When Sisko, Bashir and Dax beam down from the Defiant to San Francisco they think the worst thing that will happen is that they may have to listen to a few boring after dinner speeches at Star Fleet headquarters, however due to a problem involving chronoton particles they end up in the year 2024. Sisko and Bashir are promptly picked up by the police and because they have no ID or money they are taken to an area called Sanctuary which is a closed off area of the city where the homeless, jobless and mentally ill are dumped out of the way. Dax has rather more luck as she was found my a wealthy computer engineer who helps her get new ID. Sisko realises they have a problem when he sees that the date is a few days before a famous riot takes place in the Sanctuary District.. a riot that will lead to changes in US policy and ultimately the formation of Star Fleet. Things get worse when a sanctuary resident is killed while trying to protect Dr Bashir... a resident who's actions during the riot should have prevented a bloodbath. His death has repercussions in time as the Defiant loses contact with Earth and scans show no sign of Star Fleet.
Usually when Star Trek episodes send people to Earth's past the either end up in our present or into an interesting time before the episode was made, having them stranded in our near future made a nice change. The story itself was fairly gripping and I liked the way they dealt with the problems of Dax's spots. I look forward to discovering how they will correct the time line and return to their own time in the conclusion to the story.
Usually when Star Trek episodes send people to Earth's past the either end up in our present or into an interesting time before the episode was made, having them stranded in our near future made a nice change. The story itself was fairly gripping and I liked the way they dealt with the problems of Dax's spots. I look forward to discovering how they will correct the time line and return to their own time in the conclusion to the story.