Over the next few days, the meeting between Odo and Sisko to discuss Bennet became a regular event. Unfortunately, neither of them were able to devise a way to neutralize Bennet's effects on the rest of the station, from his nightly bashes to his blithe inquisitiveness. "Would you believe I found one of my staff giving him a tour of the armory?" Odo demanded one morning, while they were strolling along the upper deck of the promenade.

Sisko snorted. "He's already talked people into showing him everything else, from the service tunnels to the computer core! If he isn't a Cardassian spy, he's missed his calling."

"Do you really believe he's a spy?" Odo inquired.

"No," Sisko eventually admitted. "I can't picture the Cardassians hiring him. He's hardly their type. Still, I don't like the idea of any civilian knowing this much about the station."

"Now that you mention it, other than you or me, the only person who hasn't been in regular attendance at Bennet's parties is Garek," Odo said slowly.

Sisko glanced at him. "Oh?"

"He's stopped by them occasionally, but I don't believe Bennet has ever spoken to him at length." Odo paused, growing more thoughtful. "In fact, I don't believe I have ever seen the two of them together."

"But I thought Bennet had become friendly with everyone on the station!" Sisko exclaimed. "He seems to know every single person by name, from the man at the Jam-Ja stand to the Klingon chef!"

"Mm," Odo mused. "Interesting, isn't it?"

"Well, your theory is about to be tested," Sisko observed, looking over the railing at the deck below. Bennet was striding down the Promenade, cheerfully exchanging greetings with passerby, while Garek walked in the opposite direction. The curve of the station and bustle of the crowds prevented them from seeing each other, but within moments they would pass one another. Odo and Sisko watched with interest.

A few seconds before the inevitable meeting, Bennet stopped short, his hand flying to his ear. Then, with equal abruptness, he dodged into the nearest store. He had just vanished from sight when Garek walked by, passing directly over the spot where Jake had stood. Several moments after the Cardassian had left, Bennet cautiously emerged, then continued on his way.

Odo and Sisko were pressed against the railing. "Now that was very interesting!" Sisko finally said.

"He was wearing a personnel locator, wasn't he?" Odo demanded. "Implanted, most likely, and set to warn him of Garek's approach."

"It certainly looked that way," Sisko agreed grimly. "And I'd love to know why. If he's trying to avoid Garek, why be so conspicuous in other ways? Surely he must know how well-informed of station events Garek is."

"So it would appear that he simply doesn't want Garek to see him. Perhaps because his appearance might mean something to the tailor?"

"Or to his superiors on Cardassia?" Sisko suggested. Neither he nor Odo was under any illusion as to Garek's true profession. "I thought Bennet was a little too close-mouthed about where he had to evacuate his ship."

"Another interesting question is: where is he obtaining the computer power to run the locator?" Odo pointed out. "His escape pod's could never manage it."

"He must have found a way to piggyback off the station's system," Sisko said furiously. "And tampering with a Star Fleet computer is a crime. Excuse me, Odo. I think I need to have a word with Chief O'Brien."

#

"It can't be done, sir." O'Brien's calm assurance did nothing to diminish Sisko's ire. "There's no way he could have gotten to that level of the computer."

"I know what I saw, Chief," Sisko said flatly.

O'Brien's confidence didn't waver. "I'm not challenging that, sir. But to operate a personnel locator, Jake -- er, Bennet -- would need access to the security programs, and there is no way he could have gotten to them from a public terminal."

"I don't think we should underestimate Bennet."

"I don't think we should underestimate our safety procedures," O'Brien retorted, his professional pride beginning to smart.

Sisko glanced at him sharply, but O'Brien did not back down. Sisko suddenly realized he had been insulting O'Brien's work, and the chief was well within his rights to resent it. "I'm sorry, Chief. I didn't mean to suggest that you or your staff had allowed him access."

"That's all right, sir." O'Brien replied, somewhat mollified. "There's no reason for you to be aware of it, but none of the public terminals are even hooked into the deeper levels of the computer. It's absolutely inconceivable that Bennet, or anyone, could tamper with our system."

"What about access from one of the duty station terminals? After all, he's been all over the station."

