Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise had been kidnapped and surgically altered to become Locutus of Borg. Picard was held for six days until he was rescued by his own First Officer, Will Riker. With the help of Second Officer Data, they were able to stop the Borg ship from destroying Terra, although the semi-conscious Picard provided the vital clue they needed to defeat the Borg.
The Wolf 359 system is the third closest star, followed by the two binary components of the Alpha Centauri system, six light years from Proxima. Rigel Kentaurus is Alpha Centauri A, locked into an orbit around a common gravity well with Alpha B, both G5 Yellow Dwarfs, comparable to Sol. This system is followed by Bernard's Star, the first measured by stellar parallax, leading to the creation of the term parsec, or parallax second. A parsec is one arcsecond or second of arc on a star chart. After Bernard's M5 Red Dwarf, comes Wolf 359, with Tau Ceti rounding out Terra's surrounding defense parameter--this demonstrates how close the Borg got to Earth, astronomically speaking.
The USS Melbourne, under the command of Admiral J.P. Hanson, was destroyed with the loss of all hands. Lt. Commander Sisko and his then 9-year-old son, Jake, made it into the Saratoga's escape pod in the nick of time, but Jennifer was killed by a crashing tritanium bulkhead. Sisko refused to address his feelings in the aftermath of the incident. Ben used his late Vulcan captain as an example and buried the many white-hot emotions beneath the surface. Memories of the Saratoga haunt him every waking and sleeping moment; the Bolian pulled his body to safety but left his mind and his soul in that room, reeling from the screams of the dying as he watched the only thing that made his life worth living vanish. The black hole that opened in his heart sucked away his will until nothing mattered, nothing except for that one gift that Jennifer had left him--the child who looked more and more like his mother each day. Ben had many demons to wrestle with before he and Jake could have a normal life.
Starfleet became concerned that Ben had let his career stall watching starships being assembled at the Martian Utopia Planetia Shipyards (where the Enterprise-D was built). The shipyards are located on a plain on Mars, about 2,000 kilometers east of Olympus Mons. Starfleet ordered Sisko to take command of the former Cardassian ore processing space station in orbit around the planet Bajor. That world was recently abandoned by the ruthless Cardassian overlords who raped and plundered Bajor and left the Bajoran people to try to rebuild their civilization.
Ben's life would be changed forever by his visit to meet the Bajoran spiritual leader, Kai Opaka. She entrusted him with an "orb," known as the "Tear of the Prophet." The orb enabled him to relive the first time he met his late wife, only to him it was not just a vision--it was real. The orb also led Sisko and Dax to find the link with Denorios Belt which led to the discovery of the stable vertiron wormhole connecting the Alpha Quadrant with the Gamma Quadrant, some 70,000 light years away--420 trillion miles from the farthest outpost in the Federation.
Sisko encountered the beings who constructed the orbs and built the wormhole. These beings, whom the Bajorans worship as "Prophets of the Celestial Temple," took the form of people in Ben's memory. As he understands what we are to the beings, he realizes what he has been missing. He is forced to relive the horror of the firestorm on the Saratoga and is finally able to accept the fact that emotionally he has never left the side of Jennifer's body. He saw her silent face in his dreams and in his waking hours. In the time it takes to blink an eye he is back aboard the burning starship, his hand on hot metal, ready to give his life in an instant if only it would restore life to the person who meant more to him than life itself.
Only his love for his son (and the strength of the Bolian who dragged Ben from Jennifer's body) allowed Sisko to get to the escape pod. When Jake awoke in his hospital room and was informed by Ben of his mother's death, the boy noticed a sad, almost sedate manner in his father. This would continue until Ben was reborn by his visit to the wormhole. Ben had let a part of him die and the chance to see Jennifer again allowed "her" to help him grieve and finally reach acceptance. He was able to forgive Picard, be a better father to Jake, and to learn to love life again.
The Saratoga's late captain, a Vulcan named Storil, had a profound influence on Sisko's life. Ben marveled at the way the Vulcan could give his last orders with the same voice he would have used to ask for a routine fuel report. Benjamin affected a similar calm as he was forced to take command of the ship and organize the evacuation of the civilians and surviving crew. He then went on his journey to find Jennifer and Jake in their quarters, a journey which would not end at the rescue of his son and the death of his wife; the trip ends with Sisko's fulfillment of the Bajoran prophecy that a non-believer would find the temple and save the prophets from Cardassian attack.
