SEASON
ONE
1993
Stardate 46379.1: Commander Ben Sisko and his son Jake, both survivors of the Wolf 359 Borg massacre, arrive at the planet Bajor as part of a Starfleet team taking over the abandoned Cardassian space station Deep Space 9. The station, which was inentionally damaged by the Cardassians before they left it behind, is being pieced together by newly-transferred Operations Chief O'Brien from the Enterprise. Sisko also meets Major Kira, his Bajoran first officer who doubts the ability of the provisional government of Bajor to avert a civil war and trusts the Federation even less; Odo, a mysterious shapeshifter in charge of station security; and Quark, the suspicious Ferengi kingpin who's eager to get out of town before the regulatory hand of the Federation clamps down on his shady "business" affairs. Sisko is summoned to the Enterprise for a briefing with Captain Picard, whom he still remembers as the man responsible for the death of thousands, including Sisko's wife, in the Borg invasion attempt. Picard gives Sisko the Federation's orders regarding management of Deep Space 9 - to do everything, short of violating the prime directive, to get the struggling Bajora back on their feet so they can join the Federation. Sisko, however, is considering resigning from Starfleet to raise his son in a better environment. Soon afterward, the Enterprise departs to undertake other duties as the station's new doctor, the brilliant but inexperienced Julian Bashir, and science officer Jadzia Dax arrive. Dax, a Trill who has lived in a number of bodies, is an old friend of Sisko's. Sisko, at the suggestion of Kira, travels to Bajor and visits Bajoran spiritual leader Kai Opaka, who tells Sisko that he is to be the emissary of the people to the temple of their gods. Opaka reveals an Orb, a mystic object of a type which has appeared throughout Bajoran history. The Orb envelops Sisko in a brief recollection of his first meeting with his wife, and then releases him. Opaka gives him the Orb, and the news that Sisko - whether he likes it or not, whether he even knows it or not - will find the temple. He returns to Deep Space 9 and hands the Orb over to Dax for further study. The Cardassians return, ostensibly to make use of the station's amenities. Dax discovers that reports of the Orbs' appearances correspond to a certain area of space near Bajor. She and Sisko set out in a Federation Runabout to investigate, and stumble across a wormhole that shoots them 70,000 light years across the galaxy. Trying to return to the station, their ship is halted. Dax is taken back to the station by an Orb, while Sisko is kept and studied by noncorporeal beings who built the wormhole. These beings have no conception of linear time, existing simultaneously in the past, present and future, and they ask Sisko questions about the ephemeral nature of humans, which they do not comprehend. Dax, back on Deep Space 9, fills the crew in on details of the wormhole. Major Kira orders O'Brien to shift the station's position so that it stands in front of the wormhole. A Cardassian ship, however, enters the wormhole, but is damaged by the wormhole life forms. When another Cardassian flotilla arrives and finds no sign of the missing ship, they threaten to open fire on Deep Space 9 unless Kira agrees to surrender the station. In the wormhole, the aliens' study of Sisko reaches an end when they discover the human drive for knowledge, and they are puzzled by Sisko's inability to live down the death of his wife. At the station, Kira's brinksmanship abilities and her feisty confrontations with the Cardassians result in a firefight, damaging the station heavily. The solution to the confrontation lies with Sisko, if he can overcome the wormhole beings' manifestations of his inner barriers and escape from the wormhole.
Stardate not given: Shortly after Dr. Bashir excitedly reports to Sisko a meeting with a merchant who happens to be the only remaining Cardassian on the station, a Bajoran ship is detected with hostile Cardassians hot in pursuit. The single occupant of the damaged Bajoran vessel is beamed aboard and is discovered to be a member of a group of violent Bajoran extremists who have not yet ceased their terrorism against the Cardassians. Requesting asylum, all Tahna does is invite Sisko's suspicion. Sisko is further put in a tenuous situation when the Cardassian ship's commander demands that Tahna be turned over for his crimes against the Cardassians. Kira, herself a former member of Tahna's underground, tries to convince Tahna to give up his violent tactics, but he refuses, and it turns out that his visit to Deep Space 9 is all part of another of his inevitably bloody gambits for revenge. This time, however, Tahna plans action not only against the Cardassians, but the Federation as well - and he expects Kira to help him.
Stardate 46421.5: During routine banter with Quark on the Promenade, Odo spots Ibundan, a Bajoran man he jailed months ago for murder, and the old enemies get into a fight almost immediately. Not long afterward, Ibundan is found dead in one of the Promenade's holosuites, and evidence has been carefully placed to lead a trail to Odo, a suspicion which spreads among the station's populace along with rumors of Odo being a Cardassian agent and a growing paranoia. Bashir and Dax begin putting together pieces of a puzzle which include DNA traces from Ibundan's ship, but in the meantime, the station's residents grow restless and demand that Odo be handed over to be punished for a crime they believe he committed. While Sisko and his crew are working full-time on finding the solution to the crime, the denizens of Deep Space 9 seem to have no intention of allowing Odo to survive long enough to stand trial.
Stardate 46425.8: Business as usual is keeping O'Brien the busiest man on DS9, as systems continuously break down almost at random, mainly food replicators. In the course of his repairs, O'Brien accidentally activates a concealed Bajoran device designed to release an adaptive virus into the food generated by that replicator. He is immediately stricken with the disease, which scrambles his brain's ability to connect language, stimuli and responses. Quark, impatient to get service back on schedule at his bar, unwittingly spreads the virus to all of his patrons, and a stationwide epidemic ensues. Bashir, before falling victim to the virus himself, discovers that the plague was created by the Bajora in an attempt to prevent the construction of the station years ago, and it is eventually fatal. Most of the population is rendered useless, with a few exceptions, among them Odo, Major Kira and Quark. They must find an antidote to the virus and try to ensure the station's safety until a cure can be found.
Stardate not given: The first ship from the Gamma Quadrant emerges through the wormhole and arrives at DS9. Its single occupant is convinced to dock at the station to allow the crew to repair his battle-damaged vessel. O'Brien tries to get acquainted with the alien, who identifies itself only as Tosk. As soon as no one is watching, however, Tosk begins trying to determine how to fight and hide on the station. Odo discovers Tosk tampering with a security junction and Tosk winds up in the brig. A second ship arrives from the wormhole. Sisko gives the new visitors every chance to make friendly contact, but they instead disrupt the station's shields and beam into the Promenade without permission. Armed, they begin searching for Tosk and hold the crew at bay. It turns out that they are game hunters searching for Tosk, and advise the crew of DS9 to stay out of their way. O'Brien decides to take the rules of the hunt into his own hands to prevent Tosk from having to be bagged in captivity and disgrace.
Stardate 46531.2: A Runabout barely returns from the Gamma Quadrant after experiencing a power loss on its way back to DS9. The crew must be rescued by Sisko, Kira and O'Brien on arrival, and they have brought a passenger back from the other side: Vash, Captain Picard's old flame from a vacation on Risa, last seen going off to explore the universe with Q. Vash has apparently been wandering through the Gamma Quadrant on her own for two years, and once she gets settled in on the station, begins making plans to sell several artifacts from the Gamma Quadrant. In the meantime, power failures begin occurring on DS9, coinciding with the arrival of Q, who is pestering Vash to continue her travels with him. Q also introduces himself to Sisko and the station crew and delights in irritating them as much as he has always enjoyed badgering the Enterprise crew. In the meantime, Vash meets Quark and they begin planning an auction of her Gamma Quadrant loot - off of which they both expect to make a fortune. Power failures and Q continue to plague the station, climaxing with a gravitational force sucking DS9 straight toward the wormhole. Sisko is unsure whether an unknown natural phenomenon is dragging the station to its doom, or if Q is simply playing another of his infamous pranks.
Stardate 46910.1: A small group of Klaestrons try to kidnap Lt. Dax from the station, but Sisko snags their ship in the station's tractor beam before they can escape with their hostage. The leader of the Klaestron party, Ilon Tandro, claims to be carrying out the extradition of Dax on charges of treason and the murder of Tandro's military father 30 years before, when Dax inhabited the host body Curzon. Sisko, not believing the charges and unable to comprehend Dax's silence regarding the situation, stalls the Klaestrons' plans by calling for an extradition hearing overseen by a Bajoran judge, and sends Odo to Klaestron 4 to find out as much as he can about Curzon Dax's activities 30 years ago. Meanwhile, time, and possibly the letter of the law, are against the case for Dax's freedom and survival.
Stardate not given: As Odo and Starfleet newcomer Lt. Primmin irritate each other while trying to coordinate security for the transfer of a deuridium shipment due to arrive at DS9, a Runabout is sent to aid a crippled Kobliad prison ship, containing investigator Ty Kajada and two corpses, one of which was a notorious Kobliad criminal known as Rao Vantika, who, even after being pronounced dead by Bashir, is still considered a major threat by Kajada. Dax discovers, during post-mortem investigations, that Vantika was capable of transferring his consciousness into the mind of any other being without the recipient's consent or even their knowledge. The vital shipment may be lost to Vantika, whoever his evil ambitions inhabit now - and he has henchmen waiting to assist him on the station.
Stardate not given: A group of Gamma Quadrant aliens led by Falow makes first contact with the station, an event which Sisko intends to treat with the utmost seriousness and ceremony. Sisko is surprised, however, when Falow and his fellow travelers seem to be interested only in games. After Sisko leaves the proceedings out of boredom and mild disappointment, Quark cheats Falow in his casino, and Falow means to get even by introducing Quark to a game from the Gamma Quadrant. At the same time, Sisko, Dax, Major Kira and Dr. Bashir vanish from the station without a trace, finding themselves in a surreal maze occupied by images of Falow and others. As they try to work out the puzzle and help each other survive, Quark continues to play the game, only gradually becoming aware of who his pawns are.
Stardate not given: Quark receives a surprise - and something of a dubious honor - when Grand Nagus Zek, a Ferengi business mogul, arrives at DS9. After some customary patronizing at Quark's, Zek insists on holding a conference of Ferengi profiteers there, while Quark fears that Zek plans on buying out his bar on the station. To everyone's surprise, especially Quark's, Zek announces his retirement and declares that Quark will succeed him to the coveted position of Grand Nagus. Many of the visiting Ferengi are jealous, as would be expected of them. But Quark discovers - after a close call - that someone among the Ferengi is jealous enough to try gaining the position of Nagus by killing him.
Stardate not given: Quark and Rom are involved in a shady deal with a pair of twin Miradorns when a recent visitor from the wormhole interrupts, kills one of the Miradorn brothers, and tries to steal a valuable item. Odo turns out to have been present all along and intervenes before the surviving Miradorn can exact vengeance, but Croden, the visitor from a distant planet Rakhar troubles Odo even more, for he may have a clue to the shapeshifter's origins in the Gamma Quadrant. Odo must decide whether or not to trust the criminal when Sisko orders him to transport Croden back through the wormhole to Rakhar - and the surviving Miradorn brother leaves DS9 to follow the Runabout carrying his brother's murderer.