O'Brien thought. "Well, it's at least possible, but not even all of the official terminals have access to those files. I suppose I could check usage times on the terminals that do, just to make sure that there were no unauthorized log-ons."

Sisko sighed in relief. "Please do so, Chief. If you can rule out the possibility, I'd rest more easily."

O'Brien smothered his sigh. Just what he needed: more work. "Yes, sir."

"Oh, Chief?" Sisko called after him, hoping to mend any bridges that might have been shaken by his unintentional slur. "Thanks for your work on my terminal. It made a big difference."

O'Brien paused at the door, puzzled. "Commander? You didn't say anything about your computer acting up."

"Not this one," Sisko explained, indicating his desktop. "The one in my cabin. Your increasing the processor speed has helped enormously."

The chief's expression was now anything but tranquil. "Someone fiddled with your personal computer?"

The hair on the back of Sisko's neck began to prickle. "It wasn't you?"

"Commander, you know perfectly well that I haven't had time to do non-essential computer maintenance." The blunt reproof was evidence that O'Brien's attention was elsewhere. Normally he was much more polite. "How long ago did this occur?"

"Almost a week... I think it was the day Bennet arr-- Chief! Do the personal terminals have access to security programs?"

"Sir, the personal terminals of senior officers have access to everything, including the root commands!" O'Brien didn't quite shout. "Do you have a security lockout on your terminal?"

Sisko cleared his throat. "Well, yes, but..."

"It's not Star Fleet standard command level issue."

"No. Jake uses the computer too, and the standard issue programming kept malfunctioning because of the Cardassian technology on which it was installed, so I just use a straightforward password." Sisko fought to keep the plaintive note from his tone.

O'Brien's glance was neither friendly nor deferential. "I expect you chose something that was easy to remember."

"Yes."

"Which means it was probably also easy for Bennet to guess."

Sisko didn't reply. There was nothing to say.

"Commander, with your permission, I'll run a check on all the commands entered from your terminal ever since Bennet arrived on the station. If he's done anything from it, I'll find out." Sisko nodded, and O'Brien strode to the door. Once there, he turned and added, more out of pity than hope, "Of course, sir, if it turns out to be a wild goose chase, I'll move on to the search of the official terminals."

Sisko winced. This well-meaning attempt to soften the blow was almost worse than the revelation itself. "Thanks, Chief."

#

Bennet was, as usual, in Quark's when the occupant of a nearby table caught his attention. He waved Quark over, much to the Ferengi's distaste.

"What?" he demanded roughly.

"Is that any way to treat a valued customer?" Jake asked, hurt.

"You're neither!" Quark snarled. "What do you want?"

"Why are you still so grumpy? Haven't I helped business?"

"You? Every night you order rounds of drinks for the house, and I've yet to see a single bar of latanum from you!"

"Thanks to my parties, you've had more customers in here than ever. I only order the first round; someone else always orders the next one. And the next and the next and the -- "

Quark interrupted, unwilling to grant the truth in Bennet's words. "And what about all the damage they cause? Or the fact that people are so busy with your stupid games that they never visit the dabbo tables!"

"You make more on your watered down drinks than on those crooked tables," Bennet dismissed the claims loudly enough for Quark to look around in alarm.

"Sssssh!"

"Besides which," Bennet continued, undeterred, "the holosuites have never done more business, and that's entirely due to the new programs I wrote for you."

"For a sizable fee!"

"Well, naturally!" Jake exclaimed, shocked. "What did you expect, a gift?"

Even Quark had to snicker at that, although his demeanor didn't thaw much. "So maybe you've attracted a few customers, but you're still more trouble than you're worth!"

"Fine," Jake said coolly. "In that case, I won't trouble you any more. I'm sure that I can find another establishment to host my little get-togethers. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you."

"Wait!" Quark ordered hastily. Jake's antics had brought in a huge amount of business, and Quark wasn't about to see it go to a competitor. "After all," he said, forcing a smile, "we are old friends. I suppose I can put up with a little inconvenience for old times' sake."

"Thanks, Quark. I knew I could count on you. And don't worry, I'll make it worth your while. Trust me."

"Every time you say that, I get a rash!" Quark complained. "What do you want?"

