Copyright 1993, Jennifer A. Hawthorne. All rights reserved,
but I'm not stuffy about it as long as you don't go overboard.

Synopsis: "Vortex"

Episode Number: 412
Air Date: 4/17/93

(Note: The correct spelling of "tohmair" is unknown and has
been approximated.)

As the show opens, Odo and Quark are chatting in the bar.
Odo is concerned about a Miradorn raider ship that has 
docked at the station. Also of concern to the security 
chief is a new arrival, a humanoid individual rescued from 
a damaged shuttle in the Gamma Quadrant and brought to DS9 
by a Klingon vessel. Odo thinks the man has been acting 
suspiciously, but Quark tells him that the man, Croden, is 
harmless. Odo questions Quark's knowledge of Croden, but 
Quark waves it off as the result of a chance conversation, 
nothing more, and says that Croden was unwilling to speak 
to the Starfleet personnel who greeted him upon arrival due 
to fear of them, a statement that Odo finds disturbing.
	A pair of identical Miradorns enter Quark's, nodding to the
Ferengi as they pass. Odo considers this suggestive, and 
Quark, in a great show of offense, tells Odo he's paranoid, 
and opines that this is the explanation for Odo's failure 
to locate any others of his race -- "They're all in 
hiding!" Quark departs the bar, telling Rom to bring him 
some refreshment. The stranger, Croden, also heads off 
somewhere. Rom sets four glasses on a tray, and turns to 
take a bottle down from the shelf; when he picks up the 
tray, he fails to notice that there are now five glasses on 
it.
	In the holosuite, Quark bargains with the two Miradorns for
an artifact they wish to sell. Quark is unusually 
scrupulous, questioning the origins of the item; he states 
that a similar item was recently stolen from a ship not 
more than two light-years from the station. As the three of 
them haggle in an adversarial fashion, the door opens and 
Croden walks in, armed. Rather nervously, he demands the 
artifact be given to him, but one of the Miradorns grabs 
the table and heaves it at Croden, who falls. The glasses 
which were on the table strike the wall and shatter, and 
the pieces of one of them melt and coalesce and begin to form 
into Odo. One of the Miradorns fires at Croden and misses; 
Croden returns fire, striking the Miradorn squarely, and he 
falls. Odo grabs Croden before he can fire again, and calls 
for security and medical help. Quark scolds his brother for 
failing to notice the fifth glass.
	The second Miradorn discovers that his brother has been
killed, and charges at Croden, only to be flattened by a 
single strike from Odo. Croden and the Miradorns are taken 
into custody as Bashir enters, scans the fallen Miradorn, 
and shakes his head; the Miradorn is beyond help.
	In the security office, Sisko interviews the surviving
Miradorn, who is deeply distraught over the death of his 
twin. Sisko is sympathetic, but Odo is not; he questions 
the Miradorn harshly about the origins of the artifact 
which was being sold. Sisko stops the security chief from 
badgering the Miradorn, but asks the Miradorn not the leave 
the station until the recent unfortunate events have been 
investigated. The Miradorn wants the person who killed his 
brother to be killed in turn, but Sisko tells him that the 
law will deal with Croden.
	Sisko then asks whether Quark and Rom should be held, and
Quark points out that, as Odo can witness, he himself 
raised the question of the artifact's possible illegal 
origins. Odo agrees, but is puzzled by this, and by the 
fact that Croden's weapon was a Ferengi phaser. Rom 
valiantly springs to his brother's defense: "How dare you 
suggest that my brother set this whole robbery up!" Odo 
replies, "What an interesting theory, Rom." Quark hustles 
his brother out of the security office, berating him all 
the way.
	Sisko and Odo go to speak with Croden in the holding cell.
Croden complains briefly about his treatment, after which 
Sisko tells him that he is entitled to a trial and to a 
representative, either from the station or from his 
homeworld. Croden replies that on his homeworld they have 
crimes -- but no trials. The prisoner apologizes for 
causing trouble, but says he had no choice; he then states 
that if he had abilities like Odo's, the "Changeling", he 
would have had other options. This gets Odo's attention. In 
reply to Odo's questions, the man says he's seen others 
like Odo and is surprised that they haven't come through 
the wormhole yet. Odo doubts Croden's words, stating that 
Croden probably overheard him and Quark talking in the 
restaurant. Croden says that if Odo will feed him, he will 
consider telling Odo where he met another shapeshifter.
	There is a staff conference in Sisko's office to discuss
the matter of the prisoner. Dax says that it shouldn't be 
too hard to find Croden's homeworld, and Sisko decides that 
he and Dax should try to locate it to ask what should be 
done with Croden. He orders increased security on Croden to 
protect him from the vengeful Miradorn.
	Down in Quark's, Odo questions Quark about his connection
with Croden. Quark had been seen in heavy conversation 
with Croden before the fight, and was known to have been 
making inquiries about the availability of a small ship to 
travel through the wormhole. Odo thinks the ship was meant 
to allow Croden to return to the Gamma Quadrant. Quark 
denies everything. Odo's questioning becomes intense, 
making Quark uneasy, as the shapeshifter demands to know 
what Croden said to Quark about his homeworld and the other 
species that dwelled there. Quark professes ignorance, and 
Odo is called away to his office by a message that the 
Miradorn and his companions have blockaded the security 
office doors.
	At the security office, the Miradorn once again demands the
death of Croden in vengeance for his brother's death, and 
Odo orders him off the station, threatening to throw him in 
the brig if he leaves his ship again.
	In the holding cell, Odo and Croden have a tense
confrontation as Odo tries to pry information from the 
prisoner about the "Changelings". Croden dances around the 
questions, dropping a variety of cryptic hints, but says 
little of any real use. He states that there used to be 
Changelings on his homeworld, but that they were persecuted 
and driven out; however, he knows of a place in the Gamma 
Quadrant where a colony of that species still lives, and he 
offers to take Odo there. Odo is intrigued but still 
extremely doubtful of the truth of Croden's statements. 
Croden shows him a locket he carries, which, when opened, 
reveals a small puddle of something liquid which then 
