"If it makes no difference to you," he said, "I...would prefer to remain here, if I could."

Cul was surprised, but he nodded. "Certainly, Doctor Mora. I didn't realize you were so committed. I admire you for your allegiance to the Cardassian cause."

"Yes, sir," Mora said, ashamed.

"If only there were more Bajorans like you," Cul went on, and started to speak of his future plans for the institute, but Mora had stopped listening. It occurred to him then that he'd finally been offered the chance to leave, to stop collaborating-the thing he had wanted for so long-and he hadn't taken it. His heart sank, realizing that he had probably made a mistake, but it was too late to change it. He had a feeling that Cul would be unlikely to offer again.

And Odo left me, he thought, but then thought of his small plan, his project, and felt some measure of reassurance. He remembered Daul Mirosha, the last Bajoran who had worked here, and how he had given up his life to liberate the Gallitep mining camp. Mora knew he could never do anything so heroic and dangerous as that, but perhaps, with less supervision, with more freedom under the new director...perhaps he could make a few more changes, implement a few more small plans. Perhaps it was time to set his fear aside and take advantage of his position at the institute. He'd earned it, after all.

10.

The little girl tried to make conversation as Odo made his way back to where he remembered the village to be, but Odo did not seem to know the right things to say to her, and he knew that she thought him odd. It made him anxious to return to the village, to hand her off to her parents and escape the curious nature of her comments.

"If only I hadn't lost my way," she said wistfully, looking out at the tops of the trees, outlined in the misty blue of the approaching morning.

"But you did lose your way," Odo told her matter-of-factly.

The girl seemed annoyed. "Now who is going to take this message to the resistance?" she asked him.

"I don't know," Odo said, "but your father was very afraid for your safety. Someone else will have to do it."

"Why don't the sensors detect you?"

"They probably do. But they don't react to me, because I'm not Bajoran."

She scrutinized him. "You look kind of like a Bajoran."

Odo cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You should not have taken such a risk," he told her.

Jaxa snorted angrily. "Sometimes risks are worth taking," she told him.

Odo had no reply. He supposed she might be right. The idea was often implied, in the Cardassian histories he'd read, but he had no personal experience in the matter.

The sun was casting its brilliance across the day, and Jaxa seemed to grow even bolder in her queries now that it was not quite so dark. She changed the subject. "That big animal in the forest. The thing that chased the hara hara away from me. What was it? Where did it go?" away from me. What was it? Where did it go?"

"It was me," Odo said, wishing she hadn't asked. While he hadn't made any effort to explain or demonstrate his nature to the people he'd met, he had no plans to hide it, either; he'd simply hoped to avoid the conversation. But she had asked.

"I knew it!" Jaxa said, excited. "How did you do that?"

"My unique nature allows for it." It was his standard reply, the one he and Mora had given to the various Cardassians who had come to view him at the institute.

"Oh," Jaxa said, seeming puzzled by the answer. "Well...what kind of animal was it?"

"A riding hound, native to Cardassia Prime." He replied as promptly as he would have to any question from Doctor Mora. "I learned it from studying three-dimensional motion images in the database at the Bajoran Institute of Science."

Jaxa frowned. "Could you be other animals, too?" she wondered.

"Yes," Odo said, again wishing she hadn't asked. He did not like the idea of changing his form on demand for her, or anyone else. It made him feel uncomfortable, especially since he wasn't sure how to go about refusing. It had only just begun to occur to him that he could could refuse, if he wanted to, but he had never done so before, and he didn't know what kind of reaction a refusal would produce. He preferred an atmosphere of agreeable serenity, if it was possible to maintain it. refuse, if he wanted to, but he had never done so before, and he didn't know what kind of reaction a refusal would produce. He preferred an atmosphere of agreeable serenity, if it was possible to maintain it.

Jaxa tripped on a piece of root jutting above the surface of the dirt path, and Odo quickly caught her by the elbow before she stumbled. As she regained her footing, her face tilted to the sky. "Look!" she exclaimed, and Odo raised his head to see a crooked line, soaring through the clouds. "It's a sinoraptor," she said.

"A sinoraptor," Odo repeated, watching the thing in the sky.

"A bird," Jaxa said.

Odo knew what birds were; egg-laying animals that could fly-or at least, some of them could. He recognized that he had seen birds go by as he was coming through the forest to the Ikreimi village from the institute, but he hadn't paid them much attention.

