lt's all right, Chief. You're going to be fine.
What happened?
You were re-routing a phase inducer when a plasma conduit blew out.
Easy there. You have a mild case of radiation poisoning.
l've given you some hyronalin to counteract the effects.
- He should be restricted to light duty. - Agreed.
The transport's arrived and they want permission to dock.
Route them to docking bay 12.
Tell the Romulan delegation we'll meet them there.
And Chief... Light duty means light.
l don't want you crawling around looking for power surges.
You won't get any arguments today.
Ready, Major?
Promenade.
{y:i}Du'cha Kovah! {y:i}Estah!
l wasn't aware there were any Klingons on the station.
They just arrived a few hours ago.
The main computer on their freighter was damaged
and they need a complete overhaul
before they can go back to the Klingon Empire.
How long will this overhaul take?
Two days, at least.
The Romulan delegation has arrived and they'll be here for two days
while they study our reports on the Dominion.
Keep a close eye on the Klingons.
We don't need any trouble right now.
Understood. Let's go.
Welcome to Deep Space 9.
l'm Commander Sisko, this is my first officer, Major Kira.
l am Ruwon. This is Karina.
We're ready for your report on the Dominion.
We have quarters arranged for you.
lt was a long trip, perhaps you'd like to...
We're not interested in that. We are here for your briefing.
Nothing else.
Very well. lf you'll come this way...
This will be the foul line. We must put a marker on the floor.
How will this help my business?
No, that's not right. The number 20 should be at the top.
Trust me. Darts and bars go together like bacon and eggs.
At least people order bacon and eggs.
No one ever wanted the dart board.
Trust me. They will.
l just don't see the appeal of this game.
No lasers, no holograms... just steel tips and feathers.
lt's a game of skill, Quark.
And it's not so easy. Go ahead.
Try to get one in the bull's-eye.
No!
What if one of those darts had gotten into his eye?
Do you realise l'd be liable? Do you know how much an eye costs?
You shouldn't throw them like that.
You throw them gently... one at a time. Like this.
Chief O'Brien? The Klingons have destroyed two holosuites.
This happens every time Klingons come to the station.
Just keep them out of the holosuites.
Did you ever say no to a Klingon?
Besides, they're paying me double.
Chief? Chief!
You had a muscle spasm caused by a decrease in your calcium levels.
lt's a side-effect of radiation poisoning.
l'll give you something for the pain.
But what about...the vision l had?
Mild hallucinations are a side-effect of radiation poisoning.
lt was anything but mild.
l really felt l was standing on the Promenade
watching myself talking to Quark.
What was the conversation about?
He was complaining about the Klingons
who damaged two of his holosuites.
Well, you do have one problem.
lf you only hallucinate about Quark's problems, you have a sad fantasy life.
Oh, well... Thank you for your professional opinion.
Any time. My doors are always open to you, Chief.
The Dominion represents the greatest threat
to the Alpha Quadrant in the last century.
We need more information on its military capabilities.
How many ships do they have and where? What are their plans?
- Are they planning an attack? - We don't know.
One of the Founders of the Dominion is here.
He should be able to tell us all we need to know.
Odo is not one of the Founders.
Your reports indicate that changelings are the real power behind the Dominion.
- Yes. - And Odo is a changeling.
- But he's not a Founder. - l fail to see the distinction.
Odo made a conscious choice to stay here with us.
He has no loyalties to the Dominion and no information about their plans.
That's hard to believe.
lt's the truth, whether you believe it or not.
We let you place our cloaking device
on the Defiant in exchange for information about the Dominion.
Now you have the cloaking device and we have very little.
We needn't remind you of the importance
both our governments place on continuing to carry out this agreement.
lt's the first treaty between Romulus and the Federation in years.
l'm aware of that and l want to cooperate with you in any way l can.
Very well.
We want to see all the information Starfleet has on the Dominion.
lncluding any reports to Starfleet Command.
- l'll have to check with Starfleet. - Then do it.
- Chief O'Brien. - What is it, Quark?
The Klingons just destroyed two holosuites. l need a maintenance crew.
We go through this every time Klingons come aboard the station.
Why don't you just...
l think my holosuites can wait.
lt looks like you have bigger problems.
l went over the sensor logs and found evidence
of a temporal disturbance in Quark's and another one on the Promenade.
Both happened at the same time as the Chief's experiences.
So you did travel into the future
and then returned to the same moment you left.