Sisko shook off the accolades that accompanied his position of "Emissary" in the Bajoran religion, and was extremely annoyed by the constant need to let Bajoran Kai and Vedeks read his "pagh," or life-force, each time they encounter him. Sisko has noted the parallel between his attempt to rebuild his life and Bajor's efforts to repair the damage done to them by the Cardassians. He learns to interact with his new crew; his relationship with each of them reflects the his transformation in the wormhole.
Sisko is more than willing to stand up for his people and has publicly defended Odo and Dax when each was charged with murder. Sisko and Kira have often butted heads over matters in which Bajoran and Starfleet interests differ, but the two have managed to produce a working relationship based on mutual respect that allows them to function as a team. Their antagonism was brought out when an alien probe produced a psychological effect on the crew, as telepathic psy-art produced delusions among those affected. Odo was immune and was forced to find a solution as the factions split up with Kira, Dax and Julian teaming up against Sisko and Miles O'Brien, each group out to kill the other. Odo was forced to make Bashir find a cure, while dealing with Kira's bizarre personality traits and everyone else's odd behavior. Afterwards, Sisko felt some shame at the way he had acted and quickly moved to restore good feelings by asking Kira to assist him with a report on the incident that began with hail from a Klingon ship which was infected with the "art" in the Gamma Quadrant.
Sisko is learning to deal with Jake' transitiion into adolescence. Sisko is concerned about jake's friendship with Nog; he is insulted that Nog's father, Rom, is equally concerned about Jake's influence on Nog. Jake has a girlfriend--a Dabo girl who works for Quark. Ben has had a harder time dealing with this fact than he has with accepting the fact that Jake is not interested in joining Starfleet when he comes of age. Ben is at his best in paternal mode, forcing Jake to study Klingon opera, as Ben had to when he was young. Jake asked his father why he should have to study something that seemed so useless. Ben fumbled for an answer, suggesting Jake might be together with Klingons on a job somewhere.
A telling example of Sisko's interpersonal abilities involves the case of a terraformer who lost his life in the creation of a new star. Ben had found himself in an uncomfortable position. He admired the egotistical planetmaker and was unnerved to discover that the beautiful young woman he had fallen in love with was in fact married to the older scientist. The wife of the great terraformer was actually an empathic projection telepath, meaning that she would fall into a coma while her subconscious projected an image of herself. This unconscious image is the one who fell in love with Ben. Even though the woman is cold to Ben and remembers nothing, her telepathic image remembers everything and is banished when the woman awakens.
Ben recognized the poem when it was first quoted, and when the duty officer did not understand suicidal planetmaker's ramblings, Sisko quietly stated "Klingon poetry," and promised to deliver the scientist's obituary to the Daystrom Institute. An egotist to the end, the planetmaker had written it himself.
Sisko has varied views of his crew and his duties, and at any time they are subject to revision based on the circumstances and the facts. This Starfleet style chaffs Odo and Kira, but each are learning to find ways to get around the red tape and get the support they need. Only in extraordinary situations do they find outright conflict among the bridge crew.
The one unifying factor so far has been the appearance of the "Q" entity, who arrived with Vash, a Terran archeologist (and former lover of Jean-Luc Picard) who was brought back from the Gamma Quadrant by a runabout. Vash had preceded Ben and Jadzia to the Gamma Quadrant accepting an offer made by Q three years ago in Picard's Ready Room on the Enterprise. The entire crew of Deep Space Nine became united in their hatred of Q.
Ben first met Jadzia when she and Julian reported for duty aboard Deep Space Nine. It was not long before Sisko was defending his old friend when Dax was accused of treason, conspiracy and murder, acts which occurred when she was still Curzon Dax. Dax was actually guilty only of adultery with the late General Tundro's widow, who finally confessed in order to give Dax the alibi.. The widow's confession soiled her reputation but kept alive the legend of the general who was killed in an ambush after he had betrayed his own troops.
Sisko often seeks out Dax's serene wisdom and sense of humor. She noted that Curzon appeared to appreciate Ben's baseball stories more than he actually did, but she really does enjoy Benjamin's company and is gratified wtih the time they have spent together in the two life-times. Dax is saddened to know that, barring unseen accident, she will outlive Sisko and all her other compatriots on Deep Space Nine. Jadzia will eventually die but Dax will live on. Dax has buried numerous hosts, foes, children, families, friends and co-workers. Like Spock, Data and perhaps Odo, she must deal with short para. This is a special sadness reserved for the Trill.
