Original subtitles

Captain's Log, Stardate 50485.2.

I've come to Marva IV, a planet near the Badlands

to rendezvous with an informer

who claims to have information on the whereabouts

of the Maquis leader and former Starfleet officer

Michael Eddington.

( electrical crackling )

Looking for a friend of mine.

His name is Cing'ta.

( whispering ): Cing'ta?

Throw it on the ground.

( weapon thuds to ground )

Turn around.

Hello, Captain.

Eddington.

Mr. Cing'ta won't be joining us.

His shuttle had an accident on the way to this rendezvous.

Is he dead?

You just don't understand

the Maquis, do you, Captain?

We're not killers.

Mr. Cing'ta's accident has marooned him

on a particularly nasty planet in the Badlands

but I assure you he's very much alive.

How merciful.

You condemned him to a slow death.

It's more than he deserved.

He was going to sell us out to you.

He betrayed us.

Now there's a subject you know a lot about.

You've been on my tail for eight months

and now that we're face to face

that's all you have to say to me?

I will say the rest at your court-martial.

Tell me, Captain.

What is it that bothers you more--

the fact that I left Starfleet to fight for a higher cause

or the fact that it happened on your watch?

You didn't "leave" Starfleet.

If you had, I wouldn't be here.

You betrayed Starfleet.

You used your position as Security Chief

to feed the Maquis information about us

and at the same time, you misled us

with false information about them.

There is a word for that--

treason.

Look out there.

Those people-- they were colonists on Salva II.

They had farms and shops and homes

and schools.

And then one day, the Federation signed a treaty

and handed their world over to the Cardassians--

just like that.

They made these people refugees overnight.

It's not that simple and you know it.

These people don't have to live here like this.

We've offered them resettlement.

They don't want to be resettled.

They want to go home to the lives they built.

How would you feel

if the Federation gave your father's home

to the Cardassians?

I'm not here to debate Federation policy with--

I didn't tell you to turn around.

Look at them, Captain.

They're humans, just like you and me

and Starfleet took everything away from them.

Remember that the next time you put on that uniform.

There's a war out there and you're on the wrong side.

You know what I see out there, Mr. Eddington?

I see victims

but not of Cardassia or the Federation.

Victims of you--

the Maquis.

You sold these people on the dream

that one day they could go back

to those farms and schools and homes

but you know they never can

and the longer you keep that hope alive

the longer these people

will suffer.

Go ahead, shoot me.

Someday, I may take you up on that.

For now, let me leave you with one piece of advice.

Don't come after me.

You'll regret it.

Sisko to Defiant.

Eddington just beamed out.

Trace his transporter signal.

KIRA: We've got it, Captain.

He's on a Maquis raider.

They're breaking orbit and heading out of the system.

Beam me aboard and lay in a pursuit course.

All hands to battle stations.

Aye, sir.

Captioning sponsored by PARAMOUNT PICTURES

He's headed for the Badlands, all right.

Course is zero mark 213.

Commander?

Changing course now to zero mark 213.

We're on his tail, Captain.

Maximum warp.

How long until we're in firing range?

22 minutes.

Major? Not good enough.

He'll reach the plasma fields

two minutes before we're in range.

We need some help.

What's the position of the Starship Malinche?

They're on patrol in the DMZ, near the Gamma 7 outpost.

Hmm. Perfect.

Is the new holocommunicator ready?

Oh, the Chief's had it on line for six hours now.

I think he's eager for someone to give it a try.

Always like to please the Chief.

Open a channel to Captain Sanders

on the Malinche.

Are you receiving my image, Captain?

Yes, and you?

You appear to be sitting on my Bridge.

It may take me a while to get used to this.

I'm not fond of uninvited guests.

I'll try not to overstay my welcome

but at the moment I need your help.

We're in pursuit of a Maquis raider

headed for the Badlands.

Can you intercept?

You seem pretty eager, Captain.

What did this Maquis raider do?

It's not what they did.

It's who's in command--

Michael Eddington.

Ah. Everyone's favorite traitor.

Captain, if you don't mind--

You want him in your brig.

We'll cut him off.

You can grab him.

Sanders out.

KIRA: The Malinche is moving to intercept.

Prepare to target the Maquis ship.

