

(written from a Production point of view Real World article

After an accident in the engine room of the Defiant apparently claims the life of Benjamin Sisko, Jake lives out his life in an endless quest to locate his father.

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Summary

Teaser

On Earth, in a house on the Louisiana bayou near New Orleans. It is dark and stormy outside as an elderly Jake Sisko injects himself with an unknown compound before sitting down in front of a fire. Soon, there comes a knock at the door and Jake answers, revealing a young woman, Melanie, looking for refuge from the downpour. After a few minutes of idle conversation the visitor reveals that she, in fact, is a budding writer and is looking for the writer Jake Sisko. Confirming that Jake is who she is talking to, she cuts to the chase and asks, very promptly, why he stopped writing.

Taking a moment, Jake responds that he stopped writing, because of an event that happened to him when he was eighteen years old. He had lost his father Benjamin Sisko.

Act One

Jake says he had grown extremely close to his father after losing his mother. In a rare event that happens only every fifty years, the Bajoran wormhole was going to undergo a subspace inversion. During this inversion, rare anomalies and temporal fluctuations were going to occur, creating a spectacle that the elder Sisko did not want he or his son to miss.

Jake was working on a particularly difficult piece of prose at this time and was struggling with it when his father asked him to come along on the USS Defiant to watch the inversion. Jake tried to hole himself away in the crew quarters to continue with his writing on his PADD, but his father persuaded him to come to the bridge to watch, reminding him of all he'd miss if he doesn't look around once in a while and then agreed to read and discuss what Jake has wrote afterwards. However, suddenly the Defiant was rocked when the wormhole began its inversion, causing a malfunction on the Defiant's engineering deck. Benjamin went to see to it, followed by Jake, despite being asked to stay behind by his father. Arriving, Jake found the entire engineering crew unconscious and the warp core beginning to go critical from an energy flux. With Jake's help, Ben was able to stop the core from rupturing by using an interphasic compensator, but as he passed the piece of equipment to his son, the warp core emitted an energy discharge. Jake was pushed out of the way; however he witnessed his father's disappearance, and Benjamin was presumed to have been vaporized by the energy.

Act Two

At the memorial service, many people spoke highly of Captain Sisko, but Jake felt he could not. Jake began living with Dax , and everyone did their best to console Jake, even to the point where Quark allowed Nog time off from the bar to spend time with him. Jake and Nog later discussed the former's future plans since Nog was about to leave for Starfleet Academy , and Jake admitted he was considering taking his deferred admittance to the Pennington School on Earth, but wanted to remain on the station too. However, one night as Jake lay in bed, there was a flash of light. Jake turned around, and saw his father sitting in a nearby chair. A few seconds later, he disappeared again.

Jake tried to explain what had happened to Dax, who agreed to scan for any anomalies; however, the scan turned up nothing, and Jake dismissed it as a dream.

Meanwhile, the Klingons were making more angry noises and the Bajorans, unsettled by the death of their Emissary, entered into a defense pact with the Cardassians. The Klingons were very unhappy at this and everyone knew that if war broke out, Deep Space 9 would be on the front lines. As a result, the majority of the civilian population left the station. Nog had left to attend Starfleet Academy, and Jake found himself feeling more despondent than ever. Kira and Worf tried to persuade Jake to leave, telling him it was the safest thing to do but he refused. Later, at the upper pylon viewport, Kira approached Jake and told him that she knew his grandfather had asked him to live with him on Earth, and that even if Deep Space 9 wasn't on the brink of war, she'd rather he wasn't on the station. Jake told her that the reason he was staying was because that when he and his father arrived, the station was a damaged hulk but Sisko turned it into a thriving community and Jake explained that if he left the station he'd feel like leaving the last part of his father behind. Kira allowed him to stay on the condition that when she tells him to leave, he will. He agreed.

A few months later, Jake found his father in a corridor on DS9 and was physically able to touch him. Taking him immediately to the infirmary, they discovered that Ben was caught in a temporal inversion, falling in and out of sync with normal time and disappearing into subspace, unaware of the passage of time. Despite everyone's frantic attempt to save him, Ben began to disappear into subspace. Seeing the devastation in his son's face, Ben begged his son to reassure him he would be all right but Jake was too upset to answer. Ben vanished, and Jake was left more heartbroken than ever.

Jake tells Melanie he couldn't bear losing his father a second time. Melanie says she can come back later, but Jake says he is dying, so that won't happen.

