22. Explorers

Benjamin Sisko has been studying Bajoran culture, and believes that old legends may hold a grain of truth: ancient Bajorans may have travelled outside their own solar system using solar wind to power small craft—perhaps even reaching as far as the Cardassian homeworld.

Sisko has obtained diagrams of a lightship and decides to build the vessel and retrace the route of the ancient Bajorans. A brief conversation with the Cardassian officer Dukat reveals political undertones to the adventure: a success would mean accepting accomplishments of the ancient Bajorans that the Cardassians have dismissed as "fairy tales". Despite initial reluctance, Sisko's son Jake agrees to accompany him on the voyage.

The trip proves an opportunity for the Siskos to talk. Jake reveals that he has been accepted to the Pennington Institute, a prestigious school in Wellington, New Zealand; but he plans to defer his admission so as not to leave his father alone on Deep Space Nine. He also recommends that his father start dating again.

When the ship flies into a " tachyon eddy", it is accelerated to warp speeds, but the sails and navigation instruments are damaged. Sisko attempts to call for help, but they are unable to contact Deep Space Nine. Soon, however, they are hailed by none other than Dukat, who announces that they have reached Cardassian space. Furthermore, Dukat mentions that their arrival coincides with the discovery of the remains of a similar solar vessel wrecked centuries ago on Cardassia, thus proving the ancient Bajorans made the same voyage. Sisko remarks on the coincidence, intimating that the disclosure may have been a last-minute attempt on the part of the Cardassians to save face. As the travellers soak this information in and celebrate, the Cardassians set off fireworks to celebrate the achievement of Sisko and his son.

A subplot involves Dr. Julian Bashir discovering that his old academic rival from medical school is due to visit Deep Space Nine. Competitive and nervous, Bashir is taken aback by her apparently outright ignoring him at Quark 's. After an evening getting drunk with Chief O'Brien, Bashir summons his courage and approaches the rival, who reveals that the envied assignment she took, afforded to her by her superior class rank, turned out uninspiring; furthermore, she failed to recognize Bashir due to thinking he was in fact an Andorian. Meanwhile, she has been following Bashir's work with great enthusiasm and they end the episode discussing their medical research in depth.