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Things Past

If I'd known what I was walking into,

I never would have gone.

It was your idea to attend the conference in the first place, Garak.

I thought the Bajorans would be grateful to hear someone provide them with an opposing philosophical view.

Opposing view?

Garak, you were trying to defend the military occupation of their world.

How grateful did you think they would be?

My understanding of this conference was that it was supposed to be an examination of the occupation from a dispassionate, historical perspective.

Instead, everyone went out of their way to dismiss virtually everything I had to say.

I thought the Bajorans bent over backwards to be polite to you, Garak.

Giving me a name tag that read

"Elim Garak-- Former Cardassian Oppressor" was hardly polite.

And what did you want it to say? "Former Spy"?

What I would have liked was less posturing and more debate.

It's clear to me now that the Bajorans aren't really interested in discovering historical truth as much as they are in promoting the myths and legends of the "glorious resistance."

Well, Odo wasn't a member of the resistance, and he managed to attract a fair amount of attention.

Yes.

It seems you have quite a fan club on Bajor.

I half-expected you to be signing autographs at the end.

Don't let him get to you, Odo.

You should be proud of what you did during the occupation.

I've nothing to be proud of.

I tried to bring order to a chaotic situation.

That's all.

You need to give yourself more credit, Constable.

Keeping order during the occupation would be a tough job for anyone, but you not only did it, you did it by earning the trust of both sides.

DAX: What was it the moderator said?

That "you may have worked for the Cardassians, but your only master... was justice."

And a legend is born.

Sir? Captain Sisko's runabout is approaching the station.

Very well.

Clear them for docking on Landing Pad 1.

Aye, sir.

Commander, something's wrong.

They're not responding-- and sensors show unusual EM signatures along their hull.

The runabout's on autopilot.

Life signs?

Four.

Very weak.

Disengage the autopilot.

Bring the runabout to within transporter range.

Doctor Bashir to Transporter Room 5.

Medical emergency.

WORF: Check the aft compartment.

He's alive, but there's an excess of neural energy in his cerebral cortex.

What does that mean?

I'm not sure of that.

Can you revive them?

I'm not sure of that, either.

( low hum of machinery )

( murmur of voices )

MALE ( over PA ): All prisoners return to your quarters.

( sighs )

Show some dignity.

Look at you.

No wonder the Cardassians think we're animals.

Get up.

Get up!

If you're going to spend the night taking chemicals, stay off the Promenade.

We don't need another cleansing today.

What happened?

Not here.

I couldn't agree more.

MALE ( over PA ): All bio-organic material must be disposed of according to regulations.

( tricorder beeping )

There's a high level of neural activity, which suggests that their conscious minds are still active, and yet, there's no response to external stimuli.

What's the word on the runabout?

We have found preliminary indications that the ship encountered a class-2 plasma storm, which irradiated the vessel.

Computer, are the neural readings for subjects Odo, Sisko, Dax, and Garak consistent with the effects of encountering a class-2 plasma storm?

COMPUTER: There are no recorded causal relationships between plasma storms and specified neural readings.

BASHIR: None.

Computer, how many medical records are there on space plasma phenomena?

COMPUTER: Five thousand twenty-one.

Well, it would appear that a common phenomena has had an uncommon effect on our people.

Well, the runabout is still being analyzed.

We should have more information soon.

Good. In the meantime, I have some reading to do.

This is Terok Nor--

DS9 during the occupation.

Time travel?

Uh, no, it's more than that.

Our clothes have changed.

Could we be in a holosuite?

Computer, end program.

Let's assume that's a "no" for the moment.

Benjamin, we're not attracting any attention.

And we should be.

Humans, Trills, and changelings didn't just stroll through Terok Nor unnoticed.

Well, then I should be getting some attention as well.

We are in the Bajoran sector, and Cardassians weren't exactly welcome here.

I don't think they see you as a Cardassian.

I'm beginning to think they don't see any of us as who we really are.