Act Three

Jake tries to shrug off his previous admission by telling a worried Melanie that when he said he was dying he was just admitting to the inevitable. Melanie assures him he doesn't need to try and grab her attention and the two briefly discuss her ambition to be a writer. Melanie then asks what happened next.

Dax and Chief O'Brien spent the next few months trying to find a way to get Ben back, but they hit a dead end especially as they couldn't recreate the accident since the wormhole wouldn't undergo another inversion for almost fifty years. Eventually, the situation with the Klingons escalated and Starfleet was forced to turn over DS9 to them. Jake had no choice to leave and could only watch the station disappear into the distance as they left. With no choice but to carry on, Jake moved back to Earth, went to the Pennington School and began writing. Afterward he moved to Louisiana and married a Bajoran woman named Korena and all was well when they met up with Nog, now a Starfleet commander. The Klingons were beginning to let Starfleet ships through the wormhole into the Gamma Quadrant, to see how the Dominion would handle ships coming into their space again. The three met up to celebrate Jake winning the Betar Prize, a prestigious writing award for his collected stories, and Jake seemed happy and settled.

One night, Jake was up late working on his newest novel and was discussing allowing Korena, an artist, to design the cover, when suddenly the familiar flash of light came from the living room. Jake and Korena entered to find Ben lying near the couch.

Act Four

Starfleet Science was immediately called, and Ben was eager to find out how his son was doing. He was delighted to find that Jake was married and had published two books, achieving his ambition. However, Jake began to get upset at everything his father had missed out on and that he had given up on him, but Ben told Jake that nobody could be expected to hold on for so long, and that he was proud of him. Jake tells Ben that noting he's accomplished matters now that he knows his father is still out there, but Ben tells Jake that it all matters and that even though he isn't there, he still wants grandchildren. Suddenly Ben disappeared again, and Jake was once again distraught.

Jake stopped writing, and began studying subspace mechanics in an attempt to get his father back. Korena was initially patient; eventually, however, Jake's obsession cost him his wife. But Jake wouldn't let this stop him, and he realized he could get Ben back by recreating the accident. By this time, fifty years had passed and Jake hoped that because the Bajoran wormhole would be inverting again, he could grab his father and get him back into sync with his own life. Nog, now a captain, got the Defiant out of retirement and the crew, including Dax and Bashir, went to recreate the accident. However instead of bringing Ben back, Jake was pulled into subspace where he encountered his father.

Ben was again eager to find out how his son was doing, but was horrified to find Jake had lost his wife and abandoned his promising writing career in order to try and rescue him. Ben pleaded with his son to get back to writing and to live his life properly, telling him that he shouldn't abandon his future for him. Eventually, Jake was pulled back from subspace.

Act Five

Back in the present, Melanie asks why he didn't go back to writing, and Jake reveals that he had, having been working on more collected stories. He tells her that there wasn't enough time left for him, as he is dying. Melanie realizes that Jake's father is about to appear, and bids Jake goodbye. Before she leaves, Jake makes Melanie promise to enjoy life and once she is gone he rests in an old chair before falling asleep.

Waking the next morning, Jake opens his eyes to find his father sitting close by, observing him. Ben tells Jake how happy he is that he's living in the house again and that he finally got back to writing. Jake asks Ben to read the dedication:

"To my father, who's coming home."

Ben is touched, but Jake explains further; he (Jake) is the link that kept pulling Ben back into normal space; the sync was like a rubber band. He was the anchor for his father. Sometimes the band would be pulled taut, and during those times before the tension was released, Ben would temporarily rejoin his timeline, but he pulled away again once it snapped back. Once Jake dies, Ben will be lost in subspace forever. The only way to save him is to cut the cord at the time it is most taut, when he is in perfect sync with Jake's timeline. If he did so, Benjamin will be shot back to the time of the incident and he could jump out of the way before he got caught in the loop. Benjamin realizes that Jake has taken poison, and is committing suicide. Ben is horrified, and pleads with his son not to do it and that he shouldn't sacrifice himself for him, but Jake explained he had to. By doing this, he is saving two lives, those of Ben and the boy Jake was, the boy who needs his father. Ben is devastated as his son dies in his arms.

Ben suddenly finds himself back in the Defiant engine room, just after he saved the ship. This time he's able to barely dodge the energy discharge from the warp core. Jake is puzzled how his dad knew to get out of the way, but Ben, having seen how much his son was willing to give up in order to save him, can only hug him knowing they now both have a second chance.

