Vortex (DS9 episode)

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"Vortex" is the 11th episode in the first season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Quick Overview: A visitor from the Gamma Quadrant claims he has met a Changeling before.

A visitor from the Gamma Quadrant attempts to steal a valuable item that Quark is buying from a pair of twin Miradorn, but Odo stops him. The remaining Miradorn vows to kill the man who shot his brother. Once the visitor, who introduces himself as Crodon, is in a holding cell, he makes several comments to Odo regarding Changelings. This piques Odo's interest, as he has never encountered another shape shifter.

Crodon claims to have met one before. Crodon's motives are suspect as he never divulges anything outright, but he claims there were once shape shifters on his homeworld. According to Crodon, they were persecuted and driven off the planet; however, he may know of a place where they still exist. Odo is not fooled by the fact that Crodon conveniently cannot give directions but can find his way to this place himself. However, Crodon gives Odo a necklace with a stone that changes shape.

Sisko and Dax meanwhile try to contact Crodon's homeworld about what to do with him. Apparently highly xenophobic, one of their leaders demands Crodon's return. Sisko tells the man that a runabout will return with Crodon aboard in the next 52 hours.

Back on the station, Crodon claims that he happened upon an uncharted colony of Changelings in a nebula he calls the Vortex and that he knows his way back to it. Sisko has other plans and gives Odo the assignment of bringing Crodon back to his homeworld. Odo takes Crodon in a runabout and manages to slip by the Miradorn's ship without being detected, but the Miradorn, still bent on killing Crodon, forces Quark to tell him where Crodon went.

During the trip to Crodon's homeworld, he drops hints and is persistent about the Vortex, knowing Odo wants to find his people. The ship suddenly shakes; the Miradorn has fired on it while Odo was distracted with Crodon's story. The Miradorn hails Odo and orders him to surrender his prisoner, and when he refuses, the Miradorn ship attacks the runabout. As Odo says in trying to evade the Miradorn, "I'm a security officer, not a combat pilot!" Crodon says he can maneuver the ship through the Vortex and that the gases might hide it.

In trying to avoid the Miradorn, Crodon is forced to land the runabout in order to keep the other ship from finding it. Once on the asteroid on which Crodon spoke of before, Odo demands to know if any of the stories were true. Crodon admits that on his homeworld people tell stories about Changelings but he has never met one and he does not know where the stone came from. However, his daughter is in a stasis chamber on the asteroid. Ultimately, Crodon decides to answer for his crime on his homeworld but Odo finds a Vulcan ship that agrees to take Crodon and his daughter back to Vulcan with it.

[edit] Guest Stars

• Cliff De Young as Croden
• Randy Oglesby as Ah-Kel / Ro-Kel
• Max Grodénchik as Rom
• Gordon Clapp as Exarch
• Kathleen Garrett as Vulcan Captain
• Leslie Engelberg as Yareth
• Majel Barrett as Computer Voice
• Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn

Preceded by: "The Nagus"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes

Followed by: "Battle Lines"