Whispers ( episode ) Upon returning from a mission to the Parada system , O ' Brien begins to notice the crew acting strange around him and suspects there may be some unknown influence at work . Summary . Teaser . The enters the wormhole . is at the helm and instructs the computer on a new course ; the Parada system at maximum warp . Since the journey is going to take over an hour , he decides to record a log entry . After prompting the computer , he begins . He pauses and , turning to the replicator , asks for his favorite beverage ; " " coffee , Jamaican blend , double - strong , double - sweet . " " He then continues with his log ; O ' Brien awakens in his quarters and quickly notices that his wife is missing from her side of the bed . Putting on a gown , he heads into the living area where Keiko and Molly are having their breakfast . He asks them what they ' re doing up at 5 : 30 in the morning . Keiko says she has a lot of essay s to read and so wanted to get an early start , though there is a nervous slant to her voice , as if she doesn ' t know exactly what to say . O ' Brien doesn ' t pay much attention to it and simply orders a cup of coffee from the replicator before saying good morning to Molly . He asks her if she had sweet dreams last night but she tells him to go away and rushes off into her room . Keiko explains it ' s just a phase and not to let it bother him . Though he does seem concerned , the Chief sits down and enjoys his coffee anyway , allowing Keiko to clear the table . As she begins to place the plates into the replicator , Keiko wants to know all about O ' Brien ' s time with the Paradas . The Chief explains that they had him going through basic training on all of their security measures for an upcoming peace conference , something he believes Odo would have enjoyed far more than he did . After clearing away the last of the dishes , Keiko gets ready to leave . O ' Brien offers to drop Molly at daycare on his way to work but Keiko immediately rejects the idea . She says that she is taking Molly to school with her as there is a Vulcan program she wants to show her while her mind is fresh . Picking Molly up , she heads out , leaving a confused O ' Brien to drink his coffee . A short while later , in the security office , Ensign DeCurtis is conducting some repair work when the Chief walks in . He tells DeCurtis that he was waiting until Odo returned before he conducted any repairs , though the Ensign explains he was ordered to do it by Commander Sisko . O ' Brien is noticeably annoyed with the idea that Sisko didn ' t consult him on this and so departs , leaving DeCurtis to continue his work . As he walks down the Promenade , he sees the commander engaged in serious conversation with Keiko outside the school . As Sisko leaves in a turbolift , O ' Brien hides out of sight , wondering what ' s going on . Act One . In the runabout O ' Brien is now fifty three minutes away from the Parada system . Directing the sensors back towards the wormhole , he asks the computer to display information on a pursuing craft ; it ' s the " Mekong " . He knows they can ' t catch up to him at warp , so sits back and orders the computer to continue his log entry . O ' Brien arrives in Ops , where everyone is busy at work as usual . As he heads to his station , Doctor Bashir makes himself known . The chief is overdue a physical and Bashir wants him to report to the infirmary within the hour . The chief objects , saying he has too much work but the doctor persists . Just then , Sisko walks out of his office and asks what is going on . Bashir explains the situation , forcing Sisko to order O ' Brien to his physical . The chief gives in and tells Bashir he ' ll be down in an hour . As Bashir walks off , O ' Brien asks to see Sisko in his office . As the two enter the room , Sisko apologizes for assigning Ensign DeCurtis without advising him . Changing the subject , Sisko asks him about the Paradas and if there ' s anything the chief can tell him that is " off the record . " One thing comes to mind ; the Paradas have an odor from some kind of skin excretion which changes with their moods , but it seems like Sisko was after something different . O ' Brien reassures him that all the security protocols will be in place for the arrival of the Paradan delegation , something that he will see to personally . The commander insists that ' s not necessary and instead asks him to see to the three pylon s that have gone down again . He explains they had to tow a Bolian freighter into one of the lower pylons just that morning . A bewildered O ' Brien swears he has just been over those systems and they were working perfectly fine , but agrees to look at them right away nonetheless . Sisko reminds him that his physical comes first as the chief gets up and heads for the door . Before he leaves , he turns and asks Sisko about his chat with Keiko on the Promenade . He explains that Jake has been having some problems with his grades , to which a relieved O ' Brien assures him Keiko will do what she can to help him . In the infirmary , Bashir has finally gets O ' Brien to submit to his physical , though the chief isn ' t happy about it in the slightest , not hesitating to wind up the doctor with his sarcastic comments . After a few medical questions , Bashir asks him about his parents ' health . Annoyed , O ' Brien reminds him his mother died two years ago and he told Bashir all of this before . Finally , frustrated by all of the questioning , he leaps to his feet and demands to know why the medical is taking so long . Suddenly , he comes to the conclusion that he must be dying and that ' s why everyone is behaving strangely . But before he can ponder on it any longer , Bashir calmly reports he is in perfect health and is free to go . Having changed back into his uniform , O ' Brien is now heading along the Promenade when he is greeted by Jake Sisko who needs his help in building a subspace transceiver for his school science project . Recounting how he used to build them himself , the chief says he is more than happy to help him get those grades back up . But Jake doesn ' t seem to know what he ' s talking about . " " Oh , my grades are great " " he says , " " I just want to keep them that way . " " A bewildered O ' Brien looks on as Jake walks off , wondering why Sisko would have lied to him . Act Two . In one of the station ' s corridors , Ensign DeCurtis is finishing work on the security arrangements for the Paradan quarters when Chief O ' Brien arrives . He orders DeCurtis to open up the door so he can check everything over himself , but as the ensign explains , the security field has been activated and only Major Kira can authorize access . Tapping his combadge , O ' Brien asks Kira for the access codes , but Sisko interrupts over the comm , wanting to know what he is doing there when he should be seeing to the upper pylons . The chief argues he should be permitted to oversee the preparations but is overruled . He reluctantly complies with Sisko and seemingly walks back to the upper pylons . However , turning a corner , he stops and watches as DeCurtis opens the door to the Paradan quarters . It seems he was lying about the access codes . Back on the Promenade , O ' Brien is deep in thought when he is again interrupted by Jake , who has with him an inverter for his science project . He asks the chief if it ' s the right one , and after close examination , he replies it is but he hasn ' t seen one of these models in a long time . Jake explains he replicated it from a really , " really " old data file . O ' Brien then invites him to come round to his quarters later on so they can put it together , before asking him if anything unusual happened on the station while he was gone . Before Jake can reply , Major Kira interrupts telling him his father needs to see him about something important . As he walks away , Kira smiles , asking O ' Brien if everything ' s under control . " " All under control , major " " , he replies . A tired O ' Brien staggers into his quarters and places himself on the sofa . Keiko informs him that Sisko just called and Jake can ' t make it tonight due to illness , which he finds peculiar since he was talking to him on the Promenade just a few hours ago . He then notices that Molly is missing , but Keiko explains she is spending the night at the Fredricksons ' . With that in mind , O ' Brien tries to stir up a bit of romance with his wife by kiss ing her but she uncharacteristically backs away saying she is just too tired for it and finishes replicating dinner . The chief notices she has replicated Fricandeau stew for him , his favorite , but since she doesn ' t like it , she ' s going to have the salad instead . O ' Brien is suspicious . He plays with the food before going to take a mouthful . Noticing Keiko is looking at him with anticipation in her eyes , he stops , the fork inches from his mouth . Placing it back on his plate , he decides he doesn ' t have an appetite after all . Act Three . On the " Rio Grande " , O ' Brien instructs the computer to play back the last line of his personal log . " " You ' re right " " , he mutters to himself , " " She wasn ' t . " " " " Scan complete " " the computer announces , " " no unknown microorganisms detected . " " O ' Brien continues to go through station sensor records checking for unknown chemical agents , subharmonic transmissions , unusual neural wave patterns , even telepathic activity ; all return a negative result . He then asks the computer to display the vessel arrival logs in an attempt to locate something unusual but , again , there is nothing . Sighing , he replicates another cup of coffee then orders the computer to playback the logs of all officers on the station . It takes time for the computer to play through the logs of all the senior officers but nothing seems out of the ordinary , that is , until the computer comes to a log which cannot be accessed . It seems all logs from the time O ' Brien returned to the station are restricted to Level One access only and won ' t accept his access code . Arriving in Ops , the chief heads for the operations pit but before he can do much , he is interrupted by Ensign DeCurtis , who offers his help with any repairs he may be making . O ' Brien politely declines his help , explaining that he is trying to get the upper pylons working by morning , which DeCurtis seems to accept . O ' Brien makes his way back to his quarters , making certain that nobody is following him . At one of the station ' s airlock s , a Bajoran transport has just docked . Several passengers begin to disembark , with Odo among them . O ' Brien takes the security chief to one side and explains his suspicions about the crew . Odo tells him to do nothing while he investigates and once they have some solid proof , they can go to Starfleet and the Bajoran authorities . In his quarters , O ' Brien opens up his toolkit and takes out several small pieces . After assembling them all together as one , he places the device behind his uniform sleeve , just in case . Having left his quarters , O ' Brien is now sitting on the upper level of Quark ' s , watching everyone walk by and waiting for something to happen . Quark then interrupts his thoughts , " " The odds are against you , O ' Brien " " he taunts . The chief , thinking he knows something , grabs the Ferengi by his collar and demands to know what he means by it . It turns out Quark was simply referring to the racquetball match scheduled with Bashir for next week . Hearing this , the chief realizes he has made a mistake and lets him go . Quark then asks for information on the Paradas , explaining , " " It ' s always good business to know about new customers " before " they walk in your door . " " The chief tells him to find his information elsewhere , before he is summoned to the security office by Odo . In his office , Odo asks O ' Brien what he knows about the Paradan rebels , as it looks as if the secret communication messages he found were in fact to the rebels , a direct breach of the agreement they had with the Paradan government . O ' Brien immediately suggests they cancel the talks but Odo disagrees , prompting the chief to suspect him as well . Before he can do anything , Sisko and Kira – both armed with phasers – enter and attempt to take him into custody . But O ' Brien has other plans . Taking the device from his sleeve , he throws it to the floor , where it explodes with an intense flash , stunning everyone in the room . Grabbing Kira ' s weapon , he stuns the two security guards on the Promenade and escapes through one of the adjoining corridors . Act Four . In the corridor , O ' Brien orders the computer to lock onto his combadge and initiate an emergency transport to the " Rio Grande " but the computer denies his request . Throwing his combadge to the floor , he continues to run down the corridor , but is soon stopped by force field s . Realizing he can ' t take them down , he does the exact opposite and raises all force fields on the station , prompting Sisko ' s team to disable them all . Still on his way to a runabout , O ' Brien bumps into Jake . He tries to explain what ' s happening but Jake has seemingly been affected as well and calls for security to that location before running away . Knowing he can ' t go back or forward , O ' Brien crawls into one of the access conduits just as Odo ' s security teams arrive . O ' Brien manages to make it to a ladder in the crawl space and begins to climb higher and higher . The climb wears him out and he soon drops his phaser down the tube . He eventually makes it to his destination ; the cargo bay , where he uses the cargo transporter to beam himself to the runabout . After disengaging the docking clamp s , Sisko appears on the comm channel and orders him to stand down , but O ' Brien has no intention of doing so . With the tractor beam sabotaged , Sisko opens fire on the runabout , reducing shield strength significantly . With some quick rerouting of the emergency life support power , the shield strength quickly increases and O ' Brien escapes the range of Deep Space 9 . He immediately opens a subspace channel to Admiral Rollman at Starbase 401 to inform her of the situation , but she doesn ' t seem to accept what he ' s saying and orders him back to the station . Laying in a new course , O ' Brien takes the ship through the wormhole , on a heading for the Parada system . Act Five . With just one minute until the Parada system , O ' Brien replicates himself another cup of coffee as he formulates his plan to escape the " Mekong . " With Parada IV being the largest planet in the system , he decides to head there and so adjusts course . A few seconds later , the runabout enters range . O ' Brien instructs the computer to reduce speed to allow the " Mekong " to catch up but after a few seconds engages full impulse and swings into orbit of a nearby