 When the station
picks up a mysterious coded message from inside the Gamma
Quadrant that appears to be Cardassian, Garak is asked to
analyze it. He reports that the message is insignificant, but is
later caught trying to sneak off the station in a runabout. He
then admits that the message is some sort of distress call from
his mentor Enabran Tain, the former head of the Obsidian Order.
Garak convinces Sisko to allow him to travel to the Gamma
Quadrant to search for Tain, but Sisko sends Worf along as a
"chaperone."
Garak and Worf bicker
consistently and find nothing. Finally, Worf announces that they
can go no further and takes the ship out of warp, explaining
that the source of Tain's signal is deep in Dominion space.
Garak, however, is unwilling to give up, and pushes Worf to
travel through the nebula to avoid detection. Worf reluctantly
agrees, and almost immediately upon entering the nebula, they
wind up in the midst of the Jem'Hadar fleet.
Worf realizes that the entire fleet can only be assembled for
one reason — they intend to invade the Alpha Quadrant. He
immediately sends a warning message to the station, but is not
confident it will get through. Moments later, four Jem'Hadar
soldiers materialize on the ship and take Worf and Garak
prisoner. Back on Deep Space Nine, the crew is able to decipher
enough of Worf's signal to realize the Dominion is coming. Sisko
sends Kira to find Worf and Garak, but they are already
imprisoned in a Dominion detention center, where they are told
they will remain until they die.
Inside the camp, Worf meets Martok, the Klingon general who was
replaced by a Changeling. Martok leads Worf and Garak to Tain,
himself a prisoner, who is dying. Instead of being thankful to
Garak for coming, Tain chastises him for allowing himself to be
taken prisoner. Meanwhile, Kira returns with grim news that at
least 50 Dominion ships are headed their way. With
reinforcements at least two days away and only Gul Dukat on hand
to help out, Sisko sees only one choice — sealing the wormhole.
If Worf and Garak don't escape in 36 hours, they will be
trapped. Meanwhile, Worf and Garak are introduced to another
prisoner: Bashir ... meaning the Bashir at the station is a
Changeling.
On the station, the Bashir Changeling begins making himself
useful to Dax and O'Brien while they work out the technology
that will seal the wormhole. In the internment camp, Garak meets
with Tain again, desperate for a kind word from his mentor
before the old man passes on. When Tain makes Garak promise to
escape as a final request, Garak makes a request in return —
that Tain acknowledge him as his son. He does, and father and
illegitimate child share a memory before Tain dies peacefully.
His mission complete, Garak is ready to find a way out. But he
may be too late. On Deep Space Nine, the crew shoots a particle
beam at the wormhole, intending to close it. However, something
goes wrong. The wormhole remains open, and the Jem'Hadar fleet
begins pouring through.
See Also: Image Captures |
