Past Tense , Part II ( episode ) With history itself at stake , Sisko must risk all to see that the Bell Riots reach their inevitable conclusion , even if it means sacrificing his life . . . Summary . Teaser . After moving the hostages into the Sanctuary Processing Center , Biddle Coleridge tells his friends to shoot any hostage that moves . Posing as the late Gabriel Bell , Benjamin Sisko takes control of the volatile hostage situation in the Sanctuary District by convincing Coleridge that they need the hostages alive as a bargaining chip . Suddenly , Vin bursts into the room holding a gun . Coleridge is about to shoot him when Sisko tackle s Vin against a wall . In the chaos , a shot is accidentally fired and Bashir calms a frightened . Then , Coleridge wants an access code to the net and tries to get it from Vin . Bernardo Calvera agrees to help to calm Coleridge down , just wanting to get home . Sisko says they need to block the windows , so he and Bashir start doing so . Meanwhile , Bashir expresses his concern about Sisko posing as Gabriel Bell because Bell historically died when guards stormed the building . Sisko says that he is not Bell , but everyone will treat him like so . Act One . Michael Webb arrives and Sisko introduces him to Coleridge . Sisko enlists his help to recruit gimmie s , people that he trusts to guard the hostages and to watch over the volatile s as well . Meanwhile , Jadzia Dax sees news coverage of the event at Chris Brynner ' s apartment and realizes that she must get into the District to help save Sisko and Bashir , despite Brynner ' s insistence that she could be hurt . On the , Kira Nerys and Miles O ' Brien have narrowed the possible time periods to 10 possibilities but due to the limited number of chroniton particles they have a finite number of trips they can take , not enough to cover all of the possible timeframes . Kira feels ridiculous that she has to wear a bandage on her nose to disguise her Bajoran heritage , and O ' Brien advises her to say nothing and let him do all the talking . On their first attempt , they land in 1930 and find no evidence of the team ' s presence . Before they can leave , they run into a couple leaving a party who looks at them and then runs off . Coleridge is outraged that gimmies are guarding the hostages , but Sisko emphasizes the importance of having people they can trust . Coleridge tells Sisko and Webb that he intends to trade the hostages for freedom – amnesty , credit chips and the ability to go anywhere they want . Coleridge wants to go to Tasmania , the birthplace of Errol Flynn . However , Sisko says that they must think of the other 10 , 000 people as well and that they would not make it far before they were caught . Webb supports Sisko and they agree to campaign for the closure of Sanctuary districts , jobs for the residents and the reinstatement of the Federal Employment Act . Sisko convinces Webb to act as a representative of the District to speak to the outside world . As they try to get their position across , though , their connection is broken by the police as per department policy in these situations . However , Detective Preston , a police negotiator from the SFPD , contacts them . First , she asks to see the hostages . Coleridge immediately drags Lee to the screen and threatens Preston , revealing the instability of the situation . Act Two . Preston calmly asks to talk to Webb again , and so he gently pushes Coleridge and Sisko leads him away . She offers to meet in person by the main gate . Sisko accompanies Webb to the meeting and states their demands . Preston agrees to relay them to Governor Robert Chen and also agrees to do her best to supply the residents with breakfast . Bashir finds out that Lee is hypoglycemic and offers to help her find treatment . Lee realizes that Sisko ( posing as Bell ) initially gave her a " false " name and Bashir explains that " Bell " had run into some trouble . Lee reveals that she processed a woman with a warrant on her for abandoning her child because she could not take care of him and left him with a family she worked for . Lee felt sorry for her and did not log her into the system which would have alerted the police , instead letting her disappear into the Sanctuary . Lee ' s supervisor almost fired her when the incident was revealed . Lee does not know what happened to the woman but she thinks about her all the time . Bashir explains that it ' s not her fault the way things are . Later , while most of the guards