dax: that's it? sisko: that's it. "the city of b'hala" painted nearly 20,000 years ago. hmm. jadzia. you're looking at the most important bajoran icon ever painted-- the only known proof that b'hala ever existed-- and all you have to say is "hmm"? i thought it would be a lot... bigger. we've been trying to force the cardassian government to return this to us since the end of the occupation. it's good to have it back. i thought it was being returned to the state museum in ilvia. it will be... tomorrow but i couldn't let it pass without stealing a look. sometimes, being the emissary

it's a bantaca spire. ancient bajoran cities were built around them. they were all about 11 meters high made from hundreds of stones carved and fitted so tightly together they didn't need mortar. it's said they marked the city's place in the cosmos. beautiful markings. supposedly, they're the coordinates of the lost city but because we can't see the markings on the other two sides they're impossible to decipher. before you pack it up, have it scanned into the computer. you're going to study it? maybe see if you can find the lost city? i was just thinking about zocal's third prophecy. it said only someone who had been touched by the prophets... could find the ruins of b'hala. no pressure. ( laughs dismissively )

it's a reflection. magnify d-two. hmm. computer, process sisko image file 3-7-6. reduce in size 75 percent. ( chuckles ): oh.

superimpose grid d-two. reverse image and enhance. sorry to disturb you, captain, but... 's after 3:00 in the morning. 3:00? already? time flies when you're having fun. quark, i want you to save this program for me. what is it? an ancient puzzle. you know, captain if you like puzzles i have a wide assortment of pleasure mazes-- and they all come with a surprise in the center. never mind, quark.

( groans ) computer, quark to infirmary. medical emergency in holosuite four. [captioning sponsored by the u.s. department of education

but, odo, you said yourself the captain's all right. lucky for you. then why am i being arrested? i already told you it was an accident-- a minor technical difficulty. you can't arrest someone for a minor technical difficulty. no, but i can arrest you for negligence.

which is what i've been telling chief o'brien for the past week. i begged him to have rom fix them but you know what he said? "rom's too busy upgrading the sensor array." can you believe that? anyone can fix the sensor array but no one can fix the holosuites like that idiot brother of mine. so, you see... if anyone should be arrested for negligence it's chief o'brien. tell it to the magistrate. well, there's no sign of any permanent neural damage. although, i am reading some odd synaptic potentials. let me ask you something. does my uniform look any brighter to you? yes. everything does. colors seem more intense and shapes more focused. it's called "post-neural shock syndrome." your neural pathways were overloaded by the plasma burst.

it's going to take a little while for things to settle down, though so i'm going to put you on restricted duty for the next three days and if you experience any other side effects such as headaches, dizziness, even nausea let me know immediately. yes. in the meantime, enjoy the show. ( sighs ) so, did dinner meet with the sisko stamp of approval? i was a little worried i overcooked the lingta roast but, uh... i'm glad you liked it anyway. can i get you anything else? oh, no. i'm fine. i guess, uh... you'll be cooking tomorrow night. why is that? to welcome back kasidy yates to the station maybe cook some of that jambalaya that she likes so much.

for helping the maquis. she's paid the price for what she did. i suppose so. i just hope you give her a chance, that's all. you two had something together. dad. dad, what is it? these shapes... i know what they mean. dax: ops to captain sisko. go ahead. sorry to disturb you, captain but i have admiral whatley calling from starfleet headquarters. i'll take it in here.

admiral. how've you been? never better. glad to hear it. i know you've been waiting for this news. i'm glad to be the one who tells you. bajor's petition to join the federation has been approved. it's about time. congratulations, ben. you've done a hell of a job out there. thank you. and we're not the only ones who think so. the bajorans requested that the signing ceremony take place on your station. so make sure you spruce up that floating bicycle wheel of yours. count on a lot of brass showing up for this one, captain. quark: shh! shh! shh! shhhh! computer, spotlight. drum roll! "welcome klingons."

i see you're prepared for anything. never hurts. i take it you think the federation membership is going to be good for business? of course it is. this station is going to get busier than an alvanian beehive. i expect to do five times the volume in root beer alone. you see... it's all about foot traffic. the more people come in, the more they drink. the more they drink, the more they talk. the more they talk the more they let slip things that i shouldn't know and that... that always leads to latinum. perhaps so, but there is one problem. what's that? an ancient klingon proverb says "you cannot loosen a man's tongue with root beer." ( dry chuckle ) it is wonderful news, vedek mera.

enjoying the celebration? as far as i'm concerned starfleet should accept a new member every week. and you, major, are you celebrating? you know, five years ago, i wouldn't have been. i didn't think federation membership was right for bajor. it hadn't been that long since the occupation and i thought it was important for us to learn to stand on our own two feet. and what changed your mind? a lot of things. my time on the station, my dealings with starfleet... but mostly the captain. he can be very persuasive. no doubt about it. he made me a believer. well, i'll drink to that. where is the captain? i'd like to congratulate him. well, he was here for a little while but i think he went back to the holosuite. don't worry, i fixed it.

