if i'd known what i was walking into i never would have gone. it was your idea to attend the conference in the first place, garak. i thought the bajorans would be grateful to hear someone provide them with a opposing philosophical view. opposing view?! garak, you were trying how grateful did you think they would be? my understanding of this conference was that it was supposed to be an examination of the occupation from a dispassionate, historical perspective. instead, everyone went out of their way to dismiss virtually everything i had to say. i thought the bajorans bent over backwards to be polite to you, garak. giving me a name tag that read "elim garak-- former cardassian oppressor" was hardly polite.

ate. it's clear now that the bajorans aren't really interested in discovering historical truth as much as they are in promoting the myths and legends of the glorious resistance. odo wasn't a member of the resistance and he managed to attract a fair amount of attention. yes. it seems you have quite a fan club on bajor. i half-expected you to be signing autographs. don't let him get to you, odo. you should be proud of what you did. i've nothing to be proud of. i tried to bring order to a chaotic situation. that's all. you need to give yourself more credit. keeping order during the occupation would be a tough job for anyone, but you not only did it you did it by earning the trust of both sides. dax: what was it the moderator r id? that you may have worked for the cardassians but your only master... was justice.

sir? captain sisko's runabout is approaching the station. very well. clear them for docking on landing pad one. aye, sir. commander, something's wrong. they're not responding-- and sensors show unusual e.m. signatures along their hull. the runabout's on auto pilot. life signs? four. very weak. disengage the auto pilot. bring the runabout to within transporter range. dr. bashir to transporter room five. emergenc y. check the aft compartment. he's alive, but there's an excess of neural energy in hisiserebral cortex. what does that mean? i'm not sure of that. can you revive them?

[captioning sponsored by the u.s. department of education

( sighs ) show some dignity. look at you. no wonder the cardassians think we're animals. get up. get up! if you're going to spend the night taking chemicals stay off the promenade. we don't need another cleansing today. what happened? not here. i couldn't agree more. there's a high level of neural activity which suggests that their conscious minds are still active and yet there's no response to external stimuli. what's the word on the runabout?

a class-two plasma storm which irradiated the vessel. computer, are the neural readings for subjects odo, sisko, dax and garak consistete with the effects of encountering a class-two plasma storm? there are no recorded causal relationships between plasma storms and the specified neural readings. none? computer, how many medical records are there on space plasma phenomena? five thousand twenty-one. that a common phenomena has had an uncommon effect on our people. the rurubout is still being analyzed. we should have more information soon. good. in the meantime, i have some reading to do. this is terok nor-- d.s. ninin during the occupation. time travel?

s have changed. could we be in a holosuite? computer, end program. let's assume that's a "no" for the moment. benjamin, we're not attracting any attention. and we should be. humans, trills, changelings didn't just stroll through terok nor unnoticed. then i should be getting some attention as well. we are in the bajoran sector and cardassians weren't welcome here. i don't think they see you as a cardassian. i'm beginning to think they don't see any of us . our r othes are bajoran. they're treating us like bajorans. maybe they see us as bajorans. any theories, old man? some kind of cross-dimensional transfer? our conscious minds might have been moved through time and space into the bodies of four bajorans on terok nor. but then why are we still seeing each other as we really are instead of as bajorans? i just ran out of speculation. the last thing i remember

there was a plasma anomaly on the sensors and then there was this sound. no, not a sound. more like a strong vibration. i remember. odo? i don't recall but whatever's happened, we have to leave this place get off the station. then i suggest we go directly to the authorities and explain our situation. garak..! i have knowledge of certain security codes that would be sufficient to prove that i am in fact, a cardassian i could always say that i'm an undercover operative posing as a bajoran. captain, the authorities on terok nor will not be looking for reasons to help us. they will be looking for a reason to interrogate us and believe me, you do not want to be interrogated by the cardassians. i tend to agree with the constable. from the future. if they should discover .

let's move on. ( gasps ) sisko: odo? ( gasps ) who was that? i don't know. but you should. it was your predecessor. my predecessor?! oh... yes. the man talking to dukat, his name is thrax. he was in charge of security on the promenade before me.

at least nine years. you. come with us. what's she done?! nothing... yet. perhaps there's been some misunderstanding. if i may be so bold you may find something which will bring you infinitely more profit than the arrest of a bajoran woman. latinum? two strips. where is it? ah, but our friend is still in your custody. ( groaning ) tempting offer. maybe next time. this one's been selected. i'll be all right. ooh.

garak's septal capillaries burst at this point. some unusual activity at the same moment. the bleeding might be the result of some kind of psychosomatic response. you mean he thought he was injured? under certain conditions rature people have been known to alter their blood pressure -- even manifest a tumor as a result of psychological stimuli. could these stimuli cause more serious injnjies?

or break a key blood vessel in his brain. but what is causing all of this? at the risk of repeating myself i just don't know. he said she's been "selected." what the hell does that mean? raraom interrogation, forced labor relocation-- it could be anything. that's not g gd enough. where have they taken her? before we can help commander dax we need to find out who we are in this reality. if we could get to a computer terminal we could ask for a simple i.d. scan. computer access was extremely limited on terok nor. what about cardassiana? hah.

