[Mess hall]

(Nog is running an impromptu bar)
NOG: Here you are.
SISKO: Where did you get your hands on Saurian Brandy?
BASHIR: In the middle of a war, no less.
NOG: It's a busy Starbase. I may be a Cadet, but I'm still a Ferengi.
DAX: Lucky for us.
(O'Brien enters with a metre long canister.)
O'BRIEN: Excuse me, Captain. The power cell from the phaser array. We used it up on the last mission.
(Sisko takes the canister.)
SISKO: 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.
ALL: Yes, sir!
SISKO: You don't just throw something like this away.
ALL: No, sir!
(Sisko places it against the bulkhead, on some pipework, with six other canisters. Cheers and applause.)
NOG: Admiral on deck.
ROSS: As you were. Ben.
SISKO: Admiral.
ROSS: Let's take a walk.

[Defiant corridor]

ROSS: What was going on in there?
SISKO: Just a little ritual we fell into. Kind of helps the crew unwind.
ROSS: Well, they deserve it. They did a hell of a job.
SISKO: Thank you, sir. But you didn't come here to tell me that, did you?
ROSS: No, I didn't. Ever since this war began, the Dominion's been able to outmanoeuvre us at every turn. No matter where we send our ships, they seem to be there waiting for us.
SISKO: I've noticed that.
ROSS: It's enough to make you think they were smarter than we are. But they're not. They just had an edge that we didn't know about until yesterday. Starfleet Intelligence located a massive sensor array hidden on the periphery of the Argolis cluster. Damn thing's capable of monitoring ship movements over five sectors.
SISKO: That's how they've managed to stay one step ahead of us.
ROSS: They've had an enormous tactical advantage. I want you to take it away from them.
SISKO: Gladly, sir.
ROSS: 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 oh eight hundred.
SISKO: You'll have it.

[Quark's cafe]

(Kira and Rom are observing the bar area.)
ROM: There he is.
KIRA: Damar's a creature of habit, all right. 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, they don't eat, they don't gamble. All they do is take up space. Damar asks his bartender if he found a PADD he was working on the other day.
ROM: My brother tells the truth. He hasn't seen it.
KIRA: Damar doesn't like that. The PADD contained a draft copy of a secret memorandum he was working on concerning the shortage of White. In it he speculates that without the drug, the Jem'Hadar will run amok, killing everyone and everything in their path. Damar recommends that if the Cardassians can't bring down the minefield and re-open the supply line from the Gamma Quadrant, they should poison the last ration of White, eliminating the Jem'Hadar before it's too late. How did you get a hold of Damar's PADD anyway?
ROM: I'm good with my hands. Here we go. They've seen him.
(A Jem'Hadar goes over to Damar and flourishes something at him.)
KIRA: The missing PADD.
DAMAR: Where'd you find that?
KIRA: Damar accuses them of stealing it.
ROM: They say they found it outside their quarters, right where I left it.
DAMAR: Have your whole race thrown off this station!
KIRA: I knew this was going to work. The Cardassians and Jem'Hadar can pretend to be allies, but they hate each other.
(Quark tries to intervene and gets thrown over the bar.)
DAMAR: Get out of my way!
ROM: Ow.
(A deadly bar room brawl breaks out, including knives and disruptors, and backs being broken with appropriate sounds. Kira disappears into the shadows.)

[Quark's]

(After the opening titles, Odo and his deputies have separated the armies. There are at least three Cardassian corpses, and plenty of injured bystanders.)
JEM'HADAR: That's not true!
DAMAR: I confronted them, they attacked me.
DUKAT: I don't care what they did. You should never have let this situation get out of hand. Get out!
(Damar leaves, Weyoun comes over.)
WEYOUN: How could Damar have been so stupid as to leave such an inflammatory document lying around for anyone to find?
DUKAT: Your men stole it from him.
WEYOUN: Jem'Hadar are not thieves.
DUKAT: And Damar is not a liar.
WEYOUN: Keep your voice down. Our men need to see that we're still allies. Smile. Dukat.
DUKAT: I'm smiling.
ODO: Gentlemen, I suggest we get everyone out of here as soon as possible.
WEYOUN: Odo's right. Tell your men they're confined to quarters pending disciplinary hearings. I'll do the same. And keep smiling. (to Jem'Hadar) Come.

