After sending off his message, Bennet found himself with nothing to do, so he headed down the Promenade, glancing into the various storefronts. His eyes lit up when he happened upon Quark's, and rubbing his hands together in delight, he entered, making a beeline for the dabbo table. "Hello there," he smiled at one of the dabbo girls. "Who would have expected such ravishing beauty so far from home?"

His bonhomie perked up even the world-weary dabbo girls. "And when did you arrive, handsome?"

"Only just in time. Had I languished another moment without encountering your radiance, I would surely have perished. Or at least gotten cranky."

She laughed. "You're smarter than the average customer, I'll give you that."

"And more handsome?" he pressed mischievously.

"That too," she agreed appreciatively. "And more generous?"

"But of course! Speaking of which, where's the boss? Or are you...?"

"Not likely," she said with both realism and regret. "He's over there."

"Then I must away, to discuss his policy on credit. But," he promised, taking her hand in his and carrying it to his lips, "I will return."

Her eyelids fluttered. "Come back soon."

Bennet gave her hand one last squeeze and headed in the direction she had indicated. Meanwhile, his back to Bennet, Quark was tallying the morning's earnings while Rom watched nervously.

"Brother, I swear I have checked and double checked the figures," he whined for the tenth time in as many minutes. "You do not need to count it yourself."

"Excuse me," Bennet's approach interrupted Quark's withering rejoinder. "I'm looking for the owner?"

Quark instantly assumed a broad smile of welcome and turned to face the newcomer. At the sight of Bennet's visage, the expression congealed into a grimace of horror. "You!"

"Quark?" Bennet gaped in surprise. "I never exp--unh!"

Bennet's amazed exclamation was abruptly truncated when Quark shook off his stunned paralysis and, thrusting the earnings at Rom, leapt screaming at the trader's throat. The entire bar turned to stare as Quark did his best to disengage Bennet's head from his shoulders, as it was virtually unthinkable for a Ferengi to assault a human without weapons, reinforcements, or a history of psychiatric illness.

"Quark! Stop! Quark!" Bennet's strangled croaks had no effect on the maddened Ferengi, but he finally managed to break the smaller being's grip. "Stop it!" he ordered, shoving Quark away. Ferengi were notoriously bad fighters, and so Bennet was, quite properly, unworried by Quark's pugilistic attempts.

The push sent Quark staggering backwards, and Rom decided to come to his brother's aid. "AAAAHHHHGGG!" He dove at Bennet with admirable volume but minimal skill.

Bennet ducked, pivoted, and straightened, neatly tossing the Ferengi over his shoulder. Rom crashed onto a nearby table and began whimpering.

"Quark, I can explain!" Bennet said quickly, raising his hands to fend off the bar owner who was presently stalking him, a heavy bottle gripped in hand.

Quark's eyes glowed red, and he seemed utterly oblivious to both Bennet's blandishments and the bottle's value. Bennet easily ducked the first two blows, but then Rom rejoined the fray. "Die, human!"

Bennet caught Rom by the shoulder and spun him about so that Quark's third swipe caught his head, rather than Bennet's. Rom screamed in agony and collapsed into a fetal position on the floor.

Bennet was forced to discard his Ferengi shield, and he reluctantly clenched his fists. "Quark, put down the bottle or I'll have to clobber you," he warned.

The Ferengi showed no sign of hearing him, and Bennet braced for another onslaught.

"Quark!" The voice belonged to the only being who could drag Quark even from the depths of homicidal fury. Odo strode into the bar and snatched the bottle from the little Ferengi's hand almost before anyone realized he was there.

"Odo! Arrest him!" Quark shrilled, stabbing a finger at Bennet.

"Have you lost your mind?" Odo demanded, setting the bottle down on the bar, well out of Quark's reach. "You attack him, then expect him to be arrested?"

"Arrest him!" Quark was fairly dancing with rage, and he remained oblivious to his brother, still moaning at his feet.

Realizing that it was hopeless to try to get a coherent story out of Quark, Odo scanned the rest of the room. The bar's patrons hastily returned to their drinks and gaming.

Odo tapped his communicator. "Dr. Bashir to Quark's. Medical emergency." With Rom's care assured, he could turn his attention to Bennet. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" Bennet retorted reasonably.

"Don't waste time talking to him!" Quark demanded, tugging on Odo's sleeve. "Arrest him!"

"Why should I arrest him?" Odo snapped. "You've committed the only crime!"

"He's a thief!"

"I am not!" Bennet yelped indignantly. "You're just mad because I'm a better businessman than you."

At this ultimate epithet, Quark lost his temper again. With an inarticulate howl, he grabbed for Bennet. Jake skipped backwards, and Odo snatched Quark. "What are you talking about?" he demanded of Bennet, holding the madly struggling Ferengi at arm's length.

Bennet looked apologetic. "Come on, Quark. Let bygones be bygones. It was all such a long time ago."

"Ngrphxtlmnn!" Quark lapsed into Ferengi oaths.

"What was a long time ago?" Odo demanded.

"Quark and I did a little business, and -- "

"He cheated!" Quark yelled. "He double-crossed me! He stole everything I owned! He left the planet with all the profits, sticking me with all the debts! I was nearly sold into slavery to pay them off! Do you know what they do to bankrupts on Deneb III?"

"It was a perfectly legal transaction," Bennet retorted, "and you know it. Don't blame me if you neglected to read the fine print."

Dr. Bashir hurried in at that point, and Odo used his free hand to point out Rom. "In other words," he said, turning back to Bennet and Quark, "you outsmarted him in a business deal."

