In the Cards ( episode ) Jake and Nog get into trouble while trying to cheer up Sisko by acquiring a mint - condition 1951 Willie Mays rookie baseball card ; the Dominion offers to sign a nonaggression pact with Bajor . Summary . Teaser . The mood aboard Deep Space 9 has grown dark as the Dominion threat has intensified . Three ships have disappeared along the Cardassian border in just the last three weeks , Odo has canceled a vacation due to increased thefts of food rations and medical supplies , and the crew is generally gloomy – Captain Sisko most of all . What ' s more , Kai Winn Adami announces she ' ll be visiting the station . Fortunately , Jake Sisko has a plan to lift his father ' s spirits – Quark has invited him to an auction at which a mint - condition Willie Mays rookie year baseball card will be available . He ' ll show up , purchase the card , and make a gift of it . " " How hard can that be ? " " Act One . Jake convinces Nog to let him use some of the gold - pressed latinum he ' s saved up over his lifetime so he can purchase this gift for the Captain , by guilting him through a reminder that the Captain made it possible for Nog to attend Starfleet Academy . Meanwhile , Kai Winn meets with Captain Sisko and reveals that the Dominion has requested a meeting with her . Both Sisko and the Kai are concerned about how Bajor will be able to cope with a pending Dominion invasion . At the auction , even Nog ' s entire life savings isn ' t enough to out - bid a mysterious man at the back of the room . He bids 10 bars of latinum ( twice what Nog has saved ) and then disappears out the back . Act Two . Nog tries to convince Jake they ' ve lost the card , but Jake is determined to come through for his father . They intercept the man as he leaves the auction house but he mutters something about refusing to get involved with any " soulless minions of orthodoxy " and disappears into a turbolift . Meanwhile , Weyoun arrives on the station to meet with Kai Winn and exchanges insults with Sisko . Finally , the man who bought the baseball card – Dr . Elias Giger – requests a meeting with Jake and Nog after learning of their relationships to Captain Sisko and Quark . It seems he needs some supplies he believes they ' re in a position to obtain , and he ' s willing to trade the baseball card , minus the original packaging and chewing gum , for those supplies . Jake agrees , even after learning that Dr . Giger plans to use the supplies in the construction of his cellular regeneration and entertainment chamber – a device designed to keep the cells of the body from getting bored , thus prolonging life indefinitely . Jake and Nog agree that the man is crazy , but since he has the baseball card they have little choice . Act Three . Giger provides a lengthy list , and Jake and Nog go straight to work . For a neodymium power cell from a Cardassian phase - coil inverter they visit Chief O ' Brien , but he ' s too busy re - calibrating EPS regulator s to help . Nog , always a Ferengi , strikes a deal : Jake and Nog will do the work while the Chief visits a holosuite for a chance to go kayaking for the first time in weeks . In exchange , O ' Brien will find the power cell . For five liters of anaerobic metabolites suspended in a hydrosaline solution , they call on Doctor Bashir , who ' s not only busy but is doing something he " wants " to do ( so they can ' t strike a deal like they did with Chief O ' Brien ) . However , through additional probing , Nog gets Bashir to admit that he ' d be much happier if he had Kukalaka – his teddy bear . Nog manages to retrieve the bear from Leeta while she ' s sleeping . While Jake and Nog are running errands , Kai Winn discusses Weyoun ' s proposal with Sisko . The Dominion wants to sign a non - aggression treaty with Bajor . She recognizes that Starfleet can ' t possibly protect Bajor from the full strength of the Dominion , but also knows that allying with the Dominion could make Bajor the next world conquered . Sisko advises that she stall for time and keep Bajor ' s options open . He tells her she needs to trust him this time . She puts her hand on his ear to read his " pagh " , then agrees . Meanwhile , Jake delivers a batch of Dr . Giger ' s requested items to his quarters . Giger then removes a chip from one of the devices just delivered , and uses it to activate a console panel on his wall , which then begins making a humming sound . The view then pans up , to the quarters above , where Weyoun is being accommodated ; the sound has alerted him and his two Jem ' Hadar guards that something is going on below him . Nog has agreed to filter out subharmonic distortions from Worf ' s Klingon opera recordings while Jake helps Kira with an upcoming speech to the Bajoran Agricultural Ministry . When they ' ve collected the last of the supplies , however , they find that Giger and his equipment are no longer in his quarters . Act Four . Jake and Nog visit Odo , who insists there never was such a person in those quarters . When he hears about the " Cellular Regeneration and Entertainment Chamber , " he reads them a list of charges including making a false report and wasting police time and scares them out of his office . On their way out , Jake witnesses Kai Winn talking to a vedek who had also bid on the lot containing the baseball card during the auction . Thinking that she was after the Bajoran mandala that was auctioned in the same lot as the baseball card , he deduces that she kidnapped Giger as a result of losing the bid . Weyoun meets again with Kai Winn , and she tells him he ' ll have to wait until she ' s given a report to the First Minister . He says he understands , and that he and she are very much alike . She puts a hand on his ear as she did with Sisko , then says , " " No , we are nothing alike " , " and leaves . Shortly afterward , she is accosted in a nearby corridor by Jake and Nog . Sisko is furious when he finds out