John Marshall cleared his throat. "Prisoner #1," he said. "The gentleman in the standard Bajoran uniform, is our old friend from the beginning of this little adventure. What we know of him, is what we’ve know from the beginning. He claims to be a representative of the Dominion here on the station, with the sanction of Admiral Ross, and we must assume Starfleet as well, to assist in the investigation of a series of disappearances that may, or may not, have to do with the former head of Security of this station. Not having seen any evidence to the contrary, I am inclined to believe he is exactly what he reports to be. However, I confess I am in ignorance of his actions while I was detained on Cardassia Prime."

"There was nothing suspicious about his behavior as far as I could tell," volunteered Flato. "And he was under escort the entire time."

"And when he wasn’t, he was with me," confirmed Kira. "No, I believe he is what he says he is."

"Of course," amended Marshall. "A good deal of that time, I assume, he was with the person you all assumed was me. Am I correct?"

The two women nodded in confirmation.

"Which, to my way of thinking, is the main reason we must not consider him entirely above suspicion. May I also assume that while I was away there were no more attempts on his life?"

"Just what are you getting at?" asked Kira.

"While on Cardassia," said Marshall. "I had more than ample opportunity to consider the situation and have come to the conclusion that what we are dealing with are two entirely separate situations."

"Two?"

"Yes. On the one hand, we have a highly organized and relatively clean operation in which certain individuals are notified in advance to expect the appearance of a visitor. Not just any visitor mind you, but a visitor whose appearance will precipitate a certain event which results in the disappearance of those individuals."

"On the other hand," agreed Kira. "We have a random and relatively messy series of failed attempts to end not only one life but to either injure or kill any innocent people who happen to be around. No notification, no visitor, no simple disappearance."

"Exactly."

"Are they in any way related?" asked Flato, who had received a briefing on the situation, but still was at a loss as far as to gaining a true understanding of any of it.

"Yes," replied Marshall. "In the matter of the disappearances, in every instance save one, the disappearance was heralded by the appearance of someone who appeared to be Odo."

"The exception?"

"The exception, my dear captain, happened with the last disappearance, one Mister Carrin Levett of Cardassia. In that instance the visitor appears to have been me."

"You?" asked Kira.

"Apparently so, although I was on the station at the time."

"Why you?"

"I have no idea. However, the only reason I can imagine is that there exists the possibility Odo may be too well known among the people of Cardassia and that a person posing as Odo may have drawn too much attention thus endangering our suspect."

"Go on."

"In the instance of the second investigation, the only connections between the varied attacks are again, Mr. Odo and most importantly myself."

"How so?"

"In each instance both myself and Mr. Odo were apparently the target of the attacks. Now, I do not claim to be an expert on changelings, but it did occur to me that if I were intent on killing one, neither an attack with a poisoned knife, nor an explosion would be the best way of achieving that end."

"But it would be a good way to eliminate a human," concluded Kira. "I see. So, what you are suggesting is that you might be the target of the attacks. If you were off the station, then there would be no further need to make an attempt on your life."

"Which would explain why there were no incidents while you were away," said Flato. "Assuming, of course, the attacks weren’t orchestrated by you in the first place."

"Thank you captain," said Marshall dryly.

"Just trying to be thorough, sir."

"Indeed. Which brings us back to our Mr. Odo. The only incident that did occur while I was away involved you, colonel, and the other two changelings, our Mr. Odo being conveniently locked away in a holding cell. With or without his consent has yet to be established to my satisfaction."

"So, you are thinking he may be involved in some way," said Kira.

"At this stage, we cannot overlook the possibility he may be working in conjunction with one or the other of the changelings we have in custody. For all we know, he may even be working with both."

"To what end?"

"That, I am afraid, remains a mystery. One could speculate it may have something to do with defectors from the Dominion. We have no way of knowing how many had infiltrated the Alpha Quadrant as spies before and during the war, and as such, we have no way of knowing how many, if any, returned to the Gamma Quadrant after the war."

"So, you think this may be some sort of recovery operation?"

"I concede it is a possibility. Could you think of a better way? You send in an agent, let’s say our prisoner #2, to round up all of your stray agents and he, in return, turns them all over to a Starfleet sanctioned Dominion representative who escorts them home. It’s a nice, unobtrusive way of dealing with a tricky situation."