who thought my nose needed adjustment. i see i'm going to have to add the word "pickpocket" to your resume. it's only a hobby. interesting that a simple tailor should just happen to have a high-level security code. yes. isn't it? and if my nose didn't hurt t much i'd tell you a fascinating story about how i came to possess it. ah, yes. captain, you are actually a bajoran electronics engineer. you're 38 years old, no criminal record your family resides in rakantha province and your name is ishan chaye. i'm an artist. i'm 55 arrested three times for disturbing the peace-- i must be incorrigible. i also reside in rakantha and my name is jijiur gueta. and the constable? ah, yes. his profession is... i'm a bookkeeper--

in rakantha province and my name is timor landi. that's right. how did you know that? odo? quark: congratulations, gentlemenen you get to work today... and you'll be laboring in the finest establishment on the station... my establishment. twtwve hours of work two five-minute breaks one slip of latinum each. let's go. didn't you hear me? i'm offering you work. what are you waiting for? n-nothing. j-just show us the way. start by stepping through the gate

very good. you three must be warp engineers. now, we're going to walk down the promenade to the bar. would you like me to hold your hands or can you manage it? we'll manage. i'm so glad. how much damage would it do to the time-line if quark were to suffer a mysterious accident? i'm not sure but maybe we should conduct le experiment and find out. name? leeta. look at me when i speak to you, leeta.

kanar. for two. ( sighs ) no. well, then this is an occasion. you're trembling. ( sighs ) despite what you may have heard i'm a fair man, leeta. rest assured to be abused you have nothing to fear from me. .

it may surprise you to hear this but my position is a lonelelone. i'm isolated from the people who live under my protection and i require someone to talk with. in short... you want me to be your friend? ironic, isn't it? that i should d oose a simple bajoran girl to share my inner thoughts with. but as you get to know me, leeta... i think you'll find that i'm a... complicated man.

to the beginning of your education. ( clinking glasses ) i neveveknew we were such messy conquerors. i remember the occupation being g little more tidy than this. everything's tidy when someone else is doing the cleaning. the bajorans were more suited for this sort of thing than we were. servile work is in their nature. i'll remember to mention that to major kira when we get back.

( tray rattling ) you all right? the smell is making me sick. oh. how did you know your name would be timor landi in this... this whatever this is? i recognized the other two names from the security files kept during the occupation. timor, ishan, and jillur were the names of three bajorans who were accused of attempting to assassinate gul dukat on the promenade. half the resistance tried to kill dukat. these three were innocent. however, no o e knew that at the time and dukat wanted to make an example of them. he had them led out onto the promenade and publicly... executed.

if we're them we'd better find a way out of here

quark, i understand you had a visit from a talavian freighter captain this morning-- a captain livara i believe. i had a lot of visitors this morning. it was a busy day. i'm surprised you're being so indiscreet. captain livara is a known smuggler. you don't say? such a nice, friendly man too. i guess you never can tell what some people are really like. rumor has it that the obsidian order has had him

the obsidian order? rumor also has it that they're bringing in all of livara's cocoonspirators for... questioning. well, you know how rumors are. yes. they're usually true. so, when the order asks m mfor a list of all of livara's known associates on board the station... he was here for ten minutes. he wanted to unload a shipment of maraji crystals i can't move maraji crystals. the cardassians don't like them, and the bajorans can't afford them, so i sent him on his way. all right? and that's all? that's all. i hope so... because if i find out that you've been dealing in illegal crystals

always a pleasure. i see you're not the first man around here to keep quark on his toes. yes. something's wrong. thrax talked about a captain livara. does that name mean something to you? livara wasn't just another smuggler. he wasas romulan spy and didn't begin working in this sector until seven years ago, but seven years ago thrax wasn't on terok nor. you were, odo. odd contradictioion so i checked the date. this is seven years ago. thrax shouldn't be here. you should be the security chief. none of thisismakes. now, i suggest we concentrate on finding a way out of here. that's our priority. i tend to agree. well, you'll get no argument from m e but how? we need to contact the bajoran resistance.

maybe even to the federation. kira once told me about a prearranged signal the resistance used on terok nor to set up a meeting. once we're finished here, we'll head back to the bajoran sector, and i'll make the signal.

turn the vase over and the resistance appears. it's simple and effective. and they did it for years right under the cardassians' noses. not under my nose, captain. under his. at least dax is all right. look at him. the commander of terok nor. just another swaggering, self-important gul with too much vanity and not enough ability. maybe, but he's no fool. uh! ( gasping ) are you all right? yes.

you wanted a meeting? don't look at me. eat your soup. i didn't think you would come while dukat was here. everyone's watching our gentle dictator stroll the promenade withthis new girlfriend. now, i hate soup, and i have no intention of finishing this entire bowl so whatever you want, let's hear it. we need to get off the station. why? does it matter? yes, as a matter of fact, it does. we're not a commuter service. if you're running from a dispute over chemicals or women or smuggling you're on your own. if you've killed one of t t spoonheads... spoonheads?! garak! that's a different matter. we're not who we seem to be. i hope not, because you seem to be wawaing my time.

you're starfleetetgents operating undercover posing as indigent bajorans who happen to be... dax! captain! no! captain, we can't stay here. thth'll take care of her