Have you any idea what caused this...time shift?
Not yet.
l want to go over the medical scans Julian took earlier.
That dose of ionising radiation may have something to do with it.
- How? - l'm not sure,
but l've heard theories that low level radiation could have a temporal...
Look out!
...effect on radioactive isotopes.
Chief!
Mr O'Brien.
l ran a scan and detected minute damage to his nerve cells.
lt might have been caused by the time shifting.
- Can you repair it? - Yes. But if you keep time shifting,
the damage might become irreparable.
Eventually, it might even kill you.
Don't worry. Dax is scanning the station for temporal abnormalities.
Well, if anyone can find the cause of the time shifts, it's Dax.
Do you know how far into the future you travelled?
There was nothing to indicate it was today, tomorrow, or next week.
This conference with the Romulans shouldn't last longer than three days.
ln the meantime l'll have Odo tighten security in Quark's.
- How are you feeling, Chief? - Better.
Good. Commander, can we speak?
Of course.
The Romulans want to debrief everyone who was on the Defiant.
They're not happy with the information collected by the Defiant.
They want access to the Defiant.
And complete access to our personal logs.
That's out of the question. But they can have limited access to the Defiant.
l know they're pushing us, Major.
But consider their position. No Romulan ships have ever been
to the Gamma Quadrant or encountered the Dominion.
They depend on us for information.
They should find out for themselves.
The Romulans prefer to sit back and pull the strings from a distance.
This puppet doesn't like her strings pulled.
l know. But they've lived up to their end of the bargain.
We have to live up to ours.
l'll draw up a schedule of interviews and tell everyone to cooperate.
And Major, when you're with the Romulans, try to be diplomatic.
l'm always diplomatic.
That is ridiculous and l resent the implication!
You're very agitated for someone who's innocent.
Your emotional state indicates that our theory is correct.
You abandoned the Defiant prematurely when it was attacked.
When the Defiant was attacked, Odo and l were trapped below decks.
There was a fight in the corridor.
l was wounded and lost consciousness.
When l came to, Odo had already put me on a shuttle and we had escaped.
l did not abandon the ship prematurely.
Why didn't Odo try to help the rest of the crew?
l'm sure he wanted to. But there was no way to get to the Bridge and...
Why were you in Odo's Quarters when the ship was attacked?
We were talking.
- About what? - lt's personal.
Do you often have personal talks with the changeling?
What business is that of yours?
We're interested in your relationship.
You are the only member of the crew who was not taken prisoner.
Why? Did the Founders believe Odo would react badly if you were harmed?
Did they think you held an attraction to him?
Has Odo ever shown any physical interest in you, Major?
That's it.
You can rip the cloaking device out of the Defiant.
l'm not answering any more questions.
l suggest you avoid asking Odo those questions
or you may find yourselves on the other side of that bulkhead.
There, that's the game. Had enough?
One more.
Chief, that's ten games in a row.
Nothing's happening here and l don't think anything will.
You've changed the future. Quark's not letting the Klingons back in the bar.
- There is not going to be a fight. - l know, l know. But...
l've seen it.
l can't help feeling it's going to happen despite our precautions.
There's something about the way things look, the number of people
something's a little too familiar.
All right. lf it makes you feel better, l'll beat you at another ten games.
But l can't help the feeling...
{y:i}Ach'cho korvak batah!
You said you wouldn't let the Klingons back in the bar.
l didn't. They were in the holosuites.
Besides, now they're paying triple.
Who let these filthy "pahtk" in here?
We should show them the way out.
- And then...what's his name? - Ruwon?
Ruwon started to insinuate, that you were...
That l was what?
lnterested in me.
- He said that? - Have you ever heard anything so...
- Ridiculous. - Exactly.
Quark to Security. l've got a fight here.
They're tearing my place apart.
Watch the Romulan!
That's enough!
Get back...come on...
Hold it. Let's go. Come on now.
Miles?
Chief...it's all right.
You collapsed outside Quark's. You'll be fine.
No, l'm not. ln a few hours l'm going to be dead.
This is the panel l saw myself open.
lt looked like a phaser or a laser came out of the bulkhead.
Nothing on the tricorder, just the standard conduits and power ports.
lf there is something dangerous in there,
it could be cloaked or have a dampening field around it.
lf you step down the corridor, l'll open the panel and take a look.
Don't worry, l'll be careful.
lt's all right. Nothing.
You're sure this is the right panel?
Absolutely.