Kira sat silently for a moment while she mentally ran through the varied threads of the situation. It all was starting to make sense. But something kept nagging at her from the back of her mind, something that warned her there was more to the situation than they supposed. Something to do with Odo, the real Odo. It wasn’t like him to be dishonest about his motives. Why send someone in his place? Why loan them his memories? If this were in fact a recovery operation, then why not be honest about it? "What do we know about prisoner #2?" she asked at length.

"Prisoner #2," said Marshall, "Is the gentlemen who looks exactly like our Mr. Odo except, he is wearing a black uniform which, is cut suspiciously like standard issue for the Bajoran Militia. Other than that, I have not had the pleasure."

"This is where I come in," said Flato. "I have had the pleasure, in a manner of speaking, that is. What we know of him is he came aboard the station under false pretenses, pretending to be Mr. Marshall. By his own admission, he was responsible for the forcible detainment of Mr. Marshall on Cardassia Prime the purpose of which was, in his opinion, to keep Mr. Marshall out of harms way. Furthermore, he freely admits to the forcible detainment of Mr. Odo in Auxiliary Holding Cell Area Two, the purpose of which was, again in his opinion, to keep Mr. Odo out of harms way. As to the assault on board Ginyu’s ship, all he will say in his defense is that he had no intent to harm Colonel Kira, only to apprehend prisoner #3."

"Well, at least he has been cooperative," said Kira.

"Only to a point," agreed Flato. "Other than what he has offered, he resolutely refuses to discuss the matter further. Unless…"

"Unless?"

"Unless," replied Marshall. "He can talk to you."

"Me? Why me?"

"He says," said Flato. "That it’s family business and he won’t discuss it with outsiders."

"Family business? What the hell does he mean by that?" demanded Kira.

"We were hoping you had a clue," said Marshall. "Because, we do not."

"No," said Kira, clearly puzzled. "I have no family." No family, she thought, except Odo. Could he possibly mean..? She was suddenly reminded of something Julian had said earlier. Three changelings, biologically identical to each other in every detail. They could be brothers if you allowed for the three to be triplets. Family. Odo’s family. She shook her head, chiding herself to focus on the present situation. "When we were on Ginyu’s ship," she said. "The impostor Odo claimed that this one, prisoner #2, was a Centurion. Is there any concrete connection tying this suspect with the Centurion Corporation?"

"No," replied Marshall. "Although, I simply cannot shake the notion that the Centurion Corporation is somehow essential to the entire investigation."

"Meaning?"

"Well, does it strike anyone else as odd, that an organization that has the resources to donate ships and supplies to the Cardassian War Relief would have been virtually unheard of prior to the war?"

"Not particularly," said Kira. "It is a large universe and we occupy just a small corner of it."

"Granted, colonel. And I suppose an organization that does provide so much in the way of charity would have any number of reasons to contact any number of people on any number of occasions, but it occurs to me that there is somewhat of a coincidence that in each of our disappearances, the victim received a card with the logo of the Centurion Corporation just prior to their disappearance."

"All but one," corrected Kira. "There was no card, so far as we know, with this last incident."

"Card?" asked Flato reaching into her pocket. "You mean like this?" She produced a slim piece of plastic, rectangular in shape, with a red C embossed on one side and the word Justice printed on the other.

"Where did you get that?" asked Marshall.

"From Broik," replied Flato. "He told me he found it on Ginyu’s table the day the colonel spotted him in Quark’s."

"Broik?" asked Kira. "But.."

"He came by Security this morning looking for Ginyu. I believe the idea was to blackmail him. Broik had no idea of the card’s significance, only that one of the waiters mentioned that Ginyu left the bar shortly after the card was delivered and that he was clearly upset. I had no idea of the card’s significance either, but thought it worth holding on to."

"Clever girl," muttered Marshall under his breath. "Well, there you are, colonel. It’s not enough to convict, but enough to provide a connection."

"Very well," conceded Kira. "We’ll operate on the assumption that prisoner #2 works for, or is indeed a Centurion. Now, in what way would that have anything to do with prisoner #3?"

