“Prodigal Daughter” is episode eleven of season seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Odo, Julian, Kia and Ezri are in Quark’s and Odo is telling Ezri that her gagh has arrived. Jadzia ordered it, for a birthday party she was planning to throw for General Martok. There are 51 cases of gagh. Each containing a different variety. Ezri is not fond of gagh – and she remembers how all the varieties of it feels when it’s eaten. Dr. Bashir has been very quiet – he says he’s waiting for Chief O’Brien, who’s transport is arriving soon. Ezri tells Odo to flush the gagh outside the airlock, but environmental regulations prohibit that. Ezri also doesn’t want to give it to Martok. Because he’d insist in sharing it with her as a point of honour.
Julian waits at the airlock that Miles’ transport is docking at. He is not on it. So Julian goes to see Sisko. It seems that O’Brien was not entirely truthful about what he was doing and, as Julian hasn’t heard from him in three days and wasn’t on the transport, he is worried. Miles had apparently implied to the captain that he was going home to visit his father, but this was not the case. Julian last heard that O’Brien was on New Sydney following up on some promising leads – Miles has been looking for the widow of Liam Bilby. Bilby was the name of the Orion Syndicate member that O’Brien befriended during his undercover op in “Honor Among Thieves”, and Miles feels responsible for his death. When Bilby’s wife disappeared, Miles went looking for her after the New Sydney authorities – which is not a Federation world – were not cooperative. Sisko is not happy.
Ezri’s family lives in the New Sydney system, so Sisko approaches her for help. Her mother is quite rich and influential. Sisko wants to know if Ezri’s mother would be willing to help; Ezri says yes but she hasn’t spoken to her mother in six months, since just after she was joined. The first meeting afterwards did not go well. Ezri’s mother also wanted her to come home to recuperate, but Ezri disagreed with her. Which was apparently only the latest in a series of disagreements.
Ezri comms her mother, Yanas, who agrees to help – but also wants to see the daughter who hasn’t been home in three years. Ezri tries to back out of it, but Yanas says to tell Sisko that her mother is a difficult woman and won’t help unless her daughter gets to visit her family. So Ezri is heading for New Sydney.
Even before she was joined, Ezri’s family didn’t really know how to deal with her. One brother is more enthused to see her than the other; the latter feels that Ezri will not stay a minute longer than she needs to. It seems the family mine is also being pressured by the Orion Syndicate.
Miles is quickly found, after he tangled with the Syndicate. He had found Bilby’s widow – dead. Murdered, by all appearances, which is not customary behaviour for the syndicate. The problems Ezri’s family is having with the Syndicate take up a major part of the episode.