The crew of DS9 anxiously await the arrival of the USS Sao Paulo, the starship which is to replace the Defiant,
which was destroyed in battle. As Admiral Ross transfers the ship to Sisko's command, he points out that Starfleet has
granted dispensation to change the ship's name from Sao Paulo to Defiant.
Meanwhile, in their stolen Jem'Hadar warship, Kira, Damar and Garak return to Cardassia Prime to rendezvous with Gul Revok
and Legate Goris, who have pledged themselves and some half a million troops to join the Resistance. However, when they beam
down to the arranged co-ordinates, they discover they have walked into a trap and Jem'Hadar soldiers
have infiltrated the base, killing Damar's men. They contact their ship for an emergency beam-out, but the ship is under
attack and is destroyed by the Jem'Hadar. Kira, Damar and Garak are stranded on Cardassia. Fortunately, they haven't been
spotted by the Jem'Hadar and Garak leads them to safety -- in the home of his father, Enabran Tain, the late head of the
Obsidian Order. Now only Mila, their housekeeper lives in the house and she agrees to let them hide out in the basement.
Quark receives a message from Grand Nagus Zek. The message is marred by static, making conversation difficult, but the gist
of it is that Zek has decided to retire to Risa and he is on his way to DS9 to announce Quark as his successor. Meanwhile,
Bashir certifies Odo fit for duty, but has to inform him the truth behind his condition -- namely that he was deliberately
infected by Section 31 to serve as a carrier to transmit the disease to the Founders. Odo is appalled that Federation
citizens have attempted to use him as an instrument of genocide. He takes the matter to Sisko, who claims that although the
Federation is similarly appalled at Section 31's actions, they have decided not to share the cure with the Founders in light
of the war effort. Odo points out that although Starfleet claims to abhor Section 31's actions, the truth is that they are
willing to turn a blind eye whenever it suits them. "It's a tidy little arrangement, wouldn't you say?" Sisko makes
Odo promise that he won't take matters into his own hands.
Bashir and Ezri, meanwhile, finally confront their feelings for each other, having been skirting around each other for
weeks. They resolve, somewhat reluctantly, that despite their mutual attraction, they don't want to jeopardise their
friendship. As Quark relishes his impending Nagus-hood, his nemesis Brunt arrives -- not to cause trouble, for once, but to
suck up to the new Nagus.
On Cardassia, Weyoun makes an address to the Cardassian people, announcing that Damar has been killed and his Resistance
group obliterated. Clearly, the Dominion believe Damar was killed when his ship was destroyed. Kira tries to motivate Damar
and Garak, but at the moment there seems little option for them but to spend the rest of the war hiding out in Mila's
basement. Mila, however, explains that Damar's death has made him a martyr among their people. If he were to make a stand,
others would follow. He, Kira and Garak make plans to incite a revolution.
Quark learns from the obsequious new-best-friend Brunt that there have been sweeping changes taking place on Ferenginar; in
addition to equal rights for females, Zek has introduced various social and welfare reforms. Quark is disgusted that the
Ferenginar he knows and loves has been reduced to a democracy wherein the revered qualities of greed and avarice have become
redundant. While lamenting the situation to Rom, who
successfully buys the bar from him, he decides that as Nagus, he is going to eradicate this "disease" that is eating away at
the heart of Ferengi culture. "The line has to be drawn here!! This point, and no farther!"
News, meantime, has reached Cardassia that the Federation has developed a counter-measure to the Breen energy-dissipating
weapon. The Founder has decided that a change of tactics is called for. She explains to Weyoun, Thot Pran and Legate Broca,
the newly-instated leader of Cardassia, that they are going to pull back their forces into Cardassian space where they will
concentrate their forces and use the time to initiate a massive ship-building effort.
Elsewhere on Cardassia, Damar and cohorts launch their offensive. Garak has planted a bomb inside a Jem'Hadar barracks,
although he is apprehended by Jem'Hadar soldiers. Kira and Damar come to his rescue and they hastily retreat to a safe
distance as the bomb detonates. Amid the smouldering ruins, Damar and calls forth to all Cardassians present to rise up and
join him in his crusade to defeat the Dominion and liberate their homeland. He stirs a burning passion among the crowd and
they rally around and pledge their lives to join him in freeing Cardassia. The revolution has begun!
Matters of a more intimate nature come to a head when Bashir and Ezri run into each other in a turbolift and by the time
they reach their destination, Ops, they are locked in a passionate embrace, oblivious to all else. O'Brien and Worf note
with relief that it's about time the two sorted things out. In Quark's, Zek and Ishka arrive and are bombarded by Quark's
fiery pledge to restore Ferenginar to its origin state as soon as he's crowned Nagus. "Who wants you to be Nagus?" retorts
Ishka. It seems both Quark and Zek got the wrong end of the stick -- Zek intended to make Rom Nagus. Owing to the static
that garbled his earlier message, Zek mistook Quark for Rom. Zek notes that the new Ferenginar needs a new kind of Nagus, "a
kinder, gentler Nagus". Quark is incensed and declares that, as far as he is concerned, the Ferenginar he knew and loved is
dead -- and only exists in his bar. His bar will stand as a monument to all that made Ferenginar great. He declares that he
will buy the bar back off Rom, but Rom tenderly tells his brother that he can have the bar as a present.
In the wardroom, Sisko convenes a meeting with Admiral Ross, Chancellor Martok and Romulan Senator Velal. They discuss the
Dominion's retreat back to Cardassia. They grimly acknowledge that, although an offensive will be costly, they cannot allow
the Dominion to rebuild its fleet. They opt to launch a major offensive against the Dominion, one that will determine the
the outcome of the war one way or the other.
Sisko returns to his quarters, where Kasidy informs him that she is pregnant. Although not exactly planned ("looks like one
of us forgot to take his injection last month"), Sisko is delighted at the news. Kasidy, on the other hand, is deeply
concerned, recalling the Prophets' warning that Sisko must not marry her. What if this warning had something to do with
their baby? Sisko gently reassures her that everything is going to be alright. If only he could believe that himself...