[Saratoga - Bridge]

LOCUTUS [on viewscreen]: Resistance is futile. You will disarm your weapons and escort us to sector zero zero one. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you.
CAPTAIN: (a Vulcan) Red alert. Load all torpedo bays. Ready phasers. Move us to position alpha, Ensign.
(The space battle begins)
OPS OFFICER: (woman) They've locked on.
SISKO: Reroute auxiliary power.
OPS OFFICER: Our shields are being drained. Sixty four percent. Forty two.
CAPTAIN: Recalibrate shield nutation.
TACTICAL: (Bolian) Modulation is having no effect.
OPS OFFICER: Shields have failed.
SISKO: Full reverse.
CAPTAIN: Maintain all Argh!
(Everything goes BOOM)
SISKO: Damage report. Damage report!
COMPUTER: Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in five minutes.
TACTICAL: Direct hit decks one through four. 
SISKO: Let's get the civilians to the escape pods, Lieutenant.
TACTICAL: Aye, sir.

[Corridor]

SISKO: Leave everything. Get to your assigned evacuation area now.
COMPUTER: Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in four minutes.
(They come to a woman)
SISKO: Doran.
TACTICAL: I'll take care of her. You go on.
SISKO: Have you seen Jennifer?

[Sisko's quarters]

(The room is on fire and Sisko's wife and son are trapped beneath girders and debris)
SISKO: Jennifer? Jake!
COMPUTER: Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in three minutes.
(Sisko starts throwing debris away and pulls the boy out.)
SISKO: I'm going to get your mom. You're going to be okay.
(More debris shifting)
SISKO: Jennifer. Okay, Jake, we'll get your mom out and we'll get out of here.
TACTICAL: Commander!
SISKO: Help me. Jennifer, hold on.
TACTICAL: (scanning her) Sir.
SISKO: Just help me to get her free.
TACTICAL: She's gone. There's nothing we can do. We have to leave.
COMPUTER: Warning. Damage to warp core. Containment failure in two minutes.
TACTICAL: Ensign, take the boy.
ENSIGN: Aye, sir.
TACTICAL: We've got to go now, sir.
SISKO: Damn it, we just can't leave her here.
(The Bolian hauls the protesting Sisko out of the room)

[Runabout]

SISKO: Jake. Jake, you're okay.
CREWMAN: Stand by to launch.
CREWWOMAN: Ready.
(And the Saratoga goes KaBOOM)

Stardate 46379.1. Three years later.

[Fishing pond]

(The gangly youth is fishing off a covered bridge)
SISKO: Jake, there you are. How are they biting?
JAKE: Small fries. Threw them back. Want to go for a swim?
SISKO: Don't have time. We have to get ready. It won't be so bad. I've heard that Bajor is a beautiful world.
JAKE: So why can't we live on the planet instead of some old space station?
SISKO: The station is in orbit of Bajor. It'll be just like shore duty.
JAKE: Will there be kids there?
SISKO: Absolutely. Lots of kids.
CAPTAIN [OC]: Bridge to Sisko.
SISKO: Yes, Captain.
CAPTAIN [OC]: We're approaching Deep Space Nine, Commander. We'll be docking in seven minutes.
SISKO: Acknowledged. Come on. What do you say? We'll take the pond with us. Computer, end programme.

[Corridor]

JAKE: Is that it?
(Through a viewing window we see a circular space station with three curved vertical spines above and below. Oh, you know what it looks like.)

Commence station log, Deep Space Nine, Commander Benjamin Sisko, Stardate 46388.2. At the request of the Bajoran provisional government, Starfleet has agreed to establish a Federation presence in this system following the withdrawal of Cardassian occupational forces. The first contingent of officers, including my Chief of Operations, Miles O'Brien, arrived two days ago on the Enterprise.

[Promenade]

(The place looks like it's been in the middle of a war zone. O'Brien is in black overalls with coloured shoulders whilst Sisko is still in the TNG style uniform.)
O'BRIEN: I'm told the Cardassians decided to have some fun the day they left. Four Bajorans were killed trying to protect their shops.
SISKO: Why hasn't anybody cleaned this up?
O'BRIEN: We've got all available personnel assigned to repairing primary systems, sir. The Cardassians took every component of value. We're virtually defenceless. I discussed this with Major Kira, the attaché assigned here by the Bajoran government and we decided
SISKO: Understood. What about the civilians who operated these shops?
O'BRIEN: A lot of them lost everything they had. A few are trying to rebuild, but most are packing up to leave.

[Shrine entrance]

MONK: Welcome, Commander. Please enter. The prophets await you.
SISKO: Another time, perhaps.
MONK: Another time.

[Sisko's quarters]

O'BRIEN: When my wife Keiko saw our quarters, she started talking about visiting her mother in Kumamoto. Sir, I wouldn't allow the boy to go roaming. We're still having some security problems.
JAKE: Dad, there is nothing to sleep on in there except a cushion on the floor.
O'BRIEN: We can get you a real bunk off the Enterprise. I almost forgot. Captain Picard wants to see you as soon as possible.
SISKO: He does. Any word on our science and medical officers yet?
O'BRIEN: They're expected tomorrow.
SISKO: Jake, I want you to stay here until I come back.
JAKE: Is this the food replicator?
O'BRIEN: I'm afraid they're all offline. There's plenty of emergency rations. I could send some down.
JAKE: Dad?
SISKO: We're going have to rough it til we get things up and running, Jake, okay?
JAKE: Okay.
SISKO: Okay.

[Ops]

(repairs going on here too)
O'BRIEN: I'd like to ask the designer what he was thinking about when they built this place. I still haven't been able to find an ODN access. that's the Prefect's office up there.
(the office is up some steps, with a view out over the whole of Ops)
SISKO: So all others have to look up with respect. Cardassian architecture.
O'BRIEN: Yes, sir. Major Kira's been using it.
SISKO: Is it my imagination or is it unusually warm?
O'BRIEN: The environmental controls in Ops are stuck at thirty-two C. We're working on it.
(Raised voices can be heard coming from the office)
SISKO: I guess it's time to meet Major Kira.
O'BRIEN: Sir, have you ever served with any Bajoran women?
SISKO: No. Why?
O'BRIEN: I was just wondering, sir.
KIRA [OC]: They've become meaningless.
BUREAUCRAT [OC]: I just don't agree, Kira.

