Move Along Home ( episode ) A visiting delegation from the Gamma Quadrant turns four crew members into " pieces " for a bizarre game . Summary . Teaser . It ' s an important day aboard Deep Space 9 as an official delegation on behalf of the Wadi are due to arrive from the Gamma Quadrant for first contact . Commander Sisko is in his dress uniform preparing to welcome the ship , although he gets worried when he learns that Jake has been learning about girls from none other than his new friend Nog . Sisko decides they need to set aside some time the next day so he can work ' damage control ' . The senior staff assemble in the airlock to greet the Wadi representative , Falow . Although Sisko is keen to make a good impression , he is put out to find that Falow and the other Wadi just want to head straight to Quark ' s in order to play games . Act One . In Quark ' s Bar , the Wadi delegates are eager to play a new game . However , Quark has to make sure they have something to gamble with for dabo . Falow offers " klon peag s " or alpha - currant nectar as items of value , but Quark refuses them . Then , he proffers a bag of gems , which Quark accepts greedily . After about six hours , the delegates are winning almost every spin and both Quark and Commander Sisko are getting tired ( in Quark ' s case , he is tired of them always winning ) . Sisko decides enough is enough and leaves the bar to go to bed . Quark heads over to the table , and pleads that the Dabo girl ' s hands are tired from all of those spins . Falow orders Quark to replace her . Quark gets Broik to replace her , and instructs him covertly to begin fixing the table so that the Wadi do not win . He loses the next turn , and is suspicious . He soon discovers Quark ' s deception and corners him at the bar . Quark tries to pass it off like he didn ' t know , but Falow is not fooled . He decides to start a new game and transforms the dabo table to a different board game , which he announces is called Chula . He explains that the game involves four players , and that their objective is to " move along home " . Quark decides to play the game , in hope that the Wadi will be lenient with his cheating . In Sisko ' s quarters , he finds Jake still awake late into the evening . Jake admits to his father that he has been spending time with Nog , but on a school project , nothing more . Sisko tells him to go to bed , saying that is no excuse , and promises to have a chat with him about Nog and girls in the morning . However , as he is sleeping , he tosses and wakes up to find himself lying on the floor of a large odd room . Act Two . He tries to call Ops and attempts to end the program , if he is in a holosuite , but no luck . He has his tricorder with him , so he searches around , trying all the doors until he finds an unlocked one . Sisko wanders a hall , opening another door . Behind it , he encounters an image of Falow , who , laughing mockingly , instructs him to " " Move along home ! " " Hearing faint cries for help , he finds Doctor Bashir , who believes this is a dream and is trying to wake himself up . Major Kira and Lieutenant Dax show up moments later , also drawn by Bashir ' s screams . Sisko tells them of his encounter with Falow , which Bashir believes is a behavioral test , which deeply upsets Kira . They decide to split up and use their comm badges , which are still working , to keep in touch . Early next morning , Jake Sisko informs Odo that his father is missing . Odo discovers that Sisko and three other senior staff members are not on board the station , and launches an investigation . After scolding Lieutenant Primmin , who had assumed they were affected by the long party last night , Odo orders a full security sweep of the station and the docked ships . Meanwhile , Falow keeps Quark in the game , forcing him to learn the rules as he plays . Quark nervously asks for a minimum wager and rolls . Falow goes to work , executing the next turn . Meanwhile , the four players reach a door , which opens to reveal a girl playing a hopscotch - like game , and singing a rhyme : The players move into the room , and are sealed in . Moving across the room , Kira stumbles into a force field . The girl , however , moves through it . Bashir deduces that the pattern of the girl ' s movements allows her to pass though , but is also knocked backwards . Jadzia follows the girl precisely , both singing the rhyme and mimicking the hand actions , and successfully passes the force field . The others follow . The girl proclaims : Back on the station , the Wadi cheer " allamaraine ! " , as Falow moves the four pieces down one level on the board and hands Quark several jewels . He happily accepts them and believes he is learning the game . Act Three . Falow asks Quark to choose a path for the players , either the difficult short route , with a chance of winning more prizes , or the long , easy route . He says to choose carefully . " " Double their peril , double your winnings ! " " teases Falow . Quark excitedly tries to negotiate a licensing agreement to keep the game in his bar , when Odo barges in demanding to know if Quark has seen them . He brushes him off until Odo exclaims four officers are missing . Slowly , Quark makes the connection – four players , four missing officers . He nervously looks at the player pieces and then at Odo , who silently understands Quarks realization . Falow insists he choose , so he chooses the safer path and , with Odo watching , rolls the dice . Moving through the corridors of the maze , the players find a room with Wadi in it , all drinking and laughing . They don ' t very well respond to the officers . Frustrated , Kira starts shouting and throwing a tray of food to the floor . Suddenly the doors close , and a toxic gas fills the room , causing the players to start coughing . Furthermore , Falow comes into the room , telling them to move home again , but otherwise not responding . Bashir notices that the Wadi remain unaffected , and decides to try some of the drink that is being offered around . The drink relieves the effects of the gas . Sisko and the others also drink , and are also relieved . The Wadi all cheer . The image of Falow states that the players have progressed to shap four . At the table , the Wadi cheer " allamaraine " and Falow moves the