"Captain's log, stardate 51145.3." "The Defiant has been operating out of Starbase 375, conducting forays into Dominion-controlled space." "While the missions have taken a toll, my people remain determined to do whatever it takes to win this war, as do I." " Here you are." " Where did you get Saurian brandy?" " ln the middle of a war, no less." " lt's a busy starbase." "I may be a cadet but I'm still a Ferengi." "Lucky for us." "Excuse me, Captain." "The power cell from the phaser array." "We used it up on the last mission." "Take a good look at this, people." "It says something about this ship." "It says that we will fight and we will keep on fighting until we can't fight anymore." "Yes, sir!" "You don't just throw something like this away." "No, sir!" "Admiral on deck." "As you were." " Ben." " Admiral." "Let's take a walk." " What was going on?" " Just a little ritual we fell into." "It helps the crew unwind." "They deserve it." "They did a hell of a job." "You didn't come here to tell me that, did you?" "No, I didn't." "The Dominion has outmanoeuvred us at every turn." "Wherever we go, they seem to be there, waiting for us." "It makes you think they were smarter than us." "But they're not." "They just had an edge that we didn't know about." "Until yesterday." "Starfleet has located a massive sensor array hidden near the Argolis Cluster." "It can monitor ship movements over five sectors." "That's how they stayed one step ahead of us." "They've had an enormous tactical advantage." " l want you to take it from them." " Gladly, sir." "It won't be easy." "The array is heavily defended." "This is the intelligence report." "Look it over." "I want an attack plan on my desk by 0800." "You'll have it." " There he is." " Damar's a creature of habit." "After a hard day at work, he deserves his glass of "kanar."" ""Why are the Jem'Hadar always in here?" he asks himself." ""They don't drink or eat or gamble." "They just take up space."" "Damar asks his bartender if he found a padd the other day." " My brother says he hasn't seen it." " Damar doesn't like that." "The padd contained a secret memorandum about the white shortage." "In it he speculates that without the drug the Jem'Hadar will kill everyone in their path." "Damar recommends that if they can't bring down the minefield and reopen the supply-line, they should poison the last ration of white, eliminating the Jem'Hadar before it's too late." " How did you get Damar's padd?" " l'm good with my hands." "Here we go." "They've seen him." "The missing padd." "Where'd you find that?" "Damar accuses them of stealing it." "They say they found it outside their quarters...right where l left it." "...have you thrown off of this station!" "I knew this was going to work." "The Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar pretend to be allies, but they hate each other." "Ow!" " They attacked me." " l don't care what they did." "You should never have let this get out of hand." "Get out!" "How could Damar be so stupid as to leave such an inflammatory document lying around?" " Your men stole it." " Jem'Hadar are not thieves." " And Damar is not a liar." " Keep your voice down." "Our men need to see that we're still allies." "Smile." " Dukat!" " l'm smiling." "I suggest we get everyone out as soon as possible." "Tell your men they're confined to quarters pending disciplinary hearings." "I'll do the same." "And keep smiling." "Come." "The array can detect cloaked ships as far as two light years away." "By the time we go around the Argolis Cluster, the Dominion will know." "You'll have ships on you before you get close." "That's why we need the element of surprise." " What are you suggesting?" " That I go through the Argolis." "You can't go through there." "You'd be cut to pieces by the gravimetric shear." "That's what the Dominion thinks." "If we come at them from the Argolis, they won't expect us." "How can you get through?" "Dax can navigate around the gravimetric distortions." "She's studied protostar clusters." "She knows what to look for." "It's a gamble but it's one I'm willing to take." "All right." "Let's give it a shot." "When can you leave?" "As soon as we finish repairs on the Defiant." "Keep me posted, Captain." "You wanted to see me." "Well?" "Don't you have something to say to me?" "About what happened at Quark's?" "It worked better than I expected." " l knew you were behind it!" " Of course you did." "We discussed it." "And I said it was a bad idea." "And then