"In the Pale Moonlight" is the 143rd episode of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 19th of the sixth season. It originally aired on April 15, 1998, in broadcast syndication. Set in the 24th century, Deep Space Nine follows the adventures of the crew of the fictional space station Deep Space Nine; the later seasons of the series follow a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Dominion, a hostile alien empire that has formed an alliance with the nearby planet of Cardassia. In this episode, Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) works with former spy Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson) to trick the Romulans into joining the war against the Dominion. The episode received Nielsen ratings of 4.8 points corresponding to nearly 4.7 million viewers, and is widely regarded as one of the series' best episodes. Plot The episode is told in flashback, as Sisko records a personal log entry on the events of the past two weeks. The losses suffered by the Federation in the Dominion War are taking their toll. To turn the tide of the war, Sisko decides that he must bring the Romulans into the war on the Federation's side no matter what. To do so, he will need evidence that the Dominion plans to attack the Romulans. Sisko enlists Garak's help to find this evidence, but all of Garak's contacts end up dead shortly after communicating with him. Garak suggests they forge a recording of Dominion leaders discussing a surprise attack. Hesitant, but driven forward by the Dominion's recent conquest of Betazed, Sisko obtains permission from Starfleet to proceed. At Garak's request, Sisko secures the release of a forger named Grathon Tolar from a Klingon prison. In order to obtain an authentic Cardassian data rod, he is forced to trade a large quantity of bio-mimetic gel, a rare, dangerous, and highly regulated material, over Dr. Bashir's protests. When Tolar stabs Quark in an altercation while drunk, Sisko bribes Quark to drop the matter. Tolar forges a holographic record of a meeting between Dominion leaders discussing plans to invade Romulus. Meanwhile, on Garak's advice, Sisko arranges a secret meeting with Vreenak, an influential Romulan senator. Sisko gives Vreenak the recording, but the senator discovers the forgery and vows to expose the deception. As Sisko faces the possibility that his actions may actually force the Romulans to side with the