LT Tamio K'Wara - Just Desserts

[LT Tamio K'Wara]

(( The Shaded Roads - Central District Underground, Fereng, Ferenginar ))

Operation Glitter was going forwards. Now that they and Charlotte had managed to identify a suitable object for their fascination with interior design of the sparkling variant, it was time to acquire the object in question.

Step one: be proposed a naturally unfair deal from the Ferengi shopkeeper, who appeared like clockwork when he realized that he had customers to dupe cater to.

Shopkeeper: Ah, caught your interest, did it? You my friends, have the great fortune of beholding that magnificent piece - the Atherian Soul-Trap! This is the last tangible relic of the long-lost, highly litigious Atherian Empire! This protective varnish has defied 20,000 years of solar radiation, and shall likely outlast all of us combined! This, my friends, is not just art! This is history!

Tamio noted Charlotte’s body language as she clasped her hands behind her back. She was very much not buying it, which was readily apparent from her body language. Either she wasn’t the greatest actor, or her go-to for dealing with Ferengi was strong-arming.

Not the first time Tamio had seen people defaulting to that approach, and it usually worked, especially for the ones with no bodyguards to show them the door.

K’Wara: The Atherian Empire,you say? Interesting. ::eyes the cleverly disguised “Made on Tysa’ label:: Hmm… Charlotte, does this piece not look exactly like that piece we saw while on that tropical planet? Oh, what was its name-

Shopkeeper: ::rushes:: This is a one-of-a-kind relic that I managed to procure with great difficulty! This is a most rare find, yes! Why, I’ve got buyers lined up for the opportunity to purchase this beauty, but for the paltry sum of 25 bars of gold-pressed latinum, I might be willing to part with it right here and now.

Charlotte cleared her throat, and Tamio watched her as she stepped forwards.

Brexis: I'm sure you're aware that pursuant to Section 9, Paragraph 21 of Chapter 86 of the Unified Code of the United Federation of Planets, agreed to by treaty with the Ferengi Alliance, we are legally allowed to ask about how you procured this item? ::leaning in closer:: I think we both know it found its way into your hands under less-than-ideal circumstances, yes?

Charlotte turned to look at them, and Tamio shrugged. Dressed in casual clothes, they didn’t visibly translate as a Starfleet officer, and they felt perfectly fine with that ruse continuing. Her glance did seem to suggest that she knew full well who they were when in-unform though.

Shopkeeper: I am very familiar and aware of the code. ::Folding his arms and snorting:: Fine. 20 bars. 

K’Wara: Hmm... Interesting offer.

Brexis: ::Holding up her hand and shaking her head:: 20? If only that number was low enough to guarantee our silence on the matter.

Tamio watched with moderate interest from their position near the sculpture. The choice for Charlotte to willingly portray a Starfleet officer willing to accept ‘hush money’ in order to get a good deal was certainly a choice. Tamio had seen worse acts being put on in the name of security or a tactical advantage in a tense diplomatic situation, but they were interested in finding out how Fleet Captain MacKenzie would react to this.

Tamio still didn’t know enough about their new Captain to know how straight-laced she was.

K’Wara: I don’t know about you, but it sounds like she means business.

Shopkeeper: ::Sneering:: 15.

Charlotte: 14. ::Pointing to the statue:: And you’re going to throw in that statue too. 

That was the point that Charlotte delivered the fatal blow: waving actual money in the shopkeeper's face. Very few Ferengi Tamio had ever met had been able to resist the sight of latinum when presented to them, and frankly, it was often the most effective negotiation tactic. There was that one Lieutenant on the Princeton, who had sworn off all Latinum in favor of doing all his trading in antique Verellian bird coins, an obsolete form of collectible from within the Authority. He hadn’t done much trading on the ship.

Tamio wondered where that Lieutenant was now, just as the Shopkeeper grumbled their counteroffer.

Shopkeeper: 20 for the two of them, and I include the lanallien batteries.

Tamio’s eyes grew. The sculpture used batteries!? See, now they were far more inclined to believe the shopkeeper’s nonsense about it being an antique relic from a bygone empire. He should’ve led with that one.

K’Wara: 18 for both sculptures and the batteries, and Charlotte here will give you the inside scoop on how to avoid ‘Chapter 86 of Section 9’ of that code.

Shopkeeper: It’s a deal.

Brexis: Response

Tamio nodded, adding some of their own latinum to the ones offered by Charlotte, before scooping up both sculptures, accepting the batteries and then turning towards her, their arms full of their newly acquired loot. They nodded as they passed her, lowering their voice slightly.

K’Wara: ::low whisper:: Don’t break his heart too bad.

Brexis: Response?

Then, they left the store. They didn’t go far though, setting up ‘shop’ at the corner of the street at a small eatery, where they were sipping on some particularly pungent chom - a kind of beverage that smelled like a particularly nasty synthehol that’d been left in direct sun for two weeks too long - but tasted more akin to tajin-coated peanuts in liquid form. Some cultures really got the interesting food, but it sure wasn’t the humans.

They smiled when they saw Charlotte exit the store, raising a hand to wave her in their general direction, and they raised her cup of chom of towards her as they sipped out of their own straw.

K’Wara: Did he cry?

Brexis: Response

TAG/TBC

LT Tamio K’Wara

Chief of Operations

USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1