Bashir: I thought you said you'd started straightening this place up.
O'Brien: You should've seen it before.
Bashir: Keiko's shuttle will be here before we know it. We should have left the holosuite hours ago.
O'Brien: What, and let the Jerries cross the channel? Never.
Bashir: It is sort of a shame to pack all this stuff away
O'Brien: I wish we didn't have to.
Bashir: It's like sculpture. A monument to your year as a bachelor.
O'Brien: I suppose it is.
Bashir: Who are we to dismantle this piece of art?
O'Brien: I don't know. But if we don't, Keiko will dismantle me.
Molly: Daddy!
O'Brien: Hi, sweetie!
Keiko: Hi.
Keiko: The one good thing about going away is coming home.
O'Brien: I never want to be apart like that again.
Molly: Daddy! Daddy! I have a little brother!
O'Brien: Really? Is that him?
Molly: No. He's in there.
Keiko: Surprise.
O'Brien: A baby?
Keiko: Yeah. I thought you'd be happy. I mean, we talked about it and decided we'd start trying.
O'Brien: Oh, I know. But your last visit, you were only here the one night. I thought it'd take a couple of nights. To be honest, a lot more nights.
Keiko: I guess we just got lucky this time.
O'Brien: I guess so.
Kira: Vedek Porta.
Porta: Nerys. So this is where you are when you're not at the Temple. Very impressive.
Kira: Haven't you ever been to Ops?
Porta: What business would an old monk have here except maybe helping a young couple to meet the Emissary. Are you sure this is a good time?
Kira: I think he'll be able to fit you in.
Latara: Thank you so much for doing this, Major.
Kira: Oh, I'm glad to.
Sisko: They can take the Rubicon.
Sisko: Come in.
Kira: Vedek Porta's here with a young couple that just got married. They're hoping to get the Emissary's blessing.
Sisko: Bring them in.
Dax: You remember the words?
Sisko: The marriage blessing? I think so.
Latara: Emissary. We're very grateful to you for seeing us.
Sisko: Not at all. Now, if you'll just join hands. Zhia'kala, tareh anu suur. Tevon akalu rez kavor. Matana kel.
Latara: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Porta: Your accent is getting much better, Emissary.
Sisko: I'm glad to hear it.
Dax: It isn't that bad, is it, being the Emissary? A few ceremonies, an occasional blessing.
Sisko: I didn't say it was that bad. It's just hard getting used to being a religious icon.
Dax: Really? I think I'd like it.
Kira: Kira to Sisko.
Sisko: Go ahead.
Kira: You'd better get out here. There's something coming through the wormhole.
Sisko: A lightship.
Kira: I don't know where it came from. According to remote sensors it never entered the wormhole.
Dax: From these readings I'd say that ship's about three hundred years old.
Sisko: Lifesigns?
Dax: There's someone on board. A Bajoran.
Sisko: Try hailing them.
Kira: No response.
Dax: Whoever's in there could be injured.
Sisko: Tractor the ship into transporter range and beam the passenger directly to the infirmary.
Bashir: He's a little disoriented.
Sisko: I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko. You're aboard a Federation Space Station near Bajor. This is Kira Nerys, my First Officer.
Kira: Who are you?
Akorem: I am the Emissary.
Akorem: I was headed back to Bajor. My lightship was caught in an ion storm. It nearly tore it apart. A girder came loose from the bulkhead and impaled me through the shoulder here. I remember thinking I was going to die, alone in space, when a strange opening appeared in the sky. I was terrified at first, and then I realized what was happening. The Prophets were opening the gates of the Celestial Temple and drawing me to them.
Sisko: What happened then?
Akorem: It's difficult to describe. They took the form of people that I know, my grandfather, my brother, so that they could communicate with me.
Sisko: You spoke to them?
Akorem: I didn't have to. I could sense their understanding, their grace. I've never felt such bliss. And then they healed me. A light washed over me and then my wound was gone. They gave me back my life. I felt reborn.
Sisko: When exactly did you leave Bajor?
Akorem: Oh, it couldn't have been more than a few days ago.
Sisko: What was the year?
Akorem: Ninety one seventy four.
Kira: That was over two hundred years ago.
Akorem: Two hundred years? My wife, my parents, they're gone.
Bashir: If you give us your name, maybe we can contact your descendants, let them know you're alive.
Akorem: Akorem. Akorem Laan. But I have no descendants. My brother died last winter and my wife and I never had children.
Kira: Akorem Laan, the poet?
Akorem: I'm a poet, yes.
Kira: You wrote Kitara's Song and The Call of the Prophets.
Akorem: You know my work?
Kira: You're considered one of the greatest poets of Bajor. Every schoolchild can recite Gaudaal's Lament from memory.
Akorem: People still read my work after all this time? Perhaps that's part of the Prophets' plan for me.
Sisko: Their plan?
Akorem: It's not clear to me yet why they made me their Emissary, but I know that they gave me back my life for a reason.
Sisko: Akorem, a great deal has happened since you've been gone. Maybe Major Kira can spend some time filling you in.
Akorem: Major Kira?
Kira: That's right.
Akorem: But your family would be part of the artist D'jarra.
Bashir: D'jarra?
Kira: Bajor used to have a strict caste system. A person's work was dictated by what family they were born into.
Akorem: You no longer follow your D'jarras?
Kira: When the Cardassians occupied Bajor we gave up the D'jarras so that we could fight them. We all became soldiers.
Akorem: The Cardassians occupied Bajor?
Kira: For over fifty years.
Akorem: It seems you're right, Captain. A great deal has happened since I've been gone.
Sisko: If you look at the prophecies about the Emissary, a lot of them make more sense with Akorem in the picture.
Dax: Really?
Sisko: Every text I've read says the Prophets will name their Emissary by calling him to them, that he would find the Celestial Temple, that there the Prophets would give him back his life.
Dax: Go on.
Sisko: They didn't give me back my life.
Dax: Not literally, but they did help you get your life back together.
Sisko: True enough. But I wasn't the first one to find the wormhole, or to meet the Prophets. Akorem was.
Dax: Benjamin, I thought you didn't believe in the prophecies.
Sisko: I don't.
Dax: Then why are you using them to justify giving up your position?
Sisko: I guess I was looking for something to convince me that I was making the right decision.
Dax: So your mind's made up. You're going to step aside.
Sisko: Akorem will make a far better Emissary than I ever was. He's Bajoran, he's a revered poet, and he wants the job. Besides, Starfleet will be thrilled. They never liked the idea that the Bajorans saw me as a religious figure.
Dax: How do you know the Bajorans will accept Akorem as their new Emissary?
Sisko: I talked to Vedek Porta. He seemed to think that as long as I make it clear that I'm stepping aside voluntarily, they will.
Dax: So you're off the hook. How does it feel?
Sisko: It feels good. No more ceremonies to attend, no more blessings to give, no more prophecies to fulfilll. I'm just a Starfleet officer again. All I have to worry about are the Klingons, the Dominion and the Maquis. I feel like I'm on vacation.
Bashir: Chief! Congratulations, dad.
O'Brien: You heard.
Bashir: Great news, my friend. Come and have a drink. Celebrate.
O'Brien: I really should be getting home.
Bashir: Oh, just one.
O'Brien: All right.
Bashir: Quark, did you hear? Chief O'Brien is having a baby.
Quark: I thought your females carried your young.
O'Brien: My wife. My wife is having the baby.
Quark: Congratulations. I remember when my nephew Nog was a baby. Cutest thing you ever saw. You know babies. Every little thing they pick up goes straight into their ears. I used to love reading to him. You know, See Brak acquire. Acquire, Brak, acquire.
Bashir: Just think, soon there'll be two little O'Briens scampering about underfoot.
O'Brien: Hard to believe, isn't it.
Bashir: Mind you, they do say the second one is easier. Since you've already been through the diapers and the endless crying and the sleepless nights.
O'Brien: Yeah.
Bashir: Cheers.
O'Brien: Oh, cheers.
Bashir: Something wrong, Chief?
O'Brien: No. Nothing at all. Couldn't be happier.
Quark: Did you hear? Keiko's going to have another baby.
Worf: Now?
O'Brien: No, seven months.
Worf: I see.
O'Brien: Worf delivered Molly, you know.
Bashir: Really?
O'Brien: The Enterprise was damaged. Keiko and he were trapped together when her time came.
Bashir: Oh, well I'll be sure and call you when she's ready to deliver. You can lend a hand.
Worf: Seven months? Unfortunately, I will be away from the station at that time. Far away. Visiting my parents. On Earth. Excuse me.
Bashir: I don't know who's more anxious about this baby, you or Worf.
O'Brien: The thing is, Julian, now that Molly's a little older, I was hoping to being able to spend some time with Keiko again. I thought we could, I don't know, go out at night. Don't get me wrong, I know once I'm hold my little baby in my arms I'll be the happiest man in the world, but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. How about a game of darts?
Bashir: Don't you have to get home?
O'Brien: Yeah.
Odo: Major. Come to see Akorem speak?
Kira: The Emissary's first public appearance? I wouldn't miss it.
Odo: I'm surprised to hear you call him that.
Kira: Why? Akorem Laan was, is a great man. He's been with the Prophets for over two hundred years, and now they've sent him back to us.
