2369, Stardate 46235.9, near Ligos VII
Morta trembled as he stepped onto the transporter pad with his comrade, Berik. Two years of an apprenticeship to Daimon Lurin came to this, about to beam over to the most heavily armed ship he'd ever seen and take the bridge. Two people to fight an entire bridge crew. Checking his phaser once more, he nodded to the former eliminator next to him and said, "Energize."
Middle Manager Torz nodded and tapped the Klingon-made console of the transporter. As the red energy beam took hold of Morta, he wondered again why Daimon Lurin chose to buy two B'rel class Birds-of-Prey on the cheap from the Duras Sisters rather than just use the Marauder, despite the detailed explanation earlier. Still, Rule of Acquisition 62 said, "The riskier the road, the greater the profit."
Suddenly, they were on the target bridge. Morta gasped as he saw the huge Klingon behind the wooden handrail and the white... person next to him. Hopefully, Line Workers Parlen and Rakor from the other ship would arrive soon.
The more experienced fighter, Berik, told the Federation crew at gunpoint, "Put down your wespons."
Morta swerved to one side as Berik ducked away from the phaser blast from the Klingon. Without hesitation, the former eliminator shot him the chest.
Swerving around just in time, Morta saw the white man get up and about to hit him, but the Apprentice's gun stopped him. The Starfleet commander (3 pips so the briefings said) jumped downwards. Morta kept the white man covered as Berik ran over to the bearded human, but couldn't prevent him saying, "Computer, deactivate all command functions. Authorisation, Riker Omega Three."
Morta groaned but then smiled internally as Parlen and Rakor burst through from a side door and covered the bridge crew from the back. Tapping his combadge and wondering if anyone was actually listening, Morta announced, "This is Morta. We have secured the Bridge. Begin transporting all able-bodied adults to the surface."
As voices acknowledged and the sound of fellow renegades saying, "Come on, get up there. Up, up," Morta signalled to the Line Workers and told them to cover the bridge while Morta and he accessed the rear stations. As he walked over, he thought about how he got to be in such as situation.
3 Ferenginar months before
Lurin put his book, Sedimentary Rocks on 30 Planets, down as he saw the Rog System come into view. Walking up the passenger liner's window, he hissed in delight as he saw that he'd see his old partner and friend again. Going to the back of his sparse, grey quarters, Lurin got his uniform ring and sharpened his teeth in the mirror. "Ah," he thought, "what have you done to deserve this, Bok?"
Beamed down to the cave that passed for a visitor hall, Lurin immediately ran into the guard on duty, who demanded, "Prison is not cheap. Visiting time is 2 slips in advance and 1 bar per 15 minutes. Any funny business and you will receive a further fine of 5 bars. Pay up."
Lurin shrugged and put 2 slips into the till by the transporter box. "Can I see Bok now?"
The guard looked Lurin up and down, asking, "You are Daimon Lurin?"
"So what if I am?"
"Great geology book you wrote. What was it, Field Guide to Extraction?"
"That's the one. Earned me enough for an upgraded D'Kora."
"This way."
Coming to a stalactite-filled passageway trying to avoid tripping over the pointy rocks below, Lurin found himself on one side of a transparent aluminium partition. On the other side was the heretic, the one who put revenge above profit. "Hello, Bok."
The heretic rolled his eyes and sat down on a stool. As Lurin did the same, Bok asked, "You still willing to visit me after what I did?"
"Your contact with me said you have something to say?"
"That's right. I want you to do something for me and I will recompense you for it."
Lurin looked around. The guard was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't mean a thing. "You have a proposition?"
"You used to be a mercenary during the Cardassian Wars?"
"Yes, a gun runner. Sometimes, I actually had to use the guns."
Bok nodded. "Very modest description. We all know you did more."
"I'm just a plain, simple geologist, as I used to say."
"Just like that tailor on Terok Nor. Listen, what do you know of my... transgression?"
Lurin quickly recalled all he knew. Bok's son, Flax, had died at the hands of a Federation officer, Picky or something. Lurin remembered when he first heard the news, as they'd arranged a deal for Flax to marry Lurin's daughter, Pinar. Lurin considered the deal written-off. How could it not be? For some reason though, Bok had paid the bridal fee anyway. Perhaps that should have been an early sign. Nonetheless, Lurin also knew that Bok had been captured in an attempt to use Picky's old starship in a revenge plot. He'd offered it for no price and cared not in the slightest about financial gain. One the crew of his marauder discovered this, they quickly threw Bok in the brig and contacted the FCA. The Trainee Liquidator nearby, Brunt, quite literally went ape.
After all that, Lurin said, "You inverted our sacred rules. Put profit last."
"Correct. I see that was a mistake, but I still want Picard to pay."
Picard. So that was the name. "But I take it you want him to pay in a way that actually makes physical profit?"
"Yes, for you anyway. If you give me enough to cover a year's worth of debt here, I'll give you the data needed for a handsome coup."
Lurin nodded. "Yes, the fees they charge you for being locked up here. Can you give me a sample, a taster?"
"Certainly. Picard's current ship, the Enterprise, is..."
2 months later
"That's the price?" Morta asked as he looked over Lurin's shoulder, squinting in the dark, reddish, Klingon-built bridge.
"Worth every slip," Lurin replied as he grinned and looked up the latest findings of valuable ore. "Any idea why we're using Klingon ships other than the cloak?"
"So... we can pretend we're not Ferengi?"
"Both to the target and to any third party observers. We'll keep the Littner hidden and only use it if the situation becomes critical."
The Apprentice Daimon sat opposite his boss at the helm console. "Daimon, I'm slightly worried about your idea. You say you will lure the target in by attacking people, letting them send a distress call, and then luring the target to wherever we are?"
"That is correct. Full marks for memory."
"What will we do with the people we attacked?"
"Oh, them. I intend to find somewhere we can mine. I heard the Ligos System has vendarite deposits, something we can interest the Gorn with. The people can assist the automated equipment in extracting the ore."
"How much will we pay them?"
Lurin stood up and nearly threw his PADD at Morta, but slowly exhaled and relaxed himself. "Nothing. Obviously."
Morta's jaw dropped. He nearly forgot everything else he'd just heard. "You plan to use slave labour?"
"Not forever, just so the prisoners are occupied while we get the target ship operational. Then we can find anybody who has assets a potential buyer may want and give them to the customer with the ship."
"But... Ferengi do not enslave anyone! It is... wrong."
"Really? Since we're the only two people here, let me ask you a social question. What makes you think the Ferengi do not have slaves?"
"Well, we don't! All historical evidence says we never had slavery!"
"Apart from the assault on Enterprise NX-01, there are plenty of examples. What would you call our females?"
"Er, females?"
"Slaves. I sold my daughter to another man, like a slave. We keep our women isolated and make them do things we'd rather not do, like slaves."
"We only make them chew our food!"
"We do a lot more, you know that. See? We have slaves. Ferengi enslave Ferengi. Any further problems?"
Morta sat back. "No Daimon. When do we start the operation?"