Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series)

In the Pale Moonlight (1998)

Avery Brooks: Captain Benjamin 'Ben' Sisko

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Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  Captain Sisko : So... I lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again - I would. Garak was right about one thing: a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it... Because I can live with it... I can live with it... Computer - erase that entire personal log.

• Captain Sisko : Who's watching Tolar?

  Garak : I've locked him in his quarters. I've also left him with the distinct impression that if he attempts to force the door open, it may explode.

  Captain Sisko : I hope that's just an impression.

  Garak : It's best not to dwell on such minutiae.

• Captain Sisko : Welcome aboard, Senator. I'm Captain Benjamin Sisko.

  Vreenak : So - you're the Commander of Deep Space Nine; and the Emissary to the Prophets, decorated combat officer, widower, father, mentor... and, oh yes - the man who started the war with the Dominion. Somehow I thought you'd be taller.

  Captain Sisko : Sorry to disappoint you.

  Vreenak : To be honest, my opinion of Starfleet officers is so low, you'd have to work very hard indeed to disappoint me.

• [a criminal working for Sisko just tried to kill Quark] 

  Captain Sisko : Do you intend to press charges?

  Quark : You bet I do.

  Captain Sisko : What will it take, um... to, er, convince you otherwise?

  Quark : Are you offering me... a bribe? I knew it. Captain, I've always liked you. I suspected that somewhere deep down in your heart of hearts there was a tiny bit of Ferengi just waiting to get out.

  Captain Sisko : What's your price?

  Quark : Well - let's start with replacing my clothes, and M'Pella's clothes...

  Captain Sisko : All right.

  Quark : I'm not finished. I think I should be compensated for the loss of business I suffered today, which I calculate as no less than... five bars of goldpressed latinum.

  Captain Sisko : Done.

  Quark : I'm also having a problem with station security. They're holding some cargo containers which I've been waiting for because of some missing... import license or something.

  Captain Sisko : I'll handle it. Anything else?

  Quark : No. I think we can call it a bribe. And thank you, Captain. Thank you for restoring my faith in the ninety-eighth Rule of Acquisition: "Every man has his price."

• Garak : If you can allow your anger to subside for a moment, you'll see that they did *not* die in vain! The Romulans will enter the war!

  Captain Sisko : There's no guarantee of that!

  Garak : Oh, but I think that there is. You see, when the Tal Shiar finishes examining the wreckage of Vreenak's shuttle, they'll find the burnt remnants of a Cardassian optolythic data rod which somehow miraculously survived the explosion. After painstaking forensic examination, they'll discover that the rod contains a recording of a high-level Dominion meeting, at which the invasion of Romulus was being planned.

  Captain Sisko : And then they'll discover that it is a *fraud*!

  Garak : Oh, I don't think they will! Because any imperfections in the forgery will appear to be a result of the explosion. So - with a seemingly legitimate rod in one hand, and a dead senator in the other, I ask you, Captain - what conclusion would you draw?

• Captain Sisko : [voice-over]  I need to talk about this... I have to justify what's happened, what I've done - at least to myself. I can't talk to anyone else, not even to Dax. Maybe if I just lay it all out in my log, it'll finally make sense. I can see where it all went wrong - where I went wrong.

• Captain Sisko : People are dying out there, every day! Entire worlds are struggling for their freedom. And here I am, still worrying about the finer points of morality.

• Garak : Vreenak believes he's on the winning side, so until you can prove otherwise, you may have to put up with a certain... acerbic attitude.

  Captain Sisko : Er, Mr. Garak, after having spent a week with you, I have developed a very, very thick skin.

• Captain Sisko : [voice-over]  If there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's that bad news invariably comes in the middle of the night.

• Captain Sisko : [voice-over]  I'm not an impatient man. I'm not one to agonize over decisions once they're made. I got that from my father. He always says, "Worry and doubt are the greatest enemies of a great chef. The soufflé will either rise or it won't. There's not a damn thing you can do about it, so you might as well just sit back and wait, and see what happens."

• Captain Sisko : At 0800 hours, station time, the Romulan Empire formally declared war against the Dominion. They've already struck fifteen bases along the Cardassian border. So, this is a huge victory for the good guys! This may even be the turning point of the entire war. There is even a "Welcome to the Fight"-party tonight in the wardroom!

• Captain Sisko : [voice-over]  My father used to say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

• Captain Sisko : [in a hypothetical debate with a "Romulan" official]  You can't be naive enough to think that the Dominion is going to stop with the Federation. When they're finished with us, they're coming after you!

  Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax : That's speculation.

