Greetings fellow Trekkers, first post on these forums. I have posted the same over at imdb but it's about as active over there as Whitney Houston's throat.
For the longest time, I've had the feeling that Sisko let too many people know too many things during ITPM, within that single episode alone, and as we know the ops crew of DS9 were all good friends, so here goes...
It occurs to me that each of the officers, individually, doesn't have enough information to suspect Sisko of wrongdoing. But COLLECTIVELY, they might...
They all know Vreenak's shuttle was blown up on his way back to Romulus...allegedly by the Doms. They all know that, upon being informed that a Romulan Senator's shuttle was destroyed, Sisko's FIRST question was, "Which Senator?"
First, we'll take them individually.
Dax - Knows Sisko badly wants to get the Romulans into the war and role-played a Romulan Procounsel with him, to sharpen his negotiating skills. Three days later, she re-emphasises the need to bring the Roms into the war. And a few days after that...the Romulans DO join the war. Coincidence?
Odo - Knows Sisko and Tolar are in bed together about something of great importance to Federation security. So great, he would rather Quark not press charges. Tolar was already a criminal before the attempted murder, a fact that would not have slipped his Odo's attention, as he would probably have been able to run a background check, and discovered incidentally he is also a holo-programming genius. Despite Sisko's insistence that there be no record of Tolar's presence on the station, Odo would likely have had Tolar, as an attempted murderer, put under discreet but continuous surveillance, with himself and the two deputies who attended the initial arrest taking shifts. He would also have noted that Tolar NEVER left the station...
Quark - Knows Sisko tried to bribe him, an enormous digression from this usually pious man;
Bashir - Knows Sisko is aware of how strictly controlled Bio-memetic gel is, yet demanded 85 Litres of the stuff to be delivered to God knows where, more evidence of Sisko's change of moral policy;
Worf - Knows Sisko cordoned off a part of the station for a few hours, and went in with Garak;
Kira/Dax - Knows Sisko was waiting for an encrypted subspace signal, whose source she could not trace, but she knows, from her place on ops/tactical, that the shuttlebay doors opened, and closed mysteriously and without traffic, just after she informed Sisko the message arrived. She would also have known the the Shuttlebay doors opened and closed once more some time later, yet again mysteriously devoid of incoming/outgoing vessels.
Now, strap yourselves in tight, here we go....
Any of them could have determined that the shuttle happened to explode on the direct path between DS9 and Romulus, and could have easily traversed the distance between DS9 and the explosion point in the time after the final closure of the bay doors.
Theorising that the encrypted signal came from Vreenak's cloaked shuttle, and that he stopped over from Soukara (also noticing it was not a large detour) Kira could have surmised that the bomb that destroyed the shuttle had to look as if had been planted by the Dominion. As an ex-terrorist herself, she would know how difficult it was for a bomb-maker to create an explosive that mimicked another power's, drawn up a list of people who had method, motive (and Garak would be a definite member of that group, as an ex-secret service agent who hated Cardassia's. But no opportunity...yet)
She confers with Dax, who states that Sisko wanted to talk to Garak about getting proof of a Dominion attack. Garak is now obviously the lead suspect, but still no opportunity.
Jadzia confers with her husband Worf, who states that he saw Garak and Sisko enter an area of the station cordoned off at almost the same times of the mysterious shuttlebay door movements. Garak now has opportunity (access to the shuttle) as well as method/motive. Sisko is now also under suspicion.
They bring their findings to Bashir, who is still disgusted by the Captain's blatant disregard for the most hallowed precepts of Bioethics, and shows them the Captain's written order for the Bio-memetic gel. He also remembers that Sisko was in attendance within minutes of Quark having been stabbed, and politely, but expressly, asked him to leave so he could talk to Quark in private.
Jadzia talks to Quark, and uses her immense feminine charms to seduce him into admitting that Sisko bribed him, thus providing further evidence of his dwindling ethics. Quark describes Tolar to her.