that they have essentially accused the religious leader of Bajor of burglary and kidnapping , but Jake , still wanting to surprise his father , lies and insists that he and Nog got drunk at Quark ' s before approaching the Kai . Naturally this makes Captain Sisko even angrier , and he tells them that he was wrong to place so much trust in them . He confines both of them to quarters and angrily dismisses them . As the two argue on a turbolift after they leave Sisko ' s office , they ' re suddenly beamed onto Weyoun ' s ship . Act Five . Weyoun inquires about their connection to Dr . Giger . Jake explains that they were only trying to acquire a baseball card , but Weyoun doesn ' t believe him . He tells them that he knows about the polarized particles coming from Giger ' s room , that Jake and Nog have been holding secret meetings with the senior staff of the station ( to acquire the requested items for Giger ) , and the fact that they met with Kai Winn immediately after she left him . The Jem ' Hadar bring Giger into the room , carrying the auctioned box , and revealing that it was Weyoun who had kidnapped him . Giger , seeing Jake and Nog , accuse them of betraying him to the soulless minions of orthodoxy , before he is relieved of the box . Weyoun then begins to examine its contents , telling Jake he would like them to be friends , but they must be truthful with each other . Seeing no other option , Jake says he and Nog were working for Starfleet Intelligence , and concocts an absurd story about hunting for a mysterious man from the future named Willie Mays . Weyoun realizes their original story was truthful . Weyoun turns to Giger and asks for an explanation of his machinery . Nog dismisses Giger , quipping that he is working on a way to become immortal . Weyoun , who himself is a recipient of " immortality , " immediately becomes interested in Giger ' s work . Giger says it will take some time to explain his theories . As Giger starts to explain the chamber , Weyoun allows Jake and Nog to leave . . . with the baseball card . Due to unintentional benefits of Jake ' s and Nog ' s trades , Chief O ' Brien had time to go kayaking in the holosuite , Dr . Bashir has Kukalaka back ( though Leeta is confused about losing him ) , Major Kira ' s speech was well received , and Worf is able to listen to his opera collection on the " Defiant " s bridge again . Weyoun even takes an interest in Giger ' s work on immortality . But most importantly , Captain Sisko has a mint - condition Willie Mays rookie baseball card from Earth , 1951 . The whole station feels happier . Memorable quotes . " " It ' s my money , Jake ! If you want to bid at the auction , use your own money . " " " " I ' m Human , I don ' t have any money . " " " " It ' s not my fault that your species decided to abandon currency - based economics in favor of some philosophy of self - enhancement . " " " " Hey , watch it . There ' s nothing wrong with our philosophy . We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity . " " " " What does that mean exactly ? " " " " It means . . . it means we don ' t need money ! " " " " Well , if you don ' t need money , then you certainly don ' t need mine ! " " " " You accused the Kai of burglary and kidnapping ? ! " " " " We didn ' t really accuse her of anything . " " " " Oh , I see , you just implied it . " " " " Exactly . " " " " Sold . . . to the blue man . . . in the good shoes . " " " " Do you want to die ? " " " " Let ' s come up with something else to cheer up your dad , like a new pair of shoes . " " " " Shoes ? " " " " What ' s wrong with shoes ? " " " " Nothing , except it ' s stupid . " " " " Mr . Worf , you ' ve been paroled . The party ' s over . " " " " I ' m not crazy . . . I ' m just a little obsessed . " " " " A little ? " " " " I have some experience in that area as well . " " " " I see that my faith in the two of you has been sadly misplaced . You both are confined to quarters until further notice ! DISMISSED ! ! ! " " " " Maybe the soulless minions of orthodoxy finally caught up with him . " " " " The who ? " " " " Lions and Gigers and bears . " " " " Oh , my . " " " " The entire future of the galaxy may depend on us tracking down Willie Mays . . . and stopping him . " " " " He ' s harmless , he ' s just working on a way to become immortal . " " " " Really ? I have a background in , shall we say , creative genetics . I ' d be most interested in hearing your theories . " " Links and references . References . 1951 ; 6th century ; 22nd century ; 23rd century ; acrylic ; anaerobic metabolite ; Andor ; Andorian chest ; Andros III ; artificial gravity grid ; Bajor ; Bajoran ; Bajoran mandala ; Bajoran War Orphans Fund ; baseball ; Bathkin ; Berengaria VII ; biogenic energy ; Bolian ; bracelet ; bronze ; bust ; Cardassia ; Cardassian border ; Cellular boredom ; cellular ennui ; ceramic ; chewing gum ; chromoelectric wavelength ; ; confined to quarters ; Cooperstown ; Coridan system ; currency - based economics ; dagger ; decibel ; ; Earth ; economics ; electro - plasma conduit ; EPS regulator ; Emi ' s species ; Eminence ; Emissary of the Prophets ; eventualistic movement ; Federation ; Ferengi ; First Minister ; Hall of Fame ; holosuite ; hydrosaline solution ; immortality ; intoxication ; ion transtator ; Jem ' Hadar ; kayaking ; kismet ; Klingon opera ; Kukalaka ; latinum ; Martian colonies ; Matoian movement ; Mays , Willie ; meter ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mitochondria ; money ; Mora Pol ; neodymium ; New York ; ; ; Orb of Wisdom ; painting ; parole ; pedestal ; phase coil inverter ; polaric particle ; power cell ; prion ; Promenade ; pre - Surak ; Prophet s ; Quark ' s ; Romulan ; Shakaar Edon ; shoes ; ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Intelligence ; Surak ; tapestry ; Tellarite ; Tholian ; ; transtator ; tricorder ; triptin ; turbolift ; vedek ; Vilk , Kandra ; Vulcan ; velvet ; water basin