Behind the Lines ( episode ) When Kira ' s resistance cell learns that the Dominion will soon be bringing down the Federation ' s minefield , they plot to hinder the enemy ' s progress . But matters are complicated when the Female Changeling arrives on Terok Nor and pays Odo a visit . Meanwhile , Captain Sisko is relieved of command of the " Defiant " while Jadzia commands it on a mission . Summary . Teaser . The and her crew are now operating out of Starbase 375 conducting short - range missions into Dominion space . In a ritual that ' s evolved over time , Captain Benjamin Sisko takes a discharged power cell that had been used in the phaser array and lays it on a rack on the mess hall wall and makes a short speech . Everyone applauds . Admiral William Ross interrupts to tell Sisko that Starfleet Intelligence has discovered a massive sensor array near the Argolis Cluster which explains the Dominion ' s uncanny ability to always know where Federation starship s are . It can detect ships from five sectors away . Ross orders Sisko to come up with an attack plan by 0800 the next morning . On Terok Nor , the Dominion - occupation name for Deep Space 9 , Rom and Major Kira have arranged to put Cardassian officer Damar ' s PADD into the possession of the Jem ' Hadar . In it , Damar proposes poison ing the last ration of ketracel - white , because if the Dominion lines through the Gamma Quadrant don ' t open up , the Jem ' Hadar will run amok after all the white is gone . Some Jem ' Hadar confront Damar in Quark ' s and a riot breaks out , which is more than Kira and Rom had hoped . Act One . In the aftermath of the bar fight , which has left some fatalities , Gul Dukat and Weyoun argue about how the unfortunate situation arose , with each defending his own . Weyoun tells Gul Dukat that the two of them must look like allies in front of their subordinates . Odo suggest ' s getting everyone out of the bar . Weyoun agrees . Odo continues to look around himself alertly . On Starbase 375 at 0800 , Sisko notes that the Dominion ' s Argolis Array can detect cloak ed ships up to two light year s away and proposes approaching the array through the Argolis Cluster itself . With the gravimetric distortion s it will be difficult but he is confident that the " Defiant " s crew can manage it . Admiral Ross approves the plan . The " Defiant " will leave as soon as current repairs are complete . Back on the station , Odo confronts Kira over the Damar PADD operation . He reminds her that at the last resistance meeting he vetoed the idea to give Damar ' s PADD to the Jem ' Hadar , but Kira tells him that after he ' d immediately dismissed the idea and walked out she , Jake and Rom discussed it further and decided it was worth doing , and Kira is pleased that it worked even better than expected . Odo reminds her that if Dukat found out that she was behind it he ' d use it as an excuse to throw all the Bajorans off the station when he ' s doing what he can to make sure Bajor survives the war which the Federation Alliance is losing . Kira accuses Odo of taking his role on the station ' s Ruling Council too seriously , as if he were genuinely more interested in the smooth operation of the station than in defeating the Dominion , but when asked tells him she isn ' t questioning his loyalty . The Female Changeling enters and asks Kira to leave . Act Two . She says that she ' s trapped in the Alpha Quadrant because of the minefield which has been blocking the wormhole and that she needs to see others of her kind . She and Odo argue over their past and Odo specifically mentions the punishment he received from her several years earlier . She replies that the past is over . Back on Starbase 375 , Admiral Ross informs Sisko that has been promoted to command of the Seventh Tactical Wing and that Sisko is to replace her immediately as his adjutant . Accordingly , Jadzia Dax will now captain the " Defiant " . Ross orders Sisko to review some tactical reports and present an opinion on the Bolian operation at 0600 . After a meeting of the Ruling Council concludes , the Female Changeling enters . She is most concerned about the minefield and this is the first thing she says to Dukat . Weyoun of course supports her and adds his own opinion on the matter , saying thousands of ships are waiting . Dukat brushes it off , saying that even without reinforcements from the Gamma Quadrant they ' re still winning the war . She demands it be brought down , and Weyoun instantly submits and removes himself from