"Could you be a bird?" Jaxa asked him.

"I don't know," Odo said. "I've never tried it before."

"If you can be anything you want," Jaxa asked, "how come you're a person all the time? I only saw you be a person at the village."

Odo grunted before he replied. "I suppose it's because I have the most practice being a humanoid," he said.

"Why?"

"It's what Doctor Mora wanted me to be more than anything else."

"Oh," Jaxa said. "But...what do you you want to be more than anything else?" want to be more than anything else?"

He looked up at the sky, watching the sinoraptor as it came closer, considering her question. "I don't know yet," he finally answered. "What do you want to be more than anything else?"

Jaxa already knew the answer. "A soldier," she said. "To fight the Cardassians and make them go away."

Odo was curious and surprised, but not terribly. He knew there was conflict between the Bajorans and the Cardassians, though he did not fully understand how it had come about. It did interest him, however, to recognize that a child would already know to be angry at the Cardassians. He supposed the conflict might have run deeper than he originally suspected, and acknowledged to himself that Doctor Mora may have been right-he still had a great deal to learn before he could ever truly "fit in."

It's not that I don't trust her, Quark reassured himself as he struggled with the locking mechanism behind the door panel. Quark reassured himself as he struggled with the locking mechanism behind the door panel. It's just that if Thrax has been listening to her transmissions, and if she already knew that I was selling black-market goods... It's just that if Thrax has been listening to her transmissions, and if she already knew that I was selling black-market goods... Everyone made mistakes, it was a fact. An innocent slip of the tongue, and he could lose all that he'd worked for. Everyone made mistakes, it was a fact. An innocent slip of the tongue, and he could lose all that he'd worked for.

The door slid open, allowing him to ignore the meandering, unpleasant train of thought that had been plaguing him since his affair with Natima had begun, that had induced him to visit her empty quarters. She was on Bajor for the day, on business, visiting some grand high muckity-muck, so there was no reason for him to be ashamed of his minor break-and-sweep; she'd never even know that he'd been in her rooms.

Her quarters were quiet and spare, generic, lifeless without her. Quark produced a device from the pocket of his waistcoat and began to sweep for listening devices, but the readout quickly confirmed that her rooms were clean. He went through her desk, found hard copies of statistics and a box of isolinear rods labeled with boring, work-related titles. Nothing with his name on it, anywhere.

She said it had nothing to do with me, he told himself, and felt that flicker of unpleasantness once more, which he'd positively identified as guilt. But then, when he'd asked her about it, the night after Thrax had interrogated her, it seemed to Quark that perhaps she had protested just a little too much. She was hiding something. Quark had decided he'd better hack into her computer, just to be sure.

He settled in front of her console, bringing up the datastrings of her last several transmissions, looking for any visible markers to suggest that they had been monitored. He was shocked to discover that Thrax had been listening to all of them, and he played back the recordings, carefully reading the transcripts as he went.

There was nothing there to implicate Quark, he was certain, but he was disturbed that Thrax had been listening in. What did the security officer want with her? Something to do with her job, maybe? Quark hoped that whatever it was, she would be safe. On the other hand, he considered, maybe Thrax just listened to everyone's transmissions. Quark was sure that the security chief had tried, numerous times, to eavesdrop on his own communications, but Quark didn't skimp on tech; he had the very best-well, close to the best-modules and wire blocks, to keep his private business private. He decided that when Natima got back, he'd talk with her about upgrading her hardware.

He was ready to leave, but there was a padd next to Natima's console, open to a page with a particular line of characters, and he couldn't help but take a peek. It was in plain sight, after all. It was an acquisition code; Quark knew it immediately-he received similar sequences constantly from the military personnel who came through the bar and put their orders on their government-issued accounts. This one was probably from Natima's place of employment, the...Information people, whatever-it-was. She must have been ordering something just before she left. But this sequence included something extra to make it stand out from those that Quark dealt with every other day of his life. This one was complete with a passcode.

Quark drummed his fingers on her desk, frowning, thinking. With the passcode that was now in front of him, he had the means to access Natima's company acquisition accounts. If Quark was careful with it, he might be able to manipulate the sequence so that any purchases he made with it would not be attributed to Natima. Cardassians were notoriously sloppy with matters of finance. Quark knew that well enough; there were several customers that he regularly skimmed from, and they had never even suspected it.

