The episode doesn't explicitly say it, but I think the inference there is that AR-558 is in Chin'toka. The latino headcase says that they've been there for five months, which fits in with the time since Chin'toka was taken in 'Tears Of The Prophets'
i.e. (three months of Sisko's brooding) + (rest of season) - (fact that these troops weren't on AR-558 all the time since 'TotP'.

I, however, dispute this.

For one thing, why in the hell is it called AR-558? I mean, what's wrong with calling it Chin'toka 5, or whatever? It may be the moon of a gas giant(and therefore deserving of a lesser nomenclature), but what are the chances of a single system having not only two Class-M planets, but a habitable moon as well? Remember, I think Martok mentioned landing troops on both planets, and no mention was made of any moon.

Hang on Timo, do you mean the bulge west of the Badlands? if so, you've your directions mixed up, as I can't see any bulge worth mentioning to the northeast in the 'Reckoning' picture.
I was going to suggest that the disappearance of the (small western) bulge (in When It Rains') was due to the capturing of Chin'toka by Fed forces, but they'd just lost the planet, so that's plain nonsensical.
AHH now I see where you're getting that: Rains06. Ignore that last paragraph. You're, of course, right.
That means that Sisko could be pointing at Betazed's general location in the map. Off to the bookies I trot.

What then about that smaller bulge west of the Badlands? Any ideas?

Oh yeah, I never noticed the legend in the 'Reckoning' piccie either.. Well done. Of course, MS Photo Editor is of no use. Because it's shite.
Anyone got GhostScript? I hear that's great.

This is really pissing me off.
*Grasping at straws*
What if each map is off-kilter with respect to the others in the third dimension? It might explain all the line differences and Ferenginars dance routine.

*Steam seen and heard from GA's direction, northbleedingeast of the Badlands*

I think we really really need to see that 'Reckoning' map. Once we know for sure what is over that side of the map, we might be better off.

This is taking over my life.
Well not really.
Maybe only a bit.
But it's a significant bit.
Sort off.

------------------
Devil: Oh look at the time! I'm late for services.
Stone: Services?
Devil: A group of young teenagers that have been celebrating the Black Sabbath are planning on deep-sixing their gym teacher tonight. I'm gonna go and give them a little encouragement.

Brimstone. May it rest in syndication.

OH HA BLOODY HA JAMIE!!

What computer suite are you in? I'm down under Chemistry - I can never remember the name.

I suspect you're just ripping the piss.

However, a map from Krenim or Chris wouldn't go astray to aid and abet, or abort, the accursed debate. Anyone?

------------------
Devil: Oh look at the time! I'm late for services.
Stone: Services?
Devil: A group of young teenagers that have been celebrating the Black Sabbath are planning on deep-sixing their gym teacher tonight. I'm gonna go and give them a little encouragement.

Brimstone. May it rest in syndication.

And yes, I am ripping the piss.

I'll be down in a minute.

------------------
Try not.
Do.
Or Do not.
There is no try.

????

------------------
"I'm green! I'm olive! I'm chartreuse!
I'd love to stay one color, but what's the use?"

And HrafnWif, you're probably thinking of this
http://kcohn.simplenet.com/alidarjarok/deepspace9/behindthelines/Lines12.jpg
It shows a 3D representation of Starbase 375, the Argolis Cluster and a Dominion subspace array.

Note however that the map is totally inconsistent with the map in the 'Reckoning', if we're to believe that Sisko was pointing towards the Cluster (while discussing the Dominion's efforts to open a supply corridor to Betazed, or something like that.

Did he say something like "Dominion is expanding here to cut off our supply lines to Betazed" when pointing to the "northwest" expansion? That would more or less have to mean that Betazed lies "west" of Cardassia and the area of explansion, since the expansion couldn't otherwise cut off supply lines between Betazed and SB375, or Betazed and Earth. It would then stand to reason that Betazed would be among the first big UFP worlds to fall.

But how would fall of Betazed then open up the possibility of invasion of Vulcan or Earth, if Betazed was in the opposite direction from Cardassia? Perhaps this comment from "In the Pale Moonlight" only meant that if Betazed (of defensive power rating of X points) had fallen, then Dominion could now plausibly take on Vulcan (defensive rating X+1 points) and ultimately Earth (defensive rating X+2 points)? Or that the fall of Betazed would collapse a Starfleet "second front" and allow Dominion forces to be concentrated against the Earth front.

And did Sisko say that the expansion in "The Reckoning" included annexing the Argolis cluster? If so, how does the "Behind the Lines" map contradict this? Both would seem to show Argolis as lying left of SB375, so if we assume that left means "west", where's the problem? In the fact that the sensor array in the "Lines" map is several grid squares removed from SB375, and would then be hard pressed to monitor Starfleet movements if the grid scaling is the same as in the "The Reckoning" map (but the grids can't be identical - "Lines" is perfectly square/cubical, while "Reckoning" has horizontally elongated rectangles)?

Or is there some other contradiction I'm not aware of?

What was the TNG reference to Argolis cluster? Was it formerly part of UFP territory, or unexplored space, or what? I'm certain there was a TNG reference, but my Encyclopedia and I are sadly separated at the moment.

We really need a transcript of Sisko's monologue from every single instance he's pointing at a map, any map...!

------------------
"Oh, it's an anti-anti-WTO song. It's essentially a pro-Starbucks song. I saw this picture of a guy sticking his foot through a plate-glass window in a Starbucks in Seattle, and he was wearing a Nike. Man, couldn't you just change your shoes?"
--
M. Doughty

I really don't have the time to debate the map situation nowadays - exams looming like a mushroom cloud, with the inevitable frying coming soon after.

