A rare painting depicting the ancient Bajoran city of B'Hala is returned from the Cardassians. Markings on an obelisk in the painting are said to give the exact location of B'Hala and Captain Sisko tries to discover its location. Deciphering the symbols in a holosuite, the Captain suffers a plasma burst from the holosuite's system and begins to see visions.
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.