"Prisoner #3," said Flato, indicating the rather stout figure in the third cell, who despite having been identified as a changeling, maintained the features of a Bajoran. "Is more than willing to tell his story to any and everyone. All we know about him is that he took Ginyu’s place after Ginyu met his untimely end. It’s reasonable to assume he killed Ginyu, or at least covered up his death by dumping him in space. Once on the station, he kept a rather low profile, until the day he received the card and, in fit of panic, attempted to flee, taking you with him. It would not be too far a leap in logic to assume he intended to use you as a shield or as a bargaining chip should the Centurions catch up with him."

"I don’t follow," said Kira.

"Well, according to him, he was just a harmless businessman who wanted nothing more than to live a quiet life. He claims the Centurions had attempted to kill him before, and that he had moved to Bajor to avoid them, only they eventually caught up with him while he was on a business trip to Cardassia. He claims, in an attempt to flee for his life, he booked passage with Ginyu, only Ginyu died of natural causes while they were in route. Not wishing to hide the death, but fearful for his life, he reluctantly took Ginyu’s place."

"How convenient for him," remarked Marshall.

"You could say that," agreed Flato. "However if what you assume about this situation is true, that he is in fact a renegade changeling who does not wish to return to the Dominion, it does not explain why he did not at least attempt to contact station security to alert them to the situation."

"Nor does it explain why he didn’t at least attempt to alert the colonel once he was in her presence, knowing that she as commander of this station and all it’s resources, could provide protection for him," said Marshall.

"Nor does it explain," said Kira. "Why he threatened to kill me once he was faced with capture."

"So," said Marshall. "The main question then regarding #3 is why he was so fearful of being faced with a Centurion representative."

"And," agreed Kira. "What he did to cause the Centurions to come after him in the first place."

On the bridge of the lead Jem’Hadar ship, five men braced themselves for whatever fate would toss in their path. For the first time Jack was grateful the Dominion built ships without view screens. What he saw in the small eyepiece was enough to frighten even the most experienced of captains.

"Are they still back there?" asked Gus.

"Damn right," replied Jack. "We’ve got one Jem’Hadar and one Zunigian tagging along like twin tails on a comet."

"What are they waiting for?" muttered Quark from the corner of the bridge where he, Ognij and Buck sat braced against the bulkheads.

"Fret you not," replied Ognij. "In the hands of Yestos, lies all."

"What do you figure they’re doing Gus?" asked Jack. "Are they going to attack or do you think they are just going to run us into the storm?"

"Way I figure it Jack," said Gus. "The only ones we gotta worry about is them Zunigians. I figure at this stage in the game the Jem’Hadar ain’t really interested in us or they woulda attacked a long time ago. Way I figure it, they’re just gonna let us duke it out and they can deal with the winner."

"And either way we’re gonna get blasted," agreed Jack. "So, what do you think? Turn ourselves over to Rusawa’s boys or bring her about and go down shootin?"

"Ru Sa Wa," muttered Buck to himself. "Ru Sa Wa musdie."

"Just what is that all about?" asked Quark.

"Go down shootin…," said Gus.

Quark was quickly reaching the end of this rope. "Enough!" he shouted. "Just turn yourselves in and get it over with. When are you going to learn where there’s life, there’s hope for negotiation? What is this obsession all you humans have with heroic suicide? Go down shooting. Are you all crazy? I mean why bother to shoot it out at all? If you’re that intent on throwing your life away, why not just fly straight into the storm?"

"Fly into the storm?" laughed Jack. "Of all the…wait a minute."

"You know," said Gus. "That just might work."

As instructed, Marshall had placed a table and chair in the center of the room, facing the cells. She marched straight toward it, keeping her eyes firmly locked on the back of the chair and carefully avoiding direct eye contact with any of the occupants of the cells. She pulled the chair aside, placed the evidence case on the table and busied herself with removing it’s contents, all the while ignoring the conversation that erupted upon her entrance. To her relief, she did not need to look up. She could recognize each by their voice.

"Colonel! I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you up and about. I was worried." That was prisoner #2.

"You should be worried. It was all your fault she was injured in the first place." That was prisoner #1.

"Nerys! Thank heavens. Finally, someone reasonable who understands why I should be released." That was prisoner #3.

