The Cerritos makes a stop at Deep Space Nine in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3 episode 6, “Hear All, Trust Nothing.” The episode was written by Grace Parra Janney and directed by Fill Marc Sagadraca and Michael Mullen.
According to the log recorded by Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) for Stardate 58456.2, the Cerritos is providing support to the Vancouver. The mission is to reopen post Dominion War trade negotiations with the Karemma. The Vancouver will lead the negotiations while the Cerritos delivers goodwill gifts.
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But the Cerritos is soon interrupted by an incoming communication from Starfleet Command. Admiral Les Buenamigo (Carlos Alazraqui) informs Freeman that the Vancouver has been diverted. The Cerritos will have to conduct the negotiations with the Karemma singlehandedly.
Freeman angrily declares that anyone else would have months to declare for this kind of diplomacy. The ship arrives at the rendezvous point: Deep Space Nine. The majestic Star Trek: Deep Space Nine theme song begins playing (non-diegetically).
“Tacky Cardassian fascist eyesore,” growls the Bajorian Head of Security, Lt. Shax (Fred Tatasciore). Freeman orders the bridge to buy her some time as she reads up on the Karemma. Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) instructs the helm to circle the space station.
“Just keep circling,” he says as the DS9 theme song music continues to play.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Arrives at Deep Space Nine
In the lower decks sleeping quarters hallway, Ensigns D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells), Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid), and Samanthan Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) express their excitement at visiting DS9. Meanwhile, Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) makes fun of them for being excited about visiting Quark’s, a “franchise restaurant.” Unphased, Rutherford says they just need to transfer some crates and they are otherwise free to do what they wish during the visit.
Mariner (who previously served aboard DS9) says she’s staying aboard the Cerritos and relaxing. But her girlfriend, Jen (Lauren Lapkus) overhears. She asks if Mariner will be free to spend some time with her and her friends if she’s not going to DS9. Mariner tries to backtrack, citing the threat of Smiley (the innocuous mirror universe doppelgӓnger of Miles O’Brien) but the other beta shifters won’t allow it.
Jen says that Ensign Castro (Gabrielle Ruiz) is holding a “salon,” assuring Beckett that she’s going to love it. Once Jen has left, Mariner worries that she won’t be able to get along with Jen’s friends. The other beta shifters fail to reassure her as they leave.
Later, Boimler, Rutherford, and Tendi are walking through the DS9 promenade. They point out familiar sites and record images with a PADD.
The DS9 operations center is now staffed entirely by Bajorians in Bajorian Republic uniforms. Colonel Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) steps off the turbolift. Kira reads a PADD as she crosses ops and enters the commander’s office. Sisko’s baseball is on the desk. She looks out the window, contemplating the Karemma ship passing through the Bajorian wormhole.
Then she turns and greets Freeman, Shax, and Ransom. It’s revealed that Kira and Shax were in the resistance together. They immediately begin bickering over who currently owes whom a life debt.
Trade Talks
The Karemma ambassadors grumble as they disembark from their ship and enter DS9. They wonder how these “alpha quadrant savages” won the war. They note they always have “the other option” if diplomacy fails. One of the Karemma reveals a concealed device.
At Quark’s, Quark (Armin Shimerman) signs an autograph for a fan. Kira arrives and introduces the Cerritos team. Quark immediately begins schmoozing Freeman. He boasts of expanding to 21 franchise locations in the Alpha Quadrant. He further brags that the proprietary tech in his replicators make better drinks.
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Boimler, Tendi, and Rutherford arrive at Quark’s. “Bold Boimler” resolves to gamble at the Dabo tables. Rutherford and Tendi are approached by Mesk (Adam Pally), another Orion Starfleet officer. It’s the first time either Tendi or Mesk have met another Orion in Starfleet.
Mesk soon starts making Tendi uncomfortable by playing to Orion stereotypes. He reveals that he got a religious exemption to wear his Orion multikey with his uniform. Tendi reluctantly explains to Rutherford that a multikey is a tool used by Orion pirates. Mesk offers to give them a tour of DS9 and Rutherford eagerly accepts.
The Promenade
Aboard the Cerritos, Mariner arrives at Castor’s salon. She’s the only one in uniform instead of “Betazoid casual.” The planned activities include candle making. Beckett heads directly for the alcohol. She’s approached by two guests who immediately express their romantic interest in Boimler. Mariner pours herself an improbably full glass of liquor.
On DS9, Freeman meets with the Karemma ambassadors. Trade Minister Korak is immediately upset about the fact that the Vancouver has changed the plans. Freeman smooths it over with the promise of gifts. Meanwhile, Shax and Kira continue to bicker.
Elsewhere, Rutherford, Tendi, and Mesk are walking the promenade. Samanthan excitedly points out many points of interest seen on DS9, like Chief O’Brien’s dartboard. Meanwhile, Mesk asks D’Vana what her parents think of her joining Starfleet. He claims his parents wanted him to go into the “family business,” insinuating that he means “the pirate business.”
Rutherford scampers off to recreate the second floor feet-dangling of Jake Sisko and Nog. Mesk seizes the opportunity to try and get some “Orion talk” in with Tendi. He asks her about the first ship she stole. D’Vana snaps that “not every Orion does the pirate criminal thing.” Mesk says he’s feeling her hormones and Tendi shouts, “We don’t all have those.”
D’Vana seizes on a communication from Freeman as an excuse to leave Mesk behind.
At Quark’s, Boimler is having a lucky streak at the Dabo table. A Ferengi employee tries to mock Bradward’s clutch, but he’s unfazed.
