Meps and Zatara walked into the only bar on K7 that was owned by, and thus catered to, Ferengi. Meps, in Operations Gold with Lieutenant Commander's Pips, looked around at the various tables. Several had card games, while others had spinning wheels that even he could recognize as Dabo. They made their way to the bar and ordered drinks.

"So," he said to Zatara, who was also in her Starfleet disguise, "How does this work?"

"It's pretty simple," she answered, "These are all house games. See how all the dealers are Ferengi? That means that any game I join, part of my ante goes to the house for running the game. My goal is to get invited to a latinum game. Those are informal, but with much higher buy-ins. But the dealers are the players. The dealer changes every hand."

Meps looked around and indeed saw that all of the Tongo games had Ferengi dealers. He searched, but couldn't find any that might fit her description of a latinum game.

He leaned in slightly and asked, "Which ones are the latinum games?"

Zatara shook her head, "None of these are. Those will be out of sight. I think they're technically illegal in the Federation."

Meps was skeptical, "You're sure this will work? Why not just meet him at the bar you were at last night?"

"He was dealing Tongo," she said, "Which means he's an avid Tongo player. My guess is that he'll be here and be at a latinum game. If I can get into that game, I can do some further convincing."

Meps smiled, despite himself, "You make it sound like we're trying to arrange a meeting with a crime boss in a Human private detective story."

"He's clever," she said, "But curious. You made my background too perfect like I requested, right?"

"I did," he answered.

Zatara gave a curt nod, "He's already guessed I'm not who I claim to be. That background will make him curious. He'll have to know more. I'll lay down bread crumbs until he's onboard."

Meps nodded. He hadn't met the man himself, and she had. If she felt this was the play, he had to trust her.

"Speaking of bread crumbs," he said, "If he wants to know more about the mission-"

"I know," Zatara cut him off, "It's classified."

Meps raised his eyebrows, "Actually, I was going to say that you're free to tell him it has to do with pergium and rebuilding efforts on Cardassia."

"Oh," Zatara said, seemingly surprised, "Well, that will probably help."

"You seem to know a lot about this," he said, then asked "Where did you learn to play Tongo?"

"Jadzia," she answered, "She was really good at it and used to fleece the Ferengi on Terok Nor."

"You mean Deep Space Nine," he said.

She waved her hand in a dismissive motion. They were both quiet for a moment as she surveyed the room.

"And what's my role in this?" he eventually asked.

Zatara looked at him and smirked, "You remember those hand signals I taught you?" When he nodded, she went on, "I'm going to make full use of your ability to go unnoticed."


Over the next several hours, Meps milled about the room. Through quick glances, hand signals, and movement akin to a leaf on the surface of a river, he helped Zatara clear out several tables. She would glance at him, look at the opponent that ostensibly, she was trying to read, he would get into position, then give a quick hand gesture. Only one dealer ever got anything close to suspicious, but by the time he looked where she had, Meps had already moved on. The only people who actually saw him were the waitresses that occasionally gave him drinks.

Eventually a Ferengi, in a suit that even Meps could recognize as top of the line, approached her and whispered into her ear. She stood, winked at Meps, and followed the Ferengi toward the back of the bar.

Meps made his way to a Dabo table. He consciously made his movements and posture larger than they needed to be so as to draw a normal amount of attention to himself. The Dabo girl, an Orion of all things, greeted him with a smile.

"Hello handsome," she said, "Interested in spinning the wheel."

Meps laid a strip of latinum in front of her. "Lying about me being handsome earns you a tip," he laid down a bar for a bet, "A Dabo on this spin earns you a bigger one."

She flashed him an obviously practiced coy look, slipping the slip under the table, likely to a hidden tip jar, "Oh Honey, I'm not lying. You are handsome, but more importantly, generous."

Meps laid three more strips of latinum in front of her, "I like to think I'm generous, but what do you say we get this wheel spinning?"


Zatara followed the Ferengi behind the curtain to a room with a half dozen tables. Two Nausicaans stood guard at the entrance. The tables all held a varied mix of races from across the Federation and beyond.