[Commander's office]

(The Major is a fiery red-head in a rust coloured uniform)
KIRA: You are throwing it all away! All of you!
BUREAUCRAT [on monitor]: You're being a fool!
KIRA: Well then, don't ask my opinion next time!
(turns off the monitor)
KIRA: Yes?
SISKO: I'm Benjamin Sisko.
KIRA: I suppose you want the office.
SISKO: Well, I thought I'd say hello first and then take the office, but we could do it in any order you'd like.
KIRA: Hello.
SISKO: Is something bothering you, Major?
KIRA: You don't want to ask me that, Commander.
SISKO: Why not?
KIRA: Because I have the bad habit of telling the truth even when people don't want to hear it.
SISKO: Perhaps I want to hear it.
KIRA: I don't believe the Federation has any business being here.
SISKO: The provisional government disagrees with you.
KIRA: The provisional government and I don't agree on a lot of things which is probably why they've sent me to this god-forsaken place. I have been fighting for Bajoran independence since I was old enough to pick up a phaser. We finally drive the Cardassians out and what do our new leaders do? They call up the Federation and invite them right in.
SISKO: The Federation is only here to help
KIRA: Help us. Yes, I know. The Cardassians said the same thing sixty years ago.
SISKO: Major, when I was ordered here, I requested a Bajoran national as my first officer. It made sense. It still does, at least to me. Now, you and I are going to have to
(Beep)
ODO [OC]: (mostly human but a very bland face) Yes, Major?
KIRA: Odo, are you reading something at A-fourteen?
ODO [on monitor]: My security array has been down for two hours. I'll meet you there.
KIRA: We've been having a lot of break-ins lately. No need for you to come along, Commander.
(So he follows her)

[Assaying office]

(Bajoran security (in grey) are coming down the stairs) 
NOG: (a young Ferengi) Hurry up! Now.
(The alien ransacking the shelves keeps going.)
NOG: Now!
(They leave through a broken piece of metal mesh onto the chaotic Promenade)

[Promenade]

ODO: All right, just stand where you are.
KIRA: Hold it!
(The alien throws a morning-star at Odo, who morphs his head so it goes straight through and sticks in the bulkhead behind him. The alien then tries to run, Odo grabs him and Sisko fires his phaser.)
SISKO: That's enough!
ODO: Who the hell are you?
KIRA: Odo, this is our new Starfleet Commander.
ODO: I don't allow weapons on the Promenade. That includes phasers.
(The next actor played Trek's very first Ferengi - Armin Shimerman is back!)
QUARK: (a Ferengi) Nog? What's going on?
ODO: The boy's in a lot of trouble.
QUARK: Commander, my name is Quark. I used to run the local gambling establishment. This is my brother's boy. Surely you can see that he only has a peripheral involvement in all this. We're scheduled to depart tomorrow. If we could be permitted to take him, I promise you he will be severely
SISKO: That won't be possible. Take him to the brig.
(Nog is taken away and Quark goes back into the bar)
KIRA: Quark probably sent the two of them here to steal the ore samples in the first place.
SISKO: Major, there's a Ferengi legal tradition. It's called plea bargaining. I might let the boy go, but I want something in exchange from Mister Quark. Something very important.
O'BRIEN [OC]: O'Brien to Commander Sisko.
SISKO: Go ahead.
O'BRIEN [OC]: Sir, the Enterprise hailed us again. Captain Picard is waiting to see you.
SISKO: Acknowledged. This won't take long.

[Observation lounge]

PICARD: Come.
(Sisko enters)
PICARD: Commander. Yes, please, come in. Welcome to Bajor.
SISKO: It's been a long time, Captain.
PICARD: Have we met before?
SISKO: Yes, sir. We met in battle. I was on the Saratoga at Wolf 359.
(Oh dear, he's still carrying a grudge. Big pause.)
PICARD: I assume that you have been briefed on the events leading to the Cardassian withdrawal?
SISKO: Yes, sir. I understand they've spent the last half century robbing the planet of every valuable resource before abandoning it.
PICARD: They've left the Bajorans without a means of being self-sustaining. The relief efforts we've been coordinating are barely adequate. I've come to know the Bajorans. I'm a strong proponents for their entry into the Federation.
SISKO: Is it going to happen?
PICARD: Not easily. The ruling parties are at each others throats. Factions that were united against the Cardassians have resumed old conflicts.
SISKO: Sounds like they're not ready.
PICARD: Your job is to do everything short of violating the Prime Directive to make sure that they are. I have been made aware by Starfleet of your objections to this assignment. I would have thought that after three years spent at the Utopia Planitia yards, that you would be ready for a change.
SISKO: I have a son that I'm raising alone, Captain. This is not the ideal environment.
PICARD: Unfortunately as Starfleet officers, we do not always have the luxury to serve in an ideal environment.
SISKO: I realise that, sir, and I'm investigating the possibility of returning to Earth for civilian service.
PICARD: Perhaps Starfleet Command should be considering a replacement for you.
SISKO: That's probably a good idea.
PICARD: I'll look into it. In the meantime however
SISKO: In the meantime, I will do the job I've been ordered to do to the best of my ability, sir.
PICARD: Dismissed.

[Security office]

(the main desk looks out through glass doors straight onto the Promenade)
SISKO: It's really quite simple, Quark. You're not going to leave.
QUARK: Not going to leave? But we're packed and ready to go.
SISKO: Unpack.
QUARK: I don't understand, Commander. Why would you want me to stay?
ODO: I'm curious myself. The man is a gambler and a thief.
QUARK: I'm not a thief.
ODO: You are a thief.
QUARK: If I am, you haven't been able to prove it for four years.
SISKO: Please. My officers, the Bajoran engineers, all their families depend on the shops and services of this Promenade. If people like you abandon it, this is going to become a ghost town. We need someone to step forward and say, I'm staying, I'm rebuilding. We need a community leader and it's going to be you, Quark.
QUARK: Community leader?
ODO: Seems reasonable. You have all the character references of a politician.
QUARK: How could I possibly operate my establishment under Starfleet rules of conduct?
SISKO: This is still a Bajoran station. We're just here to administrate. You run honest games, you won't have any problems from me.
QUARK: Commander, I've made a career out of knowing when to leave, and this Bajoran provisional government is far too provisional for my taste. And when governments fall, people like me are lined up and shot.
SISKO: There is that risk but then, you are a gambler, Quark.
ODO: And a thief.
SISKO: You know, Quark, that poor kid is about to spend the best years of his life in a Bajoran prison. I'm a father myself. I know what your brother must be going through. The boy should be with his family, not in some cold jail cell. Think about it. It's up to you.
(Sisko leaves)
ODO: You know, at first, I didn't think I was going to like him.