you walked out like there was nothing left to say." "But Rom and Jake stayed and we discussed it and I decided it was a good idea." "So you went ahead and did it behind my back?" " Why are you taking this personally?" " How do you expect me to take it?" "I spend my days on the Council with Dukat and Weyoun, doing what I can to make sure that Bajor survives this war." "The last thing I need is to have you causing mayhem." "Do you know what Dukat would do if he found out you were behind it?" "He would throw every Bajoran off this station." "The Federation is losing this war." "We can't sit by and do nothing." "There are limits to what we can do." "You shouldn't have sat on that Council." "You're so invested in making the station run smoothly you've forgotten there's a war on." "Are you questioning my loyalties?" "I need you." "The resistance needs you." "Answer me." "Are you questioning my loyalties?" "Of course not." "That's not what this is about..." "Hello, Odo." "It's good to see you again." "Leave us. I need to speak with Odo." "Do you?" "It's all right, Nerys." "I may as well hear what she has to say." "Are you sure?" " You called her "Nerys"." " What of it?" "You used to call her "Major"." "Using the name of a solid denotes intimacy." "You're a long way from home." "Keeping an eye on the war effort?" "I'm content to leave the details of the war to the Vorta." "Then what brings you to Deep Space 9?" "You." "I was trapped in the Alpha Quadrant when Captain Sisko mined the entrance to the wormhole." "I have spent too much time with solids." "I came because I felt the need to be with one of my own." "That's ironic, considering what happened the last time we met." "You caused the death of a fellow changeling, Odo." "Turning you into a solid was the only punishment severe enough." "Now that I'm a changeling again you act like nothing ever happened?" "We have forgiven you." "Well, I haven't forgiven you." " lt is time to put the past behind us." " And what about the present?" "You're waging a war against my home." "This is not your home." "You belong with your own kind, as part of the Great Link." "I'm quite content here, thank you." "You say that because you don't know what you're capable of becoming." "If we spent some time together you might begin to understand." "You wanted to see me?" "Captain Bennet's promotion has come through." "Starfleet's putting her in charge of Seventh Tactical Wing." "She was one of my best adjutants ever - strong grasp of strategy and an ability to see the big picture." "It won't be easy to find someone to take her place." "I already have." "You." "Sir?" "I've been very impressed with you lately." " We'd make a good team." " Thank you, sir." "The assignment is effective immediately." "lmmediately?" "What about the Argolis mission?" "Commander Dax will captain the Defiant." " She is up to it, isn't she?" " Absolutely." "I guess I'd just gotten used to the idea of commanding the mission myself." "Look over these reports. I want your thoughts on the Bolian operation." "We'll meet here at 0600." "Ben?" "Congratulations." "Legate Krim will be arriving in the morning." "I'll have a security detail escort him to your office." "If that's all..." "Founder, you honour us with your presence." "I understand the war is going well." "I've followed the plan the Founders laid out for me." "Welcome to Terok Nor." "I'm glad we're finally getting a chance to meet." "As leaders of our respective worlds you and I will be taking our people into a future that I'm..." "Why hasn't the minefield been deactivated?" "Yes, Dukat." "This delay is intolerable." "Thousands of Jem'Hadar ships are stranded, waiting to join the war effort." "Maybe you haven't read the latest reports, but even without those ships, I'm still winning this war." "You're winning?" "I'm involved in all military decisions." "See to it the minefield is brought down." "Of course." "We've imposed our presence on you long enough." "If there's anything you need, please let me know." "Do they always compete with one another like that?" "As a matter of fact, they do." "You have to interact with them often." "It must be trying for you." "It hasn't been easy." "If you'll excuse me I have some work to do." "May I walk with you?" "To become a thing is to know a thing." "To assume its form is to begin to understand its existence." "You tried to teach me that when I visited our homeworld." "I remember." "I didn't understand what you meant at first." "So when