"Oh if It isn't the man of the hour.
The great Odo Ital.
What Can I do for you Chief?"
Quark spoke in his usual sharply nascally tone of voice.
"Information, Quark.
Why else would I be here?"
"Well you never know you might have decided to come down and visit the common folk of this establishment for a bit of company and out of the goodness of your own heart perhaps you came to visit your old Ferengi friends such as myself".
Odo rolled his eyes at Quark's ostentatious attempt at smooth talking him over once again.
"I don't have a heart Quark and you know I have no ties to any Ferengi let alone any that are on this station, so I'd hardly call you a friend.
I'll have you know that I don't visit the common folk so to speak I blend in with them which has thwarted your despicable schemes for profit many times if I recall... correctly."
"Okay, maybe we aren't friends exactly yet it's never too late to have a bang at it.
Come now, Odo, we've known each other for so long, don't you think it's time we bury the hatchet and give each other a good ole friendly Ferengi handshake?"
Quark's tiny pointed teeth exposed him as not only deceptive but very unsure of himself as well.
"Yes I believe that was in a nightmare of mine once, So no, don't push it, I'm here for information not a Ferengi handshake.
Let's just settle for cooperation for now, I really would prefer not to take you in for ."
"Oh seriously Odo, have you no sense of camaradery?
No, well what information do you need this time?"
"I need to know how to reach Garak, It's Urgent, something unfortunate has occurred on the station, it's something I'd greatly wish to discuss with him".
"Oh so this is a secret mission.
Care to fill me in on the details?".
Quark spoke through a childish side glance which followed with a sickening little wink.
"No not particularly but since this really isn't a secret mission as of yet I suppose there is no harm in telling you a little about this unfortunate situation".
"I'm listening. I'm all ears... quite literally actually".
Quark had to smile smugly at his cleverness.
"Yes very amusing.
We apparently have a new visitor on this station, I was hoping you'd know about the new arrival since you seem to know all the nefarious going ons around this station."
"Oh, I might, if you were to provide a name perhaps even a face.
Faces are actually better than names, cause faces rarely change around here, names on the other hand you can never trust especially at the Dabo tables.
People come in here with fake names all the times but I know who they are, gambling can be a real issue with some of these Fancy aristocrats, some of these rich folks are just looking for an escape which I always readily supply for them.
I'm generous like that plus I Just so happen to have photographic memory, so when I see a face I never forget it."
"Oh really? Just when did you discover you had such a tenacious mind?"
"Oh it must have been when I first met you, I became more vigilant with you hanging around my bar, so naturally I developed a certain set of skills.
Ferengi have incredible survival skills especially when we get into a real pickle.
It's what we Ferengi do, we adapt we survive, then we make profit as all Ferengis should."
"I'm sure.
I'm just rather surprised especially since you constantly seem to be clueless of even the regulars that loiter around this establishment."
"Oh I know, it was surprise to me as well.
Why I never knew I had a photogenic memory until you came along.
Funny what a little pressure will do for the mind."
"I don't need your mind, I just need your eyes for now.
Tell me what do you know of This girl."
Quark marveled as Odo slid out a laminated photo of Taya Nolo.
He marveled because he knew very well that Odo was not even wearing clothes but was merely simulating the illusion of clothes by his shape shifting abilities, the thought of him taking that piece of plastic out of his skin rather Disgusted Quark.
It also fascinated him how Odo could be anything he wanted at any given time yet it scared him how he was actually getting even better at changing his form.
Odo's ever evolving abilities meant less business for Quark since this gave Odo even more opportunities to spy on him and his bar.
"Oooooh nice.
She's quite the lady and I never forget the face of a true lady.
What do you want to know about her?"
"Firstly I want to know where she comes from, her background, her past.
Secondly how was she able to bypass all the security systems and safely dock this station completely undetected?"
Quark was now finally beginning to enjoy his company because now he was seeing Odo baffled by a security issue that he should have been able to correct himself.
He had to smile as he realized Odo had to actually rely on him for information. Clueless and helpless Odo, this was almost too good to be true.
"Oh so she slipped right past your high tech security system.
How funny, the ever watchful gargoyle of Deep Space 9 is having a hard time keeping watch.
It really is amusing how someone as anal retentive as you managed to let someone like her pass by you completely unnoticed.
It's simply unheard of".
Quark pretended to be astounded by this but Odo knew full well he was only gloating.
"Yes it's quite entertaining to you I'm sure.
When you are finally finished gloating over me, some more information would be nice".
"Alright, alright, you have no sense of humor sometimes Odo.
Honestly you can be such a bummer at times but nevermind that, she's a rare breed this lady, very classy, very pure, innocent, she even has a gentle touch as well.
She's quiet, almost submissive in a way but then when you're alone with her let's just say she knows how to charge up my core processor.
Who knows she might even be the Quantum to matrix if you know what I mean".
"Yes unfortunately Quark I know exactly what you mean.
Now tell me something about her that doesn't involve your massive lobes if you don't mind.
I really don't need to be hearing about your love life.
It's bad enough I have to hear about your life in general.