She waited until the chatter died down. She stood, closed the case with a snap of the latches, then picked up a padd and finally allowed herself to look at them. Prisoner #2 was in the cell on her left, prisoner #3 in the center cell, and prisoner #1 in the cell to her right. "Gentlemen," she said holding up her padd. "these are the charges being filed against you." She glanced around, two of the prisoners were wearing a rather stunned expression and one was smiling. Fine, she thought, might as well start with you.

"Prisoner #2," she said. "You are being charged with two counts of forcible detainment, one count of impersonating a Starfleet officer, and one count of attempted murder."

Her eyes sought his face and for an instant her heart stopped. He was looking at her with the same expression of pride she had seen on Odo’s face far too often. Focus on his eyes, she reminded herself. With changelings, it’s all in the eyes. She closed her eyes briefly and when she opened them, her eyes were locked on his. Much to her relief she no longer saw Odo, but was looking into the eyes of another personality entirely. With a slight shock, she realized he knew exactly what she was doing and approved. He winked.

Puzzled, she stepped away from him and turned to face the next cell. The wink set off an alarm in her memory. She had seen that wink before, but where?

"Prisoner #3. You are being held on suspicion of murder and are being charged with one count of assault with deadly intent."

He protested his innocence. She had expected that, just as she expected he would attempt to play on her sympathies - one Bajoran to another. What she had not expected was that on closer examination he looked vaguely familiar. Try as she might, she could not place him. She supposed having been knocked unconscious twice in the last month was starting to take a toll on her memory. Choosing to ignore him, she turned to the last cell.

"Prisoner #1. You are being held on suspicion of being an agent in the employ of a foreign government, impersonating a member of the Bajoran Militia, fraud, and you are being charged with being a spy."

She stared hard into his eyes, trying to discern what, if any, emotions registered there. Her gaze was met by eyes filled with nothing more than a cold, hard determination. Satisfied, she nodded and returned to the table. Placing the padd on top of the table she turned to face the others.

"Now, that you have heard the charges against you, gentlemen, it is my duty to inform you that your cooperation in this matter will be taken into account pending prosecution." She crossed her arms and leaned back against the table.

"Right then," she said. "Let’s start with who each of you are and what role you each play in this little charade."

"Now," said Gus. "The way I figure it, ifin we tuck in real close, here, at the leading edge of the storm we’ll be close enough to throw all their sensors off but not so close as to take the full force of it."

"Especially if we correct course to move with the storm instead of against it," mused Jack. "It just might work. Like you say, if we can set the shield harmonics just right, we might even be able to just skip along the bottom of the storm and let it pass right over us. God alone knows where we’ll end up, but as long as we lose those two ships in the process, we’ll be better off."

"Skip along the bottom of an iron storm?" scoffed Quark. He turned to Ognij and Buck. "Listen to them will you?"

"That’s as may be," agreed Gus. "But we’d have to divert all available power from all systems except life support. It would mean we’d have no weapons and there’s no way of knowin if we’d be able to get them back up and running once we were out."

"Hell Gus," said Jack. "The storm’s probably gonna kill us. Do you really think we’re going to need weapons?"

"Nah," said Gus with a grin. "Suppose not."

"And why would I turn them off?"

"You want the truth don’t you?"

"Yes."

"In order to gain the truth you are going to have to do two things."

"And what would that be?" asked Kira.

"No record of what is said here can be allowed to exist."

Is that all? she thought. "And the other?"

"You’re going to have to decide whose side you are on."

"As head of this station," she replied firmly. "I can’t afford to take sides."

"The two go hand in hand I’m afraid."

"And I’m afraid I can’t do that."

"We’ll see," he said with a smile. "But for now, cut the monitors. The other can wait."

"Very well." Kira touched her comm. badge. "Kira to Marshall."

"Marshall here."

"Kill all monitors to Auxiliary Holding Cell Area Two."

"Aye sir. Monitors have now been deactivated."

"Ah, ah, ah," said #2. "The back up systems as well?"

"Did you hear that Mr. Marshall?"

"That I did. Back up systems deactivated as well."

"Thank you, Mr. Marshall." She folded her arms once again. "Well?"

"I guess introductions are now in order, don’t you?"

"That would help simplify matters a bit."

"Name, rank and service number, eh? Well, as you know, we don’t have names. But as you also know one of us as Odo, and in keeping with the theme of palindromic names, you may call me Bob and my prisoner over there you can call Otto."

"I am not your prisoner!" protested prisoner #3.

