The Siege (novel)

The Siege was the first original novel to be written about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Peter David notes he was only able to reference the series bible and first five episodes while writing the book, but made frequent phone calls to Mike Okuda to ask further questions about the show. The Siege takes place in early Season 1 of Deep Space Nine, a month after "A Man Alone", late November, 2368.

Back Cover Text: Deep Space Nine is forced to curtail entry to the wormhole due to increased graviton emissions, and an air of biting tension settles over the station. This anxiety leads to the murder of an Edemian religious leader, Commander Benjamin Sisko and Security Chief Odo realize they face a larger problem. Soon Sisko and Odo have more lifeless bodies on their hands and a killer who strikes without motive. Then, both the Edemans and Cardassians arrive threatening to destroy the station unless the murderer is given to them for retribution. In order to save Deep Space Nine and stop the killing, Odo must try to destroy a powerful assassin who is the only link to his mysterious past.

Summary
Miles O'Brien is attempting to become proficient in magic tricks in order to impress his daughter Molly on her upcoming birthday, but is unable to successfully pull off any tricks in front of his wife, Keiko, who is still having difficulty adjusting to life on the station. She notes that Molly would be far more impressed with the pony she asked for rather than his magic tricks. While O'Brien begins to become frustrated, Lieutenant Jadzia Dax asks him to come to Ops to double check the sensor arrays.

O'Brien looks over the arrays and tells Dax that the equipment seems to be functioning properly. Dax then goes to the Commander's Office to tell Commander Sisko and Major Kira Nerys about the problem. The wormhole has been emitting a high flux of neutrino particles, and the amount emitted has been increasing. Normally, the wormhole only emits these particles when in use, and Sisko and Kira express concern that the wormhole may be collapsing, which would undoubtedly hurt the Bajoran economy. Dax assures them that this is not the case however, and that the wormhole is undergoing something called Subspace compression, which results from the surrounding space attempting to equalize the vacuum of the wormhole.

In Ops O'Brien is now trying unsuccessfully fool Odo with his magic tricks, an alarm sounds, as Lieutenant Chafin from the Science Station alerts the crew that he's reading a drastic level of neutrino emissions from the wormhole and that something is coming through. Dax apologizes and tells Sisko there's nothing he can do; the ship won't make it with the wormhole undergoing subspace compression. The wormhole opens, the terminus rippling with energy and damaging the station. The ship however, is torn to debris and destroyed. Sisko has Dax attempt to identify the ship, and she is successfully able to confirm it was a Borg Cube. This draws a shocked reaction from the crew. Sisko urges them to keep this to themselves, and also orders the wormhole closed for travel until the subspace compression has stopped. Unfortunately, Sisko soon learns that word of the Borg ship has gotten out when his son Jake asks him about it later. Jake heard it from Nog, who heard it from Quark, who heard it from Garak, the chain getting much fuzzier after that. Jake begins to worry about the possibility of a Borg attack, but Sisko reassures him that they actually have an advantage over them right now. When the Borg Ship was torn apart by the wormhole, the entire collective sensed this and would now avoid the wormhole. They, on the other hand, know the wormhole to be stable.

Mas Marko, an Edemian religious leader, now contacts Ops to demand he be allowed to travel through the wormhole, as he must spread the word of their deity K'olkr to the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko has the visual records of the subspace compression sent to Mas Marko, and assures him that if he still wants to commit suicide by attempting to travel through the wormhole, he will not stop him. Sisko then informs the rest of the Ops crew that he has no intention of letting him go, and has O'Brien prepare the tractor beams. Mas Marko then hails DS9 again and informs them he has decided to spread the word of K'olkr on DS9 until the wormhole is once again open for travel. Sisko makes arrangements for Mas Marko, his wife, son, and two retainers to come on board, and also tells his staff to keep an eye on the Edemian ship, in case it tries to make a break for the wormhole.

