Emissary

For other uses, see Emissary.

"Emissary" was the pilot episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and first episode of the show's first season. The episode was written by series creators Rick Berman^MA & Michael Piller^MA and directed by David Carson^MA. The series premiered with this feature length episode (split into two parts for subsequent airings) and aired in syndication during the week of 3 January 1993. A novelization adaptation of the story was adapted by J.M. Dillard and published in February 1993 by Pocket Books. An audio adaptation of the novelization was also released.

Benjamin Sisko and his new crew take control of a former Cardassian space station and make a discovery that will change the galaxy.

Description[]

The extraordinary novel, based on the blockbuster pilot episode for the exciting new television series!

It's been over twenty-five years since the original Star Trek television series debuted on network television—and today, the universe first seen in that show is more popular than ever. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was a huge box-office hit, and Star Trek: The Next Generation is now entering its sixth incredible season as the most popular hour of syndicated entertainment on television.

Now comes Deep Space Nine, a thrilling new addition to the Star Trek universe. Commanded by an embittered Starfleet officer and populated by a myriad of exotic aliens, the mysterious space station known as Deep Space Nine hovers on the edge of a wormhole, a doorway that leads to the galaxy's furthest reaches—and beyond.

Summary[]

In 2366, the starship Saratoga engages the Borg at Wolf 359. The Borg have assimilated Captain Jean-Luc Picard and in his Borg guise Locutus Picard is the Borg's voice. The Saratoga is badly damaged and Benjamin Sisko's wife Jennifer is killed. Sisko is able to escape the ship with his son Jake before the Saratoga is destroyed.

Three years later, Sisko and Jake arrive at Deep Space 9, a former Cardassian space station in orbit of the planet Bajor. Bajor, the homeworld of the Bajoran race, has only recently seen the end of a decades-long Cardassian occupation. The Bajorans have asked the Federation for assistance and so a joint Starfleet and Bajoran Militia crew will work together on the station.

The Enterprise has already arrived at DS9, and Chief Miles O'Brien is aboard the station as the chief of operations. The station has been ransacked by the departing Cardassian forces and civilian residents, like Quark, the Ferengi owner of a bar on the Promenade, are planning to leave. Sisko meets a Bajoran monk, who invites him into a temple, an invitation that Sisko declines. The monk mentions the Prophets, the Bajoran people's gods.

In Ops, DS9's command centre, Sisko meets Major Kira Nerys, his Bajoran attache. The meeting is brusque, in that Kira disagrees with the Bajoran provisional government's application for the Federation's help. Kira detects a break in premises on the Promenade and alerts security chief Odo, a Changeling, who stops the robbery. One of the robbers is Nog, Quark's nephew. Quark tries to persuade Sisko to release the boy as they are leaving the next day. Sisko refuses, although he comments to Kira that he will let the boy go in exchange for something.

Sisko is overdue for a meeting with Captain Picard on the Enterprise and so meets with Picard. Sisko cannot forget that Picard led the Borg ship at Wolf 359, where his wife died. Picard explains the Bajoran situation - he is a proponent of the Bajoran's joining the Federation and advises Sisko that it will be his job to work with the various Bajoran factions. Picard is aware that Sisko never wanted this assignment, and Sisko reveals that he is considering resigning from Starfleet to raise his son Jake on Earth. Sisko vows to remain in post to complete his assignment.

Sisko meets with Quark and attempts to persuade him to stay and continue to run his bar. In return, Sisko will have Nog Released. Close by, Major Kira is clearing out debris. Sisko assists her, and they discuss the Bajoran political situation. Kira believes that the provisional government will likely fall in a week and Bajor will go into a civil war. Kira explains that the only person who could unite the Bajoran factions is the spiritual leader Kai Opaka. The monk who Sisko met when he arrived on the station takes Sisko to meet Opaka on Bajor.

Sisko meets with Opaka, who announces that he the Emissary. She shows Sisko a sacred object, a tear of the Prophets. Sisko finds himself experiencing his first meeting with his wife Jennifer on Earth's Gilgo Beach. Opaka explains that eight orbs like the one Sisko had seen were seized by the Cardassians and implored him to find where they came from: the Celestial Temple. Opaka assures Sisko that the search for the Celestial Temple will help him as well.

Back on DS9, Kira notifies Sisko that Quark has reopened the bar. Meanwhile, science officer Jadzia Dax and CMO Dr. Julian Bashir arrive on the station. Sisko is particularly glad to see Jadzia, a Trill woman joined with the Dax symbiont, whose previous host Curzon Sisko ws great friends with. Dr. Bashir offends Major Kira when he refers to his new posting as frontier medicine. Kira retorts that this frontier is her home.

Jadzia begins a study of the Orb given to Sisko by Kai Opaka. During her study of the Orb, she experiences a flashback to her joining with the Dax symbiont.