"Let me remind you, my friend," said prisoner #2. "The colonel said your cooperation will be taken into consideration. May I further remind you that you are as good as caught and your cooperation will also be taken into consideration once I take you in."

"As good as caught," sneered #3. "As good as dead you mean. If you are so intent on telling the truth, then tell her the truth about what you really are and see what happens."

"As juvenile as ever," commented prisoner #1. "Are you never going to grow up?"

"Gentlemen," said Kira. "Shall we return to the point, or shall I just save myself a lot of trouble and turn you over to Starfleet right now?"

"Sorry," said prisoner #2. "Seriously, we do not have names, it would be pointless. However, I concede the point that calling us all prisoner will become tedious in the end, so you may call me by my rank, which is Guardian and my designation is 42."

"Guardian? Very well, Guardian, and your friends are?"

"The fellow to my left is known as Power and his designation is 57." Power? Kira stared at the Bajoran, wondering where this would all lead to. "And my mirror image is known as Justice, his designation is also 42."

"I was Justice," he corrected. "For the sake of truth, I now hold the rank of Wisdom."

The smile faded from Guardian’s face. "I’m sorry," he said. "The elder?"

"This is not the time," commented Wisdom. "But the elder is well."

"Interesting," said Kira, a thought starting to solidify in her mind. "And Odo, the Odo I know, what would be his rank and designation?"

"Don’t!" ordered Wisdom. "She does not need to know. Such matters are not to be discussed with…."

"Solids?" demanded Guardian. "Go ahead and say it. We don’t discuss such matters with solids."

"Do not presume to put words in my mouth," ordered Wisdom. "The colonel has more than once proven herself to be trustworthy. But the fact remains she is an outsider."

"She’s not an outsider," replied Guardian. "She knows more about us as a species than anyone else I can think of. Hell, we’re practically in-laws."

Wisdom and Power just stared at him. "You do what you want," declared Wisdom at last. "You always have, but I for one will not be a party to this."

Guardian laughed. "Do you really suppose we have a choice?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you really suppose Power here is going to keep his mouth shut once he’s been released into the custody of outsiders? Look at him! He’s willing to do anything to save his own skin - even sell you out. He’d sell us all out. That’s part of the plan isn’t it Power?"

"You go to hell, Guardian."

"So, you see, pops, the sooner we tell the truth, the sooner we’ll be out of here. And it’s about time we told the truth, don’t you think? Time has passed, civilizations have evolved, concealment has brought us nothing but pain."

"She could destroy everything!"

Guardian laughed bitterly. "You have no idea do you? You want to see the face of those who plot to destroy you? Look, there," he pointed to Power. "Him. That’s who wants to destroy you. Not the outsiders, but your own kind!"

"So you say," replied Wisdom. "But you have yet to provide evidence to support your accusation."

"Just wait and see. Anyway, the answer to your question, colonel, is your Odo would be known to us by the rank of Supernumerary and his designation would be…"

"Forty two," she said. As she listened to the two argue, a thought had crystallized and then shattered into a million possibilities. "You’re clones!"

"Looks and brains," said Guardian, placing his hands over his heart. "Is it any wonder the boy fell for her?"

Kira held up her hand to forestall any further comment. She stood and walked around the table keeping her back to them. She needed a moment to order the magnitude of thoughts spinning round her brain. Clones. She thought of the conversation in Julian’s office. Three samples, all identical, all Odo. "Not brothers," she said out loud. "But clones." The Jem’Hadar. The Vorta. It all made sense now.

"The price we paid for giving up existence as you know it," said Wisdom.

"No reproductive system, no reproduction," added Guardian. "It was the only way for us to survive. Surely you had to wonder how we got so good at cloning other species?"

"I never gave it much thought," she said absently. Out of the chaos in her brain, one thought kept coming to the surface. It was something Marshall had said. The key to the whole situation was the involvement of the Centurions. She turned to look at the weapon Guardian had brought to the station. A weapon for gathering biological samples. Samples that could be used to clone other changelings. "Guardian," she asked. "Are you a Centurion?"

"Yes."

"Power, are you a Centurion as well?"

"I was," he admitted reluctantly. "But I have turned my back on all they stand for and only wish, as your Odo wished, to live my life in peace and for that they wish to end my life."