Odo: Yes, but two days ago you believed Captain Sisko was the Emissary.
Kira: Well, he made it clear he wants to step aside.
Odo: Does that mean he never really was the Emissary?
Kira: No.
Odo: But they can't both be.
Kira: I don't know. What do you want from me, Odo?
Odo: Forgive me, Major, I don't mean to be difficult, but your faith seems to have led you to something of a contradiction.
Kira: I don't see it as a contradiction.
Odo: I don't understand.
Kira: That's the thing about faith. If you don't have it, you can't understand it, and if you do, no explanation is necessary.
Akorem: Ever since the Prophets returned me to my people, I've asked myself the same questions over and over again. Why did they keep me with them for so long? Why did they return me to my
Akorem: People now? I now know the answers. Bajor suffered a great wound while I was with the Prophets. The Cardassian occupation. The Bajor I have returned to has lost its way. People no longer follow the path the Prophets have laid out for them. They no longer follow their D'jarras. Artists have become soldiers. Priests have become merchants. Farmers have become politicians.
Akorem: We must heal the wounds of the occupation. We must return to our D'jarras. We must reclaim what we were and follow the path the Prophets have laid out for us. It is their will that the farmers return to their land, painters to their canvasses, priests to their temples. If we do this, if we follow our D'jarras, then Bajor will flourish again and become the green and peaceful land I remember. It will be as if the occupation never happened. By returning to our D'jarras, we will have erased it forever.
Sisko: I wanted to talk to you before you left for Bajor.
Akorem: Of course.
Sisko: I was surprised by your speech. I had no idea you were going to advocate change on such a massive scale.
Akorem: It's what the Prophets want for Bajor. It's why they sent me.
Sisko: Are you sure of that?
Akorem: Absolutely.
Porta: The Emissary knows that what he's proposing will be difficult for some people to accept. He doesn't expect things to change overnight.
Sisko: So, you're going to ask First Minister Shakaar to step down and go back to farming?
Akorem: No, of course not. But, frankly, by the next election, I doubt very many people will left on Bajor who would elect a farmer to political office.
Porta: We hope that eventually the people will support enforcement of the D'jarras by legal sanction.
Sisko: So if someone defies their caste?
Akorem: Society will have appropriate remedies at it's disposal, such as deportation.
Sisko: You realize that caste-based diskrimination goes against the Federation charter. If Bajor returns to the D'jarra system, I have no doubt that its petition to join the Federation will be rejected.
Akorem: Kai Winn and I have already discussed it. We're willing to make that sacrifice in order to follow the will of the Prophets.
Sisko: I had a feeling Winn would see it that way.
Porta: Well, the Emissary's transport leaves shortly.
Sisko: As a Starfleet Officer, I am bound by oath not to interfere with Bajoran affairs. But, as a friend to Bajor, I have to say giving up Federation membership would be a mistake.
Akorem: Your pagh is strong. I see now why Kai Opaka believed you were the Emissary, and why Winn fears you. Goodbye, Captain.
Sisko: Goodbye Emissary.
Sisko: Morning.
Kira: I guess I'll have to take my raktajino with me.
Jia: Please, sit here.
Kira: You're not finished.
Jia: I'll find someplace else to sit.
Kira: You don't have to get up for me.
Jia: You're Ih'valla. I'm Te'nari.
Sisko: It's been going on all morning whenever someone with a higher ranking D'jarra comes in.
Kira: I guess I'll have to start getting used to being treated like that.
Sisko: I remember when I got promoted to lieutenant. It took me a while to get used to being called sir by my friends who were still ensigns.
Kira: That's different. You'd earned the right to be treated with respect. I haven't done anything.
Sisko: Sounds like you have some reservations about bringing back the D'jarras.
Kira: I have some questions, sure. The Emissary is asking something very difficult of us, but we have to have faith that he's guiding us toward something.
Sisko: Even if what he's guiding you towards doesn't include the Federation?
Kira: It's not our place to question the Emissary.
Sisko: No matter what?
Kira: Maybe you never realized this, Captain, but we would've tried to do whatever you asked of us when you were Emissary, no matter how difficult it seemed. I'd better get to Ops.
Opaka: Who are you?
Sisko: Kai Opaka.
Opaka: Who are you?
Sisko: What are you doing here? How did you
Opaka: Who are you?
Sisko: Don't you know me?
Opaka: Know you? How can I know someone who doesn't know himself?
Bashir: I think you had what the Bajorans call an Orb Shadow. Sometimes people who've been exposed to the Orbs of the Prophets experience hallucinations weeks, even months later.
Sisko: What triggers them?
Bashir: An excess of neuropeptides. I can give you an inhibitor to make sure it never happens again. Of course, if I do, you risk never finding out.
Sisko: Finding out what?
Bashir: The Bajorans believe you only have a Shadow experience when you ignore what the Prophets have been trying to tell you during an Orb encounter.
Sisko: Interesting.
Bashir: So, any idea what they might have been trying to tell you?
Sisko: Sure. That I have too many neuropeptides rolling around in my head.
Porta: A bird is a difficult thing to sculpt. Maybe you should have started with something simpler. Come in, come in. Services are about to begin.
Kira: But I can tell I have no aptitude for it.
Porta: That's because you didn't give yourself over to what you were doing.
Kira: How can you say that? I was up half the night. I have a flock of flightless birds in my quarters.
Porta: But you're still wearing that uniform. You're still clinging to a false life. You must do what the Emissary has asked and follow your D'jarra with all your heart. Because if you give yourself over to the Prophets, they will guide you along the path they've chosen for you. And you'll know more joy than you ever thought possible.
O'Brien: Attagirl! Good shot, Molly.
Molly: Did I win?
O'Brien: We're just practicing. We'll play a game later. Try another one.
Keiko: Miles?
O'Brien: Oh. That's mine. Don't worry, I only wear it in the holosuites.
Keiko: I suppose Julian has one, too. You two certainly spent a lot of time in the holosuites.
O'Brien: Well, you should be glad. It kept me out of trouble.
Keiko: Remind me to thank Julian next time I see him.
O'Brien: Want to try for twins?
Keiko: I don't think it works that way. You'd better brush up on your biology.
O'Brien: Teach me.
Molly: Look, I drew a pony.
O'Brien: Oh, let's see. Does your pony have a name?
Molly: I don't know.
Keiko: Miles, I still have a lot of specimens I've got to catalog for the survey.
O'Brien: Go ahead. I'll play with Molly.
Keiko: Oh, Miles, it's good to be home.
O'Brien: Come on, Molly. Let's play darts. Now, remember what I said about the right way to stand? Let's try again.
Molly: I don't want to.
O'Brien: Can daddy color, too?
Molly: I'm coloring.
Kira: The four-shift rotation also seems to be improving performance. Less mistakes due to fatigue.
Sisko: Fine, let's make the change permanent. Anything else?
Kira: I was wondering if in the next few days you would have the time to meet with Major Jatarn.
Sisko: Sure.
Kira: Is something wrong, sir?
Sisko: I'm sorry. I just received a communiqué from Starfleet Command responding to my report on the Bajoran situation.
Kira: That bad?
Sisko: Not yet. But I can read between the lines. I was sent here to help bring Bajor into the Federation. That doesn't look like much of a possibility anymore. As far as Starfleet is concerned, I have failed my mission.
Kira: That's not fair. It's not your fault.
Sisko: It is from where they're sitting. The irony is Starfleet was always trying to get me to distance myself from this Emissary business. And now that I have
Kira: Maybe I could talk to First Minister Shakaar about sending Starfleet a communiqué explaining
Sisko: Thanks, it'll blow over. It's not that. I guess I'm just feeling I did fail.
Kira: Sir.
Sisko: Anyway, why did you want me to meet Jatarn?
Kira: We can talk about that another time.
Sisko: What is it, Major?
Kira: I think he'd make an excellent First Officer. As soon as you find someone to take my post, I'm going to resign my commission.
Sisko: To follow your D'jarra.
Kira: I'm planning to move back to the Dahkur province, There are a lot of artists who live in the capital and I have a friend there who's willing to apprentice me. I'm sorry. The last thing I want to do is add to your problems, but this is something I have to do. If you don't hit it off with Major Jatarn, I can think of a few other people. It shouldn't be that hard to find someone to replace me.
Sisko: I don't doubt I can find someone to fill your post. But to replace you?
O'Brien: Computer, time.
Computer: Nineteen twenty-one hours.
O'Brien: Where's Doctor Bashir?
Computer: Doctor Bashir is in Quark's bar.
Bashir: Well, I'm chasing a triple seventeen and a bull, Morn. You've got some catching up to do. Chief! Excuse me.
O'Brien: Julian.
Bashir: How've you been?
O'Brien: Not bad. You?
Bashir: Oh, you know. All right.
O'Brien: I was heading home, thought I'd stop in for a quick pint.
Bashir: It's been a while, eh?
O'Brien: Seems like weeks. I see you found someone to play darts with. I've set up a board in my quarters so Molly and I can play.
Bashir: Well, Morn's er, he's pretty good.
O'Brien: So's Molly. BASHIR +
O'Brien: It's not the same.
O'Brien: I mean, Molly's just a kid. We've been playing with magnets.
Bashir: Morn couldn't hit a Yridian yak at five paces.