Sisko and Odo travel down to the airlock to meet Mas Marko, who introduces his wife Azira, his son Rasa, and his two retainers, Lobb, and Del. This introduction is soon interrupted by Kira, who contacts Sisko to inform him they have another unexpected arrival who claims to be on the station to do business with someone. Odo immediately realizes this "someone" is Quark.

Odo takes the unexpected arrival, a Ferengi named Glav to see Quark, and upon seeing Glav, Quark panics as he believes Glav is there to kill him in revenge. Glav explains that Quark once undercut him in a business deal, causing Glav to loose everything except some property on Xerxes VI considered too useless for any creditor to want it. Glav did some geological surveys and discovered a large calvinium deposit, used by the Byfrexians to fuel their starships. He was able to sell it for two million bars of gold pressed latinum, obviously a substantial sum. Glav then informs Quark he has a new business proposition for him, and though Glav promises riches, Quark is still suspicious.

Sisko is meeting in his office with Gul Gotto Lon, a Cardassian serving as Gul Dukat's envoy. He informs Sisko he has been sent to remind the inhabitants of DS9 of a Cardassian presence, and wishes to mingle with the inhabitants for the next few days. Sisko gives him permission to do so and Gotto exits as Dr. Bashir enters the office. Sisko has summoned him as he believes the Edemian child, Rasa, may be in poor health, claiming that as a father you tend to pick up on these things. Bashir agrees to look into it.

Meanwhile, in one of the ships docked at DS9, a suitcase begins to morph and change shape into a mass of gelatinous goo, it makes its way into the station undetected, and by the time it has arrived on the Promenade, it has taken a form that is a passable imitation of a humanoid.

The Edemians have set up shop in an empty booth in the Promenade and are attempting to spread the word of K'olkr, albeit unsuccessfully as no one seems to be interested. Bashir approaches in order to get a closer look at Rasa. He asks Rasa to explain to him some of the teachings of K'olkr, and then is able to convince Marko and Azira to allow Rasa to come with him to the Infirmary. Meanwhile, Glav explains to Quark that the true reason he came here was to rub his success in Quark's face, but as soon as he set foot on the station, he had a change of heart. He realized that the station could be the biggest generator of profit in the sector was it under better management, and therefore, he wants to buy Deep Space Nine. He needs Quark's connections with the staff in order to convince them to sell it. Quark and Glav then leave the room. Soon thereafter, the table morphs and changes shape into Odo, who witnessed the entire conversation.

Rasa tells Bashir he has never been in a facility such as an infirmary before since he has never had the need. Bashir notices that Rasa's heart rate is quite fast and gets him to admit that he sometimes suffers from severe headaches at various points in the day. He then goes into a coughing fit, and when he recovers, decides its time to go back to his parents. Rasa seems a little distraught over this meeting, so Marko has his retainer Lobb escort Rasa back to their quarters, which will also give Lobb an opportunity to change clothes as he recently had a beverage thrown at him.

As soon as Lobb takes Rasa back, Rasa immediately falls asleep in his bed. Lobb then leaves the room and heads down the hall where he is met by a rather nondescript man with thick red hair. Lobb asks him if there is anything he can help him with, or if he is interested in the word of K'olkr, but the man does not respond. A little nervous, Lobb continues past the man and into his quarters. He then turns around to see a thick red goo oozing through the cracks of the door. The goo then reforms to take the form of the man Lobb saw outside. He morphs his hand into an anvil, and without a word, bashes Lobb's skull, killing him instantly, and spreading blood all over the wall. He then begins to write something in this blood.

