Commander's log. Stardate 48481.2.
My staff and l have been asked to address the Starfleet Symposium
on the situation in the Gamma Quadrant.
l'm looking forward to the opportunity and to visiting my sister in Portland.
Entering Earth orbit.
- l never get tired of looking at this. - The seas could be more purple.
- They're not green enough. - lt's true what they say.
''There is no place like home.'' No matter what colour the water is.
We should get ready, Benjamin. Dinner tonight with Admiral Drazman.
Droner Drazman, the commander of the Proxima Maintenance Yards?
You're welcome to come along. The senior staff was invited.
Full dress uniform, fine table linens, a different fork for every course?
No thanks. That's why l stayed an enlisted man.
They don't expect me to show up for formal dinners.
- Major, Constable, will you join us? - No, thank you.
l'd say this is strictly a Starfleet occasion.
Commander, l'm receiving an emergency message from DS9.
On screen.
- Commander, am l glad to see you. - This better be good, Quark.
You're on an emergency channel.
The Grand Nagus wants me to remind you
of the critical role he played in contacting the Dominion.
l will mention the Nagus' assistance prominently in my report to Starfleet.
There is one more thing.
The Nagus' nephew Belongo is being held by Starfleet on Aldebaran lll.
A slight misunderstanding, l'm sure.
A misunderstanding the Nagus no doubt wants cleared up.
- l do owe him a favour. - He thinks so too.
And to quote the 111th Rule of Acquisition...
''Treat people in your debt like family. Exploit them.''
l have been reading up. Tell the Nagus l will do everything l can.
But remind him of the 217th Rule of Acquisition.
''You can't free a fish from water.''
l'll be sure the Nagus gets the message.
She's all yours, Major. Energise, Mr O'Brien.
Aye, sir.
- That's strange. - What's wrong?
Nothing serious.
Just a power fluctuation in the annular confinement beam.
- That's impossible. - What happened?
l stabilised the beam,
but according to our sensors they never materialised at their destination.
They're just...gone.
OK, buddy, come on. Rise and shine. Come on.
- Look what we have here. - Who are you?
Who am l? Do you believe this?
Sleeping Beauty's asking me questions. Up!
Hey, Vin, we've been working all night. Why don't we forget them?
l want to see Sonya and the kids and get some sleep.
Are you an anarchist? There's a law against sleeping in the streets.
Though l do like the matching pyjamas.
- Let's see some logo. - Logo?
lD. ldentification. UHC card. Transit pass.
Where are we? What happened to Starfleet Headquarters?
Just what we need - two more dims.
Those shotguns and uniforms... There's something familiar about this.
From the last time you were in a Sanctuary District.
- Sanctuary District? What year is this? - Same year as yesterday. 2024.
Let's go.
How do they find us?
- Are you OK? - My head...
Did you get jacked or something?
Jacked?
Robbed.
Did they get your credit chips, your lD?
lt looks like they got everything.
Except my brooch.
Do you live near here?
Can you get home?
l was travelling with friends.
We got separated.
You shouldn't walk around without lD.
You'd better order replacements.
You can use my lnterface terminal.
My office is just around the corner.
That's kind of you...
- Chris Brynner. - Jadzia.
Pretty name. What is that, Dutch?
Something like that. lt's kind of you to help me.
Don't mention it. lt's not every day
that l get to rescue a damsel in distress.
Let me help you.
lt's just this way.
Check the Heisenberg compensators.
l'll run a level-1 diagnostic of the pattern buffers, see if there's a field imbalance.
- Chief. - Any news from Starfleet?
Commander Sisko and the others never materialised in San Francisco.
Our transporter signal disintegrated after we began the beam-out sequence.
That doesn't agree with our records.
The system log shows the transport was completed.
- They materialised somewhere. - That's good. But where?
l wish l knew. Whatever the answer is, it's not in the log.
Only the variance in the annular confinement beam was unusual.
- But that's corrected. - lt was simple.
The beam reacted to the chroniton particles in the hull.
- Chroniton particles? - From the cloaking device.
Sometimes they become lodged in the ship's ablative armour matrix.
We've used the transporter since the cloaking device was installed.
- There's never been a problem. - There shouldn't be one now.
Wait a minute. There was a surge in temporal energy
seconds before the initiation of the transporter sequence.
- ls that a clue? - Yes.
l just don't know what it means yet.
- How do you feel? - Better.
Me too. Probably transporter shock. Disorienting, but it wears off quickly.
