Commander Sisko is happily cooking dinner for two. Jake Sisko enters
his quarters and can easily see the happiness on his father's face. He then guesses that he
successfully negotiated a cultural exchange between ambassadors from another species. The two
sits down to have dinner, when Jake brings up another subject. He asks his father if he's met
Captain Kasidy Yates yet, the freighter pilot that Jake has been raving about. Ben informs his
son that he'll make the decision when he feels like meeting her, and leaves it at that.
Meanwhile, at Quark's, business is booming and
tonight is one of the busiest nights at the bar. Quark is happy that his business is thriving.
He wonders where Nog is during all this, and Rom informs Quark that he gave Nog the night off
to study for his entrance exam for Starfleet Academy. Quark is appalled that Nog is the first
Ferengi to enter Starfleet, and to throw away earning profit for the Prime Directive, and he's
even more appalled at Rom, who's encouraging him to bring an end to Ferengi civilization as he
knows it. Just then, an unknown Ferengi enters the bar, asking for Quark. He introduces himself
as Brunt, FCA - the Ferengi Commerce Authority. Equal to the IRS on Earth. Brunt puts up a
Ferengi poster at the bar's entrance, and Quark immediately recognizes it as the Writ of
Accountability. Knowing what this means, Rom immediately ushers everyone out of the bar,
declaring the bar closed for the time being.
------
After closing down the bar, Brunt goes through Quark's account
records to see if it's in order. There is a small discrepency as Rom has forgot to put in the
profit margin for the Tulaberry Wine. Quark is still at a loss as to why he's charged with the
Writ of Accountability and demands to know more. But first, he must pay Brunt to get the
information he needs and does so accordingly. Brunt tells Quark that he's been charged with
breaking the Ferengi by-laws, subsection 1027, paragraph 3. Quark is unfamiliar with that law
and pays Brunt for more. He gets a copy of the by-laws and realizes that it is an indescretion
of improper supervision of a family member. Brunt states that one Ishka, daughter of Adred, wife
of Keldar, has been found to make a profit, a law that forbids females from earning profit.
Realizing the serious nature of the crime, Quark promises to get an imprint from Ishka,
confessing her crimes.
Before Quark leaves Deep Space Nine, he asks Odo to
look after the bar and make sure no one tries to steal anything, especially his brother Rom.
Odo wonders where Quark is going, and Quark tells him that he has to go to Ferenginar, the
Ferengi homeworld, to wring a confession out of his mother for the crimes she committed. Even
Odo is appalled at the suggestion of a threat from Quark to his mother.
Commander Sisko and Major Kira arrive at Ops to
begin work. Major Kira wants to know when the Commander will be available for inspection of the
new Runabouts, and Sisko informs her that he'll be ready at 1400 hours. He also orders Kira to
name the Runabout, Rubicon, after one of the rivers on Earth. Kira is glad that Earth has that
many rivers, otherwise they'd be running out of names for Runabouts. Before Sisko can get to
his quarters, he is stopped by an inquisitive Lt. Jadzia Dax, who inquires Sisko if he's met
Kasidy Yates. Sisko is surprised at Jadzia's knowledge of their date, and Jadzia warns Sisko
that if she were Curzon, he would have already take her. Sisko is glad that Dax isn't Curzon
any more.
Quark soon heads for an airlock to his transport
that will take him to Ferenginar. However, he is soon joined by Rom before he gets to the
airlock. Rom asks his brother if he can join, but Quark is reluctant to allow him, because he
knows he'll only take his mother's side. Having no choice, Quark warns Rom to stay out of his
way, while they are there.
------
Ferenginar is a damp, miserable and wet planet. Quark, Rom and Brunt
enter Quark's house and Quark welcomes Brunt to his house. While Rom is good to be back home,
Quark isn't for all the suffering and misery going on in this house. Rom then mentions how it
must feel good after twenty-two years of being absent, but if Quark had his way, he would've
been gone for more. Soon, Rom realizes that mother has been busy, acquiring new stuff, albeit
without realizing that the liquidator is here. Brunt soon gets down to the point. He orders
Quark to obtain a confession admitting her guilt, but Ishka soon arrives and tells him that she
won't do such thing. Brunt is easily disgusted at the appearance of Ishka, as she is wearing
clothes - another violation of Ferengi laws. Brunt orders Quark to get his house in order within
three days and leaves. Ishka is happy to see Rom, however, she isn't happy to see Quark.