I want to disable them, but I want them alive.

Understood.

Send a security detachment

to the transporter room.

Have them prepare to--

Captain, Eddington's dropped out of warp.

Go to impulse. Raise shields.

What is he doing?

He's changed course.

Now he's headed directly for us.

WORF: He has locked his weapons on us.

He's no match for the Defiant.

Is this some kind of suicide run?

Not Eddington.

He's up to something.

Let's not give him a chance to make his move.

Mr. Worf

fire phasers.

( alarms beeping )

Report.

We've got a massive computer failure.

Every computer system is down...

and all the backups.

We're losing control over...

everything.

Weapons, navigation, helm, propulsion...

Bridge to Engine Room.

Commander, get down there.

Find out what's going on.

Try to route the auxiliary controls through the--

Before you waste a lot of time

running around trying to restore computer control

let me save you some trouble.

You can't.

You'll find that your memory cores are completely wiped

and will have to be

reprogrammed from scratch.

These work remarkably well.

Glad we were able to procure one.

You left a cascade virus in the Defiant's computers.

Sounds simple, doesn't it?

But I assure you it took a great deal of time

to devise one that wouldn't be detected

by Odo or Chief O'Brien.

I'm really quite proud of it.

I'll add it to the list of charges against you.

Well, as long as you're making a list

why don't you add this?

( explosions )

You know what your problem is, Captain?

You've made this personal.

It didn't have to be.

It wasn't with me.

I have no animosity, no harsh feelings toward you.

I wish I could say the same.

Does it really pay

to risk yourself, your ship, your crew

on a personal vendetta?

And would Starfleet approve?

I don't need any lectures about Starfleet from you.

And no matter what happens here today

it's not over between us.

I'm the one in control here, Captain.

Your ship is defenseless.

I could destroy you right now

but I won't.

Like I said, the Maquis aren't killers.

Our quarrel is with the Cardassians, not you.

Leave us alone and we'll leave you alone.

( explosion )

Cease fire.

Am I supposed to thank you?

No.

I'm not going to make you grovel for your life.

Unlike you, Captain, I know when to walk away.

Maybe you should think about that...

on your long trip home.

Captain's Log, Stardate 50488.2.

The Defiant has returned to the station

but not under its own power.

The Starship Malinche had to tow us home.

We've got our work cut out for us.

Eddington's cascade virus disabled

every memory circuit on the Defiant.

We'll have to reload

and reprogram the entire database.

How long?

Well, if we were at a shipyard

with a space dock and a crew--

SISKO: We're not. How long?

Two weeks.

And that's working with three shifts

'round the clock.

Get started.

If there's any way you can speed things up...

I'll do what I can.

I've removed two similar cascade viruses

hidden on the station's main computer.

By transmitting a signal

Eddington could have disabled

our entire defense system.

How long until you've eliminated all of Eddington's handiwork?

It's a good question.

I can't guarantee we found all of them.

Eddington was DS9's

Chief of Starfleet Security for 18 months.

He had the opportunity to infiltrate and compromise

every system on the station.

Then check every system on the station.

I intend to.

Sir, have you ever reminded Starfleet Command

that they stationed Eddington here

because they didn't trust me?

No.

Please do.

What word do you have from Starfleet Intelligence?

Two Bolian freighters

have disappeared near the Badlands.

They believe the Maquis are responsible.

What were the freighters carrying?

Several thousand tons of selenium and rhodium nitrite.

That's not very valuable cargo.

What would they want with it?

Commander Dax

is analyzing the possibilities.

Good.

In the meantime, help Chief O'Brien

get the Defiant back on line.

I want to get out there as soon as possible.

Aye, sir.

What can I do for you, Captain?

I don't know quite how to tell you this

so I'll just say it.

Starfleet Command has given me

a new assignment.

They want me to bring in Eddington.

Oh, you mean you've been ordered

to help me bring him in, don't you?

No. Your mission orders have changed.

Eddington is no longer your responsibility.

Did they give you a reason?

Well...

you've been after him for, uh, eight months.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but...

you haven't gotten the job done.

Look, Captain

I understand how you feel.

If one of my officers had fooled me

the way Eddington fooled you, I...

I'd take it personally, too.

Bad choice of words.

I didn't mean "fooled."

