Stardate 48467.3: Kira takes Commander William Riker of the Enterprise on a tour of the Defiant. But suddenly Riker stuns her with a phaser. Two more people, Tamal and Kalita, are beamed aboard, and after a feigned malfunction the Defiant escapes. The hijacker is actually Thomas Riker, Will's duplicate who came to life in a transporter accident several years ago and who is now with the Maquis. Sisko and Odo reluctantly inform Dukat of the hijacking. In the eyes of the Cardassians the search for the warship may justify a brutal invasion of the Demilitarized Zone between them and the Federation. Working with Dukat and Korinas from the Obsidian Order, Sisko has to reveal that the cloaked ship may be detected with the help of an antiproton beam. But Kira manages to disable the cloaking. During the repairs Riker reveals that his target is the Orias system where the Cardassians supposedly build an invasion fleet. When Sisko, too, suspects that the Defiant's destination is Orias, Korinas denies Dukat's vessels the admission to the system. Suddenly three warships of the Obsidian Order, which is not even supposed to have ships, enter the scene. Dukat, who is just as surprised as Sisko, agrees to a deal with the Starfleet officer. Dukat's ships of the Central Command grant the Defiant a safe passage, in exchange for the Defiant's sensor data about the Obsidian Order's clandestine armament. Thomas Riker is captured by the Cardassians, with Dukat's pledge that he would not be sentenced to death.

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