Believe me, l have a vivid memory of the whole thing.
Well, since it appears that your first two time jumps
each moved you about five hours into the future,
we could also assume that the incident you saw in this corridor
took place about five hours into the future.
That means someone will place a device here in the next few hours.
All of these quarters are vacant at the moment.
There are no vital power conduits in this area,
no crucial defence systems.
Why would someone booby-trap a wall panel here?
l suggest we place a surveillance device in this corridor.
lf anyone does tamper with the panel, we'll be able to detect it.
Dax to Sisko.
Sisko here. Go ahead, Lieutenant.
Can you come to ops? l think l found a clue to O'Brien's time shifting.
On our way.
Keep me informed.
l've been scanning the area around the station. l didn't find anything at first.
Then l started scanning some of the subspace bandwidths.
l found traces of low-level tetryon emissions.
l've never seen this outside of a neutron star.
Or a quantum singularity. They send out waves of temporal displacement.
But if there is a singularity nearby, where is it?
lt should also be affecting gravimetric field signatures.
l don't know. Maybe it's buried in the subspace layers so we can't detect it.
Let's assume that a singularity is responsible,
how do we combat its effects on the Chief?
The temporal displacement caused by a quantum singularity
commonly affects delta radioisotopes
which is exactly what the Chief absorbed.
You're saying that it could be pulling O'Brien's body like a magnet?
Exactly. l may know a way to neutralise the radioisotopes in your body.
Without the radiation, the displacement might stop.
lt will take time. He may experience one or two more time shifts
- before l can complete the process. - When can we start?
Right away.
Keep trying to pinpoint the singularity.
lf it is out there, we need to locate it and get rid of it.
Right.
l moved the Romulans to different quarters.
The replicators again. l assigned a maintenance crew,
but in the meantime l moved the delegation
to section 4 7, level 2.
- Section 4 7... - ls something wrong?
The wall panel where O'Brien saw himself killed is outside those quarters.
Which means either the Romulans will put a device in the bulkhead
or someone else will, possibly to be used against the Romulans.
Should l move them to other quarters?
No. That'll warn whoever's responsible.
But inform Odo of the change in quarters.
He already has that corridor under surveillance.
Let's see how this plays out before we make any further moves.
You have something, Constable?
Someone has planted a surveillance device
behind the wall panel we've been monitoring.
- Did you see who it was? - No.
We've been monitoring the corridor for the past three hours.
No one's come anywhere near the panel.
However, sensors did detect
a low energy transporter beam a short time ago.
They beamed the device directly into the wall.
That's a delicate piece of transporter work.
Yes.
We haven't been able to trace the beam to its point of origin.
But since there aren't any ships nearby, l believe it originated on the station.
Any suspects?
Since it appears to be a device intended to conduct
surveillance of the Romulans, my suspects would be the Klingons.
Do you have any evidence for that?
Not yet.
But don't worry, l plan to investigate the Klingons,
the Bajorans, Quark, the visiting Terrelians...
You think Quark had something to do with this?
l always investigate Quark.
lt looks like you're going to cheat death after all.
lt was about this time you saw yourself being killed.
l feel like someone just walked over my grave.
l've been close to death in my career.
But there was something about watching myself being killed,
feeling my own neck for a pulse that wasn't there...
lt could've been worse.
lt could've been me.
Here you are, gentlemen.
How is DS9's most famous fortune-teller?
Don't call me that. l haven't told anyone's fortune.
Just a figure of speech.
On the other hand, if you should find yourself in the future again
and you find yourself passing by the dabo table
would it really hurt to look at the numbers coming up on the wheel?
- l could make it worth your while. - Let's get out of here.
Just a thought.
Can you believe that? l'm pulled into the future and he thinks about...
Chief! Oh, am l glad to see you.
- What the hell happened to me? - lt was the radiation.
l didn't realise it had damaged the basilar arteries in your brain stem.
Why not?
lt didn't show up on the diagnostics. l didn't realise it until the autopsy.
- The autopsy... - Yes. l just finished it.
- Do you want to see the results? - That's all right.
When you return to the past, tell me to perform a basilar arterial scan.
Since you're going five hours back into the past, l have enough time
to find the damage and repair it before this happens.
Right.
How could you just let me die?
l didn't just let you die. l fought to keep you alive for over an hour.
- But your body gave up. - Gave up!
l'm sorry Chief, but there is a point when the human body...gives up.
Maybe my doctor wasn't...
