The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Part 3 by Ben Versteegt
Summary: On Alpha Centauri, after the Dominion War, a Cardassian with a phaser threatens to kill the Ferengi bartender Zaag, if he doesn't help him. The next day, Starfleet Ensign Sandra Burke has to examine strange, unknown samples. When she visits her friend Zaag, the Ferengi seems a bit too interested in those samples, and asks Sandra for help.
And now the continuation:
"What do you mean, 'I need your help'?" Sandra asked the Ferengi. "What's going on here, Zaag?"
"I'll tell you all about it." Zaag whispered. He looked around the room suspiciously. "But not here. Come with me."
Sandra followed the Ferengi to a small room directly behind the bar. There were no windows, it was barely lit and it smelled like it hadn't been cleaned for months.
"Why don't you sit down." Zaag said, trying to sound friendly. He didn't fool Sandra.
"You sound nervous, Zaag." she said. "What's the matter? What do you know about those samples?"
"Well..." Zaag said, as he started walking back and forth across the room. "I wanted to ask you a favor..."
Sandra didn't feel comfortable in this small, dark room, alone with a nervous Zaag. She sat down on what seemed to be a bed, only to stand up again, surprised at what else she sat down on. "Zaag," she said, as she showed what she sat down on to the Ferengi. "What is this?"
Zaag recognized what Sandra was holding and tried to hide his embarrassment. "Er... what does it look like?" he said, knowing all too well what it was.
"Looks like lingerie to me." Sandra said. "I'm surprised at you, Zaag! Did you actually think that I would put this on? That you and I..." Sandra really was upset, and began to yell at the Ferengi. "I've known you for a while now, Zaag, and I never expected this from you! You're just like every other Ferengi! Did you really think you could get me into bed with you? You're even dumber than you look, you Ferengi pervert! And I suppose you wanted me to give you Oo-mox too, right? What do I look like to you, a Dabo-girl?" she paused. If it wasn't this dark, Zaag could see the tears in her eyes. "I thought you were my friend, but you are just a sex-obsessed, Oo-mox-addicted little Ferengi!" After this, Sandra threw the piece of lingerie to Zaag, and ran through the door in tears. Zaag was terribly
embarrassed, and wanted to correct this misunderstanding.
"Wait!" he shouted. "You don't understand! Sandra, come back!" He followed her out of the bar. "Sandra!" he yelled. "I didn't want to... The lingerie is from a... er.... previous business associate!" But Sandra didn't seem to listen. She ran a lot faster than Zaag could, and Zaag had almost lost her.
Finally Zaag knew of only one way to get Sandra to listen. "They're trying to kill me!" He shouted as hard as he could.
It worked. Sandra stopped, and turned around to face Zaag. The Ferengi ran towards her, catching his breath when he had caught up with the Ensign. "It's true." he said, gasping for air. "I'll get killed if you don't help me."
"This isn't one of your tricks?" Sandra said suspiciously.
"I swear it's not." Zaag said. "I wasn't trying to get you to sleep with me." he paused, and a smile appeared on his face. "Although you're welcome to try it if you want."
"That's it." Sandra turned around. "I'm going."
"No, wait! I was just kidding!"
"Spare me your jokes, Zaag, and get to the point."
"Fine then." Zaag said, and started whispering. "Yesterday night, a Cardassian came in and threatened to kill me if I didn't do what he told me to. He wanted me to steal some samples from the science lab of the Starfleet Outpost you work on. He said those samples were found recently, and that they were of the utmost importance to him." he paused for a second, and looked around to see if nobody was listening to their conversation. "Now, I don't know what he wants with those samples, but I figured I'd better do as he said. And honestly, a few rocks isn't really a huge price to pay for one's life... especially my life."
"And you wanted me to steal those samples for you, is that it?" Sandra asked.
"I have always said you were remarkably intelligent." Zaag said. "That's exactly what I wanted you to do. Now, the first thing you need to do is bypass their security, which shouldn't be that difficult, considering you have the access codes..."
"Shut up Zaag." Sandra interrupted. "I'm not going to do it."
"What?" cried Zaag. "You won't? But isn't my life more important than a few rocks?"
"These samples aren't just rocks, Zaag. They emit somekind of unknown radiation. Our tests show that they might be a new source of power. Properly used, it might even give more energy than anything we use so far."
"That's all fascinating," Zaag said impatiently. "but you have to steal those samples. If I don't deliver them to that Cardassian tonight, I'll be found dead tomorrow."
"Forget it Zaag. I'm not going to do it."
"But what about my life?" Zaag sounded extremely nervous.
"Ask for Federation protection." Sandra said. "You will be assigned some Security personnel. They will protect you from anything."
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one getting killed tonight."
"Just ask for some Starfleet officers to protect you." Sandra insisted.
Zaag refused, shaking his head. "No way." he said. "I'm in enough trouble as it is. If that Cardassian saw me with a group of Starfleet officers, I'd be dead for sure. If he even saw me talking to you, I wouldn't be safe. No, Sandra, I won't ask Starfleet for protection. They would only do me more harm than good."
"What if..." Sandra said, trying to come up with something. "What if you did steal the samples, and delivered it to the Cardassian?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Zaag sighed. "That's exactly what I have to do."
"I know." Sandra replied. "I will get you those samples. You'll give them to the Cardassian."
"I knew you'd see it my way!" the Ferengi looked very happy. His life was saved.
"...And I will be ready with a security team to arrest the Cardassian." Sandra continued.
"What? No Sandra, that's too dangerous! Not only for you, but for me also!"
"It's either that or no deal." Sandra said. "It's your choice."
Zaag doubted the plan would work. "Sounds risky." he said.
Sandra smiled. "The riskier the road, the greater the profit."
"Rule of Acquisition 62..." Zaag said with a soft voice. "All right. It's a deal."
