Historian's Note:

This story takes place in early 2374, during the Dominion occupation of Deep Space 9.

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Terok Nor

The diamond sigil of the Dominion loomed ominously over the entrance. No one this side of the Wormhole knew exactly what the inscrutable emblem was supposed to represent. But to Jake Sisko, it resembled nothing so much as a solitary violet star set in a black empty sky.

He took a deep breath to still himself, PADD in hand, before stepping over the threshold. He'd barely taken another step before a gray reptilian hand halted him in his tracks.

The Jem'Hadar's glare pinned Jake to the spot, free hand resting on the hilt of his sidearm.

"I have an appointment?" Jake offered weakly, raising his PADD.

The Jem'Hadar yanked the PADD from Jake's hand, wordlessly summoning a second guard. The second gave Jake a quick sweep with a handheld scanner, before roughly patting the human down.

After a long moment, the Jem'Hadar shoved the PADD back into Jake's hands, waving him further into the grey antiseptic office. A pale slender figure looked up from his desk, face stretching into a smile that never reached his piercing violet eyes.

"Jake? How delightful?" Weyoun beamed. "Please, do sit down!"' The Vorta offered a bowl of small dark red fruits. "Rippleberry?"

"No, thank you, mis-," Jake caught himself. "Weyoun."

"Hmm, more for me then." The Vorta popped a berry into his mouth. "Now, what can I do for you today?"

"I was just wondering if you had a chance to read those revised articles I sent you?" Jake asked hopefully. "For the Federation News Service?"

"I did," Weyoun spoke, his expression unreadable.

Jake waited a moment. "And?"

"And... I have some notes."

"Notes?"

"For one thing..." Weyoun rose from his desk, circling the room. "I notice that instead of 'occupying force', you've started referring to the Dominion 'presence' on this station."

Jake shrugged. "What's wrong with 'presence'?"

"It's... it's a cold word, Jake. It makes us sound like some ghastly specter haunting the place," chuckled Weyoun, before turning somber. "More importantly, it still points to a subliminal bias against the Dominion no matter how much you may say otherwise."

Jake fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Please don't misunderstand me, Jake. It's not your fault," said Weyoun placatingly. "No one can expect you to overcome a lifetime of Federation conditioning overnight."

Jake was flabbergasted. "Federation conditioning?!"

"You've spent your entire life in the shadow of Starfleet, raised in it. Can you honestly tell me it hasn't affected how you see the world?"

Jake wasn't sure how to answer that, not without making Weyoun even more insufferable anyway.

"Perhaps you should consider a fresh approach?" Weyoun stood by his office window, overlooking the Promenade. "How about an article interviewing local shopkeepers, talking about how safe they feel under the vigilant eyes of our brave Jem'Hadar peacekeepers?"

"Short article," muttered Jake sub-audibly.

Weyoun rounded on Jake, Vorta smile sharp as broken glass. "How are you, Jake?"

"Fine, I guess," answered Jake, shifting in his seat.

"Are you sure?" Weyoun spoke soothingly, perching himself on the edge of the desk, uncomfortably close to Jake. "I know we haven't always been on the best terms but I want you to feel safe coming to me if anything's bothering you?"

Jake was speechless. Barely a month before the war started, Weyoun abducted him and his best friend Nog, holding both of them prisoner at gunpoint. Now the Vorta was acting like Jake's therapist.

"Like what?" Jake asked, for lack of a more diplomatic response.

"Well, I know the last few months can't have been easy for you. Being the only Federation citizen on the station during the current crisis would be hard enough..." Weyoun sighed. "Without being the son of a notorious war criminal."

Jake practically erupted out of his seat. "My father is not a war criminal!"

The Jem'Hader went from statue still to viper swift, reaching for their weapons. Weyoun stilled them with a single gesture. "That's a matter of perspective, don't you think?" The Vorta opined, handing Jake a strangely angular Dominion style PADD.

"What's this?" Jake asked skeptically.

"A report of a recent... incident in our space." Weyoun circled the desk. "Apparently, someone used a stolen Dominion vessel to infiltrate one of our primary Ketracel-white storage facilities and plant ninety isotons of enriched ultritium explosives, destroying the entire complex. Sound like anyone you know?"

That certainly sounded like something Jake's dad would pull. He fought down a smirk of pride lest he compromise his journalistic objectivity. "How's that a war crime?"

"Tell me, Jake..." Weyoun leaned over the desk. "Have you ever watched a Jem'Hadar die of Ketracel-white withdrawal?"

Jake's voice was small. "No."

"I have," whispered Weyoun cooly. "It's a slow, agonizing death."

Perhaps Jake imagined it, but he could have sworn he saw one of the Vorta's Jem'Hadar guards tensed imperceptibly.

"A death to which your father has condemned countless brave Dominion troops." Weyoun continued. "Worse... I'm troubled to find Captain Sisko's brutality extends even to your own people."

"What are you even talking about?!" Jake asked contemptuously.

Weyoun grabbed a spare PADD, reading mechanically. "Stardate 50488: Captain Sisko authorizes the deployment of two trilithium resin warheads against a Maquis colony on Solosos III, rendering the entire planet uninhabitable to human life."

Jake threw his hands up. "Okay, that sounds worse than it really was. Besides, the Dominion exterminated the Maquis!"

"Come now, Jake. Don't resort to petty whataboutism," tutted Weyoun. "You're better than that."

"Now to be fair, there's no way to be sure Captain Sisko was actually in command of our stolen vessel," Weyoun continued. "Especially after it was destroyed."

Jake's gut went cold. "What?"

"Is that not in there?" Weyoun asked, wrinkling his nose at the PADD in Jake's hand. "Terrible how standards fall during wartime."

It's a trick, thought Jake. The Vorta was playing mind games with him. Just breathe. "Are we done here? I have to cover Vedek Yassim's memorial at the Bajoran Temple in half an hour."

Weyoun's brow furrowed in confusion for a moment, trying to place the name. "Ah Yes. So tragic, that poor disturbed woman," the Vorta sighed with exaggerated sorrow. "I wonder what drove her to it?"

Jake rose to leave before he said something that would probably get him shot.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Weyoun called.

Jake's own PADD chirped as a new file forcibly downloaded itself from the station's main computer core. "What's this?"

"My own copy of your articles," answered Weyoun. "Along with a few... suggested edits."

Jake regarded the PADD, stony-faced. His eyes met the Vorta's, twin violet stars set over a blank empty smile.

"See you soon, Jake."

The End?