Copyright 1993, Jennifer A. Hawthorne. All rights reserved,
but I'm not stuffy about it as long as you don't go 
overboard.

Synopsis: "The Emissary"

Episode Number: 721
Air Date: 1/2/93

	"ON STARDATE 43997, CAPTAIN JEAN-LUC PICARD OF THE
FEDERATION STARSHIP *ENTERPRISE* WAS KIDNAPPED BY AN 
INVADING FORCE KNOWN AS THE BORG. SURGICALLY ALTERED, HE 
WAS FORCED TO LEAD AN ASSAULT ON STARFLEET AT WOLF 359."

	As the show opens, the altered Jean-Luc Picard, now known
as "Locutus of Borg", appears on the main viewscreen of 
the starship *USS Saratoga*. Among the bridge crew of the 
Saratoga is the ship's First Officer, Benjamin Sisko.
	The immense cube of the Borg ship is under attack by the
starships of the Federation. Vessels sweep in from all 
directions, firing on the Borg ship -- which is entirely 
unaffected by their attack. And with each return blast from 
the Borg cube, another Federation starship takes heavy 
damage.
	The *Saratoga* is hit hard, and her bridge crew goes
flying. Overloaded equipment panels explode, scattering 
sparks, and the bridge fills with smoke. The computer 
announces that the warp core has been breached; field 
containment will fail in five minutes. Sisko moves through 
the chaos, giving evacuation orders. Catching a fainting 
crewmember, he urgently asks her, "Have you seen 
Jennifer?!" She shakes her head, and he moves on past her, 
deeper into the heart of the critically damaged ship.
	Sisko arrives at his own stateroom -- only to find the
interior a shambles. Outside, the battle rages. Sisko 
calls out for his family, searching through the debris, and 
locates his son, Jake, unconscious but alive. After pulling 
his son free of the wreckage, he continues his hunt, and 
finds his wife buried even more deeply in the rubble. 
Unable to free her, he calls for help. A lieutenant hurries 
over, scans the body of Jennifer Sisko with a tricorder, 
and says quietly, "She's gone". Sisko doesn't move. The 
lieutenant hands Jake to another crewmember, and finds he 
must forcibly drag a devastated Benjamin Sisko away from 
the remains of wife, into the escape pod. As the pod is 
launched from the side of the doomed *Saratoga*, Sisko 
looks back, just in time to see his ship explode into a 
ball of incandescent gas. The expression on his face is 
frozen and terrible.

	STARDATE 46379.1: THREE YEARS LATER.

	Jake Sisko is sitting on an old covered bridge, fishing,
when his father comes in. Sisko tells Jake about their new 
post, a space station around the planet Bajor; Jake is 
anxious about what their new home will be like. Sisko tries 
to reassure his son, with minimal success. A call comes to 
Sisko's comm badge, saying the ship will be arriving at 
Bajor in seven minutes, and Jake and Sisko leave the 
holodeck together. As they exit, they pass an observation 
window and get their first good look at the station known 
as Deep Space Nine.
	Sisko dictates his station log, describing how the Bajoran
provisional government has invited the Federation in to 
assist the Bajorans in rebuilding their planet after the 
withdrawal of the Cardassian invasion force that had been 
occupying it for the past sixty years. The *Enterprise* is 
docked at the station, having arrived two days ago with 
some of the station's personnel, including the designated 
Chief of Operations, Miles O'Brien.
	The interior of the station is a disaster area. The lights
flicker constantly, and there is garbage and grime 
everywhere. Sisko, Jake and O'Brien enter and look around 
in disbelief. As they walk around, O'Brien recounts how the 
Cardassians trashed the station before leaving, and tells 
Sisko that most of the civilian support that had set up 
shop on the station was pulling out and going elsewhere 
instead of rebuilding. A mysterious Bajoran monk greets 
Sisko, and tells him "The Prophets await you." Sisko is 
puzzled by this, but shrugs off the encounter.