Bashir to lnfirmary. l need a nurse and a med-kit immediately.
We were able to localise the transporter beam
and trace it back to this location.
These quarters have been vacant for weeks.
Somehow, they overrode the security lock on the door to gain access.
What did they do, bring in a portable transporter
and beam the device into the bulkhead?
That was my first thought.
Then l realised a portable transporter is a rather bulky piece of equipment
to be carrying around the halls.
- That's true. - So then l began
thinking about the replicator.
They realigned the matter-energy conversion matrix...
Turning it into a small transporter.
A very sophisticated, very professional job.
Now we know how they did it... the next question is who?
l think l have the answer to that, as well.
This device is manufactured on Davlos lll,
a planet on the Klingon border.
ln fact, Davlos does most of its trade with the Klingon Empire.
That's still pretty slim evidence to make an arrest...
Yes, it is. But then l contacted a friend at Starfleet lntelligence
who was assigned to the Federation Embassy on the Klingon Homeworld.
He put me in contact with a former Klingon operative
who is out of favour with the administration.
This former operative sent me a series of reports that...
Odo, cut to the chase.
The three Klingons on the station are part of a covert strike force
that reports directly to the Klingon High Council.
Why didn't you just say so?
Sometimes l have to remind you how good l am.
So Gowron sent our three friends here
to conduct surveillance on the Romulan delegation. Why?
- Are they here to kill them? - Possibly.
lt's also possible that this is a routine intelligence-gathering operation.
The high-energy laser that killed O'Brien is a booby trap
to prevent someone from tampering with the device -
it's not meant for assassination.
l think we have enough evidence
to hold the Klingons for questioning. Don't you?
Absolutely. l'll question them until the Romulan delegation leaves the station.
Just be careful.
Commander, there's no careful way to question a Klingon.
l haven't given up.
l won't give up!
lt's all right, Chief. You're OK.
No, l'm not.
You need to run a basilar arterial scan.
Why?
Because if you don't, l'm going to die in less than five hours.
- Who told you that? - You did.
ln the future.
Oh. Who am l to argue with me?
Let me go!
This is an outrage! We've done nothing!
We will have our vengeance on all of you for this!
You're treating us with dishonour. We've done nothing wrong.
We take a very dim view of spies and saboteurs on this station.
Now you slander us.
When my family finds out what you have done, they will kill you.
l doubt that very much.
The only people who will come here are your friends in Klingon lntelligence.
And from what l understand, they don't like to be embarrassed
by operatives who fail in their missions.
However, should you feel like cooperating,
l might let you go without contacting your friends in lntelligence.
Maybe.
- So, how are you feeling, Chief? - Better, sir.
l've eliminated most of the radioisotopes.
l have to wait, but after the last treatment
there should be no more time shifting.
What about the quantum singularity?
We've been able to track its tetryon emissions.
lt seems to be orbiting Deep Space 9.
At certain points in its orbit,
the singularity radiates temporal energy at a specific wavelength.
- That seems to trigger my time shifts. - ls there any way to break its orbit?
We were hoping to...
Come on! Hurry! We don't have much time!
Prepare to seal the hatch and release the docking clamps.
lnitiating emergency escape protocol.
Hang on. l'm going to full impulse.
Now what?
You're here! Look, l don't know what happened.
l was asleep when the station was rocked by an explosion.
The evacuation alarm sounded
and the com systems were down.
l got as many people as l could in here.
l don't know about the others.
When you go back, you must find out what happened and stop it.
My God!
Chief? What's wrong?
We've got a new problem.
Did anything from the runabout indicate how the station was destroyed?
There were a series of explosions across the habitat ring,
but it happened so fast, l couldn't get a sense of exactly what was going on.
Were you looking at internal explosions,
which would indicate sabotage,
or external explosions which might indicate we were under attack?
No. l'm not sure.
Did you see any ships nearby?
No, but my view was limited.
Looks like we can't rule anything out.
Agreed.
Make preparations to evacuate the station, but do it quietly.
lf the destruction of the station is the result of an attack,
we don't want to alarm our enemy
and make him trigger events we're trying to avoid.
Begin checking everything that could cause this kind of explosion.
Right.
Commander, there might be another way to find out what's going on.
lf l could travel into the future just before the destruction of DS9,
l could find out what's going to happen,
then return to the present in time for us to prevent it from happening.
lf you flood my body with high concentrations of radioisotopes,
it might trigger a time shift into the future.