[Admiral Ross' office]

SISKO: according to Intelligence, the array is capable of detecting cloaked ships as far away as two light years. By the time the Defiant goes around the Argolis Cluster, the Dominion will already know we were coming.
ROSS: You'll have a dozen Jem'Hadar ships on you before you even got close.
SISKO: That's why we need to have the element of surprise on our side. It's the only way.
ROSS: What are you suggesting?
SISKO: That I take the Defiant through the Argolis.
ROSS: You can't take a ship through there. You'd be cut to pieces by the gravimetric shear.
SISKO: That's exactly what the Dominion thinks. But if we come at them from the Argolis, they wouldn't know what hit them.
ROSS: What makes you think you can get through?
SISKO: Dax says she can navigate around the gravimetric distortions. She's studied proto-star clusters, she knows what to look for. It's a gamble, but it's one I'm willing to take.
ROSS: All right. Let's give it a shot. When can you leave?
SISKO: As soon as we finished repairs on the Defiant.
ROSS: Keep me posted, Captain.

[Security office]

KIRA: You wanted to see me?
ODO: Well? Don't you have something to say to me?
KIRA: About what happened at Quark's? It worked better than I expected.
ODO: I knew you were behind it.
KIRA: Of course you did. We discussed it at our last resistance meeting.
ODO: And I said it was a bad idea.
KIRA: Yes, you did. And then you walked out of the room like there was nothing left to say. But Rom and Jake stayed and we discussed it, and you know what? I decided it was a good idea.
ODO: So you went ahead and did it behind my back?
KIRA: Why are you taking it so personally?
ODO: How do you expect me to take it? I spend my days sitting on the Council with Dukat and Weyoun, doing whatever I can to make sure Bajor survives this war intact. The last thing I need is to have you running around causing mayhem. Do you have any idea what Dukat would do if he found out you were behind it? It's all the excuse he would need to throw every Bajoran off this station.
KIRA: The Federation is losing this war. We can't sit by and do nothing.
ODO: There are limits to what we can do.
KIRA: I'm beginning to think you shouldn't have agreed to sit on that Council. It's as if you're so invested in making sure the station runs smoothly, you've forgotten there's a war going on.
ODO: Are you questioning my loyalties, Major?
KIRA: I need you, Odo. The resistance needs you.
ODO: Answer me. Are you questioning my loyalties?
KIRA: No, of course not. That's not what this is about.
(The female shape-shifter walks in)
FOUNDER: Hello, Odo. It's good to see you again. Leave us. I need to speak with Odo.
KIRA: Do you?
ODO: It's all right, Nerys. I may as well hear what she has to say.
KIRA: Are you sure?
(Odo nods and Kira leaves.)
FOUNDER: You called her Nerys.
ODO: What of it?
FOUNDER: Well, you used to call her Major. Using the name of a solid denotes intimacy.
ODO: You're a long way from home. Here to keep an eye on the war effort?
FOUNDER: I'm content to leave the details of the war to the Vorta.
ODO: Then what brings you to Deep Space Nine?
FOUNDER: 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.
ODO: Well, that's ironic, considering what happened the last time we crossed paths.
FOUNDER: You caused the death of a fellow changeling, Odo. Turning you into a solid was the only punishment severe enough for your crime.
ODO: And now that I'm a changeling again, you come here as if nothing ever happened?
FOUNDER: We have forgiven you.
ODO: Well, I haven't forgiven you.
FOUNDER: It is time to put the past behind us, Odo.
ODO: What about the present? You're waging a war against my home.
FOUNDER: This is not your home. You belong with your own kind, as part of the Great Link.
ODO: I'm quite content here, thank you.
FOUNDER: You say that because you don't know what you're capable of becoming. Perhaps if we spend some time together, you might begin to understand.

[Admiral Ross' office]

SISKO: Admiral, you wanted to see me?
ROSS: I just got word. Captain Bennet's promotion has come through. At my recommendation, Starfleet's putting her in charge of Seventh Tactical Wing. She's one of the best adjutants I've ever had, strong grasp of strategy and an ability to see the big picture.
SISKO: Sounds like it's not going to be easy to find someone to take her place.
ROSS: I already have. You.
SISKO: Sir?
ROSS: I've been very impressed with you these last few weeks. I think we would make a good team.
SISKO: Thank you, sir.
ROSS: Your new assignment is effective immediately.
SISKO: Immediately, sir? What about the Argolis mission?
ROSS: Commander Dax will captain the Defiant. She is up to it, isn't she?
SISKO: Oh, absolutely, sir. I guess I'd just gotten used to the idea of commanding the mission myself.
ROSS: Look over these tactical reports. I want your thoughts on the Bolian operation. We'll meet here at oh six hundred. Ben? Congratulations.