No, you're exactly right.

I was fooled.

But it won't happen again.

That's not the issue.

Starfleet also believes

that where Eddington is concerned

you're vulnerable.

He just knows you too well, Captain.

So maybe it's time for someone he doesn't know

to go after him.

Good hunting.

Thank you, Captain.

DAX: The good news is

Starfleet Intelligence is making progress

breaking the Maquis communication codes.

The bad news is, it won't do us any good.

We're out of the game.

But what the hell, right?

You win some, you lose some.

You always had problems

with the "lose some" part of that.

What can I say, old man?

In 25 years of duty

I have never been taken off an assignment

until now!

Right.

This is about being taken off the assignment.

It has nothing to do with a certain

ex-security officer we both know.

He worked under me for a year and a half.

I saw him almost every day

read his reports, had him to dinner.

I even took him to a baseball game

in the holosuite once

and I never saw it!

It's my job to be a good judge of character

and what did I do?

Not only did I not see it, I put him up for a promotion.

He played his hand well.

He played me, all right.

And what is my excuse?

Is he a changeling? No.

Is he a being with seven lifetimes of experience? No.

Is he a wormhole alien? No.

He's just a man, like me...

( yells )

and he beat me!

It's good.

"Good"?

It's good you're working it out on the bag, Benjamin.

Because... you're going to have to let go of this one.

Eddington is someone else's problem now

and you're going to have to live with that.

KIRA: Ops to Captain Sisko.

What is it, Major?

Sir, you'd better get up here.

There's news and it's about Eddington.

Report.

Eddington just upped the ante.

He attacked the Cardassian colony on Veloz Prime

with a biogenic weapon.

What?!

He launched three stratospheric torpedoes at the planet

and spread cobalt diselenide throughout the biosphere.

A nerve agent that is harmless to most humanoids

but it is deadly to Cardassians.

WORF: The Cardassians are already evacuating.

And Eddington has announced that the Maquis intend

to reclaim the planet once they are gone.

What I don't understand is where the Maquis

got the materials to make a biogenic weapon.

I do.

I should have seen it earlier.

The selenium and the rhodium nitrites

they hijacked, can be reformulated

and with some work, synthesized

to produce...

cobalt diselenide.

Where's the Malinche?

KIRA: On the other side

of the Badlands.

They're headed for Veloz Prime now

but by the time they get there...

Eddington will be long gone.

Given the amount

of chemical compounds Eddington stole

how many of these weapons will he be able to make?

Enough to poison every Cardassian colony in the DMZ.

There must something we can do.

Worf, are there any other starships near Veloz Prime?

The Malinche is our only ship in the sector.

So unless they stop Eddington...

the Maquis have turned the tide.

There is another ship in the area.

It's moored at Docking Bay 3.

Defiant.

It's going to be tricky, Captain.

Only half the systems are back on line.

And most of those are not operating

at full capacity.

What about the warp drive?

We can go to warp six

but the inertial dampers haven't been fully repaired

so don't expect a smooth ride.

The weapons are also on line

but the targeting scanners

have to be manually calibrated.

We can shoot, but God knows what we'll hit.

What about communications?

The Defiant's com system

is fried-- and I do mean fried.

Well, we still have our com badges.

I'm afraid not.

They won't work either

not with all the interference

from the unshielded EPS conduits.

Well, what do we use?

Cups and a long string?

O'BRIEN: We'll have to improvise.

Let me introduce you to your new com system.

Cadet?

Cadet Nog, reporting as ordered, sir.

Stand easy.

O'BRIEN: With most

of the Bridge control functions off line

all orders to Engineering will have to be relayed.

In the interest of clarity, I thought it best

that those messages be relayed with one voice.

Mister Academy here.

I figured you'd want somebody

who could hear you

while the Bridge is exploding all around you.

Exploding?

SISKO: We may be going into

a combat situation.

Do you think you're ready for that, Cadet?

Sir. Yes, sir.

Absolutely, sir.

I'm glad to hear it.

Report to the Bridge.

Aye, sir.

( quietly ): "Exploding"?

Let me give you all the bad news at once, sir.

We have no cloak, no transporters

no replicators, and the stabilizing gyros

are at only 50 percent.