Ben is amused by Dr. Bashir's outrageous attempts to romance the combined life form. Sisko and Dax were the first known visitors to the Gamma Quadrant. It was later discovered that an archeologist named Vash preceded them with help from the "Q' entity. Dax and Ben disliked Q because he used his great power for his own amusement while other life forms suffered. They have seen enough tin-horn dictators and beings who feel they have the right to tell everyone else how to live. Ben and Dax's history together affects how the others perceive them, and shades their perceptions as both sides seek compromise.
She is later surprised when Sisko pitches in to help her clean up and begins to re-evaluate him after he is summoned by the Kai and chosen as the "Emissary" to the prophets in the "Celestial Temple," a stable vertiron wormhole. The events were similar to a dream shared by Kira and Sisko, about Kai Opaka and the orbs. Opaka was a central figure in Kira's life and Sisko's relationship with the Kai helped improve relations between Kira and Sisko.
Kira had made a few remarks about Starfleet commanders in general when Sisko had first arrived, but he immediately gained her respect by standing up to her and blackmailing Quark. He was called off to Bajor to meet with the Kai where he received "The Tear of the Phophets." Sisko and Dax each have a vision which helps them understand of the beings in the wormhole. Kira later encountered an orb during her stay with Vedek Bareil at the monastery on Bajor. The beings that the Kai, Kira and other Bajorans worship as the prophets of the Celestial temple are just aliens to Sisko. He teaches them about linear time but the Kai does not want him to share his knowledge , stating that it is best if one does not "look into the eyes of one's own gods."
This support proved vital when "The Circle" began their conspiracy, which, for awhile, cost Kira her job as First Officer and Deep Space Nine Liaison to Bajor. Eventually, however, it helped forge the friendships between Kira and her crewmates as one by one, each came to her quarters to let her know how much she means to them. This was best illustrated by Sisko, as he stood up to Minister Jaro and complained about her removal. He vowed to Kira that he would get her back and even went as far as to mount an armed rescue attempt to save her from the fundamentalists. She was being tortured by fellow Bajorans when Sisko, Bashir and the rescue party acted on "deputy" Quark's tip and arrived just in time to save her.
Major Kira joined Dax in exposing the conspiracy, just as it became clear that the anti-Cardassian "Circle" would actually be handing Bajor back to the Cardassians, who were secretly providing weapons to help the "Circle" drive out the Federation. The Cardassians wanted to return and gain control of the stable wormhole which has made Bajor much more valuable than it was in the past.
Kira and Sisko share a dislike for the Cardassians, yet each has done his or her duty when faced with the fact that they had to deal in a civil fashion with Cardassians. This is a character trait both Sisko and Kira share with Miles O'Brien.
Ben was upset with Julian when he spoke offhandedly about the commander's decision to help a race of prisoners escape from their planetary jail. Sisko, Kira and Julian had survived the crash of the runabout Yangtze Kiang but Kai Opaka was killed. The Kai was revived and forced to remain behind on that prison planet, a planet tortured by unending war fought by immortal combatants, men and women who have been forged into pure vessels of hate. Kai Opaka feels obligated to try to help these people. The parallels with Bajor are striking. The Kai remains alive, in forced exile, until Julian can find a way to return her to Bajor without killing her. Sisko is learning to respect the young doctor and takes his arrogance with a grain of salt.
Sisko used Ferengi psychology in his first encounter with the owner of the gambling casino, and surprisingly, he gained Quark's respect. Sisko understood the need for a plea bargain in order to force Quark's hand. Quark had expected his words to win his nephew Nog's freedom, yet when Sisko blackmailed him, Quark respected him. Sisko does not trust Quark; he knows enough about Ferengi intelligence to understand how to interact, but never to forget, he is dealing with a Ferengi.
Sisko was pleased when Keiko volunteered to open a school on Deep Space Nine. He had worried about Jake being forced to study alone with his computer and thought a school would help keep the children on the station out of trouble. Ben provided computers and space for the school, and his example of sending Jake helped encourage other parents to give the school a chance.
Keiko was happy that Sisko stood up for her when the fundamentalist Bajoran, Vedek Winn, attempted to shut down the school because teaching about the science of the wormhole offended Bajoran spiritual beliefs. Some parents objected to the study of vertiron particles, which were artificially generated by the beings who live in the wormhole. To some Bajorans this is blasphemy since the beings are worshipped as prophets on Bajor and the wormhole in the Denetrios Belt is regarded as the "Celestial Temple." Sisko was able to enlist the help of Vedek Bareil to fend off Winn's attempt to shut down Keiko's school. Sisko then saved Bareil from an assassin that Winn had sent in an attempt to ensure that she would be the next Kai.