"Who's that angry looking Klingon?"
"All Klingons look angry." Quark saw no reason to be overly helpful.

Bennet sighed impatiently. "Not all Klingons are mad enough to be twisting the arm rest of their chair into a pretzel," he noted, indicating the adjacent table with a nod.

"Aaaah!" Quark wasn't about to miss the chance to collect for damages.

"Not yet!" Bennet grabbed him before he could rush over to the Klingon. "Tell me about him."

Quark complied with poor grace. "He and his partner had some bad luck on their last trip. Half their cargo of byranzium was ruined when a cargo hold lost pressure on the voyage from Geos. Their buyer says he can't use only half of the order, so he's refusing payment. Nobody else wants the stuff, so they're out a sizable commission and have a damaged ship to boot."

"Hmmm." Jake rubbed his chin. "What's he drinking? Bring me a bottle of it, would you?"

"You're going to talk to him?" Quark looked hopeful. When Klingons were in a bad mood, violence was all but inevitable, and with any luck Bennet would be the main target on which the unlucky trader would vent his spleen.

"Oh," Jake caught his arm as an afterthought nagged at him. "Where's the partner?"

Quark gestured upstairs to where the sound mufflers couldn't quite cover all the screams and crashes. "Taking it out on my holosuite."

"Cheer up," Jake advised blithely. "Just think of how much you can soak them for in repair costs."

"Hm." The Ferengi brightened as he trotted off to fetch Bennet's bottle.

"Hi!" Jake grinned as he swung into the empty chair opposite the moody trader. "I hear you have some byranzium for sale?"

The Klingon froze halfway into a homicidal lunge. "You're interested in buying it?"

Jake accepted the bottle from Quark and poured the Klingon another drink. "Well, I suppose I might be. Not that I really need it, you understand, but if the price were inviting enough, I could be tempted..."

#

Several hours later, strollers on the Promenade were taken aback as Bennet flashed past them at a dead run. Just before Odo's office, he braked to a halt and stepped inside with every outer appearance of calm. "Hi, Odo," he said politely, glancing at the mug shots. "Hm, interesting bunch."

"What do you want?" Odo demanded, rising from his chair and turning to face the trader as Bennet's idle stroll carried him around to the back of the office.

"Actually, I need your help."

Odo's eyebrows rose. "My help? With what?"

Just then two huge, irate, bloodthirsty Klingons burst into the room and rendered Odo's question unnecessary. "There he is!" the first one screamed, stabbing a meaty finger at Bennet. "Get him!"

Bennet ducked behind Odo's chair while the Constable stepped forward. "What's all this?"

"He cheated us!" one bellowed. "And we're going to kill him!"

"How did he cheat you?"

"Get out of the way!"

"I asked, how did he cheat you?" Odo stood his ground and fixed them with an awful glare. After an electric moment, the Klingons grudgingly backed down.

The second one explained resentfully. "He offered to purchase the remains of our cargo when the original buyer reneged on the deal."

"You mean I bailed you out when you couldn't find anyone willing to accept only half the critical amount," Bennet put in.

"That's not illegal," Odo's words cut through the Klingons' shrieks of outrage.

"But then he installed me in one of that Ferengi's holosuites -- as a celebration after my long trip from Geos, he said! -- and before I could speak to my partner, he had pounced on him!"

The other Klingon took up the tale. "Unaware of my partner's previous arrangement with this deceitful human, I accepted his offer to sell us the amount of the item we needed to satisfy our original buyer!"

"You bought their cargo, then turned around and sold it back to them?" Odo demanded of Bennet.

"It's perfectly legal, Odo," he said innocently.

"It is," Odo unwillingly informed the Klingons. "You should have consulted with each other before agreeing to the deals. You have no cause of action against him."

"That Targ-bedding sindith cheated us out of 300 bars of gold pressed latanum!" the first Klingon shouted, shaking his fist at Bennet. "Of course we have a cause against him!"

"You do not, and what's more, if you assault him, you'll be jailed for -- "

Klingons are not a patient race, and in their present fury, the traders would hardly respond favorably to a lecture on Bajoran/Federation law. When they finally realized that Odo had no intention of delivering Bennet into their hands, they reacted predictably: they knocked Odo aside and lunged for their quarry.

