A planet's colonists have been living without technology.
Sisko and O'Brien beam down to an uncharted planet and find their equipment dead because of a strange energy field. They meet a colony of humans stranded there for ten years, led by Alixus, a philosopher opposed to dependence on technology, who insists the newcomers work for their keep and punishes rule-breakers by locking them in a metal box.
Sisko refuses to give in and is shut in the box himself, while O'Brien tracks down a buried generator causing the field. Alixus admits she created it and stranded the colonists on purpose. When Kira and Dax arrive, Sisko and O'Brien leave with Alixus and her son Vinod in custody, but the other colonists choose to stay.