	O'Brien shows the Siskos to their quarters. Jake is
dismayed by the condition of the rooms and the 
furnishings, and O'Brien tries to alleviate the boy's 
misgivings, but with little success. The Ops Chief informs 
his new commander that Picard would like to speak with him, 
and that the medical and science personnel for the station 
will be arriving the following day. He then shows Sisko to 
Ops, the nerve center of the station, complete with a 
second level office for Sisko's use, although it is 
currently being occupied by Major Kira, Sisko's assigned 
Bajoran attache.
	Sisko enters the office to find a Bajoran woman having a
heated argument with a Bajoran man on the office's 
viewscreen. The woman, Major Kira, is less than pleased to 
see Sisko. Her reply to Sisko's polite introduction of 
himself is a curt "I suppose you want the office." Sisko 
replies, "I thought I'd say 'Hello' first -- and *then* 
take the office. But we can do it in any order you like."
	Sisko's initial conversation with his new First Officer
does not go particularly well; Major Kira wastes no time 
informing the commander of her dislike of the Federation in 
general and of the Federation's involvement in Bajor's 
affairs in specific. And her opinion of the new provisional 
government of her own planet is no higher. She is not happy 
to have been sent to "this Godforsaken place", and is 
deeply offended that after the Bajorans finally got rid of 
the Cardassian occupation, the first thing the new 
government did was to turn around and invite in the 
Federation to take their place. Sisko interjects that the 
Federation is only here to help, to which Kira replies, 
"That's what the Cardassians said, sixty years ago."
	Sisko continues to try to make a peaceable common ground
with the hostile Bajoran Major, but their conversation is 
interrupted by an alert signal on Kira's board. Kira 
contacts the station's security chief, Constable Odo, about 
the problem, and heads off to rendezvous with him at the 
site of the trouble, telling Sisko he doesn't need to come 
along. He follows anyway.
	On the Promenade, a Ferengi boy, Nog, and a companion are
looting a ruined shop. As they exit the shop with their 
booty, they find Odo waiting for them. They turn to flee, 
only to discover that Kira and Sisko have cut off their 
escape from behind. Nog's companion draws a bolo-mace and 
hurls it at Odo; it strikes the Constable square in the 
face -- and passes through the shapeshifter's malleable 
form without harming him. Odo tackles the offender as he 
tries to flee and slams him into a bulkhead. As they 
struggle, Sisko draws a phaser and fires a warning shot 
that brings the scuffle to an abrupt halt. "That's enough," 
says the station's new commander, sternly; Odo turns and 
snarls, "Who the hell are *you*?"
	Kira introduces Sisko. As Odo, not in the least cowed,
explains his policy of disallowing weapons on the 
Promenade, another Ferengi, this one an adult, appears on 
the scene. The new arrival, Quark, attempts to take charge 
of the Ferengi boy, assuring Sisko that he will be leaving 
the station the following day, but Sisko, unmoved, orders 
the boy taken to the brig. Kira opines that it was probably 
Quark's idea to send Nog out to steal in the first place, 
and Sisko tells her he has a plan to use this incident to 
benefit the station. Before he can explain further, O'Brien 
contacts him from Ops, saying that Captain Picard is still 
waiting to speak with Sisko. With a grim expression on his 
face, Sisko heads off to the meeting.
	On board the Enterprise, Sisko greets Picard with an
unmistakably hostile, "It's been a long time, Captain." 
Picard, uncertain, asks, "Have we met before?" Sisko 
replies, "Yes, sir. We met in battle. I was on the 
*Saratoga* at Wolf Three...Five...Nine." Picard flinches, 
suddenly looking old. There is a long uncomfortable pause 
as Picard, in obvious pain, turns away from Sisko and seats 
himself at the table, struggling for composure.
