar spacecraft crashes somewhere in the Gamma Quadrant. Wreckage is recovered by a Boslic ship, and taken to station Deep Space 9 for sale. The Boslic vessel’s captain is unaware of the origin of the downed ship.
Prior to “The Abandoned” (DS9).
• Keiko O’Brien and her daughter, Molly, depart station Deep Space 9 for an agrobiology expedition on planet Bajor.
About two months before “Fascination” (DS9), and about two weeks after “The House of Quark” (DS9).