Odo goes to Sisko to inform him of Grav's intention to buy Deep Space Nine and is annoyed when Sisko refuses to take this seriously, even suggesting in jest that they should hear out Grav and see how much he's willing to offer, or even to forge official documents, take the money, and run. Odo leaves Sisko's office and runs into O'Brien, who demands to try out a new card trick on Odo. Again he seems to fail when Odo denies O'Brien is holding his card. Bashir now enters Sisko's office to tell him about his findings on Rasa. Rasa is suffering from a condition called panoria, an extremely debilitating virus that 97% of all Edemians are immune to. If untreated, it leads to death within a year. It is not necessary to quarantine Rasa, as panoria only affects Edemians and two other races that are not present on the station. Sisko prepares to go with Bashir to ask Rasa's parents why he has not been treated, but Odo walks back into the office to inform them that they have a bigger problem.

Sisko, Odo, and Bashir arrive at the door to Lobb's quarters to find Mas Marko attempting to gain entry, though security officer Meyer is guarding the door and keeping the room secure. Sisko tells Marko to wait outside and the three enter the brutal crime scene. Boyajian and Tang are inside scanning the room. Sisko soon notices a crosshatch followed by an Arabic number 1, which causes Odo concern, as where there's a 1, there's usually a 2. They resolve to act fast, as a serial killer is now loose on the station.

Mas Marko and Azira ask to return to Edema with Lobb's body, but Sisko informs them that the station will need to be locked down for the time being. Bashir takes this opportunity to tell Marko and Azira that their son is suffering from panoria. Marko and Azira seem more or less aware of his declining health, but Marko refuses to allow Bashir to help Rasa since the Edemians believe that seeking medical care would interfere with K'olkr's will. Sisko and Bashir are disturbed by this philosophy, but Sisko tells Bashir they don't really have a say in this matter. As Sisko and Bashir talk, the red-haired man walks past them.

In Ops, Quark and Glav are waiting for Commander Sisko to return. In the meantime, Glav begins to hit on both Dax and Kira, resulting in Kira having security remove them from the area. Sisko returns, watches this, tells them that DS9 is not for sale, and leaves them to be escorted out of Ops while Quark tries to figure out which object in the bar Odo was this time. Sisko now discusses the murder investigation with both Odo and Kira, the former worried over the fact that Lobb locked his door behind him and it remained sealed the entire time, which could easily make Odo a suspect since he is the only person who could slip through the cracks. Sisko gets on the intercom and alerts the station to Lobb's death, stating only that it was not due to natural causes. Odo then goes to the promenade to begin his investigation.

Glav is furious at Quark for not getting a meeting with Sisko, but Quark blames Odo, insisting he must have been involved somehow. Glav then begins to fantasize about both Dax and Kira, but then comes to his senses and tells Quark they need to find another ally in Ops. Quark then notices O'Brien walking by and decides he would be the most likely candidate. He tries to summon O'Brien in for a free drink, but he explains he's on duty and can't. Odo then arrives and tells Quark he wants him to keep his eyes and ears open for someone who looks suspicious and doesn't fit in. Quark says he knows someone like that, Odo. Odo grunts and walks off. While walking down the promenade, he sees a red-haired man with an angular face who seems to recognize him, though Odo has never seen him before. Odo tries to talk to him, but the man silently walks off. Odo tries to follow him, but loses him. He then hails Boyajian, telling him to have security detain the red-haired man if they see him, since he appears suspicious. As Odo walks off, a mass of gelatinous goo starts to pour from the vent above and take shape.

Miles O'Brien is waiting outside of the classroom on the promenade as he feels he needs to walk his wife and child home, afraid that the station isn't currently safe. One girl, Dina, has no one to walk her home since her mother Bena must frequently work overtime. Therefore, Jake offers to walk her back. On their way, they run into a red-haired girl, who Jake worries must be lost. The girl says her name is Meta. Dina invites her over to play, and Jake tells the two of them to be careful and to make sure to keep the door locked. When Dina asks Meta what she wants to do first, Meta just smiles.

Gotto is playing Dabo at Quark's when he relays a proposition to Quark from Dukat. Dukat is willing to pay Quark a certain amount of money to spy on the Federation. Quark says he'll do it for free if Gotto helps him and Glav in their plan to purchase DS9. They decide the best way to go about this is to try and incite the Bajorans into ejecting the Federation from the station. Quark knows Kira is not a strong Federation supporter, so they decide that would be a good place to start.

