Opaka Kai Opaka was the spiritual leader of Bajor in the latter days of the Cardassian Occupation and the early days of Bajor ' s independence from Cardassian rule . One of the most respected figures in the Bajoran culture , Opaka was left in the Gamma Quadrant in 2369 . The Occupation . Opaka was born under Cardassian rule during the half - century long occupation of her world . As an adult , she rose to great prominence among the Bajoran spiritual community , eventually becoming Kai . Constantly working to protect her people and serve the will of the Prophet s , Opaka became a revered figure among her people . During the last decade of the Occupation , however , she once secretly collaborated with the Cardassians . Opaka sent Prylar Bek to inform them of the location of a Bajoran Resistance cell in the Kendra Valley . This saved the lives of 1 , 200 other Bajorans , as the Cardassians would have otherwise destroyed the entire valley , but Opaka sacrificed her son in the process – as a member of the cell , he was killed in the resulting massacre . Opaka ' s involvement was never discovered , even after Prylar Bek made a full confession . Vedek Bareil lost the kaiship to keep secret the fact she had sacrificed her son and his group in order to save hundreds of civilians from retribution . ( ) The coming of the Emissary . When the Cardassians retreated from Bajor in 2369 , the Bajoran people began forming factions , vying for control of their new found independence . Each side looked to Opaka for support . She went into hiding on Bajor , refusing to meet with anyone . When the Bajoran Provisional Government invited Starfleet to take command of the former Cardassian space station Terok Nor in orbit of Bajor , Commander Benjamin Sisko was placed in command of the renamed station , Deep Space 9 . Hoping to unite the various Bajoran factions , Sisko met with Opaka . She surprised many by identifying Sisko as the prophesied Emissary of the Prophets . Opaka believed that Sisko ' s arrival had a deep spiritual purpose , in fact , that it was a fulfillment of prophecy that he would be the savior of Bajor . She entrusted Sisko with a powerful and mystical orb , telling him his destiny was to reclaim eight other orbs stolen by the Cardassians . Kai Opaka used the orb to transport Sisko to the beach where he first met his wife . Sisko later discovered the home of the Prophet s , the Bajoran wormhole , which the Bajorans identified as the Celestial Temple . Later , he spoke with Kai Opaka , who informed Sisko that he was the Emissary of the Prophets and this was not last time he would work with the Bajoran prophets to secure the future of Bajor . ( ) Of course , Opaka experienced disagreement from other Bajorans about this proclamation . Vedek Winn Adami , for example , asked her why an unbeliever was destined for this role . Opaka told her that , " one should never look into the eye s of one ' s own god s " . As she disagreed with that , at Opaka ' s suggestion , Winn sat in darkness for a day , an action she considered quite proper . ( ) Disappearance . After several month s , Opaka left Bajor for Deep Space 9 to visit Sisko . Compelled by the Prophets to travel into the wormhole , Opaka somehow knew that she would not be returning . During a trip to the Gamma Quadrant , Opaka died in a runabout crash on a moon . The moon was discovered to be a prison on which artificial microbe s kept the prisoners forever alive to wage war with one another . These microbes resurrected Opaka , but forced her to remain on the moon . The artificial microbes restored a person ' s body after death , but that body then became permanently dependent on those microbes for all cellular functions . Anyone with the microbes would die if taken away from the moon . Accepting her new situation as the will of the Prophets , Opaka remained behind . She hoped to teach the warring prisoners peace . ( ) Opaka ' s disappearance was mourned across Bajor . Vedek Winn told Sisko that Opaka could not be replaced and missed her deeply . ( ) Opaka appeared in an orb shadow that Sisko experienced in 2372 . He had stepped down as the Emissary when Akorem Laan , who had been in the Celestial Temple for 200 years , returned and said that the prophets had chosen him to be the Emissary . Opaka convinced Sisko that he should accept his destiny and that he was the rightful emissary . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Opaka was played by Camille Saviola . In the revised final draft script for , Opaka ' s name was phonetically notated " o - PAH - ku " . According to the final draft scripts for and , however , her name was pronounced as " oh - PAH - kah " . Originally , Kai Opaka was to have been a man who was spiritual leader of the Bajorans and often conflicted with Starfleet ' s goals . His visitors had to disrobe while he probed their " pagh " through deep - tissue massage of their feet . This version of the character was written into the first draft of the " " . ( " " , pp . 37 - 38 , 87 , 114 ) Of course , the Kai was ultimately changed from male to female , her visitors never had to take off their clothes , and she ( like other Bajoran religious leaders ) generally checked people ' s " pagh " s by touching their earlobes rather than their feet . The change of the character ' s gender was made in order to add to the series ' collection of strong female characters . Showing her visitors undressing and having Opaka check their " pagh " s via foot massages might look silly , and if those concepts remained , the obligatory disrobing scenes would consume much - needed story and production time , so – for the sake of simplicity – the " pagh " was relocated to the earlobes and the disrobing idea was discarded . ( " " , p . 