In the Pale Moonlight

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Star Trek: DS9 episode
"In the Pale Moonlight"
Captain Sisko and Garak scheme against the Dominion.
Episode no.	143
Prod. code	543
Airdate	April 15, 1998
Writer(s)	Michael Taylor Peter Allan Fields
Director	Victor Lobl
Guest star(s)	Andrew Robinson Stephen McHattie Howard Shangraw Jeffrey Combs Casey Biggs
Year	2374
Stardate	51721.3
Episode chronology
Previous	"Inquisition"
Next	"His Way"

"In the Pale Moonlight" (working title: Patriot) is the 19th episode of the 6th season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Sick of the losses the Federation is taking in the war, Sisko enlists Garak's help in getting the Romulans to join the Federation against the Dominion. Sisko soon learns that in order to save the Federation, he must violate the values for which it stands.

The title of the episode refers to a quote from 1989's Batman: "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

The title also echoes a line in the song Moon Over Bourbon Street on Sting's 1985 album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. The song--which was inspired, according to Sting, by the Anne Rice novel Interview With the Vampire--has the narrator, a vampire with a conscience, saying, "I have stood many times outside her window at night/To struggle with my instinct in the pale moonlight."

1 Episode summary
- 1.1 Conclusion
2 Guest stars
3 External links

[edit] Episode summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The episode is structured as an entry in Captain Benjamin Sisko's (Avery Brooks) log, allowing him to narrate. The captain has a lot on his mind: the war with the Dominion has been costly for The Federation and its allies; with every weekly casualty report, the number of dead climb higher. Sisko, who helped start the war, feels their deaths quite keenly.

As yet another casualty list is posted by Sisko for public viewing by the crew, he realizes that the list is likely to grow far longer; the Federation seems headed for defeat. Sisko decides that, if he can, he's going to do something about it. After deliberating with his old friend Jadzia Dax, he comes to realize that the only way to defeat The Dominion is to get the Romulans to abandon their neutrality (they recognize a stalemate war when they see one) and join the Federation and its allies. To this end, Sisko enlists the help of the station's resident tailor, Garak. His experience as a high-ranking member of the Cardassian intelligence agency, the Obsidian Order, makes for a long list of useful contacts back on Cardassia Prime. The initial plan is for those contacts to obtain evidence of Dominion plans to eventually conquer the Romulan Empire.

Kira wakes a sleeping Sisko to inform him that the Dominion has invaded Betazed, a serious defeat for the Federation. Realizing that they need the Romulans to enter the war more than ever, he approaches Garak to ask about their plan's progress. Unfortunately, Dominion security is highly efficient and all of Garak's contacts were eliminated within a day of being contacted.

Sisko, disappointed at the failure of his "long shot" plan, is ready to call it a day, but Garak believes that there might be another way. His new plan calls for the construction of fake holographic records, depicting Dominion leaders discussing an invasion of Romulan territory. Sisko is told that the data rod containing these records will be genuine, and the forgery indistinguishable from the real thing. Garak suggests Sisko show it to Vreenak, a Romulan senator who is the strongest advocate of remaining neutral. If he can be convinced, the rest of the Senate will follow.

To construct the holographic recording, Sisko secures the release of Grathon Tolar, an expert forger and con artist who is currently on Klingon Death Row. Tolar quickly proves himself as troublesome as he is skilled when he gets into an altercation with local bartender Quark, and Sisko must bribe the Ferengi to keep things quiet. Quark, amazed at the human's willingness to commit a Ferengi-like ethical breach, smugly quotes a Rule of Acquisition to Sisko: "Every man has his price."

Garak is able to locate one of the extremely rare data rods, but the source will only trade it for bio-memetic gel, a strictly controlled substance that can be used for genetic experimentation. Sisko first refuses but immediately reconsiders, and orders Dr. Bashir to acquire the gel. Bashir is appalled and does it under protest.

Senator Vreenak, with the forged data rod: "It's a fake!!"

Garak shows Sisko the recording Tolar has prepared, which includes Damar doubting the competency of the Founders' strategic abilities when Weyoun announces their plan to invade the Romulan Empire. Once the counterfeit rod is completed, Sisko informs Garak that Vreenak is on his way to DS9.

