[Nate the Great]

RO: Starfleet wants me to infiltrate the Maquis?
PICARD: Because of your recent training, because you're Bajoran, and because of your past troubles with Starfleet gives you a certain credibility.
RO: Well, that's certainly true.



I'm having trouble with this premise. Had this happened back in Season Five I would've said okay, the Maquis (or proto-Maquis I suppose I should say) would've bought it. But Ro has been back in Starfleet for over two years at this point. Even the Maquis would know about it, in particular because I think that they'd keep tabs on all Bajoran members of Starfleet (there can't be that many at this point).


RO: I've heard a lot about the Maquis. One of my instructors at Tactical Training, a Lieutenant Commander in Starfleet, a man I admired and respected, he was sympathetic to them. He resigned and left to join them.



This is supposed to be a Chakotay reference, but I'm not sure how well it works. Had she said Lieutenant, it would've been an interesting Tuvok reference.



PICARD: We're all sympathetic, Lieutenant. Our civilian population in the Demilitarised Zone is in a very difficult situation, but even sympathy has to end at some point.



And you're sympathetic...why? You gave them the option to leave the DMZ back in "Journey's End", but they didn't take it. They chose to renounce their Federation citizenship and stay. It's no longer the Federation's problem and the Cardassians should've wiped them out by now.



WORF: We are looking for a Bajoran woman, dark hair.
DATA: She is responsible for the death of a Cardassian soldier.
WORF: If we learn that she has been here, this establishment will be closed down.



Does Starfleet have jurisdiction in this bar?


MACIAS: They don't understand the situation here in the Zone. I lived on Juhraya. When the treaty was signed the colony suddenly found itself in Cardassian territory. Some of us chose to stay, take our chances. Then one night I was dragged from my bed and beaten. The authorities clucked their tongues and agreed it was an unfortunate incident, and did nothing.



Suddenly? There was noting sudden about the Federation withdrawal! And you just said that you chose to stay and take your chances. This is what's called buyer's remorse, and it's not the store's fault, it's yours!


KALITA: One that I think we should take seriously. A trader coming from Pendi Two said he could verify that the Cardassians are going to start supplying their colonists with biogenic weapons.
RO: I thought every shipment coming into the Zone was searched.
KALITA: The Cardassians always seem to find a way around problems like that.



What? The Cardassians let Starfleet search every ship going into the DMZ from their space? If you're implying that Starfleet trusts the Cardassian military to search Cardassian civilian ships entering the DMZ, then I have another screed to bore you with.


RO: I have no intention of asking for them. I intend to take them.
KALITA: How? The Enterprise is a fortress.
RO: I know its security systems work. Give me a ship. I can do it.



This is extremely dubious. Presuming that Ro actually left Starfleet two years ago, Worf would've had plenty of time to upgrade the security systems.



RO: I set the transporter confinement parameters to maximum. We should be able to fill our hold with medical supplies with just one single beam out.



This bit of Treknobabble is particularly silly. Sure, you can tell the scanners to look for medical supplies and automatically forward the coordinates to the transporters, but there are bandwith restrictions to the actual transporter process. I'll assume that these raiders only have one transporter room and maybe one cargo transporter, there's a limit to how much you can transport in thirty seconds.


RO: We're going to cross the border here.
KALITA: There are sensor buoys all along the border. If we cross anywhere other than a checkpoint, Starfleet will send a ship to investigate.
RO: With the right security codes, we can disable the proximity detectors on the buoys.



Let's put aside the logic behind these buoys and how close Starfleet monitors the border, it's irrelevant when you consider the time restrictions. Ro can exit the DMZ, steal the supplies, and be back before the violation can be investigated.



The bigger problem is how Ro is supposed to know the security codes for the buoys when she's been "out" of Starfleet for years, and even when she was she would've have had access to the buoy codes.


KALITA: How are we going to beam through their shields?
RO: We can't. If we're going to get those medical supplies, we're going to have to take this ship through their shields.



This strategy should've been used more often.