The airlock hissed open to the runabout and both Meps and Zap rushed through it.

"Here's the plan," Meps said as he opened a weapons locker, "I'm going to transport you directly into the room where they're holding my commanding officer. You'll phaser anyone that's not her and I'll transport you out."

"Wait," Zap said, "Let me talk to Commander Jones. I'm sure he would-"

"We don't have time," Meps interrupted, "That Ferengi claimed that she gave him the slip. That means he's planning to claim that he never had her, which means he's planning to kill her."

"But my Commander-"

"Would make a convincing case that he should turn over his Federation prisoners," Meps predicted, "To which our friendly Ferengi casino owner would claim to have no idea what he's talking about. I know that you would prefer a diplomatic solution, but I've dealt with situations like this before. If we don't get her out of there, she'll be dead in the next hour."

Meps tossed a phaser to the Auroran, who caught it expertly. The Trill moved to the bridge and Zap followed.

"Okay," Meps said as he sat at the ops station, "Step onto the transporter."

Zap did so.

"You'll likely only have a few seconds once you're in the room," Meps said over his shoulder, "Make them count."

Zap scoffed, "I've been transported into live fire situations before. Just make sure I'm facing the enemy when I materialize."

Meps input the settings, but the computer responded with an error message.

"Damnit!"

"What's the problem?" Zap asked.

"There's a dampening field around the back room," Meps growled.

Zap raised an eyebrow, "Well that's super illegal. One second."

He tapped his comm badge, "Zap to Ops."

"Ops here," came a voice, "What can I do for you?"

"Lieutenant, Mok's casino has a back room behind the back room," Zap answered, "There appears to be a dampening field around it. Can you see what I'm talking about?"

"One second," the voice on the other end said, "I see it. Looks like Mok hid it by placing a power splitter from the casino's main power. Now that I know about it, I can shut it down if you want."

"Please," Zap said.

There was a pause, then the voice said, "And done. Should I report this to Commander Jones?"

"Yes," Zap said, "He's been itching for a reason to kick Mok off the station, and I think this will be exactly the excuse he needs. Zap out."

"Okay," Meps said, "New plan. I can see life signs now. There's a Ferengi, two Nausicaans, my commanding officer, and an Edosian."

Zap looked over Meps' shoulder, "Edosian? That'll be Dr. Razib. He was transferred here pretty recently."

Meps looked at the younger man, "You're sure?"

Meps shrugged, "It makes sense. Dr. Razib is the only Edosian aboard the station and he's a bit of a Tongo enthusiast."

"Alright," Meps said, turning back to the controls, "We'll need to get him out too. Are you ready?"

Zap nodded and stepped onto the transporter pad, "Let's do this."

The Nausicaan forced Zatara through the doorway. The room was well lit but sparse. The only furniture was a single armless chair in the center of the room. She looked back at her assailants. The two Nausicaans stood beside the doorway, hands folded in front of them.

"I am a Starfleet officer," Razib began, "And you are on a Federation station holding me illegally. Explain yourselves."

The guards didn't respond. They didn't even acknowledge if they understood that Razib was talking to them. After a moment, a Ferengi entered the room. He was just under 178 cm, tall for a Ferengi. His suit was of good quality, but not top quality, much like the ones frequently worn by Quark. Exactly the kind of suit a Ferengi relegated to owning a casino on a Federation station would wear.

"You are very good," the Ferengi said, looking directly at Zatara, "I didn't actually spot you myself. I was informed by a well meaning Starfleet security officer. The question I have is why. You're clearly an excellent Tongo player. You likely would have won regardless. So, why?"

She smirked, "Rule of Acquisition fifty-two."

The Ferengi smiled, "Never ask when you can take. Well, I'm afraid you've run afoul of Rule of Acquisition two eighty-eight, never get into anything that you can't get out of. Now, if you'll kindly hand over that latinum."

Zatara hesitated as though she were reluctant to give up the money. After a moment, she tossed the pouch with her winnings at the Ferengi's feet. She noticed Razib looking at her sideways.

"What?" she asked.

He put his hands on his hips, but pointed at her with his middle hand, "You were cheating?"

"Not during our game," she said indignantly, "Just enough to get invited to the back."

"Doctor," the Ferengi said. Razib looked at him. The casino owner held out his hand, palm up, "If you would be so kind."

Razib chuckled, "No way. I came by my winnings legitimately. In fact, by all rights I should get the entire pot."

The Ferengi signaled to the Nausicaans, who stepped forward. Suddenly, the lights flickered and the distinct noise of something powering down filled the room. Everyone looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. A transporter beam materialized in the middle of the room. Before the subject was even fully visible, two rapid fire phaser beams shot out and hit the guards squarely in the chest. They both doubled over, hitting the floor with twin thumps. The person who had been transported in, now fully materialized, stepped forward. He was the Auroran that had been at the final table earlier in the evening. The Ferengi dropped to his knees, adopting a begging posture.