We're in San Francisco. l caught a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge.
- l saw it too. - What happened to our combadges?
They were probably stolen when we were unconscious.
This is not the Earth we're used to. That's at least a century away.
l wonder what happened to Dax.
She was in the transporter beam. She must be affected too.
She's probably somewhere nearby.
- We've got to find her. - And then what?
And then we find our way home.
- All right, let's go. Bring them. - OK, let's go. Hurry it up.
Sonya's gonna kill me.
- What is this place? - A Sanctuary District.
21 st century history is not one of my strong points. Too depressing.
lt's been a hobby of mine. They made some ugly mistakes,
but they also paved the way for things we take for granted.
- l assume this is one of the mistakes. - A bad one.
By the 2020s there was a place like this in every major city in the United States.
Why are these people here? Are they criminals?
Criminals weren't allowed in the Sanctuary Districts.
- What did they do to deserve this? - Nothing.
They're just people without jobs or places to live.
- So they get put in here? - Welcome to the 21 st century, Doctor.
Hold it right there.
- lf you want to go home, go home. - Thanks.
Shall we?
Hi.
Sorry to keep you waiting.
- Were you able to order new lD? - Just finished.
lt took a while to convince them l was who l said l was.
They'll be expressing a transit pass and some credit chips.
- They'll send it here, if that's OK. - No problem.
Thanks for letting me use your terminal and your account.
You know, those are very unusual.
- Oh, you mean my tattoos. - lt's amazing work.
- Did you have them done in Japan? - How did you guess?
l had one myself. A Maori tribal pattern.
lt used to go all the way down my arm.
Got it in high school in the '90s, like everybody else.
Of course, l had to have it removed. You know how it is.
To get the government contracts, you have to look like the rest of the drones.
- l guess that makes me a sell-out. - Not necessarily.
- What kind of business do you do? - You don't know?
l'll have to have a talk with my public relations people.
l'm Chris Brynner. Brynner lnformation Systems?
lnterface Operations, Net Access, Channel 90?
That Chris Brynner!
What do you think? Am l a sell-out or not?
Probably, but l won't hold it against you.
These friends you told me about...
ls there any way for you to get hold of them?
l wish l could.
Left hand.
Other hand.
Look straight ahead.
Now stand over here.
Welcome to SafeTech's fingerprint database.
Your government discount has been accepted.
Remember our new retinal scan services, accessible on Channel 1 78.
Yeah, yeah. Save the commercial.
Sorry, but the fingerprints you have provided are not on record.
No lD, no fingerprint record, no lnterface account.
- lt's like you two don't exist. - Then why not let us go?
Let's see, you don't have any lD, you don't have any money,
and you're both dressed like clowns. You figure it out.
Please fill out these forms to the best of your ability.
An interpreter can be provided and the questions can be given verbally.
lf there is any part you do not understand, ask for assistance.
Now sit down, shut up and fill out the forms.
lf you've got any problems, don't come to me with them.
Thank you...very much.
l appreciate Admiral Ngomo's offer,
but no one beams onto this ship until we know what's going on.
lf they want to come up by shuttle, that's fine.
Major, l know what happened to Commander Sisko and the others.
The temporal surge was caused by an explosion
of a microscopic singularity passing through this solar system.
The energy emitted by the singularity shifted the chroniton particles in our hull
into a high state of temporal polarisation.
Which means what?
The transporter beam was redirected as it passed through the particles.
- Redirected where? - Not where. When.
The beam was redirected through time, not space.
They arrived in San Francisco, like they were supposed to.
But not when they were supposed to. Are we talking about days? Weeks?
More like centuries.
This is ridiculous.
We've been here three hours, and the line's barely moved.
l got one word for you - plenty of overtime.
- That's three words. - For a dim, you're pretty smart.
Now go back and take a seat.
Oh, boy.
Some of these people are mentally ill.
They need proper medical treatment.
l know, but they're not going to get it. Not now anyway.
What is it?
That calendar over there says August 30th, 2024.
l don't understand.
- Ever heard of the Bell Riots? - Vaguely.
lt was one of the most violent civil disturbances in history.
lt happened right here. San Francisco, Sanctuary District A,
the first week of September 2024.
That's only a few days from now.
lf we don't get out of here soon, we'll be caught right in the middle of it.
Just how bad are these riots going to be, Commander?
Bad. The Sanctuary residents will take over the district.
Guards will be taken hostage.
The government will send in troops to restore order.
- Hundreds of residents will be killed. - Hundreds?