The clothes we're wearing are Bajoran.

They're treating us like Bajorans.

Maybe they see us as Bajorans.

Any theories, old man?

Some kind of cross-dimensional transfer?

Our conscious minds might have been moved through time and space into the bodies of four Bajorans on Terok Nor.

But then why are we still seeing each other as we really are, instead of as Bajorans?

I just ran out of speculation.

The last thing I remember was sitting in the runabout.

There was a plasma anomaly on the sensors, and then there was this sound.

No, not a sound.

More like a strong vibration.

Hmm. I remember.

Odo?

I don't recall.

But whatever's happened, we have to leave this place-- get off the station.

Then I suggest we go directly to the authorities and explain our situation.

Garak.

I have knowledge of certain... security codes that would be sufficient to prove that I am, in fact, a Cardassian, even if their eyes say otherwise.

I could always say that I'm an undercover operative posing as a Bajoran--

Captain, the authorities on Terok Nor will not be looking for reasons to help us.

They will be looking for a reason to interrogate us, and believe me, you do not want to be interrogated by the Cardassians.

I tend to agree with the Constable.

If they should discover that we are actually from the future...

Gul Dukat's on the second level.

Let's move on.

( gasps )

SISKO: Odo?

( gasps )

Who was that?

I don't know.

Well, you should.

It was your predecessor.

My predecessor?!

Oh... yes.

The man talking to Dukat.

His name is Thrax.

He was in charge of security on the Promenade before me.

That means we've gone back at least nine years.

You.

Come with us.

What's she done?!

Nothing... yet.

Perhaps there's been some misunderstanding.

If I may be so bold, you may find something which will bring you infinitely more profit than the arrest of a Bajoran woman.

Latinum?

Two strips.

Where is it?

Ah, but our friend is still in your custody.

Don't move!

( groaning )

Tempting offer.

Maybe next time.

This one's been selected.

I'll be all right.

Ooh.

Doctor.

Garak's septial capillaries burst at this point.

The pattern of his delta waves show some unusual activity at the same moment.

The bleeding might be the result of some kind of psychosomatic response.

You mean, he thought he was injured.

Well, under certain conditions, people have been known to alter their blood pressure, lower their body temperature-- even manifest a tumor as a result of psychological stimuli.

Could these stimuli cause more serious injuries?

I don't think he could spontaneously break a bone, but he could certainly stop his heart or break a key blood vessel in his brain.

But what is causing all of this?

At the risk of repeating myself,

I just don't know.

Step back from the gate.

He said, "She's been selected."

What the hell does that mean?

Random interrogation, forced labor relocation-- it could be anything.

That's not good enough.

I want to know where they've taken her.

But before we can help Commander Dax, we need to find out who we are in this reality.

If we could get to a computer terminal, we could ask for a simple ID scan.

Computer access was extremely limited on Terok Nor.

What about a Cardassian comp-link?

Ha.

I took the liberty of borrowing this from the gentlemen who thought my nose needed adjustment.

I see I'm going to have to add the word "pickpocket" to your resume.

It's only a hobby.

Interesting that a simple tailor should just happen to have a high-level security code.

Yes, isn't it?

And if my nose didn't hurt so much,

I'd tell you a fascinating story about how I came to possess it.

Ah, yes.

Captain, you are actually a Bajoran electronics engineer.

You're 38 years old, you have no criminal record, your family resides in Rakantha Province, and your name is Ishan Chaye.

Hmm. Lucky me.

I'm an artist.

I'm 55, I've been arrested three times for disturbing the peace--

I must be incorrigible.

I also reside in Rakantha, and my name is

Jillur Gueta.

And the Constable?

Ah, yes.

His profession is...

I'm a bookkeeper.

46 years old.

I have a wife and two sons in Rakantha Province, and my name is Timor Landi.

That's right.

How'd you know that?

Odo?

QUARK: Congratulations, gentlemen.