Stardate not given: On a routine day at the station, Kai Opaka, the Bajoran spiritual leader who helped lead Sisko to discover the wormhole when he first arrived at DS9, pays a surprise visit. Sisko, Kira and Bashir take Opaka on her first trip through the wormhole. Before they can return to the station, a signal is detected from a series of satellites orbiting a moon in the Gamma Quadrant. When Sisko's Runabout investigates, it is fired on by one of the satellites, forcing the ship to crash-land on the moon. Opaka dies on impact, but before Kira has long to grieve, warriors appear and take the crash survivors back to their camp. It is discovered that two groups of combatants have been stranded there for centuries, fighting a war in which no one ever dies - not even newcomers who find themselves in the line of fire.
Stardate 46729.1: As the leaders of two Bajoran factions arrive on the station where Sisko hopes to diplomatically steer them away from solving their differences in combat, O'Brien and Dr. Bashir depart to Bajor in response to a distress call which vaguely stated that an entire community is jeopardized. Bashir is puzzled to find all of the villagers except one - the elderly Sirah - in perfect health, yet the locals still insist that they are in mortal danger. They discover, when the Sirah makes his appearance at a yearly festival (against Bashir's recommendation), that the threat comes from the legendary Dal'Rok, a mythical creature which descends upon the village for five nights of each year in an attempt to destroy it. But every year in the past several generations, the village Sirah told a Story, somehow halting the Dal'Rok's onslaught. This year, the Sirah will not complete his Story...
Stardate 46844.3: With the aid of the station crew, the Bajoran provisional government prepares to convert a moon into part of a power system needed to help Bajor overcome the damage caused by decades of Cardassian rule. On a final inspection flyover of the moon, Kira and Dax detect humanoid life on the suface. Kira beams down and finds stubborn old Mullibok, who has been living on the moon almost since the Cardassians arrived to take over Bajor. Mullibok and his two neighbors rendered mute by Cardassian torture years ago refuse to leave the moon, even when Kira warns that the conversion of the moon into a power facility will kill all life there. But when Kira begins the first steps of the provisional government's orders to remove the settlers by force, she finds herself sympathetic with Mullibok's plight and joins in their fight to stay until the imminent end.
Stardate 46853.2: The strange behavior of space near the wormhole and the sudden appearance in Chief O'Brien's quarters of a character from a bedtime story read to Molly signal the beginning of an alien study of the station's crew from the vantage point of manifestations of their imaginations, ranging from a favorite baseball player of Sisko's to a pair of ravishing beauties (appearing, naturally, on Quark's arms) to the girl of Bashir's dreams - Dax, but with a far different personality. At first the apparitions seem harmless, but it then seems that they are capable of posing danger to the crew.
Stardate 46925.1: A handful of Federation ambassadors boards Deep Space 9 on a fact-finding mission - one which is failing to get off the ground since the delegates seem unable to cope with the fact that the station isn't exactly a proper Federation starbase. Among the delegates is Lwaxana Troi, who becomes enamoured of Odo after he retrieves a stolen item of hers from a thief at Quark's bar. As she begins scheming to snare the constable, a small probe emerges from the wormhole, and to O'Brien's surprise, the station computer actually works well enough for once to download information from the probe. The probe's effect on the station computer is inexplicable, including stranding Odo in a stuck turbolift with Lwaxana Troi...
Stardate 46922.3: A Klingon ship makes an unexpected return from a scientific mission in the Gamma Quadrant and self-destructs. A single member of the ship's crew beams himself into Ops, dying shortly after cryptically announcing "victory." As Dax and O'Brien start trying to piece together the mystery of the Klingon ship, divisions take place between members of DS9's crew. Kira, still unsatisfied after losing an argument with Sisko about security arrangements for a shipload of possible allies of the Cardassians, begins to plot against the commander, quietly gathering loyal followers among the crew and threatening those who don't sympathize with her cause. Sisko, in the meantime, goes into hiding supposedly for security reasons, as he and Chief O'Brien prepare for Kira's imminent mutiny. Odo remains the only officer who hasn't taken up arms with either side yet, since he has his own motive.
Stardate not given: A Federation freighter arrives and delivers a passenger who needs medical attention. At the mention of the passenger's disease, Kira realizes that whoever it is, they were at a forced labor camp operated on Bajor by the Cardassians which Kira helped to liberate years ago. But the patient turns out to be a Cardassian. Kira places him under arrest and, against Sisko's advice, interrogates him. Under questioning, the Cardassian suddenly proclaims himself to be Gul Darhe'el, who commanded the labor camps and authorized genocidal killings of Bajorans. Kira, along with the Bajoran provisional government, takes a more vested interest in proving him guilty of past atrocities...even if he isn't who he says he is.
Stardate not given: Vedek Winn, a Bajoran spiritual leader who is a prime contender for the position of Kai, appears in Keiko's classroom and declares that Keiko's scientific teachings about the wormhole are in conflict with Bajoran beliefs. Winn's announcement divides the Federation officers and Bajorans on the station who follow Winn. Sisko attempts to enlist the aid of Vedek Bareil, the quiet leader in the race to become Kai, but initially meets with no cooperation. When terrorist acts begin, it becomes apparent that Bajoran political interests may also be deeply involved - and the Federation crew of Deep Space 9 may have outstayed their welcome.
SEASON
TWO
1993-1994
Stardate not given: A visitor to DS9 gives Quark the earring of a legendary Bajoran POW, and Quark hands it over to Kira. Kira recognizes it as the one belonging to Li Nalas, the greatest freedom fighter in Bajoran history and legend. Kira convinces Sisko to loan her a Runabout - and Chief O'Brien as pilot - to travel to Cardassia IV. Recovering Li Nalas and a handful of other Bajorans from a forced-labor camp, Kira and O'Brien rush back to DS9. Though the Bajoran provisional government officially condemns Kira's cabalier rescue operation, the Bajorans on the station and everywhere rejoice in Li's return. Sisko hopes Li can reunite the gradually dissolving Bajoran government, which is splitting into many factions, including the extremist reactionary Circle, isolationists who mean to evict all non-Bajorans from Bajor or DS9. The Circle is, in fact, beginning to make its presence known aboard the station, as is Li Nalas, when he winds up replacing Kira as the Bajoran liaison officer on DS9.
Stardate not given: Kira has been recalled to Bajor, and accepts an invitation from Vedek Bareil to spend some time at his monastery. There, she encounters the Third Orb, which gives her a strange vision including Dax, Vedeks Winn and Bareil, Minister Jaro, and the Bajoran Chamber of Ministers. In the meantime, as Li Nalas tries to fit into his role as DS9's first officer, the crew stumbles across evidence that the Circle is not just an isolated faction, but is instead a well-organized and surprisingly well-armed movement which is waiting in the wings to overthrow the provisional government of Bajor by force. Unknown to the Circle's members, however, they are being provided weapons by the Cardassians, who anticipate correctly that Starfleet will order Sisko and all other Federation personnel to evacuate DS9 and leave Bajor to its own political machinations, wide open for a renewed Cardassian occupation. The Circle launches assault ships to take over the station, and many of the Starfleet occupants have no choice but to stay behind and fight for their survival.
Stardate not given: DS9 is being abandoned, and everyone from the Starfleet contingent to civilians are evacuating to various places of safety. In the meantime, Sisko and some others decide to stay and fight it out with the Bajoran assault squadrons. Kira is determined to get proof of the Cardassians' interference in Bajoran affairs to the Chamber of Ministers, even if it means walking into the assembly and showing the evidence to them herself. Li tells her where to find hidden fighter craft left over from the Cardassian occupation, and with Dax's help, Kira sets out on her mission. Bajorans General Krim and Colonel Day, along with several shiploads of soldiers, take over the station, cautious because there is no resistance. Sisko, Li, Odo, and many other crew members begin to wage guerilla warfare upon DS9's new occupants. Kira and Dax, after a quick dogfight with Bajoran assault ships, crash-land on Bajor and are rescued by Vedek Bareil, who gets them into the Chamber of Ministers with the damning evidence intact. As the Circle's popularity dissolves before the eyes of its high-ranking supporters, the Bajoran troops on DS9 are ordered to stand down - but some of them insist on bearing a deadly hatred that will cost the Bajora one of their greatest legends.
Stardate 47182.1: DS9 is evacuated to avoid endangering any personnel due to the passage of a plasma storm. A handful of renegades infiltrates the nearly-abandoned station with the aid of Quark, who doesn't know what they're really after. The leader of the intruders is Verad, a candidate for Trill host who was rejected by the symbiosis evalutation board as unfit for the joining, and he intends to steal the symbiont Dax. As the crew is held hostage, Bashir is coerced into performing the operation to implant Dax into Verad. As Bashir struggles to keep Jadzia alive long enough to reunite her with Dax, Sisko tries to keep the newly integrated Verad Dax talking in hope of appealing to his mentor's better nature.
Stardate 47177.2: A Bajoran man arrives on DS9 with his adopted son, a young Cardassian who was abandoned when his people withdrew from Bajor. This draws the attention of the Cardassian government, particularly Gul Dukat, who claims he is eager to solve the dilemma of Cardassian war orphans left behind on Bajor. DS9's resident tailor, Garak, seems to find Dukat's sudden pledge to resolve the abandoned children's situation ironic, since the boy in question is really the son of one of the civilian assembly who voted to pull the Cardassian military out of Bajoran space - one of Dukat's political adversaries. Sisko and Dr. Bashir, aided and abetted by Garak's cryptic advice, must decide the fate of the Cardassian youth, possibly deciding the end result of an internal power struggle whose combatants couldn't care less about the boy's situation.
Stardate 47229.1: The first Elaysian officer in Starfleet, Ensign Melora Pazlar, is assigned to DS9. Bashir and O'Brien have had to modify various passageways to permit Melora - whose low-gravity home world leaves her body reliant on a wheelchair in normal gravity - access to as much of the station as possible. In the meantime, Quark's former partner, who he once sold out to the Romulans in order to save his own skin, has finally been released by his captors and has come aboard the station to exact vengeance upon Quark. Bashir decides to make an effort to cut through Melora's oversensitivity and defensiveness in order to help her, and even discovers that there may be a way to reverse her handicap.
Stardate not given: Grand Nagus Zek once again plans to use DS9 as the launch pad of Ferengi business opportunities in the Gamma Quadrant, and again he sees Quark as a valuable agent in securing the financial future of the Ferengi Alliance - or a scapegoat should his efforts to make commercial inroads through the other side of the wormhole fail. A newcomer to Quark's is another Ferengi named Pel, who is especially savvy to Ferengi rules of commerce and materialism - but flies in the face of the rules of traditional Ferengi customs, since Pel is a female in disguise who, in Ferengi society, could be jailed for stepping out of her house with clothes on.
