Author's note: I still own nothing. Thanks to my two reviewers. Reviews make me happy. Actually I haven't been able to see the second one yet. Maybe it's a flame. Oh well, that would be all right, too. Also, based on information I received recently, I changed the timeline of the story to seven months after Odo comes to the Great Link.

Dominion Headquarters was located on a space station that orbited a small, densely forested planet. Over half the planet appeared to be water, but all the available land was covered in a thick carpet of green. When Luaren appeared at his door to escort him to the airlock, he questioned her about it.

"This is Kurill Prime," she informed him.

"The Vorta homeworld?" Odo asked with some surprise.

With a small smile, Luaren replied, "That's right."

As they walked towards the airlock, Odo inquired, "Why are the Dominion's headquarters here? Is Kurill Prime an important planet?"

"No," Luaren said, shaking her head. "In fact, Kurill Prime's only contribution to the Dominion is my people. Headquarters were moved here after we lost the war with the Federation. Kurill is deep within Dominion territory and unlikely to be attacked. It seemed a wise move."

"Did you expect an attack?"

She shrugged slightly and said, "We did not know what to expect. The Dominion has never lost a war and there are those who might take advantage of the fact that we have."

"Hm." Odo only nodded, as they had reached the airlock.

Luaren stopped and inclined her head in respect. "I must leave you here, Odo," she said. "A delegation will meet you on the station. It was a pleasure to serve you." With those words, she turned and strode away.

Odo took a moment to gather himself and then stepped through the airlock. True to Luaren's word, a small group of Vorta was waiting for him on the other side. One stepped forward, bowed slightly, and introduced himself, "I am Teeren. Welcome to DHNQ-1. Would you like to oversee administrative matters immediately or rest for awhile?"

Odo raised his eyebrows and asked, "Is there something pressing that needs my attention?"

"No," Teeren replied smoothly. "Nothing pressing. But there is something that demands your attention before we act."

"I see." Odo mulled the response over for a moment before saying, "If you don't mind, I'd like to look around before doing anything."

"Of course," Teeren answered. "I'll show you around myself." A small motion from him prompted the other Vorta to disband and he led Odo to a turbolift, which sped into the heart of the station. Neither of them spoke for several minutes until Odo felt compelled to ask, "Everything's going well here, I hope?"

"Oh yes," Teeren replied, a note of eagerness entering his voice. "Reconstruction of the army is proceeding nicely since most of the Jem'Hadar hatcheries survived the war. I'm afraid, however, that the Vorta population is a bit low at the moment. Rondac 3 was an important cloning facility and we still haven't quite recovered. But that's a minor point. Otherwise, our trading alliances are still intact and we've been able to maintain our intelligence network. Ah, here we are." The turbolift jolted to a stop and they stepped into an empty, gray corridor with only three doors in it. Without saying a word, Teeren led him into the most dimly lit of the three. A low hum permeated the room and there seemed to be no overhead lighting--the only illumination came from tall cases lining the walls, which gave off a faint, bluish glow. Odo moved closer to one of the cases, curious, and as he drew near, he began to be able to make out a vaguely humanoid shape, though the limbs seemed somehow stunted and incomplete. Then, suddenly, with startling force, he knew what this was. He fell back and faced Teeren, exclaiming, "They're clones!"

The Vorta nodded. "Yes. I didn't think you'd ever seen any of our cloning facilities before, and it seemed important that you did on this trip."

Odo didn't answer as he instead slowly walked around the room, peering at the cases--or perhaps, more appropriately, tanks, because the blue glow was given off by some sort of liquid. "This is where you come from?" Odo asked, shocked by the scene in the room. He'd of course known the Vorta were clones, but to actually see it like this was jarring. They were all in various stages of growth, from undifferentiated fetus to mature…adult? "All Vorta are…born this way?"

Teeren nodded. "All of us. Vorta don't…reproduce."

"Why not?"

"It's forbidden." Teeren didn't go on, even though Odo's interest was piqued by the information. "Do you wish to stay here longer, or--"

His sentence was interrupted by the appearance of another Vorta in the doorway, and Odo exclaimed, "You!"

Her lavender eyes dropped to the floor, but she moved into the room and approached Teeren. "Am I to be allowed…?"

"Not now," he said quietly. "Odo would like to look around the station first."

"If you don't mind," Odo began, "I'd like to hear what she has to say."

The new Vorta turned to him and genuflected, saying, "I'm honored you remember me."

"It would be hard to forget the first member of the Dominion I ever encountered, Eris." Odo scrutinized her closely, but she didn't meet his gaze. "I gather you had something to ask me?"

"It isn't a matter that concerns only me," she said, "I'm simply the one that…brought up the question."

"Go on."

A barely audible breath was the only thing to indicate Eris' nervousness before she began, "You know, of course, that the Rondac 3 cloning facility was destroyed, and you may also know that all of Weyoun's clones were gestating there."

"Weyoun?" Odo started at the name--it had been the last thing he'd expected to hear. "What does he have to do with anything? Wasn't Weyoun Eight the last?"

"The last fully mature clone, yes," Eris responded, her voice calm and unwavering. "But his DNA was on file."

"I have a feeling I know what you're getting at," Odo interjected. "You'd like to clone him again?"

"Actually, no," Teeren spoke up. He gestured to the tank directly behind him. "We'd like to activate him."