Elsewhere, Rutherford and Tendi are pushing a stack of crates through the DS9 hallways. D’Vana says she’d rather just be working with Samanthan. That’s when Mesk reappears. He got himself reassigned to security for their mission. Tendi seethes as Mesk begins singing a pirate shanty.
The Dabo King
At her salon, Castor shares a spoken word performance based on the night’s theme, “personal battlefields.” Once completed, Castor appoints Mariner as the next performer, but Beckett demures. Instead, Anya performs her dance, the “Kobyashi Maroon” (there’s no right way to dance it). Mariner’s out of her element.
Meanwhile, Kira and Freeman attempt to convince the Karemma of the value of a trade relationship. However, the Korak scoffs at the “tailor and some kiosks” on DS9. But the franchised Quark’s attracts his attention. Freeman introduces Quark to the Karemma, but Quark acts disinterested. The Ferengi blames the animosity on wartime tensions. He begins arguing with the Karemma.
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On the Karemma ship, Mesk is still singing as Rutherford and Tendi push the crate cart. When they arrive at their destination, D’Vana snaps and tells Mesk that pirating isn’t cool. She says pirating is embarrassing, and it sometimes makes her “not want to be associated with Orions at all.” Mesk accuses her of having been “humaned-up” at Starfleet Academy. But he says he’ll remember where they came from.
At the Quark’s Dabo table, Boimler continues to enjoy success. He has a slick hairstyle and the flap of his uniform is open. The Ferengi employee accuses him of cheating. Bradward says he’s not cheating. He’s the Dabo King.
Freeman and Kira attempt to mediate between Quark and Korak. But when the Karemma look more closely at Quark’s replicator, they become outraged. The Karemma’s aforementioned concealed device is deployed. Shax tackles Kira to knock her clear of its path. The device triggers a system shutdown on both DS9 and the Cerritos. The Karemma seize Quark and beam away with him.
In spite of the outage, Boimler nevertheless scores a “Dabo.” The Ferengi employees are mortified.
Lights Out
Aboard the unaffected Karemma ship, Mesk accuses Tendi of being a traitor. They’re interrupted as the Karemma drag Quark past the cargo bay. As the Karemma ship leaves DS9, the cargo bay door seals the trio inside.
At Castor’s salon, the attendees wonder about the loss of power. They attempt to get to their stations but the door’s manual latch is sealed. Soon, everyone is having difficulty breathing. Mariner scans with her tricorder and discovers that the alien candles are eating twice the oxygen. She attempts to extinguish them, but the other attendees are mortified. Widespread panic ensues.
Jen pulls Beckett aside and wonders why Mariner is acting so out of character. She admits she’s been acting nice to impress Jen and her friends. But Jen says she likes that Mariner doesn’t take **** from anyone. She’s been looking forward to Beckett tearing them a new one.
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Mariner seizes control of the situation by using her phaser to stun Jen’s friends. Once unconscious, they’ll consume less oxygen. Jen gleefully looks on as Beckett stuns everyone.
On the Kareema ship, Rutherford says Mesk can save them by pirating the ship. But Mesk collapses sobbing. He admits that he’s never stolen a ship. He was raised by humans in Cincinnati. Everything he knows about Orions, he learned from bad holonovels. He says people’s expectations of Orions meant that he never got checked on it.
Tendi says that she gets that it’s difficult when people act you expect a certain way. But you just have to act true to yourself, in spite of people’s expectations. While Tendi says “Ohio Mesk” is probably great, Mesk says that legitimate pirating skills would come in handy at the moment.
Mistress of the Winter Constellations
Tendi leaps into action. She takes Mesk’s multikey and breaks out of the cargo bay. Tendi says her father taught her that every ship has a security failsafe. As Rutherford and Mesk follow, they learn that Tendi’s family are members of the Orion Pirate Syndicate. D’Vana incapacitates a Kareema guard and steals a latinum tooth from his jaw using the multikey.
The Kareema ship approaches the wormhole. Tendi breaks into and seizes control of the bridge. She uses the latinum tooth to “magnetically decouple the propulsion controls,” causing the ship to stop.
Tendi says that the solution will only last for a couple hours. Fortunately, power has been restored on DS9. A tractor beam pulls the Kareema ship back to the space station.
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Meanwhile, at Castro’s salon, Mariner and Jen are the only two who remain un-stunned. They kiss before stunning themselves. As they collapse, power returns to the Cerritos.
In the DS9 brig, Quark says the kidnapping is a misunderstanding. Korak reveals that Quark’s replicator is based on proprietary Kareema technology. Quark wasn’t kidnapped, he was arrested. Soon Freeman concocts a solution that should make both happy.
Star Trek: Lower Decks, supplemental
In a supplemental Captain’s log, Freeman says their mission has been a success. The Karemma have agreed to open trade and not imprison Quark. In exchange, they get 76% of all of his franchises’ profits.
Mariner apologizes to Jen for not winning over her friends. But Jen says now they’re scared of her, which is better. Quark tries to make Beckett cash out her tab. Instead, she extorts him into clearing it.
At the Dabo table, the Ferengi employee offers Boimler double the amount of the latinum he’s won in Quark Bucks. Bradward immediately accepts, noting that they don’t use money in Starfleet. At the bar, Kira and Shax share a drink (and more finger-pointing).
Tendi asks Rutherford if he’s embarrassed to be friends with someone whose family was into pirating. Samanthan says no. It’s a part of who she is. D’Vana says she’s going to embrace her past. She pulls the latinum tooth out and wonders what to do with it. But Quark grabs it and cites Rule of Acquisition #9: “Opportunity + Instinct = Profit.”
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