Rule 208: Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than a question is an answer.
The Bolian restaurant had one big advantage. It was far from Quark's, on the opposite side of the promenade, and the risk of being seen by Quark or one of his regular customers was rather small. Bolian cuisine had no insects at all, but at least their food was more enjoyable than the oddities other species, for example Klingons, ate. Many people thought just because gagh and racht were worms of some sort, Ferengi would appreciate the Klingon 'cuisine', but most didn't. Brunt especially preferred the Bolian vegetarian food he had ordered, the most harmless thing on the menu, to those disgusting worms 'prepared' by Klingons. Prepared. They just threw their racht into a bowl and called it 'cooking'.
Even though Ariev had already explained that Ravennah had just been joking, Brunt was a bit disappointed that he had to chew his food himself. After all, he wasn't here by his free choice; not really. And, from his point of view, it was really not too much to ask from a female to show some courtesy. On the other hand, he was already thankful that she didn't display the same table manners - or absence of such - she showed behind closed doors. They had already made it to the end of the main dish and she hadn't thrown a single glass on the floor. Notably, she used glasses instead of drinking from the bottle... Judged by the standards of other guests, she showed pretty good manners and though a Ferengi couldn't completely agree, Brunt was glad she didn't draw more attention than necessary.
When it came to the conversation, Brunt was not so sure what to make of the evening. Every single attempt to discuss the upcoming business negotiations had failed. Ravennah had countered every mention of profit with the 214th Rule of Acquisition - and he had certainly tried more than once to bring it up. On the other hand, wisdom equaled profit and Brunt had gathered a lot of wisdom during the last two hours. About Nausicaan history, political reformations of the Breen Confederacy, price fluctuations of luxury goods in Cardassian border territories. Some of it would certainly be useful one day, Brunt tried to justify this waste of time to himself. However, there was one question left that he was really curious about. The reason why it hadn't been answered yet was - he hadn't asked it yet. When the waiter showed up to get the empty plates and make room for dessert, he found it was time to satisfy his curiosity.
„Excuse my bluntless", he began, as polite as possible in the presence of a clothed female. „I'm wondering... You refer to yourself as Nausicaan, you talk about citizenship on Breen; then the Nausicaan part of your ancestry seems to be, well, rather small. I just wonder..." Ravennah grinned, intentionally displaying her side tusks. „...why I still consider myself Nausicaan? My grandmother was Nausicaan. She... came to like... a Klingon... business partner", she explained and reached for her glass. „It wasn't exactly mutual though, but in the end, my mother was the result of their... short-lived... relationship." She drank, then watched the glass in her hand with a grin. „My mother followed the tradition, one could say. She came to... like... a Cardassian... supplier, again a... one-sided relationship, resulting in me." Brunt watched her suspiciously. „How do I have to take 'one-sided'?" he slowly asked, instinctively trying to move his chair a bit away from the table.
Ravennah looked up from her glass, still grinning. „Amazing. Our worlds have a long shared history, and you know so little about us..." She emptied the glass. „I assume my 'last name' doesn't ring a bell either?"
Brunt shook his head, Ravennah watched him skeptically. „Tel'Koa isn't a real name", she said after a while. „It means 'war child'; one of the many terms in Nausicaan language that caused... misunderstandings on first contact missions. When the first Nausicaans travelled to other worlds, to find new preying grounds, they also met the Irtokians, for example. As usual, they made official first contact with the political leaders to evaluate the world." She nodded to the waiter when he served new drinks, then continued to explain. „It was rather irritating that the Irtokians welcomed the scavengers with open arms, gave them gifts and offered them to help build a colony on Irtok."
