Stardate 46925.1: Four ambassadors from the Federation have arrived at Deep Space Nine to learn more about the wormhole, and Commander Sisko puts Doctor Bashir in charge of tending to the ambassadors' every need. Meanwhile, an unidentified probe has come through the wormhole. Sisko brings the probe in a bit closer so that station crew can study it.
When the Cardassian occupation of Bajor ended in 2369, the mining space station Terok Nor was left abandoned, its systems ripped out. By invitation of the Bajoran provisional government, Starfleet stepped in to oversee the rebuilding and day-to-day operations of the newly christened Deep Space Nine.
The years of Starfleet's nonintervention into Cardassian matters, however, had taken its toll on relations with the Bajorans. Consequently, Starfleet's position was a tenuous one; many Bajorans, suspicious and hostile as a result of decades of Cardassian oppression and brutality, did not greet the Federation's presence with open arms. The Federation's assistance is put to the test as DS9 becomes a center of travel and commerce that stretches into the Gamma Quadrant.