  Captain Sisko : The Founders see it as their sacred duty to bring order to the galaxy - their order. Do you think they'll sit idly by while you keep your chaotic Empire right next to their perfect order? No. If you watch us go under, then what you're really doing is signing your own death warrant.

  Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax : But before I plunge my people into a conflict that will kill millions of loyal Romulan citizens, I need something more concrete than the self-serving argument of a Starfleet officer. I need proof of Dominion duplicity. Not more words. Proof.

  Captain Sisko : [chuckles acknowledging]  Very good, old man. You would have made a decent Romulan.

  Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax : I prefer the spots to the pointed ears.

• Garak : The less I'm seen parading through Ops, the better.

  Captain Sisko : I couldn't agree more.

• Captain Sisko : [voice-over]  Every Friday morning, for the past three months, I've posted the official list of Starfleet personnel killed, wounded or missing in the war. It's become something of a grim ritual around here. Not a week goes by that someone doesn't find the name of a loved one, a friend or an acquaintance on that damned list. I've grown to hate Fridays.

• Garak : To do what you're asking would use up every resource I have left on Cardassia. And it may be a very messy, very... bloody business. Are you prepared for that?

  Captain Sisko : I posted my fourteenth casualty list this morning. I'm already involved in a very messy, very bloody business.

• Captain Sisko : [voice-over]  It was like I had stepped through a door and locked it behind me: I was going to bring the Romulans into the war.

• Captain Sisko : [in a debate with a real Romulan official]  Maybe you're right. Maybe the Dominion will win in the end. Then the Founders will control what we now call Cardassia, the Klingon Empire and the Federation. So, instead of facing three separate opponents with three separate agendas, you'll find yourselves facing the same opponent on every side. There is a word for that: surrounded.

  Vreenak : [...]  You make some very good points, Captain. But it's still all speculation and theory - nothing that would warrant abrogating our treaty and plunging the Empire into war.

  Captain Sisko : What if I told you that the Dominion is planning a sneak attack on the Romulan Empire at this very moment?

  Vreenak : Mm... I'd want proof.

• Tolar : [Tolar has just finished a holographic forgery showing the plan for a Dominion invasion of Romulus in order to trick the Romulans into joining the war against the Dominion]  Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with you gentlemen. Call me again if you ever need...

  Captain Sisko : [interrupting]  You're not going anywhere.

  Tolar : What do you mean?

  Captain Sisko : I mean you're not leaving until your work has been accepted by our client.

  Tolar : [flying into a tantrum]  That isn't fair! You can't keep me here against my will! I haven't done anything wrong! We had an agreement!

  Captain Sisko : [Sisko grabs Tolar and slams him against a wall of the Holosuite]  I am making a new agreement. If that program passes inspection, you go free. But if there is even the tiniest flaw, I will send you back to that Klingon prison and tell Gowron to take his time when he executes you!

  Tolar : [Tolar's bluster evaporates and he becomes much more obseqious]  It'll pass. You'll see. It will pass.

  Garak : [pleasantly]  I sincerely hope so. Now, why don't you go wait in your quarters. I'll be along shortly to say... hello.

• Garak : [in a holosuite, previewing the false record of Weyoun and Damar quarreling about Dukat while discussing the invasion of Romulus]  That's all the new material, the rest of the program plays exactly as you saw before. What do you think?

  Captain Sisko : It's... better. They seem more real.

  Garak : Yes, and all I had to do was add a little petty bickering and mutual loathing.

• Captain Sisko : [voice-over]  I was the one who had to make it happen. I was the one who had to look Senator Vreenak in his eye, and convince him that a lie... was the truth.

• Captain Sisko : So, it all blew up in my face.

  [after Vreenak's analysis of his 'proof'] 

• Garak : I made a few discrete inquiries among my former associates still living on Cardassia. As I anticipated, they shared my loathing for the current government and were willing to take on any assignment aimed at its destruction.

  Captain Sisko : That sounds like progress to me.

  Garak : Doesn't it? Unfortunately, they're all dead now.

  Captain Sisko : What?

  Garak : Yes, all killed within one day of speaking with me. I suppose that's a testament to the effectiveness of Dominion security.

• Captain Sisko : That's what you planned to do all along, isn't it? You knew the data rod wouldn't hold up to scrutiny. You just wanted to get him on the station so that you could plant a bomb on his shuttle.

• [first lines] 

  Captain Sisko : Captain's personal log, stardate five one seven... thr-, uh... Five one seven... four - Computer, what day is it?

  Cardassian Computer Voice : Stardate 51721.3.