	After that long moment, Picard begins an uncomfortable
discussion with Sisko about Sisko's new post. Picard 
explains that the Cardassian sack of Bajor was deliberate, 
intended to leave the Bajorans without a means to support 
themselves. Picard wants the Bajorans brought into the 
Federation, a goal that is being jeopardized by infighting 
among the various Bajoran groups which no longer have a 
common enemy to focus on and thus have turned on each 
other. Sisko says that it sounds to him like Bajor is not 
ready to be admitted to the Federation; Picard tells him 
that it will be his job to see that they get ready. Sisko 
makes it known that he objects to his new posting, and is 
in fact considering leaving Starfleet to take up a civilian 
job. He does not consider the station a good place to raise 
his son, especially alone. In the meantime, however, he 
will do the best job he can.
	Back on Deep Space Nine, in Odo's security office, Quark,
Sisko and Odo are discussing the fate of Nog. Sisko tells 
Quark that he expects Quark to stay on the station, to 
Quark's puzzlement. Odo is also unclear on Sisko's 
intentions -- "The man is a gambler and a thief!" Quark 
responds, "I'm not a thief!" and Odo snaps back, "*You* are 
a *thief*." Quark's returns, "If I *am*, *you* haven't been 
able to prove it!"
	Sisko interrupts the bickering to explain to Quark that he
intends for the Ferengi to be in the forefront of efforts 
to rebuild the station's civilian support base; Quark is to 
become a community leader, for the good of the station. 
Quark is dumbfounded. "Commander, I've made a career out of 
knowing when to leave, and this Bajoran provisional 
government is far too provisional for my tastes. When 
governments fall, people like me are lined up and shot." 
But Sisko, undeterred, makes it very clear that unless 
Quark agrees to the commander's plan, Nog will remain in 
jail. After Sisko departs, Odo comments to a nonplussed 
Quark, "You know, at first I didn't think I was going to 
like him..."
	Sisko arrives on the Promenade, and finds Major Kira, in
her shirtsleeves, throwing rubbish into a trash bin. She 
tells him that since everyone else is busy repairing the 
primary systems, she has been doing some of the messy work 
herself. "But I suppose Starfleet officers aren't used to 
getting their hands dirty." Without a word, Sisko picks up 
and disposes of a piece of wreckage, then shows Kira his 
grimy hands.
	Sisko asks Kira about the situation on Bajor; Kira is
convinced that the provisional government is going to fall 
within a week, resulting in civil war. The only person who 
might be able to prevent this is Opaka, the "Kai" of Bajor, 
spiritual leader of the planet. If the Kai were to call for 
unity, the Bajorans would listen, but she lives in 
seclusion, seeing almost no one. Just then, the Bajoran 
monk who spoke to Sisko when he first entered the station 
appears, and says, "Commander, it is time." Sisko pauses in 
confusion, then gets up and follows the monk. Kira watches 
this in astonishment.
	Down on Bajor, Sisko meets Kai Opaka, a plump older woman
with a dignified manner who opens their conversation by 
apologizing for the conditions on Bajor. She then questions 
Sisko about the condition of his "pagh", or spiritual 
life-force, which is "replenished by the Prophets", 
according to the Bajoran religion. She seizes the startled 
commander's ear in a fierce grip and orders him to breathe. 
After a moment's hesitation, he complies, and the Kai says, 
"How odd. One who does not wish to be among us is to be the 
Emissary."
	Opaka leads Sisko down into a hidden chamber below her
audience room. The cavern is lit by dozens of candles. The 
Kai tells Sisko that although Bajor is in physical danger, 
her real concern is for Bajor's spiritual life. Sisko 
protests that he is unable to do anything about that, and 
asks for her help, but she replies sternly, "Commander, I 
cannot give you what you deny yourself. Look for solutions 
from within." Sisko does not know what to make of this.
	The Kai opens a small cabinet to reveal a shimmering
hourglass-shaped object, which she identifies as "The Tear 
of the Prophet". As Sisko stars at it, he is drawn into a 
powerful and realistic vision, and finds himself standing 
on a beach in his swim trunks. Sisko is disoriented and 
confused, until he stumbles across a young woman 
sunbathing, and finds that it is his wife. It then becomes 
clear that he is reliving the time when he and Jennifer 
first met. As the phantom Jennifer agrees to her first date 
with Sisko, the mysterious object reappears, and although 
Sisko tries to prevent the image from fading, he finds 
himself back in the cavern with the Kai.
