Commander Sisko, Major Kira, and Doctor Bashir follow the warp signature of a vessel of the Maquis who had kidnapped Gul Dukat. Arriving at a Class M asteroid, the crew finds that Calvin Hudson has joined with the Maquis. The stakes have grown much higher and the Cardassian-Federation treaty has been brought to the brink of collapse. A single mistake now could lead to renewed hostilities between the two powers.
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.