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On the fourth anniversary of his
wife's death, Sisko takes a melancholy late-night stroll along
the Promenade, where a lovely alien woman named Fenna engages
him in conversation. Strangely, however, Fenna disappears almost
as quickly as she appeared. The next day, Sisko and Dax meet
with Professor Seyetik, an expert in bringing dead planets back
to life, who has come to re-ignite the dead sun of solar system
Epsilon 119. Sisko and Dax discuss the upcoming mission over
dinner, but Dax notices that Sisko is strangely distracted. Once
the meal is over, he wanders back to the spot where he met Fenna,
and is delighted when she suddenly reappears. They make plans
for a picnic the next day, but when he asks her to tell him
about herself, she runs away without warning.
Sisko asks Odo to look for
Fenna, and is then approached by Dax, who questions him about
the woman she saw him with the previous evening. Since he knows
almost nothing, there isn't much to tell. That night, he, Dax
and the rest of the senior staff join Seyetik on the science
vessel Prometheus for dinner, where the professor bores them all
with endless accounts of his intellectual escapades. Finally, he
introduces his wife, Nidell — and Sisko and Dax are shocked that
the woman looks exactly like Fenna. Strangely, she doesn't seem
to recognize Sisko at all.
After the meal, Sisko tells Dax that he is almost certain the
shy Nidell is the same outgoing Fenna he met on the Promenade
the day before. He casually mentions the meeting to Nidell, but
she claims to have never seen Sisko before. However, she is
visibly disturbed when he mentions the name Fenna. Back on Deep
Space Nine, Sisko tells Odo to call off the search for Fenna
since he found her on the Prometheus. Odo replies that this is
impossible since no one but Seyetik has been off the vessel
since it docked at the station. Frustrated, Sisko heads back to
his quarters and finds Fenna waiting for him. When he tells her
about Nidell, she obviously has no idea what he is talking
about. Sisko continues to press Fenna, asking where she came
from, and she tells him that she came to the station to find
him. Fenna kisses him passionately, but after he returns the
kiss, she disappears — right before his eyes.
 While Dax prepares for her mission with Seyetik, Sisko announces
that he is coming along, hoping this will help him unravel the
Fenna mystery. Soon, the Prometheus is headed toward Epsilon
119, with Seyetik prattling on in his usual fashion. He finally
tells the story of how he met Nidell when he brought her planet,
New Halana, back to life. Hoping this is a clue, Sisko visits
Nidell in her quarters, but she says she is too sick to see him.
Sisko returns to his guest quarters, where Fenna is waiting for
him. Immediately, Sisko summons Dax, who scans her with a
tricorder and announces that Fenna is made of pure energy. Sisko
then leads Fenna back to Seyetik's quarters where Nidell is on
the floor, unconscious. A panicked Seyetik begs him to help, and
much to Sisko's surprise, recognizes Fenna.
Seyetik explains that Nidell is a psychoprojective telepath and
that Fenna is just one of many images she has created. Sisko
asks Seyetik why this is killing her, and the professor explains
that Halanans lose control of this ability while under stress.
He sadly admits that he is probably the cause of that stress,
but adds that since Halanans mate for life, Nidell can never
leave him. When Fenna realizes she truly has no past to tell
Sisko about, it becomes clear that Seyetik's story is true.
Realizing that their love is only a dream, Fenna kisses Sisko
goodbye and prepares to return to Nidell to save her life. At
that moment, Dax summons Sisko to the Bridge — Seyetik has taken
a shuttlepod and is heading toward the dead sun. Realizing the
professor means to kill himself, Sisko tries to stop him, but
Seyetik insists that he wants to set Nidell free. His ship
explodes on impact, the sun is brought back to life, and Fenna
slowly disappears. Back on Deep Space Nine, Nidell recovers, but
because she cannot remember her "life" as Fenna, her feelings
for him are gone. She leaves the station to return to New Halana,
and Sisko is left to cope with the pain of another lost love.
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