O'Brien: You and I were evenly matched.
Bashir: We had a good rivalry going on.
O'Brien: Kept us sharp.
Bashir: Exactly.
Quark: You're late.
O'Brien: What do you mean?
Quark: It's Thursday. I've got your usual holosuite reserved.
O'Brien: Didn't you cancel?
Bashir: Actually, I was hoping maybe
O'Brien: No, no, I've got to get home.
Quark: What about you, Doctor? The Battle of Britain awaits. And you know my policy on cancelations. No refunds.
O'Brien: Go ahead. Maybe Morn's better in the cockpit of a spitfire than he is at darts.
Bashir: Wouldn't be the same.
O'Brien: You're right. Morn probably doesn't even know where England is. I'll see you.
Odo: Odo to Sisko.
Sisko: Go ahead.
Odo: You'd better get down to the Promenade. Someone's been killed.
Sisko: What happened?
Kira: I don't know yet.
Odo: He fell from the second level. His neck was broken on impact.
Sisko: Did anyone see it happen?
Porta: I did.
Odo: Was it an accident?
Porta: I pushed him. His family name is Imutta. Their D'jarra is unclean.
Kira: They prepare the dead for burial.
Porta: I asked him to set the proper example and resign from our order. He refused.
Sisko: You killed him because of his D'jarra?
Porta: I had to. If a Vedek can't do what the Emissary has asked of us, how can we expect anyone else to?
Sisko: Get him out of here.
Akorem: I regret what happened here today as much as you do, but change is never easy, and the road that the Prophets have asked us to walk won't always be a smooth one.
Sisko: And forcing people to follow their D'jarras won't make it any smoother. What happened on the Promenade was just the beginning.
Akorem: Must I remind you, Captain? I am merely fulfillling the will of the Prophets.
Sisko: How do you know that?
Akorem: I'm the Emissary.
Sisko: And what you've done with the position has made me wish I had never given it up.
Akorem: But you did, and it was the right decision. You never truly accepted the role in the first place.
Sisko: I'm willing to accept it now.
Akorem: You're challenging my claim?
Sisko: You've left me no choice.
Akorem: If we went to the people and asked them to choose between us, it would be chaos.
Sisko: I don't want to divide Bajor any more than you do.
Akorem: It wouldn't be divided for long. because in the end the people would choose me. My claim was foretold in the ancient texts. I was the first to find the wormhole. I was the first to be with the Prophets. They gave me back my life.
Sisko: We're not going to settle this by arguing over ancient texts.
Akorem: Then how?
Sisko: There's only one way to be sure which one of us is the Emissary. We have to go to the wormhole and ask the Prophets.
Sisko: Going to half thrusters.
Akorem: Now what?
Sisko: We wait.
Kira: You are the Sisko.
Bashir: This is the one that was injured.
Akorem: Yes, I was. And you gave me back my life, just as the texts foretold.
Porta: Why are you here?
Akorem: To prove to this nonbeliever that you sent me to put Bajor back on the right path. Please, tell him you chose me to be the Emissary.
Akorem: Tell him that I fulfillled the ancient Prophecies. That I was the first to find the Celestial temple. I was the first to meet with you. He came to you centuries later.
Bashir: First. Later.
Kira: They have no meaning to us.
Sisko: The Bajorans believe you are their Prophets, that you've chosen one of us to be your Emissary.
Odo: We are of Bajor.
Sisko: Go on.
Odo: They are linear.
Kira: It limits them.
Porta: They do not understand.
Sisko: But we want to understand. That's why we're here. You saved his life. Why?
Kira: He was injured.
Bashir: We kept him with us.
Akorem: So that I would be spared the occupation so that I could bring the D'jarras back to Bajor.
Sisko: Is that true? Is that what you want?
Porta: The D'jarras are part of what the Sisko would call the past.
Kira: The Sisko taught us that for you, what was, can never be again.
Akorem: If the D'jarras belong in the past, why did you send me into the future?
Odo: For the Sisko.
Sisko: For me?
Akorem: You're saying that he's your Emissary?
Bashir: He is the Sisko.
Akorem: Then I've been wrong about everything. You should have let me die.
Kira: We still can.
Porta: We can return him to the moment we found him.
Odo: Allow him to die.
Sisko: No. Why not return him to his own time as he is now, uninjured, so that he can get back safely to Bajor?
Odo: He would remember nothing of what has happened.
Akorem: I could be with my wife my family. I'm ready to go home.
Opaka: Why? Why do you stay here?
Sisko: Because I still have questions.
Opaka: We are of Bajor.
Sisko: What does that mean?
Opaka: You are of Bajor.
O'Brien: You know, Molly really loves that book Jake gave her. She made me read it to her three times before she fell asleep.
Keiko: I'm going to be working another few hours.
O'Brien: That's okay I'll, er, I'll read.
Keiko: If you want to go do something
O'Brien: No, I'm fine.
Keiko: Miles, I promised I wouldn't say anything, but it's about Julian.
O'Brien: What about him?
Keiko: I ran into him the other day and he seemed depressed. He'd never admit it, but he really misses you.
O'Brien: Poor guy. No family to come home to every night.
Keiko: Maybe you should go find him, you know, cheer him up a little.
O'Brien: Depressed, is he?
Keiko: Very.
O'Brien: Maybe I should go spend an hour with him.
Keiko: Maybe two.
O'Brien: I'm a lucky man.
Keiko: Keiko to Doctor Bashir.
Bashir: Go ahead.
Keiko: Julian, it's about Miles.
Keiko: I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, but he's been really depressed lately.
Bashir: Oh.
Kira: I want you to have this. It's an original Kira Nerys. Could be very valuable one day.
Sisko: I hear she didn't make many.
Kira: I thought your speech went very well yesterday. It was the right thing to do.
Sisko: I wanted everyone to know what happened to Akorem, and that the Prophets said nothing about returning to the D'jarras.
Kira: Just about everyone was relieved to hear it.
Bashir: It's your own fault.
O'Brien: I can't believe you didn't cover me.
Bashir: How was I to know you were going to insult the King of Leinster in his own keep?
Sisko: I was just reading one of Akorem's poems, The Call of the Prophets.
Kira: Oh, that's one of my favorites. It's a shame he never finished it.
Sisko: He did. Look.
Kira: This is confusing. The last time I read this poem it ended after the twelfth stanza. If the timeline's been changed, then why do I remember things the way they used to be?
Sisko: The Prophets work in mysterious ways.
Onara: Excuse me, sir.
Sisko: Yes?
Onara: I'm sorry to bother you but tomorrow, after evening services in the Temple we're having my daughter's ih'tanu ceremony. She's turning fourteen.
Sisko: Happy Birthday.
Onara: We were wondering if there's any chance you could come and give her your blessing. It would mean so much to us.
Sisko: I'd be happy to.
Onara: Thank you, Emissary.
Sisko: You're welcome.


Odo: Are you all right?
Worf: What time is it?
Odo: Oh four hundred. Your hearing starts in four hours. I suggest trying to get some sleep. You've got a big day ahead of you.
T'Lara: This hearing will come to order. We are here to consider the request of the Klingon Empire that Lieutenant Commander Worf be extradited for trial on charges of murder. Advocate Ch'Pok, you may present your charges.
Ch'Pok: The Klingon Empire makes the following allegations against Lieutenant Commander Worf. That on Stardate 49648, while commanding the Starship Defiant, he knowingly fired upon and destroyed a Klingon civilian transport ship near the Pentath system. That as a result of that action, four hundred forty one Klingon civilians were killed. It is my intention to prove that Mister Worf was grossly negligent in his command of the Defiant. That his lust for combat overrode his good judgment. I ask only that he be returned to us to face the judgment of his own people. Thank you.
Sisko: The Advocate neglected to mention in his opening statement that at the time in question, the Defiant was under attack by two Klingon warships. This was a combat situation with hundreds of lives at stake. It was at that moment, when suddenly the transport ship decloaked in front of the Defiant. Worf gave the order to fire, not because he was reckless or negligent, but because he believed he was firing on a warship. We intend to show that the destruction of the transport was a tragic, but unavoidable, accident.
T'Lara: I will hear formal evidence beginning tomorrow afternoon at fifteen hundred hours.
Sisko: I want to know everything there is to know about the Klingon who was commanding that transport ship.
Odo: You suspect that he wasn't just on an innocent passenger run.
Sisko: I'm going to argue that he saw the battle and then decided to join it. That he decloaked in order to attack the Defiant.
Odo: Not the smartest decision he ever made.
Sisko: That's where you come in. Use your contacts in the Empire and find out something about this captain I can use. Was he reckless, did he have a reputation for drinking, did he have a death wish? Something.
Odo: I'll see what I can do.
Ch'Pok: Captain. The witnesses I intend to call.
Sisko: Thank you.
Ch'Pok: A remarkable station, Captain.
Sisko: Thank you. We don't get many Klingon visitors anymore.
Ch'Pok: After this case is over, you might be seeing a lot more of us.
Sisko: Oh?
Ch'Pok: When Worf is extradited, the Federation will be forced to admit that one of its officers committed a massacre. That will put you on the defensive throughout the quadrant. And while you're busy trying to repair a badly damaged reputation, we'll find ourselves with certain opportunities.
