Wondering of its value, Quark seeks an appraisal from Kira. The second she sees it, she's shocked. It's the earring of legendary Bajoran rebel Li Nalas, who has been presumed dead for years. Kira goes to Commander Sisko and asks for a runabout to rescue Li. With the increasing factionalization of the Bajoran provisional government, she believes that Li is the one person who can unite the factions. Sisko can only tell her that he'll think about it.
In the meantime, he's called to a habitat ring on the promenade. Graffiti of a radical Bajoran movement called "The Alliance for Global Unity" - also known as "The Circle" - has been found on the Promenade. The Circle advocates a "Bajor for Bajorans Only" policy. A worried Sisko orders security around the station to be beefed up in the meantime.
Sisko seeks advice from Dax regarding the Bajoran situation, being vague about Kira's request, but Dax comes right out and tells Sisko that he ought to give Kira the runabout. While Sisko is concerned about how he'd have to explain this proposed incursion to the Cardassians, Dax points out that the Cardassians will have a harder time explaining why they still had Bajoran prisoners when all of them were supposed to have been released after the occupation.
Sisko decides to let Kira have the runabout, and sends O'Brien with her. She's concerned that the chief's presence could put Sisko in a bad light with the Cardassians, but he insists that O'Brien is there to make sure he gets his runabout back. As they set out, Kira makes it clear that they're not coming back without Li Nalas, a condition that O'Brien accepts.
After a close call with a Cardassian patrol, fooled thanks to a combination of them being out of visual range and some good lying, they arrive on Cardassia IV. They discover twelve Bajoran lifesigns in the camp, but because they can only beam two people up at a time, they have to get inside the camp to ensure they get Li before the alarms are raised. Kira cons their way into the camp by impersonating a prostitute, and they grab Li and his fellow prisoners as a firefight breaks out. Li is injured in the fight, requiring four of his fellow prisoners to remain behind so the rest of them can escape.
The runabout returns to DS9 safely, and Li is treated for his injuries. Gul Dukat even contacts Deep Space Nine, claiming the prison camp he was at was a violation of protocol, and the remaining prisoners are being transported to the station. Li is happy to be free, but he seems uncomfortable with the adoration of the Bajorans on the station.
Bajoran minister Jaro pays a visit to the station and chastises Kira for nearly starting a war with the Cardassians, one which he is thankful they've chosen to decline. After pointing out that a repeat of such a stunt would cost Kira her military career, he offers his personal thanks for a job well done.
Quark is assaulted and branded in his bar late at night by masked members of the Circle. Li is disturbed by the extremists' actions, but when it's suggested that he could do something about it, he's not enthusiastic. In fact, that very night he's caught trying to stowaway on a vessel bound for the Gamma Quadrant.
In private, Li reveals the truth behind his legend: While fighting in a minor resistance cell, all but three of his group were wiped out. And being the only one with a phaser, he took the lead. Slipping down a steep embankment, Li was surprised to find a bathing Cardassian in his skivvies. As the surprised Cardassian reached for his weapon, Li was forced to shoot him. The man's body fell on top of him, and his companions assumed he killed him in a great struggle. That someone happened to be a high-ranking officer named Gul Zarale.
Li became a legend, a rallying point for Bajor. Many battles were attested to in his name. Li, however, is tired of being a slave to his mythic reputation. Sisko sympathizes, but notes the days of battle are over. Bajor doesn't need some legendary warrior; they just need a legend to focus them.
Very reluctantly, Li notes he's correct. Returning to Bajor, his legendary status has earned him the newly-invented title of Navarch. With this title comes a new job: liaison officer on board DS9: Kira's job.
Jaro: "Not anymore, you don't. Major Kira is no longer assigned to this post. She's been recalled to Bajor."
Tropes
- Accidental Hero: Li shot a Cardassian he had surprised in his undies. Later retellings turned it into an epic clash.
- Actor Allusion: From how Li Nalas describes his "epic" fight against the Cardassian, it's not the first time Richard Beymer reluctantly killed someone and came to regret it.
