The Maquis , Part II ( episode ) Sisko tries to rescue Gul Dukat , stop the Maquis terrorists , and prevent a new war with the Cardassians . Summary . Teaser . Calvin Hudson , now openly part of the Maquis , has Sisko , Kira , and Bashir at his mercy . Sisko demands to see Gul Dukat , whom the Maquis abducted , to which Hudson accuses Sisko of siding with the Cardassian s over him . According to Hudson , the Maquis ' s top priority is peace but insists the Cardassians ' crimes cannot go unpunished , and Sisko points out that it is revenge , not peace , they seek . " " I prefer to call it " retaliation " , " " Hudson smirks . After Sisko declines his offer to join the Maquis , the Maquis stun him , Kira , and Bashir . Act One . Admiral Nechayev is waiting for Sisko in his office when he returns to Deep Space 9 , and Dax informs him that Legate Parn of Cardassian Central Command will be arriving soon as well . As well as expressing concerns that Odo is not suitable for the position as head of station security , Nechayev refers to the Maquis as " a bunch of irresponsible hotheads " and tells Sisko to talk to them . Sisko is left fuming , feeling that Nechayev ' s views are out of touch with reality and sounds off to Kira about what he feels is the real problem . . . Earth . Kira is confused , as Sisko explains that on Earth there is no crime or poverty and it is easy to be a good person in a place where there are no problems . For the people in the demilitarized zone however there are still many problems and they are doing whatever they have to in order to survive , all while Starfleet Command still expects them to be ' saints ' . Kira appreciates and supports Sisko ' s true understanding of the situation , and informs him that Legate Parn . He is on his way to greet the Cardassian leader when Odo reports that he has caught " one of the Vulcan ' s accomplices . " Sisko arrives in the security office to find Quark in a holding cell . Quark attempts to evade discussion of his business with Sakonna but eventually reveals that he arranged for the Maquis to acquire weapons from the Pygorian s . While he had not heard of the Maquis at the time , he is sure Sakonna plans to execute her plans within the next few days . Legate Parn , upon meeting with Sisko , informs him and Kira that the Cardassian Central Command has discovered Dukat to be the leader of " a small group of misguided officers " who were smuggling weapons to the demilitarized zone . However , neither Sisko nor Kira believe him . Sisko concludes the Command is , in fact , arming their colonists . Hudson was right . Afterward , Sisko hears of more violence , as Federation citizens are killed on Hakton VII in retaliation for the " Bok ' Nor " . Focusing on Dukat , O ' Brien discovers the subspace distortion of the Maquis ship ' s warp drive and reconstructs their probable course . Sisko immediately leaves on the to rescue Dukat , along with Bashir and Odo . Kira however believes Sisko should leave Dukat at the mercy of the Maquis with him " getting exactly what he deserves " . Sisko tells her before he leaves that " the Central Command wants him dead . That ' s reason enough for us to want him alive " . Act Two . On one of the Maquis worlds , Sakonna attempts to establish a Vulcan mind meld with Dukat , however , it is unsuccessful . Dukat is pleased and starts to openly mocks his captors , attributing it to his mental discipline and boasting about Cardassian methods of information extraction . Amaros , observing , is fed up with Dukat and comes down to interrogate him himself . Just then , Sisko , Bashir , and Odo interrupt the interrogation , wanting to talk and work together on revealing the Cardassian plot . There is a momentary standoff , during which Dukat grows impatient . " " Shoot them ! " " he yells and knocks Sakonna over , triggering a firefight . The Maquis are arrested , but Sisko allows one of them named Amaros to go free with a message to Cal Hudson that it is not too late to settle things peacefully , as he has not informed Starfleet of Hudson ' s actions . Act Three . They bring Dukat back to Deep Space 9 , where he enjoys a meal in quarters . Sisko arrives to talk to him . First , a brief exchange on the fate of the prisoners , where Dukat says that , in a Cardassian " trial , " the verdict is known beforehand because " Cardassians don ' t make mistakes . " Dukat then inquires about the fact that Federation , not Cardassian , forces rescued him . Sisko tells Dukat about Legate Parn turning him into a scapegoat to be executed " after a comforting trial . " Dukat processes this briefly , and mentions he predicted this strained relationship with the Command since the end of the Occupation of Bajor . Dukat then offers to help Sisko stop the smuggling if he helps to stop the Maquis , and he agrees , believing for the moment that Dukat didn ' t know about the Command ' s plan . He invites Dukat to their next staff meeting . The next day in the Ops , Odo has obtained an extensive list of weapons Sakonna bought from Quark , but he has been unable to find out more from Sakonna herself . The crew focus on the weapons smuggling instead for the time being . With Dukat ' s help , they find a Xepolite Free Trader , impervious to scanners and with a faster engine than the runabout . After initially not responding to hail s , O ' Brien fires off its bow , and trader named Drofo Awa explains with a phony story . After Sisko tries to convince him to let them search the ship , Dukat interjects , using his authority and forcefulness to talk the man down . He lowers his shield s and allows them to detain a shipment of weapons from him , finally obtaining proof of the conspiracy . Dukat sits back down , pleased to gain a small amount of trust from the group . Act Four . Back on the station , Quark and Sakonna are sharing a holding cell . He calls her position with the Maquis illogical ; she scoffs at the idea that a Ferengi can display superior logic to a Vulcan , but Quark quotes the Third Rule of Acquisition to her , " " never spend more for an acquisition than you have to . " " The Maquis , and Sakonna , want to " acquire " peace in the Demilitarized Zone , and now that the Central Command ' s plan has been exposed , the two sides - the Maquis and the Cardassian settlers - are in stalemate , and " " peace can be bought at a bargain price . " " But if the Maquis escalate the conflict , then peace with the Cardassians will become that much more " expensive " . Quark challenges her to fault the logic in his argument . To her ( muted ) astonishment , she cannot . Meanwhile , Sisko explains that the Maquis are going to attack what they believe to be a weapons depot hidden in a civilian center on one of the colonies , though Sakonna doesn ' t know which one . Sisko believes her , as Vulcans don ' t lie as a rule . Dukat challenges that , but takes it for granted for the moment . He ensures the Cardassian Central Command is not aware of this , and takes it on to find out where the depot is located himself . In the meantime , Sisko visits Cal Hudson one final time , interrupting a council meeting . He bluntly says if they attack the depot , they endanger the treaty , and therefore become enemies of the Federation . He will stop the Maquis if they approach the depot . He tells Hudson they stopped the weapons smuggling , and that there ' s no need for the Maquis , but Hudson ignores it , saying they ' re in a war , and he intends to win even if he has to fight Sisko . Sisko brings along Hudson ' s , which Hudson vaporizes with a phaser before he leaves . Act Five . Dukat says he believes the depot is on the Bryma Colony . They ' ll have to intercept outside its sensor range , so the colony doesn ' t call for reinforcements . O ' Brien says they ' ll need to establish sensor probes in the system ' s Oort cloud to detect them , since they don ' t know what route they will take . The crew is waiting in runabout s " Rio Grande " , and when the Maquis arrive at the depot . As neither Hudson nor Sisko wants to hurt the other , the resulting dogfight is relatively slow paced and targets are only auxiliary systems . Soon , the " Mekong " , " Orinoco " and one of the fighter s are out of the fight . Sisko ' s runabout and Hudson ' s fighter are alone , and each try to disable the other . Hudson manages to knock out Sisko ' s engines , but his own phaser s are disabled . Despite Sisko ' s plea , Hudson flees and , over , Dukat ' s strong objections , Sisko allows him to escape , saying he has indeed stopped the Maquis and doesn ' t need to kill the man . Ultimately , Sisko wonders if he has prevented a war or delayed the inevitable . In his office , he confides in Kira after reading his congratulatory message from Starfleet . Kira says he deserves the credit , but she is silent on the future . Memorable quotes . " " On Earth , there is no poverty , no crime , no war . You look out the window of Starfleet Headquarters and you see paradise . Well , it ' s easy to be a saint in paradise , but the Maquis do not " live " in paradise . Out there in the Demilitarized Zone , all the problems haven ' t been solved yet . Out there , there are no saints — just people . Angry , scared , determined people who are going to do whatever it takes to survive , whether it meets with Federation approval or not ! " " " " Commander , you know there ' s no reason to go after Dukat . I mean , you heard Legate Parn ; they don ' t want him back . " " " " Are you suggesting we leave him to the Maquis ? " " " " Why risk our lives over someone who ' s caused so many deaths ? The way I see it , he ' s getting exactly what he deserves . " " " " The Central Command wants him dead . That ' s reason enough for us to want him alive . " " " " The Maquis are a bunch of irresponsible hotheads ! " " " " Look , I know the Cardassians can ' t be trusted . I know the Central Command would like nothing better than to wipe out all the Federation colonies in the Demilitarized Zone . " " " " Then you agree with our position . " " " " Not for a second . Because your position is illogical . " " " " Do " you " propose to lecture " me " on logic ? " " " " I don ' t want to , but you leave me no choice . " " " " They have weapons , you have weapons – " everyone " has weapons , but right now , no one has a clear advantage ! So the price of peace is at an all - time low . This is the perfect time to sit down and hammer out an agreement . Don ' t you get it ? Attacking the Cardassians now will only make peace more expensive in the long run ! Now , I ask you , is that logical ? " " " " I don ' t understand ; you ' re a Cardassian ! " " " " I ' m not just " any " Cardassian . I ' m Gul Dukat , Commander of the Second Order . " " " " Legate Parn ' s ship just put in at Docking Bay Five . Maybe you ' d like to give the same speech to him . " " " " I don ' t know how many of you here actually belong to the Maquis . Those of you who don ' t probably have friends who do . So please make sure you pass along what I ' m about to tell you . There is a treaty currently in place between Cardassia and the Federation . If you make yourself an enemy of Cardassia , you make yourself an enemy of the Federation . " " Links and references . References . admiral ; Bajor ; Bajoran s ; " Bok ' Nor " ; Bryma ; Bryma Colony ; captain ; Cardassia ; Cardassian ; Cardassian border ; Cardassian Central Command ; constable ; crime ; deflector shield ; Demilitarized Zone ; deuterium ; discount ; disruptor ; docking bay ; Earth ; evasive maneuvers ; Federation ; Federation Code of Justice ; Ferengi ; graduation day ; Hakton VII ; Hetman ; kiloton ; landing pad C ; Lissepian s ; lobe ; maneuvering thruster ; Maquis ; M - class ; ; nacelle ; navigational array ; Oort cloud ; ; paradise ; particle accelerator ; photon torpedo ; piracy ; poverty ; primary fusion core ; Promenade ; propulsion system ; pulse cannon ; Pygorian s ; Regreein wheat ; replicator ; ; Rules of Acquisition ; runabout ; Saltah ' na clock ; Second Order ; shapeshifter ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet Headquarters ; subspace distortion ; supply depot ; tractor beam ; Umoth VIII ; Vulcan s ; Vulcan mind meld ; war ; warp drive ; warp engine ; weapons array ; Xepolite ; Xepolite Free Trader