DB:U Chasing Profit
Adam
Member
Chasing Profit in the Delta Bravo Underbelly is the solo fiction of Razak, a trade merchant and gaming operator who after finding success in the Alpha Quadrant, is trying to break into the Delta Quadrant with the ultimate goal of cornering the market before other Ferengi make their move.
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[Alpha Quadrant]
[Razak’s Bar & Gaming]
The bustling sound of patrons in the background always provided time for business, if the customers remained engaged, wandering eyes became few. Moments like these must always be seized, especially when talks of expansion became the forefront of any discussion. In order to maintain the upper hand, one must always keep their competitors on their toes. The time had come to look forward to the future and limitless potential of profit that future holds.
“That’s what I like about you Obon, you don’t ask a lot of questions.” Razak eagerly stated to his associate standing front and center of his desk.
Razak never took time for granted as the faster you move on something, the faster you can attain profit. He had just called in his most loyal employee, Obon, to finally share some vital information regarding the Federations move into the Delta Quadrant.
“Starfleet has provided an opportunity for us Obon. Their foothold in the Delta Quadrant is shaping up. I think now is the time to expand, set up shop so to speak and dominate the market before anyone else can.” Razak quipped.
“The core worlds have treated us nicely, provided ample resources, knowledge and profit. However, there is only so much we can take on due to how saturated the market has become. Personally, I am tired of competing with my bright-eyed Ferengi brethren who cannot see the bigger picture, who only want to expand here and drive down the price of goods and services.” He continued.
Obon, in true Obon fashion, just nodded his head in agreement. He did not care about the big picture himself so long as he had something to do, people to manipulate and got his cut in the end.
“I can’t just leave someone in charge of our operations here, Obon. Trust is a valuable commodity, and it is something I do not trade lightly. We need to find a way to tap into Starfleet’s long-range communications array network so I can keep a close eye on things here. That is priority Obon, and it is a task I leave to you.”
With the order issued and understood, Obon took his leave from Razak’s office. The Ferengi had begun to make his move once again, to set out and take charge as he has always done, come hell or high water.
[Alpha Quadrant]
[Razak’s Personal Shuttlecraft, Latinum Dreams]
With the final stages of preparation to depart for the Barzan Wormhole in full swing, Razak had still not heard from Obon regarding his task to acquire access to Starfleet’s long-range communications array. Regardless of his associates progress, Razak was still determined to make the crossing even if it meant Obon would not be joining him until the wormhole opened again.
Nothing in the Alpha Quadrant mattered at this point as Razak had already made headway with the next step in his plan. A meeting with the Turei, who years ago had gained control of what was known as Underspace from their enemy, the Vaadwaur, was already scheduled through mutual interests. Even though Razak was faintly aware of the political dealings of the area species, he knew one thing for sure: The Turei trade network was small potatoes compared to what a Ferengi could offered and Underspace was ripe for the picking.
Without warning, a warm breath came across Razak’s lobe bringing with it a quiet calling “Boss” the voice had said. Obon had made it back just in time for them to depart.
“Everything’s in place. I was able to ‘persuade’ some low-level Starfleet to open and maintain access to the comm array.” Obon continued.
Razak had just completed pre-flight, carefully watching Obon take his seat to the right of him before responding “perfect”. They were ready to depart for Barzan, ready to see what was waiting for them on the other side. With engines set to quarter impulse, Razak and Obon watched as Razak’s Bar & Gaming became a small shadow in the emptiness of space.
“Are we going to have an issue accessing the wormhole?” quipped Obon.
“No Obon, Ferenginar is only a few lightyears from the wormhole. One of my contacts on the homeworld has been working on securing us unrestricted travel access. We won't even be bothered crossing the aperture.” Razak scuffed confidently. “Dropping out of warp now”
Visibly in the distance, Starbase 90 stood ever watchful of the now inactive wormhole. The only indicator of where the wormhole would open was a contingent of ships in holding patterns waiting to cross. Razak took view of the activity before adjusting course on his console.
With a confused look, Obon darted his eyes to his Ferengi employer.
“Don’t worry old friend, we have some business to attend to beforehand. I representative of the Turei who remains stationed on this side of the wormhole has agreed to meet with us, to negotiate the use of their subspace tunnel network for trading activities. We need to get things in place before we can even think about anchoring in the Delta Quadrant.” Razak explained.
