With no warning and no ships seen entering or exiting, the wormhole begins to open and close on its own. At the same time, a Federation meeting on Earth is the site of a grisly bombing, with 27 peoplehuged. Evidence suggests that a Changeling was present during the explosion. Captain Sisko and Constable Odo are ordered to come to Earth to prepare the planet for a possible Dominion attack.
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.