So don't ask for any sharp turns

unless you want to end up doing barrel rolls.

That could be fun.

Do you have any good news, Chief?

The new holocommunicator I installed works perfectly.

Well, let's be thankful for small favors.

Prepare for departure.

All right, say it.

What?

That I have lost all perspective

that I'm turning this into a vendetta

between me and Eddington

and that I am putting the ship, the crew

and my entire career at risk

and if I had any brains at all

I'd go back to my office, sit down

and read Odo's crime reports.

I wasn't going to say that.

But that's what you were thinking, right?

No.

Actually, what I was thinking is...

you're becoming more like Curzon all the time.

I don't know how to take that.

Consider it a compliment.

And the next time I go off

half-cocked on some wild-eyed adventure

think back to this moment

and be a little more understanding.

WORF: Recalibrate phaser banks one and two.

DAX: Initialize starboard and port thrusters.

Captain, Ops has cleared us for departure.

Very well.

Engine Room, stand by impulse power.

Engine Room, Bridge.

Stand by impulse power.

Stand by impulse power.

Stand by to increase deuterium injection rate.

CREWPERSON: Standing by...

Configure driver coils for impulse speed.

Processing configuration.

Set EPS taps at level three.

Ops.

Seal the airlock and release docking clamps.

KIRA: Close exterior hatches.

Depressurize the airlock.

Detach umbilicals, clear all moorings.

SISKO: Thrusters at station keeping.

Initialize deflector field.

KIRA: Docking clamps released.

SISKO: Helm, ease us out.

Port and starboard thrusters at one-quarter.

Bearing 180 mark zero.

Distance from docking ring: 50 meters.

Sixty.

Seventy.

Eighty.

Bring us about, old man.

DAX: Hard to port.

Ten degrees pitch.

Minimal power to aft thrusters.

Let the momentum bring us around.

Hold at five degrees pitch.

We're coming around too fast.

I see it.

Ease off on the port thrusters.

Pitch back to zero degrees.

Pulse starboard thrusters, point-five-second bursts.

Engine Room, helm control is sluggish.

Realign the navigational gyros.

...Realign navigational gyros.

DAX: Port thruster, two second burst.

Double pulse port thruster.

SISKO: Helm

I hope you see that pylon.

Bow thrusters, pitch up 16 degrees.

Full power to port thrusters.

Half roll... now.

Engine Room.

One-quarter impulse power.

Engine Room, Bridge.

One-quarter impulse power.

Helm, lay in a course

for the Badlands.

Engine Room, stand by for warp speed.

Set intermix to point zero-one.

Initialize warp chamber on my mark.

Three, two, one.

Mark.

Warp one, sir.

SISKO: Engine Room

increase speed to warp six

as soon as possible.

...to warp six as soon as possible.

Sir

Engine Room reports

we could go to warp seven.

Well done, people.

Mr. Worf, I think we should start running

battle drills.

Aye, sir.

Captain's Log, supplemental.

After completing a series of readiness drills

we've entered the plasma fields of the Badlands

and begun our search for Eddington.

Steady as she goes.

Watch those gyros.

WORF: Check the status of torpedoes three and four.

We have an energy variance on the plasma warheads.

Transfer power from the...

KIRA: Forward scanners are still not functioning.

Engine Room, where are those field stabilizers?

Engine Room, Bridge.

Where are those field stabilizers?

Major, Engine Room reports field stabilizers

should be on line in 15 minutes.

Oh, I've got something.

It's a small neutrino signature, bearing...

218 mark 135.

Distance... approximately 900 kilometers.

It's moving.

It's a Maquis raider.

Helm, set intercept course.

Engine Room, three-quarter impulse.

NOG: Engine Room, three-quarter impulse.

KIRA: Incoming transmission from the Maquis raider.

It's Eddington.

Put him through.

Well, well, Mr. Eddington.

You just couldn't resist the temptation

to come after me, could you, Captain?

I like to finish what I start.

Well, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed...

again.

You won't get me, Captain.

But I do have a consolation prize for you.

Actually, it's more of a gift.

KIRA: Incoming transmission.

Sending over a document.

It's a book.

One of my favorites.

Les Misérables.

Thank you, but I've read it.

Recently?

If not, you should read it again.