Bena gets out of work late, and prepares to head home when she witnesses the bizarre sight of Sisko, Bashir, and the Edemians heading into the docking bay. They have jury-rigged a cable to one of the runabouts and are preparing to haul Lobb's casket out into space. Marko delivers a brief eulogy and then Lobb is cut loose. Bena now starts to walk back to her quarters, but runs into Gotto on the way back. Bena was Gotto's consort during the occupation about two or three years ago. Bena tries to brush him off, but when she walks into her quarters, he follows her. Bena sees Dina and Meta, and yells for Dina to call security when Gotto starts to forcibly take her. Gotto then goes to brush Meta out of the way, but when he grabs her arm, it seems to melt within its grasp. Meta then begins to morph into a gelatinous form and starts enveloping Gotto's arm. The goo seeps into his lungs and chest cavity while Gotto screams before Meta exits rather abruptly.

Jake is worried about Dina still, so goes to her quarters to check on her. Hearing all the screaming, he calls security. Sisko and Odo beam over immediately and two security guards soon join them. They are unable to override the door since Gotto destroyed the console during his rape attempt. Odo turns to liquid and seeps under the door when he hears screaming again.

Gotto is only intact from the waist down, his upper body having exploded when Meta blew out of him. Meta then retakes the form of the girl and begins writes a #2 on the wall in blood. Meta then informs Bena and Dina she needs to kill the both of them as well, explaining that it’s nothing personal, but she likes to kill in order to appreciate her own life more. While Meta begins to choose the next victim, Odo oozes through the door. He asks who did this, but Bena and Dina are in hysterics. Odo has the corridor sealed off but can't find any sign of the murderer. While a medical team evicts Bena and Dina, Bena points at Odo and yells out that it was him, explaining the different forms that Meta took on. While Odo looks horrified, Sisko declares that another changeling is aboard the station. Meta meanwhile oozes about in the ceiling.

Mas Marko goes to ops to pester Sisko about the details surrounding Lobb's murder, and also makes it clear to Sisko that regardless of jurisdiction, he will expect the killer, when found, to be turned over to him. Sisko then sends Marko away when he receives a subspace message from Gul Dukat, curious as to why he has lost contact with Gul Gotto. Sisko is forced to tell the truth and admit to Dukat that Gotto was murdered. Dukat furiously demands the murderer be turned over to him, and goes even further by saying that if the murderer is not apprehended soon, he will be forced to conduct his own investigation, and makes it no secret that he will fire upon DS9 if he deems it necessary.

In the Promenade, Bashir approaches Azira to once again offer to save her son, but when she explains that K'olkr has already saved him, Bashir tries to make her doubt her god. Azira screams at him to stop, and a furious Marko approaches. Before Bashir and Marko get into a fistfight, Odo breaks them up and tries to get Bashir to explain what he's doing, since there is already an explosive situation going on here that Bashir is only making worse. Odo agrees to keep this matter between the two of them, but is interrupted when Meyer calls him, saying both Odo and Bashir are needed in the cargo bay. Soon they come across Meta's third victim: Old Kelsi, the station's traffic manager for the cargo bay area. Her body is found smeared all over the area, and a #3 has been written on the wall in blood.

The fact that this murder took place in a rather public area causes panic to set in on DS9. Sisko is able to restore order, for the time being, by explaining that no one is allowed to leave DS9 since the shapeshifter could easily follow them off by disguising itself as one of their belongings. Sisko orders all the airlocks sealed and the investigation continued.

In the infirmary, Dr. Bashir and Nurse Latasa are going over a tissue sample from Kelsi, trying to find some clue as to the murderer's origin. Knowing the killer is a shapeshifer, Bashir and Kelsi come up with a way to make sure each of them are who they say they are, as in theory the killer should be able to disguise itself as anyone. After confirming that Latasa is who she says she is, Bashir proposes they use "preganglionic" as a secret phrase between them. Latasa says she expected Bashir to choose something like "Kiss me you old fool".