	The Kai tells him that nine "Orbs" such as this one have
appeared in the Bajoran skies in the past ten thousand 
years. The Cardassians have seized all but the one the 
Opaka has. She orders Sisko to find the "Celestial Temple" 
before the Cardassians do. The Orbs, she says, were sent by 
the Prophets to teach the Bajoran people, and the 
Cardassians will stop at nothing to unlock the secret of 
their powers. If they discover the Celestial Temple before 
Sisko does, they might destroy it. To aid Sisko in his 
search, the Kai entrusts him with the last Orb. Opaka 
states that she cannot unite her people, until she knows 
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."
	Back on the station, a contemplative Sisko checks in on his
sleeping son, briefly waking the boy to tell him how much 
he looks like his mother. A call from Kira in Ops summons 
him to the Promenade.
	On the Promenade, Sisko discovers to his delight that
Quark's has reopened, and the restaurant is the scene of 
more life and activity than the station has seen since the 
Cardassians left. Bajorans, Starfleet personnel, and a 
variety of other aliens mingle and amuse themselves. Sisko 
asks Quark for some Bajoran ale, but Quark is unimpressed 
with the quality of the drink: "Never trust ale from a 
God-fearing people -- or a Starfleet Commander that has one 
of your relatives in jail."
	The next day, Sisko dictates his station log. The
*Enterprise* is preparing to depart, after unloading three 
"Runabout" class vessels for the station's use, and the 
station's science and medical personnel are arriving. Sisko 
comments that he is looking forward to a reunion with a 
very old friend.
	Kira and Sisko go to meet the new arrivals: Lt. Jadzia Dax,
the station's Science Officer, and Dr. Julian Bashir, 
Chief Medical Officer. Sisko tells Kira to give the doctor 
a tour of the station, while he himself takes Lt. Dax to 
her lab and puts her to work immediately. Before Sisko can 
depart with Dax, the young doctor nervously offers her a 
invitation to get together later, which she accepts.
	As Sisko and Dax head off, the amused commander questions
Dax's involvement with Dr. Bashir: "He's a little young 
for you, isn't he?" Dax replies, "He's twenty-seven. I'm 
twenty-eight." Sisko, grinning, says "Three *hundred* and 
twenty-eight, maybe." It becomes apparent that Dax is the 
"old friend" that Sisko was expecting, and it is further 
revealed that Dax is of the race known as the Trill, a 
symbiont species composed of a humanoid "host" and a 
sluglike "symbiont"; the symbiont part of the Trill 
survives the death of each host and is transferred to a new 
one, carrying with it all the experience and knowledge 
gained from its former lives. Sisko last knew this 
symbiont, Dax, when it was joined with an older male host, 
Curzon. This is the first time that Sisko has met with Dax 
since Curzon died and Jadzia succeeded him as Dax's host. 
Sisko finds the change disconcerting, to say the least, but 
the Trill tries to put him at ease: "I'm still the same old 
Dax."
	Kira shows Dr. Bashir the infirmary, which is as much of a
wreck as the rest of the station. The major apologizes for 
the condition of the medical facilities, but the young 
doctor, far from being upset, appears delighted by them. He 
speaks with obvious enthusiasm of doing "frontier 
medicine", and smugly tells an annoyed Kira that he could 
have had his pick of any post in the Fleet, but chose to 
come to Deep Space Nine because "This is where *heroes* are 
made! Right here, in the wilderness." Kira is more than a 
little put out by Bashir's attitude. "This *wilderness* -- 
is my *home*. The Cardassians left behind a lot of injured 
people, *Doctor*; you can make yourself useful by bringing 
your Federation medicine to the natives. You've find them a 
-- friendly, simple folk." She stalks out of the infirmary, 
leaving a dismayed Dr. Bashir behind.
