Benjamin Sisko quotes from Deep Space Nine

Do you have any gods, Captain Sisko?

Sisko

There are... things I believe in.

Duty? Starfleet, the Federation? You must be pleased with yourself. You have the ship to take back to them. I hope it was worth it.

Sisko

[sadly] So do I.

Sisko

Starfleet Command is waiting for my official report, but every time I try to get it started, I find myself staring at the casualty list and reading the same five names over and over again. T'Lor, Rooney, Bertram, Hoya, Muniz.

Jadzia Dax

It may sound cruel, but we both know that ship out there was worth it. Those five deaths may save five thousand lives, or maybe even five million.

Sisko

And if I had to make the same trade all over again, I would. But five people are dead. Fine men and women who deserved a lot more than to die on some lonely planet fifty thousand light years away from home.

Sisko

[quoting one of his instructors at Starfleet Academy] "Always maintain emotional distance between yourself and those under your command."

Jadzia Dax

It's good advice.

Sisko

And I try to follow it. But it's a lot more complicated outside of the classroom. Did you know that Jake and Muniz have the same birthday? That I performed the ceremony at Hoya's wedding? And Rooney, he could play the trumpet. I heard him at Quark's once and he had the people dancing in the aisles.

Jadzia Dax

I remember. And you know something else I remember about him? How proud he was to wear his uniform. And how proud he was to serve under you. The same as Hoya, T'Lor, Bertram and Muniz. They chose a life in Starfleet. They knew the risks and they died fighting for something that they believed in.

Sisko

That doesn't make it any easier.

Jadzia Dax

Maybe nothing should.

Captain, why'd you take the Defiant back in time?

Benjamin Sisko

It was an accident.

So you're not contending it was a predestination paradox.

A time loop? That you were meant to go back into the past?

Sisko

No.

Good.

We hate those. So... what happened?

Sisko

This may take some time.

Is that a joke?

Sisko

No.

Good.

We hate those, too.

Be specific, Captain. Which Enterprise? There've been five.

Six.

Sisko

This was the first Enterprise. Constitution-class.

His ship.

James T. Kirk.

Sisko

[grins] The one and only.

Seventeen separate temporal violations. The biggest file on record.

The man was a menace.

Sisko

In the old days, Operations officers wore red, Command officers wore gold.

Jadzia Dax

And women wore less. [shows off her outfit...which suits her]

Bashir

I think I'm going to like history.

I had no idea.

Sisko

What?

He’s so much more handsome in person. Those eyes.

Sisko

Kirk had quite the reputation as a ladies’ man.

Not him — Spock.

Benjamin Sisko

Before we left, I realized there was one last thing I had to do. Something I'd been thinking about ever since I saw that ship on the viewscreen...

Benjamin Sisko

Excuse me, Captain. Here's tomorrow's duty roster for your approval.

Lieutenant... Ah, Lieutenant...?

Benjamin Sisko

Benjamin Sisko, sir. I've been on temporary assignment here. Before I leave, I just want to say... It's been an honor serving with you, sir.

Alright, Lieutenant, carry on.

Benjamin Sisko

Thank you, sir.

Benjamin Sisko

Now... if you want to put a letter of reprimand in my file for that, then go ahead.

Odo

(after Dulmer and Lucsly have left) Did you tell them?

Sisko

They didn't ask. I'm open to suggestions, people.

Odo

Sir, have you ever reminded Starfleet Command that they stationed Eddington here because they didn't trust me?

Benjamin Sisko

No.

Odo

Please do.

Michael Eddington

What are you really up to, Javert? Do you expect me to believe that a decorated Starfleet officer, the pride of the service, is going to poison an entire planet?

Sisko

That's exactly what I'm going to do.

Michael Eddington

You're bluffing.

Sisko

Am I? (turns to Worf) Commander, launch torpedoes.

Sisko

Commander, I said launch torpedoes!

Michael Eddington

[aghast]Do you realise what you've done?

Sisko

I've only just begun. I'm going to eliminate every Maquis colony in the DMZ.

Eddington

You're talking about turning hundreds of thousands of people into homeless refugees!

Sisko

That's right. When you attacked the Malinche, you proved one thing; that the Maquis have become an intolerable threat to the security of the Federation, and I am going to eliminate that threat.

Eddington

But think about those people you saw in the caves, huddled and starving. They didn't attack the Malinche.

Sisko

You should have thought about that before you attacked a Federation starship.

Worf

At the first sign of betrayal, I will kill him, but I promise to return the body intact.

Benjamin Sisko

I assume that's a joke.

Worf

We will see.

Sisko

Dukat.

Dukat

Please, Captain. Show a little respect. You're talking to the head of the Cardassian government.

Sisko

I don't recognise that government.

Dukat

Your recognition is irrelevant.

Sisko

If that's what you think, then why are we having this conversation?

Dukat

Because the fact is, Captain, I feel a certain obligation toward you. After all, I freely admit you saved my life on more than one occasion.

Sisko

Don't remind me.

Dukat

You should be glad you did, because now I'm going to return the favour, give you a chance to save your precious Federation. All you have to do is convince them to follow Cardassia's example.

Sisko

You expect us to join the Dominion?

Dukat

I expect you to act rationally, Captain. Joining the Dominion will save billions of lives, and keep the Federation from fading into the mists of history.

Sisko

By allowing it to exist under Dominion rule? No, thank you.

Dukat

[ominously] I'm afraid you'll like the alternative even less.

Sisko

[angered] Dukat, if you have something to say to me, say it.

Dukat

I'll make it simple, then. A few days ago, I swore that all Cardassia had lost would be regained. That space station you're so fond of was built by Cardassia.

Sisko

Funny, I thought it was built by Bajoran slave labour.

Dukat

Either surrender the station, or I'll take it by force. The choice is yours.

Sisko

You want to retake this station, Dukat? You're welcome to try. [terminates the call]

Quark

None of these charges are gonna stick! I haven't broken any laws! [beat] I have a license to run holosuites.

Odo

But you don't have a license to sell weapons, do you?

Quark

[pause] I defy you to prove that I've brought a single weapon onto this station.

Odo

It's a mere technicality; we both know what you're doing. And I promise you, you're going to face the consequences.

Sisko

Not today, he isn't! [pause] Let him go.

Odo

[incredulous] Let him go?!

Sisko

Major, tell the constable what you told me.

Kira

The Bajoran government insists that Deep Space 9 not interfere with the lawful transactions of Hagath and his associates. Hagath supplied arms to the resistance—without him or people like him, we would all be dead, and the Cardassians would still be in power. [beat] We owe him.

Odo

[exasperated] Captain!

Sisko

I don't like it any more than you do.

Quark

[smug] Better luck next time. [a furious Sisko spins Quark's chair around to face him]

Sisko

[angrily] You'd better hope there isn't a "next time," mister! I have cut you a lot of slack in the past—I even looked the other way once or twice when I could have come down hard on you—but those days are over! Now, we may not be able to get you for selling weapons, but you so much as litter on the Promenade, and I will nail you to the wall!!