Sisko: An opportunity to annex more Cardassian space and set up additional military bases in this sector?
Ch'Pok: Possibly. But in any case, Worf is about to present us with something we never could have won in battle. Sympathy. Any move we make against you will be seen as a legitimate response to an outrageous slaughter.
Sisko: You're presuming an awful lot. Worf maintains his innocence.
Ch'Pok: And you are about to remind me that the burden of proof is mine. It's an interesting system of justice you have, Captain. It does have its flaws, however. It emphasizes procedure over substance, form over fact.
Sisko: I'm sorry if you feel it puts you at a disadvantage.
Ch'Pok: On the contrary. I look forward to fighting on your terms.
Sisko: This is not a fight. It's the search for the truth.
Ch'Pok: The truth must be won. I'll see you on the battlefield.
Ch'Pok: I have studied Commander Worf's report, the Defiant's sensor logs, and the reports of the other officers on the Bridge. And I believe every word of it. It's a point of pride for the Federation that Starfleet officers never lie or commit fraud, so I will accept the facts of the case as they have been submitted.
Sisko: Admiral, if there are no facts in dispute, then this hearing would appear to be at an end.
Ch'Pok: We Klingons are not concerned with matters of fact and circumstance. What matters to us is what was in Worf's heart when he gave the order to fire. Was he just a Starfleet officer doing his duty or was he a Klingon warrior reveling in the battle? That is why I am here. Because if he was a Klingon lost in the bloodlust of combat, only we can judge him, not you.
Sisko: We can't put a man's heart on trial. It's a subjective issue that cannot be reasoned in a court of law. I ask that the advocate be limited to arguing the evidence in this case.
Ch'Pok: Someone told me this was a search for the truth. Should we not follow that search wherever it takes us?
T'Lara: The question of Commander Worf's motive is relevant. I will allow you to explore this issue, but only as far as logic permits.
Ch'Pok: I bow to your judgment.
T'Lara: You may call your first witness.
Ch'Pok: You're something of an expert on Klingon society, aren't you, Commander?
Dax: My previous host, Curzon, would have called himself an expert. I tend to think of myself as having a passing familiarity with your culture.
Ch'Pok: In your opinion, as someone with a passing familiarity with our culture, wouldn't you say the Klingons are a violent, warrior race?
Dax: Yes, there is that aspect to your people.
Ch'Pok: Would you agree that one of the things that makes a Klingon warrior so formidable is his predatory instinct, his bloodlust, if you will?
Dax: I'd agree with that.
Ch'Pok: Now, when Worf was on the Defiant, engaged in combat, don't you think his predatory instinct took over?
Dax: I think that instinct was present, but I've seen Mister Worf restrain it before.
Ch'Pok: How do you know so much about how he behaves in battle?
Dax: In the holosuite. We've fought many times.
Ch'Pok: You mean you practiced with Mister Worf. You played with him.
Dax: Oh, no. When we fight, we fight.
Dax: I've made it very clear to Mister Worf that I never want him to take it easy on me because I'm a woman or a Trill.
Ch'Pok: Have you ever been injured?
Dax: A few bruises here and there. A broken finger once. Nothing serious. And I've given him a few lumps of his own.
Ch'Pok: So you're not afraid of Mister Worf?
Dax: I'm no fool. I can see the killer instinct in his eyes, and I know he could kill me if he wants to. But that look always goes away. He knows when to stop. Ja'cht.
Ch'Pok: Admiral, at this time I would like to enter into evidence files I obtained from the defendant's private database this morning.
Sisko: Objection. There's been no search order issued for those files. This is a violation of Mister Worf's privacy.
T'Lara: The captain is correct. Without a properly executed search order, or the permission of the defendant, any information you have accessed from his private database may not be admitted into evidence.
Ch'Pok: Ah. I see. Well, I obviously have no search order, so I'll ask you, Worf. May I enter this files into evidence? Or do you have something to hide?
Sisko: Don't play his game.
Worf: I have nothing to hide. Use whatever you wish.
Ch'Pok: Commander Dax, are you familiar with a holosuite program known as The Battle of Tong Vey?
Dax: Yes. It's one of the programs Mister Worf brought with him from the Enterprise.
Ch'Pok: Describe it for us.
Dax: It's an historical re-enactment of one of the epic Klingon battles. Ten thousand warriors under the command of the Emperor Sompek conquered the city of Tong Vey after a long siege.
Ch'Pok: A glorious battle. When Worf recreates it in the holosuite, what role does he play?
Dax: Sompek.
Ch'Pok: Of course. The conqueror's role. One of our greatest heroes. Tell me, Commander, what was the final order Sompek gave to his men once they had conquered the city of Tong Vey?
Ch'Pok: Commander?
Dax: He told them to burn the city to the ground and to kill everyone in it.
Ch'Pok: Everyone? Not just the soldiers, but the people of the town too? Civilians? Women? Children?
Dax: Yes.
Ch'Pok: Now, Commander, when Mister Worf runs this program, does he give the final order to destroy the city and kill all of the inhabitants?
Dax: It's not the same thing. It's a simulation.
Ch'Pok: Answer the question.
Dax: That's the way the program is supposed to end. You have to give that command
Ch'Pok: Admiral, I ask that the witness be instructed to answer the question yes or no.
T'Lara: Yes or no, Commander?
Dax: Yes.
Ch'Pok: Of course he does. Because he is a Klingon warrior. He doesn't have the same moral code as a Starfleet officer. He is one of us. A killer, a predator among sheep.
Sisko: Objection!
T'Lara: Restrain yourself, Advocate.
Ch'Pok: I only have one more question for this witness, Admiral. Commander Dax, when was the last time Worf used that program?
Dax: The day before he left on the convoy mission.
Ch'Pok: The day before. The day before. I have nothing further.
Ch'Pok: Captain, you ordered Worf to command the Defiant on the mission in question, did you not?
Sisko: That's right.
Ch'Pok: How did you describe the mission to Worf?
Sisko: An outbreak of Rudellian plague has struck the Cardassian colony on Pentath Three. The Cardassians are preparing several convoys of medical supplies and relief workers, but the Pentath system borders Klingon territory and the Cardassians are worried about raids.
Worf: Well, Pentath is a strategically important system. The Klingons will try to stop them.
Sisko: Now the problem is the Cardassians don't have enough warships available to protect the relief convoy. They've asked for Starfleet protection, and because of the humanitarian nature of the request, we've agreed. There will be seven convoys headed for Pentath Three in the next week, each of them protected by a Federation starship. The Defiant has been assigned to escort convoy six, and I've chosen you to be in command.
Ch'Pok: Why did you select Worf for this mission?
Sisko: I felt he was an experienced officer who was ready to take on greater responsibilities. He had a distinguished record and obviously understood the Klingons.
Ch'Pok: Weren't you a little worried, Captain, that Worf, a famed Klingon Warrior, might jump at the chance for battle and forget about the plague victims?
Sisko: If I were, I wouldn't have given him the assignment.
Ch'Pok: And you're sure you made your instructions perfectly clear? That Commander Worf knew he was on a humanitarian relief mission. That he was not being sent out to seek combat?
Sisko: Yes.
Ch'Pok: Thank you, Captain. I have nothing further for you.
T'Lara: Captain, since you are also acting as defense counsel, if you wish to add anything to the record, you are free to do so.
Sisko: Not at this time, Admiral.
T'Lara: Call your next witness.
Quark: It was about seventeen hundred hours. I was doing some cleanup work. Doctor Bashir was at the bar talking to Etheria, one of the dabo girls.
Bashir: Have you ever seen the wormhole open?
Quark: No, wait. It wasn't Etheria. It was Glidia.
Bashir: Have you ever seen the wormhole open?
Quark: Or was it Midia?
Ch'Pok: Mister Quark, is this necessary?
Quark: No, no, no. It was Ralidia and she was with Morn. And he was the one who turned to her and said
Ch'Pok: Can we return to the matter at hand, please?
Quark: Oh, right. Well, as I said, I was cleaning up and I saw Mister Worf come in.
Ch'Pok: Was there anything unusual about that?
Quark: No, he comes in here all the time. But he was in a good mood.
Ch'Pok: And that's unusual?
Quark: Well, he's a Klingon, and you people are rarely in what I would call good moods. Not that you're anything but a pleasant, charming race.
Ch'Pok: Let's get back to Mister Worf. Describe what happened next
Quark: He came in, he ordered a drink, prune juice, I believe, and we started to talk. I'd heard about the convoy mission so I asked him about it and he said he was going to be commanding the Defiant.
Ch'Pok: What was his attitude?
Quark: Hard to say. He's a very private man. He doesn't share a lot with his bartender.
Ch'Pok: Did he seem afraid of the mission?
Quark: No.
Ch'Pok: Did he seem excited by the mission?
Quark: Not excited, exactly.
Ch'Pok: Then what, exactly?
Quark: I just remember asking him. What happens if the Klingons go after the convoy? And then he got this funny look on his face. He put down his prune juice, looked me right in the eyes, and then he said.
Worf: I hope they do.
Ch'Pok: I hope they do. Well, it would appear Commander Worf's hopes were answered. I have nothing further.
Sisko: What do you have for me, Constable?