Stardate 47282.5: Quark is hired to retrieve a list of names hidden on DS9 by a Bajoran five years ago, but when he gets curious about the list's contents, a Bajoran man enters his bar and shoots him. As Quark fights for his life in the infirmary under guard, Odo realizes that this incident is somehow linked to the murder of a Bajoran five years ago, when Odo was assigned to investigate his first crime on DS9 by Gul Dukat. The Bajoran whose murder Odo never solved turns out to be the husband of the woman who paid Quark to get the list. Five years ago, she accused Kira of the crime, claiming that the then-resistance fighter was having an affair with the woman's husband. Though the woman is currently involved in some suspicious activities, she was correct in one of those assumptions.
Stardate 47329.4: On the fourth anniversary of the Wolf 359 attack and the death of his wife, Commander Sisko tries to evade the painful reminder by walking around the station. On the Promenade, he meets a woman who identifies herself as Fenna, and though a spark of fascination ignites between them, she disappears without a trace moments later. The next day, despite Fenna's vanishing act, Sisko carries out his duties, including the preparation of the USS Prometheus to carry out a hazardous stellar ignition experiment under the auspices of Dr. Seyetik - whose wife, as it so happens, turns out to be Fenna...or a duplicate of her. En route to the potentially deadly site of a dead star via the Prometheus, Sisko struggles to decipher Fenna's secret.
Stardate 47391.2: A damaged ship emerges from the wormhole carrying four members of an unknown race from the Gamma Quadrant. The station's universal translator takes a good deal of time to decipher the aliens' language, but when it does decode their incomprehensible speech, they are able to tell Sisko and Kira that there are three million others on the other side of the wormhole, referrred to in their native Skrreean mythology as the eye of the universe, looking for Kentaana, their destiny according to legend. As it turns out, Kentaana is known in the Alpha Quadrant as Bajor, and the Skrreeans intend to emigrate there.
Stardate not given: A new face arrives on DS9's Promenade, an open face with an apparently big heart, enough to listen through any hard luck story and comfort the person telling it. Unknown to his increasingly large number of friends, however, Martus is simply gathering information and awaiting his opportunity. When he finds a way to open an entertainment center that steals Quark's clientele, Quark begins to suspect that his luck has run out. Little does he know...
Stardate not given: Dr. Mora Pol, the Bajoran scientist who studied Odo and first discovered that Odo is a living creature, arrives on DS9 to enlist the shapeshifter's help in another research endeavor - this time a journey into the Gamma Quadrant to investigate a world that may once have harbored beings similar in nature to Odo. Finding only the ruins of some past civilization at first, the away team also find some local flora that appear to bear some resemblance to Odo. A geological upheaval on the planet sends the members of the away team scrambling for cover from suffocating natural gases. After returning to their runabout and going back to the station, most of them wind up recovering in the infirmary recovering from gas inhalation. Only Odo appears to be unaffected, which is fortunate since something the away team has brought back from the Gamma Quadrant would appear to be lose aboard DS9 - something with abilities remarkably similar to Odo's...
Stardate not given: Bashir and O'Brien are on attachment to a research vessel in the Gamma Quadrant, attempting to help the Kelleruns and T'lani destroy their bumper crop of biological weapons known as Harvesters. Shortly after finally discovering a means of rendering the Harvesters inert, the scientists on the alien ship are stormed by a squadron of armed troops. Only Bashir and O'Brien escape, beaming down to nearby T'lani III when they are unable to contact their Runabout. O'Brien has been infected by material from a Harvester and will die within days if he doesn't receive treatment that Bashir cannot provide without the station's medical facilities. In the meantime, Sisko and the crew have been informed that Bashir and O'Brien died in an accident aboard the research ship - but unknown to the crew, those who Bashir and O'Brien were helping in good faith are deliberately responsible for the attack.
Stardate 47581.2: After returning from a briefing on security measures that will be needed aboard DS9 for a summit between leaders of warring factions of the Paradans, O'Brien feels that something strange is happening, though he can't quite place a finger on what it could be. Gradually, he discovers that everything he says and does is being double-checked by Sisko and the crew. His own wife and daughter don't seem comfortable around him, and even the most innocent questions he asks are evaded by everyone. As the time of the Paradan meeting draws near, O'Brien gets desperate for answers - but everyone else on the station seems intent on stopping him.
Stardate 47573.1: Surveying planets in the Gamma Quadrant for potential colonization by the Federation, Sisko and O'Brien discover a world which is already inhabited by humans - to be precise, survivors of a Starfleet shipwreck who have been living on the other side of the wormhole for over a decade. Led by the charismatic Alixus, the survivors have had to rely on basic skills to stay alive, since an energy field prevents any form of technology from functioning. Alixus presses Sisko and O'Brien to abandon any hope of rescue and stay with the colony, but when the two refuse to give up so easily, they discover that their hostess is not above relying on the darkest tactics to convince them...
Stardate 47603.3: Detecting the emissions of a matter/antimatter reactor from an uncharted planet in the Gamma Quadrant, Dax and Odo beam down into a village whose simple inhabitants have been disappearing without a trace or any kind of explanation. At first the visitors from the Runabout are prime suspects, but once they prove that they have nothing to do with the series of disappearances, Dax and Odo are entrusted with the task of finding the guilty party. However, someone else in the village already knows the answer to the puzzle - the one person who is guaranteed not to vanish.
Stardate not given: A Trill candidate for joining with a symbiont arrives on DS9 for observation by Dax, who will report his psychological fitness to the Symbiosis Commission on the Trill homeworld. In the course of their bumpy relationship - based on the fact that the candidate prepared himself to be in the company of Curzon Dax and not Jadzia - they pick up something unusual from the wormhole and bring it back to the station for study, not realizing that it will begin expanding rapidly until it threatens to consume the station...and the space beyond.
Stardate not given: A damaged Cardassian starship docks at DS9 and its pilot makes an urgent request for repairs so she and her passengers can continue on their way as soon as possible. She turns out to be Natima, a member of the Cardassian anti-military underground and an old lover of Quark's from seven years ago. Her ship has been damaged while trying to escape from the Cardassians with her precious cargo: followers of her pacifist movement. Quark is overjoyed to see Natima again, but her own enthusiasm about the reunion seems much more restrained. Garak, the station's only remaining resident Cardassian, is also happy to see Natima - but only in the same way that a hunter revels at the sight of prey...
Stardate not given: Three elderly Klingons whose days of glory passed into history and legend with the conclusion of Federation-Klingon hostilities have arrived at DS9 in search of their old friend Curzon Dax. Decades ago, after the three Klingons led a victorious assault on a ruthless enemy, their first sons were murdered in an act of revenge. The bereaved fathers made a pact, along with their mutual friend Dax, to avenge their sons' deaths. After years of searching, the murderer has been found - and they wonder if Jadzia Dax will still honor an oath of vengeance made by Curzon Dax.Notes: The principal Klingon guest stars each made their debut appearances in episodes of the original "Star Trek" - John Colicos' Kor appeared as the first Klingon in Trek history in 1967's "Errand of Mercy" William Campbell stirred up "The Trouble With Tribbles" as Koloth later that same year, and Michael Ansara locked horns with Captain Kirk in 1968's "Day of the Dove."
Stardate not given: A Cardassian ship is destroyed moments after leaving dock at DS9, and evidence is discovered pointing to sabotage - committed not by Bajorans, but by someone in the Federation. Gul Dukat arrives on the station, telling Sisko that things are heating up along the recently realigned Cardassian/Federation border, along which a demilitarized zone has been erected. Also present on the station is the Federation attache' to the Federation colonies on the border, Commander Hudson, who also happens to be an old friend of Sisko. Dukat and Sisko travel to one of the border colonies, witnessing a furious battle between Federation and Cardassian colonists' vessels along the way. On arrival, they discover that the human responsible for the destruction of the Cardassian vessel has been captured on DS9, interrogated and then killed, enraging the human colonists. After returning to the station, Dukat is kidnapped and taken from the station. A message is received from a group who call themselves the Maquis, claiming responsibility for the abduction. Sisko, Kira and Bashir track down the ship that must have taken Dukat from the station, and Sisko discovers that Hudson, who has voiced sympathies for the displaced Federation colonists, is the leader of the colonists in their war against their Cardassian neighbors.
Stardate not given: The Cardassian Central Command is up in arms about the abduction of Gul Dukat, and Hudson has declared his intention to help the Maquis with all his resources. A visit from a high representative of Cardassia puzzles Sisko when he declares that Dukat is responsible for smuggling weapons into the demilitarized zone and, if returned to Cardassia, will be executed. Sisko goes after Dukat, rescuing him from the Maquis and sending a message to Hudson through renegade colonist Amaros. Dukat, as it happens, has been kept in the dark, and agrees to help Sisko prove the source of the Cardassian colonists' arms in exchange for Sisko's help in bringing Maquis violence to a halt. A captured Vulcan members of the Maquis reveals a plan to attack a hidden Cardassian weapons depot, and Sisko launches DS9's fleet of Runabouts to intercept the Maquis' two vessels. Sisko is pressured by Starfleet and Dukat to hunt Hudson down and stop him at any cost to prevent a full-scale war.
Stardate not given: During a lunchtime disagreement with Bashir over the relative merits of Cardassian literature, Garak begins to loose his plain, simple demeanor and concerns Bashir immensely. Garak finally collapses, and Bashir discovers the source of the mysterious Cardassian's ailment - some kind of implant is connected to his brain. Quark, having been contacted by Garak to acquire something related to his problem, stumbles across the party responsible for the implant - Cardassia's Obsidian Order, a feared secret police organization which has been known to obtain information by means even darker than the Cardassian military's interrogators. Bashir risks delving into the mysteries of the Obsidian Order in a race against time to find a cure for Garak - and perhaps to learn some of his secrets.
Stardate not given: When a Runabout's warp field doesn't completely shut off as it enters the wormhole, Kira and Bashir are detoured into an alternate universe generated by the consequences of previous travelers' interference. The station, still operating under its Cardassian name Terok Nor, and Intendant Kira Nerys lords over the station and its inhabitants with the help of first officer Garak and her Klingon cronies. Bashir is immediately forced to labor in the ore processing facility, while Kira meets her tyrannical, avaricious counterpart. Sisko and O'Brien are also to be found in this universe, as downtrodden humans living lives of virtual slavery under Kira's whip. Treachery abounds aboard the station, and Kira and Bashir can only try to play all sides against each other in order to find a way back to their own universe.