And there's nothing we can do to prevent it.
Starfleet's temporal displacement policy sounds good in the classroom,
but to know that hundreds of people are going to die
and not to be able to save them...
l sympathise, Doctor, but if it will make you feel any better,
the riots will be one of the watershed events of the 21 st century.
Gabriel Bell will see to that. The man they named the riots after.
He is one of the Sanctuary residents who'll be guarding the hostages.
The troops will storm this place, based on rumours that the hostages are dead.
lt turns out the hostages were never harmed, because of Gabriel Bell.
ln the end, Bell sacrifices his own life to save them. He'll become a hero.
Outrage over his death and the death of the other residents
will change public opinion about the Sanctuaries.
They'll be torn down and the United States will correct the social problems
it had struggled with for over 1 00 years.
And all of this is going to happen in the next few days.
lf we warn these people about what's coming, if we try to help them,
we risk altering a pivotal moment in history.
We can't let that happen.
l hate to break up your intimate conversation, but you're next.
ls there something wrong?
These forms say you're dims, but you're not, are you?
- l hope you're not disappointed. - Pleasantly surprised is more like it.
l owe you an apology.
lf l'd known you were gimmes, l'd have processed your application sooner.
- Gimmes? - They're American slang terms.
l try not to use them. lt's a bad habit.
Gimmes are people like you, people looking for help, a job, a place to live.
And the dims? Don't they need help?
The dims should be in hospitals,
but the government can't afford to keep them there, so we get them.
l hate it, but that's the way it is.
l see here that you have just arrived in San Francisco.
- Do you have any jobs lined up? - No. We aren't staying very long.
Have you got a place to stay or anyone who can vouch for you?
No, we were travelling with a friend, but we were separated.
- Can you contact this friend of yours? - Not at the moment.
ln that case, you'll have to stay here in the Sanctuary for the time being.
- We can't leave? - lt's for your own safety and it's the law.
What about jobs?
How are we supposed to find work, somewhere to live, if we're stuck here?
- We provide job placement. - How long does that usually take?
l wish l could give you a definite answer,
but jobs are hard to come by, what with the economy and all.
My advice is to be patient. ln the meantime, take these.
With these ration cards you can get food and water at any distribution point.
- Hang on to them. - Where are we supposed to stay?
Anywhere you like. The buildings in the District are there for everyone to use.
Thanks for your help.
One more thing, a little advice. Stay away from District Security.
They've had their budget cut again. They're overworked and underpaid.
Just give them space. And watch out for ghosts.
Ghosts?
People who haven't integrated well into the Sanctuary.
They can be dangerous and tend to prey on other residents.
Thanks for the warning. We'll stay away from them.
Dax to Sisko.
Dax to Bashir. lf you can hear me, please respond.
OK, my assistant has got you a room at the Cliff for the next five nights.
- You didn't have to do that. - l know that, but l wanted to.
- So, what are your plans? - l still have to find my friends.
l hope you don't mind, but l had Britt do some checking.
No one matching their descriptions has been admitted into any hospital.
- That's good news. - l'd like to know how this turns out.
l'm having a little get-together here tomorrow.
l'd like you to come if you want.
- You and your friends. - l'd like that.
- Well, good luck. - Thanks. l could use it.
- You can't come in here. - We're looking for somewhere to sleep.
- You'll have to look someplace else. - Let me guess. This building is full.
Sorry.
Every building we go to, it's the same story. They can't all be full.
A main complaint against the Sanctuary Districts was overcrowding.
They didn't care how many people were here.
They just wanted them out of sight.
And once they were out of sight, what then?
l mean, look at this man. There's no need for him to live like that.
With the right medication, he could lead a normal life.
- Maybe in our time. - Not just in our time.
There are effective treatments for schizophrenia,
even in this day and age.
They could cure that man today, if they gave a damn.
lt's not that they don't give a damn, they've just given up.
The social problems they face seem too enormous to deal with.
That only makes things worse.
Causing people to suffer because you hate them is terrible,
but causing people to suffer because you've forgotten how to care,
that's really hard to understand.
They'll remember. lt'll take some time and it won't be easy,
but eventually people in this century will remember how to care.
But it makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Are humans really any different than Cardassians or Romulans?
lf push comes to shove, if something disastrous happens to the Federation,
if we are frightened or desperate enough, how would we react?
Would we stay true to our ideals or would we just stay here?
Right back where we started?
l don't know.
But as a Starfleet officer, it's my job to make sure we never have to find out.