Odo: Background on the Klingon transport captain. He'd never been in the military and he was known to his family and friends as a quiet, efficient man who was content in his position.
Sisko: Doesn't sound like a man who'd suddenly decide to take on the Defiant.
Odo: No.
Sisko: What about this story of theirs that the transport ship just wandered off course into a combat area?
Odo: I checked the flight plan the captain filed and the projected course was near the border. It would've taken only a very slight error in navigation for the ship to stray into the fight.
Sisko: But why did he drop his cloak right in front of the Defiant?
Odo: Ah, that's the question no one seems able to answer.
Sisko: No one seems able, or no one seems willing?
Odo: They're too willing to answer questions. That's the problem. I'm always suspicious of people who are eager to help a police officer.
Sisko: Start looking into the passengers on that ship. Maybe someone with a grudge against Worf or the Federation was aboard. Someone who could have seized control of the ship and taken it into the battle. I'm reaching, I know. But at the moment it's all we have.
Odo: I'll keep looking.
O'Brien: There were two Klingon ships. A bird of prey and an old battle cruiser. One would engage us while the other went after the convoy, then they'd switch, the first ship going after the Cardassians while the second ship came after us.
Kira: We've lost the number three starboard shield.
Worf: Come about. The cruiser is taking us too far away from the convoy. Try to keep our portside to the Klingons.
O'Brien: Aye, sir. This went on for, I don't know, maybe five minutes. They'd come at us, try to draw us away from the Cardassians, we'd head back. Then the bird of prey came toward us off the port bow.
Kira: I have phaser lock.
Worf: Fire!
Kira: We damaged them, but not much.
O'Brien: We'd seen them do this cloak and run maneuver a few times, and Commander Worf thought he saw a pattern.
Worf: We have them now. Come to course one eight five mark two seven eight. Stand by quantum torpedoes, full spread.
Kira: Aye, sir.
O'Brien: I ran a quick sensor sweep and then I reported. I'm picking up a tachyon surge directly ahead.
Worf: Fire!
Sisko: When did you realize it wasn't a bird of prey?
O'Brien: As soon as it exploded.
Kira: Oh my God.
O'Brien: We were all stunned.
O'Brien: I scanned for survivors, but there were none.
Sisko: Chief, do you believe Worf was correct in giving the order to fire?
O'Brien: I stand by his decision.
Sisko: Is there any question in your mind about his motives?
O'Brien: No, sir. I've known Commander Worf for nine years. He's an honorable man. He would never intentionally fire on an unarmed ship.
Sisko: Thank you, Chief.
Ch'Pok: I'm curious, Chief. You said you stand by Commander Worf's decision. Do you agree with it?
O'Brien: I completely support him.
Ch'Pok: That's not my question. Do you agree with his decision?
O'Brien: I wasn't in command. It's not my place to question his judgment.
Ch'Pok: What if you were in command? What would you have done?
O'Brien: I don't know.
Ch'Pok: Chief, how many years have you been in Starfleet?
O'Brien: Twenty two.
Ch'Pok: And how many combat situations have you been in?
O'Brien: I couldn't even guess.
Ch'Pok: Try.
O'Brien: A hundred, hundred and fifty?
Ch'Pok: For the record, Chief O'Brien has been in two hundred and thirty five separate engagements and Starfleet has decorated him fifteen times. I would like to have him declared an expert in the area of starship combat.
T'Lara: Any objection?
Sisko: None.
Ch'Pok: Chief O'Brien, if Mister Worf had been injured could you have taken over command of that ship?
O'Brien: I would have.
Ch'Pok: Let's say that happened. You're in command.
Ch'Pok: You're chasing the bird of prey, it cloaks. You anticipate your opponent's maneuver, so you give the order.
O'Brien: Come about to one eight five mark two seven eight. Stand by quantum torpedoes, full spread.
Ch'Pok: The crew obeys. The ship comes about, and then your helm officer tells you.
Helm: I'm picking up a tachyon surge, directly ahead.
Ch'Pok: Now stop right there.
Ch'Pok: Freeze that moment in time. Everything rides on your next decision.
Ch'Pok: Do you give the order to fire?
O'Brien: This isn't a fair question. It didn't really happen this way. I wasn't in command.
Ch'Pok: I'm not interested in whether you think it's a fair question or not. You're in command. There's a ship out there decloaking. You don't know what it is.
Ch'Pok: Do you fire?
O'Brien: No. But that's just my opinion now, after the fact. I wasn't in command that day. Things look a lot different when you're sitting in that chair.
Ch'Pok: I'm sure they do.
Ch'Pok: Captain Sisko. Mind if I sit down? I understand you're going to put Worf on the stand this afternoon.
Sisko: That's right.
Ch'Pok: May I make a suggestion? Concede. Let me take him back to the Empire and I'll make sure he's not put to death. In fact, I'll defend him myself.
Sisko: You?
Ch'Pok: What matters to me is the thrill of the fight, not which side I'm on. And I think we both know the extradition fight is over.
Sisko: You're not making this offer out of kindness. You want the Federation to concede so the convoys will stop and the Klingons can move in on the Pentath system.
Ch'Pok: As humans would say, that would be icing on the cake.
Sisko: I wouldn't try eating that cake just yet, if I were you. But you have told me one thing I needed to know. You're worried about what Worf might say on the stand.
Ch'Pok: I'm not worried, but you should be.
Odo: Captain.
Sisko: Good news or bad?
Odo: Bad. I checked the backgrounds of every passenger on that transport. None had any connection with Worf, or grudge against the Federation, or any motive for seizing control of the ship and attacking the Defiant. But I'm still not giving up.
Sisko: I appreciate that. But I get the feeling that at this point the only one who can help Worf is Worf.
Worf: The escort mission had proceeded smoothly for two days. We detected several subspace distortions which might have been cloaked ships, but nothing definite.
Sisko: So what was the first sign of trouble, Mister Worf?
Worf: There was no warning.
Kira: A bird of prey just decloaked off the port quarter.
Worf: Raise shields, arm phasers.
O'Brien: Commander, another ship's decloaking. It's an older battle cruiser. She's going after the convoy.
Worf: Bring us about.
Sisko: How did you feel when the Klingons attacked? Were you excited?
Worf: Of course. I am a Klingon. We live for battle.
Sisko: So that's all that mattered to you? The chance to fight?
Worf: No, sir. Whatever my personal feelings may be, I do not allow them to interfere with my duty or my professional judgment.
Sisko: Chief O'Brien says that he disagrees with your decision to fire. How do you respond to that?
Worf: I respect the Chief's opinion. He and I have served together for many years, and I consider him a friend. However, he was not in command that day.
Sisko: What difference does that make?
Worf: It makes all the difference. He is looking back at a decision, analyzing it weeks later. As the commanding officer of the Defiant, it was my duty to look forward, to anticipate every possible situation.
Sisko: Did you anticipate encountering a civilian ship on this mission?
Worf: I knew that our convoy would be passing through civilian shipping lanes, but, in my judgment, the chances of a civilian vessel decloaking in the middle of a battle were remote. I decided that if I were engaged in combat I would not hesitate to fire at a decloaking ship.
Sisko: Mister Worf, I want you to think about the civilians who died on that transport ship and answer one question. Under the same set of circumstances, would you do it again?
Worf: Yes, sir. If I had hesitated, I would have been negligent. I would have been risking my ship, my crew and the entire convoy.
Sisko: Thank you.
Ch'Pok: Worf, why are you considered an outcast among Klingons?
Worf: I sided with the Federation during the invasion of Cardassia. For that, Chancellor Gowron stripped me of my name and my family honor.
Ch'Pok: So, you acted out of conscience and you were punished for it. How do you feel about that? Angry? Bitter?
Worf: I am angry about the treatment I have received. I felt it was unjust.
Ch'Pok: Of course you are. Who wouldn't be? What happened affected your entire family. The House of Mogh was brought down. Your brother was ejected from the High Council in disgrace, your lands seized, and now your son Alexander has to bear the stigma of being the son of a traitor. Did I miss anything?
Worf: No.
Ch'Pok: In your opinion, what do they think of you in the Empire, Worf?
Worf: I am hated.
Ch'Pok: Why? Because of what you did?
Worf: Yes.
Ch'Pok: Are you sure it's not something more basic?
Worf: What is that supposed to mean?
Ch'Pok: Isn't it obvious? You were raised by humans, on Earth. And now you wear their uniform. Haven't you really always been a traitor in your heart?
Worf: No.
Ch'Pok: Are you telling us that you live with humans but your heart is Klingon?
Worf: Yes.
Ch'Pok: But if your heart is Klingon, how could you fire upon your own people?
Worf: They fired the first shot. And when that happened, they became my enemies.
Ch'Pok: Then why aren't you glad you destroyed that transport? It was filled with your enemies and their children.
Worf: There is nothing honorable about killing those who cannot defend themselves.
Ch'Pok: Are you telling me that you would never attack a defenseless opponent?
Worf: No, I would not.
Ch'Pok: Maybe I've been wrong about you. Maybe you aren't really Klingon in your heart. A true Klingon rejoices at the death of his enemies. Old, young, armed, unarmed. All that matters is the victory. Tell me, Worf, did you weep for those children?
Worf: I grieve for them.
