Rivals ( episode ) Quark feels threatened when a con artist arrives on the station and opens up a competing bar . Meanwhile , Chief O ' Brien is determined to beat Doctor Bashir at racquetball . Summary . Teaser . On the upper level of Quark ' s , a lady named Alsia is telling a man of her late - husband and their business , and how she saved up a little bit of latinum every year just for her retirement . But , although she says she has saved quite a tidy little sum , she doesn ' t think she has enough to retire on just yet , and has decided to invest the money in business . She suddenly realizes that she is divulging all her plans to a stranger , someone she has only just met , though she does say it feels like she has known him forever . As the man charms her with words , she reveals her plans to purchase a mining concession in the Vlugta asteroid belt using the spectrographic analysis data her father , a stellar cartographer , gained thirty years ago . She goes on to explain that , as soon as she makes his findings public , she would get seven times her investment back " overnight . " Her new - found friend smiles , flattering her with compliments before suggesting the two of them form a partnership in her new endeavor . But before she can respond , Constable Odo slaps his hand on the man ' s shoulder and begins to frogmarch him to the security office . Alsia implores that the two of them were only talking . " " You were talking , madam . He was listening " " , replies Odo . As the two of them walk along the upper level of the Promenade , Odo reveals he has been watching the man , whom he knows to be Martus Mazur , a refugee from the El - Aurian system . Mazur tries to trick Odo by getting him to talk about his homeworld but the Constable knows better , citing the El - Aurian s ' reputation for being good listeners . Mazur argues everyone needs someone to talk to and if that someone happens to require his help , he is all too happy to provide it . Odo replies he is nothing more than a con artist , a con artist that convinced an elderly couple from Pythro V to invest all of their savings into his business , a business that subsequently folded . Now they have signed a complaint against him . As they arrive in the security office , Mazur pleads with Odo to release him , offering to talk it through with the Constable . He even offers him a drink but Odo simply laughs and activates the force field to his holding cell . Act One . Chief O ' Brien is heading down a corridor towards his newly built racquetball court , practicing some swings with his racket as he goes . As the doors swish open , he is greeted by the unexpected sight of Doctor Bashir , in full racquetball gear . The chief explains that he missed playing the game and so built the court , figuring there would be at least a couple of other players on the station , though he didn ' t expect Bashir to be one of them . The doctor reveals he was captain of the team at Starfleet Medical Academy , winning the sector championships in his final year much to O ' Brien ' s surprise . Bashir continues to boast he has taken on some tough opponents , most of whom " " didn ' t really know what they were doing " " . After demonstrating an ancient warm up ritual , he challenges O ' Brien to a game using the " old style " rules , judging by his lines on the floor . The chief is noticeably annoyed with Bashir ' s arrogance , " " I can play any style you like " " he argues , before snapping at Bashir to serve . The doctor then quickly rushes to the right hand side of the court and clubs the ball at the back wall , where it bounces back , hitting the door and narrowly missing O ' Brien . " " One " " , Bashir observes . Meanwhile , in his holding cell , Mazur is getting increasingly bothered by his cellmate ' s loud snoring . After shouting at him to no avail , he nudges the man with his knee and the snoring soon stops . As the man lies there , Mazur thinks the worst and tries to wake him . At first there is no response , but with a swift grunt , he then wakes up , much to Mazur ' s relief . The alien named Cos , apologizes to him , explaining his health is not so good and begins to sound off his life story to the El - Aurian , who uncharacteristically decides to ignore him . He says he used to have everything but his life was ruined by a small device , which he takes from his pocket . Mazur ' s interest is suddenly piqued , believing it to be a gambling device . The man activates it and several lights begin to blink in random fashion , before rapidly dying out . He tells of how every trade deal he has struck since owning it has been a disaster , every alliance formed has fallen apart , and every endeavor has been a failure , but Mazur dismisses it as simply " rotten luck " and lies back down on his bunk . His depressed cellmate agrees that it all comes down to luck and activates it again . This time , however , the device glows a bright white , indicating a win . A big smile appears across Cos ' face before he slumps back down his cell wall . He is dead , and Mazur quickly realizes it . Taking the device from his hand , he calls for a security officer , " " You ' ve got a dead prisoner in here ! " " , he shouts . Act Two . O ' Brien returns to his quarters after the racquetball match with Bashir . Keiko asks him how the training went but he can only complain about Bashir ' s smug attitude . " " In my day " " , he says , " " I could have wiped the court with him ! " " he tells Keiko . She points out that he is no longer the young man he used to be and his reflexes are bound to have gotten slower with age , though O ' Brien is adamant he can beat him , it will just take some training . On the Replimat , Bashir is telling Dax about the game and that O ' Brien looked like he was going to have a heart attack at one point . Dax is surprised Bashir would allow the game to continue but the Doctor says he tried , only O ' Brien wouldn ' t let him finish it ; he even made him wait while he went off to replicate a new racket after his own had snapped . Finally , as Bashir explains , he had his nurse interrupt them with a fake emergency medical situation so he could get out of the match . Dax tells him to look on the bright side , at least he ' s out of the match now . But Bashir know this is only beginning ; the Chief wants a rematch and not only is he afraid it might injure him , but he respects the Chief ' s sense of pride and doesn ' t want to do anything that might humiliate him . Back in the holding cell , Mazur is playing with the gambling device which he has won several times now . The device lights up yet again as Odo enters , informing him the Pythron couple is now refusing to press charges , so he can leave , much to Odo ' s annoyance . In his bar , Quark is playing a game of chance with Morn , the prize being a free drink . Unfortunately , the die lands on the blue side and so Morn loses . Just then , Mazur enters and orders a drink , but with no money , Quark initially refuses him . Mazur then wagers his device on the outcome of Quark ' s game of chance . The die lands in his favor and so Quark pours him his drink as agreed . As he does so , he mentions that he has heard of Mazur ' s good fortune but , as the forty seventh Rule of Acquisition states , " " never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own . " " Mazur demonstrates his device to Quark , which soon grabs his attention . He has a go himself , but unsurprisingly loses . He hands it back to Mazur , who proves his luck is running good today by winning again . Leaning into Quark , he offers him a proposition ; with a little " tinkering " and some replication , the device could be adapted for his casino . But Quark appears uninterested . " " It ' s just a child ' s toy " " , he says , but nevertheless places a few slips of latinum down on the prospect it could keep Nog occupied for a while . Mazur refuses the offer , demanding a hundred times what Quark had placed down , but the Ferengi isn ' t that keen . Mazur insists it will bring Quark profit by the end of the week , which prompts Quark to place a few more slips down . Mazur , however , still refuses , deciding to keep the device for himself . " " Thanks for the drink " " , he says , heading out of the bar . As he walks out onto the Promenade , Mazur sees a Bajoran woman , Roana , packing away some items from her shopfront . He approaches her and she explains that her husband recently passed away and she doesn ' t think she can manage the shop without him anymore . " " It ' s so much nicer working with someone else " " , she recalls . Mazur then picks up a gem stone from her counter and passes it to her , " " You understand . " " , she says . In the racquetball court , Bashir is playing a rematch with O ' Brien , but he is purposely losing the game and the Chief knows it . " " I don ' t need your charity " " , he remarks , " " Next time , you either play your best or you don ' t play " " . Odo is walking down the Promenade when Quark suddenly runs up to him from behind . He complains about Mazur , that he has opened a competing establishment against his exclusive contract with the station . He points to where the Bajoran woman ' s shop used to be . The entrance has been replaced with bright , flashing lights and Mazur is outside welcoming people in . Noticing Quark , he utters to his customers , " " Welcome to Club Martus ! " " . Act Three . Quark is following Commander Sisko as he argues his point over the exclusive contract he paid considerably for , stating all gambling happens at Quark ' s . Though Sisko immediately dismisses his argument , " " A few bribes to the Cardassian s when they ran this station , doesn ' t constitute a contract . Not in the