You get to work today...

and you'll be laboring in the finest establishment on the station... my establishment.

12 hours of work, two five-minute breaks-- one slip of latinum each.

Let's go.

Didn't you hear me?

I'm offering you work.

What are you waiting for?

N-nothing.

Just show us the way.

Open it.

Start by stepping through the gate that the nice man has opened for you.

Very good.

You three must be warp engineers.

Now, we're going to walk down the Promenade to the bar.

Would you like me to hold your hands, or can you manage it?

We'll manage.

I'm so glad.

How much damage would it do to the timeline if Quark were to suffer a mysterious... accident?

I'm not sure, but maybe we should conduct a little experiment and find out.

Name?

Leeta.

Look at me when I speak to you, Leeta.

She'll do.

Kanar.

For two.

( sighs )

Have you ever had kanar?

No.

Well, then this is an occasion.

You're trembling.

( sighs )

Despite what you may have heard,

I'm a fair man, Leeta.

Rest assured you have nothing to fear from me.

I did not bring you here to be abused.

Then why am I here?

It may surprise you to hear this, but my position is a lonely one.

I'm isolated from the people who live under my protection.

I require someone... to talk with.

In short... a friend.

You want me to be your friend?

Ironic, isn't it?

That I should choose a simple Bajoran girl to share my inner thoughts with.

But as you get to know me, Leeta...

I think you'll find that I'm a... complicated man.

You're different than I imagined.

To the beginning of your education.

( clinking glasses )

I never knew we were such messy conquerors.

I remember the occupation being a little more tidy than this.

Everything is tidy when someone else is doing the cleaning.

The Bajorans were much more suited for this sort of thing than we were.

Servile work is in their nature.

I'll remember to mention that to Major Kira when we get back.

There are exceptions to every rule.

( tray rattling )

You all right?

The smell is making me sick.

Oh.

How did you know your name would be Timor Landi in this... this whatever this is.

I recognized the other two names from the security files kept during the occupation.

Timor, Ishan, and Jillur were the names of three Bajorans who were accused of attempting to assassinate

Gul Dukat on the Promenade.

Half the resistance tried to kill Dukat.

These three were innocent.

However, no one knew that at the time, and Dukat wanted to make an example of them.

So he had them led out onto the Promenade and publicly... executed.

If we're them...

If we're them, we better find a way out of here before Dukat makes an example out of us.

Quark,

I understand you had a visit from a Talavian freighter captain this morning-- a Captain Livara,

I believe.

I had a lot of visitors this morning.

It was a busy day.

I'm surprised you're being so indiscreet.

Captain Livara is a known smuggler.

You don't say?

Such a nice, friendly man, too.

I guess you never can tell what some people are really like.

Rumor has it that the Obsidian Order has had him under surveillance for several months.

The Obsidian Order?

Rumor also has it that they're bringing in all of Livara's coconspirators for... questioning.

Well, you know how rumors are.

Yes. They're usually true.

So, when the Order asks me for a list of all of Livara's known associates on board the station...

He was here for ten minutes.

He wanted to unload a shipment of maraji crystals, but I wasn't interested.

( scoffs )

I can't move maraji crystals.

The Cardassians don't like them, and the Bajorans can't afford them, so I sent him on his way.

All right?

And that's all?

That's all.

I hope so... because if I find out that you've been dealing in illegal crystals,

I'll hand you over to the Order myself.

Always a pleasure.

I see you're not the first man around here to keep Quark on his toes.

Yes.

Something's wrong.

Thrax talked about a Captain Livara.

Does that name mean something to you?

Livara wasn't just another smuggler.

He was a Romulan spy and didn't begin working in this sector until seven years ago, but seven years ago, Thrax wasn't on Terok Nor.

You were, Odo.

An odd contradiction.

So I checked the date.

This is seven years ago.

Thrax shouldn't be here.

You should be the Security Chief.

None of this makes any sense, Garak.