Stardate not given: The choosing of Bajor's new Kai draws near, and some candidates are not above resorting to hardline tactics to discredit their rivals. When one of the top Bajoran traitors of the Cardassian occupation turns up on the station and is promptly pardoned by Vedek Winn, Kira's suspicions are aroused, as is her anger when Winn accuses Vedek Bareil, the leading candidate in the race and Kira's lover, of collaborating with the Cardassians. Kira makes every attempt to clear Bareil's name as the election looms, but only discovers more evidence pointing him out as a traitor to the Bajora. By the time Kira learns the truth about Bareil's involvement in a massacre that cost the lives of 43 Bajoran freedom fighters including the late Kai Opaka's son, Winn has become Bajor's new Kai.
Stardate not given: O'Brien and Keiko depart in a runabout to enjoy some vacation time alone, but their plans are cut short when a Cardassian ship intercepts the runabout, sends a boarding party, and takes custody of O'Brien, sending Keiko back to the station. On Cardassia Prime, O'Brien is jailed and assigned a lawyer, even though he has already been charged, convicted and sentenced to execution. Cardassian law allows the spouse and counsel to attend the trial, and Odo, with his background in law enforcement under the Cardassian reign over Bajor, volunteers to be O'Brien's counsel. Both are frustrated when no one will clarify what crime O'Brien is being accused of, and the Cardassian system of justice promises a speedy trial..
Stardate not given: Sisko decides to take Jake and Nog to the Gamma Quadrant so they can survey an unexplored planet for a school science project, but is not so happy when Quark tags along to try to curry favor with the station commander. But even Quark becomes a minor inconvenience when a female of an unknown species stumbles across Sisko's camp while the boys are off collecting firewood. Alien warriors known as the Jem'Hadar appear out of nowhere using personal cloaking devices and take Sisko, Quark and the fugitive Eris prisoner. Eris reveals that the Jem'Hadar are the most feared and ruthless soldiers in the Dominion, a Gamma Quadrant government which has oft been spoken of by those from the other side of the wormhole, but has yet to make a personal appearance. One of the Jem'Hadar visits the station and delivers an ultimatum to Kira - the Dominion will no longer tolerate unwanted guests from the Alpha Quadrant in their territory. Starfleet sends the Galaxy class starship Odyssey to retrieve Sisko and the others, but even the tallest ship of the fleet cannot withstand the brute force of the Jem'Hadar.
SEASON
THREE
1994-1995
Stardate 48212.4: Preparations are being made aboard DS9 for an inevitable visit from the Dominion, but no one can escape the fact that the station would wither under an attack from the Jem'Hadar. Commander Sisko, having gone to Earth for Starfleet briefings on the threat from the Gamma Quadrant, arrives in the experimental Federation vessel Defiant, a small ship originally created to do battle with the Borg. Carrying more firepower than any other Starfleet ship and a cloaking device loaned by the Romulans, the Defiant is to go to the Dominion before the Dominion arrives in the Alpha Quadrant; if need be, the ship is also to take the fight to the other side of the galaxy. Another innovation brought about by Starfleet Command is the transfer of a Starfleet security officer to the station, relieving Odo of all but station-bound security matters. The shapeshifter withdraws in anger while Sisko assembles a crew for the Defiant's mission to seek out the Dominion for negotiations, but joins the Defiant crew at the last minute. A trade contact of Quark's offers some information but little help in the search for the Founders of the Dominion, but does point the crew out to a planet through which most Dominion communications pass. When the Defiant arrives there, Dax and O'Brien beam down and find the possible coordinates of the Dominion command center - and are captured by the Jem'Hadar, who have also arrived in force in orbit. The Defiant manages to take out only one Jem'Hadar ship and barely survives the withering assault of the remaining attackers. The Defiant is boarded and Kira is blasted unconscious in the ensuing melee. Odo takes her and evacuates in an escape shuttle, heading not back to the station, but to a planet in the Omarian Nebula with which he has been preoccupied since arriving in the Gamma Quadrant. The planet turns out to be the home of a race of life forms very like Odo himself, one of which welcomes him home.
Stardate not given: Odo has arrived on his home world, greeted by his fellow shapeshifters. He at last learns of his origins - he, along with hundreds of other newly-formed shapeshifters, were dispelled into the far reaches of space and genetically programmed to return home with their knowledge later; Odo is the first to make it back. But his homecoming is not without its complications - his fellow shapeshifters consider him tainted by the many years he has spent in the comapny of "solids," and he has much to learn about his heritage. In the meantime, Sisko and Bashir, having escaped the Defiant in a shuttle, are picked up by Dax and O'Brien, who return them to DS9. Negotiations are now apparently underway between the Dominion and the Federation, but some of the proposed treaty's stipulations have sinister undercurrents; the Romulans are being excluded from the talks, though the Cardassians, Ferengi and Klingons are being welcomed, and it is revealed to Sisko that the station - and Bajor - are being handed over to the Dominion. As the Jem'Hadar being walking over the station's inhabitants, Sisko and his crew - and unlikely ally Garak - take up arms to try to take DS9 back from its new owners. Meanwhile, on the planet of the shapeshifters and unknown to all, the Founders lie in wait, conducting a terrifying experiment.
Stardate not given: A drunk Klingon named Kozak tries to kill Quark in a dispute over his bar tab, and winds up falling on his own knife by accident. Quark, attempting to boost business, tells Odo that he bravely killed Kozak in self-defense. Odo warns that Kozak's family will come after Quark to claim the right of vengeance, which springs to mind very quickly when a new Klingon arrival who claims to be Kozak's brother D'Ghor accosts Quark on the station. But D'Ghor doesn't want revenge, he wants Quark to keep quiet about the true nature of Kozak's death to avoid dishonoring his family.
Stardate not given: During an informal home-cooked dinner held by Sisko for the senior staff, Dax picks up a musical instrument of Jake's and begins to pick out, seemingly at random, a tune which she becomes preoccupied with, and it follows her into some disturbing hallucinations of masked figures. A medical checkup reveals some deficiencies in the chemical links between Jadzia and the Dax symbiont, necessitating a trip to the specialized medical facilities on the Trill planet. Though she shows favorable response to her initial treatments, Dax goes into shock when the computer aboard the Defiant displays a picture of the Trill composer of the song that has been on her mind. Sisko and Bashir try to seek out the mysterious link with the long-dead musician and Dax only to have all the official channels closed in their faces to protect a devastating secret, the cost of which will be Jadzia's life.
Stardate not given: Kira sets off for Bajor when it is revealed that her memories of a specific event in the Cardassian occupation differ with the official records of the Bajoran central archives. She never makes it to the archives, however, because she is captured and transported to Cardassia Prime, where she wakes up with the features of a Cardassian. She is told time and again that she is, in fact, a Cardassian by birth whose deep cover spying assignment necessitated her cosmetic alteration to look like a Bajoran rebel named Kira Nerys who was captured and killed. But she begins to worry when the Cardassians' efforts to make her believe this story seem to go above and beyond their normal brainwashing techniques, including the arrival of a high-ranking Legate who claims that Kira is his daughter. Kira doesn't have any information that the Cardassians would go to these lengths to retrieve and begins to wonder if perhaps the history of which she has just learned is true.
Stardate not given: Quark obtains the salvaged wreckage of a ship from the Gamma Quadrant and discovers an alien infant in some kind of container. The child is handed over to Bashir, who finds that its metabolic rate is incredibly accelerated. Within hours, the child seems to be at least eight years old and can already talk to and understand others. Later, as the boy evolves even more rapidly, it is discovered that he is an infant Jem'Hadar - and a chance encounter with Odo reveals that the boy is genetically programmed to respect changelings. Odo hopes that he can demonstrate to the boy that, just as Odo is not the same as the Founders of the Dominion, the child does not have to follow in the violent footsteps of his fellow warriors.
Stardate not given: O'Brien accidentally triggers an automatic security program in one of the defunct ore processing plants. The pre-programmed subroutine was programmed by Gul Dukat to halt any uprising by the Bajoran slave workers years ago, but its countermeasures are still potent, ranging from force fields and bulkheads to deadly gas. When these obstacles are thwarted by the crew, "Dukat" has an ace up his sleeve: the station's self destruct routine. Dax discovers that only Gul Dukat himself can abort this program. It just happens that Dukat has learned of the situation aboard the station and has decided to pay a visit so he can gloat over Kira. But when he tries to leave DS9 to its fate, he finds that his superiors predicted that Dukat would try to flee the situation, and he too is trapped on the doomed station.
Stardate 48423.2: Exploring the Gamma Quadrant, the Defiant arrives at a planetless star just in time to see an entire planet appear from nowhere. Its inhabitants seem friendly, and invite Sisko, Dax and O'Brien to beam down and visit. They discover that the planet Meridian and its peaceful inhabitants spend sixty years in a non-corporeal form, and emerge into solidity for only a few days at a time. The crew sets about trying to find out why Meridian disappears, and discover a possible way of keeping the planet around longer the next time it reappears in physical form. During the extended visit, Dax falls in love with Daral, but Meridian will be gone again before its existence in either plane can be stabilized, and Dax wants to stay with Daral - whether it means him leaving Meridian, or Dax shifting into a non-corporeal life form with the rest of the planet's residents.
Stardate 48467.3: DS9's crew welcomes Commander Riker aboard, stopping off at the station en route to Risa. He gets a tour of the station from Kira, ending up at the Defiant - which he hijacks, with Kira as his prisoner. This "commander" is Thomas Riker, now a member of the Maquis on the run from Starfleet. His target is a secret Cardassian installation which, as Gul Dukat and Sisko find when they go to Cardassia to coordinate the search for the Defiant, is apparently an operation of the Obsidian Order, Cardassia's widely-feared secret police and intelligence wing. Kira doubts that Riker's motives are the same as those of the Maquis, but are instead sparked by an obsession to dinstinguish himself in the annals of history from the Enterprise's first officer. In the meantime, Riker's discoveries in the secret depths of Cardassian space surprise everyone, including Dukat.
Stardate not given: The annual Bajoran Gratitude Festival brings mixed feelings for all. Jake's girlfriend has given him up to enroll at a science academy, O'Brien is nervous about Keiko's first visit to the station in two months, Kira eagerly awaits Bareil's arrival, and Odo is filled with utter dread when Lwaxana Troi boards the station just to visit him. O'Brien's situation worsens by the minute when Keiko just wants to rest, and Odo simply can't escape Lwaxana. And neither can anyone else. Thanks to a slight telepathic ailment being suffered by the Betazoid ambassador, her feelings for Odo are projected onto others, amplifying some subconscious attractions. Jake tries to woo Kira, who is busy wondering why Bareil has apparently left her for Dax, who's hot on Sisko's trail...
