Heart of Stone ( episode ) Searching for a Maquis raider on an unstable moon , Kira is trapped in an expanding crystal formation that threatens to engulf her if Odo cannot set her free . Meanwhile , Nog attempts to persuade a skeptical Commander Benjamin Sisko to write him a letter of recommendation to join Starfleet Academy . Summary . Teaser . Returning from consultations at Prophet ' s Landing , a Bajoran colony near the Cardassian border , Kira and Odo talk in the . Odo is upset that Kira did not allow him to turn down an invitation to dinner with the colony ' s governor , Avesta . Kira is incredulous over this , given that Odo does not eat , but he explains that he would have liked the chance to voice his opinion . Soon , they detect a Maquis attack in progress on a Lissepian ship . They pursue the attacking ship , a vessel , in their runabout . Act One . Due to prevailing conditions , the pursuit takes them down to the surface of a moon located near the Badlands with an atmosphere that ' s impenetrable to sensor s . On the station , Nog is in Ops asking O ' Brien if he can see Commander Sisko on an " urgent " matter and he ' s sent up to the commander ' s office . Nog comes bearing a quantity of latinum , which he gives to Sisko because according to Ferengi statute , Nog has completed the Ferengi Attainment Ceremony and is now at the age where he must purchase an apprenticeship . Since he considers Sisko a mentor , he says , Sisko ' s the one from whom he intends to make the purchase – he wants to become a Starfleet officer . Sisko explains in brief that Nog needs to graduate from Starfleet Academy , and in order to be admitted there he needs " a letter of reference from a command - level officer . " This is because Nog is not a citizen of the Federation . Since Sisko is just such an officer , Nog is certain that Sisko will provide the reference . . . but Sisko says he ' ll " think about it . " Throughout the conversation , the two are pushing the stack of Nog ' s latinum back and forth across the Commander ' s desk . On the alien moon , Odo and Kira track the fugitive to a cave network and witness severe seismic activity . Since they need to cover ground quickly looking for the Maquis fugitive , they split up . Shortly afterward , Odo receives a combadge signal from Kira . . . who ' s trapped in one of the caves . When Odo finds Kira , her right foot is completely stuck in some sort of crystal formation that grows spontaneously . Act Two . Odo attempts various approaches to freeing her , but none of them work . Sometime later , Jake catches up to Nog at Quark ' s , under the impression that Nog ' s interview with his father was a joke . Nog angrily assures Jake that nothing could be further from the truth , extracting a promise that Jake will go back to his father and take back his assertion that it was a joke . Jake is confused , and asks for an explanation , but Nog refuses to give him one , mentioning that it is personal . Meanwhile , Odo returns to the runabout and attempts to transport Kira out of her entrapment , only to discover that the nature of the moon ' s atmosphere makes it impossible to operate transporters or send a distress signal directly from the runabout . As he ' s returning to Kira ' s location he hears phaser fire , which Kira tells him was on account of the reappearance of the Maquis they ' d been chasing . Examining the phaser blasts on a rock wall near Kira , Odo tells the major the Maquis did not miss her by much . " " My lucky day , " " she ruefully says . Act Three . On the upper level of the Promenade , Nog collars Sisko outside Quark ' s and asks excitedly if he ' s decided to write the letter of reference . Faced with Nog ' s persistence , Sisko tells Nog unambiguously that he doesn ' t consider Nog a good candidate for admission to the Academy considering his reputation on the station – but Nog wants nothing more than a chance to prove that he ' s better than Sisko ' s assessment suggests . With this in mind , he later tells Jadzia to assign Nog to a cargo bay inventory . Jadzia ' s equally skeptical , but Sisko wants to give Nog a fair chance to live up to his promises – and that ' s exactly what he ' ll get , with " " no help , no interference , no - one looking over his shoulder . " " Jadzia points out that they ' ve already taken inventory of that cargo bay , which Sisko says makes it the perfect test : they ' ll know if anything goes missing . In the cargo bay , Nog takes the opportunity with extreme enthusiasm , telling Dax he will have the inventory report completed before Sisko goes off duty . On the moon , Kira ' s still stuck . Working from information provided in one of the criminal activity report s , Odo comes up with an idea for freeing her – but time ' s growing short . To pass the time while they wait for Odo ' s solution to show positive results , Odo explains that he ' s been going to the holosuite with Chief O ' Brien and witnessing O ' Brien ' s fascination with kayaking . In the meantime , an earthquake strikes . Act Four . Odo changes form to protect Kira from falling rocks . After the earthquake ends , Odo continues talking with her at a personal level . In the Replimat , Sisko and Jadzia are reviewing Nog ' s performance on the inventory , which was " excellent " . Dax notes that he not only finished it in under five hours , he even found a few items that the crew missed during the previous inventory . Sisko remarks that all the experience Nog gained from taking inventory in Quark ' s back room has now paid off . However , both of them are still completely in the dark about Nog ' s motivations for joining Starfleet . Eventually , Kira and Odo are forced to admit that they ' re having no success . Kira " orders " Odo to leave her . Act Five . Odo refuses to abandon her . Kira demands an explanation , and at the cost of demolishing his normal comportment , he confesses that he loves her . Much to his surprise , she tells him that his feelings are , in fact , requited . Nog is sent to Commander Sisko ' s office , where Sisko explains that he needs to turn down Nog ' s request for a reference . Sisko ' s explanation is that near as can be told , this is