player pieces ahead and Quark is happy to win more . Odo , concerned , leaves . Act Four . After some strange readings are detected on the Wadi ' s ship , Odo decides to visit the Wadi ship over Primmin ' s Starfleet objections . He orders him to beam him over , and finds a room with an unusual energy signature . Stepping through the doors , he surprisingly ends up in Quark ' s Bar , to find Quark playing the game . Falow notices him , and reminds Quark to continue playing , choosing the next path . He chooses the safer path , but Falow says it ' s an " unfortunate roll . " In the game , they continue to move through the corridors when their tricorders detect an energy buildup . A bright light source appears and moves towards them . At the table , Falow selects a player piece . The light source scans them all , and then focuses on Bashir , who vanishes . Falow knocks over the piece , suggesting the player is out . Odo immediately orders them to give the officers back , but Falow ignores it , insisting they keep playing . However , he says Odo can have them back when Quark is done , albeit cryptically . Falow then tells Quark to choose which route to take , and he considers the risky path . Odo cautions Quark , but Quark realizes that the players were only one level away from " home " , and the short route would take them there in only one move . Quark reassures Odo that he has spent his life assessing chance in games of all kinds , and that he has a good understanding of this one . With Odo ' s agreement , Quark decides to take the short route , but rolls a thialo – he must sacrifice one , so that two may live . Act Five . Odo is dismayed , and so is Quark , who is unable to decide which player to sacrifice . Odo says he cannot be forced to choose , but Falow says all three will be lost if he doesn ' t . He grovels dramatically and pleads to be allowed not to decide , and Falow accepts . He programs the computer to randomly select a player to be sacrificed . In the game , they hear Bashir calling out . A door opens , and Dax heads into it . The others follow . They find themselves in a rocky cavern . In the distance , they can hear Bashir ' s voice calling to them , which entices them forward . Dax stumbles on loose rocks , and a large boulder lands on her leg . Fortunately , the leg is not broken , and they continue onwards . They see Bashir ' s figure , but instead of coming to help Dax , Falow ' s figure again appears and tells them they are on shap six . Dax eventually exhorts Kira and Sisko to leave her and reach safety , but they refuse , and insist on attempting to help Dax . Moving round a narrow outcropping on a steep cliff , they all fall off , appearing suddenly back in the bar , together with Bashir . The Wadi finish their game and change the table back to a dabo table , and are about to leave , when Commander Sisko demands to know what was going on . At that point , Falow ' s normally stern deameanor changes . He states , with a comical intonation , " It ' s only a game ! " There never was any actual risk , and that Quark had cheated them in Dabo . Having just feared for their lives , Commander Sisko is miffed at the Wadi ; the Wadi have committed a faux pas on the group by offering them a game that deceived them into thinking that they were playing for their lives , which understandably would annoy the players especially after finding out that their lives were not in danger all this time . After the Wadi leave , Quark chases after Falow , sensing an opportunity to market Chula . Memorable quotes . " " First contact is not what it used to be . " " " " This is not what I signed up for ! " " " " Well , I ' m not in Starfleet . " " " " Do they have money ? " " " " Is it against Starfleet regulations to press a few buttons ? " " " " Constable Odo , good morning to you ! " " " " I just had a strange run - in with Falow . He said something about moving along home . " " " " Use your tricorders for proximity checks every two minutes . . . and if all else fails , just yell again , Doctor . We ' ll find you . " " " " Please don ' t make me do this ! I ' m begging you . ( gets down on his knees ) Please , please ! Please PLEASE ! PLEASE ! PLEASE ! PLEASE ! ( crumples under the table ) Please , please . " " " " Do you have sex on your world ? " " " " Move along home ! " " " " Choose their path ! Double their peril , double your winnings ! " " " " Move along , move along home ! " " " " You brought us here , you bring us home ! " " " " Trust a gambler . " " " " That ' s not what you said when you were groveling on the floor . " " " " Oh , that ' s right . . . you were here for the groveling . " " " " Major , I gave you a direct order ! " " " " Court - martial me . " " " " I can ' t , you ' re not in Starfleet . " " " " If I were a superior officer , I ' d court - martial " both " of you . " " " " It ' s only a game ! " " " " You know , this game could work here . It really could . . . " " Links and references . References . administrator ; airlock ; " allamaraine " ; alpha - currant nectar ; ambassador ; Andolian brandy ; antidote ; Bajor ; Bajoran s ; Bajoran fashion ; Bajoran transport ; Bajoran wormhole ; bed ; behavioral test ; bet ; captain ; chief of security ; Chula ; cocktail party ; combadge ; court martial ; dabo ; dabo girl ; dabo wheel ; damage control ; dice ; docking bay ; dress uniform ; drug ; Earth ; echo ; energy flux ; ; father ; Ferengi ; figurine s ; first contact ; gambler ; game ; Gamma Quadrant ; gemstone s ; holosuite ; hour ; Human ; ionic field ; juice ; " klon peag " ; laboratory ; laboratory rodent ; labyrinth ; leg ; lemonade ; licensing agreement ; logic ; lokar bean ; magnetic field ; Master Surchid ; maze ; McCoullough ; meter ; minute ; mirror ; model ; money ; morning ; night ; nightmare ; Nog ; ; Old Man ; ops ; painting ; poison ; proximity check ; pyramid ic ; Quark ' s ; reactive ion impeller ; red carpet ; rehearsal ; replicator ; rhyme ; riddle ; rodent ; scan ; school ; security officer ; senior staff ; sex ; shap ; Starfleet ; starship ; stick ; sweep ; tectonic shift ; thialo ; three - dimensional chess ; transporter ; tricorder ; Trill ; United Federation of Planets ; Vulcan ship ; Wadi ; Wadi starship ; wager ; waiter Deleted scene references . Cardassian ; clothier ; Garak ; tailor