"You may have a seat at any table," the Ferengi host said. Zatara scanned the room and saw her target. She then deliberately took the table furthest from him. The most efficient predators didn't chase their prey, but made their prey come to them.


Meps moved between the Dabo tables and the bar, careful to not be in any one place long enough to leave a lasting impression. Always, he kept an eye to the back room he had seen Zatara disappear into. If things went south, he would need to be ready.


After several hours, the tables in the back room had emptied to the point that they were consolidated into one. Zatara, a Vulcan female, an Andorian male, a Klingon, an Auroran, And Dr. Razib all looked carefully at their cards.

Razib dropped a few strips of latinum into the pot, "Confront."

The Andorian eyed him, "Evade."

The Auroran sighed and dropped his cards as he said, "Retreat. That's it for me" He got up and walked away. Zatara noted that his footfalls were uneven, as though one leg were heavier than the other. The Vulcan followed suit.

The Klingon, dressed in the ceremonial armor of a member of the KDF, growled slightly. He glared over his cards at Zatara, wisely considering her the biggest threat.

"Acquire," he said as he dropped the last of his latinum into the pot.

Zatara smiled, "Confront." And she spun the wheel. Everyone at the table watched as the symbols wheeled past Zatara's pointer. It eventually stopped exactly where she had been hoping it would. She let go of the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Her move had been extremely risky, but it had worked. The Klingon was now bankrupt.

He threw his cards on the table in frustration, "qu'vatlh Sli Vak!"

Zatara glared at him, "Watch your tongue or I will cut it from your head in your sleep, petaQ."

He roared, standing and pulling a d'k tahg. Before he was even fully out of his chair, a phaser beam hit him in the chest. He fell back, knocking over his chair. Everyone turned to see one of the Nausicaan guards putting away a phaser as he approached the table. With a single hand, he hauled the Klingon to his feet and half guided, half dragged him out of the room. Zatara noted that they didn't go through the doorway she had entered, but rather through another, less conspicuous door in the back.

"Well," she said, "That was fun. Doctor, I believe it is your bet."


An Auroran, a race fairly new to the Federation, with yellow skin, orange spots, and red hair, walked up to the bar. There was a slight clank as he walked. Meps glanced down to see that one of the clawed feet the species was known for was actually artificial. We wore Lieutenant's Pips and security gold.

"I'll take a synth ale," the Auroran said to the bartender. Then he turned to Meps, "Hi, I don't think I've seen you on this station before, Commander."

Meps looked at him, a little surprised at the engagement. He wasn't actively trying to avoid notice, but most people didn't notice him unless he actively made his presence obvious.

"I'm not stationed here, just stopping for a bit of R n' R before my next mission." Meps answered.

The Auroran took a sip of his drink and nodded, "Makes sense. I'm just wondering why a Starfleet officer was cheating at Tongo."

Meps carefully kept the surprise off of his face and instead shrugged, "I don't play Tongo. I'm terrible at it."

"Maybe not," the other said, "But that Cardassian woman does, and she's very good at it. So I'm wondering why you bothered cheating."

Meps opened his mouth, but his new drinking companion cut him off, "Don't insult me by denying it. I'll admit, you're very good. She was playing for two hours before I noticed you. I was wondering how she was reading her opponents so well. Still, she is very good even without help. Better than me anyway. I wasn't able to get her alone to question her, so that leaves you."

"Honestly," Meps said with a shrug, "You seem paranoid to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go drop some latinum on a Dabo wheel, unless you want to accuse me of cheating at that somehow."

Meps walked away from the bar. He reached into his pocket and turned off the spin modulator. Now that he knew he was being watched, he couldn't risk a winning streak. He was probably going to have to lose all of the money he'd spent the last few hours winning.


The Andorian sighed as he stood. His most recent attempt to acquire had cost him the last of his latinum. That left only Zatara and the good doctor.

"Now that we're alone," she said, "I assume you checked up on me."