Back at Deep Space Nine, both Bashir and O'Brien
are trying to break through a lock at Quark's, trying desperately in vain to retrieve their
dart-board. Odo keeps a watchful eye on the two, and asks why they can't just replicate a new
dart-board. Chief O'Brien informs him that they are just used to playing on it, and it isn't
their lucky dart-board. Just then, Commander Sisko comes along and asks the two what they're up
to. Odo fills in the Commander's inquisitive question. Sisko soon mentions that this is one of
Rom's special locks, a triparteid microsealer and wishes the pair good luck at breaking as he
heads off to one of the Cargo Bays. When the Chief suggests he's going to Cargo Bay Four to
meet with Kasidy Yates, this throws Sisko off guard. He wants to know how they know about this,
and soon realizes the truth. It seems that Jake has gone out of his way to tell everyone on the
station about Sisko and Kasidy Yates. Embarrased, Sisko makes a quick getaway.
Back on Ferenginar, Rom makes Quark dinner - Tooth
Grubs. Quarks asks Rom what he's doing, as it is customarily a female job to cook dinner in
Ferenginar. Rom explains that Ishka is sick and couldn't cook. Soon, this gives Quark a good
idea. Quark could convince the FCA that his mother is emotionally distressed, and that they
would have to drop the charges. Quark soon guesses that won't work, and needs someone to hire
to get Ishka out of the way, just to teach her a lesson. Ishka soon asks Quark if he has anyone
for the job. Ishka joins Quark and Rom at the dinner table. The dinner isn't smooth going as
possible. Quark continues to plea Ishka to imprint the confession, but Ishka continually
refuses. This angers Quark and realizes just how Ishka is embarrassing his whole family. Quark
soon gets Ishka to admit to her profiteering and she does, but she will not sign the damn
confession, despite what the Ferengi law says. She stands by her decision.
------
Soon, Rom seeks counsel from his mother, in her room. But Rom can't
as she is wearing clothes. Ishka asks him if it would help if she was naked, and Rom confesses
it would. She soon takes off her clothes just for him. Soon, Rom is angry that both Quark and
Ishka are fighting and it would mean much to Quark if Ishka signed the confession. Ishka tells
her son that she can't, because this goes beyond law, this is about her pride, and she is off
setting an example to all Ferengi females on Ferenginar, that females are as capable as earning
a profit as any male. And that's that. Even Rom's persuasion can't change her mind.
Back at Deep Space Nine, Kasidy is loading cargo to
her freighter. She is ready to ship to her next assignment. Commander Sisko soon joins her in
the cargo bay to offer his assistance. Sisko suggests she use the transporter, instead of
manually moving the cargo. Kasidy thanks the commander, but it won't do any good, as it a very
delicate biomatter that she is transporting. Sisko further suggests that the transporter can
compensate for the organic material. Seeing who he is, Kasidy instantly recognizes him. She
informs him that Jake's told her a lot about him. Sisko is embarrassed about it, and apologizes
for Jake's actions. Before he leaves, Kasidy invites Sisko to a drink to which Sisko happily
accepts.
On Ferenginar, Quark stays up while Rom and Ishka
are asleep. He works on a computer terminal, going over Ishka's profit account. When Rom gets
up, Quark tells Rom that Ishka's been busy. Rom jokingly says that he didn't hear her. But
Quark tells him otherwise, saying that she's been busy earning over. He later tells Rom that
Ishka used a dozen different aliases, and conducted transactions all over the Ferengi Alliance.
Quark later tells Rom that even if he sold his bar, he couldn't pay back all that Ishka has
owned. He tells Rom that he's financially ruined.
------
Quark is shocked to discover the truth about his mother's action.
Rom is happy for his brother, as other's would have reacted psychotically. He hands Quark a cup
of tea and asks if he's come up with a solution. Quark nods. He's going to kill Moogie.
Realizing Quark's statement, Rom tries to warn Ishka. Quark is off to her room.
In her room, Ishka is busily working at a PADD.
