 During
a party celebrating Sisko's promotion to Captain, Admiral
Krajensky takes him aside and quietly reveals that there has
been a coup on the Tzenkethi homeworld that could threaten
Federation colonists. Sisko and his crew are to take the Defiant
and Krajensky to this sector. Soon after departing, they receive
a distress signal from a colonist indicating that Barisa Prime
is under attack from the Tzenkethi. The signal then goes dead —
the colony has apparently been destroyed.
The crew sets course for Barisa
Prime, but when Sisko tries to notify Starfleet Command, power
fluctuations in the ship's communications circuitry prevent it.
O'Brien and Dax go to work on the problem, and discover strange
alien devices attached to almost every critical system
throughout the ship. They determine that there is a saboteur
aboard. Dax scans each member of the crew, and when she gets to
Krajensky, he suddenly morphs into a Changeling and escapes.
The Changeling takes control of the Defiant, activating the
cloaking device and arming the ship's weaponry. Sisko realizes
that the visit from Krajensky, the coup, and the transmission
from Barisa Prime were all faked — the Dominion is hoping to
start a war between the Federation and the Tzenkethi. With the
Defiant primed for battle and within seven hours of the
Tzenkethi border, this looks likely if the Changeling is not
located and stopped. Later, Dax is found unconscious in the
engine room, forcing O'Brien to try to regain control of the
ship without her. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Sisko
decides that if this cannot be accomplished before they cross
the border, he will be forced to destroy the Defiant.
Since the Changeling can take the form of any crew member, the
officers are paired off for the search. Later, Sisko, Odo, Kira,
a Bolian officer, and Eddington are separated from their
partners, and each is suspicious that another is the Changeling.
Odo remarks that the bleeding Sisko cannot be, because his blood
would have reverted to a gelatinous state when leaving the body.
Bashir draws blood from everyone, and when Eddington's seems to
morph into orange goo, he is taken into custody. However,
another Bashir is found, revealing that the duplicate is the
Changeling. He escapes again as the ship enters Tzenkethi space.
With twelve minutes left before the ship's attack program will
activate, Sisko initiates the auto-destruct sequence. O'Brien
begins a last-ditch effort to access the sabotaged systems when
two Odos appear. The Changeling then assumes his true form and
attacks. During their fight, he takes a fatal fall into the warp
core. But before dying, he whispers something to Odo. Regaining
control of the Defiant, Sisko cancels the auto-destruct program.
But the crisis isn't over. Odo later reveals to Sisko the
Changeling's last words: "You're too late. We're everywhere."
See Also: Image Captures |