Ch'Pok: Grieve for them? A Klingon doesn't grieve. They died in a glorious battle! They are with the honored dead in Sto-Vo-Kor! They do not want your grief. You dishonor their memories!
Sisko: Objection!
T'Lara: Advocate.
Worf: You will say anything. You have no honor!
Ch'Pok: I say this. You live with humans because you're afraid to live with Klingons.
Worf: I fear nothing. And if you would like to pick up a bat'leth and face me with weapons instead of words, I will prove it to you.
Ch'Pok: You'd like that, wouldn't you, Worf? You'd love to prove that you are as strong and courageous as any Klingon warrior.
Worf: I am a Klingon warrior.
T'Lara: Advocate, you are stepping well beyond the bounds of protocol.
Ch'Pok: And that is why you told the Ferengi you hoped the Klingons do come for you. You wanted to prove yourself in the eyes of the only people that matter to you. Other Klingons.
T'Lara: This will stop or I will hold both of you in contempt.
Ch'Pok: I apologize, Worf. Actually, I pity you. But the person I pity most is Alexander. Because one day he will come to you and ask, Father who am I? And you will have to tell him that he is the son of a small, frightened man who destroyed a ship full of children just to prove his own courage.
Sisko: Worf, no!
Ch'Pok: I thought you said you'd never attack an unarmed man. Perhaps you should have said, not unless I get angry, not unless I have something to prove. I rest my case. Captain's log, stardate 49665.3. The hearing is in recess and Admiral T'Lara has retired to her quarters to begin deliberations. I wish I could be more optimistic about her decision.
Sisko: Constable?
Odo: Good news.
Sisko: If he objects, I know what to do.
T'Lara: Captain Sisko?
Sisko: Admiral, I apologize for interrupting your deliberations, but I have some new evidence I'd like to present.
T'Lara: Very well.
Sisko: I'd like Advocate Ch'Pok to evaluate the evidence as an expert witness on the Klingon Empire.
T'Lara: I will not compel you to testify, Advocate.
Sisko: Care to step onto my battlefield?
Sisko: Advocate, how would you describe the current relationship between the Federation and the Klingon Empire?
Ch'Pok: There is no formal relationship between our two governments.
Sisko: What would you call us? Informal friends? Informal enemies?
Ch'Pok: I would say there is potential for either label, but at the moment neither is entirely accurate.
Sisko: Hmm. Interesting. Would you agree that at the moment, it is difficult for us to trust each other?
Ch'Pok: Difficult, but not impossible. There are things that transcend our differences. For example, we trust that this case can be decided fairly. We have faith in Admiral T'Lara's judgment.
Sisko: I'm glad to hear you have such a profound respect for the Admiral. But would it be fair to say that outside this hearing you do not entirely trust us?
Ch'Pok: Well, it is only prudent that we question your motives now that we are no longer allies.
Sisko: Of course. And it is only prudent of us to question your motives. After all, aren't there times when you feel it's in your best interest to deceive us?
Ch'Pok: I object to the question. It is vague and hypothetical.
Sisko: Well, can you imagine any circumstance in which the Empire would deceive the Federation?
Ch'Pok: I have a poor imagination.
Sisko: Let's see what we can do to spark it.
Sisko: Do you recognize these names?
Ch'Pok: These are the people who were killed on board the transport.
Sisko: You're positive? There are four hundred and forty one of them.
Ch'Pok: The names and faces of these people are seared into my heart. This is a list of heroes who died at the hands of a coward. It is a list I can never forget.
Sisko: They are an interesting group of people aren't they? From every walk of life. Merchants, soldiers, artists, shopkeepers.
Ch'Pok: Children.
Sisko: Children. We've done some checking in their backgrounds, and in our opinion they all appear to be a random group of people who shared only one thing in common. They traveled on the same ship. Is that your conclusion as well?
Ch'Pok: Yes.
Sisko: And it was just fate that led these particular people to board a doomed ship?
Ch'Pok: Fate is a human concept. They simply boarded the wrong ship at the wrong time.
Sisko: And then they did it again.
Ch'Pok: I don't think I understand your line of
Sisko: Three months ago a Klingon transport ship crashed in the mountains of Galorda Prime. Of course, everyone assumed the worst, that the passengers and crew had all been killed. But then, miraculously, everyone survived. Do you know anyone who was on that ship?
Ch'Pok: No.
Sisko: Are you sure? You have the names of the survivors right there. I can understand your confusion. The names in front of you are identical to the names on this list. The people who were killed in the Defiant incident. So, what does this mean? Four hundred and forty one people somehow survived a crash on Galorda Prime and then a few weeks later they all decide to take another trip, on the same day, on the same transport ship, under the same captain and crew, and then that ship is destroyed, too. This is a very unlucky group of people, wouldn't you say?
Ch'Pok: I am not an expert on luck.
Sisko: No. You are an expert on the Klingon Empire. So, tell me, Advocate. Isn't it possible that there were no civilians on the transport Worf destroyed? Isn't it possible that the ship he saw was sending out false sensor images and that this whole affair was staged so that the only Klingon officer in Starfleet would be accused of a massacre and the Federation would be forced to stop escorting the convoys? Tell me, Advocate, isn't it possible?
Ch'Pok: Yes.
Worf: Captain.
Sisko: I thought you should know O'Brien and Bashir are throwing a party for you at Quark's. It looks like quite a bash.
Worf: I am aware of it, but I have much on my mind. Ch'Pok was right. I did have something to prove when I took command of the convoy and I did not realize it until I stood there looking down at him, blood trickling from his mouth. In that moment I remember thinking finally he had given me what I really wanted. A reason to attack him. And I had that same feeling when the Klingon ships first attacked. Finally, a chance for vengeance. I should not have accepted the mission.
Sisko: I'm glad you realize that. That was your first mistake. What was your second?
Worf: When the ship decloaked, I should have checked the target before I fired.
Sisko: You're damned right you should've checked. You knew there were civilian ships in the area. You fired at something you hadn't identified. You made a military decision to protect your ship and crew, but you're a Starfleet officer, Worf. We don't put civilians at risk or even potentially at risk to save ourselves. Sometimes that means we lose the battle and sometimes our lives. But if you can't make that choice, then you can't wear that uniform.
Worf: Yes, sir.
Sisko: At ease, Commander. Now, all that being true, the reality is no harm has been done. There are no dead children on your conscience. You got lucky.
Worf: I do not feel lucky.
Sisko: And that's why despite everything that's happened you're going to make a hell of a captain some day. Now, let's go. They'll all be waiting. Look, this party isn't for you as much as it is for them. Things got a little tense there for a while. They need a release, a chance to celebrate.
Worf: But I do not feel like celebrating.
Sisko: Part of being a captain is knowing when to smile, make the troops happy even when it's the last thing in the world you want to do. Because they're your troops and you have to take care of them.
Worf: Life is a great deal more complicated in this red uniform.
Sisko: Wait till you get four pips on that collar. You'll wish you had gone into botany.


Argrathi: All offenders prepare for decontamination. Decontamination will proceed immediately.
Rinn: Miles Edward O'Brien. The Argrathi Authority has been conducting a review of your case. Do you wish to add anything to the official record?
Rinn: No matter. Your correction is completed. You are free.
O'Brien: Free?
Rinn: The crime of espionage requires a minimum of fifteen cycles of correction. You've been here for twenty. It's time for you to go.
O'Brien: Go? I can't leave. Where would I go to?
Rinn: That's not my concern. Remove him.
Rinn: There. It's done.
O'Brien: Major?
Kira: It's me, Chief.
O'Brien: It can't be. It's been twenty years. You haven't changed at all.
Rinn: Only a few hours passed during your correction.
O'Brien: I don't understand.
Kira: Chief, I know this is going to be hard for you to accept, but you haven't been in prison. What you experienced was an artificial reality, an interactive program that created memories of things that never actually happened.
O'Brien: What?
Rinn: The Major is correct. We punish our offenders by giving them memories of incarceration modeled to fit each offender's personality. It's more efficient and much more effective than maintaining an extensive prison system.
Kira: Which means that what you think you experienced in prison, the things you remember, didn't happen. It wasn't real.
O'Brien: It's real to me, Major. It's real to me.
Sisko: He apparently got curious about some Argrathi technology and asked a few too many questions. The Argrathi security arrested him and charged him with espionage.
Keiko: But Miles would never break the law intentionally.
Sisko: I know that. But by the time the Argrathi told us what had happened, they had already carried out his correction.
Keiko: Can the memories that they implanted be removed?
Sisko: The Argrathi claim it's impossible, but Doctor Bashir will do his best.
Keiko: When can I see him?
Sisko: As soon as Doctor Bashir gives the okay.
O'Brien: I used to dream about this. Being on in runabout, coming through the wormhole, seeing the station again. Now I keep expecting to wake up and find myself back in the cell.
Kira: Being in your cell was a dream. This is the reality.
O'Brien: I'd forgotten how beautiful it was.
Kira: Come on. Let's get you home.
Bashir: Chief.
O'Brien: Julian. Is it really you?
Bashir: It's me.
Kira: He's all yours.
O'Brien: Never thought I'd see you again.
Bashir: I was pretty worried about you, too.
O'Brien: Keiko?