[Promenade]

(Kira is across the way in her 'shirt sleeves', hefting debris into a skip.)
SISKO: Major?
KIRA: Everyone else is busy repairing the primary systems. I suppose Starfleet officers aren't used to getting their hands dirty.
(So Sisko moves rubbish too)
KIRA: In the refugee camps, we learned to do whatever needed to be done. Didn't matter who you were.
SISKO: I was just talking with our good neighbour, Quark. Te's laying odds that the government's going to fall.
KIRA: Quark knows a good bet when he hears one. This government will be gone in a week and so will you.
SISKO: What happens to Bajor then?
KIRA: Civil war.
SISKO: You think it's inevitable?
KIRA: The only one who can prevent it is Opaka.
SISKO: Opaka?
KIRA: Our spiritual leader. She's known as the Kai. Our religion is the only thing that holds my people together. If she would call for unity, they'd listen. Leaders of all the factions have tried to get to her, but she lives in seclusion, rarely sees anyone.
MONK: Commander. It is time.

[Bajor Monastery]

(Down on the planet, the sacred place is a site of desecration, with chanting in the background. Sisko is met in a colonnade by a short, stout, brisk woman. )
OPAKA: I apologise for the condition in which we greet you.
SISKO: The Cardassians?
(they sit by a pool)
OPAKA: Your arrival has been greatly anticipated.
(She caresses his left ear.)
OPAKA: Have you ever explored your pagh, Commander?
SISKO: Pagh?
OPAKA: A Bajoran draws courage from his spiritual life. Our life-force, our pagh, is replenished by the Prophets.
(She squeezes the lobe.)
OPAKA: Breathe.
SISKO: Kai Opaka, if we could discuss
OPAKA: Breathe! Ironic. One who does not wish to be among us is to be the Emissary. Please, come with me.
(She touches a control and the pool reveals itself to be a hologram hiding a staircase downwards)

[Secret cavern]

OPAKA: You are correct that Bajor is in grave jeopardy, but it is the threat to our spiritual life that far outweighs any other.
SISKO: Perhaps, but I'm powerless until
OPAKA: Commander. I cannot give you what you deny yourself.
SISKO: I'm sorry?
OPAKA: Look for solutions from within, Commander. Come with me.
(She opens a case to reveal a floating, green glowing bolus - an Orb)
SISKO: What is it?
OPAKA: The Tear of the Prophet.

[Vision - Beach]

SISKO: What the hell? Opaka?
(He's holding a tray of drinks and the sand is very hot. He hops and runs to the nearest towel, kicking sand onto a young woman.)
JENNIFER: Hey!
SISKO: I'm sorry. it's just that this. Jen?
JENNIFER: Yes?
SISKO: Jennifer?
JENNIFER: I'm sorry did we meet last night at George's party?
SISKO: George? Jennifer. Wait a minute. This is impossible.
JENNIFER: Are you okay?
SISKO: I know this place. This is Gilgo beach, where we met.
JENNIFER: We met here before?
SISKO: I was carrying three lemonades. The sand was burning my feet, and I stopped here to. Ow! Do you realise how incredible this is? No, of course you don't. I. Jennifer, have a lemonade.
JENNIFER: I'm afraid I don't accept drinks from strange men on the beach.
(He leaves the drinks and follows her along the beach.)
JENNIFER: So tell me the truth. Have we really meet before?
SISKO: No.
JENNIFER: Then how did you know my name?
SISKO: I, er, George told me, at the party.
JENNIFER: Are you going to tell me your name?
SISKO: Oh. Ben Sisko. I just graduated from Starfleet Academy. I'm waiting for my first posting.
JENNIFER: Ah, a junior officer.
SISKO: Yeah.
JENNIFER: My mother warned me to watch out for junior officers.
SISKO: Your mother is going to adore me.
JENNIFER: You're awfully sure of yourself.
SISKO: It's not every day you meet the girl you're going to marry.
JENNIFER: Do you use this routine a lot with women?
SISKO: No. Never before and never again.
JENNIFER: Sure.
SISKO: How about letting me cook dinner for you tonight. My father was a gourmet chef. I will make for you his famous aubergine stew.
JENNIFER: I don't know.
SISKO: You're supposed to say, yes!
JENNIFER: I'll probably be sorry.
(The orb appears)
SISKO: Jennifer!

[Secret cavern]

(Opaka closes the Orb case.)
OPAKA: Nine Orbs, like this one, have appeared in the skies over the past ten thousand years. The Cardassians took the others. You must find the Celestial Temple before they do.
SISKO: The Celestial Temple?
OPAKA: Tradition says the orbs were sent by the Prophets to teach us. What we have learned has shaped our theology. The Cardassians will do anything to decipher their powers. If they discover the Celestial Temple, they could destroy it. 
SISKO: What makes you think I can find your Temple?
(Opaka hands him the Orb box.)
OPAKA: This will help you.
SISKO: Kai Opaka.
OPAKA: I can't unite my people till I know the Prophets have been warned. You will find the Temple. Not for Bajor, not for the Federation, but for your own pagh. It is, quite simply, Commander, the journey you have always been destined to take.

[Jake's room]

(Jake is sleeping on the floor and wearing a baseball glove when Sisko goes in to put a blanket on him)
JAKE: What?
SISKO: I was just thinking how much you look like your mom.
KIRA [OC]: Kira to Sisko.
SISKO: Go ahead.
KIRA [OC]: Sorry to disturb you, Commander, but there's something on the Promenade you might want to see.
SISKO: On my way.

[Promenade]

(There's laughter and voices coming from a lit-up area)

[Quark's]

(Customers are happy, drinking, talking, an alien is playing music on a pile of stones, and there is a gaming wheel.)
PIT BOSS: Step up, step up. Fortune's fates are with you today, friends.
GIRL: Dabo!
ALIEN: (female) That's fine. I'll be right back.
GIRL: Dabo!
(Quark is behind his bar)
QUARK: What'll you have, Commander?
SISKO: How's the local synthale?
QUARK: You won't like it. I love the Bajorans. Such a deeply spiritual culture, but they make a dreadful ale. Never trust ale from a god-fearing people, or a Starfleet Commander that has one of your relatives in jail.
GIRL [OC]: Dabo!

Station log. Stardate 46390.1. The Enterprise has been ordered to the Lapolis system. They're scheduled to depart at zero-five hundred hours after offloading three runabout class vessels. Meanwhile, our medical and science officers are arriving, and I'm looking forward to a reunion with a very old friend.

