The day the United Federation of Planets took command of a space station in the Bajoran system,
both the structure itself and wider Bajor were nearly completely unknown to the outside galaxy.
It was a distant wilderness, a frontier that still needed to be settled.
Yet within 5 years, that station, Deep Space Nine, would become the single most important site in the
Alpha Quadrant, and known to countless billions as a place where all their hopes once rested.
Originally known as “Terok Nor”,
the station was constructed between 2346 and 2351 by the Cardassian Union.
Placed in orbit of Bajor, the station was intended to fulfill two major roles. The first was that of
a refinery, processing iridium ore mined from the surface of the planet, the second was that
of a command center, from which the Cardassian occupation of Bajor could be overseen and managed.
One of several such stations of that type constructed across Cardassian territory,
Terok Nor was designed for efficiency at the expense of crew comfort and its layout was seen as
unusual or even bizarre by Federation standards. The structure consisted of a central core assembly
that housed most of its primary systems including its operation center, communications antennae,
computer core, deflector shield generations and six fusion reactors. The core also hosted a
three-level Promenade, the station’s principal public area for commerce and recreation.
Surrounding the central core was a habitat ring which provided housing for the station's
residents. When filled to capacity under Cardassian standards, the station could
house roughly 7000 people, though this came at the expense of privacy and living conditions.
Spaced along the habitat ring were 6 landing pads,
which could quarter shuttlecraft and other smaller vessels.
The outer ring of the station was known as the docking ring, and used primarily to accommodate
larger vessels and provide storage facilities for cargo and goods. Twelve large docking ports
were distributed across the perimeter, each supported by numerous cargo bays.
Six large docking pylons swept outwards from the dorsal and ventral surface of the docking ring.
At the end of each was an additional docking port, designed to facilitate the largest
starships used by both the Cardassian Union and neighboring trade partners.
Connecting the docking and habitat rings to the central core, were three primary,
and three secondary crossover bridges. Primary bridges linked both rings to the core,
while secondary bridges linked only the habitat ring. Ostensibly, these bridges could be severed
in the event of a worker uprising on the station, or some other emergency.
Under Cardassian administration, Terok Nor successfully processed up to 20,000 tons of ore
a day, and hosted the offices of the Cardassian Prefect of Bajor. Despite Cardassian propaganda
which described the station as a paradise for its workers, conditions for Bajoran laborers
were brutal. Many thousands would be killed while the station served in this capacity.
In 2369, after years of building foreign pressure, the Cardassian Union formally withdrew from Bajor
and ended its occupation. Unable to move the station across interstellar distances, Terok Nor
was left in orbit. Before departing, Cardassian soldiers ransacked the station, destroying most
of the station’s equipment, removing anything of value, and killing several shop owners.
While victorious in its resistance campaigns against the Cardassians, the nascent Bajoran
provisional government was politically weak and volatile. To aid in reconstruction and deter
any renewed aggression from the Cardassians, Bajor petitioned for Federation membership and Starfleet
assistance. While the process of membership would take decades, Starfleet’s help was immediate.
A complex arrangement was established in which the station would remain
sovereign Bajoran territory, but fall under the overall command of a Starfleet officer.
From here, both Starfleet and Bajoran officers would work towards strengthening Bajor’s
position in the region, as a preamble towards eventual Federation membership.
Redesignated as Deep Space Nine, command of the station was assigned to Benjamin Sisko.
Just days after the Federation took control, a stable wormhole was discovered on the outskirts
of the Bajoran system that provided safe and reliable travel to the distant Gamma Quadrant.
In an instant, the wormhole became one of the most strategically located sites in the galaxy.
To secure Bajor’s claim to the wormhole, Deep Space Nine was relocated to its mouth,
a risky maneuver that nearly destroyed the structure.
The impact of the wormhole on the Alpha Quadrant was enormous
and Deep Space Nine was transformed into a revitalized nexus of trade,
commerce and scientific discovery. As a site of constant contact between not only Bajor and
the Federation, but two separate regions of the galaxy, the station was often a source of tension.
While Bajoran resistance to Starfleet’s presence would dissipate over time,
the Cardassian Union was incensed to have lost such a strategically important center.
The importance of Deep Space Nine was heightened when contact was made with the enormously powerful
Dominion on the far side of the wormhole. An escalating Cold War between the Dominion and
Federation led to the station’s armament and shielding to be extensively upgraded,
and it’s role expanded to become a key military outpost and deterrent. These
upgrades proved essential as Dominion agents moved to destabilize the Alpha Quadrant.
A war between the Klingons and Cardassians would eventually escalate to include the Federation
and Deep Space Nine would be forced to repulse an attack by a Klingon Fleet.
The collapse of the Cardassian Union gave the Dominion a foothold
into the Alpha Quadrant as it moved to incorporate the state into their own.
Enormous convoys brought Dominion fleets and armies into the Cardassian territories,
drastically shifting the balance of power in the region. Deep Space Nine became the center
of a coordinated effort to prevent this, and the mouth of the wormhole was mined in 2373.
The minefield successfully blocked further Dominion reinforcements but provoked an attack on
the station and outbreak of war. The new head of the Cardassian Union and former Prefect of Bajor,
Gul Dukat, led the attack on Deep Space 9 personally and used his knowledge of the station’s
design to circumvent its defenses. The Federation abandoned the station and Bajoran system.
The newly redesignated Terok Nor officially remained under the
control of the Bajoran government, which had signed a nonaggression pact with the Dominion,
but it was for all intents and purposes, a Cardassian station once again.
For roughly a year, the station operated under this semi-occupied status while Dominion agents
worked to deactivate the minefield. Aside from acting as a command and resupply outpost, the
minefield prevented the station from fulfilling any major role as the Dominion War expanded.
A resistance movement grew on the station,
which would successfully delay both the Cardassians and Dominion efforts here.
The minefield would ultimately be destroyed, but the station would be retaken by a joint
Federation-Klingon task force before this could be properly exploited.
Once again in Starfleet hands, it became the headquarters of the combined allied Ninth Fleet.
For the remainder of the war, Deep Space Nine served as a major repair and resupply depot
while simultaneously preventing any further Dominion reinforcements from arriving through
the wormhole. Federation, Kingon, and eventually Romulan fleets would launch
major offensives from the station, bringing an end to the war with the Battle of Cardassia.
No longer on the front lines, Deep Space Nine reverted back to a center of trade and commerce.
While its contributions to the Alpha Quadrant’s war effort have made it one of the most famous
stations in history, it is likely inevitable that this aging Cardassian structure will be replaced
by a larger, modern Federation design, better suited to the important role it must fulfill.
For those who lived and served aboard, such a move will likely trigger mixed feelings.
Great tragedies and triumphs occurred across its history, and whatever else it might have been,
many called it home. But as a Ferengi bartender once remarked,
the more things change, the more they stay the same.