Bashir is enjoying a holosuite program that casts him as a super suave, 20th century secret agent. Elim Garak intrudes on his fantasy, convincing the doctor to let him participate. At the same time, Sisko, Kira, Dax, Worf and O'Brien transport from a sabotaged runabout just before it explodes. The explosion of the ship interferes with Eddington's emergency transport rescue. Eddington successfully stores the crew's patterns with a computer override — but they become integrated into Bashir's holosuite program. Controlled by the holosuite and unaware of their true identities, the officers' lives are linked to those of the characters in the simulation. Now Bashir is forced to continue his role as a spy, with life and death consequences.

Andrew Robinson (Garak)
Max Grodénchik (Rom)
Kenneth Marshall (Lt. Cmdr. Michael Eddington)
Marci Brickhouse (Mona Luvsitt)
Melissa Young (Caprice)

• The runabout U.S.S. Orinoco NCC-72905 was sabotaged by the Cardassian separatist group "The True Way."