A Cardassian vessel suffering systems failure is docked at Deep Space Nine. While there, the three Cardassians onboard the ship are seen by Quark, who was once romantically involved with one of the Cardassians. Meanwhile, the Cardassian clothier Garak spots the three guests of DS9, which begins to worry the three. It isn't long before a Cardassian warship arrives.
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.