The Federation was facing a coup.

The Federation was gaining security.

A telling blow would be delivered to The Dominion's efforts at infiltration.

A fatal blow would be delivered to The United Federation Of Planets.

Sisko mused that Jefferson, who had spoken at length about security vs. freedom, would have regarded himself as a non-entity and never had to deal with shapeshifters.

The Emissary Of The Prophets sat on the park bench, very much a man alone.

At Starfleet Medical, Odo's tests were finished.

"How do you feel, Constable?"

Odo nodded.

"Fantastic. You say this substance is a neural network enhancer?"

The physician nodded.

"Dangerous, potentially, but useful in finding out what a sentient can really do, under rarefied circumstances. It bypasses any sort of nervous system and merely searches out the relay signals themselves, which we presume to be endemic to almost all beings. Thanks to you, we now know this to be true of Shapeshifters as well."

Odo stared in the mirror.

"I feel like I can do anything. Literally anything."

"It has that giddy effect. For a few hours, people of all sorts find perfection. It'll overload you, in time. So we only ever use it once, even for tests like these. Vulcans find their non-emotional center, Andorians their so-called 'Perfect Fury', while humans have been known to complete whole projects before the stuff wears off."

Odo nodded.

"Am I done?"

"Absolutely. And Constable? Don't feel like you've betrayed your people. You're instead giving them a real chance for peace."

"That's why I'm here."

Well after Odo left, the physician pulled out a small communicator.

"Mister Sloane? It is done."

In the park, Odo as an eagle spotted a despondent Captain Sisko, and saw that he looked like a man lost in a bad dream. Vedek Bareil had once told him that the way out of bad dreams was to look for something that, even by the dream's standards, shouldn't be there.

Odo decided to put his temporarily enhanced abilities to the test.

As Sisko sat, he saw a familiar face.

"Chief?"

But no, Miles O'Brien was on the other side of the galaxy. Which meant that Captain Sisko was facing a shapeshifter.

"Oh, don't bother calling Security. I'll be gone before then. I'm not here to attack, anyway. Just to talk."

"About what?"

"You know how many shapeshifters there are on this entire planet? Four. You humans are going to impale yourselves on your own fear."

"Why are you telling me this?"

The not-O'Brien smiled.

"Because either way, you can't stop us. But this way is easier. You'll prepare your people for the loss of their freedoms under us. Thanks. The Dominion appreciates your effort."

The one sure way to get Sisko's goat was to tell him something couldn't be done. Also, the taunting cleared his head of the coup-leaders obfuscation.

Which was exactly what Odo, who had to feign anger at the infiltration later, had intended when he used his briefly enhanced abilities to disguise himself as Miles O'Brien. In that day, Odo had saved the Federation--and possibly doomed his people. Yet even in that doom was to be found seeds of the war's end.
------------------------------------------------

TWO WEEKS LATER, DEEP SPACE NINE.....

Jake wrote in his journal, but shook his head.

"Dad--I thought the shapeshifters had studied human psychology. So why does this one taunt you in such a way that's nearly certain to upset the Dominion's apple cart?"

Captain Sisko thought of plans within plans, but finally gave up.

"I can't say, son. But maybe--just maybe-- this shapeshifter was somehow a friend."

The transceiver on Sisko's desk couldn't have agreed more.