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I just watched By Inferno's Light, and I wonder . . . .

Apogeal Alpha01

Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
why was the Runabout left in orbit and functioning near the Dominion station? Surely they didn't mean to use it for themselves?
 
Why wouldn't they use it? The Dominion could have used it for Recon, Infiltration, Espionage
 
That's a good answer. However, this small base looked as if its only purpose was to train Jem'Hadar, not organize recon missions, and, they were planning to cause a Supernova to wipe out the station and Bajor. It seems that weeks went by, maybe even a month. Shouldn't they have moved the Runabout to a storage facility, docked it and powered it down? Or could Garak have remote powered up the craft in the same way he activated the transporter? How would it have maintained its position in a powered down status? So, again, even if they were planning to use the Runabout, why leave it there at this base powered up?
 
From Inquisition:

SLOAN: Let's move on to the matter of your escape from the camp. I'll quote from your own report. "We constructed a transmitter using components from the barracks' life-support system. We used it to contact our runabout and beam ourselves out of the camp. Forgive me, doctor, but that sounds a little hard to believe.

BASHIR: It's what happened.

SLOAN: Why would the Dominion leave your runabout orbiting the camp unattended?

BASHIR: They didn't expect us to be able to contact it.

SLOAN: Why not? They left you everything you needed to build a transmitter. Isn't it more plausible that the Dominion wanted you to escape?
 
Indeed...

They could have sent Changelings posing as Garak and Worf back.

And if Bashir wasn't one (and can we still be sure of that?), perhaps Garak was. The proud master spy would never admit to it, even after making good his real escape and quietly disposing of the Founder doppelgänger...

Of course, Martok is an even likelier case. Surely the real Klingon warrior would have died fighting, rather than be captured in such a humiliating manner? After the first Changeling Martok was exposed, the Dominion merely sent in another one - a parody of a Klingon warrior who initially used any excuse to avoid shooting at Dominion forces, and even at the final moments of the war plotted against the Empire, opposed its bold battle plans, and arranged for the assassination of its rightful leader.

OTOH, actual Changeling agents wouldn't be the only thing the Dominion would employ. Bashir, Garak, Martok or Worf could be a replicant built with knowledge obtained from the Paradans ("Whispers"), or a sleeper agent programmed using any of the techniques ubiquitous in the Trek universe. Sloan actually refers to those in the very episode, and all Bashir can offer in retort is the standard "I'm innocent so I won't let you question me further to find out anything to the contrary". Not very convincing.

Timo Saloniemi
 
toughlittleship said:
From Inquisition:

SLOAN: Let's move on to the matter of your escape from the camp. I'll quote from your own report. "We constructed a transmitter using components from the barracks' life-support system. We used it to contact our runabout and beam ourselves out of the camp. Forgive me, doctor, but that sounds a little hard to believe.

BASHIR: It's what happened.

SLOAN: Why would the Dominion leave your runabout orbiting the camp unattended?

BASHIR: They didn't expect us to be able to contact it.

SLOAN: Why not? They left you everything you needed to build a transmitter. Isn't it more plausible that the Dominion wanted you to escape?

So, the writers agreed with me and plotted out a plausible/implausible story to cover this little slip up? :D Brilliant.
 
Timo said:
Indeed...

They could have sent Changelings posing as Garak and Worf back.

And if Bashir wasn't one (and can we still be sure of that?), perhaps Garak was. The proud master spy would never admit to it, even after making good his real escape and quietly disposing of the Founder doppelgänger...


OTOH, actual Changeling agents wouldn't be the only thing the Dominion would employ. Bashir, Garak, Martok or Worf could be a replicant built with knowledge obtained from the Paradans ("Whispers"), or a sleeper agent programmed using any of the techniques ubiquitous in the Trek universe. Sloan actually refers to those in the very episode, and all Bashir can offer in retort is the standard "I'm innocent so I won't let you question me further to find out anything to the contrary". Not very convincing.

Timo Saloniemi
An even more perfect agent. Absolutely indistinguishable from the original. Surprising we never saw another as it would have been highly valuable technology on the black market.
 
I've always just thought they would have encountered several Jem'Hadar on the runabout, but they were fighting Worf in their practice match for the war.
 
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