Possibly, but those isotopes are toxic.
lt could cause permanent damage, even kill you.
lf the future happens the way l saw it,
a lot of people will be killed when the station explodes.
- lt's a risk l'll take. - Even if you can initiate a time jump,
each time you've travelled into the future, you've gone five hours.
How do you propose to shorten the length of the jump?
There might be a link between the temporal frequency of the singularity
and the length of the time shift.
We could match the decay constant of the isotopes we inject you with
to the frequency of the singularity.
Then we could control how far you jump into the future.
- Exactly. - All right.
But if you can't do it within two hours,
l'm going to begin evacuating the station.
Understood.
Now, when you activate this device
it'll inject you with a dose of delta isotopes.
That should put you about three hours into the future.
- What's the margin of error? - Half an hour.
lt's already set for the return trip, you just have to reactivate it.
Right.
And remember, don't wait too long.
Your body will experience severe radiation poisoning.
- Without treatment, it will kill you. - l won't forget.
Good.
Julian, there's a message in my quarters for Keiko if...
l understand, Miles.
0200.
That's three and half hours into the future.
- Miles... Miles, wake up! - What?
Computer, lights.
Not you again. What is it now?
Listen. l've jumped ahead and seen your future.
Don't ask me how. lt'll take too long to explain.
There's going to be a disaster. DS9 will be destroyed.
- Destroyed? How? - l don't know. That's why l'm here.
l have to find out what will happen and then travel back to prevent it.
You look pretty bad.
lt's the radiation.
But if you feel bad and you're my past self, shouldn't l feel bad, too?
l hate temporal mechanics.
Let's go to ops and see what's going on.
Help me up.
Run a sensor sweep of the station.
Look for anything that might indicate...
Report!
A Romulan warbird just decloaked off lower pylon two.
They've taken out our shield generators.
Lock phasers and return fire.
They've hit the fusion reactor.
Main power's down, defence system's off-line.
Try to re-route phasers to emergency power.
You've got your answer.
The quantum singularity orbiting the station... lt's the Romulans.
The Romulans use a confined singularity to power their warp core.
That's what's causing the time shifts.
Go back and tell them to put the shields up and stand by for an attack.
l can't. l can't get through another shift.
lt's the radiation poisoning...
You go. Just activate it.
lt's set for the return trip.
Me? l don't belong there.
l'm you, you're me - it doesn't matter.
Just go. Go!
Chief...what happened?
lt worked.
- O'Brien to Sisko. - Go ahead, Chief.
l've been to the future, Commander.
The quantum singularity off the station is actually
in the warp core of a cloaked Romulan warbird.
They will decloak and fire on us in a few hours.
Understood, Chief. Raise shields.
Stand by weapons systems.
l don't understand it.
Your body should be flooded with delta series radiation
but there's hardly any in your tissues.
Your metabolic readings are different. What happened?
There's been a...change.
- l really have nothing else to say. - l think you're lying, Quark.
- About what part? - All of it.
Well, at least l'm consistent!
Quark, you can leave.
Thank you!
l know you have a cloaked warbird orbiting the station.
And l know you're planning an attack. l couldn't understand why.
Then l remembered what you said about the Dominion.
They're ''the greatest threat to the Alpha Quadrant in the last century''.
lf you believed that, the only way
to be safe from the Dominion is to collapse the Wormhole.
But you knew we wouldn't just watch.
So you had to destroy the station so there would be no witnesses.
Everyone would assume that Deep Space 9 was destroyed by
the accidental collapse of the Wormhole.
An interesting theory, Commander.
But that's all it is...a theory.
That's right. But l'll tell you what's not a theory.
We've tracked the tetryon emissions back to your warbird
and l have about 50 photon torpedoes locked on to it right now.
l think it's time we left.
l agree.
Constable, please escort our guests to the nearest transporter room.
lf you'll come with me...
You're saying you remember playing this game with me in the future?
- Right. - All right, what am l going to hit?
20, outer ring.
- That's remarkable. - lt's also a little disturbing.
l have this feeling that l don't really belong here,
that this isn't really my life.
Maybe this life belongs to that other Miles O'Brien...
Whether you're in the past the present, you are Miles O'Brien.
You just have a few memories the other one didn't have.
Well, l think l'll go to bed. l'm still kind of tired.
That sounds like a good idea.
Quark...
Dabo.
Dabo?
Dabo!
Wait! Chief, wait!

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