 After Minister Jaro dismisses
Major Kira and sends her back to Bajor, Sisko angrily confronts
him about his actions. Jaro is surprised that Sisko is not happy
to be rid of his troublesome officer, but assures him that Kira
has been promoted. He also reminds Sisko that he couldn't have a
better replacement than war hero Li Nalas, who will be safer
from Bajor's escalating violence if he remains on Deep Space
Nine. Sisko receives an eerie reminder of that violence when he
returns to his quarters and finds his door has been vandalized
with The Circle's insignia. Kira, meanwhile, is not happy about
leaving, a fact she discusses with the rest of the crew as they
stop by her quarters to see her off. Odo encourages her to fight
for her job, but Kira is resigned to her fate. Then, Bajoran
spiritual leader Vedek Bareil arrives unexpectedly. Although he
starts out talking about the proliferation of weapons on Bajor,
he ends up changing the subject and inviting Kira to spend some
time at his monastery. She accepts, but before she leaves, Sisko
promises to fight to have her reinstated.
In the monastery, Kira grows
uncomfortable with both her feelings of uselessness and her
growing attraction to Bareil. Bareil leads her to a chamber of
the temple shrine, where he leaves her alone with one of the
sacred orbs. Kira is suddenly enveloped by light and
mysteriously transported to a room full of Bajoran legislators,
plus Dax, Vedek Winn, Jaro, and Bareil. Kira is urged to listen
to the legislators. Suddenly, she realizes that she is naked,
just as Bareil appears from behind and kisses her. As they kiss,
an explosion of sound interrupts the moment and she finds
herself fully dressed, standing alone in the shrine chamber.
Later, when Bareil asks Kira what she experienced, she lies
about it, even when Bareil says that she has been in one of his
visions.
Back on Deep Space Nine, Quark fills Odo in on an important
piece of information — the Kressari have been supplying arms to
The Circle. Without Kira to help him, Odo needs Quark's
assistance to learn where the weapons are being delivered, and
forces the Ferengi to act as his deputy. The officers delay the
departure of a Kressarian freighter long enough for Odo to sneak
aboard in liquid form and then disguise himself as a rat. At the
same time, Sisko travels to Bajor to tell Kira about the arms
shipments and warn her about the imminent coup. He again
promises to help her return to the space station. However, soon
after he leaves, she is drugged and kidnapped by three masked
men.
On the Kressari ship, Odo learns that the Cardassians are really
behind the arms shipments, secretly supplying the Kressarians
with the weapons being taken to Bajor. Meanwhile, Kira awakens
in an underground bunker, where Minister Jaro reveals that he is
The Circle, and that he assigned Li to the station so the war
hero wouldn't gain the devotion of the Bajorans. Jaro then
passionately declares that, thanks to his work, Bajor will soon
no longer be powerless in the face of others, and the Federation
will be forced to leave. Back at the station, Quark tells Sisko
where Kira has been taken, and Sisko, Li, and Bashir hurry to
Bajor to rescue her. Surprising Kira's captors, they find her,
cut and bleeding, and transport her back to their Runabout.
Soon after the group arrives at the station, Odo returns and
informs Kira that the arms shipments to The Circle are coming
from the Cardassians, who hope a resulting coup will get rid of
the Federation so they can eventually retake Bajor. Back on
Bajor, Jaro has no idea of this, and congratulates Vedek Winn on
their pending success. Desperate, Sisko tries to put Li in touch
with Bajor's Council of Ministers to tell them the truth, but
all communications with the planet have been severed. Instead,
he summons the aid of Admiral Chekote at Starfleet Command, and
the two soon realize that Bajor is set to erupt in a full-scale
revolution. With Bajoran assault ships scheduled to reach Deep
Space Nine in only seven hours, the Admiral orders Sisko to
conduct a complete evacuation of the station, but Sisko secretly
plans to make one last stand against the approaching Bajoran
forces.
See Also: Image Captures |