The two enjoy baseball in the holosuites and Ben is a very active parent, offering a solid role model as he, forces Jake to do his homework and improve himself. Ben is not afraid to show his feelings, kissing an embarrassed Jake on the forehead or hugging him on the Promenade. Jake is glad to have his dad back. The two are rediscovering a feeling of family.
It was not until Ben encountered the beings in the wormhole that he was able to overcome his inability to accept Jennifer's death. This dramatic catharsis is evident in his second meeting with Picard. Sisko withdrew his request for a transfer as he finally realized how the Borg attack affected Picard as well; he realized that Picard's grief and his own were very similar. Ben finally understood that Picard remembered all the deaths in detail and he felt responsible for each and every loss. Picard realized that Ben had lost his wife in the tragedy and vowed to do his best to help Ben and Jake whenever he could; helping them eased his own demons as well. The two parted as friends and Ben Sisko had at last put the events of Wolf 359 in past.
Since his arrival on the space station Deep Space Nine, Captain Benjamin Sisko has become more rested and relaxed than he had been in recent years. Sisko had fully dealt with the death of his wife, Jennifer, who was killed three years earlier aboard the USS Saratogo when the vessel was attacked by the Borg. The attack occurred in the vicinity of the M5 Red Dwarf star known as Wolf 359. The Borg ship encountered an armada of 40 Federation ships, including Klingon ships, and destroyed them all, resulting in a death toll near ten thousand. Ben Sisko, then First Officer of the Saratoga, along with his son, Jake, were among the few survivors. The massacre, known as the Battle of Wolf 359, occurred on Stardate 43997.
Tear of the Phophet
Sisko accepted the assignment to Deep Space Nine under protest and was ready to bolt when he saw the condition of the station. He applied for a job as a professor at a Terran university and was seriously considering leaving Starfleet so he could raise Jake on Earth. Ben and Jake arrived at Deep Space Nine on Stardate 46379.1.
The Long Journey
Sisko was given a new lease on life. He developed his detached-almost maddening--calm command style after an incident that occurred in his first year at Starfleet Academy. An unannounced drill caught him by surprise and he panicked. He then learned that the best way to deal with a crisis situation was to keep his head and remain calm. This leads many unsuspecting adversaries to underrate him, as his calm demeanor belies what is going on in his mind from moment to moment. Enterprise Captain Picard is widely known for his similar cool under fire, but Sisko is even more drawn to the result his calm has on those around him, especially the junior officers under his command.
A Man of Many Talents
Sisko is an amateur astronomer and has taken to studying Bajoran constellations. His favorite is named "The Runners." He said that he always wondered whether they were running toward or away from something. He is a skilled chef, a trait he learned from his father. He was especially fond of his father's aubergine stew, a dish that he often makes for Jake and Dax. Sisko is a poet at heart. He has a love of baseball and has spent hours on holodecks recreating games. He speaks with great reverence for a game that ceased to exist centuries before he was born. Sisko has developed a relationship with some of the players, which proved to their advantage when an alien being took the form of Harmon "Buck" Bukai, the shortstop, third baseman for the London Kings who broke Joe Dimaggio's 56 game hitting streak in 2026.
Taking a Stand
Sisko is quietly gaining the respect of Bajoran and Federation alike with his calm, measured response to a crisis and his attempts to balance Bajoran mysticism and religion with the need to teach science and other disciplines. Sisko stood up to Vedek Winn, informing the Bajoran that he was neither the devil and nor their enemy. Kira was forced to admit Sisko was not a devil, an event that brought a rare smile to Sisko's face.
Klingon Poetry
The proud, defiant scientist then gave his own life to spare her the continued pain of a life-long mating to an egotist, the very pain that drove her into the coma. As he died, the wild scientist sparked an emotion in Sisko by mentioning an old Klingon poem. Sisko understood the reference. The terraformer died in response to the "Tale of Kang." The poem went into vivid detail on how great it was to die at the peak of one's existence--to pass this veil beloved, yet never to have been seen in tragic decline. The tragic Shakespearean lilt of Kang led him to perceive that there would be nothing worse than being an ancient warrior, pitied because he had slain all of his enemies, leaving him no more worlds to conquer. The scientist refused to allow himself to be pitied, thus finishing a magnificent stellar first-time-ever event--the artificial creation of a star--to end his career on a perfect high note.
