Major Kira has been given some time off in order to prepare herself for her new post on Bajor. Li Nalas, the legendary Bajoran that Kira saved, has been given her post. With the tension mounting in the Bajoran capital, Quark provides Odo with new information that The Circle is being supplied weapons to counter the Bajoran military. Meanwhile, Sisko lets Kira know that he will do anything to have her reassigned to DS9.
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.