108 ) The altered depiction of the Kai was included in a revised draft of the DS9 series bible . ( " " , p . 108 ) In that document , Opaka was described as " " The spiritual leader of Bajor who provides sharp counterpoint to the secular nature of Starfleet . She challenges conventional Human logic . The Kai explores her guests ' ' pagh ' ( roughly translated : energy meridian ) through deep tissue massage of their ears that seems to reveal their true nature . Opaka tells Sisko in the opening episode that the commander is on a personal journey . And that he has been sent to Bajor to find the celestial temple of the prophets – the source of the mysterious orbs . When Sisko investigates , he discovers the wormhole and the aliens who built it . The Kai seems to have an awareness on a higher plane of consciousness , knows things she cannot possibly know . Although our people do not accept her ' powers ' at face value , we cannot always explain them either . She speaks in vague , mystical and indirect language , forcing the listener to seek her meaning . " " In the " Emissary " script ( both its first draft and its revised final draft ) , Opaka was described as " " a strange looking , middle aged Bajoran dressed in a colorful sheath . . . there is a centered calm in her , she seems to exist on a higher plane . Yet there is a deep sadness in this woman who carries the pain of her people . She has been hurt . . . her face is badly bruised . . . her scalp has a small bandage . . . a cane supports a bad limp . . . " " Actresses who Casting Director Junie Lowry - Johnson scheduled to audition for the role of Opaka include Samantha Eggar , Meg Foster , Christine Jansen , Salome Jens , Micole Mercurio , Natalia Nogulich , Lisa Pelikan , Louise Rapport , Carolyn Seymour , Carrie Snodgrass , Grace Zabriskie , as well as Camille Saviola . Considered but not readily available for the part were Kathy Bates ( who specified that she didn ' t want to do any TV at that stage in her career ) , Shelley DuVall , and Tricia O ' Neil ( who was meanwhile filming in Russia ) . Saviola recalled her casting as Opaka : " " For me , having played incredibly strong , powerful , intergalactic women in the musicals " Battle of the Giants " and " Starmites " , the role of Kai Opaka was like coming full circle . Junie Lowry , the " Star Trek " casting director , had been looking high and low and she knew my work from New York . She said , ' They ' re going to kill me , but I ' m bringing in Camille Saviola . ' I went in – every character actress was there – and did a little [ tarot card ] reading , the real thing . My grandmother read cards and tea leaves down in Greenwich Village – she never charged people money – and I have a little bit of that gift . Rick Berman was impressed with the quiet toughness of it . That ' s how it happened ; I don ' t remember if I even had a callback or not . It was really very easy . " " ( ) Early in the series run of , Opaka was intended to become a long - standing recurring character in the show , with a developing relationship between her and Benjamin Sisko . " " Ah , yes , ' The Kai ' [ . . . ] This Kai Opaka , this exchange Sisko has with her , is fascinating , " " remarked Sisko actor Avery Brooks . ( ) Reflecting on what was revealed in , Saviola commented , " " I read the script and went ' I had a son ! ' It was shocking and it excited me . I thought it was very progressive and showed that this is another world after all . We tend to apply Earthly morés – especially American sensibilities – to outer space , and I thought not only was she a Pope to Bajor , but the Kai was a working mother ! " " On the revelation about Opaka , Saviola commented , " " I didn ' t understand why what I did had to be kept secret , when it was a heroic deed . It was almost like Oskar Schindler : I have sacrificed 40 , including my own son , to save twelve hundred . " " ( ) Apocrypha . The short story " Ha ' mara " in " Prophecy and Change " established Opaka ' s given name as Sulan . In 2376 , Jake Sisko encountered Opaka in the Gamma Quadrant in " Rising Son " and she returned home in " Lesser Evil " and " Unity " . Opaka returned to the position of Kai , but encouraged Solis Tendren to stand as Winn Adami ' s successor . During a hostage situation , Opaka served as a midwife for Kasidy Yates - Sisko , when Kasidy gave birth to her daughter . In the " " novel " Night of the Wolves " , set during the Occupation , then - Vedek Opaka pushed for the abolition of the " D ' jarra " caste system in the late 2340s to aid resistance against the Cardassians , as the occupiers were using casteist discrimination to play the Bajorans off against each other . Kai Arin initially expelled her from the Vedek Assembly for her views , but later came to agree with her , for which his Obsidian Order minder killed him . In an alternate future seen in the Pocket DS9 " " book trilogy , the Bajoran Ascendancy named a starship after Kai Opaka . It was commanded by Captain Thomas Riker . Opaka ' s mirror universe counterpart appeared in the DS9 novel " The Soul Key " and the " " novel " Rise Like Lions " . The novel stated that she was elected as Kai in 2377 , after the mirror Bajorans converted , " en masse " , to the long - abandoned faith of their ancestors shortly after the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole by the mirror universe counterpart of Iliana Ghemor , who was hailed as the Emissary of the Prophets . In Star Trek Online , a ship was named after Kai Opaka , the " USS Opaka " . When the 2800 Dominion ships that were lost in the Bajoran wormhole after the Battle of Bajor reappeared and attacked Deep Space 9 , the " Opaka " was at the station , and aided in the station ' s evacuation .