Get his food card.
Remember, we can't interfere.
- You got a problem? - No problem.
You look upset. lf we've done anything to offend you,
let us know so we can be sure not to do it again.
Don't worry about us. We're new here.
Really? l never would have guessed.
Let me be the first to welcome you. Would you like a piece of this?
No, thanks.
Gimmes... No sense of fun.
We're just looking for a place to sleep.
ln that case, you better look somewhere else...new boy.
You heard what he said. Let's go.
Enjoy your stay, and in a few days l know you'll feel right at home.
Bye.
So, in theory, we should be able to travel into the past
by focusing the transporter beam through the chroniton particles.
But we don't know where in time Sisko and the others are.
l've narrowed it down to a dozen possibilities,
but we only have enough chronitons for six attempts.
We'll have to take chances.
Send a team to the most likely time periods to find them.
The hard part will be to find of volunteers crazy enough
to risk getting lost in time.
l know a few likely candidates.
Here you go, Julian.
lf we ever get home,
l promise never to complain about the station's Cardassian beds again.
- Where is everybody? - ln the food lines, waiting for breakfast.
lt's not much to look at, but it's better than nothing.
l'm sorry. They ran out of utensils and napkins.
Why am l not surprised?
When you've finished eating, we should get up on a roof.
- l want a better look at the place. - Do you think there's a way out?
lf there is, we'll find it.
Not you two guys again. l told you, we don't have any room.
We just want to get on the roof...
Whatever you want, you can't come in. We've got to protect what's ours.
Maybe we can make a deal.
lsn't there something we can exchange to get access to the roof?
l don't know. What have you got to offer?
That's what l thought. Maybe you should try another building.
Wait a minute.
Maybe we can make a deal after all.
At least now we look like we belong here.
Yeah, and we smell just as bad as everyone else too.
- Stay away from him. - Just put the knife down.
Step into the light so l can see you.
We're trying to get a better look at the place from the roof.
- lt doesn't look any better from there. - Dad...
lt's going to be OK.
- What happened? - He was beaten up by some ghosts.
There's only one doctor on duty at the Processing Centre.
Let me take a look. l know a bit about medicine.
lt can't hurt to just look.
Hey. l'm just going to take a quick look here, OK?
Does that hurt?
Here?
Looks like you've been lucky.
No broken ribs, and these cuts are mostly superficial.
You're going to be OK.
You need to disinfect these wounds. Alcohol should do.
l think l can get some.
OK. Here we go.
Looks like we made a new friend.
Hey, the District could use another doctor.
- l don't practice anymore. - The people here need you.
l'm sorry, but they'll have to get along without me.
You two are new here, so let me explain something to you.
Forget about getting out of here soon. This is your home now.
We must help each other. lf we don't pull together, we're finished.
We want to be left alone.
My mistake. l thought you wanted to get out of here.
We do.
We must let people on the outside know what's going on in here.
Do whatever you want, just leave us out of it.
lf you want to be left alone, that's fine with me.
But if you want to help us and help yourselves, you know where to find me.
Our sea floor mining project is almost ready to go into operation.
The Pan-Carribbean government did have some misgivings,
but l think we've won them over.
You just came back from Christchurch?
Yes, did a little skiing on Mount Cook.
You're lucky. We had to cancel our trip to the Alps
because of the student protests in France.
l thought the Neo-Trotskyists were going to put a stop to that.
They're not having any more luck than the Gaullists did.
Europe is falling apart.
At least we don't have to worry about that kind of thing here.
Don't count on it.
You must excuse Jadzia's cynicism. She was mugged yesterday.
That gives you a negative impression of the future.
So, who mugged you? Did you see them?
lt doesn't matter. l'm just glad l wasn't hurt.
Whoever it was did a thorough job. They even took her lD.
Chris rescued me and let me use his computer to get my replacement lD.
You're lucky the police didn't find you first.
lf they'd caught you on the street without lD,
you might have ended up in a Sanctuary District.
l thought they stopped doing that.
lt's the only way to keep those people off the streets.
Excuse us a minute.
- ls that true? - ls what true?
About taking people without lD to a Sanctuary District.
- Yes, it is. Why? - l still haven't found my friends.
They might be in a Sanctuary District?
lt's possible. l might have wound up in one.
- Can we check if they're inside? - That might take some doing.
The Sanctuary District records are not posted on the Net.
But l might be able to pull in some favours.
And l thought the lines of the Replimat were bad.
By the time we get dinner, it'll be time for breakfast.
