Keiko O'Brien's return to Deep Space Nine after a year on Bajor puts Miles in great spirits. With her arrival, Keiko brings news of a new O'Brien on the way. Meanwhile, Captain Sisko continues to remain uneasy about being the Emissary, a religious icon for an entire people. However, that is about to change when a 300 year old Bajoran light ship comes through the wormhole. The pilot of the vessel, Akorem Laan, is beamed to sick bay where he tells Sisko and Major Kira that he is the Emissary.
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.