	In the science lab, Sisko has given Dax the Orb to study,
telling her that time is of the essence as the Cardassians 
have the other eight Orbs and a considerable head start on 
the problem. Dax expresses appreciation for Sisko's 
presence on the station, a sentiment with Sisko returns. 
She then sets to work gathering information on the Orb. As 
she examines the object, she, like Sisko before her, is 
swept up into a vision of her past, and relives the time 
when Jadzia and Dax were first joined.
	On the Enterprise, Miles O'Brien takes one last look around
the bridge, and then heads to Transporter Room Three to 
transport to the station and his new post. As he steps to 
the transporter pad, Captain Picard comes in, and they 
exchange farewells. Picard transports O'Brien to Deep Space 
Nine, and the *Enterprise* departs.
	Shortly thereafter, in Ops, a Cardassian ship is spotted
approaching the station, under the command of one Gul 
Dukat, who used to be the Prefect of Bajor. Gul Dukat and 
Sisko have a tense and adversarial confrontation in Sisko's 
office, which used to be Gul Dukat's office. Dukat offers 
the "assistance" of the Cardassians, saying, "Allow me to 
assure you that we only want to be helpful in this 
difficult transition. You are far from the Federation's 
Fleet, alone, in this remote outpost, with...poor defense 
systems. Your Cardassian neighbors will be quick to respond 
to any...problems you may have." Sisko replies, "We'll try 
to keep the dog off your lawn." Gul Dukat goes on to ask 
Sisko what he thought of the Kai, and tells the commander 
that he knows the Kai gave him the last Orb. He offers to 
trade information about the Orbs, but Sisko denies 
knowledge of the items. Gul Dukat, clearly not convinced, 
requests that his men be allowed to use the Promenade, and 
Sisko reluctantly agrees.
	In the science lab, Dax has discovered a correlation
between the appearance of the Orbs and a nearby space 
anomaly called the Denorios Belt, a charged plasma field 
with a history of unusual occurrences. Sisko decides they 
should take a closer look, but without alerting the 
Cardassians, if possible.
	Down in Quark's, the Cardassians have been doing quite well
at the gambling tables. Kira and O'Brien enter, saying, 
over Quark's objections, that Quark's is being closed down. 
Quark, grumbling, has an assistant fetch a duffle bag, in 
which he puts the Cardassians' winnings.
	On board the Cardassian warship, the gamblers place their
duffle bag full of money in a locker and depart. They fail 
to notice as the duffle bag melts and flows out through a 
grating in the locker door, forming a puddle in the hall 
which then organizes itself into the recognizable shape of 
Constable Odo.
	On Deep Space Nine, Sisko and Dax board the Runabout *Rio
Grande*. In Ops, Kira and O'Brien are monitoring the 
Cardassian ship. The warship's computer system crashes, and 
its sensors go down; Kira says, "Odo's done it!", and 
clears the *Rio Grande* to leave. O'Brien moves to 
transport Odo off the Cardassian ship, but experiences 
difficulty with the alien equipment. Exasperated, he gives 
the console a swift kick -- and it hums to life as Odo 
materializes in Ops in a shower of transporter sparkles.
	Sisko and Dax fly the Runabout toward the Denorios Belt,
picking up strange sensor readings as they approach. When 
they enter the Belt itself, the heavens swirl and a gaping 
aperture opens up, swallowing the Runabout whole in a 
split-second.
	In Ops, the watching crew realize that the Runabout has
disappeared.
	On board the *Rio Grande*, Sisko and Dax are flying through
a glowing tunnel, surrounded by strange lightnings. As 
they fight for control of the ship, another gateway opens 
and the Runabout emerges back into normal space. A quick 
coordinate check reveals that they have traveled seventy 
thousand light years from Bajor, and are in the Gamma 
Quadrant. Sisko deduces that they must have passed through 
a wormhole, and theorizes that this could explain how the 
Orbs got to the Bajor system. That, however, would require 
that the wormhole have been present for over ten thousand 
years, which would make it the first stable wormhole ever 
discovered to exist.
