For I have Tasted the Fruit

[Cptn Corizon 0]

"Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life...." ~ Genesis, Chapter 3, 23-24

Weyoun sat quietly, emotionless as the transport lurched to warp beneath him. He'd journeyed so far to once again be in the presence of the Female Changeling, his god. Yet, he'd come no closer to the answers he'd so desperately desired.

 

Vorta did not have what most humanoids would consider parents, they were clones after all; however, he'd always considered the Female Changeling to be more than just his god – she was his mother. It was she who'd given him life, she who'd led him through so much trial and strife, and she who provided constant wisdom for him so that he might please the gods and earn his life. Suddenly, he understood so much better the feeling, the rush that it must give the Jem'Hadar when they connected a vial of White and felt the very breath of the gods course through their bodies.

 

It was in deed true that for the Vorta, the White was the instruction of the Founders. They had been breed to serve, but without masters, without their gods they starved in painful, guilt ridden withdrawal. Unlike the Jem'Hadar though, they could physically live without the 'white' of the Founder's Guidance. Perhaps that is why it had been so... painful to endure.

 

Now as the Earth and the only true Founder that could give him guidance shrank in the distance, he felt pangs of hurt, jealousy and a sudden desire to be with her once more. It had been harder for him than say, Keevan or even Semil. They didn't understand. For so long, he had been at the right hand of the Gods, ever in their presence, and so suddenly that relationship was gone.

 

When they'd reawaken him as Weyoun 10, he had many of the memories of the last Weyoun, including the time spent with the Founder in this wretched, foul quadrant that his god was forever imprisoned in; then to find that he could not only not commune in with her but to find that all of the Founders, save for the 'Hundred,' had cut themselves off from the Vorta had been... almost unbearable.

 

Of course when the chance arose that he could see her again, at the beginning of the Scorpiad Conflict, he had felt like a child who'd lost his mother in crowded market and been found. The wisdom she had given him, the insight had been utterly astonishing and his hope in life had been restored, any faith in the Founders that had been lost returned ten fold. Leaving then had been one of the hardest things he'd

ever had to do in his ten life-times, but it had been for the good of the Dominion. She had tasked him with the fate of her creation. She had once again placed her faith in him, and it pleased him greatly.

 

He'd done as she asked. He found Taenix. The Scorpiads had been defeated. The Dominion was not safe. In that, he once again returned through the wormhole in failure to once more beseech her for guidance. That had taken quite of bit of diplomacy on his part. The Federation had been reluctant, resistant to allow him to see her the first time the request had been made. They'd been pertinacious in their rebuke of the second request, despite the blessings of the Starfleet officers at Camelot Station.

 

Finally, three weeks ago they'd relented. They agreed to allow him to speak once more to the Founder in her cell at the ultra-high security prison on New Zealand, Earth. Though they cautioned that this could be the last time they allowed such an interaction, and noted that they would be moving her to another facility, whose location would not be disclosed.

 

It actually made him smirk. The Federation was so utterly predictable. They assumed they held her against her will. There was little doubt in his mind that if the Founder so choose, which a small, tiny portion of him desired more than anything else in life, she could and would free herself from their chains and return to the Gamma Quadrant to be with her people once more.

 

When he arrived at her cell, his heart had filled with hope as he felt the eminence of the gods once more. For both of them, it was a welcome reunion. Though she would not admit it openly, she had missed Weyoun. He was so loyal, so kind, so caring. His entire life had been dedicated to one purpose and one alone – serving the Founders, and she missed that. She missed her old life. Her people. Weyoun deeply missed the commune.

 

He told her of the war, of Taenix and how the combined forces of the Alpha Quadrant and the Dominion and the Hundred had defeated the Scorpiads. It had pleased her that her children had so deftly fought of the old nemesis of her people. It gave her renewed faith in what Odo had taught her about the humans and gave her hope that someday she could commune once more with the Great Link without fear of the Solids.