Now, I suggest we concentrate on finding a way out of here.

That's our priority.

I tend to agree.

Well, you'll get no argument from me... but how?

We need to contact the Bajoran resistance.

They might be able to get us off the station.

Maybe even to the Federation.

Kira once told me about a prearranged signal the resistance used on Terok Nor to set up a meeting.

Once we're finished here, we'll head back to the Bajoran sector, and I'll make the signal.

Ah.

MALE ( on PA ): All recreation passes are suspended for Alpha unit personnel until further notice.

The Bajorans never did have a sense of style.

Turn the vase over and the resistance appears.

It's simple and effective.

And they did it for years right under the Cardassians' noses.

Not under my nose, Captain.

Under his.

At least Dax is all right.

Look at him.

( scoffs ): The Commander of Terok Nor.

Just another swaggering, self-important Gul with too much vanity and not enough ability.

Maybe, but he's no fool.

Uh!

( gasping )

Are you all right?

Yes.

Just slipped out of my hand.

You wanted a meeting?

Don't look at me.

Eat your soup.

I didn't think you would come while Dukat was here.

Everyone's watching our gentle dictator stroll the Promenade with his new girlfriend.

Now, I hate soup, and I have no intention of finishing this entire bowl, so whatever you want, let's hear it.

We need to get off the station.

Why?

Does it matter?

Yes, as a matter of fact, it does.

We're not a commuter service.

If you're running from a dispute over chemicals or women or smuggling, you're on your own.

If you've killed one of the spoon heads...

Spoon heads?! Garak!

That's a different matter.

We're not who we seem to be.

I hope not, because you seem to be wasting my time.

Let's just say we're involved with the Federation.

Let me guess.

You're Starfleet agents operating undercover posing as indigent Bajorans who happen to be...

( explosion )

( alarm blares )

Dax!

No, no!

Captain! No!

PA: Secure all exits on 4-Alpha.

Captain, w-we can't stay here.

They'll take care of her...

CARDASSIAN: You two, halt!

But we must go!

CARDASSIAN: Grab him! Don't move!

( people clamoring, pounding)

You'd think they'd put us in our own cell block instead of with the common criminals.

After all, we are accused of attempting to assassinate the Station Commander.

That deserves some respect.

Maybe they'll salute when they execute us.

( clamor intensifies )

Quiet down. Quiet down.

Quiet. Quiet, please.

Quiet, please!

( shouting stops )

Kara Polus...

Brin Tusk... and Marat Kobar... your sentence is five years hard labor.

Trial to confirm this sentence will be held at 1700 hours.

Benten Vek.

Your fine has been paid, and you'll be free to go within the hour.

Lobo, Horis, Romara, Pelin, and Gramm.

You are being transferred to Cardassian authorities on Bajor for interrogation.

No, no please...

Timor, Ishan, Jillur.

You came aboard this station two days ago from the Rakantha Province.

Yesterday, you paid a visit to the chemist's shop and then fell asleep on the Promenade.

Last night, you were hired as a cleanup crew by the Ferengi.

And after you were paid, you went back to the Bajoran sector and attempted to murder Gul Dukat with a chambered plasma grenade.

We were sitting at a table eating when the grenade went off.

There were witnesses.

None of which have come forth.

Why would the witnesses risk their lives for three strangers?

They're out there, but you have to go look for them.

THRAX: Epidermal scans revealed the presence of trinitrogen chloride on your hands and clothing.

TNC is one of the components in plasma grenades.

TNC is also a cleaning solution, which is what we were using in Quark's.

Or you used the opportunity of working at Quark's to obtain the TNC in the first place.

You all have ties to the Bajoran underground.

You have three cousins who are known members of the resistance.

Five of your friends are suspected sympathizers.

ODO: After 50 years of occupation, is there anyone left on Bajor who doesn't have some tie to the resistance?

Quiet!

( clamor ceases briefly )

That may be true, but you were seen rushing toward Dukat after the explosion.