Unfortunately for them, Odo was experienced in handling outraged Klingons. The first shove sent him into the wall, but rather than smashing against it, he used his shape-shifting abilities to rebound back into them. He seized the first Klingon by the upper arm and with the steely strength which had surprised many a would-be brawler, yanked him away from Bennet.

The Klingon roared in fury and closed his hands around Odo's throat, but the Constable's physiology was sufficiently alien that the strangling grip had no effect. Recognizing this, the Klingon changed his tactics. He grabbed hold of Odo's lighter form and lifted him into the air, preparing to throw Odo onto the floor and jump on him. Even Odo's physique could be damaged by several hundred kilos of Klingon.

This created a problem. Odo could of course morph between the Klingon's fingers, but in doing so, he would spend at least part of the time in an intermediate form. While it was doubtful that the Klingons could hurt him in that brief period, Odo would not be able to prevent them from attacking Bennet, and it wouldn't take two maddended Klingons very long to injure, perhaps even mortally, a lone human.

Odo's first duty was to protect Bennet, no matter how much doing so might endanger his own life, so he remained in humanoid form and continued to try to break the Klingon's grip.

Then the second Klingon, who had been playing cat-and-mouse around Odo's desk with Jake, decided that once the Constable was out of the way, they would be free to torture Bennet at their leisure. He started to the aid of his partner, leaving the human for later.

When the Klingon stopped trying to grab him, Bennet glanced over to see how Odo was doing, and he was horrified to find the Constable in difficulty. Realizing that the arrival of the second Klingon would spell doom for Odo, he darted around the desk and struck the advancing Klingon a hammer blow to the back of the neck. The Klingon staggered, and Jake followed through by slamming his palms down on the bigger being's shoulders and driving him to the floor. The Klingon fell backwards, roaring in pain and surprise. Bennet dropped, knees first, onto his chest and administered two solid blows to the temple. At the second one, the Klingon went limp.

The other Klingon had watched with astonishment as Bennet dispatched his partner. When he finally accepted what had happened, he tossed Odo aside and leapt for Jake, determined to avenge his species' honor. Jake stepped into the punch, turning aside and blocking it at the last moment, then latched onto the Klingon's arm and pivoted sharply. The Klingon was thrown headfirst into the wall and didn't rise.

"Bashir to Security." Odo lowered his hand from his communicator and looked at Bennet steadily for a moment. "You needed my help?"

Bennet shrugged, embarrassed. "I didn't want to fight both of them at once. Besides, if I had handled it myself, you'd probably have charged me with assault."

"What makes you think I still won't?"

"Oh come on, Odo!" Jake protested. "I didn't do a thing until it looked like your shape was going to be rearranged without your consent, and you can hardly accuse me, an unarmed human, of using excessive force in taking on two Klingons."

"Mm." Odo just glowered at him for a moment. "This was your fault."

"I know," Jake admitted freely. "That's why I jumped in. I didn't want you to be pounded for my misjudgement." He shrugged. "I thought I could keep them distracted -- "

"You mean drunk."

" -- until they left. I figured that by the time they realized what had happened, they would be off station. How was I to know that their buyer was on DS9, or that they'd compare notes as soon as they got out of the holo-suites?"

"Your ability to rationalize your immorality amazes me."

"Don't be so stuffy," Jake admonished. "So what if I took advantage of two brain-dead Klingons? Do you think that they'd have spared me if the situation had been reversed? As it was, they tried to cheat me on the exchange rate, even when they thought I was doing them a favor! Besides," he added, "they kept pawing the dabbo girls."

"Now you're the defender of the dabbo girls?" Odo sneered.

"Oh, go soak in your pail," Bennet snapped. "See if I do you another favor."

"Wait!" Odo ordered as Jake made for the door. "If you're going to press charges against these two -- "

"Me?" Bennet looked down at the unconscious forms in surprise. "Don't be silly. As soon as the doc gets them back on their feet, turn them loose."

"And you're not concerned about them ambushing you in a corridor?"

Bennet quirked an eyebrow at the Constable before leaving. "Why would I be worried? You can see who's still standing. Oh, and Odo? You're welcome."