Boyajian and Meyer are patrolling when they notice a red goo begin to pour down from the ceiling. They alert Odo and he and Sisko immediately beam down to the scene. Quark and Glav choose this moment to approach O'Brien about their plan to purchase DS9. O'Brien tells them they have his vote, leaving Quark and Glav confused as to whether or not he was being sarcastic. The two Ferengi now decide to take a brief respite and enjoy holosuite program XXX-Three, featuring dancing holograms of both Kira Nerys and Jadzia Dax.

Odo and Sisko watch the mass pour down from the ceiling, but when Odo approaches it he identifies it as simply coolant mixed with some sort of gelatin. Odo then morphs into his gelatinous state and travels down the conduit from which the gelatin was pouring. Odo soon notices a large overturned vat, and then morphs into a rat to gain more speed down the conduit. As he suspected, Odo soon finds himself face to face with Nog, who was responsible for the prank. Sisko disciplines Nog harshly, wondering exactly why he thought this was funny, and then has him sent back to his father. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the Ferengi, Meta begins to seep into the holosuite.

Bashir arrives in Quark's bar looking for Quark, and Rom explains he's in the holosuite and shouldn't be disturbed. When Bashir makes his way in, he immediately sees Meta in his Bajoran form and with two fists transformed into hammers about to crush the skulls of the two Ferengi. Bashir yells at them to get out of the way, and they both dive to safety just in time. Quark then has the holosuite switch to program XXX-Four, featuring among other things, a thick fog. This gives them enough time to escape the holosuite as they run down the stairs to meet up with Sisko and Odo, who are in the bar after returning Nog to Rom. Hysteria then breaks out as a crowd flees into the promenade. Meta starts to attack Bashir and Quark, but lets them go when Odo approaches him. The two shapeshifters begin to fight, turning their limbs into a variety of weapons. Odo is able to knock Meta under a table, but only gains a brief break when Meta shifts into the form of a Mugato. Meta is able to break past Odo and into the promenade. Sisko tries to shoot him, but anticipating the shot, Meta forms a hole in his body for the beam to pass through. He then turns his arms into blades and takes Jake Sisko, who wandered into the promenade earlier while looking for Nog, hostage. Meta retakes his Bajoran form and tells Sisko to put the gun down, or Jake will be #4. Sisko looks over to see that Odo is shapeshifting into a mirror. Realizing what Odo is doing, Sisko aims at him and fires, the beam bounces off of Odo and blows off Meta's head. Jake breaks free, but Meta begins to escape by changing into his liquid state and diving into a floor vent. Odo is about to pursue him, but Sisko stops him, saying that not only does Meta have a head start, but the vent branches off in all directions, Odo will never find him that way. Sisko then thanks Odo for his earlier move that saved Jake's life, but confesses that he was lying through his teeth when he bragged about his phaser capabilities to Odo.

Quark and Glav are reflecting on their recent brush with death when Bashir asks them to program him a special holosuite program. Quark starts to refuse, but Bashir threatens to tell Kira and Dax about program XXX-Three if he doesn't agree. Bashir says he will send him the specifications, but also has Quark delete the program.

Sisko is worried as to how he's supposed to order people to remain on the station when there is clearly a killer on the loose. Bashir suggests that the Starfleet personnel could evacuate at least, since he could compare them to their recent medical records to make sure Meta was not disguised as one of them. The staff agrees that Starfleet fleeing the station while forcing others to remain behind is out of the question. O'Brien suggests that the best way to fight Meta would be to close off the air ducts he uses to escape. Cutting off the air flow won't work as Meta is not dependent on oxygen, so O'Brien proposes to cross wire various circuits to ionize the air in the ducts, which should deliver a substantial shock to Meta. This process will take twelve hours.

