The Defiant is meeting with a vessel from the Gamma Quadrant-based Karemma Commerce Ministry regarding a trade dispute with the Federation. It turns out Quark, who was serving as a middleman to avoid drawing attention from the Dominion, has been defrauding the Karemma by levying bogus taxes against them. Their representative, Hanok, has an impressive list to present to Sisko.
Then, without warning, two Jem'Hadar warships appear, no doubt angry to find the Karemma talking with Starfleet. The panicked Karemma crew take their ship into a nearby gas giant. The Jem'Hadar follow, pursued in turn by the Defiant, which begins a game of cat and mouse as the ships attempt to hunt each other in the hostile atmosphere where sensors barely function.
Hanok leaves things to the professionals and has a chat with his erstwhile business partner. Failing a transparent attempt to pin the blame on his brother, Quark is told in no uncertain terms that he is a liar and a cheat who will never be allowed to do business in the Gamma Quadrant again.
The Defiant searches the area using an improvised form of sonar, but an ambush by the Jem'Hadar leaves the ship badly damaged and sinking into the crushing atmosphere. Dax manages to get the engines back online, but she's hit with fluorine gas and can't make it to safety in time, so Bashir closes the bulkhead behind him to rescue her and drags her to a tiny compartment, where they're safe, for the moment.
Phasers are offline, so Sisko orders engineering to refit the ship's two atmospheric probes with torpedo warheads. At their next encounter, one of the probes succeeds in destroying an enemy ship, but not before it inflicts even more damage. The bridge is damaged beyond repair and Sisko receives a severe concussion, so Worf takes command in engineering.
Kira stays behind to care for Sisko, but without Bashir, all she can do is talk to him to keep him from falling comatose. She realizes, after a time, that all she can talk about are boring shift schedules, since they have no relationship outside of work. She admits that his religious significance makes him hard to be comfortable around, though she is clearly pleased when Sisko then asks her to tell him a story.
In the mess hall, Quark has wasted no time trying to sweet talk his way back into Hanok's good graces, contrasting the challenge and excitement of his adversarial business methods against the Karemma's fair but boring approach. Their debate is interrupted when a would-be fatal torpedo suddenly strikes the hull... but miraculously fails to detonate. It hums angrily, jutting out of the wall.
The pair decide they must disarm the torpedo. Recognizing the torpedo as a model sold by his people, Hanok remembers that one of two diodes inside can be removed to defuse it... but he doesn't remember which one. Quark urges him to use his instincts and pick one, but when Hanok hesitates too long, Quark simply snatches one at random. Hanok gasps in horror, but the torpedo is disarmed. Hanok is forced to admit that Quark's outlook holds a certain excitement. He allows himself to be persuaded to get back into business with the Ferengi.
Bashir and Dax are trapped in the supply closet and huddle together for warmth. Bashir chuckles and notes that this predicament is oddly similar to a fantasy he used to have about spending some alone time with Dax while marooned on a runabout. Dax tells him that he came on too strong when they first met. Bashir promises her that he's abandoned such thoughts, but he quickly deduces that she actually misses being pursued.
In Engineering, Worf is riding the engineering staff hard as he struggles to get back into the fight. O'Brien takes him aside and advises him that the NCOs work best when they're given problems to solve rather than strict orders. Worf takes his advice to heart and asks for the engineers to come up with an Improvised Weapon as part of a trap he's devising. The engineers leap at the challenge and jury-rig the deflector into a one-shot phaser emitter. Worf's plan works, and they destroy the Jem'Hadar ship. With no more threats to evade, the crew are free to rescue each group of stranded passengers from their predicament.
Back on the station, Worf receives a repair report from an engineer and allows him to go about it as he sees fit, though O'Brien cuts the man's estimated repair time down to manageable levels, saying "You can give them a little slack, but you can't take your hands off the reins." Dax finds Bashir trapped in conversation with Morn and "rescues" him, declaring that they're now even, which provokes a surprised reaction from the doctor. Hanok takes a spin at dabo and wins a big jackpot, causing Quark to remark with unease that the man is a quick study. With the work day coming to a close, the newly recovered Sisko decides to invite Kira to a baseball game on the holosuite, which she happily accepts.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: Hanok is insulted by Quark's suggestion that the Karemma would ever deliver substandard merchandise. Then a torpedo hits the lounge and fails to detonate, and Hanok explains while examining it that it's Karemma-made.Quark: I thought you said you never sold substandard merchandise. (Beat) This was supposed to explode on impact, wasn't it?
Hanok: Maybe I should offer them a refund. (they both burst out laughing) - Arms Dealer: In addition to being the Dominion's foremost leader in trade and commerce, the Karemma are also a weapons supplier for the Jem'Hadar.
- Artistic License – Biology: Unless Trill have some truly bizarre alien biology, Jadzia should be in far worse shape after breathing in "a few lung-fulls of fluorine." Bashir and a nearby Red Shirt probably breathed in some fluorine as well, which wouldn't have been good for their lungs either.