- Badass on Paper: Li was a capable resistance fighter, yes. But he's nowhere close to the almost godlike figure the resistance turned him into.
- Blatant Lies: By the time Kira gets back to DS9 the Cardassian government has already issued a formal apology to Bajor claiming that it was a simple oversight and they had no idea Bajoran POW's were being kept in a labor camp within their own home system. This would be like the Federation claiming the same about a camp on Mars, especially egregious since meticulous record keeping is considered a point of pride for Cardassians.
- BBC Quarry: Justified as it's an actual quarry, with the Cardassians using their prisoners as slave labor breaking rocks.
- Chew-Out Fake-Out: Minister Jaro chews Kira out for her actions on Cardassia IV before thanking her for rescuing Li.
- Establishing Character Moment: Jaro is introduced interrupting Li Nalas's speech to the crowd and then asking permission to take over. Here's a guy who likes being in control and making everything revolve around him. This might come up again...
- Fantastic Racism: The Circle wants to kick out all non-Bajorans from Bajor.
- Fantastic Rank System: Li is awarded the title of "Navarch" for his supposed heroism during the Occupation, though nobody ever clarifies what exactly being a navarch entails; it mainly seems to be a good excuse to placate his many supporters and get him off Bajor.note
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: Played with; the guard turns off the forcefield to allow Kira inside, but reactivates it to stop Miles. Fortunately Kira is more than capable of knocking him out when he tries to sample the goods.
- Humble Hero: Li comes across very humble when he arrives at the station, preferring that people not pay attention to him at all. It turns out that he's embarrassed about being an Accidental Hero who doesn't have any of the skill or daring he's ascribed.
- Interspecies Romance: Cardassians can apparently get the hots for Bajorans.
- Living Legend: Even Sisko's heard of Li Nalas.
- Metaphorically True: Li says the popular account of his fight with Gul Zarale is a lie. Sisko encourages him to think of it as a legend instead.
- More Expendable Than You: Four prisoners stay behind to delay the Cardassians so Li can escape. Though they're released by the Cardassians later, this can't have made Li feel any better about himself.
- Never Found the Body: Of Li Nalas after he was reported killed. It's why Kira believes the rumors that he's still alive.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sisko tells Li to return to Bajor and help guide them. And summarily makes Kira lose her job.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Li Nalas insists that they cannot leave behind the four Bajoran prisoners who covered their escape, but Kira and O'Brien have no choice. Fortunately, rescuing even half the prisoners forces the Cardassians to admit that the camp illegally exists and thus release everyone else.
- Refusal of the Call: Not long after being rescued, Li tries to skip town after realizing the responsibility his inflated reputation entails. Fortunately for everyone except him, he doesn't succeed.Sisko: The Nanut isn't scheduled to return from the Gamma Quadrant for two years.Li: Actually, I planned on staying considerably longer.
- Sarcasm Failure: When Quark asks about his post-surgery appearance, Kira quips that he's "as handsome as he ever was." Quark takes this damning by faint praise as a legitimate compliment and gets quite excited.
- Shout-Out: To The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
- Show Some Leg: Kira pretends to be a Bajoran prostitute being brought to the camp's Cardassian prefect. The guard too has a taste for Bajorans after his service there, and turns off the forcefield so he can sample the merchandise. As he bends down to check her out, Kira punches him in the face.
- Slave to PR: Li has been shackled by his fame since he gunned down the defenseless Gul Zarale. And he can't stand it.
- Spotting the Thread: Cardassia releases the surviving camp prisoners without complaint after an attack on their territory that could not have happened without Federation support. It makes Sisko suspicious that the Cardassians are up to something else they don't want exposed...
- The World Needs A Hero: Why Kira wants to rescue Li Nalas. With the recent loss of the Kai, Bajor is without genuine leadership and is on the brink of civil war. To her, Li could be a unifying figure to lead Bajor forward.
- Worth It: When Kira warns Quark that his first step into her bedroom will be his last, he decides that it might be worth it.
- You Do Not Want To Know: When Kira asks Sisko for the runabout, she tells him that he doesn't want to know why. He asks anyway, and then wishes he hadn't.
