"The facts are that we have very little contact with the Founders," said Wanathar, as he began to closely inspect Kira’s Bajoran ear-ring.
"But we must speak with them," Quark replied. "Both the Federation and the Ferengi wish to obtain a peaceful end to this matter."
Wanathar was now touching the ear-ring, much to the annoyance of its wearer.
"A simple metal, but a most intriguing design. I'll give you two bars of latinum for it."
"Done!" said Quark.
Sisko shot him an icy stare.
"Quark!"
"Enough of this!" said Quark. "I've been authorised by the Grand Nagus himself to re-negotiate our deal regarding the Toolaberry wine. If we could reach some sort of agreement, I may be willing to increase our order."
This was music to Wanathar's ears. He turned and faced Quark and Sisko.
"Do you have a star map of this system, Commander?"
"Yes we do."
"May I see it?" Sisko nodded to Dax, and the map soon appeared on the main viewer. It showed the entire star system they were currently in.
"One light year from here, at this point," Wanathar pointed to a position on the map, "the Dominion has an unmanned subspace relay station. If you can gain access to the computer, you may be able to find the location of the Founders."
Wanathar was suddenly put off when Odo suddenly appeared next to him. He seemed very intrigued by a point on the map, the location of what appeared to be a nebula of some sort. He was fascinated by it, like a child with a new toy.
"What is this place?" he asked, pointing to the map.
"It is the Omarian nebula," Wanathar replied. "It would hold no interest to you. There is one class-M world there, but it has no life."
Nevertheless, Odo seemed fascinated by this nebula. If he could have, he would have left for there straight away, but he knew he couldn't.
"You mentioned re-negotiating the deal, Quark," said Wanathar. "You have the information?"
"I know. But with Commander Sisko's permission, I would like to do this on the surface. My part in this mission is completed."
"Agreed," said Sisko. "You can beam down. Get back to D.S.9?"
"There's a ride with a Ferengi transport due back in two days. I'll hitch a ride with them."
"Help."
A smile appeared on the Defiant was.
With the Liberator now in orbit around Nimbus III, Magus, Blake, Sinclair and Drathro beamed down to the planet’s surface. They were greeted by less than hospitable conditions. Apart from the old buildings of the wrongly named Paradise City, all they could see was barren desert terrain.
"It's easy to see why the Federation, the Klingons and the Romulans gave up on this place," said Drathro. "How can anyone make peace here?"
"Sy Bok tried to find peace from here," said Magus. "All he found was pain."
Magus looked towards the city.
"It looks too far to walk from here," he said. "And night will soon be upon us."
With a wave of his hand, they were gone from the desert, and they soon found themselves inside the walls of Paradise City.
"How could anyone have lived here?" asked Blake.
"The people who came here were prospectors," said Sinclair. "They believed they could make a life for themselves here. They were very wrong."
"Enough, gentlemen," said Magus. "We must prepare ourselves. Our 'delegates' could be arriving any time now. We must be ready."
Magus began to look around. Then, not far away, he saw the perfect building.
"There," he pointed. "There we will meet!"
"In an old bar?" said Blake. "It hardly seems like the perfect place."
"It reminds me of a similar place on Tattooine," said Magus. "In this place, meetings and trade agreements were reached. We will meet there. Contact the Liberator and start to make preparations. I will see to the security system. We don’t want any uninvited guests."
Sinclair activated his communicator, and the operation began. As the Away Teams beamed down and began their work, Magus' thoughts began to go back to that time on Tattooine, where he and an old friend stopped the Galactic Empire and the Monstron Empire from forging an alliance that could have conquered the universe. He then began to think of that friend, and began to wonder how all of this would have turned out if Captain Watt had been here.
Ever since their arrival on Cygnus Alpha, Tamar Amarus and Mark Tompkins had been kept in 'The Place of Novices'. Shortly afterwards they had been joined by Ro Laren, and now the three of them started to work on a plan of escape. However, they had no idea they were being watched.
From his private quarters, Vargas sat, eyes tightly closed, watching the conversation between the three former Starfleet officers.
"They are fools!" Vargas said to himself. "They think they can escape from my clutches! My power grows by the day! Soon all of the Istarian's powers will be mine! Perhaps I should show these three fools the extent of the power!"
In the cell, the conversation continued.
"Even if we do manage to get out of here, how are we going to get off this rock?" asked Tompkins. "We have no way of contacting other planets! There's no sort of technology here!"
"We’ll find a way!" said Ro. "There must be a way!"
Suddenly, a bright light filled the cell. They had to shield their eyes for a moment before the light dimmed. When they could see again, they looked up to see an astral image of Vargas hovering in the air above them.
"You are fools! There is no escape from Cygnus Alpha! The only way you can move on from here is when you move on to the next plain! To get away from here, you'll have to die first! And that can be arranged!"
A devilish laugh filled the air, and seconds later, the image of Vargas was gone.
"How did he do that?" asked Amarus. "The last time I saw something like that was when we were back on the Valkyrie."
"Vargas hasn't got powers like Magus!" said Tompkins.
"Are you so sure?" said Ro. "Thomas Leacock was sent here, and we haven't seen him yet! Maybe Vargas has found a way of taking his power!"
"Well, I've had enough of this!" said Amarus. "I've got to try and get out of here!"
Standing up, Amarus extended his arm in the direction of the wall. Using his natural Traxxon abilities, a burst of flame erupted from his hand and struck the wall. Suddenly, a burst of energy came from that wall and sent the three of them flying.
Suddenly, Vargas' voice filled the air.
"I told you there was no escape from Cygnus Alpha! You are here for life, unless you join me in my new order!"
"Never!" cried Ro.
"So be it!"
Another burst of energy then struck them, rendering them unconscious. Vargas knew he had to act quickly now, if he was to have them.
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