Coming up fast from out of the darkness of space, a small ship no bigger than a Starfleet runabout entered sensor range. The time had come for Razak to make his move and begin his expansion.
[Near Starbase 90, Alpha Quadrant]
[Turei Personal Shuttlecraft, rear hold]
“We agreed on 10,000 bars!” Shouted the Turei negotiator.
“Listen, my friend” Razak negotiated “I am nothing but fair and more than willing to hold up my end of the agreement, but I need assurances that the Turei will hold up their end of the bargain. I can provide 6,000 bars now and the remaining will be paid out once I secure an establishment to conduct business out of in the Delta Quadrant.”
The Turei pondered the counter for a moment, shifting his gaze towards Obon who had yet to make it known he is Betazoid.
“Fear…” Obon quietly whispered under his breath knowing all too well Razak could hear him clearly.
The shaky Turei began to visibly tremble at the sight of Obon who remained quiet, calm, and terrifyingly stable. His hand slowly moved to his side and then at a slower pace began to move to his rear.
“Careful” Obon ordered quickly revealing a phaser from his tunic. “I wouldn’t want to ruin this fine day for any of us.”
Still the calm and collected business, Razak did not flinch at the escalated tension. A deal was to be made today, nothing would change that but if someone needed to be dealt with, so be it as other representatives from the Turei would surely be available to take this one’s place.
Razak locked eyes with the Turei “Be reasonable, if this is an issue with your bosses, let me deal with them in time. The best course of action for all of us is to close this deal and move on. You get to continue carrying out your business here and we get to cross over knowing everyone is happy.”
The Turei’s hand returned to his side, the trembling subsided. “Okay, we have a deal, but you better make this right with my superiors or I will make sure no other Ferengi gets a meeting with us again.”
“Deal” Razak said extending his hand to the Turei. This solution was even better as a breakdown in an already unstable relationship meant no other Ferengi could encroach on his territory. All Razak needed to do was keep the right people slightly happy and throw this individual Turei under the bus. At this point, all he had to pay was 6,000 bars but he could tell the Turei Alliance all 10,000 were paid out and that this guy must’ve pocketed it. This was a win Razak needed and with profit to boot.
[Barzan Wormhole – Alpha Terminus]
[Onboard Latinum Dream]
With the conclusion of the meeting with the Turei, Razak and Obon were ready to make way for the wormhole and make the crossing into the Gradin Belt. The only uncertainty left was how willing the species in the Delta Quadrant would accept gold pressed latinum but considering how much the Turei wanted it, the uncertainty was minimal at best.
The small personal craft, Ferengi in design, shuttled off towards the Barzan Wormhole with little time to spare. Razak had purchased the rights to talk to the Turei in charge of trade routes operating in Underspace and needed to make haste to a station called Mithrar Anchorage to meet his contact.
“Alright, Obon. Let us make our fortune” declared Razak.
Obon, who would never dare to crack a smile just nodded in agreement.
In the distance, the Barzan Wormhole opened in glorious fashion. Several ships who had been queued for travel began to head into the aperture on their journey to the Delta Quadrant. As Razak’s personal craft came closer to the aperture, the consoles of his ship and the ship itself began to vibrate. This was the moment when calm and collected Razak began to feel a sense of doubt, maybe even fear. However, he would never show it, especially in the presences of an associate.
Razak’s ship entered the aperture, crossing its event horizon and within second, the vessel was surrounded by a corridor of lights, something Razak had never witness before. Under his breath he muttered “Beautiful”.
Obon in the right seat knew exactly how Razak felt but did not even flinch when Razak uttered that word, he let his Ferengi employer have his moment. Deep down, however, Obon thought the light “show” was bright and unique.
The trip through the wormhole only took about 10 minutes and upon exiting there were finally in the Delta Quadrant, more specifically the Gradin Belt. Situated near the terminus, a station could be seen in the distance. This is where Razak needed to go and where he needed to setup his base of operations.
Razak opened comms with the Turei Alliance Operations Center “Mithrar Anchorage, this is the Ferengi personal craft ‘Latinum Dream’, requesting permission to dock.”
