You probably wouldn't understand this, Quark, but when you care about a place and it's in trouble and you want to do something about it, and you can't, it's very frustrating.
I know exactly what you mean! When the Great Monetary Collapse hit Ferenginar, I was hundreds of light-years away serving as a ship's cook on a long-haul freighter. I can't tell you the heartbreak I suffered, knowing that rampant inflation and currency devaluation were burning like wildfires through the lush financial foliage of my home. It still depresses me, even today. I remembered thinking my accounts needed me and there was nothing I could do! I felt so... so helpless. So you see, I do understand.
I've got a dermal regenerator under the...(Joseph notices Sisko staring at the blood, and realises what he's wondering about) Benjamin Lafayette Sisko! What the hell has gotten into your head? You actually thought I was one of them, didn't you?
Sisko (desperate, upset): I don't know. I wasn't sure.
This business has got you so twisted around you can't think straight. You're seeing shape-shifters everywhere. Maybe you ought to think about something for a minute. If I was a smart shape-shifter, a really good one, the first thing I would do would be to grab some poor soul off the street, absorb every ounce of his blood, and let it out on cue whenever someone like you tried to test me. Don't you see? There isn't a test that's been created a smart man can't find his way around. You aren't going to catch shape-shifters using some gadget.
Cadet, you are obviously under the mistaken impression that I am asking a favor. [increasingly hostile voice] I want a name and I want it now and that is an order. Understood, Mr. Nog?
I have enough evidence to convict you of treason. We have Lieutenant Arriaga in custody on the Defiant, and he is ready to admit that under your orders, he attached a subspace modulator to the relay satellite on the far side of the wormhole. That's why it was opening and closing at random.
To make it look like a cloaked Dominion fleet was coming through the wormhole. That way, when Earth's power relays were sabotaged, people would think that an invasion was imminent.
ALAdmiral Leyton
That's a very interesting theory, but it's not going to do you much good. Lieutenant Arriaga isn't going to get to Earth. I've sent the Lakota to intercept the Defiant.
You really think one Starfleet starship will fire on another?
ALAdmiral Leyton
As far as Benteen's crew is concerned, the Defiant isn't a Starfleet ship. They've been told that everyone on the Defiant 's been replaced by Shapeshifters.
It doesn't matter whether I get out of here or not. By now, Odo is talking to Jaresh-Inyo. The President will have all the evidence he needs to stop you. It's over.
ALAdmiral Leyton
[slams his fist against his desk, furious] It's not over! I have enough loyal officers to make a fight of it.
BSBejamin Sisko
Who will you fight? Starfleet? The Federation? Don't you see, Admiral? You're fighting the wrong war. And as for your loyal officers, Benteen's already abandoned you, and she was closer to you than anyone. You've lost. Don't make anyone else pay for your mistakes.
[Finally accepting defeat, Leyton stands up, removes his rank insignia and places it on his desk, before turning to Sisko]
You judge me too harshly. Maybe I am seeking to regain my former position, one which I earned through hard work, dedication, and sacrifice, but redemption is not my sole motivation. I care about my people, and I don't intend to allow the Klingons to get away with murdering them. I'm a much more complicated man than you give me credit for.
Like Shakaar? It amazes me that a woman as intelligent and sophisticated as you could be attracted to such a lumbering, simplistic fieldhand. I mean, what could the two of you possibly talk about?
