Itak'Etan was not dead. It was either that or the races who believed in the afterlife were right. But if this was heaven, or hell, it was a very odd one. He had confused memories. He remembered voices, he remembered probes. He had flashes where blurred images of other people interacted with him but he could not focus on any of them. However, they were familiar to him, they were Dominion, he thought. He made an effort to order his mind. He could picture clearly the transporter room and being fired upon and then, later, no matter how hard he tried, he could not be sure.
But he was not dead, because he could still remember. He tried to open his eyes, with certain trepidation. A wall, or a celing, welcomed him. It was one he recognized. The ones of the Dominion's bases. He tried to move. As he did, he remembered fighting restrains. He first thought it was from when he was a prisoner in Cardassia, but he could not place it.
Anyway, he was now free. As he turned around, he realized he was in one of the rooms where the Vortas lived, instead of the ones he had always shared with his fellow Jem'Hadar. He was in a bed. He had never used one before. Jem'Hadars did not sleep. But he had been unconcious, he realized it now, and he was still not fully awake. Was he drugged?
Then he noticed the other presence in the room and sprang to his feet. The realization finally cleared his mind and his body answered him with the precision that was expected from it.
He stared for a single moment at the humanoid alien who gazed at him from the opposite side of the room. It belonged to no species he had learned about. Somehow, the face that contemplated him was unnaturaly expresionless, as if it had not been entirely formed. If so, it was deliberate.
Because no matter what form the shapeshifters would take, he could always recognize their true identitiy. After all, he had been engineered to do so by the very being that looked upon him now, and these beings could perfectly mimic any solid form they wished to, even if their nature was very different. They were better. They were superior. They were the ones he was supposed to serve. Were they gods?
Anyway, there was only a way he could address the apparently humanoid man.
"Founder," he said as he stood at attention.
"Hello, Itak'Etan," said the changeling in a gruffy voice. "I'm Odo."
Itak'Etan was taken aback. Founders hardly ever spoke directly to them. They always used the Vortas instead. And even to the Vortas, Founders were Founders. They did not have a name and if they did, they were not allowed to know it.
"I'm glad to finally meet you," the Founder called Odo was saying. "We have a lot to talk about. And a lot of work to do together, if you wish."
If you wish. Itak'Etan echoed the words in his mind, trying to understand. He did not have to wish, he had to obey. Was he really dead, after all, and this was paradise to him?
Odo had been watching Itak'Etan for a very long time, waiting for him to wake up. Actually, he had been monitoring him since he was transported back to Dominion space and he had taken a personal interest in him and his fellow formed prisoners since he learnt of their existence.
He needed to gain Itak'Etan's trust and he had not given him a nice welcome, precisely. He had decided it was better if Gelnaan greeted them, since that was what they were used to and he did not want to stress them unnecessarily. He had also told the Vorta he had to sedate them so they could be monitored, as the Link had decided. He had not expected Gelnaan to fire upon them in order to accomplish that. He should have know better and clarify his instructions, but he still expected things to work as they did in Deep Space 9. Gelnaan had apologized profusely when Odo had rebuked him. He did not intent any harm but the damage was done.
When the Great Link learned of the existance of the prisoners and their impending return, the first thought had been to kill them inmediately. After all, Jem'Hadars were disposable and these ones had probably been weakened by their imprisonment. It was not worth keeping them. But Odo was apalled and could not allow it. Most changelings had never left the Link. Their ideas about the outer world they controled, about the solid beings whose lives they ruled, were limited. But Odo had dwelled among them and had learned to understand, respect, even love them. He was just a drop in the ocean, but that drop was the full ocean. He had been taught that and it was true. So he shared his particular idea with the rest of his people and it spread, and settled, and became that of the Link.
Still, the Great Link decided that the returned soldiers could not simply be asigned duty with their fellow Jem'Hadar. First, they would be examined. Gelnaan, their liason with the Federation, was the Vorta asigned to carry out the study. But Odo could not remain still. He volunteered to become solid again and personally supervise them. No one could stop him.
Since he had joined the Great Link, Odo had tried to change his fellow changelings and the Dominion for the better. He, just as any one of them, also wanted to bring order to chaos. He realized he had struggled for that all his life. But the years spent among Bajorans and other solids had made him unique, he had a different concept of what was order and what was chaos. The totalitarian ways of the Link apalled him. He wanted to end them.
He was not sure what he was expecting when he decided to meet Itak'Etan and the other former prisoners, but he certainly got much more than he wished for. He thought of a different expression. He had more than he bargained for. And the commercial expression reminded him of Quark. He had to admit he missed him. He missed everyone in Deep Space 9. Especially, Nerys. And now, in the solid form he had always kept when he lived among them, the feeling grew stronger. Sometimes he thought of going back to the Bajoran station, if only for a short visit. Then, he remembered why he had returned to his people, why it was so important that he stayed.
When he learnt the returned Jem'Hadar were free of the adiction, he was positively surprised. Then, he used the mind techniques at his disposal to play scenarios with them and learn of their ideas. The Great Link wanted to know if they could return to duty, but as he discovered the particular views the returned Jem'Hadar shared, he realized he wanted much more. Itak'Etan and his comrades spoke of freedom, of forming a new society apart from the Founders. He had a different plan. They could form a new society, the Founders and the Jem'Hadars, and the Vortas, together.
It was a dream that finally could become true. Years before, when that Jem'Hadar child had been stranded in Deep Space Nine, he had tried in vain to teach him a different way of life, but his aggressive nature and his adiction had overcome his efforts. He had failed. Reltan, however, had been successful. Itak'Etan was the Jem'Hadar he had hoped for.
He had not told the other changelings what he had learnt about the returned Jem'Hadar yet. He needed time. He needed to speak with Itak'Etan and his comrades first. He needed to find an agreement with them. He needed to order his thoughts well so he could convey them to the Link. So he could be successful.
But he was the drop. He was the ocean. And he was turning the tide.