"Very touching," said Guardian. "If that were only the truth. I suppose you’re going to tell her next that you only want to return to the Great Link."

The Link. Kira squeezed her eyes shut in concentration. Centurion. The Link. Century. The Link. "Sweet Prophets," she exclaimed. "You’re the Hundred! The Centurions are the Hundred."

"There it is again," said Jack. "What do you suppose that was?"

"We’ve only got limited sensors working," replied Gus. "But if I didn’t know better, I’d say someone just shot at us."

"Couldn’t be." Jack clutched the console as the ship rocked again. "Even if the Zunigians were crazy enough to follow us this close to the storm, they wouldn’t be able to see us would they?"

"No," agreed Gus. "Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless they got a fix on us before their sensors winked out and are engaging in a little old fashioned targeting." The deck bucked beneath their feet nearly causing them to lose their footing. "Direct hit that time. Hell, they’re better at this than I gave them credit for."

"Can we get a fix on them and shoot back?" asked Quark.

"Nope," replied Gus. "The ion radiation knocked our sensors off first. Even if we did have a fix on them when the sensors went off-line, we’d have no idea here they are now. We’d just be shooting blind and wastin energy. The only thing we can do is change course and speed and see if that don’t throw them off our scent."

"If we sit here, they’ll just keep on pounding us until our shields buckle," agreed Jack. He glanced at the faces of those on the bridge. There was still a chance, but a slim one that they might make it out of this in once piece. And that slim chance was just about to get a little slimmer. Right then, he thought. "Time to test your theory about those shield harmonics, Gus. Make your adjustments and take us into the storm."

The ship shuddered as another blast from the Zunigian phasers hit her shields. She hesitated for a moment in space and then slid slowly below the leading edge of the storm and was gone. In one corner of the bridge, Ognij began to pray.

"Well," replied Guardian. "Not completely unknown. There have always been a limited number of people who have been aware of our existence, but for the most part they have thought of us as a localized but peculiar phenomenon. Like your Odo. The Universe is a big place after all."

"And in all that time there existed between you and the Founders a - what did you call it?"

"A cold war."

"A cold war. Until recently. What happened to change that?"

"The Wormhole is what happened."

"The Wormhole?" asked Kira.

"And, I hate to say it, your Odo."

"Odo?"

"Do you have any idea how much trouble that one little changeling caused?"

"I don’t understand," she confessed. "How?"

"Well, let me put it to you like this. Here we are, on our side of the universe, doing our thing, minding our own business. All those thousands of light years away, the Founders are on their side of the universe doing their thing. Bajor and it’s environs are just a corner of the Quadrant to be avoided. Now all of a sudden there’s this short cut to the other side, and right there on the doorstep is this one little changeling neither side knows is there.

Now, like a good little changeling, he’s drawn to the other side, but he doesn’t know why. Then one day, purely by accident, he stumbles onto his people. See, the problem is, he has no idea of the order of things. He has no idea he’s a Supernumerary. He has no idea he’s only supposed to want to find home, he’s not supposed to actually find it. Supernumeraries never go home. Supernumeraries are supposed to be located in the field, debriefed and put back into the field. Can you imagine what was going through the minds of the administrative types who hang out on the home world when this lowly Supernumerary turns up like a lost pup and he has the audacity to bring along his girlfriend and a fully armed ship full of his military type buddies as well?"

"It was not amusing," said Wisdom flatly.

"Maybe not to you," admitted Guardian. "But it’s been over ten years and I still wake up laughing about that one!"

Kira thoughts went back to the incidents of Odo’s first encounter with his people. The rather cold welcome, the evident distrust, the long hours they left him alone. For the first time it was starting to become clear. "So," she said. "When the female Founder said Odo was the first to return…"

"She wasn’t lying," replied Guardian. "But she meant the first Supermunerary."

"But," said Kira also thinking of the experiments conducted on the Defiant’s senior staff. "They must have been thinking about establishing a foothold in the Alpha Quadrant anyway, how did Odo…"

"What we suspect they were really doing was trying to determine how many of us changelings were involved with the Federation and if we would oppose the Dominion moving into the Alpha Quadrant. The little experiment proved to them that Odo was the only changeling you were aware of."

"I see. So what does all this have to do with you and the various disappearances?"