Everyone else was running away.

I wanted to help my friend.

She was injured in the blast.

The report of the Cardassian guards states that you were found over the body of Gul Dukat attempting to strangle him.

That's a lie.

Interrogate the troops yourself.

Don't just take their report at face value.

I don't interrogate members of the Cardassian military.

Then run a ballistic analysis of the explosion.

If you examine the fragmentation dispersal pattern, you'll find that we couldn't have thrown the grenade from our position at the table.

It had to have come from...

Quiet!

Quiet down!

There is sufficient evidence for a conviction.

All of which is circumstantial.

Go beneath the surface.

Conduct a real investigation.

This investigation is over.

Your case is going before a special tribunal this afternoon.

You will be informed of the sentence just before it meets.

No! Wait! I need to talk to you!

Let me talk to you alone for just a moment!

Please! Listen to me!

That's enough.

How do you feel?

Better than the last time.

Last time?

This is the fourth assassination attempt

I've survived.

Maybe you should find another job.

( laughing )

Maybe I should.

I'm glad to see you have your appetite back.

I don't get to eat like this very often.

I've wanted to increase rations in the Bajoran sector for some time now.

But the resistance makes it almost impossible to show any sort of kindness to your people.

You really want to help my people, don't you?

Yes, of course.

The Bajorans are... well, they're like my children, I suppose, and like any father,

I want only what's best for them.

And you still feel that way now after some of your children have tried to kill you?

Bad manners are the fault of the parent, not the child.

My weakness is I'm too... generous... too forgiving.

My heart is too big.

( groans )

And so is your ego.

"Yes, I know I don't look Cardassian.

"You see, I was surgically altered to appear Bajoran."

But what if genetic scans show no Cardassian DNA in my cellular structure?

In that case, I'll suggest--

Tell me about Thrax.

What do you want to know?

Something about his background.

He seems unusual.

Doesn't have that casual brutality

I've come to expect from Cardassian security officers.

What makes Thrax different?

I wouldn't know.

He was gone by the time I came aboard the station.

Which brings up a good point.

Why is he here now?

Garak said that you were the Security Chief during this time.

You're implying that I should know the answers-- that I'm holding back information?

I'm saying that maybe you know more than you think you do.

You lived here, on Terok Nor.

You're supposed to be out there now instead of Thrax.

Think, Odo.

There might be some connection between you and what's happening here.

I don't know.

( high-pitched squeal )

Miss me?

DAX: Dukat's personal shuttle is in Docking Bay 3.

What about the station defense system?

I've got the computer tied up in knots.

I don't think they'll be able--

Halt!

( groans )

( grunting )

GARAK: A changeling?

We'll figure that out later.

Here it is.

We just got the word.

Your execution's been scheduled for 1900.

That's two hours from now.

We've got to find another way out of here.

We tried that.

Escape doesn't seem to be the answer.

How could Thrax be a changeling?

In this time period, the Founders didn't know about the wormhole.

I don't know.

GARAK: Well, putting aside the newest shape-shifter in town for the time being, how did we end up back in this cell?

I don't know.

Care to guess?

What makes you think I have the answer?

You've been acting strangely ever since we first woke up on the Promenade.

Continually distracted, depressed, and agitated.

And you knew the names of the people we're supposed to be.

You knew the details of the case like you were there.

But you couldn't have been there because it happened before you came aboard the station.

Everything seems to lead back to you, and I want to know why.

THRAX: You said you wanted to see me?

Yes. It's urgent.

I'm listening, but I don't have much time.

You are about to make a very serious mistake.

Because you're innocent, of course.

All of you.

That's right, and I can prove it.

Compare this attack to recent bombings on Bajor.

You'll find a similarity to four incidents in Musilla Province, none of which we could have done.

This proves nothing.

And under Cardassian law, the accused must prove his innocence.

Since the evidence in this case is sufficient to warrant conviction, the investigation is over.