Bashir: She'll see you in a little while. I want to run some tests first, see what we're up against. As for everyone else, they send their best. They would have been here, but I didn't want you to get overwhelmed. You should take things easy for a while, get used to this place again. All right?
O'Brien: Doctor's orders?
Bashir: Oh, absolutely.
Bashir: I can't imagine what it would have been like. Twenty years in that cell.
O'Brien: It was bad.
Bashir: In all that time, were you able to talk to anyone? See anyone?
O'Brien: I was alone.
Ee'Char: Here.
Argrathi: All offenders refusing to comply with dormancy period will be subject to habitat reprogramming.
Ee'Char: Eat this. It'll help you feel better. It's chee'lash fruit.
O'Brien: Thanks.
Ee'Char: I'm the one who should be thanking you. I've been alone in here for six cycles.
O'Brien: Six years?
Ee'Char: I know. It's a wonder I'm not insane. But you find ways to survive. Let me guess. Sedition?
O'Brien: Espionage.
Ee'Char: It looks like we're going to be in here together for a long time. My name is Ee'Char.
O'Brien: Miles. Miles O'Brien.
Ee'Char: Hello, Miles. Welcome to hell.
O'Brien: Completely alone.
Bashir: The bottom line is, there isn't much I can do. The Argrathi didn't just installl memory implants. They ran Miles through a highly realistic time-compressed simulation of the prison experience. In his mind, he lived those twenty years. He reacted to everything that happened. He felt pain, fear, hatred. He made choices and decisions that affected the outcome. As a result, those memories are real. The only way I could rid him of the memories would be to wipe his entire memory clean, and clearly that isn't an option.
Keiko: I understand.
Bashir: Listen, Keiko, he's been through some terrible things in his life, as you know. During the war on Setlik Three. That time he was taken prisoner by the Paradans. During his trial on Cardassia Prime. And he's always survived. In the long run, he's going to be okay. It's just going to take some time.
O'Brien: Computer. A piece of chee'lash fruit please.
Computer: Requested pattern for requested fruit is not available. Please provide specifications.
O'Brien: Well, it's sort of. I don't know the specifications. Cancel the request.
Bashir: Chief?
Keiko: Miles? Oh, Miles.
Keiko: Miles, what's wrong?
O'Brien: You're pregnant?
Keiko: That's right.
O'Brien: It's been so long I'd forgotten.
Keiko: Oh, Miles. It's all right. Everything's going to be all right.
Molly: I'm done. Can I go color?
Keiko: Sure. Make sure to put your plate in the replicator, sweetie.
Molly: Okay. Do you want to come color with me?
O'Brien: Maybe in a little while.
Keiko: It must be strange to suddenly have a family again.
O'Brien: It's just, I've been alone for so long.
Keiko: Talking about it with Counselor Telnorri should help. Julian says you'll be seeing him for a while.
O'Brien: Three counseling sessions a week. I can hardly wait.
Keiko: Miles?
O'Brien: Mm-hmm?
Keiko: What are you doing?
O'Brien: Nothing.
Keiko: I mean, with your food.
O'Brien: It's just a habit I picked up in prison. The guards didn't care much whether I lived or died. Sometimes they wouldn't deliver food for days, weeks even. When they did feed me, I ate as little as possible and save the rest.
Keiko: That's horrible.
O'Brien: You get used to it.
Argrathi: All food rations will be suspended until further notice. Any offenders caught with rations will be diskiplined.
Ee'Char: For later.
O'Brien: How did you manage? Six years in here all by yourself.
Ee'Char: Oh, you find ways. I'd exercise, tell myself stories, draw eseekas on the ground.
O'Brien: Eseekas?
Ee'Char: Geometric patterns. Drawing them is a way to relax your body and occupy the mind.
O'Brien: That helps?
Ee'Char: Helps me.
O'Brien: Show me.
Ee'Char: It's not easy.
O'Brien: I have plenty of time to learn.
Ee'Char: Here. This is a good spot. Start by drawing a circle.
Ee'Char: Now gaze into the circle. You want to learn or not?
O'Brien: I'm gazing.
Ee'Char: Relax your mind. Imagine that the circle encompasses your whole existence. Let it become a part of you. Now without thinking, allow your hand to make a mark inside the circle. Now expand on the mark. Let it grow organically until it becomes a pattern.
O'Brien: What are you laughing at?
Ee'Char: You look like a reeta-hawk picking at a corpse. Awk! Awk!
O'Brien: How do you do that?
Ee'Char: What, awk?
O'Brien: No, laugh after six years in here.
Ee'Char: Well, after six years in a place like this, you either learn to laugh or you go insane. I prefer to laugh.
Argrathi: All offenders prepare for dormancy period. Any offender still active during the dormancy period will be diskiplined. Illumination will be suspended in twenty seconds.
Ee'Char: Sleep well, Miles. And if you feel like laughing in the middle of the night, go ahead. I'm a heavy sleeper.
Argrathi: Dormancy period initiated.
Keiko: Miles?
Worf: Your throw.
O'Brien: Do I need one seventeen, or two?
Worf: I am not sure.
O'Brien: No, neither am I.
Worf: We could start again.
O'Brien: Nah, that's all right. I know darts isn't really your game. To be honest, I don't feel much like playing myself.
Worf: We could go kayaking in the holosuite.
O'Brien: You're a good friend, but
O'Brien: Hold on a second.
Worf: Is everything all right?
O'Brien: It's fine. I just thought I saw someone I used to know.
O'Brien: Interphasic coil spanner. ODN recoupler.
Jake: You got it.
Jake: It's a
O'Brien: No, no, d on't tell me. I'll get it. A quantum flux regulator, mark three.
Jake: Perfect.
O'Brien: Let's go through it again.
Jake: Chief, you know this stuff. You don't have to worry about it.
O'Brien: I don't want to be embarrassed in front of the repair crews.
Jake: Even if you get one wrong, no one'll think anything of it. You may be a little rusty, but you're still the Chief.
O'Brien: Oh, well if I'm still the Chief, I say we go through it again.
O'Brien: All done here.
Muniz: That was quick.
O'Brien: I reconfigured the magnetic waveguides. Saved us the trouble of replacing the whole unit.
Muniz: Good as new. We're about done here. If it's all right with you, I was going to dismiss the crew for lunch.
O'Brien: You go ahead. There's a couple of things I want to look at down here. Brush up a little more.
Muniz: Keep up the good work, crewman. Another week or two, you'll be running the place.
O'Brien: Don't you forget it.
Bashir: Ah, there you are, Chief.
O'Brien: Hello, Julian. Come to check up on me?
Bashir: To be honest, yes. Counselor Telnorri says that you haven't been in to see him in ten days.
O'Brien: So?
Bashir: So, you're supposed to see him three times a week.
O'Brien: What for? All Telnorri ever wants to do is sit and listen to me tell stories of what it was like to be in an Argrathi prison. How often did they beat me? Was I distressed by the lack of toilet facilities? If you ask me, he's the one with the problem.
Bashir: You can talk to a different counselor. Someone you might like better.
O'Brien: Julian, I don't want to talk to a counselor. I just want to forget about what happened on Argratha and get on with my life.
Bashir: Just like that?
O'Brien: Yes, just like that. I don't need counseling or relaxation or time to adjust. I just want to be left alone.
Bashir: I'd have thought after being alone for twenty years, you'd want someone to talk to.
O'Brien: If there's one thing I haven't missed in the last twenty years, it's your smug, superior attitude. Now I have told you I want to be left alone and I meant it. So if you know what's good for you you'll stay the hell away from me.
O'Brien: Promenade.
Ee'Char: Tell me about Keiko again. About how much you like her eyes.
O'Brien: I've told you about her a hundred times. What more is there to say?
Ee'Char: Well, I like hearing about her. If I had a beautiful wife I'd talk about her, believe me. Besides, talking about her always relaxs you, and your pacing is getting a little distracting.
O'Brien: Oh, yeah?
Ee'Char: Yeah.
O'Brien: Well, your drawing is bothering me.
Ee'Char: Since when?
O'Brien: Since now.
Ee'Char: You didn't need to do that.
O'Brien: Don't tell me what I need.
Ee'Char: Miles.
O'Brien: Don't Miles me. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of this place, I'm sick of your drawings, and most of all I am sick of you!
Ee'Char: Try to be calm.
O'Brien: I don't want to be calm. I've had it with this place. I don't belong here.
O'Brien: Do you hear me? I don't belong here. I didn't do anything wrong. I know you're listening.
Ee'Char: Miles!
O'Brien: I don't belong here! Let me out of here! I don't do anything wrong and you know it!
Argrathi: All offenders in detention area four. If you do not cease this disturbance immediately, you will be diskiplined.
O'Brien: Diskipline this!
Ee'Char: Miles!
Ee'Char: Listen. Be quiet!
Odo: Chief, how are you doing?
O'Brien: I wish people would stop asking me that. I'm sorry, Constable. Everything's fine. I've just had a tough day.
Quark: That's one Black Hole straight up, right?
O'Brien: A synthale please.
Quark: Be right with you, Chief.
O'Brien: Quark, what about that synthale?
Quark: Just another minute.
O'Brien: Quark.
Quark: Look, Chief, I'm a little busy right now.
O'Brien: I'm in no mood for games, Quark, so why don't you give me my drink now or I'll break every bone in your worthless little body.