I returned to the station I got rid of all my furniture and replaced it with these objects." "I've assumed every shape in this room." "I suppose if it weren't for you, I never would have known the pleasure of existing as a stone or a branch." "I'm glad you learned something from your visit." "Your arrival was a time of great joy for the Link, and your departure, a time of great sadness." "If only you had stayed with us, Odo." "I couldn't." "You chose the solids." " And I haven't regretted it." " Not even a little?" "I do think about the Link from time to time." "It's there for you." " l can't." " Why?" "Because of Kira?" "You still have feelings for her, don't you?" "But she doesn't share them." "I'm sorry." "Aren't you going to tell me I shouldn't waste my time with a solid?" "You love her." "And I wish I didn't." "I'm so vulnerable to her." "All she has to do is smile at me and I'm happy beyond reason." "A minor disagreement between us and I'm devastated." "It's absurd." "I wish I could reach inside myself and tear out my feelings for her." "But I can't." " Poor Odo." " l don't want your pity." "I am not offering pity." " What I need is some peace." " What you need is clarity." "I can give you that." "Do you want me to stop?" "That will be all." "What are you doing here?" "Did Dukat demote you to security detail?" " What can I do for you?" " l'm looking for Odo." "He's not here." " Do you know where he is?" " Yes." "That's good. lt's good to know where your boss is." "He's in his quarters with the other shape-shifter." "Jealous, Major?" "Try to stay out of trouble, Damar." "You don't want to end up on sanitation duty." "Come in." "Odo?" "Nerys." "Damar told me you were here with her." "She was here but she's gone now." "You all right?" "What did she want?" " She didn't want anything." " Then what was she doing here?" "I know how you feel about her, but there's no reason to be concerned." "You don't know how much I wish I could believe that." "You didn't link with her, did you?" "Actually, I did." "You did?" "What were you thinking?" "She didn't find out about the resistance if that's why you're worried." " lt's not." " The Link isn't about information." "It's about merging thought and form, idea and sensation." "A perfect way to manipulate someone." "She's not manipulating me." "Ever since the day you two crossed paths, she has lied to you, tricked you, stood in judgment of you." "I don't trust her." "I don't understand how you can." "I linked with her." "If she had any hidden motive I'd know." "She's just trying to teach me about myself, about what I'm capable of becoming." "An intergalactic warlord, maybe?" "That's what she is." "Who knows?" "By linking with her I might be able to make her understand that the Federation doesn't pose a threat." "You believe you can convince her to call off the war?" "If you could experience the Link, you'd understand the effect it has on my people." "You'd realise that anything is possible." "I'm only beginning to understand it all myself. I still have so many questions." "Now that she's here, I have a chance to find some answers." "This isn't the time to go off on a personal quest." "There's too much at stake." "After the war is over, do whatever you need to do." "If you need to join the Great Link, I'm not going to stop you." "But for right now, I need you here, focused." "Please promise me that you're not going to link with her again." "Not until this is over." "All right. I won't." "Now if you'll excuse me I have to get to work." "I'll see you at the resistance meeting." " Are you ever going to finish?" " A few more minutes, Commander." "That's "Captain"." "It's an old naval tradition." "Whoever's in command of a ship is referred to as "Captain"." "You mean, if I had to take command, I would be called "Captain" too?" "Cadet, by the time you took command, there'd be nobody left to call you anything." "Good point." " Come to take a last look around?" " Not a last look, I hope." " How are the repairs coming?" " Almost done." "Don't get too comfortable in that chair." "When this war is over I'll want my ship back." "Fine." "When this war's over I'm going on a honeymoon." " All done here, Captain." " All right." "Plot a course for the Argolis Cluster and prepare for departure." "Benjamin." "I wish you were coming with us." "You'll do fine." "Pardon our appearance." "We're renovating." "Kanar." "Not that one." " The '27." " '27?" " Expensive." " l can afford it...on a Gul's