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CARDASSIANS:
A young Cardassian, orphaned in the war and raised by Bajorans, causes turmoil on
the station when his people attempt to reclaim him.
Bashir is surprised when his "friend" Garak, a Cardassian tailor, is attacked and
bitten by a Cardassian boy who is visiting the station with his Bajoran father. The
boy, Rugal, is an orphan abandoned after the war who was adopted by a Bajoran
family. No sooner does Bashir tell the crew about the incident than Cardassian leader
Gul Dukat contacts Sisko asking him to investigate. He claims any information will
help in his quest to bring the Cardassian war orphans back home. Sisko begins by
speaking to Proka, the boy's Bajoran father, who tells him that, while he has been
honest with Rugal about the Cardassians and their atrocities, he loves Rugal as if he
were his own child. This is contradicted by an alien named Zolan who was with the
pair when the incident occurred. He tells Bashir that Rugal has been mistreated by
his adoptive family and forced to hate himself for his heritage. Proka vehemently
denies this, but Sisko insists that the boy be taken into station custody.
Later, Bashir discusses the situation with Garak while tending to his wounded hand.
Garak laughs when he learns that Gul Dukat is claiming to want to save Cardassian
war orphans and implies that Dukat is lying, indicating that he was in charge of the
very operation that left those orphans behind. Bashir promptly brings this information
to Sisko, who happens to be in the midst of a conversation with Dukat about the
possibility of returning Rugal to Cardassia. Bashir boldly interrupts and asks Dukat
why he left the orphans on Bajor, and Dukat responds that the civilian leaders ordered
it. Unsure who to believe, Sisko requests a meeting with Garak, who proceeds to
deny ever saying anything about Dukat to Bashir. Bashir follows Garak out and
confronts him about his lies, and he angrily tells Bashir that the information he shared
was confidential. Meanwhile, Rugal moves in with O'Brien and Keiko, and soon
reveals to O'Brien that he hates the Cardassians and hates being one. He says that
while his parents also despise his people, they love him and have never mistreated
him.
That night, Garak wakes Bashir up and says that they must go to Bajor immediately.
Bashir approaches Sisko for approval to use a Runabout just as Gul Dukat sends a
communication to Sisko stating that Rugal is the son of Kotan Pa'Dar, one of
Cardassia's most prominent political figures. Pa'Dar is en route to retrieve the boy
and take him home to Cardassia. Still confused, Sisko lets Bashir travel to Bajor with
Garak to investigate. While visiting an orphanage, Garak accesses and downloads all
of the region's computer files on orphan resettlement, but is initially unable to find any
record of Rugal.
On route back to Deep Space Nine, Bashir grows suspicious of Garak and questions
him about what is going on. Garak indicates that Pa'Dar and Dukat are political
enemies, and that Dukat's interest in the boy is suspect. Pa'Dar soon arrives at the
station and goes in search of his son, but first encounters O'Brien, who warns him of
the boy's negative attitude toward his heritage. Pa'Dar replies that losing his son was
a terrible tragedy and he is determined to bring him home, but when he meets Rugal,
the boy angrily refuses to go. Proka insists on retaining custody, and Pa'Dar turns to
Sisko to mediate the situation just as Gul Dukat makes his unexpected arrival at the
station.
Dukat, Pa'Dar, Proka, Rugal, and Sisko meet to decide who should get custody of
Rugal. Sisko is suspicious that Dukat has come so far for a simple custody hearing,
especially since he and Pa'Dar have been political enemies. However, Garak learns
more about Dukat's motives when he realizes that Rugal's name has probably been
deliberately erased from the orphan resettlement files. He tracks down the Bajoran
official who originally wrote the file and learns that Rugal was brought from Terok Nor,
which was the space station's name under Gul Dukat's command. Apparently, Dukat
deliberately left Rugal behind in hopes of someday using this to humiliate his
adversary, Pa'Dar. When Sisko learns of this, he decides to let Pa'Dar take Rugal
back to Cardassia despite the obviously distraught boy's unwillingness to go,
realizing that the innocent father has a right to attempt to raise his child.
Andrew Robinson as Garak
Rosalind Chao as Keiko
Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat
Robert Mandan as Kotan Pa'Dar
Terrence Evans as Proka
Vidal Peterson as Rugal
Dion Anderson as Zolan
Creative staff:
Story By: Gene Wolande, John Wright
Teleplay By: James Crocker
Director: Cliff Bole
CARDASSIANS:
