Rule 48: Never let the competition know what you're thinking
And? Did you find something?"
Quark paced nervously behind the counter of the closed bar. „I let Brunt try new recipes for hours, to hear what a 'real Ferengi' thinks about them. And trust me, if that was a waste of time, I'm really really angry!" Rom waved his head, looking up from his root beer. „I, er, I... haven't found anything", he mumbled. Quark stopped and starred at his brother suspiciously. „What did you say?" „No secret orders from the Nagus", Rom quietly admitted. „No contacts to the gamma quadrant... Nothing at aaaaall!" „And you're sure you looked everywhere?" Quark hissed in frustration. Rom nodded heavily. „Everywhere! But there was nothing at aaaall... Except..." He looked back down at his glass. „Except what?" Quark's expression shifted slightly away from frustration and anger. „A list with shuttle types", Rom replied. Immediately, his brother rolled his eyes. „Oh yes, that will be the big mystery! What a revelation! Someone planning to go the gamma quadrant needs a shuttle! And I thought he'd fly through the wormhole on the wings of his fantasy!" Rom hastily drank another sip from his root beer. „I told you I didn't find anything interesting!" he defended himself.
Quark sighed and leaned on the counter. „Great. Now we need a new plan." „You need a new plan, brother!" Rom corrected. „I have to finish the maintenance on pylon three tomorrow." „Na, you don't." Quark made a bored gesture, as if to wave the silly idea away. „There's nothing wrong with pylon three, it can wait." Rom gave it some thought, then he shook his head. „No, it can not wait!" he declared. „Chief O'Brien wants to get done with it tomorrow!" Quark sighed annoyed and turned away. „Wonderful. Now my own brother lets me down." „But, er, you always let me down..." Rom realized. Quark glanced over to him. „That's different."
Nausicaan Raider Maoth'ai
Bridge
„Kaghan Tel'Koa! We're arriving in Ber... Bash... Bajoran space!"
The man on the navigation console was all but sober, but he seemed quite confident about the correctness of his statement. The door of the ready room opened; a woman entered the bridge and handed him an almost empty bottle of Kanar before she seated herself in the captain's chair. „Very good!" She quickly checked a display, then nodded to her pilot. „There's a small system near the border. Get us in orbit of that gas giant. The radiation should mask our energy signature enough." The pilot nodded and entered the coordinates. „Is the shuttle ready?" he asked. His kaghan nodded. „The shuttle is, but I doubt we are. Or is anyone sober?"
She laughed when no-one gave a positive reply. „Plus, we've still got plenty to do before we go." She turned around and nodded to a Cardassian with suspiciously pointy ears. „Ariev, check the data base of the authorities. Just in case someone is wanted by the Bajorans. Doesn't make a good impression to be arrested in front of potential business partners." The man turned back to his console and pulled up some data on his screen. „Maahir?" The pilot nodded. „We'll arrive in the gas giant's system in about 37 minutes." He watched the Kanar bottle in his hand, shrugged and poured the rest of the drink down. „More than enough time to get sober."
Deep Space Nine, Habitat Ring, Brunt's Quarters
Brunt sat on his bed, surrounded by small stacks of latinum strips and a few bars. In his hand, he had the padd with his financial portfolio. He watched it carefully and sighed. It wouldn't be easy to live without it for a while. But the 125th rule of acquisition said it clearly: If you're dead, you don't do business. And despite all current problems, Brunt would rather he stayed alive and did business.
The sound of steps coming closer, echoing from the corridor outside, startled Brunt, long before human ears had noticed it. Quickly, Brunt put the latinum and his padd back in his portable safe and then hid it under the bed. No-one would seriously think that a Ferengi would pick such an obvious hideaway for his property. It was so simple and ingenious at the same time.
Whoever caused the steps outside hadn't reached the door yet and left Brunt enough time to hide in the small bathroom. „Computer, lights out!" he whispered and only a moment later, when the room was all dark, he heard the sound of the door chime. Whoever it was, that someone had come to see him and Brunt didn't like that. The chime, again. Nervously, the liquidator's hand searched the disruptor in the pocket of his tailcoat. If he had to die, he would die fighting. What choice did he have anyway? Not all his latinum would be enough to bribe his former business partners into a friendlier mood. With a little luck, the contents of the safe would be enough for a shuttle to disappear into the gamma quadrant for good. The door chime shrieked a third time, more demanding now, it seemed. I should have known that rule 192 isn't limited to Klingons, Brunt thought. One should also only cheat Orions if he was certain he'd get away with it.