“Permission granted. Proceed to Port Docking Platform 3. We will have a contingent awaiting your arrival. Welcome to Mithrar.” Responded the confident sounding Turei.
The craft made its way toward to the docking platforms and began the docking sequence. The time had come to setup shop and make profits.
[Mithrar Anchorage, Delta Quadrant]
[Onboard Latinum Dream]
Razak docked the shuttle and let out a sigh of relief. Getting to this point was no easy task but him and Obon were still far from a desirable outcome. As the Ferengi began powering down Latinum Dream, he turned to Obon.
“Let us not repeat our encounter with the last Turei. We are in their territory now and cannot just skip town if things go wrong. The importance of maintaining relations with the Turei is paramount.” Razak sternly chastised his associate.
As Razak and Obon departed Latinum Dream, a seemingly well-dressed Turei approached the platform with a confident swagger in his step.
“You must be Razak. I am Trade Advisor Barrisa of the Turei Alliance. My contact in the Alpha Quadrant informed me of your impending arrival. Please, follow me to my humble office so that we can officiate our meeting and settle terms.” The Trade Advisor motioned into the distance opposite of the shuttlecraft.
“Trade Advisor, this is my associate Obon Kod. He will be accompanying me throughout our stay here.” Razak replied.
With a slight nod of the head from both Obon and Barrisa, the trio began to make their way out of the landing platform.
Under his breath, Obon whispered to Razak “I sense a veil of deception.”
[Mithrar Anchorage, Delta Quadrant]
[Trade Advisor Barrisa’s Antechamber]
As the Trade Advisor entered his antechamber, he motioned towards what appeared to be his servant, an Ocampa girl, to retrieve refreshments.
“Spirits help loosen the tongue, makes negotiations easier to navigate.” Chuckled Barrisa.
Obon took point next to the entrance of Barrisa’s office, keeping his attention on the surroundings. As Razak took his drink from the Ocampa, Barrisa sipped his and began making his way to the main office. “Come let us begin” he said.
Razak locked eyes with Obon seemingly acknowledging that his associate would stand guard in the antechamber.
As the two sat down at the Trade Advisors desk, Barrisa let out a sigh of relaxation. “So, I believe you are here to begin establishing trade routes utilizing the Underspace? We keep these routes under tight control and to be honest with you, are uneasy when others tend to use them for business outside of Turei interests.”
Razak nodded in agreement “I fully understand your concerns Trade Advisor but let me put you mind at ease. I am a simple trade merchant who sees an opportunity here in the Delta Quadrant. Now with the Federation making its way here, Im confident other Ferengi will try to come and establish their ventures. In the grand scheme of things, wouldn’t the Turei rather deal with one trader than several? Keeping track of growing enterprises filling the Underspace would be a daugnting task so why not strike up a deal with one whom you can easily keep your eyes on?”
“Very astute” the Trade Advisor replied “and we agree. So our terms are simple, the Turei will forgo fees to use the Underspace in lieu of a cut for every transaction you perform, a 10% cut.”
While Razak didn’t want to fork over 10% of his earnings, he knew these negotiations couldn’t be haggled as they had the upper hand. “I agree to those terms, however, I will need a base of operations here on the station to conduct my business. If the Turei Alliance is willing to provide space for me, we can move forward.”
The Turei Trade Advisor leaned back in his chair and contemplated what Razak was requesting. “I’m sure we can accommodate you in the commercial plaza but with Dante’s Roadhouse already established, competition might be fierce. We do however have an establishment occupying two decks in the plaza that has holosuites on the lower deck and a casino above it. Do you know anything about gaming? ”
“Its my specialty, Trade Advisor. Who currently operates the establishment?” Razak responded confidently.
‘Right now, the Turei run the gaming on the station but Im sure we can hand over operations to you for a modest startup fee and of course, an ongoing franchise fee. If you could supply, oh, lets say 3000 gold-pressed latinum, we can shake hands and get you up and running.
“Agreed” Razak stood and shook the Trade Advisors hand.
Barrisa stood as well and informed Razak that he could begin offloading his shuttle while the begin the transfer of operations for his new franchise. Razak’s Bar & Gaming was on its way.