[Wardroom]

DUKAT: Legate Krim will be arriving in the morning.
ODO: I'll have a security detail escort him to your office. Now, if that's all.
(Odo gets up to leave, and the Founder enters.)
WEYOUN: Founder, you honour us with your presence.
FOUNDER: I understand the war is going well.
WEYOUN: Only because I've followed the plan the Founders laid out for me.
DUKAT: 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 quite confident
FOUNDER: What about the minefield? Why hasn't it been deactivated?
WEYOUN: Yes, Dukat. This delay is intolerable. There are thousands of Jem'Hadar ships stranded on the other side of the wormhole, waiting to come through and join the war effort.
DUKAT: Maybe you haven't read the latest reports, but even without those ships, I'm still winning this war.
WEYOUN: You're winning? I assure you I'm intimately involved in all military decisions.
FOUNDER: See to it the minefield is brought down.
WEYOUN: Of course. We've imposed our presence on you long enough.
(Weyoun leaves.)
DUKAT: If you need you anything while you're here, please let me know.
(Dukat leaves.)
FOUNDER: Do they always compete with each other like that?
ODO: As a matter of fact, they do.
FOUNDER: You have to interact with them often. It must be trying for you.
ODO: It hasn't been easy. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do in my quarters.
FOUNDER: May I walk with you?

[Odo's quarters]

(The founder is checking out the driftwood in the room.)
ODO: To become a thing, is to know a thing.
FOUNDER: To assume its form is to begin to understand its existence.
ODO: You tried to teach me that when I visited our homeworld.
FOUNDER: I remember.
ODO: I didn't understand what you meant by it at first, so when I returned the station, I got rid of all the furniture I used to have in my quarters 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 simple pleasure spending time existing as a stone or a branch.
FOUNDER: 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'd stayed with us, Odo.
ODO: I couldn't.
FOUNDER: You chose the solids.
ODO: And I haven't regretted it.
FOUNDER: Not even a little?
ODO: I do think about the Link from time to time.
FOUNDER: It's there for you.
ODO: I can't.
FOUNDER: Why? Because of Kira? You still have feelings for her, don't you? But she doesn't share them. I'm sorry.
ODO: Aren't you going to tell me I shouldn't waste my time with a solid?
FOUNDER: You love her.
ODO: 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. Sometimes I wish I could reach inside myself and tear out my feelings for her. But I can't.
FOUNDER: Poor Odo.
ODO: I don't want your pity.
FOUNDER: I'm not offering pity.
ODO: What I need is some peace.
FOUNDER: What you need is clarity. I can give you that.
(And they start to Link.)
FOUNDER: Do you want me to stop?

[Security office]

DAMAR: That'll be all.
(A Cardassian leaves and Kira enters.)
KIRA: What are you doing here, Damar? Did Dukat demote you to security detail?
DAMAR: What can I do for you, Major?
KIRA: I'm looking for Odo.
DAMAR: Well, he's not here.
KIRA: Do you know where he is?
DAMAR: Yes.
KIRA: That's good. It's good to know where your boss is.
DAMAR: He's in his quarters. (pause) With the other shape-shifter. Jealous, Major?
KIRA: Try to stay out of trouble, Damar. You don't want to end up on sanitation duty.

[Odo's quarters]

(Odo is sitting gazing out of the window.)
ODO: Come in.
KIRA: Odo?
ODO: Nerys.
KIRA: I dropped by your office and Damar told me you were here with her.
ODO: She was here but she's gone now.
KIRA: You all right? What did she want?
ODO: She didn't want anything.
KIRA: Then what was she doing here?
ODO: I know how you feel about her, Major, but there's no reason to be concerned.
KIRA: You don't know how much I wish I could believe that. You didn't Link with her, did you?
ODO: Actually, I did.
KIRA: You did? What were you thinking?
ODO: She didn't find out about the resistance, if that's why you're worried.
KIRA: It's not.
ODO: The Link isn't about exchanging information. It's about merging thought and form, idea and sensation.
KIRA: It sounds like a perfect way to manipulate someone.
ODO: She's not manipulating me.
KIRA: 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.
ODO: I Linked with her. If she had some hidden motive, I would have sensed it. She's just trying to teach me about myself, about what I'm capable of becoming.
KIRA: An Intergalactic Warlord, maybe? Because that's what she is.
ODO: Who knows? By Linking with her I might be able to make her understand that the Federation doesn't pose a threat to her people.
KIRA: You believe you can convince her to call off the war?
ODO: 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.
KIRA: Odo, this isn't the time to go off on some kind personal quest. There's too much at stake. After the war is over, do whatever you need to do. If you feel you need to go and 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.
ODO: 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.
(Kira leaves, and he goes back to staring out of the window.)