[Promenade]

(Exiting the airlock)
KIRA: Commander, if you'd like me to give them a tour of the station.
SISKO: You and Doctor Bashir go ahead. I'm afraid I have to put Lieutenant Dax to work right away.
BASHIR: (young, Middle-Eastern male) Jadzia, maybe we could get together later for dinner? Or a drink?
DAX: (a Trill female) I'd be delighted.
SISKO: He's a little young for you, isn't he?
DAX: He's twenty-seven, I'm twenty-eight.
SISKO: Three hundred twenty-eight, maybe. Did you tell him about that slug inside of you?
DAX: Yes, but Benjamin, he knows I'm a Trill. He finds it fascinating. He's never met a joined species before.
SISKO: I wonder if he'd've been as fascinated if you still looked the way you did the last time I saw you.
DAX: Perhaps not.
SISKO: This is going to take some getting used to.
DAX: Don't be ridiculous. I'm still the same old Dax. More or less.

[Infirmary]

KIRA: I'm afraid we've had some security problems. Looks like looters got in here.
BASHIR: This'll be perfect. Real frontier medicine.
KIRA: Frontier medicine?
BASHIR: Major, I had my choice of any job in the fleet.
KIRA: Did you?
BASHIR: I didn't want some cushy job or a research grant. I wanted this. The farthest reaches of the galaxy. One of the most remote outposts available. This is where the adventure is. This is where heroes are made. Right here, in the wilderness.
KIRA: This wilderness is my home.
BASHIR: Well, I, I, I didn't mean.
KIRA: The Cardassians left behind a lot of injured people, Doctor. You can make yourself useful by bringing your Federation medicine to the natives. Oh, you'll find them a friendly, simple folk.

[Laboratory]

(The Orb in under scrutiny)
SISKO: We do have one advantage. The monks have been studying these things for ten thousand years. I've had our computers set up to interface with their historical data banks.
DAX: That should give us something.
SISKO: Soon as possible, Dax. The eight other orbs are probably in some Cardassian laboratory, being turned upside down and inside out.
DAX: Benjamin, I was happy when I heard you accepted this assignment. I've been worried about you.
SISKO: It's good to see you too, old man.
(Sisko leaves)
DAX: Computer, create a data base for all historical references to the Orbs, including all reports of any unexplained phenomena in Bajoran space.
COMPUTER: Time parameters?
DAX: Ten millennia.
COMPUTER: Initialising data base. Requested function will require two hours to complete.
(Dax releases the forcefield around the Orb. Green flash.)

[Vision - Operating room]

(Dax is on an operating table next to an old man)
DAX: Curzon.
(The old man smiles at her, then the symbiot is transferred from him to her.)

[Bridge]

(Nightshift on the Enterprise. O'Brien hesitates outside the Ready room.)
LIEUTENANT: (woman) The Captain's in the Ready room, Chief. Should I tell him you're here?
O'BRIEN: That's okay. Thanks.

[Transporter room]

O'BRIEN: Transport me to the Ops pad, Maggie.
MAGGIE: Yes, sir.
PICARD: Mister O'Brien? I understand that I just missed you on the Bridge.
O'BRIEN: Yes, sir. I didn't want to disturb you, sir.
PICARD: Ensign.
(Maggie leaves)
PICARD: This is your favorite transporter room, isn't it?
O'BRIEN: Number three. Yes, sir.
PICARD: You know, yesterday, I called down here and I asked for you without thinking. It won't be quite the same.
O'BRIEN: It's just a transporter room, sir. Permission to disembark, Captain.
PICARD: Permission granted.
O'BRIEN: Energise.
(Picard beams him out, and the Enterprise leaves for its next mission)

[Ops]

(A Cardassian warship is on the viewscreen)
O'BRIEN: Message coming in from their commander, Gul Dukat.
KIRA: Dukat. He used to be the Cardassian Prefect of Bajor.
O'BRIEN: He's requesting permission to come aboard to greet us. Surely a coincidence that the Enterprise just left.
SISKO: Mister O'Brien, tell Gul Dukat I look forward to meeting him.

[Commander's office]

DUKAT: Good day, Commander.
SISKO: Gul Dukat.
DUKAT: Excuse my presumption, but this was my office only two weeks ago. I'm not used to being on this side of the desk. I'll be honest with you, Commander. I miss this office. I was not happy to leave it.
SISKO: Drop by any time you're feeling homesick.
DUKAT: You're very gracious. And allow me to assure you that we only want to be helpful in this difficult transition. You're far from the Federation fleet, alone in this remote outpost, with poor defence systems. Your Cardassian neighbours will be quick to respond to any problems you might have.
SISKO: We'll try to keep the dog off your lawn.
DUKAT: So, tell me, what did you think of Kai Opaka? I know you went to the surface to see her. I understand you brought back an Orb. We thought we had all of them. Perhaps we could have an exchange of information, pool our resources?
SISKO: I don't know anything about an Orb.
DUKAT: We will be in close proximity should you wish to reconsider my suggestion. In the meantime, I assume you have no objection to my men enjoying the hospitality of the Promenade. Commander.

[Laboratory]

DAX: What do you know about the Denorios Belt?
SISKO: Your basic charged-plasma field. Nobody gets anywhere near it unless they have to.
DAX: In the twenty-second century, a ship carrying Kai Taluno was disabled for several days in the Denorios Belt, where he claims he had a vision.
SISKO: Let me guess. He saw the Celestial Temple of the Prophets.
DAX: Not quite, but he did say that the heavens opened up and nearly swallowed his ship.
SISKO: Are we reduced to chasing metaphors to solve this?
DAX: That's not all. At least five of the orbs were found in the Denorios Belt. There were also been twenty three navigational reports over the years of unusually severe neutrino disturbances in the same area. I've correlated all these reports in one analysis grid. Our Celestial Temple?
SISKO: Worth a look, but we've got Cardassians on our back doorstep. We need to get by them undetected.

[Quark's]

(The Cardassians are having a great time, and winning, when Kira and O'Brien walk in.)
KIRA: May we have your attention, please? This establishment is being closed.
QUARK: What do you mean? You can't do this.
O'BRIEN: If you have a problem, sir, you'll have to take it up with Commander Sisko.
QUARK: I intend to. This is outrageous. Friends, my apologies. A minor misunderstanding that will be rectified shortly. Give them something to put their winnings into.
(A waiter hands over a knapsack.)

[Warship corridor]

CARDASSIAN: Because we were winning too much, of course.
CARDASSIAN 2: Leave it to Starfleet to ruin a fine day.
(The knapsack is put into a locker where it turns into orange ooze, leaks out to the floor and rebuilds itself as Odo.)

[Runabout Rio Grande]

SISKO: Rio Grande to Ops. Initialising pre-launch systems.
KIRA [OC]: Confirmed, Rio Grande.

[Ops]

O'BRIEN: Scanners are picking up fluctuations in the Cardassian's energy distribution net.
KIRA: Their computers are crashing. Shields and sensors are down. Odo's done it. Ops to Rio Grande.

[Runabout Rio Grande]

KIRA [OC]: You're in business.
SISKO: Beginning launch sequence.

