In this episode, a runabout carrying DS9 crew members Jadzia Dax, Miles O'Brien, and Julian Bashir is shrunk to a few centimeters long as a side effect of investigating a spatial anomaly.
When the USS Defiant is boarded by the Dominion's genetically engineered Jem'Hadar soldiers, it is up to the shrunken officers to help retake the ship.
Since the Defiant's engines are damaged, Kudak'Etan demands that Captain Benjamin Sisko repair the ship's warp drive.
O'Brien observes that Nog is attempting to override the ship's security codes, and suggests that they take the Rubicon to the bridge to assist them.
Sisko is unable to take advantage of it, however: Ixtana'Rax, having discovered that the warp drive repairs are complete, orders the Defiant crew away from the computer consoles.
Screenwriter René Echevarria conceived the "little ship" idea for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine's predecessor series, and finally got the go-ahead to write the episode late in DS9's run.