In the Pale Moonlight

"In the Pale Moonlight"
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode
Episode no.	Season 6 Episode 19
Directed by	Victor Lobl
Teleplay by	Michael Taylor
Story by	Peter Allan Fields
Produced by	Rick Berman Ira Steven Behr
Featured music	David Bell
Cinematography by	Jonathan West
Editing by	Michael Westmore, Jr.
Production code	543
Original air date	April 15, 1998 (1998-04-15)
Running time	45 minutes
Guest actors
Andrew Robinson as Elim Garak Stephen McHattie as Vreenak Howard Shangraw as Grathon Tolar Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun Casey Biggs as Damar

"In the Pale Moonlight" is the nineteenth episode of the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the 143rd episode of the show overall.

Sick of the losses the Federation is taking in the war, Sisko enlists Garak's help in getting the Romulans to join the Federation against the Dominion. Sisko soon learns that in order to save the Federation, he must violate the values for which it stands.

Plot

Captain Sisko, worried over events of the last two weeks, recites an entry into his personal log, the events of which are revealed in flashbacks. Sisko, deeply troubled, says to himself, as he begins the log, that he needs to talk about what has happened to put it into perspective and regrets that he can't even talk to his closest friend and confidant Jadzia Dax, as the whole matter is classified and a secret. He realizes that the war with the Dominion has been costly for the Federation and its allies. Presented with a bad situation that is expected to turn worse, he concludes that the only chance for success is to bring the neutral Romulan Empire to their side.

To do this, Sisko plots with former Cardassian spy Garak to obtain evidence of Dominion plans to invade the Romulan Empire, but Garak's allies are killed before they find that information. Lacking other legitimate methods, Garak offers an alternative solution: forging a recording of Dominion officials planning to conquer the Romulan Empire, which would then be encoded onto a Cardassian data rod. The data would then be given to the Romulans as evidence to provoke them to war.

Hesitant of the plan but driven forward by the Dominion's recent conquest of Betazed, Sisko gets authorization from Starfleet Command for the plan. As he later laments, that was the easy part. Then, Sisko allows Garak to continue and assists him by securing the release of a criminal forger with a talent for holographic programming named Grathon Tolar from a Klingon prison where he faces execution, as well as providing a large quantity of rare bio-mimetic gel to trade for an authentic data rod. Sisko's actions are questioned by Dr. Bashir, as the gel is extremely dangerous and can be used to make biological weapons, but Sisko refuses to discuss the details. The doctor only complies when Sisko directly orders his cooperation and obligingly provides a written copy of his orders. Bashir, in turn, asserts his privilege as Chief Medical Officer and says he will file an official protest.

Matters become more complicated when Tolar attacks and injures Quark during an altercation in the Ferengi's bar. It emerges that Tolar, in a drunken state, tried to dance/flirt with one of Quark's hostesses. She refused and Tolar tried to assault her. Quark came to the woman's aide and was stabbed as a result. Sisko buys Quark's silence with an expensive bribe and gets Odo to drop the issue, stating that it's a sensitive matter concerning Starfleet Security.

Once Tolar has created a convincing holographic record of a Dominion meeting between Damar and Weyoun discussing plans involving a Romulan attack, Sisko invites Vreenak, an influential Romulan senator, to Deep Space Nine in secret. Sisko shows Vreenak the recording and gives him the data rod to verify its authenticity. However, Sisko discovers shortly afterwards that Vreenak has recognized the recording as a fake, after which Vreenak quickly departs the station. As Sisko prepares to face the possibility that his actions may force the Romulans to join with the Dominion once Vreenak returns to the Empire, he learns that Vreenak's ship was destroyed en route.

Sisko goes to Garak and assaults him. Garak admits he planted a bomb on Vreenak's ship as an assurance that his plan would work. He also reveals that while Tolar could create the hologram, Garak was uncertain of the forger's skills or the quality of his work. As such, Garak killed Tolar (and presumably neatly disposed of the remains) in order to keep his work secret. Garak maintains that when the Romulans scan the wreckage, they will find the data rod and attribute any signs of forgery to damage from the destruction. This evidence would be enough to implicate the Dominion, with Dominion protests of innocence only serving to further convince the Romulans of their guilt, as the Romulans would have done the same thing. Garak argues to Sisko that the Alpha Quadrant has been saved at the small cost of "the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal... and the self-respect of one Starfleet officer," which, considering all circumstances, is "a bargain."

Garak's plan unfolds as he intended, and the Romulans join with the Federation against the Dominion. At the end of the flashbacks, Sisko admits that Garak was right about a guilty conscience being a small price to pay, and that he can live with his decision for the better of the Alpha Quadrant. Repeating that he can live with his decision, he then orders the computer to delete the entire log entry.

Reception

The review of the VHS release in Dreamwatch magazine describe the episode as "probably the strongest of the season" and among the best episodes of Deep Space Nine. It called the plot "original", "daring" and "unexpected".

According to the 1999 book, Science Fiction of the 20th Century by author Frank M. Robinson, "...'In the Pale Moonlight'--was mentioned by TV Guide as one of the best dramatic shows of the season. In it, Captain Sisko is forced to betray his ideals to save the lives of millions on a galactic scale at the cost of one petty criminal and one ambassador of an unfriendly nation. On the surface, no contest but Brooks (Sisko) played the role with depth and feeling unusual in a science-fiction series."

Home media release

"In the Pale Moonlight" was released as part of a two-episode VHS release in the United Kingdom in November 1998. The other episode featured on the tape was "His Way".

External links

• "In the Pale Moonlight" at IMDb
• "In the Pale Moonlight" at TV.com
• In the Pale Moonlight at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• In the Pale Moonlight at StarTrek.com