Picking up right from The Homecoming, Sisko and Kira are pissed.
Sisko can barely contain his rage as Minister Jaro explains Kira isn't being replaced. She's being "promoted," and with all the Circle violence on Bajor, Li Nalas will be safer on DS9. And as if his day isn't going swell enough already, Jake calls him to their quarters to reveal that the mark of The Circle has been painted on their door.
Kira meanwhile has begrudgingly accepted her "promotion." Odo hasn't. He lectures her on how accepting this mockery is basically giving up, something he'd never expect out of her. They are soon joined by Dax, then by Bashir, O'Brien, and even Quark. In the middle of the numerous, confusing discussions, they get another visitor: Vedek Bareil. He's heard about Kira being replaced by Li Nalas, so he invites her to visit his monastery on Bajor before beginning her new job. With not much else to do, she accepts. After one last solemn stroll around Ops, Sisko promises to get her back as she departs.
Not surprisingly, the slow life of the monastery isn't really agreeing with her, as Bareil discovers when he sees her adjusting a random stepping stone for the umpteenth time. He tells her she doesn't always need to worry about being "useful" and takes her to see something special: an Orb. It's the third one, the Orb of Prophecy and Change. Gazing into the orb, Kira has a vision of being mocked by the council and then having an erotic encounter with Bareil, but the vision ends before getting too spicy for network TV.
Back on DS9, Odo discusses the worsening situation on Bajor. The military is imposing martial law and descending upon the capital to apparently destroy the Circle. After hanging up, Quark drops by, naturally concerned about the situation after the attack he suffered. This whole situation has him advising Odo that they need to beat it and quick. Odo is dismissive of his whining, but Quark also has information: the Kressari have been supplying the Circle with weapons. And it just so happens that they have a ship due in 36 hours. With not much else to go on, Odo deputizes Quark (with a little extortion to force his hand of course) and orders him to track where the weapons are going.
On Bajor, Kira is keeping quiet about the true contents of her Orb vision. And to compound things, she runs across the crooked Vedek Winn while she and Bareil walk. The woman who got away with plotting to assassinate Bareil tells Kira, in the most passive-aggressive way she can, that she's not welcome there.
While Sisko visits the Bajoran military command and Odo stows away on the Kressari ship as a rat, Kira is kidnapped by several masked Circle members. Awakening in their headquarters, Kira discovers that their leader is Minister Jaro. He wanted Li Nalas off Bajor when he launched a coup against the government, so he had him stuck on DS9. And he tells Kira he has methods to make her talk while she's here.
Word of the kidnapping has reached Sisko and crew. As they discuss what to do, "Deputy" Quark enters with more info. He's tracked the headquarters of the Circle to a series of caverns under the Parrichian Peninsula. Gathering Bashir, O'Brien, Li, and two Red Shirt security members, they launch a successful rescue mission.
Odo returns not long after the rescue with shocking news. While disguised on the Kressari ship, he discovered the true suppliers of the Circle: Cardassia. Yes, the Circle are being armed by their mortal enemy. With the xenophobic Circle potentially driving the Federation out, it would leave Bajor open for the Cardassians to occupy again.
The info appears to have arrived too late. All communication to Bajor has been cut off, and two assault vessels are headed for Deep Space 9, giving all non-Bajoran personnel seven hours to scram, or else.
Sisko contacts Admiral Chekote (not Chakotay) and the news isn't good: This is an internal Bajoran matter. The Prime Directive requires Starfleet stay out of it. With that, he orders Sisko to evacuate the station.
The time it would take to evacuate the station is a few hours. But it would take days to conduct a complete evacuation of all Federation members and technology. And the vessels are drawing close.
- Sisko: Then I guess some of us won't be gone by the time they get here...
Tropes
- Alien Non-Interference Clause: The conflict is an internal Bajoran political matter. Even if the Cardassians are meddling, Admiral Chekote points out the Prime Directive still applies.
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Odo deputizes Quark because he needs the Ferengi's underworld contacts to gather information on who's supplying weapons to The Circle. Quark finds this Actually Pretty Funny until Odo points out the alternative—he locks up Quark for obstruction at a time when Quark might need to get off the space station in a hurry.
- Batman Gambit:
- Kira appears to be Kicked Upstairs by Jaro but he's actually getting rid of Li Nalas, as he doesn't want a rival figurehead in the capital diverting the attention and loyalty of the Bajorans while he's launching a coup.
- The Cardassians are secretly backing the Circle. Even though they're hostile to the Cardassians, they're also hostile to the Federation and with them gone, the Cardassians can reconquer a still weak Bajor and gain control over the wormhole.
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: General Krim is shown before The Big Board coordinating the defense of the capital from The Circle, but Sisko notes that his military forces seem to avoid conflict whenever they're in a position to attack.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Zizagged; Kira gets some nasty facial scars from being tortured for information, but Dr. Bashir quickly heals the injury.