In the infirmary, Latasa is the only nurse who has reported in for duty, the others reportedly feeling sick, but truthfully sealed in their quarters waiting for the crisis to blow over. Bashir has Latasa load all of Rasa's files into an isolinear chip, but will not specifically state why. Bashir then steps out of the room. Latasa notices the console is not responding and kicks it out of frustration. She is shocked when the console strikes back.

In the Promenade, Bashir has recruited Rom and Nog to help with his plan. Nog is to distract Rasa, while Rom is to tell Mas Marko that Sisko wishes to speak with him. The three of them are crouched down, watching the Edemians preach from afar. Rasa has wandered off, so Azira goes to look for him. She goes into Quark's, and Quark tells her that Rasa is with Nog, gesturing up the stairs towards the holosuites. Azira walks into one and is treated to a rather graphic simulation in which Rasa is in pain and cries out for his mother. She realizes it’s a trick when Bashir walks in and is left both haunted and furious. Bashir then continues to run the program and she is more horrified when she sees a simulation of what Rasa will look like as the stages of panoria begin to take him. When the simulation ends, Azira runs off in tears, finding her son on the way out.

Mas Marko arrives in Ops to speak with Sisko who realizes he has been led on a goose chase. Marko stays however in order to demand that Meta be turned over to the Edemian authorities. Sisko tells him that won't happen as this is a Bajoran station, a Bajoran citizen has been killed, and thus Bajoran law takes precedence. Marko makes a thinly veiled threat, and soon enough, an Edemian Holy War Vessel, the Zealous, drops out of warp near the station. Mas Marko tells Sisko the ship is there to make sure his wishes are carried out, and the station will be destroyed if they do not. Sisko does not currently have the patience for this and has Odo search Mas Marko for communications devices and then thrown in a holding cell.

Bashir returns to the infirmary and finds Latasa's body smeared against the wall, with a "#4" written in blood along with the phrase "Kiss me you old fool".

While working in the conduits, O'Brien is approached by Keiko and eventually Odo. O'Brien starts to worry about Molly's birthday again, and tries to convince Odo to entertain her at the party, which he of course refuses to do. O'Brien then asks Odo why his card trick failed earlier, as he was certain that he had picked Odo's card, to which Odo responds he said it wasn't his card because it wasn't his, it was O'Brien's. This conversation is interrupted when Bashir contacts Odo to tell him of the recent murder. Odo proceeds to the infirmary, and soon becomes frustrated over the fact that there is no rhyme or reason to these killings. The security team is able to confirm that Meta has left the room and is not currently disguised as any sort of equipment.

Meanwhile, Mencar, commander of the Zealous and also the cousin of Lobb, has contacted Sisko demanding to speak with Mas Marko. Sisko refuses but Mencar demands that the killer be turned over to him. Sisko simply tells him he's wasting his time and cuts the transmission. Dax then informs Sisko there is another ship coming in, the Ravage, under the command of Gul Dukat. Dukat hails the station and demands that the killer be turned over to him within the next six hours, else he will take over the investigation and the entire station if need be.

Odo is talking to Kira and admits to being a little fatigued due to the fact that he's been cutting his regenerative cycles short lately due to the murders. Sisko hails Odo and urges him to speed up the process as the Cardassians are demanding results. Odo tells Sisko to distract them, and jokingly suggests that he send O'Brien out to perform some sleight of hand, but then becomes quiet and introspective as he has stumbled upon an idea.

Bashir is sitting in the infirmary grieving over Latasa when Azira and Rasa rush in rather abruptly. Azira hesitantly requests that Rasa be treated for panoria, though she makes it no secret that she does not have Marko's permission. Bashir has already synthesized some tricyclidine and injects it into Rasa. He should be back to normal health within 48 hours. At this moment, Del walks in and is horrified to see Azira and Rasa there. The two get into a rather heated debate over the words of K'olkr, but Bashir hyposprays Del before this can turn into a physical confrontation. While Bashir treats Rasa, Azira admits rather solemnly that she will soon have to pay the price for her actions in coming to Bashir.