No. He couldn't betray her. Although...he could certainly help a lot of Bajorans with this information. She hadn't said as much outright, but he knew how she felt about the occupation, knew that she sympathized with the Bajorans. If she had the know-how, she would certainly be using her account to help them. He could use the code to order goods under an assumed Cardassian persona, or maybe...just skim He couldn't betray her. Although...he could certainly help a lot of Bajorans with this information. She hadn't said as much outright, but he knew how she felt about the occupation, knew that she sympathized with the Bajorans. If she had the know-how, she would certainly be using her account to help them. He could use the code to order goods under an assumed Cardassian persona, or maybe...just skim enough enough that nobody would even notice. She would never even have to know-and if she did, would she necessarily disapprove, considering all the good the code could do for the Bajoran people? that nobody would even notice. She would never even have to know-and if she did, would she necessarily disapprove, considering all the good the code could do for the Bajoran people?

He let out a breath, chiding himself for his weak rationalizations. He was a Ferengi, and Ferengi lived to make profit. If he didn't take advantage of this opportunity, why, it would almost be immoral. He'd answer to the Blessed Exchequer if he ignored this code-and for what? The sake of some Cardassian female? He wasn't about to let a woman wreck his chance at success again, not after what had happened with Gera on Ferenginar.

"Right," he said, and fished another padd from the pocket on his waistcoat to copy the characters, quickly, before he changed his mind. Guilt was for hew-mons, not Ferengi, but still, he couldn't help but remind himself that just because he had had the code didn't mean he had to the code didn't mean he had to use use it. And if he did use it, he'd use it for good. If he made a little profit from doing good, where was the harm? it. And if he did use it, he'd use it for good. If he made a little profit from doing good, where was the harm?

Upon returning Jaxa to her parents, Odo was immediately insistent that he be the one to deliver the message to the resistance cell in the mountains. The man named Keral was grateful, but wary. His wife seemed especially afraid while Keral was drawing Odo a sort of map. Using a little stick, he had scratched out a picture on a slice of parchment, and Odo had done his best to commit it all to memory.

These people, Odo was beginning to deduce, were very afraid of the Cardassians. Odo wondered if Doctor Mora had also been so afraid of them. He knew that there was something unspoken between Mora and Reyar, but he had never quite placed it as fear. He did not understand why anyone would be deliberately unkind to another person, but he felt more aware of his own differences than he ever had before.

Odo had finally found an appropriate surface for regeneration: a wide rock with a slight depression. It was flat enough that he could spread himself out, but the raised edges were high enough to keep him from trickling to the forest floor in his liquid state. He was exhausted, having traveled for most of the day, and although he was very close to the mountain pass, he needed time to rest before he could go any further.

He had spent the day experimenting, taking on the appearance of various flora and fauna, some of the inert forms he encountered along the way, as well as animals he remembered from the laboratory database. The question of the child Jaxa had resonated with him: What do you want to be more than anything else? What do you want to be more than anything else? Odo had never considered it before, but now, as he settled into the shallow, concave well in the rock, he decided he did not care to be in solid form; being a liquid was relaxing, and felt the most natural. Odo had never considered it before, but now, as he settled into the shallow, concave well in the rock, he decided he did not care to be in solid form; being a liquid was relaxing, and felt the most natural.

The only trouble was that being a liquid didn't lend itself to interacting with humanoids, and for some reason that he could not explain, he found humanoid interaction to be deeply compelling, to be preferable to being on his own. How he had hated the long hours and days he remained in the laboratory with no interaction from Doctor Mora! He craved the company of others, though he was not sure why; he only knew that he disliked the sensation of going for such lengthy, bleak stretches without it.

So, despite his preference for being in his natural state, while in the company of others, he would have to remain as a humanoid, as long as he could stand it. He did not want to give anyone reason to emphasize his differences, for it seemed that the Bajorans and Cardassians hated one another solely because of the contrasts between them. Odo was far more dissimilar to either race then they were even to each other-they were both humanoid; they were both solid-and yet, they clearly despised one another. For that reason, Odo knew he must remain as a humanoid if he wanted to avoid being similarly despised.

He had not been regenerating long before he was stirred from his state of pleasantly senseless liquidity. Something was moving through the forest. Odo manifested a few sensory organs in order to investigate comfortably.