briefly shapes itself into a jagged spike, before flowing 
back into its original form. Croden offers the locket to a 
wary Odo, who, after a pause, takes it.
	In the Gamma Quadrant, Sisko and Dax have located Croden's
homeworld and succeed in contacting an official there. The 
official is brusque and unpleasant in the extreme; he 
demands that Croden be returned to their planet, Rakhar, in 
order to be punished for crimes committed against the 
Rakhar people. Sisko's every patient attempt at diplomacy 
is rudely rebuffed, and Sisko gives up, agreeing to return 
Croden in another Runabout within fifty-two hours.
	On the station, Odo brings the locket to Bashir to examine.
Bashir tells him that the organism inside does in fact 
resemble Odo's own structure to a certain extent, some sort 
of organo-crystalline matrix -- "It could be a distant 
cousin of yours."
	Odo returns to the holding cell and questions Croden about
where the locket came from; Croden's replies are not 
terribly useful. Croden requests the locket back, and, 
after a significant hesitation, Odo returns it to him. 
Croden then tells him of a nebula in the Gamma Quadrant 
called the Chamra Vortex, in which he found a colony of 
Changelings. He offers to lead Odo there.
	In Sisko's office, Sisko tells Odo that he wants the
security chief to take Croden back to Rakhar. Getting past 
the Miradorns, however, could be a problem; they are 
scanning every ship for Croden, and their ships are much 
faster than the station's own Runabouts. And any warning 
the station might send to the Runabout would just provide a 
trail for the Miradorns to follow. Sisko has a plan to use 
a departing freighter as cover for the Runabout's 
departure, to keep the Miradorns from noticing it and 
attacking.
	Odo boards the Runabout with Croden, telling the prisoner
that he's being taken back to Rakhar. The Runabout 
successfully uses the freighter to evade the Miradorn's 
sensors, and passes through the wormhole to the Gamma 
Quadrant.
	Croden engages Odo in conversation, questioning his social
isolation on the station, but Odo is not interested in 
talking. Croden then tells Odo a story about his home 
planet: on Rakhar, a crime is punished by the killing of 
the offender's family. He speaks of his own family being 
murdered in that way, and how he killed several Rakhar 
security officers in his attempt to save them. Odo is 
suspicious of this tale, which has clearly been designed to 
evoke sympathy, and threatens to sedate Croden if he 
doesn't shut up.
	In Quark's, the Miradorn and his followers accost Rom and
Quark, threatening them with death if they don't reveal 
where Croden has been taken. Quark tries to bluster his way 
out, but is unsuccessful, and the Miradorn forces him to 
access the station log, which reveals the coordinates to 
which the Runabout carrying Odo and Croden is headed. After 
the Miradorn leaves, Quark tells Rom that Odo will die 
rather than turn Croden over to the Miradorn, a suggestion 
that fills Rom with happy anticipation; Quark, however, is 
for some reason upset by this thought.
	The departure of the Miradorn ship is noticed up in Ops;
the staff attempt to delay the vessel, but their efforts 
come to naught.
	On the Runabout, Croden is still trying to convince Odo to
take him into the vortex, but Odo is adamant about 
completing his mission without interruptions. Croden tries 
to interest Odo in the side trip by tantalizing him with 
even more cryptic hints and observations about what the 
Changeling race is like, but is interrupted when the 
Runabout is rocked by a blast from the Miradorn ship, which 
has found them. The Miradorn demands the surrender of 
Croden; Odo refuses, bringing on another attack from the 
Miradorn ship. Odo tries to evade the attacker's fire, but 
with little success. Croden tells Odo that if he is given 
the controls, he can fly them into the vortex which will 
hide the Runabout from the Miradorn ship's sensors. Odo, 
left with no choice, agrees.
	As Croden takes the controls, he tells Odo that the vortex
has dangerous pockets of a volatile gas called "tohmair" 
which can explode if disturbed. Unfortunately, the Miradorn 
ship follows the Runabout's impulse trail into the nebula; 
Croden switches to thrusters, but states that this ruse 
will work for only a short time. He says they have no 
choice but to land on the asteroid that Croden knows of, in 
the hope of losing the Miradorn ship. Croden says, "So, 
Changeling, it looks like I'm going to take you home after 
all..."
	On the asteroid, Croden leads Odo into a natural tunnel.
There is no sign of a colony or life of any sort. The 
prisoner is almost frantically eager to travel deeper into 
the cavern, arousing Odo's suspicions. Odo grabs Croden and 
attempts to drag him back to the Runabout, over Croden's 
protests. Losing patience, the shapeshifter slams Croden 
into a wall, demanding to know how much of what he said 
about the Changelings was true, and, under duress, Croden 
admits that none of it was. On his home planet, there are 
myths about Changelings, but Croden considered them just 
stories until he saw Odo. He has no idea where the shifting 
locket came from; Rakhar merchants buy them from offworld 
traders and put them to use them as keys. Odo asks what 
this locket is the key to, and Croden says, "To my only 
reason for living -- in the cavern."
	Odo allows Croden to lead him deeper into the asteroid,
where they find a large metal box, half buried in a 
rockfall. Croden rushes forward and begins frantically 
clearing away the rubble, calling to Odo for help. Odo asks 
what the box is, and is told that it's a stasis chamber, 
which holds Croden's daughter, the only member of his 
family he could save. Together they free the box, and 
Croden takes out the shifting object, which shapes itself 
to fit the lock so that Croden can free his child, Yareth.
	Croden embraces his daughter tightly as Odo watches, and
then tells Yareth that Odo is going to take her someplace 
safe -- and then looks to Odo: "Won't you?" Odo nods in 
assent. Croden then tells his daughter that he is going 
home to Rakhar; Yareth is terrified that her father will be 
killed for defending his family.
	The cavern rocks as it is attacked by the Miradorn ship. As
the trio flees to the Runabout, Odo is caught under a 
rockfall and knocked unconscious. Croden turns to go back 
for the fallen security chief, then hesitates -- and leaves 
him there to return to Yareth's side. But then another 
strike shakes the cavern, and Croden goes back for Odo 
after all, picking him up and dragging him to the Runabout.

