Scoundrels
Posted on Mon Jul 28th, 2014 @ 8:47am by Venin & Karx
Mission:
Vagrants, Vagabonds, and Thieves
Location: Alexander's
[ON]
The crash of glass caused a momentary break in the din of dozens of conversations echoing through Alexander's. Patrons briefly turned to see the source of the shattering noise, a hapless Lurian waiter who came to grief while carrying a tray of glasses between a couple of tables full of diners.
Karx swooped in like an Andorian Condor, covering the distance between his position at the door and the site of the spill in next to no time at all. "What happened?" he asked, his voice conveying not an ounce of concern for the waiter. "No! I don't want to hear it," he broke in as the Lurian began to answer. "Clean this up and you better believe the damage is coming out of your wages. Plus an extra, punitive deduction so you won't soon forget this lesson."
While the Lurian scampered away for a dustpan and broom, Karx turned to the nearby diners and flashed a charming smile (or as charming as he could manage). "My friends, we apologise for the inconvenience. As a token of good faith, I can offer you all three percent off your next meal here at Alexander's."
In the blink of an eye, Venin had appeared at his brother's shoulder, glaring at the Lurian. He hissed in his brother's ear. "Three percent, Brother? Three?! Are you trying to bankrupt us?"
Karx sometimes had dangerously revolutionary ideas like that and he knew it displeased his brother, but he tended to stick to them. He snarled quietly and whispered back, "A one-off discount to get them back is better than them never coming back, Brother."
"It's some broken glass, Karx," Venin spat, trying not to raise his voice, "three percent is for if they've just seen someone be decaptitated by a tray!"
"You're not thinking ahead, Venin," Karx replied, tapping his brother on the head with two fingers.
He was about to add something but was interrupted by Viela, one of the Bajoran barmaids. "Venin. Karx. You have a call in the back."
"I'll bet you five slips that it's Father, again." Venin said as his lecherous eye followed Viela's rear end around the bar.
"You're on," Karx said as the pair headed to the back room. Karx thought it was their father as well, but he could never resist even a small chance to take some of Venin's latinum.
Karx activated the console when they arrived, the hideous Federation logo vanishing before being replaced by a man who was decidedly not their father.
"Damn." Venin muttered under his breath and was immediately distracted, thinking of ways that he could wriggle out of the wager.
"Gentlemen." The harsh, guttural voice seemed to boom through the speakers. The caller's unsettlingly bright blue eyes held the brothers' attention, although the lush black hair brushed back from the man's temples revealed a face cratered with scars and burns. "My name is Crelar Rax."
It dawned on Karx that this must be the contact with whom Soogledeg promised to connect them. He had never encountered the man before, so wasn't sure what to expect. He looked to his brother, hoping to see some recognition there.
Venin gazed blankly at the screen, still cursing his loss of five slips of Latinum.
Rax raised a cigarette to his mouth, revealing the luxurious red satin of his shirt sleeve. The smoke expelled from his lungs filled the screen, momentarily obscuring him from view. "I understand that you have some information which may be of interest to my clients."
A predatory grin slipped across Karx's face as he took half a step toward the screen. "As a matter of fact, we do," he said with the flourish of a salesman. "We are quite sure that your clients will be very satisfied with this information. I trust that we can come to a fair price."
"My clients do not simply pay for information. My clients deal in something much more valuable than simply gold-pressed latinum." Rax lifted a PADD into view and waved it in front of Venin and Karx. "This is a star chart which reveals the location of a natually occurring and untapped Latinum vein. I trust you are aware of how rare these are."
Although Karx was pretty good at concealing his emotions while negotiating a deal, it took him a fraction of a second to compose himself whenever something truly exciting entered the bargain. It was fleeting, but the sudden widening of his eyes accompanied by a twitch of his neck muscles was enough to betray his obvious excitement before he composed himself. He looked at his brother and straightened his coat. "The latinum veins are rare," he said, coldly. "But star charts revealing them seem to be everywhere. How can we be sure this is genuine?"
"You will have the guarantee of my client." Rax replied, taking another long draw from the cigarette, its burning embers flickering down out of shot. "I trust you have heard of Syth Firfin."
"The latinum mogul?!" Venin asked, mogul being one of the only business terms which still sent a shiver down his spine. "Of course we've heard of him! He controls the largest Latinum mining outfit in the quadrant!"
"Yes." Rax replied, the smoke clearing around his sharp features. "He does."
Karx was almost jumping out of his lobes with excitement and doing a very poor job of hiding it. "Would you excuse us, Mr Rax," he said in as gracious a tone as his excitement would permit. "I would like to confer with my brother for just a moment." He reached out and tapped the picture and sound mute on the console as Rax nodded in agreement.
"Brother, this could be it!" he said, grabbing Venin's arm as his excitement found full expression. "The Great Material Continuum is finally delivering for us! We'll be rich! Rich!"
"Rich?! We'll be more than rich, Brother!" Venin realised that the two were now bouncing up and down in their chairs. They regained their composure and reactivated the comm link.
"So, gentlemen." Rax continued. "Do we have an accord?"
Karx collected himself and smoothed the front of his jacket as a smile tugged at his lips. "We have an accord."
[OFF]
Karx & Venin [NPC: Deakin & Gunning respectively]
Ferengi Traders and Licence Holders of 'Alexander's'
Crelar Rax
Information Broker