It was a humanoid, coming through the forest. The clomping of approaching boots was accompanied by a series of chirps and clicks, indicating that the traveler carried several pieces of noisy equipment. Odo held completely still while the intruder passed him. It was a Cardassian male, dressed as a soldier.

Odo wondered how best to approach the situation. He did not feel especially afraid, for although the Bajorans feared the soldiers, Odo wasn't sure if their weapons would have any effect on his physiology. He believed he could not be contained in any way, and felt calmly confident in his ability to escape, should the situation warrant it.

The soldier continued to tramp back and forth, patrolling the region in a chaotic crisscross, as though trying to confirm his suspicions about something. It was possible that Odo had left some sign of his passing, that the soldier was interpreting as evidence of another person in the area. Without thinking much more on the subject, Odo decided to make his presence known. He wasn't doing anything wrong, and if he simply presented himself as a traveler, perhaps the soldier would then go away and allow Odo to continue with his regeneration.

Odo twisted his body into his humanoid form and stepped out into a small clearing where the soldier would be likely to see him. The soldier did see him, an expression of surprise crossing his ridged face. He pulled his weapon clumsily from its holster.

"You there!" The soldier called out. "State your business! Do you have a permit to be in this region?"

"No," Odo said. "I am merely traversing from one location to another."

"Travel is strictly prohibited through this area, unless you have authorization from the prefect." He stopped short after a moment, and holstered his weapon as he came closer. "Are you Odo'Ital, the shape-shifter?"

It was Odo's turn to be startled. "Yes."

"I have been instructed to bring you to the prefect," the soldier told him. "Come along with me immediately."

"But...I am traveling," Odo said. "I don't want to go with you."

The soldier drew his phaser again. "It's not for you to decide," he said. He seemed angry, though Odo didn't know why.

Odo decided it wasn't a good time to attempt to puzzle out the soldier's motives. He was no longer feeling quite so confident that the Cardassian's weapon would indeed be harmless to him. He decided he'd better change his form, though he wasn't at first sure what he should become.

The Cardassian took a step back as Odo shrank, and then expanded, transforming himself into a bird. A great bird with a massive wingspan-a sinoraptor, like those he had seen with Jaxa. He spread his wings, and then uncertainly moved them, testing his abilities in this form. The structure of his tapered bones was too heavy, and he hollowed them, feeling his body lighten with the shift. The soldier looked astonished. Although he had purported to know of Odo's shape-shifting abilities, apparently he had not expected to see the ability displayed.

Before Odo knew it, he was flying, his wings lifting him up over the treetops, over the head of the bemused and frightened Cardassian soldier, who seemed to have quite forgotten what his phaser was good for.

Natima shifted uncomfortably in the straight-backed chair of the waiting room, but it wasn't only the chair that made her squirm. Being on the surface again had brought up memories. Not all of them were unpleasant-far from it-but she had been so much younger when she'd been here before, still full of idealism and conviction, the indulgences of youth. Being here made her feel quite old, and not a little depressed at the steady passage of time.

A male secretary in a glinn's uniform finally nodded at her, and she rose from the stiff chair and walked to the exarch's office without further ceremony. His office was as dark and dusty as the rest of the Tozhat settlement, a place that she remembered as being clean and well-lit, nothing like the shabbiness she saw around her now. As she knew from her research, Central Command refused to appropriate any monies toward the maintenance of the mostly abandoned Cardassian colonies.

"Exarch," she said to the man who sat in the dim room at a broad wooden desk of Bajoran design. He looked fatter in person.

"You may call me Yoriv." The man was polite, but not entirely friendly. He gestured toward a chair and she sat, doing her best to seem at ease.

"Certainly, Yoriv. I am here on behalf of Glinn Gaten Russol, someone who has assured me that you will be sympathetic to the requests he has asked me to put to you."

"Miss Lang, I remind you that I feel some reluctance in discussing political matters with an information correspondent."

"Please, Yoriv. I understand your reticence, but I only have a message to deliver. There is nothing that you must say."

The smile he gave her was small and patronizing, as if she'd already wasted his time. "Well then, deliver it."

"Russol understands that a council is to be held on Terok Nor in the coming months," Natima said. "The civilian leaders here will have the opportunity to present their opinions regarding the status of the Bajoran venture. Russol wonders if you might be likely to voice an opinion in favor of withdrawal."