Sisko and Dax
Benjamin Sisko first met Curzon Dax, who served as his mentor, years before. At that time, Dax was a male. While Ben knew that Dax would join him on DS9, he was surprised, and somewhat amused, to learn that Dax was now a beautiful young woman rather than the elderly man who previously had guided Ben. Whenever Sisko sees Julian or another young man make an attempt at seduction, he is reminded of a kindly old man, smiling with the same bemused expression as Jadzia. Curzon Dax was a hard-drinking, two-fisted fighter, a womanizer and borderline sexist. Can one still be sexist when one has been both sexes and shares memories of being at times a boy, a girl, a mother and a father? Dax has been all things at different times. Sisko is still learning to adapt to the new being named Jadzia Dax.
Keeping Her Silence
Jadzia Dax was prepared to give her combined lives to protect the general's name, his widow's reputation, and the honor and respect of all Trills, who willingly agree to assume responsibility for crimes that were committed by previous hosts. When an armed attack by a renegade Trill occurred, Benjamin shot Dax with a phaser without shooting Jadzia. The Dax symbiont had been surgically removed and placed into the renegade Trill's body. The Trill felt that he had been denied Dax. Sisko used his friendship with Dax to confuse the Trill body thief. Dax will always carry part of him inside her, along with the memories of Toban Dax, Curzon Dax and all the other seven host/symbiont combinations.
Sisko and Kira
The relationship between Sisko and Kira is one of the most complex on the space station. The feisty Bajoran freedom fighter spent her life trying to free her people from a powerful empire, only to see her planet invite in another, if somewhat more benevolent, empire in the form of the Federation. When Sisko arrives, he evicts her from the prefect's office, which she had taken as her own after Gul Dukat fled the ore processing station. She notices the hate in Sisko's eyes as he heads off to encounter Picard, whom he is unable to separate from his memories of Locutus of Borg, the leader of the Borg massacre at Wolf 359.
Religious Manipulation
This complex intermix of religion and science has led to heated exchanges between Kira and Sisko. For example, Major Kira initially backed Vedek Winn's attempt to intimidate Keiko into changing her school curriculum. After Winn's bombing of the school and the attempted assassination of Bareil, Ben was then able to get the Bajoran nationals to stand behind the Deep Space Nine crew.
Dr. Julian Bashir
Sisko takes a perverse pleasure in forcing Julian to endure what he, himself, had to endure in his youth. He made the doctor escort some alien ambassadors around and Commander Sisko pointed out how Curzon Dax used to do the same to him. The task proved up to julian's talents when the young doctor's quick thinking was able to save the life of the Vulcan, Bolian and female alien ambassador during a flash fire.
Odo and Quark
Sisko has told Odo he likes him because he is blunt. He always knows where Odo stands on an issue. He also appreciates Odo's obvious zeal for justice and, especially in relation to security. Yet Ben has to deal with the fact that Odo is often more concerned with pure justice than with the enforcement of rules and regulations. Odo was not optimistic about having a Starfleet officer in command; he was prepared to dislike Sisko immediately. That bias was encouraged when Sisko violated the constable's 'No weapons on the Promenade' rule. Odo was, however, impressed with the way in which Sisko blackmailed Quark and manipulated the Ferengi. Odo gained respect for Sisko when the commander gave him the authority over Starfleet security operations.
Miles and Keiko
Sisko liked Miles O'Brien at first sight and has found the former Enterprise transporter chief to be a true miracle worker, able to coax Cardassian equipment into doing the impossible. Sisko and Miles have a close relationship and he is glad to have such a capable engineer, especially when the station goes on Red Alert and Miles finds his skills put to the test with the lives of every being on the station hanging in the balance.
Jake Sisko
The relationship between Ben and Jake is very complex and has been tested by the demands of duty and the fact that both father and son are still dealing with the death of Jennifer Sisko. Sisko has strived to be jake's friend as well as his father, yet Ben feels that he neglected his son when he was blinded by grief for his wife. Ben felt guilty about putting Jennifer and Jake at risk on the Saratoga, but his transformation in the wormhole helped restore the father Jake had lost when he lost his mother. Sisko became a whole person again, one capable of being the father Jake wanted and needed.
The Shadow of Jean-Luc Picard
When Sisko arrived at Bajor to take command of Deep Space Nine, he encountered Jean-Luc Picard for the first time...that is, as Picard. Sisko had met him before--in battle. When Picard had been kidnapped and transformed by the Borg into Locutus of Borg, Sisko knew intellectually that Picard was not to blame for his forced actions, yet emotionally he could not separate Picard from the being that killed Jennifer. Picard had not met another survivor of Wolf 359. Sisko later realized he had added to Picard's pain and felt a deep sense of regret for reopening the painful wound. He behaved poorly, yet at the time, the events of Wolf 359 was still replaying constantly in his mind.