| Series: | DS9 |
| Season: | 7 |
| Original Airdate: | 1998-11-04 |
| Production Number: | 556 |
| Year: | 2375 |
| Stardate: | Unknown |
| Story by: | Philip Kim and David Weddle & Bradley Thompson |
| Teleplay by: | Ira Steven Behr & Hans Beimler |
| Directed by: | Steve Posey |
Odo is contacted by Weyoun, who reveals that he wants to defect to the Federation.
Summary
Odo is skeptical when he receives a message from Gul Russol, one of his most reliable informants. Russol was executed when Cardassia joined the Dominion, or so Odo thought. At the rendezvous point Odo finds Weyoun who announces to him that he wants to defect....
Back on DS9, Miles O'Brien is in dire straits. Captain Sisko has ordered him to get the Defiant's gravity net up and running in three days, but the rest of the station is needing repairs too. But the graviton stabilizer won't be available for three weeks! Nog offers the Chief his help, but O'Brien thinks that will get him in deeper trouble.
After Nog obtains the Chief's authorization code, the Ferengi begins wheeling and dealing for the stabilizer in the Chief's name. Not long after, the Captains Desk from the station is missing. Nog explains that it's on loan to Al Lorenzo Chief of Operations on Decos Prime, who wants a holopicture of himself behind it. Nog has set up a chain of deals: in exchange for the loan, Lorenzo will give O'Brien an induction modulator, which O'Brien can trade to the USS Musashi for a phaser emitter. The phaser emitter will then go to the USS Sentinel which has the stabilizer that O'Brien needs. As O'Brien panics thinking the worst, Nog tells the Chief to trust the Great Material Continuum, which the Ferengi believe flows through the universe like a river, bringing the items people need to them.
On a barren moon Weyoun's offer to trade vaulable intelligence about the Dominion in exchange for asylum in the Federation seems too good an offer to pass up. Odo agrees to take Weyoun back to DS9, but before they get very far they recieve a transmission from Cardassia. Odo is surprised to see that the transmission is from Damar and Weyoun.
It turns out that the Weyoun with Odo is clone number 6, which apparently defective as he has a lack of faith in the Founders. The Weyoun clone 7 orders clone 6 to activate his termination implant, something all Vorta clones have within their brains. When 6 refuses Damar vows that the runabout will never return to DS9.
Soon a Jem'Hadar fighter appears and tries to shoot down and destroy the runabout. Weyoun 6 gives details to Odo about the weakness of the fighter which allows Odo to destroy it.
As they continue their journey back to the station, Weyoun 6 tells Odo the story of how the Vorta came to be in the service of the Founders. The Vorta were nothing more than timid, ape-like tree dwellers when they saw a shapeshifter for the first time which was fleeing a group of solids. A family of Vorta hid the changeling from it's pursuers and the grateful changeling promised that one day they would transform the Vorta into a powerful people. After Odo expresses satisfaction that his people are capable of kindness, Weyoun makes a startling revelation...The Founders are dying. The entire Great Link is suffering from a strange disease (a morphogenic virus). Only Odo, it seems, is not infected.
As more Jem'Hadar ships show up, Odo takes the runabout into an asteroid field, hides it in a large chunk of ice and powers down.But within hours the Jem'Hadar flush them out. Knowing that it is hopeless and to save Odo's life, Weyoun 6 contacts Weyoun 7 and asks him to call off the attack, whilst they watch Weyoun 6 activates his termination device. Satisfied Weyoun 7 orders the ships to stop attacking, meanwhile Weyoun 6 asks Odo for his blessing before he dies. Although Odo despises the idea that the Founders are gods he grants Weyoun 6 his wish.
Memorable Quotes
"Of course I'm paranoid, everyone's trying to kill me." - Weyoun
"It's the force that binds the universe together." - Nog, sounding a lot like Obi-Wan Kenobi
Background Information
The working title of this episode was Untitled Odo/Weyoun
Referenced Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: #28
Links and References
Guest Stars
- Jeffrey Combs as Weyoun
- Casey Biggs as Damar
- J.G. Hertzler as General Martok
- Aron Eisenberg as Nog
- Max Grodenchik as Rom
- Salome Jens as Female Changeling
References
Battle of The Alamo; Bloodwine; Cardassian Central Command; Cardassian Rebellion; Decos Prime; Dominion; Ferengi; Ferengi Rules of Acquisition; Genetic engineering; Gettysburg, USS; Great Link; Great Material Continuum; Jem'Hadar attack ship; Lorenzo, Al; Quartermaster; Sirella; Squadron; Termination implant; Vorta; Willoughby, Edgar
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