This suddenly occurred to me in the shower this morning - what happens to the Runabouts during the six episode occupation arc? The Starfleet crew are evacuated on the Defiant and the Rotarran when the station falls. The Runabouts aren't anywhere to be seen. Are they pre-evacuated off-screen? Are they hidden on Bajor for the duration? Does Sisko just lock the doors to the landing pads and take the keys with him? They aren't destroyed in Computer Programme Sisko-Alpha-Blow-Shit-Up-47 because the venerable Rio Grande makes it all the way to WYLB and beyond. Knowing the Dominion (see By Inferno's Light), they just left them where they were, waiting for someone to use them to escape.
I suspet they were used to evacute the Federation civilians in "Call to Arms" as the Federation was going to abandon the station once the mine field was laid.
I wonder if some of them could be stored inside of the Defiant. How big is it's cargo bay, I wonder because we never saw it? Jason
I don't think it's large enough for one Runabout let alone three. Defiant only had room for those shuttlepods.
I'd imagine they were gone before Sisko beams off - we see the Defiant leave last but I doubt it was the only ship to leave.
They were likely used to evacuate Federation civilians off the station before the battle began... probably some non-essential Starfleet personnel, too. They had enough time between the end of Sisko's meeting with Weyoun to when the minefield was being laid.
Damn, it's been awhile, but I'm pretty certain there was a line about Leeta needing to hurry and the a runabout to Bajor. Or was that a transport??
They most likely left before the battle, if they didn't they were self destructed by the remaining federation crew, there's no way they remained on DS9 or anywhere near or on Bajor during the occupation.
We get a pretty good idea about the size difference between the Defiant and the runabout in "By Inferno's Light", which has a direct comparison shot with little leeway for arguments about perspective or the like: http://ds9.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/5x15/byinfernoslight338.jpg Most of the things looking like hatches on the Defiant are too small to let the runabout in horizontally; she could be towed in nose first, perhaps, but not easily stowed aboard. Stowing three or four (or however many the station had in "Call to Arms" - we get no upper limit, really, and there are six of those bays, each capable of holding at least two as per the "In the Pale Moonlight" interior shot) would probably be right out. The runabouts are standard evacuation tools in a great number of episodes. "Call to Arms" is unlikely to be an exception - and this time there would be no return trips for more passengers because the nearby Bajor would not be a valid evacuation destination, so once a runabout left, the odds of her being caught by the Dominion would be minimal. Timo Saloniemi
So the safe money is on them evacuating to Starbase 375 for a few months, taking with them Sisko's collection of baseball cards and Kukalaka.
I'm pertty sure Kukalaka remained behind as a coastwatcher of sorts, lying low and keeping silent until... Well, pretty much the finale, but that just goes to show how good he(?) was at his job. Timo Saloniemi