	They re-enter the wormhole to travel back to the station,
but while en route, the Runabout inexplicably begins to 
lose power. Within a minute, the ship has come to a 
complete stop, landing on some undetected solid surface. 
Dax reports that there is atmosphere outside capable of 
supporting humanoid life, and the two officers exit the 
Runabout to see where they have been brought.
	As he steps out of the ship, Sisko finds himself on a
barren, rocky landscape, with jutting crags of rock 
reaching up to a storm-ravaged sky. Dax follows him out, 
but to her eyes, their surroundings appear as a lovely, 
sun-kissed garden, green and peaceful. After a moment's 
confused conversation, they compare notes and discover the 
discrepancy in their perspectives. Suddenly, an Orb appears 
in midair. Dax scans it, and it returns the favor, scanning 
the two Starfleet officers. Sisko introduces himself, but 
the Orb's only reply is to lash out with energy beams that 
throw both Sisko and Dax to the ground. The scenery around 
Dax flickers; she looks around in confusion as the Orb 
closes in on her, envelopes her, and vanishes, taking the 
Trill with it. Sisko finds himself unable to get to his 
feet as the ground around him begins to shatter, dissolving 
into a blinding white void of light.
	In the Gamma Quadrant, the Orb exits the wormhole. On the
station, in Ops, O'Brien spots the object on his sensors 
and determines that there is something alive inside. On 
Kira's orders, the Ops Chief beams the object aboard, and 
the Orb dissolves into light, leaving Lt. Dax standing on 
the transporter pad.
	Sisko, suspended in white nothingness, begins to see images
from his past flashing before him. As the scenery around 
the commander continues to shift, he attempts to establish 
communication with the beings in the wormhole. It becomes 
clear that Sisko and the aliens lack a common frame of 
reference from which to understand each other.
	Back on Deep Space Nine, Kira dictates her station log,
stating her intention to mount a rescue expedition to 
bring Sisko back from the wormhole. Dax tells the crew that 
she believes the wormhole to be a construct, and not a 
natural phenomenon at all, as O'Brien reports that the Gul 
Dukat's ship has started to move toward the Denorios Belt. 
Kira believes that the Bajorans must stake an immediate 
claim to the wormhole, which could affect the future of the 
entire Quadrant; she wants to move the station to that 
location, but O'Brien says it will take two months for the 
station to travel that far. Kira wants it there by 
tomorrow, which O'Brien flatly declares to be impossible. 
But Dax suggests using a field modulation to lower the 
inertial mass of the station and allow it to be moved more 
quickly; O'Brien is doubtful, warning that such a maneuver 
could rip the station apart. The closest ship to the 
station is still the *Enterprise*, but it would require two 
days to get back to Deep Space Nine.
	Kira heads for a Runabout, taking Dax and Bashir with her.
Odo, though not summoned, follows as well. When Kira tries 
to send him back, he argues for his inclusion, saying that 
since he was found in the Denorios belt, he has a right to 
go along. Kira gives in, allowing the Constable to join 
them aboard the *Yangtze Kian*.
	Inside the wormhole, Sisko continues trying to negotiate
with the aliens, who suspect him of hostile intent. They 
admit to sending the Orbs out to make contact with other 
lifeforms, but do not consider "corporeal beings" like 
Sisko to count as such. During the disjointed conversation, 
he discovers a fundamental rift in understanding between 
himself and the aliens: the wormhole beings have no concept 
of linear time.
	On the station, O'Brien fights with the Cardassian
computer, trying to implement Dax's plan for moving the 
station. The situation becomes critical as the inertial 
field threatens to collapse and the computer refuses to 
follow O'Brien's orders, shutting down the system instead. 
The Ops Chief takes the boards to manual and completes the 
procedure, stabilizing the field just in time. "Computer," 
says the disgusted O'Brien, "You and I need to have a 
little talk..."
