The Ascent ( episode ) Trapped on an inhospitable world , Quark and Odo must work together to survive . Meanwhile , Nog returns to the station from Starfleet Academy . Summary . Teaser . There ' s a feeling of anticipation in Sisko ' s quarters as Jake makes final preparations for the move to his own quarters . Jake will be living with Nog who is due to spend his sophomore year on the station as part of his field studies , but Sisko discovers that the boys ' quarters will be not next door but on the other side of the habitat ring . The old man reminisces , but Jake is all too eager to move out on his own . Meanwhile , Quark enters Rom ' s quarters to find his brother anxiously awaiting Nog ' s return . Despite his own disapproval of Nog ' s attending Starfleet Academy , Quark has brought along several dozen bottles of root beer and is disgusted to see Rom at once drink one . The door chime rings and Rom grows excited , believing it might be his son , but it is Odo . The usual verbal sparring between Quark and Odo turns serious when Odo announces he has come to arrest Quark once and for all . Whatever has happened , it looks like Quark ' s shady dealings have finally caught up with him . Act One . Alone with Odo aboard the runabout now , Quark grows increasingly bored and tries to find ways to pass the time , including him trying to get Odo to play fizzbin . While he is interested by Odo ' s reading a romance novel , Quark finds the constable unwilling to indulge him in a card game or tell him what has happened . All he knows for sure is that a Federation grand jury has indicted him for something big . Back aboard Deep Space 9 , Nog meets Captain Sisko in his office to take orders . A symbolic moment involving Sisko ' s , which Nog catches , epitomizes the boy ' s transition into a model cadet . When Nog promises to " take care " of Jake and " keep him out of trouble " , the captain sarcastically claims Nog inspires him with confidence . However , when Nog and Jake move into their quarters , it is clear things will not be quite the same . Nog seems to have become more disciplined , while Jake has been indulging himself focusing on his writing . They are still best friends , but if Nog ' s 22 : 00 " lights out " time and 04 : 30 workout are any indication , the boys will not see eye to eye on everything . The utter lack of conversation and other stimuli has caused Quark ' s lobes to notice how annoyingly filled with sound the runabout is . In particular , he claims that Odo , who is eating soup , smacks his lips when he eats . There is also a strange buzzing sound , although Odo does not hear it . A few seconds pass before Quark determines to find what the sound is , and over Odo ' s impatience , he finds that it is an explosive . Act Two . Things go from bad to worse when they try to beam the explosive off the ship , which causes it to explode and nearly destroy the ship . The " Rio Grande " limps to a nearby planet , where they have to crash - land because the life support systems have been virtually destroyed . On the way down , Quark mentions the bomb was planted by the Orion Syndicate , to Odo ' s surprise ; it seems the lack of information about the charges against Quark was an attempt by Odo , who also knew nothing , to gain information . Both men lose consciousness during the violent crash . Quark awakens to find their situation grim ; the Class L planet on which they have landed is freezing ( although the weather is otherwise hospitable ) , the communications system and most supplies were destroyed in the crash , and the local plants appear poison ous . They do have a couple of ration pack s , but as Odo points out , they now have a choice between starving to death and freezing to death . On his first morning with Nog , Jake sleepily walks out of his bedroom to find his friend lifting weights . As usual , Jake passes on his own workout . Nog has found one of Jake ' s PADD s lying around with a story , " Past Prologue , " on it , so Jake asks what he thought . However , Nog did not read for " content , " but rather grammar and spelling errors . While Nog ' s having made the corrections himself is " sacrilege " to Jake as a writer , Nog doesn ' t seem to care . He claims Jake needs some muscles . Meanwhile , Quark has found a cold weather suit , which he plans to wear ( " finders keepers " ) , and a transceiver array , which they can use to send a distress call . As the communications system and signal booster have been destroyed , he uses his Ferengi brain to calculate that they will need to send the signal from somewhere with less atmosphere – namely , from the top of a nearby mountain . Act Three . The pair begin their trek out into the wilderness , conversing along the way . Quark believes Odo got what he wanted when his people made him a Solid , and while Odo denies it , in a way he seems to know this is true . On the other hand , were he still a Changeling , Odo could have flown to the top of the mountain already . Quark trips on a rock , prompting concern from Odo . While Odo ' s concern is clearly for Quark , he quickly changes it into concern for the transmitter . They agree to split the environmental suit between them . Tension between Jake and Nog continues to mount . Nog comes home to find that , in the process of working on his story , Jake has left a mess in their quarters , and despite his claims of " working " , Jake is playing computerized dom - jot to " clear his mind " . Nog claims Jake wouldn ' t last a day at the academy , to which Jake retorts with a comparison of the starfleet uniform to pajamas . Nog declares that he ' s moving out . After three days of hiking , Quark and Odo are feeling the strain . They ' ve taken turns wearing the environmental suit , but between the hiking and the lack of beetle s , Quark is about to collapse . Forcing his companion to push on , Odo assures him that they only have about six more hours to go . His opinion changes considerably when they reach the top of the hill they are climbing and find the mountain to be closer to six " days " away . Act Four . They push on , but Quark reveals that he is not a member of the Orion Syndicate , as they do not kill their own . Odo realizes Quark was a witness , not a defendant , in the case . From this he surmises that Quark tried and failed to get into the Syndicate , which amuses him ; however , Quark points out that this means Odo has spent ten years trying to catch a nobody . In the Replimat , Rom joins Sisko . As they discuss their sons ' living together , each expresses his desire that his son would be more like the other ' s . As Sisko fondly remembers a time when the two were desperate to keep Jake and Nog away from each other , Rom reveals that he thought Nog might be a Changeling and , eight hours earlier , had drawn some blood to make sure . He pulls out the vial to check again that the blood hadn ' t turned back to the gelatinous changeling state . He also mentioned how Nog had put him " on report " for having an untidy toolkit . Rom and Sisko agree their sons could learn a lot from each other . They start planning a way to get Jake and Nog to reconcile . As things become increasingly desperate , Quark wakes up after a night in the open to find that he can no longer hear out of his right ear . He claims that his body has begun to shut down due to excessive stress and lack of food . Odo declares his intent to push on , even if Quark is ready to give up , and Quark goes along if only because he does not want to be left alone to die . Their true feelings come out while they continue their journey , and they eventually stop to express their hatred for one another . They start fighting and fall down a slope in the heat of the moment , breaking Odo ' s leg in the process . Act Five . Forming a crude , makeshift splint for Odo ' s leg , Quark determines to carry him to the top of the mountain . Although Odo tells Quark not to be an idiot , he claims to be bringing the other man along not to save him but for food when Odo dies . The Ferengi continues to pull Odo using a travois , but eventually collapses , exhausted . Odo attempts to pull the transceiver himself . Quark , realizing that Odo is getting one up on him ( and balking at the thought that his remains won ' t be sold if he dies on the mountain ) , picks himself up and pushes on . Sisko surprises his son with a visit to inform Jake of some bad news : station " regulations " say that a single person cannot occupy double quarters , and unfortunately , there are no other quarters available . The solution , of course , is to get Jake a roommate , so Sisko calls Nog in . Overruling both boys ' objections ( as Jake ' s father and as Nog ' s commanding officer ) , Sisko makes them stay in the room together and leaves them alone . They both know how foolish they have been and attempt to reconcile . Jake suggests they go to the gym , Nog suggests dom - jot instead . As Quark collapses amid a snowstorm , Odo has realized the Ferengi couldn ' t carry on and begun dragging himself upward . Before long he realizes it is an exercise in futility and records a log on his communicator : Odo is beamed off the surface by the as he speaks . It seems the ship was looking for Odo and Quark and picked up the signal from the transceiver . Worf and Dax