"Withdrawal!" Skyl snorted, apparently forgetting that Natima had excused him from the necessity of reply. "Central Command would never be in favor of withdrawal, not now that the resistance is finally straggling to an end."

Natima spoke slowly, respectfully. "Russol believes that perhaps you are the sort of person who might understand that the Cardassian economy has begun experiencing a downturn, and will likely continue to plummet if the return of Bajoran resources continue to slow, as it has lately begun to do. Russol has long felt that the needless deaths of our troops on this world has not been sufficiently justified by the short-term success of the annexation." She took a breath, for she had just made a bold statement. She hoped that in doing so, she would convince Skyl that she was not trying to trick him, but it seemed to backfire.

"Do you honestly believe that I would discuss my intentions with a member of the Information Service?" he asked her, his tone even less friendly than before. "By trying to draw me into this conversation, it seems you might be attempting to coerce me into making a statement that would be looked upon very unfavorably by Central Command."

"As I said before, Yoriv, there is no need for you to make a reply, if you don't choose to. I am merely here as a messenger."

"Fine," Skyl replied. "But you might want to tell Russol that the next time he wants to send me a message, he would do best not to employ an information correspondent to deliver it."

"I understand," Natima said, and stood to leave, the meeting clearly over.

"Miss Lang," he said, before she reached the door, and she turned to look at him. "As a correspondent...you must be aware that the average Cardassian citizen doesn't regard the deaths of the soldiers here to be needless and tragic, despite the mere temporary nature of Bajoran benefits. Those soldiers are heroes, not martyrs."

"Yes, I do know," Natima replied. "But Russol thought that perhaps you felt differently-that, being on the surface, you would have firsthand knowledge regarding the violence, and the speed with which the resources here are being depleted."

Skyl laughed. "The state of Bajor's resources has been a matter of much speculation," he agreed, "but their actual status is unimportant. What matters is the people's perception of their necessity. If Central Command decides that Bajor's resources are spent, then they will be. If they decide otherwise, then it will be as they say."

Natima was speechless. Skyl's mocking tone seemed to indicate that he agreed with her and with Russol, but he was clearly not going to say so. She nodded to him with an uncertain expression of feigned politeness, and left, wondering if she had learned anything of value.

Dukat had been intrigued by Mora's extensive "notes" on Odo'Ital, although the proper format was lacking; the man was far from fluent in Cardassian. Still, Dukat had managed to skim over most of the high points in the past weeks, since his team had trailed Odo to a village in Dahkur. Odo measured as highly intelligent, but had received no formal education, had been taught only from institute files and by the Bajoran scientist. Not that Dukat doubted Mora's loyalty-the Bajoran had assisted with the sensors and weapons that had effectively shut down the Bajoran insurgency-but it did make him doubt Yopal's good sense. Why hadn't she assigned a Cardassian scientist, even a team of them, once she'd realized Odo's potential? What if they could clone him, create a race of shape-shifters, working for the Union? Regardless of his future applications, someone should have been giving him a proper Cardassian education when he was still young enough for it to imprint.

Too late, of course, but Dukat was not a man to dwell on past mistakes. What mattered now was coaxing Odo to Terok Nor. Dukat knew he'd find inspiration for future plans once he actually met with the creature, but he hadn't had time to follow up his initial plans, of late. There had been the yearly financial report to prepare, a problem with the processors that had caused them to miss their quota for more than a week-nothing to scoff at, when there was a growing push at home for the flow of metals and foods and building materials to increase, now that the rebels had quieted-and there was a girl, always a girl: a tender young beauty he'd rescued from the processing center, wise beyond her years, plucked straight off the transport from the surface.

Dukat had been busy. He'd twice tried to contact the glinn he'd tasked to monitor the shape-shifter's movements in the past week, and twice been told that he was unavailable. He hadn't focused on it overmuch, but he wondered at a man who would dare try the prefect's patience.

A third day, a third attempt, and the garresh working communications couldn't put him through fast enough. When the glinn finally showed his face on Dukat's office screen, he did not look happy.

"Why have you not returned my calls?" Dukat asked.

The glinn tightened his jaw. "Sir, I regret to inform you that my men-that I have lost track of the shape-shifter." "Sir, I regret to inform you that my men-that I have lost track of the shape-shifter."

"How long ago?"