Dukat and Mencar both hail the station to restate their demands, only causing tensions to rise for all three parties before Sisko cuts the channel. O'Brien then informs Sisko that the modifications are complete, and either it will work or blow out every circuit on the station.

Glav wanders into Quark's Bar looking for Quark and is confused to find the room inhabited by only Rom. Rom tells Glav that Quark sold the bar to him for rights to a song Rom recently wrote along with the opportunity to get off the station. Rom begins to sing this song to Glav, but Glav runs off to try to catch Quark before he departs. He is able to get into Quark's quarters, but the lights are dim and sees only his outline at the opposite end of the room. Glav asks why Quark is abandoning the station, as he thought the two of them were business associates, but Quark responds he realizes that that was only what Glav wanted him to think. Glav is responsible for bringing Meta onto Deep Space Nine, and Meta isn't a crazed killer, he's a hired assassin, and hired specifically to kill Quark. Glav did want revenge after what Quark did to him, but it would be illegal to pursue it under Ferengi law as the deal between them was legally made. By having Meta perform random killings, it would appear that Glav was in as much danger as anyone else, and thus could not be a suspect. Glav congratulates Quark for figuring it out, but informs him it's not that simple, as he drops his suitcase which soon morphs into Meta, taking the form of a humanoid with hardened red skin. Meta attacks Quark, changing his arms into blades and ripping apart his chest. To Meta's surprise however, Quark's chest starts to reform, and Meta notices the Ferengi isn't Quark at all, Odo has simply taken on a crude appearance as a Ferengi which fooled him in the poor light from a distance. Glav starts yelling at Meta to kill Odo, but Meta turns around and kills him instead, saying he never liked him anyway and it was always part of the plan. The two shapeshifters circle each other for a while. Odo tells Meta he is trapped and surrounded, so Meta simply proceeds with Odo out the door to greet the security guards. Meta is blocked off on both sides and must pass through a succession of forcefields, which he does so willingly, but while doing so he tells Odo that the game with the Ferengi is over, now it's time for the main event, a battle between the two of them. Meta then tells Odo he could tell him everything he wants to know about his race, his roots, and how to refine his morphing abilities. Odo tells Meta he doesn't negotiate with murderers, but Meta keeps the deal open, saying all Odo has to do is catch him. Meta then bolts for the ceiling vent. Odo yells to O'Brien, who runs his program causing electricity to flow through the vent. Meta falls to the ground in a mass of goo. Odo approaches him, but Meta lashes out at him. The two revert to their gelatinous states and begin to fight that way, eventually merging into one mass before it explodes and sends them flying into opposite walls. They reform and start fighting again. Meta then jumps into one of the walls and Odo follows him. Sisko becomes frustrated as they will now lose track of them as there are no security nets installed in either the ceilings or walls.

Odo and Meta explode out of the walls in O'Brien's quarters, and as soon as she sees Meta, Keiko shoots him with the phaser O'Brien gave her earlier. Meta is not at peak energy levels so he can't morph around it and is knocked to the ground. He reverts to his liquid state and slides under the door while Odo thanks Keiko and follows Meta out. Odo then notices his skin start to melt as he too is becoming exhausted, but continues to chase Meta through the station. Meta approaches the runabout pads and Odo yells for Ops to lock them, but Kira responds that Meta blew out the command overrides. Meta gets into a runabout and begins to depart the station while Odo is forced to cling to the outside of the runabout, still pounding on the front window as it departs.