[Bridge]

DAX: Are you two ever going to be finished?
NOG: Just a few more minutes, Commander.
O'BRIEN: That's Captain. It's an old naval tradition. Whoever's in command of a ship, regardless of rank, is referred to as Captain.
NOG: You mean if I had to take command, I would be called Captain too?
O'BRIEN: Cadet, by the time you took command, there'd be nobody left to call you anything.
NOG: Good point.
(Sisko enters.)
DAX: Come to take a last look around?
SISKO: Not a last look, I hope. How are the repairs coming?
DAX: Almost done.
SISKO: I wouldn't get too comfortable in that chair, old man. When this war is over, I'm going to want my ship back.
DAX: Fine. When this war is over, I'm going on a honeymoon.
O'BRIEN: All done here, Captain.
SISKO: Very good.
DAX: All right. Plot a course to the Argolis Cluster and prepare to depart.
CREWWOMAN: Aye, Captain.
DAX: Benjamin? I wish you were coming with us.
SISKO: You'll do fine.
(Sisko watches Defiant leave from an office window.)

[Quark's]

(Morn is still in position, still drinking, when Damar enters.)
QUARK: Pardon our appearance. We're renovating.
DAMAR: Kanar.
DAMAR: Not that one. The twenty seven.
QUARK: Twenty seven? Expensive.
DAMAR: I can afford it on a Gul's salary.
QUARK: Wait a minute. You started a fight in my bar and now you're getting a promotion? What kind of way is that to run an army?
DAMAR: Dukat wasn't happy about what happened. I had to find a way to make it up to him.
QUARK: I hope it was something big.
DAMAR: Let's just say it will change the course of history.
QUARK: As a businessman, I'm very interested in the course of history. This one's on me.
DAMAR: That's very kind of you, Quark, but I can't talk about it.
QUARK: Of course. I understand. Here, let me pour you another.
(And one for himself.)

[Kira's quarters]

JAKE: There's obviously a lot of bad blood between the Cardassians and the Jem'Hadar. It wouldn't take much to get them to go at each other again.
KIRA: I'm not sure we want to do that.
ROM: But it worked so well.
KIRA: What do you think, Odo?
ODO: I'm not sure it's a good idea.
KIRA: Then we'll do something else.
JAKE: Major.
KIRA: Something that we can all agree on.
(doorbell)
ROM: Who could that be?
KIRA: We're just sitting here enjoying each other's company.
ROM: Right.
KIRA: Come in.
(A drunken Quark sways in)
ROM: Brother, are you all right?
QUARK: No, I am not all right. I just shared a bottle of kanar with Damar. That rhymes.
JAKE: You're drunk.
QUARK: Of course I'm drunk. I wouldn't risk coming in here and associating myself with your little resistance cell if I wasn't drunk.
KIRA: Well, then maybe you'd better leave before someone sees you.
QUARK: 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 spend the rest of my life doing business with these people. I want the Federation back. I want to sell root beer again.
KIRA: All right, you made your point. Relax.
QUARK: How can I relax when there are thousands of Jem'Hadar ships are sitting on the other side of the wormhole, waiting to come through?
JAKE: Don't worry about it. They're stuck there.
QUARK: Not if what Damar told me is true.
KIRA: What are you talking about?
QUARK: He said he came up with a way to deactivate the mines. Dukat wants him to start field tests right away.
(During the break they start pouring coffee into Quark.)
KIRA: Come on, Quark, think. Did Damar say anything about how he was planning to deactivate the mines?
QUARK: Yes. He said something about the station's defector.
ODO: Defector?
KIRA: That's impossible. The only person on the station who knows anything about the mines work is
ROM: Me.
QUARK: Defector. That doesn't sound right. Maybe it was deflector? Yeah, that's it. He said something about using the station's deflector array.
KIRA: What do you think, Rom?
ROM: I'm glad it wasn't me.
KIRA: About the deflector array. Is there any way to use it to deactivate the mines?
ROM: No. I designed the mines to be self-replicating. The only way to keep them from replacing themselves is to isolate them in an anti-graviton beam. The deflector array can't do that. Unless you reconfigure the field generators and re-focused the emitters which would turn the deflector array into one big anti-graviton beam.
QUARK: Why didn't you think of that when you set up the minefield?
ROM: I don't know.
QUARK: He doesn't know.
KIRA: Quark. How can we disable the deflector array?
ROM: All you have to do to is access the EPS feed and overload the waveguide.
KIRA: Let's do it.
ROM: But there's no way to get to the EPS feed. It's in a secured conduit rigged with alarms.
KIRA: Odo, can you disable those alarms?
ODO: I can take them offline for about five minutes if I run a security diagnostic.
KIRA: Will that give you enough time?
ROM: I think so.
ODO: I'll run the diagnostic as soon as I get to my office in the morning.
KIRA: All right. You and I will meet here. At exactly oh eight hundred, you will begin the diagnostic.

