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T’Lura steepled her hands together, elbows resting on the wardroom table. “I was referring to the Ferengi.”

That got everyone’s attention. Bart noted that Anthony had a particularly wide-eyed look, as if he were disappointed in himself for not thinking of it first.

Phrebington, of course, sounded more disappointed in T’Lura. “The Ferengi? If you were anyone else, I’d say you were joking.”

“Insults are not necessary, Mr. Phrebington,” T’Lura said primly. “First contact with the Dominion was, in fact, made by the Ferengi Alliance, and they have made numerous trade agreements with a variety of Dominion races. It is quite possible that there are those in the Alliance who have the information we need.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Phrebington said. “Is this what we’ve come to? Relying on the Ferengi?”

Grinning, Bart said, “Oh, the Ferengi can be damn reliable. You just have to know how to acquire the information.”

Throckmorton frowned. “I don’t think Commander DuVall would be able to requisition gold-pressed latinum for this.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Anthony said. Bart couldn’t help but notice the mischievous smile on his face. “I think I can find what we need. I’ll need a couple of days to track down the DaiMon I’m thinking of.”

Novac shrugged. “We’ll need that long to go through what we have on the Dominion in any case.”

“At least,” Throckmorton said.

“All right, let’s pursue this,” Bart said. “Meantime, the rest of us keep doing what we’ve been doing. Just because this is a possibility doesn’t mean it’s the only one. We may get lucky. Dismissed.”

Phrebington muttered, “Lucky—that would be a first.”

“War’s full of firsts, Mr. Phrebington,” Anthony said with a grin. “I’d say we’re due for one.”

The next week was chock full of activity.

Novac and Throckmorton went over the known data about Dominion linguistics, paltry as it was, and concluded, unsurprisingly, that there was no connection between it and the new code.

Bart, T’Lura, and Phrebington continued to search for more ways to crack the code, with the same lack of success they’d been having since Bart’s arrival.

Kerasus, unfortunately, spent the week in the infirmary, her inability to catch her breath during the meeting turning out to be a symptom of some lung trouble. The starbase doctor assured everyone that it was routine for someone of her advanced age, and she’d be released in a few days, “if not sooner.” The last was added in an exasperated tone that suggested to Bart that the older woman didn’t appreciate being bedridden when there was work to be done.

As for Bart and Anthony, they had dinner at the Trill restaurant the following night to “finish off” the previous dinner. Then they met again the next night. Soon, it became a nightly ritual. After five days, Bart accompanied Anthony back to the latter’s quarters after the restaurant closed, since they weren’t finished with their spirited discussion (Bart was having far too much fun, and they were being far too civil, for it to be categorized as an argument) about literature. Anthony didn’t like anything written since around 2350 or so, preferring the neo-Gothic books of the earlier part of the century. At the end of the night, Anthony promised to read Van Der Weir, though Bart suspected it was mostly just to shut Bart up about how excellent her work was.

The morning that the Ferengi DaiMon finally arrived, Bart had spent the night in Anthony’s quarters, his happiness with his private life now in inverse proportion to his frustration with the lack of results in the crypto project.

DuVall, Anthony, and Bart met with the Ferengi, a short, rotund man named Bikk. The DaiMon sat his portly form at the foot of the wardroom table, opposite DuVall.

“So,” the commander said, “Mr. Mark tells me that you’re something of an expert on the Dominion.”

“Something like that,” Bikk said with a toothy smile that made Bart want to run to his quarters and make sure all his possessions