Asking Price
Posted on Tue Jun 28th, 2016 @ 8:16am by Venin & Karx
Edited on on Wed Jul 6th, 2016 @ 3:58pm
Mission:
Lie Of Omission
Location: Alexander's [Deck 1869, Starbase 332]
Venin's console chirruped with that insufferable Starfleet cheeriness just as he was about to leave for the evening. He knew Karx was awaiting him but five more minutes couldn't hurt, there could be profit in it. He crossed the room, enjoying the feel of his new silk tunic on his body. Things had been looking up for them since the Sojourners had been dealt with - tourists were even beginning to return to the area.
He patted his right lobe gently as he read, a nervous habit he had picked up in business school, it released just enough endorphins for him get through long passages without falling asleep. Immediately he was on his feet shouting to his brother outside. "Karx, Karx!" He cried as he realised he was shouting through a closed door. He pushed the release which read his handprint and slid open. "Karx! Opportunity! Office! Now!"
The sudden shout from his brother startled Karx enough so that the top few pots on the precarious tower of pots, pans and crockery slid right off and bounced on the deck with a calamitous crash. His curse as he deftly danced around the fallen pots and did his best to maintain the balance of the rest was drowned out by the sound. He glared at his brother and finished his journey to the washing unit, where he carefully placed the pile on the benchtop next to it, then scampered over to the office.
"What is it?" he growled. "This better not be another message from a so-called Denobulan prince!"
"When are you going to let that go, brother? He said he needed to get his money off-world, how was I to know it was a scam?!" Venin hurried him through to the back room and proudly displayed the monitor which featured the face of the bar's owner, Jordan Gunning, more gnarled than they'd previously seen it and no longer wearing starfleet uniform.
Venin hit play, allowing the face to free itself from the shackles of freeze-frame. "Venin, Karx. I'm not going to give you a long spiel here, you and I can both do without it. I want to sell the bar and since you've been running it, I wanted you to have first refusal on the deal. This message includes an encrypted text message with my asking price and the details of a bank account if you want to take the deal." The face drew slightly closer to the screen. "Now listen. I've already knocked twenty percent off my price as a token of my appreciation for the work you've done for me, so don't go trying to negotiate or short-change me. If you want it, it's yours. If not, I'll sell it to someone else."
Venin let the message run out and the screen returned to the Ferengi Consortium's insignia. "So?" The excitement was obvious in his voice. "What do you think?"
His brother didn't seem nearly as excited as he stared at the screen for what seemed like a long time. "What's the price?" Karx asked, still skeptical that this might be some kind of scam.
Another unsettling smile crossed his face as he thrust a PADD under Karx's nose. "Obviously it's more than I'd like to pay but I'd rather have the bar than have to find somewhere else."
Karx snatched the PADD and peered closely at the readout, examining it closely for telltale signs of a scam. It looked good, he admitted reluctantly. It must be a genuine opportunity. A smile crept across his face. "I'd like to pay less, too, but the hew-mon is a fool to ask for so little," he said, thrusting the PADD back to his brother. "It's well below value and this market is about to boom again, brother. I say we seize the opportunity!"
"Agreed!" Venin replied with delight. "You arrange the transfer and I will begin looking at new interior designs."
Karx bounced in excitement before all-but skipping to the terminal to make the arrangements.
"There's just one thing in the terms, brother." Venin stopped Karx in his tracks. "We have to keep the name."
Karx [NPC: Drusus]
Venin [NPC: Gunning]
Owners, Alexander's