- Artistic License – Economics: According to Hanok, the Karemma subscribe to a common mistaken belief about market economics: that businesses generally have a profit target they want to hit, and derive their prices by adding this predetermined profit margin to production and shipping expenses. This is sometimes used as a counterargument to minimum wage increases: the argument goes that if wages go up, companies will have to charge more. While contracting does sometimes work this way, the reality is that in the normal consumer economy, businesses actually usually subscribe to Quark's view: charge whatever you can get the customer to pay. In some cases, businesses will intentionally price products at a loss with the expectation of making up the difference elsewhere: new car dealerships typically get bonuses from the manufacturer for getting a certain number of vehicles per month out the door, and Microsoft and Sony price their game consoles below cost while expecting to make their profits on game sales.
- Badass Boast: Hanok asks how Quark is going to open the torpedo casing, to which the Ferengi replies "there's no lock that can't be picked."
- Big "WHAT?!": Sisko's reaction to Hanok telling him about the taxes the Ferengi have been levying.
- Blatant Lies: Quark tries to shift blame onto both Rom and Federation commerce laws to appease Hanok. Hanok sees right through it and is insulted by Quark's refusal to own up to scamming him.
- Brick Joke: While trying to keep Sisko conscious, Kira suggests switching DS9 to a four-shift rotation. At the end of the episode, Sisko brings up the four-shift rotation as if it were his idea. Kira plays along with it. (Sisko was probably joking, and she probably knew it.)
- Call-Back:
- O'Brien cuts tension in the engine room by telling of the action from the "Improbable Cause"/"The Die Is Cast" two parter. He apparently tells it a lot.
- At the end of the episode, Sisko dons the baseball cap that Kasidy gave him in the season premiere.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Not only do Quark and Hanok indulge in this during their Wire Dilemma, they laugh their asses off.Hanok: We sell these torpedoes to the Jem'Hadar!Quark: I thought you said you never sold "sub-standard merchandise." This was supposed to explode on impact, wasn't it?Hanok: [beat] Maybe I should offer them a refund. [the two break out laughing]
- Character Development:
- Worf experiences some growing pains in his new role as a command division officer, coming off as kind of a hardass, but with O'Brien's help, he learns some new management skills: Ease up, but not too much.
- Kira is forced to confront the fact that she has trouble relating to Sisko on a personal level because of his role as the Emissary and her superior officer, but having to look after him helps the two bond as friends, not just co-workers.
- The Coats Are Off: Quark removes his coat before working on the Jem'Hadar torpedo.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: An engineer takes the initiative to reconfigure a control panel due to the technical limitations they're under, but Worf wants it set back to standard rather than adapt. He eventually learns to trust more in the engineers' judgment.
- Don't Think, Feel: Quark telling Hanok to not overthink the Wire Dilemma, but just choose one of the diodes. Thankfully, he makes the right choice.
- Fire-Forged Friends: The episode starts with Hanok ready to gut Quark like a fish. It ends with them enjoying a spin at the dabo wheel.
- Four Lines, All Waiting: Sisko and Kira on The Bridge, Worf and O'Brien in the engine room, Bashir and Jadzia in the turbolift, and Quark and Hanok in the mess hall. All four plot lines get closure on the station.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The baseball cap Sisko tosses to Kira at the end of the episode is a cap for the Homestead Grays, arguably considered the best team of the Negro Leagues in the early 1900s. After the MLB officially recognized the Negro Leagues in 2020, Grays player Josh Gibson suddenly had the home run record. No wonder Sisko was a fan.
- Friendship Moment: The end result of Kira and Sisko's plot is this. While trying to keep Sisko awake, Kira confesses how intimidating it is to work with the Emissary, and admits that this is why she and Sisko have never grown very close over the years. Sisko took note: in the final scene, he has a brief meeting with Kira, and just before she leaves, he invites her to a baseball game on the holodeck, even giving her a ball cap! The smile she gives him in return is a mile wide.
- Gallows Humor: Hanok dryly notes that he should offer the Jem'Hadar a refund after one of the torpedoes they fired at the Karemma and the Defiant failed to explode on impact and gets stuck partway into their compartment. He and Quark both laugh themselves silly over it and are still stuck helplessly breaking into chuckles while they try to defuse the warhead.
- Good Is Boring: The Karemma have a very by-the-book method for establishing fair trade prices, based on the various production costs plus a reasonable profit margin. Quark finds their approach incredibly dull. Though he doesn't succeed in turning Hanok into a sleaze like him, Quark does get him to appreciate the thrill of a good gamble.Quark: You make it sound so antiseptic. Where's the bargaining? Where's the scheming? Where's the greed?
- Greed Makes You Dumb: Discussed ; Quark complains to Hanok that the Karemma way of doing business is no fun because there's no greed involved. Hanok retorts that "Greed leads to misjudgement, and that can result in a loss of profits."Quark: Yet there's no risk! There's no thrill! Your way is just barter. If you wanna win big, you've gotta be willing to play the odds. It's like gambling!Hanok: Gambling is the last recourse of the desperate. Only a fool would risk losing what he has to chance!