Pay close attention

to the character of Inspector Javert--

the French policeman who spends 20 years chasing a man

for stealing a loaf of bread.

Sound like anyone you know?

Why don't you beam over and we'll discuss it?

Captain, closing on the Maquis ship.

700 kilometers.

Ready weapons.

Phaser banks charged.

Lock target.

WORF: Locked.

SISKO: It's over, Eddington.

Why don't you surrender your vessel

and prepare to be boarded?

It's a tempting offer, but I have other plans.

Enjoy the book.

( console beeping )

Sir

the neutrino readings are dissipating.

It's not a ship.

It's an unmanned probe

set to transmit a false warp signature.

He wanted to lure us here.

Why?

He's up to something-- outside the plasma fields.

Helm, bring us about. Get us out of here.

Engines at full impulse.

NOG: Engine Room, Bridge...

DAX: Hard to port. Full thrusters.

Course 180 mark zero.

Sir, Chief O'Brien doesn't recommend

increasing velocity through the plasma fields.

Objection noted.

Now get me more speed.

Engine Room, Bridge. More speed.

KIRA: Sir

picking up a distress signal.

They've been ambushed by the Maquis.

It's dead in space.

How can we help you, Captain?

Our warp core matrix compositor is fused.

Our navigational systems are disabled.

If you could spare some micro-power relays

we should have the engines

back on line in a day or two.

Engine Room.

Beam a damage control team to the Malinche.

Tell them to take along a dozen micro-power relays.

Engine Room...

We got a distress signal from a Cardassian freighter.

They'd just been attacked by the Maquis.

Suffered some casualties.

Our sensors confirmed what we were being told

but when we lowered the shields

to transport some of the wounded...

The sensor readings had been faked.

There were no Cardassians on that freighter.

The Maquis had rigged it with a focused particle beam

that punched through our gyro shielding

and we lost helm control.

And by the time we got back on our feet again

three Maquis raiders came out of the plasma field.

Well...

it seems I couldn't get the job done either, Captain.

It's not over.

I figured you'd be going after him.

We have something that might be useful to you.

We intercepted a coded message from one of Eddington's raiders.

Maybe you can decode it.

Our, uh, computers are still down.

I appreciate it.

Do me a favor?

Of course.

Save me a seat

at his court-martial.

Count on it.

Good hunting, Captain.

Captain's Log, supplemental.

With the Defiant's computers still not fully operational

we're relying on Odo, back at Deep Space 9

to decipher the Maquis message.

In the meantime, we're combing the DMZ

in the hopes of a chance encounter with Eddington

but with each passing hour, our hopes are fading.

Sir, incoming transmission.

It's Odo.

Captain.

Odo, we need

some good news around here.

Tell me that you have some.

Possibly.

I've analyzed the Maquis message.

And?

It appears to be a simple Breen nursery rhyme.

A heterophonic, five-line verse.

Quite a catchy one, too.

( music playing )

What does it mean?

Well, metrical analysis

shows an alternating tetrameter and pentameter structure

but the computer could find no meaningful pattern in the words.

They appear to be just what they are--

nonsensical phrases strung together because they rhyme--

at least to the Breen.

And the music?

It's written

on a Lyxian scale.

I ran it through the computer, too.

No meaningful pattern.

So we're nowhere.

Now, I wouldn't say that.

You see, I remembered something that Eddington once said to me.

"The best place to hide something is in plain sight."

And since this is a Breen nursery rhyme...

So you think that Eddington is using the music as a signal

for a rendezvous in the Breen system?

Or a Breen settlement

like the one on Portas V, which isn't far from the DMZ.

The biogenic components of the weapons Eddington's been using

are very bulky and very unstable.

They need to be kept

in a large, sophisticated cold-storage unit.

And if anyone knows how to keep things cold, it's the Breen.

Thank you, Odo.

Captain.

Mr. Worf

do we have a series

of sensor relays near Portas V?

Yes, sir.

Two class-5 intelligence drones.

Pull their sensor logs.

I want to see who's been visiting the Breen system.

Captain's Log, supplemental.

Odo's hunch has proven accurate.

Our intelligence drones detected a Maquis freighter

entering Portas V three hours ago.

The freighter was last seen

headed into the Dorvan sector of the DMZ.