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benjamin! major. are you all right? i was there. sir? b'hala.

you were dreaming. no. i was there. i could smell the burning bateret leaves taste the incense on the wind. i was standing in front of the obelisk and as i looked up for one moment i understood it all... b'hala, the orbs, the occupation the coming war with the dominion. you could see the future as well as the past? for one moment i could see the pattern that held it all together. you were having a pagh'tem'far... a sacred vision. hell, i don't know what i had but it felt... wonderful. the prophets chose well

so how does it all fit together? i wish i knew. someone woke me up. i was worried about you. i understand. if i found you in the middle of a pagh'tem'far i'd be worried about you, too. o'brien to captain sisko. go ahead. sir, i've just received word that kai winn is on her way to the station. she should arrive in less than two hours. major kira will greet her at the airlock. make my apologies. tell the kai that i am busy today but i'll meet with her tomorrow. tell... make something up. where are you going to be? right here. the answer is in this spire.

kai winn. greetings, my child. you look... very sweet. looks can be deceiving. but you don't need me to tell you that. why isn't the emissary here to greet me? i'm afraid captain sisko's busy at the moment. still basking in the adulation of starfleet command. well, something like that. i'm sure the federation is very pleased with the job he's done. i thought everyone was. well, not everyone. you know, our culture has had only five short years to recover from the occupation. only five years of freedom. it hardly seems enough time, does it? bajor is still going to be free. joining the federation isn't going to change that. i see working beside captain sisko all these years has had quite an influence on you. i have to give you credit. you just never give up.

will consider everything you have to say and then bajor's admittance can go forward. unobstructed. i await the will of the prophets. ( sighs ) yes. hello, ben. kasidy. jake said i could find you here... ( moaning ) something wrong? uh, no. not at all. i'm just a little surprised. i didn't know you'd be happy to see me. what are you doing for the next few hours? i don't know. i just got here.

to bajor with me? right now? i think i know where to find b'hala-- the sacred lost city of bajor. you see these markings here? they're a coordinate system keyed to mark the position of stars at a certain time of night. you don't have the faintest idea of what i'm talking about, do you? uh, not a clue. well, why don't you come to bajor and i will show you. i'm not even sure where i'm staying yet. you can have your old quarters. they're still available? everything is just as you left it. i have some pull with the station's c.o. ben... i've missed you. i'm glad you're back. now, what do you say we go find b'hala?

this way. we must be 200 meters underground. i don't want to be negative, ben but this doesn't look like a lost city to me. you're looking at 20,000 years of sediments here. come on. stay close. we're not far from... what's the matter? it's nothing. i'll be all right in a second. julian said that headaches might be a side effect of the accident. or obsessing over an ancient bajoran city-- is that a side effect, too? you're being negative again. come on.

what is it? b'hala. ben, it's a wall of stone.

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per.com. these quarters are not appropriate for admiral colti. she outranks admiral veta. then we'll put her in h-2 veta in d-9, and rifkin in k-4. that will not do. rifkin commands a starship. protocol requires he be given equal quarters. but he's only a captain. it is naval tradition. so is keelhauling, but right now don't you agree, major? major? hmm? i'm sorry. i didn't mean to interrupt your reverie. i was just thinking about captain sisko finding b'hala. bajoran archaeologists have been searching for the sacred city for 10,000 years. he found it in just a few days. your gods granted the captain a powerful vision. or else he made a very lucky guess. it's a sign.

find quarters for captain rifkin. i hope i'm not interrupting. i was wondering, could i have a word with you, major? of course. good luck. i was about to say the same to you. child you and the emissary are close, are you not? i consider captain sisko a friend. so you know his mind how he thinks, how he reacts in certain situations. i'm not really sure what you're asking. i'm asking if you think the emissary will forgive me. forgive you? for doubting him. he must have been aware that i never truly believed he was the emissary.

well, i was wrong. i know that now. only someone touched by the prophets could have found b'hala. does that mean you're not going to try to block bajor's admittance into the federation? i'm going to follow the path the emissary has laid out for us. i... i-i, i must admit i'm surprised to hear that. it takes a lot of courage to admit you're wrong. and you think i lack courage? i didn't say that. but it is what you think. those of you who were in the resistance you're all the same. you think you're the only ones who fought the cardassians that you saved bajor single-handedly. perhaps you forget, major the cardassians arrested any bajoran found

r five years and i can remember each and every beating i suffered and while you had your weapons to protect you all i had was my faith and my courage. walk with the prophets, child. i know i will. hello, admiral. ben. so this is the ancient city of balla. b'hala. missing for 20,000 years, and you found it. pretty impressive.

how'd you know where to look? you might say it came to me in a vision. i know that's what the bajorans think but just between me and you, what really happened? i know it's hard to understand but it really was a vision. for the past few days i've had these moments of insights... flashes of understanding. and they started after that accident. mm-hmm. ben. this is a little strange. you didn't come here to see b'hala, did you, admiral? no. i came to see you and i was surprised you weren't on the station when i arrived. i'm sorry about that. not sorry enough to return my com signals-- all three of them. that could get an officer in a lot of trouble.

nt on you. now, bajor's admission is only the beginning. now comes the hard part. federation council members have to be chosen. the bajoran militia has to be absorbed into starfleet. there are thousands of details that have to be overseen and you're our point man here. that means we need to depend on you more than ever. don't worry. i won't let you down. i'm glad to hear that. what do you say we get back to the station? i'm sure the bajorans can take it from here or were you thinking of digging up this entire city all by yourself? charlie... i just need a little more time. for what? for answers. there's... there's clarity here. i-i wish i could explain it better but i can't! you're scaring me with this, ben.

all right. i'll give you some time but i want you back on the station by 0700 hours tomorrow. you're to report to dr. bashir for a complete physical. i'll be there. good. it's 0715. where the hell is he? his runabout only docked 25 minutes ago, sir. i'm sure he's on his way. give him a full workup. i examined him before he left. he didn't complain of any new symptoms but my scan still showed the same odd synaptic potentials.

but it hasn't. isn't there something you can do to help? i could try neuro-polaric induction but that's a very serious operation and i'd rather not do that unless it were absolutely necessary. so in the meantime, he's going to keep having visions. i knew we were headed for trouble the minute he allowed the bajorans to call him "emissary." he didn't have much choice. the bajorans are deeply committed to their spirituality they believe that captain sisko is the emissary and nothing's going to change their minds. ( clamoring ) i told you he'd be here, sir. there's no need to worry.