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In the Pale Moonlight
Stardate unknown
How far is Sisko willing to go?
Synopsis
The Romulans had just signed a non-aggression pact with the Dominion and were perfectly content to watch their rivals, the Klingon Empire and the Federation, battle it out with the Dominion, suffering heavy losses in the process. Sisko knows that the Dominion would not stop with the Klingon and Federation space, that the Dominion will eventually turn on the Romulan Star Empire as well. His case was sound, but he also needed concrete proof, and for this, he naturally turned to Garak. However, in no way was Sisko prepared for the moral consequences ahead. Since real tangible information referring to an imminent Dominion attack on Romulus was not to be had, Garak advised him to manufacture the evidence. Sisko, hesitant at first, agreed nonetheless and was authorized through Starfleet Command to go ahead with the plan. Even with official backing, it was entirely up to him to make everything happen. Garak recommended creating a program recorded on a Cardassian data rod of a top-level meeting between the Dominion and Cardassian leaders, namely Damar and Weyoun, and their discussion of plans to invade the Romulan Empire. Since a genuine data rod is manufactured only as seen fit on Cardassia and cannot be altered after recordings, it would provide conclusive proof for the Romulans. For starters, Garak enlisted the help of Tolan, a criminal awaiting execution in a Klingon prison pardoned by Gowron at Sisko's request, and overcame the difficulty of procuring the data rod by delivering a contact the highly potent bio-memetic gel. When the false program of a Dominion meeting was recorded, Vreenak was "invited" to come aboard DS9 and talk to Sisko. Caustic and derisive of Starfleet, the Senator took his time to engage in inconsequential chatter until he was presented with the data rod itself. Hours later, when Vreenak confronted the Captain and pronounced the rod as fake, Sisko was ready for disaster when intelligence reports of Vreenak's death reached his ears. The Senator's vessel had exploded due to sabotage and preliminary reports pointed to the Cardassians. While the other officers were discussing the good fortune brought about by an otherwise grim circumstance, Sisko strode over to Garak's shop and cuffed him for murdering Vreenak. "You've been planning this all along!" Sisko thundered. However, Garak had a damning rationale for his actions. He had achieved the larger goal of involving the Romulans into the war. It didn't matter, in his view, that "the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of a Starfleet officer," was the price. The Romulans retaliated swiftly, and an alliance of the Romulans with the Federation and Klingon Empire looks possible. Credits Written by Peter Allan Fields Directed by Victor Lobl Guest stars Andrew J. Robinson AS Garak, Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun, Casey Biggs as Damar, Howard Shangraw as Tolar and Stephen McHattie as Vreenak  Review Garak is one of the brightest stars in Deep Space Nine. As characters go, the infinite depths of the mind that is Garak is fascinating ground to explore and develop a story around. However, rarely is his "talents" used as close to its full extent as it was in this episode. The first time I watched "In the Pale Moonlight", I felt the full horror of how far Garak would go in realizing a particular goal. It wasn't so much his murder of Tolan, Vreenak, and all occupants of the warbird Vreenak was on, but the justified purpose of his actions. Usually, one cannot imagine multiple murder and falsifying evidence as being correct, but Garak has done so by successfully bringing the Romulans into the war. For Garak, stepping outside the boundaries of saintly righteousness is understandable, even acceptable. But it is not so for Emissary of the Prophets, decorated Starfleet Captain Benjamin Sisko. In the beginning, he merely wanted to locate evidence that would implicate possible Dominion designs on the Romulan Empire, thereby forcing the Romulans to take counter measures in the interest of its own security. He naturally thought any such large scale operation would happen in the Dominion stronghold of Cardassia and asked Garak for connections that may help in his efforts. When it became clear that Dominion security was too tight for them to do much, Garak suggested making the evidence for themselves. At this point, I imagine Picard or even Kirk would have backed away from such a breach of ethics. However, wartimes call for wartime ethics, and it was the first of many forays into the gray area of morality for Sisko. I watched Sisko wage an internal war between his moral self and his unwavering belief that the Romulans must be involved. From the pardon of convicted criminal Tolan, release of dangerous medical materials, forgery of evidence, to bribing Quark to not press charges against Tolan, Sisko hesitated every time, but his moral qualms gave way to the knowledge that he must carry out his plan. So Sisko falls deeper and deeper into a web of lies and deceit. Familiar ground for Garak, but not for Sisko. Still, Sisko managed to hold his own against an acerbic and condescending Senator. After the Senator found out about the fake data rod, he made it clear his intentions to expose the treachery to the whole Quadrant. At this point Sisko thought all was lost and readied himself for a very ugly scandal. Though Sisko had been agreed to resort to lying and cheating (Garak being a very persuasive sort) and playing out the deception, he could not comprehend having to prolong the deception through murder. Being Starfleet, this was not something Sisko or most anyone (even Worf) could imagine, much less bring about. So Sisko was taken aback by intelligence reports of one Senator Vreenak's demise shortly thereafter. In his confrontation with Garak, Sisko accused him of intending to murder the Senator all along. Garak then put into words what the show had been building upon. "You knew that I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing," was Garak's conclusion. And he was right. Though Sisko may not have consciously wanted to be an accessory to murder, subconsciously, Sisko would not have stopped Garak had he been aware of Garak's intentions. His conscience weighing heavily upon him, Sisko must learn to live with the added burdens of murder and deception on his mind. His ending words, "I will live with this, I MUST live with this." Sums up the way the way the Dominion war had changed everyone. Six years ago, neither Sisko nor Starfleet Command would even consider deceiving the Romulans and bringing them into a war. In the desperate times of war, the murder of a few people becomes comparatively insignificant to the freedom of the whole Alpha Quadrant. This harsh truth is something Sisko must learn to live with. Concluding Thoughts This episode is one of the best in the whole season, and I hope to see Garak utilizing his talents more often. Vreenak comes across as an aristocratic Romulan one feels good hating. Sisko acted appropriately for a man under enormous stress, but he could have made the "There are people dyiiinnggg!" speech a little less strained. My Rating Easily 10. A gripping dramatic episode with Garak at its center can't go wrong. Sisko played his part well, but Garak was chilling, insidious and evil, his best use by far in a long time.
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Dax and Worf scan the casualty lists for friends and relations
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