Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series)

Return to Grace (1996)

Nana Visitor: Major Kira Nerys

Photos 

Quotes 

• [after getting the upper hand on the Klingons, Dukat kills them] 

  Major Kira Nerys : Was that necessary?

  Gul Dukat : You're the terrorist. You tell me.

• [a demoted Dukat is having dinner with Kira] 

  Gul Dukat : By the way, Major, what is this I hear about you and Shakaar?

  Major Kira Nerys : I don't know what you've heard.

  Gul Dukat : First it was Vedek Bareil, and now it's the head of the Bajoran government. You do like powerful men, don't you?

  Major Kira Nerys : First of all, Shakaar's an old friend. Second of all, what business is it of yours?

  Gul Dukat : Let's just say it's further incentive for me to regain my former position.

• Tora Ziyal : You don't like my father very much, do you?

  Major Kira Nerys : No. I don't.

  Tora Ziyal : I understand. He did some very bad things during the Occupation.

  Major Kira Nerys : Yes, he did.

  Tora Ziyal : It bothers him, you know.

  Major Kira Nerys : [cynical]  Does it?

  Tora Ziyal : Very much. He talks about it sometimes. He'd never admit it to anyone else, but he thinks the Occupation was a mistake.

  Major Kira Nerys : Somehow, I don't think he'd say that if the Cardassians had won.

  Tora Ziyal : Maybe not. But maybe losing made him a better person.

  Major Kira Nerys : Well, then a lot of innocent people died for his education.

  Tora Ziyal : I... I know. I think about that a lot, but when I look at my father, I have a hard time seeing a murderer.

  Major Kira Nerys : And when I look at him, I have a hard time seeing anything else.

• Gul Dukat : It amazes me that a woman... as intelligent and sophisticated as you could be attracted to such a lumbering, simplistic field hand. I mean, what could the two of you possibly talk about?

  Major Kira Nerys : That lumbering field hand is the First Minister of Bajor. And he knows more about how to talk to me than you ever will.

  Gul Dukat : How can you be so sure? After all, you don't know me well enough to make a comparison.

  Major Kira Nerys : I don't wanna know you well enough. And if you want to keep working with me, I suggest you stick to business.

• [on Shakaar's personal request, Kira has agreed to attend a diplomatic conference] 

  Major Kira Nerys : Oh, it was a personal request all right. Shakaar took me to my favorite restaurant in Jalanda City, poured me glass after glass of spring wine, and then took me to his home, and gave me a massage with Kolaish spice oil.

  Doctor Bashir : Well, nice to know he's keeping in touch with his constituents.

  Major Kira Nerys : It wasn't fair. I mean, I would have said yes to anything at that point.

• Gul Dukat : There was a time when the mere mention of my race inspired fear. And now, we're a beaten people, afraid to fight back because we don't wanna lose what little is left.

  Major Kira Nerys : That's not the Cardassians I know.

  Gul Dukat : What Cardassians? Don't you see, Major? They're paralyzed! They're beaten and defeated! *I* am the *only* Cardassian left. And if no one else... will stand against the Klingons, I will!

• Major Kira Nerys : The best way to survive a knife fight is to never get in one.

• Major Kira Nerys : The fact of the matter is, I've already been where you're going. I've lived the life you're choosing - fighting, hit and run, always outgunned, living on hate and adrenaline... It's not much of a life. And it eats away at you, so that every day a little bit of you dies.

• Gul Dukat : Well, Major, it appears that whether you like it or not, our lives have become deeply intertwined.

  Major Kira Nerys : [smiles]  That really pleases you, doesn't it?

  Gul Dukat : Pleases me? Major, it gives me reason to live.

• Major Kira Nerys : Why is it when you smile, I wanna leave the room?

  Gul Dukat : I suppose it's because of my overwhelming charm.

• Gul Dukat : Major, is it my imagination, or do you have a hard time accepting compliments?

  Major Kira Nerys : I have a hard time accepting compliments from *you*.

  Gul Dukat : Well, I'll try to restrain my enthusiasm, but I can't make you any promises.

• Tora Ziyal : My father says that the two of you have a lot in common. That you both did things during the war that you regret. That's why he cares so much about what you think of him.

  Major Kira Nerys : Ziyal, what your father wants from me is forgiveness. That's one thing I can never give him.

• Gul Dukat : You judge me too harshly. Maybe I *am* seeking to regain my former position, one which I earned, through hard work, dedication and sacrifice. But redemption is not my sole motivation. I care about my people, and I don't intend to allow the Klingons to get away with murdering them. I'm a much more complicated man than you give me credit for.

  Major Kira Nerys : Well, if that's true, I suppose I prefer simpler men.

• Gul Dukat : I must say, I've always admired Shakaar's success with women. The Intelligence file I kept on him during the Occupation is filled with reports of his conquests. In fact, if you remember correctly, you were the only female in his resistance cell that he didn't... charm. At least until now.

  Major Kira Nerys : Is that what you kept track of during the Occupation? No wonder you lost.

• [Kira has suggested storing planetary defense disruptors in the cargo hold] 

  Gul Dukat : But those weapons are huge. What do we do with all this cargo?

  Major Kira Nerys : Get rid of it.

  Gul Dukat : All of it?

  Major Kira Nerys : I realize it's traditional for a Cardassian captain to take a percentage of the haul; but you are gonna have to shed a lot of traditions if you are serious about fighting the Klingons.

  Gul Dukat : Some traditions are hard to break.

  Major Kira Nerys : [knowing]  You'll get used to it.

• [last lines] 

  Major Kira Nerys : Odo, this is Tora Ziyal.

  Odo : Gul Dukat's daughter.

  Major Kira Nerys : She's gonna be living here on the station with us, for a while.

  Odo : Ahh.

  Major Kira Nerys : [sotto voce]  I'll tell you all about it.

  [walks off with Ziyal] 

  Odo : I certainly hope so.

• Major Kira Nerys : You have got to make use of what you have. If you need a hammer and you don't have one, use a pipe.