My videos of 'The Reckoning' and 'Behind The Lines' are back home in the Wesht, and therefore unaccessible to me until the end of May, when I return home. I therefore amn't really able to confirm with 100% accuracy what Sisko said in 'The Reckoning', but I'm pretty sure he didn't say anything about "cutting Betazed off from Dominion lines" or the like.

I'll pitch in when the going gets easy (like now! ) but I think someone else better assume the mantle of Unreasonable Stubborn Gas Cloud for the rest of this argument.

SISKO is standing at an OKUDAGRAM briefing his senior staff about the war with the Dominion. DAX, WORF, BASHIR and KIRA are seated at the table; ODO stands near the window. The mood is somber.

SISKO
(indicating the star
map)
-- the Dominion has solidified its hold on the Kalandra Sector.
They're trying to establish a
supply line running through
Betazoid space into the Argolis Cluster.

WORF
If they succeed, they would be
able to launch an attack on
Vulcan.

SISKO
(nods)
Starfleet's going to try to cut
them off near the Tibor Nebula.
The Seventh Fleet will be engaging
the enemy in the morning.

DAX
The Seventh Fleet is still at half-
strength. They took heavy losses
at Sybaron.

SISKO
We'll just have to hope they can
get the job done.
(beat)
On a happier note, I do have a bit
of good news.

Bl CONTINUED:

BASHIR
That's a welcome change.

SISKO
The Romulans have forced the
Dominion to retreat from the
Bolian System.

The senior staff break into enthusiastic WALLAH. Sisko
smiles, gives them a moment to enjoy the good news.
Then Odo chimes in with a sober observation.

ODO
That is good news. The question
is, will the Romulans be willing
to leave Bolarus after the war's
over?

This causes everyone to shift uncomfortably. Odo's
raised a possibility that most of them would rather not
think about.

ODO
Once they capture territory, they
rarely give it up.

Sisko privately shares Odo's concern, but he needs to
keep his people on track.

SISKO
Right now, we need to concentrate
on beating the Dominion. We'll
worry about the Romulans later.

Cheers, Boris, although I'm pretty sure it was Benzar that was liberated by the Rommie pinko scum, not Bolarus/Bolias/Bolarias IX/wherever the Bolians hail from. That's a different story though.

Now, it turns out that the Argolis Cluster was within Federation space, but was probably taken by the Dominion - when, I don't know. I was going to say that it was probably taken at the beginning of the war, but if that's the case, then why would the Dominion be needing to get a supply route to it a third of the way through the war?
Not only that, but the map in 'Behind The Lines' (which I'm inclined to believe was nothing more than a schematic provided by Sisko to show Ross what he intended doing, as Sisko's finger-puppets were in the wash that day) and the associated dialouge implies that Argolis is in Dominion hands - Sisko's plan to whack the sensor array was nothing more than a Destroy mission, with no attempt to 'hold' the Argolis Cluster for the Federation.

With that, I, The Great Me, declare the 'Behind The Lines' map nothing more than a rough schematic for a battle plan.

So that leaves us with the map from the 'Reckoning' as our sole source on Argolis' position.

I could go on, but I won't.
Timo, have we actually reached consensus on a single thing/issue/location/status in this debate?

Argolis probably never was in Federation hands to begin with. The E-D was surveying it for possible *future* colonization use in "I, Borg". It seemed to be an uninhabited cluster of star systems, or else there would have been more concern about the Borg playing around there. So probably the region was up to grabs for whoever decided to claim it - it might have been economically demanding to develop the region, so neither UFP nor Cardassia initially bothered.

Argolis would seem to lie somewhere between SB375 and Cardassia if the "Behind the Lines" is in roughly the same orientation as the 2D maps. It probably also lies between SB375 and Bajor in that case. Makes sense, since we know Bajor is not UFP territory but an area holding a starbase is rather likely to be. So naturally, a potential future colonization area would be likely to lie between a confirmed UFP volume of space and a confirmed non-UFP one.

But if this is the accepted location of Argolis, then how can somebody run a supply line through Betazed (a surefire UFP member, right?) to this location from some location within known Cardassian/Dominion territory? Where *could* Betazed lie?

My strong favorite is that Betazed lies "above" or "below" the plane of the big 2D maps. Even though it is well within the yellow lines marking Cardassian/Dominion territory, it is actually in UFP- held space initially.

If Betazed lies more or less "above" or "below" Bajor,
then it all makes sense: Starfleet is hotly contesting the space between DS9 and SB375 at the time, so the Dominion cannot very well run a supply line from DS9 to Argolis on the plane of the map. But they could do a dogleg through Betazed to circumvent the battlefields near Bajor, and thus claim Argolis for their use. Then they could proceed to cut off Starfleet access to the Bajoran battlefield - AND they would have a foothold much closer to the Federation core worlds, including Vulcan.

Now, if Betazed is well "below" the map plane, then the core planet most vulnerable to attacks from this direction would be one that lies "below" the plane as well. Vulcan (40 Eri) would be about 10 ly below Earth if the plane of the map is the galactic plane. Andor (Epsilon Indii) would be about 8.6 ly below Earth, and closer to Cardassia, but to the "north" from the Earth-Cardassia line, while Vulcan is "south". So place Betazed "below" and "south" of Bajor and everything is just dandy.

Except for the fact that Sisko hand-waves in the wrong place in "The Reckoning", then. Should we forgive him his blunder?

And we'll just say that Sisko was following Jes�s Salvador Trevi�o's directions. The madman.