her presence . The Female Changeling turns to Odo , asking to walk with him back to his quarters . She asks him about the strange solid behavior that he has to put up with all the time . They go to Odo ' s quarters and with probing questions , she manages to get Odo to admit that he ' s in love with Kira and she concludes that that is the reason that Odo remains with the solids . He unburdens himself of the torture of his unrequited love . The Female Changeling is sympathetic and she offers to link , saying that that is what Odo really needs . They link . Act Three . Some time later , Kira finds Odo in his quarters . He seems to be in another world but at peace . He admits to linking with the Female Changeling to Kira , who becomes quite angry . Odo tries to reassure her and tells her that linking is not about information exchange ( which might give away her resistance cell ) . It is about thought and form and feeling . Kira says that it is about manipulation . She tells Odo that the Female Changeling is not trustworthy . Odo thinks that perhaps he can convince her to call off the war . He admits that he is mostly just curious about himself and his people . Kira understands this but says that now is not the time for self - reflection . Odo promises not to link with her again , at least not until the war is over . Sisko visits the bridge of the Defiant , and has a uncomfortable conversation with Jadzia who is sitting in the Captain ' s chair . Later , he watches through a window , as the ship leaves without him . Damar , acting more full of himself than he usually does , orders a 2327 Kanar from Quark . He can afford it now that he ' s been promoted to gul . Quark knows that Damar knows something important and manages , eventually , to ferret it out with free drinks . Later , an obviously drunk Quark intrudes on Kira ' s resistance cell meeting . Jake , Rom and Odo are also there . Quark says that he ' s had enough of the Dominion and Cardassians . In tears , he says he wants the Federation back ; he wants to sell root beer again . When he ' s done with the self - pity , Quark says that Damar has found a way to deactivate the self - replicating mine s . Act Four . It is something about the deflector array . Rom figures that the secret is an anti - graviton beam , which the deflector array could be reconfigured to generate . There ' s one way to disable the deflector array : by accessing the electro - plasma system feed and overloading the waveguide . But getting to the EPS feed will set off an alarm , as it is in a secured conduit . So they plan for Odo to take the alarms offline for five minutes during a security diagnostic . They schedule this for exactly 0800 the next morning . The " Defiant " has been gone over 16 hours . Back on Starbase 375 , Sisko states to Admiral Ross , his intention not to sleep , as long as the Defiant is out there . Ross tells him to get some sleep as Sisko is going to have to get used to this assignment . The " Defiant " will be going on a lot of missions without him . On Terok Nor , Odo has a lot of questions for the Female Changeling . She repeats that words are insufficient and clumsy . She urges Odo to link with her . He resists at first but eventually succumbs . Act Five . Kira goes to check on Odo in his office but he ' s not there . She frantically tries to reach Odo via communicator but he is entering the link with the Female Changeling and doesn ' t answer . The time is 0759 so Kira then attempts to warn Rom to abort the plan but Damar interrupts wanting to go over a personnel report . Kira quickly makes her excuses and rushes out of the security office and tries to warn Rom not to open the panel but she is an instant too late . Rom has opened the hatch to the secure conduit and set off the security alarms . Kira tells him to get out of there as she sees Damar and a security force scramble to investigate the security breach . The Ferengi crawls back to where he came from and opens the outer hatch , only to be pulled out of the conduit by Damar and placed under arrest . The " Defiant " returns to Starbase 375 triumphantly . Ross and Sisko come aboard in order to congratulate the crew . As acting Captain of the mission , Dax now performs the power cell ritual just like Sisko had earlier . Sisko realizes that they ' re a good crew and that they don ' t really need him to command them . Kira storms down a corridor and bangs on Odo ' s door panel , beyond furious . In his quarters she yells to Odo that he let everyone