Memorable quotes

"You are my favorite author of all time."

"You should read more."

- Melanie and the adult Jake Sisko



"It begins many years ago. I was eighteen. And the worst thing that could happen to a young man happened to me. My father died."

- the adult Jake Sisko



"I'm no writer; but if I were, it seems to me I'd want to poke my head up every once in a while and take a look around; see what's going on. It's life, Jake! You can miss it if you don't open your eyes."

- Benjamin Sisko



"I'm not sure I could ever get over losing somebody like that; right in front of my eyes."

"People do. Time passes, and they realize that the person they lost is really gone… And they heal."

"Is that what happened to you?"

"No… I suppose not."

- Melanie and adult Jake Sisko



"Benjamin Sisko was more than my commanding officer; he was the emissary to my people sent by the prophets. But most importantly, he was my friend."

- Kira Nerys, at the memorial for Benjamin Sisko



"I didn't step forward. I couldn't. I felt that no matter what I said about him, I'd be leaving so much more out; and that didn't seem right."

- Adult Jake Sisko, to Melanie



"After a few months, things began returning to normal… for everybody else that is."

- Adult Jake Sisko, to Melanie



"Please don't make me leave; not yet. This is my home. When my dad and I came here, this place was just an abandoned shell. He turned it into something. Everywhere I look, it's like I see a part of him. If I leave, I won't have anything left of him.

- Jake Sisko, responding to Kira's request that he leave the station



"I have been more popular with women since I stopped asking them to do that." (In reference to have women chew his food for him)

- Nog, to Jake as adults



"Quark finally got that little moon he was always talking about, and my father, as usual, is making sure it doesn't fall out of orbit."

- Nog, to Jake as adults



"And don't think because I'm not around much, that I don't want grandchildren."

- Benjamin Sisko, to Jake just before disappearing



"Let go, Jake. If not for yourself, then for me. You still have time to make a better life for yourself. Promise me you'll do that… Promise me!"

- Benjamin Sisko, imploring Jake to let him go



"To my father, who's coming home."

- Benjamin Sisko, reading the dedication in Jake's last book



"For you, and for the boy that I was. He needs you more than you know. Don't you see? We're going to get a second… chance."

- Jake Sisko, explaining himself to his father with his last words



"You OK, Dad?"

"I am now, Jake. I am now."

- Jake Sisko, after Benjamin avoids the accident (last lines)

Background information

Story and script

Production

Continuity

Reception

Apocrypha

Awards

Video and DVD releases

The front cover of the CIC releases changes slightly from this volume on. The station now appears tilted around the character portrait.

Starring

Also starring

Guest stars

Co-star

Uncredited co-stars

References

47; Anslem; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran sector; Bajoran system; Bajoran wormhole; baseball; bayou; Betar Prize; biography; branch; candle; Cardassian; chair; champagne; clock; coffee; Collected Stories; commander; commanding officer; Commodore Hornblower; containment field; Corsican; cover; cup; Deep Space 9; deflector array; dermal regenerator; divorce; docking pylon; Dominion; dom-jot; dream; Earth; elastic cord; Emissary of the Prophets; engineering; Federation; first aid kit; French; French Quarter; front line; gall; Gamma Quadrant; graduation; gravimetric field; graviton pulse; holosuite; Hornblower, Horatio; interphasic compensator; ion surfing; Jake-o; Klingon; Klingon Empire; Klingon High Council; latinum; listener; Louisiana; Melanie's friend; memorial service; monster; moon; Morn's; muse; mutual defense pact; New Orleans; novel; paragraph; parson; pen; Pennington School; posthumously; Promenade; Prophets; Quark's; rain; red alert; redfish; replicator; Rom; Saltah'na clock; scrape; separation; short story; sickbay; Sisko, Jennifer; Sisko, Joseph; Sisko's Creole Kitchen; slug; Smallbridge; Spain; subspace flux isolator; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Science; subspace; subspace inversion; subspace mechanics; Takarian mead; tea; temporal displacement; temporal signature; toast; war; warp core; warp core breach; warp core ejection system; warp coil; Wellesley, Arthur; Wellesley, Barbara; writer; Yoruba mask

Starship references

Antares-class (freighter); Bajoran vessel (2373 transport, 2374 transports); Danube-class (runabout); Defiant, USS; Defiant-class; Nebula-class (Docked starship); Nog's starship; Rio Grande, USS



