A Little Magic in the Emporium
Posted on Sat Oct 28th, 2023 @ 11:06pm by Lieutenant JG William Verhoeven & Petty Officer 3rd Class Brix Saad & Lieutenant JG Aurora House of Kor & Candy Man
1,463 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Short Treks
Location: USS Intrepid: The Emporium
Timeline: MD1: 2000 hours
Ensign William Verhoeven wandered the mostly empty deck of The Emporium, one of the smaller decks on the ship that was built to provide oddities and knickknacks from nearby planets. A chance to safely buy your mom an Andorian moonstone of a Catharian whiskey for your dad, except that the Intrepid wasn’t going anywhere that the Federation had ever been. How would these computer interface with alien computers, if they even interfaced at all?
Looking up, his eyes landed on the captain’s yeoman, and Orion named Brix, he thought. And from the other direction, the fish lady that ran Cetacean Operations. Now swimming with dolphins sounded like fun! Raising his hand, Will said, “Hey!” hoping to attract either of them to find something to do. To be honest, he was kind of bored.
And for the last months, he hadn’t met either, whether on Triton Seabase or now the Intrepid.
Aurora had been in lala land a bit whilst exploring the ship when a male voice brought her back to ground.
"Oh, hiya...Ensign Verhoeven right? What's up?" Aurora asked as she wandered over to the Ensign.
“Yes sir,” Will responded. “But if it makes you more comfortable, please call me Will,” the young, blond, Dutch man answered.
Rounding out the odd trio, Brix Saad approached the pair. “What’s the word today?” she asked, basically ignoring rank and rate of the officers standing around her. As a yeoman, she was not technically much more than a certified secretary.
"Will it is then, if you call me Aurora. Hi! Brix, right? It's nice to finally hang...er...meet y'all...er...you both! (Sheesh, Aurora! Grow up!)" Aurora chided herself quietly, giving the two a sheepish smile.
“Hey girl,” Brix said. “No reason to be so uptight! We’re just three Starfleet people meeting up in this weird ass excuse for a shopping mall on a starship…It’s weird, right?” she asked.
"Yeah...it is kinda weird. Who puts a mall on a starship anyway?" Aurora chuckled as she allowed herself to relax, looking around at all the shops curiously.
“According to the Starfleet/Ferengi Alliance treaty, it was deemed a requirement. I guess the Ferengi wanted to hock more crap on us?!” Will answered, trying to be serious.
"Dude, that'd be just like them!" Aurora burst out laughing at Will's answer, holding her sides the more she thought about it.
“Hoo-mons and Orions hanging out on a starship without any latinum, I’m sure. And what are you?” a short, squat Ferengi ran up to the trio and poked Aurora before licking his finger. “Blech…you taste like seawater, probably some fish. What have I gotten myself into?” the Ferengi bemoaned his luck.
Will and Brix shared a look. “If that’s your way to get us into your Quark’s to Go, you’re gonna have to do better than that. And don’t poke our friend, like she’s some creature. She’s just an alien that your pathetic lobes haven’t met yet,” Will said.
“Yeah!” Brix added, flicking the piggish Ferengi’s ear.
Aurora yelped as the Ferengi poked her, restraining herself from socking him in the jaw!
"[OOOOO!!! That little!!!] If you want me to consider buying from you, you'd best not make me angry," Aurora hissed softly, showing her fangs, claws, and fin.
“Ooh, you’re a feisty one! Do you wanna job as a Dabo girl?! I could make it worth your while…wages plus three percent of tips! My name’s Flek, this is my first franchise. People would be excited by your exotic, if fishy, beauty, I think.”
It was all Aurora could do not to STRANGLE the Ferengi!
"While your offer is beyond generous, I'm currently employed by Starfleet...however...perhaps I'll take you up on it at a later date," Aurora retracted her weapons, and winked at the Ferengi...something she thought she'd NEVER have the nerve to do!
