

(written from a Production point of view Real World article

A visiting delegation from the Gamma Quadrant turns four crew members into "pieces" for a bizarre game.

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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 Bajoran 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 peags 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. Before leaving, Sisko asks Quark to inform him when they stop playing dabo. 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 becomes 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 Starfleet 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, 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:

"Allamaraine, count to four, Allamaraine, then three more, Allamaraine, if you can see, Allamaraine, you'll come with me..."

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:

"Allamaraine! Third shap."

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. Odo retorts that he is not in Starfleet and 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."

- Sisko



"This is not what I signed up for!"

- Kira



"Well, I'm not in Starfleet."

- Odo, when Primmin protests it's against Starfleet regulations to board a vessel without permission



"Do they have money?"

- Quark, when the Wadi arrive at Quark's



"Is it against Starfleet regulations to press a few buttons?"

- Odo, when ordering to be beamed over to the Wadi ship



"Constable Odo, good morning to you!"

- George Primmin



"I just had a strange run-in with Falow. He said something about moving along home."

- Sisko



"Use your tricorders for proximity checks every two minutes... and if all else fails, just yell again, doctor. We'll find you."

- Sisko, to Bashir



"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."

- Quark, groveling when he has to lose a piece



"Do you have sex on your world?"

- Quark



"Move along home!"



"Choose their path! Double their peril, double your winnings!"

- Falow



"Move along, move along home!"

"You brought us here, you bring us home!"

- Falow and Sisko



"Trust a gambler."

- Quark



"That's not what you said when you were groveling on the floor."

"Oh, that's right... you were here for the groveling."

- Odo and Quark



"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."

- Sisko, Kira, and Dax



"It's only a game!"

- Falow, in response to the crew's indignation at being the objects of the game



"You know, this game could work here. It really could..."

- Quark

Background information

Story and script

Production

Reception

Trivia

Awards

This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series.

Video and DVD releases

Starring

Also starring

Guest stars

Co-star

Uncredited co-stars

Stunt doubles

References

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Cardassian; clothier; Garak; tailor



