The peace delegation, as well as thirty-two Cardassian politicians and military, were ushered from the Great Hall to the government building next door with their hands on their heads. A squad of thirty Jem'Hadar surrounded them. Gelnon walked up front with the Cardassian politicians who had bowed in loyalty to the Dominion, with Tegril at the lead. Stunned Cardassian citizens, seeing their leaders walking willingly with the Dominion, only stared.

"Do you know why they are moving us?" Picard asked Councilman Gerak, who was walking next to him.

Gerak thought a moment. He had spent several years as a tailor on Deep Space Nine. The absence had blurred his memory somewhat. Eventually, he replied, "If I remember correctly, the government building has its own power supply and a shielding system."

"It does, indeed," Gelnon confirmed, turning around with a knowing smile. He tugged on his elongated earlobes. "It's the hearing. I can't help but eavesdrop." He allowed his pace to slow until Picard and Gerak had caught up with him. "It also has the added benefit of having a large audience chambed several levels below ground. I assure you, everyone will be quite safe...even if a foolish rescue operation is mounted." Gerak stared at him disgustedly, but surprisingly, said nothing.

The group walked into the government building, an immense structure made of an obsidian like material and a dark red, rough hewn stone. "Chief Councilman Tegril," Gelnon announced, "if you'd please lead us down below. Our guests will be staying in the main audience chamber."

Although Ross turned his head slightly, he refused to look up. "I understand," he said quietly. Through the gathering of Cardassians in the building, Ross and the dozen other collaborating councilmembers lead the Jem'Hadar and their prisoners to a large flight of stairs.

Picard leaned closer towards Gelnon, drawing the attention of two Jem'Hadar soldiers, who raised their weapons. "You realize your presence here violates our treaty."

"I believe, in the end, the Founders will reward my diligence." He replied with a smile. "After all, it was their idea to conquer this area of space."

"They were defeated, Gelnon," Picard countered cautiously, "and their ideas were defeated with them."

"They may have tasted temporary defeat, Admiral," he continued with a distant smile, "but it wasn't at your hand, was it? It was the result of the plague against our Founders."

"The Dominion had lost. The resistance had broken the Dominion's hold on Cardassia Prime, the Breen weapon was no longer effective, reinforcements had been cut off. You had lost. You stand to gain nothing by being here."

"Well, truth be told, Admiral, our presence here isn't entirely by choice." The group walked down several flights of stairs until they were four levels under the main floor. "During the fight for Cardassia Prime, my cruiser was damaged. The warp drive overloaded as we reached the Orias system. Believe it or not, I had planned to transfer myself and my crew to another ship and leave. That is, until I found out our Founder had allowed herself to be captured by the Federation. Instead, we set up a base of operations using what was left of the Tal'Shiar and Obsidian Order remains."

"Tal'Shiar? Obsidian Order?" Admiral Picard had heard unofficial reports of some kind of joint mission, but no details.

Gelnon narrowed his purple eyes. "Don't play innocent with me, Picard. It was a widely publicized operation, once it failed. They joined forces to launch a pre-emptive strike mission against the Founders' homeworld. It was, I'm afraid, a disastrous failure for them. It did, however, enlighten us to certain technologies the alpha quadrant possessed. I'm happy to say we've been able to put some of them to good use." He smiled evilly.

"So... I suppose this some kind of vendetta you're satisfying?" Picard asked as they walked into a large meeting room. Jem'Hadar began moving out the tables and chairs. It was a large room, nearly twelve meters wide and ten meters long. A large viewscreen adorned the front and back walls. Wide double-doors were placed in the center of each of the side walls.

"Vendetta?" Gelnon scoffed. "Far from. We mean to reclaim our hold on the Cardassians, which was part of our original plan. We also want our Founder back. Once we are well established here, we'll make our demands for her." Gelnon seemed quite pleased with himself. He motioned towards the floor. "If you would, Admiral, please sit down. I realize it's a bit undignified, but such are the times we live in."

Picard, along with the other prisoners, sat down at the beckoning of Gelnon with his Jem'Hadar warriors. "And what do you intend to do with the Starfleet vessel that will be returning within the hour?"

"I doubt they'll be returning, Admiral." Gelnon replied while tapping his fingers together. "You see, we were the ones who put the distress signal in the commander's comm badge. We have a little surprise waiting for them in the Orias system." He shrugged, his smile almost giddy, "Besides, even if some part of them is able to limp back here... that's why we have you."

Picard knew the mentality of Starfleet. He knew how paranoid they would be once they were faced with the knowledge of a Dominion presence back in the alpha quadrant. They wouldn't stand for it. Picard was going to have to continue his dialogue with Gelnon or with Tegril and encourage one of them get force the Dominion to leave. "I think you are overestimating our worth, Gelnon," he commented gravely.

"We'll see," Gelnon countered as he turned to leave. He stopped short of the door. "Besides, we'll have plenty of time to fortify our positions. I have yet to see a single Federation starship that can withstand the firepower from two Dominion battle cruisers." He continued for the door.

Now it was Jean Luc's turn to smile. "You're about to."