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Sisko returns from a trip to Bajor
with the blueprint for an ancient space vessel that operates
like a sailboat, using solar pressure for propulsion. According
to legend, the Bajorans used these ships to explore their star
system 800 years ago, even going as far as Cardassia. Sisko
decides to build one himself to see if this was possible, and
painstakingly recreates the vessel, determined to prove the
design was spaceworthy. He hopes to have Jake join him on the
adventure.
After initially declining his
father's invitation, Jake reconsiders, and the two prepare to
depart the station. Before they do, Gul Dukat warns Sisko
against putting so much stock in a Bajoran "fairy tale" of
ancient contact. Sisko feels Dukat is only interested in
disproving the notion that the Bajorans, not the Cardassians,
were the first people between the two races to develop
interstellar travel.
The trip gets off to a smooth start, and both Sisko and Jake
enjoy their time together. Jake seizes the moment to tell his
father that he has been offered a writing fellowship in New
Zealand, and Sisko is thrilled, yet distressed because those
studies will take his son away from Deep Space Nine. But before
they can discuss it, one of the ship's sails gives way, forcing
them to struggle for control.
Sisko jettisons the sail, concerned about continuing. Jake
reminds his father that the ancient Bajorans probably ran into
similar problems and didn't give up. Convinced, Sisko decides to
proceed on course. Jake then reveals that he plans to delay
taking the fellowship for a year because of his concerns that
Sisko hasn't had someone special in his life since his wife's
death. Then, without warning, their ship is caught in an eddy of
light that inexplicably takes it to warp speed.
 After the ship is thrown free of the invisible current, Sisko
discovers he has no idea where they are, and fears the eddy,
composed of faster-than-light tachyons, has carried their vessel
light years away. Suddenly, Gul Dukat informs the two that they
have entered Cardassian space. As Sisko and Jake realize they
just proved the same thing could have happened 800 years ago,
Dukat reluctantly congratulates them on recreating the journey
of ancient Bajoran explorers who did successfully reach
Cardassia then, and welcomes the two with a stellar fireworks
display. |