The group bring their mass of evidence to Odo, who is just as repulsed at Sisko's slipping morals. Seeing that knowledge of Tolar's presence is now in the open, he decides to confirm that Sisko tried to surpress that knowledge, and his Tolar's greatest skill was that he was a master Holo-forger, being held by the Klingons.
Worf pulls a few strings with his contacts on the Klingon homeworld, who confirm that Tolar was being held there on death row, then abruptly released very shortly before his appearance on the station...on the request of none other, than one Starfleet officer, Captain Benjamin Sisko.
Bashir uses the DNA readings he took of Quark's injuries to perform a residue match; calling in both Sisko and Garak for snap medical examinations, unbeknownst to the other. He finds minor traces of Tolar's DNA on each man, in Garak's case, almost non-existant; he has been very fastidious in destroying as much evidence as possible. Bashir only barely manages to notice that his lip wound was recently healed by a dermal regenerator wielded by a medically untrained hand. But not Sisko, who has no previous experience of such concealment. Bashir also finds a very minute trace of Romulan DNA on Sisko's left ring-finger, which is where Vreenak's finger brushed against it as he passed the datarod. Even more interestingly, Sisko's right hand shows traces of Cardassian blood, and bone trauma consistent with having struck Garak's jaw, twice. The DNA although weakened through washing, undoubtedly confirms a Romulan male of Vreenak's age on the left hand, and a positive match of Garak, on the right.
And with that, the jig is up.
Having read Sisko's face all this time with his genetically enhanced intelligence, he finally puts it all together. Sisko, desperate to bring the Romulans into the war, enlists a master holo-forger to show Vreenak proof of the Dominion's plans. The forgery must be on some media unobtainable anywhere else but Cardassia and supremely unique to that planet, which demands the equally unobtainable payment...85 Litres of the Bio-gel. The plan goes awry, Garak plants a bomb, without telling Sisko, who hears of it and storms off, a look of betrayal in his eyes, and hits Garak twice.
For the longest time, I've had the feeling that Sisko let too many people know too many things during ITPM, within that single episode alone, and as we know the ops crew of DS9 were all good friends, so here goes...
It occurs to me that each of the officers, individually, doesn't have enough information to suspect Sisko of wrongdoing. But COLLECTIVELY, they might...
They all know Vreenak's shuttle was blown up on his way back to Romulus...allegedly by the Doms. They all know that, upon being informed that a Romulan Senator's shuttle was destroyed, Sisko's FIRST question was, "Which Senator?"
First, we'll take them individually.
Dax - Knows Sisko badly wants to get the Romulans into the war and role-played a Romulan Procounsel with him, to sharpen his negotiating skills. Three days later, she re-emphasises the need to bring the Roms into the war. And a few days after that...the Romulans DO join the war. Coincidence?
Odo - Knows Sisko and Tolar are in bed together about something of great importance to Federation security. So great, he would rather Quark not press charges. Tolar was already a criminal before the attempted murder, a fact that would not have slipped his Odo's attention, as he would probably have been able to run a background check, and discovered incidentally he is also a holo-programming genius. Despite Sisko's insistence that there be no record of Tolar's presence on the station, Odo would likely have had Tolar, as an attempted murderer, put under discreet but continuous surveillance, with himself and the two deputies who attended the initial arrest taking shifts. He would also have noted that Tolar NEVER left the station...
Quark - Knows Sisko tried to bribe him, an enormous digression from this usually pious man;
Bashir - Knows Sisko is aware of how strictly controlled Bio-memetic gel is, yet demanded 85 Litres of the stuff to be delivered to God knows where, more evidence of Sisko's change of moral policy;
Worf - Knows Sisko cordoned off a part of the station for a few hours, and went in with Garak;
Kira/Dax - Knows Sisko was waiting for an encrypted subspace signal, whose source she could not trace, but she knows, from her place on ops/tactical, that the shuttlebay doors opened, and closed mysteriously and without traffic, just after she informed Sisko the message arrived. She would also have known the the Shuttlebay doors opened and closed once more some time later, yet again mysteriously devoid of incoming/outgoing vessels.
