31. Rivals

Summary

Martus, an El-Aurian con artist, is jailed for cheating an old couple. From a fellow prisoner, he obtains an alien device, which lights (or doesn't) when pressed. Soon afterwards, the charges are dropped. Quark isn't interested in the device, so Martus replicates larger versions and opens his own club, which promptly begins taking business from Quark's. Even Rom deserts Quark to work for Martus, as people all over the station begin to have bizarre luck. This is due to the devices, which somehow alter probability itself. Eventually, Martus' good luck turns bad, as Rom leaves, his devices are destroyed by Sisko and Dax, and the old couple reinstate their charges.

Summary provided by The DS9 Encyclopedia and Lexicon by kind permission of Tracy Hemenover.