"What we didn’t bargain on was the fact that you can take the changeling out of the Link, but you can’t take the Link out of the changeling."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, to most of us the Link was but a distant memory. But to the Link, we were never far from their thoughts and Odo became a symbol to them of all they had lost. They thought that if they could recover one lost lamb, then the rest would follow. I don’t think they ever really realized that Odo had no idea the rest of us existed. To him we were just a concept."

"We realized he was hiding something," said Wisdom unexpectedly. "But we were not sure what."

"What we did not realize until the opening of the Wormhole, was how much some of our members were not content with just living in peace away from the Link. Over the years, we had accepted a number of former Founders to our ranks. Former Founders who had fallen out of favor with the Link for various reasons. As long as the Link was on the other side of the universe any thoughts they had for getting back at the Founders remained but a wish. With the opening of the Wormhole, the wish had the potential to become a reality. That’s where our friend Power comes into all this."

"How?"

"Yes," said Power. "Tell them your lies."

Guardian paused as though collecting his thoughts. "I don’t really know where to begin," he said. "It started with small things and worked it’s way up to genocide."

"Genocide?" asked Kira and Wisdom in stereo.

"Yes, and I still can’t believe one of our own was involved. We don’t keep as close a handle on our field agents as the Link does, thus giving them a lot of freedom of action. As I mentioned before, we haven’t paid as much attention to this area of the Quadrant as we should, and by the time we were aware of Odo, it was too late, he had all ready made contact with the Link. We had no way of knowing what side he was on. But we did have a contact in the Tal Shiar and through that contact, we became aware of the combined Romulan/Cardassian operation to destroy the Founders. Fortunately the Founders also had a contact in the Tal Shiar, who tipped us off about one of our members being the driving force behind the plot. Unfortunately, our agent was killed before we could find out who that was."

"Our agent was killed as well," said Wisdom.

"So you’re telling me," said Kira. "That the war with the Dominion was in part a war between Alpha Quadrant changelings and Dominion changelings?"

"In a way. Yes. But not all of us. We have identified seven former field agents who orchestrated most of the events that led to the war."

"Only seven?"

"Yes. Five we have all ready dealt with. One is still on the run. One, and I count him as the worst of the lot, is right here with us."

"And what did he do?"

"He," said Guardian pointing to Power. "Assisted in the design of the plague that was spread through Odo to the rest of the Founders."

"You are lying," said Wisdom. "No changeling would ever plot to destroy his own people in such a way."

"It’s the truth."

"But, Section 31…" said Kira.

"I’m not saying Section 31 wasn’t involved, but think about it colonel. Odo was infected on his first trip to Earth. His first Starfleet physical. His absolute first. He wasn’t in the habit of leaving biological samples lying around for anyone to take. You don’t develop a disease like that by tossing a few germs in a beaker and stirring them up in order to see what happens. The only way Section 31 could be sure a disease like that would work would be if they had a changeling handy to provide viable biological samples to test the disease. Think about it, a changeling had to have been working for Starfleet, working with Section 31 to develop the disease long before Odo ever went to Earth."

"But how?"

"We didn’t know and we didn’t start to figure it out until some of our own people started to show signs of infection. Now, we knew none of us had ever been in contact with Odo, so we couldn’t have gotten it from him. The only answer was that one of us was infected. Now the only other way we could have been infected was through contact with someone Odo had been in contact with. Well, the war was on and we had not been in contact with any of the Founders. That left only one conclusion."

"It was one of you."

"Exactly. Thanks to your Dr. Bashir, we were able to steal a copy of the cure."

"You broke into the infirmary?"

"Of course. What? Don’t look so surprised, colonel. You didn’t really expect us to show up on your doorstep looking all desiccated and saying ‘Hi. We’re new to the neighborhood. Can we borrow a cup of antidote?’ Of course, we stole it. But what we found when we got it to a lab was that there were traces of a distinct DNA pattern in the virus. A DNA pattern that proved conclusively who our traitor was."

"Traitor?" declared Power. "Patriot is more like it. We were at war. Colonel, surely you of all people realize how many millions more would have died if the disease I helped create had not attacked the Founders. If we hadn’t worked on a way to weaken the Dominion from within, Bajor would now be a Dominion outpost, with masters ten times as brutal and as deadly as the Cardassians. It was my duty to do what I could to save the place I call home…."

