Change of Heart

Starfleet asks Worf and Dax to collect Lasaran, a Cardassian officer who has been spying for the Federation and now wants to defect with vital information. They must cross twenty kilometres of jungle on the planet Soukara to reach him, avoiding Dominion patrols. On the station, O'Brien coaches Bashir in tongo so he can finally beat Quark, but Quark wins by needling Bashir about his old feelings for Dax. In the jungle a Jem'Hadar ambush leaves Dax badly wounded, and an anticoagulant in the weapon means the bleeding will not stop. With the rendezvous at stake, Dax urges Worf to go on alone, and he agrees. Partway there, he turns back and carries her to safety, saving her life, and Lasaran is killed. Back on Deep Space Nine, Sisko notes a reprimand on Worf's record, then admits privately that he would have done the same.