[Ops]

KIRA: Odo's reached the transport site.
O'BRIEN: Trying to lock on. I've never done this with a Cardassian transporter. Damn it, what's the problem.
(He kicks the thing and Odo beams in)
KIRA: Nice work, Constable.

[Runabout Rio Grande]

DAX: Approaching grid perimeter.
SISKO: Slowing to one quarter impulse.
DAX: Computer, give me visual bearing two three mark two one seven. Range thirty one hundred kilometres.

[Ops]

DAX [OC]: Sensors are picking up unusually high proton counts.
SISKO [OC]: Setting a new course to those coordinates.

[Runabout Rio Grande]

DAX: All external wave intensities are increasing rapidly, but checking. Confirmed. There is no corresponding increase inside the cabin. How is that possible?
(The runabout falls into a bright hole in space and starts travelling along an energy tunnel.)
SISKO: Sensors are not functioning.
DAX: We've lost all contact with the space station.

[Ops]

O'BRIEN: Scanners are reading major subspace disruption at their last known coordinates.
KIRA: What the hell is happening out there?
O'BRIEN: I don't know. They're just gone.

[Runabout Rio Grande]

SISKO: Are your navigational readings going crazy?
DAX: I'll recalibrate when I have a moment.
SISKO: Take your time.
(The runabout comes out into normal space)
SISKO: Can you get a fix on our coordinates?
DAX: There is a star just under five light years away. No M-class planets Computer, identify closest star system.
COMPUTER: Idran, a ternary system consisting of twin O-type companions.
SISKO: Idran? That can't be right.
DAX: Computer, basis of identification.
COMPUTER: Idran is based on the analysis conducted in the twenty-second century by the Quadros-One probe of the Gamma Quadrant.
SISKO: The Gamma Quadrant? Seventy thousand light years from Bajor? I'd say we just found our way into a wormhole.
DAX: It's not like any wormhole I've ever seen. There were none of the usual resonance waves.
SISKO: Could this be how the Orbs found their way into the Bajoran system?
DAX: Not an unreasonable hypothesis.
SISKO: If it's true, that would mean that this has been here for ten thousand years. Dax, we might have just discovered the first stable wormhole known to exist. Bring us about, Lieutenant.
(The wormhole reappears on demand)
DAX: I'm modifying the flight programme to compensate for the spatial discontinuities. We should have a smoother ride this time.
SISKO: Did you reduce impulse power?
DAX: No. Why?
SISKO: We're losing velocity. 
DAX: Forward velocity down to eighty kph.
COMPUTER: Warning. Impulse system overload. Auto shutdown in twelve seconds.
SISKO: Disengaging engines.
DAX: Velocity at twenty kph. I'm picking up atmosphere.
SISKO: Inside a wormhole?
DAX: Capable of supporting life. (thud) We've just landed.
SISKO: On what?

[Outside the runabout]

(Sisko sees a vicious, rocky, lightning-ridden alien planet, but Dax sees they're in a beautiful garden.)
DAX: It's beautiful.
SISKO: You have a strange eye for beauty, Dax.
DAX: You don't think this is one of the most idyllic settings you've ever seen?
SISKO: We are standing on a rock face. Do you see the storm?
DAX: It's as clear as a summer's day.
(An orb is floating nearby)
SISKO: You see it, too?
DAX: Yes. (gets out a tricorder) Low level ionic pattern. It's probing us.
SISKO: Someone's idea of shaking hands, maybe. I am Commander Benjamin Sisko of the United Federation of Planets.
(They are both hit with green bolts and thrown back. Both scenes flicker then Dax disappears into the green.)
SISKO: Dax!
(The ground Sisko is lying on cracks up with bright light coming through and he disappears into ?)
(The wormhole opens and an Orb flies out)

[Ops]

O'BRIEN: Another neutrino disruption.
KIRA: Scanners are picking up an object near their last known coordinates. It isn't a ship.
O'BRIEN: Major, there's something inside it, some kind of lifeform.
KIRA: Are the Cardassian sensors picking it up?
O'BRIEN: They should be back online by now. We have to assume they know everything we know.
KIRA: Yellow alert. Secure Ops. Beam it aboard, Mister O'Brien, but put it in a level one security field.
O'BRIEN: Aye, sir. Locking on.
(The orb is beamed in. That disappears to reveal Dax.)

[Limbo]

(Meanwhile, Sisko is in a white nowhere listening to a heartbeat and seeing flashes from his past.)
Jennifer on the beach.
A baseball landing in a catcher's mitt.
Kai Opaka.
Locutus on a viewscreen.
SISKO: Who are you?
Jennifer and Sisko kissing.
A newborn baby.
Jake fishing.
Doran on the Saratoga.
SISKO: Who are you?

[Beach]

JENNIFER: It is corporeal. A physical entity.
SISKO: What? What did you say?

[Observation lounge]

PICARD: It is responding to visual and auditory stimuli. Linguistic communication.
SISKO: Yes, linguistic communication. Are you capable of communicating with me?

[Bajor Monastery]

OPAKA: What are you?
SISKO: My species is known as human. I come from a planet called Earth.

[Fishing pond]

JAKE: Earth?
SISKO: This is what my planet looks like. You and I are very different species. It will take time for us to understand one another.
JAKE: What is this time?

First Officer's log, stardate 46392.7. We're preparing to launch a rescue mission to find Commander Sisko, but first our navigational sensors must be recalibrated to work under the conditions reported by Lieutenant Dax.

[Ops]

DAX: It is no ordinary wormhole. My analysis suggests that it isn't even a natural phenomenon.
BASHIR: Not natural? You mean it was constructed?
DAX: It's very possible whoever made the Orbs also created this wormhole.
O'BRIEN: The Cardassians are leaving their position on a course toward the Denorios Belt.
KIRA: Mister O'Brien, what would it take to move this station to the mouth of the wormhole?
O'BRIEN: This isn't a starship, Major. We've got six working thrusters to power us and that's it. A hundred sixty million kilometre trip would take two months.
KIRA: It has to be there tomorrow.
O'BRIEN: That's not possible, sir.
KIRA: That wormhole might just reshape the future of this entire quadrant. The Bajorans have to stake a claim to it. And I have to admit that claim will be a lot stronger if there's a Federation presence to back it up.
DAX: Couldn't you modify the subspace field output of the deflector generators just enough to create a low-level field around the station?
O'BRIEN: So we could lower the inertial mass?
DAX: If you can make the station lighter, those six thrusters will be all the power we'd need.
O'BRIEN: This whole station could break apart like an egg if it doesn't work.
DAX: Even if it does work, we're still going to need help from Starfleet once we get there.
O'BRIEN: The Enterprise is still the nearest starship. They could reach us in two days.
DAX: We should advise Starfleet that we will require their assistance.
KIRA: You have Ops, Mister O'Brien. Lieutenant, you're with me.
DAX: Aye, sir.
KIRA: You too, Doc. Time to be a hero.
BASHIR: Yes, sir.