Stardate 48481.2: The Defiant ferries Sisko and his senior staff to Starfleet HQ on Earth for a Gamma Quadrant symposium. A strange phenomenon intercepts the transporter beam carrying Sisko, Dax and Bashir to Earth, sending them into the early 21st century, though they still arrive in San Francisco. Sisko and Bashir are picked up and sent to a sanctuary district, a large high-security ghetto occupied by the unemployed, homeless and mentally ill. Dax befriends information mogul Chris Brynner, who assists her in the search for her friends. Sisko and Bashir learn that they have arrived mere days away from a historical event known as the Bell Riots, sparked when a violent uprising in the San Francisco sanctuary district was quashed with even more force by the National Guard, though the hostages taken by the sanctuary dwellers were kept safe by a man named Gabriel Bell. Trying not to interfere, the two time travelers stumble into the street brawl that initiates the riots - and due to their presence, Gabriel Bell winds up dead trying to keep Bashir from being hurt. The violence escalates, and the sanctuary's residents begin their rebellion. Hostages are taken from the local government office, and only one man can keep them from harm at the hands of the angry sanctuary denizens: Commander Sisko, assuming the role of Gabriel Bell.
Stardate not given: "Bell" takes charge of the hostage situation, insisting that the sanctuary's residents demand more than just a way out for themselves. He meets with a government official and demands that employment acts be reactivated that would allow the unemployed to be productive members of society, eliminating the need for the sanctuary districts. In the sanctuary, tensions rise between the hostages and their captors, and Sisko and Bashir have to keep both parties in check. When the government storms the sanctuary district, Sisko finds himself in the same position as Gabriel Bell did, according to the history books - he will mostly likely be killed in the raid and become a martyr.
Stardate 48498.4: Vedek Bareil is severely injured in an accident aboard a Bajoran transport ferrying him and Kai Winn to groundbreaking peace negotiations with the Cardassians. Bareil dies, but Bashir is able to jump- start the Vedek's brain again, reviving him with some very unconventional surgical techniques. Winn needs Bareil's advice, as only he is fully conversant with the treaty being discussed, but the prospects of keeping Bareil alive without putting him in stasis are not hopeful, and despite Bashir's strictest protests Bareil will not rest or allow himself to be put into stasis. As the peace talks reach a critical stage, the only option left to keep Bareil's knowledge of the treaty available will rob him of his humanity and eventually his life.
Stardate 48521.5: Odo and Kira pursue a Maquis raider into the Badlands, eventually landing on a remote planet to search for the Maquis on foot. Chasing their target through a quake-prone cave system, the two run into a snag when Kira's foot is caught in a strange crystal which seems to be spreading. Despite making every effort with the equipment at his disposal, Odo is unable to free Kira from the crystal, which eventually traps Kira's entire body. The situation becomes hopeless, and Kira will be completely encased within the crystal in only a few hours - and with nothing left to lose, Odo professes his unsung love for the major.
Stardate 48543.2: The first joint scientific venture between Bajor and Cardassia is to be a communications relay satellite placed at the Gamma Quadrant end of the wormhole, and two Cardassian scientists - with an observer from the Obsidian Order not far behind - arrive on DS9 to deliver the payload. As if the unease about the new Bajoran-Cardassian peace accord isn't enough, Vedek Yarka arrives from Bajor to inform Sisko - still regarded as the Emissary in Bajoran culture - that prophecy predicts the Cardassians' presence will result in calamity, not the least of which will be the closure of the wormhole. As the mission progresses, it all starts adding up as prophesied, including the appearance of a comet which could damage or destroy the wormhole.
Stardate not given: Grand Nagus Zek arrives on the station a changed man. He's written a book of completely new Rules of Acquisition and intends to reform the entire Ferengi way of life. Quark refuses to accept the sweeping change proposed by the Nagus, discovering that the pinnacle of Ferengi avarice acquired a missing Orb from the wormhole and then visited the wormhole itself, making contact with the aliens there who were reviled by Zek's greed and reverted him into an earlier, kinder and gentler stage of Ferengi development. Quark wants the Nagus to be returned to his old, greedy, disgusting mannerisms right away!
Stardate not given: As preparations are being made for an arriving party of Romulans, O'Brien is the victim of a power conduit explosion in Ops and suffers some mild radiation poisoning. An unexpected side-effect of this - which even Bashir cannot explain - is a series of apparent trips into the not too distant future. At first, his visions predict relatively innocuous events, such as a conversation with Quark and a bar brawl between visiting parties of Romulans and Klingons on the Promenade. But when O'Brien experiences such events as the sight of his own death and the evacuation and destruction of DS9, the whole crew takes notice.
Stardate not given: On the eve of Bashir's 30th birthday, a Lethian tries to buy medical supplies from him, a deal Bashir refuses to make. Later, the doctor returns to the infirmary only to find the Lethian raiding his supplies and is attacked viciously. When Bashir comes to, everything seems amiss - the station is abandoned and wrecked, what few members of the crew can be found are acting wildly out of character, and Bashir's age is increasing rapidly.
Stardate not given: Sisko is kidnapped by O'Brien's counterpart from the parallel timeline visited by Kira and Bashir a year before, and is cornered into assuming the role of his violent, lascivious alter-ego who has died while fighting for the Terran rebellion against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. His mission - to get aboard Terok Nor and contact turncoat human scientist Jennifer Sisko before she can develop a new sensor array that will mean the end of the rebellion. Though his fellow rebels feel Jennifer could be assassinated as easily as she could be liberated, Sisko must do everything he can to keep the alternate timeline incarnation of his wife alive while not betraying the rebellion.
Stardate not given: An explosion in Garak's clothing shop brings the attention of Odo to bear on the usually elusive Cardassian tailor. One lead indicates it could be the work of a Flaxian assassin, but the moment Odo tails the suspect's spacecraft, it is destroyed by the Romulans who claim he was on their wanted list. Odo takes a solo trip to a rendezvous with a Cardassian who gives him some information - that the attempt on Garak's life is part of a much larger plot, and that other former members of the Obsidian Order have not survived similar attacks on the same day. Odo and Garak now set out to find ex-Obsidian Order mastermind Enabran Tain on Garak's hunch that Tain may also be an assassin's target, but they are intercepted en route by a Romulan ship carrying Tain as a passenger. Tain invites Garak to rejoin him on a joint mission of the Obsidian Order and the Romulan Tal Shiar to attack the Founders of the Dominion on their own turf - and Garak accepts.
Stardate not given: One of the first priorities of the alliance between the Cardassian and Romulan secret police is to extract whatever information on the Founders that Odo may possess. At the wormhole, they briefly appear to the crew of DS9 as they decloak; Starfleet orders Sisko to keep the Defiant at the ready in the event of Dominion retaliation against the Alpha Quadrant. Starfleet is also sending more ships to the station as well. Sisko, however, deducing that Odo and Garak are aboard one of the ships, decides to leave DS9 ahead of schedule and retrieve Odo. What he does not know is that the Dominion has planned for the Cardassian-Romulan assault for a long time, and that he's about to take the Defiant into the biggest space battle the galaxy has seen since Wolf 359.
Stardate not given: On a visit to Bajor, Commander Sisko has uncovered records of a Bajoran sailship which somehow traveled to Cardassia in ancient times. He tries to enlist Jake's help in his quest to construct a working replica of the sailship from old Bajoran blueprints and recreate the journey, but Jake is oddly reluctant. Sisko also receives a strange warning from Gul Dukat that the journey is too hazardous simply to satisfy curiosity. Despite all these odds, the commander is determined to chart a trail that was blazed centuries earlier, but even he doesn't realize what surprises he'll discover along the way.
Stardate not given: Quark's bar is audited by the Ferengi Commerce Authority when he is charged with negligence in taking care of his mother. As it happens, she has made profit on the Ferengi homeworld, a capital crime in their male-dominated society, so Quark and Rom head home to deal with the problem. While Rom can't help but admire his mother's lobes for business, Quark is prepared to stop at nothing to wring a confession out of her. If she doesn't surrender her profits, Quark will have to pay.
Stardate not given: Word reaches the station that Bajor's First Minister has died, and Kai Winn has put herself in a position to take that office in the upcoming election. One of Winn's first acts as head of the provisional government is to ask Kira to retrieve soil reclamators from the D'Kor province. Kira will have to deal with Shakaar, the former leader of her resistance cell during the occupation, and he is unwilling to surrender the equipment. Winn declares martial law and Shakaar and Kira, along with several others from the D'Kor farming community, become outlaws.
Stardate not given: Quark's ongoing efforts to prevent Nog from joining Starfleet Academy are interrupted by a call to attend a meeting being held by Jadzia. She is about to undergo a ritual in which the memories of each of Dax's past hosts is telepathically transferred to another person so she can come to understand them better. Problems are anticipated when it comes to encountering Joran, the mentally unstable host preceding Curzon who was a murderer, but no one expects that Curzon himself will cause any problems. However, once the mind and memories of Curzon Dax find themselves a new home in the form of Odo, Sisko's crusty old mentor doesn't have any intention of relinquishing his new body.
Stardate 48959.1: The party surrounding Sisko's promotion to Captain is cut short when a Federation ambassador brings disturbing news regarding the Tzenkethi, former enemies of the Federation. According to the ambassador, a change of government within the Tzenkethi could spell trouble for Federation outposts along their border, and the Defiant is ordered to patrol that area to show the Federation flag. But en route, O'Brien finds that the Defiant has been sabotaged, and someone else has pointed the ship toward an attack on the Tzenkethi. The crew learn that their saboteur is a changeling on a mission to spark a war between the Federation and the Tzenkethi, thus keeping those two powers too busy fighting each other to defend against a Dominion invasion. Naturally, the task of tracking down and fighting the intruder falls to Odo, who will become the first changeling to break with a sacred tradition and harm one of his own kind.
SEASON
FOUR
1995-1996
073 & 074 "The Way of the Warrior"
Stardate 49011.4: As the crew of Deep Space 9 try to prepare for a possible invasion by the Dominion, a fleet of Klingon ships decloak and take "shore leave" on the station. The Cardassians have sealed their borders after a rumored coup on their homeworld, and Klingon ships are stopping ships leaving Bajoran space to search them for Changelings. To get answers, Sisko calls on the aid of Lt. Commander Worf, who has been among the Klingon clerics on Boreth following the Enterprise's destruction, and is considering resigning Starfleet. Worf learns that the Klingons plan to invade Cardassia on the suspicion that the new civilian government is run by the Founders. Sisko uses Garak to warn the Cardassians, and Gul Dukat manages to save the Detepa Council as the Klingon fleet advances. But the Defiant is needed to get them to safety - and its aid will have far-reaching consequences for the Federation and the Klingon Empire.
Stardate not given: It's several decades in the future. Jake Sisko is an old man, living in his grandfather's house on the Louisiana bayou. On a rainy night, a visitor arrives - a young woman who aspires to be a writer. Jake tells her the story of why he hasn't written in years. Long ago, he was on a trip with his father in the Defiant when an accident in the engine room caused his father to disappear before his eyes. Yet when Ben Sisko began appearing to him in the flesh, for a few minutes at a time, with years between appearances, it became clear that he was not dead, but trapped in subspace. Jake went on with his life, married, became a famous writer - but was forever haunted by his father's disappearance, and became obsessed with rescuing him. Now, Jake has finally found a solution...but what will it cost him?
