Major Kira and Gul Dukat form an uneasy alliance as they search for a missing Cardassian prison ship, the Ravinok, that disappeared six years earlier while carrying Bajoran prisoners. Back on DS9, Sisko is overwhelmed by the prospect of Kasidy Yates living aboard the station when she decides to take work closer to Bajor.

When Sisko defends a Karemma ship that has been trading with the Federation without the Dominion's knowledge, a badly damaged Defiant is forced into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with two Jem'Hadar ships inside a gas giant.