Vreenak's shuttle arrives in secret. Garak says he will sneak onto the shuttle for reconnaissance while Vreenak meets with Sisko. After enduring some insults, Sisko makes his pitch that the Dominion is planning to take over Romulus after the Federation and Klingons. Vreenak asks for proof, and receives the fake datarod. Sisko feels keenly the balance of fates he is playing with: if worst comes to worst, the Romulans may be so insulted that they ally with the Dominion instead; Sisko's actions will either save the Federation or doom it. After careful study, Vreenak confronts Sisko, his only comment being the hissed statement, "It's a fake!"

Sisko has failed. He tries to move on with his regular duties, posting another casualty list. Unexpectedly, Vreenak's shuttle explodes as he crosses into Romulan space. Sisko is, at first, incensed, striking Garak, but Garak successfully defends his unexpected addition to the plan: the bomb he planted was similar in nature to Dominion explosives; and the datarod, floating in space and damaged enough to cover its counterfeit nature, will be discovered and taken at face value. The Romulans will believe that Vreenak managed to obtain the Dominion's invasion plans, and that the Dominion killed him rather than allow him to return home. Garak also admits to murderously tying up a loose end, Tolar. All goes as predicted, and the Romulans join the war effort and destroy a number of Dominion installations near their territory. This event marks a turning point in the Dominion War, with the Cardassian-Dominion alliance never quite regaining its initial momentum. When Sisko shows ambivalence about his actions, Garak consoles him with a short monologue notable in Star Trek history:

That's why you came to me, isn't it, captain? Because you knew I could do those things that you weren't capable of doing? Well, it worked. And you'll get what you wanted: A war between the Romulans and the Dominion. And if your conscience is bothering you, you should soothe it with the knowledge that you may have just saved the entire Alpha Quadrant, and all it cost was the life of one Romulan senator, one criminal, and the self-respect of one Starfleet Officer. I don't know about you, but I'd call that a bargain.

"So, I lied," Sisko admits, alone in his room as his computer records his log entry. "I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. Garak was right about one thing: A guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of the Alpha Quadrant. So I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I can live with it.

"Computer, erase that entire personal log."

The screen blanks. The credits roll.

[edit] Conclusion

This episode, which is highly regarded amongst fans [1], stands as a prime example of Deep Space 9's frequent rejection of Federation idealism in favor of more ruthless, or at least more practical, solutions, and debating the ethical dilemmas that result. Due to its radical departure from the regular 'Trek-formula' of storytelling it is memorable, having spawned an entire novel ('Hollow Men'), which follows up on the episode's repercussions for the Federation. [2]

The episode raises questions about the nature of our morality. The concepts of moral relativism versus moral absolutism are at play in Sisko's mind as he recounts the episode's events to his private log (or maybe graded absolutism). It is clear that Sisko's actions have been morally reprehensible, his culpability increasing steadily throughout the episode. However, as Garak reminds him, Sisko's actions have potentially saved trillions of lives, and can be considered morally acceptable as well under the extreme circumstances.

Quark, pleasantly surprised upon accepting Sisko's bribe, quotes one of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: "Every man has his price", rejecting the notion of absolute integrity or morality. It could be argued that moral relativism has triumphed over moral absolutism in this episode, with the only character willing to uncover and reject falsehood, Senator Vreenak, perishing while the more duplicitious Sisko profits by his deceptions.

Ironically, it is the Romulans who are known as the most treacherous and untrustworthy denizens of the Alpha Quadrant; Vreenak's role as the episode's only "honest" man is not only a peculiar role reversal, but a potential commentary on just how far Sisko has fallen.

The Machiavellian Garak acts as though the ends justify the means, and by his remarks at the end of the episode, we see that Sisko is resolved to accept this as well. Sisko could well be viewed in this episode as having made a faustian pact with Garak, the devil with whom he has danced, securing victory for the Federation at the cost of his own integrity.

It should be noted that the original draft of the script featured Jake discovering what his father did. The episode was shown from his viewpoint. The story was changed and neither Jake nor O'Brien appeared in the episode.