Odo begins to give Quark a hard time about Deep Space Nine's rules and regulations, making running his establishment difficult. That is, until Quark sees that Odo's love for Major Kira has created the perfect way to distract Odo and earn profit. Meanwhile, returning from a convoy mission, a very tired Defiant crew answers a distress call from a Starfleet Captain whose ship crashed on an inhospitable planet. With the clock ticking to rescue her, the Defiant is pushed to its limits while the crew keeps the stranded captain company.
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.