Considering the freighter's range, velocity and heading

Eddington's next target is one of four Cardassian colonies.

But...

these targets are unlikely.

Their defense systems were recently upgraded

by the Cardassians.

Hmm.

Eddington isn't looking for a fight.

That leaves only Quatal and Panora.

WORF: Quatal has a lucrative

mining operation, and their weapon systems

are in the process of being upgraded

but they're not fully operational.

A tempting target.

Not as tempting as Panora.

The Maquis attacked them two months ago.

And most of their defense systems

were severely damaged.

They're almost helpless.

And there are constant ion storms in that system--

good places to hide

if you want to mount a surprise attack.

A tactic Eddington knows well.

Panora is a more logical target than Quatal.

Then Eddington will attack Quatal.

WORF: Sir?

He likes being unpredictable.

Approaching Quatal Prime.

Slow to impulse power.

Full scan.

KIRA: Activate parabolic sensor arrays.

Initiate lateral scanners.

We're too late, Captain.

Eddington's detonated his weapon.

The nerve agent is already spreading

through the planet's atmosphere.

DAX: Which means the Cardassians don't have

much time to get away.

Eddington's always one step ahead of us.

Maybe not this time.

I'm reading residual neutrino levels.

Looks like one, maybe two Maquis raiders

behind the fourth moon.

They're on the run.

Go after them. Full impulse.

Engine Room, Bridge. Full impulse.

On screen. Shields up.

Charge phaser banks.

CREWPERSON: Aye, sir.

SISKO: How long to intercept?

15 seconds.

Prepare to lock targets.

WORF: Targeting sequence on...

SISKO: Hard to port.

Stick with this one, old man.

They've locked phasers on us.

Power to forward shields.

Forward shields, on line.

DAX: Restabilize port and...

Lock target.

Targeting scanners... synchronized.

Fire!

SISKO: Helm, bring us about.

One more to go.

KIRA: Sir, this one's making

another run for the planet.

I don't get it-- they've already poisoned the atmosphere.

More speed.

Engine Room, Bridge. More speed.

They've locked phasers on one of the transport ships

evacuating the Cardassians.

They've disabled the transport.

It's losing power.

It's going down.

Can we beam the crew off?

We're out of transporter range.

Incoming transmission.

Well, Javert...

let's see how deep your obsession with me is.

You've got me.

I can't outrun or outfight

the Defiant, but...

if you come after me, you'll have to pay a price--

you'll have to let all those helpless Cardassians

spiral down to their deaths.

The choice is yours.

How long do they have?

Two minutes to impact.

EDDINGTON: Not much time.

Probably take you at least a minute

to get back to the planet.

They're just Cardassians.

Helm, bring us about.

Prepare to engage tractor beam.

WORF: Initializing tractor beam.

Aligning induction field.

CREWPERSON: Alignment complete.

We've towed the transport ship

out of the planet's gravitational pull.

Once our repair team is back on board

release the tractor beam.

The Cardassians can limp their way home

in a day or two.

Les Misérables?

You know it?

I can't stand Victor Hugo.

I tried reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame

but I couldn't get through it.

It was so melodramatic

and his heroines are so two-dimensional.

Eddington compares me to one of the characters--

Inspector Javert--

a policeman who relentlessly pursues

a man named Valjean.

Guilty of a trivial offense.

And in the end

Javert's own inflexibility destroys him.

He commits suicide.

You can't believe that description fits you.

Eddington is just trying to... get under your skin.

He did that eight months ago.

What strikes me about this book

is that Eddington said that it's one of his favorites.

There's no accounting for taste.

Oh, let's think about it.

A Starfleet security officer is fascinated

by a nineteenth-century French melodrama, and now

he's a leader of the Maquis--

a resistance group

fighting the noble battle against the "evil" Cardassians.

It sounds like he's living out his own fantasy.

Mm-hmm.

Exactly.

And you know what?

Les Misérables isn't about the policeman.

It's about Valjean-- the victim

of a monstrous injustice

who spends his entire life helping people.

Making noble sacrifices for others.

That's how Eddington sees himself.

He's Valjean.

He's Robin Hood.

He's a romantic, dashing figure

fighting the good fight against insurmountable odds.

The secret life of Michael Eddington.

