13. Far Beyond the Stars

Distraught by the death of a friend during the Dominion War, Captain Benjamin Sisko experiences a vision of 1953 New York City, where he is Benny Russell, an African-American science fiction writer. Russell works for the magazine "Incredible Tales", where his fellow writers resemble Sisko's crewmates: Albert Macklin (Miles O'Brien), Herbert Rossoff (Quark), and married couple Kay Eaton (Kira Nerys) and Julius Eaton (Julian Bashir). The magazine's illustrator Roy Ritterhouse (Martok) shows them sketches for an upcoming issue; Russell is drawn to one of a space station resembling Deep Space Nine, and offers to write the story for it. Magazine editor Douglas Pabst (Odo) tells Kay (who writes under a gender-neutral name) and Russell they are to be excluded from upcoming staff photos, as the magazine's readers might object to a woman and a " Negro " as science fiction writers.

That night, Russell is harassed by two white police officers, Ryan (Dukat) and Mulkahey (Weyoun). He encounters a street preacher (Joseph Sisko) who implores him to "write those words" in the name of "the Prophets ". Russell finishes his story "Deep Space Nine", about the black captain of a space station. His girlfriend Cassie (Kasidy Yates) doubts his ability to earn a living as a writer, but is faithful to him despite flirtation from baseball player Willie Hawkins (Worf). A young hustler, Jimmy (Jake Sisko), laughs at Russell's idea of "colored people on the Moon".

At the magazine, the staff loves his story, including Pabst's secretary Darlene Kursky (Jadzia Dax), but Pabst refuses to print it, claiming that readers won't like a story with a black protagonist. Macklin proposes a compromise: frame the story as a dream, which Pabst reluctantly agrees to. While Russell and Cassie are out celebrating, Jimmy is shot and killed by officers Ryan and Mulkahey. When Russell protests, they beat him savagely.

On his first day back at the office weeks later, Russell is stunned to learn that the owner has pulped this month's issue rather than publish a story featuring a black hero, and Russell is fired. Russell has a mental breakdown and is taken away by an ambulance. The preacher appears and tells him that he is both the dreamer and the dream.

Sisko wakes up back on the station. He is deeply moved by his vision and wonders if somewhere, far beyond the stars, Benny Russell is really out there, dreaming of them.

Although Star Trek has been noted for its commentary on racism and racial relations since its debut in 1966, this episode in particular is considered to have the most "overt discussion of white supremacy and black identity."