down . She asks him if he forgot but he says no . . . it just didn ' t seem to matter . Kira furiously tells her former friend that Rom is in a holding cell being interrogated , they were both counting on him but instead Odo has just handed the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion . What does he have to say for himself ? But Odo is elsewhere , mentally and emotionally . In the link , he says , nothing else matters . Things mattered to him once but not any longer . Kira can never understand - - she ' s a solid . Kira , realizing that she ' s lost Odo to the link , leaves . When she ' s gone , the Female Changeling appears from behind a wall . She notices that Odo looks troubled and asks " " Did she upset you " ? " Odo thinks for a moment , looking at the doorway , " " No , not really " . " Satisfied , the Female Changeling remarks , " " Ah " . " Memorable quotes . " " I ' m so vulnerable to her . " " " " All she has to do is smile at me and I am happy beyond reason . " " " " A minor disagreement between us and I am devastated . " " " " It ' s absurd . " " " " Sometimes I wish that I could reach inside myself and tear out my feelings for her but I can ' t . " " " " I just shared a bottle of kanar with Damar . Hahaha , that rhymes . " " " " Take a good look at this , people . It says something about this ship . It says that we will fight , and we will keep on fighting , until we can ' t fight any more . " " " " Yes sir ! " " " " You don ' t just throw something like this away . " " " " No sir ! " " " " The Federation is " losing " this war . We can ' t sit by and do nothing . " " " " There are limits to what we can do . " " " " I ' m beginning to think you shouldn ' t have agreed to sit on that council . It ' s as if you ' re so invested in making sure the station runs smoothly you ' ve forgotten there ' s a war going on . " " " " Are you questioning my loyalties , Major ? " " " " What are you doing here , Damar ? Did Dukat demote you to security detail ? " " " " What can I do for you , Major ? " " " " I ' m looking for Odo . " " ( looks around ) " " He ' s not here . " " " " Do you know where he is ? " " " Yes . " " " " That ' s good . It ' s always good to know where your boss is . " " " " He ' s in his quarters . . . with the other Shape - shifter . Jealous , Major ? " " " " Try to stay out of trouble , Damar , you don ' t want to end up on sanitation duty . " " " " I tried . I tried my best to run my establishment under this occupation . But you know what ? It ' s no fun . I don ' t like Cardassians – they ' re mean and arrogant . And I can ' t " stand " the Jem ' Hadar . They ' re creepy . They just stand there like statues , staring at you . That ' s it . I don ' t want to spend the rest of my life doing business with these people . I want the Federation back . I want to sell root beer again ! " " " " It ' s an old naval tradition . Whoever ' s in command of a ship , regardless of rank , is referred to as ' captain . ' " " " " You mean if I had to take command , I would be called ' captain , ' too ? " " " " Cadet , by the time you took command , there ' d be nobody left to call you anything . " " " " When you return to The Link , what will become of the entity I ' m talking to right now ? " " " " The drop becomes the ocean . " " " " And if you choose to take solid form again ? " " " " The ocean becomes a drop . " " " " They ' re a good crew . " " " " The best . " " " " Do you realize what you just did ? You just handed the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion . " " " " I was in The Link . " " " " Are you saying you " forgot " ? " " " " I didn ' t forget . . . it just didn ' t seem to matter . " " " " A lot of people are going to die . Don ' t you care ? ! " " " " It has nothing to do with me . " " Links and references . References . 2327 ; adjutant ; Alpha Quadrant ; antigraviton ; Argolis Cluster ; Bajor ; Bajoran s ; Bajoran wormhole ; ; captain ; Cardassian s ; ; commanding officer ; confined to quarters ; ; demotion ; Dominion ; Dominion War ; ; Federation ; Ferengi ; field generator ; Founder s ; ; Gamma Quadrant ; gravimetric distortion ; gravimetric shear ; Great Link ; Haj ; handkerchief ; Jem ' Hadar attack ship ; Jem ' Hadar battle cruiser ; kanar ; ; memorandum ; ; Naval tradition ; " Old Man " ; phaser array ; poison ; power cell ; Promenade ; protostar ; Quark ' s ; renovation ; root beer ; Saurian brandy ; self - replicating mine ; Seventh Tactical Wing ; Starbase 375 ; warlord ; waveguide ; yamok sauce