„Brunt, I know you are in there! I checked the station logs!"
Brunt took a deep relieved breathe and let go of the disruptor. Quark didn't belong to the Syndicate. Quite the opposite; he had been a crown witness against them. That loser had, unlike himself, never managed to fulfil the requirements to join the Syndicate in the first place. Under normal circumstances, this fact was rather unpleasant for a Ferengi, but in this particular case, Brunt had traded places with Quark in a heartbeat. The Orions chasing him once were now in a high security prison on Vulcan.
„I have a business proposal for you!" Quark's voice came from the corridor. Slowly, Brunt crawled back to the bed, to make sure he had hidden the safe well enough. When he was certain, he got up, staggered through the darkness to the door and began to deactivate the many security systems. It took a while and when he finally opened the door, Quark glanced around with irritation. „Are the lights broken?" he asked. „No. I was sleeping", Brunt replied, trying to overplay his relief with annoyance. „Nice pajamas." Quark suspiciously watched him from head to toes. Brunt wasn't wearing pajamas, in fact, he looked as he always did. „Thanks", the liquidator grinned nonetheless. „Don't you want to invite me in?" Quark asked. „I would really prefer to sit when we discuss the benefits of sleeping with shoes." „Pff!" Brunt turned around and made room to let his visitor in. „Computer, lights."
Quark followed him and his glance crossed the bed. It didn't look like someone had been sleeping there a few moments ago. The door closed and Brunt gestured to the sofa, looking all but pleased by the disturbance. „Then sit", he said. „I would really like to offer you a snail juice, but as you know, my replicator..." Quark smiled a bit too friendly to look honest when he went over to the replicator instead of the sofa. „Snail juice, two glasses", he ordered and immediately, the device produced the drinks. Brunt stared at him angrily. „Do you expect me to thank you now?" he asked. „I got it. You got replicator sovereignty in this sector." „Oh please." Quark still grinned sweetly when he passed Brunt a glass. „My brother put the recipes back in the replicator", he added casually and walked over to the sofa to sit down. Brunt slowly followed him. „You'd rather pass on my latinum than try to get me into your bar with your shady tricks?" He seated himself on a chair and looked at Quark. But before he got an answer to his question, Brunt came up with a far more important question. „How did your brother get at my replicator anyway?"
Quark leaned back, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. He took a sip from the glass before answering. „Rom may be a moron, but he is really good with those technical things. Your little security systems were really no big problem for him." Brunt searched for words, but found only disgust and a bit panic. „Did you get the locks from Glek Security and Supervision?" Quark asked. Brunt silently nodded. „If I was in your place, I'd tell Glek to give me my latinum back." Quark smirked and drank some more snail juice. „Didn't you say you have a business proposal for me?" Brunt escaped to a more comfortable topic. Immediately, Quark's face switched to serious. „Yes, I do." He leaned foreward and put the glass on the table. „You see, my bar is going quite well, as you noticed during your last 'routine check'. It is a bad time for me to expand my business to the gamma quadrant; I can't leave the bar alone as long as I'm not sure if the new Bolian restaurant is serious competition or not." Brunt nodded, but his thoughts were busy otherwise. Why would his eternal nemesis really offer him a deal if the bar was going so well?
The eternal nemesis didn't notice or care about Brunt's distraction. „I do have some contacts in the gamma quadrant that would certainly be quite profitable if I only had the time to try", he continued. „And since you are going in that direction anyway... To make it short, I give you my contacts and recommendations, and you give me 15 percent from all deals you make with them." „Seven percent!" Brunt replied instinctively. Then he realized that the story about the orders from the Grand Nagus were just that - a story he had made up. And that he had no intention of ever returning from the gamma quadrant. So he would never pay Quark his share, and break the contract. Of course, Quark was his nemesis, but he was still a Ferengi. And a contract is a contract is a contract, at least between Ferengi; the 17th rule was quite clear about that.
„14 percent!" Quark's voice pulled him back to the here and now. „Nine!" He'd just send the latinum back with a freighter. There were always freighters going through the wormhole and back. „Eleven!" „Ten!" Yes, that was the solution. And a few contacts wouldn't be the worst start for a new life. „Done." Quark got up and took his glass from the table. He drank it out and went to the door, Brunt remained on the chair. „I'll give you my data tomorrow", Quark said and opened the door. „Don't forget to activate your security systems." He grinned and left the room. As soon as the door was closed, Brunt jumped up and began activating the locks and alarm systems. When he switched the last one on, he wondered if it was worth the risk to contact Glek and demand his money back.