Quark: Chief, just because your life's in shambles right now. Ow! One synthale coming right up.
Ee'Char: Miles.
O'Brien: Ee'char. What are you doing here?
Ee'Char: I've never really been gone, have I?
O'Brien: You're not real. You're just in my head.
Ee'Char: That's all I ever was. But I'm real to you and that's all that matters.
O'Brien: Go away.
Ee'Char: I can't. I'm your friend. You need me.
O'Brien: You are the last thing I need.
Ee'Char: You're wrong, Miles. You need me now more than ever.
Ee'Char: What are you doing?
O'Brien: I'm going to work.
Ee'Char: Miles, as your friend, I have to tell you I'm worried about you.
O'Brien: Don't be. I'm home, I'm working, and for the first time in as long as I can remember, I feel good.
Ee'Char: Then why am I here?
Sisko: Sisko to O'Brien. Please report to my office.
O'Brien: On my way. Look, I don't know why you're here. And I don't care.
Sisko: Have a seat. I understand you had a confrontation with Doctor Bashir yesterday.
O'Brien: That, sir? That was nothing.
Sisko: Not according to Doctor Bashir.
O'Brien: We had a little argument. Julian and I are always arguing.
Sisko: According to Constable Odo, you also had an incident with Quark.
O'Brien: Did that little? Look, sir, I may have let things get a little bit out of hand, but it won't happen again.
Sisko: Doctor Bashir also tells me that you've stopped seeing your counselor.
O'Brien: Sir, I've been a little busy lately
Sisko: The agreement was that you were going to see a counselor on a regular basis.
O'Brien: You're right. I'll make an appointment to go see him tomorrow.
Sisko: You'll see him today. Immediately.
O'Brien: I've a lot of work to do today, sir.
Sisko: The work can wait. As of now, you're relieved of duty. I want you to report to Counselor Telnorri and begin attending daily counseling sessions for as long as he thinks it's advisable.
O'Brien: Sir, you're blowing this all out of proportion.
Sisko: You know that's not true. What happened on Argratha affected you a lot more than you're willing to admit. And it's not going to get better overnight, no matter how much you want it to. You need help.
O'Brien: Please, Captain. I'm asking you as a personal favor to me, give me one more chance.
Sisko: I wish I could. But right now, in the judgment of this station's Chief Medical Officer, you're unfit for duty. Which means you're on medical leave effective immediately. And if you don't begin attending counseling sessions on a regular basis, and cooperating in every other way with your physician, I will have no choice but to have you confined to the infirmary. Is that clear?
O'Brien: Yes, sir.
Sisko: Dismissed.
Dax: Chief, I was just about to head down to the Replimat and I was wondering
O'Brien: Not right, Commander.
O'Brien: Promenade.
O'Brien: What the hell did you say to him?
Bashir: I take it you talked to Captain Sisko.
O'Brien: I talked to him all right. He relieved me of duty.
Bashir: It's for the best, Miles.
O'Brien: How do you know what's best for me? You have no idea what I've been going through.
Bashir: You're right. You were alone in that cell. I wasn't there with you. I didn't see what they did to you. But I do know you suffered and that you're still suffering right now. And I'm trying to help.
O'Brien: I never asked for your help.
Bashir: You didn't need to ask. I'm your doctor and your friend.
Ee'Char: You should listen to him, Miles. He cares about you just like I did. Don't make the same mistake with him you did with me.
O'Brien: Don't you get it. You're not my friend. Not anymore. The O'Brien that was your friend died in that cell.
Bashir: He's not dead. He just needs a little help, that's all.
O'Brien: Stay away from me. I don't want your help, I don't want your friendship. I just want to be left alone.
Ee'Char: Where are you going?
O'Brien: I told you to go away.
Ee'Char: Miles, please, don't do this. Go back there and talk to him. He wants to help you.
O'Brien: Like you did?
Ee'Char: That's right. We're both your friends.
O'Brien: Yeah. And look what happened to you.
O'Brien: Habitat ring.
Ee'Char: You know sooner or later you'll have to tell someone about me.
O'Brien: Like hell I will.
Ee'Char: You can't run from me forever.
O'Brien: You're dead. So why don't you go away and leave me alone.
Ee'Char: You want me to leave? I'll leave. Send me away. Don't you see? If I keep coming back, it's because some part of you keeps bringing me here.
Keiko: Miles, Julian's been trying to contact you for an hour. Where have you been?
O'Brien: Walking, thinking.
Keiko: I know, I heard. I'm sorry. I know how much your work means to you.
O'Brien: Try telling that to Julian.
Molly: Daddy, come see what I drew.
O'Brien: Not now, honey, okay?
Keiko: I'm sure its only temporary. You'll be back at work before you know it.
Molly: Daddy. You have to come see.
O'Brien: Look, can we talk about this later?
Molly: Daddy, come on.
O'Brien: Not now.
Molly: Please, Daddy, please.
O'Brien: I said not now, right! I said
Keiko: Miles, what are you doing?
O'Brien: I didn't mean to. I'm sorry.
Bashir: Chief?
O'Brien: Get out of here, Julian.
Bashir: You don't want to do this, Chief.
O'Brien: The hell I don't.
Bashir: Look, I don't claim to know what you're going through, but whatever it is, it's not worth dying for.
O'Brien: You don't understand at all. I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this to protect Keiko, and Molly and everyone else on the station.
Bashir: Protect us from what?
O'Brien: From me. I'm not the man I used to be. I'm dangerous. I nearly hit Molly today. All she wanted was a little attention and I nearly hit her.
Bashir: But you didn't. You're a good man, Miles Edward O'Brien. And whatever it is you think you've done wrong, you don't deserve to die.
O'Brien: You sound like Ee'Char.
Bashir: Who's Ee'Char?
O'Brien: He's not real. He's just a memory, that's all.
Bashir: A memory from Argratha? Who was he? Another prisoner? A guard?
O'Brien: He was my cell mate.
Bashir: You told me you were alone in that cell. Twenty years with no one to talk to.
O'Brien: I was at the end. A week, two maybe. But the rest of the time there was Ee'char.
Bashir: What happened to him?
Ee'Char: Why did you do that?
O'Brien: It wasn't helping.
Ee'Char: You need to concentrate more.
O'Brien: It doesn't matter how much I concentrate. I'm still starving.
Ee'Char: So am I.
O'Brien: You're sure there's nothing left?
Ee'Char: Not unless you have a hiding place I don't know about.
O'Brien: We ate the last of the food I put away a week ago. We should have stockpiled more. We should have planned for this.
Ee'Char: They've never let us go this long without food before.
O'Brien: Maybe they've forgotten about us, or just decided to finally let us die.
Ee'Char: Then we die.
Argrathi: All offenders prepare for dormancy period. Any offender still active during the dormancy period will be diskiplined. Illumination will be suspended in twenty seconds.
O'Brien: What are you doing?
Ee'Char: I'm going to sleep.
O'Brien: How can you sleep at a time like this?
Ee'Char: Maybe I'll dream about food.
O'Brien: You're crazy.
Ee'Char: No. Just hungry.
Argrathi: Dormancy period initiated.
O'Brien: You pretended to be my friend and all the time you were holding out on me.
Ee'Char: Now who's acting crazy?
Ee'Char: After all I've done for you. You ungrateful
O'Brien: You were saving it for both of us. Ee'char? Ee'char, wake up. Ee'char. Ee'char.
Bashir: You killed him?
O'Brien: And the worst part of it was, the next day the guards began feeding me again. I'd killed him for nothing, for a scrap of bread he was going to share with me.
Bashir: But it was a mistake. You didn't mean it.
O'Brien: I meant it. I wanted him to die. I keep telling myself it doesn't matter. It wasn't real. But that's a lie. If it had been real, if it had been you instead of him, it wouldn't have made any difference. He was my best friend and I murdered him. When we were growing up, they used to tell us humanity had evolved, that mankind had outgrown hate and rage. But when it came down to it, when I had the chance to show that no matter what anyone did to me, I was still an evolved human being, I failed. I repaid kindness with blood. I was no better than an animal.
Bashir: No, no, no, no. An animal would've killed Ee'char and never had a second thought, never shed a tear. But not you. You hate yourself. You hate yourself so much you think you deserve to die. The Argrathi did everything they could to strip you of your humanity. And in the end, for one brief moment, they succeeded. But you can't let that brief moment define your entire life. If you do, if you pull that trigger, then the Argrathi will have won. They will have destroyed a good man. You cannot let that happen, my friend.
Ee'Char: Miles. Be well, Miles.
Bashir: Thirty milligrams twice a day. Take it religiously for a month, and if all goes well we'll experiment with a lower dosage.
O'Brien: You sure this'll work?
Bashir: It's a treatment, not a cure. It'll prevent hallucinations, take the edge off the depression. But that's all it'll do. It won't take away the memories or the feelings.
O'Brien: You mean the guilt.
Bashir: Well, that'll take time.
O'Brien: Now's the part where you tell me I have to start seeing Counselor Telnorri again.
Bashir: Unless you want to talk to me.
O'Brien: Telnorri'll be fine. Thanks, Julian. For everything.
Bashir: What are friends for?
Molly: Daddy's home! Daddy's home!
O'Brien: That's right, Daddy's home.