Stardate 49066.5: Bashir and O'Brien, in the runabout Rubicon, are on their way home to the station after a routine biosurvey in the Gamma Quadrant when O'Brien detects a subspace magneton pulse which could indicate a ship in trouble. They track it to a planet thought to be uninhabited, where the runabout hits a plasma field and is forced to crash-land. The two are captured by a group of Jem'Hadar. But these Jem'Hadar are different - their leader, Goran'Agar, is actually free of their race's genetic addiction to the enzyme known as Ketracel-white, and has brought the others here in hopes of freeing them as well from the "white" and the Dominion. Goran'Agar forces Bashir to work on a cure for the addiction, while O'Brien tries to convince the doctor to escape with him. Meanwhile, on the station, Worf finds he has a lot to learn about the way things are done in his new home, as he clashes with Odo over a smuggling investigation.
Stardate not given: A smuggler friend of Kira's contacts her with news that some wreckage has been found which may be the remnants of a ship that was carrying Bajoran prisoners and a Cardassian crew - a ship that was lost during the occupation, and that was carrying another friend of Kira's. Kira is about to go and investigate when the trip is postponed slightly so that someone can join her: Gul Dukat. On the mission, Dukat reveals that he too has someone he is concerned about on the ship, a Bajoran woman with whom he had an affair. Kira learns also that Dukat's half-Bajoran daughter was also on the ship, and that Dukat's personal mission is to find her and kill her. Meanwhile, Kasidy Yates is not pleased by Sisko's reaction to her news that she may be taking a job that will let her stay on the station.
Stardate 49195.5: A Trill science team arrives on Deep Space 9 to conduct field tests on experimental techniques for creating artificial wormholes. The leader of the team is Dr. Lenara Kahn, a joined Trill whose symbiont was once borne by the wife of one of Dax's former hosts, Torias. Trill society has a strict taboo against "reassociation" with past lovers, for which the penalty is exile - meaning that both symbionts will die with their current hosts. Therefore Dax and Lenara must be careful about interacting...but despite their best efforts they find themselves reawakening old emotional ties. What will Dax risk in order to be with her former love?
No stardate given: As Nog prepares to leave at last for Starfleet Academy, Quark receives a long-awaited payment from his cousin Gaila (the one with the moon): a shuttle of his very own. He offers to take Nog to Earth in it, with Rom piloting - but of course Quark has ulterior motives: smuggling illegal kemosite to Orion on the way back. However, due to the ship's having been sabotaged by Gaila, the three Ferengi (plus one stowaway) end up going through a time warp to Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. But far from trying to go home while leaving the timeline intact, Quark has other plans ...to stay and take over the Earth.
Stardate 49263.5: The Defiant is on a mission into the Gamma Quadrant to meet with a representative from the Karemma, who have been trading with the Federation, using the Ferengi as intermediaries, and who protest the exorbitant fees and taxes, which are actually the result of a misunderstanding perpetuated by Quark. But then two Jem'Hadar ships arrive to punish the Karemma for meeting with the Federation. When the Defiant goes after the Jem'Hadar, who pursue the Karemma ship into the atmosphere of a gas giant, it is attacked and heavily damaged. Bashir and Dax are sealed into a turbolift shaft, Kira cares for a gravely injured Sisko, Worf learns a thing or two about command, and Quark and the Karemma representative must defuse an unexploded torpedo that has struck the ship.
No stardate given: An elderly Klingon, Kor, who is an old friend of Dax, has returned to the station. Dax introduces him to Worf, whom Kor invites along on a quest: he has obtained a cloth found on a planet in the Gamma Quadrant - a cloth which was used to wrap the legendary Sword of Kahless. The Sword is a relic of Klingon history, stolen over 1000 years ago by the Hurk. Together, Kor, Dax, and Worf go to the planet where the cloth was found, and manage to find the Sword. But they have been followed there by Toral, the last member of the House of Duras, who once tried to seize power, and whose life was spared at the time by Worf. Kor, Dax, and Worf must journey through the caverns to escape, as ambition begins to turn Kor and Worf against each other.
No stardate given: Bashir is indulging in a holosuite program in which he is a glamorous British superspy on 1960's Earth, when he is joined by an uninvited guest - Garak. Meanwhile, the Runabout Orinoco is returning from a conference, with Sisko, Kira, Dax, Worf, and O'Brien aboard, when it explodes due to sabotage. The Ops transporter is damaged while beaming them off, but Odo and Eddington manage to store the patterns...in Bashir's holo- program, it turns out, where Bashir is startled to find the characters replaced by the images of the missing officers. While Eddington, Odo, and Rom figure out how to reintegrate their physical and neural patterns, Bashir must make sure the holosuite computer doesn't kill them off as part of his fantasy.
No stardate given: As Dax observes that the wormhole has been opening and closing for no apparent reason lately, news comes that an important Federation/Romulan conference on Earth has been bombed, and security cameras have recorded a Changeling in the room at the time. Sisko and Odo go to Earth, where Sisko is made the acting head of Starfleet security, as well as visiting his father with Jake. With the help of Sisko's old CO, Admiral Leyton, Sisko and Odo convince the Federation President to authorize stringent security measures. But it may be too late, as Earth's power relays are sabotaged and Sisko is forced to institute martial law.
No stardate given: A state of emergency has been declared on Earth, and armed Starfleet security officers are on the streets. But the activities of an elite cadre of Academy cadets on the night of the power outage arouse Sisko's suspicions. He and Odo investigate, and learn that the sabotage was caused not by Changelings but by "Red Squad" under orders from Admiral Leyton, whose goal is to oust the President and take over Earth to fortify it against the Dominion. And Leyton is willing to do anything, even order one Starfleet ship to destroy another, to carry out his plans.
No stardate given: Bajor's new First Minister - Shakaar, Kira's old friend and the head of her former resistance cell - arrives on the station for negotiations with Federation delegates concerning speeding up Bajor's admission. No sooner is Shakaar aboard than there are threats on his life, and Odo must guard him around the clock, a task made especially difficult when Shakaar and Kira start getting close...very close. Odo, who is himself secretly in love with Kira, is caught up in emotional turmoil that starts to affect his ability to do his job, to the point of endangering Kira's and Shakaar's lives.
No stardate given: Kira leaves for a Cardassian outpost to attend a conference, escorted by Gul Dukat, who, after bringing his half-Bajoran daughter Ziyal home, has been reduced to commanding a freighter. When they arrive at the outpost, they find it destroyed by a Klingon Bird of Prey, which ignores Dukat's freighter. At Kira's suggestion, Dukat adapts a disruptor from the outpost and goes after the Klingons. When he succeeds in capturing the Bird of Prey, Dukat has the choice of returning to his old position - or striking out as a freedom fighter against the Klingons.
Stardate 49556.2: Worf's younger brother Kurn arrives on DS9, a broken, drunken outcast who has lost his seat on the Klingon High Council due to Worf's having sided against the Empire. Kurn demands that Worf perform the Mauk-to'Vor, a ritual in which by killing Kurn Worf can restore Kurn's lost honor. Meanwhile, Kira and O'Brien investigate mysterious explosions and Klingon activity near Bajoran space.
Stardate not given: After Rom nearly dies from an ear infection due to Quark's refusal to give him time off to seek medical attention, and when Quark announces a pay cut for his employees to make up for losses incurred during the Bajoran Time of Cleansing, Rom decides he has had enough of his brother's heavy-handed management. He forms a union of all the bar and casino workers, to demand increased pay, shorter hours, and paid sick leave. When Quark laughs in their faces, the union promptly goes on strike. Meanwhile, Worf continues to have trouble adjusting to station life.
Stardate not given: A battered old-style Bajoran lightship emerges from the wormhole with one passenger: Akorem Laan, a famous poet who left Bajor 200 years ago. Since he was the first person to meet the Prophets, and since they healed him, Akorem believes himself to be the Emissary, a role that Sisko is all too happy to relinquish to him. Akorem begins trying to lead Bajor back to the old days, when their caste system, the d'jarras, determined the careers people followed. Confusion results, and Sisko can only conclude that his mission to bring Bajor into the Federation has failed. Meanwhile, O'Brien tries to readjust his life when Keiko returns, pregnant with their second child.
Stardate 49665.3: While commanding the Defiant on a mission to escort a relief convoy to a plague-stricken Cardassian colony, Worf apparently destroyed a Klingon civilian transport which decloaked in the middle of a battle with two other Klingon ships. Now an extradition hearing is taking place on DS9, with Sisko defending Worf and Advocate Ch'Pok arguing the Klingon Empire's case. The tale of the mission unwinds in flashbacks, as Odo searches for the truth.
Stardate not given: On a mission to Argratha in the Gamma Quadrant, O'Brien has been convicted of espionage. As punishment, the Argrathi give him false memories of twenty years in prison. When he returns to DS9, O'Brien has trouble readjusting to life on the station, refusing counseling, snapping at his friends and even his daughter. And he has recurring visions of his "cellmate", Ee'char - whom he won't tell anybody about.
Stardate not given: Sisko receives a surprise visit from Jennifer - the mirror universe version of his late wife, whom he met last year when he convinced her to join the rebels against the Alliance in her universe. Now, she says, the rebels have captured Terok Nor. Jennifer lures Jake back to her universe with her, as part of a plan to coerce Sisko into helping finish the mirror version of the Defiant. Sisko follows, and finds himself in a race against time to prepare the ship before the arrival of an Alliance fleet headed by the Regent - Worf.
Stardate not given: Jake meets a mysterious woman named Onaya, who claims to have "a weakness for artists", and who says that she can help Jake to develop his talent for writing. His life is endangered as he falls deeper and deeper under her spell. Meanwhile, Lwaxana returns, pregnant and on the run from her husband Jeyal, who seeks to take their unborn son from her to raise by himself according to his people's customs. And Odo has a drastic solution to her problem.
Stardate not given: Sisko is shocked and skeptical to learn that there is evidence suggesting that his lover, freighter captain Kasidy Yates, is smuggling supplies to the Maquis. However, the cloaked Defiant follows her ship, the Xhosa, on a run to the Badlands, where the crew witnesses Kasidy making a delivery to a Maquis ship...and soon Kasidy isn't the only traitor Sisko has to worry about. Meanwhile, Garak and Ziyal come to an understanding.
Stardate 49904.2: The Defiant returns from a mission to find that DS9 has been attacked by the Jem'Hadar. In pursuit of the raiders, they find another, damaged Jem'Hadar ship and beam aboard its crew and their Vorta supervisor, Weyoun, who tells Sisko that renegade Jem'Hadar have seized control of an Iconian gateway in the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko enters into an uneasy alliance on a mission to destroy the gateway before the renegades manage to restore it and gain the ability to instantly travel to any planet.