moon , shutting down all power systems on the ship to avoid detection . The pursuing " Mekong " soon gives up and heads off on a new course for Parada II , where its crew beams down to the surface . O ' Brien , armed with a phaser , follows suit . The chief materializes in some underground caves . Scanning the local area , he notices a doorway of artificial origin . He opens it to find Sisko and Kira meeting with two Paradan rebels . Sisko tries to negotiate with him , saying it ' s not as it seems , but O ' Brien isn ' t listening . One of the rebels , Coutu , tells him that all the answers he needs are behind another door and all he has to do is open it . But he isn ' t buying it . Kira insists they are not the enemy but before they can negotiate further , another Paradan shoots a bolt of energy at O ' Brien , knocking him to the ground . Coutu opens the doorway he pointed before and Bashir rushes out with medical kit in hand . Inside , another Miles O ' Brien is lying on a bed , looking surprised . Bashir tries his best to treat the O ' Brien on the floor while the other O ' Brien approaches him , amazed at the accuracy of the copy . As Sisko and Coutu explain , the real O ' Brien had been kidnapped and replaced with a replicant version who had been programmed to disrupt the peace talks . Bashir goes on to say how the copy was indistinguishable from the real thing ; he recounts how the copy had passed a physical with flying colors and certainly knew his way around the station . Coutu wonders why the replicant was returning to the planet , and O ' Brien suggests that if he knew something was wrong on the station he ' d try and warn someone . Sisko notes that , in a strange way , the replicant was trying to save the day and be a hero . With the replicant version dying rapidly , it holds out his arm to the real O ' Brien and says just one thing , " " Keiko . . . tell her I love . . . " " Memorable quotes . " " Are you nearly finished ? I believe you poked into every orifice in my body . . . and created a few new ones . " " " " Any dizziness ? Oversleeping ? Lack of energy ? Euphoria ? " " " " Yes ! All of them , especially euphoria ! Lots of euphoria ! " " " " Seriously . " " " " Look , if you are determined to keep me here until you find something wrong with me , I ' ll see if I can ' t grow you a hangnail ! " " " " Eye problems ? Hearing ? Headaches ? " " " " Headache ! There you go . In fact , I ' m getting a very bad one right now ! " " " " Short temper . . . flies off the handle under the slightest provocation . Perfectly normal . " " " " I ' m glad you ' re enjoying this . " " " " Sorry , I know how you feel about doctors . " " " " It ' s not doctors I have a problem with . " " [ Together ] " " It ' s you , Julian . " " " " Well , your sense of humor seems normal enough . " " " " I don ' t have a sense of humor . " " " " Cough . " " " [ O ' Brien coughs ] " " How ' s the sex life ? " " " " I don ' t " have " a sense of humor . " " " " They ' d even broken into my personal logs to see what they could find in there . I hope they enjoyed reading the sexy letters to my wife . . . " " " " I wonder why he was coming back . . . " " " " If it was me , I ' d be trying to warn somebody that something was terribly wrong at the station . . . " " " " Maybe , in a strange sort of way , he was just trying to be a hero . . . " " " " Keiko . . . " " " " What about her ? " " " " Tell her . . . I love . . . " " Links and references . References . 47 references ; annual physical ; arrival roster ; Bajor ; Bajor VII ; Bajoran ; Bajoran wormhole ; Bolian freighter ; Cardassian s ; Cardassian border ; Chamber of Ministers ; civil war ; coffee ; conflict of interest ; constable ; cough ; Demilitarized Zone ; dizziness ; Dropped the ball ; emitter crystal ; endive salad ; essay ; euphoria ; Federation ; flan ; Fredrickson family ; fricandeau stew ; Gamma Quadrant ; Gupta ; hangnail ; hide and seek ; Jamaica ; kiss ; magnetic field ; ; ; oversleeping ; Parada II ; Parada IV ; Parada Civil War ; Parada system ; Paradan ; Paradan government ; Paradan rebels ; paranoia ; Promenade ; Quark ' s ; RF power conduit ; racquetball ; replicator ; ; Rules of Acquisition ; runabout ; silent running ; Starbase 401 ; Starfleet ; subspace technology ; synchronous orbit ; tricorder ; Vulcan Okudagram references . " 12 " , GS ; " 54 - Q " , CAR ; ; Annandale ; ; Arlington IV ; ; C - 111 system ; C - 57 - D ; Cameron Station ; CAR ; Carinae Delta V ; Centre Minor ; CGM ; ; ; Deneb XX ; ; Dytallix ; ; " Elmira " , ITA ; FGMS ; FMS ; ; GCS ; " Geldonero " , FMS ; " Gh ' aster " , CGM ; GHD ; ; ; GS ; ; ; " Gyt ' aerat " , FGMS ; Hispaniola Minor ; ; ITA ; Jura ' assic IV ; ; Lunar Receiving ; ; Neutral Zone ; New Brooklyn IX ; okudagram ; ; Organia ; " Per ' ot " , GHD ; " Powell " , USGS ; ; ; ; " Recio " , GCS ; ; ; Sol system ; ; SS ; Starbase 58 ; Starbase 172 ; starships visiting Deep Space 9 ; ; Theta Omicron IV ; USGS ; " " ; ; ; Zero ;