The Barzan Explorer[1] was a Ferengi starship, a Na'Far-class shuttlecraft in Ferengi Alliance service in the 2360s decade. The Barzan Explorer was assigned to the D'Kora-class marauder of DaiMon Goss. (TNG episode: "The Price", Decipher RPG module: Starships)
History
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In 2366, this shuttle was modified for a flight through the Barzan wormhole, a supposedly stable wormhole leading to the Denkiri Arm in the Gamma Quadrant. The wormhole's owners, the Barzans, had only sent robotic probes through. During the auction for the rights to the wormhole held aboard the USS Enterprise-D near Barzan II, the Ferengi representative DaiMon Goss demanded that his people accompany the Federation shuttle Ley for the first piloted transit. Goss dispatched his aides, Arridor and Kol, aboard the Barzan Explorer. At that point, the shuttle had blue impulse engines.
Because the wormhole opened at regular intervals, the Explorer and the Ley prepared to enter it together. The Ferengi had not shared their vessel's name with the Enterprise crew, who referred to it as "Ferengi shuttle". Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge of the Ley offered the Ferengi to go first, but Arridor left the dubious honor to the Federation.
The shuttles traversed the Barzan wormhole side by side. La Forge noticed unusual readings through his VISOR, and his co-pilot, Lieutenant Commander Data, verified their location as Sector 3556. Both shuttles were now in the Delta Quadrant, over 200 light-years beyond the Denkiri Arm in the Gamma Quadrant. This proved the wormhole was unstable, and thus worthless. La Forge's reading indicated it would open - and close - prematurely, and warned the Ferengi shuttle to return with them. Arridor mistrusted the assessment of the Enterprise personnel, and awaited the visual opening of the aperture. The Ley returned but when the aperture appeared, it quickly vanished, leaving the Barzan Explorer stranded in Sector 3556.
In the Barzan system, 75.000 light-years away, the Ferengi had won the rights for the Barzan wormhole. Captain Picard suggested DaiMon Goss set course for Sector 3556 to recover the shuttle, a journey that would take about 80 years. (TNG episode: "The Price")
Subsequently, the Barzan Explorer ended up on the outer rim of the Delta Quadrant, at Takar, almost 25.000ly from the Gamma-Delta border. (ST reference: Star Charts)
Riding on a fiery plasma trail, the Barzan Explorer crash-landed in the town square of the [[Takar ({{{2}}})|Takar]] region on Takar II. Utilizing the myth of the Takarian locals, Arridor and Kol reaped profits by styling themselves the Great Sages. Instead of their Ferengi uniforms, they wore elaborate garments, and exploited the Takarians by enforcing the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition on the pre-industrial society. Their chief assistant was the local Kafar, and they used the shuttle's replicator to maintain their godly status. The unit was removed from the Barzan Explorer and used as a portable, held in the Ferengi's vault at the town square.
On stardate 50074.3 (January 28th, 2373), the Federation Intrepid-class starship USS Voyager, also lost in the Delta Quadrant, found Arridor and Kol on the Takarian homeworld. Captain Kathryn Janeway was bemused by the exploitation of the Takarians. Arridor convinced her that the sudden removal of the "Great Sages" would damage Takarian society. The Voyager crew devised a ruse to have Arridor and Kol voluntarily return to the Alpha Quadrant, by disguising their Talaxian morale officer Neelix as Grand Proxy of the Grand Nagus. The ruse failed, but senior officers Chakotay and Tom Paris adapted the plan by presenting Neelix as Holy Pilgrim, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the Holy Sages' departure. Led by Kafar, the Takarians were eager to see the supposed deities go. Voyager beamed them up and recovered the Barzan Explorer when the Takarians tried to burn Neelix and the Ferengi at the stake.
Ensign Murphy was to escort the two Ferengi to quarters while Voyager prepared to take the Barzan wormhole to return home. Arridor and Kol overpowered Murphy and escaped to the shuttlebay. The Barzan Explorer blasted the shuttlebay doors open and escaped Voyager's hold. The Ferengi tried to close it with a graviton beam, so they could return to Takar II and resume their exploitative lifestyle. However, the graviton beam had unexpected effects on the wormhole. The shuttle was too close, and pulled in. The Barzan Explorer, its impulse engines now shining red, rotated as it traversed the wormhole back to the Barzan system.
Unfortunately, the wormhole destabilized completely before Voyager could follow suit, with both ends jumping between locations. Disappointed at the missed chance to return home, the Voyager crew resumed their odyssey towards Earth at warp 6. (VOY episode: "False Profits")
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ReferencesEdit
- ↑ {{rpg|Decipher RPG|Starships}
