Sisko returns from a trip to Bajor with the blueprint for an ancient space vessel that operates like a sailboat, using solar pressure for propulsion. According to legend, the Bajorans used these ships to explore their star system 800 years ago, even going as far as Cardassia. Sisko decides to build one himself to see if this was possible, and painstakingly recreates the vessel, determined to prove the design was spaceworthy. He hopes to have Jake join him on the adventure. After initially declining his father's invitation, Jake reconsiders, and the two prepare to depart the station. Before they do, Gul Dukat warns Sisko against putting so much stock in a Bajoran 'fairy tale' of ancient contact. Sisko feels Dukat is only interested in disproving the notion that the Bajorans, not the Cardassians, were the first people between the two races to develop interstellar travel.