“Beat it you rotten, little Ferengi,” Brix shouted.
“Yeah, you aren’t making any friends here!” Will interjected. “If this is how you try to get Starfleet officers in your Quark’s franchise, this isn’t the way, you little toad.”
“Such a rude little hoo-mon. I may have to make a report to your commanding officer,” Flek sputtered.
Will crossed his arms over his chest. “Go ahead, but make sure you accurately describe the way you propositioned one of the ship’s department heads to work as on of your Dabo girls, okay?”
It was all Aurora could do not to burst out laughing!
[This just keeps getting better and better!] Aurora thought as she took a VERY deep breath to control her emotions!
“Quark! Quark himself said this would be the easiest place to open a franchise! Everyone loves Quark’s. Especially Starfleet…he knew he had me trapped as soon as I handed over my latinum!”
“Rule of Aquisition one hundred ninety nine: location, location, location!” Will answered.
“And trouble always comes in threes,” Brix added, showing Flek a dirty Ferengi hand gesture.
“Urgh…filthy Orion! Flek said as he stormed off back to his Q2G. “You’re banned,” he added a few steps away. “Until you have some latinum anyway!”
Aurora decided not to make any comments lest the fiery Ferengi ban her as well...if he'd not banned the three all at once!
While Aurora didn't gamble...Quark's WAS a great place to hang out!
“I hope it glebbins in your beetle snuff!” Brix shouted at his retreating back.
“Yeah! I hope it glebbins in you bettle snuff!” Will shouted too. He and Brix were caught up in their laughter, mostly because Brix was laughing at what she’d said and Will had no idea what it meant even though he repeated it. Whatever it was, the Ferengi’s step picked up.
Once he reached the door, he turned. “That’s it! All three of you are banned.” He held up a big device, Will noticed it was an old style holoimager. Flek took a picture of all three.
“Banned! Banned! Banned! Not so funny now, are you?” Flek grinned, his sharp, greenish teeth looked disgustingly uncared for.
“Scotty’s has all the games you have!” Brix shouted back.
“And none of them are rigged!” Will added.
Flek gasped. “You can say what you want about Flek, you can even say what you want about Quark. But how dare you call into question the fairness of my games! What are your names? Hmm? Hmm? I’m going to make an official complaint!”
Just that moment, a tall man in a brown top hat with a purple ribbon walked past. “I saw the who thing, my repugnant, little Ferengi. I think you’d best be off to your bar. Now, here a nice roach in crayla sap to tide you over…by the time you’ve got back to your bar, you’ll have forgotten the whole thing!”
The Candy Man turned and winked at Aurora. “See if you can’t find me a second time. I may not always be open, but I’m always here,” he said with a somewhat deranged but harmless grin.
Aurora's jaw dropped seconds before a HUGE smile nearly split her face!
"Thank you, Candy Man! I'll be on the look out for sure!" Aurora blew a kiss to the Candy Man before giving Brix and Will a BIG hug!
The Candy Man doffed his hat with a flourish and as he turned the slight corner, now out of sight of the trio, the entrepreneur disappeared entirely.
“I thought he was just a rumor to drive the captain crazy,” Will said, entirely flummoxed.
“Well, if he’s real, he should have a shop here in the Emporium. He ought to be easy to find,” Brix said, pulling up a holographic display of the shopping plaza. There was not a single candy shop listed.
Aurora chuckled softly.
"Not gonna find it THAT way!" Aurora sing-songed as she fingered the kerchief the Candy Man had given her when she'd first met him.
Will and Brix looked at each other in confusion. This was the place for a shop, literally. Even if ninety percent of the vendor space was empty most of the time, there was definitely enough room for a candy shop without going to another deck.
“Whatever! I can get candy from the replica…we’re wasting time while we’re supposed to be truant…or something…”
Will grabbed Brit’s wrist and shouted, “Come on!” Into the echoing void, annoying just one already annoyed Ferengi.
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