are sleeping , Vin gets up and almost gets his hands on a weapon when Coleridge alerts everyone and holds a gun to him . However , Sisko intervenes by pointing his gun towards Coleridge and prepares to shoot him , determined not to let the hostages die . Act Three . Coleridge sees that Sisko is serious and puts his gun down . Sisko takes Vin aside and threatens him not to do anything stupid again , but he is unmoved . Vin asks him to let the hostages go . Sisko impatiently says that Vin and the others who work at the Sanctuary just don ' t get it – even though they work here and see the injustices suffered by the people every day . It would be a start for Vin and the others just to acknowledge what is going on . Meanwhile , on another attempt to find Sisko and the others , Kira and O ' Brien end up in 1967 surrounded by a flowered Combi van and loud rock music . Two hippie s come out of the van and give flowers and a peace sign to a perplexed Kira and O ' Brien , who then awkwardly give back the sign . Just then , they are transported away and the male hippie simply says " wow " . True to her promise , Preston has supplied muffins and fruit juice for the residents , and Sisko makes sure Coleridge shares . Danny comes inside to find his father to be with him . Webb agrees he can stay for a while but says that Danny must go when he says so without question . Meanwhile , Bashir has managed to find some glucogen in the clinic and provides treatment for Lee . Bashir also tells Calvera ( who is worried about his family ) that something good will come from all of this . A short time later , Preston returns with the Governor ' s response : he ' ll reduce the charges against Bell and Webb if they release the hostages . Sisko and Webb ask whether the Sanctuary will be closed and jobs offered and Preston says the Governor intends to form a committee to look into the matter and that change takes time . They both reject this offer . Dax manages to find her way into the Sanctuary District through some underground pipes through the San Francisco Department of Sanitation . Soon , some dim s alert her presence to those at the processing center and , in the process , her combadge is stolen by one of them named Grady . Meanwhile , Sisko and Bashir try to get past the lockout to the Net without luck . In the previous past , a way was found to get past this lockout and many people were able to tell their stories to the world . Bell must have found a way , so now they must do the same . Coleridge then brings Dax inside , and she is reunited with Sisko and Bashir . Act Four . Sisko and Bashir explain that they can not leave because history must be allowed to run its course . He initially orders Bashir and Dax to head to a beam - out location using Dax ' s combadge , however , Dax says she can get help to circumvent the lockout . Dax successfully recovers her combadge from Grady with Bashir ' s help and heads back through the sewer . Dax returns to Chris Brynner for his help . He initially has doubts about helping the residents as he would lose his interface operating license for turning the channel over to criminal s . Dax responds that Brynner would be giving the residents a voice , and people have the right to know their situation . When the Government storms in , the Sanctuary residents will die and those deaths should not be for nothing . Brynner agrees to help restore the processing center ' s computer link because , although he will lose his license , he will get great ratings . Once this is done , the residents are given the chance to tell their stories to millions around the planet through the network . Unfortunately , despite pleas from Preston , the governor is unmoved by their plight and orders to send in troops at 0500 . Act Five . Kira and O ' Brien return to the " Defiant " and from 2048 . They realize that the team arrived before then as it was drastically different to the 2048 of unaltered time . Using this information , they narrow the possibilities to 3 dates , but have only enough chroniton particles for one more attempt . O ' Brien makes a guess and they materialize at the corner of Polk Street and California Street . They realize they hit the correct time period when they contact Dax on her combadge , and she comes to meet them . In the meantime , the hostages are calmer and talking sports when Coleridge reports movement outside . Sisko and Webb try to keep the hostages safe as SWAT teams move in without regard to their lives . Webb