"You crossed a line this time, Mok," the Auroran said, "Commander Jones will absolutely have you thrown off the station for this."

He turned to the other two, "Are you alright?"

"That was quite the timing, Lieutenant," Razib said, "Any longer, and those unpleasant Nausicaans would have done us harm."

"Oh please, Doctor," the Auroan said, "I know damn well you can hold your own in a fight. As you're fond of saying, humanoids never account for the third hand."

Razib nodded slightly. Zatara walked over to the Mok, still on his knees, and grabbed the pouch of latinum off the ground next to him.

She smirked, "Rule of Acquisition fifty-two"

The Auroran tapped his comm badge, "Zap to Meps, three to beam out."

Light bloomed around Zatara and the scene changed to that of the bridge of the runabout. Meps, seated at ops, turned to face them.

"Welcome back," he said, smiling.

"And just who, exactly, are you?" Razib asked.

"Come," Meps said, standing, "Let's talk in the ward room."

Meps and Zatara sat on the main couch while Zap and Razib took stools in alternate corners. Meps held out his hands.

"Drinks?" he asked.

"I'm good," Zap said.

Razib nodded, "As am I. Please, get to the point."

Meps looked to Zatara, who shrugged, "Please, go ahead. This is your show." She paused. "For now," she added offhandedly.

"Right," Meps said cautiously, then looked to their guests, "Are either of you familiar with Article Fourteen, Section Thirty-One of the Federation Charter?"

"Yes," Zap said, "It grants Starfleet a great deal of latitude in extraordinary circumstances. I've never been totally clear on exactly what that means."

"Well," Meps answered, "A group of Starfleet admirals decided to create a clandestine organization based on that part of the charter. We are Section Thirty-One, tasked with protecting the Federation at any cost while maintaining the lowest possible profile."

"A covert organization akin to the Tal Shiar or the Obsidian Order," Razib observed, "That makes sense. No government gets to be as large as the Federation without some form of spy network."

Meps leaned forward, smirking, "Oh, we're far more than a spy network. We shape galactic politics. We are the silent hand. You've heard of the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order. You might even know of a few operations they were involved in. They would kill to have our level of secrecy and compartmentalization."

"I believe they have," Razib quipped, then he looked at Zatara, "By the way, I would just like to point out that I called it."

"Called what?" she asked.

"You," he answered, "I had your number from the moment we met."

"You didn't call anything," she responded indignantly, "You said I was a Cardassian spy."

He shrugged, "You are Cardassian. You're also a spy. Ergo, Cardassian spy."

Zap laughed, "He's got you there, Commander."

Zatara rolled her eyes and began removing the ranking pips from her collar. They'd been rubbing uncomfortably against her neck all day. "I'm not a commander. This was just for the approach."

"Speaking of approach," Razib said, his left and right arm folded, his middled hand pressed against his chin, "You said this mission had something to do with rebuild efforts on Cardassia."

Meps waved a hand toward Zatara, "Kalces? This is your show."

"Kalces?" Razib asked.

Zatara sat up a bit straighter, "I suppose formal introductions are in order. My name is Zatara Kalces, and this is my second in command, Axon Meps. We already know you, Dr. Re Razib." She turned to the Auroan, "And you are?"

He unfolded his arms and sat up straight, "Lieutenant Izappha Stargazer. Mostly everyone calls me Zap. I'm Chief of Security for the station."

"Now that that's out of the way," she said, "What I can tell you is that we will be targeting a raw material supplier in an attempt to put a more friendly supplier into a more favorable position. That's all that I can reveal without a commitment to join us."

"So is this offer open to me as well?" Zap asked, "I know you came here to talk to Dr. Razib, I'm only here by chance."

"You saved the lives of half the people in this room," Meps chimed in, "You clearly know how to handle yourself, and your rank and position says a lot about you. Having you opens up options not previously available to us."

"You make it sound so analytical," Razib noted.

"It is," Meps commented, "Recruitment for an organization so secret that it doesn't officially exist isn't the easiest thing ever. It's also not the safest thing ever. It's a calculated risk everytime we reach out to someone to make contact. We've had to take some pretty drastic measures to keep ourselves beneath notice."

"Such as?" Zap asked.

Meps shrugged, "I can't give you any specifics, but I will say that while the Tal Shiar know the name 'Section 31', they think it was the work of one man, a rogue Starfleet officer, who they believe to be dead."

"And how do you know we won't go talking about this to anyone?" Zap asked.

Meps sighed, "Because the first thing you'll do is report this to your commanding officer. He'll send it up the chain of command. Within a day or two, you'll be given orders from very high up in Starfleet Command ordering you to forget what you saw and heard here today."

"So you are Starfleet," Razib observed.

"More like Starfleet adjacent," Zatara answered, "So the next question is, are you in?"

Razib and Zap looked at each other for a long moment. It seemed that nearly a terabyte of data passed between the two of them. Finally, Zap nodded slightly. Razib turned back to Zatara, "I believe we are in."