 When Commander William Riker from
the U.S.S. Enterprise visits the station, an intrigued Kira
takes him on a tour, particularly of the Defiant. On the bridge
of the docked ship, Kira uses her access code in order to show
him more of the Deflant's operations. But as the ship springs to
life, Riker suddenly stuns Kira with a phaser blast, then a man
and a woman, Tamal and Kalita, transport aboard. Riker fakes an
emergency on the warship and convinces Sisko to have it freed
from the dock. The Defiant then engages warp drive and leaves
the sector, at which point it is revealed that the man stealing
the vessel is actually Thomas Riker, Will Riker's duplicate,
created as the result of a freak transporter accident nine years
ago.
Sisko and Odo inform Gul Dukat
that Thomas Riker — who is believed to be a member of the Maquis,
a terrorist group fighting against Cardassia — has stolen the
Defiant. They fear that Dukat's superiors at Cardassian Central
Command will assume Starfleet wanted the Maquis to have the
warship. This would give the Cardassians an excuse to launch a
full-scale invasion into the Demilitarized zone between their
territory and Federation space in order to find the Defiant.
Seeing no other option, Sisko agrees to join forces with Dukat
to help destroy the vessel. Meanwhile, Riker makes a rendezvous
with a group of Maquis ships, then gives the order to head for
the Cardassian border.
Sisko accompanies Gul Dukat to the Cardassian homeworld's War
Room, where they meet Korinas, an observer from the Obsidian
Order. Sisko reveals that the Defiant has a cloaking device, but
admits the ship may be detectable with an anti-proton beam.
Meanwhile, Riker uses a decoy vessel to lure away Cardassian
warships, then slips into their territory. Kira then sets off an
explosion on board, which disables the cloaking device and
causes the Defiant to lose power.
The Defiant is repaired, and Riker reveals to Kira that he
believes renegade Cardassians have a secret base in the Orias
system where they are building an invasion force. His mission is
to destroy that operation. In the War Room, Sisko realizes that
the Orias system is the Deflant's destination and suggests that
a warship be sent there, but Korinas objects, informing them
that the sector is controlled by the Obsidian Order — and any
warship that enters will be destroyed.
The Defiant is located heading toward the Orias System and Dukat
sends ten ships in pursuit. But he and Sisko are surprised when
three more Cardassian warships suddenly appear in the sector,
and they realize that the vessels belong to the Obsidian Order.
On the Defiant, Riker engages in battle and finds himself at a
considerable disadvantage. Then Sisko comes up with a plan.
Since Dukat wants to know what the Obsidian Order is hiding,
Sisko proposes that he allow the Defiant to safely return to
Federation space in exchange for the information on the Orias
system gathered in the Defiant's sensor logs after entering the
area. Dukat accepts, provided the Cardassians also get Riker as
a prisoner. Riker agrees and surrenders to Dukat's forces in
order to save his friends on the Defiant, then prepares to spend
the rest of his life in a Cardassian labor camp.
See Also: Image Captures |