Stardate not given: Bashir, Dax, and Kira are on a routine biosurvey mission in the Gamma Quadrant when they receive a 200-year-old distress signal. They follow it to a planet where the population, once a spacegoing culture, is suffering from an incurable fatal disease inflicted on them by the Jem'Hadar for defying the Dominion. Bashir becomes obsessed with finding a cure for the Blight, despite the opposition from natives who feel he is giving them nothing but false hope.
Stardate not given: Quark returns from two weeks on Ferenginar and announces that he has been diagnosed with Dorek syndrome - a rare, incurable, fatal disease - and has six days to live. In order to pay off his debts, he offers his vacuum-desicated remains for sale on the Ferengi Futures Exchange, and is shocked when a 500-bar bid comes through. Naturally, Quark accepts - only to learn that he doesn't have the disease after all. But then his mysterious buyer - Brunt of the FCA - arrives...and he doesn't want a refund. Meanwhile, an accident forces Bashir to transfer Keiko's baby to Kira, and the parties involved must adjust to the unexpected situation.
Stardate 49962.4: As Gowron agitates for the Federation to pull out of a sector claimed by the Klingon Empire, Odo begins suffering from a destabilization of his molecular structure which makes it difficult for him to maintain solid form. The only answer is for the Defiant to take Odo into Dominion space and ask for the Founders' assistance. The Founders agree - in fact, they admit to causing Odo's condition to force him to return and be judged for killing another Changeling. Odo accepts their judgment, pays the price...and learns a secret that will shake the Alpha Quadrant.
SEASON
FIVE
1996-1997
Stardate not given: The Federation and the Klingon Empire are now at war, and the only way to stop it is to prove that Gowron, the leader of the Klingon High Council, is a changeling. To expose the spy, Sisko and three officers - Worf, O'Brien, and a now-human Odo - must infiltrate a Klingon ceremony in disguise, and activate devices which will cause the changeling to lose its shape. But getting there, and staying undetected long enough to accomplish their mission, is much easier said than done...
Stardate 50049.3: Sisko is leading an away team conducting a mineral survey on a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, when a Jem'Hadar warship crashes nearby. The team investigates and decides to take it home as a potentially invaluable aid to Starfleet intelligence. However, another Jem'Hadar ship arrives and destroys the away team's runabout. It soon becomes plain that the Jem'Hadar and their Vorta supervisor desperately want something aboard the crashed ship. To stay alive, Sisko and the others must find out what it is.
Stardate not given: Grilka, Quark's Klingon ex-wife, returns to the station seeking Quark's help with getting her troubled house back on its feet. When Worf sees her, he is instantly smitten with a case of par'mach - the Klingon word for love, with more aggressive overtones. However, he finds himself coaching Quark in Klingon courting rituals, language, and fighting, with the help of Dax...who has a few designs of her own. Meanwhile, Kira and O'Brien become uncomfortably aware of their proximity.
Stardate not given: Jake has accompanied Bashir to a medical conference, to do a profile on the doctor for a magazine. They are returning to the station when they receive a distress call from a colony under Klingon attack. While Bashir joins the medics in saving and caring for the wounded, Jake has his first up-close experience with the horrors of war. Under the pressure, he does the unthinkable - he breaks down and runs, just when he is needed most. Afterwards Jake must face his guilt and shame, and learn where the fine line between courage and cowardice is.
Stardate not given: O'Brien welcomes his wife Keiko back from her visit to the Fire Caves on Bajor, only to learn that she has been taken over by a being who threatens to kill her body unless O'Brien completes certain reconfigurations to the station's systems. With no way to disable her or warn his fellow officers, O'Brien must stay silent as he works on his task - a task which will result in the deaths of the Prophets inside the wormhole.
Stardate not given: The Defiant is transporting an Orb which the Cardassians are returning to Bajor - the Orb of Time. Also present is a human merchant who was trapped on Cardassia by the Klingon invasion. The merchant is actually Arne Darvin, a disgraced Klingon spy whose downfall came 105 years ago at the hands of James T. Kirk. Darvin uses the Orb to transport the Defiant back to that time period. The DS9 officers must infiltrate the Enterprise and space station K7 to stop Darvin from assassinating Kirk, and at the same time must prevent the timeline from being altered.Notes: William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy also appeared as Kirk and Spock in a scene taken from the original Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror".
Stardate not given: Dax and Worf are going to Risa for a vacation and to work out some kinks in their relationship. They are accompanied by Leeta and Bashir, who are going in order to enact the Bajoran Rite of Separation, and by Quark, who is eager for some "jamaharon." Worf, displeased with Dax's refusal to take their relationship as seriously as he would like, and disapproving of the pleasure-seeking Risian lifestyle, is attracted by the words of Fullerton, leader of a movement seeking to restore traditional Federation morals and culture, who plans to shut down Risa by any means necessary.
Stardate not given: Odo, Sisko, Dax, and Garak are returning in a runabout from a conference on the occupation. When the runabout arrives back at the station, however, they are found in a catatonic state with their minds active, seemingly the result of a plasma storm. Meanwhile, the four find themselves living the roles of Bajorans on Terok Nor during the occupation. Strangely, the security chief is Odo's predecessor, Thrax, although all signs point to it being the time period after Odo had become chief. And, according to Odo, the Bajorans they are supposed to be are soon to be unjustly executed for attempting to kill Gul Dukat.
Stardate not given: Odo is escorting Quark to a hearing of the Federation Grand Jury, when Quark finds a bomb on the runabout. Odo is able to channel most of the explosion into the transporter buffer, but it still causes the runabout to crash-land on a mountainous, cold planet. With the subspace booster damaged, they have to get the transmitter up high enough to send a signal off planet...if they don't kill each other first. Also, Nog returns to DS9 as a second-year cadet for field study, and moves in with Jake, only to find that it's not as easy to live together as they had thought.
Stardate not given: After seeing a painting of B'Hala, Sisko becomes inspired to seek the legendary lost Bajoran city, guided by markings on an obelisk that mark the city's location by the position of the stars. Sisko replicates the obelisk in a holosuite to try and recreate the missing markings, but the computer shorts out and knocks him unconscious. Due to this experience, Sisko has visions that may reveal the fate of Bajor - but the price may be his life.
Stardate 50416.2: A Vedek is killed during a religious ceremony - Latha, a member of Kira's former resistance cell. Kira gets a message with an electronically scrambled voice saying "That's one." Someone has a vendetta against the Shakaar, and kills four more of Kira's friends, each time sending another message of the same sort. It is clear that the murders are all connected to Kira, and that she is the killer's ultimate target. Kira, who is still heavily pregnant, defies advice to go off on a personal mission to find the person who is killing her friends.
Stardate not given: When Quark sells him an injured baby Changeling he obtained through a trader, Odo becomes determined to find a way to communicate with it by teaching it to shapeshift. Unwanted help arrives in the form of Dr. Mora, the Bajoran scientist who studied Odo. Mora advocates the electrostatic techniques he used with Odo, while Odo is determined not to subject the Changeling to the pain he went through in his early days; their arguments resurrect the bitterness of their past history. Meanwhile, Kira prepares to give birth to the O'Briens' baby at last.
Stardate 50485.2: Eight months after Lt. Commander Michael Eddington betrayed Sisko and deserted Starfleet to join his fellow Maquis confederates, he resurfaces, and as the Defiant follows, Eddington triggers a cascade virus that renders the Defiant's computer useless. An angry Sisko is forced to let another captain take over the search for Eddington, as Eddington begins unleashing biogenic weapons against Cardassian colonists in the DMZ. When Sisko decides to go after Eddington regardless, he must face the possibility that he is becoming dangerously obsessed.
Stardate not given: A coded message comes through the wormhole from the Gamma Quadrant, which Garak recognizes as a signal from his old superior and mentor, Enabran Tain, who had been presumed dead in the Dominion massacre of the Obsidian Order/Tal Shiar fleet. Worf and Garak are sent to investigate, but they are captured by Jem'Hadar and put in a prison where they find Tain, the real General Martok...and someone familiar from DS9 who has been replaced by a Changeling. Meanwhile, Sisko is faced with an imminent Dominion invasion, and must make the decision to close the wormhole.
Stardate not given: As a Dominion fleet comes through the wormhole, Dukat joins them, announcing that after months of secret negotiation, Cardassia is now a member of the Dominion. Dukat is now head of the Cardassian government. The Klingons are expelled from Cardassian space, and Dukat vows to retake the station; a new era dawns when Sisko meets with Gowron. Meanwhile, Garak and Bashir work on an escape plan, while Worf is put to work helping the Jem'Hadar train by fighting them. And the search for the saboteur aboard DS9 goes on.
Stardate not given: Dr. Louis Zimmerman arrives on DS9 to work on a Long-term Medical Hologram, the template of which will be based on Dr. Bashir. He begins interviewing Bashir's friends and colleagues to create a psychological profile. To Rom's dismay, Zimmerman pursues Leeta, the object of Rom's secret affection. To Bashir's consternation, Zimmerman invites his parents to the station against his wishes, a development which threatens to bring Julian's darkest secret to light.
Stardate not given: Shortly after Odo meets Arissa, a woman visiting the station, she is caught breaking into the computers. She was trying to find a man she was planning to meet - a man who had information on the whereabouts of her long-lost daughter. Odo soon learns the truth - Arissa is trying to leave the crime syndicate she has been working for, and which has sent hit men to kill her and obtain a data crystal containing vital information. With Arissa under his protective custody, Odo discovers something unexpected happening...he is falling in love with her.
Stardate not given: Ever since being blackballed by the FCA, Quark has been up to his lobes in debt. Having put his bar up as collateral, he faces losing everything when his investments fail. To the rescue comes his cousin Gaila, who wants Quark to eventually take his place in the arms dealing business, and introduces Quark to his dangerous associate Hagath. Though the Bajoran government refuses to touch their dealings, Quark finds himself ostracized by the station's Federation citizens. And he also finds himself in a moral dilemma when Hagath makes a deal that will cause the deaths of 28 million people.
Stardate 50712.5: Kira is delighted by a visit from former Legate Tekeny Ghemor, the Cardassian who once mistakenly believed her to be his daughter, until she learns he is dying. In keeping with Cardassian tradition, he wants to pass on his secrets to be used against his enemies, secrets that could prove damaging to the new Cardassian/Dominion alliance - and which Gul Dukat hopes to prevent from coming to light, as Kira struggles against memories of the death of her own father.
Stardate not given: With things going from bad to worse for Quark, he retreats to Ferenginar to visit his mother - but is shocked to learn that she has become romantically involved with none other than Grand Nagus Zek. Then Brunt of the FCA offers Quark a deal he can't refuse: he will reinstate Quark's license in exchange for Quark breaking up the lovers. Quark does this, only to learn that his actions may have just spelled disaster for Ferengi society.