Gul Dukat takes this runabout launch as a sign of hostility and has the Ravage fire at 75% intensity on DS9. Sisko gets the shields up in time, but the station is still rocked. He orders a tractor beam locked on to the runabout. Meanwhile, Mencar takes the Ravage firing on DS9 as an interference with K'olkr's will, so he has the Zealous fire on the Ravage. While the two vessels begin to fight, Sentor, tactical officer of the Ravage, brings to Dukat's attention that Odo is clinging on to the exterior of the recently launched runabout. Dukat realizes the only reason Odo would do this would be if the murderer was aboard, so he orders the runabout fired upon. Sisko realizes what Dukat is about to do, so has the Ravage fired upon. Now with two targets to fight, the Ravage is unable to get a clear shot at the runabout. One of the shots fired causes DS9's tractor systems to go offline, and the runabout begins to escape. Meta can't get too far however since his path is blocked by both the Cardassian and Edemian ships. While he begins setting a course for the wormhole, Odo is able to seep into the cockpit through the microphoton torpedo launcher. Odo and Meta begin to fight in the cockpit. Sisko tries to get them beamed out of there, but he can't risk dropping shields while the station is being fired upon. One of the stray shots destroys the runabout, causing Meta and Odo to float away from the wreckage of the vessel as the wormhole opens beyond them. Meta intended to move through space until he got to a safe position, but is now threatened by the wormhole. Odo is beamed away by the station, but Meta is pulled into the wormhole, which is still undergoing subspace compression. The wormhole pulls Meta apart into individual molecules which blow out of the other end in the Gamma Quadrant and will never have a chance to reform.

Odo materializes on the Ops transporter pad and immediately falls back into his liquid state, exhausted. Sisko has Marko released from custody, and informs the Zealous that the subspace compression has stopped and if he wished to proceed to the Gamma Quadrant, he is free to do so. With Meta killed, Dukat and the Cardassians leave the area as well.

Due to Azira's actions in going to Bashir, Marko must disown both Azira and Rasa and live alone for the rest of his life. He wishes them farewell before going back to Edemia to recruit more followers for the mission to the Gamma Quadrant. Sisko now approaches Bashir, telling him that he's just finished speaking with Del and needs to have a long talk with Bashir.

In Quark's, Dax, Bashir, and Odo are seated. Quark comes over to thank Odo for saving him from Glav and Meta, but Odo reveals he must leave for another commitment. A few minutes later, Molly O'Brien is spending her third birthday riding a pony through the promenade. O'Brien admits that Molly seems much more interested in this than she would have been in his magic tricks, but goes on to explain that they got Odo thinking about misdirection, allowing him to catch Meta, and because of that Odo is repaying O'Brien by taking the form of a pony. Odo makes O'Brien promise never to tell anyone, especially Quark while Molly, who has now named the pony "Fluffy" rides him down the promenade.

Information

 * Boyajian, best known for his appearance as a relief bridge officer in Star Trek: New Frontier, appears in The Siege as a security officer aboard Deep Space Nine. Meyer, a security officer in several Peter David novels appears here as well.
 * The runabout used to carry Lobb's tomb is not equipped with a tractor beam. However, the Rio Grande was able to tractor Dukat's ship, the Prakesh back through the wormhole at the end of Emissary. It is possible that a tractor beam is not necessarily standard equipment for all Danube-class runabouts, or that this runabout was of a different class.
 * Quark's "XXX-Three" holosuite program features holograms of both Kira Nerys and Jadzia Dax, however in the episode "Meridian", Quark told Tiron it would be very difficult to create a hologram of Kira. This probably means that Tiron wanted a more realistic simulation of Kira than Quark would normally be able to provide.
 * Dukat arrives at Deep Space Nine in control of the Galor-class ship Ravage. On screen, he appears to have commanded the Galor-class ship Prakesh until its destruction at the hands of the Klingons in Way of the Warrior. However, as Gul of the Second Order, Dukat likely had access to a large number of ships.
 * An unnamed Runabout is destroyed in this novel. This could not have been one of the original three assigned to Deep Space Nine as the Yangtzee Kiang and Ganges were destroyed in later episodes while the Rio Grande made it all the way to the end of the series run. It is certainly possible that a fourth runabout was dispatched to Deep Space Nine by another Starship sometime after Emissary.