	The Runabout carrying Kira, Dax, Bashir, and Odo closes in
on Gul Dukat's ship, which is headed straight for the 
wormhole. The crew attempt to dissuade the Cardassian from 
entering the rift, but Dukat believes that Sisko is 
currently inside the wormhole negotiating with the beings 
inside for access to the technology of the Orbs. Dukat 
insists upon investigating this for himself.
	Back in the middle of nothing, Sisko persists in trying to
talk to the wormhole aliens; his job is made more 
difficult by the fact that one of the aliens has assumed 
the form of Jennifer, his dead wife, which Sisko finds 
disconcerting. Sisko and the alien-Jennifer watch a 
re-enactment of his marriage proposal to the real Jennifer. 
As Sisko tries to explain the concept of "happiness", he 
finds himself walking in the wreckage of the dying 
*Saratoga*. "This is your existence," says an alien. "I 
don't want to be here," Sisko replies, as the 
alien-Jennifer emerges from the burning stateroom. "Then 
why do you exist here?", she asks. Sisko doesn't 
understand.
	Their conversation is disrupted as Gul Dukat's ship passes
through the wormhole, emerging in the Gamma Quadrant.
	The *Yangtze Kian* is following close behind, and sees the
wormhole open -- and then, without warning, it closes, 
vanishing completely in a flare of light. The crew stare at 
each other in mute consternation.
	Inside, Sisko asks what happened, and is told that another
ship came through, an event which disrupts the existence 
of the aliens. Because of this, they have shut down the 
wormhole. Sisko perseveres in his attempts to establish 
communication with the angry aliens, using baseball as a 
metaphor for the way his kind perceive time.
	The *Yangtze Kian* and the station rendezvous at the former
site of the wormhole, as three more Cardassian warships 
cross the border in search of their missing vessel. Kira 
orders the establishment of a high-density thoron field to 
shield the station from the Cardassian sensors. The 
Cardassians, under the command of one Gul Jasad, demand to 
know what happened to their missing warship. The station 
crew tries to explain about the wormhole, but Gul Jasad 
refuses to believe a word of it, as his sensors can find no 
trace of any such object.
	O'Brien reports that the Cardassians have begun jamming the
station's communications with Starfleet, and have powered 
up their weapons. Kira orders shields up, but O'Brien says, 
"*What* shields?"
	The Cardassian commander hails the station again. He
rejects the crew's explanations, and demands the 
unconditional surrender of the space station within one 
hour, or the warships will open fire. O'Brien works to 
establish partial shields for Deep Space Nine as Kira tells 
Odo to get the station's residents to safe locations. The 
*Enterprise*, the station's closest hope of help, is at 
least twenty hours away.
	Inside the wormhole, Sisko finds himself once again
standing in the rubble in his burning stateroom on the 
*Saratoga*. He asks why he keeps being brought back to this 
place, and is told that the opposite is happening: he is 
drawing the aliens to this place, because, as they tell 
him, "You exist here." "Then give me the power to lead you 
someplace else. Anyplace else!", Sisko shouts. "We cannot 
give you what you deny yourself," they say, and Sisko sees 
Kai Opaka saying, "Look for solutions from within, 
Commander." Sisko watches his phantom self being dragged 
from the burning stateroom. "I never left this ship," he 
says.
	"You exist here," the alien Jennifer repeats.
	"I exist here," Sisko says, helplessly, and moves to the
side of his dead wife. In agony, he recounts how his life 
ended at this moment, and how he relives it every time he 
closes his eyes.
	"This is not linear," says the alien.
	Sisko is in tears. "It's not linear," he agrees.
	Back on the embattled station, the Cardassians are hailing
again. O'Brien states that the Cardassians will be 
surprised when they penetrate the thoron field, and Kira 
orders him to fire six photon torpedoes across Gul Jasad's 
bow. O'Brien protests, "We only *have* six photons, Major." 
She replies, "We're not going to win this battle with 
torpedoes, Chief."