[Admiral Ross' office]

WORF [on wallscreen]: Has there been any news, sir?
SISKO: None.
WORF [on wallscreen]: The Defiant has been gone over sixteen hours.
SISKO: Mister Worf, I know this is difficult for you.
WORF [on wallscreen]: Yes, sir. But I sense it is more difficult for you. The Defiant is your ship.
SISKO: Dax'll bring her home. Besides, there's no way she's going to miss her own wedding.
WORF [on wallscreen]: No, I suppose not.
SISKO: As soon as I hear something, I'll let you know.
WORF [on wallscreen]: Thank you, sir. Captain, you should get some rest.
SISKO: Not tonight, Mister Worf. Not tonight.
(Transmission ends. Ross is passing, sees Sisko and enters.)
ROSS: Ben?
SISKO: Admiral.
ROSS: It's late.
SISKO: I know. I was just waiting to see if there is any news.
ROSS: Ben, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. I want to nail down the details on the Bolian operation. I need you focused.
SISKO: I will be.
ROSS: I know how you feel about your crew, but you and I are responsible for an entire tactical wing. Thousands of lives depend on the decisions we make tomorrow. You can't afford to be awake all night worrying about one ship.
SISKO: Admiral, you can order me to my quarters, but there's no way I'm going to sleep. Not as long as the Defiant is out there.
ROSS: All right, as you wish. But you should understand one thing. With any luck, we'll be sending the Defiant on a lot of missions, and you're going to have to get used to it. Good night.

[Odo's quarters]

ODO: Have our people always been shape-shifters, or was there a time when we were like the solids?
FOUNDER: Eons ago we were like them, limited to one form, but then we evolved.
ODO: On the homeworld, are you always in the Link, or do you sometimes take solid form?
FOUNDER: We prefer the Link, but on occasion it is interesting to exist as something else. A tree perhaps, or a cloud in the sky.
ODO: A cloud. How many of us are there?
FOUNDER: Oh. So many questions, Odo.
ODO: I'm sorry. But there's still so much that isn't clear to me yet.
FOUNDER: If you Link with me again, everything will be made clear to you.
ODO: You have to understand that the Link is very overwhelming for me. Right now, it's easier to talk.
FOUNDER: But words are so clumsy, so imprecise.
ODO: Even so.
FOUNDER: As you wish.
ODO: You haven't told me your name.
FOUNDER: What use would I have for a name?
ODO: To differentiate yourself from the others.
FOUNDER: I don't.
ODO: But you are a separate being, aren't you?
FOUNDER: In a sense.
ODO: When you return to the Link, what will happen to the entity I'm talking to right now?
FOUNDER: The drop becomes the ocean.
ODO: And if you choose to take solid form again?
FOUNDER: The ocean becomes a drop.
ODO: Ah, yes. I think I'm beginning to understand.
FOUNDER: Then you can answer your own question. How many of us are there?
ODO: One. And many. It depends on how you look at it.
FOUNDER: Very good. You are beginning to understand. But there's so much you don't know.
ODO: Tell me.
FOUNDER: Words would be insufficient. Link with me again. It is the only way I can give you the understanding that you seek.
ODO: I can't.
FOUNDER: Why not?
ODO: I promised Kira.
FOUNDER: She is a solid. This has nothing to do with her. This is about you, about what you want.

