Benjamin Sisko, Commander of Deep Space Nine, put his hands
behind his back and  turned to the eerie robotic face that filled the
main viewscreen of Operations. 
	"Do you have manuevering capability in either of your forms?"
	Dax, Major Kira, and Chief O'Brien turned to stare at Sisko.
Forms? What was the Commander talking about. Sisko noted their
consternation, and inwardly enjoyed it.  One of the privileges of rank,
he had decided, was keeping your subordinates in the dark for at least a
few minutes.
	"Negative, Fle...Commander. I am drifting." came the reply.
	Sisko nodded, then turned to O'Brien. "Chief, can you lock a low
power tractor beam on our guest and bring him to Pylon 3?"
	"Aye, Sir...but...what is it?"
	"I'll tell you in a moment, Chief. As soon as you get him close
to the station, run a detailed visual scan in all spectrums and bring me
the results. Pull him in slowly...I want some time to do some research.
Dax, come with me." He tapped his communicator. "Odo, will you meet me
in ops? We might be facing a rather...unique situation."
	Sisko walked up to his office, and sat behind his desk. He
picked up his favorite baseball and began tossing it idly in the air.
Dax quickly sat down, then snatched the baseball out of the air.
	"You're hiding something, Benjamin. I know that."
	"Patience, Dax. I want to see something...ah! Come in, Chief."
	"The scans are in your computer, sir. Er...what exactly IS that
thing? You call it 'him'.  Do you recgonize it?"
	"Not that individual, no. But I'm pretty sure I know his race."
	"Race? Sir, that's a robot! You mean the race who built it?"
	"HIM, Chief. That's a free-willed, sentient life-form...just
like your Commander Data.  Now, let's take a look at those scans...."
	"Free willed? Like Data? Sir, what ARE you talking about? There
are only a handful of Soong-type androids in existence, and certainly no
robots like that."
	"A bit of Earth history they don't like to talk about at the
Academy, Chief. Or tell aliens about...sorry, Dax."
	Sisko brought up the holographs. The robot was mostly tan. He
could make out wheels, clearly useless in the current form...a ground
vehicle, indeed. While deducing one mode's configuration from another
was difficult, this one seemed to form some sort of open-topped craft.
Hmm. 
	He began to shift the scans through the EM spectrum, while Dax
and O'Brien looked on in consternation. After about two minutes, he
stopped, frowned, and sighed deeply.  He rotated the hologram to face
the others, just as Odo appeard.
	"Yes, Commander? I'm very busy...every minute I'm here is
another minute I'm NOT watching Quark. He'll have half the station sold
out from under you in the time this meeting takes."
	"I'm glad you're here, Odo. We're about to have trouble."
	Dax slammed her fist on the desk, startling the others. "Blast
it, Benjamin! Tell me what is going on here!"
	"That's Kurzon talking, not Jadzia.", Sisko said, smiling. "But
I'll tell you."
	He enlarged the hologram to about two feet in height. It was
colored oddly, the result of the spectrum shifting he had just been
doing. In glowing red was a symbol resembling a scowling, crowned face,
carven from geometric shapes.
	"Our guest is a Decepticon. A member of a race called
Transformers." Sisko noticed Odo's sudden attention, but said nothing.
	"'Decepticon'", Odo sneered. "Sounds charming."
	"They are. Generally speaking, they are violent, treacherous,
imperialistic and cruel.  Those were their good points."
	"'Were'? Benjamin, who ARE these beings? What do you know about
them?"
	"Alright, Dax, Odo, Chief...here's the facts. This isn't
supposed to be common knowledge, but you need to be prepared.
	Centuries ago, Earth was used as a base by two warring factions
from a world called 'Cybertron'...don't look so amused...in their
language, we come from a world called 'Soil'. There were two main
factions:A relatively peaceful group called 'Autobots', and their foes,
the 'Decepticons'. At least, that's what the Autobots told us. Over the
years, we learned nothing was quite so clear cut....
	In any event, these beings were...ARE...free willed, sentient
robots...with emotions, drives, desires all their own. They all possess
at least two forms...a robotic form and some other mode, usually a
vehicle.
	The war lasted into the early 21st century on Earth, and was
responsible for Earth developing many technologies. But it also led to
factionalism and the horrors of the late 21st century. By the time we
had cleaned up that mess, they were gone...and it was something that the
World Government, the forerunner of the Federation, decided was  best
left out of the history books...UNLESS you were slated for command.
There hasn't been a transformer seen since around 2020. Until now.
