Captain Sisko receives a recording of an intercepted message – the few surviving Maquis terrorists who have not been wiped out by Cardassia's Dominion allies have launched a massive retaliatory missile strike against Cardassia. The missiles are believed to be equipped with cloaking devices, and unless they are stopped, Sisko fears the Dominion response will envelop the entire quadrant in all-out war. Sisko goes to Michael Eddington, former Starfleet officer turned Maquis leader, now in prison, who is likely the message's intended recipient. Eddington refuses to tell Sisko how to stop the missiles, so Sisko takes Eddington with him to compel him to help.

Upon entering the Badlands, with Eddington still uncooperative, Sisko traps him into taking over the Runabout's controls to evade two pursuing Jem'Hadar warships. Eddington finally agrees to help Sisko find the launch site to deactivate the missiles, but vows to kill him afterwards.

The Jem'Hadar warships again appear in pursuit, forcing Eddington to try a riskier maneuver to evade them – one which requires Sisko to perform a dangerous operation on the ship's propulsion system while in use. The plan is successful, though Sisko is injured — and angered — in the process. They soon arrive at Athos IV, a tiny, fog-bound planet where the launch site is hidden. Upon landing on the planet, they discover the facility is crawling with Jem'Hadar soldiers, with many of the Maquis dead.

Sisko and Eddington fight their way to the command center, where Sisko is surprised to find a dozen Maquis prisoners, including the woman who transmitted the original message. Eddington introduces the woman, Rebecca, as his wife, and reveals that there are no missiles at all — Rebecca sent the message as a code to let Eddington know they had safely escaped the Dominion and arrived at Athos IV, their fallback point. Eddington knew he would need Sisko's help to evacuate them, and manipulated him in order to reach the location. Sisko is furious at being lied to, but relieved that all-out war is no longer imminent. He and Eddington fight off the Jem'Hadar while directing the prisoners toward the runabout, but Eddington is shot. Insisting Sisko and the others continue without him, Eddington stays behind to fend off the soldiers and is killed.

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Wikipedia