Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 5 - "Spock Amok"
There's an amazing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Easter egg in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 5, "Spock Amok." In Strange New Worlds' first comedic episode reminiscent of Star Trek: The Original Series' "The Trouble With Tribbles," Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) must perform delicate diplomatic negotiations with a volatile alien race. Complicating matters is the fact that Spock and his fiancée, T'Pring (Gia Sandhu), accidentally switched bodies. But "Spock Amok" ends with a dazzling sight of a solar sailing ship reminiscent of a classic DS9 episode.
In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3 episode, "Explorers," Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) returned from a visit to Bajor with plans to construct an ancient Bajoran lightship. Sisko wanted to duplicate voyages the ancient Bajorans undertook 800 years prior to prove that they were able to reach Cardassian space without warp technology. "Explorers" is also significant because Commander Sisko grew a goatee, which started his transition to his iconic bald and goateed look as Captain Sisko starting in DS9 season 4. Sisko and his son Jake (Cirroc Lofton) built the lightship, which utilized massive solar sails, and set sail for Cardassia. Although it seemed like their journey was a failure, Sisko's solar sails were struck by tachyons that allowed the ship to go into warp without its passengers being aware. Ben and Jake were shocked when they reached Cardassian space and proved the ancient Bajorans' journey was no myth.
In Strange New Worlds episode 5, Pike and Spock had to conduct delicate diplomacy with the R'ongovians to convince them to join the United Federation of Planets. With T'Pring in Spock's body, it seemed like the negotiations were bound to collapse but Captain Pike realized the R'ongovians were an empathetic race that reflected back the emotions of the people they were bargaining with. Displaying his ingenuity that may one day let him escape his tragic future, Pike deduced how to best resolve the R'ongovians' issues and satisfy them so that the aliens quickly decided to accept Federation membership. To symbolize their new alliance, the R'ongovians flew the Federation flag when they launched their ceremonial ship that had solar sails, which resembled the Bajoran vessel Sisko piloted on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) even confirmed the R'ongovian ship had solar sails, erasing any doubt of the link between Strange New Worlds' new aliens and DS9's Bajorans. Of course, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine takes place over a hundred years after the events of Strange New Worlds so there couldn't any direct references to Captain Sisko and his space station's crew. But Strange New Worlds does establish that other alien cultures utilized solar sail technology and traveled the galaxy without the use of dilithium matrix-powered warp drives. The R'ongovians' ceremonial ship may lack a warp engine but it has the same unique majesty as the Bajoran lightship Sisko built.
DS9 season 5 did their own comedy episode, "Trials and Tribble-ations," where Captain Sisko, Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell), Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney), Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois), and Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) time-traveled back to the 23rd century to meet Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the USS Enterprise. DS9's cast showed up in the 23rd century approximately 8 years after Strange New Worlds episode 5. Overall, it's unclear how long the R'ongovians have used solar sail lightships and if there is any link between them and the ancient Bajorans, but the solar sails in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are a subtle and welcome nod to one of Ben and Jake Sisko's best episodes together.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams Thursdays on Paramount+.