The Hundred

[Sorehl 0]

The following takes place in the day(s) following the renegade Jem'Hadar attack on Excalibur and Camelot Station.

 

“The Hundred.” Sorehl stood as he began his portion of the briefing to Admiral Day and Captain J’Cin in the Excalibur conference room. Several other members of the senior staff lined the table. Through the viewports behind him, the central core of Camelot Station buzzed with engineering workpods busy with construction. “What we know of them comes largely from intelligence records provided by former DS9 security chief Odo, who remains in protected isolation among the Great Link.”

 

Having cited his source, the Vulcan captain pressed on. “To protect their seclusion while indulging their curiosity about the universe, the Founders sent one hundred infant changlings forth to explore the remote corners of our galaxy. Each was implanted with a powerful homing instinct which would, in time, return them to Dominion-controlled space.” While such details could be gleaned from the library computer, Sorehl knew the admiral would be looking for further assessment.

 

“According to his account,” Sorehl continued, “Odo was the first of these Hundred to return – many decades ahead of schedule. Presumably, the Bajoran wormhole had not factored into their time table.

 

“In 2375, a second member of this group was encountered by DS9 personnel. Details of this encounter are provided in the Laas dossier.” Sorehl gestured toward the image on the portside screen, which also changed with the tabletop display. “Laas had no previous knowledge of the Founders and had never before encountered another shapeshifter. After a brief stay at DS9, he departed to the Koralis system and to parts unknown. To our knowledge, he made no contact with the Founders.”

 

Now, of course, came the analysis.

 

“The invoking of ‘the Hundred’ by the renegade contingent suggests that one or more of this group have somehow co-opted control of Jem’Hadar units away from ‘loyalist’ Vorta control. This suggests that the Vorta need us far more desperately than we originally suspected.”

 

“How so?” Admiral Day asked.

 

“We know that the Founders are in isolation during this time of post-war turmoil in their Link.”

 

“Right,” Day acknowledged, “Semil said the Vorta have been entrusted as ‘stewards’ of the Dominion, with orders to pursue no aggressive new initiatives.”

 

“And we know they are strict orders not to disturb the privacy of the Founders,” Sorehl added.

 

“We learned that firsthand,” J’Cin observed.

 

“The Jem’Hadar, however, have no real loyalty to the Vorta beyond the dispensation of ketrecel white,” Sorehl noted. “Their loyalty is to the Founders, although most have never seen one.” The Vulcan clasp his hands behind his back, hesitating.

 

Day let a slight smirk trail across his lips. “You have something more to say, captain?”

 

“My next comments are… conjectural in nature.”

 

“Go on,” Day permitted, “that’s why they pay your latinum in ingots.”

 

If he disagreed with the idiom, Sorehl didn’t show it. “If a shapeshifter appeared and demanded a Dominion ship change its orders,” he posed, “what would stop him?”

 

A brief silence descended on the room.

 

“Jem’Hadar devotion is genetically embedded,” Lieutenant Hawthorne offered. His pre-war experiences in the Gamma Quadrant had brought him into early contact with the Dominion. “I doubt a Vorta overseer could dissuade them.”

 

“Indeed,” Sorehl agreed. “Such a situation may never have arisen in their two-thousand year history. The nature of the Founders suggests a constant unanimity in their actions.”

 

“So some young upstart walks in and asks for the keys to the kingdom,” J’Cin posed, “and they give it to him?”

 

“Even more so if his parents are out of town,” Hawthorne surmised.

 

“Colloquial,” Sorehl noted, “but apt.”

 

The admiral leaned in toward both captain and lieutenant. “That means he agrees with you,” Day translated. Leaning back, he offered his own question. “So the Hundred may be trying to take over the Dominion while the Founders are otherwise occupied. Why does this make us more valuable to the loyalist Vorta?”

 

Sorehl blinked. “We cannot be converted.”

 

Day folded his arms. Not good, he reasoned. He had no intention of fighting Dominion battles for them. “But why would the rebels attack us in the first place?” Day thought aloud. “If they’re looking for civil war, why drag us in?”

 

“Uncertain,” Sorehl admitted. “But the preparedness of the Dominion response is something to take note of.”

 

J’Cin nodded. “It does seem funny that Semil had a task force waiting less than twenty minutes away.”

 

“ 'Funny' is not the word I would have chosen,” Sorehl observed, “but it does strain the limits of probability somewhat.”

 

“They knew we would draw them out,” Day concluded, rubbing his chin. "They used the station as bait." He eyed the other officers around the conference table. “Tell me I’m not going to regret taking this assignment…”