"Homefront"/"Paradise Lost" Line-by-Line

(Sisko joins Joseph in the kitchen.)
SISKO: Listen to me. You have got to take the test!

 

JOSEPH: Why should I? If I were an enemy spy looking to replace someone, I could think of better choices than an old chef.

 

SISKO: Yeah, you're probably right. But this isn't about you. We've got civilian families living on starships and Starfleet installations all over the Federation. The only way we can secure those facilities is to test everyone there, whether they wear a uniform or not.

 

JOSEPH: I'm not living on a Starfleet installation.

 

SISKO: Dad, if we're going to test the family members of one Starfleet officer, we must test them all.

 

JOSEPH: You may want to test everyone, but that doesn't mean we all have to cooperate. I didn't swear any oath to Starfleet, and neither did Jake... or your sister... or anyone else in this family. We have rights, Ben... including the right to be as stubborn and thickheaded as we want.

 

SISKO: Damn it, Dad. Can't you cooperate just one time? You don't take your medication, you don't go to the doctor, you won't let Judith help you in the restaurant. Just one time, please do what you're asked.

 

JOSEPH: I wish I could. But what you're asking me to do isn't right.You can't go around constantly making people prove they are who they say they are. That's no way to live and I won't go along with it. Now if you want to make yourself useful, start boiling some water for the shrimp.

 

SISKO: Come on, Dad. Don't be this way. If I have to, I will get a warrant-

 

JOSEPH: And what? Hold me down and force me to give you my blood? Because that's the only way-- Damnit. Now look what I've done.

 

(Joseph has cut his finger with his chopping knife. He puts it under the tap as Sisko stares at the blood on the knife.)
JOSEPH: Jake?

 

JAKE: Yeah?

 

JOSEPH: I've got a dermal regenerator under the... Benjamin Lafayette Sisko. What the hell has gotten into your head? You actually thought I was one of them, didn't you?

 

SISKO: I don't know. I wasn't sure.

 

JOSEPH: This business has got you so twisted around you can't think straight. You're seeing shape-shifters everywhere! Maybe you ought to think about something for a minute. If I was a smart shape-shifter, a really good one, the first thing I would do would be to grab some poor soul off the street, absorb every ounce of his blood, and let it out on cue whenever someone like you tried to test me. Don't you see? There isn't a test that's been created a smart man can't find his way around. You aren't going to catch shape-shifters using some gadget. The only thing you can count on in this life is... aargh!

 

JAKE: Grandpa.

 

(Sisko catches Joseph in his arms.)

[Sisko's SF office]

SISKO: The EMT's said he'd be okay and they were right. It turns out it was just a mild stroke brought on by his atherosclerosis.

 

ODO: How's Jake handling it?

 

SISKO: He is very upset. He knows as well as I do that if my father doesn't take better care of himself...

 

ODO: I've found that when it comes to doing what's best for you, you humanoids have a distressing habit of doing the exact opposite.