- Big Damn Heroes: Sisko and his team rescuing Kira.
- Blackmail: As per usual, Odo threatens Quark into following his directives. Quark describes it as "blackmail," but it's more properly called extortion.
- Bothering by the Book:
- After learning that Kressari traders are transferring weapons to The Circle, the crew uses the excuse of a manifest computer incompatibility to search a docked Kressari vessel. This leads to Li Nalas being forced in his role as Deep Space Nine's executive officer, to talk to the Kressari captain to reassure him that the manifest issues will be resolved momentarily.
- Sisko is ordered to evacuate the station by his Starfleet superiors, but they forget to specify that he has to complete the evacuation within the timeframe the Bajorans have given them. He orders that every single piece of Starfleet equipment be painstakingly removed, which of course can't be done before the Bajorans arrive.
- The Coup: The Circle led by Minister Jaro seeks to remove the Provisional Government with the aid of the military forces under General Krim, with Vedek Winn providing the religious support.
- Establishing Character Moment: Krim notes that Sisko did the honorable thing by giving his information first before making a request rather than using his information as leverage to make a demand. He promises to remember that about Sisko, establishing Krim himself as an honorable man.
- Friendship Moment: When a bemused Vedek Bareil wants to know who the people crowded into Kira's room are.Kira: These are... [Beat as she realizes] these are my friends.
- Frontline General: Li's reputation gets him promoted to an entirely new rank, but inside he's still just a soldier. He jumps at the opportunity to join Kira's rescue team.Li: I can do this. I don't know what it means to be a "Navarch", but I can fight in the trenches and I take orders well. Besides, I owe her one.
- I Am the Trope: Minister Jaro clarifies that he is the Circle.
- Idiot Ball: Bashir decides to untie Kira's bonds before slapping the communicator on her for transport, which adds some additional drama as he gets shot.
- Instant Sedation: Kira's kidnappers instantly sedate her using hypospray.
- Never Give the Captain a Straight Answer: Early on, Sisko gets a call from his son, who's just outside their quarters and asks him to come down for a minute. Sisko asks why, and Jake just replies, "I really think you ought to come down, Dad." Justified, of course, because Jake is still a kid and is more than a little frightened by what he's seen: the Circle's symbol spray-painted on their door.
- The Oner: The scene where Kira's friends try to persuade her to stay was filmed this way, though intercut on screen.
- Passive Aggressive Combat: Vedek Winn is back to her old tricks of very mildly and politely hurling abuse at Kira and Bareil. When it's clear that Kira might be taking up permanent residence, Winn mildly states that Kira should feel welcome for as many days as she likes, "even a week if necessary."
- Pet the Dog: Among the people who see Kira off is Quark offering her a free drink and he even offers to cater to everyone present at a discount. Though it's implied he might have other motives.
- Red Shirt: The two unnamed Bajoran security guards are the only two who get shot during the rescue attempt, though they make it out OK.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Given the ongoing Yugoslav Wars at the time of airing, it's no surprise the Crisis of the Week involves a Civil War fueled by nationalist sentiment, with weapons covertly supplied by foreign powers hoping to manipulate events to their advantage.
- Species of Hats: Odo says it doesn't make sense that the Kressari would be supplying the Circle because they're botanical DNA traders.
- The Stateroom Sketch: The scene in Kira's quarters after the opening credits is a homage to the Trope Maker, albeit taking place in a large room, with all of Kira's friends turning up to argue against her leaving (Odo), wish her fairwell (Bashir and O'Brien), return something she's borrowed (Jadzia), or provide a sympathetic ear so he can get into her pants (Quark).
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: With the Bajoran government on the brink of collapse, Quark decides his next move is to put as much distance between himself and Bajor as possible.
- Ship Tease: The vision Kira sees in the Orb of Prophecy appears to become a "Not Wearing Pants" Dream until Bareil also appears naked and they are about to kiss before the vision comes to an end. Bareil later mentions to Kira that last time he had an Orb vision, she was a part of it, although he won't give any details. He's interested to know if she saw him in hers (which she hastily denies).
- That's an Order!: Admiral Chekote orders Sisko to evacuate all Starfleet personnel. Naturally, he doesn't.
- Unwitting Pawn: The Circle are playing right into Cardassia's hands, even being supplied by them.
- We Can Rule Together: Knowing Kira's dislike of the Federation and the Provisional Government, Minister Jaro tries to persuade her to supply information on what Sisko's actions will be, offering to place her in charge of Deep Space Nine. Kira refuses, but Jaro has more success with the power-hungry Vedek Winn, who is reluctant to support him publicly until Jaro promises to make her the next Kai.