[Outer corridor]

(You can see the stars through the windows)
KIRA: Constable.
ODO: This is a security matter. I'm in charge of security.
KIRA: Security here, on the station. I cannot justify taking you into this wormhole. We have no idea what we're dealing with in there. It could be hostile.
ODO: Major, I was found in the Denorios Belt. I don't know where I came from, no idea if there are any others like me. All my life, I've been forced to pass myself off as one of you, always wondering who I really am. Well, the answers to a lot of my questions may be somewhere on the other side of that wormhole. You coming?
(A runabout takes off.)

[Observation lounge]

PICARD: The creature must be destroyed before it destroys us.

[Saratoga Bridge]

LOCUTUS [on viewscreen]: It is malevolent.

[Baseball field]

BATSMAN: Aggressive. Adversarial.

[Observation lounge]

PICARD: It must be destroyed.
SISKO: I am not your enemy. I was sent here by the people you contacted.
PICARD: Contacted?
SISKO: With your devices, your Orbs.
PICARD: We seek contact with other lifeforms, not corporeal creatures who annihilate us.
SISKO: I have not come to annihilate anyone.

[Saratoga Bridge]

LOCUTUS [on viewscreen]: Destroy it now.
SISKO: My species respects life above all else. Can you say the same? I do not understand the threat I bring to you, but I am not your enemy. Allow me to prove it.

[Bajor Monastery]

OPAKA: Prove it?
SISKO: It can be argued that a human is ultimately the sum of his experiences.

[Fishing pond]

JAKE: Experiences? What is this?
SISKO: Memories. Events from my past, like this one.
JAKE: Past?
SISKO: Things that happened before now. You have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about.
JAKE: What comes before now is no different than what is now, or what is to come. It is one's existence.
SISKO: Then, for you, there is no linear time.

[Beach]

JENNIFER: Linear time. what is this?
SISKO: My species lives in one point in time. And once we move beyond that point, it becomes the past. The future, all that is still to come, does not exist yet for us.
JENNIFER: Does not exist yet?
SISKO: That is the nature of linear existence. And if you examine it more closely, you will see that you do not need to fear me.

[Ops]

(A big forcefield tries to go up around the station)
COMPUTER: Partial field established. Instability at twelve percent.
O'BRIEN: Partial field? Is station's inertial mass low enough to break orbit?
COMPUTER: Procedure is not recommended.
O'BRIEN: Damn it, I didn't ask for an opinion. Just tell me whether or not we can get enough thrust with only a partial field established.
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you. Initiate transit mode, three-axis stabilisation.
CREWMAN: Aye, sir.
O'BRIEN: Engage thrusters.
COMPUTER: Warning. Field integrity declining. Instability at twenty one percent.
O'BRIEN: We've got to close that gap in the field or we'll tear ourselves into a million pieces.
COMPUTER: Warning. Subspace field collapse in sixty seconds.
O'BRIEN: Computer, transfer energy from the inertial dampers to reinforce the subspace field.
COMPUTER: Procedure is not recommended.
O'BRIEN: Damn it, transfer the energy!
COMPUTER: Unable to comply. Level one safety protocols have cancelled request.
O'BRIEN: Cancelled?
COMPUTER: Warning. Subspace field collapse in thirty seconds.
O'BRIEN: I'm going to transfer it manually. On my mark, redirect the flow to the deflectors. Keep the power balanced.
CREWMAN: Aye, sir.
COMPUTER: Field collapse in fifteen seconds.
O'BRIEN: Now.
COMPUTER: Field energy now within flight tolerances.
CREWWOMAN: Good work, sir.
O'BRIEN: Computer, you and I have to have a little talk.

[Runabout Yangtze Kiang]

DAX: The Cardassian warship is in visual range.
KIRA: On screen. They're headed right to it.
BASHIR: They've got to listen to reason, haven't they? When we warn them what could happen if they go in there.
ODO: Doctor, most people in my experience wouldn't know reason if it walked up and shook their hand. You can count Gul Dukat among them.
KIRA: This is the Federation ship Yangtze Kiang. Major Kira Nerys in command.
DUKAT [on monitor]: Yes, Major?
KIRA: Gul Dukat, we know you're headed for the wormhole.
DUKAT [on monitor]: Wormhole? What wormhole is that?
KIRA: I strongly suggest you do not proceed. We encountered a hostile lifeform inside.
DUKAT [on monitor]: Perhaps they will be less hostile to Cardassians than to humans.
ODO: Dukat, these people are trying to save you from a lot of trouble.
DUKAT [on monitor]: Really? And I suppose you'd also tell me these are not the lifeforms that have sent the Orbs, or that your Commander Sisko is not negotiating for their technology. I thank you for your concern, but I think we'll see for ourselves.
(Transmission ends)
ODO: So much for reason.

[Park]

(Ben and Jennifer having a picnic)
JENNIFER: Jennifer.
SISKO: Yes, that was her name.
JENNIFER: She is part of your existence.
SISKO: She is part of my past. She's no longer alive.
JENNIFER: But she is part of your existence.
SISKO: She was a most important part of my existence, but I lost her some time ago.
JENNIFER: Lost? what is this?
SISKO: In a linear existence, we can't go back to the past to get something we left behind, so it's lost.
JENNIFER: It is inconceivable that any species could exist in such a manner. You are deceiving us.
SISKO: No, this is the truth. This day, this park, it was almost fifteen years ago. Far in the past. It was a day that was very important to me, a day that shaped every day that followed. That is the essence of a linear existence. Each day affects the next.
(we look over to what actually happened that day)
SISKO 2: Listen to it.
JENNIFER 2: To what?
SISKO 2: The sound of children playing. What could be more beautiful?
JENNIFER 2: So you like children?
SISKO 2: That almost sounds like a domestic inquiry.
JENNIFER 2: I've heard Starfleet officers don't want families because they complicate their lives.
SISKO 2: Starfleet officers don't often find mates who want to raise families on a starship.
JENNIFER 2: That almost sounds like a domestic inquiry.
SISKO 2: I think it was.
(They kiss. The alien Jennifer tries kissing her fingers to find out what is going on.)
SISKO: As corporeal entities, humans find physical touch to cause pleasure.
JENNIFER: Pleasure? What is this?
SISKO: Good feelings, happiness

[Saratoga corridor]

TACTICAL: But this is your existence.
SISKO: But it's difficult to be here, more difficult than any other memory.
TACTICAL: Why?
SISKO: Because, because this was the day that I lost Jennifer. I don't want to be here.
JENNIFER: Then why do you exist here?
SISKO: I don't understand.
JENNIFER: You exist here.

