First officer's log, stardate 41724.4. Captain Picard is no longer aboard the Enterprise, having beamed over to his former ship, the Stargazer. We are on high alert. After five days interacting with the Ferengi, I believe we are finally close to some answers.

Picard winced as he looked into the crooked grin of Daimon Bok. Sweat glistened on the human's forehead.

"I have been waiting a long nine years for this, Picard."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The Ferengi spat. "Do you not, human? Can you not remember the crime you committed against my very blood? You murdered my only son."

"Your son?" Picard moaned, clutching at the captain's seat. He used the motion to hide his fingers on the adjacent control panel.

"He was the commander of the ship you destroyed! On his first voyage as Daimon."

"The ship? The Ferengi ship that attacked me. Or is it about to attack me?" Picard clutched his head, shuddering.

"And I have spent these years searching, seeking a proper blood revenge! And I found it! I am rich, Picard, yet two of these cost me the profits of an entire life." The Daimon pulled out his communicator. "You are back in command of the Stargazer, Picard. Its computers will answer your orders. Die well, Captain." He thumbed the button to transport back to his ship.

When nothing happened, he pressed the button a second time.

"Is something the matter, Bok?" Jean-Luc Picard addressed the other man calmly from his captain's chair, all trace of pain gone from his face and carriage.

"What?" Bok breathed in confusion. "Daimon Bok to marauder. Where are you?" He snarled. "What trickery is this, Picard?"

"Nothing you haven't earned." With another button press, the viewer changed to the face of Bok's first officer. "Picard to Ferengi vessel. You heard Bok's confession?"

"This is Daimon Kazago. We have received your shipment of latinum, captain. The Stargazer is yours."

"Along with everything currently on board?"

"Any personnel and property not already vacated. A profitable venture indeed."

Picard smiled and closed the channel as Bok gaped. "The thought makers! How did you…?"

"It's not at all hard to counter the signal once it's detected," Picard turned his head and pulled his shoulders back to show the small implant in the base of his neck. "Are you aware that the Galaxy-class sickbay has a polarized field put into place when running sensitive scans? I didn't but it was certainly amazing when the tests started and my headache instantly went away. The rest was simple."

"So... all of this..."

"A ruse. To make sure that your former crewmates heard your confession to concocting this... unprofitable venture." He smiled. "They were quite amenable to a better deal."

The Ferengi sank to the ground, but snarled defiantly. "You have me for now, Picard. But I'll be back someday. However long it takes."

"I don't think so." He pressed another button on the panel. "Picard to transporter room. Please move our new guest directly to the Enterprise brig."

*****

"So," Commander Riker said as they sat in the observation lounge. It was just the four of them - the captain, him, Turhal, and Yar. "Why the secrecy? Surely Bok will stand trial and find himself in a Federation prison. Isn't that the end of it?"

"It might have been, except for one important detail," Soriana stated. "From the time Daimon Bok first beamed onto our ship, I've detected his obsession with the captain and his need for revenge."

"Yes," Will agreed. "That's part of why we were so cautious in accepting the Stargazer, ferreting out those altered records before uploading anything from the database."

"You're forgetting, sir, that Ferengi are immune to telepathic detection. Their four-lobed brains are too disjoint; they can't be read without special equipment."

Yar's eyes widened in surprise. "So you're saying that Bok's… not…"

"Not actually a Ferengi," Picard nodded. "As far as the counsellor has been able to tell, he truly believes himself to be a Ferengi named Bok, with a singular obsession to defeat me. That could be deep cover, enemy programming… we're really not sure."

"But when we rendezvous with the Everest, it will become Starfleet Intelligence's problem," Soriana smiled.

"Better them than us," Tasha agreed.