	"Odo, he's probably dangerous. Keep a *very* close eye on him.
Dax, O'Brien...find out how he GOT here. Look for a ship, a spacerift,
anything....he obviously isn't a space traveller, unless he's a
triple...."
	"Triple, Commander?"
	"Never mind, Chief...it gets pretty complex."
	Swindle felt force surround him, gently tug him towards the
station. He accelerated towards it, hoping these fleshlings weren't
about to smash him into a wall or something...but as he approached, the
beam slowed him, and an airlock cycled open for him to enter. It hissed
hust behind him, there was a moment's wait, and an inner door opened.
	He had to stoop to enter...this was cleary a flesh-creature
station, but the corridors were tall enough to accomodate him. The
angles were odd, different than those Earth construct. Asymmettrical,
coldly mechanical. He liked it, somehow.
	There was someone waiting for him...a flesh creature? No, not
quite. In the normal visual, it APPEARED that way...but it radiated
oddly in the non-visual spectra, and included subspace extensions. Very
odd. What, he wondered, have I gotten myself into?
	He extended a hand, as he knew humans did. The odd creature
accepted it, cautiously.  "I am..." Suddenly, Swindle decided that his
Decepticon codename wasn't going to go over well. Centuries of dealings
on Cybertron had taught him to smell "lawman" at a dozen miles. Who was
that Autobot whose transformed mode resembled his?  "...Hound."
	"Of the Decepticons.", said the humanoid, flatly.
	Swindle felt his inner polymetal muscles tighten. Wherever he
was, they knew of the War...and from the sounds of it, these fleshlings
had sided with the Autobots. Well,  best to go with the flow, until I
know what's going on.
	"More or less. I prefer to think of myself as a free agent." The
humanoid wasn't buying it.
	"Well, follow me. Do you need repairs? How long do you expect to
be here?"
	"I am mostly functional...the damage done is purely external. I
expect..." (CLANG)
	Swindle looked at the low beam he had just walked into. This
wasn't going to work. He folded himself down into his vehicular mode,
then swung open one of his doors.  "Fleshling, will you simply DRIVE me
to where we need to go?" 
	Odo had watched, nearly shocked, as the giant robot had folded,
spun, twisted...and turned into a perfect replica of an Earth-style
vehicle, all in under a second. He understood, perhaps for the first
time, how people viewed his own shape-shifting.  Carefully, as if
anticipating a trap, he stepped in. The seat that had formed was 
comfortable, soft...yet there had been no evidence of anything but metal
and exotic plastics in the robot form. VERY curious. No one could have
told this form from the genuine thing. He smiled, in sudden
understanding. Decepticons, indeed!
	Swindle allowed the humanoid to manipulate his vehicle mode
controls, as they moved slowly through the space station, attracting odd
glances from the various life-forms that seemed to live or work here. I
might be here for a while, he thought. Let's see if I can build a little
camaraderie...find this guys weak spots. "You know, fleshling...."
	"My name", the humanoid said sharply, "is Odo."
	"Ah...you know, Odo, we have something in common."
	"Oh?"
	"Yes...you possess subspace extensions, just as I do. I've never
met a fl...a humanoid like that before."
	"Subspace....extensions?" Odo worked to control himself, but
this was truly fascinating.  If this...machine...wasn't deceiving him,
it might hold some clues as to his origin.
	"Yes. You're a transformer, like me, aren't you?"
	"I'm no robot!"
	"No, of course you're not...but you have another form, don't
you. Come on, I showed you mine."
	"I have MANY forms. This isn't even my real one. But tell me
more about these...subspace extensions."
	"When you change forms, haven't you ever wondered where your
extra mass goes?"
	All the time, thought Odo. No one was ever able to solve that
problem. "Not really.", he said.
	"Well, it goes into subspace. Just like mine. It's something
nearly all shapechangers have in common."
	"Hmf. Fascinating, I'm sure. Stop here."
	Odo stepped out, and Swindle transformed, he looked around.
Instantly, he felt at home. This was a marketplace! His audio sensors
filled with the sound of deals being made, coins changing hands. He
swept the huge expanse of the Promenade, tracing patterns of exchange.
In a few minutes, his internal computers had built a map of the various
trade patterns. He traced the map, sought the major nexii, then
cross-indexed them to find the center of real activity. 
	He found it, and moved towards it.
	Rom hid behind Quark, peering over his brother's shoulder.
"It...It's coming this way, brother! What will we do?"
	"What will we do, Rom? We will offer it a drink."

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