Honor Among Thieves ( episode ) O ' Brien , working undercover for Starfleet Intelligence , infiltrates the Orion Syndicate , the Alpha Quadrant ' s main organized crime ring and befriends the man he will have to betray . Summary . Teaser . In a rundown bar on Farius Prime , there are several customers , including a Dopterian and a Farian that seems to be inhaling a drug product , playing tongo with a Human . The Bolian bartender , Graife , refreshes their drinks . Miles O ' Brien , in civilian clothing , sits at the bar and listens to some customers in the background . They are discussing how Raimus will be unhappy about the acquisition of faulty merchandise . They decide to order some food ; Flith suggests Krellan food , but Liam Bilby says it always gives him heartburn . They joke about how his appetite will kill him some day ; he says " " don ' t get your hopes up . " " The Dopterian is about to use a com booth on the wall , but Bilby yells at him that they ' re about to use it , and sends Krole . He puts a small device on a mechanical implant on his neck , and a similar device on the com booth ' s screen , and interfaces with the computer . They continue listing what they want to order , and Krole asks who to bill for their dinner . They suggest the police department on Farius , but they billed them for yesterday ' s meal . So they decide on the municipal sanitation department . As he tries to access their account code , O ' Brien covertly activates a small device in his hand , making the com booth begin to shock Krole . O ' Brien jumps up , and tells the others not to touch him , that he ' s being " spiked " . He then goes to the panel , and begins entering commands . The electric shock stops , and they help him to a chair . They complain that they spiked him just for trying to use their account code . Krole pulls off the dataport , and finds that it is fused . They wonder what to do , since it would be too expensive to ask Raimus to pay for a replacement , but O ' Brien offers to fix it for him . . . for a price . They ask O ' Brien his name , and he replies " Connelly " . They give him the datalink , and tell him to have it fixed and polished by tomorrow morning . In a dark and steamy alley , O ' Brien walks up to meet a man . O ' Brien explains what happens , and the man says that nobody has ever made contact with the Orion Syndicate so quickly . It turns out that several undercover Starfleet operatives have recently been killed by the Orion Syndicate , and O ' Brien is working for Starfleet Intelligence to find out who their informant in Starfleet is . Once he is able to find out who has been passing on information , he can return to Deep Space 9 . Bilby will find information on O ' Brien ' s alias , that he ' s a " fix - it man down on his luck " . Chadwick , O ' Brien ' s handler , tells him to get as close as he can , and not to take any unnecessary risks , because if they find out who he really is , they will kill him . Act One . Meanwhile on Deep Space 9 , Quark and Odo enter Ops at the same time to report several technical problems , such as the internal security sensors and the fire - suppression system in Quark ' s . Doctor Bashir comes into Ops , and also complains about a malfunction in the infirmary . Dax and Worf are on a turbolift coming into Ops , when it stops short , forcing them to climb out . Major Kira explains that it happens every time Chief O ' Brien goes on leave , since no one really knows how he keeps the Starfleet and Cardassian technology working together . Dr . Bashir goes to Captain Sisko about the problems , but the captain believes he is just worried about his friend . The captain explains that he cannot reveal the whereabouts of the chief , but assures him he can take care of himself . Back in Graife ' s bar on Farius , Krole , Flith , and Bilby are playing tongo when the chief comes in . O ' Brien hands the fixed neural interface to Krole , who tries it on to test for feedback . Bilby is impressed with O ' Brien ' s work , and has looked into " Connelly " ' s background , knowing that he lives on Jinami Street , and his work history . O ' Brien asks how he knows so much about the identity he ' s taken , still undercover , and Bilby doesn ' t respond . Instead , he takes him for a walk . In Bilby ' s apartment ( which he shares with his cat Chester ) he unlocks a safe , and pulls out three Klingon type - 3 disruptor s . O ' Brien sits up , suspicious , and Bilby says he didn ' t bring him here to kill him . Apparently , the Orion Syndicate was looking for people who can fix things on Farius Prime , as Bilby shows him that the disruptors he needed to procure don ' t work , O ' Brien diagnoses that the