	Odo awakens in the Runabout and questions Croden's decision
not to leave him behind. Croden replies, "I already regret 
it." The ship shakes again from another Miradorn attack, 
and Croden worries that one of the torpedos will set off a 
tohmair explosion and kill them all. Odo conceives of a 
desperate plan to make use of the explosive gas to achieve 
escape. They head to a tohmair pocket and sit motionless 
near the outer edge of it.
	The Miradorn ship hails the Runabout, and Odo attempts to
bluff his way past the other ship, but fails. Just as the 
Miradorn ship fires on the Runabout, Odo engages the 
engines, and the Runabout breaks free of the tohmair 
pocket, leaving the Miradorn ship to be engulfed in flames.

	As the Runabout resumes course toward Rakhar, Croden
requests that Odo take care of Yareth for him. Yareth 
clings to her father. Suddenly, a Vulcan ship hails the 
Runabout, asking if they need assistance; the Vulcans 
noticed the explosion in the nebula and came to see what 
happened. Odo tells them that the Runabout is not damaged, 
and asks where their ship is headed; they reply that they 
are headed back to Vulcan. Odo says that he managed to 
rescue two survivors from another ship that was caught in 
the explosion and destroyed, and asks if the Vulcans are 
willing to take the two of them aboard. The Vulcans agree.
	Croden stares at Odo in disbelief, and Odo says, sourly,
"Don't thank me. I already regret it." He tells Croden 
that he will tell Rakhar that the prisoner was killed in 
the asteroid when the Miradorn ship attacked. Croden gives 
Odo the locket as a keepsake, and Yareth asks him if he's 
really a Changeling. Odo replies, "Yes. I suppose I am." 
And he smiles.
	Croden and Yareth are beamed aboard the Vulcan ship,
leaving Odo alone with the locket. He stares at it. 
"Home...where is it? Someday we'll know....cousin."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Copyright 1993, Jennifer A. Hawthorne. All rights reserved, but I'm 
not stuffy about it as long as you don't go overboard.