Stardate not given: Martok is ordered by the Klingon High Council to command the Bird of Prey Rotarran to search for the battlecruiser B'Moth, which has gone missing while on patrol of the Cardassian border. Martok takes Worf along as his first officer, as well as Dax as science officer. But trouble begins brewing on board when it seems Martok, who spent two years as a prisoner of the Jem'Hadar, would rather avoid Dominion patrols than fight - and Worf must challenge Martok for command.
Stardate 50814.2: The Defiant encounters a planet surrounded by an energy barrier, in the Gamma Quadrant. Dax is eager to check it out, but as they penetrate the barrier, Kira is hit by a discharge. The crew is greeted by the inhabitants, who are their descendants, the result of an anomaly which caused the Defiant to crash on the planet, 200 years back in time. Kira - who learns of Odo's love for her from an older version of him - is destined to die unless she gets back to DS9. The crew must choose whether to let themselves be stranded and allow Kira to die, or to wipe out the existence of the colony.
Stardate not given: Despite the fact that the Maquis have been decimated by the Cardassian/Dominion alliance, a message to Eddington is intercepted, saying that cloaked missiles have been launched toward Cardassia. Hoping to prevent a retaliatory war, Sisko appeals to the imprisoned Eddington to help deactivate the missiles before they reach their target. Promised freedom, Eddington agrees - but warns Sisko that he intends to kill him once the mission is over.
Stardate not given: O'Brien leads a salvage team to Empok Nor, an abandoned Cardassian space station in the Treba system, to obtain needed spare parts for DS9. The team includes Nog as well as Garak, whose help is needed in disarming the booby traps the Cardassians left behind. However, the team soon finds themselves stranded on the station and stalked by three Cardassian soldiers - test subjects for an experimental drug to heighten their racial xenophobia - and Garak too has now been exposed to it.
Stardate 50929.4: An air of depression hangs over Deep Space Nine, as rumors of impending war with the Dominion fly, and Kai Winn visits the station to meet with the Vorta, Weyoun, regarding a possible non-aggression pact. Seeing his father's dejected mood, Jake resolves to do something for him to cheer him up. With Nog's help, he bids on an antique baseball card at an auction, but is outbid by Dr. Giger, an eccentric scientist. Jake is still determined to get the card. After all, how hard can it be?
Stardate 50975.2: In order to stop the Dominion from sending caravans to Cardassia, Starfleet authorizes Sisko to place a minefield at the entrance to the wormhole. With war now imminent, a Bajor/Dominion non-aggression pact is signed with Sisko's endorsement, to ensure Bajor's survival. Rom and Leeta are married, and Worf and Dax become engaged, while Odo and Kira agree to set aside their relationship for now. When the Dominion attacks, the station must fight them off until the Defiant finishes setting the minefield - but all may already be lost.
SEASON
SIX
1997-1998
Stardate not given: It is three months after the beginning of the war, and things look bleak for the Federation. After a major defeat for Starfleet, Sisko and his crew are taken off the Defiant and given a new assignment. Bajorans return to Terok Nor under the Dominion treaty. Kira and Odo want the Bajoran security force restored as well, armed and with full authority as before. However, there will be a price. Meanwhile, Sisko's new mission is to take the Jem'Hadar ship he captured last year and destroy what is believed to be the main Ketracel-white storage facility in the Alpha Quadrant, deep in Cardassian space. But will they even manage to make it there?
Stardate not given: In their commandeered Jem'Hadar warship, crippled and under attack, Sisko and crew take refuge in a nebula where they crash on a planet which is deserted - except for a troop of Jem'Hadar who have also crashed there. Their Vorta supervisor, Keevan, has been severely injured, and their supply of Ketracel-white has dwindled to one vial. When Garak and Nog are captured, Keevan arranges a trade for Sisko and Bashir, who is able to treat the Vorta. In exchange, Keevan makes a proposal which will enable Sisko and crew to survive--but not without a moral dilemma. Meanwhile, on Terok Nor, Kira finds it increasingly difficult to maintain neutrality.
Stardate not given: After rescuing Sisko's crew in the Rotarran, Martok and Worf take on a group of five replacements from the Klingon Defense Forces - one of which, to Worf's surprise, is his son, Alexander Rozhenko, whom he had sent to live with his foster grandparents on Earth. Alexander refuses to discuss his reasons for joining the Empire's forces, especially with his father, and unfortunately he is the butt of the other recruits' jokes, leaving Worf in an awkward position. Meanwhile, on the station, Ziyal has returned, and Kira tries to get along with Dukat for her sake.
Stardate 51145.3: On Terok Nor, Kira and Rom engineer a brawl between the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar, a ploy which Odo had disapproved of. At this time comes the female Changeling, who has been trapped in the Alpha Quadrant by the minefield. Odo's need for answers soon overcomes his distrust of her, and soon they are sharing the Link, to Kira's dismay - which could spell disaster for the entire Alpha Quadrant. Meanwhile, Sisko is promoted to the position of adjutant to Admiral Ross, and must stay behind as the Defiant goes on a mission to destroy a vast Dominion sensor array.
Stardate not given: Sisko's plan to take back DS9 is approved by Starfleet, while on the station, Kira and Quark are anxious to free Rom, who has been scheduled for execution; but Rom urges Quark to destroy the antigraviton beam instead. Ziyal tries to talk to her father on Rom's behalf, but he refuses, causing a renewed estrangement. With the minefield coming down within a week, Jake sends a message (via Morn) to his father, who hastens the assembling of the task force. Finally Sisko sets out, once more in command of the Defiant, to retake DS9 and prevent Dominion reinforcements from arriving through the wormhole - but Weyoun and Dukat are ready.
Part I of II
Stardate not given: As the battle begins, Kira and her associates are "held for questioning." Ziyal aids Quark in freeing them, and Kira and Rom head for the central computer core, aided along the way by Odo, who has broken away from the Female Changeling's influence. Meanwhile, the Defiant breaks through the Dominion lines and heads for DS9 - too late to prevent the detonation of the mines. Then Sisko orders the Defiant into the wormhole to face the Dominion reinforcements.
Part II of II
Stardate 51247.5: The war is still going on, but the celebratory mood on the station following the return of Starfleet has yet to wear off. Worf and Dax decide to get married on DS9 so that Alexander can attend before his transfer. While Worf undergoes a "Klingon bachelor party" (involving fasting and various torments) with his friends and son, Dax is evaluated by Martok's wife Sirella, who must approve all marriages into the house. But Sirella finds Dax distinctly lacking. Will Dax prove her worthiness? Will Worf get to have his dream wedding? Will Bashir and O'Brien survive the bachelor party?
Stardate not given: A man unexpectedly beams into Ops. It is Bareil, the mirror universe's version of the late Vedek Bareil. The mirror Bareil, a thief who used a multidimensional transporter to escape his universe, takes Kira hostage but she soon subdues him. As she gets to know him, she finds herself attracted to him. But Bareil - and Kira's alternate self, the Intendent - have another agenda.
Stardate not given: Four people who were genetically engineered as children and were institutionalized due to side effects of the treatment are brought to DS9 to meet Bashir, as an example of someone like them who is leading a productive life. Their insights into the war lead Bashir to believe they could be invaluable to Starfleet - but then they make a series of calculations which indicate that the only way to save Federation lives is to surrender to the Dominion.
Stardate not given: The Grand Nagus contacts Quark with the news that Quark's mother Ishka has been captured by the Dominion; Zek offers Quark 50 bars of latinum to rescue her. Quark, who wants to prove that Ferengi can be as heroic as anyone else, puts together a team consisting of himself, Rom, Nog, Leck, Gaila, and Brunt. They are hopeless as commandos, so Sisko arranges a prisoner exchange: Starfleet lets the Ferengi trade Keevan, a Vorta POW, for Ishka. But will Quark and his team survive long enough to make the exchange and save Moogie?
Stardate 51408.6: Sisko is on the ship on which Gul Dukat, now said to be recovered from his mental instability following the loss of his empire and his daughter, is en route to a Federation starbase to be arraigned as a war criminal, when the ship is destroyed. Injured, Sisko finds himself alone with Dukat on an inhospitable planet - and Dukat is slowly deteriorating back into a state of madness.
Stardate not given: Sad news reaches DS9 - Morn, one of Quark's favorite and most dedicated customers, has been killed in an ion storm. But the tragedy is somewhat mitigated for Quark when he learns that Morn left a will designating him as the sole heir to his possessions - which, Quark finds out thanks to a trail of clues, include 1000 bricks of gold-pressed latinum. However, Quark is not the only one who feels he has a claim to the money.
Stardate not given: After the loss of a friend in the war, a despondent Sisko is considering giving up and leaving the fight to someone else - but then he begins having strange hallucinations, in which he is Benny Russell, a struggling black writer for a science fiction magazine, facing racism on Earth in the 1950's. Inspired by a drawing of a space station, Benny writes a story called "Deep Space Nine," about the adventures of Captain Benjamin Sisko - but the magazine editor, Pabst, refuses to run the story, believing that no one will want to read a story about a black captain. Will Benny's dream of a better future prevail...or is Pabst right?
Stardate 51474.2: The Defiant is surveying a rare subspace compression phenomenon in Federation space, with the aid of the runabout Rubicon, which is miniaturized (along with Dax, O'Brien, and Bashir), when they are attacked by Jem'Hadar who board the Defiant and capture its officers. The tiny Rubicon manages to get inside the Defiant, where the officers are working to retake the ship as they are made to repair the warp drive. Can the Rubicon's crew somehow aid them...and can they ever return to normal size?
Stardate not given: O'Brien is on an undercover mission for Starfleet Intelligence on Farius Prime. His job is to infiltrate the Orion Syndicate in order to learn the identity of their contact in Starfleet. O'Brien gets himself into the good graces of a man named Bilby. Eventually, O'Brien is able to identify the traitor, but also learns that the Orion Syndicate is working with the Dominion to assassinate the Klingon ambassador to Farius. With Bilby slated to be the trigger man, O'Brien must betray either Starfleet or his friend.
Stardate 51597.2: Worf and Dax are sent out together in a runabout to contact Lasaran, a Cardassian who has been passing information to Starfleet and is considered a vital source of intelligence on the Dominion. When Lasaran asks for aid in defecting to the Federation, Worf and Dax agree to pick him up at a rendezvous point on Sukara, a planet with a Dominion base. As they trek together through a jungle, Dax is critically wounded by a Jem'Hadar patrol, and Worf must make the choice of whether to complete the mission or save his wife's life. Back on the station, O'Brien persuades Bashir to try and break Quark's winning streak at Tongo.
SEASON
SEVEN
1998-1999
Note: New regular cast: Nicole deBoer as Ensign Ezri Dax