Get On with it Quark.
I don't want to be here all day you know".
"Yes, yes, I know,I know.
Have some patience.
I'm getting to it.
Well she's a rare breed, she's a bit of a mix, you know a little this and that, although she claims to come from the Yandera, all the way from the Gamma Quadrant.
So she's obviously special.
I've never even heard of Yandera till she came here.
She's a empath, the telepathic kind, you know reading minds and moving things around the room.
However her specialty seems to be in manipulating certain kinds of technology more specifically the technology that's here on the station."
"So she's highly intelligent.
That's good to know and that explains how she got on this station in the first place.
I thought for a moment you bypassed the security just to get her aboard yet then I remembered you're not that ingenious.
Yet the question still remains, how do you know so much about her if you weren't helping her gain entry to this station?"
"Simple I was informed by another familiar face.
Garak provided me with a bit of basic information and then I gathered the rest by hanging out with her.
Ferengi's do have a sixth sense afterall so it wasn't difficult to figure her out."
"I can't even figure her out myself so...I doubt you were able to crack through her thick outer shell.
Does she have a occupation by any chance?"
"She just so happens to be an entertainer or so she claims.
She actually came to me originally to inquire about a job.
I told her I'd think about it.
You see she's certainly attractive but she has a different idea in mind when it comes to entertainment.
I might accept her then again I might not, It depends whether or not she's a quick learner and if she's eager to please.
I have a theory that she was some sort of engineer because she was naming off the name of every piece of equipment in my bar.
It was actually kind of scary to be honest, women aren't supposed to know that much about technology, in fact the whole idea gives me the shivers.
Ugh...Women Engineers... that's simply not done on my planet yet we live in different times or a different place at least.
Anyway that's kind of all I know."
"Kind of?
There is never a kind of, with you.
You either know it or you don't.
So stop hiding things from me.
You've already proven to me that you know more than I anticipated.
Now where is Garak in all of this?"
"Oh Garak is nearby.
That's all I know.
I don't have his exact coordinates at the moment yet if you look for him you just might find him.
He's funny like that".
"Yes all this funny business going on behind closed doors, should be entertainment enough for this establishment.
All this humor around here should be all the amusement you need.
Meanwhile I'll be on the look out for Garak.
Don't go anywhere, I'll probably have need of you later preferably when you're ready to tell me everything that you know.
Enjoy the rest of your Day, Quark , while it lasts".
Quark slammed his useless rag on the bar countertop so it hit the surface will a dull but dramatic smack.
"Enjoy your Day, Odo.
Its really beyond me, I gave him all that information and still no thank you, no appreciation, not even any kind of gratitude.
He's so vert ungrateful.
Honestly the things I do for the people on this station, nobody ever seems to repay me.
I should at least deserve a medal by now for all my hard work, living side by side with yhe federation, those blasted Bajorans and those creepy Cardassians.
I put up with a lot, it's wonder I haven't lost my mind yet.
Maybe I have already and I just don't know but I only work here, I shouldn't be expected to have more than half a brain. Sometimes life is so unfair.
I thought I was a likable person but then Odo shows up so high and mighty like he owns the place.
I own this place.
I'll have you know, Odo,Nothing happens behind closed doors in this place, my doors are always open unlike you frolicking around in your Fancy private quarters.
Heh... there's a reason that guy can't hold down a girl... he's too uptight, no sense of fun, he hardly has a sense of humor and he's always such a grouch.
I hope Garak chose a clever hideaway this time.
I wouldn't mind seeing Garak keep that changeling on his toes.
Does he even have toes?
Bah that's not worth thinking about.
Meanwhile that little lady might be visiting me very soon, I can feel it in my lobes.
I only wish she'd stroke them for me sometime.
Oh well a Ferengi can dream can't he.
That's about all I can do for now since she hasn't really taken notice of me just yet.
She'll notice, she'll notice me soon enough".
He cackled rather nasally.
The funny thing was Odo had left a long time ago, so be hadn't heard a word of this singular conversation he was having with himself out loud.
Odo didn't care much for small talk so he rarely engaged in any kind of conversation with Quark unless it was absolutely necessary.
Odo was glad to be out of there since he had no interest in either drinking or gambling.
He appreciated the musical arts but there was nothing even close to music that was played in that infernal bar of his.
It always sounded like a dead animal or an animal being run over by a wheel barrow.
Cat nails on chalkboard was not his idea of music but Quark seemed to be absolutely tone deaf because he never noticed how nauseatingly horrible the music was in his establishment.
Music sounded rather nice at the moment yet as much as he wanted to aimlessly search for Garak, he realized the best thing to do first was to pay that new girl a visit.
It was only right that he do so, he needed to see if she had settled in alright and perhaps with her own private quarters she might even be more at ease now.
If she was more at ease she might even give him more invaluable information.
That girl knew things, things about the Maquis and that kind of information was very hard to come by especially in these days.
Security might just be looking up for Odo and indeed security was just about to tighten up it's walls.
Odo was determined to solidify the security of this station and for the first time he didn't care what measures he took in order to accomplish it.