"It wasn't very hard," Bennet confided in a not-too-low whisper, and Quark screamed with rage.

"Quark. Quark!" Odo had to shake the Ferengi before he stopped swearing at Bennet long enough to glance up at the Constable.

"What?"

"I can't arrest him for outsmarting you," Odo said firmly, "but you are going to jail for assault."

"What?" Quark bleated incredulously. "He's a dishonest, unscrupulous, untrustworthy, lying, cheating, scurrilous --"

"So are you," Odo pointed out, unperturbed. "Come along."

"But my business! What about the bar! Who'll run it -- " Quark's immediate peril was finally beginning to overshadow his memory of past losses.

"Excuse me," Bennet put in, "but I don't care to press charges."

"What?" Odo gasped in disbelief.

Bennet shrugged. "No harm done. Just put it down to the excitement of a reunion between two old friends."

"We are not friends!" Quark bellowed. "I want you dead! The 63rd rule of acquisition says -- "

"But, Quark, if we're not friends, I'll have to press charges, and you'll go to jail. Then who'll take care of your bar? Oh!" Bennet glanced over to where Bashir was attending the querulously complaining Rom. "I forgot. That very capable assistant of yours. You won't have any worries leaving your business in his hands, will you?"

"Grxnl!"

Under other circumstances, Odo would have enjoyed watching Quark's frustration, but he had the uneasy feeling that there was more to this newcomer than he knew.

"All right," Quark finally said, sounding as though each word were being ripped from his innards. "We're friends."

"Lovely!" Bennet exclaimed. "And since I'm your friend, I can hang around the bar and dabbo tables, right?"

"Grrrrrrrrrrr."

Bennet grinned at Odo. "That means yes. Quark and I understand each other so well, there's no need for speech."

Odo wouldn't give up without a fight. "Rom was injured -- "

Quark tore his malevolent glare away from Bennet long enough to snarl: "He won't press charges either."

"I know that!" Odo snapped ungraciously. "Well," he said reluctantly to Bennet, "if you're certain..." With a glower, he relinquished his hold on Quark's collar, and the Ferengi smoothed his shirt with a sniff of disdain.

Bennet stuck out his hand. "Good to see you again, Quark!"

Quark hissed at him. "May the blood-spiders of Ceti V eat your eyeballs!"

Bennet sighed as the bartender stomped off to reclaim his scattered earnings. "Ah well. And it was such a beautiful friendship."

"How do you know Quark?" Odo asked silkily.

Bennet shrugged. "You heard. A business dealing several years ago that, sadly, was not as lucrative for him as it was for me." He glanced at Odo, then looked more closely. "Excuse me -- your homeworld -- ?"

"I'm not from around here."

"No," Bennet agreed promptly, "that much is clear. Your species -- "

"I'm a shapeshifter," Odo told him dourly. He preferred asking questions to answering them.

Bennet's eyebrows lifted. "Really? That must be a useful talent. I don't suppose you can teach others?"

"No."

"Pity." Bennet sighed. "Still, that's fascinating. How do you do it? Do you have to visualize the form you want to become? Is it something you have to practice?" He pulled up a chair. "Take a seat. Can I get you a drink?"

Odo regarded him with disfavor. "No. I'm not staying."

"Ah, I suppose you must be busy as the Security Chief. That is your position, isn't it? Which means you must be Odo. I overheard Major Kira mention your name."

"Yes." The man was alarmingly quick on the uptake.

"I thought so. And since you're not a member of Star Fleet, I take it the Bajorans appointed you to the post? Or had you held it under the Cardassians?"

"Excuse me." Odo beat a speedy retreat before he could aid any more of this this astute stranger's deductions.

#

Sisko regarded Odo thoughtfully. "It's an interesting story, and I'm glad you brought it to my attention, but I'm not sure I understand why you did."

Odo favored the commander with the exasperated look he often received from his son. "Because if this man could out-deal a Ferengi, especially one as slippery as Quark, and do it twice, who knows what else he might do?"

Sisko's expression changed to one of alarm. "Ah. I see what you mean."

Kira glanced from one to the other skeptically. "Are you two serious? He's just a free trader; we must get a dozen of his kind every month. Why are you so alarmed about this one? He hasn't done a thing!"

"I don't like him," Odo informed her.

She smothered a grin and avoided looking at Sisko. "Yes, well, Odo, that's not terribly unusual either."

"I agree with the constable," Sisko said, leaning forward over his desk. "There are too many puzzles about this Bennet. Where did he come from? What happened to his ship? What was he doing when he was forced to evacuate?"

"We don't know that about half the ships that dock here!" Kira exclaimed.

"If he has nothing to hide, why won't he tell us where he came from?" Sisko demanded.

"He's a free trader, not a Star Fleet officer. They never file flight plans. If they don't keep their intinerary secret, a competitor can scoop their cargo."

"He can hardly suspect that we'd try to do that," he retorted dismissively. "I'd feel much better if he were more forthcoming about his background."

"This is a free society; people are able to come and go as they please!"

"Until they break the law," Odo reminded her.

"Which he hasn't."

"That we know of."

"I think you're both overreacting," she stated flatly. "He seems perfectly normal. Well, maybe a bit fulsome -- "

"Nauseating!" Odo snorted derisively.

"Fine, so none of us like him. Is that a reason to set up surveillance on him?"

Sisko and Odo exchanged a guilty look. "Nobody is suggesting that, Major."

"Hmmmmm." She eyed them narrowly.

"I'll simply keep my eye on him. As is my prerogative as head of security," Odo reminded her.

"A wise precaution." Sisko instantly approved. With a resigned shrug, Kira nodded acquiesence.