induction coil s are burnt out , and says he can fix them . Bilby offers him some cake his wife made , and shows him a picture of his family , who live on New Sydney . Bilby inquires about O ' Brien ' s family , to which he says that he doesn ' t have any . Bilby , in not so many words , asks if he would like to work for him in the Syndicate . Act Two . In the dark alley , Chadwick hands O ' Brien the Klingon induction coils he asked for , courtesy of the Klingon ambassador to Farius . Chadwick asks why Raimus , Bilby ' s boss , wants the disruptors . O ' Brien says he doesn ' t know , neither does Bilby , and asks if he can contact his wife . Chadwick says they can ' t risk it , and O ' Brien leaves to give the disruptors to Bilby . Back in Graife ' s Bar , O ' Brien gives them the disruptors , which they inspect . Flith asks where he got the replacement parts , which are hard to come by on Farius . O ' Brien doesn ' t tell them , to the point they get angry , and he says he stole them from a warehouse on Degora Street , and he didn ' t want them to get implicated if he got caught . Bilby believes it , and decides to do something about Connelly ' s clothes . So , Bilby takes him to the same tailor he uses , to buy a new suit . Later in Graife ' s Bar , Yint , who sold Bilby the malfunctioning disruptors , comes in asking what they want . Bilby says he wants his money back , but Yint refuses . Bilby decides to demonstrate by shooting Yint in the leg . O ' Brien tries to stop him , but Bilby fires again and kills Yint . Back in Bilby ' s apartment , Bilby confides in O ' Brien to the point of revealing that there ' s an Orion Syndicate operative in Starfleet . He asks Connelly to remind him to buy a birthday present for his daughter , and then if he ' d like to go to New Sydney to meet his family . O ' Brien agrees , and inquires more about the Starfleet officer . Bilby says Raimus met him on Risa a year prior , and that he worked at the weather control station . The Syndicate offered him a substantial amount of money , and he revealed the names of the undercover operatives in the Orion Syndicate . Bilby receives a message from Krole , saying Raimus wants to see him , so they go to Graife ' s Bar . Raimus and his guards beam in , and shows him that their new client is a Vorta , Gelnon , and that they are working for the Dominion . Raimus asks who O ' Brien is , and Bilby witnesses for him , saying he ' s trustworthy . Gelnon says he wants them to do something else for them , and that he ' ll contact him when it is time , and they transport out . Bilby explains to O ' Brien that anything he does wrong , he ' s accountable for . O ' Brien meets with Chadwick in the dark alley , and tells him who the informer is as well as the fact a Vorta was meeting with the Syndicate . Left with some very disturbing possibilities that could result from the Orion Syndicate working with the Dominion , Chadwick immediately extends O ' Brien ' s assignment to find out what is going on before leaving to inform his superiors . Act Three . Quickly becoming a valuable member of their team , O ' Brien assists his new associates in an attempt to rob the Bank of Bolias . Using the dataport , Krole and O ' Brien are quickly able to navigate around the bank ' s three - tier security protocol , and the isolation matrix protecting the data . Afterwards , Bilby books a Farian call girl for O ' Brien as a gift , but Miles politely refuses claiming he has a girlfriend called " Kimiko " . Bilby encourages him to settle down and have a family telling him " that ' s the most important thing " , and tells him that he considers " Connolly " a friend and to him a friend is like family . O ' Brien realizes that he is beginning to worry about Bilby , and what will become of him after his assignment ends . O ' Brien expresses this during his next meeting with Chadwick . He is reminded that Bilby made his choice when he joined the Syndicate , but also tells Miles that if they can build enough of a case against him then he ' ll be sent to a Federation prison where he ' ll be safe . This does little to help O ' Brien , still troubled by what may lay ahead for Bilby , but even more by the fact that he will have to betray a man he now considers his friend . Act Four . It soon becomes clear what the Dominion wants from the Syndicate . Raimus and the Vorta instruct Bilby and his team to execute the Klingon ambassador to Farius ( who is strongly against the Klingon - Federation alliance ) using the disruptors that O ' Brien repaired in order to imply that the ambassador was killed in a dispute with his fellow countrymen . It is the hope of the Dominion that the ambassador will become a martyr and this