Before they lock thousands into a 20-square-block area,
they should think about how those people would get fed.
l'm going to see how much longer this is going to take.
Hey, Gimme!
l'm talking to you. Let me see your food card.
What for?
- Because l said so. - Let him go.
- What? - l said, let him go.
Well, when you put it like that...
Leave him alone.
Are you all right?
Get his card. Get his food card.
- Come on, let's get out of here. - Come on, let's go.
Help him. He wouldn't have gotten hurt if it wasn't for us.
Breathe, damn you. Breathe.
He's gone.
Come on. We've got to get out of here.
Cover!
They're gone.
For now, but they're the least of our worries.
That man who just got killed trying to help us...
that man was Gabriel Bell.
lf only l'd had my medkit.
Even if l'd got him to a hospital, l might have been able to save him.
- You did all you could. - But it wasn't enough, was it?
A good man died because of us.
And what's going to happen to the hostages?
Without Bell, there's a good chance those hostages are going to die.
And if that happens, how is it going to affect the future?
We have to save them. We have to make sure those hostages survive.
Let's get to the transporter room before we change our minds.
Too late. lt looks like Starfleet's changed our minds for us.
Headquarters thinks our plan's too risky.
They're afraid that we may contaminate the timeline.
- Get me Admiral Wright. - l had a feeling you'd say that.
- That's odd. - What?
l'm not getting any response from Starfleet.
ls something wrong with our communications array?
l was talking to Starfleet Security when my com line went dead.
There's nothing wrong on our end. Everything checks out fine.
lt could be interference. Try a wideband subspace signal.
Still nothing.
Maybe if l direct it toward a Federation communications satellite in Earth orbit...
- What is it, Chief? - They're not there.
The entire Earth satellite network is gone.
The spacedocks? The orbital habitats?
All of it. The Utopia Planitia Yards on Mars,
the terraforming stations on Venus, Starfleet Headquarters.
l can't detect a single sign of Starfleet activity anywhere in this sector.
Try a non-Federation frequency.
The only subspace signals are coming from the vicinity of Alpha Centauri.
- And they're Romulan. - That's impossible.
Do you think Sisko and the others might have altered the timeline?
- They must have. - Why weren't we affected?
l'm not sure. Maybe when it exploded,
the singularity that polarised the chroniton particles
created some kind of subspace bubble around the ship,
isolated it from the changes in the timeline.
l'm not sure. l have to run some tests.
One thing's for certain, right now this ship is all that's left of Starfleet.
- You didn't want to get involved. - We changed our minds.
Glad to hear it. We can use all the help we can get.
This place is about to explode.
Most of us live here because they promised us jobs.
l haven't been on any job interviews, and neither has anyone else.
They've forgotten about us.
- What do we do? - We make them remember.
We're going to hold a rally outside the Processing Centre.
l want everyone to be there - gimmes, ghosts, even the dims.
l want to remind the people outside that we haven't done anything wrong,
that we're not criminals, and that we don't deserve this.
- We'll spread the word. - Good.
One more thing. Tell people when they come to the rally
to bring their families, their kids, and try to look their best.
We're not derelicts, no matter what they say about us.
- l could use a shave. - Not to mention a bath.
Yes.
Yes, thank you.
You were right. Your friends are in Sanctuary District A.
- When can we get them out? - lt might not be easy.
The personnel have to find them. There are 1 0,000 people in there.
- How long will it take? - They're not sure. Your friends are fine.
That's the point of the Sanctuary. To give people in trouble a place to stay.
lf that's all it's for, then why is there a wall around it?
ln front of the Processing Centre. Spread the word.
Got it? The day after tomorrow.
Try to be there and tell everyone you know.
We've talked to 500 people today.
That only leaves about 9,000 to go.
Slow down. What's going on?
A guard got into a fight with a dim. Everyone's going crazy.
l have to find my dad.
Give me that. Get back.
Get away.
We have to get him off the street.
- Hands on your head and face the wall. - You can't do this.
l can do anything l want. Now, against the wall.
That's enough.
Well, look who we've got here.
Way to show initiative, new boy.
Take him and throw him back there along with the rest of our guests.
- What do you think you're doing? - l think l'm making a political statement.
Maybe if we're lucky, l might even be able to stage a nice little photo op.
l hope that meets with your approval.
Do as he says.
All right! l've waited a long time for this.
And l know l won't be disappointed. Ain't that right, new boy?
The name is Bell. Gabriel Bell.

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