	The photon torpedoes streak by Gul Jasad's ship, and the
angered Cardassian hails the station again. Kira attempts 
to bluff: "You don't think Starfleet took command of this 
space station without the ability to defend it, do you?" 
Jasad is incredulous, and Kira admits that if she were 
Starfleet she would probably surrender -- but she is 
Bajoran, and quite used to hopeless causes. "If you want a 
war, I'll give you one."
	Aboard the warship, a Cardassian officer tells Gul Jasad
that their scanners have penetrated the thoron field 
around the station and learned that the station has 
approximately five thousand photon torpedoes and integrated 
phaser banks on all levels. Gul Jasad is dumbfounded, 
unable to comprehend how the weaponry could have been 
brought in and installed without the knowledge of the 
Cardassians. He concludes that it must be a deception, a 
massive illusion of duranium shadows.
	In Ops, the crew notices that the Cardassians have called
for reinforcements. It seems as if the bluff has worked -- 
until the warships assume an attack formation around the 
station. As Kira orders "Battlestations!", the Cardassians 
open fire. Phaser bolts strike the docking ring; inside, 
Odo tries to shepherd the station residents to safety as 
the station shakes with the impact.
	O'Brien manages to power up the station's phasers for one
blast, and fires, striking a Cardassian ship, but without 
obvious effect. The warships fire again in return, rocking 
the station; the station's shields begin to fail.
	Another barrage from the attackers strikes, penetrating the
weakened shields. On the Promenade, there is a large 
explosion, and people run in panic as debris starts to fall 
around and upon them. The staff in Ops fight to control the 
damage, as Odo calls up for medical assistance. Dr. Bashir 
moves to respond, meeting up with the Constable on the 
Promenade. Bashir commands Odo's assistance with an injured 
woman; the unsettled shapeshifter tries to demur, but 
Bashir fiercely orders him to stay put, and Odo, startled, 
complies.
	Back in Ops, the station's defenses are nearly gone.
O'Brien offers one more phaser blast to Kira, but the 
major, defeat showing in her face, tells him "No." After a 
long pause, she starts to hail the Cardassian ship in order 
to offer the station's surrender -- but is interrupted by 
Dax's shout that she is picking up a huge neutrino 
disturbance. The wormhole has returned.
	Kira hails the Cardassian ship. "What did I tell you, Jasad
-- *there's* your wormhole!" Gul Jasad gapes in 
astonishment as the *Rio Grande* appears in the mouth of 
the wormhole, towing Gul Dukat's warship behind it with a 
tractor beam.
	Sisko calls the station from the Runabout, apologizing for
the delay caused by his stopping to give the Cardassian 
warship a hand on the other side of the wormhole. Gul Dukat 
has agreed to signal his ships to stand down. The Runabout 
is cleared for docking, to the profound relief of everyone 
on the station.
	Sisko enters the Promenade and surveys the damage. He
checks in with Bashir and finds out that there have been 
no fatalities from the attack. Jake Sisko emerges from the 
crowd, and Sisko, seeing him, calls his son's name and 
moves to take him in a fierce embrace.
	"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."
	In Sisko's office, the commander has another meeting with
Captain Picard. The atmosphere is noticeably less hostile 
this time. Picard comments that the sight of the Federation 
Runabout towing a Cardassian warship has discouraged the 
Cardassians, but Sisko is convinced that, given the 
strategic importance of the wormhole, the Cardassians will 
be back. Picard states that the discovery of the wormhole 
has vastly increased the importance of the planet Bajor, 
and of the Federation post here as well. Picard questions 
whether or not Sisko should continue at this assignment, 
given his stated misgivings, but Sisko has become 
determined to stay. The two of them shake hands. Picard 
wishes Sisko good luck, and departs, as life on Deep Space 
Nine begins to settle into its new order.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Copyright 1993, Jennifer A. Hawthorne. All rights reserved, but I'm 
not stuffy about it as long as you don't go overboard.