inform him that they found Quark slumped over the emitter . Dax says that Quark saved both their lives , to Odo ' s dismay . The two of them end up in the " Defiant " s sickbay alongside one another , where they reassure each other that they meant their words of hatred earlier – their own way of apologizing and reassuring themselves that they are still friends , or at least adversaries . Memorable quotes . " " Well , I guess you ' re not as successful a businessman as you think you are . " " " " Which means you spent the last ten years of your life trying to catch a nobody – with little success , I might add . So you tell me , which one of us is the bigger failure ? " " " " We ' re going to clean " every " day ? " " " " No , just the odd and even ones . " " " " This whole runabout is alive with annoying little noises . " " " " All we have to do is haul this transmitter to higher ground , more altitude less atmosphere . Go high enough and we just might get a signal out . " " " " How much higher do we have to go ? " " " " Carry the seven , take the square root , times pi . . . I ' d say ah . . . ( points to a VERY high peak ) that high . " " " " What ' s that over there ? " " " " Its just another stone . " " " " I can ' t believe it . I ' ve been walking for three days and I haven ' t seen a single beetle . I could really go for a beetle right now , any kind of beetle , just as long as it had a little meat on it . " " " " There are no beetles , Quark . " " " " A nice slug would do . " " " " There are no slugs either . No slugs , no beetles , no worms , no snails . . . nothing but rocks and trees and we can ' t eat any of it ! " " " " I hate this transmitter , I hate this mountain , and most of all , I hate the Orion Syndicate for stranding us here . " " " " I think we both know who ' s really to blame . " " " " Don ' t try and blame this on me , Constable . It was your job to get me to Inferna Prime safely . " " " " Well , you never told me the Orion Syndicate was after you . " " " " You never asked . " " " " If I had , would you have told me the truth , or would you have lied . . . like you . . . lie about . . . everything ? " " " " Have I ever told you how much I hate that smug , superior attitude of yours ? " " " " Have I ever told you how much I hate your endless lying , your pathetic greed , your idiotic little schemes ? " " " " Well , I hate . . . " " " " What do you hate ? " " " You . " " " Well , that ' s fine with me . . . ' cause I hate you , too . You ' re nothing but a petty thief ! " " " " You ' re an arrogant prude . " " " " LECHER ! " " " " FREAK ! " " " " FRAUD ! " " " FASCIST ! " " FAILURE ! " " " Don ' t you get it ? I ' m not trying to save you . I ' m taking you along as emergency rations . If you die , I ' m gonna eat you . " " " " You ' re joking . " " " " Waste not , want not . " " " " Now , I know the two of you are very different people , but you ' re still friends , and somehow , some way , you ' ll make this work . " " " " I don ' t know . . . " " " " Neither do I . " " " " Well I do . ( to Nog ) And I ' m your captain . ( to Jake ) And your father . And what I say goes . Good day , gentlemen . " " " " You ' re trying to embarrass me , aren ' t you ? You ' re trying to shame me into carrying that thing the rest of the way on my own ! Well , it ' s not gonna work ! You oughta just embrace the inevitable and die with dignity , that ' s what I ' m gonna do ! I ' m just gonna lie here and die ! ! ! " " " " If it wasn ' t for his signal , we never would have found you . Looks like he saved both your lives . " " " " I was afraid you were going to say that . " " " " Odo ? Odo ? Are you awake ? " " " " I am now . " " " " You remember back there , when I told you I hated you , and you told me you hated me ? " " " " Vividly . " " " " I just wanted you to know . . . I meant every word of it . " " " " So did I . " " Links and references . References . Bajor ; Bajoran ; Bajoran wormhole ; brooch ; cadet barracks ; class L ; cliché ; Constable ; cremation ; customs inspector ; customs inspection ; ; dabo girl ; deafness ; Divine Treasury ; domjot ; fascism ; Federation Grand Jury ; Ferengi ; Ferengi Commerce Authority ; field study ; fizzbin ; grammar ; gym ; holosuite ; Inferna Prime ; IV drip ; latinum ; membership fee ; Morn ; orange juice ; Orion ; Orion Syndicate ; pi ; poison ; poly - nutrient solution ; preposition ; punctuation ; Quark ' s ; ration pack ; Replimat ; ; root beer ; runabout ; signal booster ; snail juice ; sonic shower ; sophomore ; spelling ; square root ; Starbase 137 ; Starfleet Academy ; station regulation ; travois ; Vorian pterodactyl ; " Vulcan Love Slave "