How does it help us?

Well, Eddington is the hero of his own story.

That makes me the villain.

And what is it that every hero wants to do?

Kill the bad guy.

Ah, that's part of it.

Heroes only kill when they have to.

Eddington could have killed me back at the refugee camp

or when he disabled the Defiant

but, in the best melodramas, the villain creates a situation

where the hero is forced to sacrifice himself

for the people, for the cause-- one final, grand gesture.

What are you getting at, Benjamin?

I think it's time for me to become the villain.

Commander.

Prepare two quantum torpedoes.

Have Engineering attach a cargo pod

with 200 kilograms of trilithium

to each torpedo.

Yes, sir, but...

But what?

The extra mass of a cargo pod

will make the torpedo less effective.

Maquis raiders are small and maneuverable.

I'm not planning to fire at any ships, Mr. Worf.

Major.

What is the nearest Maquis colony?

Solosos III. Less than an hour away.

Helm, set a course for Solosos III.

DAX: Aye, sir.

Major, I want you to send

the following message on all Maquis frequencies.

"To all the members of the Maquis resistance.

"This is Captain Sisko of the USS Defiant.

"In response to the Maquis' use of biogenic weapons

"in their recent attacks

"I am about to take the following action.

"In exactly one hour

I will detonate two quantum torpedoes

"that will scatter trilithium resin into the atmosphere

"of Solosos III.

"I thereby will make the planet uninhabitable

"to all human life for the next 50 years.

I suggest evacuation plans begin immediately."

What are you waiting for, people?

Carry out your orders.

Set torpedo targets to 50 kilometers

above ground level.

CREWPERSON: Aye, sir.

Lock. Ready, Captain.

Time?

One minute left.

And still no transport ship activity

or any other sign they're beginning to evacuate.

Commander Worf

prepare to fire torpedoes on my mark.

Detach safeties on torpedoes one and two.

Incoming transmission.

It's Eddington.

What are you really up to, Javert?

Do you expect me to believe

that a decorated Starfleet officer--

the pride of the service--

is going to poison an entire planet?

That's exactly what I'm going to do.

You're bluffing.

Am I?

Commander, launch torpedoes.

Commander, I said launch torpedoes.

Aye, sir.

KIRA: The trilithium resin

is dissipating throughout the biosphere.

The Maquis are scrambling their transport ships.

They're starting to evacuate.

Do you realize what you've done?

SISKO: I've only just begun.

I'm going to eliminate every Maquis colony

in the DMZ.

You're talking about turning hundreds of thousands of people

into homeless refugees.

That's right.

When you attacked the Malinche, you proved one thing--

that the Maquis have become an intolerable threat

to the security of the Federation

and I am going to eliminate that threat.

But think about those people you saw in the caves

huddled and starving.

They didn't attack the Malinche.

You should have thought about that

before you attacked a Federation starship.

Helm, lay in a course for Tracken II, warp six.

Commander, prepare two more torpedoes.

Engine Room, Bridge.

Set course 050 mark 179.

Unlock safeties on torpedoes three and four.

Can't you see what's happening to you?

You're going against everything you claim to believe in.

And for what?

To satisfy a personal vendetta?

You betrayed your uniform!

And you're betraying yours, right now.

The sad part is, you don't even realize it.

I feel sorry for you, Captain.

This obsession with me-- look what it's cost you.

Major! Shut that thing off.

Commander Worf

prepare to launch torpedoes.

Wait!

If...

you call off your attack

I'll turn over all our biogenic weapons.

Not enough.

( sighs )

All right, Javert.

I'll give you what you want...

me.

Captain's Log, supplemental.

Resettlement efforts in the DMZ are underway.

The Cardassian and Maquis colonists

who were forced to abandon their homes

will make new lives for themselves

on the planets their counterparts evacuated.

The balance in the region will be restored

though the situation remains far from stable.

Captain. Commander.

Welcome home.

It's good to be back.

I gather your trip was productive.

Constable.

ODO: This way.

Benjamin, I'm curious.

Your plan to poison the Maquis planets--

you didn't clear it with Starfleet first, did you?

I knew I'd forgotten to do something.

Ah. Big gamble.

That's what it takes to be a good villain.

You know, sometimes I like it when the bad guy wins.

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