Your job is to find the truth, not obtain convictions.

Truth.

You want the truth?

All right, the truth is that none of you would be accused-- none of you would even be here-- if the Bajorans weren't fighting the Cardassians.

It's futile.

The occupation has lasted for 50 years, and it will probably last another 50.

I wouldn't be too sure about that.

Why not just accept it?!

If the Bajoran people would accept their place in history, none of this would be happening.

We are talking about the attempt on Gul Dukat's life, not the socio-political ramifications of the resistance.

It's all part of the same problem!

When your people resort to terrorism and violence, they're fighting against order, against stability, against the rule of law-- and this must be stopped.

There is more to life than the rule of law.

It has been my observation that only the guilty make that kind of statement.

( groaning )

I didn't want to tell you this--

I don't know what the consequences will be-- but we are not terrorists.

We're not even Bajorans.

There's been a temporal displacement of some kind.

We don't belong in this time.

We're from the future.

I know.

You know?

Then what are you going to do about it?

What I am supposed to do.

Nothing more, nothing less.

The question is:

What are you going to do...

Odo?

( gasps )

THRAX: It's too late for them now.

It's out of my hands.

Why aren't I with them?

There were only three terrorists, Odo.

You know that.

This is the price for taking up arms against those who would protect you... who have only your best interests at heart.

They haven't done anything.

They don't belong here.

It's already happened, Odo.

But this isn't what happened.

It wasn't these people.

Proceed with the execution.

ODO: No.

I'm not going to let this happen again.

Not again!

( grunting )

You can't execute them.

You don't even belong here.

I do.

( disrupter firing )

Constable?

That's exactly how it happened seven years ago.

It was you all along.

Yes.

I was Chief of Security on the Promenade.

I was the one who charged those men with a crime they didn't commit, and I was the one who turned them over to Dukat.

Three days after the executions, there was another bombing on the Promenade identical to the one that almost killed Dukat.

Timor, Ishan, and Jillur were innocent.

All the evidence was there-- the inconsistencies in the reports of the soldiers who arrested them, a pattern of bombings, the ballistics-- it was all there from the beginning.

But I was too busy, too concerned with maintaining order and the rule of law.

I thought of myself as the outsider, the shape-shifter who cared for nothing but justice.

It never occurred to me that I could fail, but I did, and I never wanted anyone to know the truth-- that seven years ago,

I allowed three innocent men to die.

( ragged breathing )

BASHIR: Constable?

( gasps )

Whatever it is you've been through has taken its toll.

Far as I can tell, the four of you were locked into some version of the Great Link.

The Link?

How is that possible?

I'm a solid now.

Well, it seems you're not as solid as you think.

When I ran a neurochemical scan of your brain,

I found residual traces of morphogenic enzymes, which I've only detected before in changelings.

When the plasma storm hit the runabout, it activated the enzymes and initiated a telepathic response.

Your mind reached out to find other changelings to form the Link, but all it could find were Sisko, Dax, and Garak.

And just before the accident,

I was thinking about the executions.

Somehow, being in the Link must've forced me to relive it and admit the truth about what I'd done.

It would make a fascinating paper.

Although, I don't intend to write one.

If you have any questions, uh, you know where to find me.

( sighing )

When I first read your report...

I didn't know what to think.

So I said to myself, "That's all right, Nerys.

"You're stunned.

You need to let it sink in a little."

But it's been two days, Odo.

I still don't know what to think.

I'm guilty.

What more is there to say?

Maybe nothing.

Maybe a lot.

I believed in you.

A lot of people did.

You were special.

You were the one man who stood apart from everyone else... the one man who stood for justice.

Now what?

Now I'm... just another... imperfect solid.

Okay.

The Prophets know I'm not perfect.

I guess the truth is that anyone who lived through the occupation had to get a little dirty.

But I need to know that no other innocent people died on your watch, Odo.

That this was the only time.

I'm not sure.

I hope so.