Vortex ( episode ) A fugitive from the Gamma Quadrant attempts to trade evidence about Odo ' s people for freedom . Summary . Teaser . Odo arrives at Quark ' s , suspecting that he ' s doing business with the Miradorn raider that just docked . They also discuss a quiet customer who is sitting at the other end of the bar . Just then , Ah - Kel and Ro - Kel , a pair of Miradorn twins , enter the bar and nod in Quark ' s direction . Quark heads up to a holosuite and asks Rom to bring up some drinks . Odo morphs into one of the glasses to eavesdrop on the upcoming meeting . Act One . The twins are offering to sell a small egg - shaped object to Quark , who expresses concern that it was stolen . The twins were under the impression that he guaranteed a buyer who doesn ' t ask questions . Soon , however , the quiet customer from before , named Croden , enters and demands to be given the item at gunpoint . Rom drops his tray of glasses , one of which reforms into Odo as it hits the floor . Quark puts up his hands while Ah - Kel throws the table at Croden and Ro - Kel fires at him , but misses . Croden fires back , killing Ro - Kel , but before Ah - Kel gets a chance to fight back , Odo subdues Croden and calls for security . Bashir arrives and confirms Ro - Kel is dead . In the security office , Ah - Kel , furious about his twin ' s death , is interrogated . He explains his species ' dependence on their twins , but is denied direct vengeance . Commander Sisko assures him the law will deal with Croden , who is being held in the brig , but Ah - Kel is not happy about it . He returns to his ship in frustration , but not before clearly vowing vengeance against Croden before he dies . They turn to Croden , who is wanting something to eat . Sisko says he will be tried , but Croden says his planet won ' t help him , as their people don ' t have trials . At the end of the conversation , Croden turns to Odo and calls him a Changeling , something which piques Odo ' s attention since it implies he has met or heard of one before . He confirms by saying he will tell him of the time he met one , asking him to feed him , first . Act Two . Using the , Sisko and Lieutenant Dax leave to locate Croden ' s homeworld to inform them of Croden ' s arrest . They are disappointed a first contact must happen under these circumstances , but Kira suspects they may be happy to have a criminal taken off their hands . Meanwhile , Odo goes to investigate Quark at the bar . Morn said Quark bought Croden a meal for some information . Quark denies it , that he was just " being friendly , " but Odo makes his accusation : that he was securing a ship for Croden to go back to the Gamma Quadrant in exchange for the stunt he pulled earlier . Quark is nervous about Odo ' s volume in the bar , but Odo insists on asking him if he said anything about his homeworld or other species . Quark says no , and Odo is called away when Ah - Kel is found blocking his office . Odo stands Ah - Kel down with a threat to jail him as well , and goes to talk to Croden . He tells Odo Changelings used to live on his planet before they were persecuted , but he knows of a place where there are a few left . Odo is skeptical , saying of course Croden has to bring them there himself for an opportunity to escape . Odo doesn ' t believe him , so Croden then shows and gives Odo an unusual pendant containing a miniature Changeling that shapes into what could be described as an unusual " chess piece " . Act Three . Sisko and Dax arrive at Rakhar and send out communications . Eventually , they speak to Hadran , the Exarch of Nehelik Province . It transpires that Croden is wanted for multiple crimes on his planet and Hadran demands his immediate return to face execution . Sisko says he should be tried on their station first for that crime , but Hadran interjects and says he is guilty of myriad crimes and his punishment will certainly be consistent with their crime . With an angry threat to a possible relationship with the people , Sisko reluctantly agrees and says to expect him within a couple days . Meanwhile , Odo takes the pendant to Dr . Bashir who examines it and tells him that it ' s organic . The only other living creature he ' d encountered with a remotely similar genetic makeup is Odo . Jokingly , Bashir says that the pendant could be considered Odo ' s distant cousin . It could be a clue to where Odo comes from , but Odo is disappointed at the trustworthiness of the source of this information . He goes back and returns the pendant , at Croden ' s request . Odo goes to leave , but Croden comes close and says he found the stone in an asteroid field in an unusual nebula in the Gamma Quadrant . There , he came across the colony of Changelings by chance . He says it ' s uncharted , but he knows his way back . Sisko calls Odo to order him to return Croden to his homeworld , having obtained the Bajoran ' s agreement . They use a Rigelian freighter to mask their departure from Ah - Kel ' s raider . He warns Odo that the station can ' t warn him , for it will alert the raider . He will be on his own . Odo takes Croden on the and successfully escapes detection , and both the freighter and runabout enter the wormhole . Act Four . Aboard the " Ganges " , Croden tries to appeal to Odo ' s loneliness on the station to relate to him . Croden goes on to tell Odo that on his homeworld he was declared an enemy of the state , the punishment of which is the execution of his family members . His two wives were killed and in response Croden killed the security officers responsible . Odo is suspicious of the story but Croden reassures him that it ' s true . On the station , Ah - Kel discovers that Croden is gone . After threatening Quark ' s life , Quark uses his security access to give Ah - Kel Croden ' s whereabouts . When he leaves , Rom is excited over the prospect of Ah - Kel killing both Odo and Croden , but Quark does not share his enthusiasm . Despite some