eyes of the Federation . " " he responds , as the two of them step into a turbolift heading to the lower Promenade . As they exit , Quark tries a different approach , insisting Sisko owes him , that he begged for him to stay on the station when the Federation took over . Likewise , Sisko reminds him that he blackmailed , not begged him , to stay and that he can ' t pretend it hasn ' t paid off for him too . He continues to walk off down the Promenade . As Quark shouts at him to reconsider , Rom exits the bar with Mazur , who reveals he has offered his brother a one quarter share in his establishment . Rom tells Quark that if he wants him back , he has to offer something better , but Quark simply laughs it off and lets him leave , rushing to tend to his own bar . The customers are filling up in Club Martus , much to Mazur ' s pleasure . He is walking through the bar when he spots Alsia , who tells him she has gone ahead with the mining bid and the Vlugtan government has accepted it . However , they won ' t finalize the deal until she commissions a study on the effects of asteroid mining on intersystem navigation and she put all her money into the bid itself . Alsia tells him she needs ten thousand isik s in order to get it done and she only has a week to do it . She goes on to explain that any investor would see return of ten times that amount . Realizing the potential for profit , Mazur agrees to help her . Rom approaches with a tray of canapé s and warns him that Quark may decide to do something to the food in order to discredit his bar . After the good luck he has experienced recently , Mazur brushes it to one side , inviting a dabo girl to sit on his lap . But as Roana enters , he quickly jumps to his feet , pretending he was disciplining her . Mazur then takes two drinks from the bar and toasts to his Roana , " " the queen of the Promenade " " . Then proposing they " formalize " their relationship , he offers her a gift of a Bajoran earring . In Ops , Major Kira is discussing the requirements of a new lab with Dax , who has her feet up at her console . The computer suddenly alerts them to a discovery ; Dax explains she has been running a scan for a program buried in the deep code level of the database and the computer has just found it , to her surprise . She puts it down to luck and the two of them go back to their work . Chief O ' Brien is lying in pain on the floor of the racquetball court . Bashir explains he slipped on the ball while it was in mid - air and fell on his back , to O ' Brien ' s disbelief . They are then both interrupted by the sound of one of the medical staff requesting Bashir ' s presence in the infirmary . The chief says they can continue their match another time but as Bashir leaves , he tells him that he didn ' t really enjoy as he used to and , apologizing , hopes he ' ll find another opponent on the station . Disappointed , O ' Brien heads for Quark ' s . The first thing he notices as he walks in is how empty the bar is ; everyone is across the Promenade at Club Martus . In an effort to prove he can be just as much a listener as Mazur , Quark asks the chief how his game went . O ' Brien begins to complain about Bashir winning all the time , but it turns out Quark isn ' t listening after all for he ' s just thought up a way to get back at Mazur . Major Kira slams a terminal in Ops after it crashes , destroying an evaluation report she has been working on for weeks ; even the backups are affected . Sisko observes he has been hearing a lot of " bad luck stories " over the past few hours , including many people who have reported to the infirmary after sustaining minor injuries . Dax jokingly tells her she has been having a great day so not to send any of it her way . Kira , however , says she thinks everyone makes their own luck right before tripping over a step on her way up to the turbolift . In Club Martus , everyone playing the gambling device has just hit the jackpot leaving Mazur very unhappy . He reluctantly agrees to pay them all . Meanwhile , Quark is playing with his cup and dice while concocting up a scheme . " " Challenge of the galaxy " " , he says to himself , " " Match of the century . Wonder of the wormhole . House always takes blue ! " " Act Four . Quark , standing on his bar , is rallying a group of customers , offering them new thrills , spills and excitement , among them is Bashir but he ' s confused about what Quark is referring to . The chief enters , in uniform and with his toolkit to hand , looking equally puzzled by what ' s going on . Quark continues his speech , introducing the " " reigning champion of Starfleet , and a legend on both sides of the wormhole , Miles ' The Mechanic ' O ' Brien " " alongside " " the fast and the deadly " " , Julian Bashir , aka " The Doctor " . Both of them are equally surprised by Quark ' s address , expecting to find an emergency