salary." "You started a fight in my bar and you're getting a promotion?" "What kind of way is that to run an army?" "Dukat wasn't happy about that." "I found a way to make it up to him." "I hope it was something big." "Let's just say..." "it will change the course of history." "As a businessman, I'm very interested in the course of history." "This one's on me." "That's very kind of you, Quark... but I can't talk about it." "Of course. I understand." "Here." "Let me pour you another." "There's bad blood between the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar." "We could get them to go at each other again." " l'm not sure we want to do that." " But it worked so well." "What do you think?" "I'm not sure it's a good idea." "Then we'll do something else." "Something that we can all agree on." " Who could that be?" " We're just sitting here... enjoying each other's company." "Right." "Come in." "Brother...are you all right?" "No, I am not all right." "I just shared a bottle of "kanar" with Damar." "That rhymes!" " You're drunk." " Of course I'm drunk." "I wouldn't risk associating myself with your resistance cell if I wasn't." "Then leave before someone sees you." "I tried." "I tried my best to run my establishment under this occupation." "But you know what?" "It's no fun." "I don't like Cardassians." "They're mean and arrogant." "And I can't stand the Jem'Hadar." "They're creepy." "They just stand there like statues, staring at you." "That's it." "I don't want to do business with these people." "I want the Federation back." "I want to sell root beer again." "All right." "You made your point." "Relax." "How can I relax when there are thousands of Jem'Hadar ships sitting on the other side of the wormhole, waiting to come through?" "Don't worry." "They're stuck there." "Not if what Damar told me is true." "What?" "He said he came up with a way to deactivate the mines." "Dukat wants him to start field tests right away." "Come on." "Think." "Did Damar say anything about how he'd deactivate the mines?" "Yes." "He said something about the station's defector." " Defector?" " That's impossible." "The only person who knows anything about the mines is..." "Me." "Defector." "That doesn't sound right." "Maybe it was...deflector?" "Yeah, that's it." "He said something about using the station's deflector array." " What do you think?" " l'm glad it wasn't me." "About the deflector array." "is there any way to use it to deactivate the mines?" "No." "The mines are self-replicating." "They replace themselves unless they're isolated in an anti-graviton beam." "The deflector array can't do that." "Unless..." "you reconfigure the field generators... and refocus the emitters, which would turn the deflector array into one big anti-graviton beam." "Why didn't you think of that when you set up the mine field?" " Uh..." "I don't know." " Uh...he doesn't know." "Quark!" "How can we disable the deflector array?" "Access the EPS feed and overload the waveguide." " Let's do it." " But you can't get to the EPS feed." " lt's secured and rigged with alarms." " Odo, can you disable those alarms?" "I can take them off-line for five minutes if I run a security diagnostic." " Will that give you enough time?" " l think so." "I'll run the diagnostic in the morning." "All right." "You and I will meet here." "At exactly 0800, you will begin the diagnostic." " Has there been any news?" " None." "The Defiant has been gone over 16 hours." "Mr Worf, I know this is difficult for you." "Yes, sir." "But I sense it is more difficult for you." " The Defiant is your ship." " Dax will bring her home." "Besides, she won't miss her own wedding." "No, I suppose not." "As soon as I hear anything, I'll let you know." "Thank you, sir." "Captain...you should get some rest." "Not tonight, Mr Worf." "Not tonight." " Ben?" " Admiral." " lt's late." " l was just waiting for any news." "Ben, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow." "I want to finalise the Bolian operation." " l need you focused." " l will be." "You and I are responsible for an entire tactical wing." "Thousands of lives depend on the decisions we make tomorrow." "You can't be awake all night worrying about one ship." "You can order me to my quarters but there's no way I'll sleep." "Not as long as the Defiant is out there." "All right." "As you wish." "But you should understand one thing." "We'll be sending the Defiant on a lot of missions and you're going to have to get used to it." "Good