Now, strap yourselves in tight, here we go....
Any of them could have determined that the shuttle happened to explode on the direct path between DS9 and Romulus, and could have easily traversed the distance between DS9 and the explosion point in the time after the final closure of the bay doors.
Theorising that the encrypted signal came from Vreenak's cloaked shuttle, and that he stopped over from Soukara (also noticing it was not a large detour) Kira could have surmised that the bomb that destroyed the shuttle had to look as if had been planted by the Dominion. As an ex-terrorist herself, she would know how difficult it was for a bomb-maker to create an explosive that mimicked another power's, drawn up a list of people who had method, motive (and Garak would be a definite member of that group, as an ex-secret service agent who hated Cardassia's. But no opportunity...yet)
She confers with Dax, who states that Sisko wanted to talk to Garak about getting proof of a Dominion attack. Garak is now obviously the lead suspect, but still no opportunity.
Jadzia confers with her husband Worf, who states that he saw Garak and Sisko enter an area of the station cordoned off at almost the same times of the mysterious shuttlebay door movements. Garak now has opportunity (access to the shuttle) as well as method/motive. Sisko is now also under suspicion.
They bring their findings to Bashir, who is still disgusted by the Captain's blatant disregard for the most hallowed precepts of Bioethics, and shows them the Captain's written order for the Bio-memetic gel. He also remembers that Sisko was in attendance within minutes of Quark having been stabbed, and politely, but expressly, asked him to leave so he could talk to Quark in private.
Jadzia talks to Quark, and uses her immense feminine charms to seduce him into admitting that Sisko bribed him, thus providing further evidence of his dwindling ethics. Quark describes Tolar to her.
The group bring their mass of evidence to Odo, who is just as repulsed at Sisko's slipping morals. Seeing that knowledge of Tolar's presence is now in the open, he decides to confirm that Sisko tried to surpress that knowledge, and his Tolar's greatest skill was that he was a master Holo-forger, being held by the Klingons.
Worf pulls a few strings with his contacts on the Klingon homeworld, who confirm that Tolar was being held there on death row, then abruptly released very shortly before his appearance on the station...on the request of none other, than one Starfleet officer, Captain Benjamin Sisko.
Bashir uses the DNA readings he took of Quark's injuries to perform a residue match; calling in both Sisko and Garak for snap medical examinations, unbeknownst to the other. He finds minor traces of Tolar's DNA on each man, in Garak's case, almost non-existant; he has been very fastidious in destroying as much evidence as possible. Bashir only barely manages to notice that his lip wound was recently healed by a dermal regenerator wielded by a medically untrained hand. But not Sisko, who has no previous experience of such concealment. Bashir also finds a very minute trace of Romulan DNA on Sisko's left ring-finger, which is where Vreenak's finger brushed against it as he passed the datarod. Even more interestingly, Sisko's right hand shows traces of Cardassian blood, and bone trauma consistent with having struck Garak's jaw, twice. The DNA although weakened through washing, undoubtedly confirms a Romulan male of Vreenak's age on the left hand, and a positive match of Garak, on the right.
And with that, the jig is up.
Having read Sisko's face all this time with his genetically enhanced intelligence, he finally puts it all together. Sisko, desperate to bring the Romulans into the war, enlists a master holo-forger to show Vreenak proof of the Dominion's plans. The forgery must be on some media unobtainable anywhere else but Cardassia and supremely unique to that planet, which demands the equally unobtainable payment...85 Litres of the Bio-gel. The plan goes awry, Garak plants a bomb, without telling Sisko, who hears of it and storms off, a look of betrayal in his eyes, and hits Garak twice.
