Stardate 48481.2: The Defiant ferries Sisko and his senior staff to Starfleet HQ on
Earth for a Gamma Quadrant symposium. A strange
phenomenon intercepts the transporter beam carrying
Sisko, Dax and Bashir to Earth, sending them into the early
21st century, though they still arrive in San
Francisco. Sisko and Bashir are picked up and sent to
a sanctuary district, a large high-security ghetto
occupied by the unemployed, homeless and mentally
ill. Dax befriends information mogul Chris Brynner,
who assists her in the search for her friends. Sisko
and Bashir learn that they have arrived mere days
away from a historical event known as the Bell Riots,
sparked when a violent uprising in the San Francisco
sanctuary district was quashed with even more force
by the National Guard, though the hostages taken by
the sanctuary dwellers were kept safe by a man named
Gabriel Bell. Trying not to interfere, the two time
travelers stumble into the street brawl that
initiates the riots - and due to their presence,
Gabriel Bell winds up dead trying to keep Bashir from
being hurt. The violence escalates, and the
sanctuary's residents begin their rebellion. Hostages
are taken from the local government office, and only
one man can keep them from harm at the hands of the
angry sanctuary denizens: Commander Sisko, assuming
the role of Gabriel Bell.