will lead to a diplomatic breakdown between the Klingons and the Federation , ending their alliance and ensuring the Dominion certain victory in the war . O ' Brien passes the information about the upcoming assassination attempt and the method Bilby will be using to penetrate the Klingon embassy ' s security on to Chadwick , who leaves to warn the ambassador . O ' Brien realizes that he has committed Bilby and his men to death at the hands of the Klingons , and tries to stop Chadwick , but is told that all he is going to do is warn the Klingons about the assassination attempt and it ' s up to them how they respond . Chadwick states that he won ' t shed any tears about members of the Orion Syndicate being killed . Chadwick then tells O ' Brien that its clear he ' s sympathizing with Bilby , but it ' s no longer a problem as his assignment is now over and he can return to Deep Space 9 . O ' Brien , however , cannot simply allow his new friend to walk into a trap and knocks out Chadwick before rushing to Bilby ' s apartment . Bilby greets O ' Brien on his door step and lets him in . He ' s getting ready to leave when O ' Brien tells him it ' s a trap . Act Five . O ' Brien tries his best to talk Bilby out of the mission , first by claiming that his signal was traced when he infiltrated Klingon security , but when this story doesn ' t work he tells the truth that he is working for Starfleet . At first Bilby refuses to believe this , but O ' Brien reasserts himself , and Bilby realizes the truth . Bilby is devastated that his new friend was actually a spy , reminding O ' Brien that , as he witnessed for him , the wrath of the Syndicate will fall on him once the truth is known . O ' Brien encourages Bilby to hide or turn himself in to the Federation . Bilby however decides that the only way to protect his wife and children from the Syndicate ' s retribution is to carry out his mission , even though it almost certainly will result in his own death . Knowing that he will be killed , Bilby makes a final request of O ' Brien – to make sure his cat Chester is cared for once he is gone , before leaving for his doomed mission . The last thing he asks is if O ' Brien has a family , and when O ' Brien confirms he does , Bilby is a little satisfied knowing family is the most important thing in the world . With that , Bilby leaves for the last time . O ' Brien returns to Deep Space 9 ( Chadwick having decided not to report O ' Brien ' s assault ) and tells Bashir everything that happened , and can ' t help but feel upset over his friend ' s death and guilty for his own indirect part in it . Bashir assures O ' Brien that there was nothing he could have done except for his duty . O ' Brien doesn ' t feel any better , and Bashir tells his friend that doesn ' t have all the answers for him he wants , but what he does know is that he ' s glad he ' s back . Bashir leaves , but O ' Brien is not totally alone having brought Chester back to the station with him . The cat goes to him and as O ' Brien strokes his new pet , he can ' t help but feel weighed down by recent events . Memorable quotes . " " If they find out who you are , they ' ll kill you . " " " " Major , there is something wrong with the turbolift . " " " " I can see that . " " " " I do not understand why his staff cannot keep the station running in his absence . " " " " Must have left my idiot brother in charge . " " " " The chief can take care of himself as well as anyone I know . " " " " You ' re right about that , sir . You ' re right about that . " " " " Hey , what do you make of that , Chester ? I ' ve found me an honest man . Must be my lucky day . " " " " You ' re telling me that the Orion Syndicate is working for the Dominion ? " " " " Opens up a lot of possibilities , doesn ' t it ? " " " " None of them " very " pleasant . " " " " Back home , wherever that is – you have a family ? " " " " Yeah . " " " " Heh , good . That ' s the most important thing . " " Links and references . References . account code ; alcohol ; Alpha Quadrant ; Bilby family ; ; Bank of Bolias ( Bolarus IX ) ; bar ; Bolian s ; cake ; Cardassian ; Chester ; cocktail ; com booth ; Connelly ; criminal organization ; dataport ; Dayos IV ; Degora Street ; disruptor ; Dopterian s ; Earth ; Farius ; Federation ; flower shop ; Gowron ; Graife ; Graife ' s Bar ; heartburn ; induction coil ; interfacing ; Jem ' Hadar ; Jinami Street ; Kimiko ; Klingon s ; Klingon Empire ; Krellan food ; Municipal Sanitation ; murder ; New Sydney ; nozala sandwich ; Orion Syndicate ; power grid ; Quark ' s ; Risa ; spiking ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Intelligence ; tongo ; vilm sauce ; Vorta ; weather modification network ; witnessing ;