night." "Have our people always been shape-shifters?" "Or was there a time when we were like the solids?" "Eons ago, we were limited to one form, but then we evolved." "Aah." "On the homeworld, are you always in the Link or are you sometimes solid?" "We prefer the Link but on occasion it is interesting to exist as something else... a tree perhaps, or a cloud in the sky." "A cloud." " How many of us are there?" " Oh!" "So many questions, Odo." "I'm sorry." "But there's still so much that isn't clear to me yet." "If you link with me again, everything will be made clear to you." "You have to understand that the Link is very overwhelming for me." "Right now, it's easier to talk." "But words are so clumsy, so imprecise." "Even so." "As you wish." "You haven't told me your name." "What use would I have for a name?" "To differentiate yourself from the others." "I don't." "But you are a separate being, aren't you?" "In a sense." "When you return to the Link, what will become of the entity I'm talking to right now?" "The drop becomes the ocean." "And if you choose to take solid form again?" "The ocean becomes a drop." "Aah..." "Yes." "I think I'm beginning to understand." "Then you can answer your own question." "How many of us are there?" "One." "And many." " lt depends on how you look at it." " Very good." "You are beginning to understand." "But there's so much you don't know." " Tell me." " Oh!" "Words are insufficient." "Link with me again." "It is the only way I can give you the understanding you seek." " l can't." " Why not?" "I promised Kira." "She is a solid." "This has nothing to do with her." "This is about you." "About what you want." " Am I early?" " A little." " l hope that's more than just fruit." " l needed to hide my tools." "In case anybody asks, I'm making a delivery." " Right." " Here's your fruit." "I didn't order any fruit." "Your brother sent this, didn't he?" "Tell him he's not going to win me over." "Better yet, I'll tell him myself." "Odo should be in his office by now." "Remember, he's going to interrupt the sensor alarms at exactly 0800 hours." "I'll be ready." "If there's a problem, I'll contact you." "Good luck." "Computer, time." "0700 hours, 58 minutes." "Two minutes to go." "Odo!" "Kira to Odo." "Please respond." "Kira to Odo." "Odo, answer me." " Computer, time." " 0700 hours, 59 minutes." "Hello, Major." "Just the person I was looking for." "We'll have to discuss the personnel report another time." "We'll discuss it now." "I don't think so." "Kira to Rom." "Don't open that hatch." " l already did." " Get out of there!" "Intruder alert." "Come with me." "Well, well...what do we have here?" "Captain's log, tactical update, stardate 51149.5." "The Defiant has returned to Starbase 375 after its attack on the Dominion sensor array." "We have recommended that the entire Defiant crew be cited for exceptional performance of their duties." " Admiral on deck!" " Carry on." "Nog, Saurian brandy for the brass." "Dax, could you tell Ensign Kirby how I took over the com?" " She doesn't believe me." " l'm not sure I believe it myself." "Sir." "Sir." " Congratulations, Captain." " Thank you, sir." "Will you excuse me a minute?" "Julian needs me." " Here you are." " Don't ask where he got it." "Don't worry. I don't want to know." "Here's another one, Captain." "Take a good look...because this says something about us." "That we're willing to fight and that we'll keep on fighting until we can't fight anymore." "Yes, sir!" "You don't throw something like this away." "No, sir!" "They're a good crew." "The best." "What do you say we get back to work?" "What the hell happened?" "Why didn't you disable that alarm?" " lt's difficult to explain." " Rom is being interrogated." "He was counting on you." "I was counting on you!" " l know." " You know?" "Do you realise what you just did?" "You just handed the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion." "I was in the Link." " Are you saying you forgot?" " l didn't forget." "It just didn't seem to matter." "A lot of people are going to die." "Don't you care?" "It has nothing to do with me." "How can you say that?" "If you could experience the Link, you'd know why nothing else matters." "The last five years... your life here, our friendship..." "none of that matters?" "It did...once." "I wish I could make you understand." "But you can't." "You're not a changeling." "You're right." "I'm a solid." "You look troubled, Odo." "Did she upset you?" "No, not really." "Ah."