Quark returns from Ferenginar and informs his brother that he is dying. With little time left, Quark places his body on the Ferengi stock market in order to pay off his debts. In the Gamma Quadrant, an accident aboard a Runabout leaves Keiko O'Brien bleeding internally. With only minutes to spare, Doctor Bashir places Keiko's baby in the only other female available: Major Kira Nerys.
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.