Stardate 48521.5: Returning from a frontier Bajoran colony, Major Kira and Constable Odo pick up a signal of a ship being attacked by a Maquis vessel. They trace the Maquis ship to the moon of a gas giant whose atmosphere blocks sensor readings. Venturing onto the moon in search of the Maquis, the Major is trapped in a substance that slowly begins to cover her body. On DS9, Commander Sisko is approached by Nog, who has a request to make.
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.