"I did," he answered, "But I still don't believe you. For someone who moved up the ranks so quickly, you have surprisingly few commendations. None, in fact. But your background has coded engrams verified with the DNA of someone very high up the chain of command. What I want to know is who in Starfleet Command do you have on your payroll."

Zatara rolled her eyes, "No one. As I said, it's a classified mission."

"Then why am I being head hunted and not assigned?" he asked, "Starfleet assigns personnel to classified missions all the time."

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," she answered, "But what I can tell you is that this is related to the rebuild efforts on Cardassia, so you can understand why this is personal to me."

Razib nodded, "I tell you what, split this pot with me, and I'll hear you out."

Zatara smiled, "Deal."

They evenly divided the strips of latinum and put them into the provided pouches.

"I'll take you to my runabout," she said as she made her way to the door, "We'll discuss it there."

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her chest. She looked up to see one of the Nausicaans holding her back from the doorway.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and pushed her toward the doorway she had seen the Klingon disappear into. The other one grabbed Razib just as roughly.


Meps lost another spin and feigned disappointment. He hadn't lost much of the money he had won through nefarious means, but he was starting to worry about Zatara. Just as he was considering contacting her, a Ferengi flanked by two Nausicaans approached him.

"Excuse me sir," the Ferengi said, "But I need to have a conversation with you. In private."

Meps shrugged, "Lead the way."

The Ferengi bowed slightly and motioned toward the back room. Meps stood and followed, the Nausicaans right behind him. As he passed a waitress, he grabbed a drink in a stemmed glass. He sipped at first, but once he got close enough to a table, he downed the rest. In two rapid motions, he smashed the glass against the table and spun, jabbing the broken glass into the neck of one of the bodyguards.

The other one reacted quickly, grabbing Meps by the neck. Meps yanked his improvised weapon free and jabbed it into the leg of the one holding him. The Nausicaan screamed, and with the back of his hand, Meps smashed his jaw. His assailant fell to the ground, holding his injured leg.

When meps turned to the host, he saw the Ferengi on his knees, his hands in the traditional begging posture of their race, wrists together, fists apart.

"Don't come after me. If you do, you won't be around to regret it," he said in a menacing tone that made the host flinch. Meps then turned and ran for the exit. Just outside the bar, he came upon the Auroran who had confronted him earlier. Consumed with rage, Meps grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the wall.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!" he yelled.

Feeling a pressure on his stomach, Meps looked down to see the non-artificial foot of the Auroran pressed against him. Sudden force launched him across the hall and into a bulkhead. The impact caused him to lose his breath. Even still, he had a phaser out before he was fully upright, Only to find his opponent with a phaser trained on him.

"I told the owner about your cheating," he said, "He thanked me and said that he'd handle it. I told him you were Starfleet and that I would handle it. He said he'd keep an eye on you and your friend until I got a security detail."

Meps laughed. He couldn't help it, "I know your species is new to the Federation, but you should know to never trust a Ferengi. Hell, they even admit as much. Rule of Acquisition Forty-Seven, never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own."

The Ferengi host and another Nausicaan rounded the corner out of the bar. Meps dropped his phaser out of sight as the Auroran turned his phaser on them.

"Zap," the host said, "It appears you have everything under control."

"I told you to wait for my security detail," he responded, "Where is the Cardassian woman?"

The Ferengi smiled nervously and held out his hands in a helpless gesture, "I'm afraid she gave us the slip."

Zap's eyes narrowed, "I'm sure she did, but I'm taking this one with me for questioning."

The Ferengi bowed slightly, "Of course, whatever you say. As you know, I'm always happy to cooperate with Starfleet security."

Zap lowered his phaser, "I'm sure."

The Ferengi and his bodyguard retreated into the bar. Once they were out of sight, Zap offered a hand to Meps, which he took.

"We have to get your friend out of there." he said.

Meps nodded, "How good are you with transporters?"

Zap shook his head, "Not great, but I know my way around a phaser."

Meps smiled, "Alright, that might be enough. Come with me."