delays from Sisko and Kira , the Miradorn ship leaves the station and Ah - Kel eventually catches up with Odo ' s runabout in the Chamra Vortex and opens fire . Odo agrees to let Croden take the controls , since he is familiar with this area of space and Odo is not a combat pilot . Croden successfully gets the " Ganges " into the nebula , but must be careful due to pockets of what he calls toh - maire which threatens the ship . With a few tricks , Croden evades the attacker and directs Odo to a small planetoid , telling him that he may end up meeting one of his people after all . Act Five . When they arrive on the planetoid , they find a desolate environment . Croden immediately runs off , but Odo stops him , demanding for him to admit his stories have been false – there are no Changelings present . But Croden is anxious to get somewhere . He heads to a stasis chamber hidden deep in a cave where he uses the " chess piece " as a key to open it and revives his daughter Yareth , seemingly proving his story to be true . On the way back to the runabout , the Miradorn vessel fires upon the planetoid which causes a cave - in and Odo is knocked out . Croden considers leaving him but ultimately goes back for him and rescues him when his daughter questions what he ' s doing . Odo regains consciousness on the runabout and is surprised to find that Croden didn ' t leave him behind . However Ah - Kel is still pursuing them , as Croden hasn ' t been able to shake him . Odo takes the controls from Croden and leads the Miradorn ship into a pocket of the volatile toh - maire gas . Just before the " Ganges " is fired upon , Odo moves it out of the way . The gas ignites , destroying the Miradorn ship . As Croden is preparing to be returned to his people , he asks Odo to take care of Yareth , saying that they ' re both going to be outsiders and they ' ll need each other . Odo is looking for a way to decline the request when a Vulcan ship , the " T ' Vran " , intercepts the runabout " Ganges " , having detected the explosion and asks if they can be of any assistance . Odo replies and , surprising to Croden , asks if they would take the two Rakhari " survivors " back to with them . The captain agrees and , while preparing for transport , Odo tells Croden that he will say Croden was killed during the Miradorn attack on the planetoid . Croden gives Odo his pendant as a way of thanking him for his kindness and for saving his life as well as the life of his daughter before beaming over to the Vulcan ship . Odo warns him that he will be an outsider living in an alien culture , but Croden says as long as he has his daughter he has a home . After they depart Odo , holding the pendant , tells his " cousin " that one day they ' ll find home as well . Memorable quotes . " " The shapeshifters are harsh in their judgment . " " " " The usual , Odo ? " " " " Nothing . " " " " The usual . " " " " Whoever you are - - you ' re making a mistake . " " " " Well , it wouldn ' t be the first and probably won ' t be the last . Give that to me . " " " " The fact that you just killed a man doesn ' t affect your appetite ? " " " " The next time you lie , I ' ll save Ah - Kel the trouble of killing you . " " " " Five glasses . . . for four people . . . ! ? " " " " Homicide as a means to open relations – it ' s not exactly how they teach it at the Academy , is it ? " " " " Have you known any twinned Miradorn , commander ? " " " " I ' m afraid I haven ' t met any before now . " " " " In my species , we are not just twin brothers . . . together we are a self . . . two halves of one being . I am incomplete now . " " " " You could ' ve left me behind . " " " " Don ' t thank me , I already regret it . " " " " Oh , you are clever , brother . Now , Ah - Kel will rid us of both Croden and Odo . " " " " Unless Odo is sensible and gives up his prisoner . " " " " Oh , no ! Then Croden will tell Ah - Kel the truth about our plan . We ' re dead . We ' re dead . You shouldn ' t have told him how to find them . " " " " Be quiet ! Odo would never give up his prisoner . He ' ll just get himself killed . " " " " Home ? Where is it ? Some day we ' ll know . . . cousin . " " Links and references . References . advocate ; Ah - Kel and Ro - Kel ' s raider ; airlock ; alien ; Alpha Quadrant ; Altoran ; amalgam ; asteroid ; Bajoran ; Bajoran transit regulation ; Bajoran wormhole ; bill of sale ; bird ; brother ; century ; Chamra Vortex ; Chamra Vortex Asteroid ; Changeling ; colony ; combat pilot ; cousin ; crime ; crystal ; daughter ; ; day ; docking ring ; egg ; envoy ; evasive maneuvers ; exarch ; eye ; father ; Federation ; Ferengi ; Ferengi phaser ; fowl ; Gamma Quadrant ; ; gas ; gullet ; hailing frequency ; hemisphere ; holding cell ; holosuite ; homeworld ; homicide ; hour ; IDIC ; impulse ; impulse wake ; inorganic matter ; ion ized ; key ; killer ; Klingon ; Klingon rescue ship ; knife ; langour ; Latin language ; latinum ; law ; life sign ; light year ; manacle ; matter ; M class ; merchant ; microscope ; Milky Way Galaxy ; minute ; Miradorn ; Miradorn raider ; mirror ; morning ; murder ; myth ; nebula ; neck ; Nehelik Province ; night ; ops ; orbit ; organic ; paranoia ; photon bank ; photon torpedo ; plasma charge ; Promenade ; punishment ; quadrant ; Quark ' s ; raider ; Rakhar ; Rakhari ; Rakhari sector ; Rakhari shuttlecraft ; restroom ; ; Rigelian ; ; robbery ; runabout ; run interference ; security chief ; security clearance ; security office ; security officer ; sedative ; sensor ; shapeshifter ; shapeshifting locket ; shields ; shuttlecraft ; space station ; starboard ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; stasis pod ; station log ; subspace communications network ; subspace signal ; supper ; thruster ; trial ; " T ' Vran " ; " Theta " - class ; thief ; toh - maire ; trader ; twin ; Vanoben transport ; volatile pocket ; vortex ; Vulcan ; Vulcan ( planet ) ; Vulcan band frequency ; ; wanted poster ; wife ; year