another of Nog ' s schemes , over which Sisko can ' t afford to risk any of his reputation . . . but just as he did with Jake , Nog loses his composure and begins to explain himself . As voices raise , he tells Sisko point blank : " " I don ' t want to end up like my father ! " " Nog goes on to point out that his father shows every sign of being a brilliant engineer , but that Rom doesn ' t have " the lobes " for the business life that is expected of Ferengi ( any more than his own father did ) . . . and neither does he . On his current path , Rom has nothing in the future to look forward to except working at Quark ' s for the rest of his life or the slim chance of inheriting the bar if Quark dies first . Nog is anxious to avoid his father ' s fate , and is fixed on joining Starfleet exactly because that will give him one of his best likely chances to use the talents he " does " have . Having finally gotten a straight explanation of Nog ' s motivations and seeing that his reasons for joining Starfleet are genuine , Sisko changes his mind and promises Nog his reference . Nog is overjoyed , but Sisko reminds him that he ' s still got a lot of work ahead of him if he is to become an officer . Matters on the alien moon also reach their denouement . Odo ' s been thinking about the things that Kira ' s told him , and they don ' t add up . Kira ' s stated feelings don ' t follow the body language with which he ' s grown familiar , and there are a number of inconsistencies in the other things she ' s said . Odo points a Bajoran phaser at the person in front of him and asks who they are and what they have done with Kira . " Kira " changes form into the Female Changeling . By way of explaining herself , she says that the whole thing was staged because she needed to understand why Odo had chosen to remain with the Solids rather than returning to his own people . She reveals Kira ' s actual location , but not before asserting that Kira will " never " love Odo , because he is a Changeling . The Female Changeling transports off the moon , and Odo retrieves Kira . Back on the station , Odo tells Kira that he realized what was going on when the Female Changeling made " " a slip of the tongue – nothing important . " ' " In Quark ' s , Quark flatly refuses to allow Nog to join Starfleet . . . only for Rom to speak up and say that Quark may be his boss , but Rom has the final word in matters concerning his own son . Quark impatiently tells Rom to tell Nog he can ' t leave DS9 . . . only for Rom to wish his son luck and say he will be very proud if Nog becomes the first Ferengi to join Starfleet . Memorable quotes . " " That ' s right . I want to be the first Ferengi in Starfleet . Now . Who do I see about getting a uniform ? " " " " No , it ' s my fault . I should have explained it better . " " " Of course " it ' s your fault . " Everything " that goes wrong here is your fault . It says so in your contract . " " " " . . . it ' s been my observation that you humanoids have a hard time giving up the things you love . . . no matter how much they might hurt you . " " " " After all , we ' ve been in worse situations than this one , and come out all right . " " " " Name three . . . I can ' t think of any , either . " " " " So your name is ' Unknown Sample ' ? " " " " No . " Odo ' ital " literally means the word " Nothing . " Even after it became clear that I was sentient , the Bajoran scientists kept calling me that . As a joke , they split it into two words , like a Bajoran name : " Odo Ital . " Which eventually got shortened . . . " " " " To Odo . " " " " I thought it was the most appropriate name anyone could give me . And then I met you . . . " " " " No . I won ' t leave you . " " " " Why ? " " " " Because . . . Because , I ' m in love with you . " " " " My father is a mechanical genius . He could ' ve been the chief engineer of a starship if he ' d had the opportunity . But he went into business like a good Ferengi . The only thing is , he ' s not a good Ferengi . . . not when it comes to acquiring profit . So now all he has to live for is the slim chance that someday , somehow , he might be able to take over my uncle ' s bar . Well I ' m not going to make the same mistake . I want to do something with my life . . . something worthwhile . " " " " Well done , Odo . You really are quite a skillful investigator . " " " " And you ' re quite a skillful Changeling . " " " " She ' s never going to love you . How could she ? You are a changeling . " " " " I tell you , I won ' t stand for it . No nephew of mine is going to disgrace our family name by joining Starfleet . " " " " When it comes to the bar , you may be in charge , but when it comes to my son , I make the decisions . " " " " Fine ! You tell him he can ' t go ! " " " " Nog , good luck . I would be proud to have a son in Starfleet . " " Links and references . References . attitude stabilizers ; Avesta ; Badlands ; Bajoran ; Bajoran - Cardassian Treaty ; bandwidth ; Bemar ; Cardassian s ; Cardassian border ; Cardassian language ; cargo bay ; Central Museum of Remmil VI ; chief engineer ; chief of security ; colony ; computer ; constable ; contract ; covariant oscillator ; crystal ; dinner ; diplomacy ; ensign ; ; exploration ; family name ; Federation ; Ferengi ; Ferengi Attainment Ceremony ; Ferengi Trade By - Laws ; ; gas giant ; governor ; hatchling pond ; holodeck programs ; holosuite ; individuation ; interference ; inventory ; ionization ; kayaking ; latinum ; letter of reference ; Lissepian ; Lissepian supply ship ; " Louie , Louie " ; lunch ; major ; manifest ; ; meter ; Mora Pol ; Nausicaan raiders ; ; ; ; pattern enhancer ; ; phase matrix recalibrator ; plasma field ; police record ; power coupling ; power supply grid ; prison ; probe ; Promenade ; Prophet ' s Landing ; Quark ' s ; rapid ; Remmil VI ; Remmil VI native ; replicator ; Replimat ; resignation ; Rules of Acquisition ; sensor ; shoulder ; solar system ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy entrance exam ; Starfleet Security ; starship ; sympathetic vibration ; system overload ; transponder ; tricorder ; ultrasonic generator ; ultrasonic wave ; Vilix ' pran ; Vilix ' pran ' s offspring ; weather