On the Enterprise, O'Brien visits the bridge to say goodbye to Captain Picard but choses not to disturb him. Picard himself arrives in the transporter room and bids farewell to O'Brien. Soon after the Enterprise departs a Cardassian warship approaches the station. Gul Dukat, former commander of the station and head of the forces that once Occupied Bajor, Dukat knows that Sisko has visited Kai Opaka and that Sisko has an Orb, but Sisko denies this. Dukat's ship remains at the station while his crew take shore leave.

Dax meanwhile has discovered that most of the orbs were discovered in the Denorios Belt, an area of space nearby. Sisko plans to investigate, but they need to stop the Cardassians from finding out their plans. Odo is smuggled aboard the ship and crashes their computer systems. Sisko and Dax leave the station aboard the runabout Rio Grande, while Chief O'Brien transports Odo back aboard the station.

The runabout reaches the Denorios Belt and, detecting unusual readings discover a wormhole that takes them to the Gamma Quadrant. Returning to the wormhole, they lose power and land somewhere within it. They encounter an Orb that stuns them both, with Sisko remaining in the wormhole and Dax ejected from it in an Orb. She is saved by being transported back to DS9.

Sisko meanwhile is surrounded by a white light and can hear the sound of his heartbeat. He sees memories of his past, mainly of his family. He realizes that he is talking to an advanced alien race who can only communicate with him through these memories. They have no concept of time. The wormhole aliens, who Sisko realizes are the Bajoran Prophets, are hostile to lifeforms not like them.

On DS9, the crew plan to rescue Sisko, but have another problem in that Dukat's ship is operational again and heading for the wormhole. Kira orders O'Brien to find a way to move the station to the wormhole entrance to claim it for Bajor, while she, Dax, Bashir and Odo, who was found in the Denorios Belt, launch the runabout Yangste Kiang.

References[]

Characters[]

Appendices[]

Related media[]

TNG episode: "The Best of Both Worlds"
TNG episode: "Family"
TNG episode: "The Wounded"
DS9 novel: The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko
TNG novel: Pliable Truths

Video releases[]

Background[]

This is the first numbered novel of Pocket's Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series of novels. The audiobook of this episode and novelization was read by Nana Visitor.
This novelization was written using Michael Piller's initial episode teleplay. The initial teleplay included story elements that did not figure into the aired version of "Emissary" but were presented in later episodes of the first season, most notably in the episode "A Man Alone".
A deleted or unfilmed scene saw Sisko talking to the university chancellor, who mentioned that the house on Moravian Lane he asked about was available. Moravian Lane was later mentioned in the DS9 novel Inferno.

Notable cast and crew[]

Avery Brooks as Benjamin Sisko
Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys
Rene Auberjonois as Odo
Terry Farrell as Dax
Alexander Siddig as Julian Bashir
Colm Meaney as O'Brien
Armin Shimerman as Quark
Cirroc Lifton as Jake Sisko
Marc Alaimo as Dukat
Aron Eisenberg as Nog
Max Grodénchik as Rom
Patrick Stewart as Picard and Locutus
J.G. Hertzler as the Vulcan captain
Joel Swetow as Jasad
Majel Barrett as the Starfleet computer voice
Judi M. Durand as the Cardassian computer voice

Images[]

Episode images[]

Novelization images[]

Connections[]

Timeline[]

published order
Previous novel: first in series	DS9 numbered novels	Next novel: The Siege
Previous novel: Relics	Star Trek novelizations	Next novel: Descent
Previous episode: first DS9 episode	DS9 episode produced	Next episode: A Man Alone
Previous episode: first DS9 episode	DS9 episode aired	Next episode: Past Prologue
chronological order
Previous Adventure: Once Burned backstory	Pocket	Next Adventure: Ha'mara
Previous Adventure: The Fall of Terok Nor Chapter 1	Deep Space Nine Adventures	Next Adventure: Ha'mara
The above chronology placements are based on the primary placement in 2369. The Pocket Books Timeline places events from this story in one other timeframe:
Previous Adventure: Borg Wolf 359 backstory	2367 Chapter 1	Next Adventure: Final Entry 6th and 7th entries

Translations[]

1993: German : Botschafter, translated by Andreas Brandhorst. (Heyne)

1993: Portuguese : Emissário. (Editora Aleph)

1999: French : L'Émissaire, translated by Bruno Guévin. (Ada)

2000: Japanese : 選ばれし者（エミサリー）, translated by Masayuki Niwa. (Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko)

External links[]

Emissary novelization article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
"Emissary" article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
Emissary (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

Emissary

Contents

Description[]

Summary[]

References[]

Characters[]

Episode characters[]

Novelization characters[]

Locations[]

Starships[]

Races and cultures[]

States and organizations[]

Science and technology[]

Ranks and titles[]

Other references[]