“Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night” is episode seventeen of season six of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
The Saratoga has docked and Dax wants a party. Worf is less interested in the idea. Dax nearly convinces Worf, but she fails. Major Kira is getting herself Bajoran flowers, delivered by Quark (not what Dax insinuates) – Kira has ordered them for herself in honour of her mother, who died when she was three. According to her father, the flowers were her mother’s favourite, and Kira has always been proud of her mother. Even though Kira never really knew her.
That night, Kira gets an incoming transmission from what turns out to be Gul Dukat, who hasn’t been seen since he escaped in “Waltz”. When he was clearly more than a little crazy. Dukat wants to help Kira, the same way Sisko helped him. By helping her to see the truth. About her mother. It seems that Dukat may have known Kira’s mother. Dukat claims that Kira’s mother didn’t die in the camp where she was supposed to, and that instead her mother left Kira’s father. To be with Dukat. Dukat has now told Kira something that utterly upends her concept of her mother, and he certainly seemed to know personal details, but does that mean Dukat was telling the truth?
Kira starts looking into the Cardassian occupation files. She then gets a bit snappy with O’Brien and Dr. Bashir. Which is clearly not normal behaviour, as everyone in Ops realises as they turn to stare at the major. Major Kira then goes and speaks to Odo, who realises that there is clearly something wrong with her. Kira doesn’t want to talk about the matter, so Odo suggests doing something instead.
When Kira tells Sisko about Dukat’s transmission, she already has an idea as to how to check on Dukat’s story. She wants to go to a temple on Bajor where the Orb of Time is kept, and use that to check on things. Time travel, in other words. Sisko points out that the Federation has pretty strict rules on time travel; Kira wants Sisko’s help as the Emissary, not a Starfleet captain. Kira is convinced that the Prophets will not allow Kira to alter the timeline, if they allow her to go back in time at all.
Of course, Kira does travel back in time, to the time of the Cardassian occupation, where she immediately sees her family – and intervenes when some other Bajorans try to steal her family’s food. Has Kira already altered the timeline? Then both Kira and her mother are two of those selected to serve as comfort women for the Cardassian troops on Terok Nor – the future Deep Space 9. Gul Dukat is there, and starts showing Kira’s mother some kindness. So, was he telling the truth? Dukat certainly seems to have taken a shine to Kira’s mother. Things get pretty uncomfortable for Kira.