[USS Vanguard] Business as Usual
- From: Jayne Deaux <jaynedeaux@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: ncv80221@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 20:17:43 -0800 (PST)
*Desdemona Barrett-Brown*
* Event Horizon Lounge *
* after lunchtime *
Desdemona leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, a
knowing smile on her lips. On the console before her,
Hral, the Bolian merchant she usually dealt with for
supplies was stammering.
?Desdemona,? he said, ?I know we?re talking about a
bottom line here. Everybody wants to save money. But
consider the quality of goods you know you can depend
on from me.?
?Quality,? Des repeated, ?Like that Romulan Ale you
sent in the last shipment.?
?Romulan Ale is very hard to come by. My supplier
gave me a good sample, and his word that the entire
shipment was of the same batch.?
?You could?ve tested it before you passed the stuff on
to me.?
?Forgive me, Madam, but perhaps you could?ve tested it
yourself before serving it to your customers.?
?That was when I depended on you for quality,? Des
said levelly, ?Which brings us to where we are now.?
?I implore you,? Hral said, ?Whatever promises that
Yridian made, do not do business with him. Desdemona,
you?re one of my most valued customers...?
Desdemona said nothing. Her expression spoke for
itself.
?All right,? Hral relented. ?I can come down on my
price for you. Thirty percent.?
Des? eyebrow twitched.
?And I?ll throw in a couple of cases of my best
Champagne, from my private stock.?
Des chewed at her lip, giving Hral the impression that
she was considering his offer carefully. Really, she
was thinking about clearing one of the store rooms in
the back and converting it to a private office. After
a few moments, she looked back at the image of Hral.
?Okay, Hral. Because it?s you, and because we go way
back. But if I keep getting better offers from other
suppliers...?
?You won?t.? Hral sniffed. ?Not from any legitimate
sources. Yridians and Ferengi; anything they can get
for you any cheaper than I can must?ve ?fallen off a
truck? I think is the expression you use.?
Des chuckled. ?Okay, Hral. When can we expect to
rendezvous??
***later***
Desdemona stood in the cleared out storeroom. It was
small, about three meters wide and six deep, but it
would suffice. A console would have to be installed,
more adequate lighting... perhaps she should speak to
the captain before making such renovations to even a
small part of his ship.
?Whenever I see him,? she muttered to herself.
?What was that?? Faye, a lounge server and her de
facto assistant asked. Faye had a hand-held terminal,
and was punching in the inventory of all the supplies
they had removed from the room.
?Nothing. Thanks, Faye. I think we?re done here for
now.?
Faye nodded and scurried back to the kitchen, to set
up for that afternoon. Des was teaching a cooking
class for some of the servers, and a few of the crew
who were interested as well. Although most of the
meals were replicated, there were several specialty
dishes and drinks that had to be hand-made to do them
any justice. Desdemona seemed to delight in serving
more and more of these, and the kitchen staff wasn?t
quite used to it yet.
Des took one last look around the bare space that
would soon be her office, and then headed back out to
the lounge.
***********************
OOC: I?m back from my long, unannounced absence.
Reading through the posts waiting for me was a blast.
Thanks for keeping Des? name in the mix even though I
wasn?t there. :)
--
JD
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