- Commander Sisko: [Back on DS9, after returning from the Gamma Quadrant] There is still no indication that any Romulan or Cardassian vessels survived the attack.
- Admiral Toddman: [on the monitor] Sounds like Wolf 359 all over again.
- Commander Sisko: I had the same thought.
- Admiral Toddman: [For disobeying the Admiral's order not to interfere with the attack on the Founders world] You may be interested to know I've decided not to file charges against anyone aboard the Defiant.
- Commander Sisko: Thank you, sir.
- Admiral Toddman: But if you pull a stunt like that again, I'll court-martial you, or I'll promote you. Either way, you'll be in a lot of trouble.
- Commander Sisko: I'll keep that in mind, sir.
- [the Cardassian/Romulan fleet is under attack]
- Enabran Tain: How could this be? What could have happened?
- Elim Garak: I'm afraid the fault, dear Tain, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
- Enabran Tain: What?
- Elim Garak: Something I learned from Doctor Bashir.
- [last lines]
- Odo: Garak... I was thinking that you and I should have breakfast together sometime.
- Elim Garak: Why, Constable - I thought you didn't eat.
- Odo: I don't.
- [Odo has suggested that a tailor's shop on the Promenade might find more approval from Sisko than a massage facility]
- Elim Garak: Do you know what the sad part is, Odo? I'm a very *good* tailor.
- Major Kira: Commander, there's an incoming priority message from Starfleet Command. It's Admiral Toddman. He's repeating his order not to enter the Gamma Quadrant.
- Commander Sisko: That's what you think it says. How can we be sure when a transmission is as badly garbled as that one?
- Major Kira: ...You're right. There's an awful lot of subspace interference on this channel. Must be an ion storm or something.
- Commander Sisko: Must be.
- [Dr. Bashir is frustrated that O'Brien isn't paying attention to him during lunch]
- Chief O'Brien: Look, Julian... you said you wanted to have lunch. And we're having lunch.
- Doctor Bashir: Yes, but I was hoping for a little more conversation with my plomeek soup.
- Chief O'Brien: Ah. My mother taught me, if you try to combine talking and eating, you'll end up doing neither very well.
- Odo: Garak, this is pointless. There's nothing I can tell you about the Founders that you don't already know.
- Elim Garak: I wish I could believe that.
- Odo: Then why don't you?
- Elim Garak: Because you and I are so alike. We both value our privacy, our secrets. That's why I know there's something about the Founders you haven't told anyone, something you didn't even share with Starfleet and Commander Sisko. Hm? But you are going to tell *me*, Odo.
- Odo: There's nothing to tell!
- Elim Garak: Well, perhaps something will come to you. I can wait. The question is - can you?
- Doctor Bashir: [Looks at Garak's black eye] Oh, that looks painful.
- Elim Garak: It is. But it did saved my life.
- Lovok: [just as Odo and Garak are to make their escape, Colonel Lovok arrives armed with a disruptor, but he then hands Odo a PADD] You will need this in order to gain access to your Runabout.
- Odo: [surprised] Why are you doing this?
- Lovok: Because no Changeling has ever harmed another.
- Elim Garak: [even more surprised] You are one of the Founders.
- Odo: [with realisation] Of course. This whole plan was the Founders' idea in the first place. You wanted the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order to combine forces and come into the Gamma Quadrant so you could wipe them out.
- Lovok: Not exactly. Tain originated the plan, and when we learned of it, we did everything we could to carry it forward. The Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order are both ruthless, efficient organisations. A definite threat to us.
- Odo: [his realisation is deepening] But not after today.
- Lovok: After today, the only real threats to us from the Alpha Quadrant are the Klingons and the Federation. And I doubt either of them will be a threat for much longer.
- [the Lovok Changeling steps towards Odo, as this conversation clearly excludes Garak]
- Lovok: It is not too late for you, Odo. Come with me. You can still become one with the Great Link - if you wish.
- Odo: [Odo leaves that last sentence up in the air for a moment before he responds] Thankyou, but my answer is still no.
- [the Lovok Changeling returns to his previous position and then beams away in a Dominion transporter]
- [Tain wants to have Odo interrogated by Lovok]
- Elim Garak: I brought Odo here. He's my prisoner and my responsibility.
- Enabran Tain: You don't have to do this.
- Elim Garak: Yes, I do. And I think we both know that you won't trust me, until I do.
- Enabran Tain: [addressing the Cardassian Central Command] ... I take this action not in defiance of the Cardassian state, but in defense of it. You and the Central Command have neglected the security of our people, and allowed peace with Bajor and the Federation to blind you to the real threat: the Dominion. I intend to remove that threat. Let history be my judge.
- Admiral Toddman: His plan looks like it's got a fair chance of success. He's commanding a fleet of twenty ships manned by combat veterans. They know the location of the Founders' homeworld, and they've modified their cloaks, so the Jem'Hadar can't detect their approach.
- Major Kira: It sounds like you're hoping Tain will succeed.
- Admiral Toddman: I never hope for war, Major. But if it comes, I'd rather see the Dominion on the losing side.
- Odo: They're still my people. I tried to deny it, I tried to forget. But I can't! They're my people, and I want to be with them, in the Great Link!
- [the combined fleet of Obsidian Order and Tal'Shiar is being destroyed by the Dominion]
- Enabran Tain: These Founders, Elim, they're very good. Next time, we should be more careful.
- Elim Garak: [Enters with two Romulans] I realized it must be nearly time for you to return to your liquid state, so I thought I'd bring you something to relax in.
- [Gives him a bowl]
- Odo: [Dubious] How kind...
- Elim Garak: But before you go for a swim, I have some questions I'd like to ask you.
- Odo: I have nothing to say.
- Elim Garak: Well I had hoped a few hours alone would jog your memory but I see that I'm going to have to take some steps I had hoped to avoid.
- [the Romulans set up a device on the table]
- Odo: [Heavily sarcastic] Oh no... You're going to *torture* me, aren't you? How I've been dreading this! *Please* have mercy Garak!
- Enabran Tain: [Talking to the air, staring vacantly] These Founders, Elim, they're good... Next time, we should be more careful!
- Lovok: [to Garak] You will not enter the Bridge, or any other secured space aboard this ship unescorted. If you do so, you will be killed.
- Elim Garak: [to Tain] Direct isn't he?
- Elim Garak: [to Odo] You really must stop reading those human crime novels Chief O'Brien gives you. It's poisoning your thinking.
- [first lines]
- Doctor Bashir: I mean, if you ask me, modern theatre has been on the decline since the late 23rd century. Just look at the plays to have come out of Earth in the last 50 years and compare them to the works of Willenheld or Barton or Chow-Yun.
- [O'Brien silently enquires if he can have Bashir's bread]
- Doctor Bashir: Yes, yes. Modern playwrites have become obsessed with writing human interpretations of alien theatrical works while ignoring completely our own unique culture heritage in the hope of... Chief, are you listening to me?
- Chief O'Brien: What?
- Doctor Bashir: I thought so.
- Chief O'Brien: I heard every word you said.
- Doctor Bashir: And what do you think?
- Chief O'Brien: About what?
- Doctor Bashir: Any of it.
- Chief O'Brien: I don't know. Look, what do you want me to say?
- Doctor Bashir: Say you agree. Say you disagree. Say you hate theatre. Just say *something*!