Dukat's expression grew grimmer. "That...makes the most sense in the face of what we've experienced thus far. I may know...well, not precisely how it came to be but what could be responsible. We have known for some time that there is a race of aliens living inside the wormhole. Accounts are vague and often couched in the religious claptrap of the Bajorans. However, there is enough measurable evidence to indicate they are quite real.

"I can pull up the files we have on them for you. It doesn't explain why you would be here, or why I'd be the only one of my crew out of phase. Perhaps those two facts are somehow related." It could just as easily be coincidence. For as rational as the Founders were, the wormhole aliens by all accounts were the polar opposite of that by linear reasoning standards, their motives beyond the grasp of time-bound minds. "If they are responsible, we should be able to find a way to reverse the effect." He was no engineer or scientist, but the files in the ship's databanks were extensive. They should be able to find some reference of such occurrences in the past and how the problem was solved.