Dominion, he learns that Vreenak's ship was destroyed en route home. Sisko confronts and punches Garak, who admits he planted a bomb on Vreenak's ship. Garak explains that when the Romulans scan the wreckage and find the rod, any imperfections will be attributed to damage from the explosion, and the Romulans will assume that the Dominion assassinated Vreenak to prevent him from bringing the rod back. Thus, the recording will implicate the Dominion as planned. Garak tells Sisko he can ease his conscience with the knowledge that the Alpha Quadrant may have been saved, at the cost of the lives of Vreenak and Tolar (whom Garak has also killed) and Sisko's self-respect—which Garak calls a bargain. Soon, the Romulans indeed do declare war on the Dominion. At the end of his log entry, Sisko wrestles with having condoned forgery, bribery, and murder for the good of the Alpha Quadrant, and, after thinking about it, declares that he can live with it. He then deletes the entire personal log. Production Writing The episode has origins in a discussion the writing staff had about the Vietnam War, which quickly moved onto the Watergate scandal. They began working on an idea in which Jake Sisko discovered some incriminating information regarding Shakaar, the leader of the Bajoran government. If revealed, it would bring down the government during a time of war, which would force Sisko to prevent his son from revealing the information. At this point, the episode was called "Patriot". The plot then evolved to focus on Sisko instead. Writer Michael Taylor wrote a screenplay which saw Jake Sisko attempting to interview Garak, but following the evasiveness of the Cardassian, he realises that something is amiss. Sisko tells him to back off from Garak, but Jake's investigation reveals that the duo were attempting to bring the Romulans into the war against the Dominion. Sisko would tell his son that he would prevent the publishing of the story, but the writing team did not buy into the conflict between those characters. Ronald D. Moore began working with Taylor to revise the screenplay, dropping Jake from the plot entirely. They were having trouble with the pacing of the story, but Moore realised while drinking late at night that it would work if it was told in flashbacks. He pitched the idea the following morning, and it was accepted by the writing team. The screenplay was