DaiMon Talr had been up long enough to shower and put on clean fresh clothing; now he was enjoying a breakfast fit for a king.  Well a God in fact, for that’s what the people of this planet regarded him as, right now.  He had absolutely no intention of setting the record straight, either.  These creatures may be extremely primitive but they did know how to treat someone who was superior to them.

Today was going to be a very special day, doubly so if Starfleet did what he expected of them; and if Talr could be sure of one thing, it was the predictability of Starfleet.  That brought a smile to the Ferengi’s face; he rubbed his hands together with confident glee, before grabbing a big chunk on meat before him and sinking sharp teeth into the soft tender flesh.  He would have to put careful consideration into getting some of these warthog like creatures off planet and breeding them elsewhere.  Far larger than a Klingon Targ and a lot more docile, their meat was far more to his liking and he could imagine making a sizeable profit out of them.   Six months trapped here may have set him back considerably, but never let anyone say DaiMon Talr couldn’t turn a bad situation to his advantage. 

            **********

Jason Devron was back in the captain’s chair; he’d been there since just after 7am, both Ensigns C’Rren and Harris joining him around half hour later.  There seemed to be a lot of activity going on within the grounds of the Châteaux.  Tents had been erected tables set up and fires lit under a number of cast iron cooking pots.  The scaffolding and wood had been removed from the large structure which was now covered by a huge canvas sheet anchored in place by ropes. 

No one on the ‘Jax’ was exactly sure what it was, their scans hadn’t given much detail; but it was a statue of some kind; that much they did know. 

It was approaching mid-day, at least on board the ship; when the Communications consul bleeped.  Harris had it linked through Helm so he could deal with any messages.  “Incoming from the planets surface.” 

“On screen Mr Harris.” Devron replied.

A moment later the image of a Ferengi appeared on the main viewer; three quarters of a face at least.  DaiMon Talr was holding a small device in his hand, but too close for the built-in camera to include all his head. “Ah, Hu mon. You I recognise Devon, Deventer, Denver…..”

“Devron!” The Captain butted in.

“Close enough.” The Ferengi said it in a way that made it sound like Devron was the one pronouncing his own name wrong. “Well Captain Drevon, you are going to help me get off this planet.”

He ignored the mistake and carried on the conversation. “And tell me why I’d be willing to help you?”

“Because I have three of your people locked up.” The toothy grin of A Ferengi could be horrible at the best of times, but close up on a large screen in glorious vivid colour; was a sight you wouldn’t want repeated too often. “They can only stay safe for so long.  My people may act out on their fears of strange creatures.”

Devron let the clear threat to his friends and fellow shipmates slide for a moment. “They accepted you.” 

“May be it was just my charm and charisma?” The Ferengi suggested with an even bigger grin. “They worship me and will do anything for me.”

“Poor deluded souls.” Came Ensign Harris’s mumbled voice.  Jason felt the same way, but rather hoped Talr had not heard the comment.

“However.” The DaiMon continued. “Being stuck on a planet hundreds of years away from discovering space flight, doesn’t help business.”

Devron sat back a little, but it didn’t help lessen the impact made by the large face on screen.  “What do you propose then?” 

“You grant me safe passage back to my ship.”  Answered Talr. “Once I am well clear, you’d get the shut off codes and can rescue your friends.”

“And can I trust you?”

“I am a man of honour and integrity.  Of cause you can trust me, mister Donavan.”

Devron closed his eyes a moment; was all this getting his name wrong a way of trying to wind him up or did this Ferengi before him just not pay attention to what’s been said? “Very well you have a deal.”

“I will be in contact with you later.”  Talr’s face promptly vanished, replaced once more by the image of the planet the corvette orbited.

“Sir, you can’t!” Protested Ensign Harris; half turning in his chair.

“That will do Ensign.” Barked back the Captain, a little harsher than intended.  “The quicker we can get DaiMon Talr and our people off that planet the better. Just trust me.”

Chad turned back to face his controls.  He was worried about the three officers down on the surface, Cho especially.  He wasn’t so sure he’d be this willing to trust the Ferengi; not with their lives, not with hers. 

            **********

The young Korean herself was sat on the bed in the cell she’d shared the night in with Stuart and Tholakath.  The Cardassian was currently on his hands and knee’s using the handle of a metal spoon to scrape at the mortar between two of the large stones that made up the wall.  He’d been lucky that the guards collecting their dishes after breakfast had been in too much of a hurry to check everything was there.  So now he’d spent the last few hours in the hope of dislodging one of the stones. 

“How’s it going?” Lyanna casually asked; lying face down on the other bed her head tilted in the Cardassian’s direction.

“It’s a work in progress.” He answered her. “Still a way to go though.” 

“Take a break and let me have a go.”  The Orion rolled over and swung her legs round, before planting her feet on the floor.  Stuart took the spoon from the hand of Tholakath before getting down on the floor where she continued the work.  As an escape plan this may have been a slow and laborious task, but until other potentially better plans presented themselves this was all they had to work with.