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Decades into the
future, an elderly Jake Sisko is visited at his New Orleans home
by a young, aspiring author named Melanie, who is curious to
know why he stopped writing at age 40. Jake reveals how he lost
his father, Benjamin Sisko, when just 18-years old. The younger
Sisko had gone along on the Defiant to witness a rare inversion
of the wormhole that happens just once every 50 years. During
the trip, Sisko was hit by a bolt of energy from the
malfunctioning warp core, after which he dematerialized,
eventually given up for dead by his anguished crew.
Months later, Sisko appeared in
his son's room briefly, then vanished. The incident was
dismissed as a nightmare until, after a few more months passed,
Jake again saw his father. This time, he was able to touch him,
and immediately summoned help. Sisko was taken to the Infirmary,
where the officers realized his temporal signature had been
altered during the warp core accident. But before they could
save him, he dematerialized again, while his son watched
helplessly.
 For the next few months, Dax and O'Brien tried to locate Sisko,
but were soon forced to abandon the station to the Klingons.
Jake returned to Earth, became a writer, got married, and
started to put the past behind him. Then, while Jake was in his
mid-thirties, his father appeared in his home. This time, Jake
was overcome with guilt, upset over doing nothing to help his
father for all those years. So when Sisko dematerialized yet
again, Jake became obsessed with getting him back. He abandoned
his writing to study subspace mechanics, losing his wife in the
process. But, after many years, Jake was prepared for his one
chance to recreate the accident — the wormhole was scheduled to
invert again. Reunited with a much older Defiant crew, led by
Captain Nog, Jake returned to the scene of the accident, and
wound up with Sisko in a subspace limbo. Unfortunately, the plan
didn't work, and Jake was only able to spend a few moments with
his father, who begged Jake to make a life for himself before it
was too late.
The aged Jake finishes his account by presenting the departing
Melanie with a collection of stories he's written to fulfill his
father's wishes. He then reveals that Sisko is scheduled to
appear — and Jake has finally learned how to save him. If he
dies while his father is with him, the "cord" which has been
pulling Sisko through time with his son will snap, springing
Sisko back to the moment of the accident. Sisko arrives, stunned
to learn that Jake has poisoned himself. But Jake tells his
father that he wants another chance to go through life with his
dad. He dies, and Sisko is suddenly back on the Defiant at the
fateful instant. This time, he ducks before the bolt from the
warp core strikes, avoiding the accident, and giving him a
second chance at life with his son.
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