[Limbo]

SISKO: What's wrong? What's happening?
(Dukat's ship passes through the wormhole into the Gamma quadrant)

[Runabout]

DAX: We should be reaching the wormhole coordinates in two minutes.
KIRA: Slowing to one-third imp
(The wormhole opens and shuts again.)

[Limbo]

SISKO: Are you still there? What just happened?

[Beach]

JENNIFER: More of your kind.
SISKO: Another ship in the wormhole?
JENNIFER: Wormhole? What is this?
SISKO: It is how we describe the kind of passage that brought me here.

[Observation lounge]

PICARD: It is terminated.
SISKO: Terminated?
PICARD ALIEN: Our existence is disrupted whenever one of you enters the passage.

[Saratoga Bridge]

CONN OFFICER: Your linear nature is inherently destructive.
OPS OFFICER: You have no regard for the consequences of your acts.
SISKO: That's not true. We're aware that every choice we make has a consequence.
CAPTAIN: But you claim you do not know what it will be.
SISKO: We don't.

[Fishing pond]

JAKE: Then how can you take responsibility for your actions?
SISKO: We use past experience to help guide us. For Jennifer and me, all the experiences in our lives prepared us for the day we met on the beach, helped us recognize that we had a future together. When we married, we accepted all the consequences of that act, whatever they might be, including the consequences of you.
JAKE: Me?
SISKO: My son, Jake.

[Sickbay]

JENNIFER: The child with Jennifer.
SISKO: Yes.
JENNIFER: Linear procreation?
SISKO: Yes. Jake is the continuation of our family.
JENNIFER: The sound of children playing.

[Baseball field]

BATSMAN: Aggressive. Adversarial. 
SISKO: Competition. For fun. It's a game that Jake and I play on the holodeck. It's called baseball.
JAKE: Baseball? What is this?
SISKO: I was afraid you'd ask that. I throw this ball to you and this other player stands between us with a bat, a stick, and he, and he tries to hit the ball in between these two white lines. No. The rules aren't important. What's important is, it's linear. Every time I throw this ball, a hundred different things can happen in a game. He might swing and miss, he might hit it. The point is, you never know. You try to anticipate, set a strategy for all the possibilities as best you can, but in the end it comes down to throwing one pitch after another and seeing what happens. With each new consequence, the game begins to take shape.
BATSMAN: And you have no idea what that shape is until it is completed.
SISKO: That's right. In fact, the game wouldn't be worth playing if we knew what was going to happen.
JAKE: You value your ignorance of what is to come?
SISKO: That may be the most important thing to understand about humans. It is the unknown that defines our existence. We are constantly searching, not just for answers to our questions, but for new questions. We are explorers. We explore our lives, day by day, and we explore the galaxy, trying to expand the boundaries of our knowledge. And that is why I am here. Not to conquer you either with weapons or with ideas, but to co-exist and learn.

[Saratoga - Sisko's quarters]

(Leaning over Jennifer's body.) 
TACTICAL: If all you say is true, why do you exist here?

First Officer's log, supplemental. We've rendezvoused with the space station at the former coordinates of the wormhole. Unfortunately, our scans have revealed no trace of either the wormhole or Dukat's ship. A few minutes ago, three Cardassian warships crossed the border, no doubt on their way to search for Dukat.

[Ops]

(Three warships are heading in)
KIRA: Mister O'Brien, can you establish a high energy thoron field before they get into sensor range. I don't want them to be able to scan our defence systems.
O'BRIEN: Aye, sir.
DAX: They're hailing us.
JASAD [on viewscreen]: I am Gul Jasad of the Cardassian Guard, Seventh Order. Where is our warship?
KIRA: With any luck, they're in the Gamma Quadrant, on the other side of the wormhole.
JASAD [on viewscreen]: What wormhole? Our sensors show no indication of a wormhole in this sector.
KIRA: That's because it just collapsed.
JASAD [on viewscreen]: What?
DAX: We believe it was artificially created. That may be why our sensors never picked up any of the usual quantum fluctuation patterns.
JASAD [on viewscreen]: You expect me to believe that someone created a wormhole, and now conveniently has disassembled it?
KIRA: That's exactly what I expect you to believe.
(Transmission ends)
DAX: They're flooding subspace with anti-lepton interference. It'll cut off our communications with Starfleet.
O'BRIEN: They're powering up their forward phasers.
KIRA: Red alert. Shields up.
O'BRIEN: What shields?
DAX: They're hailing us again.
KIRA: Open the channel.
JASAD [on viewscreen]: We do not accept your explanation. Somehow you have destroyed our warship.
KIRA: Gul Jasad, I assure you.
JASAD [on viewscreen]: We demand the unconditional surrender of this space station or we will open fire.
KIRA: I need at least a day to make the necessary preparations.
JASAD [on viewscreen]: You have one hour.
(Transmission ends)
O'BRIEN: I can transfer all available power to establish partial shields around critical areas, but if they hit the docking ring we'll sustain heavy damage.
KIRA: Constable, if you would coordinate moving all personnel to safer locations.
(Odo leaves)
KIRA: What was the last reported position of the Enterprise?
DAX: At least twenty hours away.
KIRA: We've got to hold out till they get here.
BASHIR: I can't believe the Cardassians would ever attack a Federation outpost.
O'BRIEN: Doctor, you ever studied your military history of the border wars?
BASHIR: Yes.
O'BRIEN: You ever heard of the Setlik Three massacre?
KIRA: I assume, Mister O'Brien, you would agree surrender is not a preferable option.
O'BRIEN: You know what they do to their prisoners, sir.