sends away Danny and Coleridge gives Danny his hat . Soon , the troops barge in and open fire . Coleridge and Webb are killed along with a number of others while Sisko takes a bullet protecting Vin , who is trying to stop the shooting . The lead SWAT team member calls the area secure . Vin berates them , as they were reckless . The SWAT team give Vin and Calvera weapons while they go to secure other areas . Bashir examines Sisko and , fortunately , he will live . Sisko pulls Vin in and berates him for not staying low , but Vin understands , finally trusting his motives . Vin and Calvera lead the group outside , and are shocked by the bodies lying on the street outside . As the National Guard takes control of the situation , the grateful Vin allows Sisko and Bashir to escape by switching their ID card s with two of the dead . So it appears , as before , that Gabriel Bell died while trying to save the hostages . As he leaves , Sisko asks Vin to tell everyone the truth about the incident . Vin responds that he had planned to anyway . Soon Sisko , Dax and Bashir are returned to the 24th century with history now having following its correct course . As Sisko recovers from his gunshot wound in his quarters on the " Defiant " , Bashir visits and shows him one unexpected consequence of their visit to the past . . . Federation historical records which now show Benjamin ' s portrait in an entry regarding Gabriel Bell . Julian asks him , from having seen the 21st century , how the people of that time could have let things get so bad . Sisko tells him " " That ' s a good question . I wish I had an answer . " " Memorable quotes . " " It ' s not your fault things are the way they are . " " " " Everybody tells themselves that . And nothing ever changes . " " " " This is great ! We ' re on every channel . I bet they ' re watching this in China ! " " " " I knew this was a waste of time . They don ' t care . No one cares about us . " " " " Why should they ? You ' re all a bunch of losers . " " " " What did you say ? ' " " " He didn ' t say anything . " " " " You heard me . I called you a loser because that ' s what you are . And this time , you ' re going to lose big . " " " " You really going to shoot me , Bell ? I don ' t think so . " " " " Think again . " " " " I thought we were on the same side here ! " " " " We are , but you get on my nerves . . . and I don ' t like your hat . " " " " You don ' t know what any of this is about , do you ? ! You work here , you see these people every day , how they live , and you just don ' t get it ! " " " " What do you want me to say ? That I feel for them ? That they got a good break ? What good would it do ? " " " " It ' d be a start ! Now , you get back in that room and you shut up ! " " " " Wow ! " " " " Woosh ! I ' m invisible . " " " " If you say so . " " " " You can see me ? " " " " Just barely . " " " " Freeze ! " " " " I ' m a hostage , you idiot ! " " " " You know , Commander , having seen a little of the 21st century , there is one thing I don ' t understand : how could they have let things get so bad ? " " " " That ' s a good question . I wish I had an answer . " " Links and references . References . alternate timeline ; American history ; amnesty ; automobile ; Bajoran ; baseball ; battalion ; Bay Land Garden ; Bell Riots ; Blue Zone ; ; ; brewery ; California ; California Street ; cellular phone ; Channel 90 ; ; ChemTech Industries ; China ; chocolate ; chroniton particle s ; combadge ; concussion bomb ; corner ; credit chip ; ; DefTech 37 mm launcher ; detective ; dim ; distress signal ; District Police ; doctor ; Earth ; e - mail ; electrostatic charge ; Enfield L85A1 ; Federal Employment Act ; ; football ; gesture ; ; gimmie ; glucagon ; governor ; guest list ; Heckler & Koch MP5 ; helicopter ; ( Jimi Hendrix ) ; ; " Hey Joe " ; historical database ; hypoglycemia ; Identification card ; incitement to riot ; interface ; interface operating license ; interface terminal ; jazz ; jeans ; London Kings ; Marina ; National Guard ; net ; New York Yankees ; penthouse ; ; plant manager ; Polk Street ; Processing Center ; quadcycle ; ration card ; Red Zone ; Remington Model 870 ; riot ; San Francisco ; Sanctuary District ; Sanctuary District A ; Sanitation Department ; SFPD ; Second Street ; sewer ; shirt ; shotgun ; silk ; Singapore ; slang ; sniper ; soccer ; speakeasy ; Starfleet Command ; SWAT ; tackle ; Tasmania ; temporal displacement ; tennis ; time travel ; Trill ; truck ; United States of America ; van ;