[Corridor]

(Rom is bringing a fruit basket. Kira's door opens.)
ROM: Am I early?
KIRA: A little. I hope there's more than just fruit in that basket.
ROM: I needed a place to hide my tools. In case anybody asks, I'm making a delivery.
KIRA: Right.
(Two Cardassians come round the corner)
ROM: Here's your fruit!
(The Cardassians stop outside the door opposite.)
KIRA: I didn't order any fruit. Oh, your brother sent this, didn't he?
ROM: Er.
KIRA: If he is trying to win me over, tell him it's just not going to work. Better yet, I'll tell him myself.
(Kira marches Rom off down the corridor. In another area...)
KIRA: Odo should be in his office by now. Now remember, he's going to interrupt the sensor alarms at exactly eight hundred hours.
ROM: I'll be ready.
(Rom crawls into a conduit.)
KIRA: If there's a problem I'll contact you. Good luck with your delivery.

[Conduit A51]

(Restricted area, big red notice on the panel)
ROM: Computer, time.
COMPUTER: Seven hundred hours fifty eight minutes.
ROM: Two minutes to go.

[Security office]

(It's empty.)
KIRA: Odo! Kira to Odo. Please respond.

[Odo's quarters]

(Odo is Linking.)
KIRA [OC]: Kira to Odo. Odo, answer me.

[Security office]

KIRA: Computer, time.
COMPUTER: Seven hundred hours fifty nine minutes.
DAMAR: Hello, Major. Just the person I was looking for.
KIRA: Congratulations on your promotion, but we'll have to discuss the personnel report some other time.
DAMAR: We'll discuss it now.
KIRA: I don't think so.

[Promenade]

KIRA: Kira to Rom. Don't open that hatch.

[Conduit A51]

ROM: I already did.
KIRA [OC]: Get out of there!
(Rom dives head first back through the conduit.)

[Promenade]

DAMAR: Intruder alert. Come with me.

[Corridor]

(Rom bursts out of the bulkhead.)
DAMAR: Well, well. What do we have here?

Captain's log, tactical update stardate 51149.5. The Defiant has returned to Starbase three seven five after its successful attack on the Dominion sensor array. Admiral Ross and I have recommended that Commander Dax and the entire Defiant crew be cited for exceptional performance of their duties.

[Mess hall]

NOG: Admiral on deck!
ROSS: Carry on.
DAX: Nog, Saurian brandy for the brass.
BASHIR: Dax, could you tell Ensign Kirby how I took over the conn when Lieutenant Haj was injured? She doesn't believe me.
DAX: Frankly, I'm not sure I believe it happened myself.
BASHIR: Sir. Sir.
ROSS: Congratulations, Captain.
DAX: Thank you, sir. Will you excuse me a minute. Julian needs me.
ROSS: Certainly.
NOG: Here you are.
SISKO: Don't ask where he got it.
ROSS: Don't worry. I don't want to know.
(O'Brien enters with a canister.)
O'BRIEN: Here's another one, Captain.
DAX: 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.
ALL: Yes, sir!
DAX: You don't throw something like this away.
ALL: No, sir!
(Dax starts a second row against the bulkhead with it.)
ROSS: They're a good crew.
SISKO: The best.
ROSS: What do you say we get back to work?

[Corridor]

(Kira thumps the doorbell as if she is trying to break in through the hapless panel.)

[Odo's quarters]

KIRA: What the hell happened? Why didn't you disable that alarm?
ODO: It's difficult to explain.
KIRA: Rom is sitting in a holding cell being interrogated! He was counting on you. I was counting on you!
ODO: I know.
KIRA: You know? Do you realise what you just did? You just handed the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion.
ODO: I was in the Link.
KIRA: Are you saying you forgot?
ODO: I didn't forget. It just didn't seem to matter.
KIRA: A lot of people are going to die. Don't you care?
ODO: It has nothing to do with me.
KIRA: How can you say that?
ODO: If you could experience the Link, you'd know why nothing else matters.
KIRA: The last five years, your life here, our friendship, none of that matters?
ODO: It did once. I wish I could make you understand. But you can't. You're not a changeling.
KIRA: That's right. I'm a solid.
(Kira leaves the Link addict and the founder comes out of the other room.)
FOUNDER: You look troubled, Odo. Did she upset you?
ODO: No, not really.
FOUNDER: Ah.