Acting Captain's Log: Stardate 42372.5

The USS Electra arrived in orbit around a class M planet where the badly needed tepin gas had been detected. The atmosphere only contained trace amounts of the gas, ranging in 0.001 parts per billion. The largest concentration of the gas was found in a crater in the Southeastern hemisphere of the planet. The crater measured 56.7 km wide and about 157 meters deep. An away mission consisting of Ensign Tefin, Ensign Vash, and Crewman Osier were sent to collect data on the culture and habits of civilization set up around the perimeter of the crater. Ensign Connors administered genetic alterations to the party so they would blend in with the locals. They found that the members of this pre-spaceflight society had access to highly sophisticated equipment far beyond their civilizations capabilities. The society used highly revered "scavengers" to travel down into the depths of the pit and collect items using highly EV suits. While on the planet's surface the three encountered a loudspeaker announcing to the population that the gods had arrived for their monthly sacrifice. A warp-capable ship emerged from deep space and began to tractor beam "offerings" of these high tech items onto their ship before departing, taking no initial notice of our ship. After the away party returned from the surface of the planet, preparations were made to replicate the EV suits used by the scavengers and send down a party of engineers and a security officer to extract the gas from the pit. Ensign Tefin served as the away mission member responsible for lowering down the away party into the pit which was comprised of Ensign Vash, Ensign ____, and Ensign _____. While the crew was down in the pit, the starship returned and hailed the USS Electra. The ship was crewed entirely by Ferengi merchants who were exploiting the people of the planet to gain access to the forgotten technology in the pit. As acting captain, I invited the Ferengi captain and two of his crewmen on board the Electra to negotiate and deal for the gas. The Ferengi were interested in acquiring federation shield schematics. I covertly directed crewman Osier and Ensign Bellwether to create shield schematics that were convincing enough to fool the Ferengi engineers while containing no actual information about our shields. In the meantime, I engaged in spirited negotiations with the Ferengi and stalled to allow for the crew to carry out their tasks. The crew on the surface of the planet was able to collect the required amount of Tepin gas and return to the ship. They were briefly accosted by flying eels in the pit, but no member of the away team was seriously injured.
 
Engineering was able to successfully inject the warp core with the gas and start up. Once the warp core was back online, I gave the order to beam the Ferengi back to their ship, raise shields, plot a course to the alpha quadrant, and escape at maximum warp. We are currently on course to the alpha quadrant and all members of the crew are accounted for. Those injured during the away mission have made a full recovery and been cleared to resume their normal duties.
 
End of log