When Quark barges in, she tries to hide her PADD. Quark asks his mother to give the PADD to
him, but she refuses. Quark grabs it anyway, and realizes she was trying to cover up her
profits from the FCA. Quark warns Ishka to imprint the confession, otherwise he'll tell the FCA
all about her financial game. Ishka believes that Quark is jealous just like his father used to
be. Disliking the fact that Ishka continues to insult his father, Quark leaves the room,
informing Ishka that he's off to the FCA once and for all.
Realizing what this means, Rom hurrys after Quark
to try and stop him. Both he and Ishka continue to insult their father's dignity and this fuels
Quark's anger. He warns Rom to take back all that he's saying, but he won't. Quark doesn't know
half of what went on in this house, after Quark left at the Age of Ascension. His anger
brewing, Quark initates a fight between him and Rom. But it is shortlived, as Ishka comes out
of her room to break up the fight and tells Quark to go to the FCA if he wants to or not.
------
Later, Quark arrives at the HQ's of the FCA. He is tired from taking
the forty flight of stairs. If he'd taken the elevator, it would've cost him seven bars of
latinum. He goes to the secretary and urges him that he's come to visit Brunt, liquidator. He
must pay for his services, and does, but also needs a chair to sit in, which will cost him
extra. He manages to bribe the secretary a mere two strips of latinum for the chair. The
secretary suggests that if he's here to hand over the imprinted confession, he should leave it
to the secretary. Before Quark can see Brunt, Rom manages to catch up to him. He informs Quark
that Ishka has decided to share fifty-fifty of her profits, to which Quark's ears light up. He
decides to leave the FCA later for the share of Ishka's profits. He pays the secretary for all
his trouble, and this time, both he and Rom take the elevator.
Back at Quark's house, Rom manages to wrangle Ishka
out of her room. Quark apologizes to Ishka about the incident earlier, and will sit down to
talk about the fifty-fifty split that Rom mentioned. When Ishka hears this, she tells him that
she made no such offer. It seems that Rom has lied to get the two of them to talk. Rom warns
the two to get their act together, while he goes off to sleep. And there is to be no shouting,
he warns and uses a tone much to the surprise of the two rivals. Soon, Quark admits that what
he did was wrong, but Ishka isn't at all surprised, as Quark has her lobes for profit. It was
she who also taught him the Rules of Acquisition, from the book that his father brought. Ishka
soon relents, saying that if it'll make Quark happy, she'll imprint the confession. This
delights Quark, and the two are family once again.
On Deep Space Nine, Sisko and Kasidy are enjoying
Raktijino at the Replimat. Kasidy's mood is preoccupied, however, and Sisko prods to know why.
Kasidy forgot to mention that she was to receive a transmission from her brother today, which
took two weeks to travel from Cestus III. She forgot to mention this in her haste to make
arrangments between her and Sisko. Sisko hopes that nothing is wrong, but Kasidy says that her
brother tore his ligaments while sliding into second. Tickled and knowing that she just used a
baseball metaphor, he prods her for more. Delighted, Kasidy informs him that it was meant to be
an audio transmission of a baseball game that her brother plays for. Sisko informs her that he
is an avid baseball fan, and Kasidy invites him to listen to it with her. As they leave the
Replimat, Jake Sisko watches from above, happy that the relationship is off to a good start.
On Ferenginar, a fully naked Ishka imprints the
confession from Brunt. Brunt is glad that she has finally come forward and hopes that she's
learned her lesson. When Brunt suggests telling the Ferengi about Ishka's little insurrection,
Quark bribes him not to tell anyone with a third of Ishka's profit. Brunt leaves, saying he
hopes he won't see any of them again. As soon as Brunt leaves, Ishka puts on her clothes, which
is about to infuriate Quark. When Ishka informs him that she just gave up a portion of her
profits, Quark relents. He's leaving anyway, so why should he bother. With the family back to
normal, Quark gives Ishka an emotional farewell. Rom tells Quark that he'll be along shortly to
discover from Ishka that she only gave a third of her huge profits to the FCA. Rom is worried
that they might find it, but even Ishka is lucky to find it. With that, Rom bids his mother a
teary farewell, and Ishka watches as Rom leaves...