in the bar . O ' Brien shouts at Quark to get down and explain himself , but he continues with his speech , advertising " " the grudge match of the galaxy " " with half the winnings going to the Bajoran War Orphans Fund . He finishes by inviting his customers to place a bet on either contender while reminding them the dabo tables are open . O ' Brien and Bashir are naturally outraged by Quark taking it upon himself to arrange this without their consent , but he puts the charm on and reminds them about the orphans ' donation and that the monk s have already made down payment on new blankets for the winter . They reluctantly give in to Quark ' s plan . He smiles smugly across the Promenade to Mazur , who is watching in anger . Back in Ops , Dax is frustrated with the computer , which seems to have lost the program she was looking for . Kira arrives on the turbolift , noting that she is fine after her earlier trip , which is more than she can say for the other people in the infirmary , whose numbers are increasing . Dax hypothesizes there must be a connection between the accidents and the system failures and Sisko agrees , suggesting it may be a virus or anomaly of some sort . He sets Dax to work finding something that could affect both people and machinery in this way . Meanwhile , thanks to Quark ' s scheme , Club Martus is just about empty . Rom is recounting to Mazur the times he was teased for his lobes being too small , but Mazur is too busy dwelling in his own failure and eventually snaps at Rom , before finding " comfort " in the arms of his dabo girl . At that moment , Roana walks in and witnesses his betrayal . As she still holds the lease , she orders him out of her bar and to take his devices with him , before storming out . Mazur chases after her as far as the Promenade where he sees Alsia and has another idea . A little while later , Mazur and Alsia are in the club where he provides her with the necessary funds she asked for , approximately ten thousand isiks . He reminds her of the return she promised him ; he expects ten times as much back . She promises he will get it and leaves the club . Mazur then tries his luck with one of the gambling devices but it fails on him . His luck may be coming to an end . Act Five . In his quarters , O ' Brien is talking to himself in the mirror as he gets ready for the match with Bashir . Before he leaves , Keiko takes a silk handkerchief of medieval Japanese design , scented with her perfume , and ties it around his head as a good luck charm . " " Kick his butt " " , she roots . Bashir is doing press - ups in the infirmary when Quark enters . He says he has brought a special gift from the Bajoran monks , a medicinal brew said to impart great energy and vigor . Bashir unscrews the bottle and takes a sniff , reeling at the smell of it . Quark tells him the monks said to drink it all in one go to get the proper effect which immediately causes the doctor to suspect he is up to something . Sure enough , after running a medical scan on the liquid , Bashir finds there is seventeen milligrams of hydroxylated quint - ethyl metacetamine , an anesthetic , which would make him hardly able to stand let alone play racquetball . Quark explains that nobody is betting on O ' Brien to win so he had to do something to gain a profit from the match , and of course , raise funds for the orphans . Bashir instructs Quark that he will be paying for the orphans ' blankets whatever the outcome of the match and that is the end of the discussion . In Ops , Dax has found something . Sensor s have detected strange solar neutrino activity within the station . According to the laws of probability , around half of the neutrinos should be spinning clockwise and the other half counter clockwise , yet over eighty percent of them are spinning clockwise . Dax believes it is another symptom of the unusual activity on the station . O ' Brien wishes Bashir a good game as they prepare to start . The Doctor takes the first serve , which the chief successfully counters , hitting the ball against the back wall and back to Bashir , who misses it . In Quark ' s everyone is watching the game on a large viewscreen as he narrates the score . O ' Brien serves the next point which Bashir successfully hits back . O ' Brien again successfully hits the ball back to Bashir but this time the Doctor ' s racket snaps in two . " " Not a rousing start for the Doctor " " , Quark narrates . In Club Martus , Mazur is waiting on Alsia who had promised to meet him there once she had completed the deal . Rom reminds him that one quarter of the money he loaned to her is his and he expects it back . Mazur states he only gets any profit after all expenses have been settled and since all the money has gone towards expenses , he won ' t getting anything . Angry with this prospect , Rom takes his jacket off and throws it at Mazur , before returning to his brother ' s bar with the dabo girl . Back in the court , Bashir trips and falls to the floor in an unlucky move . O ' Brien , realizing something isn ' t quite right , cuts the video transmission with the bar . He admits to Bashir that he is playing better than he did fifteen years ago when he played five hours a day . Bashir throws the ball straight against the back wall , expecting it to bounce back to him , but it goes to the Chief instead . Then O ' Brien tries , this time ricocheting the ball around all the curves and corners of the room , though it still ends up in his hand . Something is most definitely happening . Heading for the nearest comm panel , he contacts Ops . Sisko and Dax have come down to the racquetball court to observe the phenomenon for themselves . O ' Brien says he has thrown the ball at varying angles a dozen times now and it has always ended up in his hand . Sisko links this experience to the other improbable events that have been happening on the station and Dax believes she can find out what ' s causing it . They walk into Club Martus just as Mazur has lost another spin on his device . Dax notes that ninety eight percent of the neutrino s in the room are rotating clockwise and it ' s the machines that are causing it . Sisko asks Mazur how they shut them off but he doesn ' t know . He says he just told the replicator to scan the original and create copies , though he does believe they have an internal power source . With no way to turn them off , Sisko and Dax take out their phaser s and shoot each of the devices , destroying them for good . Mazur claims he cannot be held responsible for what has happened and even though he would like to arrest him for it , Sisko admits he has no evidence on which to charge him . However , Odo enters and reveals he does ; the elderly Pythron couple have decided to press charges after all . Mazur is back in his holding cell when Odo brings Alsia into the room . He incorrectly assumes she has come to get him out , right before she is herself placed into a cell . Quark reveals that she just tried to scam him with " " the old asteroid mining trick . " " He tells Mazur that he has come to let him out and takes great pleasure in the fact that he was fooled by one of his own victims . Mazur demands Quark give him two thousand isiks so he can book passage out of Deep Space 9 . Quark barters with him in true Ferengi style , until the price gets lower and lower . " " Go on " " , he says " " I ' m listening . " " Memorable quotes . " " Officer ! You ' ve got a dead prisoner in here ! " " " " You had a game ? " " " " No , " he " had a game . I just kinda stumbled around the court for ninety minutes and made a complete " ass " of myself ! " " " " Sector champion , my eye . He ' s vulnerable to every one of my best shots . I just . . . I just couldn ' t " get " them there ! " This " time . " " " " I don ' t need your charity ! Next time , you either play your best game or you don ' t play . " " " " I ' ll take a hundred times what you got here . " " " " Not in this space - time continuum , you won ' t . " " " " My benevolence is known far and wide . " " " " Oh , it ' s " legendary , " I ' m sure . " " " " Kick his butt . " " " " I have a contract for which I paid considerably ! All gambling on DS9 happens at Quark ' s or it doesn ' t happen ! " " " " A few bribes to the Cardassians when they ran this place doesn ' t constitute a contract . Not in the eyes of the Federation . " " " " He ' s a con artist . . . a crook ! " " " " One more won ' t make much difference . " " " " You owe me ! You begged me to stay here when you first came on board , and I did . Against my better judgment . " " " " I didn ' t beg , I blackmailed you . And don ' t pretend it hasn ' t paid off for you , either . " " " " Where are you going ? " " " " Back to Quark ! At least then I ' ll be cheated by family ! " " Links and references . References . 47 ; Bajor ; Bajoran War Orphans Fund ; Bajoran wormhole ; bidding war ; Bolian s ; canapé ; Cardassian s ; Club Martus ; complex carbohydrate ; dabo girl ; deep code level ; El - Aurian s ; El - Aurian system ; Federation ; gambling machine ; Gamzian wine ; grain particulates ; heart attack ; intestinal bug ; Isik s ; Japanese ; Keldar ; latinum ; laws of probability ; lease ; match fixing ; mechanic ; medievalism ; Milky Way Galaxy ; molasses ; Naming Day ; Nog ; Occupation of Bajor ; orphan ; Pakled s ; Plygorian mammoth ; potassium bromide ; Promenade ; promoter ; push - up ; Pythro V ; Pythron s ; Pythron couple ; Quark ' s ; racquetball ; replicator ; retirement ; Rules of Acquisition ; Sector 001 ; shaving ; snoring ; solar neutrino s ; spatial fluctuation ; sprain ; Starfleet Medical Academy ; sucrose ; synthehol ; throwing ; toast ; tricorder ; Vlugtan s ; Vlugta asteroid belt ; Vlugta government ; Vulcan ; winter