"And what about your own people?" demanded Guardian. "What about those who died because of your heroic collaboration with Section 31? People who had nothing to do with your desire to get even with the Founders. Those are the lives you are being called upon to answer for."

"What’s a few changelings compared to the millions of others who died in the war?"

"Nothing. Only these changelings didn’t die in the war. These changelings died because you infected them. You, who knew you were carrying a deadly virus, and yet you spread it among us anyway. That’s the crime for which you are charged and the crime for which you will pay."

Power laughed. "Then you can file extradition papers with an Arbiter as soon as the good colonel lets you out of your cell," he said.

"Extradition?" asked Kira.

"Yes. In case you were not aware, I am currently a rather prominent Bajoran citizen and according to Bajoran laws, I have committed no crime. You may try to charge me under Federation law, but considering the outcome of my actions, I doubt seriously you will be able to find a court or a judge willing to hear your case."

"So, you see the dilemma," said Guardian. "He’s absolutely right. Any public trial will bring to light any and all involvement by Starfleet and bring to light the covert organization they call Section 31. No Federation court would touch it, none would dare."

Kira again held up her hand to forestall any further comment. It was all too fantastic to grasp. If only Odo were here… She glanced at Wisdom. In some way Odo was here. She allowed a moment to speculate on how much of Odo was retained in his memories. "Wisdom," she said. "You are the elder of your people here, what do you think of all this?"

"The decision is not mine," he replied. "If there is one thing I brought with me, it is the certainty you will do what is right. As for all other issues, it is a matter for our people in the Alpha Quadrant to settle. I shall do my duty and report these proceedings to the Link. The Link will determine what action to take."

So that’s it, she thought. No wonder the Hundred refused to return to the Link.

"Colonel," said Guardian. "If you remember, I told you at the beginning, you would have to do two things to know the truth. One was that no record of this meeting could be allowed to exist and the other was that you would have to choose what side you were on."

"I remember."

"It’s time to choose. You can turn this matter over to Starfleet, who will most likely just sweep it all under the rug, or you can turn him over to me and I’ll do my duty."

"Nerys!" said Power. "You fought for a cause your entire life. You know that duty dictates that sometimes unpleasant tasks must be undertaken for the cause of justice. Sometimes those unpleasant tasks will cause harm to your own people, but you do it anyway for the greater good. You’ve done things you aren’t proud of and yet you were able to start a new life, and if truth be told you are a better person for it. Despite the unpleasant tasks I undertook to see an end to death and destruction, I’m a better person for it. I have a business, I have friends in high places. What was done is done. All I ask is that I be allowed to start again - just as you were allowed to start again."

"Behold, Rem Keshwan," said Guardian. "A prominent Bajoran citizen."

Kira blinked. Rem Keshwan? Of course. She knew he looked familiar. "You’re Rem?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Power. "We last saw each other in the hall, outside General Torias' office."

"And," asked Guardian. "You have friends in high places?"

"Yes."

"General Torias I suppose?"

"Yes."

"Probably know the First Minister as well?"

"Yes."

"Bet you’ve even rubbed elbows with a Vedek or two?

"Yes, I have."

"A changed man indeed," commented Guardian with a smile.

"Yes."

"Now, what do you suppose those esteemed gentlemen would do if they knew you were also a member of the Orion Syndicate?"

"What! How dare you?"

"And what," continued Guardian. "Do you suppose they would do if they realized you were stockpiling ships and weapons, while working with a foreign government, in an effort to use Bajor as a launching pad for another war with the Dominion?"

"Lies!"

"And what do you suppose they would do if they knew you had conspired to have the good colonel here removed from office - not to mention plotted to have her chief of Security murdered - in order to channel those ships and weapons through this station?"

"Bastard!"

"A changed man, indeed."

"Rem Keshwan," said Wisdom. "I know that name. Yes. There was a report right before the war that linked a Rem Keshwan with the Orion Syndicate, nothing conclusive, just a suspicion. Then the war broke out and the issue was dropped."

"And how do you know that?" asked Guardian.

"He has Odo’s memories," said Kira. "I thought you…"

It was Guardian’s turn to look startled. "You motherless, son of a bitch!" he cried. "After all he did for you, how could you do that to him?"

Chapter 10