Brunt listened with irritation, but he didn't interrupt. It finally felt like he might learn something useful about his new bodyguard and about the Nausicaans. Though he hadn't had any bad experiences with them - they were reliable business partners - he could hardly imagine someone would be that glad to see them. Ravennah took a sip from the new drink and continued. „As usual, the universal translator was to blame. It translated Tel'Koa as 'war child'. The Irtokians, like many other species, assumed these poor Nausicaans were the only survivors of a war on their world." She shook her head in amusement. „Idiots. The translation, word by word, is correct, but 'war child' doesn't equal 'war orphan' or similar terms in other languages. It doesn't describe a child born during times of war, Tel'Koa is a child meant to fight in a future war." She looked up from her glass with a wide grin. When she spoke again, her voice was so quiet that only a Ferengi could understand her on the opposite side of the table. „My ancestors were Tel'Koai'dhai, or - like other species translate incorrectly - black widows. They didn't 'like' Klingons or Cardassians, and my male ancestors were also no 'business partners'. They were defeated enemies, and their involuntary fatherhood, with a little aid of potions and poisons, humiliated them before their painful death."
Brunt almost dropped his glass and starred at Ravennah, mouth and eyes wide open. If these moments of perfect clarity really existed, he just experienced one. And in his perfect clarity, he wished that a transporter beam would come out of nowhere and transport him, well, anywhere, just far away from here. The reason of his horror seemed amused. She waited for the Bolian waiter to serve the dessert and leave the table before she reacted. „Oh, I know what you're thinking." She reached for the sticks and grinned. Brunt still didn't move and tried to transport himself to Ferenginar, using only the power of his imagination. It didn't work. Ravennah grabbed a piece of fruit with her sticks and balanced it over the table, directly in front of Brunt's open mouth. „First of all", she began. „Tel'Koai'Dhai only humiliate enemies in this manner. The Ferengi are not and have never been our enemies..." Brunt took the piece of fruit, hoping obedience would tame the beast. For the moment, it worked - Ravennah paid attention to her bowl now, and not feeling the yellow Nausicaan eyes burn into his own anymore already felt like a victory. „Secondly, it wouldn't even work." She ate a piece of fruit and looked at Brunt conciliatorily.
Cautiously, his hand moved towards his sticks. „And that means...?" he asked, uncertain if he really wanted to know. „My genetic potpourri isn't compatible with Ferengi", Ravennah explained. „Even if that was my intention, there's no way I could have a big eared spawn." She reached for her glass and grinned. „And you can trust me on that one. If it was possible, I'd have an army of greedy kids. No-one can be 'lucky' as many times as I would have needed it. In fact, I doubt there's anyone genetically compatible with the chaos I am. And so my family tradition dies - I can make out with the entire quadrant and never have to deal with any consequences. Incredible, isn't it?"
Brunt's hand froze near the sticks next to his bowl. For a moment, he had been on the way to recovering from the shock, but now he was back on red alert. The part Nausicaan threat on the opposite side of the table surprisingly didn't laugh about his reaction. Instead, she seemed a bit concerned when she picked up another piece of fruit to balance it over to his mouth. „You know, it's really not funny anymore", she said. „I thought you'd know I'm not trying to scare you or anything, but it appears you can't take a joke." Brunt took the fruit and returned her glance with confusion and a lot more suspicion. „Let me make myself clear", Ravennah said slowly. „I have no hostile intentions. My past affairs with Ferengi were just... easier than this. You see, your kind usually have a sense of humor and just aren't as uptight as you are. Unfortunately, right now, you are the kind of Ferengi I need. So let's get this straight. My crew and I mean you no harm. We only want to do business with you. Got it?"
Bashfully, Brunt looked up to her and nodded. The conversation of the last few hours had indeed made it quite clear that these people were not his enemies, and really only required his skills. And his behavior had been getting in the way of possible profits from this cooperation. Probably, he thought, he was just a bit too wary lately due to his encounter with the Orion headhunters and he was seeing danger where there was only latinum He was mentally almost ready to apologize when Ravennah got up. „You should be going now", she said quietly. „Wait in your quarters. Maahir is waiting outside and will escort you. I'll just get the data from my quarters." Brunt wanted to ask why she was suddenly in such a hurry, but then, in the corner of his eye, he saw that Ariev and Dh'amon had entered the restaurant. They were following two Lissepians who slowly moved through the room, looking around, appearantly searching for someone. „The Syndicate is persistant", Ravennah whispered. „You must have made quite an impression. I like it."