[Saratoga - Sisko's quarters]

SISKO: What is the point of bringing me back again to this?
JAKE: We do not bring you here.
JENNIFER: You bring us here.
TACTICAL: You exist here.
SISKO: Then give me the power to lead you somewhere else. Anywhere else.
OPAKA: We cannot give you what you deny yourself. Look for solutions from within, Commander.
SISKO: I was ready to die with her.
TACTICAL: Die? What is this?
JENNIFER: The termination of their linear existence.
(and she puts her hand on his cheek)
TACTICAL: We've got to go now, sir.
SISKO 2: Damn it, we just can't leave her here. Oh, no!
SISKO: I never left this ship.
JENNIFER: You exist here.
SISKO: I exist here. I don't know if you can understand. I see her like this every time I close my eyes. In the darkness, in the blink of an eye, I see her like this.
JENNIFER: None of your past experiences helped prepare you for this consequence.
SISKO: And I have never figured out how to live without her.
JENNIFER: So you choose to exist here. It is not linear.
SISKO: No. It's not linear.
(and he finally starts to grieve properly)

[Ops]

DAX: Their lead ship is hailing us Gul Jasad wants an answer.
KIRA: Are you ready, Mister O'Brien?
O'BRIEN: Yes, sir. When they penetrate our thoron field, it should raise a few eyebrows over there.
KIRA: All right, then, let's give them our answer. Fire six photon torpedoes across Jasad's bow.
O'BRIEN: We only have six photons, Major.
KIRA: We're not going to win this battle with torpedoes, Chief.
O'BRIEN: Aye, sir.
(Six torpedoes fly off)
O'BRIEN: An urgent hail from Jasad.
BASHIR: Looks like we got his attention.
KIRA: On screen.
JASAD [on viewscreen]: This is your answer?
KIRA: You don't think Starfleet took command of this space station without the ability to defend it, do you?
JASAD [on viewscreen]: Defend it? Your space station could not defend itself against one Cardassian warship.
KIRA: You're probably right, Jasad. And if you were dealing with a Starfleet officer, they'd probably admit we have a hopeless cause here. But I am just a Bajoran who's been fighting a hopeless cause against the Cardassians all her life. So if you want a war, I'll give you one.
(transmission ends)
O'BRIEN: Major. Remind me never to get into a game of Roladan Wild Draw with you.

[Cardassian Bridge]

CARDASSIAN 3: They were using a Thoron field to block our sensors but we were able to penetrate it.
JASAD: What are their defences?
CARDASSIAN 3: According to our scans, an estimated five thousand photons, integrated phaser banks on all levels.
JASAD: When did they receive these armaments? And how did they install them without our knowledge? Somehow they have created a massive illusion of duranium shadows.
CARDASSIAN 3: What if it is not an illusion?
JASAD: It is!
CARDASSIAN 3: Why risk the confrontation? The Fourth Order can be here in a day.
JASAD: So can Starfleet.

[Ops]

DAX: Their lead ship is sending out a subspace message asking for reinforcements.
BASHIR: Yes!
KIRA: Too soon for a victory celebration, Doctor. Mister O'Brien?
O'BRIEN: The ships are being deployed into a standard attack formation, sir.
KIRA: Battle stations.
(The Cardassians open fire)

[Promenade]

(Civilians on the Promenade feel the blasts)
ODO: Quickly now, quickly now. Calmly. Calmly. Come along.

[Ops]

O'BRIEN: They may just be testing us. I could run a pulse compression wave through the phaser banks. Put out a blast that'll make them think twice.
KIRA: Do it.
(One ship is hit.)
KIRA: Damage report.
O'BRIEN: Direct hit, level fourteen. Empty storage bays. No casualties.
DAX: Shields down to twenty-seven percent.
(A big bang, damage and injuries on the Promenade)
DAX: A fuel conduit has ruptured on the Promenade.
KIRA: Can you divert the main power flow?
O'BRIEN: Controls are locked.
ODO [OC]: Odo to Ops.
KIRA: Go ahead.
ODO [OC]: I've got wounded people down here.

[Promenade]

ODO: Have you seen that doctor of yours anywhere?

[Ops]

BASHIR: I'm on my way.
(Bashir leaves)
O'BRIEN: I'm going to have to shut down the primary power flow or the whole Promenade will go up. Bloody Cardassians! I just got the damned thing fixed.

[Promenade]

(Bashir puts Odo's hand on a neck wound)
BASHIR: Press there, hard.
ODO: Look, Doctor, maybe I should find you someone
BASHIR: Hold it there.

[Ops]

O'BRIEN: That should do it for awhile.
DAX: Shields are at eighteen percent and falling.
O'BRIEN: I might still be able to give you one more phaser blast, Major.
KIRA: No. Signal the lead Cardassian ship that we will proceed with
DAX: Major, I'm reading a huge neutrino disturbance fifteen kilometres off the forward docking ring. It's the wormhole.
KIRA: On screen.
(WHOOSH)
KIRA: Hail the lead ship. What did I tell you, Jasad?

[Cardassian Bridge]

KIRA [OC]: There's your wormhole!
(A runabout is towing the Cardassian warship)

[Ops]

SISKO [OC]: Rio Grande to DS Nine.
KIRA: On screen. Go ahead, Commander.
SISKO [on viewscreen]: Sorry to be late. Our friend Gul Dukat had some problems on the other side of the wormhole. I see you've had a few of your own. KIRA: A few, Commander.
SISKO [on viewscreen]: Gul Dukat is signalling his ships to disarm. Clear me for docking, Mister O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: Aye, sir. Cleared for pad C.

[Promenade]

SISKO: Casualties?
BASHIR: Thirteen injured, Commander, and no fatalities.
SISKO: Jake!
JAKE: Dad!
(They hug)

Station log, Commander Benjamin Sisko, stardate 46393.1. The lifeforms who created the wormhole have agreed to allow safe passage for all ships traveling to the Gamma Quadrant. With the arrival of the Enterprise, the Cardassians have left the area.

[Commander's office]

PICARD: I suspect that the sight of their warship being towed back by a Starfleet runabout took the heart out of their fight.
SISKO: We're not done with the Cardassians yet, not with the strategic importance of that wormhole.
PICARD: Well, you've put Bajor on the map, Commander. This will shortly become a leading centre of commerce and scientific exploration. And for Starfleet, one of our most important posts.
SISKO: Captain, regarding our conversation about someone to replace me.
PICARD: Yes, I'm sorry I haven't had time yet to communicate that to Command.
SISKO: I would prefer you ignore it, sir.
PICARD: I'm not sure that I can. Are you certain that's what you want, because we cannot afford to have an officer who's
SISKO: I'm certain, sir.
(They shake hands.)
PICARD: Good luck, Mister Sisko.

[Promenade]

BASHIR: (walking along with Odo) So, where can someone practice with his phaser around here?
(leaving Quarks)
QUARK: New rules?
KIRA: You're can't cheat every customer who walks through the door anymore, Quark. You are a community leader now.
QUARK: Very well, very well. Perhaps we could discuss these new rules over a drink.
KIRA: If you don't take that hand off my hip, you'll never be able to raise a glass with it again.
QUARK: Oh, I love a woman in uniform.
DAX: Benjamin, three Frunalian science vessels are requesting permission to dock.
O'BRIEN: Problem is, we've been retro-fitting the airlocks. Half of them were damaged during the move, and most of the others when the Cardassians blew out the fuel conduits.
SISKO: I guess they'll just have to transport aboard. Station