- Hidden Depths: Quark shows that his scheming, gambler's outlook on life has its advantages. Rather than wait and hope to be rescued, he takes a risk and defuses the torpedo himself, saving the ship.
- Hypocrite: Hanok moralizes at Quark about his shady business practices, and seems upstanding until the Jem'hadar lodge one of his own defective torpedos into the ship. He muses that he should offer them a refund, before bursting out laughing.
- Improvised Weapon: Both arming atmospheric probes with torpedo warheads and the deflector dish as mentioned above.
- Intimate Healing: Bashir and Jadzia cuddle up for warmth in the freezing turbolift.
- Irony: The Karemma pride themselves on the quality of their product and sold torpedoes to the Jem'Hadar. Hanok (along with everyone else on the Defiant) nearly dies when one such torpedo is fired at the ship, but they are spared because it failed to explode on impact. Quark and Hanok have a hearty laugh at the absurd irony.
- It Only Works Once: Muñiz tells Worf that the deflector dish gun will only give one shot. Fortunately, the new-and-improved Worf only needs one shot.
- It's All My Fault: Hanok sees the impending deaths of his people at the hands of the Jem'Hadar as his fault for meeting with Sisko. He even offers to make a Heroic Sacrifice to save his crew.
- Locked in a Room: Bashir and Dax spend most of the episode trapped in a turbolift after the deck is flooded with gas. Bashir even lampshades the trope when he says it used to be an oft-held fantasy of his, as it seemed the only way he could get to know her.
- Mandatory Line: Odo only appears in one scene, advising Hanok to not blow his money at Quark's.
- Massively Numbered Siblings: Morn apparently regales Bashir with a story about his 17 brothers and sisters.
- No OSHA Compliance: Realistic consequences finally bites with one of Star Trek's grievously unsafe bridge designs. Sisko gives himself a potentially fatal concussion falling onto one of the free-standing consoles that flank the captain's chair.
- Nothing Personal:
- Quark says this to Hanok after cheating him. After all, cheating people is just what he does.
- Hanok then says this to Quark while disregarding his dabo advice. It turns out to be a good call.
- Oh, Crap!: Quark and Hanok when they see a torpedo protruding into the mess hall.
- Prayer Is a Last Resort: Kira can't think of anything to do for the concussed Sisko except pray that the Prophets will save the Emissary.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Worf learns to give the engineers more room to use their own judgment to overcome problems rather than micromanage them. However, O'Brien still advises him to keep his hands on the reins.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Hanok chews Quark out both for lying and for not fessing up to it when caught.
- Recycled Premise: The episode has a similar concept to The Next Generation's "Disaster". Both episodes jump between groups of crew stuck addressing different crises in different sections of a damaged ship.
- Red Shirt: Two crewmen, Boyce and Peterson (neither of whom got any lines), are both killed in the Jem'Hadar assault.
- Scotty Time: In order to convert the deflector array into a phaser emitter, Muñiz says they can do it in twenty minutes, with Stevens saying it can be done in ten if they bypass the safeties. At the end of the episode, Stevens says they can have the Defiant repaired in sixteen hours, to which O'Brien says they can get it done in twelve.
- Space Is an Ocean: The episode is such a riff on submarine stories like Das Boot that the Defiant actually dives into the atmosphere of a gas giant to make the situation more similar.
- Sub Story: IN SPACE! with the crushing depths of a gas giant used instead of the crushing depths of the ocean.
- That's an Order!: Sisko orders Bashir to seal off Deck 2 during a hull breach, even though that would mean sacrificing Jadzia. Bashir decides to Take a Third Option and seals off the deck while rushing in to save Jadzia.
- Thicker Than Water: Kira's story about three brothers who argue over money ends with the brothers realising that their bond is more important, giving the money away, and going home.
- Thrill Seeker: Quark and Hanok's subplot serves as a nice bit of insight on why Quark is the way he is. He isn't just a sleaze for the sake of sleaziness; he gets a certain thrill out of his wheeling and dealing lifestyle, preferring to cheat, take gambles, and see what he can get away with.
- Unwanted False Faith: Sisko has never been comfortable as the Emissary, but this episode takes a closer look at Kira's perspective. She knows he's just a man, but still finds it hard to be at ease around him. The time they spend together because of his injuries helps to break down those barriers a bit. She starts to see him as more than just her boss or religious icon.
- Whole-Plot Reference: It's basically Das Boot in space, with elements of Crimson Tide.
- Wire Dilemma: The torpedo Quark and Hanok are dealing with has two diodes. Removing one will disarm it, and removing the other will detonate the warhead. Hanok doesn't remember which is which. With a 50/50 shot, Quark throws caution to the wind and yanks one out. He chooses correctly.
- With Due Respect: O'Brien says this to Worf when advising him to cut the engineers a little slack.
- You Are in Command Now: With the bridge systems knocked out, Captain Sisko injured, and Major Kira treating him, Worf takes command of the Defiant from engineering.