 

Weyoun couldn't help but be pleased. He lived for no other purpose than to see his gods happy. Sadly, he could not bring her just good news. Gravely, he'd told her of the turmoil that was now beginning to spread across her glorious creation; without the Founders the Vorta were lost, they had little direction, the people of the Dominion grew weary as the Vorta struggled to rebuild on their own, and the Hundred were stirring ideas of dangerous proportions, all the while the Founders were no where to be found. They'd abandoned their people. Weyoun had hoped secretly that she would tell him where to find Odo and the rest, surely she knew... or that she would return with him to bring order to the chaos.

 

His heart sank when she offered neither in response. Her words echoed in his head as his transport headed for home.

 

“My dear Weyoun,” she'd said, placing her hand on his face. “You have served me better than any Vorta I have ever remembered.”

 

“Of course, Founder,” he'd said, his pale eyes taking her in. “What would you have me do Founder?”

 

“You must return to the Council and tell them to decide for themselves how best to proceed. I cannot leave and return, nor will I tell you where to find Odo and the Link. Perhaps the humans will find themf or you, but I feel that even then... he will tell you what I am about to tell you as well...

 

“It is time for my people to step back and grow. We have hated for so long. We have feared solids. We need to change, for our own sake. It will take time Weyoun. Eventually we will return to the Dominion, to our most loyal subjects, but that time is not now. You must learn to carry on in our place.”

 

“But Founder...” he said, caught in a whirlwind of emotions. “We cannot...”

 

“You are stronger than you know,” she said. “You will, in time become strong enough.”

 

“But what if they turn to the Hundred?”

 

She frowned. “They will find their leadership a poor substitute for the true wisdom of the Founders and Great Link. If the Federation succeeds in their mission, if Excalibur does locate Odo and the Great Link, he will make Eloi understand.”

 

“And we will still be on our own...”

 

“Yes,” she said, moving off. “You will find your place Weyoun.”

 

“The Founders are wise in all things...”

 

At first, after he’d left the presence of the Founder, he’d felt, and it still was shameful for him to say, betrayed. How could the god he served so diligently, so selflessly just abandon him and her creation, just as Odo had? The feelings were so dirty. Even the defective Weyoun clone had never questioned the love of the Founders for their creations, never felt used as he did now. The distance between he and the Founders gradually increased and suddenly his feelings of resentment and abandonment faded to a wanting desire to suddenly be with her again.

 

That was when the true wisdom of the Founders had begun sinking in to his brain. She truly was his, and the rest of the Vorta, mother. It was like the mother bird who nudged her baby out of the nest for the first time, letting them fly on their own.

 

If that were the case, it would be a massive challenge for his people. As it stood, they could barely stand on their own, let alone lead the Dominion back to glory. That was to say nothing of the fact his people couldn’t even reproduce. Though, thankfully, his people were among the most ingenious in the galaxy. They had the rare evolutionary advantage of being bred as scientists and geneticists.

 

They would survive. They would triumph. The Dominion would stand once again as the mighty testament to the wisdom of the Founders. Of that, Weyoun would see to with his every breath.

 

The female changeling sighed heavily to herself as the images of Weyoun faded into memory. Her finest creation, her most loyal servant. She had not the heart to tell him that the days of the Dominion were over. The time of Founders had passed into history. No longer would their rule over the solids continue. Odo was right. The time of hate had ended.

 

It would take, for the solids, lifetimes before the Changelings of the Great Link were ready to return to the world of solids. The Dominion would crumble in their absence, but such causalities were acceptable to her and the Link. They had made the Dominion to protect themselves and they no longer needed it. What they needed was time.

 

Odo had been wise to follow her suggestion to him; he had taken the Link faraway from the influence of the Dominion, away from the dangers that lurked in shadows. Many generations ago, when the Scorpiads had nearly eradicated them, they had journeyed far into the heart of the Quadrant to a place known only to the Link, hidden deeply away from prying eyes. There the Great Link would endure.

 

For all of her platitudes towards Weyoun, that was all she cared about. The Dominion would fall and fade into chaotic twilight, but the Link would survive.